The scary part is not when they tear into each other – bruising, scratching, biting, moaning – no, it's the aftermath that unsettles Kakashi – when they're lying next to each other, and Gai rolls over to face him, invades his space to trace Kakashi's bottom lip with his thumb, to whisper tender nothings about ʻLoveʼ and ʻBeautyʼ into his ear – it is then that Kakashi realizes where this will end, that he can hear the voices of those he failed to protect in Gai's murmurs.

And finally, when Gai's lips brush across the scar, it feels like he's already gone, like he's already one of Kakashi's ghosts.