Author's Note: Well here I am, with a story ... again (I have a publishing problem). I searched high and low for a story like this and never found one. So I'm making one, that's it. (Lol turns out there is, The Sweet and The Bitter. Guess this means I'm not special -insert tear-)

Happy reading!

Beta: Kalafina94

© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto

Chapter I

Paradox

Many and many have imagined just where it is that one is transported to following death, whether you go up or below or even if you're doomed to walk the land for an unfortunate eternity. Wonders like these are never truly revealed until one finally experiences death, and the true outcome could end up being quite the surprise. Something no one expected, or most certainly thought was an impossibility.

But that was how things usually went, life—the universe—threw constant curve balls at you. Nothing was ever certain, not even in death and the afterlife. Considering what your afterlife was to be like however.

Apparently, while society may not have been aware, there had been more than just living an afterlife in your greatest dream or worst nightmare. There was no middle ground, but something far different. It was a second chance, it's purpose to possibly right any wrong that may have been made during their living days on Earth.

For whatever reason, an almighty being, such as the big man in the sky, would select people to give these second chances to, no one would ever be able to find out thoroughly or even guess at. But the conclusion that most seemed to draw up was that it was no special person, per say.

Those who had been good in life, who'd managed to make it into the heavens after their passing, were given possibly the greatest gift of all. Reincarnation, though that proved to be untrue. She had been anything but good in her final hours.

They were just a cluster of drunken teenagers, her and her little group of friends, and that alone tells trouble will brew.

That trouble being vandalism, because apparently the boy in their circle had something "stolen" from him by his stepfather; that something being about two-hundred dollars. Now, as retarded as that is, in their state, they hadn't been thinking straight. So they (barely) drove to his parent's home just as he requested.

His stepfather and mother, by odd coincidence, had been out and that left for him to easily get them all inside. He got his money (and then some) but he apparently hadn't wanted to stop there.

Long story short, he had a lot of pent up anger towards the two of them. And he figured it would really stick it in their craw if they trashed the place; it was no bother for him, since he'd moved out the previous year. Eventually, he talked everyone into it; including her.

The interior of their house was in shambles by the time they were done, as if two tornadoes had passed through, and they hightailed it right out of there before anyone could catch them.

Driving away in their car, they laughed and joked about it, thought it was nothing more than fun and games. Then the driver (the boy) lost control of the car and they went tumbling, eventually crashing into a street light. Like the idiots they were, no one was wearing a seat belt. Without knowing what had happened to her friends, she lost her life.

She was never one hundred percent sure about how karma worked, but she was fairly certain that this was it at its finest.

It was sure to be on the news, and viewers were probably shaking their heads at what idiots they had been. They should've, thinking back on it even she couldn't believe she had done something so idiotic; even if at the time she felt so cool being involved.

Being drunk was hardly an excuse, if even one at all. She was far too adamant on fitting in and making people like her. Look where being a follower got her; her old self six feet under and her new self in some foreign land.

But that only meant she had a clean slate, a fresh beginning.

A brand new life in a brand new body, quite the reward it was. It was when you were given an especially better start on life, whether it truly was or not could be debatable amongst one's self. How much so depending on where, when, and who you end up.

That was the slightly frustrating thing, sometimes you never found these things out right away. She surely didn't find out right away.

An infant, an innocent baby was what she had been reduced to in the blink of an eye. Whose baby and the family she'd become an addition to? One she never would've expected.

She was comfortably warm in her fluffy tan blanket, her curious eyes darting around to glance at every little thing within eyeshot she didn't recognize. Which was in actuality everything; even though she couldn't see things from that far away.

She didn't know where she was. She felt so uncoordinated and not in control of herself, her arms twitching if she moved them; going in a direction she didn't intend for them to go.

It seemed the only thing she did manage to have control over was her own thoughts, and it sucked. She felt too vulnerable and out of her comfort zone.

