Mission Assignments Pt3

Kakashi stood outside of the Hokage's office; book in hand and reading at a slow pace. He was early. Glancing to the clock on the wall, the man cursed silently. He hated being early, it just felt wrong. He knew he should have gone for that second lunch break, or at least double checked that he hadn't left the oven on at home. But he hadn't, so now he was stuck there, waiting, and reading, but mostly waiting.

Finally he heard door being slowly opened and a murmur of voices began to spill through. Kakashi looked back at the clock; it seemed the door was early too.

"Now if I saw that every time I came to the Hokage's office, I might be a little more inclined to show up."

Kakashi looked up to see Aoba standing just outside the door and looking in his direction with a disturbing grin on his face. Kakashi gave him a questioning eyebrow.

Raidou's head then poked around the door. His eye's narrowed when he saw Kakashi standing there. "That's just Kakashi."

The man in question let out a long breath, dropping his book to his side. "I'm flattered Aoba, but you're not really my type."

Aoba frowned as he, Raidou, and two Chunin filed into the hallway, closing the door behind them. He then nodded in the direction directly behind the man. "Not you, there."

The men all turned to look. At the far end, walking at a leisurely pace came five rather formidable looking kunoichi. Yugao and Shizune lead the way followed closely by Anko, Tenten, and Hana with one of her dogs on her heel. The sight really was something, as you typically didn't come across so many highly ranked kunoichi all together, in full gear, and not apart of some other larger team.

Anko and Yugao smirked when they saw the men standing there, Shizune just shook her head, and Tenten had been smiling brightly since they first appeared. Hana, however, had a fierce look about her, which only darkened as she recognized the men in front of her.

"Nice," Mozuku, one of the Chunin, said with a small grin.

"Just add Kurenai and Tsunade to that and it'd be perfect," said Aoba in a slight daze.

"Don't forget Ino," added Shimon, the other Chunin.

To that, Kakashi looked over the guys. While he could understand them getting a little excited by the sight, and it was a sight, he felt a little odd knowing Tenten was one of the ones being ogled, and Ino was even younger. Not to mention the fact that Asuma would likely have a fit if he knew.

"Yeah," Aoba answered, rubbing his chin.

"Little young, guys," Kakashi spoke up, somewhat annoyed that he felt obligated to stop their fun. The man then brought his book back to his face; he really didn't need to get into this.

Aoba gave a knowing smirk and nudged one of his mates in the side. "I think someone's feeling guilty about having certain thoughts, concerning a particular pink haired kunoichi."

Kakashi blinked, and then looked over the cover of his book to simply stare at the man. Right…

It was then Raidou spoke up, likely to keep Aoba from saying anything more on the subject. "Good thing Asuma's not here."

"That lucky bastard," Mozuka muttered.

"You talking about Ino, or Kurenai?" asked Aoba, oblivious to the glare he was still receiving from Kakashi.

"Does it really matter?"

"No."

It was then that the group of kunoichi had finally made their way over and stopped before them. "Ladies!" Aoba called, stepping out in front and giving them all his brightest smile.

"Not a chance Aoba," Hana snapped, pushing her way forward while shoving Aoba to the side so that she could get at the taller man, standing just behind him.

"Ouch," he muttered, rubbing his arm and backing up a few more steps from the obviously irate woman. The dog at her side was also doing a good job of clearing some space between them as it growled and circled his master, imitating her present disposition perfectly.

"Raidou! Where the hell is your limp dicked boyfriend?" she seethed furiously, while jabbing him hard in the chest with two fingers.

Raidou looked down, unfazed, brushing his vest off with a shrug. "No idea, why do you ask?"

Kakashi couldn't help but roll his eyes, wondering what Genma had done now. Looking across the group, he caught Tenten's eye. She had her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop the laugh that was forming at the mans simple acceptance of having Genma as his boyfriend. She gave him the briefest of smiles before turning her attention back to scene just in front of her.

"No reason," Hana continued in a disturbingly sweet voice. "I'm just going to rip his balls off and feed them to my dogs." A few of the men took a small step back, and shifted nervously away from her hound.

"Well I guess he called that one..." Raidou muttered to himself. "Sorry Hana. And I really do mean that, since I think some of us would really like to see that."

Anko snorted.

"Raidou, are you not keeping proper tabs on your woman?" one of the men asked.

