Diary of a Wimpy Ninja

By - AhriRose

Summary

Realizing you've been reincarnated into a fictional world is stressful enough without also realizing you can't remember any useful knowledge. Add the fact that your anxiety followed you into your new body and you have the wimpy ninja herself; Shiori Ikeda.

Disclaimer

Naruto & Naruto Shippuden © Masashi Kishimoto ; Meaning I do not own anything you recognize

Warning!

This fanfiction contains OC's as well as some things that may be considered AU. Enter at your own risk.

. . .

Most people assume that reincarnation is something of a slow process. That your consciousness remained as you phased from your old life into your new one. Perhaps this was true for some, but not for me.

As I am a pessimist at heart, I'll recount the things I can't remember first; I can't remember how I died, my previous name, being in the womb (or being born), or anything prior to about two years old (and even that's a bit fuzzy).

Now, the things I can recall; I lived prior to this life, I had a family, and I remember this world (and it wasn't my original world). Details were always foggy, no matter how hard I concentrated I couldn't piece anything together.

It was like attempting to solve a complicated jigsaw puzzle with several important pieces gone.

I knew this world wasn't my original, that it wasn't even supposed to be a real place. It was a series I had read briefly before delving into the television series.

They didn't have televisions here, but they did have movie theaters.

In my old world the technology was advanced, far more advanced than here. Here, they had chakra. Chakra was so much like… magic to me. I couldn't quite comprehend how magnificent it was and how impossible it seemed.

If I concentrated hard enough I could feel a warmth deep inside me, but other than that, I never noticed it was there.

There is something that I do notice constantly though; anxiety. Anxiety is bubbling inside, threatening to consume me. Every day it feels like it's getting closer to taking over. That's something familiar.

Anxiety affected me prior to this life, I know.

Thinking lead to overthinking, and overthinking lead to anxious thinking, and anxious thinking lead to me becoming nauseous.

Endlessly, it seemed, my thoughts were high jacked by anxiety forcing me to rummage through what little I knew of this world. Something happens; many somethings happen. But what? What happens? People will die.

"Shiori," a soft voice accompanied by a short knock jerked me out of what surely would have spiraled into a full blown panic attack.

The door was slowly opened to reveal my mother. She was a beautiful woman by either worlds' standards. Her doe-like caramel brown eyes made her appear much younger than she truly was, something I had inherited. Something I had not was her long cascading crimson hair that looked much like spilt blood against her deep purple kimono.

"You haven't even gotten dressed yet," with a sigh she began rummaging through my closet as I peeled my plain pajamas from my body.

As my mother handed me my clothing for the day I gaped at the top. It was an olive green kimono-styled top, with the most beautiful and intricate lavender flowers sewed throughout. She gave a laugh that sounded much more like chimes as she helped me put it on, then I slipped on some plain black shorts along with blue sandals.

As we made our way down the stairs of our two-story home I paused at a photo on the wall; it was us. All four members of my family, including myself, in one single photo. It was taken in front of our home; a two-story house with a standard flattened roof (perfect for traveling) with green paneling off the sides, the house itself was a plain cream along with the picket fencing leading to the green front door. Mother did enjoy her gardening though, so there were various flowers and herbs arranged meticulously throughout our yard.

In the photo stood my mother and father, side by side, along with a small bundle in my mother's arms; me. All you could see was my pale face and a small tuft of ebony hair within the lavender blanket. I gained my dark tresses from my father. He was a tall pale man with dark hair that hung messily around the tips of his ears. His eyes were similar to my mother's but a shade or two darker, mimicking that of tree bark.

Last was my brother, who was around twelve in this photo; my parents weren't planning for me in the slightest, hence the age gap. He looked like a mini version of our Dad, other than their expressions. Mom and Dad's faces were beaming. Mom gave a contagious smile, whist Dad's was more humorous; as if someone had just told a particularly funny joke.

My brother though… even then his face was nearly void of any emotion. In this photo, however, you could see the slightest upturn on the right side of his mouth. His eyes even had the slightest glint.

