"Psst, Kitsuji." Someone next to me whispered. "Wake up."
A hand shook my shoulder roughly.
"Seriously Kitsuji, wake up already!" It was less of a whisper this time, more like they were talking right in my ear.
"For what?!" I groaned out a response, instinctively swatting away at the hand that was STILL shaking me.
Seriously, I hated being forcefully woken up instead of naturally exiting my sleep.
And who's Kitsuji?
My thoughts were jumbled, still partially submerged within the realm of dreams.
"You can't be serious?"
It was a girl's voice, and she sounded absolutely done with me.
That's weird. I don't remember having anyone over last night.
"We're in the middle of class! If you're gonna sleep in here fine, but at least do it somewhere else so I don't get caught in the crossfire!"
My eyebrows furrowed at her words, eyelids fluttering open but vision still blurry.
"The hell are you talking about?" I let out, attempting to sit up straight as I rubbed my eyes, "I'm not in school anymor-"
"Kitsuji!, Ino!," A male voice rang out loud and clear, cutting me off. "Are you two done chatting or can I continue my lesson?"
What?
Like someone dropped a cube of ice directly down my back, my head immediately flew up as I sat up ramrod straight. My vision quickly cleared as I finally took in my surroundings.
I was in a classroom, its layout similar to a college, with raised seats that went higher. There was a podium and chalkboard in the center of the room and standing directly In front of it stood a tan skinned man. He wore a green flak jacket, his brown hair tied up in a ponytail and a prominent scar on the bridge of his nose.
He was staring in my direction, arms crossed, eyes narrowed and looking between me and the girl who'd woken me up as if we'd personally insulted him.
"I-Iruka Sensei!" The girl responded with a hitch in her voice and shifty eyes. She was a blonde girl with a high ponytail, a single bang covering one of her light green eyes, her ensemble a simple black dress and shorts. "I wasn't chatting! I was just trying to get this lazy bum to wake up!"
What?!
"Sleeping in class again Kitsuji?" The man gave me a pointed look, reminding me of an older brother who'd caught you doing something stupid. "How are you ever going to graduate and become a genin if you can't even pay attention?"
WHAT?!?!
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
"If this keeps up you're never going to be able to pass- hey Kitsuji? Are you listening to me?"
Whatever he said next I didn't hear, all I could do was swivel my head in a full one eighty, feeling completely out of my element as I took in a plethora of eyes looking at me from all over the room.
A brown haired boy who was kind of chubby munched on some potato chips while eyeing me with a tilted head.
Next to him, a pony-tailed black haired kid who was in the middle of yawning, his spine cranking back as he stretched. Besides him, another black haired kid with short spiky hair in a white trench coat pushed up his shades.
In a row all by himself, a black haired kid with an apathetic demeanor met eyes with me for a split second, before clicking his tongue and turning his gaze out the window.
Oh.
More and more I picked up on people with distinct characteristics.
A row below me, a pink haired girl in a red dress was sending goo goo eyes at that apathetic boy, while two seats down from them was a boy with a white dog on his lap and strange markings on his face.
He was currently whispering something to a girl with chin length blue hair who was nervously pointing her fingers together. On and on it went, before my gaze finally settled on one blonde haired boy on my right.
I froze.
Oh fuck! Is that who I think it is?
The blonde squinted his blue eyes at me, the whisker marks on his cheek making him look incredibly fox-like as he did it. "The heck are you looking at me like that for? I'm not the one who snitched!"
To my left, the one who 'snitched' scoffed, "It's probably your stupidity rubbing off on him. You guys both share one brain cell and you're currently using it."
"Hey!"
"Naruto, Ino, knock it off, you can squabble somewhere that isn't my classroom. Kitsuji, stop dozing off and focus."
I looked down at my hands only to see them smaller than I remember.
"Oh fuck." I whispered.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't curse in my class, Kitsuji."
Okay seriously who the hell is Kitsuji???
Suddenly it clicked.
Wait….I'm Kitsuji?
"Oh fuck!"
The teacher gained a tick mark on his forehead, vein bulging as his eyes narrowed.
"Did you not hear me?! Shut up and pay attention! That goes for all of you!"
