A/N: Hello! Oh my goodness I never thought I'd ever EVER be revising or even continuing this but I looked back, and saw all the reviews which was well received! I thank you all and it was YOU who made me come back to this story. A story that will have a more different twist on Naruto: THIS here is an alternative reality, such as the movie Road To Ninja: Naruto Movie. That sort of deal with some tweaks seeing as She will have specific ties but with how to intertwine that with the major canon plot of Naruto is too dicey and would be too confusing for other's. SO this AU platform is to help center around this plot that takes Jashinism into a different level and the misadventures of CHARACTERS. I originally had writers block and was intimidated but mainly it was due to a LOT of changes from graduating, moving from here to there then to back here to now, I currently have a job at a quaint cafe and the love for art and writing is still alive! Plus an AU format helps break myself in with keeping Her original story and the struggles that will happen.
If you haven't already known: The chapters here are going through revisions and to also point out that even though it's says only two genres I'm sure I'll dabble in things such as comedy or maybe ROMANCE!? but in all seriousness the horror/adventure is the dominant genre for this because lets be real: Cults, sacrifices, blood and guts, torture, hallucinations, etc. And the character will only have some select knowledge of the canon story until she get's some odd surprises.
The creation of Naruto and Jashin belongs to the creator: Masashi Kishimoto.
The OC however that has been created and twisted up is by Yours truly, RufinaAsano.
WARNING: Cult upbringing, violence, animal deaths, swearing, abuse and maybe more in the future...
BETA: No one...But one day...
_
The Monologue of a Cursed Rebirth.
This might be a weird statement to start off on but let me just say on my part that for years I have always been a rather rational and sane kind of chick, albeit somewhat air-headed every once in awhile but what occurred of recent events was something I was never expecting to build up in the end.
Actually, let me introduce myself in a more reasonable beginning.
Hi, my name is Diane, a typically relaxed 18 year old brunette who would soon graduate high school, I live with two parents and a cat named Burn. It goes to say that yeah, I'm normal and so are my parents.
But here's where I'm wrong with what I'm telling you, somewhere in what I said is a lie, even to me, it felt like a big fat lie.
A lie that made my hairs stand on end as unease gripped me when I made that sudden discovery.
Not too long ago I went to my parents room to look for my socks, why would my socks be in my parents room? well my mom every once in awhile mixed up our laundry by accident, which annoyed me regardless. And at the time they were out of the house anyway, so of course I wandered into their bedroom and I was quite certain they wouldn't be mad since I'm their daughter of course and it was quite normal for kids to walk into their parent's room.
There was of course a golden rule that my dad had sternly lectured to me ever since I could remember, it was "do not open or go into the closet Diane" and I had to admit, I was curious at some point because for ages they always told me to not rummage through there because it had "adult things" but what deterred me from exploring was dad threatened to ground me if I broke this rule.
A nightmare for kids.
Or so they said and I obliged, not really caring anymore nor did it ever became an interest but at this time I was pretty fucking desperate to find some clean socks (which weren't in their drawers either) so with a sliver of curiosity and large desire for a clean pair I broke that one rule. I went into the closet.
Pretty normal as it should be, just clothes and dresses that hung on hangers but no possible socks on the ground or in any of the plastic drawers that were inside. So I rummaged further into the closet with the light on. Passed through all the heavy coats and dresses, I finally was at the end, where a wall was suppose to be, but there was no wall. Instead, I came upon what appeared to be an extra storage space but nothing like junk boxes or extra clothes took resident, in fact nothing about what I saw was normal and that anomaly took that space.
The most creepiest shrine I ever came across. First off, I automatically wrote it off as a shrine due to the big painted red circle on the wall that held a strange onyx stone at the center which also happened to be behind a goat's skull that sat atop on the highest stack of Fed-Ex boxes, these boxes were draped however with purple silk, adorned with red candles, rotting teeth strewn on the boxes and some few gold jewelry.
