- 9 - New Strength -
- 9 - New strength -
-Minaru-
Naru’s eyes shot open and since she sensed dark intent coming from the person next to her, she put a hand down on the bed and used that to push herself out of bed as fast as she could, away from the figure still crouched down on her windowsill. She landed in a crouch, a few steps away from the bed and gave out a low hiss when she noticed the blank mask the figure wore. A Root-agent. She should have guessed that they would make a move soon.
“Good reflexes for someone who shouldn’t be able to move at all, child.”, the man said in a monotonous voice. Dark eyes looked at her from behind the blank mask. He approached her and she backed away towards the door. If she could make it through she could maybe get help. “It’s time for you to return where you belong. No use in lingering here, people like us don’t belong in the open world.”
She growled, baring her teeth in the process. “Speak for yourself, freak.”, she hissed and lunged for the door.
He intercepted her and tried to sweep her off her feet, but she was just closely able to jump over his foot and catch the arm that came flying at her right afterwards. But the force of the impact sent her backwards into the wardrobe standing behind her. Splinters rained down around her and she could feel at least one or two cut through her clothing and blood started to trickle down her back.
She cursed lightly and blinked several times to clear her view. She couldn’t see her attacker when she regained it, but…
On your right!, Raya warned her.
Her nostrils flared with the suddenly clearer scent and she threw herself to the other side, away from his attacking form. Rolling over her shoulder she landed on all fours, glaring at the man.
“Why?”, she asked, a little out of breath.
“Why what?”, he responded while trying to catch her head in an armlock, but she bent backwards fast enough that she was able to hit his chin with her feet while doing a backflip. That seemed to surprise him enough that he was pushed back a few steps.
“Why does he want me back so badly?”, she added, not letting the man out of her eyes for even a second.
“A question I would like to hear answered, too.”, a familiar male voice stated. Suddenly a Kunai was pressed against the man's jugular from behind. He froze, looking over his shoulder. Kakashi had appeared in her room. He wrapped an arm around the man’s torso and arms, so that he couldn’t move and looked at her with an eye-smile. “You okay, kid?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah. Just a little scratch.”, she answered, taking in the sight of the man she had - or would one day, that was so confusing - called sensei. He hadn’t changed a lot from the first time they had met in her last life. In fact he looked almost exactly like she remembered him from Naruto’s life.
Focus, Minaru., Raya reminded her gently.
He tilted his head and knocked the man he was still holding out by pressing his fingers to a spot under his ear. Then he approached her slowly and made her turn around to look at her back. He hummed in thought. “You should let someone look at these. We wouldn’t want you to catch an infection now that you are finally getting better, right?”
Naru nodded and looked over her schoulder. “I will. But you should stay here and watch that guy. We wouldn’t want him to escape now, right?”, she said pointing at her attacker.
Kakashi slumped, but nodded. “You’re right.”, he conceded and went over to the man, pulling him up and throwing him over his shoulders.
Why do I get the feeling he wanted to forget about thatman?, Raya asked with a chuckle.
'Because he is the type to do things like that.' Minaru answered in her mind.
Naru turned her back to Kakashi and opened the door. Suddenly she was assaulted by way too many sounds. Looking at the door in surprise she saw several muffling seals decorating the wood. “Huh. That explains why nobody came to look at what all the ruckus was about.”, she mumbled to herself.
Bravo to whoever designed that. Not very good when you can't hear a patient being in pain or other danger. Raya's voice was a deep rumble, she sounded angry beyond anything Minaru had heard from her until that point.
“Kami, what happened to you, little one?!” A nurse cursed loudly and she was turned around, soft hands reaching for her face to examine some bruises forming there.
“I was attacked in my room by someone who wanted to return me to the place I was rescued from. I was lucky that a Jounin passed by and saw the attack. He helped me before it could get worse.”, she said. It was definitely not the hospital staff’s best moment when they decided to leave her alone even though they were warned about the danger she was in.
“Minaru-chan!”
She whirled around to face the person running toward her. “Naira-san!” The Kurama was in civilian clothing, because she had the day off - the first time in over a month, Minaru had insisted that she needed at least one day a week to recover.
