Iruka grunted in pain as he felt something dig into his arm. Turning, Iruka flung the kunai that he'd been holding, and sent it straight into the face of the Sound shinobi that had ambushed him on the way out of the Land of Rice.

It was odd. He hadn't expected anything like an attack that far away from his mission. There was something...

That thought broke off as Iruka dodged a shuriken.

"What is a little Leaf shinobi like you doing all the way over here?" The Sound shinobi taunted, a wicked grin on his face as he flung a volley of kunai and shuriken at Iruka. Instead of answering, Iruka focused on evading them and working his way over to the Sound nin.

From the fact that the shinobi had been expecting him, Iruka figured that he wasn't alone. There was at least two more shinobi with him. If they weren't in the immediate area, then they were near by, probably waiting until he was tired and worn out. He had to think, and take out this one fast.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Whoa, Iruka! What happened to you?!" Izumo shouted in surprise as Iruka walked through the the Mission Room, to hand in his report.

At Izumo's yell, the rest of the occupants turned to look, and stared at the bloody bandage on Iruka's arm, and worn look on the chunnin's face.

Iruka grimaced, not liking the attention, but quickly hid it as he walked over to his long time friend. "It's nothing. A stray kunai, but I'm heading to the Hospital for a quick look at it after this." Iruka stated as he handed over the scroll.

"Well, that sucks! I thought it was just a low risk escort mission, though?" Izumo semi asked as he gave the scroll a quick once over. Not that he was expecting to find any errors in the report.

"It was. I just ran across a few bandits on my way back." Iruka said, looking non pulsed as his friend and fellow chuunin raised his eyebrow at the lack of information. Not that he pressed for more, Iruka hadn't been too talkative the past few weeks.

Instead, Izumo asked something else. "You're not doing another mission any time soon, right?"

Iruka tilted his head to the side, before shaking his head in the negative. "Not for a few days."

"Sweet! Want to hang out with the gang tomorrow then? We were planning a get together over by the new barbecue place. Asuma says that the food is the best."

For a second, Iruka hesitated. Ever since he'd started his secret infiltration missions, he'd had little time to actually see anyone. This last mission he'd been gone for a week but a few of his past ones had lasted slightly longer than that, though none had yet exceeded a month. He was expecting the next one to be slightly longer. Lady Tsunade had warned him that it would be imperative, and it wouldn't be an in and out within a week mission. He wouldn't be able to contact anyone for a while, so he should hang out with his friends. Slowly, Iruka nodded. "Sounds good to me. What time?"

"Awesome! I'll come by and pick you up! You're still living at Kakashi's, right?" Izumo asked, not noticing the flash of pain that had passed through Iruka's face before it disappeared without a trace.

"No, I moved out a while ago. I'll just meet you there." Iruka said, a smile on his face, though it was good enough that the other chuunin didn't notice how fake it actually was. Iruka hadn't even thought about getting a new place since he spent so little time in the village now a days. A few days here and there, and the rest he would be out on his missions. Since he really did have so little in actual possessions, Iruka took them with him. Those few precious things never left the sealing scroll or his body. After the first infiltration mission, Iruka had even gotten a seal tattooed on his arm. It held one sealing scroll and that one scroll held all those precious things that he had left. A few pictures of his parents and of Naruto and a couple of trinkets that he'd managed to find from the rubble of his old home. Also... one of the first things Kakashi had given him... A pendant with a dolphin on it. Iruka used to wear it all the time, only taking it off when he took a shower...

Now.. Now it was nothing more than a hurtful memory. It reminded him of the time before... before...when he was happy. When he was in love... and when Kakashi cared. It hurt remembering that time.

But he still kept it, he wasn't even sure why anymore.

"Be there by three, everyone should be free by then." Izumo waved as Iruka agreed and walked out of the office.

Iruka headed to the hospital for a quick check up, then made his way back to the hotel that he had started using. The owner always gave him discounts now. It was unnecessary, but Iruka appreciated the gesture.

"Iruka-sensei!" The happy cry made Iruka smile as he turned to look at Naruto. The smile faltered a little when he caught a glimpse of who was with the blond who he thought of as a son. "Iruka-sensei! Where have you been? I keep looking for you, and you're always off on a mission! We haven't eaten ramen together in forever!"

Iruka made sure that his eyes didn't stray up to the jounin, the smile growing again the more that Naruto complained about the lack of contact from Iruka. Sakura smiled slightly, and Sai gave a nod of his head. Kakashi just raised his hand, though Iruka pretended not to see that as he gazed into Naruto's blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I've been taking a few missions out of the village and haven't been around very much. I'll be here for a week before I have to go again."

"Really? That's awesome! How about we go eat ramen now?!" Naruto grinned, hopping from foot to foot. Even though he was a teenager, Naruto still acted so childishly when he was excited.

Iruka wavered, eyes flickering up to Kakashi. "Aren't you on a mission? Or team training?"

