"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi said as he strolled into the conference room. Iruka gave him an annoyed look but otherwise said nothing. He sat next to the special education teacher and eyed the others in the room. Sandaime was there, instead of Ebisu, as was the hated Orochimaru. Kakashi was a professional, though, and did not give the guidance counselor the satisfaction of knowing that the Snake got under his skin.

Yashamaru was there, unlike last time when they had waited half the period for Gaara's guardian to show up. The PPT secretary passed around the meeting form and everyone signed in.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay long," Gaara's uncle stated, "My boss doesn't like that I'm taking the time off at all, and I'll need to get back soon before he docks me."

"What work to do you do?" Sandaime asked, fingering his pipe but not lighting it.

"I work in customer service at the supermarket," the blonde explained quickly, "I usually deal with the people who feel that they've been slighted or short changed, so the boss kicks them all my way so that they can scream at me." He gave a sardonic grin. "I guess I'm the only one who can put up with it. Today's been really bad. I would have called to reschedule, but I've already done that to you people twice, so..." He left it hanging.

"I see," Sandaime said. "As you know, Ebisu scheduled this meeting over the weekend when it came to his attention that Gaara seems to be skipping classes.

Yashamaru blinked. "Didn't we already settle this? I talked to him, and he grumbled a little but said he's go to class. One of you teachers, the math one I think, even emailed me to say that he was staying to the end of the period."

"Yes, that's true," Iruka said. "He did pretty well for about a week, but then he started slowly cutting again. For example, just yesterday, he was late for homeroom and social studies. He took a pass in science and was gone for fifteen minutes, and didn't even show up to his math class. The hall monitors found him hiding in the boys bathroom." Iruka leaned back, rubbing his scarred nose. "He'll stay in my classes because he knows I have my eye on him."

"I see," Yashamaru said, his brow creasing. "He hasn't said anything at home, only that he hates math."

"Can you think of any reason as to why he'd skip his classes? Some kind of trigger?" Sandaime gently asked.

"Not really," Yashamaru replied, looking at his watch. "I mean, I do what I can. He doesn't really talk much at home, but I listen and do what I can. It's kind of like work, really, he bitches and I listen, smiling and nodding. There are some students he can't stand." He frowned, thinking. "Those 'Team 7 bastards' he calls them. Oh, sorry for my language," he said quickly. "It's two boys, he doesn't call them by name. One is the 'blond bastard' and the other is just 'that guy!'."

"I have a good idea who they are," Kakashi said. He glanced at Iruka, who was already thrumming through his notebook.

"Yeah, they have the last four classes together," Iruka said. "Well, one of them, at any rate. I don't have the other's schedule."

"Then you know who they are?" Yashamaru asked. "Can't you just, like, change their schedules or something?"

"Actually, that would be a bad idea," Kakashi said, putting his chin in his hand and slouching a little further in his chair. "The last thing we want is for Gaara to think that he can get his way if he throws a tantrum. Just because there's a student or two he doesn't like doesn't mean we wave our scheduling wands and make it all go away. One of his goals this year is to give him more experiences with people to develop his otherwise stagnated social skills. That necessitates that he learns how to deal with people he doesn't like."

"Yes," Iruka continued. "In the last two years he's gotten a handle on how to interact with people, but he still doesn't really understand that if something happens that he doesn't like he can't just start swearing and threatening. Besides, he has a plethora of supports to use if he needs to. I'm on call, for one, I'll drop whatever class I'm in and go to him if he wants, and he's close to a few of the paras. He can come to the nurse, to guidance, to Ebisu-sensei or Sandaime-sama if they're free, and of course he has you. We'll build up a scaffolding for him to work with, give him behavioral sheets to fill out after something significant has happened so he can self-assess how he did, that sort of thing."

"Then what do we do?" Yashamaru asked, looking at his watch again. The blond man was starting to twitch, clearly anxious to get back to work.

"For now, we will have to put him on pass restriction," the old man said. "He's not to be given a pass unless someone, most likely a paraprofessional, is free to escort him to and fro. This ensures that he gets where he needs to and does what he has to, and then comes right back. It also sends the message that he should put some thought as to whether it's absolutely necessary for him to go."

"I see. Well, do what you have to," Yashamaru said, standing. "I'll back you on it. I'm sorry, I really have to get back to work."

"One last question," Kakashi called out before Gaara's guardian completely disappeared. "Have you noticed anything about Gaara's sleep patterns?"

The man paused, surprised by the question and thinking about it before replying. "I don't know. I usually get home late, and after we've told each other about our days I just go to bed because I'm so tired. He's usually in his room listening to music at that point, so I can't really say."

"Okay, just wondering."

