AN: You know thinking it through, I really did not ever have a good plan for where to end this? So, I'm gonna try and wrap it up at some point? We'll see!

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"Ugh you're my visitor" Mizuki pretended to barf as he was brought into the room. "Guard I want my visitor privileges revoked."

"Oh shut up, you get a half hour" the guard attached his handcuffs to the table and left.

"You know you could maybe be less of a jerk" Iruka had expected this, but it was still rude. "You did blow me up."

"Do you want an apology?"

"Kind of!"

"Well tough shit I'd do it again given the chance!"

"Why! We're friends!"

"I said we aren't!"

"That's not how it works! We've been friends for like ten years! Even if you didn't invite me to parties for most of those."

"And you're a dick! You're always complaining about stupid shit! 'Oh I'm Iruka people love me and I don't know how to deal with it, oh no I'm in a relationship with two people!' Fuck off!"

"I don't sound like that! And I don't complain about that! Often, I think."

"Literally all the time, who did you suck off for a free ride in life?'

"Not a fan of that phrase really."

"Well you can go suck yourself off about it."

"Uh huh" Iruka had hoped to have a more constructive talk with him. "Also how am I the dick here?"

"Oh I dunno, maybe because all you do is complain or ask for help and you never ask about what I'm up to or how I'm doing. For the record, you did get invited to the first party, but apparently you couldn't be bothered to read an invite."

"What! Not true and also not true!" he was pretty sure he'd never gotten any kind of invite from Mizuki.

"I left it on your desk, it was clearly labeled as an invite to the party."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"I thought a student dropped that and it was for a birthday party or something. Why wouldn't you just give it to me? Or address it to me?"

"Maybe if you'd asked you'd know."

"I just asked."

"Well it's too late for that now, I've forgotten why."

"But you're still mad about it."

"As is my right."

"Well fine, how are you doing?"

"Awful, I'm in jail."

"Right."

"How does someone like you even date two people! You're boring!"

"Again, rude!"

"It's true! You suck at talking to people and you have no hobbies."

"Not true! I like to uh" he stopped to think for a moment, what did he like to do? "Visit hot springs?"

"Lame! What are you a hundred years old?"

"Fine what about you huh?"

"I skateboard."

"What? Since when?"

"You'd know if you were a better friend."

"How!"

"You ask! While you were busy stalking Naruto's mom I was hitting the half pipe."

"Well, ok, I am not really a fan of the stalking word there."

"It seems pretty fitting to me."

"There was maybe one time where it would be appropriate."

"That's enough times for me to call you a stalker."

"Moving on!" Iruka had to think up a new topic fast. "That's a nice jumpsuit you've got there."

"Thanks, the stand issue-ness of it really fits my style."

"It sure does."

"See this falls into an ocean of examples of you being bad at talking to people."

"Fine what do you want to talk about then?"

"Nothing! I literally do not want to be here talking to you!"

"Then why did you come for the visit?"

"I thought it'd be someone cool!"

"Well I'm sorry that no one cool came and you're stuck with me, some guy you hate."

"Good!"

"That would've been a good time to apologize for blowing me up."

"Well it's a damn shame I'm still not feeling too sorry about that."

"You know what fine, I'll go get the guard and leave you to rot alone. Have fun all the no other visitors you dick!"

"Good! Fuck off!"

"I will!"

Thoroughly frustrated, Iruka left the room. Without needing any additional words the guard headed in to grab Mizuki. Even if he'd blown Iruka up, and been annoying, and an asshole, they were friends! Even if he was apparently kind of a shitty friend. He was so caught up thinking about Mizuki he didn't notice Kakashi until he bumped into him.

"Oh sorry" snapping out of his daze, Iruka dusted him off.

"All good" he put away a handful of chopsticks. "Any reason you're so deep in thought?"

"I just went to see Mizuki, which ended up just being a waste of ten minutes. Wait shouldn't you be doing something with your team?"

"Oh I mean probably, but I gave them some forms and left."

"Forms?"

"Yeah for the exam next month."

"The chunin exam?"

"I sure hope so, there isn't some other exam next month right?"

"No I don't think so, but isn't that like really early for them?"

"Eh I dunno? I was a chunin at the age of six."

"No it definitely is."

"You sure?"

"I am."

"Well, it's out of my hands now" Kakashi gave him a small shrug. "That aside, you wanna go grab some dinner?"

"I feel like you should go back and let them know it's pretty dangerous to sign up for that exam."

"They'll be fine, but more importantly, dinner?"

"It's closer to lunch time right now, and also I disagree!"

"Well fine I guess I could do lunch."

"Oh my god fine we can go get lunch and then you can go talk to them about the exam."

"What no way, I'm meeting up with Gai in an hour or so."

"Then after that!"

"That'll be around midnight, and I've been banned from entering the Uzumaki residence in the dead of night."

"Why would it be so late!"

