Chapter 13

There was movement within his apartment. None of his hounds were acting up, so he didn't pay it much mind and groggily opened his eyes, instead of springing into action. Guy was holding a rucksack. A bulging rucksack that threatened to burst open at a moment's notice.

"Guy?" Kakashi grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. "What are you doing?"

"I have bought every single pregnancy test kit there is," Guy stated proudly, and tipped out the bag filled with a mini avalanche of pregnancy tests that went spilling across the table and on to his floor. Pakkun yelped as he was buried then swept away, and the others scrambled for cover. "Now you have the finest selection in Konoha!"

"I don't think I need over a hundred test kits, Guy." Kakashi winced. Guruko was trying his best to dig out Pakkun. "Did you clear out Konoha for this?"

"I bought extra just in case." Guy beamed.

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Guy, go return these."

"No, you shall use one half, and I the other, and we shall see who gets our results the quickest!"

"You're an Alpha. You'll get a negative," Kakashi said dryly.

"Yes, but can I piss quicker than you?"

He was too tired for this conversation, but before he could lay back down Guy scooped him up and carried him to the bathroom. "Let's go, my eternal rival!"

"I haven't even had breakfast yet," Kakashi complained.

"I will make some then. If I can't do that during our contest then I shall-"

"You are not peeing on a stick and making me breakfast at the same time," Kakashi growled. "I will hurt you."

Guy laughed sheepishly. "Perhaps I shall not multitask at this contest then."

"That sounds like a brilliant idea. Now, lets get this over with so I can get my carpet back."

.::.

"I have cleared out all my tests, Kakashi!" Guy beamed. "How about you?"

Kakashi glowered and gestured at the floor filled with empty boxes and pregnancy sticks. "Guy, I haven't been able to use the bathroom by myself since you created this challenge. I think you know how this has turned out."

"You just needed to keep drinking more water," Guy insisted. "And you left all your sticks facing the floor."

Kakashi sighed. "Yes, Guy, because I'm in denial. I don't know what I'm going to do, I could be pregnant, me of all people. How am I suppose to care for a child? I can barely take care of three twelve year olds. I can't be a parent, but... But at the same time this could be a baby and I'm tired of hurting children-"

Kakashi scowled when tears burned at his eyes. "And for the love of the Sage, my emotions are everywhere! I don't even need to look at the test, do I? I'm going to fuck this up, Guy. It's me. I fuck everything up all the time-"

"That's not true, Kakashi." Guy shoved the tests out the way, kneeling before him. Kakashi didn't get a chance to retreat, Guy took his hands and squeezed them gently.

"Of course it is," Kakashi scoffed. "Mother, father, Obito, Rin, Minato Sensei and Kushina, along with the entire Uchiha Clan except Sasuke and Izumi. They are all dead-"

"And none of those are your fault," Guy said firmly.

"Sure, I was too young to protect my mother, she died when I was two on a mission. But I was stupid enough to leave my father alone. I let him fool me into thinking he was getting better and I walked away when he needed me most. You saw the outcome of that, you were the one who found us days later. Then Obito? If I had learned my lessons earlier I could have saved him, and he could have saved Rin from me. It was my hand that went through her chest, my Chidori-"

Guy's frown deepened. "She threw herself in front of you."

Minato never should have told Guy. Why did he have to tell Guy?

So he could remind us that it was Rin who did it? That we tried to protect her-

"That doesn't matter-" Kakashi snapped, at both his stupid Omega and his best friend.

"And your father made his choice. It wasn't a healthy one, not for you or him, but that wasn't your decision. He made sure it wasn't. The same thing for Rin. She made that choice to protect Konoha. And before you start on about Minato-san and Kushina-san, you and I were both sent off the battlefield. None of us could save them. If you are at fault, then so am I, and Asuma, and Kurenai. As for the Uchiha Clan, you were not responsible for them. You were not responsible for Itachi. You might have been his Captain once, but that doesn't mean you were meant to raise him."

Kakashi's eyes burned, and he sniffled, trying to stop the tears. "I don't like this. I feel out of sorts..."

Guy smiled warmly, eyes soft. "Of course you are! You were almost kidnapped by Kumo, then kidnapped by some random Alpha who slept with you and bonded to you. Then you were told that the contraception pill you take is actually a lie by the people we are supposed to trust. You're stressed, Kakashi. I'm not even in your shoes and I'm freaking out about it." Kakashi startled when Guy's thumb carefully brushed away his tears gathering in his eyes, releasing one of his hands. "But you will handle this, as you have with everything in your life. And this time you will not be alone. You have me, you have my team, you have Izumi, your pack of hounds, Tenzo and your own team of genin as well. They might not be as amazing as my team, but I suppose they can help somewhat-"

Kakashi laughed, a wet, strangled laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "That confident in your team, huh?"

"Of course. They're fiery youths!" Guy threw him a big thumbs up. "Now, feel ready to brave this new challenge?"

Kakashi braced himself and picked up the pregnancy stick. Guy grinned at him, and reached out his hand when he hesitated, but Kakashi shook his head and took a deep breath. Slowly he turned it over and opened his eye to read the result.

Pregnant.

His heart fluttered, but Guy braced him, hugging him tight, his scent flooding the room with comfort. Kakashi eased himself against Guy and stared at the test, thoughts surprisingly blank.

