A/N - Naruto and canon characters belong to Kishimoto... all OCs are mine.
Ninja From Another World - Step Through the Light
The old man began talking to the group of youngsters gathered at his feet.
"Life has a funny way of making up for the crappyness we experience, at least that is my belief.
The tale I am about to tell you all is about how Life made up for what it had put a young boy through."
Gerry was born with a congenital disease, specifically Progeria, which causes the person to age prematurely. By the time he was Six, Gerry had come to understand his time was short in the world. But he didn't hate the world, instead, he treated each day like it was a new and wonderful opportunity, because for him they were precious.
His parents encouraged his attitude and didn't refuse him the opportunity to experience new things as often as possible. One day they were taking a trip to the local Mall and they happened to pass a store that specialized in all kinds of Manga and Anime. One poster on the window grabbed Gerry's attention. It showed a young ninja in action and below it it said, "Power to Believe". Well to Gerry this was the most awesome thing he could every have seen, because that was his own inner feeling, that everyone should have the power to believe anything was possible!
"Mom, can I have one of those posters?" He asked, and his parents of course obliged. But more than that, when the owner of the store met Gerry, who they were buying the poster for he refused their payment. In fact, Gerry's personality so impressed the owner he gave them the DVD set for the first few seasons of the Anime. Thanking the man the family continued their outing at the mall, but Gerry kept in the back of his mind the poster and the DVDs. When Gerry's energy was finally spent, his parents made him comfortable in his bed and hung the poster on his wall where he could always see it. Too tired to do anything else he stared at the poster and imagined who this boy must be before finally falling off to sleep.
Those stricken with such serious diseases spend alot of time in hospitals, and Gerry was no exception. The following day after the trip to the mall his parents drove him to the hospital and got him comfortable in the room often used for his stays there. His mother had brought the poster with them and put it up on the wall with some sticky tack and pulled the DVD set out on the table next to Gerry's bed. The room was arranged so that the patient could load and play DVD's right from their bed without having to get up. So his Mom placed the first DVD into the player and pushed play on the remote.
The soundtrack entry animations for Naruto began to play and Gerry watched in fascination all the action on the TV. As the first episode began Gerry knew he was going to like it. Naruto was funny and he was battling against other's opinions of him, much like Gerry had to do whenever he was out in public. He saw the stares from the people, the eyes full of pity and sorrow for him, yet those people didn't know him, how could they know they were the ones to be pitied and they should cheer him on. So in some way Gerry immediately felt connected to Naruto on a spiritual level.
Over the next several weeks Gerry got to watch the DVDs in the series, sometimes he would watch the same episodes over and over. While his spirit remained high, his body was failing. The onset of the disease was ravaging his organs. Still, he never failed to smile when someone entered his room, and he always repeated the mantra... "I have the power to believe!" So those close to him, though their minds could barely stand seeing his ravaged body, their hearts stood fast and kept their spirits from waning.
The inevitable day finally came though, but when it did Gerry did not leave in sorrow. He was watching another episode of Naruto, seeing the young ninja beat Neji in the Chunin exams. As his spirit passed from his body he was surrounded by a white light. He felt no pain, and he felt light as a feather and he was that feather. Then he felt as if that feather had turned into a leaf blown by the wind. As the leaf spun in the wind the white light gave way to a birds eye view of a village, no, more a city surrounded by a great woods.
Then Gerry, as that leaf, started falling into that city towards a large gate. He felt himself get heavy, no longer a leaf but instead a boy again, but not like he had been, this body wasn't ravaged, it was whole and hearty. As he continued to fall he picked up speed, he was like a rocket rushing toward the gate, he was going to crash into it. He quickly closed his eyes and crossed his arms to somehow protect himself. He didn't feel the impact. Suddenly he was laying in a bed, he could tell since he'd spent so many hours in bed, it was a normal feeling to him. He uncrossed his arms and looked around. He was in an infirmary. He saw some things that looked familiar like cabinets with bandages and medicines, a few machines which were unfamiliar but seemed to be hooked up to his body reading out strange vitals. As he scanned the room a woman walked in, apparently a nurse from how she was dressed.
"So how are you today?" She asked.
"Umm... What happened to me?" Gerry asked, unsure of exactly what he just experienced.
"That, young man is the question." The nurse held a pencil to her mouth and then scribbled something on a tablet she held in her arms. "Can you tell me your name?"
Gerry thought for a moment, but couldn't think of his name... that was funny, why didn't he know his name? He knew he was somebody, and he'd just been in the hospital. Hospital?, he was in a hospital now. Strange, this was all familiar but not familiar. "I don't know... where am I?"
