Kakashi shuffled into school Monday morning, a tired gate in his step. The weekend had hardly been what he'd wanted. The main problem had been his inability to log into the server and input grades. Part of his persona at school as laidback and lazy was his constant reading. In order to maintain that, he'd often taken his grading home to take care of it there, log in, list, and then curl around his book or go visit the memorial. Since, for whatever reason, the server was down, Kakashi now had to put grades in that morning, before Chouji's PPT during C. To make matters even better, Kakashi had to wake up even earlier this morning, to shovel his driveway of the two inches of snow. The streets were clear and school wasn't going to be delayed (to the student's chagrin, he was certain), but if Kakashi wanted any hope of actually getting in and out of his house, he needed to shovel his damn hill.

So, already tired and sore, the Scarecrow came in later than usual to homeroom. He was moderately surprised to see Iruka wasn't in yet either, but the cold usually made his injuries from the car accident ache. It wasn't unusual to see the special education teacher miss school after the first snow. Still, if Iruka wasn't here, the PPT would most likely be rescheduled. However, as much as Kakashi would like C period free to get those grades in, the Akimachi's needed the attention more so.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you okay?"

Looking up, moderately surprised, the English teacher saw Sakura looking at him with concern. Was he really slipping so much that the students could pick up on his moods?

"Maa," he drawled. "I had to dig out this morning."

Sakura frowned, then smiled. "Don't forget about Student Council this afternoon," she chirped. "We have a lot to plan out for after Christmas."

Trust Haruno Sakura to be thinking so far ahead. She'd be a great doctor someday. He shrugged, smirking. "If I don't make it, I'm sure you'll take care of everything," he replied.

"Sensei!" she reprimanded him, also smiling.

"Well, I do have work to do." And how.

She scoffed. "You're too lazy to get any work done."

"Sakura, Sakura. You don't know half of what a teacher does. There's much more to it than you could even imagine."

"Yeah. Sure."

Smiling, Kakashi went over to his desk and prepared to get some grades entered. Gaara was absent again, he noted sadly. The first two periods went by fairly well. Since Kakashi needed computer time, he gave both classes reading based assignments, and the teams would have no trouble asking each other quietly for help. He'd had them well trained.

Students seemed surprised to see him busy at his computer, and he could already hear some of the rumors growing. He was hacking into the CIA computers to ensure that they still listed him as retired; he was in the middle of writing a sequel to the novel he loved to read so much; he was writing love letters to Kurenai-sensei (that made him chuckle); he was writing a report to the Board of Education to get Ebisu-sensei fired (really, it should be Orochimaru that was fired, but anyway); the list went on and on. Student creativity never ceased to amuse him.

His prep finally arrived and Kakashi wandered across the hall to find Iruka standing stiffly.

"I wasn't sure you'd come in this morning when I opened my door and saw the snow."

The teacher grunted. "I'm not so sure I should be here either, but I've got too much to do. At least this time you have a good reason to be late. Me."

Kakashi snorted as the special education teacher walked over with a slight limp.

"Will you be alright?"

"The longer I'm on it the better, but I had to sit with Naruto, who came in last period, he was getting worked up over his computer grade and I had to sit on my ass by his computer for an hour. Now the PPT. I swear; I should just give up."

The Scarecrow frowned. Iruka was known to complain, especially during times when his joints ached; students got to know real quickly not to mess with him when he was tender. However, something in Iruka's voice was more than his usual complaints.

"Iruka?" he asked.

"Ah, it's nothing. My sister called over the weekend. My mother's getting worse."

Kakashi nodded. Iruka's father had died when he was young and his mother was also in the same car accident that had left Iruka scarred. However, she wasn't doing as well, and it seemed, she was finally starting to take a turn for the worse. No doubt, the prospect of losing another parent was weighing heavily on Iruka, especially with his own injuries hindering him so much at the moment.

"Should I order you to sleep with me again?" Kakashi asked as he ambled and Iruka shuffled down the hall.

The special education teacher let out a sharp bark of laughter. "No, I'll be fine."

Together they entered the conference room. "Yo," Kakashi raised his hand and waved. "Sorry we're late."

"It's quite alright," Jiraiya chuckled. "The Akimachi's aren't here yet."

