A Thousand Bright

Summary: Life is a long series of rolling with the punches. Sometimes those punches come from dying, being reborn, and everything that comes after. OC Fic

If you think I won't fight Kishimoto about when the heck things happen exactly you're wrong. Here is chapter two! Also thank you to all of those who have favorited/followed/reviewed this story so far! You are all beautiful souls that I love dearly!

Chapter 2: The Lead-Up

Two years later

Konoha mourned for a long time. For the ninja lost in the fight, for the people who tried to flee, for the people who never had a chance. For Minato and Kushina.

The bright energy of the village had been whisked away, replaced with a solemn hush. People in the streets walked briskly, gazes darting nervously. Parents kept their children close, clutching hands with white-knuckled grasps.

Construction crews had slowly repaired the damage since that day. Rubble was cleared away and recycled, huge gouges in the street were filled in, and new houses were built. The citizens would tend to not look right at the damage, opting to hurry away instead. This was a hard task to accomplish, however, as there was nowhere else to look where the Kyuubi hadn't touched. Each crack and scrape in the village only served to remind what was trying to be forgotten.

Sen wasn't sure how she should react at first. On one hand, she was in a world filled with constant battle and literal ninja with ridiculous powers given to them by a weird energy that was everything. But on the other hand… she was in a world with straight up ninja and actual chakra. In her entire middle school career and early high school years, she was absolutely one of those kids who Naruto-ran down the hallway, sporting a forehead protector. A yell would be heard from down the hallway, then a group of approximately twenty kids- probably including her- in matching headbands would sprint past, every single one of them yelling in return. She still had her forehead protector framed in her room. Those were good days and she still felt connected to the story line, despite everything. And everything was a lot.

Now, the characters she had looked up to in her were actually in reach. She could actually interact with them. And be friends with them. Help them. A strange, intense mixture of unbridled excitement and apprehension buzzed around her mind when she pondered the subject. She wasn't going to lie. There had been quite a lot of time spent back in the day where she had imagined interacting with the characters. So actually having the extremely likely possibility of talking to the characters threw her off a whole bunch.

She could stop a lot of awful things from happening- she knew everything about the future's plans. But ninja are incredibly suspicious and careful people and if she wasn't cautious, she could land in deep trouble. Plus, she was only one person. Barely even a person at this point, she was a toddler who was still trying to get the hang of this forsaken written language and got worn out easily at physical activity.

Honestly, if she didn't even try do anything, the guilt would eat her alive. But, if she interfered, there would be a point eventually where events would be so drastically altered that she would lose the advantage of knowing what would happen in the future. She would be taken just as much by surprise as everybody else.

Chakra was a thing now though. And while there were a lot of ridiculously powerful ninja in this world, Sen reasoned that with enough work, she could rise as one as well. Putting in the work was entirely possible and likely. Before, everyone in this universe had just been ink on paper, or lines moving on a screen. But she was here now, they were real people. With feelings, families, friends. They had hopes and aspirations just like her. And now they were flesh and blood. Just like her.

Someone had said to her once, "Dear, you're a bleeding heart. One day that's going to get you into something you can't just smile your way out of." At the time, she only laughed.

Looks like that day is a comin', she thought. The list of risks was a thousand page book, but she may have been placed into this universe for a reason. Or maybe, the world wanted to mess with her. Either way she already died once, so death could suck it if it wanted to try to kill her again.

Sen was here now. And she could change things for the better.

Sliding off of the couch- and almost falling, when did this couch get so slippery- she located the chakra signatures of her parents. Purpose in her pace, she headed towards the garden.

Her family had a pretty sweet house. A blocky U-shape, so the courtyard in the middle opened up into the forest. They had a garden with a lot of plants and herbs and a cute little pond with Koi fish lovingly named by her father. The house itself was traditionally styled with deep blues and soft browns. Sen really liked the sliding doors and when her parents would open them up on nice days, letting the fresh air and warm sunlight in. Sometimes, animals like deer or foxes would get curious and sniff around in their garden. The first time this happened, she accidentally got so excited she fell and broke one of the doors in her haste to watch the animals. Of course, the noise startled the animals. The whole situation was a lose-lose.

She stepped out onto the courtyard porch and spotted her father tending to the sage plants, and her mother going through stretches.

