Thank you for reviewing! Also, in complete denial about the last page of 635. Complete. Deniaaaal.

Kakashi's next and final day off from work, he decided that perhaps he should get his ass in gear and use his vacation the way it was supposed to be used. After all, if he couldn't even look at a child without remembering, then his next child assassination mission wouldn't go very well.

It was just his luck that his new favorite fix worked with children all day long. Maybe Iruka's presence would be enough to counteract the memories brought by the kids'.

Kakashi now took his time at the memorial stone, dawdling in the misty dawn, trying to find an excuse to not go along to the Academy. But Minato was being judgmental, Obito was yelling scaredy cat and Rin was being sympathetic and frowning at the same time, and when he could no longer stand the oppressive silence of the memorial stone when he knew his teammates wouldn't be happy with him, he left to find Iruka.

He had managed to procrastinate all the way past the start of school. By the time Kakashi arrived to crouch in the tree, Iruka's lesson was already well under way. It was an in depth focus of the math and physics of kunai throwing, which could be vital to understand in order to aim. Of course, only if the student understood the lecture- but it was frighteningly clear that many of the students did not.

Iruka was explaining the critical lessons again and again, drawing diagram after diagram, patiently taking question after question. And it wasn't helping. Some students, like Minato's son, seemed to have given up entirely, who was sitting in the back doodling frogs on a scrap of paper. Others, like the pink-haired girl he remembered from last time were frantically scrambling to get page after page of notes without, Kakashi was sure, comprehending a thing. The lazy boy who had been asleep last time was sitting slumped in his chair, brown eyes oddly aware and alert- perhaps he was smarter than appearances seemed.

Of course, he was a Nara- Kakashi should've expected him to be a genius.

"Um, Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei?" A tiny voice called from up front, a small hand shooting up into the air.

Iruka turned to face the boy, seemed a bit frazzled and tired after explaining the concept for the tenth time. "Yes, Nehiko?"

"I don't really understand what a kunai is… or a shu-ri-kun…"

Iruka's lip twitched.

Kakashi's jaw dropped. Good lord. Was this the future of Konoha? When he was their age, civilian children knew what kunai and shuriken were.

Iruka slowly, slowly pulled his face into a smile, but it was tight and strained and didn't look genuine at all. "…This is a kunai. This is a shuriken." Iruka pulled the two items in question out of his weapon's pouch and, after a moment of hesitation, simply laid them gently on the desk. Kakashi got the distinct impression that he had resisted the urge to bury the kunai in the wood and throw the shuriken into Nehiko's textbook. "A kunai is like a knife, just shaped for ideal aerodyna- a better flight path- um, to make it easier to throw. I'm trying to explain why exactly that is. A shuriken is- you know, why don't we just stick to kunai for now, hmm?"

"Iruka-sensei!" yet another child called, and the sensei slowly turned to a blond boy in the second row."Iruka-sensei, I have a question too!"

Iruka's voice was as patient as ever when he slowly turned to face the next student. "Yes, Aki? What is your question?"

"So, since gravity makes stuff move left and right, why does a ball just fall straight down if I throw it up?"

Kakashi frowned. Either Iruka was a terrible teacher, or these kids were really, really stupid.

A vein in iruka's forehead throbbed. The man stood there for a moment, then slowly turned away to face the board. He raked a hand through his hair, scratching at his scalp. "Um… you know what? We can pick this up tomorrow. How about we start history instead?"

The response was a chorus of relieved sighs, notebooks full of chicken scratch notes snapping shut and heads hitting the desks. Kakashi chuckled at that. Such a display in his Academy days would've garnered them all an extra hour in school and twice as many homework problems. Iruka didn't even say a word about it.

"Okay!" he called, forcing a bright, false cheer into his voice. "Anyone care to give a recap of what we learned yesterday? Kiba, what about you?"

The Inuzuka- one of the students that looked like they'd been killed by the psychics lesson- perked up immediately. "Oh! Right! Well we learned all about how the Second Hokage used that super rare wood style thing in the Third War to defeat the Mist and how the four Sannin fought in the Fourth War and beat the Ten Swordsmen of the… Mist, or maybe Stone, I don't remember…"

iruka wasn't the only one who twitched this time. Kakashi stared, open-mouthed. Every single detail had been hopelessly wrong. From what he had heard of Iruka's physics lecture, he wasn't a bad teacher, far from it- and history had to be easier to teach than physics. These kids were just… very, very stupid.

He thought Iruka deserved an award when, instead of screaming and ripping his hair out, the sensei just smiled patiently again. "Almost, but not quite, Kiba. Let's try and fix a few of those inaccuracies."