I wondered when he changed.

Last year my parents fought with him, verbally. It was odd, because it wasn't loud. They spoke at a perfectly normal level, and if it hadn't been for the hidden undertones, I may have not noticed that it was indeed an argument.

"Yuudai," Mother's voice held a pain that churned my stomach, "Please reconsider."

His voice was monotoned and almost grating on my ears, "I have already thought this through. This is what is best for my ninja career as well as myself…. Our ties…hindering…"

I pressed myself harder against the door, but I couldn't make out anything else until my father spoke.

"So it's true then," His voice was even, "I suspected once you renounced the Ikeda technique."

Mother gave a short series of muffled sobs. I fought the urge to dart into the living room and wrap my arms around her.

After their short conversation Yuudai left. He still resided within Konoha, but he moved into single apartments across the village. Mother had sat me down the next morning and explained that he was distancing himself from the family, and the oddest part was what she followed up with.

"If Yuudai…" She paused before exhaling sharply, "If he attempts to… If he asks you to go anywhere with him, I need you to run… Okay Shiori? I need you to run away as fast as you can."

It was an odd request, but I planned on adhering to it. If she felt Yuudai was somehow a threat, then he more than likely was.

"Daydreaming again?"

I looked away from the portrait sheepishly, embarrassment bubbled to my face as I tugged at a lock of my bobbed hair.

. . .

We made our way through the village, passing various shops and markets, before we came to a grassed area with the familiar view of a playground. I suddenly squeezed my mother's hand tighter as the sound of children entered my ears.

She glanced down at me with a reassuring smile, thus loosening my grip.

"Momoko-san," A fierce looking woman sauntered over to us with an animalistic grin. She was frighteningly beautiful. Her hair was brown and spiked all over, her skin was sun kissed, and her makeup was mesmerizing; red eyeshadow lined her eyes, and she had intriguing triangular shaped markings on her cheeks of the same shade.

Her slitted eyes and sharpened nails only added to her animalistic vibe.

My memory was jogged as I took in her outfit and realized she wore a chuunin vest.

"Tsume-san," My mother inclined her head as she removed her hand from my grip and placed it upon my head, "This is my daughter Shiori."

"She looks a lot like Yuudai, with the exception of her eyes and overall cuteness," Tsume bent down to meet my eyes, causing me to splutter in shock.

"I'm not cute!"

She broke into laughter, "Oh you'll get along wonderfully with Kiba!"

Kiba? Where have I heard that name from…

My wandering mind must've skirted over Tsume calling out to said Kiba, because a boy around my age that bore a strong resemblance to Tsume came running over.

He was absolutely adorable.

"What Mom?"

I blinked and fought the urge to smack my forehead. How stupid was I? Of course this was his mother. They had the same skin tone, eyes, facial features, and the same hair; albeit Kiba's was shorter.

He wore a tan sweatshirt, grey shorts, and the same blue sandals I (and everyone else it seemed) wore.

"This is Shiori-chan," Tsume stood up and ruffled her son's hair, ignoring his indignant response, "Shiori-chan this is my son Kiba."

We both stood awkwardly beside our respective parents, just eyeing one another.

"Well?"

We both looked to his mother, "Go play already! Us Mom's need a break to gossip, shoo!"

She made shooing motions with her hands, but seeing us standing still, she rolled her eyes and lead my mother toward a group of other women, with a few men sporadically standing near.

"Um," I played with my kimono sleeve as I fought the urge to physically vomit.

Social interactions were the bane of my existence, I swear. I could never "break the ice" and I definitely couldn't hold a conversation.

"Do you play ninja?"

Kiba saved me from my awkward mumblings by striking up a conversation first.

"Um… I-I've never played." My face heated up from shame and embarrassment. What an odd child I must seem to be, having not played with any other children before. Although it was to be expected, as the Ikeda weren't a clan anymore. Not without the numbers, but try telling Dad that.

