Like always, it was when I was blissfully satisfied with the new direction the events of my life were going that my destiny decided I was not allowed any satisfaction and uprooted my comfort again, this time with the appearance of the largest orb I had ever seen, a thousands times bigger than my whole system combined, appearing spontaneously next to my corner of darkness, instilling a sense of fear and metaphorically chilling me to the bones, making me mentally shiver uncomfortably.
Instinctively, I knew I was being thrust in front of a maleficent presence and thousands of horrible scenarios flashed through my mind as many regrets came flooding back into my memory and I melancholically contemplated what I could have done better in life to prevent the fate I was stumbling onto, crushing any hope I had managed to build up as I gardened my constellation.
It wasn't long before I could make out details from what stood in front of me, and discover to my dismay a pair of feral red eyes with a vertical slit slowly opening, contrasting with the surrounding darkness, freezing me in place, incapable of doing anything other than waiting for my existence to be ended at the whims of this mysterious supernatural being.
"You dare come here already, Namikaze?" a raspy and unpleasant voice echoed from all sides, and I knew that had I still had any skin, I would have felt it crawl as if a thousand centipedes had just run all over my body. Even now, as a metaphysical existence, the disgust it evoked in me was unbearable.
The sound however had reengaged my brain and I immediately zeroed in on the strange yet familiar word it had called me by, making me jump at the opportunity to talk about something, anything, in the hopes of extending even by a few seconds the little time I had to live before being eaten.
"N...Namikaze?" I repeated dumbly instead, and regretted it almost immediately as a mouthful of sharp canines moved into a snarl and a huge gust of wind, smelling of a mix between rancid meat and sewers hit me, as the creature roared at me.
"Do not test my patience, boy. WHAT DO YOU WANT?" the being growled and I flinched in the face of its anger, wondering why I had not yet been extinguished, though now that I could see it more clearly, distant memories had bubbled up to the surface of a fictional story where a young boy had to share his body and mind with a demon.
"Kurama?" I hesitantly called out the name of the monster I remembered from that story, deciding I had nothing to lose with my second death so close anyways.
Immediately, the demon's whole body froze and his eyes narrowed on me dangerously, making me sweat profusely.
"How do you know that name?" It asked, exhaling another putrid breath in my direction, making me cower even more under both the smell and the renewed attention it was now paying me.
"I read it in a children's story." I explained quickly, not wishing to attract the ire of the beast any further. "It was the name given to a Nine-Tailed Fox by his father, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, a man known as the Sage of Six Paths."
This time, the creature's eyes widened and it looked at me in disbelief, something I might have reacted to in amusement, had my fear not been consuming every part of my body at that particular point in time.
"What else do you know?" the malicious being asked suspiciously.
Somewhat surprised at the interest it was showing in my words, I jumped at the opportunity presented and started speaking again, happy to delay my second death for a bit longer.
"Kurama was the Ninth and most powerful of his brothers and sisters, each of whom were beings of chakra and had a name and a different number of tails, from Shukaku, Matatabi to Chōmei and Gyūki. They were all part of one enormous and dangerous being often referred to as the Ten Tails before the Sage sealed it into himself. It was only when he was nearing his death that he separated it's essence into what became known as the Nine Tailed Beasts."
The creature was now eying me in undisguised shock, clearly caught flat footed by my knowledge on its origin.
"And you know this from a children story?" it asked again in disbelief.
"It was one set in a world of chakra and Shinobi." I acquiesced, my nervousness slowly fading as its interest in my words grew. "The tale of Naruto Uzumaki."
"How did the story go?" the creature asked with an intensity it had not shown thus far, making me even more relieved that I would probably not die until I had shared with him the whole story of Naruto Uzumaki, which is exactly what I did, recalling every important fact I could, from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's arrival and the Divine Tree, to her two sons rebelling against her and sealing her into the moon, before speaking extensively about Zetsu's machinations, Indra and Asura's eternal conflict, their reincarnation into Hashirama and Madara, before finally addressing Naruto's life and his befriending of the Tailed Beasts and the Sage's intervention, just in time to save this world from its destruction at the hands of Madara, Zetsu and Kaguya.
I was exhausted when I reached the end of my tale, hours later, but the beast was still digesting everything I had to tell him for a long time after I had finished speaking, before finally returning his gaze on me.
"Who are you?" he asked with much less aggressiveness than he had shown since first appearing in front of me.
"Nobody." I admitted sadly. "I died after a meaningless life." I added quickly at his annoyed look, figuring he was under the impression I was trying to hide something.
Seeing him still staring as if waiting for me to explain further, I continued. "I was born with a disease that made me unable to move. I spent eighteen years in a hospital bed reading stories before dying in the middle of the night without accomplishing anything."
