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Entropy	By : ersatzbeta Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1333 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I profit from writing this or any other fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Author's Note: Sorry about the delay! I've been a bit muddled the past couple days, but I'm feeling better now. (I kind of passed out and hit my head pretty good on the way down. Lame but true.)I will happily blame any mistakes in this chapter on said muddledness.

Chapter Fifteen
As winter deepened and the snowstorms became both worse and more frequent, Kakashi and Sasuke spent most of their time indoors, laid out with dozens of blueprints, lists, and notes spread out on the living room floor between them, fleshing out plans for the training grounds. They didn't talk much, but it was strangely okay and certainly more comfortable than Kakashi might have ever guessed.

Sasuke's dislike of the cold became more and more pronounced over time, to the point where he refused to go further outside than the trees surrounding the yard of the house. Even then, he spent a lot of time in front of the stove afterward. This was okay for Kakashi: he went to the memorial by himself most mornings, and every week or two he went into town for whatever they might have run low on in the way of groceries and sundries.
On one such trip, it was particularly cold out: though the sun was shining, the wind was merciless and kept grinding particles of ice and snow into Kakashi's face. He had come in to Konoha proper to pick up some dry goods, and he had. The food was entirely too heavy when he slung the bag over his shoulder, and he thought to himself that it would be good when the yard was complete and he and Sasuke could use it and train together.

That thought did little to warm him as he headed out of the shelter of the store and into the knife's-edge wind. Kakashi was sure this winter was colder than any winter over the past ten years or so. Fire country got its share of snow in the winter, of course, but it wasn't usually so damn cold. His breath frosted his mask every time he breathed and, though he wore his heavy coat and scarf, it didn't do much to hold back the frozen air.
And then, Kakashi saw it: a new tea shop. It looked rather warm and cozy inside. Surely he would be fortified for the walk back with a hot cup of tea or three under his belt. Sasuke wouldn't expect him for a while yet, and even if he was a little late, Sasuke wasn't the type to ask where he had been. Decided, Kakashi made his way across the crowded street and into the establishment.
Halfway through his second cup, Kakashi's internal alarms went off. He put down his tea. A large, strong hand clapped him across the back seconds after the china hit the table.
"Kakashi! My esteemed and incomparably hip rival!"
Gai was his usual splendid green-and-orange self as he addressed Kakashi, eyes shining with earnestness and a large, square thumb raised above his outstretched fist. His bowl cut rippled and shone as it moved in the breeze of the open shop door. Kakashi could hardly believe his misfortune.
"How fortuitous to find you here at the very moment I have come for a beverage on this especially frigid day of winter's majesty!" said Gai.
He walked across the shop in two great strides.
"May I share your table so that we might converse while partaking in the joys of hot tea?" said Gai.
Gai had already seated himself by the time he had finished talking. Kakashi gave a belated nod. He couldn't hold back a pained expression as Gai proceeded to give his order to the woman behind the counter from halfway across the shop's floor.
"I can see that something is troubling you," said Gai. "Could it be your young ward has been more challenging than anticipated?"
Gai leaned in close on his elbows, chin held consideringly in his hand.
"I have seen little of you of late," said Gai. "And while I have missed our glorious contests, I find myself much relieved that you yourself seem well."

"I've been busy," said Kakashi.
"So succinct!" said Gai. "So cool! You are truly my rival, Kakashi! Tell me, how have you been occupying yourself this winter?"
"Nothing much," said Kakashi.
He drank some more of his tea. Fortunately, Gai's order arrived and forestalled further questioning for a bit.
Kakashi wasn't sure how it happened precisely, but he found himself going home that afternoon with Gai in tow. One minute they were drinking their tea and the next they were crunching their way through the forest in an impromptu foot race to get to Kakashi's house. Kakashi normally would have had the advantage of speed, but between his woeful lack of proper exercise and the fifty pounds of beans, rice, and the like on his back, he was dismayed to find himself two yards behind Gai. The cold air seared his throat and the inside of his nose burned as he pushed himself to catch up. He flew over the ground, heels skimming the tops of newly-formed snowdrifts in the path, sending clouds of snow swirling in his wake. Kakashi felt something lighten inside of his chest as the six foot lead shrank to four, then three, then two.
When Gai looked at him over his shoulder, Kakashi threw him a sketchy, one-handed wave. Gai beamed and faced the path again. They were rapidly approaching the house. Kakashi might have warned Gai about the traps Sasuke had put around the perimeter of the yard, but Gai, being Gai, pulled ahead with an inhuman burst of speed and a wild shout that sent all the animals in a quarter-mile radius running. Kakashi slowed down. He knew he wasn't going to win today's race and, frankly, the supplies were dragging hard on his shoulders. He waited for Gai to hit the traps.
Sure enough, a minute later there was a certain percussive whumph. Kakashi picked up his pace a little. It sounded like Gai had triggered a tripwire-slash-exploding tag. When he rounded the bend, house in sight, Kakashi coughed to cover a sudden attack of laughter. Yes, Gai had hit a tripwire. To Kakashi's experienced eye, the signs were all too clear. Gai had been going too fast and the tripwire had sent him in the direction of a large snowdrift. The impact of Gai's formidable mass hitting the snow had triggered an exploding tag attached to a nearby tree, which had sent a lot more snow falling directly on top of the aforementioned drift. Kakashi pulled up to the snow-covered Gai. He held out an arm and Gai took it, freeing himself out of the eight feet of snow he'd been stuck in.
"Sorry," said Kakashi. "I was going to warn you."
Gai looked at him thoughtfully. This alarmed Kakashi on some level, though he couldn't put a finger on why.
"No need," said Gai. "It was a most ingenious trap to set! Tell me, did you anticipate our foot race today?"
"Ah," said Kakashi. "Well. Actually�"

