-23- Flames of truth-
- 23 - Flames of Truth -
-Minaru-
She slowly came back to herself, the first thing she noticed was that she was lying on a futon. And she wasn’t alone. Her nose was buried in a shirt, someone was sleeping beside her. Shikamaru going by the scent surrounding her. She blinked a few times, trying to get her memories back into order, but they were a bit fuzzy.
“That’s because you let Raya take control.” Shikamaru said sleepily and put one of his hands on the small of her back.
She sighed. “I was a bit in a bad spot.”, she mumbled into his shirt, burying her fingers in the fabric.
He huffed, his breath ruffling her hair. “I know. I noticed.”
She screwed her eyes shut, trying to keep the world out a little longer. “They saw, didn’t they?”, she finally mumbled.
Shikamaru scoffed and his arms tightened a little. “Raya is not exactly subtle in her actions, Mina.”
She groaned and lifted her hand to massage her temple. “I know. Sometimes she reminds me of a peacock with her posturing.”
I don’t have to hide myself away. I’m way too old for something like that. Raya said in her head and she could almost feel her shifting her wings.
‘Of course you don’t, you big Showoff.’
A fond laugh answered her. I love you too, Chick.
Shikamaru pushed up onto one elbow. “They have questions.”, he picked up where they left off.
Minaru sighed and pushed her nose against his collarbone once more. “I can imagine. But I can’t tell them much without spilling everything.”
Shikamaru put an arm around her shoulders, his free hand came up to massage her neck. “I would suggest just telling them that you have a pact with a phoenix. Kakashi-sensei figured out that much. And once we’re alone again we can tell Choji and Asuma-sensei a little bit more about Raya. I think they should at least know about her being sealed inside of you.”
She nodded slowly. “You’re probably right.”, she said and let herself flop back down onto the bed. “There’s something else I need to do before we can leave.” He looked at her with a question in his eyes. “Haku and Zabuza. I knew them in the Before. They didn’t want to fight us, they had no choice. Gatou had something to control them. I need to check if they are free now.”
Shikamaru nodded with a sigh.”‘I noticed that that boy didn’t seem to want to fight with us. He wasn’t aiming for the vital points.”, he said and slid down onto the futon next to her.
Minaru opened her eyes when the door to their room slid open. “Oh, you are finally awake.” Asuma said and entered. He was carrying a tray with two bowls of soup.
Minaru raised her eyebrows and pointed at the bowls. “You just so happened to come by with two bowls when we woke up?”, she asked.
He laughed. “No. These were for Shikamaru and myself. He’s been awake for two days already but he said it’s better for you if he stays with you.” He placed the tray down in front of the two children. “I’ll get a new one later.”, he said when they looked at him. He looked Minaru up and down. “You scared us, Mina.”
She blushed and looked to the side. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled softly and ruffled her hair. “Don’t be. You also showed how strong you are. Kakashi told us how you destroyed that samurai’s sword…”
She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. The first kill she had to make in this body. And it was because her emotions had overflowed. After she had smelled Choji’s blood she panicked. “I wasn’t myself then.”, she mumbled and looked to the side.
Asuma nodded. “I could tell. What happened?”, he asked and leant against the door, keeping his eyes firmly on her.
She sighed and rested her back against Shikamaru’s chest to ground herself. “I smelled Choji’s blood. And I completely freaked out. My emotions just got the better of me and I tapped into a pact I shouldn’t have used to fight… And I knew that logically. But I wasn’t able to think clearly anymore.”
Shikamaru hugged her tightly, his chin resting on her shoulder. Asuma came over, took her hand and looked into her eyes. “I think I can understand that. From the little that Inoichi, Chouza and Shikaku-san told me, you guys depend on each other. And that was the first time either of you was hurt while we were on duty. We will need to work on that, get all of you guys’ reactions under control a bit better, so it doesn’t interfere with your work." He fell silent for a moment, before he continued. "What kind of pact were you talking about?”
