1050 years before Naruto's birth (B.N.)
Author's note: B.N. means "Before Naruto's birth"
January 1st
The forest breeze felt different. It wasn't the scent of Italian olives, nor the steam of feudal Japanese rice. It was… new. Virgin air, untouched by bloodstained streets or the smoke of gunfire.He awoke in a small, rustic wooden bed. The walls were thin, made of pressed clay and straw. In the distance, crickets sang their accompaniment. There was no electricity or machinery. Only nature and silence.He was five years old —he knew it—. His body was that of a child, but his soul… carried centuries.
The first blow was emotional. Luciano Gravina, the modern mafioso who sowed chaos in Italy's streets, remembered every stolen kiss, every betrayal, every whispered order in the shadows. His obsession with power and his secret love for Katekyo Hitman Reborn had marked him.And so had Giotto, the noble Vongola Primo, the just and serene leader who founded a family to protect the weak: he too remembered every battle, every laugh, every sacrifice.Both memories exploded in his mind, fusing together as if they had always been one.
—"So... I've been reborn again?"— he whispered, in Japanese tinged with his old Italian accent.
He looked at his small hands, still clean and innocent. But he knew they wouldn't remain that way for long.Looking at his clothes, he recognized the fabric: it was from the Yayoi or perhaps the Kofun period. He was in ancient Japan, a primitive world. No firearms, no political systems as he knew them. People spoke of clans and a nameless spiritual energy: there was no chakra, no known techniques, no structure. It was a virgin world.
He felt it instantly: there was no established power system here.And that's why… it was perfect.
In that forgotten corner of the continent, he began his silent investigation. He couldn't trust anyone. No one could discover who he was or what he knew:—not about the Dying Will Flames,—not about the anime that inspired him,—not about his past lives.
But one question disturbed him:—"Why was I called 'Vongola Primo'… if that name only exists in an anime from my world?"
The revelation shook him. Investigating the origin of that name would be his first objective. If there was a connection… then someone, or something, knew of his former existence.And that thought was as fascinating as it was dangerous.
The first few months he dedicated himself to adapting to the forest; it wasn't his first natural challenge. In his previous life, as a mafioso, he had survived in the Amazon after a sabotage on his helicopter. He was rescued by a tribe —ironies of fate— the Yanomami, reminding him of his Latin mother yelling at him during beatings: "¡Ya no, mami!"He learned to survive: in the jungle, weakness meant being prey. He later returned to civilization to take revenge with the brutality of a Rambo scriptwriter: he destroyed the base that had betrayed him, leaving only the leader alive to torture him and erase his trace. Compared to that, the forest surrounding him now was paradise: no piranhas, no deadly mosquitoes, no jaguars or poison frogs. No hellish winters. Here, he explored without fear.
The morning air was dense and humid. The forest seemed watchful as he trained beneath a waterfall, eyes closed, letting the icy water punish him.In his mind, the memories of Giotto Sawada Vongola began to float until he realized he was living inside the world of his favorite anime. Something inside him —Luciano— filled with excitement.
At five years old, others would have cried. He, however, chose to name himself Giotto Luciano Sawada Gravina, adopting "Vongola" as a title: the first step in fusing two existences —Luciano's, ruthless and manipulative, and Giotto's, empathetic and kind.He was not an ordinary child —he never had been—. He was the union of two souls: Luciano Gravina and Giotto, the first Vongola. Now, in this primitive world, with rudimentary clans, he had been reborn in a fragile body, with no allies or structure…But his will had never left him.
And then it happened.A subtle vibration ran through his mind, and before him appeared a floating interface: semi-transparent, ancient and precise, fusing the mystical with the mechanical.
[Template System – Activated]Welcome, Giotto Luciano Sawada of Vongola GravinaYour bloodline has been restored. Your original world has vanished, but your will remains.
System:User, this is the Template System. I have been designed to assist you in the integration, evolution, and manifestation of abilities from another world.
Giotto (thinking):—"What the hell is this...? A voice...? A system?"
System: Confirmed. The system will allow you to recover abilities, knowledge, weapons, and entities linked to your former existence.Giotto: —"Former existence"...? Wait... What do you know about me?System: Access restricted. Memories are partially unlocked. Your progress will determine how much you can recover.Giotto: —Tsk… And how am I supposed to use this?System: AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS• [Observation]: Physical status — 5-year-old child: fragile (requires improvement to survive).• [Missions]: Complete tasks to earn rewards. Some are automatic, others require acceptance.• [Rewards]: Completing objectives grants abilities, elemental flames, special weapons, or summons.• [Templates]: Grant specific roles or abilities, with passive and active effects, like the First Vongola.• [Summons]: Call upon Guardians and allies.Giotto: —So... I can recover the Flames?System: Affirmative. The essence of the Dying Will Flames lies dormant within you. This world does not recognize them, but the system will adapt them. Synchronization requires time, intense emotions, and specific conditions.Giotto: —And if I refuse?System: You can refuse, but you would be abandoning the only path to reclaim your true power.Giotto (resigned): —Tsk. Fine. If this will restore my legacy...
