Greetings ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the long awaited eleventh chapter of our fine production. I certainly hope the wait was well worth it as I only want the best for you, my beloved readers. Now may the curtain rise and our actors take the stage, for the show is about to begin!

Chapter Eleven: Truth Comes Out

After what felt like forever since I got away from my attackers, my body started to feel sore and when I looked over the red chakra covering me I noticed that it was getting thinner by the second and that small holes were starting to form letting water in. Naturally I started to panic when I looked around to see that I was nowhere near land and the chakra tail I was using as a kind of paddle started to disappear.

'This is bad!' My eyes widened as I watched the vanished completely. 'I just can't catch a break! Does some higher power hate me or something?!' I tried kicking my legs to at least try to swim and find land before Isobu's chakra completely vanishes but I wasn't going anywhere.

"Calm down Kojiro." Isobu's said inside my head making me cease my failed attempt to swim. "Switch with me and I'll get you to dry land."

'Switch?' I thought when I suddenly found myself in the pitch black ocean again standing in front of Isobu. "What do you mean switch Isobu?"

"Let me take temporary control." Isobu explained and it was then that I remembered that jinchuriki can let their tailed beast take control of their body like Naruto and Kurama when they were confronting Obito. "Will you allow me Kojiro?"

I just smiled and nodded my head. "Of course Isobu, I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't trust you." Isobu looked surprised for a moment before nodding and he sunk into the black water and the ripples that formed began to show colors of the sea floor in the real world. I watched in awe as my arms and moved on their own effortlessly swim and dodging incoming coral before Isobu made my body swim up to reach the surface. 'Was I running low on air?' I heard a splash as my head went above the water and Isobu took a deep breath before diving and continued swimming to find land. "So this is what it feels like to switch places. Feels weird watching your body move when you're not the one doing it."

"You'll get use to it." Isobu replied talking to me mentally as not to let any air out. "It's the same for every jinchuriki." I nodded in understanding and sat down crossing my legs as I watched Isobu swim counting the sea life as they passed by and I chuckled when I saw a couple of fish bumped into each other in a way that made it look like they were kissing each other which made me remember that scene with Naruto and Sasuke on their first day as genin. "Kojiro, is it okay if I ask you something?"

"What is it Isobu?" I asked curiously wondering what he wanted to ask me.

"I didn't mean to, but I saw a glimpse of a dream you had." Isobu said sounding a bit apologetic and I was confused as to what dream he was talking about. "What were those weird vehicles and why did that boy call you Kyle?"

My eyes widened in shock when I realized which dream Isobu was talking about. 'He saw that?!' I know I shouldn't be surprised since in a way we're sharing my body, but the fact that he saw the dream I had of my past life and Jason calling me by my old name was too shocking. 'What should I do? I could lie, but Isobu might know it's a lie and begin doubting me.'

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me Kojiro." Isobu said timidly bringing me out of my thoughts. "I don't mind waiting for you to tell me when you're ready, we're friends and I trust you."

Hearing that made me feel like a hypocrite when I said I trusted him but I couldn't trust him with a secret I was planning to take to the grave with me. I clenched my hands into fists disgusted with myself at the feeling like I'm just using Isobu to survive like Obito using the tailed beasts like tools. I unclenched my fists and let out a resigned sigh preparing myself for the inevitable. "I'll tell you."

"Are you sure?" Isobu asked as he swam to the surface again. "I honestly don't mind waiting."

I shook my head not sure if he could see it or not. "No, you have a right to know as my friend, I can't keep secrets from you." Isobu didn't dive back in the water which I assume means I have his full attention so I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before I spilled everything. "That dream was about my past life."

"Your past life?" Isobu asked and I'm guessing his eyes widened in shock.

