The noteworthy event didn't happen in Team Time that Monday; it happened after school. During Team Time, Kakashi had brought in his old military jackets for Kurenai and her seamstress mother. Apparently the woman had handmade all of Kurenai's old Halloween costumes, and the idea of a modern ninja set off all kinds of ideas in her head.

The gift was accepted gratefully, and frankly, Kakashi was glad to be rid of them. It had felt good to get rid of a painful reminder of his past. He wanted to keep his reminders very select and very private, and the old uniforms had actually briefly managed to bring back some of the few good memories of the military that he had; Obito before his was killed, specifically, and it was nice to remember those happy times for the ever-brief moment. But it had quickly been followed by the other memories, and Kakashi knew he could no longer keep the old uniforms. His earlier life was better kept in certain places: the memorial, the smell of gunpowder, the searing hot days, and the ever-present feelings of regret, guilt, and pain.

Only Gai really noticed the tight look on his face as he handed the old jackets over, and immediately gushed about what a wonderful nonmilitary function such a life-saving jacket could to, and all the happy memories it would make.

Iruka had thrown an odd glance at Gai, curious about the meaning, but the social studies teacher didn't acknowledge and Kakashi certainly didn't offer. Gai and Asuma were the only ones who had seen Kakashi when he first started teaching, and the three of them privately agreed that it wasn't a time to talk about.

It was a three-day week to begin with, in celebration of Veteran's Day, and the memories were coming up with more frequency. Kakashi knew himself well enough to delegate his classes to written and book work, innately sensing that his brain wouldn't be at a full enough capacity to handle the brats. Iruka took over as teacher for his last two classes of the day, sensing his partner's brooding mindset. There was a question on his face; he wanted to ask what was wrong but at the same time understood that he wouldn't get an answer until Kakashi was good and ready to explain the subtle signs of melancholy.

The special education teacher lingered after class, fumbling through the folders he always brought as an excuse. Kakashi saw the frequent glances his way, and finally gave a heavy sigh. "I'm fine, Iruka," he offered. The English teacher sat at his overstuffed desk and leaned back in his wheeled chair. Obito's face was filling his field of vision, and he forcibly held his face in casual indifference.

"You're not fine," Iruka replied, frowning. "But I won't pry. If you need an ear, I'm across the hall."

"... Thank you."

Iruka left and Kakashi could already hear him sternly lecturing Naruto and Kiba, who'd arrived for their detentions, Takato's name filtering up soon after.

The automatic timer on the lights finally kicked in, and the room grayed out. The sky outside was overcast, and half the blinds were drawn, giving the room a silent, heavy presence. Iruka meant well, and honestly, Kakashi felt deeply glad for the man's camaraderie. Iruka was the quintessential Nice Guy (Gai's pose aside), and was always looking out for his other teammates. It was refreshing in a way, most men Kakashi knew in his life, most of the teachers in the building, had a selfishness about them; something that they adamantly adhered to in spite of whatever was thrown at them. Very, very, few people were nice nowadays without expecting something in return. Iruka was one of the few, joining ranks with only Sandaime and possibly Jiraiya.

Kakashi was a man who let very few people in. Loss was an old companion, and if he could say that he was scared of something, that would be it. Too many loved ones fell under the word, and Kakashi wasn't sure he could go through something like that again without going completely insane. The scarred eye was stinging, and he rubbed at it irritably. "Come on, Obito," he muttered, "Give me a break."

Only Gai had managed to pass the complicated obstacle course of Kakashi's design and entered the otherwise empty realm of Friend. Gai's bravado in the face of everything, his unyielding declaration of rivaldom, his constant challenges and his ridiculous attempts to get into Kakashi's head, generated the uncharacteristic feeling of likable to Kakashi, a sensation he'd only felt with four other people in his life. Five, if you included Iruka. Gai didn't pretend to understand the complexities of Kakashi, but he understood the moods, and personally and without thought put himself through hell to drag Kakashi out of it.

Iruka, too, was starting to get a sense of his moods. As controlled as Kakashi may have been, something would always give you away, and Iruka was starting to pick up on them. The special education teacher, too, radiated the term likable, and Kakashi was beginning to wonder if he would eventually cross the finish line. But not now. Not now. Obito was filling his head, blood and rocks and explosions and violence. A missing eye. A dying request. A--

"SIT DOWN RIGHT NOW!!"

Kakashi had forgotten just how loud Iruka could be when he wanted to. Sitting up, the English teacher paused to listen.

"Naruto, I said sit down! Finish writing your letter of apology! Kiba, give me those earphones, I told you I wouldn't allow that. Takato! Get back here this instant!"

Ah, children.

