Might Guy considered himself a simple but talented man; a man of many feats who could do just about anything. He was a skilled fighter, in touch with his emotions, good at communicating, a compassionate friend and teacher, youthful, and an incredibly hard worker.
He could do a lot of things.
Romance was not one of those things.
So, despite his cheery demeanor, he was incredibly nervous as he sat right next to you, the beautiful Jonin he'd been in love with for the past decade. You, Guy, and a few others were in one of the local bars, all crammed into a circular booth. You were on one of the edges with Guy by your side, the two of you so close that your thighs were touching- not that Guy was bothered by it, of course, and you seemed not to mind it either.
There was you, him, Genma, Ebisu, Anko, Kotetsu, Izumo, and Shizune in that order on the large leather-clad seat, and the music that was blasting through the speakers was incredibly loud. Guy usually wasn't the type to become nervous in crowded settings, but as always, your presence managed to unsettle him in the worst (but also best) way possible.
That unsettled feeling in his gut was made worse when Genma, who was on his right, leaned over him a bit to talk to you, as you were on his left.
"Y'know, (y/n), you're pretty cute," Guy's heart dropped. He'd never spoken about his crush on you to anyone, but hearing his teammate hitting on you honestly made him feel... Challenged. He'd always tried to have a positive attitude about things, but something that he couldn't control were your feelings for him and other people. If you liked Genma, you liked Genma, and Guy could understand that; Genma was cool, funny, skilled, and conventionally attractive. Guy hadn't even made his intentions towards you well-known, so it'd be ridiculous to get upset over it, but there he was... Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Guy tensed and prepared himself to listen to the following exchange. "You should let me take you out on a date sometime."
"Ah, I appreciate that, Genma, but I've got my eyes set on someone else."
For a moment, Guy felt instant relief. It sucked to see his former teammate and one of his closest friends get rejected, sure, but if it meant that he wouldn't have to see the two of you flirting all the time and possibly even dating, he could live with it.
And then he felt panic. Someone else?
"You're dating someone?" He asked without much thought, shooting you a look of shock. "Since when?"
"Oh, no, I just have a bit of a..." You trailed off, nervously moving a hand to fix your (h/l) (h/c) hair. You'd always been gorgeous without even trying with that hair he wanted to touch and those (e/c) eyes he could stare into forever. You were in the standard Jonin vest with your headband hanging loosely around your neck, but you somehow managed to pull the look off better than everyone else in the village who had the exact same getup. "Crush."
"Who?" Guy asked, wanting to know who it was. Maybe he could out-romance them?
"Kakashi?" Ebisu guessed, tilting his head as he took another shot. Apparently, he'd had a hard time with Konohamaru that day. "I don't know why, but a lot of girls in the village seem to have a thing for him."
"I understand why!" Guy grinned, trying to act supportive and unbothered despite the fact that he was internally dying at the thought of you having a crush on his rival of all people. It'd be such a waste, too- If it weren't for those books he constantly read, Guy wouldn't have been sure that his rival could feel or understand anything romantic at all. Kakashi didn't even act like he liked you all that much. "He's strong, but silent and charming, and he's got quite the mysterious persona!"
"No, it's not Kakashi..." You laughed, finishing your (f/d) before placing a hand on Guy's shoulder. He blushed at the contact, but you were quickly pulling away and standing up. "Quite the opposite, really, but I should get going."
"(y/n)! I promise that one day, I'll guess who your crush is!" Guy challenged you, a large grin on his face, and oddly enough, you grinned back at him.
"Heh," You shook your head, giving the ravenette a look that he couldn't quite read. "I bet you won't anytime soon, but I'll let you keep guessing, Guy."
~
It was the next day, and as always, you and Guy were walking together.
You'd been good friends for the past fifteen years or so, having met when you transferred from The Sand Village to The Leaf Village as a Chunin due to some complicated family circumstances that you never really talked about. Many people had questioned how much of an asset you would be since you were from a village that they'd had problems with, but Guy and his friends had welcomed you with open arms, and you two had clicked almost instantly.
So, when he wasn't busy working with his students, the two of you tried to squeeze in a sparing session every day. You'd finished about a half-hour before, and though he'd initially claimed to be walking you home, you'd passed your house a good fifteen minutes ago and were now just walking aimlessly around the village together.
"So it's not Kakashi!" Guy spoke, bringing the two of you back to the subject of your crush yet again. He'd promised that he would guess who it was, and you'd agreed to tell him the truth if he got it right. He was determined, because no matter who it was, he would try to compete with them for your affections. It would be unyouthful to just roll over and die instead of trying his best to win your heart, after all! "Why is that?"