She swallowed. “She’s an old friend. She came to me when I was still in the lab. I think without her I wouldn’t have survived.” Not the whole truth but not exactly a lie either. It was easier to stick to the story like this.
“I guess she felt your pain.” A voice said from the door. Minaru looked up to see Kakashi leaning against the frame now, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
“Huh?”, she asked lamely and blinked a few times.
“She’s a phoenix. They are bringers and protectors of life, beings of pure warmth and light. I heard that sometimes one searches out a human to help them. I would guess that’s what happened to you.” He looks to Shikamaru, who is half asleep on Minaru’s shoulder by now. “You knew about her. You talked to her when she was in control over Minaru’s body. And she didn’t attack you.”, he said to the Nara.
Shikamaru opened one eye to look at Kakashi and shrugged. “We don’t have secrets from each other. I knew about Raya before we were placed on the same team. And Raya knows me, that’s why I’m normally able to talk her out of acting in a way that would hurt Mina.”
Kakashi smiles. “Well, it’s certainly lucky that you were there to talk to her then.” He fixes Minaru with a short inquisitive gaze. “Your friend is powerful, kitten.”
She blinked once. “I know. But she doesn’t want to use this power normally. She was worried for me.”
Kakashi smiled. "That's in their nature." He lifted his head a little. "I guess I should see what my little Genin are up to now.", he said when there was a thud outside followed by loud curses from both Naruto and Sasuke.
The following night Minaru was still awake while the rest slept on. Shikamaru had wrapped his arms around her and Choji was lying on her other side. At this moment a light clack could be heard from the window. Surprised, she sat up and looked out to see Zabuza standing there. He saluted and waved at her to come down.
She got up and soothed Shikamaru who woke up shortly. He lay back down, but not without telling her to call him if she needed help. Silently sliding open the window she jumped down to the ground and greeted the two Rogue-ninjas with a smile and a wave. Haku pointed to the ground where she could see muffling seals in a big half circle between them and the house. She crossed the line. “Good to see you guys are okay.”, she said then.
Haku smiled brightly. “Same to you.”, he said and hugged her tightly.
Zabuza huffed, but he ruffled her hair affectionately.
She looked at the two Shinobi. “What about the blood leash that Gatou held? Is it still active?”, she asked.
Zabuza shook his head. “No. That scumbag tied it to his own life. It released us once he was dead. So we’re free as birds again. Which is why we’re here.”, he said and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
She tilted her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. “What do you mean?”
He grinned. “There’s someone who wants to meet you. They want to thank you for helping us.”
She blinked. “Who?”
“That would be us.” A soft female voice stated. Minaru whirled around and tried to hold in her shock when the Ame trio of all people came out of the forest. Yahiko - a very much alive Yahiko was at the front with Konan at his left and Nagato at his right. They were all wearing Akatsuki cloaks. Since when did Haku and Zabuza have a connection to the three of them and the Akatsuki? What was… She looked into Nagato’s eyes and the man smiled shyly at her. No hesitation or any sign of mistrust. No, he looked at her like the Nagato she had known in the Before right before he ended his life by giving back lifeforce to the people he had killed.
“It’s been a long time, Naruto. Or however I should call you now, little cousin.”, he said.
Tears rushed to her eyes and she raised one hand to press it on her mouth. “You… you remember?”, she whispered.
“Yes, we do.” Konan said and nodded, reaching out a hand to put it on Yahiko’s shoulder. “It was how we were able to save Yahiko’s life.” She smiled at Minaru.
Minaru spluttered. “Wait a second. You were able to… how long have you been remembering?!”, she asked, her arms flailing about. How did she only notice this now?!
The Ame trio looked at each other. “I think it’s about 12 years for us now? It was a few weeks before the assault on our first hideout.”, Yahiko asked himself, scratching the back of his head with his hand.
“Haku and myself remembered, when we first met 10 years ago.”, Zabuza said and Haku nodded in confirmation.
Five heads turned to look at her. “How long do you remember, Minaru-chan?”, Haku asked.
