I had woken up much earlier than I really needed to the next morning, still suffering from an excess of excitement for my planned adventure of the day.
I knew someone would come get me and show me the sight of the village, and had therefore made sure to clean myself as thoroughly as I could, brushing my teeth and bathing to make sure to leave a good first impression on whomever saw me.
I had wanted to add some perfume as well, but had sadly not had access to any, orphans only being allowed soap and changes of clothes beyond their bed and meals.
I was shocked when by some great coincidence, his volunteering or as a result of Hiruzen playing mind games with me, my escort for the day revealed himself to be the ANBU agent known for wearing the mask of Dog.
I had gaped at him for a second upon first recognizing the uniform and the man beneath the clothes, but the fact he remained as silent as my usual caretakers allowed me to regain my composure without alerting Hatake Kakashi that I was onto his real identity.
I even managed to look unbothered as the young man took my hand into his and guided me into the outside world for the very first time in my life.
The experience was a brand new one for me and I was immediately overwhelmed by its novelty.
Everything felt magical for me, from the fresh air of the chilly morning, the sun not having yet had the time to warm the land, to the smell of wet dirt and the chirping of distant birds, every sensation was shiver inducing with its contrast with my usual shut-in lifestyle.
I hadn't even realized I had frozen in place, mesmerized by the beauty of the world until Dog had gently shook my hands to gain my attention.
"Let's keep going." He said softly and I nodded vehemently, falling back into step with him, quite determined to explore as much of the outside world as I could.
The Village Hidden in the Leaves, I had to admit, was not at all what I expected it to be. Sure, I had barely paid any attention to the backgrounds as I consumed all the media relating to this universe in my previous life, but I had been under the impression it was a relatively harmoniously built settlement with stone buildings, flat roofs and dirt roads as the architectural style.
The reality of it, was that while broadly resembling my preconceived image, the village was much more unique and quirkier than I had expected it to be, old decrepit circular buildings contrasting heavily with newer shiny rectangular properties, one floor establishments being overshadowed by five floors ones on the left and an unused empty lot of land on the right.
Of course, I knew part of it could be explained away as a result of the Nine-Tails' attack destroying the village almost four years ago, but somehow it felt much more like if rather than having a village, Konoha was a collection of districts with their own personalities, designs and aesthetics, an agglomeration of styles uncaring of the overarching symmetry of the whole.
I had known the village to be somewhat partial to the different clans' identities, but the extent of this freedom was a surprise to me. I had been under the impression that Konoha, as a military organization was fully under the control of the Hokage. As a result, the current state of the village either meant I was terribly wrong on the extent of the man's influence, or that I highly overestimated the importance of the village's aesthetics in its security and the efficiency of its systems.
I could see Hashirama being his passive self and allowing such chaos, perhaps even celebrating it as a proof of organic growth for the family or some other foolishness, but I had a hard time reconciling the possibility of Tobirama putting up with any such nonsense.
Either way, I was confident this mismatch of styles did not harm the security of the village, as Danzo would not have allowed it to remain so if it did, regardless of Hiruzen's or anyone else's wishes, but the layout of the streets was making my eyes twitch.
At least, it had the benefit of proving once again that I was definitely not dreaming this second life, as there was no way in hell my subconscious would have crafted such a messy, inefficient and disorganized city if everything I experienced truly was a simple figment of my imagination.
Proving himself more helpful than I had expected him to be due to his reputation, Dog had pointed out to me the most notable landmarks, starting with the Hokage Tower. It was a building sitting at the heart of the village, immediately under the shade of the Hokage Monument and directly facing the main entrance. It served as a symbol of strength and a source of pride for all, as well as being an efficient use of real estate, as it was flanked by the Academy on one side and the Library on the other.
Somehow, I doubted the closeness of the mixed bath hot springs house to the tower and the fact it was in the perfect location to be observable from the roof of that old pervert's building to be a coincidence, but decided not to remark on it.
