The only sound that the young Uchiha heard was sobbing as he stood in the pitch darkness of who knew where. Sasuke looked around, searching for the source. After standing there for a few moments, looking around for the source of the sound, he met onyx eyes looking at him, but there was no body that was apart of those eyes. "Who are you?" he asked.
The eyes started moving back, so, with narrowed eyes, Sasuke followed. Maybe the eyes could help him understand where he was. Sasuke glanced around, expecting light to appear somewhere. He didn't feel safe not being able to see where he was. He didn't feel any chakra around him, so he presumed he was safe; however, he didn't lower his guard. He flinched when the eyes disappeared. Sasuke, knowing the eyes had wanted him to go forward, continued on. He didn't know what the eyes wanted, but the whole time he'd been walking, the person sobbing got closer.
After a few minutes, he spotted light. It was behind a door, and as he neared it, the sobbing got louder. Sasuke slid the door open, eyes widening slightly and betraying the shock he felt despite his usual mask. In front of him were two familiar dead bodies, a young boy with dark hair staring down at them. Tears were falling from his face to the floor.
"He killed everyone," the boy mumbled in a voice all too familiar to Sasuke. Why? It had been his voice when he had been eight or nine years old. The younger version of him looked up. He looked up, pure hate in his eyes. "He killed everyone!" As he screamed, Sasuke painfully watched as the same thing his brother had shown him with his sharingan played before him like a movie. His hands clenched as he watched it. When it vanished, he was standing in the room alone, the bodies gone, with the younger doppelganger of himself. "So why aren't you doing anything about it?"
Sasuke tensed as the younger him threw his head back and screamed, hand-like wings bursting from his back. The were about the same size as him. The wings curled around him, putting the boy in a ball.
"Can you answer me, Sasuke?" The wings flew out, a mirror image of him appearing where the younger doppelganger had been. Instead of what he'd been wearing when he attempted to run away, he was wearing a shirt similar to the blue one he usually wore, only it was sleeveless and zipped up, a white shirt underneath that, a blue arm band on his left elbow, and white shorts. Except one difference - he was in second curse mark form. "Why do you no longer pursue Itachi?" the clone asked.
"I do," Sasuke said. Then he added, more coldly, "Now tell me where I am."
The clone simply smirked. "I thought you were the great, amazing Uchiha. Why must you ask questions?" When Sasuke continued to glare, the clone laughed. "You're so freaking weak, to actually be dragged back to this retched village."
Orochimaru suddenly appeared beside of the Sasuke clone, but he was see-through, like he was just an image. "He could've given you the power you needed to kill our brother," his clone went on. "We may have ended his life by now if only you hadn't hesitated."
"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled, hating the fact that he was being chided at by himself. "I make my own decisions!" He pulled out a kunai, running forward. He slashed at his clone, his sharingan activated. But he caught his wrist, squeezing so hard Sasuke feared it may break.
"Weakling." The clone scoffed, yanking up so that Sasuke raised. Sasuke swung his leg, but the clone was suddenly gone, making Sasuke hit nothing but hair. "If you don't kill him, he'll kill you. The weaker ones are always brought down by those who crave power."
"Sasuke!" a familiar voice hissed. Sasuke swirled around, tensing as a giant white snake with black hair spilling from the top of his head flew at him. Its eyes resembled Orochimaru's, making Sasuke flinch. It opened its mouth wide, swallowing him.
****
Sasuke's eyes flew open as he bolted up into a sitting position. He was breathing slightly hard, the wind blowing his hair into his sweat covered face. Sasuke, who had been laying on a hill by a river, had apparently fallen asleep. It was about noon in Konoha, so the sun was right in his eyes. He began to raise his arm to block it, but before he could, a figure dressed in orange and blue stepped in front of it.
"Hey, Sasuke," a familiar, annoying said, coming from the figure in front of him. His flashed white teeth at Sasuke, putting his hands behind his blond hand and resting it on his locked fingers. Sasuke knew who it was. It was the person he'd recently discovered was the host of the Nine tailed fox- Naruto Uzumaki. Though they were somewhat friends, the rivalry between them was too strong for some people to know they were friends.
"What do you want, Dobe?" Sasuke asked. He glared at the blond haired Uzumaki as he gave him a ridiculously childish grin.
