Monday was another ninety-minute delay because of a storm that swept in late Sunday night. Kakashi had awoken to only four inches of snow, but the street plows were still working on getting the roads clear, so he pulled out his handy shovel and made (relatively) quick work of his driveway before creeping his way in. The main roads were fine, but the side roads were downright treacherous. He tool a silent breathe of relief when he finally parked. He hadn't seen Sakura on the drive, so he took that to be a good sign.

He still had the clock schedule from last week, and he quickly threw it up on the board. He took the time to make several copies of the chapter test for Friday, and finally got around to digging out his Jeopardy board for the review on Thursday. He poked his head in to Gai and asked when the social studies teacher was going to do that term paper - a joint unit between English and Social Studies that came at different times, depending on the topic that Gai wanted to cover. Kakashi also meandered over to Iruka - cursing the copier in the main office - and set up what PPTs he'd be dropping in on the following week. After that was a quick stop to the head of the English department to see if they were still holding a meeting after school - something Kakashi inevitably hoped would be canceled because he was never fond of the complaining that happened in such gatherings. He also ran into one of the eighth grade teachers who had a question about Tenten, whom he'd had the previous year; that launched a conversation in general about the eighth grade and how they were doing. This was where Kakashi learned an interesting bit of trivia: Rock Lee had a crush on a seventh grader! Gai would be thrilled beyond measure, and he made a mental not to drop off the information. Not long after that, Jiraiya appeared in his room to ask about holidays and the like, knowing how Kakashi tended to spend them, and then playfully complained about why he hadn't been invited to the moonlight sake session at the memorial.

And after all that, the students finally started to arrive.

The first early bird he saw was Chouji, stalking down the hall to his locker. Shortly after that was Sakura, he jeans again wet but she carried a bag that the Scarecrow suspected had another set. They all started to filter in after that, either being dropped off by parents or by the buses. Bus 19 was to be late, according to announcements, and Homeroom was almost over before the familiar faces of Hinata and Shikamaru, among others, finally rushed their way to their lockers.

The kids were again rowdy, but by now they knew that they weren't going to get very far. Naruto in particular seemed to be twitchy, and the Scarecrow later found out that the boy had forgotten to take his medication. He felt intense sympathy for Iruka when SSR came around, and he heard various proclamations and exclamations being elicited across the hall.

So, when Team Time came around, he wandered in to see Iruka using some very creative curses in complaint.

"That resource is a nightmare, a friggin' nightmare," he muttered, finally getting his temper under control. "I have Naruto, Gaara, and Kiba all in one class; and Chouji, when he isn't hanging out with you, Asuma. Plus Hanamaru and Koumaki and Takato and Ryoko. Everybody distracts everybody else. My room isn't big enough, doesn't have enough corners, to keep all the boneheads separate, and once one goes they all go. Just today!" he exclaimed, again getting angry as he relived the moments. "Naruto without his damn meds and wanting to know what everybody else is doing. Kiba is all around pissed, about what he refuses to say, and alternates between cussing everyone out and putting his head on his desk, which ticks off Hanamaru because the little brat thinks the world is against him and everyone gets special treatment but him. He complains to Ryoko, who then doesn't do her work and when the para tries to get her going, she just shouts out that she's too stupid and puts her head on the desk. Then Naruto, whom I've finally managed to get quiet, looks up and wants to know what's up and it starts all over again!

"Gaara gets involved at that point, making the ubiquitous and less than articulate pronouncement that they're all idiots and pulls out his precious headphones to listen to some band scream about slitting wrists and shooting girlfriends; his volume is up and everyone can hear it, and Chouji in a fit of insanity goes up and tells Gaara to 'turn those fucking things off!' Gaara looks about ready to commit murder and I have to get in between the two and demand Chouji sit down. Hanamaru decided to exclaim that if Gaara can listen to his headphones then - something specifically written in his social contract and unique to him - then he can to and pulled out his iPod. Kiba tries to warn them about the scissors from the detention that one time, and before I can get them out Naruto is up out of his seat and asking if he can go get his headphones. It was a mob after that!

"And then--" Iruka started, but Kakashi held up his hand before the poor man had an apoplexy.

"I think we get the idea," he said in even tones. "How many detentions did you hand out?"

