"Shit."

The brown-haired man rolled over and threw an arm over his face to block out the sunlight spilling through the curtain-less window. Due to an incident a few weeks ago with his now deceased alarm clock, a kunai and a fire jutsu, the curtains were no more. He sneezed and promptly fell out of bed onto the hard wooden floor. The towel which had been wrapped around him last night was nowhere to be found this morning.

He left the bed unmade and walked slowly into the kitchen, walking into the door frame as he did so, his eyes still glued shut with sleep. Contrary to popular belief, Iruka was far from a morning person. He swore again at the sight of the empty cupboards before him but then decided he really couldn't be bothered to eat anything anyway, it wasn't like he usually had breakfast.

*****************************************************

Kakashi awoke the next morning, cold and stiff from sleeping in a tree two hundred yards away from the chuunin's apartment. For a moment he wondered why he was sleeping in a tree and in a fit of sleep-induced fear, deduced he had been captured by enemy nin, before his memory overruled the horrible thought and reminded him where he was.

He stood up on his branch just in time to see the tan chuunin fall out of bed with an inaudible crash before deciding he really had to see Gai.

*****************************************************

"Gai?"

The green-clad man spun around in mid air, dodging a kick from Lee who was doing his best to beat his sensei into a pulp. "My Eternal Rival! Surely you have not completed your challenge yet? If you have then I shall double my efforts and I will run not 30, but 60 times to Suna and back!"

"Ga-"

"On my thumbs, backwards and with no chakra to help me!" He posed, teeth sparkling and Lee scribbling in a notebook in the background.

"Gai, all I wanted to ask was do I have a time limit? And is he allowed to see me take it?"

"Ah, My Eternal Rival! Your Hip Attitude is Outstanding! You have until a week to complete your Youthful Challenge! And no, Fair Iruka-Sensei may not see you take his possessions!"

Kakashi nodded and quickly backed out of the clearing before he had anymore of Gai's 'youthful speeches' inflicted upon him. He didn't think he'd had enough time to recover from he last one yet. A week. Today was a Saturday, he had until next Saturday to find the damn thing and get hold of it without anyone, including the damn thing's owner seeing him.

***************************************************

The weekend came, and went, much to Iruka's displeasure, especially when he awoke on the Monday to find his hair all knotted from not brushing it for the duration of two days. On that hated first day back at school, he had not one, not two, but three escape attempts from Konohamaru and his gang of unruly pains. Not that he'd ever say it to their faces, but he'd so love to kick one of them right now.

He decided, settling down behind the desk in the mission's office, this day could only get better from now on.

"Hey Iruka." Genma waltzed in, senbon in his mouth as usual, winking at his colleague as he passed, flicking the pony tail.

Iruka's hand shot out as instinct, going to bat Genma's hand away as he did every time his friend came in, only to realise a second to late, that the hand he had hit Genma with was attached to the arm which was propping him up on the desk. SLAM.

"Owwwww" he moaned, cradling the side of his face where he'd hit the hard wooden surface, feeling for blood, but thankfully finding none. He heard a snigger from the far side of the room and glared at the woman sitting there behind the mountain of paperwork. Shizune glared back, evidently annoyed at being made to work in the mission's office.

*************************************************

"So Gai, did you manage?"

"I have challenged him to steal the Youthful Teacher's Hair Tie, with both of them in the Sprin-"

"Thank you, Gai!" She cut him off quickly, not wanting to hear anymore Gai-talk for the moment. It was times like this, she really wished for a drink. "How long have you given him?"

"A week, Hokage-Sama."

She nodded, looking thoughtful, wondering how long it would take Kakashi to get the band off the smaller man, and if he could do it without having to be dragged back to the hospital afterwards.