The grey wall stared back at me as I glared sullenly at it. It had been a few weeks since I had woken up in the dingy room covered in weird squiggle like black script. A few weeks since I had been stuck in an equally dark room and bundled up into a barebones wooden crib that looked at any point to be on the verge of collapsing. I was really feeling the love over here.

I wiggled my little stumpy fingers and equally tiny hand in front of my eyes, I couldn't help but feel the strange disconnect between my memories and my current situation. These thick digits were vastly different to the ones I was used to, fully grown and dextrous. My current body allowed me too little control. I was, of course, a baby; I couldn't even move from where I had been lain down except to wiggle slightly. This really couldn't have happened, there was no way my mind which had been brought up on science and reason and common sense could rationalise these fingers with as much range of movement as a sausage. Okay, so maybe I was in a little bit of denial.

My past life, and I could only assume it was mine and hope it wasn't someone else's just to make this situation even more weird, hadn't ended suddenly. It wasn't perfectly clear in my head, more fuzz than memory honestly, but I knew that there'd been no lorry on the road hitting me, no mysterious murder. I had never been healthy, spending a lot of time bed ridden and infirm in hospital, so I couldn't exactly claim that it was surprising that I had… died; honestly it had always felt like it was coming soon. Maybe that said something, considering I never even got to finish university. All I remembered was going to sleep and waking up here. Where here was, was a different question all together.

The strange bandaged man was oddly familiar. I couldn't say from where, couldn't remember anything specific, just a strange feeling of familiarity amid the sea of hazy memories. It wasn't like I had known him, I think, just that I had seen him somewhere before. Unfortunately, nondescript black-grey walls and artificial lighting didn't serve as a landmark. At least I knew I was underground… probably.

However undoubtedly the oddest thing about my new situation which I was definitely not freaking about thank you very much, was the floating box that had appeared near immediately after I was "born". From what I could tell, either nobody could see box or it was a normal occurrence in wherever the hell I was. I honestly couldn't tell which would be worse.

Welcome

The Game has begun

{Initialization Sequence Complete}

System has been set-up successfully

Character Creation initializing

Character creation? That seemed rather redundant at this point, I thought as I glanced down at myself again. Even though I was swaddled in cream coloured cloth, I still remembered the pale skin, short legs and round stomach.

Initialized

Welcome to Character Creation

Here you will set your basic self

You will have limited options

Instead your Life will decide your Character

That… made sense in a weird soft way. Although, I think it said a lot about the situation I seem to have be born into (I had to supress a shudder at this, birth was not something you were supposed to remember) that this seemed normal to me. So, this new life was a game of some sort? I could work with that; I'd played plenty of them in the Before.

Allocate your initial stats

Name: ?

Level: 1

Exp: 0/100

Title: N/A

Race: ? Human

HP: 10

CP: 10

STR: 1

INT: 1

Dex: 1

Vit: 1

Wis: 1

Stat Points: 20

Oh how typically RPG, and a subpar one at that. What kind of role-playing game doesn't let you pick your own name and race? Hell, I didn't even get to pick my appearance. Fantastic. Not only had my life become a game, it had become a budget one. Nothing to do but allocate my points. Ten health points sounded far too low, something would have to be done about that. So thinking, I put 4 points into the vitality stat and watched by HP climb to 50.

HP: 50

CP: 10

STR: 1

INT: 1

Dex: 1

Vit: 5

Wis: 1

Stat Points: 16

Honestly, I knew next to nothing about this game and I had the strangest feeling that whatever this system was, it preferred to let me work things out on my own. The one hint that I had gotten was that these were only the most basic stats and if this did turn out to be any sort of decent RPG game, I'd get more points from levelling up. It seemed to me that spreading out my points evenly would be a pretty alright idea. I shrugged to myself, or as much as a baby could, and dumped the rest of the stat points equally.

HP: 50

CP: 50

STR: 5

INT: 5

Dex: 5

Vit: 5

Wis: 5

Stat Points: 0

So, vitality increased health and wisdom increased whatever CP was. Seemed straight forward so far and the other stats seemed self-explanatory. Who knew (re)designing yourself was this easy?

