Chapter 3.

It's been three days since the incident in Tsunade's office. Hinata hadn't seen Hatake much, something that she surprisingly found herself worrying over. She hoped he wasn't avoiding meeting with Tsunade out of embarrassment before her.

"Kakashi? That brat is fine," was all Tsunade said when the younger woman asked her about the art teacher.

Tsunade had explained everything to her not long after Hatake left. Apparently, Kakashi was living in the school! At first, Hinata thought she hadn't heard that right, but it was true – other teachers confirmed that their colleague was permanently residing in Konoha Lyceum; in his own office adjoined to the art classroom, to be exact. When she asked how that explained Hatake storing his morphine in Tsunade's drawer, the older woman told her that there have been incidents of students breaking into his room. It was the reason everyone knew the art teacher was living at school in the first place. Since then, Kakashi didn't trust his students not to snoop around. The last thing he needed was more rumors going around about him.

Hinata empathized with the man. He was taking morphine for a legitimate condition, but kids were kids. They don't care what reason you have, all they will see is that you are taking drugs, and all they say about you is that you are a junkie. It didn't help that Hatake was the most hated teacher in their school.

"I can see that you are worried about our Mr. Sunshine."

Hinata smiled at her superior's nickname for the art teacher.

"I was just thinking how horrible it was to learn that somebody broke into your personal living space," she said, "and that it was your own student."

"Well, if it helps, that person is no longer studying here," the nurse replied after a small pause. "He wasn't expelled, if that's what you want to ask. He just transferred schools because his adoptive parents were living very far from here and it was inconvenient for him to travel all the way from another city to Konoha." Tsunade's face took a melancholy look. "A pity, really. He was the best student that brat ever had…"

Hinata was speechless. Every time she learned something about the enigmatic art teacher, only more questions popped up. The observant nurse had picked up on her assistant's curiosity.

"Alright, I think I told a bit too much this time," Tsunade said, returning to her paperwork. "If you want to learn more why don't you ask him yourself?"

"That's easier said than done," Hinata snorted. "I think he hates me for some reason."

"Nonsense! I know that brat since he was an actual brat, and let me tell you, he is grateful for the way you handled the situation."

The older woman's words surprised the young health assistant. Hinata didn't expect Hatake to express his gratitude to Tsunade.

"Did he really say that?"

"Well, not exactly… But he said, and I quote, 'Miss Hyuga is a professional'."

The two of them shared a laugh. Coming from him, that was as close to praise as one could get.

Weirdly enough, the rest of the day went by without any visits. Hinata was engrossed in an assignment from her father's company when the final bell rang, indicating the end of the day for most students. Only those unfortunate enough to get a detention or remedial lessons were to remain. For members of staff, however, the day continued until five.

"Don't forget that we have staff meeting today in two hours," Tsunade reminded her as the two continued their work.

When it was time for their meeting, Tsunade sent her away first, telling her that she had a few things to finish up at the office. Shrugging, Hinata went to the conference room, eager to take part in the school's management.

"Ah, Hinata," principal Sarutobi greeted her as she entered, "come on in, take a seat."

The newly appointed health assistant did as told, taking a look around the room. Almost everyone was there, including Hatake. The man was sitting right opposite her at the conference table, looking as impatient as ever.

"I hope it's not for another event, Hiruzen. I have two students' detention to supervise," the art teacher said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's principal Sarutobi for you, Hatake," Shimura corrected, barely concealing irritation. Hatake only rolled his eyes in response.

"Come now, Danzou, you know how I feel about formalities," the principal diffused the situation. Beside him a few teachers snickered. It was probably not the first time those two argued by the looks of it. "Anyway, let's get started." With those words, the principal nodded towards his right-hand man.

Nodding back, their vice-principal began the session. At first it was nothing interesting, just regular reports and requests from every member of staff. Hinata listened with full attention, nevertheless. A few of her colleagues were giving her teasing looks due to her overly diligent approach, but she didn't want to seem unprofessional. Compared to her, however, Hatake was the complete opposite. He sat there, posture slouched, with such a disinterested expression that she thought there was no way he wasn't doing it on purpose. To top it off, Danzou was glaring at him the whole time, and the art teacher looked like he couldn't care less.

