Hello my fabulous readers! In case you forgotten who I am, it's Unknown entity328 bringing you the next chapter of New Life in Naruto! I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long everyone, but I had trouble deciding how I wanted this chapter to go and doing a crap ton of research so I was prepared to write this chapter and I hope it all paid off. As much as I want to stay and chat, I believe I kept you all waiting long enough so I shall now open the curtain to chapter five of New Life in Naruto!
Chapter Five: It's All in the Cards
Kojiro P.O.V.
I sat in the center of my room with my legs crossed and held a leaf against my forehead as I had my eyes closed in concentration. Slowly, I let go of the leaf and it stayed on my forehead for a few seconds before it fell off and I was breathing hard from exhaustion. I picked up the leaf and noticed that the edges were a little singed around the edges and damp in the center.
"Again?" I muttered twirling the leaf between my fingers to look at both sides. "Why does this keep happening? This is the third time this month." I walked over to my window and threw the leaf out and watched it fall to the ground. I couldn't see it hit the ground because of all the mist, but I know for a fact that it hit a cat in the eye if the yowling that came afterward was any indication. I cringed when I heard trash cans being toppled over and quickly shut my window. "I think it's time for a break."
I left my room and walked down the hall and down the stairs to see what my parents are doing in the living room. When I reached the living room I saw that they're both sitting on the couch reading through a scroll with concerned looks on their faces. When I saw the kanji for 'Fourth Mizukage' I knew that it was a new mission for one of them, what I don't know is why both of them looked so concerned about it.
"What are we going to do Kosuke?" Akane asked her husband with uncertainty in her voice. "Kojiro's too young to be by himself and Noriko's out on a mission, who can we ask to watch him?" My eyes widened when I heard that the mission was for both of my parents.
"I don't know Akane." Kosuke replied re-reading the scroll with a frown. "Though it's strange that lord Mizukage sent this to both of us. From what's written here, you or I can easily handle it by ourselves." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "So why both of us?"
"Mama, papa?" I called out making my presence known as the two jumped at me speaking suddenly and looked to me with wide eyes. I gave them a curious look as I walked in the living room. "What are you reading?"
"Oh, Kojiro." Akane let out a sigh with a hand where her heart is giving me a small smile. "You startled us, we thought you were still asleep."
"Sorry mama." I apologized lowering my head sheepishly.
"It's fine Kojiro." Akane replied getting to her feet and walked over to me and knelt down to be at eye level with me. "Mama and papa were just deciding who you should stay with while we're out on a mission."
"Both of you?" I asked in confusion. 'What mission could be so important that it requires both of them?' Kosuke rolled up the scroll and got up to join us at the doorway. 'I thought I heard dad say that either of them could easily finish it with no problem.'
"That's right Kojiro." Kosuke nodded going to one knee. "Lord mizukage must really want this mission to be a success if he's sending us both." He then turned his attention to Akane. "How about Mrs. Shinomiya Akane? She's good with kids and has grown quite attached to Kojiro."
"That's right!" Akane's eyes widened in realization that they did have someone to watch me. Mrs. Shinomiya is a elderly woman who lives by herself after her husband died of a heart attack. She's a kind and gentle person who knew right away that I was a boy just by looking at me so I liked her faster than any other person I met. Akane smiled down to me. "Kojiro, do you want Mrs. Shinomiya to watch you while mama and papa are away?" I nodded my excitedly causing both of my parents to chuckle. "Then go pack your things and we'll wait for you at the front door okay?"
"Kay!" I ran out of the living room and climbed up the stairs entering my room. "I wonder how Mrs. Shinomiya is doing, I hope she didn't throw her back out again." I went to my closet bringing out a few days worth of clothes, my coded scroll, and a blue and green back pack before I started to fold my clothes. I placed my clothes in my backpack and put my arms through the straps before leaving my room to go down the stairs to see my parents wearing their ninja gear and headbands.
"Do you have everything Kojiro?" Kosuke asked as he adjusted his headband.
"Yup." I nodded bouncing my backpack a little to adjust it.
"Then let's go." Akane said as she reached for my hand and Kosuke opened the front door and we all walked out of the house and locked it before walking through the village.
