Chapter 3: A walk among the gods

the first year of the academy- 15 November

It had been two weeks, and I only wanted to die most of the time. Muscles that I didn't know existed pulling and screaming without warning. Without endorphins I would have taken my own life immediately.

The abyssal stupidity of the children made me want to throttle them, but I couldn't. I could get away with being lonely, active despise could have raised all sorts of alarms in the wrong people. I had no doubt each student of the academy was watched like a hawk, after all, it seemed unwise to teach anything to someone that would fail under pressure, or become a psycho.

Well, an independent psycho. I thought to myself, after all, I could hardly define sane a society that proudly produced child soldiers.

I had nothing against soldiers, humans at the end of the day were only extremely efficient animals, it was good that we had a section of the population dedicated to keeping in check each other.

Every morning, I woke up at five, snatched stuff from the kitchens, and started running. Well, firstly I climbed the fence that was the border of the orphanage courtyard, then I ran in the park on the other side of the road. I reached the half an hour of non stop run before my legs started getting wooden. I stretched and drank from a drinking fountain. Some push-ups, then I reached one of the strange construct made of pipes (probably thought to teach the children how to climb), I stuck my legs in there and started working on my abdominal muscles. When the strain became too much, I left it and after drinking some more I walked on my hands. My balance was good enough, even if I wobbled a lot at the beginning.

I could have used chakra to enhance my strength, but I had no intention of doing so. For two reasons.

One, chakra augments the ability of what's already there, so the stronger the body, the stronger the power up granted by letting chakra flow in my coils. Well, it wasn't right. Since that first night, I've always been aware of my chakra, like a warm weight put on my stomach, and it was always flowing in my coils. But it's presence was passive, like a distended muscle: unless I willed it to, it didn't strengthen me. I did a lot of stretching after finishing my exercises. I wished there was a river with water at 22C for me to swim in so that I could wash while training muscles that were difficult to condition otherwise. I stopped only when my arms trembled too much to go on and run some more in the park.

I went back into the orphanage and hogged the bathroom first, then the washroom, where the early risers were already washing.

I had a giant breakfast, and meditated half an hour in my room, trying to become more aware of the flowing of my chakra. It was like having a pool of warm water held into a spherical bubble. Flexing metaphysical muscles, I made it twirl in one direction or another, following the little outpour that flowed through my coils. I wasn't really worried about hurting myself, after all chakra was a part of me in the same way my heart and lungs were. So killing myself while feeling my chakra was off the table. It would have been like dying because I held my breath for too long, impossible. The human body had mutated to accommodate the chakra, and at the end of the day it was a life force kind of energy.

I attended lessons at the academy, performing to the best of my ability on the practical aspects of it, that for now were simple obstacle courses while being less than bright in my academic performance. I still had difficulties in juggling around kanji. It brought with it a different way of thinking, and that made it difficult to follow a few details. At lunch I ate alone, not that anybody wished to play with 'eat slug', and I was grateful, loud children became annoying quick. Even with my additional training, or maybe because of it, the obstacle course was demanding. I insisted on not using chakra to augment my capabilities since the teachers didn't mention it. I thought that they would teach us about chakra after enough of us dropped out from the Academy, for now, it was history and basic math. It made sense, I wouldn't want to waste resources in teaching that stuff to a future civilian either.

The lessons finished at 17:00, when I bolted back to the orphanage and helped around our caretakers for an hour, in exchange the matron kept teaching me how to write and read kanjis always more complex, and even some poetry from time to time. The bare bones of it were memory exercises, but the elegance one could express through kanji was breathtaking. The matron's name was Chihiro, which meant 'a thousand questions', and while I was the one asking them, she was kind and patient answering them all. She was a note of innocence in the otherwise grim song of the shinobi nations.

After dinner, I spent several hours meditating, and performing the infamous leaf exercise. I was still performing it only with my hand, but I was keeping track of the time and I kept getting better. I understood what chakra control was all about: not wasting it. The chakra flowed through my coils and out if my tenketsus, the objective was letting it out only from the tenketsu I needed, and even then, only the amount necessary to the task, not even a drop more. After that there was the problem of keeping the flow even. It was hard work.

