Written for KakaGai Week, Day 5: Youth.

Gai stilled, beginning to look over his shoulder, brows furrowed with concentration.

Kakashi paused, debating internally. Did he truly want to start this?

He considered, tapping his bare fingertips against the frozen bark in front of him.

Then he threw his missile, already moving from his concealed location to a new one.

The snowball his Gai square at the nape of the neck, right where he'd aimed it - snow made a different sound than most projectiles ninja learned to dodge, and there was enough of it already in the air, tossed around by an energetic wind, that Gai probably hadn't been able to discern the difference. Gai yelped in surprise, snow probably soaking into his collar, and Kakashi grinned.

"Kakashi!"

Well, that took less time than he'd expected. Kakashi threw himself flat, snow soaking into the knees of his pants as he dodged the return volley of not-quite-packed snowballs.

"I challenge you!" Kakashi yelled from behind the shelter formed by a pair of saplings bent together by the weight of the snow.

"I accept!" Gai crowed from almost on top of him, and Kakashi yelped as snow was shoved down the back of his flak vest. He spun rapidly, kicking snow up in a swirl around himself, and flickered out of reach just as Gai slammed into the snowdrift beside Kakashi's prior hiding place.

Kakashi laughed and scooped up fresh snow, leaping up to perch on a branch as he formed several more snowballs. He had to dart away again before he was ready to throw them, but he managed to keep them in his hands even as one of Gai's caught his ankle hard enough to make him stumble.

One of Kakashi's caught Gai full in the face in return, the other three deflected by his forearms. He followed it up with two more to the face, further obstructing Gai's vision, and took advantage of the cover it offered to close with Gai, circling him and tripping him up, sending him backwards into a snowdrift.

Gai laughed, bright and happy, and Kakashi grinned - even when he failed to get away, one of Gai's powerful hands locking around his ankle and dragging him down into the snow. Gai never had been terribly inconvenienced by being blinded in spars.

Kakashi tried his best to land well as Gai's pull brought him down almost directly on top of his lover. "You are a sneak, Kashi." he said, still grinning, his hair almost as wild as Kakashi's and speckled with snow.

"You don't seem to be complaining." Kakashi countered, wiping away a clump of icy snow from just over Gai's cheekbone.

Gai rubbed their noses together, although Kakashi's mask was cold and wet and had to be uncomfortable. It wasn't great from Kakashi's perspective, and he was used to it and also not rubbing his face against it. He hummed and tugged the fabric down, and Gai kissed him, cold lips and warm breath.

Kakashi purred, relaxing into Gai's arm curled around his waist and cupping Gai's jaw with one hand. Gai hummed, his chest thrumming under Kakashi and making his lips quirk at the feeling.

Kakashi was not expecting it when Gai suddenly surged to his feet, bringing Kakashi with him, and then dumped him upside down in the snow. Kakashi let out a yell that sounded rather more like a bark than he would have admitted, scolded himself for letting his guard down, and kicked Gai at the back of the knee as he was crowing at himself.

Gai went down face-first in the snow, and Kakashi pounced, landing on his back and shoving him down harder, bracing a knee between his shoulder blades before dumping snow down under his collar. Gai nearly shrieked, so Kakashi guessed some of it had made it under the jumpsuit as well as the flak jacket, and laughed, pulling his mask back into place as he scrambled away again.

Somewhat less gracefully than usual, the snow skidding and flying up under his feet.

Gai was already climbing up as well, shaking himself to get snow off and twitching occasionally - Kakashi guessed as the snow under his clothes resituated with his movements. He laughed again, blocking a snowball to the face, then blew a kiss to Gai.

He was grinning, even as he bellowed in mock anger, but Kakashi still ran as fast as he could as he evaded his lover. He knew a few jutsu that might make this more interesting, but . . . it was kind of fun, playing without the strategy of using chakra or calculating jutsu. Kakashi panted as he came to a halt near the top of a tree, craning his neck and watching for Gai as he followed, implacable.

Kakashi looked up, then leaned sideways, barely balancing on the branch, and sent the accumulated snow from the top ten feet of the tree tumbling down onto his lover. Gai slipped out of the tree and tumbled into the thick drift at the base.