Kakashi rubbed at his burning eye and stood up, the lights turning on when they detected his motion. He walked purposely out of his room and grabbed a fistful of cloth that, coincidentally, belonged to the shirt of Takato. Without a word he stepped into Iruka's room, the boy dragging in behind.

"Are you having any problems, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked in his singsong voice. Naruto was seated at his desk, a piece of paper in front of him but no pencil. Kiba was standing in his chair, earphones dangling over his head and Iruka right in front of him, in a futile effort to get the said object. "Maa," he appended, "Perhaps I should ask how many problems are you having?" He deposited the boy in his fist on a seat and closed the door. Walking over to Iruka's desk, he grabbed a set of scissors and tossed them to Iruka. "If the headphones bother you, I always make a point of cutting them."

Iruka blinked, taking a minute to absorb the information, before grinning evilly. "I'd never thought of that, thank you Kakashi-sensei."

The brown head of Kiba paled visibly. "You wouldn't dare! That's destruction of personal property! I'll call the cops on you!"

"Oh, really?" Iruka asked, still smiling menacingly. "Then I can happily tell them that earphones are considered contraband in this school, and I'm sure they'd be most interested to hear that I gave you not one, not two, but three chances to put them away. Now, are you going to put them away, or am I going to cut them?"

They quickly disappeared into a pocket after that.

Takato was next. "And what!" Iruka demanded, "Makes you think you can just leave my room without permission?"

"I had to go to the bathroom! I have a right to take a piss!"

"Not in detention you don't!" Iruka yelled, his voice half an octave below shrill.

"Piss in the trash can," Kiba offered. Naruto giggled at the thought. Kakashi and Iruka both looked at them and offered a level glare; they clamped up immediately, leaving Iruka to turn back to the irate Takato.

"There are rules in place for a reason," Iruka started, his voice much calmer. "Students don't go to the bathroom until the last five minutes of class for a reason, it disrupts the class and jumps the flow of learning."

"Yeah, because we ‘flow' in our pants," Takato muttered.

Iruka sighed. "Alright, fine, you can be unreasonable if you want. You are now forbidden from going to the bathroom in my class. Do it in passing time, or every time you ask you'll get a detention from me, and you cannot go to the bathroom after school. And if you ever," he added, "try to leave my room without permission, you will be written up so fast your parents will wonder what happened. Then I'll happily tell them about our consistent insubordination, and you can explain to them why you're trying to ruin your future."

"Over taking a piss?!" the boy demanded.

"You now have another detention with me," Iruka said, "for talking about going to the bathroom."

"This is fucking stupid!"

"A second detention for foul language. Do you want to dig your hole any deeper?"

The boy finally quieted, his face still furious.

"Kiba, you have a second detention for instigating."

"What?!"

Iruka leveled a flat, I'm-fed-up-with-you-don't-even-try-it glare, and the boy quickly closed his mouth, afraid of further retribution.

"And Naruto?"

"Y-yes, sensei?" Naruto squealed, standing up and clearly petrified of whatever wrath Iruka was ready to inflict.

"Finish you're letter of apology!"

"Y-yes, sensei!!"

Kakashi grinned. "It looks like you don't need me anymore, Iruka-sensei."

"No, Kakashi-sensei," he replied genially. "Thank you for your earlier assistance."

"Of course. If ever you need new ideas on how to torture students, let me know. I'm a pro." Kakashi delivered a professional smile, and Iruka returned it in full force.

"I have my own stock, sensei, we can review them together sometime. I think the students would benefit from it."

"I'm sure they would." Kakashi laughed as he left.

Kakashi looked haggard Wednesday, and even Iruka did not make a proclamation of his perpetual tardiness. Asuma and Gai exchanged worried glances as their team leader sank into his chair and slouched. It was deeper than normal, and Kakashi tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, presumably to count the number of dots on the drop tiles and calculate the average number of dots per square foot of a room. He did that once, and after Asuma had stopped gaping at him had used it as a lesson to the students that math was everywhere. They were staring at the ceiling for days after that, trying to keep count and astonished that the English teacher had done it.

"Kakashi," Iruka asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

"Sure."

"You know how much I hate that word."

"Sure."

"Kakashi..."

"Not now, Iruka. Not now."

"It's a tough time of year for our beloved English teacher," Gai said, offering his patented Nice Guy pose. "It is one of those times that he is at his most infantile; where he sulks and skulks until his mind can be put at ease." Gai went on to regale Iruka and Kurenai about the various competitions that he and Kakashi had gone through, in vivid and exciting detail. The topic of conversation ignored it, closing his eyes and falling headlong into his memories. Not even Gai knew everything that happened in those days, and the year after service when he'd lost even more, and the memories toiled through him darkly, churning at the base of his skull and burning his newer - frankly better - eye. The world seemed very heavy; he couldn't even lift his hands to read his book.

