Summary: Kakashi stared at his first actual students, filled by an increasing sense of dread as he thought: A ramen-loving prankster, a violent bookworm and a pyromaniac. Why me…?!
Catchy music played as three 12-year-olds stood together on top of a small, rocky mountain which overlooked a forest. The trio's silhouettes cleared to reveal a blond, a pinkette and a ravenette. Wind made the trees' leaves swirl upwards, forming the words:
Team Shichi
The title then burst into emerald flames. Its dying embers fell atop the trio, whom leapt off.
Raven leaned against a tree trunk, dark eyes turning crimson with three black 'commas' in each. Pinky was reading a thick book atop a wide branch, underneath her Blondie sitting on a swing while rapidly eating ramen.
"I can see it,"
Blondie ran through the forest with the other two close behind.
"We'll book it to the goal line."
Blondie slowed a bit, whirling around to hold out a hand to each of his/her teammates. All three smirked as they linked their hands to form a triangle.
"Still, you and me,"
They fought together against their grouped-into-threes classmates and two more trios.
"We don't know,
We don't know
Enough about it."
Raven and Blondie rolled on grass, a silver-haired young man watching from the side-lines. Pinky disappeared from beside him and reappeared between the pair of fighters, bashing their heads together to end the brawl.
"We've gone past it,"
All four walked out of their home village, sharing sincere grins (Silver's hidden by his mask). Four flashbacks, showing their defining moments – Blondie spoke to a distressed Pinky with regret; Pinky furiously walked past Raven, but he grabbed her hand in tears; Raven and Blondie stepped away from Pinky in horror; Silver stared at the trio, single eye wide in shock as they glared defiantly at him with their arms linked.
"To the point of no return.
No looking back."
The quartet trained together in various ways with some mishaps – Raven often causing fires, Pinky smashing things to smithereens, and Blondie making crazy clones that wreaked havoc.
"We don't know,
We don't know
Enough about it."
The trio sparred with Silver being judge, each pair resulting in a devastating clash where both shinobi ended up passing out.
"We got this.
We got this.
We got this now."
Pinky yelled out as she punched cleanly through a wall with her blue-glowing fist while her free hand softly glowed green, Raven covered himself with a small black inferno as his red-and-black eyes gained a kaleidoscope pattern, Blondie leapt into the air holding a blue ball of wind in his/her hand and pulsing with a red aura.
"Getting all fired up."
Each (adult team leader included) fell to their knees, breathing laboured as both sweat and blood covered their beaten bodies. The respectively black (Silver), navy blue and white (Raven), crimson and dark gray (Pinky), and orange and teal (Blondie) clothes were torn.
"We'll let sweat drip from every pore now."
They travelled across various landscapes, eventually arriving in front of familiar front gates.
"There's so many things we don't know.
We'll remember our journey home."
Each of the trio greeted their individual friends, who they had previously fought in the forest.
"Everyone,"
Pinky crossed her arms with a fond smile and Raven smirked in amusement as a grinning Blondie tackle-hugged Silver.
"Even him,"
All four faded into a shadow in their respective colours.
"Become silhouettes."
The trio grew from babies covered by a dark adult shape into happy toddlers that became a bit taller as they met in school before walking out at 12 wearing the same metal plate each and meeting Silver as he jumped down from the roof to stand in front of them.
"You and I, we're now growing old."
Silver looked over his broken team in sorrow, the youngster' respective eyes tear-filled.
"There's some things we can't protect and hold."
The one in danger rapidly changing from Raven to Pinky to Blondie, their hands were gripped by the other two to keep them from falling into a dark ravine.
"Don't let go!"
The trio were 8 years old, sitting on their school's roof. They exchanged sincere smiles while linking hands with their fingers intertwined.
"We all know
We'll never give it up."
The quartet stood their ground, in front of them atop a rocky mountain a group of shadowed people in black cloaks decorated by red clouds. Their heads were the only body part visible (one of them not even showing that little due to his orange, swirly mask).
"So many things we don't know."
All four leapt forward, going over the dozen or so people and linking hands as they fell from the sky towards the forest in a 4-pointed star formation. Each member of the quartet was grinning.
"We'll remember our journey home."