"Now that we are done with the usual agenda, I want to announce that our school will soon be welcoming a new student, Hanabi Hyuga," the principal continued after Danzou's report was over. "She is our charming health assistant's little sister."

Hinata felt all eyes to be on her at that moment. She was slightly uncomfortable with all the attention, but pushed the feeling away. Their principal was smiling kindly, and everyone was congratulating her and expressing their joy at the prospect of teaching a relative of hers. She was flabbergasted by her colleagues' reaction. Normally, it would not be considered professional to recognize such things, but she had quickly learned that in Konoha student-teacher relationships were very different. And not in a bad way. She felt like teachers and other staff members here were truly friends to the students, and the bonds they shared were something special, to be cherished rather than forgotten as soon as you graduate. So, she smiled in return and bashfully answered all of her friends' curious questions about her sister.

"Why does the girl get such a special treatment, Hiruzen?" asked Kakashi as soon as everyone settled down a bit.

"I have to agree with Hatake," Danzou commented. "We cannot allow our personal relations affect the way we treat our students."

"I absolutely agree, my friends, all I did is mention that the young miss Hyuga who is going to be studying here soon is our dear Hinata's sister," Sarutobi answered with a coy smile.

Danzou huffed while Hatake once again rolled his eyes.

"Nevermind," the older man said, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I actually have one more thing to bring to discussion."

With those words, Danzou proceeded to drop a hefty stack of papers on the table. They landed right in the middle with an audible thud, and when Hinata took a closer look she could discern that they were some kind of complaint forms.

"Seventy-three. This is the number of formal complaints written on Mr. Hatake by students and their parents in the past years he's been working here as a teacher. And these are not trivial complaints, mind you,"–Danzou looked straight at the principal as he reported–"Insulted a student by questioning their intelligence; brought a seventh grader to tears during class; gave unreasonable amount of homework for Christmas break…" he listed just a few of the art teacher's transgressions as an example. "Those are not isolated incidents, Hiruzen. Several people, including those from the school board are behind these."

The whole time the vice-principal spoke, Hatake didn't even bat an eyelid. Hinata wondered how could he look so impassive when there was more than enough evidence to remove him from his position as a teacher. Turned out he did care, afterall, as he began to speak in his defense.

"Every single of those students you mentioned deserved what they got."

"You can't be serious."

"Come on!"

"This is going too far, Hatake."

Even now, as he was being attacked from all sides by his colleagues, the art teacher stood his ground.

"Is it my fault that the girl cries from constructive criticism? If you have a dream of becoming an animator you better learn how to draw first."

By now everyone was inspecting the reports on their fellow art teacher. Hinata too had picked up one complaint form and gave it a skim. Her eyes widened as she read about Hatake calling one of the student's assignment works 'trash' and demanding they redo it if they wanted to get a passing grade. No matter how you look at it, it was completely unprofessional and not becoming of a teacher whose job is to nurture the student and aid them in becoming better.

The principal silenced the growing murmurs of dissent among his fellow teachers and turned to the man in question.

"Kakashi, you do realize that Danzou makes a very valid point. We at Konoha value individual approach and thinking outside the box… However, it does not mean the teachers can ignore certain boundaries," he said, shaking his head. "Now, I have actually gone through all of those, in contrast to what you think," he looked at Danzou, tapping the reports on the table. "And in most of these cases, Kakashi was able to explain himself to the student he wronged. A few of them actually resolved beautifully, and I believe the student and their parents now hold much respect for the art teacher."

Everyone was surprised by the old principal's words. What could possibly have happened for them to begin to respect someone who made their child miserable?

"You can't mean that we leave this without any action?!" Danzou retorted, clearly on the verge of starting a verbal battle with his friend. For once, other teachers voiced their agreement with their older colleague.

"Of course not, my old friend. As much as I understand where Kakashi is coming from, our school cannot tolerate such behavior, no matter the intention," Hiruzen replied, his eyes hardening on the art teacher. "And hereby, I suggest we put Kakashi on probation. One of us will be attending his lessons every day for a week, then every two days for two weeks, and then once a week for the rest of the academic year to determine his conduct and whether he fulfils the standards of professionalism at this school."