"Oh?"

"They just called. Their car broke down and they have to use their other car, which has some trouble starting. They'll be here in about ten minutes."

They all sat down, and chatted about little things. Jiraiya offered condolences on Iruka's mother and talked about various students they were concerned about. Ebisu came in and sat down, discussing Gaara's absence and Kankuro's ISS the following two days for finally being sniffed out in starting the food fight over a week ago.

Ten minutes on the dot, both of Chouji's parents came in, giving Kakashi a pleasant surprise. Normally only one parent could come in between work to discuss how their child was doing, but to see both was definitely a pleasant surprise. Another surprise was that Asuma hurried in, soon afterwards. Well, Kakashi grumbled to himself, he wasn't the latest to the meeting. Damn.

"Hello," Ebisu greeted. The sign-in sheet had already been passed around, so introductions were made.

"I realize," Chouji's mother started, "that this is just a 'checking in' meeting, but I have some concerns. I was online this morning to check my son's grades, and I'm very concerned at how abysmal they are." The father nodded.

"I also have some concerns," Kakashi replied. "Since we all are concerned about Chouji, why don't we just get them all in the open and start addressing them. His grades are a concern yes, but I'm worried at how much school he's missing. Three days last week, added to all of his accumulated absences this month, makes me concerned. At this rate, he'll reach eighteen unexcused absences by the end of third quarter, and then he loses credit."

"My worries," Iruka took his turn, "is Chouji's inconsistent work ethic. At the beginning of the year, he was putting his best foot forward in all his classes, but lately, when he's here, he tends to zone out a lot more."

Asuma nodded beside Iruka, hand reaching for a cigarette that wasn't there. "I can tell you why his grades have turned south in my class. It matches up with what Iruka calls an inconsistent work ethic. The work that he turns in tends to be half done, if that. He's not showing work, lending me to think that he's just writing down numbers randomly. I was talking with Gai-sensei and Kurenai-sensei before I came down, and they mentioned the same thing."

Both of Chouji's parents blinked, looked at each other, and blinked again.

"To your first concern," Chouji's father leaned forward and Kakashi could see where the boy got his figure, "I don't understand. I see Chouji on the bus every morning. He went in every day last week. My wife here is there when he gets off the bus. He didn't miss any school last week."

Ebisu wrote all this down, as did Iruka. "I suggest, then, that you start driving him to school if you can and watching him enter the building. If you wish, you can call my office each morning, letting me know that he is in, or check in with me. That way, if his homeroom teacher--" he glanced at the team.

"Kurenai-sensei," Kakashi supplied.

"--finds him missing, we can go about the procedures for skipping class. Starting with office detentions, and working our way up to ISS and Saturday detentions if needs be."

Both parents nodded. "I insist, on that," the father agreed. "In fact, since we know he skipped three days of school yesterday, I'd like you to begin on that right now. We don't want our son to think he has any leeway in this. He needs his education."

The mother nodded as again. "Such behavior is completely unacceptable. The grades still concern me, though. I know that he's been doing his homework, he doesn't get his after-school snack until he does, but I think I'm going to start checking on his work before hand." She winced. "My husband works during they day and I have the night shift at the hospital. There's always someone home in case he's home sick, etc. I'm going to have to wake up earlier."

Asuma nodded in sympathy. "I understand that this will be an inconvenience. But until we can figure out why his behavior has started to change, all of us are going to have to start coming down hard on him. We want Chouji to be the best that he can be, and in order to do that, we're going to have to start enforcing some more stringent rules."

"For starters," Iruka offered, "he has often worked with another student who's exceptionally bright. I think I'm going to encourage that teamwork more during resource, help him get help, as it were."

The math teacher nodded. "So they'll probably end up with me during SSR, but I can work with him. No worries."

The Akimachi nodded again. "If it's alright," the mother started, "I think I want to hear from his teachers everyday. Chouji's always been truthful, but if he really is changing so much, he may not tell us everything."

Everyone at the conference table nodded, and Kakashi noted Iruka's suppressed wince at the extra paperwork it would involve. Still, the Scarecrow was pleasantly pleased with the PPT. Chouji's parents were being supportive and willing to work with the faculty, assuming they'd keep up what they promised. It was just another "wait and see" situation.

