I know it is an over-used theme; girl ends up in Naruto, becomes an amazing ninja, has a laugh and all the guys fall head over heels for her.
This is not what is going to happen to Olivia.
Olivia (who is not named after my friend/cat/inner-self or me in anyway) is a relatively normal girl, who had something extraordinary happen to her, and she is going to react how I think someone could react. After all - no one person will react identically to another.
So - don't be narrow-minded. Give it a chance - I know it is an over-used plot line – I still like the idea and want to give it a go. Critique me on how I write, as (though I do genuinely try) my writing is not perfect. However – don't flame me on how 'worthless' my story is based on my plot-line choice.
Edit - 3/3/13
I'm hunting inconsistencies, mini plot holes and spelling errors. I also, rather suddenly, realised that in Japan, the school begins in spring... I think. So anyway, I removed the notion of Naruto's birthday being close to the start of school.
Edit - 21/09/13
Combining what were chapters one, two and three into one large chapter one. That's why this chapter has three subtitles which you will find throughout this chapter ^_^
Edit – 2014
Major revamp of all present chapters - completed.
SPOILERS!(*&^%£^* {! :3
Down the Rabbit Hole
Wednesday, 24th September
A normal person was all Olivia had ever considered herself to be. Just a normal, everyday person who, in turn, had expected a normal, everyday life. Up until very recently in fact, a normal, everyday life had been exactly what she'd gotten… until very recently… when her normal, 'everyday' afternoon had become a rather abnormal extraordinary afternoon. As it was, she was sat, head hid in her knees and arms wrapped around her body, scared out her wits.
To turn a long story short, she had been in her room, and then she had been in a different room.
Just like that.
There had been no sounds echoing or lights flashing. There'd been no mysterious portal or figure. She hadn't had a fatal accident, or touched any weird things – she had just been staring out her window – not even thinking about anything odd, only watching a couple of sparrows fly about, had blinked once, and then had blinked several times as the image in front of her suddenly – and by that she means very abruptly – changed. She had gasped, stared at it, and then looked around the room eyes open wide in increasing horror, for the room too had changed – waiting for it to change back to her own room.
When it hadn't, she had taken a deep breath - managing just about to not start screaming or something along those lines, calmly curled up on the floor in a nice safe corner – because her bed was now no longer her bed – and, eyes shut tight, waited for her little hallucination to end.
'It's just a delusion... it's not real, not real! It's not real, don't panic.'
Eventually Olivia peeped out from her spot in the corner.
The room was still there; different colour walls, a wooden floor instead of a carpet and blinds instead of curtains. Three doors, two of which were open revealing a built-in wardrobe and a tiny en suite. The third she assumed led out to a landing or something.
She pinched herself, hard. There was no change in what she saw. A bookcase in the right hand corner, opposite the bed. A desk was beside it, opposite which was a wardrobe. Next to the wardrobe door hung a mirror. Everything looked so real; creases in the bed sheets, a book lying on the desk and a small cactus on the windowsill she hadn't previously noticed. It looked so... real, but Olivia's mind kept rejecting it.
Olivia gulped as she swallowed a collection of panic-induced tears that had formed a painful lump in her throat; she had always cried so easily. 'No... This cannot be real. It can't be! It- .' For a second tears started welling in her eyes, but she held them back; she was seventeen for goodness' sake - she refused to be a crybaby any longer. She took another deep breath, then another and another.
'This cannot be happening; this is impossible. This world isn't real! I've turned barmy, or I'm hallucinating... but I don't feel like I am... but how would I know? How could I tell? Am I hallucinating? Is there a gas leak or something? Am I crazy?' She pinched herself again, but other than her arm stinging lightly, there was no change.
'Oh please, please - let me go home - please!' She prayed, but God seemed to leave her unanswered and she remained in the unknown room. 'This better not be some sort of divine test!'
After what seemed like forever, her situation had still not changed and Olivia was still in her corner – now shaking like a leaf in a gale as her body went into overdrive from shock and fear. Adrenaline flooded her system, her blood rushed in her ears and her heart thumped in her chest - it felt like every muscle in her body was twitching with energy. Not that it mattered; she was too afraid and bewildered to move, her mind yelling a mixture of random theories of what happened, what she should do and how impossible this whole thing was.
