#Kakagai Fantasy Week

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Boring, Old Kakashi

@kakagaievents

Prompt: God/Human (Which we ALL know means Taryn has to return to the god of storms au of course)

Words: 2435

Spring had finally arrived.

The sun shone down on the village, melting every speckle of snow that had it touched. A light coat was sufficient to keep Gai warm when he left his home that morning, and had stayed sufficient throughout the day. Even when he’d taken his class out in the afternoon to enjoy some fresh air while learning about the history of their little village he hadn’t felt the sting of cold against his skin.

Spring had finally arrived, and there was only one thing missing to make it perfect.

“Rain,” he declared, chuckling when Kakashi’s eyes snapped open. He could tell that his lover had been close to falling asleep in the field they’d chosen for their afternoon hang out, but with just one word he was wide awake once again. A grumpy frown tugging down on his lips as he turned onto his side and stared at Gai.

“Rain?” tucking his arms under his head, he relaxed once more. “What about the rain?”

“That’s what we need to make today perfect,” lifting a hand, he pointed towards the sky above them. “If those clouds turned grey and it started to rain on us. Then today would be perfect.”

He could almost hear Kakashi rolling his eyes. “If it rain’s right now, we’ll be soaked.”

Truer words had never been spoken with so much love. If he’d been with anyone else, Kakashi would have rolled his eyes and berretted them for saying something so ridiculous. Gai, though, was a special case.

No matter what he said or did, Kakashi always looked at him with the same loving expression. As though there was nothing in the world he could do to make Kakashi fall out of love. 

Matching his lover’s movement, Gai turned onto his side and stared back into the soft onyx eyes. “If it rained right now, you’d smile,” he whispered back at his lover and watched as those beautiful eyes lit up with joy. “You’d get up and tilt your head back so those raindrops would fall directly on your face, and then you’d laugh.”

Kakashi rolled his eyes, but Gai knew he was right. The same thing happened every single time it rained, like clockwork. First Kakashi would complain about his clothes getting wet, and then he’d fall into a trance-like state where he just stood in one spot letting the rain soak into his clothing. 

It was always the most beautiful picture in the world. A painting of grey sky’s and brilliant green grass, with his lover there in the centre staring up at the skies as if he was speaking to the gods themselves. Thanking them for the beautiful rain that they had blessed their world with.

“They must love you.” He whispered without thought, laughing at himself when he realized what he had said.

“They?” Kakashi asked. “Who are you talking about?”

“The gods,” he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “The storm god especially. You must be one of their favourite mortals, no…” pausing, he chuckled at the thought of an all knowing, all powerful being staring down on their world watching Kakashi. His Kakashi, in all of his beauty standing outside in the open while the rain fell over him. “You must be their absolute favourite.”

Laughter rings through the air. It’s a fleeting sound, lasting only a few seconds before Kakashi clears his throat. “You are-” he raised his other hand and gently brushed his fingers over Gai’s cheek. “A god, in love with me. That’s quite the imagination.”

“Imagination?” Gai gasped, insulted by his lover’s words. “Hatake Kakashi, you seem to forget that you’re one of the most sought after men in this little village, which is an accomplishment for a man who doesn’t even live in the village.”

“Ah, but that’s a village of mortal’s,” falling back, Kakashi pointed up towards the sky where grey clouds began forming in front of the sun, almost as though they were being created by Kakashi himself. As if his hand guided them into the sky where they gathered together, slowly blocking out the sunlight that had warmed Gai’s skin just a few seconds ago. “Mortal’s are fickle and fleeting. No idea what they really want, but they’ll chase anything that they think is pretty.”

“So you agree?” Gai grinned when Kakashi looked back at him. “You think you’re pretty?”

More laughter, this time with a little more joy behind it. “Pretty, I guess.” Kakashi agreed as he waved his hand around a bit. Usually Gai would be captivated by his movements, but today he couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from the sky. With every wave of his hand, Kakashi seemed to move the clouds above. Warping them to his will so that the warm sunny day they’d just been enjoying disappeared in front of their eyes.

Gai knew that it was impossible. No mortal had the power to change the weather, and if the gods were real they had better things to do than hang out in a flower field with a small village teacher. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel like Kakashi was one of them.

The man he’d gotten to know over the last few years. Who’d visited his classroom and spoken to all of his students with that same soft smile. The farmer who showed up every day after the harvest with a basket full of fresh grown vegetables for Gai and his students to take home, even though he could sell them at the market for some extra ryo. 

Hatake Kakashi, the man he’d fallen in love with, a god. It all seemed so silly.

“They don’t like it, you know,” Kakashi continued to speak as his fingers danced through the air. “Beauty is something that they understand differently. Where mortals see beauty in the physical appearance, gods see so much more.”

“And you know this because?” he couldn’t help but ask. Kakashi seemed to speak as if he knew the gods intimately. As though he had a front row seat to the workings of their minds, and understood them in a way that Gai never could, no matter how many of their stories he read.

“I just…feel it,” the clouds seemed to swirl, light grey mixing into darker pigments. As if a rain cloud was being crafted in front of his very eyes. “Beauty is in the soul. The gods aren't going to fall for someone just because they’re physically pleasing to look at. They’re gods. They live forever. If there’s no soul, no personality, then what’s the point of giving their heart to someone who’s only destiny is to die and take a piece of the gods soul with them?”

The voice in his ear was beginning to sound less like his Kakashi. There was no boredom in his words, but rather a sadness that Gai had never heard before. An ache that radiated so strongly in every word he said that Gai could feel the pain as though it was his own.

“You feel it,” he laughed at his own words. Now that it was all laid out in front of him it seemed too obvious. Hatake Kakashi, the farmer from outside the village who always seemed to bring the rain with him and always looked his happiest when he was standing outside in the open beneath a shower of rain. The man who had stood in the back of Gai’s class listening to him regale his student’s with stories of the gods, and who always smiled just a little bit brighter whenever those stories included the god of storms and his mortal lover. All this time, Gai had never realized. Never entertained the thought that the man he’d fallen so completely in love with was one of the gods he told stories about. Not just any god, but the god of storms. The one with the stories that always captivated Gai, no matter how short they were. “So, should we head inside?”

The first rain drop struck his forehead. A small warning before the downpour washed over the world. What had started out as a beautiful sunny morning with his lover had swiftly turned into a storm with a god.

It was quite the twist. Something he would have expected to find in one of those old fables that he loved to read, but never expected to experience in his own life. 

“We could,” turning his eyes away from the sky, he couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw that Kakashi had closed his eyes and tilted his head back a little. Just enough so the rain was falling directly onto his face. “Or…”

Reaching out, he cupped Kakashi’s face in his hand. When had he moved his hand? That was a question he didn’t have an answer to, and he really didn’t care. All that mattered in this moment was the way Kakashi’s eyes opened. How those beautiful onyx eyes stared at him with a soft familiarity that Gai had always chalked up to as ‘love’ before, but which he understood just a bit better now.

Kakashi wasn’t staring at him as though he was in love. He was staring at him as though he was a precious gift from the world. A gift that could fly away at any moment, and which Kakashi would never be able to catch when it did.

“How long…” He asked, seeking out an answer to a question he didn’t really understand.

“Does it matter?” Kakashi answered with that same softness he always had in his voice when it was just the two of them.

“How long?” he asked once again as his thumb brushed a bit of hair away from Kakashi’s left eye. A move that was instantly rewarded with a flash of lightning. This lightning was different, though. It hadn’t come crashing down towards them from the sky. No, this lightning had been a brilliant shade of purple, and it had come from Kakashi’s eye. The left eye, to be exact. 

“How long has it been?” Kakashi asked his own question as rain cascaded down on them. “Or How long will it be?”

Gai hadn’t thought about the other question, but now that it had been suggested to him he couldn’t help but dwell on it. He’d read all of the stories, and knew how each of them ended.

The King who’d grown up beside a god but never knew it. Who’d never had the chance to hear how much the man he’d thought of as his best friend had loved him, because their relationship simply wasn’t meant to be. 

The knight who’d only met the god on his last night of life, and had been buried in a battlefield by that same god the next morning. A faint memory that hardly affected the history of the world, but was no less important to the god who had dared to love him.

The merchant who’d finally had a chance at love after years of knowing the god, but who’d died the day after he’d admitted his feelings. Killed in a raid on his village while protecting a young girl from the sharp edge of their attacker’s sword.

Which story would he follow? Was tonight his last opportunity to spend with the man he’d fallen so completely in love with, or did he finally have a lifetime? Would the god who’d seen him through so many different lives have an opportunity to smile for just a little bit longer before the cold bitter hurt consumed his heart once more?

Gai didn’t know the answer to that question, and he wasn’t sure he wanted one. If it was an answer that Kakashi had the displeasure of holding in his heart, he would have to keep it there because Gai didn’t care to hear it.

However much time they had, he’d make every second worth it. 

