Chapter 2

Life got difficult for me after that day.

I got smacked around quite a bit, for no reason other than my creepiness, and I found it harder to feel safe in this quiet little town.

But I was strong.

I will be strong.

If they planned to treat me this way then fine, I'd raise myself. I was tough and resourceful, and I'd live my life to the best of my abilities.

I never needed them anyway.

The only person I didn't quite resent was my cousin, Ryuuji, who showed a surprising amount of determination for a little squirt. When everyone first told him to stay away from me, and even to hit me if I tried to get too close, he refused. He even tried to defend me!

The fact that he caved and started to spurn me after about a month didn't matter to me. Most kids listened to everything their parents said the first or second time, but Ryuuji didn't listen till the fiftieth or hundredth time. He was just a pure, kind soul and I didn't ever blame him when he ignored me.

On his birthday I left a little box of something I'd gotten (*ahem* stolen) in town in his room during the night. He never actually kept anything I gave him, since he couldn't hide the gifts for his parents who in turn used them as Akira hitting ammo the next morning, but it's the thought that counts.

I continued living with my aunt, uncle and Ryuuji till I was four, and during that time I learned a lot of things.

I snuck in and out of the house using a combination of parkour, lock picking and planning ahead. I had learned a bit about the last two in my previous life, enough that it only took a couple months to become proficient, but the first one was all new to me.

Sure, I'd seen people do it on TV and in anime, but actually doing it was a whole different ball game.

I practiced climbing tall buildings, jumping and landing on different surfaces at different angles and using my surroundings to get up above ground fast. It wasn't due to my determination so much as necessity; Up high on the roofs and running along walls was where I was safest, as no one could follow me up. They realized this quickly and decided to practice their aim on a moving target whenever they saw me though. The only thing that prevented me from breaking my neck those first few times was my ability to sense the people before I saw them, giving me time to flee.

To make a long (and bloody) story short, I got pretty good at running, hiding and dodging.

After the first night I was locked out of the house I kept my window propped open slightly with a pebble jammed into it in such a way that it still looked closed, so my aunt ("Michiyo-san") and uncle ("Keiji-san") wouldn't notice. I could get up to the window If I climbed (more like scrambled, I wasn't exactly too graceful considering I'd learned how to do this through pure trial and error) up some decrepit dumpsters and a rickety fire escape, then did a flying squirrel sort of jump onto my window ledge. I made sure to sneak out at the first sign of life in the house, and come around to the front to wait for my aunt to open the door and shove some food in my direction. This was also learned through trial and error, as I nearly got caught sleeping in my bed due to a couple amateur mistakes: making noise, leaving a messy bed, sleeping to late etc.

My weird people sensing powers came in handy, as I could tell when people started to move around in the house before I could hear them, and so I started to fine-tune it. I began to get better at it, to the point where I could tell if someone was sleeping or awake through the rhythm of their aura and could recognize familiar people.

Now convinced that I wasn't imaging it, I decided to sneak into the local library for more information, and I nearly fainted when I got there.

Right above the reception desk there was a map, a map that should not be there.

It was a map of the elemental nations.

After slipping past the Librarian when she turned around turned around to grab some books she was sorting I zipped around, picking up history books and atlas's to double check my fledgling theory.

I was right.

I was in the elemental nations.

Sitting there, wedged between to bookcases, I let my mind whirl at the implications of this discovery.

I'm not sure if I did end up fainting, nor am I sure how long I sat there, but after a while I came back to my senses and started studying the books in more detail. I had always assumed that my knowledge from my previous schooling years would have had me covered, but with this discovery I realized that I was sorely lacking in vital skills. Well, better late than never (though part of my brain reminded me that I wasn't even technically three years old here, which isn't exactly late).

It was that same day that I first stole something: three notebooks.

I decided to write down everything I knew in English, in case I forgot anything, but I didn't have anything to write on. So I snuck into the storeroom of a bookstore in town and took out a couple nondescript notebooks – that were sold at multiple stores so that no one could figure out where I got them just by looking – and filled them with everything I knew. Just in case, I wrapped all three in wrapping paper I made from cutting up an old paper bag, then slipped two of them into plastic bags and another layer of wrapping paper. There was actually only one notebook's worth of information, the others were copies in case the first got destroyed. The first one, which only had one layer of wrapping paper, I kept with me in a shoulder bag that my aunt had abandoned and let me have, and the others I hid. One was in an old electricity box for an abandoned shack at the edge of town, the other I buried in the forest outside the village in a large tin candy box I had found.

