Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. . . or Kakashi. But it sure would be fun if I did.

Chapter Nine: Ah Man More Games

When Kakashi came out of the bathroom, they packed up their things and slung their packs over their shoulders and left the room. On the ground floor, a young woman was talking to the owner. Naruto hung out against the wall trying to act like he wasn't watching Kakashi but eyeing him the whole time. For his part, Kakashi had too many years practice at confusing people to slip up now. He feigned his act of disinterest with the ease of long practice.

Both the hotel owner and the woman became very perplexed with the behavior of the two men. Jobah knew the tension wasn't there any more, or at least not to the degree that it had been when the pair showed up, but he also knew that could be due to the sex they hadn't been able to avoid having. The drug he used would have made sure of that. But normally if a couple had worked out whatever was the problem between them they would stand together or at least near each other at his counter for check-out. But these two might as well not even be in the same room. Both he and the woman, he'd been talking to, knew the two nin knew exactly where the other was but that didn't mean they were a couple now any more than the fact that they had engaged their bodies did.

What he did know was these two were smart. Smarter than most of his clients and he knew there was a chance that one, or both, had already figured out the game Tsunade was playing with them. He decided it was better not to take the chance they had figured out there really wasn't a mission for them. Jobah sighed and, using a pre-arranged signal, he gravely inclined his head to the woman. She nodded briefly. He just couldn't take the chance that these two were not a couple yet. Under the counter, he pressed another button as the woman flicked her fingers at both Kakashi and Naruto.

Though Naruto was farther away from her, and both were already moving in the opposite directions, by the time she flicked her fingers, the fine dust covered them at the same moment. A jutsu field surrounded them and when it disappeared they were somewhere else. A low growl was all that was left behind as the jutsu field dispersed in a cloud of glittering dust.

"Damn. They both react very quickly, don't they?" asked Jobah. The woman smirked as she nodded.

"So that's the pair setting the world afire right now, huh?"said the woman.

Jobah nodded grinning pervertedly. "I can see why too. Both of them are sex on legs, as I am very sure they and everyone betting on the outcome is well aware."

"I guess I'll go start cleaning the room now. Get that table out of my way," she said as she hid her own grin and slight nose bleed at the mental picture of seeing the two together or undressed or even slightly undressed. Hell, she'd settle for just seeing one of the pair slightly ruffled, dressed or undressed.

Jobah sent a messenger to Tsunade telling her the pair had been moved to the cabin as the drug hadn't been enough to break the ice block they'd put between them. According to his note, he would keep her informed as to their progress and let her know if it was hopeless as one of the bettors (Gaara) had indicated. He also informed her that Naruto now knew of the bets, since he'd forgotten to take the sheet off the message board before they got here.

In Konoha, Tsunade cursed as she read that last part of her update on what was fast becoming her favorite obsession. Sakura had just come in from her early morning shift at the Hospital and Shizune was arranging files on the far side of the room. Both woman and girl gave her an inquiring look and she told them about what had happened.

"So even with drugged food they still haven't even had sex yet. Those two can be so stubborn," Sakura cried, hiding her pleased smirk. In her mind, Naruto was not for Kakashi.

"Oh I'd imagine they have had sex, Sakura. But sex wasn't what we were after here. We wanted them to commit to each other. We know damn good and well they love each other but both are too pig-headed to let the other one know how they feel," countered Tsunade.

"I wouldn't say pig-headed, Hime," said Jiraiya from the window he was perched on. "I'd say they are both too good at hiding what they really think and feel. Neither can get a reading from the other so neither one will say something that might push the other away because even contact as friends is better than no contact at all."

"And for the record," added Sakura. "I stand by what I said. Kakashi doesn't eat anything he didn't make or see prepared himself without Naruto testing it for drugs first. Therefore, they knew the food was drugged and Naruto wouldn't have let Kakashi eat a single bite of it. And if Naruto did eat it, Kyuubi wouldn't have let the drugs effect Naruto to the point where he lost that kind of control. So no. They haven't had sex yet either."

