After all those incidents the past few weeks, Kakashi thoroughly enjoyed his student-free vacation. He'd met with Iruka during both weekends and gone out for a drink. While the special education teacher still had a few obstacles to go until he reached the lonely realm of friend, he made substantial headway. They talked about Iruka's mother, and about Rin. Kakashi made mention of Obito and the Yellow Flash, but he wasn't ready to divulge everything yet. There was no doubt, however, that Iruka had heard, absorbed, and apparently understood a great deal more about his coworker. Kakashi wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, given that Gai and Asuma took a lot longer in piecing everything together whereas Iruka seemed to be getting a lot in one shot.

But the vacation was still heavenly. In another excursion into the world of local stores, Kakashi had been stopped by Team 7, who were hanging out there for the afternoon. The English teacher noted that Sasuke seemed much better and that both Naruto and Sakura were almost standing guard by him, ready to glare, fight, or take down any threat to their friend and companion. That meant that the stoic boy had finally shared what had happened with them. It put a smile on Kakashi's face for easily three days.

So, on Monday morning, when the Scarecrow got to school, he was in a very pleasant mood. Vacation had been a much needed break for everyone involved it seemed, for as Kakashi walked past Asuma's room, he could have sworn he heard the math teacher sing some old BeeGees songs.

Homeroom went by uneventfully, with only Kiba being absent. Sakura and Hinata were talking quietly together and Gaara had his headphones on and his eyes closed. Similarly, A period was quiet. Kakashi had just given out an assignment and was letting the paraprofessional circulate the room while he made a quick stop in the hall to get a drink of water.

To his surprise, however, he saw Hinata take off running from Kurenai's room down the hall. Acute sense of warning going off, the English teacher headed straight for the corner science room and looked inside to see students all hovering in a circle with Kurenai hidden amongst the mass calling Kiba's name. Given Kakashi's height, he hurried over to the crowd and saw Kiba on the floor, convulsing. Basic medical and military training kicking in, He turned, reached over Kurenai's desk to grab her thick, cushy, and soft winter coat.

"Move!" he commanded. "Give him room." He stole a quick glance around the room. Noting which students were there. "Sakura, you and Naruto move the chairs and desks away, give him room. Ino, keep the students back." Naruto and Sakura jumped into action, Sakura shoving chairs back, not caring if they tipped over and Naruto pushing the old wooden science tables away from where Kiba was on the floor. Ino looked shocked for a moment, before turning around and using her sharp tongue to start pushing students back to the walls, also kicking student's notebooks and folders, stored on the floor, away from Kiba.

All of this was done as Kakashi leapt over the table obstructing his view as he knelt down at Kiba's head. Kurenai had her hands on Kiba's shoulders, trying to snap him out of whatever was going on.

"Kurenai," Kakashi whispered, "he's in a seizure. Don't hold him down, you may cause unintended injuries." He started to bunch up her coat. "Lift him up, we don't want his head slamming the floor. That's it..." The pale science teacher gently lifted Kiba, hugging him to her as Kakashi placed her coat down. Just as tenderly, she set Kiba's shaking body back down, his head now jerking on her soft coat.

"I sent Hinata to get the nurse," she stated. "He came in late, took his seat, and then just fell over."

"Ah." Together, Kakashi and Kurenai stayed by Kiba. Since his arrival, almost a hundred seconds had passed. "Has he talked at all?"

"No, he just started shaking..."

It felt like hours passed before Tsunade came into the room, a needle of something in her hand, Hinata and another nurse behind her with the distant wails of sirens approaching. Ripping off the cap of the needle, Tsunade pulled out a vial of something and loaded the syringe. As she sat, opposite of Kurenai, Kiba's shaking started to subside to occasional jerks, which helped the nurse greatly as she shoved up his sleeves and started hunting for a vein.

For the first time, Kakashi took a good look at his student. Kiba was pale, his skin smudged in dirt, his cheeks sunken in. There was a strong sent of dogs, and his hair was matted and greasy. His clothes were dirty and looked like this was their fourth wearing since being washed. The English teacher frowned as Tsunade and her assistant shooed him and Kurenai away from the dirty boy. At the door, Hinata was white as a ghost, tears rolling down her face silently.

