Chapter Text
Kakashi had almost expected something to be different today. It was the day he was finally going to become a chunin. It was about time for Kakashi to start actually climbing the ranks. The sooner he did, the sooner he’d be free of relying on a team, or on anyone below him.
Of course, that team was holding him up yet again, even today.
Kakashi’s glare didn’t soften when the sheepish footsteps announced the arrival of his chronically late rival. One of the many reasons Obito had yet to earn Kakashi’s respect.
“You’re late again, Obito! We even went over the right path to take to get here! How do you always manage to get lost?!”
“Lost— S-shut up, Bakashi! I didn’t get lost! There was just some trouble on the way up here!”
“Why is there always trouble that only you get into?”
“Now, now,” Rin tried to soothe out. “He made it, and that’s what matters, right?”
Kakashi had expected too much. As always, Obito had been so late, they were practically going to run out of time to register, and Rin had been too easy on him for it. Kakashi was all but used to that dynamic of theirs by now.
“What room are we supposed to meet up in to sign up?” Obito asked Rin.
“Room 320…”
“So, this one!” Obito ran forward and dashed into the labeled room ahead. He grinned. “See, we’re not late! You were worried for nothing, Bakashi!”
Kakashi sighed and put his hands together. “Release.”
The room full of people and the registration desk that Obito had rushed to all warped and vanished to reveal empty, old walls and barren space. Obito confusion was met by another look of annoyance from Kakashi. “You already kept us waiting. Don’t fall for genjutsu like this already.”
“What--! No, I didn’t fall for anything! I just—”
“You’re already embarrassing yourself. Just don’t draw any bad attention to our team,” Kakashi muttered harshly, turning and leaving. He wasn’t even going to pretend to hear whatever excuse Obito had for himself this time.
“Now, now, come on you two, are we really going to fight like this today?” Rin said, stepping in between them when she saw another argument brewing. She walked as a barrier between them for the rest of the way to the actual registration room.
Kakashi was all but used to these things by now. The usual arguments came from that. Kakashi scolding Obito, Obito trying to impress Rin. All of it was about as routine now as…
“AHA!”
As was that.
The very sudden blur of green spandex.
The blur resolved into a human shape, and Obito and Rin flinched at the sudden appearance –Kakashi thought they would be used to this by now. Kakashi certainly was. The large eyes that stared right into the soul, the blinding grin, the way he stood too close and spoke too loud with that boisterous voice of his. “Rival! You’ve arrived at last!”
“Ugh! It’s beast-face again!” Obito cut in. “You’re so creepy! Go away, you’re bothering me and Rin!”
The way Guy weaved past Obito’s attempt to shove him away, it almost seemed like he had barely noticed the obstacle at all. “Ka-KASHI!” Guy grinned proudly, putting his thumb up in what he apparently deemed a “Good Guy Pose.”
Kakashi’s eyebrows braided in annoyance as he gave the boy a half-lidded, uninterested stare. Kakashi would never understand how he ended up with classmates like these.
Kakashi always tried to ignore Guy. To his credit, Guy simply had a way of making himself difficult to ignore. Instead, Kakashi simply stared at him through half-lidded eyes and a bored expression. “Guy. Your team is competing today?”
Guy seemed thrown off by the question. He stumbled in his words for a second, and his mouth twitched into an even larger smile, which was somehow possibly with Guy, if no one else. He almost looked like he was going to cry tears of joy, but instead he cleared his throat and showily spun around. When he stopped, he was pointing at Kakashi.
“My eternal rival! I knew I’d run into you here! You and I are elite, and we chase the highest heights, and becoming chunin is but a small step in that journey. Even so—No, BECAUSE of it! Rival, I challenge you! I’ll definitely reach chunin today! I’m going to show my true strength to you once and for all! The Guy you’ve faced in the past and the Guy that stands before you today are two different beasts! I said it before, but I’m!” Guy pointed his thumb at himself with even more enthusiasm than before, practically screaming now. “I’m the man who will become stronger than anyone and everyone! I’m going to be the strongest man in the whole world!”
