A random scene. Ties loosely to "Subtext" perhaps.

Title: Subtlety
Rating: G
Characters/Pairing: Gai, Kakashi, Naruto (possible Gai/Kakashi?)

Challenge: None

Subtlety – Kakashi, Gai, Naruto

With his chopsticks, Gai maneuvered the clumps of rice around his take-out box thoughtfully. "It does seem kind of ridiculous," he admitted after a moment, as if the idea had only just now occurred to him.

Kakashi glanced up slyly before turning another page. "That's because you find it impossible to be subtle."

Gai lost just about all of his composure and looked about two seconds away from declaring his rival to be so cool and modern...again. Instead, he recovered nicely with a hearty chuckle and then boastfully grinned. "Your sensei is just jealous that he cannot be so open with his emotions," Gai whispered theatrically. Naruto nodded along in agreement.

"In this business, it's a blessing--not a curse--to be stoic." Another page worth of Icha Icha reading passed in blessedly golden silence and then Kakashi sighed, having sensed this silence meant his rival and student might both be in need of further explanation. Sure enough, they were staring at him, Gai poised between a bite and Naruto with a cascade of noodles dripping from his mouth. "Naruto, even to you all this should be obvious." The noodles disappeared into the genin's mouth in a loud gulp. "Bonds are easily exploited, so ninja who chose to fall in love have to hide the fact that they're together. That is why you didn't know about Asuma and Kurenai. It may be hard for you to understand, all things considered, but bold and outstanding are not the ways of the ninja; understated and stoic are."

Naruto snorted in disgust. "I just think it's dumb that everyone hides the way they feel about each other. It's not like it isn't obvious anyway." Gai nodded mutely, having already agreed on this. He looked up from his rice and back to the young ninja, his attention lost somewhere in deep thought. "And anyway--" Naruto continued after a loud slurp of take-out ramen, "if I were in love with someone, I'd want to say something, or at least show it. Everyone in Ero-Sanin's pervy books are always declaring their love and--"

"As much as it pains me to admit it," Kakashi interrupted in a dry, droll tone, "Jiraiya's books can hardly be taken as examples of real life. Besides," he added with a shrug, "public displays of affection are unnecessary."

"While one may not need such displays to affirm their love, sometimes it is nice to see a couple in a celebration of--" Before Gai could launch into another long-winded spiel that would inevitably culminate with the phrase 'joyful displays of romance' (or one of several other such flowery expressions and poetic, if a bit archaic, euphemisms he had in his repertoire), Kakashi saved his own ears with a snide interruption.

"Would you have really wanted to see Asuma groping Kurenai's ass at the Ichiraku?"

The chorus of objection (to how forward Kakashi's wording was...no one bothered to mention their thoughts on Asuma's hand in the vicinity of Kurenai's rear) was nearly in unison.

"You understand, though, don't you, Naruto?" there was a much more serious note to Kakashi's voice now, however. "Friendships, rivalries, teams--those are enough of a liability. A romantic interest is just one more precious person who could be used against you by an enemy. It's fine to care about people, to love, but making it public knowledge is dangerous. That's why we don't make stupid declarations or displays of affection."

"We don't?" the young man's eyebrows rose with his stressed word.

"Ninja don't," Kakashi calmly corrected. "'We' being ninja--specifically ninja in love."

"We. Makes you part of that group, doesn't it, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Naruto, don't be a smart-ass." With that hardly-brilliant comeback, Kakashi turned back to his book.

"Hey, you were the one who said it, sensei." Thinking himself quite clever, Naruto nudged Gai's arm and grinned cheekily, only to find his enthusiasm was not shared. Quite the contrary. A serious expression marred the usually smiling face of Kakashi's rival, but before Naruto could quite place the deep emotion that those dark eyes betrayed, the cloud had passed and Gai laughed and congratulated Naruto while reminding Kakashi of that wise adage: 'say what you mean and mean what you say.' Kakashi plainly ignored him.