The place where Jin woke up was a dump…He'd been seeing a lot of dumps recently but this was something else entirely. Not only were there mountains and mountains of black trash-filled plastic bags—not unlike the ones in Narumi's home, but these bags were…literally floating in the air.

If that wasn't a clear sign that this wasn't his bedroom, then Jin wouldn't know what would be.

"…where am I?" Jin muttered.

"Oh, Minato!" a voice called out, croaky and misused.

Jin recognized that voice, despite the fact that he'd only had a limited sample to recall it from.

It was Narumi's mother.

I'm really dreaming about Narumi's mom living in a trash heap…great.

"Miss Uzumaki?" He called out.

Yet the voice continued on unabated, unhearing, perhaps even uncaring about his calls.

"Oh, dearest Minato! Why?!" She screamed. Her voice was filled with so much pain that Jin shivered. "Why did you leave me?!"

Jin tried to head towards the direction the voice was coming from. Yet, as he did so, one of the floating trash heaps dropped on him. Jin dodged by the skin of his teeth.

God this is the weirdest dream ever.

Before he could be on his way once more he heard a scuttling behind him. It came from the trash heap that he'd just evaded.

One of the giant black bags started rumbling, shaking, and eventually, something burst open from its insides.

It was a rat.

A rat that was twice his size.

It was also holding a giant sword that a dig through Bob's memories identified as a 'Chinese Dao.'

Adrenaline spiked within Jin as he immediately rolled to the side, just as the sword descended on him. A loud clang was heard as the sword made contact with whatever object Jin was under but a moment ago.

Jin got up from his roll and went straight into a combat stance. He assessed the situation.

He very simply deducted: He was in a dream, and a giant rat was trying to kill him.

…

…

Jin decided to relax his posture, realising that whatever this dream was, he wouldn't be harmed by anything, no matter how terrifying it was.

He was proven wrong as a large wooden wardrobe was thrown at him. It crashed into him like he was one of those unfortunate souls who got isekai'd by a truck.

Pain shot through him as he landed into a pile of what seemed to pair upon pair of dirty socks. Jin was glad he didn't land anywhere less…cushioning despite the almost rancid smell the socks gave off. He gasped as his wardrobe embedded itself just between his legs, feeling the fractured ribs that poked into his lungs.

Jin could barely make out another sensation before he felt his very head being decapitated.

Jin awoke with a gasp, his breathing ragged, a sheen of sweat covering every surface of his body. He reached for his neck to check if his head was still attached to his body and, thankful, found that it was.

"What in the world was that?" Jin muttered, calming himself down.

"Jin?" A voice called from behind his door.

It was Sayuri's voice. She knocked twice, as she always did whenever she was worried about him.

"You can come in," Jin said.

"I heard you shouting a minute ago," She said as she opened the door, "I just wanted to check—"

She paused, taking in his state.

"…are you alright?" She asked, worried.

Jin gave her a smile, though it was shaky from the adrenaline still coursing through him. "It was just a dream."

Sayuri came up next to him, sitting beside him and carefully combing her hand through his hair.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

Jin sighed and recalled what had just happened to him. Normally dreams often fade from memory as one awoke to the waiting world—many who don't remember a thing say that they don't dream at all. Yet, Jin knew that everyone dreamt.

This one, however, was almost too real for his liking. It was almost like he'd been there. He remembered the way his bare feet touched the giant mounds of discarded objects, the way the echos of the ones fallen rang in his ears, the way the rancid odours of the heaps made his nose tingle, the way he tasted the putrid tang of the very air.

And the way he'd died.

Jin shivered, much to Sayuri's concern.

"Jin?" Sayuri probed, "tell me what you saw."

It was more of an order this time rather than a suggestion.

Yet, Jin told her everything. He told her of the voice he heard, the falling debris, the giant rat monster. It was a strange tale, yet felt no less real than what he recalled doing yesterday.

Sayuri's concerned expression turned into one of deep worry.

She said: "Perhaps we should go see a Yamanaka—"

"—No!" Jin interrupted.

He knew that having a Yamanaka pick through his mind would potentially discover his…additional memories.

Sayuri sighed, almost as if she anticipated his refusal. "It's not like they can read your mind or anything, Jin. They just go into your mental scape and figure out what you love and what you fear. I've been through it once years ago ever since…you know."

Jin nodded. "You got a Yamanaka to look into your mind?"

"Yes," Sayuri nodded, "The head of the Yamanaka clan, in fact. He was a friend of your late father's and owed him a favour."