“Five years. I thought it was the same for all who came here with me, that it was somehow triggered. But now I don’t understand anything… especially because you died long before the war happened.” She wrung her hands. “Sai remembered a few months before me, I never asked how long it truly was, but I would guess seven years at the very most.”
Haku and Zabuza looked at each other. “Who’s Sai?”, Zabuza asked.
“He’s another Konoha-nin. He remembers the Before as well. You didn’t meet him then because we only met when we were 15 in the Before, after I came back from training with Jiraya. But he helped during the attack on Konoha. And he was Sakura’s and my teammate after Sasuke had left the village.”
Haku blinked in shock while Zabuza’s mouth hung open. “That’s… quite a few things to happen to you that I didn’t expect, kid.”, Zabuza coughed out.
She sighed and slumped down a bit. “You have no idea. Sometimes I’m still tired just thinking about everything that happened.”, she answered.
She tensed, when she felt a sudden rush and could see the five Shinobi react in the same way. “What…” Konan mumbled. They had landed in the dense forest of Minaru’s mindscape. What was going on now?
My apologies. I didn’t know how else to get all of you here. My preparations blocked my path to speak to the Chick. Raya’s voice said.
“Raya! What the heck?” Minaru turned and saw the Phenix sitting next to her nest. She was looking at the five Shinobi.
I told you that I might have a way to ensure nobody can ever put a leash on your friends again. Raya said and wrapped a wing around Minaru’s body.
Konan’s eyes widened and Haku gasped. Yahiko looked at Minaru. “You… what?”, he asked.
She shrugged. “I can guess how it is to have to look for your freedom for your whole life only to have it ripped from you again. So I asked her if she knew about a way to break the control Gatou had over Zabuza and Haku. If I can do something to help, I will.”
Nagato looked up at Raya. “And you found a way to do that?”, he asked.
Raya nodded. Yes. By building a new tribe of the Rayani. Minaru whirled around to look at her with eyes wide from shock. I was the only one from the original Spirits who didn’t bind a tribe to herself and her family. I can still bind humans to me, that will prevent any other form of permanent control.
The Ame trio looked at themselves. “What would you expect from us in return?”
Raya laughed lightly. Not much in truth since I gain something from everyone who is connected to me. I just would ask you to honor the mystical beings that are my family. We have quirks, every one of us. But one thing binds us as a family. And that is our longing for freedom. We connect to people because it lets us spread our wings, see the world. Experience it anew.
Silence reigned for a few minutes before Yahiko, Konan and Nagato looked at each other and then bowed their heads as one. “It would be an honor, Raya-sama.”, Konan said.
Raya scoffed lightly. Don’t start with honorifics. We don’t need these. We will be family. Just like with the Chick. She unfolded her wings and threw her head back to send one loud screech into the air.
Loud beating of wings filled the air around them. And a few seconds later the forest was filled with different mythical beings. Minaru could see two griffons, a cat that seemed to be made out of wood, several smaller phoenixs and even a dragon. And many more animals she had never seen before and didn’t know how to describe. She breathed out slowly. “These.... these are the members of your family, Raya?”, she asked.
Yes, they all belong to me. They are a lively bunch. She turned towards the five Shinobi. Each of you will need to form a pact with one of them. Don’t think too much about it, the one who feels right will come to you.
The first one to find his match was Haku. A cat with white fur was curled up in his lap and purring loudly. Around its ankles there were rings made of ice crystals. ‘Huh. How fitting.’, Minaru thought. Nagato and Yahiko joined them a few minutes later. The blue dragon that Minaru had seen was wrapped around Nagato’s neck and napping contentedly. Yahiko had a small lion with a scorpion’s tail sitting in his lap.
“There are more who could need the help of this tribe. And I will vouch for them.”, Nagato said, looking at her.
Minaru nodded. “I can think of a few people as well. But how do we get them to join?” She looked up at Raya.
Someone needs to convince them beforehand. We Spirits will use the next weeks to build a plain for our tribe’s minds to connect. Your partners can notify you once it’s finished. We can bring any candidates there and they can become a part of the tribe.
