A/N:
Hello readers! I just wanted to kick this off by dedicating this fic to V-quez! Who challenged me to write this little story.
If you have the time, go check out her fics, they are all awesome! If you like Lee/Tenten, make sure to read In All His Spandexed Glory, which was my challenge to her. ;)
Just a little note in case anyone was wondering, this takes place after the Fourth Shinobi War. Everything is all settled and peaceful for now. This is just light-hearted fun!
It was the end of the day and all she wanted to do was go home and sink into her warm bed. It had been a while since Tenten had been able to curl up under the covers—she'd been roughing it in a cramped tent with Neji and Lee for two whole weeks. Autumn was coming so the weather was getting a little harsh, which meant having to cuddle up with her two stinky teammates for warmth.
To top it all off, Neji and Lee had somehow slipped right home after reporting to the hokage. That meant that she had been stuck with all the paperwork. Luckily, she'd been able to find a quiet, unoccupied room in the tower to hijack for a few moments while she filled out papers.
If she hadn't been so tired, she would have been plotting revenge. Maybe after a good night's sleep she would be able to come up with a hands-rubbingly evil plan, but for now, she had to finish this incident report.
She could hardly focus on the words she needed to fill out on the page. It had been a relatively boring mission but Gai-sensei had always taught them to be as thorough as possible when filling out reports.
"They stuck you with the paperwork, hm?" a bored voice came out of nowhere and startled her. She looked up to find Hatake Kakashi standing beside her, leaning casually over her shoulder to peek at her report.
"Oh, Kakashi-sensei," she said, out of breath from fatigue and surprise. "Yeah, they always do this."
"You seem tired," he said, his voice full of casual interest. "You can always just finish that tomorrow. Did you just get back?"
"Yeah," she sighed, thinking of how she hadn't even had the opportunity to go home and shower yet. "But I'm almost done here. I might as well finish so I can sleep in tomorrow."
"That works too," he said with a shrug, losing interest in her papers and moving across the room. "Next time you should have one of your lazy teammates do that for you. Make the Hyuga do it." That drew a chuckle out of her and he grinned.
"What brings you to the hokage's offices, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, taking a break from her work and leaning her chin on her hand to look at him. If he had to be completely honest with himself, her tired-but-determined-to-finish look was actually cute. In fact, he found most of her looks to be cute, but he liked to shove that weird thought to the back of his mind.
"You can just call me Kakashi. You're not really a student anymore," he said good-naturedly, taking a seat across the table from her. A light blush crept onto her cheeks. She could safely say that he was one of the more handsome men she'd ever met, even with that mask.
"Alright," she said with a grin. "I'll try to remember that. So what were you doing here?"
"I was just speaking with the hokage," and trying to find a quiet place to read the latest Icha Icha Paradise, he mentally added. He would never say that out loud; he didn't really need people thinking (or knowing) that he was more of a closet-pervert than they already did.
"Oh. Anything interesting?"
"Is there ever during peacetime?" he replied with a lazy grin. It had been years since the war had ended—there was rarely ever anything major happening these days. Of course, everyone was grateful for that, but for everyone who had been heavily involved in the war, things seemed slow.
"Oh, I see," she said with a smirk. "Are you in trouble?"
Kakashi almost laughed at that one. "Not any more than usual," he said with a shrug. The truth was that he had been in trouble—Tsunade was urging him to take on some new students now that Sakura and Naruto were well on their way to creating their own legacies. But Kakashi didn't see the need to take on any more pupils at this point. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had been so much work that he didn't really feel like putting up with a new set of brats.
"Is it about the new students coming in from the Academy?" she asked, her tired eyes lighting up with curiosity.
"Why, you interested?" he replied, leaning back in his chair. She shrugged.
"It might be more fun than all this paperwork," she said with a chuckle. She ducked her head to take some notes on her report, hoping that she could get her work done but also sort of wanting to socialize with him at the same time. Kakashi was an interesting guy and she rarely had the opportunity to talk with him.
"I'll be going," he said as he stood up, deciding that he would leave her to her work. She didn't need him distracting her anyway. "Good luck with your paperwork."
