Niah pov
„Niah Uzumaki huh..." The third Hokage slowly stated, rolling my name over his tongue while thinking. Slightly spinning in his chair, leaning back and then forward again, folding hands in a praying manner.
„Do you mind if I ask you something?" I said unafraid. The three jounin behind me shifted uncomfortably. They obviously weren't used to bluntness... in a grown up woman, that is.
„Go on, ask..." The old man was the third Hokage. Very old. He was older than I remember him being. How, it wasn't evident to me. Was it such a long time?
„Where is Yondaime Hokage?" The question seemed to tore the air between them. All eyes turned to look at me directly...
„Where have you been for such a long time?" He asked me, strucked by my obvious lack of knowledge. It appeared like I fell straight from the moon. I felt surprised and uncomfortable but the last time I was here, the Yondaime Hokage was still alive.
„He is dead." Sharp inhale startled the participants, it startled even me even though it came from my own mouth.
„When? Why? How?" It was the indicator that indeed a lot of time passed since I was last here. And when he told me what year it is... and by the time he told me about the big changes now existing in the world, I had to sit.
„That long..." I whispered but none responded to my horror.
„Tell me of Ame. Tell me what happened to Amegakure!" I could not wait any longer. I was afraid they were all gone.
„Amegakure has a peculiar government... It seemed to be run by an organization not the secret village leader..."
Maybe it was Akatsuki. They probably shied away from public eye soon after her, their deaths.
„Are you from Ame?" Hokage asked, his eyes glinting in the semi-sun.
„I was. I was a long time ago." Thoughts roamed freely in my head.
„What happened?" He asked and I reluctantly answered.
„I died."
„That's not possible!" The blond man stated bewilderingly behind my back. His name is Inoichi, from Yamanaka clan. Intel gathering clan, very peculiar and interesting, indeed.
„I also could not believe it... but I came to be in another world. There I found my clan. The Uzumaki clan is alive... they escaped the destruction that many years ago. But now their powers have rooted out and cannot come back." The silence was so pressing it could suffocate, if the Hokage hadn't cleared his throat. Magically everything returned to normal.
„Well... you seem like a trusty person. We can trust you to stay in Konoha for the time being? At least until we discuss this in another time?" He pried for my agreement, my nod.
„I am anxious to continue on my journey. I left people behind when I died before... I want to find them as soon as I can..." He seemed startled or surprised... I had a feeling he did not believe my story entirely.
„I understand. But we can't let you go until we know you're not a possible threat. You know that Uzumaki-san?" Anger fumed inside me. Like I would let some old geezer order me around when I finally, finally managed to come back! I won't stay long... Even if I have to escape their clutches. I had enough of imprisonment for a lifetime.
„I don't like being imprisoned. I was for a long time when I resided in the other world. Correction... I hate it." I sighed.
„I will stay... But you better remember you offered a friendly hand to the Uzumaki clan so many years ago. Don't go back on the offer now, it would be hypocritical." Their mouths would be agape if they weren't trained in many surprise arising situations. I bowed and walked back the way I came from. When I stopped at the door I turned back to eye the Hokage.
„Well... Where will I sleep? Do you have some Uzumaki survivors in Konoha? I would like to mingle with my own, thank you very much." And with obvious surprise and reluctance, the Hokage ordered the black haired and scared man to accompany me.
I offered him my hand despite the gray blotches I saw in front of me. By now it was easy to see with my other senses. Chakra probed my way up front and constantly detected any possible threat behind and at the sides.
My chakra system strengthened the longer I breathed this air, walked this land. I saw everything, just not in colors. The living things with chakra were colored blue, white and gray; picturing everything with accuracy. The rest of the things were black, gray and white. It was better than nothing.
I was glad I saw so good again. I even saw in the distance. I could not exactly pinpoint every human but I could see the surroundings.
„Where are you taking me?" I asked the Nara man. He was courteous enough to remind me of the obstacles in front of me.
He didn't know I could see... albeit not as well as he.
„To accommodate you at the Uzumaki apartment. There lives a boy by himself. His name is Naruto Uzumaki." A slight pause between the words so he could help me down the stairs.
„He is the lone Uzumaki clan survivor currently residing in Konoha." He continued, but there was some hidden knowledge behind his words I could not distinct. There was some secret kept away from me.
„Okay. But why does he live alone?" I had to ask. It was weird to begin with.
„His parents died when he was but a baby... and he prefers to live alone." He coughed awkwardly... like he made a lie out of thin air. Why would a child like to live alone I had no idea...
But when he brought me to his apartment and a beaming blond boy greeted me I was strucked. His grin was just the same as Yahiko's. His face, his whole posture was so much like him it was sick.
