Red (Kakashi Hatake x Might Guy)

Chapter Three

Kakashi Hatake had been in a good, relaxed mood.

Had been, anyways- that was before the soulmate issue had been brought up yet again.

He'd been sitting with his student, Sakura, in his apartment. Having her over after Naruto and Sasuke had left wasn't irregular- sometimes Kakashi helped her study, other times, they caught up. She worked incredibly hard and Kakashi often worried about her, so it was good to spend time and make sure that she was doing alright.

They were at his kitchen table, the pink-haired girl pouring over a book in her hand- probably another one about Medical Ninjutsu. She had a cup of tea that Kakashi had made for her sitting on the table as well. It had been silent for a few minutes when she finally looked up, eyebrows raised and green eyes curious.

"Kakashi-Sensei," She started, closing her book and holding it up to show him the cover- which was yellow.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Is this orange or yellow? Lady Tsunade and I were having an argument about it. She thinks it's orange, but I'm pretty sure it's yellow."

"You're right, I think," Kakashi started, watching as Sakura ran her fingers over the front cover. It was definitely a bright yellow. "It's yellow."

"So you can see color!" She exclaimed, slamming the book down on the table and standing from where she'd been sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, placing one hand on her hip and using the other hand to point at Kakashi like she'd caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. "I knew it!"

"What are you on about?" He asked, even though he knew what the answer was. Sakura and Naruto had been trying to figure out whether or not he could see color for years- something about him always being alone and them wanting him to be with his soulmate if he had one, which they weren't sure about... Well, at least not until now. Kakashi knew he'd given himself away with that little slipup, so Sakura would be aware of the fact that he had a soulmate, but she wouldn't know who it was- thank goodness.

Sakura's soulmate was no other than Sasuke Uchiha, so, quite frankly, that sucked for her. As much as Kakashi loved the kid, the weird friendship that he'd had with Naruto and Sakura was never really healthy. The fact that Sakura was his soulmate wasn't even something he cared about in the first place, and Kakashi doubted he ever would. Naruto's soulmate was Hinata Hyuga, though he chose to ignore the fact in favor of pursuing Sakura- not that Hinata had the guts to establish a relationship with the guy anyway, especially now that he was gone to train.

"Who's your soulmate?" Sakura's question snapped him out of his thoughts.

The silver-haired man stood up as well, crossing his arms and leaning back against the kitchen counter, Sakura standing across from him and crossing her arms as well.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, averting his gaze in a failed attempt to avoid Sakura's prying green eyes. "Actually, please don't tell anyone about this."

"Do you not like them?" Sakura questioned, tilting her head and taking a step closer.

"It's not that."

"Then what is it? Are they a civilian or something?"

That was a fair theory- there were plenty of ninjas in Konoha who had civilian soulmates and chose not to reveal their identity for the sake of protecting them- the same went for ninjas who had soulmates in other villages. Obviously, though, Might Guy wasn't a civilian, let alone one from another village if the Leaf Village-themed green outfit he wore was anything to go by... Then again, Guy didn't know that the jumpsuit was green, nor did he know what green really looked like, so Kakashi wasn't sure if it was intentional or not that that the older man happened to wear the village's most prominent color- even under his Jonin vest.

"Definitely not," He chuckled, but then sighed when Sakura's questioning went even further.

"Is it someone in the village? Me, Lee, and Naruto have been trying to figure this out for years!"

Kakashi paused.

Lee?

As in Rock Lee?

As in Guy's star student?

Why would he be invested in this? He understood Naruto and Sakura- sure, they were his students, curious children that had basically become his family, and they'd been trying to figure it out for years. Lee, however, was a different case.

Surely Lee hadn't realized the truth...

"Wait," Kakashi paused, holding a finger up as confusion graced his features. He was thankful that he was wearing his mask and forehead protector to cover that up. "Why does Lee care?"

"He has this weird theory that your soulmate could be Guy-Sensei!" Kakashi's heart dropped, but thankfully, Sakura glazed right over the theory that was actually true. Despite being loud and often times a little reckless, Lee, the soulmate of Neji Hyuga and star student of Might Guy, was intelligent. It wouldn't surprise Kakashi if the boy had somehow figured it out- oftentimes, he was surprised that Guy hadn't figured it out- but the thought was terrifying. "I don't really believe that, but y'know, he's invested and helped me come up with this idea to get you to admit that you can see color, so there's that. Seriously, who is it?"

"A person," He answered sarcastically, though Sakura only kept pushing.

"Okay? What do they do?"

"Their job."

"Which is...?"

Kakashi was somewhat surprised that Sakura hadn't tried to punch him through a wall, but he continued to dodge her questions, even as she impatiently tapped her fingers against her arm, eyebrows furrowing together.

"To work."

"At what?" She snapped, letting out a groan of frustration, at which Kakashi gave a nervous laugh, heading towards his window as subtly as he could. Quite frankly, he was desperate to escape, and he was sure that he could trust Sakura with his apartment.

"Their job. Sakura, I think I'm about done with the soulmate talk. I'll see you later."

With that, he hopped out the window and ran to hide in the alleyway between his apartment complex and the one next door, ignoring Sakura's angry, high-pitched screams as he let out a sigh of relief. She had grown, but she was no match for him, and she wouldn't be able to pick up on his chakra and find him if he hid it well enough-

Almost as if on cue, no other than his soulmate, Might Guy, popped into the alleyway without any warning whatsoever.

"My eternal rival!" The ravenette grinned, leaning against the same wall that Kakashi was, expression bright as usual. At this point, Kakashi was used to the older man coming into his surroundings from practically nowhere- sometimes even spying on him, albeit never subtly- so he wasn't at all alarmed by it. "How are you?"

"I'm well, and you?"

"I was just about to head to Ichiraku!" For seemingly no reason, his grin grew as he gave Kakashi a thumbs up- just one of those cute, enthusiastic little mannerisms of his that made Kakashi fall harder and harder for him with each day that passed.

No wonder he'd been so smitten for so many years.

"Is that so?" Kakashi questioned, tilting his head. Guy was probably about to invite him to go with, and though the silver-haired man often rejected the ravenette's invitations to go places with him, he figured he might say yes to this one.

"How about a ramen eating contest?"

"...Sure."