Kakashi's Mission

Sasuke was just about to cook dinner, or rather microwave his leftover lunch (the talk with Ayame had made him lose his appetite), when he heard the doorbell ring.

He found his sensei leaning languidly against the doorframe reading his little red book.

"Something come up?" Sasuke asked his sensei unenthusiastically.

"An unofficial mission," Kakashi replied mysteriously.

"Where's the other two?"

"It's just the two of us. It's a special mission that requires…discretion," his sensei explained vaguely.

Sasuke looked at his superior doubtfully. 'Special discrete mission, yeah right, to him that's probably stealing porn from the bookstore…'

"It involves a kidnapping."

That got Sasuke's attention.

"The ramen girl has been kidnapped. And we're going to help Iruka sensei save her without his knowledge."

Sasuke just looked at his sensei as if he were mad, and cocked an eyebrow.

"According to the latest shinobi gossip, the two have been having some problems. It just so happens that the ramen girl got in the middle of a vendetta against me. Now I could go ahead and rescue her in about two shakes of a lamb's tail, but I think it's better to give Iruka-sensei that chance, with a little help from us…just in case." Despite the perverted books Kakashi read, he was apparently a romantic, or a fool, at heart.

Sasuke just shrugged and said, "Whatever, let's go."

-...-...-...-

"See, Iruka sensei's not doing too badly," Kakashi whispered to Sasuke as they watched Iruka take out the first guy.

"So let's leave," muttered Sasuke in reply.

"Well, there might be more traps. We'd better make sure the ramen girl's okay first."

When Kakashi saw the pouch attached to the kunai with an explosive tag, he immediately knew that it had to contain some kind of poisonous powder or sleep powder. He quickly performed the katas for a wind jutsu to blow the powder away from the chuunin. Sasuke had wanted to use a fireball, but decided after some consideration that it would be too conspicuous and could cause a rampaging forest fire, which would defeat the purpose of trying to save the ramen girl.

The two continued to move ahead of Iruka, keeping their chakra muted, weaving around the dense bamboo. They both reacted quickly to the flurry of kunai and shuriken headed toward the oblivious chuunin. Their kunai and shuriken deflected ones that Iruka could not

-...-...-...-

And They Lived Happily Ever After

Iruka moved carefully toward the door, watching out for any last traps. Assuming the door was locked, he concentrated chakra to his right foot and viciously kicked it in, then immediately ducking and rolling into the the room. He heard a crash above his head. A chair had just missed him and splintered dangerously above him against the door frame.

Ayame had managed to free herself (her hands were quite strong from kneading noodles all the time) but found the door and window locked. She had thought about breaking the window with the chair but realized that it was too small for her to climb through despite her petite size. So she waited patiently by the door until she heard the scuffle between Iruka and her kidnapper. She raised the chair in anticipation, ready to break it over the head of anyone coming into the room, even if it were Iruka. After all, he deserved to have some sense knocked into him.

Iruka was ready to throw a kunai at his attacker but luckily realized it was only Ayame. 'That's not bad. She managed to escape and was brave enough to fight back,' he thought, impressed by her bravery. "Ayame-chan, I'm sorry about everything, I …" Iruka started to say before she cut him off.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear any more," she said.

Iruka looked at her in abject astonishment at her curtness and lack of gratitude.

But then she took a deep breath and said, "I love you, only you, no one else, well, except my dad but that doesn't count… I'd love you even if you had chronic post nasal drip, or were covered in oozing sores, well, as long as they weren't too contagious, and even if you expelled gas all day. I want you to believe that. I will keep saying 'I love you' until you do believe it."

"I do believe you, I know you do," he replied while thinking, 'How gross, I don't suffer from any of those conditions, where does she come up with that weird stuff?' "But I…" he was about to say that he was the one who should be saying all that but she cut him off again.

"Umino Iruka sensei, will you marry me?"

"What? You can't ask me that!" he said in surprise and embarrassment. His face turned its characteristics shade of red, which made him even cuter and more endearing.

"Is that a no?" Ayame asked with a mock frown.

"No… I mean yes… I mean I'm the one who has to ask!"

"Well, I'm waiting."

'Um…wouldn't it be better in a nicer environment?" Iruka hesitated. He had imagined lots of flowers (Ino would be ecstatic) and a romantic dinner at his place or an (not-too) expensive restaurant, not a dusty, moldy old shrine.

"No! Ask me now before you change your mind," she ordered in case he got cold feet or reverted back to his wishy washy self or fell for Kakashi again.

"Okay, right…" 'I can do this!' Iruka took a deep breath before saying, "Ayame-chan, I love you more than anyone or anything else in this entire world. I trust you completely and I swear I'll never doubt you again. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my… permanent partner in life and beyond?" 'There, I think that's a good non-sexist way to ask. Independent working women like Ayame should appreciate that.'

"Permanent partner in life and beyond? If that means wife then it's a yes!" Ayame jumped into Iruka's arms and threw her arms around his neck. Luckily Iruka still had the strength and stamina to hold her up. She moved a hand to caress the scar across his nose, then rubbed his nose with hers while removing his forehead protector and hairband so that she could run her fingers through his hair, which unfortunately was quite dirty and sweaty by now, but a woman in love couldn't care less about such things. Her hands moved from his hair to hold his face still as she kissed his forehead, his scarred nose, and finally his lips.

-…-…-…-

"Don't you just love happy endings?" Kakashi asked his disciple. The two had been discretely watching through the window.

"Pathetic," muttered Sasuke, "they haven't even notice we're here. We could've just snuck up to them and slit both their throats."

Kakashi shook his head and sighed at his genin's lack of romance. He then pulled Sasuke away from the window as the couple was becoming a bit too intimate to be witnessed by a twelve year old.

-…-…-…-

Thus ends the romantic adventures of Ayame the ramen girl who finally found love with a shinobi, albeit not the one she originally wanted. But that's often what occurs in real life. Don't fall for fool's gold when a diamond in the rough is available or as Ayame's father would say: "Ordering plain ramen is better than the House Special or anything else because that way you don't have to wait, and you can add your own toppings and adjust it to your taste." Remember that true love can survive numerous obstacles and in the end is worth all the pain and suffering, or as Ayame's father would say, "A long lasting loving relationship is like making ramen from scratch. It's difficult and takes a lot of work, but the more effort you put into it the better it will be."

So the turbulent couple finally settled down to have 2.5 children, two of which became shinobi and 0.5 inherited the ramen stand. They lived a long and happy life with Kakashi and his team making occasional appearances to babysit.

-…-…THE END…-…-

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who's left a review. I personally feel this is my best story collection since it shows off my strengths - humor, keeping everyone in character, and developing a minor character into a major one. However, it's not as close to my heart as my Kakashi-Kunoichi series which is much more difficult to write.

No further sequels planned at this time, but you never know. I'm starting a new story, untitled, about Kaori (the nurse)xKakashi. Let's face it, there's not enough non-yaoi Naruto stories starring the Konoha adults so I'm going to do my best to remedy that ;)