Passing Go - Year 1: After dying and meeting Kami, the PCs have reincarnated into a new world and life, some with more local savviness than others. How will they survive, and what sort of foundations will they lay for their futures?
The Elemental Nations: 0 aNb - 1st Year After Rebirth
It started with pain. For some, it was short. For others, it was agonizingly slow. Across the world, for many places and reasons, they perished, and in an incomprehensible space beyond the mortal domain, the Wheel of Reincarnation spread its arms to welcome them into the Cycle. Taken before their times, they were all entitled to a reimbursement of karma, adjustments and recalculations made, souls weighed without pity or particular concern. For each was slated to be wiped clean regardless and distributed to a new life worthy of their karma. They would recieve a new life, unburdened by the old and thus -in a sense- at peace with their new circumstances until the time came to be judged again. It was a peace of ignorance, of obliviousness and oblivion of the self; for in truth, nothing would remain of the old life to make way for the new. This was the cold, clinical recycling system of the universe, impartial and inevitable.
"Hmmm, but perhaps that doesn't appeal to you?"
The Voice came from what almost felt like all directions at once, as disembodied souls found themselves plucked from the Wheel's clinical grasp by a warmth not akin to a cozy household fire on a winter day. Or, at the least, there were few better comparisons to make. The voice was young and old, matronly and girlish, imperious and kind. In truth, what each soul "heard" differed according to personal perception and the being's whims.
"As you are certainly aware, you are dead."
The words were said with neither sympathy nor derision. The reactions to this were myriad, souls crying out involuntarily. Questions were lodged, and answers were received almost as quickly as the thoughts could form. Though the souls could not speak, the being heard them nonetheless and answered telepathically.
"I am the one they call Kami, a god, one of many. My domain is Life and the Wheel of Reincarnation, on my world, across many worlds, yours included. I realize there are many concerns about what comes after death in your world, a world of 'mundanity', and this is the truth. There is no afterlife, only the next life. This is how it has always been, and it is how it shall always be."
Some might recieve this with apathy, others with despair. Some with anger and others with acceptance. Yet, Kami bore every reaction impassively, her tone of clinical neutrality unwavering.
"Yet, for you, this need not necessarily be the case. Though I am a god, there are things that remain beyond my remit, if not for a lack of ability than the restrictions of a most ancient divine pact. Amongst many things, this pact primarily restricts the direct interference into the mortal realms. However, the world I most primarily govern is presently imperiled, and I require a way to act upon it... indirectly."
A looming sense of anticipation pressed down upon the souls before her, and they could all tell the being was smiling.
"Poor unfortunate souls, taken before your time... I have an offer for you."
And for one reason or another, after asking their questions and receiving all the answers their patron was willing or able to give...
They accepted, of course. Every last one of them.
Arc 1 - Rebirth: Start.
GM Notes: Our first "arc" will roughly cover the first years of the PCs' lives, with each round of posts potentially covering a whole single year each until PCs are more independent. You therefore have the freedom to write out the entire first year of your PC's life in about as little or as much detail as you like. We'll be trying to move through these relatively quickly in order to get to the "good stuff", but more detail does potentially mean a better paying investment. Be aware, as babies, your options are limited, but that doesn't mean you have nothing to do.
If you have any questions or need a few lines from an important named NPC, hash it out with me; for expediency's sake, I will definitely be considering granting control of certain important NPCs to players. 100% accurate characterization is not a total requirement, as this is a world inherently infected with fanon and fanfic tropes, but depending on the character, I may have a particular portrayal in mind that will need to the be kept to, depending on if and to what degree tropes have warped them. Beyond that? Go hog wild (within reason, lol). This Naruto mass-isekai sandbox has officially begun.
At first they'd tried showing reverence. It was "Kami" after all. After a few minutes, they'd gotten a solid read on the godly being and slowly dropped that act. A timeless god probably had infinite patience anyway. That had backfired pretty quick, honestly.
"I see you're more than willing to go to this world. I know all I need to." Kami had told them. It seemed that Kami had gotten a read on them just as quickly.
The world of Naruto. They'd recognized it from the description within moments. At long last it was truly becoming their escape from reality.
. . . being conscious of being born, however, was something they could have lived without. A punishment for being obnoxious, or simply an unfortunate consequence of retaining their mind upon rebirth? Either way, not fun. There were lots of theories about the "trauma of being born" and... yep.
Oh well, memories or not, their new body was still that of an infant. They had the emotional stability to go with it, and the memory of a meth addled goldfish. It was all a big blur for the most part. Literally. Their eyesight still hadn't fully kicked in.
Except for the massive, fucking bee on their chest. That... that was crystal clear, in 4K Ultra HD and way too fucking close to their face.
Their new mother and some other guy were discussing the bee rather than expeditiously removing it for some reason. Unfortunately, despite being able to hear perfectly well... they had no idea what everyone was saying because it wasn't in English. Fuck.
However, precise understanding wasn't necessary, because it was fairly easy to infer the conclusion of the conversation. That being... that the bee would stay. Why, fucking Kami, must the bee stay? It was so.... big... and leggy... and horrible and...
Wait.
They strained their shitty little baby muscles to tilt their head up and look more closely at the bee. Why would their, presumably very protective of her newborn child, mother agree to allow the bee to stay? Unless...
Fuckin'. Ninja. Bee.
"Awheglsyrs," their shitty little baby mouth babbled. Oh hell yes. Ninja bees. That was workable. That was very workable.
Still, they shuddered as the bee crawled across their skin, it was gonna take some getting used to.
. . .
Kohaku, their name was Kohaku. Finally got that one squared away. Didn't really take all that long with their new mother crooning it in their ear 24/7, but it all sort've sounded the same at first. Also, they had a brother named Kazoo... Kazuha... Kizass... whatever, they had time to figure that one out. At least Kohaku finally had a grasp on their own name for this life.
Kohaku was also finally getting used to their fuzzy, winged passenger. Or, rather, they had been until it began sticking eggs to their body. It felt so highly unnecessary, but, in the name of nin-bees, Kohaku was resolved to suck it up and get used to it.
. . .
Oh fuck, oh gosh, oh shit, they were hatching.
. . .
"Here you ģ̷̹͙̠̪͕̣̌͆̈́͗́͜o̴̢̢̪̘̳͉̖͇̬̮͂̏͑́̑͐̆̊̌̽̿̌̐̈́, Kohaku, ṭ̵̱͉͙͈͇̜̋̈ͅh̵̛̞̉͒̃̌͋̈́̓͜r̴̼͇̗̭̬̤̃̿ō̷͇͓͙̖̏́̓̄͌͘͠͠͠w̸̞͎͈̄͐̀̊̔̓̈́͆̏̏̾̒̋̎͘ the ball t̷̨̻̺̲̬̫͓̖̭͖̤̖̄̈́̋̄̇͛̓͠͠o̶̜͚͖̠̩̯̼̳̱̥̙̩̎̑́ͅ your brother." Kohaku's mother handed him a small, toy ball.
They were slowly picking up the language, but... it was freaking rough. They had a lifetime of English already crammed in there. However, aside from the small colony of bees slowly forming under their clothes, Kohaku didn't have much else going on, so it was easy enough to focus on learning. Meanwhile, it had become apparent that they didn't have a home, really. They traveled a lot and spent a lot of time outdoors. Aside from Kohaku's mother and brother there was also a trio of men.
