Chapter 1

The Lethal Duo (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. :-) But I sure love it! ^_^

Here's a little fan fiction that I made for fun.

I'm not really good at writing so I'll apologize in advance if there are any grammar and spelling errors. Enjoy! ^_^

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**Naruto Namikaze:**
"Naruto....Oi! Naruto! Wake up already!" I hear a voice shout and feel myself being shaken violently.

I groan and roll over, pulling my blanket up to cover myself. "Five more minutes, Minashi."

I feel the blanket being removed from me, making me wince once the sun hits my face.

"You already told me that thirteen times, Naruto! Get up!!" Minashi's voice rings in my ear and then I hear the sound of footsteps walking away. "And don't make me come back here just to wake you up again!"

I groan in annoyance. No reason to try and fall asleep now. So, I stand up and wobble my way to the dining room while I squint my eyes, letting it adjust to my surroundings. When my eyesight is back to normal, I grin at the sight of the food on the table. Ramen!

I clap my hands in delight. "Wow! You're the best, Minashi!" I praise Minashi, who's currently placing the bowls on the table.

She rolls her eyes. "Of course I am." She tells me, a smug look evident on her face before she narrows her eyes at me. "Now stop praising me and go take a bath!!" She commands in her usual bossy tone, pointing towards the bathroom.

"Yes, Ma'am!" I say, mock saluting her and immediately head for the bathroom. Once I reach it, I close the door and start the bath.

Anyway, I am Naruto Namikaze. Twelve years old. I have blonde spiky hair, blue eyes, tanned skin and whisker marks on my face.

The loud one in the kitchen is Minashi Namikaze, my twin sister. She has long crimson red hair that reaches up to her thighs, and she usually ties it up in a braid to keep it from bothering her.

But anyway, to sum it up, Minashi looks a lot like mom, Kushina Uzumaki, only younger.

And yes,  we both know who our parents are and pretty much everything about ourselves. But, that was before a certain something happened.

~Flashback(5 years ago)~

I am walking around the streets, careful not to run into any villagers. They beat me up every time they see me so it would be best if I steer clear of them. I don't know why they do it though. I didn't do anything wrong to them.

I had just bought ramen from Ichiraku's so my sister and I can eat. Luckily the old man there, and his daughter, they're both kind, unlike the other villagers who are so mean to me.

Minashi doesn't know about the beatings I get though. I've hidden it from her ever since. I would make up excuses just so she won't know. Luckily, she buys it.

I know Minashi. Once she knows, she won't leave my side ever again. And, she will do everything she can to try and protect me. But I don't want her to do that. She'll only get hurt. I don't want that to happen.

But enough about my sister. Now, all I need is to take one more turn and I will be home. I am so excited right now that I forgot all about hiding myself. Unfortunately, one of the villagers sees me and calls the others.

My eyes widen and I immediately run away to a different direction so I can lure the villagers away from my home. "Catch me if you can!!" I shout.

Once I'm sure they're all following me, I focus on trying to outrun them, using the complex maze created from the houses that are built close to each other.

"Ahihihi!" I laugh, grinning from ear to ear. "You can't catch me!!"  I stick out my tongue at them.

"Why you!"

"Come back here!"

"Monster!"

The last word yelled by a random villager makes me scrunch my forehead and clench my fists. *It's always like this.* They call me a monster and beat me up for it. Man. I don't even know what I did to make them hate me this much.

I sigh, shaking my head and deciding to ignore what was said for now. I speed up, leaving the villagers behind and then, I hide myself under the bushes before they could see me. In no time, they pass my hiding place, making me grin. *I'm getting pretty good at this.*

I wait for a few more minutes before I go out my hiding place and head for home once again.

Once I'm on the porch of the house, I remove all form of tiredness evident from my facial expression and replace it with a huge grin. I then open the door, and enter. "Minashi!" I call to my sister. "The food's here!"

But then suddenly, I feel a strong grip on my arm and my eyes widen when I am forcefully wrench back out of the house. I am thrown to the ground, all food that I had bought splattered along with me.

I look up in horror and am met by a sight of the angry villagers once more. They had surrounded me now and I see there is no way to escape their beatings this time.

But that is not what worries me. I am near the house and I had called Minashi a while ago. One thing's for sure,  *She must not see this.*

"P-please.." I beg the villagers. "If you want to beat me up, that's fine." I mutter. "Just not here."

"Hahaha!" One villager laughs. "You think you can fool us?!" He yells. "You'll just run away!"

And with that, he sends a strong slap to my cheek, making me fall to the ground. Slowly, I get up. "N-no.." I mutter. "Please. You can tie me up to make sure I won't escape. Just d-don't beat me up here."

"Enough of your lies!" Another villager yells and after that, my frail body receives numerous hits from them. They could be kicking me or punching me, I don't really know. There is too much pain for my already-bruised body to register all at the same time and all I can do is try to endure.

