Chapter Text
When Gai’s team returned to the Village, all three boys were pale like deaths and on the verge of tears. They managed to get hold of their lead jounin and briefly explained they were ambushed by no other but the Seven Swordsmen from the Mist on their way back from the mission. To say that was not in their mission description was not even close to touch it.
Gai was not able to make a coherent sentence – Ebisu and Genma, talking one through another, explained what happened and right when things were about to get really bad, Gai’s father appeared out of nowhere and told them to run. He bought them enough time so they could escape but now they had to go back and help him – he had no chance against the seven famous jounins (not many would, but a man who never managed to get above genin was a clear lost case even if nobody dared to say it out loud just yet).
They rushed to the Hokage office to explain the situation. No matter how much they wanted to run and provide the much needed back-up, they could not leave the village borders without an order even if it was supposed to be a rescue mission.
The Hokage did not jump on his feet and did not immediately call a team to chase after the man to help him out. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Gai’s face for a moment that felt like an eternity and eventually looked to the other team that was about to depart from the office to their mission – Namikaze Minato and his students; all were chuunins already, so technically they were not his team anymore.
‘Minato, you’re reassigned. This is the new mission for you. You will go after Dai.’ He glanced at Gai, who was unnaturally quiet and seemed a little faint. ‘Gai will go with you to take you to where he was last seen.’
‘But…’ Genma tried to butt in, but the Hokage silenced him with a gesture. ‘I can see that you two are in worse condition than Gai. You have to act fast and from the three of you, he’s the one with enough stamina left for a chase mission. Go.’
With a short nod, Minato herd them out of the Hokage office. Without a word, they all hurried to the gates of the village and then followed Gai – he still did not make a sound. He was clearly on the edge, blinking the tears away, but doing his best to not let them spill as if he believed that until he started to cry, his father would be just fine. Kakashi left his teammates behind and stayed at his side. He kept nervously glancing at him, but the other boy’s attention was fixed on the road ahead. The novelty of being ignored like that made the wait and chase feel even worse.
Kakashi really hoped that Dai-san was holding up. He did not have high hopes – no matter how much he liked him and his company, facts were that he was not a skilled shinobi and facing the Seven Swordsmen was an obvious death sentence. Maybe if he could make it long enough it would not turn into a worst-case scenario.
They stopped abruptly when they suddenly found themselves at the edge of an aftermath of mass destruction; the ground was partially plowed, there were big holes and creaks in the ground. The trees were either gone or broken in half. All five looked around.
Gai clenched his fists so hard his fingernails dug in his flesh.
‘We’re close’ he said shortly. Minato placed a hand on his shoulder, leaving a teleportation mark on him in case it would be needed, and moved forward.
‘Stay behind, guys, until I tell you otherwise.’
‘Do you hear that?’ asked Kakashi quietly, trailing behind his teacher without making a sound.
‘Hear what?’ Obito frowned at him. ‘I don’t hear anything!’
‘Exactly. Not a bird around’ he noticed.
Uchiha made a face and swallowed hardly, nodding. He only then realized that in fact there was nothing to hear – the silence was deafening. It was always bad news.
They crept around for a while until they stumbled upon a massacred corpse sprawled on the ground. Minato gasped quietly when he realized he was looking at one of the mutilated swordsmen. His limbs were twisted and his chest was punched in.
‘Is that… One of the swordsmen, over there on the tree?’ asked Rin quietly, pointing at another dead body. That one was broken in half, bleeding from every opening in the head.
Gai stopped dead in his tracks, shaking. He was not able to go any further. He knew what Papa was going to do when he suddenly appeared. He also knew that he succeeded – nobody chased after them all the way back to the Village and when he was coming back as well. Not to mention the scale of destruction around…
Papa opened The Eight Gate. They were looking at the aftermath of his final technique.
He turned around, feeling a painful lump in his throat and the stinging in his eyes was even more intense than when he was running away.
‘Gai, any idea what happened here?’ asked Minato, looking around cautiously.
The boy took a slow breath.
‘The Eight Inner Gates’ he said quietly, his voice trembling. He could not make himself to look up from the ground.
‘Dai-san was able to use this technique?!’ He looked around again, bewildered.
‘Yes.’
‘Did he open all of them?’
