Sins of the Brother

After her meeting with the Hokage, Naori went to the hospital. She made her way to Sasuke's room, to be stopped by ANBU members stationed by the door.
"I am his sister Uchiha Naori, and ANBU Balck Ops Captain of Kirigakure. Let me pass." she growled out as the shinobi demanded she identify herself.
The ninja allowed her entrance and she was immediately at Sasuke's bedside. She trailed her fingers through his hair gently as she watched him.
"Oh otou, I've missed you little one. I wish that you weren't so set on revenge. Maybe we could remain together if you would just forget. If you knew why aniki did it...you would remember the love he holds in his heart for you."
She bent over to brush a kiss across his forehead before turning to leave the room, missing how his black eyes drifted open.

She stepped out of the hospital doors, breathing in the cool night air.
"ANBU huh?"
She turned to see Kakashi lounging against the wall, reading his Icha Icha.
"Surprised?"
"Not really."
He smiled at her through his mask. Naori couldn't help but smile back, this man had been just as much of an older brother as Itachi when she was younger. He had been the one to take her out of Konoha six years ago, brought her safely to Kirigakure. He had stayed with her, making sure that she would be alright.
"You know why I'm here then right?"
He nodded, and they began walking towards the Uchiha clan's residences.
"I wish I was strong enough to kill him. When I saw him in the forest, it was like I was thirteen all over again. I didn't know what to do."
"No one expects you to be able to kill him, hell Itachi himself only cut off the bastard's arm."
She suddenly went quiet, and Kakashi feared that he had gone too far in mentioning the former Konoha shinobi.
"We talked about him, the Hokage and I," she whispered.
"What else did you talk with the Hokage about?" Kakashi asked, walking next to her with his hands in his pockets.
"My mission, the village...Sasuke."
Kakashi glanced at her before responding,
"Sasuke huh? What did he say?"
She took a deep breath and stopped, turning to look up at him.
"He told me that Sasuke had someone that could help him forget his loneliness, someone to pull him out of the darkness."
She sighed
"I just regret that it cannot be me."
Kakashi frowned
"Why wouldn't you be able to? You were just as alone these past six years as Sasuke was."
She turned to stare straight ahead
"Because I have too many good memories of aniki, too many other memories of all this." She finished, gesturing in front of her.
Kakashi looked up, he hadn't realized that they were standing directly in front of the Uchiha compound...the very house that Naori, Sasuke, and Itachi had grown up in. He remembered the day that he had first met Naori and Itachi here, when he had been partners with their cousin...Obito. He also remembered the day Orochimaru kidnapped Naori, the day he had to take her away...and the day that he had found Sasuke alone in a sea of blood. He too had memories of the house in front of them, so he could only imagine what Naori was feeling. Yet there was no expression at all on her face as she stared at her family home. She had learned all too well from her brother in that respect. Itachi had taught her to never show her emotions, because they could be used against her by anyone...even family. Instead of shutting herself away completely, Naori chose to show her true emotions to the few that she trusted, and Kakashi was proud to consider himself among those few. So, he had no problems asking her;
"Naori, what are you thinking?"
She shrugged,
"I was just remembering all of the things that went on in this house. All the things that no one knew about."
She turned to stare at him, anger in her eyes.
"Why did no one help us? How could no one see what they were doing to the children? I'm glad they are all dead...at least Sasuke can remain innocent, clean. It doesn't matter what he does now...he'll never be contaminated by the disgusting the cruelties of our family."
Kakashi wrapped his arm around Naori's shoulder, relieved to feel her sigh and relax against him.
"Do you think that makes me bad? To be relieved that my family is dead?"
He shook his head
"No. What they did was not how a family is supposed to behave. Parents are supposed to protect their children, not destroy them."
He looked down at her
"What did they do when they found out about Orochimaru?"
"Nothing. Itachi did not tell them that I had been kidnapped."
He frowned
"But didn't Sasuke see..."
"Hai, but Itachi managed to convince him that it had been one of Hyuuga-san's and my games. I was back before they really became suspicious."
"But why? Why didn't Itachi let them know?"
She looked up at him with derision in her eyes.
"What, and let my father know that he no longer had to worry about my virginity when he was giving my 'lessons'? No, Itachi knew better than that. He decided to get me away from that place as quickly as possible. I, I never really did thank you for helping us. When you first took me to Kiri, I was too distraught to think about it, and then it was too late and you had already returned to Konoha. I couldn't contact you, because everyone was supposed to believe me dead, especially Sasuke. So...arigatou."
Kakashi brushed a kiss across her forehead through his mask, and tightened his hold.
"You don't have to thank me Naori. I'm glad that I had the chance to help you, to help Itachi. I just wish that I could help you with how the people of the village see him. I know that it can't be easy to hear them call him a monster."
"No...I hate it. What hurts the most though, is that Sasuke shares that view. He doesn't remember all the good things about aniki...just the bad."
She sighed
"I had a dream about him the other night. I have a feeling that you will see him soon."
She looked up into his eyes
"You do realize that if others are around when you see him, you will have to pretend that you hate him as well."
He nodded, he had expected as much. To do otherwise would bring his loyaly under question. But he wished that he could change everything. He really...noticed that Naori was tired. He caught her yawning, and nudged her towards the house.
"You need to sleep. Will you be alright in there?"
She nodded
"Hai. It is my house now, and my father no longer holds any power over me."
He grinned, he was glad. He only wished that the rest of the ghosts haunting her could be banished so easily.

