Uzumaki Twins

Chapter 22

~Lord Hokage's pov~

I stare out through the window. Naruto, Sakura and Chika's new teammates all gathered around Chika. They wore smiles on their faces. They were all very happy to see her and that made me smile. Thanks to their father, none of the children know that they contain demons within them. He wanted the pair of them to have friends. Only the adults are preventing that by telling them to stay away from the pair of them. I wished I had done something to prevent that from happening. But the twins appear to be progressing splendidly on their own.

'Lord Hokage…'

I turn towards the voice and see Kakashi and Hoshi. I nodded in greeting at the pair of them and look back out the window.

'How is she doing?' I asked Hoshi.

Following my line of sight, he spotted Chika. Not missing who I was talking about, he did not hesitate with his answer. 'I have heard no reason for distress from her ever since she joined the team. I feel no cause of distress either. She misses her brother but she does appear happy to be with us. Ability wise, I could not ask for a better student.'

I heard pride in his voice. I looked at him and saw that his eyes were shining with the emotion. Glad that I had supplied the right third student to him, I looked back out the window to the group just out of our reach. I knew that if I called them they would immediately respond to hear my words. But I will not overuse my title for trivial matters.

'I could ask how Naruto is fairing, but I can already gather that alone.'

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. 'He is very readable.' He too looked out the window at the older Uzumaki twin. 'But that boy strives hard for his goals, much like his sister. Many see no resemblance between the two but there is clearly one there. You just have to know where to look.'

I nodded. 'If there is any change in either of them, let me know immediately.'

'Yes, Lord Hokage!' they answered.

I walked away after a final look out the window to the most troublesome twins one could ask for. I chuckled to myself. But the pair makes this village so very lively. I don't think I have quite enjoyed myself before their birth. At least I hope I have made the correct decision in splitting the pair so they can rise as ninjas in their own time. I hope that there is not a consequence to splitting the pair away from each other.

~Chika's pov~

I had seen Lord Hokage watching me from the upper window of the tower. I made no indication to have seen them or Kakashi and Hoshi. Instead I kept focused on the people around me. Oblivious to my tension, they carried on talking.

Now that we were free to go and enjoy our time until the final round of the Chunin exams, we headed for Ichiraku Ramen. A treat I had promised to the four of them. I would have invited everyone who had been involved in the preliminary rounds, but some had been sent to the hospital ahead of us for checkups and treatment. Some I didn't want to invite and the others seemed too busy to be asked.

Arriving at the place, we sat on the stools and ordered our food with delighted and hungry gazes on our faces. The owner was indeed happy to see Naruto and me. Quite happy that Naruto had passed, he allowed the boy some extras in his Ramen and cut the price in half. It helps me with the bill so for that I was grateful. After eating our fill, me paying the whole price, we just spent a few hours together just celebrating Naruto's victory. But during that time I felt like we were being watched.

Looking around, I tried to spot where the source was coming from. Whoever it was did not want to be found and stuck close to the shadows. I know I cannot dismiss the feeling, especially not when I trained myself to be alert for these sorts of things. Can never afford to let your guard down. Not even if you're a genin and twelve years old. I'd rather be called paranoid and anxious rather than stupid or dead. Besides, if something were to happen to Naruto I would blame myself for not being on guard. I cannot afford to have a mistake like that over my conscious. I don't want anything happening to him. I don't think I would survive if something were to happen to him.

'Kuro…?'

I looked at my brother. Worry filled his blue eyes. I smiled reassuringly. But my twin didn't believe it for a moment. The others did and they kept on walking but he stayed behind, clearly worried.

'Are you picking up something?'

I nodded. 'Something not entirely good.' I started walking to keep in time with the others but staying behind so I could speak quietly to Naruto. 'I feel like someone's watching us.'

'Could it be that sand ninja?'

'Gaara?' he nodded. 'No,' I said with a shake of my head. 'If it was him, he'd appear or at least be visible. This one is tailing us in the shadows. He's after someone and for all I know it could be any of us.'

'Any idea on his power?' he was on about our stalker's chakra level.

I closed my eyes and sent my senses out. I felt Naruto's hand on my arm as he steered me through the crowd as we had kept walking. I immediately felt the touch of chakra not far from our location. Immediately I knew it to be our stalker. I opened my eyes. 'Either he's hiding his chakra well or he's just entirely weak.'

'A scout?' my brother asks.

