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Chapter 2: Siblings

Our siblings. They resemble us just enough to make all their differences confusing, and no matter what we choose to make of this, we are cast in relation to them our whole lives long.

~Susan Scarf Merrell

Naruto sighed as he let his head drop forward so that it was hanging against his chest, his eyes closed as he tuned out Iruka's yells of anger and frustration. His arms and legs were tied up, and he didn't even dare look at the class, knowing he'd see those violet-blue eyes rolling in exasperation. Iruka's words floated in at random intervals, and Naruto supposed that if he had been really listening, they would form an actual sentence.

Why…such…troublemaker?

Well that should be obvious…why else would twelve-year-olds do things that they find amusing? It was fun. But that excuse never worked with teachers like Iruka, who thought that ninja were always supposed to be focused and calm, so Naruto racked his brain for a proper justification.

Hmm…maybe this time it should be because he was a socially deprived and overall isolated child who felt that he needed to create a ruckus throughout the village in order to get attention.

Well, that was partially true at least. The attention was nice, even if it was negative. But socially deprived? What nonsense.

Maybe he could blame it on Kazuki somehow…that little annoying sister had it coming to her after all. When his father had said that she would maybe surpass her older brother, Naruto never imagined that that could ever possibly occur.

And yet somehow, somehow…Kazuki had proved herself skilled enough to enter the Academy just a few months after Naruto and Sasuke had begun classes. People were calling her a genius, saying ridiculous things like you can definitely tell that she's the Hokage's daughter, or just like her father, and a genius like her father…it made Naruto so angry. Why couldn't he have been the one gifted with Dad's skills? Why was he just…pushed aside like some washed up version with similar hair and eyes?

How could they just pass over him like that? He was the Hokage's son too, and he was still more skilled than Kazuki! But just because she was younger than everyone in their class, people got all uppity and freaked out over how great she was.

It made Naruto want to throw up.

The only one who really understood how he felt was Sasuke, and if it weren't for his kind presence and quiet understanding Naruto would've snapped a long time ago. It wasn't that he felt that his parents and friends didn't support him…it was just that even Dad constantly praised Kazuki, and it was him who said that as long as Naruto was himself, people would always be proud of him.

No one was proud of him now, but Naruto was past having any shame in doing what he wanted. If no on wanted to notice him, he'd make it so they had to notice. He loved doing pranks, because they made him happy. But no one ever noticed that. They thought he was just trying to make trouble. He just wanted someone to notice him for something other than how poorly he did on tests and exams.

His cerulean eyes were scowling as he struggled half-heartedly against the bonds that tied him, and that made Iruka even angrier, and the teacher launched into a whole other lecture on how his lack of respect made him a bad example. Naruto smirked, and settled down to bask in the attention he was getting. This must be a record; Iruka had never paid this much notice to him before. It was to the point where if Iruka yelled the name Uzumaki, Naruto didn't even turn, knowing that the teacher was talking to his sister, telling her how perfect she was…

Naruto knew that he was a knucklehead a good 90% of the time, but that was just who he was. He was driven to be great, and his dream of becoming Hokage only pushed him harder to becoming a good ninja.

Iruka's voice suddenly came to him, and his words made Naruto's blood run cold.

"Naruto, ninja who goof off all the time don't become Hokage. In fact, your sister is more qualified at this point to become Hokage than you are!"

Naruto's eyes turned into icy shards of dark cerulean. Something snapped inside his mind, and his vision was tinted red for the briefest second. How…dare he! Kazuki wasn't like him; she didn't have the drive he did! How could she even think of becoming Hokage?

His eyes glanced to the crowd, and he gaped in horror as he saw his younger sister, her long red hair pulled back in a ponytail, smiling slightly in pleasure, blushing in embarrassment when everyone's eyes locked onto her. That smug…that arrogant…

With a silent growl he easily cut away the bonds surrounding him, standing slowly and with deadly precision. Iruka seemed surprised that Naruto had cut himself free so easily, and Naruto snarled.