We approached an old house with a cherry blossom tree on the other side of the stone wall. Standing in front of the house was an elderly woman in her eighties with grey hair tied in a bun with a hair stick going through it wearing a purple kimono with a burgundy obi holding a broom sweeping. As we got closer I saw that her eyes were squinted making it look like her eyes were closed and I knew right away that the old lady was Mrs. Shinomiya. She looked our way before smiling and giving a wave to me that I was more than happy to return.
"My, what a surprise." Mrs. Shinomiya said when we reached her. "Good to see you again Akane, Kosuke." She then looked down to me. "And of course you too Kojiro, look how big you've grown. At this rate you'll be a handsome young man like your father." I just grinned happily to her.
"Oh please Mrs. Shinomiya." Kosuke said rubbing the back of his head with a light blush. "I'm average at best, Kojiro definitely got his looks from his mother."
"Don't sell yourself short Kosuke." Akane said wrapping her arm around his leaning against him a little. "You're not average, you're perfect."
Mrs. Shinomiya laughed good naturedly at my parents love-dovey moment. "So what brings you all here today?"
"We were hoping you could watch Kojiro for us." Akane explained letting go of a blushing Kosuke's arm. "We both just got a mission and we have no one to watch him."
"I would love to." Mrs. Shinomiya nodded. "I enjoy Kojiro's company." She looked down to me with a warm smile before looking back to my parents. "He'll be in good hands with me."
"Thank you so much Mrs. Shinomiya!" Akane said before kneeling down to look me in the eyes. "Now Kojiro, be good for Mrs. Shinomiya while we're away okay?"
"I will mama!" I replied childishly as I walked over to stand next to Mrs. Shinomiya.
"Well, we better be off now." Kosuke said before looking down to me and grinned and reached down to ruffle my hair. "I'll be sure to bring you back something cool Kojiro." I just laughed when I thought to the other things he brought back for from his missions and couldn't wait to see what he'll bring back this time. He removed his hand and he and Akane turned to walk to the village gates looking back to me and Mrs. Shinomiya to wave that we returned until they were out of sight.
"Let's go inside now Kojiro." I looked up to Mrs. Shinomiya who smiled down to me. "Let's put away your things then we can have some of your favorite snacks."
"Kay!" I replied running inside the house taking off my sandals at the entrance before running down the halls stopping at the third door from the right and slid the door open to see an empty room that had a small turtle drawing on the wall on the other side of the room under the window. Whenever Mrs. Shinomiya decides to watch over me while both my parents are away, I always stayed in this room that it kind of became a second room to me and Mrs. Shinomiya drew a turtle to show that I'm always welcome in there. I went inside and took off my backpack to place on the floor in the middle of the room and left to continue walking the hall.
I walked through the engawa and looked to the side to see a beautiful zen garden outside with large rocks and the sand surrounding them making a ripple-like effect while the rest of the sand was wavy. I stopped by a pair of shoji doors and opened them to see Mrs. Shinomiya setting a plate of senbei on the table in the middle of the room.
"Oh Kojiro, did you finish putting everything away?" Mrs. Shinomiya asked when she noticed me.
lf to sleep.
"I'll do that later." I replied entering and sitting on one of the cushions around the table. "But first, time for some senbei!" I reached for one when Mrs. Shinomiya lightly swatted my hand.
"Now Kojiro, you know the rules." Mrs. Shinomiya lightly scolded me. "You have to wash your hands first, then you can have some senbei."
I pouted staring at the senbei before getting up to head to the bathroom to wash my hands. as I walked down the engawa again at a slow pace, I watched as cherry blossom petals slowly fell off the tree down to the zen garden like it was pink snow painting the white sand a beautiful mixture of white and pink with a smile. "I can never get tired of watching this view." I stopped for a moment and held out a hand as a petal gently fell on it and I brought it closer to myself to get a better look at it. I gently blowed to let the petal to fall to the sand again before continuing my way to the bathroom.
3rd P.O.V.
While Kojiro left to wash his hands, Mrs. Shinomiya left the sitting room to walk down the engawa in the opposite direction Kojiro walked to go in Kojiro's room unpacking what he brought and placing his clothes in the closet before pulling out the futon inside. She laid the futon on the floor and straightened it before going back to the closet and pillow and blanket which she laid on the futon before going back to unpacking what was left in Kojiro's backpack. She rummaged through the backpack and pulled out a red scroll and looked at it in amusement.
