Undercover Mission: Join Team Taka
Kotomi ended up in a little base where they rest at. The rooms had sliding doors, each having their own individual rooms. The 13 year old never felt so awkward in her life.
Her brother's three companions were curious about her. Suigetsu was observing her from head to toe. "So... Do you know how to activate your sharingan like Sasuke does?"
"Of course I do." Kotomi said proudly. "Uchiha is in my name."
"Are you tough like Sasuke? I kind of want to test that one for myself?"
"Is that a challenge?"
Suigetsu smirked. "If you want it to be."
Karin smacked him on the head. "Stop that!" She turned to Kotomi with an endearing smile. "Now, if you need anything, you can ask me, alright Kotomi-chan?"
Scary how Karin wasn't like this towards her in the beginning when she mistaken her for a girl chasing after Sasuke, only to find out that she's his sister. Now she was being really nice to her.
Kotomi smiled back. "I will, thank you."
Karin couldn't help herself, embracing Kotomi. "You're just so cute!"
Suigetsu's eyelids dropped. "Karin. You're suffocating her."
"Shut up!"
After getting out of Karin's embrace, Kotomi saw the guy with orange hair nearby. At first, she thought he was some kind of monster. But looking like a regular person, he looked really kind and gentle like.
Kotomi walked towards him in a careful manner. "Hello there."
He grunted, soon smiling at her. "Kotomi, right?"
Kotomi nodded. "It is. I didn't catch your name earlier."
"My apologies. My name is Jugo."
"It's nice to meet you."
Jugo stared at her for a bit. "You do look a lot like Sasuke."
Kotomi rubbed the back of her head. "I know, we get that a lot."
"You know..." Jugo paused. "Sasuke is really important to me like he is to you."
Kotomi grunted. "You... You seem really devoted to my brother."
"I am. He is Kimimaro's last legacy."
Kotomi blinked. "Kimimaro?" She remembered Naruto mentioning that name when he got back from the time he tried to get Sasuke back. He mentioned Rock Lee took his place to fight him so he could reach Sasuke. "I see."
"Since you are Sasuke's precious family, I will be devoted to protect you as well as him, hime." Jugo bowed his head at the last sentence.
Kotomi waved her hands vigorously. "I-It's ok! You don't have to! And you don't have to call me that either!" It felt a little strange to her. It was almost like Jugo was a knight and she was like a princess. But she knew she was far from being like a princess.
"Imoto." Kotomi turned around, seeing Sasuke walking towards her. The three stared at Sasuke who was getting close to his sister.
Kotomi met Sasuke's eyes, swallowing a bit. She was still a bit mad at him, but she couldn't help but feel happy to be seeing him again. "Yes, Onii-san?"
Sasuke's blank expression didn't change. "How strong have you become over the past three years?"
Kotomi was thinking to herself. "I don't know... A lot I guess."
"Let's step outside. I want to see for myself."
Suigetsu stepped in. "Oi! Sasuke! Can I be her sparring partner?"
Sasuke didn't even take a second to answer that. "No. I'll be her sparring partner."
Suigetsu looked disappointed. "Aw... Fine. I'll guess I'll watch on the sidelines."
***
Outside, Sasuke and Kotomi were standing at a distance away from each other. Sasuke's eyes wandered at her waist area. "I see you've been practicing with swords."
There were two swords, one on each side. It was a memento of one of her teammates, Ryusai, but also what her other teacher taught her as well. "I picked it up awhile back. I met someone by coincidence, and they trained me on quite a few things."
"Who was it?"
Kotomi remembered that her teacher said to keep it a secret. So she had to improvise. "Kakashi-sensei."
Sasuke squinted his eyes. "He never taught me how to use swords."
"That's because I asked."
"What else did he teach you?"
"You'll see for yourself once we spar each other." Kotomi took out her two swords with Sasuke doing the same with his one katana.
At the same time, the two lunged towards each other while clashing blades. They were at the same wavelength, keeping up with each other's attacks.
The three who were watching stared in awe. Karin spoke up. "She's keeping up with his attacks."