"Uh, yeah. I really have to go. Thanks! Bye!" And he was gone.

Iruka let out a long sigh. "This sucks. How can we get anything done if Yashamaru-san keeps leaving like that?"

"Perhaps you should try to schedule these PPTs when the poor man actually has time?" Orochimaru asked blithely. He'd been silent throughout the meeting.

"You're assuming the poor guy even has time," Kakashi shot back, equally as blithe. Damn the man for trying to make this Iruka's fault. He turned to the special ed teacher. "I've seen him at the supermarket. I think he pulls double shifts, because I've seen him there both before school when I get my coffee, and after school. I just hope he's giving enough attention to Gaara if he's so busy."

"He seems to," Iruka replied. "At least Gaara thinks so."

"Kakashi," Sandaime asked, "What was your question about his sleep referring to?"

"Just that there are days when Gaara has really deep circles under his eyes. You can tell even under all the eye makeup. I don't think he sleeps well. I don't know if it's the medication or what, but sometimes he's struggling to keep his eyes open in class."

"I noticed that to," Iruka said, writing it down in his PPT folder. "I'll talk with him tomorrow, see if he'll open up to me."

The meeting adjourned and the adults stood up to scatter about the building. The old man, however, pulled Kakashi aside. "Hyuga Hinata's father is in my office right now. He is not happy."

"I don't think he knows how to be happy," Kakashi drawled, but inside he winced. Iruka hadn't been kidding when he said that they would have his job, apparently. Why was it always the parents with high expectations that turned out to be the worst enemy? He gave a silent sigh before adding, "Do you want me to come?"

"Yes. Hyuga-san isn't being entirely clear on what is going on; and besides, you should be given the opportunity to defend yourself."

As they left the guidance office and entered the main office, Kakashi paused only long enough to borrow Shizune's phone and call Iruka, let him know that he'd be late for Team Time for a reason very different than his usual excuses. He just hoped he'd get the opportunity to eat. Worst-case scenario, he'd have to get his lunch and eat it during F.

He entered the old man's office and saw that the Hyuga head was sitting not by Sandime's desk, but at the head of the conference table. Hmph. Self-important, apparently.

"Yo," he said, waiving a hand before sitting opposite Sandaime. "I hear you want to complain about me."

Hyuga gave Kakashi a hard stare before turning to Sandaime. "Why is he here?" he demanded. "I thought this was to be kept private."

"It is private," the old man replied, placing he unlit pipe in his mouth. "Kakashi is obviously involved in this dispute, it seemed appropriate that he be here to straighten it out."

"Then you favor the teachers over the parents who pay the bills."

"No," Sandaime said congenially. "Not at all. I don't favor anybody. In fact, that has nothing to do with this. I am a firm believer that, if two people have a disagreement, then the two people need to settle it. I will of course moderate as necessary. Now, perhaps we can begin by your explaining what your complaint is with Kakashi-sensei."

"In November, during parent-teacher conferences, he made several statements that were not only untrue, but offensive and undermining. All my children were present when he made these remarks, degrading the situation even further because his crass comments undermined my authority over them."

"I see, and what was it that he said?" the old man asked.

"He accused me and my wife of putting undo pressure on Hinata to pass, that it was our influence that was generating her dismal grades when the truth of the matter is that it is the teachers who are failing her."

"I see. Kakashi-sensei, is Hinata failing your class?"

"Nope. Quite the contrary, since she's gotten used to her literary group, her grade has managed to inch upwards by several points." He paused thinking. "I think she's pulled up to a seventy-eight now, that's a C+. The second quarter has only barely started, there's plenty of time for her to do even better."

"I see. What was her grade for first quarter, then?"

"A perfect seventy-five."

"That is not a bad grade to have," the old man said, leaning back in the chair. "I assume this to mean that she is being challenged?"

"Of course," Kakashi said genially, eyeing Hyuga. "Every year the material gets a little harder, and you know that I in particular am always demanding the best of my students. Hinata works very hard. Shino, one of her teammates is very encouraging for her, and she feels a particular pride when she helps her other teammate."

"You mean that filthy Inuzuka boy," Hyuga said. "What on earth possessed you to put such a miscreant with her?"

"Because it was good for her," Kakashi said, seemingly surprised at the question. "Isn't that obvious?"

Hyuga snorted, looking furious.

"Perhaps you would care to explain it to an old man who wasn't there," Sandaime said, "what was in your mind when you were picking her team?"

"Well, there were a couple of things I was thinking about," Kakashi said, happy for the opportunity. The old man was directing this well. "With Hinata, I wanted to put her in a group she could feel comfortable in. She's so shy, that putting her with other students like Haruno Sakura or Uchiha Sasuke would intimidate her. Other students like Uzumaki Naruto or Kazekage Gaara would be too loud, and she wouldn't know how to deal with them.