With that the PPT out of the way, Kakashi walked with Asuma and Iruka back to their corner of the building. The special education teacher was still stiff and limping, but with his coworkers on either side offering support if he needed it. Kakashi brought up a preview of what he'd be mentioning during Team Time, particularly what had been brought up during his recent team-leaders meeting. The idiot of a union leader was going too far, and the team leaders were discussing possibilities on how to switch him out with someone else. The main problem was that nobody wanted the job.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!!"

That could only be an energetic, ADHD, blond member of a certain Team 7.

"What?" Iruka barked. Naruto backed away, his hands raised in front of his face, no doubt a habit picked up from his time in so many foster homes. Sighing, the special education teacher tried again. "What is it, Naruto?"

"I've been looking for you," the blond replied. "I wanted to ask you if I could be in Kakashi-sensei's room for Resource today. Thanks to last period, I'm all caught up, and I don't have any outstanding assignments, so..."

Asuma turned his head, a snort escaping before a chuckle followed.

The Scarecrow smiled down, "I'd be happy to have you in my SSR as long as you are reading. Otherwise, you go back across the hall to Iruka-sensei."

The blond snapped to attention with a smart salute. "Don't worry Kakash-sensei. I won't let you down. You won't hear a peep out of me the whole period."

"Sounds good," Iruka added, reaching down to rub his knee. "Do you have a book to read?"

"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed as Asuma nodded and went on ahead to his room.

Kakashi raised a hidden eyebrow. Naruto never struck him as the reading type. More likely to look something up in a magazine or online, rather than bring in a book to read, but he didn't mind being pleasantly surprised.

"Fine, Naruto," Iruka nodded. "But I need to see you on a few things before you head over, alright?"

"You got it, Iruka-sensei!" So the special education teacher and the blond went around to Iruka's room as Kakashi wandered into Kurenai's room. He knew what he was going to get his team for Christmas, but he needed a little refining for the new member of, so he chatted with her for a few minutes. His gifts for the other English teachers, the office staff, etc, would be more generic like candy or pencils or such. It varied from year to year, and Christmas itself was only a little over a week away.

He brightened when Kurenai let it drop what he was looking for without even realizing it, so he ambled over to his room with a smile on his face. His students were supposed to be reading quietly when he entered, he'd spent most of September training them to do so. (Granted, there were several other students who just held a book open and stared at it, no matter how much prodding he did to find the genre they'd enjoy reading...) Instead, he found several students huddled over by his desk. There was a lot of chatter, but it didn't sound dangerous or like rumors. There were merely questions being fired at one person. Naruto.

"What was the storyline again?"

"How much was it?"

"Where do you get this?"

"Are there others like this?"

Curiosity thoroughly aroused, Kakashi meandered over to his desk and sat down.

"Now," he said, drawing their focus to him. "Why isn't everyone reading?"

That was enough to get the students scrambling for their seats, digging out their books or magazines, and back to what they were supposed to be doing. Kakashi couldn't help but smile to himself. It was nice to be able to just ask a question and send the students scurrying. Turning to Team 7, who were in their usual seats during class, he readdressed his question. "Might I inquire as to what happened?"

"Everyone wanted to know more about my book," Naruto replied simply.

"Oh?"

"He's reading a comic," Sasuke snorted. "A black and white comic."

"It's called manga, teme!"

As the two happily degrading into bickering, Sakura took over the explanation. "When Naruto pulled out his 'book', Sasuke scoffed at him until Naruto started explaining the plot. Next thing we knew, everyone was around us asking about it."

Kakashi nodded. He'd been noting more and more shelf space being devoted to manga in the bookstores, and he'd been hearing the rumblings of an anime/manga culture starting to grow. Maybe there was a way to get students interested in reading. "Alright then. Get back to reading."

"Yes, sensei," Team 7 droned.

