Kotone was missing from school for a few weeks after Shisui's death. After the incident, Fugaku took the initiative of taking guardianship over Kotone, officially making her a part of the family. Kotone was even given her own room.
Itachi was put on more and more missions while Kotone mourned her brother's death. The girl barely ate and spent most of her time either crying or sleeping, in which either Mikoto or Itachi would come in to comfort the orphaned Uchiha.
The frequent nightmares didn't help, either. Kotone would often come crying to Itachi's bedroom, sometimes even crawling in bed with him to seek comfort. She also refused to tell Itachi about what she dreamt at night.
That was until almost a month passed that Kotone finally told Itachi about her nightmares.
The small Uchiha rubbed her tearful eyes, holding her duck plushie to her chest in a gray nightgown adorned with matching yellow ducks. Her legs were crossed as she sat on the foot of Itachi's bed.
Itachi frowned, concerned, "Are you alright, Kotone? Do you want to talk about it? It's not good to hold it in."
Kotone looked up at him, almost… fearful?
"My dreams are weird and don't make sense, and even though I know they're not real, it feels so… real. Like I've lived it before."
Itachi nodded, prodding Kotone to continue. It was natural for children to have such imaginative, realistic nightmares after traumatic events. He half expected Kotone to describe seeing Shisui dying or committing suicide in her dreams.
Kotone's breath hitched as she held back her tears, "Tonight, I had a weird dream. I saw Sasuke, but much older – and I saw him killing you. I saw several things that didn't make sense. I also saw Sasuke hurting Naruto, too. It was scary seeing Sasuke like that. Do you think that could happen? Would Sasuke hurt us?"
Itachi didn't know what to make of this. Her dreams did sound very disturbing, even for a child her age.
"No," he smiled at her, raising his hand to poke her forehead, "and if he does, I'll protect you and throw sense into him. That's my purpose as your older brother–" he winced, stopping himself.
Kotone smiled reassuringly, "It's okay. I miss Shisui-nii, and while you aren't technically my brother, you are a brother to me. Sasuke-chan as well."
If it wasn't for his tendency to be rather stone-faced, Itachi would've gaped at her in surprise. He hummed, "Thank you, imouto. Do you want to sleep here with me tonight…?"
Kotone shook her head, "I think I'll be okay sleeping by myself this time. And I want to go back to school as soon as possible, too."
"Why? What changed?" he asked, confused.
She grinned, "I need to get stronger so that I can protect you both! And I want Shisui-nii to be proud of me."
Itachi chuckled, "I'll let tou-sama know tomorrow morning. Get some sleep, alright?"
She nodded before bidding goodnight and heading to bed, a new motivation seeping in her mind and a new hope for the future.
It didn't make sense to her that Shisui just so happened to commit suicide like that. Nothing made sense.
And she still couldn't wrap her head around the weird woman in her dreams, but that's something she'll have to worry about later.
It took time, but Kotone slowly brightened up and started spending time with Sasuke. Kotone was eventually put back into school after a few weeks, and while slightly solemn, confused, and stressed out with the fast changing course of events in her life, she was determined to be the greatest shinobi in honor of Shisui.
Waving goodbye to her brother's photo on her nightstand, Kotone headed off to school with Sasuke in tow.
The young Uchiha was a bit worried for Naruto, and while she knew Sasuke was bringing the Uzumaki lunches in her absence, Sasuke was too busy dodging fangirls left and right to really watch out for Naruto.
Naruto was probably worried and thought the girl was dying, or some worst case scenario, and she was also worried about her friend being lonely without her presence as well.
When Kotone walked through the door to her class, she was happy to spot the unruly blond haired and blue eyed child. Her smile faded into a worried frown when she noticed he had bruises on his cheeks and a bandage over his forehead.
She raced up the steps to his seat in the back in a hurry, "What happened to you?! Who did this to you? You better tell me so I can kick their–"
Naruto cut her off before she could finish, "Ahaa… it's kind of a long story. But basically some older kids were beating up a girl and when I went to defend her, they beat me up instead."
Kotone crossed her arms, "So? Tell me so I can handle them."
Naruto smiled sheepishly, "You don't have to worry about me, ya know! You were gone for over a month!"
The Uchiha girl snorted, "Hn. And you're all beat up right in front of me, of course I'm going to be worried!"
Her friend raised an eyebrow at her choice of words.
Kotone cocked her head, "What?"
"You sound like Sasuke-teme."
She gaped in horror and gripped the ends of her hair in shock, "Aya! Don't tell me that! I've been becoming extra spicy ever since I moved in with his family! They're rubbing off on me!"
Kotone went to grab Naruto's shoulders for support, but Naruto resisted and pushed her away, "Ack! Don't get too close to me! I don't want to become like Sasuke-teme!"
Her eyes watered up as she balled, "You don't like me anymoreee…!"
Sasuke, a quiet witness to their antics, snapped, "Hey! I'm not that bad!"
The duo turned their heads at Sasuke in disbelief.
"I mean…"
"Well…"
Sasuke tsked, "I'm not!"
Kotone pointed at Sasuke, "Then prove it."
His dark eye twitched in annoyance, "How?"
Good question. How could Sasuke prove he is not, well, too Sasuke? Kotone stared at the ceiling, pondering.
Her purple eyes snapped back at Sasuke's. Sasuke swallowed nervously.
"You must… give a smoochy-kiss to a girl. Or boy. Or anyone. I don't make the rules."
Naruto looked at Kotone in confusion while Sasuke gave her his infamous death glare.
"No."
The girl gave her adopted brother puppy dog eyes, "Pleaseee? Pretty please? It would prove you're not so, you know, stoic if you're up for displays of affection. Uchiha aren't entirely known for being that affectionate."
"No."
"Not even a hug? I'll give you all of my extra tomatoes for a month."
He hesitated, eyes glinting over the possible jackpot he could hit for the next thirty days.
"...No," Sasuke painfully declined.
Kotone huffed, "Your loss!"
Naruto scrunched his nose in disgust, "Tomatoes? Are you serious?"
