What If... #4

Hello, thar. Meinos Kaen here!

Brand new day, brand new post, and brand new 'What If...'! Yet again, we go to the Naruto series and if until now we've been focusing on modifications, changes and hypothesis, today we go to something else, the purest of the acts of writing: creation. Today, we modify reality by creating something, or better yet, someone.

Before beginning, a little bit about my opinion on Original Characters, which I know many readers fear and/or loathe. I can understand why, I've seen how most authors use them: self-insertion, or 'fix all/end all' allies, and the least I say about villains, the better. But the point is that no one can avoid reading and/or creating OCs, because that's what a bona-fide writer does all the time, creating his own original characters and situations all the time. So, I encourage you to experiment and put some effort in creating OCs, if you ever want to write more than fan-fiction.

That out of the way, let's throw Naruto for a loop by giving him some responsibility early on in his life. Today's 'What If...' is:

 

What if Naruto had a Twin Sister?

Why sister? Because lulz with twins are had in greater quantities when they're of opposite genders. Not that same sex twins are boring-I loved Disney Channel's Zack&Cody-it's just my personal preference. So, let's set the bar for this story, shall we?

Part I: The Uzumaki Twins

If Sarutobi wore sunglasses.

Madara, Kyuubi, Kushina, Minato, sealing. We know the drill, right? Only, there's a small difference, this time. A difference with baby blue eyes and whiskers-like marks laying next to a similarly colored copy, only without the whiskers, and most important of all: the one without the whiskers is male. This is the spectacle that Sarutobi finds himself faced with, along with the skewered bodies of his successor and the man's beloved. That's kind of big for a first difference, ain't it? Naruto isn't the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki in this AU, his sister, who I will name Yoko, is.

How would that change things? Well, to begin with, the villagers would find themselves in a strange situation: on one hand, I don't see them acting any differently with Yoko that they would with Canon Naruto regarding her being a Jinchuuriki; on the other, Naruto would be treated normally, even without knowledge of his heritage being common. It would confuse the hell out of the two siblings but would also bring out the 'big brother' in Naruto. Considering his character and having a sibling with which to develop a natural, strong bond instead of the unhealthy canon ones, I can see him becoming very protective of Yoko, putting her before anyone or anything else.

Regarding Yoko herself, I see her sharing Naruto's cheerfulness but not his unrelenting optimism, being more sensible and easily hurt as a child than her brother and not that quick in getting back on her feet, which is the main reason he would become protective of her and also why her 'onii-chan' is her most precious person ever.

Too... Much... Moe...

Regarding Naruto's motivation to join the academy, it would be to be able to provide for his sister and one day force the whole village to acknowledge her. The use of force here is deliberate, since we've seen that Naruto has always been very patient with abuses against his own personal but he has a hair's trigger when it comes to people he loves. His own sister? As a kid, he would come to beat up anyone saying one bad word to her, as he grew up people would remember the Uchiha Glare fondly when compared to the venom in Naruto's eyes if anyone even stares in a disrespectful way in his sister's direction.

For story purposes, we need Yoko as a ninja too, but most importantly the adult ninjas need the two twins to stay together for reason still unknown to them. Fortunately, Yoko actually wants to stay by her onii-chan's side, and they manage to do so, the twins both having a reason to be serious in class: Naruto to be his sister's protector and Yoko to remain with her brother. Regarding skills, Yoko would obviously be the one with chakra problems, Naruto's reserves and stamina still big for being an Uzumaki but not having such big problems in controlling in, without a foreign one in his system. Still, we've seen that those too can be overcome with hard work so the twins of terror, aptly named by their classmates which they pretty much alienated with Yoko's situation and Naruto's role as guardian, graduate easily.

And that's when stuff starts going down the drain.

Part II: Twins of Terror

As I've already said, Sarutobi has an interest in keeping the twins together that goes beyond not separating all that's left of what could have been an happy family, and as such the two get placed on the same team, forcing them for the first time to relate with other people. Third member and teacher are free choices but I would go for Kakashi as canon and Sasuke, who the copy-nin was pushed to teach since the beginning. And from here we start to see who the over-protective sibling really is.

Naruto and Sasuke, here, would bond better than in canon because they'd both know both the pain of loss and the bonds of family, but there's the small problem of Yoko. Naruto didn't realize that while his objective is to be able for both he and his sister to live normally among other people, one day, Yoko is content with just being her and her onii-chan forever and Naruto's protectiveness brought her to believe that they can only trust each other. This only gets reinforced by what happens in wave.

... Son of a-!