"I would have had to hand out a detention for the entire class," the special education teacher said, deflated and out of energy.

"Then we'll just have to torture them in house, won't we?" Kakashi said. "I have most of them over the next two periods. I'm sure I can think up something."

Iruka looked up, his eyes wide at the thought, before a grateful and downright evil grin spread on his face as he continued to contemplate.

Kurenai frowned, running a thin finger along the line of her chin. "Maybe, to stave these nightmares off in the future, we can put something in the newsletter or something. You know, post the bell schedule and remind parents to remind students that this kind of behavior is intolerable."

"Perfect segue," Kakashi said, "We can probably start it right now." He glanced at Asuma, who was already getting up and moving to his computer. "We can talk about midterms next week, too; that schedule is going to be all screwed up as well."

"Speaking of which," Asuma said, clicking away at his screen. "There's an email here saying that the schedule's posted in the main office."

Iruka looked up from his visceral contemplation and frowned. "Why didn't they just attach it to the email?"

The math teacher snorted. "Because it's Ebisu. God forbid he let an opportunity slip where the masses come begging to him for information."

"I shall go and rally the information from our esteemed if annoying vice principal!" Gai offered, standing and leaving Asuma's room.

"Be nice," Kakashi said to the math teacher at the same time, still reading his book and ignoring the Green Beast (who of course was already declaring Eternal Rival verses). "Is there anything else we want to mention in the newsletter?"

"How about reprinting the school dress code," Kurenai offered. "Ino and Temari aren't the only ones flirting with the code, I saw Yuzuhi walking around in hot-pants the other day and Kagura's belly button was for all the world to see today because, she claimed, that the school was too hot and she took off the overlying sweater. Never mind that Maname was wearing a tube top underneath her jacket - which she insisted on wearing over he shoulders. It doesn't stop with the girls, either. I'm constantly telling the boys to put the hoods of their sweatshirts down. They keep pulling it up as far back as they can but still remain on their heads and say, 'But it's not on!' as if they think they can fool me."

"Oh, good, it's not just me," Asuma said, typing rapidly on his computer as he tried to make note of what they wanted to say on the newsletter. "One of the boys actually said I was too old to understand. Brat."

"I see you're already starting to take after the old man," Kakashi said blithely.

"Keep that up and you'll be spitting tobacco out of your mouth for a week," he threatened in reply.

"Aw," Iruka said lightly, rolling his ever-present pen in his hand, "too ashamed to admit Sandaime-sama is you're dad?"

"Shut up," Asume grumbled, still typing away. "What else do you want to add to the newsletter?" he added, trying to change topic. But it was too late.

"You see," Kakashi said to the puzzled-looking science teacher. "Our favorite math teacher over there, had a really big daddy-complex on his old man, the Old Man. After untold years apart where they didn't even speak to each other, Go-sama decided to heal the rift and has been attached to the old man's hip ever since. Even decided to teach at the same school."

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it!" Asuma shouted, his face a healthy shade of red. Iruka was hiding his giggles behind his hand.

Gai, having only just returned and therefore not hearing the majority of the conversation, reflected on how to react before putting on his Admonishment of Youth voice and crying out, "For shame, Asuma-sensei! That you would dare deface your illustrious image of a prodigious mathematics teacher by using such reprehensible language! I weep for the students you teach!"

They all burst out laughing at that point. They offered a few more topics for the newsletter and Asuma began typing it up before another curse left his lips. "Oh, fuckity fuck!"

"Now what?" Kakashi asked, looking up and lowering his book. Language like that was reserved only for the worst of situations.

"Ryoko's mother's emailed me," he said, banging a fist on the desk so hard the knick-knacks shook and toppled over. "She wants a goddamn extra credit assignment for her daughter to 'keep her grades up.' I've told her over and over and over that I do not give extra credit. Ryoko should focus on getting in all her missing work first before I even consider giving her extra credit. That girl has her mother wrapped around her finger! One or two tears and suddenly I'm some kind of evil incarnate!" He paused, before adding, "She's carboned this to you, Iruka, you can vomit with me." He stood up. "I need a cigarette," he said, disappearing after picking up a pack from his desk.

There was a moment of silence.

"I just love parents, don't you?" Kakashi said cheerily.

"Remind me again why we don't just kidnap the kids and raise them ourselves?" Iruka asked rhetorically.