I had no idea about how to increase my chakra capacity. It stood to reason that it was something that behaved like a muscle, so, the more you use it (with the opportune rest) the more it grows. But working on suppositions was risky, so I choose to wait for the academy teachers to break in the topic.

The routine was lulling, and I had understood that the world I ended up in was the more adult-rated version of the narutoverse portrayed in the manga and anime. I could work with it. But I had one problem. The Yondaime wasn't dead yet. That meant that the Kyubi still had to attack.

I had no illusions, I couldn't prevent it, not if I wanted to stay under the radar. And my safety came before one of the other fictional characters this world was made of. Hell, my life came before the storyline, so fuck it all.

10 October- second year of academy

I didn't even realize it, but when I was five Konoha was at war. The Third Great Ninja War. I had to work on my awareness, having difficulties with the language was an excuse that I could use no longer. I was seven, and finally, I could speak and read Japanese fluently. My choice of keeping thinking in English slowed me down, but my hope of making my mind not compatible with the Yamanaka mind-reading Jutsu was a hope too bright to ignore.

On the side, at age six, Itachi Uchiha enrolled in the Academy, where he consistently scored the highest in each subject and quickly learned any skill taught to him, resulting in him being praised as the best of his generation. The academy started in September, and since the first of October, Itachi had been placed with the second years. I did not doubt that he would be pushed forward once November came, after all I remembered that after four months his teachers unanimously agreed to let him take the graduation exam early due to Itachi being more than advanced enough for genin.

Another complication had been his awkward loneliness and general quiet demeanor. Fangirls existed (already?) but were shy enough to steer clear of him. And my reputation as slug eater was enough to finish the job of keeping them away. Itachi would sit close enough to me during lunch, quietly enjoying his riceballs.

Since April I had been spending my afternoons on the academy's grounds, using their obstacle courses or training posts for better conditioning my body, often going back into the orphanage late into the night. Sneaking in and out had quickly become child's play, and on the rare times I had been found out, a couple of times even by the Uchiha Police Force, I insisted that I needed to train, that always led to being left alone. Turns out curfew existed only when war was in full swing.

That was the official reason, my real motive had been preparing for that very night. The only place I was sure hadn't been destroyed and was accessible to me was the academy. I remembered Naruto's birthday was on the tenth of October. And I was still trying to understand why they used a Roman calendar. That was yet another paradox of the world I had fallen into.

Itachi had taken to stay behind with me after the academy closed, probably pushed by a wrong sense of pity. He thought I was lonely! Ha!

Well I am a bit lonely. I admitted, tilting my head to look at my younger companion. He was the human version of the drawings of him I remembered from the manga. Dark eyes and hair, almost delicate features.

I looked around. The light wind had turned chilly, and the autumn was making itself known with leaves of bright yellow and blood-red twirling around, uncaring of the disaster that was about to take place.

We were sitting at a wooden table, under one of the street lamps that stood on the border of the academy' grounds.

Itachi moved the piece on the crude board that I had engraved on the table. "Checkmate," he said quietly, his face blank, but I could see a spark of amusement hidden deep into his eyes.

I studied the western chessboard that I claimed was my invention, the pieces engraved crudely with kanji for samurai (pawn), genin (bishops), chunin (knights), jonin (rooks), Kage (queen), and peace (king). We both found amusing that our pieces were waging war to protect their peace. Another way through which Itachi showed he was far more mature than any six-year-old child had any right to be. I had thaught him the rules two hours before. It was our fourth match. Annoying genius bastard. I thought.

I carefully hid my frown behind a bland expression. "It must be very boring being a genius." I sniffed.

I wasn't a great chess player, but I had hoped to kick the ass of the secretly smug bastard.

"The worst of it is that I know that you aren't feeling the tiniest bit smug about winning," I whined. "What's the point of a game in which the only one can win if the other does not enjoy it?"

