Chapter 15

Losing Her Mind

   Kotomi put her hands over her mouth. Her sensei wasn't waking up. "N-No... It can't be..."

   Tsubaki's eyes widen at the sight. "Monami-sensei..!" Ryusai was too shocked to speak, unable to take his eyes off his severely injured sensei.

   "Oh my. It seems like she stepped on one of my mimes. And she calls herself a jonin." An unfamiliar voice said.

   The three looked around, being on their guard. They saw someone appear in front of them, wearing some kind of black robe with red clouds on them.

   Kotomi's eyes widen. She had heard from Naruto that an organization called the Akatsuki wears robes just like that. They were a dangerous bunch. "No way..."

   The guy smirked. "You're all just children. I can easily kill you." A clay figure appeared in his hand. "But... It will also be fun seeing the expression on your faces when I do this." Dropping the clay figure, it instantly exploded, making Monami fling across the area, making her hit her back against the tree. Slowly falling forward, she landed facedown on the ground. She wasn't moving at all. "It's impossible to live after that attack. She's dead for sure."

   Kotomi started to tear up. "No... Monami-sensei..." Feeling her blood boil, she activated the sharingan in her eyes. "You'll pay for this!"

   The guy grunted. "No way... How do you have the sharingan? I swear Itachi only had a younger brother. I never heard of him having a younger sister."

   Kotomi looked serious. "That's right. I'm their younger sister. What of it?"

   The guy clicked his tongue. "I hate them both! Itachi thinks he's better than me, and Sasuke took my kill! Looking at you reminds me of Itachi, and it's pissing me off!"

   "And you're starting to get on my damn nerves."

   Looking irritated, the guy looked like he was summoning something. "Let's see how Itachi will react when I kill his little sister!"

   Rushing towards Kotomi, the guy was about to make the clay explode. "Kotomi!" Tsubaki shouted. He was trying to grab her to make her get out of the way, but Ryusai ended up doing it.

   In result, Ryusai ended up taking the hit, hitting the floor. Kotomi saw Ryusai struggling to get up. "Ryusai!"

   Ryusai managed to get back up. "I'm fine! We need to try to escape!"

   "But what about Monami-sensei?!" Tsubaki exclaimed.

   Looking like he was at a loss, Ryusai's eyes wavered. "I... I don't know, but right now our lives are on the line! Monami-sensei wouldn't want us to have her death in vain!"

   "That's too bad. Her death will be in vain." The guy appeared behind Ryusai without him even knowing. He managed to take one of Ryusai's swords, stabbing it right through him. "You should really guard your weapons better. Rookie mistake."

   Kotomi's eyes widen at the sight, seeing Ryusai fall face down on the ground. A pool of blood started to form under him. Feeling herself starting to shake, she felt her eyes getting watery. "Ryusai!"

   The guy looked amused. "Well, what do you know? Uchihas do have emotions. I was almost convinced that they don't since I never see Itachi show any kind of emotion before."

   Feeling her blood boiling, Kotomi was trying not to cry. "Stop talking about him! Can't you see what you have done?!"

   "You mean kill these weaklings? What of it? It will be your turn next, Uchiha brat!"

   The guy appeared in front of her, looking like he was about to make his clay forming in his hand explode. "Kotomi!" She felt Tsubaki pull her back, switching places with her.

   This explosion was bigger than the previous one as a bright light blinded her vision. It made the ground shake, cracking underneath her feet.

   Once the smoke cleared, Kotomi saw Tsubaki lying on his side, blooding running down his face. At this point, tears rolled down her face. "No... Tsubaki..."

   Still having a little bit of strength in him, Tsubaki gave her a weak smile. "I sacrificed myself for you so you can be able to escape..."

   Talking through her sobs, Kotomi couldn't stop it even if she tried. "Why..? Why would you do this?!"

   "Because... I love you... I always have... You're precious to me more than anything..."

   Tsubaki's touching words made Kotomi cry even more. "Oh, Tsubaki... You're precious to me too..."

