Here we go with chapter 5! I was really on a roll when writing this. I wanted to essentially complete the twins training as well as have some interactions and character moments. Their mask comes down a little closer to the end of the chapter, they both have interactions with people that show both sides of the twins. Who they really are, and who they are as a result of their treatment by everyone else. I'm really looking forward to the next few chapters, enjoy!
Chapter 5 Twins Rising
Two years have passed and the twins are twelve years old and entering their last year at the academy. It's been seven years since they met and they had come along way, a far cry from the weak children they used to be. They made the decision to stop going to the academy all together, seeing it as a waste of time and sending blood clones in their place. None of the teachers or classmates really cared if they were there and they were too stupid to realize they were clones. The used the new free time to dive deeper into their training, the result showed after six years of hard work, both of them were finally able to consistantly land hits on Kurama. The transformed fox was forced to put in genuine effort to fend them off when they spared. They've mastered every shinobi skill he had to teach them, they both soaked up a 1000 years of knowledge like a pair of sponges.
They had removed the seal and Kurama was free, they did a fist bump, slamming their chakra's together, allowing them to pull off a tailed beast transformation. The twins were amazed as their were bodies shrouded in Kurama's chakra, their own chakra was vast but this firey golden chakra was something else. They dubbed this transformation, "Nine-Tails Mode", and It fully silitified their bond with Kurama, they were fully and truly a three man squad. The collective of chakra was significantly stronger than it would have been had they not strengthened their own chakra as well as increase their reserves. They were now at a point where they could summon both sides of Kurama seperatly from their bodies, as himself or as a chakra avatar. They had to go far outside the village to test this out and the sparring sessions they had were intense.
They had gone from 30x to 50x gravity in their taijutsu training, thanks to Naruto's chakra cuff seal they've mastered their chakra perfectly while its strength and reserves have increased to tailed beast levels over the past two years. Naruko had mastered every kenjutsu technique Kurama knew, her mastery of the blade was so great she could deliver instant death with one slash, even blind a person. Both Naruto and Naruko had advanced in his sealing justu prowess. A year ago they traveled to Uzushio, the former home of the Uzumaki clan. It took a few days to get to the country and when they got there they spent a month living in the ruins. They found a secret lair hidden by a blood seal barrier, this place was accessible only to clan members and using their blood they were able to remove the seal. Inside they found the secrets that made the Uzumaki so feared.
They always wondered why three of the five great nations would ally themselves and gang up on a smaller shinobi country. They learned why after studying scrolls. They found history, Kenjustu techniques, chakra training regiments, and sealing jutsu of the highest calibur. Jutsu for summoning the Shinigami, jutsu for permenantly locking an enemies chakra, countering curses and most interesting, jutsu for permenantly sealing away kekei genkai. Though the three were alone in the ruins there was something familiar about the place, they could sense the pride of the Uzumaki clan all around them. The clan symbol was unscathed on many of the still standing buildings, almost like a symbol of endurance. Though the place was a deserted wreck now, it gave them pride that they came from such powerful people.
It was during this time while training, Naruko manifested the Adamantine Sealing Chains, surprising both Naruto and Kurama. Since they were half Uzumaki it wasn't a garantee they would manifest the chains, Naruto was a little salty he didn't and probably wouldn't. They collected all the knowledge they could, writing most of it on seperate scrolls before sealing the room again. They returned to the leaf and life went back to normal, thankfully the blood clones held up until they got back. They both had greater skills and a sense of history. One day they would definetly grill the old man about why the leaf didn't come to help them when they were attacked. All in all, the twins had come a long way, and they were still rising.
It was Ocotober and their birthday was around the corner, the twins were in training ground 3, stretching and gettting ready for today's training with Kurama. Naruto was wearing a sleeveless blue shirt with a white whirlpool symbol on the back and orange shorts and blue ninja sandals. Naruko wore a purple t-shirt with a white fox on the chest, dark blue short shorts and black ninja sandals. She was wearing her hair down as opposed to her usual pig-tails, Naruko stretched her arm, "This feels like a good day for training. We have so much time for training and having fun since we started sending clones to the academy."
Naruto stretched his legs, "We should have done that from the start, it would have saved us from dealing with people's nonsense. So, what's the plan today, Kurama?"
"I have something I've been wanting to try for a while." Naruko stated just as the transformed fox appeared before them in a plume of smoke.
"That'll have to wait, Naruko. Consider these my final lessons to both of you, I've neurted your strengths and helped you both overcome your weaknesses. I've shared all of my techniques and wisdom to both of you, after this all you both have to do is refine them." A cool smile spread across his lips, "I'm so proud of both of you."
Naurko smiled back at him with a noticable blush, "It's all thanks to you, Kurama."
"We've been together since we were born, you trained us and helped us survive when no one gave an honest damn about us. We can't put that kind of thanks in words." There was a moment of acceptance between the three.
