Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters

A feeling of excitement bubbled in the pit of my stomach as I observed the busy room. Children were speaking loudly to each other, some shouting across the classroom like the six year olds they were. It was almost impossible to imagine the shy, pudgy boy in the corner was Akimichi Chouza who would one day become a fierce warrior and Clan head, and that the yawning boy next to him was Nara Shikaku, future jounin commander. Uchiha Mikoto, the Uchiha heiress was speaking happily to one of her cousins. Another scan revealed a young Yamanaka Inoichi rough housing with a few other boys. They were so innocent. Annoying too, but I was willing to cut them some slack due to their age.

Surveying the room once more, I allowed myself a small smile. My next four years would be spent here with these people. The door to the classroom opened and a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties stepped in. He was wearing a baggy, padded jacket and a closer inspection revealed one of his sleeves was empty. Calling for silence, he introduced himself.

"My name is Hanazanou Toru, Toru-sensei to you lot. We'll be covering a variety of topics over the next four years to teach you all to be proud ninja in service to the Hokage and Konoha. You kids are the ones with the best test scores and most potential, and as such I expect everyone here to study diligently."

And indeed, we had been tested. They had a rather ruthless entrance exam filled with trick questions and difficult kanji that even caught me out a few times.

"In the first year we'll be covering language, math, shinobi protocol, chakra theory, tactics and fitness. We'll be starting with the history of Konoha's founding. You'll find your textbooks underneath your desks. Open to page three please."

Rustling filled the room as everyone did as asked. Perhaps it was the culture of following your superior's orders or the fact that there were no child endangerment laws (and hadn't that explained an awful lot) and as such beatings were considered acceptable punishment, but not one kid made a peep.

It was only after opening my book that I finally realised something so obvious that I felt like a complete idiot. I... was in a class of six year olds. Ninja in training or not, they had limited vocabulary and little practice reading. By the time the first kid had stuttered his way through the paragraph, I was already contemplating homicide.

"And to-to-gether the Senju and U-chi-ha clans fun-ded, ah, um founded the village."

By the Shinigami, four more years of this?

Luckily I had years of practice ignoring annoying sounds. I've lived six years of this life in an orphanage where young children constantly whined, complained or screamed in excitement, setting off the babies next door. Sometime all at the same time. It was honestly a miracle that I hadn't gone insane listening to all those brats and burned the whole bloody place down.

Tuning out the class, I sped-read through the history book meant for the year. It was nothing I hadn't already read previously during my excursions to the civilian library or in my books 'borrowed' from the older orphans. Fifteen minutes had gone by and I was so engrossed with mentally scoffing at the blatant Konoha bias that I didn't notice my name being called. It was only after an elbow was jammed into my side that I jolted back to awareness to find all the other kids snickering at me, with Toru looking on disapprovingly.

"Pay attention, you're already slacking off and it's the first day. I expect better from my students."

"Sorry sensei. What was the question?" I asked giving him large, blue apologetic eyes. Softening despite himself, he answered, "I asked if anyone knows the role of the Uchiha now," while he attempted a disappointed stare in my direction. Hah, buddy you're a hundred years too early for that to work on me. Despite being annoyed at being caught, I responded:

"The Uchiha work as the Military Police which was established by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. The MP are responsible for in-village security and maintaining peace amongst civilians. Tobirama-sama reasoned that with their bloodline, the sharingan, the Uchiha would make ideal candidates to patrol the village and discover intruders. The Second also gifted the Uchiha a portion of land as thanks for their services to the village."

I was about to continue but realised the class was silent and once again staring at me, this time because of my mature way of speaking. Looking a little shocked, Toru spoke up.

"Well done, that was very well answered. Make sure to pay attention next time, ok Namikaze-kun?"

"Ok, sensei."

Ah. Did I mention I had been reincarnated as Namikaze Minato?

~~~~~~~~S.o.t.S~~~~~~~~~~~

My first months in this world were a blur of sensations and emotion. Hunger; fear; warmth; panic; exhaustion. If I were to sum it up in one word, it would be instinct. It was only after turning six months old that I was able to string together a coherent thought and actually process my surroundings. Later, I realised that my brain had finally adapted to my mind, but at that moment all I felt was confusion.

What...had happened?

I would have stared at the ceiling for the whole day if I hadn't been jolted out of my daze by a sudden wail from somewhere in the room. Turning my head took more effort than I had ever remembered, and when I succeeded, I realised I was in a crib, in a room filled with other babies in cribs. And now that one had started wailing the others did too.

Some time later I was back to staring at the ceiling again. Somebody had come in and fed and changed all of us, quieting the wails so that silence reigned once more. In my past life, I had prided myself on being a logical person, so I didn't waste any time believing that I was crazy. I knew I wasn't, the memory of dying was carved into my mind, so the only logical conclusion is that I had been reborn. Reaching down to my diaper, I realized as a boy. Once I had accepted the absurdity of my situation, I began to plan.

Oh yeah, first person to graduate university at 8, here I come, I snickered mentally to myself. It was as I was planning on how to use my knowledge of future business success to invest and earn myself a fortune that the door was opened again, this time the caretaker was followed by a woman who was carrying another baby and placed it in one of the few spare cribs. However the thing that caught my attention was not the people, but what they were wearing. Or more specifically, the headband with a leaf carved on it that the woman leaving the baby was wearing.

Holy...

I'll admit this revelation shook me a lot more than my initial realization of rebirth. Once again, I was left flabbergasted to stare blankly up at the ceiling until a feeling of euphoria and absolute joy swept over me because holy shit praise the Shinigami this was the elemental nations; a world where kids were taught to spew fire from both ends and man walked on water as easily as they would on land. Where animals lived for centuries and prophesied the future and the space-time continuum could be ripped apart with paper and ink. Where sentient monsters of energy roamed the lands and a single man could conquer nations.

With a feeling of absolute certainty, I knew my goal. In this world of demi-gods, I would transcend them all. Stronger than any before me, I would rise past men like Senju Hashirama who sealed all the bijuu and grew forests at a whim. Past Uchiha Madara who lived decades past his time and brought war and ruin to the whole continent. Past Nagato who could tear souls back from death's embrace. The rabbit goddess Kaguya who could step through dimensions with a thought would be swept aside and even the Sage of Six Paths would kneel before me.

Oh yes, a God has been born this day. May the world tremble beneath me.