Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


Concept: An OC/SI winds up reborn as an orphaned Uzumaki in Kumogakure as a part of Killer B's generation.


Suzu of Kumo


Death is intimately followed by resurrection. I didn't believe that in life, but I am forced to accept it in the afterlife. Strangely enough, my afterlife is much less peaceful than my first life. I was reborn in Kumogakure, the village hidden in the clouds. Well, to be technical I was found in my dead mother's arms as an infant and brought to Kumogakure, but I wasn't cognizant at the time.

I didn't regain my full faculties until around four. After that I became a very quiet child. The attendants at the orphanage found this undesirable and kept trying to break my shell. Unfortunately, they weren't dealing with a somewhat quiet or even traumatized four year old girl… They were dealing with a twenty-seven year old woman who simply didn't feel the need to verbalize all the many thoughts in her head.

At six, my second life changed drastically. I still haven't decided if this was unfortunate or not.

After regaining my senses I'd immediately set to work shaping my child's body into something suitable for a ninja. Not because I especially liked the career path. My last life had taught me though that in life one should always strive to be in a position of power. Not to abuse it really, but just to make sure that you don't wind up one of the ones without power. In this case I focused on speed and endurance over strength.

By six I was in the academy and had already learned how to jump from rooftop to rooftop. I enjoyed traveling that way, it was exhilarating. My crimson hair and fair complexion stood out compared to most of the other people traversing the roofs of Kumo, but that just meant I was identified as a loyal academy student more quickly.

On this day I was jumping from roof to roof as usual when I heard a man scream. That was only the beginning though. An aura of dread and monstrous hate filled the air. When I finally turned to look I could see the Eight-Tailed Beast looming above the buildings only a few roofs away. Before I even knew what I was doing I was moving towards it.

I don't know if the regular ninja were stunned by its aura or just regrouping, but I didn't see anyone else attacking it or moving to stop it. My mind kept trying to pull out the beast's name but I was coming up blank even though I kept getting closer. The Aura of Evil in the air already had me pouring down tears but I kept moving until I'd come up right alongside him. At that moment it was like a bolt of lightning struck my brain and I suddenly remembered his name.

"GYUUKI!" I screamed at him with all the power in my young lungs. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS GYUUKI!" The creature whipped around to look at me and I only just realized exactly how enormous he really was. I was perhaps the size of one of his teeth and right at that moment I was getting a close up view of said teeth.

"WHY!? You're supposed to be cool! You're supposed to be a protector and the cool older brother! YOU WERE THE BEST!" I screamed in inconsolable rage and grief. Honestly I think the aura was effecting me, but I'd always been emotional. I don't know if what I said got through to the big lug as that was pretty much the moment the Sandaime Raikage dropped the elbow of doom on Gyuuki's face.

I barely even saw the massive tail of chakra that grabbed me but I certainly felt it. A scream of sheer unending agony tore from my throat and continued I'd gone so hoarse my throat was bleeding. Sometime during the fight the tail got cut off but rather than keep its form it stuck to me like chakra napalm. It was boiling hot and I'm told it rose a good six feet above me until I looked like nothing so much as a chakra fueled bonfire.

After Gyuuki had been sealed the Raikage himself came to deal with me, but he only made it in time to see things go down. I'd been so desperate to get the hot stuff off of me that I'd actually been expelling my own chakra into it, instinctually trying to create a barrier. When that didn't work my instincts changed tact.

Instead golden chakra poured from my skin to create a miniscule layer of golden flame. Or at least it was miniscule at first. Soon it had combined with the chakra boiling me to death until I was a golden beacon in the middle of Kumo. The chakra healed my wounds and slowly retreated back into my skin at which point the relief from pain was so great I passed out on the spot.

I woke up with a rack of cow's horns, the strength of a fully grown man and an appetite that allowed me to stomach hospital food and ask for thirds. Of course I also woke up to the Raikage, a man who was more myth than man for all a lowly academy student like me saw of him, giving me a frighteningly contemplative look.

"R-Raikage-sama!?" I asked. And then immediately blushed as I realized that I'd stammered in front of the Riakage. He stood up and moved over to the side of my bed and I couldn't help but cower in the sheets. The man was a solid wall of muscle and generally acknowledged as one of the most dangerous sons of a bitches in the Elemental Nations.