"Come on, we all know Genma wears the pants in the family," answered another, giving him a clap on the shoulder.

"Funny guys," Raidou replied dully, looking only slightly annoyed. "And why is it that I'm always the woman?"

"Two words," Kakashi said, sparing only a slight glance over his book and remembering the one time he'd ever actually been in the mans home. "Pink apron."

Raidou frowned. "You just have bakers envy."

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "Maybe, but you know what I don't have? A pink apron," He turned a page and smirked when he heard Tenten's stifled giggle over the others.

"Hey," called Anko, pushing her way forward and leaning flush against Raidou. Kakashi knew they were close but it was hard to tell what exactly their relationship was; he just filed it under 'whatever' in his mind. Anko then ran a hand down Raidou's arm and leered across to Kakashi. "I happen to know that there are some girls out there that find a man who know his way around a kitchen, extremely sexy."

"Thank you, Anko," Raidou replied, putting an arm around her waist and smirking back at the masked man. However Kakashi knew that what he was really saying was, 'so where's your girl then?'

Kakashi sighed, looking over their wayward group. Momentarily his eyes locked with Tenten's, she had been staring at him but then quickly glanced away with a slight hint of red to her cheeks. Odd… he thought. And she was being unusually quiet… But Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts as Anko continued to speak.

"I mean after a hard days mission, all a girl wants is to come home to a clean house, with a fresh cooked meal on the table. And don't even get me started on how hot it is if he can get blood stains out of navy blue and mesh."

Raidou let out a loud groan and worked to extract himself from the woman's grasp. "All this, because of the apron?"

"It's pink," Kakashi reminded him.

"Kakashi has a pink fetish," Shimon commented with a grin.

"Now I wonder who fits that description…" added Aoba, causing Anko to snicker loudly and Shizune to look absolutely scandalized. Raidou, however, didn't even look at the man but simply lifted his arm and smacked him hard across the head, saving Kakashi the trouble of doing so himself.

Deciding to take the high road, Kakashi asked, "So what did Genma do this time?" and hoped to change the subject.

"Told you," one of them said. But luckily at the mention of Genma's name, Hana was back at it.

"What did he do?" the woman snarled. "That bastard got me kicked off my next mission, because he's too scared to be on the same team as me."

Kakashi blinked. He certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Hana's wrath after that. "Where should I send my condolences?"

Everyone looked to the tall man standing in the back. Raidou looked up, oblivious, "What?"

The hound at Hana's foot growled loudly, causing her to go very still. She then lifted her head and took two deep sniffs of the air. Her eyes lit up and thin smile formed. "Found him," she said with an elated twinkle in her eye.

"And she's off," Aoba cheered as the woman dashed away from the group, presumably to kill one Genma Shiranui in a very painful, emasculating, and likely entertaining way.

"I almost feel sorry for him," commented Yugao.

"Then you don't know him well enough," Shizune answered quickly, causing the group to grin in agreement.

"Come on, Raidou," Anko said, grabbing the man's arm and pulling him in the same direction. "I'm not missing this."

Shizune crossed her arms and stepped into their path. "We have a meeting, remember?"

The younger woman rolled her eyes. "I won't be long. Besides, there's just something so… satisfying, about watching a grown man cry, you know?"

Shizune didn't look impressed. "No actually, I don't."

Anko grinned. "Really? Hey Kakashi, wanna do me a favor?"

"If it involves getting kicked in the balls, I think I'll pass," he answered smoothly, not even looking up from his book and turning a page.

The girl's eyebrows rose in surprised. "How'd you guess?"

"From you? I'd expect no less."

She grinned. "You know me so well. I'm telling Sakura you're a keeper. Come on Raidou."

Kakashi watched as Anko pulled the reluctant man behind her down the hall. Well, it was official; someone had definitely started a rumor about him. As if that was something he needed to deal with.

"Why am I going again?" they heard Raidou ask.

"So when she's done, he's not left thinking he's the biggest woman in the room."

"… You are so cut off from my baking."

Once they were out of sight, Shizune scowled. "Great, now she's going to be missing. And may I ask, why is it that you keep calling each other 'women' like it's an insult?"

Kakashi looked up to see the kunoichi glaring at them with Tenten and Yugao smirking behind her. The remaining men were at a loss for words and shifted uneasily on their feet.

