Authors Note: This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction! Criticism is welcome!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is a non-profit work of fiction and all copyrights to the Naruto manga and anime are retained by their original owners.
Shadow Reborn
Prologue – Death, Sleep, Nothingness
Can you imagine yourself before you were born? Or perhaps describe the sensation you feel when you fall into a deep slumber, when you wake up with no knowledge of the moment you've slept. Nothingness. Void. Abyss. Death.
I jolted awake. My whole body feels weird, different, dislocated. My senses are jarred, and my limbs are unresponsive. It feels like I had just ran a marathon, exhaustion and a mental headache are my symptoms. Was this heaven or hell? Am I still alive then…a miracle. I awoke from my deathbed and into what seems to be the arms of man. There's a sense of wrongness in that statement, as I was carried like a bundle of cloth, the wind rushing past my body amidst a scenery of green and brown. I distinctly remembered my body being bigger than this.
A gruff voice shouts "Shikamaru! Stay awake!", and I heard the mixture of concern and desperation in those words. I glance upward to see a man with a goatee, scars on his weathered face, hair tied up in dark ponytail that looks like a pineapple. We weren't flying, but jumping from rooftop to rooftop. I glance around as I see people with headbands with a symbol that seems strangely familiar.
I would have to admit that the fact that my consciousness has merged with a 4 year old boy, known as Shikamaru Nara, tactical genius and master strategist did not occur to me as I was rudely awoken. It was only when I woke up that I realised that the person carrying me was Shikaku, no, my father, and that he spoke in a Japanese hybrid language. And that I could understand him. The implications of the fact that I was reborn into the Naruto world was lost to me in the moment, as I woke up from my deathbed into this new world.
My eyes grew heavy, my body was exhausted and waking up from my deathlike state seemingly moments before has not done wonders to my mental state. Darkness enveloped me, as I felt the man speed up.
Consciousness returned slowly. The white ceiling that is the same for all hospitals is the first thing I see. It was all a dream then. I haven't died yet. I had dreamt myself as Shikamaru in the world of Naruto to escape the pains of life. It was just an escape in my mind then, a retreat from the rigors and suffering of my disease. As I rubbed my eyes with my tiny fingers that looks so much like a child's…wait. I glance at my body. Instead of a disease riddled body of a man, I have the soft supple body of a child. This wasn't my body! No what are you talking about. This is my body! I mentally screamed as I realised that I had two sets of memories inside my brain. One set had a bustling modern city, university lectures, my happy life, then the revelation of a terminal disease, lying sickly in bed, the void. Another was his. Shikamaru. Learning a new language, how to write and read. The revelation that he was a genius. Moving through exercises to improve flexibility and strength. Unlocking his chakra. Going through the ritual all Naras go through at the age of 4. The ritual to unlock their ability to utilise their shadow techniques. Gazing into the abyss and dark void. Pain, fear, and death.
The memories and mannerisms merged. There was no way to describe it. Memories of my past life dulled, becoming blurry and weakened, as the memories of a child genius came to the forefront. My parents were Yoshino Nara and Shikaku Nara. My name is Shikamaru Nara. I am only 4 years old. I am not living in a manga world and I do not have another person in my head.
NO!
I am both. I am one. It doesn't matter now. My head feels clearer than ever before. No drug addled state of mind or pain to dull my thinking. Actually…my mind is better than before, even when I was healthy. Faster. More focused. I am Shikamaru Nara. I have knowledge of the future. This is going to be easy, I'll use my foreknowledge to realise what I need to study up on, help Naruto, destroy Akatsuki, kill anyone that stops my way…WAIT!
I am Shikamaru. A life of ninja, the type that assassinates, interrogate, tortures, soldiers in a war. Any ninja is going to be dangerous. Why am I even thinking of going up to face Akatsuki! By all rights they were so strong that all the ninja villages had to team up together to fight. No. Scrap that plan. Become an average civilian, move far away from this land and the war that'll be coming soon. Perhaps get a picture perfect family, one daughter, one son, where I can just chill and live in peace…WAIT!
Ok. Let's focus.
I do not know why I am still alive and reborn as Shikamaru. I am currently in the body of a 4 year old, who already feels smarter and stronger than I was back in my old life. I will need to find out if reincarnation is the norm here in this world. Do normal physics still apply? By all rights people were speeding by at speeds that should not be possible. The human body cannot move at those speeds in the real world. But I'm in the Naruto world now aren't I? Resurrection, different dimensions, demons, sentient chakra. Why not combine a consciousness from Earth to the Naruto World?