Apparently those men were the source of the bee Kohaku had inherited. However, Kohaku also got the impression that none of them was their father.
"What kinda messed up life did you plop me into here!?" . . . "I wonder if I can get a headshot?"
"UWAAAAAAAH!" Yep. Headshot.
And so passed year one of Kohaku's new life. For now... there was naught to do but wait. To wait until they absorbed more of the language, to wait for the bees to grow, and to wait for their own body to grow. Meanwhile, they would plan... and then forget that plan because they couldn't write it down, but still! A plan would be had... eventually!
His mother loved him, even though she had... speculations on how she spontaneously got pregnant despite her husband - Karin's father - already being dead by then. Said speculations, however, involved her being blessed by the Kami, which was true if Henry's existence genuinely benefited her. No, he was no longer Henry, he was Uzumaki Ren; Karin's little brother.
And by the One True God (nobody said he didn't exist, although he could be evil like Shin Megami Tensei portrayed him as?), his big sister was so adorable! Their mother had done a good job keeping her happy despite being barely able to afford a proper crib and teething toys, and Henry/Ren resolved to be the perfect, model child once he learned the language and everything else he needed to know about surviving in Kusakagure.
Right now, he followed the instinctual rhythm of his infant body, forcibly blanking out his mind when he consumed his mother's milk. When a curious Karin wanted to play with him, he smiled at her, and she smiled back; Henry then vowed to make sure that she did not need to see that Uchiha smile back at her for her to be happy. No, Henry/Ren was already setting up a plan to set Karin up with one of the side characters from the Filler Arcs or maybe someone who canonically died in canon. Maybe Haku?
Henry was making good use of the frequent rest and sleep babies got to lucidly dream and plan his next moves. Hmm, if one of the reincarnates is a Uchiha, maybe they can prevent the Massacre. If the massacre is prevented, that would give Karin more alternative love interests. Alternatively, depending on how old Ranmaru from the Curry of Life filler arc is, I can set him up with Karin... If I can get my hands on him.
Hmm... Is there anyone else? were his further thoughts, before the door opened, and a Kusakagure Ninja entered. Harsh words were spoken - An order of some sort?
Henry/Ren remembered that Kusakagure was not a perfect haven, and his mother was a dubiously willing servant of the village, only slightly above a slave. And that was his sister's fate and his' own. He needed to know the language and learn as much as he could soon; he couldn't handle someone who was making him and Karin cry.
He needed to be a good ninja one day; he needed to learn Ninjutsu and all the techniques that came with it. If he didn't, his mother and sister would continue to suffer. And so, as his mother was replaced by less compassionate babysitters and daycare workers, Henry waited and watched. He and Karin will be happy. Their mother will be happy. He won't let her die and he won't let Karin fall in love with someone who won't love her back.
As for himself, he was going to get a boyfriend once he was old enough. Or a girlfriend; he preferred both. Maybe from this village, maybe from another, but he definitely will get one, hopefully, another Reincarnate, once he was fourteen or sixteen or eighteen.
But right now, he has to be the best Ninja he can be. He needed to work hard for his current hosts/guardians/captors and scrabble for every bit of recognition and status he could. Then he'll make a place for his family. His new family. Hopefully without Sasuke as part of it; Sarada was a legitimately intriguing character, from what he heard of Boruto...
Thought before falling deeper to sleep: Can he get his hands on Osotsuki DNA somehow? Something that can give him that broken mind control technique that was used to turn the world against Boruto in the past?
No, that was a can of worms best not opened. Even the other Reincarnates would turn on him if they found out.
Tangent: There will be differences between me and other Reincarnates. Best to gear up to fight them too; hopefully it does not come to that.
Being cognizant of your second birth was not something that Therese Grace had ever considered. Rather, having a second birth at all was not something Therese Grace had considered. She had been aware of the fact that some religions subscribed to the concept of reincarnation, but she had thought the point was to not remember your past life.
The birth itself was surreal, but aside from a guy drawing some sort of tattoo on her back—a cultural thing perhaps, she wondered—it was as far as she could tell about the same as what would have happened in her old life. Then again, her senses were still getting used to a life outside the womb, and she was still disoriented, seeing the world from a newborn's perspective, so she could not say she was fully cognizant the whole way through.
But it was not as if she was complaining. Indeed, remembering her past life was exactly the reason she agreed to the deal offered by the entity known as 'Kami'. There was no afterlife, she said. Only the next life, and yet despite the sameness of the 'soul' without memory, Therese would not think that 'her next life' was truly hers. It was someone else's, who happened to share the same soul of hers. Ultimately, the subjective experience and the memory made were what defined 'the self'. Someone who was her in soul, but had none of her memory might as well be someone else entirely.
At least, that was her train of thought when she accepted the deal to be reborn in a new world that Kami said was 'imperilled'. Kami described it as a world that most resembles feudal Japan with modern touches here and there, the biggest difference, however, is the existence of chakra which enables people of various mystical feats.
Nevertheless, she accepted the deal, and since they did not have enough time to discuss the detail of this new world, left it to Kami to decide her place of birth.
And that was how Therese Grace was reborn as Akane Yuki.
January, Year 1 ANB
Being a baby was an odd experience, in Akane's opinion. If she has to liken it to any of her previous experiences in her first life, it was like when one was bedridden with sickness, where you have periods of lucidity before you tire and sleep again. Only this time, rather than being bedridden for a few days, it was her daily routine for the last three months or so, and for the foreseeable future.
Still, being a child again was not all bad. Children were said to learn language faster than adults, for one. Between that particular advantage and her own mental capacity that remained from her past life, she was able to grasp the language of her new world quickly. Of course, she was far from being fluent, but she could sort of follow the conversation.
She was born in the village in the Land of Water called Kirigakure. Apropos to its name, it was a humid location with mist covering the area most of the time. Her family was a ninja clan called the Yuki clan, who apparently had a special bloodline to use ice techniques. Speaking of, they were ninja, but from what little Akane could gather, 'ninjas' here were more akin to mages, able to bend the elements and whatnot.
This was, evidently the chakra Kami mentioned.
Akane had heard the term chakra, from her previous life of course, but she was quite certain back then only people who believed in the occult thought they had actual mystical property. Here, chakra as a mystical force was part of the reality, something that Akane had come to realize early on.
Ever since she was born, she had always been aware of an odd sensation, both within her and around her. While she cannot precisely put a finger on the phenomenon, it was as if one were to suddenly hear an odd sound they had never heard before, or smell a lingering fragrance of something that wasn't there usually. In short, it was a sensation that was utterly foreign to her.
With nothing else to do, she spends her days mostly trying to feel the foreign sensation. Eventually, she honed her senses enough to tell that what she sensed around her actually came from people around her, like her family. Eventually, as Taiki, her older brother, was practising, she realized the energy was used to manifest the mystical properties she had heard were the byproduct of chakra. In her brother's case, it was to materialize several ice spears. That was when she realized what she was sensing was chakra.
Speaking of her family...they were...odd to say the least.
It was not as if they didn't care for her, or each other, but for her parents...there was always this sense of fatality that she could sense, it was like they live expecting to die any day, and every time they look at Taiki and Akane, there was this sense of guilt. It was especially prevalent with her mother.