The old man dropped by not long after, apparently the email had been forwarded to him as well, and he wanted to know what it was all about. Iruka filled him in quickly, Sandaime nodding at the appropriate times and fingering his empty pipe - a habit hauntingly similar to Asuma's. Kakashi was getting curious about what else could happen, but the bell finally rang and they all dispersed to their F period classes.

After school was the department meeting, and Kakashi sat for an hour in a room still decorated for Christmas listening to seven other teachers still bitch and complain about NCLB and national and state standards and the ever shrinking budget and other things that supposedly tied their hands. Kakashi, himself, never thought of it as hand tying (well, except for the budget. That was just a pain) but rather scaffolding meant to be abused for that exact purpose. It may have changed how he taught once in a while, but overall he felt that the changes were for the better.

After that he meandered back into his room and saw Sakura was again sitting in front of his desk. He blinked, processing the site, before saying, "Was there a student council meeting I forgot about?"

Sakura looked up, startled. "Oh, uh, hi, sensei," she murmured. "I thought you'd gone home for the day."

"Well, I haven't," he said slowly, but lightly. "But then, I think you were hoping I'd still be here."

She started slightly, as if she were caught, and quickly tried to cover that fact. "No, nothing like that at all, sensei," she said. "I had some homework to do in math, and after Asuma-sensei explained it to me I just thought I'd work on it here. It's not as noisy, so..." Her thought trailed off, unable to finish itself because Sakura hadn't thought any farther.

"Hmn," the Scarecrow replied. "I see. Could you wait a minute? It seems I forgot something." Excuse rendered, he left his room again and poked his head into Asuma's room. Naruto was there, significantly calmed down after taking his medication at lunch, as was Chouji, Ino, and Shikamaru. The blonde girl was looking particularly snide and self satisfied, and Kakashi was able to add a few things together. He stole a pen from Asuma and returned to his room.

Sitting down, he wiggled his mouse to turn his computer screen on and opened his planner up. Checking email, he wrote down the midterm schedule in his planner and wrote down various reminders for the following week. Sakura kept working in front of his desk, struggling through the problems one at a time and remaining silent. Kakashi continued to broadcast approachability, but the student council member did not even look up.

Finally, Kakashi decided to go digging on his own. "Bus?" he asked.

Sakura looked up. "I'm sorry?"

"Are you going to take the bus?" Kakashi stated more clearly. "Or are you going to walk home?"

Apprehension and shame spread through Sakura in equal parts as she looked down, trying to hide her face. "I'll probably walk," she said, trying and failing to sound indifferent about it all.

"It's twenty-odd degrees out there, Sakura. It's in the single digits in the morning."

"I know. I... I need the exercise."

"That's what gym class is for."

"..." Sakura couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse.

"You know you can come to me if anything is bothering you, Sakura," he said in soft tones, trying again.

"I... I know," she replied. "But... I think... I think I need to do this on my own. I can't be much good to them if I can't solve something as simple as this on my own."

A measured look fell across Kakashi's face, and again Sakura could not hold his gaze. The English teacher was starting to get an inkling as to what, or at least who, was causing the problem. "Sakura," he said slowly, "simple problems sometimes have the most difficult, most painful solutions. Being part of a team doesn't mean you shoulder everyone's burden, it also means that they shoulder yours." He paused, an idea coming to him, and he picked up his phone. "Asuma-sensei? Could you send Naruto in for a minute? Thanks."

He hung up the phone to see Sakura's stricken face, her green eyes wide in something between terror and guilt. Without another word she gathered up her things and took off, nearly running down Naruto on the way. "Move it, idiot!" she shouted over her shoulder as she took off down the hall.

Naruto yelled after her, but then came in. "What'd you want, sensei?" he asked.

Kakashi, however, was frowning. "Nothing, Naruto. Apparently nothing."

The pink haired student council secretary patently avoided him the rest of the week. Even in class, as soon as he got remotely near her she started some kind of erstwhile conversation with Sasuke, or poured over her notes or worksheet and ignored him. Her shyness spread through the other classes, everyone noticing her sudden silence, her reserved and almost tentative attitude.