"Right now my advisors are screaming at me to marry you off and make you pop out babies as soon as possible. While chained to a wall if needed," His tone didn't tell whether this was something he agreed with or not and I couldn't help paling at the words. "But from everything I've read, you were the first person to react to the Hachibi's release… Even if it was the damn stupid move of running towards it. Hell, if it hadn't gotten so focused on you who knows how much damage it could have done before I arrived."

The raikage shook his head, "What I could accomplish if every ninja I had were as brave as you…" He held up a forehead protector, "I'm putting you on a rush through the academy program, in one year this is going to be yours. Beyond that I'll keep the vultures away until you're eighteen. After that I can't promise what'll happen unless you've already found somebody. Choose wisely, gaki."

All of which is just to help you understand where I'm at right this moment. To help you understand what I'm thinking of as I look down at the mangled body of a trio of Kiri gennin who thought the eight year old of our team was the obvious weak link.

I toss my broken wakizashi away with a frown and close my eyes to concentrate momentarily. In each hand a golden wakizashi forms and I turn to face another team. Three fools who thought that last team was enough to tire me out. What a pathetic test this is.


I walked into the Arena next to my team. An array of thin golden spikes hung from my horns and clanged together to make sound as I walked. My teammates were fairly stereotypical Kumo gennin, thirteen and fourteen year old boys wearing white and blue with a single katana strapped across each of their backs. I may have been the ringer for this little show but neither was incompetent.

My eyes slid around to take in the competition. It was only Kumo and Kiri in the finals, probably because without Uzushiogakure around the only minor villages that would risk the journey were Yunagakure and Shimogakure… Neither was faring well after the end of Second Shinobi World War. For the most part I didn't recognize anyone from the eight remaining fighters.

"First match, Getta of Kumo versus Kizaki Hoshigaki," The proctor called the first fighters. The rest of us walked calmly back to the stands. I felt a slight prick on my arm but ignored it. It was probably just my enemy poisoning me to gain an advantage. Releasing a tiny amount of Gyuuki's chakra from a seal on the small of my back kicks my healing into overdrive and rids me of it without anyone the wiser.

Getta was my teammate, but we weren't close enough for us to say anything truly personal to him. "Good luck… Asshole." I settled for something honest instead. His parting gesture of vulgarity warmed the cockles of my heart.

"Hajime!" The proctor cried beginning the battle. Getta drew his sword and charged in keeping enough presence of mind to evade the shuriken meant to slow him down. It wasn't a terrible strategy, Hoshigaki were known for their ninjutsu so the sooner he could occupy the boy's hands the better.

The Hoshigaki drew two kunai and countered length with speed. He also upped the ante on closeness getting them even closer than they had been. They exchanged a few blows but from the side it was obvious that the Kiri ninja was trying to make my teammate put his back to the stream that was running through the arena. He succeeded.

Kizaki disengaged first, leaving an exploding tag behind to occupy Getta. Thankfully the asshole didn't dodge backwards onto the stream. Still he ultimately kept the stream behind himself. Kizaki grinned and started going through hand seals, but Getta caught on immediately. Abandoning his sword he instead moved quickly through a simpler lightning jutsu which sent a trio of weak lightning needles at Kizaki.

Of course Kizaki wasn't expecting it and had to dodge out of the way. Even before he'd really started moving Getta sent a few shuriken at his destination. Without proper preparation Kizaki failed to dodge the last shuriken and took it to the left shoulder. Getta was soon on him once again, forcing him to fight a retreating battle without significant use of his wounded arm. It was only a matter of time before my teammate kicked his legs out from under him and held the tip of his sword at the Hoshigaki's neck.

"Winner: Getta of Kumo," The Proctor announced. There was a wait as Getta returned to the stands and Hoshigaki left to get a medical check. "Next match: Nana of Kiri versus Natsumori Yuki."

This fight was over far faster than I would have liked. Nana had a solid base of genjutsu and long range weapon work. Didn't matter. Natsumori simply filled the air with ice senbon and downright destroyed her legs when she couldn't quite dodge in time. Her genjutsu was probably the only reason she only took it in the legs.

"I surrender!" Nana immediately made the smart choice. Without legs it would be a short battle after all. Natsumori just gave an arrogant huff and stormed back to the stands like we were all beneath his notice.

"Next match: Suzu of Kumo versus Horo of Kiri!" At the proctors call I walked onto the field but I made sure to do so in a sluggish and dull manner. My opponent gave himself away with a sly grin. "Hajime!"

