AN: Yay! The sequel to Pieces! A whole 8 hours later! (Both in real time and in the story!) Just to warn you, the story title might change. Hope you enjoy. I'm going to attempt to bring in more characters in this story. If you have any requests for cameos, post it in a review. And a shout out to siriuscanid who reviewed every chapter of Pieces! Much love! I appreciate it.

Just a recap on my review policy. The more reviews I get, the sooner I post a new chapter. Seriously, I hold out for more reviews if I feel I can get more. So, if you can't wait for the next chapter, review and it will get there sooner (also, you can make requests and suggestions for scenes you might want to see. at this point, I'm just writing and I don't really have a plot anymore, but none of you seem to care so...)

In which Kakashi needs a new mask, Iruka needs an escape plan, and the ninja of the mission's room need a life.

"I think I'm in love."

Ibiki snorted but otherwise ignored the jounin perch on his desk.

"C-rank. The Hokage is allowing you to choose your own team. Report the team to one of his ANBU guards by sundown," he grunted to a chuunin.

The young woman beamed. It was her first mission as a squad leader and she didn't care that it was a C-rank. It just meant she'd be more able to prove her Hokage that she deserved this position.

Kakashi grimaced at the scroll as it was passed from the special jounin to the chuunin. The mission was most likely to baby sit the brat of some dignitary.

"You know she's pregnant, right?" the Copy Nin drawled, his visible eye following the woman out of the room.

"That's why her mission is to baby-sit some dignitary's brat," Ibiki responded as if it were obvious.

Kakashi blinked and smiled brightly. He loved it when he did that.

Ibiki just gave him a weird look before handing a genin cell squad leader a D-rank mission - probably having to do with weeding a giant plot of land that wouldn't be used for the next year and a half anyway.

"His team's not going to cut it this year, is it?" Kakashi prodded.

Ibiki gave him another weird look but didn't give away the conditions of this mission. Damn. His record was five in a row. Not that anyone would believe him.

Except Gai, but Kakashi was trying to avoid even thinking his fellow jounin's name. It had this weird habit of summoning him and Kakashi didn't need that now.

He did need Ibiki to stop ignoring him though.

"Why're you on mission desk duty anyway?"

"You know why," Ibiki growled, tearing a mission report from the unfortunate hands of another chuunin. Poor man had some pretty nasty paper cuts if the blood stains on the side of the paper was anything to go by.

He did know why. The bandages would still get blood stained after a few hours, after all. Kakashi briefly wondered if Ibiki would start donning a bandana instead of the normal headband or display his new cork screw scars for the world to see.

He'd have to finish shaving the rest of his hair off, of course, or he'd be laughed off the battlefield…

"Yea, but if you have desk duty you have to council love sick jounin," Kakashi huffed. "And you're not doing that, so you obviously shouldn't be on desk duty."

Ibiki rolled his eyes but relented.

"In love, huh?"

"Yep!"

Kakashi's happy crescent was back as he practically beamed at the older man.

"With?"

Silver hair flopped about as Kakashi shook his head rapidly.

"Can't tell you, you'd just make fun."

The head of torture and investigations would have rolled his eyes again if that hadn't been the answer he was expecting.

"She or a he?" he asked, sure that some prodding would placate the jounin.

"He."

This time there was no practically about it; Kakashi positively beamed at Ibiki.

"And I don't get to know his name."

"Well, I can tell you that he's no fish surfing the waves."

Ibiki's blank look was almost instantly replaced by a look of understanding.

"Umino? You're in love with Umino?"

He wasn't sure if the word happy could be applied to a nod, but Kakashi came damn close.

"And how long have you known Umino?"

This finally made Kakashi frown.

"Well, technically, I've known him for…" Hmm, the number of hours wouldn't go over well in Ibiki's book, change tactics, "since yesterday afternoon."

If the face Ibiki was making was anything to go by, a description of the time didn't go over well either.

"You're in love with a baby chuunin after having known him for less than twenty-four hours?"

Kakashi was about to shrug but decided to humor the man and think it over.

"Well," he finally relented, "I suppose love isn't quite the right word."

"So what is?"

"Obsessed with teasing him in new and provocative ways until he snaps and kills one of his little chuunin friends?"

Ibiki rolled his eyes this time.

"That's a crush, dumbass."

"Huh." Kakashi tilted his head and gazed at a genin thoughtfully. The genin, catching his eye, shrunk back against his jounin teacher, who shot Kakashi a dirty look and pushed her team out of the mission's room before returning. "Have I ever had a crush before?"

"How the hell should I know? If you want to know about your love life, go as G-agh!"

