Disclaimer: Same old—I don't own Naruto or the characters and wouldn't have anything to give you if you sued me anyways, but since I'm being honest I hope you won't.

Last time: Iruka's got a stalker again (but this time, he's aware of Kakashi following him around like a puppy) and Kakashi's becoming a secret helper in Iruka's betting plots. Gai's out of town, so there's no more buffer for Iruka and Kakashi for a while.

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When Iruka successfully got dates with three of Genma's targets the very next day, Genma couldn't be in a worse mood. And it had been made known to Genma that he'd made a fourth date with Kiba the previous afternoon, mere hours after Genma had issued the next challenge (this was gleefully rubbed in the tokubetsu jounin's face by a none-to-quiet Konohamaru and Naruto, before his girlfriend Hinata properly chastised him and dragged both boys away). His mood went from bad to worse. That is, until he watched a fifth name on the list make his way into the room and over to Iruka's line. Then he was sure he would positively explode.

Kakashi giggled into his hand up in his tree and when Iruka looked his way, he swore the man looked right at him, even though the foliage mostly hid him. This was going to be good, Kakashi mused, already imagining Genma's face turning a humiliated shade of red.

As Yamato waited in Iruka's line, he reflected back on his conversation with Kakashi the previous evening. His friend and former commanding officer had approached him on his way home and invited him out to drinks. Over a few good glasses of sake, Kakashi had confided in Yamato that he had feelings for the Academy sensei. Knowing his friend, Yamato hadn't exactly been surprised, but he was when Kakashi proceeded to ask him to ask Iruka out.

When Yamato had pointed out that might be counter-productive to Kakashi's cause, Kakashi had gone on to explain his predicament (that he wouldn't touch Iruka again until the man won his bet and Genma got his come-uppance) and that Yamato was on Genma's hit list, Yamato had agreed to woo the chuunin for his old friend.

So here he was, one away from the front of the line and he was more nervous than he thought he'd be. After all, Iruka was a kind and attractive man (and his outfit did not help keeping naughty thoughts at bay) and knowing that Kakashi was more than just interested in him and was watching them from up in his damn tree did not help. Yamato sighed. The things he did for his rotten sempai!

Iruka finished his transaction with the shinobi in front of Yamato and after a little double-take at his luck (what were the odds that one of his harder to track down targets would show up in his line on the first day of the week?), he motioned Yamato forward.

"What can I help you with, Yamato-san?"

"Well, I was hoping to speak with you about a certain, uhhhh . . . . matter."

"All right." Iruka nodded reassuringly, if not a little puzzled by Yamato's cryptic request.

Yamato went on, "I was actually hoping to take you out for this discussion. Perhaps for a cup of tea? There is a really fine tea house just down the road, and I know for a fact that you are off for a break in about ten minutes."

Iruka stared.

Yamato cleared his throat. "Um, Iruka-san?"

"Are you asking me out?" This was too easy. This was—Iruka glanced over to the tree outside. Hmmmm . . . . interesting.

"Yes, I am." Yamato responded firmly, looking over at Genma.

Iruka caught the glance and frowned slightly. Very interesting, indeed. It's almost as if he knows. I wonder . . . . He shook his frown away with a small smile and turned to face Yamato fully. "I would be more than happy to join you for tea, Yamato-san."

Fifteen minutes later, Iruka's shift had ended and he'd tidied up his station, so he headed out to meet Yamato by the front of the building's lawn. On the way, he passed by a tree close to the missions' room window. He waved up into the tree and his voice carried quietly as he said, "Kakashi, I've been meaning to talk to you. I know you've been avoiding me, yet sometimes you seem to follow me everywhere. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I think you sent Yamato to me, so thank you for that. I won't push this issue until you're ready, so you really don't have to hide from me . . . . but I just wanted to make sure you knew that what happened between us the other night really meant a lot to me . . . . I hope this isn't a game to you, though . . . . And, well . . . ." Iruka glanced towards where Yamato was waiting and decided to wrap it up quickly, "I can't see you, but I know you're there, Kakashi. Just, just . . . ." he trailed off into a barely audible mumble, "Don't break my heart, okay?"

As Iruka looked back down from the seemingly empty branches and walked off for his date, Kakashi snuck down from the higher foliage, a contemplative look on his face.

