Warnings – Drunken Shinobi doing things that some people might object to. Sexual situations, kissing, etc M/M M/F whole big long list of alphabet soup so if you might be offended -- something else might be better for you.

Since the episode on TV Tokyo this week still had shinobi in those uniforms covering too much of their bodies, rest assured, Naruto and associated characters are not in any way mine.

Thanks for those that have reviewed; I do love seeing the little messages

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Kakashi had met Kurenai and Asuma as planned at Kurenai's place. They were dressed casually and had the 'presents' they were instructed by Anko to bring. Evidently, dress was 'casual and something that you aren't too attached to' – Kakashi thought the sound of that was rather ominous and Kurenai refused to tell Asuma why she thought it was so amusing. Asuma for his part couldn't see what a party could entail that could possibly risk clothing being destroyed. When Kurenai added 'or lost' to that sentiment, Asuma didn't do more than brush her off -- Kakashi paid careful note to it.

It was with this knowledge that the three of them were making there way to a section of Konoha far from the main gate. Jeans and T-shirts for the men and Kurenai found a red dress in the back of her closet. Kakashi by the time they reached their destination was well aware it matched the red of her eyes; every block it seemed Asuma found a reason to mention that it matched her eyes.

Since evidently 'work clothes' of any sort were frowned on at this even, they had also left their forehead protectors at home. Kakashi had improvised with a black piece of cloth to wrap around and cover the Sharingan eye; actually, it more than slightly resembled a forehead protector without the metal part. Ok, it was an old forehead protector of his that had the metal part damaged a while back, but he really didn't think that counted as violating the no 'work clothes' rule.

Each of them had a bottle of alcohol with them, which according to Anko was the appropriate thing to bring to this party. All Anko had told them was that a lot of people would be there. They stopped outside the building. It was an empty warehouse in an area with many warehouses. This one in particular was often rented out for 'indoor practice' for the genins. This did explain why Kakashi hadn't been able to get the place for practice two weeks ago.

The building right now was practically shaking with the bass from the music inside. From previous visits, Kakashi knew the building was split into a large main area and a mock up of a hotel in the back, the back half was to practice room-to-room searches and stealth techniques and the open area to practice confined combat. It sounded like the party was taking place in the main open area, which made sense, "A big enough crowd to justify this much room?"

Kurenai just nodded, "Evidently they've had to scale back after … and I quote 'the one year'"

Asuma lit a fresh cigarette, "The one year?"

Kurenai just nodded, "I have no idea. Anko let that slip this morning."

Kakashi nodded and was the first of the three to walk through the door into the building. They had decided on being slightly late, 'normal person late', not 'Kakashi late'. Unfortunately, they had ended up being more 'Kakashi late' than 'normal person late' since Kurenai took longer than expected to get ready

The inside was louder than the outside – by a lot. Kakashi had managed to forget that the building was sound proofed in order to not disturb the neighbors when there was training going on. The room was lit with various colored lights, mostly reds and purples with some white light over by a counter top that was obviously functioning as a very very well stocked bar.

The room was packed. There were by Kakashi's count at least 100 people here, many of which he knew, and many of which he didn't know. Kurenai lead them over to the bar where piles of bottles were, some still bearing the bows and such that came with the presents and everywhere he looked, he saw people talking, drinking, or dancing, or all three. The music was almost too loud to hear, it was more felt. Overall, for a nin used to running through the forests listening for the slightest sound, it was disorientating.

Some Chuunin that Kakashi didn't remember the name of were staffing the bar, or potentially drinking the stock, either way the piles of alcohol were huge and whatever two bartenders went through couldn't affect it much. As they were approaching the bar, suddenly they heard "Kurenai-chan!" yelled from a very close range, with the music anything farther than five feet away would have been nothing but background noise.

As Asuma mouthed 'chan?' Kurenai quickly had a very drunk Anko slung over her shoulders. That was one thing about Anko, get some drink into her and the concept of personal space went right out the window. Anko grabbed onto Asuma's sleeve and pulled him in closer, "Did you guys just get here? You need to drink something!"

She quickly took the bottles from their hands and shoved them over the bar and grabbed them drinks. Anko evidently was not happy until all three jônin were carrying small plastic cups of alcohol with a slight amount of mixer, or possibly just ice cubes that were melting rather fast due to the heat caused by a hundred some bodies in an enclosed area.

Kakashi was keeping tabs on his companions, but also trying to scan the crowd for the person he was trying to watch. Anko pulled them to a table a little ways away from the impromptu dance floor, "It's a good turn out this year." Anko gestured at the crowd, as if three jônin could miss one hindred some loud and drunk people.

Kurenai smiled, "I didn't expect this much." She was looking around.

"Oh hell, this is the perfect time of year for a party." Anko laughed, "We just always do this during the spring break since it's normally a dead time of year and none of the teacher's have classes. Well actually It used to be because –we- didn't have class back before the alcohol part was legal" She was raising her glass to her mouth when a hand sneaked around her and Kakashi discovered the object he was searching for was suddenly leaning over Anko's shoulder and gripping her glass.