I recalled how my eyes widened with disbelief, taking in every disturbing detail until it landed on that book. It laid out harmlessly in the center center and even though I was thoroughly creeped out I took that chance to peek through the book, the title was carved into it that read: The way of Maniae.
. What was inside was disturbing in itself, it had weird pictures of bodies dissected and obscure art of vein-y creatures. I didn't dwell more into it because at that time I heard my parents pull up the driveway from their outing, so I frantically placed it back then dashed out, lights off, closet door closed and ran to my room.
That discovery incident happened about ten days ago, in such a nice crisp autumn November. Granted, even though I had found their little shrine I still carried on as normal but! since I knew their dark secret, I did became a little wary of my parents, which was difficult to keep up since they were for the most part, pretty nice and treated me like a good kid which made it hard to picture this perfect couple worshiping an old deranged religion.
And how I knew that part was thanks to the internet, I did sneak back in to take a picture of the book for research since the overall shrine itself raised so many red flags, and let me share that these parents of mine were even part of the PTA for god's sake.
To add more salt to this wound of shock, the information I got about this belief was for the most part concerning. It derived from an ancient Greek religion that apparently were supposed to be a spirit or a group of spirits that personified insanity, madness and crazed frenzy, but how my parents were or became associated with this I did not know, and I was naive for the most part on their secret intentions until I was given a gruesome surprise on my 19th birthday.
After my "little" discovery, it had taken 5 days later that I began to have frequent dreams of those illustrations from the book. To add more shit on the list, my eyesight slowly was playing tricks on me such as things moving in the corner of my eyes and horrifyingly enough it literally felt like my sanity was slowly draining along with the onslaught of painful headaches that felt like someone's hand was clawing deep into my brain.
Pretty fucked up I say, it was getting on my nerves but I persevered.
Being in pain wasn't fun, it never really is unless you get off on it then I guess whatever floats your boat.
I mentioned my 19th birthday right? Well here's where everything I knew went into complete, utter chaos and how this world I lived in was a revolting lie for me.
On the lovely day of December 17th being my birthday, I, more or less, got drugged, simple as that, I came home from the library and what laid out was a cup of steaming hot tea, brewed fresh and a pink sticky note on the counter that read 'Happy Bday princess! We got a surprise for you when we come back. Here's some black tea W/Cr."
I am also an avid tea lover, in fact, quite passionately.
So I completely forgot their weird shrine, bible and never once thought they'd have drug this tea.
My legs gave out after 5 seconds passed while a hazy sensation swam over me.
At this point you may be thinking "well your stupid for trusting them or even letting your guard down" but let me digress that these were the people who raised me and I had every right to fall into false security since their all smiley and shit, so how was I supposed to know they'd drug me?
Granted it was pretty shady for a drink to be laying out in the open but again, I was in the comfort of my home, where it was supposed to be a safe haven, living with a moody cat and caring parents.
I laid there, on the floor trying to gather my senses while at the same time my eyesight started to blur. I did however saw a bunch of blobbed figures come into the house and went straight to drag my sorry-ass out to what I assumed was a van.
So that brings me to where I am now. In the back of a fucking van, eyes blindfolded and hands tied. This was the absolute worst day I have ever experienced. I felt the fucking betrayal, hurt and just overall shitty, I wanted to cry and scream with pure frustration. I yanked and twisted at the ropes frantically, but in the end I'm sure I got rope burn instead of any progress done.
I feel the car come to a stop, doors clicked and open, feeling the cold air hit my already tear stained face. I felt many hands carry a little ways into what I assume has to be some weird cabin but again, I couldn't see. They placed me on a table, unbind my wrists and ankles only to do it again with my ankles tied to the end of the table and wrists bound over my head. They finally unmasked my eyes.
The room was dim lighted, I could see an old looking dude that's balding, he hovered over me close enough I could see the heavy bags under his bloodshot eyes. Beside him, both grinning with such happiness were my parents.
I never felt so much dread till now.
Their smiles were so wide and so proud it made me sick.
What. Fucking. Assholes.
