Title: Till I collapse

Summary: The life of a ninja, a life of sacrifice, chaos and hardship. Only the powerful and the strong-willed preserve while the weak and feeble perish in despair. How would a single teenage girl manage, thrown into a world other than her own with a tricky task at hand and a great chance to seize?
Would she be able to capture it or let it slip away from her?

Author's notes: Hey guys! How u all doing? This is my first fanfic btw and frankly, English isn't even my maternal language, but I aspire to become as good as I can as a writer and as a storyteller. I decided to post stories on this wonderful website that I just stumbled upon so I can get feedbacks and work to better my writing and improve my style. I would love to hear your guys' opinions and honest criticism.

I hope you enjoy the stroy.

Chapter 1 : Without you

Living my childhood as one of the demon twins was an unpleasant experience. Unpleasant however was putting it lightly. The word didn't come close to describing how awful it felt.

Between the glares, the taunts, and the insults, I almost went super saiyan on them. It was frustrating having to withstand their humiliation.

The stares of hate and the whispers of disgust were overwhelming. We were outcasts in our own village. I hated that. It was mentally exhausting and a bit too much to handle.

For all the scorn that was directed at us, I couldn't help but find myself genuinely hating the village and almost everyone in it at times.

It was clear that I wasn't the big-hearted forgiving human that Naruto was.

I just couldn't ignore the pain they put us through.

The sorrow that they made us experience, and the normal childhood that they stripped away from Naruto. I couldn't ever forgive them for that.

I wasn't planning on becoming the next Orochimaru, or go in a killing frenzy inside the village though.

That would've been a bit extreme.

People were probably blind or something though; their beloved fourth Hokage was rumored to have twins not long before the Kyuubi attack. Couple years down the line there's a boy looking exactly like him running around and just so happens to carry the Kyuubi which the fourth himself had sealed in him and has a twin sister that looks awfully similar to the late Hokage's wife.

The villagers clearly weren't the brightest of people, clearly too busy accusing us of killing their Hokage and hundreds of people instead of using their brains.

God, it was already exhausting enough being an orphan, having to take care of your troublemaker of a brother and having the orphanage be the closest thing you have to a home but I had to deal with people thinking that I killed my own father.

Yet, apparently, life decided we didn't suffer nearly enough and had to fuck us over even more.

Sometime before we turned six, the orphanage's head matron decided she had enough with us. Happens to the best of us, right?

Naruto had come rustling through the door one day panting and his chest heaving. Panic had overtaken his face, and he fought to get himself calm. My breath caught at my throat and I scrambled to him, setting the book I was reading hastily on my bed.

''What's wrong?'' I asked worriedly.

I cupped my hands around his face, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of his face as I urged him to speak.

''I...I... There ... was this older kid that kept insulting me and saying mean things to me. The other kids were laughing and he kept saying bad things about me and ..and about you ... I couldn't let him ... I had to stop him. The caretaker found out and she was so angry, like extremely angry..but I was totally defending myself, and I didn't start it. And he was saying bad things about you. I couldn't let him.''

He said hurriedly, as I tried to calm him down. My hands moved to wipe away the tears racing down his cheeks, before tightly pulling him into an embrace.

''It's okay... Everything is gonna be okay.'' It didn't take long for him to calm down and wipe the remaining tears out of his eyes, but he didn't pull away, instead, he wrapped his hands tightly around me and refused to let go.

Honestly, I wouldn't have minded holding him close until the end of times. He was always so confident, so happy and so hyperactive, yet here he was crying his eyes out.

He was just a child, dammit, yet he had gone through so much.

The head matron stormed into the room a minute or two after him, her body shaking and her muscles tensing, clearly enraged and furious, for some reason.

''I want you both out of this orphanage, now!''

Like the cold breath of a grave, her words cut through my very soul. Hanging over us, unforgiving and merciless was the threat of having to pass the night on the streets.

For a second, words refused to form, my mouth opening and closing in a quick succession trying to regain my lost ability.

''But... why ?'' I finally managed to say.

There was nowhere for us to go, especially in the middle of the night. Hell, we'd probably even get lost. I never wandered more than a couple of blocks away from the orphanage and even then I was always with other kids and some of the matrons.

Seeing her expression, any hope I had of reasoning with her withered down and died but I had to try. I had to.

''Just get out. GET OUT.'' She raged, ruffling her hair in frustration and a sign of exasperation clearly having no intention of elaborating.

I had the right to know the reason, didn't I?

