I'm so sorry it's been almost a month since I updated! I wanted to get this chapter out before school started, but alas, that didn't end up happening. So then I had other crap going on, and this kept getting pushed aside. But finally, here it is! I'm warning you though: along with the last chapter, this one is more on the boring, filler-chapter, just to provide some insight side. I already know that the next 3 chapters will be fun-filled however, so don't lose hope in me! It's only your enthusiastic hope that's kept me going this long!

Kakashi was officially pissed. And it was the first time in a very long time that his anger didn't have anything to do with an enemy ninja. No - this time it was a case of being upset with an ally ninja. Which could never lead to anything good.

If Kakashi did what he really felt like doing (which was sneaking into Genma's apartment late at night, ripping him to shreds, and spreading Genma-confetti all around the village) he doubted that would be seen as reasonable behavior. And, truthfully, before this incident, Kakashi had had absolutely no sour feelings toward Genma Shiranui whatsoever. In fact, you could almost say they were friends.

It was sad, in a way, that Kakashi was allowing himself to fall into the tired cliché of two friends fighting over the same woman – well, man, in this case. But when it came to Iruka… goddammit – Kakashi had dibs! He had been attracted to the man for a few good years now, and interested in him as something more than a friend with eye-candy for close to a year. When was the last time Genma looked at Iruka as anything more than a fun target for his newest sexual innuendos?

Yes – Kakashi most definitely had dibs.

The thing that unnerved him was what, exactly, had caused Genma to cross the friendship barrier into 'I wanna date Iruka land' like he had done several months ago. For Kakashi, it had been the Chuunin Exam argument. Yes, it was annoying to have his judgment questioned, but the thing was – who had been the last one to ever do it? Maybe that's why he'd gotten so ticked. He wasn't used to people standing up to him. Especially not someone of a lower ranking. Hell, most of the chuunin in the village were terrified of him (and, for the record, he had no idea why). So when a chuunin – not even an active-duty chuunin, but just a plain, simple schoolteacher – had decided that he was going to let Kakashi know just what he thought of him… well… who knows why the human brain finds insolence sexy… but it usually does.

After that, he had started paying more attention to the brunette sensei than he ever had and, needless to say, he liked what he learned. No point going into the details, but Kakashi was sure that Iruka was the perfect match for him. Now… if only he could get Iruka to see him as the perfect match for himself.

Anyway, the point was, why was Genma suddenly so attracted to Iruka as well? Not that there wasn't plenty to be attracted to (again, no point going into rant mode about how wonderful Iruka-sensei was), but why was Genma seeing it all now – when things were just getting good between himself and Iruka. Genma always did have horrible timing.

And what about Raidou?

Kakashi cringed under his mask. He'd seen Iruka kiss him in his half-asleep daze, and he had a good mind to start plotting revenge against the heavily-scarred man as well. But Raidou hadn't seemed as though he was ready to jump on the Iruka-train after the incident. And Iruka had said that he thought Raidou was someone else… could he have been talking about him? He had to be, Kakashi's mind reasoned. Who else did Iruka go around kissing? That thought subdued Kakashi's murderous inner rants for a moment, and a small smile crossed his features.

No… he wouldn't kill Raidou. Despite the fact that his Iruka's lips had been on the other man's, he could reason out that the other jounin was an innocent.

He would stick to the Genma-only plan. Unless, of course, somebody else in the village suddenly decided that pursuing Iruka was a good idea. And considering his luck lately, Kakashi really wouldn't have been surprised.

"Sasuke…"

"Hm?"

"Could you get the fuck off me?"

"No."

"Why…?"

"Sakura's orders."

"Since when do you listen to Sakura? For that matter, since when do you listen to anyone that isn't some sort of authority figure?"

"Since I decided that she actually came up with a good idea. Who am I to trash such brilliance?"

Naruto craned his head up from the dirt. He was lying on his stomach, hands tied expertly behind him, feet following suit, and Sasuke had perched himself on the blonde's lower back, looking slightly bored, as though the situation was an every day occurrence. The orange-clad ninja gave a great leer. "Ooooo… better not let Sakura hear you talking like that about her. She'll start thinking you finally cracked and love her back. Then she'll really be all over you!"

