Jiraiya's Twins

Chapter 22

It was long past the middle of the night before Naruto finally collapsed from exhaustion. Tadashi and his sister had fallen asleep before him so he'd trained longer than the two of them had, but that only meant he would be asleep longer than the two of them. Naruto lay sprawled out on a patch of smooth grass while Katsumi slept with her back against a tree. Tadashi had awoken before the two of them and took up a position not too far off from them. He'd taken up a mediation position, something he'd seen his father do many times as a child. He began clearing his mind and focusing. He would do this often whenever he was sleeping near Katsumi; it served as a kind of training that doubled as a way to keep guard of his precious sister.

Tadashi didn't know how long he'd been awake now. He focused on clearing his mind while focusing on his chakra as he'd figured that the disruptive thoughts in his mind were holding him back. As he sat there he began to lose sense of himself. It felt as though he was melting into nature around him and becoming one with it. He could just barely sense a sort of energy flowing into him but it was only a faint superficial feeling and there wasn't much .

By the time he felt a newcomer's eye on him a few birds had already gathered around him. Tadashi didn't open his eyes even as the newcomer made their way to where he sat and crouched down in front of him. The birds that had been around Tadashi had flown off by this point and he could feel a hand reach towards him first going for his neck before stopping and shaking his shoulder instead.

Tadashi opened his eyes slowly and was face to face with another boy. The boy had long straight black hair, soft facial features, and a pick kimono with cute designs woven in.

"Why are you out here in the forest?" The newcomer asked.

"Hm? I am currently meditating to clear my head." Tadashi said looking up at the boy. "I thought we would be alone in these woods. What are you doing here?"

"I'm gathering herbs." Boy responded with a smile.

"Is that so? How about I help you?" Tadashi said, rising to his feet.

"I wanna help too." Katsumi said with a yawn walking towards the two boys slowly.

"That would be nice, thank you." The boy replied.

~~

Katsumi sat next to the basket of herbs while the two other boys kept picking them.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are these for?" Katsumi asked, holding one of the plants.

"They are healing herbs. Ment for treating illness and healing wounds." the boy said. "I must ask, why are the three of you out this early?"

"The three of us were training, that idiot over there, "Tadashi pointed at Naruto who was still laying on the ground, "Decided it would be a good idea to train out here all night."

"Ahh i see, so does that mean the three of you are ninja? Since you guys have a headband on."

Katsumi proudly stood up and pointed at her ninja headband that was around her neck. "Yup. You bet we are, and I'm going to be the greatest toad sage in all the lands." She said, raising her staff in the air.

"Oh? Does that mean you're training for something dangerous?" the boy asked.

"I mean sure it'll be dangerous," Tadashi said, crossing his arms. "But if you're strong enough then there is nothing you can't do. Plus we're ninjas, it's our duty to remain strong and fight for what we believe in."

The boy looked down and thought about their answers for a moment. "But... why are you training?"

The twins looked at each other, both of them shared a very confused expression.

"Didn't we just-," Katsumi started.

", answer that question?" Tadashi finished

They looked back at the boy and answered at the same time. "We want to get stronger! Just like our dad."

"But you two look strong enough already" He said looking at them intrigued

"Nah, we can definitely do better. We both were made aware of that in the last battle we were in." Tadashi said confidently.

Katsumi nodded in agreement

"What for?"

"Well, I want to show my village that I can definitely live up to my father's name and legacy. My blindness shouldn't be a reason as to why I can't do it." Katsumi smiled at the boy. It was a warm smile.

'And I want to protect the things closest to me. I want to be able to hold everyone on my shoulders so that no one needs to be afraid. That I can be a hero like my father." Tadashi added.

"Is that for somebody else's sake? Or for your own?" the boy pressed further.

Tadashi stared at the boy. In his mind, he had always thought that the actions he took were for the sake of those around him. Sure being strong was nice and all but at the end of the day, he'd always rationalized that he did the things he did for his sister. Because their father was gone. Because it was his job. But with this last fight all that was called into question.

That was the question that stumped poor Katsumi. Her face scrunched up and she sat on the floor thinking about this question hard.

"Do you have somebody precious in your life?" The boy followed up with another question.

This made Katsumi blush. The first person she thought about was Lee and how special he was to her. She then slapped her face trying to keep her emotions in check. Both boys looked at her surprised by this action.

"There are many precious people in my life. I care for all of them in a special way. I'm thankful for not just my friends and family, but for those who dislike me because I'm different. They all have made me stronger in their own way."

Precious in his life? Well his sister was always at the top of that list but lately, there were others that had joined his life. Hinata and to an extent Neji. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. His teacher Kakashi. All of them were important people that he didn't want to see leave his life. Tadashi nodded his head in agreement with his sister.

"You see when a person has something they genuinely want to protect, then they become truly stronger." With that the boy stood up and began to walk away.

"W-wait!" Katsumi stood and walked forward with her hands out. The boy watched her get closer to him but he didn't move.

Katsumi finally reached him and held his hand to her cheek. "You're my precious friend too. I hope to see you again" she then gave him a soft-eyed smile.

The boy stared at Katsumi for what it seemed to be a long while. When they finally let go, he noticed a bell on his hand.

"Whats this?" he asked looking at the round object.

"I always give one of my bells to those I care about. It also calms me when I feel lonely.~"

"I'll care for this then." the boy said with a smile. With that he walked away.

Tadashi chuckled as his sister skipped back from the boy. He could hear Naruto stirring behind them, finally waking up. He walked over and shook the other boy awake. Naruto stretched and rose to his feet, doing his best to rub the sleep out of his eyes. At the same time, Sasuke was walking towards them passing the departing boy as he came.

"Hey idiots," Sasuke said once he reached the group, "did you forget about breakfast?"

Katsumi gasped "How rude, of course, we didn't forget!" Unfortunately for her, her stomach growled loud enough for the Uchiha to hear. Poor Katsumi tried to hide her face with her hair, it was red with embarrassment.

Tadashi smiled but remained quiet. He was quiet in the mood to be festive but he couldn't deny that his sister was one of the funniest people he knew. "We should finish up our training while we're still here." Tadashi said, rising to his feet, "We have plenty of sunshine but not many days left. We need to make progress." Even as the words left his mouth he could tell that they were meant more for himself rather than to his group.