I could almost detect the pity in his gaze and while it was not an emotion I had ever liked having be directed towards me, I decided it was preferable to anger or even the hunger I was certain I had first seen in the fox's eyes and wisely kept my mouth shut while waiting for the demon to start talking.
"My name is Kurama." The beast told me and I nodded, having already connected the dots, though it was good to have an official confirmation from the creature's mouth.
"You, on the other hand, are Naruto Uzumaki." He said, making me do a double take.
"What?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"I was just sealed into you, boy." Kurama told me, not making any sense. "You have been reborn." He informed me, making me pause.
"That can't be..." I protested. "I died."
"You wouldn't be in my seal if you had stopped existing." He said and I kept silent, not having an argument to refute his assertion. "You will need to reproduce the stupid brat's steps."
I turned towards him with my mouth open when the weight of his words settled on me like a ton of bricks.
Even if this was a dream, there was no denying the fact that my life had come to an end and I had found myself in a pit-less dark void for eons building up an energy system and that I was thrust into the presence of a fictional beast.
While not the immediate conclusion one would ascertain from such a situation, there was no benefit for me in contradicting the creature's words, its conclusion being the closest thing I had to a possible theory of what was happening to me.
That could wait until I had time to ponder it more, I decided, focusing back onto the enormous consciousness of chakra standing in front of me.
So long as I had no conclusive proof otherwise, I was better served working with the assumption that I had died, and accept that rather than stop existing, I had been reborn into the Naruto Universe as the protagonist of the series.
I had apparently just taken over the body of Naruto. A Jinchūriki.
That much could not be questioned if I took the words of Kurama as factual, as I had a tailed beast, a being of absolute power and with a crushing presence currently staring at me, in what he claimed to be a seal residing in my belly.
I was being reborn into a universe of Ninjas.
The implications were horrific. Sure, the Shinobi Universe was one of the coolest fictional worlds around, and if I had a choice in where I would like to live, a world where I would be allowed to breathe fire, cut lightning and summon gigantic creatures, would definitely be an interesting option.
Unfortunately, it also came with the drawback that I would be living in a world where other people were allowed to breathe fire, cut lightning and summon gigantic creatures, which was much more terrifying.
Doubly so for a Jinchūriki, whose life would be at risk from the moment of his birth, triply so now that I knew the real Naruto would not be there to fix everything that would go wrong in his life.
Without the main character doing his protagonist thing, there would be no one strong enough to stop Pain and the Akatsuki, nobody to persuade Obito to change sides, no savior to defeat Madara, no Ashura descendant to eliminate Kaguya, no hero to bring back Sasuke from the dark side. Without the child of prophecy, this universe was doomed and I was honestly fucked.
Completely and utterly fucked.
I had no confidence whatsoever in my ability to replicate any of those feats, let alone become the semi-deity the seventh Hokage had proved himself to be by the end of the series.
I was a simple cripple boy whom had died a pitiful death and had only dreamed of being allowed a second chance to live as a regular person, pinning after a carefree lifestyle.
This was too much to take in, especially knowing I had no choice in the matter, as I would be hunted and slain by the Akatsuki in their quest for the Bijuu regardless of my feelings on the matter.
Any plans I had ever had of being a happy go lucky person reincarnated into a peaceful world evaporated on the spot, right in front of my eyes and I knew immediately how unlikely I was to ever reach the age of seventeen, like the original Naruto had done.
"I can't." I declared and Kurama eyed me with exasperation.
"Why not?" He asked with another exasperated sigh, making no effort to conceal his disgust at having to deal with my pessimism.
"I am not Naruto. That kid was a once in a lifetime kind of person. He was charismatic and had a will of steel. I am not like that, at all. I am a nobody." I said, the words sounding whiny even to my own ears.
"Then become strong." The fox shrugged away my concerns, clearly judging this conversation as being beneath him and a waste of his time.
"It won't be enough." I protested. "Even Naruto was not strong enough to win some of the fights with his powers alone. He needed to inspire others to believe in him. He won his enemies over to his cause through his passion and honesty."
"Could he have been strong enough to do it on his own merit if he had been sent back in time?" Kurama questioned and I had to take a moment to ponder the premise seriously.
Naruto had been an idiot the first time around. He had wasted an inexcusable amount of time doing pranks or playing around while his classmates studied and trained, only getting by thanks to being bailed in every confrontation he ran into, even after his graduation, by his mother's genes or his tenant's existence and the passive bonuses it provided.
Despite his subpar time management skills, however, his potential had been monstrous. His ability to use an absurd amount of shadow clones, on its own, had opened the doors for him to be the most dangerous ninja in the Elemental Nations bar none. In only a couple of days, he had managed to get through years of practice when working on his wind chakra manipulation, and there was no real reason why he had never bothered to do the same with all the other elements or techniques, or at the very least mastered the Rasengan to the point where he no longer needed the help of a clone to do it. It was a disgrace really, when considering the fact that the blue orb was the one trick he had relied on in almost every single fight of his life.