The person holding her was slowly pacing back and forth and had her against her chest, patting her back as she whispered things she had no understanding of. The soothing effect of it all began to make her drowsy, leading her to believe this woman was deliberately attempting to put her to sleep.

And it was definitely beginning to work. That is, until someone else entered the room and caused her to cease; putting her attention onto this new arrival.

She was talking to a man it sounded, confirming it so when she was moved into his arms. And oh how unsettling his appearance was to her, it caught her off guard. Half of his face was practically covered by his high collar and a pair of shades shielded his eyes from view, there was even a large hood over his head. It made him look a little creepy.

And, surprising to her, the sight made her break out in a cry. It was very odd, she was a young adult mind trapped in the body of a child; yet here she is reacting childishly.

He only stared, on the outside appearing to seem unaffected by the baby cries. But by the way he stiffened up, she could tell that wasn't the case; she even had the nagging feeling that he had gotten just the slightest bit offended. But that was probably all in her head.

The woman chuckled and took her back from him, shaking her head.

She was soon brought into a separate room (even though the atmosphere stayed generally the same) and laid down onto a firm surface, table most likely, and her blanket was moved so it uncovered her torso; causing her to shiver from her loss of warmth.

This woman smiled down at her, cooing a little and running her fingers through her very short hair, while the man stood far off doing something else, whatever it was she couldn't see. She just kept her attention on the shades wearing lady.

When the man did manage to step their way, he had a needle in his hand, and the sight of it made her whimper. The lady seemed to have picked up on her discomfort and tried to console her by speaking in a hushed tone.

But what good did that do? She couldn't understand her anyway and she would still get stuck with something foreign. What was the point?

The man carefully grabbed her little arm and lifted it up. She tried to scoot away, but she ended up going nowhere. She whimpered once more when she felt the cool tip graze her skin.

Then, she began to cry again (loudly) as soon as she felt the needle pierce and go up her side. It was held there for a few seconds and then quickly taken out. Then she was back in her warm blanket and the woman's arms, her back being patted and rubbed as she wailed.

For a while she didn't feel anything. She wondered what that even was and why she needed it. Of course, her thoughts were put on pause when she started to feel weird on the inside.

It was as if something were ... crawling, it was like a tickle. It started in the place she was given her shot, then it slowly panned out until—eventually—that tickle was everywhere in her body. It made her squirm in discomfort.

She felt pinches within all the tingling every now and then, the feeling would make her jump a little. Whatever they shot her up with, was it alright to do this to babies? What kind of fucked up country did she manage to end up in?

"There there, it's okay now." her mother said, rocking her a little. She kissed her head. "You're okay." Just the soothing properties of her voice alone were enough to make her calm herself and stop her cries gradually. She didn't have to understand what was said.

"You make it appear so easy," he father commented, running a hand through her baby hair. "How?"

She shrugged. "I'm a mother; it just comes naturally."

＼(゜ロ＼)(／ロ゜)／

Shinra.

Her name in this new world was Shinra, and that was all she knew about her new life; she picked up on that by the time she was one. And she also had an older brother, their age difference being a little over a year; not that huge of a reaction to seeing his new little sister (somehow their parents expected something different).

The first time she was introduced to him, he seemed more on the curious side than anything else towards her. Sometimes he would stare at her while she was in her crib, and she would stare right back.

As if they were both analyzing one another, that was exactly what she was doing. She had a feeling that their parents found it to be quite strange.

He had a very pretty pair of deep brown eyes, to say he was suppose to be a boy, pale skin and dark brown hair.

He was a very...different kind of child, regarding how he wasn't as loud and all over the place as someone his age usually was. He wasn't as rambunctious as a normal two year old. He was fairly quiet and most of the time, he kept to himself, though it wasn't as if he had anyone he could really socialize with otherwise.

Their parents weren't exactly at his low level of speech, and Shinra wasn't orally developed enough to hold a real conversation. She could understand some words, nothing more or less.

It wasn't even often that he cried, and if he did, it was for a short while.

