I don't own anything.
A/N: I usually don't do author's notes at the start of chapters, but I'll make an exception here. I am not going to be writing any suffixes or anything like that. It adds nothing to the story, and it's fucking annoying to do, so if you don't like that, too bad. The only thing I will do is have the technique names in Japanese, mostly because they sound dumb as hell in English. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!
Beep… Beep… Beep…
"Your nephew suffered cardiac arrest during the attack, luckily, we were able to resuscitate him. It looks like he will make a full recovery." A deep voice broke through the rhythmic beeping noise that constantly sounded throughout the room.
'Attack?'
I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt heavy, almost like I'd been sleeping for far too long. Was I in the hospital? A heart attack? I tried to remember what happened, but my mind felt sluggish, drowsy.
"Thank you doctor, am I allowed to stay?" It was a woman, her voice was soft and quiet, almost melancholy. I tried to open my eyes again, but they remained stubborn.
"Certainly. Visiting hours are until 4. Should he wake, just alert one of the nurses." A doctor? Definitely a hospital then. Even as I heard footsteps, I tried to call out. I was awake. But like my eyes, my mouth refused to open properly, and all that came out was an unintelligible moan.
A gasp, more footsteps, faster this time. "Is he waking up?" It was the woman again, standing closer now. Beside my bed? It was hard to tell. Large, callused hands gripped my wrist, and after a moment, I felt a strange cool feeling emanate from them.
"Son, can you hear me?" The doctor asked, and the feeling spread from my arm over my shoulder and into the rest of me.
"Nnghgn."
The feeling spread further, running over my chest, my hips, legs knees and then my feet. When it spread over my face, I felt revitalized almost. Some kind of medicine? I opened my eyes, but the room was blurry, I blinked a couple of times to clear them up and took a look around.
I was in a hospital room, though not one I had ever been to before. Where the hell was I? Next to me was the doctor. A bear of a man, he must have been almost 7 feet tall with broad shoulders and thick arms, wearing a white coat as he held onto my arm, some kind of green glow coming off of his hands. I blinked a few more times, apparently, my vision was still blurry if his hands were glowing. It didn't go away.
The woman, on the other hand, was quite pretty actually. She was short, at least compared to the doctor, and pale, with long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes that glistened with unshed tears. She was standing next to the EKG, which continued its rhythmic beeps, in tune with my racing heart.
The doctor must have noticed the panic in my eyes, because he ducked down a little before he spoke again. "Do you know where you are, son?" I shook my head as best as I could. "You are in the Hashirama Hope Hospital, do you know it?" I shook my head again. Where the hell was I? Hashirama sounded like an eastern name, I lived in England for crying out loud. "You had a heart attack during the Kyuubi attack. But you're safe now. Just try to relax." I blinked.
'Hashirama… Kyuubi…'
Darkness claimed me again. Maybe when I woke back up, things would make sense again.
Things did not make sense when I woke back up. In fact, they only got worse. I had woken up in a hospital, which was fine. Not good, but I could deal with that. I woke up in a hospital I didn't know. That wasn't so bad either. But that's when the real problems started. I wasn't just in a different hospital, or even in a different country. I was in a whole other dimension. And not even in my own body.
I hadn't believed it at first. I thought I'd been kidnapped by some strange cult, one obsessed with Naruto and acting like it was real. That was all well and good, until I looked out of a window, and saw four rock-carved faces staring back at me over a village in ruins. Even then, I'd held on to the delusion that this wasn't real. Sure, it wasn't likely that someone had built a whole ass village – more of a city, really – to look like Konoha and then put me here as some kind of prank, but it was technically possible.
All thoughts of this being a cruel prank ended when I finally got up out of bed. I was short, too short. I barely reached up to the edge of the bedframe when I stood straight. It made no fucking sense. I stumbled as I ran to the bathroom in search of a mirror. And when I found one, I was confronted with undeniable proof that something was very, very wrong.
Oftentimes when I looked into the mirror, I had a strange feeling. Almost like I didn't recognize myself, a strange dissociation with my own face that I could never really explain. It was why I didn't spend much time looking at them, and why I didn't like having my picture taken. It was even worse now, because before, I had known deep down that what I saw in the mirror was undoubtedly me.
The short blond child I saw now was not. Dark-brown hair was now a light, almost platinum blonde. Chocolate brown eyes had turned green, and tan skin had turned a pale alabaster. My new face was still pudgy with baby fat, but I could clearly see the differences in facial structure, not the least of which was a nose that stood completely straight. So different from the slightly crooked one I used to have. I'd broken in on a countertop as a kid, and it had always bent ever so slightly to the left.
