Naruto: Playful Illusionist

Konohagakure - Year 55

In a house in the civilian district in between the town center and the outskirts of the village, a young blue-headed child woke up in the middle of the night.

"Ugh, my head."

The child clutched their head and propped up on the bed. Their curious green eyes started scanning the unfamiliar environment.

"Where the hell am I...?"

Suddenly, a burst of pain started surging from the within child's head.

"Ahh! What the!?"

However, as suddenly as the pain came, so did it leave, leaving behind a sense of clarity in the child's mind.

"My name is...Mikumo? No, rather, I've been reborn as Mikumo!"

Memories of a six-year-old child started flooding Mikumo's mind, however, behind those curtains of memories, images of past life pieced themselves together, forming a detailed story in Mikumo's mind.

Mikumo's frown from the previous pain turned into a crooked smile as he realized what had happened.

'This is not funny, I got truck-kun'd on my way out from an anime convention?'

Mikumo sighed as his sad reality started weighing down on him.

'Okay first, let's figure out where I've been isekai'd.'

Mikumo put his fingers against his temple and he started contemplating the dysfunctional memories of a six-year-old child. Flashes of images flew by in his mind. One, in particular, stood out, an image of faces sculpted into a stone mountain.

"!!!...I'm in...Konoha! Which means this is the world of Naruto!"

Mikumo's mood instantly lifted as he now realized he has isekai'd into the world of his favorite anime.

'This is amazing, wow, okay as long as I play my cards right, even if I do nothing I can survive and let the protag duo deal with Kaguya for me, but what's the fun in that? Now that I'm here, might as well do what I want.'

Mikumo folded his arms and nodded to himself with a happy face.

'What kind of isekai protagonist would I be if I didn't ruin canon? Events may change but plans don't, I'm sure Black Zetsu will still push Madara to an eye of the moon plan no matter what kind of butterfly effect I have on this world. Now, let's sort the rest of these memories.'

Mikumo laid back down and started surfing waves of inconsistent memories.

'Okay, civilian family, not the best, but workable. Father's name is Nikumo Kashima, which makes me Mikumo Kashima, both father and I were named by his mother, my grandmother, Ayamo...Kurama? Civilian of the Kurama clan? Huh, interesting.'

Mikumo reflected on his knowledge of the Naruto anime.

'I remember that the Kurama clan was few in number and basically destroyed by Yakumo when her abilities went out of control.'

Mikumo started sweating a little bit, wondering if a similar fate could happen to him.

'Okay well, no use worrying about it. Now that I'm here I can try to change the clan's fate. Okay, what else is there?'

Another flash of memories appeared.

'Mother's name is Toka Kashima, she was named after my grand aunt, my grandmother on my mother's side's sister. My grandmother is Towa...Senju...? What the hell is this parentage? Why am I in a civilian family?'

Mikumo started focusing more on the memories of his two grandmothers, digging for answers.

'Okay, I see. My grandmother Ayamo didn't have any aptitude for chakra so she decided to be a civilian and married my grandfather. Whereas my other grandmother Towa gave up the ninja life and settled down with a civilian after Konoha was founded. Both of my parents grew up as civilians with no talent for ninjutsu and they own a general store together. Makes sense, but what about me? Do I have any ninjutsu talent? I'm descended from two ninja clans so even if my parents didn't have any talent, doesn't mean I don't.'

Mikumo sat up and took a meditative stance.

'Hmm...shit I don't feel anything, how does this work?'

Mikumo scratched his head and started pondering on his anime knowledge.

'Chakra is derived from a mix of spiritual/yin energy, and physical/yang energy. Kurama clan descendants are strong in spiritual energy which is why their genjutsu kekkei genkai can even affect the real world. Whereas the Senju clan's physique is strong in physical energy. I'm descended from both so there shouldn't be a problem. What's the issue? Don't tell me I'm actually talentless...'

Mikumo started frowning before shaking his head and slapping himself lightly with both hands.

'No, there's no way. I'm an Isekai protagonist, I can't let my senpais down. Let's try something else. Maybe if I use a hand seal? Finally, all those hours of effort to prepare for my cosplays can come in handy.'

Mikumo chuckled with a smug smile as he put his fingers together to form the 'Tiger' seal.

