Naruto: Reborn and loving it

Jason was a lonely boy. Not just lonely, but also in a constant state of depression. This came from the fact that he was teminally ill with no cure in sight. Oh, if that had been the only thing wrong. No, that was simply not to be.

You see, he hasnt always been bedridden, no, he was able to leave the hospital in the earlier stages of his sickness. He tried spending this time with his family. He stayed at home, helping his mother cook. He spent time during family dinner. He also watched a lot of anime. Among those was his favorite, Naruto. He loved Naruto because he felt for the main protagonist.

Many things happened around Jason that made him almost understand the feelings that naruto felt. For one was his sickness that made his family a bit hesitant to spend time with him since they knew he would die anyway. Another thing was the fact that he enjoyed dressing in more feminine clothing such as dresses. They were his safety net, the skin on top of his skin so to speak. His family werent comfortable with this fact and started to nearly shun him for it. Thankfully, it couldnt last forever.

He spent a lot of his final days in the hospital thinking. `If only things werent like this´.

He would get his wish granted as he finally closed his eyes for the last time.

- MC POV.

I opened my eyes only to be met by an unfamiliar ceiling. It looked old and very poorly held together due to this. I slowly rose into a sitting position and looked around me. There were clothes strewn across the floor. Old cups of instant ramen as well as many other things that I couldnt even start to understand what they were.

Having looked for a bit, clearly confused since I had never been in this room before. One of my first thoughts were.

`Have I been kidnapped?´ or `Is this one of those wards I would be sent to, to die?´ But soon reminded himself that first off, who would kidnap a dying kid. Second of all, who would send a dying patient to what clearly looked to be a shitty appartement.

I rose from the bed and could immediatly tell that something was wrong. I hadnt been able to stand for months. Then how was I able to do it now? I put those questions to the back of my mind, and slowly, and wobbly, made my way for the bathroom.

Entering the bathroom, I walked past a mirror where I saw a streak of yellow. I stopped in my tracks and slowly backed up again to where the mirror was. I stopped and stood still, not daring to turn and look. I could see the yellow colour from a sideglance, and noticed that it too, stood still. Taking a deep breath, I turned and stood shock still at what I saw.

In the mirror stood a young boy that looked to be nine or ten years old. He had a slender face, almost like a girls, with deep blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek. Then there was the yellow hair that had been what caught his attention in the first place. I put my hands on my cheeks and started to feel around, and seeing that the image in front of me mirrored my actions I had only one thought.

`I am Naruto?´ I thought in disbelief. I mean, who would have thought that reincarnation, or transmigration was real? I certainly didnt, until now that is.

"There is only one way to find out." I said out loud and quickly ran back to my bed, still relishing in the fact that I could actually walk, and now run.

I sat down on my bed and crossed my legs. In all those anime and manga that I had come into contact with in the past all said that I would get the memories of the past owner of the body, so I focused on finding those memories. I found them after almost ten minutes had passed, and I was about to give up. I saw the memories of a lonely boy that was hated and scorned. I saw a young boy that was sabotaged so badly in the first couple of schoolyears that he gave up on learning anything. Finally I saw a boy who had nobody except a few that he could lean on for even a semblance of support. It was the memories of Naruto Uzumaki, son of the fourth hokage and red hot blooded habanero. The heir of the uzumaki clan and jinchuuriki of the nine tailed fox, Kurama.

"

It took nearly half an hour to assimilate the experiences of naruto as my own. Well the original naruto that is, you know, since I am him now. I sat there in contemplation while I finally realized a crucial fact that had slipped my mind.

"Wait, WHEN am I? Is there a calendar or something around here?" I asked myself and started to look around frantically. Finally locating a calendar I rushed over to the dresser where it was located. I saw that one of the spaces was marked as `Graduation´ and had a drawing of a foxy naruto next to it. That was marked as June 25th, I also saw another crossed out date which I surmised as the day before now. It read April 17th, a bit over two months before the day of graduation from the academy.

I sighed at the thought. Having seen through narutos memories, I could clearly see, even with my untrained eyes, that naruto had absolutely no skill as a shinobi. This was mostly because of the teachers sabotage. They sabotaged him for the first couple years and never even taught him how to read or write.

`No wonder he was so bad at the academics´. Was my thought on the matter.

I also found out that he never even notified the hokage, or rather, jiji now. He felt that if he told anyone, he wouldnt be believed and would just cause trouble for the old sarutobi. I had no such inhibitions.

