Secrets (Kakashi x Reader)

Chapter 7

Sighing, I plopped into a chair in Princess Kimiko's room and rubbed my hands over my face. It's been three days, and we still haven't found anything. There have been no threats to the princess since we arrived, no more attacks on the village. The neighboring kingdom has motivation for killing Kimi, but we haven't even found evidence that it is them making the threats. Kakashi and I have been out searching all day every day since we arrived, but every lead we find ends up going cold.

"Long day?" Princess Kimiko came into the room.

I quickly stood up, "Kimi, I didn't expect your meetings to be over so soon." Kimi is in and out of meetings all day long, some in preparation of her upcoming birthday ball and the coronation after, but she's also been arranging meetings with the villagers. She's been collecting detailed accounts of everything that has been happening in her village, and has been making plans to begin rebuilding the village. Making sure the villagers feel safe again has been her priority, and she normally stumbles back into the room late into the night.

"I cut them short tonight, construction begins first thing in the morning and Jun and I need to be there to oversee the start." I narrowed my eyes at the mention of Jun. He's been incredibly unpleasant the last few days that we've been here. He doesn't seem to trust us, which I can't blame him for after the way they've been attacked, but he also doesn't seem to care for Kimi. She claims Jun was her father's best friend, but he doesn't treat her like the daughter of his dead best friend. I've studied the way he acts towards her in the few meetings I sat through. He has kept secrets about the village from her, has second guessed her every move, and tries to undermine her decisions. I haven't warmed up to him yet.

"You should probably get some sleep then." Kimi nodded in agreement, and went into her bathroom to prepare for bed. I curled my feet under me and got comfortable in the chair I was sitting in. I've been staying in Kimi's room, it's part of our plan for making sure she is guarded at all times. Genma is with Kimi during the day while Kakashi and I hunt for the person making all the threats, and then at night I stay with Kimi in her room and the guys take turns guarding the room from the outside. I felt a little bad that the guys would be lacking sleep, but we take our job seriously.

Kimi emerged from the bathroom, and crawled into her bed. She looked at me as I wrapped a blanket around myself, "My offer still stands to share the bed. I feel guilty for having you sleep on a chair."

I shook my head, "Thank you again Princess, but like I keep saying, this chair is perfect for me." The chair actually wasn't all that comfortable, but that was the point. I didn't want to fall into a deep sleep, I wanted to make sure I could respond to the first sign of an attack.

After a few minutes of silence in the dark, Kimi voice rang out, "I can't sleep, my mind keeps running through everything I need to do." I heard her sit up, "Tell me about your life as a ninja."

I thought for a moment, "Well...being a ninja is a dangerous way to live, I've put my life on the line more than once. But it's also filled with adventure, I've traveled all over the land doing all sorts of things." I was supposed to be helping Kimi fall asleep, but I could feel her energy grow excited as I told her all kinds of tales of my ninja adventures.

"Do you ever wish you could get out of this village?" I finally asked her.

"I love my people, and I would never give this up," Kimi then hesitated a moment, "but sometimes I do wish I could see more of this world."

"When you're queen and have to deal with relations with other villages, instead of sending a representative, you could always hire a team of ninja to escort you and visit those villages yourself." I suggested.

Kimi seemed to be considering it, "Maybe I will." She grew quiet for a minute before saying, "What about the guys you are here with? Are Kakashi and Genma the team you always go on missions with?"