Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I may not own Naruto but I'm willing to pay money to own Iruka! Or if not him…Shikamaru?

Warning: Still fluffy ^^; Akane-sensei, races, and ramen fights!

Rating: Still P.Gish.

Pairing: Mainly KakaIru; hints of SasuNaru

Feedback: Any will be adored, printed out and drooled over. Flames will be used to fan the fires of my imagination to write more fics. What?! O_o I believe in using a person's weapon against them. *eg*

Author's Notes: *waves* Hi everyone! This is the next chapter like I promised.

Supreme thanks to everyone who took that time to read this story and reviewed on it! Makes my heart go *squee*!

I also want to thank everyone who wished me well! I feel a lot better! Though I'm currently at the stage were everything ouching! *rolls aching eyes* Fortunately, medication had proven to be our friend, since without it this chapter my have never been ready to post on time. The only truly terrible, and horrible part of being sick was that I didn't get the chance to go read other people's ficcies!

I crave fanfic! *sobs*

Ack, I also know that this chapter is full of screw ups because I didn't get to go over it as much as I would have liked. So, please, if you catch anything major, email me at JDML23@yahoo.com I plan to edit everything later.

Ok, enough of the boring author. Go on…read the chapter….*curls up to nap*

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The browned haired female teacher had just been walking through the shops trying to find some cloth to make into a new dress when she had seen Iruka Umino and Kakashi Hatake walking, and laughing together.

She had been instantly fascinated by them. Akane had watched them, wondering why such different men would be spending time together when she had seen Kakashi practically pin Iruka against a wall.

A light bulb should have appeared over her head when she had seen that. She was that enlightened and astonished.

She had never heard of Kakashi having interest in men. And Iruka, a sweet and innocent man, who probably wasn't even aware Kakashi's attraction to him. After all, it wasn't Iruka's fault that he didn't see how the jounin was practically draping himself all over him.

It wasn't until she had seen Iruka close his eyes, that she decided to rescue her fellow school teacher.

After she'd called out to him, Akane tried desperately to think up an excuse as to why she had barged in on the two men. Luckily, an idea came quickly to her mind.

She gave Kakashi a mild glare, not scared by the fact that he was a jounin while she was only a chunin, as she tried unsuccessfully to insinuate herself between the two men to protect Iruka from any of Kakashi's advances.

Finally, she was forced to actually pull Iruka away from the masked man to talk to him.

Akane completely ignored the glare shot her way from Kakashi's single visible eye.

She also didn't pay attention to the way that the jounin hovered, rather menacingly, at her back. The female teacher excused it as the manifestation of Kakashi's possessiveness over Iruka.

Akane gave Iruka a kind smile.

She saw him as the youngest teacher at the ninja academy but definitely one of the best. That all his students were chosen as the nine genins this year was extremely impressive. Especially so when it had been the first time all those students had taken the exam. Most teachers had a hard time passing any students on the first try, most took the genin exam a couple a times before they were accepted, if ever.

A lot of teachers would have been resentful to be so upstaged by a new and young teacher, but any negative feelings that they could have developed towards Iruka were destroyed by just talking to the young man.

His kindness, sweet nature and warm sense of humor charmed everyone of the older teachers. They had all grown rather protective of him too. Iruka was several years their junior, and that made a lot of the teachers treat him like a younger brother. Some of the female ninjas even lamented that they were married and weren't free to chase such an 'adorable' man.

"Iruka-sensei, how are you?" asked Akane with a sweet tone.

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking," answered Iruka. His brown eyes flickered over her shoulders to Kakashi. Akane noticed this and her eyes narrowed in thought.

"Do you already have a substitute to cover your class for your birthday?" she asked.

Before Iruka could answer her, Kakashi interrupted them. His voice was surprised as he asked, "It's your birthday soon, Iruka?"

"Yes, Akane-sensei. Someone is covering my class." Iruka looked up to give Kakashi a blushing smile. "And yes, Kakashi, my birthday is in a couple of days."

Akane raised the frame of her glasses with a finger as she turned to give Kakashi a surprised look. You would think that if a man was so interested in someone else that he would at least make the effort to know that person's birthday, she thought. Kakashi was not rising in her estimation. Iruka definitely deserved someone better.

She sniffed derisively, and returned to Iruka. The female teacher finally noticed the blush on the brunet's cheeks. She blinked.

Disappointment filled her. It seemed that she had been too late. Kakashi had already sunk his hooks into young and innocent Iruka.

Well, at least he looked happy, she thought to herself in consolation. She might as well stop getting in their way.

She backed away, giving Kakashi one last glare in which she silently warned him not to hurt Iruka or he would have to answer to her.

She would definitely be keeping an eye on the development of their relationship. And if she found Iruka suffering in any way, she mentally threatened Kakashi, He would have some very angry vengeful teachers on his hands.