The teachers were not the only ones, either. Naruto and Sasuke, her teammates, knew something was going on, and they, too, joined with Kakashi in the attempts of cornering her and trying to get a word out of her. Her silent response was to be close to Hinata, the two whispering back and forth in nervous tones. Tsunade came - twice - to pester Kakashi about what was going on but he could offer nothing. He had suspicions by now, certainly, Ino's satisfied grin whenever Sakura avoided Sasuke was a little too obvious, and Temari, too, occasionally seemed smug about something. But with no proof, Kakashi could only try to be there for her, be approachable and offer a gentle smile. He wanted very badly for something to happen in public, so he would have an excuse to do something more proactive.

Thursday rolled around, and as Kakashi drove into his new parking space, something dark was churning in his stomach. He sipped his coffee only briefly as he stepped into the school, his mind circling around Sakura and what he suspected her problems to be. Iruka had, as always, opened his door for him, and Kakashi stepped in.

It was on his board, scrawled in red and blue marker.

And then,

Along with,

Like in November, too many things were rolling through Kakashi's mind as he started at the atrocities. The attaché case dropped to his side as he glared at the effrontery. Anger rolled through him in waves, enough that he was physically shaking. He could feel himself become darker and darker; he was imagining the author of these slanders, whoever it was twelve years old or no, and running a serrated hunting knife into his or her belly, of the blood seeping out of the wound and dripping off the handle, of the deliciously satisfying shrieks of agony as...

He was too angry to deal with this. He couldn't handle this objectively, he realized. He was remembering his own childhood, his own ostracizing, what was written about him on boards and splayed across his notebook and scratched into his locker. Too angry, so delegate the task to someone else. Someone who could speak for him. The obvious choice was Gai but how to get him? He could sense the kids behind him, his Homeroom watching him in growing fascination and horror, wondering what he would do as he glared holes into his whiteboard. He was so angry he could not picture getting someone to help him. They were too morbidly interested in seeing whom he was going to kill, either that or, like Hinata at her desk, too petrified to move.

He did the only thing he could do, considering he knew with cold certainty that as soon as he left the vicious words would be erased.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAII!!"

His voice was a whiplash, not only his room but also the hall outside snapping to silence. The Green Beast appeared almost instantaneously, running to his friend. He saw the defecation of Kakashi's board and he, too, glared at it menacingly as anger boiled up in him.

"Find out who did it," Kakashi said, his voice so quiet that not even the oppressive silence of the students could hear exactly what he said. "Make them hurt," he added, his viciousness hissing out of his teeth.

Gai stared at Kakashi, not having seen - no one ever having seen - the English teacher this angry. It was only barely reigned in, and Kakashi knew himself well enough to know that it would burst forth, without mercy and without care, on everyone around him. Gai sensed this as well, reading all the signs, and bravely put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"Find her," he said simply, before turning around. "I would know who committed this treacherous act of slander!"

The hand had been all Kakashi needed, his feet carried him out of the room of their own volition, rage rolling off him and virtually pushing the people aside so that he would not have to. His mind, too, was starting to work again, now that it had a task rather than stare at that... at that...

He had to find Sakura. She was undoubtedly here and had undoubtedly seen the effrontery. Where would she go?

His first stop was to the health office, but Tsunade was not there, having been called to deal with a child who had fallen and hit their head on a desk in fifth grade. The secretaries all said that they had not seen the pink haired girl, so Kakashi stormed off, entering the office. Shizune visibly shrank back as he approached, his feelings still too volatile to pull them in completely. She hadn't seen Sakura either. Sandaime and Jiraiya stepped out, having sensed Kakashi's currently overwhelming presence, as did the Snake.

"What's happened?" the old man asked.

"Call Gai, he can tell you without burning your ears off," Kakashi said darkly. It was too soon for him to try and act civil.

Orochimaru slithered up. "Whatever is the matter, Kakashi-sensei? Is a student giving you trouble? Perhaps you would like to blame me for your misfortune? Or make up more lies about me?"

The glare Kakashi gave the guidance counselor would have made lesser men piss their pants, but he dared not say anything, he was too angry. Instead he stormed out of the office, going around to the back of the gym and forcing himself to breathe slowly. He needed to think, he was a genius for a reason, damn it, he should know where Sakura would hide.

