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Visiting Shimogakure proved more difficult than Gai thought it would.
Constantly being assigned to missions, some which took him to opposite corners of the world. so far away from Shimogakure that he couldn’t even entertain the thought of popping by before making his way back to Konoha.
The last time he’d been able to divert off his path for a quick visit to Shimogakure had been five months ago and he’d only had two hours before he had to start his journey back to Konoha.
So when he’d managed to finish his current mission three days ahead of schedule, and a lot closer to Shimogakure than had originally been projected by the mission outlines, he didn’t waste a second.
The universe had handed him an opportunity to visit his favourite place.
To see his favourite person.
It would be rude of him to ignore such an opportunity.
He only hoped that such an unexpected visit would be welcomed. There would be no opportunity for him to write a letter warning of his arrival. The Kakashi he knew would be fine with that. He could adjust easily to surprises and although he never acted like it, Gai knew he was happy for whatever fleeting moments that could get together.
It wasn’t his Kakashi he was meeting with, though.
Although the man he was visiting looked and sounded exactly like his old friends, his memories were different.
Gai still wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, but on the last mission he’d done for Konoha Kakashi had lost all his memories. Every precious moment they’d spent together, all the people he’d grown up around, and the missions he’d done. All of it was gone.
For three years Konoha had Kakashi listened as Missing in Action, most likely killed on his last mission.
Gai had mourned him. Cried for the friend he lost too soon, and even gotten into a habit of visiting the memorial stone in the centre of the cemetery to speak with Kakashi. His friends name wasn’t etched on the stone, but it was the only place he had to visit him.
There was no body to bury, so no grave to visit. And since Kakashi hadn’t been declared dead during a war, his name hadn’t been added to the memorial stone.
Then, while he was on a mission of his own, Gai stumbled upon the small village of Shimogakure. He was just passing through. There was nothing for him in the village except a quick bite to eat and a bed to sleep in for the night.
But then he saw something on his way out.
Or rather, someone.
A silver haired man who looked all to familiar.
After chasing him throughout the village Gai found himself standing in front of a small house. When he knocked on the door he came face to face with the man he’d seen in town.
A man he knew better than anyone else.
There was just one problem. That man didn’t recognize him.
It took a lot of digging for Gai to find out just how his friend had ended up in this tiny village. Almost an entire year had passed before he had an idea of what exactly had happened, and in that time he’d been able to visit Shimogakure only four times.
A good shinobi would have informed the higher ups of Konoha that he’d found Kakashi.
A good friend would have told their other friends, the people who’d mourned Kakashi’s death alongside him, that the friend they thought was gone was alive and living in a small home in a tiny village in the middle of the land of frost.
Gai was neither a good shinobi not a good friend.
At least, that was the judgment he’d sure he’d receive if anyone in Konoha found out where he was going every time, he had just a few precious hours to spare.
It didn’t matter, though.
He could suffer whatever judgment he faced in Konoha, because the truth was Kakashi was doing better.
Watching him in Shimogakure, he knew he couldn’t tell anyone back in Konoha about him. If he did they’d want to force him to return to the village and would set Inoichi or some other Yamanaka on trying to recover his memories.
Then, if they succeeded, Kakashi would return to the same life he’d had before he lost his memories.
Drowning in guilt for all the people he blamed himself for failing, chasing after death with the hope that he’d stop hurting if his heart was no longer beating.
Gai couldn’t let that happen. Even if it meant sneaking off to visit his old friend knowing that he may never truly remember him.
Kakashi was happy in Shimogakure. Happier than Gai ever remembered him being in Konoha.
He couldn’t take that away from him, no matter how much he missed having his rival at his side.
So instead, he visited. Planned out his missions in the hopes of finishing them earlier than expected just so he could sneak off to Shimogakure to visit Kakashi. It didn’t always work out, but sometimes he was lucky.
Today was one of those lucky days.
As he took the last few steps toward the top of the hill that overlooked Shimogakure he took a deep breath and smiled as the cold air filled his nostrils. “I’m here.”
“You’re late,” whipping his head around, he narrowed his eyes when he saw Kakashi sitting under the lone maple tree atop the hill, his notebook open on his lap and a pen in his hand. “by-“ he checked his wrist as if he had a watch on it. “about two months.”
“You’re keeping track of me?”
“Always,” setting the pen in the middle of his notebook, Kakashi relaxed against the tree and turned his head to look at Gai. “I was starting to get bored.”
A warm feeling filled Gai’s heart when he heard that. Although he had no memories of his old life, occasionally, Kakashi would say something that sounded like his old self. In this instance, he’d managed to say the few words that always excited Gai.
Words that he was certain Kakashi purposefully used to entice him into asking for a challenge, because that was what he always did when Kakashi expressed bored of any sort. Even if Kakashi swore he couldn’t remember their rivalry, he’d picked up on their challenges without hesitation the first time Gai had asked him for one.
If he was being honest, Kakashi seemed to enjoy them more now than he had before. Though, there was a part of him that always believed Kakashi enjoyed their challenges even when he didn’t act like it. He just had a freedom now he hadn’t had in Konoha.
“You in there?”
Shoving his thoughts to the side, Gai focused his full attention on Kakashi. “Sorry,” he apologized, a light smile playing at his lips. “How long have you been waiting here?”
“today, or in general?”
