I don't own Naruto in this story either…sigh…
Chapter Ten: Summer Roof Days
It was a hot day in summer. School had let out and all of the students were taking advantage of their freedom, getting in some serious playing, eating, and, in the case of the Nara twins, cloud watching.
It was a habit that they had taken up from their father, who liked nothing more then to lie under a tree and stare up at the fluffy, white clouds as they slowly made their way across the bright blue sky. Ever since Shikamaru became a father, a genin squad leader, and the head strategist for emergencies in Konoha, he had not had as much down time as he would have liked. Yuri and Asuma made up for it, though, during the endless summer hours that they spent on their roof.
Rose, after she was old enough to go onto the roof, had tried to get into their habit. But she was too much like her mother to really enjoy it. The first day she joined her older siblings (when she was five and the twins were ten), she really did try her hardest. She stayed still on her back for about ten minutes, which, for someone like Rose, was pretty impressive. But eventually she got a horrible case of the squiggles and was moving and squirming like she had ants in her pants.
Yuri and Asuma tried to ignore her, tried with all their might to accommodate their little sister, but when Rose started to chatter away about every single subject her five year old brain could think of, they snapped.
"Rose," Yuri said through clenched teeth, mentally counting to calm her rising temper. "Could you try just a little harder not to, um let's see, talk!?"
"We've found that talking is somewhat," Asuma paused, searching for the right word. "Unnecessary when you're cloud watching."
Rose stuck out her bottom lip and folded her arms, glaring at her older siblings. "But, I really wanna talk! And clouds is so boring."
Yuri let out an outraged sigh as Asuma slowly shook his head, disappointed. They both returned to their cloud watching positions and ignored their sister. Rose soon left the rooftop, choosing instead to have a tea party with several of her dolls and stuffed animals out in the backyard. And, after he arrived home from work, Shikamaru.
"Would you like eight cubes or nine?" Rose asked sweetly, putting several rocks into the plastic teacup she was serving to her jonin father. The man moved around in his little kid chair, trying (and failing) to find a more comfortable position.
"Uh…" Shikamaru said, watching as his daughter proceeded to add many more than eight or nine pebbles into the cup. "Nine is fine." He shifted again, eyeing the roof longingly while Yuri and Asuma, peeking over the edge, sniggered uncontrollably.
Rose, noticing this, whapped Shikamaru on the knee with her spoon, shaking her head and saying, "No, daddy." Shikamaru quickly turned back to the table, his face turning red.
"Sorry, Rose." He sat obediently in his little chair, balancing his teacup on his knee while Rose offered tea to Mr. Floppy Ears.
…
…
…
On one such afternoon, during the summer of the twins' eleventh birthday, Yuri and Asuma lay on the roof, each sipping a glass of lemonade, lost in their own thoughts. Yuri was thinking about what their last year at the academy meant.
In a little less then a year, I'll be a genin. I'll be on a squad, with a sensei, and I'll be doing missions and actually fighting! That's so cool! She thought about who would be on her team, whether or not she would know their jonin teacher or not, and, most importantly, whether or not she and Asuma would be on the same team.
Asuma, on the other hand, was thinking about something else.
"Yuri," he said, sitting up and turning so that he was looking at his twin. "I was thinking."
The dark haired girl sat up, stretching and pushing the long, dark strands out of her face. "Yeah? What about?"
Asuma hesitated, a finger resting on his chin.
He's got his thinking face on, Yuri thought as she waited. Oh brother, can't he wait until I'm not relaxing my but off to ask me really hard and confusing questions?
Finally, his blue eyes met her dark ones. "Remember that thunder and lightning storm? When we were eight?"
Yuri closed her eyes, racking her memory. "Uh…."
Asuma gave a frustrated sigh. "When we were gonna change rooms?"
"…"
"And you were crying?"
Bingo.
Yuri leapt to her feet, eyes on fire. "I WAS NOT CRYING!"
"WATCH IT!"
In a flash, Asuma was on his feet, holding Yuri's wrist, as she stood, fist raised, with her heels mere centimeters from the edge of the roof. They stood like that for a moment, then Asuma pulled his sister back and they both sat down heavily, letting out a synchronized sigh.
"Wow!" Yuri gave a shaky laugh, putting her hand behind her head. "That was exciting!"
