Welcome to crack land. Population: YOU. And the cast of Naruto. Another request fic from a lovely Gaian. I myself am amused with the plot, so hopefully I can put that into writing effectively. Enjoy!
"That's good for today, Naruto!" Iruka clapped his hands and watched as the shadow clones poofed from existence. "You've been improving a lot," the teacher told him, approvingly, as the blonde joined him.
"Well, now isn't the time to slack," Naruto said, wiping a few beads of sweat from his forehead.
"True enough," Kakashi agreed, nodding, "but that's enough for now. You should go home and rest. We'll have more training tomorrow."
"But Kakashi-sensei, I'm not-"
Iruka saw where this was heading-- Naruto didn't like to give up on his training until he literally passed out. Interrupting, he patted the fox demon on the back. "How about I take you out for ramen to celebrate how far you've come?"
Immediately distracted by the mention of a free meal, Naruto jumped at the chance. "Well, since you put it that way..."
"Then let's go," Iruka chuckled, heading from the forested area where Naruto had been training.
"Just a minute, Iruka," Kakashi said, holding up a hand. "I want to talk with Naruto in private for a moment."
Blinking, the school teacher shrugged. "I'll meet you there, then." With a wave, he left teacher and student alone.
"So what did Kakashi want to talk to you about?" Naruto had shown up at the ramen house only a few minutes later, ready and willing to eat his old teacher out of house and home.
"Oh, it was nothing," the blonde said, waving a hand dismissively. "You know how Kakashi-sensei is."
Iruka eyed the ninja suspiciously for a moment before chuckling to himself. "That I do."
"Huh?" Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the other, but shrugged it off. All thoughts were pushed aside as a huge bowl of ramen was set in front of him.
"So he thinks he can outsmart me?" Iruka thought as he watched the younger one dig in. "We'll see."
"Iruka-sensei," Naruto murmured suddenly. His face had become very solemn, very unlike himself, and his chopsticks clinked lightly against his half-empty bowl.
"Hm?" Iruka blinked, not expecting the blonde to stop eating for anything short of Sasuke reappearing.
"What do you think of Kakashi-sensei?" His forehead was creased in concentration as he stared across the table to the other ninja.
"Where is this coming from all of a sudden?" the brunette asked, feigning shock. "Oh, Kakashi, you really are simple to figure out sometimes."
"Well, I mean..." Naruto paused, trying to figure out just what he did mean. "He's a great teacher and all and a nice guy, but I don't know him a whole lot apart from that. You two know each other well, right? Is he as good of a guy as he seems?"
Despite seeing through his comrade's trick, Iruka couldn't help but smile at the question. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking back to Naruto's impatient stare. "Well, to be honest..."
Naruto leaned across the table a little, a bit too eager for the answer. "Yeah? What is it?"
Iruka grinned. "Kakashi's a nice guy, but he needs to work on his skills a bit. I mean, isn't Gai beating him in their little contests right now?" He was absolutely positive that would do it.
Sure enough, Naruto fell right out of his chair, a look like he had just been shot plastered on his face. Slowly, he sat up and looked up at Iruka. "G-G-Gai? Are you kidding?!" Letting the initial shock wear off, the blonde quickly stood up and bowed. "I have to go, Iruka-sensei, thanks for the meal!"
Iruka's chuckle grew into a short laugh as Naruto bolted from the ramen shop. "Kakashi, sometimes you are so simple to figure out."
Once at a safe distance from the ramen shop, Naruto skidded to a halt face-to-face with his double. A defeated sigh from the fake and in a poof Kakashi was standing in its place.
"Didn't go so well, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, tilting his head. His only response was a hung head and slumped shoulders.
"Gai," Kakashi thought, "I just have to best Gai. Then Iruka will realize how great I am." It was a fool-proof plan; unfortunately Kakashi was acting quite like a fool in making it. "Go get some rest," he ordered his student, "you'll have plenty of training tomorrow."
"Hey, wait!" Naruto shouted as Kakashi disappeared from sight. "I never got my ramen..."
Poor Naruto. So, will Kakashi be able to prove himself to Iruka through idiotic, meaningless competitions against Gai? Well, even if he doesn't, at least we'll be amused. Read on~