"Mama!" She called out, marching towards the center of the yard. Kaede turned, waist-length chestnut brown hair swinging in its ponytail. "I'm going to be a ninja!" A look passed between her mother and father, Yasui.

The woman waved her over and crouched down so she was eyelevel.

"Okay, but I just want to tell you something," her mother said, a serious look sombering her face. "This is a very serious commitment. Being a ninja is very, very dangerous," she paused. "Here. Sit down- I need to tell you something." She sank down into the grass, Sen following. "Do you know your papa and I met?"

Sen shook her head, prompting her mother to continue.

"I was a ninja once. It was before you were born. I was on my way to becoming a Jounin- I was very good at my job. But something happened. Me and a group of three other ninja went on a B-rank mission. There was Aiko and Satoshi- they were both Chuunin. And there was a Jounin named Reisa. We were sent to take out a group of people that had taken over a village in Hot Water Country. There were only supposed to be civilian fighters. We had traveled there only to find that there were not only ninja there, but a lot of them. We were good at what we did, but there were only four of us. I was the only one that made it out alive. I was the only-" her father placed his hand on her mother's shoulder. At the contact, she visibly deflated. "I made it out alive, but I can never be a ninja again. I need you to know that being a ninja is nothing to mess around with. I need you to promise me you will be careful."

"I promise. I need to be a ninja to protect those that need it," Sen stated with absolute conviction.

Being so serious about something like this at this age probably seems weird, she belatedly realized. I forgot that I'm three.

Kaede searched the girl's face for a few moments longer before letting her tense shoulders relax fractionally. "Well I guess there's only one thing left to talk about then. I just wonder if you're cool enough to be a ninja." She made a show of visibly wondering about the question. "I mean. You have to be pretty awesome to be one and I just don't know if you have what it takes!"

Sen knew it was bait. She had never seen more obvious bait. Her mother was trying to lighten the mood but the accusation that Sen was even remotely uncool was absolutely unacceptable.

"Hm. First of all. I am cool enough for anything. I can't believe you would say that to me," she huffed. Bait taken. Her pride was on the line.

Kaede hummed unconvincingly. "Sure, sure. If you're certain then there's only one thing left to do!" She clapped her hands together and straightened up. "Let's get started!"

Crushing regret.

Sen and her mother went through a series of stretches and exercises for the afternoon. Because her body wasn't used to the physical effort, her mother only guided her through a few simple ones. They barely did anything, and yet Sen was about ready to pass out and sleep in the sunshine after a very short time. At the end, her mother assured her that the more they practiced, the longer these sessions would get. Not being able to do much was frustrating, but she could only improve from where she was at the moment. However, if she was stuck inside her house for another day, she would lose her mind.

The next day, Sen pounced on her parents, pleading to go into town. They were actually planning on bringing her into the thick of Konoha that day.

Oops. The begging wasn't necessary then. That's kinda awkward. She got what she was hoping for in the end, so she didn't dwell on it for too long.

Sen got ready to go in record time and was shifting at the front door impatiently. There were a lot of different things she had been waiting a long time for. The ninja and the sights being some of the reasons. She may have been excited. Just a bit.

If Konoha seemed large from far away, it felt unending when inside it. Much of the construction had been completed, only trace amounts of the destruction left behind. People had relaxed significantly, kids running around in the streets without their parents. Although Sen often couldn't tell the difference between these kids or orphan kids. Passing the orphanages filled to the brim struck a chord in her heart. An enormous amount of kids were left without guardians that fateful day. She could have been one of them.

The streets were alive with chatter and laughter and bright clothing. Sometimes, a glint of light reflected off of metal, and when she turned to look, she caught glimpses of ninja. She would try to twist around to look from her perch on her father's shoulders, but they would turn into a different street before she could get a good look at the person.

This was the first time she had been in the main part of the village, and the liveliness of the streets was starting to affect her, excitement racing in her blood.

The people were all so different. Some people had natural blue or pink hair and that was so cool and bizarre at the same time. She kind of wished she had a hair color like that. Not to say she didn't like her sandy blonde hair, but having green hair would be incredibly neat.