I just nodded as I continued on. "That boy was Jason, he was my childhood friend and we've been neighbors for as long as I can remember." A small smile formed on my lips as I thought back to how me and Jason would go to each other's houses to play and cause mischief. "Those vehicles are called cars, they use a liquid called gasoline to move and people ride in them." I uncrossed my legs and brought my knees to my chest wrapping my arms around them. "I died when one of those cars called an ambulance lost control and slammed into me after I pushed Jason out of the way." I let out a small laugh when I realized how ironic my death was.

"What's so funny Kojiro?" Isobu asked confused as to why I would be laughing.

"Nothing." I replied letting go of my legs and laid on my back staring at the darkness above me. "Just realizing the irony of it all. I died by an ambulance which is suppose to carry the sick and injured to the hospital."

"That doesn't sound funny to me." Isobu said and I could practically feel the frown that was on my body's face as he dived under the water again and continued swimming. "Why would you find your own death funny?"

"I don't." I replied dipping a finger in the dark water of my mindscape making ripples that distorted what I was seeing through Isobu's eyes. "It was a humorless laugh Isobu." I dragged my finger across the water in a figure eight motion making small waves. "I'm surprised you don't think I'm crazy right now."

"Why would I think that?" Isobu asked surfacing from the dark water and when I looked down I noticed that my body was laying on a sea rock. "I thought it would be a good idea to let your body rest for now since it was still sore from using my chakra." I nodded in understanding and looked up to look him in the eye. "Kojiro, why did you say I would think you're crazy?"

"That's the usual reaction when someone tells you about remembering your past life." I explained getting to my feet and walked over to Isobu running my hand over one of his giant claws and felt how rough it was in some places and smooth in others. "Who would believe someone who can't prove they were telling the truth about remembering a past life or two?" I shook my head when many different scenarios played out in my head if I told someone about remembering a memory from before I was born. "I'd be sent to a mental hospital or worse. No one would believe something so ridiculous."

"I believe you Kojiro." I looked up to Isobu with a look of surprise but he continued. "Don't forget that I saw a glimpse of your dream and it looked too real to be a figment of your imagination." Isobu used one of his tails to lift me up so I was at eye level with him. "Reincarnation is not entirely impossible, it's just uncommon for those reincarnated to keep their past memories."

'Oh yeah.' I thought as I sat legs crossed on Isobu's tail. 'I forgot that Naruto and Sasuke are the reincarnations of Asura and Indra respectively.' I wanted to punch myself after remembering that and for being an idiot for thinking Isobu would think I was crazy after seeing a small piece of my dream of my past life. "So you really believe everything you saw?"

Isobu nodded. "It is hard not to believe what I saw Kojiro." I was secretly relieved that he still called me by this life's name instead of my old one. "Like I said earlier, it looked too real to just be a figment of your imagination." I felt a chill go down my spine when I thought back to my dream and reliving my death. "Would you tell me more about your past life Kojiro?"

"You want to know about my past life?" I asked in surprise and Isobu nodded and saw that he had childish curiosity shining in his one open eye. I didn't answer right away as I thought about what to do. 'Since he's sealed inside me he would find out about my past life eventually.' I carefully weighed the pros and cons in telling Isobu everything about my past life. The pros being that he will take everything calmly and we become better friends, and the cons being that he won't take it calmly and go on a rampage. The thought of Isobu taking over of my body and going on a rampage was not something I want happening anytime soon. I mentally punched myself in the gut when I realized where that train of thought was going. Deciding that this mental struggle was getting me no where, I just smiled at Isobu trusting him as a friend and told him everything about my past life.

I opened my eyes and sat up raising my arms to stretch them feeling quite refreshed for some reason. I lowered my arms and got to my feet as the sun started to rise and if I were to describe the sight of the sun rising over the ocean in one word, that word would be beautiful. The way the golden orange light of the sun is reflected off the wavy surface of the blue ocean water was a breathtaking sight that would make a painting jealous. I took a deep breath taking in the smell of the salty sea air a smile etched on my face when the smell reminded me of home back in the land of water.