"Shut up about stupid Kazuki! If she's so good, then just make her Hokage already! Stop going on and on about how damn skilled and promising she is! I'm sick of it! You say that all of us are equal and all have fair chances to be great, but that's the biggest pile of crap I've ever heard in my life! Go screw yourself, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto flipped him off and stalked towards the door, his shoulders shaking and his hands clenched into such tight fists that blood dripped down his hands. Iruka's face was pale in shock, but it tightened in anger after seeing Naruto's hand gesture.

"Naruto! We're not finished here!"

"Well I am! Don't worry, I'll clean up the statues…so there's nothing more to talk about that you haven't already revealed to the entire class. It's funny, with everyone else, you pull them aside and talk to them in private. It makes it less embarrassing for them. But with me…you don't give a damn about my feelings, because I'm not like perfect little Kazu-chan, am I?"

Naruto didn't wait for an answer as he kicked open the door, leaving it to slam with a deafening crack as he stormed out. Naruto started running, and his heart pounded as he let the grief overtake him. Voices called out after him, but the blonde ignored them, running through the yard and jumping up onto the roofs of the houses, running towards the Hokage tower. If scrubbing the wall so hard that his fingers bled didn't distract him, nothing would.

What was the point of trying to beat her? Ignoring her didn't work either, because she always found a way to needle her way into everything he did. She seemed set out to ruin his life, always trying to hang out with him and Sasuke, always trying to do better than him, seeming disappointed when she did.

Naruto's face contorted as he tried to control his emotions, but he had never been good at controlling his feelings, and a sob filled his throat as angry tears started to fall.

Kushina rubbed her temples with her fingers, violent-blue eyes tense and her face sad as she listened to Iruka's report of what had occurred in class that day. She could tell that the teacher was very hurt by Naruto's words, and tried to explain that her son was just going through a phase.

But was it a phase?

Naruto was the light of her life, and no matter how much she loved Kazuki, Naruto was the baby who bore the marks of the Kyuubi, and the child that she had risked her life to protect. Naruto was the son that would've been burdened with the Kyuubi if Kushina and her husband had died.

Naruto was the child that reminded Kushina of herself when she was young, and with that personality also carried the tendency to speak before thinking over their words first. But what Naruto had said in class…that wasn't at all like his usual self. Naruto was usually bubbly, competitive, and an overall happy person. But whenever Kazuki was involved…he turned into something else. He was so stuck on Kazuki's skills that his mind shorted out…and he began to eat away at himself in resentment.

Kushina hated to see Naruto go through this, because she knew that there was nothing she could do but try and ease the bitterness that Naruto had against Kazuki.

Little did Naruto know, but every time after Naruto and Kazuki had a big fight – at least once a week – Kazuki woke up screaming in the middle of the night. When Minato and Kushina rushed in to see what was wrong, she wouldn't speak, and her eyes would be wide and full of tears. The panic in her expression was so terrible that it made Kushina's heart ache. Before her parent's could comfort her, Kazuki dashed out of her room and ran over to her older brother's room across the hall. She always yanked open the door, and stared at Naruto's sleeping form – the boy could sleep through anything – on the bed for several long moments. Then, her face would relax, and she would slowly return to bed, pulling the covers up and going straight to sleep.

The girl never told Kushina what her dreams consisted of, but Kushina knew that it had something to do with the well being of her brother, who Kazuki claimed she hated, but in truth loved dearly.

Kazuki was actually envious of Naruto, of his ability to get along with others, of his bold confidence and his inability to admit defeat. The girl wanted so badly to make her brother see her as an equal, but what she didn't realize was that Naruto only got more resentful the more she excelled. Naruto didn't have the brains that Minato had passed down to Kazuki, and so while Naruto didn't do very well on tests and exams, Kazuki excelled at not only that, but at physical tests as well. It made the bridge between them even greater.

