Finding Sasuke
In Konohagakure, the now 13 year old Kotomi was walking along with Kakashi. He was silently reading his book as he was walking. Curious on why he's always reading that kind of book, Kotomi arched an eyebrow. "Is that book really that good?"
Kakashi blinked, nervously laughing. "It's very interesting in that matter." He looked at her in a teasing way. "Oh? You interested?"
"Don't get it mixed up." Successfully snatching the book from his hand, Kotomi went to the first chapter, already regretting it.
Slowly closing book and not wanting to read any further, Kotomi handed Kakashi back the book. "I regret this..." Her face was entirely red.
Kakashi nervously laughed. "Maybe you'll appreciate it more when you're older."
"I don't think so."
"Hey Kotomi!" Konohammaru called out.
Kakashi started to tease her. "Your boyfriend's calling you."
Kotomi's face was redder than a tomato, giving off steam. "He's not my boyfriend!"
Naruto and Konohamaru were walking together with a bright smile on their faces. Naruto noticed that Kotomi had a strange expression. "Are you alright, Kotomi-chan?"
Shaking her head, Kotomi didn't even know what she was feeling right now. "I'm... Alright."
"Were you training or something?" Konohamaru asked.
"I was earlier. That's why I'm with Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi was so into his book that he wasn't even paying attention. A bit annoyed, Naruto exclaimed. "Hey! Kakashi-sensei!"
Getting his nose out of the book, Kakashi looked side to side. "Huh? What?"
"Geez... You're always reading that book." Letting out a sigh, Naruto turned to Kotomi. "Do you want to join us for ramen?"
Feeling unsure, Kotomi turned to Kakashi who was smiling at her. "I say we call it a day. You can do whatever you want."
"I will, thank you." Turning to Naruto, Kotomi nodded eagerly. "Count me in!"
Naruto smiled brightly. "Alright! You ready to lose at the ramen contest?"
"I'm not going to lose!"
Things were heating up between the two that it was even too much for Konohammaru. "You guys... It's just lunch."
***
At Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto and Kotomi were eating to their heart's content. Konohamaru was trying to keep up with them, but they were faster than him.
Putting the bowls down at the same time, Naruto let out a satisfied sigh. "We always have a tie."
"You created a monster."
"True! I did introduce you to this place after all!"
"And I'm so happy you did!"
"Do you want to get another bowl?"
As soon as Kotomi was about to answer, she felt a disturbance in her chakra. Looking back, she saw a crow staring right at her. Trying to think of an excuse, Kotomi got up from her seat. "I remembered that I have an appointment! We can eat more another time! Thank you for the meal!"
Naruto and Konohammaru watched Kotomi run out, both wearing confused expressions. Thinking that Kotomi really did have some kind of appointment, they continued eating their ramen.
***
In a forestry area in the outskirts of the village, Kotomi noticed that same crow had followed her. It landed on her arm, having a familiar sharingan. Grunting at the sight, Kotomi just stared at the crow. "How..? I thought Nii-san was..?"
All of a sudden, she heard a familiar voice in her head. "If you're hearing this, that means I'm already dead."
Thinking she was going crazy, Kotomi looked all around her. "Nii-san? Where are you?"
"I used the remaining amount of my chakra to pass this message onto you."
"Message? What message?"
"There was a chance that Sasuke would find out the truth after my death, and take it the wrong way. For that, I need you to do this favor."
Knowing that it was an automated message that Itachi left in his crow before his death, Kotomi still asked this like she was directly talking to him. "What favor?"
"Find Sasuke. Go to him, and prevent him from destroying the village."
Kotomi grunted. "Why would he..?" She knew that he just said that he would take it the wrong way if he found out the truth, but it was all just a big facepalm. "Well... I can see why he would."
The crow flew away high in the sky after the message was passed onto her. She looked at the sky, pondering to herself. She knew that if she left the village without permission, she would be labeled as a rogue ninja. The people would think that they were right about her following in her brothers' footsteps. But that didn't matter. In order to protect the village, she had to find her brother.
***
Setting off without anyone noticing, Kotomi rushed out of the village. It hurt her not to tell anyone that she was setting off on her own. But she had to leave without word, for the sake of the village and her eldest brother's wishes.
Kotomi was surprised that she didn't even run into enemies on the way. It was too quiet and easy. It was a breeze just rushing through the trees, but she still kept her guard up.
Knowing that she was out of the land of fire, Kotomi had arrived at an area that was an open field. Nothing but flat land and sand all around. She had no idea where to go from here, not having a clue of where Sasuke might even be. But she wasn't going to give up. She wouldn't rest until she finds him.
***
About a couple days has passed, Kotomi was still trying to find Sasuke. She arrived in some village that had a bunch of restaurants and shops. It was peaceful yet rowdy since there were so many people from all over the lands gathered here.
Sasuke couldn't possibly be in a place like this. Maybe he passed by, but not knowing when he was here last. Passing through the people, Kotomi continued her search for her brother.
Somewhere outside of that village, Kotomi was rushing through the trees. Up ahead, she saw a group of four walking on the dirt path. Squinting her eyes, she grunted at the sight. She knew that duckbutt hair anywhere. But who were these people he was with?
Kotomi let out a sigh. "Finally... I found him." Though she didn't know how to approach him. Should she just appear in front of him? But that would mean the people he's with would attack her. What if she followed them where they were going? But that would mean they would find out eventually. She was really in a bind.
In the end, Kotomi decided to just sneak in the trees while following them wherever they were going. She had to keep her distance, but she also had to get close enough to not lose track of them. This was going to be tricky, she had a bad feeling this was not going to end well.
Jumping onto another tree, her foot slipped, making a loud scraping noise. One of them noticed the sound as they turned their head. In a nick of time, Kotomi hid behind the tree.
