A/N: And I apologize for the late update. (I seem to be apologizing to people too much recently.) Handling four stories/different genres was much more than I thought I could take.

Sidenote: This is a bit of a comic relief omake chapter, but the plot should move quickly along after this. Enjoy. And savor the happiness before I dwelve into angst.


"Yo!" Kakashi congratulated himself on his new record as he dropped in through the Academy School's window. He was late…for only seven minutes.

The chattering died down to a stunned silence as Kakashi took his place in front of the class. "Yo," the Copy-nin tried again. "I'm Hatake Kakashi and I'll be your teacher today. Call me Kakashi-sensei." He flashed the children his trademark smile.

A kid in the front row raised his hand timidly. "Um, Kakashi-sensei…?"

"Hm?"

"If Iruka isn't here today, then how would we get our assigned squads?"

Kakashi waved his folder in the kid's face. "That's why I'm here. I'm doing the dirty work for Iruka in his place. Since you brought it up, I'll start with you. Name?"

"Eh…Kiba Inuzuka?"

"Figured you were an Inuzuka. Alright, let me look through this mess of papers…" Kakashi spread the papers out onto Iruka's desk. "Oh! You're with Kurenai-san. Your other two team members will be Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga."

Kiba opened his mouth to say something else, but a blond-haired boy in front of him beat him to it. "What about me, sensei! Who am I with?"

"Name?" The Copy-nin had a good guess on who the hyperactive boy was already.

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

Kakashi didn't even bother looking through the mass of papers. "Well, Naruto, you're teamed with a Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

"EEEEEEEE!" A pink-haired girl sitting next to Kiba screamed loudly, interrupting the copy-nin. "I'm with Sasuke-kun!"

Kakashi sighed. "And I'm your sensei."

"YOU?" Naruto stared wide-eyed at the Copy-nin.

"Yes, me. Now will you sit down, Naruto? I have several other squads to assign." The copy-nin was beginning to regret taking the job. How Iruka even managed to survive an entire year was a miracle in itself.

Naruto sat down slowly, squirming in his chair with happiness.

"All right then…" Kakashi looked through the list once more. "Eh…great. Where was I again?"

"Kakashi-sensei?" A familiar-looking young boy raised his hand from the middle row.

Kakashi frowned at the boy. That ponytail and that lazy look…he looks so much like his father. "Yes, Shikamaru?"

The genin looked slightly surprised at Kakashi's knowledge of his name, but continued on with his question. "Who will be our sensei?"

"Our?"

"Yeah. Ino, Chouji, and I. They put my dad with their dads; I bet they did it with us too," Shikamaru explained.

After some time of flipping, Kakashi finally found Shikamaru's name. "Asuma Sarutobi," he read from the paper. "Hey, you're with Asuma!"

Shikamaru frowned at the name, and then leaned his head back on the table. "I see. Thanks."

Within thirty minutes, Kakashi had given everyone their assigned squads and senseis. As he set down Iruka's folder, the copy-nin took a sneak peek at the clock. 10:14 a.m. His job was far from over.

He rapped Iruka's desk for attention. "All right, kids. What does Iruka usually do now?"

"It's only 10 a.m. He usually taught us math and chakra basics during this time, but we've already learned everything." Ino, the blond-haired girl, spoke out.

"Where's Iruka-sensei anyways?" asked a fat boy next to her.

"Eh, well…" Kakashi scratched his head. "He didn't feel too well today so he's resting somewhere."

"Iruka-sensei's sick?" A purple-haired Hyuuga girl exclaimed with concern.

"Naw, he's going to be fine," Kakashi said, attempting to divert the topic. "I've got an idea, kids. How about we make a get-well card for him and decorate the room for a party for him? He might visit in the afternoon."

There was a moment of silence, then all the children cheered. "I'll do the paper mache," Sakura called.

"I'll make the card!" Kiba volunteered.

Kakashi settled back, a smug look on his face as he watched the kids fumble about. The Academy Teacher was indeed dearly loved by his own students. Hopefully, Iruka would like his idea of his kids throwing a party for him. No, no, the Dolphin Boy would love it. He chuckled to himself.

"Kakashi-sensei." Kiba handed a big and colorful cardboard to him. "Sign it, will you?"

The Copy-nin raised his eyebrows. "Sign it? Is this Iruka's card?" He accepted the cardboard and picked up a marker from Iruka's desk. Writing out a quick message, he handed the letter back to Kiba. "Make sure you get that to him." Kiba grinned at the Copy-nin and ran off.

Iruka's students worked hard for three hours, even forgetting lunch until Chouji began complaining. Kakashi oversaw the decorating himself, nodding approvingly at the paper mache and other various wall paintings.

"So how is it?" Ino inquired the Copy-nin. The kids waited anxiously for Kakashi's reply.

"Hmm…we seem to be missing something." Kakashi crossed his arms and studied the place. Then he brightened, remembering one of the most important aspects to a party. "The games! Yes, we forgot the games!"

"GAMES!" The children high-fived each other and cheered excitedly.