"So, today I want to teach you both Minato's original jutsu, The Rasengan." Naruko happily squealed at his words.
Naruto's excitment lit up, "I've been waiting forever for this one! You said chakra control was key to mastering this, right?"
"That's right, now pay attention." Kurama smiled with an outstretched hand, the twin's eyes widened in amazement as red chakra swriled in his hand. If formed into a perfect sphere all while the chakra spun faster and faster by the second, making an audible swirling sound.
"That's dad's jutsu?" A bright eyed Naruto asked.
"That's right. Admittedly I wasn't going to teach this to you both, as I felt it wasn't my place. But given how the two who could teach you haven't cared enough to come around, I suppose it's only natural I teach you."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, "You're talking about our so-called godfather, but who's the other person?"
"That Kakashi guy, right?" Naruko deduced with crossed arms.
"Correct." Kurama looked at the Rasengan in his hand, "Minato's inspiration for this jutsu came after seeing a tailed beast bomb, which isn't surprising given the formation of this and tailed beast bombs are VERY similar. He wanted to teach this to Kushina to protect her, but she only learned up the second step."
"Sounds like it's hard to pull off." Naruko stated with a confident smile.
"Given how the Rasengan and a Tailed Beast Bomb are so similar, making something like this is second nature for me. However, this jutsu takes chakra control and form to the extreme, hence why I had you both master your chakra perfectly." He walked towards a tree, "If mastered, the end results will look like this." He shoved the Rasengan into a tree the ball of chakra perfectly tore through the wood until it burst, making a perfect hole in the tree. He turned back towards the amazed blondies, "So, any questions?"
"When do we start and how do we do that?! Naruko exclaimed first.
"Dad's jutsu looks amazing, and there's not any handsigns to learn! Can we please get started!" Naruto added.
Kurama smiled confidently, he always loved when they were eager to learn something, it meant they'd give their all to learning it properly. "Minato developed three steps to learning this jutsu, rotation, power and containment, again, this is no different from a Tailed Beast Bomb. While normally you'd probably need water balloons, rubber balls and normal ballons, I'm going to skip all that and just teach you how to make a Tailed Beast Bomb without making a Tailed Beast Bomb. It'll be beneficial to your training later when we do Tailed Beast Transformation, seeing as how you both kinda struggle with it." The twin began jumping excitedly as they prepared to begin, almost instinctively they each created fifty shadow clones to join them in their training.
Five Days Later
"Alright Kits, time to see the fruits of your training." Kurama said as he stood cross-armed as Naruto and Naruko stood on opposite ends of him.
They each raised a right hand, blue chakra swirled, forming a sphere that fit perfectly in their hands, the twins eyed each other before they both disappeared in a flash of speed. The next instant there was a clash of chakra as their respective Rasengan struggled against each other, chakra rang out from their struggle with the ground cracking beneath their feet. Naruto's Rasengan was slightly bigger than Naruko's but the girl didn't back down, both their arms shook as their orbs fought to overwhelm the other. Naruko tried to step in as Naruto leaned in closer, there was a burst of chakra as they were blasted in opposite directions of each other. Both of their arms were stinging a little from that clash but still intact, they were fairly even as always. They smiled at each other, happy they both perfected their father's jutsu.
Two days later
The twins had finished training for the day and Naruko was sitting on the ground, her eyes closed as if in the midst of meditation. "Hey Ruko, what are you doing?" Her brother asked.
"Deciding whether or not to do something crazy. Naru-chan, come here for a moment."
"Sure, what's up."
"Put your hand on me please."
"What are you doing excatly?"
"I have a theory and I want to test it."
"Alright." He chose not to question her on this. As with many things when it came to Naruko, he would have the answers he wanted by just watching and not asking. He put a hand on her shoulder just as she started weaving a series of handsigns, Naruto quickly recognized them, "Wait, is tha-"
He never got to finish as Naruko slammed her hand to the ground, They entered a pocket demension and he could tell they were being reverse summoned somewhere, but he had no idea where. There was a burst of smoke and the two found themselves in a new place surrounded by forest and vegetation, they could see mountains in the distance and the air was strange. Not in a bad way but different from what they were used to, not only that they didn't sense a single person around. There were chakra signatures here, but they weren't human. "Ruko, where are we?"
"If I had to guess, Mount Myoboku!" Naruko said in an unconcerned tone. "Feels like we've gone to another world almost."
"We're a far way from the leaf village that's for sure." Naruto took a deep breath and looked around, "So this is Mount Myoboku, the village of toads and one of the three unexplored sage regions
"Well on the bright side it worked. I suspected if you performed a summoning jutsu without a contract, you'd either summon nothing, or reverse summon yourself to a place where you can sign a contract."
"How can you be crazier than me and smarter than me at the same time, Sis."
