Was this a fast enough update? I hope so. I tried to work on it a little every day. Be prepared for some minor Genma/Iruka stuff in the future. It's still Kakashi/Iruka, but... -blushes- I have to admit I enjoy the Genma/Iruka pairing as well. Enjoy!

All of Team Seven was in a bad mood that day. Naruto because of last night's excursion at the ramen stand; Sakura because she had had an extremely disturbing dream about Kakashi-sensei last night (nothing too graphic but still disturbing to her young mind); and Sasuke because... he was Sasuke. It didn't help that Naruto had broken into his house late last night to complain loudly and obnoxiously about Iruka-sensei and his weird behavior. According to Naruto, all the teachers in the village were going insane and it was up to them to stop the conspiracy. Sasuke had then proceeded to chuck the nearest thing he could grab at Naruto's head - and that thing happened to be his alarm clock, so he hadn't woken up on time. And now he wasn't even at the practice grounds yet... thanks to Naruto. At least Kakashi-sensei was never on time anyway.

Meanwhile, Sakura was still so lost in her disturbed thoughts, she hadn't even noticed Sasuke's absence yet. She hadn't even smacked Naruto and told him to shut up as the blonde continued to rant noisily about his suspicions.

However, both were quickly snapped out of their previous moods as Kakashi jumped down into the clearing, obviously in worse spirits than them. And was he...?

"Kakashi-sensei...?" The jounin cocked his head lightly in Sakura's direction. "You're... on time."

"Yes?" Sakura blinked. "Your point?" The pink-haired genin shriveled back slightly at the terse note in her teacher's tone. She mumbled a barely distinguishable 'nothing' but Kakashi seemed to buy it and took his intense stare off her. "Where's your other teammate?"

Sakura glanced around quickly, shocked that she had just realized Sasuke wasn't with them. "He's not here yet," Naruto spoke up boldly, but immediately hunched closer to Sakura when Kakashi's annoyed gaze landed on him. "Hey, it's not my fault..." he muttered to the ground.

The sound of leaves crunching underfoot alerted the trio to the presence of the last genin. He was sauntering along, staring at the ground, but as soon as he looked up and spotted his instructor, he froze. Kakashi turned to pierce him with a strict look. "Sasuke... you're late." Sasuke merely stared with 'Confused-as-hell' clearly written all over his face. "Get in line." The harsh tone left no room for argument, so Sasuke scrambled (as stoically as he could) over to his teammates.

"Today, you'll be perfecting your silencing jutsu. And, considering it's a silencing jutsu, everything should be silent." With those brief instructions, Kakashi hopped up into the branches of the nearest tree and sat down, facing away from his students.

Naruto turned to Sakura. "We already know the silencing jutsu."

"NARUTO! What did I just say about silence?" Kakashi's booming voice made all three of his trainees jump – even Sasuke.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something back, but both of his teammates quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and glared daggers at him. He hunched back in defeat.

Kakashi sighed softly. He could feel the worried and frightened aura of his students, and he wished he could turn around and apologize to them, but he just couldn't. He wasn't in the mood to deal with them right now, and a big part of him wished he hadn't shown up as early as he did. But what else did he have to do? He had once again gone to the memorial stone particularly early that morning so there was no point going back to that. His plan had been to spy on Iruka for a big part of the afternoon, but that plan was obviously foiled. He wasn't in the mood for Ichaicha Paradise (shocking but true). His only other option was to sit around and do nothing but think. Which he was currently doing, but he figured he might as well get the whole 'supervising his students' thing out of the way at the same time.

He supposed he could have followed the chuunin anyway, but after seeing Genma leave the other man's house… he just wasn't all too keen on that idea anymore. Genma had said he was just there because he had been sent to check on Iruka. This made perfect sense – it was completely reasonable that the academy should request that another ninja go see what was wrong with their most reliable teacher. But the energy Genma was emitting… Kakashi couldn't be sure, but he was almost positive it was the same kind of spiked up, giddy energy he himself gave out whenever Iruka was around. Of course, he had learned to shield it long ago, but Genma obviously was not as skilled at hiding lovesick energy as himself.