Both Sennin blinked at her in wonder. She glared from one to the other with her fists planted on her hips. "Nani? I was on their team, you know. Naruto always tested the food from the minute Kakashi found out how keen his sense of smell is for poisons and other drugs. None of us were allowed to eat a single bite until he said it was ok." They still looked shocked so she sighed and explained further. "Someone tried to drug Sasuke once at a roadside stand we stopped at on a mission and Naruto switched Sasuke's bowl with the person he felt was responsible. I still don't know if the man was actually the guilty party or not but both Naruto and Kakashi seemed to think he was. The man passed out after a single bite. Ever since then, we made it a practice to wait until Naruto gave our plates the all clear before eating a single bite. If he told me today 'don't eat that, Sakura-chan' I'd drop whatever I was about to eat immediately. No questions asked."

"Ok then it's likely the drug didn't have any effect on them at all," sighed Tsunade. "Well, Jobah hasn't given up so neither will I."

A month went by in silence from Jobah and finally he sent Tsunade an update. In your last communication you said it was likely they did not even have sex as the boy is a natural drug sniffer. Let me assure you that is not true. They did indeed have sex and, from the complaints of my maid, I'd say they had a lot of sex. So drugs ingested or not, that tension has been relieved. But if they persist in not admitting how they feel it will return until they need my little room again.

For now, know this. THOSE TWO ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY. One minute they are acting for all the world like a couple and the next they are polite strangers. I don't know if they are together or not. Is there something you forgot to tell me? Like maybe one or both of them holds some kind of contract that binds them to the person they sleep with???? Maybe? Anyway, what do you want me to do? I can keep them there a little while longer but they have settled into a routine now and I don't see any way to break it up without letting them out of the cabin.

She thought it over and then called her co-conspirators into her office. Jiraiya, Shizune, Sakura and Iruka all came in followed by Gai of all people. Gai was after news of Naruto and Kakashi since it had been so long since the pair had been in the village and he was worried about his rival and his rival's favorite student.

Tsunade raised a brow when she heard Gai say that since everyone had always thought Sasuke was Kakashi's favorite. "Why are you worried about Sasuke, Gai?" she asked unable to restrain herself.

"Oh, my dear Hokage. You misunderstand me. I mean of course the ever youthful Naruto of the perpetually sunny summer days. The dark and stormy Sasuke was never the favored student of my rival. My rival is just so full of youthful coolness and a hip attitude that you would have needed to know him as well as I do to have seen the way his eyes would stray to the summer's favored child," He finished on a shout that was heard all the way in Wave country and reached across the desert to penetrate the office of the Kazekage.

In Wave, Tazuna peered into his bottle wondering if maybe Inari had pranked his bottle again or if he really did hear it say something about summer having a favored child. He wiped a shaky hand over his face and thought, maybe Tsunami is right and it's time I quit drinking, as he shook the bottle.

In Suna, Gaara shuddered and growled, "Who is Konoha turning their best torture weapon loose on now, I wonder?" Across from him, Temari also shuddered and said, "Whoever it is, I almost feel sorry for them. Almost but they have to be pretty bad or a very hard nut to crack for Konoha to turn that man loose on them." Gaara nodded as he once again made a mental note to send someone to Konoha to learn the secret of Maito Gai's madness. Inside him, Shikaku grumbled as another note appeared in his cage. Almost all of the notes decorating his cage said the same thing.

In Konoha, Tsunade shook her head. She should have known Gai would know before anyone who Kakashi liked. "Anyway back to the reason I called you all here. I got an update from my friend today and I need advice. Here's the note. Read it and tell me what you think. I know Naruto holds the Kyuubi so maybe the bonding things works for his side but that might actually be what is causing the friction also."

Gai was shaking his head as she finished speaking. "No," he said as she shut her mouth. "That is just my youthful rival being his normal hip self and the ever summery Naruto is just as good at copying his hip attitude as my youthful Lee is at copying mine."

"Huh?" asked Tsunade. "Someone translate please."

