Named

"Hgnnhhh… oh no."

Whoop, let's stop there, almost let out a fart.

For the past few days, I've been doing my best to sense Chakra, I've been cooped up here for four days, every exercise you could think of to sense chakra, I did it.

Pressed a stray leaf that flew into my room onto my head? Yes! Did it stick? Also Yes! Was it because I had just tested this body out by running around and had a sweaty forehead... probably!

I meditated, I did push-ups (in retrospect, this one was dumb) and even stared at my palm imagining a Rasengan, but nothing happened, I at least expected to feel a tingle.

'Do I not have any chakra?' a scary thought popped into my mind.

But I knew it wasn't true, I don't remember much about the tank but I distinctly remember the scientist talking about an "increase in chakra" that happened to me, that's gotta mean I have some of it at the very least.

Letting out a sigh, I threw the leaf I had kept just in case I sensed something off my bed, it was just teasing me at this point. 

I guess the Ninja Academy took years to teach jutsu for a reason.

'Not gonna lie, I was hoping for this to come easy for me, aren't transmigrated people supposed to receive an undeserved power-up? Guess I'm missing that *and* parents, beat that orphans.'

There was nothing more I could do, I gave up on chakra (temporarily) and stared outside my window. Life here was boring.

Wasn't the ninja world supposed to be action-packed and filled with thrill after thrill? So far all I've seen that interested me was a little kid running away from his mom as she chased him with a slipper, I watched the whole thing from the windowsill and chuckled, it definitely made the porridge/oatmeal/gruel go down easier.

I miss Netflix, it would certainly make eating the slop they served here easier.

Speaking of food, they promoted my menu to include fruits! Crunchy apples and even the odd banana or two were served with my slop, I usually tucked the sludge away somewhere and ate the fruit, maybe my tastes had also become more childish and picky but I couldn't care less. The less of that slop I ate, the better.

By the time I leave, I'm gonna have PTSD, post-traumatic slop disorder.

Now it was time to check something else out.

*Ahem* I cleared my throat to start, first falling silent to make sure that no nurses or doctors were gonna open the door and check on me.

"... System?" I murmured, pretty embarrassed at having to check for this.

Nothing happened.

"S-status?" I think I was blushing red at this point.

Nothing happened still.

…

Damn.

'I was cringe for nothing.'

Look, I had to check alright? There was no harm in making sure that I had no golden finger, the system was amongst my favourite cheats. Sadly I was just a normie transmigrator.

'Stingy aren't you ROB?' I thought, only half joking.

The circumstances of my transmigration were something I thought about a lot as I slept, it's been almost a week and thinking about some random god playing with my life worried me, I hoped it wasn't the case but I can't rule it out.

'Easy answer, just become stronger than that god!' I joked to myself.

Probably not gonna happen.

But there's something far more malicious than a rogue god I've been worrying about, a sensation I hadn't felt in a long time, one I had not missed at all.

I'm so bored.

I swear, this type of shit never happens in fiction, I'm just sitting here on my bed, staring at another bowl of cold half-eaten gruel and thinking about my transmigration.

If this was a novel, it'd be pretty boring.

No one would even read it.

Can I have a system, please? Any system quests? Random ROB encounter? Hiruzen busting down the door to ask me more questions? Actually, scratch that last one, it's too stressful.

I waited for another second.

Nope. I need to make my own fun.

I got off the bed and ran some circuits, even if no system message popped up telling me to do 100 push-ups or something, I was gonna do it myself dammit! 

'1… 2… 3…' I counted as I ran back and forth from the room.

Running felt amazing, I'd never done it before but it was truly a fascinating and wonderful feeling! 

'13…14…15…16…' The best part is, I feel like I have unlimited energy! I kept running at an even speed, the only evidence of my work being a light layer of sweat on my forehead.

'47…48…49 and… 50! Phew!' I was lightly panting but it felt amazing, my muscles weren't even tired! I don't think I've even felt tired doing these circuits, maybe it's because this is a small room?

There was another empty bed next to me but the room was a similar size to the hospital room I had in my previous body, there was no way in hell I'd even be able to do half of what I just did before.

'What else can I do? Let's go for fifty push-ups!' I thought happily, as I knelt down to do a couple, my door swung open.

"Oh? Training are we?" asked a wisened voice from outside.

"Oh gramps! Hey!" I jumped up and tried to hide my embarrassment, why the hell was he walking in on me working out more embarrassing than calling out for a system? No clue but it was.

"No need to be embarrassed about training young one! The journey to Hokage begins with dedicated training!"

