This fic is using various plot devices known from fic's using the 'video-game plot' that will play a minor role in the future. These can be seen as a way of getting the OC into the 'Naruto-verse', and the effect of these will not be felt for most of this fic.

So do not expect a fic with the 'video-game plot-line' while reading this

Chapter 1: Between life and death… or just a really weird dream

The last thing I saw was white. Not quite what I expected since I knew I was slammed into a quite dark grey pavement, but the dead probably shouldn't be too concerned with semantics like that. It was not like they… we could change anything from this side of the veil. It would take some time getting used to the idea of me being included among those 'dead'.

There was a disturbing level of acceptance in that train of thoughts. I was going to throw a fit of unseen proportions, when the realization of my new status sunk properly in.

I wondered why I still had the ability to form thoughts. My conscience should have been destroyed the moment my head hit the ground and turned my brain into mush. Perhaps that meant the concept of a soul was more than just a silly human hope. That could mean one of humanity's numerous religions was true as well, and if this nothingness around me was any indication then it was not Christianity or any other with an afterlife. I was not really sure about the entry fee to heaven, but the lack of gate to anything had to mean I had missed my chance.

If the following giddiness is a sign, my brain had to be working somewhere outside this place.

The nothingness around me was starting to get to my nerves. I was not sure if the appropriate verb is floating or being in nothingness, but it was most likely the last since none of the five senses had followed me beyond my meeting with the concrete, making me something akin to those vegetables in the hospital. It was the most depressing thought since I arrived here, since it was most likely more true than anything else this place has led me to think.

If I was as good as dead, why could I not just skip ahead of this state and go on to oblivion?

Congratulations you were killed by: drunken driver

The words popped up like a sudden neon sign forced into your face after complete darkness, and if my sadistic asshole of a mind had provided me with a mouth I would have uttered more than one string of curses.

Achievements gained: "Whack to the back" and "The unholy mix: speed and liquor"

This had to be a dream, and except the part where I quite clearly remembered the pain of dying, it was not really unlike some of those I had before.

Welcome to "The Game", your one-in-a-lifetime chance to regain life and survive any catastrophic event.

My mind was a weird place, best not to question it, or I would be on my way to the mental hospital. With a mother working in one of them I was at least fifty percent sure I was not one of the droids they were looking for.

You have [Five] characters slots open. Remember death in one life while in story mode means the complete death of that character. Any character can be imported from one life to another, once story mode has been completed. To regain your former life all story modes must be completed.

So I had five chances before it was game over for good. These were some harsh rules.

Completed story modes: 0. Available universes: 25

A list of universes followed. My state of mind was somewhere between horrified, shocked and trilled. Childhood classics like "Harry Potter" and "Dragon Ball" stood side by side with those I had come into contact with later, like "Baldur's Gate", "Star Wars", "Naruto" and "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer". I felt like squealing if not for the more terrifying aspect of this whole experience my mind had conjured up.

Some of these had planets busters and one hit kill powers.

Sure being a ninja in something like "Naruto" sounded awesome, with emphasize on 'sounded', but…

The following universe has been selected: Naruto

… Son of a bitch. The easy way to have begun this would have been in something like "Harry Potter". With the advantage of the modern world and a history following what you already knew, you just had to be somewhat extra careful the second year not to die by petrification and spend seventh year outside the country if necessary. The main character literally survived on luck and minimal studying, and by being anyone else but trouble magnet Mr. Potter, you were practically guaranteed survival.

I was beginning to officially hate myself.

Please select gender.

For the sake of my sanity, please female. Sexuality was not something far up my list of concerns, but I would really prefer not having to deal with extra appendages.

Gender: female. Please select a value from 1-10 from an overall of 50 stats points to the following permanent stats: Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Luck, Strength and Wisdom.