Satisfied, I started a new training regime.

I would spend the morning running around town doing borderline (*cough* very) illegal things, such as pick pocketing and full-blown thievery, to get what I needed. I had some clothes which where hand me downs from Ryuuji – who I was still fond of and I therefore didn't mind wearing his clothes, even if they were too big and covered in holes and stains – so I didn't steal any of those. Instead I stole little things, like a stick of grilled meat, a roll of bandages or a pencil and pick pocketed a couple coins here and there so that occasionally I could buy something, to ward off suspicion.

As I ran around I practiced slight of hand and learned how to distract people while I robbed them blind. My favorite trick was flicking a pebble fast enough in one direction, preferably at something that would make a lot of noise when hit, then pocket my loot as I strolled of in the other direction.

I got caught sometimes though, so I got even better at running, climbing and hiding while my chakra sensing was always helping with my frantic escapes.

I had determined that my awareness of auras, as I had been calling them, was actually me sensing chakra. I wondered if my father had been from a shinobi clan with sensing abilities (because it definitely didn't come from my mother's side) or if the lack of chakra in my previous life just made me more aware of it now. I decided it was probably the later, since ninja can train to sense people to a similar degree as my sensing ability (Haruno Sakura could, at least).

Still, I was woefully uneducated and so I sought to fix this.

In the afternoon, after a lunch of stolen food, I snuck into the library and read. I read books on history, biology, economics, and politics, though nothing on anything shinobi related. It seems that ninja kept a tight leash on information flow.

I first concentrated on expanding my kanji repertoire though, and started with nutrition and child development guides with a kanji dictionary for help. I wanted to make sure that I didn't end up permanently damaging my body due to my own negligence after all. I learned what to eat and how to exercise properly. I then added these strengthening stretches (which reminded me of yoga) to my morning routine.

After hours of studying, I would occasionally go to the old, and practically abandoned shrine a little outside the village. There was only one old blind man living there, who I just called "Ossan" and who just called me "Akira", no –chan as it was "too god damn girly" according to Ossan. He was the only one who called me by my name these days.

The first time I saw him, I was three and a half, and some older kids were tormenting him by throwing things at him and trying to disorient him or trip him. Disgusted with the cruelty of children, I shimmied up to and started throwing the acorns up there at them in return. This went of for a bit before they actually noticed someone was hitting them, giving me plenty of time to improve my aim to the point that every acorn hit a kid. When the stopped throwing things and stood still, determined to find where they were being attacked from, I stopped too. As soon as they started up again I did too. This cycle repeated itself till one kid started whimpering about shrine spirits and the whole lot was scrambling out of there before you could say "Buddha".

Before I could shimee down from the roof, a gruff voice stopped me.

"Ya think bullying squirts is a good thing, Gaki?"

Turning towards the old man, I tried to determine how sure he was that I was here. Considering that his body was turned towards me and his face was locked on to my location, it seemed like he was pretty sure where I was.

"You've got pretty good senses," I responded, ignoring the question in favor of prodding for information. It was rare for people with sight to see me when I didn't want to be seen, but this blind man could. How?

"Don't ignore the question, Gaki."

Smirking at his growling retort, I answered simply, "No, I don't."

"Then why'd ya do it?" He asked, seemingly unsurprised by my response.

"Because I wanted to keep the kids away from here for good."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to," I retorted calmly, "But maybe it actually wasn't necessary. How did you figure out where I was?"

He just snorted and started muttering about loud, disrespectful brats.

"Ah, I see," was all I answered. He had heard me. Got to work on that. Jumping down from my perch I turned towards the shrine and sent up a prayer towards whoever the Gods of this dimension were. After my reincarnation, I had become much more religious (which isn't saying much, considering I was atheist before) and I wanted to thank them and ask for forgiveness for my underhanded ways. Mostly I just wanted to thank them. I was lucky to have been born with my mature mind, I wouldn't have survived this long without it.

He didn't say anything while I prayed, instead he just went around sweeping up trash and left me to my business.

