Shape Shifter

This is my first attempt to get back into writing after years of absence, let me know what you all think about it.

I don't own Naruto, Naruto is the property of Kishimoto Masashi and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Doubts and Denial

A vast and endless ocean surrounded me, my arms pushed and my legs kicked as I swam within it. The sky was black as night yet no stars or clouds could be seen, I did not know how long I swam for but a feeling of unease began to set in, I soon stopped swimming entirely, using my limbs to keep me afloat.

"Where am I," my mind wonders, "How did I get hear?"

I was alone in this dark and vast ocean, no light save for the pale light of the full moon that was just over the horizon. The sense of unease grew in my chest yet the ocean around me remained calm, it felt as if I became lucid in the middle of a dream, yet I do not remember falling asleep.

A sound reaches my ears, it was faint at first but soon it became clear, water was rushing towards me. I turned my head quickly behind me, my eyes widened when I beheld a forty foot tall wave rushing towards me like a raging bull.

I began to swim as fast as I could towards the moon on the horizon, my legs kicked with all their might, and my arms pushed the water with as much strength as I could possibly manage. But still the wave came closer, making a mockery of my attempts to outpace it.

Within seconds my body was hit by the wave, the feeling of being lifted haplessly by the raging water was as exhilarating as it was freighting. The wave carried me towards the moon, it seeming to grow larger and brighter with each passing second, soon the moon grew so bright that I had to close my eyes least I become blinded.

A new sound soon entered this lonely ocean world, a sound so loud it even carried over the raging torrent of water. A woman was screaming in pain, the screams only grew in volume as the wave brought me closer to the moon that was now so bright not even my closed eyes could stop the slight pain I was feeling from the brightness.

Suddenly I felt the wave crash into something, I felt myself fall headfirst towards the water, the screaming persisted and the moon shun ever brighter even as my head reached the water, but instead of drowning I felt myself being pulled gently by my shoulders by what felt like a pair of soft yet very large hands.

Ietaka Kaizen held his newborn son in his arms while his wife Shio rested after nearly a full day of labor. Ietaka smiled at her, by all accounts the woman could be described as vary plain, easily able to be lost in a sea of other faces with her mid length brown hair, slightly blemished skin from many days working in the son, and her average height. All about her was perfectly designed to be as plain and ordinary as possible, Ietaka himself was much the same, average looks in every respect, dark brown hair, average male height, broad shoulders and muscular arms from many days working at the forge, truly an average pair.

Yet when Ietaka looked down at his son he was anything but average, the boy looked as if someone had made a very realistic looking mannequin, no eyebrows, clean bald head, facial features that just looked blank. The boy looked like a white canvas that was just waiting to be painted into something imaginative.

Ietaka however did not look confused or even surprised at his son's looks however, as if it was normal for a child to look so blank.

"Ietaka-kun, let me see him," the man heard his wife's soft, smooth voice. He looked to see his wife sitting up on their bed with her brown hair still matted with sweat and a tired look still in her eyes.

He made his way towards her and carefully handed his wife their child, "I'm not a doctor, but he seems healthy enough," Ietaka spoke, his tone deep and gravelly from years of drinking alcohol.

Shio shot a tired glance towards her husband, "you couldn't have put the genjustu on him when I was out?"

"I'm sorry, I'll do that right now," he said with a sheepish grin before touching his son on the temple, in seconds the boy's appearance changed from that of a blank mannequin to a near copy of his parents. "When do you think we should start teaching him to make the changes permanent," Ietaka asked.

"as soon as he's able to understand what chakra is, I don't want him to be underprepared, we are the last of our clan after all," Shio spoke while looking down at her child.

Ietaka sighed, "I wish he could live his life without fear of being punished for our sins Shio-chan" he said before kissing the top of his wife's head.

Shio nodded at that, "he will have a normal a life as any Kaizen, thanks to our ancestors and their mistakes, he will have to be better than us Ietaka-kun, smarter, faster, I don't want him to be a shinobi but if worst comes to worst then we'll have to put faith in Konoha."

