A/N: My humblest apologies for making you wait an entire month for the third chapter, but here it goes, Mutual Respect, part 3.

Chapter Three

Anko smirked as she watched the annoyance flicker over Kakashi's usually calm features. Gai continued to talk animatedly almost as if he didn't notice that his audience was ignoring him.

"Ah yes, Kakashi and I first met when we were mere toddlers, still awed with the beauty of this earth. Even then we could feel the intensity that flickered between us and I won my first battle over him in a footrace."

"I couldn't even walk then," Kakashi contested.

Gai continued, not even acknowledging that he had spoken. "It was at the ninja academy that we became true rivals and even though he graduated long before me, I continued to train myself and challenge him to determine which of us is the greater ninja."

"And?" Anko asked honestly, wondering if he was stronger than the other boy.

Gai hung his head. "We are tied, the record of our manly battles is 10-10. But never fear, as I, Maito Gai will continue to challenge Hatake Kakashi until a definitive winner has been determined, even if it takes me ten years."

Kakashi sighed. "Just give it up Gai. I don't want to fight."

"There is no reason for us to fight to determine our skill. We can play rock, paper, scissors to show off which one of us has better reasoning. I can guarantee you that my trained mind is better than your genius one."

Anko raised an eyebrow. Was he actually serious?

"Why don't you challenge her?" Kakashi pointed to her. "She's a genius too. She even had one of the Sannin all to herself for four years as her sensei."

Gai looked broken-hearted for a moment, but then he reaffixed his blinding smile to his features. Anko briefly wondered just how much toothpaste he used daily. "I have already decided to challenge you Kakashi. Do not try to pawn our heated rivalry off on someone else."

"I'm not pawning. I was merely offering Anko-san a chance to fight with such a strong ninja."

Gai beamed at the compliment, not noticing that Kakashi was rearing to disappear. Anko however, did notice. "Gai-san?"

Gai blushed even more deeply at her use of the honorific. "Yes Anko-chan?"

"I'm really hungry, would you mind if I ate the chicken soup instead of Kakashi?"

His eyes widened impossibly and looked as though they would burst out of his head. "Are you kidding? I would be honored."

She had meant to exhibit some restraint in unwrapping the chicken soup from its package, but her hunger had by this time taken advantage of her. She shredded the paper bag with her fingers, picked up a nearby spoon and attacked the meager meal with a ferocity she didn't know she possessed.

Kakashi watched wide-eyed as the short thin girl packed away the food like a woman three times her girth. Gai looked on with a sense of pride, preening as she slurped up the last bit of soup and placed the spoon in the now empty bowl. "Well done!" he congratulated her. "Your appetite is comparable to my own after a long hard day of training to best Kakashi in battle. This recipe was passed down through many generations of my family, packed with the best herbs and spices to completely restore your chakra."

When Anko was busy packing down the food she didn't even get a chance to taste the food. She had just been satisfied at the feeling of fullness she'd gotten. She got that lost opportunity when the chicken soup made it's way back up and didn't even get the chance to stand up to run to the bathroom before she barfed all over Gai's obnoxious green bodysuit.

Kakashi didn't even bother stifling his laughter. He threw his head back and laughed so hard that his chair began to tilt backwards. Gai had been in the middle of ranting about how excellent a cook he was and about how Kakashi could learn a thing or two from him in the kitchen when he'd been hit in the mouth with a stream of gray-brown vomit. He righted his equilibrium before he ended up on his back on the ground but his ears still registered the sound of a body hitting the floor.

He stood up and looked over the table for the source of the noise and sure enough Anko was sprawled out on the floor, the chair several inches away from her. "Way to go Gai. You poisoned her. Did you ever think that there was a reason why I never ate any of your other offerings?"

"You were jealous of my talent and the fact that the only thing you can make is instant ramen?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "I was supposed to be protecting her. It defeats the purpose if she ends up getting killed on my watch," he walked over to the fallen girl and pulled her into a sitting position.

Gai raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"She ate more soup than came up. I'm just making sure she doesn't puke while she's asleep and choke herself to death."

"Is there anything I can do?" the usually sunny young man sounded incredibly depressed.

"Yeah," Kakashi rubbed the girl's back in a smooth circle, waiting to see if anything else came up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes," Gai brightened up considerably. "After this you will definitely need a day all to yourself to train with your greatest rival of rivals," jumping up from the table and overturning the chair, Gai bounded out of the apartment.

The silver-haired ANBU breathed a sigh of relief after his excitable friend disappeared through the front door and hooked an arm under the girl's legs. "You really are a troublesome girl, do you know that?"

Of course, Anko didn't respond. He walked over to his bed and rested the girl on it, covering her in the sheets. That done he dug a magazine from under his bed and crossed over to the couch, throwing himself down on it to read.

The girl woke up with a start to find herself lying in an unfamiliar bed. Her mind raced several thousand miles an hour as she tried to figure out how she ended up here. The last thing she remembered was being chased by several angry ANBU. Had she been captured? Her leg felt especially heavy, had she been tied to the bed? Her brown eyes swept over the room several times. From the posters she surmised that this room belonged to a teenage boy, either that or an old pervert. Just who had kidnapped her?

She received her answer in the form of the silver-haired male lying on the blue couch, a girlie magazine covering the lower half of his face. His soft breaths occasionally disturbed the pages, causing them to rustle in the stillness. In that moment everything came flooding back to her. Orochimaru had betrayed her and Konoha, leaving her behind to face the hunting ANBU with a broken leg and then she'd been captured and Sandaime had assigned this sleeping pervert, Hatake Kakashi to watch over her. She remembered moving in with him this afternoon and then getting a visit from the strangest man she'd ever met, Maito Gai. She'd been so hungry that she'd even eaten his chicken soup.

She'd never had anything so horrible and her stomach had rejected it almost before she'd finished swallowing the last bite. She remembered trying to stand and then her world started spinning and she fell to the ground. All traces of Gai were removed from the room, including the vomit that she'd left on the table. She could only guess that Kakashi had moved her to the bed and even cleaned up after her. She was surprised that he didn't wait 'til she awoke and then force her to do it, he seemed like the type.

She felt strangely comfortable in this bed and overcome by an alien feeling, she whispered a soft 'Thank you' in his direction and then drew the covers back over her head and fell asleep.

Underneath his magazine, Kakashi smiled.