𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐢 | ɴᴀʀᴜᴛᴏ ꨄ︎ ꜱʜɪᴘᴘᴜᴅᴇɴ

Traitor

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✧˖*°࿐

In the corner of a dark cave, Kazumi sat on the moist ground. Water dripped from cracks above, soaking the rock surrounding her. There was complete silence save for the sounds of an isolated cave.

How long she had been in there for wasn't her main priority. There was a comfort in the dark where only cracks of light could make the writings more visible. In this cold confinement, she was atoning for her sin of betraying the Akatsuki.

Sasuke's got his blade raised menacingly toward Madara and Zetsu. This was moments after they were warped back to the hidden base within the mountains.

Madara was deciding Kazumi's fate, as if his whim constantly changed. But he still needed her uses. He could especially see a future of that from her empty eyes staring at the floor. She hadn't blinked since the teleportation.

She's in the perfect state for manipulation.

"The only one who gets to kill her is me." Sasuke boldly stated.

Her dirtied hand gripped the floor next to her, running muck under her fingernails.

Kazumi's brow twitched in reaction.

"Fine." Madara lowered his masked face. "I'm still uncertain on where she aligns. For now, I'll be keeping her confined." He turned his sharingan eye to Zetsu, like an order.

Sasuke didn't lower his weapon until he confirmed to himself that Kazumi would be untouched. This was the last thing he'd do for her, but it was also a thing that made it clear on where he stood in the Akatsuki. Kumo Kazumi's death was for his hands.

Madara, knowing this, bit his tongue. "I take it you'll waste no time in claiming Uchiha Itachi's eyes."

The smirk on Sasuke's face was enough for Kazumi to finally look anywhere but the floor. Her gaze that burned with internal thoughts caught his pride taking the best of him. Sasuke was beyond saving. That male was his own enemy.

Her nails stopped digging at the rock, and she lifted her weary eyes up to take in the cave she was confined in.

With discarded, shaved down rock, she had etched her former name; 'Suki', over and over into the walls, floor and eventually, ceiling. Madara's genjutsu was overwhelmingly strong against her since the lingering effects have left her defeated.

"My mother was a fool, was a corrupt soul who sought power." The snicker of Orochimaru's voice rang in her senses. "My grandfather broke my clan into two, tearing all the foundations of his forefathers." His voice is loud inside of the genuine quiet. "My grandfather-uncle lived through guilt, unable to look at my face without seeing Her."

It's relentlessly nit-picking her deepest doubts.

"Suki..." She muttered, scratching the kanji into the floor. Her knees pulled tighter back to her chest, like simply moving them was too much effort for her.

In this dark, not a second-thought of there being a light crossed her mind. She's on another thin thread.

"Can I say, it's very stifling in here." A gruff voice of Sanjiro remarked from the shadow of the cave.