Chapter 12

Mission Failed

Kotomi was waiting outside of the academy, waiting on her teammates to come out. Seeing the door opening, she saw Ryusai and Tsubaki walking out at the same time.

Looking at them with anticipating eyes, Kotomi spoke up. "So... How did it go?"

Both looking at one another, they both revealed a certificate and a chunin jacket that they were hiding behind their backs. "We did it!" Tsubaki cheered.

Kotomi's eyes sparkled. "Congratulations, you two! I knew you could do it!"

Ryusai slightly blushed, averting his gaze. "We couldn't done it without your help. So... Thank you."

Both Kotomi and Tsubaki grunted. Their teammate was never honest with his feelings like this. "Who are you and what have you done with Ryusai?" Tsubaki asked.

Ryusai looked irritated. "Why is it so surprising for me to say thank you?!"

"Because you rarely say it!"

Kotomi giggled. "You're welcome, Ryusai. Although I didn't do too much, you two did it with your own power."

Tsubaki shook his head. "What are you talking about?! You helped us in our training so much!"

"I just gave you two a push is all."

"Wow! I see that the two of you became chunin!" Turning around, they saw Konohamaru walking up to them along with Moegi and Udon.

Kotomi gave him a smile. "It's true. I'm so proud of them."

Averting his gaze, Konohamaru looked flustered and determined at the same time. "I'll be a chunin like you guys! You'll see!"

"I believe you on that. You can do it, Konohamaru."

A blush appeared on his face, having him avoid looking at her. "Thanks..."

Tsubaki squinted his eyes. "If you want to become a chunin, you have to train harder than you already do. All I ever see you do is loaf around."

"Excuse me?!" Konohamaru exclaimed. "I train every day! Just because you became a chunin doesn't mean you get to talk down to me like this!"

"That's because you're still a genin, you idiot!" There were sparks between the two, glaring at each other.

Kotomi went in between the two of them. "Calm down, you guys. Don't get all in each other's faces over something like this." At the same time, they both turned away from each other, crossing their arms.

Ryusai let out a sigh. "Grow up, you two..."

Kotomi had her arms crossed, looking back and forth at Konohamaru and Tsubaki. "Apologize." They were silent, not even moving. She felt her blood start to boil, now she was raising her voice. "I said apologize!"

Feeling intimidated by her tone of voice, they both faced one another, avoiding eye contact. "Sorry." They both said in unison.

Kotomi was all smiles. "This better not happen again or else it won't be pretty." She activated the sharingan in her eyes. "Got it?"

Both gulping, they both nodded and said this in unison. "Yes m'am..."

Her eyes no longer had the sharingan. "Good. So long as you understand." Kotomi patted both Tsubaki and Konohamaru's backs. "We have somewhere to be. I'll see you later, Konohamaru." Her and her teammates began to walk away, walking passed Konohamaru and his friends.

Watching Kotomi walk away, Moegi spoke up. "Are you ever going to tell her?"

Konohamaru looked down, his eyes wavering. "Not yet. Though when I do, I know Tsubaki will be pissed since he feels the same way about her." Looking up, Kotomi was at a distance away already. A slight blush appeared on his face, not dropping his gaze.

***

After having a celebration lunch with her teammates, Kotomi was walking around the village by herself. At a distance, she saw Naruto and Sakura along with two other people she hasn't seen before walking towards the main gate.

Trying to catch up with them, Kotomi started waving her hands. "Naruto! Sakura!"

Stopping where they stood, Naruto smiled brightly at her. "Hey! What's up, Kotomi-chan?"

"Nothing much. Where are you going?"

The four looked at one another, unsure if they should tell her. "Captain Yamato, should we tell her?"

The guy with brown hair wearing a face gear named Yamato looked like he was thinking to himself. "It's supposed to be classified."

Sakura lowered her eyes. "Even so, she would find out about it eventually."

Kotomi was trying to read in the situation, trying to figure out what they were talking about. The other guy whose name she hadn't heard yet spoke up. "You must be Sasuke's little sister."