He stopped, closing his eyes. Tsunade was out, Sasuke and Naruto (and he) were too close, and she did not want to burden them with her problems. She was trying to handle it herself; the poor thing, and no doubt by now had a dozen pages of notes on the bullying she was enduring. This was too much, however. So where would she hide? Where would any student hide?

Music room. It was so obvious Kakashi wondered why he did not think of it before. The music teacher had prep first period this semester, and often came in late. The room's lock was broken, and often students were seen sneaking in and out during that first period. This would be no different. Destination set, Kakashi opened his eyes and walked back around the gym and down the main hall to the far end. He passed by the band room, but no one was in there, and so he went to the chorus room next.

He almost didn't see her.

The music room was smaller than the band room; carpeted and always uncomfortably warm because of a malfunctioning heater. The three-tiered steps that the various choruses would stand on wrapped around half the room, and maybe two-dozen desks crammed into the other half. Behind the steps was the teacher's desk, cluttered to overflowing with books, folders, spare instruments or their cases, videos, CDs, etc. Sakura was on the floor, leaning next to that desk and hidden by the chorus tiers. A loud sniffle was her only giveaway.

Kakashi pulled his head out of the room, taking a deep breath and willing his anger to go away, to be pushed aside. The last thing this girl needed was anger, and with great effort he reined it in, pulled it back, and stacked it neatly in the back of his mind. Another deep breath, and he put on a neutral face and more noisily opened the door, announcing his presence. Sakura snapped to attention, seeing him and furiously scratching her tears away with the sleeve of her burgundy sweater. Kakashi closed the door behind him and picked up the phone that was right next to it.

"Iruka? I found her."

"Her who? Kakashi, what the hell is goi--"

"I'm going to need a sub. First period at least. You know what we're doing, hand off the lesson plans."

"What?! Kakashi I'm not a maid that you--"

But the English teacher had hung up. He climbed the chorus tiers easily and hopped three feet down to the floor behind it. Without ceremony, he sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Sakura, tentatively leaning back to see if the tiers would take his weight before finally slouching against them. "You know," he said slowly, again keeping his voice and face neutral, "I remember something a few months ago. A boy was trying to keep a secret because he thought he could handle it on his own. He didn't think it was all that big and didn't want to trouble people with it. He was actually embarrassed about it, because he couldn't solve it on is own."

"You're talking about Sasuke-kun, aren't you, Kakashi-sensei." It was a statement, not a question.

"I also recall another boy, at the beginning of the year; who just thought that if he came to school really early then the problems would all go away. Whenever he had problems he went to school in hopes they would go away."

He turned and looked at Sakura. "Neither of them realized that their problems were too big to handle on their own." He paused, letting the words sink in. "I also seem to recall telling a certain girl that simple problems can have painful solutions, that being part of a team meant sharing the burden."

"I know, sensei, I know," she said, fighting back a whimper. "I really thought I could do it on my own. I didn't want to trouble them, get them any more involved than they already are." Two great tears slid down her cheeks, and she again ran her already damp sleeve over it, reddening her face even further.

The Scarecrow let her have her cry; he'd never been very good with tears, and so he just sat there and waited it out, trying to broadcast comfort, calm, support. He remembered his own childhood, so many grades ahead of everyone else, and the fear and jealously and hatred of him and his brains. Even in college, the place where "you can just be yourself," the great experience that everyone seemed to love, often had the students in their twenties throwing odd looks at this barely pubescent teen. He remembered them trying to drag him to a party, trying to get him drunk, and their shock when he flatly told them that he wasn't going to have any of it and walked away. He remembered the martial arts lessons, because in middle and high school everyone wanted to beat him up.

He shook his head, refocusing his thoughts on Sakura. Her sobs were starting to ebb, and at last Kakashi felt it was all right to ask,

"When did this all start?"

Sakura sniffed, a noisy, ugly sound. "I don't know. The beginning of the year I guess. When you put me in Sasuke-kun's team Ino was so jealous. She and the other girls were constantly accusing me of monopolizing his time." She smiled, self deprecatingly. "I probably was. But I didn't care, they were just jealous because I was with Sasuke-kun. But, after I started to learn about him, after I started to actually see him..." Her voice trailed off, thoughts and memories, no doubt, filtering through her mind.