Kakashi lowered his hitae-ate, not even aware of when it had raised, and frowned. He leaned over to Kurenai. "Talk to Hinata," he whispered. She nodded, still looking pale as EMTs arrived to take Kiba from the room.

He walked out with them, listening to Kurenai starting to get the class back together. She told students to put the room back together and start to regain order. Kakashi paused ever so briefly before not going to his room, but next door to Asuma.

The math teacher was circulating his students as Sasuke and Temari were at the board, solving a pair of problems. It was clear that the students had seen/heard a little bit of the chaos in Kurenai's room, but Asuma had been smart in shutting his door. Most of the students were clueless, but there was an undeniable tension flitting about the room.

Asuma looked up, made eye contact with Kakashi and nodded before going back to the student he was currently helping.

"Shino," Kakashi stated. "I need to speak with you."

The boy in dark glasses looked up before getting out of his seat.

Together, they went down the hall into the copy room with the copier that always broke, and Kakashi shut the door.

"You know what's going on with your teammates."

Shino looked down.

"I know most of what's going on with Hinata. Kiba just collapsed into a seizure and is being taken to the hospital as we speak."

Shino's shoulders hunched up, the floor still fascinating.

"What's going on?"

There was a pause, a quiet were the only things heard were the voices of teachers across the hall as they continued on with their lessons, not knowing the drama of what had occurred just down the hall.

Finally, Shino looked up to the ceiling, his mouth a thin line. "Kiba's homeless."

As the boy kept talking, Kakashi took a long moment to parse that one line. It certainly put a lot into perspective. Kiba's increasing agitation and aggression, his more and more haggard appearance. The conversation the English teacher had heard about only eating one meal a day during his OSS after the food fight. Kiba's father's distractedness at any PPT that he'd been coming to. Oh, how it all fell into place. If Kiba had been maintaining his usual lack of food and always giving his share to his younger siblings for the entirety of vacation, and had missed the school's breakfast since he was late coming in...

Well shit.

Kakashi pulled up the mental queue of what Shino had been saying. "About a week before Christmas, Kiba's dad lost the apartment. They've been staying at a cousins, and Kiba's dad was working frantically to pay off credit card bills to build up enough history to try and get a loan to get some sort for a down payment on a new place." Shino looked down again. "Kiba's been giving all the money he makes right to his dad, lying and saying he's keeping some for himself. He refuses to take any money from Hinata or me, or have us take him out to eat or anything." Shin offered a hallow laugh. "He says it's not fair for him to get treated when the rest of his family is starving."

Something was missing. "What happened over vacation?"

"Kiba's dad lost his job."

Well double shit.

So Kiba had been slowly starving and straining to do everything he could to help his father make ends meet. That would explain a collapse, depending on how many days he'd been without food now, but not the convulsions... unless...

Well triple shit.

"Shino, you're going to have to tell other people about this."

The boy nodded glumly. "Kiba won't take any help from anyone."

"He'll have to this time." Kakashi led Shino down to the office and dropped him off with Ebisu, after giving a brief rundown. Ebisu would handle the administrative needs, calling in guidance, social workers, calling DCF if necessary, etc. His next stop was to the health center. Walking behind the front desk, Kakashi walked into Tsunade's office where she was currently looking closer to her age than she usually did.

"Let me guess," the English teacher leaned into the doorframe. "Kiba and his family never informed you, or didn't know that he has diabetes."

Tsunade let out a sarcastic snort. "You think? Poor families are far more likely to have child birth defects, learning disabilities, diabetes, down syndrome, you name it." She shook her head sadly. "Kiba's just another statistic in the area. I gave him a shot of glucagons because I'd been suspecting, but I had no proof. He was coming around when they got him into the ambulance, so at least he's not falling into a diabetic coma."

She sighed again. "You've got your information, now scram."

Kakashi nodded, knowing she was in too foul a mood to say any more, and headed back to his room, trying to push everything he'd learned away so that he could function. It was hard to believe that it was still first period.

When he came back, the para glared at him, but he just sat down in his student-free zone and stared out at his class. The para had kept things going, and the students were still working on the writing prompt he'd given them. To them, nothing had happened. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi leaned back and opened his book; while not a common occurrence in class, it happened often enough that the students didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

After sufficiently clearing his mind, he got back to the front of the room, called the class's attention, and started to review.

