A Ninja's Path (Kakashi X Reader)

Chapter Fifty

You carried yourself with a brisk pace across town, taking a weaving route to the rebellion's meeting place. You hoped to throw the Nightmares watching you off, confuse them with unpredictable twists and turns through the village.

You turned a corner and activated your Kekkei Genkai, slipping into the shadows as you turned virtually invisible to any watchful eye.

Several minutes later and you slipped into an abandoned factory, ironically the one you had raided months ago. The once bustling building used to assemble Nightmare weapons and armor was completely deserted, forgotten by the village. The Council had no use for a permanently damaged factory, judging by the caution tape across the building's front entrance, it would be torn down within the next few months. It would be rebuilt from scratch. The Council was very faultless when it came to quickly tearing down and replacing anything they deemed worthless.

Including people.

You breathed a sigh of relief, there were no signs that anyone had been inside the factory in months. The chances of someone walking into the building were very low.

You combed through the entire building, choosing the main repository to become the rebellion's meeting place.

You spent the next hour and a half preparing the factory for the meeting, placing traps on every floor and around the building. The windows were blocked out by any large items you could find inside. You wanted to ensure that any light used within would not be seen by any passerby.

By the time you were finished setting things up, the meeting was set to begin in thirty minutes. You breathed a second sigh of relief, glad that your plan hadn't run into any complications yet. Another step closer to a coup- and to your death.

It felt strange, planning your own death. You were strategically devising an act of rebellion that would directly result in your demise, probably horribly and alone.

You sensed a presence approaching the factory as you stood in the repository. Swiftly, you stalked to a nearby window and peeked past your makeshift blackout curtain to find a cloaked figure slinking toward the front entrance.

With your Kekkei Genkai activated, you slipped back into the shadows as the person walked into the building. They stepped into the repository, giving a glance to their surroundings.

"I know you're here (Y/N). Come out and give an old friend a hello." The man pulled down his hood. An older man, he was in his sixties with long gray hair pulled into a knot and a thick beard covering the entire lower half of his face.

You deactivated your Hikarigan and left the shadows. "It's been awhile Taeru."

The man chuckled. "Yes, well you are a busy woman I take it?"

You nodded as the old man casually strolled through the room, examining every dusty shelf. "I remember when we burned this place. We halted weapon productions for several weeks." He stopped in front of a rack, pulling an item down. It was a katana, sharp and bright in the dim light of day. "But we also lost a dozen of our best. Good people who fought for a hopeless cause. People we had to bury in unmarked graves to protect their families."

You felt a twinge of guilt, for all your comrades who you couldn't even risk a funeral ceremony for.

After the factory raid, you and several other rebels briskly collected your fallen and buried them in the forest. Nothing marked their graves, no words of departure had been said. Nightmares were everywhere, it was too dangerous to be outside for long. The only thing that gave you peace was where you had suggested they would be buried.

In a certain clearing under a dead oak tree with the most beautiful view of the night sky.

Taeru set the katana back on its rack, turning to face you. "So, what is this meeting about? It must be important for you to plan it so close to your return. Ichirou and I had a difficult time persuading the other leaders to join us."