"I couldn't take what they were saying. It wasn't true, and they didn't understand the way I did. I tried to make them, without betraying their trust in me, but that only made them madder. It got worse over break. They found out that Naruto and Sasuke-kun stayed over Christmas Day, and they just went nuts. Did you see what was written on the board?"

Kakashi's fist clenched by his side, out of Sakura's sight, and he dug his nails in to prevent his anger from coming out. "Yes," he said in a level voice.

"They've been accusing me of that since break. Sensei, it hurt, it really, really hurt. If they knew me, if they knew Sasuke-kun, if they knew Naruto, then they wouldn't...!"

"Oh, they would," Kakashi said. "What 'they' said doesn't really matter, Sakura; all they're trying to do is hurt you, and 'they' will use anything that can be viewed as a weapon, even your precious Sasuke, Naruto, womanhood, looks, whatever they have at their disposal. I'm sure they've said disparaging things about your looks, your choice of friends, your family, and your intelligence. I wouldn't be surprised if they spread a rumor that you were cheating to get good grades, that so long as it's a boy you'll happily invite them over for a sleepover, or something else equally as childish. 'They' don't even realize what they're saying is hurting more than you, it's hurting the rest of your team." He paused, gauging by her various blushes and winces that he'd been right on all counts. "Do they know what's happening to you?"

"...No," Sakura said. "And I don't want them to. They've been through so much, the last thing they need are to hear about my problems."

"It affects them, too," Kakashi pointed out.

"But I'm the only example of stability, right?" she asked, a weak, sad smile on her face.

"Sakura," Kakashi admonished, "you can't be perfect. Even children from the most stable environments have difficulties. Even they have problems they can't deal with on their own. It's actually better for Sasuke and Naruto if they knew." At her startled look he continued, "It gives them the chance to take what they've learned from you and apply it. It gives them a chance to be your stability, and you'll be surprised at how surprised they are that they can manage it. Fairly well, if I were to wager a guess."

Sakura frowned, her pink head dipping down as she considered the words. The two sat together for a long time, Kakashi waiting until he felt a firm fist-hold of calm wrap around her. When he did, he finally asked, "So, do you want to try and face the day?"

Glumly, the student council secretary nodded before opening up her bag and pulling out a spiral-ring binder. "Would you know what to do with this?" she asked.

Kakashi opened up the binder and was only mildly surprised when he saw what was inside. When he had told her to take notes, she had indeed been very diligent, even calling back to the beginning of the year, writing down approximate dates and what period when things were said. In the margins there were notes on proximity, whether it happened repeatedly, and other little tidbits that the girl had remembered to make it as accurate as possible. There were also water stains on some of the pages, no doubt tear marks. The more recent events were recorded more neatly, some with exact timestamps.

"Yes, Sakura, I'd know what to do with this. You'll probably be called down to guidance, you know."

"Then let's go now so I can make an appointment," she said softly. "I need to get back to class."

"Who's your counselor?"

"Orochimaru-sensei."

The growl was only barely suppressed, and he again balled up his hidden hand into a fist before he openly snarled. "We'll make it with Jiraiya," he said, "he's better equipped for these kind of occurrences. Come on."

Kakashi easily stood up, his rear completely asleep from sitting for so long and turned to look at the clock. Halfway through A period; he was certain Shizune and Iruka were going to let him have it, but he didn't regret it in the slightest. He turned to Sakura, who still looked horrible. Her face was pinker than her hair and her cheeks were damp, red outlined her swollen eyes, and her nose was still slightly runny. "Do you want to stop by the nurse first?" he asked diplomatically.

"No, not yet. During lunch maybe," she said. "I really want to get back to class. Kurenai-sensei is supposed to go over her test review, and I've missed too much of it already."

Nodding, the two climbed the chorus tiers and left the music room, Kakashi gently steering her to the main office and Jiraiya's room. "We need to make an appointment," Kakashi said lightly. "In the meantime, you need to take a look at this," and he dropped the notebook on the Toad Sage's desk. Jiraiya threw only a glance at it before leveling a calm look at Sakura.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this no--"

"I'm sure, Jiraiya-sensei. When can I see you? I have a review right now and a test in math next period. During lunch I want to see Tsunade-sama, and there's a Jeopardy review in English."

"Alright," he said, "How about C period?"