Konan sat down next to them, an owl was sitting on her shoulder now. It was small and had dark blue feathers with stars showing on them. Whenever it moved the constellations did so as well. “That’s handy. I think we can convince Kisame and Deidara to come with us. But we will need to distance ourselves from Hidan, Kakuzu and Sasori.”, she said.
“Finally. These guys are bat crazy.”, Yahiko grumbled.
Zabuza was the last one to join. A black phoenix was nipping on his ear with fond trilling sounds. “We don’t want the obvious maniacs in the group. But do we have a place where we can stay safely?”, he asked. “I don’t want to have to stay on the move all the time.”
That’s why I had to confer with Akane. She’s the head of the Kebir now and discussed our case with the Rayani council in my name. The Rayani would give us access to an area that’s connected to most of the other tribes, there’s already a small village there and it’s next to the Land of Wind. Plus there are several transportation seals in the area you can use to travel to the Great Countries, they are a leftover from an old alliance with the Uzumaki., Raya told them.
“That sounds like you had way more of a plan then we ever did.” Yahiko said. He stroked the belly of his lion. “Who else?”
“I would like to suggest two more. They might be hard to convince but I think they would like the freedom. And they are valuable allies. Karin Uzumaki and Suigetsu Hozuki.” Minaru said. “Karin is kept in Kusagakure, I’m not sure if her mother has already died. She has a special ability where people who bite her are being healed.”
Konan sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ve heard about this ability. It’s highly painful for the one who’s bitten if it gets exploited.”
Minaru nodded in confirmation. “Suigetsu is the brother of one of the seven Swordsmen. He was captured by Orochimaru and his pawn a little while ago and the pair is running experiments on him. Suigetsu’s a hothead, well both of them actually are. But I think we could manage to convince them and it would definitely be worth it.”
They had planned long hours that night. The next morning a groggy and a little sleep deprived Minaru left Tazuna’s home with her team to return to Konoha. They had decided that the four of them would already return and team 7 would stay until the bridge was finished. But she was happy. Having not only Haku and Zabuza but the Ame trio on her side was a huge bonus. Even if she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that those people remembered. She couldn't find any logic in the people who remembered and those who didn't.
They arrived back home in a little over two weeks. Once there Asuma took her to the side and said they would head to the hospital first. She blinked at him and asked why.
He huffed. “I guess you were really completely out of it. When you were controlled by your emotions you activated a Doujutsu for a while. And both Kakashi and myself could feel both Chakra and pain coming from you. I just want to make sure there is no lasting damage.”, he explained.
She nodded. “Okay.” She felt Shikamaru wrap his arms around her and looked at him.
“Want me to come along?”, he asked.
“Not yet. I’ll tell you when it’s bad, okay?”, she said with a smile. She hoped it was at least a bit reassuring.
He kept his arms around her for a few more seconds before nodding and releasing her. “Do that.”, he said. Then he took Choji's hand and the boys left them.
Asuma brought her to the hospital and made her sit down. After a few minutes Tsunade breezed into the room. “How is it that every time we come to the village there’s something with you, kid?”, she asked.
Minaru smiled at the Medic. “Must be a coincidence.”, she shot back.
Tsunade scoffed fondly. “Sure. Now, off with the dress and your top.”, she said. Minaru did as she was told and Tsunade went to work. “Anything hurting?”
Minaru shook her head. “No. The fingers are a little tender maybe. But that’s it.”
The Medic hummed and concentrated on Minaru’s fingers. “I see what you mean… That’s…” She fell silent, blinking owlishly for a good while.
When she didn’t react again even after a minute, Minaru grew concerned. “Tsunade-hime?”, she asked.
Tsunade blinked, as if she had just awoken. “Oh sorry. What…? Ah, yes. Sorry, I was lost in my mind. Mind doing me a favor? You heard the lessons about Chakra at the Academy, right?” Minaru nodded, still not getting what the Medic was getting at. “Think you can try to send some Chakra to your fingertips for me?”