She simply smiled back at him, "By being me. C'mon, let's go find a toad!" She took his hand into hers and ran into the brush, after some running the both ran to the top of trees to get a high view of everything. "This place is pure nature."
"Not only that, the way things grow up here is impressive. I'm still stuck on the air, what is that?!"
"That's nature energy, Naruto." Kurama spoke for the first time since they got here. It permeates through this land, making it the most bountiful of the sage regions. It's the reason the air feels so different here."
"So this is what nature energy is. Hm, not as tropical as I thought it would be."
"Naru-chan, I think I just spotted a toad!" Naruto turned to where his sister was looking and saw what looked to be a magenta toad in the distance, only it was the size of a damn mountain. The two Body-Flickered through the forest towards the giant toad. As they got closer they could see it wasn't alone, there were two more with it, all roughly the same size as Kurama if not a little smaller. One was dusty red while the other was aquamarine, they were all wearing clothes that fit them. They were sitting in a circle, appearing to be drinking and gambling.
"Ha, that's another win for me! I'm on fire today." The aquamarine toad happily boasted as he collected his winnings.
The dusty red toad picked up the giant bottle of sake and poured a drink into the giant cup in front of him. "Damn it, I've got no luck today." He said in a slightly drunk tone as he put the cup to his lips and downed the alcohol. He let out a sigh while eyeing the magenta toad across from him, "Still got better luck than you, Ken."
The toad just slumped slightly, "Sorry boss, I'm ungraceful."
"Oh I know." He turned to the aquamarine toad, "Hiro, let's do another game." He said in a commanding tone.
Hiro complied and set the game back up, "Alright boss, but I don't feel my winning streak is ending any time soon."
"We'll see."
"I will ungracefully win the next round."
The toads got back to their gambling, unbeknownst to them, two blonde kids were creeping up on them. They went around Ken and Naruko jumped onto Hiro's back, seeing him as the most interesting of the three, while Naruto went around and hopped on the boss's back. They were moving as stealthy as possible as they made their way to their heads. They didn't want to startle the toads, but they all seemed a little too drunk to notice. Naruko made it to the top of Hiro's head and got a full view of their gambling, this was truly interesting and not something you see everyday. She made herself comfortable and laid on her stomach, holding her head and kicking her feet up. She wondered how long it would take for one of them to notice them. Naruto was on all fours on the boss's head and the two casually watched the toads gamble and get drunk together.
The two stayed quiet atop Hiro and the boss, Ken had noticed both of them with the twins giving him a wave and a warm smile when he noticed. Ken brightened up, "It's my ungraceful win, I'll be taking that." He calmly collected his winnings before lifting his cup to Hiro who was slightly dejected that his winning streak was over.
"Man, and I was on such a good run too."
"You should have ungracefully let it ride." Ken said.
"Bragging the quickest way to kill a winning streak." The boss agreed.
Hiro raised his sake bottle and filled Ken's cup, "Yeah yeah, my luck's not tapped out yet."
"I've always liked your confidence." Ken complimented before downing his cup of sake, "By the way, are you two going to do anything about the ungraceful human children on your heads?"
"What?" Hiro spoke with clear shock.
"Ehhh!" The boss groaned while raising his eyes, both toads quickly noticed that there indeed were human children on their heads.
"Hey, I'm not ungraceful, I'm very sleek and graceful. I'm just relaxing right now!" Naruko stated, eyeing Ken with a playful expression.
"Who even are you?!" The toad sternly asked.
The boss's expression became a mix of annoyance and aggression, "You little snot, how long have you been up there? More importantly who are you and what do you think you're doing?!"
Naruto smiled as he slapped the toad's head twice, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, Mr Boss Toad. Been up here for ten minutes and I never caught your name. My sister and I are here to sign a summoning contract. So, wanna be my summon?"
Naruko playfully kicked her feet as Hiro looked up at her, "I intentionally unintentionally reverse summoned us here, so can you guys help us out?"
"Why didn't you two say something before?" Hiro honestly asked.
"How often do you see three giant toads getting drunk and gambling?"
"I'm not drunk, little girl. But I do have a good buzz right now." He quickly poured himself another drink before downing it. He turned to the boss who was clearly angered by the boy's insolence, "The boss on the other hand though?" Naruko turned to the angry looking toad, Naruto sensed his rising anger and the smile on his face shifted to one of slight concern.
The toad began to tremble with anger, the shaking caused Naruto to tumble a bit and almost fall off. Naruto slid down the toad's head, stopping himself at his nose. Ken and Hiro were ready for the boss to go off, concern for the boy clear on their faces, "You insolent little snot! Who exactly do you think you're talking to huh?! Well let me tell you, I am the great and powerful lord Gamabunta the chief toad! And you're an idiot! Now get looooost!"
Naruko nonchalantly plugged her fingers in her ears to tune out the toad's yelling. Naruto held his ground as the yell pierced his brain, "Man, what's this toad's deal! He seemed cool a minute ago!"
