Chapter 10: Love, Kakashi
Kakashi watched Tenten visit each of the weapons shops in town, and come out every time with the owners themselves granting her a personal escort to the exit.
The vendors looked stressed yet pleased. It was clear Tenten was driving a hard bargain, giving them good business while getting special deals for herself at the same time.
Tenten operated what appeared to be a rather unprofitable shop in Konoha and would often leave it for weeks at a time while she traveled on missions. He had known for quite a while now, however, that she took the missions as opportunities to network extensively outside the village, and her sleepy, dragging business in Konoha was a façade concealing a thriving industry in the civilian world. She'd cornered the market for women's self-defense tools, utilizing her personal experience to customize and market weapons that easily fit into the average female's soft hands, or could be carried in a small handbag or pocket, or slipped into a boot. She'd also worked with the local artists of different regions, stylizing what were originally weapons of war into trinkets and ornamental displays.
Not many knew that the Hyuuga clan had given her the initial financial backing after the war to put up the shop. Neji's team mates were familiar figures to Hiashi, and the head of the Hyuga clan apparently considered Tenten's potential for commercial success to be enough to invest the seed capital in her business. Over the years, he'd already recovered on the investment and then some.
Myriad stories were told of the Fourth Shinobi War, mostly about the legendary feats of Uzumaki Naruto. Still, other stories revolved around how the ninja villages had combined forces to fight against a common enemy, and many shinobi had gotten to know one another and behold each other's impressive techniques and fighting styles. After they all returned to their respective homes to rebuild their lives in a new era of peace, they regaled their children and loved ones with tales of the war and the hardships endured and the bonds forged with comrades in battle.
There may have been some exaggeration here and there in the telling of war stories, and memory could sometimes be faulty, but one strange rumor that cropped up at a certain point was that there was a cave full of the Treasures of the Sage of Six Paths, and that Tenten, the Weapons Master of Konoha, had discovered it.
Con-men posing as suitors then flocked to the Hidden Leaf village trying to uncover the secret cache of wealth that could explain how Tenten could afford so many weapons, completely misunderstanding that what she possessed were three out of the five of the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths, and not actual treasure.
It had amused Kakashi no end, since he knew Tenten had signed a non-disclosure pact with the Hyuuga regarding her source of funding. As Hokage, he had signed off on her business permit after all.
Tenten was unfazed by the onslaught of fake admirers. Fighting off thousands of Zetsus and reanimated corpses of mega-powerful shinobi made one rather blasé to such minor inconveniences. She willingly demonstrated that she bore no qualms about making her purported vast fortune a reality by beating up the gold-digging scammers until they transferred all of their own funds into her bank accounts.
The medic-nins complained because Tenten opted to relieve the tedium of fending off the numerous conmen by never using the same weapon twice, so they were obligated to listen to a different story about what had caused the grievous injuries every time a patient was brought in. They eventually cut off the victims screaming in pain with the curt query, "Tenten-inflicted?" just to move cases along.
Tenten's life after the war had always been a nice little side drama to watch, full of minor ups and downs that didn't affect the larger scale of events in their world.
Even her current possession of majority of the Treasured Tools was not an extraordinary matter. They'd come into her safekeeping due to her nonstop wheedling for the Sixth to let her keep them, until he'd finally given in and negotiated with the other villages that the weapons would stay in Konoha. The other Kages had grudgingly agreed, if only because no one, except possibly Naruto, Sakura, or Tsunade, could use them more than once without dying.
People thought Kakashi had acquiesced to Tenten's cajoling in recognition of her wielding the Bashosen so skillfully during the war. She'd saved lives and nearly died from the chakra depletion as a result.
Another common belief was that Kakashi had faith that Tenten, having experienced using one of the Treasured Tools herself, would be in the best position to guard them from overzealous genin who might fancy themselves as the next big thing and attempt to steal them, accidentally killing themselves like Naruto almost did with the Scroll of Seals.
All those were only part of the reason.
Kakashi's main reason, which he never divulged to anyone, was how happy it made her, and that he liked seeing Tenten happy.
===/===
Kakashi knew that Tenten's own sensei never worried about her. Gai trusted in the resilience he'd grown and nurtured in each of the remaining members of his team to be able to bear Neji's death. Even if Gai himself had died after opening all Eight Gates during the war, leaving both Lee and Tenten grieving two team mates instead of one, Kakashi was certain the surviving students of Maito Gai would have carried on as splendid shinobi just as they already had after Neji's passing.