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Iruka walked home slowly from the missions' room. Tea with Yamato during his break had been pleasant. He rarely took his breaks, so that he could get off earlier, so the sky was already darkening on his way home. The two had spent the time together talking mostly about Naruto—Iruka was surprised at how much Yamato had gleaned of the boy during their time training together and was pleased at how they seemed to be friends now. Goodness only knew that boy needed as mush love and support he could get after all his years of being sad, neglected and alone. Iruka tried to learn if Kakashi knew about his bet and sent Yamato to him, or if he'd sent Yamato to get a temperature check on the situation between them, but either way, Yamato had been good at casually and discreetly deflecting any of Iruka's queries.

When Iruka finally made it home, he was hoping he'd still have leftovers in the fridge, since it was too late to stop by the market and he was exhausted by his full schedule of work, more work, dates and keeping up with everything else and all of his friends.

He was so tired, in fact, that as he unlocked his door and disengaged all of his traps, he thought he imagined the smell of Ichiraku's wafting out of his door. It wasn't until he'd put away his shoes and satchel and made his way into the kitchen to check for leftovers that he realised it wasn't his imagination.

Iruka stood there, confused, as he pondered the take-out bag on his counter. He approached cautiously, well aware that someone had had to break into his apartment to put it there. He was wary because as one of the more capable chuunin in Konoha and definitely one the more creative shinobi, his traps were not easy to get by and whoever had left this for him had to be rather high-ranked. Iruka knew, logically, that there was probably nothing wrong with the ramen, but his paranoid shinobi side pointed out how ingenious it would be to poison an enemy in their own home, with a fake gift.

Finally, he decided to hell with it and opened the bag—he wasn't going to let fear run his life and he doubted he had any enemies in Konoha and it would be very unlikely that someone from outside the village could make it through not only the gate, but the whole town just to get at him. It was when he opened the bag that his shoulders sagged in relief.

There, on top of the take-out container, tucked into the bag, was a sight for sore eyes. It was a red paper heart, ripped down the middle partway and put back together with a Band-Aid. So he heard me then.

Well, I still wonder why he's avoiding me, but I guess I can deal with that uncertainty for a little while longer as he takes his time. I don't want to rush him and push him into something and mess it up by going at him too hard, and it can't be that bad if he's communicating with me like this—at least that's something. Iruka took a deep breath of the flavourful steam, And it's a good something. He smiled and sat down to enjoy his surprise meal.

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Iruka got up extra early the next day. Five down, but he still had eight more to go. He knew that even though Tenten rolled her eyes at her sensei Gai and teammate Lee's antics, she did share their dedication to hard work. She and Lee usually did laps of the village every morning, sometimes they'd stop by the Academy when they were through and bring Iruka an apple or other little treat (he liked it when they chose pastries) and spend half an hour chatting and catching up with each other. He knew Lee was out of town, so Sakura would be jogging with her (Lee's training fanatics were starting to rub off on his girlfriend and he felt bad leaving his teammate to run on her own, he'd never forgive himself if something happened to her—so they'd come up with this solution: Sakura would join them once a week and replace either of them on any day the other was out-of-village). The girls would probably find his predicament hilarious, but they'd come through with help in the end, he knew.

He laced up his sneakers (those ninja sandals were oddly difficult to train in some days—they were designed mostly to keep nins cool, not facilitate movement) and headed out the door. A run would do him some good anyways, maybe it would help to relieve some of the stress induced by having to deal with Genma and their messy breakup.

Sakura and Tenten were taking a break in the park, talking and laughing under a tree when Iruka jogged up.

He waved cheerfully, pulling up to stop by them. "Hi, girls!"

"Iruka-san," they chorused, having dropped the sensei a long time ago.

He put a hand on the tree, catching his breath. The girls snuck a glance at each other, then giggled. He turned a suspicious eye down at them, wondering what it was that he was missing.

"How're you doing, lately?" Sakura asked, nudging Tenten with her elbow.

"Yeah," Tenten added, "We've heard you've been getting around."

"G-getting around?" Iruka spluttered, "Just what exactly have you heard?!"

"Nothing, Iruka-san, just that you finally smartened up and dumped that ass of a boyfriend of yours, Genma. How long has it been anyways, almost three weeks now?"

"Sakura-chan!" Iruka exclaimed, slightly scandalised, "Watch your language!"

"What," Tenten drawled, "It's true. So how does it feel to be a free man?"

Iruka sighed. "That's not very nice, girls." He slowly lowered himself onto the bench beside them.

"Are you saying that he's not an ass? Because I was talking to Naruto the other day you know, and he says that jerk was never any good for you." Sakura made a face, scrunching her nose.

"Mmhm!" Tenten nodded emphatically, "Naruto is so much smarter than everyone thinks and he cares a lot about you, so he told us all about that crummy tokubetsu! It's really shit-faced what he did, Iruka-san."