"Hey Koko, I heard my name." The chuunin was wet. It was beyond sweaty to just wet. His red shirt was dark, dark red it was so soaked. The brown leather collar he wore around his neck was even covered in sweat. His jeans were clinging to him in ways denim normally didn't cling to thighs. Iruka evidently also had lost the concept of personal space. He drank back the rest of Anko's drink; obviously already well on his way to drunk and smiled at the three jônin sitting with Anko, as he stayed draped over her.

"Nice to see you guys make it. Ibiki threatened to break this up at 3 by the way, just so you know." The chuunin was breathing hard and his face was flushed, but instead of from the normal embarrassment, it seemed to be just from exertion.

Before anyone at the table could comment, Izumo was suddenly in Anko's lap. Definitely personal space was a foreign concept at this party, "hey hey Ruka, whatcha doing, you're supposed to be dancing."

"I was stealing alcohol, you bastard." Iruka laughed as he insulted Izumo. Before anyone could mention they were seeing Izumo without Kotetsu, the other half of that duo was gripping Iruka's arm and pulling him off of Anko.

"Ruka-chan! Izu-chan won't dance with me!" Kotetsu was more drunk than either of the other two chuunin, possibly more drunk than those two put together. Evidently, when Kotetsu was drunk, he wanted to dance.

Asuma's mouth was hanging open as he gave up mouthing the pet names and endings.

Iruka just laughed and grabbed Kotetsu and pulled him a few feet closer to where people were dancing. Well it kind of was dancing. More a bumping, pressing, and grinding type of motion, definitely no normal ninja respect of personal space. Iruka grabbed Kotetsu and started to dance with him in a way that caused Kakashi's visible eye to widen.

This was the second time Kakashi had seen how Iruka's body movements could scream sex and it was not any easier to believe the transformation this time than the last. As he writhed and twisted in time to the pounding bass of the music, pressing up against Kotetsu in the most surprising ways, Kakashi couldn't help watching. The other Chuunin reciprocated the motions, not as well, but surprisingly agile for being as drunk as he obviously was. Although their actions were not much different from how everyone else was dancing, somehow the motions when Iruka did them just seemed more primal.

Something about how Iruka's eyes closed when he danced, half opening them occasionally to watch his dance partner with a satisfied, comfortable look. His body was sure in every movement. How he touched Kotetsu occasionally, the motions looking accidental but graceful. How he touched himself, his hands ghosting over his own thighs and arms. He moved with an aura of someone who extruded confidence.

Kakashi found himself ignoring the events at his table, which was basically Izumo sitting on Anko's lap while he leaned way too far onto the table to talk to the three jônin and try to convince them to drink more and dance. Kakashi just kept watching how Iruka's obviously toned body moved in his sticky wet clothes. The shirt was gripping his chest. It had slipped up a bit as the man twisted in time to the music and the shiny navel ring could be seen decorating a thin strip of bare skin. Really, it wasn't true that all Jônin were attracted to shiny things, well maybe Kakashi was attracted to that particular shiny thing. (1)

Suddenly Kakashi found himself listening to the conversation at the table as Asuma asked, "When did they become a couple?" He gestured off at Iruka and Kotetsu with a smoldering cigarette.

Suddenly Kurenai frowned, "Yeah, I thought Iruka was seeing that girl at the hospital, what's her name, with the short blonde hair?"

Izumo looked over at Asuma, "Nah, Tsu-kun is just playing around." With an almost jealous look, Izumo dragged himself off of Anko's lap to head over to Iruka and Kotetsu leaving Asuma to mouth 'Tsu-kun'.

Anko shook her head, "No, I think that blond lasted a week. Oh you mean the other one, the tall one?" When Kurenai nodded her head, "Oh, I don't remember how long that one lasted. She sucks in bed from what I hear, but she was hard to dump."

"You seem to know who Iruka is with rather well?" Kakashi was surprised at the directness of his question. Half of his attention was on Anko's reaction and the other half was on the three chuunin behind her. Izumo had reached Kotetsu's other side and was evidently trying to dance or seduce the messy haired chuunin back to him. Iruka saw the almost jealous look on Izumo's face and laughed. Iruka reached out, pulled Izumo into a kiss, Iruka's fingers gripping the collar of Izumo's shirt, before disengaging from the smiling other man with a quick nip at his upper lip. Iruka than pushed the two other Chuunin into each other and walked back to the table with a laugh.

Kakashi blinked as his mind registered what Anko said while he was watching Iruka kiss Izumo, "They are talkative after sex?" He repeated her answer back to her as if he misheard. Between Iruka dancing and Iruka kissing Izumo, Kakashi was having a hard time paying attention to anything else.

Anko smiled as she stood up to let Iruka sit down, "Well Kotetsu is the real talker." She sat down on Iruka's lap as soon as he sat in her chair, "Ruka is more the 'destroy the alarm clock' type."