"Uh-oh, looks like you picked the wrong toado, bro." Naruko playfully thought while playfully kicking her feet.
"Hey, what's your deal you stinking toad?! All I asked is if you wanted to be my partner, that's all!"
He felt the toad rumble with anger beneath him, and in the next moment the toad's pierced tongue shot up and attempted to grab him. Naruto skillfully dodged the tongue as it swiped at him, he flipped over it and landed in the middle of the three giant toads, eyeing Gamabunta seriously. Looking up at him like this, he was bigger than Naruto expected, but he wasn't intimidated. "You little snot! You think you can order me to be your partner, just who do you think you are?!"
Naruto brought a fist to his nose as the toad's breath reeked of booze, "Pretty sure I said my name was Naruto Uzumaki, and I didn't order you, I asked, you jerk! You're drunk, you should probably sit down somewhere!"
"Ehhhh!" This started an argument between Naruto and the giant toad, as this was happening Gamahiro glanced up at the girl who was still nonchalantly resting on his head, "You two are a couple of weird kids?"
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No, it's just different. Hell, it's not everyday a pair of human children come to Mount Myoboku like this."
"I was just testing something out and it worked. My name's Naruko Uzumaki by the way, yours is Hiro, right?"
"Gamahiro. The Gama isn't necessary when we speak among each other, but outside of that use my full name."
"Got it! So, you don't mind being my summon?" Naruko asked while glancing down.
"Not really. But, It's one thing to reverse summon yourselves here, it's another to be able to summon us in the first place."
"Trust me, both of us can summon you big guys multiple times over. Plus that's why we're here, we want to sign a summoning contract. ."
"And you came all the way here for that?"
"Yes, because I could."
Gamahiro chuckled at her response, "You really are a weird human child."
Naruko playfully kicked her feet and smiled, "Yeah maybe so, but I can promise I won't be boring."
"I can believe that." Gamahiro pointed to a large tree in the distance, "Head that way and you'll make it to the home of the great sages, it's near the elder's residence. They should have a contract for you to sign." Naruko smiled happily as she stood up, she looked down at her brother and Gamabunta who were on the verge of fighting. Naru-chan, we've gotta go!"
Naruto faced his sister before turning back to the toad, "Looks like I've got more important things to do, let's double back to this when you sober up!" He body flickerd along with Naruko as the two headed towards their new destination.
The three toads sat in silence from what had just happened, "By the way, I seem to recall Lord Fukusaku telling me to be on the lookout for children of yellow to arrive here. It was the great elder's prophecy."
Both Bunta and Hiro looked at him surprised, "Why didn't you mention that before?!" Bunta yelled.
"Sorry, I'm ungraceful."
Sage's Home
The twins appeared in front of the place that looked like it was a home, their were statues of toads near it and they could sense two chakra signatures inside. I guess this is the place, Naruko said before they entered the tree, they could hear bickering coming from the inside as they entered. "Excuse us, is anyone available?" Naruto asked.
The bickering suddenly stopped and two toads came near the entrance. Both were tiny, one was male and the other was female, they both wore cloaks the male had thin white hair while the female had a purple afro. Both were visibly surprised to see two human children standing outside their door, "Children… Of yellow." The male toad said.
"They must be the one's that old fossil spoke about." The female toad added.
"Come on, Ma, the great lord elder was correct wasn't he? Still, I'm surprised his prophecy came true so quickly."
Naruko gave them a cute smile while closing her eyes, "Okay, don't know what you two are talking about by prophecy, we're just here to sign a summoning contract. Gamahiro told me you guys would have one."
"We do. But the elder's prophecy's coming to pass is a rather important. We must take you both to him."
Naruto raised a skeptical brow, "Is that necessary? Who are you toads anyway?"
"The female toad narrowed her eyes at him, "You're standing on my doorstep, it's simple manners to introduce yourself before asking others their names. Weren't you raised with manners, boy?"
Naruto's body language shifted to more respectable, "You're right, I apologize, ma'am. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my sister, Naruko." The girl waved at them while flashing a beautiful smile.
"Uzumaki?" Both toads said in unison.
"Yes, is that a problem?" Naruko asked, eying them both.
"No, it's just that we figured there'd be a third with you. The elder prophesied you'd be accompanied by a beast in human form.
"Well we don't know anything about that." Naruto lied honestly, Kurama's been mostly quiet since they got here and it was a little surprising but he figured there was a reason for that.
"Well, I'm Fukusaku, and this is my wife, Shima. We're the great sage's of Mount Myoboku, come with us."
"Nice to meet you both!" Naruko pleasantly exclaimed.
Some time later they were standing in front of the great lord elder, her was a decrepit orange toad with many years of life under him. The twins looked up at him calmly as his body fidgeted, "So… You are here."
"We are here! Can we sign that contract now?" Naruto asked.
Please Naruto-boy, not so impetuous." Fukusaku commented.
