Chapter Text
//-//
'Yes', I think ironically, as I run through the forest. This must be Karma from my last life carrying on to this life. How did I even end up in this situation? It hadn't always been like this.
In fact I'm pretty sure what has happened to me is literally impossible, yet here I am, thinking over my past life AS I run for my life. Ironic, really.
//-//
As I jump over another fallen branch, I curse. The sound of my heartbeat thrums in my ears. I can hear the footsteps of the men chasing me. They are gaining on me even as I make another turn and they follow.
Maybe the sound of my heart beating is louder than I thought.
I know the forest like the back of my hand, seeing as I would sneak away to play in it sometimes in my childhood. Although I'd never come this far, I am now running blindly through the forest.
My father often traveled to trade valuables between villages. We constantly moved to other villages for trade, but we didn't go too far—just to the villages closest to us, barely a day's travel. Although in recent years, bandits have started to steal and kill from travelers, slowing down father's business.
Seeing as the activity around the paths had seemingly calmed down, my father chose to make the trip to Konoha. He was quite the cautious man, although it wouldn't really come in handy in the face of death.
I ran into a dead end. Right off the edge of a cliff. Although not a long way down, I'm sure that I could survive the jump. It would be better than whatever the bandits decide to do to me.
The sound of slowed footsteps comes to a stop as I'm cornered by the cliff.
The men mock and jeer at me, and presumably make lewd comments. I take a glance back over towards the river as I pray I survive this. The ringleader orders his men to apprehend me. The co*cky bastard probably thinks I won't jump, seeing their calm and unalert postures.
I start to take steps back until I'm near the very edge. Then I jumped.
I hear shouts above me. I'm unable to make out what's said as I frantically try to keep myself afloat. The water makes my light green yukata cling to me uncomfortably.
The rushing of the water makes it hard to focus on anything else though as I make pitiful attempts to fight against the current of the river. Suddenly I hit something hard enough to make my vision go black.
That's the last thing I remember before I pass out.
//-//
My mother had always made it clear to me that she hated me. The reason that my parents split was also because of me. They'd only gotten together because my dad had gotten her pregnant with me and felt as though he had to own up to it. He ended up marrying my mother for me.
My mother treated me horribly and I'm sure that she had a mental illness or something. Before she had my brother, she would dress me up in boys' clothing and would tell me that I was a boy.
When my father went to work, she'd kick me out of the house to 'play' in the yard unsupervised. It wasn't until my father had gotten fed up with my mother's behavior and intervened that I'd found out I was a girl (I was three at the time).
My mother and father constantly had arguments about me, and eventually my father filed for divorce because my mother had been unfaithful and had fallen pregnant with my half-brother, Jordan. This is where the problem starts.
My father had gotten full custody thankfully, but the damage was done. Although I'd grown up relatively well after that, I was still missing my mother.
When my brother came into school as just a freshman while I was a junior, I'd stupidly taken it upon myself to exact my revenge. I bullied him, and after I'd gone to college, others also took it upon themselves to bully him and push him to suicide. Jordan had left a suicide note before he jumped into the water.
I don't know the specifics, but it must've pointed to me as the perpetrator for all his suffering. My mother had called me in hysterics, screaming and cursing my name. It's all hazy now, my past, but I'll never forget the last words that my brother had sent me, haunting me till the day that I'd unlived myself as well.
As I'd closed my eyes for what I'd thought would be the last time, suddenly I felt the urge to scream and cry.
At first, it was all black and I felt like my head would explode. I felt wet and sticky and vaguely heard voices. I couldn't see anything but there was one thing that I was sure of as I suddenly felt something warm being wrapped around me and my mouth being filled with a substance.
I was alive.
//-//
The first few years of my life were quite melodramatic. I spent about six months legally blind and unable to control my bladder myself, and being breastfed by my new mother. I spent most of my time by my mother's side. It felt nice to be loved by a mother. It didn't last long though.
After relearning how to walk, I assisted my sickly mother with chores around our cozy house. My mother also taught me how to act 'lady-like' and 'docile' as was expected of women in this era.
I learned a few things as I improve my speaking and motor skills. One, I'm now sure that my parents are speaking in Japanese. Two, I might just die. I can already see it. Here lies a dead, nameless seven-year-old. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even get a gravestone.
Why? The reason is that I've been reborn into Naruto. Pre-canon Naruto. Around the time when the hidden villages start to form. Meaning that there would be wars in my lifetime. If I even survive that long. With no plot protection or any sort of ninja training, I knew that life for me would be dangerous.
The only good side to this is my parents planned to migrate to Konoha. That plan was delayed after my mother died (likely due to a hard birth). My father spent time trading between villages after that though and delayed our migration to Konoha. When I turned seven, though, the plan was to pack our things and leave our village for good.
It seems as though luck was not on our side.
//-//
Although Takashi wouldn't have liked to admit it, he wasn't closest to his firstborn child. He'd failed to notice his neglect at first.
After his wife fell sick, they could no longer have any children. Any attempts would prove fruitless. Not that he would ever try on his sick wife.
When he truly took a look at his child for the first time, it was after the love of his life died. She was an enigma. She'd looked so similar to her mother yet acted so different.