Naruto still meets Haku and recognizes him/her before fighting. He had told his sister about the gentle person who he had met in the forest and then promptly gets pincushioned by said person to save Yoko. Consequences: Yoko's belief that the twins only have each other gets reinforced and she goes Kyuubi for the first time, and unlike Naruto, I can see Yoko chopping Haku's quaking head off her shoulders. Also, other consequence: Naruto gets jolted awake by the Kyuubi's chakra, his sister about to go on a rampage, and he awakens his own abilities, saving the day. Abilities in the nature of chains made of pure chakra.

Yup. Basically, I've split the inheritance between the two siblings, including the 'last messages': Naruto got Kushina and her powers, Yoko got Minato and the failsafe in case of complete release of the Kyuubi. In short, Yoko and Naruto discover about her being the Kyuubi's vessel. Her reaction? 'It's okay. I don't care what other people think of me as long as I got onii-chan'. Sweet, but also disturbing. Yoko is going more and more Yandere for Naruto as the story progresses. And no, this is not a premise for wincest. The why is explained later on.

Part III: Revelations

Onii-chan wanted Miso. THIS IS PORK RAMEN!

Now, we get to the really interesting part. With the Chunin Exams behind the corner, we have a team with: an avenger that loves his friends but has started to get bouts of jealousy over power and most of all over the fact that Naruto still got some family; an overbearing sister who seems to have taken what was once her brother's task to protect the both of them after seeing him 'die' which also makes her more susceptible to the malicious influence of her guest; a young man who finds himself free of the task of protecting his sister, because it's now the rest of the world who need protection from her and that also falls on his shoulders.

In the exams, confronted with Gaara and his family, Naruto would be aghast at how easily Kankuro and Temari had given up on him, the two in turn saying that he got it easier than them but also recognizing the signs of the imminent change into a 'monster', and to just give up on his sister. Gaara would probably pick Yoko over Sasuke, or better, Naruto over Sasuke: validate his existence by killing the person someone like him validates his existence on, and Yoko lives only for Naruto's sake. No matter how the exams go, the climax is going to be Yoko and Gaara fighting, with Naruto conveniently held back by a battle of his own and unable to stop the two rampaging Jinchuuriki.

Once he gets there and stops both of them, peace-washing Gaara with his attachment on someone like Yoko, Naruto notices something after the fight is over. He managed to stop his sister almost immediately using his chains but he had to actually fight Gaara to stop his rampage. Why are his powers that effective only on Yoko? When asking Kakashi and/or Jiraiya, he gets no answers. He then decides to investigate on his parents, finding nothing, of course... Except for a single thing. A body scan of a certain Uzumaki Kushina when she was in the last stages of pregnancy.

Didn't see that coming, did you?

Naruto discovers a terrible secret about his sister, a suspect that Jiraiya confirms while the three of them go after Tsunade, battling Akatsuki on the way there. Something that makes him distance himself from his sister, who doesn't understand and just keeps on bearing on him, not giving him much needed space, until Naruto explodes. He tells Yoko everything: that the body scan of his pregnant mother only showed a male baby, that she was the one who had killed his parents because the Yondaime didn't seal the Kyuubi into her, he sealed the Kyuubi in a new shape. Yoko isn't the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, Yoko is the Kyuubi itself.

Yeah. It just hit the fan.

Part IV: Still, Naruto's Naruto

... I'm going to kill whoever made HER cry. AAAAARGH!

Yoko on this doesn't go on a rampage. Kyuubi or not, she's still currently a girl whose only support in life was her brother, the same person who now hates her like everyone else. That's when Orochimaru pitches in. He makes Sasuke the same offer and Sasuke accepts, only that this time there's also a condition: he has to bring Yoko with him. The girl is broken enough to not care what happens to her anymore and offers no resistance to being knocked out and her chakra sealed.

When the news hit, this time Naruto doesn't go to the rescue immediately. Still too shaken by the revelations to care about either Sasuke or Yoko, he just sulks. Someone eventually knocks some sense into him, tells him that Yoko was still the one who loved him and stood by him and he protected for all those years, the same person from all his happy memories. Naruto, deep down, desperately wants to still see her the same way. Then, Jiraiya pitches in, simply by telling him just who his father was. Naruto realizes that in a way, Yoko really is his sister. Coupled with the 'sense-punch' technique, is more than enough for him.

Naruto arrives late like Lee but manages to catch Sasuke and Yoko in time. Although, this time around, Sasuke has a clear advantage. Naruto doesn't have the Kyuubi and he hasn't mastered his own bloodline limits far enough for him to prove a match for the Uchiha on complete Sharingan and cursed seal. And this bodes a snippet, if only because I like this scene in my mind. Try reading it while listening to this first and this after.

