After sitting down in the pool, he took a deep breath and sank beneath the water, leaving only his right arm resting on a rock at the edge.
Holding his breath underwater, he pressed his left thumb against the radial artery in his right wrist and counted his heartbeat. A hot bath raised the heart rate-that was a normal physiological response-but he wanted to measure how high his could rise in the hottest part of the pool.
At the sixtieth beat, he heard an extremely faint sound that did not belong to the flowing water.
It came from the bamboo partition-the sound of something gently shifting against the bamboo.
Guy opened his eyes underwater.
Through the mist between the middle and upper pools, he saw a blurry figure crouched in a corner on the men's side of the bamboo partition.
It was not someone taking a bath. Bathers did not crouch beneath bamboo partitions in full Jonin uniform.
The figure's silver hair was almost invisible in the white steam, but the orange cover of the small paperback in his hand stood out sharply.
Paradise of Passion.
Kakashi.
Guy surfaced silently, leaving only his eyes and nose above the water.
He said nothing-not because he wanted to cover for him, but because he wanted to see what excuse Kakashi would use this time.
Kakashi crouched beneath the bamboo partition, holding Paradise of Passion in his left hand, with his right index and middle fingers pressed together against one of the bamboo poles.
Between the joints of that pole was a very narrow crack, perhaps only two millimeters wide. Through it, he could see hazy steam on the women's side and the occasional passing silhouette.
His Sharingan was not exposed. His forehead protector still properly covered his left eye. He had merely