Stuck on the Road of Life
Growing Up
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto, simple enough.
Growing up as a baby can be dumbed down into a single word. Boring. Utterly boring. I was kinda glad that I hadn't remember this the first time living. There was literally nothing I could do but lie down and wait for food to come from my mother. As a baker she would usually be busy in the kitchen, although business was usually sparse. That didn't stop her though. I noticed that our house wasn't that far from the gates of the Uchiha compound. Her costumers were usually female Uchihas, since the men probably had sticks up their asses. Typical Uchihas. She would usually come in to my room with her hands covered in flour and the smell of dough coming from her. I didn't mind, really. I rather liked the smell.
A year went by and I said my first word. I had decided to spell out the usual "Oka-san". No need to have her worried because my first word was 'Icha-Icha'. She couldn't stop beaming with pride. Not long after that I began to walk. I picked it up quite fast and in the matter of three days, I was already running out of the house and creating mischiefs, to my mother's annoyance.
I had a round face, as like any other children and brown mop of hair. It seemed that my hair growth was similar to that of my old life. I had blue eyes that I probably got from my deceased father, since my mother had brown eyes.
I also learned what my family name was. It was Mori, which means forest. It meant that my name could roughly be translated as 'Forest Tiger'. I loved my name even more. And my mother's was Miyako. Speaking of translations, I learned to pick up Japanese quite fast. Of course, anyone could do it as fast, especially if that was the only thing people spoke every hour of the day. I could understand most things my mother was speaking, but I couldn't speak back to her in full sentence yet.
It turned out that my father had been dead since before I was born. She wouldn't tell me what happened to him, but judging by the photo in the living room, where I could see a man wearing a green chunin flak vest, he probably died in the line of duty. I feel for her, but I couldn't mourn something that I never had in the first place.
Another year passed by and I insisted on my mother to teach me to read and write. At first she said that I was too young, but with some convincing from my part, she finally relented. Let me tell you this. Japanese was fricking hard. It wasn't as hard as Mandarin since the language doesn't incorporate tones into speaking and writing, but the amount of characters I had to memorize was staggering. The good thing was that since the writings were all characters instead of letters, it was really similar to drawing. I usually just memorized them by remembering what they looked like. My mother actually thought I had a fever when I compared the character 'Hito' to butt cheeks.
I also began to draw again when I turned three. Turns out, muscle memory doesn't transfer when you are reincarnated. My drawings were quite splotchy, but much, much better than the other two year olds I knew in the neighborhood. It looked like some kind of a mix between American cartoon and manga. Not that anyone here could spot the difference. Since my mother had taught me on writing and reading, I tried to find any kind of book throughout the house. I found some history books that I was certain I already knew the content of. I also found a familiar orange-covered book. My mother immediately grabbed that book away from me.
Reading things certainly helped me a lot with my grammar, but the books I found, not including that orange book, were all non-fiction historical books. I needed to find myself some fiction books. Hopefully good ones. I needed to get my imagination running. That and improve my language as well.
If the timing was accurate, judging by the amount of faces on the Hokage Monument, then Konoha should still be in war. It was probably how dad died. I also remembered that this was the time that everything went to hell and Obito started to go psycho. It was too late to change that, but maybe I could 'lend' and hand in some future events. Nothing groundbreaking, but probably enough for small changes. But to do that, I would need to be a ninja to make enough impact. I knew that my mother wouldn't like it one bit.
My suspicions were correct. She didn't like it. I think she was afraid that she would lose me like she lost dad. I knew I couldn't guarantee my safety, but if my calculations were correct, then by the time I joined the Academy, the war would be over already.
"Why would you want to join the Academy!?" she asked-yelled at me. I stood unflinchingly under her glare, determined not to give up.
"I want to be of use," I said. My mother shook her head, her hands holding her head as she looked like she was about to cry. I knew that this must've been hard for her. She probably thought that I wouldn't stand a chance among the clan children who had prior training. While I kept the pretense that I was still three years old, I couldn't act completely like one. The adults around me just assumed that I was a clever kid and quite mature for my age.
"You'll never be useless to me," said my mother. I shook my head at my mother's attempt to make me step down.