So my brain's made up character creation was running on a slightly different mode of D&D, awesome… Well this was better than rolling stats, where your chances to be fucked over always seemed a bit higher than the chances to make a god mode sue. If the total was fifty points and I had 7 stats, then I could have seven in all stats and be a jack-of-all-trades, and a good one of those. Since this was all about survival, the abilities to dodge and think fast seemed like the best way to go about it with a healthy dose of luck thrown on top. Seriously luck as an attribute had the potential to break any game, if it applied to all actions. On the off chance it did not…

Permanent stats chosen:

Charisma: 6 – With your plain appearance you stand out about as much as a fly on the wall, those blessed with perceptiveness will see you while the rest of the masses will ignore your existence.

Constitution: 7 – Hardier than most but a good hit will take you down like any other mortal

Dexterity: 9 – Your ability to dodge is almost innate but the constant twitchiness makes people wonder what's wrong with you

Intelligence: 8 – Your minds is fast, but you're no genius. Forever on the edge of understanding the full scope, your life will be filled with constant frustration of the tiny missing pieces of the puzzle

Luck: 7 – Did you want to win the lottery, you actually have a chance now. Albeit a small one, but it's better than completely non-existent

Strength: 7 – Your strength will be like the tales of the GODS… Wait, wrong guy. With a bit of training you can probably break that rock over there, but don't expect anything more.

Wisdom: 6 – You're not about to set fire to your hair because of lack of common sense, but your intuition screws more often than not with you.

The descriptions made me curious about what would have been if I had selected any stats to be under 5. It would have been horrible to play… live, whatever this was, with it, but the matching description to the stats value must have been positively hilarious.

It made me feel so hopeful about my new 'life' as a ninja in a world with an evil rabbit goddess and villains capable of resurrecting people left and right, that I was almost moved to tears.

I was going to die fast and painful with an unmarked grave to as my achievement, and then I was going to go back to the universe selection and take the world of "Harry Potter" with storm, preferable hiding in a hole somewhere outside Britain while the whole mudblood extermination was going on.

One new permanent stat is available after every completed story modes. Select your starting point.

Some kind of hint would be helpful as to what the game mechanic exactly wanted. As it was now it sounded like I could choose anything, like replacing one of the main characters.

Starting Point: "Replacing existing character" not possible. No possible starting point's related to this.

So I was going to be an OC running around, lucky me. It was for the best, since running around as like say Sakura would have been more than slightly awkward. Not that I remembered a lot about her except the deadly disease of fangirlism and her being practically useless in the first part of the series. Then she got Tsunade as a mentor and she copied all of the sannin's skills, showing she was indeed the student of Kakashi, the copycat ninja.

It was better to accept I was going to be useless like Sakura, because I wasn't going to get any bloodlines powers or beasts trapped in my stomach… Even if it would have been awesome to be a jinchuuriki. And deadly, don't forget deadly.

Starting Point: "Jinchuuriki" not possible. Specify your chosen starting point.

Starting around the kyuubi's attack on Konoha was probably the best idea since it would give me a fighting chance at surviving the future horror show and shorten the time I had to spend in that universe. I could always run away and hide in some far corner of the continent, I just had to survive, no place had it said anything about helping to deal with the problems.

Starting Point: "Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha" has been chosen.

Relevant data by the choice of starting point: Age: 0. Skills: none…

That accelerated quickly. So I don't even get to choose origin, parents or stuff like that? Just going to throw me into the body of an infant with senses so dull I could just as well be living here in this nothingness for months, no?

The estimated time until completion of selected 'Story Mode': 17-18 years

Estimated… Well, fuck you too.

By dying in Story Mode your data related to that universe will be deleted. The option of saving will not be possible at any point of Story Mode.

Do I at least get on introduction to my new life? I had never liked ignorance and living like a helpless babe totally depended on strangers I knew nothing about did not sit well with me. In fact nothing about the situation suited me, but my brain apparently loved to troll me to the point where I actually believed this couldn't possibly be the work of my subconscious. Masterful work brain, masterful work.

In Story Mode no menus are available, wait until completion to gain the option to exit world and return to world selection

Activate help, activate menus, activate saves, just do something! I knew it would be too much work for my probably injured or sleeping brain to remember anything about life saves, but the least it could do was giving me the option to read a manual about this game system.