“I thought so,” Kakashi chuckled, as if he understood the conclusion that Gai had come to. “It doesn’t matter anyways.”

“But-”

A hand settled over Gai’s lips, silencing his next word. “It doesn’t matter,” Kakashi repeats, fond onyx eyes staring straight into his soul. “Look,” moving his hand back, he pointed back up to the sky. “You like rainbows, right?”

At the mention of rainbow’s Gai stared back up at the sky, straight into the most beautiful rainbow he’d ever seen. Peeking out from behind the grey clouds was a sliver of sunlight, which struck the falling rain and formed a brilliant arc of colours. Colours that seemed to shine a little brighter than normal.

“A god…” he whispered, his mind still swirling around the realisation. “In my little village…hanging out with me.”

“Hanging out?” Kakashi’s laughter echoed through the air once more, this time a lot brighter. More vibrant than Gai had ever heard it before. “Gai, I thought we were on a date.”

A god, but not just any god. The god of storms, who had given his heart to a moral centuries ago and never gotten it back. The god who had stories told of the love that spanned over life times, never faltering and never changing.

A god that was in love with him, a simple village teacher.

“A date,” a smile stretched across his lips, tender but proud. “A date with a god.”

“No,” Kakashi waved his hand and the rain clouds parted, allowing the sun to shine down on them as bright as it had just a few minutes before. “A date with Kakashi, the farmer from outside the village.”

Kakashi. His Kakashi. The man he’d met in the marketplace buying a book from the little stall that Choza owned. Not a god, but a simple man who loved growing crops and listening to stories of the god’s so long as it was Gai telling them.

“Kakashi,” he agreed, smiling back at his boyfriend. “Normal, boring Kakashi.”

“Normal, boring Kakashi,” his lover agreed with a tender smile as his eyes watched the sky above them. “I like the sounds of that.”

Settling back into his spot, Gai turned his eyes up to the sky and watched as the clouds moved along their way. No longer grey and heavy with rain, they seemed to float through the sky. Nothing to slow them down in their journey to the next destination.

It wasn’t the most exciting date he could think of, but it was perfect. Just him and Kakashi watching the sky in silence. A simple, boring day that would never make its way into legend.

A perfect way to spend his day, if you asked him.

[kakagaievents]

List of the KakaGai/GaiKaka events that took place throughout this year. 💜

By clicking on each one, you can access the respective masterlist and see all the works that were part of the event.

Please support all these fantastic works and their creators!

February 12th - February 18th

KakaGai Valentine's Week 2023

May 12th - May 16th

KakaGai Fantasy Event 2023

July 30th - August 03rd

KakaGai Smut Event 2023

October 28th - October 31st

KakaGai Halloween 2023

Thank you very much to all the people who participated and supported these events, all this was only possible thanks to you. 💜

Hopefully we will continue to have your support in future projects, and we will continue to share our love for Kakashi and Guy! ✨

[tranzfalgar]

kakagai fantasy week day three ; royal ball

@kakagaievents

[kalira]

Incompatible

Written for @kkgweek - Day 7: Future

T; 1.6k Kakashi/Gai

There's a lot going on in the month-long break between stages of the chuunin exams, and while Kakashi has been kept on his toes working with his team, his students have not been those most affected.

This is a sci-fi/science fantasy AU - Konoha is a star station and the magic ninja are now magic space ninja with tech enhancements.

[bougiebutchbitch]

I heard about Gai doesn't exist in Obito's perfect world, and eager to provide bits of scenes from manga, please bear it with me hehe

I wonder why Asuma, Kurenai (fellow Jounin Sensei), Genma, Ebisu (literally Gai's teammates), Hayate, Aoba (even I forgot about them) and freaking Iruka (who isn't even their generation) were there but Gai wasn't.

Gai : In his dream, he smiled at everyone but me? 😡

In this panel Gai exists, although was quite far away from Obito (and Kakashi).

And on this panel Gai (and his genin team, wtf Obito!) are also absent and I had no idea why Kakashi is as big as Killer B in Obito's comrade fantasy.

Another Team Gai being absent (well Obito you do... kill Neji...)

Obito opted to take Gai out first before naruto who is his target and Kakashi who is Rin's "killer" and the holder of his intangibility counter.

There are also some beef from Gai's side, like this little side eye

Gai surged forward to fight the battle-ready Kakashi, only for Obito to stand in front of him and be kicked mercilessly (you should thank Gai, Obito, he saved you from choking).

Gai's sour grimace when he knew who is behind the mask and his harsh words to Kakashi was like dude wth I worked so hard to pull my rival out of his depressive state.

So yeah, the semi-headcanon that Obito and Gai don't really like each other is quite funny and valid haha

This has made my entire week. Obikaka = frenemies-to-enemies-to-lovers, Kakagai = childhood 'rivals' and besties to lovers, Gaibito = hate loathe maul bite kill

[narutoevents]

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<< 2020 (Archived)  -  2022 (TBA) >>

[ao3feed-kakagai]

by Kalira

There's a lot going on in the month-long break between stages of the chuunin exams, and while Kakashi has been kept on his toes working with his team, his students have not been those most affected.

Words: 1579, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Naruto

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai | Might Guy, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)

Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy

Additional Tags: KakaGai Week 2019, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, Magic Space Ninja, Hurt/Comfort, Cybernetics, Aliens, Symbiotic Relationship, Chuunin Exams, Alternate Universe - Space

[depressedhatakekakashi]

No Romance For Me Today

@kakagaievents

Prompt: Mythology

Words: 3719

Wednesday, six o’five pm.

Gai stared at the clock that hung over the shelf full of romance books, watching as the seconds ticked by. It was only five minutes, but he found it difficult not to worry.

Every wednesday at six pm sharp the bookshops door would swing in and Hatake Kakashi would walk in looking like the most beautiful person Gai had ever seen.

It didn’t matter if the man looked like he was about to collapse from sleep deprevation, or if he had his nose buried in the last book he bought trying desperatly to finish it before he continued on to find himself a new book for the week.

No matter what, Kakashi always looked like a gift from the gods to Gai. Perhaps he didn’t believe in whatever gods had carefully crafted Kakashi into the being of utter cool perfection that he was, but that didn’t matter.

Some devine being had to have had a hand in making Kakashi the exact way he was, abd they had to have had Gai in mind while they were working. There was no other explanation for why he ticked every box in Gai’s long list of ‘datable traits’. 

Every wendsday Gai was greeted with that beautiful face and that charming attitude, and no matter how poorly his day had gone before it would always cheer him up.

Except, today Kakashi was late.

Six minutes late according to the clock, which was still ticking away unbothered the absence of that handsome, cool man that Gai always looked forward to seeing.

The one whom his heart skipped for. Who could always make him smile, no matter what he was talking about. Gai would happily listen to the other man blabber about the latest romance novel he read, or the importance of a well balanced diet for all of the dogs he claimed to have. 

“If only he’d show up,” he sighed, eyes glued on the clock as the big hand shifted forward, now pointing at the seven. “Where could he be?”

At that moment, as if the universe was listening to his complaints and decided to take pity on him, the shop door swung open and struck the little bell that hung over it. Gai’s head whipped up, wincing when a muscle in the back of his neck was tugged a little too hard. 

That was a pain he’d be feeling for the next two days, but it was worth it because he was rewarded with the sweetest sight.

Hatake Kakashi stood there at the door in all of his messy haired glory, a picture so beautiful that Gai wouldn't dare drag his eyes away even if he could. 

There was only one problem. Rather than greeting Gai with a cheerful smile that was only visible in the way his eyes curved downwards and the subtle tilt of his head, Kakashi gave him a defeated look.

A look that wove tales of a long, difficult night that no words could ever hope to explain.

“Please, don’t ask,” Kakashi sighed, putting a stop to all of the questions stirring in Gai’s mind. “I do not have the energy to explain it all.”

With that conversation shoved to the side, Kakashi focused on rubbing his shoes against the mat that greeted customers upon their entrance with the words ‘A Spouse is for Life, but a book is forever’. 

Redirecting his attention, Gai snatched the book he’d set off to the side for just this moment and proudly held it up beside his face. “I have something that will put a smile right back on your face,” he promised. “It’s brand new. I just got it in last night and the reviews are pretty impressive . Look,” turning the book around, he jabbed a finger against the back. Right under the name of Kakashi’s favourite author. “Jiraiya even reviewed it and he says it’s quite impressive.” 

Kakashi’s eyes locked onto the book, but instead of the unrestrained excitement that Gai had been hoping to see sparkling in Kakashi’s eyes, he was greeted instead with a look of utter hopelessness.

“Thank you, Gai, but I think i’ll stay away from the romance section for today.” words that Gai thought he would never hear in his lifetime were now being spoken directly towards him and the only thing he could do was stand there staring at Kakashi as though he’d grown a second head. His mind raced to think up a reason for the sudden change in Kakashi’s attitude today, sifting through all of the pausable answers and dismissing them as he went along.