“Hm.” He had said that before. He sounded just as delusional back then. So Kakashi gave him the same bemused expression he had given him back then, and every time he made these ridiculous declarations.
“So, what do you say, Rival? Today’s showdown is for our score! I know either I’ll win or you’ll win, and whichever of us does win will get another point! This is my chance to catch up to you!” Guy leaned forward, and Kakashi leaned back. Kakashi looking away from Guy’s gaze had little to do with the intensity of how he just sparkled with excitement sometimes, but it was a good excuse to scope out what competition he would have here besides Guy, who had never beaten Kakashi in any actual fight. The attention that his appearance alone got him was apparently not enough for Guy, because now his little declaration had all eyes in the room looking down at them.
Kakashi’s enthusiasm in return was a subdued sigh. Far less verbose. He’d never been as chatty as Guy. Kakashi didn’t care for the sound of his own voice, not like Guy, who seemed to get some sort of glee and gratification in hearing himself talk in rehearsed diatribes.
“You’ll lose,” Kakashi answered simply.
“You ALWAYS lose!” Obito chimed in unhelpfully.
Guy actually pouted at that for a second. Then he huffed. Then he grinned and held up his thumb again. “So, you accept! Thank you, Rival! This contest will be a true test of our skills! Please watch how much my abilities as a deadly Shinobi have grown!”
Kakashi almost, almost chuckled at that.
He knew that was Guy’s eventual goal, but Kakashi actually knew what being a deadly Shinobi was. In comparison to Kakashi, Guy was a kid. In comparison to Obito, Guy was still a kid –even though they both looked the part, now that they’d devolved into some sort of one-sided argument that consisted of Obito yelling at Guy, and Guy thanking him for the encouragement. Guy had to look up to meet Obito’s eyes.
Guy was one of the single youngest people in the room. Kakashi knew that because he was the only one here who actually was younger than Guy.
Despite being months older than Kakashi, and some centimeters taller, he always gave off the impression that he was even younger than Kakashi anyway. Something about the boundless energy and the lack of filter. Something about the fact that Guy was just sort of rounder where it counted, with baby fat on his face and big doe-eyes.
The bowl-cut actually helped him look older than he used to, but not by much.
But more than that, Guy was kind. Weird, sure, but way too kind and way too empathetic in a different way then Rin was. Guy was the type to let his emotions and feelings get the better of him.
Kakashi had recently come to learn that people like that had no business here at all.
“If it wasn’t for my figuring out the genjutsu, we wouldn’t have made it to the right room at all,” a somewhat nasally voice piped up from behind Guy. Guy was annoying, but his two teammates were, to be honest, pretty forgettable. The one with the black, round glasses was Ebisu, who specialized in ninjutsu, and that was all Kakashi had to keep in mind about him.
Guy straightened up and blinked curiously. “You’re…?”
Which was apparently more than Guy kept in mind about his teammates himself. Ebisu visibly twitched at that. “Ebisu.”
“Ebisu!” Guy slapped Ebisu’s back and emphasized the word, and Ebisu nearly stumbled from the casual force. “I am grateful to you, Ebisu! I’ll train my genjutsu, too! Next time, I’ll figure it out on my own, or else I’ll run five hundred laps around the training field! I promise!”
“That’s just you making more excuses to do taijutsu instead of actually practicing with your chakra,” Ebisu grumbled. Guy looked scandalized at the accusation.
“I would NEVER make an excuse to get out of training! I’m in the Springtime of my Youth! I cannot waste it away lazing about!” He gestured emptily around the room, something meaningless he did with his energy, but Kakashi could tell it came off more like an accusation of everyone around him. “I’ll give it my all! So, give it your all to help me, too!”
