And now….

puts on romantic music

Enjoy.

Kakashi and Gai stood on the balcony drinking tea in the early morning hours. "Gai, even though we've been rivals… I like to think that we're friends as well." Gai smiled and opened his mouth to speak. "Shut up. And as a friend, I feel as though I can trust you with my secrets and emotions..." Again Gai motioned to speak. "Shut up. You know how important Kurenai is to me and I've worked hard to get up to this point. So, I just have one request: leave me and Kurenai alone for today. We need…'US' time, you know?" Gai stared at him. "Y'know?" He opened his mouth. "I'm glad we could have this talk." Kakashi patted Gai on the back and left the balcony.

"…Such a bastard!" the bushy-eyed jounin cursed. "He is so cool."

Kurenai unpacked her last bit of clothing and considered looking in on the girls. She fluffed her hair and opened the door to the room. She strolled down the hall, looking at each door for the proper number. Kakashi tapped her from behind, causing her to whirl around.

"Ah! Kakashi you scared me. Where's the girls' room?" she asked calmly.

"If you mean the little girls room there's a public one down the hall next to the soda machines. If you mean our genin, their off enjoying the pool," he joked smiling.

"Oh…" Kurenai seemed thoughtful. "I guess they don't need me to check up on them, so-"

Kakashi placed his arm around her shoulders. "Say you'll go out with me today?"

Kurenai's cheeks flushed red from being so close to the Copy-ninja. She gently removed his arm and decided to exercise her right to flirt. "Well… I could say that but I think I'd like it better if someone asked me and I just…answered." She flipped her hair seductively.

It was Kakashi's turn to blush. He grinned broadly from behind his mask and cleared his throat. "Kurenai…how would you like to spend the day in my company." He raised his eyebrow inquisitively.

"Well, it'd be my pleasure, Kakashi," she answered batting her eyelashes. "I'll go get ready, I'll meet you, say in half an hour."

"I'll be waiting," he chimed. She slipped pass him and into her room, giving him a flirty look before closing her door.

Kakashi raised his fist in the air and did a tiny dance. He jogged back to his room and started to freshen up. He slapped on some aftershave, fluffed his hair and gave the mirror a good luck wink.

He leaned coolly against the opposite wall of Kurenai's door and waited patiently for it to open. When it did, an hour later, the genjutsu using kunoichi had her hair pulled up and was in a stunning spaghetti-strapped white dress with red hibiscus going up one-side. She delicately approached Kakashi and put on her girlish airs. Kakashi blushed and smiled like a moron.

"Oh, I'm so late. I just had such trouble with this hair of mine," she cooed. She gave him a sidelong glance. "Are you mad with me?" She pouted her crimson lips and twisted her shoulders back and forth like an admonished child.

The copy-ninja just smiled and stared at her for a moment before shaking his head no. She giggled and took a few steps away. She looked back. "Come on, silly, we don't have all day, y'know." She beckoned him with a finger. Kakashi practically floated over to her, brain running on stand-by.

Gai meanwhile lied on the couch and turned on the television. He idly snacked on wasabi-covered peas and a neon-green sports drink from a vending machine. The channel rested on a soap opera.

"Gaio," a blonde man in a suit said to a slightly shorter man with dark brown hair. "I love her so don't interfere…"

"But Takashi! She's bad news," Gaio begged. "She tricks men, lures them with these illusions of beauty and femininity. She's a maneater if you ask me."

Takashi whirled on his friend. "You know how important Kuriko is to me! I've worked hard to get to this point in our relationship. I don't want you to interfere…" Gaio hung his head and sighed in defeat. Takashi left the room and slammed the door behind him.

Gai put another wasabi bean in his mouth.

Kuriko stood in her bathroom. She looked stunning, with her long red hair flowing in waves down her back. A cute white dress hung off of her shoulders as she put on lipstick. She looked down an grabbed a vile of poison, she delicately applied it to her lips. "That fool Takashi has been pursuing me for years. Today…it all ends. Thanks to Gaio, I can finally catch him off guard and soon all of his secrets will be mine and I can rule Konomi Corp."

Gai yawned and started to drift to sleep.

Kurenai laughed evilly. The door opened and Kakashi entered taking her into his arms in an embrace. "Kurenai… Kurenai how I've longed for this day."

"Oh, Kakashi! I was a fool to not see you for the man that you are. I was so afraid to love again after my husband died in that terrible hot spring accident." She began to weep.

"I know my love. It was just unfortunate but don't think of that. No one could have suspected that he would fall asleep and drown. It's not your fault!"

Kurnai wiped her eyes. "You're so good to me, Kakashi… Kiss me…"

"Kurenai…"

"Kakashi…"

"Kurenai…"

"Kakashi…" They kissed. When their lips released, Kakashi was smiling blissfully. But suddenly, his expression changed to one of pain. He began to choke. "OH HO HO HO! Kakashi you fool! I never loved you. My husband didn't die in the hot spring! I killed him! I weakened him with wine and held his head underwater. His expression was the same as yours. OH HO HO!"

"G….Gaio….you…ah…." And Kakashi was dead.

"KAKASHI!" Gai sat up. He looked at the TV. Gaio was attending Takashi's funeral. "Oh…my…god….what have I done? SHE'S GOING TO KILL HIM! Wait…I can't jump to conclusions…."

The little devil on Gai's shoulder appeared. You can to! I bet if you go to her room you'll find poison!