"he won't need to go if I have any say about it, we'll be there for him every step of the way," Ietaka spoke with confidence.

Shio smiled at her husband and leaned into his chest, "no matter what," she said before falling fast asleep once again with her child in her arms.

It has been…days, or has it been weeks, I could not tell. All I knew was that I was constantly tired and constantly hungry, I couldn't move my limbs properly, I could barely see anything unless it was right in my face, but the grogginess of my mind and the hunger I felt in my stomach was too much to allow me to contemplate my situation.

But as time went on I became less hungry and the weariness receded from my mind, it felt as if I had woken up from anesthesia after a highly invasive surgery. I don't remember going to the hospital, in fact the last thing I remember was… "wait… why can't I remember?" I can't remember what lead up to this, "okay, okay think, I'm twenty three, live in Texas, I'm a man, the year is…fuck what's the date?!" I begin grow more worried as more of my memories that I thought I had become harder to recall, "what's my name…shit what's my name?!" My breathing became more erratic I tried to sit up from my prone position but it felt as if I had taken enough muscle relaxer to kill an elephant, my inability to move only compounded with my already stressed mind and I began to panic.

I tried to yell for help but all I heard was the sound of a baby crying, "is that my voice?" I questioned.

I yelled for help gain and still the same sound left my throat, "this is wrong, this is so wrong!" I did the only thing I could do, wiggle in place and a yell for help.

I heard the sound of footsteps running towards me, a second later I was being lifted into the air, "what the fuck?" I questioned as I felt what could only be described as giant arms holding me gently. "did I die, am I in heaven, am I being held by some giant angel?"

As I thought this my vision was filled with blob that had the vague shape of a human head, I heard the blob shush me and begin to speak in a soft voice in a language that I couldn't speak, and as the blob spoke it began to rock me back and forth in its arms. "okay so probably heaven, I guess this is an angle, I don't really know what angles speak, but… it did sound eastern like not middle eastern but way far out their eastern." I never knew there were eastern angles, but then again angles aren't exactly human anyway.

The angle began to sing in its alien language, it was a sweet tune that made it harder and harder to stay awake, "not what I expected to be what heaven was like, but this is more than what I deserve so I shouldn't complain," I thought before falling into a deep sleep.

"I'm starting to doubt my whole heaven theory" I think as I look upon a large burly man trying to feed me what I only guess is applesauce. I was sitting in a high chair, in a small kitchen, the woman who I thought was an angel was currently slaving over a hot stove making what smelled like steamed vegetables and grilled fish. Both the woman and the man looked very ordinary to me save for the shape of their eyes that defiantly gave away some sort of eastern descent.

The man spoke in his foreign tongue again and guided the applesauce into my mouth, I don't like being feed things to me but sense my arms are about as useful as a sprinkler in a rainstorm I let the man feed me. "some of the words they speak sound somewhat familiar, i mean I know what Korean sounds like, and these two ain't talking like a Korean, I think I knew someone who spoke it often …what was it…my neighbor, childhood friend? Ah damn memories." It annoyed me how their where holes in my memories, no doubt I've suffered some sort of brain trauma making me think that I'm as small as a baby and making me forget who I am and how to move and talk properly. But what I can't explain is why I'm in a house with two foreign people taking care of me. "Am I in the military? Am I stationed in Japan and got hurt away from my base?" That sounded like a more likely option, but yet I don't remember ever signing up for the military, from what I could remember I was never smart enough for the air force I think I would remember being on a huge ass ship if I was in the navy. "Is the army even stationed in Japan or is it just the air force and navy?" I shook my head, I don't remember ever keeping up with US foreign policy, I do love history though, "yeah I remember, I was a history major," I smiled at least I remembered that much about myself.

The man feed me another spoon full of applesauce, as I was chewing my food I couldn't help but draw my eyes towards the woman's rear, it was nice, she defiantly kept in shape. Definite seven, "wait…" I glance down at my crotch, "I don't feel anything, like not even aroused, does my dick still work?!" okay this was bad, definite brain damage, I mean what twenty three year old man feels absolutely nothing when staring at a fine piece of booty?

