Toothbrush
A/N: I've noticed that I really like brief, monosyllabic or otherwise one-worded titles.
Pairing: Canon is not love. KakaTen.
It started with the small things.
The first time she spent the night, she left her panties. But that had been deliberate, to set up an excuse for him to see her again. The second time, he had deliberately hid her bra to see if it would make her stay in his apartment a bit longer. It hadn't, despite the fact that she was going straight to taijutsu training that day. He had paid for it dearly later on that night, though.
As she began to spend more time over at his place, both casually and sexually, Kakashi noticed that she had begun a slow invasion on both his mind and apartment.
For starters, there was that hair of hers. Kakashi had always known that girls shed at a phenomenal rate, but he had never had to deal with it. There were always strands clinging to his pillow, twined about his vest, around his sink, scattered about like her whispers. Sakura had taken to pulling the stray strands off his shirt lately, smirking and shaking her head whenever she saw him.
With the hair came the hair ties. They were probably the only things that could outnumber her weapons; she was constantly buying new packs since she kept lending them to her girlfriends (and occasionally Neji) or losing them at his house it seemed. Kakashi kept finding them in the strangest of places.
It was one thing if they kept showing up on tables, dressers, and shelves. But doorknobs? She left behind a random trail of hair ties whenever she was over, pulling them off and hanging them at whatever door she happened to walk through. He could scarcely turn a knob without finding a black hair tie dangling off the knob, a mark of her territory. Kakashi didn't mind though, since they came in handy at times, like when he had no rubber bands, or when he wanted his hair out of his eyes when he was cooking or doing the mending.
Tenten hadn't left any clothes yet. She preferred wearing his, since they smelled like him and were more comfortable. But she had bought face wash, deodorant and lotion so she didn't have to bring hers over whenever she stayed the night. They were next to Kakashi's toiletries on his dresser. Seeing her products clustered there made his products seem not so lonely anymore, he noted. He liked it.
Yawning, Kakashi rolled to the edge of the bed and got up, stumbling over one of her bunny slippers, yet another thing she had insisted on having. Kicking it out of the way, he shuffled into the bathroom. Squinting at the bathroom light, he fumbled for his toothbrush, and noticed the cup.
Two toothbrushes. One was his, and the other was Tenten's.
Kakashi began brushing his teeth but continued to eye her toothbrush. It wasn't anything fancy, just a plain pink, soft bristled tooth brush, sitting there innocently in the cup. Kakashi picked it up and turned it over in his hand, his toothbrush hanging out the corner of his mouth, brushing momentarily forgotten. The damned toothbrush was a symbol of her conquest. Her successful invasion on his heart.
He had seen his fair share of women, all came and went. But none had actually stayed. By leaving her toothbrush at his place and sharing his toothpaste, Tenten had planted her stake and marked her turf, her place, here in his physical space, his heart – his life. And he did not mind in the slightest.
Chuckling to himself, he gently placed the pink toothbrush back in its place and finished brushing his teeth. He was rinsing out his mouth when his beloved barged in the bathroom, swearing because she overslept and was going to be late for training with her teammates.
"I can't believe I overslept again! You promised to wake me up!" she groaned, yanking a hair tie off the doorknob and pulling her hair up into a ponytail, squeezing toothpaste onto her toothbrush and hurriedly brushing.
"Sorry love," he murmured, leaning across her to put his toothbrush back, kissing her temple, "I wanted you to stay a bit longer." He chuckled at her confused expression and wiped the foam off the side of her mouth.