'Does he think I wanna be Hokage cause of how I hyped it up in our previous interaction? I hope not, that'd be tough to unravel' I thought exasperatedly. 'Regardless, isn't he visiting me too much? This is the third time now!' I was surprised.

The Hokage turned to me and smiled before saying some words that made me excited beyond words, "Let's go child, your home situation has been finalised".

I was thrilled to finally be leaving this jail cell of a room, a boy could only run circuits around it so many times before he grew tired of it.

I woke up in a tank, was put to sleep and shortly after I was thrown into this room with nothing but a bowl of grey sludge to keep me company, no matter what awaited me outside, I knew it was going to be heaven compared to all I've had to go through since waking up here.

Beyond my thrill, I also was a little worried.

'I know the Hokage often visited Naruto because of his status as the Jinchuriki, but what have I done to deserve similar treatment? The job isn't an easy one, much less one where he can take afternoons off as often as he does for me, yet, he has.' I thought, growing a little wary of the old man,

'Deep down, he isn't a bad guy, I know that for a fact, as long as this isn't an alternate universe… could this be an alternate universe? No, there's no evidence for that yet, just keep your head screwed on and keep going' I consoled myself and ran to keep up with the Hokage.

'I am one of his final links to Orochimaru, that has to be the brunt of it, but is there more? Furthermore, is that previous fact enough for him to do everything he has done for me?' 

I decided to quieten my overthinking brain and focus on the situation at hand. As I was stressing, I had missed out on looking around the inside of the hospital and was now nearing the exit, the sun rays shone out from the glass windows on the hospital door. I pushed my worried thoughts aside, this moment was special, I was finally about to see the Leaf Village properly!

As I stepped outside, my troubles seemed to be blown away by the gentle wind that enveloped me, unconsciously, my tensed stature eased up and relaxed, causing the Hokage to show a satisfied smile.

How do you describe something you can't even fully understand yourself? There was no way to describe it other than by me now understanding what it was that caused the previous Kage of this village to give their lives for it.

It was simple but beautiful nonetheless.

The air was crisp and fresh, the dirt crunched under my feet, the leaves that flew with a breeze only heightened the borderline mystical feeling that I experienced. I saw humble shops and the parents who held their children's hands as they walked across the village, a puppy was rolling around on some grass and a kite that had been stuck in a tree was being reached for by a woman as she jumped up to grab it. Above it all was an azure sky, cloudless, pristine and clear, looking at it somehow made the air smell better.

Was this not the same thing I could see everywhere in my last world? I searched the memories of my previous life but it came up empty. The Leaf Village was more than just buildings and trees surrounding it, I felt that it was a community, in every sense of the word.

I knew I was looking at this village with rose-coloured glasses, it was not as I saw it, I knew this. But just for now, as my first step into this new world, I let myself forget and just live in this precious moment.

Hiruzen let me soak it up for a while before asking me a question I did not expect.

"Child… what is your favourite colour?" 

It was a strange question, but one I had an answer to.

"It's blue gramps, just like the sky", I tilted my head up, broadening my view of the the blue firmament.

I remember in my previous life, staring out the hospital window with a book in my hand, the sky there was the same as it is now. It was not the same sky, but it commanded the same awe and adoration that I had for it before. I spent countless hours staring at that blue, dreaming, hoping, praying, for days just like this.

No, I did not pray to be transmigrated

I prayed to be free.

And I truly did feel free.

"Aoki, welcome to the Leaf." a wrinkled hand patted my shoulder.

"Huh?" I broke out of my reverie and looked at the old man, understanding what he just did.

"Aoki, meaning Blue Tree. A nod to your favourite colour, and your new home, do you like it?" he asked.

'Aoki… Here I was thinking he's gonna come up with some deep-cut reasoning while choosing a name for me and he instead slaps my favourite colour onto a tree.'

I complained a little at his lack of creativity but in all honesty…

"I love it, gramps, thanks." There was not much more to say. The Hokage showed a genuine, wide smile at my acceptance and stared out at the village with me for a moment.

"Walk with me Aoki, we have much to discuss," he said, spoiling my mood by shuffling forwards. 

"Coming gramps!" I shouted, I can't wait to see where we go next!

-----

[A/N: Phew! That's the introductory chapter done! From now on, things will ramp up in seriousness! I know that I've kept things pretty lighthearted but this will be a very realistic novel even if the main character tends to crack jokes and find himself in funny situations at times, I don't want to make one of those spam chapters to get the word count in so I appreciate any reviews, stones or engagement I get! Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. These author notes break immersion so I will not be doing them much in the future, only if and when I need to declare something.

P.S. The story is still in development, if you have certain storylines you would like to see explored (or ones you don't want to see at all), let me know and I might be able to include that within the coming arcs.]