The following morning, Kakashi was wincing at his utterly empty wallet. After SSR the previous day, he'd put his ear to the ground again and learned that there was a growing population in the school calling themselves "otaku", who could read three or four books in an afternoon of their manga. Finally sensing a way to get students to read (or at least more of them), he'd emptied out a good chunk of his wallet and bank account and came in with a large box filled with various manga series that were appropriate for seventh grade. Of course, finding appropriate reading material was difficult, because there couldn't be nudity. Still, he'd found a plethora of choices to start putting into his shelves for students to borrow and read. He had been waiting to see what the reaction during SSR would be, but there was an instantaneous jolt from homeroom on through. Students kept wandering or stalking over to his desk asking what those new "comics" were and if they were available for them to borrow. He'd just grin and say, "I need to label and shelve them. Give me a few days." But the interest was a definite plus.

So it was that when C period finally rolled around, he was pulling out books, making sure his name and room number was listed along the side, and pulling off price tags. He had everything he needed for the rest of the classes, so he was basically free to set up these new manga books. This was where Jiraiya found him when he wandered in, his busy white hair back in a long pony tail, his jeans rumpled and wrinkled, and his flip-flops flicking as he walked over to a desk to sit down.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted, lazily raising a hand in an attempted wave before going back to labeling, removing tags, and shelving. "What brings you here?"

"The grapevine is reaching me on a few things, and when the grapevine about teachers reaches me, I usually decide to sniff out if it's true or not," Jiraiya drawled, leaning back and putting his feet up on the desk.

"Given that you've come to me, I assume the grapevine is about my eccentric self." Kakashi grinned, shelving another book. "So, who did I piss off with my eccentricities this time?"

Jiraiya said nothing, and just looked at Kakashi. The old guidance counselor had known the English teacher since he was a little boy, between the school system and being an old friend of the Yellow Flash's. Kakashi himself hadn't really gotten to know Jiraiya until he retired from the army, but the guidance counselor was probably the only person alive that knew everything about Kakashi's life.

"It's not so much that you irked someone."

"Oh?"

"You were noticeably forlorn on Veteran's Day, you missed a professional day as a result; you've been insulting parents, you completely zoned out in the old man's office, do I need to continue?"

Kakashi stopped, a book halfway on the shelf. "So Gai and Iruka both ratted me out?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Please. You're still running circles around Iruka, he can't figure you out yet. Gai's your best friend, but he won't pry unless absolutely necessary or after school hours. Kurenai doesn't know you at all yet and Asuma's been too burned by previous teachers to try and pry into your business. None of them would 'rat you out'. This is just the grapevine hitting my office."

The Scarecrow slumped. "You told me in sixth grade that your job as a guidance counselor doesn't end when the student leaves the middle school." He took the few steps to the couch and got comfortable. "So, what are you going to psychoanalyze out of me now?"

"Please, Freud's perversions aren't of any use here. You want to talk porn, you can come to my office late after school." The Perverted Toad Sage crossed his arms. "Anywhere particular you want to start, or should I start asking questions?"

"I don't see myself as particularly bothered," Kakashi drawled back. "Where do you want to begin?"

"Why not the similarities between one foster by name of Yondaime. I noticed that he kinda resembles your foster dad, the Yellow Flash."

"Kinda?" the Scarecrow snorted.

"Well, they do look like twins."

"Looks are bad enough," Kakashi muttered. "Mannerisms are just freaky."

"Like what?" Jiraiya asked.

Sighing, he looked up to the ceiling tiles. He'd worked with Jiraiya long enough to know that any attempt to wiggle out of this highly uncomfortable conversation would be blocked and thrown back at him. When Jiraiya chose to get to the bottom of something... or more aptly someone in this case... he couldn't be diverted. That didn't make it any easier for Kakashi to talk about any of the things that were probably on the guidance counselor's to-do list.

"Well?" Jiraiya prompted.

Kakashi threw a glare. "Name a mannerism. Laughter. Ruffling hair. Rough but gentle speech pattern. Easy-going. Wording. You name it." It's like he came back from the dead.

"Those mannerisms seem to be helping Naruto out quite a bit."

Good, easier ground to talk about. "Yes, Naruto's been improving quite a bit. He's been keeping up with his schoolwork, a fantastic outcome given how often he missed assignments previous years from the sounds of things. Of course, that might be Sasuke and Sakura, but I don't think they're all of it. While Naruto's always been outspoken, he will only occasionally go into silly talk in class and play class clown. He's become far more likely to be an active participant in discussions and when you see him and the rest of Team 7 debate with the rest of the class, it's fascinating to watch. If one of them slacks in the point they're trying to make, one of the others picks up and flies."

