New story, Let me know what you think :)

Shots fired and rang like angry metal bees buzzing against the walls of their prison. Death whizzed by his ears ten times before he was hit in the shoulder, and by then he was exhausted. The fight to live and survive had left him; he just wanted it to end. All the destruction was futile, what was the point anymore?

'Ugh,' his shoulder hurt. The impact of the bullet had thrown him to the ground; he thinks that this is probably his end. The bullet missed any vital organs; it feels like it clipped his shoulder blade, but there was no exit wound. 'Hollow point,' he thought, 'mean to maximize damage and blood loss.' He was going to bleed out on this battlefield, as more bullets rained down around him and peppered the ground with holes and blood.

He thought for a moment that the world would hardly miss him. He was not a good person. He wasn't necessarily a bad person either, but he had done things that normal people would cringe at and his death would come at no great loss to the world. After all, everyone that he loved was already dead.

Jack closed his eyes, death was inevitable. His relief at thought was profound, 'finally,' he thought. 'It was over', the pain in his shoulder would soon fade to a dull throb, then he would slowly slip out of consciousness, and then he would never wake up. Hopefully he could spend the rest of his eternity in a dark abyss of nothingness where pain and sorrow didn't exist.

An explosion just to the left of Jack blew him 10 meters away; his eyes snapped open as he was thrown against a tree. There was a sickening crack as his neck was thrown back and broken, Jack fell like a rag doll to the ground and then, finally, he was dead.

~~~A Sickening Crack~~~

Distantly, jack was aware that he wasn't dead; which was strange because he distinctly remembered the copious amount of blood that would have killed him if his broken neck had not. One thing he was sure of though was that he wasn't where he last was. Somebody had either moved his bloodied and broken body, or he was in some form of purgatory. He hoped it was the latter; he had no desire to still be alive.

The uncomfortably wet warmth that surrounded him gave him no clue to his surroundings, except that he really didn't like the limited space. It was just as well that he only now realized that he couldn't move, and his limbs seemed frozen. 'What is going on? Why is it so dark? Are my eyes open?' his thoughts seemed to get frantic for only a second before he reigned himself in. He was better than that, he wasn't about to let some confusion and panic hinder him, it never had before and the strangeness of the situation would not change that. He was stronger than that.

'Take stock of yourself Jack.' The familiar order calmed him even more. He automatically started the well know procedure, 'but, wait. That's not right, something is wrong.'

Now Jack started to panic. He couldn't even feel his body, he couldn't see anything, he couldn't smell anything, he couldn't hear anything and there was nothing but a sense of weightlessness about him. 'Wait, that's not right, there is a sound,' a steady comforting beat that Jack knew well. 'A heartbeat,' Jack was filled with the familiar sound; it took over all of his senses and overwhelmed him. Where before the sound had been an unnoticeable backdrop, now it suffocated Jack and made the steady thump of blood flowing through a body all he could think about. Jack knew this sound; he had snuffed this sound out of more than a few lives. He had stopped the heartbeat of many people; he had become immune to it. It signified nothing but life, and the loss of it.

'Is this my heartbeat?' if it was, then that meant that he was alive. The fact scared him; he did not want to live, especially in a place as unpleasant as this. Very little scared Jack, but at the moment he was terrified and all he could do was live in the terror, and then he got a hold of himself. 'I will wait, this can't be permanent.' He calmed himself down once again, these emotions were draining him, he was tired, exhausted. He needed to sleep; Jack actually couldn't remember the last time he had slept.

'I will sleep, and when I wake, I will figure this out.' Jack set out to follow his course of action, his purpose filling him with a sense of calm once again, he drifted out of consciousness once again, and this time, he wouldn't wake up for a while.

~~~~That's not Right, Something is Wrong. ~~~~

Jack started to figure out what had happened the moment he was wrenched out of the unpleasant dark, warm, wet place and exposed to the even more unpleasant cold, bright, loud place. The sound of screaming permeated the air and he knew that it wasn't coming from him. He jerked around his limbs, reveling in the freedom of movement. Jack tried to wiggle his toes, or his fingers, but all he could manage was uncontrolled flailing. Suddenly the world flipped itself on him and a sharp stinging pain made itself known to him, then it was him who was screaming as well. There was a flurry of sounds and movement that made Jack want to throw up, but he was pretty sure that he wouldn't have even be able to do that.

'What the fuck is going on?!' Jack hardly ever cursed, but that was the only coherent thought he was capable of forming at the moment.

