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“I win!” Guy declared, pulling his head out of the water. He sputtered and tried to catch his breath. How long was that? Seventeen minutes forty-three seconds? A new personal record, for sure!
Even though Kakashi had been the first to pull up for air, he wasn’t coughing or gasping for air. He looked as cool and unflappable as he always did. Guy tried to project that same unbothered attitude, puffing out his chest and putting his hands squarely on his hips. “I held my breath underwater for way longer! By at least 10 whole seconds! I won again! The score is 12-11 now…!” Guy declared tentatively.
He waited for Kakashi to disagree, like in their height competition where Kakashi had won on a technicality, or the shogi match that Kakashi won because Guy had overlooked something.
But Kakashi didn’t argue. He sighed and raised his palms to the sky in a shrug. “Congrats.”
He didn’t sound very impressed.
Guy cheered and jumped for joy anyway. “Ha! I’m finally ahead! I’m beating Kakashi Hatake…!” Somewhere deep down, he never thought he’d get this far, and somewhere deeper down, he always knew he would. “12-11! I’m winning! I’m beating you, Kakashi!”
“I heard you the first time.” Kakashi stood to the side, shaking some of the water off of his hair and out of his face. The silver tufts quickly popped back up to their messy, fluffy state in no time, and Guy was kind of amazed by that.
Guy’s wet hair was still clinging to his skin when Kakashi noticed him staring. “What?” Kakashi arched an eyebrow. Guy just grinned and shook his head, sending water droplets flying everywhere.
“I was just mesmerized by you as usual, Rival! You’re really cool when you do anything! And your fluffy hair! It’s so endearing and wonderful! Gah, as always, it’s almost frustrating how cool you are!”
Kakashi let out an exasperated groan. “It’s just hair.”
“No, it’s not! I mean, it is, but I’m talking about more than that! Kakashi, you’re just so…! You’re the coolest, most amazing, most incredible person I know! And your hair is fluffy, too!”
Kakashi reached over to stroke a lock of black hair back from Guy’s face and tuck it behind his ear. “Jealous?” Guy still couldn’t really tell, but something about his voice and the crinkle in his eyes made him think that Kakashi was hiding a tiny smirk behind his mask.
Small electrical currents splashed from Kakashi’s fingertips. Guy shivered as he felt the charka run through his fingers through Guy’s hair slowly. When Kakashi finally pulled his hand away, he huffed, “There. Now you can gawk at your own reflection.”
Guy automatically glanced down at his reflection in the clear waters of the stream.
His hair stood up on end, his cheeks were flushed bright red, and something smelled like it was burning. Unlike Kakashi’s fluff-like hair, Guy’s was like a wild dandelion, each fine strand standing up on end. But he was dry now, admittedly. And if he hadn’t cut his hair, this would definitely have made him look taller than Kakashi now.
The image made him crack a smile and burst into laughter. Kakashi’s lightning nature came in handy at times like this. “I look great! Thank you, Rival!”
Another shrug. “It’s not like it’s possible for you to look more ridiculous than usual.”
“Maybe not! But you have to admit, this is kind of cute on me, too!” Guy gloated.
And now he just rolled his eyes. His hair was finally dry, so Kakashi stepped out of the stream. “Are we done for the day?”
“No, wait!” Guy slicked back his hair and quickly turned his attention back to Kakashi, catching him by the wrist to keep him from leaving. “No, we’re not! There’s one more thing!”
“I’m not doing any more of your dumb challenges today,” Kakashi droned with a bored sigh.
“It’s not a challenge! But it is something of vital importance! About me! And about you!”
That made Kakashi more surprised than Guy expected. He almost seemed apprehensive. His eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Guy to pick apart whatever he was playing at. If it was a challenge Guy was issuing him, he’d always managed to rise to the occasion, more or less, eventually. But for once, Kakashi seemed uncertain. His wrists twisted within Guy’s grip, and with a fluid twist of his body, Kakashi pulled Guy out of the river and almost off his feet. “Make it quick.”
Guy’s cheeks flushed, and he released Kakashi’s wrist, stumbling back awkwardly to put a barrier of distance between them again. He stopped just short of slipping right back into the water.
Kakashi seemed dubious. Still, he watched Guy, his black eyes boring into Guy’s own, quiet and contemplative, waiting. Guy had Kakashi’s attention. That was always exciting.
He steeled himself, and fought back the nervousness, the worry that this was an awful idea, thoughts of how badly things could go. Because this was something he had to do.
After all, it was secret self-rule. The one that had helped him push through and finally get all the consecutive points he needed to be able to call himself the rival of Kakashi Hatake. The equal of Kakashi Hatake! The man who had more points that Kakashi!
Guy remembered all the nights reminding himself of this rule in front of a mirror.
“If… No, when I finally surpass Kakashi in these competitions… I’ll tell him how I truly feel!”
Just remembering that lofty goal made Guy antsy. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hadn’t expected it to actually ever happen. And maybe in the front of his mind as well. But that was all the more reason he had to honor the rule!
Guy’s heart was skipping several beats, and the culprits were the dozens of butterflies flying around in the pit of his stomach, their little wings tickling his stomach’s lining. “Kakashi, I—” that was too quiet. And his voice was trembling like his heart. That wouldn’t do. He had to be certain! He had to be clear! Clearing his throat, Guy summoned up all the courage he had and tried again, practically shouting this time.
