Chapter 1: Awakening
'Where the hell am I?'
Okay, no. Pause.
Backtrack.
She was… somewhere else, right? She wasn't there.
However, for some reason, she didn't know where there was.
Her current setting was nothing like before, that much she was sure of.
Towering masses of wood and leaf loom over her, casting eerie shadows over the forest floor. It was a creepy sort of induced twilight.
She couldn't shake the nagging sensation of being watched as she sat cross-legged on the soft, damp soil of the earth.
Looking straight ahead, she could see the forest tapering off onto a flat land.
A highway sat about a hundred feet away, a worn-down stretch of road. It was nothing fancy, which was fine. Normal. Roads existed. She could accept roads.
The problem was the giant wooden fortress at the end of it. That was a different story altogether.
Her eyes snapped to the gates looming in the distance. Thick slabs of wood, bound together with iron, ancient but unyielding.
And the symbol.
A swirling mark, carved into the surface, encased by the curve of a leaf.
Her fingers drummed absently against her thigh, her thoughts floating in another realm.
Something about that insignia made her uneasy.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, more like something very relevant to her, but out of her memory's embrace.
Which made no sense.
Where would I have seen a random gate emblem before?
She frowned.
A gate emblem is pretty important since it gives you the first impression of what lies ahead. It's either political or something cultural.
Defensive architecture. Shinobi villages had that kind of-
…Wait, Shinobi?
The word hit her brain like a wrong chord.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
She tried to chase the thought, to grab onto it before it slipped away, but the more she focused, the harder it was to hold onto.
Like trying to catch water with her hands.
And then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone.
The realisation left a weird taste in her mouth.
She didn't like it.
She shook her head, humming quietly under her breath. Something familiar, something she knew, even if she didn't remember where she knew it from.
Okay. Whatever. She didn't have enough info to figure out the rest, so it was completely pointless trying to rack her brain further.
Add it to the growing pile of "Things I Don't Get."
Speaking of things she didn't get.
Her eyes flicked back to the gate.
The damn thing was massive. Not just tall, but imposing. This wasn't just a big door. It was a statement.
Stay out, or else…
If there were guards, they weren't visible, which was either good (for her) or bad (also for her).
It was inviting enough, though. Unfortunately, her gut was frantically vetoing any rash decisions.
She takes a few deep breaths. Deep breaths.
Okay, step one: Don't freak out.
Step two: Figure out who the hell she was.
Step thre-
[ Initializing… ]
Her entire body tensed. Hair encroaches her skin.
A sharp flicker in her vision, and then a screen appeared in front of her.
It's a sleek, floating rectangle of black, text glowing against its surface.
Her brain short-circuited.
Oh. Cool. I'm hallucinating. Schizophrenia apparently makes you high, too, and gives you some seriously odd dreams.
'How do you hallucinate in dreams?'
A polite ding echoed in her skull as the words rearranged themselves. She cautiously looks again at the screen, like the screen would blow up if she read its text.
Spoiler Alert: It didn't
[ Welcome, User. ]
She stared.
Then blinked.
A distant drumbeat floats past, and she eagerly tries to emulate it using her knuckles and skull. Wait, focus...
'…What?'
A slow, creeping sensation curled down her spine.
She swallowed.
'Either I've finally snapped, or something is very, very wrong.'
If this isn't a dream, she couldn't imagine what that meant for her. For now, she should play along.
She tilted her head slightly, reading the text again. The screen was calling her User.
User?
Her?
A short, dry laugh escaped her lips.
What a stupid name.
She'd probably never use it.
Again, the screen seemed to react to her thoughts, shifting with an unnatural smoothness.
[ Identity Unknown. Assigned Designation: Hoshiko. ]
She stiffened.
That name…
It felt like her.
Something inside her twisted at the sight of it, like hearing the first notes of a song you'd known. Something really familiar but distant, intimate and wrong.
Hoshiko swallowed hard.
How do you forget your own name? How had she managed to do it?
Her fingers curled unconsciously, nails digging into her palms.
No, more importantly, how do you forget your own face?
She had no idea what she looked like.
As if answering, the screen flickered.
[ Displaying character. Scaling measurements. Loading image. Simulating dimension. Complete. ]
The text vanished, replaced by an image.
A girl.
Suspended in weightless stillness, dressed in a stark white medical gown. Gravity didn't seem to be a concept for her.
Neon-blue hair cascaded in waves, the ends fading into a pale, icy blue. Her eyes, flat, empty, and glowing, are in the shape of a four-point star, a dot of ink anchoring the centre. Her sclerae* are pitch-black, making her star-like irises look as if they're suspended in the night sky itself.. Her features were delicate, eerily perfect. A soft, heart-shaped face, a cute button nose, lips shaded like rose petals. Her skin is pale, snow-white, and flawless.
She was beautiful.
Serene.
Ethereal.
Hoshiko had no idea who she was.
Her breath hitched. A sharp pulse of wrongness twisted in her gut, the disconnect between recognition and unfamiliarity making her head spin. Blood rushes to her head, filling the world around her with a haze.
The screen flickered again.
[ Beginning complete integration. ]
[ Preparing. ]
A wave of dizziness slammed into her.