"You are in Konoha Hospital Wing 3. You were brought here unconscious from outside the city gate three days ago. We've attended to the wounds you had with chakra treatment and you seem to physically be fine, but you did have a pretty sizeable lump on your head." The nurse responded.
He felt his head, and felt a lump on it, which was tender to his touch. "Ow" He said as he pressed on it.
"Do you remember anything?" She asked him.
He tried hard to think about the past, but there was nothing he could connect to. "No... I'm confused."
"Well I think we better have someone scan you for any serious brain damage, but it looks like you have amnesia young man." The nurse scribbled on her pad again. "I'll send in some lunch for you soon. Just lay back and rest."
A little later an orderly brought in a serving tray with some juice and a plate of vegetables and fish and a bowl of broth. They were delicious and he had finished them quickly. As he looked around his room he spotted a drawer in the small table next to his bed. He slid it open and a book was inside. "Tale of a Gutsy Ninja" The title seemed familiar, but he didn't think he'd ever read it. As he opened the cover and began to read he immediately felt like he was home. He devoured the book quickly, reading page after page. About halfway through he was interrupted though.
In the doorway stood the nurse again, but behind her was a man dressed in a style more suited to combat than hospital work. He wore a grey shirt and trousers and a long black coat over it. His greying yellow hair was held in a ponytail and his bangs were held back by a head protector with a familiar symbol over it. Gerry knew he'd seen the symbol somewhere but he couldn't determine it's meaning.
"This is Inoichi Yamanaka, he is going to check your brain for damage and see if there is anything keeping you from remembering what happened to you." The nurse said.
The man entered the room. "Hello son, OK, as she said I'm going to check for damage, just remain calm as I place my hand on your forehead." Inoichi placed his palm on his head and made a quick handsign. The act seemed both odd yet familiar to the boy. As the man scanned his brain Gerry lost consciousness.
Gerry awoke to voices "He's got no damage to his brain, but it seems like all his memories of his past have been wiped. What I can tell of them though is that they were not bad memories, there is no sense of mistreatment or mental anguish so I think it's safe to assume he isn't a threat to Konoha. His personality matrix is intact and gives no hint of maliciousness either, I think it is safe if we release him into the community orphanage." It was Inoichi's voice. And as Gerry looked on he saw an older man dressed in a flowing white kimono and wearing a large hat that covered most of the features of his face. The older man saw Gerry looking at him and walked into the room.
"Well well, it looks like you've had a time of it arriving at Konoha young man. Let me introduce myself, I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage of Konohagakure." The man said to Gerry. "I have been told you don't know your name, so to make matters simple, until you remember your name we'll provide you with one for identification purposes. OK?"
Gerry looked at the man and nodded. "OK, I guess it's better than not having one at all."
"Indeed, lets see..." and the Hokage scratched his chin and looked at the boy. Naming someone was a specialty of his, since he did have the Anbu operating under him and it was necessary to assign code names to them periodically. "Your name shall be Wakaba, young leaf." This will be the name you are called until you remember your own name."
"Wakaba... I like it." Gerry, now Wakaba said.
"Very well Wakaba, since you seem to have checked out healthy I think you can safely be escorted to the orphanage." Hiruzen Sarutobi said to the young man.
"Sir, may I take this with me?" Wakaba held up the copy of Gutsy Ninja.
"I don't see why not... do you have aspirations to be a ninja Wakaba?" The Hokage asked interested in what the young man would say.
"I think so, from my impression in this book, it seems like ninja are protectors and that's what I want to be. " Wakaba said.
"Indeed, ninja are protectors of the peace, but the life of a ninja is hard, I must warn you of this, and it's dangerous, death is a very real possibility for a ninja on a daily basis." The Hokage said in earnest.
Wakaba thought about that statement, but inside him he knew death was nothing to be feared, he felt like he would never be afraid of it. "I understand, death is possible everyday sir, but we have to live life to it's fullest, and I believe in myself that I can become a great ninja."
"Interesting, very well then. You can stay here tonite, then come by the Hokage tower tomorrow and we will enroll you in the Ninja Academy. Once you are enrolled we will find you suitable accommodations and give you a small stipend to support you during your time at the Academy." The Hokage turned and walked down the hall with Inoichi.
A short time later the nurse who had attended him earlier came into the room carrying a small package. "Here are some basic clothes for you to wear Wakaba. You will remain here tonite and then I will escort you to the Hokage tower tomorrow."
"Thank you" Wakaba said taking the package of clothes.
After she left he took the copy of Tales of a Gutsy Ninja and began reading from where he left off. His dreams that night were strange yet happy. He dreamt he had a family that loved him and missed him, but who hoped he was in a better place. In the dream he went to them and told them not to worry, that he was going to become a ninja and fight for Konoha.