"We had a bet." he reminded me. "One that you requested."

"Bothersome," I muttered.

"But since you taught me this game, perhaps it would be better if we shared stories instead of winning them." He added.

"Mostly because I'd be running out of stories very fast," I answered. Not bloody likely. I've always been a fan of mythology, fantasy, and videogames in my first life, I have enough stories to keep talking until I die of old age.

We decided that I would be the first one to share a story. Why did I ask for a story? Because mythology is a good way through which a culture can be understood, and there weren't books anywhere about the origins of the world. I took a deep breath, and let my young seven years old voice take a somber timbre, setting the appropriate mood for a story shared around a fire. Even if there wasn't fire anywhere.

"Before this world came into existence, there was in its place a confused mass of shapeless elements called Chaos. These elements becoming at length consolidated resolved themselves into two widely different substances, the lighter portion of which, soaring on high, formed the firmament and constituted itself into a vast, overarching vault, which protected the firm and solid mass beneath. Thus came into being the two first great primeval deities, Uranus and Gaia. Uranus, the more refined deity, represented the light and air of heaven, possessing the distinguishing qualities of light, heat, purity, and omnipresence, whilst Gaia, the firm, flat, life-sustaining earth, was the great all-nourishing mother. There were no shrines or temples made for her, instead, Gaia was held in such veneration that her name was always invoked whenever the gods took a solemn oath, made an emphatic declaration, or implored assistance."

I stopped briefly, observing the six-year old kid in front of me. He looked interested, he went so far as to sit on the edge of the bench, thirsty for more.

"Uranus, the heaven, united himself in marriage with Gaia, the earth, and they are married today still. After all, the smiles of heaven produce the flowers of earth, whereas his long-continued frowns exercise so depressing an influence upon his loving partner, that she no longer decks herself in bright and festive robes, but responds with ready sympathy to his melancholy mood. Such is the power of the sky's mood, that we call it summer or winter. The first-born child of Uranus and Gaia was Oceanus, the ocean stream, that vast expanse of ever-flowing water that encircled the earth. And you'll see that Ocean is still the son of his parents. After all, the ocean is formed from the rains which descend from heaven and the streams which flow from the earth. Uranus, the heaven, the embodiment of light, heat, and the breath of life, produced offspring who were of a much less material nature than his son Oceanus. These other children of his were supposed to occupy the intermediate space which divided him from Gaia. Nearest to Uranus, and just beneath him, came Aether, a bright creation representing that highly rarified atmosphere which immortals alone could breathe. Then followed Aer, which was near Gaia, which is the atmosphere we mortals can freely breathe, and without which we would perish. Aether and Aer were separated from each other by divinities called Nephelae. These were their restless and wandering sisters, who existed in the form of clouds, ever floating between Aether and Aer. Gaia also produced the mountains, and the Sea, who chose Pontus as his name. She united herself with the latter, and their offspring were the sea deities Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia."

The child in front of me looked enthralled by the strange-sounding names, and to treat him, I picked up a paper from my bag and scribbled them on it with a pencil.

"Along with Uranus and Gaia there were two mighty powers who were also the offspring of Chaos. These were Erebus, which is the Darkness, and Nyx, which is the Night, who formed a striking contrast to the cheerful light of heaven and the bright smiles of earth. Erebus reigned in that mysterious world below where no ray of sunshine, no gleam of daylight, nor vestige of health-giving terrestrial life ever appeared. Nyx, the sister of Erebus, represented Night, and she was the greatest of all since only Uranus could rival her. Uranus united himself with Nyx, but only in his capacity as god of light, and their children were Eos, the Dawn, and Hemera, the Daylight. But still, the world was empty to the eyes of the gods, and so, Uranus and Gaia produced two distinctly different races of beings called Giants and Titans. The Giants were unrelenting strength alone, but the Titans united to their great physical power a keen intellect that shaped their names. There were three Giants, Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges, who each possessed a hundred hands and fifty heads, and were known collectively by the name of the Hecatoncheires, which signified hundred-handed. These mighty Giants could shake the universe and produce earthquakes simply stomping their feet. But they each had fifty heads, and as such could not be reasoned with, since each of the heads tried to rule over the impossible strength and many limbs. The Titans were twelve in number; their names were: Oceanus, Ceos, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys."