She had recognised what she had seen from the window. She'd seen the image before. The image meant that if she really was not dreaming, dead or hallucinating and if she had not been somehow kidnapped by some really dedicated anime – otaku, or something else she actually believed vaguely possible, then she was in an anime.
Naruto. An anime she used to watch over three years ago. That she'd adored. That she'd wanted to be a part of.
If Olivia had been less afraid, she might actually have laughed at how cliché the idea was. It wasn't so funny in real life however.
Whenever Olivia had thought, randomly, on how she would most likely die, she had thought – old age hopefully, perhaps a disease or car-crash – fairly reasonably guesses. However, it seemed like she was going to be found in the Hidden Leaf Village, with no papers or way to explain how she managed to get in the village without the guards noticing, get tortured and then killed. She had definitely never predicted such a random, improbable death.
Admittedly, she was being incredibly negative about things, which was odd considering she'd always thought of herself as an optimist – after all, wasn't Konoha supposed to be the goody-two-shoes nation?
Olivia vaguely wondered, as she – now no longer shaking – sat waiting for the ninjas to find and detain her, how she had gotten here in a situation that nearly every Naruto - otaku had at least considered wishing for.
(Even she had, when she was at the height of her Naruto addiction, considered it and thought about what she would do.)
She had not been reading the manga, or watching the anime. She had not taken part in any creepy rituals, or found any random ninja-items in her garden. In fact, the only reason she knew half the things she knew about the Narutoverse, was because one of her friends - who was called Sarah, was obsessed with the manga - kept her posted on the latest events, and even then, she couldn't remember a lot of it and was sure that much of what her friend told her was made up.
'I mean really? I can't believe they expected me to believe Tobi was Obito. That's just way too obvi-What am I doing? This is not the time to be thinking about that kind of thing! This is serious... though it's... it's kind of funny – I end up in an anime, of all bloody things, and all I want is to go home... though honestly, how else am I supposed to react – of course I want to go home! I love my home, my family and friends; I love my life - why would I want to leave it?'
If there was any way of her returning home, then forget helping Naruto, forget messing around with Sakura, forget annoying Sasuke and forget becoming a ninja. She might have dreamed of it once or twice when she was 13 and struggling to 'fit in', but she wasn't a socially awkward 13-year-old with no friends anymore, she was a 17-year-old with friends who accepted her social ineptness and even liked her more for it. She liked her life - it wasn't perfect, but whose was?
'What should I do? What should I do?!'
She could make a run for it – try to escape; but what was the point - where would she go? Plus - they were ninjas, ridiculously fast assassins who had trained their aim since they were at least 8 years old, possibly from an even younger age for those from ninja-families. Running was useless.
She could pretend not to know Japanese…
'My mum's dad is Japanese, but he married my grandma – who's English, and my mum married my dad – an Englishman. I live in England so I have an English accent when I speak English… granted my Japanese sounds correct in terms of accent, but if I spoke English, it would be easier for them to believe I couldn't speak Japanese if I had a noticeable different accent, right? Then there'd be no use to… torturing me for information – cause they'd think I had no idea what questions they were asking…'
Pretending she didn't understand them might save her – probably not though - knowing her luck, they either would not believe her and check using some technique then kill her for lying, or they would believe her and kill her anyway.
Olivia supposed she may be acting a tad dramatic, but this was one of the 'what else could go wrong moments' after which something even worse happens. She just wanted to be prepared. Until then, she had only one thing she could do...
'Guess I'll just stay in this corner then.'
Meanwhile~
The Sandaime groaned at the three teetering stacks of documents, permits and other Hokage-Approval requiring papers that seemed to grow before his very eyes. Paperwork: a never-ending cycle of reading, signing and stamping.
He was convinced his secretary was evil; it was she who brought him the cursed loads after all. Maybe he should have Morino-san check her out. Just to be safe...
The old man chuckled at the thought of Ibiki's lackeys dragging the woman away. Unfortunately, his laughs, small though they were, were enough to send the towering papers flying. There was a brief paper-avalanche, and then he groaned once more at the sight of his floor, which was now covered in the documents.
He needed his pipe, and maybe one of Jiraiya's books...
'It would seem I am not as young as I used to be.' Thought the Hokage as his back began to ache from the continuous movement to pick the papers up. He stood up, using his desk to aid him, and collapsed into his chair. He sighed out of relief, and then looked at a sheet before him.
His relief vanished.