She sighed, feeling a little disappointed. She gave him a little wave and was almost sad to see him go. He was always a nice distraction from her normal boring day. "Goodbye, Sensei—er, Kakashi." He gave her a casual wave and vanished in a puff of gray smoke, almost as if he had never been there. She briefly thought of Gai-sensei. If he'd been there, he would have claimed that Kakashi's exit was "smooth, cool, and hip." And then he would have challenged him to a duel.
She stood up and rubbed her eyes. Maybe Kakashi was right. She only had a few more papers to fill out, but they wouldn't get done right if she was this exhausted. She gathered up her papers, pen, and folders and stacked them in her hands.
While she was making sure that she hadn't forgotten anything, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. A book.
"Icha Icha Paradise!" was printed on the cover. Tenten frowned and picked up the little book. Kakashi must have left it there by accident.
"Perv," she muttered without any real contempt. She stacked the book in between some of the folders she was already carrying. She'd take it back to Kakashi (it was only the nice thing to do) but in the meantime she didn't want anyone thinking that she was the one reading it.
With tired feet, she trudged home and into bed.
The next day, Kakashi found himself awake in the early morning hours, unable to go back to sleep or get comfortable. It was cold, colder than it had been yesterday. Fall was creeping up on them.
He considered these thoughts as he searched for a certain little book. In sleepless moments like this, reading was almost always the remedy. He'd read a few pages of the latest Icha Icha Paradise and fall right back to sleep.
He swiped his hand a few times around the area on the nightstand where the book should have been. He stood up and rummaged through his dirty laundry. Usually when he couldn't find his books they were inside the pockets of dirty pants. When he had no success there, he scoured his whole apartment, wondering where in the world it could have gone.
After he'd searched everywhere he could think of, he gave up and slouched back onto his bed. Well, at least the search had worn him out. He felt a little sad—that had been a brand new copy! He'd barely reached the end of the first chapter, but he was already enthralled. It was shaping up to be one of the better issues.
He heaved a sigh. What a shame. He'd have to get a new one.
After a hot shower and a long, restful sleep, Tenten felt human again. She'd even been able to shave her legs! It was a miracle.
She slept in until the early afternoon, and felt that she'd deserved it because she had been so worn out the night before. She climbed out of bed, still enjoying that sleepy and cozy feeling one gets after finally getting quality rest. She wandered into her tiny kitchen and brewed a simple cup of green tea. Her eyes meandered to the paperwork that she'd left unfinished last night and felt not one ounce of guilt for procrastinating.
That was when a unique book cover caught her eye and she remembered that paperwork hadn't been the only thing she'd brought home last night.
She reached for the book and flipped the pages through her fingers. It looked pretty new. The spine was perfect and the pages had barely been touched. It didn't take much for her to figure out that it was a brand new issue.
What was the big deal with Icha Icha Paradise anyway? Tenten just didn't see the appeal. She was no prude, but she didn't get why these little pot-boilers were so popular with the men of Konoha. She saw guys around the village with one of these books in his hands every day, reading and sweating and generally just looking guilty.
She stared at the novel for a second. The cover even looked sketchy. Briefly, she wondered what the story was about.
"Whatever," she muttered to herself, trying to fight her own curiosity. She really didn't care. Even if it was a pretty good day to shut herself in with a book to relax. It wasn't like she was that interested. No way.
But… it was always worth a shot, right? She shouldn't be close-minded. It would be silly to judge a book by its cover…
She gave up on rationalizing what she was about to do and she took her tea and the book into her room.
Tenten settled into the sheets of her cozy bed and turned on the lamp on her nightstand. She took a sip of tea and opened to the first page.
Icha Icha Paradise!
Chapter 1: The Lonely Girl
Tenten scoffed at the opening chapter's title. The Lonely Girl? How lame. She continued to read, her already low expectations dropped even further by the dumb chapter title.
But the more she read, the more enthralled she became with the plot. It was a story about a character that had just been rejected by her close childhood friend. She actually felt a little sympathy for the shy protagonist, Nanami—how hard would it be to be in love with someone for so long, only to have your hopes completely dashed? And then to make matters worse, her original love interest is actually in love with her long-time childhood rival!
She frowned. This book wasn't romantic, it was depressing. She sniffled a little and pulled herself together to continue reading.