Suigetsu shrugged. "I mean... I half expected this since she is related to him after all."
Jugo shook his head. "Just because they're blood related doesn't mean they can do the exact same things."
"Exactly!" Karin exclaimed. "Watch your mouth next time!"
Suigetsu looked irritated. "Hey! I didn't even say anything wrong!"
Sasuke activated his sharingan, Kotomi smirked. "You're going to play it that way, huh?" She activated her sharingan as well.
Sasuke grunted at the sight. "How did you get the same amount of tomoe as me?"
Kotomi lowered her eyes. "Things happened. I don't want to get into them right now."
"If you won't explain, then focus!" Sasuke swung his katana, almost slicing her arm.
Kotomi managed to dodge it in the nick of time. Digging into her pouch, she threw shurikens that was in the design of a snowflake. A memento of her other teammate. Tsubaki.
Sasuke jumped back from a distance. The shuriken landed on the ground, a little bit of frozen ice surrounded it. He started weaving handsigns, forming chidori in his hands.
Kotomi smirked, weaving the same handsigns as chidori appeared in her hands. Sasuke grunted. "He taught you how to do chidori too?"
"That's right, Onii-san. Let's see who's chidori is stronger."
At the same time, they started running towards each other with a chidori in their hands. As soon as they were going to collide, someone jumped in between them, grabbing their wrists.
Their chidori disappeared, seeing the person very clearly. Kotomi's eyes widen at the sight of the person. She had seen him once before. The masked man who trapped her and her friends in a Tsukuyomi.
The masked man turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke. It's time."
Sasuke nodded. "Right."
"Now hold on!" Kotomi exclaimed. "Why are you working with him, Onii-san?!"
Sasuke turned his back on her. "It has nothing to do with you."
Kotomi rolled her eyes. "Quit saying things like that and explain for once."
The masked man turned to her. "You may come with us. Having another Uchiha would be quite helpful."
Kotomi had a bad feeling about this. This masked man, Madara, what he calls himself. But something told her that this guy wasn't really Madara. But he had the sharingan. She didn't know what other Uchiha could be alive besides her and Sasuke.
***
At an abandoned Akatsuki base, the Uchiha siblings and the others were in a room with a long table and chairs. Sasuke was the only one sitting down, Kotomi standing right beside him.
Kotomi looked around the room with her eyes. This is what one of the Akatsuki's base looked like. She never thought she would see it with her own eyes.
Hearing footsteps drawing close, Kotomi's eyes fixated on the sound. Her eyes widen the next second. She saw the masked man along with another Akatsuki member who looked part fish. She met eyes with this Akatsuki member who was smirking at her, giving her a bit of the creeps.
The guy who looked part fish looked between Sasuke and Kotomi. "I was aware that Itachi had a younger brother but not a younger sister. What a surprise." Kotomi gulped, not saying a word. The guy looked around the room, observing the people here. "This Team Taka doesn't look very strong to me."
Suigetsu suddenly started rushing towards him with his big sword. "Kisame!"
The masked man went in front of Suigetsu, blocking the big sword with only his hand. Kotomi grunted at the sight. She couldn't believe that he only encountered with just his hand. If she would've done that, her hand would've been cut off.
"Now..." The masked man spoke up. "Since our goals work together, Team Taka will join forces with the Akatsuki."
Kotomi grunted once more, turning to Sasuke. Sasuke didn't look fazed one bit. "That's fine."
"But... If you betray us, I won't hesitate to kill you or your team. Your sister included."
Sasuke stayed silent, closing his eyes. "What do we need to do?"
Even if they couldn't see the masked man's face, he made a satisfied noise. "Capture the eight tails."
Kotomi blinked. "Eight tails..?" She quietly whispered to herself. Not even a second, she then realized. She had a feeling that things were not going to end well.
***
Arriving in the Hidden Cloud area, Team Taka landed on a giant rock. Kotomi has been in this place several times, looking really nervous.
Suigetsu noticed her expression, arching an eyebrow. "Uh... Kotomi-chan? Why do you look so nervous? Are you scared?"