Nothing came out of my mouth, I was too terrified and angry, my mother on the other hand had the gall to gently comb my hair, cooing at me with watery eyes. She's a bitch to me at this point, however a part of me felt that pang of sorrow from all this happening.
An old raspy voice cut in.
"I thank you for your blessing of giving your daughter to us"
The black haired man who was my father looked back to the older man with satisfaction "it is our honor to serve and give what we have cherished for so long"
Mother on the hand proceeded to talk to me, crying like I was the best thing in her life, which I probably was, for her crazy ass whatever-fuck this was.
She looked deranged with her unkempt brown hair and glassy blue eyes.
"Oh honey, we have always been so proud of you and your growth. This maybe a surprise to you but this is just us giving you our utmost love, you see, we're going to set you free from this cursed shell and be one with our savior who will in return give use our blessings."
I wanted to yell at her but the need to cry was greater so I held back and glared but the feeling of sudden realization weighed on my chest. Be one with their savior, my mind couldn't help but wonder to those documentaries about cults.
"You see, you were always such a well behaved girl, I feel so glad that we took you away from those hedonistic demon people"
"What the absolute fuck do you mean…?" I hissed out through my teeth, I felt my mind reeling. My father lovingly rubbed his wife's arm, looking back at me, what he said next made it feel like the world crashed onto me, crushing my lungs.
"You see Diane, you were born and trapped by people who don't see the truth, your mother and I were unable to bear a child. It honestly feels like just yesterday when we saw you in that house, in your crib, such beauty in such an innocent face" he wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye.
I felt so sick, I wanted to puke out everything I had in me, this disgust, this fear, this apprehension. It needed to leave.
The sensation of warm tears spilled and my voice croaked out, I wanted this all to be some sick joke, I didn't want to say what I was going to say to be true "you...you kidnapped me? As a baby?"
Their silent glee was enough of an answer, these people were deranged and I was living with them for so long, these people were liars, they took away what was actually my TRUE family, did they built all this up for years just to throw me in? like this? Why was this fucking happening to me?
I never even did a single damn thing, but they do say the world has bad people.
I just happened to be taken to a darker side of humanity.
Fuck. Me.
"Now we must get into order! The full moon is up" hollered out the man who placed on a red robe and everyone else followed. As well as my parents. They all filed in a group facing me as the old man stood over me, chanting.
My mind was in too much panic, so much rage, so much sorrow and so much distrust, the action was quick and the shock blinded me from seeing the old man holding a red-bladed dagger then pierced it into me.
Sternum
Lungs
Stomach
Intestine
Uterus
They all watched and read lines which was probably from that damn book, as this sick, twisted man repeatedly pierced these parts of my body, waves of adrenaline warmed over me but the spots he left bloomed in pain, eyes became hooded but the vision of continuous blood flying up accompanied the squelching sound that still played.
Everything drowned, the last thing I saw were those liars coming up to me to whisper in my face.
"The lord will take care of you now"
I was so fucking done with this.
What bullshit this world turned out to be.
"Fuck...you" I weakly uttered as I spat copious amounts of blood on their faces.
The only thing I left with me was rage, betrayal and the trust of my cat.
At least my cat wasn't a fucking liar.
Everything after was a chaotic blur.
The feeling in the back of my mind told me I died but where my soul went was bizarre. Maybe it was because they were trying to send me to their creepy ass god or something but whatever it was, I never once heard of an afterlife of a person swimming in a sea of red, possibly blood? Yep, this was blood. The smell of copper was filling my nostrils. I tried swimming upwards to hopefully reach the surface.
There was also a nagging sensation of urgency that made me ponder if I wasn't meant to be here but here I am in the middle of thick crimson. I felt like I was getting near until I saw a hand pulling me out of this sea of blood. The hand disappeared but I was now standing on this ocean of blood, miles and miles of black was all I could see.
Sure enough I was naked but the wounds of where I was stabbed seeped, still gaping open.
