Have you ever awoken from a deep slumber, only to realize you'd slept on your arm?
You get up, try to move the arm and realize it's completely dead.
You can see it, even touch it, but when you try to use it? No response.
It's only after the blood starts flowing back into it that you begin to feel anything.
I don't know how else to explain it, but that's what it felt like to start actively using my chakra.
It wasn't any harrowing journey to sense it. I'd only been sitting down for a good five minutes or so.
'Past me's' memories along with our body's instinctual reflex after years of practice, allowed me to sense it.
But it was stagnant. Like an arm that had fallen asleep, I could barely tell that it was there.
So I 'activated' it. Or rather, I stimulated its flow and tried circling it around my body.
Just as we were taught in the academy.
And like a dead arm, It slowly came to life.
And with it.
Pins and needles.
It wasn't painful, just…extremely off putting.
I'd understood that this is what it'd feel like from 'past me's' memories. But I had no idea it would actually feel like this if that makes sense.
Huh, no wonder why 'past me' was so reluctant. He literally couldn't get used to it.
But I was going to be different.
I continued circulating the viscous energy, pushing past the odd sensation. Letting it spread throughout my body.
It traveled through my core, pulsating throughout my organs, down to my extremities. Then bounced back, returning to my center.
Enamored with the sensation of actually using a supernatural power, even if limited. I tried to circulate it faster.
Quickly, I began to notice something.
I could 'feel' the individual parts of my body, from the roots of my toes to the top of my head. It was like a 3D image was grafted onto me.
But I didn't really 'see' it. I just felt it.
from the skin on my body to the muscles underneath, down to the bone itself. I could even feel the individual organs moving at times, carrying out their processes systematically and timely.
Things got really weird when I tried to feel my brain. So weird I had to immediately 'look' away as a nasty sense of vertigo almost crept on me.
When I focused elsewhere the feeling lessened.
It was odd as hell, but also enthralling.
I tried to explore this feeling deeper. But then, like the dead arm had fully come back to life. The pins and needles sensation faded away.
My eyes flew open and I took a deep breath. Sweat dripping down my temples, I felt a tiredness in my whole body.
Like I could fall asleep at any second.
I spent a solid minute recuperating, practically sprawled on the ground. The sword on my lap having fallen off to the side.
When the minute was up I finally had enough strength in me to stand.
A lightheadedness fell upon me but It slowly faded.
My shirt stuck to my body from the amount of sweat and I wrinkled my nose.
"Damn I stink,"
I then looked at the clock on my right and grimaced.
Eight minutes.
Five of which were spent re-learning how to activate it. One of which was spent on the floor gasping like a whale.
So…two minutes.
"Fuck"
I began pacing, still tired but unable to sit still.
"How am I gonna overcome this?"
My chakra capacity was terrible. As far as I could tell, I was basically a civilian even though I'd been in the academy for six years.
How was I going to fix this?
What steps could I possibly take to get stronger?
Was I fucked?
No. Calm down. Think Rationally.
Let's look at things objectively.
Yes I had a low chakra capacity, yes my control was pretty shit, and yes this body wasn't particularly well trained. But all of these things could be worked on.
Not to mention that weird feeling I'd gotten when I'd circulated my chakra. It was like…like I could 'feel' my entire body on a level of awareness I and 'past me' had never been able to.
It seems our merging brought along some unexpected side effects.
There's still a path here. It would just be an uphill one.
So I'm not completely helpless. I'm just… gonna have to grind like hell aren't I?
With a heavy sigh I sat on my bed, and with a *woosh* sound I fell back. The soft mattress enveloped me, giving a small comfort to my tired body. Muscles I didn't even realize were tensed relaxed. I looked up at the blank ceiling, the silence of the home overwhelming.
"Alright then."
Then I got up and stretched.
"There's nothing to it, but to do it," I then got on the floor and started doing push ups. "If I don't do it, nobody will."
It was hard enough as it was, the day's events along with using my chakra 'intensively' like that really wore me out physically and mentally.
But I told myself to power through it. That this was my new reality and that if I failed my consequence would be death.
With each drop of sweat and grunt of exertion I reminded myself that it needed to be done.
I couldn't stick my head in the sand and run away.
Not in a world like this.
I needed to do my best and move forward. Or I'd be swept away by the tides of change.
And if I failed anyway? Well. At least then I could honestly tell myself I'd given it my all.
(Scene Change)
Motivational speeches along with things of that nature sure tend to make you feel good in the moment, however, give it a bit of time and motivation along with inspiration can quickly disappear.
And mine basically evaporated the next day.
What could possibly demoralize me in such a manner you may ask?
To that I say…I was dumb enough to forget I had school the following morning.