"It's daytime, Shishou," said Sakura with a sigh really sadder than she had thought possible that she actually understood the weird jounin-sensei of team nine. "Neither of them consider what they truly think or feel to be anyone else's business. So, since they know they didn't travel to the cabin on their own, they're not letting slip anything they don't know how it'll be used against them. That's especially true since they were just freed from a locked room they were forced to spend a night in and tricked twice by people they don't know."

"In other words, we need to know what they are saying to each other if we want to find out whether they are a couple or not," smirked Jiraiya, thinking of all the material he could get for his next yaoi book.

"Pervert," muttered all three women and Iruka.

The pony-tailed teacher just shook his head and sighed. "Look, whether they are a couple or not, this has gone far enough. They are sleeping together now and I thought that was what you wanted. You're always talking about how you want Naruto to settle down and give you kids to torment. He can't do that with Kakashi." He stopped as four people in the room blushed. "Can he?" he muttered. Turning wide eyes on his Hokage, he almost screamed, "There was more to this plot than just getting them to sleep together? What is wrong with you?"

"Now calm down, Iruka." Tsunade tried to placate the normally gentle teacher. "I am not doing anything any other parent or guardian wouldn't do for their younger charge. Naruto needs a family of his own and he can have it if he wants it bad enough. He chose Kakashi so I'm just making sure he gets what he wants while gaining what he needs as well and something that will benefit the village in the years to come. Imagine a child with the combined blood of Naruto and Kakashi running through it's veins. How could the village fail to benefit from that?"

Iruka just stared at her bug-eyed as he realized he had actually helped her set his little brother up. Slowly he began shaking his head back and forth. His hands trembled as he stuttered out, "No. No more. I will not be a part of this anymore. Naruto is not a toy to be played with until you get tired of your game. He's a person. Just like any other and what you're doing is crueler than anything anyone else has ever done before. And to think you call yourself his friend." He turned and left before anyone could gather their wits to challenge his words. Gai followed him, for once looking grave and unhappy without his idiotic blindingly white toothy smile.

Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura and Jiraiya just sat or stood where they were processing what Iruka had said. They were trying to figure out how helping Naruto have a family could possibly be construed as a bad thing. Hinata's team came in before they could begin to talk about it. They were looking for a new mission but stood waiting patiently for the Hokage to notice them.

Tsunade blinked and registered their presence. She looked to Shizune who flipped through some files before handing three to Tsunade. A few minutes later, team eight left the office on their new mission to Sand as messengers. They would bring Temari back with them acting as her personal escort from the Sand village to Konoha for her six month stay as an ambassador between the two villages.

Tsunade fired off another message to her friend and asked him if he could get a copy of what the two nin were saying to each other. She really didn't want them to come home until they were an official couple. Regardless of what Iruka said, she knew the village needed not only Naruto's child but also Kakashi's. Both men were too good at being ninja to be allowed to die without issue. She waited three days for a response from her friend only to be disappointed.

The note simply said,"When they are awake, and out of the bed, they say nothing that could be construed as anything more than two old friends or teammates talking in general. What they say when they are in the bed, none of my devices are strong enough to pick up on.

There is one thing I find odd though and that is the boy. He seems to know where every single bug is no matter how many times I change them or how well I disguise them. It's like he can actually hear the little motors or smell the ones that don't operate on a motor. How he is doing it, I don't know but he definitely knows he's being bugged. I see him look at each of them and the older man will follow his line of sight though he does his best to pretend he isn't. So they are both aware of every listening and recording device in the cabin. And no I can not treat them with a chakra coating like I did the ones in the hotel room since the cabin is set up to not allow for chakra related things. It actually has seals all over the place to diffuse anything chakra powered before it can be employed."

Tsunade growled and grit her teeth in frustration. Summoning her personal messenger slug she ripped off a note and sent the slug to Jobah instructing it to wait for a reply. She told him to bug the bed since that was the most likely spot for the conversations they were looking for from the pair. She also told him she had no idea regarding the bonding issue but that it was at least a possibility though the man had been known to take the occasional lover for at least a night before this.

