A/N: Hi everyone! Back again with some mischief. Hope you like it - it gets fun now. Enjoy!

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Every twenty minutes or so, Anko checked on Kakashi. He barely moved while he was in his comatose state. After the first four hours, she began to talk to him. She had already done some housework, tidied up the place, and prepared a meal for later. There was nothing else to do but look after him. So she decided to talk to him instead. "So. You're in a coma. They say people can hear when they're comatose. I don't know for sure if you can hear me or not, so I'll just talk to you anyway. Here goes. I hope you're not feeling any pain. That's the worst. And seeing what you went through after Sakura tried to help you, it was almost more than I could take. My God Kakashi, she practically had to reassemble you. But anyway, wherever you are right now, whatever consciousness you're in right now, I hope you don't hurt. Because, I still do. I didn't hurt before. Not before. I didn't start to hurt until about three days after you left on your mission. I didn't think I would. But I found that I missed our time together. I mean, come on, the sex was INCREDIBLE! I want to do it, YOU, again. And I guess I'm being selfish, but I need you to come back to me. You already did. You came back just like you said you would. But I need you whole Kakashi. I need you to be your normal amazing self, because that's what I need. I need you just the way you are. I don't want you to change. I don't want you to be any special way for me. Just be you and get back here to me, because I missed you and I still do. I want my friend back. I need you back here with me." Anko paused for a moment and said, "And thanks for the underwear. Love to show them to you sometime." She turned away from him and let a few tears fall.

In the darkness Kakashi stirred and listened.

Anko heard a knock at her door. She left Kakashi to open it and found Sakura there. "How's he been?"

Anko said, "Very little change. He's been quiet, but that's best right?"

Sakura said, "Yeah." She looked at Anko and asked, "You ok?"

"Sure. Why do you ask?"

"You've got black circles under your eyes."

"Well, Kakashi did show up in the middle of the night and I've caught some cat naps since then, but no real sleep."

"You're not doing him any favors you know. You need to sleep if you plan on taking care of him."

"How long do you think he'll need taking care of?"

"Probably another day."

"Oh. I'll call off again tomorrow then."

"That'd be best. He should be coming around again in anywhere between two and four hours. He'll probably be ravenous. Do you have anything easy to eat? Miso soup or something simple?"

"I cooked earlier. I'll make sure I have something ready for him."

"Good. I'll leave some medicine too. He shouldn't have too much pain, but in case he does, give him some one of these in some tea." Sakura handed her three little white pouches. "Don't worry Anko, he'll be fine. For as long as I've known Kakashi-sensei, he's always overdone it. And he always comes out fine."

"Thanks Sakura. You're a great medic. Thanks for your help and discretion."

"Because my sensei asked,"

"I know. But thanks anyway."

"I'll stop by in the morning before work and check on him again. Oh yeah, and I'll let Tsunade know you won't be in tomorrow. More personal matters."

"Thanks." Anko thought – she knows. She walked Sakura to the door and after she'd left, Anko went immediately back to Kakashi. She sat on the bed next to him, watching his stillness. She said, "Sakura knows. She knows something's going on. But she said she'd keep quiet. Good thing, because can you imaging what Asuma would do to you if he found out we were," then she waited. What ARE we doing? "Never mind. Just be better. You should be coming around in a few hours. Sakura left some medicine for you if you need it. I'll help you any way I can Kakashi. I'm your friend, and I guess this is one of the benefits of having me for a friend. Friends help each other when they need it, and even when they don't." She looked at him, lying there looking so peaceful now. She wondered what he might be thinking.

Kakashi heard every word she'd said. He heard himself laugh inside his head at the whole reference to Asuma. He thought Asuma would never let me live it down if he found out about us. Us. There's an us? Can friends be an "us?" We're friends. Friends who share each others' benefits. But Anko, what the hell are we doing? I owe you a lot. I don't know how I'll ever repay you. I think I may have a head injury, because I don't seem to be thinking straight right now. But don't leave yet, talk to me some more. I don't feel so alone when you talk to me.

Anko lay down next to Kakashi and looked at his face. Since she knew he was on the mend, she leaned her body against his. He was still comatose, but he felt so warm against her. She just looked at the side of his face. She reached over and pulled his mask down. She said, "That's better. If you can't talk back to me, at least I can look at all of you."