"Geez man, you look like shit."
"I feel like shit." I confirmed with dead looking eyes to the brown haired boy next to me.
Every muscle in my body ached as I definitely went overboard when working out. This morning I had to practically throw myself out of bed.
When I got to class I fell into the first empty seat I could find and that just so happened to be next to Kiba Inuzuka.
"Arf Arf" A little white dog barked at me and I could only groan at the noise while rubbing my ears.
"Sure thing Akamaru." was my response to whatever the hell it was saying to me, before I planted my head into my arms on the desk.
"What did you even do last night?" someone chimed in.
"Just some training" I waved offhandedly, before slowly raising my head to see who'd spoken.
It was Shikamaru, he'd chosen to sit next to me and Kiba today I guess.
"Sounds troublesome."
"You're not wrong buddy."
"Hah! Kitsuji training outside of class? Kiba butt in with a mocking laugh. "Has Choji lost weight or something? Has Sakura's forehead decreased in size?"
Choji, a few rows away, gave a raised eyebrow but refused to comment, too busy munching on his chips.
I suppose Kiba was smart enough not to call him the F word directly. Smart move.
Sakura, sitting in the front row of class, adjusted her books, then quickly spun around. For a second I was stunned, as yesterday I'd been too freaked out to really get a solid look at her or anybody really, afraid I'd be caught staring.
She was surprisingly pretty. With her long pink hair and emerald green eyes, I could totally understand why Naruto was going gaga over her in the series.
That pretty image was quickly stripped from me though as she opened her mouth.
"Shut up Kiba! At least my breath doesn't smell like shit! When was the last time you brushed your teeth anyway?"
"What's that big head?" He then put four fingers on his forehead and grinned, the red marks on his cheeks stretching. "Can you even do this or do you need an extra finger?"
She shot a dirty look at Kiba before turning back around with a "Hmph." Hands playing with her long pink hair. I don't think she realized that she was subconsciously parting her hair to cover her forehead a bit.
"Go kick bricks you mutt, you're only as smart as Akamaru."
That one seemed to actually get to Kiba as he let out an annoyed grunt. "What's that supposed to mean? Akamaru's plenty smart!"
She didn't even bother to look back. "Why can't you idiots be more like sasuke." she grumbled out.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes next to me and I raised an eyebrow.
The pink haired girl then shot a nervous glance in an upper row near the window where said boy was sitting.
Sasuke of course was doing what he did best, ignoring everything and everyone.
Her nervous look quickly transformed into a cute smile. "Good morning Sasuke~."
Said boy was doing his actual best to ignore her. Absolutely locked in on the window as if the secrets to killing his brother were outside.
And honestly I didn't blame him.
Sakura's pretty image was again ruined as she let out some absolutely creepy sounding giggles while batting her lashes in his direction.
For a second I could've sworn I saw sweat going down his forehead but I'm sure I was imagining it
Ino who was sitting next to Hinata gave an unladylike snort.
Sakura stopped her daydreaming and side eye'd Ino with an upturned nose. "Got something to say piggy."
Ino smiled primly but I could practically feel the heated gaze she threw at Sakura from here.
"Nothing that won't echo off your forehead."
"How original." Sakura retorted back rather calmly but I could see a twitch in her eye. "How much do you weigh again?"
No way, she completely skipped the warmup phase and went straight for the Kill?
"P-please! We shouldn't fight in class."
Hinata softly chimed in, attempting to play peacemaker.
She was fidgeting nervously, fingers splayed together but surprisingly less shy than I would think considering she didn't back down from the situation.
"Relax Hinata." Kiba called out, "They're both all bark and no bite."
"Funny coming from you." Ino said while rolling her eyes.
I heard the door slide open and Shino walked in, no one gave him a second look as he walked up to the row Sasuke was in and took a seat on the far end. Within a few seconds heavy footsteps rang out from outside before the door slid open again, this time with a loud bang as the blonde haired protagonist entered the room in a hurry.
"Safe!" he called out, practically gasping for air.
"G-goodmorning N-naruto." Hinata called out shyly, twiddling with her hair.
"Huh? Oh hey Hinata." He called out casually before immediately turning to look at Sakura. "H-hey, good morning Sakura!"
"Tch, good morning I guess." Was her irate reply.
I'm pretty sure she was replying on reflex more than anything else seeing as she wasn't even looking at him and was instead glaring daggers at Ino.
"Hehe," The blonde chuckled to himself and rubbed his nose as if he'd been given a treat.
Hinata didn't even seem to see this byplay as she was currently staring off into space with a small smile on her face, cheeks rosy, withdrawing into her white fur coat like it was a turtle shell.