Another request from the Uchiha's for a meeting. It was the last thing he wanted. They would complain and moan, then flatter themselves, then make a few more complaints and perhaps a few accusations.
The Clan, though a source of great credit to Konoha, had never gotten on amazingly well with the rest of the village, at least as far as he could remember. Their pride and tendency to steal other ninjas (including Leaf-nin) jutsu were the two main reasons. The Kyūbi attack had worsened the situation via Konoha's infamous gossip vine, and had spread distrust and suspicion towards the Uchiha clan. This animosity between the clan and the rest of the village was unfortunately accelerated by the clan's seemingly inbred need to grow more powerful.
The need for power seemed to be growing stronger every day, and whilst he was continuously trying to negotiate peacefully, there did not seem to be any change in attitude. Worse still, the clan had lost faith in Itachi – his main source of information - after Shisui's supposed suicide. The boy had started acting odd – he started missing clan meetings, and when he did attend them, he would argue against the elders.
When the Sandaime had last seen Itachi, the stress of knowing his clan was possibly planning a coup d'état had shown clearly on his otherwise emotionless face. 'A boy so young should not have to shoulder such circumstance. I fear he may pay the largest price of this mess.'
Danzo and his old teammates had also taken a keen interest in the ever deteriorating relations with the Uchiha Clan, Danzo especially so in regards to Itachi. Whilst he considered Danzo a friend and knew he was loyal to Konoha, Danzo also shared the Uchiha's desire for power.
'But Danzo is loyal to Konoha.' Sarutobi only hoped he genuinely believed it, and wasn't just trying to convince himself.
It was the same with his old teammates, the Village elders and Council members, Koharu and Homura. They too aimed for the good of Konoha, but had a much harsher approach to doing so than him. However the differences between Sarutobi's approach and the approaches of Danzo and the elders was usually harmless, maybe occasionally a bit mean or harsh at times, but certainly not evil. Yet with all three taking so much interest in such a delicate case as that of an uneasy and annoyed Uchiha clan, Sarutobi could not help but worry.
The only plus side to their fixation on the Sharingan-using clan was that they seemed to have lost interest in Naruto.
Aah – Naruto. Already 8 years old and in his 5th year at the academy – how time flies. It seemed like only yesterday Naruto had been four and just beginning the academy.
At the end of his previous year, he had tried the first early graduation exam. He had predictably failed. He would have another chance to graduate early at the end of his 6th year, though Sarutobi doubted he would pass that time either. If Naruto had any chance of passing the Graduation exam, it would be at the end of the eighth and final year, when he turned 12.
If Naruto managed to pass at all – he did like the boy and he had potential, but it would take something miraculous for him to pass even the final exam. Especially if he continued to spend all his time, including lesson time, pranking.
His latest prank had been on a couple of Chūnin. When he was eventually caught and brought to him, he had asked the blonde child why he would prank two of the ninja who helped protect the village. Naruto had smiled innocently and said the day before his sensei had told them to practise their trap-making skills. Naruto had also added under his breath that it seemed only fair as those two chūnin often used him for target practise.
The two chūnin were now on a three-year undercover mission in the land of snow. Not that he told Naruto.
He also did not tell Naruto that if he had managed to prank two seasoned chūnin using academy level trap-skills, then either his chūnin were getting lax in their training or Naruto was pretty darn good at making traps.
Even if said traps involved fluorescent pink glue and lime green feathers... and several pounds of glitter. If only Naruto paid such effort to his class work.
The Hokage had now managed to put all the papers into several messy piles. Sitting in his chair, pipe in mouth, he looked at another sheet. It was a document, on a civilian child, Koharuno Kumiko. She was a recently orphaned 10-year-old, currently living with friends of her father. After the funeral, she had retreated to her new room, and had refused to come out or to talk to anyone. The family with whom she was staying, her late-father's friends, were also distantly related to the Koharunos and were getting concerned, as the child had barely eaten anything for several days.
The document requested a mednin be sent to the house to check on Kumiko - as the girl attended the academy, it meant she was eligible for free healthcare and advice. A reasonable request he supposed, and signed the document before putting it to the side. 'One paper down, one hundred more to go...'
Meeting the White Rabbit
After what Olivia would have guessed was an hour and a half of finding herself in an anime, Olivia heard a small knock and a voice come from the unopened door.
"Kumiko-chan? Are you awake? You have some visitors."
