Back at it again with another chapter! Enjoy, fellow fanfic readers! This is sort of a filler chapter. Sorry about that but i hope you enjoy nonetheless!

Chapter 15: Cooking Up Stubbornness

I finally completed whatever I was assigned to do in the medical examination room, and I was currently in the kitchen, making a well-deserved snack for my hard work lately. And what better way to celebrate than baked goods?

Nothing. Nothing could compare.

For the longest time, I loved to bake ever since I was a child. Since I was basically neglected and shunned from my whole clan—including my own father—I had grown a strong bond with my mother because she was the only person—besides my brothers at the time—who loved me dearly as her precious child. She taught me how to cook delicious food and bake amazing desserts, including her special ingredients. Since then, I carried everything she had taught me and before I knew it, cooking as a whole was both one of my favourite hobbies and one of my excelled talents.

Now that I thought about it, I noticed that I had a lot of talents I obtained since childhood including gymnastics, acro, cooking, poetry, and a bit of dancing. The main reason why I had these talents was because the fact that I went through a lot during my childhood. No one seemed to care about me and didn't see me as an equal, never mind an Uchiha. My clan looked down at me like I was worthless and even my father thought I was a "mistake" to which I believed them at one point because everyone around me said so. It was because of this, I went through severe depression and had scary thoughts that shouldn't be present for a child. Every night, I had nightmares of the Uchiha clan hunting me down to kill me and how they would brutally beat me to death until I was a bloody mess. No one in my own family cared nor loved me; they were my enemies that shared the same flesh and blood as me. My father—who was chief of the entire family and the Leaf's Police Force—literally disowned me as he and I lived in the same household like we were living different parts of the world.

But not every single member was like this towards me. Mikoto Uchiha—my mother—loved me the second I was born, at least that was what she claimed. She treated me like how every other mother treat their child—with love, care, compassion, and support. At the beginning, Sasuke and I never gotten along; we used to constantly fight for the dumbest stuff, looking back. However, he never hated me like the rest of our clan; his distaste for me was simply because I was his "annoying" little sister who got on his nerves. Sasuke eventually learned about my suffering and immediately started being more considerate and caring towards me; it came to the point where he became protective of me as he watched my back for me even to this day. There was also Shisui Uchiha, who I vaguely remembered as a child only because I saw him once or twice. I wasn't certain if he cared nor he saw that I actually had potential, unlike the Uchiha boneheads that I was unfortunately related to. I heard that he fully supported me, respected me of how strong I was as a child; he believed that I would become a powerful ninja than the whole clan.

Then there was Itachi.

If you wanted to know my personal take on Itachi Uchiha, it would be hard to understand. For starters, he was more of a father to me than my biological father since I was a baby; he looked after me and set aside almost everything just to take care of me when mother was busy. As the years went by, he became my personal mentor as he threw the most hard-core training I had ever received to say the least to me… when I was a frickin' five-year-old. But because of the extensive training at a very young age, it made me an exceptional kunoichi as I was seen as 'Itachi Uchiha's only exceptional and talented protégé and prodigy'. This was a big deal to me because not only he was my brother, father, and mentor… he was legitimately my personal hero. He saved me from acting out and becoming a bum on the streets. I suffered from depression, anxiety, and panic attacks since I was little because the things I went through was literally traumatizing for someone at my age and Itachi was the only person who calmed me down every time I acted out in a way that was 'abnormal'.

I still remembered to this day what he prescribed to me when I was young.

"I don't know what to do, big brother. I want the pain to go away, but I don't know how." I told him in a begging voice, desperate for a cure.

Itachi had a sad smile on his face and held me close to him as I shook in his arms.

"Well, you should take your mind off of the things that frighten you and triggers your unbalanced mentality." He suggested thoughtfully, looking kindly down at me.

I looked up from his chest as I gave him a confused look.

"Why don't you get into something that gains your interests?" He prompted encouragingly as his smile widened. "That way, you won't pay so much attention to all the negatives that are causing you distress."

I cocked an eyebrow at his proposal. "Are you sure that'll work?"