And just the look in the other jounin's eye… Kakashi was sure there had been some kind of silent challenge there. Like Genma knew why Kakashi was really there and was upset by it. But why would he be upset by it if he didn't have any feelings for Iruka himself?

The jounin growled lowly. The whole situation with Iruka had been getting complicated enough lately – he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to handle having a rival thrown into the picture.

Iruka breezed into the classroom, more out of breath than he would have liked. It was bad enough letting his students see him so irresponsible as to be over an hour late – he didn't want to appear weak and out of shape to them too. Hell, the intimidation that came with being a chuunin was the only thing that kept the brats in line half the time. "So sorry, Asuma." He bowed deeply. "I'm sure you have more important work to be doing."

Asuma shrugged good-naturedly. "Nah… my cell students are all off on solo missions today. I'm just in desperate need of a smoke by now." He waved to the students who were mostly too busy staring at the disheveled form of their real teacher – Konohamaru was the only one who waved back energetically – and disappeared out the door, already pulling out his trusty pack of cigarettes.

Iruka hurried to organize his desk, then smiled brightly at his students. "So…" he clapped his hands together cheerfully. "Can anyone tell me what Asuma-sensei was teaching you before I got here?" Nobody raised their hand. "Anybody…?" Iruka tried using his threatening-sensei-death-glare. One little girl slowly put her hand in the air. "Yes, Momoko?"

"Iruka-sensei, what happened to your hair?"

Iruka's eyebrow twitched as several students started to snicker. "We're not discussing that. Can someone please – yes, Moegi?"

Konohamaru's friend gave her sensei a wry look. "Why are you so late?"

Thirty pairs of eyes were instantly stuck on him like glue, waiting for an answer. Iruka felt his entire eye start to spasm. "We're not discussing that either. And if nobody can tell me what you were learning – yes, Konohamaru?" He should have known better than to call on him.

"Iruka-sensei, what's on your neck?"

"I told you! I told you something weird was going on with them!" Naruto attempted to look smug, but a quick kick to the face from Sasuke shut him up. He glowered up at his rival/best friend from the dirt. "Hey! You almost kicked me out of the silence-shield bubble… thing!"

Sasuke snorted. "You don't even know what it's called? Idiot."

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "Don't get mad at me cuz you were wrong and I was right!" He effectively dodged the next kick. "HA-HA! Loser!"

"You know, I hate to say it, but Naruto does seem to have a point." Sakura's somewhat quiet voice snapped the two boys away from their fight. Sasuke dropped the foot that had been aiming for Naruto again, and the blonde gazed up at the kunoichi attentively. "I mean, Kakashi-sensei was acting a little bit abnormal yesterday. And if Naruto's story about Iruka-sensei is true, then he was also acting out of character. These two occurrences normally wouldn't mean that anything was going on, or that they were related in any way, but now… what else did you tell me about Iruka-sensei this morning, Naruto?"

Naruto sat up straight. "Some jounin passed me while I was on my way here, and he stopped me and asked if I knew where Iruka-sensei was. I said he would be at school by that time, but the guy told me he wasn't there yet."

"And…?"

"And so I wanted to go with him to look for Iruka-sensei, but he said that that was his job and he had it covered. And when I wouldn't leave, he threatened me with this big pointy thing he had coming out of his mouth."

"So Iruka-sensei was late to classes this morning?" Sasuke couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.

Naruto shrugged. "As far as I could tell. If he wasn't there by the time that guy talked to me, then he was obviously late. It was already eight o'clock by that time."

Sakura spoke up again. "And… come on – Kakashi-sensei on time? This has never happened before. And why is he so cranky after he was so jovial yesterday? It doesn't make sense." She glanced over at what little they could see of their instructor's back. "Something's going on."

Naruto nodded, trying to look solemn and knowledgeable. "Yup, that's exactly what I was thinking, Sakura. I'm glad somebody can recognize my genius. All the teachers are going insane."