Iruka laughed, "And Anko is the kiss and tell one – of course that's mostly talking to whoever at the hospital is stuck doing the stitches." He giggled, yes giggled, a bit as he looked around the table, "This is the first one of these you've been to right?" He smiled, "Relax, it's all just fun. Most people don't even remember anything the next day anyways."

Suddenly something caught Anko's attention and Iruka turned to look, Kakashi wasn't sure who or what Anko was looking at but evidently Iruka knew. "Thought you'd like that Ko-chan. He's one of Ibiki's so don't forget your lock pick set." Iruka swatted at Anko's butt as she quickly left in search of the man that caught her attention.

With that, the Iruka laughed and smiled at the jônin (who were jônin and managing to hide their surprise rather well), "Welcome to our Annual party." He smiled over at Kakashi, "Oh I forgot to ask you. Did your dog like the treats?" His face stayed perfectly unreadable as he rested his elbows on the table, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hands. The chuunin looked straight at Kakashi's visible eye, watching for any reaction, but keeping his tone light and conversational.

Asuma and Kurenai were looking from Iruka to Kakashi as if sensing there was more to the conversation than there appeared, but unsure of what.

Kakashi nodded, "Pakkun wanted me to thank you for them when I got a chance." He kept the visible parts of his face expressionless as he watched Iruka smile and nod.

"Next time you are over, you will have to let me show you around." Iruka smiled as he stood up, but Kakashi knew that he had to know about the search of his apartment. "I better go and find someone to dance with. If I asked Kurenai-san to join me, I would fear for my life." He smiled, "Perhaps someone should ask her though." With a pointed look to Asuma he bowed and headed back into the throng of dancing bodies, effortlessly moving in time to the music has he slipped between people making his way deeper into the crowd.

Asuma blinked, "Anyone else feel like they haven't drank enough for this party yet." He left for the bar without pausing to notice both Kurenai and Kakashi were watching Iruka leave.

Kurenai snapped out of it first and glanced over at Kakashi, "Was that extremely unexpected or what is just me."

"I expect some craziness from Anko, but the other three. I definitely underestimated Iruka." He looked out at the dance floor where Iruka disappeared.

"I didn't realize he could flirt like that, I thought Anko was exaggerating." She laughed as she finished the drink in her cup, "Then again I didn't think many people could flirt like that, at least and get away with it."

Kakashi turned and looked at her "I want to know where he learned to move like that. There is something unusual about him."

Kurenai nodded, "He's good in a physical fight too from what I hear, the boy knows his body and if comfortable with it evidently. If his chakra level wasn't as low as it is, that one would be a Jônin without a doubt."

"Low?"

She nodded, "He barely made it to Chuunin. I mean he's a great teacher for the kids and everything, but I wouldn't want him with me on a mission."

Kakashi was trying to think of a response, his normal quick wit failing him as Asuma placed cups and a bottle of alcohol down on the table. He poured clear liquid into the three cups before sitting back down. Kakashi took the arrival of drinks to let himself think of a plan and sipped at the too potent liquid in the cup.

Asuma lit another cigarette, "I feel too damn old here."

Kakashi looked around, "You're what, four years older than most of the people here?" He didn't bother to keep the confusion out of his voice.

"Yeah," Asuma looked around, "But we missed this whole thing. You missed it by a lot. After the fox and all some of the classes after mine were a bit…" He trailed off looking for the right word.

Kurenai finished off Asuma's sentence, "Wild."

"Wild?" Kakashi looked around and started to notice something. Almost all the leaf nins he recognized in the crowd were ones that had lost at least one parent in the fox attack. Many of the other people in the crowd seemed familiar as well. Then it started to click, a lot of them resembled ninja he had fought with in the war or in the demon fox attack – ninja that hadn't come back. He nodded, "I think I understand."

After the fox attack, the village had been very short on manpower so Kakashi had found himself on undermanned missions almost constantly. When he did spend time in the village, even he had heard of the problem the academy students were in their rebellious stages after so many of them lost one or both parents. He wasn't surprise to realize that the kids from then still had a need to let loose. As Kurenai moved closer to Asuma's chair, Kakashi got up. He downed his rather generous drink in one gulp. "I need to go find something." With that, he left the two sitting at the table watching the dancers as he made his way through the throngs of people in the direction he had seen Iruka disappear.

This was making less and less sense to him. How many sides did Iruka have? He had never heard Kurenai say someone was too weak to go on a mission with her. The woman took Genin on missions on a daily basis. The Iruka he saw the other night would be a benefit on many missions, but his comrade's approximation was that Iruka was useless. Normally they were spot on with their assessments. The difference between the Iruka that had been hanging on Anko, Izumo, and Kotetsu and dancing as if he wanted to sleep with them all was opposite the Iruka he thought he knew from his student's descriptions. Iruka's records said he completed 12 'A' rank missions, but now, even when they were short staffed, the man wasn't sent on missions.

Something was wrong here and he was going to find the man and find out what was actually going on.

---------------- Notes -----------

(1) Thank you demonrubberducky for the shiny objects idea, your use of it had me laughing all afternoon.

PS for anyone interested about the reason they had to scale back, please see my user profile for a little oneshot explaining it.