I'm back with another chapter. Hope you're liking it so far because the story is just beginning.

I don't own the characters, plot, and etc. expect for the character, Katsumi Uchiha. And description/appearances of the characters are from Narutopedia, just to let you know.

Chapter 2: Broken Family

I was in the medical lab, preparing the kit for Sasuke. In all honesty, I thought I would never be able to find the lab if it wasn't for Kabuto. Not intentionally though. Kabuto seriously should draw out a map of the lair for me someday because I was getting sick and tired of my heart skipping a beat when I had to choose which direction I should go. I have no clue why Orochimaru thought it was remotely wise to build lairs that had long dark tunnels when he already had a couple of other lairs in different locations that were far away from each other. I got it, he was the top ninja in the bingo books but seriously, how many steps ahead does he have to be from his enemies? I wouldn't predict when, but the day would come when a group of shinobi sneaked into his lair and tear it down from the inside.

Orochimaru may be a genius, but that doesn't make his enemies stupid at all.

I placed the finishing touches on the kit, making sure it had absolutely everything Sasuke needed for this mission, just in case he got injured. It wasn't like I don't trust his judgement, I believe it was better to be safe than sorry. Once I was satisfied with the kit, I carefully picked it up and marched towards the door. Like I mentioned before, I was horrible making my way through the hallways. But for some reason, I knew exactly where the entrance/exit was. How ironic. I figured that Sasuke knew I was preparing a medic kit for him, so he was probably waiting for me at the door. It was actually kind of weird, actually seeing him. It might sound sad, but I hadn't seen Sasuke since last week and it was only because I was lost in the hallways trying to find the bathroom and I bumped into him. He figured I was in need of a restroom at this sort of time— he knew me so well it was freaky. I know I don't really see him that much because he ate, slept, and breathed training on his spare time. I sometimes wished he would make time for me because it looked like he cared more about getting stronger than me. But that was the way he was; he would act like one thing was more important than the other, when really it was the exact opposite.

Don't get me wrong about training, I too believe training was very important. But the thing was, there wasn't really anything that needed training for me. I did obtain new tips and techniques on medical ninjutsu from Kabuto— which was surprising since I thought I knew everything about medical ninjutsu. I was stunned myself that I even allowed four eyes to teach me a thing or two on my favourite ninja subject. However in the first year of living in the hideout, Orochimaru trained both Sasuke and I how to fully control our powerful curse marks. Sasuke had the Heaven Curse Mark while I had the Earth Curse Mark. But since I never really used my Curse Mark before, my training was longer and more intense than Sasuke's since he already had some control over it. Orochimaru taught me how to use its power without it eating your insides completely and how to evolve my Curse Mark from a level one to a level two, which was felt like a demon was stabbing me constantly. Long story short, I had to go through the same process as Sasuke did when we were taken to Orochimaru by the Sound Four. The reason why I couldn't evolve my curse mark then because it took a long time for the process to be completed and there wasn't enough time to do it for me then, Sasuke offered to go first for my safety and making sure we weren't set up, he wanted Sasuke to have as much power within little time, and because at the time Orochimaru wasn't given the permission to do it on me because Sasuke claimed it was "too dangerous" for someone "my age".

It didn't matter regardless, because I could honestly say that I was stronger than I ever thought I was before. I couldn't believe it, but Kabuto and Orochimaru taught me a lot of good stuff. However, Sasuke was on a whole different level than I was; for the first time, he was stronger than me. Not by a lot though because if we were to battle, it would be a close win I presumed. Sasuke believed the work he was putting in was really paying off and he didn't want to stop there; he just wanted to get stronger and stronger and he wouldn't stop until he was invincible. On the other hand, I was taught everything I needed to know so my training was basically completed.

I halted my steps when I finally reached the door to freedom. It wasn't even a moment later when I heard footsteps coming closer to where I was in the hallways. I instantly knew who was coming and I didn't bother looking over my shoulder to see until I could visibly see that person. It was none other than my older, stubborn brother Sasuke.

Sasuke changed a lot since his years in the Leaf Village. For starters, he grew so tall in height; I would be in awe every time I saw him. He wore dark blue pants, over which hung a blue cloth that covered him from his stomach to his knees which was secured tightly with a purple rope belt; this specific accessory was commonly worn on most of Orochimaru's henchmen. He initially complemented this with a white long-sleeved shirt kept open at the torso and black arm guards that cover his forearms. I wasn't gonna lie, he looked pretty badass but for some reason, I felt iffy on the belt. Correct me if I was wrong, but that belt sort of said that I was allies or I carry respect for one of the Legendary Sanin who was basically a snake. That I don't feel comfortable with, but then again he doesn't really like Orochimaru to begin with and I highly doubted he respected him either.