Was he having a bad dream? No, a small pinch of the skin on the back of his hand ruled out that answer. 

Could Kakashi be sick? Although he looked worse for wear there was nothing that Gai could see that would indicate he had a fever that would cause him to refuse his favorite genre of books.

“Gai,” Trotting through the little store, Kakashi stopped directly in front of the till and stared at Gai with a tired expression. “I’m sorry, I’ll take the book. I just-” he reached out to claim the book from Gai’s hands, but before he could Gai moved it back. Just out of reach of those slender fingers that Gai had watched flip through the pages of countless books. 

“No no,” he insisted, placing the book back beside his till and beginning to think. “If you’re not in the mood for romance that’s fine. The book can wait until next week, or the week after that.”

Or whenever you feel well enough to return to being that romance loving dork that I fell in love with.

Banishing that thought from his mind, Gai focused instead of thinking of a different book that Kakashi might enjoy reading. Something that would get his mind off of romance, or perhaps provide him with that little bit of romance he thrived off of while not having it as the main theme. 

A book that was sure to brighten his day. 

“Ah!” An idea struck him suddenly. “I have the perfect one.” making his way around the till, he stepped out and ushed Kakashi to follow him. “They’re actually pretty special. Usually I get my stock on tuesdays.”

“Mhmm,” Kakashi nodded, following Gai through the tiny shop towards the back end where a bookshelf labeled ‘History’ sat. “That’s why I come on Wednesdays.”

“Well, I got this one in just today,” he continued, scanning the bookshelf for that brilliant navy blue cover that had caught his eyes when he first opened the book that morning. It’s supposed to be really good. The writer, Sage, apparently has a talent for weaving tales and they’ve decided to use that talent for mythology.”

It only took a second to locate the book. With beautiful cursive writing on the spine and a bolt of lighting at the bottom it was a hard book to miss.Gai had almost purchased one for himself, but he’d thought better of it. There was little time for him to read between school, work and his daily workouts. Kakashi, though. He was someone who would get through the five hundred page book with ease.

 “And what’s so special about it?” Kakashi asked, eyeing the enormous book with an uneasy expression.

“Well…” thinking it over, Gai found himself with no real explanation. There was nothing about the book that matched Kakashi’s usual reading habits, and he’d never seen the other man carry anything bigger than two hundred pages. He wasn’t sure why this book had come to mind over everything else in the little store, but it seemed perfect. As if it had somehow been made specifically for Kakashi. 

“Nevermind,” waving away his question, Kakashi held out a hand. “It’s better than suffocating myself with more stupid romance.”

Hearing those words, Gai took a step back and moved the book away from Kakashi’s grasp, just as he had done with the first book except this time it was a movement he had made without any real thought.

There was no reason for him to keep the book from Kakashi, but there was something gnawing on his mind. A question that he needed an answer to before he gave up such a precious object.

“Why?”

Kakashi stared at him with a blank expression. “I don’t understand,” he admitted, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy. “Why what?’

There were a hundred ways Gai could think of to ask his question. Fifty of them would be to personal and likely end with Kakashi rolling his eyes and giving a half answer, and the other fifty were too vague. Either way, Gai was sure Kakashi would find a way to squirm his way out of answering and he’d end up giving him the book without knowing what was on his mind.

Still, Gai felt that he had to ask. Even if he didn’t get a straight answer his question could let Kakashi know that he wasn’t alone. That he didn’t need to keep his thoughts all to himself, locked away from the rest of the world.

“Why are you so adverse to romance today?” the words struck hard. Gai could tell because Kakashi immediately averted his eyes and his shoulder’s slumped in a posture that he could only describe as defeat.

Whatever had happened, it was bad. Really bad.

“I just…” biting his lower lip, Kakashi eyed the book in Gai’s hand for a moment. “I really don’t want to explain, Gai.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“That’s not it at all,” he insisted. “I’ve just had a really bad week.”

Week.

Gai had expected to hear that Kakashi had experienced a bad day, and he was prepared to offer any solutions that he could to perk his friend up, but a bad week was different. That was a whole lot of terrible that Gai wasn’t sure he was equipped to help fight against.

Still, he had to try. If only because he wanted to see Kakashi smile again.

“What kind of a bad week?” he pushed, laying the book down in his hands and cracking it open so that Kakashi could see the beautiful art that decorated the inside. With the main character of the book, the god of storms, standing in the middle of a field of flowers surrounded by his eight beautiful dog’s. Each of the dog’s looked regular, one even resembling the small pug that Kakashi sometimes brought into the store with him, but there was one special trait that stood out in the picture. The lightning that seemed to surround them, extending outwards from their bodies as if it was coming from them. 

The move worked. Kakashi’s eyes immediately brightened up when he saw the art. His fingers hovered by his leg, twitching slightly. As if Kakashi was holding himself back from snatching the book right out of Gai’s hands.

After a moment of silence, Kakashi sighed. “I …went on a few dates.”

Gai tried his best not to let the hurt show in his eyes. He knew he didn’t have any sort of claim to Kakashi, but it still stung hearing that someone else had managed to gather up the courage to ask him out. Something that Gai, a man known for his outgoing personality and unbending determination, had found impossible to manage.

“A date,” he repeated, mulling over the word. “But that’s good, isn’t it? Going out on a date means that you got to go to dinner. You got to talk about your favorite book.”

There was no one in the world who could resist Kakashi’s charm when he was gushing about the latest novel he’d read. At least, Gai knew for certain that he couldn’t. Everytime Kakashi started on one of his passionate discussions about the books he read Gai found himself getting wrapped up in them. As if Kakashi was tugging him along, introducing him to each character and warning him of all of the danger that they would face on their journey’s.

He’d tried reading a few of the book’s Kakashi had told him about, but they never turned out to be as good as Kakashi said they were. That, or he simply preferred hearing them from Kakashi more.

‘Surely anyone who has the opportunity to listen to him for five minutes would fall in love with him.’ he thought. ‘I can’t be the only one’

Kakashi’s expression told a different story, though. These weren’t dates that ended with first kisses and hopes for a second, more spectacular date.

No, what Gai found himself staring at was an expression of hopelessness. A look that one would only have if they’d found themselves facing a brick wall after journeying for hours to locate a beautiful garden.

“I just…I’m not really someone who should be dating,” Kakashi whispered, speaking words that Gai knew he could never agree with. “No matter what I do I seem to disappoint everyone I go out with, and I’ve gone out a lot.”

Gai turned his eyes towards the open book in his hands. He hadn’t read the stories written across those beautiful gold edge pages, but he’d heard a few of them in the mythology class he took last year. Stories of the god of storms, awkward and often misunderstood by mortals and gods alike. 

When he’d first met Kakashi he’d found himself thinking about those stories. About how much the god of storms reminding him of his passionate, if sometimes awkward, friend. 

“Perhaps you just haven’t found the right person.” he whispered, surprised by the words that slipped past his mouth. 

“The right person?” Kakashi grumbled. “Is there even such a person? All anyone seems to want from me is some mysterious, aloof cool guy that they can prop up on a pedestal and show to other’s. They want a trophy and they’re always disappointed when they realize that i’m not that shiny trophy that they made me out to be in their mind.”

A trophy. Gai couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.

A trophy was something to be kept on display, shown to everyone who passed by. An object that one could hold out to others and say ‘look what I accomplished. Can you do this?’. 

There was a whole display of trophies in Gai’s tiny apartment. Race trophies, soccer trophies, wrestling trophies. Gai was immensely proud of each one of them, but they didn’t compare to Kakashi.

Trophies didn’t gush about books while smiling as bright as the stars that decorated the night sky. They didn’t laugh when Gai challenged them to a silly competition, or blush when he offered to buy coffee the next time they visited him. 

Trophies were nice, but they were nothing compared to Hatake Kakashi. Why anyone would want a trophy when they could have something so much better was beyond him.

Shutting the book, he held it out towards Kakashi. A small offering that he could only hope helped mend some of the pain in Kakashi’s heart. 

“You’re not a trophy,” he assured him, smiling when Kakashi’s eyes widened. “You’re so much more than that, Kakashi. Anyone who can’t see that isn’t worthy of your attention or your dedication.”

For a second it looked as thought Kakashi was about to start crying. There was a tear that seemed to linger in the edge of his eye, but before it could fall Kakashi lifted a hand and gently wiped it away.

“Is there?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically weak. “And if there is, why can’t I find them? Why can’t I have the same story as Emiko-san, or Hashirama-san?” Both names came from different books, but Gai recognized them none the less. Emiko was the main character of ‘Tidal waves’, the first book that Gai had saved specifically for Kakashi’s wednesday visit and proudly presented to him as soon as he walked through the doors. Hashirama was the name of the main character from Jiraiya’s first book, and the one Kakashi always seemed to compare to every other character he met in his books. “What if-”

Knowing where the conversation was about to go, Gai stepped forward and pressed a finger intoer the centre of Kakashi’s chest. Not hard enough to force him backwards, but enough to get him out of his head and back into reality. 

