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Later that night, Chiyo jumped through the forest surrounding their manor. Now entirely bored, she was heading home from training, when she heard the sound of heavy breathing. Alarmed, she followed the sound to a small field where a shirtless Sasuke was also finishing up his training. He was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, swerving and thrusting at an invisible enemy. Fascinated by the sight, Kotori concealed herself in the tree she was in. The Uchiha abruptly stopped, looked around for a moment, and then continued his forged barrage. Placing his hands in a formed “Tora” seal, he shouted Naruto’s signature move.
“Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!” He created several mirror images of himself, “Come at me as fast and hard as you can…” the original Sasuke commanded. He prepared himself as the clones rushed him, and Kotori soon lost sight of her favorite Uchiha in the large group. One by one, the clones disappeared in a whitish-blue puff of smoke, until Kotori found herself staring at the real Sasuke. Now extremely hot, he lay in the grass, out of breath. In a nearby tree, the Kotori closed her eyes and made a few and signs. Shortly after a cool gentle wind blew over the boy.
“Hmmm…I thought it was you…” An unexpected voice near Kotori’s ear.
“H-holy- WAHH!” Startled she almost fell out of the tree, but an arm caught her around the waist. She re-steadied herself on the branch as she regained her composure, turning towards the familiar face.
“W-wha? Sasuke?! Y-you… but you were…and now…” Kotori ended with her finger pointing at the “other” Sasuke, who was still lying in the grass. He laughed and pulled out a kunai. Masterfully throwing it, and destroying the last clone. Sasuke turned his interest back to his sister.
“Why were you watching me?”
“Eh-heh…I-I was just coming home from training and saw you and…” She looked down from the tree and blushed, ashamed of herself.
“Am I that interesting?” The Uchiha smiled and picked Kotori up, throwing her over his back, and started to walk home.
“N-nani? Sasuke-Kun, what are you doing!?” Even though they were siblings, she was still blushing madly.
“Heh…Do you know how fun you are to annoy?” he replied.
-----
Another boring, mission less day went by in Konoha. Sasuke and Kotori had spent the day working on their new techniques and sparring with each other. While Naruto and Shizu, as usual, ate ramen and hung out with the other rookies who also had no missions at the time. The following Night, Sasuke sat in the abandoned Uchiha manor, thinking about his past and his mysterious sister. Kotori had left hours earlier saying she was training again. But she was later than usual, and it was getting really dark. Worried, the ever-growing impatient boy finally got fed up with waiting. He left the quarters to search for her.
-----
At the river, Kotori sat in her favorite nook of a huge, old, oak tree. It looked over the lazy stream, the moonlight reflected on the surface. Then proceed to look up at the night sky.
“Hey, is this what you’ve been doing for the last two hours?” Startled, she looked below her to find Sasuke standing there with his hands on his hips.
“S-Sasuke?” The Uchiha just smiled and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled himself up into the tree. Sasuke then situated himself on the massive branch, sitting with one knee up, using it as an armrest. They sat there together, and looked at the stars. Kotori sighed.
“Sure is beautiful…” She laid her head on his shoulder. “You can’t see the stars this well in town…”
“Yeah…” he replied. He Uchiha boy sighed...there was a long pause.
“I-is something wrong Sasuke-Kun?” He was staring blankly at the dark forest.
“Hmm?” He looked back at her, “…Oh, it’s nothing…” He shook his head and resumed gazing at the moon. Perplexed, Kotori lifted her head and stared at him fixedly.
“It’s just that…” he was still watching the moon, “Something doesn’t feel right…” Sasuke narrowed his eyes, “…Blood lust…someone’s after something.” In an instant, the boy’s eyes turned the bright red and black Kotori had come to know so well.
“Sharingan?” The Kunoichi looked concerned, as she could feel his muscles tensing. The Uchiha turned his attention back to the shadowy forest. There was a distant rustling noise and suddenly Sasuke leapt from the tree and bolted towards the woods.
“Stay here!” he shouted, and he disappeared into the forest. Kotori was sitting straight up, extremely alarmed and bewildered. After considering what to make of the situation, she silently reached into her pocket, pulling out the only weapon on her, a single kunai, and pursued him.