Me witnessing this byplay only had one word.
Bruh.
I put my head facedown on the table, a dull thud ringing out.
This is crazy, They're just so…normal.
The door opened one last time and I looked up to see Iruka Sensei.
He gave us all a stern look and all the chatter quickly came to an end. Seats were quickly filled as everyone settled down.
"Good, you're all here on time. Let's get started, we're going over trajectory mathematics today."
Everyone groaned, me included.
"Don't sass me, believe it or not this stuff is important. Also, Shikamaru."
The ponytailed boy locked eyes with his teacher.
"The next time I get a report that you've 'gone to the nurse for a headache'," He put his fingers in quotation marks. "Only to find out you've been sleeping for hours in a bathroom stall…" He then raised his fist and shook it. "I'll give you a real headache and take you to the nurses office myself."
Shikamaru appeared unphased. "Got it."
Iruka, eye'd him for a solid ten seconds before Shikamaru shifted awkwardly in his seat. Only then was he satisfied. "Anyways, onto mathematics."
I'm sure half this class wanted to do literally anything else but nobody here had the guts to say it.
Well, except one guy.
"This again?! Can't we just do some actual throwing or something?" Naruto complained loudly.
Iruka raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe I'd let you do some more hands on throwing if you actually passed your tests. Now shut up and pull out your material."
Naruto gave a huff, before him and everyone else pulled out their textbooks.
It was all I could do to keep my eyes open during the lesson, but I endured. Diligently taking notes, even though I wanted nothing more than to sleep. Pinching myself everytime my focus began to wane to force myself to stay awake.
No matter the cost, I couldn't slack off. Not here. Not now. I had far too much to lose.
And way too much to gain.
(Scene change)
I did it. I managed to make it to lunch.
If I was gonna stay awake for the rest of class I needed to eat something and fast.
And I was in dire need of some nourishment.
On the upside, 'past me' was at least responsible enough to stock his kitchen, so I was able to make a simple meal of rice and eggs.
The lunch area of the academy was a large open field with verdant green grass, bright warm sun, and a smaller section with benches to sit and eat.
It also acted like our training area. There were designated spots for spars and plenty of space for a dummy range in which to throw kunai. There was even an open area that, from my memories, I knew was for jutsu.
Everyone had scattered around the benches when lunch break was called. I'd chosen to sit by myself underneath the shade of one of the many trees scattered about, eating my food in peace.
Ino sat with shikamaru and Choji on one bench, while Sasuke of course sat on a bench by himself.
Naruto was in an area to himself absolutely destroying a cup of ramen. I watched him reach beside him to a small teapot with steam wafting out of it. Next to it, three more cups of ramen, he poured the hot water into all three while smiling, chopsticks clicking together and glee on his face as he anxiously waited for them to heat up.
Ino was sitting with Hinata, for some reason Sakura at the same bench as them even though this morning they were at each other's throats. Kiba and Shino ate together, Kiba was obviously saying something outrageous as he wiggled his eyebrows while rambunctiously laughing at points.
Shino didn't even look like he was listening, or at least I thought so, until I saw him choke on his food and his shoulders shake.
Ok I kinda wanna know what Kiba said.
But right now I have bigger things to worry about.
You see something became readily apparent to me as I observed my class today without the lens of a starstruck fan.
There were no other students but us.
This wasn't like the anime at all, as I remembered their being other students during graduation, but from my memories, this was indeed the current class.
If I'm recollecting correctly, we did have people in the class up until last year, where everybody else had been 'reassigned' to different classrooms.
Whatever reason it may be that they were removed from class, that didn't change the fact that what was leftover was the cream of the crop so to speak. Those whose talent and potential allowed them the privilege to attempt to be a genin squad under a Jonin.
The only question I could ask myself was…why was I here?
Better yet…why am I still in this class with these kids?
if you point your finger at anyone in the room it would be a no brainer that I was the outlier, even naruto with his abysmal grades had the excuse of being a Jinchuriki.
How the hell did I fly by the radar and not get 'reassigned' like the rest of the kids?
I'd been the lowest of the low, just barely hanging on. What exactly were they thinking by allowing someone with seemingly low potential and terrible work ethic to continue to stay in this class?
Hell, some of these kids were outright geniuses.
The real thing I needed to figure out was..
What else has changed?
I knew for sure this was the year we were supposed to graduate.
It being at the age of thirteen instead of twelve like canon.
Another inconsistency.
There had to be plenty of other things that have changed and I'm just not seeing it.
Or at least that was the hypothesis.
With all these questions I needed some clarity. And there was one place I could think of immediately that I could find some answers.
The library.
Unfortunately for me, 'past me' had no idea where it actually was, only a vague direction from things people had told him.
