The "honeymoon" period ended on Tuesday. It began with Asuma doing his first write up of a girl, the blond Temari, who got particularly mouthy when he gave her a zero for no homework. Kurenai and Gai assigned their first detentions, to Shikamaru and Kiba respectively, and Kakashi knew that the heaven was over.

But something else was going on. As Kakashi drove in, he saw two police cars in front of the school. While that was a sadly common sight, it was a rare thing indeed to see them so early in the morning. Parking in yet another space, the English teacher distinctly remembered seeing Iruka's car, but was more than slightly surprised to see that his room had not been opened; indeed several students and several more bags were strewn about the door, lying in wait for him to bestow access to the room. After he did so, he poked his head across the hall to see that Iruka was not in his homeroom. While that was not unusual, teachers were always flitting about the halls doing last minute things, the students hadn't seen him, and neither had Gai, who had arrived an hour earlier.

Ultimately he never showed, and Gai and Kakashi split Iruka's homeroom to cover attendance. A substitute did finally arrive halfway through first period - lamenting that she had gotten the call right as school was starting. There were also, she complained, no lesson plans. Gai took care of her.

The students were tense. The teachers were tense. The students were more than happy to speculate about the cop cars, and each theory and hypothesis was more ludicrous than the last - enough so that Kakashi suggested to Kurenai, the science teacher, to grade them according to their scientific justifications. The list ranged from a teacher being suspended for throwing a desk, the principal being arrested for finding pornography on his computer, a kid getting arrested for killing a teacher, a cafeteria worker threatening to blow up the school, etc.

It finally got to the point where Kakashi poked his head into the office to get a hint as to whatever the major event was. Shizune, the secretary, could offer no ideas; that the police had been here when she'd gotten there. Jiraiya was nowhere to be found, and neither were the old man and Ebisu. Even Orochimaru didn't know what was going on, which meant that this happened early.

It was at team time that they got the email. Asuma passed on that Sandaime had emailed the entire building announcing a mandatory emergency faculty meeting after school. Most of the period was spent speculating what this was all about; only Kakashi suggested that it might have something to do with Iruka's disappearance.

Two periods later the day ended, and Kakashi and Gai shooed out the usual after school crowd. They nodded to each other and set off to the library together. It was clear across the school.

Kakashi loved the library; he whiled away many a prep or team time in the silent isles of books, either for pleasure or to deliberately annoy someone he was supposed to be meeting. Now it was crowded with teachers. He spied Kurenai sitting with Anko and the rest of the science department, getting some last minute things covered before the meeting started. Asuma was seated with a collection of fifth and sixth grade teachers. He and Gai sat at the last empty table, Gai on his left and the seat on his right empty. Kakashi put his book there to reserve it. He slouched but did not read, sensing his full attention would be needed for this.

He only moved his book when he arrived. Iruka plopped into the offered seat with a heavy thud before he, too, joined Kakashi in a slouch.

"Is it really that bad?" the English teacher asked.

"You'll find out in a minute," he replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose along the scar. "I can't explain it quickly."

There was no more time for questions, as Sandaime stepped in front of the check out counter, looking out across the sea of teachers and waiting for them to still. "If I could have your attention," he said quietly, prompting them. The silence was almost instantaneous as the last of the murmuring died away.

"At six o'clock this morning," Sandaime started, "a teacher came in to get some work done. He was surprised, however, to find a student had - at some point during the night - snuck into his room via an open window."

Kakashi knew immediately who the student was.

"The reason why that student had snuck into the school was because," and here the old man paused, closing his eyes, still trying to absorb information he had received over eight hours ago. His age showed as he continued, "was because last night he witnessed his foster father try to kill his foster mother."

The silence was deafening.

Somebody finally whispered, "Oh, my god." Kakashi snuck a sidelong glance at Iruka; the special education teacher looked years older than he actually was, there was a deep pensiveness, a faraway look that the English teacher had only seen twice before. This was hitting Iruka personally; which was natural, all things considered. The student, having seen something horrific and terrifying, had gone to the only place he felt safe and stable: school. It was a sad statement that the rundown campus was the only place the student felt security. To appear in Iruka's room took it to the next level - Iruka was the only teacher he felt he could go to. Kakashi mentally noted that that was going to change; he would personally make sure that the boy had several places to go. Dozens. Hundreds.

"Most of the day has been spent sorting out this situation," the old man was continuing, his voice as grave as his face. "The police were called, the student gave a statement, and steps have been taken to place the student in a new foster home. I've talked to the boy at length today," and here Sandaime smiled sadly, "and he'd rather just forget the entire thing happened. He even asked that I never speak of it again; obviously I needed to inform you all of today's events. He's made a point of not wanting any sympathy, not wanting to be treated any differently."

"What was his name?" one of the fifth grade teachers asked.

Sandaime smiled. "I had hoped that I wouldn't have to say his name, but I suppose it's fair that you all know. Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi nodded, the comment about foster parents, and knowing of Iruka's absence, had made it obvious at any rate. A ripple passed through the faculty as they heard the name, and the English teacher assessed their reaction. It had been intense sympathy up to this point, but now he noticed an unhealthy number of teachers looking back and forth conspiratorially before they finally smiled a grim smile of vindication.