Sasuke sighed. "This doesn't necessarily mean that all the teachers are acting weird. There could just be something wrong in Kakashi-sensei's life."

"But, Iruka-sensei – "

"That doesn't prove anything! He could have just been having a bad day yesterday, and he was so stressed out he overslept. There's absolutely no evidence that his behavior is at all tied to Kakashi-sensei's."

"But Iruka-sensei was asking about Kakashi-sensei! He never asks about him anymore! They hate each other now!"

Sakura blinked, and Sasuke caught on to what she was thinking as well. "What do you mean 'anymore' or 'now'? Did they used to be friends?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Well… they weren't exactly good friends or anything. I mean, they talked in the missions room and stuff, and Iruka-sensei would ask me how Kakashi-sensei was doing or Kakashi-sensei would ask me how Iruka-sensei was doing. And once, the three of us went out for ramen together. But… I dunno… I guess they got in a fight or something… Iruka-sensei won't really talk about it. But now all he does is complain about Kakashi-sensei and they don't seem to be friendly to each other anymore."

"But he was looking for Kakashi-sensei yesterday?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded emphatically. "Then maybe there is something going on between them. Maybe they got in another fight or something and now Kakashi-sensei is upset about it."

Sasuke glanced in the direction of the jounin. "Since when does Kakashi-sensei get upset about fighting with someone? He doesn't seem to care what other people think. And if he's really not friends with Iruka-sensei anymore, I don't see how he would care if they argued."

"Still… we can't rule out the possibility." Sakura stood silently in thought for a moment. "Don't you also find it weird how Kakashi-sensei hasn't touched that perverted book of his in the past two days. He usually reads it constantly, no matter what we're doing."

"Maybe he finished the entire series for the 500th time and doesn't feel like reading them again until the new one comes out," Sasuke disputed. He sighed again. "Seriously, it's none of our business what Kakashi-sensei or Iruka-sensei have going on in their personal lives. And if we try to snoop, we'll just make them even madder."

Sakura's shoulders slumped. "I suppose you're right, Sasuke. We really shouldn't meddle." Both teammates turned to look at Naruto who now had his arms crossed and a look of immense concentration on his face. "Come on, Naruto. Agree that you won't try to pry into their personal affairs. Just leave it alone."

"Hold on, you guys…" Naruto looked up slowly. It seemed as though he had reached a revelation. "I think I know what's going on…"

Neither of his friends tried to stop him so he continued with his explanation.

"Kakashi-sensei not interested in his porn… Iruka-sensei wanting to talk to Kakashi-sensei… Iruka-sensei late while Kakashi-sensei is on time…" He gazed up at the other two who were now looking at him with anticipation. "It's so obvious!"

Both of them leaned down in the blonde's face. "What?"

"Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei have switched bodies!"

Gai-sensei stood at the door of the Ninja Academy in serious contemplation over what approach he should use with Iruka-sensei. Should he try the subtle approach and give little hints until Iruka finally cracked and spilled the beans? Or should he just bluntly tell the teacher he knew everything and hand him back his vest? In truth, neither one seemed very appealing. Little hints and mind games were Kakashi's or Ibiki's forté – not his. On the other hand, while the blatant truth was more his style, he just didn't feel as though it would be appropriate for this situation.

He sighed. Since when did he get so involved in such complicated matters? The most he had had to worry about in a long time was Lee (and the rest of his team of course). And while there were certainly serious aspects in that job, it was usually a more light-hearted item in his life. And if his students didn't want to talk or listen to him, he could merely punch them. He doubted he could do that to Iruka and get away with it.

"Hey Gai."

The jounin turned at the familiar voice. "Hello, Raidou." He attempted his usual grin.

Raidou grinned back. "Hey, have you seen Iruka-sensei around here?"

"I don't believe he's come out of the academy yet. Is something wrong?"

Raidou looked slightly perturbed. "He's supposed to be on mission room duty, but he's half an hour late. Apparently, he was late to work this morning too. I wonder if he's sick?" Gai shrugged, choosing not to mention his involvement in the whole 'Iruka-sensei affair' that morning. "Anyway, I was sent to find him."