The memories of my old readings coming forth, I almost drew a family tree, before remembering that Itachi could not recognize the alphabet I was using.

"Now Uranus, the chaste light of heaven, the essence of all that is bright and pleasing, held in abhorrence his crude, rough, and turbulent offspring, the Giants, and feared that their great power might eventually prove hurtful to himself. He, therefore, hurled them into Tartarus, that portion of the lower world which served as the subterranean dungeon of the gods. To avenge the oppression of her children, the Giants, Gaia instigated a conspiracy on the part of the Titans against Uranus, which was carried to a successful issue by her son Cronus. He wounded his father, and from the blood of the wound which fell upon the earth sprang a race of monsters, the second generation of Giants were then free to roam the earth. Assisted by his brother Titans, Cronus succeeded in dethroning his father, who, enraged at his defeat, cursed his rebellious son, and foretold to him a similar fate. Cronus, who wished to be the last to ever rule, became invested with supreme power, and assigned to his brothers offices of distinction, subordinate only to himself. Subsequently, however, when, secure of his position, he no longer needed their assistance, he basely repaid their former services with treachery, made war upon his brothers and faithful allies, and, assisted by the Giants, completely defeated them, sending the ones that resisted his all-conquering arm down into the lowest depths of Tartarus."

Itachi for a moment acted like his age and asked: "What happened then?"

I smiled gleefully, happy to have brought a spark of wonder in a kid with such a sorrowful story ahead of him.

"Cronus was the god of eternity, of time. He married Rhea, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, the older sister of Cronus. They had three sons: Aïdes, also known as Hades or Pluto, Poseidon also known as Neptune. And their youngest: Zeus, also known as Jupiter. While their three daughters were Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. Cronus, the heart heavy with the future foretold by his father, feared that his children might one day rise against his authority. Therefore, to render the prophecy impossible of fulfillment, Cronus swallowed each child as soon as it was born, to the sorrow and indignation of his wife Rhea. When it came to Zeus, the sixth and last, Rhea resolved to try and save this one child at least, to love and cherish, and appealed to her parents, Uranus and Gaia, for counsel and assistance. By their advice she wrapped a stone in baby clothes, and Cronus, caution forgotten in its fear, swallowed it without noticing the deception. The child thus saved, Rhea asked Gaia for a safe place, and with Pontus help, the infant Zeus secretly to a secret island, where he was nourished, loved, protected, and educated. A sacred goat, called Amalthea, supplied the place of his mother, by providing him with milk; nymphs, called Melissae, fed him with honey, and eagles and doves brought him nectar and ambrosia. He was kept concealed in a cave in the heart of Mount Ida, and the priests of Rhea, by beating their weapons together, kept up a constant noise at the entrance, which drowned the cries of the child and frightened away all intruders. Under the watchful care of the Nymphs the infant Zeus grew rapidly, developing quickly the gifts of his heritage, and was blessed by extraordinary wisdom and intelligence. Once grown to manhood, Zeus met Metis, which was Wisdom, and married her. On her advice, he masked himself as a servant and tricked his father into drinking poisoned wine. The wine made Cronus vomit so much that he ultimately disgorged Zeus' siblings, intact and ready for revenge. His siblings had no problem acknowledging his authority. The rival forces ranged themselves on two separate high mountains; Zeus, with his brothers and sisters, took his stand on Mount Olympus, where he was joined by Oceanus, and others of the Titans, who had forsaken Cronus on account of his oppressions. Cronus and his brother Titans took possession of Mount Othrys and prepared for battle. The struggle was long and fierce, and after ten years Zeus, finding that he was no nearer victory than before, remembered of the existence of the imprisoned Giants, and knowing that they would be able to render him most powerful assistance, he hastened to liberate them. He also called to his aid the Cyclops, which were the sons of Poseidon and his wife, who had only one eye each in the middle of their foreheads, and were called Brontes, which means Thunder, Steropes, which means Lightning, and Pyracmon, which means Anvil of Fire. They promptly responded to his summons for help, and brought with them tremendous thunderbolts which the Hecatoncheires, with their hundred hands, hurled down upon the enemy, at the same time raising mighty earthquakes, which swallowed up and destroyed all who opposed them."