He did not answer, but the stiff line of the boy’s shoulders told Minato everything he needed to know. He nodded to himself and with a solemn look on his face, wandered a bit further to locate either more bodies or the remains. Minato only heard about this technique, never having a chance to meet anyone able to use it. How come Dai-san – of all people, the same man who could not pull off the Chuunin Exam – possessed such deadly skills? And to think that nobody knew about that, the villagers and other shinobi kept pointing and ridiculing him… Oh, if they only knew.
His team followed him at safe distance, looking around them warily.
A sharp glimmer in the destroyed soil caught Kakashi’s attention. He crouched down by a fallen tree and dug out something that at first seemed to be a random piece of metal, but turned out to be Dai-san’s headband. He carefully picked it up and brushed off the dirt. His fingers were trembling a little, but he ignored it and put the headband in his pocket. He knew the red bandana it was attached to it, there was no doubt it was his.
Kakashi stood up and without looking at any of his friends, he went straight to his teacher.
‘Minato-sensei’ he started in a quiet voice. ‘What’s the Inner Eight Gates?’
‘It’s… It’s a very rare, forbidden taijutsu technique’ he explained, shaking his head a little. ‘I’ve never known anyone who could do it. It… Allows the user to take off the limitations of their body. Normally human brain does not allow to use full body’s potential in order to protect it from auto destruction. When you take those limits off, which is referred to as opening the gates, you are given access to more and more of their body’s chakra. As a result, it increases speed and physical strength.’ He turned to look at his student. ‘It’s a double-edged sword, Kakashi. It sacrifices your own health and safety, that’s why it’s been forbidden. There are eight of them. Opening the last one, the Gate of Death located at the heart, brings inevitable death to the user.’ Kakashi blinked at him, and slowly turned to look at Gai – he was still turned away from them, his head low. He must had known what happened, that was why he was not rushing anyone. ‘It’s… I’ve heard that makes the body continually heat up until its, well, cooked from the inside out. Reduces the user to ash.’
Kakashi could feel all the blood draining from his face. Reduces to ash? He squeezed the headband hidden in his pocket, feeling the cold of the metal cooling his palm.
‘We have to find him’ he said flatly and turned away, looking around. He followed the trail of destruction but he did not have to go far – his steps faltered when suddenly he saw a little ben. It seems like there was something at it’s base; a powder-like substance, black and gray. It was scattered about the edges but knowing what he just learned, he knew exactly what he was looking at. It still was in a shape of the body of the man they were after. The only thing left of him was the headband in Kakashi’s pocket.
He slowly approached it with Minato-sensei at his side. His chest felt oddly tight, breathing also was suddenly more challenging than usual. He crouched down, in the corner of his eye he saw Rin and Obito walking up to them as well.
‘That’s… Is that it?’ asked Kakashi quietly. ‘That’s how the aftermath of Eight Gate looks like?’
‘Yes.’ Minato sighed loudly, looking at the pile of ash with a somber expression. He produced a linen bag – he had to collect as much of the remains as he could.
‘What’s that?’ asked Obito, confused. He bend over and lifted his googles to take a better look.
‘It’s Dai-san’ explained Minato quietly. ‘Or what’s left of him after he used his final technique.’
‘What!’ Obito gaped and bent down a little, propping himself on his knees. ‘It’s just ash!’
‘What kind of technique does that!’ asked Rin quietly, her eyes widen in shock.
Kakashi just stared, ignoring the sensei’s explanations – he just heard it all already, he was not interested in listening the same thing twice. He had troubles grasping how could this happen. From what they knew, Dai-san was not even supposed to be there. He was a genin with no authorization to leave the village that day, and yet he somehow found out that Gai’s team – his son’s team – was ambushed by The Seven Swordsman and he dropped everything to help them escape – which costed him his life.
How come Dai-san of all people, a genin with safe missions on which the worst that could happen to him was to be scratched by a cat, got killed by enemy shinobi and he even took down at least three of them? Would they be able to help him if they found him sooner or would they just stood there, watching him turn into dust?
Kakashi scooted closer to the ashes and started clumsily gather them up with his hands, the ashes were slipping between his fingers. Sensei had the bag ready, now they had to just… collect what was left… And bring it back.
Gai did not even have body to bury and say goodbye to.
That though made him tear up unexpectedly, so he sniffed quietly and started to work faster. A grey cloud of dust rose from the remains.
‘…Oi, Bakashi’ said Obito loudly. ‘I something in your eye or are you crying?’
