Epilogue

Kakashi was having one of those mornings.

Here he was, one of the best Shinobi in Konoha - hey, why be modest when you're so good? - and he'd just cut himself with his own razor. Twice.

Kakashi glared sleepily at the offending instrument. Wait a minute. This wasn't his.

"This is yours," he grumbled.

There was movement beyond the door and Gai appeared, pulling down his undershirt.

"What?"

Kakashi waved the long-bladed razor at him. The razor that didn't have quite the right grip or quite the right blade. "This is yours. Why is this yours?"

Gai gave him a measuring look. Then he plucked the razor out of Kakashi's hand, put it back on the shelf, picked up Kakashi's razor - unfairly hidden behind the toothbrush glass - put it in Kakashi's hand and left with a cheerful cry of 'Time to put that coffee on, I see!'

Bastard...Kakashi, still half-asleep, glared at the empty doorway. He hated morning people.

A quick flow of chakra stopped the small bleeders from staining the shaving cream with red. They should be mostly healed by the time he had to leave this morning. The advantages of being a Shinobi just never stopped.

From the kitchen drifted sounds of Gai starting the coffee. He was also humming something grand, enthusiastic and off-key. He always hummed first thing in the morning. Bastard, thought Kakashi without rancour.

His eyes rested on the traitorous razor lying in wait on the shelf. The first few times Gai had slept over, he'd gotten up early to go back to his own pad to shower and dress before meeting his team. Gai could not get up in the morning and leave discreetly. Such a thing was just not in Gai's nature. Kakashi had, in sheer self-preservation, told the man to leave a few supplies here so he could get ready at Kakashi's when staying over. Like that, Kakashi could get that extra hour of sleep in the morning that made all the difference.

His razor, nice and comfortable in his grip, slid across the bristle. What was this morning's program...? Oh yeah, Team 7 had to finish that mission in the armoury. No wonder he was having such a hard time waking up, with something that fun to look forward to.

They'd been at it all day yesterday already, helping the scientists and weapon specialists sort, inventory and trial-run offensive scrolls and researched jutsus that had been accumulating for years while the village was short staffed. It was a B-rank mission on paper, but it was really just an overblown maid job, clearing the dust from the scrolls and checking them before giving them to the armoury staff. Some of the scrolls had been taken from enemies and were booby-trapped, others were damaged, causing them to misfire on opening; it made the job a bit more interesting, but not in a very fun way.

Because of those dangerous scrolls and secret jutsus, the 'maids' had to be Shinobi with good skills, a high security clearance and hopefully a couple of Sharingan thrown into the bargain; naturally Team 7 had drawn the short straw. An irritated Kakashi had come home late last night with dust on his clothes and a bewildered spider in his hair, which Gai had found and kindly put out the window.

Not that yesterday had been a total waste. Kakashi had picked up a warm glow when he overheard two Chuunin discuss the strange and sudden illness that had overtaken their buddy, Idika Masuyo, when he came in to work that morning. Apparently he'd taken one step into the scroll room, gone green and said he had to go home.

Kakashi smirked evilly into the mirror. Four months gone already, but Idika must still fondly remember Kakashi and their little 'discussion'.

The humming from the kitchen had risen in volume to compensate for the sounds of a blender doing nasty things to a couple of raw eggs, celery and tofu. Kakashi didn't even have to actively process the various noises and smells to know that Gai was making Nutrient Power Breakfast Number One. Gai had been providing for himself for a long time now, he was used to it, and since he thought highly of Nutrition, he always insisted on making breakfast for Kakashi as well. It wasn't too bad; Kakashi had been on field missions since he was six, he could eat a skunk if he had to.

"Oh, I spoke to Genma yesterday," Gai said once the blender stopped.

Kakashi cut himself for the third time this morning. Wasn't he ever glad he wore a mask.

"What did he say?" he asked cautiously.

"Congratulations. I'm not sure what he was congratulating me about. Do you think he heard about that new Taijutsu move I came up with? Brilliant Scything Swan Swoop? It was certainly nice of him to say something."

"Right."

Kakashi stared into the mirror, but it wasn't his own reflection he was seeing...

...it was Genma's crooked smile and eyes full of curiosity, two days ago...

"Hey, Kakashi, long time no see."

Genma moved in front of Kakashi as if he expected the other man to dodge and make a run for it. Kakashi had been on his way home after a day's training, idly walking along and reading, so Genma's attitude was a bit strange, but then, so was Genma on occasion. When you were a Jounin, it sort of came with the territory.

"Long time? We ate together yesterday," Kakashi pointed out, a bit puzzled.

Genma waved the comment away. "That was with all the guys around. I meant, long time since I've managed to get you on your own."

"Oh? Maybe. What's up?"

Genma threw an amicable arm around Kakashi's shoulders and lead him off to one side of the road, to lean against a garden wall out of the way of curious passer byes. "Well...It just occurred to me the other day that it'd been ages since we'd gotten together."

From his tone, stance and grin, Genma was not talking about meeting up for drinks or the Jounin volleyball tournament.

"True," Kakashi said. "But I thought you and Raido..."

