Chapter 2 : Hospitalization

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The only thing I own is a bag of ideas and a bit of inspiration.

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Ren flinched as he opened his eyes.

'Too, bright..... Wait, White walls, eerie silence .... Did I die ?' thought Ren as he took notice of his surroundings.

*Ding*

[You are not dead, Host] rang out a calm but a little feminine voice.

This started Ren as he jumped a little. Which he soon came to regret as he felt pangs of pain all over his body.

'Yup. Still alive' thought Ren to himself sarcastically as he took notice of the strange screen in front of him.

Ren blinked as he started to remember the past incident before his unconsciousness. Ren stared at the screen a bit longer.

'That was not a nightmare, huh?' The truth hit Ren hard as he recalled everything, albeit a bit blurry.

'Grandma is dea-'Ren stopped his thoughts in the middle as he heard a noise.

*Click*

A man who wore a white coat came inside the room and stood in front of Ren. "How are you feeling ?" Came a soft voice from the man as he looked at the child in front of him.

Ren thought of not answering and just pretending to be asleep, but promptly removed that thought as it was unwise to lie, to what he assumed was a doctor.

"Feels like I ran across the hi no Kuni twice without having any food or water," spoke Ren weakly as he tried to move his sore body a little.

The doctor's lips curved a little, almost forming a smile, keyword almost.

"What is your full name, age, and your guardian's name?" questioned the doctor as he took out a cardboard and started to write on it.

"I am Kiyoshi Ren, I am 10 years old, My grandma's name is Furui... She is dead."Said Ren as he looked away from the man.

"I See, Your body has recovered from the injuries significantly, and seeing as your vocal, and auditory skills are intact your mind seems to have come out of shock. You can expect a speedy total recovery in 3 years if you follow your medication. " Said the man in a calm voice as he continued to write on the cardboard he had brought.

"....only 3 years?" Mouthed Ren a bit incredulously. This set off the doctor's light pseudo smile as his lips flattened again.

"Fractured femur, damage to the lymphatic system in the thigh, damaged nerves, Broken rib cage, One of the lungs lightly punctured by the broken rib bone narrowly avoiding the heart, Fractured ulna, radius, dislocated arm, damage to the head due to repeated impact, Heavy blood loss, Oh and did I say internal poisoning due to consumption of oil used for burning lamps? Honestly, It is a miracle you are still alive even though you don't have chakra, activated to run through your body like a Shinobi." Said the man as he stared at Ren unblinking.

"Hahah.." laughed Ren nervously as he thought to himself 'Internal poisoning?... Oh, some of the oil that I kept in my mouth to spit on the bandit must have gotten inside when I got hit by him.'

"Is there a way to speed up my recovery time to less than 3 years?" Asked Ren as he slowly got up from the bed and sat leaning against the wall.

"None that is available for you right now," said the doctor as he thought to himself 'Only Tsunade-sama can do anything better than this for a civilian.' while shaking his head and completed writing something on the cardboard.

"How do shinobi recover that fast then?" said Ren as he thought of all the stories he had heard of shinobi healing themselves from fatal wounds.

"Shinobi use their chakra to heal themselves, a civilian cannot heal themselves on the level of shinobi naturally," said the doctor as he put away the cardboard and was ready to leave the room.

"What if I become a ..... shinobi can I do it then? "questioned Ren as he grasped the final hope he had to hasten his recovery. "Yes, you can cut down the time significantly if you are competent." told the doctor.

"How can I become one?" Questioned Ren as he felt a bit of hope, only for it to be snuffed out with the very next words of the doctor ."You can't." said the doctor without a bit of hesitation

"Why!?" asked Ren with a bit of force. "Because you have already passed the age to be accepted into the ninja academy." the iryo-nin spoke as he looked a bit hurried for Ren to finish asking questions.

Ren looked down as he thought cynically to himself ' I am pathetic aren't I, Why would the ninja accept me, a weak boy who couldn't even save his grandmother? They have already helped me and here I am asking for more. I should just go back to farming.' He noticed the iryo-nin turn and started to walk away.

Ren grits his teeth as he remembers the helplessness he felt and the utter weakness he felt when he was attacked by the bandit 'But.....DAMN, IT' thought Ren as he threw out all his pride, and modesty and pleaded to the doctor "Please. I want to heal myself, Is there any way I can become a ninja?"