Kakashi did not answer or even looked at him – the only thing he could focus at the moment was how Dai-san always made sure that he was included in whatever was going on when Kakashi was around. He would pick him up for a hug when he was doing it with Gai; he even toppled him over with a kick when he did the same with Gai when they had a bad fight. He did not even remember what was that about, but later they were given sliced fruits and a loud, heartfelt lecture about something and youth and they were laughing about it later. Dai-san would pick him up from school, and he would walk the both to the Academy gates when Kakashi was staying over for the night.
Behind his back, Minato-sensei sharply shook his head – Obito did not say anything else, glancing at Kakashi with an apologetic look on his face. He crouched next to him and started to move the ashes to the bag as well.
Gai was still standing where they left him, well too aware of what happened but still unable to move. He should go to him, thought Kakashi, but he kept pouring the burned remains into the bag (Rin started to help him without a word too). The ‘boiled inside-out’ and ‘turn to ashes’ kept ringing in his ears. Was it painful? It sounded awful. It was surreal.
He just heard about this technique and now he is digging his bare hands into Dai-san’s ashes.
When his father died there was at least the body, there was no doubt he was dead – no pulse, no breathing, the blood spilled around and sinking into the floor. But this? He did not know what was worse.
He stopped, standing up and looking at his palms. They were gray.
‘Kakashi?’ asked Rin softly. Obito did not try to make any more comments about his reaction and the few spilled tears soaked up in his mask.
‘Gai. I’ll get him. Or tell him.’ He made a weak gesture and turned around. Should he just pat his palms clean? It was ‘just’ human remains, but he knew and liked that man. He never had this issue with blood, but this felt different.
Gai looked up at him, his eyes were red and a little puffy – he finally lost the battle and started to cry. His body seemed to be mostly disconnected from his brain.
‘You found him’ it was not a question. Kakashi blinked wildly, looking up at him.
‘Yes. He’s… We found him. Over there.’ He pointed at his teacher and teammates crouching around something.
Gai’s lips trembled when he took a deep breath and nodded, closing his eyes for a longer moment.
‘They are collecting the ashes.’ Kakashi glanced at his palms again. Gai followed his gaze and scrunched his face in the last attempt of keeping himself together before he burst into tears again.
‘I-I’m sorry’ he wailed, hiding his face in both hands. He shook his head. ‘I know I shouldn’t cry! He died to protect me and my friends, it was his choice! And he’s a hero!’ He took a shaky breath. ‘…But goddamnit, he’s my papa and now he’s gone!’
Kakashi pressed his lips in a thin line, once again feeling the tightness in his chest and his vision got a little blurry. He looked up, blinking fast to calm himself down. He was not supposed to cry. Being shinobi – shinobi do not cry, they do not show emotions no matter the circumstances – aside, but it was not his father who just died. He had nothing to be sad about.
Gai took a short, wheezy breath and just kept weeping.
‘I’m… I’m so proud of him!’ he choked out. ‘He died like a true hero that he was! But it still hurts so badly!’ He clutched at his chest where it felt like someone ripped a hole in it. He couched down, curling in himself.
The other three turned to look at them, but nobody walked up to join them. Kakashi probably preferred it that way. He was not sure.
It did hurt, Kakashi knew very well – even if his father did not die like a hero, but cowardly killed himself, it still awfully stung. What was even worse it was not even about him, so why did he suddenly remembered that?
‘…I know’ he offered awkwardly, his voice choked too.
Gai sniffed and wiped his nose, looking up at him, but he did not seem surprised with his Rival current state. Kakashi was embarrassed anyway.
‘Ignore me’ he mumbled quickly, looking away.
‘No.’ He sniffed again, shaking his head. More fat tears rolled down his flushed cheeks. ‘I know I’m not the only one who will miss him’ he managed, straining for every word. He sobbed again, not even bothering with wiping his face. ‘I just… I just wish I could have talked with him a little more before, you know? It happened so fast.’ He made another scrunched face, trying to force himself into being calm enough to speak. ‘I-I couldn’t even say goodbye!’
Kakashi only nodded. Talking was not safe at the moment.
‘I… I know I should go there and help them too. I do! I want, but I don’t at the same time, I… I don’t want it to be my last memory of him…’ He hid his face again, humming loudly in between sobs and choked breaths. ‘It’s not even right time! Or place!
Kakashi grabbed him by the shoulder and kneeled down next to him.
‘It’s… Probably better that you didn’t see it’ noticed Kakashi, trying to shake off the memory of his father curled up in the pool of blood. The stain was still there, he never got it out. ‘You didn’t want to see it.’ He did not want to see it either. He would never forget how a pile of ashes looks like when it’s shaped like a human body.
