Sexy no Omake

Dodging a strike from one of the ninja that had ambushed the group of delegates Kakashi and Gai had been ordered to protect Gai blocked several kunai that had been intended to strike his back. At least half of the men were incapacitated, lying dead on the ground or were so badly wounded that they could no longer fight.
Had he had the time Gai might have spared a thought to worry about whether the convoy and Kakashi with it had made it to the safety of the nearby town, but as things stood the green clad ANBU was fully occupied with preventing serious harm and death to be visited upon himself, barely able to bring in a strike of his own. At least though, those he DID hit were not quick to get back up, if they did at all.

Kakashi and their convoy had in fact made it to the nearby town, though far later than he would have liked. His troupe was not without a chaser or two, which held up their escape. Even worse, it took him too long to make sure that their charges were safe in the town before he was able to signal Konoha of the situation, before he was able to head back out, to run back to where he had left Gai.

Panting Gai ran his eyes over the number of attackers he was facing, instead of decreasing it seemed as if the number of enemies was increasing. Although he had used as few nin-jutsus as possible in order to preserve his chakra and stamina, the ANBU was perfectly aware that he no longer had enough of either to defeat this number of opponents or even try and make a quick getaway.

Flashing through the seals he formed a simple shadow clone having it take his place in the middle of the battlefield while he used the few moments that had bought him to reach deep within himself, to where he knew the gates regulated his body. Infinitely careful he pushed open the first two, feeling the changes in his body and knowing how he must appear from the outside.

He returned to the surface of his consciousness just in time to see his clone get skewered by a rain of wooden senbon needles and disappear in a cloud of grey smoke. It didn't take more than a heartbeat before they had realized that the clone had been a fake Gai and honed in on his new position.

Using his new found power and speed Gai crashed into their ranks, leaving fallen shinobi after fallen shinobi behind him only to see in the distance a group of new ninja arrive.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was pushing through the underbrush and forest like a man possessed. The trail was long and winding to avoid denser clusters of trees and harder to travel terrain, but Kakashi paid it no heed and took the straight shot through the smaller but harder to travel area. He boosted his speed with his chakra, uncaring if it was reckless spending of it as he tore through the forest to return to Gai's side.

Felling another man Gai had long lost sight of how many people he had taken down. Still there were more people that launched attacks at him. By now the now the green jumpsuit was only a memory, ripped in more places than it was whole and stained with liberal amounts of blood and other substances that were better not closer investigated. Pushing himself yet further Gai had long since given up on trying to keep from opening yet more gates, his body being swept away by amounts of energy it had never been supposed to handle. Still it was nothing that a few days in the hospital couldn't fix, especially with Tsunade-sama’s expertise. Feeling his body slow down again and in consequence nearly being impaled by a wicked looking sword he ruthlessly pushed the next gate open.

Tree branches whipped by Kakashi's face, the few bits of skin showing taking damage at the speed he was moving at. Finally he was getting close, he could swear he saw Gai in the distance... his heart dropped to his stomach as he saw that he wasn't
misunderstanding the feel of chakra output, and Gai had opened one too many gates.

Flashing from one enemy to the next with a speed that was many times what he could usually achieve Gai was so focused on eliminating as many of the enemy fighters as possible before his body would give out that he didn't even notice Kakashi as anything more then a non-hostile presence somewhere off to the side. Leaving another group of four combatants behind him, he stumbled, almost losing his footing before instinctively reaching for that last gate and forcing it open, giving him the strength and coordination needed to catch himself and continue on to the next phalanx that was charging at him weapons and jutsus at the ready.

Kakashi could only watch as Gai tore through the last of the men, or at least almost all of them. He knew Gai was going too far, and wasted no more time. Tearing off his hitae-ate Kakashi rushed into the fray, slicing down all the stragglers that Gai missed as he took down entire waves at a time. "GAI!!" he screamed, hoping to get the ANBU to stop before he caused himself more damage then Tsunade would be able to heal.