Her legs buckled. She couldn't feel them any more. Like they never existed in the first place.
She barely had time to reach for a tree before her body gave out, dropping her like a puppet with its strings cut. She collapses onto the ground face-first, her head reeling in panic.
[ Loading files. ]
[ Accessing system directories. ]
[ Scanning current database. ]
The world darkened at the edges.
Her limbs felt detached, her skin going numb.
She tried to focus, but her vision blurred, the glowing letters on the screen swimming together.
[ Downloading data. ]
[ 1% ]
[ 2% ]
[ 3% ]
The numbers increased agonizingly slow.
Her stomach twisted.
Her consciousness faltered.
And immediately, everything turns black.
Kuro.
The screen remained steady and unwavering, like it was completely unaffected by her vision going black. She could see it with her eyes closed, and unconscious.
She, however, had no time to think about that.
Because just then—
"KYAAAAAGH-"
The scream tore from her throat, raw and piercing, but she wasn't sure any voice came out. She wasn't sure of anything, was she?
No. She was sure of one thing.
This was lava. Pure heat made viscous. Whatever was going on, it was causing lava to flow through her nerves and brain.
A chainsaw made of molten iron carved through her skull, splitting her mind down the centre.
It wasn't pain. Calling it pain would be a pitiful understatement.
This was a violation.
A red-hot drill bored into the base of her skull, twisting, grinding, sending out waves of searing agony that crawled through her nerves like they were breaking apart and reassembling at the same time.
She choked on air as she tried to breathe in. No, she wasn't breathing anymore. Her lungs were locked, her chest crushing inward like something was inside her, expanding, devouring.
It felt like her brain was expanding within its bony confines, pushing against them.
Her skull was too small. Too hard.
Why couldn't it be a balloon? Hehe, that would've been funny. Right?
Then a flood hit.
A veritable tsunami of information.
It ripped through her mind, shattering every excuse of a thought.
Words. Images. Concepts.
ANBU.
Byakugan.
Chakra.
_
Jinchūriki.
Biju.
Names, places, ideas, meanings.
She knew them.
Except she didn't.
The knowledge writhed in her brain, alien but somehow intimate, slipping in like worms burrowing into her grey matter.
She could see it all, but it wasn't hers.
Where was she?
She was nowhere.
Nobody. No identity. No self.
Just a sliver of thought drowning in an ocean of foreign sensations and memories, being ripped apart and pieced back together wrong.
Time stopped meaning anything.
Her eyes; They were burning.
No, melting.
It was like her eyelids had been forced open for a week straight, while invisible blades carved into the whites, poison seeping into her irises.
A whimper broke past her lips involuntarily, but she couldn't hear it.
She wasn't in that plane of existence anymore.
Otherwise, she couldn't stand in multiple places at the same time.
A massive crater.
A mountain with carved faces.
A battlefield soaked in blood.
She had seen them. She had never been there.
The impossibility of it made her want to scream again, but she had no mouth. Nobody. No escape.
It hurt.
It hurt too much.
A second passed. A minute. A year.
The pain kept building, layer upon layer, a crushing force she couldn't fight.
Her mind wasn't built for this.
Something was cracking inside her, a splintering sensation in her very existence.
She was going to die.
She was sure of it.
It stopped.
The ungodly sensations. They were gone. Abruptly.
The pain didn't fade. It just vanished, leaving her in its absence like a limb torn off too fast to bleed.
Her mind slammed back into her body, with such momentum it felt like all the air was extracted out of her lungs and her bowels were reorganised.
Her chest heaved, her lungs sucking in air like she'd been choking.
Her limbs were deadweight, her head throbbing with a migraine so vicious it felt like it had teeth.
Her thoughts were gone.
Just an echo of words.
The screen floats lazily into her view, displaying letters like it couldn't care any less. Even though she couldn't see anything past three centimeters, the screen seemed to be four feet away, in the ground, with its text still visible.
Go logic!
[ Memory allocation complete. ]
[ Thank you for your patience, User Hoshiko. ]
She could barely think anymore, due to the strain her head had been under. The crazy psychopath of a migraine no longer wielded a red-hot murder weapon, but it was still a crazy psychopath of a migraine.
She doesn't have the strength to do anything.
She'd become conscious again, but she had no chance of doing anything in this state. She hadn't recovered from all that bull-crap. She was on the cool, dusty earth, lying there, face kissing the earth. She was quite literally eating dirt.
The screen's text warped again, wanting to display new text.
When it had finished, it wasn't alone. A voice narrated the text, soft, deep, distinctly male, speaking directly into her ear.
Detached.
Like a machine trying to sound human, but not quite getting there.
[ Loading interface. ]
[ Setting arbitrary ranges. ]
[ Formatting output. ]
[ Loading "User's Manual" ]
Her head pounded, a slow, throbbing ache that pulsed behind her eyes like a second heartbeat.
A rush of words and images fills her head again, but it's no more than a quarter note* compared to the year-long cacophony of data from before.
She knew them.
Somehow.
But she didn't.
It was just like everything else.
The way her name felt familiar but foreign, the way she had no idea who she was or what she should even look like.
The sheer wrongness of it all coiled inside her, heavy and suffocating.
