"Kakashi!" Gai called out, waving his hand at his friend walking just a few feet away, heading towards him.

Kakashi looked up from his book, waving with his free hand. "Yo."

"So, what is my dearest rival up to on this lovely, youthful day?!" He put on a brilliant smile, very slightly dimmed by the unresolved situation between the two of them. It had been two weeks since they had last spoken about their night together, and Gai was going a little stir-crazy. He wanted to respect Kakashi's boundaries, but at the same time, wanted to explore their youthful passion for each other, as well. However, things had at least been able to seem normal between the two since their last conversation, so Gai tried to make himself content with that and hoped that Kakashi wasn't just placating him by telling him he was still thinking about it.

Kakashi just shrugged. "Heading to the Hokage's office for a mission briefing."

Gai laughed boisterously. "What impeccable timing! I am currently doing the same thing! Perhaps we are on the same mission!"

Kakashi nodded. "Certainly seems that way," he said drily. He looked up at his friend, and took a step back when he saw the familiar glint in his eye. "Gai, no…"

Gai just grinned deviously at his best friend. He took up a stance, feet spread, one hand resting on his hip and pointing at the silver-haired jonin with the other. "Rival, I challenge you to a race! First one to reach the Hokage's tower wins!"

Kakashi sighed as he pocketed his book. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Gai's smile widened as he took up a racing stance, shaking his head. Kakashi shook his head. "Alright."

Gai leaned in for an aerodynamic advantage, looking to his side to make sure his rival was ready. "Alright, then! Three, two, one, GO!" And just like that, the street filled with dust and the shouts of angry, early morning market patrons who had been blanketed by the fine layer of dirt as the two jonin kicked off, taking to the rooftops. They ran alongside each other, very closely, until Kakashi suddenly darted in front of Gai, nearly causing him to lose his footing on the roof and fall off. Rather than getting mad, he laughed.

"Is that the way you want to play it, rival?" he shouted. With that, he used his superior speed to get ahead of Kakashi and used his Leaf Gale to knock Kakashi's feet out from under him, succeeding in making the man tumble to the street below. Laughing, Gai continued along the rooftop path while Kakashi was forced to take to the streets temporarily until he could get through the crowd. Despite his best efforts, Kakashi was unable to catch up, and Gai won the challenge by flying through the Hokage's window a full 3 seconds before Kakashi, who was glaring at him. Gai just laughed. "You were the one who started the underhanded tactics, my friend. Don't blame me for beating you at your own game!"

Gai and Kakashi turned their attention to Tsunade and Shizune, who were staring at the pair as if they were insane. Tsunade, however recovered quickly, having been forced to get used to the odd pair and their strange relationship early on in her days as Hokage. She turned back to the mission scroll she had for them on their desk, shaking her head and chuckling slightly. "Alright, you two brats, listen up. I have an undercover mission for you. We've received word that there is a drug ring operating out of a town on the edge of the Land of Fire's borders. The daimyo has asked us to look into it, and shut it down. Kakashi, you will be disguised as an international criminal from the Land of Waves, interested in starting a business arrangement with the man, and Gai, you will pose as his bodyguard. You will gather intel on the organization, and when you have enough, eliminate their inner circle. We have already gathered the necessary supplies and disguises, so you can leave right away."

Gai and Kakashi nodded, taking the packs handed to them by Shizune. They headed for the village gates, Gai boasting about his win and Kakashi nodding along placatingly. When they had made it out of the village, Kakashi suddenly stopped. Gai turned, concern etched on his face. "…Kakashi? Are you alright?"

Kakashi took a deep breath. "Gai, I… I've been thinking about this… thing with us. And, I've decided that… you're right. We need to figure out what exactly this is if our friendship is going to survive it."

Gai's concern faded into a brilliant, ecstatic grin. "So, you mean…"

Kakashi nodded, staring at his feet. "Yeah, I think we should give it another chance…" Before he could finish his sentence, strong arms had wrapped around his torso and lifted him into the air as easily as if he were a rag doll, and he was crushed against Gai's muscular chest as he could hear the man crying. "Gai… It's really not…"

Gai put Kakashi down, but kept his hands on his shoulders, his face suddenly serious. "Don't you even go there, Kakashi! The opportunity to explore our youthful passion for each other is absolutely something to get 'worked up' over, as I'm sure you were going to so eloquently put it. I am just so happy to get a chance to explore this new step in our Eternal Rivalry!"