“None of that,” he insisted. “That person is out there, Kakashi. They’re waiting for you, they just…they might not know how to broach the subject with you.” Kakashi laughed at that. Not the sweet joyful laugh that Gai had come to adore, but a bitter angry laugh that sent chills down his spine.

“And who would be stupid enough to want me?” he asked. “So many people have shown interest. They’ve always been the one’s to ask me out and I’ve always said yes because that’s what you’re supposed to do, right? You give people a chance because they might be the one.”

“You’re getting lost in your stories again,” laying his hand out against Kakashi’s chest, he sighed. “Not everything has to be like the books. Sometimes you’re allowed to turn people down.”

Kakashi huffed. “It would be nice if my other friends thought the same way as you do,” he grumbled. “Still, at some point there should have been someone who at least liked speaking with me, right? Not everyone should look so damn offended when i open my mouth.”

“Not everyone is offended when you open your mouth.

“You know what I mean,” he groaned, rolling his eyes. “You, Obito, Kurenai, Asuma, Yamato. All of you seem to be fine with me talking your ear off, but none of you want to date me so it’s different.”

Gai bit his tongue. He wanted to tell Kakashi how wrong he was. To assure him that he would happily date him, if only he had the opportunity. This was Kakashi’s moment to vent, though, and Gai was certain he’d only make things worse if he suddenly started confessing all of his pent up feelings to him. 

“I just…I don’t want to read another story where the hero gets everything they want,” he sighed, lowering his gaze to the floor. “I can’t handle seeing someone else get everything they could ever want, while I can’t even get someone who wants to spend more than five minutes speaking with me.”

A hero that doesn’t get everything they want.

Gai’s focus returned to the book he was holding. Through all of his mythology classes he’d always found himself thinking one thing over and over again.

The god of storms always gets the unhappy ending.

Even with a mortal lover and an immortal lover, it always seemed like the hero of these stories always got the short end of the stick. Someone would die, or there would be a goodbye at the end of the story.

It always seemed to him as though nothing ever worked out, even though the focus of the story was a god. Someone who everyone could understand getting exactly what he wanted. 

“Here,” he gave in and held the book out to Kakashi. “If that’s what you want, then I think this will be the perfect book for you.”

Levelling his eyes on the book, Kakashi took a deep breath. “You’re sure?”

“Well, I haven’t read it myself,” he shrugged. “But I know a bit about the subject and while there is romance in some of the fables I can confidently say that it never ends the same way that your romance novels do.”

Lifting his hands, Kakashi took hold of the book and slowly extracted it from Gai’s grasp without any struggle. “It is beautiful,” he whispered as his eyes traced over the golden letters that formed the title. “And it’ll take a while to get through.”

“A week, or maybe two if you take it slow,” Gai snickered at his own terrible joke. He knew Kakashi was a fast reader, but with university and every other responsibility that came with life there was no way he’d finish the book before his next visit to the little bookshop. “But there’s no rush. Either way I’ll have another book for you next week.”

He’d keep the one he’d already saved for Kakashi, just in case he decided to return to the genre he loved so much. If not, he was sure to find something else. There was a whole bookshop to look through, and a whole slew of topics he knew Kakashi would enjoy. 

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome,” he grinned. “And, Kakashi,” familiar black eyes stared at him, waiting for him to say whatever would come out of his mouth next. “There is someone out there for you.”

The sound Kakashi made was somewhere between a huff and a snort. Unattractive if it had come from anyone else, but easily one of the most beautiful sounds Gai had ever heard, if only because it was Kakashi who made it. “Can you point them towards me if you see them?” 

Thinking about it, he smiled. “I think I can manage to do that, yes.”

It would take a lot of work, and a whole lot of confidence that he seemed to lack when it came to opening his heart to Kakashi, but Gai was a determined man. If there was something he needed to do, he would do it. He just needed time to figure out how to do it, and time for Kakashi to heal from the hurt that was plaguing his heart today.  

“Until then,” he turned back towards the front of the store and began walking, a smile stretching across his face when he heard Kakashi falling into step behind him. “I have doughnuts and tea from the shop down the street, and a lot of work to do. Think you’re up to keeping me company?”

Behind him, Kakashi laughed for the first time that evening. A small, endearing laugh that awoke a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies inside of Gai’s stomach. They bounced around, fluttering and twisting around until Gai could no longer hold back his own laughter.

“Gai,” Kakashi caught up to him with one giant step and gently bumped their shoulders together. “I’m always happy to keep you company. Especially when you feed me.”

[depressedhatakekakashi]

To Redaku

@kakagaievents

Prompt: Happily Ever After

Words: 1653

Fifteen days was an exceptionally long time to be out on the road, especially in situations like the one Kakashi currently found himself in with Gai swinging from one tree to the next while he trudged through the mud holding his husband's wheelchair over his head.

Not the best way to start out their official retirement, but still somehow better than the hundred other things he could be doing with his life.

“Having fun down there, rival?” Gai called down to him, a smile on his face when Kakashi looked up at him. “Make sure none of the mud gets on my wheels or we’ll have to spend the entire night cleaning them once we get out of here.”

“Right” Kakashi snorted at the thought of him and Gai sitting by a nice fire wiping away mud while their dinner simmered in the small pot they’d packed. A pot that was currently hanging off of the bag on Gai’s back. “I’ll make sure to keep it away from the mud, don’t worry.”

The last time he’d taken this road he hadn’t had nearly as many problems, though he had also been alone during that trip. Gai’s wheelchair was what had presented them with a problem when they found the path in front of them had turned into a muddy mess thanks to the rain that had fallen overnight. He only hoped that this was the only part of their journey that would prove to be difficult for them.

“So,” Gai continued to swing, keeping himself a fair distance ahead while Kakashi dragged his feet through the mud. “Tell me about Redaku.”

“I’ve told you about it.”

“Tell me more,” he insisted, catching the next branch with ease and heaving himself up onto it. “This is the place you want us to retire to after all, so I should know as much about it as I can.”

“I didn’t say we were going to stay here.” though he had to admit, that was the insinuation. He hadn’t really thought things through too much before suggesting the move. All he could think about was Nanara and the small village that had welcomed him so openly. The country that needed a strong leader, and the leader that still needed a tutor. 

Kakashi wasn’t sure he was the best person for the job, but it was still a job he wanted to do. One he could take pride in.

“Don’t lie to me, Rival,” Gai laughed as he planted his good foot on the branch and stood up, his damaged leg bent so that it hovered in the air behind him. “We both know this is where we’re retiring.”

“Well, maybe,” he wasn’t adverse to the thought. Redaku wasn’t Konoha by any stretch, and he’d miss all of the precious people he’d come to cherish in the village, but it was time for a change. “You’ll like it I think. It’s quaint.”

Bending his leg, Gai sprang toward the next tree. “Quaint,” his voice danced through the air. A pleasant sound that brought a smile to Kakashi’s face even when he was ankle deep in mud. “Does this quaint village have an Onsen?”

The smile dropped off of his face. “No,” he grumbled under his breath, annoyed by the reminder that he was giving up Konoha’s Onsen’s for a quieter life away from the busy streets of Konoha. “I might have to convince Tenzo to pay us a visit and build one.”

Maybe he’d be able to smooth talk Tenzo into staying with them. Orochimaru was Naruto’s problem now, and Tenzo deserved to relax. He’d done more than enough in his short lifetime to earn a nice retirement. 

“No Onsen, and none of our precious students. What exactly is there in this village that you like so much again?” 

There was no appropriate answer he could think of. No reason he could come up with to explain his sudden desire to move. All he had was a gut feeling that they needed to leave. That their lives in Konoha had finished and it was time to move on.

Kakashi didn’t make a habit of listening to his gut over emotions or logic, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. Redaku was calling to him and he had no reason to say no. 

“I see,” Gai chuckled. “Even you don’t know why, do you?”

Up ahead, Kakashi could see the end of the mud soaked road. A path that would free him from the weight of Gai’s wheelchair hanging over his head and allow him a moment’s reprieve to clean his feet and relax. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted, keeping an eye on the road ahead of him. “All I know for sure is it will be good for us.”

Gai dropped down from the tree’s at that moment, his good foot touching down on the clear road just ahead. “Good for us,” he repeated, turning his head to look back at Kakashi. “How can you be sure?”

A shrug of his shoulders is the only explanation Kakashi could offer as he dragged his feet through the last few inches of mud and placed the wheelchair down beside Gai. “Like I said, I don’t know. It’s just a…”

“A feeling?” Gai’s grin grew wider. “Hatake Kakashi, are you following a gut feeling?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“For me? No,” slipping his backpack off, Gai handed it off to Kakashi before grabbing the wheelchair and spinning it towards himself. “For you? A little bit, yes.” He dropped into the chair with a low, satisfied groan.

