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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This is what you want, to belong, so they like you.
Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard,
you don't have to, give it all away.
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up,
you don't have to change a single thing.

- Try (Colbie Caillat)

-x-x-x-

Bringing her hands up to Haku's chest, she pushed hard but found the woman unmovable. When she leaned back, their lips separating, Katsumi finally screamed out in her frustration. "What were you thinking?!"

Haku chuckled, "I was curious, forgive me."

"C-curious?! I'm curious about a lot of things, but that doesn't mean I just do them!" She felt her cheeks burning and closed her eyes as she dropped her head forward.

Haku's hand was wrapped around the wrist of the hand on her chest, looking down curiously at the top of Katsumi's head, she smiled. "Was it so bad?"

"No...I mean, being kissed by a girl...and it was my first kiss! That's so...so...UHG! I was saving my first kiss for..." she lifted her head and sighed heavily, "never mind. I guess it doesn't matter." Her cheeks were alit with a red hue as she averted her eyes from Haku's.

"Oh, there seems to be a misunderstanding. Katsumi, I'm a boy."

"...a boy?" She realized the harsh reality that he was about ten times more stunning than any female she'd ever seen and shook her head of the fact. "That doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't go around kissing people just because you're curious. Why me? I'm your enemy..."

"No, at least, you aren't mine."

"KATSUMI!"

Her eyes widened and she knocked Haku away as a Kunai shot between them. The boy flipped back and landed carefully on his feet before turning to see Sasuke standing on a tree branch. "Sasuke?"

"Get away from her!"

"..." Haku smiled and walked away as he grabbed for his basket. "Another day, Katsumi."

She nodded blankly as she watched Haku retreat. Hearing grass give way under pressure, she turned to see an annoyed Sasuke standing to her right and rolled her eyes. "Really, what was that about?"

"Tch, you're clueless."

"Excuse you?!" She pushed herself up off the ground and pointed at the tree behind her, "at least it doesn't take me a whole day to master sticking to a tree! Calling me clueless...and why the heck did you throw a Kunai?!" She picked the weapon up off the ground and glared heatedly at Sasuke, "this could have actually hit one of us!"

"Who was that?"

"...his name is Haku."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "that was a guy?!"

She laughed, "yeah," she poked him with the Kunai, drawing a drop of blood with his own weapon as he took it back from her. "I'm assuming you came here for me?"

"I came to get in some extra training, if you aren't too tired."

Oh, she just knew she was going to regret this. "Of course I'm not!"

-x-x-x-

(That Evening)

Katsumi felt the groaning ache in her body as she dragged herself back through the door. Coming face to hat with the small grandson of the bridge builder. She acknowledged his glare and rolled her eyes. "What's up kiddo, did I do something to upset you?"

"All of you Ninja should hurry up and leave. Gato will kill you all..."

"Wow, great vote of confidence. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were rooting for Gato."

"What!?" The kid turned and grabbed at her wrist as the door opened again to reveal Sasuke. He looked on curiously at the scene but didn't bother to intervene. "You don't know anything about us! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!"

Ino and Shikamaru peered curiously around the dining room wall.

She yanked her arm towards her, when he didn't let go, she pushed it irritably backwards and threw him back into Sasuke who caught him in surprise. All the while, Kakashi and Tsunami had just come downstairs. "Like you said, I know nothing about you or your land. The same, however, can be said for you! Saying Gato will kill me?! Let him try! I won't be killed so easily." She brought a hand up, watching the kid as he tightly closed his eyes. She sighed and brought it down on his head, "what's the point of living in fear of what might happen? If you never do anything, you're only giving up. I can't...give...up!" Bringing a finger to the tears that fell from his eyes, she felt annoyance rage up inside her, "I don't have enough time in my life, to cry for every bad thing that's happened to me. All that I can do...is keep moving forward." She straightened up and left the boy to stare after her. Where she went? Everyone assumed upstairs to her room, but when Ino and Shikamaru who had been listening from the kitchen, followed her, she was gone.

-x-x-x-

Katsumi was staring down at Inari. She didn't say anything to him when he came out. He'd finally stopped crying and she didn't want to get into it with him anymore than she already had. The story of his father-like figure dying by Gato's men had reached her ears a couple days ago, but was she really supposed to just listen to him scream about how she and her teammates were going to die if they continued to fight? She couldn't do that! Not to them, and not to herself! What would Naruto say!? 'Naruto wouldn't have been happy either. Probably would have called him a crybaby...but...' she closed her eyes and recalled the times that she and Naruto would be held up in the apartment, crying over the mistreatment that came from the villagers. Verbal insults and physical attacks. Rocks being slung at them and dirty looks. Yeah, yeah, she knew what it was like. She hated it then, thinking back on it, she hated it now. That's why. 'That's why I'll never let myself give up. Naruto and I...we will show everyone that we aren't the monsters they claimed we were.'

Reaching down, she snapped open her weapons pouch and pulled two senbon from it. Staring curiously at it, she replayed the attack on Zabuza in her head. Haku was amazing, but she was also quite talented with the Senbon. She didn't just watch Genma train. She practiced hard with his choice weapon too. After all...she wanted him to notice her.

"Got a minute?"

She perked up and listened to the soft padding of sandals. The voice, she recognized as Kakashi.

"The other day, your grandfather told us about your father. Katsumi...she and her brother grew up without a father...actually, they only had one another for the longest time. Growing up without either of their parents, the village had turned their backs on them and with all that...a few friends were pulled from the heartache they were constantly forced to endure. You know, I've never seen her cry or sulk about it though. Don't get me wrong. She'll cry her heart out if she doesn't get to train, but when it comes down to her past...the hardships that she faced...she'll never give up. Watching her, she's always chasing after something I can't see. Eager to prove herself to the world. Hardworking, she pushes herself, probably further than I should let her...but I also can't stop her."

She pocketed the senbon and continued listening to her Sensei.

"Her dream...coincides with her brothers. Being able to stay by his side and protect him...she'll risk everything for that dream. If I had to wager on it, I'd say...Katsumi...just got fed up with crying. She'd rather do something stupid and drastic, than do nothing at all."

Katsumi rolled her eyes, 'I don't think I'm that drastic...'

"Despite her age, she already understands what it means to be strong. I made the mistake of thinking her ambition childish, when in fact...it's truly not. Like your father...Katsumi gets it. Putting everything on the line, for the people you love and care for. She'd risk it all...to protect. No matter what she says, her actions will always betray her. That's why, I think she understand the most, what it is you are feeling. What she said earlier..."

"If you never do anything, you're only giving up. I can't...give...up!"

"She's probably told herself over, and over again."

"I don't have enough time in my life, to cry for every bad thing that's happened to me. All that I can do...is keep moving forward."

"Force feeding it to herself desperately, day in and day out."

'...damn...Kakashi-Sensei...you talk too much.' She rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes. The next morning would come soon enough, she needed to sleep if she wanted to train more.

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Me: Here is chapter 19! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you think!