Both Uchihas stared indignantly at the blond.
While Sasuke just glared in silence and puffed his cheeks, Kotone gasped, "I am a hundred-percent serious! Tomatoes are delicious! You can make tomato sandwiches, tomato sauces, or eat them with salt and pepper, and-"
"Tomato sandwiches?" Naruto cut her off mid-rant, confused. Who the hell just eats tomato and bread?
Kotone nodded, "Yes, sandwiches. I know it sounds weird, but I also add a spread of mayo and sometimes a slice of cheese with salt and pepper. And you have to toast the bread otherwise it'll be kind of gross and soggy."
Naruto didn't know how to comprehend her anomalous usage of tomatoes. The blond looked over at Sasuke for an answer, to which the Uchiha shrugged.
"It's weird, but it's honestly not bad. I don't mind them." Sasuke was too embarrassed to admit that he really enjoyed Kotone's concoction.
Kotone grinned in victory, "See? I'm literally a genius. My tastes are far superior!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You call putting whatever leftovers you can find in the fridge together superior?"
"Shut up."
Sasuke smirked.
Class resumed as usual that day, with Kotone not having much trouble catching up with the new material despite being absent for a while. While Sasuke sat towards the front of the class, Kotone sat in the back row with Naruto. The lessons weren't too difficult, as it started with history, then mathematics which was then followed by literature. Learning new kanji grew difficult, but it was still fun and Kotone loved practicing her penmanship. The opposite was true for Naruto. While he excelled in athletics and math, he had a difficult time with basic comprehension. So much so that it was actually affecting his ability to understand other subjects. Recently, a lot of the mathematics they were being taught involved long word problems that could apply to real life or death situations.
Since the Academy was a fast-paced school that was dedicated to pumping out child soldiers as soon as possible, their curriculum was very rigorous. Most students sent to Konoha Academy were from shinobi clans, who of course were already being trained and taught from a young age to get a head start. Most of the few civilian students struggled within the first few years of attendance.
Naruto wasn't as fortunate. He was a child with no family that was neglected at an orphanage until he was granted his own private space. All the adults were always mean to him for no reason, and even teachers didn't even want to help him with his studies after asking for help. There were no adults around that were willing to teach him. The staff at the orphanage flat-out ignored him and beat him if he bothered them for a scrap of food after not eating for two days.
The blond furrowed his brow in frustration as he did his best to comprehend Iruka's writing on the chalkboard. He could hardly understand any of it, yet it seemed like the rest of the class was catching on just fine. Looking over at Kotone, he watched as she had a focused, confident glint in her eyes as she glanced back down to her notebook to write notes.
Naruto looked at his single blank sheet of paper in despair.
Hearing Naruto's groan, Kotone glanced to her left to see the poor boy looking up at the board with a complete lack of understanding.
She frowned, 'Was Naruto always like this? I didn't realize how much he struggled…'
Kotone lightly poked him on the arm with her pencil to get his attention before covering her mouth with her hand in a hushed manner, indicating for Naruto to lend his ear.
"Do you want me to tutor you? I can come by your house after school today to help if you want?" she whispered.
Naruto backed away a bit to look at her in surprise, "Really?"
Kotone nodded. He scratched his cheek in embarrassment, "Are you sure you want to come to my place? It might not be what you expect…"
Kotone smiled, "I don't mind! We can start today."
While Naruto knew he really needed the help or else he'd risk getting kicked out, he was extremely apprehensive inviting anyone over to his apartment.
As soon as class ended, Kotone informed Sasuke of her updated plans before following Naruto to his home. They eventually came across a staircase that led up to an apartment complex. For only being six years old, she was pretty keen and could feel Naruto's increasing dread as they ascended the stairs to his front door.
She expected to at least greet a family member. What she did not expect was to be greeted by an empty, silent apartment. Upon Naruto opening the door and letting her in, she was met with the sight of several empty instant ramen cups strewn across a coffee table and floor. There was a small kitchen to her left that connected to the small living room that she was in that was also littered with ramen cups.
Naruto sheepishly rubbed his neck, "Sorry for the mess…"
He walked towards the small hallway on the right side of the living room that had a bathroom and also what she assumed was a bedroom.
Naruto led her inside his bedroom that also contained a small table for them to work on.
Kotone shook her head, "It's fine. Shall we get started? We should probably start with the basics and go from there."
Naruto nodded, a determined look on his face, "Alright! Let's do this!"
A half hour later into the study session, Naruto was ripping his hair out in frustration after he struggled to read an entire sentence that Kotone wrote down for him to read aloud. They both sat on the floor, legs crossed in front of the table.
"Errgh! I'll never be able to get this stupid kanji!"
Frowning, Kotone sighed, "It's only been thirty minutes. You're not going to learn all of this overnight. Why didn't your parents teach you this? This is stuff that most civilians should know at this age."
The mood dampened. There was a long pause before Naruto's blue eyes glistened, "I don't have parents."
Kotone's eyes widened, "You mean…?"
The boy looked away from Kotone and stared at a random spot on the floor before responding, "I never knew my parents. They apparently died the night of the nine-tailed fox's attack on the village, but I don't know anything about them."
Things finally started to lock in place for Kotone. It finally made sense as to why Naruto struggled so much academically, or why he looked quite small for his age.
"How did you get an apartment by yourself?"
Naruto sadly smiled, "No one wanted to adopt me at the orphanage, and since they were always mean to me, Gramps got me this place and a monthly allowance..."
Kotone raised an eyebrow, "Gramps?"
He nodded, "He's the Sandaime, but that's just what I call him, ya know?"
The Uchiha gasped, "The Sandaime?! No way!"
With the change of topic, Naruto brightened, "Yeah! I don't see him often, but besides you and the old man that runs Ichiraku, he's the only person that's nice to me… The whole village hates me."
Kotone frowned. She did notice the adults and most of their peers treat Naruto so harshly, but she couldn't figure why. Sure, Naruto could be loud sometimes, and his pranks can be fairly annoying, but did that really warrant such treatment? It wasn't fair. And it certainly concerned her that he just now confirmed something even more troubling.
