Eternal Rivals?? oh no not again....
Kakashi stood in the middle of the empty training ground meditating. While his chakra control would never be as good as Sakura's, his was still nothing to sneeze at.
Though....getting that chakra control back, at least to the control he had in his forties, was taking forever. Kakashi eventually got so impatient with meditation that he just turned to physical training instead. He decided to do push-ups, as it was a good way to control core strength and arm strength then he'll move on to sit-ups and-
his thoughts moved to his dogs. He missed them so much. Oh wait...now that his Dad didn't seem as depressed (??) does that mean he's going to have to sign the wolf contract?? because he really hopes not. He can't imagine a 'him' without his puppies. He'll have to talk to his Dad about that.....now he's nervous what if his Dad says no? What if-
YOU THERE! YOU SEEM STRONG AND YOUTHFUL! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A PUSH-UP CONTEST!"
Oh. No. You're kidding. Kakashi felt his blood drain from his face and sweat trickling down his neck.
"Y-you...."
Ah! I never introduced myself did I! My name is Maito Gai! What's yours my rival!?"
Somehow he was still yelling even though he lowered his voice. Kakashi groaned internally. He stared at the miniature Maito Gai in front of him and wondered where he had gone wrong. He answered against his better judgment.
"My name is Hakate Kakashi....nice to meet you.."
"AH, WHAT A WONDERFUL NAME! I CAN SEE US BEING THE MOST YOUTHFUL OF FRIENDS IN THE FUTURE! NOW COME! LET US ENGAGE WITH A BRILLIANT CHALLENGE!"
Kakashi almost clapped his hands around his ears. His sensitive hearing made it feel like he was bleeding from his ears.
".....no thanks." Kakashi went for a substitution jutsu. All was going well until...
"ALRIGHT! I CAUGHT YOU! NOW YOU HAVE TO CHALLENGE ME!"
...Gai had caught him around the middle, holding him very embarrassingly from under the armpits after he had plucked Kakashi out of the air.
'H-Hey! Wait a second!!" His pleading fell on deaf ears.
Kakashi sighed....and gave in to his fate.
It was only pure stubbornness that kept Kakashi going. He didn't even hear anything as his sole focus was doing as many push-ups as possible for his small body. It wasn't until he heard Gai fall to the dirt did he feel himself come slowly back into consciousness.
"Ah....you beat me." Gai was still laying in the dirt and it didn't take much for a heaving Kakashi to join him on the ground.
"Then this must mean...that I've finally found you...MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"
How he had enough energy to shout like that was a mystery that Kakashi didn't want to explore. It must be fate...to have to be once again declared as Gai's eternal rival again. Wait no. Kakashi balked at his own thoughts, Gai was infecting him.
He noped out of there as fast as he could, Gai's booming laughter and a promise to find him again followed him as he ran.
He stumbled his way to meet his team, dead on his feet and muscles so sore it felt like they might just melt right off his bones. His clothing was so sweaty it felt like they were a second skin. He came upon the sight of Rin and Minato waiting for him. Obito was nowhere to be found.
"Kakashi!? You....you look like-"
Kakashi groaned as he collapsed onto the ground, twitching.
He distantly heard Rin fussing over him, and Obito soon joined them. Not to fuss over him, but to laugh.
He heard a loud smack noise and wondered, quite out of it, why Sakura was hitting Naruto overhead.
"Oh man....he's really out of it." There was a pause and then devious snickers of childish mischief. "Hey, Kakashi...you wouldn't mind if I took a peak under your mask would you?"
"Obito! Stop it!"
"OWWW! Rin! stop stop stop!!"
Kakashi just groaned louder.
"I suppose this is a bad time to mention that we're going on a C-rank mission for the next few days?"
Kakashi perked up at that, opening his eyes to a world of blurry vision.
Only to collapse right back into the dirt as a roughhousing Rin and Obito tripped over him and collapsed into a pile on top of his very sore body.
The things he does for these idiots...