So, this is some kind of OC SI thing, I guess. This is my second ever FanFiction, so I hope it's good enough. This chapter isn't that long, and they'll stay around the same length until I get further and further in.
I'm going to get so many things wrong. I'm going to make mistakes, people'll be OOC, and all that jazz. But hey, that's what we're here for. To experience something different!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Episode 1 - Death is an Asshole!?
'Cold. Death is cold.' That was the first thing I thought after my... Rather embarrassing death. For those wishing to know... I'll just say, pay attention when they tell you to stand behind the yellow line. Trains hurt.
In life, my first life that is, I was rather... Generic, I guess you could say. I never wanted to stand out, or speak my mind, but ended up with straight A grades and a rather good and cool college degree in Games Design and Animation. Cool, right? Well, it was.
And then one misstep and a busy businessman made it all fly out the window.
So, now I found myself standing on some invisible platform that seemed to go on for eternity, in some formless black void. Boooooriiiing. Well, kinda. There was this little ball of light that bounced about here and there that occasionally flew past my vision, but it quickly left again.
"Ah, there you are... Welcome!"
The sudden voice caused me to jump in my spiritual body, all 6 foot 2 inches of it. I whipped my head around constantly, attempting to find the source of the way too cheerful voice, to no avail. I had just about given up hope when, to my surprise, there was a puff of smoke behind me, causing another jolt and shout of surprise.
"Jesus Christ!"
"Ah... Not quite." The figure that had appeared behind me was... Tall. Around 8 foot in height, I'd have to say. He had brown slicked back hair and piercing red eyes. He wore a brown business suit, as well as a pair of brown dress trousers and loafers. He was even more generic than I was in life, except for those eyes, and his abnormally pale skin.
"Who are you then?" I tilted my head a little, blinking a few times in confusion at the sudden appearance of the snappily dressed man. It seemed as though he was holding a brown leather suitcase, which sparked a memory in me. It must have shown on my face, because the man let out a soft, almost sheepish chuckle.
"Yeah... I was the one who killed you... Sorry?" He offered, which caused me to bristle. He had killed me, and that was all he offered!? Sorry? This guy had some nerve! Well, at least he was here with me, which meant he was dead as well. Or at least, I had thought. Fairly smugly too.
"No, I'm not dead. Well, not technically, it's complicated." He sighed, and I stared wide eyed at the guy. It had registered in my mind already that he was the guy who killed me, but he certainly wasn't 8 feet tall in life... Anyway, I stared up at him in shock. Could this guy read minds?
"Yes. I can. How's that for ya?" I recoiled then, falling directly onto my ass and scrambling back as far as I could, before some kind of barrier prevented me from backing up further. I thought this place was endless! Just who was this guy anyway?
He chuckled. It unsettled me to the bone, as if a cold wind had blown through my core, sucking out my energy and then shoving it back in. "What are you?" I asked shakily, staring up into his face that seemed to get paler with every passing second.
"Good question. I'm Death. Isn't that obvious?" He smirked, and despite the ridiculousness of the claim, I could tell he wasn't lying. I was looking Death in the face. The Death. And what did I do? I fell on my ass like an idiot. Unacceptable! I may have been unremarkable in life, but I wasn't going to be the same in death. If I was gone anyway, then I might as well do something stupid, right?
Slowly, I stood. Steeling myself against the wind that I could feel blowing through the core of my soul, I stared Death in the eyes, and as fiercely as I could, I growled. I sneered. I glared. Then, I spoke. Three simple words...
"You're an asshole."
He blinked. And again. And a third time, before... He laughed. Full on, dropped to the floor and rolled around, clutching his stomach, cackling as loud as he could. I felt heat rising to my cheeks, what else was I supposed to say! He pushed me in front of a train! Accidental or not, only a person worthy of the asshole title would do that.
I waited patiently for him to calm down, and eventually he stood again. He had shrunk. Huh. He was now short enough to stand face-to-face to me, and he was smirking. "Now, that's the first time I've heard that in a long while. Normally people just scramble and run away forever, but you... You stare Death in the eyes and call him an asshole! I like you." He smoothed out his suit, nodding to himself a few times.
"Anyway, asshole or not, I'm still Death. And that means I decide what to do with you after you die!" He smiled and I felt a small chill down my back, before I stood tall once more, and stared him in the eyes, daring him to do whatever. The tension in the air was thick and almost solid, like a wall between us. His eyes slowly opened from his smile, and he stared at me...
"So I'll bring you back to life!" He said cheerfully, and I face-faulted. All that tension for a resurrection!?
Death wasn't only cold, it was infuriating.
"A resurrection? Isn't that like, against the rules or something?" I asked curiously, trying to keep my irritation off of my face as I picked it up off the 'ground'. Whatever that was in this place. Surely it must have been, right? He couldn't do something like that... Well, sure, he had control over death, but could he do such a thing? Would whatever god that ruled over the world let him?
"Well, normally no... Kami doesn't usually condone these things... But, she's decided that the world I want to resurrect you into has severely gone to the dogs. Like, too many of them. So, I'm sending you back quite far, near pivotal points in the story!" He seemed far too cheery. Story? Pivotal? Hold on...
