Remembrance and the Road Ahead
This is my second attempt at a crossover fic. Hope you guys like it.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Naruto Uzumaki, a spiky blond blue-eyed boy with whisker-shaped scars on his cheeks, ran home from Pokemon Trainer School, excited and filled with joy. He ran past shops and civilians as he traversed the streets of Konoha Town. In some cases, he almost collided with several window-shoppers. The young blond slowed down to a halt when he came upon a familiar sight. Ichiraku's Ramen has been Naruto's favorite place to eat after school (and only if he had the money). Upon seeing the ramen stand, his stomach growled.
'I guess home can wait, I'm hungry,' he thought as he entered and sat down.
"Hey, old man, the usual," Naruto said with a smile on his face.
"Alright Naruto," the ramen cook said without having to turn and face the blond. "You sound happy, what's the reason?"
"It's a secret," the boy laughed. The man behind the counter nodded in acceptance.
"Oh really?" Naruto nodded. "Ok, the usual it is."
The ramen chef started to prepare the order for the boy, who happened to be one of his best customers. While his ramen was being cooked, Naruto started to hum the Fire Country anthem to himself. The cook wondered how could the boy memorized the anthem. Once the ramen ready, the older male poured it into a bowl and placed it in front of his customer. Naruto was about to dig in when a familiar voice came from behind him.
"Oh, here you are, Naruto."
Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw his twin sister, Naruko. She had waist-long blond hair with two long pigtails and sparkling blue eyes. The girl also bared whisker-shaped scars on her cheeks, just like her brother. Being twins, their mother thought (and still does) that it'll be cute for them to wear matching clothing. After a while, it became a force of habit.
"Watcha want, Naruko?" the boy grumbled, itching to eat.
"I've been looking for you. You just ran off after school without me," the girl pouted then spied what was in front of her twin. "Yo, Teuchi, I'll have what he's having."
"Right away," then Teuchi, behind the counter, turned around to start cooking.
"I'm excited," Naruto started, "we passed our license tests."
"I'm excited too, but that's no reason to leave you poor sister behind," Naruko teased with a fake pout.
"So that's why you're so happy, you both passed your tests, huh?" the man interrupted, setting the girl's order in front of her.
"Barely," the twins responded in unison. They remembered their scores when Mrs. Anko Mitarashi, their teacher, announced them. Naruto had come up even. Naruko was above the margin by two points. Everybody was surprised that the class clowns did it.
"Still, congratulations. A win is a win, is what I say. So what are you two gonna do?"
Naruto paused from eating, "I'm challenging all the gyms to make it the Pokemon League."
Naruko waited for her ramen to cool, "I enrolled myself in an academy abroad, but because the school is packed full right now, I'll start attending it next year, when most of the students have graduated and there's room. Therefore, for the next eleven months, I'll be traveling with Naruto."
"Okay," Teuchi nodded in acceptance. "Don't worry about the bill, its on the house as congratulations for receiving your licenses. Oh, and here, these should help."
Teuchi tossed them each a basic Pokeball.
"Thanks old man," Naruko accepted the gifts and Naruto just nodded while slurping his meal. "Where'd you get these?"
"I found them this morning on my way here to open the stand. I don't know who could've thrown away two perfectly good Pokeballs."
The twins shoved the spheres into their pockets. For the next twenty minutes the siblings enjoyed their food. On the way home, they reminisced the years as they grew up.
They've been raised by their mother, Kushina Uzumaki. She was a single mother, with red hair and blue eyes. The family of three lived in a cabin in the outskirts of town. It was given to them by an old lady that previously lived there as a thank you gift for their mother helping her around before she died. The old lady, Kaede, lived alone and had allowed their mother stay with her when she was pregnant with them. Kushina lent a hand with the chores and tending to the berry garden behind the house while Kaede help her through her pregnancy. Kaede passed six months after they were born.
On her deathbed, Kaede willed and left the two-story cabin, the money, and the land to Kushina and her babies. Their mother and a few of the townsfolk, including the professor, attended Kaede's funeral. Their mother did her best to raise twins and her Pokemon, and did okay for a teenage mother. Like any young mom, Kushina had her bad moments, but that didn't stop her from spoiling them rotten. When Naruto and Naruko turned one, Professor Sarutobi offered Kushina a part-time job at the lab, which she accepted without hesitation.