Iruka finished his explanation, and after a few more apologies Kushina left his office, and headed out towards where her son was currently working. It was already sunset, and yet when she looked up towards the cliffs, she saw a yellow haired boy still scrubbing at the red paint that formed the insulting marks on the Hokage faces.

Kushina sighed, and stared at her son for a few long minutes before turning to walk towards their home.

Naruto needed time alone, and Kushina was going to give it to him, even if it hurt her to do it.

The sun continued to sink towards the horizon, and the air was cooling slowly but surely, preparing for the night of the full moon.

Naruto, after he was done washing the cliff faces, went to sit on one of the small ledges that were scattered along the Hokage tower, his feet dangling over the edge and his arms holding the bars wistfully as he stared out over the village of Konoha.

It was sunset, and the crimson-orange light made everything seem vibrant and beautiful, but Naruto was too lost in his thoughts to notice. He didn't hear the footsteps of a ninja, and turned in surprise to see one of the chuunins who hung out at the Academy, Mizuki, standing there. His silver hair hung in his eyes, and his eyes were kind as he seated himself beside the blonde.

"Tough day, huh, Naruto?"

Naruto scowled, and leaned against the bars. "Yeah. I just…don't get what's so special about Kazuki…what does she have that I don't?"

Mizuki sighed sympathetically. "She is remarkable, isn't she?"

"It makes me sick."

Mizuki's eyes flashed at the anger in his tone, and a small smile crossed his lips. "You know, Naruto…there's a way you can surpass Kazuki. In a way that she'll never be able to match."

Naruto's eyes lit up, and a grin spread across his lips. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"What can I do?"

Mizuki smiled, and his eyes gleamed in the light of the fading sun. Naruto didn't notice the malicious satisfaction that flitted across the chuunin's face, and listened as Mizuki told him what to do.

Naruto slowly stuck a kunai through the lock of the Forbidden Jutsu Archive, and grinned mischievously when the lock sprung open almost silently. The boy glanced around, sighing in relief when no alarms went off and no one appeared in the hallway. The boy stole into the room, and stared at the walls of scrolls that were stored in wooden slots. The larger ones were near to the floor, and Naruto scanned along the bottom as he searched for the scroll that Mizuki had described to him.

Naruto's eyes locked on one scroll in particular, and he recognized it as the one Mizuki had described, and with a quick glance around, grabbed it and ran out of the room.

The window was still open from where Naruto had entered, and the boy darted out, closing the window carefully behind him. With a cackle, Naruto ran towards the woods, glancing back to make sure that no one had noticed. He saw nothing, but something red caught his eye, and he turned to his right hurriedly, cerulean eyes scanning furiously. But there was nothing there, and Naruto continued to the forest without another thought.

Kazuki gasped as she saw her brother come out of the Hokage tower window with a large scroll in hand, and quickly ducked behind the concrete wall when Naruto looked her way. Her heart pounded as she heard him running through the grass, and peeked out to see her brother running towards the forest.

Sasuke was crouched beside her, and his pale face was glowing slightly in the light of the full moon.

Kazuki hissed. "I told you that Naruto was up to something, Sasuke! I noticed that Naruto didn't come home after finishing cleaning up the Hokage faces, and Mom and Dad told me that he was probably out thinking and needed time to himself."

"And so, of course, you disregarded their advice to leave him alone and followed him. Why am I not surprised?" Sasuke muttered, his dark eyes thoughtful as the two of them watched Naruto disappear into the forest.

"Well, I know Naruto better than that. He's not the type to go off and brood, and then come home quietly without doing anything. That's more your style."

"Hey!"

Kazuki giggled at Sasuke's glare of indignation, and whispered. "What should we do?"

Sasuke frowned. "Well, we probably should go call the Hokage, and–"

"I didn't say what we should do as ninja-to-be, I asked what we should do as his best friend and his sister!"

"Well, in that case…we should follow him. Maybe we can find out what he's doing with a forbidden scroll." Sasuke muttered, and the two of them were about to dart out from behind the wall when a tall chuunin slunk out from behind the outer edge of the tower, and Sasuke pulled Kazuki back as the light of the moon lit up Mizuki's face.