This was a habit of his which was in need to be changed.

I snapped out of my thoughts about my brother when said brother stood in front of me in a waiting matter. Being monotone and stoic, Sasuke normally gave people a displeasing look to show that he would rather shed his own skin with his sword he now had as a go-to weapon then converse with anyone; not that he was a hater, he wasn't a people person and he simply didn't care about almost anything. But with me, I could never know. There would be times when he wouldn't give me a dark look like he does with other people but he wouldn't give me a welcoming expression either, he would just stand there blank-faced. I don't take it personally because that was how he simply was; if anything I should be honored. His expression towards me was in between and the only times he would act remotely smug was when he had to do something for Orochimaru and he wasn't able to go around it. I wouldn't say he wasn't the same person, but I also wouldn't say vise-versa either.

I didn't realize my constant need to zone out was making him wait even longer until he cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry about that… just… just making sure I didn't forget anything for that kit you needed…" I apologized broadly, trying my hardest to not sound sheepish about the situation I was facing.

Sasuke simply blinked on my apology, then he held out his hand. "It's not like it's gonna make a difference, anyway…" He simply implied with an expressionless tone.

That was true. Like I said earlier, he was much stronger than before.

"Of course, you're ten times stronger than you were before we came to Orochimaru…" I agreed with a smirk as I kindly handed him the bag.

He then gave me his signature 'hmph' as he placed the kit in his long-sleeved shirt, indicating me that he liked that statement I made about him. Even though he was now very distant and spacious towards me, I always counted on him to show a bit of gratitude he carried for me no matter what. Even the long looks he sneaked, I knew he was trying to say he appreciated me as a sister.

"So, what's the mission Orochimaru assigned to you anyway?" I asked curiously; I genuinely wanted to know about the mission.

"I can't say… Orochimaru wants the details left unsaid…" He answered straightforwardly.

Even my own brother wouldn't say a thing about the mission. How big and important was that mission anyway?

"Alright, sorry for asking…" I sighed bleakly. "I don't wanna keep you here for long, so you should be heading out now…"

With a slight nod for thanks, Sasuke smoothly slid past me as his shoulder slightly brushed mine, giving me the slight chills. I don't know why, but almost every time I was around him, the surroundings' temperature fell instantly. I stood there very still, not knowing what to do now since I had just finished the last thing Orochimaru wanted me to do for today. It was ironic since I complained about not getting time for myself to Kabuto earlier and yet my mind drew a blank on what should I do for the spare time I now had.

"Katsumi…" I slightly jumped by the voice who called my name so suddenly.

I glanced over my shoulder and my eyes caught on Sasuke, which was a surprise to me because I thought he was long gone the moment after he walked past me; I didn't even sense his chakra there. He was that good. Though he never stepped out of the lair, his back was facing me; he probably thought he no longer needed me until the very last second. What does he want from me now? I wasn't sure because I could no longer read or know from his eyes what he wanted; he hated the fact that he was predictable to me and he couldn't stand me reading him any longer. Now that he trained himself to truly hide his feelings and learned how to immune his emotions, I was just as clueless as the rest of them.

Not knowing this just made me nervous; he could say anything and it would take me off guard.

"Watch yourself while I'm gone. And always keep your guard up around Orochimaru and Kabuto… I'm still not comfortable to trust them with you alone." He advised softly as his voice seemed to hint a bit of affection.

Did the great Sasuke Uchiha finally showed his concern for me? I don't know because I could've mistaken that for a warning, which he normally gave to others to let them know to never underestimate anything.

I was stunned to see said person glaring at me over his shoulder with his Sharingan blazing in crimson red. "Let me know if my help is needed…" He breathed lowly.

I stood there simply in awe; he slipped a bit of concern of me which he hadn't showed for over two years.

I took it all in as I slightly bowed my head to him. "I will, Sasuke…"

He nodded at my response then he turned his head away from me. The next thing I knew, he disappeared in a flash. I forgot that his speed was incredible since I wasn't that fast myself. However my skills was higher than Sasuke and I could say that since he admitted that a while ago, though he didn't seem to care that much about it.

Now that I had completed my last errand of the day, I had no clue what to do. I would hang around Sasuke but he just left for a mission; no matter since I barely do that now ever since he changed. Then there was Kabuto, and I stopped myself from gagging. It wasn't because I found him disgusting, he was simply so irritating and obnoxious. It boggled my mind that people in my old village thought that Naruto was the most annoying person on the planet; to them I would laugh at their faces. I mean, maybe Naruto was annoying but I was born with great patience, so he doesn't really phase me at all. To me, he was a cute, clueless, innocent boy that I held near and dear to my heart. I couldn't help it; he was one of the bright spots of my life.

