Chapter 7.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" was the first thing that left Hinata's lips once she and Hatake entered the nurse's office.

"About what you said before. About how I teach. I changed my mind."

The health assistant looked at the man in front of her, stunned. For a fleeting half a second she thought that he was joking, but her surprise had immediately passed to give way to guilt. Here stood one of the most reclusive people she'd ever met, asking for her help despite their history, and the first thing she did was doubt him.

While Hinata was preoccupied with her thoughts, Kakashi took her silence as a sign of disbelief in his sincerity.

"Of course, I won't just take up your time for nothing," he rushed to add, his panicked mind not coming up with anything better than a bribe, "I promise to listen to what you say," he finished lamely, realizing that there was nothing he could offer to the woman. The kind of money he possessed was small change to the Hyuga empire's heir. He was about to argue his case more when a sudden giggle brought his scrambling mind to a halt.

"That is a very tempting offer you made," she tittered teasingly, and Kakashi felt his dignity flush down the drain. Why was it that this woman had such an effect on him? "I don't need anything. It was me who offered to help."

If that wasn't a sign from above, then Kakashi didn't know what was. When presented in such a way, there was no possible justification to refuse the opportunity.

"Alright," he said, offering his hand to seal the deal.

"Alright," she repeated, shaking it, that amused smile still dancing upon her lips.

Thus, the two of them agreed to meet after school in his classroom to discuss his situation in detail. Meanwhile, they had work of their own to do. Kakashi hurried to leave the woman's office, the humiliation he suffered there not once but twice since the Hyuga girl's arrival was a bit too much.

Just as he was about to turn a corner towards the stairs a hoarse voice called after him. Stopping in his tracks, Kakashi slowly turned around, trying his best not to snap at the vice-principal.

"What do you need, Danzou?" So much for not snapping.

The old bastard frowned a little, but otherwise did not show any signs of displeasure with Kakashi's lip. The art teacher smirked; back in the day when he was a new teacher at KL Danzou used to flip out when he talked to him that way.

"I just finished going over your reports," he drawled, a rare smirk invading his harsh features. With his scarred chin and hard stony eyes, one of which was damaged beyond recovery, he looked more like a war veteran than a teacher. "Frankly, I am surprised. It got to be the first time you made a proper report, following all the formal procedures."

Although the older man's words were those of praise, Kakashi could tell from his tone that it was anything but.

"Is this all you have to tell me? Otherwise I'm busy," he wasn't going to stand there and listen to the smug bastard mock him. Turning around he strode off to the basement, where his classroom was located. At least it was quiet there. He was done with lessons for today, so he had a few hours to himself, meaning it was a perfect opportunity to practice.

Two hours later, Kakashi was almost regretting doing that. Almost, because no amount of pain will deter him from drawing. Even now, when his arm felt like falling off, he still attempted to complete the cover of his comic. It was a well rendered picture of the protagonist of his and Obito's original story they came up with when they were in high school. All in all, Kakashi was satisfied with his work, even though it took him four times the effort to finish it. He was just putting finishing touches on it when–

"Fucking piece of shit! Fuck!"

His computer crashed, rendering the last fifteen minutes of his work obsolete. Thank God he had autosave enabled, otherwise the school would have had to pay for a new PC for the art classroom.

"Fuck!" he kept swearing, slamming his hand on the table and instantly regretting it. Not only did he fear for his stylus' state, but his injured arm hadn't thanked him for it.

Frantically rebooting his miserable PC, Kakashi made sure his stylus and drawing tablet were alright before moving on to his hand. Huffing and puffing, he frustratedly waited for his computer to open the program to begin drawing again. Just as his laggy toaster loaded up his last work the door to his class burst open and in came the second Hyuga girl, the one who was his student.

"What's up, Mr. Hatake, I'm here for the"–Hanabi noticed the digital drawing equipment on her teacher's desk–"extra lessons…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes travelled to the screen. "Hey, is that the Yellow Flash?!"

Kakashi felt himself tense up at the mention of the character Obito created. It was a character dear to him, and he still weirded out when someone else aside from him saw it. Not only that, but the girl had apparently knew the character. While he was busy processing how to proceed, Hanabi was already beside him at his desk.