"You could set up Shuriken Toss, Pin-the-Ninja, and other games," Kakashi suggested. "I'll move the tables and chairs to one side of the room so we can have a bit of fun ourselves."

After setting up several game booths, the children began to enjoy themselves, participating in the games and tossing decorations around. Chouji even passed out extra bags of his barbeque chips; the kids shared the snacks amongst themselves.

"We'll wait for Iruka to come," Kakashi had said. "So let's start the party ourselves."

Caught up in their party, no one noticed a certain Chunin stumble in through the door.


"No, Iruka-san! You are NOT allowed out of the hospital grounds!" The receptionist in the lobby of the Konoha desk scurried out of her booth and towards Iruka. "I'll escort you back to your room immediately."

The Chunin chuckled, waving away the woman's offer for help. "I'll be fine," he reassured. "I got my cane with me and I haven't been in pain for almost an entire day now."

"But, Iruka-san, I was ordered to-"

"You'll keep it a secret, right?" Iruka interrupted. "It's for the kids. I know they're going to be worried about me."

The receptionist sighed. She knew Iruka had a certain reputation amongst his students and even heard about a time where dozens of kids barged into the hospital just to see thier beloved Chunin sensei. "Be back quick or I'll report this to the Hokage."

Iruka smiled. "Thanks." He staggered his way out of the hospital, leaning on his cane for support as he followed the path down to the Academy School.

As the Chunin neared the Academy School, he heard noises of excited screaming from outside the building. He frowned to himself, wondering what exactly Kakashi had done to rile up the kids. Iruka sighed; he'd find out the sooner or the later. Whatever it was, he knew it probably wouldn't impress him at all.

He approached the Academy classroom almost hesitantly, the excited voices of the children overwhelming him. It sounded like a party to Iruka and he wasn't amused to see he had guessed right when he pushed open the classroom door.

No one noticed him enter through the door; they were all busy with their games and chats. Iruka frowned at the condition of the classroom; from the painted walls, to the moved desks, the games on the floor, and the messy papers on his desk...wait...MESSY PAPERS?

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY REPORT PAPERS, KAKASHI?" Iruka roared, his temper getting the best of him. It had took him several day to organize all of his writings and now...

The class instantly quieted down, stunned at Iruka's outburst and his sudden appearance.

"Oh, eh, Iruka-sensei..." Kakashi smiled sheepishly, placing his toy shuriken onto the ground. "I didn't expect to see you here so soon..."

"But what did you do with my papers?"

"They were messed up in the party, Dolphin Boy," Kakashi tried to explain. "Don't worry, I'll fix-"

"Out!" Iruka pointed towards the door.

"Wha-!"

"Out. Now." Iruka glared at the Copy-nin with one of his scariest Teacher looks.

Kakashi rubbed his head guiltily and flashed a smile at the kids. "Someone's quite moody today so I'll be taking my leave!" He jumped out the window, ignoring Iruka's protests of rage.

Iruka turned his attention back to the genin as Kakashi disappeared into the distance. "Now as for you kids..." Iruka let his gaze fall on each and every one of his students. "I want all of this cleaned up. Now. No one is leaving until I see this classroom squeaky clean."

"But, Iruka-sensei, it was a party for you!" Naruto complained.

"An unnecessary one led by an infuriating man," Iruka said. He suddenly crumbled, barely holding onto his cane as a spasm of pain rushed through his body from his curse mark.

"Iruka-sensei!" The kids ran over to the Chunin.

"Are you alright?" Ino asked.

"Kakashi-sensei told me you fine," Sakura said, obviously worried.

Iruka shook his head, his anger melting at the concern of his students. "No, I'll be fine." Using his cane as support, he limped over to his desk and sat into the chair. "Now hurry up and go clean up, kids."

The genins nodded, scurrying to wipe away all signs of their small party. Several kids walked up to Iruka, presenting him with a big, cardboard card. "Kakashi-sensei suggested that we make you a Get-Well Card," Kiba said, shyly handing the Chunin the card.

Iruka accepted the huge cardboard cut-out, slightly amused at Kakashi's suggestion. "Kakashi did?"

Kiba grinned. "And we all signed it, sensei!"

Iruka smiled warmly at the Inuzuka, opening the card and reading through the messy messages and signatures his kids had written for him. "I'll tell the entire class thank you later, Kiba. Now go help the others." The Inuzuka nodded earnestly and ran off.

As Iruka was about to close the card and put it away, he noticed a small message scrawled in one corner of the card. "Iruka - You're a Irregular, Remarkable, Uncommon, Krazy, Academy Teacher. You should be proud of yourself...it's not everyday I see a dolphin blow off his top so quick; been drinking too much seawater?" Iruka was tempted to rip up the card, but continued to read Kakashi's message. The Copy-nin had horrible spelling and grammar mistakes, and the Chunin would make sure he teased Kakashi about that next time. "P.S. You know sea snakes like eating dolphins. Bit by bit too. You should be wary."

Iruka frowned. Sea snakes eating dolphins? Before he could decipher the meaning of the message, several genin came over, asking for water to clean the walls. The Academy Teacher put aside the card, Kakashi's message completely forgotten.


~Tenzo-kun