'Good morning Kojiro.' I heard Isobu greeted from within my mindscape.

'Good morning Isobu.' I greeted back happy that nothing has changed between us despite me telling him everything about my past life. I wanted to leave out telling him about the Naruto anime and manga but thought against that since he would probably see those memories whether I wanted him to or not. So I told him everything about the anime and manga and to say he was surprised was the biggest understatement of the millennia, I thought his one eye was going to fall out of its socket when he tried to process everything I told him. Needless to say he accepted everything I told him and even commented that he wanted to see what the world of my past life with his own eyes which made me laugh when a mental image of Isobu acting like a kid looking at everything in wonder.

I reached into the folds of my kimono and pulled out my mother's hair stick and a hair band before starting to tie my hair in its usual spiky ponytail. After that was done, I took the hair stick and placed it at the base of the ponytail making sure that the hairband kept it in place and looked over the edge of the sea rock to check my reflection. When I saw that it wouldn't fall off I nodded in satisfaction before my stomach decided to let me know it was time to eat by making growling noises. 'Wish I had a fishing rod so I could catch myself some breakfast.' I looked around and sighed and I realized one important thing. 'Not that it would do me any good since there's nothing to start a fire on this stupid rock.'

'Do you want me to take you to land now Kojiro?' Isobu offered as I sat on the edge of the sea rock dipping my feet in the water. 'Perhaps I can catch you some fish on the way so when you reach land you can start a fire to cook them.'

'Normally, I would say no thanks and that I want to go the rest of the way myself.' I mentally replied as I looked around to see nothing but ocean and sighed again. 'But I can't swim and I haven't practiced my chakra out of fear of it going unstable so I can't walk on the water.'

'Speaking of chakra.' Isobu sudden't said getting my attention. 'Remember, I told you back on the ship that I know what was causing your chakra to be unstable.'

'That's right!' My eyes widened and I quickly got to my feet being careful not to slip and fall in the water. 'Why was my chakra unstable Isobu?'

'It was because of our little friend from last night.' Isobu replied and I felt a chill go down my spine when I thought back to my lookalike and how it tried to kill me. 'It was messing with your chakra network and making your chakra split into three natures.' At the mention of natures, I remembered what Ao told me about possibly having a kekkei genkai and it got me curious of what it would be if I do have one. 'That is why your chakra was unstable and you were unable to do the chakra exercises properly.'

'So it won't go unstable anymore?' I asked nervously trying not to think of that 'thing' breaking free and going berserk again.

'It won't.' Isobu said reassuringly and I couldn't help but jump up letting out a cheerful shout like a little kid at that. 'However, since you haven't been able to practice control properly, you won't be able to walk on trees let alone water at the moment.'

I groaned hanging my head in disappointment. 'Way to rain on my parade Isobu.' It was then that I remembered something. 'Wait, I still have a little control, right?'

'Enough to keep a leaf on your forehead.' Isobu replied and I could hear the confusion in his voice. 'Why?'

'I want to try something.' I looked around the sea rock and found a small boulder. "Perfect." I was starting to feel nervous so I took deep relaxing breaths before slowly weaving my hands in the tiger, ox, tiger, and rat hand signs before feeling my chakra gathering and kneading in my stomach. "Water Style: Water Bomb Jutsu!" I felt something climb it's way up my throat before a small trickle of water out of my mouth and down my chin. I sighed and used the back of my hand to wipe away the excess water. "Why did I honestly think that was going to work?"

'You just need practice.' Isobu said reassuringly as I sat down when a sharp pain made itself known on my shoulder and I let out a hiss placing a hand on my shoulder before looking over to see that my kimono still had a hole where that Hanako woman's dagger dug itself into my shoulder stained with my blood. 'I forgot you got hurt there, I'm sorry Kojiro.'