She received a death glare from her brother.
"Anyway," she continued quickly, "Yes, I remember the storm. What about it?"
Asuma glared at her for another second, then blinked and continued on. "Well, we were sitting together throughout the storm, remember, and then when it was over, I went back to my bed. And as we were falling asleep, we said something."
Yuri thought for a second. "Yeah, I asked you whether or not you were still gonna switch rooms, and you said 'no'."
Asuma nodded. "We actually spoke that verbally. But after that, when we were really falling asleep, we said something else."
Yuri gave him a confused look, then a light bulb went off. "Oh yeah! We did!"
Asuma nodded. "You said 'I'm glad you're not moving'," the boy started.
"And you said 'So am I'," Yuri finished for him, nodding. "But why is that important? All we said was-."
"But that's the thing," Asuma said hurriedly. "I don't think we actually said anything. At least, not with our mouths. I was falling asleep with my face in the pillow and the blankets over my head. There's no way I would have heard you and could have given you a response."
Asuma sat up on his knees, looking excited. Yuri was gazing at him with a confused expression.
"How do you remember things like that?" Yuri did not remember what pajamas she had worn to bed last night, and yet her twin remembered the position he had been sleeping in a year and a half ago!
Asuma waved the question away. "Don't you get it? If we didn't actually speak to each other verbally, then how did we do it? How did I know what you thought, let alone answer it? And then how did you know my answer?"
Yuri's head was spinning and she looked incredulously at her brother. "Are you insinuating that we had some sort of 'twin moment'," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "Where we could speak inside each other's minds?"
Asuma winced, but recovered. "I wouldn't have phrased it that way, but, in a way, yes!"
The look he received from his twin obviously questioned his sanity.
"I'm not crazy!" Asuma scooted forward so that his face was a foot away from Yuri's. "And to prove it, we're gonna have a mind conversation right now."
He closed his eyes and frowned in concentration.
Yuri sat there for a minute, impatience growing inside her.
Asuma finally opened his eyes. "How come you're not answering?"
"Because I couldn't hear your question!"
"That's weird." Asuma tapped his chin, thinking. "Let's try again. This time you think."
He closed his blue eyes, a look of intense concentration on his face.
Yuri rolled her eyes and thought randomly. Wow, I used to think very highly of his brain skills, but now…Her stomach rumbled. I wonder what's for dinner. Maybe we'll go out to eat. To…I don't know. I hope Sari remembers to call me back. If she doesn't, then-.
"Why isn't this working?!" Asuma burst out, sitting back on his heels, anger rising.
"Gee, I don't know." Yuri put on a fake look of concentration. "Maybe because it never happened!"
A look of hurt flashed into her brother's stunning eyes, but Yuri ignored it.
"I think you're just imagining things, Asuma." Yuri turned around and lay back on the tiles, folding her arms behind her head. "If I were you, I would just forget about it."
Asuma glared at the girl who had turned away from him, anger beating out the hurt in his eyes. He lay back down and then muttered, "I didn't imagine it and I won't forget about it."
If Yuri heard this last comment, she chose to ignore it. Asuma stared up at the clouds, a fierce determination filling every inch his slight body and cavernous mind. I didn't imagine anything, and I'm going to prove it.
…………………………………………..
Oh my gosh, so sorry for the delay! As I said before, I was on vacation, and then it took me a while to get back into the writing mood. Also, I've become completely hooked on the Prince of Tennis anime and have been spending a LOT of time watching that on youtube. Anyway.
I got kind of sad when I wrote this chapter because I realized that Yuri and Asuma were getting older! In the second part of this chapter they're almost eleven! I can't believe that! I panicked and was, like, are there any more things I want to do with them while they're little, or is it okay to go on to their genin teams? I actually got choked up. And Rose is getting older and she's no longer a little baby. She actually knows how to speak now! (and how to dominate Shika) And then I realized that all the other children were getting older too and I remembered chapter four, when I really introduced most of the other children, and I was like, I don't want them to grow up!
Sorry about that little emotional, parent-like moment. I'm just kind of sad. Anyway.
Short chapter, I know, but the next one will hopefully be longer and arrive faster. Thanks to all the reviewers and please continue to review!
