1. Reborn In Naruto World

"Is this me?"

A four-year-old boy with short, mousy red hair and eyebrows glances at his face in the mirror. He has pupilless red eyes and three red scratch marks under both his eyes.

"Why do I look like a kid? And why is my hair red? What kind of hair dye is this?"

A few seconds ago, he woke up from a long dream. Various unknown memories flooded his mind.

"Is this some sort of lucid dream?"

He carefully raises his hand towards his face and pinches his cheek.

"Aw… Aw… It hurts!" A childish voice escapes from his mouth.

He glances at the slight red marking on his face.

"Since it hurts, it shouldn't be a dream, right?" He glances at his reflection in the mirror. But suspicion appears in his mind.

"There are still dreams where one can feel a slight sensation of pain, a deception from their mind, right? As if in hell I will believe that!"

Bang…

He punches the wall in front of him.

Aww… aww…

"It hurts! It hurt so much!" He glances at the bruise on his fist.

Suddenly, his head feels dizzy and his vision turns blurry.

"What was that noise?"

"Ritsu! Ritsu! Are you alright, dear?"

Several noises ring in the kid's head and he passes out.

A tall man with brown eyes, and shoulder-length mousy brown hair enters the room followed by a woman with long, bright-red hair and large, red pupilless eyes. The man has a frown on his face while the woman's face looks worried.

"Ritsu!

The woman hurriedly rushes towards the kid and picks him up. The man presses his finger on the kid's chest and his frown eases up.

"Don't worry, he just passed out a little. Prepare the herbal soup to help him recover."

Mm…

The woman nods and places the kid on the bed.

------------------

A few hours later,

Ritsu stares at his reflection in the mirror in a daze. Several cuss words appear in his mouth, but he swallows them after some hesitation. Ritsu is his given name in the current life.

"This isn't a dream. I somehow died and now I am reborn as a kid! And this Walmart Sasori in the reflection is my new face."

Several complicated expressions appear on his face. He wants to shout out his lungs and let his bottled-up emotions out.

"That doesn't sound like a good idea!"

I have to calm down!" He slaps his cheeks to calm the turmoil in his emotions. After a few seconds, he calms down and begins to sort out his new memories.

"But why of all worlds it has to be the Shinobi world of Naruto?" He panics again.

He presses a hand against his fast-beating heart and reorganizes the memories from his past and present life.

"In my past life, I was an orphan. My parents died early in a car accident when I was just three years old. After my parent's death, my uncle's family took me in. They pretended to be kind to me on the surface, but abused me after gaining custody of me.

However, my grandmother, who was living in the countryside, learned about it from other relatives."

He can still vividly recall the day when his grandmother barged into his uncle's house with some old neighbors from her village. She berated them and even threatened to call the police for their mistreatment of me.

In the end, I ended up living with my grandmother in the countryside. She was a very loving, caring, peaceful woman. She gave me all the love and care in the world. She went beyond what a parent would provide to their child. I was loved and pampered by her to no end.

Reflecting now, those were truly some of his best memories

When he turned 16, he wanted to surprise her on her birthday and thus worked part-time jobs in the village to earn some money to buy her a huge gift on her birthday.

He can still recall how happy his grandmother was on that day. She truly cherished his gift to no end.

Eventually, I left the village to pursue higher studies in college in a city. Both Grandma and I were sad about this parting. But that's how life works.

I would still occasionally visit her from time to time and even call her every day. She was the only source of comfort and warmth in my life.

But these happy moments didn't last for long. Grandma passed away when I turned twenty. She had a serene smile on her face and her parting words for me were to find a family and live a happy life.

Her death was the single saddest event of my life. It was her death that made me seek companionship in the form of a girlfriend.

I got a girlfriend in college, though we broke up in our last year since she had different pursuits.

Sigh…

He sighs in his heart.

"Also, I will miss my PC that I spent most of my first salary to build. I didn't even get to play the list of games on my Steam account. I really wanted to play that new Dark Souls 3 DLC that just came out."

Having grown up in the village, he was a very active young man. He would often help the villagers with fieldwork and other small chores.

It was during his college that he started his anime and gaming journey. He would often play computer games with his roommates or watch an anime series in his free time.

"It's hard to get over it!" Ritsu closes his eyes.

Just before his death, he started the Naruto series and only got to finish the first two hundred episodes of the Naruto Shippuden. As a working member of society, he didn't have enough free time to finish watching everything in a go.

"Ah, now I regret not finishing the series. There were still over 300 episodes and a lot of plots to cover!" He clutches his forehead in regret.

As for how he died in his past life.

"Sigh… who would have thought that I would be the victim of a sudden earthquake? The earthquake was very strong and my entire office building and other nearby buildings crumbled and fell apart under its influence. Looks like the epicenter was close to our city." He sighs silently.