"The first choice was Aburame Shino. He's quiet and well mannered, a similar disposition to Hinata and therefore more approachable. He's bright, too, so he would be a great support for her if she started struggling. With Shino at the reigns, she wouldn't feel the pressure to be perfect, and therefore she could focus on what she needed to do: the assignment.

"Similarly, Inuzuka Kiba acts as an esteem booster. If he starts to struggle with the work, it's Hinata, who wants to be helpful, who will put her work on hold and help him out. Once she got past the stammering, she actually is very good at explaining things to him; she has a knack for making analogies, and Kiba picks up on them right away. Not only does this boost confidence in herself that she knows the material, it also solidifies her learning, because as we all know, you need to know curriculum inside out in order to teach it."

He paused, gauging Hyuga. Old man Sandaime was nodding sagely, having expected this level of detail and thought in any choice that Kakashi ever made. Hyuga hadn't expected this however, or at least had rationalized everything to fit his skewed view of the English teacher. His face was cold, stony; he glared at Kakashi openly. To squirm was one thing; it was another to aggravate him. It was because of that that Kakashi deliberately didn't mention the other reasons for forming Team 8. With Shino as leader, Hinata wouldn't feel the need to be perfect, yes, but she would also not feel the pressure to be the one to have all the answers; Shino acted as an answer key when the girl became stuck, and it gave her the confidence to try more.

"Overall, it's worked out rather well. Hinata feels very comfortable with her team, and we were all surprised when she showed enough backbone to stick up for her team last week. It was a thing to be proud of."

"To what are you referring?" Hyuga asked, his grey eyes narrow, accusatory.

Kakashi feigned a blink of surprise and cocked his head to the side. "Oh, didn't she tell you? She helped break up a fight. She was very brave, really. The entire sevnth grade team was gushing over it the next day." He had suspected that the girl hadn't mentioned the fight; he'd caught signs of it when he listened in yesterday, and the idea of Hinata being heroic and worthy of pride was clearly a blow to the Hyuga's self esteem. Good, served him right.

"Yes, I remember her letter after the fact," Sandaime said, nodding again. "She was quite eloquent in her defense of the fighters; she labored very hard to make it clear that it was a misunderstanding and that it was not worth the trouble they would most likely get into. She had great passion in that letter. Whatever happened to it, Kakashi-sensei?"

Taking his cue, Kakashi replied, "Oh, she got an eighty-seven, as I recall. Her content was superb; and her structure was the best I've seen out of her. The spelling and grammar pulled her down a bit, but it was one of her best grades so far." He turned to Hyuga. "Did you want to see it? It's probably buried in my room somewhere."

"No. That will be quite enough." Hyuga stood and stared at them both. "Clearly this conversation is at an end."

"I see," Sandaime said. "I hope that we have sufficiently cleared up this matter." But Hyuga appeared to have not heard it, having already left the room.

The principal and the English teacher both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kakashi," the old man sighed, "I appreciate your opinions, I always have, and your insight into matters is phenomenal. But I do wish you would keep at least some of your opinions to yourself. I really can't afford to loose your expertise, but there are times when you seem determined to get yourself fired."

"You know me, Sandaime-sama," Kakashi said finally. He leaned forward, digging and elbow into his crossed leg and holding his chin in a hand. "Eccentric to a fault."

"You should know by now that that doesn't work with me," the old man said, pulling his pipe out of his mouth. "Why does the Hyuga bother you?"

Kakashi frowned, looking down at his crossed leg, a dozen different memories vying for position in his eyes. "He... reminds me of someone."

"Whom does he remind you of?" Sandaime asked, eyeing his teacher critically.

"... My father."

"Ah, Sakumo-kun. I remember him. A genius, like you."

"... No. Not like me."

"You do not speak much of him," Sandaime said softly. "I take it you did not have a good relationship?"

"Jiraiya could tell you about our 'relationship,'" Kakashi said bitterly. The genius son of a genius man, Hatake Sakumo just knew that his son was meant for great things, so better get him started right away. Little Kakashi was in school for as long as he could remember. He entered middle school when he was five and high school when he was ten. He had three college degrees by the time he was seventeen. The material was laughably easy; none of the curriculum challenged him. The other kids couldn't stand him, however, at having such a damn efficient baby in their midst; and socially Kakashi was not developed enough to be able to deal with it. He pleaded with his father only once.

"Please, please can I be in a grade with kids my own age?"

Sakumo had stared down at his son, tiny in comparison to the big, famous man, and said, frowning, "Do you mean to tell me that you can't handle a few childish jibes?"