Just the thought of him made me miss him much more. I always wished I could tell him face to face that I never meant him to go through what he did when Sasuke and I left; it was just not fair for him.

As I was saying, hanging around Kabuto would never be my first choice at all. Nothing personal, but I didn't like him. In fact, being unbearable wasn't the only reason why I despised him. The moment my brother and I arrived at Orochimaru's hideout, I saw a glimpse of four eyes and I didn't know what to think. At first I thought he too decided to join forces with the snake, but that wasn't the case at all. Long story short, it turned out the jerk went undercover as a Leaf genin to gain information on me and Sasuke, which made me livid. When my team obtained both the Earth and Heaven Scrolls, I realized that he wasn't a jerk after he saved me from the enemy; I felt bad for how I treated him and I wanted to make things right so I proposed a friendship to him, which he happily accepted. I wished I knew that smile he gave me as he accepted my friendship was a fake. When I saw him in the lair, he knew he backstabbed and betrayed me but he acted as if nothing had happened. Since then, I found him revolting.

After that long thought of things I could possibly do on my spare time, I realized I was still standing in the exact same spot like a lost child. I finally chose to go to my bedroom and find a way to past the time. It took me almost ten minutes to locate my bedroom. The room was sort of like the dark long hallways of the hideout except it was lit by a candle on the desk— which stood across the room – and another on the nightstand next to my bed. A mirror stood near the closer and I blindly moved myself towards it. I gazed at my reflection deeply as I took in how much I had changed throughout the years I had been here. My soft, raven hair grew all the way down to my waist which was left straight instead of a high ponytail like I used to put it. My bangs grew out and I let them hung on the sides of my face, cropping my face. I wore a cropped black, short-sleeved hoodie with a net shirt under it covering my stomach. I also wore black shorts that reach to my upper thighs with long high thigh boots that had small heels on each boot. To top it all off, I wore black gloves though sometimes I would switch them to the fingerless gloves.

I felt like taking a shower and changing into something that was more comfortable so I got my folded towels and headed into my personal bathroom. It was never there when I settled in but since I had so much trouble finding the bathroom in the lair, Orochimaru got his henchmen to build a personal bathroom in my bedroom for me, which was really helpful in my case. But I knew he wouldn't simply offered it to anyone else; he knew Sasuke wouldn't see eye-to-eye at all with him and he wanted to start on the right foot with the boy. That, in which, didn't happen.

Or it did, depending how it was viewed.

Once I was done with my shower, I stepped out dripping wet with a big towel wrapped around my body and another towel around my head. I allowed myself to sit there for a short while for my body to dry, then changed into a pair of grey track pants and a white tank top. Satisfied of my comfortable appearance, I headed back to the bathroom to fetch my paddle brush. As I stood in front of my mirror, I began to comb out the tangles in my long, dark hair. I used to comb my hair in the shower, but it took a lot of energy since I grew it out so long and I simply had no patience for it anymore. I was struggling on one particular tangle that my comb couldn't brush through, when suddenly I heard a knock on my door. I checked the time that hung on the wall and it said it was half past ten. Why at this time this person was in need of me? I hoped as I let my brush hung from my hair hopelessly that whoever it was, they would get the message that I wasn't available and go away. But no, the knocking continued. I could simply just ignore it, but by the looks of it— and the sound of it – that person was persistent and wasn't going to leave.

I had enough.

I huffed in frustration and marched my way to the door, and I opened it. At that very moment, I regretted ever opening this damned door. And I was mad at myself because I could've simply use basic sensory jutsu to determine the knocker by their chakra.

There, standing at the door was the last person I wanted to see, especially at this time.

"What do you want, Kabuto?" I seethed in question, giving him a deadly glare.

My current mood wasn't the mood to be bothered with yet four eyes doesn't give any type of damn.

He simply smirked at my question. "Gee, someone's in a bad mood…" He mused mockingly as he adjusted his glasses.

Would it make me a bad person if I break them? Because the temptation was sky high right now.

"I don't have time to deal with your crap, four eyes. You already bothered me enough for today, now go away!" I snapped and attempted to close the door.

But it failed because he halted the door from slamming in front of his face with his hand. I noticed this and I opened the door again, this time with an even deadlier stare.

"Hold on princess, I did not come here to bother you." He commented smugly with his fake smile; he wasn't even phased that I tried to slam the door on him without warning.

"Then what, four eyes!? I'm busy at the moment!" I hissed harshly due to his appearance and the fact that the comb stuck in my hair started to bug me.

