Astute Examination
Chapter 1: Prologue
It was a cruel joke and she briefly wondered if some mad and sadistic god placed her here, the image of Death Note's Ryuk bringing a notebook to earth with boredom as his only motivation playing in her mind. Hisako, – and that was her name now – longed lived child, how fitting.
The first two years of Hisako's new life were neither eventful, nor unusual for a baby whose developing brain had yet to catch up to her situation. As images and eventually memories resurfaced and, Mama with her pale skin and blue eyes, did not match up with what was right – everything was so, so wrong – the toddler found herself surrounded by doctors for her unusual behavior, strong anxiety, and unexplainable fear of her own family.
Months passed. Papa was always home while Mama disappeared for long lengths of time, weeks even. That wasn't to last, much to Big Sister Yuka's excitement, as the village's security tightened with murmurs of war in the air. Hisako eventually caught on that her mother was a travelling merchant with Papa running the fabric and clothes shop, a business guaranteed success in a shinobi village.
And Hisako, she was grieving – grieving the loss of her family, Mom whose skin was dark, eyes were warm, and laugh was so embarrassingly loud but comforting and familiar, the loss of her friends and their shenanigans, the loss of her culture, and her own body.
She couldn't even recall how she had died, but here she was, a daughter to civilians in a shinobi village that was at war and she was already diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. What would they think if they knew she had an adult image of herself with memories to support the other identity? Or timeline of their own village hidden away in her memories?
Then came the guilt. With the memories and knowledge Hisako was gaining at a rapid rate, also came understanding. She would be foolish not to see the wedge she has put between her parents, the stress on her sister who was appropriately young, and the eyes she was putting on her family with all the mental signs that screamed something was going on. Ninja were nosy and civilians gossiped.
But Hisako didn't understand why.
She was an atheist in her past life, not believing in any deity or life after death, yet here she was.
Here she was, a dropout college student that finished high school with a powerful case of senioritis, having lost almost all her motivation in the end. An individual that never landed a respectful career. A friend that never initiated a get-together. A woman that was on anxiety medication. She was reincarnated in a cruel world where 'survival of the fittest' was taken in a much more literal sense and Hisako had a sinking suspicion that natural selection was not on her side.
Hisako knew the story and she knew it well. Naruto. To be reincarnated in a world once made of fiction, a dangerous one at that, was a lot to take in.
The gods were laughing and Hisako questioned if she would simply be reborn again if she opted out, whether through suicide, unwillingness to participate, or was killed off in the series of unfortunate events that were to plague this village.
If her metaphoric gravestone carried badges hers would surely display an abundance of gold 'you tried' stars.
So, why her? What could she do?
It was frustrating. The lives of those around her were already scripted out and her story was not worth reading. Was her pitiful state of mind really so amusing?
There was much to mull over and Hisako's head felt fit to burst when she awoke in the hospital once more. The mentally unstable tot was assigned a Yamanaka doctor as her regular – and wasn't that terrifying? Not only that, but an officer with the disturbingly familiar pattern of a red and white fan on his back, came by weekly to talk to her and her family – Horiuchi was their name. The Uchiha was never kind and obviously considered their visits a waste of his time; there was a war to fight, she once heard him grumble. If he only recognized the gaze of grey eyes as one of pity rather than one of shyness.
So here she was. Hisako, long lived child, Horiuchi, one who lives. Well, someone was determined to keep her alive, even if only by name. Long lived child who lives was awfully redundant, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about working with five others who share her name this round.
This could only end in tears.
A/N: And so a mentally unstable, self-inserted OC and antihero is born, or reborn. If you're looking for a well-adjusted and strong character, this story probably isn't for you. I hope those of you that are interested enjoy this new take on SI OCs, as I haven't found a similar story.