"He's a good friend, but a little quiet for my tastes and not emotionally available," As much as Guy loved his rival, that was true. "I like someone who can express themselves."
"Does that exclude Yamato from the choices, too?"
"Yes, for the same reasons but a little less severe," You chuckled, looking up at the sky, and Might took the opportunity to admire the smile he'd fallen in love with all those years ago. "I like his sense of humor, and again, good friend, but I'm not attracted to him romantically."
"Ebisu?"
He doubted it was actually Ebisu for... Reasons, but he wanted to get his teammates and the other people he was close to out of the way.
"Remember the expressing yourself thing? I don't mind dudes who are into weird shit, but he hides it and that's kind of a turn off," Of course, you were talking about how Ebisu read Jiraiya's books "in secret" but judged people who read them in public- the "in secret" only in quotations because literally everyone knew about it. "Screams repressed to me, so no, not Ebisu... Also, he's disrespectful towards a lot of the people I like."
"I guess it isn't Genma since you said no to his date proposal, right?"
"Right. He's pretty cool, but I'm not into him like that. He's more like a brother," With that, you looked at your wrist despite it not even having a watch on it. "Ah, would you look at the time? I've gotta get going. See you around, Guy."
With that, you were gone, and Guy was heading back home to go to the drawing board yet again.
Who could it be?
~
A few days later and Guy was popping in through the window of The Ninja Academy, a place where you'd occasionally volunteer your services. They were currently trying to implement lessons about Medical Ninjutsu, and you were one of the few Ninja in the village who was talented at it, so you helped Iruka out with the occasional lesson. You were sitting alone in the classroom, packing your things- probably about to head home for the day.
You didn't look surprised to see him, only turning around with a small smile when you noticed him perched on the windowsill.
"I've returned to continue our challenge!"
"Oh?" You tilted your head, chuckling as you spun around in your roller chair. "Who are you guessing now?"
Guy stepped all the way into the classroom, sitting on top of the desk you were behind and crossing his arms as he mentally went through the list of names that he'd come up with over the past few days.
"Iruka-Sensei!"
"Good guess," You laughed, but shook your head and crossed your arms as well, propping your feet up on the desk. "He's very compassionate and hard-working, but to be honest, I see most of the Chunin as babies since I've been in charge of them so many times."
That was a good point. Though Iruka was only a few years younger than the two of you, it was more about the fact that you'd both been in charge of so many squads with him and other Chunin and Genin that the two seemed to blend into each other despite having a huge age-division between the groups with most Genin being preteens and young teenagers- on rare occasion, children- and most Chunin being late teenagers or adults. It would feel just as weird for you as it would for him to date someone who wasn't another Jonin or even a civilian that you could separate from work.
"Well, there goes my guesses for Izumo and Kotetsu..." Guy muttered, trying to think of other Jonin or even civilians that you interacted with regularly before remembering how often you went to Ichiraku. The owner was older than you, but you two seemed to be good friends at the very least, and he was running out of options. "Oh! Teuchi from Ichiraku? You two have always gotten along!"
"He's more like my dad, and I'm not sure if he's married or not," You rubbed the bridge of your nose between your thumb and pointer as you allowed your eyes to fall shut, the expression on your face screaming disappointed, but not surprised. "Also wouldn't want to make his daughter uncomfortable- I think I'm closer to her age than I am to his."
"Huh... I do know them, right?" Guy asked, feeling like he was running out of options.
Who the hell could it be?
"Rather well, actually, but I've gotta get going," You stood, pulling your bag over your shoulder and smiling before offering him a small wink. "Good luck next time."
~
Another day passed, and Guy was completely confused before another thought crossed his mind; he hadn't guessed any women yet. For all he knew, you could like Kurenai, Shizune, Anko, Tsunade- any of the girls in the village.
As luck had it, though, when he brought it up during one of your sparring sessions, he found out that he still didn't have the right answer.
"Is it a woman?" He asked at the same time he dodged a kunai you'd sent flying in his direction, quickly moving to the side when you appeared behind him without any warning and kicked him in the back before answering.
"No."
As a result of the sudden kick, he landed on the ground, barely able to catch himself with his hands before he raised a hand to gesture that the two of you pause. You seemed to understand and stopped in your motions completely, simply standing in front of him and waiting for him to speak. The ravenette sat up, still on the ground.
"Huh. I'm stumped! You might win this challenge..." Guy trailed off, raising a hand to run through his hair before tossing out one of the more unlikely guessed that had crossed his mind. "It's not Asuma?"
"Kurenai's one of my best friends. Of course it's not Asuma."
