10 Settling in
"UWAAAAAAA!!" I was woken from my sleep with a start.
I was having a perfectly pleasant dream where I was torched by Madara's fireball jutsu when the brat woke me up. As I got up to check on the crib next to my bed, I remembered what that hag Tomo asked of me yesterday.
[FLASHBACK]
"This one's called Numa Sarutobi, his parents were sent on a mission and haven't yet come back, till they do, we're gonna be looking after him." said the old woman in a hushed voice, pointing at a baby laying in a crib, he was sleeping soundly.
'Cute kid…'
"Wait, what do you mean *we*?" I asked looking at her, the way she said that made me nervous.
"5 kids are living here now including you; we have Numa and Kuma who are 2-year-old twins, Amaya who's 1 and Sasuke, he's in the academy, think he's about 2 years older than you," said Tomo.
'...'
'S-Sasuke?!' I thought, damn near having a panic attack at her casually dropping a bomb.
"Sasuke… " I unintentionally let out, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Oh? You recognise the name?" asked Tomo with a smile.
I had to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor, hell yeah I recognised the name! What's the reincarnation of Indra doing in a fucking orphanage? I hadn't figured out the timeline yet but didn't Sasuke live in his clan's compound? My thoughts began to race.
The third Hokage's still alive, Sasuke is two years older than me and I'm 5 years old according to the Hokage, fuck, has canon already started? Are the Uchiha all massacred? If I'm younger than Sasuke then I have way less time than I ever imagined-
"I'm impressed you know him, Sasuke Sarutobi was Hiruzen's late father, he contributed a lot to the village in his prime. Our young'un was named after him, though he prefers to go by Sasu these days" explained Tomo.
"Oh… so his name's Sasuke Sarutobi?" I questioned, still not 100% sure I was safe.
"Mhm, although it's a great honour to be named after the Hokage's father, Sasu thinks that because of it, he'll never be able to make his own name as a ninja, that brats a handful I'll tell you that much for free!" exclaimed Tomo, my feeling of relief was instant and immense, thank god.
I placed learning about the timeline as the highest priority task on my mental to-do list, getting caught off-guard like that again was a no-go.
"Nonetheless, he's a good kid at heart, he helps me by looking after Kuma at night" continued Tomo, "speaking of, you'll have to look after Numa at night from now on, my age is catching up to me and I'm no fancy ninja like Hiruzen. Don't worry, I'll teach 'ya how to do it."
I looked at the toddler fast asleep with a pool of drool accumulated on his pillow and a pacifier thrown off to the side. I need to look after that *thing*?
That can't be right.
I put on a sad expression and stared at the lady, channelling my childish cuteness to its maximum, "But Granny Tomo… I'm only little too! I can't look after other kids, plus, what if I make a mistake? I don't want poor Numa to get hur-"
"Oh wipe that look off 'yer face!" said Tomo raising her voice slightly as a hidden accent crept in, "Hiruzen told me that 'yer a smart kid who can do odd work around the house, so be a good boy and look after the Numa alright? I ain't no softie like your precious Hokage so do what 'yer s'posed to do, and you'll be peachy"
I was dumbfounded by this revelation.
Hiruzen, please take me back to the hospital.
Better yet, Orochimaru please pick me up, this is getting too much for little old me.
"I used 'ta keep Numa with me but 'im and Amaya would wake each other at night all the time, even if 'yer just a kid I'm sure 'ya can do this." Assured Tomo. I didn't like it at all but I understood her predicament.
"UWWEAAA!!" a cry erupted from the crib, Numa had been woken up by Tomo's yelling.
"Welp, better get to work kiddo! Earn 'yer stripes and I'll cook chicken tonight, if not, it's tofu!" Tomo said, promptly pointing at a little milk bottle and walking away.
"Feed 'em for today, at night I'll teach ya how to change diapers! Also, work on 'yer sad face, anyone who works with kids will know it's a bunch of crap" and with that, she left, slamming the door behind her.
I stared at the crying baby, holding a milk bottle in my hands. I had dreamed of running on walls, spewing great flames of fire from my mouth and shooting streaks of lightning from my fingertips, but I had now become a nanny… where did this all go wrong?
-----
[PRESENT TIME]
I gave Numa a pacifier to shut him up for a while, I had spoken with the toddler a little but other than learning my name and crying, he didn't do much. This was already the second time he woke me up tonight.
The first time was for diaper cleaning.
That was... unspeakable act of horror that I would not wish upon anyone, the smell clung to me like a parasite even after the diaper was disposed of, how was something so small and weak capable of such damage? It had to be some built-in defence to keep predators away, not even the hungriest wolf would be able to get close without passing out.