Sayuri suddenly looked guilty—just as she always did when she used any of the Takeshi's resources.

"Don't feel bad about using up a favour, Sayuri. If I had a choice to pick between my family's fortune and you, you know I'd pick you every single time."

Sayuri smiled in relief. "I know, Jin, but it isn't right for me to take advantage of what Miyu and Hotaru left for you when you come of age."

"They would have wanted you to have some of it, Sayuri. You said you hadn't married my dad before the Nine-tailed disaster but you're more of a family to me now than they ever were."

Sayuri looked like she was about to tear up after what I said but she seemed to be able to hold it in. "Anyways, even if you don't want to see the Yamanaka, these dreams can't be healthy for you, Jin."

Jin nodded. "I know…but I'd rather wait a bit longer before I go get my mind checked."

Sayuri went back to her worried expression. "You must tell me if it happens again, you understand? And you tell me everything."

"Hai," Jin agreed.

Sayuri smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "Go back to sleep Jin, I'll wait until you fall asleep."

"I'm not a child anymore, Sayu-chan," Jin muttered, though he did as he was told.

"I know," Sayuri said, smiling, "but let me indulge a bit, would you?"

She went back to combing through his hair. The sensation was one of Jin's favourites.

Without long, he fell back into a deep sleep.

"Huh, it's rare to see you reading, Narumi," Jin said as he set his bento down.

"I've been trying to understand this thing since yesterday," Narumi said.

Jin smiled. "That's great, Narumi. Don't let anyone keep you from doing what you want."

Though Jin didn't say it, they both knew who he was talking about.

"Hey, listen, about yesterday," Narumi started.

"I told you to stop apologising for things you can't control!" Jin scowled, "it isn't your fault for how your mother acts."

Narumi gave a sad smile. "I know."

Trying to sidestep the solemn mood, Jin offered his lunch again. "Here, I've made too much today."

Narumi chuckled. "Like the way you make too much every day?"

"Yeah, well you're going to grow up to be a midget if I don't feed you," Jin snickered.

"Who're you calling a midget!?" Narumi snapped.

"I retain teasing rights until you beat me in a taijutsu spar," Jin said.

"Wha—I never agreed to that!" Narumi crossed her arms and looked away, annoyed.

"I know. You don't have to," Jin said as he picked up a piece of fish with his chopstick and held it towards her, "here, aaaahhhh~"

Narumi looked like she'd just activated her tomato bloodline jutsu. "Wha—What're you doing?!"

Jin cocked his eyebrow. "I'm…feeding you?"

All of a sudden, Jin felt the hair on the back of his neck tingle. It was as if someone was watching him…

He turned around to look at the people in the cafeteria. After a few weeks, the sight of Jin sitting with the infamous fox girl became something of the norm.

Yet…aha!

It was Momo who was staring at him. Or was she glaring? Jin didn't really know.

Ever since he started associating himself with Narumi, his best friend had slowly but steadily distanced herself from him. Jin understood that she did so in order to not lose the friends she worked so hard to make but what about…him?

Jin shook his head. It didn't matter either way.

"Here," Jin said, as he plunged the fish into Narumi's gaping mouth.

"Agrgh—" Narumi almost choked as she closed her mouth and chewed on the food, then she lit up, "Mmm! Hey, that's actually pretty good!"

Here surprise at the flavour of the fish momentarily distracted her from the embarrassment.

"Oh? Then have another one, aaaahhh~"

She lit up again….

…but she didn't complain.

As Jin went to sleep, he found himself in that trash-filled space again.

It was the exact same thing as what he saw last time: the floating debris, the sound of Kushina's cry of despair, the…rat.

"Not this time!" As Jin sidestepped the sword strike. He counter-attacked by throwing a kunai at the creature's face. A kunai that somehow appeared along with his kunai pouch in this weird dream thing.

The kunai missed the creature's eye but it had cut open a gash on its cheek.

It screeched, more in anger than in pain and attacked him again.

Jin really wished he had something with more reach to battle this foe. Alas, he made do with what he had—though he set a note aside to learn some kenjutsu in his down time with Narumi.

Jin rolled out of the way, though even the impact the strike had on the ground made him almost slip from the sudden shake the trash pile he was on.

Jin bit his lip in annoyance as he threw another projectile at him—a shuriken this time.

Luckily for him, it struck true and embedded itself in the rat's eye just as it pried out its sword from the thing it was stuck in.