"No, I can't."

"Then you are not the son I wanted."

And because Kakashi loved his father, he never complained again.

He had been eager to join military, it was the first decision he made that had nothing to do with his father, or his father's legacy. The Yellow Flash had encouraged it, saying Kakashi needed to find out who he was outside his father's shadow. In training he'd met Obito, the donor of his better eye and the first friend he'd ever had, and Rin, his teacher in social interaction and...

Kakashi shook his head. He wasn't ready to visit those memories; not even after all these years. Frankly, he wasn't ready for any of the memories, but some of them he just had to visit. Obito was one. But Rin...

He shook his head again, realizing he'd drifted off in the principal's office. He turned to the old man, unaware of how haunted he'd become in those few minutes of reflection. Sandaime was looking at him with gentle eyes, his pipe again in his mouth. The old man took a deep breath through his nostrils and exhaled.

"I had heard of Sakumo-kun's... passing. Scars like that are painful, and you of all people have had your share of pain. I can understand if you don't want to talk about it." Kakashi hid his cringe. That was another memory he didn't particularly want to revisit. He understood the malice of it, but he had actually been relieved at his father's "passing" as the old man had put it. His father, towards the end, had suffered from an extremely rare neurological disorder that the old man had refused to acknowledge. The final manifestation was delusional paranoia - he'd even believed that Kakashi was trying to kill him, and had attacked the boy when he was only eight. It was six weeks later that Kakashi came home to see the old man with a knife in his belly and blood all over the kitchenette floor.

Kakashi had calmly picked up a phone and called an ambulance and explained the situation. The operator at the other end wasn't entirely sure that the boy wasn't making a crank call because of his level voice. His calm demeanor disturbed the EMTs as he explained what the doctor had said two years previous about his illness. And his new foster father, a man who insisted on being called the Yellow Flash, took four years worth of work with a crowbar to get past Kakashi's calculated, cold, indifferent intelligence - steps that included a lot of hair ruffling; stupid games like tic-tac-toe, Monopoly, charades, and ring-around-the-rosie; ice cream; tickles; and bad comedies.

Another, darker, bloodier memory filled Kakashi's brain and he finally stood up. "I have to go," he said softly, feeling tired, old even despite his young age.

"No," Sandaime said, "I have to go. I have lunch duty to get to. Take all the time you need."

Kakashi never showed up to Team.

F period came and Kakashi had finally pulled himself together. Iruka's glare vanished immediately into a frown when he saw the dark look in Kakashi's eyes as he walked into class. "Yo!" he said lightly, waiving a hand. "I see everyone's working in their vocabulary books. That's a pleasant surprise for a busy teacher like myself."

"Busy!" Sasuke muttered. Chouji laughed in response but stopped when Ino glared at him.

"I'm curious what the excuse is this time," Sakura said, looking at her teacher.

"Maa, well, let's see, how about we say that the world split open and I was dropped into another world where I was the master of a giant key and had to travel from world to world with a talking dog and a duck with no pants to in order to find--"

"LIAR!" Ino shrieked before Kakashi could finish. He grinned weakly.

"Well, if that's the case, then I guess today being a makeup day is out."

"WHAT?!" the class cried out.

"Oh? Did you want one?"

Kakashi handed out the lists of missing assignments for each student that he'd printed out during his prep and the class almost automatically divided into their literary groups, which were now all purpose groups they used to get work done. "Teams Six and Nine, how many times do I have to remind you to not sit together?" he asked. "Oh, and as a reminder, you have until the end of the period to turn it all in."

"WHAT?!" Several students hunched forward over their desks, desperate to get the work in.

Iruka walked over and leaned over Kakashi's shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

He'd gone from zero to normal in the span of the sixty-odd paces it took for him to walk from Sandaime's office to his room. No, he was not okay. But, "I'll be okay," he replied. "Just a bad period last period."

The special education teacher nodded, knowing when to not pry, and began circulating around the room. Kakashi remained seated at his desk, closing his eyes and listening.

"It just gets on my nerves," that was the rich voice of Temari. "She's so prissy and goody-goody. 'I'm top of the class and I'm best-friends with Sasuke-kun! You're beneath my notice you pitiful human being!' She's just so damn perfect it drives me nuts. And she has such and ego. Both of them are just bitches with pretty makeup."

Kakashi frowned, continuing to listen.

"It's not all that difficult," Kankuro said. "All you have to do is set it up right. Spread a rumor about one girl and then go to her and say the other one started it. That kind of thing; maybe break into a locker and put it in the other one's locker. Does either of them keep diaries?"

"Those are kept at home, you idiot."