"Besides me? Ne, am I your first and only friend?"
Naruto slouched in his position, sulking, "Yes."
At his answer, Kotone quickly grabbed both of Naruto's tanned cheeks with her hands to stare him down directly in the eyes, "Don't sulk! Who cares how many friends you have? Or how many people like or dislike you?"
His blue eyes widened at her own purple ones, captivated by her words.
She further continued, "As far as I'm aware, those people are just sad, bitter people who have nothing but hatred to spread so that they can feel better about themselves. You're a good person who's only doing the best they can with what they got. I'm honored to be your first friend. Whenever you're feeling down about yourself, just remember that there are people who do care. That's all that matters. Got it?"
Naruto nodded, not knowing how to respond to such a powerful speech. Kotone was right, why should he focus on the bad? Especially when he was friends with such a nice person as Kotone?
Naruto's eyes started to water. Before he could hold it in, the dam broke and fell down his cheeks.
Kotone released her hold on his face to allow her friend to collect himself. Naruto wiped at his tear-stained face as she smiled gently at him, "I'll always be here for you as your friend. And that includes helping you learn stupid kanji. Okay?"
She held out her pinky for Naruto to take.
Sniffling, he held out his own pinky and wrapped it around hers, sealing the deal of friendship.
As the next several months passed, more developments occurred.
Kotone would consistently help Naruto after school nearly everyday with his studies. While Naruto was reluctant with her enthusiastic assistance and concerned that it could take away time from her own life, it did the opposite.
The regular visits helped Kotone study and review the material which in turn slightly improved her scores. She also used it as a way to get closer to Naruto and spend as much time as she could with him since she knew that he had no one to go home to at the end of the day. She could hardly imagine what it was like to go home to no one. Kotone was fortunate enough to have extended family take her in as their own, but Naruto did not.
Naruto also developed a crush on Sakura, even though Sakura was pretty mean to him.
Sakura and Ino recently broke off their friendship due to their rivalry over Kotone's adoptive cousin. She wasn't too shocked at the news, as many friendships amongst her female classmates were broken over their shared infatuation with Sasuke. Kotone had a hard time empathizing considering that Sasuke always had a stick up his–
"Ya know, isn't Sakura-chan so pretty? Her forehead is so cute. I want to kiss it," Naruto sighed dreamily. He rested his chin on his palm as he stared at the pinkette attempting to get Sasuke's attention at the front of the classroom.
Today, Naruto wore his pair of goggles on his forehead and his newly purchased, bright orange jumpsuit. Kotone bought the jumpsuit with her saved up allowance while out shopping with Itachi after noticing the boy was out growing his current set of clothes. It was from a ninja clothing supply shop, which was actually on the more affordable side and sold several designs in multiple sizes. Since the clothing was so expensive, yet very expendable for shinobi in battle, it was often easier to just buy a stock supply of the same outfit. Naruto stubbornly declined her gift, so she assigned Itachi to sneak it inside Naruto's home. With Itachi having to uphold Kotone's "best big brother" standards, he did so with no questions asked. Having one of the best shinobi as her adoptive brother definitely had its perks.
Kotone gagged, "I agree that she's pretty, but do you really have to be so cheesy this early in a public space? I'm trying to not puke up my breakfast here."
Naruto was too far gone in his own world to have paid attention to anything the Uchiha said. Kotone rolled her eyes. She honestly didn't understand the sudden interest in romance with her classmates. They were all around six or seven years old, yet the only person who seemed to recognize that was Kotone.
The class turned quiet at attention and students quickly settled down as Iruka started to take attendance.
Soon after, Iruka called the entire class outside, in which everyone surrounded him awaiting further instructions.
"I want each one of you to demonstrate your ninjutsu," Iruka said before half the class voiced their disappointment.
"Don't worry," Iruka assured, "This isn't going to be graded. I just want to assess your progress and how to proceed with our lessons. We're going to start off with a basic jutsu. Clone Jutsu."
Naruto groaned in despair. Kotone frowned, noting that this was the jutsu that her friend struggled the most with and absolutely hated. Kotone truly felt bad as both she and Sasuke excelled at the clone jutsu and were currently undergoing training with their clan's special technique; the fireball jutsu. She was worried that Naruto was feeling left behind with their progress, and it certainly didn't help that Sasuke would purposely stoke their rivalry.
Sasuke was chosen first to demonstrate his skills. He walked himself into the center of the formed circle of classmates. The fangirls, including Ino and Sakura, cheered on Sasuke's name.
The Uchiha taunted Naruto, "Clone Jutsu is child's play."
Naruto scowled and pointed accusingly at Sasuke, "You always act so smug!"
"Shut up, idiot," Sasuke retorted.
Before Kotone had the chance to reprimand Sasuke, she was cut off by Sakura instead, "Don't interrupt Sasuke's focus!"
"That's right! You're in the way!" Ino added on, glaring at Naruto.
Naruto sulked, "Not you too, Sakura."
Not wanting to waste more time, Iruka urged Sasuke to start.
Sasuke raised his hands to form a few hand signals. A puff of smoke appeared out of thin air beside Sasuke. The shroud dissipated to reveal an identical copy of the prodigy.
Sakura and Ino both praised Sasuke's perfect clone jutsu before Naruto jumped in a fit of jealousy.
"It's so obvious which one's real! Like this one!" Naruto said before kicking the clone as it disappeared into smoke.
"Wrong!" said the Sasuke behind his back. Naruto turned around before attacking again, only for his opponent to disappear yet again in a puff of smoke. Naruto roughly fell on the ground from trying to kick the fake.
"Wrong again," said a voice from above. The real Sasuke was perched up on the tree before jumping down from his hiding place.
Impressed, Iruka praised Sasuke's use of two clones while hiding his real self without anyone noticing.
Feeling unseen, Naruto huffed, "I can make a Clone Jutsu too!"
The Uzumaki formed the proper hand signals before another puff of smoke appeared, revealing a very sad, poor version of the original. The clone wobbled before flopping on the ground like a seal with its tongue sticking out. Not being able to sustain itself with the way it was poorly produced, the clone disappeared. The class laughed. Kotone grimaced.