Her father, Reiji Yuki was barely home these days. From what she gathered, he was a jounin—a high-ranking ninja—and so, he was often sent on missions. Apparently, he had been allowed to remain home while Akane's mother, Hikari Yuki, was still recovering, but after the first month, he was barely home.
Her brother was nice, though. He was five years older than her and was currently training to be a shinobi, but he still had that idealistic strike one would find charming in a kid. Child soldier was a grim reality but at this point, Akane had gathered that was simply the course of things in this new world.
13th of November, Year 1 ANB
After a year of being born in the new world, Akane had somewhat acclimatized to her new life. Being a baby, her range of activities was limited, but at least as a one-year-old, she was now not completely bedridden, able to crawl—and walk, though very unsteadily—as well as string some very rudimentary words together.
This was—unsurprisingly considered advanced development for her age—and the words ‘genius’ and ‘prodigy’ had been thrown around by the occasional guests her family received. Most of them were fellow members of the Yuki clan.
They introduced themselves to Akane out of formality, but the truth was that Akane had figured that out before any words were exchanged. Not out of superhuman deduction or anything, but rather through how their chakra felt similar to Akane and her family. Akane then closed her eyes as she extended her senses.
Sensing chakra was most of Akane’s pastime during her early days when she could not do much. Over time, the accuracy of her sense grew. She was now able to sense chakra in a radius of 1 Km around her. And if she focuses, she could gain even more detail from the individual chakra she sensed.
For people whose chakra she sensed often, like her parents and brother, Akane could easily pick it up whenever they were in her range of sensory ability—for example, her brother had just entered the range of her 1 Km radius—For others, she was not able to distinguish them yet, she was able to obtain a general feel and notice similarities.
She was able to do more than just lie around and sense chakra nowadays, though she often kept up with the practice because it felt relaxing. She imagined this was what meditation felt like.
"...What? We talked about ▅▅▅▅. And the whole clan is ▅▅▅▅"
"I know. The clan is ▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅ but if it's only the four of us, then ▅▅▅▅"
Akane was stirred from her meditation as she heard her parents arguing.
'Damn. I don't quite understand fully,' Akane cursed.
While advanced for her age, language was still a language barrier. While she was able to follow most of the conversation, some of the context was missing.
"You know if we do it the ▅▅▅▅ will ▅▅▅ us," her mother said.
"And then what? What's the ▅▅▅▅ that we just wait until we ▅▅▅▅? That even if we ▅▅▅▅ live like ▅▅▅▅?" her father argued back immediately.
...It looked as if her father was dissatisfied with their living condition. Not a surprise to Akane.
Akane couldn't fully understand her circumstances quite yet, but she knew that something was amiss. She didn't know the average standard of living in this world, so she cannot know for sure, but she did have the impression that her family and her neighbourhood—no, perhaps the entire island were pretty good as far as amenities and standard of living.
And yet, not a single person she had seen since her second birth seemed happy with living here. Like her mother, most of them carried with them this sense of fatality. The only exceptions were people wearing masks embroidered with the symbol of Kirigakure. Through her own observation and chakra-sensing practice, she had long figured out that those people were guards. Not guarding them, no...but to watch them as a prison guard might.
Sometimes, when her brother took her on a walk, she'd seen him look wistfully at the island in the distance. This island...despite its apparent standard of living...was a prison. A gilded cage. Her family and all those who lived here were its captive, for reasons that were beyond Akane's comprehension currently.
"...You're ▅▅▅▅! Even if the ▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅ can ▅▅▅▅ the Mizukage will ▅▅▅▅," her mother shouted.
Mizukage? Shadow water? Shadowy water? Who or rather what was that?
"Even so, I—"
Her Father stopped in the middle of the sentence. He then sighed, "We'll continue this later. Taiki is ▅▅▅▅."
From what she could sense of her brother's chakra and the context, that last word was...what, close? Approaching?
Regardless, her brother arrived not long after, before being promptly asked to take Akane for a walk. Doubtless so they could speak more freely.
Taiki dutifully picked up his sister and took her for a walk, and as the case with many of their walks, he stopped at the shores of the island.
"Did Mother and Father fight?" he asked.
"Un," Still unable to fully form a sentence, Akane simply tried her best to convey a confirmation through a nod.
"Hah. You ▅▅▅▅ understand that? You ▅▅▅▅ are a smart girl, huh, Akane?" Taiki laughed. He then continued, "▅▅▅▅ how can they do that? On your birthday, ▅▅▅▅. Well, I can guess..."
He then stopped talking, the familiar wistful look passing across his face as he looked at the island in the distance.
"Yeah. Our ▅▅▅▅ is...not ▅▅▅▅. But I'll change it, ▅▅▅▅. I'll be Mizukage and ▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅!" Taiki declared. He then turned to Akane and gave her a smile, "So you don't have to ▅▅▅▅."
...Though not fully understanding it completely—such as what the Mizukage her brother wants to be is—Akane understood that it was an attempt to reassure her. And that her brother wanted to change the current circumstances that had us trapped in this gilded cage.
Akane had not understood it fully, but...then and there, she promised—to herself, if nothing else—that she too, would do her best for it.
Jaden was submerged in panic. Between the breath masks constantly smacking him in the face, and the static-crusted cries of the pilot from the intercom, to the cries and frantic prayers of his fellow passengers. He focused on his breath; inhale slowly through the nose, hold ten seconds, then exhale through the mouth. His hands were busy; tangling and untangling themselves into various Mudra. He could laugh. So many times did his mother complain about her youngest son was out to kill himself; the fights at school, the tournament matches, the brawls in the street, the stunts, the camping trip from hell.
Of all the things; this was how he'd go.
He remembered the explosion blowing out his eardrums, and the sensation of flames washing over him.
All gone in an instant.
"So, this is death?"
...
"I can still recognize my-"
The Voice came from what almost felt like all directions at once, as disembodied souls found themselves plucked from the Wheel's clinical grasp by a warmth not akin to a cozy household fire on a winter day. Or, at the least, there were few better comparisons to make. The voice was young and old, matronly and girlish, imperious and kind. In truth, what each soul "heard" differed according to personal perception and the being's whims.
"I am the one they call Kami, a god, one of many. My domain is Life and the Wheel of Reincarnation, on my world, across many worlds, yours included. I realize there are many concerns about what comes after death in your world, a world of 'mundanity', and this is the truth. There is no afterlife, only the next life. This is how it has always been, and it is how it shall always be."
It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him. Sure, his dabbling in Buddhism had taught him such; but he'd always dismissed it as metaphor. He wondered what his family would think, if they could see this. Religion was a touchy subject in the Bernes household; Jaden's grandmother never approved of their secular lifestyle.
"My grandsons don't know God, thanks to you!" She would complain, every family get together.
And yet, here he was, staring them in the face.
He listened as Kami explained what was next. He was surprised he suppressed his laughter. So, Naruto is real, and he's about to go meet him! This must be a dream -it had to be. Perhaps in reality, Jaden was really laying in a coma in a hospital somewhere.
Or perhaps this was real.
Only one way to find out.
"Right. Well, for starters: I'd like to be reborn in Kumogakure; perhaps I'll come back as much of old self as possible"
It all came at once: The darkness giving way to blinding light; the sensation of something hot, fleshy, and slimey forcing him out. He tried to force an eye open against the blindness, only able to make up vague shapes in the fuzziness. He could feel what felt like a tube attacked to his belly being cut.
And the voices. So many voices.
