Prologue

I was sixteen years old when the bombs dropped. I had grown up in peace while enjoying the greatest luxuries of the twenty-first century, but greed had tainted the minds of those in power. Our lives were sacrificed for their desire, and I hated them for it.

I recalled cowering in a bunker and desperately wishing for a return to the tranquil days of my youth on one moment, and nothing but darkness in the next.

I awoke to an overwhelming light and sounds that drove spikes into my head. I couldn't move, my limbs trapped with phantom bindings, but my jaw seemed to work, as did my lungs.

With no other option available, the newly born Kimoto Kazuo screamed.

The coming weeks were spent in and out of consciousness. I would open my eyes, try to focus, but my body betrayed me, until one day it didn't.

I cracked my eyes open and tried to focus on what was in front of me. With excruciating effort, the picture finally cleared, showing me the face of a woman offering nothing but warmth and adoration. I didn't know who she was, or why she was so big, but I knew I loved her.

Over the month that followed I slowly understood my situation. I had somehow been reincarnated. My new life seemed to exist several decades before my last, and I guessed that I lived in Japan given the architecture around me. Technology seemed far less advanced, but some things seemed out of place. My room had functional electric lights, and my mother cooked on a fairly modern looking stove, but our family still wrote with brushes and ink, and often read from scrolls. As the months carried on, I began to notice more and more inconsistencies with what I knew.

My parents kept knives and needles lying around everywhere, sometimes they would move far too fast for the eye to see, and I swore I had once seen my mother light the stove with a small flame that shot from her fingertip. For a while I held my childish imagination responsible for many of these oddities, but a few days after my first birthday the truth hit me like a boulder.

My mother had taken me out of the house for the first time, letting me join in on her regular grocery run. For a short while I simply took in the sights around me, and processed the unfamiliar architecture and environment.

It wasn't until they left the first store that I realized my new situation. I saw a man walk out after us in a strange outfit: sandals, cargo pants, a grey vest, and a lighter grey turtleneck, but what really stood out was his headband. On it, was a large metal square protecting his forehead. As I gaped in astonishment at the strange man, he suddenly disappeared, leaving behind little more than a cloud of dust.

Somehow, in my rebirth, I had emulated the protagonists of hundreds of light novels and manga alike. I had been reincarnated in a fantasy world - the world of Naruto.

Drawing my eyes away from the spot the shinobi had just vacated, I stared up at my mother in shock. She stared back in amusement, laughter dancing in her eyes at my astonished expression.

I brought together all of my experience from the months I had spent babbling, to force out a stuttered word as I pointed at the scene of the incident.

"G- Gone!" I squealed.

It was my mother's turn to be shocked. She digested her son's first word for only a second, before breaking out into laughter and pulling me even closer.

"Yes, he is gone, little one," she replied happily.

The next several weeks were spent in a mixture of wonder, excitement, and fear: wonder for the truly magical world I was now in, excitement for what my future might bring, and fear for the horrors I knew were coming.

I spent as much time as possible trying to prime myself for success. I ran around as much as my little body would allow, pushing for more every day. I pestered my mother with questions constantly throughout the day, annoying her and amusing her in equal parts.

I learned that I was in Takigakure: the Village Hidden by the Waterfall. My parents were both shinobi, and my grandparents had been amongst the first citizens of the village.

I spent as much time as possible trying to find my chakra, and found success after only a few months. I had expected some fanfare; I thought there might be a burst of force or some grand understanding. In reality, I slowly became aware of a slight warmth under my skin, and one day when I strained my focus with all my might, it moved .

My mother seemed to notice my escapades, because a few days after my first success she held her hand against my stomach, allowing me to feel a slowly swirling warmth.

My days continued in this enjoyable routine, until half a year had again passed, and my father made his first appearance.

"He looks just like his grandfather, doesn't he?" spoke a large, scarred man.

I looked up at the new face searchingly. I saw pitch black hair, just like my own and my mother's, but a far darker skin tone. The man had a large scar running down the left side of his face, and another down his chin.

Despite his somewhat fearsome appearance, I sensed nothing but joy and affection in the man's eyes.

"I see a little of your mother as well," replied my mother. I put two and two together as my mother spoke.

"Kazuo," she addressed me. "This is your father, he's been away protecting all of us, but he's back now. Call him papa," she instructed gently.

I looked back up towards the man who had missed the first year and a half of my life. Had I been an ordinary child, I might have been a bit wary, but I knew of what this world had to offer, and understood my father had probably been left with little choice.

"Papa," I said resolutely, bringing forth a laugh from the imposing man.

"My, what a serious child," he spoke, holding out his arms to take me from my mother. "Just like you then," he continued. My mother simply looked down with a smile as she passed me over.

Later in my life, I would look back on the following six months as one of the most joyful periods of my life. My parents were present for the most part. On occasion one would leave for a week, presumably on a mission, but most of our time was spent together as a happy family.

I felt unbelievably lucky to have been gifted with such happiness in this world, but as the seventh month started it all went wrong.

I woke from my slumber with a start, as an alarm rang out through the night and an oppressive force crashed down.

My mother soon burst into the room, clothed in a grey vest and dark pants rather than her usual dress. She swiftly gathered me into her arms, and the world around them turned into a blur.

She passed me off to an elderly lady, before crouching down to look me in the eye.

"Kazuo," she said, keeping her voice level despite the fear that even I could see in her eyes.

"I need you to do something for mama," she continued. "Stay with aunty, cling tight to her, and stay strong. Mama and papa will be back soon to get you, okay?" she promised.

As I watched her leave, somehow I already knew I wouldn't see her again.

The night continued in a haze of terror and destruction, and all I could think was 'this wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't Konoha.'

I passed out from the pressure around me. As my consciousness departed, an emotion bubbled up within me once again, directed towards this world. I felt hatred.