Unexpected Companions

Foreign yet Familiar

Part 2

With a sigh he set man-Kakashi down on his own bed and let his mind wander as he regrouped. If his rival would give him even a few minutes warning, he'd be able to set up a nice clean futon just for him. But no, he was usually already unconscious by the time he entered the house. Anytime he wasn't, he had come by himself and passed out on his bed before he got home. He might have thought it odd the way Kakashi seemed to prefer that over a clean futon if he wasn't aware of the way familiar scents allowed him to relax; Minato and his ninken worked as well.

He'd found out about that, when Kakashi had decided that his brand new apartment still smelled like the old tenants and had summoned his pack of ninken to 'break the place in.' The lasting smell of dog had tested his Youthful Spirit for weeks. And that didn't even compare to the Youthful challenge of breaking into Minato's apartment. On the same day that he'd been assigned on an extended mission, Kakashi had come back from a bad mission needing several days to recover. With only a tad of lucidness and burning Spirit they'd snowballed their way to a solution. They had decided between the two of them that since Minato had fortunately left on a mission, and had most likely forgotten to throw out his food, unlike he himself had, his apartment was the best option. Fortunately, because he doubted Kakashi would have agreed if Minato hadn't been gone. Breaking into a jounin seal-masters apartment had indeed been a prodigious test of their skills; and when Kakashi was lucid again he'd been raked over the coals for ever considering the idea, as if he hadn't been a fully willing participant. At the very least, he'd recovered before Minato returned so he hadn't had to deal with that fallout; Kakashi probably would have died of embarrassment, if he had to explain that he'd broken into his sensei's apartment so he could sleep surrounded by a familiar scent. One day, he mused; the information was neatly tucked away into a steadily growing file of things to later tease and/or blackmail his rival with. He collected himself hurriedly - sometimes he thought that Kakashi could feel thoughts like that.

Mind restarted, he quickly went about drawing the curtains, before lighting his small desk lamp. While the lack of any blood, the level of activity he'd managed, and the fact that man-Kakashi himself hadn't mentioned anything, had lent him confidence that man-Kakashi wasn't going to die in the night, he still needed to know what he was working with. As much as could without getting too close or touching.

There were a number of things that weren't recommended when in the presence of or taking care of an injured and unconscious shinobi: don't touch them unless already in contact while they were conscious; don't manhandle them; and definitely don't try to remove their clothing, armor, or their weapons - especially their weapons. Doing so could end up in being violently attacked - and even worse, exacerbate their injuries in the process. So man-Kakashi would remain in his raggedy clothes, with all his weapons that were probably digging into his back and limbs, while he tried to assess the damage as best he could.

The tears in his clothes were unexpectedly helpful in this. Through them he could see several wounds, some already bound with bandages. But most seemed older, healed enough that they hadn't torn with activity, and none of the bandages had stains that he could see. All the limbs followed the proper angles, but he refrained judgement, knowing that fractures and sprains were possible, and something that Kakashi would ignore given half the chance. He was more concerned with internal injuries or poison, but he wasn't coughing up blood or burning with fever, or having cold sweats. Concussion or other head injury... he'd have to trust that man-Kakashi would have said something if he was lucid enough to recognize him and ask him for help.

Truthfully though, he wasn't that worried. Kakashi's Fire burned too strong to be put out so easily and he had come to him with far worse injuries before. Some people got the impression that he healed remarkably fast, if he was ever injured at all, because of the way he got up from injuries that would have kept others done for weeks. And it may have been a little bit of that - but mostly he suspected that Kakashi went around constantly injured, stubbornly pretending like he was in top form. He couldn't help but admire his burning Youthful Spirit - for all that Kakashi tried to keep it hidden, it was all too clear to him. Heh. Only his rival would hide such quiet perseverance and fortitude under such a hip attitude.

His own Spirit began to burn as he hardened his resolve once more; someone needed to acknowledge that it wasn't just genius that made the prodigy. So far the only way he'd figured out to say it was 'hard work could beat out genius any day' - and he's sure that Kakashi had understood that as the acknowledgement it was.

