He takes Guy's advice.
Finally, after hours upon hours and days upon days, he takes it.
He likens the experience to declawing a cat - doing everything he can to avoid it but knowing it needs to be done - but finds himself oddly at peace as he makes his way to Sakura's home.
It's a bit late at night for a confession like this, but he knows that if he doesn't do it now, it may never be done. He's in a special sort of mood where he feels contented and as though he can do anything, and for Kakashi Hatake, it might as well be labeled as a mental illness rather than a rare condition; he never feels this way, ever. But as his feet move themselves and his body gets carried on autopilot to Sakura's house, he really doesn't mind.
He finds himself at her door before he knows it, and raises a hand to knock-
Like a frightened feline's coat, his senses are alerted to danger, and automatically, he's reaching for his kunai and leaping up towards the roof for cover. He clenches the handle of the knife as he listens, waits.
Time passes, and sure enough, voices.
"Thanks for walking me home again, Hisashi. You didn't have to, but I appreciate it."
He recognizes the first voice instantly. Sakura. It's the second one that sets his nerves aflame.
"Oh, it's no problem, really. I enjoy our little talks."
She sighs, a most pleasant sound. "Well, I'd better get to bed. See you tomorrow?"
"Absolutely. Get yourself some rest now, you hear?"
"Will do. Goodnight!"
"Night!"
Her door opens and closes, and once he senses it is safe, Kakashi peeks over her rooftop. Hisashi stands at her door for a strangely long amount of time, neither saying nor doing anything. And then, as though by some sort of sudden cue unbeknownst to him, the black-clad ninja turns around and leaps off into the woods, towards the edge of the village.
Suspicion bells ringing like crazy, Kakashi doesn't hesitate; maintaining a safe distance, he follows right after him.
~*~
He tracks him down to a small clearing at the edge of Leaf, where an unknown ninja awaits Hisashi. Kakashi hangs back in the treetops, concealing himself from view, though to be honest it isn't all that hard; it's already dark out, and he can tell that neither of the two ninja are particularly dangerous. Not nearly on the level of Akatsuki or Sanin. Still. As the saying goes, better safe than sorry.
"How close do you think you are to achieving your goal?" the man asks Hisashi.
Kakashi strains his ears; it's a male, but he doesn't recognize the owner.
"Very. I should be able to accomplish what we came here for by the end of the week."
"Good. Does the Hokage's apprentice suspect anything?"
"Not a chance. To be honest, I think she's more interested in shoving her nose in medical books than she is in anything I'm doing. Not exactly marriage material. No wonder she's been single for so long."
He grips the knife in his hand just a little harder; he really should stay hidden in the shadows, and report back to Tsunade at the earliest chance, but if this little prick said one bad thing about Sakura, he swore-
"Have there been any complications?"
"None. Worst I've had to deal with is her sensei, Kakashi Hatake."
A slight look of fear crosses the man's face. "The Copy Ninja?"
Hisashi nods. "Afraid so. He clearly distrusts me, but I believe it has more to do with his feelings for her rather than any suspicion of me."
Kakashi cringes; even an enemy ninja from an entirely different country can tell of his feelings for his former student. Guy was right. Who on earth did he think he was fooling?
"Hmm. Good. So you'll be able to kill the Fifth Hokage by the end of this week?"
Kakashi's breath freezes in his lungs and his eyes widen.
His grip on his kunai only gets tighter.
No. Flipping. Way.
I knew it.
He strains his ears further to listen.
"Absolutely. Sakura Haruno has allowed me to be in close quarters with the Fifth on a regular basis, and with her out of the way, Okigawa will be able to do business as usual until a new course of action is decided upon. The Leaf will be a panicked mess without their Hokage, so while they scramble to find a new leader, we'll have plenty of time to settle on a plan."
Okigawa, he thinks. So these were the scumbags who had given he and Sakura such a tough assignment all those months ago. They must have sent their pretty boy under cover so neither of them would suspect anything. Was this a revenge plan? Or simply a course of action taken to ensure their continued business to other countries? It was too sketchy to be certain. But he does know one thing: he needs to warn Tsunade and Sakura both.
The man smirks, long and wide. "Excellent. Send a messenger bird when the deed is done, and we'll make preparations to collect you."
"Yessir."
Hisashi salutes him, and the two depart ways in opposite directions.
Kakashi remains in place until he is sure it's safe to move, and once it is, he wastes no time.
Tsunade and Sakura must be kept safe.
At any cost.
