LET'S GET GOING ALREADY!

Opening: Daia no Hana (By Yoriko, Black Cat First Opening)

Japanese Lyrics:

Hajimari wa itsumo sou gunjou no sora no shita
Chikai wo tatete ima boku wa aruki dasu

Yeah, kin iro ni hikaru sabaku (moeru kaze)
Daia no hana wo sagashite (samayoi tsuzukeru)
Hajimete dareka no tame ni ima boku wa ikite iru

Mamoritai mono ga arun da
Mou nido to nido to ushina wa shinai you ni

Yeah, kono mune ni aru negai (yurameite)
Kanaeru tame nara boku wa (ikura demo kizu tsukou)
Waratte ite hoshii kara ima boku wa yaiba wo nigiru

Kirisaita kioku no naka afuredasu
Akai akai kage wo kiru
Kono tsume ga hibiwaretemo tsukamitore
Mamoritai taisetsu na mono nara

Dareka wo omotte naita

yoru ni saita daia no hana

Mamoritai mono ga arun da
Mou nido to nido to ushinai wa shinai
Nari hibike dare yori chiisaku hakanai
Dare yori tafu na kono kodou

Chapter 10: Discussions and Staring

"No way! You actually held off an Akatsuki member by yourself?" Ino exclaimed.

The four of them were in the flower shop that belonged to the Yamanakas. Naruto was looking around at the plants lined up in neat rows. Sakura and Ino were sitting in chairs facing each other, while Ino was staring shocked at Takuya who was leaning against the wall between the two kunoichi.

Takuya opened his dark eyes and gazed steadily at Ino, his arms folded. "Yeah. I'm missing something, though. Who are you, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm Yamanaka Ino. I'm one of Sakura's best friends, and my family owns this shop. Nice to meet you!" She flashed a smile at the lean black-haired teen.

Takuya showed a hint of a smile. "Huh…nice to meet you too, I guess."

'Geez…with all this blood and dirt covering him, and his nose like that, I can't tell what he really looks like,' thought Ino, as Naruto joined Sakura's side. "By the way, you didn't mention your name. I want to know the name of the Konoha ninja who fought alone against Akatsuki."

Takuya hesitated, and responded with a serious tone, "You said you're one of Sakura's best friends? Can you keep secrets?"

Ino, a little surprised, replied, "Yeah…Why? Is your identity a big deal?"

"Oh, yeah…" Takuya glanced at Sakura, who gave him a nod to continue. 'Next thing I know, everyone here will know who I am really,' he thought dryly, as he said, "Uchiha Takuya. Happy?"

Ino gaped at him for a second, then grinned. "All right, I admit you kinda look like Sasuke-kun, with that hairstyle, but an Uchiha? No offense, but I kind of doubt that."

Takuya merely looked amused, raising an eyebrow, as his eyes transformed into the Sharingan. "Really?"

Ino stared at him, transfixed by the blood-red eyes. "Um…never mind…" 'Wow…he really is an Uchiha…but there's something different about him…the feel of his eyes…' Ino shook herself from her daze and quickly said, "What's with your nose? It's pretty smashed up."

"This?" Takuya touched the tip of his broken nose, as his eyes went back to normal. "Oh yeah, it got smashed up by Sushi-face. That's the second time my nose was ever broken," he said nonchalantly.

"The second time?"

"The first time I broke it while I was training when I was little. It never really healed properly, so that's why it was bent out of shape when I came here."

"Training?"

"Yep. Ever since I was a toddler, I'd been trained in the woods by my Sensei. He said he only taught me only the necessary essentials, though."

"What happened?" asked Sakura curiously.

Takuya's eyes darkened slightly at this. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Ino frowned. "Right. Your hairstyle, at the least, makes you Sasuke-kun's twin."

Takuya simply shrugged. "Well, that's probably because I am his twin. His younger twin."

"WHAT? YOU'RE SASUKE'S TWIN?" exclaimed Naruto, Sakura, and Ino together, their eyes round and white with shock. "WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THAT BEFORE?"