"Hmm, I like it," said Tsunade, whose presence had completely surprised Hinata. Apparently, the nurse had quietly slipped in during Danzou's speech without the younger woman's noticing. "We'd need to make a schedule." Tsunade ignored the look of betrayal on Hatake's face as she made her suggestion.

"None of us obviously can monitor Hatake everyday," Asuma said, scratching his beard in a familiar thinking expression. "If we rotate we can make it work."

"Then it's settled. I leave making the schedule to you, Shizune," their principal finished. "Any other thoughts or suggestions?"

"This is ridiculous," Hatake protested. "I do not need anyone to oversee my every lesson! As if those brats need a babysitter to comfort them every time their fragile feelings are hurt!"

"See, this is the kind of attitude that lead us to this predicament, Kakashi" Hiruzen shook his head in disappointment. "If that is all, then you are all free to go."

With those words, their meeting adjourned. Everyone left buzzing with excitement at the prospect of attending the art teacher's infamous workshops. The only ones who were quiet were, ironically, the vice-principal and Hatake himself. The former expected a harsher punishment, while the latter was sour from the humiliation of having his lessons supervised.

The last hour of work Hinata spent on paperwork at the nurse's office. She settled for the day and as usual, went to the library to complete her independent work. As soon as she opened her laptop, she went on to check her work email like she always did. There was one unread letter in her inbox from Shizune. It was a message regarding the schedule for Hatake's supervision, asking everyone to approve of the rotation system. Hinata was surprised to see her name on the Excel spreadsheet under most of the dates. In fact, she was surprised she was part of the schedule at all! Considering that her position implied that she had to constantly be at the nurse's office, Hinata didn't expect to be the one who'd supervise Hatake's lessons.

Hinata quickly wrote an email back to Shizune, asking the same thing. Not even five minutes later, she got the secretary's answer.

"Dear Hinata,

I have consulted on this matter with Lady Tsunade. She approved of you taking part in this 'probationary supervision' scheme. In fact, she was the one who suggested you for most of the slots. Seeing as you were extremely professional and diligent with your work, we have decided that you'd be a perfect candidate for this role. Additionally, other teachers turned out to be extremely busy with classes of their own, so they physically cannot be present during Hatake's lessons unless they skip their own.

That being said, we understand that this can be too much unwanted work for one person, and making you do most of it is indeed unfair. Bear in mind that this schedule is just a draft, and depending on your feedback I will revise it and do my best to balance everything out.

Thank you for your understanding,

Shizune"

Hinata sighed. She didn't really mind attending Hatake's lessons. In fact, she was kind of curious herself on how did the enigmatic art teacher conduct his workshops. She immediately wrote a reply to Shizune, saying that she didn't mind the schedule as long as Tsunade was okay with her skipping on her duties so much every week. The email she received after that was a much simpler and less professional emoji of a kissy face.

Hinata chuckled, this was more like the Konoha Lyceum she began to know and like. While completing her assignment, she wondered on what kinds of things she should pay attention to when she will be overseeing Hatake's lessons, assuming the schedule remains unchanged.

Just like the last time, Hinata spent the whole evening in the library, up until its closing time. And just like the last time, Hatake Kakashi came to kick her out and lock the doors. His frame seemed even more tense than the last time, so Hinata decided to speak to him.

"Hey, it's cool that you took it upon yourself to take care of the library," she said, trying to find a topic of conversation.

He regarded her with a raised eyebrow, before turning back to the door and beginning to lock it. Hinata thought he'd ignored her like last time, but he surprised her by responding.

"You know, right?" When she asked him what did he mean by that, he clarified. "That I live here. I'm sure you've learned by now. So it only makes sense if I am the one to close the library."

The woman could only hum her understanding. It was obvious that the teacher was uncomfortable talking to her. Well duh, considering what transpired over these couple of days, it was completely understandable that he'd be embarrassed. So, Hinata decided not to torture the man any longer.

"Well, good night," she said, also thanking him for some reason.

As she was leaving the basement, she had a feeling that Hatake was watching her, despite not saying anything back. She only hoped that their future interactions would not be so awkward. She'd have to attend a lot of his lessons from now on, so she would be interacting with him on a fairly regular basis.


Here we go. Chapter 3.

I'm having fun with this story, hope you are too. There are a lot of things I have planned for this fic. Hopefully I'll be able to execute it at a decent enough level.