Busy laughing and leaning forwards to try and see how Gai was reacting, Kakashi didn't catch the sound of cracking wood in time, and only narrowly avoided falling directly on top of Gai. He was within reach when he finally caught himself on a lower branch, so he ran without figuring out where he was going yet.

Gai was on his heels again in moments, and Kakashi pursed his lips thoughtfully, then threw himself flat into the snow - he was already soaked anyway - and groaned when Gai tripped over him, though it had been roughly what he was going for. Gai caught his wrist before he could get to his feet and out of range again, and Kakashi sighed, not fighting very hard as Gai dragged him close again.

They fit together in something of a jumble as Kakashi collapsed into Gai's lap, but it wasn't much more uncomfortable than being covered in melting snow. Kakashi leaned forwards, ignoring both the way his knee dug into Gai's ribs under his flak jacket and the uncomfortable angle his left arm was bent into, and nuzzled against Gai's throat.

He didn't pull his mask down first this time, and Gai shivered, letting out a thin and not entirely pleased sound at the contact. He dragged Kakashi away from his neck, not even bothering to stifle his laughter, and made a very bad attempt at glaring at him.

Kakashi grinned lopsidedly, cocking his head, and Gai shifted them to a slightly more comfortable angle, Kakashi's knees sliding to either side of his waist, then pulled Kakashi's mask down himself. He raised an eyebrow, and Gai pulled him down, leaning back into the support of the snow as he brought Kakashi in for a playful kiss.

Kakashi didn't protest, even as his hands - already aching from the cold - were pressed into the snow behind Gai's shoulders. He nuzzled Gai's cheek and nibbled gently at his lower lip, letting Gai nudge him into tilting his head and allowing the kiss to deepen.

They were both cold and soaking wet, but where their mouths met was a point of heat, as was where Kakashi had settled across Gai's hips. He shivered and pressed closer into that contact, moaning softly into Gai's kiss.

"You know," Kakashi said breathlessly, between kisses, "I don't believe," Gai bit down lightly on his lip, tugging gently, and he jumped before pulling free with a playful growl, "either of us has really won, yet."

Gai blinked, eyes widening, then grinned. "You are correct!" he agreed with a firm nod. "We must-"

His words dissolved into splutters as Kakashi shoved a handful of snow in his face, wriggling out of his embrace and springing out of his lap before he could retaliate too easily. He laughed, dancing backwards out of range of Gai's first swing and replacing his mask before leaning down for another handful of snow, beginning to pack it into a snowball.

"My students don't fling themselves into snowball fights with such abandon."

Kakashi cocked his head, rubbing snow out of the narrow space between his now-sodden hitai-ate and his ear. "Now you've done it." he said dryly, struggling up a little more and throwing off more snow. He was still panting a little from exertion, though he'd been lying half under his snow drift for a good few minutes.

"What?" Iruka asked, watching Kakashi with an amused expression, tilting his head to one side.

"Rival!" Gai yelled, emerging from the snow a good ten paces away already in a dramatic pose, one fist launched up towards the sky. Snow flew off him as he bounded upright, but he was still soaked and there was snow frozen in patches all over him. "It is clear what we must do!"

"Of course it is." Kakashi drawled, dusting snow off his lap and rising to his feet.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Iruka began, far too late, "what-"

"We must inspire the Youth of Konoha in the pursuit of snowball fights!" Gai cried. He looked at Iruka. "We will see them throw their entire being into the snow with True Youthfulness!" he promised, with a bright grin and an extended thumb's up. "It shall be done! Tomorrow!"

"Oh dear." Iruka said very quietly. "Really, Gai-sensei," he raised his voice, "I don't believe that's at all necessary."

"It is only our duty as protectors of Konoha!" Gai insisted, slinging an arm around Kakashi's waist and pulling him close. Kakashi let himself be grabbed without protest, fluffing snow out of his hair.

"We'll see you tomorrow." Kakashi told Iruka absently, straightening his hitai-ate. Gai's arm tightened a little around his waist, and Kakashi smiled slightly, knowing his mask would be concealing the expression.