"Naruto!" I manage to make out my sister's voice from all the noise of the yelling villagers. And I can't help but close my eyes and clench my fists out of frustration. After all the lies I had made up just so she won't know, it was all for nothing now.

"No! P-please!" Minashi begs, her voice shaking, sounding like she's about to cry anytime now. "Don't h-hurt him!"

The beatings stop and I see that the villagers had now turned to Minashi.

"And what's this?" One villager says. "It's a girl! She's defending the monster!"

"Why is she doing that anyway?!" Another villager says.

One villager turns to me with a smirk. "Could it be that the monster has found himself a girlfriend?!"

My eyes widen. *Girlfriend?* I can't help but feel incredulous of the fact that they don't know Minashi's my sister. But, I guess that's a good thing since I can use that information to cover up for Minashi.

"No!" I yell, now thinking of ways to make the villagers focus their attention back to me. "She's got nothing to do with me!" I turn to Minashi. "Go away, Minashi!" I yell at her harshly. "I don't need your compassion!"

I see hurt flash in Minashi's eyes, instantly making me regret what I said. But I need to do this now. *Sorry Minashi.*

"This has nothing to do with you!" I yell once again. "So, don't get involved!"

"He's right, girl." One villager says and I can't help but feel relieved to know that they're buying it. "Go home."

Minashi glares at the villagers. "No!" She states and I can't help but groan inwardly. *Man, she's making the situation worse.* "How about you stay away from him?"

"Ooh.." One villager says, pretending to look scared. "I'm so scared. And what are you going to do about it, *girl?*"

"S-something." Minashi says, hesitating. "Just.. just leave him alone."

The villagers seem to be amused by her and one of them grabs hold of my hair, forcefully pulling me upwards. This makes Minashi glare daggers at the said villager. "Stop it!" She tells.

"Or what?!" The villager mocks. "What are you going to do about it."

"J-just go away, Minashi." I tell her. "Go."

Minashi clenches her fists angrily and I can see her shake out of anger. "LET HIM GO!!" She suddenly yells and before I know it, golden chains suddenly sprouts from her back and whips around wildly, hitting the villagers surrounding us and even the one who's holding me.

I am dropped to the ground and I immediately look up to Minashi. Her eyes are glowing with gray light as she glares at the villager that had grabbed me just a second ago. Then she raises a hand, one chain following her gesture. The tip of the chain becomes what seems like a sharp blade.

My eyes widen once I realize what she wants to do. *She wants to kill him.* True, he was a meanie, but he doesn't deserve to die because of that.

"Minashi.." I call to my sister in hopes to stop her. She turns to me, eyes looking so scary. But something inside told me she'd never hurt me and I believe in that. "I'm alright now. You don't have to hurt him." I give her the most cheerful grin I could muster. "It's okay."

Dropping her hand, the chains slowly disperse and her eyes return to its normal glow. Minashi then falls to the ground and I immediately run to her side. I support her unconscious body in my arms and think back to the golden chains that she had created. *Man, she was so scary.* But at the same time, it was so cool how she did all that.

But then, breaking away from my thoughts, I fearfully look around as the villagers slowly get up. *They'll start beating me up again.* Or worse. They might include Minashi. And I cannot let that happen.

I stand up, carrying Minashi's unconscious form in my arms. She had protected me. Now this time, I will protect her even if it's the last thing I do.

I start running as fast as I can as the villagers start to chase after me. Though very hard to run with Minashi, and not to mention the fact that I've just been beaten up a while ago, I still force myself to do so.

Suddenly, I feel an outburst of energy occur inside of me and before I knew it, I zoom away at such a fast speed, leaving the villagers in an instant. I was moving so fast that my surroundings had turned into a blur.