Right now, their mother should still be at the lab.
The twins started to laugh when they remembered how they acquired their scars. It happened when they were three. While Kushina was busy feeding her Pokemon, they wonder off to play tag. In the middle of their game, they found a Meowth and thinking it was tame, decided to give it a hug. It was the first bad decision of their lives. When Naruto hugged it, the Pokemon retaliated with its sharp claws and scratched his cheeks, then did the same to Naruko when she tried pulling it off her brother. Once its quick assault on the two children was over, the Meowth ran off.
Kushina did her best to treat their wounds, but the scratches left them scarred. She had a habit of walking out of the living room with a sad look on her face when there was a televised battle between the region champion, Minato Namikaze, and a challenging trainer. When they started attending school, all but eight kids made fun of their scars. Those eight became close friends with the blonds. They were Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akamichi, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga.
Sasuke Uchiha came from a family of well-respected fire-type trainers and chili pepper farmers that is spread all over the region. He has raven-black hair and pitch-black eyes and always tends to wear the same thing, a blue shirt with his family's marking and pair of white pants or shorts. He was the school prodigy and thought to be the one to defeat the league champion. All the girls except Hinata and Naruko went gaga over him. His father ran the company while his mother sold the peppers at the market on the weekends and was a housewife on the weekdays. His brother, Itachi was a gym leader until he was made into a member of the Elite Four. His wife, who also loves fire-types, now runs the gym and still gives out the same badge as before, the Fireball Badge. Sasuke's only ambition growing up is to beat his sister-in-law for the Fireball Badge and his brother. He is Naruto's 'rival' and the one to get the highest score on the license test.
Sakura Haruno is from a family of doctors. She has long, bright pink hair and jade green eyes and wears Chinese dresses of different colors. Her parents run Konoha Town's clinic since the nearest hospital was two towns over in Shinobi City. She has helped when the clinic gets overcrowded, which tends to happen around mid-July. During that time, most of the patients are employees of the Uchiha. Sasuke's father pays all his workers' medical bills from work related injuries without complaints. There have been times when she's been mistaken for a member of the Nurse Joy line by vacationers, tourists or trainers from this and other regions starting a their journeys in a new region. When that happens, she tends to enjoy kicking male trainers between the legs. She hopes to catch strong and gentle Pokemon to help around the clinic. Ino is her rival on getting Sasuke's attention.
Ino Yamanaka is a proud member of a family of professional florists and Pokemon coordinators. She has long, pale-blond hair in a ponytail and pale-blue eyes. Working at her mother's flower shop, she has gained valuable experience in making bouquets with ease, no matter how big or varied they are. Her father may look intimidating, but he's a total softy (and a drunk). She has learned the basics of being a coordinator from him. He tries to spoil her, which irritates her mother to no extent. After seeing her dad on TV win the Grand Festival in a region known as Kanto, she decided to become a coordinator and compete in contest. Since the day she told her dad about her decision, he happily trained her on weekends, if he wasn't busy competing in contest or drinking with his buddies at the only bar in town. Ino tied with Sakura in third in the license test scores.
Shikamaru Nara's family makes some of the best medicine in the continent. He has black hair in a ponytail that makes him look like a pineapple and dark grey eyes. The medicine his family makes is made from Stantler antlers. Though they raise Stantler, ghost-type Pokemon is the family specialty. Though he's the smartest kid in school, Shikamaru doesn't put any effort into anything he does. He is often found on the roof of his house staring at the clouds. He got second best score in his test.
Choji Akamichi is the son of the founder of a Poke-chow company. Choji has spiky brown hair and brown eyes. The Pokemon food is said to be the best in the region. Like the rest of his family, Choji is on the husky side. The Akamichis love food and Choji is no exception. His best friend is the lazy genius, Shikamaru. Their dads are friends with each other and Ino's dad. He landed in fourth for his license.