He gave me an exasperated look before shooting forward and grabbing my hand with his own, "WHAT?! YOU'RE PLAYING RIGHT NOW!" Then he proceeded to drag me, shouting about how much fun I had been missing out on, toward a group of other children our age.

Outwardly I was plain shocked.

Inwardly I was hysterically crying at the large group of children staring at us.

It took Kiba a grand total of forty-five seconds to explain the game, or rather, summarize the gist of the game. It took me about three minutes and fifty-five seconds to actually get into the game.

Once my social fears were put on the back burner I was laughing and running with all the other children. The game was ended after a good half hour or so, and at that time a blonde boy with bright blue eyes walked up to our group.

Hiro, the self proclaimed leader of the game, eyed him warily while stepping forward.

"What do you want?" His tone was harsh, and to me, unnecessary.

"Oh I-I was just wondering…"

As he paused I took in his appearance. He was absolutely adorable. He had these unique whisker-like markings on either cheek, and he was slightly shorter than myself. His green and white shirt was worn, with an orange swirled symbol in the center. His dark shorts were equally worn, leading me to believe this outfit was a frequent choice of his; or his only choice. The standard blue sandals nearly all children wore completed his look.

I felt a wave of deja vu after taking in his appearance, but I was used to it.

"You want to play, don't you?"

Hiro was an arrogant child. In the short time I've known him he oozed arrogance. He took charge and butted heads with Kiba, I guess because they both were similar, although Kiba was significantly less arrogant and rude.

The boy's eyes lit up when the question was asked, and a tentative smile began to show.

"Well you can't," the blonde's mouth formed a deep frown that seemed unbefitting of him. What a brat. I averted my eyes, setting them on Hiro. A half-hearted glare was aimed at his back, as my hands formed fists beside my thighs.

"Why not?"

"No one likes you. My mom said you're a monster and everyone should stay away from you."

My eyes flickered toward my mother, who was watching this exchange with a soft glare, though who it was aimed at I was unsure.

"OW!"

Snapping my head back I seen the blonde boy sprawled on the ground. Hiro had pushed him it seemed. Animosity bubbled inside of me, but a familiar fear overtook it.

Confrontation was something I feared, because I was a wimp.

"Let's go play on the play ground," Kiba tugged my hand causing me to meet his eyes. They were pleading. I simply nodded and allowed him to lead me away, but I snuck a glance back at the blonde boy.

He was sitting up, but his head was bowed, and I could see dark spots appearing on his pants. I knew he was crying. I felt an overwhelming guilt encase my heart. What a coward I was.

I watched as he slowly stood, his back to me, and watched as he made his way away from all of us. Hiro and his followers had long since forgotten him, as they were playing another round of ninja a few feet away.

Kiba and I didn't say anything for awhile, just sat on the swings, shifting our legs back and forth, but not really gaining any height or speed.

"Kiba?"

He turned to stare at me, halting his movement by digging his heels into the dirt. He gave me a nod, indicating he was listening and waiting.

"Why did Hiro say that boy was a monster?"

It took him by surprise, that was clearly not what he was expecting, "I don't know. I don't know that kid. I've seen him before, but none of the other kids ever want to play with him. They just tell me to ignore him, so I do."

I inclined my head, and he gave me a sheepish smile, "I thought you were going to be mad that I didn't say anything… I thought you'd say I was a coward."

With a frown I responded, "No. If anything I was a coward, well, I am a coward."

Kiba's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and so I elaborated, "I'm always afraid, of everything."

"Well work on it then," he gave me a grin so contagious I found myself mimicking it, "You don't want to be known as the wimpy ninja, do you?"

We laughed until all the bad things were forgotten, thus commencing our playtime.

It was nearing sundown when our mother's came to collect us. I surveyed the area and surprisingly noticed we were the last kids at the park.

Kiba and I waved goodbye as his mother walked him in the opposite direction of my mother and I.

"Did you have fun today?"

I nodded my head as she shot off another question, "Did you like Kiba?"

