For the first time ever, since he transmigrated to this world, he thought back to his past life. A life full of violence, and poverty.
As a child, he grew up in a rundown orphanage, run by a couple that were only interested in pocketing the donations. All the kids only had the bare minimum everyday to survive.
As he grew older, he understood more and hated them for it. He envied the other kids in his town, thinking they had better lives. So, when he got a chance to get adopted, he jumped on the chance, thinking his life would be better with the new couple.
But, he's so wrong. Just a few weeks with them made him see the orphanage in a positive light.
He went hungry and beat up more than before. Just after a month, he fled from the couple, back to the orphanage. Only, as a kid, with nothing to his name and no experience, he fell into the hands of a trafficker while on the way.
His situation became bad to worse with that. While he was in despair about whatever is going to happens to him, he got rescued by a band of men with tattoos and scars.
He clung to the men with all his might. Quickly, he realized they weren't good people, but they fed him and kept him from harm. That was enough from him.
They were a criminal gang, with their hands in almost everything shady, except the truly vile ones. The only reason they attacked the traffickers, was because they wanted to expand their territory.
Growing up with them, he did odd jobs maintaining their base seeing all kinds of things everyday. He struggled with everything he saw, but became more cynical and ruthless with time.
Then one day, while delivering an unknown package to one of the gang members, he got a chance to watch a cartoon for the first time. On the TV screen, a kid with bright yellow hair was yelling he would be Hokage one day!
He scoffed, but kept watching since he had nothing to do while waiting for the man to give a return package. By the end of the episode, he got drawn in by boy's energy, grit and goofiness.
The gang member came back when the next episode was about to start. Seeing his disappointed face, the man took pity on the kid, and told him, he could come watch it with him everyday, but he needed to clean the house.
The boy was quite surprised, but quickly agreed. So, everyday, after finishing work at the base, he would rush to the man's house and clean up. He would then join him to watch the "anime", as the man called it.
Naruto's story affected him a lot. Watching his struggle, his unbreakable will and his bright character quickly won him over. Over time, he came to care about all the characters in the anime, even the enemies of Naruto.
Every person was fighting for something they believed in. Orochimaru, Pain, Madara, even Kaguya. Every time one of characters fell, he felt regret.
By the end of the anime, watching Naruto become Hogake, a part of him felt happy for him, but, another part of him felt sad about all the characters that were gone.
They started to watch it again from the beginning, now discussing the story points and arguing about things in the anime. They bonded over the past year of time spent sharing a hobby.
The boy was satisfied with his situation. But, something happened that changed his life, drastically.
A rival gang attacked their base one day. The same one the traffickers belonged to. Under the massive attack, the base fell quickly.
That day, he saw his world shake again. Gun fire, weapons clashing, fire everywhere. He saw the gang members die every second. He sneaked around the fights, searching for his only friend, the middle-aged man who watched anime with him everyday.
By the time he found him, the man was heaving heavily, sitting with his back to the wall. Seeing the kid run towards him, he warned him to run away, trying to get up. But his body was losing strength fast.
By the time the kid reached him, the man was almost unconscious. He had two bullet holes on his chest and another on his leg.
The kid tried to move him, but the man stopped him. He whispered, "Run away. I have some savings in the vault in my house. Code is xxxx. Take them, survive. If possible, help me take care of my daughter. She lives with her mother."
He quickly gave the details.
"Kid, I haven't asked you until today. What's you name?"
The kid was crying and choking by this point, "... Ren. What about you?"
"Ren..Ren. Good name kid. I'm... Hal."
Watching Hal falling silent, Ren couldn't help but cry. He felt regret, no knowing more about this person.
Suddenly, he heard gun shots close by. So, shaking himself, he closed Hal's eyes, "I promise, Hal. I will survive! And, I will find your family, and help them if necessary."
With that he ran away. He found the locker with cash, put it in a bag, and left.
He was still a kid, but a kid with experience. Over the couple of years he was with the gang, the members taught him a few things now and then. He managed to escape any pursuit after him, if there was one.
He went to find Hal's family to check on them. Locating them was easy due to the the details Hal gave him. He spied on them for a bit. After all, Hal's concern was for his daughter. He needed to know how the mother treated her.
To his relief, she was going well, both of them were. Still, they can't stay here anymore. If the rival gang pursued the families, they may be in danger.
So, he wrote an anonymous letter mentioning Hal's demise, and asking them to leave for a new place for their safety. He took a little bit of money from the bag, enough for his expenses for a while, and left the bag along with the letter at their door.
He watched from afar as the mother read it and quickly pack up and leave with the girl.
Sighing in relief, he thought, "This is the best I can do for now, Hal. Hope you rest in peace."
After that, he became a wanderer, going from city to city, doing odd jobs when needing money. By the time he was fifteen, he visited a lot of places and and finally, settled in a quiet town. There, he worked as a cleaner in a women's salon. The owner, an old woman always in heavy makeup, sometimes allowed him to help her handle the clients' hair. She taught him some tricks of the trade.
Often, he would think back to the time he spent watching Naruto with Hal. He never watched another episode after that day. But he'd always remembered the story, and the bright boy that saved the world.
One day, as he was crossing the street, he saw Hal's daughter by herself. She was in her teens now. She seemed quite distracted, looking around nervously, twitching now and then.
Surprised, and having a bad feeling, he quickly approached her, but got pepper spray in his face and a kick in his stomach in return.
Crouching in pain, he endured, and said painfully, "I'm friends with Hal! I just wanted to know what you're doing here."
Realizing she misunderstood, she quickly helped him to a bench and cleaned his eyes with a water bottle.
She apologized and explained her situation. After she and her mother moved to a nearby town, they built a new life. But, it came crashing a couple of months ago.
Apparently, there had been a hunt for the families of the important members of the gang. It took some time, but they were found. The mother was killed in pursuit but she helped the daughter get away. She has been on the run ever since.
Ren couldn't help but blame himself. He was still a kid back them, but maybe, if he stayed with them, he could have helped them somehow. He was too focussed on his own survival. He thought about Naruto. What would he do in this situation?
Firming his resolve, he told the girl he'll help her escape. His plan is to get on a ship with her to leave the country. This should help them get away.
With that, they set out to the nearest port. On the way, the girl learnt about his relationship with Hal, and that he was the one who warned them and gave the money before. This made her trust him more.
They evaded pursuit many times, but Ren could feel them getting close every time. By the time they got to the port, and arranged to smuggle themselves out, they got cornered.
Ren struggled to make a choice. Leave the girl and survive, or stay to fight them and let her escape, but face death. For whatever reason, he remembered Naruto.
He finally decided, 'I will always help the people I care about. This is my ninja way!'
With that childish slogan in his mind, he bid the girl to run towards the ship to find the middle man. He promised her he'd come over after distracting the hunting party. The girl gave him a hug and ran way crying.
He knew he was no match for the gang if they're grouped together, so he lured them into an abandoned building and took them out one by one while they separated.
He managed to stop the team for an hour, before they caught him. He refused to give up the girl's location.
Looking at the gun barrel to his head. He smiled, satisfied, "Good luck, Chloe."
A/N: Big chapter today! Once I started writing this, I couldn't stop! I didn't have the time and energy to run it through AI. Please let me know your thoughts.