Thinking back on it, Naruto Uzumaki's waste of potential until his shift of mentality, after the death of his mentor, Jiraya, and the beginning of the Fourth Ninja War, was unbelievably stupid from his part, and made all of his teachers completely irredeemable in the dereliction of their duties to him and to their village.
Did Naruto, from the moment of his birth, hold the potential to become strong enough to achieve his goals through his own abilities had he from a young age exhibited the drive and work ethic of say someone like Rock Lee or even his rival, Sasuke? Yes. Easily. Had Naruto not been an idiot, he would have been an S rank ninja by the time he had needed to fight most of his world-shattering foes.
Almost infinite amounts of chakra, the ability to render time a non-issue, and powerful genes were more than anyone could need to become strong, but the fact that he was the Jinchuriki of the strongest Bijuu meant he had no excuse for his underwhelming abilities for most of his teenage life.
Apparently, my thoughts were clear for all to see on my face, as was illustrated by the tailed beast moving the conversation forward as if I had answered, interrupting my thought process.
"Be grateful, for I will assist you in this endeavor." Kurama announced in a superior tone, surprising me at how unlike him such an action was, though the arrogance was definitely still there.
"Why?" I asked, quickly accepting the interruption lest I found myself on the wrong end of Kurama's annoyance. I was grateful that he might consider aiding me, really, but it still was very suspicious for him to suddenly become helpful when he had shown himself so difficult with his previous jailers.
"If Naruto Uzumaki was the child my father was waiting for, then I will provide you, his replacement, my assistance." He shrugged uncaringly.
"Do you really not want to kill or eat me?" I questioned further, knowing I was pushing my luck, but curiosity had gotten the better of me.
"So far, you have yet to give me a reason to end you." His expression turned threatening. "Do not start now."
I nodded vehemently, determined to never earn the beast's ire, before noticing the satisfied smirk on his lips and wondering if he was making fun of me.
"How would you help me?" I asked instead.
"My chakra will not harm you." Kurama announced smugly. "From now on, it will heal and strengthen your body more than it normally would, rather than try corrupting you like I had planned."
I was already celebrating how much of a boon to my survival having the strongest Tailed Beast's help at my disposal would be when he interrupted me again.
"I have conditions for you, however." He declared and I immediately sobered up, nodding for him to start naming them, resigned to the fact it had been too good to be true to hope for his help to come free of charge.
"First of all, you will not speak of your reincarnated status or future knowledge to anyone." He ordered and I winced. Half of my belief in my ability to survive until adulthood relied on my informing Hiruzen Sarutobi of everything that was going to happen and hope the old Kage would come up with a solution to prepare the world in time to face the threat. Kurama's insistence on my keeping such precious information to myself would complicate things, but I needed Kurama's contribution if I wanted any chance at succeeding so I accepted his demand without complaint.
"You will become even greater than the original Naruto Uzumaki." He declared and I shook my head in disbelief. This was not a small feat to request of me, though I knew it was fair, as it was possible to do by my own admission. If I had access to the same body, while having more maturity and knowledge, there was no reason why it should not be feasible to achieve greatness earlier.
"You will find a way to save this world without relying on any Uchiha." He added and this time I realized how pleased he sounded with himself.
"You just want the Uchiha to be eradicated." I accused, having come to a horrifying realization on why he did not want the knowledge of the future to be shared with those who could prevent the massacre from happening, but rather than deny it, Kurama simply laughed with mirth.
"Yes." He confirmed, looking at me with a smile on his beastly face, daring me to say anything against his wish.
"Okay." I shrugged my understanding lamely. Despite being frankly appalled by his hatred, I did not care much for the clan and it might actually have been a good thing in the long term that no new Mangekyo Sharingan having monster could mysteriously appear in the middle of the war.
"Anything else?" I asked after shaking off my wayward thoughts.
"You will be known as Naruto Namikaze." The fox said with a growl. "Those cursed redheads and their clan have kept me jailed for decades. I refuse to let your future achievements be attributed to those disgusting Uzumakis."
Wincing at the anger emanating from him, I could not help but feel sympathetic towards him. He was a monster and had done a lot of damage over the years, but the fate Mito and Kushina Uzumaki had forced upon him, chaining him up like a ham, was a cruel one, regardless of how deserved it was.
"I don't think that's possible." I argued and quickly expanded on the idea when I saw him open his mouth to protest. "I am not the one who will pick my own last name, besides, the real Naruto had to wait until he was sixteen years of age to learn about his parents."
"Just tell them I was the one who informed you." Kurama answered immediately, dismissing my point entirely.