What the hell?! Where am I?! What happened to me?! Am I dead?!
"ああ、なんて可愛い子なんだろう！" His vision cleared. He was being stared down by a giant man in some kind of surgical mask that dangled him by his leg.
Who the fuck are you?! Where am I?!
"え？ 彼は泣いていませんか？ なぜ泣いていないのですか？ なんてこった！ 彼に何か問題があるのでしょうか?!" He turned, seeing a giant woman laying in a hospital bed with her legs spread open. She was a mess of sweat and matted black hair... Wait a minute. Did he just come out of her? So, he really did reincarnate! By Kami, this shit was for real! But what about his family and friends back in his world?
What about his promotion exam?!
"心配しないでください、ママ。 彼を泣かせてやる！" Wait, he recognized this language; they're speaking Japanese. Now, if he could just focus-
SMACK!
"AAAAAARGGGGHHH!" His ass burned with the fury of a swarm of flying cunts wasps.
"うーん、彼は泣いていません。 まあ、少なくとも彼の肺は機能しています!" The doctor nervously chuckled.
What'd hit me for?! Unhand me, you sonuvabitch!
He thrashed, trying to grab something, or at perhaps escape from this awkward dangling. In his flailing, he his landed in the doctor's eye. "ああ！ なんとも強烈な赤ちゃんですね！"
The shock of being cognizant of his own birth wore away in the following weeks. Still, being mentally nineteen while physically weeks old proved to be its own torture. Time seemed to move at a snail's pace. He was suddenly aware of how fast-paced his previous life was. Now, there were things to do, people to find, and disaster to avert; and he couldn't even walk, or talk.
His new parents were nice enough; mother was never far, often smiling and cuddly. But, breastfeeding proved an awkward experience he had to force himself to bear with. Father seemed to pop in an out, more often covered and smelling of soot. From what he could see of Kumogakure, it seemed to storm a lot. Strange, it didn't look like this in what he saw of the anime. Or, was this the corruption Kami spoke of?
It was here that he realized he had all the time in the world to think, and observe. And more importantly plan. The corruption may reveal itself one way, or another. So, it would be best to explore and gather as much info as he could. He would also need to find the other reincarnates... But, how would they identify each other?
And what about the locals? He could imagine "Hi! I'm a spirit from another world in which all of this is a popular work of fiction, that's being corrupted into the real life equivalent of a crappy fanfiction" would be a fast way to get tossed in the looney bin. Perhaps he didn't need to give them the full story. Even then, there may be some who'd believe him. An image of Naruto himself flashed in his mind's eye. Yeah, he just might believe it...
God damnit!
But, in the condition he was in, Naruto -and the others on his "To Do List"- might as well be on the other side of the planet! For now the best thing to do is focus on expanding his Japanese vocabulary.
More importantly, meditating. In Jaden's world; Qi, or Ki, was more of a metaphor for the breath. But, in this world, he could actually feel something coursing through his body. Sometimes it felt like a warm breeze; others an electrical current. So, he closed his eyes, and focused on his breath; feeling the flow of Chakra as his diaphragm pushed it through his extremities; feeling his mind and body connect little by little.
With practice, he was able to flex his fingers and toes, and move his arms and legs with more precision.
A week later
Akarui rounded the corner. She was well enough, finally, to do some lighthouse work. But, her thoughts proved heavy. Since her son was born, he had been... Odd. He always had an intense, almost pensive look on his face. He never cried. Ever. Instead seeming to yell when she, and her husband were far from him. When either were close; he'd wave them down then gesture for what he needed. He also didn't seem to like being breastfed
Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to check on him.
"Eh?" She blinked once, then twice. Even after the third time, it was still happening. She stepped away quietly, any disturbance could ruin this. She found her husband in the smithy, hammering away at another order for Ninja Tools. "Darling! Come look! Hageshi is doing something unusual again!"
"Huh? Again?" He didn't bother looking at her this time. "Is it because he doesn't wanna be breast fed again?" He caught one of his apprentices giving him a look "Mind yer business!"
"No! Just... Just come upstairs, okay?!"
Urasai motioned for another apprentice to take over has he followed his wife. It seemed ever since Hageshi came out, she'd been worrying over him nonstop. He seemed to lose more sleep because of her, than the baby. Finally, they arrived, and peeked into the room together.
And there little Hageshi sat in his crib, fast asleep.
"You brought me up-!"
Akarui shushed him. "Not so loud! Look closely!"
And so Urasai did. Hageshi, who was barely a month old was sitting in his crib, in a perfect Zazen pose.
"Well, would you look at that!" He beamed. "He's like a little Ninsō!"
"But, how does Hageshi know to do that?!" Akarui wondered. "This... This isn't normal!"
They keep calling me that... Wait. Is that my name? Of course it's my name! Well, at least it's not something weird like "J"
"Eh, it's probably just a coincidence." Urasai dismissed. "Anyway, I'll leave him to his "meditation"..."
It was extremely surreal, experiencing things after… death? a coma? If asked to describe it, Hyuna would not know where to start, akin to an out-of-body experience but different, more real. Even more dreamlike was meeting with ’Kami’, yeah, a God, literally calling themselves that as their name, and talking about a world with ninjas and shit. Must have read too many historical novels.
There was no harm in nodding along with whatever this Deity (?) was saying,was she even nodding? It sure felt like it but without a body there’s no way to nod your head, still Kami seemingly understands the intention. This is one weird ass dream.
It was, in fact, not a dream.
Consciously experiencing your own birth is… definitely an interesting event following the previous… but much more horrific than anything else. The one saving grace is that a newborn’s body does not have fully developed senses, but partial awareness doesn’t truly detract from it. At least once it’s done, it’s done.
Well, that’s what you get for not reading the contract, or in this case not asking the otherworldly Japanese Goddess when you’re in spirit form… Yeah, I was not expecting this.
A week in and a few things were already clear to Hyuna, or Yumiya now, because firstly that’s her new name, didn’t take long to figure out, just the first day of being reborn and she heard ‘Yumiya’ at least a dozen times. It’s not a terrible name and the abbreviation Yumi is cute, well it just means bow for them but it’s fine.
Ah yes, secondly her new family spoke japanese and only japanese, but in some weird awful dialect or something, the temptation to ask them to speak normal japanese is great but all this newborn body could muster is “Ababa” and “Guu”, so weird larp language will have to do for now, at least it’s mostly understandable.
And lastly Yumiya has a brother, no one can say if she’ll get smaller siblings later but for now it’s just a big brother to deal with.
One or two months in, it’s hard to keep track of time, now I understand why Kami talked about ninjas and shit, took a crawl around the house and there’s all kinds of swords and shuriken all over. Other news, at this point I’ve got used to this new name, also it's hard to move properly, am I meant to sleep and do nothing for a year?
About six, seven, maybe eight months, doesn’t matter, finally managed to walk even just two steps, I will surely improve soon and everyone is surprised at how early I learned. Anyway, nothing beats being able to walk after over half a year of just walking on all fours.
He knew everyone died eventually, but he'd never given much thought about what came after and he certainly couldn't say he believed in any god or afterlife. Meeting "Kami" gave him something of a new perspective on things. He couldn't decide yet whether it was good or bad.
When she offered to send him to another world with his memory intact, he saw no reason to refuse. His agreement was unspoken, though he supposed a god didn't have to care for such things. Faintly, he wondered if there was a specific reason he was chosen over the doubtlessly immense number of souls who could have been in his place, but ultimately it didn't matter.