"Geez, I'm not a girl. How would I know?" Kakashi opened his eyes to see Kankuro grin evilly. "Hey, you have that camera, right? Why not take a compromising photo of one of them where--"

Kakashi's crumpled paper landed perfectly on Kankuro's made up face. "I don't really want to know about your compromising photos, Kankuro, so get back to work. You, too, Temari."

The class giggled briefly. Kakashi made a mental note to pass on the information at Team tomorrow, that there may be a rumor war starting for either Haruno Sakura or Yamanaka Ino. Overall chatter was still about last week's fight between Naruto and Kiba. Both boys were still absent, due back Thursday. Kids always thought that everything was their business. Teams 6 and 9 were passing notes back and forth here and there, but the good news was that most of the class was focused on getting their work done. Some, like Sasuke and Sakura and most of Team 5, had all their work in and spent their time doing extra worksheets Kakashi had for just such an occasion.

Team 8 was quiet, Kiba's absence making it so; the pair would occasionally share worried glances. Team 10, meanwhile, was doing almost nothing. It was one of the few teams Kakashi was beginning to doubt their ability to work together. Shikamaru had his head on his desk, once again feeling lazy. Chouji was trying to work, but was clearly struggling - Iruka was working with him. Ino, meanwhile, was glaring daggers at Team 7, her paper crinkled in her fists as she watched the two work together.

The blonde's eye lit up, however, as an idea suddenly sprang into her mind. Kakashi watched in growing apprehension as Ino shimmied her desk closer to Shikamaru and suddenly laced an arm around his shoulders. Shikamaru, who had his head on the desk, sat up in surprise so quickly he fell out of his seat, a yelp escaping this throat. The entire class looked up at the display.

"What the heck are you doing?" he demanded.

"Awwww, Shika-chan," Ino said, her voice two octaves higher and supposedly meant to sound sweet and cute (to Kakashi it sounded like how a rat would talk), "Is that any way to talk to your girlfriend?"

Oh, no, Kakashi thought. Not one of those.

"When the hell did you decide that?!" Shikamaru demanded, justifiably mortified.

"Don't be silly, Shika-chan!" Ino cooed. She locked her arms in front of her, hunching up her shoulders and casting her gaze down, trying to look demure, the English teacher supposed, but not realizing that she was emphasizing a development that was more pronounced on her than other girls her age. Several boys in the class stared at that particular development.

Before things could get worse, Iruka stepped in. "Perhaps the two of you could discuss your relationship after class, say, in my room after school?"

Ino pouted - another trigger for the boys - and got back to work. Shikamaru gathered up his things and pleaded with Iruka to go to his room. The special education teacher threw a glance at Kakashi, and the Scarecrow nodded his assent. Iruka picked up Shikamaru, Chouji, and Gaara and took them to his room for one-on-three help. They were gone for the rest of the period.

The next day, Wednesday, Kakashi passed on what had happened in his class.

Kurenai groaned. "Not one of those," she moaned.

"I thought about the same thing," Kakashi said, flipping a page in his beloved book. "Ino is now going to go looking for boyfriend after boyfriend in order to make Sasuke and/or Sakura jealous. In the meantime, the boys are going to follow her in droves, because she developed a little earlier than everyone else. Can anyone say 'statutory rape'?"

"It's going to get even worse when she realizes what her curves and breasts can do to boys," Kurenai said. "I saw it at my old school. Even the preppy girls would wear shirts and skirts that were ridiculously short, exposing their navels, hugging their hips, and using spaghetti straps to get what they wanted out of boys. They were always surprised when the boys wanted sex, but went along with it because they thought it was what was supposed to happen, and then they'd be surprised when they got pregnant."

"I thought your lush private school was upper echelon?" Asuma asked.

"With no dress code," Kurenai said. "The school's been trying to instill one for years. Remember Halloween, I said there were French maids and sex kittens, there were also cowgirls and dominatrix'; one girl wore a denim skirt that might as well have been painted on, and she left the button open. Admin could do nothing to stop her." She sighed. "I thought it would be better in a middle school."

"Alas," Gai said, "this is the time in their lives when they begin to learn such un-youthful habits!"

"I have Ino B period tomorrow," Asuma said, grabbing at a cigarette that wasn't there. "Do you want me to talk to her?"

"I say we wait," Iruka said. "There's a cold snap coming in by the end of the week, and the last of the kids should be switching to their winter clothing about then. Let's see how she dresses for winter. As much as experience tells us what's going to happen, she doesn't know it yet, and telling her will just make her do it all the more. You know how contrary she is." He grinned suddenly as a thought struck him. "You should have seen Shikamaru once he was in my room yesterday. He couldn't believe something like that could happen to him. I think he's finally realized that he has a little crush on her, that's why he lets her boss him around."