Shaking his head, he focused once more. Throwing off his training schedule was starting to get to him. He nodded firmly to himself; he would double his training once he got in some Youth replenishing sleep. Within moments he had turned off the light, closed the door, and set up the futon in the living room. He fell asleep thinking of crazy explanations - mutant experiments, forbidden clone techniques gone wrong, long lost relations and brain transplants; time travel, aging jutsu's, complex pranks, and conspiracies. His last thought was of Kakashi helping an undercover spy pass as a Hatake, telling him all the things he needed to know to reach the 'safe house,' the man thinking that everything he said was code words, with him as Kakashi's handler.

He awoke a few hours later from disturbing dreams about laboratories and sacrificial rituals and puppet-Kakashi's body melting away to reveal - something. It had woken him in a panic but already the memory was fading.

His mind jumped on the reminder that his impromptu guest had interrupted his training and he dressed, checked to make sure his he could still hear a second heartbeat in the house, then dashed out promising to triple his normal morning routine. Man-Kakashi's weight had worn him out more than it should have - his rival was always helping him find things to improve on! He would carry twice that during his warmup runs around the village walls and double his laps or he would do human flags and ninety-degree pushups† till he dropped.

Feeling much better after a bracing workout he headed home ready to get ready for the day. He wasn't surprised when he couldn't sense a presence in the house, as he hadn't when he left, and went about his routine casually. If he wasn't as loud as he usually was, or completely silent as he sometimes was, or if he was focusing more on picking up that second heartbeat again than what he was doing, then no one was there to comment. Kakashi certainly wouldn't.

It took longer than usual to pick up on man-Kakashi heartbeat and he frowned. Heartbeat's were ridiculously hard to pick out even if you knew they were there and had really good, chakra enhanced hearing. It was easier in close proximity, and then after 'tuning' into it more distance was possible. The sound was just just outside of the average shinobi's hearing range; something that usually wasn't actively heard, but rather something to monitor changes. He'd specifically learned how to expand his chakra so he could unobtrusively make sure Kakashi didn't die on him - it had nothing at all to do with the way it shocked Kakashi when he always knew when he woke up. He was good at it, so he was a little concerned when he had trouble finding it. He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding when he finally found it. For a moment... He shook his head to clear the thought from his head.

The reason he was having trouble was clear enough; man-Kakashi's heartbeat was synced with his own, making it hard to distinguish. It wasn't the first time he'd known Kakashi to do that, but it said something about his state of mind. Kakashi had explained that he could figure out someone's heart rate by the flow of their chakra if it wasn't being masked. The first time had been experimental, but soon it had been whenever he was in really bad shape; like an instinctive defense mechanism to keep him hidden.

Shaking his head again to put aside his worry, he determinedly focused on man-Kakashi being alive and awake. And he would appreciate it if he showered before he went to see him. Most of the time he was mindful of how sensitive the Hatake nose was, but every time he forgot Kakashi definitely made him regret it.

A few minutes later, freshly dressed, he was ready to share the wonderful morning with his guest and went to greet him appropriately. His mind was sharp and he had a store of patience prepared to let him wait and figure out whatever was going on.

"I am most pleased to see you awake on this most youthful of mornings, my rival!" He was a little worried that he hadn't sat up yet; a sign he was conserving energy and trying to analyze the situation. His one eye was more focused than it was last night but there was still something off as man-Kakashi looked him over.

The moment dragged on confirming it but before he might have said something else man-Kakashi finally responded. "Yo," His hand raised in a half-hearted greeting that he'd never seen him use before; it was casual, apathetic. Foreign yet familiar. It was puzzling. How could an impostor get Kakashi so wrong - age, eye, attitude, demeanor - yet get him so right - carriage, habits, instincts, knowledge, personality. For underneath everything - the burden, the cracks - Kakashi's most natural state was casual, apathetic, to most things. His other main state was tightly controlled extreme emotion. This wasn't how he expressed wither of them. But he would wait.