He wasn't mean to me though, and if felt like I was getting a breath of fresh air after drowning in the harsh reality of my new life. I didn't even notice how oppressive the village felt until I was freed from it.

Turning towards him I bowed low, for the first time in my life, and murmured "Goodbye, Ossan" before turning away and sprinting through the forest, determined to revel in the freedom a little longer.

He stopped me just before I left.

"What's ya name, Gaki?"

I paused, not turning around.

"Saito Akira," I responded, prepared to never return now that he knows who I am. I will never hide my name though. This was the name my mother gave me, and I'll wear it with pride.

Instead of the verbal abuse I was expecting, all I got was a grunt.

Now I turned around. He was still sweeping, his backed turned, but he stopped after a second as if he sensed my gaze.

"What were ya expecting me to say, Akira?"

I stood there, frozen. He called me by my name. It had been over a year since I've heard it. In an instant I'm overwhelmed with emotions I had thought were locked up too tightly to feel tears start to slip down my cheeks. I can't believe how much that tiny bit of acceptance, that one little word meant to me. Horrified at my loss of control, I just turn around to run away.

But my mouth has a mind of it's own, because it manages to slip out a waterlogged "Arigatou."

I don't stay to hear his response.

After that, it became a ritual of mine to sneak up to the shrine to pray. I never lost my composure again, and I was infinitely grateful Ossan never brought it up. Despite my attachment to the place and its grouchy caretaker I never stayed for long –though I did regularly donate a few coins to the shrine and bought some sandalwood prayer beads, with a pale orange tassel, from Ossan that I wore every day. While he never said anything back, I always left with a low bow and a quiet "Arigatou" or "Arigatou, Ossan".

I didn't go to the shrine every day though since a few other villagers also visited and I didn't want to scare them away.

Ossan asked me about it once and I told him as much, and I like to think he was sympathetic. Though it's hard to tell, he was a rather grumpy fellow.

When I wasn't at the shrine in the afternoon, I would wander around, stealing a bit more and mapping out escape routes and just spying on people in general. While I did live in a village, we were on the main trade rout that went directly Konoha and therefore were quite wealthy, money wise and information wise.

It was on one of those meanderings, when I was four years old, that I sensed three large chakra reserves coming towards the village at alarming speeds, which I immediately dubbed "Shinobi". Curious, I changed my course and wiggled my way up onto a roof overlooking the main street to wait them out. I wasn't disappointed: the ninja slowed down when they reached the town and hoped onto ground level and a couple minutes later they came walking down the street.

I was rather shocked to see who they were: the original Ino-Shika-Cho. They wandered through, waving at some shopkeepers familiarly and being generally friendly.

Inoichi laughed as smiled the most, answering questions and apologizing for not returning for "two years! Wow time really flies doesn't it?"

Shikaku was much more stoic, though he did smile at the little kids that ran up to great the "Shinobi-samas".

Chouza was friendly, but much more interested in buying food than catching up with old friends, which I understood completely. Yamamoto-san made some kick-ass dumplings.

My musing was cut short when I felt the store owner of the building I was camping on right outside the rooftop door. Cursing my stupidity, and that I'd let myself get so distracted, I practically threw myself off the roof just as the man started to turn the nob. I jumped into an ally between the two stores where I new there was a window with a metal grating cover, grabbing the metal bars with my bandaged hands (something I had stolen from Rock Lee, they were quite helpful) and letting my feet slam into the building. The entire process was actually pretty silent, as my feet made just a small scuff noise and the grate only let out a small creak. Keeping up the momentum, I pushed off the wall and swung around to grab onto the metal telephone pole, sliding down it and jumping off when I was about five feet off the ground. I peeked upwards when I felt the store owner come closer to the ledge, as if he was going to check what the noise had been, before sliding under a dumpster quickly. By the time the owner checked, I was well hidden. Snorting and muttering to himself about "that damn brat" he turned away, indirectly informing me that my lookout had been compromised. Annoyed by the general failures of the day, I took off in a jog towards the shrine, hoping to pray for better fortune, and feeling out the way with the least amount of people.

My shrine visit was cut short as I felt the trio of jonin head towards the shrine. I debated whether I could just run into the forest randomly without raising suspicious, but quickly decided no. Instead I just decided to meander down the road as if I was going for a walk, pass them, and be on my merry little way.