Being told that he was to be reincarnated into the world of Naruto of all places was.... well, he couldn't quite find a word to describe how it felt. That was a common theme throughout his li–well, previous life now, he supposed. He had to get used to that soon, otherwise, the transfer would be even more uncomfortable.
Though unintentional on his part, his knowledge of the setting was rather vast. Maybe it was fate that he'd been roped into watching it all those years ago.
Maybe. Some say life begins in the womb, and for the one formerly known as Samuel Wū, that had been his truth for as long as he could remember.
And he remembered a lot.
Having gone through being born once before didn't make it any easier the second time. If anything, it made things somewhat worse. This time, he actually understood what was happening throughout the process, unfortunately enough. There weren't enough words to accurately describe how disgusting it was to be born. Being a baby was filthy.
And it would only get worse.
Opening his eyes was a tedious affair. His eyelids were weak, as with the rest of his body.
He didn't make a sound at first, but eventually, he cried. As he should.
It would be best not to stand out too quickly.
Still wailing softy, he forced his gaze to look into the eyes of the man standing before him, ignoring the exhaustion weighing down his body for the moment.
His father was a severe-looking man, but his eyes....
They.... were.... so.... warm....
Without his permission, he felt his eyelids drooping, and then the world went dark. Before his senses flatlined, he heard a voice say something. A single word that his mind internalised instinctively.
".... Yūto."
When he next awoke, everything was quiet. Since he couldn't move, he didn't have much to do but think, and so he did. The first thing that came to mind was the last thing he had heard before he'd passed out earlier.
.... Yūto? Was that his name?
Okay. That.... that was fine. He wasn't particularly attached to his previous name. But, it was still–
A door creaked.
Yūto paused in his musings. There was someone unfamiliar in his room.
The person approached him and he caught a flash of red before the figure sat next to him. Moments passed and Yūto wondered if she was ever going to say anything, and then she spoke and Yūto was confused. The words were both strikingly familiar and yet, at the same time, utterly alien. It took longer than he would have liked to process the words, even as little as he understood them. But, once he did, he realised what she was saying.
She.... just called him little brother.
The girl didn't stay for very long before leaving. And once again, Yūto was left alone with his thoughts.
And, as always, he hated it. The next few hours of his life were something of a blur. His mother returned from wherever it was she had gone and had almost immediately taken to breastfeeding him. Odd though it may have been, he'd experienced worse. And, all in all, breastmilk wasn't actually that bad. Fortunately, it didn't last very long before his mother had to leave again. Yūto had never before seen a woman who had gone through labour just a few hours ago move so steadily. Though that term was relative, considering the shake in her legs.
He would sigh if he could.
Going back to more important thoughts....
As expected, he had been born in Konohagakure; the Village Hidden in the Leaf. To be more specific, he was in the Uchiha clan's compound. He hadn't actually been to many places outside of his room, but he already had an idea of the layout of the place, which would come in handy, eventually.
But there was something that was even more important than that.... the Sharingan. He had a lot of time to figure out a way to get it without raising suspicion, but the sooner he got it done, the better. That would come later though. A baby had no business worrying about such things, and even less business being capable of it. Not that he was a normal child, by any means.
.... Of course, there was one thing that bothered him.
Ever since he was born, he could feel something weird. Something so spine-tinglingly odd that he couldn't even begin to understand what it could possibly be. But it was everywhere. At first, he couldn't understand it. There was almost a hint of familiarity there, but it was so utterly overshadowed by the sheer abnormality of the sensation, like a phantom limb you could almost move at will.
There wasn't much to do with as weak and lethargic as his body currently was, so he tried to understand it. It took days before he finally reached a point where he could do something other than merely marvel at the sheer enormity of the sensation. It was a gradual thing. First, breathing became easier, and he could even feel that his body was somehow different. Something about him had been irrevocably changed. His first instinct, of course, was that he was sensing chakra, but that felt.... wrong. From what he knew, chakra wasn't this.... all-encompassing. It wasn't until his sister stepped into his room one day that he realised exactly why that was.
Natural energy.
Yūto didn't think that was supposed to be possible, and yet, here he was.
Speaking of his sister....
Her name was Maki Uchiha and from what he'd been able to gather, she was a chuunin, and a rather young one at that. She had just turned twelve not long before he was born. But Maki was, in a word.... odd. She didn't speak often, and when she did it was almost exclusively to him, even though she had no way of knowing he could understand her.
Through Maki, Yūto learnt various things and became more proficient in the world's language, made easier by the fact that it was somewhat similar to Japanese. Maki often told him about her missions, if somewhat censored versions of them, and he listened as intently as he could, hanging on to her every word. He tended to fall asleep in the middle of her stories, but she never seemed to mind much. The last thing he usually saw before he passed out in her arms was her soft smile. It was.... nice.
He hated it.
His parents were a different story altogether. Despite seeing his mother so often throughout the days, she somehow felt like even more of a stranger to Yūto than his sister did. And maybe he was fucked up, but that gave him a sense of familiarity that made his heart just a bit lighter.
His father was a different kind of stranger. Ever since the first night, Yūto hadn't caught so much as a glimpse of the man. Whenever Maki spoke of him, she seemed sad and even more subdued than usual. Yūto didn't know the reason, though he did know why his father was so scarce. Ichito Uchiha was a jounin and a high-ranking member of Konoha's Military Police, which kept him quite busy at the best of times. But with tensions rising in the wake of the Kyuubi's unexpected rampage and the death of the Fourth Hokage, things were more hectic than ever.
And the Uchihas were in the middle of it all, in more ways than one. As time went by, Yūto still didn't see very much of his parents, and ever so slowly, a year had passed.
Not much had changed with the steady passage of time, other than the fact that Yūto was now pretty sure his mother hated his guts. For what reason, he couldn't quite tell, and to be honest, he wasn't entirely sure that it was only hatred that made her so distant, and not.... other things.
Over time, Yūto had developed his ability to intuitively sense natural energy by quite a significant amount, and the results spoke for themselves. His senses had gotten better by leaps and bounds, and he had even learnt how to recognise people by how the energy interacted with them. The moment anyone was within a dozen metres of himself, he could feel them. His sister was the one he could feel most keenly. Natural energy seemed to cling to her, like strands of silk, beautiful but fleeting. The rest of his clan was different, though they shared some similarities. He couldn't quite tell them all apart yet.
His range had started off relatively modest, but now he could sense natural energy up to 400 metres around himself if he focused hard enough. He couldn't keep it up for longer than a few seconds, but that much progress was more than enough for him.
If there was one thing he would call inconvenient, it was the fact that he looked quite "creepy" when he was focused. As if his clan mates needed any more reasons to distance themselves from him. They were doing a fine enough job at it already.
Though they may have believed that they were being discreet, he heard them all the same.
They called him cursed. A 'freak'.
All because he had golden eyes.
Of course, it didn't help that he had, apparently, scared the doctor shitless by surviving his birth, when by all accounts he shouldn't have. Or that he'd also been born mere moments after the Kyubi was sealed.
Yūto often heard their whispers in the halls. The younger Uchihas didn't bother trying to hide their disdain, or their glares and barbed words. The adults were more distant. They never really said anything to insult him, but they never intervened when the younger members did, and sometimes indifference was worse than animosity.
