one: [open your eyes]
Everything hurt.
My arms, my legs, my stomach, my neck (my neck was snapped, there was bloodbloodbloodbloodblood-), my head.
And then a rush of memories slammed into my mind and I shot upwards with a sharp cry of pain.
(I was born on the fourth of October, forty-one years after the founding of Konoha. My parents are both ninja- my father, Sho Yamanaka, a jonin, and my mother, Chie Yamanaka, a chunin. I have an elder sister, Harue, a chunin.)
(What?)
A whimper escaped my lips.
(I am four years old. I am about to attend the Academy- I begin within the month.)
My eyes cracked open, the world spinning around me.
(I have no friends. Nobody wants to talk to me (not even my own sister). I'd rather remain on the sidelines and watch, anyway.)
It was approximately dawn. There were exactly twenty-two birds in the tree next to my room. The one closest to me had four hundred twenty-six feathers on its body (not enough,) and was recently attacked by a predator. My parents (that's not right, not right-) were out on a mission, had been for a month and would be for another one.
(I am a Yamanaka. I am going to join T&I in the future (if I survive long enough). I am trained to read people like open books- I know what makes you tick, I know what you're thinking, I know what you're going to do next.)
I slipped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. (How?)
(I am nobody. I am everybody.)
(No.)
(I'm not.)
I stood in front of the mirror. (This isn't me.)
I was too small. My face was too childish. My eyes were too wide. My hair was too long. (I am not me.)
(Deep breath. In, out. In, out.)
I opened my eyes and started again.
I was under four feet. My face was round, lined with baby fat, but I knew that I would be rather pretty when I grow up. My eyes were wide and intelligent (too intelligent), and a clear, consistent blue (there are no pupils to speak of). My skin was tanned, but still on the pale side. My hair was blonde, slightly wavy, but also spiky (unnaturally so. Who am I? Where am I?).
In other words, I was not me and I was also freaking out.
I stood there for a very, very long time and stared at my reflection. I looked so very much like a certain fictional character that it was almost frightening. I couldn't be her, though, right? It was a dream. (It's fake.)
Ahahaha, no. I could- I could feel. This was real. (It can't be. It can't.)
I blinked back tears, failing quite horribly as a few droplets slid down my cheeks. I was scared. I was scared.
(I don't want this.)
(This isn't happening.)
(It's not real.)
(Not real, not real, not real-!)
"In. Out. In. Out. Breathe, H-..."
(I can't remember my name.)
(What is my name?)
"Shi-chan?"
I jumped and whirled around, eyes wide and vision blurry with tears. Standing before me was my elder cousin, Inoichi (my cousin. My cousin?). He was dirty, and looking a little worse for wear, but, still, he came over and kneeled on the tatami mats, peering into my eyes. "What's wrong, Shi-chan? What's scaring you?" He murmured.
My brain stuttered to a halt.
(He knows. He knows.)
"I'm s-scared of- scared of-" I began, lips wobbling and nose running, "I'm scared of going to the academy!"
(I'm not. I'm really not.)
"Why is that, Shi-chan?"
(Shi? Is that my name?)
"The- the other kids in the c-clan don't l-like me. What if my new- new clash- class- classmates- don't like me either?" I mumbled.
It was true, I suppose (for the girl whose body I stole.) I don't know what 'Shi' was really like, but the other kids seemed to avoid her. (My memories portray her as strangely intelligent and much too mature. Perhaps that's why.)
Inoichi's eyes were calculating as he stared me down, and I shifted uncomfortably.
"Shion," he began (my name is Shion. Remembrance.), "I'm sure you'll be fine. I have a friend- teammate, now- Shikaku, he's been over a few times- who is very, very smart. Even smarter than you, and he got through the academy just fine! Look, he even has me as his best friend- me, the most amazing and handsome man in the whole of Konoha!"
I giggled slightly. Shion remembered Shikaku- laid-back and much-too-smart. Still, he was kind to her.