"First off, I should make a list of what I need to do." I said to myself and found a piece of paper. Thankfully I could still write in english. The list went:

#1: Learn how to read and write. (Can I get Iruka to help?)

#2: Talk to Kurama (He should actually be a big softie)

#3: Master fuuinjutsu (Im an Uzumaki, thats what we do)

#4: Buy food (Irukaaaa～～ I need help again)

#5: Buy new clothes (Orange jumpsuits arent my thing. Though orange is nice.... NO!! Bad Naruto)

#6: Is homosexuality illegal here? (Library here I come)

#7: Buy new girl....

I stopped myself for a moment thinking about my image and about what others might think, but then again, why should I care what they think?

`Fuck it. This is a new life, a new chance and Im gonna live it how I want. Screw what people would think, I am already hated, so why not enjoy what I can have for myself. Hehehe´

"7: Buy new girly clothes (Hallelujah)

#8: Grow out hair (Ask Iruka later if there is a jutsu for it)

#9: Become a kick-ass ninja (Believe i.... URGH! It has already started)

#10: Live life as I want (Hah, screw the council. Oh, and make sure to kill Danzo later will ya)

#11: Get new gear (Why is all my ninja gear covered in green goo?)

Having made my list I started to stretch a bit. While making the list, I had thought about my training and how to rectify the damage done by the teachers and civillians. The answer came in the form of one Iruka Umino, the big brother of the original. Well everybodies big brother to be honest. I planned to go to him and get him to help me, both in everyday stuff, but also in training.

Having stretched enough, I walked outside and locked the door. My house was located at the outskirts of the red light district. This was both a blessing and a curse. Here they dont really care about me and even ignore me most of the time. On the other hand, the civillians have yet another thing to look down on me for.

I jumped up on the nearest rooftop and started roof jumping towards Irukas house. I sped up as I wanted to avoid the glares of the populace. I might not have lived in this village before now, but I have all of the originals experiences on the matter. I just kept jumping, and nearly five minutes later I landed outside a small house. I walked up to the door and knocked. I waited for a few minutes as I heard someone scramble to get the door. The door soon opened, and out came a man seemingly in his early twenties. He had spiky brown hair put into a ponytail, brown eyes and a horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose. This was Iruka Umino, narutos teacher as well as brother figure.

"Naruto? What are you doing here? Is this about another prank?" He asked accusingly. That almost hurt even me.

"Hey Iruka sensei.... I needed to talk to you. Do you have time? If not I`ll just ask another day." I tried to lay it on a bit thickly as I needed to get the point across that I needed to speak to him.

"No, no its fine. Come on in naruto." He said and stepped to the side so that I could enter.

I entered and took off my sandals before following Iruka inside to his livinroom. The house was small, but I knew that Iruka liked to be a bit minimalistic. I sat down on the couch.

"Something to drink?" He asked.

"Juice, please."

"Orange fine?" I just nodded, and he went into the adjacent kitchen to fetch a glass as well as the juice. He came back soon after and put down the glass before pouring me some of that juice. Having poured me some, he sat down next to me on the couch and looked in my direction.

"So whats bothering you?" He asked me in a semi concerned voice. Probably because Im supposed to be a loudmouth.

"Iruka sensei, do you mind if I just explain before you ask anything? Its just that... that I need to get this off my chest." He nodded.

"Okay naruto. Take your time." I took a heavy breath, and soon released it.

"The majority of the village hates me. They always did." Iruka was about to protest. I just raised my hand to stop him. "Please, just let me say this. I need to say this. He closed his mouth and nodded.

"I was enrolled early at the academy on hokage-jiji`s recommendation. At first I was super excited, I was going to become a ninja and make friends! But my classmates bullied me and the teachers did nothing to stop them. Not only that, but they sabotaged me. Tsubasa-sensei sent me out of class for no reason and Mizuki-sensei taught me the wrong stances."

I could see Iruka gearing up for a lecture, so I raised my hand again and kept talking.

"Yes they did. I didnt start pranking until after I realized that the academy wasnt any different than the orphanage. They treated me like a monster, like a demon." Iruka seemed to be shocked at the amount of venom I put into those words.

"I know Mizuki-sensei is your friend sensei, but he hates me. I know he teaches me the wrong things, I saw him correcting a girl only to turn around to me and instruct me to do those same mistakes he berated the girl for. I cant learn taijutsu or shurikenjutsu on my own, I have no examples to follow because he keeps me away from the others during practice so that I cant see them clearly and the librarian doesn`t let me in, so I cant learn from scrolls."

