Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only the original characters.
Anything that involves Japanese is what I personally wrote from my knowledge of Japanese, so if you google translate them, they will not make sense.
Feel free to throw in suggestions/tips, any future pairings, critics, and encouragements for this story! I really love getting them! This is a Self-Insert!OC story and I tried to make it as realistic (and interesting) as my lack of creative self, can. So if you're wondering if the storyline is off, I research thoroughly through the web and books to make sure the story is as accurate as possible. Thank you!
How long has it been?
Floating in the abyss, she mentally sighed. Other than the muffled voices in the backdrop, no one came to greet her after her death. Not even a single light—or even a brief flash of her memories—upheld the cliché of a person's death. So why was she here? Where was the afterlife, she wondered, accepting the situation in defeat. To her, even though this was just a hunch, the girl reached the conclusion of reincarnation. There was a tight pinch on her naval, and now and then, her immobilized legs would touch something soft yet firm. Like a thoroughly blown balloon. It didn't help that the constant and soothing heartbeat urged her to think in that manner, too.
After all, she did believe in reincarnation, and that time in the afterlife doesn't exist.
Who knew how many years or centuries could have passed? And that—maybe her family and friends were already over with their mourning, or that they'd already died.
Thinking of such thing, a pang dropped in her chest. She'd always love her family no matter how isolated and independent they were, and they would always be her number one deep in her heart. The girl mentally sighed, tension building up underneath her eyes. A slight throb ached in her heart, whereas the heartbeats from her mom skipped a beat. 'I can love my new family,' she indulged in her memories, thinking about the things she can do with her new family. A trip to a different country, board games, drinks and gambles once she reached of age, siblings quarrels—her mom's heart skipped a beat. Was her new mother feeling her emotions…? Raising an invisible brow, she listened to the coos of the male and female's voices. There was even a more pitched noise coming from a boyish voice. She tentatively tried to eavesdrop.
Maybe she had an older brother.
'Shit!' Thrashing from one pair of hands to another, the girl ferociously kicked and screamed from the sudden bright light and cold air, nipping onto her skin like knives. Their voices were so loud, so many things were going on, and the intense pain from someone's giant ass finger shoved down her throat. 'What the hell!?' Screaming even louder, she tried to open her eyelids to glare at them all. 'Who the fuck thrust a tube in her nose!?' It sucked the disgusting gunk from her airways, so that was a plus. But the sudden stench of body fluid—and possible vagina—made her internally cringe. She pushed the trauma experience away and forced herself to calm down.
"女の子です (1)!" A deep timbre spoke.
Although everything that went into her ear came out the other, she could briefly understand that the accent was choppy—as if they were Asian. What kind of Asian they were, she didn't know even if she was a descendant from one herself. They apparently didn't sound Vietnamese because their tone were more polite than her family's bluntness. Chinese should be crossed out, too. Engrossed in her thoughts, her stomach churned from the movement. Someone finally wrapped her in a blanket before the girl was passed into warm braces of arms. Comforting. They smelled like protection, she considered, uncertain for a better definition. The feminine voice that she grew accustomed to, hummed a tune, whereas she spoke in-between with a man most likely deemed as her father "清太郎 (2)" the mother continuously added. Butterflies fluttered in her chest, thinking about her new dad, raising her just like precious one. Which excited her.
Would he dote on her the most? What about her mom? Her step-mother was sarcastic and practical. Would her new mom be something akin to that or very loving?
Listening to them, their voices lulled her body to relax; droopy eyed and on the verge of slumber at the blurry colors. 'I'll worry about it later…' She breathed, unconsciously drinking from her mother's breast.
-Six Months Later-
It was a wonder that she understood a small bit of their language.
Staring doe-like eyes at her older brother, Hiiro—who was currently seven at the time, the infant watched as his slanted, hazel eyes crinkled with a wide grin on his face. His jawline was sharp for a kid with straight brows with a hero nose, and he tied his medium, chestnut hair low with bangs over his forehead. The boy cooed, poking her cheek, which caused her face to scrunch up. "Ah, Haruko's so cute…" Haruko deadpanned at her brother, not before she accidentally snorted with a disturbed expression. For as long as she remembered, her older brother was always by her side whenever he came home from school.
Hiiro tried to feed her, bathed alongside her, put her to bed, read a book about something to do with killing, never giving her alone time, and oh god—don't get her started. A headache emerged as Haruko thought of him. Although he might grow up to be a good 8 in her book, there was a stench of disappointment. Her brother was strong and able to her parents in so many ways, but…how should she put it into nicer words? Oh, screw it! He was a siscon! 'How the hell did this happen!?' Haruko gasped in horror once she noticed the symptoms. She was cool with incest for other people, but never, in, her, family! Haruko wanted to scream out the twisting churns in her gut. It was just so awkward and weird! Maybe if she beat some sense into him or gave him the cold shoulders, would he finally get over it!? Or pushed him off the cliff!?
…She could turn a blind eye and pretend to know nothing….
Hiiro poked his sharp nail against her delicate and fluffy cheeks!
'Dude, that hurts!' Rolling away, the baby grunted to show her displeasure.
She understood that he thought of her cute, due to the context clues of his constant "kawaii" and "Haruko," along with some extra Japanese that she didn't understand. At first, Haruko was delighted that she reincarnated into a country she visited at least once. A place she was familiar with! Her Japanese wasn't that bad. Her old-self went to the first semester of Japanese before her—misfortune—so Haruko knew only the necessities, sentence structure, and particles. It was a pain to remember them, though. Leaving the memorization of kanji, the adult-to-child was all set. Haruko smacked Hiiro's finger away with all she got. If he touched her cheek one more time, she swore that she'd raise hell! 'I will have teeth on your damn fingers if you do it again, ya punk!' Haruko glared. God, why didn't she get a typical Japanese stereotype? Reliable, strong, polite, and good at reading the atmosphere—at least she had her mom and dad, right?
