In like a lion, a snowstorm blew in over the weekend, and Monday was a snow day. A second storm was due in the middle of the week, too, and Kakashi smelled an early release day if the forecasters were right.

He dug out and drove in at any rate. The sky was dull and grey, as it had been since about December, and the English teacher was beginning to discover that he was getting a little sick of the dull weather. The snow was pristine on the hills, but on the roads it was a brown slush, grey with black spots of dirt that were partly melted and hard as salt rock. It was bleak, to say the least, and Kakashi realized he was starting to wish for spring.

Perusing the halls, he was mildly surprised to see an interesting spectacle at his door.

Temari, or at least what looked like Temari, it was her blond hair and pigtails, was not only in full lip-lock, but also an impressive hip-grind with... was that Hanamaru? He stood for a moment and stared, openly, projecting flat disgust and counting the seconds until they noticed. They didn't, however, even as other students, wandering in and out of his room and seeing the impending doom of their two classmates, tried to cough and nod and otherwise subtly let the pair know of the danger they were in. But the pair was oblivious to the world, and after a full sixty seconds Kakashi had had enough.

"Ahem," he said in a low, resonating voice.

It was like a bucket of ice water, the two immediately stopped what they were doing and, like magnets of the same polarity, rebounded off each other.

"Tell me," Kakashi said slowly. "Where are the two of you right now?"

"... by your door," Hanamaru said weakly.

"Yes, what kind of building is this?"

"A school."

"I see. And what kinds of things does one do in school?"

"... Learn."

"Yes, I believe you're right. So I'm left to wonder, is this a class in sex education?"

"We weren't having sex!" Temari shouted, as if the idea disgusted her.

"That's only because you're clothes were on," Kakashi said in a dark voice. "Of course, I'm just a crotchety old man, I don't have any understanding of young people nowadays," he added in a whimsical voice. "I mean, it must be all the rage to try and procreate in public like there, in open display of not only the old people like me, but also every single one of your esteemed peers. I can only imagine how many people walked by this spot in the last few minutes, more than dozens, perhaps even over a hundred - and I'm certain that there were repeat visitors because your practical demonstration was so, well, demonstrative. Your parents must be so pleased that you're willing to sacrifice your sense of privacy like that - I'm sure they've seen this routine several times already, am I right?"

"Ew!" Hanamaru cried out. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Detention for language on top of the write up I'll be giving the two of you for indecent conduct."

"What's indecent?" the boy asked, but Temari was a step ahead of him.

"Why do you teachers have such a problem with public displays of affection, huh? We have a right to show people that we care!"

"Temari," Kakashi said in with a long sigh, "someday you'll understand there is a very distinct difference between showing someone you care and showing someone you care. Besides, until you're sixteen it's just gross to watch. You wouldn't want to cause me to be sick, would you?"

"I would if it meant I didn't have you anymore," she spat.

Ah, to be loved. "And now you have a detention for defiance. I'll give the two of you your slips in class. Now get to your homerooms and pray the student body in general doesn't ask for details on what you were doing."

"You're late!"

Kakashi was certain the door was closed before he said, "Sorry, I was too busy watching all the child pornography going on in the halls. The eighth graders are more experienced that I am."

Iruka frowned, the other teachers following suit.

Kakashi sat down and pulled his beloved book out. "Did any of you see Temari and Hanamaru this morning?" he asked.

"Oh. That," Iruka said, noting it in his book. "When I came in this morning there was a lot of giggling and nose touching. Did they graduate to kissing?"

"Full hip grind," Kakashi said, flipping a page.

"To use the vernacular of youth, 'EW!'" Gai proclaimed, making a face.

"I wrote them both up, and when they got snooty about it they both got detentions on top of it. Temari was trying to say that they had a right to make out in public. I tried to embarrass them as best I could. Hanamaru responded okay to it, but Temari just got bitchy."

"That's how she reacts to it," Asuma said. "Whenever she gets flustered her jaw tightens and she digs in her heels."

"Surefire way to get fired from any job she applies to," Iruka muttered, writing it all down. "They just have to be right at this age."

"They just think they know better. The world revolves around them, didn't you know that?" Kurenai quipped, running a hand through her thick tresses. "You should see her in my class. She has just about all the boys wrapped around her finger - excuse me, her ass - and can miraculously get anyone she wants into trouble. I finally had to pair her with Shikamaru to keep the damages down; he's about the only one who can keep her on an even keel. Of course, that leaves Gaara with Kankuro as a lab partners, and I have to practically stand over them and glare to make sure they get work done. Oh, that reminds me," she added. "Who hasn't had Naruto yet?"

