Secrets (Kakashi x Reader)

Chapter 12

"One of my secret traps has been set off."

I pulled out of Kakashi's arms, shocked at his words.

"Are you sure? How can you tell?" I asked him.

"I was able to link those traps to my chakra system, so I could feel if they were disturbed." Kakashi explained.

We needed to get out there and investigate. I directed Kakashi towards the door, "You start going to the trap. I'll tell Genma, and then catch up to you."

Kakashi slipped between the guests that were beginning to file out of the ballroom. I found Genma and explained what was going on. He assured me that he could watch Kimi, and I chased after Kakashi.

I caught up with him outside the castle, and Kakashi informed me that the trap that was set off was in the woods outside of the village.

"Do you think whoever this is was trying to use the cover of everyone leaving to sneak into the castle?" I asked Kakashi.

He nodded, keeping up his fast running pace, "But why wouldn't they have snuck in while everyone was arriving instead? It's easier to blend if you're moving in the same direction as everyone else."

"Our security was tight at the start of the ball, we were prepared for trouble. And there would be too many people during the ball to strike."

"So if they snuck in at the end of the ball, security would have relaxed after having no trouble. And then they could hide out until the princess was alone."

We were nearing his trap, and we both pulled out some weapons. I slowed down, preparing to keep watch for Kakashi as he examined what or who set off his trap. Kakashi snuck up to it, careful to keep his presence unknown. I kept an eye on the trees around us, keeping my guard up in case this was an ambush.

Kakashi called out my name, his voice giving away that something was wrong. I followed the sound, and found Kakashi staring at his trap. Caught up in a web of chakra-enforced ropes, was a palace guard. A dead palace guard.

I got a little closer, "Do you think some of the palace guards were working against us?"

Kakashi shook his head, "The guards would've had too many opportunities to kill Kimi, I don't think they're the ones who want her dead." He started untangling the guard from the ropes. Laying the guard on the ground to inspect the body, Kakashi found the cause of death.

"A slit throat. My trap wouldn't have done this."

"So someone else would've had to kill the guard after he was caught in the trap."

Kakashi looked up at me, "His body is too cold for the death to be recent. Someone killed him, then purposely put him in the trap."

I was confused, "Why would someone do that?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment. "To get us out of the ballroom." My eyes widened when I realized what he meant by that. "We've been tricked."

We left the guard laying there, promising we'd be back to properly bury his body, and raced back to the palace as quickly as we could. We kept our weapons drawn, knowing that we were going to arrive to an attack.

The guards at the entrance to the castle had no clue what was going on; whoever planned this attack was careful to remain unnoticed. We didn't stop to explain, only continued on to the ballroom where we had last left the princess. Hopefully Genma was doing alright by himself.

Kakashi reached the ballroom first, grabbing the door and trying to open it. They were locked. He rammed his shoulder into the doors, trying to force them open.

"That ain't gonna work." Someone snickered from behind us. Kakashi and I whirled around and came face-to-face with three big ninjas.

"I've sealed those doors with my chakra. As long as I'm standing, you ain't getting through." The ninja continued.

"Sounds like I'll have to make sure you're no longer standing then." I got into a fighting stance.

The ninja laughed, "You can try little lady, but I doubt –" I cut him off by throwing my kunai at him, embedding it into his shoulder.

He grabbed onto his shoulder in pain, before sending me a glare, "You bitch."

I ignored his comment, instead creating a circle of fire around him. The ninja wasn't prepared to fight just yet, I guess he was all talk and no bite, so he began to panic at not being able to see anything through the flames. I emerged behind him, and it only took a few punches before I knocked him out. I extinguished my flames right as Kakashi finished with the other two, and he tried opening the ballroom door again. We were able to get through this time, and entered into the room.

There was a mass panic happening. Many of the guests were still trapped in the room, the attack must've happened soon after Kakashi and I left. It was easy to tell they were afraid for their lives, although some, mostly the villagers, looked ready to go down fighting.

The largest commotion was coming from the far corner of the room. Genma and a few of the castle guards were fending off a group of ninja, protecting Kimi who was huddled in the corner behind their backs.

None of them noticed our arrival, so Kakashi and I took advantage of our element of surprise and snuck behind the enemy ninja. A well-placed blow to the side of a ninja's head was all it took to knock one of them out. Kakashi took another out, but unfortunately they were now alerted of our presence.

Some of the ninja broke off from the group to target Kakashi and me. They were showing no mercy, all attacking at once. I blocked a punch to the face from one ninja, and moments later had to dodge a shuriken thrown my way. But my dodge led me straight into the path of a punch aimed for my gut. I doubled over in pain, coughing a bit, and out of pure reflex threw some shuriken I was holding. I listened to the sound of them hitting flesh, and saw one ninja drop to the floor. I sucked in some deep breaths, and resumed fighting, taking on a few ninja all at once again.

Because Kakashi and I joined the fight, Genma wasn't so overwhelmed by enemies and started an offensive attack, leaving the guards to be the princess' defense. I recognized the maneuvers he was making, they were moves from an attack pattern we had practiced during team training before we left. Kakashi noticed as well, and the three of us launched into that battle strategy.

Working together, it was easier to cut through all the ninja. We were a flurry of blades and punches, and our enemies didn't stand a chance anymore. We didn't even have to use our ninjutsus to attack. Soon enough, we defeated all the enemy ninja, and the ballroom collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

"Genma, what happened?" Kakashi demanded.

"After you two left, this group of ninjas appeared out of nowhere. They sealed the doors, locking everyone in, and then tried attacking Kimi. There were so many of them that I could only keep up a defense, until you showed back up. What happened with you?"

Kakashi looked a little angry, "We were tricked. They falsely set off my trap to lure us out of the ballroom."

"How did they get past us so easily? I thought you had this entire castle tightly secured."

Kakashi and Genma looked like they wanted to argue further, but I interrupted, "Let's get Kimi somewhere safer first, then we can figure out how they snuck around our defenses so easily."

They both nodded in agreement, and turned back to where the palace guards were protecting Kimi. Only to find the guards standing in horror, weapons drawn but not moving.

Kimi wasn't alone. A man was standing behind her, holding a knife to her throat.