A bit cranky from her nap's interruption and too weak to crawl away, the baby slapped the next finger away and whined.
"Hiiro, stop bothering your sister." A feminine voice demanded. Cooking on the stove with her back towards them, dark brown hair could be seen tied up with a mint green shirt and mauve apron. This woman was her mom, Minami Tachibana. Hazel eyes deadpanned with a frown on her thin lips. The way her back straightened all the way to her even tone, 'mom' was a pretty tough lady, thanks to her occasional knife pointing and brute strength. Haruko's eyes sparkled as she stared at her current mother. An excited squealed escaped her lips with grabby hands.
'Save me!' The baby pleaded, and thankfully, got her wish.
-Six Months Later-
God, Haruko hated being a baby. She sighed, trying to untwist her tongue.
Her words kept slurring, and the stupid crawling stage was slowly coming to an end. Bustling in the busy street of the countryside, Haruko gazed at her surroundings in awe. "Dad, dad!" She whacked her pudgy arm on his shoulder; then pointed at a stall. Carrying her was a tall man at the estimated height of 5"8, leaned and sun-kissed. He has messy, coarse black hair and a blue kimono shirt with crop pants. He averted his lidded eyes towards the boxes of biscuits—expression relaxed and unchanged. The man shook his head and continued walking.
Haruko frowned as she stared at him. "Dad."
"No, Haruko." He cast a glance. "You're too young to eat that."
She sulked. Ever since Haruko reincarnated into a baby, the girl could no longer eat any junk food, which meant that—she was deprived. Starved for glucose and carbohydrates. Sometimes, her siscon of a brother would sneak a strawberry candy yogurt behind her parents' back. But then, that was probably a trick to get Haruko to like her brother more… Fighting the urge to cry, the infant observed each passerby with keen eyes. Just like her dad, the villagers either wore a kimono shirt or a plain shirt with no graphic designs, pants, and a pair of sandals. Which was odd.
It was a norm to wear sneakers or, at least, flip flops, so why were they wearing something you'd see in anime?
Haruko tilted her head and frowned. 'Was I really that far into the countryside? Or is this some joke?'
The girl swiveled her head, taking in the barest minimum of technology—the wires protected by metal poles—the stone-like walls—the roofs that were made of only wooden planks. They all seemed so familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it yet. Haruko peered up at the blurry figures on the rooftops, her lidded eyes broad and blinking. 'Holy shit,' scared, the baby looked around; this time, with more caution and fear pooling in her gut. There was a man, cosplaying in a green and navy blue uniform, sauntering by with a pal of his. They were both wearing something akin to a headband with a spiral design that has a beak attached to it.
Haruko blinked, rubbed her eyes, and then blinked again. "Dad, dad, dad!"
The man watched his daughter anxiously hit his shoulder and raised a brow. With straight black hair, the one-year-old was fair skinned with thin lips and a straight nose. She received her define jawline and eyebrows from her mother. However, Haruko always looked relaxed or lazy because of his eyes, which rounded for some reason. Seitaro Tachibana frowned at the panicking expression on her pudgy face and hummed. Haruko pointed at the nearest man with her mouth resembling a dead fish. "Ninja?" Seitaro asked. He locked eyes with his daughter, who froze with a blank face.
'Wait, what?' She blinked, trying to process what her old man said.
Ninja? Ninja, as in ancient Japan ninja—ninja!?
'Woah. Woah, wait a fucking second,' –the teenager to child rolled her eyes as she blinked in thought, ignorant of her father's confused gaze- 'in ancient Japan, there was no technology whatsoever! How could I…? Wait, uh…?'
Biting her fist, Haruko cocked her head and wrinkled her brows. Under the façade of infantry, hazel eyes sharpened as thin as knives in a calculative manner. 'What the hell? There's no way I went back in time, or can such an era had advanced knowledge with these ninjas of all things. Alternative universe? Different world? Was this some light novel or fan fiction?' A headache submerged. Haruko held her pulsing and groaned as she forced herself to breath in and out. 'Okay, Buddhism did not teach me this!'
"Dad." Resting her head against his shoulder, the girl thinned her lips from the urge to throw up. Her mind spun as she lost her sense of gravitational stability. Sensing the feeling in her stomach swayed and coiled, Haruko swallowed the lump and exhaled. She tried to remember some of the Japanese basics from her old life. Let's see… Attempting to sound like a curious child, Haruko acted like she was relaxing on her dad and pointed at a different ninja. "..Ninja…?"
"Right." She felt Seitaro nodded. He kept his sentences simple. "Haruko's mama and dad are ninjas. Ninja protects people and village. This village is strong. Haruko, Hiiro, mama, and dad lives in the Hidden Village of the Leaves."
Her breath hitched mutely, limbs stiff and eyes darting from random places. '…What..?'
"木-ノ-葉-隠-れ-の-里…?" Konohagakure? As in the one in the anime Konohagakure, the child thought.
Out of all people, there was no way her father would lie to her… He would gain no benefit from lying, so…
"…Fuck…." Using both hands, Haruko rubbed her face and groaned.
(1) It's a girl! (2) Seitaro, the father's name.