Hibachi, one of the class bullies who often teased Naruto, laughed, "This guy's such an idiot!"
Naruto gritted his teeth, humiliated.
"I don't know what your problem is, but stop lunging at me," said Sasuke.
Kotone glared at him, giving Sasuke a look as if to say, "Are you being serious right now?" The past several months the tension between Naruto and Sasuke got worse and worse. There were some days that they would tolerate each other, and other days where they would bicker non-stop. Maybe it was because Naruto started having a crush on Sakura, who had a crush on Sasuke, which only stoked Naruto's jealousy. Kotone wasn't entirely sure of the reason, but she knew it definitely wasn't healthy.
Regardless, it was frustrating for Kotone to constantly be the mediator between the two. Sasuke was her family, and Naruto was her closest friend. Why couldn't everyone just get along? Was it too much to ask for?
Right now, Kotone was surely upset at both of the boys for not backing down and escalating things further.
Shino Aburame, a quiet kid who adorned dark, round glasses and a big trench coat with an upturned collar that covered the lower half of his face responded, "He's right. I say that because every time you do something, you hold up our lesson. And that is an annoyance."
"What?!" Naruto angrily responded.
Hibachi smirked, "Yeah! You're an annoyance! You're a germ for just being alive!"
Another bully, Kenji, joined in, "That's cruel, Hibachi. But he's right!"
Naruto growled, "What'd you say?!"
Kotone stepped in to de-escalate, but before Naruto could charge after the bullies, Iruka blocked him to stop the mess.
"Everyone! Quit making fun of Naruto!" Iruka scolded.
Kotone paused in surprise. Iruka was rather cold to Naruto, he often acted very passive in response to Naruto's pranks and avoided him like the plague.
Naruto smiled in relief, "Sensei!"
Iruka turned to face Naruto with a look of distaste, "Don't bother with this… kid."
Naruto's expression fell. Kotone looked at their teacher with disgust.
Iruka called the class back to attention to continue with their demonstrations before leading them away to a different spot to continue. Naruto stayed in place, clenching his fists. Kotone walked over to him, placing an empathetic hand on his shoulder.
"Are you… alright?"
"I'm gonna show all of them! I swear!" he exclaimed angrily.
Seeing how upset Naruto was and how the entire class practically bullied him, including her own cousin, made Kotone sad and revolted. She was also angry at herself for not defending Naruto in time before things went too far. She decided she was just going to have to solve this on her own to make up for it.
After the demonstrations, instructions went on as normal inside the classroom for the rest of the day. All students were dismissed, and Kotone and Naruto were the last ones to leave from their seats. Before they could leave out the door to head home, Iruka stopped them.
"Naruto, there's something I need to ask you about," said Iruka. He looked pointedly at Kotone, indicating for her to leave. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, narrowing her eyes up at the adult.
"Whatever it is you have to say to him, you can say in front of me," she snarked.
Iruka looked at her in shock. Kotone had always been a respectable, responsible student. She excelled in virtually everything, almost as impressive as Sasuke. Iruka noted that Kotone was often by Naruto's side daily. Her sudden disregard of his authority took him by surprise.
He decided to let it slide, "...Alright. Naruto, I noticed that some of your scores have improved drastically."
Naruto beamed. Kotone frowned, suspicious.
Iruka's face grew stern, "With such drastic improvements, it's likely that you've been cheating. I'll have to report this and this may get you kicked out of the Academy. But before I do, I need to get your statement for the report–"
"Are you kidding me?!" Kotone spat.
Naruto, while sad, looked at Kotone in surprise. Honestly, Naruto wasn't going to bother to try to defend himself, he knew that it was the adult's word against his own. He knew the entire class including his own teacher didn't like him. They want him out as soon as possible, so what better way than to get him in deep trouble when the opportunity arises?
Iruka blinked dumbly at her, not expecting the sudden disrespect, "Huh?"
Kotone scowled, "His scores have been better because I'm the one actually helping him and teaching him. You're supposed to be our teacher, yet you knew how poorly he was doing but didn't bother to offer any support to improve his grades. I've been helping him almost everyday for the past several months, and I'm almost seven. What's your excuse? What has he done to you to deserve such awful treatment? Why do you hate him so much? Shall I be the one instead to report you as a fraudulent teacher?"
Iruka was stunned, "I… it's not that at all–"
"If you don't want me at the Academy anymore, fine, I'll just leave," Naruto stated.
Kotone looked back at her friend in shock, "Naruto, don't say that, you don't have to do that!"
Naruto quickly turned on his heel, running out of the classroom.
Iruka reached his hand out, "Wait!"
A pause. "Great," Kotone sighed.
Iruka cursed, frustrated with himself. He looked at his student in shame. Kotone rolled her eyes.
"With all due respect, it's on you to fix this, Sensei. You messed up," she stated. Kotone stormed out of the classroom.
Deciding that Naruto likely needed space before Kotone could try to console him, she headed straight home. She also hoped that Iruka would do the right thing and attempt to search for Naruto himself. That still didn't stop her from keeping an eye out for a certain blond head of hair as she walked past the ramen shop and through the market. There were plenty of shoppers and civilians browsing around the open fruit stands, like always. This part of the village was always quite lively, and it filled Kotone with a warmth that was reminiscent of the times shopping with Shisui and Itachi. Since the passing of Shisui, Kotone has mainly been tagging along with Mikoto. Mikoto would even sometimes buy her dango or the occasional book whenever they went together. Kotone would always accept the gifts graciously. She would always let Mikoto know that while she loved the gifts, her hospitality was more than necessary.
Mikoto, being probably one of the sweetest, totally-not-emotionally-stumped Uchiha, would reassure Kotone that she practically viewed Kotone as her own daughter. Kotone was the daughter Mikoto never had, and the little Uchiha was a breath of fresh air after having to take care of only boys. It was lonely for Mikoto to be the only woman in the household, especially after the deaths of the only female friends she had about six years ago.