I only stop running once I'm at the village gate. Feeling quite drained, I slowly lower Minashi to the ground. My eyesight seems to falter now and I feel intensely weak. *What's happening to me?* Although I'm quite panicked, and I try to keep myself calm. But my body seems too tired to do anything right now. I drop to the ground and then, everything goes black.

~~~

I wake up and am met by the sight of white ceiling right above of me. I close my eyes again. That's funny. I thought Minashi and I lived in an apartment that has a blue ceiling.

Then, my eyes shot open when I remember everything that happened. I immediately sit up, ignoring the pain of my dizzy head, and look around.

I see Minashi asleep on a bed just across the room - a room that is all white in color. Where are we anyway? The place looks clean and tidy. I know I've never been to this place before.

Suddenly, the doorknob turns, making me get off the bed and take the small knife I find on a tray of fruits in reflex. I immediately go near Minashi who just woke up. Whoever these people are, I won't let them harm my sister.

I pull Minashi behind me protectively and ready myself for a fight. An old man, wearing all white with a tinge of red enters with two ninjas behind him.

"Stay away from us!" I hiss while threateningly slashing at them.

One of the ninja's said, "Whoaw! Calm down kid!", while gesturing me to calm down.

My hands tremble as I hold on to the knife. I'm scared.

"What do you want from us?!" I hiss.

"It's alright, children." The old man says in a very calm tone. "I'm here to help you. Don't worry I won't harm you."

I narrow my eyes at him, observing every move he makes. Should I trust him?

"If you let your men leave, then we will believe you." Minashi says.

I nod in agreement, but my eyes not leaving the old man. I just can't help and feel suspicious. No one has ever offered to help us before. Well, except for the Hokage, whom we had not met, but is sending us money for food and clothes.

"Very well." The old man says as he gestures at the ninjas to go.

The ninjas go out the door, making me sigh in relief and put the knife down.

"Naruto....Minashi....It is so nice to see you again." The old man says, making me and Minashi tense up.

"Who are you? And how do you know us?" Minashi says suspiciously.

But the old man just smiles warmly, not at all affected by Minashi's tone. "I am the Third Hokage." He says. "But you can call me gramps."

"You're the Hokage?" I say. "You're the one who sends money to us?"

"Yes. My dear children." He says, looking at us with kind and caring eyes, a look Minashi and I had never ever seen from most of the villagers. "The two ninjas who were with me a while ago are the ones who found you unconscious on the ground and brought you to me. I immediately recognized you and had you brought to the hospital."

"Thank you.." Minashi says. "..for all the help you have given to us. We would not have survived this long without your help."

"I'm so sorry." He says. "I'm sorry for not being able to provide more. Nor meet with you through all these years. It must seem that I have forgotten you."

"Who are we exactly, Gramps?" I can't help but say.

"What do you mean?" He says, confusion etched on his face. "You are Naruto and Minashi Uzumaki."

"We know that!" Minashi is the one to speak up, standing up and looking at Gramps with strong and determined eyes. "It's just that we've lived our whole lives not knowing anything about ourselves except our names and that we're orphans. Everybody seems to hate my brother and just a while ago, I saw the people beating him up. But why?! Did he ever do  anything wrong to them?!"

"The villagers beat you?" Gramps asks, turning to me. As I can see, he doesn't know about the beatings.

"Yeah." I mutter. "They do it everytime they see me. It's quite annoying sometimes but I guess I just got used to it."

I suddenly earn myself a smack on the head, from Minashi.

"OW!!" I can't help but exclaim. "Minashi!" I glare at her.

"You never told me!" She says.

I sigh. "I didn't want you to worry." I tell her. "I just didn't want you to get hurt, Minashi. You know I love you. You're the only person who's always there for me and I can't stand it if you are hurt."

She suddenly embraces me. "You knucklehead." She mutters. "Next time, you tell me everything. Okay?"

"Okay." I agree with her, tightening the embrace a bit.

"Children.." Gramps says, getting our attention. We can both see that he looks regretful. "I'm sorry. I hid the truth from you, thinking that it would harm you. But it seems hiding it has the same effect. My ignorance also made it even worse."

"A-huh." Minashi says, nodding. "I guess it can't be helped anyway. You have a whole village to run. So, taking care of two orphans would only add up to the pile."

"Still, it is not an excuse." Gramps says with a sad smile. "From now on, I'll tell you everything. It might be a lot to take in but please bear with me."

~End of Flashback~

Gramps told us all about Mom, Dad, the kyuubi inside me and more. He even created a rule so the villagers won't beat me or Minashi ever again. All they can do now is glare at us. Serves them right. I was getting tired of all the beatings anyway.

So, after knowing the truth, Minashi and I were  very surprised. But in time, we recovered and decided to have our surname changed to Namikaze.

Gramps had explained to us that it might be dangerous. Our Father was the fourth Hokage and our mother was a strong kunoichi. And the enemies they had made might come after us. But Minashi and I had our decision fixed. Now is not the time to hide.

Gramps also explained to us the weird things that had happened to us that very day. The golden chains Minashi had, and my speed. It seems we had unlocked our Bloodline Limit.

Minashi inherited the Uzumaki Bloodline Limit from Mom. She can wield the adamantine chains while I inherited the Namikaze Bloodline Limit from Dad, which gives me speed.

However, Gramps could not explain what happened to Minashi, her eyes and how she became so strong. As time passed we found out it would happen to her whenever she is really pissed. And when that happens, she can't control herself from hurting people. Man, she even took out a dozen Anbus once and almost hurt Gramps too, in her rage.

But, as of now, she's gotten quite good at controlling her temper. It has already been two years since her last rampage. Being sarcastic is a way for her to keep herself on check. And unfortunately, I have to live with that.

Well anyway, I also know that the kyuubi is sealed into me. Dad was the one who did it. He saved the village but also lost his life when he did. I sigh at the thought. If only he and mom were still alive. Minashi and I, would be very happy.

About my sister. She is mean, bossy, sarcastic and definitely full of herself. But, aside all the negatives, she's actually a great sister and friend. One who would not leave you on your own. As much as she can, she helps.

Also, by the age of ten, Minashi and I were strong enough to raise our ranks as ninja. Minashi as chunin, and the same goes for me. And that is exactly what we did but decided to let only a few people know. After all, we are still kids. And besides, the fewer people who know, the greater the advantage of going undercover in our own village. It makes it more real and you know.

As for how we got so good at such a short time, Gramps assigned to us some ninjas that could train us. Iruka-sensei and Ibiki are two of many more. They are really good ninjas. Very skilled indeed.

Anyway, as of now, Minashi and I, are in a mission to work undercover. So, we were enrolled to the academy in order to fish out a traitor among the teachers. Rumor has it that there is one. For the sake of the mission, we changed our surname back to Uzumaki so we can avoid unwanted attention.

