vanyelashke89- thanks for the encouragement

crazy-antman- sorry for the Genma/Raido part: like I said, I'm not going to get down and dirty but I guess I'll succumb to the dark side and give in to those bizarre female desires which want the two guys together...

active-heart- Glad you enjoyed! Yeah, Nanny-chan has several personlities - the good, the bad and the ugly... as for the Muse... well... I hope she stays with me...

Kaki-kun- Mmmmm... you'll have to see... As for the mission. Well, yes, as with all good missions that start out easy and then clobber you in the end, you can probably guess that this isanother 'good'n'easy' mission... Genma is glad HE didn't go!

PLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSEEEEE! REVIEW! This is 'trying' to be a more 'serious' fic so you canget serious.

In fact, just cut and paste the sentence of your choice and it's your quick and easy way to review!

A) 'What the 'ell are you doing?'

B) 'Hey this is awesome! Update soon!'

I do not own Naruto….. if I did I'd be having spreads on Kabuto, Iruka, Genma and Kakashi

At the Gate

Tsunade, Shizune, Tonton and Iruka made a point of seeing Kakashi off from the main gate.

Tsunade sighed as she watched Kakashi mooch past the humungous posts. "Was it just me or was he a little disappointed with the mission he got?"

Shizune nodded in agreement. "He seemed…. Restless."

Iruka smiled, painfully, staring at Shizune who looked imperturbable although she had drunk more than he did last night – and he felt like a thousand elephants had run over him.

"After his training," Iruka said. "I think he caught a bit of the Naruto fever – he REALLY did want a challenging mission."

"I'm sure he'll calm down," Shizune said, with a laugh.

"He'd better!" Tsunade grumbled. "Naruto as a tiny, but hot-blooded Genin is annoying but cute. Kakashi as a skilled, hot-blooded Jounin is dangerous – he could bring a village to its knees."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Tsunade-sama," her assistant student said.

Iruka raised his eyebrows, feeling as though his eyes were going to burn out of his head. Internally, he was grumbling to himself.

I really must NOT drink any more Tropical Rages. I will NOT! Drinking can NOT be a test of MANLINESS! It's useless and too painful!

"Well," he said slowly, tearing his mind away from Tropical Rages and Shizune's legs. "Kakashi said he just completed a brilliant new jutsu – has he said anything to you about it?"

Tsunade shook her head, ruefully.

"But then, I didn't find out about the chidori for several years – Kakashi tends to be close-mouthed about any original techniques. Probably due to his time with the ANBU or his paranoia about stealing jutsus – the Sharingan and all that…. I just hope he will settle down."

"He'll settle down," Iruka said. "When I said he caught the Naruto fever, I didn't say he was a hopeless case – he was just more antsy than usual. He is a Jounin after all – he'd be really unappreciative if you doubted his abilities to control himself…."

Tsunade turned away, rubbing her head. "Let's go get another drink, Shizune… I hear that the tavern is serving this really good new alcoholic fruit drink called …. Um…. Tropical Rage? "

Iruka froze.

"Hokage-sama! Those drinks!"

"Yes, Iruka?"

"Those are – well – they are rather strong –"

"But good!" Shizune said, with a wink.

"Errrr…. Yes… uh… good – but very strong and perhaps not appropriate during work hours – they can really affect you."

"If I didn't know any better, Iruka, I'd say you were speaking from experience," Tsuande said with a smile.

"Ummm… Well… last night…."

"Iruka and Tropical Rage were introduced to each other last night." Shizune said with a giggle.

"WHAT? Iruka?" Tsunade raised her eyebrows, staring at the miserable Chuunin.

Iruka looked nervously around.

"Hokage-sama! Please! I promise I won't do that again!"

"No, no! Go ahead! Enjoy! I always think that wine and money and women make the male shinobi world go round." Tsunade paused. "Well…. In Genma's case, it's wine, money and Raido…. But, still, are you alright? I thought you kind of looked peaky today."

Iruka grinned, sickly.

"No, I'm okay."

He remembered suddenly his vomiting spell in the morning and the resulting continuously pounding headache. Iruka pulled a face.

Tsunade placed her hand on the Chuunin's head and, pressing a small sachet into his hand, said, "Here's a drug to relieve you of that headache. Shizune, were you there?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama but it was Kakashi who took Iruka home."

"What? Iruka, why didn't you take Shizune or somebody else home?"