It had gotten somewhat quieter after his sister had caught wind of it and proceeded to "correct" their behaviour. The whispers were less numerous nowadays, but they were still there.
Yūto could hear them crystal clear.
They didn't care for him, not one bit. And that was fine by him.
At eight months old, Yūto Uchiha took his first step, into waiting the arms of his sister.
Tamami had a dreadful fight with her mother, Yoshiko who had wanted money and an ounce of fame from her. She kept with the stance that her producer that started her rock band that her mother, didn’t need anything for how much she pushed her to become an idol. It didn’t help that Tamami wanted to have a family herself, but being an idol took up most of her time. Despite this, she held her friends in the band to the highest regard because the time spent with them was wondrous.
Outcome from the fight between her and her mother, Yoshiko caused her to walk across the road without looking both ways. Tamami got into a terrible accident caused by a Lamborghini, which her producer drives. She was going in and out of conscious because of voices by her pleading to her not to die while, another voice was causing her to fade fast. It was utterly beautiful and like had a serenity voice, with a name such as Kami, Tamami loved the Japanese Goddesses and Gods, with all her heart since she worshiped each and everyone of them.
Tamami muttered words to those voices before she permanently closed her eyes dying on the street next to her parent’s home. “I always regretted being an Idol. But Kentaro-san please don’t be sad for losing me. Please forgive my mother, Yoshiko. Despite our faults, the Ohashi family would be hurting for a much longer time since I am going to meet a Goddess.” Tamami said. Kentaro-san and Yoshiko were shocked by Tamami’s acceptance of dying so easily like that.
Tamami looked directly at Kami as she was now just a soul while looking down at her dead body, which she was sad at leaving her extended family, friends, and everyone that supported her decisions. She was a helpful woman to those children she wanted to help save from their situations by making their parents understand that children need to be children from time to time. Despite this she looked on in awe at Kami.
As Kami spoke more clearly and clearly telepathically to her, which caused her to have a proper tidbit of many regrets of all she wanted to have but couldn’t because of her parent’s desires to make her an idol. Tamami sighed regretfully towards everything that has happened but she had made the most of her beliefs and her desires despite no one would have married her because of how old she was compared to other women. “I want to have a slow and steady life that is much slower than what I had to grow up in.” Tamami said. She felt like she deserved that much for all the good she did as a Social worker to her extended family and other families outside of her sphere. Though some of those other families were pretty hostile to her barging in to their lives but as a social worker that’s what you must do with the knowledge of certain problems in the household.
Tamami hoped that all those she touched where she lived would be better for the good she tried to do. She accepted her death with open arms despite all the regrets she held within her soul. However, Kami, the Goddess was quite neutral in all things, and learned importantly that there is another life and no afterlife, that shocked her to the core. Tamami was taught very young age that there is an afterlife, but being told by a Goddess that there isn’t any and only a next life to live. “W-What I don’t get it…” Tamami said. She didn’t get the concept of another life but some fringe Priestesses of her faith do believe in another life since Buddhism is one of the core principles of Shinto, since Shinto is a hodgepodge of religions in one. But it still primarily focuses on Japanese Traditions and Beliefs.
As the Kami told her that she had an offer for her, which she also mentioned the world that Tamami would be reincarnated to live her new life. Tamami had recalled all those references to the Ninja World of Naruto by her band members and her Producer Kentaro-san. She got some of those references by what Kami had mentioned but her biggest want was the hair color. “I want pink hair, please! I always wanted to dye my hair to pink, but my mother, Yoshiko disallowed me to do so… I was so happy to wear a pink wig though. Please!” Tamami exclaimed. She didn’t quite understand which clan would have that pink hair, but she wanted it so badly that she always wore pink clothes most of the time when she was an idol and wore a beautiful pink jacket for her job as a Social Worker.
Tamami accepted the offer despite her wanting pink hair because it would be dumb not to accept something that was so graciously presented as a second chance to have a life that you weren’t allowed to have in your previous one. She wanted to have that life so badly but she would work her heart out to help her new mother and father to become better than her previous family.
As it was now, her new name would become Kaname Haruno, and living in a village called Konohagakure no Sato.
Arc 1 – Rebirth: Year 1
Kaname had a lot of things to think about while she was within her new mother’s belly, which her mother’s name was Aneya Haruno and her father was very caring to his wife and would be known as Morokao Haruno. Her parents were extremely happy despite the chance to have a newborn to take care of. It was wonderful, but she didn’t quite understand some of the things that were being said by her parents but she wasn’t born yet. Her thoughts were how much she was going to help her parents to help herself.
Kaname’s primary thoughts were towards something she become very much aware of, Chakra. She didn’t even have this semblance of anything in her previous life and it felt a bit foreign for her, but this world has chakra unlike her previous world.
As such, Aneya gave birth to Kaname with no complications and Kaname was a perfectly healthy baby girl. Kaname was taken care of by her mother mostly while her father was away from the house to help out the clan’s affairs. It is most she got out of the information as a baby, and she was so cute as a button. Her mother would carry her around throughout their house and showed her many things as a baby, and Kaname was giggling cutely as a baby.
It took a few months at most to start crawling around, but she only said gibberish to her mother and father when they were both home. Her mother even had a visitor over, which was no other than another pink haired woman with a similar clan symbol as her mother’s. Aneya picked up her daughter up and delightfully showed it to her friend, and for once the other woman smiled. The other woman’s name was Mebuki Haruno, but the conversation they had was peaceful and quite reassuring but in private despite their position on a thing that confused Kaname. She didn’t quite understand or wonder what this Council was but Mebuki and her mother were on it.
Mebuki and her mother Aneya chatted for a few minutes, and it was a mutual benefit type of meeting but Kaname was getting tired and was fussing slightly by meaning she wanted to sleep. Aneya gave her friend reassurances that the business side of things will stay separate from their friendship since they were rivals after all in their respective careers. Since they are both merchants and worked their asses off to have comfortable lives.
Kaname’s growth was getting better and during her seventh month as a baby. She walked for the first time in front of both of her parents, but her mother was more around her for all that time since Aneya loved her daughter. “Mommy.” Kaname said. She said her first word in front of both of her parents.
Aneya picked up her daughter, held her in her arms, and cutely kissed her forehead. “Aww, Kaname-chan. Did you hear that husband? Our daughter said mommy.” Aneya said. She was so delighted to have a daughter to say her first words. It’ll probably take a few more timeframe before Kaname says more than just a single word but it’s a start, she was lucky enough to say her mommy too for her mother. However, her mother was always within her life but Kaname will never meet her grandmother.
Morokao was happy for his wife that there was a reason why they gave their daughter Kaname, because it was to honor Aneya’s mother for being there for them when they needed it. Bailing them out of debt and giving her all for Aneya’s life so she could at least be part of the Haruno clan’s politics, including what the Civilians within the Leaf Village needed most, representation. “Hopefully, our daughter will grow up into a beautiful woman like your mother had. Bless your mother’s heart, she’ll be surely missed. But Kaname-chan please be someone that hopefully helps others as much as the woman you are named after.” Morokao said. He misses Aneya’s mother Kaname-sama. Aneya’s mother used the alias of Keiko Haruno usually though, her true name is Kaname Haruno otherwise. However, their daughter would have to grow up to become someone as respected as the previous Kaname.
