After inviting Naruto to lunch, Kotone was pleased to see that the young blond had quickly opened up to them. Sasuke on the other hand was acting a bit… tsundere. The dark haired boy was likely a bit overwhelmed with Naruto's bright and sunny attitude, Kotone figured.
Regardless of the two boys occasionally going into their bantering, they got along for the sake of Kotone.
Kotone was the mediator of the trio, often shutting up the boys with the snacks and desserts she prepared with Shisui at home. Kotone enjoyed baking and making new foods with her older brother, and she enjoyed giving them to her friends and family. It was one of the ways that Kotone knew best to soften people up. The best way to people's hearts is to go through their stomach, Kotone noted.
She wasn't quite sure where she heard that phrase before, but it made sense with all the reactions to the delicious gifts she offered to people.
A few days into their friendship, Naruto had told them all about his dream of becoming Hokage, enjoying ramen, and even had a hobby of taking care of plants. He never really talked about his parents though, which made Kotone wonder if Naruto was an orphan or not.
She decided to not ask out of respect for her new friend.
On the fourth day of their friendship, Kotone noticed that Naruto yet again had brought nothing for lunch. Opening up her bento box, she placed said lunch in between them on the shared desk. Naruto looked at Kotone, confused.
The young girl smiled brightly, "I can share my lunch with you, I can't have my new best friend go hungry!"
The whiskered boy looked at her in shock, eyes slightly tearing up before quickly wiping them away with a sniffle. Kotone handed Naruto her wooden chopsticks, "Here, we can take turns using these to eat!"
Naruto grinned at her brightly before giving Kotone a giant bear hug, "Thanks, Kotone-chan!"
Sasuke, sitting on the other side of Kotone, did his little Uchiha grunt as he continued on with his own bento. Why was Kotone so nice to Naruto? Kotone was his best friend, not Naruto's! Sasuke especially didn't like anyone hugging Kotone like that, either.
Not liking the proximity between the two, Sasuke gave Naruto a protective glare, casually eating his diced tomatoes. Naruto took notice of this and glared back with his ocean eyes after he released Kotone from the hug, "What's your problem, Sasuke-teme?!"
Kotone watched this interaction, confused, "Did I do something wrong?"
Sasuke grunted, "You better be appreciative of Kotone's kindness, dobe."
"What's that supposed to mean, teme?!"
A spark of electricity flared between the two boys as Kotone watched anxiously. Quickly, she grabbed the chopsticks and shoved a ball of white rice in Naruto's mouth to ease the tension. Naruto on the other hand choked on the rice that was practically shoved down his throat, shocked by the sudden force while Kotone smacked Sasuke across the head with the other hand.
Sasuke pouted at Kotone, "What was that for?"
Kotone shrugged, "I just want to enjoy my free time in peace."
The boys both looked at the Uchiha girl in fear as she gave them a pleasant, yet threatening smile.
At their reactions, Kotone started obnoxiously laughing before Sasuke went back to eating his meal in exasperation. Naruto gave her a look, "Kotone-chan, you're weird."
She grinned at him, lavender eyes glimmering, "I guess I am."
Naruto didn't really know what to think of the pair of Uchiha, but he did know one thing for certain…
Spending time with Kotone and Sasuke made him feel a strange new warmth in his chest, and that made him quite happy ever since he met them.
After that day, Kotone started bringing an extra bento for the Uzumaki.
Several months had passed, and the three students were often found eating their lunches together in the classroom. Lately it had just been Kotone and Naruto eating alone while Sasuke hid around the school away from his new crowd of fangirls.
Kotone found it pretty hilarious.
After lunch the boys and girls were split into their respective groups, with the girls being directed outside for kunoichi lessons while the boys were given free time to practice or study independently. The lessons were meant to prepare female students how to properly blend in for infiltration missions. It was held once a week, and at the end of the year an exam would be held to determine if the students still needed more training or were proficient enough to join the study period with the male students.
This week's focus was on flower arrangements, funny enough. Kotone, not having properly met any other girls, awkwardly ripped the grass as she sat along with other girls on the grass field, waiting for Suzume-sensei to start her instructions.
The dark, curly haired teacher gestured to the field of flowers around the young students, "Kunoichi must learn not only ninjutsu, but also a wide range of refinement and knowledge as women. Today's class is flower arranging."