"Yes Sensei!" there was a chorus of voices, some enthusiastic and others grumbling.
I raised my hand, trying to stop the trembling. My throat felt dry, my tongue heavy.
Iruka raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I uh, I have to use the restroom."
He gave me a weird look, along with Ino who I saw out of the corner of my eye.
"So? Just go, you don't need to ask for that."
"Right." I confirmed, keeping my legs steady in fear that they'd shake. My adrenaline was pumping at an all time high and it took everything I could to walk down the stairs with calmness on my features.
When I exited the classroom, I was greeted by an empty hall.
My body quickly moved down the hallway and to the right. Somehow, I instinctively knew where the bathroom was. When I got inside I immediately beelined for the stall, afraid that anyone could come in and start questioning me if they saw me.
It was only when I sat down on the toilet cover that I allowed myself to relax even the tiniest of bits.
But it was only for a moment.
I gasped, as a sharp pain hit me, like someone had grabbed a nail, put it in my forehead and then hammered it down.
Hands gripping at my head, I groaned slowly, the pain throbbing before it slowly faded, and as it did, memories came to me.
(Flashback)
A man and woman smiling over me in a cradle.
A baritone voice filled with happiness along with a sweet cheerful voice, one packed to the brim with love.
My parents.
A piercing roar that caused the windows to shatter.
A feeling of malice that caused chests to tighten and breaths to draw short.
Panicked yells and a keen scream before a flash of light.
Warmth. that slowly increased in intensity, turning from a bonfire into a twisting inferno
Fire.
Fire everywhere.
The burnt husks of a woman, her skin charred and blackened, her form hovering over me in an embrace.
Suddenly and abruptly the fire was gone, its heat and passion replaced with wetness and calm.
Then…silence.
Silence for a long time.
The younger me was not able to comprehend the situation, couldn't possibly understand that it was his mothers body holding him.
He…no…I spent what felt like an eternity there, staring at her corpse.
Eventually, her body was moved to the side. In its place, a man in a mask, clothing black, grabbing a hold of me and pulling me close.
Darkness.
Then light.
A white room, wires hooked up to my body as beeps sounded off in my ears.
An old man in armor entered, looking extremely sad.
He spoke, though my childish mind couldn't translate, saying something to a nurse who'd walked in shortly after he did.
She gave him a shake of her head and he sighed heavily, before nodding.
He walked out thereafter, never looking back.
The memories quickly sped up from there.
An orphanage, tasteless meals, and mean children.
Some were kind of course, but most weren't.
There was a lot of time spent like this, before the old man appeared again.
This time he wore a fancy hat, the kanji for fire engraved upon it, his white and red robes blowing in the wind.
"Hokage." My orphan siblings whispered to each other fervently, the title spoken with reverence.
Then he asked a single question that caused the entire orphanage to grow excited. Gasps and large smiles all around, the younger me included.
"Do you want to be a ninja?"
Who would be stupid enough to say no?
(Flashback end)
The pain eventually faded away and when it did the memories finally settled down within me.
My name is Kitsuji Batto, or at least, this body's name was Kitsuji Batto..
I was an orphan who now lived alone in a small rundown apartment, currently twelve years old and an academy student.
At the same time I was also ___ ___ a twenty year old who'd fallen asleep at their desk and woke up in Kitsuji's body.
It was incredibly disorienting.
I can't seem to remember what my actual name was or would it be my previous self's name? Oh I still had memories of my other life, that didn't magically disappear or anything. My mother and father, brothers and sisters' faces came to me easily. My coworkers at my first job, the couple of girlfriends I'd hooked up with, my first apartment, hell even my first dog.
But when I tried to actually name them it was like trying to grab a hold of smoke.
I stared at the stall door in front of me dumbly. A numb feeling spreading throughout my extremities.
It took all of five seconds before I grasped my head with both hands and let the panic run its full course.
"Oh Fuck! Oh Fuck! Oh Fuck!" I tried to whisper but it probably came out louder than I wanted.
This was not good, this was not good at all. I'd been reborn/reincarnated into the world of Naruto.