   It looked like he was about to close his eyes, but he still kept fighting to keep alive. "I'm... Glad... I just wanted you to know that since I know that I'm not going to make it out here alive..."

   Kotomi shook her head. "No... Please don't say that... I don't want to go through this again... Not again..!" It felt like everyone that she ever loved and cared about went down a dark path or died before her eyes.

   "I'm sorry... For making you cry..." Those were Tsubaki's last words before he was unable to talk.

   Seeing that Tsubaki wasn't moving, Kotomi shook her head once more. Seeing Ryusai and her sensei on the ground as well covered in their own blood was too much for her to handle. "No... Please no..."

   Kotomi felt so weak for not being able to protect her teammates. If only she was stronger. If only she didn't let all this shock get to her, and just fought against the Akatsuki member. But that wouldn't have made a difference since he was stronger than her. Even running away wouldn't work since he would chase her down. She felt so hopeless, lost, weak. All of a sudden, Kotomi felt a sharp pain her eyes, making her scream in agony.

   The guy who was watching the entire time yawned. "It was fun seeing you suffer, but now it's getting boring. It's time for you to die next. Don't worry, you'll get to join them in the afterlife, hm."

   Kotomi was so distracted by the pain in her eyes that she was unaware of what was happening in her surroundings. She felt a sharp pain on her chest like somebody had just kicked her. She felt herself flying in midair, her back landing on a tree bark.

   The guy grunted, seeing another Akatsuki member appear. He smirked as he realized who it was. "Are you eager to see your little sister, Itachi?"

   Itachi, who was wearing the Akatsuki robe didn't looked fazed. "You go on ahead, Deidara. I'll take care of her."

   Deidara clicked his tongue. "No way! I was fighting her first! Just because she's your little sister doesn't mean you get to get in the way!"

   Itachi had the sharingan in his eyes. "I will deal with her myself."

   Seeing that Itachi wasn't going to lay off, Deidara clicked his tongue once more. "Fine. But you better kill her. Or would that be too hard for you?" Smirking, he saw that Itachi was still not fazed. Looking bored already, he rolled his eyes. "I'm out of here, hm." With that, he disappeared from sight.

   Seeing that Deidara was completely gone, Itachi turned towards Kotomi. She was sitting on her knees with her head down, holding her hands against her face in pain.

Kotomi was panting hard, tears and blood ran down her face. "Everyone just dies right in front of my eyes... I can't take this... I don't want anyone else that I love to die right in front of me anymore..!" Taking out a kunai from her pouch, Kotomi pointed it to herself.

   As she was about to strike herself, Kotomi felt someone knock it out of her hands. Right after that, she felt someone slap her hard across the face.

   Looking up, Kotomi saw that it was Itachi who looked a bit crossed with her. He grunted, seeing that she had a unique sharingan pattern in her eyes. "You awakened your mangekyo sharingan."

   Kotomi felt her cheek where Itachi had slapped her. Her senses were starting to come back, now realizing what she was about to do. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but she needed someone to slap her back to her senses. "Nii-san... I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me... I just lost all control of my emotions, seeing my teammates and sensei die right in front of me. And then my eyes started hurting... I couldn't handle all this pain..." Tears wielded up in her eyes.

   Itachi lowered his eyes, completely understanding how she was feeling since he went through something similar.

   Kotomi started to sob in her hands. "I'm sorry... You've been through so much worse, and here I am... Almost taking my own life out of impulse..."

   Itachi wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't risk it in case someone was watching or listening in. "Stand up."

   Slowly but surely, Kotomi stood up, looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Nii-san... What do I do? How can I return to the village, only to tell them that my teammates and sensei got killed?"

   Itachi let out a sigh out of his nose. "I know it's hard, but you need to go back to the village. Your place belongs there."

   Kotomi sniffed, nodding her head. "I know... You're right." She paused for a moment, trying to contain herself. "I'm so weak... I let them die, Nii-san..."