And the isolation only got harder after the clan was forced to live in the corner of the village in a compound with heavy eyes on the Uchiha…
Kotone spotted a familiar group of classmates. Of course, it had to be her least favorite crew consisting of Hibachi and his two lackeys. At least she knew that they were nice to her for some reason, so she could likely get some answers if they had seen Naruto anywhere.
Swallowing her vexation, she waved to Hibachi to catch his attention as she walked over to him.
"Hibachi, have you seen Naruto around?"
Hibachi smirked, "Oh, that pest? Haven't seen him, and even if I did, who cares?"
Kotone rolled her eyes for what was probably the millionth time that day, "I care. He's not a pest, he's my friend. But thanks anyway, I guess."
Hibachi's smile turned upside down.
As Kotone started to walk off, Hibachi cut in, "Hey, why do you care about him so much? Do you… like him?"
She turned around, confused, "Huh?"
"I mean, he's pretty annoying, stupid, and obnoxious. There's no way anyone, especially an Uchiha, would want to tolerate something as disgusting as that freak," Hibachi elaborated.
Kotone was many things, and patience was one of those factors about her. Normally, she would always defend the Uzumaki, but she never got aggressive or violent in her approach. But since her patience had run just a bit too thin that day, her blood boiled.
So naturally, she'd respond with a swift kick to the gonads.
Hibachi yelped before holding his crotch in pain, falling to the ground and rolling back and forth on the ground.
His two friends were too preoccupied with the devilish glint Kotone had in her eye as she stared them down, "Ne, bother Naruto again and I will make sure you can't have kids next time. Don't underestimate the Uchiha, idiot."
The two boys grabbed Hibachi's arms and hauled them off hurriedly as they hesitantly called back, "We'll–we'll get you for this!"
Kotone waved excitedly as she grinned, "Oh, I'm sure you will!"
Judging by the boys running with their tails between their legs, Kotone doubted they would stay true to their promise.
Okay, maybe going for the privates is definitely an inadequate way of handling things for any Uchiha. But Kotone was not above playing dirty to win. It was hard enough as it was with losing some intimidation points for having eyes that aren't as scary and soulless like the rest of the clan. She likely hasn't inherited the sharingan either, so playing dirty was a tactic she had to resort to to get the upper-hand.
If that was the only valid reason she could pull to justify kicking men in that taboo spot, she's going to milk it as much as possible.
The next day at class, Kotone was pleased to see Hibachi limping through the door. He refused to look her in the eye as he slowly sat in his seat besides his friends.
She didn't have too much time to mentally celebrate when she realized that Naruto had yet to arrive at class. Iruka also looked worried as he scanned the classroom.
"Has anyone seen Naruto?" Iruka asked the class.
"Nope, didn't see him," said Hibachi almost immediately.
Shikamaru Nara, a lazy student who wore his hair in a spiky ponytail, came to the rescue, "Naruto went into the back hills."
Hibachi looked shocked, "Shikamaru?"
Iruka grew tense, "In the back hills?"
The Uchiha got worried for Naruto. She did hear from Mikoto about there being potential foreign spies in the back hills of Konoha… If Naruto were to go there, he'd be in great danger. Why would he be there of all places?
Shikamaru elaborated, "To look for corpses… right, Hibachi? Your tricks are annoying."
Hibachi huffed, but felt an odd presence behind him. Turning around, Kotone glared at him from her seat above him.
The bully shivered in fear.
Iruka got up in a hurry as he called out before exiting the class, "We're having study hall today!"
Kotone hissed at Hibachi, "You told him to go to the back hills? And you lied to me?"
"I'm sorry! It was just a prank, alright?" Hibachi sweated nervously.
Seeing the way Hibachi–who was normally very cocky–looked terrified, Shikamaru asked Kotone, "...What did you do to Hibachi?"
Kotone blinked as she feigned innocence, "Nothing. Right, Hibachi?"
The bully nodded quickly.
Deciding it was too much of a drag to hear what happened, Shikamaru dropped the topic.
Half of the students quickly filed out of the room, many of which were probably ditching the school grounds. Kotone stayed behind at her seat besides Sasuke. The air had an awkward tension since the two Uchiha hadn't really been speaking to each other.
"...Sorry," Sasuke broke the ice.
Kotone shook her head, "Don't apologize to me, apologize to Naruto. While you both get on each other's nerves all the time, I can tell that Naruto sees you as a close friend… or wants to, at least."
Sasuke stayed silent.
The day went by slowly, and eventually the class was dismissed early due to the circumstances surrounding the spies that were caught in the back hills of Konoha. While Kotone was concerned, she knew that there wasn't much that a six year old could accomplish. Iruka and other involved shinobi would be able to handle the situation, and she only hoped that Naruto would be okay.
Kotone and Sasuke arrived home together before being greeted by Mikoto and a surprise appearance of Itachi.
Since Fugaku Uchiha was often busy with his duties as well as leading the Konoha Military Police Force, he was rarely seen at home. Today was no different, to Sasuke's disappointment.
"My, you're home early. I heard about the spies that were recently captured at the back hills today," Mikoto stated as she sliced fresh tomatoes on the kitchen table. Since Mikoto knew how much Sasuke and Kotone loved tomatoes, she would often serve them on the side along with their dinner.
Sasuke snagged a tomato slice as Kotone took a seat at the table.
"Yeah, one of our friends in our class was told to go there by another student which was why class was canceled early today. The entire day was just study hall," Kotone answered.
Mikoto smiled, "Well then… how about something easy for dinner? Do you kids want breakfast for dinner?"
Kotone nodded enthusiastically, "Yes please! Can I help you prepare?"
"Of course! How about you, Sasuke?" Mikoto asked.
Sasuke's cheeks grew pink as he looked to the side, trying to mask the excitement in his eyes, "...Okay, okaa-san."
And so, the two Uchiha were put to work by peeling and dicing potatoes while Mikoto cooked rice.
Within an hour, the food was ready with an assortment of pancakes, fried potatoes, steamed rice, miso soup, and omelets. With a household of Uchiha, everyone ate quite a lot to keep up with the daily exertion of training. Especially with Itachi being home, Mikoto went really overboard with the food.