Itachi nodded. "Plus, those hobbies could help with your training and enhance your abilities." He added, assuring his suggestion would do the trick.

"I guess it's worth a shot." I shrugged, wiping away the tears that were trying to fall.

*End of Flashback*

Itachi was right; it did improve my mental distress as it kept me busy from all the hate I was getting. Though some critics within the clan insulted me for "wasting my time on these things that were pointless if it doesn't change the fact that she was a mistake to society and the entire clan". It still pained me but I had no time to deal with the stress because my mind was on other things. I was driven to prove every single doubter wrong by becoming the first female leader of the Uchiha clan. Unfortunately, that dream died when every single member of our clan was murdered by Itachi Uchiha himself.

The fact that he slaughtered our whole family wasn't what broke my heart. It did hurt because I never wanted anyone to experience death, even if they deserved to die. It was something deeper than that, and it was because of that that I despised my eldest brother ever since.

Was I thankful for Itachi for raising me? Yes, absolutely. Did he saved me from self-harming and suicide? Yes. Would I have been long dead if it weren't for him? Of course. Did I respected him as much as I did in the past? Sure, I guess. Could I forgive him for butchering our entire clan? I wasn't really enraged nor heartbroken in the first place, so that wasn't decided yet. Do I still carry hatred for the man? Yes, because he was nothing more than a psychopathic, heartless, cold hypocrite for what he had done that was much more personal. Do I want to take out my revenge on him like Sasuke? No, I honestly don't.

Despite on whatever Itachi had done to everyone I could think of, I strongly believed that I shouldn't waste my breath on him; I wanted to move on with my life because I was still growing as an individual. If the opportunity presented in front of my without any of my effort, then sure. But until then, he was pointless to me. Besides, Sasuke should do the honors since the Uchiha clan massacre was much more personal to him than it was to me. Plus, he called dibs.

I had to respect it, and that was what I was doing.

When my mind ceased of thinking about my past, hoping that I would never had to look back again. The past was the past for a reason, and I wanted it to be kept that way.

I just placed the brownie batter in the oven as I quickly cleaned the vast kitchen island to prepare the goods. When I first settled in Orochimaru's lairs, there were a lot of things it had that was unexpected. Firstly, the damn long, dark, gloomy hallways. Secondly, the public rooms were neat and spacious but also kind of comfortable like this kitchen I was currently in. It was big enough to cook five different dishes at the same time, sometimes even more. I took advantage of this: there were four baked goods currently in the oven baking in their requested individual temperature and time, five different dishes sizzling and boiling on the stove, and a blender that was breaking down the contents within.

I was so consumed over the cooking and dancing as I did my own thing, I was so oblivious to the fact that someone besides me were present in the room until I turned around. When I saw another person in the kitchen eyeing me oddly, I almost dropped whatever I had in my hands. I exhaled loudly, realizing who it was as I placed the objects on the island table.

"Sasuke, you scared the living s**t out of me." I complained as I glanced at my brother.

Said male remained standing there with that stoic look on his face, unfazed by anything I was doing before entering the kitchen. He blinked at me a few times then he let out his signature grunt.

"How many times did I tell you to watch your language?" He questioned monotonously, sounding a bit irritated by my use of words.

Sasuke never liked my habit of cussing, and always reminded me to stop. But it was easier said than done because telling me to stop cussing was like telling an addict to stop taking anymore drugs. On my defense though, I only started cussing when I was a child and I would be hanging around the ghetto, hood villages that were outside the Hidden Leaf. When Itachi was out for long-term errands and my family was giving me such a hard time, I would throw a tantrum and run away from home countless of times and headed towards those villages where I sort of befriended some other kids who they too ran away from home. I vividly remembered hearing all sorts of dirty, nasty, and sinful things people said left and right to the point where I got accustomed to it and started repeating those words myself. Itachi knew my newly-found habit of running away and would always bring me back home safely. He too wasn't a huge fan of my use of words and kept telling me to stop before I got punished by the clan. The warning really meant nothing to me because they had already punished me for no damn reason; what else was new?