"No way," she said, awestruck, "he looks totally awesome!"

"It's unfinished, thanks to this stupid computer," Kakashi grunted as he began redoing the last quarter of an hour of his work.

"You know, Minato is my favorite comic. Didn't know you liked it too."

Kakashi glanced at his student, contemplating her words. When he and Obito created Minato they never expected the popularity it gained. It had quickly become a hit, and thousands of posts on forums from fans every day expressing their enjoyment of their series were a proof of that. It was one thing to know about your fans from commentaries, however, and totally another to meet one in person.

"Wait a second, why do you have the title on your picture? It looks like a... cover," Hanabi's eyes widened in realization. "It's you! You are Hokage!"

Kakashi let out a heavy sigh. "I never liked that name…"

"Oh my God! Mr. Hatake, you are a… a legend! You are my favorite author! I can't believe this!" she gushed, making him feel decidedly more uncomfortable. "Oh my God, are you reviving the series!? Can I see the manuscript? Why did you wait so long to continue? Why now?"

The girl was about to go into overdrive from her excitement, and Kakashi found himself smirking despite the pain and frustration. It somehow felt comforting to let his secret out, as if a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He'd long forgotten how gratifying it was to receive positive feedback from others.

"I still can't believe you are the Hokage!" Hanabi continued, cooling out somewhat. She seemed to wait for his response, and then pouted when none came. "Are you upset that your secret is out? I promise I won't tell anyone!"

"Even your sister?" Kakashi blurted out, surprising even himself.

"If that's what you want, then yes."

"Well, there is nothing to be done about it, is there?" he said with a sigh. "Come on, let's begin our lesson."

"Yay!" Hanabi fist pumped. "Can I see the manuscript?"

"No."

And the two of them spent the next hour in peace, until a loud voice interrupted it. Despite the person standing behind the door, Kakashi knew perfectly well to whom that obnoxious voice belonged.

"If you enter without knocking, I will put one more week on your detention list. Do you hear me, Naruto?" the art teacher warned loud enough for the blond troublemaker to hear.

As if under a spell, the voices quieted, and after a short pause a careful knock could be heard.

"You may enter."

Hanabi watched with fascination as two seniors shuffled to their seats right next to her, her own unceremonious entrance an hour ago playing in her head. She entered without a knock and Mr. Hatake hadn't said anything. She made sure not to do that next time.

"Hey, how are ya doing?" she heard the blond ask her. "What are you here for?"

His friend also gave her a curious look.

Before she could say anything, their teacher interjected with a sharp remark, "She is here to learn, something I hope you two would at least try to replicate."

"Sure thing, teach," Naruto replied easily, putting hands behind his back and sprawling in his chair. Sasuke next to him facepalmed.

"Glad that we understand each other," Mr. Hatake said. "Did you bring your photos?"

"Yes," Sasuke quickly answered, covering his friend's mouth with his hand and preventing him from further antagonizing their teacher. He then handed his smartphone to the older man.

Peeking over Mr. Hatake's shoulder, Hanabi managed to spy a look at the pictures in it. There were dozens of them, but one seemed to have caught their teacher's attention. It was a photo of Naruto. He looked like it was taken when he was in the 7th grade; he stood in a silly pose with white and red paint on his face and hands. It had a nice perspective in it and good lighting.

"They'll do," Mr. Hatake sighed, giving the phone back to the dark-haired teen. "Now break each of them down to their simple shapes and then we'll see."

"I hate deconstruction," Naruto whined, but nonetheless started his work, Sasuke quietly following suit.

The two of them were pretty much forgotten for the rest of the hour, with Mr. Hatake focusing on giving Hanabi a personal lesson. The girl felt slightly guilty for taking up their teacher's time, but she figured the senior students weren't really interested in art and just came for their detention. Hanabi once again questioned their school's system of providing every student with art lessons. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to only have art for those interested?

When she asked Mr. Hatake about it, his only response was a shrug of his shoulders and a noncommittal, "Art was part of Konoha Lyceum's curriculum since its first days under Madara and Hashirama. I guess the school is trying to respect tradition."