“Today,” though he wanted to know the answer to both questions, he decided to focus on the less embarrassing one. Even without his memory Kakashi was still the same person, and that person hated giving up any information that could highlight his weakness’.
Even when he was playing the role of a simple townsfolk, a part of Kakashi’s mind was still thinking like a shinobi.
“Two hours,” checking his notebook, he flipped back a few pages. “I’ve written… seven pages while waiting for you.”
“Seven?” Gai let out a low whistle. “Impressive. Last time you’d only gotten three new pages during the entire time I was gone.”
“You can’t rush a good story.”
“So it’s good?” glancing down at the book, Gai debated trying to steal it. Kakashi had been working on it for the past year, and in all of that time he’d refused to let Gai look at it even once. No matter how many times he asked, Kakashi always said no.
“It’s…alright,” Kakashi answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “and no, you can’t read it.”
“I wasn’t going to ask,” Kakashi raised his left eyebrow, the filler that had replaced Obito’s sharingan staring at him with more emotions than the sharingan had ever held. He still wasn’t sure what had happened to that sharingan, though there were a few explanations he could think of.
The most likely was that Kakashi had been injured, and fearing death had chosen to destroy the sharingan somehow. A move that would be taken by any Uchiha wielding the sharingan to protect its secrets and powers from enemy shinobi.
“You’re bad at lying. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Thinking about it, Gai chuckled. “One person,” he admitted. “Said I would do bad at undercover ops.”
“Was he right?”
“No one has ever been more right about anything in the history of the world,” just the thought of the one undercover mission he’d been given years ago was enough to make him cringe. If it hadn’t been for Kakashi’s quick thinking it was very possible he would have blown the mission completely. Thankfully he had many other skills that more than made up for his poor lying abilities.
“Well, I hope they talked about your good qualities too.”
“My good qualities?” Gai’s interest was officially piqued. In all the years he’d known Kakashi there were only a handful of times he’d ever mentioned any of his good qualities. 90% of those times were in the heat of battle when he was gloating about Gai to their enemies, and the other 10% were when Gai needs a pick-me up after listening to people tear him down for days.
Bringing them up randomly in the middle of a conversation had never been one of those times.
“Your fashion sense, for one,” Kakashi continued, pointing straight at Gai’s neck. Looking down, he smiled when he noticed the red scarf he’d wrapped around his neck to fend off the cold air. It wasn’t something he wore every day anymore, but a nice accessory he would pull out whenever the wind was particularly cold. “it’s bold. I could never pull off a scarf like that.”
The smile vanished off Gai’s face. “Are you-“he glared at Kakashi. “This is my favourite scarf!”
“And it works for you,” Kakashi insisted.
It was moments like this when Gai really wanted to tell Kakashi who he really was. To remind him of the past that they shared, and maybe shake loose a few of those memories that were tucked away in some dark corner of his friend’s mind.
If he could do that, then he’d have the satisfaction of watching as Kakashi came to the realization that the only reason he owned this scarf, was because of him.
It was Kakashi who had given it to him as a birthday present after his old red scarf was lost in a passionate battle against some mist shinobi.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Gai waited for Kakashi to continue, not daring to get his hopes up for a genuine compliment anymore. “your cooking.”
“my…cooking?”
“Ya,” Kakashi smiled up at him, his eyes crinkling at the edges in that way they only did when he was genuinely smiling. “You make the best grilled fish I’ve ever had.”
“is that why you’re waiting up here for me? For some grilled fish?”
“it’s not the only reason,” turning his attention back to his book, he smiled. “But…maybe.”
Gai’s smile grew impossibly wide. No matter how much things had changed, it seemed like they were still exactly the same.
Kakashi was still a brat, and he still loved it.
“So, grilled fish tonight?”
“You’re staying more than a few hours?”
“If you want me to.”
Tilting his head back, Kakashi stared up at the sky as though he was putting some real thought into it. After a solid few seconds, he turned his focus back to Gai and smiled that heart stopping beautiful smile of his.
“How long can you stay?”
Forever.
Willing that thought away, Gai took a deep breath. “A few days,” he answered, wishing that the answer that had popped into his head when he heard Kakashi’s question was the one he could give instead. “It’s not much but-“
“it’s more than enough,” Kakashi finished for him as he patted the ground beside him. “Sit down. There are still some ideas running around in my head I want to get out.”
Doing as instructed, Gai made his way toward the tree and plopped himself down right beside Kakashi. Once he was comfortably seated, he leaned back and tilted his head to try and get a good look at the book. Unfortunately, Kakashi caught him right away and moved the book out of view.
“I can’t even have a sneak peak?”
“You’ll get it when it’s done.”
“So will the rest of the world.”
“No,” lowering his eyes to the book, Kakashi smiled. “This one isn’t for the world.”
“But I’ll get to see it?”
“That is the point of a gift, you know. For the recipient to see it.”
“A gift?” his smile grew so wide his cheeks started to hurt a little.
“Is that allowed?”
“Yes, it just makes me even more curious about what it is.”
“Well,” lifting his right hand, Kakashi tapped his forefinger against Gai’s nose. “You’ll just have to keep coming back until I finish.”
Keep coming back.
Gai smiled at the thought. He’d always wondered if Kakashi enjoyed his visits at all or if he was just proving to be a nuisance.
Now he had his answer, and a fun new thing to look forward to on each of his visits.