I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.
…
Do you know the feeling of wanting something just out of reach?
My whole life there was something I've always wanted. As a kid, I always changed my mind on what I wanted to be when I grew up but never did I ever not want to have a family. I didn't want the dream job or career. I wanted a family. Mostly I wanted a partner who would love me and a child who could love me unconditionally.
When I was finally an adult, I really thought that I would get my wish. But the years passed. Work took more of my time as I lost faith in finding the person I would start my family with. At thirty I've given up on people and decided on getting a donor at a clinic.
Then I died.
…
When I feel consciousness poke at me, I try to shy away, but it grips me hard and drags me out of the darkness. My whole body ached something fierce as I gasped weakly, struggling to get a sheet off my face. Trying to catch my breath was like I was underwater too long or got some up my nose after diving.
The random people around me talking and yelling didn't help my confusion and desperation to breathe. When I had enough strength, I started to hit them away till they stopped trying to touch me. I was hyperventilating, and the crowd didn't help me. Thankfully, it wasn't my first time in this situation, so I helped myself with my practiced methods to get control again.
"Nara-sama?" Now that I was calmer, I noticed I was surrounded by people with doctor coats and odd features.
"Who are you talking to? Why am I in a hospital?" My voice hurt so much as I asked questions, but I didn't think the doctors around me would be so confused and in disbelief. "I can't remember what happened to me. Why can't I remember anything? Who are you people?"
"She has to be lying. There is no way that she could have forgotten everything!" A pissed-off young man with narrow facial features and a high pineapple-looking ponytail exclaimed.
"I don't know who you are or why you're mad at me, but I have no problem punching you, so back off." He looked old enough to be in his early twenties, so I could threaten him without getting into trouble.
"Punching me?" My threat seemed to surprise all of the people in the room.
"If you're not my doctor or helping me, get out. This isn't a show." The entire group seemed to hesitate before they left, except the angry young man and a man who wore a lab coat.
"So, are you going to answer my questions?" My body screamed when I forced myself to get up from my prone position on the bed.
"Before I do, I want to do a quick examination." I reluctantly nodded, and the doctor reached out; his hand started to glow green as it hovered over my chest.
"What the fuck is that?!" Slapping the glowing hand away, I curl up, keeping my body close to me.
"It's a diagnostic jutsu Nara-sama. It's how I can examine you." My actions seemed to alarm the doctor.
I have a lot to say about that, but for now, I'll just hold my tongue. I know I'm missing something major. I just need to wait to do my investigation.
" you, Doctor, but I would like to rest alone." I glance at the angry guy, but he glares at me, not moving from his spot.
"Very well, Nara-sama. I'll be back later to take some tests." The doctor bowed before leaving the room.
Ignoring the angry man, I grab my chart from the end of my bed and try to look through it. Try because it was written in Japanese. At least it was then something pinched in my head, and I could read it like English. Entirely weird, but explains the horrific and the bowing.
My chart leaves me with more questions than answers since it said my name was Yoshino Nara, and I am now a mother. Not to mention the half-written death time. Sighing, I put the chart back before dragging my body out of the bed, internally wincing at the pain while walking to the only other door in the room.
I felt pathetic while shuffling to the bathroom with the angry dude watching me the whole time. His presence was getting uncomfortable, with no one here as a buffer.
The first thing I noticed in the bathroom was that it was outdated. Then I see my body in the mirror. The woman in my reflection was not me at all. She was pretty, but not me. No thick, curly hair. No tan skin. No hazel eyes. No freckles. Not to mention, her breasts are a lot bigger than mine. I mean, I probably should have expected that since it says she just had a baby. I just had a baby.
This is hard to believe. Pinching myself and trying to see if the mirror was a trick didn't work. This is terrifying. I mean, the woman just had a baby, but I'm here instead. Does that mean she died? And I took her place? I can't act to save my life there is no way I could pretend to be her. I don't think I want to be her if she made all of those doctors and nurses scared and the guy mad. This is too much, but if I go back to bed, I'll just overthink it some more. I know I'll go see the baby. Maybe that might jog some memories.
Avoiding the mirror, I do my business and leave. Ignoring the temptation to sleep on the bed, I head to the door, ignoring the angry shadow that follows me silently out of the room.
Instead of asking someone for directions, I look at signs and try to guess where the nursery would be. It took a good half hour, but I did eventually find the nursery. I looked in through the window at the room of babies. Eventually, my eyes locked on to a single cradle. Inside was a sleeping baby. Considering the others crying and the noise that was probably loud, the baby was blissfully asleep.
I spent the next few hours watching the baby through the window. Multiple times, a nurse approached and asked if I would like to hold my son, but I declined and said I was okay, just watching. I wasn't ready to accept that this was all real.