It was a balanced and healthy mindset that Kakashi wished he could have imparted to his own students. But given Sasuke's background trauma being so overpowering, even Kakashi was unable to employ a technique that was nonexistent and therefore could not be copied by the Sharingan- Psychiatrist No Jutsu.
Thankfully, Team 7's other members were up to the task of bringing the last Uchiha home. An argument could even be made that Naruto's and Sakura's resilience was superior to that of Team Gai's members, for overcoming so much of their own challenges, and saving the world while they were at it.
Kakashi honestly could have done without all the drama.
But that seemed to be his lot in life. He'd coped by affecting a mask of disinterest, that only Gai had been able to pierce over decades of persistence. Then, Naruto's warmth eventually made its way into Kakashi's soul as well, and things had turned out all right.
In sum, everything had been resolved in Hatake Kakashi's life, after enduring so much pain in his past.
Obito and Rin were at peace, his father had moved on at last without lingering regrets, and his beloved students were finally friends once more, (more than friends in the case of Haruno and Uchiha) and surpassed him to become the new pillars of Konoha.
All's well that ends well, except Team Gai was down one member.
===/===
Kakashi could not have expected Naruto to be able to resurrect Neji from the dead, on top of the miracle of saving Gai's body from disintegrating after opening the Eight Gates. Death was a consequence of war.
Other brave shinobi had perished during the war too, among them Shikamaru's and Ino's fathers. Each shinobi who had given their life during the Fourth Shinobi War was given a funeral befitting of heroes, and each year a day was dedicated in memory of their sacrifices.
Kakashi would see Tenten stand somberly with her colleagues during the remembrance days, and note that she was grieving well. She was not descending into a deep depression like he had in the past. She was surrounded by the support of her remaining team mates and friends. The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, also employed what she'd learned from her own grief to give others the means to cope and to heal, by honoring the fallen and acknowledging the losses they'd suffered.
When he'd become Hokage, Kakashi had continued the legacy of healing that Tsunade pioneered.
And even if Gai was not worried about Tenten, Kakashi wanted to be sure. Throughout his term, he'd found ways to keep an eye on her, and spent much of the past decade or so surreptitiously trying to find ways to make her happy again.
===/===
"Rokudaime Hokage-sama."
Kakashi looked at Lee. "It's just Kakashi, please."
"Kakashi-sama," Lee remained formal. "I am making this as a personal request, but could you not assign us team members from the Hyuuga clan for a while?"
Kakashi instantly understood. But he had to push a little. Everyone had suffered losses in the war, "You and Tenten work very well with a Hyuuga as your team member."
He'd already tested them on separate missions with Iroha, Hoheto, and Tokuma, all from the Hyuuga clan, and the praises the latter sang about the complete synergy they had experienced while working with Gai's former students had been unanimous and quite surprisingly intense, given how straitlaced and proper the members of said clan usually behaved.
"We do," Lee looked embarrassed. "It is not what you think."
Tenten burst into the Hokage's office. "Lee! There you are! Quickly! I need you to-"
"Tenten, I am dating someone."
"Yes, yes, but you know this is only pretend for the mission with Tokuma. Your girlfriend will understand, I'm sure! Sorry to bother, Kakashi-sama-I-know-it's-just-Kakashi," she gave the Sixth a wave of greeting and tried to drag Lee out of the room but the shinobi in green refused to budge.
"Lee!"
"Tenten!"
"Lee!"
"Tenten and Lee!" Gai entered with dynamic might, as one might expect.
Kakashi placed his head in his hands.
"What's this I hear? Tenten has three marriage proposals?" Gai demanded.
"Gai-sensei!" Lee's composure finally broke and he burst into tears, "The flower of our team has some kind of irresistible charm that the members of the Hyuuga clan all fall for, and she is trying to use me as a shield against their amorous attentions!"
"Oh, Lee, don't cry… I'm- I'm sorry…" Tenten let go of his arm and waved her hands about trying to soothe her team mate, "I can't beat them up like I normally do, they're branch members and I promised Neji I would always be nice to branch members."
"Leave it to me," Gai said seriously. He'd made no such promise to Neji.
