The following is a bit of utter silliness. You have been warned.
The Beauty of Youth
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Youth did not last forever.
That was a fact anyone could attest to, and yet it never ceased to amaze Maito Gai how underappreciated the tender years of life were. Every day he saw the beauty of the fleeting moments all around him, the young people of his village living their lives and enjoying the splendor of their fledgling years.
However, most of these moments seemed to go unnoticed by civilians and shinobi alike, and that included the unenthusiastic man sitting next to him at Konoha's most popular bar.
"I'm telling you Kakashi, you should have seen it," the green clad man gushed. "Lee summoned every bit of strength he had into his fist and punched the man square in the jaw. The sheer power of it sent him flying, even without chakra enhancement. It's amazing what someone can do in the prime of their youth isn't it?"
Kakashi was looking into the swirling contents of his alcoholic drink disinterestedly. The Copy nin didn't have the heart to tell his rival that even gennin fresh out of the academy could send a simple bandit flying with a weak punch. Instead he just nodded at the appropriate places as the taijutsu master continued on.
"You certainly have a lively squad don't you?" Gai chuckled, pointing a finger at his friend. "That Sakura has more spirit than any other kunoichi I've seen. She's even more fiery than Ten Ten. I bet she's a handful, especially when paired with Naruto."
"Mmmhmm," Kakashi mumbled. "Spirit" was one way of putting it. He personally thought that if she had any more extra spirit or strength for that matter, Naruto would have been dead a long time ago.
"Youth is such a beautiful thing, so inspirational yet fleeting. Don't you long for the days when we were in the spring time of our lives? Those were the days weren't they?"
The silver haired jounin didn't other mentioning that some of the most horrible experiences he had ever had happened during this so called spring time including the loss of his entire squad and seeing Gai completely naked in the men's locker room for the first time. Gai had hit puberty early and had grown copious amounts of hair in places where most people his age were still smooth. Thankfully, like youth, that particular encounter had also been a short one.
"Tell you what, why don't we have another contest, just like in the old days. We could spar or see who can make it to the training grounds the fastest. The loser has to run two hundred laps around the village. That should get the old heart pumping shouldn't it?"
Gai was practically glowing with barely contained enthusiasm and Kakashi always took that as a bad sign. Couldn't he think of a competition that required less effort? Like who could finish the latest Icha Icha novel the fastest? Speaking of which, the book was practically burning a hole in his back pocket and he longed to slip away and thumb the pages at his leisure, slipping into an alternate world of stealth and seduction.
But that clearly was not going to happen as long as Gai was pressuring him.
"How about who can go the longest without talking?" he drawled, his lack of gusto lost on the thick browed man.
"Excellent! You're on!" Gai smiled, giving him a thumbs up and a smile that displayed a double row of sparkling teeth. "The contest starts…now!"
"Hello boys, can I get you anything else?" the bartended asked, eyeing their drinks that were almost completely gone.
"No, we're fine thank you," he replied to the pretty woman without thinking before clapping a hand over his mouth.
"Looks like I'm one ahead of you now," Kakashi said as he stood up and stretched leisurely, tallying the points of their previous contests in his head. "I guess I'll be heading home now."
As Gai watched his friend head for the door, a smile spread over his features.
"Just you wait Kakashi, I'll be the victor next time!"
His rival raised a hand in a silent farewell without turning around before slipping out of sight.
Despite his loss, Gai couldn't help but feel elated, vowing to grow even stronger after finishing the required two hundred laps around the village.
Youth was just a glimpse. It was temporary, finite, but with old friends and fresh faces to mentor, he felt as if he would never grow old.