"It's mine and Gai's ten hour contest day."

"Fine, after lunch I'll go find them all and tell them about it."

"Well thanks for that, I'm sure they all probably won't care though" Kakashi pulled him towards a nearby restaurant.

"If you're doing a ten hour contest why would you ask about dinner?"

"One of the contests is speed eating so we could meet up then."

"Uh huh" Iruka decided to just get through this lunch without too much hassle.

His plan was going flawless for all of ten minutes. Someone else had decided to crash their lunch.

"Ah if it isn't Kakashi" Gai pulled a chair over to their table. "So you've found my secret fuel up spot before our big contests."

"I think you mean my secret spot" Kakashi looked over to him. "I've been eating here for the past couple of years."

"Well I started eating here when we were still in the academy."

"I said a couple but I meant when I was still a baby."

"I was still in the womb when I first ate here."

"I think you two are taking this a little too seriously, also this place opened last year" Iruka didn't want to be caught in the middle of them and their weird thing.

"Well regardless, I've already finished my warm up set of a thousand pushups and am just looking to refuel before we kick into action."

"I did a thousand and one before coming here."

Iruka had never spent time with the two of them together before. Apparently Gai brought out a side of Kakashi he usually kept under wraps. The entire meal was spent with Gai mentioning something he'd done and Kakashi saying a one-up to it.

"Well my genin are entering the chunin exam this year, a testament to my masterful teaching!"

"So are mine."

"Dammit, I should've let them take it last year."

"No! Neither of your teams should be taking the exam!"

"See I agreed with your stance last year, but with a full extra year under their belts my kids are gonna win it all!"

"I'll bet twenty my team out lasts yours."

"I'll raise you fifty."

"No! Do not bet on your students results for an exam they shouldn't be taking!"

"You're really worrying a lot about this Iruka, they aren't signed up yet" Kakashi finally addressed his concerns. "They've just got the forms and they have two weeks to think it over. I'm sure they will sign up, but that's besides the point."

"You particularly should be so much more worried about it."

"Why?"

"If your team dies in the exam, who will you have coming after you?" Iruka thought he'd considered this repercussion ahead of time.

"Gai I need to get to my genin right now immediately" Kakashi shot up from his seat.

"You have five minutes before our first round starts" Gai checked the clock.

"What are the chances they all turn in the forms today right?" this was mostly to reassure himself more than anything else.

"I mean, probably really low?" Iruka did enjoy seeing him panic for the first time ever. "But definitely not zero."

"Ok ok, I'll just round them up first thing in the morning, it'll all be fine."

"Excellent" Gai stood up as well and started to stretch. "We already had to postpone last month due to missions, two months in a row is unheard of."

"You're that desperate for me to widen our gap?"

"The score is four hundred to four hundred and one, I assure you I will be the one creating a gap today."

"So uh" Iruka could see what was about to happen. "Am I paying now?"

"That's really nice of you to offer since we've gotta get going."

"Thanks" he should've known this would happen.

Left with the bill, Iruka paid up and headed to find Naruto. He figured the kids would all just go home after getting the forms so checked there first.

"Hello?" Rōzu opened the door up to greet him. "Weren't you in jail today?"

"Please don't refer to me visiting Mizuki in jail like that. Also is Naruto here?"

"I'll think about it, and no he's out training with his team. And big news from him, they're apparently taking an exam next month."

"I heard they got the forms for that, but they're not signed up for real yet."

"No they are, Kakashi apparently ditched them with the forms so they came here for help. Since it's ninja stuff there's still people to file them on the weekends."

"Oh no."

"What?"

"The exam is like, super dangerous, they all graduated like two months ago."

"Is it really that dangerous?"

"Yes!"

"I remember it not being that bad, and I took a solo one, I'm sure this team one will be a breeze for them."

"And if it's not?"

"What do you think is gonna happen?" Rōzu raised an eyebrow at him. "You think some kids are gonna be weirdos and try and attack them with intent to kill or something? It's a test the mortality rate is like half a person a year."

"How do you know that, and also how is it half a person?"

"I file papers for the Hokage, I see these things, and that's like really insensitive to ask about that guy is still alive."

"So you're not worried at all for your twelve year old son?" Iruka had expected the complete opposite reaction.

"No way, they're almost too old for the exam right?"

"What."

"I mean like most people I've heard of become chunin around ten or eleven, or five if they're a freak."

"Uh huh, that's, yeah that's right" Iruka could not let them know when he got promoted.

"But yeah if that's why you were looking for Naruto you're kinda late, by like an hour or so maybe?"

"Of course" Iruka was sure the world had somehow conspired against him on that front.

"But if you're not doing anything else right now, we could do something?"

"Oh sure, I think there's some new movie showing?"

"That is definitely like the second the thing I was thinking of with Naruto out of the house, sure."

"What was the first?"

"I think it's better left unsaid."

"Really?"

"Really. Let's go see that movie."