Minashi and I always work together on missions. Gramps knows that we are strong when we are together. So, he seldomly sends us to missions without one another. I know very well that without my sister, I would be a bow without an arrow - useless. The same goes for her, I think.

"NARUTO!" I hear Minashi yell, pounding at the bathroom door. I almost jumped, startled by her.

"What?!" I yell back in annoyance while calming myself.

I hear her heave a sigh before saying, "You've been in the bathroom for twenty minutes! I thought I told you to hurry up!"

"I am hurrying!" I yell as I continue taking a bath in a much faster pace. I don't wanna mess with my sister. She goes all meanie once you get her started. And she could go the whole day until you make it up to her.

Then, in a few moments, I go out the bathroom and rush to my room to get dressed.

Minashi Namikaze:
*That Naruto.* Always moving so slow during mornings. It's quite ironic, really. He's the one with the speed and yet look at him now. Then again, I had to put up with it everyday, so, I guess I have no choice but to get used to it.

He goes out his room all dressed up in his *favorite* orange clothes and I can't help but roll my eyes a bit.

"Hey, I saw that!" He exclaims, pointing an accusing finger at me.

I look at him, deadpanning. I know that he knows why I just rolled my eyes. And I am not regretting it in any way.

He groans. "Oh come on, Minashi." He straightens his clothes, as if it would look any better that way. "What do you have against orange anyway?"

"First of all, it's orange." I tell him. "You know I'm not fond with that color. And secondly, have you even noticed how many times you've been discovered by the enemy no matter how much you try hide yourself?" I give him a look of exasperation. "At least try wearing a much darker color next time you want to be stealthy."

"Oh yeah?" He says, an anime vein appearing on his forehead. "And what about you?! You wear an oversized gray T-shirt and a black trouser that you took from my drawers. And, not to mention your always-messy hair."

I shake my head, knowing the fact that I'm already getting on his nerves. *I should probably stop now.* "Dude, you know this is only for the mission." I tell him. "Can't have the boys drooling over my irresistible beauty, you know. That would compromise us."

Naruto laughs, rolling his eyes. "As if, Minashi." He says. "You're getting too full of yourself."

I chuckle. "Hey, I'm just telling you the truth." I add playfully.

"Yeah yeah." He says, waving his hand dismissively. "Whatever you say. Let's just eat already." He puts his hands together excitedly. "Man, I'm starving."

"Very well." I say. "Let's eat then."

And so, we start to eat. In about a few minutes, I hear three knocks on the door. I turn to Naruto, who's still busy slurping his ramen and who's not paying attention to anything else.

I guess I'll get the door then. "I'll just go and get the door." I stand up and head for the door, not waiting for Naruto's response. I know he won't anyway. He's too busy with his ramen.

As I approach the door, I try to make out the chakra signature of the person behind the door. By the time I grab the doorknob, I already know what to expect - An Anbu.

So, I put on my emotionless face as I open the door. True enough, an Anbu stands on my porch. He immediately bows down when he sees me, acknowledging my presence. I bow back, greeting him a good morning.

He now gets up, almost robotically, and I can now see that he is wearing a white mask with swirling designs adorning it. And then he wears black clothing. A typical Anbu.

He stands straight, rigid and all. The force he uses to keep himself still is a bit too much, that he's almost shaking. I raise an eyebrow.

"You know, being formal doesn't suit you." I tell him with a smirk. "I like you better when you're you, Yamato-san."

"Minashi-san..." His voice is a bit muffled by his mask. But that's Yamato-san, no doubt. And though Yamato is not his real name, and I have no idea what his real name is, I just gave him that nickname. And before I know it, many people call him by that name. "You're ruining my moment here." He also drops his formalities. "I was *trying*, you know."

"Yeah right." I tell him. "A little more and you would have successfully imitated a robot."

He chuckles. "I'll work on that. For now, let's get to business." He hands me a scroll. "Lord Hokage sent me to give you this. He said the rest is up to you."

I nod. "Got it, Yamato-san." I say.

"Well, see you, Minashi-san." He mutters, and then puffs into smoke.

"Yeah, I guess." I reply, mostly to myself and then close the door and walk back to the dining room.

"Gramps sent you a mission, Naruto." I say, reading Naruto's name on the label of the scroll.

"What is it?" He asks, but doesn't turn to me. And he's still eating, by the way.

I toss him the scroll so he would read it for himself. And since he wasn't paying attention, it hits his head.

"Ow!" He exclaims and then glares at me. "Minashi!"

"You should really work on paying attention to your surroundings, you know." I tell him.

"Why do I have to?" He asks. "You'll be there to do it for me."

"Don't depend too much on me, Naruto." I tell him, my tone hard and serious. "What if I'm not around to help you? What would you do then?"

He turns to me, looking worried. "What are you saying all of a sudden?" He mutters. "What do you mean by - what if I'm not around to help you? You're not gonna leave me, right?"

I sigh. "You know that's not what I meant. And please Naruto, for the millionth time, I am not going to leave you." I tell him. "Now stop thinking that way or I'll smack your head. See if you'll stop then."

He grins. "Right. Ahihihi." He scratches his head. "Sorry."

"Good." I mutter. "Now read your mission. You might forget to read it later."

Naruto opens the scroll and reads the contents. Judging from the way he's grinning and laughing to himself now, it's probably something he'll enjoy.

"Man, this mission is so awesome." Naruto says, keeping the scroll and turning to me. "Gramps sent me to--"

I cut him off by raising a hand. "How many times do I have to say this? I lik--"

"Like surprises." Naruto finishes for me with a grin. "Right. Sorry I forgot."

"So, you done?" I ask him. "Eating, I mean."

"Yeah." He replies. "You?"

"I've eaten enough." I mutter. "Besides, we need to get to school. We're already three minutes late, you know."

"Yeah." He says. "And listen to Iruka-sensei's boring lessons." His shoulders droop. "Sometimes undercover missions ."

"You say that and yet you once *loved* his lessons." I remind him as I take the bowls from the table and take it to the kitchen, where I can wash it.

Naruto follows me to the kitchen, probably because he wants to talk to me. I let him be. Besides, I don't feel like being sarcastic now.

"Yeah. It was that time when I had no idea what chakra was." He mutters. "Now that I had learned all those things, I guess it gets boring listening to it again."

"I know what you mean." I tell him. "But, this is our mission. We chose to take it and turning back is definitely not a choice to me."

"You're right." He says. "Sorry."

"Nah." I mutter. "Don't apologize. We're both feeling the same. You're just being vocal about it."

Just after I say that, I also finish washing the bowls. "There." I say. "All done. Let's get to school now."

So, we both head out the door, with me, making sure to lock it. And then, we head for the academy. Halfway there, Naruto suddenly stops walking.

"You go on ahead, Minashi." He tells me, a smirk plastered to his face. "I have a mission to do."

I smirk back. "Sure." I mutter. "Go on. Make sure to do it stupidly."

He deadpans. "Whatever, Minashi." He says and then leaps away.

Once he is out of my sensing radius, I resume my pace to school.