Gai made another choked sound, nodding frantically and trying to gain at least some control over his breath.
‘I found this’ Kakashi reached to his pocket –he still had the ashes on his hands. He would have to scrub him from under his fingernails – and pulled out the headband. Gai stopped breathing when he saw it. He slowly took it with shaking hands. A few teardrops splashed on the cool, a little scrapped metal and the boy pressed it hard to his chest. He fell into another round of sobs, curling further into himself.
‘Thank you’ he croaked, looking up at Kakashi. He managed a teary smile when he saw that his Rival’s eyes were filled with tears too. ‘Thank you.’
‘I didn’t do anything.’
Gai shook his head, taking a breath.
‘You found this for me.’ He nodded at the headband. ‘You… Helped to… C-clean up.’ He looked at his friends palms, but the sight was too much and he had to turn his head away. ‘You’re here now and I know you understand.’
Kakashi had to turn away as well, swallowing a lump in his throat. He pressed both palms hard to the stump they were sitting on, forcing a few calming breaths. He had to pull himself together, crying was not an option and least but not last, it was not his loss.
Gai took off his own headband and still quietly sobbing, he replaced it with the one which belonged to his father. He put his own in one of his waist pouches. He took a long, loud breath.
‘Kakashi’ said Gai, his voice suddenly close to normal although a bit nasally. ‘I think I know you pretty well, and what’s in your head too.’ Another wet sound of stuffed nose. ‘I’m… happy that I can share my pain with you. I know it’s not only my tragedy.’ He found Kakashi’s hand and squeezed his fingers, still looking away. ‘I know you liked my papa. It’s not selfish to be sad about it too just because he was not your dad. Although… I think he was a little, wasn’t he?’ He turned to look back at Kakashi. He stared right back – the mask hid the tremble of his lips and chin.
‘Shinobi don’t cry’ he said, too shaky for his tastes.
‘I don’t believe in that stupid rule’ grumbled Gai. ‘It makes you emotionally constipated.’
‘If I’m constipated, then you have an emotional diarrhea’ he spat back and bit his lip because a sudden sob got out at the end.
‘Yeah, a little’ he whined. He tilted to the side, leaning on Kakashi. The other boy did not move away; he gave his bandaged fingers a little squeeze. He let his cheek rest against Gai’s head. Gai kept making sad, humming sounds; he never knew how to cry quietly.
Minato-sensei, Obito and Rin finished their efforts to collect as much of the remains as possible and started slowly heading to the rest of the team. They were talking about something, but they were too quiet for Gai and Kakashi to make out the words.
‘Gai?’ Kakashi nudged him gently, watching as his team was approaching them. ‘A sleepover at my place tonight?'
‘…Yes. I don’t want to go home today’ he admitted quietly between shaky breaths.
Kakashi hummed in response. Yes, he understood that very well.
‘The Inner Eight Gates. Can you do this?’ he asked suddenly.
‘I can do only three’ he admitted quietly and pressed his lips in a thin line. Kakashi could swear his heart dropped at the bottom of his stomach. ‘But there are strict rules for using it.’ He needed a second to force himself to breathe a little before he could speak again. ‘This is a very special technique that it can be used only as the last resort to protects what’s the most precious to me. It’s… It’s a promise.’ He nodded slowly. ‘It’s the rules.’
Kakashi looked at the headband tied around Gai’s waist.
‘Did your dad have the same rule?’
‘Yes. He taught me it’ he admitted in a whisper. Kakashi almost crushed his fingers.
Forbidden technique that was hurting the user and turned Dai-san into sad pile of ash and now Gai can use it too? Maybe he was allowed to use as the last resort – and Kakashi was sure he would, because he had always been serious about his self-rules – but what does he think a last resort looks like? What if he miscalculates the situation? He could only use three for now, but it was Gai and he would sooner eat his own shoes than stop training and perfecting any technique he set as a goal for himself. Kakashi was sure this one was on the list too.
He hoped that Gai would quickly pull himself together and start training even more, so he would never have to use the Inner Gates. They sounded dangerous and if Kakashi was sure of anything in his life, it was that he did not like it even a bit.
…Or at least Gai would have to become good enough to never have to use the last one – Kakashi would find a way to stop him from turning into a grilled corpse just to whoop his ass for opening the Gate of Death in the first place.
It was a promise too.