Suddenly a loud screeching mixed with a lion's roar made me wince, I turn to look behind me and I gaped. In the distance, fast approaching was a large purple serpent with the head of a snake skull was charging in my direction and of course I did the most rational thing, I fucking ran.
Let me just say: fuck this shit, even if I was dead I don't want that thing near me.
So fear coursed through my legs but it was hard to run with gaping wounds.
Everything around me felt so surreal, like that kind of feeling you get when in a foggy dream, not really clear but the puddles of blood beneath my feet that echoed around me felt real until I came upon a man in red and black robes. And boy did I feel awkward for smacking into his back, then landing right on my ass, the man turned around to probably tell me to fuck off but I couldn't hear the serpent's screams anymore. I was also quite sure this man was gazing down at me but for some strange reason my eyes wouldn't let me look back at his face, like I was forbidden in doing so.
But that thought left me as his gently touched the top of my head and soon blooms of dark came in my vision.
A hand pulled me up then a I felt something shot through my chest
The sudden pain all over my body was so overwhelming that I passed out, or I assume that's what happened because the next thing I knew I came out in a cold, frigid air, being manhandled by large hands. A sharp pain to my bottom made me cry out, vision was blurred so bad.
After a scary ordeal of being what I assumed, rinsed off, I was soon bundled in a warm blanket, handed off to a worn-out looking old woman who gave me to a man, she said something to the man, which I couldn't really depict on the language here but he looked pretty saddened however looked at me with a bright smile, caressing my face.
Again more words then both eyes stared at me. The man's baritone voice said aloud one thing.
"Hitomi."
An inkling of an idea came to me and that was I might have been born.
Like legit reincarnation shit. Which scared me because that meant I was in a completely new area for all I know. I felt so drain that I started to shut my little eyes.
To recap the obvious I was reborn.
But I'm not going to go over the unnecessary details of being a baby, to be honest, there is nothing interesting in being coddled from a variety of people and you'd think a recently-turned 19 year old in a baby's body wouldn't dare act out like an infant, being well behaved or too quiet.
Not me however, If I wanted to let my caretaker know I was in need of a diaper change or food, I had to get his attention through means of throwing fits or throwing stuff at him.
It was kind of fun throwing toys at him and getting away with it though.
But holy hell being small was kind of annoying, things were hard to get to thanks to having to waddle my way around, I am also happy to inform that I am now potty trained because shitting in your own diapers was really gross and to which I'm pretty sure we all don't miss that in our baby years.
You're also probably thinking why I call this man my caretaker and not a parental title, so if I may be honest with you guys, the last dad or better yet a faker, didn't exactly end great so I'm a bit pessimistic on family matters but the man did wanted me to refer him as Oji anyway so no, this man is not my father. It also took me a while to recall that the language I was born into was none other then Japanese. How original for being reborn and of course it's a known fact that you are what you are when you grow up in a specific surrounding, so it came to be easy to understand this language since I was getting a restart.
And as much as I have a new life ahead of me, I still felt a touch of regret of what could have been in my previous life but looking back on how it ended, I was quite content to be done with that nightmare of insanity. Within a span of time I was once Diane who apparently lived with crazed kidnappers who then was getting ready to be sacrificed in order to sell my soul like I was a box of girl scout cookies to whatever the hell it was they worshiped. The result was me experiencing a seemingly short moment in time where I'm pretty sure I ended up in a twisted version of limbo.
That world haunts me in my dreams every once in awhile, which is not cool.
But now I'm Hitomi. Nothing much I can tell you on that besides being a kid now.
However we are just going to skip to the almighty age of 6, because that's when things get a little more interesting as I'm at the age of observing some details and can actually share a reasonable conversation.
I was currently out on a walk with a tall man, possibly in his early thirties and to me he was called Oji, he dressed in what I assume is a Japanese monk attire with red sashes over himself, he had a peculiar soot colored hair that was trimmed and groomed to the side as well as having an amazing pair of blue eyes.
Sharp man he was and this particular person happened to be my caretaker. Side note, I never once however saw the woman who was my mother or heard of anything about a biological father.
