"Spoken words"

Thoughts

Chapter 3

"W-What?"

His eyes were practically popping out of his skull and his mouth would catch flies if he left it open for much longer; he couldn't seem to understand that I had agreed with him. I smiled at how adorable he was, but inside I was mourning the fact that he could hardly anyone believed in him. I could remember viewing the judgmental eyes through the perspective of Naruto in the show. It reminded me all too well of the eyes I would see from some of the kids from school as well as those from some of the less kind foster parents I've had.

Summoning up more courage and confidence than his previous statement, Naruto puffed out his chest and spoke with a little anger. "You're not very funny, ya'know! I'm going to be stronger than anyone else and be the greatest Hokage ever! That way everyone will look up to me, even you!"

"But I already do."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I mean you are taller than I am, but I did mean the other way too, just so you know. I know I just met you, but I get this feeling that you won't give up until you achieve the title Hokage. Perseverance is a powerful thing, as well as hope, and you have both in spades."

"Per-perse-what do you mean? Are you making fun of me?" he asked with a suspicious look in his narrowed eyes.

I had to laugh at this. I forgot how adorable he could be. Even from my fading memories of my previous life, I could remember everything about Naruto (which doesn't sound as creepy in my head, I can guarantee that).

"I just want to be your friend. I don't know anyone else here, so I want to know one person in this place before we start. So, what do you say?" I hold out my hand to him with my most sincere smile, hoping he understands that I am being honest with him. "Will you be my first friend?"

With a face that was between gob-smacked and hope, he quickly gazed in my eyes for something. I wasn't sure what he was looking for, but Naruto seemed to find it since in the next second, he gave his signature grin.

"Of course we can be friends, ya'know!"

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Meeting Naruto was the best thing that could have possibly happened to me on my first day of the Academy, or even the first week. I quickly realized that everyone knew I was different, not only because of my white locks, but because of not being raised within Konoha's walls. There were some who were welcoming like Choji, Hinata, and Shikamaru (though I think it was more because he didn't care one way or the other). The kids were wary of me, and of Naruto as well, and maybe a little of it was because we both were together most of the time.

I knew that Naruto would be an awesome friend, but I don't think I realized how much he would matter to me. I never had any friends in my other life that I can recall, but he was sweet to me and loved that I wanted to spend time with him. We would also prank people together. Now that was fun! There was this one time that we broke into Iruka's apartment when we knew he wouldn't be home and set up a door trap. We had a bucket of ice water on standby above his front door so that when he next opened the door, he had a chilly welcome home. Not one of Naruto's most imaginative pranks, but we all have to start somewhere. Plus, seeing Iruka's face when he suddenly got the chills was hilarious!

Despite this unwelcome welcoming to Konoha, Naruto and I were quickly becoming the best of friends. Though it had only been a few months now, we felt like we had grown up together our whole lives. Which I'm not sure if I should count that as a compliment since I had read a vast majority of the manga and knew many things about his past; it could be considered "unintentional stalking" since I didn't even know that he existed until I was reborn.

One thing about Naruto that no one can ever forget is his love for ramen.

"You mean you've never had ramen!? What's wrong with you? Ramen is the food of the gods! You can't just not try it!"

I might have groaned internally. I had tried ramen once in my old life, but it wasn't good, and it was super salty. "Okay, okay. I'll try it! But it better be good, Naruto, or else," I threatened him playfully.

While Naruto ordered for himself, I decided to play it safe by ordering some pork ramen for myself. It wasn't long before our bowls were handed to us by the owner, Teuchi, and they looked nothing like what I thought we would be getting. My bowl had a full helping of noodles with dark broth surrounding them. On top of the noodles was a spread of foods. There were two hard-boiled egg slices, pieces of pork, scallions, and other interesting things. One of these which I did recognize: narutomaki, or fish paste with a red swirl inside it.

I always thought it was funny how Naruto's name was both a homage to this little treat and to Kushina's home, the Land of Whirlpools, since his name could also mean maelstrom.

But back to the ramen.

I was actually excited to taste this stuff (believe it or not).

Just to annoy Naruto, I slowly raised my chopsticks to my bowl, got a few noodles to taste, and at snail's pace they made their way to my mouth.

"Eat them already!"

Internally giggling at my achievement, I took a bite of the noodles and started to slurp them up. I deliberated for a few moments before I swallowed and turned to Naruto with an impassive expression.

Naruto was not amused by my teasing. "And?"

"This is the food of the gods."

I quickly clamped my hands over my ears as he hooped and hollered in victory. He even ran to the street and back in his excitement, to the dismay of some passersby. Once he was done with his victory, he went into a grand debate with himself about which ramen was the greatest and its characteristics of flavor. As I watched this spectacle, only half-listening, I wondered how great of a ninja he would be if he had this much interest in his studies at the Ninja Academy.

