They entered the classroom to a curious scene. At least Haruka thought so, Sai seemed completely oblivious—or maybe just indifferent. Sakura was giving Sasuke sullen looks from her table, two rows behind his. The Uchiha didn't pay her any attention however, too busy arguing with Naruto over how real shinobi could untie ropes or something. What had those three been up to during the break?
The looks Iruka shot them were more annoyed than anything, but he didn't comment. Instead he introduced each team to it's new jonin sensei. Each team except for Team 7 that was. Kakashi had of course not been there on time, which surprised Iruka for some reason Haruka couldn't fathom. Had the chunin never even heard of Kakashi? That man was practically legendary for being late to everything, up to and including a summons from the Hokage. At this point Haruka was half convinced that the only reason his ANBU identity wasn't common knowledge, was that Hound was strictly on time or early. The lazy-jonin persona Kakashi put on when he wasn't Hound seemed more like a disguise to her than the literal masks wore, both cloth and porcelain.
Iruka left them alone in the classroom after half an hour or so to attend to his actual duties, which no longer involved babysitting them. Naruto immediately started complaining, now that the Academy teacher wasn't there to admonish him for it anymore. "Recklessly impatient," Sai had called him earlier. Haruka hadn't quite believed him then, but now she thought it might actually be an understatement.
The blond was running around the room, peering out of windows and the door in quick succession, as if Kakashi might arrive faster if he just looked hard enough. Sasuke, in contrast, sat at his table, head resting on folded hands and looking supremely bored. Haruka thought she saw his jaw muscles develop a tick when Naruto came up with his fifth plan to pay their sensei back for making them wait. They had all been ludicrous so far and involved various amounts of paint and explosions. She didn't stay to hear the next one.
"Hey! Haruka-chan! Where're you going?" He called after her.
"Getting food," she told him, looking over her shoulder. For a moment he seemed like he wanted to come with her, but then decided against it when Sasuke said something about rules and missing their sensei's arrival. She didn't correct him. He was right about the rules. They were technically required to wait for their team's leader as instructed. In reality however, that might take anywhere from two to five hours, so Haruka decided she'd treat it as one of those cases in which it was appropriate to follow the spirit of the law, rather than it's letter. She'd be back long before Kakashi ever showed his face. And if the jonin had any complaints she'd just refer him to Ibiki.
***
Haruka was almost done with her dango and on her way back to the classroom when she ran into Pakkun.
"Fancy meeting you here," the pug said in a manner that suggested the complete opposite. He'd probably been following her for a while, but she'd only noticed his signature a minute ago.
"Dango?" She tried to bribe him.
"I'm not some whore you can just pay off you know?" The little pug huffed.
"Dango and belly rubs?" At that he glared, pretending to be offended, but then fell in step easy enough. They negotiated the whole way back on how many minutes of belly rubbing his silence was worth.
"Trap," Pakkun stopped her when she tried to enter the classroom. He scrunched his little, wrinkled nose up even more than it usually was and then used it to point to the ceiling. Sure enough, there was a chalkboard eraser stuck between wall and door. Haruka dodged the primitive booby trap to Naruto's great disappointment, but it didn't last long. The blond was easily distracted by the dog at her side.
"Whoa, what a cute little—" he started, but was immediately cut off by Pakkun.
"Don't you dare call me a puppy!" The pug growled and Naruto almost had a heart attack.
"It-it-a talking dog!" He stuttered and then ended in a shout.
Haruka glanced between him and the pug. Had he never seen a ninken before? It was possible she supposed. As far as she had been able to tell Kiba's dog couldn't talk so that might not be common knowledge.
"That's sensei's dog," she tried to say, but Naruto didn't let her get the whole sentence out.
"Oh my god! Our sensei is a talking dog!" the blond shouted. He was half hysteric and half excited. Granted, Pakkun's and Kakashi's teaching skills were more or less on the same level, but the idea still seemed silly to Haruka. When she saw the mischievous glint in the pug's eye though she decided to play along.
***
By the time Kakashi finally entered the room Naruto was completely enraptured by the silly tales of S-rank missions Pakkun made up. The pug was claiming to have rescued several princesses with some super secret canine techniques. Even Sasuke, who had been incredibly skeptical at the prospect of a dog sensei, seemed half convinced.
"How can I say this? My first impression is—you are all stupid," Kakashi told them with a deadpan look on his face and Haruka burst out laughing. He took a moment to glare at her and his wayward dog, subtly tapping out 'traitors—sleep—on—floor' with his left hand. That made Haruka laugh even harder. After all, he wouldn't actually make Pakkun sleep on the floor and she had her own flat.
The jonin told them to meet him on the roof and then vanished without another word. Naruto looked completely confused and Pakkun used that opening to disappear in a puff of smoke. Sasuke, who had apparently grasped the situation faster, glared at Haruka as if she had personally offended him. Which, granted, she probably had. Uchiha were proud like that. Or had been she supposed. Itachi was the only other Uchiha left and pride had never been one of his vices.