It took Olivia a few moments to understand what she had been told, as she only spoke or was spoken to in Japanese when she went to visit her maternal grandparents.
'Kumiko? Who's Kumiko? I'm the only one in here – oh hell, they're going to open the door and find me instead of her!'
Olivia quickly stood up as she looked around startled for somewhere to hide, and then stumbled uneasily as something became clear to her. Not only did she have some serious pins and needles from sitting so crouched up for so long, but she must have been really distracted by the shock of the situation, as now Olivia realised something that she really really should have realised earlier.
She was about two feet shorter.
Yeah - two feet shorter.
'What the...' Olivia glanced in the mirror by the wardrobe door. Shuffling to the left so she could have a better look at her reflection, her jaw went slack. Instead of a medium height teenager nearing adulthood, there was a short girl facing her, who couldn't be any more than 10 or 11. Her clothes - oddly enough - were exactly the same, just smaller.
'Wha... but how... I'm... that's not... this can't. This is not my body! I don't understand... oh... no no no! But what else could it be?' And why are my clothes the same? Are they trans-dimensional clothes? Ugh, no that doesn't matter - just calm down, think - just think as calmly as you can.'
Olivia took a deep breath and concluded that, somehow despite how impossible the idea was, she was now this Kumiko person; after all stranger things had happened – like blinking and suddenly being in an anime.
"Kumiko-chan?" It was the voice again, a woman's voice. The voice sounded… hopeful?
"Kumiko-chan, I'm coming in." In a way, it had sounded – disappointed but not surprised - like she hadn't really expected a response in the first place, which was good because Olivia had momentarily forgotten how to speak, whether that be in English or in Japanese. The door glided open, revealing two women, one wearing a white cheongsam with three red circles and the other a white lab coat over simple clothes. The woman in the dress looked at her cautiously, whilst wearing an overly large, and rather forced looking, smile.
"Hello dear – Akiko-san is here to talk to you about what happened, and to check you're ok, alright? Then," She stepped aside to reveal a small girl previously hidden behind her, "Sakura has made some dango for you."
"Hai." Olivia managed to squeak out, feeling vaguely pleased in a small part of her brain for pronouncing it correctly. For a moment, the lady looked shocked - as if her ability to talk was an astonishing feat' - then smiled even wider and gestured for the other two to enter the room.
Akiko walked into the room, quickly followed by Sakura who sat on the edge of the bed, clutching a plate of dango to her. The other woman smiled again. "Well – I'll be downstairs if you need anything." Olivia watched the door shut then turned to look at her two 'guests'. She was very confused, and more than a little shocked at seeing a very young, very pink Sakura sitting in front of her. Why was Olivia in the house of the Harunos? And why had that lady, presumably Sakura's mother, looked so amazed when she spoke? 'Ehhh - what if Kumiko had been a mute! Ehhh... well I supposed they would have reacted more. What is going on?'
Olivia put her arms around her (now child-like) chest and continued looking expectantly at the woman called Akiko. She in turn looked at her, then pulled a chair from the desk and sat on it, turning it so she faced Olivia, eyes level to her own.
"Erm... yes?"
Akiko blinked and wore a rather confused expression on her face, Olivia wondered why before realising her mistake. 'Dammit – I was distracted - I said that in English!' Olivia coughed awkwardly, before repeating in Japanese.
"Yes?"
"Do you know why I was asked to come, Kumiko-chan?" said Akiko warmly. Olivia shook her head. She had no idea – about anything that was going on. "They're worried about you – you took your parents' death very hard – which is of course understandable."
Her parents were dead? Olivia did not know how she felt about that – she had not known them but still a part of her felt saddened by the news. If it had been her actual parents... just the idea made her want to throw up, but considering the circumstances - it probably was a blessing, even though thinking of it that way just made her feel even more sick.
Akiko, oblivious to Olivia's nausea, had not finished talking, in what was beginning to sound like a rather patronising voice, as if Olivia was a child.
'Which I guess I am...'
"Being upset is natural, but you must remember to look after yourself; Haruno-san has told me you've barely eaten anything since the funeral. It's not healthy – especially for a growing girl like you. She also told me you're in the academy and you're ten, which would put you in the middle of your 7th year, correct?"
Olivia nodded, but had no idea if it was correct or not.