Sakura made the appointment and, as she turned to leave, Jiraiya gave a look between annoyed and amused to Kakashi. The Scarecrow only bowed his head before following his student out the door. He walked Sakura right into Kurenai's science room, mouthing the word "later" to her questioning look. He wandered into his own room and thanked the sub before nicely kicking her to her next crisis.

Fourth period came and went with no Sakura in sight, her meeting with Jiraiya clearly having extended longer than they had thought. Sasuke felt her absence keenly, and Naruto kept sticking his head in to see if she was there. The writing on the board, whether they had seen it or not, had spread through the entire grade, and with Sakura late for science (and no doubt answering no questions to the concerned Naruto) and now missing for two periods, the two were left to worry and speculate on their own.

When the bell rang and the students filtered off to their specials, Kakashi debated on summoning the two before finally doing so.

"You know what's happening," Sasuke accused, his eyes darker than normal.

"Yes. Yes I do," Kakashi said, his tone was light, but there was no misunderstanding the depth behind it, either. "Sakura won't be seeing you at lunch, I thought you should know."

"Then where is she?" Naruto demanded, his rough voice rising with each word.

"By then she'll probably be talking to someone in the health room."

Sasuke, who hadn't seen the girl all day, suddenly looked almost stricken. "Is she hurt?" he demanded, leaning in over the desk.

"Not in the way you think," Kakashi replied. "She's wrestling with something right now, and I want the two of you to let her come to you."

The pair looked at each other, looked suspiciously at their sensei, and then back again. It was all very sweet, but Kakashi had other things to do, so he wrote out their passes and kicked them out of his room. He stopped at the cafeteria briefly to grab a light lunch - he didn't feel overly hungry - and meandered over to team.

"You're late!" Iruka cried out, more annoyed than normal. "And I'm not your damn maid!"

He stared at the special ed teacher, and then remembered the comment from their phone conversation that morning. "Oh, sorry about that," he said genially as he sat down. "I was in the middle of a crisis. I'm sure by now it's blowing up in the seventh grade's face."

Everyone in Asuma's room took a chance to blink.

"I want another piece in the newsletter," Kakashi said, sitting perfectly straight, "about bullying."

"Ah, she finally came forward," Asuma said, grinning. "After what was written on your board, I guess she would have had to."

"Then that was all true?" Iruka asked. "I was at the office at the time. The kids were saying that you were screaming blue murder or something, that there were threats written on your board."

"Alas, the students are not far from exaggeration," Gai stepped in. "There were indeed vicious slanders that defaced my Eternal Rival's whiteboard, and his anger was such that his voice silenced the entire grade when he summoned me, the Green Beast, to his assistance; he harried off in search of our flowering victim whilst I investigated as to who the vile perpetrators were that our esteemed English teacher could unleash his wrath upon him or her!"

Kakashi picked up the narrative, finding Gai's somewhat flowery speech irrationally annoying, and gave the verbatim on where he found Sakura and what they talked about. "No doubt the old man and Jiraiya are pulling the kids one by one to get to the bottom of this."

"Ah, that's why Temari was taken from my SSR," Asuma said, fingering a nonexistent cigarette. "And Kankuro, too."

"It sounds like Sakura was deliberately trying to hide from the girls," Kurenai said, "so they wouldn't do anything to her."

"She's smart like that," Kakashi said, finally slouching in his chair. "But so long as we're putting in blurbs about dress code, we might as well remind parents about bullying, drive home the fact that some of their kids aren't as pure white as they think."

The rest of the period was spent on the newsletter, going through several revisions before everyone was happy with the wording, and Iruka, stiff with the cold, went off to make copies and start easing out the aches in his body. The bell rang, and Kakashi made straight for his room, unlocking it and turning the lights on before rewriting his Jeopardy board. After school he was going to take disinfectant to that board, about three coats sounded right, before he could be satisfied that the soil was removed.

Everyone filtered in, the buzz being that so many kids were being called to the office. Sakura tried very hard to look invisible as she filed in, taking her assigned seat and pulling out her notebook without a sound. Sasuke and Naruto were immediately upon her, Naruto demanding answers in a harsh whisper while Sasuke stared at her openly. She looked up to them and seemed almost to burst into tears again, but she closed her eyes and gathered her strength. "Not now, not here," she whispered. "After school."