Gai cordially stepped aside so Raidou could continue on with his errand. The scarred man waved and smiled to him before stepping through the door. Gai grimaced as soon as Raidou was out of sight. The other jounin was on that list as well. What would happen? Once more reduced to the need to spy, Gai sped around to the other side of the building where Iruka's classroom window was.

Iruka sighed heavily onto his desk. His arms provided a resting spot for his head, and he was content with simply hiding his face from the rest of the world as he lounged at his cluttered desk, letting the breeze from the open window wash over him.

It had probably been the hardest day of teaching in his life, including the many days with Naruto or even his first day as a new teacher. The kids had been completely restless and not willing to listen. He knew it. He just knew it. He had lost their respect by showing irresponsibility. And now the little boogers thought they could get away with anything because 'obviously Iruka-sensei was not on top of his game'.

It had taken quite a long time to quell their curiosity about anything pertaining to his tardiness, hair, and especially neck.

Once the question was out of Konohamaru's mouth, he slapped a hand over the red spot and performed a genjutsu to cover it up. "That's just a scratch from my cat."

"You don't have a cat," Konohamaru piped up.

Iruka semi-glared at him. "How would you know?"

"The boss told me you don't have any pets."

"The… boss…?" Iruka was lost. "Oh," he suddenly caught on. "Right… Naruto. Well, it's a new cat. I just got it yesterday. That's why it scratched me. It isn't used to me yet." He smiled mentally at his near-perfect lie.

"Will you bring the cat in to show us tomorrow?" Moegi asked excitedly. The rest of the class seemed to find this a wonderful idea.

Iruka shook his head and smiled nervously. "No, no. I don't think that's a good idea. Like I said, the cat is new, so it's not really used to people yet."

One of the boys in the front row scoffed loudly. "That's probably just a lame excuse because there is no cat. If you ask me, that mark looks more like a hic – "

Iruka slammed his hand on the desk, creating a rather large dent and effectively shutting up the entire class, including the little front-row loudmouth who seemed to know too much for an eight-year-old. "Well, if no one will tell me what you were studying with Asuma-sensei, I'll just have to start on my plans whether they correspond or not." He angrily reached into his vest for his lesson plan, but became deeply disturbed when he pulled out some explosive tags instead. Shit. That was right. This wasn't his vest.

Now looking like a complete, unprepared idiot, Iruka glanced up at his waiting students. He cleared his throat. "It seems I've misplaced my lesson plan for the day, so – " A halting laugh came from somewhere in the back row. Iruka's eyes flashed. "Well… I was going to let you all have free field practice time to work on whatever you need to work on. But now I think we'll just have a pop quiz. A written pop quiz. Take out a sheet of paper and a pencil." Loud groans resounded throughout the classroom. "NOW!"

Pop quizzes may sound like something that teachers enjoy giving to punish students. But if the teacher didn't actually have questions already in mind, it was just as much trouble to think up decent questions as it was for the students to provide the answers. Iruka could only smile at the fact that he had been able to come up with a few really good ones, and he hoped all the little brats failed. Then, the smile faded and he sighed. Nah… that was mean. He would probably grade on a curve. While they may be incorrigible brats with too much inquisitiveness, it wasn't really their fault that he was having a bad day.

His eyebrows furrowed as he felt a familiar energy reaching his door. Raidou…

Lifting his head slightly, the chuunin groaned as he realized he was once again late for his job. Mission desk duties had started half an hour ago. He let his head droop into his arms again. He wanted to cry.

Today, the job was supposed to be shared with Genma.

Why, oh why hadn't he thought of that tidbit of information this morning before he went and totally mortified himself in front of the man. And after Genma had started kissing him back… Iruka blushed. He had hoped to postpone that awkward conversation for a long time… like, after he was dead and didn't have to worry about it anymore. And now, here came Raidou, another name on Iruka's list of 'people he has to humiliate himself in front of'.