Shizune laughed as Iruka turned a bright red and muttered something about not taking a lady while incapacitated.

Tsunade turned and walked away, stifling a guffaw.

"Let's go, Shizune." She said, walking towards the tavern. "It's almost lunch and it's time I found out how bad this drink is."

Iruka wilted.

"Go home, Iruka." Tsunade said. "You're useless for today. Relax."

Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, HInata, Rock Lee and Neji were sitting in the Ichi Raku Ramen shop when Iruka came in, ordered a juice and took some drugs.

"Iruka-sensei is taking drugs?" asked Ino. "Since when was he a drug user?"

"Since never!" Sakura said indignantly. "He mustn't be feeling well."

"Stop bad mouthing Iruka-sensei!" Rock Lee said. "I'm sure he would never do that! He's all about youth power – not stupid stuff like drugs!"

Still, the Genins watched with concern as the Chuunin swayed out of the ramen shop, rubbing his forehead.

Shikamaru smirked.

"That was medicine for headaches," Hinata said softly. "He took quite a bit – I hope he doesn't overdose."

"It must be a really bad headache then…." Neji said. He shrugged. "Oh well, he'll get over it. Most people experience bad headaches in their lifetimes."

"Well…. There are headaches and there are headaches," Shikamaru said, shaking his head.

"You know something?" asked Chouji.

"Well, I had to do a really troublesome thing last night –" Shikamaru shrugged. "The old man was late from work and I knew he'd be at the tavern so I went to get him for Mother. It was hassle but if I didn't do it, I'd get no sleep from her troublesome complaining."

"Iruka-sensei was at the tavern?" asked Sakura disbelievingly.

Shikamaru nodded.

"I could not have foreseen that either," he said. He shrugged. "Last I saw was him being carried out by Kakashi and taken home, I presume."

"SEE! I WAS RIGHT!" yelled Rock Lee suddenly, causing everybody to jump. "Gai-sensei told me Kakashi was off to do a very long mission and this was their last night to say good-bye!"

Sakura looked up.

"When did he leave?"

"This morning, I think," Neji said.

"Ah." Sakura looked down at her glass.

"He'll be okay, right, Neji-san?" asked Hinata.

"Of course," Sakura said.

"Yeah, he'll be so bored – he's going to be escorting some singer on her tour around Asia. It's nothing troublesome," Shikamaru shrugged. "But, really, Rock Lee, I don't think Iruka and Kakashi are going out – my dad said that Shizune and Iruka were getting really close at the bar."

"Shizune?" asked Ino.

"Iruka and SHIZUNE?" asked Sakura. "Since when?"

"I don't know! This girl/boy thing is too troublesome to explain – I'm just repeating what my dad said."

"Are you sure?" asked Hinata. "Was your father – well, that is to say – wine can – well – um – he may not have –"

She stuttered to a stop.

Shikamaru quirked a quick smile. "Naw. My dad was not too sloshed. I believe him."

Rock Lee gasped. "What if Iruka-sensei is cheating on Kakashi with Shizune?"

"Oh stop it!" Ino said. "There is nothing like that going on!"

Sakura laughed.

"Well, I'm sorry that Iruka has a headache but I'm glad he's getting out – I was getting worried about him."

"Yeah," Chouji said. "He basically lives in the school or this ramen shop – I see him all the time in here."

"I don't really understand why he isn't going out," Ino said. "He's kinda cute."

"Maybe it's because people underestimate him…." Hinata said, softly, thinking about Naruto's oblivion concerning her feelings for him.

Love could be complicated.

Sakura smiled, thinking about all the new ammunition she now had against Shizune. Shizune and Iruka at a bar!

"This is great. I'll be off now," she rose up and paid the ramen shop owner for her drink and soup. "Duty calls."

Her Inner Sakura yelled, "ALRIGHT! TIME FOR ME TO PAY BACK SHIZUNE FOR ALL HER COMMENTS ABOUT SASUKE AND NARUTO!"

"Goodbye, Sakura!" they called after her.

They wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time, since missions were now coming in for the teams. This meeting would be the last gathering for a long time.

Meanwhile, Iruka visited the shrine, placed a candle down for Kakashi, went home and slept.

In his dreams he heard a husky voice saying.

What makes a shinobi is not his jutsu but love, loyalty, courage and hard work….. a shinobi is not his justu but love, loyalty, courage and hard work…. A shinobi is… love, loyalty, courage and hard work…. You are to train yourself.

I must grow stronger.