There were two months between the preliminaries and the final rounds of the chuunin exams, and Naori intended to use that time to hunt down Orochimaru. However, after five weeks she still hadn't be able to locate him. She was disappointed, frustrated that she couldn't find the snake bastard, but took solace in Gaara's presence. He had remained with his siblings in Konoha in order to train for the finals, and they had spent much of their time together. Naori sensed that she and Gaara had become much closer than when they had initially met, and felt that it was time she tell him everything. About Orochimaru, ANBU, her mission,everything. She met with him after his training one day, taking him to their quiet place on the tower where the preliminary rounds had been held.
"Gaara I want to tell you something."
He had looked at her with those quiet, jade eyes and she could tell that he was listening intently.
"I'm not here for the chuunin exams."
He raised a nonexistent eyebrow, interested in what she had said.
"You're not? Then why are you taking the exam?"
She smiled briefly
"I'm not really. I only enrolled as part of a mission I'm on for Kirigakure. You see...I've already gone above chuunin level there."
"How far above?" He asked
She rolled up her sleeve to reveal her ANBU tattoo.
"This far."

Gaara felt his eyes widen as he took in the marking that signified Naori's elite status. As he saw the nervous look in her eyes, he realized that she was expecting him to be upset...but he wasn't. He was inordinantly pleased, and he knew that it was mostly due to ego. He was proud to have gained the affections of such a highly skilled shinobi. He smiled slightly, still amazed at the amount of sheer emotion that she managed to evoke in him, and kissed her. He felt her sigh in relief as she relaxed and kissed him back.
"Did you really think that I would judge you? Me?"
He held her face gently between his hands as she gazed up at him.
"How could I when you have never passed judgement on me?"
"Oh Gaara...arigatou."
He smiled and just held her close, this girl that had come to mean so much.

Later that night when Naori returned to the Uchiha mansion, Sasuke was there waiting for her. She smiled as she walked by him, ruffling his raven hair.
"Nee-san," he grumbled, but smiled at the sign of affection from his sister.
"How is your training going with Kakashi?"
He shrugged
"As well as expected I guess. I'm stronger because of him, and that's all that matters."
She sighed and turned to face him
"Is that really all that matters?"
He couldn't seem to answer as she studied him, but she apparently found her answer in his dark eyes. Sasuke could only watch as his sister's eyes darkened with regret.
"I see. I'm sorry otou, sorry that I cannot be enough."

Naori found herself avoiding being alone with Sasuke after that night. It actually hurt physically to be around him, and she wanted to limit contact until she had herself under control. Kakashi helped indirectly by taking Sasuke outside of the village to train, while Naori helped Hyuuga-san with his training. She enjoyed training with the Byakugan wielder, not only because it would help him in the upcoming finals, but also helped her locate any weaknesses in the Sharingan. The younger ninja enjoyed their sparring matches as well, and it was good for the two friends to be together again.
"Do you believe in fate?" he asked her after their training session, two days before the finals.
She nodded
"Hai, but I believe that we create it ourselved you know. I believe that our choices are what direct our fate."
He seemed to accept her answer
"But can we change it once our fate is decided?"
She sighed, and pressed her hand to his
"That, I cannot tell you yet."