“Kami, your back is totally cut up! And your face is all green and blue! What happened to you?” Naira hovered nervously, not really daring to touch her.
Minaru smiled softly, leaning against the woman. She smelled of laughter and sunshine, calming her nerves. “I was attacked by someone from the organisation that runs the lab. Another Jounin passed by and rescued me in time, but I had to try and defend myself first. Sorry to have spoiled your free day.”, she whispered into her shirt.
Naira’s eyes widened and she cursed loudly, wrapping an arm around Naru. She pulled the girl with her into an examination room. “Let’s get you patched up. And then I will have to make sure to talk to the people who were supposed to look after you when Katun or myself aren’t here.” She smirked evilly and her eyes flashed red once.
Naru laughed lightly, while Naira pushed her down on an examination table. “Why do I get the feeling that there will be heads rolling by the end of today?”
The Kurama-woman smirked at the girl, ruffling her hair for a moment. “Maybe because we Kurama are not really known for our patience with idiots. Especially when it concerns family.”
I like her. Raya laughed in her head and Minaru smiled lightly.
Naira looked at her. “Turn around, I need to look at your back.”
Naru nodded and turned her back to Naira. “During the fight I was pushed into the wardrobe in my room. I think it got smashed into pieces in the process.”
“That would explain the wood splinters in your back.” Naira said while using tweezers to pull the splinters out of the wounds on Minaru’s back. At this moment the door opened and Shizune breezed into the room, a furious looking Shikaku right on her heels.
“I hope you kicked whoever attacked you as hard as you could for even trying shit like that.”, the medic growled out when she saw the state of Minaru’s back.
Naru laughed lightly. “I was able to surprise him and get a few hits in. I think he didn’t expect a child to fight back at all.”
Shizune smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately. Minaru pouted at that while lifting her hands to sort out the strands - what was it with all of them and her hair?! Then Shizune joined Naira at Naru’s back to heal the wounds with her medical-jutsus. Shikaku took Shizune’s place and kneeled down to be on eyelevel with her. “You can be proud of yourself, Minaru-chan. Not many children your age would have been able to defend themselves long enough against a grown-up man on Chunin-Level for help to arrive.”
Minaru blushed and looked at the ground. “I was just lucky.”, she said with a small shrug, trying to keep the tears in. She didn’t want them to think she was weak. She was a trained shinobi, for Kami’s sake. She should be able to handle such a small attack on herself.
Shikaku smiled softly and pulled her head against his chest, rubbing a soothing hand over her neck. “You can let it out, kid. Nobody will think you are weak because you are shocked by what just happened.”, he murmured and stroked her hair. That literally broke the dam.
She gripped his shirt and let the tears flow freely, relaxing into him. After a few minutes Shizune tapped her shoulder. “You’re good to go now. Hokage-sama wanted to talk to you if you feel up to it, Minaru-chan. But after what happened I can also tell him that he will have to wait a few more days. Whatever you prefer, kid.”, the medic told her.
Minaru shook her head. “I feel fine. It would be impolite to keep him waiting any more. He surely has a lot of questions he wants to ask me.” Best to get the interrogation over as fast as she could.
Shikaku smiled at her. “He just wants to make sure you have everything you need. You don’t have anything to fear, Minaru-chan.”
Minaru snorted softly. “I’m an outsider who was supposedly kidnapped and held captive right under his nose. Hokage-sama would be a fool to take the things I told you for granted.” She said, looking directly into his eyes.
A soft laugh could be heard from the door. “Yue-san wasn’t exaggerating when she told me that you have a brain that is way too big for your small body.”
Minaru turned around and there in the door, leaning onto his cane, stood Hiruzen Sarutobi, better known as the Third Hokage. He was puffing on his pipe and smiling softly at her. She bowed before him, hiding her face in the process. She needed a minute to calm her nerves because she had known this man so well as Naruto, but now she was a stranger to him…
Soft fingers lifted her chin upwards so she had to look at him when she opened her eyes. “No need to be nervous, my dear. You are right that I need to learn a few things about you and your situation, but I mostly want to know what you intend to do from now on.”
