So this is my second take at joining the SI/OC bandwagon. In this chapter you meet Miki; a kind of mutilated version of myself. Or just someone who has experienced a lot of trauma. She is very dramatic and not very sane. There are some nice twists coming your way, so have fun with that (Miki won't)!

Inspiration from, of course, Dreaming of Sunshine. Also check out Catch Your Breath, Iryo-nin Kasa, Walk on the Moon, Laterally, and Of the River and the Sea. To name a few. There are so many good SIs now. Seriously.

...

In Which She Muses

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, and very, very far away, I did not have to deal with this shit. Excuse the language. But not really. I may look like an adorable eight year old, but in actuality I have almost twenty eight years of experience and the temperament of a crotchety eighty year old man. If I had a lawn – oh man you can bet no one would be stepping on it.

I raise a darkly tanned hand to the sunlight and sigh, blowing a wisp of blue hair out of my face. I had originally been overjoyed upon realizing that I had maintained a relatively similar skin tone to my original body. My curly hair also returned for a second round. But, of course, I cannot have nice things.

My hair color is just ridiculous. When I say blue, I mean blindingly bright HEY I'M RIGHT HERE CAN YOU SEE ME I will burn out your eyes aqua blue. Not even the nice shade of blue main characters in anime get. It is pretty awful. And with this whole ninja gig it's probably gonna get me killed.

Oh, yes. Ninjas.

Lucky me, I was reborn in the Narutoverse. Apparently. Huzzah.

Honestly, this was not a hit my already waning sanity could really afford. Not only was I pushed on into reincarnation instead of facing the pearly gates, but I found out I was spit out into a supposedly fictional world.

I mean, after a couple months of my baby self drooling all over myself, I could kinda get over it. The whole "reincarnation" thing. Well, as long as I never think about my family, all my friends-

painpainwhyaretheygonecomeback-

-er, yeah. As in, can't think about that at all. Ever.

…Hm, where were we?

Ah, yes. Basically, I can get over the whole "reincarnated" part. Not so much the whole "living in a military state that fully endorses the use of child soldiers and freedom is a thing of the past" part. I am an American. I was practically suckled on the sweet nectar of freedom.

(and yes, I am definitely not sane by this point)

One must also consider the blazingly ridiculous things that happen to this world. I could only stomach so much bunny goddess before I was out. Like, how would I even go about fighting half of these things without OP to the max abilities? Well I'm not planning on it, so I suppose it's a moot point. To put this in perspective, while it has some relative good points, I really dislike most of the Leaf's dictatorship, freedom sucking, shove-you-full-of-propaganda self. My life is in ruin.

I sigh again and gaze at my elevated hand, "Poor Yorick. Alas, alas."

Hm. What was the rest of that quote?

I hear a sigh, "Miki-kun, please stop interrupting class."

I look up and see Iruka-sensei staring at me, his gaze slightly pained. His hand is frozen half-way in his now habitual motion of massaging the bridge of his nose. Ah, that poor man. He is some of most fun I have in this life. I can't help but feel a bit bad though. The only other kid that gets his blood pressure this worked up is Naruto.

Even then, he tends to resort straight to yelling with that one. I can tell he doesn't know how to deal with me. I'm too out of the norm for what he's used to. My personality, or mostly my seemingly babbling words, tends to put most people off kilter. I don't make many friends this way. But I also tend to be able to do whatever the hell I want without much censure. Are you going to talk sense into crazy?

I blink guilelessly, my arm still posed in the air, seeming to be ignorant to the stares of the whole class. The kid next to me slowly scooted away. I say, "Ah, sensei, I am very sorry. I'm sure no one could concentrate, that having been such a half-hearted recital. Perhaps again…"

I sit up straight as if to project my words, but only got an "Ala-" (ah, now that I think of it, "Alas" goes first, right?) out before being cut off.

"NO, no, that's just- fine. Miki-kun. Please keep further comments in your head unless they are related to class."

The rest of the class laughs as I bob my head complacently. I consider the pros of telling him why the works of Shakespeare are relevant to all matters of life, but decide not to push him. Iruka-sensei is a good guy all things considered. I don't like to mess with him too much.

Too much.

He goes on to lecture about whatever this class is on. I think I'm in history. It would be super interesting if the amount of propaganda being shoved down my throat didn't make me want to choke. Like, this is North Korea level of censorship right here. I'm kinda surprised we don't pray to the first Hokage, given how much he's propped up in our books. To the point he is literally called the god of shinobi. Then again, I guess the appointment of Ninja God goes to the Sage.

I mean, it's not that I think all the facts in this damn book are straight wrong. If Konoha wins (we always win), it's recorded as a win. If we lose (Konoha has a history of very few tactical retreats), we lose. This happened then. These institutions were established here. The spin they put on everything is what makes me dizzy.

"The honorable first Hokage singlehandedly brought the entire world of shinobi out of the dark ages. He established Konoha and brought prosperity to the land, making a safe haven for all of her citizens. Now it is your turn to uphold the First's Will of Fire and keep Konoha safe for the generations to come. Blah, blah, blah."

Come on, the textbooks tell you to do things. This is not even trying to look like unbiased learning. It hurts us.

Yeah, most of the cultural and historical stuff goes like this in every book available to civilians and academy students. I can't vouch for stuff available to ninja level, but it's overall disappointing. Having been an International Studies major, cultural stuff is kinda what I do. Did. Whatever.

I can piece stuff together from what I knew previously and what I can get wading through politically charged texts, but it's not easy going. If I had been a Clan Kid I may have been able to get my dirty paws on some choice info, but no such luck. You're looking at an Oliver Twist. Olivia Twist? I still can't quite grasp the state of gender equality here. Kunoichi are generally badass, but a significantly less amount fill out the forces. In fact-

I'm ripped from my musings by the ring of the bell. The kids quickly fling themselves from their seats and run to the door, ignoring whatever Iruka is trying to yell over them. The kid next to me seems particularly eager. I casually take a look at my hand and see that I had accidentally been carving pieces of wood from my desk. Again. Oops. Time to go before sensei notices.

I push my hands against my mutilated desk and attempt to casually mosey my way to the door. I skip down the steps, not trying particularly hard to avoid the stragglers. I take a glance at Iruka out of the corner of my eye. My inattention caused me to bump into someone. Red fills my sight.

Small hands quickly push me away, causing me to stumble. Bright blue eyes glare into my brown ones, and a sharp toothed scowl fills my vision. "Hey, watch where you're going!" Uzumaki Naruto growls at me, his spiky red hair disheveled.

Ah yes, did I forget to mention that Naruto has red hair and the plot is shot to hell and back?

Silly me.