B Period was tense, the students knowing something had happened during first period, but no one was sharing. Or rather, no one was able to share since Kakashi briskly squished them into work and wouldn't allow even the slightest whisper during class. He wasn't going to have rumors fermenting in his room, no way. They would talk all they wanted in the halls, Kakashi couldn't prevent that, but not in his room.

When C Period came around, the Scarecrow didn't even bother trying to get work done. Instead, he went to everyone's rooms and told them to come to his. The last teammate he talked to was Iruka, who had several students in for resource and were demanding attention. He helped the special education teacher balance the students among the paras and dragged him across the hall.

In an odd mirroring of Asuma, almost a month before, she was stretched out on his sofa, looking exhausted and pale. The math teacher was sitting at a desk near her, and Gai was standing stoically in front of Kakashi's desk. Iruka deposited himself in a desk next to Gai as Kakashi shut his door, turned off his lights, and walked to his swivel chair, sinking into.

"We have a situation with Kiba," the English teacher started. He explained everything that had happened first period and what Shino had told him. Asuma started muttering a continuous string of words that would make even veteran high school swearers turn red with embarrassment. Gai would randomly interrupt with proclamations of how the youth must be defended, even if educators must kidnap children and raise them themselves. Iruka was jotting it all down in his notebook, his face a worried scowl. Kurenai just got paler and paler as she sunk further and further into his couch.

Kakashi worried about their science teacher. While he'd seen a spark within her and had seen it ignite with some of the students, she was facing more trials this year than any first year teacher should. While she had a supportive team to help her, she was getting a far closer look at how bad their student's lives could be. The ever-steady Asuma had succumbed to a heavy period of doubt, and if he couldn't handle it, it was a wonder how Kurenai was holding up to all the strain. Like it or not, as a teacher, you worried about the kids. No matter their situation, no matter how unlikable many of the students could be, teachers worried. They couldn't give Kiba's father a home or a job. There were just times when prospects were nothing but bleak.

And as Kurenai continued to sink into his couch, he wondered if she really could handle the strain of teaching in a poor school system.

"I was called," she whispered. "Kiba's in a diabetic coma."

Well quadruple shit.

This just wasn't a good day. Hell, this just wasn't a good year.

After a moment, Kakashi looked around to his team. "We need to keep a lid on the rumor-mongering during class. Same as usual. Don't give out information; we don't know anything for certain. If some students are concerned talk to the--"

The English teacher glared at his phone, but picked it up.

"Kakashi-sensei speaking."

"I'll be keeping Shino and Hinata most of the day today, probably." Jiraiya sighed on the other end of the line.

"Oh?"

"Hinata's a mess and Shino's trying to be all calm and collected, but failing miserably. You're team may not see them till after lunch at the earliest."

"Right. I'll pass that on."

"Now what?" Iruka grumbled.

"We'll be missing the rest of Team 8. Shino and Hinata are in guidance, both are really upset."

"Unsurprising," Asuma rasped.

They discussed different venues of support for the remainder of C Period, except for Kurenai, who just lay on the couch, listless.

The next few days were strained. While classroom routine remained normal and helped remove Kakashi's brain from the worry about his student, there was still an underlying fear. Kurenai, whom the Scarecrow was now keeping a close eye on, looked completely normal in front of the class. You wouldn't know anything major had happened on Monday by just watching her teach. But it was those moments between classes, when the students weren't around, that she wilted, looking older than she was, and oh so very tired.

The students did their best to act normally, but there was a subtle increase in restlessness amongst the student body. Sasuke was irritable because he ended up being the sole emotional support for both Sakura and Naruto, both of whom witnessed Kiba's collapse and convulsions. He was unprepared and caught off guard, and while he was admirable with the two of them; he came of as waspish to anyone else. Hanamaru was becoming a holy terror in resource, his best victim gone, and was trying to start arguments with Naruto or Gaara, but Gaara never raised to the bait and Naruto knew if he got involved that both Kakashi and Iruka would have his head, to say nothing of Yondaime. Shikamaru was seen holding a crying Ino, who also felt the strain of watching someone she knew have seizures, and the genius boy was later seen being tailed by several of Ino's admirers. Plus, despite their best efforts, rumors were flying. Some of the more cruel theories included Kiba being part of the same drug gang as Chouji and he'd had a bad hit. Others were that Kiba was violently allergic to school, or that he was epileptic.

