Looking at the destruction all around me, the sky is filled with smoke, along with a crimson hue where there should be a blue sky, which only serves to reveal everything we had to go through my friends, my teacher...
Everyone.
Now, I feel that with every sigh that escapes my mouth, my torn throat releases a thread of my life.
My eyes involuntarily close, but I want to keep living, to be able to tell Gojo-sensei that he accomplished what he asked of us, that... we changed the world above all, but now I can't move. When I forced Sukuna to leave Megumi's body, my body was already at its limit, but my willpower to defeat that curse pushed me to finish.
I gently tilted my head to appreciate my best friend, even though he was unconscious, he was breathing, and without a doubt, he looked much better than I did. My eyes sometimes forced me to see double, other times they blurred, but the involuntary smile, though weak, formed on my face.
In the end, we made it...
"We won... we did it..." was a whisper that only I heard. My heartbeat became more faint, slowly fading to almost nothing. Tears filled my eyes from all the pain I had to endure, from all the people I lost due to my incompetence and weakness.
I wanted to crawl toward my best friend, but I couldn't make it. I had no legs, I couldn't use reverse curse technique, I had no cursed energy left to exterminate Sukuna, giving everything I had. I kept dragging myself toward Megumi, with a forced smile, even though my best friend couldn't hear me, I kept sobbing in happiness.
"We did it... we all... we all did it..." My voice was ragged, no longer having its original tone, trembling and pitiful. My body was in tatters as I reached the black-haired one, leaving a trail of blood, despite my bleeding, my body was incredibly resilient. I reached Megumi, still asleep, and it was better that he stayed that way; I didn't want him to see me like this.
"We... we did it..." I kept repeating the same thing, but this time, I felt my body no longer responding. I forced my heart to keep beating, and when I placed my hand on Megumi's chest, I let myself fall there.
Is this what all those who died felt, the end...?
My eyes moved to all that was once the city. I remember, before the great battle all the sorcerers had against Sukuna, this place was filled with life. There was everyday life: children laughing, families with routines, people desperate for work, young lovers, all with smiles.
And now, nothing remained of what it once was. Everyone failed at the hands of Sukuna. I wasn't strong enough to protect them.
Blood kept spilling from my mouth, and my eyes involuntarily squinted. I didn't want to do it, but the strength was leaving me in moments.
"I'm sorry... Megumi... I told you... I felt alone without you... and now, I'm such a bad friend that... you'll feel alone..." My voice was now just a mournful whisper, looking at the sky that blended with the embers of what was once Shinjuku, feeling as the few embers of my life escaped with every painful breath.
Now... thinking about everything I lived through, both the good and the bad, despite all the suffering along the way, all those who died before me because I was weak, this time...
I only wish that when I end, I have the strength and will to protect my loved ones, all the people I couldn't help, and to have the spirit to stay strong against whatever adversities my fate brings.
With my hand on my best friend's chest, as if his mere presence comforted me, I closed my eyes in the solitude of Shinjuku's ruins, decorated with blood and the remnants of people crushed in the rubble.
My soul left this plane entirely, dying, taking Sukuna with me.
Now, I only see darkness.
Absolute darkness.
Time... I have no sense of it.
Smell, this place... there's nothing of it.
Sound, not even a breeze, a sigh, or my voice, if I wanted to speak, I can't hear anything of mine.
Sense, I can do nothing in this strange plane.
But just as I was in that place without any sense, I wanted to remember all the beautiful moments I had in my short life.
Megumi...
who is Megumi?
A brown-haired girl, she's pretty and cheerful, she played a lot with me... we made jokes to... Gojo-sensei?
Who is Gojo?
Who is Nobara?
Who is that black-haired boy with a black stripe?
Who is that blonde man with glasses?
Who are all these people bidding me farewell? I don't want to leave them, why do they let me fall straight into this abyss of darkness? Why don't they help me stop?
I don't want to leave them, don't let me fall, please, I beg you, I don't want to be without you...
Why am I begging to stay with those people?
All those people... I can't see their faces, they are blurry, I don't know them...
Why was I thinking about people...?
Who... am I?
I just... feel complete calm and serenity as I fall into this endless abyss.
I see...