In the second chapter, the heroine tells her sorrows to her old sensei, Souza, who is the only person who can see through her happy disguise. But then it turns out that her sensei secretly harbors tender romantic feelings for Nanami, and has for quite a while. He is sad that she feels rejected, but is secretly relieved that she'll never be with her old love interest.
Tenten almost laughed at hoe cheesy this plot was. She also laughed when the author of the book shoehorned in a line that made it very clear that the female lead was old enough for her sensei and that the age difference between them wasn't that significant.
The third chapter was where the story started to heat up.
Souza carefully brushed a stray hair out of Nanami's face to get a better look at her big, expressive eyes. They were shining from her tears, but she was already beginning to look happier. Perhaps confessing her sorrows to him made her feel better.
His heart beat faster when he saw that her lips were parted. He imagined what it would be like to press his own lips again them, to know how those soft petals would feel on his mouth. (Tenten had to stop right there and scoff—she was almost embarrassed to be reading such cheesy words)
"Sensei?" Her timid voice broke him out of his trance.
"You can just call me Souza. You're not really a student anymore," he said with a gentle smile.
Tenten jerked away from the book, shattering the scene that was playing out in her head. Her thoughts were suddenly and violently directed to last night's conversation with the very owner of this book.
"You can just call me Kakashi. You're not really a student anymore." That had been exactly what he'd said. She felt a tiny shiver go down her spine—now when she imagined the male protagonist, all she could think about was Kakashi-sensei.
She tried to shake that thought out of her head. Besides, Kakashi-sensei hadn't meant to hit on her when he'd said that; he was just stating a fact. It was stupid to draw connections between fictional characters and real people.
She rolled her eyes at her own imagination and kept reading.
Nanami took a shaky breath, feeling embarrassed for crying in front of her sensei who she so deeply respected. How could he ever respect her in return when she cried over silly love problems?
He gave her a reassuring smile. She knew she should have felt comforted, but instead she felt like a silly child. She suddenly realized that she wanted Souza to see her as a woman, not just the girl that used to be his student.
"S-Sensei—Souza, I mean," she stammered, looking away from his handsome face. "I… I'm sorry for crying so much. It's not… It's not really a big deal…"
"It's alright, Nanami-chan," he said light-heartedly. She almost cringed when he called her name with a 'chan'. "It's natural to feel sad when you've pinned your hopes on one person and they let you down. But I know you'll find someone even better someday. You're a sweet girl."
"Thanks," she muttered, looking away. She stood and gathered her things, feeling embarrassed and foolish. She wondered if he would ever see her as an equal, as an adult. After all, she was twenty years old.
Souza frowned. "Things will get better, Nanami. He isn't worth your tears."
She looked up at him and she suddenly felt a sense of determination. No matter what, she would prove to him that she was a real woman.
A knock on the door jerked Tenten out of the book, and she suddenly felt very crabby at being interrupted. She slipped a piece of paper in between the pages to mark her place and shut the book, hoping to take care of whatever was going on quickly so she could get back to reading.
"Who is it?" she called, quickly tying a loose robe over her pajamas.
"It is I, your comrade, Rock Lee!"
Tenten opened up the door to greet her teammate. "Hey, Lee. What's up?"
Lee looked a little surprised. "Tenten, my friend! You're still in pajamas. Are you feeling ill? Are you in need of a friend to care for you?" he gushed, placing a hand on her forehead and looking extremely worried.
"No, Lee. I'm just tired today," she said lightly, "I was up all night filling out our mission report, so I decided to sleep in and relax." A sorrowful expression took over Lee's face.
"Oh, Tenten-chan. I'm so sorry! Neji and I completely failed you!" he said miserably, hanging his head. "I must atone for my sin. I shall do thirty laps around the village! And I shall clean your house for you! And I'll even get Neji to help, too—!"
"No, Lee, as great as it is that you're volunteering Neji for my house chores, I'll be alright," she said with a laugh. "It's really no big deal."
She wanted to slap herself. Even while she was talking to Lee, she couldn't stop thinking about the perverted book she was reading. She was in suspense. She needed to know what happened next.
"At least let me make it up to you somehow," he pleaded, "perhaps a meal at your favorite barbeque joint?"
