A/N – And here we have Kakashi's POV. Enjoy.

Kakashi was walking on air on his way to the Office. The day before yesterday had been splendid, yesterday not so great (the office was closed so he didn't get to see her), and today was also shaping up to be brilliant.

If Kakashi was any younger he's sure he would be vibrating out of his skin, wondering what today's interactions would be like.

He had graciously not sought her out yesterday, giving her time to sort things out (others would say it was not enough time, Kakashi respectfully disagreed).

Would she be too shy, making up errands to avoid him? (Likely, unfortunately) Would she decide to pay back in kind? (Unlikely, but one has to be hopeful in life to get places).

Of course, Itachi had to go and ruin it for him, closeted sadist that he is.

"Senpai." Kakashi was accos – ahem, greeted seriously as soon as he entered.

"Itachi." He pretended nothing was wrong and Itachi waiting for him at the entrance of the academy was within normal course of events.

"I went back to the archives. We have scrolls missing."

Kakashi closed his eyes and took a fortifying breath. Itachi had told him that some scrolls were out of order about a week ago, and they both had simply considered it an anomaly, put the scrolls back in their place and that was that. But then the day before yesterday, they had needed some scrolls from back in the Sandaime's tenure to refer to a policy matter and once again, some scrolls were out of place. Kakashi had asked Itachi to look into the matter, see if it was something bigger, and apparently, it was.

'So much for a good day'

"Scrolls are missing from the archives?" He asked when they were safely inside the office, away from eavesdropping ears, gesturing for further information.

"At least four, maybe more." Itachi stood at attention, looking concerned. "I've asked Shikamaru to go through the shelves and see if anything more is missing. He'll check the scrolls from the Sandaime's time first, then if he finds more, we'll have to go forward."

The wording caught Kakashi's attention. "You think it was Orochimaru?"

"Might be." Itachi said noncommitally. "It is too early to say."

The Sandaime was Hokage for a pretty long time. Kakashi assumed they were going backwards, from latest to earliest. There was no way Shikamaru was managing this alone. Orochimaru was in charge of Root for quite a while, and conducted experiments into Minato's tenure in office as well (also Shikamaru would definitely catch some kind of illness, dozing in the archives, and no one relished the ideas of having to give answers to Nara Yoshino about her son's health).

'Hmm'

"I'll send Hinata with him to help, when she gets here." He said, looking through his schedule. A meeting with Iwa's delegation, a briefing meeting with the Village Council to discuss the meeting with the Iwa delegation, and a follow up meeting with Tsunade about the upgrading of hospital equipment.

''Ughh'

Itachi restricted himself to only a raised eyebrow and a suspiciously nonchalant hum.

_

Kakashi was absently keeping an eye (nose really, his eye was busy reading boring agenda notes for the Iwa meeting) out for Hinata, and knew when she was within 800 metres of the building.

He adjusted the scrolls on his desk neatly (one less errand for Hinata to busy herself with), ensured that he had an unobstructed view of the door and her desk from his chair (very important), and then waited.

When he heard Hinata greeting Genma and Raidō, he turned his attention back to the (so, so boring) notes.

There was a knock at the door. He caught himself before he could do something childish, like wiggle in excitement, and gave his permission.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan."

She bowed, keeping said bow a smidge longer than normal.

'Shy and avoidant, it seems like'

"Good morning K-Kakashi-sama." She stuttered, looking up hesitantly.

'Score!'

"You are just on time, Hinata-chan." Kakashi said cheerfully. This was looking good, And he was sure he could make it better. But first, he needed to make her comfortable (to take her off guard. She would be too anxious otherwise). "I was hoping you would help Shikamaru in the archives today."

She seemed too preoccupied to answer. She was just staring at him (good) with an indecipherable look on her face (bad) and Kakashi was starting to worry. Did he go too fast today? All he did was greet her! Did he go too fast in the spar? Absolutely, but that was warranted, he thought. Besides, she didn't mind it then, he's sure of that. Did she change her mind later?

"Hinata-chan?"

She snapped to attention, wide eyes looking at him

"Yes, Kakashi-sama?"

"I asked if you would mind helping Shikamaru with the archives today?" He asked again, keeping a closer eye on her, trying to gauge what to expect. "Some shelves seem to be mis-categorised and there are some scrolls missing. Much as I would love to give this job to Itachi, I have a meeting with Iwa's delegation that he needs to be here for."

Hinata nodded vigorously and agreed, which, to be fair, he had expected. Maybe she will need a little more time, but as he saw her turn around to leave, Kakashi simply couldn't help himself.

"Good girl."

She froze in place, her hand on the doorknob, and Kakashi felt a full-body chakra spike. He noticed the backs of her arms redden, and was certain her face was entirely red as well.

She quickly made her exit, and Kakashi grinned in satisfaction.

He was on the right track, actually.

_

Kakashi rotated his neck as the Iwa delegation left, wincing at the crack he heard. From Itachi's suppressed grimace, he was not faring any better. The meeting had been tense, both due to residual tension and also because no one really wanted to budge an inch (for all that they pretended it was a negotiation filled with respectful compromise). It was exhausting every time, and this time was no exception.