"Well then – you know about chakra; it keeps you alive. You get it from eating food and mixing the physical energy you get from food with spiritual energy from your soul; so when you don't eat enough, you make less chakra, which is very bad." Akiko nodded with each overly pronounced word, and Olivia felt more annoyed each passing second of being treated like a child. Akiko stood up and smiled reassuringly at Olivia. "Now – I'm just going to check your vitals and chakra, it won't hurt at all – don't worry." She smiled again.
Akiko swiftly checked her heart rate using a stethoscope that had been in one of her coats pockets. (Olivia hoped her racing heart was put down to being nervous about talking to a stranger than anything more... elaborate - like reacting to instantaneous trans-dimensional travel.) Then measured her height and weight – the latter requiring a trip to the ensuite to use the scales. 'Why does Kumiko even have an ensuite?' Thought Olivia blandly, before Akiko started talking again.
"Ok – that's all good, now your chakra." Akiko reached towards Olivia's sternum, whilst Olivia herself started worrying, all thoughts of mini bathrooms gone.
'Do I even have chakra? What will they do when they realise I don't have any – will they realise I'm not Kumiko?'
Akiko placed her right hand squarely on Olivia's pre-pubescent chest and smiled – yet again – at Olivia, who gazed in amazement as Akiko's hand glowed.
…
"What the..."
Olivia glanced up upon hearing those words and saw that Akiko's smile had fallen and had been replaced by a very puzzled look. She moved her hand around Olivia's torso, then along her arms and legs, before placing it on Olivia's head, her expression growing more and more befuddled as time went by. Olivia felt very uncomfortable and glanced at Sakura, who had placed the dango to her side and was now reading a book.
Akiko must have seen Olivia's face, as she had schooled her expression into another smile by the time Olivia had stopped looking at Sakura. "Ok, well – that's it. I leave you to talk to your erm... what was it – third cousin? Fourth? Well – goodbye Kumiko-san." She waved and quickly left Olivia with her apparent relative.
'That was weird – she acted so odd. Did she realise I don't have chakra? No... She would have freaked out if I had none. Oh – and what had she said about Sakura? My third cousin? I'm related to Sakura? That's so... honestly WTF is the closest 'word' I'd use... and I mean really? Really - as if ending up in an anime wasn't good enough, I'm also now related to one of the main characters. This is unbelievable - I'm in an anime, I'm seven years younger and I'm related to a main character. This is kinda getting ridiculous. What next? I bet I'm in the academy... oh wait, according to that lady, I am. Great, brilliant, fan-flipping-tastic. Anything else? Why not give me some random, over-the-top, ridiculous bloodline and complete this mess?'
Pulling herself from her mental rant, Olivia turned to Sakura, who had stopped reading and was stood holding the plate of dango again, looking just as awkward as Olivia felt.
Sakura was smaller than Olivia was, well smaller than Kumiko, by about half a foot. She had her pink hair – which looked astonishingly odd in person – short with a long fringe covering her forehead. Olivia guessed she hadn't met Ino yet. She opened her mouth to say something to break the silence, but Sakura beat her to it. "I made these for you. I hope you like them and feel better soon." She said, staring at the dango. She had spoken so quickly and so quietly, Olivia had struggled to understand her, but she eventually got the meaning and nodded.
"Thank you, err – Sakura-san." Olivia uneasily put a smile upon her lips, and tried to appear grateful – she was feeling many things – like shock, fear and nausea – but hunger was not one of them. Sakura looked intently at her strange relative for a moment, and then giggled.
"You're so silly cousin." Olivia blinked at the sudden change from shy-Sakura, and at the use of the unfamiliar word itoko (cousin) despite Olivia having cousins herself.
"Huh?" was her response.
"Why did you call me Sakura-san?"
"Oh – I uh, ok – Sakura... –chan?" Olivia really hated suffixes; or rather, she hated the way she always picked the wrong one.
"That's better. Wow, you're so different from how you were when I saw you last summer. Like a different person – but I guess it's to be expected given what happened..." Sakura blushed and looked back at her plate, shy-Sakura back in full-force.
"It's fine." – Because it was, she was different. She was Olivia, not Kumiko - though she was never going to tell anyone that particular piece of information.
Sakura gave a smile, and then offered her a stick of dango. Olivia politely accepted it. "So Sakura-chan, what do you want to talk about?"
Sakura talked about the academy mostly, and mentioned the bullies before quickly changing the subject but Olivia didn't press it – Ino would sort things out eventually. She also gradually became more confident and animated with her speech, switching from topic to topic nearly faster than Olivia could keep up with.
