Kakashi led his way into his apartment, small and seemingly unobtrusive for the loner that Kakashi was. In truth it looked like he might have just moved in with how sparse that things looked. The walls remained bare, he not wanting to waist the time to ruin his security deposit by nailing a hole in the brick for the sake of décor. Boxes cluttered underneath his bed and there was an unsurprising lack of possessions and fresh groceries.
The few things that Aoba eyed casually as he wandered around his living room were the sequential pictures of the teams that he had been assigned to over the years. The team with Rin and Obito were the first on his right, which Kakashi noticed he passed over without so much of a second glance at, but carefully picked up the next in succession. He offered Aoba a glass of water as he inspected the photos, the Shiringen user spying him at the corner of his own eye at his odd behavior.
He had covered almost everyone in the photo as he inspected it, though not his pink haired student. Perhaps it was just how he picked up the photo, letting his thumb naturally cover everyone on the right as he perused.
Then it happened again to the next in line after replacing that one, and Kakashi was certain that his findings had not been misplaced. Especially with what came out of the younger jounin's mouth next.
"Shame she was so hung up on that Uchiha kid." He placed the frame back down and peered at the next, covering up the others in the photo with a well placed thumb.
"She's just looking for the right person," Kakashi couldn't stop himself. "I heard she was inquiring after weather you and Tenten were serious, seems she was sorely disappointed that you were." He handed the glass to the shinobi who was smudging his photographs.
"She was? Really? I mean, Tenten and I aren't serious, we're just friends." He stammered hastily.
Kakashi drew a lazy eye on the lanky man.
A large part of him hated himself for knowing, and he had a feeling he was burning in hell for all his pragmatic encounters with the weapon's mistress. Especially now.
A larger part of him felt increasingly bad for Tenten. The tension that Sakura unknowingly gave her with her former teammates was bad enough. The constant comparison weighed on that young girl heavily, and he was surprised that Tenten had rose above it all, leaving the past behind and never once holding a grudge, even when Sakura was able to train with the sannin over Tenten.
This might just be enough to send her over the edge.
Now, after all these years, the one person that the dark haired konoichi chose to place her sights on was just as head over heels in love with Sakura as her young genin team once was.
He had half a mind to kill Aoba on the spot for that folly alone.
And what the hell were they seeing in Sakura? The attraction was obviously lost on Kakashi that it boggle his mind and he left such thoughts for a time when maybe alcohol could perhaps help him warm up to such views. He tried hard not to roll his good eye at the love sick ninja in front of him.
Although part of him was happy that there was no attachment to his Tenten, the part that was attached to Sakura was wholly unappealing.
His Tenten.
"I'll get you a blanket," Kakashi spoke kindly; "it's getting late."
…..
"I need a favor," Kakashi approached the pinkette with reservation. He was using his serious voice, which perked her interests greatly. She shifted her weight on her feet and turned to face him, even as she slid files on a clipboard, preparing to make her morning rounds.
The hospital buzzed with the sounds of a morning parade, the regiments of pills slogging in bins, machines methodically beeping and the sterile smell of antiseptic that Kakashi had learned to loath. Just being in the hospital agitated him even when he wasn't dying. The act of actually going to it of his own volition spoke of the gravity of his desperation.
"It's about Aoba," he began, not quite knowing where to start.
"Oh, is he here?" the medic nin looked on tip toe above his shoulders and down the hall, unconsciously flattening her medical coat with her hands against her body and running a hand through her hair. The primping was brief, but hadn't escaped the former sensei's notice.
Well, he'd be damned. She liked him, too. Of all the fool things…
"He was wondering if you were free tonight," Kakashi began before he even realized he started, "wanted to run over some stuff with you over dinner at his place, couldn't ask you himself, was busy this morning on a mission."
His former charge blushed furiously, turning the same shade as her hair as she suddenly placed her gaze at her feet to avoid his blank look.
It was just too easy.
He would realize his mistake later as he watched the scene play out at Aoba's place later that night. He had informed Aoba of the med-nin's arrival and he had been more than just a little floored and excited about such an encounter.
What he didn't anticipate, was for Tenten to show up. She stood on his stoop, ready to knock when she had heard the muffled laughter on the other side of the door.
Kakashi hated himself as he watched. She peered surreptitiously in the window to check out who Aoba was entertaining. She was certainly shocked to find out it was the pink haired girl, and she leaned crestfallen into the door like she had just received a lethal blow.