Gai brushed himself off and got back onto the cleared ground.
"Oho!" said Gai. "Your young protege approaches!"
Kakashi was surprised to see that Gai was right, though in all honesty his shock stemmed from Gai noticing Sasuke first. Even more unusual was that Sasuke did not appear to be angry or rattled as he approached the two men. Kakashi would expect a negative reaction from him, given his dislike of surprise anything--and Gai tripping one of his traps during an unplanned race would certainly count as such. Gai seemed to be oblivious to any possible danger. He planted his fists on his hips and shouted across the yard.
"Sasuke!" Gai said. "You have my admiration for such a cunning placement of your tripwire! How does this fine winter day--and my esteemed rival--treat you?"
Sasuke stopped in his tracks for a full five seconds before he drew even with the tree line around the yard.
"What is wrong with you?" said Sasuke.
Kakashi winced. Sasuke never had been polite. He opened his mouth to answer and then realized that Sasuke had, in fact, directed his question at Gai. This was getting stranger by the minute.
"How kind of you to inquire after my health!" said Gai. "That is the calling card of a true gentleman! I am well. No snowdrift could ever hope to harm me."
Gai flashed a smile and a thumbs-up at Sasuke. As further proof of his youthful vigor, no doubt, he thumped himself on the chest. Sasuke was dumbstruck. So was Kakashi.

They were both poleaxed as Gai somehow invited himself into their house to warm up before the trip back into town. Gai exclaimed over their plans, made suggestions, and vowed that the next time he visited them, he would bring help. Kakashi thought that Sasuke would never allow a second incursion, given the covertly hostile way he was reacting to the first. It dumbfounded Kakashi that Gai was totally ignoring Sasuke's displeasure. The flares and instabilities in his chakra should have been warning enough. Any idiot could see the Sharingan erupting in Sasuke's eyes was a bad thing, and appearances aside, Gai was not stupid. It was deliberate, though Kakashi couldn't fathom why. He practically had to drag Gai out the door, in the end, before Sasuke exploded.

The following week Gai showed up with Genma and a rather harried-looking Neji. And the time after that, Raidou and Kotetsu appeared as well, pulled along in the wake of Gai's exuberance. Sasuke coped with remarkable aplomb. He barely raised an eyebrow after the first four times Gai showed up unannounced, though he opened the front door with an increasing level of resignation. A steady stream of visitors, repeat and new, came to assist with the designs. Though there were absences when people went on missions, the training grounds plans moved along quite smoothly with so much help. Kakashi found he rather enjoyed the company. The house felt warm and alive, and Sasuke continued to be very well behaved. While Kakashi couldn't call his behavior friendly, Sasuke was unfailingly polite, and he excused himself, with Kakashi's occasional assistance, every time his chakra started to slip out of control. Kakashi felt a bit strange, realizing how normal his life had become. Stranger still was how pleasant that normalcy was.
Time flew by, almost unnoticed. Winter gave way to spring, and the plans, at long last, were complete.
A/N: Ah, former chapter 13-c. Have I mentioned that I like Gai (and consequently Lee, his mini-me)? He's tremendous fun! So zealous and longwinded! I hope I did okay condensing the events of the last paragraph or two. I don't really like doing that sort of passing-the-time narrative, but if I stopped and expanded the dialogue and brought it all into the present of the story, I'd have acres of story that progresses very little. (And there must be progression to reach the next chapter's material!) Hopefully, I'll have chapter sixteen up for the usual Wednesday/Thursday, though I'm not promising. As I remember, it needed more work than these last three or four.
- 15
- 16
- 17
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Entropy