"It's not your fault Isobu." I shook my head and removed my hand to see that my palm was covered in blood and I cringed at the sight. "It's still bleeding, I'm surprised I didn't die of blood loss yet." As if that was the trigger, I started to feel dizzy and my vision a little blurry before I felt my body hit the hard surface of the sea rock.

'Kojiro!' I heard Isobu call out with worry etched in his voice as my eyelids started to feel heavy and wanting to be close. I tried to keep them open as I struggled to get back to a sitting position only for my arm to give way making me fall down again.

'Damn it, did I piss off a god in my past life and this is their way of payback?' I rolled so I was laying on my back and held my injured shoulder hoping that would at least stop the bleeding. 'It won't stop bleeding, am I going to die like this?' I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip on my shoulder ignoring the pain that shot through my body. 'I'm not going to die in a place like this!' I relaxed my body and took deep breathes focusing my chakra to my hand. 'I hope this works.' I looked to my hand that was on my shoulder and saw that it had a faint green hue covering it as the pain was slowly lessening.

'Are you sure you should try that Kojiro?' Isobu asked worriedly as I continued to try to close the wound on my shoulder. 'Even with that thing not getting in the way, you still don't have that much control over your chakra.'

"Trust me Isobu." I said softly as the pain finally receded and the green hue left my hand and lifted it up to see that the bleeding has stopped and the wound has closed. I let out a relieved sigh and let my hand rest on my stomach as I looked up to the sky. "Crisis averted."

'For now at least.' Isobu commented and I had to agree, when I checked my handy work again I saw that it was only a temporary fix before my wound opens and bleeds again at any minute leading me to bleed to death which made me shiver at the thought. 'You should probably use the Yang portion of my chakra to heal the rest of it Kojiro.'

I searched through my memories of my past life and found that Yang charka governs vitality and I remember that Kurama's Yang half was sealed in Naruto that heals his wounds almost immediately. A smile etched itself on my face and continued to look up to the sky watching the clouds float by. "It's your chakra Isobu, you're free to do with it however you want." Isobu said nothing and I saw what I think was steam in the corner of my eye and turned my head to see that it was coming from my shoulder. I watched in awe as the wound slowly got smaller before vanishing completely not even leaving a scar when I noticed that the steam was coming from my cheek too.

'You also had a cut on your cheek.' Isobu explained as the steam stopped as I slowly got up to my feet and walked to the edge of the sea rock to look at my reflection. I turned my head left and right for any sign of the cut I got from that Hanako lady's game of Russian Roulette only to see no sign of it anywhere. 'You should stay and rest some more though, you still lost a lot of blood.'

"Yeah." I nodded in agreement and a growling sound made itself known and I looked down to my stomach. I sighed and sat down bringing my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "And I'm hungry, but there's nothing here I can use to fish or even a fire to cook it." As if to mock me, a fish jumped up into the air before splashing back into the water. "Damn fish, now I know how Sokka felt in Avatar."

'I am guessing that this Sokka is a character in one of those animated stories you told me about?' Isobu asked in obvious confusion and fascination still trying to wrap his head around what I told him about cartoons and anime.

"Yeah." I nodded as more fish jumped up and back into the water. "And he was being taunted by a fish like I am now." My stomach growled again demanding food which I don't have and I groaned at that harsh reality. "If not by blood loss it's by starvation, either way I'm dead." I turned around so my back was facing the ocean as looking at the fish jumping wasn't helping with my situation. "Why can't I catch a break? Ever since mom and dad left for that stupid mission it was one disaster after another for me." I reached into my kimono again and pulled out two blood stained mist headbands and let my thumb brush against the wavy marks engraved on the cool metal as tears made their way down my cheeks. "I feel like the whole world is against me."

'The world is not against you Kojiro.' I looked up and saw I was in my mindscape again with Isobu towering over me and a tail was gently patting me on the head in a consoling manner. It felt awkward having a hard, rough tail patting my head but I didn't complain and let him continue with it. "You have suffered a lot yes, but it will only make you stronger when you overcome them and things will start looking up."