Now, I have plenty of friends who'd gladly take this 'opportunity' and run with it. They'd probably be really excited, eager to learn how to be a ninja and throw around jutsu.
Unfortunately, I wasn't any of those people.
Why? Because I could see the bigger picture.
Like the fact that unless you were the main character with plot armor and literal ancient blood in your body, you're probably nothing more than canon fodder.
Barring the rare few exceptions like Might Guy.
And let me just say…right now? I was less than cannon fodder.
When I was six I was enrolled in the academy like everyone else.
At nine years old we're taught how to utilize our chakra, that being us orphan and civilian kids, not the clan kids.
Of course I unlocked mine like everybody else back then, that wasn't the issue.
The issue was that 'past me' realized something about himself on that day.
Past me had small reserves.
And when I say 'small reserves' I really mean, 'how the hell am I not just a civilian at this point' small!
Okay, maybe not that bad, but I definitely had way less chakra than Sakura.
Which in a world in which chakra was basically everything? I might as well have been born missing a couple fingers.
Forget Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, 'past me' had struggled to even do the leaf sticking exercise. It was literally the easiest chakra control exercise.
Of course, everyone knew that the less chakra you had, the smaller your potential as a ninja.
With this discovery, 'past me', disheartened and disillusioned by his own mediocrity, started to not put in his full effort. Of course this inevitably led to him doing worse in class, and as his peers slowly but quickly surpassed him he tried even less.
The mocking words and jeers from his peers only made 'past me' feel worse, which concurrently wore down his enthusiasm to try harder, eventually leaving me in the body of a kid who was literally at the bottom of the class.
I'm serious. Somehow 'past me' was lower than academy student naruto!
No, forget the past. This is now the present. Present me is lower than academy student naruto!
I grit my teeth, the hands gripping my head tightening.
I was starting to feel a bit more than just frustrated at my situation.
And it wasn't because this kid had spent his whole life feeling sorry for himself due to the death of our parents. Nor could I judge the lack of any real talent, that was just the hand that was dealt to us. It wasn't even the constant pity parties that 'past me' would put himself through or the sleeping in class.
No, it wasn't any of those things that ticked me off.
It was the fact that he'd given up!
There were no attempts to improve our body, no attempts to strengthen our chakra capacity or control, no library visits to gain knowledge and wisdom.
Hell! The only actual real improvement by 'past me' was in the mandatory training that we were literally required to do while at the academy.
Forget frustration, scratch out ticked off, I'm pissed!
He'd been content with coasting by, and when that wasn't working he decided to be content with failing.
If there was one thing I despised more than anything it was someone who wasn't willing to work on themselves to be better!
Wallowing in misery only makes things worse, choosing to stay stagnant instead of moving forward would only keep you complacent.
I knew this from experience.
And in a world of ninja? Complacency could and would get you killed.
How? How the hell was I supposed to survive this world with such a low baseline? I didn't even have a steady foundation to build on because this kid wasted six years of our body's life.
I slapped my cheeks a few times to shake off the sheer frustration along with the building fear and panic.
Dammit! If I keep thinking about all the negatives it'll do nothing but keep me stuck.
I need to calm down and view things from a bird's eye view, separate my emotions and try to think rationally.
I have to be able to see the bigger picture here.
First things first, I need to acknowledge a few things right off the bat.
One, I'm now in the world of Naruto and everything that comes with it. Which includes and is not limited to, subterfuge, assassinations and warlords. Superhuman ninjas who can throw the elements at you while mind controlling you, plus giant tailed beasts the size of mountains who can and will obliterate you with a swing of their limbs.
This was a world in which someone could literally drop meteors on your head.
Trap you in an infinite time loop.
Hell, summon the fucking god of death itself and seal you away for all eternity.
On top of that there was a plethora of megalomaniacs. Each with their own agenda, whether it be destroying the world or gaining immortality.
Between the crazy S ranked ninja in the Akatsuki, Obito included, there was also Madara fucking Uchiha to consider. You know, the dude who they had to make an entirely bullshit plotline just to get rid of because they wrote him to be too powerful? And speaking of that, I also had to keep in mind that there were literal fucking aliens a bit further down the line…
And now I was a part of it. Even worse, I wasn't even a main character.