"fuck kill me now, I don't want to live life half a man," I lamented, the other man spoke again in his foreign, likely Japanese, language. Before I knew it he had picked me up, or at least my brain damaged mind thought I was being carried, I felt a few quick taps on my back before I let out an involuntary burp. " I don't think this can get any worse," I thought to myself as he gently set me back down.

I can walk again, slowly and with a lot of effort but I can walk, I think if I keep this pace in recovery up my mind would go back to normal and I wouldn't think that I'm a baby anymore. As I walk the care taker, a woman who's name I learned to be Shio was crouched down and encouraging me with every step I took. It felt patronizing but she didn't seem to be talking with any sort of condescension so I didn't let myself feel offended. The woman kept on saying the word Isamu for some reason, for all I know it meant 'good job' or 'keep going' but the strange thing is she only said the word when referring to me, so it most likely was 'patient' or the Japanese version of John Doe. Whatever it was it felt strange to be called something that wasn't my real name, not that I remember my real name but I know it ain't Isamu.

I finally made it towards Shio before my legs gave out, she caught me easily and took my into her arms, she spoke words of what I assume to be of encouragement Shio then took me towards a different part of the living room and sat down on the couch with me on her lap, she then pointed to herself, "Kaasan," she said.

"She's trying teach me," I thought, that was nice of her, even though I highly doubt I'd ever be smart enough to become fluent in one of the hardest language ever devised by mankind but there isn't a reason to not try.

"K.." words where hard for me in general right now thank to whatever brain trauma I'm going through, "Kaasan" I babbled out.

Shio for some reason squealed excitedly at this, she said a few more words faster than I could understand and looked at me expectantly, "I guess she wants me to do it again?" I question.

"Kaasan" I said again with a little less effort this time, Shio squealed again before she jumped to her feet and fast walked towards the door.

"Wait are we going outside?" I haven't been outside yet, I have seen outside from the windows in the house but I haven't actually been out yet.

Shio threw the door open the sun blinded me for a moment, but I recovered easily. I saw that we were on a warn dirt road, only a few people where milling about, all of the homes and what I assume to be shops where made of wood, it looked like a small rural town that was lost in time. I might not be an expert in Japanese history but I'm pretty sure Japan modernized a long time ago, so why does everyone look like they're living in what amounted to the Japanese version of the medieval ages. "the sen something, sengoku? Yeah Sengoku period!" I smiled to myself, "I'm so smart sometimes."

I shook my head of those idle thought as we went further into town, it literally did look like a traditional Japanese village, like some place you would find in a starting town in a Japanese themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign. "Maybe these people are very isolated, or they're just Japanese Amish?" That made the most sense, Japan isn't large enough to have pockets of the old world hidden around without it being a tourist attraction, and I don't see any of my fellow fat as shit Americans making an ass of themselves in a foreign land lumbering about.

Eventually we make it to "holy shit is this a black smith, we really are in a D and D campaign!" I inwardly cheer.

Shio opens the door to find the man that I see around the house slaving away at a glowing slab of metal, Shio spoke towards the man, "Ietaka, is his name," remember.

The man upon hearing Shio speak looks towards us in surprise, the exchange words that I can't understand before both looking at me expectantly, "do they want me to speak again?" I wonder.

Shio then bounces me up and down slightly, taking that as my queue I speak, "Kaasan" I say while pointing at Shio, I hardly know what it means that I'm saying, for all I know they're fucking with me and I'm saying some embarrassing shit but Ietaka and Shio both look pleased, I can't tell if they're proud or not, I never made anyone proud back home so it's hard to tell if that's pride I see in their faces.

It's been a year I suspect sense I woke up in this Japanese Amish village, I only assume it's been a year sense I've seen the snow come and go and the spring weather take its place. Walking has become a lot easier, I can go to the bathroom on my own as well, I hated having to be taken care of like that, it felt like I was a parasite. I could talk better and understand more of the Japanese language, "I guess it's true what they say, the best way to learn any language is to go headfirst into the culture and surround yourself with the natives," I say to myself.