"What's he doing here?" Kazuki whispered, and Sasuke shushed her as Mizuki glanced their way at the sound. After a moment, Mizuki shook his head, and looked towards the woods where Naruto had disappeared. Kazuki and Sasuke watched as Mizuki grinned in anticipation, and disappeared. Sasuke relaxed as the chuunin vanished, and Kazuki struggled to get out of Sasuke's restraining arms to dash after the chuunin and her brother. Sasuke sighed, and followed her.

The Uchiha and Namikaze ran for several minutes, darting behind trees whenever they heard the sound of Mizuki's footsteps. Kazuki's face was pinched in worry, and Sasuke ran close to her, smiling in encouragement.

"Sasuke, do you think he really…hates me?"

"No. I don't. Naruto's just angry that people are paying so much attention to you. But he's not a vengeful person…so he'll get over it eventually."

"I just want to make him see that I'm not just silly little Kazu-chan who can't do anything by herself. I want him to see me as…someone he can rely on."

"He does rely on you, Kazuki. It's just that you're his only little sister, and his job is to protect you no matter what. Trust me, I know from personal experience."

Kazuki nodded, and the two suddenly saw Naruto's blonde head through a gap in the undergrowth. Mizuki was standing there, and Naruto looked up from his reading of the scroll.

"Mizuki!"

"So…you got the scroll, Naruto."

"Yeah! I only managed to learn the first technique, but–"

Naruto suddenly stopped, and Kazuki gasped as she saw what had made her brother pause. Mizuki was twirling a large kunai around one finger lazily, and Sasuke tensed at the smug smirk that crossed the chuunin's face.

"I thought that it would be a bit harder to convince you, Naruto…but I'm surprised! You're as pathetic and gullible as you look! This must be my lucky day. I kill you, take the scroll…and no one's the wiser."

Naruto's eyes widened, and the scroll fell to the ground as he scrambled backwards. "What do you mean, you said that this was to help me surpass Kazuki!"

Kazuki stiffened at her brother's words, and Sasuke's eyes flickered upwards at the sign of movement. A clone of Mizuki was creeping up behind Naruto, one of his large shuriken that were strapped to his back in hand. Kazuki yelled, bursting out from the bushes.

"Behind you, Naruto!"

Naruto turned to see Mizuki swinging at him, and the chuunin was inches from slicing Naruto's neck when a dark blur suddenly blocked the shuriken with a kunai. Sasuke struggled under the weight of Mizuki's weapon, but managed to hold his own for a few moments, giving Kazuki time to drag her older brother out of the way.

Mizuki smiled wickedly, and suddenly the other clone grabbed Sasuke from behind, and the Uchiha boy twisted harshly to kick Mizuki in the jaw, making the chuunin recoil. But with a snarl, Sasuke was sent flying into a tree trunk, and Kazuki flinched at the sound of Sasuke's head colliding sharply with the wood. Sasuke went limp, and crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Naruto's eyes flashed at the sight, and the boy leapt at Mizuki.

"You bastard!"

The clone smirked, and took Naruto on while the other came for Kazuki.

"One death, three deaths, there's not much of a difference to me as long as I get the scroll."

Kazuki paled as she saw Mizuki approaching her, and glared as best she could, shifting into her fighting stance that her father had taught her. Her violet-blue eyes were scared though, at the thought of trying to hold her own against this skilled chuunin.

Mizuki leapt at her, and Kazuki dodged the best she could, her eyes widening at the sight of a kunai in his hand. His foot collided with her arms, which rose to defend her chest, and Kazuki felt pain shooting through her body as she was sent flying across the rough ground, rolling and flipping to a stop, and when she did stop she caught a glimpse of Mizuki before an orange clad arm slammed into the chuunin's gut, and a furious voice yelled.

"Get away from my sister! I'll kick your ass!"