Kakashi was quickly backtracking, hands held up in front of him. "Whoa, whoa, no. This is not a 'rivalry' thing. If we're going to do this, no challenges in…" He shifted uncomfortably before muttering, "in bed…"

Gai's face fell a little, but he quickly recovered. "Of course, dear rival. We must first establish our companionship and clearly define our roles before we can succumb to the manly pressures of competition!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say." He realized that he would have to deal with that later, but procrastination was one of his strengths.

Gai shifted then, clearly wanting to say something but he wasn't sure how. "What is it, Gai?"

Gai cleared his throat. "So, what exactly were you planning, then, for this opportunity for us?"

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a minute, before he gave Gai a crinkle-eyed smile. "Well, honestly, I hadn't really. I kind of just came to this conclusion last night while talking to Obito at the Memorial Stone." Gai nodded solemnly, knowing that pondering out loud to his dead comrades was how Kakashi thought through problems in his life. Kakashi seemed to have a thought then, though. "However, this mission could be perfect timing for us…"

Gai rolled his eyes, uncharacteristically impatient with Kakashi's generic statement. Sometimes the man could be truly maddening. He never just got to the point. "Care to share why that is?" he asked.

Kakashi smiled. "Well, it's just the two of us, and there's no way we'll make it to our destination before tomorrow. And, since there are no pairs available for guard duty, it will be expected for us to stay in a hotel tonight. A hotel that may just happen to have only one bed…"

Gai's eyes lit up. "You… you mean, you want to do it tonight?" His heart picked up, and his brain was slightly overcome with excitement.

Kakashi shrugged, looking as nonchalant as ever. Gai was vaguely irritated by Kakashi's ability to remain hip and cool when Gai was struggling to contain his nerves and excitement. "Well, yeah. Now that we've decided, no point in putting it off any longer, is there?"

Gai nodded. "Well, then, we should get going. I want us to get to a nice town where we can… enjoy ourselves!" He grinned from ear to ear, and Kakashi rolled his eyes, but Gai could tell he was smiling under his mask. And with that, they headed off to a hot springs about a half-day's walk away.

Kakashi and Gai sat on the side of the bed awkwardly, neither looking at the other. They stared at the wall ahead of them as Kakashi moved his lips inside his mask, both trying to think of something to say or do. Gai turned to Kakashi and opened his mouth, but no words came out, so he just closed it and turned back to face the wall again, his shoulders slumping in defeat. Kakashi's head raced through every copy of Icha Icha he'd ever read, searching desperately for something that could help him in this situation.

Finally, he sighed, coming up with nothing. "Well, this is awkward," he said drily to the wall. He heard a light chuckle to his left.

Gai smiled slightly at his lap. "Maybe we just need to get drunk. Seemed to work the first time," Gai joked. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Gai's joking suggestion.

"You know, you may be on to something, Gai." He looked towards the Beast, and contemplated it for a moment. Gai turned to him, watching him think through the suggestion.

"Wh… you think?" Kakashi nodded, biting his lip thoughtfully beneath his mask. "Yes, but if we have to get drunk in order to do this, don't you think that proves that we are, in fact, not gay? I mean, if we can't even get close to each other without the presence of alcohol, it probably means something," Gai blushed, quickly backtracking.

Kakashi considered this. "Not necessarily," he said logically. "Alcohol inhibits the part of your brain that tries to conform you to social norms. Since being gay is not a social norm, it's possible that the amount of alcohol we consumed that night just closed off the part of our brains that would usually shut down pre-existing homosexual preferences that are usually being forced out of the conscious part of our minds," Kakashi reasoned.

Gai breathed out, his mind reeling slightly at Kakashi's logical assessment of their potential situation. "Or," Kakashi added quietly, "maybe we are gay, but we just aren't attracted to each other like that. Maybe it was just the alcohol that made us choose each other as partners."

For some reason, that made Gai's heart twinge, and he could have sworn he heard a slight sadness in his rival's voice, as well. He turned to look at his rival, who was staring resolutely into his lap. He forced himself to scoot closer to the man on the bed, but he didn't look up. Gai moved so he was sitting right next to Kakashi, their thighs touching, placing a thumb and finger on the slighter ninja's chin and bringing his face up so their eyes met. "I'm fairly certain that if I'm going to be attracted to any man, it's going to be you, Kakashi," he said quietly.

The two looked at each other like this for a minute before Gai's other hand reached up slowly. Kakashi's eye darted down to watch its movement. Slowly, the fingers got closer to the edge of the Copy Ninja's ever-present mask. Kakashi continued to watch the hand warily, though he didn't stop it, even as one finger slid inside the material and slowly, gently, pulled it down to pool around his pale neck. One grey eye returned to Gai's, but the taijutsu specialist wasn't looking at Kakashi's eyes anymore.

