Jiraiya's Twins

Chapter 18

Tadashi didn't skip a beat when he made it to shore, he held onto his sister's hand and ran to where the bridge builder and the rest of the team stood.

"T-Tadashi wait." Katsumi said in between coughs.

He slowed down and looked at his sister. She was panting trying to regain her composure.

"Dont ever do something stupid like that again Katsu. I would have-" Tadashi himself couldn't finish his sentence. She felt her brother hug her tightly, her bottom lip began to wobble. Suddenly many tears began falling out of Katsumi's eyes.

"I - Im sorry Tadashi. I-I-I wanted to help." She began shaking as she returned the hug.

Their little moment was interrupted with Tazuna yelling at Sasuke.

Sakura looked at the twins, then at Naruto and Sasuke. 'They all performed so well despite the desperate situation that we're in. Despite the fact that Tadashi only seems to care about working with his sister, Naruto and Sasuke fight like cats and dogs.'

"Hmph, I got distracted and broke my water prison jutsu..." Zabuza started.

"That's not it, you didn't break the jutsu. They forced you to break it." Kakashi finished.

Zabuza looked back at Kakashi, clearly angry.

"I'll tell you right now, that same Jutsu wont work on me twice. So, what will you do now?"

There was a very long pause between the two adults. The twins were able to calm down a bit and stood up. Katsumi wiped her face and took a deep breath. Tadashi stood ahead of his sister, guarding her and watching the preparation for the fight.

"Sakura, Tadashi, Katsumi, stay alert." Sasuke said to the group. They all nodded and stood in front of Tazuna.

The long silence between the adults was finally broken by a battle cry from Zabuza. They jumped back from each other and began performing hand signs and chanting. Katsumi listened intently while the rest of the kids watched the adults display. None was more focused than Tadashi. His eyes were glued to the hand signs they were performing and though he wasn't initially aware of it he'd already begun to mimic their hand signs.

"Water style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Finally Kakashi and Zabuza reached the end of their chant and moments later two large dragons made purely of water erupted from the surface of the lake. They began dueling each of biting and ramming each other as the two adults jutsu fought for dominance. The battle between the two chakra beasts displaced the surface of the lake, flooding the banks of the lake and pushing Naruto back on a large wave.

Beneath the waterfall created by the two dueling dragons Zabuza and Kakashi were locked in an intense melee battle. Zabuza's sword against one of Kakashi's kunai knives. As the jutsu subsided the two men jumped away and resumed their staring match. It seemed that Zabuza was suddenly not sure about the fight and a bit unhinged. The two adults ran in circles and performed various hand signs the entire time, Kakashi copying Zabuza's movements perfectly never skipping a beat.

"It's like he's copying him perfectly." Sakura remarked.

"That's because he is," Tadashi replied," There isn't a single delay in Kakashi's movements. It's more accurate to say they're mirroring each other rather than Kakashi copying."

"Can the Sharingan do something like that Susake?" Sakura asked, seeming to ignore what Tadashi said. Sasuke did not respond but rather continued to focus on watching the fight.

The adults once more began a staring match. Zubaza seemed to become more infuriated as Kakashi mimicked everything he did from jutsu to entire phrases. Finally, Zabuza had a moment of utter weakness as he seemed to stare off into the fog behind Kakashi and lose all sense of reason. At that moment Kakashi performed one more jutsu, unleashing a huge torrent of water directly at Zubaza. The assassin was swept up in the current. He did his best to swim to safety but the jutsu was far too powerful and all he managed to achieve was being swept along. He kept being pushed along until at last, he slammed into a tree as the water subsided.

Not skipping a single beat four kunia sunk into Zabuza's flesh, one in each arm and leg. He roared out in pain and looked up to see Kakashi staring down at him.

"How? How did you do that? My jutsu? My technique? I was about to unleash a water tsunami but you did it first! How? Can you see into the future?"

"Yes. I can see this will be your last battle." Kakashi responded held up one last kunia to finish off the other man. Tadashi couldn't help but to admire his teacher's ability in battle. A fight like that was beyond anything Tadashi thought he could do at the moment but of course, that only meant that he had to keep training in order to get stronger.

Before he could respond two large needles embedded themselves in Zubaza's neck, shocking the entire group. He fell to the floor and when Kakashi checked the body for a pulse he confirmed the kill. That only left the question of where the needles came from.

The group stared into the trees above them. There stood what appeared to be a woman wearing green and brown clothing as well as a mask typically worn by black ops of various villages.

"Thank you. I've been tracking for a while now, waiting for the right moment to strike" The individual said bowing their head. They had a femine voice conforming to the rest of their group about their gender.

"I can tell by your mask that you're a tracker ninja from the village hidden in the mist." Kakashi responded.

"Impressive," they responded, "you're well informed."

"Oh wow a tracker!" Naruto said jumping in front of the bridge builder.

"Naruto you don't even know what a tracker is! You skipped class when we had that lesson." Sakura chimed. "A tracker ninja is a special ninja that hunters rogue ninja from their village. When a ninja goes rogue they take a log of secret information with them. Tracker ninja find them and eliminate them before any of those secrets get out."

"That's right. I'm a member of the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist." The tracker responded.

'From his size and voice he seems to be the same age as Naruto, yet he's an elite tracker of the Hidden Mist Village. He's no ordinary kid' Kakashi thought.

The Tracker disappeared in a gust of wind and reappeared next to the dead body. They lifted it up and slugged the large man over their back. "This body still contains many secrets. I must do away with it. If you'll excuse me." And with that they once more disappeared in a gust of wind.

Naruto began exploding once that Tracker had left. He yelled and punched the ground lamenting his weakness and cursing not being able to achieve in anything.

Tadashi remained silent and put his hands into his pockets. Though he wasn't as outward as Naruto was he too felt despair in his uselessness, having only been able to rescue his sister with the help of his teammates for an enemy who was handicapped at the moment.

Seeing someone his age performing ninjutsu better than he could really call into question all the times people called him a genius. He would have to grow stronger to make this feeling go away. He would have to work harder no matter what.

Katsumi also felt the same emotions as Naruto. In fact, she felt like she was even more of a hindrance to the team. Even though she blocked Zabuza's sword, she still caused trouble for Kakashi and her brother. Maybe if she didn't charge in, Kakashi wouldn't have been trapped in the water prison.

Kakashi stepped forward and grabbed Naruto arm midswing. "As ninjas, the things we encounter are never easy. Save you anger for the next enemy."He then turned to the rest of the group, "We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the builder to his bridge."

"Hehe, sorry for all the trouble I've caused," Tazuna laughed, "You all can rest at my house once we get to the village."

"Alright then let's get a move on." Kakashi replied. He turned to walk away, took one step, and proceeded to fall face-first onto the ground.