The opposite of Shinra, who cried quite a lot. It left for her mother to handle her when she got that way, since apparently her father didn't know what to do with a crying child. Hence why he was more in her brother's company at times, but he loved her as well. She knew that, but she somehow enjoyed the company of her mother more. Though she equally loved her father as well.

"My sweet little girl..." her mother would coo. "You don't have to cry, as long as I'm here." Her presence just oozed warmth and safety and she gave off a very motherly sort of aura. Not to mention she seemed very kind and loving, and that was seen by her just within a few hours of first being near her.

Being able to have that interaction with her (or really just anyone) would be the highlight of her day. During any other time, things were pretty dull.

Her days were usually filled with, needless to say, absolute boredom; as the hours felt unbelievably dragged out and longer than they actually were. Of course, being a one year old limited her to a lot; she had nothing else to do but sit, crawl around, and sleep. Not very eventful, it was no real wonder.

It left for her to instead observe her surroundings and family, or at least as much as there was. Her mother seemed more pale faced than Shinra remembered for starters, and even developed a nasty cough; she didn't seem very well overall and it worried Shinra quite a lot.

As soon as that coughing began, her and her brother were kept away from mother while their father tended to her. Shinra hoped she would be fine, though she seemed to get just the slightest bit worse day by day. It was a little bit depressing.

Their father kept his face covered more than usual while in her presence, so it was no wonder the children weren't let near her; it must've been contagious.

Instead, they would both sit in the front room with some toys around to occupy themselves. Though, they wouldn't exactly play with much; Shinra nothing at all. The only thing her brother would do is build a tower of blocks, then knock it down.

Then rebuild it,

and knock it down again.

All the while she watched silently.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something tiny moving across the floor; in her general direction. When she turned her attention away from her brother to look, she saw it was a little beetle. She scooted closer to her brother when it got closer, causing him to pause in his block building and stare at her curiously.

She grabbed the sleeve of his long sleeved shirt and curled her fingers tightly into the cotton fabric, burying her face into his neck and squealing when it got even closer. "Papa!" her brother called, picking up on his sister's discomfort.

The older man was in the front room not too long after, and as soon as Shinra saw him, she let go of her sibling; crawling to her father and lifting her arms to be picked up. To which he quickly obliged.

"What's wrong?" he questioned them both. The toddler boy pointed at the beetle that had stopped it's scurrying.

"I think it scared Shinra-chan." he said, and their father nodded. Walking over to his son and sitting down, turning Shinra in his arms.

He reached out for the bug and allowed for it to crawl upon his finger, bringing it a little closer to his daughter so she could get a better look. Though she cowered back just a little. "It's friendly." Shibi tried to explain. "As a matter of fact, it belongs to me." Shinra watched as the beetle crawled up his hand and into his sleeve. "It must have gotten loose."

She kept glancing between his face and his coat sleeve, he was just letting it crawl on him like that? Furthermore, he just collected bugs?

"There's no need to fear them," Shibi stated. "they're very loyal to our clan." He poked her chest. "These same ones are scurrying inside of you, and Shino as well. They're a part of you, they're like your protectors. Don't be afraid."

Over the coarse of her year long life, she tried to listen as closely as she could to anyone who spoke. By now (while she still didn't understand the language completely) she could sort of get the gist of what someone was saying.

Something about the bug maybe? He pointed at her, she couldn't really focus on what he was trying to say; because she felt that tingle again. On her right arm, it made her itch at the limb. It felt as if something were moving right below the surface of her skin. On the bright side, she didn't feel those random pinches anymore.

Shibi turned her around again, so she was facing him. He unbuttoned the first couple of buttons on his coat to reveal a surgical mask; which he pulled down as well. She tilted her head, she'd never seen this much of his face before. He had facial hair, a moustache and a beard.

She reached out a hand to touch his upper lip hair, very carefully so she didn't accidentally hit his nose or something. The hairs tickled the tips of her fingers when she touched it, then he grabbed her little hand and brought it to his cheek.