"I see he brought it after all." Mrs. Shinomiya said to herself chuckling lightly before unrolling the scroll a little to read what was inside. "Kojiro never fails to bring this with him when he stays over." She had an amused smile as she re-rolled the scroll and placed it back in Kojiro's backpack. "And as usual I can't read it. That is a smart boy Akane and Kosuke have if he's already writing codes." She left the room and walked down the engawa to go back into the sitting room and when she opened the shoji doors to see Kojiro sitting on a cushion nibbling on a senbei like a rabbit nibbling on a piece of cabbage. Mrs. Shinomiya giggled when she pictured the five year old with bunny ears and tail. 'He's so cute with those chubby cheeks and his hair tied in that spiky ponytail.'
Kojiro noticed her and gave her a confused look. "Mrs. Shinomiya, why are you giggling?"
Mrs. Shinomiya just shook her head and entered the sitting room to sit across from Kojiro. "It's nothing Kojiro." Kojiro stared at her before reaching for another senbei and happily nibbled at it. "You really like Senbei, don't you Kojiro?"
Kojiro nodded. "It's not curry, but it's the next best thing." Mrs. Shinomiya laughed at that when Kojiro finished his senbei and reached for another.
"Don't eat too much Kojiro, or it's going to spoil your appetite." Mrs. Shinomiya said as she gently took the senbei out of Kojiro's hand and placed it back on the plate. "How about we watch the cherry blossoms until it's time for dinner?"
"Kay!" Kojiro replied getting up and walked to the shoji doors opening them and watched in awe as the wind gently blowed making the branches of the cherry blossom tree sway back and forth as the yellowish-orange of the setting sun seeps through the gaps. The clinking of the wind chime acting like a musician playing a gentle soothing melody. "So pretty, like it's dancing."
"Yes, it does look like it's dancing doesn't it?" Mrs. Shinomiya said as she sat on the edge of the engawa gesturing for Kojiro to sit next to her which he did and they both watched the beautiful dance the cherry blossom tree was doing for them as it's petals scattered. Mrs. Shinomiya looked to Kojiro from the corner of her eye to see the big smile on his face as he watched the petals fall onto the white sand of her zen garden before looking back. "Kojiro." Kojiro looked away to look to her. "Do you know what cherry blossoms stand for?" When the boy shook his head she explained. "They stand for renewal and hope. My husband adored these flowers even though they only stay in full bloom for a week. He always says that it reminds him that there's always hope for the younger generation to fix the mistakes of the older generation." She closed her eyes feeling the wind caressing her skin and listening to the clink of the wind chime.
"Why would he say that?" Kojiro asked tilting his head in confusion.
"I suppose it was his way of saying that adults make many mistakes that cannot be taken back." Mrs. Shinomiya replied opening her eyes looking to the cherry blossom tree. "Which is why he had a cherry blossom tree planted in our zen garden, to remind himself that there's still hope for the world through the younger generation. The past teaches us the mistakes of the previous generation so we don't repeat it. But in my opinion, it's also a lesson to teach the younger generation that there are some mistakes that can be fixed and be renewed as something great." She then reached into the sleeve of her kimono and pulled out a black box tied closed with a red string. She tugged on the string untying it and lifted the lid of the box to stare at what was inside. She handed the box to Kojiro who took and looked inside to see a picture of two people standing together wearing traditional wedding attire.
"Is this you and Mr. Shinomiya?" Kojiro asked looking to the elderly woman and back to the picture.
Mrs. Shinomiya nodded taking the box back to look at the picture. "We learned of a great mistake that was made and decided to fix it. It wasn't easy and it took many years, but eventually it was resolved. It wasn't until it was resolve that we both discovered we fell in love with each other along the way."
"And then you got married?" Kojiro asked excitedly, watching the cherry blossoms long forgotten.
"Yes." Mrs. Shinomiya nodded. "He was a wonderful man, I just wish you had a chance to meet him." She gently ran her fingers over the face of the man in the picture before placing the lid back on and setting it on her lap to continue watching the cherry blossoms. "You would have loved listening to his stories of when he was young."
