I wasn't sure how to process my current situation.
The fact that it seemed to have really happened only served to make the unusual circumstances surrounding my existence feel that much weirder, especially given the actual context behind it.
That's because it made absolutely no fucking sense.
For my entire life, I had always been under the impression that death was a permanent thing. I mean, now that I thought about it, perhaps it was just the fact that I had already been in the process of dying beforehand, which caused it to sound a lot more believable since I was inching dangerously close to death's door.
However, even though it appeared to be a false claim, was that truly enough to refute what I had believed in? I was leaning more towards the 'no' option, and there was a reason for that.
While I still ended up losing my life to the destructive effects of brain cancer, there was a vastly different outcome to what I had been expecting after my death.
I seemed to have come back to life.
"Wake up, Akuji."
That was the first thing I heard as my eyes gradually took in the surrounding environment, a cacophony of unfamiliar voices reaching my ears, which slowly began to match with the faces sitting around the room.
A room which I felt a vague familiarity with.
Perhaps it was just my mind trying to catch up with what was happening, or maybe it wasn't, and I was actually staring into the face of Shikamaru Nara.
I never thought I would say something like that.
Picking my head up from the table where it had been resting, I quickly rubbed the fatigue out of my eyes, focusing my attention onto the person that spoke to me.
"Huh?" I blurted out, still unaware of what was truly going on.
With a lazy roll of his narrow brown eyes, Shikamaru let out a breath of air as his terrible posture slouched even further. "Iruka-sensei gave me a look to wake you up. He probably didn't want to disturb the flow of the class."
After that, the boy went ahead and did the same exact thing, placing both of his arms onto his desk before quickly falling asleep.
I continued to look at his sleeping form a couple seconds later, trying my best to somehow wake myself up from the weird dream that I was in, but nothing seemed to work in the end.
Was this actually happening to me right now? It definitely seemed to be the case.
That's when I decided to take a curious glance around the classroom, quickly noticing that the rest of the prominent characters were here as well, but there were a few minor differences about each one of them.
The most obvious one was Hinata, as a matter of fact. What was previously a very shy and timid girl, my existence must have sent a ripple effect throughout the entire timeline or something, which was due to the fact that the heiress of her clan seemed to be a lot different in terms of her personality.
God... what was that movie called again? Road to Ninja? I vaguely remember a version of Hinata that wasn't shy and timid for some reason. If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure it was in that movie.
My mind felt so muddled, a sense of frustration bubbling up inside me.
Ugh.
Why did I have to be reincarnated into a world like this of all things? I can't even remember what occurred in the majority of the series.
While I was familiar with the diverse selection of entertainment back in my previous life, I had never really gotten into the Naruto series. I wasn't sure exactly what pushed me away from it, but the number of episodes that it had was probably a contributing factor. It just felt so... daunting.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if it even mattered in the end. There were already changes being made as soon as I woke up, after all. It just left even more questions that needed answers.
If Hinata was never shy and timid in the first place, did Naruto ever give the girl his scarf or whatever actually happened? It was something along those lines. The part that I remembered the most was that it had been snowing, most likely because I thought that it was pretty to look at.
Hell, if just that one interaction never took place, wouldn't it mean that Hinata isn't romantically attracted to Naruto? That's how I was interpreting it, at least.
Not to mention, it would completely change the outcome after the war against Kaguya and all that.
In terms of their offspring, I mean.
Shaking myself out of the thoughts running rampant through my mind, I redirected my attention towards the front of the classroom.
Iruka, the guy that's supposed to be an important figure in Naruto's life, was droning on about something that I didn't bother listening to. His physical appearance looked to be the same as I recall, what with the scar that ran across the bridge of his nose and all that.
As I was moving on to look at something else, my eyes landed on the main protagonist of the series, who just so happened to also be staring at me in return.
'What the fuck?'
To put it in simpler terms, in order to explain my sudden bewilderment, the blue-eyed blond kid that I was currently having an unexpected staring contest with didn't appear to be very... Naruto-like.
Seemingly withdrawn as he lowered his head, reluctantly pulling his eyes away from mine and aiming them towards the front of the classroom, I was left puzzled by the Uzumaki's strange behavior.
However, I wasn't able to think about what possible alterations could've possibly occurred to him after that since a translucent black screen popped into existence, seemingly coming from out of nowhere at that.
[You have been chosen.]
'...Excuse me?'