Such curious eyes... that man smiles at me warmly, he has a strange physique, and those eyes are as strange as they are captivating.
He's saying something, but I can't understand him.
Everything... disappears.
.
.
.
.
.
.
In a run-down and poorly kept cabin, hidden from everywhere, there was a red-haired woman in poor condition. Her face was thin, lacking any glow, with dull eyes. Her arms bore harsh scars, poorly treated and bandaged in some parts.
By her side was a small girl, about four years old, always crying as she watched her mother slowly die due to the people from Kusagakure during the Third Ninja World War. This country suffered many casualties, and as a result, the woman's life force was slowly fading, but even though she wanted to keep a smile, she couldn't hide her concerning thinness and the unnatural pallor of an Uzumaki clan member.
In the girl's arms was a small bundle that had barely stopped crying. A baby with very red hair and faint marks under his tiny eyes. Despite his mother being emaciated, the little baby had abundant vitality, surely drawn from the last moments of his birth. Just a few days old, he was quite fragile due to his small size, at least that's how the girl holding him saw him, and she seemed somewhat nervous holding him, though her gaze was filled with love and longing for her little brother.
The woman looked at her two children with absolute love. "Karin, you have to hold Yūji like this, remember that his little head is fragile, yes, like this," she whispered, so as not to disturb the Kusagakure ninjas. The woman was teaching Karin how to care for her little brother, taking equal care herself.
This emaciated woman, still holding some beauty, was named Tamao Uzumaki, mother of Karin Uzumaki and the newborn Yūji Uzumaki.
They were part of the now-extinct Uzumaki clan, seeking refuge in Kusagakure. They were accepted under the condition that they provide their healing chakra through biting, and now, just a few months later, the poor woman was already on the brink of death due to the abuse of her chakra.
"Mama, since Yūji was born, I've only heard him cry a little these days. Doesn't he have something wrong? Also, whenever I hold him, even though I try to warm him up, I can't," the little girl spoke with concern, now looking at her mother, who gave her a warm smile.
"Some babies are different from others, my sweet girl," the woman spoke lovingly, caressing both Karin and her newborn son.
The little baby, who as many may know, seemed like Yūji, the cheerful Jujutsu sorcerer who is always smiling, has reincarnated.
At least his soul has been reborn, and that's why Karin mentions how Yūji feels cold and how the room sometimes cools.
His soul was tied to the cursed energy, which emanates as abundantly as it fades. It seems that inside his soul, the cursed energy from where he came never disappeared. As a baby, he couldn't release much, but it involuntarily seeped out and went back to hiding.
The place where he was born may not be so friendly to the poor boy, who is like a sun himself.
Days and nights passed quickly. Amidst the happiness of Tamao and Karin, living in their bleak and sorrowful world, they held the newborn.
The Kusagakure ninjas noticed this. A genin ninja who had gone to the small place where Tamao was sheltered looked at his companion who was guarding the Uzumaki refugees. "Looks like the family is expanding. That woman won't last long," the unnamed genin said bluntly, to which his companion responded with a mocking smile.
"Surely their children inherited the healing ability, we have two good reinforcements. Our comrades won't have to bother looking for a doctor," the man said, arms crossed, while the genin just smiled in agreement.
Unbeknownst to them, the family of three overheard what the ninjas were talking about. Karin carefully hugged her little brother, saddened by the way her mother's gaze faded from the happiness of this new family member.
Now, it seemed that her mother had regretted bringing her little brother into such a cruel world. They hadn't even grown, and the evil ninjas already treated their children as tools.
The days passed, and only half a year went by.
Karin, without any sparkle in her eyes, stared at the uncomfortable bed, her mother lifeless, so thin and weak. In her small arms, she held a four-month-old baby, who occasionally looked at his mother's body but was more interested in playing with his sister's hair.
Even though the redhead wanted to cry, nothing came out of her eyes. It was no use to suffer. Her mother had always reminded her that she didn't have much time left to live. She wanted to ignore those warnings, to keep living in her happy bubble, remembering how she and her mother laughed with the baby.
Now... she was alone, with her little brother.
"Mom left us too soon, Yūji... but don't worry, you still have me. I'm strong. I'll be strong just for you." Karin spoke with a voice full of sorrow, but this time, as she looked down, she gave the baby a mournful smile. Tears betrayed her, but she didn't abandon the smile she had to put on.