Running out of enemies Gai swayed as he turned back to Kakashi, his skin an unhealthy reddish purple colour and bloody sweat dripping down his face as he blinked in confusion at the urgency with which the other ninja had called his name. Around him, and everywhere in the vicinity corpses covered the ground.

Kakashi ran to Gai's side, holding him steady. "Damn it, Gai! Close the gates!"

The spilled blood was turning the ground into a slippery mud puddle, but Gai paid no attention to it as his legs finally failed to support him and he would have fallen heavily to his knees had Kakashi not supported him, his eyes still fixed on Kakashi's as he fought his own body in an attempt to shut the gates again.

Kakashi held Gai securely in his arms, cursing up a storm. He could only watch and pray Gai was managing the feat. Although Kakashi was not a user of the lotus technique, he knew from Gai's speaking that it was possible to die from it.

Gai's hands started shaking as he finally managed to close the first gate, starting to return to his natural limits, his body finally registering the damage it had received both from the enemy ninjas and from the opening of the gates. Closing the next gate he felt his body starting to shut down, unable to cope with the sudden changes he had forced it through and with sudden clarity he remembered the first time he had managed to open the gates, to young to know better and only Tsunade-sensei's quick response saving his life. Pressing his face against Kakashi's shoulder he felt his heart race in his chest, his breathing still coming in quick pants while he did all he could think of to slow his heartbeat.

Kakashi had to act quickly. He brought Gai's face up to look him in the eye, and used the sharingan to knock him out. He didn't know for sure, but hoped that would be able to help.

Slumping against Kakashi's body Gai rested limply in his rival's arms, his breathing still unnaturally fast and shallow while his heartbeat started to stutter, the high colour of his skin slowly starting to receded, revealing a multitude of bruises just beginning to swell up.

Kakashi gently laid Gai down on the ground, cursing every day he didn't try to learn more medical jutsu from Rin while he still had the chance. He'd sent word to Konoha, reinforcements and medic-nin would be fast coming, but would they get there fast enough?! He began to perform CPR, at a loss of what else to do.

Lying motionless on the floor Gai seemed somehow devoid of the personality that had always resided behind the dark eyes and the bright smile. The minimal lifting and falling of his chest was the only sign that a spark of life still remained.

With his hand at Gai's wrist Kakashi could feel the erratic pulse beating against the thin skin. It was this precaution that alerted the copy-nin as Gai's heart finally couldn't withstand the strain anymore and ceased it's work.

Kakashi was panicking as he felt Gai's pulse. With anyone else, he'd remained calm, but for some reason with Gai it was setting off all his alarms. "Damn it, don't die!" Kakashi heard and was surprised to realize that it was his own voice. Nothing made sense and he didn't know what to do when a clear voice seemed to whisper to him... low-level lightning jutsu. Copied from Cloud ninja two years ago. It could jumpstart Gai's heart.

It was barely a Chuunin level jutsu and in no time Kakashi pushed Gai's vest open and cut his jumpsuit down the middle, forming seals with inhuman speed then placing his hands against Gai's bare chest as the electricity flowed out of them.

The electric shock raced through Gai's body, making his back arch before he fell back to the ground still insensible to anything that was happening . However a quick check revealed that the jutsu had done it's job. A thready pulse once fluttered against Kakashi's fingertips.

Kakashi waited for a moment before repeating the jutsu. Even if it was helping, it was still created to do injury and too much after he already completed it could prove more harm. He tried to calm himself, and use his own heartbeat as a control to judge Gai's.

A few more applications of the jutsu later Gai's heart beat while still weak was as regular as Kakashi's own. It wasn't long after that that the reinforcements from Konoha arrived, the medics immediately bustling around the two ANBU before carrying Gai off to receive emergency treatment, leaving Kakashi to explain what had happened to the group’s leader.