Iruka slumped, gave up scolding the girls for their language and instead asked, "All right, how much do you know?"

Tenten grinned, "Enough to know that you need a date with me!" She giggled, poking him in the side.

Iruka sighed again and scrubbed his face tiredly, "Why do I have the feeling you're going to cause me some trouble?"

Both girls giggled, then each grabbed onto one of his arms and cuddled in close. "It won't cost you anything, Iruka-san. After all, you were always our favourite sensei. You could consider it payback for always helping us and putting up with our shit."

Tenten continued where Sakura left off, "Plus, I like to bug people . . . . Genma's an easy target since he treated you badly. Everyone who knows is on your side, you know."

"And how many people know?" Iruka asked warily.

"Don't worry, Iruka-san. Not many people. Naruto told us girls when we were over visiting with Hinata and Lee knows too, but the rest of the guys don't even—unless you told Kiba when you went out with him."

"And," Sakura continued where Tenten left off and Iruka marvelled at how the girls kept finishing each other's sentences, "None of us have told the older shinobi—like the ones Kakashi-sensei's age or anything, and definitely not anyone Tsunade-sensei's age."

Iruka turned slightly to gape at Sakura. "Are you calling Kakashi-sensei old, Sakura-chan?" He blushed slightly, almost forgetting to add the honorific at the end of Kakashi's name.

"What? Well, no, not really. Why? Why, do you li—"

"Omigosh!" Tenten interrupted her friend, "You like, him, don't you, Iruka-san?"

"Uhhhhh . . . ." Iruka searched his mind for something to say, "It's just that, well . . . . Kakashi-sensei is about my age, so . . . ."

"No way! You totally like him!" Sakura squealed.

"He's only a little older than me girls, and—and I'm not that much older than you—and—"

"Nuh-uh, Iruka-san. That's not it. You're right, of course, but you like him." Tenten patted his arm knowingly.

Iruka slumped into the girls, fessing up with a nod. They smiled, adjusting themselves on the bench and propping him up to sit a little straighter.

"Look, Tenten-chan, will you please just go out with me? I want to get this over with, without you teasing me about my love life."

"Get this over with, are you kidding, Iruka-san? Do you now how many of us girls have had secret fantasies about you taking an interest in us?" Sakura practically shook with excitement, bouncing up and down on the bench seat.

"You're kidding." Iruka looked incredulously from one to the other.

"Nope!" Tenten confirmed, "You realise that you've been the youngest Academy sensei for over the past ten years, ever since you started teaching, actually. Weren't you only sixteen when you took the job as a newly-minted chuunin?"

"Yeah," he nodded wearily.

"It helps that you're handsome," Sakura put in, "but being so strict is a turn-off for some. Then we graduate and get to see you as a colleague, where you're a little more lax and half of us fall head over heels all over again!"

Iruka shook his head. "I did not need to know all that. I wish I didn't. I'm not going to be able to look at a former student the same way again." He dropped his gaze to his lap, raising his hands for a second in a helpless gesture.

"It's okay, Iruka-san. Most of us get over it—you were always so kind that mostly everyone just wants you to be happy and don't forget, we were pre-teen and teenaged kids—so we do eventually understand that some of it was just due to over-active hormones." Sakura explained in her best nurse voice.

"Still, you didn't have to tell me."

Tenten chimed in again, "It's even happened to some of the boys, if that makes you feel better. You know, since you like Kakashi-sensei and all."

Iruka knew she was trying to be helpful, but he groaned anyways as he threw his hands up and slumped further down into his seat, "No! No, it doesn't . . . . That's just too much information, Tenten!"

The girls glanced at each other over the man's head and decided to give him a break. "So, about your date with Tenten," Sakura spoke up. "I was thinking, how about a trip to the skating rink? Then a bunch of us could go with you. You know, to lend support."

Iruka glanced up from between his fingers, "What happened to the big, grand production you were going to make of it?"

"Yeah, well," Tenten said, "It wouldn't be any fun if you were stressed out the whole time. Besides, I figure that after that bomb we dropped on you, I could give you a break. It can't be easy having to do this, after all, when you really want Kakashi-sensei." She finished by patting him comfortingly on the arm.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"No problem, it's a date then!" The girls smiled brightly, then helped Iruka up form the bench.

"It'll be okay, Iruka." Sakura leaned in to whisper before the girls jogged off again.

TBC . . . .

Author's note: Two updates in one day! Woohoo! Thank goodness for civic holidays!