My face heated up as I noticed my mother's eyebrows wriggling back and forth, "MOM!"

She held her hands up as she gave a laugh, "Just teasing honey!"

The walk home was silent as I scrounged up the courage to ask my mom the question that had been burning inside me, "Mom…?"

She looked down knowingly as I continued, "That boy… the blonde one…?"

With a sigh she halted in her steps before crouching down to my eye level and gracefully planting her hands on my shoulders, "You need to listen to me okay? You don't talk to him, you don't play with him just… ignore him, okay? And whatever you do, just… don't tell your father."

She stood and began walking before I opened my mouth, "Shiori!"

I shut my mouth and scrounged my eyes shut, feeling embarrassed at being shushed. A hand found it's way onto my head, coaxing me to open my eyes, "I'm sorry honey. I promise I'll talk to you about it when you're older, okay? I'll explain a little more then."

With a nod from me she smiled down at me before hoisting me into her arms. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her neck as we walked in silence the rest of the way home.

Dinner was a quiet affair with Dad away.

He was often away on missions, since he was a jonin.

The next few weeks were uneventful. I played with Kiba still, we had grown close quickly. We both considered one another to be best-friends. Our 'playdates' as my mother called them, were something I always looked forward too.

Other than that my mother and I just went about our days.

Every morning she would lead me in a stretching sequence that invigorated me for the day. After we had our breakfast and went to do our respective chores. Mother did the bulk, but I made my bed, dusted the areas I could reach, swept, and mopped. Once done I had a lot of free time that I spent reading, or practicing my writing.

Occasionally when my mother passed me should would help me with a word, or point out a spelling error. Sometimes I doodled. I wasn't the best drawer, but I drew a decent panda bear.

Lunch was then had, usually an hour long playdate followed by playing strategy games, afternoon stretches, dinner, and off to bed. Pretty monotonous you could say.

It wasn't until nearly two months had passed that something irregular occurred.

Dad came home.

My eyes actually welled up when I seen him walk through the door, and I was so stunned that I hadn't moved until Mom gave me a light push.

We hugged, I cried, Mom cried, and then we sat around the dinner table eating a feast in celebration, "How was your mission?"

Most the time it was just a pleasantry. Nearly all missions were 'classified' in some portion unless you were doing a D-rank.

"It went well," Dad's mouth twitched.

Mom dropped it and went to grab us all some special herbal tea she always made when Dad returned home. It had a hint of lavender and honey, my favorite.

"Your birthday is coming up," he started, "Have you given any thought on what you'd like?"

I looked up at him in slight shock. It was an odd question really. Most the time my parents bought me practical clothing and the occasional stuffed animal, but mostly it was books or games.

"Not really…"

He gave me a smile and looked toward the doorway where Mom was coming through with a tray of tea. She was so graceful. She sat the tray skillfully in the center, before serving us.

"Momoko," Dad gave my mom a sly smile, "I think she's ready."

"Yuji," Mom's tone was a warning, "We discussed this last year. She's too young. Let her start the academy first."

"Momo~"

I stared in sheer shock. My father, an intimidating jonin of the leaf, was begging my mother… with puppy dog eyes?!

With an irritated sigh my mother stood abruptly, "Fine!"

She left the room without looking back, and I heard her stomp upstairs in a huff. My mother was nearly always composed. Not to mention she was always quiet. She tried to walk with more noise so she didn't frighten me, but she rarely succeeded.

"Uh… Dad?"

"For your birthday I would like to take you to pick out some training weapons. We're enrolling you in the academy in a little over a year, when you're six, so I want you to have a little advantage. All the clan children will be starting their training, if they haven't already, and though our clan is nearly diminished… I would like to begin your training."

At first I was just shocked, in disbelief, but then I became frightened. I constantly battled with the fear of failing. Even the smallest of tasks I feared I would fail.

He must've sensed my fear, or watched it appear on my face, because he reached over and engulfed my small hand within his, "You will do great Shiori."

