A/N – After 84 years, we have Kakashi's POV!
Also, quick question, how does one tag for 'Some poor bastard gets eaten by dogs'? Asking for a friend. (.ᴗ.)
Kōichi and Akira stood guard outside the gates of the Estate, trying to keep up the vigilance that had been characteristic of the Hyūga clan as of late. After the events a fortnight ago, everyone was keeping their eyes peeled wide open for anything even the slightest bit suspicious.
Akira, 6 years younger than Kōichi himself, had proclaimed to him in his optimistic youth that if the 'bastard who dared threaten Hinata-sama' returned, he would be the one to close his entire chakra system permanently. Kōichi however, had his doubts (and not only because of Akira's relative lack of experience).
Something about this wasn't right, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
Only an extremely skilled (and extremely self-confident) shinobi would dare to sneak into the Hyūga compound.
But why bring Oda Mamoru's head as a threat? He was nothing to Hinata (Akira had heard from Hikaru that the Elders were trying to betroth her to him, but Hiashi had been entirely uninterested in the match. He had also learned from Neji that Hinata did not find him a charming individual by any means either, so there was no affection there to use against her).
And that was without going into the Nishin clan and how they might or might not be involved.
The whole situation was headache-inducing.
"Yo!"
Kōichi turned towards the gruff voice (a lot lower than one would expect), and came face to face with Pakkun.
"Oh, Pakkun, hello!" Akira greeted him, his fingers twitching at his side (he was an unrepentant dog person). "What brings you here today?"
"'Nata-chan hasn't seen her sister in a while. She wanted to know how she was doing." Pakkun answered, sitting down on the pavement and scratching his ear.
"Hanabi-sama is well, Pakkun." Kōichi replied while Akira surreptitiously peered around (Kōichi didn't know what he was so concerned about. Everyone would know he pet the dog anyway). "She misses Hinata-sama, as do we all."
"Is Hinata-sama well?" Akira questioned the little dog, losing his battle with his self-control and giving Pakkun a couple of quick but firm pets, which the dog accepted gracefully.
"She's fine. Keeping Kakashi in line has her busy. She'll be back once all this is over." Pakkun assured them, then lowered his voice further secretively. "Found out anything?"
Kōichi hesitated for a moment. The information they had was not supposed to go to anyone outside the clan, and telling Pakkun was just as good as telling Kakashi. But... Kakashi was keeping Hinata safe. Surely he would know eventually, right?
"The Elders believe the Nishin clan might be involved." Kōichi whispered furtively. He could probably offer this information, since it would most likely be debunked. "Apparently Elder Hideki had some dealings with them that soured in the past."
"And Hyūga-sama didn't know about that?" Pakkun asked disbelievingly.
"Of course he did, but he also doesn't believe it's them." Akira interjected, frowning in the self-righteous way of idiots.
"Akira-kun!" Kōichi hissed, closing his eyes stressfully when he saw Pakkun's piqued interest.
"Senpai, I know what I heard!" Akira hissed back. "Hiashi-sama believes that someone else was involved in this, and that Hinata-sama was indeed the target of the threat from the beginning. Oda-san was just unlucky enough to come into the cretin's sights!"
"Akira-kun, that's enough!" Kōichi hissed at him venomously. How did he passed his Chūnin Exams when he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut!? "There is no proof of this, and why on Earth would anyone want to threaten Hinata-sama?"
Akira (finally) shut his mouth mulishly, leaving Kōichi to do damage control.
"Pakkun," He sighed, leaning down closer to the pug. "I hope you understand that this is very confidential information, with little to no proof. It would not do for something like this to get out..."
"Of course not," Pakkun agreed easily, getting up. "Who would want to threaten 'Nata-chan, anyway?"
"Thank you." Kōichi breathed out in gratitude, deciding to quickly move on. "Did Hatake-san learn anything?"
