A/N – The next morning.
Hinata woke up to the sun shining in her face, and squinted her eyes as she came to her senses.
She rubbed her forehead, a little confused at where the sunlight was coming from. There was no –
Oh.
Right.
She was at Kakashi's house.
Hinata rubbed her cheeks and looked outside.
'Oh no, I'm late!'
Hinata threw off the covers and stood up, making her way to the door. She froze with her hand on the doorknob, and looked down at herself.
Her nightgown was not indecent... but it was also not something she would wear in polite company.
She could wear a shirt over it (which would make absolutely no sense and only bring attention to herself), or she could just go out like this (and hope that Kakashi wouldn't be so weirded out that he would ask her to change, that would be mortifying).
'Oh, Kami, what if he thinks I am trying to seduce him!?' Hinata's hand on the doorknob tightened, and she bit her lip nervously.
She would love to, of course, but she would have to be careful about it. Kakashi would need to see her as more than a little girl who was his students' generation partner, before she could try anything.
Hinata squeaked when a knock sounded on the door, jumping back and pressing her hand to her chest.
"Hinata-chan?" Kakashi called from outside. "Breakfast's ready."
"Right!" Hinata cleared her throat and opened the door, trying not to look like she came close to a panic attack 10 minutes after waking up. "Good morning, Kakashi-san."
"Good morning, Hinata-chan." Kakashi greeted her with a little eye-smile, leading the way to the dining table. "Slept okay?"
"Y-Yes, yes. I slept very well, thank you."
'It felt like I was sleeping in your arms and I nearly strangled myself trying to wrap myself in your sheets, but we don't need to get into that.'
Hinata pulled a chair out and sat down, intensely aware of her shoulder strap slipping and trying to be casual about pulling it back up.
Kakashi placed a plate of buttered toast, scrambled eggs, cut fruit, and a mug of tea in front of her.
"Ano, Kakashi-san, what about you?" Hinata wondered, a little concerned. She was aware that he probably would not eat in front of her, but she had expected him to maybe eat in his room, or on the sofa which was behind her.
"I already had my breakfast, Hinata-chan. I woke up early." Kakashi dismissed her concern, taking a seat with a mug of tea. "We should go over what's going on while you eat."
Hinata nodded, picking up her chopsticks. "Itadakimasu."
"How much did Hiashi-sama explain to you last night?"
"Hokage-sama and Otou-sama believe that the Hyūga Estate is not safe for me at the moment, and so they put you in charge of my protection – " Hinata held back a subtle cringe. She wished they would just say that this was for Hanabi's protection, it's not like Hinata would be against it. " – while they find out who was responsible for last night's events. The official story on why I am living with you is because you are beginning your training for the Hokage's position, and I am to be your assistant, which will require close working."
"That's the gist of it." Kakashi agreed, the steaming mug in front of him untouched. "Things are easier with the Hyūga clan's backing, but it will still take some manoeuvring to not have tongues wagging about this. I suspect Tsunade-sama will throw us both into the deep end to further cement the excuse. We have to stay together because we literally don't have time to do anything else."
That didn't sound so bad, although Hinata would admit that she was suffering from serious bias.
"Do we know what we will be expected to do?" Hinata asked, halfway through her breakfast.
"No clue. Probably all the boring stuff Tsunade-sama doesn't want to do herself." Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. "Shikamaru and Shizune will be busy with her, so it'll just be the two of us for a good bit of this."
Hinata nodded silently, taking a sip of tea. 'That sounds like heaven, actually.'
"I would like to apologize, Kakashi-san." Hinata offered sheepishly. The thought had crossed her mind before, and she decided to get it out of the way. "It seems like I have brought trouble upon you. I am aware you did not want to be Hokage."
"Don't worry about it, Hinata-chan." Kakashi chuckled good-naturedly, waving off her apology. "If you think Tsunade-sama wouldn't bash me into a pole to get me to accept the position eventually, then you don't know her. It was just a matter of timing. I suppose I will at least get a trial period like this."
They were silent for a bit.
"I feel like someone must have already asked this, but I should ask anyway," Kakashi began, tapping a finger on the table. The tea in his mug was halfway gone (does he wait for his tea to cool to take a big swig when no one's looking? Or does he just drink burning hot tea?). "Do you know why someone would leave Oda Mamoru's head in your room?"
Hinata breathed in deep, reminding herself that she needed to be delicate about this. The play has already been made, there is nothing she can change now. Kakashi will be suspicious if she acts nonchalant after the stink her father kicked over this, especially if he told everyone about her (supposed) reaction.
"W-Well, I-I am not sure," Hinata stuttered, not even faking her nerves. "I only met him when our family hosted him. And even then, I was busy with helping out at the hospital. The most time I spent with him was when we escorted him back."
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, swirling the tea in his mug around.
"Do... do you have any idea why this could have happened?" Hinata asked, putting her chopsticks down after the last bite of eggs.
Kakashi looked at her, with a peculiar look in his eyes that she could not place.
"Tsunade-sama believes it's too early to tell." Kakashi offered carefully, a strange tension building between them.
'Kami, does he suspect something?'
"What about you?" Hinata asked, paying closer attention. Her fingers dug into the edge of the table, and she released them once she realised it had happened.
"He was probably caught up in something. Blabbed at the wrong time and whoever killed him thought you were involved with him." Kakashi searched her face for something, she was unsure exactly what. "You heard how excited he was about your wedding."
This time Hinata did cringe, remembering that embarrassing show, and the tension between them dissipated, Kakashi chuckling to himself again.
"There was not going to be any wedding." Hinata felt the need to insist.
"I know, Hiashi-sama made it quite clear." He agreed easily enough, picking up his mug and her plate and utensils to take them to the sink, waving off her protests. "Either way, that's what I think happened."
Hinata sat there at the table, sipping the last of her tea and rotating the words over in her mind. The theory made sense... But both Tsunade-sama and her father were still unsure...
Nevermind. They probably just wanted to be sure before committing to anything.
"Why don't you get ready while I wash these." Kakashi suggested. "We have to be at the Office in half-an-hour."
Hinata jolted to attention.
"Half-an-hour!"
She quickly bolted back into his bedroom, leaving him laughing at the sink.
'They were going to be late!'
A/N – Kakashi: Yeah, it was 100% organized crime. Nothing to worry about, they'll get him.
Hinata: Whatever you say, handsome!()