Their numerous friends, allies and enemies (not necessarily in that order) rapidly flashed through the quartet's minds.
"Everyone,"
Silver stood shocked in front of the other masked person, whose face became visible as his mask shattered and its pieces fell.
"Even him,"
The quartet ran through the forest again, this time once more being coloured shadows.
"Become silhouettes."
The four coloured shadows battled all sorts of opponents – including a snake-like ravenette, a powerful blonde woman and a white-haired man.
"And one last time our shadows dance within the wind."
The trio floated down from the sky, landing back on top of the mountain they'd started from.
"Like a leaf, we'll always float away…"
1. Triple Toddler Trouble
...Where the hell am I? Last thing I remember is my idiocy finally getting me killed! You'd think a 21-year-old knows to not run on the road and get flattened by a truck. That detached thought was all the literally wispy young woman managed to mentally voice before outright oblivion re-claimed her. The next time she regained full consciousness, her weird and wonky body was squeezed, followed by coming out the end of a narrow tunnel covered in gloop. So she screamed.
At 3 months old, her new infantile brain had become developed enough to allow rare occasions of coherent thought. She reflexively burst into tears at learning she was held by a normal person instead of a giant, having somehow been reincarnated and now being a baby. What the fuck?! I haven't cried for six months! Stupid baby body.
Two more months went by before she could think straight again. Why do I feel so damn safe and content when Mummy holds me? Wait, did I just call her 'Mummy'?! Oh, hell no. I don't need new parents; I just started my own life! No, no, put me down, Mu– Lady! I can take care of myself BY MYSELF! Screw this, I wish I'd stayed dead!
Unfortunately, her infant instincts made it impossible to keep her distance (emotionally, though neither could she do so physically). Not to mention the 5-month-old needed care. Resting her head against the lightly tanned, lavender(?)-haired female's upper chest, the tiny adult couldn't help feeling safe and content. Maybe this isn't so bad... Nope, don't get comfy! Dammit. And, as do all other infants, she let her displeasure be known through crying.
When 6 months old, she moved on from babbling (the tantrums had gotten old) to attempting to speak whenever awake. "Talkative, aren't we, Sakura-chan?" her new mother (it was far too mentally exhausting to attempt avoiding a growing parent-child bond when the other young woman constantly showered her with love) cooed.
And that's another thing; why did I end up getting randomly reborn in Japan? Or China, or Korea, or wherever the heck this place is? And how come I got reincarnated in the first place?! Why not someone who actually deserves a second chance at life?
Her questions unanswered, Sakura could only nuzzle her new mummy's neck and glance blearily at the simple, somewhat eccentric village they were walking through on a quick shopping trip. Are we in an old-fashioned place, or did I somehow travel back in time to boot?
By 9 months old, the woman-turned-baby had mastered crawling, to her mummy's conflicting pride and horror – the latter due to little Sakura never staying in one spot for longer than a few seconds, as she was busy exploring their simple apartment (located above a lovely flower shop in which the young woman worked as an assistant). Her walking made things ten times worse.
"You have quite the little adventurer there, Mebuki-chan!" the flower shop's owner – whose very long, dirty blonde hair, to Sakura's slight disappointment since she and her new mother both had a strange hair colour each, was tied back in a ponytail save for the spiky fringe – remarked as the pinkette infant was plucked away from a vaseful of cherry blossoms. His mildly amused smile widened at their matching pouts. "Ha-ha, the two of you are so cute!"
Smiling in amused exasperation, said female rolled her round, light forest green eyes as she shifted Sakura in her embrace. "Thank you again, by the way," the babyfied woman's parent whispered in gratitude.
Her boss waved his hand. "Don't mention it; what kind of a gentleman would I be to leave a damsel to her distress? Besides, accidents happen." He then grinned teasingly, wiggling his eyebrows.
Blushing, Mebuki promptly punched him on his jaw. The man was a bit too close to dodge her hit.
Sakura giggled.
I. Am. So. BORED! an infant with straw-blonde hair thought, somehow curbing his/her instinct to immediately cry, Being a baby sucks. And, again, WHY THE HECK WAS I REBORN MALE?! It's karma for never being stupid and girly, isn't it?!
She squirmed underneath the blankets, tears prickling in her new blue-gray eyes. Crap! Heeere we go... Cue the wailing.