Kids ran by playing ninja, and adults would walk by chattering to friends. There were also a large amount of old ladies gossiping on street corners, Sen could catch phrases like, "that rascal," or "-pregnant?" over the sizzling sounds of food cooking and the buzz of the crowd. Her parents walked too fast for her to hear anything else from these conversations. The nosy part of her wanted to hear the rest, even though she wouldn't know who was being discussed.

Her attention was drawn to the crowd parting- and a pair of sandals in the air? The mystery sandals approached them, crowd moving around them until the last people moved out of the way and a lot of green came into view. A blur as the person flipped onto their feet, and Sen was staring down at Maito Gai.

She saw his mouth moving, but she could only blink owlishly at him. His general personality mixed with the fact that he was kind of an important character made a potent mix. Needless to say, she was a bit overwhelmed.

Sen snapped out of her shock when a hand touched her shoulder. Her mother looked at her with concern. Then she looked back at Gai who shared a similar expression. Oops.

She stuck her hand out to the man, watching as he went cross-eyed looking at her hand so close to his face, and smiled sunnily.

"Hello! My name is Sen!" she exclaimed at last. The blinding smile had returned to his face and he grasped her tiny hand firmly. She braced herself but luckily, her arm wasn't ripped off by the sheer force of the handshake. She had a feeling he was only that rough on people he knew could handle it like other ninja. Or at least she thought until she saw him shake her father's hand, who was not a ninja. His green eyes widened comically as his arm was suddenly being jerked up and down at very high speeds.

Maybe people older than three years old?

"My name is Maito Gai! It's very nice to meet you, Sen-chan!" His voice was hilariously loud especially in such close proximity. "Are you going to be a ninja when you grow up?" She felt her father's grip tense on her.

"Sure am," Sen squared her shoulders. "I need to become a ninja so I can protect people." Exactly who was left out, but the phrase was more than enough to get the point across.

Gai's eyes started to become suspiciously watery. "That is a very noble goal, Sen-chan. I look forward to that wonderful day!" His voice wobbled more and more throughout his speech until he had to sob into his arm.

Sen folded her arms over her father's head and rested her head on them, grinning. Actually being the target of the crying was incredibly weird. But not bad, really.

Gai started to chat with her parents and her gaze wandered up to study the Hokage mountain. The midday sun sharpened the rock faces, the shadows cutting like knives. They were so large and seemed to loom protectively over the village and Sen's breath was taken away. She studied the angles and planes, the din of the crowd peeling away from her awareness. The midday sun sharpened the shadows, sharp as a knife. In a short time, she could be there. Navigating the tunnels, running her hands against the rock. Her ears were ringing, she had to-

"Sen." The volume of Konoha crashed into her once again. She looked down at her shoulder to where her mother's hand was gripping it. "What's up? You've been really spacey today." She was right. While Sen had good reason to be a bit overwhelmed by all of the things the trip had to offer, she needed to focus. She would think about that strange reaction to the mountain later. It probably wasn't a big deal. Ninja with short attention spans lived short lives.

"Ah! Uh- the town is just so pretty," she bluffed, flashing an innocent white smile. Her mother side-eyed her a bit before letting it go.

"Are you training right now, Gai? San." Sen said, almost leaving off the end. She was still trying to get used to using honorifics. She had really only seen her parents on a daily basis so far, so the need to remember the necessity to add on a honorific at the end of a name was less present. Gai didn't seem to notice or take offense.

"I lost a challenge and so I have to walk around the village 300 times on my hands. My rival is so cool- but next time I'll beat him!" A very strange look passed over his face and he clenched his fist. Sen had a feeling he would call it youthful spirit.

"I must go, I still have 32 laps to go! The Green Beast of Konoha always finishes what he starts!" He lunged forward onto his hands and sped away.

That was one of the coolest things to ever happen to me. What a funny guy I love him so much already. She laughed at him departing- he was moving scarily fast even on his hands- with no small amount of glee. That probably wouldn't be the weirdest thing to happen to her soon. Somehow, she just knew her life would be crammed with bizarre happenings.

Bring them on.

Only a little over a year had passed when Kumo dignitaries arrived in Konoha. She had seen the group while in town, her eyes landing on the different hitai-ate inscription. Something in the back of her mind pestered her about them, but the reason why escaped her. She tried in vain to remember, but she had contracted a flu-like sickness and the fever made thinking hazy.

It wasn't until she was fully recovered and in town again that she realized why the group had seemed so important to her.