"Because it wasn't important," Takuya replied, with a deadpan face. He stiffened as he remembered something from the fight with Kisame, his face pale. "Wait…"

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Thinking back…that Kisame guy mentioned something about Sasuke. That he joined Akatsuki…!"

"What?" Sakura and Ino had both gone pale at this. Naruto took a step back, his eyes shadowed. Takuya lowered his head, his jaw clenched and his fist trembling slightly, as he thought, 'But, damn it, Sasuke…after all that, it was for nothing…and I really was hoping to meet you.'

The grim mood lasted for a minute, until Takuya shifted, triggering a spasm of pain in his still-injured side, causing him to flinch. "What is it?" Ino immediately asked, concerned.

"It's nothing…just some broken ribs."

"You broke a few ribs?" Ino exclaimed, as she rounded on Sakura. "Why didn't you treat him earlier, billboard brow?"

"He said just to heal those who really needed it, Ino pig!" Sakura replied angrily.

Takuya watched their exchange with amusement until Ino rounded on him. "And you!" she yelled, pointing a finger at Takuya's face as he scrambled backward, looking frightened. "You get smashed through an entire district, get your nose and ribs broken, almost get killed by a member of Akatsuki, and call that nothing? Oh no, you are not getting away with that! You will get healed whether you like it or not, mister!"

With that, she grabbed Takuya's wrist and pulled him backward and ran up the staircase behind the counter, pulling Takuya behind her on his side. Sakura watched the ridiculous scene a large sweat drop visible on her head. The injured Uchiha alternated between weakly protesting and yelping in pain as the steps slammed into his injured side and face.

"…I feel sorry for Takuya-san…" Sakura said to herself. She turned to Naruto when she saw that he hadn't moved at all; she became concerned when she saw that his hands were limp and his eyes were soulless. "Naruto?"

"…No…" Naruto muttered to himself, his eyes still downcast. "Sasuke actually joined Akatsuki…This is all my fault…But why…? If I only had been stronger to stop him before…"

'Naruto…' Sakura said silently to herself as Naruto turned to her, his blue eyes filled with sadness and regret.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough, Sakura-chan. I'm useless. What if we end up failing every time I try to bring back Sasuke?"

"BAKA!" Sakura yelled angrily, immediately punching him out and sending him flying at the wall.

*POW*

"What the?" Naruto winced, holding his hand to his throbbing cheek. "What was that for?" He looked at Sakura and was shocked to see her trembling.

"How can you think like that?" Sakura asked. "Are you going to let yourself give up just like that? The Naruto I know is better than that, he never gives up."

Naruto stared at her. 'Sakura-chan…'

"So, please don't give up just yet because things got more complicated. Don't forget, we will bring back Sasuke-kun together!"

"…Right…!" Naruto grinned painfully.

Sakura smiled back at him, though inside she was hurting just as much as Naruto. 'I wish I could only believe that myself…If anything, I'm the one who's useless,' she thought sadly. She was just glad her fake smile was enough for Naruto to get himself back together.

"Well, this might be easier than we thought," said Naruto, getting to his feet.

"Eh?"

Naruto smiled and jerked his thumb up towards the ceiling. "We've got Takuya."

(A few minutes earlier)

Ino reached the second floor and ran for her room, dragging a certain beaten-up Uchiha behind her. The moment she reached her room, she let go of Takuya and immediately started rummaging around.

"Ow…ow…ow…" muttered Takuya as he stopped twitching from the pain and gingerly got to his feet. "What'd you have to drag me up here for?"

"You're the one who got yourself those injuries in the first place!" Ino said angrily to him, her eyebrow twitching, as she pulled out towels and disinfectant. "You're crazy if you even think you can call those nothing!"

"Shut up!" Takuya retorted, his eyes round and white with anger. "You're the medic! You're supposed to heal injuries, not cause more!"

Just then, a small impact shook the house and Takuya looked around in alarm. "What was that?" 'I didn't sense any harmful chakras nearby…'

"That?" Ino asked, not bothered at all by the small tremor. "That was probably just Sakura punching out Naruto. She usually does that when he does or says something stupid. But lately, Naruto's been acting less stupid, so it's been a while since I've seen or heard of her do that. Now clean yourself off."