"Ooh - I remember your tenth birthday party last November - we had a rack of ribs each! Remember?"
"Um, yeah sure. That was... awesome." Olivia was many things, an actress however, Olivia was not.
"Well - your birthday is only a couple of months away... that's something to look forward to..." Sakura sighed at the lameness of her attempts at starting a conversation with her cousin, instead of being the only one talking. She tried again anyway. "Did I tell you - my parents didn't let me take the early graduation exam at the end of my fourth year, even though I said that you took it a couple of years ago when you were my age. You nearly passed it too. That was amazing."
Sakura inwardly hit herself - that was even lamer! Then she remembered something... Sakura looked down for a second, looking fairly nervous. 'What's wrong with her?'
"Y'know... I, I felt... I used to feel rather - well - jealous... that you got to travel... with, with your parents... around the world, trading exotic spices in Suna and... Well, I'm-sorry-for-being-jealous!"
'That was why she was nervous?' Olivia got the feeling Sakura had wanted to say that for a long time.
"Don't worry about it - It's all in the past."
A moment of silence passed over them, Olivia did not particularly mind the silence, but Sakura felt determined to fill it up with talking.
"Um... It was a shame you didn't take the year 6 early exam - you know you would have passed it. Now you have to wait until the end of the year after this one to become a ninja..."
"Yeah - it's... it's a shame..." Oh yes - Olivia definitely regretted not taking acting lessons as a child.
"I mean it! You were so close to passing last time. You got nearly full marks on the theory. Besides it's not like you failed anything - I remember Kaa-san and Tou-san talking about it. They said you had done really well at everything. Well... apart from the clone jutsu... but they said you just needed to make two instead of one - which will get easier as your chakra reserves grow! Tou-san even said they should have passed you anyway!"
Despite knowing Sakura was talking about Kumiko, not Olivia, she still blushed from the sudden praise. "Err thank you Sakura-chan."
For all Sakura's enthusiasm, Olivia found it a very difficult conversation - hearing all this information and praying that she would remember it. It didn't help that Sakura started speaking very quickly at times; making it very hard to understand what she was saying and even harder to respond. As well as how she changed subjects constantly, like she didn't talk to people her age a lot.
'This, of course, will change once Ino becomes her friends.'
"Well, I'll take this plate to the kitchen. You want to come?" Sakura walked to the door, holding the now empty plate. Sakura made good dango, Olivia decided.
"No, thank you, but I would like to be alone for a while now, please." Sakura nodded and went. Olivia sat on the bed, deep in thought. Kumiko attended the academy. She was reasonably good, especially in regards to the knowledge section. That was going to make things tricky.
'I don't want to be a ninja, and they'll know something's up if I, well if Kumiko suddenly doesn't have any skills or knowledge at all. I could tell them I've changed my mind or something – they hopefully will assume it's due to my parents' death and I'll be able to avoid ninja-training. Yeah – that's what I'll do, and if they don't believe me... well I'll think of something.' Absent-mindedly nodding, Olivia closed her eyes and tried to calm her turbulent mind.
'Why has this happened?' She thought, before bursting into quiet sobs. 'Ugh, I'm such a crybaby... I haven't even been gone that long, and I'm already acting like this...'
Queen of Hearts
"I've never seen anything like it… I sensed that the girl had low chakra levels as soon as I entered the room, but when I started scanning…" Akiko paused again and shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts. Though she had tried not to let it show at the Haruno House, the experience had left her quite shaken. The girl should be in a coma, if not dead!
"She had the tiniest amount of chakra – barely even present; as if the only chakra she had in her body came not from her, but from only the surrounding environment – like breathing in the chakra-dense air of the village."
The Sandaime's eyebrows rose. He had expected a simple report, not this revelation. "How would you explain this… odd occurrence Akiko-san?"
The medic frowned, and then replied uneasily, not quite believing what she said.
"I suppose a genetic defect could have caused it, or something along those lines. The Koharunos, and indeed the Harunos, are civilian families, and have naturally low chakra reserves in the first place. Put that with the stress of the past few weeks, her lack of appetite and a possible genetic defect and I suppose her minimal amount of chakra could be explained."
Sarutobi looked at the woman before him. It was obvious she did not know what to believe – including that which she was saying – but what alternative explanation was there? No-one was born with no chakra, damaged chakra systems occasionally, but never no chakra.