Speaking of which, it wasn't until after a month of sitting through boring lecture about chakra (which I already knew about) that I was able to properly meet the rest of the future Konoha Nine.

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Flashback…

"Hey, you with the white hair!"

Seriously, you couldn't come up with something better.

I turned around to see most of the future rookies together as they walked towards Naruto and I.

"What do you want?" I asked with a hint of suspicion. For weeks, I had nothing from these guys (except from Hinata). Now, they decide to introduce themselves?

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka, and this is my partner, Akamaru," he gestured to the adorable puppy on top of his head. The little guy gave an excited bark at the exchange.

Then, one by one, the others began introducing themselves. There was Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, Ino, and Shino. All of them were here except for Sasuke, which didn't surprise me one bit.

Kiba once again spoke for all of them when he asked, "We just wanted to know why we've never seen you before the Academy. And why you smell weird?"

I'm guessing that last one was reserved for just Kiba and Akamaru.

I wasn't sure how much I should tell them though. Most of my life has to be kept a secret for my family's sake until I am strong enough to fight for myself and work alongside them in battle. Dragons are known as a myth for a reason.

"My father died before I was born and my Mother died when I was a month old, so I was raised outside of the village by some family friends. Lord Hokage knew this from the very beginning and said I could come back to train to be a ninja if I wanted to, so here I am," I bluntly explained. I was avoiding the last question Kiba asked by telling them about my parents. If I weren't avoiding that topic, I wouldn't have told them all this soon in knowing them. While I may have some remaining knowledge of what happens in the manga, I don't think I know them that well.

Yeah, that's another thing! My memories of my past life are fading away. I still have some knowledge that I was desperate to keep with me: who Naruto is, why I became the badass girl that I am (I may be biased though), and my death. No matter how hard it would be to remember dying, I wanted to remember why I was given a second chance. I wanted to cling on to the belief that it was because I helped protect that girl. I wanted to believe it was because despite my sarcasm and cynicism, that I was a good person.

"I-I'm s-s-so sorry…"

A stuttering soft voice broke me from my dismal thoughts. I had to smile at Hinata's sincerity and compassion. She was always one of my favorite characters. Her determination to change herself and become the better version of who she is always inspired me to do better and be better in my previous life.

"Thank you, Hinata. But it was a long time ago. My guardians raised me though, so I wasn't ever truly alone.

"HEY! You never answered the other question!"

Ugh! Her voice is so screechy.

Ino Yamanaka: the flower princess herself. In the manga, Sakura and her were the best of friends after a little hurdle with Sasuke being involved. I thought again how different things might be if Sakura were still alive…

"I don't know why I would smell funny," I replied. "To me, I smell normal. You smell like over-ripe flowers that unwontedly cling to everything it surrounds."

Don't even ask me why I replied with a comeback. Again, sarcasm is my only defense, for now. When we get to sparring in our second year, I would dominate in a battle against Ino and her self-righteous attitude. As I watched her though, I could practically see the steam blow out of her ears as her face became cardinal red from anger and maybe a hint of embarrassment too.

Before she could get in a word though, I beckoned Naruto to leave with me. "Come on, Naruto, let's blow this popsicle stand!"

"…Do what?"

Ah! My idioms are of no use to me here.

End Flashback

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I sighed with boredom as I continued to sit through Iruka's lecture. It had been around four months since I had arrived in Konoha, and my relationships with the rest of the rookies haven't really improved since then. Hinata and I do hang out occasionally, but her father doesn't really approve of her having friends outside of the Hyuuga clan. The times that we are together are usually spent in a new training ground so that we can spar and have girl talks as well. We even talked about how she admired Naruto, but no one can blame her for that, he is truly incredible.

The others tend to avoid me and my sarcastic behind. Which I don't mind as much as I thought I would when I first came here. I have all the friends that I need in Naruto and Hinata.

But there was one person that I had yet to meet.

Sasuke Uchiha.

I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. I know that Naruto and him have a big rivalry during their time with Team 7, but with Sakura out of the picture, who knows what's going to happen.

There is this nagging feeling though, like as if something bad is going to happen, but due to my memory loss, I can't remember what it is. I only recall that it centers around Sasuke.

As the day comes to an end, Naruto runs off to run a prank by himself for once, which leaves me to walk home myself. We actually live only a block away from each other so we tend to have dinner with each other for most if not all of our evenings. Usually I am the one cooking since all Naruto has is ramen. While I agree that the ramen of this world is much better than the bland packaged stuff from the stores in the other world, I do not agree that it is something I would want to eat every single night.