"It reminds me of how you slowly loosened up in school."

"Ah, but Naruto and I are completely different."

"Granted," Jiraiya smiled. "As long as you know that."

There was a pause and Kakashi vaguely felt like he'd somehow passed. What he'd passed, he wasn't sure, but there was a definite twinkle in Jiraiya's eye. He frowned. He never could figure out the Perverted Toad Sage.

"Ah yes, Team 7. Speaking of them, how's Sasuke doing?"

"Isn't he Orochimaru's case?"

"So?"

To that, the Scarecrow had to grin. Jiraiya never did care what was his or wasn't, the old thief. "He's safe. From what I've been picking up, he spends as much time as he can with Sakura and Naruto. I doubt he's fitting in well with his foster parent Kabuto, but he's still healing and thriving. He mentioned that he'll be getting a smaller cast shortly before Christmas, and that it should be completely off by January. He hasn't seen his brother at all as far as I know, but I think any confrontation with Itachi would be obvious in his behavior." Kakashi frowned. "His position isn't ideal. If he's not comfortable in his current home, I'd rather him somewhere else, but he's safe and healing. On occasion, he'll even show that he's happy. That's all I can do for him. For now."

"Sasuke has come in to see me a few times," Jiraiya commented. "Mostly right after you left school to find him in the hospital."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"While he's hardly the talkative type, he's made a few things clear." He smiled. "He's very respectful of you. He doesn't just refer to you as Kakashi-sensei, there's an almost reverence in his voice when I get him to talk about you. I doubt anyone else would pick up on it, but I am the Toad Sage."

The English teacher snorted. Just as Kakashi was known for knowing things that no other teacher could uncover from his looking underneath the underneath, Jiraiya was known for observation as well (perverse as some of it may be...). It was part of what made him a good guidance counselor, the fact that the Toad Sage could pick up on something subtle and then question a student on it. Where Kakashi tended to come across as omnipotent, Jiraiya was known as perceptive.

"That boy admires you, Kakashi, he admires your knowledge, your intelligence, your control of the classroom without looking like you're in control. He will never admit it, but he looks up to you. So does Naruto. Naruto thinks you're his savior because you gave him the two most important people in his life. While I haven't talked to Sakura, I'm sure she has some level of awe about you as well."

"Are you here to praise me or pick me apart?"

"Neither," Jiraiya drawled in a mimic of Kakashi. "I'm just commenting on how well you've been keeping your promise to Obito."

All at once, Kakashi's eye stung, and he put his hand over his hitae-ate. Being reminded of the Yellow Flash wasn't enough, now Jiraiya had brought up Obito and all the memories that went along with it. Obito dragging him from a burning car-turned-bomb; Kakashi shoving Obito out of the way of enemy fire; the two of them helping deliver food and medical supplies to hospitals. It always came back up. Even after all these years. Years of remembering his promise. Years of thinking of Obito every day to keep that promise. Years of trying to ensure that students didn't lose everything like he'd lost everything.

"Of course," he rasped.

"You deliberately put yourself through your worst and harshest memories with the man. As he lay dying in your arms, he extracted a promise from you." Jiraiya looked long and hard at the English teacher. "Don't you think that's too much of a burden? Doesn't that weighty promise keep you from being happy?"

Kakashi glared.

"I promised. I will never forget that promise, nor will I ignore it. I am making a difference in these kids' lives. I'm making them happy, and that makes me happy. Yes, the promise gets heavy from time to time, but all I need to see is someone like Sasuke to relax around his team to know that the weight is worth it."

Jiraiya grinned and Kakashi once more felt like he'd just passed a test of some sort. He knew where all this was going. The old guidance counselor was going to question him on all his sore points and test him. To see if Kakashi really was "losing it" or not.

"If you say so," Jiraiya drawled. "But I understand that Hyuga Hinata's father is giving you trouble."

Against his will, Kakashi grimaced. If anything from the grapevine really did reach Jiraiya, it was most likely from Sandaime, he realized. He really should control himself better. The old man didn't need to worry so much as to send Jiraiya after him. He could control himself. If Kakashi was ever so bad off, he would take a day off and spend it at the memorial, sorting through his memories, reminding himself why he did everything. He didn't need Jiraiya to do it for him.