Ooh, that was a tough offer to pass up. "Well… maybe I do deserve barbeque," she said slowly. That silly book could always wait. "I'll have to get ready though. Wanna come in?"
"Of course! I will wait in your living room while you prepare," he announced, stepping into her home and guiding himself to the couch. "I shall wait patiently in here."
"Alright, I'll be quick," she promised, hurrying into her room to look for clothes. She dug through her dresser. All of her regular clothes were filthy from the two week mission she'd just finished. She sighed and picked out a blue, worn-out dress and threw it on. There was no harm in looking kind of cute today. She rarely got dressed up to go out with friends, anyway.
She brushed out her hair and rolled it quickly and expertly into her signature buns. She fussed with her bangs for a moment until they were satisfactory.
Even as she did all this, she still couldn't stop thinking about the book. She hated feeling so distracted, but she really wanted to know what happened next.
She picked it up and flipped to the page she had just been reading. Maybe if she just read a few paragraphs…
No, it would take too long. What was she even thinking? Lee was waiting for her! But maybe… well, what if she got bored? There was a chance that they'd run into someone while they were out. What if Lee got distracted with talking to whoever that was?
It was those flimsy rationalizations that lead her to pick out an over-the-shoulder bag to toss Icha Icha Paradise into. Because what if she got bored and wanted to read something? Just in case. She even threw a few extra items in there so she wouldn't feel like such a weirdo.
"I'm ready," she said as she came back out to her living room, clutching her bag close. Lee jumped right up off of her couch and grinned.
"Tenten, you're looking particularly youthful and girly in that dress," he said with a glittering smile. She looked down at the modest garment. She truthfully wouldn't have worn it if anything else had been clean, but she was glad that she looked alright.
"Thanks, Lee. Let's go, I'm starved!"
Tenten was more than happy eating her barbeque when her silly rationalizations and unlikely predictions actually came true. There they were, eating their food and minding their own business when Haruno Sakura came out of nowhere and began talking to Lee.
Of course, Sakura had started out speaking to the both of them, but eventually and unintentionally her attention had become focused on her male companion.
Tenten really didn't mind, even if she felt a little left out. Everyone knew that Sakura had some kind of crush on Lee, no matter how many times the pinkette denied it. Tenten finished her food and wiped her hands with a napkin before remembering a certain short erotic novel that was hiding in her purse.
"I think I'm going to get going," Tenten said cheerfully, interrupting a story that Sakura was telling Lee.
"You're going?" Sakura asked, sounding guilty. "Are you sure? I feel like I'm chasing you off."
"Not at all," Tenten replied, feeling absolutely no ill-will toward the other girl. In fact, she was secretly happy that she'd come along and given her an excuse to slip away and read. "I have some errands to run. Why don't you take my seat?"
"Thanks!" Sakura said, sounding all too happy at the opportunity to be alone with Lee.
"See you guys later!"
"Goodbye, Tenten-chan!" Lee called enthusiastically. Tenten just gave him a little wave and found her way out of the barbeque joint.
She was tempted to go home, but the day was so nice and the weather was pleasantly cool. She decided that she wouldn't want to stay in all day, and she knew just the place to go.
She walked with purpose toward the park that was nearby and found a bench under a tree in a secluded area. She sat down and looked around—perfect. There was no one near enough to know what she was going to do next.
She took out the book that had been distracting her all day and carefully arranged it in her hands so that it would be difficult for any prying eyes to see the cover. She removed the bookmark from her page and tucked it into her purse.
She couldn't lie; she was hopelessly into this book. Even with its cheesy descriptions, silly lines, and numerous almost-kisses, it was ridiculously interesting. It wasn't high-literature but it was definitely readable. It wasn't constant smut like Tenten had expected, but it actually had a plot and characters that you could care about.
Also, she was kind of secretly waiting for when the characters would finally get together. That, she knew, would be a little smutty… but she couldn't say she minded. She'd been waiting impatiently for them to get together for, like, 70 pages now!
Tenten took one last glance around the park and then focused on her book.