Recovering quickly after another round of playful laughter hit her through the entrance barrier, she took off with determination and urgency away from the hurtful noise.
Kakashi sighed, reviling himself for arranging the pair. Jumping down in persuit, he soon realized that he could not find an ounce of chakra to even formulate any kind of search. She had vanished again.
Kakashi drew heavy steps on his way through the streets of Konoha, eventually taking himself to the well weathered buildings of the east side.
Slowly, he pushed the paint-cracked door ajar and shuffled through the threshold, mentally reproving his actions over the last week.
So lost in thought was he, that he hadn't noticed the shinobi on his bed until she spoke, flicking tiny cream papers to the ground like confetti.
"How does this help?" she queried with contempt, "this one just says 'have a nice day' how is that even a fortune?" she filed through them, reading each one and then tossing it unceremoniously away from her. They landed in a scattered pile after fluttering in little u-shapes through the air like shiny white leaves. Her jaw was taunt, firmly set in her conviction that enlightenment lay within the confines of the tiny papers as she sifted through each one.
"Tenten," Kakashi ventured towards her cautiously, "I'm sorry."
She flipped another one over, reading the lucky numbers on the back as if she hadn't heard him.
"I don't want your pity, it wasn't your fault." She said flatly, still scrutinizing the slips of paper in her hands. She tossed another with a flick of her wrist. Kakashi cringed, full of shame.
"Yes, it was." He admitted contritely, confessing his guilt with closed lids.
"Trouble comes to those who meddle," she repeated the pericope-like diatribe and launched another scrap to her periphery.
"Tenten," his words escaped him. She sat soberly on the edge of the bed, cradling the small black box in her hands like a precious gift.
She peered into its contents, expecting a revelation to suddenly immerge and lift the foggy haze of uncertainty from her mind. There were no more slips left to be haphazardly flung around. No kind of explanation from Kakashi to ease her pain. She looked entirely too much like the box that lay lifeless in her hands: empty and bereft.
Then she raised her head with those liquid brown eyes, watery from long moments gone without blinking.
Then, quite suddenly, her demeanor changed, shifting her pathetic look to one with a smirk. It had happened within the blink of an eye; an imp replaced the aphotic trance her puppy eyes had emitted.
His fey had returned.
Her intent was very methodic as she slowly lifted herself off the bed and headed towards Kakashi.
Frozen with fear and curiosity, he stood wide-eyed to her approach and concentrated on taking in air at an even pace.
"You've done a lot of meddling, Kakashi," she chastised in a low voice, one that almost sung out a melody of "you've been naughty."
He could only nod, mesmerized by the viridity that emulated from her proximity. She was alive with emotion and intent. He patiently awaited for whatever the konoichi had in store for him.
Then she switched gears again, like the snap of a twig or a gust of wind from the wrong direction.
"I don't want to be another notch on your bed post," she locked her eyes with his, "so go find someone else. I'm not interested." Her tone was quite firm, the conviction real and effortless. The anger behind her eyes flared, but she held her position.
So that's what this was about? That was why she chose Aoba to set her affections on? Perhaps his former student, Sakura, had left a bigger impression on her that he had initially suspected; Tenten was afraid that she couldn't find someone to love her for who she was. She wasn't interested in one-night-stands because they were meaningless rituals that didn't fulfill that need for a companion that truly appreciated her.
The epiphany caused the tables to turn and Kakashi pulled off his mask and hitai-ate so that there was no doubt of his intentions.
Stunned, the twin-bunned female took a retreating step backwards in an attempt to properly judge his unmasked visage before ascertaining what kind of machinations the silver-haired shinobi had up his sleeves.
Like a cornered animal she retaliated, "I am not interested in your games!" she cried, but this did not deter his steps towards her.
Even as he approached he could tell that her body language spoke a whole different language than the words coming out of her mouth. She may have tried to fight him off with her words, but her body screamed for him to touch her. She backed into the side of his bed, cornered and hypnotized at his oncoming advance.
Then the practical side of Tenten's brain attempted to override her body's instincts. She squeezed her eyes shut as if praying for patience to ground herself and rationalize the situation. She was going to try to talk him out of it amicably, and Kakashi would have none of that. So when she finally opened her eyes to mediate the situation diplomatically, he swooped.
In one fluid motion he captured his mouth with hers and gently tackled the konoichi to his bed.