She needed to distract herself. Hoshiko didn't know if she could handle any more of these thoughts. She wasn't risking it. If she let the weight of it settle in, if she thought about it too hard, she wasn't sure she'd be able to hold herself together. The feeling of losing something vital, of knowing it's gone but not what it was...
Her chest tightened. A strange, breathless laugh almost escaped as it bubbled up her throat.
She swallowed it down.
Hoshiko was out of breath, but she forced herself to move. She sits up and clenches the dirt, leaves crunching, tiny twigs scratching.
The dirt beneath her palms was cool, soft, but solid, grounding her, keeping her here. She dug her fingers in, squeezing hard enough that the dirt got in between her nails.
Focus. Focus on what's real.
The gates still loomed ahead, unmoving, impassive. Watching.
The insignia carved into the wood pulled at something deep in her chest, its meaning just beyond reach.
A gust of wind swept through, lifting strands of her hair, chilling her skin. It sent a ripple through her, not just from the cold, but from the sheer realness of it.
Too vivid. Too tangible.
Dreams didn't feel like this. This wasn't a dream. No way.
Her throat dried. Hoshiko had been hoping it was.
She forced herself to speak.
"Where... am I?"
The sound startled her.
Her voice was thin, fragile and too small.
A child's voice.
But it was hers… Why did that feel wrong?
The screen reacts once again to the question she'd asked out loud.
[ Location: Konohagakure Gates. ]
[ Status: Unknown Entity – Pending Identification. ]
Konohagakure.
That name again.
Her breath hitched, panic latching onto her ribs like a vice.
It was getting harder to ignore the obvious.
She knew this place.
Or rather, she knew of this place.
But the memories weren't hers.
They weren't seen through her own eyes.
They felt distant, foreign. It was like Hoshiko was watching the life of a person through their set of eyes. Pieces of knowledge she had no reason to know flickered at the edges of her mind, but none of it fit, none of it made sense.
She swallowed hard, but the rising tide of confusion and fear didn't let up.
Whose memories are these?
Why are they inside me?
Her pulse spiked.
Her head spun.
Her focus slipped, drowned beneath the weight of everything that didn't make sense.
An eerie ringing filled her ears.
Her skull throbbed, an ache so deep it felt like it was trying to split open.
The edges of her vision blurred, everything softening into a haze of panic and disorientation.
Kada-ping!
A sharp, metallic chime cut through the fog.
[ User Stability: Critical. ]
[ Recommended action: Breathe. ]
She twitched.
Her eye ticked uncontrollably.
"Oh, screw you," she muttered, voice hoarse and weak.
But she obeyed.
She inhaled.
Exhaled.
Slow. Steady.
It didn't fix anything.
It didn't erase the chaos.
At least she wasn't completely losing it.
She wasn't going to get answers just sitting here. Hoshiko brings her hair to the front for her to view. It's the same pretty blue as the girl on the screen.
'Huh. So her body was beautiful. Cool.'
Hoshiko thought that while trying to push down the heavy thumping of her heart.
Her body still felt heavy, sluggish, the lingering aftershocks of whatever that memory allocation process had done to her. But she gritted her teeth and pushed herself up anyway.
Immediately, her legs protested.
They felt like solid lead, weighted down and uncooperative, her muscles sluggish and unresponsive. Her throat was parched, dry as sunbaked earth, and every breath scraped raw against her lungs.
Oh, great.
At this rate, she'd collapse before she even got one damn question answered.
She needed to move.
She needed answers.
She needed to figure out where she was, who she was, what the hell was happening to her.
And right now, the only thing that seemed remotely capable of helping was that damned screen.
Would it tell her?
"Halt."
The voice cut through the air, sharp, clipped, authoritative.
Her head snapped up.
Two figures stood a short distance away, right there in the foliage. They were dressed in dark blue uniforms, metal-plated forehead protectors gleaming under the sunlight.
Hitai-ate. Ninja headbands.
Their posture was rigid, their eyes sharp and assessing. Evaluating her. Judging her threat level.
A piece of soft music plays in her ears, from the direction of the ninja. Her eyes widen in surprise.
The man who had spoken had a slow, smooth jazz flowing around him, the kind of relaxed tune you'd hear in a dimly lit café, something you'd sip coffee to in the morning. Controlled. Collected.
The other?
A saxophone solo, but slightly off-beat, jarring and out of place, adding an element of uncertainty. Not outright hostile, but... lurking, waiting.
And under it all, submerged in the music but still there;
Creeping minor chords.
Subtle. Low.
But unmistakably suspicious.
'They were suspicious of her.'
Her fingers twitched, the urge to drum a rhythm against her thigh bubbling up, but she forced it down.
They were obviously shinobi of that village, because the symbol carved onto their hitai-ate was exactly like that of the on engraved on the massive gates at the end (or start?) of that highway.
And she was, to them, an unknown person hiding in the forest near Konoha's gates.
This… could be a problem.
One of them, a man with short black hair, narrowed his eyes at her.
"State your name and purpose."
Hoshiko's stomach twisted.
Oh, shit. She had nothing. Her throat went dry, her muscles locking up. She was not ready for this.
She swallowed hard, forcing down the panic, but her brain was stuttering, tripping over itself.
This was it.
Her first step into this world.
