After several seconds with my face pressed against the floor, I decided that I'd stayed still long enough and began pushing myself upwards. I was already mildly annoyed with how difficult it was to control my limbs, but I forced myself to my feet nonetheless, taking a few experimental steps and just barely catching myself each time my body tensed in preparation for a crash to the floor. It didn't take long before muscle memory kicked in, and although there were still a few awkward stumbles, I managed to find myself in the center of the room.

Now that I wasn't at risk of face planting as soon as I did anything but pour all of my concentration into walking, I took a look around the room, taking note of the desks and poorly-made beds that lined the walls as well as the toys, books, and other miscellaneous objects that were either placed awkwardly on top of the desks or stuffed inside of them.

Catching sight of a decently-sized hand-mirror placed haphazardly next to a pile of clothes, I reached down to pick it up, figuring that whoever owned the thing wouldn't mind if they'd left it without a care. Then, curious of my appearance, I flipped the mirror over, only to startle at the sight that greeted me.

My face looked like it belonged to a statue. Nothing new, actually, since I was used to having a resting bitch face. I wasn't, however, used to looking so much like an anime character . The straight, black hair I vaguely remembered had been replaced with a pale, silvery mess of spikes that seemed to stick up and out in all directions, my slight tan had given way to pale, seemingly blemish-free skin and, most noticeable of all, my normal brown eyes had turned violet .

I let out a deep breath, pinching my hair between my fingers as if it'd make it turn back to normal. The color stayed, though, and I continued looking like a small, off-color Kakashi. Or , I considered, glancing at my slightly square jaw, a purple-eyed, kid version of Tobirama .

My lips pursed, gut twisting uncomfortably. It was just… weird looking at myself and seeing something entirely different than what I expected. The whole short-limb thing was already awkward enough, and now dealing with this…

It was almost too much.

Just as I swallowed the lump in my throat, a vaguely feminine voice called out, catching my attention.

"Ren-kun?"

I finally pulled my gaze from the mirror, dropping it back into the pile of clothes and glancing at the door. The door creaked open, and in walked a woman who immediately registered in my mind as ' Nozomi Fukushima .'

A sudden influx of memories washed over me and I was barely able to disguise my surprise with an intake of breath, noting absentmindedly that she was the only caretaker specifically mentioned in the reputation section.

"The other kids are back from the park," she said, and I was halfway through furrowing my brows when I 'remembered' that, whenever the kids returned from whatever they were doing that day, it usually meant that dinner was almost ready.

"Okay," I replied, feeling a little overwhelmed. "I'll be down in a minute."

A flicker of something passed behind her eyes, and she gave a slight frown. "Are you alright? If you're unwell, I can bring your dinner up for you."

I took in a breath, forcing my shoulders to relax. "I'm fine."

She paused for a moment, and I forced myself to remain still as she put the back of her hand against my forehead. After a moment or two, she let out a small sigh and pulled backwards. "Alright, then," she said with a slight smile, looking less worried than before. "But if you feel unwell, just let me know."

I dipped my head in acknowledgement and, after offering another smile, she turned around and quickly made her way down the hall and into another room, presumably to tell a few others to make their way to dinner.

After hearing the next door open, I let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding. The memory thing was… weird. More disconcerting, actually. Especially since it felt less like someone else's experiences had been forced into my head, and more like I was actually the one there . As if the knowledge had always been there, instead of being slotted in with the rest of my memories.

I let out a sigh and shook my head. I'd have to get used to that, I supposed. Hopefully not too much, since my body was still young, but still; it'd be pretty noticeable if I just kept freezing in front of people whenever I 'remembered' something.

Rolling my shoulders, I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind me, suppressing a wince as more memories of the building surged into my head. After a few minutes, I found myself stepping into a large - and almost unbearably loud - room where dozens of children were either sitting at tables and chatting or standing around in line with trays in their hands, picking out their lunches.

After a moment of hesitation, I made my way inside and grabbed a lunch for myself before heading to a more unpopulated area of the cafeteria, glancing around absently as I ate.

