-Part 1-

- 2 - A New Reality -

A pair of blue eyes with golden streaks in them opened and blinked several times, trying to clear the owner’s vision. Not that it helped much.

Everywhere they looked, there seemed to be the same green sheen that covered their vision. It took them a few minutes to understand that it was some sort of viscous liquid and they were situated right inside of it. Gross.

Outside of the window that held the liquid in place a desk was hardly visible to their left, it was covered in papers that looked like documents holding formulas and test results.

When they managed to move their head a little to look to their sides they had to correct their first assumption. The glass they looked through wasn’t a window. It was bent, shaped like a cylinder. They floated in a cylindrical glass container filled with the viscous green liquid, several wires and tubes were connected to their limbs, one was feeding them with air through their nose and mouth.

Short gold-blond hair floated around them and when they looked down they saw a naked girl’s body. They flinched in shock and had to take several breaths to calm their nerves.

‘Raya? What the heck happened?’ Naruto, trapped in the girl’s body, asked of the Phenix. Slowly the girl’s memories mixed with his own - the few she had. She seemed to only be able to remember the container and the room they were in right now. He didn’t even catch a name. Great. He had no idea who she was, but she sure wasn’t… well, his younger self.

If I had to guess, I would say the Naruto of this reality is too far off from your own personality. That’s why your soul wasn’t able to join with his and instead had to search for a suitable body - a child that just died with enough abilities to hold your soul., the phenix answered.

‘What the heck do you mean this reality’s Naruto?’, Naruto cursed internally. He was having a small mental breakdown, but so far he wasn’t freaking out. Which was good. Yay to keeping calm.

What we did was not really time travel, it’s more a jump to another dimension, another reality. Time and space have a weird way of lashing out, so you wouldn’t be able to survive a single second if I was to go back to some place in your own past. It would cause your chakra to create a deadly loop that swallows you. But every decision we have to take causes at least two possible futures, we have a net of an unlimited amount of parallel existing dimensions which are similar but not exactly the same. The differences get more significant the further from ‘your’ decisions you go. I had to search for one that was similar enough to your own to this date so you would be able to foresee things, but not so similar it could be dangerous for you., she explained.

Naruto took some time to think this over. ‘So you pulled us not only to another time but another dimension altogether? That’s pretty awesome.’

I didn’t think you would be this calm about it. Raya said.

Naruto in the girl’s body shrugged. And wasn’t that ironic, that he was trapped in a girl… No, that it looked like he would BE a girl now. ‘No use crying over spilled milk. I might get a hysterical breakdown later but right now I just see that this new me gives me opportunities I wouldn’t have gotten as Naruto.’

Raya sighed. I can imagine that it will take time for you to come to terms with your new gender and identity. Then she laughed lowly. By the way, you are much more perceptive than people gave you credit for. There are quite a lot whom I would have lost around halfway through my explanation.

Naruto chuckled. ‘Why do you think I understood what you were saying? I could just be pretending.’

Raya scoffed, sounding offended. No, I know that isn’t the truth. We are bound, Chick. I can feel your emotions and thoughts. You DID understand me.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. ‘That’s handy. Kurama wasn’t able to do that.’

Raya laughed lightly. Don’t forget that I am a few millenia older than he is. So. We were talking about your higher than assumed intellect, Chick. Don’t think you can distract me so easily.

Naruto grimaced. ‘Right. Um. I guess it was just safer for me when everybody thought I was a dumb loudmouth? People don’t see a threat in someone who seems to take thrice as long to understand stuff than they do.’ She fell silent for a moment. ‘Do you know anything about this girl? Her memories are almost nonexistent, she doesn’t even remember her own name…’

No. I know as much as you do, apologies. We will need to learn more about the girl that is your new identity. But first we need to find a way out of here. A laboratory is never a good place to be for a child. Raya said.

Naruto suppressed a shudder. ‘Yeah, you’re right. And I think I have a clue, where we are. Which would be one hell of a problem.’

What do you mean?, Raya asked.

‘Danzo.’ Naruto simply answered.

Oh. Raya cursed under her breath. Yes. That would indeed be a big problem.

Once she had said that Naruto could feel a strange pull at her mind. ‘What the…’

Chick! Raya screeched and it felt like she enveloped Naruto in her wings to protect her.

Then she fell.