~~~

I arrive at the classroom, more or less thirty minutes late. Inside, I hear Iruka-sensei's voice, discussing the lessons for today.

However, with a shrug, I put on an uninterested face, open the door and enter without minding the fact that Iruka-sensei had stopped his discussion and all eyes are on me.

"Minashi! You're late!" Iruka-sensei yells, sounding angry. "Again!"

I turn to him, uncaring. "Yeah. I am." I mutter. "So?"

"So?!" Iruka exclaims. "Punctuality is an important attitude of a ninja. If you want to be a ninja, you'd better work on that!!"

"A-huh. Sure." I tell him, uninterested in all the things he just said.

"Minashi, take me seriously for once!" He says.

"I would." I mutter. "But I just don't feel like it."

He grows an anime vein. "It's early in the morning.." He says once he's calmed himself. "..and you're already getting on my nerves!!"

Though Iruka looks like he's angry right now, I see in his eyes a glint of amusement. Well, after all, he *is* one of a few people who know that Naruto and  I are undercover. And he also knows what kind of person I am. He's just playing along.

I turn to the wall clock. "Technically, it's 8:30." I say. "I don't know about you but I don't think it's still early."

He groans. "Just go to your seat, Minashi." He says, pointing to my seat.

With a shrug, I obey him and head for me seat. Once I reach my seat, I immediately sit down and look out the window since I'm right beside it. *And now begins the boring part.* I can't help but sigh at the thought.

"Oh and where's your brother?" Iruka asks, making me turn to him.

"Don't know." I reply lifelessly. "Don't care. He left the house before I did."

Suddenly, the door flings open and two ninjas whom I'm not quite familiar with, enter.

"Iruka-san! Naruto doodled on the faces of the Hokages on the Hokage Mountain!" One of the ninjas yells. "And this time, with paint!"

I had to do everything in my power to stop myself from smirking at the priceless looks on their faces.

"WHAT?!!!" Iruka-sensei yells as he left, running with the two ninjas.

