1 The End And The New Beginning

Death. The eternal slumber. The end. And the thing humans have been obsessed with ever since we jumped down from the trees as apes and began walking upright. Like 'What happens after death?' or 'Why do we die?' or 'Is there a mystical man in the sky who, after we die, takes us to a mystical city if we're good and casts us down into a pit of fire and brimstone if we're bad?'...you know, the basics.

Well, ladies and gentleman, I can say with all my confidence that it ain't how it's supposed to be.

There's no Silver City and there's no fiery Hell either. It's just blackness. Floating around in a black world. Honestly, it's odd how I know this. Everything's black...but different shades. The water I'm in is completely devoid of colour but the sky above me is a lighter shade of black. Even has stars that twinkle like little pieces of onyx scattered across it.

And here I am, lying in the ocean of blackness and just looking up as the waves take me back and forth, back and forth. It's been like this for, well, I don't know how long.

I died in a house fire that felt like it happened just a minute ago but also like it'd been an eternity.

The water moved below me, like there was something there, and this time I didn't flinch or flail about like an admittedly normal person would. And with my crippling fear of the deep water, I'd say that's progress. The first few times I'd panicked and thrashed around a lot.

How long had the movement below me been going on? I couldn't tell you. Time seemed meaningless in this place. I'd tried swimming but nothing happened. Just more ocean.

So, I lay here.

I got to think about my life, my regrets and finally, how I died. Burning alive hurt but thankfully the lack of oxygen basically put me in bye-bye land before the fire really kicked up in intensity. My life wasn't exactly a fun one but I did my best with what I had, just annoying that I died so young. I kinda wanted a kid, honestly.

Another bit of movement below me happened but this time, I froze up as I actually felt something touch me. It prodded against my bare back like a jagged rock...and then I realised that's exactly what it was.

I pushed myself out of the way and reached under the water to feel the rock. It was smooth, like a polished stone, but also incredibly sharp. Moving my hand under the water, I found another rock not too far from the one I was still holding but this one was slightly higher than the first. Moving to this one, I felt around again and found another and just like before it was slightly taller than the one before.

Looking to the direction that seemed to be placed(?) in, I narrowed my eyes and quickly saw the rocks continuing onward after a few meters. They were coming out of the water at this point. Looking beyond them, I saw something that definitely wasn't there before.

An island.

Letting go of the rock, I began swimming my way to the island, ignoring any of the movements I felt around me in favour of just getting to land. When I got close enough to put my feet against the oddly soft sand, I wadded my way through the water and onto the black beach, a shade of black considerably lighter than both the water and the sky--so light it was hard to even call it black. More like a very dark grey. The island was bare, with no black or grey trees in sight or...anything, for that matter.

Until, all of a sudden, something appeared. It was vaguely humanoid, with two legs, two arms and a head but it's face...well, it didn't have a face. It didn't have any distinct features either. The only distinct thing about it was that it looked more like a slightly translucent shadow than a living being.

It stood there, flickering and waving about like the shadow produced by a fire, and tilted it's head at me, "Odd," it's light, almost ethereal voice rasped out, "They...didn't...eat you," it took a step toward me and I barely stopped myself from flinching away. Then I caught what it said. Something was supposed to eat me. Was...was that what the movements in the water was? Fuck! I knew you couldn't trust the ocean--even an ocean you find yourself after dying!

Held in a stunned daze by my terror at whatever the movements were, the shadowy being continued in it's odd voice.

"You...pass," it said and I got the oddest feeling that it was smiling at me, and I shivered in similarly odd fear. It stepped toward me, flickering still, until it reached within arm's distance of me, "Choose..." it got out before waving a hand to the side.

The dark grey sand rippled and then moved, raising up and twisting in on itself until what was left were three wheels, held up by nothing but this creatures odd power.

For a second I felt like this was my dying brain lacking oxygen and pushing me to hallucinations but this entire thing felt too real. The cold from the water, the faint pain on my back from where the sharp rock jutted into it, the absolute fear I felt at my current situation. But from somewhere, deep inside me, I found the courage to speak, "Choose...choose what?" I spluttered out like a broken engine, my mouth suddenly feeling incapable of forming words properly.

"Choose whether to...spin...or not to spin. If you do...you will live again...if you don't...who knows what will happen," it rasped and I felt it smiling even wider than before.

...So, this is a total monkey paw situation, isn't it? Spin the mysterious sand wheels and live again - so, reincarnation? Fuck me, I've found myself in a shitty fanfic, haven't I? Jesus H Christ. But, from what I can figure out, it's a good bet. I'd rather take my chances in Berserk than mess around any longer in this dimension. Especially considering it's mainly water AND there's something APPARENTLY in the water! Like a shitty One Piece world without the pirates and all the fun.