Birth will commence in 3…

I pitied the woman and man who would gain me as their daughter. The wish to have a reincarnated soul as your child is pretty far down anyone's list, and in the Naruto-verse that term was what most likely would be used to describe me, if the topic ever came up in a conversation. Which was very likely since the universe had mind readers, if I remembered correctly.

2…

I was a nice person in real life, but as soon as I started dreaming or fantasizing I turned into an asshole. I wondered what that said about me…

1…

Repressed anger, not expressed in daily life or something like that. Perhaps something about finding an outlet in some kind of medium, that were not games since I was even a goody-two-shoes in those most of the time, when I was not crackling madly and running around assassinating everyone or backstabbing someone to get epic items... The term goody-two-shoes did not seem to fit that well, now I thought about it.

Pain and the sudden presence of dull sense splintered my conscious. My first breath in my new life was made on pure reflex since all I perceived was the sharp light blinding me and screaming tearing my eardrums apart.

Voices resounded far away, foreign and exotic. Unwanted in their loudness, their insistence in being heard.

The world was moving, one direction then the next. Nothing seemed to make sense. Limps to short, unmoving and clutching into nothingness where there should have been flesh. I tried to roll up into a ball, and found nothing responding but burning agony in my veins.

Cold, slimy but no darkness, too much light…

Ground became air and it went tumbling down. A moment of stillness, and then everything turned to flames, bright and warm for just a second of a heartbeat. The darkness finally descended and the screams ended.

My throat was hoarse like the shrill sound had been my own. Another cry pierced the dark, sending a twinge of pain back. Confirmation that this alien voice was my own; this useless piece of fumbling flesh belonged to me now. I tried to open my eyes, but nothing came back. No colors, no light and the dark too close... Forcing its way through, taking my breath…

A voice, one calm voice in the darkness.

My heartbeat was slowing down, air returning to my lungs. Coarse big hands moved against my fragile bare skin, and the world slowed down. My eyes were blind, but something instinctive told me to keep still. I was safe.

Were these big hands the ones of my new father? Were these the hands of a ninja, who had long awaited the birth of his daughter only to find a thief in her stead? I was not his, my mind not molded by his words or views. He was but a stranger and I was something unwanted.

The world shifted again and light returned. Blurring lines revealed these eyes of mine had some use, but the sight of a new-born was nothing to be relied on. Something soft came into contact with my back, and my body was enveloped in warmth. My small hands moved against fine fabric, too soft to hurt the skin of my frail vessel.

Something akin to a face could be made out of the shifting colors.

I closed my eyes, my limps sinking into the bed under me. The simple art of counting my own breaths was almost eluding me. In and out, in and out in an eternity. Then a hand at my face, the feminine hand of a stranger.

What was I thinking? These people were nothing but constructs of my mind. The sensation of having this soft palm cupping my face was naught but a fleeting string of memories sewn together to create the right illusion of this being real, helped by my apparent lack of senses. These sounds resembling a language, they were nothing but part of this dream. I would not let myself be let astray by a manifestation of my own my mind and fantasy.

I was either dying, this being my minds last gift to me, a distraction from reality. Or I was dreaming, safe in my bed, and this was nothing but awful close to a nightmare I would soon wake from. In both cases I would forget, either by truly dying or simply waking up to the real world.

My position was shifted yet against, movement around my new body and a woman gasping for air.

They were talking, the woman and the man. Calm to agitated, the finer tones lost in the rift between languages. A single drop of wetness dropped on my chest, a tear perhaps? The woman's voice was weakening with each moment, so it could be hers. The reason why… could wait. My body was turning heavy, their endless voices lulling me toward sleep. I could see their faces another day, meet their eyes another time. Study what my mind had conjured… But for now, all I wanted was sleep.

Author's note: I have read plenty of stories using these sorts of mechanisms and I thought it would be funny to try it out. I have coupled more than a few before seen ideas, so we'll see if it turns into an unholy abomination or actually has a bit of value. This mix of ideas will probably span one long story set in the Naruto-verse and after that, who knows?

So thanks for reading. English is not my mother tongue, but I will do my best to make this as reader friendly as possible.