The day of the finals, Naori was nervous. Not only was Hyuuga-san fighting first, but Gaara was going to fight Sasuke. She had yet to see either since the day Sasuke left for training. Gaara had been strangely distant, and Naori couldn't help but feel that he was hiding something from her. She had been too busy to really think about what it could be, and she sensed that it was too late to do anything about it anyway. She just wanted to focus on the matches coming up very quickly. She waited in the tunnel that led to the open arena, wanting to speak to Hyuuga-san before his match. As she saw him walking towards her, she took a deep breath.
"Remember," she told him as he passed her, "your choices Hyuuga-san."
He nodded as he walked out to meet Genma and Uzumaki Naruto. Naori watched his fight from her spot in the tunnel. It was still too dangerous to reveal herself, in case Orochimaru was around. As she watched, and listened, though she grew sad. Hyuuga-san still believed that his fate was set in stone, that he could do nothing to change it or himself. Honestly it was that belief that caused him to eventually lose to Naruto. The Kyuubi container believed that anything was possible as long as you put all of your heart into it, and that determination helped him to win against the impenetrable defenses of Hyuuga-san's Byakugan. It was his defeated posture and expression as he laid there after the fight that made Naori sad though, not Hyuuga-san's actual loss. She couldn't let him remain like that. She stepped into the daylight of the open, crowded, arena.
"Hyuuga-san get up."
When she received no response from the boy on the ground, she repeated herself.
"Do you hear me Hyuuga-san? You are doing nothing to change your fate by lying there."
When he still ignored her, she grew angry.
"Dammit Neji, get up! I never thought that you would quit. Please, please Neji, make the right choices. You can still change your fate."
Whether it was the fact that she'd used his first name for the first time, ot her pleading tone, Neji got up. He turned to Naori, and smiled.
"Thank you Naori. I will. I will change my fate. I want to show everyone that I am not bound by this cage of mine."

Gaara felt his eyes widen as he watched Naori talk to the Hyuuga boy. She had just revealed herself in front of everyone, possibly even Orochimaru. He couldn't even guess as to what was running through her mind at the moment...because he had been avoiding her. He felt guilty for the first time in his life, and it was because he was keeping something from Naori. He hadn't told her about the real reason he was participating in the chuunin exams, but it was the same reason she was there. He was on a mission for Suna, its purpose...to infiltrate Konoha as well as engaging Uchiha Sasuke in order to evaluate the Sharingan. That was what he really felt bad about keeping from her. Not the fact that he was infiltrating Konoha, because he knew that she no longer had any ties to the village...but the fact that he was using her brother, that bothered him. He ignored the matches that came before his, too concerned with Naori...and the fact that she was once again alone with Hyuuga Neji. He knew that they were childhood friends, but he couldn't seem to completely control the jealous, possessive feelings that emerged where Naori and the Byakugan wielder were concerned. He sighed as Temari was declared the victor of her match, really to concede the match when you had truly won, and to a female at that...he didn't understand Nara Shikamaru's reasoning at all. He was stillundecided as to how he should approach his upcoming match with Sasuke...when Genma called out his name. The time had come.

He didn't want to fight Naori's brother, not really, and was even thinking of jeapordizing his mission by forfeiting, just so that he wouldn't have to fight the younger Uchiha...but then he saw the siblings' gazes meet. The sorrow in Naori's eyes tore at his heart, and he began to grow furious. What had the boy done to make her sad like that? Gaara didn't care any longer that he was Naori's brother. No one was allowed to put that look in Naori's eyes and get away with it. Not even Uchiha Sasuke himself.

Naori saw that Gaara was angry, but couldn't figure out why. He was standing there, arms crossed, glaring at Sasuke. She frowned as she watched him, not even looking up when Kakashi came to stand next to her.
"What do you think you're doing? You know that Orochimaru is still around."
She shrugged
"It couldn't be helped, Neji needed me."
He looked momentarily startled at the idea of the strong Hyuuga needing anyone, but nodded in acceptance.
"I see. You do know that both of them need you as well."
She nodded as she watched Genma declare the beginning of her brother and Gaara's match.
"Yes, but I...I don't know how to eplain, but-" she cut herself off and froze.
"What is it Naori?"
"Something is coming. Kakashi stay here, something big isd about to happen."
She turned to go, stopping only at the sound of the older ninja's voice.
"Where are you going?"
"An old friend is near. I'm going to reaquaint myself."
She left before Kakashi could say anything else, but really what could she tell him? After all, she was going to see the enemy.

She found him on a hill overlooking the village.
"I knew you'd come," he told her, smiling gently.
"Kimimaro, it's been a long time."
The pale Kaguya nodded
"Yes it has. You know that he is here right?"
She rolled her eyes. He'd always had a knack for stating the obvious.
"Of course. You think Orochimaru can spend all this time here and not come after me?"
Kimimaro shook his head as they turned to look out over Konoha.
"I didn't mean him."
Naori froze. The only other person he could mean was...
"Ukon is here as well."