It was then that she saw one of those bugs again, crawl right up from his collar and onto his face; it made her pull her hand back. The bug was beating it's wings a little and she hesitantly leaned in to look closer.

All it did was sit there, moving its wings around. She reached out her hand again, slowly until she finally poked the bug. She squealed when it moved, crawling back into the confines of Shibi's coat.

The little scenario made Shibi crack the tiniest, but still noticeable, smile. "They're called Kikaichuu, and they're the very essence of us. You'll get use to them." He kissed her head and sat her back down next to Shino; before standing back up and heading towards the back rooms.

Both Shinra and Shino watch him leave until they could no longer see them. "Don't worry, imotou." She turned to look at him as he scratched at his chest, clutching his shirt. "I'm not very used to them either..."

She scratched her arm again, letting out a little breath. She really hated not getting a good enough grasp on their language, she wished could start to learn it a little better. But, she couldn't even walk yet. Clearly that wouldn't be anytime soon.

She pointed at the blocks, and Shino glanced at them before looking back at her. "Would you like to play too?" he questioned, pointing down at them.

She nodded as soon as she saw him point, and he handed a block to her. She looked at it, then back up at him curiously. She was only trying to say she wanted to watch him stack some more, but she supposed this was good as well.

She crawled in closer before taking the block from his hands, trying to carefully place the block on top of another. She fumbled a little, and Shino grabbed her hands to steady them. "Like that." He helped her place the block near perfectly on top. He looked at her. "You did good."

She smiled at him.

＼(゜ロ＼)(／ロ゜)／

Shibi had finally finished securely covering Shinra's mouth and nose, both her and Shino now protected enough to enter their mother's room. He eased the door open, allowing for Shino to enter first before he stepped in himself; Shinra on his hip.

"How do you feel, Kao?" Shibi questioned as he shut the door.

Kao nodded. "I feel good, now that I see my babies." she said, smiling at Shino and Shinra. "How are you doing, sweetheart?" she asked Shino, after he took a seat in a chair near her bed.

He nodded. "I'm fine, mama." he replied, kicking his legs a little. "Are you going to get better soon?" That question took her by surprise.

But she chose to avoid answering it. "Have you been reading the books I got for you?" she questioned him, and he nodded. As if she had to ask.

"I've been practicing my writing too."

She nodded. "That's very good Shino, you're developing nicely." Kao looked towards Shinra, smiling a little sadly. "I wish I could've heard you speak ... just once." she sighed. "It's unfortunate, I'll never get to hear your voice..." Tears began to prick at her eyes.

"You shouldn't speak that way, Kao." Shibi stated. "You sound as if you're giving up, you can still—"

"No, I can't Shibi." Kao interjected. "The inevitable reality is that I can't, and I'm prepared to accept that. It is my fate."

"Only if you make it that way." It was as if Shibi were trying to convince himself more than his wife. With all the medicines he's concocted for her to take, she'd have been cured by now if this were a simple sickness. But she was deathly ill.

Usually, the Kikaichuu were able to do something about a virus (aiding the immune system in nutralizing it) right along with poisons; but even they had a limit. This proved to be too much for them, they couldn't be of much help to her either. Obviously so if her condition only worsened as the months went on.

Shino had absolutely no clue what his parents were speaking of, and Shinra barely understood herself.

They were using some words she couldn't understand, and it made it difficult for her to really get a grasp on their conversation. Was this how children felt? She detested not comprehending something like language, one that was supposed to be her own at that.

"You've done everything you could. It helped, but it just wasn't enough," Kao stated, then sighed. Shibi sat down on the edge of her bed, and seeing her mother's upset expression, made her attempt to move closer to her, outstretching her arms. She wanted to be held by her again.

But Shibi grabbed her arms and repositioned her back into his lap. "I'm sorry, Shinra, but you can't touch mama." Kao said sadly.

