Prologue

"It's too cold today." Her voice was more bitter than the wind that broke her cozy warmth. Brown eyes had flickered to the red light before she looked at her phone. The dry, crisp air seemed gloomy from how dark the cloudy sky was. The cars zoomed by in a blur and pedestrians chattered, walked, or stood in silence as they headed to their destination. The bright lights and overly crowd streets of Atlanta brought a tingling feeling to her chest; however, the stations filled with homeless people weren't that appealing. She sighed, drinking her cup of coffee.

Even though it was barely forty-five degrees; the thick coat, gloves, and scarf didn't keep the chills at bay. Her shoulder-length dark hair always became stiff from the brisk breezes. Her lips would bleed from the lack of chapstick. She hated how her ear throbbed and stung from the cold atmosphere. But then, Wintertime wasn't everyone's favorite season - the girl stared at the walking human light.

She took leisure steps with downcast eyes, and onto her scarf, the girl breathed to contain its warm. Her eyes searched underneath thin lashes with a calculative, dull glaze. "Just where in the world is that bookstore...?" She furrowed her straight brows. "Imas. Cortina Leather. Impulse... Ah, Ground for Thought."

Halting, the girl craned her neck and looked back. "Maybe I missed," -at the moment she heard a voice screamed, "Hey, watch out!"

She instinctively averted her attention towards a white, sleek car. It became the last thing she had remembered before everything turned black.

Chapter 1 [1st POV]

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

I had been listening to my heartbeat for a while. The muffled and distant voices squealed into the background, and warm wind cooled the sweat burning my body. I... I'm alive. I sniffed up the snot. Tears slid down my cheekbones while it itched my ears.

I'm sure how this happened and where the pain from the car crash went, I'm alive, surrounded by children and nature - wait, what? Children and nature?

Sitting up, I squinted my eyes through the blinding sunlight as I looked around. There were kids from toddler to early primary students playing tag with a wooden knife. An enormous lone, wooden building stood behind them, and past the fields had endless rows of sturdy trees and trees with pink petals.

I looked at my hands, which was unusually smaller and redder than my large hands, and brown dirt layered my legs and arms. Where was I? "You!" A shadow loomed over me, making me - ah, just a little boy. With dark slanted eyes, he has shaggy, black hair, an upturned nose, and loose freckles throughout his cheekbones. He pointed a finger at me, which further the pig-like face he has. It may seem rude, but..eh. "Mister Ayumu told me to get you. He's waiting in the playroom."

Mister Ayumu? Playroom?

Cocking my head, I tried to breathe normally as I stared at my hands, again. I was so small, so tiny - what was going on..? Did I somehow dream this up in a coma or maybe this could be... Well, it could be transmigration, but then, I'd read way too many light novels for a grown teenager. Like the Chinese stories where the protagonist transmigrated into a low noble or dying person's body. As for the Japanese ones, they'd usually transport to a different world.

...God, I hoped this wasn't true.

"Hey, are you stupid?" His voice made me jumped.

I looked back at his scrunched up face and breathed shallowly. I did not know this kid nor am I this young, but I need information. If I were to rely on somebody, then I hoped that it would be this Ayumu guy. Nodding my head, I followed him without a word. If I dared to say something, my voice would probably sound croaky and breathless.

...I ducked my gaze whenever it met someone.

Although most of these toddlers were playing with a happy expression, their vigor seemed to be meager for someone their age. Was this place not a pleasant place or the adults, who ran this place, weren't that nice? Maybe this world that seemed to different wasn't that prosperous? Beats me. Right now, that was the least of my problems.

Inside the double doors lie a corridor that led to many rooms. Some of them were loud, and others were in complete silence. I snuck a glance at the boy as we turned a few times. It seemed like this house was an orphanage, where it wasn't to homey or uncomfortable. This was like how we walked into a stranger's house, filling uncertain of your boundaries. Scrolls with black kanji hung on the walls as decor; frame photos had a chip here and there or burnt corners, ninja - whoa! I stopped to look at the kunai on the floor. Picking it up, I marvel on its sharpness and the smell of oil and lead it emitted. "Is this real..?"

The boy shrugged like this was nothing. "Duh. Everyone here's going to become a ninja once we're old enough. I'm almost four, so I'm joining the academy this fall!" Sticking his nose higher than it should be, he crossed his arms and harrumphed. What a loser. Ninjas weren't real. Snorting, I raised a brow.

"Yeah." I deadpanned. "How, um...nice."

Sharpening his glare, he frowned and snatched the kunai from my hand. Hey dude, that was rude as hell, one. And two, you shouldn't be holding such a sharp weapon! "Give me the knife." I held my hand out. If only I were at my original height, then I could have taken it, but... God has forsaken me. I was short, and I never deemed myself short. My mother said that I was abnormally small as a three-year-old! I still didn't know what's going on, which wasn't helping! He had smirked at me before he threw it across the hall, piercing the wooden wall effortlessly.

...I didn't know how to feel about this.

"Hah, don't tell me what to do, little girl!"

Well, fuck you too, you son of a bitch. Tossing a stink eyes and scowl at him, I kept my mouth shut. Ninja and kunai knives - was this some ancient era of Japan? I hadn't been there for a year and a half now, so it could be possible that this was a Chinese novel theme. Let's find out. I smiled gently and made sure my eyes crinkled with my hands behind my back. "Was is this village's name?" I raised my pitched and tilted my head.