Back to the point, Sasuke knew it wasn't entirely my fault for cussing and I had been improving since I was twelve because my big mouth would always get my butt into trouble by Kakashi. Yes, the same Kakashi that read f**kin' porn right in front of twelve-year-olds; again, what else was new? But regardless of my innocence, my brother believed that "it wasn't a trait that the Uchiha had" and that I should learn to keep certain things to myself.

You know what other trait they don't have? Having a goal to kill a fellow clansman.

"My bad. That just slipped…" I sighed apologetically; I didn't really that sorry because I didn't want to put my brother in a bad mood.

Sasuke grunted at my apology and walked over to the dining table as he seated himself comfortably. I continued to monitor the food cooking on the stove as I briefly checked the oven, seeing if the baked goods were cooking properly. The raven on the table watched carefully as I stirred what was in the pot with a blank look on his face.

"What's the occasion?" He bluntly asked.

I placed the lid on the pot along with the wooden spoon then glanced over at Sasuke, who rested his cheek in his hand as he placed a bit of weigh on his elbow.

"There isn't really an occasion." I answered simply, dusting the flour off of the oversized shirt I was still wearing. "I just had the urge to cook and bake goods for everyone in the hideout."

"I see no point to that." He stated straight-forwardly.

I was so used to Sasuke being stubborn, and it was one of the reasons why I loved him. But sometimes, his stubbornness could irritate me once in a while and he knew that which made it even more annoying.

I rolled my eyes at him. "It's called 'being generous', Sasuke. Understand?"

Sasuke rested his eyelids. "Completely. But it looks to me that you're trying to make new friends in the lair. That seems desperate, even for you…" He slyly implied.

I raised my eyebrows at his assumption because he was implying that I was desperate to make new friends. True, it was lonely living in the depths of darkness and nothingness and there was barely anything to do without getting punished or even bored all over again. But I wasn't in desperate need of friends because I could make time for myself and wouldn't mind at all. Plus, I was with Kabuto now and his company lighted up my day. Sasuke implying that I was "desperate" didn't sit too well with me, especially if it was coming from one of the very rare few who knew me very well for a long time.

"Well, can you really blame me?" I scoffed defensively, folding my arms. "Even if that's true—which isn't at all—it doesn't hurt anyone doing something nice for others and getting to know them; it takes their minds off of the fact they would probably never see the light of day ever again."

I silently moved towards the island table and started chopping up some vegetables to make a salad bowl. As I was ripping pieces of lettuce and placing it in the large bowl, Sasuke suddenly parted his lips to speak.

"But in your case, there's no need to talk and befriend anyone in this dark place." He analysed lowly as his words paused me from ripping another piece of lettuce. "If you really wanted company, you can simply come to me… I honestly have no problem with that."

I continued to fill the bowl with individual lettuce leaves as I tried to create a response to say to him.

"Funny you say that, bro." I sarcastically mused, placing a sly grin on my face. "It's not as 'simple' as you say it is because the only thing on your mind is literally power and getting your revenge on our brother. You're so wrapped up on your ambitions that it's hard to come up to you and talk about something else."

Hearing this made Sasuke drop his hand from his cheek as he adjusted his seat to make himself more comfortable. I knew he was intrigued because he does this thing where he gave people a long look, urging them to speak.

"I'm not blaming you or anything. I'm just trying to make you realize that you're not really there when I really needed you but failed on me. And it's especially hard if I literally live in the dark with nothing to do and unable to go outside whenever I please. I completely understand your perspective of everything, but you don't understand mine so you going off by saying that I'm 'desperate' of having friends is inconsiderate." I explained to him with a straight face, but you could hear the hurt in my tone.

Sasuke sat there frozen, still having that stoic look on his face.

"You of all people know exactly what I've been through, and yet you did what everyone else in the clan did: ignored and shunned me, making me feel all alone and worthless." I huffed in frustration as I picked up the lettuce and placing it in the sink.

"What I've 'done' can't remotely compare to what our clan has done to you." He commented firmly, the first time I heard any emotion in his tone. "Besides, I'm trying to figure out what your point is."