Kotone wasn't really complaining, she loved food.
Itachi joined everyone for dinner, the lines of stress visible across his pale cheeks despite only being thirteen years old. He smiled, quirking an eyebrow, "Breakfast?"
Sasuke brightened, "Dinner's ready, nii-san! Come join us!"
Everyone gathered around the dinner table, enjoying their meals as they conversed about mundane topics. Sasuke bugged Itachi to help further train him and Kotone, and asked him for tips. Kotone talked about her progress in school. Mikoto listened to them eagerly as Itachi added his two cents every so often. It was peaceful.
Kotone's heart ached and her smile wavered. She missed Shisui.
"Kotone, isn't your birthday coming up?" Itachi asked.
She hummed, "Ah, yes. In about two weeks."
Mikoto clapped her hands in excitement, "Awh! Our little Kotone is finally turning seven! How exciting!"
The older Uchiha gently smiled, "What do you want for your birthday?"
Her first birthday without Shisui, already. Huh. Kotone didn't even realize how fast the days went by since Shisui died. Normally, Shisui would just take Kotone out to Ichiraku Ramen before taking her out on a shopping trip or to the park. She didn't really know what she wanted.
"I really don't know," she said honestly.
Kotone continued, "I'm happy with what I already have right now. But if you really want to get me something, maybe a gift that can be practical? Like a first aid kit maybe?"
"Hn… I can probably come up with something you can use," said Itachi.
Kotone grinned, grateful.
The next day, Itachi was gone on yet another mission. Sasuke and Kotone didn't even get to say their goodbyes before leaving for school.
Seeing Naruto clad in his orange sweater with blue sleeves at the school entrance, Kotone ran and jumped on the blond, bringing them both to the ground. Sasuke trailed behind and watched.
Kotone pinched Naruto's whiskered cheeks, "I was worried about you! Don't leave us again!"
Shocked by the sudden take down, Naruto grinned, "I wouldn't dream of it!"
Sasuke held out his hand for Kotone to grab to get off of Naruto, "C'mon, otherwise we'll be late for class-"
The girl grabbed Sasuke's hand and roughly pulled him down. Both Naruto and Kotone held Sasuke down to force him to partake in their shared group hug on the ground.
"Let go of me!" Sasuke snapped.
Even Sasuke couldn't hold down the slight up-curve of his lips. Kotone teased him by calling him a 'tsundere' the entire day. His adopted sister was a menace.
Kotone was happy to see that things were slowly going back to normal. Iruka's relationship with Naruto greatly improved. Instead of flat-out ignoring Naruto, Iruka was now more upfront and strict on the Uzumaki. Naruto complained about the harsh treatment, but internally he was happy to see that another person acknowledged him and cared enough to scold him on a daily basis.
That still didn't stop Naruto's pranks on poor victims, though.
The day before Kotone's birthday, Itachi decided to present his cousin with a gift. It was a long black box that had a red bow tied to it. He held it out to Kotone. Kotone grabbed the box that was nearly the same height as her, feeling the heavy weight inside.
She raised an eyebrow, "Isn't it a bit too early before my birthday?"
Itachi smiled tightly. Something seemed off lately, but Kotone figured that he was just stressed out from all the missions he's been assigned to.
"I have another mission tomorrow, so I wanted to give it to you before I leave," Itachi answered.
She nodded, kneeling on the floor as she carefully placed the box on the floor. After pulling off the ribbon, Kotone lifted the lid of the box to reveal a katana. The sword had a red hilt that was wrapped with a black metal cord which was inside a black sheath that had the Uchiha crest on it. The guard was black and had outlines of plum blossoms, which were the same deep red as the handle. Kotone slightly pulled the sword from the sheath just enough to reveal the unique black blade.
The sword was stunning, and Kotone stared at it in astonishment.
Itachi's dark eyes softened, "Beautiful, isn't it? You're a bit too small to use it now, but maybe it'll be of use when you're older."
Kotone immediately got up and hugged the Uchiha by the waist. Itachi's eyes widened.
"Thank you, nii-san. I love you."
It was finally the day of Kotone's birthday. She was now officially seven years old. Kotone wore a light purple spring dress that was adorned with pink cherry blossoms for the special day, which was gifted to her by Mikoto.
Sasuke yet again bothered Itachi to help him with shuriken training, only for the older brother to poke him in the forehead as a response before leaving out the door. The young Uchiha questioned Fugaku and Mikoto as to why Itachi was so reserved, to which Fugaku could only answer with, "Who knows? Even as his father, I still can't fully read that boy…"
Surprisingly, quite a few people wished her a happy birthday at the Academy. Sasuke was the first one of course, albeit a bit too excitedly until he realized he was acting too cheery and ended it with an out-of-place "hn."
Naruto wished Kotone a happy birthday and gave her a homemade card along with a cup of instant ramen and a handful of dandelions, weeds, and some flowers that he clearly plucked from the training grounds and random people's yards. She loved it.
Sakura and Ino greeted her as well.
A few others that she wasn't all that close to also wished her a happy birthday. Shino, Shikamaru and his friend Choji Akimichi greeted Kotone. Kiba Inuzuka, a cocky boy with a dog along with Hinata Hyuga, a shy and quiet girl also greeted the Uchiha today.
After class, Kotone, Sasuke, and Naruto all went out to celebrate with ramen. The ramen shop owner, Teuchi Ichiraku, was a kind business owner. Since it was Kotone's birthday–who was also close friends with Naruto–he gave the trio free ramen on the house.
It was a great day, and she was excited to see what celebrations her family had in store for her at home. Even Fugaku took the day off early to celebrate as well.
The sun was already starting to set, indicating it would be nighttime in just a few moments. There was supposed to be a full moon out tonight.
"It's starting to get a bit late… Sasuke, why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up to you after I finish my food. Tell Mikoto-san that I'm running a bit late," suggested Kotone.
Sasuke nodded, jumping up after realizing what time it was, "I'll have to run home before kaa-san worries too much."
