See end of the chapter for translations.

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto.

Warnings: Major character death, minor character death, description of corpses, language.

Childhood Arc: Goodbye

Don't wait too long. Life takes unexpected turns, so we don't always have the time we think we have. - Sylvain Reynard

/Age: 1 year 8 months/

Days passed. There had been a significant increase in the economy of Konoha since the assignment of the Yondaime. Our teashop was flourishing! We had more customers, the prices had decreased and we were finally able to go shopping without that much worries.

After a while I had set up a routine: wake up at five am, help Ba-chan get the teashop ready at around 5:30, steal some mochi from the counter and use puppy eyes on Ba-chan in order to get tea. Afterwards, as soon as the first customers start settling down, go back upstairs to our bedroom. There I meditate, read, learn new words and kanji, train. Mostly read because it is fascinating! We don't even get a glimpse of everything that happened in this world through the anime and manga. The history is enormous. I've read almost every child-friendly book I could get my hands on. There are books about the Sengoku Jidai, Rikudō Sennin, Shodai and Madara, Nidaime and the Sannin. There are indeed many stories about brave shinobi saving the day, but most of them are about the Will of Fire.

To tell the truth, even after learning katakana and hiragana, I still struggle in reading. You know, learning Japanese is freaking hard!

Settling into the beginning of my routine, I woke up and got downstairs to look for food. As soon as I get there, I'm met with an image of Ba-chan leaving the house. Wait, she's leaving her harmless sheep all alone?

It was still very early in the morning, only six am. The light just started to peek through the streets, the air still humid from the rain. Ba-chan's house is located in the civilian district, where life starts later than those of shinobi. But for us it's nothing: Ba-chan'd always used to be an early bird while I'm simply insomniac.

"Ohayō, Ba-chan! Where you go? Why not with me?" I asked my only family while toddling to the porch. It's located at the entrance to the teashop, going right into the street. Luckily, she hadn't closed the door into my face.

Ba-chan was wearing her beautiful, knee-length cobalt dress without sleeves. Her hair was up in a short ponytail, a few bangs framing her face. She turned around graciously, her gaze softened as soon as she saw me and her lips twitched up just the slightest bit. She kneeled a bit to be closer to my eye level (it doesn't help at all).

"Konnichiwa, Isamu-chan. Even though today is Saturday, I have some business to take care of. We'll visit otōto next week, ok? I know you're a smart boy so there is no real need to ask for any genin teams, right?" Is… is she manipulating me into behaving? HA! Now it's my goal to go all Hulk-y!

My could feel my smile go from sincere to mischievous and my eyes shine with excitement. "Sure, Ba-chan! I not do bad stuff!"

From the annoyed look she gave me… yep, she doesn't believe me a single bit. She spoke, her voice daring me, "Of course you won't. After all, you wouldn't risk eating hare for the rest of the month, would you?"

That's a punch bellow the waist! No! She knows I hate meat in any form…

In my previous life I used to be a vegan. You know, feeling bad for every single thing alive, being an animal lover and all. Hell, I haven't even tried hare before I was reborn! Now not only I need to eat meat (shinobi diet requires protein and there're not many substitutes I can get before I can afford it myself), but I'm supposed to hunt my dinner. Literally, the way shinobi do it. Fuck my life. At least I can choose fish instead of hare… and tofu's later on.

So… nope. Not eating that. "I won't disappoint you, Oba-sama!" Or my stomach for that matter. Argh! This woman is the second coming of Stalin!

She left after that, ushering me inside to close the door. This is how I ended up on the first floor, where the teashop itself and the kitchen are located. So, having nothing left to do there, I went upstairs to our room. Ba-chan and I shared a room, my crib and her bed being close together. We have a wardrobe, a few nightstands, a bookshelf and a low table for studying. Everything is earth toned and quite modern, even though cheap.

For the last month I've been training in chakra control. I didn't exhaust myself and kept track of my tenketsu situation. Due to me having large spiritual reserves (because of being an adult in a toddler's body, my spirit and its energy transferred into a chakra pool… I guess) and small physical ones, I try to meditate a lot. During the year my chakra increased a bit, but I'm still too young to try anything drastic. This is why I settled on the leaf exercise: easy, doesn't take a lot chakra and helps in control. Plus I know the basics from the manga.

So this is how I spent the last month, trying to concentrate chakra in my palm and then to attach it to the leaf (or paper, whatever I found), wrapping it in chakra. At first I was horrendous in it, but, as time passed, I got better. So yesterday I was finally able to make the leaf stick to my palm. It only stayed this way for nine seconds, but this is still great! It'd be a while before I'd be able to do anything other than that, but still. I wouldn't push it or try something like tree-walking at two. I'm too much of a coward plus I'm as lazy as a Nara. Or worse.

So I decided to wait for Ba-chan while doing the leaf exercise for a bit (I took it to 10 seconds). Afterwards, I'd continue doing something I started a few days ago, right after bribing Ba-chan into getting me a few notebooks.