The two younger ninja turned and stared at their sensei with something approaching idol-worship in their eyes, completely forgetting Kakashi was in the room, which also happened to be his own office.
He considered clearing his throat and telling them he'd changed his mind and wanted them specifically to call him Hokage from now on, but they left without even remembering to give him those obsequious bows he hated.
===/===
Gai had told him later on to stop trying to play matchmaker for Tenten with any of the Hyuuga.
Kakashi's misguided belief that Tenten would only find happiness in the arms of a man was probably more than a little sexist on his part, but he'd grown up hearing his female colleagues being told during war time that they needed to stay alive to propagate the next generation to pass on the Will of Fire. On some subconscious level, he was probably equating Tenten's single status to unhappiness.
It was a double standard, certainly. He was perfectly happy as a bachelor, and having a friend like Maito Gai was the most enriching relationship he could ever ask for. After the stern talking to from his best friend, however, he'd readjusted his perspective and resolved to leave Tenten's dating life alone. He would try to make her happy some other way.
Kakashi's romantic ideals were not, in fact, solely governed by the tenets of Jiraiya's Make Out novels. He had his own ideas of what love could be like. It was why he had worked so hard to ensure Naruto's wedding to Hinata went without a hitch, and why so many couples had gotten together during his term.
Romance might not be for him, personally, but he could create a place in Konoha where it could bloom for others. And for those like him who opted to remain single, he worked hard to make Konoha a good place for them as well. Love for one's friends, for one's village, and for humankind and the world in general, were also forms of love that he had cultivated and encouraged as Hokage.
With his retirement, he had been ready to fade into obscurity, a footnote in history. His cute little students and their contemporaries were now adults who could find their own way. He'd given his all, and now the world was at peace. He couldn't ask for more.
And then, one day, Tenten had told him that he'd become her precious person.
While the Sixth Hokage had taken the noble position in his mind that he had done his best to assure everyone's happiness, it surprised him that a love confession from Tenten could make him so unexpectedly happy.
It was clearly a feint, to distract him from something she was keeping hidden, but Kakashi was not one to pass up an opportunity. So he'd called her bluff.
It helped that Gai had no problem whatsoever with Kakashi dating his former student.
==/===
Gai had returned to Kakashi's place after walking Tenten home. He declined to come in, saying he only wanted to impart a message.
"Make no mistake, Kakashi. Tenten truly has feelings for you. Take care of her."
Kakashi decided to clarify, "What feelings?"
"Feelings of pity, mostly. But if you persevere, that may yet change, and blossom into love!"
The Sixth Hokage crossed his arms, ignoring the beaming smile his friend was giving him that was both sincere and mocking. "So we have your blessing?"
Gai nodded sagely, "I believe you will be good for each other."
"What about all those places we planned to visit, Gai?" They'd spoken of enjoying their retirement and traveling together to places where they'd formed good memories.
"Do you think I have forgotten? It can wait. We shall go after you and Tenten have married and enjoyed your honeymoon together!"
"M-married?! Honeymoon?!"
===/===
Tenten walked through the small town, passing festival stalls that were being set up. The ones that would be serving curry for the festival were still closed, but there were a few here and there hawking various souvenirs and running little games for people to amuse themselves with during the day. The stores that ran regular businesses like the weapons shops were also open along the streets.
She sometimes got the feeling she was being watched.
She wasn't a sensor type, but Neji had once remarked he was surprised she could notice things that usually only his Byakugan could pick up. Gai had declared that it was definitely the innate intuition that all females possessed, and his three students had sighed at him, for varying reasons.
She didn't feel any malicious intent from the observer, though.
When she checked up with the ninja who had retired from active duty to follow their Tsukuyomi-dreams, they sometimes retained their ninja skills and would shadow her for a while before deciding to reveal themselves to her. She gave them the time to decide and approach her on their own terms.
Maybe it was the Nara who had opted to retire into civilian status. But the mission scroll about Shikrabappu said he didn't care to talk to anyone from his old life, and would convey his message through a special code he'd woven into the play he wrote.
In the past, he'd left little puzzles or scavenger-hunt type clues for genin to figure out and bring back to Konoha. Those low-ranked missions were snapped up in a flash since genin were excited to pit their wits against the intellect of someone from the famous Nara clan and the puzzles and hunts took only half a day or so at most to solve.