Shino Aburame comes from a family of bug maniacs. He almost always sports a hood over his black spiky hair and always wears a pair of dark black sunglasses or goggles. Hardly ever saying a word, Shino is the quiet one of the group. He dreams of being the top bug-type trainer in the world. He tied with Choji for fourth.
Kiba Inuzuka is from a long line of dog Pokemon breeders. He has brown hair and eyes, as well as red triangles painted on his cheeks. The triangles are markings that make other see that he's a member of the Inuzuka Clan. Out of the entire group, he was the one to get a Pokemon first from his mother. It was Growlithe he named Akamaru that is always by his side. His sister is to take over the business when she turns twenty-one. Kiba's dream is to start his own branch of the family business. He landed in fifth.
Hinata Hyuga's family runs a chain of restaurants. She has indigo blue hair and pale pupiless eyes. Her hair came from her mother. The eyes are a genetic trait in every member of the Hyuga family. She has a crush on Naruto that everybody in the group, including Naruko, knows about, except for him. She got the same score as Naruko because she kept getting distracted looking at Naruto.
It was around the time when they were six, that a new kid named Sai moved to town with his uncle, a man named Danzo. He has short, black hair and black eyes. Apparently, his parents died in a train wreck on their way home from their second honeymoon. The court gave his uncle custody over him as his guardian. His uncle ran a cruise ship as its captain, until an accident left him with one eye and a barely usable left arm. Now he runs an art supply company after seeing that his nephew loved to draw and paint. Sai has a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
When they asked their mother, why so many rich and important people decided to live in Konoha Town, she told them that living here is way better and easier than a big city. The twin knew their mother had a point there.
As they neared their house, some movement to the left made them stop. When the turned to see what it was, two red blurs jumped from bush to bush. As they still had the Pokeballs that were given to them by Teuchi, they reacted like any trainer would. They threw the spheres in perfect sync. The Pokeball went through the bush and then there was the sound of something being caught. The twins waited to see if what they caught would break out. Soon, a soft double-click was heard, signaling successful captures. Naruto ran to the bush and reached in there to retrieve the Pokeballs.
After walking back to his sister, they summoned what they caught. In a flash of light, there were two Vulpix at their feet. They both seemed to be female. Naruto's was a brighter red than normal, almost like a cherry. It also looked like its fur was softer. Naruko's had a normal coloration, making her think of a sunset. Both Vulpix seemed to be injured, so Naruto and Naruko picked up their Pokemon into their arms and hurried home.
When they got home, they were surprised to see their mother in the kitchen. She seemed to be preparing a large meal. From the look of things, it was going to be a banquet for three. It wasn't until she turned around, that they noticed that she was wearing her bright blue earplugs, and she noticed her children standing in the hallway. She pulled out her earplugs and walked over to give them a hug.
"Congratulations, you two…" the redhead noticed what was in their arms. "Oh my god, how cute."
"Mom, these Vulpix are hurt," Naruto said.
"Yeah, can you get the first aid kit, we want the treat them ourselves," Naruko demanded.
Kushina nodded her understanding, 'They sure had grown up.'
They took the Pokemon to the living room and set them down on the couch while their mother fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom. Mermaid, Kushina's Vaporeon, trotted over to the couch and used a very weak Bubble to clean up the fire-types without hurting them. Once the Vulpix were wet enough, Mermaid started licking them clean, like a mother would to her pup. The twins thought that the scene looked cute. Their mother returned a few moments later carrying a white box with a Pokeball drawn on top of it.
"Aww, how cute," Kushina cooed upon witnessing what was happening.
Once Mermaid was done, Kushina instructed her children on how to apply the ointment over the slowly scabbing cuts then helped them put the bandages properly. When that was done, their mother retracted two Oran berries from her berry pouch and fed them to the Vulpix. Naruto and Naruko returned the Pokemon to the Pokeballs. That surprised their mother.
"Those are yours?" the adult asked.
The blonds nodded with matching grins.
Naruko suddenly remembered something, "Mom, what are you doing home so early?"
"Yeah, don't you have a few more hours of work left at the lab?" the boy added.
