Disclaimer: Not mine
Warnings: None!
Maito Gai – January 1st
"HAPPY NEW YEAR KONOHA!"
It was 00:01 hours, 1st of January – one particular Maito Gai's birthday – and he was happy to be alive.
The New Year's party that doubled as a birthday party had been a huge success – it was tradition after all and any party thrown by the Mitarashi Anko was worth going to at the very least.
Gai, however, was not at said party. He was currently atop the First Hokage's head, having climbed all the way up it using only his hands and without the aid of chakra. Even on such occasions Konoha's great green beast enjoyed testing himself. In fact it was his new years resolution that if he could not achieve this same act every morning he was in Konoha, before training with his team, even before breakfast, then he would admit to Kakashi being the strongest rival.
The silver-haired man had, in fact, heard Gai advertise this fact to the whole of the village from his cosy position nestled in the Fourth Hokage's ear, but he had ignored it as a drunken mistake and so did not remove himself from his hiding place (he too had escaped Anko's party).
"Well then you handsome devil" Gai told himself "As you have already completed your training for this morning you may return home and greet your youthful team-mates when the sun rises!" So-saying Maito Gai descended from Hokage Mountain and returned home to his cushy bed with its youthful turtle print bedcovers.
The next morning Gai woke early as usual and (with far less difficulty than he used to have) donned his green spandex jumpsuit and bright orange leg-warmers, pulling a couple of nice-guy poses in front of the mirror before he departed.
He was the first one there – unsurprisingly – and his team mates arrived together – as expected.
"Gai-sensei!" Gai's very own clone was leading the way "Happy Birthday!" the ever-energetic Lee called out and struck his own nice-guy pose before handing an energetically wrapped pair of turtle print pyjamas to his beloved sensei.
"Arigato! Lee-kun!" Gai called back, though they were barely a metre away from each other, and hugged his star pupil, causing dramatic sunsets and crashing waves to appear behind them.
With a huge sigh and a somewhat worried look on her face, Tenten also wished her sensei a happy birthday, her present – much more impressively wrapped – consisted of a summoning scroll capable of holding multiple nun-chuck. Neji – unsurprisingly – had brought nothing and his special way of saying happy birthday was to declare;
"Congratulations, you're old" earning him a painful 'pat on the back' from Tenten and the true agony of hearing Lee cry out:
"Never! Gai-sensei is eternally youthful!"
"Thank you, Lee-Kun!" the aforementioned sensei bellowed in reply, and yet again followed the inevitable sunset complete with crashing waves as the two green-clad bowl-cuts pulled identical nice-guy poses "and to prove how youthful we all are, every team member shall climb the Hokage mountain without the aid of chakra!"
They knew better than to groan, that would only encourage Gai to give them more impossible tasks in order to 'rediscover their youth', so while the two "sane" members of the team forced smiles (or in Neji's case let out a vague grimace of acceptance), Lee and his unfailing energy declared the task to be a most excellent form of training and the perfect birthday treat.
After training, Gai was due to drop by the Jonin apartments to meet with his fellow Shinobi – those who had been unable to make it to the party and those who were simply too drunk to string a sentence together and wish the green beast a happy birthday (had they been able to find him).
However, Gai was feeling somewhat antisocial. Something Anko and Tsume would have found horrifying any day, let alone his birthday, and would quickly beat out of him were he to grace them with his presence. His mind was made up. Gai was going to Konoha forest to meditate! Or . . . something like that.
With the stealth of an Uchiha – more specifically an Uchiha not being swarmed by fan girls but instead escaping them – Konoha's great green beast avoided his fellow Jonin and their meeting place and, using more skills than many were aware he possessed, Gai slipped into the dense foliage of Konoha forest.
The further he got into the thick growth of trees, the more the ever-exuberant Gai-sensei found his thoughts turning. Though he had often journeyed to this forest, never before had he allowed himself to think such aging and un-youthful thoughts (if only subconsciously). But it was his birthday, and if everyone else was going to treat him liberally then why shouldn't he remove his own self set limitations?
The hours passed and Gai sat on his favourite tree branch watching the skies and the lives of the animals above, around and below him. Every year he thought every year I feel more inclined to sit still and watch the world in motion. Being spontaneous has become a routine for me.
"Perhaps . . . I am getting old, like Neji said" he added out loud, speaking to no one in particular and so Gai was somewhat surprised to receive a reply.
"No you're not. Because if you're getting old then so am I." Gai looked up, recognising the voice that was constantly muffled by a blue mask and seeing Kakashi stood right next to him – he hadn't sensed him at all. Face buried in yet another Icha Icha novel and leaning lazily against the tree trunk Kakashi added "besides I though you would remain eternally youthful?" Gai said nothing "everyone's waiting for you" Kakashi scratched his chin thoughtfully "or they were. Whether or not they still are is debatable, after all a black cat did cross my path on my way to find you"
Another lie – Gai saw them after a few years of hearing them, losing his trust his Kakashi somewhat. "How is Obito?" he asked mechanically.
"Well, considering his current condition." They remained in silence for a few moments until it was, surprisingly, broken by Kakashi – now that had never happened. "Does this mean I win that contest you're always talking about?" the copy-nin asked, open eye still fixed on Icha Icha. "Am I the strongest rival?"
Gai felt something inside of him stirring – denial perhaps? Kakashi muttered something else about backing down and Gai felt an angry bubbling feeling – one he hadn't encountered properly in a long time. "I suppose I have no choice then but to announce myself as the strongest rival" Kakashi continued "poor Lee, he'll be so disappointed –"
"NOOOO!"
Kakashi looked to his green-clad, self-pronounced rival who had just jumped to his feet, with more energy than he had seen for a long while, and was breathing heavily. Kakashi smirked underneath his mask.
"No?" he repeated in mock surprise, and Gai smiled hugely his teeth sparkling in the light of the natural sunset.
"I will never admit defeat!" yelled Gai, eyebrows wiggling dangerously
"My my . . . and so down a moment ago, I truly thought I had won." He threw his hands up as if in defeat, one still clutching onto Icha Icha.
"Haha!" Gai laughed long, loud and in a particularly unconvincing manner "it was all a ploy to lure you, my rival, into a false sense of security" the great green beast said this with such conviction that the copy-nin almost couldn't be sure whether this was really what had happened, but he shook off that idea readily enough.
Gai pulled his nice-guy pose with renewed energy and "youth" an smiled widely once more, teeth glittering blindingly. Kakashi, smirking under his mask, teleported in a puff of smoke, with one last shrug of "defeat".
"Yosh! Gai yelled yet louder "I am Maito Gai-sensei the eternally youthful and I cannot lose to anyone one – especially not on my birthday!
Kakashi, who had only teleported a few trees away scratched his chin and smiled, genuinely glad his friend had cheered up, however that smile quickly turned to a look of nausea as he heard Gai's next words: "I forgot to challenge Kakashi!" he was still speaking in exclamation marks and this particular sentence mad even the Hatake Kakashi tremble, teleporting this time to a place far, far away where no one would ever find him, and leaving Konoha's great green beast grinning like an idiot on top of the tallest tree in the fire country.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU HANDSOME DEVIL!" Gai finally called out to the world, fulfilling a tradition that had, this year been left unfortunately late.
Owari!
Thanks for reading :3