He was wiped down and swaddled into a blanket before something was shoved up his nose, the suddenness of the invasion shocked him out of his stupor and he started to scream again. Why did he keep screaming? He never screamed or cried, what was happening?

He was picked up and the feeling of being held scared him, 'please, please, don't drop me.' The feeling passed as he was set down once again, this time into someone's arms. The warm embrace enveloped him and he started to calm down. The voices above him were still talking, the loudness filled Jack's ears.

Jack realized very quickly what had happened, somehow, someway, he was in a newborn infant's body. He had just been born and the unpleasant place from before was a woman's uterus. He was now most likely in his new mother's arms.

'What the fuck.'

~~~~Please, Please, Don't drop me. ~~~~

The first few days after Jack was brought home were confusing and enlightening all at the same time. Jack was asleep or hungry for a good majority of the time, and when he was awake he was either eating or trying to make sense of his jumbled thoughts. It seemed like the clarity he had experienced while inside his new mother's womb had abandoned him. His mind was a mess of emotions and his body had a mind of its own.

The hit-man knew that if he were able to think clearly, then his helplessness would infuriate him, but, as it was, it was the least of his problems.

He was in an infant's body.

An Infant.

Jack was either experiencing an extremely vivid and horrifying nightmare, or, by some cruel twist of fate, he had been reincarnated. The idea was ridiculous, but it had merit. He supposed his theory held some measure of validity, considering the circumstances, but Jack simply didn't want to believe it.

He didn't want to still be alive.

Hadn't he already lived a short and miserable life? This life was unlikely to be much different, considering his luck. Why was he still alive? Why him? Maybe this actually happened to everyone when they died; they were put into new bodies. Maybe some remembered their lives before, maybe some didn't; this could be happening to everybody. Or he could have just slipped through the cracks, maybe the universal powerthat took away a person's memories before they were put into new bodies made a mistake, and he slipped through unnoticed.

Jack couldn't even begin to guess at which one of his many theories were true. He had never put much tock into religion, or the afterlife; Jack had always been much more focused on the present. The constant thrum of eat, sleep, hit, protect, money that had governed his entire life beforehand was gone. In its place was a constant state of confusion.

Needless to say, Jack's first few weeks of life were unpleasant. The confusion, accompanied by the fact that he now was constantly relying on another for his wellbeing, left him discontent. He had accepted the necessity of it though; he couldn't take care of himself. The thought left him disgusted; he had always taken care of himself.

After the first month however, Jack started to settle.

~~~~The Idea was Ridiculous~~~~

Jack's new mother was different than anything he had ever experienced before. She was sweet, kind, and she only ever spoke in a soft voice towards him. Considering that Jack had never known a Mother's love, this was something entirely new. He couldn't lie, as far as mothers went, he could have had much worse.

Although, one thing he could have done without was the language barrier. Jack had spoken several languages in his past life, but not Japanese; the only language his new mother spoke. He supposed that he would learn eventually what she was saying when she spoke to him, but for now he was clueless.

The other thing that was strange were the odd markings that covered her cheeks, they looked like purple rectangles emerging from either side of her jawbones and continuing upward until they stopped just underneath her eyes. It was weird to say the least, but Jack was inclined to believe that they were just tattoos. 'Maybe gained during her more rebellious years,' Jack thought; however hard it was to believe that his soft spoken mother could have been anything other than what she was now.

That was another thing; his mother was so very young. She didn't look like she could be any older than sixteen, but her eyes could have replaced an old war veteran's. Experience had changed her, molded her into a shade of what she once was. Jack would have loved to have seen her before life hit her so hard and fast.

Jack's mother was exceedingly lovely, that could have been his partialness towards her getting in the way, but Jack didn't think so. He wondered who his father was, and why he wasn't around, but figured that he might not even know about Jack. He was lucky enough to have a mother, why did he need a father too? 'He didn't,' Jack thought, 'that would just be icing on an already too sweet cake.' For the record, Jack didn't like sweets too much.