Kazuki, slowly rising to her knees, watched in shock as Naruto crouched in front of her protectively. Her brother's fists clenched and his eyes flames of rage as Mizuki smiled, sickeningly sweet.

"Oh, how sweet. A pathetic brother protecting his prodigy of a sister."

Kazuki bit her lip angrily, tasting blood as she yelled. "Naruto is not pathetic! You're the one who's pathetic, Mizuki! Beating up on kids who aren't even genin yet! You call yourself a chuunin?"

Naruto turned to grin at her, and Kazuki gave her brother the thumbs up, grinning at the surprised light in her brother's eyes.

"Kick his butt, Big Brother!"

Naruto smirked, and with a new energy put his hands together in a few unfamiliar seals. Suddenly, with a huge bang, at least a hundred clones appeared in the trees around the clearing. Kazuki gasped at all of them, and Mizuki's face paled as he stared around at the multitude of solid clones.

One of the clones that were standing on the branches of the nearest tree grinned. "Well, you all heard the lady, let's get him!"

Kazuki felt herself picked up by familiar arms, and suddenly she was beside Sasuke, the real Naruto beside her as they watched Mizuki scream in pain as a hundred angry Naruto's pounded into him. Naruto was beaming at his work, and Kazuki gaped in shock as – some time later – the clones disappeared to reveal a bruised and unconscious Mizuki who looked like he had seen better days. Much better days.

"That was the jutsu you learned?"

Naruto scratched his head at her awed tone, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, it's called Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Wow…that's awesome!"

Naruto glanced at her hesitantly. "You really think so?"

"Yeah!"

Naruto grinned, and the smile faded from his face as something crossed his mind. "Kazuki…I'm sorry for being such an ass today. I just wish that I was as good as you, and–"

Kazuki giggled, and it made Naruto stop in confusion. "Naruto…you really are an idiot."

"What?"

"You managed to sneak into the Hokage tower, get out without anyone noticing, and defeat a chuunin with a super-cool jutsu that no one else in our class knows! I could never do that. I'd be too scared that I would get caught."

Naruto grinned proudly. "Yeah, I was pretty good, wasn't I?"

"I expected nothing less from the great Naru-baka!"

"Very funny, Kazu-chan."

A groan pulled them from their teasing, and they glanced over to see that Sasuke was stirring. The boy didn't wake, and Kazuki giggled nervously.

"Oops. I forgot that Sasuke was here…"

"So did I!" Naruto laughed, and Kazuki glanced around with pursed lips. The clearing was empty, and the only sound was the wind blowing through the trees.

"What do we do now?" The girl asked, and Naruto rubbed his head in thought.

"Uh…"

"Naruto, Kazuki!" A voice yelled, and the two siblings jumped a foot in the air at the sudden sound. They turned to see their father running from out of the trees, with Itachi and a few other ninja right behind him. The Hokage's eyes widened at the sight of the opened scroll, and at the thoroughly beaten up Mizuki. Sasuke was just waking up, and he blinked blurrily as Itachi rushed over to him.

"Sasuke, are you alright?"

Sasuke blinked, and shook his head with a grimace. "Just…a bit fuzzy. I'm okay. What…happened?" The Uchiha boy looked over at Kazuki and Naruto, who glanced at each other nervously.

"Um…" Kazuki muttered, twiddling her thumbs and glancing at her older brother, who was biting his lip in guilty shame.

"What. Happened?" Their father spoke coolly, and the two flinched at his stern tone.

"Dad, what happened was…I was angry at Kazuki, and Mizuki told me that if I brought the scroll out here and learned a few jutsus from it, I would learn things she would never know. I was stupid…I'm sorry…" Naruto sniffed at the cold expression his father held, and Kazuki stood.

"It wasn't his fault, Dad. Mizuki tricked Naruto, and Sasuke and me followed them here, and ran in as Mizuki was trying to kill him. Mizuki said that he was going to get rid of Naruto and run away with the scroll."