Was this even legal? Did she really have the power to kick anyone she wanted out of the orphanage? I didn't really know.

And I had to wonder about the reason she was so worked out. I'd guessed that the bully that Naruto talked about had something to do with this… Little jerk.

''Please... we have nowhere to go.'' I begged, eyes pleading and lip quivering, holding back tears myself.

I was not one to cry often but it helped in my attempt to convince the older woman. The things that could make me cry were scarce and far in between. I had a lot of flaws, but being a crybaby was never on the list.

For a second, hope didn't seem entirely lost as the matron's eyes widened and her body tensed further.

I had a chance and I had to seize it. She seemed hesitant about her choice; her body language screamed how uncomfortable she was about the whole ordeal.

''Please... I swear we'll be good after this. We'll never bother you again.''

Naruto was standing behind me, unspeaking, unmoving, his hair shadowing his eyes, hiding them from sight, his chakra was agitated conveying how pained and ashamed he felt.

My eyes burned and my vision was blurry but I kept staring her in the eye even with how interesting the floor seemed to be at that moment.

The matron bit her lips, her humanity getting in the way of her harsh and her heartless decision. You would barely be called human if you had it in your heart to kick two kids out in the middle of the night, with nowhere to go.

But clearly, her hatred for the Kyuubi was greater than her compassion and her fear had blinded her and crushed her humanity.

''I can't let someone like you near my child, not after you took away my husband.'' I heard her say faintly.

It was barely an audible whisper, but it felt like she was justifying her action. Trying to soothe herself, trying to make herself feel less like a shitty human being.

Good luck doing that.

I blinked away the tears and grabbed my brother's arm firmly, going where our legs would take us but not before giving her a bone-chilling glare to convey how I felt about her.

Walking aimlessly, desperately trying to find our way toward the Hokage tower may go down in history as the most frustrating experience I've ever had to deal with. Konoha streets were like a maze. It was a massive pain trying to find your way around without any prior knowledge of which road leads to where.

But well, you know what they say 'all roads lead to Rome'. And I had figured we'd be able to find our way through sooner or later, especially since the Hokage's tower was visible under the moonlight as it towered over all the buildings around it.

Too bad half of these stupid roads were dead ends. Just when I am about to taste victory I find a wall standing on my way, screaming 'You shall not pass'

We were losing hope a few hours into it, our muscles were aching. Our bodies felt heavy and our legs were barely able to carry us any longer.

''Mito... I am exhausted...I .. I can't keep going anymore.''

You know you are fucked when Naruto claims to be exhausted.

Why didn't he get exhausted when he was jumping all around the room every single day?

''I know, Lil' bro, I know.'' I told him, trying to keep him calm.

It was also a slight jab at him that I didn't even realize I made until moments later.

Sometimes, I truly felt like Naruto was more like a younger brother to me, maybe even a son but it was probably due to how mentally older I was in reality and it was one of the reasons I loved him as much as I did. He was the only family I had in this life and I got to witness him grow up since he was nothing but a tiny baby.

"M-Mito..." He groaned. ''You do realize we are twins, right?'' He said pointedly, looking at me like I was some big idiot.

Oh, that made sense.

''I would've never guessed.'' I smirked mischievously. ''Especially with how much of a baby you are.'' I teased him.

His brow furrowed and he frowned at my comment. He didn't like it one bit.

''I'm not a baby. Take it back.'' He all but growled.

Oh boy, struck a nerve, have I?

''Okay, okay.'' I managed between laughter. ''I was just messing with you…'' I gave him a cheeky smile. ''You should've seen your face.'' I went on.

He pouted cutely and turned away.

Another slight giggle escaped my throat at his reaction.

I didn't even know how I was laughing as much as I did, considering the situation we gotten ourselves into but Naruto had a weird way of making me laugh.

''Let's just go.'' He whispered.

I nodded, glaring at the moon as it decided to hide behind the heavy forming clouds. My glare only seemed to speed the process.

''It's going to rain.'' I said grimly.

Stupid traitorous moon

I gave it another glare before turning to Naruto as he started to speak.

''Come on, I love rain, don't you?''

He joked as if trying to lighten the mood and soothe the feeling of worry I felt. Honestly, I was grateful. I was utterly worried.

''Who doesn't?'' I replied. ''Although, I would hate to get my hair wet. ''I added playfully.

Hey, better to keep the mood light like Naruto was doing. Dwelling on the possibility of us sleeping in the streets is probably getting us nowhere.