I held the headbands closer to my chest as I processed Isobu's words and I remembered the tarot reading Mrs. Shinomiya did for me and what my future held when she explained the Death card. 'I must put the past behind me and parts ways with it to be ready to embrace new opportunities and possibilities.' I remember she said it would be difficult to let go of the past at times but I would soon see how important it is so that I bring renewal and transformation into my life. 'She also said I should welcome any changes as a positive, cleansing, transformative force in my life.' I still don't understand what she meant by all of that, but I think my meeting with Isobu is what the cards meant by welcoming change in my life.

"Isobu?" I looked down to the headbands in my hands and gripped tightly on them. "Will I be able to become strong, strong enough so I can protect what's precious to me?" The image of my parents laying dead in a pool of their own blood keeps replaying in my head before I shook it off and remembered all the good times we spent together. "I don't want what happened to me happen to anybody else."

"Being strong is abstract and can mean anything, Kojiro." I looked up to Isobu and tilted my head to the side in confusion. Isobu saw my confusion and elaborated. "Is being physically strong what you want? Or is it you want to be mentally strong or even have strong willpower? any one of these three can be defined as being strong." He removed his tail from my head and submerged it in the water putting it under me and raised me up so I can look him in the eye. "It is up to you what you think being strong is about and how you want to use that strength. I'll support you in any way I can as your friend, Kojiro."

Isobu's words echoed inside my head as I thought over what kind of strength I wanted. It's true that I want to be strong, but I also wanted to help people so they wouldn't have to suffer. That's part of the reason why I studied medicine in my past life and decided to be a medical ninja in this life, so that I can help tend to the sick and injured and relieve at least a little of their pain. The more I think about it, the more I'm unsure of what to do. I looked to my parents' headbands again keeping my eyes on the metal plates and not the blood soaked cloth so as to not relive the memory of that night. I gritted my teeth when I still couldn't remember the faces or voices of the people who killed my parents, took me from Mrs. Shinomiya's house, and sealed Isobu inside me. I thought back to when Mrs. Shinomiya told me about my mother and father's dreams when she asked me what my dream was.

'A medical ninja as great as Tsunade and to wield one of the seven swords of the mist.' I ran my thumb over the engraved wave marks on the metal plates. The dry blood felt dry to the touch and stained the black cloth red leaving no chance of it being washed off. When I look at the headbands, I'm reminded that I'm not a teenager anymore, I'm just a six-year-old boy who can't defend himself in this dangerous world. 'What kind of strength do I want?'

"You are still young Kojiro." I looked up from the headbands to Isobu. "There is no need to worry about being strong right now, just enjoy your youth for now until you decide what strength you want." He placed me on his head and patted my head gently with his tail again. "When you have decided, that is when you have the answer to your answer." I just nodded putting away my parents' headbands deciding to think about another day. "Now, about your hunger problem, I could use my coral to guide the fish closer for you to catch."

"But I can't cook them without a fire." I reminded Isobu as I watch him take over my body and started to create walls of coral in in a ring shape around the sea rock I was resting on making new walls to make the ring smaller until the fish could only swim in shallow water around the sea rock. "And I don't have anything I can use to gut them and remove their scales." Isobu grabbed a few fish and I watched as the flopped around before they went still.

"You can leave gutting and descaling the fish to me." Isobu said as he created what I think was a knife out of coral which surprised me that he can make something like that. I then watched as Isobu sat down in front of the small pile of fish and began to descale the fish that he caught before gutting them which made me a bit nauseous when Isobu pulled out their innards with my bare hands. Isobu laid down his makeshift knife and the last fish before standing up. "They should be ready to be cooked now."

"There's still the fire problem though." I pointed out as I got over my nauseousness. "There's no wood to start one and nothing to hold the fish around the fire." Before I knew it I was in control of my body again and I looked at my hands that was still covered in fish blood and quickly ran to the edge of the sea rock to wash my hands in the sea water. "I guess you did all this for nothing Isobu."

