Chapter 1: Imprisonment and Freedom

It is an odd thing to die as I did, there was no pain, no suffering, only relief and joy that I would be freed from my curse, my prison made of flesh and bone.

Finally I would be free.

It happened when I was 19, in the year 2014 on the first of December as I was walking across the road when all of a sudden a car appeared, it was moving too fast not slowing down in the least, I closed my eyes awaiting the impact knowing that even if I tried to run it would make no difference at all and I would just be run down anyway. My world erupted in an explosion of pain, my eyes forced open as the force of the car hit me and I flew in the air for quite some distance before hitting the ground on my head and rolling away.

I was in so much pain that I had closed my eyes once more in order to try and manage the pain and protect my eyes, such an effort was in vain.

As I opened my eyes to try and see how much damage had been done to my body I realized that all I was seeing was a blackness, thinking that I must not have opened my eyes properly I try once again this time ensuring that I felt my eyelids roll over my eyes making one hundred percent sure that they were open and once again there was nothing but the empty blackness.

Realizing that I was blind, unable to hold it in any longer I cry out in pain and anger at the unfairness of it all, or at least I try to, Completely surprised at this fact, at first I had thought that it was the pain and the simple unwillingness of my body to do anything that might cause it more suffering but now I was more aware of myself. I had the sudden sick thought that I was paralyzed, I tried to laugh it off, or at least scream that it was impossible, but my mouth refused to open, my vocal cords, unwilling to vibrate.

The world around me seemed to rush in from every direction, all though I could no longer see or even move, I could still hear, feel and smell, everything that was happening was clear to me even though my eyes were useless I heard the screams of those around me, their cries to get help, the sound of a phone being dialed. I smelt the unique smell of burning rubber as I heard the tires of a car start to screech and the roar of an engine desperate to escape the scene of the accident, I came to the assumption that while I had been hit by the car it appeared that the owner of the vehicle either did not care about my life or was too afraid of the consequences of his actions and had fled.

I hear the flare of sirens as what I can only assume to be the ambulance was racing towards us as my senses started to slowly shut down and the world around me faded to nothing.

But I did not die that day, though I wish that I had, The doctors explained what had happened to me, as they spoke in that clinical and cold tone explaining that when the car hit me and I went flying and landed on my head that several major things had happened at that time, first was that my Optic Nerve had been damaged by the fall, severing the connection between my eyes and my brain and secondly was the fact that my body was suffering from a form of paralysis known as Locked-In Syndrome.

Locked-In Syndrome or LIS for short was a form of paralysis that affected nearly the entire body with the exception of the eyes and eyelids, although no damage had been done to my mind it no longer mattered, I was cursed. Entrapped within this prison of own my flesh and blood my emotions ran wild, but my body never showed anything, my tears unable to flow, my rage incapable of being expressed. I thought that God was playing a huge joke on me, giving me the only curse that would truly haunt me, LIS halts the movement to anything but the eyes, but mine had already lost their light.

Days passed, I could do nothing but lie there, the world outside of my hospital room no longer existed, I could hear the nurses rushing about, feel the sheets beneath my hands and smell the familiar scent of a room that had been sterilized again and again, but that was all. With nothing but time to think and contemplate what had happened to me and the space to deal with all of my emotions, I retreated into my mind, abandoning my attention to the senses that were still available to me, leaving the world outside to do as it pleases with itself.

Days turned to weeks, weeks to months and months to years, although I could not see it, I most definitely felt it, the odd sensation of my skin pulling more and more taut, of my flesh wasting away and my muscles atrophying. I had little contact with the outside world beyond the nurses, with no family or friends to speak of and no one who truly cared to visit me.

It took me a long time before I had managed to get a semblance of normality back into my life, for all of anger and despair over what had happened to me and more importantly why to disappear, sadly whoever ran me over was never found in the confusion of what had happened no one really looked at the car for a specific license plate and there were no camera's online at the time of the incident, so I was left trapped in my own body without ever knowing who had done this or why. When the mind has no one to blame, no one to hate what happens then? even I did not know.

My mind was left to do the one thing that I had always been able to do, create. I was quite smart, no where near the level where a genius would be of course but I was still smart none the less but more important than that was my ability to imagine. I was always seeking new and interesting stuff, whether that was simply reading a novel or learning new things I had always sought knowledge. I had read everything from the Harry Potter books to books detailing how Astrophysics applies to the nature of life itself, the very last thing that I had read before my ability to do so was taken from me was the last chapter of the Naruto manga, quite a fascinating read.

