#kahyo

It was difficult to see over Lee’s head, but Tenten still managed to catch a glimpse of her target. With long brown curls falling over her shoulders and a laugh that sounded as sweet as birds singing, she was rather hard to miss.

It wasn’t her beauty or her voice that had captured Lee and Tenten’s attention, though. That alone was worth a passing glance, but nothing more. What had captivated them was the company she was keeping, or, to word it properly they were following a strange, beautiful woman all because the man at her side was someone they knew.

A person they trusted and before today thoughts they knew.

“Come on, Lee,” planting a hand on top of her friend's head, she shoved him down in hopes of getting a better view. “What are they doing?”

“From the looks of it, eating Dango. Ow!” Lee yelped when she brought a fist down on top of his head.

“I can see that,” she scolded him. “But why? I’ve never seen her before.”

“Perhaps they’re on a date?” 

Tenten rolled her eyes at the thought. “Sensei is like, what, forty? I doubt it’s a date.”

“He’s thirty-four,” Lee corrected her. “And there’s no age limit on dating.”

“Ok, but there is a weirdo limit and Gai-sensei had always been too weird to date,” drumming her fingers against the top of Lee’s head, she frowned. Now that she had a better look, the woman seemed familiar.

“Not everyone hates the springtime of youth as you do,” Lee grumbled. “It’s bound to happen that someone would fall for Sensei with all of his passion and kind personality.”

Kind. Now that was a word that did fit their Sensei. As weird as he was, he was always even more kind. Doing everything that he could to spread some cheer to as many people as he could.

“Still,” she narrowed her eyes when the woman turned to face her Sensei. “That face. I know it…” The smallest glimmer of a picture came to mind. Brown curly hair, fire, lighting and icicles.

Kakashi-Sensei.

The answer struck her suddenly. “Kahyo!”

Lee just barely managed to pull her behind the wall they had been half hiding behind, successfully avoiding being spotted by their Sensei or his friend.

“Tenten, we’re supposed to be stealthy,” he scolded her as if he wasn’t the loudest man in all of Konoha. “You just about gave away our position.”

Shaking her head, Tenten reached out and grabbed the front of his jumpsuit. “Kahyo.” she repeated herself. 

“Kahyo?” Lee stared at her with a blank expression. “Is that supposed to mean something?” At times like this, she missed Neji more than ever. He would have understood her words right away and explained them to Lee in words he understood. 

“Kahyo,” she said once more, shaking Lee’s body as if it would help him to understand. “Hozuki Castle, the Tobishachimaru,” some of it seemed to be getting through to Lee’s brain, but he still failed to understand just what it was she was trying to tell him. “Kakashi-Sensei’s crush!”

“Oh!” His eyes flew open. “That…really?”

Recovering from the shock, the pair leaned around the corner once again and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their Sensei and Kahyo with their backs turned to their position, enjoying their treats as if nothing had happened.

“But, why would Sensei be hanging out with his Eternal Rivals crush?” Her teammate asked in a hushed tone. “Surely he’s not attempting to steal her affections from Kakashi-sensei.”

“He’s more likely testing her,” Tenten argued. “Making sure that she’s good enough for Kakashi-sensei.”

“True,” nodding his head, Lee turned to look at her and smiled. “Though, if it were to come down to a choice, I have no doubt Gai-Sensei would come out victorious.” Tenten was about to scold her friend for such words when a hand came down on each of their shoulders.

“And what-” the pair froze, fear coursing through their veins as Kakashi-sensei tightened his hold and leaned in close enough that his breath tickled the back of their necks. “Are you two doing?”

Tenten’s life flashed before her eyes. The laughs she had shared with her team, the days she collapsed into the ground after training. It all blurred together as she braced herself for whatever punishment the Hokage was about to bring down on them for spying.

Not even for spying.

For getting caught.

Glancing over her shoulder, Kahyo choked back a laugh when she saw Kakashi standing over the pair of spies that had spent that last hour following her and Gai through the village. 

“I think Lord Sixth is going to be late for lunch,” she nodded towards the scene, her smile only growing when Gai looked back and sighed. “They’re not very good at hiding.”

“A skill I lack myself, unfortunately.” that she knew for a fact. She could still remember the day Gai vomited in the air ducts on the Tobishachimaru, giving away his and Kakashi’s position. “What they lack in stealth they more than makeup for in other skills, though.”

Of that, she had no doubt. 

“I just hope they don’t have a habit of vomiting in their enemy's faces.” 

Gai sputtered a look of utter horror on his face. “I- that was one time!”