At least it felt like the first step. What the first step was, and in which direction it was going to be in, she had no idea whatsoever.
She had no idea what the hell to do.
Lie? Tell the truth? Stay silent? What was the right move? What was the-
She didn't need to think anymore, however. She didn't need to take the first step.
Her body would make it for her.
Her vision blurred.
The world lurched.
It was like being yanked backward into deep water, the air turning thick and heavy, pressing against her skull.
Her legs buckled.
Her breath caught.
A slow, creeping blackness curled in at the edges of her sight, devouring everything. Similar to when she'd fainted a few moments back.
Her body gave out.
She barely heard the soft thud as she hit the ground
H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H
The world was quiet.
Or maybe it wasn't.
Sound reached her in fragments. Muffled, distant, like voices carried through water.
She floated between consciousness and something else, something deeper, where thought was sluggish and reality blurred only at the edges. The pain in her head had dulled to a slow, aching throb, like the dying echoes of a storm receding beyond the horizon.
Her body felt disconnected.
Weightless. Unanchored.
Like she was drifting.
Somewhere far away, voices wove in and out of focus.
She couldn't move.
She couldn't think clearly.
"Is she alive?"
A pause.
"Barely. Chakra reserves are almost nonexistent. No headband. No identifying marks. Clothes don't match any known clan or village."
Chakra reserves. Headband. Clan.
The words registered, but they didn't belong to her.
"You think she's a spy?"
Spy?
She wasn't- No-
Wait.
Was she? She couldn't be, right? She didn't have any objectives.
How then could she be a spy? Was the screen a way to see through her eyes? Her heart leapt through her throat. It was getting good at it.
"Doubtful. More like a lost kid."
Lost.
Yeah. That sounded about right.
Hoshiko forced her fingers to move.
A twitch, a shift, something to pull her back into her body. Her limbs felt unresponsive, heavy, like they weren't quite hers yet.
A new sensation broke through the haze.
Something soft pressed against her back.
A bed? No, a futon. Thin, firm beneath her, unfamiliar in a way that made her skin prickle.
Warmth. She was snuggled in a cocoon of warmth.
A hand brushed her wrist, fingers pressing lightly against her pulse.
Real.
The contact sent a jolt through her nerves, dragging her further into wakefulness.
"She's waking up. Inform the Hokage."
The murmur of voices faded.
Footsteps retreated. A door slid shut.
Hoshiko forced her eyes open, blinking against the dim, flickering light. Her vision blurred, then sharpened—wooden beams above her, smooth and polished, structured with an elegance she couldn't place.
She inhaled slowly. Earthy air. The faint scent of paper and candle wax.
This place was foreign.
She turned her head slightly, the movement stiff, sluggish.
The room was simple, almost spartan. A desk sat in the corner, papers stacked in neat, disciplined piles. A single candle burned low, casting faint golden light against the dark.
And beside her was a shadow.
A figure.
Standing still, arms crossed, watching her with wary curiosity.
A ninja.
It took her a moment to register the hitai-ate strapped to his forehead, the familiar insignia etched into it.
A leaf.
Konoha.
Her breath hitched.
This was real.
She was really here.
"You're awake."
The man's voice was deep, steady. His gaze was sharp, assessing, studying her with a measured intensity.
"You collapsed at the gates. Do you remember anything?"
A simple question. Too simple.
But she could hear it.
His chakra.
It thrummed in the air around him, a quick, unsteady reggae rhythm, skipping beats—cautious, waiting.
Not aggressive, not hostile.
Just...watching.
The tempo was louder than it should be. Stronger than the average civilian.
He wasn't just asking.
He was testing.
Hoshiko hesitated, letting the silence drag just long enough to seem uncertain.
A loaded question.
What was she supposed to say?
The truth? No.
Best answer? Feign ignorance.
She was a kid. Small. Weak-looking. Memory loss was an easy card to play.
Her fingers curled into the blanket. She forced herself to look away. Glare at the white sheets.
"I'm... not sure."
The ninja sighed, his posture shifting slightly. No reaction.
Which meant that he'd expected that answer.
"Figured as much. Hokage-sama will want to speak with you."
His hand motioned to the doorway.
"Stay put until then."
Ah.
A trick statement. A knife in the dark
A civilian-born child wouldn't know who or what a Hokage was.
And an outsider, someone who had no business being here, wouldn't know either.
He was fishing.
Trying to see if she knew the title.
Clever.
Hoshiko swallowed down the tension in her throat, keeping her expression carefully blank.
She'd have to be on her toes around these guys.
"What's a 'Hokage'?"
Her voice was small. Curious.
She wasn't sure if her chakra obeyed, if it reflected genuine uncertainty.
The ninja paused.
Just for a second.
Then, without turning fully to face her, he said, slow and quiet.
"A very strong person."
Hoshiko's lips parted slightly.
She couldn't agree more.
And just like that, he stepped away, disappearing through the door.
Silence settled over the room, thick and heavy.
She exhaled, pressing a hand to her forehead. Her smooth hair is just above it, and the warmth of the skin was comforting.
'That was close.'
'Really close.'
H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H=H
'Okay. Okay. I need to think. Fast. What do I even say to the Hokage?'