She was now on the seventh chapter, and things were finally getting steamy between the lead characters. Nanami was beginning to realize her feelings for Souza, but the problem was that there was a new character introduced into the story—a curvy woman named Suki, who had a flame for Souza. And he was flirting back, under the impression that he could never be with Nanami because she considered him too old to even be an option.
"You idiot," Tenten muttered under her breath as she read fervently. Can't you see that she loves you? And you're breaking her heart! Oh, but the plot was so engrossing. And things were getting interesting…
"You really like her, don't you, Souza-sensei?" Nanami asked, avoiding his gaze and fidgeting with her hands.
"You don't have to call me 'sensei,' remember?" he reminded her gently. (Tenten couldn't help but think of Kakashi's comment the other night.)
He was trying to avoid her question. He wasn't sure how he felt about Suki. She was a nice woman, and easy on the eyes, but…
"I hope you're happy together," Nanami said, not understanding why she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, we've only been on a few dates. We're not really that serious…"
"Really?" Her tone of voice surprised him. She seemed almost… happy that things weren't serious yet.
"You sound glad," he teased, not allowing himself any hope that she could be jealous. She was strictly his former student and current friend. Besides, he knew that as much as he admired her, she would always think he was too old for her.
"Well…" she began, taking a deep breath, steeling herself to tell him what she really thought. "I think that she's too…" Nanami couldn't think of a word. "I don't think you look good together."
Souza was shocked by what had just come out of her mouth. Since when had Nanami become so bold in her disapproval of anyone? She was normally the type to shy away from conflict. She went on.
"I-it's not… I'm not trying to be mean," the girl added quickly, feeling a deep blush creep onto her cheeks. "It's just that you… you don't look right together, that's all."
"Is that so?" Souza asked, raising an eyebrow. He'd had no idea that she'd disliked his most recent fling so much. "Then what kind of woman do you think I'd look good with?"
This was when her already red face turned an even deeper shade of crimson. She swallowed before answering him. "Maybe… a prettier girl… someone classier," she said, her voice nervous and shaky. "Someone kind, caring. A good listener."
An idea came into Souza's head, an idea that probably wasn't good. But he couldn't resist teasing his ex-student a little more. "Do you know anyone like that? Maybe you can set us up."
She looked so red that it seemed like she was about to faint. "S-Souza," she murmured softly, biting her lip.
The sound of his name on her lips almost did him in. How could he try to be with anyone else when there was Nanami, always in the back of his mind, always the one he compared all other women to? She stepped closer to him, forcing him to forget any notion he may have had to tease her.
She was feeling bold. This was her chance, she realized, to make Souza see her in a different light. "Souza, I don't think you should see Suki again," she said firmly, feeling a confidence that was new to her. And Souza found that he couldn't deny her anything.
But he still needed to fight it. Things could never work out with Nanami. Who was she to tell him who to date? "And why shouldn't I?"
She surprised him once again with a bold answer. "Because I told you so." She stepped closer to him and set her hands on his shoulders, compelling him to stoop a little to match her height.
He was long gone. He couldn't tell her no. He couldn't tell her that she had no right. "If you feel that strongly about it," he said, pathetically trying to keep his cool image despite the fact that he would do anything she told him to—even at the cost of his love life.
"Thank you, Souza," she said, leaning up on her tip-toes to plant a shy kiss on his cheek. And that was when he couldn't resist her anymore.
Instead of letting her pull away after her chaste kiss, he pulled her close to kiss her on the lips. As soon as he did it, he realized it as a mistake—she would hate him forever for violating her trust. But it was worth it if he could just have this one kiss, this one embrace…
Nanami gasped in surprise, but she didn't stop him. To his surprise, she only pulled him closer…
It only got better from there. Tenten was completely captivated by the story, and now that there was finally a love scene she was one hundred percent sold on Icha Icha Paradise. She was doomed to the fate of a closet pervert.
Little did she know, she was not alone.
It was getting dark outside earlier than usual, and the evening was feeling a little chilly. Just one more sign that Fall was beginning to take the place of summer.
Kakashi was walking back home from the bookstore. He'd gone about his day pretty normally—running errands, grocery shopping, expertly avoiding the hokage (who was still dead-set on getting him to take on another set of genin).