He then quickly took off, leaving just Kotone and Naruto at the ramen bar to finish their meals.
Kotone quickly slurped up ramen noodles as Naruto excitedly talked about further perfecting his "sexy jutsu" to which Kotone replied, "Have you thought of doing a 'harem' jutsu? That might be even more effective. But you'd have to learn clone jutsu to achieve that."
Naruto whined, "Don't even remind me."
Finishing her bowl, she thanked Teuchi-san and bid a farewell to Naruto, "Ne, I'm going to have to hurry now since the rest of the family is probably waiting for me. I'll bring you a piece of cake tomorrow."
After they parted ways, Kotone rushed home. By this time, the full moon was already out and illuminated the streets as she ran.
Arriving at the gates of the Uchiha compound, she noticed that the tall buildings, which were normally lit up, were dark. There were no shops open or lights on even though it wasn't late enough for people to be sleeping this early.
Turning a corner, her eyes widened at the scene before her.
Dead bodies littered the street. Shuriken and kunai were scattered everywhere, and were even embedded into the walls of buildings.
Kotone gasped, covering her mouth in horror, "What…?"
Running past the trail of corpses, her eyes teared up in fear. She hoped that Fugaku and Mikoto were okay.
She saw the bakery where she and Sasuke would sometimes get freebies had its lights out. Purple eyes trailed down to two motionless bodies in front of the shop.
"Obaa-san…?Jii-chan…?"
It was the two bakery owners. And they were dead.
Her anxiety increased as she ran home, before finally arriving to see the sliding door was left open.
Kotone looked through the dark house, not seeing any sign of life. Before she could go out to their backyard, Sasuke rounded the corner.
Before she could ask him what was happening, Sasuke simply kept running and grabbed her hand with him, taking them through the house and back onto the street. There were tears and snot running down his face. Sasue was truly terrified and did not care to take the time to give any explanations.
"We have to run!" Sasuke yelled as he dragged Kotone, "Nii-san killed everyone! Kaa-san, tou-san…"
Kotone's heart raced at the information. She didn't understand. Why would Itachi do this? How could things go so wrong so fast?
Her head started to hurt. She winced as she tried to rub her head with her free hand.
Itachi appeared before them, clad in battle attire. They stopped running and panted to catch their breath.
"Don't kill us!" Sasuke cried.
Itachi continued to stare emotionless at the two children.
"You are not even worth killing… Foolish little brother… foolish Kotone… If you want to kill me, begrudge me! Hate me!" he said coldly, "And keep on surviving in that unsightly manner… Just continue fleeing and fleeing and hang onto your life."
Itachi's eyes flashed red, revealing a pinwheel, "When you have the same eyes as I do, come to me."
Sasuke's eyes flashed red a single tomoe sharingan as he tried to chase after him. Kotone followed closely behind Sasuke as Itachi took off over one of the buildings.
"Wait!" Sasuke called out, jumping over the rooftop after grabbing a couple of lodged kunai.
As Itachi jumped down from the building, Sasuke aimed kunai at the elder Uchiha. Itachi blocked most of the kunai, but he missed a stray one that knocked off his forehead protector.
Sasuke and Kotone landed on the ground across from Itachi as he picked up his fallen headband, retying it sideways across his forehead.
Remembering not to look at sharingan directly, Kotone kept her eyes at his chin. Tears streaked down Itachi's cheeks as he stared at Sasuke with his sharingan, effectively putting him to sleep.
Sasuke plopped onto the ground beside Kotone's feet as she kept her eyes downward.
Tears fell down her eyes as she saw Itachi slowly walk towards her.
"Look at me."
She shook her head, refusing.
There had to be an explanation. It doesn't make sense that Itachi would act out like this out of nowhere. Why would he give her such a thoughtful gift? Why would he cry after being attacked by Sasuke?
Kotone knew there was something more to this.
The pressure in her head started to increase. While it was hard to concentrate from the pain, she felt like she could see a bit more clearly.
Deciding to be brave, Kotone moved her eyes up to stare down Itachi's. Her eyes, which were normally purple, revealed to show a sharingan with two tomoe.
He quickly induced her into a genjutsu. She knew it was because of the distorted surroundings.
Itachi scoffed, "Pathetic. You're barely even worthy of killing. Kotone… I will show you and give you a reason to detest me. When you are strong enough, let me test my ability against you and Sasuke."
For what felt like eternity, the memories of Kotone's slain clan members repeated over and over in her head. The screams, the begging, the tears. The sight and smell of blood everywhere. However, that wasn't the only thing that Kotone saw.
When studying the sharingan, Kotone knew quite a bit about its capabilities. It also had the ability to show someone's greatest fears and memories, even ones that are subconscious.
Kotone's surroundings distorted and changed before revealing memories of a different world where no such thing as chakra or ninjas as she knew them existed.
Kotone fell to her knees as she screamed, knocking out beside Sasuke.
Itachi quickly left the scene.
Memories flooded in Kotone's mind.
Her name used to be Clarisse.
Clarisse was a college graduate who worked a typical nine-to-five job working as an accountant at the young age of twenty three. Kotone remembered the recent passing of her mother, who sadly perished in a car wreck and left her to take care of her four-year old half-sister.
Knowing the state of rising rent prices, college debt, and the costs to simply raise a child, Clarisse struggled significantly. Her mother also rented, and didn't leave much from her will. The three of them weren't well off since Clarisse's father left them for an affair he had. Her younger sister was from her mother's ex-boyfriend, who also left them six months after conceiving the child. Her mother wanted to get back into the dating game, before having her heart broken twice in a row in the hopes of creating a strong family unit. Both her and her mother had a hard time trusting men after that.
Clarisse and her half-sister really didn't have much. Her mother's ex didn't pay child support, and the state didn't really help with enforcing that. Childcare was difficult as a young woman who worked paycheck to paycheck, and it was hard enough as it was with the cost of daycare facilities. She barely had enough time to properly mourn and grieve the loss of her mother.