Lifting his foot out of the mud, Kakashi stepped onto solid ground for the first time in twenty minutes and claimed his freedom from his muddy prison. “Come on now,” he groaned, glaring at the pair of mud soaked feet. “It’s Redaku. The land of Legend.”

“Legend,” Gai rolled his eyes. “How many books have you read about it?”

“Before or after visiting?”

“To date,” His husband clarified. “I know for a fact you read more after you met the old king. There were at least five new books on the bookshelf at home.”

Thinking about it for a moment, he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not really sure,” he admitted. “Maybe nine?”

Nine wasn’t a lot of books for Kakashi. He could easily read nine books in a month if he had the time, and only one or two of them would be from his Icha Icha collection, but for others it could be a lot.

Gai enjoyed reading at times, but he’d never been as much of a reader as Kakashi. Two books a month was usually his maximum and even then he’d only read after a long day of training and hanging out with friends.

“Nine,” his husband repeated with a shake of his head, a fond smile stretching across his face. “You say that as if it’s nothing.”

“Well, it is nothing,” he argued. “At least to me. You’ve seen my book collection.”

“You mean the Konoha library?” Gai joked. “Yes, I’ve seen it.”

It was a small jab at his love for books, but Kakashi didn’t mind. If he was going to go down in history for any of his accomplishments, installing a library that anyone could borrow books and scrolls from seemed like a pretty good one to be remembered for. 

“Fine,” placing his hands on the wheels, Gain manoeuvred himself around so he was facing the correct way down the path. “You can tell me some of those legends while we walk.”

The words hit him like a punch directly to the gut. A punch that came from Genma, or Ebisu. Not too painful, but enough to make him feel like he’d actually been hit. “You want me to tell you the stories?” he clarified, dreading the rest of their walk more than the mud he’d just trudged through. “I have one of them with me. You can read it when we set up camp.”

“I could,” Gai agreed. “But all stories sound better when you tell them to me.”

A compliment. Kakashi could ignore it, but the sweet smile that Gai shot his way right after was too much for him to handle. He’d never admit it out loud, but Gai’s smile was a weakness of his. Something he simply couldn’t ignore no matter how much he wanted to.

“A story,” he grumbled, thinking back to all of the fables that he’d read about Redaku. “Well, you like action so how about the one about the Queen who fought off an army of one hundred shinobi to protect her country?”

Gai’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Yes!” He declared, already beginning to wheel himself down the path. “That’s the perfect story to listen to during the last bit of our journey. One with a great fight and a ‘happily ever after’ sort of ending.”

Not wanting to be left behind, Kakashi quickly fell into step with Gai. There was still one day’s worth of walking between them and Redaku, meaning they’d be spending at least one more night camping out in the open before they would make it to their destination. Even without an Onsen to look forward to, Kakashi found himself looking forward to their arrival.

He was most excited to see Nanara again. For the last five years he’d been helping the young king with his studies through letters and packages, sending him new books to read at least once a month. However, he hadn’t been able to actually visit since the last time he was in Nagare. There was still so much for him to do in Konoha that he simply hadn’t found the time to return until now. 

“Now, where does it begin again?” he whispered, thinking back to the fable he’d read in at least three different books about Redaku. “Oh, right! Once upon a time there was an intelligent, determined queen-”

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Choosing a Lover

@kakagaievents

Prompt: Royal Ball

Words: 2864

Music echoes through the hallway, calling for Kakashi to return to the hall where everyone is gathered. He could still hear all the guests laughing and chatting amongst each other. Guessing which lucky Prince or Princess would be chosen by Gai to marry him.

If only they knew the truth.

“Sir, we really should return,” he tried to argue, but Gai continued down the hallway unhindered, dragging him along behind him. “I know the party was boring, but-”

“Boring,” Gai grumbled, fingers digging into Kakashi’s wrist. “It wasn’t just boring. It’s a waste of time. I’m meant to sit there talking to people that I don’t want to talk to.”

“You love talking to people,” Kakashi interrupted. “In fact, I don’t think there’s a day that goes by where you don’t talk to someone new.”

Gai glared back at him but continued on his way. Even when faced with the reality of his own personality, and the strangeness of this whole situation, he refused to stop.“This is different. You know it is.”

“Because you’re expected to choose a spouse?”

“It’s not just that,” his grip loosened, freeing Kakashi from the pain of having Gai’s nails digging into his skin. “Father won’t listen. No one will. They don’t care that I don’t want to choose a spouse out of a room full of Princesses and Princes’ from other kingdoms. They won’t listen to me.”

“Well, how can they listen when what you say seems ridiculous?” Stopping in his tracks, Gai turned to face Kakashi. A hard, angry look in his eyes. “Am I wrong?”

“You know you are,” he released his hold on Kakashi’s arm and took a step forward. Closing the already small gap between them so that he was now standing nose to nose with Kakashi. “There is nothing ridiculous about my choice.”

“A prince, marrying a guard.” Kakashi couldn’t help but laugh at the thought even though he wished just as much as Gai that it could be different. It wasn’t possible, though. A Prince was destined to marry royalty. No matter how much he wanted things to be different, they couldn’t be. 

He could love Gai for the rest of his life, and he probably would. Those feelings would do nothing to change the reality that they were living in. A reality which demanded Gai choose a spouse who would help improve his kingdom’s defences and whom he could rule beside as equals. 

Raising a hand, Gai curled his middle finger towards his palm and placed his thumb over the tip. Only a seconds worth of warning, but it was enough for Kakashi to close his eyes and brace for the impact of Gai’s finger flicking against his forehead. “Ow.” 

“It wasn’t hard enough to hurt,” Gai scolded him with a light, friendly laugh. A sound that Kakashi had become rather addicted to over the years. It was always so pleasant to listen to and never failed to make his heart stop for just a moment, as if it was overwhelmed by the sweetness of that sound. “And I told you to stop saying crap like that. So what if the Prince wants to marry his handsome, dashing, courageous royal guard? What’s wrong with that?”

“Would you like the list alphabetically or numerically according to the law?” Another flick to the forehead, this time with a little bit more force. “Really, you’re being too stubborn,” he grumbled while rubbing a hand over the area Gai had struck. “Most people would trip over themselves to marry any of those people.”

“I am not most people.” no truer words had ever been said. There were a hundred things that Kakashi could think of that set Gai apart from ‘other people’. From the way he smiled so bright that he shone brighter than the sun itself, to his kind attitude towards every single person he met. Gai was certainly one of a kind, and someone out there had to be lucky enough to marry him. 

“In that case, do you have a reason as to why you won’t marry any of them?” Kakashi asked, raising a hand to silence Gai before he even opened his mouth. “Without mentioning me.”

Gai narrowed his eyes, but even with such restrictions he was not one to turn down a challenge, and that was exactly what Kakashi had just presented him with. A challenge to come up with a reason not to marry any of the people he had met today. 

“Let’s start off easy,” a smile stretched across Kakashi’s face, hidden by the mask he wore over the lower part of his face but still visible in the way his eyes crinkled in the corners. “Prince Obito comes from a wealthy, successful kingdom.”

Not even two seconds into the conversation and Gai was already rolling his eyes. “Prince Obito also has a preference for Princess Rin that everyone with working eyes can see, and even if he didn’t why would I marry someone who seems determined to pick a fight with my royal guard every chance he gets.”

“It was two arguments-” Kakashi began to argue, only to be cut off by yet another flick to the forehead. 

“Two arguments too many,” Gai insisted. “I do not wish to spend my life watching my spouse and my best friend arguing every time they are in the same room.”

Crossing that name off of the list, Kakashi moved onto the next one. “Princess Anko? She’s smart, has a high level of energy like you, and enjoys reptiles.”

“She enjoys snakes,” Gai clarified for him. “I enjoy Turtles and Tortoises. Her pets would eat mine.”

“I am certain that if the two of you were to marry we could find a safe place for her to keep all of her snakes, far away from Ninegame and all of the little turtles you keep in the garden.”

“I- she also has a fondness of poison that causes me to worry for my own safety when I’m around her.” 

That one Kakashi would give him. Although Princess Anko’s interest in poisons was different from others, leading her to seek out a way to become immune to all known poisons, it was still a dangerous interest. One that could easily result in Gai being the unwilling test subject to some interesting new antidotes she may decide to create. 

Another option crossed off of the shrinking list.

“Prince Asuma,” he continued, determined to find one that Gai could agree to. “He comes from a well off kingdom.”

“His Kingdom is at war almost all the time,” Gai argued. “If I marry him I am making an alliance with his father that would force me to send troops into any war between his kingdom and another. My people deserve better than that.”