"Only that Shizune is unusually protective of her black ink." Pakkun replied, making a movement that would look like a shrug if one tilted their head 36 degrees to the left. "Nothing about the guy responsible, I'm afraid. Tsunade-sama's put a bunch of guys on it, on her side, though. They'll probably figure it out."
"Perhaps, Pakkun. We can only hope that they shall."
_
It was late at night, the crescent moon high up in the sky when Kakashi finally got the time to speak with Pakkun. Hinata was already deeply asleep, her soft breaths audible with the chakra he had pushed to his ears and nearly putting him to sleep as well.
"So, what did we find out?"
"The Hyūga suspect the Nishin, but Hiashi suspects there's something else happening here." Pakkun reported, hopping up to sit on the coffee table. He almost tripped on a coaster, and glared at it before continuing. "He thinks that 'Nata-chan is the focus, not the collateral."
"Of course he does." Kakashi sighed, pressing his head back against the armrest. Hiashi's brain started working at the most inconvenient times. "Any proof?"
"Not yet. Or at least, none he has given to people."
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, considering.
"We'll keep an eye on things, see how it shakes out." Kakashi conceded, letting Pakkun return to the Land of Summons.
He pulled a cushion under his head to prepare for sleep and closed his eyes, the memories of that night weeks ago surfacing.
Generally, ANBU kept their chakra visible to the clans they visited. It was a mark of respect, as well as an acknowledgement of the clan's loyalty to the Village.
If there was an ANBU in your home that you didn't know about, it meant that your time was up.
Fortunately, this meant that the Hyūga were cocky enough to think that nothing could escape their all-seeing eyes (which ironically only saw what they wanted to see).
It was easy to suppress his chakra into nearly nothing, and even easier to find Hinata's bedroom window (the scent of jasmine that followed her had left a trail that burrowed into his brain and refused to leave).
Kakashi entered through the open window soundlessly, his gift in a scroll across his back. The moonlight fell further into the room, illuminating everything in a silver glow.
Hinata was fast asleep, her heart beating steadily and her breathing deep. Kakashi walked closer silently, observing her in her rest.
She was wearing a flimsy nightgown, which barely kept her modesty by virtue of being covered by a thin sheet. Her lashes were resting on her cheeks soft as a butterfly, and her hair was tied in a braid, caught under her arm.
Kakashi caught himself at the last moment, his gloved hand stopping mere inches away from her cheek.
'Not yet.'
He was just a colleague to her at the moment, a former crush's older sensei whom she has barely had three conversations with. He needs to get her used to him, to the idea of them.
Only when her heart flutters for him will he touch her like his heart begs to.
Kakashi moved back (he didn't want to disturb her sleep by shifting the air around her too much) and removed the scroll from his back, opening it to reveal Oda Mamoru's hideous visage (well, not exactly. The hideousness was more because of death than any physical ugliness).
Oda Mamoru had been unforgivably presumptuous, going on and on and on about how he was going to marry Hinata.
As if he deserved that honour.
As if Kakashi was going to let him.
Kakashi had sat in his apartment, burning with the kind of jealousy that only revealed itself when you knew you could take care of the problem but had no opportunity to do so.
But opportunity had presented itself.
He and Tsunade had a singular arrangement. He took missions that would usually be left for the Hokage's official heir (or, more often, the Hokage's primary advisor), and Tsunade refrained from throwing the hat at him at lightning speed.
He had been looking through the stack of missions when a B-Rank caught his eye.
Negotiations with a precious and semi-precious stone supplier. A paranoid little guy, who occasionally needed reassurance that he wouldn't be torn apart by bandits with metal teeth or buried alive at sea by Umibozu (Kakashi would love to know where he got his ideas from. If he wanted to do something safer he could become an author instead with that kind of imagination).
Said supplier happened to be in the Capital.
Kakashi took the mission, and throughout the journey planned on how he would execute it.
