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
-x-x-x-
You can throw your hands up,
you can beat the clock.
You can move a mountain,
you can break rocks
You can be a master,
don't wait for luck,
dedicate yourself and you can find yourself.
- Hall of Fame (The Script)
-x-x-x-
Dreamscape
"How do you like emém?"
"These are for me?" Katsumi looked down at the soft velvet wrap that held a set of five sharp throwing needles. "These are Senbon, like yours!"
Smirking, Genma sat down on the wood railing of the apartment, "yep, thought I could encourage you to take up the practice."
"Will...will you teach me?" She tightened her hold on one of the Senbon as she turned her eyes to meet the Jounin's. She knew nothing could or would ever come from her having a crush on the older male, but she wasn't sure how to turn it off. Liking someone wasn't easy for a ten-year-old.
"Sure thing,"
"GENMA!"
Turning slightly, he brought his hand down and caught the louder of the twins by the scruff of the neck. "If it isn't my favorite rowdy troublemaker, where were you?"
"Don't change the subject!"
Katsumi frowned, "what subject?"
"I'm curious too, did you say something besides my name?"
Naruto blushed and knocked the hand from the collar of his jacket, "you got Katsu a gift! Why! What are your intentions with my sister you old man!"
Genma raised a brow, "...intentions? No, wait, let's go back to "old man". I'm not that old, Naruto. As for the gift, she watches me train with them, so I figured she wanted her own set. Did you want to learn too?"
"No!" Katsumi shook her head and sighed, "he'll end up poking his eye out. Or mine!"
"Will not!" Naruto sniffed the air suddenly before pulling on Genma's sleeve, "hey, hey! Old man, Genma!"
"...really..."
"I'll forgive you for getting Katsu a gift and not me...but you gotta buy us Ramen! Ichiraku has a new flavor, I can smell it!"
"Fine, fine, Katsumi, get your shoes on and we'll go eat."
Smiling, she ran inside before laying the senbon on her and Naruto's dresser. Grabbing her sandals before running outside.
End Dreamscape
-x-x-x-
Kakashi felt fresher than he'd anticipated when he woke up the next morning. Chancing a glance in Katsumi's direction, he found she was curled up asleep with aalready gone. A journal lay tucked tightly iunder the blanketn her arms with and another of her many containers opened beside her his mat. This one smelled of lavender, and so he felt no need in asking her as what it was as he reached across and flipped it over. Now that he knew she labeled them all, like any intelligent person would, he placed it down once his curiosity was sated. Reaching over to the journal, he placed his hand on it but paused thoughtfully. 'I doubt she's the type to lay her feelings out on paper. What are the chances it'll have anything in there about her thoughts on Genma? On another note, do I really want to delve into a twelve-year-old girls mind?' He shook his head, "No, I really don't." Standing and , quietly making his way downstairs, he made sure that he didn't wake the sleeping blonde as she still needed to recover from her own follyglanced around for the blonde who should still be sleeping..
"Sensei!"
"Ino, where are the others? Shikamaru and Sasuke."
Ino who was sitting across from the Bridge Builders daughter and who he assumed to be the Bridge Builders grandson, jumped up and walked towards him. "Shikamaru and Sasuke-KunThey went with Tazuna to the bridge. Why?"
'Guess Katsumi snuck off elsewhere,' he sighed, "...when they get back, we need to talk. It's about Zabuza."
"Oh," Ino frowned, "Shikamaru and Katsumi were talking about him like he might still be alive, but he's not, right Sensei?"
"Shikamaru said something about him being alive too?" Kakashi chuckled, 'I really do have quite the interesting group. Sharper than the previous Genin I've tested that have failed my standards...'
"I heard another nin showed up and killed him,"
Looking at the woman, he still hadn't gotten her name, but that wasn't much of a problem for him. He made to speak when the door opened to reveal Shikamaru and Sasuke walking in with Tazuna behind them. "We were just talking about you three."
"Ah, Kakashi-Sensei, you're awake already?" Shikamaru leaned back against the wall, "I thought for sure you'd be out for another day or two, should you really be walking around already though?"
"I can't use my Sharingan for a few days, but Katsumi's aromatherapy has helped my healing along. You two, come sit down with Ino. We need to talk."
"What about Katsumi?" Ino asked, looking up the steps where the other female of their group still slept.
Shikamaru smirked, "I can go kick her out of bed, I don't mind."
"I'm sure you don't," Kakashi looked curiously at Shikamaru, "I can't tell if you and she are close friends or...deadly enemies."
"Tch, whatever."