Congratulations on finishing attribute allocation

Proceeding to New Game Perk selection

Remember

Perks will not always only have a positive effect

Perks are not guaranteed to be permanent

Select 1 perk from each section

Background

Civilian Born: With a civilian background, you do not gain any additional stats per level. However, you have a 100% increased reputation gain with civilians but a reduction of 20% to reputation gain with ninja from prestigious ninja clans. Additionally, you gain more money per mission

Uzumaki Clansmen: Being one of the Uzumaki, you have their infamously strong lifeforce, providing 5 extra point in Vitality every level and doubling CP (including modifiers) from all sources. Additionally, you have a 100% increase in experience gain towards the art of sealing. You may also gain access to techniques exclusive to the bloodline.

Senju Clansmen: Descending from Senju bloodline lends you both chakra and health in spades, you have a 50% increase to HP and CP from all sources as well as 2 extra points in Vitality and Wisdom every level. Additionally, you gain a 20% boost to experience gain from any of the three major ninja arts of ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. You may also gain access to techniques exclusive to the bloodline.

Uchiha Clansmen: Wielders of the famous (or infamous) dōjutsu bloodline limit the sharingan, you boast increased dexterity compared to your fellow shinobi as well as strength, gaining 3 extra points in each per level. Furthermore, you grow proficient in the use of ninja tools and weaponry 100% faster and any fire jutsu you use is stronger (depending on level). You may also gain access to techniques exclusive to the bloodline.

Further Clans are unavailable currently

What.

I recognized all those names, Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki? And chakra too? Was this thing trying to tell me that I had been reborn into the Naruto universe of all places? It was suddenly all together hard to breath; I could hear the soft baby pants coming in and out, but it felt like I wasn't getting any air. What a time to find out that a baby could have a panic attack.

Okay. Okay, deep breaths. Focus on the positives. I'm alive, I get another chance at life and if this was anything to go by maybe I could actually be good at it. Make friends that weren't just online and I could go outside and have fun and be normal. Or the closest to normal one could be in a world full of superpowered ninjas who could call down meteors from the bloody sky and make valleys with some funny hand gestures and – no okay, relax. Maybe I could just stay away from all that. Be one of the faceless civilians. I looked back at the floating box full of options and choices that all implied something dangerous.

Maybe not.

Somehow, I felt like being inconspicuous wasn't really an option here. Not when life was apparently a video game. Then, what would be the next best thing? Taking the [Civilian Born] trait wouldn't paint a target on my back, but it also felt kind of lacking in self-defence, no boost to any skills or traits? That was out.

Any of the clans sounded great on paper, or glowing floating box. Whatever. Being an Uzumaki would be great chakra wise, I could throw out jutsu all over the place and be great at the amazingness that is sealing. Maybe I could even get those kick-ass chains? Senju would give me that great boost ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu as well as the general increase to my HP and chakra. The clan technique could even be the wood release! The Uchiha obviously had their cheat code eyes, learning techniques just by looking at them was so busted. All the Uchiha perk gave were nice and all but the eyes were the main draw.

However, I couldn't just jump in on any of those, the reason being that I had absolutely no idea at what point in the show I was in. The old guy I saw when I was… "born" looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place him and without any knowledge choosing the wrong option was a straight road to (another) death. Had Uzushio been destroyed and the Uzumaki destroyed or scattered yet? Was Kushina dead and had Naruto been born? If so, then being an Uzumaki would be risky with no clan to back me. The Senju, while once powerful had quickly become just as scattered as the Uzumaki, so if I was anywhere near the show then my only direct family would be Tsunade right? And Senju blood always seemed valuable in the show… Yet the idea of possible getting mokuton just seemed too badass to dismiss

Finally, the Uchiha. This option had the most glaring issue. The Uchiha massacre. Was I before it? Then would I survive it or be slaughtered by the overpowered master himself Itachi Uchiha. And if it had already happened then I would likely be stuck with the avenger and a stigma against my clan with the massacre constantly being held above my shoulders. Yeah, I don't think so, the Uchiha were out.

