My mother named me Taiyo, after the sun. The funny thing was, it wasn't the first time I'd been named nor was it the first time I'd been born.
Let me tell you, being born is not funny.
I don't remember much from my first life. I remember having a family and that I loved them, but I couldn't remember their names or faces. I remember that I loved to write and read, that I could spent hours in my room drawing or daydreaming and that I loved to watch anime.
I had been a dreamer. And that dreaming was it that cost me my life.
The car came out of nowhere (or was I too caught up in my own world to notice?)
Well, it hit me and sent me flying thru the air. I didn't feel any pain when I hit the ground.
I remember my blood pooling around me and that I was admiring the way it contrasted with the asphalt. Red and gray.
The first time I opened my eyes, I was confused. Everything was fuzzy, the colors were too bright and I felt weird. The noises around me were too loud and sharp and the strangest thing. I was small.
I wasn't the biggest person before, being only sixteen, but I shouldn't be small enough to be carried.
So in all the confusion and brightness I did the only rational thing, I wailed.
And nearly choked on my own spit. I sounded like an infant!
Okay, this is not normal! I was wrapped in a pink blanket and handed to a woman. (At least I thought it was a woman. Stupid baby vision!) Huh, I'm a baby? Yeah, I surprised myself with that thought.
I caught on pretty quickly. I was a baby again, but the Hows? And Whys? I had no idea about.
The women cooed at me in a language I couldn't understand. I was even more confused now.
Where was I?
Yeah, this question would bite me in the ass later.
I'm a bit embarrassed to say that it took me three years to figure out that I wasn't in my universe anymore. Before that I thought I was somewhere in ancient Japan. The language was a bitch to learn but I was always good at learning languages and the fact that I was a baby helped.
My parents were both civilians, my father had a weapons shop and my mother was a housewife.
Of course I heard the terms "Ninja" and "Shinobi" sometimes but never really thought anything about it.
I didn't get to see the outside much, me being a frail little thing and all. I was only allowed to go in the backyard and that was it.
How I found out? That's an interesting story.
Well, you see, my father worked at the weapons shop all day and my mother had to visit a sick relative. I was a pretty independent child. I learned how to walk and talk as soon as possible and could easily be left alone for short periods of time ( like when kaa-chan went groceries shopping) But my mother would be gone for the entire day so she hired a genin team to babysit me.
"Bye, Taiyo-chan. Kaa-chan will be back in the evening. Be nice to your babysitters." I smiled up at my mother. She was a pretty women, with chocolate brown hair and green eyes. "I'm always nice kaa-chan!" I chirped in my high pitched voice. "I know sweetheart." she chuckled and ruffled my short hair. Then she left. And three kids stepped in. I blinked.
"Oh, my! Taiyo-chan you're so cute!" the girl giggled. She had green hair, tied up in two high pigtails.
The girl suddenly grabbed me, held me up and poked my cheek. "Ah, so cuuuteee!"
"Be careful Sasame, you don't want to scare our client." one of the boys said. He had dark brown hair and white eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous, Tahiko. I'm not scaring her." I stared at the girl, or well at her forehead. Because there was a headband with a metal plate on the front and an agonizingly familiar symbol.
Maybe they're just cosplaying? The third boy had two fang-like shapes on his cheeks.
I reached out and touched the girls forehead protector.
"What's that?" I asked, hoping she would explain that it was just from an anime show.
"Huh?" The girls brown eyes looked up, then she smiled. "That's my hitai-ate! It shows that I'm a ninja of the leaf village!"
I swallowed. Shit.
Suddenly the ball of fluff on the third boy's shoulder, an Inuzuka, decided to bark. My blood froze.
Dog. It's a dog. Oh my god dog! Dog! I cried out and started squirming in the girls grip.
And of course me being a toddler with absolute no control over my feelings, started crying like the little girl I was. "What's wrong, Tai-chan? Please stop crying!" The green haired girl cradled me against her chest. "I think she's afraid of the dog." The boy with the white eyes said.
"Ah? Don't worry Tai-chan. Kumo is a good dog. He won't do anything to you I swear!" It was the first time the Inuzuka boy spoke.
I buried my face in the girls brown tank-top and whimpered. I was freaking terrified of dogs!
The girl set me on the ground and crouched next to me. "Look he's just a puppy." she smiled.
The boy set his ninken down in front of me. Kumo, I can see where that name comes from. The pup was just a ball of white fluff. He wiggled his little tail at me. I just sniffled.
"You wanna pet him?" the boy grinned. My eyes widened. Is he out of his mind?! That thing could easily kill me!
I shook my head so hard I felt a bit dizzy. "Ne, Tai-chan. We didn't introduce ourselves, did we?" The girl grinned, scratching her cheek.
"Well, I'm Sasame. He's Tahiko and dog boy is Hige." "Oi! Who're you callin dog boy!" Sasame just rolled her eyes.
Well, that's the story how I found out that I was now part of the Naruto-verse. Great.
Sasame, Tahiko and Hige came more often to babysit me after that. I think it's pretty funny that my mom extra hired a tracker team to babysit me. As if I would run away.
It was Tahiko, by the way, that told me when I was. He said something about his little cousins Hinata and Neji being my age. So I was part of the rookie nine generation. The generation where the most fucked up shit happens. Oh, joy.