Naruto: Of bone and ice

Time passed very slowly in my current body. Being trapped in the body of a baby with the mind of a 25-year-old was like being waterboarded. The only person I could see was Kachina. When I wasn't trying to roll around on the floor, I was driving myself crazy trying to figure out what the hell had happened to me.

My daily routine consisted of being breastfed by my new mother, which was strange to say the least. My diaper was changed twice a day, as I had no control over anything either. Kachina would occasionally play with me, but it never lasted that long. I spent most of my time wondering what had happened to me and what the point of it all was. But the more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense.

Time continued to pass in a blur, the same thing day after day. No one ever came back with Kachina again, but that didn't bother me much. Pretty soon I found myself crawling around and even managed to take a few steps. My little legs still weren't strong enough to support me, but crawling would do for now.

Time seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was celebrating my fourth birthday. At this point I could walk, run and even talk. I decided to be smart about what I said and how I said it, I didn't need unwanted attention at such a young age. As soon as I learned to walk my mother took me with her. I still remember the first time I went outside. Our house was a small hut and we lived in a small settlement called the Yuki clan. The small village was covered in snow but that made it beautiful. I still didn't understand what Yuki was as every time I asked Kachina she would always say when you get older you will understand. I spent my days learning to read and write the way my mother taught me. As luck would have it, everyone spoke English. So speaking was easy. Learning to read and write was a little more difficult as it wasn't in English. I always tried to act my age, but I still made a few mistakes.

Kachina always looked at me with surprise when I said or did something that was beyond my years. Kachina was a beautiful woman with long black hair like silk. Her eyes were blue like the ocean and her skin was white as the snow on the ground. She didn't say anything, she just smiled and said, "You are a smart child."

I also learned who the man was who wanted to kill me when I was the one I thought was reborn. He was actually my grandfather or Kachina's father. His name was Shimo Yuki and as far as I could tell, he was the head of the clan. Everyone else respected him and did what he said.

I was one of the few kids in our small village. But I wasn't allowed to play with the others. I didn't really care, playing with kids when you were 25 would have been weird anyway.

Time passed and I was allowed to go out on my own. No one really cared about me, but I didn't care. I spent most of my time wandering around the outskirts of the village. It was located high in the mountains, so we had snow all year round.

I began to learn more about my new world, and as it turned out, I already knew quite a bit about it. It took me a while to piece it all together, and the thought that I was crazy crossed my mind quite often. But it all made sense. I belonged to the Yuki clan from the land of water. One of the five great nations, and we served the feudal lords and the Mizukage.

The information I received almost gave me a panic attack. Naruto was one of my favorite anime, and I often thought how cool it would be to be able to do jutsu. It looks like my wish came true.

Late one night, I was awakened by voices coming from the kitchen of our small cabin. It was Kachina's voice, if I remember correctly. "Shimo," I muttered under my breath. He was nothing like my grandfather in my previous world. He was cold and hard. He never praised me, or even paid attention to me, if I remember correctly.

"It's time, Kachina. You know the rules of our clan." Shimo asked. Trying to be as quiet as possible, I looked into the bedroom, the room was lit by candles, but I was already used to seeing in the dark. "I know father, but what if he..." She was cut off. "There are no 'buts' here. If he inherited the Kekki Genkai, then it's the law."

"He's too young to be sent there," Kachina said with a worried look. "War is coming. And Lord Mizukage has ordered all clans to prepare our warriors for battle. Including children aged five and up. He will be tested and sent to the Academy. That's the law."

Horror was etched on Kachina's face. "Damn the Mizukage. And damn the bloody mist, they must fight their own wars!" Her voice was louder now, but she sat back down, feeling defeated. Shimo stood up and spread his large hands. "Bring him to me tomorrow." He left the house, and Kachina didn't move. I decided it was time to go back to bed and think about what I had just heard.

"War." That's what he said. The only problem was, I had no idea where in Naruto's story I was. It was so much to process and it still didn't feel real at times. But it was. It was as real as a slap. I raised my hand in front of my face. It was tiny, a child's hand. "Why am I here?" I said to myself before falling asleep.

The next day, when Kachina woke me up, she looked completely different from usual. Her face was gloomy and expressionless. I decided to ask if she was okay, she gave a tight smile and nodded. It was what adults gave to children when something was wrong. I had seen too much in my old world.

We had breakfast and soon I was taken to the largest building in our settlement. It was Shimo's house, I guess being the clan leader had its perks. Even though he was my blood grandfather in this world, I had never been here before. Having heard how he wanted to kill me all those years ago, I always guessed he didn't like me. We walked through the house and out to the backyard. It was quite large, and in the middle of it Shimo was waiting with a handful of other people.

This didn't look good. It looked like I was about to be tested, and it didn't look like it was going to be easy. Kachina bowed to the group of men, and I did the same. They returned the greeting and motioned for me to come closer. I looked at Kachina, and she nodded, a fake smile on her face, like she was trying to convince herself that everything would be okay.

I swallowed and stepped forward, stopping a few feet away from Shimo. I stood firm and looked him in the eye, not breaking eye contact. He stepped forward, his gaze cold. "Do you know why you are here, boy?" He asked. I nodded, still not breaking eye contact. He spread his arms. He gave an order to one of them, and they placed a large bowl of water at my feet. He spoke again, "If you can move the water in this bowl without touching it, then you pass."

I didn't quite understand, but I did understand at the same time. They wanted to see if I had the Yuki clan's Kekki Genkai. Ice. I looked at the still water in the bowl at my feet and didn't know what to do, so I simply touched it with my hand, wanting to make it move. To my surprise, it did.

I moved the water from side to side and then commanded it to move toward me. The water rose into the air and formed a ball between my hands. I looked at Shimo and he looked at me with a slight grin. It was the first time he had ever shown any expression other than anger or disapproval toward me. He looked at the wooden pole and back at me. I knew what he wanted from me.

I raised my hand and slashed down towards the log pole. The water turned into a sharp blade and froze, cutting through the pole like butter. It was amazing, I felt amazing. It was powerful, this was what true power felt like. I turned to Shimo, who smiled, and Kachina fell to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks.