Chapter4 at last! Little short, sorry guys.

Littlebirdd: I'll get more into what her heart does later on but know that all that I have in here about it I learned from my grandfather, who had the same problem as a child so hopefully no one jumps at me for medical inaccuracies or supposed impossibilities or anything like that.

Canori: Thank you for the defense.

EMSNaruto: I appreciate the feedback, and I'll take care of Naruto so don't worry too much. There are no pairings right now as they are tiny children. I'll probably open a poll or something later on to see what the final pairings are going to be but for now there's nothing definite.


To say that my parents were furious when Genma finally escorted me back to my home would be an understatement. My father seemed to have been on the verge of a panic attack and my mother had been in hysterics. I felt guilty but I was too pleased with myself to let it really get to me. I had a friend, and that friend was one of the cutest balls of sunshine to ever grace the planet with his smile.

I didn't see him again for a long time, seeing as I was grounded 'for the rest of (my) life!' which ended up only meaning a couple of months. In that time I revealed my plans to go on and be a ninja. I could see the pain in my father's expression as he tried to explain why I couldn't. It only grew when I informed him that it didn't matter and that I would be a ninja anyway.

Really, I didn't have a choice. If I wanted to live and wanted to be able to have an effect on the world then I needed to be a ninja, I wasn't going to die so easy again and it wasn't going to be in such a sad manner. I was going to life again.

And I wasn't just going to be a ninja either, it seemed. In the time I was confined to my house the microwave broke. Akio had to pull it down and set it on the floor before he went to try and find someone who could fix it. Turns out he left them behind with his napping wife.

While she was asleep I had free reign of the house, and found the broken microwave sitting on the floor. I took a look at it, a model that was very basic as far as I was concerned, before going off to find the tool box that was kept under the sink. I dragged it out with weak child arms and flipped it open, selecting the screw driver and starting to take the appliance apart.

Oddly enough there was a gap in the lower right hand corner. The problem was actually very simple. One of the wires inside had been chewed through, and under it was the corpse of the poor rodent. Upon closer inspection I realized the gap was a place where the metal had been rusted through, matching up with a wet spot on the wall.

I fixed it using wire strippers and insulated tape.

When Akio returned I hid away and let him find the microwave exactly as he hand left it before I wandered out of my room and asked for chicken nuggets. He told me the microwave was broken and I told him it wasn't and to prove it. When he tried it worked and I smiled to myself, quite proud. My father sent me an odd look before getting my lunch.

I only smiled at him innocently. I hadn't lost my touch.


When not helping my mother around the house and watching her steadily growing stomach I spent time writing. As far as my parents were concerned it was just a little girl scribbling on paper in what looked vaguely like writing.

I wrote in English, of course, jotting down everything I knew from the plot of the show. There wasn't a whole awful lot, it was mostly events, ages and a very basic time line, with little scribbles of pictures here and there, not all of them recognizable thanks to the sharp edges and exaggerated lines I used. I can't do loops and curls very well, everything I write or draw looks more like a blueprint than anything else.

I was recording everything I could remember as quickly as I could before I forgot or the knowledge was replaced by new information. I went through every scrap of paper in the house and pitched a fit when ever someone tried to throw something out. I kept the ever growing stack of papers shoved into what was supposed to be a toy box. It ended up being a box of papers, sorted into categories and subcategories.

It looked horrific and messy but I knew where everything was.

I also started gathering up loose electronic ends I found, batteries and wires, light bulbs and, of all things, floppy disks. Floppy disks! My family didn't even have a computer.

This world was so weird.


I was finally free from my home and decided I was going to run again. If I was going to become a ninja I needed to be in shape. I also needed to know how far I could go before my heart started giving me trouble, if it did. I was still struggling to understand exactly what was going on with it. I was not a doctor after all. Not one of medicine at least.

I ran down the sidewalk and into town, short legs pushing me across the ground quickly. I went back to the park, having an idea of where I was this time, and found no one of significance there to talk to. I kept running.

I passed a shopping district full of vendors, food, and clothes before moving on and finding the ninja academy. Around then I was starting to breath heavily and my heart was thudding loudly. I wasn't sure if it was because of the hole or the fact that I had been going for a long time.

I spun around the corner and collided with something much bigger than I was.

My tailbone hit the hard dirt and I yelped in surprise, stirring up a small cloud of dust. I whined and looked up mouth moving before my eyes processed the ridiculous hat my offender wore.

"Hey! That was mean!" I cried, frowning up at man. He was taller than me by far, with grey hair and a point beard the same color he towered above me in red and white robes. I blinked once. Twice. Thrice.

That was the Hokage.

"Asuka!" a familiar voice called. I looked to the side, finding a blond boy standing next to the old man in a black T-shirt and cargo pants. I stood up, brushing off my pink shirt and leggings and trying to get the dirt off the tail of my yellow under shirt. As I did I smiled brightly.

"Hi Naruto!" I chirped, bouncing over to him. The Hokage was watching us, a brow raised. I ignored him, his presence forgotten in favor of my friend's.

Naruto smiled at me before it fell and he started pouting at me. "You said we would play again! I thought we were gonna play ninja," there was a distinct whine in his tone.

"We can," I promised immediately. "I got in trouble and couldn't come out to play for a really long time and it was so boring," I drew the last two words out dramatically and let my head fall forwards. "So boring."

I looked up at he was still pouting but I could see it wavering. I smiled and reached out, clapping my palms on either side of his face and squishing his cheeks together. He made a startled sound and I pushed them back again.

"I'm sorry," I told him sincerely, "Please don't be sad. You should smile!" I dropped my hands and poked him in the stomach, startling a laugh out of him. "Or I'll tickle you until you pee yourself."

Blue eyes widened in horror. "No!" he cried, and I laughed. He was adorable. It was only when I realized I wasn't the only one laughing that I remembered the old man was still there. I looked up at him and he looked down at me, eyes shining in mirth.

"Who're you?" I asked, rather rudely I might add. What can I say, I didn't like the guy much.

"I'm Hiruzen Sarutobi," he told me, "Who are you?"

I studied him before stepping back and behind Naruto. "My mommy told me not to talk to weird old men," I informed him, watching him choke in surprise.

"He's not weird!" Naruto objected, "He's the Hokage!" He shouted, trying to look at me over his shoulder. I didn't let him, ducking out of his line of sight and giggling quietly. I looked up at the Hokage from under my lashes before deciding to stop playing with him.

"I'm Asuka Suzuki. If you're the Hokage then you're a ninja right?" I asked, curious. Hiruzen Sarutobi was huge in terms of chakra, dwarfing anyone else I had yet met with the warmth of a star.

The old man nodded. "That's right."

"Then you know my dad," I concluded, "He's real strong."

"Oh?" the man sounded amused.

"Uh huh, he'd the best ninja ever."

My declaration was met with objection. "Nu uh, the Fourth Hokage was the best," Naruto insisted. I shook my head.

"Nope, my dad is better," a lie, but a child's lie.

"Nu uh!" Naruto argued.

"Yeah huh!" Was my intellectual response.

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Nu uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"See I told you!" I shouted in triumph, leaping back and pointing to his face.

Naruto stared at me wide eyed, surprised and confused. "What?" he asked, face crumpling in bewilderment.

"You said 'Yeah huh' so you agreed with me so I must be right!" I rushed out.

"No you aren't," he argued.

"Yes I am," I insisted.

It started again, the Hokage watching us, laughing under his breath. I pulled two more Bugs Bunny's before Naruto finally gave up, looking mad and walking away.

I just smiled after him.

"So, Asuka," the Hokage drew my attention back to him and I blinked up at him innocently.

"Ah?" I hummed, curious.

"Are you going to be a ninja like your father?" he questioned. My face lit up like a candle.

"Yeah! I want to be the best kunoi- kunai- kunoibi- ninja ever," I managed to recover, "I'll work real hard and be able to help mommy and protect my baby sister. Or brother," I was smiling in childlike innocence, rocking my heels and letting my arms float at my sides,. "Dad doesn't want me to be though, cause there's a hole in my heart and he thinks it'll hurt me. But it'll hurt worse if something icky happens and I can't do anything."

The Hokage was watching me with an expression I couldn't read. I watched him, a little nervous before he smiled again. "I'm sure you'll make a fine ninja. Now," his voice raised, carrying to Naruto, "Why don't you two go play?"


When I came home that night I was dirty but smiling happily. My chest hurt, it was hard to breath, and I'd been a dizzy a few times during Naruto and I's games but other than that I was fine. This time I had told them where I was going and had been allowed out on my own, which was weird. Apparently people here didn't have as much restrictions on letting children wander around as they did where I was from.

"I'm home!" I called out, walking into the living room. My parents would normally be in there, reading or watching TV, but now they were nowhere to be found. I frowned and left there, going to the dining room, the kitchen, my room and theirs.

No one was home, and I was starting to worry when there was a knock on the door. I jogged down the steps, tripping down the last three and yanked the door open. I had no fear, recognizing the person on the other side even before I pulled it open.

"Static man!" I greeted, looking up at the masked face of the copy-ninja. A single black eye met mine, curling up with a smile.

"Asuka," he greeted, "You're mother is having the baby early. I'm going to take you to the hospital okay?"

I nodded in agreement, seeing nothing wrong. Babies were born early all the time.

"Okay!"

Except it wasn't and it wouldn't be.


Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering. - Theodore Roosevelt