AN: Hello! I'm back! Sorry for the slow update with this fic, I have been working more on my other one recently. Back today I just couldn't resist writing this chapter. I hope you like it. It is a bit soppy with a bit of brief lemon- nothing too graphic at the moment. By the way, after hearing that the flashbacks can be confusing, I have decided to make all flashback scenes italic from now on. See, reviews and comments are always appreciated and I do listen hehe! Enjoy!

Chapter 3

The fire crackled and the embers glowed an eerie orange in the moonlight. The gentle rush of the sea soothed him, if only for a moment. He supposed telling his story- their story- would lighten his burden of worries. Just thinking of it made his face smile and his heart ache simultaneously.

"Well, my lady," he began with his enthusiasm quickly growing. As if merely talking about his rival gave him strength or something. "Brace yourself for the most epic, romantic, heroic story of courage, friendship, love and YOUTH!"

Kairi just laughed an honest and warm laugh. Gai found he really liked her company.

"Go on Gai-san" she smiled.

Gai coughed and cleared his throat dramatically.

"It was a dark and most youthful night..." He paused realising something was wrong with that statement. "Erm well actually it was afternoon..."

The wind howled. Strong so strong. Dark, angry clouds had gathered above what little sky they could see through the thick foliage of the forests outside Konoha. The rain started with little warning and then fell hard. They were forced to abandoned their challenge of a back flip race through the forest and took shelter under some of the thicker branches instead.

Gai was leaving for a mission the very next day and had roped Kakashi into the ridiculous challenge as they wouldn't be seeing each other for a while. If he put on his best doe eyed look he could often crumble Kakashi's bored resolve. And Gai had had plenty of practice over the years.

Not that he had ever managed to get Kakashi to do everything he really wanted deep down... There had been many nights over the years where he had dreamed of seducing the sexy silver ninja.

The problem was that: firstly Kakashi had an irrational fear of emotion, especially his own. He was likely to run at the first sign of an intimate situation. Gai knew Kakashi was still a virgin and found being close to someone else awkward.

The second problem came in the form of an annoying younger ex-Anbu. Yamato. It seemed that Gai wasn't the only one who had seen how worthy and youthful his rival was. Ever since Gai had laid eyes on the plain faced man, back when Kakashi introduced them at the training grounds as teens, he had hated him.

Both Gai and Yamato had been pursuing the elusive silver ninja for years, ever since their teens. Gai however had known he loved Kakashi much, much earlier. When they had been children together. Of course he hadn't known of what men did together sexually aside from kissing in the playground like with girls. One of Gai's first challenges had been kiss chase in the academy. His plan had fallen through though when Rin announced she was joining, along with a few others. Rin then insisted that boys had to kiss girls, much to Gai's displeasure. Obito had jumped into the fray then. Kakashi had yawned and pulled out a comic book (thankfully he hadn't read icha icha as a kid- that would have been creepy!)

That afternoon as they trained together in the forest Kakashi had been more relaxed and carefree than he had been in years. The end of the war had contributed greatly to this.

Gai had actually hoped to finally make his move on Kakashi the day it ended and finally tell him how he felt. But as luck would have it Yamato had managed to escape Kabuto's lair. It's not like Gai wanted Yamato captured. He wasn't evil! But he just wished he had had a few damn minutes with his eternal rival amidst the youthful celebrations.

Now as they hid under the shelter of a great oak, Gai thought that this surely was the best chance he would ever get. Kakashi was already wet from getting caught in the rain, his uniform and silver hair sticking to his skin. He brushed his hair from his eyes and leaned against the trunk, sighing.

He looked so beautiful, so vulnerable as he closed his eyes and leaned wearily back on the tree. It was so sexy. Gai took a risk. He pushed forwards and kissed his best friend of so many years. Maybe it was the exoticness of the scene; the rain, the forest, being away from the village, but Gai kissed him hard. He had always imagined a tentative, romantic kiss with his rival would be their first, but here he was gripping his face forcefully, pushing up to him, like a lustful animal.

Gai broke the kiss for a moment and sensed that like his, Kakashi's breathing was hard. That realisation set off a new urgency in Gai's movements. He kissed Kakashi again, this time pawing at the man's clothes. Kakashi made a sound like a whimper beneath him and Gai's semi went up with full force.