He didn't finish his sentence or rub it in, but every Shinobi in Hidden Leaf knew it: Genma had gotten himself snared, and he wasn't the only one. It was how Kakashi knew all his friends were getting old: many of them seemed to have paired off, almost by accident. As if they'd dropped their guard and suddenly bang, they'd been domesticated. Poor saps, Kakashi thought pityingly.

Genma nodded sagely. Releasing Kakashi's shoulders, he took a step back, twiddled with his toothpick. Kakashi could feel Genma's discreet scrutiny linger on his masked face.

"That's just the thing. Me an' Raido were talking about you the other day...we were thinking that we wouldn't mind if you joined in occasionally..."

Kakashi's eyebrows arched slowly. "What an intriguing notion."

"So?"

"I'll pass."

He hadn't had to think about it very hard, for a whole host of piddling little reasons. It shouldn't have been that surprising; he'd turned Genma down before when he didn't have the time or the energy. But for some reason, Genma treated Kakashi's answer like it was the single most staggering statement he'd ever heard. He also looked like he'd been half-expecting it.

"Good god, it's true then. I'd heard it, but I didn't believe it, but it's true, isn't it, and I still don't believe-"

"What are you blabbering about?"

"You and- and Gai?!"

Genma looked suddenly nervous and ready to duck a blow from an insulted Jounin. Kakashi studied him, perplexed.

"Yeah, me and Gai. We've been hanging out and hitting the sack together for about four months now."

Genma looked like he'd been sucker punched.

"You've only heard about it now? We've not been particularly discreet." Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "You ran into us when we were together just last month. Why are you all surprised?"

"Er, Kakashi, when I ran into you two, you guys were fighting."

Kakashi paused mid-scratch. "Oh yeah, we were."

"...Was that some kind of power game thing?"

"No," Kakashi answered a bit frostily, "that was a challenge. You know, like the ones we've been doing for the past twenty-plus years? Get your mind out of the gutter. It was a wrestling match, if I remember right."

"No, you were both armed. I almost thought I'd have to step in, then I realized you weren't going for the kill."

"Oh that's right, the wrestling was a lot later that night," Kakashi said dreamily. It hadn't been the sort of wrestling you did in public, either, unless you didn't mind a rap sheet and a stay in jail.

Genma looked like he'd swallowed his toothpick. "That's one mental image I didn't really want. I just can't believe it."

"Why not?" Kakashi asked, a bit tetchily.

"Well...Gai's my friend, and one of the few guys I would always want on my side in a fight, but...I mean, come on, Gai?! What's he got?"

"He's a fast learner," Kakashi murmured with a rich leer which, fortunately for Genma's composure, was hidden by the mask.

Genma was looking at him as if he'd never seen him before. His wide eyes were going over every inch of Kakashi's masked face and stance. He must have come to some conclusion, and it must have been a good one, because the toothpick toppled from his lips; his hand snatched it from the air and put it back in his mouth, apparently on automatic.

"You...you're serious."

"Serious?" Kakashi wasn't that much of a joker, and he wouldn't kid around about sleeping with someone. Why...was Genma staring at him like that?

"Damn. I mean....damn." Genma blinked slowly and gave Kakashi a crooked smile. "That's...If there was one guy in this village I thought would always be on the loose...Damn. That's the end of an era. But...I'm glad for you, man. For both of you. Damn."

Genma wandered off, looking stunned. Kakashi stared at his retreating back and wondered if there hadn't been some misunderstanding here.

Kakashi and Gai had been having a good time these past few months, furthering Gai's education. But that was all there was to it.

True, Kakashi hadn't been screwing with anybody else in the past four months. Gai didn't have the mental agility (or possibly the moral degeneration) to understand things like sleeping around and fuck-buddies and all that- Kakashi hadn't even tried to explain it; Gai was still learning the basics as far as Kakashi was concerned. Besides, he didn't want Gai picking up bad habits with other people at this delicate stage in his schooling. When Gai knew everything he did, when Gai started to get bored, they could rethink the arrangement. Of course, in the present circumstances, Kakashi had to restrict himself too, it was only fair. And not that onerous, really; Gai was indeed a fast learner. But if Genma thought this meant that- that there'd been some massive lifestyle change for either Kakashi or Gai, then Genma had been working a bit too hard and should cut back on the S-rank missions.

Back in the present, Kakashi realized a hand was making cautious up-and-down movements in front of his face.

"Kakashi?" Gai said carefully. It was unwise to startle a Jounin deep in thought.

"Yeah?" Kakashi muttered, glaring at the mirror and the razor pressed unmoving against his cheek. It was rather alarming the way his internal radar let Gai wander up to him unchallenged, completely bypassing him as a potential threat. Gai could be trusted completely, but he could also punch a hole through a wall.

Gai looked like he wanted to make a speech about Powering Up in the Morning, but he'd learned not to do that until Kakashi had had at least half a cup of coffee. So he merely put the brew down on the shelf next to the toothbrush glass and returned to the kitchen.

Kakashi gave up on shaving; another advantage of wearing a mask. He cleaned off the lather and reached for the coffee. It was thick and black. Gai only drank tea, but he'd learned to make a mean cup of beans in the past few months.