Kakashi and Asuma raised their hands.

"Consider yourselves warned, he didn't take his medication this morning."

"Forgot, did he?" Asuma asked.

"No, he lost the bottle."

"... What?"

"He was telling me this morning," Iruka said. "He and Yondaime were scouring the house looking for it because neither of them could remember where they'd left it last time, Naruto was looking under his bed when Yondaime cried out that he'd found it. The boy was rushing down to see that he tripped and knocked him down, and the pills spilled everywhere, I'm told."

"That's not too bad," Asuma said. "A kitchen floor or whatever is usually pretty clean."

"No, no," Iruka said. "You don't understand. It wasn't a house floor, it was the garage floor."

The math and English teacher openly stared at him. Kakashi even lowered his book slightly.

"What the hell were they doing in the garage?" Asuma demanded.

"They weren't in the garage," Iruka explained. "They were in the kitchen, but the back door to the garage was open because they were both trying to get out of the house, and when Yondaime toppled backwards that was were they all spilled. And," he added. "I just got an email from Yondaime. The pharmacy he goes to is completely out; they put a rush order on it, but he said that the earliest he's going to get a refill is this weekend."

"... The pain!" Asuma said, putting his head in his hands. "That's a story for the record books, I think."

"Tsunade still has her stock, right?" Kakashi asked, not at all liking the thought of a hyper Naruto.

"Yes, but her prescription is running low, too. It's supposed to be refilled this week, but with the snow tomorrow she's not sure when the truck will actually get here. Even with his afternoon medication, you're probably going to see a difference in his behavior, because it takes about an hour to dissolve into his bloodstream."

"My last period is going to become hell," Asuma mourned, pulling out a packet of cigarettes and debating on whether to pull one out or not. "I have Kiba and Gaara and Kankuro all in that class. It's a handful as it is, but a hyper Naruto? I can tell you exactly what's going to happen. He's going to be twitching and asking questions and talking to everyone around him, Kiba's going to get annoyed because he's trying to understand in his own right and start snapping. The two are going to get at it despite the fact that they're at opposite sides of the room, and Gaara will hear it all and just get pissed off and put on his headphones, or put his head on his desk. Then, with me thoroughly distracted with all that, Kankuro will take the opportunity to do something."

"Well, the meds will have kicked in by the time you get him," Kakashi said, frowning in thought. "Team Seven should keep him under wraps in my class, they'll know the story by now, and if necessary I can pull one of them, Sakura probably, aside and let her know to keep a lid on him."

"But it's a Monday lesson," Iruka said. "You have to chew out all the new vocab and start the creative writing project - it's a lecture day."

"We'll split the class, then," Kakashi said. "You can take Teams One and Ten, so Kiba and Gaara don't press any buttons, and Six and Nine, and Four."

"Are you deliberately giving me the trouble makers?" Iruka asked in indignation.

"I can take them if you want, and you can have Naruto."

"No, no, I'll take them. It's probably better that I have Temari at any rate, if she's still mad at your over this morning."

"Any word about Chouji?" Asuma asked.

There was a collective shake of the heads. The math teacher frowned, but nodded. "Shikamaru's still taking it hard."

"He would," Iruka replied. "The two are best friends. Been together since kindergarten from what I hear. Shikamaru always helped him keep his grade up, and Chouji always helped keep him active and remotely social. Shikamaru's intelligence is almost frightening sometimes, and he doesn't really feel like he fits in with the other students, they seem so childish to him. Chouji keeps reminding him that he's a kid, too. Actually, I think it was Chouji who got Shikamaru interested in board games, and then he graduated to chess and go and the others."

"It will always be fascinating to listen to the tales of youth and how such individuals affect one another in such a memorable time of their lives!" Gai pronounced.

The collection of teachers paused before moving on. "Does everybody have their order forms filled out?" Kakashi asked.

"I think so," Iruka said. "Well, except you, of course."

The English teacher grinned before pulling out his form from his shirt pocket. "It's a complete set now."

"Are we certain that this is everything?" Gai asked.

"I think so," Kurenai said. "I've never done an interdisciplinary unit before. I have my end covered. Are we sure the posters and pencils will arrive in time?"

