Chapter Text
Unlike some people, Kakashi didn’t make a habit of staking out the youngest Ninja Academy recruits. In fact, he tried not to come anywhere near here, if he could avoid it.
Minato’s son was there now, and so was Itachi’s little brother, and so were memories that Kakashi couldn’t shake.
This sight brought back some much less painful memories, though. Less painful for Kakashi, especially in hindsight. Pleasant memories, even.
A stubborn, talentless little kid who tried to hard and could only even try with taijutsu. Even the nickname brought someone specific to mind.
Hot-Blooded Loser.
He just had to bring Guy, who spent way too much time pacing up here worrying about which kids he might be assigned to.
Guy’s eyes lit up with excitement when he saw the kid. Kakashi felt something like pride swell in his chest. Guy had been bending over backwards and doing everything he could to appease Kakashi’s worries for years. It felt good to surprise Guy and help him for once. Kakashi leaned against the windowsill lazily and folded his arms, watching the kids run laps from the corner of his eye.
“So, that's the hot-blooded loser everyone's been talking about,” Guy said.
Kakashi looked back to Guy. He smiled under his mask. "Doesn't he look like someone we know?"
"Hm?" Kakashi couldn’t tell if the resemblance was genuinely lost on Guy or if he was just surprised to hear Kakashi speak.
Regardless of which it was, Kakashi just shrugged. "In particular... his eyebrows."
“Hm…” Guy hummed thoughtfully again, looking back down as the kid kept training, even when the others had gone back inside.
“The more things change, the more they stay the same… Guy, back then,” Kakashi started.
Guy suddenly flickered away. Kakashi looked out the window and saw that Guy had actually taken the chance to appear to the bewildered little kid. That goofy grin, those animated gestures, the words of encouragement… Kakashi breathed out a huff of air.
Oh.
So, this was how it felt when Guy ignored Kakashi.