He looked confused for a moment before he shook his head. Suspicion pooled in his eyes as the boy spoke with caution. "The Hidden Village of the Leaves... Why you ask?"

... I blinked, dropping the smile, blank-faced.

..Oh. Hidden Village of the Leaves, you said?

"...Let's go to Mister Ayumu." Pulling the same act, I walked past him with white fists, trying not to show any signs of trembling. I didn't know how to feel about this. Was he lying? Was this like the famous anime, called Naruto, that my siblings watched..? I deeply inhaled before I breathe. My back itched from the sweat, which also made my palms clammy. Mumbling beside me, the kid brought me into an empty room, filled with bookshelves, mats, and some toys scattered around. There was a man, who appeared in his early twenty, sitting on the window lounge with a manuscript in hand. His slanted eyes were surprisingly a medium honey-colored quality with dark blue hair, tied into a low tail. A natural frown on his mouth, a straight nose bridge, a tapering jawline with solid muscles underneath that familiar navy blue and green uniform - I blinked and rubbed my eyes. In Japan, guys like him were called the long-haired ikemen.

If I was my age, boy would I tap that fine butt.

The boy left after a few words, leaving me alone with Mister Ayumu. Uh. I stared at the man, who glanced at me. "Ah - Misty," - his eyes squinting like moon crescents, Ayumu's mouth stretched into a toothy and Cheshire-like grin, making me - no. H-How did he know my name? What was with that even tone full of hidden meaning that I didn't want to know !? He closed to book with a thud meanwhile chills trickled down my spine, causing me to straighten my back as I stare at him, wide-eyed - "You kept me waiting. Are you doing well on this mighty fine and sunny day?"

"...Who are you?" Clenching my already white fists, I kept my voice flat with hard eyes. This Ayumu guy - he was onto something, which meant that I should be very, very worried. I swallowed when he smiled with closed eyes.

"I'm Mister Ayumu! Did Ozaki not tell you my name?"

"I meant, how do you know me?" Speaking through gritted teeth, I froze rock solid from this urge to step back and run. "Were..were you the one who sent me here?"

Ayumu hummed, tapping his chin, as he looked up in thought. The man shrugged. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't." He paused dramatically with a finger up. "Oh, no. I did. Look, kid," -cutting me off, his face grinned- "if it weren't for me, you would have been dead in that car crash. Ho? Won't I get a thank you? After all I did to put your body into comatose and send your soul into a dream come true world, you don't look appreciative like I hope you will. Do you want to be dead the-"

"No!" I stepped forward. The air suddenly left my chest.

...Crap. He was staring at me with those expectant eyes. I cleared my throat and wiped my hands on shorts. My eyes lingered on the bright windowsill. "How long will I be comatose..? When will you send me back, and - why am I here?"

Swinging a leg over another, he shrugged in gusto. "Eh. I don't know. Sometimes, I think it's best if things are left unanswered."

"But," -he intervened when I tried to speak- "the only way I'll send you back is if you do a little something-something in return for saving your life."

Something-something? Taken aback, I blinked a few times as I weighed the pros and cons. If what he said was true, then I have no options but to go with this quest. I don't know the way out and about meanwhile he does but, "what's this something-something?" My heart almost stopped when his head lowered, flashing a wicked grin. Ayumu slowly replied.
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." He stood up. "In due time, you'll know. Any questions?"

"As the matter of fact, I do." Glowering, my voice grew deeper. I grew up as an ordinary girl with only five years of Taekwondo, which only made me a black belt first dan. Kids learned to fight when they were around five, and they killed somewhere in their early adolescents. The only blood I spilled were the ones in gory games and dissecting animals. Just what's with this bastard, thinking that I can compete with ninjas in an anime nonetheless? "Will I get any special abilities? Any kekkei genkai? You can't expect someone like to me have an advantage and live in this world. I'll die!"

"Sorry." Looking bored, he shrugged. "At least, you'll be ahead in academics with an abnormally durable body. Because your world does not use chakras like this one and the laws of physics are different, your body's strength and stamina are much better than - eh, like around high chuunin level at this age. If that Kaguya woman didn't eat that fruit, then this world would have been the same as yours."

Oh my - calm down, just calm down. I pinched my nose bridge; then sighed. There's no use crying over spilled milk. All I needed to do was to finish this quest, survive, and get stronger. Survival of the fittest. Fake it til you make it. I could do this. I continued to massage my forehead, trying to get rid of this headache. "Okay. When do I start going to the academy? And why this world?"

Ayumu shrugged, again. This guy, he shrugs a lot. It might be because I'm frustrated, but that's annoying as hell. "Eh, you're only three, so you have two years left. Train, make some friends, explore, etcetera. Do whatever you want to do." His half-lidded eyes bore into me; then expressed confusion. "Hah? What do you mean? Isn't this the world that you dreamed of going to? Like those fan-fictions on the internet browser?"

...What? I blinked and shook my head. "Uh, I think you're talking about my older sister..."

"Which older sister?" He raised a brow.

"The one that wants to marry Sasuke."

"Oh." He returned the book to the shelf. "Well, that explains a lot."

Well, I saw a self-proclaimed 'shameless-SI-story', so I decided to make one. This would be a story if I were to be in it. Eh heh... ^ ^
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