Minaru did it, pulling a bit of Chakra - not Nature Energy, she had to concentrate more to not use that one now - and sent it down her arm. When it reached her hand pain shot through her fingers and she hissed. Flickering, the Chakra ebbed off again.
“Like I thought. You can technically use Chakra at this spot but it hurts you.”, Tsunade said and wrapped her hands around Minaru’s hands to massage them. When she saw Minaru’s confused gaze she added: “Don’t ask me how, I will need to research that, but you managed to burn a new path into your Tenketsu. I would advise you not to use it, we will have to run further tests and see if we can find a way to stop the pain.”
Minaru nodded. “Alright. But… I’m fine?”
“Apart from that you’re in perfect health. Go get a good night’s sleep. Oh by the way, I think I heard that Mitarashi-san wanted to see you as soon as you got back.” Tsunade said.
With another nod Minaru got up and got dressed again. It was around noon when she stepped out of the building and she looked up, shielding her eyes against the sun. “Okay. That means Anko should be at T&I. Let’s see what she wants.”, she mumbled and turned to head towards the Hokage Tower. The entrance to the T&I department was hidden in the back of the yard there. She passed a few other Shinobi going about their duties on her way and right as she entered the yard a loud voice called out.
“Ey, kitten. You’re home!” Anko was just leaving the Hokage tower with Ibiki, both were carrying huge stacks of documents.
“Yes, we just got back an hour ago and I already had my medical checkup. Tsunade-hime said you wanted to talk to me.” Minaru answered.
“That’s right. Let me just put these on my desk then we can go grab some Dango.”, she said and lifted the documents in her arms for a second. She turned to look at Ibiki. “You wanna come as well, Scars?”
The man looked at Minaru and shrugged. “Sure. Why not. Come on, let’s drop these off.”
A few minutes later they left the area around the tower again and went down the main street. Anko bought some Dango for all of them. The first clue that something was off was that Anko never bought for Takeaway. But she did then. She shared her batch with Minaru and they chatted amiably while they wandered further to one of the residential areas. Minaru looked around her. “Where are we? I don’t think I’ve ever been to this street.”, she said.
Ibiki smiled. “We’re near the Nara woods. If you follow the next street to our right you reach their main house. But what we wanted to show to you is here in this building.”
“Ibiki!” Anko yelled. “Don’t spoil the surprise!”
Ibiki simply raised one eyebrow. “Mina is one of the smartest kids around. You think she wouldn’t notice that you get Takeaway for once? You never do that!”
“Jeez, why didn’t you tell me earlier then?” Anko pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“It was funnier to watch.” Ibiki deadpanned.
Minaru giggled and slipped a hand into Anko’s. “Well, I certainly appreciate the effort.”
The snake summoner huffed, then she pulled the girl along into the building. They went up to the top floor and Ibiki opened one of the doors there with a key he pulled from inside his Jacket. They came into a bright room with big windows going onto the woods below them. A couch was placed in the room and a few pieces of other furniture were already placed in the small flat. The whole place was light and open and she felt her heart soar.
“I… what? What is…?” Minaru asked, too stunned to speak properly.
“Hokage-sama and Shisui-san asked us to find a flat for you about two weeks after you graduated. They wanted for you to have a place where you could be alone if you wanted to. It took us a few weeks but we finally found something we both agreed would be fitting. It’s close enough to the Nara compound and you have access to the woods.”
“I have to say I was surprised to find out that Shisui Uchiha knows you.” Ibiki said. His gaze was fixed on her.
She scoffed fondly. “Come on, Ibiki-jii. You two are the best people we have for information gathering. Surely you can guess the reason.”, she said.
Ibiki showed his teeth in a feral grin. “I can’t wait to figure it out, kid.”
She smiled at him as well. “I’m looking forward to it.”
She invited Shikamaru and Choji to come over to her apartment the same evening. They had agreed with Yoshino and Shikaku that they would be spending the night at the Nara compound and go over to the Akimichis for breakfast. But Minaru wanted to include Choji into their link. After what happened during their mission she felt the emotional need so strongly it almost hurt her physically.