I knew, from the new memories that swirled around in my mind, that the orphanage I was in wasn't the only one in Konoha. There were a few, and the one I was in was closer to the market than the academy, and had a distinct lack of blondes running around in bright orange, so I supposed Naruto either lived in a different orphanage or I was in a time period where he wouldn't be there. Or both. Really, all I knew about the era was that Sarutobi Hiruzen was, in fact, Hokage. Unfortunately, considering the fact that he was Hokage twice and held that position for a good while, that wasn't exactly helpful information. I didn't think we were currently at war, since nobody looked especially harried and the orphanage was at least alright when it came to funding, but that didn't narrow it down as much as I would've hoped, even if I was right.

I did, at least, get a decent amount of information about where I lived, specifically. Nozomi, for instance, seemed to be favored among the caretakers since she was more hands-on and personable than the rest to them, and while she wasn't the orphanage's main nurse, she did know a minor amount of medical ninjutsu. That also meant that she'd been through the academy and graduated, though I doubted she was anything past chunin, since I doubted someone as young as her and with a decent shinobi career would choose to work in an orphanage. The orphanage was also placed somewhere near the academy and decently close to a park that was visited by the children just about every day.

Speaking of the academy, it seemed to be about as popular as I expected it to be. Most children didn't actually end up passing the entrance exams - and even less graduated - but, from the looks of things, the majority of them at least gave it a shot. Being a ninja wasn't anything that was pushed for in the orphanage, but it was hard not to notice that there were a lot of books, stories, and games centered around ninjas, and when you were a child, there weren't a whole lot of things that sounded cooler than being able to shoot fireballs from your mouth or move faster than the eye could see. So, the year after a child turned six, it wasn't uncommon for them to head off to try their hand at getting into the academy. The only reason Renma hadn't was because his - my? - birthday was around two weeks after the academy-entrance deadline - which always fell upon the first weekday after New Years - meaning that he'd he - or I, now - would have to wait until I was seven to give it a go.

And I would, most likely. While being a civilian was certainly safer , there weren't a whole lot of opportunities for orphans in this world - in any world, really. Even if I somehow managed to secure a job, there was no telling whether or not I'd even survive . Being a civilian was dangerous business because, even if you were never directly attacked, you could always die from something as simple as a falling beam, or an infection, or a sickness that wasn't prevented because civilians didn't have enough chakra to fight any of that off like a ninja could.

Besides, as stupid as it may have been, I actually wanted to do something for once. I already tried the 'boring life' thing and ended up as a loner with no one but his employer and two strangers to miss me, and now I had at least a semblance of a chance to make a difference. I didn't think I'd be taking on Madara or anyone like that by myself, but hopefully I'd at least be able to get to jounin. It'd be a waste to just… not use the abilities I'd been given, either. And while I doubted I'd ever share the fact that I basically knew the future, I could use my origins to my advantage. Maybe twist some events around, or something. Ensure that some deaths don't happen, if I can.

"Oi, Bastard!" someone shouted, and I paused, turning to see a boy scowling at me a few steps away.

Ah , I thought, feeling memories of 'Kenta Takahashi' rush through my mind, that explains the Naruto/Obito-esque callout.

Apparently, he hated me because he thought that I thought that I was too good for everyone else, because Renma had once beaten him in a competition and didn't reciprocate the rivalry that Kenta apparently wished for, both because he was both too socially awkward to even realize that Kenta wanted a rivalry, and because he didn't really care all that much about winning. Somehow, all of that got twisted up and turned into some twisted version of Kakashi and Gai's rivalry (that is, if Gai was a punk that was too proud for his own good and if Kakashi legitimately had no idea what was going on instead of purposely acting aloof to mess with him).

"Are you even listening to me?!" Kenta demanded, causing my to blink. His scowl deepened, and he jabbed a finger in my face. "I said that I challenged you to a kunai-throwing competition!"

… What?

"The next academy entrance exam is coming up in just a few months, and this time, I'm gonna pass them," he declared. "And my first step to greatness is beating you !"

I frowned, considering the boy. I knew now that he'd failed the exams twice before, which was… odd, considering that I had quite a few memories of seeing him train before and after both exams. He'd pushed himself so hard after his first failure, in fact, that he ended up making himself sick and had to be restricted by the caretakers so he wouldn't do it again. The exams in a few months - the same ones I'd be taking, albeit for a different year than he'd be shooting for - would be his last chance to try out, from what I could gather.