"Oka-san. There are some things I want to accomplish, people I wanted to protect, you among them. But I can't do it if I don't join the academy," I said. I knew that being a ninja wouldn't be glory and glamour through and through. Ninjas were basically glorified mercenary, assassin, spies. But I needed to be one to make enough changes, or at least survive the events that have yet transpired. In the manga, the civilian tended to be overlooked, but there were probably tons of civilian casualties not mentioned at all throughout the series. I was not taking the chance and let me or my mother fade away among pile of corpses.
"You're my son. I should be the one protecting you!" said my mother.
"I know that we're at war, mom," I interrupted her and she stilled. "It's just that, if the war ever reaches Konoha, I don't want to be sitting on my butt, quivering in fear. I want to fight. But fighting would be useless if I don't have the skills to back it up." My mother's expression softened, as if remembering something. Then she reached down and gave me a pat in the head. I could see the small amount of tears in the corners of her eyes.
"You really are your father's son," she said in a longing voice. "Okay." I beamed, but still held back the smile threatening to burst out.
"You can join the academy." I went forward and hugged her. "But only when you turn six." That was still a long way from now, but I could bear it. It would probably a good idea that I start training myself early.
Another year passed and I turned four. I was a bundle of energy and wouldn't stop playing outside with the neighbors' children. We usually play all sorts of ninja games, which were actually variations of tags. I also started on my endurance training whenever I went out of the house. Mostly running around to build up stamina. My ability to read and write was getting better as well. Not as good as adults, obviously, but much better than the other four year olds.
It was during a sunny Saturday morning that I first met Uchiha Itachi. Itachi was accompanying his mother, Mikoto when she arrived to buy some bread. My mother and Itachi's were chatting away. I never knew that mother was this close to the Uchihas. I stayed silent during their conversation and I looked at Itachi.
Itachi was a small kid, probably a year younger than me. He had a typical neutral expression most Uchiha wore on their faces. He didn't have the tear through he was so famous for yet. Noticing my stare, Itachi stared back at me, not speaking a word. It felt like minutes before I broke the silence and called my mom.
"Mom!" I called her.
"Yes?"
"Can I go and play with him?" I asked, pointing at Itachi. My mother looked at Mikoto for permission and Mikoto flashed me a smile.
"Go ahead. But don't go too far," said Mikoto. I immediately jump across the counter separating us, pulled his hand and went out of the shop. Itachi let out a small yelp as we sped out. I didn't really care where we were heading. Not for the first time in this new life, my childlike curiosity kicked in. I wanted to know Itachi better. He was now a real life person, not some drawings printed on paper. It was time I start to treat the characters as real people. In a way, I was glad that I met Itachi first. A quiet person was easier for me to befriend.
We stopped at a bench near the gate of the Uchiha Compound. I plopped myself on the bench. Itachi just followed me, not really sure what to do. I inspected him for a moment and I could feel him feeling uncomfortable under my gaze.
"Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable," I said with a smile. Itachi tried to smile back, but it came out as a grimace.
"It's fine," replied Itachi.
"What's your name? I'm Tora. Mori Tora. I hope we can be friends!" I said with energy.
"I'm Itachi."
"You don't get out that much, do you?" I asked him. He shrugged, clearly a bit more comfortable after our brief introduction.
"I mostly stay in the Compound," answered Itachi.
"Do you have any other friends there?" I asked again.
"There aren't that many children my age. Though, I have a cousin I'm really close to." My mind instantly conjured up the image of Shisui. Of course, how could I forget about Shisui? The both of them were close friends since childhood. Maybe I can get another person into this bunch.
"One day, can you introduce me?" I asked. He let out a small smile, but a real smile nonetheless. It was nice to know that he was beginning to accept me. Now that I realized, my personality was probably not that different than Shisui. He probably dealt with this on a daily basis. Him being a kid probably made it even easier to soften up to him. I knew I wouldn't be able to even get close to him if I first met him as an adult.
"I think he would take an instant liking to you. You remind me a lot of him," said Itachi. Good to know that my memories of Shisui were accurate. Since he appeared very little in the manga and had a short OVA in a single game. My only problem would be to keep up with these guys once they join the academy. I would have to push myself further, but hey! You only live once, right?
Oh, wait…
Another chapter done. I was really pleased to check my E-mail and noticed quite a few people following and favoriting my story. You guys are great! After this chapter I probably won't update for about two-three days, five days at most. While I admit, I am quite good at writing, not having a beta means that I have to spell check the entire chapter by myself and make sure that I get the facts right.
Anyway, follow, favorite and give me your opinion of this one, would you kindly?