Her eyes widened, now figuring out what they were doing. "Are you... Trying to go to where my brother is?"

Yamato let out a sigh. "It seems like you figured it out."

Sakura smiled. "She's really smart about that kind of thing."

Moving somewhat antsy, Kotomi spoke her mind. "Let me join you on this mission!"

Yamato shook his head. "This mission is for squad 7 only."

"But I'm his younger sister! I feel like I can help in some way! Please make an exception!"

Seeing the strong determination in her eyes, it felt like Yamato couldn't deny her this time. "I'll get permission for you to join."

Smiling widely, Kotomi bowed her head. "Thank you so much!" She was eager to get her brother back. This time, she wanted to help contribute.

The guy she was unfamiliar with spoke up. "Your name is Kotomi Uchiha, correct?"

Kotomi nodded. "Yes. What's your name?"

"Sai."

"It's nice to meet you, Sai."

Sai gave her a smile that seemed empty. "It's nice to meet you too."

"So... Are you a temporary replacement for my brother?"

"I am."

"Figured as much." Seeing that Captain Yamato was filling in for Kakashi since he was hospitalized at the moment.

Naruto had his hands behind his head, smiling to himself. "I'm looking forward to this. I feel like this time we'll definitely bring Sasuke back."

Sakura nodded, feeling the exact same way. "Plus, this will be the first time Kotomi will join us on a mission."

"Oh yeah! I'm excited to see how this goes!"

Kotomi smiled at the two. "I look forward to working with you."

***

After receiving permission for Kotomi to join the mission, the five headed out of the village. Jumping on trees, the five were making their way towards the Hidden Sound area. They had a clue of where the hideout could be where Sasuke was.

Kotomi was still unsure about the guy, Orochimaru, that her brother went to. "So... Can you tell me more about this Orochimaru guy that convinced my brother to join him?"

Yamato spoke up. "He's a very dangerous man who experiments on people."

"I bet he's the same guy who gave my brother that mark on his neck."

Sakura grunted. "You knew about that?"

Kotomi nodded. "I have for a while. I tried to ask him about it, but he would always avoid it."

"I didn't even know about it until I fought with him that time." Naruto looked like he was remembering the fight between him and Sasuke.

"You're right." Yamato spoke up once more. "Orochimaru was the one who gave your brother that mark. It's called the curse mark."

"Curse mark?"

"When I saw Sasuke use it, it was like he was a totally different person." Naruto explained. "It was like it was taking over him."

Kotomi was thinking to herself, having a flashback at the time when she saw all those markings on him. "I think I get the idea of it."

"Don't worry though, I doubt he would hurt you with it!"

"Naruto." Yamato has this scary expression. "Don't say such a reckless thing. He could still attack her, despite her being related to him."

Naruto gulped. "R-Right! That totally slipped my mind!"

Sakura looked at Kotomi with worry. "Will you be alright confronting him when we find him?"

Kotomi nodded, her eyes somewhat sad. "I'll be fine. When I see him, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." Sai, who was listening silently the entire time, took all the information in.

***

Eventually, the five made it in the area, finding the underground hideout. Being weary, they all went in at the same time.

It was quiet. Dim lights lighted up the hallways, though it was still hard to see. It was definitely a snake's hideout.

Still being weary of their surroundings, Yamato spoke up. "Here's the plan. We all split up to find Sasuke. But be careful not to run into Orochimaru."

Naruto and Sakura nodded. "Right."

Sai nodded as well. "If one of us ends up finding Sasuke, we should have some kind of signal."

Kotomi arched an eyebrow. "What signal?"

After forming the plan, the five went their separate ways to find Sasuke. Kotomi was determined to find her brother no matter what. He had to be in this maze of a hideout somewhere. She knew that she couldn't bump into this Orochimaru guy or else she would be in huge trouble. That's the same guy who killed the third hokage she thought. It wouldn't be pretty if she got caught.