[Quest Completed!]
[Quest Name: A Second Chance!]
[Description: This is pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?]
[Rewards: Jiten Akuji's Journal]
Blinking owlishly at the screen floating in front of my face, I try my best to be as subtle as possible when I begin checking the rest of my system's features, not even all that surprised anymore.
It felt like I was quickly starting to become desensitized to the randomness that seemed to surround me in my new life.
See, I was already beginning to accept the fact that I had literally been reincarnated into the world of Naruto, apparently with a system to go along with that as well.
However, the one that I was in seemed to be part of an alternate universe.
I mean, it really felt like it, especially when Hinata was staring at Iruka with a bored expression on her face. It just felt so... out of place.
Had the girl's backstory been changed to the point that she grew up to be some kind of spoiled princess instead, my mere existence in this world completely erasing the fact that she was originally supposed to be an unsuitable heiress to her clan?
To be honest, I was starting to believe my earlier assessment of the young Hyūga, which was the fact that this version of Hinata seemed to be quite similar to the one in the Road to Ninja movie.
...Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the name of it.
[Quest Triggered!]
[Quest Name: He's A Runner, He's A Track Star!]
[Description: Beat everyone and get first place in the endurance test!]
My eyes widened at the unexpected pop-up, quickly turning towards Iruka as he suddenly began talking once more. His next words caused me to reach an epiphany that both concerned and awed me at the same time.
"Alright, class. Everyone, go outside and line up next to one another. It's time for your physical training." Iruka announced, setting down the piece of white chalk that he was holding in his right hand.
...The system can predict what's coming before it even happens? There's no way that it could've made a quest specifically for the physical training unless it knew how to see into the future.
That's... I don't even know, man.
All of this is just too much for me to process. Honestly, it's a pretty overwhelming experience when you're just thrown into a completely different body and expected to survive in a world with transcendent beings looming to fight against you in the near-future... if that's even going to happen in the first place.
There's no telling how my existence has affected the rest of the world, nor would I like to imagine the ramifications of such a thing.
Rising from out of my seat, I nearly fell over due to the fact that I had just been reincarnated into a completely different body. My death occurred when I was eighteen years old, after all, so immediately trying to walk in a vessel that was quite obviously much younger than that was an interesting experience.
Fortunately, it didn't last for very long, and I began walking down the steps towards the door leading outside. On the other hand, however, I felt something impact my side on the way down to the exit.
"Oh! S-Sorry about that. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going." A feminine voice reached my ears, which caused me to look down.
Pink. That was the first thought that came to mind.
It was Sakura, who proceeded to crouch down in order to pick up a book that she had been reading distractedly. That wasn't a surprise considering her academic knowledge had been a real thing from the canon storyline as well.
Figuring that I still had time before the physical training started, I lowered myself to her level and picked up the textbook before she could, straightening back up in order to hand it to the pink-haired girl.
"Here you go. Oh, and don't worry about it." I said, giving her an easygoing smile.
Eagerly taking the study material back, Sakura placed it onto her seat before facing me once again. "Thank you! I just got distracted while reading a bit ahead of the curriculum's lesson plans..." She trailed off, releasing a brief albeit nervous laugh, rubbing one of her arms out of what appeared to be a habit.
'Is she anxious or something?'
"Like I said, don't worry about it." I reiterated for a second time, casually waving away her worries in the end. "Anyway, I don't think we've ever properly introduced ourselves to one another. My name's Jiten Akuji, it's nice to meet you."
I offered a fist bump, something that most likely wasn't used very often in this world if I had to guess. The only time that I ever remember the gesture being shown in the anime is when Naruto and Kurama did it, but I'm pretty sure that was due to their massive differences in size.
It's not like Kurama could just give the kid a handshake. One of the tailed beast's hands is quite a bit larger than Naruto's entire body, after all.
Honestly, I was just glad that I received knowledge of who I was apparently supposed to be in this world, at least in terms of my new identity. I was going to assume that the journal I got as a quest reward from earlier had been there to let me know about my fabricated background.
Not only that, but transferring another person's memories had been a seamless process because I actually had a bit of difficulty realizing they were even there.
That's not to say that it was flawed in any sort of way either, but it definitely felt a little different to say the least. It was more like reaching into an archive of information within my mind that allowed me to remember specific details of a life that I never truly lived through of my own accord.