The thing that I do know is that I am the Nara Clan heir. In canon, Shikamaru was unassuming, and lazy in the beginning, hiding his true intellect. He then rose up quickly to become the first Chūnin in the Rookie Nine, which is quite frankly, insane, because all of Rookie Nine were monsters, the best of the best, the hopes and futures of practically all the clans in Konoha. Described as thinking 200 steps ahead of his opponents. Fighting off the most dangerous people in the world and actually winning. Becoming the master strategist in the battle against the Ten Tails. I do not know what happens afterwards. Did they win? Of course they did. It was a shounen manga. The good guys always win. But this is real life. I am actually here, alive as Shikamaru. I do not know what would happen if I just left to become a civilian. But I don't think that's an option. I am the Nara Clan head, and it'll be highly suspicious if I suddenly decided to become a civilian, not to mention my critical role in helping in the effort against crazy people that tries to conquer the world. Already my relationships with my father and mother…Yoshino and Shikaku is compelling me to help them. Konoha is my home.
With a groan and the words "how troublesome" coming to mind, I decide to focus my mind on becoming a shinobi. First of all, being a ninja is to walk the line between life and death. Ninja is to kill. I was just an engineer back in my world. I can support fighting and killing in self-defence, and to stop crazy maniacs from taking over the world. But this was the real world. It's not in black and white. Can I kill someone to further the cause of Konoha? To torture, interrogate, spy? Perhaps with the years of mental training and desensitizing in academy I can. I just don't know.
What about the canon timeline? Already I have my work cut out for me, to even try to fill the shoes of the Shikamaru that was always so calm and collected even in life death situations in the manga. Should I try to keep the integrity of the timeline? To just be acquaintances with Naruto. I mean, was it due to his status as social pariah that allowed him to use his Secret Friendship Conversion Jutsu on the numerous enemies he will face? If I become friends with him would he be weaker or stronger? What happens if he just dies against Haku or some unknown Chūnin in his journey? What happens if I just die in some random C ranked mission? No, I cannot just keep to canon. First of all, I don't even know if this Konoha is the same Konoha in the Naruto universe. Events in the manga may either be completely false or true. Even if the manga is completely true, by the virtue of me being here canon is already dead. I cannot do everything the same as Manga Shikamaru did. I will take careful note of the things that happened in the manga and this world, but I won't rely on it.
With that in mind, I need to become strong. I need to at least reach the levels Manga Shikamaru did. From all accounts, canon Shikamaru was a genius but lazy. His skills in combat involve ridiculous strategic thinking and his shadow techniques. In my old world I would describe myself as logical and rational, but not intelligent like Shikamaru was. Can I ever hope to fill in his shoes? The course of action then is to be unassuming. I cannot just reveal my hand or foreknowledge as I don't think a trip to the Interrogation and Torture Unit would be very fun. Perhaps I can befriend Naruto and Sasuke? Push Sakura and Ino to train better? It doesn't matter. I need to become strong. Strong no matter the cost.
Already I feel my heart pumping as I contemplate my course of action. I've always felt that my old life was cut short. This was a blank slate. I could be great. Now it's time to explore my 'new' body. I try to push myself up and then I promptly remembered why I was in the hospital. I was physically exhausted. My body feels weak and sluggish, though my mind reminds clear and free of pain. Painkillers? I let my eyes explore my room. It was pretty much a classic hospital room. No special chakra dispensing machine anywhere. It was normal. For a second I thought I was hallucinating about my memories; that I was still dreaming. It was then my parents came in with a doctor in tow.
"Otou-san, Kaa-san!" It seems that my mannerisms are well ingrained, and I felt like crying in relief. That was weird. I never would have thought that I would have such a strong reaction to strangers…no they're my parents, as my child self asserted himself. Yoshino looks to be in her mid-twenties and at a first glance could be dismissed as a normal civilian housewife. It was the way she walked that disproved that notion. From my memories, she was loving, caring and she was my mother! Shikaku looks calm and aloof. He wears what I assume to be a deer skin coat which looks rugged and well worn.
"How are you feeling?" The soft melodious voice of my mother washed over me. This was my mother, I knew it in my heart.
"Tired." My voice in comparison sounds weak and feeble.
"After the ritual…well," Shikaku rubbed his head in a sheepish manner, "it seems that the ritual severely drained your chakra. Heh. Most people who go through it only suffer a little chakra exhaustion, but it seems that you're quite special eh. You've also managed to increase your yin chakra levels by quite a bit. Congratulations. Seems like nearly dying helped a bit." Shikaku gave a crooked smile.
Yoshino smacked Shikaku on the head.