"Right, right..." He gave a dismissive wave, knowing that you liking Asuma would've been ridiculous, as he'd been dating Kurenai for years now. "Gosh! I have no idea who it could be!"
"I'll give you a hint; you've guessed just about everyone except who it actually is and the answer is right in front of you," With that, you turned around and waved back at him, a lop-sided smile taking over the lips he'd been wanting to kiss for so many years. "See ya."
~
Now, it had been a full week since Might Guy had started his journey to figure out who it was that you had a crush on. He was sitting in the bar again in the same booth he had been when the subject of your love-life had initially come up, but now, only two people were with him now; Genma to his right, and Ebisu to the brunette's right.
"I just have no idea who it could be!" Guy ranted, groaning as he stared up at the ceiling. "I've been guessing for the past week and none of my answers are right, but she said whoever it is has been right in front of me!"
"Who all have you guessed?" Ebisu questioned, seemingly annoyed by the subject.
"Both of you, Kakashi, Iruka, Kotetsu, Izumo- she said it wasn't a woman, so that's out of the question- Asuma despite him already dating Kurenai because who knows, Teuchi, and Yamato!"
Without any warning whatsoever, Genma slammed his head against the wood of the table so hard that the sound resonated through the room. He sat up a second later, looking surprisingly unphased despite the fact that the wood now had a very visible crack in it from the mere force he'd used.
"Genma-" Ebisu started, clearly panicked as he rested a shaky hand on Genma's back.
"Are you okay!?" Guy exclaimed, but Genma only glared at him.
"I love you to death, Guy, but you have the I.Q. of a fried goldfish."
"Hey! What's that for all of a sudden!?"
"Why do you think I asked (y/n) out?" Genma questioned, not giving Guy the chance to respond before slamming the rest of his shandy and leaning back in the booth.
"Because you like her?" Guy gave what he assumed was the obvious answer, only to earn a yell of frustration from the usually-calm Genma.
"No, you idiot- I'm gay! Literally as straight as your aim, which isn't very straight. I was trying to get both of you to realize that you like each other. It was a dumb idea, but I figured she'd admit that she has a crush on you, and now she's gone and made a game out of it. So, there's your answer. It's been you this whole time. Go talk to her before I slam my head against this table a few more times and give myself brain damage or something."
Guy nodded before standing up, mouth suddenly much drier than it was before. He reached into his pocket to leave money for the drink he'd only taken a few sips of, shakily leaving it on the table before running out of the bar, knowing exactly where to find you at this time of night.
~
When he landed on the roof of your apartment, Guy was relieved to see that you were sitting there like you usually were on nights like this.
"(y/n)!"
Taking in a deep breath and offering the typical grin and thumbs up that always seemed to make you chuckle, he sat down next to you, looking up at the sky instead of meeting your gaze.
"Oh, Guy," You smiled at him, and he wondered if what Genma had said was really true. If someone as beautiful as you were really in love with him, he was one lucky bastard. "You have more guesses for me?"
"It's me, right?"
"So you finally figured it out," You allowed your eyes to fall shut, bringing your knees to your chest and wrapping your arms around them as your smile fell. "Took you long enough, but I guess it doesn't matter since you don't really return the feelings."
"Who said I didn't return your feelings?" Guy asked, moving to place a reassuring hand on your shoulder as he frowned. Sure, he hadn't openly expressed it, but he'd assumed that it was somewhat obvious. Plus, you could have anyone you wanted- how could you not think that he'd like you?
"You took forever to guess," You explained, looking off to the side and trying to suppress the obvious frown that was threatening to take over your face. "So I just assumed that you were repulsed by the thought."
Not even thinking about it, the ravenette grabbed both of your hands, holding them in his much larger ones and intertwining your fingers.
"Let me prove you wrong, then!"
"And how do you plan on doing that?"
"Like this, if it's okay..." Guy whispered, leaning in until his lips brushed against yours. Your eyes fell shut, and you were wrapping your arms around his neck, so he assumed that was a 'yes' and went for it. His lips were pressed against yours in seconds, all of the tension that'd been building between the two of you since you'd met suddenly released within the span of a few seconds. You were perfect, soft lips moving against his much rougher ones in a passionate yet languid manner. He would've stayed there and relished in the feeling forever, but unfortunately, you both needed oxygen.
"Oh my God," You whispered back, gently reaching up and running your fingers through the ends of his silky hair as you broke the kiss. "I love you."
"I love you, too! How about a date?"
"Right now?" You questioned, tilting your head.
"If you're up for it, yes!"
"I guess it's your reward for winning the challenge, right?" You asked, giggling as you stood and pulled him up along with you. "C'mon."