Sasuke raised one eyebrow. "Since when do you mock the relationship, or lack thereof, between me and Sakura? You usually get mad at me when I'm rude to her, or she starts paying more attention to me than you… which is always…"

Rather than the expected outburst about how he was going to train real hard and make Sakura see him as more than a worthless loser and prove that he was better than Sasuke, Naruto merely gave the Uchiha a tired glare and turned back to the dirt. Sasuke blinked. What the hell had just happened?

"Oi…" Sasuke's voice betrayed underlying hints of the annoyance he was trying to hide. "What was with that look?"

"What look?"

"That look you just gave me, moron!"

"I didn't give you a look!"

"Yes you did!"

Naruto spun his head again and glared at the dark-haired shinobi. "You know what, Sasuke! You always think everybody's looking at you! Cuz you're so good-looking! Well, you know what, Sasuke! Not everybody thinks so! So shut up!" With a large huff, the blonde buried his face in the dirt again, leaving the other ninja flabbergasted at how his teammate had just blown up at him, and told him to shut up… and insulted his good looks.

After a few moments of undignified gaping (for which Sasuke was glad nobody else was around and Naruto wasn't looking at him), the young shinobi's features twisted into irritation and an eyebrow started to twitch. "Well, at least I don't go around with stupid delusions about my senseis switching bodies!"

Naruto turned again. "They have switched bodies! I'm positive! If you would have just let me talk to – "

"No!"

"But – "

"Kakashi-sensei was pissed off as it was! If you started spouting nonsense, he would've gotten even angrier."

"That wasn't Kakashi-sensei! It was Iruka-sensei!"

Sasuke growled. "Just shut up!" Naruto pursed his lips together, complying with the request, whether it was a conscious effort or not. The Uchiha heir sighed, trying to regain his composure. "Look… Sakura's off to find Iruka-sensei to talk to him. Once she comes back with the real story, you have to shut up about your hare-brained idea."

"It's not hare-brained," the blonde grumbled, but, sick of the previous argument, he let his head drop back down and kept quiet… at least for the time being.

"Everything seems to be in order – thank you!" Iruka waved off the ninja who had just turned in his report, and the chuunin went about filling in the "For Mission Desk Use Only" sections, signing his name, and placing it into the pile of papers that would be filed away later. All this he did with a smile on his face and a bounce in his pony-tail. And Genma couldn't help but be mesmerized by the sight.

It had never occurred to him just how cute Iruka was when he was doing his job. Generally, people didn't look cute when doing their jobs because most people hated their jobs. But Iruka, despite his obvious exhaustion, (which Genma was beginning to worry about), was always bright and chipper to everyone who came into the mission room. Well… unless it was Kakashi with a horrendously late and practically illegible mission report. But who could blame him?

As Iruka placed the most recent report in the to-be-filed pile, he made a conscious effort to keep smiling and avoid Genma's gaze as long as possible. If he looked content and busy, maybe Genma wouldn't start a conversation about this morning. Maybe he would even stop staring at him like that – but considering he hadn't stopped for the past few hours, Iruka highly doubted it. Why was the other man just staring? If he wanted to say something, the chuunin thought Genma would be the type to have said it by now.

But he wasn't saying anything – just staring. It was really getting unnerving.

He smiled up at the next person who approached the desk, and inwardly smiled as well when he noticed someone right behind them, approaching Genma who was now the only one free. This caused the jounin to have to divert his gaze and attention for the time being. Iruka finished up the report, this time with a less shaky hand, as Genma wasn't distracting him, and placed it in the pile. A few seconds later, another piece of paper was shoved in his face from the side.

Iruka blinked. Then, realizing that he had created the to-be-filed pile on his side only, he smiled cheerfully at Genma, though his gaze didn't actually meet the other man's eyes. "Thank you, Genma." He reached for the paper and tugged, but, for some reason, the jounin held tightly to the report. Iruka tugged again, but still was unable to take it from the other man's grasp. His smile faded at he looked at Genma who was once again doing his intense staring thing. Iruka gulped.