Kakashi would later feel bad for how short he was with his report. He had sustained injuries as well, though not extensive enough to keep him from being questioned. It took far too long to explain everything, so he thought. As soon as it was allowed Kakashi spared little attention to his own injuries and went to the hospital in Konoha to find where Gai had been taken and his condition.

At the hospital he was informed that Gai had been indeed brought in and was still being treated, his status critical. Although he had sustained injuries from his opponents the greatest damage had been done by the Gates, torn muscles and fractured bones only a small part of the whole extend of the devastation they had caused.

Kakashi waited.

He would not be moved from outside of the room. It was his fault Gai had gotten injured, after all. Everyone who got close to him died. Kakashi only prayed this was different.

Several hours later Kakashi was finally notified that the treatment had been successful and that all that was left to do was to wait for Gai to regain consciousness. His injuries had been mostly healed leaving him in a state where he could have been allowed to recover at home and no lasting damage was expected but, as one of the medics remarked, it had been a close brush with death for the green clad ninja.

Before leaving the head medic congratulated Kakashi on his ingenious use of the Lightning jutsu. In his opinion it had most likely saved Gai life.

Kakashi was only able to nod, numbly, and request that he was the one to take Gai home. Kakashi had no intention of leaving Gai's side until he was certain for himself that Gai was okay.

Patting the younger man's back the medic showed him to the room Gai was in, telling him to rest a bit, as they were uncertain of when Gai would regain consciousness,

Kakashi pulled up a chair and got comfortable. He was determined to remain vigilant until Gai was conscious once more.

Time passed, minutes turned into hours and the sun had long since set, yet Gai had still to even move in the white hospital bed. Wrapped up in enough bandages to rival a mummy he almost vanish in the stark white sheets, the rhythmic motion of his chest and the shock of black hair the only indicators of his presence.

In all the time Kakashi had seen the other ninja asleep he had never been this still.

Kakashi remained awake for longer than was healthy after the amount of chakra he spent. He didn't care, though. He stayed at Gai's side and tried his best to stay awake. Still, as the horizon began to lighten again, his eyes would occasionally droop on their own.

It was late morning when Gai finally awoke, his eyes opening and staring blankly at the ceiling for a long moment before he turned his head to the side and tried to make sense of his surroundings.

Kakashi stirred in his seat when Gai's movement caught his eye. "Nnn... Gai, are you okay?" he rubbed his eyes, becoming awake in an instant.

"Kakashi?" Gai rasped, his tongue flicking out to wet his lips. "What happened?" He tried to sit up but was surprised at the way his body denied his wishes.

Kakashi couldn't put in words how relieved he was to hear Gai's voice. "...You did something stupid." he said, unable to voice his feelings of relief.

"I did?" Sitting up gingerly Gai gave the room a once over. "The hospital?" He shot Kakashi a questioning look.

“You opened too many gates." Kakashi explained, rubbing the dredges of sleep out of his eyes. "Medic nin managed to get to you in time to save you, though. You can go home as soon as you're physically able to." ... Kakashi left out his own part in Gai's rescue.

"Ah…" Gai looked dazed by Kakashi's explanation. "I don't remember opening any gates. What happened?" Sliding his feet off of the bed he prepared to get up, the papery hospital gown twisting around him.

Kakashi was on his feet in an instant, hand at Gai's shoulder to keep him on the bed.

"Well, just a sign you opened too many. Stay down until there's a nurse present to make sure you'll be okay to walk."

Sighing in defeat Gai stayed put but couldn't help to prod and pry at the various bandages wrapped around his limbs, his chest especially. "The mission was successful?" He asked after awhile, smiling at Kakashi.

Kakashi's face carefully showed no expression as he looked at Gai. "...Un."

"That's good." Gai kept tugging at the of the shift finally shooting Kakashi a wry smile. "It itches." He explained.

It was in this moment that Shizune bustled into the room interrupting the two men. "Maito-san, good to see you awake again. You had us worried for a while. Give me a second and I'll give you a quick examination and then Hatake-san can take you home, ok?" Gai nodded, seeing no point in doing otherwise.