"Well…" Kakashi slowly began and actually lowered the book from his face.

Seeing as no one else appeared willing to speak, he figured he might as well come right out and say it… Why the other three men seemed to be shooting him frantic glances that practically screamed Abort! Abort! he couldn't really say.

"Because we're guys," he finished, giving them all a shrug. The rest of the men groaned and one even smacked himself on the forehead. "What?"

Tenten snorted in amazement and even Shizune seemed to find some amusement with his predicament.

"Yeah, and we're women," replied Yugao calmly. She was leaning against the wall and eyeing him critically.

Aoba grinned and took a slight step forward. "And what women you are."

"There's still no chance," answered Shizune, causing the man to deflate where he stood. "You know, I am rather curious to hear your explanation on this."

"Me too. Please do explain your selves," Yugao asked, giving the group a half smile.

Aoba sighed, seeing his own defeat was sealed. "Well I'm out. Kakashi, good luck man."

Kakashi's eye shifted over to the man. "Huh?"

Mozuku and Shimon looked at each other. "Yeah, us too. See ya."

The three men made their quick retreat and were out of sight before Kakashi had a chance to blink.

"Seems like your team's abandoned you," Shizune observed and relaxed her stance somewhat.

"They weren't my team," Kakashi answered with a frown. Why were the girls here if he was due next? Was his next mission with them and Tenten? That seemed… odd, to say the least.

He caught Tenten's eye and she gave him a brief smile but shifted her focus before one of the others noticed. Could she have somehow orchestrated this? Got Tsunade to put him on her next mission? With the exception of Tenten, the team did look like it was carrying some pretty heavy hitters.

"Then why are you waiting here," Shizune asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

"I have a meeting with the Hokage at two."

"But… it's five to," the woman stated with some surprise.

"So?"

"So? You're on time!"

"It's been known to happen."

Shizune snorted. "No, it hasn't."

He frowned slightly. "Yes, it has."

"No, it really hasn't," she reiterate a little louder than before. "Lady Tsunade's been double booking your time slots for the past year. This is the first time you've actually shown up."

That gave him pause. Was it really? "Double booked? So your team's scheduled for now?"

"Heh, yeah," Shizune answered in a bewildered voice.

"I can't believe we actually won," muttered Yugao. "What's the pot up to?"

"Four hundred and fifty one," Tenten replied, speaking for the first time. Apparently she kept tabs on these things.

Kakashi shook his head. "There's a pot for this too?"

"Yeah," Shizune said, still slightly amazed. "We win if you actually turn up to your meeting before the other team starts."

"I need to pay more attention to these betting pools," he muttered to himself. "So who's in charge of this one?"

"Lady Tsunade."

"Ah." Well that figured, he supposed.

"Though I think I remember her spending it after a particularly rough meeting with the council." She sighed, looking up at the clock. "Well I think we should head in now. Tenten, we'll call you when we're ready, alright?"

"Yeah, no problem," the girl answered.

"We'll let her know you're here too," she said addressing Kakashi. "She won't be happy she has to cough up the money now."

"Great," he answered with a sigh and watched as the two women left to enter the Hokage's office, leaving only Tenten and himself standing there. She was watching him but made no sign to start a conversation.

"You're quiet," he said at last, wanting to break the strange silence between them.

She shrugged. "Had nothing to say."

A full minute passed as he waited for her to continue. "Are you feeling alright?" he finally asked, wondering why she wasn't acting the playful imp he'd come to know her as.

"I'm fine," she answered giving him a small smile but failing to elaborate.

Another minute passed.

"Interesting team set up," he commented conversationally.

"You mean all girls?"

He gave her a half smirk. "You're not going to start in on me too, are you?"

Tenten's expression brightened noticeably. "I think I'll have mercy on you for now."

"Ah." That was the look he was more used to.

"Though, I am rather fond of pink," she said, obviously getting ready to lead into something.

"You don't say?"

"Mmm," she answered. "Though not as much as Sakura." And there it was. "You know, I'm not one to put much stock into rumors, but it does start to look suspicious when the girl in questions is convinced she caught you checking her out the other day."

"She what?" he asked quickly, as his eyes widened in shock.

He really had hoped this rumor hadn't gotten too far out of hand. The other Jounins, he knew would just ride his ass about it, knowing that any story like that rarely had any bases in fact. But if Sakura actually believed it, there could be trouble.