That's all it took for my fears to wither away, or rather be pushed into the back of my mind, and excitement coursed through my veins. I could actually do this. Become a ninja. Make my parents proud.

"When can we start?!"

He gaped before giving a full blown laugh from his belly. My face heated up at my volume. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye before answering, "I have some downtime before my next mission. Tomorrow?"

I was practically bouncing in my seat, nodding my head furiously.

Suddenly his laughter died as he eyed the doorway with a tentative smile. My mother crossed the threshold gracefully, pinching her nose when she came to a stop in front of the table.

"Okay… I see you're excited, but I want you to know what you're getting into, okay Shiori?"

I nodded, nerves bubbling inside my stomach.

"Your uncle, my brother… Shiori, the life of a ninja is not an easy one. It sounds like fun now, but when you're on a mission that could mean life or death for you or a squad member… it's not fun. It's a serious job. You'll be expected to kill. You could be killed.

I haven't been able to actually talk to you about this yet, but I wasn't originally from here."

She paused, sat down, and grabbed my father's hand.

Locking eyes with me she began again, "I was born in Suna. My mother raised me, my father had been killed just three weeks before I was born. I had an older brother, Yuudai, who's your brother's namesake. He got married just as I had become a chuunin. A few years later they had a little boy. When he was around six or so… During… During the war…"

I watched my father squeeze her hand, she inhaled slowly whilst closing her eyes, before she exhaled and continued on, "He was killed, along with his wife. By a leaf ninja."

My eyes widened, my breath hitched.

"For a time I loathed Konoha. I buried myself in missions, ignored my nephew, ignored my mother… But then I met your father," They shared a loving stare, smiles working their way onto their faces.

"At first we were enemies, at least, in my mind we were… Both on vastly different missions, but… but your father found his way into my heart.

He refused to hurt me, claimed that I was his 'one' and wouldn't stop going on about my hair."

She rolled her eyes at that, but her smile remained, "Your father and I eventually began dating, mostly we communicated through letters, but occasionally we met at a neutral village.

That's when I became pregnant with your brother.

Suna and Konoha had tentative 'peace', so your father came to meet my mother and ask for her blessing. She… hadn't gotten over the death of my brother. She blamed all of Konoha, and refused to listen to me. She demanded I never see him again, but… We had a fight. I came to Konoha with your father to be wed. The Fourth Hokage was very kind and allowed me to renounce my allegiance and citizenship to Suna. Thus becoming a kunoichi of Konoha."

I sat back into my chair, soaking it all in.

Many thoughts consumed my mind, I have a cousin and a grandmother in Suna. Does Yuudai know? Who was the ninja who killed my aunt and uncle?

Most seemed unimportant to the present.

"I see that look," she mused, "What are you thinking?"

With a tentative glance downward at my hands I gained courage, "Well… I have questions."

She nodded and waited patiently, I took that as an invitation to lose control of my mouth and shoot all my questions out at once, "Does Yuudai know? What's my cousin's name? Who killed my aunt and uncle? Will I get to meet my grandma and cousin? Are they still in Suna? Can we go to Suna?"

Dad gave a laugh, waving his hand, "Calm down, Mom's not going anywhere."

Mom joined him with a short laugh before answering each question significantly slower than I had asked, "Yes. I'd rather not say. It doesn't matter, he was following orders. Perhaps your grandmother someday, she is still in Suna. I'm no longer welcome in Suna, but perhaps someday a mission will bring you there."

Satisfied I suddenly yawned, rubbing my eyes as I did.

"That's enough for tonight. You have a long day ahead of you."

She wasn't kidding.

The following morning was started slightly similar to how my morning's usually are, with morning stretches. What made it dissimilar was the fact that the sun was nowhere near close to coming up. What followed was definitely not a part of my normal routine.

Dad came and started me on taijutsu. Showing me the basic forms of Konoha's style. We went through them for a time before mom came and ushered me to one of the training grounds where she had me run laps. Fifty laps to be exact.