Sasuke nodded, slowly sitting up with the help of his older brother. "Yeah, and then he knocked me into a tree."

The Hokage sighed in relief, and knelt beside his children, engulfing them in a warm hug. Naruto clung to his father, and Kazuki felt her eyes filling with tears as their father whispered.

"Thank god…you all were lucky that Mizuki didn't kill you."

Kazuki grinned, and pulled back to point to Naruto. "Yeah, Naruto protected me, and kicked Mizuki's butt using a clone jutsu he leaned in t–"

Naruto shushed her, and their father's eyebrow rose in silent question, but after a moment he shook his head, standing and rolling up the scroll that was by a tree. The Hokage tucked it under one arm, and put his other arm around Naruto's shoulders.

"I don't want to know. All I care about is that you two watched out for each other, and for that I couldn't be prouder."

Kazuki beamed, and Naruto slowly smiled back at her.

The two siblings faced each other, and Naruto grinned, holding out his fist.

"You're not too bad of a little sister, Kazuki."

Kazuki smiled. "You're not too shabby as an older brother, Naruto."

The two bumped fists, and they laughed as their father rubbed the tops of their heads affectionately. Sasuke was standing up, and smiled at his concerned brother before moving to walk with his two friends as they made their way through the brush. The Hokage murmured something to Itachi and the others, who quickly restrained Mizuki's hands, and, with a nod to the Hokage, disappeared, Mizuki along with them. The Hokage followed behind the kids as they walked back to the main road.

Sasuke sighed, hands in his pockets, listening as Naruto groaned. "Ugh, we've got the graduation test tomorrow!"

Sasuke and Kazuki glanced at each other, and smirked to restrain their laughter at Naruto's confused frown.

"What? I'm going to fail! Clone jutsu is my worst…" A light went on in Naruto's head, and a grin spread across the boy's face. "I mean, the clone jutsu was my worst jutsu! That test is gonna be a piece of cake!"

Kazuki laughed as Naruto punched the air in excitement, and Sasuke rolled his eyes at his friend's loud yells of delight.

Sasuke smiled. "I suppose that this is the last night that we all get to fight together. We get our squads tomorrow."

Naruto frowned, and Kazuki smiled comfortingly at the Uchiha. "Don't worry, Sasuke! It'll all work out somehow!"

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah! There's still a chance that we'll all be in–"

The Hokage coughed. "Siblings can't be on the same squad…"

"Okay, scratch that. There's still a chance that you'll be on a team with either me or Kazuki, so it's not that bad!

Sasuke shook his head at his grin, and Kazuki grinned. "I'll race you two to the road!"

"I think I'll pass."

"Aw, c'mon Sasuke!"

"I got slammed in the head, I don't think that–"

Naruto grinned evilly. "Don't bother, Kazuki. Sasuke knows that I'd beat him, and so he's taking the easy way out and using a tiny bonk on the head to–"

"You're on, Dobe."

Kazuki laughed as the two boys dashed off into the brush, Naruto yelling at him as Sasuke laughed tauntingly. Kazuki ran after them, knowing that she was going to lose but still running anyway.

It felt good to run, and she smiled at the sight of her brother and his best friend pushing each other and tackling each other into the brush. She felt large hands picking her up, and she found herself on the back of her father.

"Mush!" She yelled, and the Hokage laughed loudly as he put on a bit of speed, enough to run effectively by the two running boys.

"Hey, Kazuki, no fair!"

Kazuki stuck out her tongue at them, and she laughed as the two boys ran after them, yelling and laughing as the Hokage ran ahead of them. Kazuki clung to her father, wishing that this moment would never end.

It was true, what Sasuke said. Tonight was the last night that all three of them would stand together not as ninja, not as members of a different squad…but just as friends.

The effects of time were inevitable, but Kazuki wished that life would slow down, so that she could enjoy this moment for a while longer. Because tomorrow, everything would change.

For better? For worse?

Kazuki would have to wait and see.