I was literally one of those nameless nobody kids who didn't even make it into a genuine Genin squad in the show.
In every sense of the phrase, I was at the bottom of the totem pole. Which meant that I was going to more than likely receive zero help, and with zero guidance outside of what the academy taught me.
An academy in which I was currently failing at, worse than anybody in my class…
A lump caught in my throat.
Ok you know what, this isn't helping.
I forced myself to stand up, the small space of the stall making the sudden movement a bit awkward as I almost fell over before I stabilized myself.
I then took long deep breaths and exhaled slowly, forcefully calming myself down.
Remember, think of the bigger picture, look outside the box.
How was I going to survive this?
My thoughts spun with options, scenarios and ideas before eventually one glaring fact became prominent.
"None of these plans will work if I'm not strong enough to enact any of them."
Forget the future, I wouldn't even have a future if I didn't secure the present.
The first step was clear, I needed to get stronger. And quick. Screw this supposed 'handicap' on this body.
I have actual fucking superowers, no matter how weak they may be, along with imagination on my side.
With those two things, along with some grit and determination, there was no 'true' limitation.
Already I had a few ideas on how I could get stronger. The semantics could be figured out later though, for now I needed to get back to class before anyone got suspicious.
I ran a hand through my hair, shoulders sagging as I sighed before I opened the stall door.
Immediately a young man stood there and I jumped, only to chuckle as I realized I was spooked by my own reflection,
I had spiky black hair that reached my nape, it naturally slicked back, all the while dull eyes the color of steel gazed back.
My eyebrows were sharp and I'd probably look like a cute enough kid if it didn't look like I would fall asleep at any moment.
The small bags under my eyes were a testament to that.
"So this is me huh." I couldn't help but mumble while observing my rather boring outfit which was a simple tan t-shirt along with some baggy shorts. "Well at least I'm not ugly."
"Someones a bit vain." a voice came from the bathroom entrance.
I stumbled and ended up kicking the vanity with my big toe, the sandals I wore doing nothing to stop it from happening.
"Fuck!" I cursed, hopping on one foot.
There stood Shikamaru Nara, an amused look on his face. He was a bit different from how he looked in the anime, his eye shape was a bit narrower than I expected and back in the classroom I didn't really get a good chance to study his features.
My memories of him were clear enough, we weren't friends per say, acquaintances at best, but he was one of the cooler guys here.
"What are you doing here?" I questioned while shooting a nasty glare, my toe throbbing.
He raised an eyebrow. "It's the bathroom."
"Oh, right." I lamely replied.
He walked to the sink, turning the tap on before splashing his face with water.
"Also, Iruka Sensei told me to check on you, in his words, 'hurry it up'."
"Gotcha."
There was a pause as he grabbed a towel and wiped his face, while I gave myself one more look-over in the mirror, fixing my ruffled clothing. "You alright?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
He gave me a side eye.
"Because you look like you're trying to keep down your breakfast and failing."
"Just a minor headache." I lied as easily as I breathed. "Started in the morning but got worse throughout class, tried sleeping it off but Ino snitched on me."
He smirked. "I know how that is. You should've thought of that before you sat next to her today."
"In my defense, I DID have a massive headache, wasn't exactly thinking straight."
"Uhuh, so now it's a massive headache eh? Thought it was 'minor'."
I paused. Physically having to stop myself from facepalming as I was called out immediately on my fib.
Right, analyzing people's words and spotting inconsistencies was literally first grade stuff here.
Come to think of it, I didn't even notice him coming into the bathroom earlier.
Awareness was definitely on my list of things to improve on.
"I also said it grew worse, smart ass." I griped back, "Why are you concerned anyway? Usually you don't give a damn."
I chose to change the subject.
From my memories of academy life I didn't really recall Shikamaru caring about anything other than getting sleep and playing shogi.
He hummed, amused, before giving me a pat on the shoulder and headed into a stall.
"I really don't, the face you made when you smashed your toe was pretty funny though."
I flipped him off, "Dick."