"This just feels like a wash."
"I admit I'm curious why this old toad is having visions about us?" Naruko asked.
"It is because you two… Are meant to create great change in the ninja world. I am Gamamaru, the elder toad, and it is my desire for you two to become sages."
Naruko lit up at this news, "Alright, sounds easy enough. So when do we begin?"
"Think we can sign that contract first?" Naruto asked for the fifth time.
For the next few months, Naruto and Naruko would spend time on Mount Myoboku learning senjutsu in the village of toads. This wasn't nearly as easy as Naruko initially made it out to be, in fact it was extremely difficult and dangerous. The concept was simple enough, they just had to sit perfectly still to draw in nature energy and blend it with their own chakra to make senjutsu chakra, but that was easier said than done. Unlike their other training they could only use three shadow clones a piece to speed things up, Naruko grasped the concept first while Naruto was able to draw in more nature energy when he figured it out. Using this method after almost a month they were both able to enter sage mode, and it took another month for them to be able to use it in fights. They both basked into what it meant to become one with nature.
Sparring sessions with Fukusaku became the norm, along with spars with each other in sage mode. Frog Kata was a welcomed addition to their taijutsu arsenal, many times Fukusaku surprised the twins with his strength and skills despite his size. They both had signed the summoning contract, and in their time on Mount Myoboku, Naruto and Gamabunta came to understand and respect each other. Naruko did the same with Gamahiro, with the two sharing sword techniques and training together when she wasn't doing sage training. Through their talks with Fukusaku and Shima they learned the great elder taught senjutsu to the Sage Of Six Paths, much to Kurama's surprise. The twins kept a low profile in the midst of all this training, they were almost done with the academy and their clones had done a good job of keeping up appearances. They were still dead last in their class, pulling pranks, acting out and no one suspected they were essentially the strongest ninja in the village, and they were getting stronger every day.
Uzumaki apartment
It was early in the afternoon, the twins had wrapped up training early for the day and were relaxing at home. In Naruto's room, The boy laid in his bed on his stomach while Naruko was on top of him and massaging his back. The years of training had developed strong bodies for both of them, but this was more prominent with Naruto. Naruto was shirtless, but his clothes today were a black shirt with a red swirl on the center under an orange vest with light shorts and black ninja sandals. Naruko wore a red sleeveless shirt, a black skirt and black ninja sandals, she paused doing her hair to give Naruto a massage. Naruko's hands were magical as she massaged her brother, soothing and loosening him up. "Ahhh, your hands are amazing, Ruko." Naruto moaned as her hands went into his rough spots
"You've got a lot of tightness in your upper back, Naru-chan." She massaged that area as she said this, "Must be from the gravity training. Now relax as I allow my fingers to dance!" Her massage got more soothing, Naruto felt his entire body relax, becoming free of any pressure or tightness, burying his face in his pillow.
"Buuuurrrrzrt!"
"Naruto!" Naruko exclaimed as her brother's fart hit her senses, it didn't help she felt it right below her. She quickly covered her nose and bolted from his room, heading towards the balcony.
"Relax sis, you told me to relax, right? If I have gas I have the right to pass."
"Then bask in your own stink!" She yelled back before leaping off the ledge and into the rooftops below.
"So dramatic." Naruto said, smiling and nonchalantly shaking his head.
Naruko stopped running across rooftops and inspected herself, thankfully none of Naruto's stink had gotten on her clothes. She and her brother were perfectly comfortable around each other, but there were things even family didn't share. She'd get him back for this somehow, a mischievous smirk spread across her lips as she thought of lacing super hot sauce with some green tea, something Naruto liked and wouldn't see coming. "Well, thoughts for later. Kurama, can you help me finish with this?" Without question the fox appeared in his human form, she quickly found a reflective window and used that to finish doing her hair. it was getting long again but she liked it that way. For her it was still fairly easy to manage, even if it almost reached her butt. According to Kurama, Kushina kept her hair just as long, maybe that was why she liked it like that. Naruko put some of her hair into a small ponytail while Kurama braided the hair under it on each side of her head until it connected while her blonde curtain ran under it down her back.
"And we're done." Kurama announced casually.
Naruko inspected herself in the window, "Thank you so much, Kurama." She said before twirling happily.
"So, what are your plans? Seeing as how you've abandoned Naruto for the afternoon."
She made a cute, thoughtful expression, "Guess I'll go visit mom, It's been a while. Plus I was just thinking about her. Y'know, with the long hair and everything."
"Fine." He was about to dissapear when Naruko grabbed his hand, "Will you come with me?" She asked gently while giving him her blue puppy-dog eyes he's been unable to resist a lot lately.
Kurama mentally sighed, "Alright, let's go."
"Yay!" She happily squealed.