"Was he a ninja?" Kojiro asked curiously his eyes sparkling in excitement. When Mrs. Shinomiya nodded her head Kojiro jumped to his feet. "That's so cool! I want to be a ninja when I get older like mama and papa!"
"Really, that's good to hear." Mrs. Shinomiya smiled at the five year old. "I'm sure you'll be a fine ninja one day Kojiro." With that said, they both went back to watching the cherry blossom petals fall.
Kojiro P.O.V.
Three Days Later
I sat in my room reading rummaging through my backpack to pull out a blue scroll that I left next to my red coded scroll and unfurled it to see it was filled with messy, barely readable kanji. I frowned at what I was staring at and made a mental not to practice my handwriting when I get the chance as I took out a bottle of ink and a brush from my backpack and laid the scroll down onto the floor. I took the stopper off and dipped the bristles of the brush in it before pulling it out letting the excess ink drip off back into the bottle. I then started to write in the scroll about the day I had, I guess in a way it's a diary which helps me cope with the fact that I'm reincarnated and can no longer see my past family and friends.
'No, stop that Kyle!' I rapidly shook my head to chase away the sad thoughts. 'You promised yourself that you'll live this life to the fullest as Kojiro!' I furled the scroll and placed it back in my backpack before getting up to look out the window to see a few birds flying by. "I wonder if mama and papa are alright out there." My hand found its way over my mouth when I realized what I said. I lowered my hand and continued to look out my window. "I guess it became a habit to call them that." I chuckled and focused my attention to my reflection that was on the glass of the window. "Well, they are my parents now, I even look like them." I ran my fingers through my spiky blue hair that was the same shade as my father's and looked into the lime green shade of my eyes that were the same as my mother's. I removed my hair tie to let my hair fall and I saw that I was the spitting image of Akane with Kosuke's hair. But upon closer inspection, you can see I also inherited some features from my father other than my hair. Like my cheekbones were a little lower than my mother's.
Knocking on my door pulled me from my thoughts and I turned to see it was open with Mrs. Shinomya standing just outside of my room holding a deck of cards with a blue back giving me a gentle smile. "Would you like me to do a reading for you Kojiro?" When she said reading I knew right away what she was going to do and nodded excitedly. Mrs. Shinomiya is a fortune teller in the village, I remember my parents saying that all her predictions came true after she did a tarot reading. She chuckled as she entered my room and sat down with me following suit across from her as she shuffled her cards and spread them out on the floor. "Now I want you to think about what you want to know and pick three cards Kojiro."
"Okay." I nodded as I looked over the face-down cards thinking carefully of what I want to know. I started pointing to three cards and Mrs. Shinomiya took them out.
"Good, now I'll flip them over and tell you what the cards mean." Mrs. Sinomiya said as she gathered the remaining cards and took the four I chose to place them in a row before reaching for the one on her left. "First, your past." I fidgeted nervously as she flipped the card to reveal a man suspended, upside-down with His right foot is bound to a tree but his left foot remains free, bent at the knee and tucked in behind his right leg. His arms are bent, with hands held behind his back, forming an inverted triangle. "The upright Hanged Man." She looked up to me as I stared at the card in confusion. "You sacrificed something great for the good of another, haven't you Kojiro?"
I looked up to her in surprise. 'What, sacrificed something great?' I looked down to the card again and my eyes widened in realization. 'Is she talking about when I pushed Jason out of the way from that ambulance?'
"It would appear that you know what I'm referring to." Mrs. Shinomiya stated causing me to look up to her as she looked back to the card. "In an act of selflessness, you willing gave something up for the better of the other." She then reached for the middle card. "Now for your present." She flipped it over to reveal a number of naked men, women and children rising up from their graves, arms outspread and responding to the trumpet call of the archangel, Gabriel, who hovers high above them. "The upright Judgement. You recently came to a revelation and that you must now review and evaluate your past experiences and learn from them."
'Review and evaluate my past experiences, what's that supposed to mean?' I thought in confusion as I thought carefully of what Mrs. Shinomiya told me.
