They storm out of the booth. Leaving me to say thank you for the food to the older man who served us. I run outside, trying to catch up to the two hot headed men I called friends. I wonder what got them so worked up? Is it because of dinner, I could always invite Guy to eat with us, if that’s the problem. I try to understand they had some sort of rivalry they had going on, but this seemed pretty intense. I don’t know what “challenge” they had in mind, I hoped it wasn’t deadly.
“Oi, Kakashi. Today will be the day, I show Kiyoko the results of hard training. The work of a man,” Guy says, as he tried to push Kakashi to the side. I hear him grunt, I have to run just to have them in my view. I was so confused, is this all about their masculinity and egos. Boy did I know nothing about men.
“Are we going to have a rock paper scissors match? Or something more serious?” Guy asks Kakashi.
“Doesn’t really matter, I will still win.” He replies. I stand away from them, if they were going to fight, I would be best to keep my distance. This was a battle between two jounin. “You pick Guy.”
“This will be a battle of endurance, and strength. First, a set of one hundred push ups, walk back to Ichiraku’s, then order every dish on the menu, and finally a race through the village. The first one to do it, is the winner.” Guy pats Kakashi on the back, “And gets to have dinner with Kiyoko.”
Guy winks at my direction, I look around. No one else was standing behind me. I give him a smile, there is nothing else I could do. I see Kakashi clench his fists, it felt like they were going to fight, and I didn’t want to see this. friends shouldn’t fight each other.
“If dinner is a problem, we can eat together. I don’t mind,” I say, trying to ease the tension in the air. I could cut it with a knife. They don’t respond, instead I see them shake hands. They were really going through with this silly challenge. They’re always trying to outdo each other. Maybe Kakashi found someone else to bicker with, once Obito was taken from him. Maybe Kakashi needs this, to remind him about his lost friend. I can understand that much, he’s trying to stay connected to his past somehow. And if that’s the case, then I won’t stop them.
So I watched them, push from the ground. Their grunting filling the air around them, fifty were quickly done.
“Oh no, don’t tell me Guy-sensei and Kakashi-sensei are at it again” I hear a young girl say. I turn to see Tenten standing with a hand on her hip. Annoyance written all over her face. I’m guessing they did this often. “You know grown men should really act their age. Guy-sensei is too obsessed with youth, but you get used to it, you know.” Tenten shrugs. The annoyance disappears, its replaced with recognition. I guess I’ll have to get used to it too, even if it did look like they hated each other at times, I wished I had a rival. Someone to challenge and battle against. I’m envious of a few things, having someone like Kakashi has Guy is one of them. I don’t like feeling jealous, but I’ve never had many things in life. I want what everyone else feels, what everyone else experienced.
I see Kakashi kick his feet in the air first, but Gut is right on his heels. And with big hand steps, Guy is right beside him. Their strength looked evenly matched, the only difference was that Guy was beginning to sweat a little, and Kakashi showed no emotion, only concentration. Tenten and I walked meters behind them, their legs straight above them. I wonder how long they can go, I can kick my legs up, but only when I’m leaning on a wall. But these two.
“For the longest I could remember, Guy and Kakashi have always been rivals, but they completely trust each other. They trust each other with their lives. I don’t know if I could do that. Trust someone you are always trying to get the better of,” Tenten says.
“Well they seem like they know a lot about each other’s abilities. Each other’s weakness and strengths. Trust is key to keeping this rivalry from blossoming into true hatred. Then that’ll sprout a different conflict,” I tell her. Enemies between the Hidden Villages were created because of the lack of trust. Wars were waged because of the lack of communication and loyalty. But we learn from our mistakes.
We were getting closer to Ichiraku’s again. It looked like no one else was in the booth. I’m sure it would be a lot easier without customers coming in and seeing two jounin pigging out. Everything on the menu, I only got a quick view, but there were about fifteen different type of ramen, excluding the combos. I’m not sure they will be able to get through five bowls.