Rubbing at my face aggressively in annoyance, I stopped and looked to the shadowy figure, "Okay, I choose to spin those wheels," I said putting up a brave face despite genuinely being close to having a heart attack. And I'm already dead, which says how absolutely terrified I am.

It nodded and gestured for me to spin them, so with hesitant steps I walked toward the wheels.

Keep it calm, keep calm, don't freak out any further, you're already dead so what's the worst that could happen? I mean, not like I could be reincarnated into Boku no Pico...oh god. Oh fuck, no. No. Bad thoughts. And they will only ever be thoughts, whoever put me in this situation. Thoughts and nothing more.

Before I went any further into delirium from my fear, I made my way to the wheels quicker. Once in front of the one on the left, the one which was slowly spinning on it's own, I rested a hand on it and took a deep breath before spinning it.

It spun with a blistering speed which belied the actual force I'd put into it and it came to a crescendo before slowing down quicker than it should've. Fucking monkey paw deals, man.

Once it stopped, I had to lean in to read the faint black writing underneath the pointer of the wheel, "Naruto," I whispered to myself, "Not as bad as it could've been. I can think of, like, ten places way worse to be. Just a shame I know little to nothing beyond the basics about it," I continued with a wince before looking over my shoulder at the shadow that was watching me. Working up some more courage, I spoke to it again, "What do these other two wheels do? What do they give me?"

The shadow suddenly disappeared and it took me way too long to realise it had appeared right next to the remaining wheels. Stifling a girly scream, I listened as it explained, "The second will...decide who you are. The third...will decided what...you get."

Okay. Vague and creepy, check.

"S-sure," I got out in a half-whisper before I tentatively spun the second wheel.

If this decided who I am, than it could only mean who I'll reincarnate or transmigrate as. Could be Naruto, could be Sasuke but who am I kidding? I won't get nearly so lucky to be Jinchuriki or a dude who has a special eye that makes being a Shinobi super easy. Not to mention that both of them are reincarnations themselves of some super powerful people.

When the wheel stopped spinning this time, what appeared was a screen. One that described who he was going to become in this new world.

[Rock Lee: A mortal being with no bloodline or special talent, just his unmatched hard work and determination. Born with malformed Chakra Coils that pointed inward instead of outward, gifting him a naturally durable frame and strong muscles* but at the expense of not being able to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu.]

(*A/N - I'm aware Rock Lee gained his black air force strength through training under Might Guy but he's naturally pretty strong and durable even before that, so let's just say this is the reason. It's my headcanon anyway.)

"Rock Lee," I weighed the name on my tongue before shrugging, "Could've been worse. I could've been Sakura 'I'm Useless' Haruno, after all," I allowed myself a little chuckle but the mirth in was sucked up by the terror I was feeling being this close to the shadowy figure. Something about it just set my instincts on fire and made me want to run away swimming and screaming. Only thing keeping me on the island still is my genuine phobia of the deep ocean that's apparently filled with things that eat things like me.

Moving to the last wheel, I wondered something and turned to the shadow. It seemed willing to answer my questions so far, so why not push my luck a little?

"Can I get anything from this last wheel? Like a Rinnegan? The Rinne Sharingan? Or even a Sharingan?" I asked somewhat hopefully. Naruto isn't the worst world to be sent to but it's far from the safest. Even with my lacking knowledge, I know just how messed up that universe is. It's full of crazy strong people and the average Genin is basically a superhuman, never mind the Chunin. Both of which aren't even that high on the power ladder...you could even say they're pretty much at the very bottom.

"No..." the shadow crushed my hopes pretty fast before continuing, "You can...only gain gifts...suitable for the first two picks...so, Rock Lee is unable to gain any Dojutsu powers as...they are unsuited for...him," it said and my hopes fell even further. But then it spoke up again, this time with something positive, "But...Rock Lee can gain...beneficial things that would mesh well...with him. Like an... original Kekkei Genkai."

Huh. Oddly enough, I didn't think about that. When I think Naruto, I think of blond-haired brats with spirit animals in them and brooding emo kids with magical eyes. Kekkei Genkai aren't exactly the top of the food chain in terms of power but they're nothing to scoff at either.

Pushing the thoughts aside for now, I spun the last wheel and got another screen. Except this one was a bit weird.

[Re-spin - You may spin the second wheel again and then return to spin the third wheel for the chance at a better gift, or you may spin the third wheel twice.]

...Okay, first option seems good on paper when you consider it could reincarnate me as Madara or Sasuke or Naruto or any of the other more talented people than Rock Lee. But it also holds the chance of changing my pretty good spin of Rock Lee and replacing it with a random civilian or someone like Sakura. So, let's not be greedy about who I am and instead be greedy about what golden fingers I'm gonna get.