But most jarring of all, was my age and height. I had always been tall for my age, and as I grew up, that hadn't changed. As a teen, I had been tall and lanky, but I'd grown into it as I entered my twenties. Now, I was still skinny, but I couldn't have been more than 4 feet tall. I couldn't tell exactly how old I was either, but I couldn't be more than 5 years old, a preschooler.
One of the nurses had found me in front of the mirror that day, collapsed on the ground with thick, ugly tears running down my face. It was not my proudest moment, but if anyone ever asked, I would blame it on the childish hormones and the shock. And I had been in shock, there was no doubt about that.
As I sat in my room, though, the shock slowly wore off, and panic began to set in. As much as I had enjoyed reading Naruto as a kid, the Elemental Nations was not a kind place. It was a death world, plain and simple. There were people here who could probably give me a heart attack just by flaring their killing intent, as the Kyuubi had apparently done to me on accident while it rampaged through the village.
I didn't want to die. Not yet.
It was going to suck, but I would have to train. Realistically speaking, it wouldn't matter if I trained. The chances of me surviving were slim to none, even if I did become a ninja. But doing nothing and hiding away was basically guaranteed death at this point. And I was not going to take that chance. It wasn't bravery, if anything, it was cowardice. I was too afraid of people like Orochimaru, Nagato or God forbid Madara coming to Konoha to push my shit in, even if they weren't here for me.
It was fear, pure and simple. But that was okay, fear kept you alive, and I wanted to stay that way.
I didn't have time to dwell on it, though, as a knock sounded at the door. At first, I thought it would be another one of the nurses, or even the doctor again, but it was the blond woman from before. She looked haggard. Maybe I hadn't noticed it before, panicked and confused as I had been when I first woke up, but the woman looked exhausted. She was pale, sickly almost, with heavy bags under her eyes that her makeup couldn't quite disguise. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, strands sticking out of it every which way.
"Hey Sun, I… I've been told that you're allowed to come home today." She spoke softly as she approached my bedside. I sat up as she got closer, and she reached out, putting one hand on my head after a moment's hesitation. "They, the doctors that is, they say you don't remember anything. Is… Is that true?" She asked, her breath hitched midway through, almost as if she was afraid of the answer.
When I nodded, she let out a shuddering breath, almost deflating as her shoulders slumped with the motion. She dropped down into the wooden chair by my bed, one hand still in my new, blond hair. It was a little awkward, I was probably about her age mentally, and here she was, stroking my hair like I was a child. I didn't have the heart to pull away, though. In that moment, she looked fragile, and she kept her hand on my head as if it were a lifeline.
After a long moment of silence, she began talking again. "I… I'm your aunt. Auntie Mai, you used to call me." She began, gathering her thoughts for a moment before she continued. "There was an… an attack. A monster came to the village and hurt a lot of people. It… It hurt you, that's why you are here in the hospital, it's why you don't remember anything." The woman, Mai, I corrected myself mentally, continued.
"The doctors said you're all better now, and that I can take you home." She told me, and I couldn't help but frown.
"Where are my mom and dad?" I asked her, and I couldn't help but wince at the hurt, almost broken expression on her face. I saw as tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. I… I'd never been good at comforting people, but as she broke down into tears, I got off the bed and put my stubby little arms around her in a clumsy hug. Mai, my new aunt, encircled me with her own shaking arms and hugged me so hard it was almost like she was afraid to let go.
And I understood. My 'parents', one of her siblings had just died. Here she was, though, taking in her nephew even as she grieved the loss of a loved one. I admired her for it. I'd had my own siblings in life, and I hadn't managed to keep it together half as well as she was now when I realized that I'd never see them again. I'd cried myself to sleep earlier, and it was only the shock and fear at my new situation that kept me from breaking out into tears again.
"I… my husband and I are going to be taking care of you now. I brought you some clothes so we can go home." She told me, putting down a small bag she'd been carrying onto the hospital bed. "Do… Do you need any help getting dressed?" She asked, but I just shook my head. "Just call out when you're ready, okay?" She said, giving me one last squeeze before getting up from her chair and leaving the room to let me get dressed.
It was an awkward affair, putting on the small, childish clothing. It could have been worse, though. It was a simple green long-sleeve shirt and some soft black pants and shoes. It was better than the hospital gown at least. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to get my laces tied, my pudgy little fingers not as dexterous as I was used to, but I got it after a couple of tries.
"I'm ready!" I called out, wincing at the high-pitched tone that came out of my mouth. Honestly, that was going to take some time to get used to.
Mai took me to the front desk first, quietly talking to the clerk as they filed my discharge forms. It was boring, and I felt like a real child as I stood there, fidgeting while the adults talked. I did catch a couple of useful things, like my name. Sun Zhou. Honestly, I thought she had been saying son, like the doctor had, when she addressed me earlier. It wasn't a bad name, though, short and simple.
If the wait was bad, then the walk to Mai's home was horrifying. Intellectually, I knew that the Kyuubi had done a lot of damage to the village, but this was insane. Entire blocks were destroyed, homes and shops reduced to nothing more than piles of rubble. There were still people sifting through the wreckage, looking to either retrieve their belongings, or worse, bodies.
It reminded me of warzones in the middle east. I had seen the aftermath of a revolution during an ill-fated holiday at the tail end of the Arab Spring, and the broken village of Konoha brought me back to the sweltering streets of Cairo, where kids dug through the rubble for scraps to feed their siblings after their parents had died. My stomach clenched, and I had to resist the urge to lose my lunch at the memories.
Soon enough, we entered a relatively untouched part of the village. There was little damage to the buildings or the streets here, the Kyuubi must've been sealed away before it could make its way to the area. There was still some damage though, probably stray attacks by shinobi trying to slow the beast down, if the Kyuubi itself had launched a stray attack here, the buildings probably wouldn't be standing anymore.
"This is it." My aunt spoke, holding my hand in a death grip as we arrived at a relatively large storefront on the road. It looked quite nice, with bright yellow walls, cherry-red accents and a duller, almost brick-red tiled roof over top. On the wall above the entrance, there was a large pink sign that read Yamanaka Flowers.
'Wasn't this Ino's shop or something?"
It had been a while since I'd read the manga or watched the anime, but I vaguely remembered the blonde girl having a flower shop, or rather, her parents did. I didn't have time to dwell on it, though, as my aunt pulled me inside.
It was a spacious store, though it felt a little cramped with shelves and counters stacked high with flowers and plants of all colors while the back, near the counter, was stocked with all the things you'd need to care for them. Fertilizers, gardening tools, flowerpots and everything in-between was lined up against the back wall, little price tags hanging off them.
We didn't stay there, though, as my aunt pulled me into the back of the store, behind a little door off to the side with a sign that read Private, do not enter. Inside, I found myself standing in an entrance hall, a little shoe rack and coat hanger to my left and a large spiral staircase to my right. In front of me, there was an open door, through which I could see a couch and a TV-set.
I quickly followed Mai's lead in taking my shoes off and grabbing a plan pair of white slippers, usually meant for guests. Though my aunt assured me that I would be getting my own pair as soon as we had time to go clothes shopping.
Soon enough, we entered the sitting room itself. There, we were met by a tall man, with wild blonde hair that stuck up every which way and green eyes that were closer to emerald than my own hazel-green orbs. In his arms, he held a little bundle of blankets that he rocked softly while he did his best to give me a smile.
"Sun, this is my husband Inoichi, and your cousin Ino." My aunt introduced us, gently taking the little bundle out of her husband's hands and showing me the sleeping infant. I had never been the biggest fan of children, but I could admit that babies were cute, and this one was especially so. It was almost enough to distract me from the fact that I was apparently a cousin to one of the Konoha Twelve.
"It's nice to see you again Sun, we're going to be taking care of you now, so make yourself at home, okay?" Inoichi said as he reached out and ruffled my hair. I let out a breath.
This was my life now.
I'd been staying with my new aunt and uncle for almost a month now, and it was… going. Don't get me wrong, Mai and Inoichi were great. Even with Inoichi being called into work at the most unexpected moments and Mai being kept up by Ino most nights, they were taking great care of me.
The issues were more on my end. I had brought up becoming a shinobi to them, and they were supportive, if not a bit apprehensive that I was already looking to learn how to fight. They'd even registered me at the academy already, which I could attend when I turned 6. But that was a whole two years away. I couldn't wait that long. The threats that I knew would be coming were too strong for me to waste any time, let alone years.
And with Inoichi being so busy at work, it wasn't like he would have time to train me right now. The Kyuubi attack had taken its toll on the village, the death toll was huge and the damage to the village itself was just as bad. We were rebuilding, but that wasn't cheap, and so Konoha was running its Ninja population ragged trying to bring in as much money as it could.
That, unfortunately, meant that the head of a department as important as T&I wouldn't be getting time off any time soon. So, until the village was somewhat back on its feet, I couldn't expect to get any actual instruction. It was annoying, but I could work around it. I knew that Konoha had a library, and it only made sense that there would be at least some kind of book on chakra and its workings in there.
And that's how I found myself sitting in front of my aunt at the kitchen table one morning. The woman still looked a little tired, but it was nothing like it had been when I had first gotten here. Her skin was no longer pallid and the bags under her eyes were mostly gone, or at least small enough that her makeup covered them well enough that I couldn't see them. Her hair was still a little messy, though, that could have been because my cousin was currently tugging at it with chubby little hands, giggling as she played with her mother's hair.