"Well, Kakashi-sensei sent me down to get you," Naruto explained. He looked happier than usual, which surprised Sasuke. Usually he was irritatingly happy, but now he was annoyingly and irritatingly happy. "That new girl who's supposed to be on our team for the upcoming chunin exams is coming today, and Kakashi-sensei said you had to come with me to get her or you had to spend the whole day with me." His eyebrows connected in confusion. "I don't know how that's a punishment, though."
Sasuke, however, did. He hated whenever he had to go on missions with the dobe, but to spend a whole day alone with him? With an annoyed sigh, Sasuke got to his feet. His body was slightly tensed, so he stretched. Sasuke didn't know much about the girl who was supposed to be their new team-mate except that she was coming from the Mist Village. Other than that, he knew nothing. Naruto began walking toward the gate, talking about how excited he was. Sasuke, like usual, tuned him out.
Even though Naruto and Sasuke had basically fought to the death about a month ago, Naruto still seemed to be normal, as if it never had happened. He'd hesitated a little too long over Naruto, actually rethinking. Kakashi had appeared, and Sasuke, in his weak state, hadn't been able to get away. Kakashi knocked him out with a simple blow to the back of the neck. Sasuke tuned back into what was going on just in time to hear Naruto say, "Cool, huh?" Sasuke couldn't wait until he left with Jiraiya. Sasuke came to a stop at the gates, staring at the forest. Noon. The new girl should be there soon. When he glanced at Naruto, he saw him gaping up at something on the gate. Perplexed, Sasuke followed his gaze.
That's when he saw on the girl sitting on the top of the gate, looking over the village with slightly awed eyes. She had shoulder length pale blond hair, ocean blue eyes, and fair skin. She was wearing a yellow shirt with sleeves that stopped at her elbows and ended half way down her waist over a sleeveless darkened fishnet, white shorts, and blue ninja shoes. Even Sasuke had to admit she was cute, though he didn't quite care about that fact. All that mattered was her skills.
As if feeling their eyes, the girl looked down at her. She smiled at them, pushing off the edge of the gate and plummeting to the ground. She landed on the ground with a thud, straightening up before looking at us again. The girl walked over to us. "Are you team 7?" she asked.
Naruto nodded, walking up to her with a smile. "Yeah, we're team 7!" Naruto said happily. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage! Believe it!"
The girl smiled back just as happily. "And my name is Kina Katachi, your new team-mate."
Sasuke looked at the girl. So she was their new team-mate. Kina Katachi, Sasuke repeated in his mind. He looked her up and down again, fixing his eyes on hers. She was smiling, nodding as Naruto talked animatedly to her about how happy he was to meet her. Her eyes were the most interesting part to him. They reminded him slightly of his own. They were filled with pain he could just barely identify it was so well hidden. She also showed a hint of past anger, even though he doubted she knew it was still there. Despite those two feelings, she showed nothing but happiness on the surface of the blue pools known as her eyes. She turned to him, looking her up and down just like he had been moments ago.
****
Kina looked at the boy in front of her. It was a boy with raven colored lopsided hair, onyx eyes, and pale skin. He wore a blue, sleeveless zip-up what she guessed what called a vest, its neck raising and going around his neck, a white T-shirt under that, a blue armband, white shorts, and black ninja sandals. She focused on his eyes. They reminded her slightly of black holes, absorbing everything but lacking any signs of light. There was pain and hatred behind the emotionless façade he put on. Kina extended her hand to the raven haired boy.
He was the exact opposite of the boy in orange with blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and cheeks with three whisker like marks on each cheek. Naruto, she recalled. He had pain in his eyes like she and the boy did. Only, like her, he seemed to have an aura around him full of happiness. Just being around him she felt happy.
"My name's Kina Katachi. What's your name?" Kina asked.
The boy just looked at her for a few minutes, ignoring her hand as he met her eyes, saying, "Sasuke Uchiha." He turned away coldly, missing her tense for a moment. "Come on. I'll take you to the Hokage."
Kina raised an eyebrow, not sure if she liked being bossed around by this boy she just met. She smiled. "Coming, Uchiha," she said. She didn't know why, but she felt as if he would like her not saying his actual name because then it was like they were already friends.
"So, what do you think of Konoha?" Naruto asked after walking through about half of the village. "Hey, there's my favorite place." Naruto pointed passed her to some sort of shop. It took her a moment to realize it was a Ramen place. "I love ramen. How about you?" Naruto asked. By the time he asked, they were right beside of Sasuke. "Or how about this? I'll ask you the same questions our sensei asked us when we first met him. What do you like, dislike, your hobbies, and dream or dreams?"