Takuya simply shrugged and asked, scowling, "Anyway, you could have just healed me back down there. Why'd you bring me up here?" He took a rag she offered and rubbed off his face with it, taking care not to hit his nose.

"I have some medical things here in my room," she replied. "And it'll be easier to heal you without having going to get more."

The black-haired boy sat on the nearby bed and watched impatiently as the blonde kunoichi brought out a first aid kit and some bandages.

Little did Takuya know that Ino also wanted to find out more about him, as well as give Naruto and Sakura a private moment. "All right, let me see the damage," she sighed as she sat down next to Takuya.

Takuya frowned slightly, raising a dark eyebrow, as he thought, 'See the damage…? Oh, right.' Ino's blushed slightly as the wounded Uchiha gingerly removed the dark red shirt. Takuya quirked his eyebrow again, asking, "Are you ok? Your face is kinda pink."

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine!" Ino said, looking back at the Uchiha next to her and losing the flush as she saw the damage. Takuya casually dropped the shirt and turned to face her, a puzzled look on his face, giving him an innocent air.

As Ino examined the many cuts and injuries on Takuya, she couldn't help but just look at his upper body which was still covered with blood, dirt, and sweat. She could see his body was a light tan instead of pale like Sasuke. She couldn't see anything about his physique other than that it seemed to be above average.

"Uh, what's up?" asked Takuya curiously, startling Ino out of her thoughts, folding his arms over his bloodied chest. "You said you wanted to heal me, right?" 'Man, I wonder if I'll ever understand the female mind…' Takuya thought to himself, exasperated.

"…Right, right." Ino looked absently at the many injuries on his lean body. Her attention was caught by a nasty bruise on his side that was fresh and bleeding. Her hands floated over to his injuries and brushed against his ribs.

There was a silence as the girl healed the boy, moving on to heal the bruises and scratches after finishing with his ribs, fingers brushing over firm muscle. As she healed him, she noticed the small, almost invisible scars on his body, and the calluses that covered his palms and fingers. 'I guess he's had a pretty tough life…'the blonde thought.

She idly sniffed the air around him and grimaced. 'He smells like he's had a rough life too!'

Ino moved on to Takuya's legs, who lifted them onto the bed. She quickly saw through the tears in the pants, as she healed his legs, that his lower body was just as tanned as his upper body. She was surprised to see that his legs were surprisingly muscled, sinewy and lean.

When Ino finished, Takuya grabbed a damp towel and wiped the blood and dirt off himself. As bloodied sweat and dirt came off, the kunoichi was shocked to see the muscled body of a martial artist came into view.

Ino felt the heat rising in her face as she found herself staring at his strong torso and defined, tapering arms. While all shinobi weren't couch potatoes, it was very rare to find one with a powerful yet compact physique. 'OH MY GOD, he's hot! Hotter than Sasuke!' Ino screamed in her mind, her face bright red and sweating. 'His own brother!'

Takuya stood up, grabbed his shirt, and quickly stretched to make sure that his body was still functioning properly, his back to the kunoichi. Ino's blush lessened as Takuya put his shirt back on, the lean muscle on his back no longer visible. Takuya, satisfied, turned around partway and favored her with a triumphant grin. "Thanks a lot, you did great, Yamanaka. No more pain and my body isn't sore anymore."

"Oh…sure, n-no problem." 'Those clothes did a good job at hiding that body…' Takuya looked around Ino's room, brushing a hand carelessly through his bangs. His black eyes fell on a picture on Ino's bedside and widened.

"Is that…?" Takuya trailed off, his finger pointing at the picture.

"Oh, that? That was the graduation picture we all took when we became genin." As Ino reminisced about her school days, the young Uchiha was focused on his brooding, dark twin in the picture. Takuya knew that his sensei Hatake Sakumo had told him that Sasuke was his twin, but now he could clearly see the same they both had the same facial features, with the exception of the broken nose.

"Are you looking at Sasuke's picture?" Takuya nodded silently as Ino walked next to him. "It's amazing that you're actually his twin; now that I look closer, you guys look really similar."