I huffed loudly at his stubbornness once again. "My point is that you're being selfish and self-consumed. Not to mention the fact that you forced me to flee the village with you then changed into someone I had never seen before, then decided to push me away, pretending that I don't exist. You said it yourself that fleeing the village will benefit the both of us… when in actuality, it's only benefited you and not me." I answered strongly as I turned on the sink, rinsing the dirt off of the lettuce.

I hoped that with the sink on, it would tune out a bit of Sasuke voice. It was then I forgot that I was an unlucky person.

"I didn't force you to flee the Leaf, Katsumi." He countered as his eyebrows microscopically twitched at my argument. "You had an option to do so or not."

"The only option you gave me was to leave and join Orochimaru; I had no choice but to do it." I opposed flatly. "On top of that, you took advantage of my care and love for you as a little sister so I could run away from home with you. It's your job as my big brother to protect and guide me, not use me for your bidding and benefit."

After hearing this, Sasuke threw me a strong glare at my direction. I wasn't intimidated nor nervous by it; at this point, I had gotten used to him and his salty behaviour.

"You're overacting, Katsumi. You should watch what you say because there might be no truth behind it all." He warned me threateningly as the tension in the room we were in grew immensely.

I instantly stopped organizing the dishes after I heard his threat. I dropped whatever I held and threw him an offended but sour glare, disliking the fact he was accusing me for saying nonsense.

"And what is it I'm saying that has no truth behind it?" I questioned coldly, demanding to know what he had to say before he regretted ever for threatening me.

"You claimed that I didn't protect nor guide you… when at the same time… I threatened the lives of both Kabuto and Orochimaru if they remotely try to harm you in anyway. Am I wrong?" He told me, pressuring me to say either the right or wrong thing to him to which I decided to remain quiet.

"Not only that, did you or did you not obtain so much power that you could only imagine having it if you stayed in the Leaf?" He inquired in a harder tone, sounding more and more like he was threatening me.

I tuned him out as I placed each platter on a food cart. As I placed each dish, I could feel my brother's livid, deadly, venomous glare staring directly at me. Sasuke hated when I ignored him or tried to pretend I wasn't listening to him.

"Unlike you, 'power' isn't the only thing I care about… in fact, it's one of the last of my priorities." I countered exasperatedly. "You would've known that if you weren't so narrow-minded."

"I'm not narrow-minded… I'm simply focused on my goal that nothing is going to stand in my way…" He defended monotonously.

"Then, let me ask you this, big brother." I purposed hardly, testing my hypothesis. "If push comes to shove, would you chose revenge or your sister?"

Sasuke fell dead silent when I asked him a hard-hitting question. I knew there was a chance in regretting asking even though it could end up hurting both him and myself. But I wanted to prove my point and his stubbornness really pushed me in asking the question. All I wanted was for him to realize what he was really doing that was affecting me. Said person parted his lips to speak and my ears were ready to hear the worst or the unexpected.

"It's unfair of you to ask me such a question, Katsumi." He critiqued stoically, furrowing his eyebrows at me.

I frowned at his response. "Will you stop being so stubborn for once? Just answer the question."

"I refuse to answer the question." He declined dully. "The options you gave me are inconsiderate since you expect me to choose one or the other."

"Like how you did the same to me three years ago, implying that you can do such a thing but not me?" I questioned rhetorically, holding back the urge to cuss him out.

Sasuke fell into silence once again, feeling as though there was no point in speaking if I "don't listen to reason". It was sad how stubborn he was, it made me want to cry for his misfortune. I just placed the last platter of food on the cart and I turned around to face my brother with a hard look on my face.

"It doesn't matter anyway… now that I know what's more important to you." I huffed tiredly, not wanting to speak or even look at my brother at the moment since he secretly hurt me in a way he had never hurt me before.

"You shouldn't blame me when you're the one who's jumping to conclusions." He said blankly, not realizing the problem at all.