After the small talk, greetings and this and that's... I found myself alone with him sitting opposite of me, on the other side of the table.
„You are also Uzumaki! Tell me more about the Uzumaki clan! I am so happy someone came to live with me, I find myself kind of lonely here..." His voice was the same high pitched and full of himself as Yahiko's had been when we were younger. I saw this boy in him. I saw this little sunshine beaming with the same light he radiated such a long time ago.
„You remind me of a friend..." His questions met an end when he looked at me and saw just how sad I am.
„Don't be sad... Will you... Are you hungry? I can get you something to eat?" My stomach growled in protest, accusing me of neglect. I nodded and he pulled me for my hand eagerly.
When he locked the apartment I had to ask him for his name. I forgot it when they mentioned it before.
„Naruto Uzumaki! And you are?" I took his hand and he was so happy he leaned into my hand, squeezing it in the process. I saw just how lonely this child seemed. I saw myself in him. Imprisoned in a nut house, alone and neglected. Shunned. Tortured.
„Niah Uzumaki... I can be your aunt or sister if you would like?" And when he looked up at me I saw just how deeply it affected him. His eyes started to water, so happy he was by my offer. The offer was nothing to me, at least not yet. You say this to best friends every day... but for him... For him it seemed to mean the world.
„I... I would love that onee-san..." He brushed the unspilled tears out of his eyes and pulled me behind him.
…
„Teuchi-san! I brought onee-san to meet you!" And the joy, oh the joy, this child radiated when he proudly said we are related... The thank you wave from his soul was too much for a blinding moment to bare. He was so happy I had no heart to ever say otherwise.
He sat me at the counter and contently babbled how ramen was the best food he ever ate in the world and I had to chuckle when the owner said it was actually the only thing he ever ate. How strange... How quickly he squirmed under my skin, under my scared and tired skin.
I may look like an eighteen year old girl, but I was way older. I had a feeling I won't get any older either way. When I got a bowl of delicious smelling ramen in front of me I could not keep the smile of my face.
„Neeh? Isn't it the best?" And I nodded with my mouth full of ramen.
„Soo... You are Naruto's sister I hear?" The pleasant older man smiled at me. When I slurped down the rest of the delicious soup I answered.
„We are of the same Uzumaki clan. I will be a sister for him, if he wants me..." And the old man smiled such a rewarding smile I had a real feeling... like I was doing something good. Something really good. And I felt proud, just a touch of it. It felt good and I felt embarrassed.
„Of course I want you nee-san! I never had anyone! And the villagers are always so angry around me..." His mood seemed to drop instantly. I tried to maintain his good mood anyway.
„Don't mind the villagers. You are a bright and good-hearted kid so don't worry. And if someone bothers you, just tell me." Silent threat lingered in between us and Naruto's eyes grew the size of plates. Awe lingered in his blue pools when he looked at me and I just had to ruffle his hair with affection. How quickly he crawled under my skin. It was unbelievable.
„If someone bothers you I will beat them into a pulp." He nodded but then remembered something.
„And if it's AMBU?" He asked.
Ambu? Why would Ambu try to catch the kid?
…
Time skip
'If that's so... then we will escape together...'
I had no idea what I was signing in for. The brat just painted the stone monument. And I had the slightest idea that this was not really the first time he has done it... He was like a trickster... desperate for attention.
I let out a shaky breath and composed myself. Naruto didn't know I was half blind. My eyes were a dull green color but there was no scar or anything that could indicate my partial blindness. He thought I could see like a normal human. He expected me there, to help him.
And I promised. I just didn't know he was such a brat!
I reluctantly walked down the main street, just where I expected the little runt to run and try to mingle in his pitiful escape.
I saw ANBU jumping from roof to roof. Two of them. From the twitching shoulders and anxious arms I presumed they were irritated beyond belief. I chuckled but before I could fully enjoy the episode someone collided with the lower part of my body.
„Nee-san! Nee-san save me! The Anbu is hunting me down!" His pitched voice could not escape trained ears of Anbu men on the top of the distant buildings. Before they could turn I already grabbed him with my right arm and tucked him safely under one of my armpit. He was dangling down my side like a sack of potatoes.
Before the Anbu landed where we formerly stood I already ran away, pulsing the chakra down my feet. Naruto's shrills of delight reached my ears and I had no other way of shutting him up other than putting a hand on his mouth, pressing it tightly.
Jumping up and down, running like wind, I felt like a true shinobi once again. Ordinary people shouted curses and fled off the path we took, fright fueling them.
Naruto was laughing so hard. And I also smiled. At least until the ambu men didn't ambush us. And there were more than two of them if I say so myself.