Half an hour later, Naruto and Sasuke declared that they were almost done with their exercise. Somewhere between that and Kakashi's remark about KL's traditions, Hinata came to the workshop. This time the air between the two adults was more civil. In fact, it almost seemed as if Mr. Hatake was a little compliant. They spoke briefly in the back of the classroom, their hushed tones preventing the three students from hearing anything. And boy were they curious as to what could the adults be talking about. From Naruto's goofy parodies Hanabi could tell that he thought Mr. Hatake and her sister were secretly dating. She rolled her eyes. As if!

Mr. Hatake then left Hinata to her own devices to check the boys' work. Deciding to take a little break from studying, Hanabi watched her teacher interact with others. Mr. Hatake was a stern man, but ultimately fair. He pointed out the imperfections in their work and told them how they could do better. He demanded respect from his students, but Hanabi couldn't help but think he would've been more successful if he were kinder. Afterall, what he got from most of them was fear and not respect.

"Are you going to continue to eavesdrop or spend your break time on something more productive?" she heard him ask. How did he notice without looking at her?

"Sorry," she said, pulling a chocolate bar and a bottle of chocolate milk from her backpack. It was a good time to have a little snack and chat with Hinata. She moved to the back and sat beside her sister.

Finishing up with the boys, Kakashi allowed them to do their chemistry revision, per Sasuke's request. The two had a test with Danzou tomorrow, and if there was one thing the three of them had in common, it was their mutual dislike for the old chemistry teacher. Kakashi was aware of Naruto and Sasuke's history with Danzou, and knew that he'd be displeased if they did well on his test. Come to think of it, he remembered the old bastard brag that his test was going to have a particularly hard question on pH calculation…

"I suggest you spend more time on pH calculations," he said, and the two teens exchanged confused looks.

Hanabi couldn't help but overhear their conversation, as well as Hinata's gasp of surprise. Glancing up at her sister she could see the shock on her face.

"What happened?" she asked, not one to be left out.

"He helped them," she whispered, "he knew what question they were going to have and gave them a hint."

Hanabi turned back to the seniors in front of her. They seemed unaware of their teacher tipping them off, but nonetheless started revising pH calculations, as evident from their mutterings of equations. She'd like to see their faces when the actual question comes up.

When the clock hit 7 o'clock, Naruto and Sasuke were officially free to go.

"Thanks for letting us study for the chemistry test," Sasuke diplomatically offered their art teacher before they left.

"Yeah-yeah," he waved them off, "just remember, if you get anything less than a B I'll add one more week to your detention."

Hinata and Hanabi suppressed a giggle, while Naruto gulped. Sasuke only nodded, fully aware that it wasn't a joke and Kakashi will make good on his threat.

Thanking their teacher once again, the pair left in a flurry of banter. They sure were good friends.

Mr. Hatake and Hinata went into his office to 'discuss work', leaving Hanabi wondering if Naruto's jokes about their relationship weren't just jokes. Anyway, Hanabi took this opportunity to beg her teacher for Minato's manuscript some more. Imagine his surprise when he actually let her see the newest draft for the upcoming chapter. Hanabi's excitement was through the roof, she absorbed the digital pages on the screen with a childlike wonder.

"You sure it's okay to leave Hanabi alone with your computer?" Hinata asked when the door of Mr. Hatake's office closed behind them.

"I figured I need feedback on my… project I'm currently working on," the man replied, offering her a seat on his couch. "Hanabi happens to be interested in such things, so…"

Giving him a knowing smile, Hinata decided to ask another pressing question. "Then what can you say about letting Naruto and Sasuke know about the questions on the upcoming test?" She knew those two well from all their visits to the infirmary, and she also was present in the cafeteria when Danzou mentioned his test.

"I merely told them to focus a little more on pH calculations, that's it."

"Alright, then answer me this: why do you refuse to call me by my name?"

"What makes you think I refuse?"

"Well, you call everyone by their first name, even the vice-principal. Everyone except me."

"Do you… want me to call you by your first name?" he asked, and despite his indifferent appearance she could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"Yes, please," she nodded, giving him a smile. "If we are to be partners in this, we should be able to address each other comfortably, don't you think."

"Alright… Hinata."