Asuma looked over the forms and copied them onto the master, flipping through the catalog they had been using to place the orders for the materials they wanted. "Not for this year. It's a six-week waiting period, and if we're going to do a stress unit, the best time to do it is during the state tests, week after next. We can hand make what we need; I've seen how skilled you are with a pencil. Then next year we'll have this on top of what we made."

"How are we going to judge best stress skit?"

"We'll monitor everyone's heart rates and blood pressure," Kakashi offered to a general laugh.

"We can talk about which groups were the best, and then have them present during team or something," Iruka offered. "Because of the schedule we only have them, what, F and G?"

"Then we might want to do this next week," Gai said slowly, thinking. "It might be better if the grade gets the complete experience, and not just two subjects. Then we can pick the best presentation per class and reward them with the pencils and the Homework Tickets and the stickers to more than just a few students. Then we can talk about Best Skit for the end of the year awards. If necessary, then we can pull them from class and have them present during Team Time."

"That reminds me, I think I already mentioned this, but I'm going to a workshop Friday," Kurenai said. "So we have to make sure everything's done by Thursday, I'm not going to have time to stop off."

"Then we better get to work," Iruka said. "I don't know if we'll even have Team tomorrow."

After a busy period, the bell rang and Kakashi strolled leisurely to his sixth period class.

The phrase "marked difference" did not even begin to cover how Naruto was during class. Severe ADHD only put it mildly. Naruto, to his credit, was really trying to focus and pay attention, but today's format just didn't lend itself to him. He thrummed his desk, was swinging his legs and kept accidentally hitting the chair in front of him. Sasuke put up with as much as he could handle before finally turning around and throwing a dark glare, which just made Naruto try to defend himself - not in a whisper, but at full volume. Sakura kept grabbing at his orange sweater to calm him down, but Naruto couldn't stop his mouth once it had opened. Kakashi watched in disbelief as the boy changed subject four times in ten seconds, his brain jerking from one thought to the next with no form of control, let alone order.

Verbal reprimand did nothing. Naruto instead turned his attention on his lazy bastard sensei - which caused him to pale when he said that out loud and he clapped a hand over his mouth. Even that could not last long, however, because now he was conscious of what a pain he was being, and once it was in his mind any hint of control he had flew out the window. The more he tried to focus and couldn't, the more frustrated he became and the worse he acted, and the cycle would start over again.

It took twenty minutes to get through the new vocabulary words, and Kakashi wasn't entirely sure that the class had absorbed any of it. Kiba was glaring darkly at the overwrought Naruto, but Iruka's dark glares kept the boy's mouth closed. Hinata put a hand on his at one point, and the boy calmed considerably. Gaara, meanwhile, was looking for the world like he was about to go ballistic, perhaps even nuclear. About the only thing keeping him quiet was the ever-calming presence of Iruka.

Halfway into class, Ino, finally annoyed by it all, turned and shouted to Naruto, "Shut up you stupid sped!"

That was the last straw; Naruto gave a great growl of frustration and ran out of the room.

"Ino, detention."

"But sensei! He's so annoying!"

"Two detentions, then. Sasuke, go find him."

"Why does Sasuke get to leave class?" Temari demanded. "You're playing favorites again!"

"No he's not," Sakura defended. The sentiment was nice, but the timing was wrong.

"You stay out of this billboard-brow!"

"Say that again," Sasuke said, his face as black as his hair. Ino paled and said nothing. He turned to his teacher. "She comes with me."

Kakashi thought about it before finally nodding. He glanced to Iruka and he silently stepped out to follow and see what he could do. With him gone, however, Gaara emitted a low keen.

"You're all so fucking annoying," he muttered under his breath.

It degenerated from there. Noteworthy events included Shikamaru snapping at Ino to sit down and shut up - a command that she shockingly obeyed, Shino putting a hand on Kiba's shoulder after he gave a low growl to keep the boy from blowing up, Temari earning a second and third detention for taking the opportunity to mouth of to Kakashi (he finally sent her out of the room), Kankuro interestingly calming Gaara, and Team 6 trying to leave the room without permission. By the time the bell rang, Kakashi had given out half a dozen detentions, spaced out for the rest of the week, a headache, and no sign of Iruka and Team 7.

Iruka appeared halfway through last period, and after school he was pleasantly surprised to see Naruto show up.

"I'm really sorry, sensei," he mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

"Iruka told me that you were under-medicated today," Kakashi said slowly. "It must have been hard."