Thought of what to cook for dinner in my mind distracted me from everything around me, including the person who was directly in front of me, also not paying attention.

BAM!

Ouch…

I had collided with someone with a very hard head. Ears ringing, I prepared a glare and a few choice words for the person who might have just given me a migraine. But to my surprise, the person who was across from me was none other than Sasuke.

Hearing voices in the distance, I instantly realized what was going on and quickly grabbed Sasuke's hand and flashed us to a small alley way, away from prying eyes. Sasuke looked disoriented from the ordeal, but as he was about to comment, I held my hand out and silently told him to wait and be quiet.

In a matter of seconds, we could hear a gaggle of fangirls pass by our hiding spot with love on their mind for the boy I was concealing away from them. After waiting for a few more moments after we could no longer hear them did we breathe sighs of relief.

"How did you do that?"

"Just remembered that this is a good hiding spot. Naruto and I use it a lot to get away from the ninjas we've pissed off with our—"

Sasuke looked annoyed now. "Not the hiding spot. How did you get us here so fast?"

"Oh… That's a little more complicated. And it involves a few secrets only my friends are allowed to hear."

"Tell me."

So demanding! I don't remember Sasuke being this talkative in the manga, but then again, how much do I really remember anyways.

"Well, for one, you're not my friend, and two, we've never even been introduced to each other…"

A hand was held in front of my face as he stubbornly looked at me with determination in his eyes. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha."

He must really want to learn my secrets… Woah, scratch that, that sounded a bit wrong!

"I'm Akina Morimoto. I'm still not telling you how I did that."

"You don't have to. You can show me in a spar."

A chuckle was heard from a distance behind us and we turned in surprise thinking it was another fangirl.

Instead, our eyes beheld the beautiful Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke's mom, and one of my Mom's best friends. She carried with her a few bags of groceries that I assume she was taking with her to the Uchiha compound.

"Now, now, Sasuke. That's no way to thank a new friend for saving you."

Desperately trying to not burst out laughing at the fact that Sasuke had a pout on his face from being reprimanded by his mother in front of me and the fact that Mikoto realized Sasuke was running from fangirls, I gave Sasuke a cheeky grin.

"That's right, I haven't heard any 'thank you' yet."

Mikoto smiled even wider. "To make up for my son's rudeness, I must insist that you have dinner with our family."

Ummm…

That was how I turned up at the entrance to the Uchiha compound ten minutes later, in complete bewilderment at the fact I was going to see the Uchiha family and have dinner with them. I will definitely spare you the embarrassing details of the awkward dinner. I will say though that Fugaku, Sasuke's dad, really didn't like me and my sense of humor.

Personally, I think it might be because he was born without one, but that's just my opinion. Itachi was nice enough, but he was fairly quiet. I also say that Sasuke became a completely different person when he was around his older brother. His entire attitude brightened, and he was smiling! Smiling! He even acted nicer towards me, which prompted some niceties from me as well. I'm not sure we could be called friends yet, but I had a feeling we were on our way to becoming close.

We were so engrossed in each other's company, we didn't even notice Mikoto, Fugaku, and Itachi had left the dinner table and let us get to know each other. It was only when Mikoto came back in and told us it was starting to get dark outside that we noticed how long we had been talking for.

At the gates now, Sasuke looked like he didn't want me to leave, which was again so surprising to me. I was seeing a whole new side to his personality.

"I know that you only share secrets with friends, but would you be my friend? Everyone else just fangirls or thinks I'm too important to approach me."

Wow, here was the Sasuke Uchiha asking to be my friend. It makes sense though that he would be lonely. Nobody talks to him except the teachers when they give him praise for his "geniousness".

"Sure, Sasu-chan. We can be friends," I grinned evilly.

Sasuke groaned at the nickname. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"Maybe," I chuckled in response.

Little did I know that Sasuke would grow to become one of my best friends, right up towards the top of the list with Naruto. Over the course of the next few months, Sasuke and I would grow so close that we could consider each other siblings. He was the brother that I was always wanted, and I was the sister he was annoyed (but secretly glad) to have.

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Sasuke and I had been training together on a day that Naruto decides he needed to really plan an elaborate prank for some unsuspecting Jonin. The only trouble was that we were training so hard that we didn't realize the late hour until the sun was almost down.

"Why don't you come on over for dinner? I'm sure Mother would be upset if I didn't invite you after keeping you busy this late."

Agreeing without a hint of hesitation, we made our way to the Uchiha compound with all haste. No one who wanted to live should ever be late to dinner with Mikoto on purpose, so we ran like hell was chasing us to get there.