''Like you've ever cared about that.''

''Hey, I'm still a girl, you know. My hair is special to me.'' I stated.

He nodded sagely

''I could see why.''

Naruto loved my red hair. He never stopped praising how awesome it was and how cool he would've looked with red hair. A red-haired Naruto. Now that was a sight to behold.

I didn't know how long we kept walking or how we managed to pull through it- my terrible sense of humor and Naruto's timely jokes, were probably what kept us going- but we finally found ourselves creepily standing in front of a ramen stand. Peeking inside like the sly foxes we were.

Honestly, we couldn't help it, the smell was too good and we were beyond exhausted and starving, and it was the only shop around that hadn't closed yet.

I didn't know what to do. The delicious flavors kept teasing my nose and I was itching to get my hands on some of that tasty food, but I couldn't just barge in and demand to be served. Our reputations - or lack of rather - denied me any chance of that succeeding if there ever was any.

But we needed the food so badly. We wanted to rest just as much. But I couldn't bring myself to ask for help just to get yelled at in the end.

I was afraid of another humiliation. I already felt bad about my lost pride after literally begging the matron for mercy.

That really sucked. And I did not want to do that again. Ever!

But if not for my sake then for Naruto's sake I would've done it.

The shopkeeper didn't leave me with much time for my internal turmoil. I didn't get to decide on my next action before he turned around abruptly and smiled slightly.

Wait, he smiled?

Huh, that caught off guard. I was not prepared for that.

Naruto pulled me back, away from the chef's eyes and did his best efforts to keep us hidden with a little help from the shop's exterior wall.

He was apparently just as surprised as I was.

''He smiled at us.'' He said his tone disbelieving.

His head peeked from behind the wall, into the shop. He gave a tentative glance inside only to startle back into hiding a moment later.

His eyes were wide in confusion.

''He's calling us over, what do we do? What do we do?''

He asked.

I blinked.

''I guess… we just go.'' I stated unsurely.

What else do you do in this situation?

It's not like we have any better choices and I couldn't wait to get away from the rain even if it was just for the few minutes it took for the man to reveal his intentions.

Naruto nodded at me slowly, uncertain.

We walked inside carefully and steadily. I didn't know what to think about the guy. I just hoped that he was not just going to scold and chide us for 'trespassing' on his property. That would be a huge letdown. One I was more than ready for, however.

But when the huge bowl of ramen dropped in front of my face and a towel was wrapped around my neck as Ayame, the chef's daughter, as she introduced herself rushed to dry both of our hairs I truly felt like crying tears of joy.

Getting to witness the look of utter happiness that crossed Naruto's face as he enjoyed the heavenly taste of the ramen he would come to worship, I felt genuinely overjoyed.

As it turned out, the ramen chef and his daughter were none other than the Ichiraku ramen duo.

Shocking, right?

I should've guessed earlier.

For a second, I felt that maybe Konoha was not as much a bad place as I thought it was. It was probably still early to pass judgment on it.

Teuchi

I was no ninja. My hearing was weak. My sight was suffering and my nose was the only thing I got going for me.

I couldn't use chakra... or whatever ninjas called it these days, nor could I sense it. Yet, when those two kids walked through the front doors of my shop, I knew it instantly. My head turned around in a ... flash. Hehe... It was like a switch suddenly turned on.

Like it was destiny for them to come knocking on my front door.

Ayame always said I was weird like that. She claimed that whenever a customer walked through the door, I would instantly know it.

One look at the kids took my breath away, not in a creepy weird pedophilic way though. The thing is, nostalgia hit me right in the face at that moment and I recognized instantly whose kids they were. Each one was an exact copy of one of the parents that it was almost unbelievable.

They looked weary and exhausted. They were staring at me hopefully, yet they shied away right when I turned around.

It was heartbreaking to see how tired they were. It was even more heartbreaking to see how happy and overjoyed they were from just a single bowl of ramen.

Yet, it was extremely cute as they all but devoured their food. It was adorable how Mito smile widened and her eyes shined brighter as she stared fondly at her brother.

And it was even cuter when they both complained when Ayame and I tried to dry their hair and change their clothes, claiming to be old enough to do that stuff by themselves.

Naruto kept complaining how he had to wear girl clothes- they were Ayame's when she was a kid- but Mito chided him and practically ordered him to thank us.

She seemed extremely grateful.