Aneya looked toward her husband and slightly cried but gently held her daughter and always knew her mother didn’t have that much time left. Her mother always was so much in pain because of a particular attempt on her mother’s life. “Yes, please Kaname-chan be everything that my mother can’t be anymore. But please take your sweet time growing up so you can grow into that person, instead of rushing your life. However, you can be whoever you want if you don’t want to be like my mother precisely.” Aneya said. She was deeply conflicted with no one believing her that her Okaa-san was murdered. It didn’t help she didn’t quite understand what was wrong with her mother.
Morokao knew that his wife was so worried about her mother’s circumstances but before his mother-in-law perished she told him that she was dying a natural death by a thing that formed in her body and not by others. He takes a deep breath and looks at his wife. “Aneya, my wife I need to tell you something. Your mother didn’t die by being killed by outside forces that hate our clan for creating that pain point for Konohagakure. She died of a specific thing that she had within herself that didn’t need to be said, it was probably cancer or she was sickly from not taking care of herself. After helping you so much with your life that you needed help badly.” Morokao said.
Kaname was listening to her parents chat about everything and she instantly felt sad by not being able to meet this Grandmother who perished before she was born. ‘I’ll do my best mommy…’ Kaname thought to herself.
Aneya looked at her husband and was shocked to hear what he had said, but she misconstrued the warning signs of what was wrong with her mother. It means, it was just her mother’s time to go and that she was working herself to death by trying to give her daughter all the support she needed. “I-I should probably try to apologize to those I accused for my mother’s death. But it’ll probably take a while for them properly to hear my apology. I was angry at what I assumed. Is that why you were always there to get me out of trouble?” Aneya asked.
Morokao nodded despite everything his wife is precious to him especially since they have a daughter who needs to be protected from all the wrongs that don’t make a right. He used their wealth to negate all the negative pressure from the other clans by trying to make a wrong a right, or at least appease them by not wanting to punish his wife for her assumptions. However, Mebuki took Aneya’s mother's death more severely since Mebuki’s mother was close to Aneya’s. It’s probably why it took them so long to mend their relationship. Despite this, Mebuki is the head of the Civilian Council.
I will make it to the Olympics even if I don't! Taemin surged with fervor with the sport equivalent to Kendo & that's none other than Fencing, emulating the movement pattern of his sparring partner with great precision of footwork & hand-to-eye for upkeeping rhythmic momentum of strikes.
Near to his dismay, Taemin almost lost footwork & nearly tripped on the matted ground then regained balance & proceeded to close the gap with dramatic leaps in tandem with jabbing hit-points.
Had he not thrown his saber, victory could have been his, Taemin was reprimanded by his Fencing Coach.
"This is not Kendo, Mr. Kim & your moves while befitting Fencing, you're currently unbecoming as a Fencer due to your unwillingness to play by the rules, you have heart but heed my advice, the World Anti -Doping Agency forbids energy drinks, ask yourself: are you winning by your own merit or does the drink, make the man?"
Taemin's vision started to blur along losing his grip & hold unto his throbbing chest filled with fastly beating heart rate. My heart, I'm fine...with ramifications like this, Big Sis Hyuna can patch me up.
Burgod Burgod was a fastfood restaurant that Taemin loved. He enjoyed the fact that customers of Burgod were given robes akin to Jewish & a golden toy crown.
"I'd like to have the usual, weak mortals! Give this God an MC Whooping Wendy meal, extra large curly onion fries 10 PC nuggets & 1 liter of Monsterade! Oh & I want the limited edition of Burgod's Uchiha Jacket, I am cut to precise qualified because I tuned in to your radio station & answered the Road to Ninja specifics."
Taemin consumed the following:
1. Mc Whooping Wendy A burger with American Cheese, pickles, triple triangle patties, Cajun & BBQ sauce, mustard, bacon & lots of love~ 2. 1liter of Monsterade (Limited Edition) - The bottle comes in Uchiha colored edition of red & white, the drink itself is energized with Ginseng & 150 grams of Caffeine, the fluids are white. 3. Curly Onion Fries (Limited Edition), they're shaped like mini Fūma Shurikens.
After a few hours of a hearty meal, Taemin went back to train.
Death Taemin was desperate, his Big Sis Hyuna wasn't answering his calls, this was a case of emergency, he was fuming with fast heartbeat & seizures were surfacing, the training equipment was a mess because he searched for possible medicines to calm him down but there was none.
Taemin Kim died of substance abuse, his mouth foamed.
His last voicemail sent to his sister was:
"Yay! Coach Gordon reconsidered that I'd be on reserve for the Olympics a few months from now, I'll be training real hard! I know I may not sound sincere but I would really need your guidance going forward to stop consuming energy drinks & come on now Sis! Don't work too much, don't smoke too much, Lil bro Junkook & Lil sis Eunyoung havent seen us for a year now, Aunty Esther & Uncle Roger as well, they aren't growing younger you know. Anyhow Why don't we meet later.
Having awakened amidst the presence of an Unknown God, Taemin wasn't all that religious but it felt as though the sequence was painless.
Sure he felt an uncontrolled sadness & expressed to go back to his old life. He had a family to make proud of, he had a Big Sister to make amends with, he had younger siblings who looked up to him, an Uncle & Aunt who supported his goals. What Kami offered, it was a choice that's actually bittersweet.
There was no other choice to go back to the old ways.
Memories broken, the truth is buried in the light & will remain unspoken as there's no one else has the disposition to understand as it's cast aside & there's no coming home.
Taemin Kim, the name will be forgotten, forsaken.
Uchiha Yusuke then rose from Taemin's ashes, awakened.
Like a Phoenix from the dark ashes.
His family's crest was red & white, the Ninja World see them as demons of death with red eyes.
Talk about being a Fanboy who got his wish, a bittersweet one.
His new life was the reverse, he's the firstborn now & no younger siblings but he did have a twin sister.
An NPC? No, this is real. I can't even talk normally Any attempt to talk was futile, it'd only result to baby mumbling language.
Kami talked about Ninjas & being an Uchiha, Yusuke was born into a family that served as the Village's Police Force.
So clearly, his parents were also Police, as his Uchiha knowledge recognized their attire.
Yet even after all that, Yusuke only got bittersweet feelings & bottled up sadness, all he can do was force himself to smile.
In about six to eight months, Yusuke began uttering his somewhat words.
E...Ehwnrgjee Dwink
Funny enough his mother mistook it for milk & breastfeeding.
Yusuke in his mind, sighed & amused with a chuckle of bittersweet joy.
“It's the third time this has happened! You’re fired!” Lyco heard the same thing for the third time in as many days.
Another restaurant that welcomed her with open arms but quickly decided to let her off. She still didn’t understand why the clients didn’t like it, all they did was condemn her “Atrocious” Cooking, but they never said why.
Oh well, she still had a couple of recommended places she could try, hopefully they’d be more amenable to her skills, or at least tell her what’s wrong with her food so that she can improve on it.
As she left, she fumbled with her phone to try and put an appointment to the next restaurant in the list, a certain “Ramen is the Best Pleasure” place, only to notice from the tail of her eye a light closing in on her. Turning fully to look at it, Lyco found herself face to face with a truck, probably the one that restock this restaurant, coming at her.
‘Uh, i wonder where the driver is’ she thought. Unfortunately, she will never get to solve that mystery, as the truck hit her at blinding speeds. Everything goes dark, and she dies.