"Hey auntie?" I began, and she looked up from Ino for a moment, making the infant gurgle in discontent at the sudden lack of attention. "Could I go to the library?" I asked, doing my best to open my eyes wide in some approximation of puppy-dog eyes. I don't think it worked all that well, since her brows knit together into a little frown.
"I guess I could take you." She said after mulling it over for a moment. "Do you like reading?" She asked, still frowning a little. I blinked slightly at the question, and wondered how I should respond.
It was tiring, pretending to be a child. I honestly couldn't remember what I was actually like as a kid, and so, I had just taken to being quiet most of the time. I wasn't sure if it was working, but no one had called me out yet, so I was pretty sure I was doing fine. It was when I was asked direct questions like this that I really had to think on how to answer. Being a precocious kid was fine, but it wouldn't do to act too mature.
"I do!" I said, trying to sound excited. I didn't even have to fake it, as I genuinely did enjoy reading. And as much as I enjoyed playing with Ino and helping care for the plants, being a toddler again was beyond boring. Having some hopefully decent reading material would go a long way in filling up my days.
'Damn, I hadn't even thought of taking regular books. Might be good to have something to do when I'm not training, though.'
That seemed to be enough for my aunt, though. "Okay, go put on your shoes and your jacket and we can go now." She said, standing up and carefully extracting a lock of blond hair from Ino's grasp before gathering her hair up and binding it in a messy bun. I didn't waste any time, though, and ran into the hall to grab my stuff, ignoring my aunt's call of 'No running in the house!'.
Soon enough, we were back out on the streets of Konoha. The sun was out, though it was still pretty cold. That was to be expected, really. The Land of Fire might have been a pretty warm place, but it was still the middle of November. I was just glad that the thick coat my aunt had bought for me on our shopping trip warded off the biting wind that stung my cheeks and ruffled my hair.
The streets themselves seemed to be getting better every time I went outside. I hadn't been out all that often since I'd gone to live with the Yamanaka's, mostly because there wasn't much to do outside while the village recovered from the Kyuubi attack. The repairs seemed to be going well, though.
I could already see more stores opening back up along the road, while many of the houses that had been turned to rubble were already under construction again. The various construction companies in and around Konoha must have been feeling like Scrooge McDuck right now, with all the business that they suddenly had.
What struck me most was the people, though. When I'd first been outside, people scurried along the streets as fast as they could, eager to get back inside as fast as possible. Now though, I could see people on the streets again, walking around leisurely, some people were even stopping when they saw friends and took a moment to chat. There was a world of difference from what it had been like just a month or so ago, and I couldn't help but admire how resilient the people here were.
Soon enough, though, we arrived at the Konoha Library. It was a rather large building near the center of the village. From the outside, it looked quite unassuming, with cream-colored walls, wooden scaffolding and large windows to allow lots of natural light inside.
Speaking of the inside, when Aunt Mai and I walked in, I couldn't help but marvel at the sheer number of books as scrolls inside. Rows upon rows of shelves stood tall with wooden ladders off to the side to allow people to reach the higher shelves. The moment didn't last, though, as Ino suddenly began wailing, drawing lots of attention in the otherwise quiet building.
My aunt tried to calm her down, but after a moment she realized what was wrong and approached one of the workers, dragging me along as she rocked the screaming infant in her other arm.
"Excuse me, could you point me to the bathrooms? It seems that my daughter had a little accident." She asked quietly, and the clerk simply pointed towards the far side of the room, where there was a little corridor with a little stick man and woman above it. As my aunt made to drag me along, I stopped.
"Auntie, can I take a look around while you go change Ino?" I asked her. She looked like she was about to say no, but I stuck out my bottom lip a little and widened my eyes at her. If I had to look like a kid, I'd damn well take advantage of it. My aunt looked a little hesitant, nibbling on her bottom lip softly as she thought about it.
"Alright. Don't go outside, ask the librarians for help if you need anything, and come back here when you're done. I'll wait here at the tables when I finish." She said, and I nodded excitedly.
As she walked off, I turned to the clerk we had just asked for the bathroom. "Do you have any books on Chakra?" I asked with an excited glimmer in my eye.
A/N: Hey guys! Another new story, but I couldn't get this plot bunny out of my head. It's also something new for me to write while I try to figure out where I want to go with Morningstar. I don't actually know all that much about Worm, so it's pretty hard for me to decide what I want to do with it.
That said, let me know what you guys think. If this gets some positive reactions, I think I'll update this around twice a week, but with longer chapters than Grimm Souls, which will still be my main story.
This is going to be a pretty long story if I decide to continue it, and I want it to be about an actual war. Something like the first three great shinobi wars, and not like the fourth. The title and the MC being references to The Art of War by Sun Tzu (who was born in the Zhou era, I chose that as a last name because Tzu just means master, and he's not exactly a master of anything right now.)
Anyways, hope you guys liked it. Have a good one!