It just didn't make sense to me that he failed in the least. He was like a lesser version of Lee, though he wasn't weak by any means. He was stronger than a lot of the boys, even those years older than him, and was generally athletic.

"Are you in or not ?" Kenta asked, looking angry. Which… fair enough, since I'd accidentally zoned out while he was speaking twice now. And would do it again, if I didn't stop restricting my internal rambling. Whoops. I'd even somehow missed a notification, I noted, glancing to the side.

Quest Alert!

A Rival's Challenge: Beat Kenta Takahashi in a kunai-throwing competition.

\

Bonus objectives:

Gain ten points in total.

Gain twenty points in total.

Gain forty points in total.

\

Rewards:

+15 EXP

+30 REP with Orphanage Peers

-25 reputation with Kenta Takahashi

Bonus 1: +5 EXP

Bonus 2: +10 EXP

Bonus 3: +20 EXP, + New title

\

Failure:

-25 reputation with Kenta Takahashi

-20 reputation with Orphanage Peers

+ New title

\

Accept?
[Y/N]

…Well then.

As tempting as it would be to accept, I thought it'd be pretty stupid of me to do so. Kenta wouldn't have been able to practice much since the orphanage didn't allow weapons to be used on their grounds, but even doing it once or twice was more experience than I had, and either way, he was more athletic than I was. The rewards would be nice, but I doubted that I'd win, unless Kenta was hurt in some way, or had some other disadvantage.

"...No," I eventually said, and the quest disappeared with a denial screen.

-25 reputation with Kenta Takahashi

… Of course .

Kenta's eyes narrowed and he stepped forwards. "Why not ? You think you're too good for me, Renma ?" he sneered.

"No," I replied, closing the notification with a thought. " You're the better one. I'm not athletic like you are."

Kenta looked entirely taken aback, and after several seconds of sputtering, his face went red. "The hell?! Are you mocking me?!"

I refrained from rolling my eyes. "You literally train all the time. I don't. There'd be no way for me to win without help."

The boy looked completely confused, as if I'd shattered his entire worldview. "You think I'd beat you?" he asked, almost dumbly.

" Yes . Honestly, I don't know how you're failing the exams. You're more athletic than half the kids here - you should've been able to pass already," I reiterated, then paused. Maybe , I considered, he's not failing the athletic part of the exams, but the academic part. I glanced over him, frowning. But no, those tests can't be that hard, and Kenta's not particularly stupid, aside from his obliviousness. Unless… "Do they tell you what part of the exams you failed?"

He startled at the question, then clenched his hands to his sides, looking annoyed. "Yeah. Why ?"

"Well, what part was it?" I asked, frown deepening.

He scowled. "Why should I tell you ?"

"You're the one trying to pass. And I don't understand why you haven't yet." The boy looked as if he might blow up, and after a moment of looking at him, I felt the fight leave me, feeling slightly embarrassed for butting into his business, even if it was technically him who'd brought the idea around in the first place. "Nevermind. Just...," I let out a slight sigh. "Maybe try working on whatever that is."

Before he could reply, I stood, grabbing my tray and clearing my leftovers before placing it atop the rest of the used ones. I glanced back at Kenta, frowning but continuing to leave when I saw that he was standing in the same place. Even if the boy was a brat and I'd probably have punched him if he were my age before , I felt bad for the kid. His dreams were crushed several times before, and as annoying as he was, he didn't deserve that. But unless he actually asked for help - which I half-hoped he didn't even though I'd been the one to bring the issue up, since I'd never been very good at talking to people properly, much less teaching them - it wasn't my place to do anything. He apparently hated me, after all, and talking to him just made it worse.

It was pretty unfortunate that I'd miss out on the chance to try my hand at using kunai, though. Maybe I should've taken the challenge, even if I would've lost some reputation points…

I shook my head, heading back to 'my' room. It was too late, so it didn't really matter. Though it would probably be a good idea to start on things like that, if only so I didn't end up as the dead last, when it became time to enroll for the academy. I stepped into the room, pausing for a moment upon remembering that my chakra was still locked.