Suddenly, a burst of energy exploded from within his abdomen. The transparent but visible chakra started flooding out from his body at unimaginable speeds, quickly draining his energy.

"!!! Oh shit! Stop!!!"

Mikumo stopped performing the tiger seal and took deep breaths, calming the raging chakra and closing it off from leaking anymore from his body. His sweat soaked his sleepwear from the uncomfortable feeling of near death.

'Damn, I almost died from chakra exhaustion from the first time using chakra? What the hell is this!? Why didn't anyone tell me about this!? You can't just let unsupervised children do this kind of thing, shouldn't there be an instruction manual about this!?'

Mikumo started venting his thoughts as wiped the sweat from his forehead with his bedsheets.

After venting for a minute, the previous grievance was now replaced with a sense of fulfillment and joy. A smug smile appeared on his lips.

'Heh, I knew it! I'm an isekai protagonist, after all, there was no way I could be talentless!'

Mikumo metaphorically patted himself on the back and then moved to the edge of his bed.

'Okay now, now that my parentage and my talent are confirmed, let's finish up going through these memories.'

As the last few pieces of insubstantial memories flew by in his mind, suddenly, a concerning image formed from those memories.

'No, there's no way.'

Mikumo stood up and made his way to a mirror in the room. The moonlight leaking in from the window gave him enough light to see his own face. A concerned crooked smile appeared on his face.

'Yeah, look, I'm a handsome six-year-old child with short blue hair. My parents really did a good job. There's no way...right?'

As Mikumo's mind started racing at a million miles per minute coming up with excuses for the image he saw in his mind, it only made the image clearer and clearer.

'Oh please god, please no.'

Mikumo reached 'his' hand down towards his trousers and felt around for a certain something.

'It's...not there...'

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Mikumo despaired as 'he' no, rather she reflected on the image in her mind. A bath scene with her mother, and a clear answer to her current reality.

Mikumo has been reborn...as a female!

'Who did this!? WHO IS IT!? You reincarnated me in a world of sexy female ninjas and turned me into a girl? What kind of prank is this?'

Mikumo kept despairing about her current situation as footsteps started approaching her room.

The door to her room opened revealing a woman in her late 20s wearing sleepwear and rubbing her eyes.

"Mikumo dear...what are you yelling about in the middle of the night? You're gonna wake the neighbors."

Mikumo looked up and saw her mother, a relatively pretty woman with blue hair.

"Ah, sorry mom, just had a nightmare, hahaha..."

"Oh, you poor thing."

Toka walked over and picked up her daughter. A surprised expression appeared on her face as she examined her daughter's condition.

"You're soaking wet! What kind of nightmare did you have?"

"Ah, uh, nothing, I can't remember anymore."

Mikumo fought back the urge to say 'actually, the nightmare is still ongoing.'

Toka has a strange inquisitive expression on her face before waving it off and carrying Mikumo to the bathroom.

"Okay, I'll get you changed, and then young lady, it's back to bed, alright?"

"Yes, mom."

Mikumo sighed in her mind as Toka started stripping her clothes off and wiping her down.

'The fact that I'm not even uncomfortable with this makes it worse...I really am a girl now...'

Mikumo then looked at the mirror in the bathroom at her current body.

'Well, at least I'm handsome?'

Toka finished changing Mikumo's clothes and carried her back to bed. She gave Mikumo a kiss on the cheek before departing.

"Alrighty, sweet dreams dear. Tomorrow you're gonna help papa and mama at the store, okay?"

Mikumo paused with a confused expression before remembering the events of today. Her father Nikumo told her that he was going to start exposing her to the family business.

"Ah, yeah, okay."

Toka nodded with a smile and left the room, leaving only Mikumo behind to ruminate on her own thoughts.

A crooked smile appeared on her face.

'Well, it's a slightly awkward start, but workable...surely...'

Mikumo turned and looked out the window from her bed. What reflected in her eyes was the light of the full moon, shining from above the Hokage rock.

'Ah, heck, whatever. It is what it is! I'm in the world of Naruto now, stranger things have happened. I'll deal with it tomorrow!'

Deciding to escape from her worries, Mikumo closed her eyes and started drifting asleep.