Tenten was smirking at him. "Claims you scarred her for life. Something about a doctor's uniform?"

Oh… that…

Well that really was no big deal then and Sakura knew perfectly well he wasn't being, well… like that. He looked over at Tenten. Yes, she seemed to be getting a nice little kick out of this.

He smiled to himself.

"Well if you're going to put yourself out on display like that, you can't really get mad when others stop to check out the goods," he told her, completely unashamed.

Her mouth dropped. "You…" she sputtered. "No, you… Kakashi!"

Guess she wasn't expecting that.

"What? She's hot," he said in mock innocence.

"Stop it," the girl said, completely scandalized.

"But I must say, it would've been much better with the nurse's hat. Maybe I should get her one. Do you think she'd wear it?"

The girl glared. "Ok, now I know you're just screwing with me."

"That's not what it looks like from here," another voice called. The two turned to see Anko strutting down the hall at a quick pace. "Where is everybody?"

"Inside," Tenten answered, blushing slightly at the interruption. Leave it to Anko, Kakashi thought to himself, enjoying the girl's unease. Tenten crossed her arms over her chest. "They're gonna call me in later. So what happened?"

"A memory of which I'll cherish for the rest of my life," she answered with a far off daze to her eyes but instead of elaborating, she turned to Kakashi. "But enough about that, why are you still here?"

"You guys won the pot," he stated bluntly.

"Sweet! Not only did I get to see Genma cry, I get a girls only S-rank, and we win the pot." She punched her hand loudly. "I love today! I better get in there though; she might be giving out free dango's."

The woman didn't even bother to wait for a response and instead pushed her way through the large Hokage doors, leaving the two alone once again.

Kakashi looked at her. "Girl's only, huh?"

An S-rank too, but he knew she couldn't talk about that. Tenten must have been cutting out quite the little reputation for herself if that was the case.

"Stop," she said, smirking up at him.

"What?"

Her grin only widened and she began to rock a little on her toes. "You're having dirty thoughts, I can tell."

He blinked. Oh yeah, girls only… He smiled. "Well I am now,"

"Uh-huh. You're picturing this as some sort of naughty slumber party."

He chuckled lightly under his breath. Yes, this girl would truly make Jiraiya proud. "Please, continue."

She raised a suggestive eyebrow. "You do know that when us women get together, we don't actually show off our nighties, practice making out, or compare breast sizes, right?"

"Why are you trying to ruin my fantasies?" he asked, not at all minding the mental image the little imp had just given him.

After a moments hesitation it seemed she steeled her self up to say, "Alright fine, I'll give you that last one, but that's all," and then averted her gaze.

Was that a blush?

So girls really did sit around comparing breast sizes, who knew? The comment was a bit more suggestive than she was used to he gathered, which of course meant he had to use it. "Well I already knew that one. You were, after all, doing it around me the other night."

Now that was a blush.

"Sorry, it's easy to forget you're not a chick sometimes," she answered quickly, a little angry at her own embarrassment.

"Was that before or after you climbed on top of me?" he asked, enjoying watching her squirm now that he was calling her out on her previous behavior.

Tenten's eyes widened. "Don't say it like that."

"Like what?" he teased. "That it seemed you were about five seconds from pining me down to have your way with me?"

"Yes, like that," she hissed and took a quick look of their surroundings. "As it seems to completely disregard the entire context of the situation."

Kakashi gave her a hard stare and took a small step towards the girl. Maybe this girl was a bit of a natural flirt, but even Kakashi had to admit that things that night had gone beyond what should be considered casual. The air in the room seemed to shift a few degrees as his eyes refused to waver. "Tenten, in that situation, there is only one context."

"Maybe in your mind," she answered, giggling lightly but taking a small step back as she looked up at the man.

"Don't play naive. It doesn't suit you," he told her, taking another step.

She stared.

"Now why don't you tell me what you've really been up to?"

It was then the door to the Hokage's office opened and Yugao's head popped out.

"Hey, Tenten, we're ready for you now," she said before surveying the scene in front of her. "Intense much?"

"Thanks," Tenten answered. "I guess I'll see you later, Kakashi. Nice chatting with you."

The girl then disappeared behind the door with the other woman, who gave them both a queer look before shutting it behind her. Kakashi let out sigh. What the hell was he doing?