-----
“Where could that noise have come fr-” Sasuke abruptly stopped in the trees when he noticed a huge man stomping through the brush of the forest. “So…that’s the guy who’s been giving out all those bad vibes eh?” He watched as the husky man continued through the dark woods. “…Hmmm? What’s this?” The man had dropped a wrinkled piece of paper behind him as he slowly disappeared into the shadows. Sasuke quietly leapt down from the tree and picked the parchment up. His eyes widened as he read it. “No way…” he whispered. The paper had orders to assassinate a Hyuuga from an unknown source given to the man. “Gotta stop him!” Sasuke immediately took off after the adversary.
-----
The burly man tromped through a clearing in the woods. “Hey…where ya heading this late at night?” Sasuke stood on the other side of the flat as he spoke. Startled, the rogue ninja turned to face the boy.
“That’s none of your business. Now scram before I decide to grind your face into the dirt.” The man scowled. Sasuke just smirked, pulling out a kunai. The man flinched when the knife stuck into the trunk of a tree just behind the man, nearly shaving his head. The man shot Sasuke a look of warning.
“Oh, you’re asking for it, boy…” the man retorted angrily, clenching his fists. Sasuke just stood there with his arms folded, still smirking. “Alright that’s it you pompous little brat!” The rogue ninja instantaneously drew his broad sword and charged the Uchiha at surprising speed.
-----
Completely ignoring Sasuke’s orders, the young Kunoichi wandered through the pitch black wilderness for what seemed like hours. She relied only on the few random crashing and clanging sounds of metal she heard to guide her. As she unconsciously neared Sasuke’s location, it became unnervingly still.
“Wh-what happened?” She arrived at a large clearing. It was easier to see as it allowed the moonlight to reach the treeless ground. “What is this?” she muttered. There was a huge man with a grey shirt standing over someone. His sleeves were ripped off at the top and he had grey, baggy pants on. Hanging around his neck was a mist headband and on his upper right arm, he sported a tattoo of a snake coiled around a sword. He himself had a broad, thick sword, on his back. As Kotori hid in a tree, the rogue Ninja spoke.
“Heh, unfortunately, as you already found out, the chief wanted me to assassinate a Hyuga for examination of the Byakugan…” He smirked, “…But an Uchiha? Heh…that’s as good as it gets you little punk!”
-----
“What the-” Kotori looked down and was horrified; realizing the identity of the person the man was having a one-way conversation with.
On the ground and tied in chains, and desperately trying to remain conscious was Sasuke. He was in dire shape, bleeding horribly in several places, including a huge gash in his chest. The rogue man was also beat up pretty bad though. “It at least looks like Sasuke put up a pretty good fight before I got here.” She thought.
The man abruptly turned around and faced directly at Kotori. ‘Shit! He knows I’m here!’ The Kunoichi instantly soared from the tree, kunai at hand, and landed in front of him. The man attempted to punch the girl, but she flipped over him and stabbed the man in the back.
“You little-” He jerked up and swung his arm around, knocking the wind out of Kotori, and sending her flying into a tree and landing on top of Sasuke.
“Agh!” The Uchiha flinched in pain and stared at the girl. “K-Kotori? What the hell are you doing here! I told you to stay in the stupid tree!” Due to excessive blood loss, Sasuke’s vision and hearing started failing. Still trying to catch her breath, Kotori struggled to stand, Stationing herself in front of her sibling, she shielded him from the enemy. The Mist ninja ripped the kunai from his back and chucked it far into the forest. Kotori had not planned on getting into a life-or-death brawl that night. The only weapon she brought besides the knife was her flute which she always carried with her.
“Well, I guess it’s now or never…” She took out her instrument, and held it to her mouth. The flute was polished silver half-covered in red and black wrap for grip, like a katana handle. There were also two strings on the end each with beads and a feather on the end. Kotori sighed in attempt to calm herself down. ‘T-this is what I’ve been training for, right?’ Taking a deep breath, she played.
The somber tunes summoned a silvery torrent of wind which violently swirled around her. The breeze took the form of a dragon with a sword in its mouth. Its eyes were as red as Sasuke’s Sharingan and it had a brilliant turquoise mane running down its silky white body.
