Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishimoto's toy... I simply borrowed it to have my twisted way with it ;)

Warning: Rated M for language mostly, mentions of torture and future graphic scenes.

A/N: Inspiration hit me, I wrote it, I posted it... This is a self-insert as you might have guessed... Pretty much how I would react if something like that happened to me xD With a twist as it goes :3

Edit 03/03/2018: This will be the second round of editing for this story. I've found a wonderful beta, hypereuni, which is aiding me in correcting some of the horrible mistakes I've made xD She's been absolutely awesome and though she has little time she still finds time to edit this story!

Edit 08/03/2018: Just a heads up for any new readers. Despite the light note this story starts at, it will turn pretty dark real soon. This will not be a fix it happy fic. On the contrary, be prepared for massive plot destruction as we go further into the story.

Hope you enjoy~

Chapter 1: A Melodious Beginning

I was always sure that life did not simply end with death. Either the cycle of life would repeat itself, you would go to heaven, hell, paradise, purgatory, or WHATEVER! Point is, not once did I believe that death was truly what made you stop existing. Full stop.

And, I was right. Though I did not think I'd find out this bit of information this soon. I had barely lived a little over two decades of my life and poof, just like that, it ended. Embarrassingly so. Well, now I knew better than to jump and sing like crazy while showering. I wondered how long it will take for people to find my corpse. I mean… I did live alone, in a foreign country with barely any friends.

Oh well. Couldn't say that I was sad that my previous life ended. It was a horribly boring one, honestly. Starting my first year in university, being the socially awkward nerd that I was… am… Needless to say, I did not expect much from life. I could not pursue my dreams and become a musician, I did not have the money to travel the world like I wished to, and I had no family. Well, my biological family was alive and well but… I never saw them as such. I knew I had been born and raised to fix the mistakes of my older sister. Get a successful and well-paid job, have a nice family, take care of my parents… not parents… Well, glad that's over. I had been thinking about how to avoid being their caretaker by dumping them on my sister, but thankfully that would not be necessary anymore. I was dead, hah!

Though death was quite comforting, I must say.

As I was surrounded by warmth and darkness, I kept thinking about my previous life, how I had lived, the choices I had made and the regrets I had left behind. I was pretty sure I had already passed the plane of the living. I don't know why I was so sure; maybe I was simply unconscious. Just because I slipped and hit my head did not mean automatic death. Maybe I was in a coma? But something inside me, let's call it a gut feeling (did I even have guts anymore?) simply told me that I was well and beyond dead.

I wondered what was ahead of me, if where I currently resided was some kind of limbo, seeing as I could feel, hear and see absolutely nothing. I wondered if I was waiting for some type of judgment to be passed down on me. Kinda like being on the waiting list for heaven or hell. Which of those two would I be sorted to?

I had done nothing wrong in my life. Maybe wished a few deaths here and there, imagined how nice it would have been to kill a few people with my own hands, dreamed of some fantasy torture sessions… Ugh… But I never acted on them?

I really hoped the heaven and hell theory was not true. I did not want to suffer eternally for thoughts I couldn't help having! Maybe I could become a demon somehow? At least Supernatural seemed to be quite sure of that happening.

And as thought after thought after thought crossed my mind, some meaningful and some… less so, I felt a sudden pressure. An ache of sorts. Like the life was being squeezed out of me, pun intended. And I moved. I felt my body move and kick and punch and thrashing all over. I had not realized I had been contained in such a tight space. It felt suffocating, made me claustrophobic beyond reason. I wanted out. OUT!

The pressure grew and grew with each passing second, at one point it felt so tight, I thought I was going to die from lack of air (which would be ridiculous seeing as I was already dead and could not breathe to begin with) until light entered my overly sensitive eyes.

A cold gust hit my wet skin and blurry images surrounded me. My lungs ached as I breathed in the oxygen for the first time in what felt like an eternity. My ears rang with that annoying buzz and my body tingled. It felt weird and unpleasant and I did not know what to do in such a situation. So, I did the only thing my body could think of doing… I cried. And cried. And cried some more accompanied by painful screams.

And all this movement, all this screaming, all this crying… it was so tiring. I realized my body getting weaker by the moment, my screams slowly subsiding though my tears continued to flow as sleep slowly took me over.

Sleep.

Something I did not think I'd experience ever again.

(To Love a Song)

The next time I woke up, I was calmer and more aware of my situation. My surroundings were still hella blurry. I could recognize shapes, but any detail was completely lost on me. But I did understand one thing. I was alive. Alive and apparently in a body five times smaller than that of what it should have been. I was an infant.

Of course, it did not take me long to come to a conclusion. Since I was a fierce believer in life after death, I knew I had been reborn. And it seemed that my memories of my previous life were still very much intact. Which by all means should not have happened. It was an anomaly. I was an anomaly.

And I felt strangely pleased by that.

This. I really liked this. Having a fresh start and the knowledge of a previous life? Wasn't this something everyone with regrets dreamed of? I could pursue my dreams, correct the mistakes I did the first time around, be better and more efficient.

Yes.

Yes, I liked this very much.

I started giggling, happiness filling my new body. Whatever entity watched over this world, I wanted to thank them for this second chance.

I would make the most of my life this time around.

I would not let it go to waste.

(To Love a Song)

Fast forward a few weeks later, my vision and hearing had cleared for the most part and I could make out my surroundings and the people in my life much better (though they needed to be at a certain distance from me. Too far and I would be as blind as a bat. And too close… well everyone could see squat when too close.)