"Iruka – "

"Iruka-sensei!" Both mission desk employees snapped their heads toward the voice of Izumo who was poking his head through the door. "The Hokage would like to see you as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Izumo!" Iruka called, sounding a little too relieved. He quickly snatched the paper out of Genma's now slack hand and threw it on the pile. "I'm sure you can handle things here, Genma!" With a quick wave, the brunette chuunin flew out the door leaving a very confused Genma and a very pissed-off Kakashi who had just stepped through the door before Izumo, and was promptly ignored by the person he had specifically come to see.

Iruka quit flying down the hall as soon as he was sure he was out of sight of the mission room. Sighing and continuing at a more leisurely pace, he ran a hand through his hair, slightly mussing it. People may have thought Iruka wasn't sharp and a little naïve, but he wasn't as imperceptive as everyone thought. He knew that kiss this morning had changed something between him and Genma – for the better or for worse, he didn't know yet, and he sincerely hoped he could keep avoiding Genma so he would never have to find out. And he knew that the kiss – well, more of a make-out session… or two – with Kakashi had altered their relationship in some way. That one, he was sure was for the worse, since he had left Kakashi more than a little horny in their previous encounters. He still had no idea why Kakashi kept pursuing him, but it couldn't be anything good.

Again, the thought that Kakashi wanted to make him into a personal sex-toy crossed his mind. He knew the jounin was a pervert… but honestly, he had always given him more credit than to sink to that level, but maybe he had been wrong? At any rate, it was getting unsettling that Kakashi seemed to be following him around and showing up all over the place. He had noticed him at the door when he left, and had ignored him on purpose so as not to start anything.

Iruka shook his head as he approached the Hokage's office. This wasn't the time to dwell on such matters. Maybe the Hokage had called him in to tell him that she was canceling the mission! Iruka couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face at the thought, and he was sure that if he could see the expression on the ANBU guards' faces, they would have looked at him funny for grinning for no reason. As was the case, he couldn't see their confused looks, and he kept the stupid smile on his face, and the ANBU guards let him in as though they were expecting him without making some comment on his smile (then again, the ANBU didn't talk very much, especially to chuunin that looked half crazed).

However, Iruka's lifted spirits dropped instantly as he spotted the wide smirk on Tsunade's face. His features fell. No way in hell would she ever drop a mission like this. It would be far too amusing for her to make him carry it all the way through. He stopped smiling and bowed slightly. "You wanted to see me, Lady Hokage?" He was amazed at how tired he sounded, and obviously, so was Tsunade.

Her smirk faded a bit, and she raised a curious eyebrow. "Are you alright, Iruka-sensei? You don't need to be checked back into the hospital, do you?"

Iruka shook his head. "I'm fine. Just didn't get much sleep last night."

The depraved smile returned to the leader's face. "Up strategizing, were we?" she asked, in a happy, high-pitched tone. Iruka didn't answer. "That's actually the reason I called you here, Iruka-sensei. I just wanted to check if you had started that mission yet. I know it's only the second day, but – "

Iruka's mind tuned out the rest of what the Hokage was babbling about. 'Jeez! She's right! It is only the second day! It's only the second day of this stupid mission and I've already humiliated myself in front of three of my co-workers, gotten shanghaied into an intimate encounter with Kakashi twice, and shifted the entire nature of my relationship with Genma! And it's only, the second day.'

Tsunade stopped her girlish giggling at the far-off look on Iruka's face. He had obviously stopped listening to her. "Iruka-sensei!" The chuunin jumped slightly as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Lost in thought?"

Iruka nodded dumbly, then instantly bowed deeply when it hit him what the comment meant. "I'm sorry, Lady Hokage! You were saying… about the mission?"

Tsunade smiled, though not quite as wickedly as before. "Yes. Have you made any progress? Have you at least come up with a strategy?"

Iruka bobbed his head slightly. "I've already gotten through three people," he muttered, staring at the ground.

The Hokage was silent for a moment. Then, she leaned back in her chair and gave a devious smirk. "Three?" She chuckled lowly. "My, my, you've been a busy little bee!" Iruka blushed. "Well, good for you, Iruka-sensei! You always have been a dedicated worker. And it's not so bad, is it? I'll bet you've had fun!" Iruka raised his head, and, for the first time since the beginning of the meeting, was able to clearly express his true emotions – clear and present annoyance and anger. The Hokage, sensing the murderous aura, immediately wiped the smile off her face and cleared her throat. "Perhaps not?"