Mamoru was a noble, he was bound to be part of some shady dealings with shady people. It wouldn't take a lot for Kakashi to keep the suspicion from himself.
After all, what problem would he have with the guy?
Once the supplier was reassured and ready to send his goods, Kakashi made the excuse of taking a walk after dinner, and went hunting.
His nose twitched, irritated from the smell that reached him.
Overly sharp cologne, with clove and oud.
'There he is.'
Kakashi saw him leave an antique shop that he was aware was a front the Daimyō did nothing about because his youngest was tangled up in the gang.
Well. Things just became easier.
Mamoru was cornered within five minutes, and had made things child's play by not having the sense to run into a crowded place.
Unfortunately for Mamoru, he was not a fast runner.
Tragically for Mamoru, Kakashi and his nindogs were.
His pack had ensured that the body would not be found (they were always hungry, his nindogs. It would've been murder on his earnings had they not been good at feeding themselves). Kakashi had wanted to keep his heart too, seized with the urge for her to know what he had done for her. Unfortunately, Akino ate it before Kakashi got the idea, which was why he had been left with the head instead (Urushi had chuffed in amusement, accusing him of becoming domesticated. Bull had just suggested that he clean most of the blood beforehand, so he doesn't dirty her sheets, which Kakashi appreciated exponentially more).
Kakashi wondered where to place the head.
The dresser? Or her desk? She was facing away from both, and he irrationally wanted her to see his gift as soon as possible.
In the end, he left it at the foot of her bed, close enough that her foot shifting would nudge it and hopefully wake her.
With one last look towards his sleeping beauty, Kakashi left through the window, leaving it fully open.
Just to let her know he was there. She would probably be more worried if the window showed no signs of entry.
He knows he would.
Kakashi had known that his gift would cause a stir. A dead man's head showing up on the Hyūga princess's bed was no small thing.
They would want to close ranks around her, cage her in that cold estate where no one would be able to see her sweet smile and bask in her warmth. And it would be up to him to ensure that that didn't happen.
Hiashi was generally very predictable (recent suspicions notwithstanding), which is why Kakashi knew he would go to the Hokage with this issue. This meant that Kakashi needed to find a way to be there as well.
Thankfully, Tsunade was entirely too predictable as well, which is why Kakashi was not at all surprised when Shizune showed up at his door asking for him.
The entire time he was there, he was itching to have Hinata with him, under his protection, and he only held to his composure by the skin of his teeth. It took careful words and even more careful aloofness, but he succeeded in having Hinata entrusted to his care.
He was so giddy he was even willing to sit through the little talk Hiashi had been planning, ready to explain that he would never dishonour his daughter.
Defile, though, certainly. But Hiashi didn't need to know that.
Tsunade had, of course, seen the chance to dump the hat on him and run with it, but Kakashi didn't mind it all that much, given it would work in his favour.
After all, the Hokage owned all shinobi, and Hinata was one as well, for all the Hyūga had complaints upon complaints about her... everything, really.
With Hinata around him 24/7, it would take only a fraction of the time he had anticipated to get her to fall for him.
And once his breath filled her lungs, once his body filled hers and their hearts beat in tandem, he would keep her and never let her go.
A/N – It was Kakashi, all along! (I know you guys probably clocked it, but let me have this, please).
Now that we have his POV, let's go over the timeline:
Hinata's confession happened during Pein's attack when she was 16 (Sometime in September). Then they had the 4th Shinobi War (8th to 10th October). Took 7 months after that for Naruto and Sakura to date (April). Took Hinata 3 weeks to get over it. May to October (at 17) She was free. In November, Hinata got her crush on Kakashi. March (at 18) Kakashi got his crush on her. These events take place in April or May.
I like Kakashi as a goofy little pervert, but it's important to remember that he's also fucked in the head, after everything he's been through in his life. Man was fighting in a war when he was 12 and joined ANBU in his teens. That does not make for a well-adjusted individual.