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When the female teacher had begun to talk to him, it had taken fierce concentration for Iruka to listen to her words.

His normal obsession with Kakashi made him want to focus on the man rather than his fellow teacher. But this time the jounin wasn't helping because he kept making rude symbols behind the Akane-sensei's back.

Iruka even suspected the silver haired man of sticking his tongue out at the woman. Only the mask that Kakashi wore prevented the suspicion from solidifying into certainty.

He wanted to laugh at the Kakashi's childish actions but to do so would reveal the man to the female teacher. He actually had to bite down on the tip of his tongue when the jounin made bunny ears with his hands on Akane-sensei's head.

When Akane-sensei had mentioned his birthday, Iruka hadn't thought much of it until Kakashi expressed interest. Now his stomach was fluttering with nervousness at the thought that the silver haired jounin would use that information to get him a present.

He had to stop thinking like that. Iruka knew that if he let his hopes rise about getting a gift from Kakashi then he would be hurt if the jounin didn't get him anything.

And he didn't have to, thought Iruka to himself. They were barely becoming friends, and before today, they had merely known each other in passing. Hardly even acquaintances.

Iruka waved away his fellow school teacher as she finally left them. He fell back into step with Kakashi.

He never noticed that brief interval in which Kakashi had left them.

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Kakashi was annoyed at being interrupted.

He mourned the loss of opportunity to launch another tickle attack on Iruka. The man's giggles were infectiously adorable. He planned to look for another chance before the day was up.

The silver haired man found himself growing more and more irritated at the woman that had barged in on them as she constantly put herself between Iruka and him.

He was also baffled as to why that woman kept glaring at him. He didn't think that he had done anything to her. Unless Naruto had been the one to do that something and as his teacher he was now getting the blame for it.

It was a very plausible reason, Kakashi thought. It wouldn't be the first time.

The vague thought that maybe she could have feelings for Iruka was dismissed before it even became a conscious thought.

The only good thing was the news she brought was about Iruka's impending birthday. He was glad that she had mentioned it. Kakashi knew that Iruka wouldn't have said anything.

And he knew just what to get the other man.

As Akane-sensei, distracted Iruka with her aimless babble. Kakashi stepped back into some shadows. He focused his chakra and created a single shadow clone. A rather handy skill with many uses other than fighting.

He tossed the clone some money. Kakashi didn't have to tell the clone what to do, since it was him. It knew what he wanted done.

The clone, gave Kakashi a rakish salute and jumped up to the roof tops.

It moved as fast as possible, since it had a limited amount of chakra, back to the book store.

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When Iruka and Kakashi had exited the book store, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for them on the roofs of nearby shops.

They had listened intently to Kakashi as he asked Iruka out to dinner.

Sakura had very nearly given them away with a happy, "Yes!"

Since she no longer saw the need to follow the two men around she rejoined her teammates. The pink haired girl was trying to think of which shops they could visit that would have everything she was looking for.

"Come on guys," she whispered excitedly.

"Are you sure we shouldn't follow them some more," muttered Naruto. He was not looking forward to going on a shopping trip with a girl. He had heard some pretty bad rumors that girls were embarrassing to shop with, and since it came from other guys, he believed it!

Sasuke, remained as silent as always. He just wanted the day to be over so that he could go home and prepare for some additional training. He didn't want to waste their free evening.

And most importantly, he wanted to get away from Naruto before the blond boy remembered the bet he had lost that morning. Sasuke knew that he would get him to start embarrassing himself as soon as he could. The dark eyed boy wasn't planning on sticking around to be a target.

"Come on!" Sakura jumped over to a nearby roof and began running for a store she enjoyed visiting. She didn't bother going back to the ground since by following Kakashi, Team 7 had learned that roof-hopping was the fast way to travel in the crowded village.

Sighing, Naruto began to follow Sakura. Sasuke joined him then quickly surpassed him.

Watching Sasuke's back made Naruto scowl and speed up. He was able to pull up next to Sasuke in a matter of seconds.

Sasuke noticed him out of the corner of his eyes. His dark eyes, obsidian shards, glared a challenge at Naruto. He then increased his speed to once again get further head of the other boy.

Naruto had noticed Sasuke's glaring provocation. He glared right back. His eyes burned with fire and determination as he saw Sasuke moving ahead.

No way am I losing to that cold bastard! Naruto thought fiercely.

Soon both boys were tearing up the roofs of the Hidden Leaf Village as they tried to beat each other in their self-imposed race.

Neither boy noticed Sakura and how quickly she fell behind.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

Inner Sakura howled with rage and swore to kill Naruto for making Sasuke race him.

The pink haired girl glowered at the two rapidly fading dots that used to be her teammates.