"The professor told me the news about your test results and gave me the rest of the day off to celebrate with you two. So I'm making a special dinner for you guys," their mother replied with a smile.
"Alright!" they exclaimed in unison.
"Okay you two, go up to your rooms and get cleaned up. Dinner should be ready in a few hours."
They didn't need anymore enticement. They ran out of the living room, into the hallway and up the stairs toward their room individual rooms.
'They're gonna be great trainers, just like their father…'
Naruto entered his room and slammed the door close. His room was the typical boy's room. The walls were painted a deep icy blue and covered in posters of league members and Pokemon he likes. Against the windowed wall, was his well made bed. It had a dark oak frame. It was covered in Dewgong printed sheets and pillows, which were his mother's idea. In the middle of the bed were his two favorite plush toys, a stuffed Milotic and a stuffed Umbreon. The Milotic has been with him since as far as he can remember. The Umbreon he bought during a family trip to the beach. His desk was spotless and it seemed unused.
With a sigh, he released the Vulpix onto his bed. He pulled the chair from the desk and sat down staring at it. The Pokemon didn't seem scared, just curious actually and stared back at the boy.
"Mom confirmed that you are female, so I need to name you something feminine," he stated and thought about it for a while. "I got it, I will name you 'Cherry', okay."
"Vulpix!" she barked in agreement.
"Okay. I can see you like it," Naruto smiled as he got up, then went to the dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of boxers before heading for the bathroom. "I need to take a shower, so you stay here behave yourself."
With that, Naruto walked into his bathroom and closed the door.
Cherry yawned before curling herself into a ball and started napping.
When Naruto walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he saw the sleeping Pokemon on his bed and chuckled softly to himself. The Vulpix heard her new trainer's laugh and woke up. She lifted her head and looked at him as he walked to the closet and grabbed a fresh set of clothes. He then looked over his shoulder and saw his Vulpix staring at him.
'I can't wait to start my journey…'
As soon as Naruko walked into her room, she slammed the door shut and looked around her room. The walls were a neon green color. There was only one poster on the wall. It was a poster of an Ursaring charging up a Focus Blast. The bed on its very girly frame, much to Naruko's dismay, was sporting a white, Gyarados printed sheet and two Magikarp shaped pillows. Between the pillows were her two plush toys, a stuffed Gyarados and a stuffed Absol. The Gyarados she's had for as long as she can remember. The Absol she bought during her vacation with her brother and mother to a seaside town. On the bedside table stood a picture of her friends, Naruto, and herself together at the professor's Christmas party last year, in a plain black frame. Just like her brother's, her desk is rarely used.
Like Naruto, she released her Vulpix onto her bed. She stood there looking at it with arms crossed. The Pokemon seemed confused, as it looked around its trainer's room.
"My hunch was right, you're a girl, so what should I name you?" Naruko pondered, then looked out her window. The sky was starting to take an orangey hue, a sign that the sun would set in the next few hours. "How 'bout 'Sunset'?"
"Vulpix Vul!" the Pokemon barked in joy.
"Sunset it is then," the girl nodded as she turned around and went to her dresser and retracted fresh undergarments before walking into her bathroom. "I'm taking a bath, so don't cause any trouble, okay."
After getting a tilted head from Sunset, Naruko entered the bathroom.
With a yawn, Sunset flopped over on her side and fell asleep.
About forty-five minutes later, Naruko walked out of the bathroom in only her underwear and a towel wrapped around her hair. After retrieving her chosen set of clothes from her closet. It was a pair of worn jeans and a blue t-shirt with a red whirlpool stitched onto the back. After changing into her clothes, she sat down on the bed to get her socks and shoes on, and woke up Sunset. Once her feet were covered, she did her hair. Instead of her usual pigtails, Naruko styled it into a ponytail.
"Okay Sunset, lets go have ourselves some dinner."
The nest morning, the blonds were running for the lab. Cherry and Sunset hot on their heels. They had overslept by only thirty minutes. And they weren't the only ones. They noticed that Hinata was also running late. She was about a hundred yards in front of them, also heading for the lab. Being ahead of them, the Hyuga girl reached the lab first.