The chuunin purposely ignored the soft knocking at the classroom door. When the door slid open and the jounin called his name, he still remained facedown on his desk. Maybe Raidou would think he was dead and just leave him to rot. "Iruka-sensei… wake up…" He felt a slight shaking on his forearm. Nope… damn man just thought he was asleep. "Iruka-sensei…"

Iruka was just about to lift his head up and respond to Raidou when a different idea popped into his head. He couldn't believe he had just thought it… it was ridiculous! The entire mission was ridiculous! And after all the trouble it had caused so far, he shouldn't even be considering adding another problem to the pile. And he knew it was going to turn into a problem! But still… the thought would not leave him alone. He bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut. 'Good-bye, sweet sanity…'

Letting his face relax back to a natural position, he moaned quietly and shifted so his head was resting on his arms sideways, but still pretended to be asleep. Raidou stopped for a moment, then leaned down so he was right in the teacher's face and resumed his shaking. "Iruka-sensei! You have to wake up!"

Iruka gave another small moan. Opening his eyes just enough so he could see what he was doing, he reached his closest hand up, snagged Raidou by the collar, and tugged him down to meet his lips with his own.

Raidou froze. Well, that was certainly… unexpected. Should he pull away? Would that startle Iruka too much? Should he just stand there and let the teacher finish? He didn't know dammit! All the years of training had never prepared him for this! Iruka-sensei's lips were extremely soft… and he was a very tender kisser. Wow, was he a good kisser. And suddenly the jounin found himself relaxing into the kiss – not kissing back, but definitely doing nothing to stop it.

Pleased that he had completed his task (and without having to deal with another molesting jounin), Iruka pulled back and released Raidou slowly, blinking his eyes in an imitation of having just woken up. The jounin quickly straightened back up, a slight blush covering his cheeks. Iruka stared up at him wondrously. "Raidou…?

Raidou scratched the back of his head. "Ah… Iruka-sensei…"

Iruka let a small blush creep onto his cheeks. "I thought you were someone else…" he mumbled, glancing around.

Raidou laughed nervously. "Don't worry about it…" He coughed. "Uh… Iruka-sensei, you're late for mission room duties."

The chuunin sat up hastily. "Oh no! I'm so sorry! I'll hurry over there right now!" He jumped up and gathered his supplies, bowing quickly to Raidou on his way out. "Thanks, Raidou!"

Raidou stared at the empty doorway. "No… problem…"

Iruka rushed down the hall only stopping to pause for a moment and bang his head harshly against the wall. "I can't believe I just did that!"

Gai watched both retreating figures through the window with growing apprehension. Suddenly noticing something out of place, he quickly whipped around only to catch a flash of strikingly familiar silver. His heart leapt. Had Kakashi seen that?

Genma twirled his new senbon idly between his teeth. Sighing, he once again glanced at the clock. Forty-five minutes late and Iruka still wasn't there. What was going on with that man lately? He was late to classes that morning… he was late now… he had kissed him… The jounin sighed. Why had Iruka kissed him? True, he had told the chuunin to, but Iruka should have known that it was all in good fun. He knew better than to take Genma's jokes seriously. But that kiss certainly hadn't been a joke.

And he had kissed back.

Did he like Iruka? The man was certainly attractive – in an ignorant-of-his-own-sexiness sort of way. Not exactly the kind of person Genma had ever imagined himself falling for, but he couldn't deny all the times he had made lewd jokes to his friends about how he wouldn't mind taking a little after-school punishment from the sexy sensei. But he never thought for an instant that it would ever actually happen. And if it did… well, he thought it would simply be for pleasurable purposes. But that kiss…

He sighed disgustedly. Why was he getting so worked up over a little kiss? It was just a kiss… and it was just Iruka. Those two things shouldn't be getting him this riled up.

But they were.

And therein lied the problem. He had no idea why!

And that look on Iruka's face when the kiss ended… he couldn't distinguish it… Dammit! He really needed to talk to someone about this.

