Chapter 28


The morning was a nightmare. Kakashi realized that he had Tenzo coming over, and he didn't want their little teammate anywhere near them because he wanted to snuggle in bed with Gai for the next six hours.

Or, you know, do other stuff. Kakashi sighed and finished washing his kitchen table.

Gai had gone home to do laundry or whatever it was Gai did when Gai wasn't with him. The house seemed oddly empty, even though sunshine was streaming outside and ordinarily Kakashi would be out there. In the back yard under a tree, if nothing else, rereading Icha Icha.

Now he couldn't even do that because Tenzo was coming over.

Why was this a good idea again? Kakashi double-checked that he had enough clean dishes for two people to eat lunch and caught himself on the verge of hyperventilating.

He vaguely remembered that this had something to do with generosity towards Tenzo, but at this point, he just wanted to stab himself. How could he have forgotten how much he didn't like people being in his father's – in his – house? It had taken Minato's death and Gai's insistence to get him to let Gai in. And he'd known Gai since he was six years old.

Tenzo was a relative stranger, even if he was a largely inoffensive ANBU nerd with insecurity issues.

Kakashi predicted a disaster. He'd withdraw into his uncaring shell to keep from feeling overwhelmed, Tenzo would be hurt, their friendship would fall apart, then their teamwork would be destroyed, Bensaku would want to murder him and kick him off the team, and then Gai would be forced to choose between Kakashi and everyone else.

Regardless of the fact that Gai would choose him, that would still be terrible. Especially since Kakashi wasn't cruel. He knew Gai needed friends as much as he did.

It dawned on him. That's it, then. I'll do this for Gai if no one else because I don't want his happiness to be destroyed.

Kakashi made up his mind, and when he made up his mind, he didn't change it. Instead, he scrubbed his kitchen floor and vacuumed his living room. Twice. He hated the way the carpet looked after doing it once, so he had to go back over everything and fix it so the carpet fibers were brushed the right way.

Finally, he made sure that his father's door was locked, and put up a brightly colored shonen anime poster on his front door in order to mark it. He didn't want to give Tenzo the chance to make a mistake and – god forbid – touch the doorknob of his father's bedroom door.

As an afterthought, he dug out the old sign he'd bought when Gai first started coming over: Bathroom. He hung that up on the bathroom door so his father's room couldn't be mistaken for that, either.

Kakashi distractedly walked around with a volume of Icha Icha in one hand, checking over his residence. He'd already bought bento boxes with Gai in the morning, he had soda, juice, milk, and water, he'd dug out his checkers and his shogi sets. That's all I can do, right? If it gets messed up at this point, it won't be my fault. I've been the perfect host.

After all that worry, he forgot all of his apprehension when he saw Tenzo's nervous face through the peephole in his front door. He unlocked the door and opened it wide. "Tenzo…come on in." He stepped aside, gesturing casually.

Tenzo broke into a beaming smile and bowed so low his head practically bumped Kakashi's front step.

Kakashi shook his head, amused, and waited for Tenzo to straighten up. "Stop that." He took Tenzo by the arm and gently dragged Tenzo inside, shutting the door.

"What is it, Sempai?" Tenzo looked around curiously. "Do you have a pet, too?"

"No, you're embarrassing me by being too polite." Kakashi grinned behind his mask, glad for the security of it, even though he was glad that Gai had seen him underneath it.

Tenzo slipped off his sandals. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Kakashi said. He led Tenzo from the front door to the kitchen, and through the kitchen to the living room, which was the hub of the house. He gestured. "Everything's labeled."

Tenzo looked at the sign on the bathroom, and the shonen poster on Kakashi's door. "Um…oh. Okay." He turned full circle, taking everything in. "I've never been in a house before."

Kakashi nodded. "They're rare. Almost everybody lives in apartments these days except for the noble clans." He shrugged. "Well, I used to be in one. Before everyone died. Most of the Hatake clan died during my father's time…leaving him, his uncle, grandfather, Mother, and me. By the time I graduated the academy, everyone was dead except for me and him. And then he went. So this house is all that remains."

He walked back to the kitchen, and Tenzo trailed along after him. Kakashi didn't look back. "At one point, before my time, we had a clan compound, but my uncle sold that off to get rid of the bad memories. It's a park now." He opened the refrigerator.

"Oh."

When Kakashi glanced at him, he saw that his little history lesson had affected Tenzo more than he meant it to. "Well, don't get weepy on me. It's ancient history. Would you like a soda? Or maybe a can of juice?"

"No, thank you," Tenzo said.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked, figuring Tenzo was doing the polite deferral things again.