"Trust me, you'll be fine. And if any of the other kids make fun of you, you show 'em who's boss, okay!?" Inoichi exclaimed brightly, a grin splitting his face.
I smiled slightly and nodded (calm, H- Shion. Calm.).
"Okay, Inoichi-nii."
Inoichi smiled. "I have to clean up now. You should change- we have to leave in," he paused and glanced out the window at the glaring yellow sun outside, "thirty minutes."
I startled and nodded dumbly as he left me standing there. I smiled at myself, pupil-less (freak, I'm really, truly a freak this time around-) blue eyes crinkling as I did so. "What a weird dream this is. I hope it ends soon." I said aloud before I scurried back to my room.
There were strange clothes in this dream. I had only three kimono tops, four pairs of tights, a strange pair of hideously blue sandals and a few undershirts. I donned a red top with a black undershirt and a pair of gray tights. The shoes were also strange, but I put them on without fanfare (I own no socks, which is strange).
I left the strange, Japanese-style house with Inoichi(-nii) and headed out into the village (Shion loves the village. I don't- it's not real.), down large, bustling streets in which my cousin held my hand so as to not lose track of me, and finally we reached a large building that really gave me Yamanaka vibes. (Please don't ask. I really don't want to explain.)
I gripped Inoichi's hand tighter. He graduated from the academy a while ago- he was, ah, fifteen? Sixteen, maybe- and was currently a jonin. I mean, he was an important and valued ninja and should have been out running missions to serve and protect the village. So, why was he running a flower shop?
Inoichi tugged me into the shop gently, or as gently as possible, and I huffed as I stumbled along after him. The door swang open with a ding! and the smell of flowers (rose, camellia, forget-me-not, lily, are those peonies over there?) invaded my nostrils. I inhaled deeply because, whoa, it smelled really good for some reason. I've never liked flowers- I don't know why I would in a dream.
I paused.
(Maybe it's not a dream?)
(Ahahaha! No, that's silly. Of course it's a dream. What else could it be?)
I continued.
"Inoichi-nii, why are we at the flower shop?" I murmured.
It seemed all this body was capable of at the moment was murmuring. How annoying.
"Well, you see, I won't always be here- I could be out on a mission or something of the like-, and, well, we can't let our loyal customers down! Today, I'll be teaching you the basics of running this shop if it comes to that, starting with the most important thing- Hanakotoba!" My cousin explained.
"Ah," I mumbled, "I see."
"So, let's start- you see that flower right there? Can you name it?" Inoichi pointed towards a rather frilly-looking, pale pink flower to my right.
"It's a peony," I answered immediately, automatically.
"Very good! You see, the peony represents…"
And so, my first day (twenty-four hours, not a day- there's a difference-) in the dream-world passed.
I'm an utter piece of crap. I joined the Naruto SI/OC bandwagon. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I know I should be working on Solace, but I couldn't help myself. I've had this idea in my head for a looooong time.
This story is inspired by Lang Noi's Catch Your Breath and Lore55's Strawberry.
Shion has picked up exactly three volumes of Naruto and watched 300 episodes. She's not a fervent fan, and hardly remembers anything (which is why she hasn't connected the dots yet- Yamanaka, Inoichi, Konoha…).
It may seem that Shion has accepted this 'new life' too easily, but she hasn't. She hasn't accepted it at all. She literally thinks she's in a medically induced coma and hasn't woken up yet- that this is all a dream. In addition, Shion is very adaptable (on the outside) and a good liar (more to herself than to others).
It isn't- she's dead.
(And yet, she knows she's dead. She knows. And she also knows exactly where and when she is. She just hasn't- doesn't want to- come to terms with it yet.)
Also, this character is not me. She's more of an OC than anything.
[Sorry to any Solace followers. I'll try to find inspiration for chapter 4 soon!]
Publication Date: 4/10/19
Word Count: 1303