“It was fun watching them make a fool out of themselves, but I must be going. Have fun cleaning after their vomit. Bye. Kiyoko,” Tenten waves as she runs down the street. I see Kakashi and Guy finally land on their feet, stretching their arms, before the rush in the booth. I follow, sitting between them, one seat between me and Kakashi, and a seat between me and Guy. They were going to need a lot of counter space. The first bowls arrive, and they eat it with ease. I watch in astonishment as the fifth bowl goes down the hatch, their chopsticks moving on their own, clipping the noodle, and the slurping sound could be heard from miles away. I was beginning to think they could actually eat all on the menu.
Well I began to think, but then I see Guy moan, as the eighth bowl was set in front of him. He looked like he was going to throw up right there, I saw him clutch his stomach. It was his call to eat all of the ramen bowl, in the first place. He doesn’t know limitations. I turn to see Kakashi swallowing his broth of the eighth bowl too, though he didn’t show he was full, I saw his eyes begging to stop. Begging Guy to call off this part of the challenge. With this much food in them, they won’t be eating dinner for a couple days.
“How about nine bowls instead?” Guy asks as he slurps his noodles. They hurry to eat their last bowl, before their final and last part of the challenge. Kakashi finishes first and he begins to make his way to the opposite wall of town. Guy finishes one minute later, I make sure everything is properly paid, all they did was smack money on the counter and ran.
I peek out to see Guy running, Kakashi no longer in sight. I don’t know how they can run after eating all of that. I follow them, Guy stops a few times along the way, puking in a bush, and then running again. We arrive to the east gate, Kakashi is leaning on the wall, resting, while Guy jogs there. I catch up to him quickly.
“Looks like its 46-44, Kakashi. You win again,” Guy says and finally lets his body fall to the ground. I hear him burp loudly.
“Looks like I won’t be eating dinner tonight, sorry Kiyoko.” Kakashi walks slowly to me, waiting, but I shrug. There was nothing I could do. It was an hour before sun down, I still and to do a few things at home, before I went to bed and begin the cycle of practicing all over again tomorrow.
“Guy, are you going to be okay? I can help you home?” I ask. He’s still laying on the ground.
“As much as I would love that, I play fairly. So I’m fine.” He waves me off. I follow Kakashi back to the apartment. We walked slower than usual, but I didn’t mind. The streets were crowded on this side of town. The booths around here were more centered on trade from other villages, merchants were shouting prices everywhere. There were many different faces, different accents, different skin colors. It was so mixed and diverse, we blended in without trouble.
“How long have you and Guy been challenging each other?” I ask, as I try to squeeze my way through the small crowded street. Kakashi turns to make sure I’m still following him. It would be easy to get lost in the crowd.
“When was the first time when you and Guy challenged each other?” I ask as I find my way beside him. I hear him hum in thought.
“I don’t remember the exact date, but it was about the time we became chunin. We were both pretty young, I became a chunin first, but when he did, he demanded to be my rival. He wanted to test his abilities with someone like me. It was annoying, but now its different. When I think about siblings, I think it would be like the relationship Guy and I have, don’t you think?” Kakashi looks down on me with a smile. Guy and Kakashi do act like brothers, or how I think brothers would act. There wasn’t harm in their rivalry, I can see that now. We walk back in silence. The walk was longer than I thought it would be, but the farther away we got from the east gate the thinner the crowd got. I finally took a deep breath.
“Kakashi- sensei!” Someone yells. I see Sakura not too far ahead. She was with Sai and Ino, she had bags in her hand, and Sai had a few painting utensils in a brown bag. He lifts his hand in the air, she smiles when he notices her.
“Kakashi-sensei, I need to have a word with you...In private.” Sakura looks a little serious, but the small smile on her face made it hard to see her true intentions. I take the hint, “Its fine, I’m just going to eat dinner and do a few chores at home,” I say. Kakashi nods, then walks down the street with Sakura. I was tempted to follow, but I didn’t want to invade in their private conversation. I wish she came to talk to me if something was bothering her.
“Kiyoko, you and Kakashi getting comfortable together, eh.” I feel Ino nudge my side with her elbow. She laughs a little at my embarrassment. I don’t pay much attention to what Sai and Ino are talking about, my mind is filled with thoughts of Sakura and Kakashi. I hope nothing serious happened to her.
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Chapter notes: here's another chapter. Another twist of destiny will be headed towar Kiyoko soon. In the next few chapters.
Chapter end notes: thanks for reading. Leave any feedback. Thanks!