"Iruka, how was Naruto to the other teachers?" he asked in a low voice, inaudible to anyone but the man he was speaking to.

"He's a notorious prankster, I've been hearing pleas of sympathy from the other special education teachers for weeks when they learned I got him. He's unanimously disliked." Iruka, too, had seen the reaction. No wonder the old man had wanted to keep it secret. Even teachers could be human, and even they had students that they wanted the worst to happen to; Kakashi did not think them so shallow, however, as to be gleeful on the sad occasion where their dreams came true.

"I want a detailed report tomorrow," Kakashi said. "Naruto may not want to be treated differently, but we need to know everything that happened."

Asuma always made a point of closing his door during team time; kids would have to knock if they wanted in. Today, however, Asuma also locked his door. There would be no interruptions at all. Naruto was absent again, and Iruka passed on that he probably would be all week.

"Alright," Kakashi said, slouched but not reading. "Start."

"Well, you all know how I had all those PPTs last week, right? The paperwork for them, especially at this time of year, is horrific, and with a dozen to do, I wanted to get an early start. I usually get here about seven, but I decided to come in earlier to get a jump start on it." He paused, half grinning self-deprecatingly. "I still have all of it to do, don't I?

"When I unlocked my door, he was right there. Those orange clothes of his are hard to miss. He was sitting at his normal desk; head propped up with is hand, and staring at the board. He turned to me when I came in and said, 'Hey, sensei, I think I'm going to ace the vocab quiz this week.' The board had Kakashi's vocab list still on it. He'd been staring at it all night.

"I balked at first; I had no idea how he even got in until he pointed to the open window. I still don't know how he managed to squeeze through, that opening is very narrow. Anyway, I asked him how long he'd been there.

"He said, 'Oh, I don't know, since a little after midnight probably. What time is it now?'

"'It's six in the morning!' I exclaimed.

"'Oh, really? Wow,' he said. 'It feels like I've been here forever. Hey, sensei, do you have any money on you? I forgot to bring any, and I want to buy lunch. What are they serving today anyway?'

"'Never mind that!' I shouted. I didn't really handle it very well. 'Why on earth are you here so early in the morning?!'" Iruka paused in his narration. "I really need to work on my temper.

"Anyway, Naruto said, 'Do I really have to explain why?' That was when I finally realized that something serious must have happened. I sat down in the desk next to him.

"'You don't "have" to do anything,' I said finally. 'You don't "have" to go to school; you don't "have" to do your homework; you don't "have" to pay attention in class. There are a lot of things you don't "have" to do, but that doesn't mean there are things you don't "have" to do that you "should" do. You "should" go to school; you "should" do your homework; you "should" pay attention in class. I won't force you to say anything, but I think that you "should" tell my why you're hear at this ungodly hour.'"

"Well said," Gai murmured. Kakashi agreed.

Iruka continued. "He told me everything. In vivid detail. When he wants to, Naruto can have a very keen eye for detail... or maybe it's because the event was so traumatic that it burned an imprint on his mind, I'm not sure which. His foster parents, like I'd thought, weren't in a good place. There was a lot of arguing going on, since right about when school started. He said it had a lot to do with him - the price of the medication since they don't have insurance, the complaints of all the pranks he pulls and what atrocities he'll do this year, that sort of thing. It moved on to other things, Naruto said, but he's very adamant that he started the fight. When they hit their zenith, the foster father struck the foster mother to the ground, and then he put his hands around her neck. He was shouting profanities, and her head kept bouncing on the floor. Naruto says he might have shrieked; he's not really sure, but the foster father looked up and saw him; that was when he ran.

"He didn't remember how long he ran, and when he calmed down all he really wanted to do was to forget it ever happened, so he just figured he'd go to school early." Iruka smiled. "That's Naruto for you.

"I took him straight to Sandaime's office. He was in there, fortunately, and I nudged Naruto into telling the story again. He'd repeated it probably a dozen times by lunch, and he was really squirming over it; he just wanted to forget it and get to class. I don't know how many times he asked if he was done. Sandaime called the police and DCF, and the rest of the day was just getting everyone together, explaining what happened, etc. The foster mother was alive but suffering from several injuries, the father was arrested, DCF came in and interviewed everybody, the paperwork to get Naruto somewhere else, getting Jiraiya to stick him into grief counseling, and everything else."

Iruka finally stopped, putting his head in his hands, hiding himself from the rest of the team. The silence was loud, everyone giving the special ed teacher his moment.

"Alright," Kakashi drew out, looking up to the ceiling. "Now we know, so now we forget. Naruto wants to act like none of this ever happened. That's what we'll give him. When he comes back, no special chances, no freebees, no sympathetic looks, no nothing. He's just another student in class with an attitude problem. Iruka will be the one to talk to him, he'll ask how it's going, what he new foster family is like, etcetera. He'll pass it on to us, and we'll continue to give him nothing. He wants normalcy, and that's what we'll give him."