I noticed the spark of interest in Itachi's eyes dimming a bit, he hated talking of war.

"Aided by these new and powerful allies, Zeus made a furious onslaught on his enemies, and so tremendous was the encounter that all the world is said to have throbbed in accord with the mighty effort of the celestial deities. The sea rose mountains high, and its angry billows hissed and foamed; the earth shook to its foundations, the heavens sent forth rolling thunder, and flash after flash of death-bringing lightning, whilst a blinding mist enveloped Cronus and his allies. Only then the Fortunes of war began to turn, and victory smiled on Zeus. Cronus and his army were completely overthrown, his brothers despatched to the gloomy depths of the lower world, and Cronus himself was banished from his kingdom and deprived forever of the supreme power, which became vested in his son Zeus, who still sits among the clouds, ruling over the sky." I concluded my story and walked to a drinking fountain. All that talk had made me thirsty. I went back to my seat to find an Itachi that had lost his usual blank expression to wear a more thoughtful one.

"Since you gifted me what I can tell is an old story, I'll do the same. This one has been said to me by the elders of my clan, so do not share it." Itachi warned me.

At my assent, he took a deep breath. "From the mists of time emerged two deities, Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto, the divine male and female gods of creation. Seeking to fill the misty void, they devised the marriage ritual and engaged in sex, but had to repeat the ritual due to a mistake on Izanami's part. This second, successful attempt yielded a multitude of kami, spiritual beings which were the natural world. The last of these beings was Fire, who killed Izanami." Itachi paused, looking at me to see if I was still listening. I was hanging from his lips. The Shintoist mythology was something I was no expert of, but neither I was unfamiliar with it. It was, from what I could tell, the same as one of my first life.

"Wrought with grief, Izanagi journeyed to Yomi, the shadowy land of the dead. Searching far and wide, he eventually found his wife and was shocked to find her rotting flesh full of oni and other demons. Seeing his rejection of her, Izanami flew into a rage and attempted to chase him past the gates of death; however, he managed to block the gates with a boulder. Izanami swore that if he left her there, she would kill one thousand people every day. He replied that each day, he would create five hundred more lives than she could destroy, thereby ensuring the survival of the earth's population. Disgusted by the taint of death that lay upon him, Izanagi found a pool of pure water nearby and bathed himself in it. As he washed his left eye, Amaterasu emerged, fully-grown and glowing with the light of the sun. He washed his right eye next, and from it emerged the shining Tsukuyomi, the moon who reflected his sister's light. As he cleaned his nose, a storm emerged and took the shape of Susanoo, the storm god, and ruler of the seas. These three Izanagi tasked with ruling the heavens, with Amaterasu as their leader. As was the natural order of things, Amaterasu married her brother Tsukuyomi and together they ruled the day and night. The marriage produced children, but Tsukuyomi lacked Amaterasu's naturally glowing disposition. Whatever goodness he had was merely a reflection of her light. Ultimately, Tsukuyomi revealed his true colors at a banquet when the goddess Uke Mochi created a bounty from which food could be grown. After she spat fish into the sea and game into the forests, she proceeded to pull crops from her rectum. Disgusted by her actions, Tsukuyomi killed her on the spot. Amaterasu rejected her husband's disgust and banished him for his evil actions. Thus, day and night became separated for all eternity. Though Izanagi tasked all three of his children with ruling the heavens, Amaterasu's claim was strongest, as Izanagi's firstborn, she held the divine right to rule. The youngest of the three, Susanoo, resented his elder sister's right to rule and questioned it openly. Eventually, Susanoo's arrogance led his father Izanagi to banish him. But before his departure, Susanoo went to bid his sister goodbye. When his actions were met with suspicion by Amaterasu, Susanoo issued a challenge to prove his sincerity. As the challenge began, Susanoo took Amaterasu's Yasakani-no-Magatama, the Grand Jewel, as she took his sword. Using these vessels, they each birthed goddesses: Amaterasu produced three goddesses from the Heavenly Blade while Susanoo produced five gods from the Grand Jewel. Since she owned the Grand Jewel and more gods were birthed from it, Amaterasu claimed she had won the challenge. Outraged by her claim, Susanoo went into a rampage, destroying much of Heaven and earth. He annihilated Amaterasu's rice fields and threw animal carcasses around. One of Amaterasu's attendants died during the rampage, causing an already angry Amaterasu to mourn as well. Ashamed that her actions had led to such chaos, she fled to the Ama-no-Iwato, the Heavenly Rock Cave. With Amaterasu in hiding, the world plunged into darkness and chaos. Thus began the first winter, a hard time for a world used to bask in the sun."

