A Ninja's Path (Kakashi X Reader)

Chapter Fifty Four

Warning: This chapter is rated mature for violence

Pain was such a funny thing. A feeling of agony and extreme discomfort. Nameless were its limits. But the most curious thing about pain was that it was all in your head.

You thought this to yourself as the screaming started up again in the cells all around you. Filled with the other rebels. Every morning, the Nightmares came with their trays of tools and got to work, carving up the people around you. Their screams drowned out your days and plagued your dreams at night. You stopped counting the days soon after waking up in this cell, cold and barren with a small window your only way to keep time.

Every morning, they came for the people around you, but never you. As if the Council knew that listening to torture was bad enough. Especially since you knew every person in the cells surrounding you. And you knew this was all your fault.

The most piercing scream came from the cell next to yours, distinctly shrill and female. Perhaps it was the high pitch of it, but it was always more pronounced than the rest.

You stared at the wall, twirling a metal nail between your fingers like you did everyday.

The nail had fallen off a Nightmare's tray, right in front of your cell. You had been keeping that nail, waiting for an opening to use it.

The screaming suddenly stopped.

You froze.

The woman's cell opened and shuffling and dragging sounds cut through the din of agonizing pain.

You ran to the front of your cell, gripping the bars as you watched two Nightmares drag a mangled body out of the cell next to yours.

Blood... there was so much blood. She was soaked in it, almost as if...

"You skinned her..." You whispered.

One of the Nightmares glanced up at you.

All you could see was the taunting smile of his mask.

You glanced back at her body. At the long matted hair that served as your only recognition that she was female. At the shredded condition of her arms and legs.

You activated your Hikarigan.

"Shi no Hono!"

Nothing happened. Of course nothing would, not after they placed seals around your entire cell that prevented the use of any ninjutsu or genjutsu inside.

The other Nightmare realized where his partner was looking and he stared you down as well.

He let go of the girl's body and swaggered toward your cell, careful not to get too close. He cocked his head to the side, that damned smile mocking you.

"What? What're you gonna do? Stare at me?" He laughed. "You're useless without your powers, Phantom. Just as expendable as the rest of us." He pulled his mask up. "You filthy b*tch." He spat in your face.

You wiped it off with the back of your hand and stared at it. You looked back up at the Nightmare as you licked his spit off your hand.

His eyes widened in shock and disgust.

You smiled.

"You dirty wh*re." He sneered.

You spit in his eye.

It took him a moment to react. He slowly wiped it off, shaking his head to himself.

Then he lunged forward, hands wrapping around your throat.

"You're gonna pay for that." He snarled.

You smiled again. He had fallen for your trap. He didn't react fast enough as you plunged the nail into his eye.

He screamed in pain, clutching his face. He tried to pull away from you, but you grabbed onto his collar, pulling him in close. He struggled to get away from you, but couldn't escape your grasp. You leaned towards his ear.

"Suck by d*ck, you filthy piece of trash." With that, you slammed his head into the metal bars of your cell, shoving the nail further into his skull. He stopped struggling.

His partner watched in shock, unable to move. You glanced up at him and he took a step back- as if you could attack him.

You smirked at him, casually leaning against your cell.

He glanced between you and his partner, still unable to move.

Then several Nightmares from the surrounding cells burst out, one of them using a metal baton to hit your hand off the bars. You grunted in pain before backing away.

In a flurry of movement, they picked up their fallen comrade, dragged away the skinned girl, and ushered the other Nightmare away.

Then it was silent.

Your ears rang from the silence, the lack of screaming.

You feared that the other rebels were dead, but then one of them stumbled to the front of his cell. His face was battered and bruised as he leaned on the bars for support.

You made eye contact with him and he smiled.

How anyone could smile in this situation, you didn't know.

But then he started banging his hand on a metal bar, the sound reverberating through the prison.

He never looked away from you.

More rebels shuffled to the front of their cells, all of them thumping a rhythm that rumbled in your sternum. You leaned against a cinder block wall as the clanging became a deafening roar.

A tear slid down your grimy face, leaving a clean line down your cheek.

You slid to the floor, curling into a small ball.

"We're okay." You glanced out the window. The sky was blue.

"We're gonna be okay."

*~*

The unified clanging of resilient rebels ceased as a swarm of Nightmares returned. And with that, the torturing resumed.

You closed your eyes, listening to the agonized screams of the rebels around you. People who had trusted you to lead them in a final attack. One that was supposed to reach the ears of faraway countries and spark questions regarding the integrity of the Council. Instead, you were betrayed by one of your own, sold out to the people you tried to kill.

Now, you were forced to listen to the pain of failure as the people around you were literally torn apart.

Footsteps neared your cell and stopped. You didn't look up until you literally felt a pair of eyes on you.

There she stood like she had never died.

Short, wild hair. A scar running down her cheek and through her lip. A panther mask in her hand. Her eyes...

Violet.

You smiled. "It's been awhile, Aunt Fuyu."