Darkness. A feeling of drifting but nothing more. This is what Lyco encountered after her untimely death. Time had no meaning, as her consciousness floated contently upon Nothingness.
Until it was pierced by a voice. Kami, she called herself, the Goddess of life and reincarnation. She offered them another chance, in a world in danger, where they were needed.
Lyco accepted, of course. She needed help, and while this whole Nothingness thing was nice, from what she gathered it wasn’t gonna last much more anyway.
However,she couldn’t help but to ask Kami for a wish. She wanted to be able to further her cooking skills, and finally be able to create food that would delight who’d eat it.
For some reason, she felt as if Kami's smile broke from a moment. But soon after Kami said that such a thing was simple enough to accomplish, and assured Lyco that her cooking shall be loved by her new family, though she couldn’t assure the same for everyone else.
And so, Lyco was no more.
Arc 1 - Rebirth: Year 1
(Lyco POV)
Darkness
Warmth
Peace
When Lyco came to once more, she honestly thought that Kami made a mistake and sent her to something like Nirvana. She never felt something akin to this. A feeling of calm,belonging and rightness, all blended together to form something new that words simply couldn't explain properly.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. She didn't know for how long she remained in that rapturing state, but all of a sudden, it left, or more correctly, she got pushed away from it.
No matter how hard she tried, she could do nothing, and as the feeling completely left her, new sensations filled the void. Namely constriction,shortly followed by a blinding light piercing the darkness she got so accustomed to.
A deafening,unintelligible sound attacked her ears. Try as she might, her vision still wasn’t making anything out, and if anything the sound just became even worse.
Soon after, she felt “free”, for a term of the word, though even that was short-lived,as she felt herself moving, feeling constricted once again, even if far more gently this time.
Her eyes finally adjusted enough to make out the shape of gigantic people,one of which was holding her close to her chest, and her ears finally picked up something she understood.
Lyco.
Her name from her previous life and, as it seems she was actually reborn, this one too…
Everyone seemed to be in a hurry for some reason,even whoever was holding her.
Not like she will understand anytime soon, as a wave of exhaustion made her eyelids drop, and sleep took her.
When she woke up again, there was a feeling of wind rushing around her,and whoever was holding her,a male figure this time, seemed to be running.
Moving her head, even as little as she could,to check their surroundings, they seemed to be outside, and it was dark enough to probably be night. One thing kept nagging at her though,and checking around again, she understood. The figures seemed to have dwindled a lot. She wondered where they all went, or why they were outside for that matter. She thought a baby would need a crib or something similar.
It seemed that her checking around was noticed, as the figure holding her said something that she couldn’t understand, and passed her off to someone that seemed familiar. Probably the person that holded her after her birth, what she guessed would her be her mother. That idea seemed to solidify as she tried to feed her. Honestly, she could do without, she still didn’t feel hungry afterall, so maybe they’d get her something else.
Maybe those little pastes that she always sees in the markets?
A week later
(Kurare POV)
A disaster. Even with all the preparations, the planning and time, the desertion was a disaster. And all because the Hunter-nins put a new recruit to check on them, and the fucker decided to be thorough on his first day of the job, the inherent laziness to guard posts not set in yet.
And because of that, a quarter of the clan didn’t make it outside of Kiri, and another quarter didn’t reach the rendezvous point set up with the rebel forces.
And now, after such loss, they are gonna need to spread out all over the network, so as to not place too much heat over any part of it. He understood why, and he was sure his family knew too, but that didn’t stop the grumbling and protest.
Still better than to condemn their children to die as Kiri’s rabid attack dogs.
Talking about childrens, he already feared for his own. Even leaving aside the fact that she’s gonna grow up in a rebel cell of all places, Lyco didn't seem like other kids. We all feared she was a stillborn because of how quiet she was, but her eyes and breath told us otherwise.
He could only hope he and Nasuka could still care for her even without the Clan to support them, though with the difficulties they were already experiencing, the future seems grim on that front. Their little poison flower wasn’t eating as she should,and she has already resorted to stringing her along with little nightshade treats so that she would drink her milk.
‘If any Kami is watching over us, please give us the strength for my Clan to overcome this burden, and for my Daughter to grow up well’
Eight months later
(Nasuka POV)
She for once was seated on the sofa and taking a break, something that was far too rare in between caring for Lyco and being a useful rebel, when it happened. Her husband broke through the door,literally,asking if I had seen Lyco. Apparently he was watching her, but got held up for a couple minutes by someone else, and by the time he was done, Lyco was gone.
Fear gripped me, and as we continued the search, it only worsened. Nobody saw her or knew where she could have gone. Her first thought had gone to a kidnapping. Maybe Kiri found where they were and a ninja took the opportunity.
As the search bore no fruit and a proper hunting party was being formed to understand what happened, a knock on a half-broken door was heard. And lo and behold, her little poison flower was standing there, her face locked in that severe expression she always has, even as caked in dirt as she was and with her hands and mouth full of a plant she knew very well. Afterall, nightshade was her preferred poison.
After checking that everything was indeed fine, and that Lyco didn’t overdose, she once again seated herself on the sofa, a sigh leaving her and with her little poison flower directly beside her. Her daughter was still chewing on a leaf without a care in the world, as if she didn’t give them all a scare just because she wanted a treat.
And now she had to chastise Kurare for not paying attention the one time he should have.
So much for taking a break.
A year later
(Lyco POV)
After the “Incident”, as her parents put it, she was now always watched by one of them,trying to keep her distracted from going for any other “Adventures”. This, along with the greater amount of treats she was getting, made that venture truly worth it.
To be honest, her idea was just to explore around a bit, maybe see if there was something that could take her time, but instead she found a plant that looked quite similar to Belladonna, and she had the same water-mouthering reaction that her mother treats gave her.
Before she could stop herself, she was already chewing on it, and seeing as she wasn’t keeling over death,but instead a reinvigorating feeling washed over her, much like her mother treats, it must have meant it wasn’t poisonous,and so brought it back home after she noticed that she stayed far away for far more time than necessary.
Furthermore, her mother had decided to “focus my energy” in a more productive way. Namely, she now readed books to me daily, the subject seemed to mostly be a curious combination of botany, entomology and chemistry, and while it was fascinating and making learning the language easier, she had to wonder why her mother had decided these topics.
Maybe she was actually a cook at heart too and wanted her to have a leg-up from the start? Some cultures cook and eat insects, and that would explain why the little treats she always gives me are so good!
Life was good. Honestly, the only thing she could complain about was the constant moving. Was Mother a wandering cook? Or maybe Father was a trader? He does have a ton of knick-knacks laying around, and what she thought seemed like weapons. Maybe an Arms dealer?
Oh well, she’ll learn of it eventually as she becomes older. For now, it’s better to concentrate on the now, especially since Mother has noticed her thoughts wandering off and she brought out the treats box! Which kinda looks like lab equipment now that she looks at it…Was Mother preparing them at the moment? Is that the secret to their goodness? I must learn more!
Lyco is born!
The Yūdoku clan loses half its people to kirigakure hunter nins! The grudge deepens
The Yūdoku clan is dispersed in the Rebel network!
Lyco gives everyone a scare by disappearing for a bit! she also ingest deathly quantities of Nightshade and survives only because she was already a glutton for it (Thanks mom!)
Lyco started learning more of the Language and more specifically about The Yūdoku clan specialties!