However much Jack was beginning to care for his new mother, he did want to see some new people. Ever since he had been brought home from the hospital his mother had been the only other person around. They lived in a small one bedroom apartment with a kitchen, living room, and bath. Jack thought there might have been a balcony, but he wasn't too sure. There were trinkets and pictures scattered around the rooms that made it feel more like a home than a house, which was something Jack was unused too, he had never had a home before. Not that he could remember anyway.

~~~~His Mother was so Very Young~~~

Jack met the first person who wasn't his mother when he was around four months old. The person was very blonde and seemed extremely shocked to see him. 'I wonder if this is my father…'

"Rin…" the blonde man trailed off as he stood in the doorway, staring straight at Jack. Rin was his mother's name as Jack would come to figure out. His new name was Rikiya. It was something that had clicked in his head as Jack's mother had cooed it at him for the millionth time. His grasp of the language was feeble at best, but it would get better as he grew.

"Sensei," Rin's voice sounded off, nothing like the soothing timbre she normally used when speaking with Jack. He decided that he didn't' like the change much at all.

"Whose baby is that?" Jack couldn't understand the words the blonde man spoke, but his tone was clear as day. The man was confused and apprehensive.

"Rikiya is my baby Sensei." The calm voice of his mother was still different than Jack had ever heard before.

"Rin… Why haven't you told anyone? Is the father… he looks like..?"The blonde was speaking slowly, as if in shock, Jack could relate to that feeling.

"Yes Sensei, he is the father. That is why I've told no one. I refuse to let that family take him away from me. Rikiya is mine. He is my son and my life now." Rin didn't raise her voice much, but the effect was the same as if she had yelled at the top of her lungs. Jack's ignorance of the conversations content didn't make him any less aware of the effect her words had on the blonde haired man. Her passionately spoken words seemed to age him immensely, where before he had seemed shocked but still vibrant, now he was burdened and sad.

There was a moment of silence where neither side knew what to say, and then the blonde man sighed and asked if he could come in.

Rin just opened the door wider and stepped aside.

~~~~Rikiya is my Baby.~~~~~

The blonde man was over much more often after that first visit; he made an appearance at least three times a week. Jack had to admit, it was nice having someone besides his mother around, especially a male someone.

Rikiya was adjusting to life exceptionally well, his theory was that, while he had slipped through the crack in the universe that was supposed to wipe his memories; he had not missed the one that reverted his emotions and feeling. So while he could remember his old life with startling clarity, the emotions that accompanied those memories where diluted. He could remember the emotion; he just didn't feel anything when he thought about it. Jack thought it was both a blessing and a curse. It helped him adjust to being a baby, without the horror of helplessness that would have otherwise overcame him. But it also made him aware of the feeling he should be experiencing, and it was all the more troubling because he didn't experience those feelings. To Rikiya, it was perfectly normal to have his diapers changed and to have to burp up every meal.

Jack language skills were coming along better now that he could listen in on the conversations that Rin and the blonde man had. He still couldn't understand them, but he listened to how the language flowed. When the blonde man spoke to Rikiya he didn't use baby talk and that also helped; his mother however, couldn't seem to stop herself sometimes.

His mother still took care of him constantly; he was starting to wonder where the income came from. If Rin didn't work, then how did she support him and herself?

His life was monotonous, he did the same thing every day, maybe a new storybook every once in a while, or a new toy from the blonde man, but he lost interest soon enough. They all grew dull in the end.

He wanted to go outside.

Jack had seen the outside world from some of the windows in the apartment; it was definitely different from his previous life. He wanted to explore. He wanted to see his new life.

~~~~Outside~~~~

Rikiya got his wish sooner than he expected. The very next day Rin took him out of the house and onto the balcony. It wasn't quiet out of the apartment, but it was better than nothing.

There seemed to be some sort of celebration going on that Rin wanted to watch. Many people crowded the streets and streamers where everywhere. The smell of delicious foods permeated the air and people cheered for no reason at all it seemed.

Rikiya gazed around in awe at this new world. It was familiar to something from his old life, but it was also something he had never seen before. It was new and exciting. There was a giant cliff in the middle of the village that had odd faces carved into it, it reminded Jack of Mt. Rushmore in his old world. Rikiya assumed that the faces in the cliff were also famous leaders. There were giant walls that surrounded the city; Jack could only see them because of how high the apartment balcony was.

'What are they defending themselves from?' Jack thought. His eyes were drawn back to the people of this world below as they all unanimously let out a deafening cheer. His gaze drifted to where the villagers where looking and he saw the blonde man, Minato, standing on the roof of a large red building. There was another man beside him, but his face was obstructed by a large obnoxious hat.

The people below grew quiet and Rikiya watched as the man beside Minato said a few words, took off his hat, and handed it to Minato. The blonde man reached out and grasped the hat, he slowly put it on his head and the crowd roared. The significance was lost on Rikiya, but even his soft spoken mother was clapping. The people on the streets were yelling, but one word made itself known above the cacophony of noise

'Hokage'

This is just an intro to the Story, the real action happens later ;p