Mom! I am going to play outside!"
"Alright, sweetie. Be careful on your way!" Mebuki said to her departing son. Seeing his retreating back, she couldn't help but smile.
"It's impressive how fast they grow isn't it?" So said her husband off-handedly.
"Yeah, it's impressive how he is only four and yet acts more mature than you."
"H-hey now. Don't go making such hurtful remarks towards your dear husband."
"When you grow up, perhaps..."
As the married couple argued, Damian, now a child by the name of Haruno Tsubaki, was walking through the streets with a bright smile on his face. He wore a red T-shirt and black shorts that complemented his short pink hair that was slightly disheveled at the front.
"Ah! Tsubaki-kun!"
"Hi, Auntie Saki!" The boy quickly approached the woman who owned a small fruit stall in the neighborhood. Her name was Mioda Saki, a friend of his mother who is also a frequent visitor of his house.
"Where are you going, Tsubaki-kun?"
"I am going to go play at the park!" He answered with all the brightness and innocence a child could muster.
"Do you need help with directions?"
"Thanks, but I already know where it is! Just past this neighborhood and a few right turns!"
"Oh look at you! So smart! Here, at least have an apple for the trip."
"Really?! Thanks Auntie Saki!" He said, excitedly grabbing the apple from her hands. After a few more words were exchanged between them, he proceeded to be on his way, waving goodbye to the woman as he ate the apple. As he bit into the fruit, he couldn't help but think about his life so far.
'It's difficult to believe it has been four years since I came here. It felt like time barely passed at all! I wonder, is this the effect of my adult mind being fused with that of a child?'
If Tsubaki were to explain whether he was the eighteen year-old Damian or the four year-old kid he was now, he would be stumped. The best way to describe his state is that of a fusion between his previous and current self, having the mentality, memories and knowledge of an adult, yet possessing the habits and characteristics of an actual child. At first he was weirded-out by his condition but with time he got used to it and by now he had completely accepted his new identity as Haruno Tsubaki.
His new family was as caring as he could ever have hope for. His mother, Mebuki, was temperamental and, admittedly, a hothead with a penchant for perfectionism, and in his opinion, overprotectiveness. In contrast, his father, Kizashi was playful and laidback, having a rather lax approach towards life, and by extension, parenthood, often clashing with his wife's own approach which results in them having many arguments. Despite that, they never had any resentment towards each other after one, instead you could see how much they cared for each other with their bickering, similar to that of close friends.
'I wonder if they had this dynamic even before they started dating.'
Overall, Tsubaki liked his new family, and over the years, has grown to truly care about them. Aside from them, the only other people he had a lot of interactions with were Saki and some of the kids he played with.
Tsubaki's impression of Saki was that she was a nice counterbalance to his own mother, being well-mannered and calm, while his mother was, at the best of times, 'impulsive' as his father would try to put it. She, together with his mom and various other mothers in the village were part of an association known as the Allied Mothers Force. Despite the baffling name, they were actually a well-respected organization in the village, especially among parents. His mother was apparently a high-ranked member of the association despite only being a member for only three years due to being a responsible and mature woman who is always breaking-off fights amongst their members. His father once told him he saw one of their meetings and in his own words.
"Son, I've seen many scary things in this life, so trust me when I say that there's nothing scarier than an angry mother. Put a bunch of them together, and you have a living nightmare."
Of course, his mother came in just as he said that and proceeded to beat him up. At that moment, Tsubaki made a mental note to never, ever, piss-off his mother if possible.
As he thought of such things he witnessed a few people jumping from building to building above him, yet, they weren't using any type of parkour moves or special tools, they were simply jumping from one to another like superhumans. However, this wasn't a surprising sight, in fact, it was quite common in his village, after all, they were indeed superhumans.
'Seriously. I've been here for years, and I still haven't got used to this sight.'
The place he was reincarnated into was completely different from the world he knew. The planet itself had the same name, but the place he was in was known as the Elemental Nations, whose geography was completely different from his Earth. The name itself is derived from the Five Great Elemental Countries, known as the Lands of Wind, Lightning, Water, Earth and Fire. Each of these countries were known for not just their distinct climates and locations, but their powerful military force composed of shinobi. Real flesh and blood ninjas. When he heard that his parents were shinobi he was stupefied, even if he already had an idea that this world was different from his own due to a lack of TVs and computers, but hearing how different things were directly from others' mouths was the straw that broke the camel's back. From that moment onward he focused all his efforts in learning how to read and talk so he could properly research the world the damn Fool bastard sent him in.
He learned a variety of factors in his self-study. One, he lived in one of the five major ninja villages of the country, specifically in the Land of Fire's Village of Konohagakure. Just like the countries from which each village belongs to, there are a total of five of them: Sunagakure for the Land of Wind, Iwagakure for the Land of Earth, Kumogakure for the Land of Lightning, Kirigakure for the Land of Water, and the already mentioned Konohagakure.
Two, these five countries were extremely powerful due to their military force, each centered around these five villages, where shinobi were raised and bred since they were young to serve their Land. The thought of children being used as simple tools for the military made Tsubaki disgusted, but after reading a few historical texts, he couldn't exactly blame the villages. They have a history of less than two hundred years, yet they had a total of three great ninja wars, the place's equivalent to a World War.
'Truly, humanity's greed knows no limits.'