It didn't quiet work out as I'd hoped.

When I came into view, Chouza immediately perked up and waved at me. I looked behind me on reflex – no one waved to me – but as I already knew no one was behind me. I returned the wave with an unsure nod, that just about screamed 'I have no idea who you are, please don't talk to me' but he must have been convinced that I was shy or something because he followed up with a jolly "Hello!"

"Hi," I said without any enthusiasm whatsoever, further giving off a 'get away from me you're weirding me out' vibe.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" He asked with a smile. What is with this dude? Was he really just that friendly?

"Walking." I deadpanned.

He just laughed and stopped in my path, Shikaku and Inoichi flanking him so that it was impossible for me to move around them without being obviously rude.

Inoichi spoke up this time, "I can see that, but where are your parents? They must be worried about you."

"They're dead."

Now they all looked slightly nervous. Good. I was used to putting people on edge; I could deal with this. Now they just were going to stutter awkwardly and leave…

"Well, who takes care of you? They must be worried."

Seriously, are these guys immune to social cues?

Deciding to just get strait to the point I said, "My aunt and uncle, and not really. Could you move out of the way? I have placed to be."

Without further ado, I just walked around them and refused to look at them anymore, even when I felt my hackles rise at their probing stares.

Shinobi are freaking annoying.

Shikaku POV

He noticed their little observer the moment they stepped onto the road of course.

The child, who he couldn't see much of other than a tangled, choppy mess of dark hair that looked like it had been sheared off with safety scissors and two sharp green eyes that poked over the edge of a rooftop ledge wasn't exactly subtle.

No need for it here it seems, as no one else seemed to notice the child, besides Inoichi and Chouza of course.

Amused, he ignored the child, letting them have their fun. It wasn't rare for children to be wary of someone that looked like him.

It was only when the shop owner down the way noticed the child on the roof that he got worried.

The shop owner e stomped across the way to inform the building owner that the "freaky little girl" was on his roof. The building owner spun around and marched into his shop. The girl on the roof abruptly shot out of her hiding space and jumped of the roof into the ally. Shocked at the sudden change in events he started forward, only to stop when he saw the calculating gleam in her eye and how she latched onto the window with practiced precision. She then proceeded to gracefully hop down onto the ground and landed in a crouch, much like a cat, with one little wrist adorned with a small beaded bracelet wrapped around the strap of a olive green bag as is to double check the sack's whereabouts.

He took a second to reevaluate her. She wore two shirts that were slightly too big, one dull stained T-shirt and an equally grimy undershirt sleeve poking out from under and a pair of knee length shorts that seemed to only stay on thanks to the heavy sawed off bit of leather that couldn't really be considered a belt anymore. She and bandages wrapped up to her elbow, so not much could be seen of her arms, but her legs were covered in little scratches and dust.

He only got a flash of her face, and the only thing he could remember was her toxic green eye, filled with a sort of cynicism and experience that no child her age should have, before she scurried under a dumpster to hide from the searching gaze of the store owner on the roof. As soon as the store owner returned to his store, she was out and running down the back alleys.

Looking back at his companions, he noticed their shock and concern. Without so much as a word to the others, they decided to follow the retreating child.

He was even more surprised by her destination: the old shrine. What child her age goes to a shrine?

She only stayed there for a moment, before slowly returning to the village, which was also odd. Why sprint all the way to a shrine you're not even going to spend five minutes at, then turn back the way you came?

In the back of his mind he started running through theories as they approached the child.

Chouza took the lead, being the most approachable of the three, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Instead of smiling or waving like a normal little girl (which she most obviously was not, seeing as she wasn't a day over five and strolling through the woods like she owned the place) she looked behind her and back at Chouza as if to say, "Who, me?" before nodding in an equally off-putting and awkward way. It was actually rather impressive how easy she was making it for them to ignore her, as if she would prefer for them to shuffle by uncomfortably than to respond.

Chouza persevered, calling out a greeting that was returned with a greeting that made the atmosphere even more strained. She had to be doing this on purpose.

His theory was confirmed with her curt responses that were made in the most anxious conversation he had ever had with a child, before she strut around them without a second glance, ignoring their questioning gaze.

What an interesting child.