None of the genin wanted the present mission, however, because it entailed sitting through a two-hour long play decoding lines from spoken word and song lyrics, besides having to travel to the distant town where it was being staged and paying one's own way for a room and meals. Compared to the excitement of catching thieves or wild animals in nearer locations, this mission seemed tedious to many of the younger ninja.
The low payout wouldn't attract a chunin or jounin either. Tenten had pondered if the reclusive Shikrabappu actually wanted anyone from Konoha to receive his message. Maybe he was testing how peaceful things really were now, basically waiting for an active ninja to take the time to watch a play, instead of going on a high-earning mission.
A stationery shop caught her eye, reminding her of what Lee had suggested.
She bought some writing supplies, then exited the shop. The feeling of being watched persisted, but remained absent of any malevolent intent. The streets were getting more crowded.
She wondered if Kakashi was still mad.
Sighing, she was about to return to the inn, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She made sure to react extra slowly like a civilian would.
"A pretty lady like you surely must have a boyfriend, Miss? He might want to win you a delightful little plushie!"
Tenten glanced at where the man was gesturing and saw a stall offering prizes for being able to hit a target.
She idly picked up a dart from the counter top and discerned without difficulty that it was tampered with to be deliberately imbalanced. She flipped it a few times in her hand to get the feel of it.
"How much for twenty tries?"
Tenten proceeded to bankrupt the stall by hitting every bulls eye in succession. She pointed to larger and larger stuffed animals on display with every additional point.
When the pile of toys on the counter was taller than her head, she took them and left the stall, leaving the attendant at the booth almost in tears.
===/===
As usual, Tenten was a source of almost endless entertainment for Kakashi.
Her trip to the stationery store had mystified him, since she never lacked for scrolls on a mission.
Then, she'd passed some time teaching a crooked store not to cheat its customers with rigged games. Her expression remained impassive throughout, ignoring the store attendant's gasps of increasing shock and horror. He could tell she was unimpressed with the useless darts that would surely veer wildly off-target in the hands of anyone less skilled. He wondered what she was going to do with all the stuffed toys she'd won. Give them to the orphanage?
As he watched Tenten traverse the village, easily tracking her by the pile of toys she was carrying through the crowd, he idly admired how casually she blended in, like a civilian herself. There was a grace of movement, certainly, that all kunoichi had drilled into them, but it could also pass off as a dancer's bearing or just a particular elegance some women bore from refined upbringing. She would get second glances from people once in a while, but her actions were of an ordinary tourist visiting their town, and her appearance was always neat and unassuming.
He recalled the envy he used to feel about the civilians he observed from his vantage point above, who read books like Icha Icha to provide a little spice and excitement in their everyday lives, while he'd used the books to escape the never-ending turbulence of ninja life, taking refuge in the fictional events as a haven of normalcy and peace.
===/===
When things were especially messy pre-Fourth War, and reading Icha Icha for the nth time just didn't cut it, he sought out Gai and his team, under the pretext of making himself available for Gai's innumerable challenges. The teenagers under Gai's wing were an entertaining little tableau to watch every time Kakashi happened to encounter them. They grew and matured before his eyes, and cemented their team work in a way he could only have dreamed for his own teams, past and present.
While he'd been impressed, naturally, by Neji's genius, and Lee's determination, it was Tenten's ability to handle the extremes of her team that earned her his regard, and eventual future utilization in various weird missions that she never declined, but would sometimes rant about at him afterwards. She was a good soldier.
His fondness for her had started out as sympathy. He knew Gai's training methods were brutal, and frankly had expected a lot more crying from whoever the poor little girl was who would end up on Gai's team.
Sakura had certainly cried all the time during the first few years he'd known her, and Kakashi never even shouted 'Yosh' at her.
Apart from a few sniffles that one time he'd seen her sitting on the wayside, though, Tenten had always been a trooper. She sometimes threw up from exhaustion and pain during training, sure, just like her other team mates did, but Lee was the one who did most of the wailing. And remarkably enough, Kakashi saw how Gai gradually came to rely on her to balance out the team.
Every time Kakashi would come across them, he could see Gai pushing himself to go on full-out support for his precious student Lee, and to do his best to hype up Neji, who really was too good for Gai to have anything much to teach and so rarely had the chance to give motivational talks to.
