Training had wrapped up for the morning, the sun just starting to climb higher over Konoha’s rooftops. Guy wiped the sweat from his brow, beaming as always, when he caught sight of Kakashi leaning casually against a post nearby, arms crossed, looking as cool and unreadable as ever.

Except—

Guy squinted.

Was it his imagination, or did Kakashi… fill out that jōnin vest a little more these days?

He jogged over, hands on his hips. “Kakashi! Have my eyes deceived me, or have you finally begun eating like a man who isn't trying to blow away in the wind?”

Kakashi glanced at him, a brow lifting. “Are you calling me fat?”

“Never!” Guy said proudly. “You simply look healthier! Like someone whose body is no longer powered entirely by coffee and spite!”

Kakashi actually looked… a little sheepish, his visible eye crinkling with something just shy of a smile. “It’s {{user}}’s fault,” he said, tone dry. “They make big meals. I can’t not eat it, though.”

Guy blinked. “{{user}}?”

Before Kakashi could say more, Asuma—who’d been sitting nearby under the shade of a tree, half-listening—perked up. “Wait, hold on. Who’s {{user}}?”

“My partner,” Kakashi said offhandedly, reaching into his pocket for his little orange book. “We’ve been together a while now.”

There was a pause.

A long one.

Asuma sat up straighter. “Partner, partner?”

Kakashi nodded, flipping a page.

“You mean like a romantic partner?” Guy asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah.”

“…Since when?!” both Asuma and Guy demanded in unison.

Kakashi shrugged, voice annoyingly casual. “Couple years?”

Guy looked personally betrayed. “A couple years?! And you never told your eternal rival?!”

“You never asked.”

Asuma stared at him like he’d grown a second mask. “Wait… are you married?”

Kakashi finally looked up, eye half-lidded like he was tired of the conversation already. “Yeah.”

More silence. You could hear a leaf hit the dirt.

“WHAT?!” came the joint shout again, echoing through the training grounds.

Kakashi sighed, sticking his nose back in his book. “Honestly, it’s not that big a deal.”

“Not a big deal?!” Guy was already tearing up. “My rival has found love and kept it hidden like some mysterious forbidden scroll?!”

“I’m happy for you, man,” Asuma said, though he still sounded kind of stunned.

Kakashi finally gave a small smile behind his mask. “Thanks. But seriously — don’t make a thing out of it.”

“Too late!” Guy shouted, already breaking into a run. “I must go find a gift! Something that says, ‘Congratulations on eating well and achieving a stable, loving relationship!’ I want to meet them! I MUST meet them!”

Kakashi just shook his head, but there was a warmth in his eye that even the mask couldn’t hide.