"May I come in?" He suddenly asked, ignoring my anger.

Anger instantly turned into confusion; the heck?

I gathered my emotions, and I placed a hard look on my face. "Why?" I questioned demandingly.

"You just said you were busy…" He answered, then he pointed at my head. "And I could see why…" He added with a blank look on his face.

I glanced at where his finger was pointing, and I knew he was referring to the comb in my hair. I went on to thinking about the reason why I allowed my hair to grow this long.

"Get to the point…" I ordered impatiently.

For some reason, he chuckled at my misfortune. "I figured I should lend you a hand…"

That was a shock; Kabuto wanted to help me? As in assist me to achieve what needed to be done? Who was he kidding?

"Stop wasting my time with your lies, I'm done with them…" I was then prepared to shut the door again.

But he sensed that and held the door wide open, preventing me from ever trying again. I was in shock that he had this much strength.

"I'm serious. And honestly, you actually need it…" He advised as he scanned the situation which was my hair knot.

"The hell!? You don't know that!" I refuted exasperatedly as I moved my head away from him.

If he knew what was best for him, he would stay far away from me.

Dismissing my rebellion, he reached over and tapped the glued comb. "Well actually I do…" He countered calmly as he then gripped the handle and tried wiggled the comb.

That caused me to gasp in pain. I shot him a look, hinting him that it hurt a bit.

"For starters, it seems to me that the comb is very well stuck in the knot. If you tried to brush with force any longer, you could severely rip a bunch of hair from your scalp which isn't exactly good for both the hair follicles and scalp. That could result a permanent bald spot." He implied, his hand still remained gripping on the handle.

It didn't matter to me anymore; I was petrified by the vision of having a huge bald spot.

"One way is to simply cut it, but considering how long your hair is and the fact it's the part of the hair where it could be seen by anyone, you might have a small horrible patch of hair sticking out. I doubt you'd want that…" He added briefly as he cocked his head to the side.

Just the sound of that sounded scary enough. But still, since when he became a hair genius?

Honestly, it shouldn't matter right now because I just want to get this comb out of my hair and detangle it so I could sleep in peace. But for that to happen, I had to let the nerd help me, which I don't.

"Okay, genius… then what do you suggest I do?" I sarcastically asked as I placed one hand on my waist impatiently.

Kabuto said nothing as he slipped his hand behind his back, causing me to wince in caution. I examined his face, telling me he wasn't trying anything funny and smoothly pulled out a bottle of substance. I gazed harder at the bottle to see what it was; I assumed it was hair cream of some sort.

"What is that?" I asked curiously, slightly intrigued with the object.

"It's a special hair cream I made by mixing herbs and natural nutrients for detangling hair. I made sure the formula works gently on the hair for easy combing without damaging the hair in the process." He informed as he held up the bottle for me to see it myself.

I was in shock; I didn't know he could made hair products by scratch. I was quite impressed in fact.

"How do even you know it works?" I questioned solidly, already doubting the product.

"It's been experimented, so no worries…" He shrugged.

"How do I know you're not messing with me? It could be hair removal for all I know…" I commented rebelliously.

He smiled at my comment. "Trust me, that's something I wouldn't do because that would be crossing the line. I actually value my life…"

I raised one eyebrow on his judgement; I still don't know if I should use it.

"You can decline if you want, but that would mean bad hair days for a long time…" He hummed with his signature smirk of his.

Now that he was rubbing it in my face, it was enough for me to jump ahead. I guess I had no choice.

I groaned loudly. "Fine, I'll use it! Hand it over!" I ordered as I reached over to take the bottle.

I was about to grab the cream but Kabuto swiftly pulled it away from my reach. I glared up at him and reach as far I could again but he held the bottle far away from me.

He tsked in disappointment. "I thought you knew some manners, being an Uchiha…"

"Give it to me, four eyes!" I ordered in annoyance, my patiently was decreasing drastically.

"Not without some manners out of you." He scolded me as if I was a child.

I growled within my teeth, containing my anger the best I could. I needed that cream right now.

Kabuto was basically torturing me, and it wasn't fun at all.

Finally, I gave in. "Please…" I muttered.

"For what exactly?" He questioned as he raised his eyebrows.

I could've sworn a huge nerve was bulging out of my forehead. "May I please use that hair cream of yours?" I asked politely as I rolled my eyes.

The damn nerd smiled at me in satisfaction. "Sure you can… but on one condition…" He quickly added.

"Dammit, four eyes! What else do you want from me!?" I spat in irritation.

"You have to let me inside your room and apply this on your hair myself." He stated, referring to the cream.