I'm currently inside of the house that I've become familiar with, I'm sitting down on the comfortable couch attempting to read a children's story. It has small words in big bold…well I wouldn't call whatever the hell this is letters but…I'm trying to make sense of this squiggly shit. Reading and speaking Japanese are two completely different things, "damn island people and their isolationism, people must have gotten so bored that the only thing they could do was make the most overly complicated writing system known to man," I lament.

"Isamu-chan, what are you reading?" I hear the soft voice of Shio say from behind me. I look up at her, I figured out that she was making me call her mother, strange woman, but then again my mind still hasn't recovered enough to where I no longer think that I'm a child so who am I to judge?

"I don't know, the words are too hard," I admit, I was never prideful when it comes to asking for help, from what I can remember I used to be growing up but when I got into college I decided to mooch off of the smartest people I can get my hands on and learn from them until there wasn't anything left to learn,
"holy fuck I'm such a human leech."

Shio giggles at me, "well let me help you dear," she said as she walked around the couch and sat right next to me.

We spent the next hour or so going through the book page after page, as she helped me learn how to read. It was hard, decades of only speaking English with a bit of Spanish sprinkled in is hard to erase. My mind keeps trying to see the roman alphabet hidden within the Japanese squiggles that Shio told me are called Kanji. But Shio never lost her patience with me even though I was struggling, if she were my father then she would have left thirty minutes ago in frustration.

We only stopped when Ietaka walked into the house, and I saw Shio greet the man with a kiss, I would be lying if I didn't say that I was slightly disappointed that she was with another man. But then again I guess that's just the type of sad lonely sack of shit that I am trying to draw conclusions that aren't even there. "you're a mental patient remember, you still think your one years old, you'll probably never recover, never be able to go home, never see your family again." I shook my head trying to rid myself of those thoughts, God I hated my own mind sometimes.

"So I hear our smart little boy is already learning how to read, did you finish the whole book already," Ietaka said as he walked towards me with a smile.

I frowned slightly, "why are they indulging in my delusions, isn't it worse on the patient to play along?" this wasn't the first time that this has happened, they often treat me like an actual child rather than the head case I know I am, they should really take me to a modern city and get me some drugs to help with this.

"We read a few pages together, he picks it up pretty fast," Shio answered.

I rolled my eyes, it took us an hour just to go five pages in the book, they probably think I have dyslexia on top of my brain damage which is why me going at the rate that I did is considered fast.

"That's wonderful, at this rate we'll be able to teach you our family secrets in no time," Ietaka said with a smile.

I raised an eyebrow at that but didn't comment, if they want to teach me how to make the best chicken pot pie or whatever they're family secret is than its no skin of my nose.

"Alright let's head to the table and I'll start cooking for tonight," Shio said as she picked me up and headed towards the kitchen.

Another year has come and gone and my skill in reading has only improved with time despite the slow pace that its going. I've also learned a few things about Shio and Ietaka over this time, Shio is a seamstress at a local tailor, and Ietaka has two jobs, not only is he the blacksmith but he's also a part of the town militia, I guess the Amish police force of the town. The house doesn't have much visitors, but a few of Shio's and Ietaka's colleagues stop by for dinner and drinks once in a while. They're nice enough people, Ietaka's friends talk about work and past experiences while Shio and her friend's gossip and be passive aggressive to each other, so I guess Japan isn't all that different from America in that respect.

From all the times that I've been outside I have never seen a child, the youngest person that I've seen was in their upper teens, I guess small towns like this most of the younger generation eventually leave for the modern life while only a few stay behind for whatever reason. I have noted however that Shio and Ietaka are very protective of me, almost overly so, I walked outside one day without them knowing. I wanted to just watch the clouds, I hadn't been gone five minutes until I heard Shio running towards me and picking me up crying saying that she thought that 'they' took me. Highly suspicious, and its only given me another theory as to what the hell is wrong with me. Which Is that I'm an American service man who somehow got hurt and ended up in Amish Japan and everyone around me is a part of a cult that hates the outside and somehow they've taken me in and they may or may not think I'm their God.