Kotomi shook her head. "Not scared, just... Worried."
"About what?"
Kotomi let out a sigh. "A lot of things..." Looking up, she saw Killer Bee jumping down from the long stone stairs, now he was only about 10 feet away from them. "Oh no..."
"What are you lot doing here? And who are you? Bakayaro, konoyaro."
Sasuke still kept his same expression, the wind blowing his hair a bit. "We're here to capture you."
"I think you mean, let me capture you Lord Jinchuuriki please." Killer Bee looked over to the person next to Sasuke. "Little Butterfly, what are you doing with the Akatsuki? You got some explaining to do, so you better answer me."
Suigetsu made an awkward expression. "Little Butterfly?"
Kotomi sighed. "That's my nickname to him. He's my other teacher. The one who taught me how to sword fight and... Rap."
"What?!"
Kotomi stepped forward, walking towards Killer Bee. "I can explain. It's not what it looks like."
Killer Bee shook his head. "Address me as Lord Jinchuuriki and talk to me in my language. Only then you can explain the damage."
Kotomi closed her eyes, letting out a sigh through her nose. "Lord Jinchuuriki, let me revise. I joined my brother with a compromise. I know it wasn't wise, but if I explain later, you will understand both sides."
Suigestsu had an awkward expression. "Sasuke... Your sister just rapped..."
Kotomi never expected her brother to hear her talk like this. She just wanted to crawl in a hole and hide. "But just know I'm not going to be involved in this fight. In a matter of fight or flight, I choose to flight. I can't stop either of you, that would be too good to be true. My brother's really stubborn, and you're really strong. I have a feeling that this battle will take very long."
Sasuke closed his eyes, letting out a silent sigh. "Stop talking like that, imoto."
Kotomi nervously laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry. I'll stop. But I meant what I said. I'm not going to get involved any further than this. Even if I tried to stop you, nothing would work anyway. So... I'm just going to observe from afar. Just don't kill each other."
Killer Bee spoke up. "There's no promise that I won't kill your brother. He's trying to capture me, one way or another."
Kotomi sighed. She felt so hopeless right now, not being able to stop them even if she tried. Her brother and other teacher were both really stubborn, so she wouldn't be able to stop them from fighting it out even if she begged and pleaded. They wouldn't listen to her anyway.
"I'll be on my way..." With that, Kotomi disappeared. She didn't want to get in the middle of the soon to be life threatening battle.
***
The battle went on for a while, making the area have a ton of explosions due to physical attacks. Kotomi watched from afar, already witnessing her brother get fatal blows twice, almost dying. Luckily, Karin and Jugo saved him.
She knew what was coming next, and that's why she wanted to keep her distance. Killer Bee transformed into the eight tails.
Kotomi saw them fighting in the water. Not even a second later, she saw black flames appear on the eight tails. She gasped at the sight. "Amaterasu?!"
Putting a hand near her eye, Kotomi wondered if she could do that as well since she unlocked her mangekyo sharingan a while back. But she knew activating that would put her at risk.
Seeing that the battle was over, Kotomi saw Sasuke and Jugo carrying Killer Bee along with Karin and Suigetsu who got injured sometime during the fight.
Looking around her, Kotomi vanished from her hiding place, appearing nearby them. "That was the most craziest thing I've ever seen."
Sasuke looked at her, starting to walk ahead. "Let's go."
Kotomi cringed at the sight her brother. "I need to treat you once we get a chance to rest because oh my god your eye..." She knew that Amaterasu puts a great strain on the eyes, making it bleed a lot and risk of losing your sight if you're not careful.
Seeing Sasuke and Jugo walking up ahead, Kotomi rushed up to catch up with them. She didn't know how to feel once news about this spreads all throughout the five lands.
A/N: It's so hard coming up with rhymes! We can see that she has become stronger, even if she didn't want to get involved in the fight. She was wise enough not to get involved, knowing both are stronger than her. The best thing she could do in this moment was to hope and pray neither of them died. We get to see how strong she really is later on.