One of the orphanage workers came over to the crib and tenderly picked 'him' up. The youngster rocked the reincarnated teen, humming. Glad it's you... Natsukun. Yawning, 'he' eventually drifted off to sleep to a gentle whisper of "Have a nice nap, Naruto-chan".
The next morning, little Naruto blinked as she sat alone in a corner of their shabby playroom. Huh. So his name is actually 'Natsu' and the 'kun' is what people tack on after it. Go figure...
Despite being only 8 months old, Naruto had the mental capacities of a youn child rather than a baby's as a result of her previous life. Although I wonder why I'm not 18 on the inside? ...Meh, not important!
The sunkissed infant puffed up her whiskered cheeks, clumsily crossed her tiny arms and pouted. MEANIES! …Except for you, Natsu; you're cool.
No longer eavesdropping (not that the two assistants realized she was capable of understanding them) on the conversation about 'himself', Naruto looked at her new hands. Sooo then, my new name's Uzumaki Naruto, huh? … … … BEWARE THE SUPER SAIYAN! "BEWAH DE TUPEW TAYA!" Just because she could.
Her fellow orphans began shouting baby babble with her, though Naruto shouted butchered Disney quotes she liked. The woman whom had been speaking with (and in the process very much infuriating) Natsu stopped their one-track conversation as she turned to glare coldly at the whiskered baby.
Natsu stepped in her way, a scorching glare daring the female assistant to go anywhere near Naruto with the intent to harm 'him'. She scoffed at the orangette's protectiveness and left the room. Running a hand through his short mess of spiky hair, Natsu sighed in relief. He turned his attention on the infants and toddlers.
And promptly blanched. They're not gonna shut up any time soon! ...This is karma, isn't it?
Two months later, Naruto was walking around as well as a baby could. Natsu laughed at the sight of his self-appointed charge playing infantile tag with some of the 1- and 2-year-olds. Ignoring his colleague's sneer, the 15-year-old picked Naruto up after the blond ran into a wall. She giggled at the cuddling and mild teasing that followed, even though Natsu had no clue the infant actually understood what was being said.
"Nat!" The teen froze. Another giggle. "Nat, Nat, NAT!"
Slowly looking at the 10-months-old baby in amazement, Natsu asked: "D-did ya just say...?" Naruto patted his white-rimmed round goggles, which were attached to a wide green headband, in response.
"AAIIEEE!" The other workers in the orphanage rushed into the room at the loud sound that might have been a scream. Then instantly facepalmed, snorted or groaned.
Natsu was dancing around with Naruto in his arms. "He said my name! I'm ickle Naruto-chan's first word!" The blond joined him in laughter.
A baby with jet-black hair that stuck up at the back kept kicking his crib. Blind. Stupid. Ignorant. Bast– His litany of mental self-insults was cut short by a young, calm voice:
"Little brother, what are you doing?"
Startled by it as well as by his own conflicted feelings now rushing to the forefront, the 1-year-old's reddening pale face whitened. Coal eyes went wide. He froze, starting to tumble down to the floor.
In the split-second all of that happened, a pair of small yet strong arms stopped his descent. The tiny ravenette looked up, instinctively giving an infantile grin as he exclaimed: "'Tachi-nii!"
The 6-year-old smiled in mild amusement at his baby brother, though said infant still noticed the worry in matching eyes. He didn't get a chance to react to that, however; Itachi poked the 1-year-old's forehead.
Inwardly smirking, the reincarnated male reached up and tugged on a handful of silky, jaw-length hair. "Pwetty!" Itachi indulged him, letting the smaller boy play with the soot black locks of hair for a moment while smiling gently.
"There you are, Itachi-kun, Sasuke-chan," their mother quietly exclaimed from the doorway.
Not 'mother', Mikoto. Except she is 'Mama', but she's NOT and is yet isn't– "Little brother." Big brother. Not a murderer, not a character; MY BROTHER!
Picking up Sasuke in a comforting embrace that lessened the tearful wailing into sobbing on his shoulder, Itachi walked over to an anxious Mikoto. "Little brother, you should let go." The baby boy kept clinging to him.