"Thanks, Kakashi."

None of them wanted to make the situation more uncomfortable than it already was. However, their conversation somehow turned very awkward. Attempting to change the subject, Hinata looked around, noting the complete lack of free space in the office/storage room that also acted as a bedroom for the art teacher.

"A lot of stuff you've got here," she commented as Kakashi stepped over a stack of small boxes to sit at a little table.

"Yeah…"

Feeling their small talk going nowhere, Hinata cleared her throat.

"So, what exactly do you want me to help you with?"

"You seem to handle annoying people well–"

"You mean 'patient'?"

"So I wanted to ask for your opinion. What do I do wrong?"

Hinata saw the seriousness in Kakashi's eyes, and she understood that there could be no room for mistakes. He was on probation, afterall. Taking a long pause to properly think her next words over, she finally spoke.

"Every situation is individual, but there are some things that apply universally," she began, trying to ignore the surrealism of their current conversation. "For example, not being demeaning towards your student's work."

"But what if it's horrible?"

"Then tell them so without actually saying 'horrible'. Try to be more encouraging."

Kakashi's face turned pensive. Well, whatever of his face she could see. He looked at the floor for a long moment, as if contemplating her words. Hinata started to think that perhaps her job was not as hard as she anticipated, before Kakashi actually spoke.

"I don't get it."

A strong urge to facepalm washed over Hinata, but she willed herself to practice what she preached. Patience. It seemed she was going to need a whole lot of it from now on.

"I have an idea," she said, remembering her medical school. "In university, we role played to practice our counselling skills. There are two kinds of communication: verbal and non-verbal. Let's role play and see what area you need to work more on."

Kakashi eyed her skeptically, but nonetheless shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see harm in it."

Nodding, Hinata took a piece of paper and quickly doodled a picture on it. "Here, imagine I'm your student and this is my work," she said, handing him her drawing.

"Is this a joke?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Come on, Kakashi," she pouted, "at least try."

"Okay, here we go," he grumbled, seemingly thinking on what to say. "I…" he looked once more at the crudely drawn stick figure of what he could only assume was an imitation of himself, with angry eyes and a random tree in the background. "But this really is horrible. I can't even evaluate something like this, it's–"

He then stopped, noting the unimpressed look the woman was giving him.

"Alright, let's try another approach," Hinata said, leaning over towards the closest stack of boxes and fishing out a random drawing from it. It turned out to be one of his students' previous assignments. Hinata didn't know how good it was but she supposed there was likely at least something he would find lacking. "Here, imagine this is my work and try to evaluate it. Imagine this is not my best work and I'm usually better than what I'm handing to you know."

Kakashi took the drawing and gave it a critical look. He then looked up at Hinata, who smiled encouragingly and readied herself for what he had to say.

"Well, this work is not up to your usual standard and I'd like to know why," he said dryly, almost accusingly.

Hinata watched him for a second and after making sure he had nothing more to say, shook her head.

"What?" he asked. He was sure he was respectful and even tried to learn about the reasons for his student's poor performance.

"It was good of you to inquire as to why I did a worse job than usual, but you came off as a bit insensitive."

Insensitive? "I don't know what kind of things they teach in medical schools nowadays, but what I said was in no way insensitive."

"That may be true, but you have to remember you are dealing with teenagers. Put yourself in that student's place, imagine you have troubles at home or in your social life, you'd like for someone to listen to you and support you, right?"

Kakashi considered her words. He remembered when he himself was a high school student. Back then he was lost, and if it wasn't for Obito and their teacher, Minato, he'd be in a much darker place today.

"I get your point," he mumbled. "But I don't know how to do that. How to be a babysitter."

"Well, think of it this way: your end goal is to produce a good artist, right?" When Kakashi nodded, Hinata continued, "Then by right you should use whatever way possible to do that, right?" Another nod. "Then trying to establish a relationship of trust between you and your students would be beneficial in reaching that goal. And how could they trust you if you don't attempt to understand their circumstances?"

"I get that, but how do I establish that trust?" The art teacher seemed sincere in his question. Sincere and almost comically confused.