When the twins made it though the door, they saw Professor Sarutobi handing the last Pokeball to Hinata. The older man and the indigo-haired girl finally took notice that the twins were in the room when they heard their heavy breathing. The moment Hinata saw Naruto, she turned red.
"Sorry you two, I don't have anymore Pokemon to give you," the man in the white coat said. "Hinata here just got the last one. And everybody just left."
"Really?" Naruko pouted.
"Yes."
"Oh well, that's okay old man, we already got Pokemon," Naruto noted as he picked up his Vulpix.
"Where did you get these?" the professor wondered.
"Cute," the other girl muttered softly.
"We caught them yesterday on our way home from school," Naruto replied.
"Yeah, and since they were already injured, they were easy to catch," Naruko added.
"They didn't show any sign of aggression towards you two?"
"Nope, not at all," the twins answered in unison while shaking their heads.
"Wow," Professor said in disbelief, then shook his head remembering to give them a something. "Wait here you three. I need to get somethin' for the three of you from my office."
With that, the professor left the room for his office. Naruko then turned to girl in front of her.
"Hey Hinata, are you traveling with someone on your journey?" The blond girl asked. The Hyuga girl just shook her head. "Thought so. How joining us on our journey."
Hinata thought about it for a moment. She would be traveling with her crush around the region. "Okay, sure."
"Alight you three, here you go," a voice brought their attention back to the hallway.
It was the one of the professor's lab assistant, Iruka Umino. He had long brown hair in a pineapple ponytail, brown eyes and a scar over his nose. He was carrying a large wooden box. And any lab assistant, he was wearing a white lab coat over his clothes. He set the box on the conference table and opened it. Inside were three cards, three rectangular devices in varying colors with the town's logo engraved on top of them, three fifteen shrunken Pokeballs and two cases.
"Um… Iruka, where's the professor?" Naruto asked.
"He had to take an important phone call, so he ordered me to give these to you," the man lifted his head to look at the three youths in the room. "Here are your trainer IDs, they identify you as trainers. So don't lose them."
"Awesome, believe it," the siblings cried simultaneously upon receiving the cards.
Hinata only nodded.
"Here are your Pokedexes," Iruka handed them each one of the devices.
"Sweetness," Naruto smiled at his Pokedex, which was red.
"Aww c'mon, why do I get the pink one," Naruko nearly screamed in dismay.
"We could trade," Hinata offered the white Pokedex in her hand, which Naruko accepted.
With a sigh, Iruka instructed, "Now scan your IDs with the Pokedex."
They did as instructed.
"Okay, here are some Pokeballs," the adult handed them each five basic Pokeballs.
The trainers after putting the balls in their backpacks.
"Now Naruto, here's your badge case, and Hinata, here's your ribbon case."
Iruka finally noticed what they were wearing.
Naruto was sporting an orange sleeveless vest over a blue long sleeve shirt. Red racing gloves fitted his hands. A pair of blue jeans was held up by a black leather trainer's belt. White and blue sneakers rode his feet, while a pair of green high-grade green-framed, blue-lensed goggles rode his head. His white backpack was adorned with the league emblem.
Naruko wore an orange shirt with blue long sleeves. Red-framed, black-lensed goggles hung from her neck. An orange bangle kept her hair in place as well as her two usual pigtails. She was also wearing orange Bermuda shorts being held by a white belt. Orange and blue sneakers adorned her feet. Black fingerless gloves had a well fit on her hands. The backpack was a desert camo print.
Hinata's clothes were basically the same color. Lavender purple. The shirt, the pants, the sneakers, the jacket, the gloves, and the goggles. Every bit of clothing on the Hyuga girl was lavender purple. The only thing that wasn't was her backpack, which was a midnight blue messenger bag with her family crest stitched on the flap.
'They're not matching like they usually do…'
After a quick stop at home, Naruto, Naruko and Hinata were set for their journey.
Kushina gave her children some extra spending money, some new super rods, cellphones, and a map of the region.
Hinata only received extra spending money and a Pokemon egg.
There they stood at the town's gate. They stared at the path, until Naruto broke the silence.
"Alright, lets head out."