Groggily waking up, I noticed that it wasn't night at all, the curtains in my room had streams of sunlight coming in; it was dawn. My room was about a 5 metre by 5 metre box, sizeable for a 5 and 2-year-old, but not luxurious. The wooden floors creaked as I opened the curtains, letting the sunlight in.
Even if I had been woken annoyingly, I never got tired of being able to wake up feeling healthy and energised. Life like this was sweet… as long as you ignored the occasional diaper change.
The best part of having a home instead of just a hospital room was that I now had a schedule, one I created after a headache-inducing amount of brainstorming. I was well aware of the future dangers fast approaching, preparation was key. I learned from talking with Tomo that the reason the village was constructing more orphanages was that we currently had too few, they had grown congested after the Nine-Tails attack two years ago.
If there was one thing I thanked the snake Sannin for, it was his ability to keep records. Hiruzen had been clear that my age in all of Orochimaru's lab reports was 5, I was evidently very curious about these reports but he refused to show them to me, stating that they possessed lots of information present within them that could endanger the village if released to the public.
Personally, I think that as the "lab rat" in these supposed tests, I deserve to know what's in those files. Even though I don't have any reason to distrust the Hokage, I didn't like how secretive he was about information that was directly related to me, maybe once he trusts me more I can see them? I put it off for now, no reason to lose sleep over something I can't control yet.
Shaking off any unneeded thoughts, I began my morning ritual.
I turned my pillow over and picked up one of the leaves I had placed under it to begin my arduous journey of feeling chakra. To this day, I hadn't felt anything. I didn't want to admit it but each failed attempt made me more and more nervous, was this normal? I did not know.
I tried asking Tomo about chakra but she waved me off and changed the subject quickly, she didn't seem to be too fond of ninja talk. I cursed my idiocy to not have asked the freaking Hokage when he had visited me but each time we talked, he controlled the flow of conversation. He promised to visit soon so I stashed my queries away for later.
I pursued for 15 minutes, focusing, meditating, and doing all else I could to feel the mysterious energy that supposedly resided within me.
The best way to describe my plight is to compare this process to trying to use a third arm, I had no third arm so how was I supposed to know how to move it? It was like asking a man born with no eyes to describe the colour red or a fish to walk. I grew more and more annoyed as time went on and my failures piled up. Sadly, I felt no change and the leaf once again plummeted to the ground.
I sighed and gave up for the day, moving on to my next ritual, one that was bound to lift my spirits; but first, I had to move the diaper demon that had fallen asleep.
Gingerly picking up Numa, I walked out of my room holding the baby and carried him to the living room where a larger crib sat, hidden amongst the cascade of couches. Kuma was already laying there, fast asleep. I placed the twins next to each other and tip-toed back to my room so Tomo wouldn't hear me and call me in to help her with the kitchen.
Tomo and Amaya both stayed in the master bedroom upstairs, while exploring I also found another room that I thought to be a bedroom but Tomo said that it was "out of service" and to not go in. How can a bedroom even be "out of service"? I didn't know but I'm not sure I want to find out, whatever Tomo gets up to in her free time is her business.
Sasuke, Numa, Kuma and I all slept downstairs, there was a hall that connected all of our rooms but Sasuke's was wide open, according to Tomo he was staying over at a friend's house for the weekend, a shame, I was excited to meet the kid that was a pain in Tomo's ass, maybe I should ask for some tips…
I reached my room and closed the door quietly so as to not alert Tomo. Once I was in, I was immediately focused.
Today, my training begins properly. All the preparations were set, the plans were made and my will had been cultivated.
I let out a breath and stared at my hand, unconsciously clenching it to a fist, knitting my eyebrows in focus.
'I will become strong. This is a ruthless world and I have little to no connections, I don't even know my own abilities or talents… compared to many, I am already behind.' I thought.
'No matter. I will use what I can, I will grow as a person and as a ninja to become someone truly worthy of this second chance I received.' I declared. I had made up my mind a long time ago, from the second I understood the gravity of my situation, I was determined to do all I could to reach the limits of my potential, no matter how low or high it may be.
"Look out world," I mumbled under my breath.
I unclenched my fist and looked around the room quickly.
'Thank god no one saw that, it probably looked cringe as hell.'
I had a lot to work on.
-----
[A/N: Finally, we hit 15K words! From now on you can expect a chapter once every 24 hours. If there's a change to this I'll let you all know. Thank you so much for reading this far!
Any engagement, whether a power stone, comment or review helps motivate me to write more, if you can, it would be greatly appreciated. I especially welcome critiques on my writing, this is my first time sharing my work so I would love some feedback, thanks!
P.S. Had to make heaps of names for this one, how'd I do?]