He laughed. "Even when you've just woken up, you are as hip as ever my rival!" His worry spiked as he saw man-Kakashi losing focus again as he had been last night in the alley, but apparently he man-Kakashi sensed it; he snapped back to attention and began making his way out of bed in a manner that suggested he was both taking care to avoid aggravating injuries and also cataloguing how his body was handling movement. When he stood there was a carefulness about him that he recognized from the times Kakashi had had concussions, but he didn't say anything.

"Maa, what's in the fridge this morning?"

Taking the expected lack of acknowledgement of his statement in stride as always, he still noted it as he followed man-Kakashi out with excitement; Kakashi was an amazing cook and he could've eaten anything right about then.

Even as he remained watchful, something in him began to relax. Whatever had happened, he knew this was Kakashi. Though some might have been insulted by the way man-Kakashi was seemingly unaware of his presence as they made their way to the kitchen, it was a familiar routine for them. His smile broadened as watched as the man let his nose lead him to the kitchen.

While his guest was struggling with the fridge he lit the stovetop and went about fetching pans, knives, bowls, and the like. He laughed in delight as food started to fly in his general direction and distributed them along the counter. The selection didn't seem to have much rhyme or reason but he wasn't worried. He had first looked forward to the results of Kakashi cooking because anything had to be better than the 'charred or raw' menu he could serve up himself. But a single meal later and he had gained full faith that Kakashi could pass as the head chef of a top restaurant - he'd said something about an undercover mission in a kitchen.

Interspersed with the general cooking talk and flying objects he asked a few questions. Man-Kakashi after all, had his mind somewhere else. He speculated that Kakashi may have taken a prank too far having little experience in such things. But man-Kakashi absentmindedly shot him down, pointedly saying that he knew how to recognize henge and genjutsu. He asked about the covered eye - "lost it" - where he'd hidden Genma's favorite senbon last year - "under his bed," "Ha! I knew it was you!" - and otherwise enjoyed the well practiced routine. He'd had easy access to well over half of the other's vital points for well over an hour yet his guard was completely down. Oh, he had no misconceptions that it would be as easy as flicking a kunai in the right direction, but he had the definite advantage. He'd gone through dozens of attack plans already, more out of morbid curiosity than the ingrained habit that he knew Kakashi and older nin had. He'd determined that the most likely way to succeed would be, following the throw of a random object, swiftly snapping the neck.

When his assistance was no longer needed he set the table and and sat down, carefully stifling his hunger and energy. If he moved or spoke he might explode with overeagerness to finally dig into breakfast. It was times like this that he understood Kakashi's sensitivity to smell - they were currently driving him insane.

But all that completely fled his mind when man-Kakashi approached the table with the last dish and said something completely unexpected: "I'm glad you were the one I stumbled across, Gai."

The sentiment was shocking enough that it drove a soft "eh?" out of him. It hit him underneath his own layers and cracks, touching insecurities he wouldn't even admit to. For all the time they spent together, for all the depth that others didn't see in their relationship, for all the knowledge that Kakashi acknowledged him, for all that he understood Kakashi more than most people - there was still the uncertainty that kept him from bugging his 'rival' too often, afraid that Kakashi'd get fed up; that he could only tolerate so much at once, that all the effort would always have to come from him if he wanted to remain 'rivals.' He'd never been bitter about it - only determined to never give up. But he'd always subconsciously held himself back from chasing after Kakashi if he'd just seen him, tried not to push him into doing other things. Casual lunches were always disguised as eating contests, training together as contests in skill. Not that he'd want it any other way, and he saw that the same way he saw eating lunch normally with others, except better because it was with his 'rival,' but he'd never really known how Kakashi saw it. He had no doubt that Kakashi's view on it would be .. unique... but he'd wondered if it was as positive as his own.