As much as his body protested, he tore himself away from Kakashi and those amazing lips. He wanted nothing more than to keep going, but Gai was a romantic and jumping straight into these things was not his style. One night stands were one thing but not with this man and he didn't want Kakashi to misinterpret the situation. He wanted to do this properly, and make Kakashi his for the rest of his life- no more sharing with Yamato for the man's affections. Kakashi would be his and only his. Gai had been through too many wars and put up with too much shit.

"Kakashi, I love you."

For a moment the man sandwiched between him and the tree trunk blinked stupidly and said nothing. So much for being a genius.

"I- I know, Gai. I've always known..."

Gai flinched like he'd been slapped. "What? Then why the hell didn't you say anything?"

Now it was Kakashi's turn to flinch. He rarely heard his goofy rival swear- even at enemies. He looked at the floor and mumbled his response meekly. The situation seemed surreal.

"I was scared."

Copy ninja Kakashi Hatake of the sharingan, feared amongst all, a hero of the allied forces, was scared of love. Scared to acknowledge the feelings of his best friend. Scared to let someone in the heart that had grown all too cold over the years.

Gai smiled and struck his best nice guy pose.

"Well, rival we will just have to work on that. Starting from right now." He winked at Kakashi. Kakashi gawped at him.

He caressed Kakashi's face and whispered those three precious words again, over and over in Kakashi's ear. He was moving in to kiss Kakashi again, tenderly this time, until he caught sight of something that made him freeze.

Silvery tears glistened in Kakashi's eyes. They pooled and dripped slowly down his cheeks. Then Kakashi choked, "I love you too, Gai".

It was Kakashi who initiated the next kiss, shyly at first, but then he pulled Gai towards him. Gai had not seen Kakashi cry since the day he had found Kakashi mourning his father. That day Minato had held him back. No one would stop him from holding his love now.

They made love right there under the oak, in the lush grass with the sound of gently pattering rain (it had already calmed down yet they made no move to leave their little sanctuary). Gai held Kakashi in his arms as if he were a precious doll. Kakashi was a virgin and there was some pain as he took his love, but the pleasure soon outweighed it. The sun began to set as they climaxed. It was beautiful.

Afterwards they lay on the ground, Kakashi with his head resting on Gai's chest. Everything was perfect.

"I love you, Kakashi," Gai whispered, kissing his head. "I love you, I love you, I love you".

Kakashi chuckled lovingly, "I love you too, Gai."

He had the glow of one who had experienced the beauty of lovemaking for the first time. He was smiling and warm. They were happy. Gai couldn't believe how fucking happy he could be. The man he had loved almost his whole life was finally his. Gai resolved to never let him go.

"Kakashi, please be mine. Forever."

"Forever," Kakashi agreed and wriggled up to kiss Gai. "I will be yours always, until death."

"And that was the last time I saw him. The next morning I parted with my love for this mission... And then I met you and encountered the enemy... And you know the rest."

The moon had nearly left them now. The sun was starting to break through the night sky. Gai sat with his arms behind his head.

Kairi had been silently sobbing. "That was so... So beautiful! So romantic!" She sighed, looking up at the fading stars. "Ah I wish someone loved me like that. Your Kakashi is a lucky man."

"Oh, I am most definitely the lucky one," Gai smiled. "I have never been so happy... Well you know, before the coma..."

He thought about that for a moment, about what a year missing could mean for him and kakashi. Suddenly he jumped up and shouted. "I have to get back! Kakashi doesn't know where I am. He must be worried! I need to go!"

Kairi rose to and put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "Whoa, calm down Gai-san. It's been over a year, a few more days won't make a difference. You need to rest. Otherwise you will never make it back home. You need to eat properly and train in case you are attacked on the way back. We are not warriors here, we cannot provide an escort."

Gai was torn. He wanted nothing more than to run back to Konoha at full speed, but he was tired and weak and the last thing he wanted was to become a target. What if he didn't wake up next time... ?

"Ok, I will stay a couple more nights..."

"Good," she said, poking him in the ribs affectionately. "You know Gai-san that story was wonderful, but I really could have been spared the details on Kakashi-san's youthful body and the youthful love making..."