Although not being Japanese myself I had always had an interest in things such as Magic or Chakra, any form of spiritual energy that could be used by humans, it was one of the things in the world that had fascinated me, for as long as there have been Humans there has been some form of energy that could be manipulated. The witch hunts from the late 15th century to 300 years past that prove that it was once believed that such things existed and as a great man once said "Magic is just a science that we don't understand yet."

It had always been my wish to understand such things and to answer the question of whether or not such energy exists and if it can be manipulated, however that being said I knew that my life's ambition was over, even if by some miracle I managed to achieve it while lying in bed, not being able to even twitch a finger at the same time I would never be able to see what I had done or even if I had done something at all.

As the years past and the more time I spent this way, locked within my own body, the more and more I lost track of time. It is funny how simply having eyesight can allow you to keep track of the days so easily. The cycle of day and night was no longer observable to me, not only that but as I spent more and more time wrapped within my own mind rather than paying attention to the warmth of the sun and the cold chill of night it became obvious to me that I had no way of knowing how long I had been like this, sure I had tried to keep track for the first couple of months but after that it became nearly impossible to tell as my focus started to become more inward than outward.

Even though I had no knowledge of the span of Time I had been like this I knew that it had been a long time, although I did not know that I would soon be freed from this hell on earth.

One day while I was busy trying to write an entire novel within my head, a hard enough job when all you could do was memorize it, never being able to write it down or properly review it, I heard a voice whisper in my ear, drawing my attention away from what I was doing and back into reality.

"It has been 30 years since you have been here, do you wish to be released?"

The voice was quite, but it was distinct, even though I had spent a long time away from the real world I could tell many things about this person, that they were Male aged roughly 60 - 70 years old and that they were a doctor here. I knew this because while 'I' had been away, my body had not and throughout all this time it had tried to enhance my remaining three sense I still had access to, as well as while it was possible for me to keep my mind away from any real world distractions, it was impossible to detach my mind from my body completely and as such still heard things that happened out in the true world.

Regardless of who he was or even if what he was doing was right, I desperately blinked fast as if trying to suggest to the man 'Yes, yes I want to be free', He seemed to get the idea of what I was trying to tell him as I felt a sharp pinch in my arm before whatever was invading it was removed, before I heard the man speak once more "It is done, be at peace your hardship is at an end"

I knew that voice, while I did not really pay attention to the world around me, there were times when I had faded in to reality and heard the voices of all the doctor's and Nurses here at the hospital, it was Dr. Harrold Toppan, my Angel of Death. Hearing the sound of footsteps leaving the room and slowly fading away in the distance I start to hear my ECG monitoring my heartbeat start to go haywire and the rush of nurses in the room as they try their hardest to stop the inevitable, I close my eyes in happy acceptance that for the first time in Thirty years my curse was finally broken, the prison holding me was shattered as the world around me, all the sounds, smells and feeling start to slowly fade away and a wave of contentment flew over me.

Surprise was the first expression that graced my face, my last memory was of dying, it should follow then that all that remains afterwards was emptiness or perhaps an eternal sleep to never wake up again, so you can imagine how surprised I was to regain consciousness, my first thought was that the nurses had somehow managed to resuscitate me and my hell would begin again. This thought ended the moment I opened my eyes, I could see, not only could I see again but I could also look up and see that this was not a hospital, Instead of looking at the white ceiling of the hospital I was actually looking at the sky, a sight I never thought I would see again, the blue vastness with the odd white cloud dashing across it was absolutely beautiful to me, at that point the Surprise hit me.

Not only was I able to see again, but my face had moved, something that had been an impossibility to me for 30 years of my life, not believing that what I was seeing and feeling I tried to move, slowly so as not to be too heartbroken if it all turned out to be an illusion. I slowly raise my right hand and touch my cheek. A medical impossibility had just occurred and I slowly start to feel my cheek wet as 30 years of emotion that I had been unable to express and the impossibility of what was the current situation caused me to cry.

I started moving my arms and legs around because for 30 years I had been unable to even scratch my nose if it got itchy, now with the ability to once again move my body in anyway I pleased, I found myself rolling around in the grass and dirt simply because I could. Eventually calming down from my emotionally crazed state I stood up and started walking around, It was at this point that I noticed something that I had missed before being so caught up in my emotions that I had overlooked such simple things. These hands were too small to be mine, I was 19 when I became unable to move and I died at 49 years old, yet these hands were small, so small.

I looked down at my legs and saw the same, patting down my body I feel that I'm much smaller than I should be and much physically fit than someone who had just died should have the right to be, then there was the fact that I was even alive to begin with. It is at this point that it started, the memories of a life that I had lived came pouring in, memories familiar to me but at the same time completely alien.