Her thoughts barely had time to settle before the screen appeared again. She'd forgotten that it wasn't there when she'd become conscious again.
It flickered back into existence, warping into reality like a minimized window snapping open.
White text glowed against the void-like background.
But this time—
A few words were different colors.
[ Story Point Detected. ]
[ Objective to Clear Story Point: Convince the Hokage to not kill you. ]
Her stomach sank.
Kill her?
Kill?
No.
No, no, no...
[ Reward(s) ]
[ Mythic Skill – (Observe) ]
[ Legendary Skill – (Stillwater Chakra) ]
[ ? ]
The tension in her chest twisted.
Mythic. Legendary. Survival.
Her fingers twitched. The soft fabric of the comforter didn't make a noise as she tapped her fingers against it.
Focus. She could do this.
Hiruzen wasn't evil, after all.
She only then noticed something new in the screen.
The word 'Hokage' was grey.
The phrase 'Story Point' was blue.
The title 'Mythic' was gold.
Interesting.
What did these colors mean?
Gold was obvious; It probably meant valuable, rare, important. Story Point was in blue, which meant it was something she'd be seeing a lot.
'But why was 'Hokage' grey?'
The screen responded instantly. It had read her thoughts.
Hoshiko ignored the lump in her throat. She was getting used to this.
[ Query Identified: 'Why was Hokage grey?' ]
[ User Hoshiko is referring to the Third and current Hokage of Konohagakure. ]
[ The title Hokage belongs to the God of Shinobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi. ]
[ Hiruzen is currently feeling neutral towards User Hoshiko. Thus, his titles and name are displayed in grey. ]
[ The color grey signifies emotional neutrality towards User Hoshiko. ]
Hoshiko stared at the words.
…That's surprisingly useful.
She had expected the interface to be unwieldy, cryptic, frustratingly unhelpful, but why she'd thought so was like trying to staple fog.
It answered immediately.
That was… dangerous.
She exhaled slowly, forcing down the unease curling in her chest.
Her eyes flicked back to the text.
Neutral.
The Hokage, the strongest man in the village, the one with absolute authority over whether she lived or died, was neutral toward her.
For now.
That could change in an instant.
Her fingers tightened slightly against the blanket.
This thing, this screen, this whole interface…
It was like a game.
A system of code and mechanics, responsive AI, immersive design, complex objectives—
Something you played for fun.
…Right?
Her jaw clenched.
This was not fun.
This was not a game.
Not for me.
This was her life.
And life was not a joke.
Her breath came faster, sharp and unsteady, anger bubbling in her chest before she forced it down.
No.
If she was going to survive, she had to treat this thing as it was.
Not a challenge.
Not a trick.
Not a joke.
A tool.
She inhaled, then exhaled, steadying her racing pulse.
If it was a tool, she needed to learn how to use it.
Efficiently.
Before it used her.
Calm down Hoshiko.
Inner Peace.
'What are the rewards? What do they do?'
...
Nothing.
The screen didn't respond.
Hoshiko frowned.
Why isn't it recognizing that as a query?
Was her question too broad? Maybe it was asking for too much at once? Or maybe... some information was restricted.
Hmm.
Then maybe she should try asking something more specific.
She inhaled slowly, then focused.
'What could Mythic Skill: (Observe) be?'
The screen flickered to life.
Yes!
Her guess was right. It had to be specific.
[ Query Identified: 'What could (Observe) be?' ]
[ Query Limit: 2 out of 3. ]
[ User Hoshiko is referring to the Mythic Skill: (Observe). ]
[ (Observe) enables User Hoshiko to scan and identify a target's statistics, including name, race, titles, hit points, chakra points, power level (compared to User Hoshiko), and other relevant information. ]
[ It works on all things, including objects, conditions, phrases, and more. ]
[ Please unlock skill for more accurate information. ]
Hoshiko's breath hitched.
That was... insane.
Even with limited details, she could already tell how powerful this was.
Knowing the enemy was the first step to victory.
And this?
This wasn't just knowing the enemy. This was reading them like an open book.
She wanted it. Badly.
Forget combat, this would make her unbeatable at poker.
Unless, of course, there were restrictions on who she could (Observe).
That would be a bummer.
Something else caught her eye.
[ Query Limit: 2 out of 3. ]
Hoshiko's brows furrowed.
That wasn't there the first time she asked a question.
Which meant...
The first query didn't count?
Or maybe...
She only gets a limited number of questions per day?
That was annoying.
She wasn't sure why she had a limit, but she had only one left.
She needed to use it wisely.
Her gaze flickered back to the remaining skills.
(Stillwater Chakra).
The name was intriguing.
Stillwater means calm, undisturbed water.
Chakra was... well, chakra. Spiritual energy.
So, calm chakra?
That... didn't sound like much.
If anything, it sounded useless.
Every competent ninja knew how to keep their chakra flow stable. That was basic control.
So why was it Legendary?
That made no sense.
Hoshiko's stomach twisted.
Wait.
How did she know that? How did she know that ninjas were good at keeping chakra flow stable?
The thought slammed into her like a truck.
Her fingers curled instinctively, nails pressing into her palm.
No.
No, she wasn't going down that rabbit hole again.
That way lies nothing but danger.