But once the guidance counselor got started, only Sandaime could stop him.

"You already know why," he drawled back. "The old man must have mentioned how he treats Hinata." He paused. "And the other reason."

"Sakumo?"

He said nothing, looking once more to the ceiling tiles.

"Come now, your father was a very strict taskmaster, just like Hyuga is. You turned out just fine, I'm sure Hinata will as well."

Glare. "Hinata isn't me. She will not be fine the way things are. Parents should put their children first, not live through them. Parents should let their children reach their own potential, not force their way on them. Nothing good can come if they don't."

Jiraiya nodded and Kakashi only barely felt like he'd passed that test. No doubt, Jiraiya would poke him about the issue later in the year, but not now. He could be grateful for now, at least, that the matter of Sakumo would be dropped. It wasn't a topic that he delved into normally, and to have Hyuga unknowingly rip it up to the surface was... disconcerting to say the least. He'd find a way to deal with it, he always did.

"Well, with all these memories floating up for you this year, I would have thought Rin would show up at some point."

Kakashi stood up, rigid.

"Out. Now." Get him out of here and start to do something to stop the flashes of images coming to his mind. He couldn't think of her here at school. Not with his SSR starting in another ten minutes. He needed normalcy and that meant he couldn't think of her.

Jiraiya tried to prod at the salted wound, but Kakashi all but physically threw him out of his room, went back to his desk, pulled out his beloved book, opened to a chapter the he adored, and started reading, willing the memories that were stirred to settle back into the darkness.

Naturally, Kakashi was late for Team Time, but he didn't offer up any excuses, already feeling exhausted from fighting off memories better left buried. He functioned during the meeting, but that was all. Together, they went through the necessary preparations and the usual day-to-day necessities, especially with Christmas right around the corner. The previous Team Leader meeting had the team leaders discussing what to do about their predicament with the representative of the union, and had decided that they should discuss it with their teams first and then figure out a plan of attack. The English teacher collected some fantastic ideas from his team about what to do with their bastard of a union rep that he would pass on at his next Team Leader meeting. As usual, however, nobody really wanted the extra work the job of union rep would bring, which made all ideas fall slightly apart, but for now Kakashi let the creativity of his team act as a balm for his emotional aches and pains that Jiraiya had brought up.

Things were going quite well actually, boosting Kakashi and letting him bring his fragmented self back together more solidly, until Asuma got a call. It appeared that Takamura had been sent to Ebisu and the boy refused to talk without Iruka-sensei there. The special education teacher sighed, rubbed his eyes, and packed up his stuff. Seeing how little time was left, the meeting was basically "adjourned" and Iruka left. Kakashi lingered, making small talk with Asuma as another much-needed act of normalcy, finding out what the math teacher thought of Kurenai and how she was doing, seeing as how he was next door.

It was amazing how just little doses of "normal" could be so soothing.

As Asuma's F period started to filter in, Kakashi took his cue to go back around the corner to his room and probably get class going.

He was surprised, however, when he saw a three-way bitch argument occurring right on his doorstep between Temari, Ino, and Sakura.

"Forehead!"

"Billboard-brow!"

"Shut up!" Sakura shouted back. "I haven't done anything to either of you, so back off!"

"You're on Sasuke's team!"

"You prissy know-it-all."

"You assholes!" the female Team 7 member yelled. "I didn't start this, you did!"

"You wh--"

Kakashi stared at the three of them and frowned, his looming presence towering over them radiating disproval. Sakura looked away, Ino glared at him, and Temari glanced around, looking moderately embarrassed.

Still looking down at them, Kakashi reached over, unlocked his door, and let the sea of students sweep forward. The three girls remained at the door, understanding that he needed to talk to them. From down the hall, Sasuke and Naruto were seen rushing for class, their previous teacher no doubt keeping them behind for something. Both glanced curiously at the unusual cluster at the door before Sasuke handed a pass over to Kakashi and went in to start the warm-up. Kakashi shut the door.

