Madoka Kei
”Shinn-kun. We have to escape. We have to get out of here,” Kei panicked, kicking down the door of Shinn’s newly established residence. Sure, it was a rather modest location but it gave the young man a place to relax in. After all, a year of travel and being demoted back down to trainee meant that he had to tone down his style of living for awhile. His small, subtle apartment was just that. A toned down but still elegant piece of architecture that offered a safe zone from the outside perils of everything around him… even in failing to find a person to implant his eyes.
”Wait. Why? We just got settled in. Quit messing around and throwing my shit around like that goofy!” He giggled, waving off the woman’s panic as simple neuroticism. He couldn’t see what she was doing but he felt the tension in the air. He heard the woman as she scurried about, flinging things into easily carried bags that they could travel unhindered with. It seemed like she planned on running and that she didn’t plan on coming back to Sunagakure. The question was why? ”I just bought half of this furniture and I’ve been working on some missions. Slow down… tell me what’s going on.”
”THAT man is coming. We need to go. You aren’t ready to face him. You aren’t ready to face Zero,” she commented, pouting and stomping her feet as she continued to pack. ”Zero? But how do y--” How did she know about him? Shinn never mentioned the man’s alias to anyone. He never mentioned specifics around what happened on the day he succumbed to darkness, destroying one of the last remaining remnants of his family. Even though he had to, he despised his actions and thanked Izanagi that his sister still made it out alive. ”Because. Because. Sumeragi. Zero. They…”
Zero
Then Shinn heard the sound of metal slipping through the bosom of his dear friend. He felt the pain of her scream as she fell to her knees, the blade being slipped out of her as another man’s presence suddenly warped into the room. As quick as Kei was, she was unable to avoid the man. As insightful as Shinn was, he was simply unable to feel the man’s presence. He had slipped in undetected it but Shinn wasn’t about to let him leave with his life.
Not after this…
”R…u…n…” The woman struggled, reaching toward Shinn as the man above her raised the blade over his head.
”NO!!!!” Running and leaving behind a friend was simply not something that Shinn knew how to do. Despite his friend’s warning and ignoring the danger that he faced by attempting to fight despite his handicap, Shinn took action against the man with a quick swing toward his abdomen with so much force that pushed the man backwards as he blocked the attack with his sword. ”I’m right here, Kei-chan. Right here,” he murmured, his fist punching the ground next to her before the blind man rose to his feet. ”I can see you! Might as well stop trying to be quiet!”
”Ah. The coward has become a man. Using the vibrations in the Sand to track my movements.” The two clashed weapons, Shinn struggling to keep up with the masked man’s attacks. ”Smart move kid. Sumeragi would be proud!” The man taunted, thrusting his blade forward and managing to land a glancing glow on the young Akechi’s arm. The boy struggled but eventually there was nothing that he could do. Glancing blows became piercing blows, and despite Shinn’s normal determination, his body began to fail on him.
”But you are nothing if all you can see is darkness.” The man spoke, stabbing Shinn in the arm that he used to defend himself. His blade bounced against the ground and all hope seemed lost as he fell unconscious…
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Eyes opened; the blistering sunlight pierced through the half-opened milky-white curtains as a woman’s voice echoed through Shinn’s head. ”Kei is still alive. I saved her.” He was still unable to talk, the likely after effects of the drugs used to keep him quiet while a procedure was done to ensure that he returned to full strength. ”Whether she stays that way is up to you.” There was so many questions that he had. Why was he here? Why was he alive? Why did these people restore his eyesight and what would he owe for their “gift?” And why did the masked woman’s voice sound so familiar to him despite being somewhat disguised?
”It is simple, Shinn-kun. You will assassinate the Kazekage and four other high profile targets that will be revealed to you at a later date.”
”What? Why?” He muttered. She ordered the betrayal of everything that he stood for in order to save a friend of his. Forsaking his friend or becoming one of Sunagakure’s most wanted, a betrayer of the worse sorts…
Those were his choices…
”You have will have one year. And don’t fret… This is for your people…”
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