In Sakura's mind, there was no doubt that her former teacher, Hatake Kakashi, was the best of the best.

Which was why when he began to show up at her door every few months to borrow the next installment of "The Royal Romances," she was baffled. He had money he received from well paying jobs. The man had gone years buying and amassing his own collection of terrible books, so it made no sense to her that he came to her for these particular terrible books when he could buy his own. Then again, he was also famously stingy, having left her footing the bill on more than one occasion without an ounce of compassion for her impoverished wallet.

It all began when they were on a simple escort mission together. To combat him ignoring her by burying his nose in a book, she brought her own reading material so that she could ignore him. Ha!

Except it didn't really seem to bother him that much.

Which bothered her.

Still, she persisted, refusing to be the one to lose this battle. She soon forgot her private, one-sided battle with the Copy Nin and lost herself in the book. She didn't realize how loudly she was reading, little gasps of surprise at plot twists and giggles over witty banter, until Kakashi pointedly cleared his throat and asked, "Interesting read?"

"Oh yes, very." On the outside, she maintained her veneer of nonchalance, even though she wanted to do a victory jig. So he'd noticed that the little teacher's pet wasn't sucking up to him this time? Good. "I take it your book is interesting as well?"

"I've read this one before," he said, sighing. The binding had deep creases and the cover was worn. Ever since Jiraiya passed, no one had taken up the author's mantle. While Naruto had done it for a while, becoming Hokage had put that career on the backburner.

"Have you thought of giving other books a try? There are more out there, you know."

"I'm a very loyal reader." Kakashi feigned indignation, as if Sakura had implied he was some kind of book slut.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself."

She returned to reading, but it became clear that Kakashi was not as faithful as he claimed. He had weaknesses just like any other man. His eye wandered from time to time to read over her shoulder, although every time she turned to catch him at it, he appeared to be deeply fascinated by the railing of the boat. It went on like this for hours. There was little else to do on a boat journey along the coast while you accompanied a ridiculously wealthy, but paranoid client who required both guardians and a medical expert.

Sakura wasn't even sure how Kakashi got roped into the mission. It was certainly less than his usual paygrade these days ever since he stopped teaching. She, on the other hand, firmly needed the money and jumped at the opportunity when Tsunade tipped her off about it.

After a few hours of their little game, Sakura gave into pity. "Do you want to read it, sensei?"

Kakashi regarded the book she held out to him like it was an animal that might bite before formally accepting it with both hands. "Thank you. Also, you don't have to call me sensei anymore."

That was true. Sakura realized this long ago when she hit the jounin rank. It made Kakashi occupy an awkward space, because he was still someone she put up on a pedestal, which was fine when he was your teacher, but as a colleague that got weirder. She'd avoided calling him by any title, really, up until that moment where the force of habit made her tongue slip. She forced out a laugh, like it was a joke. "Oh, yea. Right. Should I call you senpai then?"

He shuddered. "Please don't."

"Hatake-kun?"

He somehow conveyed horror, despite only showing a quarter of his face, the rest being hidden under a mask and headband. "Kakashi is fine."

That seemed…intimate. She blushed involuntarily. "O-oh. All right."

His eye crinkled, telling her he was smiling before he turned his attention to the book. To her complete and utter shock, he finished the book in thirty minutes and turned right back around to return it to her. "You're done already?" she blurted out. The book was five hundred pages of convoluted drama and love plots.

"Fast reader."

"I've seen you read a single book for a year." She flipped through the pages suspiciously. "Did you even read it? What is the love interest's name?"

"Trick question. There are two love interests. Their names are Kurou and Sosuke." He crossed his arms and leaned against the railing. "I can read fast when I want to."

"So why do you take so long with your Icha Icha books?"

"I reread it for the details. Also, I can take as long as I like with what's mine."

"So which team are you on?"

"Pardon?"

"Team Kurou or Team Sosuke?" Among the fans who read the series, this was a serious issue of debate. Wars had been fought. T-shirts had been printed. Body pillows—ahem.

"Team Kurou. Obviously."

She snorted, jabbing a finger on the cover at the illustration of a ruggedly handsome man with a ponytail. "Okay now I know you didn't read it, because how can you conclude that Itsuko should end up with Kurou when Sosuke is her soulmate?"

"Kurou was willing to give up everything for her—status, wealth, his family—I was moved." He nodded to the other man on the cover, the one looking back longingly over his shoulder at the heroine while his robes drifted artfully in the breeze.

It went back and forth like this until they reached their destination, when their client bravely interrupted, "I liked Ouran."

This prompted the two nin to stare at him in disbelief.

As they watched him disembark at the dock, they muttered to each other.

"He really didn't get it."

"Ouran was the worst."

"I know, right?"

There was a brief pause in their judgment of their client's bad choices. Then Kakashi spoke up, "Do you happen to have the next one?"