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Iruka stopped walking and laughed when he finally saw where Kakashi had taken them to go eat. It was another restaurant that sold ramen. It looked a lot more sophisticated and expensive than any of the shops that he usually ate at, since he usually ended buying Naruto more than just one bowl.

Kakashi didn't bother waiting for Iruka to get a hold of himself, and as he had been doing all day, he grabbled Iruka's nearest arm and proceeded to drag the school teacher inside.

Iruka grinned at the back of Kakashi's head and didn't protest the treatment. Though, when he noticed the odd looks directed their way by the people around them, he blushed with mild embarrassment.

Inside the store was even fancier than the outside, the walls were covered with paintings, and expensive tropical plants gave the restaurant a nice touch of privacy among the customers.

Iruka felt decidedly undressed, even in his chunin uniform, to be in this kind of setting. He grew even more embarrassed as he noticed even that nearly everyone inside was a couple, that were clearly dressed up for a romantic dinner date. Only Kakashi's firm hold on his arm prevented him from ducking back out to the street.

Kakashi didn't even notice the odd looks from everyone. It wasn't the first time he had come to this place, and he got those looks every single time he came by. Plus, if he was the sort of man who let himself get influenced by weird looks people gave him, then he wouldn't be himself anymore.

He headed for the bar section of the restaurant where he could sit at the stools. Kakashi chose that location due more to training than anything else. It was the most defensible part of the whole place, with an easy view of the kitchen exit and the main entrance. Both ninjas could also be easy hidden by a pair of tall ferns that flanked the sides of the bar if they needed to employ such concealment measures. And finally, a large mirror hung behind counter and reflected everything and everyone who could pose as a threat.

The silver haired man set Iruka on a stool and settled right next to him. He then waved to one of the waiters that was hovering off to the side.

Kakashi rattled off his order which the waiter scribbled down on a small pad of paper.

"So, what do you want Iruka?" Kakashi asked.

"Ramen, with plenty of fish-cakes," Iruka said cheerfully. He loved those pink and white things.

Their waiter nodded and vanished, as quickly as any ninja, towards the kitchen.

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask at hearing what Iruka wanted. Somehow it didn't surprise him at all.

He turned so that he could look at the brunet. Kakashi smiled again as he noticed Iruka giving the other diners a furtive look and blushing before looking down on the counter top. He slung an arm around the school teacher's shoulders.

"Ignore them," whispered Kakashi, into Iruka's ear. "It's not like they are going to riot because we're here!"

To Kakashi's amusement, his words just seemed to make Iruka's blush even worse

"I-I guess so," agreed Iruka with a stutter. Kakashi's proximity was once again melting away any form of coherent thought.

The clink of porcelain bowls being set in front of them distracted both men.

Kakashi was annoyed at himself for not paying attention to his surrounding and noticing the waiter come back to them. Such carelessness was 'not' the mark of an elite ninja!

Iruka thanked the waiter and clicked his chopsticks together before digging in. He was happily munching on the vegetables that came with the ramen when he saw another pair of chopsticks reach for one of 'his' fish-cakes in the bowl.

Instantly, Iruka used his own chopsticks to catch those of the thief. His eyes followed the arm and glared at the perpetrator.

Kakashi just grinned at him. The jounin pulled back his chopsticks and clicked them, the challenge was clear.

Iruka, started to feel amused at the other man's actions. It was clear the Kakashi was determined to steal one of his pink and white fish cakes and he was just as determined not to let him succeed.

Kakashi radiated innocence and went back to his meal, eagerly slurping his noodles. He was deliberately trying to lull Iruka into a false sense of security.

Iruka, was a chunin a of the Hidden Leaf Village, so he was not going to let down this guard. He was better trained than that. He kept a wary, though admiring, eye on Kakashi's back as he returned to his ramen. The scarred brunet also sped up his movements thinking that the faster he ate, the less of a chance Kakashi would have to steal any of his food.

The silver haired man kept trying to get past Iruka's defense by launching surprise attacks, to no avail. The chunin was just too good in his defense, he didn't even relax when Kakashi turned away to eat his own meal. He had too much experience at defending his food. All thanks to Naruto.

Finally, there was just one fish cake left.

A moment later, a startling noise from the entrance made Iruka involuntarily look up to the mirror to see what was going on. His brown eyes widened in shock of his monumental mistake.

Kakashi, seeing the opening, stuck!

Iruka, blindly, moved his chopsticks to intercept.

The sticks clashed.

Kakashi cursed under his breath. It made Iruka smile.

But the jounin wasn't about to give up. No way. He would get his fish-cake. For he had the upper hand.

Click. Click. Click.

The school teacher's eyes widened again as the realization struck like a bolt of lighting.