A touching, well thought out reason to turn down a potential marriage candidate, though Kakashi had a feeling that Prince Asuma’s use of Tobacco which his kingdom received from overseas allies was something else that Gai would be unable to tolerate in a marriage. 

There was only one option left from the Princess and Princes that had already been introduced to Gai. Someone that Kakashi was certain Gai couldn’t find a single fault in no matter how hard he tried. 

Stepping around Gai, he leaned in close and whispered into his ear. “That leaves, Princess Rin!” He shouted her name and laughed when Gai jumped into the air. 

“Kakashi, don’t do that,” the prince glared at him while clutching a hand over his heart. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“I think it would take a bit more to kill you than a little scare, sir,” he bowed his head in apology. “Princess Rin comes from a smaller kingdom. The alliance would do little to benefit our army, though you’ve made it clear you would rather avoid war at all costs.”

One of many beliefs that Kakashi shared with his prince, and which had helped him to fall in love with a man that he was never destined to have. 

“She’s smart,” he continued. “When the two of you spoke you seemed to be enjoying yourself.”

“I was…” Gai grumbled. “But she’s not-”

“Not what?” Kakashi interrupted. “Not strong willed? I think you’d find yourself mistaken in that assumption if only you would watch her interact with anyone who attempts to speak down on her. Not interesting enough? Have you asked her about anything that interests you? I’m sure she would have something to say that would make you smile. Not-”

With every word he said Gai seemed to get more and more annoyed. At first it was just his eyebrows pinching together slightly, and then bit his bottom lip, as though he was attempting to hold his words back. Gai’s patience could only last so long, though, and before Kakashi could even think of another reason why Rin was a good match for the Prince, he found himself being drawn into a hug.

A bone crushing, breath destroying hug. 

“Gai,” he wheezed, gasping when the tight grip of Gai’s hug was loosened. He didn’t drop the hug, but he did allow Kakashi the opportunity to breathe properly which was still appreciated.

“She’s not- you,” he heard the words that Gai whispered, but he couldn’t believe them. Even when faced with what was essentially a perfect match for him, Gai was still clinging to something that they couldn’t have.

Something that Kakashi wanted just as much as him. Which his heart ached for, but which he could never have no matter how much he wanted it.

Yet, where Kakashi had admitted defeat and settled for a quiet, happy life standing at his lover’s side, Gai refused to give up. No matter how many times Kakashi, or anyone else, told him that it wasn’t possible he continued to hold on.

As if the sheer power of his will would change anything.

“She’s not me,” Kakashi found himself agreeing. “But that’s good.” Gai’s  head whipped back, wide terrified eyes staring at Kakashi as if he had just suggested starting a war with another kingdom.

“Good?” His voice cracked and all Kakashi could do was look away. Pretend that his heart wasn’t aching at the thought of watching the man he loved marry someone else. “Kakashi, there’s nothing good about marrying someone I don’t love.”

“It’s good,” Kakashi repeated, trying to convince himself just as much as Gai. “It’s…” Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and straightened himself up before turning his gaze back onto Gai. “you’re a Prince. Prince’s marry royalty. I am not royalty.”

“No, you’re Kakashi,” Gai insisted, as if those words washed away any of the obstacles standing between them and a happy, married life. “You’re my Kakashi. Kind, strong, dedicated.”

“Your knight.”

“My Kakashi,” Gai spoke a little firmer, his hand coming up to rest against Kakashi’s neck. “The friend I grew up with. Who I raced around the garden’s with as a kid. Whose dog’s love to sleep on my lap.”

Such sweet compliments made Kakashi’s knees weak. Where anyone else would be glared at for daring to try and soften him with kind words, Gai always seemed to succeed. Even when Kakashi didn’t want him to. 

“Gai, I-” there were so many things he wanted to say. Law’s rolling around in his mind one after the other, begging to be listed out to Gai so that he could remember just why they couldn’t do what they wanted.

Why, no matter how much Kakashi wished he could join in on Gai’s optimism and stubbornness, he simply couldn’t. 

“”None of them are you, Kakashi,” Gai continued to insist, ignoring all logic in favour of emotions. “I just want you. Not some Prince with an army to back him up, or a Princess who can keep me entertained in conversation. I want Hatake Kakashi, the youngest knight to grace our kingdom. The boy who refused to see a Prince when we were younger, and instead chose to see a friend.”

Kakashi laughed at his own foolishness. As a child he had believed there was no difference between himself and Gai. He’d understood that Gai was a prince and that their destiny’s were already written out for them, but he’d allowed himself to entertain the thought of them being equals. 

A thought that had crumbled away from his mind the first time the king’s advisor’s pulled him aside and reminded him of his place, and of Gai’s need to marry royalty.

“I am Kakashi,” he spoke, unsure of his own words but determined to say them regardless. “I am your Kakashi. Your knight, who will protect you from anything and everyone. Just as I have sworn to do, but…”

His resolve crumbled in an instant. Not because of those sad, broken eyes staring deep into his soul, and not because of the desire deep inside of his heart to change everything and be the one to marry Gai.

It crumbled simply because he didn’t have the strength to continue fighting about something that he had no control over.

“I love you,” he whispered, speaking the same words he had dared to utter to Gai far too many times over the last five years. Always spoken in secret, shared just between the two of them. “You know I do, Gai.”

“I know,” a smile tugged at Gai’s lips and Kakashi wished at that moment that he could take a snapshot of this moment. Savour that sweet, gentle smile for the rest of his life. “And I love you.”

“And you know,” He continued, sighing when that beautiful smile disappeared. “No matter how much I wish I could, I cannot be your husband. Not if you want to keep this kingdom and protect the people here from war’s the others would gladly start.”

“I-”

Closing the small amount of distance between them, Kakashi pressed his forehead against Gai’s and grabbed hold of the hand that was still pressed against his neck. “There’s nothing else to say,” he whispered. “But remember, marriage doesn’t mean I’m gone. I will still be at your side until the day that I die.”

“What if they don’t like you?”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. “Your Highness, I swear that there is no Prince or Princess that you could marry in this world that would be able to remove me from your side.”

“Not even Prince Obito?”

Another laugh, this time a little bit softer. “Not even Prince Obito,” he promised. “Though, if you’d like a suggestion, I think Princess Rin might be your best choice.”

“Because I couldn’t think of a reason not to marry her?”

“No,” squeezing Gai’s hand, he moved back and straightened himself up once more. “I think she would be a good Queen for your Kingdom and she does like Pakkun.”

The overwhelming dread that had settled over them suddenly shattered as Gai quickly covered his mouth in a rather poor attempt to mask his laughter. “Pakkun?” He wheezed out the name. “She likes Pakkun?”

“Are you surprised?””

Shaking his head, Gai huffed. “Not at all. I quite like Pakkun myself, it’s just so…you, to care about the fact that she likes your dog.”

“He goes almost everywhere with me. It’s important that the people that I will be tasked with protecting enjoy his company,” Kakashi defended himself. “And besides, I thought you said you liked me. Does that not mean you also like that I worry about others liking my dog?”

Raising a hand, Gai waved a disapproving finger at him. “I never said I liked you,” he admonished him. “I said I love you. That’s completely different.”

“Right, I apologise,” bowing his head, Kakashi snorted when he was rewarded with a light slap to the shoulder. “I won’t mix up the two again, Your Highness.”

“You’re better not,” reaching out, Gai took hold of Kakashi’s arm once more and turned back down the hallway. “Now, onwards.”

“But-”

“No buts!” he insisted while dragging Kakashi through the hallway. “You said I had to get married to someone else. You didn’t say anything about not dragging you to the bedroom so I could suck you off.”

Heat poured into Kakashi’s cheeks. “I- you can’t just-” stumbling behind Gai, he sighed. There was no hope in arguing against such a determined man, and he’d only be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t interested in seeing his Prince on his knees in front of him sucking him off.

So, with a new found determination of his own, he sped up and fell into step with Gai. “In that case,” he focused on the path ahead of him and was determined to get them to Gai’s room swiftly. Before anyone could spot them. “Let’s not waste any time, your Highness.”

A ball room full of guests waiting for their return, and an uncertain future ahead of them. All of it could be pushed off for just a few precious moments. Long enough for Kakashi to tangle himself up in Gai’s arms and make love to him one more time. 

And perhaps a second time before they returned, for good measure.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Say Something To Me

@kakagaievents

Characters: Maito Gai, Shizune, Hatake Kakashi

Au: None/Cannon

Words: 3694

Injuries happened. They were a natural occurrence in a shinobi’s line of work, and Gai knew that. He’d listened to sensei’s, friends, captain’s and even the Hokage himself tell him over and over again that a Shinobi’s job was dangerous.

To survive was a mixture of skill and luck.

To return home unharmed was incredibly rare. So rare that it was often celebrated with drink’s among friends.