“Kakashi! I like you!”
And all of a sudden, Guy had lost Kakashi’s interest and his attention. Already back to his half-lidded apathy, Kakashi just waved his hand dismissively. Neither the words or the volume of them had managed to startle him. “You tell me that all the time. I didn’t forget.”
“Uh, that’s,” Guy visibly deflated. Kakashi wasn’t the dense type. Maybe Guy was simply the hard-to-take-seriously type. Guy cleared his throat again, stood up straighter, and tried to sound more commanding and serious. More like Genma, or Choza-sensei, or even Ebisu. “Kakashi, I think I want to be more than friends!”
“We aren’t friends,” Kakashi said bluntly.
Guy visibly flinched. That stung.
It didn’t hurt enough to crush Guy’s carefully crafted confidence, though. He was prepared for rejection. The important part of failing was trying in the first place. After all, if he let the fear of failure rule him, he never would have even gotten as far as calling himself Kakashi’s rival! “I know, but—”
Cutting him off for the second time, Kakashi continued, “Are you asking me to be rivals again? How many times do you need to go through this speech?”
“No, I mean— I want to go out with you!”
“We go out all the time. You just dragged me out here, didn’t you? And you dragged me to Ichiraku yesterday. And last week, it was the mountains.”
“Yes, but those were all challenges between friends and rivals!”
Kakashi's face fell flat, tone dry and dead as he reiterated, “We aren’t friends.”
Somehow, it hurt even more the second time around. Why did Kakashi’s words have to sound to bitter and piercing? Guy blinked away the tears that were welling up in his eyes and felt his pounding heart start to break into pieces. At times like this, he wished he’d asked his father more questions when he had the chance. “I know that, but—!”
“Guy,” Kakashi started.
“I want to go out with you on a date!” Guy blurted out, because it felt like he’d burst if he couldn’t say at least that much.
The younger boy’s eyes narrowed again, cold and obstinate black steel, but he did not respond.
“As boyfriends!” He clarified. He’d come this far, so he should leave no uncertainty in his words!
Kakashi’s narrowed eyes were accompanied by a suspicious tilt of his head now.
“The romantic kind!”
“Guy, you’re really an idiot.” Kakashi sighed, closing his eyes and dragging a hand down his face, like he suddenly had a headache. Now would be a good time to run away, if he could say for certain that he was that much faster than Kakashi. Sadly, he wasn’t, not yet, and even if he was, Guy felt frozen. When Kakashi’s eyes opened again, they seemed to see right through Guy. “Are you telling me we weren’t already doing that?”
Guy blinked. “…What?”
“We already did the dumb roundabout confession.” His words were spoken clearly, slowly, like he was explaining a very complex jutsu to a simple-minded academy kid, and they were driven into Guy’s mind like a drill.
Guy opened his mouth to say something, but found that, for the first time in his entire life, he had run out of words to say. “…Uh?”
“When you said you wanted to talk, I thought you were going to say you wanted to break up.”
“…Uhm?”
“Are you saying we haven’t been dating for the past year?”
“…Eh?”
“Are you saying I lied to Minato-sensei?”
All the gears in his mind stuttered as he processed Kakashi’s words.
So, he was Kakashi’s boyfriend, for a year, because he apparently accidentally confessed, or maybe Kakashi did, Guy wasn’t sure, and Minato knew about it even though Guy had no idea? Guy tried to remember if Minato had ever said anything that could have been construed as “treat him well” or “congratulations”.
“Oh—Oh! I get it! You’re messing with me! Trying to get me off my guard! Instead of a simple rejection, you’re using this as an opportunity to play mind games! That’s my rival! So clever and practical –it’s really splendid! Really hip! You’re so cool and smart!” Guy’s thoughts raced, and words just tumbled out, messy, quick, uncoordinated. “Always thinking a hundred steps ahead of me, Rival! I still have a long way to go before I can be so clever! As always, you’ve amazed me! I’m blown away completely by you, my rival! You’re really, really the coolest! I wonder if I can master that skill, too! Not right away, but I can do anything with enough practice, right? With determination and youth, maybe I can keep a straight face and say outlandish things too! It’s a vital skill! One you’ve masters! Perfectly! Ahaha! Kakashi, that reminds me of something my Papa sai—”
Kakashi leaned forward and pressed his lips against Guy’s, effectively shutting him up. Guy couldn’t hear the sound of his own thoughts over his racing heartbeat. His mind was trying to ask himself, “Is he kissing me?” or “Why is he kissing me?” but he couldn’t even manage to form those basic, coherent thoughts with Kakashi’s masked lips pressed against his.
Guy couldn’t even be sure it was Kakashi’s lips, since the mask was still here. He’d never exactly felt lips on his lips before.
All he could feel was the smooth fabric of the mask, but… it was nice. The kiss felt welcoming and innocent, which were two things that were the opposite of Kakashi. Guy’s face grew even warmer as Kakashi pulled away.
Their foreheads touched, and they both laughed a little, at once nervous and relieved.
Guy finally found his voice again. “So, the two of us, we’re…?”
Yet again, Kakashi cut him off. “Not friends.”