The only rational explanation was that she had been born with a tiny amount of chakra, which had been overlooked by most likely civilian-midwives. She had managed to adapt to having barely any chakra, but recent events had taken its toll on her reserves, but as the child was used to having low levels of chakra, there had been no outward signs.
He concluded that was the only reasonable explanation.
Olivia was sat on her bed, deep in thought - now much calmer after finishing crying. She was, somehow, a Leaf villager. She was an orphan, and related to the Harunos. She attended the academy, but planned on getting out of it. She had no idea on how to return home. She was also seven years younger - aged now a fantastic solitary decade.
'Brilliant…' She sighed, 'Koharuno Kumiko… Kumiko…. That's gonna take some getting used to.'
She tentatively walked to the mirror, her abrupt height change still causing her some difficultly, especially as she was now so aware of it.
'Well duh – I'm two feet shorter!'
In some ways, she looked very similar to how she had when she was younger. Same shape eyes, nose, jaw and general build - skinny with an 'adorable' chubby cheeked face, but there were differences. Olivia had dark grey-blue eyes – a gift from her Caucasian father – that looked striking against her dark hair and faintly tanned skin. Kumiko had dark mossy green eyes that complimented her comparatively light brown hair and light olive skin. Similar but different.
Olivia thought, slightly annoyed, she now looked like a duller version of Sakura.
Gurgle Gurgle
For a split-second, Olivia felt a twinge of fear in her heart at the sudden sound in what had previously been a very silent room. She then felt incredibly foolish and silly, as she realised it had been her stomach. The dango had apparently awoken her appetite. Olivia glanced at the door that led out to the landing. She stepped towards it, and then took two steps back before again taking a step forward.
'Stop acting like such a coward! You're in a civilian house. You're hungry. There is no reason for you not to go downstairs right now and ask for some food. You – thankfully – did not end up in Oliver Twist. They'll give you food if you ask for some – Kumiko hasn't eaten properly for days; they'll be happy to feed you.'
Olivia slowly took a step towards the door, but the sudden creak of the wood beneath her tiny foot erased the previous confidence the 'pep-talk' had given her. She gulped.
'Go on…' She took a deep breath, held it, slid open the door and half-walked half-ran out on to the landing, turned widely to find the stairs, ran down them way too quickly which resulted in her falling down them, arms floundering about uselessly, breath leaving her lungs in a squeal. Dazed, Olivia watched from her spot on the floor as Sakura and her mother ran in from, what looked like from Olivia's worms' eye view, the kitchen.
"Kumiko? Are you alright? What happened?"
"Err… I am… good. I urm, fell down the ladder – I mean stairs!" Olivia spoke at first very slowly and quietly – still unused to speaking the language of her mother's father – before blurting out her correction very loudly. Sakura's mother looked a little taken aback, whereas Sakura herself giggled. Olivia blushed faintly, before blushing a much darker colour when her stomach let out another loud gurgle.
Both Sakura and her mother giggled this time. Carefully, as if the girl in question was made of glass, Mebuki lifted Olivia back on to her feet. "Let's get you something to eat, ok?" She lightly stroked Olivia's forehead, moving a few strand of hair out the way. As Olivia nodded to the idea of food, the lady noticed a bruise forming on her forehead.
"Oh – you poor dear! You hurt your head. Let me kiss it better." Needless to say, Olivia felt incredibly uncomfortable as she was kissed on the forehead by a nearly complete stranger.
"Urm thank you but I am fine. Very fine." She inwardly cringed at the poor grammar – her grandad would be horrified (even more so at being called Grandad instead of Ojiichan) – before continuing. "It doesn't even hurt Haruno-san."
Mebuki smiled at this, a real smile without any strain or worry. "Obasan, Kumiko-chan, call me Obasan. We are family – even more so now." Her last comment made her mouth tighten, still wary of even implying what happened with her parents, especially now that Kumiko seemed to have regained some life.
'Oh... Ok – Obasan it is.'
"Ok Obasan."
"Sakura, do you have all your stuff ready for the academy tomorrow – did you finish your homework?" asked Mebuki in a no-nonsense tone as Sakura and Olivia ate their freshly made snack.
"Yeah – it was easy; I had to write a paragraph on hand signs." Mebuki nodded, and then turned to Kumiko, yet again smiling a little too forcefully.