I was most excited to see Ichiraku Ramen be a real place, immediately knowing I would probably be spending an unnecessary amount of time there, if not for the food, for the company of the owner. Old man Ichiraku and Ayame had been kind to the real Naruto, so hopefully I could earn some of their sympathy as well when loneliness got the better of me.
I wasn't going to be a ramen addict, however, and I made sure to scope out the different restaurants and fast food chains Kakashi showed me, paying a special attention to the dango shops and the Akamichi run KBBQ joint.
Disappointingly, we did not have the Hokage's permission to thoroughly explore each clan's perimeters or any of the side streets, but my guide still took the time to point out from a distance the enormous Hyūga and Uchiha clan compounds, situated on the South-Western side of the village, as far as they could be from the bars of the North-East or the Senju ruins and the Nara Forest in the North-West.
Just like with the asymmetry of the buildings, I was not one hundred percent sold on the shape of the village perimeter, a weird oval-like monstrosity through which a river flowed underneath the wall on two distinct locations.
Even with all its flaws, however, I liked the vibrancy of the village and the amount of life it held between its walls. I was mostly impressed by the greenery everywhere, and the fact I could see at least ten trees no matter what direction I looked.
The numerous parks and dozens of training grounds sprinkled all over the inner layer of the outer walls, but most importantly, I was enchanted by the villagers themselves.
There were thousands of people, real, breathing and thinking humans, as complex and imperfect as I was. Each and every single one of them was going on with their day, facing their own troubles, selling their wares, parenting their children, loving their partners or simply following their dreams.
Under the watchful eyes of the police force, the village had a life of its own, enticing and inviting to all with the resonating sounds of laughter from its children, the mouth-watering smells of food which tended to accompany the presence of thousands of people happily living in close proximity.
Apparently, I had not yet internalized the existence of others besides myself, still living in the mindset of this second world being a game or a dream, with myself at the center of it all as the only true player surrounded on all sides by faceless background characters.
Even the regular visits of the Hokage and my daily interactions with the children my age hadn't cured me of that particular mindset. Perhaps it was even due to those particular interactions, their forced nature and the level of dishonesty it forced upon me that I had started thinking the way I did.
I had always kept a certain level of detachment in my mind between myself and others, but it was difficult to justify such feelings now that I could see the populace of the world going on with their day like a colony of ants.
They were real.
Every single one of them was a regular person, equal in everything to me.
Even knowing that the only reason I had not yet been shunned was the fact I had never set foot in the streets and couldn't therefore be recognized from sight alone yet, it was difficult to reduce the villagers to meaningless names on a list or statistics.
More than once, I had lost myself to my thoughts and on multiple occasions, Dog had to repeat himself several times to get me to pay attention to him and whatever he was showing me, a fact which was confusing him if the side glances he was sending my way every few seconds or the long sighs I could hear were any indication.
It hadn't hit me how surreal my situation was until that point and I somehow felt guilty for how easily I had dismissed other people's feelings until now.
In a way, it was a strange situation, for sure, to be walking around the village, holding the hand of a teenager, an eighteen years old child just as young as I had been upon dying in my first life, but with an existence much worse than mine, losing everything and everyone he cared about, again and again.
At this point in time, I knew Kakashi had already fallen into darkness and was slowly losing his desire to live, so for a moment, I was happy we could share a human gesture, even as unaware as I should have been of the maelstrom of emotions he must be feeling at taking his dead teacher's son on his very first walk outside, regardless of how precocious or strange an infant I had turned out to be.
I held his hand firmly and squeezed it gently before sending a beaming smile his way, hoping to improve his day and ease his demons a little, in the best-case scenario, while also knowing it had no downside, as I was just being a three-year-old acting too familiarly with his guard if he truly did not emotionally care about the situation.
This second life wasn't so bad, I decided as we walked around the village and towards my new residence, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the caress of the wind.
Not bad at all...