Chouji, sitting closest to them, apparently heard the whisper because he said, "Oooh, getting your harem back to your place again, Sakura-chan? When am I invited?"

Before Kakashi could react - and all things considered, that was a feat in itself - Naruto spun around and slammed a fist on Chouji's desk. "How dare you say something like that about Sakura-chan!" he yelled. "Do you have any idea what the hell you're even talking about?! You don't; so don't go pretending like you do! You don't know anything! About me, about Sasuke-teme, and especially about Sakura!! She's the nicest girl in the whole world and if you ever say something like that again I'll knock your teeth out!!"

Sasuke added quietly, "That goes for anyone else." His voice was almost as dark as Kakashi's thoughts had been. Almost.

The class was silent, just like Homeroom earlier, but this time Kakashi was in complete control. "Naruto, detention for language, Sasuke, detention for threats. Call your guardians, I'm serving them both today because I won't be here tomorrow. Chouji, to Ebisu-sensei." The two of them stared at him, anger now directed at their teacher, but he calmly shrugged it off. "Now," he said, "You all know the rules of Jeopardy, so get into your groups and pull out someone's notebook and a scrap piece of paper." As the class got noisy as they moved desks and rearranged the room, Kakashi strolled over to the furious Team 7 and bent down. "Oh, and Sakura, I have a question about one of your homework assignments, could you drop by after school so we could talk about it?"

She jumped, startled and at first confused, until she realized what Kakashi was doing. "Y-yes, sensei. I'll do that."

Iruka finally arrived, his various aches feeling much better, and while the students were working on the various review questions, Kakashi filled in the special education teacher about the most recent development.

"You're making her confession to Naruto and Sasuke on school grounds, with you an adult present, so the kids can't hold this against her," he accused.

"Oh, really?" the Scarecrow replied, looking unabashedly innocent. "How convenient that it all works out that way."

The period, because the students were so busy, was blessedly quiet, as was the last period of the day. After the buses left, Kakashi watched as his beloved Team 7 slowly filter in one by one, sitting down.

"Sakura," he said softly, "I think you have something to tell these two."

It was like a dam had opened. Sakura again burst into tears - sending abject fear into both Naruto and Sasuke - and chokingly explained what she had been going through. Kakashi stayed at his desk, masking his presence and leaving them alone for the most part; but he could not help but grin as he watched Sasuke's face grow darker and darker as Sakura recounted the increasingly horrible things that were said to and about her; as he watched Naruto constantly interrupt her with shouts of retribution and getting back at those horrible bitches (Kakashi cleared his throat at that point, and the orange clad youth quickly curbed his language).

"Dam--Darn it we should have been there for you!" Naruto finally cried out. "Why didn't you tell us about this! We could have fought for you! We could have--"

"But you two have been through so much already," she said weakly, unable to maintain eye contact.

"There's a difference between going through something and choosing to do something," Sasuke said in soft, dark tones.

Sakura stared at the two of them and cried even more. The two leaned in closer, uncertain what to do but wanting to do something. Scribbling, Kakashi quickly held up a sign that said, "Try hugging her!" But unfortunately the two made disgusted faces and backed away. Ah, well. Youth.

He quietly got up and let the three of them have their moment, instead wandering over to Kurenai's corner and poking his head in. The science teacher was alone save for one timid little girl; Hinata worked at a desk, pouring over her textbook and her notes in preparation for Friday's test. Kurenai looked up questioningly, but Kakashi's thumbs up made her smile widely.

"U-uhm, Kurenai-sensei, I have a question..." Hinata raised her hand tentatively.

"Good luck, Hinata," Kakashi said cheerily. "Don't forget my test tomorrow, too!"

He blinked when he saw Hinata pale visibly. "Y-yes, sensei, I will. I mean, I won't. I mean... uh..." She was nearly trembling, here eyes darting from her textbook to the notebook to Kurenai-sensei to himself. "I'll try my best," she finally said lamely.

"That's all I can ask for," Kakashi said happily, deciding to not acknowledge her open display of fear.

Even as something was going right in one room, something was going wrong in another.

Kakashi almost wished he didn't have to drive to the university the next day for professional development.

And to curb the questions, the bullying Sakura went through included no physical bullying. If another student ever hits you, that's catagorized as assault and can be treated as such.