Each of the girls were handed small pamphlet books describing the meanings of flowers along with identification photos. They were instructed to find matching flowers within the field and create proper arrangements for different scenarios offered within the pamphlets.
Kotone wandered about, nose in her pamphlet and looked up just as she nearly walked straight into a pink haired girl.
"Ah-!"
Kotone blushed in embarrassment, "Sorry! I wasn't paying attention… thankfully I stopped right before running into you."
The pale girl gave Kotone a small, shy smile, "It's okay."
The Uchiha grinned, "What's your name? I'm Uchiha Kotone! Do you want to search for flowers together?"
Taken aback by the Kotone's friendly nature, the pinkette didn't have a chance to speak before a certain blonde, blue-eyed girl stole the spotlight. The blonde stood protectively between the two girls, glaring at Kotone.
"Hey! Are you picking on my sweet Sakura-chan?!" she accused, pointing a discriminatory finger at the Uchiha.
Kotone gaped, "No, not at all!" She waved her hands in front of her, "I was just asking if we could work together."
Sakura nodded at the both of them, "It's true! Uchiha-san wasn't being mean at all, Ino-chan."
Ino's offensive demeanor dropped as she sighed in relief, "Good," she smiled at Kotone, "You're welcome to join us then!"
Within the hour, the three girls had already found their desired flowers and sat together as they put together their flower arrangements.
Kotone learned a lot of things about the two girls. Ino Yamanaka was a sassy but passionate girl who was very protective of her friends, who also helped her parents run a flower shop. Sakura Haruno was the daughter of civilian parents and was fairly shy, and was often bullied for her forehead. Supposedly, it was "big" but Kotone didn't really see it as all that noticeable unless someone picked it out. Either way, Sakura was still very pretty. Her pink hair color definitely brought out the color of her emerald green eyes, Kotone noted.
Kotone also talked about herself, but it was mainly about her older brother.
"Kotone-chan, do you have anyone that you like?" Ino asked.
Kotone raised an eyebrow, "No?"
Ino hummed, "Are you sure? What do you think about Uchiha Sasuke?"
Sasuke? Kotone frowned, a little disgusted, "No way! He's like a brother to me. Isn't that like incest anyway?"
The blonde laughed, "It's totally normal for cousins to get married in prominent clans like the Uchiha. It only counts if it's within your own family circle."
Kotone sighed, "Whatever you say." Gross.
At the end of the day, classes were dismissed and the Uchiha bid a goodbye to Naruto before taking off with Shisui.
"Shisui-nii…?"
The dark haired teenager looked down at little Kotone, hands held while he walked her home from the academy.
"What is it, Kotone-chan?"
Kotone nervously smiled, "I was wondering… if we could invite my friend over for dinner one day? All he ever talks about is eating ramen, so I think it would be nice to have him try something new. And I wanted you to meet my new friend!"
Shisui smiled, "Of course. What's your friend's name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Shisui nearly had a double take at that information. Uzumaki Naruto? The jinchūriki? Shisui wasn't exactly opposed to having him over, but with the current suspicions surrounding the clan's possible influence over the kyūbi attack it wasn't advisable. In fact, they could even get in trouble with Danzō if they even interacted with the boy too much. The situation with Danzō had been quite tense lately with the news of the coup d'etat and this was definitely not the best time to be bringing the host of the Nine-Tailed Fox over for dinner.
"Maybe one day when I'm free. I've been busy with work lately, but I promise we'll make time for your friend, okay?"
Kotone nodded, "Okay."
Later that evening after dropping Kotone off at home, Shisui had planned to make his move on Fugaku Uchiha. He was going to use his Kotoamatsukami to manipulate the clan head to back away from the revolt. He stood in the forest by the Naka River, activating his sharingan for usage.
"Alright."
Before Shisui could head off to Fugaku, he was bombarded by an array of shuriken and kunai. Seeing this, Shisui quickly flickered away and landed on top of a tree branch. Sensing an incoming presence behind him, he quickly turned around and pulled out a kunai to block the unknown assailant's attack.
Through the clashing of kunai and dodging fatal blows, Shisui quickly jumped through the forest and onto a grass clearing, confronted by several cloaked ninja with porcelain masks.
So it's the Foundation, Shisui thought, that means the person behind this is…
A familiar aged voice came out from the forest, "Very fast… Well reasoned, Shunshin no Shisui," said Danzō. His single dark eye that wasn't hidden away by bandages stared menacingly at the prodigy as he walked out into the clearing.
