Sakura's Twin Brother

Alive??!!

"That it's likely...Zabuza is still alive!"

Naruto, Sakura, Tazuna, and Sasuke were all shocked while Tsunami looked at everyone confused "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" yelled Naruto "BUT KAKASHI-SENSEI YOU CHECKED TO BE SURE ZABUZA WAS DEAD, DIDN'T YOU?!!" yelled Sakura "I made sure of it, but...a deathlike trance could have created a very convincing illusion of the real thing, those acupuncture needle weapons that shinobi hunter used could be deadly, if they hit vital spot. If not, the mortality rate is surprisingly low and remember they were originally designed as medical treatment tools. Shinobi hunters and all members of any village's corpse and disposal squad must possess an intimate and thorough knowledge of human physiology, it would be simple for one of them to place a person into a near-death state. First of all, the masked boy went to the trouble of lugging off Zabuza's heavy carcass...Secondly, the acupuncture needles he used as weapons, while potentially deadly, can also be used to inflict non-mortal injury...these two points suggest that the kid's objective was to give the illusion of killing Zabuza, while he rescued him. Things may be just the way they seemed, but we have to consider the other possibility?" explained Kakashi-sensei.

"Aren't you just complicating things by overthinking them? Shinobi hunters are supposed to hunt outlaw shinobi, right?" asked Tazuna "Usually, but ignoring something that smells this fishy is a great first step to being caught completely unprepared and preparation is a shinobi's most important skill! Oh well, whether Zabuza is dead or alive, there may still be more and even deadlier ninja in the service of your enemy, Gatô'' said Kakashi-sensei, Rokudo looked to see Naruto shaking but can't tell if it's fear or excitement "Kakashi-sensei! You said, "Preparation is a shinobi's most important skill," but right now you can't even move, what are you going to do?" asked Sakura confused "I'm going to increase your training schedule," said Kakashi-sensei.

"What?...Training...?!! BUT KAKASHI-SENSEI, WHAT WILL A LITTLE EXTRA TRAINING NOW MATTER WITH WHAT WE'RE UP AGAINST?!! OUR OPPONENT IS A NINJA SO POWERFUL THAT EVEN WITH YOUR SHARINGAN MIRROR-EYE POWER, HE ALMOST DEFEATED YOU!" yelled Sakura "And when I was beleaguered, Sakura...think about who it was that rescued me, you four all are maturing, progressing rapidly, your powers growing exponentially, especially yours, Naruto, you've grown the most" said Kakashi-sensei with a closed-eyed smile as Naruto smiles back "But that being said, the skills I teach you now will be an interim thing only, to tide us over until I recover enough to take over" said Kakashi-sensei "But Kakashi-sensei, even if Zabuza is alive, how can we just train without knowing when he may return and strike again?" asked Sakura.

"An excellent question but once a person has been placed into a near-death trance, it is quite sometime before their body returns to its previous state of health and readiness" explained Kakashi-sensei "So we'll train while we're waiting! Could be fun!" said Naruto with excitement in his voice.

"It won't be fun for you," said a young voice, everyone looked to see a young boy.

"Who the hell are you-" "Inari!! Where have you been?!!" Tazuna asked with excitement in his voice as he interrupts Naruto "Welcome home grandpa" said the young boy known as Inari as he walks to his grandpa and gives him a hug "Inari, greet our guests properly!" said Tsunami, but Inari only looked at them without saying a word "But mama, they're all gonna die" said Inari pointing at the team "LISTEN, YOU LITTLE TWERP-!!!" "No one can beat Gatô and his men," said Inari.

"YOU BRAT!!" yelled Naruto as he tries to attack him "Pull yourself together, Naruto, he's just a little boy" said Sakura as she was holding him down "Right, hey, pay attention little guy, I'M A SUPERHERO WHO'LL SOMEDAY BECOME THE MOST EXTREME NINJA, MY NAME WILL BE HOKAGE, THE FIRE SHADOW! GATO? "GATEAU"? THIS GUY'S NAMED "CHOCOLATE"! YOU CAN'T SERIOUSLY EXPECT ME TO BE AFRAID OF THAT!" yelled Naruto "Hmmf! "Hero"? You're dumb! There's no such thing!!!" said Inari "Wh...What?!?" yelled Naruto as he tried to attack him again "I said quite it!!" yelled Sakura still holding Naruto down "If you don't wanna die, go home..." said Inari as he walks to the door "Where are you off to, Inari?" asked Tazuna "I'm going to watch the ocean from my room" said Inari as he left the room as it was soon silent "Please forgive him" said Tazuna breaking the silence "I'll talk to him" said Rokudo as he got up and followed Inari to his room.

As Rokudo was about to knock on the door, he could hear faint crying from the other side of the door, Rokudo looked down while standing in front of Inori's door.

Instead of knocking, he walked back to his team and sensei, not before Inari said one word that broke Rokudo's heart.

"Daddy!"