"I'm not even going to bother trying to sort out what happened here. It will just result in the three of you arguing again." He glared down at all three of them. Sakura was still looking away, finding a spot on the floor fascinating. Temari looked away as well, though she looked more disappointed at being caught, and Ino held his glare. He raised an eyebrow at her and she had the sense to look away.

"Sakura, this is your first and only warning in regards to language. If I hear you swearing again today, you'll have a detention."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

"Ino, you're letting a petty rivalry interfere with your school work."

"I get good grades!"

"No, you're not. You only just barely got a B here last quarter, because you are awful at teamwork. If this keeps going, you're grade will suffer even more. Stop being fixated on who's with whom and worry about yourself."

She scoffed. "Yes, Scarecrow-sensei."

"Sarcasm isn't helping you. Go see Ebisu-sensei, or stay here and get work done."

Ino glared, but remained.

"Temari, I heard you with Kankuro last week."

The blond paled, her affronted look dissolving into mild panic.

"This is your one warning. Keep doing what you're doing, and you'll end up dealing with me. Ino can attest that dealing with me is no fun."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good, now the three of you get in and get to work." Once they were all inside, Kakashi sighed. Today was just getting longer and longer.

When the bell rang at the end of the day, Kakashi was mildly disappointed. Students could be a very good distraction, since they required full attention at all times, and Kakashi felt that he needed a few more periods before he could fully consider himself back to his normal lazy self. Still, the last two periods had been great to pry him out of the hole Jiraiya had thrown him in and re-fuse his broken pieces back into the semblance of a human being. Iruka had thrown some concerned looks his way during the last two periods, but all in all, the Scarecrow felt much better than he had when SSR started.

Pulling a random manga out of the box that he still hadn't emptied onto his shelves, he allowed himself a moment to stretch out on the couch and just read. He let the book take him away to a different world, rather than just absorb words like he did during the school day. Eventually, the automatic lights flickered off, but the lamp on Kakashi's desk provided enough illumination to read. He was like that for almost an hour when a head poked into his room.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mm?" He finished the page he was on and lazily looked over to the door, far too comfortable to move. Entering his room and letting the harsh fluorescent lights turn on, was Sasuke and Naruto. Without Sakura. Tension eased its way back into Kakashi's form. He sat up, beckoning them in. "Well this is a surprise. What can I do for you?"

Naruto stepped forward. "What happened today? You know, before class started? Before we got there?"

Kakashi frowned. "In regards to what?"

"Well--"

"Sakura's too quiet," Sasuke bit out.

That argument affected her. And she wasn't sharing with them. They'd gone through enough harshness in their lives that she didn't want to be a burden. She stated as much when she'd gotten heir hair cut. So she was considering today's event her problem and was going to handle it on her own.

Kakashi sighed. She needed to learn that she could lean on the others just as she let them lean on her. Sakura also needed to learn to stick up for herself, which wouldn't happen with Naruto and Sasuke undoubtedly intervening on her behalf if they knew. To tell them or not? Time would probably tell. For now it was Sakura's choice.

"Naruto, have you ever known me to go blabbing to other students what sort of punishment or warnings I give you?"

"Well, no, but--"

"Sasuke, did I talk non stop about what happened with every person I came across?"

"No, but--"

"So why should I tell either of you what happened today?"

"But!"

"No," Kakashi said more firmly. "It's her choice. The two of you were hardly open when you all got together as a team. It took work for the two of you to share your problems with anyone. What Sakura went through today was something that she went through. Just as it was your choice to talk or not, it's hers." He looked down at them and raised an eyebrow. "She's been very open, I imagine. So the fact that she's keeping something to herself is striking you as strange. You can't go forcing it out of her, nor can you go asking around for it, it's a breach of her wishes. She'll come to you when she's ready."

"But how long will that take?" Naruto whined.

"That's up to her."

"Hn."

Clearly not pleased, the two boys skulked out of his room. Kakashi knew that the two of them understood what he was saying, otherwise they'd be forcing their point more thoroughly. Life, sometimes, was just a bitch.

Friday, late for Team Time, Kakashi offered a tale of looking for a simple phone number. It started when he realized that the coveted set of numbers that he kept in a drawer at his desk was no longer valid, meaning that the treasured item had been through the old switcheroo. Thus began an Indiana Jones style adventure, racing from evil snake guidance counselors, hunting through the incomprehensible maze of computer files, and finally reaching the Holy Shizune, who delivered the much valued numbers before Kakashi realized that he wouldn't have time to call the parent because he had to come up to team.