We honestly didn't need the thanks. We didn't need the gratitude. Just the thought of helping someone in need and especially tired and hungry kids was enough and the sight of Ayame's bright smile that never left her face the whole time more than paid me back and almost moved me to tears.

Luckily, I was able to keep my dignity. Ayame rarely smiled lately. The death of her mother took away the sunshine that was burning fiercely in her eyes.

Unknowingly they put the smile back on my daughter's face. I was grateful for that. I was the one that ought to thank them.

Mito

After dinner, the Ichiraku duo offered a place for us to stay. I tried to decline by instinct. Having already done so much for us, I refused to burden them any more than we already did. Teuchi's tone, however, was final and Ayame's look was hopeful, that coupled with the massive temptation of not having to sleep outside erased any arguments I had about the matter.

Naruto's cry of joy and chorus of thanks to the older duo seemed like it was daring me to spoil his fun.

Well, I was ecstatic about the idea of sleeping in a comfortable bed just as much as she was, but I was only feeling a bit more reluctant about relying on the duo a bit too much.

Ayame decided to make it her task to put us both to bed and read us a before bed story. We had to share the same bed, but it was much more than I would've asked for.

After a painful couple of minutes of having to endure through an extremely boring story-boring for me at least- Ayame left the room soundlessly, thinking we were already asleep.

I released a soft sigh as the door closed, and embraced the sweet appeal of a good night sleep. I closed my eyes tightly.

Hello darkness my old friend.

I joked in the privacy of my mind.

''Hey, are you asleep.'' I heard Naruto mumble slowly.

I shifted my weight to lay on my side, one eye cracking open to stare back at Naruto's pair of blue eyes.

''Yes, I am asleep, Naruto.''

Naruto stared at me blankly and I stuck my tongue out childishly at him.

It didn't take him long to answer in kind.

''That story was boring, to be honest.'' Naruto complained after a few seconds.''Not enough action, there's nearly no drama. I want something thrilling, like a ninja rescuing a princess, or a group of heroes helping a revolt against an evil dictator, you know.''

The fact that he would come to do two missions just as he described in the future was ironic.

But, I kinda agreed with him. The story did feel boring, but then again I had an adult mind, more or less, and I had the right to be bored by a kids' story. Naruto, on the other hand, was not like any other kid, drama and action was what he always craved. I couldn't say that I was the same. But I would prefer that over the kid's story I witnessed any day of the week.

''Yeah, I didn't like it either.'' I admitted. ''But she said that story holds a special place in her heart, so be nice, okay?''

Something about her mother reading it for her when she was a child.

''I know, I know. That's why I endured it until the end. It's not like I wouldn't either even if it wasn't special to her. I don't think I'll be able to stop her from reading us a story that she enjoys after how much she helped us.''

I nodded, pleased. Despite his rashness and slight tactlessness at times, Naruto had a heart of gold.

''I ...ugh..also wanted to apologize to you.'' At my raised eyebrow, he continued.''You know, for getting us kicked out of the orphanage.''

His apology came out shakily, and his voice was lower than normal as his eyes were trying their hardest to avoid any contact with mine.

''Nonono. Look at me.'' I grabbed his hand and squeezed slightly.''It's not your fault, ok? The matron just decided to be a huge jerk. None of this is your fault.''

He nodded. I hoped that it was enough to get through to him because I didn't know how to deal with the situation. It probably wasn't. Naruto was good at hiding his emotions when he decided to, even from me.

He sighed deeply, sounding years older than he was.

''I.. I always drag you into trouble and then rely on you to solve everything but you never get angry at me or anything and you stick by my side all the time. I...'' He paused. ''I don't know what I would do without you. I'm lucky to have you as a sister.''

He crossed his arms under his head and stared blankly at the roof.

I gave him a considering glance followed by an invitation for him to scooch on closer to me.

I said as I snuggled into his side.

''Likewise, I can't imagine my life without you, bro.'' Any other thing I had to say, went over my head.

I barely resisted the urge to scream in glee, as his previous words registered in my mind, once again. It meant the world hearing him say that because after all, I didn't belong in this world. I was just an unintended element that was added, someone that wasn't supposed to be there.

He didn't know that. I was afraid of what he'd think if he did. But it felt exhilarating to know that I was important to him.

Instead, I snuggled further into his side enjoying the warmth. God, I felt like a child.

I probably needed him more than he needed me. He was going to turn into a phenomenal man anyways. But alone, I honestly think I would've cracked under the hate and scorn we faced every day.

I think I would've snapped.

I was the one lucky to be his sister.