Fighting With One's Self

Chapter 21 - The Brothers

The following day, Yume-chan and I both wake up just as the sun starts to file into the room. Neither of us have ever woken up at such an hour willingly, but we both know that we need to start training.

"Do you have any idea what the theory behind a chakra connection could be?" is her greeting to me.

"None," I reply solemnly.

"I'm so excited to get started," she says softly. Her sarcasm seems to leak out of her, it's so intense.

I sigh and sit up, "Then we better get moving. Come on."

We get dressed and go down to the kitchen, only drinking coffee and eating a few biscuits each, before heading to the Taijutsu training room. We stand facing each other for a few moments like we are about to battle, but neither of us know what to do.

"So ... now what?" Yume-chan asks after a while.

I run my fingers through my hair. I have no idea how something like this would work. Something tells me that fighting against Yume-chan isn't going to be of much help.

"Maybe it only works when both of us fight against someone else," I suggest.

"Then how did they train?" Yume-chan asks, as though I'm insane.

"Uh, against other ninja," I say, rolling my eyes.

"But we've already fought against other people once," she says, "That one time, against Itachi-kun and Kisame."

"Yes, but we weren't fighting them together. I ran for the trees remember."

"Oh, yeah, you coward."

"Yoku-chan, Yume-chan?" We look toward the door, where Tobi is standing beside Dei-kun. I can see paper sticking out from under his sleeve. "What are you doing?"

"Evidently, nothing," Yume-chan answers, "Why are the two of you up so early?"

"We've been up since four this morning, Yume-chan!" Tobi starts complaining. "Tobi was having such a good dream and then his senpai-"

"Shut up, Tobi," another voice says from the hallway, and Hidan appears, "Why're all of you here?"

"Training," Yume-chan says simply. Dei-kun walks over to me and stands beside me. He gives me a meaningful look, and I wonder if it means he's been to Konoha.

"Doesn't look like it," Hidan says, then he looks at Dei-kun's right sleeve, "What's that?"

"What, un?" Dei-kun asks innocently.

Hidan snorts, "Fine, keep your fuckin love letters to yourself. Move over, and let a pro show you how Taijutsu works."

"Hey, are those the files you got from Konoha?" Yume-chan blurts. I glare at her pointedly. The rest of the Akatsuki weren't supposed to know yet.

"Files?" Hidan asks.

"What were you doing in Konoha, Deidara?" Itachi-san asks: he had just appeared in the doorway, beside Kisame-sensei.

"You know you're not supposed to go there," Kisame-sensei says. "Morning, Yoku."

I smile slightly, but I'm on edge. These people really aren't supposed to know about our abilities yet. Even we don't really know about them yet.

"What are these files you were talking about just now?" Hidan presses. I look pleadingly at Dei-kun.

"It's nothing, un, it's-"

"It's stuff about our ancestory," Yume-chan interrupts Dei-kun, and I glare at her again. What the hell is she thinking? But she doesn't look at me. "Apparently our chakra can connect somehow, like our ancestors. Our great-grandfathers or something lived in Konoha. We just want to know how they did it. That's what Pein told us."

"The Leader told you that?" Hidan asks. "Well, let's hear it. Read that shit aloud."

"I think Yoku-chan and Yume have the right to look at it first-"

"You probably already read it, whimp, so just fuckin read it."

"Deidara-senpai, can Tobi go sleep now?"

I realise that all the Akatsuki members around me have their eyes on the semi-hidden files in Dei-kun's hand, and Tobi is the only one who is not interested in what is inside. I slap my hand to my forehead.

"Read the fucking file!" Hidan says loudly.

"Hidan, calm down," Kakuzu says; he had just entered. Could this get any worse?

After several minutes' worth of arguing, Dei-kun finally gets us loose from the other nin, and takes us to the sitting room. There are three seperate files. He opens the first and takes out a stack of paper. He starts reading ahead and then relays the information more shortly:

"There's just some nonsense about how they were a farmer family, un ... ... ah, here. The Tsukino Clan was a vast, but not very well-known clan within Konoha. Even though it had so many members, only a select few could activate their blood limit, and it only ever happened between twins. In battle, they could connect their chakra signatures and, in the process, link their minds, in a sense. That way, they could form nearly foolproof battle strategies and perform them without even needing to consult each other, un."

"Does it say how?" Yume-chan asks.

Dei-kun scans further down the page, and moves to the next. "Yes. Here, un. They had to train daily for at least an hour to maintain the connection. They would sit facing each other and each would form chakra threads and connect it to the other's. A sort of meditation, it seems, un. The meditation requires immense concentration. The threads break with even the slightest distraction."

"Aw, damn," Yume-chan says, looking down. I smirk. She was never one who could concentrate for very long.

"When they are practiced enough, the two users will be able to link these threads in battle. Their thoughts would mingle and together, they would form their strategies."

"Are there specific requirements?" I ask, "Like, do we have to be twins, or would it work between cousins, or very good friends?"

"Well, obviously, both would need the gene for the Bloodline Limit, un. But there's nothing else here that is essential. As long as you have the blood, you have the potential. The Leader seemed adamant that both of you have that kind of chakra, un."

"If that is all we need to know, what's on all the other papers?" I ask, gesturing to the stack in his hand.

"These are all the different battle strategies different pairs of the clan came up with, information on them, et cetera."

"Is there any personal information on the two brothers?" I ask.

"Oh yes, un," Dei-kun says. "They happened to be the first of their clan who weren't twins, but only normal brothers. Their names were Tsukino Akihiko and Mitsuo. Between obtaining the files and now, I was able to study the family trees. Akihiko is Yume's great-grandfather, and Mitsuo is yours. They each have a file to themselves, un."

Dei-kun hands each of us a file.

"This must at least be a hundred pages!" Yume-chan complains.

"You don't need to read it, un," Dei-kun says, rolling his eyes, "I've told you all you need to know to start training."

"Thanks for your effort," I tell him, kissing him and then standing up. I take the other file as well and tell Yume-chan, "Come on, we need to start."