They had all decided there was no point immediately rushing off to find them.
Tsunade instead instructed them to spend their time searching around; trying to pick up either Daraku's or Kukyo's trail and then seeing which direction it led in. But they weren't to be rushing forward and chasing after either of them. Kakashi would most likely want to go after Kukyo first, but it was easier for her to get away—no doubt Daraku hadn't come to the area alone. Not to mention her position was unpredictable; no one, not even Kakashi, knew where she would be heading now, even if Daraku had approached her to ask her to join him again.
As for Daraku, wherever he had gone, he would have other ninja with him, and without backup and no idea what things would be like when they arrived, it was a risk to merely charge in and confront him. Therefore Tsunade gave them the orders of looking around and trying to figure out what they could. Where Kukyo might be and what she might do now, where Daraku's hideout could be placed and what his overall goal was—there was certainly more to this than just starting up his old experiments. Though it was hard for all of them, especially Kakashi and Naruto, to accept the idea of just sitting back for the moment until they knew more, they agreed.
With that, Tsunade turned and headed back to the village, leaving Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura alone. He took them to the camp, having tossed all of Kukyo's stuff to the side, and after a quick chat of what they could and should do, he took them back to the place where he had met Daraku. He didn't like being there, and narrowed his eyes the moment he stepped into the clearing—but he had to do this. To find Kukyo and finish it all. And so he pointed out the footprints while he told Naruto and Sakura what had happened—but when he looked where Kukyo had run off…there was nothing.
She was living up to her assassin name.
That fact alone made Kakashi angrier, and so he pushed forward, trying to find any hint of a trail. Any slight mistake she might have made in her emotional state; a broken branch, a part of a footprint or a mark against a tree where she had brushed past it. But there was nothing, just like usual. Even with her acting like she was, there was no sign of her anywhere in the forest. How was he ever going to find her? To ask her the questions that needed to be answered? To actually find out the truth, instead of her simply running away instead of trying to defend herself in the slightest?
But Kakashi shook that idea off. What was he thinking? He was going along this entire time not determined to find her and fight her; to take her down after all she'd done and hid from him, but to learn the truth. He was focusing on the idea of hunting her down in order to talk everything over, his anger more frustration at the way everything had turned out more than anything. But why? Why should it be? She didn't deserve to be given the chance to explain her situation. She shouldn't have been given that chance the moment he found out she was Daraku's daughter. He should have attacked her then. There was so much he should have noticed—that he ignored.
And yet he couldn't push away the other emotions.
Kakashi's anger was certainly there when they changed to search Daraku's trail, and Naruto and Sakura noticed it. Regardless of how things would end—of whether he would end up fighting Kukyo and choose to kill her because he considered everything she had done too much of a betrayal—or he would find he couldn't, that when coming face to face with her the memories of all they'd done would stop him and that he needed an explanation, Kakashi didn't know. But Daraku had certainly played a massive part in all of this, and Kakashi wanted him to pay for it in full.
He had been the one to train Kukyo to be the assassin she had become. He had ordered her to do what she had—if things had been different, maybe Kukyo wouldn't be running now. Maybe Kukyo would have been able to stay back then and have become a Konoha ninja. Daraku had treated her badly enough that even with her skills she had wanted to break free—and she had wanted to face him doing so. He had been the start of all of this, and if it hadn't been for him then it wouldn't be this way now. Kakashi wanted Daraku dead and he was even angrier with the memory of having let him get away all those years ago.
Unlike Kukyo, there were footprints, broken branches, marks against trees. But it was obvious they were all diversions to lead them astray. None of them were the real tracks that would allow them to follow Daraku—he was teasing him, just like he had been when he had shown up to talk to Kukyo. He had known he had the advantage and everything he was saying was manipulating them the way he wanted. Nothing he had done had been unplanned, and he didn't want anyone to follow him; but the numerous tracks were just for show. He wouldn't have left anything behind.
When it got to lunch Kakashi forced himself to eat, knowing he needed to, to keep his strength up, but the food tasted like ash in his mouth and he barely noticed the taste, simply chewing and swallowing in a robotic way. All that mattered was the sustenance and nothing more, before he could get back to looking around and seeing what he could find that would help him. Naruto and Sakura chatted amongst themselves, but they left Kakashi alone, clearly seeing he wasn't in the mood for talking. They just didn't know what to say to make things better—to comfort him.
It left him in his thoughts as he got back up and headed off into the trees on his own, not saying anything to Naruto or Sakura as he did so. When Kakashi had been speaking to Tsunade when she had arrived he had felt so certain about things. When Naruto had spoken up and he had been given that order to go after Kukyo and Daraku it hadn't seemed like things would be this complicated. His anger had been so close to the surface that confronting Kukyo and battling her—maybe even killing her—hadn't seemed like such a big deal. All he'd been able to think about was how much she'd kept from him and how betrayed he felt. It had only appeared worse when the others had spoken up about it as well, so he told himself that was how things would end.
Only now…now he couldn't be sure. Like waves on the shore, his emotions went back and forth, from anger to sadness. From confusion to frustration. No matter what he felt he wanted to know the truth. But the question of whether he would get one—and if Kukyo wouldn't bother speaking to him, if he should even bother trying to persist—was something that remained in Kakashi's mind the entire day. As his anger had flared up, there had been no question as to what he should do. But now he wasn't certain as to what was going to happen, and he didn't know what he should so.
Yes; he wanted Daraku dead, he knew that, and that fact wasn't about to disappear. But Kukyo's fate was what was concerning him, and when the sun finally set and he lay down, trying aimlessly to get some sleep, it still did. There were so many unanswered questions, after all, and although finding out that she had been the assassin in the estate had explained a lot, there were still things that Kakashi didn't understand. Even though they had become closer after Kukyo had come back from her time travelling for those fourteen years, she had kept a lot from him—and it wasn't just being an assassin. Kakashi couldn't help but feel there was more to it than that.
But why did she feel she couldn't at least tell him that? Didn't she trust him at least a little bit? Kakashi clenched his fists as he stared up at the stars, his frustration coming back to him. If she didn't trust him, why should he trust her? He had done. Though as he thought this, her last words before she had vanished came back to Kakashi, and a wave of confusion washed over him. What had she meant? That had nothing to do with her being an assassin.
A moment later and he was up and disappearing into the trees.
Maybe if he looked around he might find out.