Adrenaline was rushing through Kakashi's system, fueling the fire. It would be so easy to fall into the familiar rhythm now, to just fight like they always did. Kakashi had to pull himself together. Gai was zoning in on him. Timing was of the essence now.

He caught a glimpse of Gai pulling his right arm back for the first punch and threw himself down, bracing himself with his hands on the soft ground. Not exactly graceful, but necessary. Momentarily fazed, Gai needed a split second longer than usual to rearrange himself for low attacks.

Kakashi didn't wait for the scything kick. He jumped backwards, turned and slipped into the woods. Two clones were dispatched quickly to keep his rival company. Behind him, Gai was already on the chase again. Good. Another leap – forming seals in midair - and Kakashi was crouching on a tree branch about three meters above the ground.

Gai came rushing at him like a tsunami. He had no idea what was about to hit him. Chakra was boiling inside Kakashi, ready to explode. " Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!" Gai's luck was that he hadn't left the ground yet; he stopped mid-run, his feet digging into the earth like a plow. Kakashi could see his eyes widening through the haze of hot air, as the flames erupted.

Gai had thrown up his arms to cover his face, which explained the smell of burnt synthetic fabrics. The sleeves of his suit were singed, but when he lowered his defense - he had to, since the second clone was using that very moment to attack him from behind – Kakashi caught sight of his unharmed eyebrows. He almost laughed.

This was his chance though. Without further thought, he launched himself at Gai, feeling his skin tighten when he passed through the heated area in front of him. He went for his opponent's currently unprotected side.

As planned, the clone had jumped out from his hiding spot as soon as the flames had cleared, attacking Gai with a kunai. Pressured like this, Gai was reduced to defensive maneuvers. He was blocking the attacker awkwardly with one arm, while Kakashi happily kept his other limbs occupied.

Finally Gai landed a blow to the clone's throat, dispelling him in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi still pressed him with quick jabs and kicks, taking advantage of Gai's unfortunate position as long as he could. Gai had lost some momentum from having to dodge the fire and fighting off the clone. With Kakashi this close there was no room for his signature roundhouse kicks.

But the advantage was wearing off fast. Gai had collected himself, and close combat was starting to become too exhausting for Kakashi. Gai's reflexes were just a little bit keener than his; he had to be on his toes constantly, otherwise that tiny difference was going to cost him.

Punches and kicks whooshed past his ears left and right. Blocking and dodging in time was all he could do. Suddenly, a dull pain shot through his stomach as Gai landed a hit. Kakashi doubled over, instinctively trying to protect himself from further injury. In a fluid movement, Gai dropped into a crouch and swept his feet out from under him.

Kakashi hit the – thankfully – soft ground, small twigs and leaves breaking his fall somewhat. Before he had time to pull himself together, Gai was on top of him, probably hoping to end the whole thing by rendering him unable to move.

As Gai grappled for dominance, his knee pressed painfully into Kakashi's thigh. Their bodies were aligned imperfectly; Kakashi struggling to worm his way out from under him, while Gai did his best to make use of his superior weight. He couldn't get a hold of Kakashi's arms in time, however.

Kakashi formed the seals behind Gai's back – a mock-embrace – and Gai found himself wrapped around a log in less than five seconds. Breathlessly, Kakashi snickered at the fairly ridiculous sight. His stomach still throbbed, probably already spectacularly bruised. " Should I leave you two a—"

Throwing a log at someone's head when they were in the middle of a sentence was rather rude, Kakashi thought. He would have liked to tell Gai so, but sadly he was already up and charging. There was a lightness he felt now, that was dangerously inappropriate to the situation. It felt good, though, so he decided to run with it for the moment.

And running was what he did, no need to turn around to check either, since he could hear Gai following him – could almost feel his breath on the back of his neck. He burst out of the dim forest onto the blindingly bright meadow. The sun had travelled west a bit, the fight was dragging on.

Gai was letting him run, hoping to tire him out for all he knew. Kakashi spun around, facing the other man, who- to his surprise- was still at the edge of forest. Watching, waiting.