Without pausing, I span the third wheel once again. This time it stopped on something pretty good.

[Supreme Body - The body granted by this Kekkei Genkai is incredibly gifted, with naturally superhuman prowess, dense bones, an extremely strong heart and unique muscles called Pink Muscles that allow the user to be simultaneously incredibly strong and also blindingly quick. Bolsters life-force massively also, giving the user a healing factor and massively boosting Chakra Reserves while also increasing the passive enhancement given by Chakra flowing through the Chakra Pathway System.]

So this, plus the reinforced body given by Rock Lee's malformed Chakra Coils...damn, that's kinda broken, huh? I mean, it doesn't solve the lack of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu but it at least means I'll be better at what Rock was in the original.

Spurred on by what I gained, I sent the wheel spinning once again. This time the wait was a bit longer, for some reason, but it stopped in the end.

And I was quickly realising that it was indeed giving me stuff suited for Rock Lee.

After all, what use would a Kekkei Genkai for Nature Transformations be when I wouldn't even be able to use them? What did I get? This.

[Unnamed Taijutsu Kekkei Genkai - This Kekkei Genkai grants enhanced talent for Taijutsu and the comprehension behind both practical aspects and the theoretical ones. Grants brilliant combat instincts and enhanced reflexes.]

Yep. Imma be the real Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha now. Rock Lee did what he did without even an ounce of this talent, so I can only hope that I can show a fraction of his determination. Hey, would you look at that? My mind-crippling fear for the future is kinda clearing up a little. I'm not nearly as close to pissing myself as I was a few minutes ago, and that's a success in my books!

...Though I'm still waddling in my delirium, so not that big of a success.

But hey, I did just die. Kinda. Then I found myself in a mysterious ocean realm, so I think I'm allowed a little bit of an emotional mental outburst. Along that line of thought, how did so many of those fanfic MCs keep their cool when put in these wacky situations? I've damn near gone crazy a few dozen times since I died. And just like a crazy person, I'm naked, wet and standing next to a shadow man who's making me do things.

"You are...done," the shadowy figure said, making me jump half a foot into the air in surprise.

"Jesus Christ, I forgot you were there, somehow," I took in a deep breath before exhaling and responding to the figure, "So...I'm done, right? What comes next?"

"This," the figure raised a hand and a portal of blinding white that contrasted very heavily with the surrounding darkness. I had to close my eyes and cover them from the sudden light. Felt like I'd just looked directly in the sun after waking up. Fuck, I'm gonna be so blind it carries over to my new life.

Before I could recover, I felt a suction force pulling on my entire body and then I was flying towards the dimensional tear of white light.

Fun.

Within what felt like seconds, I found myself in a crude crib. The control I had over my body was incredibly rudimentary but I could also feel I was much stronger than I should be - my gifts coming in handy, I assumed.

Using my enhanced dexterity to make up for how uncoordinated I felt, I looked around from my prone position and saw a bunch of other cribs. None of them looked similar to how I knew Rock did, so I'd hazard a guess that this is an orphanage. Never did see much of Rock's parents in the anime or the manga and now I guess it's kinda confirmed that they died in the Kyubi attack on Konoha, huh? Well, I guess I won't have to fool this body's parents now that I'm here. I doubt the matron of the orphanage pays attention to all the kids under her - not anymore than necessary, at least.

Looking down at the limbs, I saw they were longer and less fat than a baby's usually were but not developed enough to be considered a 'kid's, so I'd say I'm a toddler right now. Probably two or three-years-old.

At least I skipped the shitting and pissing myself phase of being a kid.

Pushing myself up with my stubby little arms, I sat myself down and looked to a nearby window. The sky wasn't dark-dark like night time but after a few minutes I saw it slowly lightening. So it's morning.

Right. So, I've got a few hours until the rest of the kids wake up and the matron presumably arrives. Time to do a few stretches. I don't subscribe to the fanfic logic of literal kids working out but I've gotta hope my new gifts plus the inherent Chakra all living beings have in Naruto stop me from crippling myself. Besides, I'm only gonna do some yoga. Jeez. Not exactly gonna break out the weights just yet.

As I did a few stretches, I felt my muscles quickly loosening up. Far quicker than normal. I guess that's a mixture of my gifts and the fact I'm a kid. Kid's are flexible--Not being fully developed for the win!

Well, no time like the present and I need to be ready for the fuckery that's gonna be happening in the not-so distant future. First order of business after my yoga, is to figure out how old I am.

Ah man, this is gonna be equal parts terrifying and fun, isn't it?