Then There Were Two

Summary: Naruto Uzumaki...Katsumi Uzumaki...are the twin children of the Honorable, Late Fourth Hokage...both outcasted by Konoha, the two find strength in one another that is incomparable and irreplaceable. The Teams...are quite different now, and the future...is looking more than a little bit brighter…or is that but the calm, before the storm?

Anime/Manga: Naruto

Genre: Romance/Humor/Adventure

Pairing: I... know who with who will be. I'll let you guys fidget and wonder.

Rated: M for Mature

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Selfish
Taking what I want and call it mine.
I'm Helpless
Clinging to a little bit of spine.
They Rush Me
Telling me I'm running out of time.
They shush me (Shh)
Walking me across a fragile line.

- Hold Me Down (Halsey)

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"Eight points..."

Ears perked, Katsumi tried to find Zabuza's location by the sound of his voice.

"The larynx, the spine, the lungs, the liver...jugular, subclavian arteries, kidneys and the heart...now, which will be my kill point."

She thought about it seriously, "I'd prefer none of the above, but if I must choose, let's go for the heart."

"Katsumi!" Ino cried out, "don't say such careless things!"

Scoffing, Katsumi didn't even bother to turn her eyes away from the void of nothing in front of her. "Hey, if the guys as deadly as Kakashi's making him out to be, then I don't limp away from this."

"Heh heh heh,"

She turned towards the eerie chuckle, "don't get the wrong idea. I have no intention of dying, and I sure as hell won't make it easy for you should you come after me or anyone else on my team."

Sasuke heaved a deep breath as he tried to calm his nerves. His hand was shaking, but to his knowledge, no one else was feeling the intensity in the air, the clash of two Jounin intent on killing one another. It was heavy and suffocating him. It was a hand on his wrist that calmed his nerves.

"We can all feel it..." Katsumi spoke softly, "calm down, and know that we're all in this together. Not one of us has to do this alone, Sasuke."

'She doesn't know...she can't feel it! This feeling...I'll go mad if I―no, no I won't.' He took another deep breath and calmed himself down. The feel of soft fingers vanished from his wrist as he came back down to earth. Whatever had happened to him, even if for a moment, he wouldn't, couldn't, let that fear overpower him again.

"I've got you,"

"Ah!" Ino turned her eyes inside their formation.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Shikamaru reacted to the situation, 'It won't make any sense for us to sit back and do nothing,' He watched as Katsumi and Sasuke jumped back a foot, moving his hand up, he felt the resistance of will from the shinobi in front of him and could already feel the annoyance bubbling up in his gut. 'Why's he gotta be so strong? Just take it like a man and give up!'

"Do you got him?" Katsumi asked as she walked forward and raised a Kunai, bringing it up to the Shinobi's arm.

"I've got him,"

"Katsumi―!" Kakashi yelled out as she brought her Kunai down on the Hidden Mist nin's arm. Water seeped through the injury and the four Genin reacted by pulling into formation again. "Damn..."

Ino frowned, "so that was a water clone? When did he get a chance to switch? Shikamaru reacted so quickly..."

"He was always a water clone, the one who entered into our formation...was never real." Sasuke turned his eyes back behind them before turning back to the front.

"There!" Kakashi lunged forward and cut through Zabuza, but he vanished in a flood of water, spinning around in time for the large halberd to strike through him, his Genin watched as he too turned to water.

'This is just a back and forth game of water clone tag.' Katsumi looked to Ino who was shaking, her eyes wide as she kept herself still beside Sasuke and herself. "Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru looked at Katsumi, her eyes were filled with trepidation, but she stood firmly in place, unmoving without any worry. Despite that, he could read her eyes, and hear the underlining fear in her voice. "Don't worry, I'll think of something. I just need a minute..." his eyes wandered the area, fighting the obvious annoyance he felt, he took in his surroundings, the shadows, and his teammates Jutsu's and abilities. "Damn...if he was immobilized...that would be a great help."

Rolling her eyes as she watched their Sensei fight the Assassin, Katsumi forced a small smile, "of course it would. Oh! Kakashi-Sensei!"

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Ino called after Katsumi as the girls both watched him fly backwards into the water.

When he finally came up, Zabuza had appeared behind him and entrapped him in a sphere of water.

Crouching down, Shikamaru closed his eyes in thought as he laced his fingers together.

"Seriously, right now?!"

"Let him be, Sasuke!"

"What's he doing?" Tazuna asked as he watched Shikamaru.

"He's devising a plan of action." Katsumi responded, "no matter what, you stay by Ino and Sasuke's side! We won't let Zabuza touch you, but...we have priorities to our Sensei too. In my mind, the mission comes second to my team."

"...yes...of course."

Pulling another weapon from her pouch, she watched as Zabuza brought a hand forward, creating a water clone that formed before them. "Found a weakness, Shikamaru! He can't move his right hand, or it'll break his hold on the water prison! Figure something out!"