And she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she now had a flat of her own.
“Nice place. Much light, and you can actually open all of the windows. That’s good since you feel better out in the open.” Shikamaru said when he inspected her living room.
She smiled. “I just need more plants. Maybe some I can use to create poisons? I could ask Tsunade-hime for instructions.”
Choji chuckled. “Only you could look so excited over the prospect of creating deadly poisons.”, he said.
She turned to him and put her chin on his shoulder. “Maybe some paralytics first.”, she said. Her fingers wrapped around his belt loops. “I’m glad you’re okay, Cho.”, she whispered.
He turned to her and wrapped his arms around her as well. “I was scared for you as well.”, he said and rested his forehead against hers for a moment.
“I know.” She opened her eyes. “I want you to meet someone. But we will have to go to my Mindscape to do that.”
Choji looked at her questioningly but nodded. “All right.”
She put one hand on his temple, waving Shikamaru over with the other hand until she could do the same to him. Then she blinked and circled her Chakra once to send them into her Mindscape.
Choji turned around himself once looking around in pure awe. “Oh my… wow. That’s so beautiful!”, he said.
Minaru chuckled. “Well, thank you. I’m quite fond of it myself.” She walked over towards the clearing where Raya rested in her nest. “Good evening, Raya.”
The Phenix stretched with a flourish and rubbed her beak against Minaru’s cheek. Hello, Chick. I see you brought visitors. Good to see you, little Shadow., she said, fixing her unblinking eyes on the boys.
Shikamaru raised his hand to greet her with a lazy wave. “Likewise, Raya.”
Then the Phenix turned to Choji. And you are the little butterfly. It is nice to finally meet you.
Choji stared at her with wide eyes. “Ah… It’s nice… to meet you, too.”, he said.
Raya’s smile was visible in her eyes. No need to be nervous. I am Raya. I am sealed inside of Minaru.
Choji gasped. “You’re the firebird we saw on the bridge?”, he asked. His fingers flexed a few times as if he wanted to pet her but wasn’t sure if he was allowed to.
Raya nodded slowly. I’m sorry if I worried you then. I still need to get used to being able to give my powers to her. We are working on it. She walked over to him and leaned one wing against his side, the feathers brushing his fingers.
“So, she’s the one you wanted me to meet, Mina?”, Choji asked and looked at her.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “And I thought it’s overdue that I tell you guys some things.”
Shikamaru looked at her. “About what happened to you in the Before?”, he asked and she nodded again.
Choji looked at them questioningly. “What do you mean the Before?”
“My Clan, the Rayani, call people like me Twice-born. And I think it’s pretty accurate. I already lived through a whole lifetime before I was reborn as Minaru. But for me what I experienced is happening in the future.”, Minaru said.
Choji screwed up his face. “That’s… I don’t think I really understand what you’re saying.”, he said.
She smiled. “To put it short, I came from the future. Or more a still possible Future, where everyone in the Elemental Nations died because of a massive war. When I died myself I met Raya and her old host.” She petted the Phenix’s wing. “She told me that there was a way to go back and change what happened.”
He gulped visibly. “And you traveled back in time?”, he asked.
“Sort of. We had to switch to another reality as well since it would have killed me to simply go back in time. The world here is very close to the one I come from but it has a few differences.”, she said.
“Like what?” Shikamaru asked. He had sat down on the grass with crossed legs and Minaru and Choji joined him.
“Mostly small things if you don’t count what was changed because we worked actively against it. Tsunade-sama is still a Shinobi of Konoha and comes back regularly here. She left Konoha for real after the Kyuubi attack in my timeline. Hanako-kaa was never injured so badly. It left her unable to be a Shinobi in my time, here she simply chose to be there for Ino and quit her career.” She took a big breath. “I want you to understand what I’m doing and why I’m doing these things. And for that you will need to see some of the things that happened to me in the Before.”
The two boys looked at each other before nodding. “Okay. Show us.” Shikamaru said.
