*Hi, I'm considering changing the rating of the story to M, so in the next chapter I can explore the past romance of Kakashi and Aiko a little more. If you have any thoughts let me know!*
"You were asleep, I thought I should go," Kakashi said to her in a kind whisper.
"Stay? I know I've been all over the place the last few days, but I still don't feel well from the sake, and I want you to. I promise." Aiko looked at him, pleading with her eyes.
Kakashi sighed, "If I stay, you're not going to get drunk tomorrow trying to deal with it?" He asked her with a smirk on his face.
Aiko blushed at the mention of her earlier predicament. "No, I promise, but no funny business Mr. Hatake." She said with a smirk of her own.
Kakashi climbed into bed next to her, covered himself with the blanket, and pulled her close to him, and that's how they stayed until the next morning.
Guy rolled over to Aiko's apartment the next morning, but before he could knock on the door a shirtless Kakashi opened it and stepped outside.
"She had a rough day yesterday Guy, so no training today. Come back tomorrow, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." Kakashi said very matter of fact.
Guy's eyebrows bounced up and down, and his face was bright red with a blush he couldn't control. "Rough huh? I guess it's okay, it seems she got plenty of exercise last night anyway."
Kakashi shook his head, "No, no Guy it's not like that, and don't go rolling around the village telling other people that either. Being around me, in general, has been hard for her, and I spent the night to keep her company." Kakashi said exasperated.
Guy looked at Kakashi with a smirk on his face. "Whatever you say O' rival of mine, don't worry I'm no gossip, and even if I was, I wouldn't do anything to hurt that girl of yours in there." Guy rolled away waving one hand at Kakashi as he went.
Kakashi went back inside to wait for Aiko to awake not sure if Guy believed him or not, and not wanting Guy to upset Aiko later on by bringing it up. Kakashi plopped himself down on the couch and pulled out an Icha Icha book to pass the time until Aiko woke up. Man, this girl can sleep. Kakashi thought to himself as he opened the book.
Guy had planned on meeting Lee at the training grounds later but figured he could go now and get some extra training in before Lee arrived. On his way, he was stopped by Sakura and Naruto who seemed very concerned about something.
"Master Bushier Brow," Naruto exclaimed, "we need your help!"
"With what?" Guy asked, his interest piqued.
"Lady Tsunade told me about Aiko and Master Kakashi last night, and well…we want to make sure he doesn't mess it up again," Naruto said sounding concerned.
"We don't want him to end up an old pervert all alone with those stupid books of his," Sakura said while rolling her eyes.
Guy laughed, "I'm not sure that there is much you two can even do. You just have to leave it to them, and hope they can work it out."
"Well," Naruto said looking mischievous, "we were thinking of maybe stealing those pervy books of his, so he doesn't end up reading them in front of her. We know it's probably not their main problem, but we think she'd be a little upset if she found out about Master Kakashi's obsession with them.
"It wouldn't exactly make a woman feel good, finding her boyfriend wandering around the village in front of everyone reading that junk," Sakura said, disgust evident in her voice.
Guy scratched his head, "You know, you two aren't wrong. Their relationship is fragile right now, and Kakashi has never seemed to care that those books really aren't for consumption in public places. You're going to have to sneak into his apartment and steal them," Guy said, "for Kakashi's own good. In fact, I know that he's not home right now, so it would be the perfect time."
Naruto and Sakura looked at each other with sly smiles, thanked Master Guy, and ran off in the direction of Kakashi's apartment. When they arrived, Naruto and Sakura observed for a little while from outside, to make sure that Master Guy's information had been right. After about 15 minutes they surmised that no one was home, and it was safe to go inside. They entered through his bedroom window and knew they were looking for four books in total.
"I'll look in here," Sakura said referring to Kakashi's bedroom, "you check the living room, and we'll meet in the kitchen."
Naruto gave Sakura a curt nod of understanding and went about his search.
Sakura found one book in Kakashi's nightstand, and another one in a dresser drawer. She felt a little awkward snooping through her old sensei's dresser drawers, but it was for his own good so she continued. Naruto found one on a desk he had in his living room, but was coming up short on the fourth book.
"Uhhhh," Sakura groaned, "We've looked absolutely everywhere, and the book is nowhere to be found. Are you sure there's four Naruto?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I spent three years with Pervy Sage training, he definitely wrote four of those books." Naruto said with both hands behind his head.
Sakura sighed, "Well then, he must have the last one on him then."
"The last what?" Kakashi asked inquisitively tilting his head, while staring at the two of them from his doorway.
Both Sakura and Naruto's jaws were on the floor as they turned to see the Copy Nin standing there staring at them. Neither could think of an excuse that would make them rummaging through his apartment make sense, and to make it worse they were both holding his Icha Icha books in their hands.
"I didn't think you two liked those books very much, so why exactly are you two ransacking my apartment in search of them?" Kakashi raised an arched eyebrow at them.
"Well you see Master Kakashi we figured that since you liked them so much, we should at least give them a try. So now that we have them, we'll get going." Naruto grabbed Sakura by the arm and tried to drag her past Kakashi.
Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's chest and pushed him back a little. "The truth you two. Now."
Sakura glued her eyes to the floor, "Well you see, Lady Tsunade told Naruto a little about you and Aiko last night, and we were worried about you may be messing it up again. We didn't think Aiko would like it very much if she found out you read these books in front of absolutely everyone, so we thought we'd steal them from you. To you know, help out a little." Sakura was shifting back and forth on her feet.
"Yeah Master Kakashi, those books of yours are pretty pervy, I mean Pervy Sage wrote them so of course, they are. She's going to catch you reading them in public and you'll be alone again, forced to die a lonely pervert." Naruto was gesticulating wildly as he spoke, attempting to get Kakashi to understand the severity of his actions.
Kakashi sighed and looked down at the floor rubbing both of his temples with one hand. "Listen you two, my relationship with Aiko is none of your business or concern, the two of us will work through our problems or we won't. Either way, the two of you cannot be breaking into my apartment and stealing my belongings." Kakashi said irritated and exasperated.
Both of his former students were staring at the ground now afraid to move or to say anything else. "I'm sorry I got so angry, I understand that you were doing this out of concern, but there's nothing to be concerned about. Really, I promise, and if it'll make you two knuckleheads feel better, I promise not to let Aiko see me reading the books. Deal?"
"Deal" both Sakura and Naruto said at the same time.
"I'm supposed to be taking a shower and getting changed so I can meet Aiko for a meal. Can you two manage to put everything back where you found it? Including my books?" Kakashi raised his eyebrows at the two of them.
"Yes." They both said in unison again.
"I do have one question for you though Master Kakashi," Naruto said a small blush spreading across his face. "It's still pretty early, and your bed didn't look slept in when we got here. I know Lady Tsunade isn't sending you out on missions right now…"
"What are you getting at Naruto?" Kakashi asked even though he knew exactly what Naruto was getting at.
"Where did you spend the night Master Kakashi?" Naruto had a wide grin on his face now and Sakura was blushing as well.
Kakashi was flustered, "Mind your own business Naruto," Kakashi shouted as he stormed into the bathroom.
As soon as the door was closed Naruto and Sakura broke out in hysterical laughter. When they were able to compose themselves, Naruto and Sakura quickly cleaned up Kakashi's apartment, left his books on his nightstand, and left.