That was it? What else, my first born child?

"Forget it." I grumbled, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Fine, then forget the hair cream…" He countered as he shrugged his shoulders.

But that cream was the only way to solve my hair problem, and it was too late to find any other solution. But at the same time, I don't want four eyes in my room for many reasons. And to be honest, he might not walk out in one piece.

Regardless of him as a whole, I had to put my feelings aside and get it over with. That was what I learned from Sasuke, and it worked like a breeze a bunch of times.

With one last groan, I hesitantly agreed.

"Fine…" I said nothing more and immediately walked back into my room.

Kabuto invited himself in and closed the door. He turned around and examined his new surroundings then laid his eyes on me. I stood there waiting with my hands on my hips, counting the seconds to maintain patience. He took his gaze off of me and eyed the chair on his right.

"Grab that chair, please." He said as he pointed towards it.

Without saying a word, I slid my feet towards the wooden chair and placed it near my bed. I sat myself down, getting myself comfortable as I heard Kabuto's footsteps coming closer towards where I was sitting. I placed my hands on my lap flatly and straightened my posture, letting him know he could start. He started applying the cream on my hair gently and I sat there absolutely uncomfortable. I could feel him trying to remove the comb from my hair and I knew he tried his best not to hurt me; he was simply doing a bad job at it.

"Ow! The hell, that hurts! Kabuto, stop it!" I yelped as I clenched my fists.

"I know it hurts. I'm trying to remove the comb using the cream, but the knot seems to be nested in the bristles." He grunted on his commented, gritting his teeth. "Damn, it's really stuck in there…"

I knew my hairbrush was stuck in the knot, but I never thought it was this bad; I was a bit glad I allowed Kabuto to help me because this would've taken me all night to fix it.

It took forever, but four eyes was finally able to detangle my hair enough for my brush to be removed from my hair. He used it to delicately brush through my hair until he came in no contact with any other knots. To my surprise, I felt him sectioning my hair into even parts then started braiding my hair.

Why the hell was he braiding my hair? I never brought up the need to braid my hair, if I remembered correctly.

Regardless, I remained quiet until he finished braiding my hair. He walked over to my dresser and came back to give me my mirror. I briefly looked at the current state of my hair, realizing that I didn't really hate it as much I thought I would. Kabuto made a simply low braid leaving my bangs hanging, cropping my face like they did usually.

"You like it?" He merely asked without filter, waiting for my response and/or preparing for a hurtful comment.

"I didn't ask you to braid my hair, four eyes." I frowned suspiciously, looking over my shoulder at him as he towered over me.

"I know. But I figured I might as well braid your hair for you; we don't want you stuck in a knot again, now would we?" He mused in entertainment, smirking down at me.

Weirdo.

"Whatever, this will do for tonight…" I sighed tiredly as I turned my attention back at the mirror I held in front of me.

I could feel Kabuto smirking at my comment; he might have felt relieved that I didn't insult him this time. I would have but I was tired and it had been a long day.

"Well, looks like my job here is done so I should probably take my leave now…" He said as he took his hair cream and started walking towards my bedroom door.

I simply stood there, not saying anything. Four eyes suddenly paused and gazed over my shoulder, which took my kind of off guard.

"Goodnight, Katsumi…" He gently said, gripping the doorknob.

I kept quiet on his sentence; if I said something, that would end up in a conversation and it was too late to have patience for that.

Seeing that I wasn't gonna say anything, he opened the door and left the next moment. I was now the only one standing in the middle of the dark room. I gave out a long yawn, notifying me that I should really get some sleep. I settled myself in my bed covers and blew out the candle sitting next to my bed on the nightstand. I laid there with thoughts running through my head and that didn't help me get through the sleeping process. I opened my eyes to see only a charm bracelet around my wrist that was given by Sasuke when we were kids. He knew that I loved things that symbolized something significant to me and relate, so he gave me this gift and told me to collect charms that represented something important to me or something that would help me to never forget something. I took this seriously and collected charms to fill the charm bracelet. I couldn't take my eyes off of one specific charm; a charm of the Uchiha clan's symbol. I received this charm from Itachi when we were all young and happy. I was meaning to remove it after he murdered our whole clan, but I just never seemed to remember. Plus, I strongly believe it shouldn't only symbolized my oldest brother; it could represent a lot of things. But even if I tried, the thought of this charm was given by a traitor who was sadly my brother was too hard to resist.

I didn't t remember the last thought I had relating to this because the next thing I knew, I fell into a deep sleep.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if this was a bore, but I was too busy with other stuff. Anyway, I'll see you guys later in the next chapter.