"Oh, that's right; good news," Asuma said lightly. "My A period got their first Academic Excellence award. I need to make copies of the tickets."

Kurenai blinked. "You mean Nara Shikamaru actually turns in homework for you?"

"Last week he did," Asuma said, grinning. "It's amazing what bribery will do."

"Bribery?"

"I told him he couldn't play shogi until he started doing his homework."

"Yes!" Gai responded expansively, giving a thumbs up. "Our illustrious mathematics teacher is renowned about the school for his ability to bribe students into doing what they want!"

"At least I'm honest about it. Genma tries to cover up his bribery, call it something else. Never works."

"That reminds me," Gai interjected, a sudden toothy grin on his face. "I believe I may have found a way to get this particular collection of youth to excel. After seeing the dance and their competitive spirit, I implemented an idea I had: competition pairs. I have never seen such an overall acceptance and enjoyment of a concept such as this. Their behavior is extraordinary!" He paused, letting the information sink in. "But, I will wait until their test Tuesday before saying for certain if things are going well."

"That's your first test isn't it?" Iruka asked, writing it all down. "How will you know?"

Gai grinned. "Oh, I will know," he said.

"What's the professional development?" Kurenai asked. She looked expectantly at Kakashi, who was oblivious to it all.

"Curriculum development," Asuma said quickly but casually. "There was an email on it this morning. There'll be some kind of guest speaker on integration of subjects, and then the afternoon is going to be a vertical curriculum meeting. Meaning nothing will get done."

"At the risk of sounding naive," Kurenai started, "how can you be so sure?"

"Because we've had these before," Iruka stated, frowning as he looked at Kakashi. "The elementary school are nice enough, the teachers try hard. But they have to teach all the subjects, and really, they're more focused on things like motor development and behavior structuring; they just don't have the time to look at the national curriculum standards for, say, the NCTM and have time for the other subjects and have time for the students themselves. And the high school!" Iruka made a distinctly rude face. "They're too busy trying to keep their students alive, let alone clean and sober, to have time to deal with curriculum. And their staff isn't as... how do I put this..."

"Good?" Asuma offered, a wry grin on his face.

"Positive," Iruka said over the math teacher, "as we are. The administration keeps changing, and the teachers are all tired and worn out and stretched too thin. The environment up there is completely different."

The math teacher continued. "What's going to happen is this: we're all going to get together; the high school is going to bitch about why the kids don't know anything, we're going to defend ourselves, and the elementary teachers are just going to look lost. That's just what's going to happen, no matter how hard any of us try."

Kurenai sighed. "How awful."

There was a period of silence.

"Well," she tried again. "On a lighter topic, what's everyone doing for Veteran's Day?"

Asuma and Gai stiffened, glancing at the seemingly asleep English teacher, but Iruka had already answered.

"I'm going to visit my uncle. If it doesn't rain, we'll have the last cookout of the year."

"Really? We're doing something similar. I have a whole clan of aunts and uncles and cousins. We all get together at our grandparents and bring something to eat. There's probably going to be badminton and volleyball and tag football for the boys. Mother and I are going to try to sneak into a quiet room and work on the ninja costumes; they're going to be fabulous, but it's a lot of work."

"I'm going to a game," Asuma said. "Don't know which one, yet, but I'm going to a game."

"And I will be cleaning out my house of the last vestibules of dirt before the winter season."

"I see," Kurenai said. "And you, Kakashi?"

He opened his eyes and leveled an even glance at her. "I'll be visiting a friend."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Holidays like this are meant to be with people."

Kakashi said nothing, but he felt something in his chest clench. He wondered if a memorial with a friends name on it counted as "people." Nausea suddenly over-swept him, and the Scarecrow quietly got up and left before he wretched right in front of them.

He missed the professional development day.

Author's Notes: Kakashi chapter! We'll be having a few of them over the course of the year. It seemed obvious that holidays like Veteran's Day would bother him deeply, having a military background himself. Incidentally, he's the only teacher on this team that does (then what about Iruka's scar, you ask? Well, keep reading! ~_^ ) It was really interesting to get in his head like that, especially since his life here is different from his life in the Naruto world; most of it translated very well. For example, he wouldn't have time to visit the memorial every day, but this makes it a bit more poignant, and his emotional wounds aren't as healed in this world as they might be in the anime/manga. A teacher's world is very full, and to have emotions like this sweep over you suddenly is very hard to deal with because you can't show them to the students.

And yet again more plate spinning.