Kakashi stepped back only when Shizune got close enough to begin the examination, and even then he continued to watch Gai like a hawk.

It took decidedly more than the few minutes Shizune had promised but Gai was finally allowed to leave under the strict restriction to not use any chakra for at least the next week and to pause his training, something the green beast only grudgingly accepted despite the fact that he was still shaky on his legs as he crawled out of the bed. Looking down at the hospital gown that stopped short of his knees and didn't cover his back at all Gai groaned. "My jumpsuit didn't by any chance make it?"

"No." Kakashi said, simply. "The medic nin had to get it off as fast as possible to get skin contact."

"Oh..." Smiling sheepishly Gai tugged at a sleeve. "I guess I'll better ask one of the nurses at least for a pair of pants then." Flinching slightly he slowly moved to the door and poked his head out, presumably to look for said nurses when he almost collided with one.

Kakashi was about to try and grab Gai to drag him back into the room when a nurse seemed to find him. He bit his tongue under the mask, holding back on asking FOR Gai about the pants. He didn't want to seem too obvious but it was so very difficult. Every time Kakashi looked at Gai he could see Gai lying there on the ground, feel the heartbeat become erratic...

The young woman smiled at Gai as she pressed a few folded clothes into his hands. "Shizune-san said that you might need these. They're roughly your size so they should fit." Turning away again she threw a last pointed look at Kakashi. "Make sure that he gets home in one piece and takes it easy for the next few days." With this last admonishment she sailed down the corridor again. Gai meanwhile had dropped the clothes on the bed and was busy trying to reach the ties in the back.

Kakashi nodded to the nurse. Well, it gave him an excuse to be unwilling to leave Gai's side, at least. "...Che'. You're helpless now, huh?" Kakashi said, watching Gai make a grab for the ties. He crossed over to where Gai was and undid them for him easily.

Shrugging out of the fabric Gai threw a challenging smile at Kakashi over his shoulder. "I can still take you." He promised, but only jokingly. Even the usually hardy green beast knew when his body had reached its limits. Fingering the bandages around his chest again he frowned. "I hope they don't expect me to rewrap these." Finally he grabbed the pants and stepped into them carefully so as not to loose his balance. He figured the short journey to his home he might as well go commando, especially since the nurse had not included underwear.

Kakashi merely snorted in response to Gai's comments, turning his blind side to the man to give him some sense of privacy. Once Gai was dressed, he wordlessly escorted him back to his home, careful to not let Gai out of his sight or let the other man get distracted along the way.

Finally having reached his apartment door Gai unlocked it with clumsy fingers pushing the door open. Throwing a glance at Kakashi he nodded towards the living room. "Come in?" He offered with a small, slightly pained smile.

Kakashi stepped in, thinking about how the last two times he was here it ended in sex where at least one of them was not coherent. "I'll make you something to eat, you lay down. You shouldn't be moving." he said, shedding his Jounin vest to the couch and heading into the area that served as a kitchen.

Surprisingly there came no response from the usually energetic green beast aside from the quiet shuffling of his feet towards the bedroom. Once he had left the apartment was silent again.

Kakashi was surprised Gai gave in so easily, but was in no mood to ask questions. He was still sick with worry, emotions wearing him out faster than if he'd trained non-stop. Even more shameful, when Gai was unconscious, Kakashi had got to the point of crying more than once when he was alone. Now, as he looked down at the makeshift stew he whipped up with various leftovers, he found himself bringing a hand to his mouth to further muffle his sounds as he cried again out of relief.

Gai had pulled through. He was going to be okay.

Kakashi had gathered himself back together once the stew had finished, and he made tea in the meantime as well. Soon enough he appeared at the bedroom door with the tray of food.