Hinata was inconsolable. From what Kakashi had found out, mostly through Jiraiya and Kurenai when she wasn't staring into space, her parents had learned that her teammate was homeless and were chastising her for associating with such riff-raff. That and with the state tests just over two weeks away, she was starting to buckle under the strain. She was hardly ever seen outside the company of Shino, who looked pale and had withdrawn even further from his peers. He blamed himself, there was no doubt of that, and nothing anybody said seemed to change his mind.

There had been an emergency faculty meeting Monday after school, and the staff was appropriately supportive and sympathetic. Some of the fifth and sixth grade teacher's who'd had Kiba came down to see Kakashi and see if there was anything they could do, as well as some of the specials teachers. Kakashi appreciated the support, but it was more of a bother for him.

It was late Tuesday when they'd gotten the call that Kiba had come out of his coma and was going to be kept overnight for observations. There was no doubt that he was undernourished, but Kiba had been eating over vacation, even if it was only one meal a day. The main issue surrounding the Inuzuka boy was that DCF had been called in. Now, the Department of Children and Families wasn't a bad organization. They had the best interests at heart, but whenever they got involved, things tended to get messy. A social worker was set up with Kiba's father to help him get job training and show him the ropes about getting into welfare. All of Kiba's siblings seemed well and it appeared that Kiba was sacrificing for them.

It was Thursday when Kiba came back to school. As was usual, he was pestered to find out if any of the rumors about him were true, but he merely barked them all away. He shuffled into homeroom, looking much better, or at least, cleaner, than he had Monday, sunk into his seat, and stared at his desk. Hinata came in shortly afterward and, after much hesitation, took a seat by Kiba.

As it turned out, this positioning was perfect, because Kurenai strode in a few minutes later, her eyes flashing determination. Kakashi leaned back in his chair and watched, with a certain curious amusement.

"Ah, Hinata, Kiba. I'm glad I caught the two of you."

"Y-yes, Kurenai-sensei?"

"I'll need to see the two of you after school."

Kiba growled.

"Oh don't worry, it isn't a detention at all. But there's something I'll need to discuss with the two of you and it will take a while. Meet me in my room after the last bell." She didn't even give them a chance to reply before striding gracefully back to the door. "I'll be waiting for you."

Kiba humphed.

The English teacher smiled to himself, wondering what Kurenai had up her sleeve. He didn't have time to ponder, however, because something else that was happening was very interesting.

Gaara had stood and walked over to the homeless boy, one of his earphones out. He stood in front of Kiba's desk as Kurenai had done, and stared down. Hinata glanced back and forth between the two of them, starting to shake in anxiousness.

"You're back," the redhead stated.

"Yup."

"You're healthy."

"Kinda."

Gaara glanced at Hinata. "You're wanted."

Kiba offered a bitter snort. "Apparently."

"You're loved."

Even from behind, Kakashi could see Kiba's ears turn red.

"I guess."

Gaara continued to stare, his face impassive. All of a sudden, the boy's face twisted into a rage as he reached, grabbed Kiba's desk and completely upturned it, his voice caught up between a groan and a yell, before he sank to the floor, clutching his head.

Kakashi was immediately at Gaara's side, offering soothing words. With a glance and a gesture, he sent Sakura out to get Tsunade and in-between his calm mutterings, the Scarecrow told Hinata to go get Iruka. A hell of a way to start the day.

After Gaara was escorted down to the health center, the first two periods of the day went without incident, much to Kakashi's relief. There was still an underlying tension and restlessness with the students, but it had greatly diminished with Kiba's return, even if he was being pestered with questions he didn't want to answer.

During Kakashi's prep, however, he was called down to guidance. Wondering what Jiraiya could possibly want, he meandered down the hall, taking his time and mulling he past week over in his head. This, naturally, made him late, much to the Scarecrow's pleasure. The secretary didn't point him to Jiraiya's office however. She ushered him into a small conference room where Orochimaru and another man were sitting. Kakashi's took a moment at the door.

