Kin is strong.
She has to keep telling herself this, even when Kabuto's leading them into the lab, explaining what he intends to do in a low, calm voice.
Kin is strong, and that's why she doesn't scream or run away.
It's an honor, really. Or so she keeps repeating to herself, over and over again. An honor to be chosen as the vessel Orochimaru-sama will use to unleash the First's strength upon his own Hidden Village.
It's the only way to redeem herself in Orochimaru-sama's eyes after the humiliating defeat she suffered in the chuunin exam. Beat by a lazy no-name rookie.
She watches Zaku shudder convulsively when Kabuto outlines exactly how they have to be executed and prepared for the summons, and suppresses a shudder of her own. Because Kin is strong.
Kabuto smiles at her over his shoulder. It won't hurt much, he says. I'm good at this now.
Kin wonders who he's practiced on. Sometimes Kabuto scares her more than Orochimaru-sama.
She wonders if she'll still be in there, somewhere, when her body becomes the First's. She wonders if she'll feel it when the Third goes down (because he will fall, he will. Orochimaru-sama says so, and Orochimaru-sama doesn't lie, not to them). She wonders if Zaku will fall apart before Kabuto's scalpel reaches his throat.
It's easier not to think about how it will feel when it reaches hers.
Kin has killed people before. She knows how surprisingly easy it is. She doesn't fool herself into thinking Kabuto will mind their blood on his hands (a drop in an ocean).
It doesn't matter. They will be heroes. Orochimaru-sama will remember them, if no one else will. Because Orochimaru-sama will live forever, and those that live in his memories have a certain sort of immortality as well.
Zaku's scream is cut off in a bubbling hiss as Kabuto draws the sharp blade smoothly across his throat. He catches the body as it falls, heedless of the blood that stains his clothing, laying it out neatly on a slab.
Kin feels herself trembling and forces herself to stillness. She's strong, she tells herself as Kabuto wipes bloody hands on his shirt and starts towards her, glasses gleaming under the dim lights.
She's strong. She won't scream.
She won't scream.
She won't—
Endnotes: Ehh, nothing to say here, really. Other than I find that whole idea really, really disturbing. And Narutofic is surprisingly addictive.