So really, I was choosing between being an Uzumaki or a Senju. Honestly, it wasn't like I would be losing either way. One way I'd be super good at sealing (which was, as I already stated, awesome) and have ridiculous chakra reserves or I'd have loads of health and chakra. For all I know, I could even unlock mokuton which was overpowered as hell from what I remembered. Is there some kind of randomizer in this game? I'm not sure I can choose between the two and it's not like I had a coin hidden in the clothe I was swaddled in to flip…

Are you sure you wish to randomly select your Background between:

[Uzumaki Clansmen]

[Senju Clansmen]

{Yes} {No}

Wow it really does? I wasn't entirely being serious you know. The game was silent in response even as I just stared at the textbox. This is a really big decision and to leave it up to chance seemed a bit.

Oh well, what's the worst that could happen? I end up a super powered ninja? Scoffing, I selected the affirmative response and the sound of a pachinko machine started rattling directly into my ears. This continued for a few seconds, before bells and whistles started trumpeting. You know the typical sound a slot machine makes when you win a big jackpot? Imagine that but erupting right inside your ears. Ouch.

Finally, once the sound had stopped and my ears stopped ringing I read the textbox that had reappeared right in front of me.

Your Background has been randomly selected:

[Senju Clansmen]

I let out a brief sigh of relief, glad that the game had made the decision for me. As I 'clicked' confirm, my body began to glow a soft white that grew in intensity until it was a hard, searing light that forced me to keep my eyes screwed shut. When it eventually faded after a few minutes, I had to blink the spots out of my eyes. Is that what it felt like to be flash banged?

My body didn't look any different, my small frame was still covered in baby fat but my arms did feel a bit lighter and I did feel a lot... healthier? I might've been imagining that though, or maybe my stat changes were only taking effect now?

Please choose your Name for your new Life

My name? Crap, I sucked at naming things. Naruto was a Japanese show so I couldn't go by my old name or I'd stand out even more. A western name among a see of Japanese wouldn't do me any good if I wanted to blend in. The problem was that I didn't know much Japanese, I was studying it at university but like I said I never finished. Never got anywhere close really, didn't even get to go to the country. That was depressing.

Okay, keep it short keep it sweet. Something that would be hard for even my woeful memory to forget. The only names that came to mind were ones from cannon themselves and those were out, I could only imagine that getting confusing if or when I ran into the person I shared a name with, so those were out. Next came names from other anime, but I didn't know if I could call myself something like Ichigo; I felt like I would always be looking over my shoulder for an orange haired teen. I needed a name that I didn't associate with anyone, that I could learn to take as my own.

Short and sweet. Short, sweet. Maybe… Dai? That could work, two syllables. It could work, I didn't think that I knew any important characters by that name, even if it was a little uncomfortable close to Sai. If there were any, I couldn't think of them but that could be my failing memory. Whatever, it would work.

Congratulation on completing character creation

For successfully making your new self, you have been granted the Gamer's Perks

A small 'ding!' noise went off in my ears as a new textbox appeared.

You have been awarded some perks!

Gamer's Body: Your life is a video game and with it your body! You rest instead of sleep, regaining your HP and SP (amount varies on where you are sleeping) when you do and recovering from all damage.

Gamer's Mind: Keep your head in the game! Your mind is resistant to emotional extremes, allowing you to keep your cool much easier. But beware because there are always limits. Furthermore, your mind is immune to mental manipulation such as genjutsu.

Wow. Just wow. Those were some exceedingly overpowered perks. Where was the balancing team for this? Not that I was complaining or anything! Please, feel free to burden me with game breaking abilities, somehow I feel like I might be able to suffer through such an unbearable

You are now ready for The Game

Good Luck

That makes more sense. I guess completing the character creation (me creation? Wow this is weird) was like the confirm button for my changes. Cool. I checked my stats page again and was definitely pleased by the results.