"Sorry I'm late," he offered. "I was just called down and no one has told me why I'm needed yet."

"So sorry to see you lacking information, Kakashi," Orochimaru hissed, an ugly smile on his lips. "But we are here to meet with Hajime-san here. He's the social worker in charge of young Inuzuka's case."

"Forgive me for coming empty-handed then," he replied as smoothly as the Snake guy. "However, my team and I have been discussing Kiba for the past few days and I believe I'll know any pertinent information that you need."

"Very good," Hajime nodded, his bald head shining. "I think I'd like to hear about how he's been in school lately."

So Kakashi told him, in explicit detail, everything he had noticed from when the school year had started all the way to this morning, first offering dry facts from grades and overheard conversations and then expanding into what he'd been able to piece together through instinct and observations. He spoke of how Kiba was in other classes, of who worked better with Kiba and who didn't. He was even able to dip into a little bit of what the specials teachers thought, plus the information he'd dug up from the fifth and sixth grade teachers earlier that week when they'd come to visit him.

The bald social worker sat back and whistled once Kakashi had finished. "Have you been keeping an eye on Kiba in particular?"

"No, I can usually give such a summary of any student. Iruka keeps a very detailed notebook on everything discussed during team time, in case we need paper evidence. It doesn't happen often, but once in a while, it is required."

"I'm impressed," Hajime stated, eyebrows raised. "Kiba is lucky to be on your team. I noticed you've already outlined several support structures that your team has set up. This adds to what Orochimaru has done on his end."

"Oh?" Kakashi looked to the snake. "He doesn't seem to have had the chance to inform my team of what's been going on. How is Kiba's family doing?"

"You don't know? Well," and thus the social worker began to explain what had been going on over the past few days. The first priority, since Kiba was hospitalized, was to start investigating if there had been any neglect or maltreatment of him or any of his other siblings. Living conditions were checked, interviews were conducted with family, friends and neighbors. While the investigations were incomplete, initial impressions seemed that the Inuzuka clan was very loving and supportive. Unfortunately, Kiba's father was falling on very hard times.

On a suggestion from DCF, Kiba's father had taken all of his children in for check ups, grumbling about no health insurance, and was relieved to discover that Kiba was the only one with diabetes. Also discovered was that Kiba was the only family member suffering from such extreme malnourishment. After several long talks with Kiba, including a few shouting matches with his father, it was uncovered what Kakashi had learned through Shino. The seventh grader was trying to sacrifice his own food and hard-earned money to ensure that his family still had enough.

The one item that the social worker was having extreme difficulty with was that Kiba refused to divulge who he would work for all afternoon, since it was breaking child labor laws to the extreme. The only name Kiba would give up was for his paper delivery route. As for the odds and ends he did, Kakashi was willing to bet it wasn't any sort of formal arrangement. It was probably favors that he did that earned a little extra money on the side. In which case, it wasn't a surprise that Kiba didn't give names, he didn't want his source of income in trouble, and, on an individual basis, nobody was doing anything wrong.

What Hajime had also been doing over the past couple of days was giving Kiba's father training and helped with various welfare forms. They were going to have to look for alternate lodging, because the cousin they were staying with didn't have the room or the capacity to keep Kiba's family. Plus the myriad of other little details that DCF investigated when called in. While he wasn't as thorough as Kakashi was, the Scarecrow did appreciate the level of detail that was shared, providing a clearer picture of what had been going on for the past few days.

Through it all, Orochimaru just sat there placidly, not saying a word, but smiling congenially. As much as Kakashi wished to use a dull spoon to cut out the snake's lungs, he remained affable and friendly.

Finally, the bell rang and Kakashi glanced at the clock.

"Do forgive me, Hajime-san, but I have a class now and I wasn't aware I wouldn't be there for this period. Seeing as how I don't have a substitute, would you mind if I were to depart?"

"No," the bald man chuckled, "of course not. I appreciate working with such a thorough man as yourself." Standing, they shook hands. "If anything else comes up, I'll be sure to give you a call."