But the tiny angel disagreed. But Gai, you are Kurenai's friend, too. She would never hurt Kakashi.

Women are evil! He used to be your best friend and rival and now he won't even look at you! Just like Gaio!

Spying is wrong, Gai. And that was a cheesy, overdramatic soap opera that throws everything out of proportion.

Spying may be wrong but do remember the time Kurenai shaved your eyebrows and penciled them back on and you looked like a mime for three weeks until they grew back in.

… She must pay for her indiscretions. WE ARE KONOHA'S GREEN BEASTS! A woman so dastardly as to shave a man is surely capable of murder! A traitorous Delilah she is!

"OOOOOOOOSU!" Gai stood up and raised his fist in the air. "I'll save you Kakashi for I am MAITO GAI!"

Gai put on a yukata and snuck outside. He scuttled over to Kurenai's door and tested the handle. It was locked. He looked around. A hairpin was lying in the carpet fibers. Having bitten off all of his fingernails, he struggled to free it but the tenacious jounin pulled it free. He carefully began the process of picking the lock. After a few minutes her heard a satisfying click. He twisted the handle and it swung open.

He closed and locked the door behind him. The room was clean and her suitcase was tucked into a corner. He snuck into her bathroom and started to snoop around. He opened a bag and dumped it into the sink. It was normal toiletries. Toothbrush, toothpaste, lipstick, eyeliner, concealer, empty clear vial… Gai gasped.

"Poison…" He gripped the vial in his hand. "I have to save him."

Kakashi and Kurenai sat outside on a balcony and enjoyed a drink. They laughed together and joked. "So what's that's you're always reading?"

"Oh, it's nothing really. I just uh…" He blushed. "I dunno. I haven't had many girlfriends so…"

Kurenai's eyes widened. "It's one of those dating books! Wow, I've read a few myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah…Icha Icha Heaven was so good!"

"You read Icha Icha Heaven? It's so rare, even Jiraiya won't let me see it."

Kurenai blushed. "Well…it was a long time ago that I read it. I just kinda found a copy. I still have it somewhere. It's so cheesy but it's romantic, I think."

"I'd love to…Wow…You keep amazing me." They stared at each other for a while before looking away awkwardly.

A waiter approached them and offered them a bottle of wine. Kakashi purchased it and they began to drank. And that is how Gai the Spy found them as he snuck into the restaurant dressed like a man in large shades. He hid behind the menu.

He watched as his friend downed four glasses, while Kurenai barely finished her one. Suspicious. Why was she letting him drink so much? Gai wondered. A waitress approached him and asked him for his order. He pointed to something without looking and shooed her away.

Kakashi rubbed his eyes. "Hey…Kurenai… There's hot springs here the say that if a couple enters them they'll be together forever…" He paused dramatically trying to gauge her reaction. When she blushed and looked away with a shy smile, he knew he could make his move. "Let's go. Who knows what magic they hold, right? It could be true or just a bunch of crap the they tell tourists to get them to spend their money."

"Well…O…Okay…" They stood up and started to leave.

When they were gone, Gai stood up to leave but the waitress came with his food. A large lobster. "I'd like my check"

"Oh, it'll be 100 ryo, sir." Gai almost lost his composure.

Kakashi began to undress in the locker room. He hummed a bright happy tune and practically danced his way to the Springs of Love. He climbed into a pool with his towel wrapped around his waist. The hot water warmed his blood, which was already warm from the alcohol. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He heard the creak of the straw gate that separated that particular spring from the others open. The water splashed as Kurenai entered and waded toward him.

"Come here, Kurenai. The water feels great. I might fall asleep." Kakashi grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into a kiss. He opened his eyes and gazed at her long lashes and bushy eyebrows. "…"

"… …" Gai looked surprised.

The gate opened one more time. Kurenai was in a short robe, holding a bottle of wine and to glasses. She looked just as shocked as the two men. "Uh….I….w..w…What's going on?"

Gai and Kakashi split to two separate sides of the spring. But it was the Green Beast that recovered the most quickly. "YOU! You are trying to kill my best friend!"

"What?" She almost dropped the bottle. "Gai have you gone insane?"

The man chuckled knowingly. "Then how do you explain this!" He showed them the vial. "And empty vial of poison."

Kurenai looked completely unamused. "You fuzzy eyed moron! That's my favorite perfume! Just open it and smell!"

Gai blinked and popped the cork. It indeed smelled good. "Wow…this smells like sakura blossoms…Hm, they have a scent for men? I bet I could get a lot of ladies with this…"

"Oh it's a special mix," Kurenai explained forgetting herself. "I had to go all the way to Wave cou-WHAT AM I SAYING! YOU! GET OUT!"

"But-…I was just…"

Kurenai put the bottle and glasses down and stalked through the water. She grabbed Gai but the back of his bowl-cut and dragged him out of the spring. "Look! I will not have you RUINING this date for me… And if you interfere with my date one more time, I'll crack your skull open like a capsule toy and play marbles with your tiny TINY brain." She pushed him out the gate, gave him a sweet smile and waved good-bye before shutting it in his face.

Gai rubbed the back of his head and left despondently. Kakashi was sitting in the middle of the spring in disbelief. Kurenai sat beside him. "What's wrong? He's gone now."

"He was in the spring…does…does that mean I'm going to be with him… forever?" The copy-ninja teared up and cried into Kurenai's shoulder. The kunoichi sighed deeply and patted his back.