The guy closed to taijutsu range before I could even pull my wakizashi. He was fifteen or so, probably his last chance to really pull out of the gennin bracket. Too bad he didn't deserve it. It's not just poisoning me before the match, though that's a pretty good sign he was lacking in skills in the first place. It was that he noticeably poisoned me before the match. If a gennin with one year of experience caught you at it, then you aren't good enough to pass on that alone.

Anyways he quickly overpowers me as I drag myself from one blow to the next. I'm stumbling backwards and his moves are steadily dropping in skill as he tries to gain that slight edge in power needed to break my guard. The audience is bored and annoyed at my poor showing, their emotions are at a suitable low to emphasize the coming high. Finally he comes in far too slow with a punch and creates an opening.

In a second my kunai are in hand and one of them buries itself in the side of his knee while the other slices into the inside of his elbow, both on his left hand side. Moving fast while he's still in pain I grab his right arm and lock my legs around his neck while twisting his arm in a painful lock. With both arms disabled and only one leg it's a simple matter to wait out the eight seconds it takes for him to blackout from my legs chocking him.

"Winner: Suzu of Kumo!" The Proctor calls out. The cheers are significant as those eight seconds allowed them to overcome the shock of my turnaround. I stand up from my battle and straighten my back to a more dignified posture. Although all eyes are on me I decide to send a message more directly to the ninja and walk back to the stands without making a sound despite the chimes attached to my horns.

"Nice job, shitty little brat," Getta says to me as I reenter the stands.

"Thanks, asshole," I respond. Our third teammate, Koda, simply nods to me and remains silent.

"Final match of the first round: Koda of Kumo versus Itomu Kaguya." The proctor called out. I couldn't help a slight whistle. Even without the Shikotsumyaku, Kaguya were dangerous foes. Their brutality was somewhat legendary.

Koda stood across from the pale young man who wore a simple tunic and pants. They were each sizing each other up and frankly the Kaguya had a slight physical advantage. "Hajime!" With the call both of them began to circle each other at a run. Koda had his sword out while the Kaguya pulled out a kusarigama.

Itomu slashed across the distance with the weighted chain hoping to snare my teammate. But the katana wielder was faster than most and decently flexible. Instead he dodged under the chain and closed in on the Kaguya. This produced a manic grin from the boy as he wrapped the chain around one hand and closed in to fight short range.

He used the sickle like an expert always catching the katana in just a way that Koda had to waste strength keeping the blade's away from his body. A chain wrapped fist kept him from getting a strong stance as he had to keep dodging the other hand. Suddenly Koda paused mid step and I looked down slightly to see the weight of the kusarigama wrapped around one foot.

Itomu's chain wrapped fist smashed into his stomach knocking the wind out of him and doubling him over. Then with long practiced ease he flipped the sickle around so the blade came out from under his hand and delivered an uppercut that put the blade straight in Koda's heart. The stadium was silent as the weapons holding him up were withdrawn and the boy fell to the ground in a lifeless heap.

"Winner: Itomu Kaguya!" The proctor announced with the same inflection as he'd called every other match. The applause was no less either. In Kumo we'd have at least have been annoyed at the waste of a decent contender. Not the bloody mist.

"Damn." Getta summed up our thoughts from the Kumo side of the box. Natsumori looked like he was more annoyed he might have to step in the blood later. Itomu returned to the contenders box with a vicious grin but he didn't direct it towards anyone so I guessed it was more of a victory thing.

For ten minutes we waited in silence, nobody really having anything in particular to say to each other. Finally they seemed to have gotten their shit together and the proctor returned to the field. "First match of the semi-finals: Getta of Kumo versus Nastumori Yuki!"

This time when battle began Getta didn't bother drawing his sword. Instead he went right to his big guns and used a ninjutsu that allowed him to create a pair of wolves made of lightning. The Yuki tried crushing them with ice needles, but they simply charged through. Their plasma state made them far hotter than simple fire jutsus.

With the dawning understanding that he needed to get serious, Natsumori switched modus and backed away while throwing actual kunai in the hopes of grounding them out. It was a decent idea as it certainly reduced their power, but didn't save him from having to keep running. Finally realizing that Getta wasn't holding the last hand seal just for show he threw a set of shuriken at the immobile gennin.

Getta dodged but his wolves quickly went wild and began to run around without direction. Instead of reigning them back in, he left them out as wildcards and instead settled for shooting lightning needles at the Yuki. Natsumori had no trouble dodging them and soon retaliated with a fast flying lance of ice.