All of my classmates turn to me, looking like they blame me or something. And I know it's because Naruto is my brother.

"What?" I ask them with a raise of an eyebrow.

"You know why, Minashi." Ino says in a girly tone, crossing her arms and looking at me accusingly. "You know Naruto is stupid and you are his sister. Why don't you stop him from doing stupid things?"

That seems to make me angry. Nobody calls my brother stupid. Only I can do that. However, I know better than to argue with the likes of her so I keep my anger bottled inside. It's not worth it.

"I don't really care, Ino." I tell her. "He's my brother, yes. But I don't think that makes me responsible for the things he's done nor the things he might do."

"It does, Minashi." Sakura is the one to say, still looking at me the way Ino is. I do everything in my power to stop myself from rolling my eyes. *Why can't they just leave me alone?* "You are related to him. And that makes him your responsibility."

"Whatever." I say in a bored tone. "Why don't you go and be girly elsewhere? And mind your own businesses?"

I turn away from them, focusing myself on looking out the window. I sense Ino walk toward me but Sakura stops her. "Leave her be, Ino. It's not worth it." She says and I feel her glaring eyes on me. "Someone like her will never understand."

*If only you know.* I can't help but think. I understand more than anyone here ever will.

Once the two girls leave me alone, I decide to rest my head on my desk, closing my eyes and concentrating on my surroundings.

In about twenty minutes, I sense Iruka-sensei come back inside the classroom, dragging a tied up person along with him. I don't raise my head though. I still have it rested on my arms.

I recognize the chakra signature of the tied up person - my brother. Unfortunately, for him, he's a dud at escaping even the simplest type of prison. And, I can't go and help him so, he'll just have to bear with it.

"Naruto! Why do you have to give me such a hard time?!" Iruka-sensei exclaims. "Why can't you sit in my class and behave?! Your graduation is coming up tomorrow and you are acting this way!"

"If your lessons aren't so boring, I would be listening to you! Believe it!" Naruto retorts.

"That's it!" Iruka-sensei says angrily. "Everyone, we'll do a review on Henge no Jutsu! Fall in line!"

I can't help but groan inwardly. There goes my chance of staying in my seat and pretending to be asleep. *And leave it to my brother to drag us all into his trouble.* And by the sound of things, I'm guessing everyone else agrees with me.

After a few more seconds of hearing complaints from my classmates, I then sense them get up from their seats and form a line, obeying Iruka-sensei's command. I, however, decide not to move.

"Hey look, she's asleep." I hear a random classmate say as he and his friends pass my desk.

"Should we wake her up?" Another asks.

"Nah. She deserves it for being so lazy."

"Yeah, you're right."

They pass me, leaving me to continue my little façade. However, I sense another person come near me - the arrogant Uchiha. I expected him to pass me but surprisingly, he stops and gives me a little push instead.

I don't raise my head though and just continue *sleeping*. But then, he tries again, this time shaking me. "Hey, lazybones." He says. "Get up."

I could just roll my eyes. Lazybones is a nickname that he had given me. I don't complain though. It fits my fake personality. Besides, the guy seems to enjoy my company so I just let him call me whatever he wants.

Anyway, seeing that I have no other choice, I raise my head, feigning sleepiness. I then turn to him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you want, Uchiha?" I ask with a fake but convincing yawn. "You're disturbing me, you know."

He smirks, seemingly amused by the way I'm acting. *Who knew the ever arrogant Uchiha gets amused by these things.* "Iruka says we have to review the practical test for Henge no Jutsu." He tells me. "No thanks to your idiotic brother." He adds in a tone that's meant to annoy me.

But I just roll my eyes. "A-huh." I mutter, uncaring. "Blame him all you want. It's not like I care." I get up and make my way to the front, pretending to wobble a bit. "I suggest you save your breath, Uchiha." I tell him before I find my place in the line.

~~~

"Sakura Haruno!" Iruka-sensei calls.

And here I am, criticizing him a bit. I just don't get it. Why does he keep on calling our names when we have already fallen in line? I mean, what's the purpose of it?

"Sasuke Uchiha."

I sigh, getting tired of observing things. My turn is not after Naruto's. So, I decide not to pay attention until it's Naruto's turn.

~~~

Naruto steps up, does the necessary hand sign and yells, "Henge!"

In a puff of smoke, Naruto transforms into a girl. In my point of view, smoke is covering the girl's private parts. I can't say the same about Iruka-sensei though, since he falls over with a nosebleed.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THIS IN MY CLASS!!!" Iruka-sensei yells at Naruto once he recovers from his nosebleed. But, I know he's just trying to cover up for  the embarrassment he had, having a nosebleed like that. He then continues to lecture Naruto about pranks and other wrong things.

Naruto, however, doesn't listen to a thing Iruka-sensei says. He just walks back to his seat, not even minding our classmates that are glaring at him.