Iruka sighed. "Lady Hokage, if you don't mind my asking again – "

"I'm not telling you who requested this mission or why you're the only one who can do it."

Iruka turned to face the door. "I didn't think so. Good day then."

"Iruka-sensei!" Iruka glanced over his shoulder. The Hokage actually had a small look of pity on her face. He guessed he looked pretty damn pathetic right now. "Would you like me to fix your hair?"

Iruka searched the woman's face for any sign of a joke or prank, but, finding none, he turned back to her tiredly. "Yes, please."

Iruka left the Hokage's office fifteen minutes later in slightly higher (but by no means restored) spirits. At least his hair looked decent once again, and the Hokage hadn't even asked what had happened in the first place or seen through his Hickey-genjustu. Or if she had, she had refrained from mentioning it – which was doubtful, considering Tsunade's general personality – so that cheered the chuunin up a bit.

However, whatever little happiness these trivialities brought him, they were just that – trivialities. And he still had a mountain of problems looming before him. As he sauntered along, trying to list them in his head, he realized he couldn't even keep them straight anymore. There were just too many. He would have to make a list when he got home.

Iruka sighed loudly and tilted his head toward the rapidly darkening sky. "This is ridiculous." The words were no more than an exasperated whisper, but they rang over and over again in the chuunin's ears – taunting him with the undeniable truth that all his deep-seeded problems lied within one utterly ridiculous task.

Life sucked sometimes.

"Iruka-sensei!"

The chuunin's head turned at the sound of the girlish voice to see none other than his former student, Sakura Haruno, rush up to him. He smiled genuinely for the first time in what seemed like a long while. "Hello, Sakura."

The pink-haired girl grinned up at him. "I've been looking for you all day. Are you busy, Iruka-sensei?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be getting back to the mission room – " the brunette cut himself off at the thought of Genma and his weird behavior and Kakashi, who was probably still lounging near the doorway, knowing him and the fact that he had nowhere else to be. "But my shift is almost over anyway! What's up?"

Sakura blinked a bit at the older man's response. It wasn't like Iruka-sensei to dodge any sort of responsibility. Could Naruto…? 'NO!' The genin shook her head stubbornly. That was stupid! She was here to prove that idiot wrong! "Well… um…" Great… now how was she supposed to do that? In all the time that it had taken to find Iruka-sensei, she hadn't actually thought about what she was going to say once she found him. 'You don't happen to actually be Kakashi-sensei, do you?' seemed a little… odd.

"You said you've been looking for me all day. Is it important?" Iruka cocked his head to the side, letting a worried look cross his face.

Sakura quickly shook her head, laughing off any apparent nervousness. "Oh, no. I just heard that you and Kakashi-sensei may have had a fight… and I wanted to find out more about it… you know, since Kakashi-sensei seemed kinda upset today." 'Real smooth…' Sakura thought glumly. She certainly wasn't going into the interrogation field.

Iruka stiffened a bit. Kakashi was upset? Dammit! Then his eyes narrowed slightly. Why was his former student so interested in his and Kakashi's relationship? True, it involved her sensei, but Sakura had always been the type that saw it best to stay out of other's personal affairs. Now if it was Naruto… but it wasn't. "Well…" Iruka spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. Sakura's strange behavior could very well mean that Kakashi was using his students to somehow set him up – how? He had no idea how… but the man was a genius… he wouldn't put it past him. "Kakashi-sensei and I had a bit of a… run-in… you could say."

"Really?" Sakura seemed surprised, curious, and somewhat relieved all at the same time. "What was it about? If you don't mind me asking?"

Iruka smiled brightly. "I really shouldn't be discussing your sensei's personal life with you, Sakura."

Sakura seemed to deflate. "Right… sorry I asked, Iruka-sensei. I was just curious." She beamed up at him, more than a little obviously fake. "Well, I'm sure you two will work it out. See you later!" And just like that, the awkward-looking girl was gone, and Iruka was, once again, trying to piece together just what the hell was going on.

Kakashi was, for the third time that day, thoroughly ticked off. But by then, it had become more of an exasperated ticked off, than an I'm-gonna-kill-the-next-thing-that-moves ticked off. After waiting for a good hour for Iruka to show up again (while having numerous glaring contests with Genma), he had finally given up and wandered back out of the mission room.

