- 3 - The Rayani -
- 3 - The Rayani -
She landed on her butt and boy did that hurt. Cursing loudly she sat up and took in her surroundings with a critical eye. All around her she could see only grassy plains.
“Okay… where the heck are we now?!”, she cursed.
It looks like some sort of mindscape. But it is in a shape that I haven’t seen in a very long time. So vast… Raya said, sounding amazed.
Naru got up and rubbed at her aching behind. How the heck did it hurt when she was in her mind? That was never the case before. Even Kurama wasn’t able to hurt Naruto, when the grumpy furball was still in his aggressive mood and tended to lash out at any possibility.
“Finally! Do you have any idea how long I’m already trying to reach you, Mina-chan?! You are in big trouble, young lady! You know exactly how much I hate it when someone ignores me!”, a pretty angry sounding female voice said right behind Naru and she whirled around, stunned that she hadn't noticed that she wasn't alone here.
There stood a woman with copper red hair that reached her shoulders. Her eyes were blue and she was wearing a wide red coat with short arms over skintight black shinobi-pants. Her coat was open at the front and Naru could see that she didn't wear any shirt but only some bandages that covered her chest.
“Who… who are you?!” Naru asked and took an unsure step back. Strangers shouldn’t be able to just pop up randomly in your mindscape.
The anger on the woman’s face morphed to total confusion in only a second. “Mina-chan? What… Don’t you remember me?”, she asked.
Naru tilted her head. “Who is this Mina you're talking of?”
The woman’s mouth fell open and she just stared at her silently for a while.Then her eyes went incredibly soft. She raised one hand. “May I?”, she asked. Naru looked at her in askance. “I can tell what you remember when I touch you. Don’t worry, it won’t harm you, I promise.”
She is telling the truth, I can feel it. Let her do it, that might be our best shot to figure out who that new ‘you’ is. Raya said.
‘What about ‘Naruto’s’ memories?’ Naru asked. If she was indeed who that woman thought she was, she shouldn’t have these memories.
She will not be able to notice these memories, I will make sure of it.
Naru nodded once, but didn’t take her eyes off the woman. She smiled kindly and touched her fingers to Naru’s cheek. Then she closed her eyes. Her eyelids fluttered a little for a few minutes but otherwise Naru wasn't able to feel anything from the mental check she was undoubtedly doing.
When the woman opened her eyes again they were filled with tears. “Those bastards. When I find the ones responsible for what happened to you, they will wish for death once I’m done with them.”, she growled and her eyes took on a fierce glimmer for a minute. Then she enveloped Naru’s hands with her own. “Mina is the nickname which most of the family call you by. Your name is Minaru Kojama of the Rayani Clan from Taiyo No Kuni.” She pointed a thumb at herself. “My name’s Akane Nohara, your mother was my younger sister.”
Truth. Raya commented with a slightly choked voice. Goodness, I didn’t think the Rayani still existed. , she added in a weak sounding voice.
Naru made a mental note to ask Raya, what she knew about the Rayani, later. She looked at her supposed aunt. “Taiyo no Kuni? Then what the heck am I doing all the way over in Konoha?”, she asked.
Akane sighed. “You went there with your father when you were but a little kid, three years old. Your mother had died a year prior to that and our elders decided to use the connections your father still had in Konoha. So they sent him to check if Konoha would be amenable to forging a pact with our clan. And they told him, having a child with him would make him look less like a spy.”, she explained with a heavy sigh. Somehow Naru doubted that was all the Clan-Elders had in mind.
Akane slouched down while a piece of memory surfaced in Naru’s brain. She scrunched up her eyebrows while she tried to make sense of the moving shadows and vaguely hearable voices in her mind.
“Are you okay?”Akane asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine. When you told me these things something sort of clicked in my mind. I… I remembered something, I think it was from the day I was taken. I can’t really explain it yet but I don’t think I was taken because they thought I was a spy. I think whoever took me wanted me for something else.”, Naru explained, rubbing her temples. She had a feeling that she would be getting a lot of headaches until she got all of her memories as Minaru back.
“Hm.” Akane ruffled through Naru’s gold blond hair. “Our Clan has a Kekkai Genkai, so that would always be a possibility, but…” She stopped mid sentence and her eyes widened suddenly. “That’s it!”, she exclaimed then.
Naru shot her a confused look. “What is what?”
“Our Kekkai Genkai! The Soul Link. You can use that to call for help in Konoha!”, Akane explained and jumped up excitedly, clapping her hands once.
This time Naru’s eyes widened when she looked at her aunt. Her voice was barely audible, when she asked. “How?”
Akane grinned fiercely, but then she sobered and fixed Naru with a serious look. “I will teach you. It will probably take some time and it won’t be easy for you. Normally we only learn to use it once we reach the age of 16, because of the strain it puts on not only our chakra but also our minds.”
Naru didn’t avert her eyes and nodded once. “I have to learn it. Even if it’s potentially dangerous. It’s my best chance to get out of the lab.”
Akane nodded with a small smile. “Right. Then let’s get started.”