Takuya suddenly snorted; Ino looked at him curiously and Takuya, still snickering, explained, "Not quite…his hair sticks up like a duck's ass."

Ino was silent for a moment, then burst out into giggles as she realized he was right. Takuya quickly joined in laughing.

Takuya gradually stopped laughing and said seriously, "I get your point though, we do look a lot alike. But I really doubt our personalities are, based on what Naruto and Sakura-san said."

"Heh, you have no idea…" Ino said, grinning. Takuya glanced at Ino inquisitively, who smiled brightly, then he looked back to the academy graduation photo. Ino watched, puzzled, as Takuya's gaze intensified as he continued to stare at the scowling image of his twin.

'Sasuke…'

"Anyway," said Ino, "let's fix that nose of yours…"

"What's taking those two so long?" demanded Naruto, pacing the floor. "They should be done by now."

"I guess Ino really wanted to talk to him," said Sakura watching her blond team mate walk back and forth. "It's sort of like that time when she wanted to talk to Sai-kun."

Ino walked back down the stairs, and as Naruto and Sakura turned to face her, she called up the stairs, "Hey, come on, Takuya-san! Hurry up!" 'But, wow, he's completely different from Sasuke…'

"Fine! Man, talk about impatient…" Takuya walked down the stairs and faced the three of them. Naruto and Sakura immediately noticed that Takuya had put his headband back around his forehead. All of the dirt and dried-up blood had been cleaned off from his face and body, though his clothes were still damaged and bloodied.

But, that wasn't all. Takuya's nose was also completely healed and not crooked at all. Takuya had also parted his bangs similar to Sasuke, and they now curtained his face over the headband, making him seem more like the Uchiha he was; the only difference was the stray lock of hang that hung over his right eye.

He looked exactly like Sasuke and yet not like him at all.

Takuya smirked slightly. "All right, let's go."

Ending: FIRE! (by Wada Kouji, Digimon Frontier Opening)

Japanese Lyrics.

Kusubutteta mune ni nage irero fire!
Chiheisen e kokoro tobasu nda

Kara mawari no kimochi o keri agetara
Saki ni iku ze Tsugi no furontia

Kanau sa Kanau Hakkaten wa mou sugu da ze
Dekiru Dekiru sa Bakuhatsu shite miseru nda
Burn up'n go!

Gomibako o tobi koeta saki ni aru mirai
Hikari o matotte get a fire power!
Giragira to moe agare Hitomi no chikara
Kesenai yuuki de get a fire power!
Michi ga michiteru furontia e
Hashiri tsuzukeru nda "Kimi o tsurete"

Housoku nante hatsumei surya ii ndaro?
Jibun katte mo tama ni hitsuyou sa

Iu koto kike! Nige dashita kunaru my heart!
Hitori datte yara nakyanannai ze

Doko kara Doko e Toki wa nagareteku ndarou?
Wakaru Wakaru sa Gimon wa yamanai kedo ne
Get up'n go!

Kaidan o kake noboru saki ni aru jidai
Takamaru kodou de get a fire power!
Giragira to teri kaese Hadashi no taiyou
Makenai atsusa de get a fire power!
Michi ga michiteru furontia e
Hashiri tsuzukeru nda "Kimi o tsurete"

Gomibako o tobi koeta saki ni aru mirai
Hikari o matotte get a fire power!
Giragira to moe agare Hitomi no chikara
Kesenai yuuki de get a fire power!
Michi ga michiteru furontia e
Hashiri tsuzukeru nda "Kimi o tsurete"

Okay, now I'm going to describe Takuya's hairstyle and physique for you in case you can't visualize it all that well.

In terms of hairstyle, I've visualized and drawn his hair as being reminiscent to Zack Fair's when he is first introduced in Crisis Core. The only differences: his hair is slightly longer and more unruly at the back, he has a stray strand of hair hanging over his right eye that's free from the parted bangs, and he has a tuft or spike of hair sticking out from the bangs parted to the right.

With physique, if any of you are up to date with the manga History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, you know what the title character's physique is like. Takuya's physique is like that, though the muscle on his arms is a little less.

Now onward to the next chapter.