Unfortunately, the bookstore had been completely sold out of the new issue of Icha Icha Paradise. He wasn't really surprised. Whenever new books came out they flew off the shelf. The only reason he was even able to get one was because his own ex-student was now the author of the distasteful series of books.
It was just as well. He'd have to wait until the new book wasn't so popular to read it. In the meantime, he'd find some other reading material to pass the time.
He was close to his apartment when he saw a familiar someone sitting on a bench in the park. It was Tenten—he thought about how he'd just seen her the night before, looking tired and defeated. But tonight, she looked refreshed and pretty.
She was wearing a dark blue dress with sleeves that went just above her elbow, and the hem of her skirt was just high enough to show off toned, sun-darkened legs. She was leaning over, and the style of her hair helped to reveal a long, sun-tinted neck with a few freckles. She was unwittingly irresistible.
Tenten was always fun to run in to, and even more fun to flirt with. It had started when she got a little older—innocent conversation, saying hello in passing. At some point he'd discovered that she was interesting and rather… appealing. Of course, he knew that nothing would come of it. She was way too young for him. Not to mention that Gai would flip. (Or was that just more motivation to go after her? Hm…)
He really needed to get this inappropriate crush under control. If his "eternal rival" knew what Kakashi thought about his former student, he'd challenge him to a duel to the death.
He approached Tenten quietly, planning on saying hello, perhaps engaging in a little harmless flirting, and then leaving for his apartment, but something stopped him. She was holding something and staring down at it. Kakashi crept closer. She was… reading? She continued to stare at her book, looking as if she was reading every word very carefully. Her face was flushed, and goosebumps had risen on her skin. It could have just been the cool weather…
But once Kakashi got closer, he knew better. He recognized the book she was reading as the one he had lost just the night before. He felt surprised—had she stolen it from him just to read it? Or perhaps he had left it somewhere on accident and she had picked it up and started reading?
She didn't seem too offended by the material, and judging from her expression she didn't hate what she was reading.
So, Tenten, the youthful flower of Team Gai, was a pervert. And as much as that little tidbit interested him, he really did want that book back. Although… she didn't look half bad, sitting all alone on that bench, looking guilty and a little bit scandalized. Something about it sent shivers down his spine. The young woman he was attracted to liked smutty fiction—his smutty fiction.
Tenten was completely unaware of him standing right behind her. Either she was a terrible ninja, or she was hopelessly distracted—and he knew that the former wasn't true. He leaned in close, just peeping over her shoulder, unable to help the smirk that was forming on his lips.
"Are you enjoying my book?" he asked, his voice low and smooth.
Her reaction was not what he'd hoped it would be.
She shrieked and the novel was suddenly soaring— it was an impressive flight for such a small book, and its journey nearly ended on the top of his head. Fortunately, he was able to dodge it in time; unfortunately, she was not. The corner of the book flew right into her face to cause what would most definitely be a nasty black eye.
"Ahh!" she wailed, holding her hand over her eye, feeling an almost unbearable mixture of embarrassment, shame, shock, and pain... and worst of all, a dash of regret at being interrupted. Her mind reeled at what had just happened. Had she really just been caught reading porn out of a book that she'd basically stolen? Was it even possible for something so horrifically mortifying to happen to a person? Could Fate really be this cruel?
"Ah, Tenten, I'm so sorry," Kakashi's voice came out coolly, his hand at once on her shoulder, trying to get a good look at her eye.
"I can explain!" she said quickly, ignoring his concern altogether and lunging for the book that had landed on the ground beside her. She'd practically shoved it back into his hands and tried to turn to run away before she felt his hands firmly (but gently) grasping her shoulders.
"Tenten," he said calmly, looking her straight in the eyes. Well, eye, now that one of them was swelling shut at an alarming rate. "Just calm down. My apartment's right around the corner. If you'll come with me I'll loan you a salve that's pretty good for bruises."
For a second she calmed down. He was really being cool about this. Maybe he understood that taking the book hadn't been intentional… "Salve?" she asked, feeling stupid.
Kakashi nodded and let go of her shoulders. He stuffed the book into his pocket where it belonged and motioned for her to follow him. "Come on."
Kakashi had a pretty nice apartment, from what Tenten could gather from her one working eye and her scattered depth perception.