"You can use your chakra." Isobu suggested as I flicked my wrists to get the excess water off my hands. "You have a fire nature, don't you?" I paused at that before face palming when I realized Isobu was right, I did have a fire nature. "You should have enough control to make a small fire and cook the fish."

"Even so..." I was interrupted when my stomach growled demanding food and I looked to the fish the Isobu prepped for me. "Ah screw it, might as well try." I made the tiger sign and started to gather and knead my chakra in my stomach before blowing out a thin stream of fire on the fish being careful not to burn them. It was incredibly difficult to control my chakra, but I was able to keep it at a low power so it stayed small and not get big and out of control.

After a few minutes, I felt that I was running low on chakra and stopped blowing fire to see that the fish have been fully cooked being a bit burnt around the edges. I took one of the fish by the tail and started to eat them before they got cold. When I ate my fill, I let out a loud burp rubbing my belly with a smile on my face. "That hit the spot."

"Are you ready to get to dry land now, Kojiro?" I nodded at Isobu's question and allowed him to take over as he broke the coral walls he made before jumping in the water and started to swim again. "What are you going to do first when we reach land?"

"I guess I should start by looking for somewhere to stay now that I have nowhere to go." I said softly as I thought of how I can't go back to my home in the Land of Water because I would die for supposedly having a kekkei genkai and that there's a chance the people who took me are still there. "But the question is where I should go?"

"How about the hidden leaf?" Isobu suggested which surprised me. "From what you told me about your past life, it is best to go there than the other villages."

"That's true." I muttered when I thought over what Isobu's suggestion. 'It's true I'll have a better chance of surviving if I go to the leaf village. It's certainly better than going to the hidden cloud or hidden stone, and I should probably avoid the hidden sand so I won't get killed by Gaara.' I paused at that thought and groaned in realization. 'In other words, the hidden leaf is my only choice.'

"Is something wrong Kojiro?" Isobu's question snapped me out of my thoughts. "You have been quiet for a while, what is on your mind?"

"Just thinking over my options, Isobu." I replied making ripples in the dark water with my foot. "After thinking about it, the leaf is my only option." I sighed as I began to list my reasons for that conclusion. "If I do have a kekkei genkai, then the hidden cloud will just use me like a breeding animal. I don't even want to think what the hidden stone will do to me if I enter their border, especially if they learn about you. And if I'm right, then I would most likely die by the hands of the hidden sand's jinchuriki."

"Hmm, yes, I can see how you ended with that conclusion." Isobu said humming in thought. "And you can't go back the the hidden mist for obvious reasons. What do you want to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I smirked when I noticed that Isobu was approaching land and we swapped places when he got out of the water. "We're going to the hidden leaf."

Now to reply to your reviews, which is my favorite thing to do for it is because of your support that I have made it this far.

Blueowl: I am also glad he got away. It might not be perfect, but it's progress in mastering Isobu's chakra. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter like the others.

SilverDragon1218: Yes, I apologize for the confusion. Yes, it is sad that our young protagonist can't seem to catch a break. You want to know the Kurosawa clan's secret? Well... it's a secret for a reason, you will just have to find out by reading. Hear that Kojiro? SilverDragon is cheering you on!

Luckyshot8: That is so true, chakra can be strong depending how you use it. When you consider who Kojiro was and the circumstances with Naruto and Kurama, it's understandable why Kojiro befriended his taled beast faster than Naruto.

Oblivious ninja IJ: I bet Isobu is happy to hear you say that.

guest reader: Now that you mention it, it kinda does. Wow, talk about coincidence.

EnigmaticHufflepuff: I am happy to hear that you loved it and I hope the wait was worth it. Did you call me sensei? Oh yeah, writers in japan are called sensei, right?

With that I bid you all adieu until the next act in our production of A New Life in Naruto.