Colleges and Copiers
Rated: G
Characters: Kakashi, Sakura
Challenge: Day 5 of Sakura Week 2021 on Tumblr
Prompt: Any AU
Word Count: 1410

Added note: Larger universities often have smaller colleges/schools within them, which have divisions, and then departments within those. For example:

Konoha University -College/School of Arts -Division of Fine Arts -Theatre Department

Hatake Kakashi was considered by other academics to be a lazy man, but he knew that he was simply shrewd. While they saw a Dean who seemed aloof about his college, he considered himself a leader who allowed those that worked with him (not for him, as so many other deans felt) to succeed or fail by their own merits. He didn't spy or micro-manage, and the reality was that the School of Engineering had the brightest and the most highly-motivated on campus, and everyone else was envious of that.

It was hard work to pretend to be aloof in a career that was data-driven disguised as care culture. A drop in enrollment could mean a cut in faculty lines. Unhappy students could mean the loss of someone's hard-earned chance at tenure. Lack of grants could mean the end of any number of projects that kept their institution, his college, or one of his departments, competitive.

Still, Kakashi knew where to cut corners. And office supplies were certainly where he could save his area some much-needed funds. Thankfully, the School of Medicine's main office was a short walk across the path, and Kakashi still knew the door code from when he would adjunct teach for them more than a decade ago. Humming a nonsensical tune as he made his way into the building, he waved at various instructors and staff that he knew, but kept his eyes on the book in his hand to avoid getting caught in a conversation. Small talk was the death of productivity in the workplace, and he wasn't interested in the idle gossip of academia.

When he reached the School of Medicine's main office, he entered the code without a glance, and immediately made his way toward the back room where the supplies were kept. Mrs. Yamamoto, the administrative assistant, had been there so long she knew him from his adjuncting days. He assumed that she didn't know about the string of promotions he'd gotten since then, or perhaps they didn't pay her enough to care. Either way, the School of Engineering needed a restock on staples, whiteboard markers and printing paper, and Kakashi was going to be a good dean and get the staff what they needed while saving money in his budget.

He was looking for boxes of the black, round tipped whiteboard markers (he hated the red ones) when the dreaded sound of a copier jamming, followed by a muttered curse, carried from outside the supply room. He had never heard Mrs. Yamamoto curse, so curiosity had him peeking his head into the main office and turning his gaze in the direction of the copier.

What he was met with was the back of a woman in a dark blue blazer and skirt with the brightest shade of bubblegum pink hair he had ever laid eyes on in a professional setting. He blinked in surprise, watching as she crouched down, balancing artfully on her high heels, and began to open the different doors of the copier, trying to find the errant piece of copy paper that was jammed in the machine.

"The copier gets moody if you ask it to make more than 30 copies at a time. Same goes for print-outs," he offered, knowing that she was new. He definitely would not have missed this woman if she was on campus more than a month.

"Well, that's ridiculous," she exclaimed as she stood back up, hand on her hip in clear annoyance. "We should just get a new copier if this one can't get the job done."

"Take it up with IT." For some reason, he found himself putting his book and the supplies he had gathered so far down on a box, and walking over to the woman and her jammed equipment. "Here, let's take a look."

She moved slightly to accommodate his presence, but didn't allow him to take over, which he appreciated; he hated when people made their paper jam someone else's problem. They both peered down at the small screen that was blinking at them, trying to communicate where the jam-or jams, as it seemed was the case-could be found.

"Looks like the jams are in A and E. You take the right side, I've got over here," he stated, and they began to carefully open the different compartments that made up the printer. "Watch for the metal, it's hot."

"I've worked with a copier before, thank you."

"Well then you should have known how temperamental they can be."

He heard her snort in response, but she kept her focus on the machine until a shadow suddenly caught both of their attention. They both looked up to find a senior faculty member staring at them and the copier as though all three were the most unpleasant things he had ever seen.

"Tsk. That thing is always breaking," he commented, and then his focus narrowed on the woman. "Miss, when you fix that, please bring 75 copies of each of these worksheets to my office. It's room 207, on the left."

And without another word, he dropped a small packet of worksheets on the top of the copier and walked out of the office. Both Kakashi and the woman stared wordlessly at the retreating figure. Then they glanced back into the machine, refocused on their task.

"Ah-ha!" the woman cried as she opened up an inner compartment and the offending piece of paper revealed itself. He watched as she carefully pried the paper out of the machine, making sure not to catch a small piece in the roller.

She waved the paper at him in mock-victory. "Now it's your turn," she told him, hand back on her hip as she waited for him to locate the paper on his side of the copier.

Kakashi sighed, but did as he was told, carefully pushing latches and leavers until the compartment labeled "E" revealed itself. He pressed down on the button under the label and pulled, listening as the telling scrape of paper against metal let him know his work was almost done. And thank goodness for that; he didn't even fix the machinery in his own office, but even though he knew next to nothing about her, he did know the woman with the piercing green eyes and bubblegum hair was not going to let him walk away from this task.

Which brought up another issue entirely. "Mrs. Yamamoto hasn't retired, has she? I would have heard about it," he prompted, his attention split between carefully extracting the sheet of paper and listening for her answer. He wanted to know who this woman was; he knew she wasn't a new administrative assistant.

"No, I gave her the day off today," the woman responded, and he glanced up in time to see her pick up the worksheets the instructor had left for her and dump them in the recycling bin. He smiled, utterly charmed by her attitude.

He stood once he freed the offensive piece of paper, and the copier came back to life as he closed up the compartments on his end. He held out the paper to her in offering: "Hatake Kakashi, Dean of Engineering."

"I know who you are, Dr. Hatake," she told him, seemingly unimpressed. "Did you come by to steal more supplies for your office?"

Kakashi let out a bashful laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. Perhaps he wasn't going to get her name after all. "Well, you see-"

"Save it," she cut him off, but there was no heat in her words. Instead, she smiled at him like a cat who had just caught sight of an interesting toy. "I'll be by later today to retrieve some of our black whiteboard markers. I hate using the red ones."

"Ah, to be honest, I came here to get some of those..."

She held up her finger, silencing him again. "You better figure it out then. I'll be there around three."

"Yes, m'am."

It was only then that she flashed him another smile and introduced herself. "Dr. Haruno Sakura, Dean of Medicine."

"Ah." Ah.

For some reason, he was still standing there at the copier when her print job finished and she collected her finished work. "See you later, Hatake." And with a graceful spin away from the copier, she was moving back toward her office and leaving him staring in her wake.

He couldn't wait until 3pm. He'd be ready for her then.