Springtime of Youth!
His blood pumps, as his chakra flows into his body. Keeping up with Guy required extra effort. fists and legs connect impossibly fast to each other. Ninjutsu was Kakashi’s favorite shinobi subject, but he didn’t mind Taijutsu, since it went hand in hand with kenjutsu in his eyes.
“Ninjutsu nerd!” Obito would make fun of him, trying to steal his ninjutsu book that sensei had lent him, probably out of jealousy. Kakashi barely dodges a flying kick. Focus! He pushes forward, furiously jabbing back at any moves Guy sends his way.
The two are a flurry of motion. Guy catches Kakashi’s knee, and he rolls with the momentum, the two ending up a tangle of limbs and putting each other in holds. They break apart, staring at each other intensely in a moment of standstill.
Kakashi look right and moves left to feint. Guy instinctively follows to the left, watching Kakashi’s feet. Kakashi grunts as Guy grabs his arm and flips him onto his back, hard enough to knock the air out of him for the second time today.
Guy offers his hand and Kakashi smacks it away, sitting up. Little stinging actions like that were not out of the ordinary for Kakashi. Loyal like a dog, prickly like a cactus. Guy doesn’t take it personally. Kakashi’s prickly nature was just an aspect of his charm. He grins.
“I almost went after you during month three,” he tells him.
“No need.”
“I was worried.”
“All of you worry too much,” he keeps his expression the same. Guy keeps staring, seeing through every wall that Hatake Kakashi has ever tried putting up between them.
“Do we?” Guy asks.
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation, a sigh embedded in the answer.
His dad. Obito. Rin. The mantra cycles in his mind, whether he wants it to or not. Kakashi thinks he keeps it all hidden behind that mask. Might Guy has spent most of his life growing up next to him and can read everything, from the way his mask pulls to the crinkle in his eye.
After Rin, Kakashi had just… stopped. Stopped speaking, stopped interacting, joining ANBU… Guy vowed he would never lose his rival again. He would do anything to keep Kakashi living and breathing next to him.
Guy tried entering the ANBU ranks to stay nearby his rival but was denied. ANBU didn’t think they could use Guy in their ranks, distracting their Hound. Their Hound, who would be brazen enough to take any mission, no matter the cost to his own health. Guy knew it wasn’t just for the village, but a way for Kakashi to punish himself for what happened to Rin.
Minato-sama had become the Hokage and saved his rival from the clutches of ANBU, and little by little, the remaining people who cared about Kakashi came forward and had him come back to himself. Kakashi had been all walls, not responding or answering to anything or anyone besides Danzo during that time.
Guy clears his throat, looking very serious for a moment. Kakashi almost imperceptibly leans forward, raising a brow, “Let’s continue frolicking in our spring of youth, rival! Let’s take a lap around Konoha!”
Kakashi shakes his head, but Guy drags him by the arm until he is running with him. Guy goes faster, and Kakashi pushes himself. He doesn’t care about the competition, Kakashi tells himself as he presses on himself to go faster, more chakra going into his legs and core.