"When's the next meeting?"

"We have 35 minutes before your next meeting." Itachi removed his glasses and rubbed his strained eyes, taking a drink of water.

At that moment, Shikamaru entered, looking at the two stressed men. "How was your meeting?" He asked in the tones of a man who did not care about the answer, but was expected to ask the question.

Because Kakashi was a benevolent Hokage (and because he would rather saw off a foot than go through every last detail of that hellish meeting twice), he left it at, "It was." That should tell Shikamaru everything he needed to know.

Thankfully, that seemed to be the case as Shikamaru decided to give his report.

"2 more scrolls missing, total 6. 5 in the wrong bookshelf, 3 in the wrong shelves."

"Do we know what they were about?" Itachi asked, leaning back in his chair.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Some were minor jutsu. A couple were T reports. At least one was regarding a treaty between Konoha and Kumo. Hinata's taking notes. There might be more missing, if we consider scrolls that were too highly classified to be recorded in the archive index."

"Great!" Kakashi stood up. "I'm taking a break. Do not look for me, I'll be here in time. Keep doing what you're doing."

Shikamaru shook his head silently in exasperation. Itachi gave no indication of agreeing or disagreeing, just shooing him away in a rare show of informality. The archive business would have to wait, unfortunately. "The archives are not the best place for a break."

"Shows what you know, really." Kakashi snapped back. "There is much to be learned from the actions of the past." He made a dignified (and totally unhurried) exit.

He waved at Genma and Raidō, and made his way to the archives. This was one time where his mask would be extremely helpful, since he was sure that the dust accumulating in there was older than him.

He walked through the corridors, and expanded his senses to pinpoint where Hinata was.

As he came closer and closer, mischief entered his mind. He quietened his steps and suppressed his chakra to nearly negligible levels. He slowly came around the corner, and saw Hinata check some piece of paper.

'Now's my chance'

He snuck up and embraced her, pulling her back to his chest. Unfortunately, she did not seem surprised as she turned around to face him. 'Well, you win some, you lose some'.

Hello, Hinata-chan." He brought her hand up to his mouth, and smiled as her knuckles brushed against his lips through the mask. The sweet blush on her face was particularly bolstering for his confidence. "How are things going?"

"O-oh, ano," Hinata said, seeming thoughtful. "It's going... well, I suppose. Didn't Shikamaru-kun tell you?"

"He did." Kakashi moved his hands down to her waist, playing with the fabric of her obi. "You can't fault me for wanting to hear it from my lovely assistant though, can you?"

His dear, shy girl's hands immediately flew up to her face in embarrassment.

"Kakashi-sama!"

"Hinata-chan!" No, Kakashi did not whine. He sounded dignified and authoritative, as a Hokage should. "So formal. I would've thought we could've dispensed with the honorifics after our spar." He was definitely being too forward, but this was a risk he was willing to take, with the information he had. He decided to tease her further. "You certainly seemed to have something else in mind for me."

Kakashi couldn't help but laugh out loud as she peeked through her fingers to glare at him. "Forgive me, Hinata-chan. It's just too fun to tease."

She pushed him lightly, and he almost decided to make a show out of it, as if it was truly a mortal blow he had been dealt. But before he could, Hinata spoke.

"Would you prefer something more informal, K-Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi was gobsmacked. Was that... That was flirtation! Victory was an inch away from his fingers, he could almost taste it. Okay. Okay! 'We're so close!'

Kakashi interrupted his mental celebration as he tuned back in and realised that Hinata was spiralling, eyes unseeing and face showing the beginning of stress.

He brought his hand under her chin, raising it up to look into her eyes (such pretty eyes, really. Kami must have been feeling particularly inspired). "I would love nothing more, Hinata-chan."

"Right." His lovely assistant (possible girlfriend!!!) looked more than a little stunned. "Right. Of course."

Kakashi felt a smile take over his face. "Right."

"Right. Okay." Perplexity took over Kakashi as she cleared her throat and moved back. 'Damnit, did I miscalculate? I thought things were going fine!? It's so over...' "Well, currently I have to go get some fresh air. You should as well. So much dust is not good for our lungs. We'll discuss the informality on our date. A picnic at a location of my choosing. Will Wednesday be okay?"

Kakashi was right, today was indeed a day for surprises. He just got asked out! By the girl he had been chasing for months! He was not sure whether this is how it was supposed to happen, but he didn't reach his position by not being opportunistic. He stubbornly ignored the stutter that had materialised out of nowhere. "Y-yes, yes! Wednesday is great."

Hinata nodded again. "Great."

Great. That's a good word to hear. Great.

Then he felt a light pressure on his cheek, and Hinata was gone.

...

A laugh jumped out from deep inside his chest, and if he strained his ears he could hear her giggles as she walked out.

'I have a date! We're so back!'

A/N – Ol' Scarecrow has a date folks!

The reason they don't suspect Danzō is because he died so early that even Kakashi would only know him distantly as the guy who founded Root. They mostly associate Root with Orochimaru, who took over after Danzō's death.

Up next is – hold on a second, let me check my notes...

... Sasuke?

Hmm.

Until next time!