"Hyuuga… poor boy…" Only tidbits of the conversation had been caught, but they were enough. A wave of guilt washed over Sen, and she tugged on her father's pant leg, asking to go home.

She had lain awake that night. Thinking about how things could have been different. The possibilities of things she could have done and possibilities of consequences from those things were endless. Hizashi was already dead, and the only thing she could do was move on, remember that she was only human, and continue to live and improve.

Sen gradually built her skills over the years. Speaking was a piece of cake now, writing was much better but still a bit difficult, and her physicality had improved massively. The exercise sessions she had with her mother had lengthened in huge jumps. With age came energy spikes that had the girl vibrating out of her skin. Some days, their family would play all day. Or rather, she would run circles around them when they got too exhausted. She had to get rid of the energy somehow. Not to mention, her coordination was better than ever. Basically, she could be a cup stacking champion if she was really feeling it. Probably never would feel it, but at least she knew she could.

Gai visited a lot; apparently he had gone to school with Kaede and was still friends with her, and in extension, Yasui. The exuberant man had become like an uncle to Sen, and the two got along famously. When he would visit, he would join in on the games, and where Sen was usually the one who outlasted her parents, she would be the one exhausted first. She loved every second of it, and her sides would ache from laughing at his antics.

One time, he managed to drag Kakashi along. Sen was helping Yasui with the plants- or rather gathering trimmings into a neat heap to be placed into compost- when a booming voice called out to them from the front of the house. Dropping the leaves, she had sprinted to the front door and waved at the familiar green-clad figure. And then had noticed the slouched figure next to him and almost had a heart attack. She had buzzed with excitement for the rest of their visit, and almost outlasted Gai in their game that day. (Almost being not at all, but rather a total half hour longer than normal.) Kakashi had played for a very short time, and only after giving Sen a complete beatdown. No mercy was to be spared even on a six year old, apparently. He chatted with Kaede and Yasui for the rest of the evening. Although he might never say it out loud, Sen knows he enjoyed the visit.

After a solid week of dropping hints and "casual" asking, her mother finally agreed to teach her the handsigns and basic chakra exercises. In her honest opinion, handsigns were objectively the worst. At first, her fingers refused to listen to her and bend into the positions she wanted. She spent longer than she would have liked but practice makes perfect. After about a month or two of practicing, she could run through the handsigns with a fair amount of confidence as her fingers got used to the dexterity required for seals.

The chakra exercises helped a lot as well. Her chakra balance seemed to be tipped more towards spiritual, as she had years of mental and emotional experience before she had physical chakra, but the exercises helped her control the balance. Not to say that they were a piece of cake especially at first, but they helped. She was still working on the classic leaf technique. It was still… a struggle. Many hours were spent in attempts to use the correct amount of chakra. Control wouldn't stay in her grasp, her chakra pushing to do its own thing. Sen wanted to tear her hair out. When she tried to direct it in one direction, it would feel that the other direction was the better choice. Even though the other direction was, in fact, absolutely the wrong way to go. The only thing she could do, though, was persist in the exercises and possibly sit down and have a talk with her chakra about its rude behavior. The more she used the exercises, the more she inched toward a reality where the leaf would just stick to her head for once.

Sen was almost there, she could feel it.

And then the time came where her parents took her to the academy to enroll in the upcoming school year.

They were front of the school, waiting in line to sign up. She had been delighted to spot a few familiar faces in the crowd. Neji was standing a little further back in the line, stony-faced. Tenten and Lee were sitting in the grass with a group of children filling out paperwork. Tenten already had her trademark twin buns, but Lee's hair was in a long braid.

They're all so young, gosh. I can't believe they're all going to become absolute monsters in less than ten years. She thought, casually glancing at them every now and then.

Finally, her family reached the front of the line, and Sen's eyes widened in surprise. Iruka was one of the chuunin handing out paperwork at the table. He smiled kindly at her family, eyes crinkling at the corners.

"First year at the academy?" He inquired. Sen nodded eagerly. He chuckled and handed them paperwork. "Please fill these out and Yui at the table over there will be happy to take those when you're done! I look forward to seeing you around this year, miss!" He directed the last part at Sen, who beamed in response and gave him a thumbs up before following her parents.

The academy won't even know what hit it.