Then I was on the ground doing push ups, sit ups, and many other exercises.

By the time I had finished my post-workout stretches the sun was just rising over the Hokage mountain top.

We headed home, I showered, and I finally got breakfast.

Afterwards Dad took me to look at practice weapons. He was a weapon's expert, not specializing in any particular weapon, rather he was skilled in nearly all weapons enough to handle and utilize them properly.

We got blunted kunai first, sharp enough to go through a target, not sharp enough to inflict serious injury. I expressed interest in senbon, but they don't make those in a blunted form. Dad promised we'd get some once we began using real kunai at the academy though.

Next we went to the wooden swords.

There were many types; katana, wakizashi, tachi to name a few.

I settled on Sais; twin blades. They didn't have real blades though. It was all wood, although ingeniously still had sheathes. Dad said it was essential to get used to removing them quickly.

I also coaxed my Dad into getting me a black reversed fanny pack to store additional items.

Dad promised when I was older he'd expand my items. I begged and pleaded for exploding tags, but he shushed me with a, "Your mother will kill both of us if I get you exploding anything."

. . .

Time passed and soon my birthday party was here. Mom had invited some kids, none of which I knew other than Kiba and a couple civilian kids from the playground.

I wore a simple long sleeved pastel yellow shirt along with some plain white shorts, as this was informal. Mom had put my hair into pigtails with ribbon similar in color to my shirt.

Nervous, I fidgeted with the bottom of my shirt, playing with a lone string.

Kiba was thankfully the first one to enter. I rushed forward to hug him, my face reddening in embarrassment at my sudden show of affection. He returned my hug, his face red as well, as his mother laughed.

Standing near was his older sister, Hana, whom I had met a few times in the past.

I greeted her politely as my mother ushered their mom off to the dining room. Us three went into the living room, deemed the 'kid' room by my dad.

There were a variety of games and activities set up, but we opted to talk until more kids showed up.

It didn't take long until the room was half way full with kids.

Kiba introduced me to a few; Shikamaru, Choji, and Shino. They were clan kids too, all much more prominent than mine.

The Ikeda clan used to be significantly larger, rivaling even that of the Inuzuka, but a lot died during wars. We were front-liners, as my dad said. He also said our hidden technique aided in our decline. I'm not sure how, because he refuses to go into detail until I'm 'ready' to learn it.

Apparently you have to have excellent chakra control, so that won't be happening anytime soon, considering I've never used my chakra consciously.

So far I hadn't interacted much with any of the kids, minus Kiba and Shino. Shino was similar to myself. We were both quiet and somewhat outcasts. He spoke only when absolutely needed, and I liked that. Currently we were seated beside one another, in a comfortable silence.

Watching people was something of a hobby of mine. It was interesting.

Choji was eating an unbelievable amount of food from the buffet table, Shikamaru was near him sleeping. Kiba was playing a board game against Hiro.

Mio and Mayu, twin civilian girls, were gathering the other group of kids to play a game of pin the enemy with a kunai.

All in all it was entertaining to watch.

Not long after the parents all came in to do cake and presents, my personal favorite part of the party. The cake was my favorite, lavender and lemon. There was a second cake as well, chocolate, of which nearly all the other kids minus Shino and the twins, ate.

Presents were interesting.

I received a lot of items I wouldn't be able to use any time soon; namely sharpened kunai. I also received items I didn't think made sense, considering I have been training to become a ninja, thus maturing; hair ribbons (though useful for tying hair back, not exactly useful when they're neon pink), a stuffed panda (although they were still my favorite animal), and jewelry to name a few.

Kiba had gotten me a beautiful silver case with a decent amount of senbon within, my eyes watered when I seen them, "You listened!" I hugged the box awkwardly, until I moved it to the side to awkwardly hug Kiba instead.

I had talked his ears off about how badly I wanted senbon. Sure I wouldn't be using them anytime soon, but who the hell cares? I own them.