Sakura's eyebrows rose, the girl probably not expecting to have an interaction like this with a classmate that she was never familiar with in the first place, especially since it was sort of an accident that brought them together. There was a second where she wasn't sure what to do in her position, glancing between my face and the enclosed fist that had been offered to her in confusion.
"It's basically the same thing as a handshake, but this is a lot more informal. I'd recommend that you not do this with somebody like the Hokage of all people, at least not if you aren't closely related to him in some type of way." I chuckled, the realization dawning on Sakura as the girl reciprocated the action, our fists gently tapping against the other.
"My name's Sakura Haruno, it's nice to meet you too." A friendly smile crawled onto her face as she looked towards the door leading to the outside, which reminded me of the physical training that I had momentarily forgotten about.
I nodded in acknowledgement when she turned back towards me, gesturing to the door that the both of us heard voices coming from, on the other side at least.
"Yeah, I know."
Walking down the rest of the steps together, we pass through the door, and I had a hard time not gushing over just how beautiful Konohagakure looked at first glance, my eyes widening in shock.
I can't imagine how I'm going to react when I leave the academy later today.
Eventually, the endurance test was getting ready to start, and I couldn't help but feel a little excited at the prospect of standing next to such prominent characters.
They had changed many people's lives, after all, both in and out of their world.
"Begin!" Iruka exclaimed, his voice reminiscent of a starter pistol that would usually be set off at the beginning of track and field competitions, or at least the ones that I had seen on television back in my previous life.
As soon as he said it, I took off running, quickly taking the lead along with two other students, which wasn't surprising at all when you knew just who they were.
"Get back here, Naruto!" The one in second place yelled, clearly frustrated that he wasn't able to run any faster. His words caught the attention of the blond that was currently in first place, who didn't even appear to be physically challenged by the endurance test at all.
"Eat my dust, Kiba." Naruto said, peering behind himself. The blond stared directly at the brown-haired boy, a smug expression plastered across his face, which only served to rile up the young Inuzuka even more.
Maybe I was just imagining it, but Naruto seemed a little different. The blond was acting quite a bit more subdued compared to his canon counterpart. However, now wasn't the time to dwell on something like that, especially when the system apparently had a gift waiting for me.
[New Skill Acquired: Swiftness] - [Level 1]
[Description: When this skill is used, it provides a speed boost of 10%, which is automatically stacked on top of the user's pre-existing momentum.]
Eyes widening in surprise, my mind tried to process that information while keeping up with the other two.
After I finally hit the sixth lap, that's when I decided to put my new skill to use. Both Kiba and Naruto had sped up a bit, which left me even farther behind than I already was. That simply wouldn't do.
In that moment, Kiba glanced at me, noticing that I had been trailing behind him since the beginning of the race. "What the-"
Cutting him off, I quickly activated the skill with a mental command, immediately feeling the effects that came with doing such a thing.
"Woah!" Naruto called out, finally separating himself from the much calmer demeanor compared to what I was used to. Just from his exclamation, it probably meant that he had also picked up on the fact that I was keeping up with them, which most likely hadn't been a very common occurrence before my sudden reincarnation into this unfamiliar body.
Had this person even existed before I was forced to use it as my new vessel, or did the system create it from nothing just so that I could possess a body that hadn't belonged to one of the actual characters portrayed in the series?
I could faintly hear the sound of other students having a similar reaction to Naruto, but I was simply too focused on trying to get first place that the background noise had turned into whispers, which were barely audible to my ears.
Kiba's face expression when I started running even faster, seemingly from out of the blue as well considering it was fairly obvious that I had been trying my best to keep up, was honestly such a satisfying thing to witness.
It eventually reached a point where I was running behind Naruto instead, Kiba left in third place while I took his spot. However, as we got to the last lap, it was clear that the odds weren't stacked in my favor.
Not only that, but exhaustion quickly began setting in, the strength having left my body as I suddenly collapsed onto the ground right as I made it past the metaphorical finish line, my lungs begging for oxygen as I fully realized that my breathing was incredibly labored at the moment.
Due to the fact that I had been so focused on trying to get the win for myself, I completely forgot about the ramifications of using the skill as much as possible without any sort of restraint.
A skill like that, which would obviously put a strain on my body whenever I decided to use it, was going to be heavily dependent on the level of my endurance.
Honestly, I was shocked that I even remained in second place until the last lap.
'Status.'
