[Closed] I'd swim across Lake Michigan..

[scarecrowboy]

Who: Kakashi & Yamato.

When: Oct 30.

Where: The main streets of Konoha, dinnertime-ish.

 

If someone had told Kakashi previous to his punishment that he'd actually find merit in looking after a troupe of genin for two weeks, he'd probably still be laughing now. But as it turned out no-one had warned him, and  here he was standing before a small bell on a red cord being jingled in his direction. His expression was one of pride for sure. Instead of sharing the quickly put-together bento boxes he'd prepared for the threat of starvation, Kakashi allowed himself to be a little more indulgent to his new but temporary wards, and led them into the village proper to treat them.

He wasn't, however, going to patronize or punish them with his company and so armed them with a recommendation and a menial sum to help them along and sent them on their way to rendezvous later. It was on their parting that Kakashi passed a string of newly formed structures and a small gathering of village officials, and immediately he knew he was headed the right way. A few stragglers led him in the direction of the houses culprit - a single man standing at a funny angle, red in the face, gripping his chest and wheezing with the effort it took to make row after row of civilian housing with little to no respite time. Out of all of them, he supposed, Yamato had the worst punishment as it was the only thing that would truly wear him out, at least if the way his breaths came in heaves was anything to go by.

The sun was high and warm, and Kakashi guessed it to be about midday, so he shouldered himself through the crowd and took Yamato by the elbow with little to no explanation other than a quick, "I'll take him for a recharge, you can manage here by yourself for a half hour, can't you?" to the nearest shinobi before dragging the man in question away. 

 

Comments

[mokutonno]

The mention of Gai made him want to scoff, but his throat was too closed off to follow through with the noise.
He swallowed thickly, chasing after that thread of irritation in a desperate attempt to pull himself together, to actually have this talk and almost wanted to damn Kakashi to several low levels of hell for catching him weak and in public no less.

"Gai-san disapproved of our ways of coping in ANBU, he disapproved of my attitude towards you in general I think.."

Yamato was Kakashi's past, was the part of him that so many of the Jounin's friends reviled and resented but now that it was being put the rest, even with Kakashi's confirmations, he still felt completely adrift.

Gai had said to find another way to help Kakashi and he'd done so; the missions was all he had left to offer and other than show exactly the lengths he was willing to go for the Jounin, it had by all accounts worked. Now what use was he?

Maybe this was why the praise turned his stomach..he honestly had no idea what to do with it. Friendship was standing by one another, being there and keeping trust and that he could do, would always be there, no matter what, but compared to what they'd been in ANBU, the bond he felt then, everything else just seemed..lacking.

Maybe he was just greedy for too much..

A smile touched his mouth, small and self-deprecating and paired with a weak shrug.

"He said that I should handle you better. I just..don't know what I can offer you anymore, senpai.."

[scarecrowboy]

"Gai.. is difficult..." Kakashi began, his eye pointedly avoiding Yamato's face so he didn't have to look at the self-depreciating little smile that he wanted to smack off Yamato's lips. It didn't belong there. "He's stubborn, like me, and he's also my oldest friend. He was there before anyone else was, and he pulled me out of a rut I didn't let anyone else into. Without Gai's efforts, I wouldn't have let you in, Tenzou."

The name was barely an accident now, because it felt to Kakashi just like he was talking to his kouhai as if their relationship had never changed. Kakashi still felt those threads of closeness as if it had only been yesterday, and it hurt to think that Yamato didn't... But he understood.

"But he wasn't in the right with what he said. Our rivalry is something completely seperate to the friendship you and I have, and I treasure that. Gai is worried his toes are getting stepped on, but that's never been the case.. You were my only contact in ANBU, the only person I talked to about who I was while I was your Captain.. That's one section of my life that doesn't include Gai, and whether he feels threatened by that or otherwise remains to be seen, but you are a very dear friend to me."

Kakashi couldn't stress that enough, and all he wanted was for Yamato to believe him.

"I don't want to see either of you at each others throats over this, so I'll let you make your decision by yourself. I'm here to be your friend, but I won't force you if being close to me, or to Gai, leaves you feeling lost."

[mokutonno]

Yamato's gaze flickered away, reaching for his chopsticks again but only to anxiously fiddle with the two stems.

"You're not forcing me, Kakashi.. I just didn't know where I could stand with you without being seen as an interloper. I tried to assure Gai-san that it wasn't the case either, but I don't think he wanted to believe me.."

His lips pressed into a frown "He'll likely never forgive me for taking you on that mission either, it's a wonder that he hasn't petitioned for my demotion already."

He shot Kakashi a hopeless look, but there was some humour there and some amount of hope, brought on by the Jounin's reassurance. Hearing that Kakashi didn't agree with Gai's assessment, went a long way to easing the distress he'd been feeling and to know that some part of his former captain would always be his settled, strange and comforting, into his bones.

The creeping sense of dread that he'd had, that tying up the past was somehow cutting him out of the future, ebbed a little more and he felt somewhat foolish for taking Kakashi's gestures in the manner he had, unwittingly extending his own distress.
(A mask and sword, still set aside sprung to mind, but he brush the thought aside, that he could deal with later, when he was ready to.)

It by no means left either of them blameless for the lack of communication, but it was progress.

"..And I'm relieved to hear you say that, Senpai. I.. was beginning to think that I'd imagined most of our time in ANBU."

There was a shy smile to his words, the nostalgia of his thoughts and the lilt of his old name from Kakashi's mouth, warming him and untangling a little of the knot in his chest.
Maybe he could do this again, just this once. It was so hard to not trust the older shinobi after all..

[scarecrowboy]

Kakashi leant his elbow on the table, a hand coming to cover his already hidden mouth as he looked at Yamato.

"I think you need to talk to Gai. Maybe give him a little time, then test the water.. The both of you don't understand each other well enough to fix the mess you've found yourself in, but.. I think if you both talk, and you both listen, you might get somewhere."

He wasn't blaming either of them, and wasn't taking a side, but as far as grudges went, Gai definitely wasn't the type, and Yamato was such a fair player that it was easy to see how much he wanted to be on a level field with Kakashi's closest friend. Kakashi hadn't talked to Gai about it in detail, but he was sure Gai wouldn't enjoy the animosity either.

As for himself...

"I'm here now, Tenzou. I won't disappear again."

[mokutonno]

Yamato too a breath and finally took up his chopsticks properly, hands finally steady enough to eat. Okay, he could do this, on both counts though..

"Alright, but I'm not making any promises where Gai-san is concerned, we'll just have to see what happens.." As for that last part..

Yamato's gaze flickered up to meet Kakashi's for a moment, then away as he picked out one of the neat rolls from his bento "..And I think I'm beginning to get that.."
There was a smile on his lips then, tentative and small, but genuine and it persisted even after his mouthful of sushi.