'Probably. Normally if someone is targeting another and wish to capture or kill them, they would send someone stronger who is capable at performing the task. Our stalker is not powerful enough to take anyone out. Most likely he is just gathering intelligence and sending it back to those in charge.'

He suddenly grinned.

'What?' I ask perplexed.

'Do you have any idea how amazing you are?'

I just stared at him. 'There are many of people more amazing than me. Even you're more amazing than me, Naru.'

He shook his head. 'You're the one in a specialised genin team. I'm not. I fail at almost everything and you pass it with flying colours. There is the proof that you are amazing.'

I sigh. 'I wish you would stop pointing that out. I hate it that you are far behind in ninja training.'

'You could always teach me,' he said grinning.

I stopped walking and just looked at him. Why did I not think about that before? He's right! I could always just teach him so he can become stronger and we're doing it together. My god, I'm supposed to be the one with the brain and yet my brother surprises me sometimes when he suddenly becomes intelligent. He stopped and turned around. His worry suddenly disappeared as a smile touched his face. He must have seen my smile.

'Naru, you are a genius.' I walked over and wrapped my around over his shoulder.

'I am?' he queried.

'Of course! But we're going to have to find out what Kakashi has planned for you during the month of preparation for the final round.'

'What about your mission?' he asked.

I slapped my forehead. How could I forget about that? 'I don't know what's happening during the month. But I assume that Lord Hokage will come for us when he has decided what he wants us to do.'

'So you can't train me?' his bottom lip trembled.

'I don't know, Naru, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see what is planned for us.'

~Unknown pov~

I swear that girl is too smart for her own good. It is no wonder why my master has targeted her specifically. It seems she has already caught onto me. She showed no visible proof of that assumption of mine but I think she has just gotten cautious. If she truly is amazing as my master has told me to watch out for, then I need to proceed carefully from this point.

But what is she to that boy?

They're really close. Master won't like that if they happen to be boyfriend and girlfriend. And his son… If he comes to like her when he sees her picture and then he discovers she already has a boyfriend… It'll be my head that would be taken so that boy can feel some justification. I swear that boy is nothing more than a demon. I can't really describe the brat any other way.

I ran silently across the rooftops, silently following her as she caught up with her friends. For hours she spent most of her time with them, simply celebrated. The Chunin exams, that's all I know that is going on at the moment. Is she part of the Chunin exams? If she is that would cause a problem. She can't be taken before the Chunin exams ends. Her disappearance will cause all kinds of questions and perhaps a search party will immediately be deployed. But that is why I am here, to gather a bunch of information that would be useful. All I need to do is gather as much as I can and take it back to the team assigned to take her.

'Anything?' a voice asked in the ear communicator.

'Nothing so far,' I replied back. 'The girl is just celebrating with a bunch of friends.'

'Ah yes, the Chunin exams! Any suggestions?'

'It's not possible to take her before the Chunin exams without rising suspicion or questions. If we did it will most likely cause the leaf to send a search party out looking for her.'

'We can't let that happen. We will be compromised. I'll report back to master to let him know that we will have to perform the job after the Chunin exams have been dealt with. Keep an eye on her and let me know if there are any changes or if your cover has been blown.'

'Will do,' I reply and hear the other side go quiet.

I quickly change places to keep up with the girl. Is it me or is she purposely trying to ditch me? No, I'm looking too closely into this. There is no way that she is smart enough to know where I am or when I change positions. She may be onto me, may know that someone is watching her, but she doesn't know who I am or my location. There is no way she can keep an eye on that. But damn it if it does look like she knows all that information. Just what kind of ninja is she?

~Gaara's pov~

I carefully watched the man on the rooftops trailing after Chika Uzumaki. Dressed in black with no hint of his identity, he silently stalked from place and keeping out of sight. I wonder if the girl knows she is being followed. Should I just dispose of him because of his annoyance? No, probably not a good idea. If there is a reason behind him stalking the girl, then there must be others who are in regular contact with him.

One thing such as killing him would cause suspicion. Besides, he would just be replaced and I would probably be hunted down. I would say bring it on but then the cover will be blown. The leaf will understand what the sand has planned and throw the whole operation off. I best not interfere. Leave the girl to deal with her own problems. She's shown time and time again that she doesn't need others to fight her battles for her.

But I do not like the idea of someone else having their sights on her. She's my prey and I will eventually kill her to prove my existence. But for now… Just leave the little sneaking rat to his dastardly plans. He'll be find out sooner rather than later.