The dark brown hair with small hints of a lighter shade of brown that wasn't too noticeable if one wasn't paying attention could possibly blend in with her brown hair. She'd had a similarly round face with sharp eyes courtesy of his wife. He already knew she would grow up to be a beauty like her mother.
She was an intelligent child and didn't fuss at all. Other than that, he'd known nothing of her. Although they were never truly close, he would love her till her very last breath.
//-//
On a path, there was a man and a young girl traveling together. As they made the two-and-a-half-day trip, with their belongings in a wagon and a horse to draw the wagon, dark figures lay in wait to ambush them.
As night falls, the pair are attacked. The father manages to stall the bandit long enough for the young girl to escape. It wasn't long enough. Soon the bandit chased the girl and cornered her by the cliff that was near a river.
The small child with knowledge beyond her years knew what might happen if she got caught.
She jumps and doesn't look back.
//-//
My eyes came back into focus.
There were spots in my vision.
Then suddenly I remembered what happened. My sensory skills decided to kick in at this moment.
The back of my head hurt as I flailed about. The river seemed to have slowed down now. I saw a branch sticking out up ahead. I quickly grabbed it and managed to haul myself onto the branch.
I coughed roughly and tried to take in my surroundings with blurred eyes. I could see some land close by.
I contemplated jumping. The distance seemed short enough. I managed to leap from the branch to land. I collapsed heavily onto the ground. The adrenaline was fading fast, and the pain and exhaustion came rushing back.
I felt so tired. I tried to keep my eyes open, but the pain in the back of my head was getting to me. My vision went black again.
//-//
Uchiha Mao stared at the strange girl she'd found at the Naka River. She had been playing with her little brother when she heard the girl in the wet yukata coughing and sputtering.
Quickly, she pushed her brother behind her. The girl then laid down, closed her eyes, and didn't get up again. Mao waited for a few seconds before tugging her little brother away from the river.
She ran home to tell her mother, ignoring the constant questions from her little brother. As soon as she got home, she reported what she had witnessed to her father.
Her father narrowed his eyes in concern and confusion before telling her to stay put.
Her brother tugged at her hand and began asking many questions about the girl.
Furrowing her brow at her brother in annoyance, she told him that she didn't know. He huffed and left the room, probably to go find out more about the strange girl.
Mao would like to know more about her too.
//-//
I peeled my eyes open and then closed them again.
From what I could tell after briefly opening my eyes I was definitely not by the river anymore. The pain at the back of my head was still there, though now it was just a dull pain that was ignorable for the time being.
I opened my eyes again this time mindful of the light. I took a look around and saw no one in the room with me. I was sitting up on a futon. From the tatami mats on the floor and the rice paper walls I was definitely not in a location that was familiar to me.
Just then the door slid open to reveal a pretty woman with black hair and eyes. She was wearing a plain dark green yukata. She looked fairly young, maybe she was in her late-teens or early twenties. She looked at me and smiled.
There was a mild buzzing in my brain, like I was supposed to remember something important. I tried to recall the memories of what could have happened. All I could remember was hitting my head on something while trying to stay afloat in a river.
I wondered why I was in the river in the first place.
"... some tea". My face lit up with embarrassment when I realized that not only did I not hear what she'd said, I'd been staring at her the whole time.
I quickly bowed my head slightly towards her, "Yes, thank you." , I said awkwardly. She seemed to not mind my momentary absentmindedness, Bringing out a small low table that was in the corner of the room.
She then left the room and came back a few moments later with a tea pot along with some tea cups.
The design on the teacups was very simple yet intricate the red splotches on the outside that looked reminiscent of roses, in a pretty way.
The lady, I really needed to find out her name, poured tea for me in the cup.
While she did this I got up from the seated position on my futon and noted the new yukata I was wearing. It was in a shade of pale blue and was very simple. With how loose it was it could probably be considered a hospital gown . The injuries that I'd acquired were patched up. Oh. That was probably the reason I passed out so many times and just hadn't noticed.
I had a sprained ankle, probably fractured right wrist, And probably a few cuts and gashes here and there as well as maybe, a broken toe?
My left ankle throbbed painfully as I limped over to the woman.
Thankfully the lady saw the pain I was in and helped me get to the low table, even though it wasn't very far away.
After properly being seated in a way that wouldn't further agitate my leg, the woman sat in a proper seiza position and took a sip of her tea.
After a few seconds of awkward silence the woman started the conversation. "You may call me Uchiha-san. My daughter found you bleeding out by the river, could you please tell me how you got into that situation?", She said it firmly but not unkindly as she eyed me with open curiosity and probably veiled suspicion.
I stared at her for about 2 seconds before spilling everything that had happened. I practically told her my whole life story. Before I then started sobbing and hyperventilating like a child.
I felt so embarrassed with myself and wanted nothing more than to have the earth's crust open up and eat me. She nodded along and listened to me. She looked at me with pity in her eyes.
I hated that.
After telling her everything, she told me she was sorry for my loss and that I should rest. She helped me back to my futon. Upon lying down I realized just how tired I was and fell asleep like a log.