She forced her thoughts away and exhaled slowly.
'Focus, Hoshiko.'
She had one question left.
Might as well use it.
What about Legendary Skill: (Stillwater Chakra)?
The screen flickered.
[ Query Identified: 'What about Legendary Skill: (Stillwater Chakra)?' ]
[ Daily Query Limit: 1 out of 3 left. ]
[ Like a tranquil lake undisturbed by even the strongest winds, your chakra betrays nothing. ]
[ (Stillwater Chakra) grants absolute control over the emotional resonance of your chakra, preventing sensor-type shinobi, dojutsu users, or even instinctual empaths from perceiving your true feelings. ]
[ Please unlock skill for more accurate information. ]
Hoshiko's eyes widened.
...Oh.
Oh, that's why.
She wasn't completely wrong about it being calm chakra, but she had missed the bigger picture.
This was chakra suppression at the highest level.
A sensor ninja wouldn't just fail to read her chakra.
They wouldn't even realize she was hiding anything.
Her emotions, her intent, her presence itself would be completely silent.
No wonder it was Legendary.
She would be impossible to read.
Even against someone with a dojutsu.
Hoshiko exhaled slowly, processing.
This was way too good.
She could use it against Hiruzen, right?
Then why was she only getting it after the meeting?
That was... irritating.
Even (Observe) would be useful against him.
Was it that she'd learn these skills while convincing him?
Like, she'd develop them naturally during the conversation?
She shifted slightly, tapping her fingers in the groove between two knuckles of her clenched fist.
That would explain why they were rewards.
But if that was the case...
Then what the hell was the mystery reward?
Hoshiko frowned, fingers unclenching and tightening against the blanket.
At least Query Limit was straightforward. It showed how many queries she had left, not how many she had used.
Neat.
And it reset daily.
Neater.
More than that, though... the system was changing. Adapting.
It was clarifying information, subtly guiding her without being too obvious.
Was it... sentient?
Her thoughts barely finished forming before the screen flashed again.
[ System integration complete. Test run successful. ]
[ Welcome to Apricity. ]
[ Complete quests. Gain rewards. And most importantly—survive. ]
[ Apricity is the once-impossible shortcut to extreme power. It grants access to near-divine abilities—at a cost. ]
[ Apricity is your second chance. How you use it will determine your fate. ]
[ Use it well, User Hoshiko. ]
[ Survive. ]
Hoshiko stared.
The words sat there, glowing white against the dark screen.
Survive.
Not win. Not thrive.
Just. Survive.
A slow chill crawled down her spine.
What kind of system introduced itself like that?
'A shortcut to extreme power—at a cost.'
She didn't like that phrasing.
Not one bit.
'Hey, God, I dunno, maybe pick literally anyone else for this bullshit?!'
The urge to scream at the sky was real.
What even was this? A cosmic joke? Some kind of divine practical prank?
Second chance?
Second chance for what?
Had she died before? Was she supposed to be here?
Her stomach twisted uncomfortably.
No.
No, she wasn't doing this right now.
Don't question it.
Just. Calm down.
Deep breaths.
She forced herself to focus.
First of all, Hiruzen.
He could be here any time now. She had to finish this Story Point or whatever. Otherwise, she would die.
A finger of cold trails down her back.
What was the plan?
Obviously, she had to convince him to let her live.
But the wording of the objective still bothered her.
'Convince the Hokage not to kill you.'
The system made it sound like failure meant instant death.
Hoshiko seriously doubted that.
Hiruzen wasn't the kind of man to just kill a random child on sight.
He'd probably try and get something out of her, if there even was something.
She had nothing to hide.
Because as far as she knew, she didn't have any secrets. She had nothing.
And that?
That was another problem.
An innocent person can prove their innocence, provided they have evidence.
But if you had nothing? No past, no history, no proof?
Then you weren't innocent.
You were suspicious.
Hoshiko exhaled sharply.
It wouldn't be too difficult. She'd find a way.
Now, how could she convince the konohagakure ninja hokage to let her free and not kill her.
A stray thought hit her.
Wait.
If Hiruzen existed...
Did that mean…?
Her breath caught.
A face flashed in her mind.
Blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
An obnoxious grin.
Ramen.
Naruto.
Naruto existed.
And that meant…
Sasuke.
Hinata.
Sakura.
The weight of that realization sent a jolt through her chest.
They're all real.
She was here, in the world she shouldn't have been in.
But then, why could she only remember a handful of names?
She knew there were more.
So many more.
But when she tried to think past those names, her mind hit a wall.
A blank space.
No.
Not blank.
Blocked.
A warning bell rang in her head.
Something was wrong.
And just as the thought solidified—
Ka-ping!
The screen flickered.
[ Your memories have been withheld. ]
Hoshiko froze.
Her chest tightened.
...Huh.
This time, there wasn't a Query thingy.
…How odd.
It felt wrong, like something was missing.
Why was Apricity withholding her memories?
…
Just don't question it.
That was going to be her motto, wasn't it?
Ugh.
Fine. Tool.
No. Not "tool."
Didn't it call itself 'Apricity'?
Apricity.
Why was its name Apricity?
What even was apricity?