At first, I did not notice anything amiss. I had a beautiful mother with long black hair, pale skin and dark brown eyes, and a really handsome father as well, who had chestnut hair and green eyes. Really. Quite handsome.

The house might have been a bit old-fashioned? Kinda Japanese styled if I paid close attention to it. I also realized that the language they spoke was also, most likely, Japanese. Having watched so many subbed anime, I'd be damned if I did not recognize this particular language. So, logically, I assumed I was born somewhere in Japan. Though my parents did not look entirely Asian. Maybe my mother did but my father had a really European look. I'd know. I used to live there after all.

Aside from those perceptions, life was pleasant as a baby. My mother was wonderful, changed my diapers every day, bathed me gently, fed me her boob milk.

I was totally not ashamed to admit that. For survival, a baby must do what a baby must do.

Except for being bored out of my mind, having nothing to stimulate my brain, as TV did not appear to exist here (or maybe they simply weren't a fan of TV? Maybe they had a laptop of sorts? Not that I had seen any) I let myself be manhandled without any resistance and had a pleasant infant's life. Everything was wonderfully peaceful until...

My dear new father came home wearing strange clothing. Clothing I recognized, but couldn't pinpoint from where. Clothing which reminded me of ninjas, honestly.

It had been so obvious at that time. Especially since I thought of the word ninja. However, it did not click until my eyes rested on his headband.

Having a second chance at life, with the knowledge of an adult to boot, was already spectacular. Being born into an anime was even better. Having been born in the Narutoverse… I was beyond pleased. So, sooooo pleased that I started laughing like a maniac… if I could of course. Seeing as I was but a baby, it sounded more like the adorable hysterical laughter of a sweet child.

I wondered what timeline I was born into. If I would meet Kakashi or Naruto or any of the Akatsuki members. Maybe one of the Sannins? Oh, oh! What if I was born into their timeline! Wouldn't it be AWESOME if I somehow ended up on their team? Oh wait, then either Tsunade or Orochi-pedo-maru would have to be replaced. Obviously, Jiraiya would be on the team one way or another. Ah wait, what gender was I even? Please tell me I was born a dude! I don't wanna deal with periods again! Ugh, puberty was gonna suck. But who caressssss, I was born in a ninja woooooorld! HELL YEAH!

Buried in my fantasies, I had failed to take note of the sign on the headband my father wore. I had assumed I was born into Konohagakure, of course. What entity would put me in any other country if not Konoha? That would be silly, no?

In the middle of my musings, however, as he lifted me up to see how happy his baby child was and wanting to hold me, I came face to face with the engraved symbol on his headband.

Wha…

What the fuck?

A music note?

It took me a while to process it. But once it clicked…

No. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I DON'T WANNA!

DON'TWANNADON'TWANNADON'TWANNAAAAAAAA!

I wanted to be in Konoha or hell even Suna where all the cool ninjas came from not from fucking Otogakure!

I thought being reborn into a FREAKING anime was supposed to be a sign of having to change the plot or shit like that (I might have read one too many fanfictions)?!

You can't tell me I was born into freaking SOUND which fucking HATED Konoha and were enemies and Orochimaru's creepy bases were here and experimented on people left and right, like nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I had no information over this STUPID village, no notable ninja came from here even! THEY WERE ALL JUST CANNON FODDER!

How the hell was I even supposed to know what timeline I was even born into? HOW?

My new parents got quite the heart attack seeing their laughing, happy baby turn into a crying, screaming disaster.

WELL FUCK THEM, I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK MYSELF DAMMIT. I wanted to be with the cool group! What was I supposed to do now? Become a sound ninja, then what? Fight against Konoha? Defect? Yeah, fat chance with Orochimaru here.

Ugh.

I was tired.

I needed a nap.

I would think this over again after I found out a little more about the timeline I was born into. If I even could.

And I swear to god (if such a thing exists) that I will screw the plot one way or another. LIKE HELL AM I STAYING SILENT!

Anyway… nap.

And so, I headed to sleep in my mother's arms as she rocked me back and forth after having taken me from the clutches of my panicked father.

(To Love a Song)

A few weeks after THAT revelation, I had calmed down and accepted my situation. I was disappointed. Extremely so. Sound barely had any involvement in Naruto. Not that I knew of anyway. I did not watch the whole anime or read the manga… Honestly, after the Pein arc I barely knew squat. Only some stuff I had read here and there, spoiled myself real nice.

Since I wanted to fuck the plot though, my future knowledge would bring me so far anyway.

If I was even born into that timeline in the first place.

On another note, I finally knew my name and gender. I had associated myself with my old name up until now, but it would do me no good to go by the identity of my former self. I was, to my further disappointment, once again a girl, but at least I was accustomed to this gender. Hopefully, this time around, I would not end up flat as a board. A bigger butt wouldn't be bad either.

My new name though, pleased me quite a bit. It had a nice ring to it. Aika.

Haruta Aika.

Even though disappointed in the situation I found myself in, I guess I should be thankful that I was even born into a fictional world. What were the chances of that happening?

I would make this work. Somehow, I would get myself invested in this life and spice it up. I was not gonna sit around and have a quiet life. One boring life was one such life too many.

Beware shinobi world, as you won't know what force hit you!

Well then… back to planning out my new life (insert creepy baby giggle here).