Red (Kakashi Hatake x Might Guy)

Chapter Twelve

It was the next day, and Kakashi was starting to feel relieved as the group made their way into a more desert-like area; sand everywhere, with the occasional cactus or tumbleweed. He figured they would reach The Sand Village very soon.

The one thing that was bothering him was the small sand clouds, which they were surrounded by. For the most part, it had been a relatively peaceful trip, with the students and Guy making casual conversation and getting along, Kakashi occasionally pitching in but staying quiet for the most part.

Of course, a peaceful mission was always too good to be true, so Kakashi couldn't say he was terribly surprised when a Shuriken flew by his face. He leaned back just in time to avoid it landing right in his neck, but it did slice through his bottom lip, cutting his mask partially open.

Everyone paused.

Admittedly, the pain was searing, but it was nothing that the Jonin wasn't used to. It made him somewhat nervous that his mouth had been cut, and he felt blood quickly hit his tongue and teeth, dripping onto his chin. His mask was torn, which was a huge risk in regards to the whole Guy issue. Sure, he had been about to take his mask off just the day before, but having his secret revealed in the middle of a battle wouldn't be ideal... He'd been hoping to do it in private. Hopefully, he could manage to cover his mouth without hindering the fight that was about to happen.

Guy, seeming to have realized that the shuriken thrown had been no stray, quickly gestured to Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Gaara.

"You four, leave and we'll catch up with you later!"

"Yes, Sensei!" Lee agreed, and with that, the four quickly moved, Tenten, Lee, and Gaara protectively surrounding Gaara as the redhead made a sort of platform out of his sand for them to stand on, raising it in the air like a magic carpet and using it to fly out of the area.

Kakashi was glad they'd decided to listen instead of staying behind and fighting, something that his own students definitely would've pulled.

Two men emerged from the sand clouds, both in the standard Sand Village uniforms- the only thing that stuck out to Kakashi was that their forehead protectors had a clear cut through the middle of where the signature hourglasses were carved in the middle, meaning that they must've been rogue ninjas, which might've explained why they'd tried to attack in the first place.

Sakura, who was still there, pulled a kunai, clearly ready to support them, though Kakashi was sure that he and Guy had it handled.

"Guy, back me up," Kakashi called out, earning an enthusiastic reply from the older man.

"Always will, dear rival!"

The words made his heart flutter, but of course, he didn't focus on it for too long, instead focusing on fighting the rogue ninja in front of him. It was rather easy, knocking the kunai out of the rogue's hand and sending him to the ground before he could even sign anything, effectively using a blow to the back of the man's neck to knock him unconscious.

When he turned around, Guy had the other man tossed over his shoulder, also seemingly unconscious. Kakashi could only bring himself to laugh as he pulled some rope out of the bag he'd brought, taking the other rogue from Guy's arms and tying the two criminals together as securely as he could.

It seemed like they hadn't had anything to worry about, after all. Kakashi already had a few theories as to why the men had attacked in the first place- namely, they were rebels who disliked the fact that a Jinchuriki was their Kazekage, which he'd heard about a lot after Gaara had taken the position over.

How sad.

"Well... That was relatively easy," Kakashi mumbled, one hand over his bleeding mouth to keep Guy from seeing it as he used the other to tighten the rope around the two rogue ninjas, one foot on their backs. "Must've only been Chunin level, if even that... How anti-climactic."

"Rival!" Guy turned to him, expression twisting in worry as he weakly held up a finger, and with that, Sakura ran over to him, also looking rather concerned. "Your face..."

"Kakashi-Sensei!" His student placed a hand on his shoulder, urging him to sit down on the ground, so he did, Sakura sitting in front of him and using her other hand to pull back the torn scrap of his mask so she could see his cut lip. It was bleeding everywhere. "Are you okay? That cut looks horrible."

"It's only a scratch, Sakura-" Kakashi started, knowing that if she wanted to heal it, he'd probably have to take his mask off.

"You have to let me heal that. It'll get infected if I don't, and it's pretty deep... I'm afraid it'll scar."

"I can't-" He urged, doing everything he could to keep himself from looking at his student- or, worse, looking at Guy. Of course, the pink-haired girl being as stubborn as she was cut him off.

"Why is the mask such a big deal, anyway? I've been your student for years, Kakashi-Sensei! This isn't about me seeing your face anymore," She urged, clearly frustrated by his initial denial of her help, and Kakashi didn't have the energy to fight her. "Are you gonna answer me?"

With a huff of indignance, the silver-haired man reluctantly took his hand from his mouth pulled his mask down, somewhat relieved when Sakura's hands were on his face, gentle and soothing around where the cut down the length of his lips was as her pale skin began to glow a soft green. The wound had been throbbing, blood seeping out of it in a steady pool, but as Sakura began to work, it quickly stopped.

He could just remain silent until she was done and he was able to get a spare mask out of his bag. It wasn't that big of a deal, right?

Still, even though she was healing him, having his face visible- especially in front of Guy- made him nervous.

Speaking of that...

"Oh, wow, rival!" Guy started, sitting down next to Kakashi and offering a bright smile. "I never knew your face was so handsome."

Kakashi hadn't been thinking, really. He'd kept his face hidden for years and with the post-battle adrenaline fade, his mind had been foggy. Plus, to have his soulmate, the man he'd been pining over for the past ten years call something he'd never liked about himself handsome? It was flattering, and his first response was to mutter some form of thanks, even if it was the worst decision he could've possibly made at that moment.

"Thank you-" As soon as he realized that he'd spoken to Guy, the mistake he'd made crashed down. "Oh, shit." Guy's eyes widened, lips slightly parted in wonder as he looked at their surroundings, color spilling into his world. "Fuck."

Kakashi winced, groaning and tilting his head back. Guy appeared to be in complete and utter shock, probably taking in the new colors; the blue skies, the deep browns and yellows that made up the sand beneath their feet, the bright hues of the sun rays that shone down on them. His eyes met Kakashi's, and Kakashi wanted to fall off the face of the earth.
Guy knew that they were soulmates. He was so fucked.

"Huh?" Seeming confused by the sudden tension as she finished healing the cut, Sakura looked at Kakashi, then at Guy, and back at Kakashi again. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, the cut just hurts," Kakashi lied, grateful that the cut had healed, the blood being wiped away by Sakura as the skin came together again. When she pulled away, the greenish glow leaving her hand, the silver-haired man spared Guy an apologetic glance. "Thank you for healing it, Sakura, but we should catch up with the others."

"Yes, you're right."

"I'm sorry," Kakashi whispered in his soulmate's ear, watching as Sakura moved to stand in front of them. He couldn't tell what Guy was thinking in the slightest, as the other Jonin's face was completely blank. "I know, you're confused. We can talk later, okay?"

With a sigh, the ravenette nodded, and with that, the conversation was over.

Kakashi could only mull over what he was going to say later as he and Guy stood up, hoping that he wouldn't ruin everything- more than he already had, anyways.

"I'll use my Transportation Jutsu to transfer them to The Leaf Village Anbu for arrest and interrogation, and then I'll transport back here, but..." Kakashi stopped, grabbing the end of the rope that had the two unconscious men tied up. "It's a draining Jutsu, it'll use most of my Chakra, so I'll be weaker when I return. I'll probably be about ten minutes, so just wait for me. Understand?"

Guy and Sakura nodded, and with that, he was gone, his soulmate still on his mind.

'God... Why am I such a disaster?'