I was staring at him with wide eyes. I was unsure if the knowledge of japan myths had bled into the narutoverse through the hands and mind of its creator, or if, and that thought was far more worrying, these stories were the same as the ones of my first life because we were simply in the far future, perhaps after a nuclear disaster and a new dark age, from which emerged the sacred three, and from there the origins of the narutoverse.

The six-year old took out a blank scroll from his bag, and a simple brush with an inkpot, distractedly writing down the names of the gods he had named. I envied the elegance of his movements, but it wasn't something I could bother to learn. A the orphanage they didn't have the resources to teach calligraphy. Once again, Itachi kept talking, satisfied by having my undivided attention: "The kami looked down upon the world and, seeing the chaos left in Amaterasu's absence, decided they must bring her back. Though they asked her to return and described the chaos caused by her absence, Amaterasu refused to listen and blocked the cave entrance with a rock. After almost a year, wise Omoikane determined that if she would not come out of her own volition, they would have to lure her out with curiosity. To this end, a grand party was thrown. The plan worked, like the music, dancing, and joyous cries of the gods did indeed peak Amaterasu's attention. The noise intensified when the dawn goddess Ame-no-Uzume performed a particularly revealing dance. Curious, Amaterasu drew closer to the cave entrance and there discovered theYata-no-Kagami (八咫鏡), the Eight-Fold Mirror. Fascinated by the light of her reflection, Amaterasu, at last, came to the mouth of the cave. It was at that moment Omoikane drew back the stone that blocked the entrance. As he did so, Amaterasu's light reentered the world, illuminating the chaos that had been left in her wake. Winter ended at last, and spring and summer brought life back to the land. Ashamed, she begged forgiveness for her actions. It was given freely, for Susanoo's behavior had been nothing less than abhorrent. His banishment was henceforth carried out, and Amaterasu returned to heaven. She later reconciled with her brother, who gave her the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi(草薙の剣), the Grass-Cutting Sword, that is also known as the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (天叢雲剣), the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds, as a gift."

Almost distractedly, he had traced the kanji of the divine objects he had spoken of. Impeccable strokes of his brush against my distracted scribbling with a pencil. We shared a smile, and I could feel the beginning of a routine made of shared stories and appreciative silences. It wasn't bad, and I had never managed to relax so much before.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if I am in the future or a manga. I thought. Staying alive still takes precedence.

Maybe I could find a way to travel through words, but that was a blurry and far away objective. Every consideration lost importance when I felt it.

Dread.

Pain.

End.

Bloodlust.

Like a battering wave, a tsunami, the feel of death washed over us, and we both turned as one toward the point of origin.

In a quickly dispersing cloud of smoke, stood the giant nine-tailed fox.