She was trying to be as unobtrusive as she could possibly be. She was standing awkwardly in his kitchen as he dug through the cabinet that he kept his medicine in. "Sakura made this, it's pretty good for black eyes," he was saying as he held out the small cylinder of salve. "Trust me, I would know."
"I imagine Sakura's the one who gives you the majority of your black eyes, sensei," she quipped, and then felt mortified. Was she really joking around with the person whose property she'd stolen? Why couldn't she just be cool for like two seconds? Something about Kakashi Hatake got her all nervous and riled up, like she couldn't just keep her mouth shut and not say something to embarrass herself.
He gave her a low chuckle, one that sent shivers down her spine. "You're probably right," he replied, leaning on the counter opposite from her. For a moment, neither of them said a word. She continued to stew in her own embarrassment, holding the little tin that he'd just given her. He was eyeing her in a way that made her feel extremely uncomfortable, like the way Ino eyed someone when she found out they had juicy gossip.
She had to say something, anything. "So, Kakashi-sensei," she said with a light smile, trying to appear calm and casual. "About your book…"
"You don't have to call me 'sensei,'" he replied lightly. Kakashi watched the blush spread from her cheeks all the down to her neck. She covered her mouth and cleared her throat as if he'd just said something obscene.
"Oh, okay," she mumbled, feeling dizzy as she thought about the characters of the book, about how she couldn't help but to imagine the main male character as Kakashi. Just because of that stupid line: You don't have to call me sensei.
He was staring at her, trying to figure out what had her so worked up. It was only a book, he mused as he watched her eye swell. "That eye isn't looking so good. Are you going to use that salve?" he asked, pointing down his hallway toward the restroom. "You can go into the bathroom if you need a mirror. It's better the sooner you use it."
"O-okay," she said, feeling like a stuttering Hinata as she walked down the hall into his bathroom.
Once he was alone in his kitchen he sighed. This had turned out to be so tedious.
Tenten shut the door to the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. The day had started out with such promise. She'd been well-rested, she'd worn a cute outfit, and she'd had a book to read… She lamented her terrible luck as she gingerly touched the swelling area. She looked like a hot mess right now.
She applied the salve that Kakashi had lent her and was happy to see that the swelling had gone down almost instantly. Her face looked a little red where the book had hit her, but she could already see that she wouldn't be getting as bad of a shiner now.
She watched the swelling go down and pondered on why she was acting so dumb today. She supposed that she was just nervous and riled up. She wasn't one to get jumpy around hot guys (she was around them all the time, really) but Kakashi made her nervous sometimes… with his too-cool demeanor and his soft-looking white hair. He probably had a nice face under that mask, too. She wanted to kick herself. Why hadn't she just left that stupid book? He wasn't an idiot. He would have eventually remembered where he'd left it. There was no need for her to help him out by recovering it for him.
Ugh, she was so uncool!
She sighed and smoothed out her hair and straightened her dress a little. There, that was much better. It was bad enough to be caught red-handed reading Kakashi's smut (and that he'd taken his book back just as it was getting good), but she didn't need to feel frumpy on top of that.
Feeling a little better, she exited his bathroom and returned to the kitchen where he was waiting. "Thanks for the salve," she said, handing him the tin.
"No problem. It's kind of my fault for sneaking up on you, anyway," he said, inwardly relieved to see that her eye didn't look so bad anymore. With his luck, Gai would somehow find out that he'd given her a black eye and then he'd be in for it.
"It's okay," she replied with a shrug. "Um, I probably shouldn't have been reading your book, anyway. I… you left it at the Hokage's office last night. I really was going to give it back."
"Ah." So that was what had happened. Well, there went his little fantasy-scenario where Tenten was stealing his smut because she was a secret deviant. He smirked to himself; that was too good to be true anyway. "It's no problem. Thanks for getting it back to me." He wasn't even going to ask her how she was already so far into the novel after only a day. He didn't have the energy to get another unrealistic fantasy-scenario shot down tonight.
She stood up straight and gave him a friendly smile. She felt relieved now—Kakashi had his book back, and he really didn't seem to think she was a thief or a creep. Of course, she didn't have the book anymore and she couldn't say she wasn't in suspense… but she could always wait to buy a copy later (in disguise, of course).
