Might Guy: Kakashi, I'm Busy Right Now... (Please Read On)

"My first bosom friend...!"

Under the setting sun, Might Guy's tears streamed down like water, soaking his green athletic bodysuit.

All he had hoped for was that Uchiha Chi would acknowledge him as a friend.

But he hadn't expected Uchiha Chi to say those two words outright.

Bosom friend—what a word that was a hundred times more youthful than friend!

Even Kakashi, whom he regarded as his destined rival, always coldly refused to become his bosom friend.

But now, everything was different...

Thinking of this, Might Guy could not help turning his head. With tears in his eyes, he looked at the first bosom friend he had made since birth.

"Chi-san, let's run back together!"

Uchiha Chi looked at the eager expression on Might Guy's face, pondered for a few seconds, then nodded with a smile.

"Sure. Let the setting sun bear witness to our youth."

Might Guy shuddered all over at those words.

"Comparing the departing sun to lost youth?"

He covered his eyes tightly and nodded hard. "Chi-san, that was so beautifully said!"

No matter when it was, Uchiha Chi could accurately describe the emotions he could not put into words.

What was a bosom friend? This was a bosom friend!

What was youth? This was youth!

"Very good."

Might Guy wiped away his tears, revealing an incomparably determined look. He raised his index finger high toward the setting sun at the horizon.

"From this moment on, I'll sprint at full speed and complete three hundred diamond push-ups beneath Hokage Rock before Chi-san returns to Konoha!"

With that, he turned into a green afterimage, weaving through the giant trees as he raced toward Konoha. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the layers of shadows.

[Detected emotional fluctuations from Might Guy!]

[Obtained 15 points and increased Defense by 3%!]

Watching Might Guy's retreating figure sprint away at full tilt, a trace of guilt appeared in Uchiha Chi's eyes.

"Sorry, Guy-san." He shook his head regretfully. "I forgot about you while I was chatting with Rin..."

Youth was not just passion and sweat. More often than not, it also contained well-intentioned lies.

At noon, he had just made his first friend in this world—Nohara Rin.

So now, Might Guy could only be his first bosom friend.

Uchiha Chi had not wanted to lie. He merely hoped everyone could be happy.

I really am such a kind and considerate person, Uchiha Chi thought.

As he leisurely walked along the route Might Guy had taken, he pondered how many more "firsts" he could use.

First partner, first confidant, first brother, first bestie, first destined rival...

Inside Konoha, beneath Hokage Rock.

Kakashi stood with his arms folded, his whole body leaning against a tree trunk, looking cool and aloof.

He narrowed his dead-fish eyes and calmly watched everything nearby, but a question gradually arose in his heart.

Why had that guy Might Guy stopped training lately?

A few days ago, he had turned down Might Guy's invitation to duel.

That was because he had wanted to train alone in the Hatake Clan's secret sword techniques.

His overall training had gone fairly smoothly, and Kakashi felt that his swordsmanship had improved once again.

After coming out of seclusion, he had wanted to find a Taijutsu ninja to spar with and test his progress.

And Might Guy, who could skillfully wield cold weapons like nunchaku, was naturally the best candidate Kakashi could think of.

Might Guy usually trained in Taijutsu beneath Hokage Rock.

So over the past two days, whenever Kakashi had free time, he came here to wait, intending to invite the other boy to duel.

However—

Might Guy had not come here to train for two consecutive days.

Had he changed locations?

Or had he suffered some serious injury?

Or had he become completely disappointed in Taijutsu and decided to give up training?

But his father had once said that guy would become his rival in the future...

As one speculation after another flashed through his mind, Kakashi felt his thoughts becoming increasingly chaotic.

"Haa..."

He let out a breath, glanced at the lingering sun about to sink beneath the horizon, shook his head, and gathered his thoughts. He decided to wait a little longer.

If the sun set and Might Guy still did not appear, he would just go home.

Just as that thought surfaced in Kakashi's mind—

He saw something approaching from the distance.

"...Hm?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes and looked over.

A bluish-green afterimage sprinted like lightning, crossing from the edge of his vision to beneath Hokage Rock in a few seconds. Then it started doing push-ups with heaving breaths.

It was Might Guy, who had disappeared for two straight days.

He had finally come.

Kakashi perked up and stepped out from beneath the tree's shade. "Might Guy, let's duel."

As he spoke, Kakashi had already drawn his short blade and begun some simple warm-up exercises.

In his view, Might Guy, who regarded him as his destined rival, could not possibly refuse this invitation.

But the next second—

Might Guy, who was doing push-ups on the ground, did not happily leap up as Kakashi had imagined.

He merely raised his head and glanced over, recognizing the person before him as Kakashi. "Oh, it's Kakashi. You want to duel?"

What did he mean, I want to duel? Wasn't this what you had always wanted?

Kakashi found it a little strange, but he still nodded. "That's right, your favorite unrestricted duel..."

But before he could finish, Might Guy hurriedly interrupted him.

"I'm very busy right now. Come find me later."

"Hm?" Kakashi, who had nearly finished warming up, stiffened slightly. He looked at Might Guy with surprise in his eyes.

How could this be?

How could Might Guy refuse his invitation to duel?

However, Might Guy explained nothing. He simply lowered his head and continued doing push-ups.

"Forty... sixty... eighty..."

Kakashi stood where he was, expressionlessly watching Might Guy, unable to tell what he was thinking.

"One hundred twenty... one hundred forty... one hundred sixty..."

"Two hundred sixty... two hundred eighty... three hundred!"

Only after Might Guy finished all three hundred push-ups in one go and sat on the ground to rest did Kakashi step forward again.

"Can we duel now?"

Kakashi paused, then added, "I can wait until you've rested up before we start..."

But Might Guy interrupted him again.

"Kakashi..."

Might Guy raised his bowl-cut head and looked foolishly at Kakashi. "Didn't I tell you to come back later?"

Looking at Might Guy's clear yet stupid eyes, Kakashi was left speechless.

He opened his mouth, but could not say anything. He only felt that this hot-blooded idiot he had known for several years seemed to have changed in some way he did not understand...

"How much later is later?"

Kakashi fell silent for a few seconds, then asked again, seemingly unwilling to give up. "What are you busy with right now?"

"Well, I don't know how much later either."

Might Guy scratched his head in distress. "My dad is going to make me do extra training later too... But!"

As though he had thought of something, Might Guy grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

"First, I'm going to eat Ichiraku Ramen with my bosom friend!"

P.S. PK starts this week—it's time to decide life or death. I'm begging for continued reading; just flip to the settlement page at the end, orz.