"If it's no trouble," Tenzo said.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and said, "It's no trouble. What have I told you about being polite? I don't like it."

Tenzo bowed. "I'm sorry."

Kakashi smacked his forehead. "Never mind. What flavor would you like? Orange? Grape? Lychee? Strawberry?"

"Lychee, please," Tenzo said.

Kakashi handed his kouhai a bottle of lychee soda, and took out a melon flavor for himself. He closed the refrigerator. "If you're hungry, just say so, and I'll pull out a bento box."

Tenzo blinked. "A bento? You didn't have to go to all that trouble, Sempai."

"I didn't," Kakashi said. "I bought them this morning with Gai. I wasn't joking when I said I didn't want to poison you with my food. Besides, there's not much here to eat." He shrugged and walked into the living room. "Want to sit down?"

"Uh, sure." Tenzo followed him.

They sat down on the sofa together and popped open their drinks.

For a few moments, they both sipped in silence. Kakashi wondered if this visit was going to be as awkward as he'd imagined. But no…at least Tenzo wasn't asking questions about everything and poking around.

That was what Gai had done when he'd finally let Gai into the house. Investigated everything. Including the toilet. Kakashi had honestly almost thrown him out of the house several times during that visit.

So this was going a whole lot better, and he still loved Gai. Surely his friendship with Tenzo could withstand boringness.

Of course, there was an easy way to make things less boring.

Kakashi thought that maybe, now that they were sitting side by side on the sofa having sodas together, he might be able to indulge his curiosity. He needed a moment to think about what he wanted to ask first, but he quickly categorized which questions were most important to him.

After a glance at Tenzo to make sure Tenzo wasn't tense, Kakashi went for it. "About what happened on the mission…why did you keep pressing on him about his age after it became obvious he was upset?"

"I've called him 'old man' ever since we met." Tenzo gestured listlessly. "And he's always called me 'little boy'. But lately there's been all this tension. I'm not sure why. Things changed…we didn't like it anymore. Either one of us, I guess. I thought I was the only one until he snapped at me on the way home from our last mission."

He trailed off and looked at the kotatsu table, morose and distracted.

Kakashi waited, sipping his soda.

"That's what we talked about when I came over to his apartment." Tenzo glanced at Kakashi. "In case you were wondering. We talked about why we didn't like calling each other those things anymore, and decided we'd treat each other like adults. Like, the same age. He wouldn't call me a little kid anymore, and I won't call him an old man."

"When did you first meet?" Kakashi asked.

"When I was eight," Tenzo said. He ran his fingers through the condensation on the outside of his soda bottle, looking at that rather than Kakashi.

That explained a lot. Kakashi sat back, mildly stunned at this information. No wonder Bensaku didn't want to admit he has feelings for Tenzo. He probably feels like he's in love with his nephew or something. He watched Tenzo grow up.

And that also explained why Tenzo was nervous about his feelings for the taichou. It probably felt a lot like being in love with a parent. That was enough to confuse and worry anyone.

But Tenzo wasn't Bensaku's nephew, and Bensaku wasn't Tenzo's father, in spite of the fact that Bensaku was the only reliable male adult Tenzo had probably ever known.

In his own way, Kakashi understood. He'd considered Gai a friend or a nuisance for so long that he'd almost thrown away his chance at happiness.

Speaking of which, if he wanted to get on Tenzo's side and into Tenzo's confidence, he probably had to cough that up now instead of trying to hide it for as long as possible. Kakashi cleared his throat. "Tenzo…"

"Hm?" Tenzo looked up, seeming mildly surprised.

"I'll tell you who I'm in love with and what's happened, if you'll take me into your confidence about Taichou," Kakashi said casually, dropping his arm around Tenzo's shoulders.

Tenzo's eyes widened. Kakashi made a bet there was no way Tenzo could refuse that kind of offer. His kouhai had seemed desperately curious the last time they spoke. Tenzo had to swallow to clear the dryness from his throat. "You will? Really? You'd tell me something like that?"

Kakashi nodded at each question.

"Yeah." Tenzo ran a hand through his hair. "Of course. You can tell me anything, Sempai. I'll tell you about Bensaku-taichou if you tell me about your boyfriend."

Kakashi chuckled. "Until last night, he wasn't my boyfriend."

Tenzo winked. "You must have shown him your face, then."

"As a matter of fact, I did," Kakashi said.

Tenzo grinned. "I knew it."

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He let his kouhai have his moment. "If you're done gloating, I'll tell you who he is."

Tenzo composed his features and folded his hands in his lap, the picture of attentiveness.

Kakashi snorted. "It's Gai."

Tenzo didn't react.