For in Kakashi's other hand was, another pair of chopsticks!

Iruka's free, and empty, hand spasmed as if holding invisible chopsticks.

Kakashi is already moving. His sharp eye heading unerringly for the last pink & white fish cake.

But Iruka is not to underestimated. The man is a master at this sort of fighting.

So before the idea had even flashed in his mind, Iruka's free hand was on the move.

Both ninjas were reacting so quickly that they were nothing but blurs to the other diners.

When the blurs once again became men the two were revealed.

Kakashi had struck nothing but the counter. The force, snapped both of his extra chopsticks. Iruka was still holding his first pair of chopsticks with his own sticks.

And the bowl of ramen with the one remaining fish cake?

It was held out of reach up and away from the jounin with Iruka's last hand.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. It appeared that he had severely underestimated his opponent. But it was time to prove why he held the rank of Jounin!

He drew back his chopsticks and carefully infused them with chakra. Glowing a light blue color the wooden sticks began to grow longer until they were double their previous length. The chakra was also strengthening the bonds of the molecules in the wood so that these pair of chopsticks would not snap as easily as the previous pair.

"That's cheating," hissed Iruka.

Kakashi just shot him a smug look, his eye dropping with lazy satisfaction at his advantage.

"All's fair in war and ramen," said the jounin. He clicked his sticks.

Iruka's mouth twitched with an involuntary smile. Naruto had once said the exact thing to him. It was hilarious to hear it from Kakashi.

He flattened his smile away and tightened his hold on his chopsticks. Kakashi was going to have a battle to get that fish cake. The brunet considered his next course of action. He still wanted to eat more of his ramen but holding it out of reach made that rather difficult.

Suddenly, the chunin felt a slight pressure on from the hand holding the bowl. His head whipped away from Kakashi to see another Kakashi kneeling on the surface of the bar. The jounin was lifting up the fish cake from the bowl. Seeing Iruka looking up at him, the clone winked at the chunin.

Iruka's mouth dropped. Instantly, he was full of stunned comprehension. Kakashi had used the his chakra on the chopsticks to not only catch his attention but also to mask the use of his chakra as the silver haired man created a clone to launch an attack.

He had been so focused on guarding from a visible threat that he had forgotten to prepare for an unexpected one from the rear. Though still mentally reeling from being so out maneuvered, Iruka moved to retaliate and get back his fish cake.

The school teacher swept his arm for clone-Kakashi's knees but the clone made a nimble leap from the bar over to Kakashi's side. The clone held the fish cake in a pair of cloned chopsticks over to the jounin.

Kakashi accepted them with a happily curved eye. The clone vanished a in whoosh of chakra smoke.

Iruka mentally growled. He set his the bowl of ramen down and clicked his own pair of chopsticks as he prepared his rescue plan of his poor kidnapped fish cake.

Kakashi's triumphant expression turned wary at the determined gleam in Iruka's brown eyes.

Iruka feinted for the jounin's own bowl of beef ramen. Kakashi moved to defend his own ramen but at the last instant the school teacher swerved up and for the fish cake.

Used to fighting at faster speeds, Kakashi was able to adjust his defense to Iruka's sudden change and moved up the chakra chopsticks to intercept. But what he wasn't prepared for was the muscle the chunin had put behind that move.

The power was enough to send Kakashi's chopsticks flying from his hand and across the restaurant.

TWANG!

Both ninjas stared at where the sticks had landed.

Driven point first into the wood, and just inches from the faces of incoming customers were the vibrating weapons, formally only innocent eating utensils.

Iruka flinched and then sank his head into his hands, moaning.

"Oops," said Kakashi. He absentmindedly took the time to eat his prize while Iruka's eyes weren't on him.

Glowering at both ninjas, a maitre d' stalked up to the two men.

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TBC

JD here, and yup, still sick: I blame this chapter on the fact that I've read entirely too much Ranma ½ while growing up. *nods* Yup. That's it.

Hump! *crosses arms* I guess that meddling woman wasn't completely useless. At least, now Kakashi knows Iruka's birthday is coming up! *cheers* Also it was amusing to write someone thinking Iruka as an innocent. *snickers* Yeah, right! Not my Iruka-sensei!

Um, Naruto and Sasuke, you guys better run like crazy. I hate to think of what Sakura would do to Naruto. *winces*

Oooh, Kakashi and Iruka, battling with sticks…..ack…symbolism……... O_o do I reaaaallllllyyyyyy need to make the connection for everyone here?

^.^ didn't think so.

I blame idea of having them battle over a 'fish cake', on my evil twin. Yup. I may not have one right now, but I could get one just to heap the blame on her….

*grins* If you have lasted through my insane ramblings, and story chapter, take a moment of your time and drop me a line…. Reviews make my brain all melty!