He had never realized just how frustrating it was to wait for someone – was this seriously how people felt when he was late? Jeez… he deserved to be yelled and glared at. Not that this revelation was, in any way, going to change his schedule, but at least he could now offer sympathy. In fact, he was going to use this newfound sympathy not-so-bright-and-early tomorrow afternoon when he made sure he was doubly late meeting his team (to make up for his behavior today). Sounded like a good plan to him.

Alas, the thought of tormenting his students didn't give him quite the boost of exuberance that it usually did. His thoughts were still fixed on Iruka.

He had been brooding on the subject all day during 'training', all late-afternoon after witnessing the Raidou/Iruka moment in the classroom and Genma's alleyway confession, and for another hour in the mission room after the chuunin ignored his presence. He had gone from amused to elated to confused to angered and back around again several times in the past few days. And for a jounin that usually hid his emotions in the back of his mind, the roller-coaster was starting to make him feel sick.

He had tried being straight-forward with Iruka… but that plan backfired. He had tried being subtle and was promptly ignored. He had tried giving the chuunin his space, but that was really starting to wear on him.

In the pale moonlight hanging over Hidden Leaf, Kakashi huffed, taking off in the direction of the schoolteacher's house with a new determination. Enough was enough. He and Iruka needed to have a little chat.

Gai was upset. And Gai Maito did not get upset easily. Yes, one could say he was enthusiastic, especially when dealing with his students, but upset? Rarely.

And the fact that he was so upset when he seldom got upset was making him even more upset. It was a vicious cycle.

If he didn't do something about this Iruka-sensei situation soon, he would lose his mind. He was well aware that many people in the village thought he had already lost his mind, but it was still there, thank you very much. And he really wanted to keep it that way.

Strapping on one of his other vests, he grabbed up Iruka's and jumped out the window.

It was dark now… Iruka should be off Mission Desk duties and home. Like it or not, it was confrontation time.

Iruka tugged out his pony-tail holder – the last bit in his getting ready for bed ritual. It was early – only a little past 9. But it had been a long day. And coupled with the day before it, Iruka was honestly surprised that a year hadn't passed. He deserved a good night's rest. The quizzes would have to wait to be graded some other time. It would just be another thing on his list of problems that needed to be taken care of.

He switched off the light and crawled into bed, mumbling to himself. "Vest… Genma… Kakashi… Mission… Kisses… Tsunade-bitch… Mission… Quizzes… Kakashi…"

He was just about to drift off into dream-land when his eyes snapped open in the darkness at the unmistakable feeling of hot breath against his neck.

Again, here's a promise that the next chapter will be semi-smutty, and the next 3 chapters will be more fun (AKA: Jiraiya!)

Soelle: I will try my very hardest not to throw something utterly silly into this story just for the sake of humor. Actually, sometimes, I label things humor, but they're really not that funny. I have a very... not -dry- per say... but lackadaisical sense of humor. So I don't even know if half the stuff I put in that's supposed to be subtlely funny is even getting through. So no - definitely none of that starting with an intelligent story... putting the chapters on crack... and then wrapping it up with a semi-intelligent ending crap. I read this story once that started really well, and then it was like the author started doing LSD, and then the last chapter was like the chapter on rehab or something. It was messed up.

Your Mom's Face: Once again, you make me laugh out loud and curl up in my computer chair cuz my stomach starts hurting. And I promise that there won't be too much angst. Maybe a little towards the end, but I promise mostly light-hearted angst (if that makes sense)and a happy ending (yay!).

Just a fun review I thought I'd share with you all cuz it made me smile: Hey, I haven't read your story nor am I going to cause I'm not into yaoi. I just wanted to stop by and comment about the title. "Kiss me deadly". Ey, ey ey, I think I know where you got the title from. Kiss me Deadly, a hardcore anal porno, starring Gia Jordan. tsk tsk tsk Well...? Not my original intention but... M-rated Kakashi/Iruka... anal porn...? I can see the connection. Hardcore? I'm not so sure about that, plus kick Gia Jordan the hell out of the picture cuz she's screwing up all the Kakashi/Iruka goodness, but other than that... XD

As always, if you enjoyed, please review!

DixieGoddess