They played in my mind like a movie, My name was/is Tatsuo/Nicholas, I was born 4/49 years ago, I come from the Uchiha clan of the village of Konoha/City of New York.

The Two lives that I had lived came pouring out like water from a glass that had shattered. Two completely opposite existences united under one soul came crashing down upon my mind, the knowledge of both lives came together and clashed again and again, trying to establish a dominance over one another, to become whole and one. It caused a huge split within my mind as my two lives fractured my mind with my memories, both having solid proof in the form of memories and the emotions attached to them that the other was an impossibility, my mind broken and left in pieces, I ask only one question.

Who am I?

The conflict between the memories hurt so much, I remember being Tatsuo, of witnessing the Kyubi attack upon the village even at a young age I remembered, I remembered the feel of its vile Chakra, of how just being near it caused me suffering and pain unimaginable. However I also remember being Nicholas, a lazy layabout who wished for nothing more than to read to my hearts content, of the pain I suffered being hit with a car, and the complete and utter loneliness, sadness and frustration at being left unable to see or even move for 30 years.

It was then at the point where my mind seemed to start to come undone at the very seam of my existence that something truly miraculous happened, my two lives continually clashing against one another both seemingly unstoppable until a third force entered the fray. An energy unlike any other, Chakra, within the clash of my memories, My bodies Chakra started to leak, not outward but rather inward, it surrounded the two fighting forces, Instead of trying to stop the exchange of blows between the two it started to aim them properly forcing each blow of the two closer and closer until not only were they no longer hitting each other but their missed blows had started to force the two to entwine.

Out of nowhere my chakra starts to surround the two in its all encompassing blue glow and meld the two together, stitching the seams of my mind back together and giving me the answer to my question.

I am Both.

My entire life played out before me, first were my memories of my time as Nicholas, then of Tatsuo, a sequence of events that told me exactly where one ended and the other began, and that at this point in time I was now both of them. My knowledge of Earth and all that I had studied there combined with my, while smaller but still significant, knowledge of this the Elemental Nations, of its past and its future.

Picking myself up from the ground I start to wonder exactly what to do, from my memories of my time as Nicholas I knew that I, Tatsuo was not long for this world, how cruel the gods were, taking me from a prison to a death sentence. I knew that the Uchiha massacre was going to happen in 3 years time, I knew the reason for this and I knew that that is where I would die, with all of the other Uchiha at the hand of Itachi. I knew that I had to die, Time was a very tricky thing, foreknowledge of any kind is perhaps the most dangerous type of knowledge available.

However my memories of my life as Nicholas had also left me with an urge to stay alive, I had just attained my freedom, I would not give it up for anything or to anyone, Not even Time itself. I knew that I could survive the massacre, it would be hard no doubting that, but I could do it. Resolving myself to keep my freedom, regardless of the cost, I knew that if I wanted to survive In this world, I would need to become strong. I above all people knew what was coming, of Obito, Madara, Zetsu and Kaguya, of the mess that they would cause and of how powerful they were. I could just hide away until it was all over. But that was not my style, I never ran from things as either Nicholas or Tatsuo, and I most certainly would not start now.

That meant that I needed to train, not only that but I needed to keep it a secret, if I was thrust into the spotlight before the massacre was over then it may mean that I would attract the attention of some of the bigger predators before I am ready, even in Konoha, there was Danzo and the possibility of catching Itachi's attention as a possible threat. That would not be good.

There was of course the possibility of somehow by sheer luck stop the massacre and save the clan, however the potential fallout for such an action could prove to be catastrophic. It may incite the clan to try the coup anyway or it might demoralize them. Even with my knowledge of the future, I could not tell what would happen if such a thing did occur, after all the future I know is one of many possibilities, Take away Itachi's murder of the clan and so much within the Elemental Nations could change, but either way, contemplating the future is something I would have the luxury once I was ready.

I knew that in order for me to get stronger I had to learn more, I knew enough about this world and all the abilities that could be available to me once I was older and more versed in the way of this world, but none of Nicholas's memories held enough knowledge about certain subjects. It is after all much easier to see someone access their Chakra rather than do it yourself. Nicholas never had Chakra, but knew the world surrounding the subject, Tatsuo had Chakra but was too young to properly learn how to harness it.

Knowing that in this world knowledge is power, I headed off towards the library in search of something, anything that could help me achieve my goal.

AN:
Chapter Word Count: 3,461 words.

Fun fact or well not really fun but a fact none the less: The name from Dr. Harrold Toppan's name actually comes from two real life Angel's of Death, Jane Toppan and Harold Shipman.

BTW for anyone who wants to know, yes Sasuke is still Indra's reincarnation and Naruto is Asura's

Any way that's all from me for now, I bid you adieu.