Sasuke made to reach out for her, but Katsumi had already moved forward. "Katsumi!"

"Leave this clone to me! It just so happens, I favor weather Jutsu!" Taking both her Kunai in tight grips, she scrapped them loudly along one another, drawing his eyes to the small blades before throwing one down on the ground and charging at him with the other. "Eyes on me, Zabuza!" She brought the blade down and didn't blink when he disappeared from her sight, she felt the presence of the clone behind her. Flipping forward, she landed a few paces away and brought her hand up into a series of hand signs, "Hidden Leaf: Winter Barrage." Snow began falling heavily around her, like a hole had opened up in the sky above and unleashed a cruel chill over them, she brought her hands together again and smiled almost cruelly, "I love that you decided we would be an easy kill. As a Genin, we are rarely pitted against strong Shinobi, and as such, we aren't able to use Jutsu that are classified as dangerous. However," she ended on the ram sign, "Hidden Leaf: Winter Gale!" The snow began hardening into hail as it was swept into a deadly twister of wind, this tempest was dangerous to be in.

"It's gonna take a lot more than some hailstorm to defeat my clones,"

Katsumi nodded, "I hear you, just be patient...and I promise things will get interesting."

"How cute, she really thinks that she can take me on."

Katsumi frowned, 'not really, but someone needs to buy time for the real brains of the operation.' She brought her hands together and formed a couple more hand signs, 'I can't keep playing with these Jutsu's. I don't have the Chakra supply for it!' She yelled out, "Hidden Leaf: Rime Blades Technique!"

"KATSUMI, DON'T OVER DO IT!"

"You're making your Sensei awfully nervous, kid. You sure you should be...wasting your Chakra like this?"

"Shut up! However, much Chakra it takes...Sensei is what's important right now!"

The blades of ice tore through the clone as it pushed its way closer to where she resided in the eye of herself made hail hurricane. A poof sounded that verified the clone had been destroyed, but at the cost of nearly all her Chakra. She brought her hands up and released the Jutsu, feeling the strain on her body, she didn't dare hold it for any longer than was necessary. She looked to Zabuza, "so tell me, how talented are you with just one hand?"

He was smirking. That look alone was unsettling, but that he could do so with one hand occupied. Katsumi felt a chill of fear run down her spine.

"Why don't you come a little closer and I'll show you."

Kakashi was still yelling for her to get away. She wouldn't, she refused to leave him behind. 'Naruto, what would you do?' She smiled to herself, 'oh, that's right. If it were you and Kiba, you'd both blindly charge forward without any plan...right. Then let's do it!'

"Katsumi! Get back!" Shikamaru yelled out from behind her.

She jumped out of the way in time to avoid getting struck by a windmill shuriken, watching as it came close to hitting Zabuza, but then he leaned back out of the way. Katsumi shot forward and twisted in the air, bringing her heel down hard on his arm, she flinched as pain shot through her leg at the contact, but was satisfied by the feel of his bone giving way under the pressure of her kick. They both were injured in the initial strike, but her goal was met as she hit the water. His hand fell away from the Sphere and Kakashi was released. A poof sounded and Zabuza was suddenly sent flying back onto dry land. Looking to see what exactly had happened, she was surprised to see Sasuke in the air with his leg extended from the kick. His decent into the water happened quickly and she felt arms wrap around her as he pulled her to shore. Her eyes fell to Zabuza who looked enraged at having lost his hold on the prison that had held Kakashi captive. He stood up, her eyes followed his every movement, enthralled despite the obvious danger that he was. When he disappeared from her line of sight, she felt her heart stop.

CLANG!

Sasuke looked up from where he had pulled Katsumi from the water, his eyes were just as wide as hers as they both stared at the intensely cold glare in Kakashi's eyes.

'That look...Kakashi-Sensei...' maybe she was a bit insane, but the cruel look in his eyes, she found herself captivated by it. In fact, the more dangerous a situation, the more her heart seemed to race. For whatever reason, despite the obvious fear she felt, she couldn't help stepping a bit closer to the flames that tried to burn her.

"Katsumi, you were outstanding, if a little headstrong. Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, you all did a great job, I'm very proud of all four of you. For now, step back, and let me take care of Zabuza."

Katsumi didn't say anything as she felt Sasuke lift her into his arms. She glanced back over his shoulder at Kakashi and watched as Zabuza and Kakashi stood in a stand still with a Kunai to Kakashi's hand guard.

'Wait...' she glanced around and frowned, 'that Kunai, I'd set it to the side for a replacement Jutsu, but...it's laced in ricin.' She felt a sudden stab of irritation, 'that's why I don't lace my weapons! Damn it!' She motioned for Sasuke to put her down and whispered in his ear. Her mind was racing, she had to separate Kakashi and Zabuza, she had to get her Kunai back!

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Me: Chapter 13, all finished! Hopefully I've done some amount of justice, let me know what you think, send love through, review~!