I had never pegged Sasuke as the oblivious one until now; he literally saw nothing wrong with what he was doing. He, instead, was blaming me for being sensitive and believing things that weren't true or taken out of proportion. He was so narrow-minded and literally a psychopathic jerk, it made me want to scream at his face. But I had to compose myself and try to act like nothing was wrong.

"Clearly, you being yourself makes it almost impossible for you to see my perspective in all this. Plus, you being so narrow-minded you're not even sensitive to my feelings…" I exhaled roughly, literally giving up on this conversation. "So I'm not going to waste any more time on you if you're not going to listen to what I have to say…"

I ended it all off by placing a dish of food in front of Sasuke, to which he frowned at this sudden kind gesture of mine. As I walked over towards the cart carrying all of the other dishes, I could feel his eyes examining my movements and motives behind them; it was irritating because it was as if he was stalking me and I hated that feeling.

"You get talkative when you're hungry, so I figured you want to eat." I told him expressionlessly as I pushed the cart towards the kitchen door.

Sasuke's eyes followed me until I exited the kitchen. I knew he was going to eat the food I laid out for him because he loved my cooking. Wouldn't blame him, to be honest.

Anyways, this had been the first time I butted heads with Sasuke for a long time and I felt numb about it. I didn't really felt bad nor regretted any word I said to him. Even when I asked him if he would choose either me or revenge because for one, I wanted to prove my point, and two, he was being so narrow-minded that I had to do something to make him at least see my point of view. I had never thought I would act the way I did towards my brother, but for some reason, I did. And to be completely honest, I couldn't care less of how he thought nor felt about me after what I said to him; I simply didn't care anymore.

Looking back, I felt the need to thank Kabuto because he was the one who pushed me to not care about my brother's thoughts and feelings if they were getting in the way of my own. He told me to speak my mind and that I shouldn't be his good little sister that he always seemed to take advantage of. I knew this was hypocritical of him to say such things, but regardless of that, I wouldn't have ever stand up for myself like I did earlier if it weren't for him motivating me.

The fact that I could count on him for being there for me, and the fact that he would support and motivate me to do what I wanted to do… made me feel secured and loved. I wasn't too sure if relying on Kabuto more than Sasuke was a good or bad thing for many reasons. On one hand, Sasuke was my brother that I lived with throughout my whole life and was always there with him since the very beginning; he was smug and cocky but he was also protective and kind towards me. But on the other hand, Kabuto genuinely loved and cared about me and made sure I was happy and felt safe; he would do anything to make sure I was comfortable around anything. Plus, he remained being himself as he was changing into a better person.

Both Kabuto and Sasuke changed me in a way that no one else could. They both wanted what was best for me but had something that didn't sit well with me; revenge and being someone's subordinate. Regardless, it didn't change the fact that they cared deeply for me as I do the same. However, they disliked each other for unknown reasons and that could be dangerous for me. Now that I was with Kabuto, it was only a matter a time until Sasuke figured out that he was dating his sister which he would obviously disapprove because he was Sasuke. Then one would kill the other and whatever would happen to me… would vary.

Before, I was anxious and nervous that at some point, I would get busted by Sasuke and Kabuto would have to face the music because of me and not being careful. But now, I felt that being just as stubborn as my brother and speaking my mind the way I did in the kitchen made me feel better. The fact that I didn't consider his feelings and defended only my feelings made me feel lighter and stronger. So now, caring about his feelings in me dating Kabuto didn't scare me anymore. What did scared me was the possibility of him attacking my partner for the kill. That was the only thing that held me back; if Kabuto were to be brutally punished for my actions, I don't think I could live with the guilt.

Now that I knew where Sasuke and I stood, I knew that standing by my brother's side was basically futile. I also knew that I had only Kabuto by my side, so I felt the need to cherish that. It was sad how it came to this… but I felt no regret whatsoever.

Maybe it was for the better, or maybe I was being selfish.

And thus concludes Chapter 15. Sorry it was more like a filler chapter, but due to time and energy, it's getting hard organizing the storyline in the last minute. But I'm still pulling through. I promise that the next few chapters are going to be good.

To those who are celebrating the winter break, cherish that because you'll regret it when you go back to school!