Why not me? (A Naruto Raised By Kakashi Fanfic)

Ch. 9

Gai's pov

"Big surprise, Kakashi is a no show."

"Hey, cough it up. You owe me 5 bucks."

"Ugh, not again, I always lose."

"Here's an idea, stop making bets for Kakashi."

"It's just that I feel like he'll come one of these times."

"Nah bro, he's too much of a wuss to actually show up for anything, left alone long enough, and he'd probably kill himself off. Just look at the dude, he's barely functioning."

That was it. The final straw before I snapped. I stood up, and slammed my hands on the table, directing all attention towards me.

"Enough you guys, stop gossiping about Kakashi. He's a person too. How can you guys say these things about him, we're his friends." I bantered.

"No, you're his friend. How can any of us be his friend, if he won't open up, or bother to spend time with anyone? Are you really friends with Kakashi, or is it just your imagination? Would he actually admit that the two of you are close?"

"Of course he would, he is my number 1 rival after all."

"Yeah, whatever floats your boat man."

Later that evening

What the guys said earlier really got me thinking:do we really have a one sided relationship?

Am I really the only one keeping our friendship together?

If I left suddenly, and never talked to him unless he approached me first, would we still be friends?

These thoughts kept rattling through my brain, keeping me up throughout the night.

One thought lingered more than the rest:does he care?

Kakashi's pov

It had been several days since I'd had any human interactions, other than Naruto, of course. Maybe even weeks, I'm not sure.

It has been nice, not dealing with people and their crap. Nice and quiet, just the way I like it.

Although today I had to break the pattern, and get some groceries. We were down to the last jar. I grabbed the kid, my two favorite masks, and left the apartment.

Naruto was growing so quickly. I've never really dealt with kids, but they sure grow fast. He's a lot heavier than he was, and he has more energy, and curiosity.

'It won't be long before he'll be crawling around on his own....that could prove troublesome.' I thought.

I was able to get most of my groceries without any issues, but I get the feeling I'm being followed.

'What exactly is going on?' I eyed the people on the street cautiously.

'Not any of them, somewhere else.'

I went off to a secluded area to draw in the stalker. I set down my groceries, and held onto Naruto protectively. He cooed in my ear.

"Come out." I demanded.

There was silence. Then a shadow appeared before me.

"I'd expect nothing less from my number 1 rival. You truly are as good as they say, Kakashi." Gai said.

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked cooly.

"Oh, nothing much, just testing your ninja abilities is all, still sharp as ever." He glanced at me, not quite meeting my gaze.

I narrowed my eyes. Something seemed off about him.

"If that's all, I'll be on my way then. I have to refrigerate the milk before it spoils." I explained.

"Kakashi, wait."

I turned around to face Gai. He was making a strange face, one that I didn't see often.

"Are we friends?" He asked genuinely.

"What?" I asked.

"Are we friends?" He repeated.

"I'm not sure what you mean." I told him.

He looked hurt, but he didn't say anything.
Naruto began to make a fuss.

"I'd better go now." I told Gai.

"Yeah, I think so too." Was all he said.

'Strange. I've never seen him like this before. Could it be something I said?'