Outside their apartment Naruto makes his way downstairs, "I've been abandoned~, by my Sis~. Looks like for today~, I'm alone like this~. I need~ to get me some friends, but I hate almost everyone~. The people~ are sheep around here, with no love for the number four son! Yeeeeah~, yeeeeah~, yeeeeah~! Yeeah Yeeah Yeeeeah~ dog~! Yeeah yeeah~ yeeeeah! Dog~!" Naruto came onto the street, his singing echoed through the stairwell causing several people to stare at him when he came to the bottom. They were surprised to hear such decent singing but their expressions quickly turned cold when they registered who it came from. Naruto rolled his eyes as they all went about their business. He decided to go for a walk, he picked a direction and went left.
After some walking spotted a book store and made his way inside, the owner didn't notice him as he was stocking the shelves. He was making a display for the book "Make Out Tactics." Naruto went towards the back and saw the different genre's, as he was scanning the books in the shelves he spotted a book that got his attention. He picked it up, "Tales Of A Gutsy Ninja." He thought aloud upon reading the title. He opened the book and looked at the picture of Jiraiya along with reading his author's notes. "So this is Jiraiya, huh?" He closed the book and looked at the title one more time. He held onto the book and looked for another that may have seemed interesting, he found two more, "Blue Eye Samurai" and "Hell's Paradise".
"What do you think you're doing here, kid?" The store owner asked from behind.
Naruto skimmed the first page of Blue Eye Samurai, not turning to face the man, "Isn't it obvious, I'm looking for books to read."
"I don't want you here, get out of my store." He sternly demanded.
"Was it something I said? Blantent discrimination is ugly y'know."
"I don't care! I want you gone, Naruto!"
Naruto closed the book after reading the first few pages. It seems like the main character in this book also knows about discrimination. Naruto gave the man a cold expression that gave him chills, he backed a way startled. "Hey, you know why it's so safe to be around coastal bears vs inland bears?"
"What?"
Naruto faced him fully, his cold expression piercing the store owner's being. "I see your confusion. Coastal bears, unlike inland bears, have an ubundant access to fish as well as the other things they eat. They never have to worry about food and can just live their best bear lives. People are perfectly safe living around these bears, because there's no need for them to see humans as a food source. So in the off chance someone is attacked or killed by a coastal bear, it's usually because the poor victim did something stupid to deserve it, hence why the bears never eat them. My point in saying all this is, you see me doing nothing, just looking for books, and your first reaction is to try and kick me out." The man tried to retort, but Naruto's look kept him quiet. "Y'know, even the most savage of beasts' is only going to tolerate you poking enough times before it retaliates."
"Is there a problem here?" a male ninja said coming to the back where they were. He had a copy of Make Out Tactics in his hand, he had silver hair that spiked up, a jonin flak jacket with his headband covering his left eye.
"I don't know, is there?" Naruto asked calmly.
The man gulped nervously, "Just take the books and get out!" He managed to say, though his fear was clear.
Naruto smiled, "Sweet, free books." He said as walked past the man, "Out of my way." He said to the jonin who shifted out of his path, he put the books in his vest pockets and left the store.
"That vile child, why does Lord Hokage allow them to stay in the village?" The owner said aloud while the jonin watched the door where Naruto just left.
"I'm sure Lord Hokage has his reasons."
"Still, you know what the brat and his sister are. They could kill all of us at any moment. You're a shinobi, why haven't they died in the fox hunt yet?"
"The what?" The jonin asked, clearly confused.
"You don't know? Every year during the remembrance festival, some of the villages try to kill those demons."
The jonin's eyes narrowed, "Really?" He asked, interested. He's always kept his distance from the twins, seeing them always reminded him of the guilt he still feels from that night when he wasn't allowed to help his sensei.
"Yeah, but clearly they always survive, somehow."
Yamanaka Flower Shop
Naruko and Kurama walk into the shop and head to the right, towards several displays of flowers. "Welcome, how can I help you both today?" Said the woman behind the desk, she had black hair and light green eyes, just like Ino. Naruko knew this was Ino's mom, she didn't sense the girl around, and though the woman welcomed them, she was failing at masking the contemptuous look the rest of the village gave her.
Naruko eyed her with a serious look before closing her eyes and smiling adorably, "Hello hag, I need some flowers to put on a grave. Any recommendations?"
Her look of contempt shifted to a mix of shock and anger, "What did you just call me?"
"Pretty sure I called you a hag, I hear when you get up in age the hearings the first to go. I can repeat it louder if you want?"
"You disrespectful little-"
"You disrespected me first by the way you were looking at me, and don't even pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."
These words stunned the woman for a moment, Kurama looked between Naruko and the older woman, not surprised in the slightest. Naruko has more of an aversion to being disrespected than Naruto, this could get ugly but for the moment he watched with crossed arms. "I feel sorry for whatever creature gave birth to you?"