"You want me to change it!? I'm like, the least likely person able to do something like that! Plus, Kami? So... The afterlife is dubbed in Japanese-" That got me a slap upside the head, which drove my spiritual body into the supposed ground of wherever the place was.
"Not precisely. You see, where I'm sending you... Is complicated. Way too complicated to explain... And, we're almost out of time..." He grumbled something about gods being pushy, and reached a hand out to touch the back of my head, which was still halfway in the floor. His hand felt... Almost skeletal. "So... Have fun, good luck, and go save the world, yeah? Yeah."
Then, he pushed, and I was falling, falling and falling. His voice echoed in the darkness.
"Oh, by the way, you're my champion! I'll call upon you at some point to explain it... Try not to change too much or freak too many people out! The Child of Prophecy must still be born, no matter what!" Champion? Freak out? Child of... What the hell was he talking about!?
-{&break&}-
When I next awoke, it was scary. Scarier than that infinite void. Scarier than staring Death in the face. I was still rather chuffed with myself for that. Take that, generic life! I called death an asshole.
Anyway, yeah. Life was scary. And I knew that it was life because I felt. I could feel! I was alive! But, there were giants everywhere. Hands, faces, everything was muffled, except for one thing. When I had been passed on for the last time, I could hear... Beating. A heartbeat... It soothed me, calmed me down and made me still.
But, it didn't last long. Slowly, the heartbeat faded. It faded away and left me cold and alone, it left me scared and alone. I did the only thing I could. I cried.
For more frantic minutes, I was passed around from giant to giant again and again, before blissful sleep came to me.
-{&break&}-
And thus, I was a baby. I had been born again. It sucked. Not being able to see, hear or speak properly. Being unable to move my body properly. I swear, I must have been a nightmare.
Now, once my sight had sharpened enough, it struck me where I was and who was taking care of me almost instantly. The vibrant red hair of the one holding me, and the sign... The sign on her forehead. It was... A misshapen leaf.
I was in the Naruto-verse, and the one holding me was Uzumaki Kushina.
Well, shit.
I quickly gathered all of the knowledge I held about the franchise. Timeline first, details later. So, what happens? Well, if I was right... Sage of Six Paths and the Juubi, stuff about his sons, Madara and Hashirama duke it out, the wars, Minato becomes famous, his Genin team fails miserably at the Kanabi Bridge, Obito goes crazy, Rin dies, Minato and Kushina have Naruto, Kurama attacks, Minato and Kushina die, Naruto grows up an orphan, and then shit gets real with the series starting. Somewhere between there, Jiraya trains the Ame Orphans, Tsunade defects and Orochimaru goes mad. Seems simple enough.
Oh, who was I kidding. I was screwed.
So, for the next couple of years I was a total nightmare for everyone involved, including a teenage Namikaze Minato. The first time I had seen him walk through Kushina's door, dressed in his Jonin garb; a pair of dark blue Shinobi pants, standard-issue sandals, blue long sleeved shirt with red swirls on the shoulders and his Jonin flack-jacket, holsters and all, I nearly fainted.
I was about one at the time.
The first time I figured out where I was, I raged and screamed in my head, glaring at everything I could for the whole day. I couldn't do anything! I was a kid, and Minato was already a Jonin! Death could have brought me back a little further! Did he have his Genin team yet? Were they together yet? Why did everything have to be in Japanese!? I could barely understand a word. Learning a new language was going to be hell.
Throughout the years, I had many mishaps too embarrassing to mention. ((Getting control of your bowels as a kid is hell.)) Eventually though, I found a mirror. At two and a half. Yeah, two and a half years of looking, and finally I found a mirror. What I saw shocked me to the core. I had, and get this, vibrant, shaggy, red hair. What clan in the Naruto-verse mainly had red hair? That's right, the Uzumaki. My skin was unusually pale, and I was rather skinny, even for a two and a half year old. I looked as if I would stand out in a crowd, and that was good right? I had been picked to save the world, I kinda had to stand out at least a bit.
It was the eyes, though. I had always wondered why Kushina and Minato both looked at me funny whenever they stared into my eyes. Now I knew.
One was my previous eye color, a deep green. The other? The same piercing blood red of Death.
The thing that clinched it though, was when Kushina stepped in, and saw me staring at myself. She walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. Leaning down, she whispered into my ear, and thank Kami for being taught how to speak and understand language, four words. Four innocent, simple words.
"That's you. Uzumaki Shinsei."
I couldn't help it. I fainted.
So, how was it? I hope it wasn't too short, too out of place or anything like that. If I spelt anything wrong, got any details wrong or anything like that, tell me. Especially when it comes to spelling and grammar, because I rage at that sometimes too.
Anyway, that was the prologue thingy! I hope you enjoyed it, in any case, and please tell me how I can improve! In any way!
Translations (If I got them right)
Shinsei - Rebirth
Read and Review! Each review and ten hits gets me started on a new chapter! More than that, and I'll be more motivated!
Chapter goal met! Next chapter is now up!
Happy reading, happy writing! - ShadowTheG