   Itachi shook his head. "You're not weak. You're strong, but you need to learn to not let your emotions overcome you. That's what's holding you back."

   "I know... I've known that you can't let your personal emotions affect you in a serious fight... But it's easier said than done..."

   "I know. I've been in your position plenty of times." Pausing for a moment, Itachi looked like he was trying to choose his words carefully. But no matter how he tried to think of it, there was just no way to say it in a good way. "It seems like Sasuke is going to approach me in a battle sometime soon."

   Kotomi grunted, knowing what that meant. "No... I don't want either of you to die... If I ever heard that, I... I wouldn't know what to do with myself..."

   Knowing that it would hurt her even more than she already was, Itachi walked closer to her, whispering something in her ear. "Imoto. I'm letting Sasuke win though I won't make it seem like it. You see... I have this disease that's shortening my life."

   Kotomi gasped, not believing the news. "You're sick..?"

   Itachi nodded. "I'm trying to keep myself alive so I can face Sasuke. And free him from that curse mark."

   "You know about that?"

   "I do. Don't worry, I'll free him from it."

   The tears were coming once more, making Kotomi start to tremble. She wasn't sure how to take this. Itachi was planning to die once he faces Sasuke, and was going to free Sasuke from the curse mark. "I really don't want you to die, Nii-san... But if it's what you have to do, then..." The tears were overflowing. "Do what you have to do..."

   "Thank you for understanding."

   Kotomi was wiping her tears away. "Remember when I said that I will always be on your side? I still feel strongly about that even now."

   Itachi gave her a small smile. "I know." He paused for a moment. "Before we part, there's something I need to give you." She saw his fingers going towards her face. She had this familiar feeling in her heart.

   He tapped her forehead with his fingers. For some reason, Kotomi felt a strange feeling that went away instantly. "What did you do?"

   "I'm passing down one of my jutsu to you. You will know it once the times comes."

   Kotomi didn't know how to feel about this. It felt like this would be the last time she would see her eldest brother. Unable to contain herself any longer, she wrapped her arms around him. "You don't know how much I missed that gesture..."

   Itachi was a bit surprised that his sister had suddenly hugged him. But he gave in, placing his hand on top of her head. "I know, imoto."

   "I know I have to leave now, but... This will be the last time we will see each other..."

   "It is. It saddens me as well to leave you, but we both know what I must do. It makes me happy to see you one last time."

   The tears wouldn't stop at that point. Kotomi tightened the embrace. "I love you so much, Nii-san..."

   "I love you too, imoto."

***

   After the hard parting of her brother and getting constantly reminded of her teammates and sensei's death, Kotomi returned to the village with a heavy heart. She had to inform the hokage what had happened on the mission. The only thing she left out was her interaction with Itachi.

   Leaving the hokage building, Kotomi saw Konohamaru. It seemed like he were waiting for her. He had a heavy expression. "I heard what happened. I'm sorry."

   Kotomi felt like she was about to cry again, but held it back. She cried too much already. "Thank you..."

   Konohamaru knew that she was trying to be strong, seeing the pain in her eyes. "Kotomi..."

   Her body started trembling. Her squad's death, her soon to be brother's death was weighing down on her so much. Tears started to spill. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to be like this..."

   He felt so bad for her. He was unsure what to say, knowing she was in a sensitive state. "I know I won't be too much help, but if you need someone, I'll be here."

   Unable to contain herself, Kotomi embraced Konohamaru, sobbing on his shoulder. Blushing a bit, he placed his hand on her back. There was no way to completely make her feel better since it was something that would take a while to get over, but he still wanted to be there for her. Just like she was when he lost his grandfather and uncle recently.

A/N: One of my ideas that didn't end up working out was that Kotomi and Deidara would've been good friends ironically. Of course at first, they would fight each other, but Kotomi would've appreciated his art, and he would feel conflicted that she is Itachi and Sasuke's sister, but think she's ok. But now it just turned out that they're sworn enemies with no way back. This picture is like this could've been us but you killed my team. (Credit to Jennapark04)