My very own Naruto World information book. It took me a while to convince Ba-chan to actually get me a single notebook, but after the war life (money situation) got easier, that became possible. So, as soon as I got it, I'd decided to use a code.

What I mean is that I decided to use codes for everybody's names. And to write it all in the hardest language I know, which turned out to be Russian. And to use a different alphabet, going for Hebrew alphabet*. So, after a few days of non-stop writing, I got 2,5 full notebooks, while each is around 50 A5 pages. And I have the tupical tiny handwriting. I got it into sections, such as:

Kages;

Major characters;

Villains;

Major events;

Wars;

Jutsu/techniques;

Minor characters;

Minor events;

Villages;

History.

So, in order to make sure it's safe, I like having a small bag with me. I keep all the stuff there. Or I keep the notebooks there, just in case. Thankfully, our bookcase is stuffed enough for me to use it as a hiding place.

So, by the time Ba-chan comes back, I'd written more 15 pages and progressed a bit with my chakra.

I just hope me not doing anything now won't bite me in the ass. But why would it? Simply leave the village or go to the Memorial Stone on the tenth of October.

Sorry, Naruto. I can't risk everything just for you. There are too many others at risk.

/Age: 1 year 9 months/

Today Oba-chan tried to set a play-date with our neighbor's kid. She's three, a cute little girl with chocolate hair, hazel eyes and medium-tanned skin. She wore this adorable green dress with an abstract print in turquoise. Her hair was up in a ponytail. It was a pleasure to look at her while she's quiet. But as soon as she opened her mouth…

"Kaa-chan! I want play! Make her play! Make her, make her!" The little devil screamed. I don't want to play your stupid games, you brat! Gah, kids are so annoying! She couldn't even pout silently!

"Isamu-chan, play with Aiko-chan! It'll be fun!" Her mom said, clapping her hands. Yeah, maybe it'll be for you, but not for me. I never played games, only shogi (at which I suck) and some educational games. But still, I hate playing with kids. They're a pain.

Wait a second…

"… You know I'm boy, right?"

Wow, both her and her mom went tomato red in mere seconds. Do I really look that girly? And as for Ba-chan… she was laughing her ass out. Traitor.

Two hours later.

"Kawaii!" Squealed all of the females in unison. As for the reason why, well…

I was standing in the middle of the room, my face powdered. My hair was in two short pigtails, a few bangs falling onto my face. I was dressed into a pastel pink yukata dress and white sandals. And I was blushing like crazy.

All in all, I look like a porcelain doll. * HELP *

If I turn out to be a cross-dresser, I blame those three.

/Age: 1 year 10 months/

It was raining. Everything seemed so dim, so cold. It was not right. Something was off.

As we walked through the empty streets of Konoha, the wind grew wilder. It was barely dawn on Saturday. Oba-chan was carrying me, both of us clad in winter clothes, trying to stay warm. But it was May. It was wrong.

At one point the wind blew like crazy, sweeping away anything on its way. We were almost ready to head back when a hand appeared on Ba-chan shoulder.

"Excuse me? Hi, I saw you struggling here. Maybe I can help you?" Asked the person behind us in a familiar voice through the wind. Where…?

As Ba-chan turned around, we were faced by – please, no – Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage. Out of all the people to stumble upon, it had to be the one I didn't know how to save.

Was too afraid to save.

"Oh god, Ho-Hokage-sama! I'm so, so sorry; we were heading to the Memorial S-Stone. It's ok, we'll be fine, thank you very, very much." Oba-chan started rambling, swinging her hands up and down. Which led us to... "OI!"

Yep, I fell all the way down. Goodbye ninja carrier, and life, and saving the world, and…

"Hey little one, you ok? You can stop screaming, you know." Said a person – no, my savior – and I was met with a brilliant smile and cerulean eyes-

Great, Minato saved me. My fucking luck, to be saved by the one I can't save!

I stopped screaming as I looked up at him. I know I had that dumbfounded look on my face, but who cares? The Yondaime was smiling at me, his bright eyes-

They will lose their spark soon. I want to save him. The man that always looked for peace, negotiating with different villages before fighting. The battles he always won.

But I'm not even two. What can I do? How can I save him without killing so many more? He's one man I know about from a TV show. But this…

This is reality. I couldn't favor him above others. I'm sorry.

"It's no problem! I was heading there myself. A week ago my student got attacked… isn't it ironical that I was too slow?" He said while walking over to handle me to Ba-chan, his voice cracking.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! You have my condolences, Hokage-sama. This must be so hard on-" Ba-chan started rambling again, but I had one thought in my head.

"Does peace exist?" I asked, shutting her up. I received incredulous looks from both of them. Minato looked like he'd seen a ghost. Or worse.

"I…" I could see the pain in his eyes, the suffering. He's a pacifist, bred to kill. His wife a Jinchūriki. His students died one after the other. Rin already died, setting Obito on the path of hatred. Minato truly wanted to believe, to succeed, he deserved that, but… "I don't know."