The lance did little except make Getta move but that seemed to be all Natsumori needed. He crouched down and began a long set of hand seals, but in turn this gave Getta the opportunity to resume control of his wolves. Both lightning creations sped across the arena floor towards the ice user but the boy had apparently had just enough time. A mirror of ice formed behind himself and behind Getta. He stepped back into the mirror and then disappeared from view to most of the spectators.

In an instant Getta's hands were stuck together with a senbon and a kunai was at his throat. "Surrender." Natsumori's voice held the cold command of an order.

"I surrender," Getta replies knowing when he's beat.

I can barely see the irritation at having been pushed so hard in Natsumori's stance as he returns to the stands. Getta simply pulls out the senbon and wanders off to find our sensei in the stadium. The proctor returns to the arena and announces the next match, "Last match of the semi-finals: Suzu of Kumo versus Itomu Kaguya!"

The pale prick and I walk out to our place in the arena. He's already sneering at me as though the match is set. "Do you believe in karma?" I ask, perfectly aware it would seem like a non-sequitur.

He raised one hairless and red dotted brow at me. "Is this about your teammate?"

I shake my head, "Nah, just wondering what our karma must have been like to be reborn here and now." A smile plays across my lips, "Well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find out your karma soon."

He scowled but simply took a ready stance with his kusarigama already out.

"Hajime!" The proctor called and disappeared from the ring. The weight of the weapon was already crossing the arena towards my face. Without hesitation I caught it with only a minor stinging in my palm and channeled chakra into it. An invisible tug of war took place between us as we each tried to dominate the weapon.

Although he was more used to the weapon and therefore found it easier to channel his chakra into it, my reserves were enormous and completely untapped so far. Sweat broke out on his brow as he tried to keep the chain from rolling up in my favor. Finally our forces exceeded the limits of the weakest link in the chain and it broke splitting the chain in two.

He growled and charged with his sickle while I quickly wrapped my end of the chain around my arm. It would be a valuable reward for this battle to get a decent length of chakra-channeling chain. When he finally entered taijutsu range I used my short stature to the fullest to duck below his blows and hit slightly lower than his blocks prepared him for. Still I was only waiting for a particular opening. Right now he was striking while protecting his body. I just needed him to draw back and open up for one all-out attack.

While it wasn't quite what I wanted I still saw my opening. He'd over-extended on a kick which I easily dodged. I grabbed the leg to hold him still and whipped my head around while channeling chakra through my horns. My ornaments weren't simply tied on with strings through my horns' many piercings, but rather with strands of hair taken from my own head. The chakra they carried on a day to day basis made them as responsive as good chakra-conducting wire even if not nearly as strong. More importantly they could still grow.

Suddenly my ornaments changed from close range annoyances to the flaying tip of a cat-o-many-tails. Itomu's reflexes were good preventing my spikes from tearing into his crotch. Nonetheless I still flayed the skin and material from his hip and upper thigh leaving a painful and fast bleeding injury. As soon as we disengaged I used my kunai to cut the spikes off so they won't become a liability and then threw the kunai in a haphazard attempt to keep Itomu off balance.

While it mostly worked his reply of shuriken was far more accurate and I had difficulty dodging. He kept up the rain of sharp and pointy things when he realized his advantage. I still threw an occasional sharp object in his direction, but I could hardly afford to waste precious weapons right now. Pulling to a quick stop to throw off his aim I did a few hand seals and created a trio of illusionary copies of myself.

Mentally I cursed having not been taught water walking yet. I could have used it to prevent my original from leaving footprints. Instead I simply used the moment of confusion to unravel the chain of his kusarigama and attack head on with the weight. All of the clones made the attack but he determined I was the real one just in time to block the strike with his sickle.

Sending a wave of my chakra through the chain curled it around his hands and caught him in its grip. I gave a mighty pull and he fell forwards. This time my kunai sailed straight and true, catching him right between the eyes as he looked back up at me.

"Winner: Suzu of Kumo!" The proctor announced to massed cheers. I just busied myself collecting both halves of the kusarigama, after all for the cost of a single chain I could sell the weapon myself for extreme profit. Also I picked up my horn ornaments. They had some sentimental value to me after all. Once it was all safely stowed away I returned to the ready position. Natsumori was walking out to join me.

I carefully inspected his posture and composure. Since he didn't spam ice mirrors I assumed it had a high chakra cost. He'd used hundreds of those ice senbon in the first match when the ice mirrors would have allowed a more elegant solution. Thus its cost must be truly prohibitive, or it was only used as a trump card. His present state of equanimity suggested the latter but he seemed ever so slightly paler than he had before. No good, I can't really determine which way it'll go.