"At least Shikamaru would be safe for her to pair off with," Kakashi said. "It would also help their team relations, since she just yells at Chouji and him and yells more when they don't do as she says. I doubt that will last, though."

"Oh, to remind you," Iruka said, "Shikamaru has a PPT tomorrow during C. Maybe you can show up on time?"

Kakashi looked at Iruka as if he'd just insulted him.

"I should have known," Iruka sighed.

Gai laughed good-naturedly. "Our illustrious team leader will never be on time so long as he has a say in the matter. His perpetual tardiness helps shore up his cool avatar, so that he may better hide how insecure and troubled he really is." Gai said it jokingly, but it was a true enough statement. It passed over Kurenai, but Iruka's eyes widened slightly, as if a layer of understanding had been placed over his thoughts of the English teacher.

"Whatever," Kakashi said, not really wanting that kind of attention. "I also expect trouble from Temari. She seems to hate the female student body in general, and I think dear Kankuro may be giving her ideas on how to start trouble."

"Yeah, has anyone else noticed that if there's big trouble, he tends to be in the background?" Asuma asked. "He's always got his cat-grin on his face in my class whenever Kiba and Gaara when he shows and Naruto start to go at it. I'm almost convinced he's the one who started the fights between Yuzuhi and Maname."

"He is," Kakashi said, flipping a page of his book. "Usually he takes something from one and then lets her know, and she automatically assumes it's the other."

"He's so fast," Kurenai said, "I can't catch him at it."

"Something to keep an eye on," Kakashi concluded. Iruka finished writing it down before Kakashi moved on to the next item. "How is our bank account now?"

Asuma smiled. "Those headband things," he said, pointing to his, "was a stroke of brilliance. We tripled our account size with that sale. With all of us wearing it as advertisement, the kids were flocking to the order forms. Plus, we have the Christmas dance tickets selling really well, and after we deduct the money for supplies, we should have another hundred dollars or so to put in our account."

"That's better than we usually do," Iruka said as he marked it in the team notebook. "Maybe we can go to that amusement park at the end of the year. That would be nice."

"Ebisu is supposed to observe me tomorrow," said Kurenai. "I just hope it goes okay."

"Is it your first or second?" Gai asked.

"My first."

"He's late on the ball," Iruka said, frowning.

"It was supposed to be three weeks ago, but he keeps rescheduling. Random parents keep coming in right when he's about to leave to come see me."

Asuma snorted. "At least that's what he says."

"You'll be fine," Iruka said encouragingly. "He'll sit in the back of the room with his laptop and just watch and take notes. He sort of transcribes what he sees, and then he'll email it to you. It's the post observation meeting where stuff actually happens."

Seeing Kurenai's worried expression, Kakashi added, "He's not great at wording, but he goes out of his way to be fair. He will note the positives, eventually, and he helps you brainstorm ideas on how to work on the negatives. He just tends to look down his nose at you when he does that. He means well, though. He passed me on my observations, and if I could do it, you'll be a breeze."

Kurenai frowned, sensing as story, but seeing that Kakashi wasn't offering the nightmare known as his First Year, she only nodded, offering her thanks. Kakashi looked at the clock. "We don't have time today, but tomorrow I want to talk about yesterday's faculty meeting. We also have a union meeting tonight, who's going?"

"I have to," Kurenai said, unhappy.

"And I, too, shall make my presence known!" Gai said expansively.

That was when the bell rang.

There were two PPTs the following day. The first was C period, and Kakashi finally strolled into the conference room in the guidance office to meet Shikamaru's father. Kakashi could see the resemblance right away. They shook hands and the secretary, as usual, passed out the forms for everyone to sign.

Jiraiya, the guidance counselor, slid a sheaf of paper over to Nara. "These are Shikamaru's grades so far."

"Well, at least he's doing well in math," Nara said, frowning as he looked over the assessment. "But why are the rest of his grades so poor?"

"My grade isn't entirely accurate," Kakashi said, gesturing to the paper. "We had a makeup day the other day, and Shikamaru turned in quite a bit or work that he owed me that I haven't had a chance to grade yet."

"The biggest problem with Shikamaru is his work ethic," Iruka said. "In resource, he'll happily go over to Asuma-sensei for help with his math, but for the other subjects he'd be much more happy sitting on the register and staring out the window at the clouds."

Nara laughed. "That does sound like my son. He's like that at home, too. I ask him if he's working and he'll say he is, but I come in and he's just staring out the window. His mother has to stand over his shoulder to get him to work, and that's not really the kind of message we want to give to him."