Kina thought for a moment. "I like training, relaxing, people who are very nice-"
"So not Sasuke," Naruto said, receiving a glare from the Uchiha.
Kina looked at Sasuke for a moment. "I wouldn't know since I just met you and Uchiha," she remarked. "Anyway, I also like walking, reading, being up high, hanging out with my friends-" Kina smiled- "and ramen. I don't like people who are jerks, sore winners, people who look down on others, spiders, the food fish, and people who whine or complain all the time. They should be happy about what they have." As she spoke, she pursed her lips. "My hobbies, I guess, are training, reading, and hanging out with my friends. As for my dream-" Kina looked away.
****
Sasuke looked at Kina, trying to figure out what was wrong. As soon as she said something about her dream, she could have sworn, though Naruto missed it, that she'd started to cry. Her pale blond hair was in front of her face now, like she was trying to make sure nobody saw.
After a moment, she took a deep breath and looked up, a smile on her face. "My dream is something I'm not going to tell you. Sorry. Too personal." Sasuke gazed at her eyes, the pain that had been hidden away earlier so strong that he almost flinched. Key word: almost.
"Well, we're here," Sasuke said, stopping in front of the Hokage's building. "The Hokage is in there." Sasuke started walking forward, stopping when he saw the lopsided silver hair that was so familiar he didn't even have to see the face behind the book cover to know who was leaning against the wall by the door. "Kakashi," he said in acknowledgement.
Kina was up to the copy ninja before he even lowered the book all the way. She looked him up and down before extending her hand. "Hello. I'm Kina Katachi, and you must be Kakashi Hatake, my new sensei."
Kakashi smiled at her. "Hello, Kina. And you are correct. I am team 7's sensei." He took her hand and shook it as he put his book away. Kakashi looked at Sasuke, a slight smile in his eyes. "So, you decided you didn't want to spend the day with Naruto?"
Sasuke glared at Kakashi. "Jerk," he muttered, walking passed Kina and Kakashi and into the Hokage's building. He walked, hearing all of them walking behind them. She told Kakashi the same things she had told him and Naruto. He could easily see the pain in her eyes the first time she told them about her dream, but this time she did good at hiding it.
He thought about how Kina looked. She looked familiar, but he couldn't think of where he'd seen her. After a moment, he thought about the dream he'd had when he fell asleep by the river. And like that he remembered where he'd seen Kina before. The end of the dream that he had no clue how he'd forgotten. It was like he hadn't remembered until he actually tried to remember where he saw Kina before
****
Sasuke was surrounded in darkness while in the snake's stomach. "Come to me, Sasuke," Orochimaru's voice hissed. "I'll give you the power you crave. Just wake up and come to me. You'll be able to kill Itachi Uchiha." A pause. "How is it possible? You shouldn't be here!"
A light suddenly formed above Sasuke, so he looked up. Above him was a girl with such light blond hair it was almost white, blue eyes that seemed to invite him into something, like a party of happiness or some crap along that line, and pale skin. She wore a white gown and nothing else, white wings sprouting from her back. "You cannot listen to the snake. Everything he tells you are lies, Uchiha," the girl said in a familiar voice. "And please, don't let her go through the pain she will in the future. Stop it."
****
Sasuke was still thinking of his dream when they came to the door to the Hokage's office. Kakashi knocked. After the Hokage called, "Come in," Sasuke walked in, Kina suddenly beside of him.
"Is the Hokage nice, Uchiha?" she whispered. "I've heard she's terrifying."
Sasuke simply smirked, leaning against the wall. Kina pursed her lips, still looking at him. She smiled at him after a moment. "You should smile more rather than you smirk. I think it would be better if you smiled."
Sasuke's eyes widened, taken by surprised. What made her say that?
"So, you're Kina Katachi," Tsunade said, making Kina turn her attention to the female Hokage. She smiled kindly at her. "I'm Tsunade, the Hokage of Konoha." Tsunade, like all of them had, looked Kina up and down. "I heard from the Mizukage that you are a great friend to have, and other things she told me you'd prefer I didn't say. She also said she hopes you finally find it."
Kina smiled gratefully. It seemed like she understood what she meant, unlike any of the other members of the team.
"We were going to put you on Kakashi's team because Naruto and Sasuke needed a third member for their team since their original third member is going to be here, training with me." Kina nodded. "Sakura should be here any minute, so you can meet here then. We only have one problem," Tsunade began. There was a knock, which made Tsunade pause. "Come in."