Minaru petted Raya once more before she lifted one hand and snapped her fingers once, the sound resounding in the area around them. Between one blink and the next they found themselves in an old temple in the middle of the forests of Minaru’s Mindscape. A lot of hallways led off from the main plaza, where there was a small fountain with Uzushios swirl engraved in the stone.
“This is my Memory Shrine. Everything I remember is in here and also quite a few things I need help to remember. The right side are the new memories from my time as Minaru.” She pointed to the twelve hallways on the right. “The rest is from my life as Naruto.” Thirty three hallways, each one showing one year of memories.
Choji coughed in shock. “Na… Naruto?!”, he spluttered.
She grinned at him. “Yes. I was ‘Naruto’ in my old time. But that Naruto was quite different from the one you know.”
“It took me a while to wrap my head around this fact, too.”, Shikamaru drawled.
“You knew?” Choji asked.
Minaru blushed and looked into the water of the pool that was in the center of the shrine. “I once had a pretty bad nightmare. When Shika tried to wake me up he got pulled into my Mindscape and experienced it as well.”, she explained.
Choji looked at the two of them with his mouth hanging open. “That sucks.”, he stated after a while.
Shikamaru smiled and Minaru laughed. “Yes. Yes, it does.” She hummed under her breath and turned towards the hallways. “Well… where do we start… How about… Ah, yeah!” She lifted her hand towards one of the hallways and beckoned with her fingers. A small golden ball of light came flying out of it a second later.
It swirled towards them and stopped right over Minaru’s hand. She closed her eyes for a second. “It shows how people treated me when I was a child. It didn’t get much better after I became a Shinobi but people were more easily scared of me, at least the civilians.” She closed her hand around the ball and it exploded into a blinding light.
-Shikamaru-
They were in a bustling marketplace in Konoha. People were rushing to get their grocery shopping done.
After a few seconds Shikamaru was able to find Naruto in the crowd. He was small, looked around the age of 4 or 5. And he was standing infront of a stand with fruit crates. He was looking at one of the watermelons placed there.
His fingers stretched and he knocked onto the fruit once to check if it was good. Just a second later the two boys flinched hard when a meaty arm appeared, the hand connected to it picking up Naruto by the back of his shirt and lifting him up into the air.
The boy went limp in the man’s grip.
“What do you think you’re doing, demonic filth?!” The man hissed and shook Naruto in a way that couldn’t be healthy. The boy was still a human being and no wet rag that you had to wring out to help it dry or something. “Trying to spoil my fruit?!”
“I… I’m sorry, I just wanted to…” Shikamaru could see tears in the boy’s eyes. And when he turned to look at Minaru he saw how she had to suppress tears as well.
The man threw Naruto out of his stand onto the road. When he got up Shikamaru could see several bruises and wounds had opened. Then the man marched up to him with a red face, his fist raised and an ugly sneer on his face.
Another snap of Minaru’s fingers lets the memory fade away. She blinked a few times. “He almost beat me to death with the help of a few other merchants on this night.”, she said and Choji whimpered.
Then he wrapped his arms around her while Shikamaru had to suppress his rage by closing and opening his fists a few times. He could feel his Shadow whirling around in his pool, the dark liquid lapping out onto the shores.
“How many times?”, Shikamaru was able to choke out around his almost closed off throat. She looked at him and raised one eyebrow in question. “How many times did you almost die?”
She hummed. “When I was a child? About 20 times. I didn’t exactly count it.” Choji let out another distressed noise and pulled her closer, she leaned into the embrace but Shikamaru wasn't sure if she even noticed it. “I had a little help from the one that is the reason I survived wounds that would have killed others.” She extended her hand again and another ball of light flew towards them. “This one is from a time when the Naruto me was already a ninja. And I warn you. This one is hard for me to this day.”
Shikamaru nodded and reached for her free hand when she closed her fingers around the ball of light.
He recognized this place from his lessons. The Valley of End, where the Founders had fought their last fight.
