Two days passed before Iruka saw Kakashi again. "See how Kakashi acts" was his unofficially imposed mission. He needed an excuse to see him soon, Naruto was probably wondering where he was. Wait. Naruto. He could see Kakashi at Ichiraku on the pretense of visiting Naruto. He smiled inwardly and dressed quickly, ready to start his day by investigating Kakashi. Iruka tried his best to appear cool and composed, but lost the battle to hide his emotions as Naruto shouted to him.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto hopped over the counter and tackled his former teacher. Iruka laughed and hugged Naruto.

"Hey Naruto, I thought I'd join you guys here for lunch."

"That's great! Hey, Kakashi-sensei, can I take my break now?"

Kakashi glanced around; it didn't seem very crowded since nobody else was within miles of them.

"Go ahead."

Naruto cheered and yelled at Sasuke to make miso ramen for himself and tonkotsu ramen for Iruka, earning a dark glare from the other boy.

"How are you, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka smiled gently.

"Can't complain…" Kakashi shrugged. Iruka nodded and kept smiling and thought to himself. Hmm. No clues yet. But he is skilled at hiding his emotions, after all.

Sakura brought the ramen out to Iruka and Naruto.

"Good afternoon, Iruka-sensei."

"You too, Sakura," Iruka smiled at her and began eating and noticed Kakashi staring at him again. Iruka decided to test Kakashi's reactions. Iruka sighed pretending to be frustrated with something and pulled his hair down, picking out bits of hair that got ripped free. He slid the tie around his wrist and continued eating, running his fingers through the loose locks. He thought he heard Kakashi try to hide a gasp and looked up at him with a lock of hair wrapped around a finger.

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Kakashi shuddered inwardly. He could almost swear that Iruka was flirting with him. That is, if Iruka was the flirting type, but he seemed far too innocent for anything like that. He froze as Iruka caught him staring again and blinked in spite of himself. Sure Iruka was prone to blushing but he was still a ninja after all. He watched Iruka lower his eyes and go back to eating. Is he trying to get a rise from me? He watched as Iruka slurped and missed as a noodle stuck to his chin. Iruka wiped his face clean with a finger and licked the juice off his finger suggestively, still avoiding Kakashi's eyes. Kakashi groaned quietly. Well if he is, it's working damn it. Naruto watched his two teachers, noticing Kakashi watching Iruka.

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Iruka tried not to smile as he heard Kakashi responding to his tests. But that only proved that he was perverted which was of course widely known. Naruto chose that moment to hug his old sensei fervently, thanking him for the mission, the ramen, and for all around being the best damn sensei ever. Iruka laughed and hugged the young boy back, then glanced up to see Kakashi giving his young charge a death glare.

"Okay, Naruto. Back to work." Kakashi's voice lowered dangerously. Naruto grumbled and hopped back over the counter, then Kakashi turned to Iruka and smiled as though nothing had happened. Iruka grinned crookedly. He could swear that Kakashi had been jealous of the attention Naruto had been getting from him. "What's so amusing, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi murmured. Iruka twitched; he always was bad at hiding his emotions, but even worse at lying.

"Nothing really, Kakashi-sensei." He smiled, hoping Kakashi wouldn't press him further. Meanwhile, the three genins discussed the current development.

"I swear he looked like he wanted to kill me," Naruto whispered.

"Who cares?" Sasuke smirked.

"Hey shut up, this is serious."

"Kakashi-sensei's guard is almost gone when Iruka-sensei's around." Sakura nodded. "Why doesn't he do anything? He just stares at him…"

"I've got an idea," Naruto inhaled. "Sasuke, you bastard! Your cooking sucks worse than you do!" He glanced at a pot full of boiling water.

"Naruto, leave Sasuke alone!" Sakura shook a fist at the blond.

"Whatever, loser." Sasuke nodded at the pot.

"I'll show you how GOOD ramen is made!" Naruto picked the water from the fire.

"Iruka-sensei likes it; it's just in your head, Naruto!" Sakura noticed Iruka glance in their direction.

"Naruto, give me the pot!" Sasuke chased him. When Naruto spun around to dodge Sasuke, he flung the pot towards the two teachers and let go. In an instant, Kakashi grabbed Iruka out of harm's way and dove with him onto the counter as the pot flew out of the ramen shop. Iruka blinked as he watched the pot roll around on the ground, then blushed as he noticed Kakashi clinging to him protectively.

"Ka…kashi?" Iruka whispered.

"What? Are you okay?" Kakashi blinked and reluctantly let go. "Sorry."

"I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei…" Iruka eyed the pot that had once had boiling water in it. That seemed much more than just a fight between Naruto and Sasuke. As Kakashi disciplined the three genin ninjas, Iruka took the chance to run home.

"That didn't quite go like I planned." Iruka said to himself. "But I think he does like me, I just need to find out if he's just like that with me or with everyone." Kakashi sighed as he noticed Iruka's disappearance.

"Have you three already forgotten how to act like a team?"

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," they murmured while secretly congratulating each other on a job well done. Kakashi liked Iruka.