We strolled through what I assume was a very small version of a village, we often passed by generic buildings made of wood, nothing fancy, just rather bleak. It seemed rather secluded hidden among so many wildlife but there were residents. All the youngsters ranged in age from 8 to 10 years old, girls wore white dresses while boys wore white trousers and shirts but the adults wore red sashes over black monk uniforms, so it was a little edging on weird for me but these people were the only ones I knew and this place could be some kind of orphanage.
The children did however make me feel at ease since they'd play with me which I never minded since I was apparently the only youngest kid in this place.
Did I also tell you how these kids all possessed brunette hair and blue eyes? Kind of odd but one of the girls said I had pretty eyes but I shoved it off since I was certain I looked like the rest of the bunch until when I was 5, I was proven wrong due to another girl showing me her favorite mirror and what did I see?
Sharp red eyes and cheek-length of snowy hair that blended a little too well with my ivory skin. I basically looked like a fucking vampire to be honest, it was a tiny bit cool until I'd startle myself whenever I saw a reflection of my eyes, and too be frank they were a little too striking in a "glaring" way. So my default look apparently was and still is the resting bitch face. The vampire part was due to the freakish little canines, they were sharp as a tack, I nearly nicked my own lip when I closed my mouth. How some of those characters from that Naruto series manage not to hurt themselves with those dagger-teeth of their own I may never know. Can you imagine biting your tongue by accident with those teeth? No thank you. Oji by the way never left me alone with the kids for some reason, he always had the adults monitor us or he'd stick close by, so I was a bit wary as to why but then rationality came in and reasoned that I was indeed the youngest so I assumed they didn't trust these kids to behave.
Majority of my time consisted on following Oji around which became the norm with scheduled meals and cleaning but today was different and this is where I chose to share why this exact moment was a large stepping stone, it was a huge hint on where I was, where I am and what my future might be like, but let me just say the results were scary in my book.
We strayed from our usual route to make our way to a wooden building, Oji stepped inside in what was his study room, saying he wanted to have a heart to heart talk I followed after him and came in to see many bookshelves that were aligned against the right side of the wall, a desk tucked in the furthest left corner of the building next to a window, some chairs were there and a couch off to the side. The interior gave a bit of a stuffy cabin feel to it. As he went to sit on a chair that stood front of his desk, he lifted me and sat me on his lap in the process, their hand taking up my small back, peering down at me with kind, gentle blue eyes, an expression that I had a hard time taking in with ease and instead felt something ominous.
"Do you know how special you are Mi-chan?"
I shook my head. Please god don't be a pedophile, I don't think I can handle that in this new life. Internally, I was getting anxious, adults to me have become somewhat untrustworthy, plus it's possible that this man could had ulterior motive, just waiting to jump at the right time.
His other hand slips into the opening of his monk attire, bringing out a silver necklace with beads and a symbol hanging. In fact, an all too familiar symbol actually, one from a certain series I just ironically mentioned a while ago. But my reaction was stunned, I couldn't help but feel like my world was spiraling out of control again.
"You see, in the books of our Lord Jashin, they prophesied a red eyed angel with pure hair would come unto us, holding the special ability to regenerate at a fast paced. Even going as far as able to recreate organs. We typically follow a specific order of destruction since it is true that, mankind is in need to balance out their numbers but for you, you are a sole experiment to seek death and life. You will take lives by your hands but also gift it to the worthy. You are the beacon of his power Hitomi"
Am I really hearing this?
Is it actually possible that I'm literally in the world of Naruto?
My brain wanted to laugh or scoff at the idea but my emotions were a bit muddled with what was presenting itself.
"It is said if you are of a missing limb or organ she can bestow upon you with new flesh and a beating heart, all you have to do is take their blood and the miracle will create but you also become even closer with them because both you and the taker will be able to feel each others pain Mi-chan. It's a wondrous gift that links us even more."