"Don't listen to your father. You're lucky you're not dead right now young man. You better not die doing stupid things otherwise I'll revive you and kill you myself!" For a moment a dark aura almost seems to seep behind her frame. An eep came out of my mouth as I stared fearfully. She suddenly smiled and hugged me tightly. I patted her back awkwardly as I lie in bed.
It seems that I had been sleeping for 3 days straight and that I could be discharged as long as I took care not to do anything strenuous and ate a lot. Our way home as I walked down the street from the hospital to the Nara Compounds confirmed my belief that I'm in the Naruto World. Traditional Japanese housing throughout the place, with no sight of insanely high skyscrapers or cars. As I walked down with my parents, I saw the usual fare, merchants, bars, restaurants. I was dressed in a black T-shirt and shorts with sandals. It seems that the Land of Fire is aptly named. It was hot.
The Nara Compounds were situated away from the main bustling streets and near the Western forests. There's a dusty trail that leads to the compounds, and I can see the deer that the Naras were supposedly famous for grazing peacefully everywhere inside the grounds. And I mean everywhere. Our house isn't as big as I thought it would be. It wasn't a mansion or anything, but big enough to hold many rooms. During our walk from the hospital I've deduced from the way that Yoshino and Shikaku interact that the manga was quite true about their relationship. Shikaku was whipped and Yoshino seems to be the dominating partner. Really. Great. My parents were probably into BDSM. I mean, Shadow Binding techniques? I shook my heads off my thoughts. I didn't need that image in my head ever.
Dinner was fairly normal. It was mainly a quiet clattering of chopsticks and Yoshino forcing food into my bowl and mouth. At the end, Shikaku was forced to help out with cleaning the dishes. It seems that before the accident, the daily routine would be: breakfast, and Yoshino would teach Shikamaru the Japanese language, writing, calligraphy and more words to pronounce. Then it would tending to the deer and helping out with cleaning and general house chores. At around noon, Yoshino would start going through general flexibility exercises. Lunch. More chores. Some very basic katas. Free time which usually involve Shikamaru sleeping while looking up at clouds. Meditation to try to get in tune with one's chakra. A game of shogi with Shikaku. Dinner. More chores. Bedtime stories involving what I now recognise as basic propaganda about the Will of Fire, virtuous and brave ninjas, myths and legends such as the White Wolf Ninja and sages.
It seems that in the past, Yoshino is loving and stern, always trying to trick Shikamaru into doing chores and mothering him at every opportunity. In contrast, Shikaku already treats Shikamaru as an adult. A genius teaching another genius. Only truly communicating with their games of shogi.
From my past conversations with Shikaku, it seems that unlocking chakra is usually done at the age of 3 for clan children, and basically involves the parent giving what seems to be the insertion of artificial chakra to help stimulate the child's chakra system, increasing its size and help the child recognise their chakra. From then onwards the child would usually meditate to try to move their chakra from tenketsu point to point. It seems that the amount of time this would take would vary from child to child, but the fastest is generally at the age of 5, simply due to the amount of concentration to consciously move chakra from one point to another. From past conversations it seems that civilians usually unlock their chakra system at 5 simply because they have less chakra than clan children and they need that extra time to increase their chakra size before they can even begin to manipulate it.
As I lay on my bed, trying to sleep I pondered about my own chakra system. I could feel it now, after I had adjusted to my child body. It feels like a nagging feeling, a swirl of emotions that permeates my body. The air is saturated with it. Everyone is saturated with it. Most of the surroundings have a dull background chakra, but I could feel two distinct chakra systems in our house, one feels red hot while the other was feels like tempered steel. I wonder how I can cope with living here in this new world. Already when I think about my family, I think of Yoshino and Shikaku. As I imagine my old family, I don't feel anything. No stirring or emotions. Close friends become blurry and acquaintances vanish. My memories were blurring already. My old life is over. My life as Shikamaru starts today.
Authors Note:
I have been inspired by a lot of OC-inserts and Naruto fanfiction and I've always wanted to write an OC-insert into the Naruto world. Shikamaru is quite possibly the quintessential master strategist. Calm and logical, insanely intelligent. I've always wanted to see how a random person in our society can fit into the ninja world. Especially when they have the shoes of Shikamaru to fill.
This is AU simply because of the combining of consciousness. Events would change. People would die. Some parts of Naruto will change. Parts would be greyer instead of black and white. This is the ninja world.
Muhahahahahahaha
Criticism is welcome. Please give feedback if the beginning is too stilted, conversation is too weird or maybe if some characters are out of character.