"Thank you."

Orochimaru stood as well, still saying nothing, and still smiling in a quasi-friendly matter. As the English teacher left, he felt the distinct need to go take a shower after being in the snake's presence for so long. Still, at least he had some good news to share with his team come E period.

After the final bell, Kakashi shooed out his students. He stood by his door, watching the chaos known as trying to get to the buses. Students were at their lockers, shoving books into their lockers or their book bags, shouting at their friends hurried plans to meet after school or cursing out teachers for homework assignments that they deemed as impossible. The halls were packed as students rushed back and forth, trying to ravel with friends between gaps of other students that were only wide enough for one. It was a chaotic five minutes before there was a distinct rumble that sounded as the buses finally pulled away, leaving only students who had after school responsibilities, detentions, or were walking home.

It was only after the sounds of the buses had died off to the distance that three students could be found outside of Kurenai's corner science room. Hinata was looking down at the floor, Kiba was sitting by the wall, looking tired, and Shino stood between them, his face unreadable behind his dark glasses. Kakashi stood just by his door, unobtrusive, but listening, as Kurenai unlocked her door and stood in front of Team 8.

"Hello," she greeted warmly. "I'm going to get straight to the point. This room is now your sanctuary. You see this basket?" She held up a square wicker basket. "You are to deposit your problems in here before entering. No worries about parents, no worries about money, no worries about each other. In this room," she pointed behind her, "you are safe. You are loved, and you are cared for. No problems are allowed. After school, you meet here and do whatever you need to do. If that's homework, it's homework. If it's relaxing, it's relaxing. Anything discussed in here, stays in here unless it affects someone's immediate safety.

"Any questions?"

The three of them shook their heads.

"Good. Now," she made a gesture of pulling something out of her ear. "I've had a lot of worry this week. I don't want to deal with them for now." She dropped the imaginary worry she had grasped into the basket. "Do any of you need to leave behind something for a while?"

The three glanced around before Hinata laughed lightly. In a timid mimicking of Kurenai, she reached up, pulled nothing from her ear, and deposited it in the basket, smiling ever so slightly as she walked into the room. Shino hmphed, but did the same. Staring at Kurenai for a moment, Kiba finally shrugged.

"Why not?" he mumbled, pulling out his own worries and dropping it into the basket. Smiling serenely, Kurenai put the basket on the floor by her door, looked down the hall and saw Kakashi, winked, and went into her classroom.

The English teacher smiled. His concern earlier that week had been completely unfounded. His science teacher was brilliant.

Moving on. A teacher one of us had worked with before was giving a lesson on types of food to an elementary class. They were talking about what kinds of foods are breakfast foods, such as cereal, eggs, oatmeal, toast, milk, OJ, etc, when a student broke down crying. The child was completely inconsolable. As it turned out, there wasn't a father at home and the mother worked the night shift, meaning she was asleep when the kids went to school. So this child had been making breakfast for the family all year with things like sandwiches. After this lesson, the poor kid was convinced that he was going to kill his family since he hadn't been feeding him properly. So the teacher assured the child that he wasn't killing his family and, after school for a few days, she showed him how to make simple breakfasts like scrambled eggs, oatmeal, etc.

Now we're talking an elementary student. I don't remember precisely, but I think he was in third or fourth grade (ie, 8 or 9 years old). This boy had so many worries, that what the teacher did was taking him outside the school to an old dinosaur fossil by the main entrance. Together, the two of them put all of his worries there with the dinosaur to take care of them while he was at school, and at the end of the day, the dinosaur would return all of his worries.

There was another student who all but disappeared from school for almost a month. We later learned it was because his family was homeless for a while and was wandering between our school and the one in the next town over. The next time I saw him he announced it was his last day at school because he was transferring to the other.

*sigh*

Poor families tend to have less prenatal care, so things like diabetes, learning disabilities etc, really are more common. Also in this chapter, we took a look at what DCF does. Generally speaking, you really don't want DCF involved, they do tend to make things messy, but they never go into a situation with the intent of taking kids away from a family. They are there to ensure that children are being raised well.

This was a rough chapter to write. Of course, we both shudder at the idea of either of us writing this chapter now. We're glad the story's already done.