[Name: Jiten Akuji]
[Title: Academy Student]
[Chakra Reserves: 60/60]
[Strength: 4]
[Endurance: 6]
[Dexterity: 3]
[Charisma: 7]
[Perception: 5]
[Chakra: 6]
Although, it probably wouldn't have worked nearly as well if I had decided to use the skill any earlier than at that point.
It felt like I could barely move as Iruka rushed towards my position, a chaotic mixture of emotions swirling behind his dark eyes as he crouched down in order to take a look at me, which I was half-tempted to compliment just to get a reaction out of the man.
He sort of came off as the type of person who was a little too serious with everything going on around him, and while I couldn't fault the guy for reacting the way he did at what just happened, it made me want to mess with him even more.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much that I could do when the physical exhaustion overwhelming my body hadn't stopped just yet, but I could tell that my condition was gradually improving albeit at a very slow pace.
"Are you alright?" Iruka asked, his voice reaching my ears at a low volume. I wasn't sure if that was just out of consideration for me, or if my condition was actually worse than I thought. However, I seemed to still have enough strength to nod my head at least, giving him the reassurance that he needed to hold himself back from taking me to the hospital.
Turning towards the rest of the students, who were intently staring at me with varying degrees of surprise and confusion, Iruka pushed them to continue their physical training by doing pushups before looking back down at me.
"You shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard, Akuji. What were you thinking?"
Unable to find the right words for a suitable reply, I simply turned away from the scarred man. He let out a sigh in return, which seemed to be a pretty regular occurrence whenever he was teaching at the academy, and stood up once again.
"You clearly aren't fit to continue with the physical training, so just allow yourself to unwind for the rest of the class."
Not even giving me enough time to come up with a response, Iruka turned back to the group of children going through their pushups, occasionally correcting the form of a student that wasn't as used to such extensive physical activities.
I laid with my back against the dirt, chest heaving up and down, with a bitter taste left in my mouth at the screen that had popped into existence right after I passed the finish line and collapsed.
[Quest Failed!]
...Yeah, I know.
It's not my fault that Naruto's got his damned Uzumaki lineage to back him up.
However, with the aid of my newfound system, I was already trying to come up with plans inside of my mind that could potentially turn the odds into my favor.
Only time would tell though.
— POV Switch —
Troublesome.
While Shikamaru obediently went through the motions of his physical training albeit with an obvious hint of reluctance, he took a glance at one of his fellow classmates, who wasn't participating in the activity along with the rest of the class.
He was a little jealous about that, by the way.
If he wasn't mistaken, the boy's full name was Jiten Akuji. His sudden display of speed had been noticed by the entirety of the group, along with their teacher, and it was shocking for a pretty damn good reason too.
Jiten Akuji has never stood out in any way throughout their entire stay at the academy, deemed completely below average in every single subject, which slightly confused Shikamaru due to the fact that he at least seemed capable of being a decent student.
Perhaps it was simply just a lack of interest and concern in his own future, but that would still leave the reason as to why he even came to the academy in the first place if that was truly the case.
However, after the boy's miraculous actions during the academy's endurance test, it was like witnessing a ninja from both Konohagakure and Iwagakure turning into best friends or something.
It just felt like a feat that would never be accomplished, no matter how much time passed in the end. Shikamaru was aware of a couple other students that shared the boy's abysmal grades, but he was fairly certain that they were going to eventually be kicked out of the academy if they kept it up, which apparently wasn't his fellow classmate's goal.
Jiten Akuji was a mystery that Shikamaru immediately thought was too troublesome to deal with, but he knew that if the boy ended up graduating from the academy along with the rest of them, there wasn't much that he could do about it.
Iruka's familiar voice cut through his silent musings, yanking his awareness back to the real world, which also resulted in him realizing that his arms were starting to get tired from the constant pushups.
"Put your back into it, Nara! The faster you get through with the physical training, the sooner you can go back to gazing at the clouds."
Tiredly releasing a breath of air, Shikamaru reluctantly began putting more effort into finishing his assigned set of pushups. "How troublesome..."
He really wanted to go back to watching the clouds though.
— POV Switch —
Walking through the streets of Konohagakure was a very interesting experience.
I couldn't help but try my best to be as subtle as possible while admiring the village's interior design. Everything located inside of the walls, I mean. It just felt so strange to have been given the ability to casually explore what could only be imagined prior to my reincarnation.