Ever since he first stepped into the academy for the first time Gai was made painfully aware of the risks that came with being a shinobi, and he’d laughed. Promised everyone that it would never happen to him, and even dared to assure himself that it would not happen to his friends. Not as long as he was there to help them.

He’d even entertained the thought of being the hero. Swooping in at the last moment to save his friends from danger and dispatch of the enemy all on his own. 

Today, reality smacked him in the face.

The world swooped in after years of allowing him to entertain that silly dream and stomped on it. Crushed it under its heel until it was little more than a memory, too destroyed to resemble the bright hopeful thoughts that had once danced around in his mind.

Today, Kakashi returned from his latest mission with only one small scratch on his arm, yet it was more than enough to destroy Gai.

He could remember the moment clearly. Kakashi had been standing in front of him gloating about how easy his latest mission was in that adorable, arrogant way that only Kakashi could get away with. Then, without any warning, he’d collapsed. 

His head was swimming. Each actions blurred together into an incomprehensible mess that he couldn’t make sense of. That only thing he knew for certain was that one moment he’d been standing outside of Ichiraku Ramen chatting with Kakashi, and the next he found himself carrying his unconscious friend through the front doors of the hospital and being surrounded by nurses and doctors in an instant. 

Poison.

Gai had overheard the doctor’s muttering amongst themselves. It was the only word that made it through the jumble of thoughts bouncing around his head as they took Kakashi from him. 

Kakashi had been poisoned. He’d gotten through his mission thinking everything was fine, only to have it all snatched away because of a well placed Kunai. 

His enemies were dead yet they’d still managed to find a way to try and drag Kakashi down with them, and now Gai was stuck standing in the middle of a crowd of doctors who were carefully extracting Kakashi away from him while he tried to process what was going on.

The poison wasn’t even the worst part of it all. It was the memories of his last few moments with Kakashi that plagued his mind. 

Moments that he had spent with his best friend listening to him talk about a stupid mission when they could have been engaging in a youthful competition or relaxing by the river. 

“We need to get it out,” one of them declared as she waved the other’s towards the emergency room. “You two get some water, you two come with me.”

With the orders given they were off and Gai was left standing in the middle of the hallway watching as his best friend disappeared behind some doors.

He wanted to run after them. To ensure that everything went smoothly and Kakashi came out alive.

Most importantly, though, he wanted to make sure Kakashi wasn’t alone. That he didn’t wake up to a room full of unfamiliar faces with no idea what had happened and no one to explain it to him in a way that he would accept.

Doctor’s were great at healing people, but they didn’t always know how to tell someone why they had passed out in a way that wouldn’t make them feel terrible. Gai could do it though. He knew just what Kakashi would be near to hear to accept that it wasn’t his fault.

That he hadn’t screwed up. 

“Gai,” a hand came down on his arm, drawing his eyes away from the doors that Kakashi and all of those doctors had disappeared behind. Beside him stood Shizune, one of the most talented doctor’s of their generation and a close friend of his. She tried to smile, but it lasted only a second before dropping off of her face. 

Even she knew just how dire the situation was. 

“He’ll be fine,” he whispered, trying to convince himself that everything would turn out alright. “He’ll be fine… right?”

Moving her hand downwards, Shizune wrapped her fingers around Gai’s wrist and gave a light tug, pulling him away from the door. “He’ll be fine,” she confirmed before raising her other hand and jabbing a finger in the other direction. “Let’s go get something to eat while we wait. I’ll get you into his room after they’ve gotten the poison out of his systems. you can wait by his side, if that’s what you want.”

He wanted to argue. To tell her that he’d happily wait outside these doors until the doctor’s came back out and assured him everything was alright. That Kakashi was alive and recovering. 

The last thing he wanted to do was leave when he had no idea what condition Kakashi was in, but he did nothing to stop Shizune as she lead him away. He’d already failed at protecting his best friend, and now he was useless. Unable to do a single thing for him while he lay in a hospital bed vulnerable and unprotected.

“Gai,” Shizune called out to him, a tender smile greeting him when he dared to look her way again. “He’ll be fine.”

“But-“

“No,” she placed a finger over his mouth to silence his doubts. “Trust me on this. Kakashi isn’t going to die today. They’ll get the poison out, he’ll heal, and you’ll be there waiting at his bedside when he wakes up. Got it?”

He nodded his head, but he still didn’t quite believe her. Nerves jumbled about in his stomach screaming at him to plant his feet in his spot and stay there until the doctor’s returned and told him Kakashi was alright, but instead he fell into step behind Shizune and followed her out of the room. 

Three hours and forty three minutes.

If anyone asked, Gai would swear he wasn’t counting down the time since he’d watched Kakashi being carried away from him. He’d slap a smile on his face, fill his voice with that same energetic tone he always used, and assure anyone that asked that he was confident Kakashi would be fine.

That everything would turn out alright.

He’d be lying, of course, but no one else needed to know it.

“Here,” Shizune shoved a glass of water into his hand as claimed his seat at Kakashi’s bedside. A weak ‘thank you’ passed by his lips as he wrapped a hand around the tiny cup, never taking his eyes off of Kakashi. “Did you hear anything that the doctor’s said to you?”

“He’s alive,” he whispered, trying to sort through the jumble of words that the doctor’s had thrown at him as soon as he and Shizune stepped into the room. “They got the poison out.”

“That’s the important part of it, yes,” although her words confirmed that everything would be alright, there was a weight in her voice that told Gai he’d missed something. That he hadn’t paid enough attention when the doctor’s were speaking to him, to focused on the unconscious body laying in the bed in front of him to process much more than the fact that Kakashi had made it.

After three hours and forty three minutes of worrying and waiting, Gai could finally breath. Everything had turned out alright.

“Gai,” Shizune called out to him again, her lips pressed together tight when he finally drug his eyes off of Kakashi and looked at her. “You need to listen to me. The doctor’s were able to remove the poison but it did a lot of damage while it was in there.”

Fear flooded into his mind. All of the thought he tried so hard to ignore whenever his friends left for a mission taunting him all at once.

What if he never really recovers? Could this be the end of his career as a shinobi?

Were they unable to get it all? Could it make a return and finish the job it had started when they thought everything was safe?

Could this really be the day he loses Kakashi?

A hand came down against his cheek, slapping him just hard enough to snap him back into reality, but gentle enough that he barly moved with the impact.

“I said listen to me,” Shizune grumbled,l. “Kakashi is on the mend but Doctor Honoka says that it will take a while for him to recover from the damage that has been done. He’s going to need to be on bed rest for at least three days and after that it could take another five days for him to be in fighting shape again.”

Gai didn’t need to ask what it all meant. Shizune was telling him so that he could prepare for the moment when he inevitable got called in to take extra mission’s so that Lord Third could allocate other shinobi into the mission’s he would usually assign to Kakashi.

It would be eight long day’s of back to back jobs, but Gai was prepared to meet the challenge head on as he always did. The only thing was, for once he didn’t want to face that challenge head on. Doing so meant leaving Kakashi alone for eight endless days. No one to keep him company, tell him stories, bring him some edible food, or just sit by his side and assure him that he wasn’t alone.

The only place Gai wanted to be in this moment was right were he was. The village would survive without both of them for a few days, right?

“Hey,” Shizune poked his shoulder, a frown greeting him when he glanced her way. “He’ll be alright. Nothing bad can happen to him here, you know that.”

“Sorry…” he whispered, the weight of his worries seeping into his words.

Sighing, Shizune spared a glance towards Kakashi. “He’ll be fine,” she whispered, her words barley registering in Gai’s mind. “And before you know it all of Konoha will be watching the two of you race through the village throwing random objects at each other again.”

“They weren’t-”

“You threw a potted plants at him during your last competition,” Shizune reminded him with a fiery glare. “Which you had to stop and pay Inoichi for after you were done losing, if I remember correctly.”

With a harsh shot straight to his pride, Gai slouched back into his chair and jutted out his bottom lip. A pathetic display, but he couldn’t help it. He’d never been good about losing, even if it was Kakashi he’d lost to.

“That’s what I thought,” straightening herself up, Shizune took one more look at Kakashi and smiled. “He should be up in a few minutes. Try to get over your wounded ego before then, alright?”

Laying a hand on his shoulder, she gave it a gentle, supportive squeeze. Her actions speaking the words she knew better than to say out loud.

Keep him company.

Everything will be fine.

Digging up a short burst of energy, he lifted his head and offered her one of his toothy grins. The kind of smile he always gave to someone when they were worrying about him. The smile he’d learned to plaster on his face in the face of all sorts of adversities throughout his life.

It was the same smile he’d given Kakashi when he’d tried to talk to him about his father only two days after he’d watched him face off against the seven deadly swordsmen with flaming red chakra burning around his body. 

The very smile he’d offered in lou of words the first time he’d failed to produce a doppelganger of himself. 

A smile that said ‘I am alright’ when all he wanted to do was lash out against the world with an hurt that burned deep inside of his soul. 