Like the trademark absolute defense of the Hyuga clan, Eight Trigrams Palm Revolving Heaven, Neji's emotional walls were impervious to any attempts to reach his wounded heart. Gai had a difficult time penetrating Neji's dark psyche, leading to the near-murder of Hinata at the Chuunin exams.
With Tenten, however, Gai always appeared relaxed and glad that she was there to serve as a buffer for everyone. Sure, he kicked her butt during training, but he was never concerned that Tenten was going to be problematic for him.
Her personality was the best Gai could have asked for in a young kunoichi to offset a team comprised of two men dressed in green who were not afraid to express all of their emotions, and one stoic Hyuuga who had eventually come around to being a pretty well-adjusted individual from being surrounded by steady love and validation.
===/===
The intangible value that Tenten had was her natural instinct to buoy up the people around her. Just like her offhand comment about Kakashi having his father's kind eyes, or giving him scrolls to take with him on the mission with Mirai and Gai without any prompting, she had the knack for doing what was needed to improve a situation. She had the innate quality to boost others to shine. Even when she had been younger, the observations she voiced without even the slightest hint of nastiness about Lee never being able to surpass Neji were exactly what Lee needed to push himself harder.
Apart from instinct, she was also thoughtful and planned ahead. Her preparedness during missions caused Lee to clumsily describe her as 'highly convenient', which had offended her somewhat.
Just as she said things that could come across as cruel when she wasn't careful, Lee occasionally suffered from unintended tactlessness in his phraseology. Gai was gentler in explaining to her that her support allowed the rest of her team members able to tap into their fullest potential, and it seemed Tenten had taken it to heart. Kakashi did not hear any more complaints about her wanting to hog the limelight after the Fourth War.
On the battlefield, during missions, Tenten was a force multiplier for her team. Similar to the advantage given by a Sharingan, which allowed Kakashi to use the chidori without leaving him any vulnerable openings, Team Gai relied on her to cover their backs when they mounted a full-on attack. If they had the advantage of the first strike on a mission, that usually guaranteed a quick win. Their opponent would be too busy wondering where all the kunai and sundry other projectiles with explosive tags were raining down from to have much opportunity to retaliate before the rest of Team Gai wiped them out.
Unlike a Sharingan however, which did not berate Kakashi for being foolhardy at times, Tenten never minced words in chewing out her team mates - usually Gai and Lee - whenever they were swept into the moment and rushed headlong into a fight.
He would sometimes witness her chastising them, as Gai would always take the time to look for him after completing a mission to boast about their success and challenge him to some inane contest.
Kakashi knew the challenges were an excuse to check up on him during that interim when Team 7 was scattered to the winds, with Sasuke going missing, Naruto training under Jiraiya and Sakura training under Tsunade.
Kakashi appreciated it. The challenges were more enjoyable with an audience, as well.
It was especially amusing to see Tenten's reactions to their contests. Lee was always fawning, Neji was more often than not mutely horrified, but Tenten would oscillate, depending on her mood, between rolling her eyes tolerantly, laughing at them, cheering Gai on just to spite Kakashi, or snapping at them both to grow up already because they were being absolutely ridiculous.
Gai would grin. Beneath his mask, so would Kakashi. They knew they were ridiculous.
Kakashi would go out of his way sometimes to interrupt Gai when the latter was training Tenten one-on-one to bait his friend into challenging him, leaving Tenten staring, stunned at their absurdity. Her expressions were adorable, and he liked how he could both tease and encourage her simultaneously.
He secretly hoped she'd gotten a good look at his toned ass that time he'd followed them for rock climbing. She'd probably seen Gai's butt too, and in greater definition because of that jumpsuit, but Kakashi was just happy to have a pretty girl stare at his booty.
===/===
It was around the time that Neji was promoted to jounin that Kakashi realized that the kunoichi of Team Gai had grown up.
He told himself it was just like being aware that Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were also cute little kunoichi who'd matured into beautiful young women. He recognized their loveliness as they grew older without particularly being attracted to any of them. They all were in love with boys their age, so he accepted it as the natural way of things.
But he never saw Tenten chase Neji, or stalk him, or wear her hair in a way to impress him, like the other girls did with their crushes. She went about trying to hone her skills to become the best ninja she could be so she could stand before the person she liked with dignity and confidence.
Tenten trained with Neji, and she trained with Lee, and she trained under Gai, and supported them the best way she knew how. It was her expression of love for her entire team.