Inside the bedroom Gai was sat on the bed staring blankly at the bandages wrapped around him, part of them unravelled and trailing after him over the covers. At Kakashi's entrance he lifted his head with a slow movement, watching the other man with dark eyes, a weak smile on his lips.

Thankfully, Kakashi already looked worse for the wear due to his lack of sleep, so the signs of his earlier breakdown were hidden among there. He hoped Gai was still too out of it to take particular notice of them.

"Eat something, you'll feel better." he said, struggling to keep his voices as apathetic as possible as he brought the tray over, taking notice of the bandages and making a mental note to fix that one as soon as Gai finished eating.

"Thank you. "pausing for a moment he took in Kakashi's appearance ."Join me?" Gai asked with a nod to the tray. "You look like you could use a warm meal." Scooting slightly to the side he patted the bed next to him, his other hand resting tightly closed in his lap.

Kakashi sat down on the edge of the bed, sparing a weak smile to Gai. "...I'll get something later. Can you eat on your own?" he recalled back during a few other missions when the injury was sufficient enough to make eating on one's own difficult.

He recalled the one that triggered the chain of events that lead him to be here today, feeling what he did.

Somehow, he felt better thinking how a sexy-no-jutsu probably wouldn't help this situation.

Sighing Gai nodded, not completely happy with Kakashi's words. "I'll be fine." He answered while reaching for a spoon with his hand surprisingly steady. Although he started out slow he soon sped up, his body welcoming the warm stew. Finished he put the spoon down again and pushed the bowl away from himself. Sated he smiled at Kakashi again a proper Gai smile this time. "Thank you for the meal." Again his fidgeting hands returned to tugging at the bandages.

Kakashi set the tray aside when Gai was done with its contents to get it out of the way.

"...Don't tug on those, you're already getting them loose." he chided, unable to keep himself from sounding affectionate. "Hold still." he began to rewrap the bandages that could be rewrapped.

"But I wanted to take a shower..." Gai explained, with a hint of a whine in his voice. " I feel dirty...and cold." His hand came up to rub over his chest where Kakashi had placed his hands for the lightning jutsu. "And it kind of...tingles."

Kakashi watched Gai with a critical eye for a moment before beginning to unwrap his bandages, carefully. "Fine. But it'll be
a quick one. And I'm putting fresh ones back on when you get out."

Gai nodded with a thankful smile. "Don't worry. I'll be in and out before you know it."

Kakashi nodded. "Will you need help getting in?" he asked, thinking it over. "Maybe it's better you take a bath instead of a shower, less chance of slipping..."

Pushing himself up Gai stood, trailing the bandages that still remained, after him. "It will be fine. I don't feel like a bath..." His arms wrapped around his middle as he turned away from Kakashi, his back speckled with the vivid bruises still remaining.

Kakashi watched Gai's back with concern. "I should be there with you, then." he tried to stand, feeling his body long for the bed once more.

"Actually..." Stopping at the bathroom door Gai paused for a moment. " I...need just a moment to myself." Biting his lips he forced his face into a weak smile, his hands still wrapped around his middle to hide the shaking that had set in once he had reached the safety of his bathroom .

“...Okay." Kakashi said, sitting back down. "Just call if you need anything, though, okay?"

"Sure." drifted Gai's voice out of the bathroom before the door fell shut. A few moments the water started a soothing background noise that proved that Kakashi was not alone in the flat.

Kakashi leaned back against Gai's pillows, sighing. He was as much a wreck emotionally as Gai was physically. But the bed was warm, soft, inviting. Kakashi fell asleep before he realized he was that tired.

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Again thank you for your many encouraging reviews. It has been a great pleasure t read every single of them ^_^
We hope you will continue to enjoy this Log even as we move further away from cannon and deeper into the odd at times cheesy cliches we have come up with.
Also we hope that the start of this capter wasn't to abrupt, it is assumed that it takes place a while after the last, with Kakashi and Gai continuing their lives in the usual (at least for the Omake) way up until this point.

And last but not least we wish you all a Happy New Year!.