[ Query Identified: 'What is apricity?' ]
[ Error. Query matching multiple results. ]
[ Analyzing intent. ]
[ Backtracking thought processes leading to the Query. ]
[ Revised Query: 'Define the word "apricity".' ]
Hoshiko froze.
…Backtracking thought processes?
Did it edit her question?
It decided what she meant to ask?
That was wrong.
No.
No, no, no.
She wasn't dealing with some basic menu system.
Apricity wasn't just reading her thoughts.
It was tracking them.
Before she could fully process that, more text flickered onto the screen.
[ Daily Query Limit: 0 out of 3. All Queries are now resolved for today. ]
[ Apricity is a noun. ]
[ It is very rarely used. ]
[ It means "the warmth of sunlight in the winter." ]
Hoshiko blinked.
…That's it?
That's all it meant?
It was trying to sound poetic or something?
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
That was some pretentious shit.
And what was worse? She'd just wasted her last Query of the day on a freaking dictionary definition.
Before she could even groan about it, the screen flickered again.
[ Now you've done it. I was going to give you an extra Query, but now I'm not going to. ]
Hoshiko stared.
…
What.
What.
Who—when—whe—
HUHHHHH?
She snapped upright, gripping the blanket.
That was not a pre-written system message.
That was a person.
Apricity just responded to her. Like it was alive.
Her throat went dry.
She swallowed.
"…Who are you?"
…
Nothing.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!"
[ I don't find it necessary to grant your ignorant sentences answers. ]
…
Oh.
Oh.
This bitch.
Not only was Apricity sentient, but it was a smug, passive-aggressive bastard.
She barely had time to process that when—
[ Alert! ]
[ Your (Luck) attribute statistic has decreased drastically in value. ]
[ This will greatly affect the outcome of any major event. ]
[ User Hoshiko's chances of convincing Hokage Hiruzen have significantly diminished. ]
[ Apricity hopes this teaches User Hoshiko something. ]
Hoshiko's brain short-circuited.
Her luck stat? What?!
She screwed up.
She messed with Apricity, and now it was punishing her.
Her fingers clenched into the blanket, breathing quickly and shallowly.
That smug bastard was just messing with her. Maybe it wasn't true? Maybe Apricity can't really do that?
No, that's stupid. It's clearly powerful enough to do that.
Shit!
Holy Shit!
I take it back!
Why did I do that? Seriously, am I stupid or what?
I was joking, dude! Don't take it so seriously!
Please! Take it back!
Pretty please!
Ka-ping!
[ … ]
[ Changes have been made in the difficulty in clearing the Story Point. ]
[ Re-calculating. ]
[ Rewards have been adjusted accordingly. ]
[ Revised rewards ]
[ Mythic Perk: Aegis of Vitality ]
[ Mythic Skill - (Observe) ]
[ Legendary Skill – (Stillwater Chakra) ]
[ Legendary Skill: (Steadfast Mind) ]
[ Rare Perk: (Calculator Precison) ]
[ ? ]
She wanted to wail in despair, 'Please take the luck thing away…'
Only then did she notice the extra rewards that had been added.
'Wait. Those skills sound super cool!'
But still, they wouldn't matter if she failed.
That was stupid, it was very tough for her to fail. Hiruzen was a kind person, and he valued life. He wouldn't simply kill off a person without properly understanding them. Unless they were someone who posed a legitimate threat to the village, he wouldn't just kill the person.
This whole thing was stupid. Apricity was giving her free stuff, even though it was a little bitc- benevolent.
'Never mind. Me likey.'
The screen shifts, and responds.
[ Need I remind you the golden word? ]
'Uh, no. Sorry that you had to remind me, Apricity, I usually have better… manners…'
Did she, though? Did she have better manners? And when did she have better manners? What was her past?
Knowing her dilemma, Apricity butts in.
[ Cat got your tongue? ]
'I'll ignore that jibe because you just gave me something super cool.'
Also, before she started going down that rabbit hole again, she should remind herself.
Just don't question it.
'Thanks, Apricity.'
…
Apricity doesn't reply, the screen simply removes all text on it.
She sighs, and it's a long, weary sigh.
So now she had a thought reading tool-
Ka-ping!
'Okay! Okay! I get it! I didn't think it would be insulting to you. S-s-s-sorry.'
Ting
[ Now was that so hard, itty-bitty Hoshiko? ]
…
Hold up.
What was this impulse to throw something hard at the taunting screen?
Why did she, out of the blue, want to draw faces on the floating LCD?
Huh. Must be something related to a very cocky, very annoying, supremely egoistic voice in her head.
Ting
[ Apricity conveys its utmost condolences for the munificent voice in User Hoshiko's head ]
…Could games do stuff like this?
Her new motto came to mind. Again.
Just don't question it.
Before she got sidetracked again, she had to start planning how to face the Hokage.
She needed to survive.
But why?
Naruto exists.
And so do his enemies.
Something stirred in her gut. A strange, heavy feeling settled in her chest, tightening like a knot. Her throat felt thick, and before she could stop them, tears welled up in her eyes.
From sadness.
From pain.
Oh, Naruto.
He didn't know it yet, but his life was only going to get worse.
Hoshiko clenched the blanket between her fingers. There was something about him, something that felt so achingly familiar. Like she had known him for a long, long time. She could relate to him. She could feel for him.