“Even if I do, you’re…”
Both of them grew silent as a senbon flew passed them and narrowly missed their faces. It narrowly missed Guy’s face, at least, but Ebisu’s face had a dark, shallow cut on it now, and a much darker glare aimed in the direction of the attacker. Kakashi’s eyes followed the older boy’s gaze.
“Settle down, you’re bothering your elders,” Guy’s third teammate introduced himself by leaning back farther into his chair, as if the only thing keeping him from going to sleep was their noise. He dug around lazily in his pocket and pulled out another senbon, then placed it in his mouth like straw. He started chewing on the thin metal and looked at his partners with a lazy, amused grin. “And by elders, I mean me.” His tone was smooth, but even as he said it, his eyes scanned the room. He was clearly gauging the people who would be his opponents, unlike his teammates.
“Oh, Genma! There you are!”
“Never left, but thanks for noticing, Guy.”
“Why do you recognize him right away?!” Ebisu’s voice was high pitched and accusatory. He, apparently, was still not very used to Guy either. “And you, Genma! Why are you encouraging this behavior! If we have to respect you as our elder, then Guy should learn to show me an ounce of respect as his elder!”
Genma hummed softly to himself, closing his eyes like he was really falling asleep. “You don’t respect me, Ebisu, so you can’t use that argument. Good try, though.”
Guy laughed. “Oh! This is a good opportunity for practice!” Guy turned his attention to the shallow cut on Ebisu’s face. Ebisu grimaced and drew closer to Genma.
“I am not a practice dummy for someone who can barely even weave a proper hand seal!”
“Now, now, Guy just wants to respectfully help his elder, Ebisu…” Genma’s voice trailed off as Rin and Obito both pulled Kakashi away from Guy’s team while those three were fussing over Ebisu’s little cut.
“Now that Beast Face is finally bugging someone else,” Obito complained loudly, then turned to Rin and smiled. “Let’s hurry up and get signed in, Rin!”
Rin let go of Kakashi, and instead held Obito’s hand. “Yeah! Come on, let’s hurry before time really does run out.”
Kakashi shrugged and followed after Rin. At least Obito was moving forward with some sense of purpose now. If he considered being pulled along by Rin while he was lamely blushing and stuttering “moving forward”.
“Did you hear that outburst? Pipsqueak can talk big, I’ll give him that.”
Kakashi’s ears perked up in recognition.
He knew that voice. Where did he know that voice from?
“Chip off the old block, like father like son, huh? He’ll be a failure too. Just as funny to watch him trying, though!”
“Even funnier! God, that kid’s pathetic. Loud and useless, like a hurt little puppy. He’s got a proud tradition of failure to uphold, playing ninja and everything!”
Kakashi knew both of those voices.
When Kakashi’s team finally made it to register for the exam, his tone shifted very suddenly. Kakashi knew these faces, too. Kakashi knew these two sorry excuses for chunin, tangentially. They had crossed paths exactly once before.
Once, when they both teamed up just to fight Guy. Calling it a fight would be generous, considering it was the two of them against Guy. Guy, who hadn’t even been an academy student at the time. Kakashi was a newly accepted student himself, but he vividly remembered making short work of them.
Apparently, a humiliating defeat against someone who was barely five years old had not enough to actually shut them up.
That was back when Kakashi had a father, too. A father who was sure that Guy was going to get strong enough to eclipse Kakashi someday. A father who was so proud of Kakashi when he ran in to save the poor, hopeless kid.
(Kakashi’s father had asked him what made him want to run in and help Guy so passionately. Kakashi, the genius, really didn’t know the answer himself. He’d told his father it was irritating seeing a boy that the White Fang had personally praised losing such an embarrassing fight. Besides, the kid couldn’t even land a hit for people insulting his father. Who did that? Kakashi had heard whispers of insults against his own father around then. Maybe that was what ticked him off more than anything. It had nothing to do with Guy himself.)
It didn’t matter now.
A father who was an idiot and a weakling and a traitor. A man Kakashi shouldn’t model himself after. He had to remind himself of that frequently.