Sasuke was standing on the head of Madara Uchiha's statue while Naruto was standing on the one depicting Hashirama Senju. Both were breathing heavily and the state they were in as well as several holes in the area surrounding them showed that they had been in a fight. “Why?”, Naruto asked.
Sasuke arrogantly lifted one eyebrow and looked down on Naruto. “Why what, idiot?”
“Why do you do that? We’re a team, Sakura, you and me. I thought we were friends.” Naruto said, his hands balled into fists at his side.
Sasuke showed a half smile, his eyes closed. “You’re right.”
“Huh?”, Naruto asked lamely.
The Uchiha opened his eyes, his Sharingan spinning lazily. “For me you’ve become my best friend. And that’s why I need to kill you.”
Naruto’s hands shivered. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, Sasuke, but…” He lifted his head up so he was looking directly at Sasuke. “You really seem to want to kill me, right Sasuke?”
Choji reached for Minaru’s hand, when the boys charged at each other and Sasuke pierced Narutos shoulder with some sort of lightning technique that filled the area with loud chirping sounds. Naruto had formed a ball of pure Chakra, whirling in a perfect shape that had cut of one of the wings the transformed Sasuke had had. Then they watched as the almost dead Naruto got enveloped by red Chakra. An image of a furious fox seemed to form out of the Chakra, and at this moment Minaru lifted her hand and snapped her fingers.
Shikamaru pulled both of them into a tight embrace once they were back. He waited until both of them calmed down before he asked his questions. “That lightning technique that Sasuke used… what was that?”
“Chidori. One of the few techniques that Kakashi-sensei invented himself. It became Sasuke’s signature move. The chakra ball that Naruto used was called Rasengan, one of the Fourth’s techniques. He mastered it.”, Minaru explained. She sighed. “What do you think, what drove the Naruto ‘me’ to chase after Sasuke for almost 20 years after this event?” The boys looked at her and she shot them a self deprecating smile. “Most of my friends called me crazy that I didn’t want to give up on the hope that we would be able to convince him to come back. Even after he repeatedly tried to kill me.”
“He called you his friend. His best friend.”, Choji said after a long silence. “Your life before that was hellish and I guess you didn’t have anyone you could call a friend.”
She smiled again and nodded. “Yes. He was the first one. I gained quite a few friends and not just in Konoha, but he was the first one.”
Shikamaru scoffed fondly. “And I guess you were just as stubborn back then as you are now.”
Minaru laughed out loud. “Yeah. Even more than now actually. There were quite a few times where I didn’t die just because I was too damn stubborn. Or at least that’s what Sakura-chan and Tsunade-baa-chan said.”
“You were close with them?”, Choji asked her.
Minaru just smiled for a moment, looking lost in her thoughts. “Yes. Tsunade-baa became the fifth Hokage after the Old Man died to Orochimaru’s attack and she was a very good friend and mentor for me. Sakura was my teammate and became Tsunade’s student after the event at the Valley of end.” She looked into the distance for a moment. “She didn’t want to be a burden, so she went to study with one of the Sannin. And it was good that she did, since Sasuke learnt from Orochimaru.”
“And yourself as Naruto?”, Shikamaru asked. “Who trained you?” She looked at him. “It must have been a great ninja, you managed to fight a goddess.”
Another smile appeared on her lips, this one looking incredibly sad. “Several people. First Kakashi-sensei. Then Jiraiya. He died when I was 14. Killed by some of his old students. Yamato-taichou. The old toads.” She looked at Shikamaru. “Jiraiya’s death nearly broke me. But the Shikamaru from this timeline knew me well enough to pull me out of my misery. We managed to avenge his death. I guess that was the time I started to trust him with my life. Along with Neji, Kiba and Choji.”
They fell into silence for another few minutes, before Choji piped up: “What was this red Chakra?”, he asked.
Minaru laughed lightly. “That was Kurama. Before we made a deal he was a big fuzzy ball of anger. He tended to lash out at anyone and anything in my vicinity when I lost control.” She smiled. “There are a few more things I want you to see. But you need to swear that you will never tell anyone what you learn from now on.”