My brain short circuited for a short moment till it revved up frantically, not only was I in this crazy ninja-violent world but I just so happened to be born smack dab in the middle of a possible cult. This all too much reminded me of that gross, lying previous life and how that ended.
Irony was pretty fucking mean at this point.
Red eyes gazed back at Oji, this man so far had been helping me like a parent would, he fed and clothed me, taught me words and writing, I was personally hoping he wasn't like them but is it possible this is just a situation I can't run from? Part of me was yelling at myself to run away so I had a chance to live before I ended up dead again but the other was speaking with cold rationality to stay and see where this life leads me, that odd risk taking thought made me nervous.
But I decided on to stay because there was one thing that rational side had won me with and that's Oji telling me what I am and where I am. He became honest about what he was learning, he decided on this day was a day to tell me the truth of the reason of my different appearance.
I did desperately wanted to know more but mainly it didn't help the fact that I was only 6 at the moment, so me free roaming a world I have no idea on would be dangerous. I'm sure there are many details that were never mentioned in the series.
I finally spoke up.
"Oji, what happened to mom and dad?"
I have never seen them and it always made me question on what happened, I can only assumed they were dead or left me to this man but this was a perfect timing to ask. Oji looked at ease, not minding the question, since all kids were curious to know things and it seemed to me that he was more than willing to answer my questions.
"Hmmm, your father is a shinobi that serves Takigakure, which is where we currently live however we live farther away from the nation's village and for your mother she was a devoted worshipper like the rest of us but passed away after your birth."
The older man kept smiling at me even after he told me my mother died. Apparently my mother's death wasn't really a sad subject to this man but sadly I never have known her so it was hard to conjure up any emotions. An inquisitive look was etched on my face as I recalled a previous statement he said however.
"Why do we live so far from the village?" Oji sighed through his nostrils, giving a slight pat on my back before continuing "people of that village are rather harsh, they are closed minded and wouldn't understand our way of life, what we follow is simply a part of death that is natural and our beliefs don't seem to mix well with what they see as normal" the last part left his lips in a rather strenuous tone, guess he wasn't all too fond of the people.
I had all my questions answered so far, now all I needed to do was figure out where in this timeline I was in which could be a bitch to figure out considering I didn't know specifically what kind of shit that went on in Takigakure besides snippets of their Jinchuuriki Fuu and the defect of Akatsuki member Kakuzu. I was moderately informed of the series since it was a favorite among a lot of people but some things were a little hazy, granted I don't really think my presence here will make much of an impact anyway.
I decided to just keep going to see if I can live in this world long enough plus now I knew I was born in a cult filled with Jashin followers but I'm sure I wouldn't be running into Hidan of all people considering that I'm in a different nation which actually brought me to another thought: I never knew there were more Jashinists and the fact that they were so spread out, like wow, were there more out there in the world?
Done mulling over my thoughts I smile gently back at Oji who in return just patted the snowy hair. "I take it that answers your question, now there is a reason why I have come to tell you this as it is my duty to finally teach you the way of our religion"
Oof, can't wait to see what this has in store for me, if this was anything like the way Hidan has portrayed it to be then this might not be for the faint of hearts but the idea hasn't fazed me yet seeing as I became a tad jaded and already witnessed a murder.
My murder.
Well in a way.
So after our little Q&A session the priest went ahead to hand me a rosary of my own along with what looked like a bandaged hilt with a 7 inch long needle.
Yeesh. I had a rather odd feeling what this was going to be used for, slightly sweating I locked eyes with the grown up who just smiled brightly like he was giving me a Christmas present and I hated to be a spoilsport but I had to ask. "Why this?" slightly waving the sharp object, wasn't this like bad parenting to give a child my age a sharp weapon?
