"…you don't have a problem with that do you Kakashi?" Only the end part of Tsunade's question caught Kakashi's attention. The staff meeting had gone long and Kakashi had long stopped paying attention.

"Wait, what?" Kakashi asked oblivious to the fact that everyone was staring at him.

"Between the sports event and the school trip you'll be the only staff member available to escort visiting Principal Terumi around campus when she arrives tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure, fine." Kakashi replied without thinking.

When the meeting adjourned Kakashi stayed in his seat and began rereading the most recent of the Icha-Icha series. With only a few chapters left to read his anticipation for the sequel's release tomorrow loomed all the more present in his thoughts.

"Ah, tomorrow. That's when I have to…"

Nearly falling out of his chair he looked around the room but was disappointed to see all other members of the staff had left. He couldn't escort the visiting Principal, he had to get a copy of the new book. For a moment he entertained the idea of appealing to Principal Tsunade about getting out of his duty, but he decided it best not to provoke her temper.

"Last time she got angry, we had to replace the entire Chem Lab." He mused aloud. "No, I guess I'll have to wait until after showing off the lab to get the book."

Locking the campus up was all part of the same old routine to Kakashi, the long trip home, the lonely house, the light bulbs that needed replacing, the creaky floor boards, and the ripped tatami. He marked another day off the calendar and sighed as he looked at the circled date indicating the release of the next book in the series. Sadly, it was the only date of importance marked on the calendar.

After lighting the candles in the room, Kakashi turned off the electric lights and knelt in front of his family's Butsudan. Opening the cabinet he gently picked up the portrait of his deceased parents. His mother, who died when he was young, and his father, who had taken his life not many years later. Though he had lived with relatives after that, he had never found that same spark between two people that he had seen his parents have for each other.

"Thirty years of life, and this is what I produce?" Kakashi said looking at his house in the dim light, turning back to his parent's portrait, "I wonder, would you be proud of me?"

Closing the family shrine Kakashi blew out each candle in turn save one before lying down on his futon. He stared into the last flame as the answer to his question came to him.

"No." And with his next breath Kakashi blew out the final candle.

The next day seemed a long drone to Kakashi. A humming sound as the train took him to school, the penetrating ringing of school bells, the annoying boasts of his colleague Guy, and the din of the class on break. When the school day finally ended Kakashi was actually looking forward to acting as the visiting Principal's escort. A chance to walk the halls of the school when things were actually quiet.

He waited by the school's main gate for her car to arrive. From what he had heard Kiri High School was one of the top in the district. Other teachers would probably see it as a rival school, but Kakashi paid little attention to such things. More than once Tsunade had tried to scold him for his indifference. The combination of his class' higher average scores and his position as teacher union rep made him no easy target for reproach in having little awareness of competition.

A very humble, economy line car pulled into the parking lot. As Principal Terumi exited her vehicle Kakashi's first thought was to wonder how she fit her tall frame into so compact an automobile. This line of thinking was quickly abandoned as his focus turned to her features. Long red hair, full lips, well-proportioned, she was like something out of all of the books he had read.

As she approached Kakashi put on his work face and prepared to be as polite as possible.

"Principal Terumi, welcome to Konoha Gakuen, I'm…"

"Hatake Kakashi, first year English instructor and chair of the Chemistry department. You're just the man I wanted to see." Her speech was elegant, but very professional.

"What brings you here today?"

"I'm here to inspect your campus' new chemistry wing. The firm who built yours put forward a good bid and I'm here to see the results of their work first hand."

"Right this way then." Kakashi gestured to the entrance that would lead them to the new wing. Things made more sense now than yesterday when he had been given this assignment, of course it was because it was his department.

They walked in silence through the halls, Kakashi tried stealing another glance at her but she noticed almost immediately. He directed his eyes forward again as he motioned the correct turn for them to take. A distant sound broke Kakashi's attention, and the silence between the two.

"Sounds like your team scored against us." Terumi said questioningly.

"How can you be certain it's not your team?" Kakashi responded, he didn't realize that the game today was against Kiri.

"You sure don't know much about other schools do you?" She asked her question in a tone that seemed to imply that she didn't want an answer. "Kiri has a special cheer for every goal, save, or play we do. Helps bond the students together."

Arriving at the Chem Lab Kakashi fumbled with his keys and unlocked the door. Letting her inside first he closed the door behind them and turned on the lights. The lab was still pristine, even after two years. He opened the back room, allowing her to examine the system that regulated the gas pumps and the plumbing. She systematically explored every corner of the lab until satisfied. After twenty minutes they walked back to the door to find Kakashi had accidentally locked them in.

"Ah, yeah. I forgot I keep the key to the lab door on my other set of keys." Kakashi's blunt statement of fact doubled as his apology.

Taking seats near the window, they occasionally waved at anyone who came by, those passersby where far and few between though. Sitting against the wall was boring, Kakashi reached to his pocket only to remember he had left the completed book at home. He put his head in his hands and let out a deep sigh.

"Funny isn't it?" Terumi eventually broke the silence, "I mean our situation."

"I suppose." Kakashi weakly replied, "When you contract the firm you're going to have to do something about these doors."

It took a few moments but their nervous chuckles eventually broke out into genuine laughter. As she parted her hair back from her face, Kakashi noticed her beautiful smile. They passed the time talking about her work at Kiri. Mei, she insisted after a while that Kakashi call her by name, had actually gone to school at Kiri when she was younger. Back then the campus had been on the slow path downward. After graduating from College she had made it her goal to become Principal of her cherished High School. Five years ago she accomplished her dream and in that time she took a school many regarded as a campus for delinquents and roughnecks and turned it into rival of Konoha's in both scholastic and athletic achievements.

"We still have a long way to go, but I'm hopeful."

The night janitor eventually found them and let them out. Kakashi escorted her to her car where she offered to take them out to dinner. Though torn, he declined. As he walked the streets of town he wondered why he had not taken her offer. Eventually his path brought him to the city's bookstore. On the shelf was one final copy of the new Icha-Icha novel. Reaching for it his hand bumped against a graceful but strong hand. The face he turned to meet was a familiar one.

"Mei?" Kakashi stood perplexed, seeing the Principal he had spent the afternoon locked in a Chemistry Lab was reaching for the same book as himself.

In a flash she grabbed the book and ran around a book display. Before Kakashi could think she was at the checkout line and walking out the door. He debated running after her for a moment, but every bit of reason in him thought such an action to be ridiculous. Before his reason could respond, Kakashi found that running after her was just what he was doing.

She was a lone figure, facing her car in the empty parking lot. As Kakashi slowly approached her he thought it odd that she was shaking. When he got close he saw that she was struggling with her keys, trying to open her door. She wasn't startled when Kakashi put his hands on hers. Her face was still flush with embarrassment.

The connection of their hands, and the look in her eyes seemed to tell her entire life's story to Kakashi. A woman dedicated to her work, never any time for a relationship, involved on one level withdrawn in another. In many ways, her life was the same as his. When she finally stopped shaking Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"How about that dinner you asked me out to?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

"Can you drive, I'm not certain I'm calm enough yet." She said as she wiped her tears.

Kakashi took her keys and opened the door for her. He turned on the engine and drove to the quiet restaurant he knew would still be open at this hour. For the rest of the evening, neither one of them gave another thought to the book, still in its sale's bag, they had left where it had dropped on the ground of the parking lot.