"Is this me?"
A four-year-old boy with short, mousy red hair and eyebrows glances at his face in the mirror. He has pupilless red eyes and three red scratch marks under both his eyes.
"Why do I look like a kid? And why is my hair red? What kind of hair dye is this?"
A few seconds ago, he woke up from a long dream. Various unknown memories flooded his mind.
"Is this some sort of lucid dream?"
He carefully raises his hand towards his face and pinches his cheek.
"Aw… Aw… It hurts!" A childish voice escapes from his mouth.
He glances at the slight red marking on his face.
"Since it hurts, it shouldn't be a dream, right?" He glances at his reflection in the mirror. But suspicion appears in his mind.
"There are still dreams where one can feel a slight sensation of pain, a deception from their mind, right? As if in hell I will believe that!"
Bang…
He punches the wall in front of him.
Aww… aww…
"It hurts! It hurt so much!" He glances at the bruise on his fist.
Suddenly, his head feels dizzy and his vision turns blurry.
"What was that noise?"
"Ritsu! Ritsu! Are you alright, dear?"
Several noises ring in the kid's head and he passes out.
A tall man with brown eyes, and shoulder-length mousy brown hair enters the room followed by a woman with long, bright-red hair and large, red pupilless eyes. The man has a frown on his face while the woman's face looks worried.
"Ritsu!
The woman hurriedly rushes towards the kid and picks him up. The man presses his finger on the kid's chest and his frown eases up.
"Don't worry, he just passed out a little. Prepare the herbal soup to help him recover."
Mm…
The woman nods and places the kid on the bed.
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A few hours later,
Ritsu stares at his reflection in the mirror in a daze. Several cuss words appear in his mouth, but he swallows them after some hesitation. Ritsu is his given name in the current life.
"This isn't a dream. I somehow died and now I am reborn as a kid! And this Walmart Sasori in the reflection is my new face."
Several complicated expressions appear on his face. He wants to shout out his lungs and let his bottled-up emotions out.
"That doesn't sound like a good idea!"
I have to calm down!" He slaps his cheeks to calm the turmoil in his emotions. After a few seconds, he calms down and begins to sort out his new memories.
"But why of all worlds it has to be the Shinobi world of Naruto?" He panics again.
He presses a hand against his fast-beating heart and reorganizes the memories from his past and present life.
"In my past life, I was an orphan. My parents died early in a car accident when I was just three years old. After my parent's death, my uncle's family took me in. They pretended to be kind to me on the surface, but abused me after gaining custody of me.
However, my grandmother, who was living in the countryside, learned about it from other relatives."
He can still vividly recall the day when his grandmother barged into his uncle's house with some old neighbors from her village. She berated them and even threatened to call the police for their mistreatment of me.
In the end, I ended up living with my grandmother in the countryside. She was a very loving, caring, peaceful woman. She gave me all the love and care in the world. She went beyond what a parent would provide to their child. I was loved and pampered by her to no end.
Reflecting now, those were truly some of his best memories
When he turned 16, he wanted to surprise her on her birthday and thus worked part-time jobs in the village to earn some money to buy her a huge gift on her birthday.
He can still recall how happy his grandmother was on that day. She truly cherished his gift to no end.
Eventually, I left the village to pursue higher studies in college in a city. Both Grandma and I were sad about this parting. But that's how life works.
I would still occasionally visit her from time to time and even call her every day. She was the only source of comfort and warmth in my life.
But these happy moments didn't last for long. Grandma passed away when I turned twenty. She had a serene smile on her face and her parting words for me were to find a family and live a happy life.
Her death was the single saddest event of my life. It was her death that made me seek companionship in the form of a girlfriend.
I got a girlfriend in college, though we broke up in our last year since she had different pursuits.
Sigh…
He sighs in his heart.
"Also, I will miss my PC that I spent most of my first salary to build. I didn't even get to play the list of games on my Steam account. I really wanted to play that new Dark Souls 3 DLC that just came out."
Having grown up in the village, he was a very active young man. He would often help the villagers with fieldwork and other small chores.
It was during his college that he started his anime and gaming journey. He would often play computer games with his roommates or watch an anime series in his free time.