"Well, first of all, you need to become more approachable." Seeing confusion still firmly plastered on his masked face, Hinata elaborated. "I'm not sure if you are aware, but you are a very intimidating person."

"That was very sensitive of you," Kakashi commented sarcastically, making the woman chuckle.

"I'm not saying that it's bad. I think being able to be intimidating is a great quality. But it's not a good idea to always be that way, much like you can't always be kind."

"But you are always kind," he noted, and Hinata felt her cheeks flush with warmth. "I mean, no offense," he coughed awkwardly. If only he knew that her taking offense at his statement was the furthest thing from truth…

"Soo, let's get back to how to be approachable," she diverted, not wishing to further test the limits of her embarrassment, "you could start with the simplest thing: smile."

"Huh?"

"Try to smile more." Wasn't what she was telling him obvious? "It would help if you didn't wear a mask–"

"No. I'm not taking off my mask." He seemed to be putting his foot down about it, so Hinata didn't argue.

"Ookay… But still, try to smile when talking to others."

After a few moments of deliberation, Kakashi nodded his agreement. "Fine. What about that communication thing you talked about?"

"Ah, the verbal and non-verbal communication? It's simple: verbal communication is what words you say, while non-verbal is how you say it. For example, in your role play earlier, your verbal communication was not ideal, but it could've worked if you used an appropriate tone and expression."

"So, non-verbal is more important?" he asked, trying to make sense of the woman's words.

"Well, simply put, yes. By using the right tone and gestures you can turn a neutral expression like the one you said earlier into an understanding, encouraging one," she answered. "Let's try it. Say it again, but try to be more empathetic this time."

"Alright, here goes…" Kakashi took a deep breath and made his second attempt, but this time with a softer tone, "I noticed your work not being up to par lately, any particular reason for that?"

"Good, that's much better than before! You even changed up some of the words."

If not for the younger woman's matter-of-fact tone, Kakashi would've thought she was patronizing him. Funny, since they were discussing the importance of tone and non-verbal communication. "I think I understand the difference."

Hinata nodded. "Did you copy someone you know or tried to do it by yourself?" her words seemed to have surprised Kakashi, judging from his stunned expression.

"I copied my former teacher. He was very kind, but not a pushover either."

"That's a good way to learn," the health assistant agreed. "With a question phrased like that a student might reveal something about the reason for their poor work. It could be that he was busy with other subjects,"–she raised her hand, anticipating his protest–"or it could be something more serious, like they were sick or their beloved pet had died."

"I see," he muttered. That would certainly be an appropriate justification. Afterall, he too used to have a pet whom he loved dearly. Pakkun was his loyal companion for almost sixteen years, and he was devastated the day he died from old age. Once again, if it weren't for Minato and Obito…

The two of them continued their little lecture, oblivious to the late hour. Hinata learned a lot about the art teacher, and she hoped he did the same with regards to her. There was something compelling to him, and Hinata being Hinata, wanted to have an amicable relationship with the man. When it was time to leave, she promised to continue helping him out whenever he needed, and he in turn promised to listen to her and be a good teacher to Hanabi. Which was unnecessary – from what she saw, he was already a good teacher to her little sister.

"See you tomorrow," she said, leaving his office, "we can continue the role playing after lessons."

Just as she said that she turned to Hanabi, who had been patiently doing work of her own all this time. Noticing her little sister's scandalized face, Hinata replayed her words in her head. It was the quickest her face turned red in her life.

"S-shut up," she squeaked, already knowing what was about to come. "Not a word!"

"Sis, just what the two of you have been doing there this whole time?"

"I-it was for educational purposes!"

Hanabi couldn't hold it anymore. She burst out laughing, "Sometimes I think you are doing this on purpose," she said, wheezing from the lack of breath. "'For educational purposes', ha-ha!"

"Are you going to leave?" they heard Kakashi say as his head appeared through the half-opened door. "Some of us want to rest before work tomorrow."

"Sorry, sorry, I'm going," Hanabi replied, running up to her sister. It seemed her questions about her teacher being the mysterious Hokage and author of Minato had to wait till tomorrow.

When they left the building towards Iroha's car, Hanabi couldn't help but make one last comment.

"So, role playing, huh? Kinky."

"Shut up."