"The Judgement also suggests that you must live your life differently and be true to yourself and your needs." Mrs. Shinomiya said giving me a small smile as she moved her hand to the last card. "And now your future." She flipped it to reveal a skeleton wearing purple robes holding a scythe on top of a tomb stone. "The Upright Death."
I visibly shook when I saw the card. "D-death?"
Mrs. Shinomiya gave me a reassuring smile. "Fear not Kojiro, the Death card is the most misunderstood card out of all the arcana." She looked down to the card. "You must put the past behind you and part ways and be ready to embrace new opportunities and possibilities. It may be difficult to let go of the past at times but you will soon see how important it is so that you can bring renewal and transformation into your life." She looked up to me as she removed her hand from the card. "Similarly, Death indicates a time of significant transformation, change and transition. You need to profoundly transform yourself and clear away any of the old in order to bring in the new. Any change at this time should be welcomed as a positive, cleansing, transformative force in your life. The death and clearing away of limiting factors can open the door to a wider, more satisfying experience of life." She chuckled when she saw the confused look on my face and picked up the cards putting them away. "You may not understand now, but you will someday when the time comes." She looked past me to my window to see that it was dark out. "My, it has gotten so late." She got to her feet and walked to the door stopping at the doorway to look back and give me a smile. "Good night Kojiro." She the closed the door.
"I can never understand anything she says when she does her readings." I muttered to myself as I pulled the blanket off my futon and laid down pulling over myself as I stared at the ceiling and my thoughts went back to the Death card. I shook my head and turned to lay on my side closing my eyes. "Stop thinking about it Kojiro, just go to sleep."
One Week Later
I sat on the engawa staring at nothing as my mind kept going back to that tarot reading Mrs. Shinomiya did for me. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and got up to walk around a bit. As I was passing by the front door, I saw someone at the front wearing ninja gear with a mist headband and had a purple bundle in their arms. When I got a closer look I saw it was a man around my father's height wearing a kind of white mask with two black markings on it.
"Excuse me." I called out to them getting their attention. "Are you here to see Mrs. Shinomiya? If you are I can go get her."
The man just shook his head. "I was told that Kojiro Kurosawa was staying here. Would you be him?" When I nodded the man walked over to me and knelt down before holding the bundle out to me and I looked to him in confusion. "I was instructed to give these to you, you'll understand when you look what's inside."
I nodded taking the bundle from the man and started to open to see what was inside and my eyes widened in horror dropping the bundle shaking my head in denial backing away from it. In the bundle were two mist headbands soaked in blood and a single hair stick that had a blue flower on the end.
"Kojiro, is there someone outside?" Mrs. Shinomiya asked as she came outside to see who was outside. "Oh my, what's a hunter ninja doing here?" When she got closer she had a worried expression when she saw that tears were flowing down my horrified face. "Kojiro? What's wrong?" I couldn't say anything for if I did I might just snap and breaking out sobbing so I just pointed to the bundle and she followed my finger and gasped when she saw the inside of the bundle.
"We found them near the edge of the border." The hunter ninja said as Mrs. Shinomiya wrapped her arms around me and I couldn't hold it in anymore as I turned to bury my face in her kimono letting loud wails and I didn't care who heard me. "I'm sorry for your loss." The man bowed and vanished.
I continued to wail as Mrs. Shinomiya was shushing gently while rubbing my back. "It's okay, it's okay Kojiro. They haven't found any bodies yet, so there's a chance they're still alive out there." I couldn't hear anything through my crying and eventually I cried myself to sleep.
Now it's time for my favorite part, replying to your reviews!
CriticalFanatic: Well I hope the wait was worth it and I thank you for your support.
SilverDragon1218: Who knows, you'll have to keep reading to find out. It may be a good thing, or maybe a bad thing, depends on your perspective of good and bad. Tee-hee, that's a secret. Glad to know you love it and rest assured that more chapters will be coming soon.
KitKedd: Oh crap, I messed up. I researched the Akatsuki for that chapter and couldn't find an accurate timeline for when they formed so I went with an idea one of my guy friends suggested. Sorry if it confused you. *on hands and knees bowing*
Daisuke Sjj: Glad you liked it.
guest reader: Only time will tell.
Sadly, this is where I must take my leave. But I look forward to seeing you all again next chapter!