She made her way to his front door with plans to book it out of the area as quickly as possible to avoid any further embarrassment. He opened the door up for her out of courtesy.
"Sorry again about the eye," he said lazily, leaning on the door. She gave him a shrug.
"It's really no big deal," she said with a dismissive wave. "I guess I'll get out of your hair. Thanks for the salve, sensei— um, Kakashi," she said corrected, reminding herself of the female protagonist of the book. She began to walk out the door.
But… hang on a second.
She stood in his doorway for just a few seconds, a thought just striking her. She couldn't let this interaction end this way. She really wasn't like Nanami. She wasn't some shy, stuttering moron who had no depth. She was Tenten, mistress of weapons, expert kunoichi, and deadly on the battlefield ('not to mention the flower of Team Gai!' a small voice that sounded a lot like Gai-sensei cried in the back of her mind). She wasn't shy around men, not even ridiculously attractive ones.
"Just one more thing, Kakashi," she said, gathering up her nerves and turning to face him. He looked unsuspecting, just as casual as always standing in his doorway.
"Hn?"
"How far did you get into the book before I found it?"
Kakashi was sort of surprised by the question, and he had no idea why she would even ask. "Er—what?"
She smirked, feeling a little more like herself now. "I was just wondering, how far did you make it before you lost the book?"
He was a little taken aback by the laughter in her eyes and the way she stepped toward him. "Why do you want to know?" he asked slowly, feeling a little suspicious.
"Well, you took your book back before I could get to the end."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and he was surprised that was all he did because the idea of Tenten admitting that she actually wanted to know what happened next in Icha Icha Paradise was a little difficult to absorb. She was suddenly very close to him and he had to look down to get a good glance at her face. She was right there.
"So, can you tell me what happens next?" were her next words.
He cleared his throat and leaned back a little, not because wanted space between them, but because he needed it to figure out what exactly was going on.
"I only made it to the first chapter," he said smoothly, studying her face and trying to figure out what her motives were.
"Oh. Well maybe I can tell you a little bit about it," Tenten said with a teasing smile. "If you don't mind spoilers." The way she said that last sentence had his heart beating a little faster.
"I don't mind," he said lazily, still studying her through his single visible eye.
"It's about a girl who's just had her heart broken, as I'm sure you remember. But then in the next chapter we find out that her sensei, of all people, is secretly in love with her." She paused for a second to gauge his reaction, and she was pleased with the results. He looked surprised. Well, it served him right for 'surprising' her at the park and practically giving her a black eye. She smirked.
"Her sensei thinks that there's no way that she'd go for someone as old as he is. But she slowly starts to realize how attractive he is…" she trailed off when she noticed him shutting the door behind her, both of them still inside, with an unreadable expression in his eyes. "… and then…"
He was leaning over her now, one arm propped up on the wall behind her. "And then?" he asked, his voice low and smooth.
"And then I don't know," she replied cheekily, still smirking. "You took the book away from me right before I got to the good part." That was a lie, of course, but she didn't care. "Well, Kakashi-sensei, it looks like it's really time for me to go," she said playfully, pushing herself off the wall and reaching for the door handle.
She suddenly felt his hand grasp her arm and pull her back gently until she ran into his broad chest.
"Not with my book, you don't," he said with a smile in his voice, reaching around her waist and into the purse that was slung over her shoulder to take back the book she had so subtly swiped from his pocket. "And what did I say about you calling me 'sensei', hm?"
She suddenly realized how close they were. He was leaning over her, one hand around her waist and the other gripping his (now twice) stolen novel. "Since we can't share, how about we read this together?" he suggested, speaking softly into her ear.
She had to stand up on her tip-toes to murmur back into his ear: "Only if we can skip to the good parts."
A/N:
Ah I hope everyone likes this! I found it really difficult to write for Kakashi and I hope I did him justice!
I really wasn't sure how to end this! I guess they call it a challenge for a reason! ;)
Oh and a fun fact! If you are reading my current fic "Underneath", then you'll know where the names "Souza" and "Nanami" come from. Haha yes, that is how uncreative I am!
Please review and tell me how I did!