After we acted like rabid animals they dutifully took us to the Hokage. He regarded us with scolding eyes but they held a twinkle of amusement inside. Naruto seemed downright upset for getting caught and brought in front of the Hokage.
But the old man only smiled and scolded him like a naughty child he was. Then he ordered us to clean the monument faces together, alone, until they were clean and polished into perfection. We both groaned with dissatisfaction but agreed reluctantly.
After Naruto was shooed out of the office and Ambu left the room in the blink of shadows, we were alone. Talking about small things, delaying the inevitable.
„Niah-san... We discussed this briefly before, but I think now is the time. Inoichi!" And the door opened behind me, the proud and tall blonde man entered.
„Yes Hokage-sama." It was a deep sign of respect. He even bowed before him.
„Take her to the Intel division please and I will come in a few..." They will search my mind. Wrong. This blond man will search my mind.
And they will see if I lied or not about everything. I was basically forced to do this... I could do it this way or be tortured and threatened into sharing the information. At least this way wouldn't hurt.
We went our way.
…
Time skip
They found something. I don't know what exactly upset them... but they found something I was not supposed to know. Or be.
It was probably my affiliation with Akatsuki. Those were the memories from my previous life. It scared them... I saw it in their eyes.
Akatsuki was a threat to them. I saw it... Maybe not such a threat to kill me right off but a threat enough. They didn't tell me who nor what was so threatening about this information. I just had to cope and see what happens.
But I was planing to leave. Reluctantly now.
Naruto was such a sweet kid. He was at the academy now and I wiped the monument clean without him. He will soon be here to help me. When I was cleaning off the paint my thought seemed to linger on him constantly. He seemed to genuinely love me. I was like a real sibling to him and the parting would hurt.
It will hurt both. But it was necessary. I had no future in this village, not now... and probably not ever.
„Nee-san! Nee-san..." And he was already rambling about this Sasuke guy he absolutely loathed. But I saw just how much he admired him for his skills... just how much he looked up on him. I only nodded seriously, already wrapped up in his story.
He cleaned with me diligently, wiping the sweat off his face. The sun was burning while we were sitting on the wooden platform.
„Naruto... I will leave soon." His smile faltered slowly and disbelief crept onto his features.
„How... When... Why? No... You can't leave!" He was devastated, just the way I imagined him to be. It wasn't long since I came to live with him, but his heart was lonely and craving affection. He absorbed it like a sponge. Not that I minded anyway...
„I must. The village disapproves of me. They found something in my mind they did not like. I must leave for my own protection. I don't belong here..." I tried to explain but that only brought upon me an avalanche of questions. I pulled him closer, in a bone crushing hugg.
„Please believe me what I'll tell you now Naruto..." And he nodded seriously.
„Before I came here I was trapped in a whole another world. There I found Uzumaki clan I told you all about... their descendents live there still... This is also something we already talked about... But before even that, I lived here. In this world." He stopped sniffing and hugged me tightly, pressing himself to my side even closer.
„Back then I was living in Amegakure and I was a part of an organization. This organization is a threat to them now. They are scared of me being a part of them..."
„But you aren't nee-san! You're here now aren't you?" Oh child... it isn't that simple... I brushed his hair away from his temple in a mother gesture.
„I am. I am, because I helped found it. There are people there who think I am dead and lost to them forever. I will always be a part of them because... because there are people there... that I love."
„And you don't love me?" His question was heart-breaking.
„I love you. But I cannot take you with me. This is a journey I have to make alone." He nodded seriously, probably not understanding exactly what I meant or felt. He just knew I had something important to do and I was abandoning him like the rest.
„I have to leave because they will kill me Naruto. I am not safe here. They are waiting for me to slip up or make a mistake... I have to leave."
„They won't kill you nee-san! Grandpa Hokage won't let them!" Oh how blind he was still... he believed the world to be black and white, mostly white... still.
„He wants to protect you Naruto. People think I am a bad person and he has a problem deciding what to do. I want to make it easier for him and will leave by myself... That way he doesn't need to order anyone to bother me... nor does he need anyone to spy on me all the time. And in his eyes, everyone will be safe again. You understand?" He understood. It was probably still way away from real picture but he understood enough. He knew there was no way I will be able to stay.
In some way... i didn't really want to. I had a purpose. An intent different than staying here.
Maybe I was selfish. Here was a boy who desperately needed me but I didn't want to stay. Love pulled me away from here like a distant sound of the shore. Pulling and pulling and pulling. Calling me.
„I understand..." He was sad. So, so sad.
„But I will write to you. I promise. And I will visit from time to time. I promise." He brightened.
„I never got a letter in my life..." he softly admitted, shame coloring his cheeks red.
„Then I will write you plenty!" And he chuckled when I tickled him into oblivion.
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