And when Kakashi would be drawn into yet another challenge with Gai, she would watch them both, sometimes with awe, sometimes amusement or exasperation, making him feel curiously gratified for some reason, knowing she was giving him the same attention as the team mates she adored. He thought it might have flattered his ego, but gradually suspected it was turning into something more.
It was Tenten, after all. Kakashi eventually concluded it was all right to like her. Nothing would come of it, it was a harmless crush on his part. She'd confessed to liking him too in the past, when she was younger, and they had both laughed it off.
===/===
Apart from mild teasing one time via genjutsu, Kakashi did not give Tenten any indication that he considered her as anything more than Gai's student.
Neji, being Neji, still noticed. And also being young, and a newly-minted jounin, had decided to test his skills against the legendary Hatake Kakashi.
That had been a memorable sparring session. The Hyuuga prodigy actually put up something close to an actual challenge. Gai had had to step in before Kakashi got really serious.
Gai told them that Tenten held the sole prerogative of choosing whoever she wanted and it would lower her opinion of both men if she found out about the fight. Kakashi raised his eyebrow at the Hyuuga after hearing this, and Neji had flushed tomato red and looked away.
===/===
And then Neji died.
Watching Team Gai deal with the loss brought back all the grief Kakashi had buried of his own team.
Gai never blamed him, but Kakashi somehow found a way to blame himself for the sequence of events that led Obito down the path he'd chosen, which had ultimately led to the Fourth Shinobi War and the sacrifice of one Neji Hyuuga.
And so Kakashi's complicated mix of sympathy, fondness, attraction, and guilt morphed into what he now felt for Tenten.
===/===
As he watched her enter the inn where they were staying, Kakashi sensed something strange in his chest.
He decided he was feeling ashamed by how he was avoiding Tenten for no good reason at all.
Now that he'd opened himself to experiencing deeper emotions for someone, he was confronted with the reality that it was not always warm and fuzzy sensations. There was a dark side to passion, and he was aware he had the capacity to be very hurtful towards Tenten if he did not keep it in check.
He could be jealous of all of her male friends, and especially her best friend and team mate, and he could also choose to control his actions after recognizing how he felt.
This entire day could have been spent walking beside Tenten, holding her hand, and staring at her so she would ask him what he was thinking. And then he could tell her he was thinking about kissing her. And he could watch the blush spread from her neck to her cheeks while she danced around making those cute little squeaky sounds she did sometimes.
Tenten genuinely liked him. He'd always known. She may have gotten over her teenage infatuation with him at some point, but it didn't take much to rekindle it. It was another reason he had been so careful to keep her at arms' length all these years. The power imbalance was there, and unless she made the first move, he would always wonder if he had somehow inadvertently abused his authority and unduly influenced her into something solely for his own benefit.
He would never have taken action without her initiative. He'd have been content to watch her live her life and find love with someone else. That would have been all right, in his book.
But she had agreed that she would try to love again, with him, and let him kiss her, and even tried to kiss him back. Here was his chance, after all these years, to make a direct attempt for her happiness. And his.
Kakashi gathered his courage, and followed her into the inn.
===/===
Dear Kakashi. The greeting looked so mundane on paper. She tried again.
Kakashi. Too abrupt. She crossed it out.
To the Illustrious Sixth Hokage.
Tenten grimaced, realizing her self-consciousness was increasingly getting in the way of her writing.
She wrote a lot of letters. It was how she corresponded with many of the ninja who'd opted for early retirement to pursue their dreams. The work of monitoring their whereabouts and status was originally divided among her contemporaries in Konoha, but she handled most of the correspondence now since the others were busy with parenting little ones.
She'd never had trouble keeping up with her pen pals. It helped her network for her business too.
This letter though. She'd just wasted one expensive sheet of stationery, just with the first line. She should compose a draft on scratch paper first.
"Try 'My Darling Kakashi'." A voice said above her.
"Wah!" Papers exploded in the air, like Konan from the Akatsuki come back to life.
Tenten knew, of course, that only Kakashi's chakra was allowed to enter into their shared room, given the security measures both had put into place. However, she'd relied on him making good on his statement that he would only see her after her mission was complete.
"I thought you said we would only see each other after the play? That isn't till later this afternoon."
"Changed my mind."
He was always doing that! And the disconcerting thing about it was that he was constantly moving schedules up earlier to see her, instead of later. He was famous for being perennially late, wasn't he?