Most of the class had been staring at me for the rest of the time left in the academy, which I wasn't really a fan of, but I just endured it until we were all dismissed. I had quickly left the academy grounds, making my way further into the city before realizing that I was actually kind of hungry at the moment, which simply lead to me walking around the bustling environment in search of a good meal.
The only reason that I wasn't concerned for the cost of such a thing was because I eventually found out that there was an inventory space attached to the system, and it was also holding a decent sum of money.
I didn't know whether to consider it my inheritance from the parents that gave life to this vessel, or just a smidgen of pity coming from the system that was essentially tied to my very being. Either way, I honestly didn't really give a fuck, and I was more focused on putting food in my empty stomach.
"Yakiniku Q, huh..." I murmured, trying to remember if I ever saw the restaurant in the anime, but couldn't pull anything from my foggy recollection. "Well, I guess I'll give this a try."
Slowly walking into the cozy-looking establishment, using a hand to push aside the short curtain made of fabric located at the entrance, which I was fairly certain was called a noren or something like that, a mouth-watering aroma hit me like a brick wall. As a result, my stomach quickly grumbled out a mixture of anticipation and desire, which I couldn't help but agree with as the fairly loud sound immediately alerted an older woman standing nearby.
"Oh! Good evening, sir. It sounds like someone is hungry!" The older woman giggled, hiding the action behind a hand as she focused on me. Due to the fact that she was the first person to greet me when I arrived, I was just going to assume that the woman owned the place.
With medium-length brown hair, as well as a pair of black eyes, I noticed that she was slightly overweight. However, if she owned a restaurant like this, I didn't really find it surprising. I would probably eat more food than usual if I was constantly surrounded by it as well.
I nodded in confirmation, which only served to increase the width of her smile, as she guided me to a spot where I could sit down and eat. Eventually, I looked at the menu on the wall, quickly giving my order to the woman before it arrived a few minutes later.
My stomach grumbled once more, this time sounding a bit more persistent, and I began using the charcoal brazier installed within the middle of the table sitting in front of me. It was a good thing that I was able to retain certain skills from my past life, at least, considering I still knew how to cook. Although, I wasn't really all that good at it.
Fortunately, I had the system to rectify that small problem.
[New Skill Acquired: Cooking] - [Level 1]
[Description: When this skill is used, it improves the quality of cooked goods by 10%.]
Hell yeah.
Not only that, but I was just now realizing that I hadn't needed to pick up each ingredient for whatever meal I felt like eating. Instead, this restaurant was the type to just let you do it yourself while giving you the needed supplies, which was a pretty cool experience. Simply getting the food ready on my own, therefore eating it without the requirement of waiting for another person to make it for you, allowed me to increase one of my skills while also stuffing my face at the same time.
Peering down at the table, I noticed a few burn marks on the barbeque. However, I was just going to assume that something like that would be the end result, which was due to the fact that the skill wasn't a high enough level for it to really show any improvements in the art of cooking.
[Cooking has gone up a level!]
Fortunately, it wasn't going to be very hard to increase the skill's effectiveness.
While I was sitting down and indulging myself, I remembered the quest reward from earlier, a journal that apparently belonged to this vessel. Now, whether or not that was actually true, I honestly didn't care. However, I was really just hoping that it would provide information on where the fuck I was supposed to be laying my head at night.
The journal popped into existence after a singular mental command, a small leather book that was a dark shade of red similar to burgundy. Resting it on the table sitting in front of me, I opened it after a couple of seconds of examining the exterior design.
Popping a piece of barbeque into my mouth with chopsticks, I began reading through the journal, which went on to explain a short background story of Jiten Akuji, as well as his parents and upbringing.
On the very last page, there was also the equivalent to an address, which brought a smile to my face. I quickly finished eating my food before I gave the woman what was owed at the end of it all, who actually turned out to be the owner of Yakiniku Q just as I thought.
• • •
Huh.
You know, I was honestly expecting a bit more, but the contents of the journal taught me a lot about this vessel's background.
Jiten Akuji came from a poor family, his parents known farmers throughout Konohagakure that worked hard for what they earned, as well as made sure to take care of their only son in order for him to grow up with the ability to choose what he wanted to be, unlike them.
While that was a very simplistic way of summing up the background of his parents, it was enough to understand the basics.
A small house stood a couple of feet away, which displayed clear signs that it was old and worn out, but that honestly didn't really bother me.
Taking a deep breath, I walked forward and went inside.