She loved her sister dearly. Her sister was partially deaf and preferred to use sign language over talking. Clarisse had to take extra measures in getting resources that would best accommodate her sister, such as researching ASL babysitters, interpreters, etc.
Kotone–Clarisse–remembered getting help from her elderly neighbors who would often watch over her sister while she was at work. Eventually, she got promoted and started making a bit more to start a savings account and use some of her paycheck to go out with coworkers or girlfriends. Clarisse would often hire a babysitter to watch her sister.
She also remembered the shows she used to watch in her free time. She would leisurely watch everything with her sister; from horror movies, to korean dramas, to anime, and nostalgic sitcoms. Most children would be disinterested in shows that were in different languages, but her sister was interested in watching everything with the primary use of subtitles.
One of their shared favorites was an anime about a loud, noisy ninja who wore bright orange colors that did everything in his power to be treated as an equal by his peers.
The memories of an older Naruto adorned in an orange and black jumpsuit came across Kotone's mind. She remembered deaths of people she knew– of people who either already passed or will pass away one day. Of the fourth hokage and his wife sacrificing themselves for Naruto, of Danzo's corruption and plot to commit genocide against the Uchiha to steal their eyes for his own power. Of Hiruzen's complicit nature in the face of said genocide.
The death of her beloved brother by the hands of Sasuke.
The memories of a great war in the future with her classmates, of tailed beasts, and god-like enemies of the past.
Attempts to delve deeper into the past only failed as the memories got more obscure. Kotone remembered feeling paranoid all the time, putting up cameras all over her old apartment and constantly looking over her shoulder. She couldn't recall what for, or how it happened that Clarisse was in this hellish, fictional world right now.
Kotone was never supposed to exist. She was never supposed to be here. And yet she was here.
Kotone woke up, groggily staring at a white ceiling. She looked over to her left, seeing Sasuke sitting up in a white hospital bed.
All the memories of the massacre and her dreams suddenly came to a head. Kotone jumped off the bed to run over to the trash can and vomited.
A nurse appeared in the room, frantically holding back Kotone's dark hair to avoid the vomit to get on her hair and hospital gown.
Wiping the tears from her face, Kotone felt a bit better and took the offered cup of water from the nurse.
The nurse rushed her to bed, checking the young Uchiha's vitals. Sasuke continued to stare into space from his bed.
"Are you feeling alright, dear? You've been out for quite a while," the nurse questioned.
Kotone simply nodded, her thoughts all over the place.
Kotone couldn't believe it. She had a past life.
Soon after, several Anbu arrived to take Kotone's side of the story. It only took about an hour of her mindlessly recalling the horrific events. She played it safe and omitted seeing Itachi cry.
If anyone knew the things Kotone knew, she would be dead in a second. She had to play the part until she knew it was safe. Until she knew Danzo was surely dead.
She tightly gripped the hospital bed sheets.
A soft knock resounded at the door before it opened, revealing the Sandaime.
Kotone glared at him as her blood pumped.
The old man smiled sweetly at them, "I'm greatly sorry for your loss."
'How could he act so innocent as if he wasn't responsible for forcing our brother to kill our entire family?' Kotone thought to herself.
The Sandaime explained to both of them the legal matters of the situation. They would have to sign several documents, figure out funeral arrangements, figure out housing, and so on.
"How do you expect us to figure that out on our own? We're children," Kotone stated blankly.
Hiruzen frowned, "I came here to tell you that we'll offer help and support to make this process as simple and easy as possible. After your recovery, you'll be inheriting the entire clan's possessions. You can do as you please with them, and the compound is yours. While I understand that you might want to look for other places to live, we can help with that as well with getting you a house."
Kotone nodded, understanding.
Two weeks later, Sasuke still walked around like a zombie. Sometimes he would cry. Sometimes he would be screaming in the middle of the night, where Kotone would do her best to comfort him.
Kotone was also heavily traumatized, but she was mostly just sad and was mourning the loss of Fugaku and Mikoto. She cried almost everyday.
It was an odd parallel, having to prioritize the wellbeing of a sibling while dealing with the death of a parent…
She had to. She was the one signing documents, signing off for dead clan members, house shopping…
And eventually, she did find a house. She just wanted a steady place to feel safe in, and with the major inheritance money they both earned, she easily purchased the house. It was a two-story home that was close to the Uchiha compound. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a nice kitchen and living room. She bought it fully furnished so that they wouldn't have to worry about shopping for a while.
By the time everything was said and done, she had just finished making arrangements for the clan members to be buried at the public funeral grounds. It was over a hundred plots they accommodated for.
Kotone didn't visit their graves. She couldn't stomach seeing just how many people were murdered by her own government. Sasuke ended up going alone in dark clothing. It was raining.
By the time he came back a few hours later, he was soaked. Kotone gave him a towel and prepared instant noodle cups for the both of them to eat.
Sasuke looked simply drained as she placed the cup in front of him on the table.
"Eat," Kotone said.
Sasuke looked menacingly at the cup, harshly gripping the chopsticks.
"Kotone. I'm going to avenge our clan. I'm going to kill that man," Sasuke said darkly.
Seeing the seeds of revenge, Kotone frowned. Sasuke was too emotional right now to easily steer him away from such a path. She wasn't sure if she should even try, worried that it could stump his progress as a shinobi…
Kotone ate her noodles in silence, listening to the calming sound of rain.
Hi! I'm back :)) It's been awhile since updating anything, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter! The next one will be the start of the Naruto series and onto the Wave Arc. I hope to finish the Wave arc within the next 2-3 chapters.
Also something I noticed is that fnet doesn't give email notifications anymore, which is weird. Now I just check the app for updates. When looking at my profile, I realized there's an option to opt in for email notifications, but it automatically opts-out after 90 days. I don't know if this is a new feature, but it is defo flawed imo but if anyone wants to try it out to get email updates, the option will show up when you click on your profile!
I'm also thinking of cross-posting on archive and maybe wpad? To get more traction bc it feels like less and less people are using fnet, which is sad because I personally prefer fnet over everything else
Regardless, please review! That's my main motivation to update lol and I enjoy reading your reviews and constructive criticism!