Kakashi felt the left side of his body get warm. He smelled Anko very close to him. That's nice. I don't care that you pulled my mask down. Just stay here for a little while.

Anko reached her arm across Kakashi's chest, making sure to avoid the area of his ribs that had been bruised. She pushed herself against him a little more, leaning the side of her face against his shoulder. She sighed into his ear.

Kakashi felt warmth spread across his chest, breath on his ear. Inwardly, he smiled as he felt Anko become heavier on him. He could tell from the way she was relaxing on him, that she was falling asleep.

- - -

It was late in the day when Anko woke up. The sun was slipping away and her bedroom was cast with a golden haze. Something was different about the room. She looked up at the crack in her ceiling, still there. Then she sat up quickly as she remembered Kakashi was in her bed. He lay there, wide awake, looking at her. He said, "About time you woke up. I'm starving. Some nurse you turned out to be."

Anko smiled. He was finally all the way back. Total relief reined down on her from head to toe. She sighed heavily and then started right back at him, "Shut you face Hatake or I'll take you to the hospital and leave your ass there. You're hungry? Well, you'd better treat me a little better, or you'll get nothing."

"Does that include you?"

She got up and walked to the bedroom door, turned to look over her shoulder and said, "Yes." She shot him a look and went to her kitchen to heat him up some dinner.

Kakashi loved this game. He thought as he watched her leave the bedroom I missed this when I was gone. I didn't realize it until right now, but I missed this, whatever "this" is. He yelled to her, "What's for dinner, and is there any way I could possibly get a bath? I feel disgusting and I'm sure I'm quite offensive."

"I've got some grilled fish and some soup with vegetables. And if you can walk, you can have a bath."

Kakashi snickered. He said, "Will you help me bathe?"

Anko peeked her head in the door and said, "What's in it for me?"

"I'm in it for you."

Anko didn't know how to take that one, so she just played along. "Well, what if that's not enough. You know I really suffered when you showed up all broken on my doorstep. It was horrible seeing you like that. I think you need to do an awful lot of sucking up to me to make up for me seeing you like that." The thoughts of him broken on her doorstep came flooding back, and her mood changed. Kakashi noticed.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to come back like that. But I did promise to come back to you first. And in case you haven't noticed, I don't break promises."

Anko knew he was being sincere. He'd never meant to hurt her, but then again, she never meant to feel so hurt the whole time he was gone. Whatever was happening between them was becoming pretty painful to endure – for both of them.

The timer went off, and Anko went to get Kakashi his dinner. She brought it back to him on a tray that she sat next to her bed. She noticed that he looked at her a bit more seriously now, as she helped him sit up and prop pillows up behind him. She put the tray across his legs and said, "Can you eat by yourself or do you need me to feed you?"

Kakashi was confused. The mood had definitely changed from playful to almost, something he couldn't define. He said, "I can use my left hand, and my shoulder doesn't feel too bad at all now. I can manage." But he really didn't want to manage.

Anko didn't want him to manage either, but she left him to it anyway. She said as she left the room, "I'll go get your bath ready. Eat everything, and if you want more, just say so." As Kakashi watched her go, he decided that maybe he did want more. Of what, he wasn't quite sure. He carefully began to eat his soup, which turned his hunger into something more impatient. As he ate, he heard the water stop in the bathroom. He called to Anko, "Hey. I think I'm done here. I feel stuffed. Maybe I shouldn't have any more just yet."

She came into the room, "You don't want to overdo it. You overdo everything else, but I don't need you getting sick from eating my cooking."

"Your cooking was very good."

Anko smiled. A compliment. That was nice. She decided to forgive him a little for scaring her to death. She shifted the mood again, to make it a little lighter when she said, "You're just saying that because you were starving. You would have eaten fried dirt if I would have brought it to you."

Kakashi felt the mood lighten. He was glad and he wanted to play along, so he said, "Yeah, I probably would have. I've never been a picky eater. What you gave me I'd almost consider gourmet."

"Ok, now you're really going overboard. Let me take that." She reached for the tray and said, "I'll put this in the kitchen. Can you sit on the side of the bed? I'll be back to help you to the bath."

"I'll give it a try. I'm more stiff than anything now. The pain is manageable, and I don't hurt nearly as bad any more."

That's funny, Anko thought. Neither do I.

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A/N: And we're off. The fun and games are about to pick up speed. Review please!

Next up: Kakashi in the bath. See you soon!