Shinra tilted her head, a small frown on her face. "Ma...ma—mama...?" Shibi looked at her in mild shock, though it couldn't be seen on his covered face. Kao gasped a little, covering her mouth.

"Shi-Shinra?" A smile broke out onto her face and she reached out for her. But quickly paused, her face falling as she remembered she could not touch her. She bit her lip. "I hate to leave you all so early ..." The tears in her eyes spilled over as she began to sob, covering her face and coughing into a handkerchief as she did, a few specks of blood flying onto it. "I love you all so much." She managed to rasp out before coughing some more; a bit more furiously this time around.

She definitely was worse than before. The last time she saw Kao coughing, there had been no blood, though that had been during the earlier stages of her sickness; when it was just getting started. Shinra didn't even know how she could've contracted it, but then again, how could she?

The sight made Shinra begin to cry herself.

＼(゜ロ＼)(／ロ゜)／

Shinra was crawling through the hall, straight in the direction of Kao's room. She could see that the door was cracked open when she got up close. She carefully placed a hand on the door and pushed it open a little more to get a better look inside, which caused it to emit a creak. Kao seemingly hadn't picked up on it.

Shinra stared at the prone form laying upon the bed. She looked very weak and she was as pale as a ghost. Was it possible for her to get any worse?

She really hoped not.

"Shinra," She heard someone say and turning in the direction of the voice, she saw that it was her father. He hurried over to her and scooped her up in his arms. "What are you doing? You can't go in there." he said as he walked further down the hall, towards Shinra's room.

Her head rested on his shoulder, her eyes stayed glued to Kao's door. If it hadn't been for the steady rise and fall of her chest showing her breathing, Shinra would've thought Kao was dead already.

That was how bad she was looking.

＼(゜ロ＼)(／ロ゜)／

They all watched as Kao's casket was finally closed and lowered into the ground, Shino's hand in his father's grasp and Shinra on his hip. Shino looked up at Shibi, staring at his face for a second before looking back at the grave.

Shinra's eyes were glossed over with tears by the time the funeral was over, and she'd buried her face into Shibi's collar, staining it with her falling tears.

She had tried her best to conceal her sobs, but ultimately, she failed when she began to choke on them. It wasn't fair; she barely got to spend the time she wanted and needed with the woman, yet she still managed to gain an attachment to her.

And now she was gone, just like that.

Shibi's grip on both her and Shino's hand tightened, because he knew she was crying again. It was saddening, as Kao wasn't here to make her feel better this time.

"Shibi?" The man felt a hand on his shoulder from behind. Turning around, he saw it was Shikuro. A friend of Shibi's that neither Shinra nor Shino ever met before.

"Shikuro." Shibi stated. "I didn't expect to see you here."

He shrugged. "I know Kao had been very unwell for quite sometime now. When I had heard of what happened, I wanted see if you were alright."

Shibi nodded. "I'll be fine." Shikuro then glanced down at a still crying Shinra.

"Well, is your daughter going to be fine as well?" he questioned. Shibi turned his head a little to look at her.

He hadn't even expected her to react this way; at such a young age she should've had no understanding of what was even going on. Like Shino, he seemed a bit upset, but that was it; no tears. He only knew he would no longer see Kao, that's all he was upset about.

That was the only way he saw it.

It made Shibi wonder how Shinra was looking at this tragedy. But instead of thinking on that any further, he began contemplating on how he could console her. He nodded. "She'll be okay." It was possible that Shibi had been over thinking it, she was a baby and crying was normal.

For all he knew, she was in tears because she was hungry. Or even tired.

He was throwing it a bit out of proportion.

＼(゜ロ＼)(／ロ゜)／

In the end, Shibi had decided on taking a walk with his children in an attempt to get his and their minds off of Kao's death (just in case it had been on their minds after all).

After that, it became something that they did every once in a while; it was almost like their family time. Since at home, Shibi spent most of his days in isolation when his children didn't need any tending to, mourning privately. This was a way of making things sunnier.