"Maito Gai," Kakashi said, wondering if the surname would somehow help.

"Ah –" Tenzo was frozen. He barely managed to blink. "Ah…"

"Gai-sempai," Kakashi said, staring at him.

Tenzo unfroze, but he looked as if he were about to collapse. "I can't believe it." His voice was thin.

"Why not?" Kakashi asked.

"Gai's not gay," Tenzo said, completely forgetting the honorific. "He's – He's all big, and green, and muscle-y, and stuff!" He gestured helplessly as he listed off Gai's qualifications for not being gay. "He's too manly! Look at those eyebrows!"

"People with large eyebrows can't be gay?" Kakashi asked tolerantly. He was curious about Tenzo's answer.

"Well – I mean –" Tenzo balled his hands into fists in his lap. "I don't know! All I know is that Gai can't be gay. You're making fun of me."

Kakashi sighed. "I am not. I thought the same thing you did. I even thought that he didn't notice me, in spite of the fact that he spends a substantial amount of time chasing after me, trying to get my attention, because I was pretending to ignore him."

Tenzo slumped and cupped his head in his hand. "I think my brain's broken."

"Do you want me to call a repairman?" Kakashi asked wryly.

"No…" Tenzo rubbed his head, setting aside his bottle of soda. "I want you to make sense."

"I made out with Gai," Kakashi said, deciding to be relentless. "Multiple times. Under the pretext of teaching him about sex. He did need to know these things, but mostly I just wanted an excuse to touch him and look at him. That's how desperate I was. How serious I am. He let me get away with it because he likes me, too. That's how desperate and serious he was. We finally talked to each other last night and came to an understanding. We're dating now. We're together. We're each other's boyfriends."

Comprehension slowly, unwillingly dawned in Tenzo's eyes. Kakashi had to drag it out of him, but it was there. "Oh," was all Tenzo said.

"You said you knew him," Kakashi pointed out. "How many people do we mutually know?"

"Not many," Tenzo muttered.

"Exactly." Kakashi shrugged. "So it would have been a logical conclusion if you had come to the conclusion that I liked Gai in the first place, but you didn't because you harbored a host of assumptions. That's bad for a ninja to do. You shouldn't make assumptions about the information you're gathering. Just get all the pieces and put it together."

"Hai." Tenzo was still too stunned to make much of a response, even though classically, he had a witty retort for a lecture like that.

"Are you going to tell me about you and Bensaku now?" Kakashi prompted, squeezing Tenzo's shoulder.

That seemed to snap Tenzo out of it. "Oh. Right. Yes. I'm sure it can't be as weird as you and Gai."

Kakashi knew he probably should be insulted, but he was aware of what people thought of him and Gai already. "I'm sure you're right," he said soothingly. He set aside his own soda.

"I really love him," Tenzo said, his shoulders slumping. "But I've known that for a while. I always wished he would adopt me or something. Be my friend. Something. Anything other than staying my captain all the time instead of breaking out of the role and being someone to me."

Kakashi nodded. Predictable. Tenzo had been orphaned by his circumstances, and as if that hadn't been traumatizing enough, he'd been experimented on by Orochimaru. He would be desperate for a family, anyone to care about him personally instead of being interested in his new abilities.

Painfully close to home, really.

Tenzo heaved a sigh. "I never expected I'd feel this way. I mean, he's my captain. He's been my captain since I was eight years old. He's practically like a bodyguard or something. He'd never let me go anywhere before. I guess he must have decided he trusted you or something, because he left me with you when we split up on our last mission. Not that I didn't panic like an idiot."

That explained the way Tenzo froze. In six years, Bensaku had never ordered Tenzo to stay behind in some other part of the battlefield. "Maybe he also trusted your abilities," Kakashi suggested.

Tenzo snorted, but then he stopped and considered. "Maybe. He does say he respects me. I'm not a little kid anymore."

"No, you're not, and I'm guessing you have some pretty adult feelings," Kakashi said. He thought back to the way Tenzo flirted in the hospital room at the outpost. It had been so over the top it seemed like a joke, but now Kakashi realized that was because Tenzo was fourteen, not because he didn't mean it.

"I really want to do things with him," Tenzo agreed. He seemed not at all thrilled with this side of himself.

"Would it be okay if he wanted to do things with you, too?" Kakashi asked.

"Okay?" Tenzo straightened and looked at Kakashi blankly. "That'd be great. Then I'd know I'm not alone and I'm not some kind of freak."

Kakashi made up his mind then and there to speak to Bensaku. He knew where the man lived now, after all. Bensaku had told him after they left the sports bar the time they'd tried hanging out as a team outside of work.