Kotomi was close enough to where she could hear them. "I sense someone nearby that tree."
"Shoot!" Kotomi thought. "I need to hide somewhere else!"
Just when she was about to make her escape, Kotomi saw someone appear right in front of her. Going wide eyed, the guy with orange hair harshly punched her out of the tree, making her land on the ground.
Her landing made a hole appear underneath her. "What was that power..? He looked like a monster..."
As she was about to stand up, Kotomi felt someone trap her in their arms, putting two fingers against her head. "Think we didn't noticed you following us, huh?"
Kotomi stood really still, keeping herself calm. She side glanced this guy. He had white hair and sharp teeth. Her eyes turned towards the sound of footsteps heading her way.
Right ahead of her, Kotomi saw a woman with long red hair wearing glasses. "If you think you're following us because you want to get with Sasuke, you got another thing coming."
Kotomi had a shocked expression. "Get with..? Ew! Hell no!"
For some reason, the woman looked irritated. "Don't insult Sasuke like that!"
"I can insult him all I want because I'm his-"
"Imoto." Sasuke was walking towards her with a somewhat annoyed expression. "What are you doing here?"
All three of his traveling companions were shocked. The guy with the white hair looked the most shocked of all. "Ehhhh?! She's your sister?!"
The woman with the glasses looked really shocked as well. "You never mentioned that you had a younger sister. I was only informed that you had an older brother."
Sasuke looked straight at Kotomi. "That's because she needs to know when to stop."
Feeling ticked off, Kotomi shoved the guy aside, standing up. Walking up to Sasuke, she felt herself shaking from anger. "You're the one to talk, idiot brother."
"That's new."
Kotomi rolled her eyes. "You know what else was new? That time when you left the village and left me all alone! Why the hell did you leave in the first place?!"
Sasuke closed his eyes. "To get stronger. What else?"
"Did you really have to go down that path for more power?!"
"I wasn't going to grow any stronger if I stayed at that village."
"Still..." Kotomi clenched her hands into fists. "You just left me... How could you..?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment, letting out a silent sigh. "It's what I had to do. You can be mad all you want."
Feeling her blood boil inside her, Kotomi managed to slap Sasuke across the face. "Damn right I am! I'm pissed! You're a freaking idiot! You said that we will always be there for each other no matter what and what did you do?! You just left me!"
Sasuke's expression didn't change from her slap. The three who were watching the entire time had shocked expressions. "Explain. What makes me an idiot?"
"I heard that you plan to destroy Konoha!"
"And where did you hear that?"
Feeling hesitant, Kotomi tried to spit it out. "From a... Crow."
"Itachi's crow, huh? Just like how you knew all this time why he had to do what he did."
Kotomi grunted, lowering her head. "I... I just so happened to overhear Nii-san and our parents talking that night. I only understood a little why he had to do it, so I don't know the entire truth. But from I understand, Nii-san didn't do it because he wanted to. Someone made him do it. And when I found you collapsed, that's when he told me to not tell you, because he wanted you to be the one to kill him one day."
Seeing Kotomi getting teary eyed, Sasuke let out a sigh. "I would be mad at you, but there's no reason for me to be."
Trying to keep it together, Kotomi stood her ground. "Just... Just don't destroy Konoha. That's not what Nii-san would've wanted."
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "After what they put him though?! Why shouldn't I?!"
Kotomi swallowed. She could understand how Sasuke felt about this, but it was wrong. Itachi's purpose was to protect the village. She knew that even if she tried to explain it word for word, he wouldn't believe her. If only Itachi were here, then he would believe it since it would come from the source itself.
"Imoto." Kotomi looked up at Sasuke, seeing him back into his neutral state. "You're going to come with me. We can both get revenge on the village after what they have done to our brother."
Kotomi grunted. She had no ill feelings towards the village. She didn't even want to destroy it, even though they put her brother through so much. It just wasn't right to do that.
A realization popped into her head. If she manages to stay close to her brother, maybe she could find a way to prevent him from destroying the village. It would take a lot of persuading, knowing that Sasuke was so stubborn about everything and anything.
Though she felt bad that she was going to stay with her brother for that reason. But it felt like it's what she had to do. Kotomi nodded her head. "Whatever you say."
"You finally understand how I feel now?" Kotomi nodded once more. "Then you're now a part of my group. Don't get any second thoughts about wanting to go back to the village."
"I won't..."
Seeing that Kotomi was listening to him, Sasuke began to walk ahead. She felt a hand on her shoulder, seeing the guy with white hair next to her. "Sorry about all that. I didn't realize you were his sister. I'm Suigetsu by the way."
Kotomi gave him a small smile. "Nice to meet you..."
The woman with glasses stepped in. "I apologize as well. I was unaware that Sasuke had a younger sister. I'm Karin."
"Nice to meet you as well."
The guy with orange hair bowed his head. "I deeply apologize for what I did to you. If I've known that you were Sasuke's younger sister, I wouldn't have attacked you like that."
Kotomi waved her hands vigorously. "I-It's ok! You didn't know! We can put that behind us!"
Suigetsu smirked. "You two look alike, but I can tell already that your personalities are way different."
"We get that a lot. My brother thinks he's so cool when he acts all aloof. He's like all like look at me I'm Sasuke Uchiha, and I'm better than you."
Suigetsu started laughing. "Sasuke! Your sister is so funny! I think she's the only person to get away with mocking you!"
Walking ahead of them, Sasuke had his eyes closed, pretending not to hear them. He heard words here and there, but he could tell that Kotomi and Suigetsu were getting along. He didn't know how to feel about that.
A/N: So yeah... Kotomi has joined Team Taka. Though she's only there to try to prevent him not to destroy Konoha. We shall see how this will play out.