She had to be strong, just for her brother.
Yūji looked at her with eyes full of innocence, though at times, among those bright eyes, a smile would appear.
It's better to keep innocence intact and ignore what's in front of us.
The Kusagakure ninjas buried their mother, but they didn't even put anything on top of her. Just a pile of dirt as if she had no value, only useful while alive. Now, the job of a healer was left to her little daughter and soon to the child.
And with that, the sadness and solitude embarked. Karin went out sometimes into the small village to do what her mother had done. She had to go straight to the river to replace breast milk, giving simple water to Yūji, and searching for fish for herself. She was quite clumsy at hunting since she clearly didn't know how to use chakra, doing everything with poor mobility. There were times when she couldn't eat anything because she couldn't catch anything.
Most of the time, she stayed locked in that small room, holding her brother, the only thing she had left to stay alive. There were times when she cried alone, wishing her mother would come back. She was quite childish in that regard.
But she wished it.
Now, her little brother was already one year old, and she was five. Yūji, fortunately, had grown well. He was a cheerful little boy, ignorant of the war and killings happening every day. Karin preferred that he thought that way.
When she was five, she was forcibly enrolled in the small school that the village had set up, having to leave Yūji alone most of the time, though she never left anything dangerous for him.
Right now, Yūji was alone. Despite being only one year old, his reasoning was quite advanced, and Karin had noticed this a little, though she didn't give it much importance since she didn't know how a child his age should behave.
At that moment, Yūji was playing with some small grass and mushrooms he had previously held. Though at this specific moment, sometimes he remembered strange things.
A funny person with white hair.
A grumpy person with black hair.
And a mocking person with brown hair.
There were fleeting moments when he thought of these people, but then, he didn't care about them.
And so, his years passed slowly. After all, his mind still felt like that of a baby.
Yūji slowly went from being a one-year-old child to a four-year-old child. His once joyful gaze slowly deteriorated into a monotonous one, seeing how his sister came home from the small school. Though he kept smiling, he noticed how her arms were bandaged, a reminder of all those strange people in strange clothes.
He could hear her whining, how they hurt her, but he just kept playing. His sister said it didn't matter, and he obeyed.
He was a good boy.
His sister was now eight years old, and she herself taught him a bit about chakra control. For his part, he was excited to see different things in his free time, though he tried to move what his sister had told him was... chakra?
Nothing came out of him, though once he tried, his sister told him not to try again until he entered that small school. Though he wanted to ask why, he didn't. He noticed a scared look in his older sister's eyes.
She said that when he tried to move it, the air around him would cool and a very... heavy aura would appear.
He obeyed, of course.
At that moment, the little redhead went to his sister, wanting to see what she was cooking.
"Sister, what are we having for dinner today?" the cheerful little boy asked, trying to peek, standing on his tiptoes, his big carmine eyes eager to see.
Karin turned to him with a playful smile. "Today we'll have... mushroom soup!" she said cheerfully, watching as Yūji scrunched up his face in disgust.
"I don't like mushroom soup..." the boy murmured softly, puffing up his cheeks to show his irritation, receiving only a gentle pat on the head from his sister, who was greatly entertained by his expressions.
"You have to eat a lot to grow, Yūji. You can't just eat fish," Karin scolded gently, setting the plate and sitting Yūji down. As she did, she paused for a moment, noticing how her brother was caressing her arm with a sad look.
She just gave him a bitter smile, knowing why he was stroking those bandages.
"Come on, time to eat, Yūji," the girl said affectionately as she sat down.
"Enjoy!" the boy said cheerfully, and Karin appreciated him with immense love, thinking about the fact...
What would have become of her life if she didn't have that little sun her mother left her before she passed away?
Without Yūji, she might have wished to be dead right now. All the suffering she endured, her brother's bright aura repaid her double.
Yūji was her only salvation in this life.
And for Yūji, Karin was the only person he felt he had to protect with all his strength.
Sometimes, unexpectedly, he asked himself a question that seemed to float in the air as he was with his sister or went outside into the forest to distract himself, simply admiring the blue sky filled with fluffy clouds...
Who am I?