Shisui narrowed his eyes, "Danzō."
Danzō stood ahead of the group of Foundation members, "All of you just stay back," he ordered.
The sun set across the field, the warm summer wind blew around leaves, and despite the welcoming season it did nothing to ease the tension of all the shinobi involved.
"What's the meaning of this? Why are you getting in my way?!" Shisui demanded.
The sling-armed leader spoke, "Kotoamatsukami… a visual jutsu that creates false experiences. Such incredible power, but what a waste to use it merely to stop a coup."
"How unfortunate that an Uchiha doesn't know how to use the Sharingan," Danzō said arrogantly.
"If you used your visual jutsu on the clan as long as the Uchiha clan exists, it's highly doubtful that another coup can be avoided. And even if your plan worked, it is only for this instance. There is no guarantee that the same thing will not happen again. On the contrary, it probably will happen again. Sooner or later, the Hidden Leaf Village will have to deal with the Uchiha. If so… by exterminating the Uchiha now… the future of the village will be secure, don't you think?"
Shisui looked at the man in disgust, "Danzō, you were plotting this all along…"
Danzō looked up as he spoke matter of factly, "This is all for the sake of attaining true peace for the Leaf."
The man turned his attention back to the Uchiha, "Shisui… do not worry. I will make good use of your eyes."
Kotone looked out her bedroom window, wondering where her older brother went. Sighing, she placed her school book back down on her desk before heading to the kitchen to make herself a snack.
Just as she was walking towards the fridge, she heard an urgent knock at the door. She opened the front door, surprised to see Itachi adorned in shinobi armor.
Kotone furrowed her eyebrows, "Itachi-nii? Weren't you supposed to be on a mission?"
The pony-tailed Uchiha shook his head before asking, "Is Shisui here?"
"No, he said he had some errands and training to do first. He headed towards the forest by Naka River. Why?"
Itachi looked a bit worried and stressed, "It's nothing. Thanks anyways, Kotone-chan."
Several hours passed by, and Shisui still wasn't home. Kotone drowsily glanced up at the clock.
Before she could finally give in to the long night and put herself to bed, three curt but strong knocks resounded at the door.
Kotone opened the front door to see Itachi and a couple of Anbu agents peering down at her.
The anbu agent with a boar mask kneeled down to Kotone's level, "Kotone-san… Uchiha Shisui was recently confirmed deceased as Uchiha Itachi as witness. Could we ask you a couple of questions?"
Yea, right. Kotone gave the Anbu an unamused look, blowing a strand of hair that was in her face.
"This is a joke, right? Nii-san would never-"
"-Kotone-chan."
The young Uchiha's eyes met Itachi's dark ones. He wasn't joking.
Shisui was gone.
Kotone fell to her knees in shock, "He isn't… he can't be. He can't!"
The anbu awkwardly shuffled next to the door. Itachi knelt down, grief stricken and guilt across his features, "I'm sorry."
Kotone's breath started coming in and out rapidly as tears ran down her face. Panicked, Itachi attempted to console the young girl, "You're hyperventilating. Breathe slowly."
Before she knew it, her vision became blurry, going in and out of focus before completely blacking out.
Kotone found herself in a hallway. She looked around, confused. Is this a dream?
Kotone felt taller. Instinctively looking down at her hand, she had a rectangular metal-like device. It had what appeared to be a glass, reflective on the flat surface with buttons on the side.
Further examining the box in her hands, she stopped.
She was looking at an adult woman in her reflection. She had brown hair, was a little bit tan, and seemed to be somewhere in her twenties. She was also wearing a simple white shirt and a long, brown skirt with no shoes.
'Such a weird dream,' Kotone thought to herself. Inspecting her surroundings, she noticed a single door at the end of the carpeted hallway.
With each step closer and closer towards the door, Kotone felt a sense of dread build up within her stomach. Almost nauseated, she stood in front of the brown door, staring at the handle.
She quickly put her hand out to grab it, only to stop at a sudden voice that echoed in her head.
"Don't open the door."
She jumped, retracting her hand back to herself and gasping. Feeling a wetness on her bare feet, blood started to pool around her, as if it was flooding on the other side of the door.
Short chapter! But things will soon be picking up!
Please R&R! Constructive criticism is appreciated! It's been awhile since I've written anything so I might be a bit rusty :'^)