She had watched him fight, struggle, and smile through the pain.
And now, here she was.
In his world.
And she knew what was coming.
Naruto was going to be beaten, shunned, left to rot. He would grow up alone, hated, unwanted. And yet, somehow, he would still smile.
That was what broke her the most.
Hoshiko exhaled shakily, pressing a hand over her eyes.
Why did she feel this way?
Why did it hurt so much?
It wasn't fair.
No child deserved to be treated like that. No one deserved to feel unwanted.
And Naruto… Naruto was the kind of person who would never give up on someone.
If he had been in her place, if he had known she was here,
He would have saved her.
That realization hit her deep.
It would be a letdown if she didn't do the same.
A shaky, breathless laugh escaped her lips.
She wasn't a hero. She wasn't a ninja. She wasn't strong or brave or powerful.
But she was here.
And she had a choice.
She would help him.
She would protect him.
She would change the future.
Above all, she would do it to the best of her ability.
That, she sincerely promised.
The screen shivered.
Ka-ping!
Text appeared, as expected. Apricity had probably seen her change in motivation and reacted accordingly.
[ Alert! ]
[ Major Story Point Alteration Detected. ]
[ Revising conditions. ]
[ Calculating. ]
[ New Story Point Objective ]
[ Convince the Third Hokage to let you become a Konohagakure ninja. ]
[ Rewards ]
[ Mythic Perk - Aegis of Vitality ]
[ Mythic Skill - (Observe) ]
[ Legendary Perk – (Spirit Forge) ]
[ Legendary Skill – (Stillwater Chakra) ]
[ Legendary Skill - (Steadfast Mind) ]
[ Rare Perk - (Calculator Precision) ]
[ Rare Perk – (Hermes's Blessing) ]
[ Common Skill: Stealth ]
[ ? ]
Huh.
The title 'Third Hokage' was colored orange. She could easily guess why and what that meant.
No wonder the rewards have increased. This was going to be easy, though.
She was only a kid, alone and completely innocent.
She hoped the orange didn't mean that he hated her.
Now that would be really bad.
Might as well have a target painted on her head.
Creeeak-
The moment before he stepped into the room, the air shifted.
The chakra hit her first. A deep, booming, thumping drumbeat, like a guiding drum. Rhythmic, steady, and calm. It was so loud that she almost didn't notice the thirteen other songs following him in.
Almost.
The pressure of his chakra was palpable, easily the most she'd sensed in a person. She could easily tell that he was also the most powerful ninja in Konoha, currently.
So this was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
She'd expected a frail, aging Hokage she had once seen in the little memories Apricity had allowed her. His hair, still thick and black with only the first hints of silver creeping in, was cropped short and disciplined, like the man himself. A few strands of grey lined his temples, but they only added to the sense of authority, not age. He was still in his prime—middle-aged, but unbent. Even then, she could feel the weight of his presence. The immense pressure of his demeanor, the heavy but silent footsteps and…
And those eyes. Dark. Unreadable. Cold. The hat, signifying his designation had the kanji for 'fire' emblazoned beautifully on it.
The element was the exact opposite of the look he was giving her.
They'd locked onto her the moment they found her. She could practically hear the quiet monologue that was ongoing in his head.
The music suddenly faltered. So did she.
Her mouth had opened to speak, but the change in his music caught her off guard.
Chains raked across barren rock and clanked. The drum beats became faster, sharper. More ominous. A bell clanked, a temple bell, but all she heard was the demonic ringing of metal clashing.
'Wh-what?'
The moment he'd looked at her, the music shifted completely. It wasn't calm and guiding anymore, but instead heavy, mournful and most of all, scary.
It was something straight out of her worst nightmares, the music.
She shivered.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was freaking scary.
How the hell did orange make that much of a difference?
Her heartbeat quickened, her exhalations became abrupt.
[ Alert! ]
[ Quest Failed! ]
Her mind blanks out. All her thoughts freeze. Everything goes numb.
Her eyes glued themselves to the screen in front of her.
Quest Failed!
Cold.
Cold, cold emptiness erupts in her stomach.
Heya guys! Long time no see!
Sorry, I was a little busy…
I was actually binge reading everything on ffnet when I ran into this seriously GOATed Naruto fanfic section related to 'The Gamer'. The fanfics there were mostly gamer isekai types, but I really liked how everything worked. The troupe was fairly new for me, so I had a biased opinion on them, and I decided that they were the best kind of Naruto fanfics.
That's where this story starts.
In short, I started something I hope I can finish. This chapter is basically an appetizer. No joke.
Another important thing to note:
I've decided that unless I get atleast fifty views, I'm not posting the next chapter. It's not that I'm being like one of those crappy youtubers that try to force you to like their vids, no, I just don't want to waste my own time.
I want to know whether you guys even like this thing, so that I can just start on the next chapter. Trust me, as much as it pains me to say this, but I don't have as much as time free anymore. I worked real hard on this chapter, and got some reviews from some people online (Shout out to my homie, DarkFire, the GOAT. They're the one who managed to convince me to post this chapter, however unintentional it may be.) to further refine it.
Really hope you liked it, and crossing my fingers that I didn't waste my time.