"I know all the tricks to keep focused," Naruto explained. "And it's not like I don't do them, but I sometimes I just can't take it. I really do try! I do!" The Scarecrow was surprised to see a tear roll down the boy's cheek, and the blond furiously scraped the sleeve of his sweater over it, offended that it had appeared.

"Naruto, what do you think I'm going to do?"

"Fail me, like everybody else does!" he cried out, surprised at the volume of his own voice.

It took a moment, but Kakashi walked back to his computer and opened up his electronic grade book. "Come here," he said. Naruto walked over, squinting at the screen. "Whose grade is that? Whose name is on this screen?"

The blond blinked. "That's... that's mine."

"Naruto, do you see all the As and Bs you have? Look at your participation grade; that's a perfect hundred. Do you really think one bad day is going to fail you?"

"But--"

"Naruto, I've had you since September. You've had me since September. I'm hurt that you don't know me well enough by now to know that I'd never just fail a student, any student, just because of one bad day." He closed the window and pulled up another, covering part of the screen with his hand. "Look at these grades here. You can tell who's failing because they don't turn in work, or they do shoddy work. Do you do either of those things?"

"... No," he said, marveling at the number of Fs he saw. Kakashi closed the window before the boy could figure out who in the alphabet was where.

"So don't freak out if you've had a bad day," the English teacher concluded. "You have to wait for the refill, right?"

Naruto looked down again. "Yeah. The whole week is going to be like this."

"When do you take your second dose?" Kakashi asked, already knowing the answer.

"At the end of lunch. I'm supposed to take it on a full stomach."

"Ask Tsunade-sama if you can take it at the beginning of lunch this week," he suggested. "It might take effect quicker that way, and you'll be in more control when my class starts. What do you have E period?"

"Music," Naruto said, scowling. "We're singing right now, and at least that keeps me occupied if I dance to it a little."

"So much the better, explain what's happening, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Okay."

"Now then, isn't you're team waiting for you?"

"Yes! Kakashi-sensei!"

Wednesday was a nightmare.

It was snowing lightly, just a hair too heavy to be called flurries, but definitely too light to be labeled snow showers. The kids were already abuzz with the thought of early dismissal, especially given that they'd already missed Monday due to snow. Kakashi listened to just about the entire grade postulate and propose and theorize on when the announcement would be.

At the end of second period, ten minutes before the bell rang, Ebisu made the announcement that there would be an early dismissal, that police were closing roads because of icy conditions. For Kakashi's B period class, that didn't mean much; he had only twelve students, and so squishing them back to work was relatively easy. C period was his prep, and so he used the time to meet with the other teachers to work some more on the interdisciplinary unit they would be launching next week. They had just about finished the planning and were feeling pretty confident when fourth period arrived.

The problem was that fourth period arrived.

To start, there was a long line of students who were asking permission to go to the office to call their parents and let them know that it was an early dismissal, and therefore come pick them up. Takato was audacious enough to pull out a cell phone and actually try to call his father. Kakashi confiscated the phone in the middle of the conversation.

"Now would be a good time to point out that it's against school policy to have a cell phone out in class and that he will be written up for this," he said into the speaker before hanging up and slipping the phone in his pocket. Takato would not stand for this, of course, and demanded several times to have his phone back. Kakashi in response ended up confiscating another; and so the boy decided he would to his damndest to get thrown out of class so that he could call his father in the office.

Ah, the intelligence of twelve year olds.

Naturally, Kakashi wasn't about to let Takato anywhere near the door, telling the boy plainly that he knew what was going on and wouldn't stand for it. This made the acts Takato played even more outlandish, including climbing onto the radiator and jumping on it, shoving desks with students still in them (a move that startled poor Sakura who had been trying desperately to read like she was supposed to) and generally making an ass of himself. Kakashi finally had the boy stand in a corner of the room as he loomed over him, staring darkly at the boy as he tried again and again to be sent to the office. Kakashi merely pulled out a small notebook and kept noting everything the boy did. This particular write up was going to be thorough.

No sooner had he finally gotten the class silently reading for perhaps three minutes that Ebisu made another announcement: lunches would be shortened and students were to report directly to E period classes and wait to be called.

One student absolutely insisted that Ibiki, the one of the school's security personnel, be called to escort him to the office so the boy could sign out and leave under his own power. Kakashi called the scarred man, and was happy that he arrived only to chew the boy out and order him to sit back down. The two of them spent the last half hour fighting with the class - the only angels being Sakura and Sasuke - as they whined, cajoled, and bitched about being in school and the weather and life in general.