"It's hard to get over it!" Ritsu closes his eyes.
Just before his death, he started the Naruto series and only got to finish the first two hundred episodes of the Naruto Shippuden. As a working member of society, he didn't have enough free time to finish watching everything in a go.
"Ah, now I regret not finishing the series. There were still over 300 episodes and a lot of plots to cover!" He clutches his forehead in regret.
As for how he died in his past life.
"Sigh… who would have thought that I would be the victim of a sudden earthquake? The earthquake was very strong and my entire office building and other nearby buildings crumbled and fell apart under its influence. Looks like the epicenter was close to our city." He sighs silently.
"What an unfortunate accident! Even though I am dead, I will pray for other's safety."
Creak…
The door to the room opens.
"Ritsu, here is your medicinal soup!"
A beautiful woman with long, bright-red hair and large, black pupilless eyes enters the room with a tray holding a bowl of piping hot soup in her hands.
'So beautiful!'
Ritsu is stunned to see the woman in front of her.
'Is she my mom?' He is mesmerized by the beauty of the woman in front of him.
'So, I inherited my Uzumaki looks and genes from my mother. Most models in my past life are nowhere near to her natural beauty.' He makes a mental remark.
"Ritsu, are you alright?"
Worry appears on the woman's face after seeing the boy in a daze. She hurriedly places the tray on the table and places her fair hands on his forehead.
"Are you feeling feverish?"
Ah…
Ritsu is startled out of his thoughts. He hastily replies.
"I am sorry, Mom! I just spaced out for a second." He quickly apologizes.
"It's good that you are fine!" The woman smiles sweetly and hugs him in her embrace.
"Do you want mother to feed you?" She asks with a smile.
"No, I can drink it on my own!" Ritsu shakes his head.
"Ok, then! Finish it soon and then meet your father in the backyard."
"Ok!" Ritsu dreamily stares at his mother's back as she exits the room.
'Grandma, your grandson has a new family now. I am sorry I couldn't keep my promise to live a long, healthy life. But I did find a family, even though it was in an unexpected situation. So, I will cherish my family and grow into a strong man to protect my family as you wish.'
He closes his eyes and silently prays to send his thoughts to his grandma in heaven.
After praying silently for a few seconds, he opens his eyes. His mind and mood are still in a mess. It is still hard for him to make sense of his current situation.
'So, I am really dead!' He sighs again, his emotions no longer in turmoil, after venting his emotions to his grandma through prayer.
After his grandma's death, he would frequently visit her grave and speak for hours about his day-to-day life to find solace. Even after her death, his grandma was his emotional anchor. Her sweet, cheerful smile will ease the burden on his mind.
There is still some confusion in his eyes, but he is no longer as frantic as before. His previous life has taught him a lot and adaptability was among them.
Sigh…
'But to think I will reincarnate in the Shinobi world. It's a tough world to live.'
After sorting his thoughts and making amends with his past life, he focuses his attention on the medicinal soup in front of him.
He picks up the spoon and drinks the soup while sorting the memories of his current identity.
'The past me is dead, no longer part of any world. In my current life, I am Ritsu Senju, a member of the Senju clan. My father's name is Akinao Senju and my mother's name is Ishiko Uzumaki.' A smile appears on his face.
'In my previous life, I didn't experience the love of my parents. Even though Grandma loved me more than any parent could, somehow in a corner of my heart, I still craved that motherly love and fatherly affection. Humans are a strange creature. They always strive for more.' He shakes his head and chuckles.
'My lineage makes me a part Senju and part Uzumaki. Hmm… I was definitely born into a wonderful family, but I wonder which era it is. Depending on the circumstances, things might take a turn for worse.'
He ponders deeply while blowing air on the hot soup.
'Still, I find everything surreal. Even though it's hard for me to accept this, I will still try to adapt to this change.'
He glances at the mirror and stares at his reflection for a few more seconds before pulling the shutter off the window. Outside the window, he gazes at the distant Hokage monument with four faces.
"This isn't a dream!"
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A/N:- Split the chapter in two to make it less boring.