Kurenai laughed. "I love your stories," she muttered through her mirth.

Flipping a page in his book, Kakashi got down to business. "Before we get to the mundane, I have a question. Has anyone else noted Ino leaving at about the same time every period?"

"I have noticed that Hitoshi leaves my room every day," Asuma stated flatly, getting up and going over to his sign in sheet. He flipped back through the pages. "Yes, Ino always leaves the same time B period."

"B period?" Kurenai asked. "What time?"

He stated the time. "Why?"

Frowning, she replied, "Because that's the time Kankuro usually leaves."

"Gai?" Kakashi asked. "Could you please get all our sign in sheets? Quickly?"

"HA! My Eternal Rival, I will be back in less than thirty seconds!" He slammed his watch down on Asuma's desk. "Time me!" he raced off.

"Speaking of Hitoshi," Kakashi redirected, "He's also leaving my room everyday during the last five minutes." After all, they knew he wouldn't allow anyone out before hand, barring the nurse, which he always checked up on.

"I'm always in different classes, I wouldn't notice," Iruka replied.

"I think we have some students bending the rules," Asuma growled. He sat up, "Wait, aren't Ino and Kankuro currently going out?"

"Oh no," Kurenai lamented. "Don't tell me that those two have scheduled their bathroom breaks so that they can make out..."

"If she is, she's going to get a tongue lashing from me that will make her think that calculus is as easy as elementary math," Asuma growled. "I'm getting seriously sick of her dating a different guy every week. She doesn't realize what she's doing, and I'm about ready to give her a reality check. If she doesn't take it from me, her parents might be able to knock some sense into her."

"I have returned!" Gai exclaimed, several clipboards in his hand.

Asuma glanced at the watch, before smirking. "Thirty-one seconds."

"So! I must train further in order to surpass our lazy leader Kakashi."

"Whatever," Kakashi mumbled, reaching over to get his sign out sheets. Pulling a highlighter out, he started marking off the times of Hitoshi, Ino, and Kankuro left his class. Unsurprisingly, given he only let one student out at a time, Ino and Kakuro didn't have a set time, unless one of their teams was taken to Iruka's room.

Together, the five of them compared times and started to notice a very definitive pattern. Hitoshi left every single class to go to the bathroom, and took an inordinate amount of time in returning. Granted, he never recorded his return time that deduction was based on memories of him leaving and taking a while to come back. And, to Asuma's distinct displeasure, Kankuro and Ino were scheduling their bathroom breaks at the same time.

Kakashi grinned blithely. "Iruka? Take one of their teams. Let them out and we'll find out next period." That dealt with, they moved back to the mundane.

When F period rolled around, Iruka took Ino's team along with four others to his room across the hall. Without fail, Kakashi noticed Ino hanging out by his door during the last five minutes of class. Unsurprisingly, Kankuro wandered over to his desk to go to the bathroom. Smiling, Kakashi let him go. Waiting a full half a minute, he nodded across the hall and Iruka brought the rest of the students back as Kakashi discreetly followed the two students heading for the bathrooms. They headed in the appropriate direction before steering down the wrong hall.

The Scarecrow watched around the corner as the two went to one of the double doors leading outside. Because of the layout of the school, there were classrooms on either side, but no doors, making the corner very secluded. Glancing around, the two proceeded to lock lips, Kankuro's hands on Ino's behind.

That was enough.

"Yo," he greeted, walking around the corner and down the hall.

Kankuro groaned and Ino gasped, both separating in no time flat.

"Congratulations. You two are now both on pass restriction. You will be unable to leave any class. Therefore, start preparing yourselves, you won't be able to use the bathrooms unless it's between classes."

"That's not fair!" Ino protested. Kankuro merely snorted and scoffed. Any protests were stopped as the bell rang and Kakashi followed both of them to class, informing Asuma and Gai about his proclamation. Both thoroughly agreed and Kakashi wandered over to Kurenai's room to inform her. She also agreed to enforce his pass restriction. Grinning, Kakashi returned to his room to inform Iruka and get his class working.