"At least a creature could give birth to me!" Naruko shot back with venom. With everyone talking about them it was only natural they would listen and gather dirt of their own. They had a lot of dirt on a lot of people, and have heard so much over the years that it gave them a lot of ammo against much of the village. This woman in particular has had two miscarriages since having Ino, she looked at her the wrong way and it was a clear weak spot. The woman's eyes widened, mouth agape, her heart took a heavy blow from the girl's words as they had no remorse. Tears welled up in her eyes, she didn't want to give this beast the satisfaction of seeing her break down. Given what Ino told her about the girl, she was mean with a smart mouth despite being a loser. Part of her wondered how she knew such intimate details about her, but her emotions were rising too quickly to think about it.
"Please leave." She said lowely before quickly going to the back room.
"That was fairly tame of you, Naruko." Kurama finally spoke for the first time since entering the shop.
"She deserved it. I'll never understand how these people can collectively band together and treat us so contemptuously but the moment it comes back on them they buckle and break down. They're a bunch of weaklings, it's sad." Naruko turned around and picked up the flowers she wanted. She made a nice bouquet and left with Kurama after leaving the money for them on the counter. As she turned to leave with Kurama she saw Ino enter the shop, the girl visibly paused when she saw the other blonde exiting with a tall, handsome red haired man.
"What are you doing here?"
"Why else would I come to a flower shop, dumb-dumb?" She replied while raising her bouquet.
She pointed a thumb behind her, "Money's on the counter and your mom's in the back crying."
Ino's eyes narrowed, "What did you do to my mom?"
"She started it. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go visit mine." She shoved past Ino and left the shop, Ino went to the back to check on her crying mother.
Konoha Cemetary
Naruko and Kurama entered the cemetery. There were several other people here to visit, she got a few nasty looks from them but they both ignored them. Her smile stayed edged across her lips as she made her way to a particular tombstone, they both stopped when they reached Kushina Uzumaki's. Kurama stood by her as she put the flowers in the container, a wind passed over them as they stood in silence. They both brought their hands together and said a prayer for the woman, and though Naruko never knew her mother, through Kurama's stories she feels as if she's gotten to know her. She opened her eyes after saying her prayer, "I'm back to visit, mom." Though her tone was calm there was a hint of sadness in her voice.
"A lot's happened since my last visit. I know I usually rock the pig-tails but I wanted to switch things up for a while. I like my long hair… Just like you did. I'm still getting used to being thirteen, can't wait until we're done with the academy." She paused for a moment to find her words, "Our annual beating was meh, as usual. This year they actually lured us into a barn. We went in on purpose of course, but forty people tried to kill us this year, a new record… We mastered dad's jutsu… We can summon giant toads and we've been to Mount Myoboku, we're bonified sages now!... That place is pretty awesome, and the toads are way more likable than most of these idiots."" She said, gesturing to most of Konoha. Thoughts of her life ran through her mind, the animosity of the villagers was a constant image. "It's so hard living in this village, a day doesn't go by I don't wish you and dad were around, I know I always bring it up when I visit but still."
"I got into it with this weak hag before I came her, I'll always hate that look everyone gives us…On e day soon that shoes gonna be on the other foot…We went to Uzushio!" She brightly stated. "Even though the place was a wreck it was amazing, it really made me wonder what the village was like when it was thriving. We learned clan secrets that were sealed away. We learned a lot about the clan's history, they were truly great shinobi." She smiled with pride, "I wish I got to know more of them, it took three of the great nations ganging up on them to take them out. After learning their jutsu I quickly learned why. The clan symbol is all over Konoha and most don't even know what it means. I'm gonna start wearing that on my back with pride."
"You wanted us to be seen as heroes. You sacrificed yourselves, spit up Kurama and sealed him in us so the village would survive." She let out a light chuckle, "Unfortunately you underestimated how terrible these people are, they're ungrateful in the worst way. But it's not like it matters. In due time they'll know how powerful we are in spite of them. We've learned a lot about the Shinobi world and its history. Kurama's the best teacher ever. Kinda a bummer you two never bonded… We're gonna be Shinobi even cooler than dad, just you wait! Keep watching over both of us, I don't see my future in this village, but for the moment I can tolerate living in it." Kurama stood next to her in silence. She, just like Naruto, was growing up.
Naruto was going for a walk, he was near the academy and was just taking a leisurely stroll. He sensed his sister near the cemetery, he figured she was visiting their parents, he'd visit his dad later. He passed the playground where he saw some younger kids playing and saw Shikamaru sitting on a bench by himself. He had a shogi board in front of him, he was obviously practicing by himself. "Hey, Shikamaru?!"
The boy turned to him with a dry expression, "Naruto."
The blonde approached, "Playing Shogi, huh? Did Choji leave to grab some snacks or something?"
"Choji stinks and Shogi, but yeah, he went to get some snacks."
"So you're just playing by yourself?"
"I'm practicing."
"Hm, mind if I play?"