Kakashi gave the occasional worried glance across the hall, Iruka was having his demon resource and he could hear several shouts and clanks and other disturbing noises filtering from that direction. The special education teacher's voice was petulant and often rose to the point where Kakashi could make out specific words.

At last the bell rang and the collection of demons ran off to their specials.

Sakura walked up to Kakashi and Ibiki as they were sharing exasperated looks and said, "Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry they were to terrible. I was embarrassed to be in that class."

Ah, what a warm feeling.

"Sakura, students like you make it all worth it," Kakashi said brightly, putting a hand reassuringly on her pink head before shooing her off to Sasuke, who was waiting by the door.

Ibiki shared a few final choice comments, and Kakashi finally wandered into Asuma's room for Team Time.

"It seems I'm not late," he noted happily. It was true, for Iruka was nowhere to be found.

Indeed, the special education teacher appeared fifteen minutes later. Kakashi cheerfully proclaimed, "You're late!" and, as evidence, Iruka tossed the pile of papers in his hands for the other teachers to see. Kakashi made a quick count.

"Six, seven, no eight write ups? Isn't that a record?" he asked.

"'Disobedience to the extreme,'" Gai was reading aloud, "'Student openly refused several times to do any work for any subject.'" He looked at another. "'Student walked out of my room without permission and never came back.' 'Student used her cell phone in class to text parents, and then said it was fine because she was texting and not calling.' 'Student rummaged through my desk without permission.'" The social studies teacher looked up. "Was that the racket that my SSR heard?"

"Among others," Iruka said as he sat down stiffly, sliding into a slouch that rivaled the one Kakashi currently was using. "God, I'm tired. And stiff."

"Want a stiff drink after school?" Kakashi offered.

"No," Iruka muttered, looking exhausted. "Thank god last period is Team. I don't think I could survive F period at this rate."

"Well, it's not going to get any more fun," Asuma said. "F and G are now two days behind everyone else, and we're going to have to bust ass to get them caught up for the stress unit next week. Naruto is going to buckle under all the work."

The special education teacher emitted a low, pitiful groan. "Look at the write up I gave him."

Kakashi found the referral with Naruto's name on it and couldn't help but whistle. "He did all this?"

"In the span of ten minutes. He really can't handle the classroom without the medication. He's not going to buckle, he's going to go nuts."

"Then we'll have to modify for him. What do you suggest, Iruka-sama?"

He snorted but finally pulled himself jerkily out of his slouch. "There's simply no way he's going to have the attention span to do all the assignments, let along listen long enough for the breakneck pace that I've seen you put up when necessary. We'll have to extend the due dates for class work. He should be okay with homework, Yondaime will be with him and things will be quieter at home. Someone else will have to take notes for him, he will catch everything he needs."

"Sakura," Kakashi said without hesitation.

"Hinata," Asuma said almost as quickly. Kurenai gave a knowing grin.

"Is he staying after tomorrow or Friday?" Iruka asked.

"For detention, I think," Kakashi said. "I've been handing out a lot in the last two days."

"Work with him after school. The meds should be in his bloodstream by then and he'll be able to focus more. Get what you can out of him, but don't expect much until he's prescription's been refilled. I can work with him during resource when I'm not killing the rest of the class. Two paras were out today, and one had to leave early to pick up her daughter from preschool. That just left me and one other person to manage the class today."

"Don't handle him," Kakashi said. "Kick him to my SSR; he'll have Sakura and Sasuke with him to work, and it's quiet in there so he should feel better."

"You're a brave man, Scarecrow," Iruka replied. "But I accept. I'm about ready to kill him."

"Any other business?"

"Just a reminder that Shikamaru's PPT is Friday after school."

"Then let's get back to planning next week."

To say that the screws were put on Naruto was perhaps a little light. The boy knew that he was being problematic, and he was sincerely trying to keep himself under control, but simply couldn't manage it. Kakashi saw just how bad off he was the next day when Iruka pushed him into his room and mouthed the words "Good luck," before disappearing to his resource.

Kakashi timed him and the boy could not stay silent for more than twenty-seven seconds. He looked at his teacher helplessly sometimes before again turning to his work. The boy, under his own initiative, pulled a desk to the furthest corner of the room and turned it to the wall and away from the students to try and reduce distractions. He even asked the English teacher if it was all right to have his headphones on to drown out whatever noise he knew he would hear and, if he had his pills, he would have been just fine. The twelve-year-old rather expertly handled the attention deficit part of his disorder. But the hyperactivity was what was killing him. He kept twitching, kicking his feet against the wall noisily, tapping on his desk, half humming whatever he was listening to (and horribly off key), getting up to stretch - an attempt to release the energy that was pent up inside him, cracking his knuckled, etc. The noise he was generating annoyed the rest of the students who were trying to read, and they often threw dark glares at the boy, or worse, complaining.