"I have some comments from his teachers," Jiraiya said, "from when they got the email about the PPTs. They're all about the same, saying that he's extremely bright and has the ability to be 'beyond successful,' as his science teacher puts it, but that he just 'doesn't feel like doing the work,' says his art teacher."

"Yes," Nara said. "My son's a genius, but he's a lazy piece of work. About the only thing I've ever seen him take an active interest in - even deliberately make time for - are his puzzle games; shogi, chess, that sort of thing."

"Then something you might want to consider is using that as a leverage," Iruka said. "Asuma-sensei, before he recommended him for eighth grade math, had great success in getting work out of Shikamaru when he threatened to not let him play those games until it was done."

"Oh," Nara replied, his eyes widening. "That works? We've tried it once or twice, but without much success."

"Where are the boards?" Kakashi asked.

"His room."

"That might be why, then. Sneak into his room and steal it, and tell him you have to see completed work before he can play in the kitchen or something."

"Hmm. Something to think about."

Jiraiya nodded, moving on. "His math teacher has nothing but praise for Shikamaru, from the looks of it. Bright, intelligent, flawless worker, well behaved when - oho! - when he's not sleeping in class."

Nara burst out laughing. "That's just like Shikamaru! Hahahaha! I'll talk to him tonight when he gets home. Sleeping in class! Oh, that's just like him!"

All in all, they all agreed that things were going very well for Shikamaru, and they decided not to make any changes in his IEP. Nara left saying he'd try the shogi bargaining-chip idea and let Iruka know how it went. For once, a PPT didn't last until the end of the period, and Kakashi had a full ten minutes of his prep to goof off before SSR began.

Two periods later, Kakashi, Iruka, and Jiraiya were again assembled in the guidance office conference room, this time with a greasy looking man with wild brown hair and hands so dirty they were black.

"Sorry about my appearance," Inuzuka said, "The car I was working on took longer than I thought, and I didn't have time to clean up and get changed."

"That's fine," Kakashi said. "If I can come to school as rumpled as I do most of the time, a little grease can't hurt."

"I wanted you to know that I had a long talk with my son last week about the fight," Inuzuka said. "I didn't raise any of my kids to get into fights, it's an insult to me as a father, I told him, and he seemed to take it well. He mentioned some of the things you said, Kakashi-san," he added, "and I gotta hand it to you. You put him on a mind-bender. Spent the entire week quiet as could be. 'Least he was when I was there; I work double shifts at the gas station. The kids all said he was real quiet."

"Well," Kakashi said, "At least he's thinking."

"Ain't that the truth. He's always been impulsive; sometimes I don't think there's a filter between his brain and his mouth. Whatever he thinks up, he says it right then and there."

"It's good to see that he's learned from the fight," Jiraiya said. "Did he do the class work that was sent home to him?"

"I sat with him myself when I got home. We'd all eat dinner and I'd look ever his work. Couple of kids was always over, helping him. Timid little girl and a boy with shades." Kakashi openly grinned.

"I have a question," Iruka said, looking up from his folder. "When he came to school today, he was, uh..." he paused, trying to find a tactful word for what he wanted to say.

"Dirty?" Inuzuka asked. He smiled warmly. "That's the dogs. We have three of them, and he spends a lot of time helping out at the kennel. They pay him under the table for the time he puts in. I think he spent most of his timeout either at the kennels or in his room doing his work. He gets so busy with them sometimes I think he forgets to shower! Haha!" He put a hand behind his head, scratching at his scalp and putting dirt into his thick brown locks. "Cleanliness isn't the most closely followed rule in our house, but I do soak them in water once a week."

Iruka frowned, clearly disapproving.

"Hey," Inuzuka said, sensing it, "I do the best I can. I got five kids, no mama, and a minimum wage job. I can't afford the water bill unless I throw them in the shower once a week. We don't have a dishwasher or a clothes washer, and it costs too much to go to the Laundromat. There comes a point where I just have to start making sacrifices. I tell all the rugrats to take a shower in gym and eat whatever's in the cafeteria. Welfare just doesn't pay enough for a single dad with five kids."

"I wasn't criticizing how you raise your children, Inuzuka-san. I was just curious."

The father snorted, not quite ready to let go of the slight.

Kakashi stepped in. "Look, it's his first day back after a week, he looked a little peaked and he smelled a little, and we were just concerned. You would be, too, I'm sure."

Inuzuka frowned briefly, but then smiled a little. "I guess you're right," he offered.

"Moving on," Jiraiya said. "We noticed that his grade dropped a little in social studies. We just wanted to bring that to your attention. Obviously, since he only just got back, this week will be about readjusting himself and making sure he's caught up. After that, though, I want to see if we can squeeze him into making up some work for Gai-sensei. In the meantime, we just wanted to check in."