"Final match: Suzu of Kumo versus Natsumori Yuki." The proctor called out. He raised his eyebrow slightly when he realized neither contest much felt like making speeches. It was tradition and a part of the show really. Natsumori rolled his eyes but took the hint.

"You should just surrender. There is no method for you to win this battle," Natsumori said.

I shrugged, though I had to wonder if he was just following the script or really believed something so catastrophically stupid. Hell I half expected Itomu to start pulling bones out at random even knowing there was almost no chance he actually had the bloodline limit. "I've got my own pride as a prodigy. If you can make me surrender, do so."

Natsumori sighed and gave the proctor a look. The man nodded and cried out, "Hajime!"

I charged in immediately not even bothering to dodge the ice needles that peppered my arms and shoulders. They hurt but without precision they didn't actually slow me down much. Seeing me get through his initial attack Natsumori backed off and launched a few actual shuriken at me.

Two were dodged cleanly while the last I caught with the point of my horn leaving it spinning around just within sight. A better ninja might have kept throwing as they approached, but I'd barely had a year of training so I knew I wouldn't hit anything that way. Instead I focused all my speed on the approach.

"Hyoton: Hyoheki!" He cried out and I slid to a stop just in time to not hit a seven foot tall wall of ice. It must have been something he learned only recently if he still needed the verbal component to use it during battle. Still it's impressive, and difficult to circumvent.

My only lightning jutsu is too weak to take out the wall in a single hit. Opening it up slowly will just leave me open to attack. Going around the sides is far too expected. Trying to tree-walk up the side of an ice sculpture would take a lot of chakra and be seen in advance. Leaving him alone would only give him a chance to recover the chakra he spent on the wall.

Reaching into my pouch I grabbed a piece of paper and slapped it onto the ice wall then channeled chakra into my legs for a single great leap. I shot over the edge of the ice wall with a kunai out ready to block but made a single one handed seal and screamed, "KATSU!"

Natsumori got a kunai off in my direction but the explosion of his ice caught him completely off guard. A piece of shrapnel smashed into his shoulder and another hit his stomach winding him. The kunai was too low for me to block and embedded itself just above my right knee. Rather than the graceful landing I was hoping for my right leg gave out and I had to roll painfully dislodging the blade from my lower thigh.

I tried to stand but tripped while the Yuki managed to catch his breath. Seeing my situation he flew through hand seals and created a mirror behind himself. Knowing he'd make the mirror behind me I turned away and lashed out with the golden wakizashi that immediately appeared in my hand. Luckily for him his reactions were fast enough to avoid more than a bloody gash across his chest.

Forcing myself beyond the limits of my pain I launched my last desperate attack in the form of an uppercut. Overconfident in his belief of my state of temporary immobility he had come closer to attack me rather than moving back out of range. My fist hit his jaw with all the strength of my small body and launched him several inches in the air.

His body landed and moved to get up… Then fell back still. For a couple seconds nothing happened and then the proctor appeared next to Natsumori looking down at him. "Due to unconsciousness Natsumori Yuki cannot finish the fight. The winner is Suzu of Kumo!"

The crowd went wild with their cheers. I just sat down exactly where I was and waited for the medical teams. My eyes scanned the stands but stopped on the Kages' box. Despite the distance I could see my Raikage looking at me and more than that he was smiling. I'd never been one for patriotic fervor in my previous life, but right now I truly felt joy at being a ninja of Kumo. At having served my village well and proved our strength to the whole world.

My Raikage was proud of me, and it felt wonderful.


When we returned to the village it wasn't quite as upbeat as it had been before we left. The reason why was simple, Iwa had just overstepped into Kusa. This practically guaranteed that Konoha would respond. Despite only a couple years of peace the Third Great Ninja War was about to get started. Suna was making enemies in their desperate search for the kazekage, though I think I'm the only one who knows that outside of the Land of Wind. Meaning Konoha is basically going to be in this alone until Suna gets its act together.

Kumo has no great love for Iwa, but war makes for interesting bedfellows. We'll probably drag our heels for a few years until we've got a better handle on the situation, but we're definitely siding against Konoha. Kiri's just going to play opportunist until they implode from a combination of their own bloody history and Madara's plots.

I can only sigh and return to my hovel while my sensei heads off to report our success.