The mission's room got very quiet then. Ibiki was glaring death at Kakashi, whose one visible eye was wide in horror.

Everyone else was staring at the scroll that had been shoved into Ibiki's mouth.

It only lasted a few seconds, really, but no one would ever forget seeing the legendary Copy Nin shove an entire mission's scroll into the head of torture and investigations' mouth. The jounin teacher was sorry she just shooed her genin away. They would have loved this.

"What the HELL, HATAKE?!"

"You can't say his name," Kakashi hissed, eye darting around to make sure that the Green Beast wasn't lurking in the crowd. "He always knows and I am not discussing this with him!"

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"

With a strangled groan, Kakashi disappeared into a cloud of smoke and leaves.

Hands down, best justu ever.

Unfortunately, Gai had this uncanny ability of being able to follow Kakashi everywhere.

"Beloved Rival, the flower of your heart is in bloom! You must accept that this is the-"

He was cut off as Kakashi stopped his mad dashing across the rooftops and rounded on him.

"I swear, Gai, if you say Springtime of my Youth, I will set those precious eyebrows of yours on fire."

Gai seemed unfazed by this.

"So you've accepted this! We must find your suitor! The dating process is a fickle thing and…"

Kakashi groaned and prepared himself for a long, awful lecture.

Iruka, accompanied by Anko and Genma, walked into the mission's room to be met with excited whispers. He'd been in the room a couple hundred times before, but only a few times had it been in such a muted uproar.

Even more odd than that was the presence of Ibiki Morino sitting behind one of the mission's desks.

"Hey! Morino!"

Genma winced at Anko's shout, but Iruka was more interested in the way Ibiki was staring at him.

The boys let themselves be pulled toward the desk; infuriating Anko, not a good idea (especially for Genma, who was still bruised from when Anko found him with her underwear in his back pocket).

"What the hell's going on here?"

Ibiki turned to Anko - though Iruka noticed the nin's eyes dart to him occasionally - and snorted.

"You know jounin, always have to cause a scene."

"Yea, yea, but which one? And what'd he do?"

Dark eyes fell on Iruka once again, but only for a second.

"You know Hatake? Just him shoving something someplace were it ain't meant to be."

A year before, Iruke would have worn his shock very clearly across his face. This year, a chuunin with more control over his emotions, he was able to keep the surprise in his hardly-at-all-audible squeak. Fortunately, Anko let out a terrifying laugh at the same time.

The grin on Anko's face spelled out just what she was thinking. If her opening mouth was any indication, she was about to voice those thoughts.

Luckily for everyone in earshot, Genma didn't want to hear it.

"Hey, we were told that we had a mission we needed to do?"

Ibiki gave him a look as if sizing him up before nodding toward a ruined scroll. It was bent in the middle and for some reason wet… What the hell could do that to a scrool?

"That'd be the one. Looks like you guys get off lucky today. Congratulations."

"Hot damn!" Anko exclaimed, punching Genma in the back in her excitement. "Day off!"

"Damn it woman!" Genma cried, shoving Anko towards Iruka. "Just stop hitting me already!"

Iruka smiled sheepishly for his teammates behavior and was about to excuse them when Ibiki grabbed his wrist.

Wide, chocolate brown eyes stared at the other's hand before following the appendage up to Ibiki's face.

"Is there something I can help you with, Morino?"

"You're Iruka Umino, yea? Just passed the chuunin exam last month?"

Iruka nodded, knowing it wasn't necessary. Ibiki Morino knew the face of every ninja in Konoha, whether he'd spoken to them before or not.

"You're a little old to have just passed the chuunin exam, aren't you? The normal age is thirteen. You have to be at least fifteen."

Iruka bristled at this.

"I'll have you know, Morino, that I am in fact sixteen-years-old," Iruka said, his voice sounding far too polite considering the words but taking on a biting edge. Someday, this would be the voice he used for a student that had just crossed the line. For now it'd have to settle to be used on special jounin. "While that may not be up to your standards, I am quite capable for my rank. Now, if you would excuse us, Anko, Genma, and I will be heading off to lunch."

With that, Iruka spun on his heel and marched out of the room. Genma shot Ibiki a startled look before following, dragging Anko who was immobilized by her own laughter.

Ibiki snorted, rather amused. So the baby chuunin had a bit of ire to him. And he didn't miss that slight about the ranks. That boy had balls if he thought it a good idea to put Ibiki Morino down for not quite making jounin.

Maybe Kakashi wasn't so weird for this one. After all, with a temper like that, Iruka might snap enough to kill one of his chuunin friends.