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-
I think I like that you seem sincere,
I think I'd like to get to know you a little bit more.
I think there's something more,
life's worth living for.
Who knows what could happen,
do what you do, just keep on laughing.
One thing's true, there's always a brand-new day.
I'm gonna live today like it's my last day.
- Who Knows (Avril Lavigne)
-x-x-x-
"Ah, my trios on the move so early?" Katsumi looked at the sand siblings from the window of the eatery she and Genma sat at. Genma who was across from her, stared after the three as he also watched them leave the inn that they were staying at.
"Early risers,"
She smiled at that, "reminds me, I haven't seen Naruto since I got back last night. He wasn't at home."
"He left with Jiraiya about a week ago."
"I'm sorry, Jiraiya? Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"
Genma smirked, "he's one of Konoha's legendary three."
"...legendary three?" She rolled the words around in her head a bit before her eyes widened in her realization. Standing in her surprise, her hands slammed down on the table as she yelled out her conclusion, "he's one of the Legendary Sannin!?"
"Yep," he motioned with his hand for Katsumi to take a seat and raised a brow as he caught sight of two of her teammates walking into the restaurant.
"Wow, insane!" She fell back into her seat and dropped her cheek into her hand, elbow positioned on the table to keep her stable. "Naturally, while I'm away in the Land of the Waves, Naruto's being scouted by Legendary Sannin for training. What great timing."
"I acknowledge your sarcasm, but it does you little good with me. Why not save it for Jiraiya and your brother."
She gave a half roll of her eyes when she heard a chuckle from behind her. "Ino!" Turning to meet the platinum blonde on her team, she moved over as both Ino and Shikamaru found places in the same booth as her. "Whoa, okay, I'm scooting..." she gave Shikamaru a look which he chose to ignore in favor a stealing her soda and a straw. All the while, his eyes kept Genma's occupied. The older male watched with mild amusement at Shikamaru's attempt at intimidating him. "Ino, congratulations on winning your match! Must have been trying."
Ino smiled, "fighting Sakura, I had to look at myself and the kind of Kunoichi I wanted to be. While in the Forest of Death, I decided that, I really want to take up medical ninjutsu. After our match, Sakura and I both talked about it, and we are thinking of pursuing these lessons together. It's no secret that Sakura's smarter than I am, but I really want this."
Katsumi smiled, "that's a spirited goal. Mind if I join the two of you on your medical journey?"
Ino laughed at that, "I wouldn't tell you "no" Katsumi. Honestly, I think every three-man team needs a Medically trained shinobi."
"Takes too long to train efficient and experienced Shinobi in the way of Medical Ninjutsu. It won't ever get passed the council," Genma tapped his senbon on the table, eyeing the tip in thought, "it's been brought up several times. If they do agree, it will be hastily and sloppily done. Only one person is competent enough to train the Shinobi of Konoha in effective Medical Ninjutsu."
"Who's that?"
"Lady Tsunade, the only female of the Legendary Three Sannin. She left Konoha years ago." He sighed, "but it's certainly a good concept."
Ino's shoulders fell. "I guess that was a bit ambitious of me."
Genma shook his head, "don't get like that. All mopey and such. If you want it bad enough, you need to fight for it."
Shikamaru put Katsumi's drink down and sighed, "what a pain. It's like you said though. Village council would hardly consider the notion. It's been tried several times over by, what I'm sure, were more accomplished Shinobi."
Katsumi looked at Genma and Shikamaru from where she held Ino's hand. The two looked to be annoyed with one another, but neither said anything concerning their obvious irritation with the other. Genma popped his Senbon in his mouth and smirked in that way that always drew her in and had her heart skipping a beat. Feeling her cheeks heat up a bit, she quickly redirected her eyes to the window and continued staring at the villagers in her line of sight.
"This village wasn't built on ideals that fell through and were left forgotten. It was built from the ground up by Shinobi who had the courage to pursue their dreams." Genma looked at Katsumi, "don't linger too long, Katsumi, you still have somewhere that you need to be."
Katsumi nodded and watched him in the reflection of the glass as he stood and vacated the restaurant. Paying the woman that had been serving them food and drinks.
"Damn! I can't stand that guy! He's worse than Sasuke..." Shikamaru dropped his head on his hand. "What do you see in him?"
"Well, maturity is attractive, and then...consideration, intelligence, easy to talk to...he's always been there for me. I'm under the impression that he always will be. Maybe I'm being childish, and nothing will ever come from it, but then..." she stood and slid out of the booth, catching Shikamaru's eyes as she did, "I don't give up on my ambitious dreams."
Ino and Shikamaru watched her leave in the opposite direction of Genma. Ino sighed, "why is it, despite her looking at you while saying that, it felt like she was saying it to me?"
"Humph, I don't know. Women are all the same. Troublesome, every single one of them."
-x-x-x-
Katsumi caught up to the siblings and smiled. They were easy to spot, which made them easy to follow. Catching a low hanging branch, she flipped up and settled herself a way out of their sights. 'From here on, you three are my responsibility, so try not to do anything that will get you in trouble...'
"Baki still hasn't come back. I wonder what's keeping him."
"It's a bit worrisome, but he can take care of himself, right Gaara?"
Katsumi raised a brow at the red head that looked to be her age. Laying down on the branch, she rested her head precariously on the branch and was quick to stabilize her balance with her chakra. When she peered back up and over the leaves, her eyes widened. 'Ah! He's gone!'
"Gaara?!"
"Damn, he took off!"
"Kankuro, let's go back to the inn, we'll wait for Gaara and Baki there."
"...right."
Katsumi frowned and glanced around the clearing, eyes trailing towards the trees in the vicinity and any place that she herself might consider hiding. "Where did he go?"
"Behind you,"
Her body went rigid with fear as she turned around only to come face to face with the red head who was upside down on the branch further above hers. Not able to stop herself, she stumbled backwards in shock and screamed as gravity grew closer to her. "AAH!"
-x-x-x-
Me: Here is chapter 27 of Then There Were Two. I know a number of you are looking for Naruto centric chapters, and I promise you, he'll come in again and be more heavily included later on, but this is a story that centers mostly around Katsumi, my OC. I normally don't write OC's, but I really wanted to try.