"Kumiko-chan – do you think you could manage to go to the academy tomorrow, even just to try? It might be a good distraction. Sitting in your room all day cannot be good for you." Not that the medic had offered her any advice on the matter – she had left with barely a word.
'Ah – my chance. Ok, you can do this. You may suck at acting, you may suck at lying, but you can do this... somehow.' Olivia shuffled her feet and looked at them.
"I don't want to be a ninja anymore."
"Huh?" Sakura stared at her cousin confused – had not they just spent all the time upstairs talking about how good Kumiko was at the academy? Even Mebuki looked surprised.
"Why not?"
'Um... ok, ok – why, why... I probably should have thought this through... err quickly – avoidance, dodging, fear... afraid – yeah!'
Olivia gazed up at Mebuki, eyes wide and glistening. "I am afraid! I, I – I do not want to go. Please don't make me leave."
'Damn – I meant go, not leave. Oh well, it shouldn't make that much difference.'
Mebuki looked down at the tearful face of her distant niece. "Awh – there is no need to be afraid; that's why you go to the academy; so you become big and strong, and don't have to be afraid anymore."
'Frick, I spoke too soon – now she thinks I'm afraid of leaving the house or something along those lines. Dammit.' Olivia thought angrily, though she managed not to let the anger show on her face. Meanwhile, Mebuki kneeled in front of her.
"Where is the girl who said she was not afraid of anything? Where is that brave, brave future ninja of the leaf? Hm?"
'Probably back... in... my world... HOLY SHIIIIIIII – I completely, I didn't, it didn't... what if Kumiko of this world is in my world... in my body... not knowing English at all... oh no – this could – ack! She's waiting for a response.'
"Um... here?"
"Good girl and where is the girl who swore she would become that brave ninja, no matter what?"
"Here..."
"And who is going to the academy with Sakura tomorrow?"
'Hey! That's not fair!'
Pouting, Olivia gave in, "Me."
"Well done." Patting Olivia's head, Mebuki stood up and smiled a little too smugly for Olivia's liking.
'Well that failed... Frickin' heck."
After a few moments of awkward silence, Olivia excused herself and returned to her room, which took a few minutes more than expected, as she could not remember which door led to her room. Once the door was shut, Olivia flew to the bookcase. Grabbing anything that looked vaguely ninja-related or was a scroll and dumping them on her bed, she soon did the same with the desk.
She looked at her western style bed, now covered with scrolls and books. There were a lot of them. It was 5pm and she had until 8am to cram as much ninja-related knowledge as possible into her head. 15 hours never sounded so small an amount of time.
'Ok - what do we have here?' She picked up the first book she saw, glanced over the title and realised something; it was in Japanese.
Proper Japanese - as in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. Not Romaji.
She had learnt how to read and write the different forms of the Japanese written language throughout her life. She could read and write in romaji as easily as she could English (as she read plenty of romaji-written stories, and used it whenever she wrote to her cousins), and was pretty decent with katakana as well, as it was mainly used for foreign words. It was the other two forms she found tricky, though admittedly - and thankfully - she could read hiragana better than kanji, but she possessed no talent for either; she just didn't use the skills enough.
It wasn't all bad news - she could read it, and Olivia could see a Hiragana-Kanji dictionary poking out from under the desk - she wondered if it had been dropped when they had moved Kumiko to here. From what she could see - the cleanness, tidiness and other things - the room didn't look overly lived in; a guest room Olivia supposed, which would also explain the ensuite.
Olivia slowly went and got the dictionary - constantly expecting to hit her head - and noted it seemed well used. Unlike her own massive English-Romaji-Hirigana-Kanji dictionary back home - which was really only used once a year when she went to visit her mother's side of the family, and when one of her cousins - specifically Shunsuke - decided to write in Kanji. Though that was probably due to Olivia pointing out the uke in his name...
She looked at the clock. 5:02. 'Dammit. I need to get to work'
She looked back at the book. 'Ok! What do I have here? That's erm - Basic... and that's ah! Yes - Ninja. Ok, good and that says... History. Basic ninja history. Ha! That was easy.'
She looked back at the clock. 5:05.
She twitched. Three minutes to read three words? It had not felt like three minutes - hadn't felt like even one.
'Damn - I don't think I'm going to bed early tonight.'
Yay -chapter published :) Hope you liked it! Please review - even if it's just a line.