"Sensei, he's so annoying!" Takato said at one point.

Of course, Naruto could hear this through his headphones, and he would turn around to find out what was going on, pulling his ears clear and asking, "What? What?"

After twenty minutes of this, Kakashi asked if Team 7 could come up to his front desk. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto appeared and he lead them out into the hall.

"It's not working, is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm trying sensei!" he pleaded. "I'm really trying! Don't send me back to Iruka-sensei, it'll only be worse over there."

"Do they know why this is happening?" he asked, gesturing to his two teammates.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

"Good. The three of you are going to work here in the hall. I'll ask Iruka-sensei that he close his doors. You'll be away from the class so they won't be annoyed by you, and Sakura and Sasuke can monitor you and keep you on track."

"But sensei," Sakura said slowly, frowning in thought. "We aren't trained in learning disorders, how will we know what to do?"

Naruto deflated, shying away.

"That isn't what Sakura meant," Kakashi reassured the boy. "As a teacher, I've had a lot of training in dealing with knuckleheads, idiots, brats, monsters and demons. About the closest you are to any of those, Naruto, is knucklehead. Sakura is just afraid she doesn't have what it takes to keep you in line."

The girl rose to the bait perfectly. "I do too!"

"It's going to be a game," he explained. "Naruto, for every question or assignment or paragraph you write or answer, you get a plus. For every time you look away from your work, get distracted, get off topic, or otherwise become unfocused, you get a minus. At the end of the period total them up. For every plus you have more than a minus - because I expect more pluses than minuses, I'll give to Iruka to put into your participation grade for resource. Sakura and Sasuke will get the same points for their reading grade, so they'll have to be very judicious on what they choose to be a plus and a minus. Have fun."

And he went back into his room.

When the bell rang, Naruto sprinted into the room and handed him a scrap of paper, showing the pluses and the minuses. At a glance he easily had twice as many of the former than the latter. Good. He thanked the boy and shooed him off to class.

After heading out and grabbing a pizza, he wandered into Asuma's room for Team and told Iruka the story before handing him the scrap of paper.

"It's brilliant," Iruka marveled as he looked at the sheet. "He got this many pluses without medication? I'm shocked."

"It's all about motivation and the people he works with," Kakashi replied genially as he bit into his slice. "Those three are the quintessential success story. I can just imagine what those three can accomplish if they stick together over the summer into next year. They might even survive high school together."

"Let's not bitch about that building," Asuma said. "We have a vertical curriculum meeting during the state tests, remember? I want to at least pretend that I like them."

"Speaking of which," Kurenai said softly. "I'm worried about Hinata."

"Oh? How are she and Kiba doing anyway; since they now come to your worry free room everyday?" Gai asked.

"Kiba is actually taking it all pretty well. Once he feels safe he can really cut loose and have fun. He's actually pretty funny when he sets his mind to it, and I get the feeling he just wants to be a kid. He wasn't letting himself when he learned how tight the money was, and now that they're on welfare and his dad is getting training, he feels a little better. Once Mr. Inuzuka is employed again I think he'll be back to his old self. But then, he's not the type to hold onto things. Hinata is, and all the pressure her family is putting her under is starting to get to her.

"She talks about it a little bit in my room after school. The state tests are a big thing in her family, Neji scored the highest of the entire school last year, and they expect no less from her. She won't say it, but you can tell she's petrified. Shino confided in me Tuesday that she thinks if she fails the state tests that they'll disown her or something. Her father has been in constant contact with me over her grades, nit picking every assignment that's below a ninety. The three of them go to the library to work on their homework, and that helps a great deal from what I understand, but her father looks over the homework when she gets home." She gave a long sigh. "I wouldn't be surprised to see her cry when they hand out the bubble sheets two weeks from now."

"And of course," Asuma groaned, fingering an invisible cigarette, "we can't talk to the high and mighty Hyuga; oh, no, heaven forbid we lowly teachers who clearly don't know what we're doing ever, ever, make a suggestion that he pull the stick out of his ass and let the poor girl be herself."

"We must impress upon him the fragile nature of youth!" Gai exclaimed, striking a pose.