"Okay." Iruka-sensei says, clearing his throat and letting Naruto off for now. "Let's move on. Minashi Uzumaki." He calls my name.

I sigh and step in front. I can't help it. *Henge no Jutsu?* It's probably the first Jutsu I ever learned. And now here I am, *learning* it again.

"Henge." I mutter, forming both hands into a hand sign. In a puff of smoke, I transform into Gramps perfectly. I decide not to flunk this practical test. I've had enough flunking in this class anyway.

"Well what do you know.." Iruka-sensei says, nodding and taking note of my success. "..it seems someone's been practicing at home. Good job, Minashi."

I just nod and then head back to my seat. Once I reach it, I resume resting my head on the desk.

**Sasuke Uchiha:**
I would steal glances at Minashi's arched back whenever no one is looking. She is sitting right in front of me, so glancing would not be a problem.

The whole period and even the next one, she has her head rested on her arms. I don't even know if she's even listening to the teacher's discussions. I'm guessing she's sleeping.

Quite lazy, really. But despite that, I still find her quite amusing in her own way. She's  better than those girls who fan girl over me. They're just plain annoying. Her? She's not girly at all and that makes her ten times better.

**Minashi Namikaze:**
The day goes on. More of Naruto's pranks and fake stupidity takes place in the classroom. And Iruka-sensei discusses something in class, which I didn't bother listening to since I already know those things.

I just spent most of my time in the classroom, resting my head on my desk or staring out of the window.  *Could this day get any boring?*

Once classes are over, Iruka-sensei dismisses the class, but makes me and Naruto stay behind. And then, when everyone is gone, all three of us sneak off to the Hokage tower.

There, Gramps greets us with his grandfatherly smile. "Children, how was your day?" He asks, stopping all his work just to listen to us.

"It was fun!" Naruto says with a wide grin. "I got to do plenty of pranks on everyone. And I accidentally spilled red paint all over one ninja's face. You should have seen it, Gramps. It was so funny!" He says excitedly, laughing at the last part.

Gramps chuckles at him and then turns to me. "And what about you, Minashi?" He asks. "How was your day?"

I sigh. "Honestly, it was really boring." I complain. "I got so bored that I decided to spend most of the day observing my classmates." I add.  "And unfortunately,  I can tell that only few will make it as true ninjas. They *will* graduate tomorrow. But from their jounin instructors, I doubt it. Most of them are not taking it seriously."

"I see." Gramps says, nodding. "Perhaps it's better that way - to have them fail during the test with their jounin instructors. It would not be good for the village if we have ninjas who don't take it seriously." He tells me. "Still observant as ever, Minashi."

I nod at him as a sign of appreciating his praise. After that, Gramp's smile disappears and he picks up his pen again to write. This makes all of us to turn serious. That was an indication to start discussing the mission. And it means we need to act all serious. He faces Naruto. "And your solo mission?"

With a smirk, Naruto hands him the mission scroll. "Cover Fortification Mission: Doodle on the Hokage Mountain, Accomplished." He announces.

Iruka-sensei's eyes widen in disbelief, something I had guessed that would happen. "Hokage-sama! You actually sent Naruto-san to doodle on the Hokage Mountain?!" He asks in disbelief.

"Yes, I did." Gramps replies calmly. "Why?"

"Uh.." Iruka says, clearly surprised by our calmness. "I just couldn't believe it." He mutters.

Gramps then lights up his pipe and pauses, seemingly in thought. "Naruto and Minashi will clean the mountain." He says after a few seconds.

"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaims, eyes wide and face contorted into shock. "You can't be serious, Gramps." He whines with a pout.

"Oh but I am, Child." Gramps says with an amused smile. "You and Minashi will clean up. Iruka will supervise."

"But I'm tired." Naruto complains. "And I have something to do back at the house." He turns to me expectantly. "Right Minashi?"

I deadpan at him. "You know very well that I do all the work at home." I say with a smirk.

He crosses his arms, glaring at me. "I hate chu." He says and then pouts, turning back to Gramps. He remains silent after that.

Iruka-sensei chuckles. "What do you say I treat you at Ichiraku's once you're done?" He tells us.

Once those words leave Iruka-sensei's mouth, Naruto instantly brightens and grins ever so energetically. "Deal!" He exclaims and then turns to Gramps. "Well, gotta go, Gramps. We have a mountain to clean up! Believe it!"

Then, without wasting another second, he uses his Namikaze speed to zoom out of the office, leaving Iruka and I standing there.

I roll my eyes before turning to Gramps seriously. "As for the undercover mission.." I say. "I might have found a suspect to whoever had stolen our important scrolls."

"Go on." Gramps says, not sparing me a glance. He continues to write on the papers.

"I believe his name is Mizuki.." I say. "He is a new teacher. He handles our taijutsu lessons. Based on research, he just became a teacher three months ago. And that was the time when the scrolls had gone missing. I've seen him snooping about the village during night once. But I stopped following him once I sense that he's suspecting that someone is following him." I stop speaking right there.