The angry guy stood behind me silently after I ignored his baiting insults the first hour we stood here. Eventually, I was forced to go back to my room by my Doctor for a few tests. To my surprise, after he finished, a few nurses came in with the baby, his cradle, and a few things. One of the nurses spent the next hour with me, showing me how to feed the baby from my breast, bathe him, change him, and wrap him in a blanket.
It was a surreal experience. The newborn was mine, but he didn't feel like he belonged to me. I didn't create him or birth him, but from this point forward, I was going to have to raise the child as my own.
Not to mention, I had no information about this world. It was someplace in Japan, but the lack of technology and this Chakra thing everyone was using told me I probably wasn't even in my dimension. Looking out my window didn't help either since the buildings around the Hospital were more of a combination of Western and Asian. Asking my angry shadow was out of the question as well.
After a week of being stuck in the hospital and tests passed, I was once again reminded of the life I have taken over.
I had just exited the bathroom when my room door opened, and a man who looked similar to my unwanted guard walked in. I had gotten used to my lack of privacy in this place and barely batted an eyelash as I sat on my bed next to the cradle. I absentmindedly dried my hair with my towel as I stared down my new visitor.
Over my time here, the body that I had taken over changed. The once-pin straight, thin brown hair had thickened and started curling halfway down. The fair skin slowly darkened to a halfway point to the bronze tan I was accustomed to. It was odd since I hadn't been in the sun since I arrived. And the dark brown eyes got lighter enough to call it more of a caramel color. The changes in my body perplexed the doctor, which was the reason for my long stay. I was only allowed to care for the baby because the Doctor said that the changes to me would not affect the baby in any way.
The slight changes made me look like an entirely different person than when I woke up. It seemed to make the man in front of me uncomfortable. We stared at each other for some time before I sighed and left my towel on my shoulders to keep my hair from dripping onto my shirt.
"Look, I don't know who you are or why you are here, but I'm guessing you're related to my angry shadow somehow. Despite his unwanted and annoying protest, I don't have any memories of this place or who I am. And if you don't believe me, you can argue with the doctors who have confirmed that I am telling the truth. Now, could you stop being rude and waiting for me to slip up? I won't because I have no reason to lie about not knowing anything. You can stand there and stare, but it won't change anything. I've tried, and the angry shadow is still here." I threw a stink eye at the young man who stood at the door, glaring right back at me.
"I'm Shikaku Nara. Your husband." My eyes snap back to the new man, my husband, in surprise.
Taking in his features, I frown as the similarities between the baby and him become more striking than the ones between the shadow and the baby. I'm sure when the baby gets older, he will look just like this man.
"Does this mean Doc has given the okay to discharge us?" If he was just here to take the baby, I was going to be pissed.
It's been a week since I got here, and not once did my 'husband' ever check up on me or our child. I wouldn't have known I was married if it wasn't for the information on my chart. I should probably be mad, but I didn't marry this guy. And there was no telling what this woman was like before I arrived. Judging by the distance between us and the animosity from his relative, I believe that Yoshino was not a good wife.
"Yes, you two are getting discharged today. There are some things that the medic would like to talk about before we go." His face was put into a relaxed and sleepy look, but the act didn't fool me for a second.
As if summoned, my Doctor came in, bowing to my husband before nodding at me like I'd asked him to. "Good morning Nara-sama. Before I discharge you, I want to cover some of your condition. For reasons unknown, after your heart failure, your body and chakra system have been changing exponentially. What used to be a typical civilian system is now more like a Genin's chakra coils and reserves. That's just from my last check it's been growing every day and shows no signs of stopping. It wouldn't be much of a problem, but your chakra is entirely unbalanced, with over eighty percent being spiritual. The conditions of your discharge are that you start physical training to try to even out your chakra balance. You will need to come in once a week for regular checkups on your progress as well."
Most of what he said went over my head. I had no idea why this Chakra was important, but if exercising helped me stay out of here, I have no problems. The Doctor said a few things about after birth and my sexual activity, but I had no intention of sleeping with anyone, let alone my husband. He seemed to agree with me since he cut the Doctor short to get me and the baby discharged.
Thankfully, it didn't take long to sign us out and gather the few things I had from this place. It was just the sweats and shirts that they gave all of the patients. I refused to put on the kimono that Yoshino came in. My comfortable look got me a lot of stares as we walked through town. I was focused more on memorizing the path from the Hospital to my new home. Not to mention, the walk was overwhelming with all of the people surrounding us. There weren't only people walking on the dirt street and jumping across the rooftops as easy as breathing.
I have a lot of research to do to make a life for myself in this strange place.