“Right,” Shaking her head, Shizune stepped past him towards the door. Her footsteps echoed in the small room, ringing in Gai’s ear until they stopped just beside the door. “You know, they say if you talk to someone while they’re sleeping they can sometimes hear you.”

Gai didn’t respond. He didn’t have the energy to act like the happy, unbreakable shinobi today. Not after almost losing another precious person. Still, Shizune’s words struck deep and when he heard the door click shut behind her he breathed a sigh of relief.

Alone at last. Just him, an unconscious Kakashi, and the endless stream of thoughts swirling around in his mind.

“Talk,” there was a bitterness in his mouth when he spoke. Something he’d never experienced before, but which didn’t surprise him at this moment. “I’m good at talking, right? I always have something to say.”

Whenever he’d see one of his friends the words would flow from his mouth. There was nothing that could stop him from regaling them with stories from his latest mission, or inviting them out for some dango, or just speaking about anything that happened to come across his mind.

Maito Gai always had something to say, except when he didn’t. 

Right now was one of those moments where he didn’t. No matter how hard he tried to think of something to say nothing came up. There was no story interesting enough to make him forget about the pained look that had flashed across Kakashi’s face before he collapsed. No treats that he could suggest that would wash away the last three hours of panic that he’d lived through.

There was nothing for him to say, yet he still opened his mouth and shoved the words out, forcing himself to speak with the same youthful energy that he always had in his voice even though he felt like his very life was being squeezed out of him.

“A story…” his eyes lingered on Kakashi, watching for any signs of movement. “Well, I was hanging out with Genma the other day and had front row seats to him trying to pick up a girl from the bar. It ended with him getting a drink thrown in his face.” A boring story, if he did say so himself. There was nothing new about Genma’s attempts at getting laid, though he did usually fair better. Still, he wanted to tell Kakashi a more interesting story.

  “Oh!” A thought struck him. “I never did tell you about the cute girl who talked to me at the dango shop. You would have laughed your butt off at me if you’d been there. Genma sure did,” he could almost imagine it. Kakashi’s eyes widened in a moment of shock before squeezing shut as the sound of his laughter filled the air. 

It was a delightful thought.

“She had long brown hair and a stunning gaze. Ebisu told me that I should ask her out because she seemed interested, but I just…i couldn’t.'' The reason was simple to him, but he knew his teammates would never understand. Whenever he mentioned his love for his eternal rival they would always roll their eyes and tell him to move on. The two of them seemed to believe that Kakashi would never return Gai’s feelings for them, and Gai would be lying if he said he thought any differently. The thing was, he didn’t expect Kakashi to love him back. His love for Kakashi was unconditional. No matter what happened, or who Kakashi chose to spend his life with, Gai would always love him.

If he had to love him from afar, keeping his feelings to himself for the rest of his life, he would do so. As long as Kakashi was happy that was all that mattered to him.

“She was beautiful, though,” he continued, determined to finish the story. “Her laugh was infectious, and her smile. Kakashi, if you saw that smile for yourself perhaps you would have fallen in love.”

Any smart person would have. Her eyes had sparkled so brightly when she smiled, and the dimples that formed at the edges of her mouth were delightful. Gai had almost been unable to drag his eyes away from them. If his heart wasn’t already claimed he was certain he would have been helpless against her charm. 

“What about her jokes?” 

“Well, she didn’t really tell any jokes, but-” Gai’s mind came screeching to a halt. He’d been so caught up in his own thoughts that he’d failed to register another voice speaking to him and had simply responded without thought. Now, though, he was well aware of the other voice.

The other presence lay right in front of him, staring at him with one sleepy eye that seemed to sparkle with amusement. 

“Kakashi…”

“No jokes,” closing his eyes, Kakashi adjusted himself to find a more comfortable position in a bed that allowed for almost no comfort at all. “Sounds boring.”

Gai puffed out his cheeks. “She wasn’t,” he insisted. “She actually had quite a lot to say about the book she was reading. A new romance novel she picked up at the bookstore. I think it was about a dashing prince, a brave princess, and she mentioned something about a clever knight who stole the princess’ heart near the end of the book.” The details weren’t that important, but Gai wanted to include them. If there was anything he could guarantee Kakashi wanted to hear about, it was books. The man loved books more than anything else in the world.

Well, almost anything. Not even books could over take Kakashi’s devotion to the precious people in his life. 

At the mention of a new romance novel, Kakashi’s eye flew open once more. “Book?”

Covering his mouth, Gai gave himself a moment to laugh at his rival’s predictability. “A book, yes,” he confirmed once he’d composed himself. “I think I remember the name of it. Ummm, ‘Twilight meeting’ perhaps? No, wait.” Thinking back to the conversation he searched the words he could recall for a title. “Oh! ‘Love's flight!’”

“Love's flight,” Kakashi repeated with a thoughtful nod. “I might have to pick it up.”

“So you can talk to the pretty lady about it?” Gai teased his friend, though his heart ached at the thought of Kakashi seeking out that beautiful woman who’d spoken so kindly to him. 

“Talk to her?” stretching an arm over his head, Kakashi groaned when his shoulder gave a satisfying pop. “Why would I talk to her?”

“Well, as I was saying. She’s-”

“Beautiful?” Kakashi interrupted with a chuckle, a pained expression flashing over his face as he settled a hand over the left side of his abdomen. “Fun to chat with? Delightful to keep company with?”

“Well, yes!” Straightening himself up, Gai grinned. He tried to smile, but his eyes were glued on Kakashi’s hand. Watching carefully for any signs of further pain that might require him to call for a doctor. “She was all of those things. As I was saying, I think you would like her.”

“Mah,” settling back into his spot, Kakashi tilted his head back so that he was staring at the ceiling. “I’d rather be poisoned again.”

The emotions swirling inside of Gai were confusing. There was anger, of course, at the ease with which Kakashi spoke of his current condition. Annoyance at his dismissal of someone so perfectly suited for him in beauty and personality. Yet, there was also a hint of joy. A joy that Gai knew didn’t belong, but which he couldn’t help but focus on.

Joy that Kakashi showed no interest in someone else, no matter how much Gai talked her up. Unrestrained delight at knowing that even though he was being told there was someone perfectly suited for him out in the world, Kakashi didn’t seem to care.

All that mattered to him was a book.

“I could get it for you,” he offered, unable to keep a smile from stretching across his lips even though he knew he should scold Kakashi for being so careless about his own health. “There’s probably a copy available at the bookstore.”

Kakashi hummed. “Will you read it to me?”

“R-read it to you?” the words swirled in his mind. Repeating themselves over and over again until they were the only thing that Gai could hear. Kakashi, the man who would complain if anyone tried to read his favorite book out loud, wanted to have a book read to him. Never, in all of their years of friendship, had Gai even seen anyone read anything to Kakashi. Not a mission report, or a scroll full of history, and especially not a book. 

Once, when they were still young and Kakashi had only just been promoted to chunin, he remembered Rin offering to read a book to him while he was sick, and Kakashi’s response had been to snatch the book out of Rin’s hand rather rudely.

“Gai?” a finger touched his nose, yanking him straight out of his thoughts and back into reality. A reality in which he was now faced with Hatake Kakashi, the man who had stolen his heart just a few short years ago, staring at him with a worried expression. As if he wasn’t the one who had just been poisoned. “You alright?”

“Read to you,” he repeated, smiling at the thought of Kakashi laying back in his bed listening to every word that rolled off of his tongue. “I can do that.”

“Good,” retracting his hand, Kakashi closed his visible eye and offered Gai a playful sort of smile. The type of smile that always seemed to strike him deep in the heart, making him fall just a little more in love every time he saw it. “I like listening to you.”

[depressedhatakekakashi]

If you’re wondering why i haven’t been posting a lot this week

Zeld a

I blame zelda XD

[tranzfalgar]

kakagai fantasy week day five ; free day (super mario)

@kakagaievents

[kakagaievents]

FOUR MORE WEEKS until KakaGai/GaiKaka Fantasy Event 2023 begins! 🐺🐯

Check out the prompts list and guidelines HERE

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Reblogs are appreciated, thank you!

@narutoborutoeventscalendar @narutoevents @narutoandborutoevents @fandomweeks

[depressedhatakekakashi]

I know i’m going to break 400 soon because i have a lot of fics planned for events, and two of those events are Kakashi centric (Kakagai fantasy week and Kakashi week)

I love how my Naruto fics have vastly out numbered my Star trek and marvel fics, and i’ll be even prouder of myself when Sakura beats out coulson and Barton for spot number 4 XD

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Last Line Tag Game ✨

Tagged by the amazing @spellcasterlight

“Now, where does it begin again?” he whispered, thinking back to the fable he’d read in at least three different books about Redaku. “Oh, right! Once upon a time there was an intelligent, determined queen-”

For one of my Kakagai fantasy week fics XD