Active Missions
Main Mission: "Rebirth of the Will"• Objective: Lay the foundations of the Underworld. Recruit agents, secure a secret base, establish your rules.• Progress: 0%• Rewards:• Summoning of your six Guardians and one beast• Ancient Fragment of the Will Ring
Objective 2: Adaptation to the Sky Flame• Train and actively use the Sky Flame. Continuous exposure will improve compatibility.• Progress: 0%• Rewards:• Dying Will Mode• Hyper Mode• Negative Modes (locked)
Side Mission: "The Beginning of an Empire"• Objective: Recruit 3 talented civilian youths from the nearby village.• Progress: 0/3• Rewards:• Sky Flame• Vongola Hyper Intuition
Daily Mission: "Forging the Temple"• Train your body for at least 3 hours.• Rewards:• +0.1% Flame Synchronization• Increased physical endurance• Progress toward passive "Iron Body"
Giotto closed the interface with a gesture. He needed no more explanations. This was the sign: to rise again, from nothing, in silence, with fire in his eyes.—First the body, then the mind… and finally, the world —he whispered, striking a tree at dawn.A smile formed on his face. He didn't know what world he had been reborn into, but it didn't matter. He always wins… even without knowing the name of the board.
Abandoned Field — approximately two months after Giotto's awakening
With his mission clear and his first rewards activated, Giotto took his first step. Recover the Flames, rebuild the mafia, fuse his two lives… in a world he still didn't fully understand. His goals burned within him.
He walked toward a desolate field, surrounded by misery, on the fringes of a hostile region. Dead trees swayed in the winter wind under a leaden sky. The ground was covered with frozen dirt, rubble, and remains of burned buildings. He knew that if children lived there, they had to be hiding untapped talent.
There, he found a group of ragged children, between four and nine years old, wounded and abandoned. One had a leg bandaged with a dirty cloth, another had his face covered in mud and bruises. Some backed away, feral; others stood motionless.
But Giotto advanced calmly. His clothes, a hybrid between Yayoi and Kofun styles, fluttered with his cape: the Vongola emblem gleamed on his chest under the cold sunlight. That cape had been with him since his rebirth.—I didn't come to hurt you —he said, raising a hand slowly—. I came to offer you something different.
The children looked at him, a mix of fear and disbelief. The very air seemed to hold its breath.
A freckled boy eyed him warily.Why's this guy helping? No one gives without wanting something back...
Another, older, with a hard gaze and a stick in hand, asked with a rough voice:—Why are you doing this?Giotto knelt and gently ruffled his hair.—Because someone has to.
Silence fell.
A girl with short hair and deep eyes watched him while holding a trembling younger child.Could this be the "dream" the elders once spoke of...?
A timid boy clung to Giotto's cape, as if seeking salvation.The older boy muttered with anger:—I don't need to be saved...But he didn't leave. Deep down, he hoped the man was telling the truth.
Giotto looked at him:—What's your name? —he asked the freckled boy.—Haru —the boy answered, voice raspy.—Do you have family, Haru?The boy shook his head.—They abandoned me when I was three… Never saw them again.Giotto turned to the older boy:—And you?He lifted his chin, defensive.—Daiki. I don't need help.—Then help me —said Giotto—. I need someone strong to protect the weaker ones.
Daiki blinked, confused, and then glanced at the group. For the first time, his hostility faltered.—I could help… if you feed me.—You'll get food. And something better: purpose and direction.
Giotto turned to the girl.—And you?—Sana, sir. I look after them.—Since when?—Since the adults stopped coming back. Someone had to.Giotto nodded.—You won't be alone anymore. I'll take you to a better place.
Sana looked at him with hope, while Daiki gripped his stick… and something else: emotion.—And once we get there —Giotto added— I'll teach you to live, to fight, and to never be abandoned again.
The march began.
System Notification:Mission 1 Completed: "Find your first group of followers."Rewards:• Sky Flame• Vongola Hyper Intuition• Bonus: Base Management Skill (Level 1)
Giotto smiled as he felt the Sky Flame flowing within him. His next step was clear: train in silence and guide these children. The world would know that the Vongola Primo had returned.
The following days were hard but revealing.Transforming a weed-covered shelter into something livable reminded him of his past in Brazil: he reused Yanomami survival techniques to build shelters.
Haru was the most curious: he asked about Giotto's past, why he had those memories, what he knew.—I'm not a hero —Giotto replied while teaching him how to use medicinal leaves—. But I learned to become someone others can follow.
Daiki trained with sticks, repeating movements he observed. Silent and focused, like contained fire.
Sana organized bedding, assigned chores, and learned medicine with surprising speed; she could become a formidable strategist or healer.
One night, watching the fire crackle, Giotto thought:They're wounded… but not broken. They're like me: abandoned by the world. I'll turn them into formidable warriors.
Then Haru asked, breaking the silence:—Do you have a family?Giotto stared into the fire; his two lives—Luciano and Giotto—intertwined.—Yes. But they're far away…—Will you go back to them?—No. This is my place. You are my family.
The children said nothing, but something new shone in their eyes: hope.
Giotto woke before dawn. Always before the sun. Always before the others.He rose silently, brushing the dust from his cape with a ritual slowness, and stepped into the cold morning air. A child's body, yes… but already hardened by purpose.
Push-ups. Squats. Barefoot running on frozen ground. Lifting stones and logs. Weighted jumps. Deep breaths. Repeat.
He wasn't seeking spectacle. He gave no speeches. His voice slept, but his will roared.
And the children watched. First with the same empty gaze they had for the world. Then, with something different.
Curiosity.Admiration.
—Why does he train so much? —Haru whispered, barely emerging from the makeshift hut.Sana, folding blankets with sleepy eyes, replied without looking away:—Maybe he wants to be strong enough to protect us…
But Daiki, arms crossed and scowling, scoffed:—Or maybe he's just another crazy guy. Like the ones who shouted in the streets before disappearing.—He's not crazy —Sana answered, firmer this time—. I've never seen someone do all that without expecting something in return.
Giotto said nothing. He didn't need to. His training was a silent declaration.
Haru followed him to the clearing. He sat on a rock, knees pulled up, arms around them.He watched.Every move. Every drop of sweat. Every breath.
And when he saw Giotto push a log three times his size without complaint, something inside him clicked.—I want to learn —he said suddenly.
Giotto didn't stop. He finished his set, stood, and while catching his breath, glanced at him.—Learn what?—All of that. —Haru stood up. His voice trembled, but his eyes didn't waver—. I don't want to be weak.Giotto studied him for a moment. Then gave a single nod.—Start with this: push-ups. Until you can't anymore. Then come tell me how many you did. Don't lie. I'll know.—What if I can't even do one? —the boy asked honestly.—Then try. That's more than most ever do —Giotto replied, turning back to his routine.
Later, as the sun kissed the bare winter trees, two other children came to watch.—What are you doing, Haru? —asked a small one with a black eye.—Training —he replied without stopping.—Why?—Because I want to change.
Sana watched from afar, hugging a smaller girl to her chest. She observed Giotto not as a child, but as a plan.
That night, around the fire, Giotto handed out pieces of hard bread and warm soup. No one spoke for several minutes. The crackling wood was the only sound.
Until Daiki broke the silence:—Were you always like this… strong?Giotto swallowed slowly and stared into the flames.—No. I learned to be. The hard way.—Who taught you?—Pain. Failure. Loss. —He paused, then added—: And when I finally became strong… it was too late.Sana asked softly:—Too late for what?—To save what mattered.
The fire reflected the shadow of an older man in the eyes of a child.
Haru swallowed.—And this time… will you make it in time?
Giotto raised his gaze and, for the first time, smiled gently.—Yes. This time, I won't fail.
Silence. But it was no longer empty. It was a promise.
The next day, Sana sharpened two branches with a stone. Then she handed them to Daiki.—If you're going to train with sticks all the time, at least let them match —she said, not looking at him.
Daiki looked at her with a mix of surprise and poorly hidden pride.—Hmp. Thanks.—Don't thank me. Just don't break another rib.
From afar, Giotto watched everything.He no longer needed to ask for discipline.It was being born on its own...
Giotto observed everything from afar. He no longer needed to demand discipline. It was emerging on its own—in the children's eyes, in their choices, in their rough hands.That night, when the system notified him of his progress, it wasn't the number that made him smile... it was the certainty that his family was already growing.
System Notification:Daily Mission Completed: "Train for 3 hours."Reward: +0.1% synchronization with the Flames.
Little by little, he could feel the Dying Will Flames reverberating within him. Still weak, still fragile... but real.
One night, as the fire crackled, he reflected:Protecting them is not enough. They must learn to survive on their own. They need discipline, structure, and power. And that... can only be born in the shadows.
System Notification:New Main Mission UnlockedTitle: "Seed of the Underworld"Objective: Establish hierarchy, assign responsibilities, and create internal rules.Reward: "First Storm Guardian – Legacy Fragment"Requirements: Upgrade the base level and interact with at least 5 children.
Giotto gave a cold smile. The game was just beginning. This time, he would make no mistakes. He wasn't seeking redemption... he was seeking control."Sleep well, little ones. The world we're building will have no mercy for the weak."
And so, under the cover of night, the first whisper was born—the whisper of what would one day be feared by all:the new mafia of the ninja world.