Apparently not to Oji, he proceeded to lecture me that I'll be learning from the book of lord Jashin first then use this when my gift has awakened or something, it made me wonder if I'm going to turn into a type of skeleton form like Hidan's but I don't really think I'd get that far anyway. So we headed out for supper with everyone else, as we came through to a small cafeteria like room, I sat next to Oji since apparently I needed to be monitored? Yeah, that part was weird to me, making a small part of me think just maybe he's a pedo-creep. He also took that chance to stand and exclaim to the other's in the room that I'll be starting to learn the ways of their god then we all ate in relative silence, it looked to me that the priests were happy but the children looked as though someone had been hung.
The changes weren't obnoxious but were still quite sudden, none of the kids would play with me anymore but I just assumed it was because I was busy having one on one lessons from Oji about this rather dark religion.
Apparently that was not the case.
Seven days later, I was currently zoning out at a desk, looking more interested to the outside world which made Oji stop his reading from a red leather bound book plus that symbol. Ruffling my white hair, he decided to let me out on a break, I got up and said my thank you to him then out the door I went. I wandered about near a creek by Oji's cabin, playing with a cat-tail and while this looked like a normal girl just playing alone on the outside, internally I was prepping my mind with the ever growing strangeness here, even though me being born in a world that was a manga series in another is odd enough.
And I may have acted like nothing was super important here but I was extremely aware of the potential dangers in the future, so I observed the place I was born in, it was obviously some organized cult with everyone wearing things in forms of rank.
Children wore white and the ones who I assumed were priests of some sort wore red sashes over their shoulders. I sat on a log, my sight locked onto the running trail of water that glistened rather beautifully from the sun. My thoughts strayed to other things like why majority of the kids looked the same whereas I stood out like a sore thumb or how it was odd that the children altogether stopped associating with me, Oji said that they were just aware of how busy I'll be however from the passing looks I have gotten recently seemed a little more like fear or unease.
Like I was some kind of walking disease or monster.
With small legs letting me up, I walk back in to continue my studying. So far I can say is these lessons were mixed with a touch of boredom from having to do this all days straight but in the end it became fascinating since it involved a religion that didn't get any more depth to in the series, it consisted on readings and deciphering what this god was trying to say while also learning some hymns which was something I was not expecting.
Who even knew there were songs with such a violent practice, I certainly didn't.
There was one in particular that sung about how mankind feared death and tried to conquer it but only lead to downfalls, that they couldn't escape it unless they embrace it with open hearts. Another one was about how blood is the ultimate payment that is greater than money or gold, that it's a tie that links all living things together. As well as a song about great calamity will shape the greatest ones.
It was all so insane but the songs were booked into me everyday, which meant I had singing lessons.
As those two years went by things have gotten more intense, soon my lessons grew to being gruesome with the hunting of small animals, creating symbols with blood and reading aloud prayers as well as some minor self mutilations. It became such the norm it was alarming to me, it was something I'd never wish for an 8 year old. What also came as a shock was Oji was an actual missing nin.
Yeah, weird right? Turns out he left duty some time back and found this little cult, Oji explained to me once how he felt like he was lost in such meaningless battles but in Jashinism, it all made sense and was simple yet complex. The further time went on the pieces I thought were connected became more abstract.
He decided some time when I was nine to teach me basic hunting-nin techniques, since he suggested having things on my belt would improve my senses and killing intent, so we hunted animals from bunnies to boars, sorry to those who love bunnies but if I didn't do the job guess what he would do. You fucking wouldn't guess right if I told you he would whip me, yeah, Oji's true colors were starting to surface, he was a harsh teacher who took things to the extreme. He expected absolute obedience in my role as a student and it was terrifying when he got ticked off so I did everything I could to overcome the automatic hesitance of taking a life.
I never had to wear so many bandages until now, with the sacrifices of drawing my own blood to the bleeding blisters that formed calluses on once delicate hands from handling the weapon I was given. Oji always kept pushing and I never failed to return stronger so he was proud of his students growth as well as resilience but I kept silent tears to myself for the first three years of killing animals to the pain I was given.
At some point I stopped giving a rat's ass because it became apparent to me that if I let myself become weak or breakdown, I could die. Oji made gave me the hint, seeing as I heard him once tell me "You must be strong Hitomi, Jashin does not take in the meek or the faint hearted, he strives to create beings of strength but if you fail it will become your biggest demise"
It was was easier said than done however, to, you know, grow a strong constitution for the things I had to do or the things that were done to me.