I started to feel tears threatening to fall, so I blinked rapidly to rid myself of them. Iruka looked ingignant. It seems that he believes me.

"I..." I was blushing. This was the embarrassing part. It wasnt my fault, but I still felt ashamed. Iruka gestured for me to continue, so I did.

"I cant read," Iruka gaped, shocked. "Well, I can, but not well, I can only read some kanji, writing is also a problem. No one ever taught me outside of the academy and Tsubasa-sensei.... well. Can you teach me?"

Iruka needed a moment to calm down, then he scooted closer to me and hugged me tightly to his chest. I awkwardly tried to reciprocate the hug, but I didnt know where to put my hands, so I ended up with letting them hang at my sides.

"Naruto.." His voice sounded choked. I felt like I smelt his tears and guilt. Wait, what does guilt smell like?

"Im sorry, I was your teacher for two years and I never realized..... I failed you naruto. Im so sorry."

I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. No one had ever apologized for how they treated him. No one ever hugged the original like this. Me, hell, I couldnt even remember the last time someone hugged me. Im more used to the cold, clinical touches from the nurses. The only time I saw my family after being admitted for the last time was when my sister occassionally showed up. Or when my mother was drunk. My father refused outright to visit me.

"Naruto," I startled. I had almost forgotten where I was. I raised my head to look into the chuunins eyes. Iruka smiled lovingly down at me and said, "Ill teach you. Not just kanji, but everything you need to know to be a ninja."

I smiled, and with hopeful eyes asked. "Promise?"

Iruka laughed, surprised. "Promise."

We sat like that for a while until I remembered my list. I had more to ask Iruka, but I decided to shelve the question about ninja sexuality and rather asked about the groceries.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes naruto?"

"You know how I said that the civillians sell me overpriced or rotten product?"

"What!?" Iruka grabbed my shoulder and pushed me a bit from his body to look into my eyes. He looked angry, more angry than either the original or myself had ever seen. I flinched from the sudden movement. Irukas face relaxed a bit, and his hold on my shoulders loosened up some."Naruto, you never said that."

I blinked, surprised. Thinking back, I really didnt say it, I just told him about the academy. "Sorry sensei."

"Dont apologize. Now what is this about overpriced goods?"

"The civillians hate me. Im not allowed in most restaurants. The ones that let me in sell me weird tasting food, it smells different from other peoples food and makes me sick."

Now that I had taken over, I suspected poison, and from the horrified look on Irukas face, he seems to be suspecting the same thing.

"The old man at the grocery store sells me rotten fruit and meat, and everuthing he sells me costs twice as much as other peoples food. He said it was an orphan tax." The original always suspected it was a hoax, and Iruka now shaking his head and saying that it doesnt exists merely confirms it.

"I love ramen, but I buy so much of it because its cheap and Im always hungry. I need three or four bowls to feel satisfied. Anyways, thats not why I started this conversation, Iruka-sensei, can you buy me groceries?" I stopped to let Iruka answer, but realized that I had worded it wrong and quickly backtracked.

"I dont want you to buy them! Well..... I do, but because they wont dare to overprice you. I meant buying them with my money."

Iruka seemed to wait for me to say more, but seeing me finished speaking, he spoke up.

"Of course, Ill buy them for you. Ill pay." I started to protest, but Iruka covered my mouth with his hand and continued talking.

"Im an adult with a regular paycheck. I can afford it, you have no other source for income other than the orphan stipend, right?" I couldnt speak, so I just nodded.

"So, Ill pay. What about your jumpsuits?" I was confused at that question and tried to ask what he meant. Iruka seemed to realize that he was still covering my mouth since he removed it. I giggled at the sheepish teacher.

"What do you mean sensei?"

"Did you buy those because they were cheap?"

"No." Iruka looked relieved, but what he didnt know. "They were the only clothes they would sell me."

And there went Irukas relief. The man must have noticed my confusion, but decided to ignore my unasked question, not that it matters.

`He likely thinks they sold me this jumpsuit in hopes that an enemy shinobi would kill me in the field. Best not to tell him they sold me faulty equipment too.´ I thought to myself.

"We should go shopping, then. Tommorrow is sunday, so I`ll come by your house at 10 a.m with groceries and help you cook breakfast. After that we can go shopping for clothes and shinobi equipment."

He looked pointedly at while saying this. I rubbed the back of my head while laughing sheepishly. `Damn, he figured it out.´ Iruka just sighed and continued.