There was a moment though when Sasuke stopped running suddenly. I noticed right away, and also felt an ominous chakra presence nearby as I turned around to silently ask Sasuke what was the matter.

"I thought there was someone…"

I glanced in the direction that held his gaze. It was the top of a lamp pole which was silhouetted by the full moon. Wait… this looks familiar… but why?

"Let's just get to the compound quickly. I'm sure your mother is getting worried about us being out so late."

With an ominous feeling in my gut, I urged Sasuke on to his home. As we approached the gates to the compound, everything was silent. There were no animals calling, no children playing, no adults laughing, nothing at all. The compound seemed to be deserted; there weren't even any lanterns burning. There should be people setting up for the festival tomorrow night, and…

That's when I first saw them.

"Sasuke, we need to leave!"

"Why…?"

His onyx eyes widened beyond belief as he saw them too.

Bodies. Bodies of everyone he knew, many he had introduced to me as well. There were men, women, children, babies… this was awful!

The earth was crimson with the blood pooling around the many bodies which littered the grounds of the Uchiha compound. There were even bodies on top of the roof of some buildings. Weapons also laid beside some of those who I knew were ninjas, there had been a battle here, and the Uchiha were losing.

Sasuke tensed up and seemed to be putting on a brave face for me. "We need to go to my house."

I just nodded as Sasuke grabbed my hand and led me to his home. We ignored the corpses around us and continued running for our destination, unsure of what would be waiting for us.

When we arrived, the house was silent except for hushed voices at the back of the home. We both raced towards the right door.

"Father! Mother!"

"Sasuke… Don't come in…"

THUD! THUD!

At this point, I was beyond terrified of what would be on the other side of this door. I wasn't brave enough to open the door, so Sasuke's shaking hand pushed it himself and we saw three people in the room. We quickly realized what had happened.

Fugaku and Mikoto were dead…

They were dead…

I could barely process how Sasuke must feel at this point when the third figure moved to face us, bringing our attention to him. He was easily recognized when the moonlight glistened over his grim face.

"Brother! Father and Mother are…!" Sasuke was panicking. "Why?! Why?! Who the hell… this…"

Sasuke was faltered when we both heard a "thunk" noise of a shuriken impacting the door behind us. Groaning in sudden pain, Sasuke's hand tightened around mine as he looked to his older brother.

"Foolish little brother…"

I gazed at Itachi with dread as he opened his blood red eyes.

Suddenly, the environment around me melted away, and I was no longer in the Uchiha compound with Sasuke. I was surrounded by nothingness. It was just like dying, except there was no pain. I had yet to realize that I was trapped in my own personal nightmare.

A nightmare that I couldn't escape from.

At first, I couldn't hear anything. Steadily though, as if coming to the surface of this realm, I could hear them. I could hear their screams. They were indistinguishable from one another but they all cried for help and screeched out my name.

Now screams I recognized started to fill the air, I could hear Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata calling out for me to help them. I tried to run towards the sound of their cries, but I fell over suddenly. When I finally put my hands under myself to get back up again, I was met with a sight I can only describe as hell. In the distance, I could see children being beaten within an inch of their lives by men and women I recognized as the foster parents who would beat, slander, and scorn all those the state put with them. I could hear their laughter as they enjoyed watching the suffering they were inflicting, gazing admiringly at the blood pouring from the children. And right next to me, were the lifeless eyes of those who I could not help. Among them was the little girl I had died for, her face being the only thing I could identify, everything else was too degraded and butchered to be recognizable.

Swallowing down vomit, I tried to get up so that I could help all those who were being hurt, but I couldn't move. The ground held my ankles hostage as it continued to slowly engulf me in its clutches. As I struggled, the cries of my friends grew to a roar as they struggled with unknown horrors, and I realized that I might not be able to save them. That doubt began to compound itself and eat away at me, because how could I save anyone when I couldn't even save a little girl from living out her life like she should have.

I vaguely remember my tortured screams as I hear my friends dying, and a distant voice announce something about 48 hours before my world began to go dark around the edges. I fought against the darkness this time, hoping against all hope that I could still save my friends from their agony, but no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't gain an inch. I was sinking further and further into the depths of this realm, and I realized that this obsidian abyss had won.

And I was drowning.

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Author's Note:

Sorry for not having as much of Naruto in this chapter. I kind of needed to show her interactions with everyone else more, and plus that one day with the Uchiha clan...

But also, I just wanted to thank everyone for the support you have shown by favoriting, following, and reviewing my first fanfiction. It really is a huge motivation to continue writing! Thank you all so much!

Please keep it up, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know with a review. :)