"She already knows what I'm going to say. I spoke to her yesterday about it. Just let her sleep. I need all of you at your best. On that note, she's not upstairs or anywhere else in the house."
"She's gone!? Wait, she slipped past you?" Sasuke looked genuinely shocked.
"She had Lavender opened up beside me. It's a sleep aid, so I'm not too surprised that I didn't wake up. I'm not too worried, sit down."
Sitting down next to one another, Sasuke and Shikamaru gave their undivided attention to their Sensei as he explained his and Katsumi's theory on Zabuza.
-x-x-x-
"There's still a slight tightness, and that purple and blue is just..." Katsumi sighed, "I'll wrap it," later. even as she said this, she was pulling out a roll of white wrap, bringing it above her knee cap before going around and around till she past the bruise that took up a good portion of her knee. She continued till she was a few inches from her ankle before snapping the wrap and tying it tightly. "No one needs to know." She stood up and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet before grinning and grabbing her brush from her bag.
Sitting on the large rock she'd found in her exploring of the Land of the Waves; she enjoyed the heat on her skin before pulling from her back pocket the velvet blue wrap that held five senbon neatly tucked away. "Some light practice won't kill me.""Oh goodness, you Shinobi are quite the quick healers!"
Katsumi glanced over her shoulder at the woman, "I failed to catch your name last time, what was it?"
"Tsunami, I actually think I only introduced myself to your teammates while they were downstairs. My son, Inari, you'll see him around while you're here."
Nodding, she left her hair down once it was brushed and flipped her brush in the air towards her open bag. "Where are Kakashi-Sensei and the others?"
"They went into the forest since there's no building quite yet."
"No building?"
"Ah, I'm not sure what's been happening, honestly. I think it all comes down to fear."
"Well, fear is healthy, and inevitable. So long as you don't allow it to paralyze you, it can only make you stronger." She left the woman standing in the doorway of the house as she went in search of her team. She wasn't there to make friends and being asleep meant she was falling behind the Uchiha survivor. That wasn't acceptable. 'Not like he's my rival or anything, I just can't stand to fall behind! Oh...' she sighed, "starting to sound like Ino." She stopped at tree and looked at it.
~Flashback~
"Katsu, haven't you had enough?"
"...I'm not tired yet. I still have so much to learn..." Katsumi pulled in a deep breath as she tried to gather her strength back in her hands and arms. Looking at the tree across from her, eight Kunai were scattered in a nearly perfect line, but not quite perfect enough. She glanced back as a hand settled on her shoulder. Naruto was grinning down at her. Laughing, at what? She wasn't sure, but his laughter was infectious as she smiled back up at him and laughed. Sooner or later, the two were near tears in their jovial state as they laughed back to back on the ground, holding one another up as they sat down against the other.
"Hey, Katsumi. You can take a break when you feel tired. Don't push yourself. You'll get to where you want to be, but not if you make yourself sick in the process. Rest is just as important."
"I know, but if I rest too much, if I take too many breaks. I'll fall behind."
Leaning back, he put too much weight on his left and fell against the ground beside his sister as he stared up into her confused blue orbs, he chuckled, "fall behind who?"
"Everyone. You, Kiba and Chouji..."
"What about Shikamaru?"
Katsumi raised a brow, "Sleepy Shikamaru? Not likely...but...still..." she looked up at the sky and lay back. The two stared up at the stars twinkling above them, "think they can see us?"
"Mom and dad?" Naruto smiled, "yeah, I know they can. They're watching us right now, Katsumi. Mom, I bet she is thinking about how tired you look. Dad might be cheering you on though! Oh, and Mom would probably scold him for not taking it seriously..."
Katsumi looked at her brother at the catch in his voice. A sparkle in the night caught her eyes as she watched a tear fall along his cheek. Still, he was smiling. "I'm tired, Naruto...I don't need to push myself; I'll get there when I get there. For now, let's go inside and sleep. After all, we wouldn't want Mom and Dad to worry."
"Yeah..."
~End Flashback~
'...' she glanced up at the sky and a cool wind played lightly with her hair, "you think I'mI won't pushing myself too far.?" She was sure she sounded crazy, yet somehow, aAs the wind grew slightly stronger, she couldn't help but laugh. Smiling into the breeze, "Sorry...Mom, Dad, but you'll have to watch me grow like this. I can't keep still, so keep your eyes on me, and I promise...I won't let either of you down."
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Me: Here is chapter sixteen of Then There Were Two. I wonder how many people are still interested in this story. I'll keep writing it, naturally, but I just wonder about silly things like this. Those who were around 10 years ago have moved on, making lives of their own as they get married, have kids and so on. Wah...anyways. Read, Review, Send Love Through~!