And for Shinra it worked, because for the very first time, she was able to get a good look at the outside world, while hiked up on Shibi's shoulders.

She spotted people with headbands tied around their foreheads, metal plates attached to the cloth. There was a symbol on all of them (the same symbol) and she couldn't tell if it was a snail or something else. She just knew that she recognized it.

There were other things that she recognized, things that made her figure that she was in Japan; such as people's names and the ramen shop. But the next thing that was spotted by her young eyes told her otherwise.

She saw a big tower-like building on the far side of their little town, but that wasn't what made her mouth drop. No, it was the four stone faces above it. A monument that she recognized from a place of pure fiction ...

...she was in the freaking Narutoverse. She recalled watching the adventures that would take place here with all of the characters in her spare time. She remembered how enjoyable it was for her.

She had to wonder how she didn't see that before. One red flag that pointed towards it was the fact that her brother was Shino; though it at least made it obvious where in the timeline she was located, one less confusion. Granted, she never knew what his father's name was either, and his mother's identity was never revealed in canon (though she could now see why); it lead her to assume that his name had been no more than a coincidence.

But there was even the fact of the bugs, and how she was beginning to think they were crawling around inside her (right below her freaking skin); she was a part of the freaking Aburame clan. Which explained Shibi's shades and partially covered face, and even that bug he let crawl on him once.

Truth be told, even the odd choices of attire was a giveaway. With the only clothing material being cotton and linen, the three inch high pants with bandages around the ankles as well as an abundance of other things.

However, even those things wouldn't have directly lead her to assume that this is where she was. And now that she was aware ... she sort of had a swaying opinion about it.

Did anyone really want to be given this type of lifestyle, to grow up and possibly become a tool to their village? No, at least not Shinra, that was another thing so unfair. To have to live in this harsh and cruel place, that's how it was as far as she was concerned. This was Konohagakure, the nicest village among others, but one had to keep in mind that it was still a shinobi village.

Nobody would actually want this, that would be crazy. That person would be an idiot if they claimed they did. Just because it seemed "cool and awesome"? Shinra suppose being a soldier seemed cool and awesome too, until you were placed onto a bloody battlefield. Where you would possibly end up as another kill count.

It was the same here, except the "soldiers" began their work and training as children.

But then again, with the thought of being reborn, you would always want to be reincarnated someplace nice.

She was at odds, there was no say in the matter. Nothing could be done about her situation now, it's already happened, there was nothing that she could do to stop what had already occurred. At such a point all she could do was take the bull by the horns and make the most of this dilemma.

By means of survival.

Knowing that she had to actively train and become her strongest just to survive her new life was something she could understand. It was a bit amusing, this was one thing that she surely hadn't had to worry about before in her previous life. She never once had to push herself to her physical limit to obtain the right she was born with, the right to live. It was unsettling, nerve racking. It was a reminder that she was no longer in a safe world, at least she wouldn't have this safety for long anyhow.

It was fortunate that her body could be trained far past that of the average human, created specifically for combat and defense. It was also just the slightest bit intimidating, because it was still a constant reminder that she would inevitably be using said body to kill. She was basically born a weapon, but maybe it wasn't as horrible as she was trying to convince herself.

Looking at canon it looks that way, solely because of all the trouble Naruto and his team get mixed in. If she just managed to steer clear of them (particularly Naruto) then this new life of hers could play out without a hitch.

Plus, she was part of a family that went pretty much unexplored in canon for the most part. With that in mind, nothing could really go wrong.

Author's Note: I kind of look at this as a prologue-y sort of chapter, mostly because it's served purpose was to,

Show what happened to the Mom (that we never see, if Shino even has one. It just makes me assume she's dead or something). *If it wasn't done well, I apologize*

Establish what clan she's in.

How she figures out she's in the Naruto world and her inner thoughts about it.

That stuff. I read that their clan's insects are put into clan members shortly after birth. Couldn't find how though, so I assumed by means of injection.

I'd love to know what you think, so feel free to review it to me