Onyx orbs roamed the lower half of Kakashi's face, taking in every detail, every scar. The pad of his thumb brushed over the beauty mark just below the right corner of Kakashi's mouth with surprise. He allowed both his eyes and fingers to explore the pale skin, finally feeling he'd had enough and bringing his eyes back to the wide grey eye looking back at him, shock and surprise evident within it as Gai brought his face closer. Neither looked away as Gai's lips gently brushed Kakashi's once, twice. He pulled away for just a second before pressing in again; this time, his mouth was a little more insistent.

His lips moved against Kakashi's, but the silver-haired ninja was frozen in shock. All he could do was stare into the depths of blackness, so familiar but yet so new. How long had he known the owner of these eyes, and yet not noticed that there was a hint of blue surrounding the man's irises? Kakashi mentally shook himself, and allowed his lips to part ever so slightly when Gai's tongue swept across them. The slick appendage slipped between them, running gently over Kakashi's perfect white teeth and dipping into his cheek before finally, slowly brushing over his own tongue.

Kakashi's body reacted instinctively, his eyes fluttering closed as Gai coaxed him into action. Their tongues ran over each other sensually, but the kiss remained slow, exploratory. Gai maintained dominance, but Kakashi's actions slowly became bolder, meeting Gai's teasing licks with gentle thrusts of his tongue. 'Who would have guessed Gai could kiss like this?!' Kakashi thought to himself. He could feel a burn slowly starting in him, and Gai was fueling the fire while also holding it at bay with gentle strokes of the back of two fingers against Kakashi's bicep while his other hand slid around to the back of Kakashi's neck.

Kakashi reached out tentatively, a hand sliding gently over Gai's hip as he scooted closer to the man's warm body. He pressed his chest against Gai's, sure the other man could feel his heart pounding. He took initiative and reached his other hand forward, placing it on Gai's thigh while the tips of his fingers drifted to the inside, and then up. He felt Gai's body jerk as the man gasped, and suddenly he was being pulled against the stronger jonin in a fashion that could hardly be described as gentle. The kiss, once teasing and exploratory, had become heated and almost desperate. Kakashi reeled from the sudden change.

Gai's hand slid from Kakashi's neck down to his waist, and he shifted their position so that Kakashi's back was laying on the bed, but his legs still rested over the edge. Gai leaned up on one elbow beside Kakashi, all the while not breaking the kiss. Gai's hand roamed over Kakashi's waist, his fingertips drifting under the hem of his shirt. Kakashi gasped and pushed Gai away, struggling for breath.

"Gai, wait… stop…" he gasped out, closing his eyes and letting his head relax against the bed as his mind fought to catch up with where his body was. At Kakashi's request, Gai reluctantly removed his hands from the slim body, making sure to hold them where Kakashi could see them. He didn't want to make the younger jonin uncomfortable, though he didn't really understand why he had been asked to stop. It had seemed that Kakashi was enjoying this as much as he was. After all, he was the one who had reached for Gai's thigh, whose fingertips had dipped so dangerously close to his erection. Was he really that bad at reading his friend? He blushed at the realization that 'friend' may not be the right way to describe their relationship anymore.

Kakashi's eyes were shut tight, panting slightly as he tried to catch his breath. His head was reeling. In such a short time, he had gone from thinking he was straight to now being in the middle of a heated make-out session with his very male best friend, and every kiss seemed like a promise that this would culminate in mind-blowing sex. He heard Gai's voice, gentle and laced with concern. "Kakashi… is everything okay?"

Kakashi fought to open his one good eye, looking up into his friend's concerned face. "It's just… don't you think… are we going a little too fast?" he asked, suddenly feeling awkward and nervous. Gai smiled kindly at him.

"I can slow down if you'd like. I want you to be comfortable." It may be hard, as Gai had already decided he wanted to do this, but he didn't want a situation like the last time they had been together to happen again. Kakashi needed to be OK with everything the spandex-suited jonin had planned for him, and he had already made several very detailed plans.

Kakashi watched Gai watch him. "it's just… what if…" Gai's finger rested against his lip, quieting his doubts with a gentle warning.

"Don't think so much, Kakashi. Just act. If it feels right, do it. If you really don't want to do this, then we'll stop."

Kakashi looked away, his nervousness showing. "Do you… want to do this?" he asked, a blush rising to his cheeks. He cursed himself; he was never like this. Why now?

Gai smiled gently as he brought Kakashi's chin up so their eyes met again. "I do," he said quietly, as his lips brushed over Kakashi's again.