"And then he'll have us fired," Kakashi muttered, flipping a page in his book before taking another slice of pizza. "He's already threatened my job twice, I don't really want him to threaten someone else." He looked up. "Talk to the old man, tell him what you've been hearing. He might have a suggestion or two."

"That reminds me," Iruka said as he finished noting the Hinata topic in the team notebook. "Gaara. We need to talk about him."

"We do?" Kurenai asked.

"Yeah, have any of you been noticing anything about him?"

"Besides him overturning a desk in homeroom last week?" Kakashi asked wryly.

"He did what?!" Asuma choked

"Oh, I didn't mention it?" He quickly explained the conversation the goth boy and Kiba had had and the overturning of the desk. "I told Iruka because he had to show up. I thought I mentioned it in team?"

Iruka was flipping back a few pages. "Nope. You didn't. But that's a good point. Any behaviors that you've been noticing?"

"Well, since he was put on escort he hasn't been skipping class," Asuma replied. "He's still absent a lot, but that's because he keeps being thrown to the isolated classes. When he is there he almost always has his headphones on. I have to prod him a little to take them off for lecture or group discussion, but otherwise he just ignores the world and listens to his music. He can do his work, but you really have to hit him in the right mood, otherwise he'll snap at you and put his head on his desk."

Iruka was writing this all down. "Is that about the same for everyone else?" he asked, and everybody nodded.

"He is always very tired in my class," Gai said. "I have him first period of course, but he always seems to be struggling to keep his eyes open."

"He's like that in science, too," Kurenai said. "He's fallen sleep twice that I know of when I've been doing PowerPoint presentations. The lights are off, so a lot of students try to nod off but I have a good handle on them as a rule. He'll fall asleep even when I'm clapping my hands. Is something wrong with him? I know he has trouble with his medication sometimes..."

"I had an episode with him in resource today," Iruka said, still writing things down. "I really don't think the medication he's taking is right for him. He's been having more and more episodes, and last week with the desk they've officially turned violent. He punched a wall today because the noise of the kids was driving him nuts. He was swearing a blue streak and threatening to kill the entire class - in graphic detail. It's a little disturbing when you're told that he's going to take a knife and stab you."

Kakashi blinked. "And you didn't call for help?"

"I did. Tsunade came running along with Ibiki and between the three of us we were able to get him to the health center. He broke two knuckles with that punch. That's why I was so surprised to see all those pluses with Naruto. The three of them had to have seen the us coaxing him down the hall."

He paused, leaning back in his chair, the other teachers staring at him. "Tsunade's been trying to call Yashamaru for an emergency PPT, hopefully after school today. I need as much evidence as I can to make sure I can convince him to either take him off the meds or put him on something else. I also want to see if I can schedule further testing for him. I'm beginning to suspect his initial SED diagnosis might not have been thorough enough. The type he was classified with shouldn't be having him act this way; unless it really is the medication, but I don't see why he's on it at any rate." He rubbed his eyes, tilting his head back. "This is going to be a fight."

"Yashamaru thinks the medication is working?"

"No, he just doesn't know better. He was saddled with an SED kid when he was barely an adult and isn't home enough to really see what an SED kid behaves like. He's so busy trying to make ends meet that he hasn't even had time to research his nephew's problems, and he just assumes everything is fine. So he doesn't believe us when we tell him something is wrong."

"Amateur. Why'd DCF stick him with Yashamaru anyway?" Asuma asked.

"Because that's the only family he has. Can you imagine Gaara in foster care? He'd be bounced from house to house faster than Naruto."

Kakashi sighed. Just when one thing went right, another would go wrong.

Friday the sun came out for the first time in what felt like years, and it glinted off the ornament Kakashi had hung on his rearview mirror, catching the light and refracting it all over the roof of car. It made the grey and dirty snow almost bearable, and Kakashi had the first hints of a spring in his step as he wandered the halls to his room.

He did poke his head into Kurenai's room to see the sub had already arrived. It was a new face, and so he introduced himself and let her know the basics, mentioning that Asuma's room was the first place to send a student if they were going to be pains, and that mentioning it to the kids would be a good idea, blah, blah, blah.

He wandered into his room to see Sasuke and Sakura looming over Naruto, who was very close to bouncing off the walls.

"What happened this time?" he asked.

"We're trying to figure out how he'll survive today," Sasuke replied. Naruto was working himself into a frenzy. "We have a test in Social Studies and he didn't get a chance to study last night."