"I really am pregnant."

Guy nodded. "You're not alone, my friend. I'm here and willing to help, with all of my passionate youth!"

Kakashi couldn't help but smile at that. He believed him. He believed Guy would do everything he could to help, and Kakashi couldn't help but relax in his embrace.

"I have already bought as many pregnancy books I could find. I placed them in a scroll to empty out later-"

Kakashi scowled. "I swear if you cause another mini avalanche on my floor I'll be pissed, Guy. My dogs only just survived that."

Guy laughed sheepishly. "Perhaps on my floor then."

.::.

By the Sage, Guy really had bought every pregnancy book in Konoha. Guy's floor was drowned in books, and Kakashi hated seeing books discarded on the floor like that, but there was nowhere else for them to go.

"Guy..." Kakashi sighed softly. "How did you afford this?"

Guy beamed. "I've made myself a challenge to repay my debts by next week!"

"I'm giving you money-"

"No!" Guy gasped, horrified. "I will never beat your ANBU team if you try to give me anything. We have made a commitment to you, but this is also our challenge as your friends to give you everything you and your pup needs."

"There's something wrong with you people," Kakashi grumbled. "And that's coming from me."

"I shall be a winner!" Guy grinned fiercely. "Otherwise I shall have to do six thousand laps around Konoha."

Kakashi picked up the first book, and smiled fondly. "Well, how about we have a new challenge then?"

"Oh?" Guy spun eagerly on his heel, throwing him a thumbs up once he finally finished his drama. "What shall it be?"

"Reading these baby books. I love books, but even I'm going to have trouble reading all this by myself."

"Say no more, Kakashi! My esteemed rival, you and I shall see who can read the most books by the end of the month. If I lose I shall do eight thousand push-ups while reading as my training for our next battle! What shall you do, my rival?"

"Buy baby supplies?" Kakashi offered tentatively.

"Ah, maybe not, my dear rival. Team Ro has already beaten me to that."

Kakashi paused. "How do they know I'm already pregnant? I just took the test."

"They didn't, but they wanted to be prepared."

Kakashi stared blankly at Guy. "Guy, how long have you had those books for?"

Guy sweat dropped.

Kakashi smiled sweetly. "And you wouldn't happen to know if one of Team Ro is stalking me right now, would you?"

Guy grew pale, and began to laugh nervously. "Ah, Kakashi, I actually made you some cookies to try out!" he said uneasily. "How about you have some now? It's chocolate chip, but I made sure they wouldn't be too sweet-"

"I think you, Team Ro and I need to talk about limits," Kakashi insisted, grasping Guy's shoulder when he tried to bolt. "Oh no, Guy, you can't leave. You said you would be with me for my pregnancy. Didn't you?"

.::.

Izumi swore she heard Guy scream and shivered.

She was not touching whatever made him sound so terrified with a ten foot pole. He could handle whatever it was himself, and if he couldn't?

Well, it was nice knowing him.

.::.

Tenzo slipped into Kakashi's apartment to water Mr. Ukki while Guy was being their meat shield- distraction, yes, definitely a willing distraction. He knew Kakashi was going to get pissed off when he realised how much they intended to smother him in help, but really, it was for Kakashi's own good.

Especially now that he was confirmed pregnant. There was a giant bag full of pregnancy tests, but one sat in its case on the bathroom shelf. Positive stuck on the test's screen.

Kakashi would be going through a rough patch right now, and Tenzo wanted to do his best to help.

Team Ro were excited to help too. Yugao was buying toys for babies, Ko was trying to determine what colour would best be suitable to buy, or if they should buy multiple pieces of furniture with a variety of colours for Kakashi to choose from when they presented it to him, and Tenzo was trying to pick out baby books. Nara (whose first name they did not know and it was driving them all crazy) was buying more blankets and pillows so Kakashi could nest easier, and Gazeru was working on stealing some of Guy's books so they could read them.

It was either that or go outside Konoha to find pregnancy books, because Guy managed to get them all.

It was a challenge and Team Ro had accepted. Of course they were going to play dirty and steal off their opponent.

Now their main problem was buying Kakashi a new apartment. Kakashi's wouldn't fit half of the furniture Ko was planning to buy. He needed more room. But Kakashi might actually put on the Hound mask and terrorise them for a year if they bought him a fancy apartment, or a house.

Maybe Tenzo could just build him one?

"I've finished stocking up his fridge and freezer," Yugao said. "And I've prepared some snacks he can have when he's finished beating up Guy."

"Good, Kakashi's apartment is nearly sorted then. Izumi is the next target."

"Why do we go cleaning our former teammates houses anyway?" Yugao asked, stacking up some of Kakashi's reports, neatening the pile.

"Because we can't trust ourselves to keep healthy on our own," Tenzo said dryly, dusting the shelves. "So we need each other."

"Hayate and I do just fine," Yugao huffed.

"Exactly my point. You two live together."

Yugao smiled. "True." She hesitated. "What about Kakashi's bonded?"

Tenzo grimaced. "He held Kakashi hostage in order to secure my DNA, despite their bond. We have to protect Kakashi and the baby from him."

Yugao nodded. "We'll do our best. He may no longer be our Captain, but he was one of us for years."

Tenzo smiled. "Of course!"