Just then, the notorious chuunin schoolteacher himself rushed into the room and started apologizing profusely to Genma. Genma eyed him for a moment as Iruka continued his rushed 'sorrys'. He certainly didn't seem to be antagonizing over the earlier situation. The only thing the teacher looked upset about was the fact that he was, once again, horrendously late for his job. Genma sighed and stood up abruptly. "Don't worry about it, Iruka." His voice was unusually gentle, and Iruka couldn't help but notice it. He stopped babbling immediately. "Will you just excuse me for a minute? I have to take care of something."

Iruka nodded, and Genma slinked out the door. Where the hell was Raidou when he needed him?

"RAIDOU!" The scarred jounin's head snapped up as he spotted Genma jogging toward him.

He stopped and smiled. "Hey. I was just on my way back – "

"I need to talk to you."

The urgency in the other man's voice caused Raidou's smile to fail. What could possibly be so important that it caused Genma to use that tone of voice? "Alright."

The other jounin wasted no time in dragging Raidou into a nearby alley. As he checked all around them to make sure no one else was listening, Raidou was becoming increasingly nervous. Just what the hell was going on? Finally satisfied that they were alone, Genma turned back to his friend with a serious look in his eye. "What do you think about Iruka?"

Raidou blinked. What? That was it? Suddenly a mental image came back of Iruka's face and the soft lips that had so lovingly caressed his own. He shook his head slightly to stop the rising blush. "What about Iruka?" He really hoped his voice sounded casual.

"What do you think about him?" Genma demanded again.

"Think about him as what? A teacher? A shinobi?"

"Just… what do you think about him?" Genma let out a breath of air, trying to remain nonchalant but failing miserably. "You know… like as a person… a dating prospect… maybe…" He trailed off as a look of realization crossed Raidou's face.

Was this who Iruka thought Raidou had been? Were Iruka and Genma seeing each other? Why hadn't he been informed? Wasn't he Genma's best friend? The jounin coughed slightly to wipe away any inner thoughts that may have crept up and started making themselves known on his face. "Well… you know…" He trailed off. What was he supposed to say to that? If Genma was interested in Iruka, he couldn't very well tell him that Iruka had just kissed him. He shrugged. "I… never really thought about it. I mean, he's… Iruka Umino. The chuunin schoolteacher."

Genma sighed. "I know."

"He's nice. As far as I know. I've heard he can have a bit of a temper, if his fight with Kakashi about the Chuunin Exam is any indication. But I don't think he's a bad guy." Genma nodded. "I suppose he'd be a suitable person to date. He seems real friendly and loyal and everything." He looked closely at Genma's thinking face. "All in all, he doesn't really seem to be your type though."

Genma glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Raidou shrugged. "Just that you've never really gone for the friendly, bouncy types before."

"What are you talking about? I hang out with you all the time."

"Yeah, and you yell at me all the time about how I smile too much." He cracked a grin just to spite his friend. Genma muttered something unintelligible that Raidou was sure he didn't really want to hear anyway. "So, where's this coming from all of a sudden? You got a thing for the little chuunin or something?"

Genma lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I honestly don't know. I just wanted your opinion." Raidou remained silent. "Whatever." Genma turned away. "I should get back to the missions desk. I left Iruka with all the work."

"Woooow…" Raidou teased. "Willing to put in effort at work to help him. I think you do have a crush."

"Shove it."

Kakashi's eye narrowed in the shadows as he watched his two fellow jounin saunter away. 'Damn you, Genma… this means war.'

Haha, stupid Naruto, confused Genma, pissed off Kakahsi... Good fun, good fun.

As for the chapter titles, I may put some in in the future if I can come up with clever names.

And Your Mom's Face - XD No, you remind me of someone I hate. Haha, just kidding - no, you remind me of someone I like. Well, actually I don't know them that well - I've only met them a few times, but they're hilarious, and your name reminds me of something they would probably say. And your reviews are wonderful and hilarious, and I always look forward to them. I always smile really wide and become anxious when I notice a new review from you. Well, I smile whenever I get any reviews, but I really do look for yours all the time. Haha

If you enjoyed, please review! I love you all!

DixieGoddess