This time, it screeched in pain.

It let go of the sword and Jin saw his opportunity. He lunged for the weapon in hopes of using it against the disgusting creature.

…but he didn't expect the sword to weigh as much as it did….nor did he see the retaliatory tail swipe that hit him so hard, his head turned a full 180 degrees on his neck.

He awoke with a gasp.

Then he swore.

"Dammit!"

"Jin?" Sayuri called out from the kitchen, "what is it?"

"N-nothing!" Jin spluttered.

Jin dodged the tail swipe this time and ignored the sword entirely. He, instead, jumped on the creature's back and stuck a kunai in its spine.

It hissed, then it disintegrated.

Jin sighed. "Few! That was tougher than I thought!"

Then something weird happened.

**[Congratulations! You have defeated a {Rejected Rat Runt} (level 7)]**

**[You have gained exp]**

**[You have reached level 6]**

**[You have reached level 7]**

Before Jin could get a sense of elation, he saw 2 more of the floating debris fall out of the sky.

"Don't tell me—"

Two more rats popped out.

"You have to be kidding me."

Jin woke up screaming, thinking he got tossed into oblivion.

"Good Kami!" He said.

Then, as if coming into a realisation, the immediately thought:

Profile.

NAME: Jin Takeshi (Level 7)

AGE: 8 Years Old

COMBAT GRADE: E (5/20)

CHAKRA GRADE: F (2/10)

INTELLIGENCE GRADE: E- (4/20)

CHARM GRADE: F+ (7/10)

EXCESS POINTS: 22

~~[Traits | Skills | Affinities]~~

Ambidextrous (level 4)

Massage (level 5)

**Dancing (level 0)**

Thou Shall See Me (level 1)

Earth Affinity (level 0)

~~[Kekkei Genkai]~~

Lust Release (level 1)

Jin gasped in excitement. He was elated to see that what he saw in the dream wasn't something that existed only in the dream world but carried on to his real-life stats as well.

He'd gained two whole levels!

"Why are we training with sticks?" Narumi asked, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

"This is sword training," Jin mumbled, reading from his sword training manual: The Basics of Kenjutsu.

"And we're learning how to fight with a sword, why?" Narumi enquired.

"It has longer reach, and although not as operational in close-up combat, it's very useful in a variety of situations," Jin replied, enthusiastically.

Then he set the book down and got into the first stance, as illustrated in the book.

Narumi imitated him to the best of her ability.

"Ho?" a voice called out, scaring them both.

It was none other than Sayuri. She walked towards them and placed a hand on her hip, gracing them with her usual warm smile.

"It seems kenjutsu has caught your interest," Sayuri said, "I'd love to help but kenjutsu isn't exactly my specialty."

Jin shook his head, "It's fine Sayu-chan! You're great at plenty of other things!"

Sayuri's smile transformed into the one of endearment that she'd only reserved for Jin.

"The only two I know who are adept at the art are Neko from the Anbu and…" Sayuri glanced at Narumi, "your mother."

Narumi's shoulders slumped.

"Hey! We don't need her yet anyway!" Jin interrupted, "We're just learning the basics!"

Narumi nodded but her solemn expression remained, though there was something else Jin recognised in her eyes.

Determination?

Jin smiled.

"Alright! The first strike goes like this…"

~2 months later~

"Hah!" Jin shouted as his sword pierced the throat of the second rat. He could defeat the first one that popped up pretty consistently now. He found that although they had immense strength, he could up pace them with his speed and outmaneuver them with his smaller stature. His sword skills were still in the basics yet he could use it adeptly enough for simple strikes after the first month or so.

From what he remembered in Bob's memories, he wondered why he didn't receive a skill in kenjutsu—or even Taijutsu for that matter. He'd trained every single day with Taijutsu, yet he had no luck. Perhaps there needed to be some requirements to unlock the skill, or perhaps he just needed to be more adept with it.

He didn't know, but he continued grinding anyhow.

This was the first time he'd defeated the 2 rats by himself.

And he knew not to celebrate too early this time.

A harsh tinkering and twanging of metal parts sounded behind him and as he turned, his eyes widened to see the bags of trash had all started to come together like a giant trash tornado.

The wind rustled his clothing and Jin crouched low to minimise his air resistance and lower his centre of mass.

The tornado lasted for what seemed to be 10 minutes—it was hard to tell the time in the dream world.

As the pieces collided with each other, they somehow formed into a large mountain of black bags.