Poor Gai. "Just use the pluses and the minuses," he said lightly. "I'll go tell Gai-sensei about them and we'll see if we can use that as extra credit on your tests."

All three students looked up at him greedily at the thought of extra credit, before the pink and black heads turned immediately to the blond with steely determination.

Overall, the day went quietly. Naruto did burst into his room at the beginning of SSR to announce how well he did on the test before Sakura and Sasuke ushered him out to the hall to again help him catch up on his work. Team was a rush to organize posters and do last minute print outs for the Stress Unit they were going to hold next week, and F period was surprisingly quiet, a certain blond having calmed significantly after taking his afternoon medication.

After school, Kakashi and Asuma walked together down the halls to the conference room in guidance. Nara was in the waiting room, and the three greeted each other quickly.

"Is the room on hold?" Asuma asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Nara replied. "I guess another PPT is running late. It happened all the time last year. We parents like to talk," he added, grinning slightly. "I told Shikamaru about it, I'm surprised he isn't with you."

"If he's late that means he's taking after Kakashi," Asuma offered, and the three adults laughed.

Shikamaru appeared ten minutes later, and when questioned about where he was, he simply said, "I was fighting with that troublesome girl."

"Oh? Still no progress?" Kakashi asked.

The thin boy frowned, taking a long time to answer before finally saying, "No. I think she finally gets it now." He made a face. "I hope."

Kakashi was officially curious, and he was about to pry when the conference room door opened and people began leaking out. The Scarecrow blinked to see a stormy looking Yashamaru as he stomped out of the room, face as black as thunder. The English teacher stepped against the flow and saw Iruka at the table, his head in his hands and looking years older than he actually was. He caught Kakashi's glance and mouthed the words, "Life sucks," before putting on a smile as Nara and his son walked in.

"So, I've been noticing a dip in grades," Nara said as he sat down. The PPT secretary had disappeared to get the folder for the meeting. "Anything I should know about?"

"I think it has more to do with one of his friends than anything we're doing," Asuma said slowly, eyeing the boy.

"You mean Chouji," Nara said. "Yeah, it's an ugly situation all around. Shikamaru has been dropping by the house regularly, and when he comes back he just turns on the PS2 and starts gaming."

Kakashi looked to the boy. "Are you struggling with it?"

"Who wouldn't be?" he muttered, looking down at the table. "He's my best friend."

"There are structures of support for these kinds of things," Iruka said.

"They won't help. That stuff's for kids."

"You're a kid too, Shika," his father said softly, putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. He shrugged it off.

"No I'm not," he whispered. "I'm an old man in a kid's body; that's what you've always said. All those skits and activities is just crap for me. I know what it's supposed to do, but it doesn't help me deal with it. Chouji's the only one who could help me deal with anything and now..." He frowned, looking up and realizing he was expressing his thoughts out loud.

"Now you have Ino," Asuma said softly. The boy looked up, startled. "She's always had the potential to be a good support structure; once you dig through the shallow exterior and the desperate need for attention she has, she's actually frighteningly loyal and compassionate about the people she lets close to her. She'll put you through a ringer, but once you pass all her tests she'll never walk away from you, and now you've finally passed all her tests, and you're probably very surprised that she's passing all yours. Am I right?"

The boy was openly staring. "How...?"

Asuma grinned. "Kakashi-sensei isn't the only one with observational skills. You need to be pretty observant to play chess, and you haven't beaten me yet, have you?"

Shikamaru blinked, absorbing the words slowly before an embarrassed flush crept across his cheeks. Asuma continued: "The two of you have been inching towards a breakthrough since Chouji left, and I was beginning to think I'd have to initiate it, but it's nice to see someone even as lazy as you can work on his own."

Nara laughed good-naturedly. "You've been amazing, Asuma-sensei," he said, clapping the boy on the back.

"Genius attracts genius," the math teacher replied, sounding perfectly bored.

The secretary finally arrived and passed out the form, and the PPT officially began.

What Kakashi says at the beginning of the chapter is a rough collection of anything I've ever wanted to say when I watch a pair of twelve year olds making out in the halls. I don't think any teacher in their right mind would say some of the thinks he said, but it's Kakashi, and he can get away with stuff like that. :P

The half day from hell is another true story from the trenches known as subbing, and we've had any number of students that happily proclaim that they forgot to take their meds while bouncing off the wall and driving us to commit murder.

Poor Hinata. That girl is under severe stress and it's only going to get worse.