Kotori stopped playing and glared at the adversary, who was standing there watching her skeptically. “Tatsu…katana raishuu!” Immediately, the serpent flew through the air, directly at the man. Sword ready, it went for its victim’s jugular. But the large man dodged it surprisingly fast, leaving only an additional scar on his left arm from the cuts and gashed Sasuke already caused. The dragon hit the ground, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Furious, the Mist ninja wielded his sword and charged at Kotori, who stood, unable to move.
“…Dammit……Not enough time to play another song…And I have no weapons…Crap, I’m so screwed!” She watched as the huge man ran straight at her. “Shit…If I move, this freak will probably attack Sasuke instead…Agh, What do I do…What do I do?” Still guarding her brother, Kotori closed her eyes, and prepared for the worst.
---
CHING
“Wha?” Startled, Kotori cautiously opened one of her eyes to find none other than Shizu standing in front of her. Her kunai was locked with his enormous sword. She was shaking violently, using all her strength trying to hold back his power.
“Kotori! Get out of here!” She turned her head to her comrade, “Go! Take Sasuke and run!”
“Uh…um…” Sensing Shizu’s urgency, Kotori did what she was told. She picked up the now unconscious Sasuke and fled.
“I-I’ll be back!” She said as she disappeared into the woods. Cursing, the Mist-ninja violently removed his sword from Shizu’s kunai, knocking her to the ground, and pursued the two. But as he reached the edge of the clearing he stopped.
“Hmpf, What the hell are you trying to pull?” He was surrounded by several clones of Shizu. Enormously aggravated, he destroyed them all with one swing of his huge sword and continued after the wounded siblings.
------
Out of breath, Kotori burst out of the forest with Sasuke’s Limp, bloody body in her arms. Fearing for the fate of her Shizu, she refrained from carrying him all the way back to the manor. Instead, she ran back to the big oak tree, laid him on the thickest branch, and proceeded to bandage his wounds.
She had his shirt open, and was working on the worst of his injuries, the large, deep gash in his chest, Most likely from that huge sword. Sasuke began to regain consciousness. Dazed, he looked around him and then directly at Kotori.
“Kotori…Chan?” Flinching, she blushed at the awkward situation, which Sasuke didn’t seem to notice. “Eh…W-where are we?” Relieved, Kotori smiled and hugged him.
“Sasuke-Kun… You lost a lot of blood and passed out…Shizu appeared and then told me to run and so…” Sasuke struggled to sit up, examining himself and Kotori all the while. He noticed her clothes were so soaked in red it was as if she jumped in a pool of blood.
“Geez…was it really that bad!? Are you ok?” He sat with one leg up and used it as an armrest. Kotori moved to work on his arm.
She shook her head in response. “I’m fine, I-it doesn’t really matter…” she said. “You’re ok though, right? I have to go help Shizu; she could be in serious trouble by now…I mean, look what the guy did to you. Besides, most of the blood on me is yours.” She finished up his bandaging, and headed back towards the forest.
“W-wait!” Still on the branch, Kotori froze in her tracks and turned around. Sasuke had his sword in his hands “…Take this with you…” She smiled.
“Thanks Sasuke-Kun…” Kotori hung the sword on her back, and bolted off as fast as she could run.
-----
Following Kotori and Sasuke, the man advanced towards the siblings, but abruptly found himself paralyzed. “What the-” Both Shizu and the enemy looked extremely confused; they whipped around, wondering what the hell just happened. Crouched on the ground, hands clamped together, was…
“Sh-Shikamaru!?” Shizu seemed more surprised than the adversary. “W-what are you doing here?” The boy ignored her comment and sighed.
“Look…Shizu…If this guy is good enough to beat down Uchiha, we’re gonna need some serious teamwork…” He opened his eyes and analyzed the immobile Mist Ninja. “Shizu, is there anyone else with you? You know, hiding in trees or…”
Shikamaru stopped in mid-sentence, there was a rustling in the surrounding forest. The two held their breath. Kotori appeared behind the two, sneaking up on Shizu and tapping her shoulder. “Shiz- whoa! Hey! c-calm down” She whispered.
Already tense as it was, the brown-haired Kunoichi jumped up when her friend tapped her shoulder. Kotori had to hold her down and cover her mouth so she wouldn’t scream.
“Mmmm!...Mmmmmmmmmmm!……Hmmmmm?” Wide-eyed, Shizu looked up. Realizing it was her friend, she regained her composure. Kotori calmly smiled.