"What an unfortunate accident! Even though I am dead, I will pray for other's safety."

Creak…

The door to the room opens.

"Ritsu, here is your medicinal soup!"

A beautiful woman with long, bright-red hair and large, black pupilless eyes enters the room with a tray holding a bowl of piping hot soup in her hands.

'So beautiful!'

Ritsu is stunned to see the woman in front of her.

'Is she my mom?' He is mesmerized by the beauty of the woman in front of him.

'So, I inherited my Uzumaki looks and genes from my mother. Most models in my past life are nowhere near to her natural beauty.' He makes a mental remark.

"Ritsu, are you alright?"

Worry appears on the woman's face after seeing the boy in a daze. She hurriedly places the tray on the table and places her fair hands on his forehead.

"Are you feeling feverish?"

Ah…

Ritsu is startled out of his thoughts. He hastily replies.

"I am sorry, Mom! I just spaced out for a second." He quickly apologizes.

"It's good that you are fine!" The woman smiles sweetly and hugs him in her embrace.

"Do you want mother to feed you?" She asks with a smile.

"No, I can drink it on my own!" Ritsu shakes his head.

"Ok, then! Finish it soon and then meet your father in the backyard."

"Ok!" Ritsu dreamily stares at his mother's back as she exits the room.

'Grandma, your grandson has a new family now. I am sorry I couldn't keep my promise to live a long, healthy life. But I did find a family, even though it was in an unexpected situation. So, I will cherish my family and grow into a strong man to protect my family as you wish.'

He closes his eyes and silently prays to send his thoughts to his grandma in heaven.

After praying silently for a few seconds, he opens his eyes. His mind and mood are still in a mess. It is still hard for him to make sense of his current situation.

'So, I am really dead!' He sighs again, his emotions no longer in turmoil, after venting his emotions to his grandma through prayer.

After his grandma's death, he would frequently visit her grave and speak for hours about his day-to-day life to find solace. Even after her death, his grandma was his emotional anchor. Her sweet, cheerful smile will ease the burden on his mind.

There is still some confusion in his eyes, but he is no longer as frantic as before. His previous life has taught him a lot and adaptability was among them.

Sigh…

'But to think I will reincarnate in the Shinobi world. It's a tough world to live.'

After sorting his thoughts and making amends with his past life, he focuses his attention on the medicinal soup in front of him.

He picks up the spoon and drinks the soup while sorting the memories of his current identity.

'The past me is dead, no longer part of any world. In my current life, I am Ritsu Senju, a member of the Senju clan. My father's name is Akinao Senju and my mother's name is Ishiko Uzumaki.' A smile appears on his face.

'In my previous life, I didn't experience the love of my parents. Even though Grandma loved me more than any parent could, somehow in a corner of my heart, I still craved that motherly love and fatherly affection. Humans are a strange creature. They always strive for more.' He shakes his head and chuckles.

'My lineage makes me a part Senju and part Uzumaki. Hmm… I was definitely born into a wonderful family, but I wonder which era it is. Depending on the circumstances, things might take a turn for worse.'

He ponders deeply while blowing air on the hot soup.

'Still, I find everything surreal. Even though it's hard for me to accept this, I will still try to adapt to this change.'

He glances at the mirror and stares at his reflection for a few more seconds before pulling the shutter off the window. Outside the window, he gazes at the distant Hokage monument with four faces.

"This isn't a dream!"

He sighs and takes a sip of the soup.

"So, I am born in the peaceful era. That's a relief to know!"

The era after the reign of the Fourth Hokage was quite peaceful until Naruto turned twelve.

"On that note, what year is this?"

Ritsu's good mood suddenly plummets.

"The troubles start with Naruto turning twelve. And I don't want to die just after reincarnating."

He quickly searches the room for a memo or calendar of some sort, and he soon finds one. However,

"This is useless!"

He throws away the calendar in annoyance.

"I don't have a time reference and the most important thing…"

A gloomy expression appears on his face.

"I can't read this language since I wasn't a native Japanese in my past life."

He sighed and blew air on another spoon of soup.

"I am only four years old and have to yet learn how to read and write properly. In this world, the kids learn how to throw hands before learning how to grab a pen."

Ritsu recalls the small number of memories he has in this life.

He forgot most of his baby memories. Only faint memories of when he started to walk and run appear in his mind.

"Speaking of which…"

He recalls the incident from yesterday.

"As usual, I was practicing the leaf concentration exercise to circulate my chakra through my chakra system."

Leaf concentration exercise is a basic practice every kid practices to learn how to control the chakra and release it.

"However, I accidentally released almost all of my chakra and passed out a result. Because of this, the memories of my past life unlocked themselves."

He finishes the soup and glances at his little hands.

