Ruminant

xxi

21.

Maito Gai was often described as simple.

A simple shinobi with simple dreams - protecting the village as much as he was able to - and straightforward techniques that knew nothing of subtlety and deceit.

Of course, Gai knew that, with his reputation, it would be a given that some people usually meant it in a way far from what he interpreted it to be but-

Gai didn't mind.

Their words didn't really matter anyway.

...

..

.

Don't get him wrong.

Gai loved his village - sincerely loved its people in a way that even if they disparage all of his efforts - even if they were eager to put him and his father down,
his dedication was unflagging as he finished his missions and killed for its people.

His love-

His love for the village wasn't conditional.

(It never was for his father even if they treated him like a joke and it wouldn't be for him.)

(His father said they were worth it.)

(And they were or they would be, even if he couldn't quite see it at the moment as collective people seemed eager to put the people he cared down in order to pacify their egos and sense of self-worth.)

Running his way around the village was a routine. He started it when he was but an academy student eager to prove himself to everyone and make his father proud, and after several years, it didn't let him down and still kept him at peak form whenever there was a lull or break from the seemingly endless missions during the war.

The exercise was therapeutic and kept his mind off the blood he couldn't quite wash out off his hands.

(And make him remember why he was still doing this - killing people with families of their own - and for whom was he sacrificing himself for.)

(Gai was looking for hope and a reason so he could keep going. Even if he was tired, as long as he saw how his village was redeemable, he could push for just one more lap - just one more step again and again.)

Gai often tried to mixed it up every now and then with an interesting rule or two - dragging Kakashi into it just so he could hit two birds with one stone.

His eternal rival needed to get out of his head sometimes lest he gets lost and crumbles into pieces from the pressure the village put him under. It had gotten worse now actually, with rumors flying around that Uchiha Obito got back from the dead and the whispers of Sharingan reclamation started again.

Kakashi needed a diversion now more than ever and well-

Gai was free and willing to be Kakashi's foil so it would probably best if he'd look for him again. A rematch wouldn't be amiss and he'd heard from Genma that Kakashi had the time since Hokage-sama laid him off this week.

(Kakashi was prideful and a difficult one to deal with most of the time, but Gai preferred that Kakashi to the Kakashi he'd seen after Obito 'died'. If he could do
anything to make Kakashi heal, Gai was willing to expend the effort and get beat up in the process.)

(After all, Kakashi was his friend.)

(Gai never abandoned his friends.)

-----

"Why are you here Gai?" Kakashi muttered, his visible eye twitching slightly as he looked at the group of toddlers behind Gai's back. They were arranged in two lines - the toddlers standing in attention as they visibly forced themselves to look solemn and grave even as the twinkle of excitement in their eyes give them away.