“I told you I’d be back…” She said, letting her friend free.
Shizu let out a large breath and abruptly turned towards Kotori. “GEEZ! It’s not that I’m not totally relieved you’re here…but you didn’t have to scare the shit outta me like that!” Kotori looked at her blankly.
“Eh…sorry?” Kotori had one eyebrow raised.
“Would you two shut up?! You’re gonna get us killed.” Shikamaru whispered and sighed again. “Ok, I don’t think the enemy knows there are three of us now…Kotori, can I borrow that sword? I think I've come up with a plan……”
-----
Shikamaru was running out of chakra, so he couldn’t hold his shadow-possession much longer. Holding a kunai in his mouth, he gave the girls a signal by letting it drop on the ground. Upon hearing the soft thump, the rogue mist ninja struggled to turn towards the source of noise, still bound with the Shikamaru’s Jutsu. Kotori leisurely walked out into the middle of the clearing, and held her wind-flute to her mouth. The ninja’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you planning to do with that…?” Sweat ran down his face as he remembered what happened last time…and what could happen now that he couldn’t move. Once again, she summoned the wind and taunted the enemy with it. This time taking the form of a huge tiger.
“Tora!” The beast circled around him several times, growling menacingly. Shikamaru withdrew his Jutsu abruptly. While the enemy was distracted, Kotori ran behind him.
Using all her strength, the Uchiha threw her body at the Mist ninja’s legs, knocking him onto his back. The summon disappeared in a puff of smoke. Now in position, Shizu came flying out of the tree above the two. She had Sasuke’s sword in her hands, pointing directly downward. The Kunoichi landed straight down upon the man, stabbing him in the heart.
“Heh, that’ll teach you to screw with our village.” Kotori smirked. In a last attempt to thrash the trio, the man thrust his sword at Shizu’s in the chest.
“AAGH!” Shizu fell on top of the lifeless enemy, passing out from the excruciating pain.
“Crap!” Kotori immediately got up and ran to help her comrade. Gently pulling the blade out, she carried her friend back to the tree in which Sasuke was waiting in. Shikamaru following closely behind.
The Uchiha looked up at the three of them as they neared the massive oak. Kotori laid Shizu on the branch and shooed Sasuke and Shikamaru away for a moment. With the boys patiently waiting on the other side of the tree, Kotori quickly cut open her best friends shirt and aided the deep puncture wound. She then called the two Shinobi back over. Sasuke looked at the cut, which was still-bleeding, even through the white bandages.
“Geez…what happened to her!?” He asked.
“That bastard stabbed her in the chest, that’s what happened…” Kotori looked agitated.
“Eh…She’ll be fine…that wound isn’t as bad as all of Sasuke’s…” Shikamaru was on the river bank, lying in the grass. He was using his arms as a head rest and had his legs crossed.
“Hmm?” Kotori looked down over the branch at the coal-haired shinobi. “…by the way, Shikamaru…where did you come from? I mean...When I left it was only Shizu. I came back, and you were suddenly there too.” The boy lazily looked up at the Kunoichi in the tree.
“Me? I was being forced to train with Ino again…she of course started pissing me off with her bitchy attitude… as usual. I decided to take a walk to clear my head. That’s when I heard you guys…and you know the rest…” He closed his eyes and smiled, “Heh… fighting losers like that beats sparring with that boar any day…” Kotori laughed, turning to Sasuke.
“Oh…hey Sasuke…are you going to be ok with your injuries? I know you’ll rebel if I ask you to go to the hospital.” Laying against the trunk of the oak, also resting his head on his arms, his jet-black eyes fixated on hers.
“I’m fine…I’ve had worse than this, you know that…” Kotori rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. The Uchiha sat back again. "...By the way, we should probably report this to Tsunade. That man was after the Hyugas... and since he's dead, they may send more."
"...Hai..." The Kunoichi sighed, and suddenly remembered her clothing, which was totally soaked. By now, all the blood had dried, causing it to stick to her skin.
“Eeeeeeeewwwwwwww……” She said, peeling it off, “Damn! That was my favorite shirt!” Sasuke looked at her, feeling some what guilty... but he and Shikamaru just laughed and enjoyed the rest of the night gazing at the stars. And with Shizu safely resting next to her, Kotori could also relax.