Coffee in hand, Kakashi wandered out into the kitchen area. From the sound of it, breakfast would be ready soon.

He hadn't started looking for a new one-room apartment yet. He just didn't have the time. And, well, he was finally getting used to this place, even the rooms other than the bedroom. His stay here had populated the house with new, more pleasant memories; it helped him bury some old ghosts. It'd be a pity to move out now. Besides, the larger bathroom and kitchen were handy when he had guests, or when Gai stayed over.

Kakashi stood at the kitchen entrance, but he didn't go in and sit down. He just looked.

Despite all his best intentions and rationalizations, that conversation with Genma kept coming back to him.

The kitchen had been rearranged and looked more lived-in now. The rickety table had been replaced; it had been on its last legs. Kakashi's attempt to initiate Gai to sex outside the bedroom hadn't helped...The new table was a whole lot better anyway. It was smaller and nearly wedged into a corner of the kitchen, so that neither Jounin needed to sit down with his back to a door or window. It had taken some creative furniture arranging, but now they could relax while they ate.

The usual two asymmetrical settings were on the table. Kakashi ate with chopsticks, drank coffee and read the paper. Gai preferred a spoon and a sports drink straight out of the bottle while he thought deep thoughts about the philosophy of Life and Nutrition. He also ate a lot more at breakfast than Kakashi, but since he prepared it when he stayed over, Kakashi didn't mind. Kakashi put together dinner in the evening, so it evened out.

Kakashi stared at the kitchen as if he was trying to decipher an unknown encryption. The coffee hadn't kicked in yet. That must be it. That must be why the kitchen and Genma and the past four months and Gai's humming and the razor and Gai's routines winding around his own, were all rolling around his sleepy mind as if trying to fit into an overall pattern...

"Kakashi? Hurry up, I have to go in thirty minutes. Are you still not awake? The energetic bird gets the spring worm! Youth must ever- hmfh!"

Kakashi had figured out by now how to get out of a lecture or a speech. He could also get rid of a coffee cup and pin a man taller and heavier than himself against a wall in less than a second. That was why he was one of Konoha's best Shinobi.

Gai was a damn good Shinobi too. He couldn't talk with Kakashi's tongue in his mouth, but it didn't take him all that long to partially unwrap himself from Kakashi's hold and move his head away.

"Kakashi! We don't have time for- my team is-"

"It won't hurt them if you're late. I'm late all the time."

In fact, in a purely physical match, Gai was just a bit stronger than Kakashi.

The kitchen seemed to move around him, and suddenly it was Kakashi pressed against the wall, wrists gripped in a steely hold and Gai's weight blocking his movements.

"Punctuality," Gai declared solemnly, "is the courtesy of kings."

"I've always been a bit of an anarchist that way myself."

Gai shook his head reprovingly, then he planted a quick, loud kiss on Kakashi's lips, dodged Kakashi's best efforts to turn it into something a lot more interesting, and walked away with a comment of: "You cut yourself shaving, you know."

Kakashi weighed his chances of jumping Gai and wrestling him to the floor-

"I'm starting to know you, my rival," Gai said without turning around. "And I must tell you that what you are planning is very unwise."

Fifty-fifty, at best; Gai was bloody strong, Kakashi wasn't about to use ninjutsu in the kitchen, and Gai was more alert than Kakashi was at this time of the morning. Okay, then. Breakfast.

Kakashi sat down, chin in hand, waiting for his bowl of Power Gloop. Gai was at the counter dishing it out, along with some rice for Kakashi, but his movements had slowed. He was staring at the calendar hanging on the wall, and he was muttering to himself.

"...second week...? No, that was in July...then..."

Ah, Kakashi thought, you could always count on Gai; regular as clockwork. He idly straightened the soy sauce, nudging it back to its usual place at the centre of the table. Wait for it...

"What are you doing today?" Gai asked without turning around, as casual and subtle as a herd of stampeding oxen.

"Still working at the armoury, sorting their inventory. We should be done by noon; Naruto's damn good at that Kage Bunshin, as he should be by now. His clones already did half of the shelves yesterday."

"So this afternoon...? You'll be...?"

"Was planning on throwing some training at the brats and relaxing."

The bowl landed on the counter with a clunk. A dramatic ray of sunshine shot through the blinds to illuminate Pose Number Five in the catalogue, as well as Gai's teeth.

"Kakashi, I challenge you!"

"And I never saw it coming."

"Gyah! So cool! But I will beat you in a physical match! You, my eternal rival, the only man capable of-"

Kakashi hid his smile in his coffee cup.

He was going to stop wondering about Genma's imagination and razor blades and his new-found ability to recognize a Power Breakfast recipe by the screech of the blender. His life had not changed, he decided. It certainly didn't feel any different than before. Perhaps less solitary; perhaps a bit cosier these days; perhaps it was just that little bit better all around. But it was still full of the usual - and the slightly bizarre - routines and rituals that Kakashi had come to rely on.

And Kakashi didn't think he'd ever find routine boring.

End Epilogue

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