Drop.
Drop.
Drop.
The sight of gentle rain tapping onto the small child sleeping peacefully behind a tree. Darkness has engulfed the silent forest; only the child's faint snoring could be heard until that too ceased as he gingerly opened his eyes and murmured a few words.
" It's night? Great. "
I don't know what to do, I push off the wet ground, my sore body screaming with every single step as I walk towards the gravel path once again stumbling onto it. The feeling of freezing rain dripping off my body is such a sharp contrast from the burning heat of the sun.
At least I can look at the bright side, I'm still alive...Yeah. It's just me and my thoughts, in the middle of a dark forest, with no end goal in sight. What if that shinobi from earlier just pointed me in the wrong direction?
I chuckle to myself, my snickering escaping my lips, rippling out into the dark forest. I'm not laughing at the thought of the shinobi lying to me. This kind of reminds me of that one SpongeBob episode. The one where he misses his bus and is stuck in the dark?
Except there's no bus or a vending machine... A vending machine, I'm so damn hungry. If I reach Konoha, the first place I'm going is that ramen shop. Naruto acted like it was the best thing in the world, and I'd be damn if I die before at least trying it.
Who knows, maybe that's how I get my system. Eating the ramen. The ramen system, the more ramen I eat, the stronger " I am! "
I roared out, holding my arms above my head until they quickly fell to my sides, and my vison blurs as my feet became even more shaky.
No.
I'm not passing out again until I reach the leaf village. It's not happening, I don't give a damn what this body thinks. Maybe if I think, it'll distract me from my muscles trying to rip off my body...
Yeah, yeah, let's give it a shot and see how it goes. I need to find a way to join the ninja academy.
I'm roughly five, maybe six, so I should fit right in. I need the basics, don't even know anything about how to use chakra; the only thing I can remember right now is when Naruto and Sasuke kept running up that tree.
A-And- Before I could think, my vision went black and my feet stumbled tripping on each other, but before I fell, my eyes snapped open, catching myself. A moist cough escaped my lungs as tears began to form in my eyes.
I flexed my weak back muscles, keeping me upright, as I walked forward in the pitch darkness...
Snap
The sudden sound of a snapping twitch echoed out, making my body pause briefly, my eyes instantly regaining its vison as adrenaline surged through my body.
My vision hyperfixated on a nearby bush, my heart began to race, my fingers twitching.
Only for a small, cute bunny to hop out of the bush, briefly glancing around, only to twirl around and hop straight back into the bush. A grin appeared on my face as I began to laugh, making my stomach contort in agony. As I held onto still walking.
A bunny.
Here I thought, maybe I could stop Madara or the Akatsuki. Yet a damn five-pound bunny scared me shitless. M-Maybe, I'm just gonna die?
...
...
Could I kill a person? If it came to it.
Could I stab someone through the neck with a kunai, watching the life escape their eyes?
Knowing the man had a family that cherished him, or perhaps they hated him, but the fact that they hated him still meant they cared for him slightly.
I'm not some edgy loser who is always written in this situation, who can kill without a care in the world, to prove they are the strongest...
Even though I was meant to be a tough guy in my previous life.
I was a boxer who ruined people's dreams to achieve mine, and yet I couldn't help but stop and cherish the sweet moments, watching a child experience life, or watching someone younger than me help an elderly woman across the street.
Maybe this path is me crossing the street to my death?
I keep walking, staring at the pitch-black void in front of me, my steps being drowned out by the pouring rain, step after step. There's nothing here.
Nothing at all. As all hope began to leave my body, I saw it, the sight of countless orange lights in the distance being shielded by the dense trees.
It feels like my feet have got lighter, as my pace quickens and I walk towards the orange lights faster and faster until the sharp pain in my chest returns, but I ignore it, my feet begin to leave the gravel, and I start to sprint.
Faster than a bunny could.
Faster than even a cheetah could.
It was a civilization. Light something I could see other than the dark.
Something I could hide under that wasn't trees.
In what felt like a flash, I arrived at the front gate, and two shinobi guarded it, staring at me with confused eyes.
The green gate.
The orange walls. I've seen this place thousands of times.
This-This is Konoha. A bright smile spread across my face as my vision finally faded and I collapsed directly onto the ground...