"Minato had many enemies." I tried a different angle. "The Namikaze were not a clan, but the main reason Naruto was given his mother's surname was that no other village would decide to eliminate him for being named Uzumaki before he even reached adulthood."
This, unlike my first point seemed to do the trick as Kurama's expression morphed from annoyed to thoughtful. It did not take a genius to understand that it would be a problem if a squad of Jonin assassins decided to show up and end me while I was still an academy student due to my tenant's pride.
"You make a good point, twerp." He admitted after a moment and I let out a sigh of relief. "Anything else you want to ruin with your presence?" He asked and I could have sworn his tone was becoming friendlier if not for his usual icy stare.
"I am not sure I want to do this." I admitted after a moment of thought. "I never asked for this. All I wanted was to live a peaceful and happy existence. Becoming a killer and having the weight of an entire world thrust upon my shoulders is not what I wanted in life."
"What is it that you desire, then?" He huffed, eyes narrowed, sounding more exasperated than ever with my constant whining.
"I want a happy life." I said with more confidence.
"Then earn it! Stop indulging in self-pity." Kurama almost screamed. "You have died once already. Hiding and pretending nothing is going to happen won't solve your problems. You need to stop crying about how unfair your life is and live one you can be proud of."
I looked at him pensively. I had not thought he had it in him to give motivational speeches, but I already knew he was right. I had already died once after having wished for so long to be anybody else on Earth. I would not try to hide again now that an opportunity to be just that had shown itself.
Sure, I was not as stupidly optimistic and naive as the real Naruto had been, but that did not mean my parents had raised me to be a coward. I was lucky enough to be offered a second shot at happiness and life and I would be damned if I was to squander it away for no reason or without trying my hardest to make it work.
I had all the tools at my disposal to try and carve myself a long and prosperous existence, and who knew, maybe even attempt to improve the world I was being born into.
After all, I personally despised the ninja village system as I found them to be hypocritical, soulless and selfish entities of war, profiteering from the darkness of humanity.
Of course, they might have been a step in the right direction at the time of their founding in order to limit the number of causalities during the Warring Clan Era, but they definitely were not in the business of peace-keeping, or else they would not be slaves to their respective daimyo, nor would they be overtaking assassination missions, or even worse, sending their children to die in meaningless skirmishes.
I did not even like the Hidden Leaf village nor had I any interest in assassinating innocents or abducting children while instigating wars between neighboring countries for the sake of protecting the interests of a belief system as abstract as it was meaningless such as the will of Fire.
Nationalistic pride based purely on the geographical location of one's birth was a scam in my opinion. Especially when geography was literally the only difference between the village and its main rivals. Even when accepting the premise that Konoha might put slightly more emphasis on teamwork and the role of family in society, it was still a disgustingly authoritarian and militaristic society using underhanded tactics and relying on terror as a political tool in order to further the interest of the village at the detriment of its rivals, the same as any other country in this world.
Even by the time everything had been resolved and peace had been achieved, fighting still occurred, though that was probably more a reflection of humanity's flaws rather than a flaw of the villages themselves.
Still, if I was to really pick a village to live in, I was grateful it was in the village Hidden in the Leaves, as while probably not the safest place to be, seeing how often it was attacked, invaded or destroyed over the years, it had the merit of being much safer for a child than being subjected to the barbaric practices and twisted traditions of the bloody Mist or the miserable lifestyle of the desert.
Even more importantly, however, it was a familiar setting, more familiar than any other in this world, at least, and it was reassuring to know I would at all times be protected by one of the most powerful militaries of this universe in case of sudden attack.
Had I been offered the choice to live as I pleased in the Elemental Nations, I would have wanted from the bottom of my heart to be some nobody civilian who could travel and experience all things I had not been able to do in my previous life.
Unfortunately, that was a pipe dream and I knew that given a realistic choice, I would always pick to be a ninja over any civilian; Being a civilian in such a world was absolutely out of the question, as it would mean becoming a defenseless victim in whatever world-ending shenanigans ninjas decided to occupy their time with on any given day.
Whether I liked it or not, I would have to become a ninja and a strong one if I were truly to be injected into the Naruto verse as it would simply be a matter of survival at that point; there was no reason to die to some nameless grunt.
I had been much too passive in my first life and had as a result suffered too much at the hands of fate for me to ever allow myself to be a victim of circumstances in this one as well. I would be a Shinobi, I decided then and there, if only to ensure I did not die needlessly.
Being reborn as Naruto was even more of a reason to try and become as strong as humanly possible, especially knowing the full potential this child had had at his disposal from a very young age.
Becoming strong enough to survive whatever was going to be thrown at me would always be the top priority, no matter what objective I picked as my mission for the rest of my life in this universe, from living a carefree life to striving for peace, or even becoming Hokage like my namesake had done in his time alive.
I would be doing my best.
I had to.