The next moment the pink haired girl known as Sakura came in. Sasuke had to admit she'd matured quite a bit and no longer obsessed over him when he told her no matter what she did, he couldn't return her feelings. Kina practically materialized by Sakura, who raised an eyebrow.
"Hello. I'm Kina Katachi! I'm new to this village," she introduced. "It's nice to meet you."
Sakura laughed, smiling widely at the girl who was reminding Sasuke more and more of Naruto with the way she seemed to not only draw people to her, but had that happy aura around her. "Hello, Kina. I'm Sakura," she said.
Kina said a few more things before Kakashi spoke. "So, what was the problem you were about to explain?"
"Oh yes," Tsunade said. "Well, we don't know Kina's stats because her files went missing the day before she left the village. Strange, huh?" She shrugged, not pushing the subject. "So, to test her skills, we're going to have Sasuke and Naruto battle Kina tomorrow at 7 in the morning sharp."
Kina looked between Naruto and Sasuke, both of which were looking at her. Naruto smiled. "This ought to be fun, huh?" he said.
Kina smiled as well, nodding enthusiastically. "I guess so," Kina agreed.
"Everyone is dismissed beside Kina and Sasuke," Tsunade said. Everyone said farewell to Kina, Sakura talking to her for another moment before leaving as well. Sasuke, confused, walked away from the wall so he was standing beside of Kina.
"Why does Uchiha have to stay as well?" Kina questioned.
Sasuke thought about that for a moment. Why'd she call him Uchiha instead of Sasuke?
Tsunade smiled. "Because Sasuke has been so kind to offer to show you around town before taking you to your apartment," she replied.
Sasuke glared, but didn't argue. Instead he said, "Hn," and looked passed the Hokage and out the window. She handed Kina a piece of paper that told her where her apartment was, telling her how to get there. When she was finished, she gave Kina some money that she called allowance. She told her she needed to go shopping for some gear for tomorrow.
"And Sasuke will carry it all for you, seeing as he's the gentleman," Tsunade said, still refusing to ask him before volunteering him.
Once again, he simply glared at her. "Just come on," Sasuke muttered, grabbing Kina's arm before she continued to talk to Tsunade, like he knew she would try and do. He didn't let go of her arm until after they walked out of the building. She, however, forced him to stop at times to introduce herself to random people. With every person she introduced herself to, the more irritated he got.
****
"Now where?" Sasuke asked, hating how he was unable to stop his anger from filling his voice. She just seemed too social. The thing that surprised him, though, was that the more people that seemed to like her, the more pain she seemed to be unable to hide. It was almost night, and Sasuke was carrying about ten bags, hurting his wrists. They were all full of ninja things and books
Kina pursed her lips, looking around. After a moment, she turned to looked at Sasuke. "How about we go eat at that ramen place, Uchiha?" Kina offered.
Sasuke sighed, shrugging. He didn't care. He just wanted to get her away from people. Every time she met someone she didn't know, she ran up and introduced herself. He had to drag her away from at least a dozen or so people. Sometimes she'd even go back and talk to them again. One of the people she talked most to was Sakura, who was running errands for Tsunade. He was starting to hate the Hokage for making him do this. If it had been anyone else, fine, but Kina was just to happy and always seemed to want people to know her. Even as he thought he, the image of her pained eyes flashed in his mind.
Kina looked at him for a moment. "Aren't you hungry?" Kina asked.
Sasuke shrugged again, averting his eyes when his stomach betrayed him and growled.
Kina smiled. "I should have guessed you'd be hungry." Kina grabbed his forearm, much like he had been doing that day to drag her away from people. "Let's go get some ramen," Kina said, her being the one to drag him to the ramen stand Naruto had told her about earlier.
Sasuke groaned as she stopped to introduce herself to a small child she was handing a ball that had accidentally been kicked at them. It was like one second she was there, the next she wasn't. Almost like she had the Fourth Hokage's teleporting move. "Weren't you the one who wanted to go and eat?" Sasuke growled.
The boy looked from Sasuke to Kina. "Is he your boyfriend?" the child asked.
Kina smiled at the child, beginning to say no when the boy looked back at Sasuke. His eyes were filled with so much anger that the boy whimpered slightly, turning and running back to his friends. Kina turned on Sasuke, her eyebrow raised. "Okay, the question was a little embarrassing, but seriously?"