"What are these for?" he gestured towards the gigantic pile of stuffed animals on the bed that they hadn't slept on.
Tenten rolled over on her bed, from where she'd been lying on her stomach to write. "For you. I won them at one of the stalls. I know it's a bit childish, but maybe your ninken would like them as chew toys?"
She'd racked her brain for something to give Kakashi other than weapons, and found she had no idea what would be considered a romantic gift. Flowers, perhaps, but it might come across as merely returning the favor after he'd already given the same thing last night.
He sat down beside her on the bed. It was faint, but she thought she detected a smile under the mask.
"Thank you, Tenten. Why were you writing me a letter?"
Tenten blinked at him, feeling heat slowly rise up her face. She hadn't realized it would be even more embarrassing to talk about writing a love letter than actually writing it.
She gave Jiraiya, rest his soul, major props for writing all of those romance novels, that were a poorly disguised attempt to declare his continuing love for Tsunade.
She avoided Kakashi's eyes for a moment, looking at a very interesting blank spot on the ceiling as she bit her lower lip, trying to figure out how to put what she wanted to say in sweet and poetic language, befitting of a refined and capable kunoichi.
He cupped her chin and pulled her lip down with his thumb. She hadn't noticed she'd almost made it bleed with how much she was worrying at it with her teeth.
Steeling her resolve, she looked at him. "I wanted to let you know there's nothing to worry about with Lee. I'm serious about dating you, and I hope we can talk if we have problems."
That sounded so ordinary. Tenten didn't have a knack for poetry.
It was the truth, though. And she'd learned from Gai that she needed to be clear and direct with Kakashi, because he was not one to share his thoughts or feelings openly.
She wanted to take care of him as much as possible, and she was willing to put in the work.
Kakashi looked at her for so long that Tenten wondered if he, like Gai, may have gone to sleep with his eyes open.
Was this an 'old person' thing? Would she eventually become like that? Then again, Shikamaru already did it when he was pondering something in that big brain of his. Maybe it was a genius thing. But Gai was a beast, not a genius, and he did it too. He was very emotionally adept though, and a genius in his own way for saving Kakashi from the darkness in his heart.
A genius beast then? A beastly genius? A genius except for the fact that he was bad with names of opponents he'd fought in the past? Or…
Kakashi broke into her reverie by gently pulling her shoulder over so she was lying on her stomach again, facing the paper. He lay down beside her, draping an arm across her back, and put the pen in her hand.
"Take dictation?" he voiced his request beside her ear. She could tell from the puff of his breath that he'd brought down his mask.
"Hmph," Tenten wanted to tell Kakashi that she was still not his secretary or clerk and he could type his own damn documents, and if he called her Tonton again she would be very displeased, but she was effectively trapped on the bed. "All right."
"Dear Tenten," she obediently addressed herself on the fancy stationery she'd bought for him.
"I love you."
Tenten's hand froze. Kakashi obligingly covered her hand with his and guided her to print out the words.
Then he took the pen and signed his name.
They lay like that for a while, as Tenten's blood thundered in her ears.
"Tenten, are you crying?"
"Um," she blinked and saw droplets stain the ink on the paper. "Yes. I-I'm not sure why."
He turned her again so he could hug her properly. They snuggled on the bed for a while, as Tenten cried against his chest.
"You just said it," she accused. What happened to not being the type to share his thoughts and feelings?
"I did."
"How could you? You said before that you were comfortable with me," she pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes to try to stop them from leaking. Why was she crying? It was so confusing. "Being comfortable doesn't equate to love."
He sighed, gently moving her hands so he could wipe some of the tears off her face with his thumb.
"I like you Tenten, and I have for a long time. I want to be with you even when I'm jealous or angry. I want to do things with you, and to you, that I'm sure can be done between people who don't love each other, but my preference is that I should love the person."
Kakashi kissed her on the forehead. "Perhaps it's not love in the usual sense that other people might define it. But it's as close as someone like me can come to it, for now."
Tenten felt like her face was going to scrunch up like Lee's before he launched into a full bawl-fest. She pulled herself together with heroic effort.
"If that's…" She sniffled. Sniffled some more. And finally, gave Kakashi a watery smile, "Then I love you too."
"WHAT."
His eyes were comically wide and he gripped her shoulders, "Say it again."