Minaru tilted her head, curious. “What do you mean?”
Hiruzen looked around. “Naira-san would you mind waiting outside with Shizune-san?”, he asked.
Naira rose with a small smile, already heading for the door. “Of course not. I still have to talk to the people who were supposed to watch over Minaru-chan. I guess I could need your help to keep me from strangling someone, Shizune-sama.”
The medic laughed lightly and followed her out of the room. “I’ll try my best.”
“Sit, I guess this will take a while.” Sarutobi pointed at the bed and Minaru sat down on it. Shikaku placed himself near the door and Sarutobi pulled a chair over to a spot right in front of Minaru. Then Minaru looked at the Hokage expectantly.
“She took it better then I would have expected.” Sarutobi said when he went back to his office, Shikaku at his side.
The Nara nodded. “She seems very calm and composed for her age. Even more than Shikamaru and I thought he was an unusually calm child. But Minaru…”
Sarutobi nodded, puffing on his pipe. “She seems almost like an adult with her thoughtful behavior.”, he said. With his free hand he pushed the door to his office open and entered it. Then he took his place behind the desk, Shikaku slumping into a chair in front of it. “But her answers were clear and she didn’t hesitate too much before answering. Of course she clearly thought everything through before saying it, but I got the impression that is just how she is. She’s not been brainwashed.”
Shikaku hummed approvingly. “But her medical situation bothers me. Her chakra-network is so damaged that Shizune and Tsunade-hime said it would be a wonder if it would ever recover enough for her to be able to use chakra like we do every day.”, he said, tapping his fingers on the file they had put together on the Rayani-girl.
“It shouldn’t bother her in her everyday life for now or even later when she chooses to lead a civilian life.” Sarutobi reminded him.
Shikaku shook his head, reaching for a glass of water on the table to his right before answering. “If even half of what I learned about the Rayani from Inoichi is true she won’t be able to lead a civilian life. They are not made for it. And the same can be said about the Kurama.”
“Then she will have to find a way. I doubt that she will want our help. Or at least not mine. She doesn’t trust me. And she is smart to not trust someone at the first meeting. She doesn’t know me yet.” Sarutobi smiled, then he looked at Shikaku, a calculating look entering his eyes. “With a brain like hers she could be a worthy apprentice for you.”
Shikaku hummed. “That’s true, but I think she doesn’t want to be stuck with tactics and organisation.” He fell silent for a while, then he straightened when something occurred to him. “I think she could be very good at reading people.” Sarutobi motioned for him to continue, looking curious. “Tenzo mentioned that she has a sensor-disposition. And she was able to coax Anko into sharing her more vulnerable side with her. She has the intelligence to put clues together and the empathy to get people to like her. If she puts in the effort to actually show that empathy.”
Sarutobi nodded, understanding where Shikaku came from. “She could be very valuable for our T&I, especially because nobody would suspect someone with a badly damaged chakra-Network to actually be a trained Shinobi.”, he said, rubbing his chin. “I will talk to Ibiki, Anko and Inoichi. But we will need to decide on options of living spaces for her to choose from, too.”
“You should leave the Kurama out of these options.” Tenzo said, walking out of the shadows behind the Hokage’s desk.
Shikaku looked at him in askance. “Why?”
“Firstly because most villagers don’t exactly like the Kurama and that would put her in a hard position at the academy, even more so with her inability to form chakra. And secondly she knows that her father was banished from the Clan. I don’t think that Minaru-chan could simply forget that fact overnight.”, the former Root-agent explained.
Both men in the office nodded. “Right. Not the Kurama, then. At least not for now. But what other options do we have?”, Sarutobi asked.
“I would feel better if she stayed with a Clan. We learned today that she is still a target and I don’t want a repetition of today’s events in the near future. A Clan could protect her better than a single Shinobi or even a small family.”, Shikaku said. He looked out of the window. “I have an idea but I will need to talk to some people first.”
Sarutobi nodded. “Do that. I trust you to handle this in a way it suits everybody.”