And yet... "I'm glad you were the one I stumbled across, Gai." He knew that man-Kakashi wasn't thinking exactly what he was, but it was so rare to get any kind of sentiment or confirmation from him. A joyful tide of "I knew it" and "Anytime" and Youth and - man-Kakashi had opened his eye and taking in the imminent explosion had quickly put up defenses in the form of a hand rubbing the back of his head and a sheepish eye-smile. So foreign, yet so familiar. He knew they weren't natural reactions; there was a slight... deliberateness to them if you knew what you were looking for.

He'd never seen Kakashi use those particular movements and expressions, but the action was so familiar. He'd known almost immediately that he didn't express himself naturally, the way he and others did. Experienced shinobi could hide their reactions in certain situations or even by habit - but Kakashi used 'reactions' like the interchangeable masks in a Noh performance. A tool to communicate something specific. His repertoire had been growing and he used them both more and less with the people he was closer with, but he'd never seen him adopt this sheepish, shy, demeanor, or the sheepishly apologetic one he'd had the night before. But it was so obvious that he wanted him to tone down his reaction - as if he'd seen it a hundred times. It probably wouldn't have worked except that it had so thoroughly derailed his thoughts, and his stomach loudly reminded him that there was food waiting to be eaten.

The tension broke and he was delighted to hear man-Kakashi laugh along with him.

So foreign, yet so familiar.

Shutting the door behind him after seeing man-Kakashi to bed, he paused in the hallway, trying to sort though the whirlwind of emotions and information. Time travel, eh? It wasn't something that hadn't occurred to him, despite the shock of it being true - in fact it could potentially explain everything; that feeling that everything about man-Kakashi was extremely familiar, just expressed in that completely foreign manner. He crossed his arms with a scoff. Say what man-Kakashi would about traitors and people hunting him down, but he was positive the stubborn man was avoiding the hospital more out of his hatred for them than anything else.

Traitors... That was a worrying implication. But how far in the future were they? The current fighting could drag Konoha into an all out war at any time - was it a traitor that eventually fling them into the midst of it? Or would they - were they - undermining their efforts, misdirecting resources, informing enemies of Konoha's movements? A protective rage was growing within him but he took a deep breath and let man-Kakashi's actions soothe him. Or rather, his lack of action. If it was something that needed immediate action he never would've let him persuade him back to bed, head injury or no.

He grimaced. It was difficult to judge how bad the injury was. Usually Kakashi's food intake when he stayed over was only hampered by how well he could get the food to his stomach. And even then, arm, face, and throat injuries only slowed him down. It had relieved him when at least their old competition around Kakashi's mask got him to eat a semi decent amount; he could happily do without seeing his normally ravenous rival pick at his food ever again.

He started moving again with a laugh, most of his tension put to the side for now. If he ever had to explain how he knew man-Kakashi was truly Kakashi few people would be convinced if he told them it was because Kakashi hadn't tried to convince him of... well, anything. He just was, and like always, everyone else could just deal with it.

Well fed and ready for the day he headed out the door. Kakashi might not know exactly how bad a shape he was in but he would've asked him to check on him or wake him if it was necessary, so he wasn't too concerned on that front. He'd stock up on a few medical supplies on his way back and call it good.

For now, it was going to be a waiting game and the most important thing would be to not raise any suspicions by abruptly changing his routine. If he put a little more energy today into his training to work out the remaining tension... that would be well 'within character.'

When man-Kakashi woke, he could find out if he was up to handling the situation. If not... well, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. And if he was - he promised that the whole of his Youthful Spirit would be behind him - no matter what happened.

† Look! a footnote/reference/citation/index/thing! Human flags and 90 degree pushups as a modification of the planche push up look like some of the most difficult exercises I've ever seen. Human flags, like the Iron Cross, have world records that are under half a minute for total duration. Amazing gymnasts have problems with these! As such it amuses me to have Gai doing them at a young age.

Note: Another chapter without editing. As always, let me know if there are any mistakes.

Speaking of mistakes! One of my wonderful reviewers, Magnusrae, has offered some constructive criticism for Chapter 5 of Hidden Depths. I've acted on it and hopefully I've done their advice justice. I've updated it with the changes so feel free to take a look.