Kakashi shouldn’t even concern himself with his own father, much less with a father like Duy. Much less with a couple of chunin that Guy should have been angry about. For all his talk about self-rules, it sure didn’t look like Guy had taken chance to return a single punch for the insults they levied against his dad.
Rin and Obito were already signing in and showing their identification. They were giggling to each other, just excited to be here.
When Kakashi approached the desk, all four of them fell silent. Kakashi was glaring daggers, and any ninja worth a thing –so honestly, less than half the people in this room –would feel something like bloodlust from the way his chakra was flared right now. Rin certainly seemed to notice something was wrong. Obito was busy noticing that Rin was noticing something, of course.
Kakashi shouldn’t even bother with things this stupid.
Kakashi had more than enough of his own problems to worry about.
“Rival, is something the matter?” And there was that flash of green again.
Guy was right in Kakashi’s face. So, he was crouching down on the table in front of him. Kakashi pointed turned his gaze to something behind Guy, so Guy turned his head and stared at the chunin.
That was another weird thing about Guy. He worried about other people too much. Kakashi in particular, even though Kakashi was the last person who would need to rely on anyone else. He especially didn’t see himself relying on Guy, ever.
Guy turned back to Kakashi, and the blank look on his face was almost as infuriating as it had been to see those two beat him up in the first place. Guy frowned pensively, then slammed his fist into his own palm, as if Guy had made some big realization.
“Ah! I get it, I’m in your way! Sorry, Rival! I would never try to sabotage your registration! How else would we meet in battle?” Guy leapt off the table, with more grace than he used to have, and landed right beside Kakashi. “I really do have a good feeling about these exams! I’ll truly shine! I can tell! You see, rival, my dear teammate, Genma--”
“Hey, kid,” the irritating voice of one of the chunin proctors interrupted Guy before he could continue his flowery speech. “If you’re done here, then go back to your team.”
Kakashi half-expected that voice to at least rouse some sort of recognition in Guy. Guy wasn’t all that good at masking his emotions. Kakashi would know if he was.
Guy simply grinned at the two chunin and stuck up his thumb. “Of course, esteemed proctors! The two of us are contenders to watch! We’re going to blow this place away! So be sure to register him properly just as you did for us! Please and thank you!”
Guy turned to go back to his team, apparently confident that his job there was done.
Kakashi was going crazy. That was the only explanation for why he would have expected anything but that from Might Guy.
Kakashi grimaced and spoke anyway. “Are you serious?” Despite his snarky tone, there was a hint of anger in his voice. It might have been directed at Guy.
Guy didn’t pick up on it at all.
“Very serious, Rival! I’ll show you today! Just watch me! Best of luck!”
Guy didn’t care that these two sorry excuses for Shinobi were the one who mocked and belittled his own father. Guy didn’t even care enough to notice. It annoyed Kakashi to realize how angry that made him.
“Kakashi…? Are you alright?” Rin.
“Don’t get so hung up on Beast-face, or he’ll never leave us alone. He’ll probably get knocked out in the first round anyway, just ignore him.” Obito.
Kakashi frowned and turned his attention back to registering.
Everyone was just being themselves. Obito was being Obito, Rin was being Rin.
“Rival…?”
Guy was being dense.
These exams were perfect for knocking some sense into naïve fools like Guy anyway.
Not that it had anything to do with Kakashi. Kakashi penned down his name. “I guess we’ll all show what we’re made of today.”
Guy’s grin was blinding. Literally –why did he insist on angling it to sparkle in the light that way? “Oooh! You seem kinda pumped up today, Rival! That’s what I’m talking about! Let’s go! With a youthful shout! Fight! Fight! And one more—” Guy jumped. Hopefully he really was pretending not to notice that no one else was joining in his little rallying cry. But this was Guy, he really was that dumb sometimes, apparently. Either way, Guy’s last cry was loud enough to ring throughout the entire building.
“FIGHT!!”
Somehow, it still wasn’t loud enough to hide the sound of the others laughing at it.