"Maybe," I muttered to myself, "I could try meditating?" It was what unlocked chakra in most Naruto fanfiction I read Before, and it wasn't like it would be particularly damaging if I failed, so I supposed it was worth a shot.

I glanced over at my bed, then headed over to settle upon it in a burmese position. I would have a few hours before kids would start coming back to sleep, which should be enough time to at least unlock a skill, if I was thinking about this right.

After a moment, I relaxed my shoulders and took a deep breath. Inhale through the nose. Hold. Exhale through the mouth. Repeat. Inhale, hold, repeat. Inhale, hold, repeat.

When my mind began feeling 'floatier,' I pulled some of my attention away from keeping track of my breaths and began to search for any differences within my body. A core, maybe, or tenketsu. Even an extra set of veins. Which …, I noted, upon feeling a sort of itchiness underneath my skin, seems to be it…

I took in deeper breaths and focused on the sensation, delving further and further until—

I frowned, feeling my stomach churn. I could feel something, that was for sure, but it was just barely eluding me. As if I had the answer at the tip of my tongue but couldn't quite make the final thought.

A sudden noise drew my attention, and I glanced up to see that a child had entered the room, and others soon began spilling in. Apparently, I'd used up all of my free time chasing an annoyingly stubborn lead.

I let out an annoyed huff, falling back onto my bed. Whatever. I always have tomorrow.

I didn't figure it out the next day. Or the next. Or any goddamn days after that because chakra was a stubborn bitch and—

I took in a deep breath, leaning against the tree behind me. It'd been over a week since I'd started meditating, and with how often I was sitting around in bed, I'd worried the caretakers enough that they ended up forcing me to head to the park with the other kids.

Realistically, I could understand where they were coming from. A kid - especially as young as I technically was - wasn't supposed to stay cooped up all of the time - let alone want to - and it was only a matter of time until someone put their foot down and forced me to stop being a hermit. But at the same time, everything was just so frustrating . My progress since the first day had been horrifically slow, and the one time I got even slightly closer to that buzzing within my core was by complete accident , and as soon as I realized what happened, it was gone and unreplicable.

It was especially odd because I was so close . I was reasonably sure that whatever I kept finding was my chakra, and, if there were no distractions, I could even feel it underneath my skin without fully meditating, but something just wasn't clicking .

Something flickered behind me, and I paused, pushing some of my focus in that direction. There was… a spark, almost reminiscent of my short glimpses of my chakra, but not quite . More solid but less prominent, and feeling more—

I straightened, head jerking to the side as I stared at the tree against my back.

More lively .

Oh , I realized, feeling stupid. I was missing the physical.

There were two parts of chakra - yin and yang. One mental, and the other physical. But I, like an absolute dunce , was entirely focusing on the former and neglecting the latter.

I relaxed my form once more, this time looking at chakra as something more active - less static - and holding a sort of presence of itself instead of being entirely attuned to my mind.

That familiar something sparked within me, and rather than forcing the feeling, I followed it to my stomach and—

Skill Created: Meditation (Active) - LVL1 (0.00% EXP)

'A skill that allows the player to enter a state of focus when they're still and relaxed. Thoughts come more easily, and a feeling of peace is gained in this state. This skill cannot be used while the player is in motion or overthinking.'

+1 intelligence while meditating

+1 wisdom while meditating

Increases CP regeneration by 2% when meditating

/

Skill Created: Sensing (Passive) - LVL1 (0.00% EXP)

'As a sensor, the player can determine the location of a target through their chakra signature as long as they're within the player's range and - depending on the target's level - not suppressing their chakra.'

Sensing range: 5 meters

I let out a half-dazed snort when I saw the notifications, having most of my attention directed towards the general feelings around me.

It was almost unnerving to feel the trees around me or each child as they passed, but at the same time, it was incredible . The trees' chakra rested within every leaf and branch, every groove in the wood, every cell of the flora, pushing for growth and buzzing with life. The children's chakra was more refined, more personal , more focused on boosting than sustaining, and not quite used but not stagnant, either.

The world almost seemed brighter, in a way. More saturated, with something other than color.

