But that meant he had to do something—and fast.

Tsunade had given the orders that if they came across Daraku or Kukyo then they were to attack and kill them if they could, but now Kakashi knew what he did, he couldn't let that happen. Yes, she had been the assassin, but that was no longer relevant with the circumstances taken into account—he had reason enough for them not to kill her. The only problem was he'd been wandering around all night and he was in the middle of the estate at this point. If he didn't get back to the camp and tell Naruto and Sakura the situation, they'd head off without him, simply going ahead with the plan.

They wouldn't bother to try and find him before they began to search for Daraku and Kukyo once more, as they probably thought he'd started early to try and find them. With the way he'd been acting yesterday, it wasn't such a strange idea—he'd been so set on finding her, and he hadn't shown any signs of hesitation with Tsunade's orders. But that had changed now, and catching up with them would be a lot harder if they were moving, and the risk of them hurting Kukyo would only increase if wasn't there, so Kakashi had to get back while they were still at the camp.

So he would need to set off right away.

But why had she never said anything? All this time and she had been going through just as much as the rest of them—maybe more, as from the looks of things she had been the first—and yet she never mentioned any of it to him when the mission had been taking place all those years ago. That was why she wanted to get out of there; she had been telling the truth all along before. She hated what she had to do, having to hurt people like that, and having been through the experiments herself, she didn't want to have to watch other people go through it as well. She had survived what he had done to her, clearly, however.

The physical hadn't been enough, though. Daraku had affected her emotionally while he'd experimented on her—and being her father probably had some hold as well. That was what had stopped her from fighting back and simply leaving; making a life for herself somewhere else and not having to be his assassin anymore. It had been when his mission had started and she had realised he was there that things had changed. She had been planning on letting Kakashi do all the work—letting him kill Daraku. But then he had accidentally seen her and confronted her and so they'd become friends. That wasn't something she must have ever had before.

That was what had given her the strength to feel she could break free.

Yet as Kakashi thought about it now he knew there were things that Kukyo had kept under the surface. That she had been too afraid to tell him, but shaking his head and sighing, Kakashi knew it wouldn't have mattered. They had become very close friends during that mission, and he hadn't wanted her to leave after it had finished, let alone for fourteen years. Was that why she'd done it in the first place? Why she hadn't felt she could join Konoha? Because of everything that had happened in the estate? Because of everything she hadn't told him? It was a lot of information, he knew, but he didn't care—if anything he was relieved. He'd been looking for something that would explain it all and answer all his questions…and he'd certainly found it.

Then it came back to him just what he was doing still standing down here in this cell and just what he needed to be doing right now. So shaking off his thoughts for later, having places to be and not exactly wanting to spend any more time down here than he had to after finding out just what it was and the aura it gave off anyway, he finally headed back up the stairs and out of the building, vanishing into the trees a moment later back in the direction of the camp.

Glancing up at the sky, Kakashi saw the sun was almost fully risen, and frowning in irritation, he sped up, hoping Naruto was taking a while to get up and eat breakfast, suddenly annoyed that no one on his team was usually late like he was. He could consider the idea that he was getting a little enthusiastic about this, but he wasn't about to let up on it. This mission had been going on for fourteen years without completion, and not only that, Kukyo had been dealing with Daraku experimenting on her a lot longer than that without anything happening about it. Kukyo had done so much to help him back then and recently, and he didn't want it to go to waste.

Everything that had suddenly dissipated with the news that Kukyo was the assassin was possible again. The very idea that she was gone from his life was reversed with this knowledge and Kakashi was going to cling to it no matter what. The fact he had agreed with Tsunade's orders had been out of anger, but he hadn't wanted it to be that way—it was why he had gone looking for answers. But now he had found them, just like before, everything was possible again.

But that meant he had to do something about it.

Even with his lack of sleep Kakashi dismissed his tiredness, barely even noticing it with all that was rushing through his head and how fast he was moving. He had more important things to think about than how tired he was, the most noticeable being his arrival at the camp where Naruto and Sakura still were stationed at the current moment, as they got ready for the day. As Kakashi arrived in the clearing, they couldn't help but be a little surprised, having not expected to see him, already thinking he had gotten up and begun searching for Kukyo and Daraku for the day.

So to see him burst into the clearing looking more than a little dishevelled and perhaps a little exhausted, neither of them were quite sure what to say, but Kakashi answered it for them, responding bluntly,

"Naruto, Sakura—we don't need to kill Kukyo."

Blinking in surprise at his sudden comment, they glanced at each other and then back to Kakashi, trying to figure out just where he'd come out with that from. Eventually, Sakura replied tactfully,

"Kakashi-sensei, we know you're friends with her, but Tsunade-sama—"

"No, you don't get it—she was forced into everything. I went looking around last night and I found Daraku's house. But inside it was a cell. Kukyo's cell. She was experimented on too. The first one to be so. But she survived. She was a—a blueprint for the rest. She was treated as badly as anyone else in the estate. We shouldn't hurt her."

"She was…an experiment…?" Naruto breathed, unable to do anything but stare at Kakashi in disbelief upon hearing his words. When Kukyo had been a close friend of Kakashi's who was just travelling round the world he couldn't imagine that, let alone now she was the assassin who had killed loads of Konoha ninja and kidnapped people from the village. But seeing the look in his eyes Sakura frowned in confusion, stating quietly,

"You sound almost happy about this…"

"I'm not. I don't want her to have been experimented on. I just…it means it explains everything. It answers my questions and…I don't have to hurt her." Kakashi replied simply, trying to explain his happiness and sorrow.

"Ok—so we're not going after Kukyo? Then what now?" Naruto suddenly burst out, and turning to him with a smirk, Kakashi stated,

"Daraku's still here—and I don't know why, though it can't be good. He needs to be stopped. And I don't know where Kukyo is. I want to try and find her and bring her back. I get the feeling she's not in the best of moods right now. I don't want Daraku getting his hands on her."

And as Naruto and Sakura both grinned and began talking about where to start and what to do next, Kakashi knew now:

They'd better get started.