Chapter 8

Chaos in the Chunin Exams

It's been a while since Kotomi has seen Sasuke. Even when he comes home at times to rest, she could tell that his attitude was changing. He was the same more or less, but something seemed off about him.

Kotomi was sitting at her seat in the academy, thinking to herself. She really wanted to know what was going through her brother's head. Why was he acting like this all of a sudden?

"Kotomi." Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned around, seeing Tsubaki looking at her with a worried expression. "I've been calling your name for a while now. Are you alright?"

Kotomi didn't want to worry her friend as she gave him a little smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just spacing out."

"Looks to me like you were thinking about something."

Averting her eyes, she nervously laughed. "I was just thinking about... How soon my brother has to take the chunin exams."

"Oh, right! It's tomorrow, huh?"

Kotomi nodded. "Yeah. Do you mind if we sit next to each other while cheering my brother on?"

Tsubaki smiled. "Of course."

***

The next day, Kotomi and Tsubaki were sitting next to each other in the shaded area seats. The entire village was here to witness the future chunins fight each other, seeing their power and potential.

Kotomi saw a couple girls sitting next to them, recognizing one of them in an instant. "Sakura!"

Sakura gave her a smile. "Hi Kotomi-chan! Are you excited to see your brother fight in the chunin exam?"

Kotomi nodded eagerly. "I am! I know my brother will win no matter who he goes up against!"

"I feel the same way!" Sakura turned to the girl next to her. "This is Ino. A good friend of mine."

Kotomi smiled at Ino. "It's nice to meet you."

Ino smiled back. "It's nice to meet you! You're so adorable! You look just like Sasuke!"

Kotomi scratched the back of her head. "I know, I get that a lot."

Sakura was now staring at Tsubaki. "Is this one of your classmates?"

"Yeah. This is my good friend, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki nodded shyly. "I-It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Sakura smiled, then smirking, seeing how his expression was. He was shyly looking at Kotomi at this point. "Oh... I see how it is."

Kotomi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Sakura laughed it off. "Oh, look! It's about to start!"

The matches were about to begin. They were watching a bunch of them already, cheering for each one. The next match was Naruto against Neji.

At this point, Kotomi was cheering Naruto on. "You can do it!" It seemed like he heard her loud and clear, boosting up his confidence a little. In the end, Naruto ended up winning.

Both Sakura and Kotomi cheered in sync. "Alright!"

Ino started laughing at the sight. "You two look like sisters right now!"

Sakura smirked proudly. She hoped that she could actually be Kotomi's sister one day, married to Sasuke. She hoped that it wasn't just a fantasy. "Well, you know what they say... Great minds think alike."

Kotomi giggled. "You're right about that." Tsubaki was watching the entire time, happy to see that Kotomi was enjoying herself.

The match was about to start between Sasuke and Gaara. Kotomi grunted at the sight of her brother, he looked a bit different. Maybe it was his hair. "He needs a haircut after this."

Sakura started laughing. "Do you usually cut his hair, Kotomi-chan?"

Kotomi nodded. "Yeah. I've been doing it for years now."

"Wow..! That's amazing!"

Ino tugged on Sakura's sleeve, trying to get her attention. "It's about to start! Watch!"

In the match, Sasuke seemed to be a different kind of person. Kotomi has seen a lot of sides to him, but never like this. He had a different demeanor about him today.

Kotomi's eyes widen, seeing him summon a jutsu she has never seen before. He had literal lightning in his hands. "That's what he's been training for... Amazing..."

Sakura nodded. "That's right. He's been training with Kakashi-sensei a lot." Kotomi's eyes wavered in response. He looked stronger than he ever had before.

All of a sudden, Kotomi started to feel lightheaded. She looked around, everyone for some reason was sound asleep. She saw a white feather floating down in front of her. Someone was putting some sort of sleep jutsu on everyone. But why?

Kotomi felt herself getting weak, wanting to see what was going on. It felt like she couldn't move. Her eyes were growing heavier by the second until she couldn't keep them open anymore.