“Y-Yo... Ko...” He coughed out blood, sprawled on his back near the prone position of his sister. 'Shit. Shit! SHIIIT!' Tears flowed out of his eyes as he stared at her unconscious form. 'I couldn't... I couldn't protect her. I can't move anymore... I can't fight.' “I'm... So sorry...” He weakly raised an arm and brought it to cup her face, smears of blood covering her whiskers-like marks as his fingers trailed down. “For being... Such a stupid... Brother...”

“... And you dared call me crazy.” Sasuke spat out, gritting his teeth. “Crazy for wanting power. For wanting revenge. You threw away the last good thing in your life, Naruto! The last piece of your family!” 'And to think I considered this fool a friend.' Lightning chakra crackled around his arm as he readied another Chidori. “And now it's too late! You lost her, you lost this fight! And now you're going to lose your life as well! Naruto!”

“... Damn it.” He gritted his teeth. Angry at himself. For letting something like this happen. 'Yoko... I'm so sorry.' In a desperate fit of strength, spams of pain filling his whole body, he rolled on his stomach, looking at Yoko's sleeping face as tears and blood flowed to the hard rock underneath. “I'm sorry... Imouto(Little Sister).” He stretched his hand and grasped her own one, squeezing hard.

Then, everything went white.

-I-

“You came... Onii-chan.”

“Yes.” He could only offer her a pathetic smile. “But I was too late.”

“It doesn't matter. You came for me.” He found a soft hand grasping his left cheek. “After discovering who I was, what I did to... Your parents... You still came.”

“... Yoko, I'm sorry.” He grasped the petite hand with his own one, gritting his teeth. “I was so stupid! So blind!”

“I'm the Kyuubi. You w-”

“That's no excuse!” He raised his head, tears flowing once again. “It doesn't matter what you did before, it doesn't matter who you were! All these years, you've always been my little sister!” She stared at him, blankly, surprised. “You'll always be my little sister! I should have never doubted that for a minute! But... I did. And now I'm going to lose you forever!”

“... Onii-chan.” Yoko smiled. And despite her smile, tears still flowed.

“I don't... I don't deserve to be your onii-chan.” Naruto dropped his head again, in shame. “I failed you.”

“... You could never fail me, onii-chan.” And then he felt warmth. Warmth flowing from her arms, from her whole body as she hugged him. “You never will.” A warmth that enveloped his whole body.

-I-

In the real world, just the instant when their hands touched passed.

“Wha-!” That instant was all Sasuke had to cover his eyes before being blinded by the gold light. 'What's happening? What's this chakra?!' Once he got adjusted to the light, he could see. Chains. Naruto's chakra chains, coming out of his arm and disappearing inside Yoko's one. 'What is he doi-!' Steam started rising from Naruto's body as his injuries disappeared under Sasuke's eyes. “This... This is impossi-URK!”

Before he could finish speaking, something had impacted him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and flinging him over the lake like a pebble till he impacted the stone wall on the other side of the lake. 'I... I didn't see anything.' “Huk.” Dis-embedding himself from the rock, Sasuke fell to his knees, catching his breath. “You were... You were half dead.”

“Yes. I was.” Naruto's voice answered him. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

“Then, how?! How are you still standing!” He roared out as he laid eyes on the golden-clad figure of his ex-teammate. “NARUTO!”

“You were right, Sasuke. I made a big mistake... But it was the last.” A large chakra chain ending in a kunai as big as Naruto himself materialized above his head, like the tail of an animal. “No one is ever going to touch my sister again.” Naruto declared, glaring at his opponent. “Not you. Not Orochimaru. Not Akatsuki.” His chakra exploded in gales of wind as he raised the volume of his voice. “NO ONE!”

 

Yeah. Something like that.

"Onii-chan, I think I had my growth spurt."

Of course, Naruto wipes the floor with Sasuke. It's only fitting, considering the beat-down he got earlier. What happens to the Uchiha after this is up to the author. As always, I'm just here to give you pointers and I didn't give the Naruto/Sasuke equation much thought, this time around. The two brothers get reunited as one hell of a tag-team, and Naruto is in for a whole new buttload of trouble, because his Yandere sister has just discovered that they're not tied by blood. Told ya it wouldn't be Incest. *snickers* And of course, Akatsuki, but with such a cute sister by your side, how can you fail at something so simple like defeating S-Rank nins?

And with that, I conclude today's What If! Hope I managed to inspire in your head many Naruto/Naruko images. I sure thought of that, as I wrote this.

Meinos Kaen out!