Jiraiya's Twins

Chapter 4

Katsumi heard the sound of her father's foot tapping. Tadashi looked at his old man with a grin "Where were you two?" Jiraiya asked in a stern voice.

The three of them were standing outside the entrance of the leaf village. Jiraiya was sure he told them to stay put at the inn while he delivered some information to the Hokage.

Katsumi opened her mouth to say something but her brother cut her off.

"We were doing research dad. Ya know, for your new book?" Tadashi said calmly.

Jiraiya's mood quickly changed "Oh I see I see, did you get any good information?"

"Of course dad, have we ever disappointed you." Tadashi walked to his dad and motioned him to come closer so that he could whisper in his ear. Jiraiya leaned down and listened with the occasional "mhmm" and "I see".

Katsumi didn't like lying to her father but she kept her mouth shut shifting from one leg to another. If she didn't speak then it's not lying, right? This of course didn't go unnoticed by her father. He made a mental note to ask her later what really happened.

~//~

That night the family of three were staying at the inn outside of the village. Tadashi was sprawled out on his futon sleeping soundly. Katsumi couldn't sleep, she was thinking about her time at the leaf village. She felt around for her staff and made her way outside for some fresh air. Katsumi tip-toed around her brother and her father with the occasional pop sound to help guide her. When she made it outside she felt the winds go through her hair. Katsumi took a deep breath and sighed enjoying the calmness of the night.

"So what really happened today Katsumi?" Jiraiya said as he approached his daughter.

Katsumi squeaked, she knew her father would find her, but not so soon.

"Tadashi wanted to explore the village. I told him it wouldn't be a good idea but he insisted." Katsumi then turned to face her father, she had a small smile on her face. "While we were walking I smelled something really good. We followed the scent and then we ended up eating free ramen." Katsumi held out her hand. "Then we met a boy and he taught me how to use chopsticks. His name is Naruto, he was really nice."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, he went quiet and looked up at the sky. Was this coincidence or was lady fate playing games?

"Dad?" Katsumi's voice was soft and filled with worry. "I hope you aren't mad."
She closed her eyes and looked down. Jiraiya knew that she did this when she was feeling some sense of insecurity or feeling major regret.

Jiraiya smiled."How could I be mad when you've been honest?" He stood up and grabbed her hand. "Let's go to bed, I'll tell you one of my stories"

Katsumi smiled "Oh oh, can you tell me about your time in the rain village?"

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head. "Sure, thing princess."

~//~

Tadashi woke up to the sounds of pots and pans clanging. The boy stretched his arms and made his way towards the noise. His sister's body was sleeping soundly, lightly holding onto her frog plushie. Tadashi attempted to step over her in an effort to not wake her but he accidentally stubbed his toe on her dense body. He stifled a yelp of pain, a single tear rolling down his cheek. She snorted a bit and shifted positions, bringing her frog plushie closer to her and continued sleeping like the rock she was, much to his relief. He kept moving forward, limping slightly, towards the noise. He found his father in the kitchen preparing to make breakfast. Jiraiya was wearing a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt along with an apron that read "World's Best Dad" on the front, a gift from Tadashi and Katsumi for his birthday the year before.

"Good morning dad." The boy chimed happily as he took a seat at the table.

"Ah, good morning Tadashi. How are you doing?" Jiraiya responded looking back at his son.

"Pretty well except that I stubbed my toe on Katsumi on the way here. Otherwise, I'm fine."

Jiraiya smiled apologetically and nodded in agreement. His daughter was built differently for no reason. "So how did you like the village yesterday?" He asked.

"Oh... I mean from what I saw it was ok." Tadashi responded, losing most of the expression in his face, "I didn't get to see very much though, seeing as how I only went to do some research for you."

"Oh? That's interesting," Juriaya began cracking eggs and stirring them into a bowl," I talked to Katsumi about it yesterday. Her story was a little different from yours. Did you enjoy the ramen?"

There was a long pause before a knife flew towards the back of Juriaya's head to which the Sannin easily dodged leaving the eating utensils lodged in the wooden wall next to him. Tadashi grabbed his fork, flipped over the table, and jumped at his dad. Jiraiya side stepped continuing to stir the bowl of eggs that was in his hands. "You'll have to do a little better than that son."

The young boy lunged forward grabbing more utensils from around the room, throwing or stabbing at his father who continued to dance about the room dodging or using his hair to deflect the blows. Frustrated by his lack of progress Tadashi threw the last of his tools at his father and followed up with a leap towards him. Jiraiya ducked beneath the projectiles and thrust a foot into the air, directly into Tadashi's stomach, and sent him tumbling back on the ground. Juruiya then poured now stirred eggs into the pan and turned on the heat. "Don't be mad at your sister. You know she can't lie to me. Next time you want to go exploring just say so. Besides, I was doing a lot more unsavory things when I was your age."

Tadashi sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. A familiar sight that he had seen since the day he could hold a kunai. Whenever he wanted to be independent or tried to hide something, he got caught. That would usually lead to sparing it out with his father. Perhaps it was in some way an attempt to show him that he could handle himself, or maybe it was frustration at his own helplessness for being a child. "I know that. I was surprised she didn't rat me out when you asked about it outside the village."

"Hmmm shows how much she cares and depends on you. I remember a time when she would come running if you took out your snack early. Grow big and strong and protect her Tadashi," He turned back towards the counter and kept cooking, "I won't be here forever."

Tadashi closed his eyes as he laid out across the floor. He suddenly found that he was much more tired than he initially had thought. He could hear his sister rustling from the other room, mostly likely roused from her slumber by the match between him and his father. When she came he would have to put on his mature face and begin catering to his sister again. These small sweet moments were his escape. Not that he didn't like helping his sister but sometimes it was hard having to be an adult when he was only five.

"I'm sorry," Tadashi said electing to be selfish and remain on the floor.

"It's ok." His father responded.

"I won't do it again."

"Just ask first. There are many dangers in the world, I Wouldn't know what to do with myself if something were to happen to you two."

"Fine." He paused for a moment, listening to his sister getting closer via the tapping of her staff.

Just a bit more time. "I love you, dad."

Jiraiya stopped and turned to look at his son smiling. "I love you too."