So I possessed a few glaring red whelps on my back.
Already now 11 years old, I just came back from a hunt, dragging a boar that was bleeding out its mouth. This was the norm I'm talking about. Nonchalantly coming to this pseudo home with some form of death lingering on me. It sucked that I killed so many animals but they exactly weren't wasted per se, some of these were eaten, like the animal I carried now, it was going to be hanged up upside down, gutted to root out organs and intestines, then skinned off as cleanly as possible then the meat will be chopped up.
Gross I know but I'm sure you can tell I'm still a good person at heart.
Not.
So much animal blood was spilt on my hands I'm pretty sure I would be classified as a potential sociopath, but it looked to me that Oji and the other priests wanted this from me. They praised me after every kill I made but the kids on the other hand glared hatred at my direction, I didn't them for glaring or the cold shoulders, I assumed it was possible that I was getting special treatment? Even though I wouldn't call sending a young girl out to kill living things as one.
But here I am, dragging a dead pig, passing by my sensei's cot till I heard his voice.
"Mi-chan, come here please"
Standing in his doorway was my teacher, long-gone was Oji, he was sensei now. He made it crystal clear that I would call him the right title and I would love to avoid another slap to the face by a horse whip, that sucked a lot when I slipped up like five times. Trudging up to him, I discarded the carcass on the side, quite curious on what he wanted or wanted to say that is since sensei is always lecturing me with every chance he got.
He whips out a small paper the size of my palm.
My brows furrowed a bit confused then it hit me in the back of my mind about an episode with Kakashi showing this exact sort of paper to his own students. "Sensei, what's with the paper?" I asked him to best play it off as something I don't know about or an any inkling of. He lightly huffed, seeming like this wasn't really important but he went on with the lesson.
"It's a special type of paper that tells you your chakra nature affinity, touch it and concentrate on your chakra into that piece of paper"
Handing me the paper I held it gently between ghostly fingers, sensei had taught me about chakra pretty well as a side lesson since it called for with hunting as well as what to do with it such as basics like clones.
His voice cut in through my thoughts. "Normally we'd just use more of our Lord's techniques but whenever you're in a bind it doesn't hurt to be skillful in other areas to get out of a troubling situation"
"I'll keep that in mind Sensei" I admit there were times where his lessons were very handy to remember. My eyes shut in concentration, doing what I was told my mind focused on the warm wispy feeling of energy that buzzed through its veins and core. I became lost in a meditative state that the feeling of something wet slumped over my fingers made me open my eyes.
The paper had become soggy.
Sensei looked somewhat intrigued "your affinity is water, interesting, was not really expecting that to be honest" he scratched at his chin, in some deep thought. Most interesting indeed I guess.
"Am I going to learn any water techniques sensei?" He looked at me with a calculating gaze then proceeded to ask me "do you want to? if so what purpose would you have for it?" This was also a normal thing, to ask about where my true loyalties lied. I wasn't sure if sensei knew this but it was a very easy question to answer since I knew what sort of response he'd want.
In way it was a trick question that I was well aware of on how to answer after some good years of learning from past mistakes, so I answered with confidence "I'd like to learn water techniques to further my strength in battle, it might even help me succeed for Jashin-sama" He nodded in approval, a grin formed on his face "it's a good thing you're my student then because I so happen to have an affinity with water too"
After that, I learned what he knew, from one or two summoning scrolls to conjuring up water techniques. It was exhausting since this form of training stacked up on my already religious lifestyle but the more I kept doing instead of thinking, the easier it became which helped me survive this violently disturbing place.
It felt like forever of doing this training for 3 years but it was when I turned 14, that it all came down.
I had no choice in the matter, which I think broke my mind at some point.
That was when my life officially started in this world of Ninjas.
My reincarnation started with nothing but bloodshed.
