𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐢 | ɴᴀʀᴜᴛᴏ ꨄ︎ ꜱʜɪᴘᴘᴜᴅᴇɴ

Puppet

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(A/N: GUYSSS, I made the mistake of writing the previous chap "Burdened" in first pov when I completely planned for PART THREE to be in third pov... oops. But honestly, I guess it gives Kaz the character development she deserves to start off the beginning of her transition into her very first war :''')

✧˖*°࿐

An enveloping shadow casts overhead Kazumi's false green hair, having her pause running to grip a boulder for support. As her brown contacts followed the shadow all the way to the sky, her jaw gaped at the answer. It was a sphere in the sky, like the moon had been pulled from its position to crash down on Earth. The boulder next to her was an ant in comparison. Kazumi pushed off the boulder, lungs burning as she forced herself faster.

Now all the wails made sense. Uchiha Madara, whoever he was, had the presence of a God from miles away. This was a terrible dilemma on Kazumi's part. She had to get through this to reach the North. 

"Run! Run!!" A shinobi bellowed, sprinting past her. In seconds, she caught his baffled expression. "Hey, you! What are you doing?!" Despite looking over his shoulder to insist she leave as well, his fear consumed him back to running.

Immediately after, crowds full of jounin's came running down like a stampede. A few shoulders had grazed Kazumi's, some even falling over to then pick themselves back up again.

Through the chaos, she skidded to a stop at the sight of a figure on a cliff. This pungent scent came from him, overwhelmingly powerful. Different from the mask he wore, Madara's spiked-long hair was comparable to the body of a porcupines. His face had several cracks from the Edo Tensei; background of his eyes a haunting pattern of faded purple swirls.

That's his true form?

She frowned, quickly scanning the harsh-winded area. Hundreds of shinobi remained, though there was nothing they could do. The sight of recognisable faces then caught Kazumi's attention. 

The spiteful old Tsuchikage had jumped to the meteor, hands clutching the bottom as he initiated an Earth Release that trembled the sphere little by little.

Not enough to stop it. If he's... 

"... planning on breaking it, he's a fool." A voice finished her thought.

Kazumi's eyes went wide, paralysed in one stance as she only glanced next to her. Sanjiro looked like he had been muttering to himself, his grey gaze finding hers.

"Don't look so confounded. There's much to do." His words felt like it was just yesterday that Kazumi was struck by Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. "Why is it you change appearance every time we meet?"

"Uncle —"

The sand shifted beneath their feet, being pulled towards a specific direction. Through the fast winds and morphing element, she could vaguely see Gaara's noticeable red hair. He had summoned a whirlpool of large mass sand which shot up the air and surrounded underneath the meteor to cushion it.

Seeing the meteor tremble backwards, Kazumi turned back to Sanjiro with a relieved expression. "It's working —"

However, the space beside her was gone.

Suddenly, the smashing of rock erupted the atmosphere. Another meteor, similar in size, had collided directly on top of the original. The Tsuchikage damaged his forehead from the impact, his jutsu releasing once his hands slipped and he plummeted. With his Earth support gone, the sand holding it had been greatly pushed down. Gaara's arms violently shook, every cell of his willpower stubbornly going against the meteor.