"Anyways," I heard him voice out. "I'm gonna nap for an hour or two, if Iruka sensei asks where I am just say I'm in the nurse's office for a headache."
I deadpanned. "You think he'll really fall for that?"
I waited for a response.
"...*snore*"
I was speechless.
Did this bastard literally fall asleep five seconds after talking to me?
How is that even possible?
Throwing off the weirdness of the situation I sighed before walking out of the bathroom, leaving Shikamaru to his dreams.
The classroom was right around the corner, and as I entered Iruka shot me a look before going back to his current lecture.
I spent the next three hours in agony, doing everything I could to avoid looking like a farmer's boy entering the big city as I tried not to stare at all these memorable characters.
Everyone basically ignored me, as I was considered the dead last of the class but wasn't as much of an annoyance as Naruto.
Eventually class ended and I exited the classroom.
My mind on a singular mission.
Those in my class paid me no attention as I left the school, muscle memory kicking in, leading me down the streets of Konoha. With my memories it was easy to figure out where to go from there, but the more mundane side of me was still in awe as I gazed at the city.
Konoha was NOT a small village and it showed in every way from the jam packed streets to the clamor of people.
When the Hokage mountain came into sight I had to stop for a moment to take in the image.
"This is actually nuts."
I breathed out, still blown away that I was literally in Naruto.
The four faces there, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze, gazed over the village like behemoths. Their heads casting a shadow on the village as the sun had begun to set.
It took longer than I was willing to admit for me to stop gawking like an idiot and force myself to continue walking home.
Eventually my footsteps lead me to a rundown apartment, Its front dilapidated but not squarely in the poverty area just yet.
Getting inside was easy, my key hidden under a plant in front of my front door entrance.
I sweat-dropped.
That's gotta be the stupidest place to hide a key to your home in a village full of ninja.
It had one bedroom and bathroom, a small kitchen and living room and a decent sized porch.
Luckily, the previous me wasn't a slob, he kept things somewhat orderly. Though there was a bit of dirty laundry laying around, it wasn't anything that could be confused for a pig sty.
However, cleaning up was the last thing on my mind.
As I walked through the empty house, heading towards the bedroom, I thought of the previous me. Or should I say, the me who previously used this body? Meh, it was getting a bit confusing so i'm just gonna stick with past me.
Anyways, past me was a shit student. He barely studied, was downtrodden by his condition and fearful of how his future would be, and had lived that way for years.
He practiced minimally, barely doing enough to pass, and used the monthly stipend supplied by the village to pay his bills and spent the rest on fast food and cheap entertainment.
In other words, this kid was a bum.
I'm not gonna let this situation stay the way it is.
Out of all the ways I thought of getting stronger with such tiny reserves. There were two avenues that stood out to me. Taijutsu was one, and I'd definitely be practicing that, but getting a hold of Guy and convincing him to help me wouldn't be a walk in the park.
Nothing in life was ever so easy after all.
That was a Jonin and I was an academy student, I didn't have years of documented hard work to prove my grit like Lee and I wasn't some taijutsu genius either.
That's why I thought of one more avenue, one that I could enact upon immediately instead of gambling upon the help of a Jonin, who more than likely wouldn't have time for me.
I entered the bedroom before going into the closet, pulling out a dusty case before opening it.
Inside lay a sword in its sheath, the only heirloom my father had left me before he'd died to the Kyuubi attack.
I unsheathed it and the reflective surface of a perfectly balanced Katana graced my sight.
Instantly I felt a sense of hope, I may not have absurd chakra reserves, limitless stamina or magical OP eyes that let me bullshit all of existence. But what I did have was chakra, a sword, and my imagination.
Dozens of anime and manga along with movies and tv shows ran through my head, ideas practically pouring forth before ultimately I settled on one.
If it worked, it'd allow me to at least start to contest with all the monsters in this world, even if only briefly.
And that's all I need, a path. From there, I could build on it and slowly branch out into more and more ways to increase my power. I was sure of it.
But before all that. I settled the sword in my lap, its weight settling on my knees as I sat in a lotus position at the foot of my bed. Let's see what it feels like to access my chakra outside of memories.
END CHAPTER.