Outlandish existential theories aside I have found myself enjoying my time here, the people are pleasant and being surrounded by fresh forest air everyday rather than city smog is always a welcome feeling in my lungs.

Right now I'm outside under a large tree, I'm only ten or so feet away from the kitchen window where Shio can see me as she washes the dishes from this morning's breakfast. I lie back with a content sigh as the summer breeze brushes at my face.

I hear the soft crunch of grass on bear feet approach me as my eyes are closed, "Isamu I think it's time for me to teach you something very important," I hear Shio say above me.

I open my eyes to see her looking at me seriously, I look at her confused but I stand up regardless. Shio takes my hand and leads me into the house. She eventually leads me into the living room, she closes all of the windows and pulls the curtains over each one and sits down with me in the middle of the floor.

"Isamu what I am about to tell you stays within our family, there are bad people out there that want to hurt us and not everyone can be trusted do you understand?" She asks seriously.

I nod my head still confused.

Shio smiles at me, "good, now I am going to teach you how to unlock your chakra, it's an energy that allows people to do amazing things and it will allow you to learn our clan's bloodline."

I blink once…I blink twice, "the fuck? Why is she talking like a Naruto character?" I get a bad feeling at the pit of my stomach, and I feel some strange itch at the back of my head, like a memory desperately trying to be remembered.

"I want you to sit how I'm sitting and hold your fingers like this," she instructs.

This was all very strange, but I decided to humor her, the worst that can happen is that Shio's crazy too and we can all be crazy together.

"good, now close your eyes and breathe deeply this is called meditation."

I close my eyes and breath in and out.

"breath slowly," Shio said gently.

I did as told, after a few minutes Shio spoke again, "now focus on your stomach, you will feel something warm bundled up there, untangle it and let the warmth flow through your body."

I breathed in and out, I focused on my stomach, yet found nothing as expected, a minute passed yet nothing another minute and yet nothing still, a third minute "wait," it was fast but I felt something, it was warm and it felt like it was inside of me. I delved deeper, and my breathing slowed even more, I felt it again, it was hazy but it was constant now. I went even deeper, it was warm, like I had drunk a cup of hot coco and I could still feel the warmth in my stomach.

I began to 'see', more like imagine a bundle of twine, I began to pull it apart and unknot it. It was hard at first but as I began to untangle more and more of the warm bundle it became easier, I didn't know how long it took but when I untied the last knot I felt a sudden wave of warmth spread thorough my body, as if my body had been numb this entire time and blood was finally rushing in my veins. It felt exhilarating, like I could run a hundred miles, take on a tiger, eat the biggest toughest steak I could get my hands on, it felt like I just shot a liter of whisky into my system and could beat the shit out of anyone in the bar.

But then the memories, the holes in my mind began to flood in, my name, John, my history exam that was due the next day, the stormy weather, the drunk driver, the blackness, and the endless ocean with the bright moon.

My eyes opened wide as I gasped for breath, I see Shio smiling at me. "Congratulations honey, you just unlocked your chakra!" She said happily

"I…I died…but how…" I then heard what she said, "chakra…being so small…fuck I'm not…I can't be!" But as crazy as it sounds, I'd rather believe that I somehow was reborn into the Naruto world than be a mental case in an Amish village in Japan.

This is my first attempt at getting back into writing and my first time ever writing and SI. Well it's not an actual SI more like a reborn story, Isamu is more like a small part of my personality that's just inflated to become a whole person.

let me know what you think. I have plans for this story that I think many of you would find interesting. I'm not into making an OP Mary sue story, his bloodline is fairly unique from all that I have read in fan fiction, there have been attempts to make a bloodline that is similar to what I have in mind but I haven't seen it done very well.

I hope this was entertaining and I hope that you please leave a review that you feel is worth your time to write, thank you for reading!