The cloaked figure loomed over her, gloved hand locked firm on her neck, her back pressed against the concrete wall.
“You don’t remember?” A deep, husky male voice spoke, pressing his grip into a strangle. Keiko choked, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She struggled to break free, but her two hands were no match for the broad, calloused palm of the hunter.
“They think they’ve hidden you. But your eyes…”
Her irises gleamed under the flickering lights—ash gray.
“Only a Shirozumi has eyes of that color.”
The air around them cold, as cold as the tone of the man who was about to reveal the truth about her.
“Let me remind you who you are, Keiko.”
Panting in fear, she listened.
“Born to the Shirozumi clan, a family of herbologists, masters of purification jutsu, expert tracker-navigators. A prodigy of the clan’s hiden even though you’re from the branch family. Special jounin at 17 years old. Tsunade confined you to an underground research lab because you’re like Konoha’s secret weapon. Your expertise? Antidotes.”
He sneered, voice laced with spite.
“Your best discovery? You created the immortality serum. An antidote to death itself.”
“Never heard of it!” She cried out.
Keiko still could not make sense of anything.
“And your biggest sin, Keiko? You single-handedly annihilated the whole core family!” He pinned her forcefully with his body. This time his cloak pulled back, revealing his face—dark gray hair jotting out at the edge of the hood, jaw twitching, clenched teeth and wrathful eyes.
“Now… you pay!” He raged.
Suddenly, a dagger stabbed through her abdomen. She screamed, as the blade twisted, drawn back, and pierced again, again and again.
“I’m taking back what’s rightfully mine!” He declared, as he delivered punishing stabs intending to end her life. But his actions halted when he noticed the wounds.
Her screams faded. There was no pain, just pressure and slight discomfort.
Sweat beaded down his temple.
“The immortality serum. You took it.”
Concealed at a dark corner, still like the shadows and breathing in practiced silence, Shikamaru witnessed everything. Only then, Kakashi’s message made sense.
“We sealed her memories. If the seal breaks, it’s very likely she’ll go rogue. It’s all up to you.”
@kagemaneking meet the stalker keiko and *her* stalker (gotta switch to 3rd person pov the next round 🥹)
areudirty
stormborns
gummygunk
vaporwave
blakekathryn
jbbartram-illu