Three, besides small settlements present here and there, the two central powers from each country can be found at the capital where the Daimyo resides and at the shinobi villages where the Kage resides. If the Daimyo is the political leader of a country, the one who controls the economy and resources, then the Kage's are their generals, their main military leaders. In chess terms, if the Daimyo are the king's then the Kage's are the queen's. In the case of Konoha, the Kage is known as 'Hokage', and there have been a total of four Hokage's since the village's inception. The current Hokage was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage.
When he heard about it the first time he was confused, why is the third the current one and not the fourth? As it turns out, the Fourth Hokage died when he was still a newborn in an incident known as the Nine-Tailed Fox Attack.
Once he read about it, he thought he might be dreaming. A giant demonic fox rampaging through a city is something straight out of a fantasy novel. Yet, after talking to his parents he found out that none of the events were fantasy, but actual reality. That was also when he learned about chakra.
What is chakra? In very simple terms, magic. In slightly more complex terms, chakra is the physical manifestation of one's stamina, which is created with the combination of physical energy and mental energy, the former being formed through the body's cells while the latter is formed with the mind's conciousness. Each of the energy's can be tempered and strengthened with meditation, training, experience, and even things such as stimulants, studying and regular exercising. This result is chakra, a supernatural energy that can be used in a variety of ways, from medical to communication purposes, though it's more popularly known and used in combat situations. From creating illusions, fortifying one's own body to being able to breathe fire, all through the use of chakra.
It's by no means surprising that the only ones capable and allowed to wield such a dangerous energy are shinobi. They even have a school just so young shinobi can train and learn how to use such a thing while being supervised.
All of these and more taught him a very important lesson: this world was big, horrifying, and most importantly, dangerous. So overall, not much different from his previous one, besides the magical stuff.
'I don't know if I should be concerned or annoyed that all of the military is capable of such things. sigh Let's just hope there isn't a war while I am still alive in here.'
"Tsubaki-kun! Over here!" A young voice called out for Tsubaki, when he noticed he had already made his way to the park. He could see a lot of the kids he was acquainted with already playing with one another.
"I am coming!" He looked at his 'friends' who were all greeting him with smiles on their faces, he couldn't help but smile back, even if he had his complaints with his new life, being a child again was still something he considered a blessing in disguise, not just because it allowed him to adapt more appropriately towards this new world he was in, but
"So what are you guys playing?"
"""""Ninja!"""""
'Why am I not surprised?'
If there was one thing that bothered him throughout his daily life was the seemingly obsession kids his age had with ninja. It wasn't particularly surprising, since we are talking about living breathing superhumans, but what stuck out to him was the obvious brainwashing. It was at these moments he didn't envy kids who were born into shinobi clans, at least as a normal person he could choose what he would become instead of being forced into that role.
"I see! Let's play then! Who is on each team?" He said, expertly concealing his growing cynicism.
"Me, Akihisa and Yuji are one. The others are-" While they were explaining the game to him, he could see just outside his field of vision, hiding behind the trees in the park, a person. He couldn't quite catch who it was, the only thing he could see was a whiff of blonde hair as the kids surrounded him from all sides.
'Wonder who that kid is?'
///
"Mom, dad, I am home!" He said loudly, expecting some kind of greeting back, but surprisingly, the house was completely empty. As he took a look at the place, in his field of vision he saw what seemed to be a small note. In it was written:
"Me and you dad were summoned by the Hokage for a reunion among other chunin. We'll arrive late, so be sure to eat the food we left for you in the fridge, and remember to not stay up too late. If we arrive and you're not in bed there will be a discussion mister.
With love, Mom."
After finishing reading the note, Tsubaki's lips perked up into an excited smirk.
'Yes! Finally, after years, my first night alone! This means I'll be able to try the ritual!'
Tsubaki moved towards the kitchen and grabbed a loaf of bread, a cup of instant ramen, a jar of juice and some homemade cookies. He set them up at the four corners of his room and with white chalk in hand started to draw a symbol specifically made for the ritual.
When the god sent him to this world, he said everything would be clear once he woke up, something which wasn't entirely true. Instead, once he had awakened and recovered his memories there was a slight discrepancy in them. Specifically what happened was that in his mind, a set of instructions were carved into his brain. These instructions were about how to conduct a ritual that, according to the instructions, were necessary so that he could gain the remnants of The Fool's power.
To make matters complicated, it also had an anecdote saying that he must conduct the ritual before he was seven or there would be 'consequences'. Not that he wouldn't do it, he would be stupid to not do as the mysterious being capable of reincarnating dead souls said. Since then, years had passed, yet the instructions for the ritual were still clear as day in his head, and now, after years of waiting for the perfect opportunity he finally had a chance to be done with this task.
He wondered for a moment if his mother would be angry if he used her scented candles, but decided against thinking about such things. This was more important than a furious mother…no matter how scary she could be.
" Huff~ Finally." He finally had finished the drawing on the floor. It was the drawing of a clock that used the roman numerals for each hour. At the center of it was a small circle where Tsubaki stood. He took a lot of time drawing the circle, making sure there were no imperfections on it and that it was perfectly drawn. The four candles were placed on the circle's line, each at the three, six, nine and twelve o'clock marks. Now all he had to do was start.
"Ok, it's time…" And so he closed his eyes and put his hands together in a prayer. And so, he started reciting the ritual's incantation.
"The Fool Who Doesn't Belong Anywhere"
"The Door to Countless Secrets and Worlds;
"The Error in Space and Time;
"I pray for your blessings, I pray for your loving grace."
After reciting these words, Tsubaki felt a strange chill in the air, he opened his eyes to see if the ritual had taken effect, only for him to be swallowed by gray fog.