What it felt like forever since she's been running, Kotomi kept opening doors, only to see empty rooms. Her frustration levels were going up. "Where are you, Onii-san?!"

As soon as she said that, Kotomi heard a huge explosion that sounded like it wasn't too far from where she was. Wanting to know what it was, she started running towards the direction where she heard the loud sound.

Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, Kotomi ran towards it. She could faintly see Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Captain Yamato over there. But what were they staring at?

Making it out, Kotomi was catching her breath. Slowly turning towards the direction where they were staring, her eyes widen. The sun blinded her vision a bit, but she knew exactly who it was. "Onii-san..."

"What are you doing here, imoto?"

Kotomi clenched her hands into fists. "What do you think?!" Sasuke didn't respond to her. Disappearing from sight, he was now right in front of Naruto.

Sakura grunted at the sight. "When did he..?"

"Come to think of it, you wanted to be hokage. Right, Naruto?" Sasuke paused for a moment. "Instead of spending all that time chasing after me, you could've been training."

Naruto spoke up. "How can I become hokage when I can't save one single friend?"

Sasuke was silent, not moving for a bit. The next second, he was pulling out his sword that was resting on his back. Kotomi's eyes widen. "What are you doing, Onii-san?!"

As soon as Sasuke was about to strike down his sword on Naruto, Sai interfered. Sasuke summoned a lightning jutsu, knocking the two away from him.

Sasuke was now fighting Captain Yamato, even Sakura tried to fight with him at some point.

Seeing how strong he has become, Kotomi felt herself trembling. She wasn't intimidated by how strong he was, she just didn't want to fight her own brother. But it seemed like she had to.

Gathering enough courage, Kotomi activated her sharingan. Disappearing from sight, she appeared right behind Sasuke.

Sasuke saw her, now swinging her sword at her. Flipping backwards to dodge it, she was now at a distance away.

Sasuke just stared at her, the sharingan in his eyes as well. "Why are you trying to fight me, imoto?"

Kotomi's eyes wavered. "I don't want to fight you... But what else can I do..?"

"I suggest that you stay out of this." Appearing right in front of her, Sasuke kicked Kotomi hard, making her land in a pile of rubble.

"Kotomi!" Sakura screamed.

Captain Yamato summoned a wood jutsu, trying to trap Sasuke in a wooden dome. It didn't work as Sasuke broke through it, now at a distance away at the upper level of the hole.

Kotomi stood up, rubbing her lower back in pain. "I never thought he would ever do that to me..." Looking up, she saw that Sasuke was up at the same spot before.

Sasuke looked down at them with annoyance. "I'm tired of this. I'm going to finish all of you off." It seemed like he was about to summon a powerful jutsu, making everyone grunt.

A hand clasped over Sasuke's wrist, preventing him to do so. Kotomi's eyes widen at the person. "Orochimaru..." This was the man who took her brother away.

Another person appeared. He had silver hair with round glasses. He was staring at Kotomi with a smirk. Kotomi looked away in response, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Even though Orochimaru was intimidating looking, she didn't care. She was so angry to the point of gritting her teeth, turning towards Orochimaru. "Give me back my brother!"

Orochimaru smirked at Kotomi. "That's your little sister, huh? She looks a lot like you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke's expression didn't change. "Let's just go." As soon as he said that, Orochimaru summoned a jutsu to have them slowly disappear in thin air.

Kotomi's eyes wavered, seeing her brother disappear from bottom to top. Their eyes met each other's. Hers was full of emotion while his were not. The last time her brother gave her such a cold look was when they were children. It hurt her heart.

Once Sasuke completely disappeared, Kotomi dropped to her knees. Her brother was a completely different person. She didn't think he would be like this, and not wanting to return to the village. Why would he leave her alone like this? Why would he leave his only family? Not able to figure out the answers to her own questions, Kotomi sobbed quietly to herself.

A/N: Dang it Sasuke! I had this idea in my head for years, and it was really hard to describe it while writing it. You know that feeling that you have a really good idea in your head, but once you try writing it, it's not exactly how you imagined it in your head?