The smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, sharp and sterile. I sat alone in the hospital room, the faint beeping of the heart monitor a reminder of my rapidly fading life. Lung cancer. The irony wasn't lost on me—I'd never touched a cigarette in my life. My friends, the ones who smoked, walked away unscathed while I was left with a death sentence.
I'd spent months wondering why, resenting the unfairness of it all. But anger eventually gave way to exhaustion. I was tired of fighting, tired of asking questions that had no answers. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
And then it came—a soft warmth, like sunlight filtering through closed lids. It didn't hurt; it didn't feel frightening. I let go.
The next thing I knew, I was gasping for air. My lungs burned, but not with the same suffocating weight I'd grown used to. No, this was different. I opened my eyes to see a sky brighter than I'd ever seen, framed by the tops of towering pine trees.
"What…?"
The voice wasn't mine. It was too high-pitched, too childlike. I scrambled to sit up, panic rising as I stared at my hands—small, delicate, trembling. These weren't my hands. I looked down at my body, now tiny and frail, clothed in a thin shirt and loose, patched pants.
"What's going on? Where am I?" I muttered, my voice quivering.
A rustling sound nearby made me freeze. My head whipped toward the noise, and I saw a woman approaching. She had dark skin and long white hair tied in a braid, her expression kind but weary.
"You're awake," she said softly, crouching to my level. "You gave me quite the scare, little one."
Little one? My mind raced. Was I…a child now?
"I…" My throat felt dry. "Who…who are you?"
The woman frowned, concern flashing in her eyes. "Don't tell me you've hit your head. I'm Nari, your caretaker. Remember? You fainted during morning training. Lucky some villagers found you."
Training? Villagers? None of this made sense. I glanced around, taking in the forest clearing and the faint outline of a village beyond the trees.
"Where am I?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Nari's frown deepened. "You're in Kumogakure, of course. Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"
Kumogakure. The name hit me like a thunderclap. I'd heard it before, seen it in countless episodes. The Village Hidden in the Clouds. This couldn't be real…but the evidence was all around me. I wasn't on Earth anymore.
The walk back to the village felt surreal. My mind raced with questions, but I couldn't bring myself to ask them. Nari scolded me gently for overexerting myself.
"You're too young to push yourself so hard," she said. "Your father would've wanted you to take it easy."
Her words made me pause. "My…father?"
"Yes. He was a proud shinobi," she said with a sad smile. "An elite chunin who gave his life in the Second Shinobi World War. You have his determination, you know."
The Second Shinobi World War? That placed me decades before Naruto's story. And my father…an elite chunin? None of this felt real, but the facts kept stacking up.
"Hey," Nari said, crouching down in front of me again. "Are you alright? You're acting strange."
"I'm fine," I lied, forcing a weak smile. "Just tired."
She didn't look convinced but let it go. As we entered the village, I stared in awe. The architecture was simpler than I remembered from the anime. Children played in the streets, their laughter mixing with the sounds of blacksmiths and merchants. Shinobi walked among the villagers, some in uniforms bearing the Kumogakure emblem.
This was real. I was here. Somehow, I had been reborn into this world.
That night, lying on the thin mattress in the small room I shared with two other orphans, I stared at the wooden ceiling. My mind was a storm of thoughts and emotions. I didn't know how or why I was here, but one thing was clear: this was my new reality.
I didn't have cancer anymore. My body was weak but healthy. I had a second chance, but this world was dangerous. If I wanted to survive, I needed to become strong. But surviving wasn't enough—not after everything I'd been through.
"I won't just survive," I whispered, the memory of my unfair death burning in my chest. "I'll become more than this. More than human."
I clenched my tiny fists, my resolve hardening.
"If this world gave me a second chance, I'll make the most of it. I'll live longer than anyone, become immortal if I have to. And one day…" I smirked at the thought. "I'll transcend everything, even this world. Maybe I'll even become an Ōtsutsuki."
End of the Chapter.