The distance was perfect. Getting through forty-four hand seals took even Kakashi a few seconds. From where he stood, Gai would be able to see exactly what he was doing and act accordingly, so maybe this was just a waste of chakra. It should keep him away from Kakashi for a while though.

His fingers flew through the seals. Gai stormed towards him. Kakashi tensed, an attack was the last thing he had expected. Rat – boar – rooster. Done. Too late to turn back now. " Suiton: Suiryūdan no jutsu!" Massive amounts of water were tearing towards Gai, who didn't even try to dodge. Like a man possessed, he kept running. Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes. The water dragon crashed into Gai with full force, but he hardly even stopped.

"Dynamic Entry!" Gai jumped into flying kick position, trailing droplets of water. The air around him sparkled with them. Kakashi thought his brain would shut down when he realized that - thanks to his jutsu – a rainbow was now serving as backdrop to Gai's favorite attack.

Stunned as he was by the sheer tackiness of the scene, it took all his elite jounin reflexes to prevent his face from meeting the sole of Gai's sandal up close and personal. He lunged to the side, slipping a little on the wet grass. The whole meadow seemed to be drenched from the water technique now, muddy ground sucking on his sandals. This was his moment.

Instinctively, Kakashi formed the seals of his next attack. Gai, having landed a little awkwardly after missing his mark, was in mid-turn, when Kakashi charged, chakra chirping mockingly in his right hand.

With a gasp Gai caught Kakashi's wrist. Unable to counter the force of Kakashi's thrust, he only managed to deflect the attack slightly, electric blue chakra grazing his side. He didn't go down, however. Instead his hand tightened painfully on Kakashi's wrist, their eyes meeting. Kakashi chose to punish himself by not evading Gai's angry and hurt gaze.

Then, abruptly, he was tossed aside like trash, stumbling, and falling onto the grass a few meters away from Gai. The soaked ground was refreshingly cool beneath his body. Kakashi wanted to stay there, listening to his thundering heartbeat. He wondered if Gai would come and beat him into the ground now. He certainly deserved it.

And yet he couldn't stop there. He still felt this drive. He rolled onto his back and sat up. Gai was standing in the same spot, he hadn't moved a millimeter. He was watching Kakashi out of narrowed eyes. Kakashi stood, like a marionette that was pulled up on its strings.

He slipped a hand into his pocket, feeling cold metal. Clutching the kunai, he went in for another attack. This time, Gai made it hurt. There was an edge to it now, desperation in himself and something else in Gai. After a minute Kakashi tasted blood, ten seconds later he tasted dirt. He wiped it off his mask and kept Gai at bay with a salve of shuriken.

A plan was taking shape in the back of his mind. First of all he had to drive Gai to the edge of the clearing, a few throwing weapons would do the trick. Then—

He never got further. Kakashi had been hurling shuriken and kunai at his opponent, already preoccupied with the next steps of his strategy, while Gai kept his distance and dodged effortlessly, obviously waiting for Kakashi's next significant move.

Kakashi threw two kunai in Gai's general direction, wondering as he let them go whether he had brought enough to get Gai where he wanted him, just as Gai slipped.

It was surreal.

Stupid.

Gai slipped and fell, reflexively trying to break his fall with his hands, leaving himself completely open to the kunai. And Kakashi knew that was it. All those lessons at the academy about calculating trajectories, he had aced all the tests, passed all his exams. But he had failed in life and he was failing again.

The moment seemed to last forever. Time stretched thin until it frayed. Gai oh so slowly turning his head towards the kunai. One would hit his chest, the other his face. Kakashi had sent them flying and now there was nothing he could do, but watch Gai fall.

He felt his eyes widening, a sudden pulse of chakra and his vision went blurry. He was staring into the abyss, a vacuum that sucked all the life out of him. Sky-blue and grass green seemed to melt, bleeding together with dancing spots of red and black.

An image of Gai, face covered in blood. Dead.

It's my fault. I killed him.

All other colours were swirling around inside his mind, vanishing as if they were running down a drain. All gone except for—

Red and—

Black.