The rest of the way was spent in silence.

/Age: 2 years/

Just like all those years ago, it smelled warm. I was upstairs, sitting at the low table. The shop was closed for the day. Ba-chan decided to gift the day to me.

This was when I could hear the dear voice and smell the amazing treat.

"Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, dear Isamu-chan.

Happy birthday to you!" Ba-chan sang in her sweet voice while entering the room with a hot blueberry pie – just like it was before – with two candles on top.

I felt something warm stir inside my stomach. My eyes started to redden with unshed tears and my body trembled.

Maybe it'll be ok? Maybe we'll survive, growing stronger? Maybe it's all the way it was supposed to be?

Maybe they will survive?

I blew the candles, making my wish.

(But wishes don't always come true.)

/Age: 2 years 3 months/

It was October ninth. Only one day left till the Kyūbi Attack. I've made a plan. I'll throw a temper tantrum for the first time in life. Don't get me wrong, I pranked Ba-chan a million of times before, but never have I started screaming or demanding something. She'd be too shocked to go against me, leading to us going to the Hokage Monument. There we'll spend the day, near the shelters inside the monument. As soon as hell breaks loose, we save our asses. Then we continue living.

I thought it was an ingenious plan of mine, saving my Ba-chan and I. Only if I knew of its flaw…

The morning went great. There were more customers then usual. Ba-chan was humming a song while I was stealing cookies. People were smiling and kids were playing. The ninth of October was supposed to be a simple, good day.

It was more of a blur.

It was nearing dusk. There were less people outside, most coming home after a long workday. There was bustling, you could see some shinobi jumping across the rooftops. It was an average day. I was home with Ba-chan, me upstairs, keeping the leaf stuck to my forehead with chakra. Things were going according to the plan.

That's when I felt that- that sinister chakra feel every inch of air.

An almighty roar broke through the skies.

I was terrified. This is not happening. This can't be happening. It's too early!

I was frozen in my step. The ground was shaking, but it was utterly quiet. Nobody dared to speak.

With the second roar the screaming began.

I ran to the bookshelf to take my bag. No, no, no! This is surreal! What changed? Why, why did it go this way-

I felt the ground shake, the world swirled. Impossible.

Ba-chan burst through the room. She was crying – so was I – when she picked me up. She ran downstairs and out onto the street.

It was like an apocalypse. The level of destruction was unbelievable. But my attention was pinned on a huge fox and its tails that razed houses within seconds. The chakra was suffocating, I could hardly breathe.

So this is the power of Kyūbi no Kitsune. Total destruction - no, annihilation.

It all happened in a blur. I saw corpses – a little girl was missing her lower half, her entrails covering the ground; an old man with a wooden pole through his torso; a teenager being buried under a collapsed building; a young kunoichi smashing into a wall…

So much blood everywhere. It covered every centimeter of the ground, of walls and stalls, kids, teens, grown-up, elderly-

All of them dead, missing limbs, blood spreading over everything within range.

Ba-chan kept running towards the shelters in the mountain – we lived so far way, it seemed like there was no way to get there at all. Screaming, blood, fire. That's the way it all looked, the madhouse on earth.

But there was still a frail chance, the last bit of hope. I choose to believe. 'We will make it', I thought determinedly.

That is when I see a Bijūdama tearing through the sky and a building to our right collapses so close, we don't have time. The bricks started falling and-

I go flying through the air? But why? Where is Oba-chan? I hit the floor, feeling something break, it hurts so fucking much, but…

I saw her. Her beautiful hair that was framing her angelic face. Her long dress – her favorite – tattered into nothingness. Her eyes – those gorgeous icy blue eyes – were blank. But they are never blank! No, they're full of life, always shining! She was quiet – too quiet. She always sings, hums, dances. Her body's sprawled down – you need to get up – on the floor, unmoving. Why, why, why?! And there is that strange – alien – crimson liquid flowing down her hair, tinting it red. This is wrong! What is going on?

Why isn't she getting up?

"B-ba-chan?" I stutter – my voice so small, my throat so dry and my eyes so wet-

The last thing I felt was being held up before sinking into an abyss.

Oba-chan/ba-chan – aunt, auntie.

Kaa-chan – mother

Ohayo – good morning

Otōto – little brother

Konnichiwa – hello

Shodai – first

Nidaime – second

Yondaime – fourth

Rikudō Sennin – The Sage of Six Paths

Sengoku Jidai – Warring States Period

*I actually know a few alphabets including Hebrew. It's perfect for coding because there are no written vowels (they use vocalizations). Russian is a hard language on its own. Combining it with Hebrew alphabet without the use of vocalizations makes it almost impossible to break through.

A/N: That's it! Argh, this chapter's sad. But it needed to happen for character development. Dang it, during this chapter I wanted to say "to hell with it" and let her live. But it needed to be done. Sorry!

I hope you liked it! Please review!