HP: 105 (70)

CP: 105 (70)

STR: 5

INT: 5

DEX: 5

VIT: 7

WIS: 7

Stat Points: 0

I whistled to myself, or as much as I could, whistling didn't seem to work very well in undeveloped body of a child. This whole childhood thing was going to suck wasn't it. There was probably a reason why kids generally didn't remember all the time they spent growing up. Probably that it was just plain dull, and they couldn't do anything.

Anyways, I suddenly had a lot more health and chakra than I did before. Things were looking up from the dying thing. This time I got to be a powerful shinobi badass! The most exciting thing I got to do before was… well I don't know. Maybe playing sport? If I was stuck here, there were definitely worse places to be; like I could've been put into the Tokyo Ghoul universe or Berserk or any number of other monstrously depressive anime shows where I would no doubt be killed walking down the street while still low level. Yeah, there were definitely worse places to end up.

But while I was stuck here, in this dingy room somewhere, I had nothing but time to think about what I wanted to do. Did I want to interfere in any of the main plot stuff? Hell even if I didn't try to get involved in that, I couldn't claim to be intelligent enough to think through how any of my actions might affect the overarching events of the world. Who knows how any tiny action could affect something on the other side of the world., the butterfly effect or whatever it was called? Did I even really have a choice? For all I know, the main way I get experience points could be through the main quest. I didn't hold all the power here; the game system did.

Because if there was one thing that I was certain of, this time I wouldn't be perpetually ill. In fact, as a Senju I'd be much hardier than the average person, even from most shinobi around my 'level'. Armed with that knowledge, I knew that no matter what happened, I would get strong. I would 'level up', until I knew that I could be left and alone and actually live my on life for once. No more trips to the hospital, no more constantly worrying about my deteriorating health. A second chance, one that I was damn sure I wouldn't waste. I clutched my fist closed in silent conviction.

Although, looking at my pudgy baby hands, I was a baby. I couldn't even control my body properly, as I flexed my fist open and closed my fingers felt thicker than they should be and slow to respond to what I wanted. As my stomach rumbled in a foreboding way, I suddenly remembered the diaper I had on and blanched.

Worst. Tutorial. Ever.

…

"Danzo-sama", an emotionless voice spoke up from his side, blank white mask staring at the floor as the Root Nin knelt with one hand on the floor beside him, "The preliminary test results on the boy's blood have been received."

Danzo said nothing, and the man beside him took that as the sign that it was to keep going.

"He is a Senju, Danzo-sama."

The leader of Root just nodded, not particularly surprised. Not unlike the Uzumaki, the Senju bloodline had spread far and wide in the shinobi world. There were many people out there with the diluted bloodlines of either family, having married outside of their clan and left their respective villages.

However, the Root ninja kept talking, "But Danzo-sama, his bloodline is extremely strong. It is even purer than Tsunade's own blood."

At this Danzo's eyes widened, shocked. For the boy's blood to be more Senju than Tsunade herself… it simply wasn't possible. He had multiple witness in his ninja for boy being born to that random civilian girl, a nobody in every sense of the word. Her family had never produced a ninja before, let alone been related to the renowned Senju Clan. Even if the circumstances of the boy's birth had been anything but normal there was no way he could be a Senju, let alone of pure Senju blood.

He shook his head. The how of it could be investigated later, and it would be, if Konoha could learn how to create Senju, the things that could lead to…

That was neither here nor there though, right now, Danzo knew he had to decide on what to do with the boy. A child of pure Senju descent had been dropped almost literally into his hands.

The masked ninja to his right remained kneeling, eyes averted from his superior but even then, he could still see the ruthless smirk that flittered across the old man's weathered face. Scars and wrinkles crinkled to cast what would have been a truly horrifying visage if the man were still capable of feeling such emotions.

Meanwhile Danzo's thoughts had reached their conclusion. Truly, the old war hawk thought, the gods must favour Konoha.

To gift him with this perfect tool.

A/N: So I wanted to make this chapter longer but this seemed like a reasonable place to stop it. I'm still planning out the story from here, but the gamer elements should start becoming more prominent soon. There'll likely be time-skips a plenty to get to the point where there will be actual fights and more interesting things happening. I'd like to promise that the next update will be longer or quicker than this one but I doubt that'll be true.

Anyways, please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.