Sasuke ignored her and started walking to Ichiraku Ramen instead. He stepped under the paper sign, sitting down on the first seat he saw. He nodded to Teuchi, counting down in his head, Three, two, one. Then Kina was there, hand extended.
"Hello! I'm Kina Katachi," she said, moving to Ayame next, greeting her as well. "So, can I get chicken ramen?" Kina asked. When Ayame nodded, she turned to Sasuke.
"Just give me whatever," he muttered, looking passed her and at the wall. Ayame sighed, rolling her eyes before walking back to prepare the food.
"You really don't care what you get, Uchiha?" Kina asked.
Finally deciding it annoyed him too much that he didn't know why she did it, he asked, "Why do you keep on calling me Uchiha, Katachi?"
Kina raised an eyebrow. "Why do you call me Katachi?" she said, but then laughed. "I called you Uchiha because I call all people who aren't my friend by their last names. And, since I can tell you aren't really my friend despite the fact I try and be yours, I call you Uchiha," she explained.
Sasuke looked her up and down, finally meeting her pained eyes. Even though she seemed to not like having so many friends, she was still trying to be his. Would there be even more pain in her eyes if he did become her friend?
Sasuke just smirked, looking away. "Then I'll just call you Katachi," he said, Ayame placing their orders in front of them. Sasuke began eating, Kina bowing and saying thank you before she began eating as well. She suddenly yelped, making everyone look at her. She had her tongue stuck out, fanning it. "What's wrong, Katachi?"
"Hot! Hot! Hot!" she exclaimed.
Teuchi laughed. "She's as energetic as Naruto," he pointed out. "Maybe we'll get another good customer if she's even more like Naruto."
Kina smiled. "If you mean I love ramen and will be here a lot, yeah!" She turned to Sasuke. "How about me and you eat here again tomorrow?" Kina asked.
Taken by surprise, he flinched. His mask broke momentarily, making Kina laugh.
"YES!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down on the chair. "I finally broke your freaking mask! I broke your mask!" Kina smiled at the glaring Uchiha.
"Just shut up and eat," he muttered, turning back to his food. If he could kill one person in the world other than Itachi, he was starting to think she'd be that person. No, it would be Tsunade for making him go through this.
"Sorry," Kina said, once again taking him by surprise. Why was she saying sorry? She didn't do anything. But annoy him. Did she know that what she was doing? "I didn't mean to make you mad."
Sasuke looked at her, slightly taken aback by the sudden apology. How could one girl surprise him so much? "Hn." Sasuke attempted to look away, but kept his eyes on hers as she looked him up and down for the second or third time today. Just trying to get her to stop, he asked, "So, are your parents coming later or something?"
Kina looked up, the pain returning, so strong this time Sasuke tensed. She wasn't going to cry, was she? "I wish they could, but seeing as someone who used to be close to me killed them, I doubt they'll ever come."
Sasuke's eyes widened. Someone close to her killed her parents. Just like his brother killed his parents. Maybe they were alike. He finally realized what that petite anger was. She probably wouldn't admit it, but she wanted to defeat whoever killed her parents. Sasuke pursed his lips. No. Kina was too nice. He couldn't even imagine her hands be covered in blood.
"Let's go home," Kina whispered, getting to his feet.
Sasuke got up slowly, keeping his eyes on her back as she led them to where Tsunade had said her apartment was. Good thing she knew because he hadn't heard or saw whatever Tsunade said when she handed Kina the slip with the apartment name. He relived the night of the massacre, wondering if she felt anything like he did when it happened to him. When had her parents died? Recently? When she was younger? He imagined a younger Kina curled into a ball and crying. Seeing how she was always so happy, it actually felt strange to imagine her sad. Surprisingly, she'd grown silent, not even introducing herself to someone new, and he knew that someone they didn't know had to be there. There was more, he thought. She knew more deaths than she was willing to admit. Just your parents dying left some scars, but it seemed like she had almost as many scars on her heart as he did.
"Here we are," Kina said. They'd walked into a building full of apartments, Kina stopping in front of a door. She turned to Sasuke, giving him what he knew was a forced smile. "Thanks for everything. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, she stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. And that's when he realized where they were.
Note to self: Find way to either kill or annoy Tsunade to death, he thought as he looked at the plaque on the door. It said 219. Why was he so mad? This was the building he was staying in, and his apartment just happened to be 220. So that was why the Hokage had had him take her. He groaned. Great. Just so freaking great.