"Alright, since I am already in this world and have no other choice, I will set a goal for myself. My goal is to save this world."

He confidently jumps from the bed but accidentally trips on the string of bedsheets and falls flat with his face on the floor.

He wipes his face with embarrassment while holding the pain inside.

"Who am I even kidding? My first goal is to survive and grow strong."

Soon, he snaps back to reality and recalls the insane villains in the upcoming future.

"I will leave that goal to Naruto and Sasuke, the protagonist. For now, I just want to live a peaceful and lazy life!"

He wipes the dust and walks out of his room.

"Let's meet my father first and gather some information."

He walks through the corridor, paved with wooden planks, and soon arrives in the backyard.

In the backyard, a tall man with shoulder-length, mousy brown hair is training by swinging a metal sword.

'That looks like a real anime sword!' Ritsu's eyes gleam as he stares at the Katana.

Ahem…

A slight cough startles him and his instinctive habits kick in.

"Father!"

He quickly bows to the man.

'What's with this family etiquette training? And why it's ingrained in my body?'

Ritsu quickly raises his head and notices the look of disappointment in his father's eyes.

Silent tears flow from his eyes in his mind.

'I am sorry, father! I am a failure of a son!'

The inner Asian within him comes alive as he recognizes that look of disappointment with a glance.

Sigh…

Akinao sighs as he stares at his son.

'He lacks the manly aura of the Senju clan. Perhaps this is the result of his Uzumaki lineage.'

"Are you thinking something rude again, dear?" Ishiko arrives with a kitchen knife in her hand.

Shiing…

A gleam flashes across the blade of the knife.

Ah!

Akinao is startled and quickly shakes his head.

"Nothing! It's nothing! I am just worried about our son."

He signals to Ritsu with his spare hand. Ishiko sits down with a basket of vegetables in her hand.

"Ritsu, how are you feeling now?" He asks with slight concern.

"I am perfectly fine, father!"

Ritsu performs a few taijutsu moves from his memory.

Kids from big clans like Senju begin their training as early as the age of three. So, it's not a surprise. His father also taught him a few moves.

"Good!" Akinao nods and takes out a small paper strip from his pocket.

"Here!" He hands it over to Ritsu.

"Try to infuse your chakra in it."

Hmm…

Ritsu recognizes the paper as the Chakra paper used to test the chakra nature.

He holds the paper with hope and silently prays to the gods.

"Please be more than one chakra nature. Please be more than one chakra nature."

Multiple chakra nature is a bit hard to train but is more versatile.

'No, I can't jinx it so early. I will have low expectations. So, please be wind or lightning chakra nature.'

"What's wrong? Just try to infuse your chakra in this paper!" Akinao's voice startles him.

"Yes! Yes!"

He hurriedly pinches the paper between his thumb and fingers and imagines the process of blood circulating through his body. The flow of chakra is slightly similar to the process.

A wisp of chakra originates from his naval and travels through his chest, shoulder, arm, wrist, and finally, his fingertips.

Sizzle… sizzle…

The paper catches fire and turns to ashes.

AH!

Ritsu freezes. All his hopes and dreams fly away with those ashes.

"Hmm… so you have a fire affinity, just like your mother." Akinao turns to Ishiko and nods.

'Well, it is still something to look forward to!'

Ritsu was looking forward to wind and lightning to become a speed-type shinobi.

'Now, at least I will be able to light a fire in the wild.' He consoles himself.

'Well, I am not sure that there are even lighters in this present age. Since it's a mix of the Edo era Japan and the modern period from Earth.'

"Father, what affinity do you have?"

He asks his father in anticipation.

"I have the dual affinity of earth and water release." Akinao raises his head with a smug expression.

"Then what about you, mother?" Ritsu ignores him and turns to his mother.

"I have a strong fire release affinity." Ishiko nods and lights up a small fire in between her fingers without any hand signs.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Ritsu claps at the sight to cheer her.

'Even though I have to behave like a normal four-year-old to not blow my cover and appear suspicious. I can be a prodigy and all, but acting way above my age will attract too much attention, disrupting my peaceful life.'

He recalls the fate of Itachi, Shisui, Kakashi, and a few other shinobis.

'Still, Mother's chakra control is so good. She didn't even make a single-hand sign.'

Ahem…

Akinao clears his throat to draw their attention.

"Wow, father you are also cool!" Ritsu claps again while Akinao smugly raises his head.

'As a witness of Asian parenting from all my neighbors, I have long mastered the art of pleasing Asian parents.' Ritsu gives himself a silent pat.

"You turned four recently. So, there is still some time before you enroll in the academy. Until then, you will train in our Senju clan's Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Bukijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu. Is that clear?" Akinao's expression turns serious.

"Yes, father!" Ritsu straightens his back.