Kimimaro watched the shock play across Naori's features. Of course she wouldn't have known. Ukon hadn't made an appearance since she had left six years ago. There were only two times that Kimimaro had ever regretted being in service to Orochimaru-sama, and both were connected to Naori. The first time had been six years ago when he had helped kidnap her. He had done nothing to protect her from Orochimaru's punishment, even after they had become friends. The only other time had been less than a year ago when he'd helped take her friend Tsuna. He hadn't actually gotten to see Naori, but he'd known that the girl was important to her. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry, that he wished he could take so many things back...he wanted to tell her that he'd missed her. Kimimaro wasn't used to being attached to others, but when he'd had to leave the damaged Naori at the gates of Konoha...he'd felt the rest of his fractured heart shatter. He looked at her, opening his mouth but shutting it again at the lost look on her face.
"What is it Naori?"
She actually looked sad as she met his gaze.
"Why didn't he come to me? Why didn't he let me know he was near?"
Kimimaro wanted to tell her that he didn't know why the man hadn't contacted her, but he couldn't lie.
"He doesn't know that you're here. He hasn't come out of Sakon since I brought you back to Konoha."
She turned back towards the village
"He doesn't know huh? Well I know that he's here."
She turned to grin at him before heading back towards the exam arena.

She knew something was wrong even before she saw the barrier, the giant snake...the sheer destruction. She knew because Sasuke and Gaara were gone. She darted over to Kakashi as he was fighting off Sound ninja.
"Kakashi, what the hell is going on?"
"Sound and Suna are attacking. Orochimaru killed the real Kazekage...he's in there fighting the Hokage now," he told her, pointing to the four walled barrier at the top of the arena.
"Oh no, Hokage-sama," she whispered, fighting her way past the attacking Sound and Suna ninja. There were so many to get through, it was taking forever. She grew panicked when she felt the Hokage using a forbidden jutsu...one that would inevitably cost him his life. She moved up the stands to where the Hokage battled Orochimaru, but froze when the barrier dropped. She knew that Sarutobi was dead, and she was disgusted with herself. Because when she saw the barrier drop, her first thought was that she was losing her chance to see him...Ukon.

She chased after them, the five ninja that accompanied Orochimaru, desperate to catch a glimpse of him. Finally, she saw one of the group break away and dart into the forest. She knew instinctively that it was Ukon, and follwed him. He stopped by a small lake, obviously waiting for her. She walked over to him, noticing immediately that it was Sakon that she faced, but also took in Ukon's closed eyes as he dwelt within his brother's body.
"What are you doing Naori? You know what he'll do if he thinks that you're following."
She shook her head and sneered
"I'm not following Orochimaru, I was following you. I want to see him, I need to talk to him Sakon."
Sakon looked regretful as he shook his head, but she knew better.
"I don't think that is a good idea Na-" he cut off, eyes widening in surprise. A strange tearing sound was heard before a deeper voice called out:
"Naori!"
Naori forgot all about Sakon as she saw the man that had saved her from Orochimaru six years ago. She ran to him, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Ukon, I've missed you so much."
He inhaled deeply as he pressed his face into the side of her neck
"I've missed you too. I didn't know what to do with myself after Kimimaro took you back to Konoha. You were too far away for me to look after."
She leaned back to look into his eyes, and smiled
"But you did. You gave me hope Ukon, especially when you came to Kiri to see me. That meant more to me than anything."
"To me too," he whispered
For a minute, they simply stood there holding each other. However, they realized that he needed to go. He needed to go back to Orochimaru...and his brother. Neither realized when exactly Sakon had left, but both knew he wouldn't go far when they needed to return to Sound together.
"I will see you again won't I?" She asked, holding Ukon's hand as she gazed at him sadly
Ukon nodded and squeezed Naori's hand in return
"Hai. I don't know how soon I'll be able to get away...but I promise I will come to you. Even if I have to come to Kirigakure to see you, I will come."
She smiled
"Good, or else you'd force me to come to Sound. That wouldn't be good for either of us."
He knew that she was joking, but he was serious as he told her:
"Don't ever come to Sound. I don't want you to ever be tainted by that place again."
She pulled him close and wrapped her arms around his waist as she rubbed her cheek against his.
"Thank you Ukon. Thank you so much for caring about me."
The smile on his face as he let his eyes trail over her features was beautiful and soft, just like the pressing of his lips to hers. His kiss brought warmth to their entire bodies and their fingers entwined lingeringly as their lips parted.
"Always."