" Is that the only reason you want to become a Ninja ?" questioned a new voice who suddenly appeared in the room, leaning against the window. Ren raised his head as he looked at the man and his eyes widened in recognition.

"You are the one wh-" Asked Ren but was interrupted by the man." Is that the only reason you want to become a Ninja ?" This time the man asked directly starting into Ren's eyes. This made Ren gulp as he felt he was hit by cold water. "I... " Ren felt a lump in his throat but still pushed through " I don't want to feel powerless again. I couldn't do anything as my grandma was killed in front of me, ... I tried to run away."

The man stared at Ren's eyes searching for something. Ren continued "I don't want to feel helpless, I don't want people to sacrifice themselves for me and I DON'T WANT TO RUN AWAY FROM THOSE WHO LOVE ME JUST TO SAVE MY LIFE." This seemed to affect the blonde man who was staring at Ren, as he seemed to find the thing he was searching for.

In response to Ren's words, the man gave a gentle smile. "Then are you willing to prove your words, Ren?". His gentle tone brought Ren back from his emotional high as he stuttered a response ".y-Yes"

"Then how about this, As your age is 10 right now, I will allow you to join the academy graduation test. But, you need to clear all the previous academy semester tests without failing once. You have 2 years to learn what others have learned in 6 years, You need to be able to do the academy 3 jutsu along with the essential 5 jutsu in 2 years. Do you accept?" asked the blonde man in a challenging tone.

"YES!" Ren screamed out loudly. At his proclamation, the man smiled and said "I can see your enthusiasm in facing the challenge, But it would be better if you don't scream as there are other patients in this hospital too ." and ended his talk in a slightly teasing tone.

This made Ren flush red with embarrassment which intensified as he looked at the doctor who was staring at him with a deadpan.

Ren remembered something he wanted to say to the blonde man "Thank you for saving me. Can I know your name, please?" This made the blonde man smile, " I am Namikaze Minato and I" said Minato as he turned towards the window making his white cloak with red markings flutter in the wind "Am the 4th Hokage". With that Minato disappeared in a yellow flash.

Ren gawked at the spot where Minato, the fourth Hokage had stood. 'I ... shouted in front of the Hokage' This made Ren cringe in embarrassment, he looked to his side to see the doctor smirk at him and then leave the room. Closing the door as he went.

*click*

Ren just felt that this day couldn't go any crazier.

[Emergency Protocol Deactivated. Commencing Welcoming Program.

Congratulations on being selected.

Objective: Save the world from damnation. ]

'I jinxed it, didn't I?' As Ren sighed to himself.

[Esteemed Host, Aksha has deemed you worthy and requests your assistance to avert the imminent destruction of this universe, which has strayed from its intended trajectory.]

'How can I help in, saving the universe? I am just a normal person without any power, Wouldn't it be better if you ask the Hokage or maybe the daimyo for help?' Thought Ren to himself feeling as if this entity had selected the wrong person for the job.

[Aksha cannot interfere with the people who are deeply connected to this current world's fate and as you have met all the requirement conditions set by Aksha. You are the most suitable person for the job.]

'Did ... you just indirectly call me insignificant?' Thought Ren was a bit irritated.

[According to this world's current trajectory, You were expected to die when your old house collapsed on itself, Your existence is now an anomaly to this world's current fate, Thus Aksha can interfere with you.]

'Oh... Am I forced to do your commands?' thought Ren a bit cynically

[You can decline any missions, but it is advisable not to do so, as everything is designed to improve your destiny and, consequently, the fate of this world.]

'I see.' Ren was deeply in thought as he thought of the implications of this statement.

'By the way, What do I call you and why do you sound like a human female if you are a higher entity aksha or something.'

[I am not Aksha, I am just a consciousness created by Aksha to form the link between you and Aksha. You can call me anything you wish. Aksha is the compendium of all multi-versal events, thoughts, words, emotions and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present, or future in terms of all entities and life forms.]

'Damn!' Ren thought as he thought of the scale of the entity he was now involved with.

[My voice was crafted from your subconsciousness, chosen for its pleasing and agreeable nature to ensure your cooperation. As a result, my voice resembles that of a human female, as it resonates most effectively with you.]

'If there is a hole, I want to go into it.'

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Author's note:

I was thinking of creating a p@treon and maybe stockpiling a few chapters (Not much maybe 2 to 3 chapters or 5 chapters at most) if I continue this story. Anyway, how was the chapter? If you liked reading it drop some comments and power stones.