"NO! 'Tachi-nii!" Don't leave me! Please, I can't lose you! We're brothers; older siblings aren't supposed to leave their little brothers behind! PLEASE STAY!
Mikoto knelt down and wrapped both boys in a motherly embrace that did little to quell Sasuke's grief. For the longest time they remained like that, until her husband came over with the intention of inquiring why Itachi was tardy for training.
Fugaku stared at the sight of his youngest hiccupping with tear-tracks on his little cheeks. Strict and driven, he nevertheless cared for his family and so lowered himself to give his wife a half-hug while ruffling Sasuke's hair with his free hand.
The three true Uchihas would never know that was the moment a certain 28-year-old infant mentally swore to protect all three of them, no matter the cost.
A.N.: Sooo, what cha thiiink? Haven't seen this kinda twist on the S.I. cliché (b.t.w., I absolutely LOVE those kinda fics; cliché does NOT equal bad) anywhere on this site yet, so figured I might as well write it myself.
About Naruto's gender identity issue, I'm referring to him as male coz that's how he is physically. But a certain jutsu will soon occasionally change that... *smirks* Also, I am not transgender & so apologize if anything I write comes off insulting; Naruto's not supposed to be like that either, since I know nothing about such things, so his gender identity is bound to make nooo sense to normal people. Feel free to ignore it!
Age on moment of death: Sasuke 28; Sakura 21; Naruto 18. Yes, I'm making Sasuke "the mature one". And an arsonist. *deadpans:* ...My definition of a responsible adult needs work.
Physically, Sasuke is a month older than Sakura whom is a month older than Naruto. Don't care what's canon in that regard. Mentally they are 14, 11 & 8, respectively; no way can baby brains hold their full intellectual capacities!
Yes, the Natsu I'm using is from the anime 'Fairy Tail'. Except, to avoid the conclusion of him being this Sakura's dad, I switched his hair colour from light pink to orange. And he's gentler than Fairy Tail's Natsu, as seen when he looks after baby Naruto. …No idea what I'm gonna do with him once Naruto graduates, though. Feel free to leave suggestions if ya happen to get an idea!
I fused 3 fic ideas into one, so don't be surprised by certain canon details getting thrown out the window, e.g. Sakura's mum in this has her canon husband's colouring & is not married. Also, I'm using 'Narutopedia' as my guide, but otherwise making everything up as I go along.
Inspired by 'Kakashi's Kid' and not in the least bit original concept-wise. But I hope my try-to-survive-in-a-terrifying-world-filled-with-ninjas plot makes up for that.
P.S. To hear the intro, see on YouTube 'Naruto Shippuden Opening 16「Silhouette」(English Cover by NateWantsToBattle)'by RagingxGhosts. I don't own it either, though I plan on trying to animate what I wrote some day & posting it on YouTube so that I can watch it for fun.
Outtake
[An A.U. scene that will NOT be in this fic at any point, but was the reason I started writing the story:]
Naruto had just introduced himself (out of which the others only got that he was completely obsessed with ramen and wanted to become Hokage to earn respect). He's grown up in a very interesting way, Kakashi mused. "All right, next."
There was a short moment of silence. As he was sitting in the middle, Sasuke decided to speak up. His introduction was a little worrying, considering he hated a lot of things and had nothing he actually liked – not to mention his ambition to "kill a certain someone"! The silverette resolved to keep a close watch on this kid.
Kakashi looked at the pinkette – whose hair had apparently been crudely cut recently – with his visible eye. "Last one." She's the only newbie I haven't had a chance to observe. Although, Pinky is a civilian so...
"I'm Haruno Sakura. My likes include tasty food, improvement at being a shinobi and playing any games. Dreams for the future...? I guess helping Sasuke and Naruto to achieve their goals, since I absolutely DESPISE trash who abandon their comrades."
Kakashi froze at the last few words, uttered with such intensity by his new female student. WHA– HOW?!
Sakura winked with a thumbs up, on the inside gleefully cackling at achieving the aim of making her favourite character speechless for a bit. Ha-ha, GOTCHA, Kakashi-senpai!
Disclaimer: Save for my O.C. Self-Inserts (technically), I own NOTHING. And this is semi-A.U. because I'm a total moron who can't remember much of what I've read of the 'Naruto' manga & seen in its TV show.