"Okay then," Inuzuka said. "You've checked in. I'll sit on him about that social studies." With that, he got up and left.

Kakashi and Iruka exchanged frowns after he left. "He seem a little defensive?"

"A little?" Iruka said. "I thought he was going to yell at me."

"I don't like this."

"Neither do I. But is there anything we can do?"

Kakashi frowned. "Not really." But Kakashi would put his ear to the ground next period to see what he could dig up. It wasn't long after that that the bell rang, and Iruka rushed to F period and Kakashi strolled after him at a much slower pace. He wandered into his class to see everyone working in their literary groups, just like he wanted. Iruka took his cue and took the odd numbered teams to his room. Before sitting down, Kakashi noted that Ino, despite the twenty degree weather, was still in a short denim skirt with no stockings and a form fitting shirt with a deep V-neck. He sighed through his nose but said nothing.

He turned his ears to Team 8. It was Kiba's first day back, and he looked horrible. The boy looked as if he hadn't eaten in a week, and his clothes were decidedly unwashed. Kakashi could smell dogs and mud, which about looked like what the stains were made of.

"Y-You look terrible," Hinata said softly, her flushed face looking down. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I said that in science, didn't I?" Kiba growled.

"You don't look fine," Shino observed. "Did you eat at all?"

"Of course I did," Kiba muttered, flipping a page in his book and taking a few lines of notes. "Dad brought home dinner every night."

"Yes, but what about the rest of the day?" Shino pressed.

"I was too busy then. I was putting in hours at the kennel; so long as I was out of school I was going to make the most of it and get a few dollars in for the bills. We got a double bill on utilities over the weekend."

"Let me get this straight," Shino said, "You only ate once a day?"

"What? You make it sound bad or something. I'm sure half the girls in this school only eat once a day, isn't that right, Hinata?"

The girl flushed at the sudden attention and pushed her index fingers together. "Oh, uh, I wouldn't know... about things like that... uhm..."

"So us bringing food over, snacks and water, and your constant refusal to take any of it - what was that? Pride?"

"I'm not taking any friggin' charity," Kiba snarled.

"Y-You should have taken the food," Hinata whispered. "It's not healthy to go without food."

"I do well enough in school," Kiba said. "Breakfast and lunch and stuff. And it's not like I'm going to get in another fight or something, anyway, so why are we still talking about this?" The boy furiously turned the page in his packet and started working on the next question. "What's ex... ex... exag...?"

"Exaggeration," Hinata said finally, "It means to make things out of proportion. Like..." she froze for a minute before saying, "like you saying you're perfectly fine. That's an exaggeration."

Kakashi quickly covered his snort with a cough. Go Hinata! He was sorely tempted to give her an A for the assignment just for that comment - even if it had nothing to do with the packet he'd assigned. She was really starting to gain confidence if she was comfortable with making a comment like that to her teammates. Some things happen at a slower pace, but it was nice to see that at least one team was starting to show fruit.

That thought made him throw his gaze at Team 10. Chouji was absent, for the third time this week. Shikamaru and Ino were next to each other but not working together. The boy was again staring out the window. Kakashi took the opportunity to throw a crumpled piece of paper and toss it at his head. Shikamaru tossed an annoyed glance before getting to work. Kakashi took a good look at Ino and her skirt and then blinked.

"Okay," he said in an attention getting voice, "I'm going to say this as delicately as I can. I'm even going to turn around so that nobody is embarrassed." The Scarecrow bravely put his back to a class full of twelve year olds. "If you are wearing a skirt," he said, "I strongly recommend crossing your legs." He counted a full fifteen seconds, listening to the nervous giggles and picturing the curious glances under the desks. Turning back around, he saw that several girls outside of Ino had crossed their legs. Good.

"You're a pervert, sensei, if you're trying to look up a girls skirt!" Ino accused.

"Let me pose a question, then. Is it a guy's fault for staring? Or the girls fault for having herself on display by not crossing her legs?"

"The guy's for staring, duh!"

"Then why on earth would you invite them to stare?" Kakashi countered, and went back to his chair. He glared at the class before they finally got back to work.

This wasn't turning out to be a good week, he decided. The PPTs were crap, the girls were edging their way towards a social war, Hyuga tried to get him fired, and Ino was walking a path right to sexual favors before she even realized that was where she was going. There were the highlights of Hinata and the seventh grade bank account, but he was beginning to foresee problems in the near and distant future.

He hoped he was wrong.

Otherwise, this was a plate-spinner, making sure y'all have eyes on the right students.