The only good thing about this day so far had been the relief expressed by the Council, when Kakashi informed them that he would have the team currently investigating Yugao's murder withdraw, as they obviously were not able to do their job properly. The elders greatly approved of this and were more than happy to learn that the new investigation team would be led by Hyuga Neji.
Back in his office Kakashi found the room crowded with people (three of them, which was a crowd) he apparently had ordered to clean up the mess Kiba and Sakura had caused.
He turned on his heels.
Maybe – maybe he should have just taken Sakura's advice and the day off. Maybe he should have let her smash his office completely, if only to give him a good excuse for not being there.
He left the Academy, not knowing where he was headed, walked around aimlessly for some time. This was possibly the one great advantage of being the Hokage. If you just managed to appear somewhat preoccupied, no one would dare to assume you really were just killing time.
(Which the Rokudaime found to be of little use, as it was close to impossible to appear preoccupied with your nose buried in a book.)

He ended up on one of the plateaus, sat down on a bench, in the shadow of some tree and with a clear view of the Hokage Monument; he looked at his own masked face, before he turned his gaze to that of the Yondaime, who stared back, optimistic determination burning in his eyes, even as they were cast in cold stone. He had been younger then, than Kakashi was now.
"For second there I thought I was doing alright", Kakashi sighed.
"Well", Pakkun jumped up the bench "I'd say you're still doing fine."
He placed two paws on Kakashi's leg.
"Considering that this is the first time you can't just hand all responsibilities down to others."
Kakashi gave the dog an unimpressed look.
"I'll just assume this sounded a lot more comforting in your head", he said, while his fingers dug their way under Pakkun's hitai-ate.
"No", the dog stated dryly.
"However", he quickly added, as the pleasant scratching of his head stopped "I suppose, cleverly avoiding your responsibilities by dividing them among your subordinates might be one of the best qualities a leader can have."
"Hm"
"Speaking of which", with that the dog tore himself away from his human and jumped back to the ground "We're about to get company."
And indeed, a few seconds later Sakura came jogging up the stairs.

"You're awfully hard to find", she panted, as she sat down next to Kakashi.
"Obviously not", the words were swallowed by the fabric of his mask before they reached Sakura's ears.
"I've got bad news", she said.
"Or, rather, I've got good news that will cause a lot of trouble, so -", Sakura stopped talking, as Kakashi's right hand suddenly grasped for her arm.
He bent over, left hand clasped over his left eye and obviously trying hard not to voice the pain in his head, but before Sakura had so much as gotten to her feet, the attack had already stopped.
"It's okay", Kakashi let go of her, and slowly returned to his original slouched position.
"It's me."
"Well, you would say that", Sakura looked at him, her eyes narrowed. In case of a possession, they had concluded, the headaches would last much longer, she reminded herself. Still, she needed to be sure.
"Tell me, what did you get me for my chunin-promotion?"
Kakashi stared at her, wide-eyed.
"Your...", his hands sank "When was that again?"
Sakura sighed, gave him one last, careful look.
"You know, you look kind of cute when you're caught off-guard", she smiled and then, with professional concern, asked how he felt.
"Alright, I guess", Kakashi shrugged, though he still looked a little confused.
"You said something about bad news?"

Sakura told him about Rin's sudden recovery. She noticed his slouch getting a little more hunched as she talked, could see, even through his mask, how he clenched and unclenched his teeth.
"So, what are we going to do?", she looked at him expectantly and in a way that had Kakashi waiting for a needily wailed sensei to follow her question. He scratched his head, gave her a contemplative "Hmm...", while his thoughts, instead of the problem at hand, revolved around the ease with which she, occasionally, could switch back to acting like a child. He couldn't even tell if he found it annoying or not – it just puzzled him.
"What would you suggest we do?", he asked at last, watched as Sakura's eyes grew a little bigger and her hand went up to nervously tug her hair.
"I... I don't know. I guess, we need to get her out of the hospital, and somewhere safe. Somewhere, where no one would think to look", she said slowly, then paused, seemingly waiting for approval. Kakashi nodded, beckoned her to continue.
"I guess, I could get her ready for transport...", she thought for moment. When she continued talking, she sounded less insecure.
"Tenten should be able to bring any equipment I'll need out of the hospital easily", she said "And for actually getting her out – Neji probably could cover you, but I'd leave that part to you and Sai, as you two clearly are the ones most skilled at – why are you staring at me like that?"
"No reason"
Though the small, visible part of his face showed little of it, his voice suggested a smile. For a second their eyes met, then Sakura quickly turned away.
"What do you think?", she returned to tugging her hair, stared at her toes that were drawing random patterns in the sand.
Kakashi got up. He looked at the sun, currently hiding behind some clouds, then back at Sakura.
"What time is it?"
"About three", she said after checking her watch. "Right, then the others should be waiting for us."