The Nara looked at him skeptically, "Do you even know how to play Shogi?"
"It's been a while, but yeah."
Shikamaru just looked at him for a moment before sighing, "Alright."
The blonde sat down at Shikamaru and set the game up. Choji had come back and ate his chips while watching the two. Shikamaru let Naruto make the first move,both of them had calm expressions as they played and after thirty minutes Naruto won, much to Shikamaru's disbelief. He went easy on the blonde at first but realized too late that Naruto was actually good. "Woah, you beat Shikamaru?!" Choji exclaimed, looking at the blonde who had a small smile.
"Did I miss something?" Shikamaru thought. "I may have gone easy on him at first, but no way a dumbbell like Naruto can strategize like that. Can he?" He eyed Naruto, "Let's play one more game, Naruto."
"You wanna get your payback, huh? Fine, let's go. I'm gonna win again, just so you know."
"Yeah yeah." Shikamaru blandly mocked as he set the game back up.
"Hey Naruto, where's your sister? You two are usually joined at the hip." Choji said as he finished a bag of chips.
"I don't know. She ran out of the house after I farted on her, so she's abandoned me for today." Both boys looked at him weirdly from his response.
They played another game and again, Naruto won. Again, Shikamaru was surprised by this, considering he was actually trying this time. "Again!" Choji exclaimed, even more surprised than last time given Shikamarau was actually trying this time. Naruto had stupid smile on his face, but Shikamaru's mind was racing. Naruto was probably the dumbest person he knew, yet he just beat him twice in shogi, something only his dad has been able to do. He's always thought the blonde was relatively funny, but never had any interest in being friends with him. He had a genius level I.Q, he just hated taking tests and exerting himself. Was it possible Naruto was actually some prodigy ninja? To beat him in Shogi he had to be really smart. As he kept his thoughts to himself he wondered about the possibility that the twins may not be who everyone thinks they are.
"I'm going to take a nap, Naruko."
"Alright, thanks for being with me to visit mom, Kurama." The fox gave her a smile and a nod before he disappeared in a plume of smoke.
"Well I still have plenty of sunlight left. She looked east, sensing her brother's chakra, "Naruto's over there, and it seems like he's with Shikamaru and Choji. Guess I'll head that way." The girl made up her mind and walked in the direction of her brother's chakra. She was almost to the academy when she heard sounds coming from the woods nearby.
"Hey check out this girl, she's got the same eyes as Neji. I bet she's just as arrogant as he is." Turning towards the noise she saw three boys surrounding Hinata, she already had a pretty depressed look on her face, implyijg it was more than just the bullying that was bothering her. The boys continued their verbal lashing at the girl who was becoming more and more dejected with every word, Narko merely sighed before making her way over. Calmly and casually she delivered swift strikes to each of the bullies, Hinata was in complete shock to see them all just drop to the ground unconscious. Looking to her right she saw the back of Naruko as she calmly walked away, she had no idea what just happened but it had something to do with that girl. She's watched her and Naruto for years, her father and clan members always told her to stay away from them, and to interact with them as little as necessary.
She was out here because she wanted to be alone, she had just lost her position as clan heir to her sister Hanabi, and her father had essentially lost care for her. She was crying when those boys showed up, Neji must have left a bad taste in their mouths so being a Hyuuga also, she was an easy target for retribution. She's only ever watched them in secret, and the things she saw were amazing. She saw the act they put on, how kind, funny and loving they both truly were, she was sure they knew she was watching but never said anything. She knew her weaknesses very well, and has spent years trying to reinvent herself…To be like them. But she was too shy to approach them, she wasn't brave like them, nore was she strong like them. She saw the things they had to deal with on a daily basis but still strive forward. Now, in her weakest moment, here comes Naruko, helping her when she really didn't have to.
Hinata watched the girl walk away, there wasn't a single fault in her step. She wanted to call out to her, to talk to her, she inwardly fought for the words to come, "N-N-Naruko?!"
The girl stopped for a moment, turned around and looked the other girl in the eyes, "Yeah?"
Hinata's lips pressed together as she chose her next words, "Can- Can I walk with you?"
"Sure." She answered with calm honesty before walking away. Hinata got the message, and that was, "You can come if you can keep up". A smile spread across the girl's lips, the dejection of her home life became an after thought as excitement built in her heart. She ran to catch up with the other girl, a part of her wanting to make up for not trying to be her friend sooner.
That ends chapter 5 and I hope you all enjoyed and will be back for more. The twins have become powerful shinobi, the bond between the three is stronger than ever and their more than ready to become shinobi. It's time they graduated the academy and showed everyone who they truly were. The elder toad has seen great things from them, it's time for their story to begin. Leave a review on the chapter and I'm so ready to write the next chapter so see you then. Next time, The twins take the graduation exam, their scores are questioned, get involved in a treacherous scheme, confront the Hokage, join a genin team and officially become ninja.