***

After a little while, Kotomi woke up on her own. She forgot for a split second where she was until she saw Tsubaki. He was still sound asleep just like everyone else was.

The only thing was that Sakura wasn't here. "Where did she go?" Looking around, she saw a giant hole busted through the wall, wondering what caused that. Getting up from her seat, she rushed towards it.

Now rushing through the forest, Kotomi was trying to figure out what was going on. Whatever was happening, she had a bad feeling about it.

Up ahead, Kotomi saw someone laying down on a thick branch. Squinting her eyes, she recognized who it was when she got closer. "Sakura!"

Making it to her, Kotomi saw that there was a dog there. Blinking at it, the dog started to speak which she didn't expect at all. "You must be Sasuke's sister."

Kotomi was quiet. She never once in her life seen a talking dog before. Was she still under that sleeping jutsu? "Uh... Yeah. That's me."

"I advise you not to go any further. It's dangerous beyond this point."

"What do you mean by that?"

"A dangerous battle that you do not want to get yourself involved in."

Kotomi looked around her surroundings. There were a lot of damaged spots on the tree barks, seeming like someone was fighting here not too long ago.

Hearing a booming noise, Kotomi's head turned towards the sound. From a distance that was far yet close enough to see, she saw her brother hiding behind a tree. "Onii-san!" She was so relived to see that he was alright. But it looked like something strange was on him. She couldn't really make it out from her distance, but she could tell there were markings on his face and neck. "What is that..?"

The dog looked down, not wanting to say anything about it. Internally, he knew she would ask about it eventually. As much as Kotomi wanted to go over to Sasuke, she had to stay with Sakura and protect her in her unconscious state.

Eventually, the battle Kotomi got to see for a little bit ended with Naruto defeating Gaara. She was glad that Naruto was able to handle it. She looked over to Sasuke, seeing that he was shocked to see Naruto growing stronger than him at this point. Kotomi knew how he was feeling at this very moment, hoping it wouldn't get to him too much to drive him over the edge. But it was her brother, he would know how to maintain himself.

During the same time that battle was happening, the third hokage was fighting the threat to the village, his former student that went by the name Orochimaru. The hokage ended up passing away that day.

***

The day of the hokage's funeral, it was a gloomy, rainy day. One by one, everyone in the village was paying their respects by placing a flower on his grave.

Kotomi was there, watching everyone else pay their respects before her. Nearby, she saw Konohamaru sobbing while their teacher was comforting him. Her heart sank at the sight. He was the hokage's grandson, that loss was so much he could take. She understood that feeling well.

After the funeral, Kotomi was walking home by herself. Sasuke was with Naruto and Sakura and would be home later.

In front of her, she saw Konohamaru with his friends who were confronting him. Walking near him, she stopped where she stood. "Konohamaru."

He turned around, seeing her giving him a small smile. "Yeah?" His eyes were swollen at this point.

Kotomi's heart hurt seeing her classmate like this. They weren't close before, but ever since getting to know them more, she felt fond of them. Especially Konohamaru. "If you need anything, just know I'll do anything I can to help. We're friends after all."

Konohamaru sniffed and nodded. "Thanks..."

Kotomi softly smiled at him, her hands behind her back. "You're welcome."

***

A couple days passed, Kotomi was at home while giving Sasuke a much deserved haircut. Looking around his head, she nodded in approval. "That looks much better."

Sasuke stood up from his chair. "Thanks."

"Hey Onii-san, I was wondering if we could go out somewhere together. It's been awhile since we-"

"Sorry, but I'm going to train. Maybe next time." Sasuke began to walk away, walking out the front door.

Kotomi heard the door shut, letting out a sigh. "I just wanted to talk..." She had so many questions to ask him, but it looked like she wasn't going to get answers anytime soon. The worry in her heart grew even more.

A/N: What are you doing Sasuke?! We're getting close to the part when he leaves the village! How would Kotomi react to it? We'll find out soon enough.