Gramps nods. "I see." He says, now turning to me. "You and your brother are doing very well in this mission. I expect you will succeed?" He asks.

"We have to." I tell him. "If the traitor is not found before he decides to leak out the information he got from the scrolls, it would be a disaster."

He nods and I can see in his eyes that he is proud of the way I had grown up to be. "Thank you, Minashi." He says. "Well, since tomorrow is graduation, that means it is your last day to try and capture the traitor."

"Yes." I reply. "We will do everything we can to find him. Even force him out if time gets desperate."

"Hey hey.." I hear Naruto's voice from behind us, making me turn to him. He stands, leaning on the door. He is sweating so much that he seems to be bathing in his sweat.

"What happened to you?" I ask him as I take a towel from my bag and hand it to him. Eagerly, he takes it from me and starts drying himself with it.

"Oh nothing really, I just finished cleaning up the mountain." He says smugly.

"Whoaww!" Iruka exclaims in wonder; staring out the window, and at the spotless hokage mountain. "That fast? Amazing!"

"Oh don't praise him, Iruka-sensei." I say, turning to my brother who's currently smirking proudly. "It will only make him even more arrogant." I narrow my eyes at him as he turns to comment at what I said. "You had better be sure no one saw you." I tell him before he can say anything.

"Geez, don't worry about it." He says. "I have it all under control. Believe it, Sis."

I sigh and then smile. "Good."

~~~

**Naruto Namikaze:**
"Naruto-san.. how did you and Minashi-san become such skilled ninjas at such a young age?" Iruka-sensei asks, as the three of us sits at Ichiraku's. It seems we are the only customers for now.

"We train a lot." I tell him. "Ever since Gramps told us everything about us, we pushed ourselves to be more than we were; which, at that time, are nobodies."

"I see." He says. "It must be hard to live by yourselves then."

I nod. "That's what Minashi and I thought." I reply with a sad smile. "Especially with the Kyubi sealed inside me. Everybody hates me and they even beat me up."

Iruka-sensei doesn't say anything. He looks as if he is deep in thought. So, I decide to lighten up his mood. "Luckily Minashi and I have you!." I tell him with a wide grin. "..and Gramps, and all the other people who are acknowledging my existence. You made my life a whole lot better." I say proudly. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei."

This makes him smile and look at me with eyes so full of emotion. But, I'm not the type of person who can tell what a person feels just by looking their eyes; so, I can't tell what emotions he's feeling. Probably happiness or something.

Suddenly, Minashi pinches my side, making me turn to her with the meanest glare I can give her. I can't help it. My sister's got a crab-like pinch. And man! That hurts so bad!

I was about to yell at her but didn't get to when I see the look of emergency in her eyes.

"Mizuki, eight o'clock." She says in a whisper. But it is loud enough for only me to hear.

**Minashi Namikaze:**
After I said that, Naruto immediately turns to Iruka-sensei. "Say Iruka-sensei! Can I borrow that head protector of yours?" He says, sounding like a child begging for candy.

But Iruka-sensei raises an eyebrow, confusion evident on his reaction. "Head Protector?" He asks.

Sensing Mizuki nearing, I immediately do a last minute gesture to Iruka, hoping he would get it. And then, without wasting time, I turn to the opposite direction; eating my ramen in a slow pace and acting like I don't care about what Naruto and Iruka are talking about.

Fortunately, Iruka-sensei gets the point. "Oh this? Oh! No.. no.. You have to graduate in order to get one of these." He says, playing along with our façade.

"If it isn't Iruka-san and the Uzumaki twins." I hear Mizuki's voice say in a calm manner.

I turn around, along with Iruka and my brother, although I did the turning in an uninterested manner.

"Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto says energetically.

I turn back to my ramen, acting like I'm no longer interested with the things about to occur. "What brings you three here?" Mizuki asks.

"Oh! Iruka-sensei treated us for a good job, cleaning the Hokage Mountain." I hear Naruto reply. "Although all Minashi did was sit down and watch."

"I see." Mizuki says with a chuckle. "Still uninterested as ever, Minashi?" He adds, probably turning to me now. But I don't say anything and just continue eating.

"Oi! Lazy sister! Mizuki-sensei's talking to you." Naruto yells at me.

I turn to Mizuki, sparing him a bored glance. "Oh hey, Mizuki-sensei." I say in a lifeless tone and then turn back to my ramen.

Mizuki just chuckles at what I did. "My my.." He says in an amused tone. "Okay then.. I'll leave you guys now. Tomorrow is graduation and I have so much plans for it." He seems to emphasize the word plan, as what I have noticed.

And with that, Mizuki leaves. Iruka and Naruto turn back to their ramen and starts eating it all off. I have finished mine already so I just wait for them. After eating, we go our separate ways and head home.

---

End..

Up next on The Lethal Duo, Chapter 2: Traitor Captured.

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