I took in a breath, feeling the buzz underneath my skin recede into something less prominent, and, after pushing myself to my feet, pressed my hand against the bark of a tree. Chakra, which was clearly less complicated than the spark within humans (but no less intriguing) ran underneath, almost seeming to curiously inch towards my skin as my palm settled.

"Alright, everyone!" a voice called out, and as soon as my hand jerked away from the tree in surprise, the connection snapped and the world seemed to dim, if only slightly. "Time to head back! Make sure you grab everything before you leave!"

With a slight frown, I placed my hand against the tree once more, but while the spark hadn't disappeared, it had become far less responsive and, other than a small twitch, didn't budge.

"Come on, now!" the caretaker reminded, and after a hesitant glance at the nearby flora, I dropped my hand and moved in her direction, brushing against disappointingly passive bark on my way.

"A mask?" Nozomi asked somewhat dubiously.

I suppressed a grimace, remembering the mirror I kept passing on my way out of the bedroom. "Yeah."

The woman frowned, looking more confused than anything else. "Is there a reason why ?"

Well you see, while I'm not terribly attached to my old world, I still expect to look a certain way and the fact that I keep seeing someone else in the mirror is rather uncanny. It's getting pretty awkward to avoid every reflective surface I see - which are far more common than you'd think, by the way - for fear of working myself into a panic, and I figured, 'hey, maybe Kakashi was onto something with that whole mask thing,' so here we are.

Instead of actually speaking any of that aloud, because I didn't want to sound like I'd lost my marbles, I offered a sheepish smile. "I think it'd look cool, wouldn't it?"

The woman's expression transformed into one of amused exasperation. "I suppose it might," she replied indulgently, likely assuming that I was in my prime 'ninja phase,' much like many of the other kids in my age group. "If you really want one, I'll try to find a few for you."

I withheld a relieved sigh, lips quirking into a smile. "Yes, thank you."

Nozomi gave a nod, returning half of her attention to cleaning up. "Does that mean you're trying out for the academy?"

"Ah," I let out, "Um, yeah."

"You don't sound so sure, Renma-kun," she pointed out amused, then let out a slight laugh when she saw my pursed lips. "Just teasing." She moved onto a pile of colored pencils that had been left out, picking them up and re-organizing their box, and, feeling awkward just standing around, I began handing her a few stray ones. "Ah - thank you. Is there a reason you'd like to go?"

I opened my mouth, only to hesitate. I couldn't very well tell her that I felt like it was my best chance at survival - since no six year old, unless they were Itachi, should be talking about something so grim or even remotely philosophical - or that I'd seen an anime about the lives of ninja and figured that I should at least try to help out, even if it seemed pretty stupid to get myself tangled up in a plot that could very well see me killed before I made it halfway through my teens, or anything along those lines.

"Not sure yet?" she asked, offering a small smile and raising a brow.

"...Guess not," I replied after a moment. And, quite honestly, it wasn't entirely untrue. While the whole survival, future, or gamer things were decent supplementing reasons, they were pretty shallow when it came down to why I actually should try my hand at becoming a shinobi.

"That's alright," Nozomi responded. "You don't need to know yet; you still have years to figure everything out."

"Yeah," I said after a few seconds, withholding a sigh as I thought about all of the plot-related bullshit that would be complicating my life for the next decade. "You're right."

A/N:

sorry for the average anime protagonist thoughts/actions, im cringing too

aaaaand

i know it seems kinda weird to focus so much on a random side-character/OC, but don't worry - Kenta will *not* become a staple of the story. he's there for a few plot reasons and will crop up a few more times in the future, but he won't be a 'regular' or anything; aside from knowing Renma, he'll have no real connection with the Rookies

I also feel like I'm writing Renma really... awkwardly right now, but ah, please be patient with me ;,D

thing is, I want him to be kind of an awkward, rambling character, but he's coming out a lot more protagonist-y than I want him to. just know that's because exposition and plot and whatnot - it won't stay like that forever

aaaaandpt2, speaking of plot:

the academy arc *might* start next chapter, though it's more likely to be in chapter four. after that, it'll be time for graduation and messing up canon. woo!

anyways

Thanks for reading!