Noticeably, Naruto dropped, a pout forming on his lips.

"How about this, I have something to do tomorrow, but how about later tonight I'll meet you at Ichiraku's?"

Immediately, Naruto perked up, nodding his head excitedly. "Yeah! Ramen!"

Iruka chuckled. "I'll see you then." Iruka waved goodbye, and walked away. He felt bad about cutting the meeting short, but he didn't want to stay in Kakashi's presence any longer. His mask had to stay firmly in place and being so close to his ex with no sign that they ever were anything to each other...

Even after all these months, it still hurt.

Kakashi had been Iruka's most serious relationship, of course it hurt. Iruka had thought that Kakashi...

He threw that thought out of his head. It was no use thinking like that. There was no use, and no point in thinking about the past.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Iruka! Good to see you! You haven't been around recently, we've been worried about you!" Teuchi yelled, grinning at the chuunin.

Iruka smiled, taking an empty seat right at the middle of the stand. "I would have come more often, but I've been taking mission outside the village. I no longer teach at the Academy. How are you? Is Ayame still working with you?"

"I figured, Naruto's been complaining about you not being able to buy him his ramen. I've been doing pretty well, business is good. Ayame still works here but she's out on a date tonight." Teuchi chuckled as he handed a customer his ramen.

"Ah, first date?" Iruka grinned at the man who nodded.

"Iruka-sensei!"

"There he is." Teuchi chuckled as the hyperactive blond tumbled on to the seat next to Iruka's. "Hi, old man!"

Teuchi sputtered at the greeting, but Naruto just grinned at him before turning back to Iruka, and his bright smile fell.

"Iruka-sensei, are you alright?" Naruto asked, hesitantly, eyes searching Iruka's face.

Iruka smiled, trying to will away the tired feeling he'd never really been able to get rid of. There was no reason to make Naruto worry. "I'm fine, just a little tired. How's your training been going?"

With that one question, the floodgates were opened. The blond chattered, stopping only to give his ramen order, before turning back to his explanation of his training with Jiraiya.

"What kind of mission are you going to next, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka startled a little, having zoned out a bit. "Just a bodyguard mission for some merchant. I'll probably be gone for a month or so." Iruka said. Though he really was going to be gone for a month or more, it wasn't a bodyguard mission. It was another infiltration mission. He would have to sneak into a camp that was showing signs that greatly disturbed Lady Tsunade. The intelligence on it was rather lacking, and that was why Iruka was going in. The Leaf needed more info, and fast. Rumors were that they were going to attack, but those were rumors. Lady Tsunade needed proof that something was happening before she could send off a squad or three. Iruka was the best at gathering information undetected. If he had to, Iruka would pretend to want to join to get into the camp. He also had to see whether the camp had any missing-nin or if they were all just bandits.

If they were missing-nin... His task would become slightly more difficult.

Taking anyone else with him was out of the question. There would be more suspicion, and they could be uncovered faster is there was more than one shinobi going into the camp.

No, Iruka was going alone. Though, he hoped that the information wouldn't take a month to get. The longer he stayed, the more chances of discovery.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"There's something wrong with Iruka." Asuma stated as the group of jounin watched the chuunin make his way over to the table, Izumo and Kotetsu just a few steps behind him.

"You see it too?" Raido said, studying the worn face of Iruka.

Asuma nodded. "Kakashi hasn't been acting the same either. He used to always talk to Iruka, now he barely acknowledges him. Don't they live together? Kakashi was helping Iruka out, by letting him rent a room for less than an apartment... Wasn't he?"

"They used to. I've noticed Iruka head towards that hotel just down the street from here when he gets back from one of his missions. He goes there instead of Kakashi's place. They might of had differences of opinion and Iruka moved out?" Genma said, frowning. He whipped the expression as soon as Iruka sat down at their table.

"Hello." Iruka greeted everyone with a small smile though most noticed that it was slightly strained, before relaxing after he'd gotten a glimpse of everyone.

"Iruka! We haven't seen much of you! What have you been up to?" Genma grinned.

Iruka shrugged lightly, looking around the table. He seemed pretty surprised at the amount of people that had shown up. "Just a few escort missions. Pretty boring stuff."

"Except for that last one, huh, Iruka?" Izumo said, jabbing his elbow at Iruka. "Stray kunai, wasn't it?"

Iruka just shrugged again, and smiled.

"Yo."

To those who were watching, Iruka's reaction took them slightly by surprise. His smile faltered, and his eyes seemed to show a lot of pain. It was just for a second, but to them, it was extremely noticeable.

People greeted the new addition, who happened to be Kakashi. Iruka didn't look at the masked shinobi, though he did greet him along with the rest of the group at the table.

Asume found himself glancing from Iruka, to Kakashi again.

There was something there. Something that they had all missed and he was going to get it out of one of them.

Preferably Kakashi since it was more likely his fault for whatever had happened between the two.

A/N:Thank you for reading! Hopefully, next chapter will be out a bit sooner!