Shino got me something completely unexpected, but much needed; a set of ankle chakra weights. My shock must have been apparent because he spoke up, "I recalled seeing you at the training grounds several weeks ago… you complained of your speed. Those will help."

I couldn't stop thanking him. These would help, immensely. My speed was severely lacking, and I wanted to rectify that prior to the academy.

Lastly I opened a joint gift from my parents. A stunning pair of Sais; the blades themselves contained intricately engraved designs of my favorite flora; lavender. The hilts contained beautifully woven black and lavender dyed threads.

Que more tears.

It was, thus far, my favorite birthday I had ever had.

Once everything was over I thanked everyone and they left. Mom refused to let Dad or I help clean so we sat in the backyard watching the sunset.

"Did you have a good birthday Shio?" I smiled at the nickname, he seldom used it, but it always made me smile.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Thank you."

He gave me a mischievous look before pulling a package from behind his back. It was long and thin, covered in a metallic wrapping paper, finished with a lavender bow.

"One last gift."

I tore into it once it was given to me. I opened the box to reveal silky crimson bandages, the same as the ones my father always wears along his arms; and my brother, if memory serves correct. I didn't truly understand what they were for though; decoration, symbolism, a mark of the Ikeda? I did not know.

"These are ribbons, though they appear to be regular bandages dyed red. They hold the key to the Ikeda hidden technique. You see, once your chakra control is satisfactory we can truly begin, but until then I see no harm in gifting them to you early… under one circumstance."

I nodded with a unsteady grin housing itself on my face, "You may not wear them until your chakra control has improved."

My face fell and I felt not only deflated, but confused.

"These are no ordinary ribbons. They are special. We are able to steadily apply chakra to them and control them; make them wrap around our enemies, sharpen them to shred them to pieces."

A gasp escaped my lips, that was our family's hidden technique?!

Dad laughed, "Don't look so excited! It's really not that impressive of a technique, if anyone put their mind to it they'd crack our family's 'hidden technique' in a matter of months, but what makes it truly impressive… is our chakra control. Our family line naturally has an affinity for control. When the clan first started up it is said we were well renown medical ninjas, but now we're nearly forgotten."

He looked a bit saddened by this, but then started up, "If you don't have adequate control you could lose an arm. As a matter of fact, my brother Hideki did just that at ten years old. Too impatient to wait to be a genin, and too stubborn to ask for help."

His eyes fell to his feet, "Hideki was my younger brother. I sometimes felt tremendous guilt over him losing his arm, but as time trudged on I watched him truly go against the odds. A loss of limb isn't an immediate disqualification for a ninja, but it does make becoming one more difficult.

He tried and failed many times, but he eventually became a genin. Kami knows how."

My eyes wandered to the sky, noticing the stars were out, "What happened to him?"

Clearly he was no longer around, no one was; besides us, and our estranged family in Suna.

"Hideki was killed five years ago this past Wednesday."

The Kyuubi attack. I can't remember where or from whom I had heard it from. I could vaguely visualize a nine-tailed red fox, massive and terrifying. I couldn't have seen it though. I would've been in the womb still.

"Enough of this talk though," Dad startled me by grabbing me and swinging me onto his back, "Time for bed kiddo!"

Time trudged on for me, but I hardly noticed. Nearly all my free time was spent training. Learning taijutsu from my father when he was home, practicing kenjutsu stances with my mother. Mom also brought me to the training ground three times a week where I used my weights to run my laps. At first they were difficult to get used to, you had to consciously add chakra to make them heavier.

Finding my chakra took a bit of time, but once I found that warmth, I knew.

Other than the physical Mom also taught me about the various Hidden Villages as well as the smaller surrounding villages, the lands, the history. She also taught me how to calculate distance and velocity of throwing weapons.

When I wasn't doing these things I was hanging out with one of two people; Kiba or Shino. We rarely spent time all together, but I valued the time I spent with each of them. They were both vastly different, but at the same time so similar.

They were my best friends.

. . .

Note

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