Author's note: Iruka's been bugging me about this story for a while now, but I've been having trouble getting all the details from him. He keeps blushing. Just know that it takes place during the time skip and will contain a romance between two very beautiful boys, who aren't mine, but if they were...

Iruka was bored. Looking back on it that was the only explanation he could come up with for his behavior. He was bored.

It's not that he didn't have enough to do. Far from it. Between his classes and working the mission desk and helping out the Hokage and all the other things that filled his days, he certainly had enough to keep him busy. But, except for teaching, most of that had become routine and he often found that he only had to keep part of his mind on what he was doing.

Even his classes had become more manageable. He had a good number of lesson plans stocked away, ready to adapt for the current batch of students. He'd gotten the hang of how to grade quickly and fairly, so even that took up less time than when he'd first started teaching, unless he assigned something large like an essay or research paper.

For the most part this new found efficiency gave him a sense of accomplishment and pride, but it also gave him a lot more time to think and lately he'd been thinking that something was missing.

Wandering home one evening after a particularly quiet stint on the mission desk, Iruka picked at the feeling, like a scab that had begun to itch. Was it just that he was missing Naruto? True, with the boy off training and the immediate threats to the village lessened, things had been quieter. But this was more than that.

Rounding a corner, he spotted Gai striking a particularly vivid pose in front of someone Iruka didn't recognize. Gai was always good for a moment's entertainment, so Iruka moved closer, hoping to be able to eavesdrop, maybe pick up a bit of gossip to share with Genma tomorrow.

"Come, My Esteemed Rival! You Must Agree that Today is a Fine Day for a Challenge!!" Gai grinned at the mud-splattered form slumped in front of him.

"Not today, Gai, please." As the hunched blob drawled out a reply and tried to slink past the green spandex, Iruka realized that it was Kakashi. The man looked terrible. His hair hung in lank strands instead of its usual gravity defying shape. Its silver color was hidden under a layer of what appeared to be algae. The rest of Kakashi was splotched with mud. Here and there small cuts bled sluggishly, adding their reddish color to the dirt covering Kakashi's uniform.

"But You Must Always Be Vigilant, Ready to Stand and Fight for the Honor of Konoha and Our Esteemed and Youthful Hokage! That is Why We Must Train and Test Each Other's Skills!!" Gai's smile intensified, something Iruka wouldn't have thought possible previously.

With each watt that Gai gave off, Kakashi seemed to melt into himself even more. When he spotted Iruka, he turned his one visible eye on the chuunin and stared. Iruka was struck by the redness in and around Kakashi's eye. He looked exhausted. He had obviously just returned from a mission, but Iruka had seen him after previous missions and he'd never looked this bad. The feeling Iruka had been picking at twinged and he suddenly wondered how Kakashi felt about Naruto and Sasuke leaving and the dissolution of his team.

Something in Kakashi's red-rimmed eye called out to Iruka and he found himself stepping forward and saying, "Gai, I'd be happy to challenge you." His inner Iruka screamed that he had lost his mind, but he ignored it, as he often did nowadays, and smiled cheerfully at Gai and Kakashi.

Gai was miraculously silent for a moment, as if Iruka had caught him off guard. He looked from the chuunin teacher to his long time rival and seemed to consider both of them. Finally returning his suddenly perceptive gaze to Iruka, he grinned slowly and said, "I accept your challenge, honorable sensei. Thank you."

The lack of capital letters should have alerted Iruka that something was up, but he was too busy staring into Kakashi's eye, still trained on him blearily.

Gai placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Rest, my rival, so that you will be ready for future challenges." Kakashi nodded mutely and slunk off into the night.

Turning to Iruka, Gai said, "Come, Iruka-sensei, let us go discuss the terms of our challenge. Over ramen? My treat." Iruka followed, wondering what in the hell he'd gotten himself into and if he would maybe have been better served by taking up crochet or alligator wrestling.

Oh, well. At least he wouldn't be bored anymore.