Kakashi watched as Iruka kept on teaching, this time about history. The lecture wasn't anything new; he had heard it all before, and seen much of it with his own eyes, but the way Iruka phrased it was interesting, and he couldn't help but listen. That, and Iruka's voice was calming and as long as he focused on the teacher and not the students, being sucked into memories wasn't a possibility.

But history could only hold his attention for so long, and when Iruka began discussing the battle at Kannabi Bridge, he tuned out almost immediately. Team Minato hadn't been the only ones active that day, there were many other squadrons and battles to discuss, but the two Heroes of the Sharingan were always a topic in that discussion, a topic that he didn't want to listen to. He focused more on the kids, but his closed Sharingan began reacting to the strikingly familiar sight.

That Hyuuga girl, her hair was dark, just like the-

That blonde Yamanaka, her eyes were the same color as the flowery designs on her nightgown-

The vibrant red of the Akimichi's clan symbol, that was red as blood, as her blood-

Kakashi yanked up his headband, forcing his Sharingan open to stare at children before him. The Sharingan couldn't remember and record at the same time, and he made it record the classroom and Iruka so he couldn't remember.

He watched as Naruto drew another frog in slow motion, the Uchiha's lip pulled up in self-righteous disgust and he sneered at something Iruka was saying, watched as a blonde girl slowly fanned herself with a sheet of paper and batted her eyelashes at the Uchiha, Kiba slowly stroked his tiny dog's head, the Aburame taking notes with one hand and letting a few small bugs crawl over the other one. He read Iruka's lips with his eye, watching as he began to describe the situation that created the pivotal battle in the war.

"…Iwa nin crossing Kannabi- Naruto, pay attention!- Kannabi bridge to…"

Kakashi snapped his normal eye closed, trembling at the concentration it took to keep the Sharingan recording and not remembering. He found himself staring at Minato's son, burning every single detail into his member, every last twitch, every last sigh, he saw it all, watching until his world was nothing more than Uzumaki Naruto.

He was so focused on the bright orange and yellow blob of flesh that when the room erupted into movement, it almost made him jump. The majority of the students were suddenly up and moving, and the Sharingan had been focused so greatly that the blast of color and movement that entered its vision gave him a blinding headache. Kakashi snapped the Chakra-consuming eye shut, holding his hand over it.

Kakashi watched through one grey eye as the majority kids streamed from the room, leaving behind just five- the pink-haired girl, a boy with dark hair and even darker eyes, the annoying Nehiko from earlier, the Hyuuga girl, and another girl that he didn't recognize as a clan began pulling out lunches from their backpacks, Iruka doing the same, and the sensei sent a look around the few students that remained. "You're all here for the tutoring sessions, right?"

Kakashi blinked in surprise. Iruka had just spent three and a half hours going through mind-numbingly boring lectures, answering agonizingly stupid questions over and over again, looking like he was about to tear his hair out- and now he was going to give up his lunch break to do the same? The man was a saint.

Iruka's lunch progressed much the same way class had. He answered inane questions, repeated explanations, pulled out diagrams again and pointing to them with a slow patience that Kakashi applauded. And, all the while, Kakashi marveled at the fact that the simple teacher's presence kept the memories away, locked tightly behind a door in his mind, their weight barely even noticeable.

The rest of the day continued in the same fashion. After lunch, there was kunai practice, and Kakashi actually had to dodge one stray weapon despite being safely hidden high up in a tree. He became steadily convinced that Iruka was risking his life out there.

After school, there was another half hour tutoring session, and then Hyuuga Hiashi came in for an in-depth meeting on his daughter's progress. It was getting late, and Kakashi was getting hungry- come on, he had skipped lunch- but he decided to stay and listen in. The majority of it just made him sympathize with Iruka even more. The teacher pulled out homework, quizzes and tests, drawing Hiashi's attention to almost perfect marks- but the Hyuuga only focused on his daughter's few mistakes, shaking his head and muttering things under his breath that sounded suspiciously like never good enough to be clan head.

Kakashi frowned. Such comments only reminded him of his own father in the days leading up to his death. Iruka didn't seem too pleased by it either.

When Hiashi half-asked, half-ordered, after almost an hour of descriptions of Hyuuga Hinata's school work, if Iruka could tutor her more after class, a vein throbbed in Iruka's forehead. He set the papers aside and leaned forward, voice as carefully polite as necessary when speaking to a clan head but disguising a dark anger that Kakashi never wanted to be subject to. "Hinata is one of the top students in my class. On top of the work she is doing to master the Byakugan, which I am sure is quite a lot, she is also delivering almost perfect papers. So they're not flawless; that's why she is in school and not out taking missions. This is only her first year in the Academy. I have students who aren't going to pass this year and I am devoting all my time to not only help them but also help those like Hinata who aren't being fully challenged by this course. I would love to work with Hinata more, she is a lovely young lady, but if you're asking me to take even more time out of my day to help a student who is already succeeding very well in my class, then I'm sorry that I have to inform you that I also have work to do on top of the Academy and I am not your personal servant. You can not order me to tutor her. I already hold tutoring sessions during lunch and after school, before school if a student is particularly desperate- none of which I am required to hold and many of which Hinata attends. Please refrain from overstepping the bounds of your authority, Hyuuga-sama."