“One time too many,” she teased, chuckling at the memory of her brother furiously cleaning puke off of his face. “Ah, to think the Kage’s all agreed to let me have a few days off and he’s going to be late.”

“He’ll make up for it,” Gai’s expression softened. “Kakashi has been looking forward to your visit for weeks. He won’t allow my students or anyone else to ruin it for him.”

Weeks? That seemed a little far-fetched. The Mizukage had only told her about this little vacation a few days ago and according to her the five Kage’s had agreed on it just the day before.

Still, there was something else she wanted to know about. Her day with Kakashi had been pre-planned through letters, little hints of his work securing her this little vacation in the letters they exchanged, but Gai? His greeting at the gates to Konoha had come as a surprise to her.

“What about you?” she asked, examining the stick of Dango he had brought her when they first arrived, which she had failed to enjoy as of yet. “How long were you waiting to properly meet me?”

They had met once before, just not under the type of circumstances that allowed them to get to know each other. 

“Since yesterday,” he admitted with a confident smile on his face. “Kakashi only told me your vacation was officially approved yesterday morning while we were having lunch in his office.”

She was not surprised. Even in the limited time, she saw the two together just over a year ago, she could tell that they were close. When her Earth-style Ice chains had damaged the ship and sent people flying out into the open air Kakashi had clung to Gai, or that was what her brother had said while laughing at them. Mocking them for refusing to give up one life to try and save the other.

If that wasn’t enough to convince her of their bond, Kakashi was always talking about Gai in their letters. His admiration for his friend's resilience was adorable, and how he spoke of their challenges was always a treat. Sometimes she wished she had a friend like Gai. Perhaps then things would have turned out differently for her.

“Kakashi really likes you,” Gai continued, smiling when she raised an eyebrow at his words. “I don’t think anyone has captured his attention quite like you.”

Sweet words, but they were missing something.

“You,” she filled in the gap without hesitation, chuckling when Gai’s eyes widened with shock. “You’ve never seen the way he speaks of you. It’s refrained, but the admiration and respect in his descriptions of you is clear. Hatake Kakashi would not exist without you.”

A smile cracked across his face. Proud yet with a hint of fondness. The smile of a man recalling some of the best times of his life. “I wouldn’t exist without him either,” his smile grew. “We are a packaged deal. The dynamic duo!”

Kakashi was right. That nickname did sound like the dorkiest thing she had ever heard in her life. Perhaps she had been too quick to judge his letters when he spoke of what an energetic weirdo his best friend was.

It was a little odd, but she found Gai’s personality comforting. A nice counter to Kakashi’s more cool and aloof personality. 

“Besides, I can’t provide the company he could use most of the time,” she continued as if they hadn’t derailed the conversation into mushy territory. “It’s great to feel wanted,” wonderful in fact. It had been far too long since it felt like there was someone in the world who wanted her around. “But I have a life sentence. Hozuki Castle is my home now.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to give up everything,” the words are spoken with such kindness that she almost believes them. As if, even now, there’s a little spark of happiness saved just for her even after everything she has done. “Kakashi will retire one day.”

“A prison is no place to spend retirement,” she laughs at the thought. “I may have captured his attention, as you said, but I’ll never be a part of his life.” Not in a big, meaningful way, at least. Her actions on the Tobishachimaru had assured that and it seemed a fitting punishment. There was finally someone she could see a future with, and she had snatched that future away with her own two hands. 

“You are already a part of his life,” Gai corrected her, waving his Dango in front of her face. “Kakashi does not need you by his side at all times to feel the way that he does. You don’t see the way his eyes light up when he receives one of your letters. It’s a beautiful thing, Love.”

Love.

Could it really be called that? Did Hatake Kakashi really have it in him to love someone who had caused the needless deaths of eighteen people in her own grief?

Even if he did, did it matter? 

“Hey,” Gai nudged her with his elbow, a blinding smile greeting her when she focused on him once again. “The past is done. Don’t dwell on it too much or you’ll miss those precious moments you still have an opportunity to experience.”

“Precious moments?” she tilted her head. “Like?”

“Like this,” turning away from the table, Gai cupped both hands around his mouth to create a make-shift megaphone. “Hey, Rival! Hurry up and get over here! Your girlfriend is waiting!”

Slapping a hand over her mouth, Kahyo snickered as she watched Kakashi straighten himself up and glare at his best friend. Only an hour into her visit to Konoha and she was already having a great time, all thanks to Maito Gai. 

Her brother was probably having a fit watching down on her from wherever he was now.

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