Hello! This is my first Naruto story. I hope I won't disappoint.
I want to apologize in advance for any mistakes because English is not my first language. If you spot any mistake, I kindly ask you to point it out to me in a review or through a PM.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its' characters. They belong to master Masashi Kishimoto.
I always wondered if there is life after death. 'What happens after you take your last breath? Does it hurt or does it feel like falling asleep?' These questions always seemed to bother me in the middle of the night no matter how hard I tried to think of something else. In the end I came to the conclusion that whatever is waiting for us on the other side couldn't be that bad considering no one came back to complain about it. Maybe it is just an eternal sleep, or maybe you keep on reliving the most precious moments of your life. Who knows?
Well, remember what I said about dying and coming back to complain about it? Trust me when I say that I'll do it in a blink of an eye if it was possible. Maybe this is my punishment for doing the laundry and working during religious days. I'm pretty sure my mom used to tell me that God will punish me for doing that. I guess that might be the reason... Or it could just be my shitty luck in life. I've always had some weird luck back in the day.
Ever since I opened my eyes to this new world, my little brain has been in a constant state of denial. Why couldn't I have stayed in that dark and quiet place? Why must I start a new life when I just finished my last one? This feels like some sort of fanfiction I read in the past with the girl who dies and wakes up in a different world but who knows everything about it and tries to change it to a better one. Well, I'm almost sure the same thing happened to me. I'm always hungry and every move I try to make is somehow constricted by my small and useless body. Hopefully my parents are some good people who actually wanted me and not some bad ones that made me just to use me in the future for their own benefits.
"Can you believe it, darling? I could've never imagined we'd have another baby!" My silent musings were stopped by the voice of the man who I should consider my father.
"He's our miracle baby, Otake. After what had almost happened to Akira the doctors weren't sure I would be able to have another child. I'm so glad that everything is fine." That's right woman, I'm a miracle! You won't be able to understand my amazing presence in your life even if it were to hit you in the face. Wait what? 'He?' I'm a boy now?! This must be some sort of misunderstanding, lady! I used to be a girl and that means I'll continue to be a girl in my new life. Right? That's how this shit is supposed to work, right?
Apparently, that's not how this whole process works. It's like the Russian Roulette: you get lucky or you die. In my case, I died and I didn't get lucky. So, after the shock has passed, I decided to simply blame the universe for my new existence. 'When in doubt, always blame the universe for your problems.' That shall be my new motto in life. Why say it's your fault when you can throw the blame onto someone or something else? Very simple and motivational I'd say.
"Shun-kun, can you come here for a second? I need some help with these boxes." Ah, my sweet Mother. Always ready to help others and never willing to let others help her, well others outside the family, of course.
"Sure thing, kaa-san!" I answer while trying my best to avoid all the boxes and things that are occupying the living room in the moment. "Where should I put them?" I ask after I secure the two smaller boxes in my arms by putting my chin on the top one for extra support.
"Those two should go to the kitchen. After you finish with them can you make sure Akira is still doing what I asked him to do? He should be in the shop with your father."
"I'm on it, sensei!" I reply showing her one of my rarest smiles. I put my right hand next to my forehead just for dramatic effect. The gesture immediately rewards me with the melodic laughter of my Mother.
And that's how I became her favorite child. Do whatever she asks you to and always keep a positive attitude around her and voilà, you're the favorite child in my Mother's heart. Or it is simply because my brother rarely does what is asked of him and always complains about the easiest tasks he's supposed to do. In my opinion that is hardly considered 'competition'.
"Nii-san, you were supposed to sweep the floor in the shop not to lay around eating like a pig! Kaa-san said we have to be done with the shop this weekend or she won't let us go to the festival." I tell him using my best 'you better do as I say' look.
"You can't always make me do your work because you're too lazy to do it yourself! It's not fair!" I puff some air for dramatic reasons and also to get my bangs out of my eyes. When did they get this long?
"Stop nagging me, Shun! I swear sometimes I think you're a girl in disguise with all that nagging and complaining you do." You don't even know how close to the truth you are my brother, you don't even know...
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I narrow my eyes at him. "Do you want to fight bastard? Fine! Let's fight like real men!" I approach him with my chest all puffed up trying to make myself look bigger than I am.
"You look so stupid right now, man." The jerk has the audacity to ignore my terrifying walk and to even start laughing when I get in front of him.
"You should wait another ten years if you really want to fight me shrimp." He says while messing my dark hair.
"Hn, whatever jackass!"
"Language, boy!" My Father scolded from the other room. "Where did you learn such foul language, Shun?"
"Ehh, that's how Akira and his friends call me when you're not around." I answer in my most innocent voice. 'Take that bastard! Now Father will think it's your fault I talk like a grumpy old man.'
"That's not true, tou-san." My brother tries to defend himself.
"I don't want to hear it, Akira! You're older so you must make yourself an example for you brother not call him names!" My old man here really knows how to scold people. It's obvious he used to teach at the academy before the Kyuubi attacked last year. He hurt his leg pretty badly during the attack so he can't stand for too long without it starting to upset him, so he decided to open a small shop to keep himself busy.
"But tou-san!"
It's so refreshing to see my brother getting scolded in my place. I send my older brother a smirk behind my father's back to try to annoy him even more before I turn around and head to my room. He narrows his eyes in my direction and mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously close to 'I'll murder you in your sleep tonight'. He apologizes to Father for his behavior and with a sigh takes the broom we keep behind the door and starts sweeping the floor without another word.
Life can be so beautifully simple sometimes. When I first got here, I panicked pretty badly because starting my new life in Naruto's dimension wasn't really all rainbows and unicorns. It was a bloody world where only the toughest survive to see another day and in my humble opinion I must say that I am neither the strongest nor the brightest person in the world, so I'd bite the dust pretty fast.
But maybe the universe is not trying to punish me or at least hasn't started doing it yet because last year one of the weirdest things happened: Kyuubi attacked just like I knew it was going to happen, but Minato wasn't the only one trying to fight the beast. It must have been a strange coincidence that Jiraiya was in the village, but nevertheless, I'm grateful for his presence because without him, we would have lost both Kushina and Minato. He and his student managed to seal half of the Kyuubi back in Kushina and the other half into Naruto without killing the new parents like it happened in the anime.
Yeah, so that's what made me think that maybe the main events that I knew of will not actually happen. Therefore, I saw no reason to start paying attention to every single detail and to actually try and live my new life like I'm supposed to be.
Apparently, I'm now old enough to follow my brother's steps, as Father keeps reminding me. It's really unfortunate that I was and I'll always be a bad student so I won't get my hopes up in regards to my new status as a future child who failed at being a ninja.
The academy looked much more imposing now that I actually had to attend it and just the thought of having to be here made me realize how little luck I have in the life department. Well, beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.
My Mother must have felt the uneasy feelings around me because she put a comforting hand on my shoulder before looking me straight in the eyes. "Everything's going to be alright, Shun." She says with a smile that can put to shame even the brightest ray of sun.
"The academy is a very nice place. You'll learn lots of new things and make some good friends, you'll see. There's nothing to be afraid of." She continues to smile and after she sees my timid smile and nod she wraps me in her protective arms and wishes me 'good luck' before ruffling my hair and urging me to hurry to my new classmates.
We're standing in the middle of the academy grounds listening to the wise words the Fourth has prepared for us, the future generation of Konoha. His bright blonde hair and wide smile made my cheeks burn in admiration. He was a really attractive man. I envy Kushina for her luck in finding such an amazing and good-looking husband. I close my eyes and shake my head to try and control my blushing. If this keeps going, I'll have to come up with an excuse that doesn't sound like some sort of love confession for our beloved Hokage. 'Alright, just think of something nasty.' I try to advise myself. In the next moment an unpleasant image of my brother's new Shiokara recipe comes to my mind. Not even my precious Minato can win against the thought of that terrible and smelly creation my brother calls his masterpiece. Now that my blushing has subsided, I can finally pay enough attention to my surroundings.
Unfortunately, I've been lost in my thoughts for far too long because just as I started looking around, a man in his mid-forties caught my attention.
"You guys follow me!"
He waved his hand to make sure we were all paying attention and I guess he was satisfied with our obedience because after a nod of his head he turned around and started guiding us through the large hallways of the academy to our new class.
After we arrived, he instructed us to take a seat wherever we wanted, and I, being my weird self, obviously chose one of the back seats closer to the huge windows of the classroom. I don't know how we are supposed to pay attention to the teacher when there's this big window that mockingly dares you to look through it and get caught daydreaming of ways to do anything but listen to the lesson because you find it boring or in my case, unbelievably hard to understand.
"Alright class. My name is Mori Chiaki and starting today I'll be your new sensei."
Damn, how is it possible for a human to have eyes like those? Chiaki-sensei has the biggest baby blue eyes I've seen in my life. They are so big and blue that I would have found it hard to believe it if he wasn't standing in front of me. Aside from his eyes, he had an average appearance, looking more like a child with that very short brown hair of his and small stature than a man in his forties.
"As you probably know, in the academy we will teach you the basics of being a ninja. In the first year we will mostly focus on Konoha's history. We will concentrate as well on taijutsu, your shuriken-jutsu and your endurance. Starting next year, we will begin the lessons on ninjutsu and as we progress, we will attempt some basic genjutsu techniques as well."
Man, this academy will be tougher than my first college year. Hopefully, I'll manage to stay somewhere in the middle, between the smart and the stupid and lazy kids. Of course, the clan kids will have the advantage of a strong family to back them up, but lucky me, I have my bastard of a brother and my Father who can help me practice and understand the lessons if I need to.
Just as I expected, after Chiaki-sensei's welcome speech, we were left to socialize with each other for the remainder of the day.
That's how I found myself trying to blend with the curtains just to skip the whole 'making friends' process. Unfortunately, I wasn't a very good ninja so my presence masking was easily found out by my desk mate.
"What are you doing there?" Asked a girly voice from my right. I closed my eyes in an attempt to save myself the trouble of answering her question.
"Is there something behind that curtain? Can I see?" She is a persistent one, I'll give her that. After the screeching sound of a chair, I found myself pushed out of the way and shoved to the side so the annoying presence to my right could see what exactly I found behind those curtains.
"Tch, there's nothing there, idiot!" She said slapping the back of my head.
"I never said there was something behind those curtains! And don't call me an idiot! You are the idiot for thinking that!" I answer with the same fervor as my desk mate.
"Whatever, idiot. The name's Hana by the way. Inuzuka Hana." She says holding out her hand.
"Hn. Nakamura Shun at your service, idiot!" I reply taking her hand and shaking it briefly before letting go.
So this is Hana. I think she and I will get along just fine. Maybe we can even get placed in the same team if I can get that far in the academy.
"Huh, I thought you'd be a scared kid who tries to hide away from people. You're actually kinda cool." Hana said with a hint of a smirk on her small face.
"Me a scared kid?" I pretend to be offended by pointing in my direction and scoffing turning my head to the window feigning ignorance.
"I just don't like talking to people in general so if I deem you worthy of my reply you should consider yourself lucky, young lady." I answer her with a fake air of superiority. Seeing my actions, she instantly bursts out laughing. She has a nice laugh. Not the loud type that makes you flinch from it's intensity, but a calm and melodious one that compels you to do something just to hear it again.
I smile seeing her laugh at my weird sense of humor. At least there is someone who appreciates my attempts at a badly placed joke. We will definitely become good friends.
"You should totally become an actor if you fail at being a ninja, Shun. Or a comedian. You really know how to work a crowd." Damn, compliments from my new friend and so soon in our newly formed relationship. I'm flattered.
"I shall take it into consideration, Hana." I reply with a small smile.
Maybe Mother was right. This first day at the academy wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. With any luck Hana and I will stick together and even get ourselves a third member in our small circle of weird but funny people.