Kakashi had never, ever heard anyone speak to the head of the Hyuuga clan like that before.

Neither had Hyuuga Hiashi, if the look on his face was any indication.

After a few moments passed in a cold, tense silence so thick it was stifling, Hiashi stood, glaring down at the poor Academy teacher like was a piece of meat. "I will be speaking with the Hokage about this, Iruka-sensei. Good day."

Kakashi watched as the Hyuuga swept outside, his air of anger and, yes, humiliation practically palpable. The moment the door was shut, Iruka slumped over, head hitting his desk. He moaned loudly, and Kakashi felt a touch of sympathy for the teacher. Hiashi really was a right bastard and deserved every word Iruka had said to him- actually, he deserved a great deal more than that- but the Hyuuga had a great deal of influence. Kakashi could probably get away with speaking like that to him, but just an Academy teacher?

Well, Iruka had been nice enough to keep him sane these past three days. The least Kakashi could do in return was throw a little of his influence around.

Kakashi dropped into the Hokage's office later that night, giving Hiashi ample time to make his complaints, simply giving a little wave to the ANBU guarding the door. Being the famous Copy Ninja did have its perks, after all; one of those perks meant he didn't need to be summoned to see the Hokage.

The village leader glanced up at his entrance. eying him through a faint cloud of smoke. "Kakashi?" he asked, sounding vaguely surprised. "Well, this is unexpected."

"Well, when I'm on forced leave, I find that I have a lot of free time on my hands. Thought I might drop by."

"Since you do that so often, don't you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi shrugged lightly. "Well, what do you know. Things change."

The Hokage leveled him with an unreadable look. "Of course they do."

"Aah."

The Hokage returned to his paperwork, lowering his head as silence returned to the office. He seemed content to wait until Kakashi gave his reason for coming, and the jounin watched him for a few moments before complying. "Hokage-sama, I heard through the grapevine that Hiashi was complaining about an Academy teacher… um, Ireka-sensei?"

"That's Iruka-sensei," Hiruzen corrected, sounding almost amused, and Kakashi got the idea that he knew more than he was letting on.

Kakashi nodded nevertheless. "Ah, right. Well, pardon me for making it my business, but you know how touchy Hiashi can get about… well, everything. And his daughter's a good student, I'm sure; don't let him take his wrath out on a poor little Academy teacher. I know you're always short-staffed over there, since no one in their right minds would ever sign up to teach a room full of those demons."

Hiruzen seemed very amused now. He just stared openly at Kakashi for several seconds, who stood without fidgeting or any other sign of discomfort before the village leader's scrutiny. Finally, the Hokage spoke, still seeming rather pleasantly surprised. "I would never punish Iruka-sensei just based off the words of one parent- even Hyuuga Hiashi's words. He is a wonderful teacher. Buy why are you so concerned about this? You have never been so interested in any Academy matters before."

"Maa, I'm trying to become involved in more community actives. I've heard that it is considered healthy."

"Really."

Kakashi nodded innocently. "Of course."

The Hokage remained silent and unreadable for another moment before he slowly began to smile. "Well, your concern is noted, at any rate. I'll be sure not to indiscriminately punish one of my best teachers on the words of the most judgmental man in the village, Kakashi, thank you for reminding me to not rush to conclusions."

"Just doing my duty as a loyal shinobi to Konoha."

Hiruzen nodded again, and he seemed a bit happy now. The jounin easily slid his hands into his pockets, feeling for the comfortable weight of his book. "Mmm… well, now, I think I need to go enjoy the nice summer weather."

"It's almost winter."

"Is it now?" Kakashi tilted his head to the side and scratched at his hair. "Maa, I didn't notice."

"No more long term missions to Snow Country. Just because you're not in danger of freezing to death doesn't mean it's not winter. Which you would know if you spent more time in the village than out of it. Kakashi, you're forgetting everything about your home."

Kakashi shrugged as he drifted toward the window, aiming to duck out through it. "Well, an ANBU isn't supposed to have any physical attachments. Right, Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage frowned at that. The pleased jounin jumped out the window, but when he was clinging to the wall through Chakra, Hiruzen spoke up, frown shifting into a gentle smile. "Iruka's a good friend to have, Kakashi. I'm glad you took a liking to him, if no one else."

It was Kakashi's turn to frown. Since when was Iruka his friend?