This chapter has been edited. The original plot hasn't changed, but go ahead and read it through again. I might surprise you with something good ;)
It's rather ironic that when something this strange happens, something this sudden, people seem to know everything about it. To be blunt, reincarnation probably happens all the time. The only difference between natural reincarnation and this abomination would be the constant memory source. By remembering aspects of a previous life, she remembers, a character could confidently rely on what they recalled in order to traverse this place carefully. They had knowledge, so they used it. That just seemed too good to be true.
No, this abomination, this horribly plain and lackluster reincarnation, wasn't some ironic story found by many. She wasn't a darling girl who remembered tiny details of this world that could cause her anxiety, pain, and conflictions. She had just barely enough to go on and that was okay with her. As the previously mentioned girl pulled herself out of her thoughts and dropped down from her perch on a tree branch, she began to shuffle her way along the dimly lit roads.
She couldn't remember the first few years of her life. She remembered pain and the flickering occurrence of a new life, but nothing that could be considered special. She was born to a woman who died right after giving birth with no husband in sight. She didn't understand the language at the time, therefore, she never actually found out what happened to her 'parents', but she could remember that no one held her except the doctor who pulled her out and the nurses who fed her. The only part of her birth she can and chooses to recall is when it first happened, when she quite literally transferred to this world. She could remember being shot point blank in the head by a weapon she would never see again save only for in her nightmares, then the bright lights of the hospital room.
There was no void, no letting go, and no peace. It simply was as it was. She wasn't given a chance to muse on the idea of death nor was she given the chance to accept it. She was pushed into the world as a little infant without a hope in her heart and that was just the way it was. So she got over it. No monologues (well, technically yes there were quite a few), no regrets (no family in that world, no family in this one), and no pity. There wasn't anything she could do about it, and that fact wouldn't change no matter how much she cried or begged for the world to stop. She learned to live with that.
There was always the pulsing thought of learning why that burned in the front of her mind every so often. She wanted to know why she could remember a life she wasn't currently living and why she knew so much about things she hadn't even seen in person, yet. She wished for knowledge, and like most things she's come to learn in her new life, knowledge had a price.
It was only when she was around four and a half that she understood her place in this world and one of the prices she would have to pay. Sure, she'd seen the strange men and women who seemed to fly from building to building with wind underneath their feet and sure, she'd heard all the conversations of protectors swearing to the sky and its winds to protect their home. Their village. She was instantly repulsed by the idea of protecting this village when she wasn't sure where her ambitions would take her, and she wasn't ashamed to admit that. She'd been selfish in her other life and she'd be selfish in this one.
As it would turn out, living in an orphanage as a bastard child wasn't necessarily uncommon in this life. With so much death, what was one night of pleasure with someone attractive? She was one of many others that a handful of workers, who did not get paid enough, had to deal with. These workers weren't incredibly smart nor special, so it wasn't surprising when she first heard the mechanical conditioning spew from their mouths instead of personal, philosophical speeches she'd seen in fairy tales. They were burdened with having to deal with the brats on a daily basis, so it was obvious they wanted them to grow up with the fear of punishment swimming in their heads to keep them out of their hair.
She and the other children were tailored by these tired orphanage workers to believe that you wanted to become a shinobi- a protector- of the village. You wanted to be strong and you wanted to be powerful. You wanted to be all-knowing, follow your leader, and do well. It was about as preached as the Bible had been in a Church. There wasn't much room for discussion. If you were able, you should lust after the idea of being one of the many students in the shinobi academy. Yeah, you could become a civilian if you really wanted to, but look at how admired and worshipped the shinobi are! They needed more soldiers on the front line so that they could build up like a wall and protect those who set each of them in position.
She was sickened by it just as much as she was morbidly interested. Having been conditioned in her other life that killing wasn't morally correct, a world where it was actually praised as a simple solution ruffled her brain. It was new and strange, so she couldn't help prying into the subject. People here died just as easily as they did in her past life, if not more so, and the option to protect herself in a way she never could before enticed her.
The option to become something so much more… It was obvious which choice she decided. There was no competition in a game in which she could be the victor. As shocking as it sounds, she had not been a great team player in her other life either, seeing as she would do anything and everything she could to ensure her victory. The possibilities were endless. She could remember books upon books of people who won so triumphantly that survived the illness of time and were still talked about years later. She wished to one day have something like that.
The day after a shinobi came to the orphanage to coo about the wonders of shinobi life, she had a few more thoughts on the subject of being almost immortal. The kids laughed as the shinobi joked around, but none of them saw the horrors that were playing over and over again behind their brilliant eyes. People here were able to become something she used to deem impossible, something these shinobi had faced only once or twice in their pathetic lives, though they seem to pretend it isn't a possibility for one of their own. They could basically become… gods.
No, God.
When the thought had entered her brain, she took it and nursed it in stride. The shadows of her plotting stretched out its terrible arms to pull together every idea related to the subject. All she remembered, all she could find out. She could be something these people had never seen. The will for power was like no motivation incentive she'd ever been given. With the former pieces of knowledge that seemed to be glued in her mind from her past life, she only found her plans increase.
Technically they couldn't be called plans yet since there had been any thought put into them, but she liked to keep things plain and simple. So she began to train. A four and a half year old body wasn't much to work with now, but small things like running places, eavesdropping, and remembering the entire layout of the orphanage down to the last creak in the wood floors helped to build up skills she could use later.
Hibiki planned on becoming God. She needed all the help she could get.
Wow, that took a lot of mind effort. But I feel like it'll be worth it. So what's up, what do you think?
I suppose I should warn you right now that this isn't gonna be some protagonist story (You hopefully already gathered that). That means there's going to be more morally incorrect things you might be uncomfortable with.
There's your warning now, take it or leave it. This antagonist is gonna be cold blooded. Like a jellyfish.
Sooo.. Yeah. This chapter was pretty short but I wanted you to get a feel for what you're up against. Until next time?
9/17/2016: I haven't done anything with this story in forever. I have so much still planned, but everything seemed to happen to me in the middle of it. I'll be trying harder to focus on this, but I'm not sure if it'll get a new chapter until I go through the others and get satisfied with the way I word things and such. It's not a hopeless story tho! I promise! 3