Fishstick

Title: Fishstick Ch 7
Chapter Title: Senpai
Chapter Rating: G
Pairings: AnkoxIbiki, KakashixKurenai, and the entire point of the story is YamaIru so while they're not together yet they will be. Hence why Kakashi is with Kurenai because god help me I soooo can't pair him up with Gai. On the bright side it means Kakashi gets to have Chibis who torment him like all proper offspring should!
Warnings: It's Yaoi even if there are het pairings
Disclaimer: Yeah yeah don't own nor do I profit from this. Tips are welcome ;p

Author's note: I'm not a YamaIru fan so I'm kind of stepping out of my realm of fluff but I'm doing my best so please don't pelt me with hate mail if I screw up. This is a gift for Kristal because she's a sweetie who did me a really really nice KakaIru pic for Mission Iruka. It's going to be multi chapter but likely no where near as long as MI. And no this isn't because I'm not a YamaIru fan it's because to get this far I had to grab the plot bunny by it's ears and shake it. When that didn't work I threatened to turn it into little bunny fufu stew.

Also I know I haven't updated this in FOREVER and I've had this part done for ages... but I wasn't sure where to break it and I couldn't just post the whole thing I had because it's not finished. I wanted to get it up though to motivate my ass. And yes soon there will be cute Iru and Tenz spending time with the kiddies.

**************

"I Challenge You!" Asuma yelled, grinning as wide as he could and doing his best attempt at a good guy pose. And, it worked for all of two seconds, until Shizune stepped out from behind her husband and glared at him, then it became more of a hesitant smile.

"You really think that after I finally put a stop to the idiotic challenges between my husband and that silver-haired pain in the ass, that I'd let you, a genin, start those ridiculous things again?" One of her eyebrows twitched, and her fist clenched around the melon she was holding until a crack started to form on the surface.

Asuma's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "I... uh..."

"Especially when I know who put you up to it?" Despite the fact that she wasn't yelling, most of the shoppers nearby had stopped to watch.

"Ah, such youthful enthusiasm!" Gai said, grinning, his arms loaded with groceries. "Perhaps I could..."

"NO!" The melon in her hand burst, and she looked down at it, seemingly having just realized she was holding it.

"But..." Gai's smile faltered as Shizune grabbed his arm and yanked him past the three genin.

"Gah, she's such a stick in the mud!" Aki said, sticking her tongue out and pulling the skin of her cheeks down with her index fingers to show the pinks of her eyes. "Stupid Shizune!" The woman didn't even stop to acknowledge the insult.

"I thought you said this was going to be easy..." Kawa said, scratching Aoimaru behind the ear.

"We'll just have to corner Gai when Mrs. Stupid-head isn't around." She stuck her tongue out one last time in the direction Shizune and Gai had disappeared in before grabbing Asuma's arm and pulling him along behind her.

Kawa shrugged and followed her friends.

---

"She's entering the tea shop," came Kawa's voice from over the headset.

"Do you see Gai?" Aki asked, heading off in the direction her friend had been scouting.

"Negative, he's not with her." A yip from Aoimaru caused the device to pitch slightly, and Aki rubbed her ear. "Aoi, says he can't smell him nearby either."

"Asuma check your locations, I'll search mine. Kawa continue holding your position. Warn us if the bird leaves the nest."

"The what? You mean Shizune?" The radio crackled, and the rustling of fabric and hair could be heard.

"No, I mean an actual bird," the brunette muttered, dropping in front of the specialty tailor Gai frequented. "Of course I mean Shizune."

"I was just checking, sheesh."

"He's not at the curry stand, moving to the next location," Asuma cut in.

The kids bounded around searching the noted points of interest for the strange shinobi, slowly crisscrossing their way towards the tea shop. Aki skidded to stop as she caught a bit of green out of the corner of her eye, spinning around only to discover it was a man hanging a flag up outside his shop declaring it carried fresh herbs. She grumbled and took off again, clearing each location with her teammates until she was panting and her legs felt weak.

"Found him!" Asuma gasped, just ask Aki swung around the corner to the last location before they'd have converged on the tea shop.

"I... I..." the boy panted, half bent over with one hand on a knee and the other held weakly up in a thumbs up sign. "...challenge you..." He wobbled and a hand caught his shoulder steadying him. "...to wearing pink..." And then, not even the hand was enough, and he slipped to his knees still trying to catch his breath.

"Ah, but every challenge must serve a purpose, young Asuma-kun," Gai chuckled.

"Because... ugh... I have a reason..." Asuma raised his arm, pointing a rather wobbly finger at the green clad man. "... just give me a minute..." He flopped over backwards, his arm draped loosely across his forehead.

Aki heaved, bent over herself as she tried to catch her breath. But, despite her best attempts to get the air into her lungs, they still burned, and she couldn't seem to form the words to tell Gai Asuma's reason.

"I am sure you do, young one, but I must go, or my beloved will wonder what has caught my attention and come looking for me." The man reached down and patted the boy on the head before moving off.

"The bird is leaving the nest! The bird is leaving the nest!" Kawa hissed over the radio.

"Huh?" Aki asked confused and trying desperately to keep her lunch from making a sudden and rather unwanted encore.

"Shizune! She's leaving!" Came the annoyed reply from her friend.

"Don't care," Asuma groaned, still lying on his back in the alley.

---

"GAH!" A kunai thunked into the tree beside several others as the young genin screamed and yanked at her purple and brown tresses in obvious frustration. "Stupid, evil... GAH, I HATE HER!"

Kawa yawned at her teammates tantrum, and then proceeded to try and balance her senbon on her tongue. Their latest attempt had failed, and she really wasn't overly surprised.

"I bet we could get half the village to wear pink before we manage to get Gai to. At least we can't with Shizune digging her heels in like she is." Asuma muttered, tossing a kunai to Aki, who threw it angrily at the tree with the rest. "It's not like we really even need to. You heard my mom, Iruka and Tenzou-sensei are stuck playing house for the next two weeks. That's like having two weeks vacation.

"Because." The girl dropped to the ground, pouting and looking even younger than she was. "I'm not going to let that big, dumb, stupid, idiotic..." She paused in her tirade to consider what noun to call Shizune. "...TWIT win!"

Kawa laughed, drawing a glare and a rather heated 'What?' from her best friend. "Oh, I was just thinking how funny it would be if your dad wore pink," she snickered. "I mean really, can you see the 'oh so scary Ibiki Morino' in pink?" She and Asuma burst out laughing at the image.

After a moment they realized Aki wasn't laughing with them. "I mean, I'm sure your dad would look cool in anything," Kawa apologized hurriedly before noticing the smile on the other girl's face. It was some strange cross between Anko's prankish grin and Ibiki's dark, malicious, 'I have an idea' smirk.