She could feel him trying to activate the Sharingan he no longer had so he could imprint this moment in his memory forever. "I love you, Kakashi. I do. But I need to blow my nose."
He grumbled, turning to grab some tissues.
===/===
When Tenten finally permitted it, he'd resumed giving her small kisses, on her eyelids and cheeks, soft touches of his mouth against her tender lower lip. Kakashi murmured quiet endearments a few more times, as if practicing to overcome his natural reticence.
Tenten felt that she was getting progressively closer and closer towards self-combustion.
"Agh!" she pushed Kakashi till his back was on the bed and she was on top. She kissed him like their lives depended on it. He lay stunned beneath her, immobile.
Then she came up for air, gasping. "Okay! Time to focus! Mission!"
She clambered off the bed, and began to search her bag for her disguise.
Kakashi stared at the ceiling in a daze.
Then, a gleam came into his eyes.
Tenten's kiss had distinctly tasted like a challenge to him.
He was going to enjoy this.
===/===
"That dress shows too much leg."
"This is what I wore to Hinata's and Naruto's wedding," she thought it looked nice, and was pleased that it still fit, more than a decade later.
"People's eyes were glued to where that slit began on your upper thigh throughout the event. I was almost forced to kill some of them for the expressions on their faces. I never want you to wear that dress again, except for me, in private."
"I never knew you had a jealous streak a mile wide, Kakashi."
The retired Hokage looked abashed, "Sorry. It's my first time having someone to myself. I think I'm getting possessive."
"And?" Tenten picked up the dress in question, looking at him pointedly.
He sounded sullen, "You can wear whatever you like. I will just have to gouge out the eyes of anyone who looks at you."
"Kakash-mph," Tenten was getting kissed again, Kakashi still being mindful of her sore lip, though now he was swiping his tongue across it as if to soothe it. She tried to keep up, like a strong, independent kunoichi ought to, but she could not wrap her head around the fact that Kakashi was kissing her again, so soon, so she simply clung to him as he gently laved at her lips. She could feel him beginning to smile against her mouth, forgetting his sullenness.
She could get behind this jealousy if it meant he felt that he needed to kiss her more frequently to stake his claim. Or was what he was doing still considered kissing? More like licking and lightly nipping and…
Kakashi let her go and she fell on the bed with a 'fwump!'
"How about this one?" he rummaged through their bags and held up a shapeless piece of cloth while she was busy catching her breath.
"That is a sack, Kakashi." She humored him by taking the fabric and draping it over herself anyway. "I look like a hobo."
"A sexy hobo." He looked displeased at her ability to make even a storage item look good on her.
She put the sack down and started folding the dress to put it away. "It isn't really necessary for me to be in the audience. I only brought the dress as a precaution. I can observe from the rafters. We're just supposed to decode the secret message Shikamaru's relative said he'd placed in the between the lines of the characters, and relay it to the Nara family."
Shikamaru had described Shikrabappu as his 'eccentric uncle'. In other words, he'd all the smarts of the Nara clan, but was plain cuckoo.
He'd nevertheless served as a competent shinobi for many years due to village loyalty and a sense of duty towards his clan, but had also been more than happy to inform the Sixth Hokage of his preference for civilian life and the theater arts after receiving the meditation orders years ago.
"No, we are watching a play together as a romantic couple." Kakashi's level of commitment was not to be underestimated. "So put on that dress. I can assassinate anyone who looks at you the wrong way without their deaths being traced back to us."
Tenten compromised by wearing silk trousers underneath. It was getting a bit chilly towards the end of the year after all.
===/===
Kakashi nearly marched them back to their room when Tenten observed in passing that the dress seemed to have gotten tighter around the chest since the last time she wore it, but she overruled him.
It might have helped that she told him to take a good long look and make an objective assessment if the way the fabric stretched across her breasts made her look too brazen.
He'd taken his time, before finally conceding that she looked fine. Although, he'd also seemed too distracted to know what he was saying as she victoriously steered them towards the theater.
"Extremely fine," he was mumbling as she found their seats. "A fine, fine pair indeed."
"We do make a fine pair, don't we?" she agreed, elated to discover that she could raise the chair arm between them to transform their separate seats into a couch made for two. "This is such an enjoyable mission!"
And by saying that, she naturally jinxed the entire job.
===/===
A/N: 4/14/23 – May you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day.