"Once thats done, I`ll teach you how to read and write. I know I said I would teach you taijutsu, but I think its better if I just find you a teacher for that. I wont have time to teach you everything after school, so I`ll teach you kanji, chakra control and the other academy basics. I assume you`ll start paying attention and stop skipping class?"

I nodded and Iruka harrumphed, seemingly satisfied by my answer. Iruka threw away his now cold tea and we now sat quietly drinking the previously abandoned juice. After a while it looked like Iruka got an idea and quickly ushered me outside after drinking my juice. Iruka looked like he had geared up for the mother of all lectures. I was just glad that I wasnt the target this time.

Having exited the house I soon roof jumped back towards my apartement complex. When I returned home it was nearly 4 p.m. I entered and looked around the dirty apartement. I sighed. I had a lot of work to do.

I left towards the kitchenette, washed and dried the dishes that was left there. I opened the two overhead cabinets to check its contents. One held the cereal that he usually ate, the other held cooking utensils and dishes. I quickly put the now clean dishes inside the latter and closed the cupboards.

After that I grabbed two black trash bags from the cupboards under the sink where the empty bin was. I filled them with ramen cups. I searched every nook and cranny of the apartement for more and even found some under the bed.

Once that was finished, I went into the bathroom to grab the white plastic basket above the washing machine and dryer. I removed all dirty clothes from the floor and split them into two piles: Those that went into the basket to be washed and those that went into the trash. All boxers and shirts went in the basket, the orange jumpsuit went into the trash with that weird nightcap. My pajamas was neatly folded together and put underneath my pillow after making the bed. I then went to my wardrobe and grabbed all the jumpsuits inside. They were promptly in the trash bag with the others.

That done, I grabbed the trashbags and went into the streets and threw everything into the trashcan beside the building. Every time someone glared at me, I just waved and smiled. They looked creeped out and quickly left. I chuckled at that, amused by their reactions.

I got back inside and took off my sandals, put them to the side and went inside to grab the laundry basket. I brought it to the bathroom and started the washing machine with half the dirty clothes inside. It would take a while, so I decided to train in the meantime. I went back into the main room and stretched, half-remembered routines from the first year at the academy and half rehabilitation the nurses made me do. I would just ask for better ones from the taijutsu instructor.

`Wonder if its Gai?..... Nah, just because he`s the best doesnt mean it`ll be him. Hes a jonin sensei and I doubt Iruka sensei knows him..... I hope he doesnt, Im not ready for the `Sunset of youth´.

Stretches done, I did fifty sit-ups, fifty push-ups, fifty squats and a one handed handstand with each arm for ten minutes. I had to take a break halfway through to empty the washing machine and start the dryer, but by the end of the workout, I was only slightly out of breath and it faded fast. `Jinchuuriki stamina for the win.´

It was 6:30 p.m. I removed the clean clothes from the dryer and stripped. I placed the sweat filled clothing with the rest of the dirty laundry and started another load in the washing machine.

`Thank fuck the original knew how to do the laundry, cause I sure as hell didnt.´

I entered the shower and poured on my hands and soaped myself thoroughly. I washed away the suds and put shampoo in my hair, combing through it with my hands. I tried to get rid of every knot, but was forced to give it up.

`Tomorrow Im buying a comb and I`ll ask Iruka sensei about a hair growing jutsu. Surely it exists, right?´

I washed away the shampoo and dried my body and hair with a towel. I went to the main room and grabbed my pajamas from under the pillow, and a pair of boxers from my wardrobes first drawer. It had three, the first one for underwear and pajamas, the second one is for shirts, and the third for pranking supplies and smoke bombs. The ninja wire, kunai and shuriken were in my kunai pouch inside the bedside tables drawer.

I grabbed my previously made list and ticked off #4: Buy food (Iruka, youre the best). I then removed the second load from the washing machine and started the dryer again. Iruka would bring it tomorrow. I put the list back into its hiding spot and went to make myself dinner.

Four bowls of ramen later, I washed the dishes and put it all back in its place. The clock signed 7 p.m, too early too sleep. I went back to the dryer and grabbed all the clean clothes. I carefully folded everything and put them in their proper places.

`Time to cross something else off the list.´

I set the alarm for 8:30 a.m and sat cross legged on the bed. I closed my eyes and brethed deeply.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

I opened my eyes only to find myself in a sewer. Just like the saying goes, `When your mind is in the gutter´. I giggled nervously. I knew that my tenant couldnt hurt me, but I was still dealing with a likely pissed off bijuu. I gathered all my courage and followed the ceiling pipes down the water filled corridor. I reached an open space and saw the golden cage.

Kurama was there, waiting for me.