Welp, better ask someone then.
Decision made I finished my food and got up, walking over to the closest table to me, which happened to be the girls.
"Hey Sakura", I rudely butt into whatever Sakura had been saying, causing her to shoot me the stink eye.
Before she could get too offended I continued.
"Do you think you could point me to the library after class?"
"Why not ask anyone else?" she rolled her eyes. Justifiably pissed at my interruption
"Does it look like I can ask anyone else?" I deadpanned, pointing at the rest of the class.
Shikamaru had slipped off somewhere, probably to gaze at clouds or something.
Naruto was working on his third cup, loud slurping sounds and all. Choji was happily on his second lunch practically salivating as the steam visibly rose off his freshly opened rice.
Kiba was STILL laughing loudly over some joke to Shino. And Sasuke…I didn't even see him anymore. I think he went back into class.
She glanced in the direction at my pointed finger, glanced back down while looking over her nails in feigned boredom before gazing back up at me. "Yes"
I rolled my eyes. She was prickly as hell. Although I was a little bit rude earlier, from 'past me's' memories I could tell this is just kind of how she'd always been.
'past me' probably would've given up right then and there.
Fortunately though, I had a few bitchy sisters growing up, so I knew exactly what to do.
"Look, you're the smartest girl in class right?" I shamelessly pandered to her vanity. "So it just makes sense for me to ask you, you'd give me the clearest and simplest directions."
It worked flawlessly as she actually seemed to puff up like a peacock.
"I really am the smartest aren't I?"
"Uhuh" I responded with the emotional range of a rock.
I heard Ino giggle and Hinata gave a small smile that she tried to hide behind a hand.
"So you gonna help me or what?" I pressed. "I don't need you to walk me or anything, just write down some directions or something after class."
"How do you not know where it is?" She gave me a weird look.
"It's Kitsuji." Ino pointed out, "When have you ever seen him go to the library?"
"N-never?" Hinata innocently pointed out with a small head tilt.
Ouch, critical hit.
"Hah hah" I dryly toned out before running a hand through my hair with a sigh.
"Yes or no?"She gave it some thought before finally nodding. "Alright, just some simple directions right?"
"Exactly"
"Fine, now either go away or sit down. I was telling a story."
"I'll leave, thanks though."
She waved me off.
"Anyways as I was saying, the Princess Gale movie that just came out is amaz-"
I stepped out of hearing range while she continued on, giving a small wave to Hinata and Ino on my way back to my spot.
I spent five more minutes or so finishing my food before packing up right as Iruka came outside and told us all that lunch was over.
(Scene change)
With fuel on my stomach I managed to last until the end of class.
The whole time I managed to stay focused and Iruka even gave me an impressed look as he dismissed us.
Everyone quickly dispersed and I walked to Sakura as she packed up her books.
Before I could even say anything she handed me a folded note, "I got places to be so I just wrote it down during the lecture, try not to get lost yeah?"
She then threw a longing look at Sasukes departing back as he walked by. She gave a small giggle before smacking her cheeks. Face flushed, she rushed off.
"Sasuke! Wait up! Do you want to get some ice cream?"
Sasuke's walking speed increased dramatically as he closed the door behind him.
Undeterred she picked up the pace, quickly opening it before racing after the boy.
Talk about determination, that girl was like a hound. I didn't even get to thank her.
"There she goes." Shikamaru said as he walked around me, stretching one arm upward as he lazily strode towards the exit.
"It's never gonna work." Choji agreed, walking beside his friend.
"Honestly," I chimed in. "I think she has a chance."
I mean, he did end up marrying her and having a kid right?
They both paused mid stride before looking at me, looking at each other, and then laughing.
"Yeah right," Choji snickered. "I'd pay good Ryo to see that happen."
"Even if it did, Ino would flip out." Shikamaru pointed out.
They both shivered.
"She'd be even more annoying to deal with," the Nara seemed to slouch just thinking about it. "That'd be way too troublesome."
"Eh," I shrugged. "It was just a thought." I then stretched before grabbing my stuff. "Anyways, later guys, gotta go."
They waved goodbye and I exited the class and very quickly went off to the streets of Konoha.
I was spot on to ask Sakura, as her directions were well worded and simple to follow.
Within ten minutes of walking I came across the library.
If there was any disillusion in me today, it was that none of these characters were actually characters. They were real people.
In a way it terrified me, if these people were real, that meant every threat was just as much so.
At the same time, it inspired me, pushed me to continue to take things seriously. So I strapped up my boots and got to work.
"Alright," I mumbled, eyeing the surprisingly humble looking building. "Let's do some research."
END CHAPTER