Red (Kakashi Hatake x Might Guy)

Chapter Six

Kakashi Hatake sighed, taking another drag off of his cigarette as he leaned against the railing of the balcony of his apartment. It had been a day since he'd last seen Guy, and he felt bad for talking to the older man the way he had, but apparently, he wasn't too mad...

At least, Kakashi assumed Guy wasn't mad, based on the way the ravenette was currently sitting on the roof of his apartment, clearly spying on him. Though he was too far up for Kakashi to actually see, the silver-haired man could feel those dark eyes on him- could sense the other Jonin's chakra. It was a familiar, comforting presence if anything.

During the darker times of his life, it had been a presence that gave him a weird reassurance. Guy had almost always been behind him, following- whether it be on missions or in secret when Kakashi was doing other things. He'd never called Guy out on it, knowing that the ravenette was worried about the darkness he'd been falling into. Unsurprisingly, the spying had stopped once he'd been taken out of Anbu, and part of him was curious as to the exact reason that Guy had even followed him in the first place.

Initially, he'd come up with the theory that Guy was trying to analyze him to figure out some sort of weakness to catch him on during one of their competitions.

Then, he realized that Guy was genuinely worried about him. Whether it was because the older man feared Kakashi would end up like Sakumo Hatake or because he feared that Kakashi would somehow get himself hurt while he was in Anbu, he had no idea. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to know the answer.

Smoking was a nasty habit that Kakashi had picked up when he was still there- stress relief, he figured. Plenty of people in Anbu did it. Now, he was mostly clean, and he only went back to it when he was particularly pent up- like he was now.

Despite Guy having smoked for a while himself, he'd always scolded Kakashi for doing it, so the silver-haired man knew he was in for it as he held the cancer stick between two fingers.
"Guy, I know you're here," Kakashi broke the silence, looking up towards the roof, which he couldn't see very well. "Come on out."

"My eternal rival!" Guy jumped down from the roof, quickly landing on the balcony next to Kakashi, where he quickly leaned over the railing like the former Anbu was, snatching the cigarette from his hand and putting it out against the brick wall of the apartment building. "What have I told you about that?"

"I know, I know," Kakashi let out a sigh, knowing that Guy was probably going to bring up what they had been talking about the night prior- love, soulmates. He'd been hoping to avoid it, but of course, that was futile. "You can call me by my name if we're actually gonna talk like this," He muttered, hating how ridiculous he felt when they actually had serious conversations, only for Guy to address him as 'rival' throughout the entirety of them. Maybe that was because he was sick of being seen as a rival, a friend. He appreciated both of those things, but a darker part of him was bitter about the entire situation. He wanted so much more.

"Kakashi," Guy spoke, tone uncharacteristically soft as he placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, a frown on his face. Kakashi immediately felt guilty for making him worry again. "It's the soulmate thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah," He answered, watching as Guy tossed the cigarette into the ashtray that Kakashi had sitting beside his feet on the ground- right in between them. "It is."

"You've heard the thing about soulmates being linked, right?" Guy's hand was on his shoulder without any warning, and Kakashi was struggling to suppress how his stomach was threatening to twist into those nervous knots it always did when Guy touched him like that.

He felt like a teenager in love- absolutely ridiculous.

There were plenty of people who believed that soulmates were emotionally linked- whatever one soulmate felt would affect the other and rub off on them, no matter how far away they were. Kakashi preferred to not think about that, knowing that if it were actually true, Guy would've had to have felt some pretty strong negative emotions through the course of his life due to him.

"Of course. Not really sure I believe it," Kakashi commented, rather offhanded as he looked off to the side. "Why are you bringing it up?"

"I dunno, it just came to mind," There was a pause in which Guy smiled and straightened his posture, retracting his hand from Kakashi's shoulder to cross his arms. "If I knew who my soulmate was, I would definitely tell them!"

"You're nothing like me, though, Guy," Kakashi emphasized, which earned him a confused look from the older man. He's really too good for the world. "I think that's the part you're missing."

"No, but we all deserve to be loved, right?"

"You do," Of course, Guy didn't pick up on the double meaning in that statement. Kakashi, however, dwelled on it. He wished someone else could be Guy's soulmate. He wished that Guy could have someone normal and happy to love him, but instead, he was unknowingly stuck with coldblooded Kakashi. "My own feelings are complicated. I'm sure you know that I'm still working on things. I want to be loved again, sure, but I don't want all of the risks that come with it. I don't deserve it anyway."

"It's better to risk something if it could make you happy, Kakashi- at least better than it is to suffer in silence. What are you so afraid of?" Kakashi desperately wanted to answer the question, but he knew that if he did, he'd give up the secret he'd been trying so hard to keep for the past twenty-something years. "You already know who they are! What about them is so risky that you're afraid of making a move?"

"You're always taking risks, so that's easy for you to say. I wish I was as fearless as you," Guy looked shocked at that- almost as if he was only just now processing that someone like Kakashi had legitimate fears. "You know, the fact that I know who they are actually makes it so much worse because they're so out of my league, and they're so..." Kakashi dared to look over at his soulmate again, and their eyes met, as Kakashi hadn't been wearing his headband. There was a moment shared between them that he could only describe as some sort of mutual understanding. Maybe Guy knew how he felt, even if he himself hadn't gone through what Kakashi currently was. Kakashi reflected on everything, on how hard he had fallen, and how risky it was. He wasn't making a move because he was scared, but even in his silent resignation, he was still scared. Guy's life was just as dangerous as his life was. Either of them could die before the other could blink. "Well, I could lose them at any moment."

"You have to realize that all of us could die at any moment, Kakashi. We live with that risk every day... It shouldn't prevent you from getting close to people you care about. Hey," Seeming to want to change the subject, Guy took his hand without any warning, which had a blush spreading over his cheeks. Once again, he was thankful that his mask covered it. "I don't want you here by yourself tonight. Why don't we go to Ichiraku? I think it's still open!"

"...I'd say no, but I guess you won't let me do that."

"You've guessed correctly, so let's go!"