The reply was short, sweet and full of apology for not being able to get her any x rated conversations as Naruto had broken that recording device the first night they were forced to stay in the cabin while making damn sure the older man didn't say anything one way or the other. Jobah left it to her own imagination just what Naruto had been doing to keep Kakashi too quiet to say anything the device could record. She cursed fluidly for a couple minutes with bright red cheeks. Naruto was definitely a good ninja she concluded. No ninja liked to be spied upon but especially not when they were in bed with their lover.

It was nighttime in the cabin and Naruto and Kakashi were in bed. They were cuddling together as Kakashi asked Naruto, "So have you figured out how to get even with her for the aphrodisiac or the random acts of throwing us at each other while all the time threatening my life if I touched you." He ran a hand along the curve of Naruto's hip and allowed his fingers to trail into the crease of the toned butt. Naruto swallowed his groan of enjoyment and licked his lips before leaning in to kiss Kakashi. "No. I decided to wait and see what else she was planning before I prank her. That way she'll show her whole hand and not be able to claim the next gamble is payback for my prank on her," he explained while working on Kakashi's neck line as his hands wandered freely under the covers. Kakashi lost his concentration on the conversation as Naruto found a sensitive spot and worked his wicked tongue over the area. He fell onto his back and let the teen lead the action. Naruto took full advantage of the situation. Groans and moans of desire filled the cabin as the two men forgot everything but the fact that they were alone and on a bed together. This time it was Naruto who prepared Kakashi for entry and Kakashi who was screaming for more. The normally controlled Copy-nin was anything but controlled in the bed and Naruto loved making him lose that calm facade he wore during the day. He spent most of every day planning how he would make it disappear that night. He truthfully hadn't given any thought to getting Baa-chan back for setting them up like she had. But that didn't mean he wouldn't.

When they were both sated he lay beside his lover stroking the silver hair and murmuring endearments as Kakashi lay there trying to remember what they had been talking about before. Finally it came to him and he turned to Naruto to ask, "What do you mean what else she's planning? What else could there be?"

"I'm not sure yet. I just know she wouldn't put this much effort into anything but drinking and hiding her stash from Shizune nee-chan if she didn't have something else she wanted from us."

"Crap. Now I won't be able to relax until we find out," Kakashi pouted. Naruto trailed a finger across those pouty lips and giggled.

"I think if you keep pouting you aren't getting any sleep tonight," he whispered. Kakashi sucked the finger into his mouth and proceed to treat it like a lollipop, twirling his tongue around the digit until Naruto pulled it out to replace it with his own tongue. Long slender fingers found and played with taunt nipples as their owner proceed to get a rise out of his lover for the second time that night. He ground his hips into the blond causing the younger man to grab his head and pull him in closer to deepen the kiss. But Kakashi stayed in control refusing to be swayed a second time into losing himself to the domination of the blond. He trailed his lips to Naruto's ear and huskily whispered, "My turn," before swirling his moist tongue into the ear sending a delicious shiver through Naruto who dug his nails into Kakashi's back thrusting his hips upward hoping to find that warmth again. Kakashi called upon the small amount of chakra he could use here and held it on his fingertips as he drug them slowly over the sensitive skin around the seal on Naruto's belly. They'd found the seal was incredibly sensitive and even Kyuubi could feel it when Kakashi used chakra on it to enhance Naruto's pleasure. Unbeknown to Tsunade, the two were bonded. Kyuubi had bound them together that first night in the inn knowing damn good and well her container would never tell the man how he felt otherwise. And she was damn tired of waiting for him to settle down.

Three days later they were spending more and more time in or near the bed as they grew more and more bored with their accommodations. Still they said and did nothing to give any indication of whether or not they were an actual couple or if they were just taking advantage of the fact that they were stuck and there was nothing better to do with their time. Jobah sent a message to Tsunade telling her he was releasing them before they stopped getting out of bed for anything at all. She laughed wickedly at that but agreed it was time for them to come home. They'd been away on longer missions but she found she had really missed them this time.