"what in the world—" Jin said but was interrupted as all of a sudden, a part of the mountain split apart, almost as if forming a doorway.

"…" Jin bit his lip, considering whether he should go in.

"Damnit!" He said as he replaced his dream katana in its scabbard by his waist. Ever since he'd started sword training, it appeared with him as he entered this dream.

Jin walked towards the entrance and without long, he was at the doorway. He could see nothing behind the entrance, almost like a dark veneer of shadows was blocking every sound and sight.

He gulped and set his foot in.

What he found almost made him choke. It was as if he'd just stepped into a portal to a different world.

He was in a sewer. Large, cylindrical tunnels stretched and intercepted each other as far as the eye can see.

"Help!" A voice called out. It was once again Kushina's. "I'm so…lonely."

Jin gritted his teeth.

It seemed that the path to finding out where he was and how he got here was still long before him.

He crept forwards, careful not to make a sound.

It didn't take him long to encounter yet another rat.

However, this time the rat was…bigger…and bladder. What was once just twice his size was now almost triple. Its beady eyes held a silent malevolence that made Jin shudder.

But if there was one thing Jin learnt from Bob Hasek, it was to be brave.

And so he was brave.

He snuck up behind the rat, making sure not to even let his breathing give him away. Once he was close enough, he unsheathed and struck at the rat, all in one motion. Yet, the rat somehow knew that he was there.

It turned around and with a gracefulness that Jin hadn't seen in the rats he fought before, the rat smoothly batted away his swing and with a flick of its wrist, decapitated Jin.

"Good Kami!" Jin shouted as he awoke.

Yet it only took a few seconds for the adrenaline to die down.

Then Jin smiled.

It seemed that he had a new challenge ahead of him.

Jin found that with just as many things he was talented at, Narumi, too, was talented at other things. Case in point: Kenjutsu. For some odd reason, Narumi picked up all the strikes and stances far faster than Jin did, despite his experience against the rats in the dream world. The moment she was taught a stance, she'd memorise it and could perform it incredibly consistently every time. Jin wasn't much worse, but he was more used to taijutsu than he was with a weapon—despite his initial enthusiasm. Yet, finding another thing for his friend to take pride in was well worth the venture.

He'd talked with Sayuri about why ninjas don't use swords as much as one should, provided the advantage it could bring.

The answer was far simpler than he'd expected. Speed.

When one could move as fast as shinobi could, one missed swing could mean death from the counterattack. With the weight and length of the sword, wide swings were predictable and slower than one would be with a kunai. The only exception is sword thrusts but kunais were just as fast and could be thrown for far more range.

So the swordsman had to either be just as fast (much preferably faster) with the sword as his opponent was without one and their technique needed to be absolute so there would be less opportunity for the opponent to sneak a strike in. With all the subtle nuances and the small margin of error, along with how long it would take to master the art, swordsmanship had slowly become less popular when one could devote that time to learning ninjutsu.

Only those who had the Sharingan, specialised in speed, or were just geniuses with the sword should bother learning it.

Jin saw that he didn't have that gift, not as Narumi did, and was disappointed that he would have to give it up so soon.

Yet, he could not help but feel that there was another weapon that resonated with him. One that called out from his very soul. It felt like it was something he'd already known yet he couldn't recall what it was.

Jin shook his head.

"Jin?" Narumi called out, "something wrong? It's not like you to be distracted during training."

Jin sighed. "I just don't feel that the sword is right for me but I don't know what is."

Narumi tilted her head but confidently said: "You'll figure it out, Jin."

Jin smiled. "Thanks."

She dropped the stick she was holding and came to sit next to him.

"So…a weird thing happened earlier today," Narumi said.

"What was it?" Jin enquired.

"Well…my mom said that she could spare some time teaching me fuinjutsu—" Narumi said.

"—That's great!" Jin interrupted, "Ah, sorry, you were saying?"

Narumi snickered at Jin's excitement but turned serious again before continuing, "…I just don't know if I should."

"What?" Jin said, both eyebrows raised, "I mean, you don't have to if you don't like doing fuinjutsu."

"It's not that," Narumi responded, shaking her head, "I just…I don't know…"

Jin looked at her, concerned. "You know, you can tell me anything."

Narumi's eyes crinkled as she gave him her warmest smile. "I know."

She took a breath, then said: "I want you to learn it with me."

A/N: Sorry for the delay. This chapter was just hard to write. It be like that sometimes.