After team, when the bell rang and the five teachers gave a collective sigh of relief, Kakashi followed Iruka into his room. "Can you do it?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Be his anchor. He chose you when he crawled into your room. You're the only teacher in this entire building he trusts. For now. The rest of us are going to worm our way in eventually, but for now the responsibility falls entirely on your shoulders. Can you do it?"

Iruka's face became very earnest, his eyes hardening and softening at the same time, his mouth pressing into a thin line not quite a smile but not a frown.

"I can do it," he said simply. "I'll do anything if it means that kid can have a chance."

Kakashi smiled openly. "And that's why you're such a good teacher."

Two days later was Friday, and still no Naruto. It would have been another humdrum day if Kakashi hadn't had a long hard look at his desk calendar. He'd been penciling in when his first test would be and trying to figure out from there where he'd be when he went to a regional conference; a professional day where'd he'd be reading, when he realized that it was Friday. He made a quick call to one of the eighth grade teachers before he wandered around the corner and into Asuma's classroom.

As expected, everyone was there. Iruka was feeling better, because he declaimed, "You're late!"

"Not really," he replied genially. "We're late. Very late."

"Late for what?" Gai asked, looking confused.

"Late for decorating," Kakashi replied. "Today's Friday, the Welcome Back dance is tonight. We're supposed to be helping the eighth grade decorate the gym."

There was a moment of graphic silence as the information processed.

"Oh, shit!" That was Asuma.

"Do we even have decorations?" Kurenai asked, standing.

"No," Iruka said, furiously finishing up whatever notes he was writing before closing the team notebook. "We deliberately used up the last of them last year so we could start fresh this year."

"Alright," Kakashi drew out, sighing. "Asuma, go to the supermarket up the street with Kurenai. Get the usual, balloons, streamers, and tablecloths. Get school colors. The rest of us will go to the gym and grovel until they start assigning us jobs." They all nodded and moved off.

The school was split into two halves, basically. The "left" side of the building was the academic side, with a double rectangle of classrooms. With science rooms on the corners, the halls were divided by the teams. In the center of the school were the office, guidance, and health offices. On the right side were the oddities, such as the gym, the cafeteria, the auditorium, the music rooms, etc. Kakashi, Iruka, and Gai walked briskly to the gymnasium. The weather was good, and would be for several weeks yet, and so classes were being held outside. Technically, decoration was left to the student council, but the teachers unanimously agreed that - at twelve and thirteen - the kids couldn't know how to decorate if they tried.

Only two other teachers were there, math and social studies respectively. The glares were dark and evil, but Kakashi stared back unblinkingly. "Sorry we're late," he said smoothly. "We were busy coming up with a decoration plan. We all agreed to design it like a tropical island. Asuma and Kurenai are on a plane to the Caribbean to get the sand as we speak."

"Just shut up and get to work."

The rest of the period was spent blowing up balloons - a skill Kakashi never developed and decided to supervise; hang streamers - Kakashi did not favor heights unless absolutely necessary and so he supervised; make banners - no artistic skill, so supervise; and annoy the gym students as they came inside - a job Kakashi took very seriously. Asuma and Kurenai arrived fifteen minutes in and helped. It was quickly discovered that Kurenai had a fair bit of artistic ability as she skillfully did two banners. Gai once again proved an amazing eye for balance as they placed the balloons etc, while Asuma and the eighth grade teachers argued vehemently over how to place the tables.

The bell rang, and the five gathered together at the door of the gym.

"Who's going to this shindig, anyway?" the silver haired English teacher asked.

"Me," Kurenai said. "It's a good way to assess the student social structure."

"And, I, of course, shall dutifully chaperone these creatures of youth!"

"... Right," Kakashi replied. "Let me know what you learn Monday. Every little bit helps."

Author's Notes: I want it understood that no teacher, absolutely NO teacher, would ever, ever, EVER be happy about hearing Naruto's circumstances. If they did, they weren't fit to put in charge of children. But Naruto is ostracized in his world by the adults which rubs off on the children, and we tried (and frankly failed) to generate that sensation here.

Yes, this actually happened; I think we said at the beginning of the fic that almost every single story and arc we're going to do over the course of this fic either happened to us or told to us by other teachers. These aren't happy stories, and frankly there's no need to doctor them. The kid this was based on didn't break into the school, he waited by the front doors at three in the morning and the principal found him when he came to open the school. We embellished on Iruka's conversation with Naruto however, but then it's Iruka, and he has a way of doing that. :P

As traumatic as something like this is, though, life does go on. I can picture other authors spending entire chapters talking about what happened in those few hours or an entire fic on the next few days with Naruto at his new home, but we deliberately had everything happen off screen and have Iruka - not Kakashi - have to recite it. The teachers have to deal with these things in quick bursts, and then move on to planning the school dance or attending a faculty meeting or moving on to the next horror story. Plus, not every teacher is there all the time (that would be scary) and you have to hear these things side hand. Kakashi will be seeing most of the events in this fic for convenience's sake, but we're very consciously choosing certain events to happen with other teachers, too.