I Was Reborn in the Naruto World

In the year X of the Naruto calendar—well, to be honest, the protagonist, Soraki, has no idea what year it is in this timeline.

His name is Soraki, and he's been living in this world for six years now, ever since the day he mysteriously appeared as a six-year-old boy. What makes it even stranger is that inside this small body is the soul of a teenager from the real world, a place where Naruto was just a fictional story. The sudden shift between realities is still something Soraki finds difficult to wrap his mind around.

But now, this Naruto world is his real world.

What's that? You want to know Soraki's last name? Something as noble and privileged as a family name isn't something that someone from a common family like his would possess. Clearly not. So, for the past six years, Soraki has only known himself as Soraki, no more, no less.

And in those six years, Soraki thought being thrust into this violent, war-torn world of ninjas was unlucky enough. The world of Naruto, with its brutal conflicts, terrifyingly powerful ninjas, and dangerous creatures, wasn't exactly the kind of world one would want to get stuck in without a choice.

Today, however, was a special day. Why? Because today marked the annual entrance ceremony for Konoha's Ninja Academy. A day when new students from all over Konoha gathered with dreams of becoming ninjas—or at least that's what most people here probably thought.

But for Soraki, the very idea of becoming a ninja was far from a dream. It was more of a nightmare. After all, ninja life meant high-risk missions, constant battles, and a high chance of death. If he could, Soraki would have avoided stepping foot in the ninja world entirely. Unfortunately, in the world of Naruto, your fate wasn't something you got to decide. Whether civilian or ninja, the simple truth was that those without power wouldn't survive.

The rules of this world were brutally simple: no power, no life.

From the great ninja wars to Orochimaru's plot to destroy Konoha, and even Pain's devastating invasion, civilian lives were disregarded. No, not just "disregarded"—they were completely expendable. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that without strength, you were nothing here.

So, under his father's strong insistence—borderline desperation—Soraki reluctantly registered for the Ninja Academy. To be honest, he hadn't expected much from the experience. What were the chances he'd actually have the potential to become a ninja? But to his surprise, and everyone else's, Soraki actually had the aptitude. He had what it took to be a ninja and, before he knew it, he was accepted into the academy.

Today really is a special day, Soraki mused as he stood among the other new students. Why? Because today he might finally figure out exactly where he was in the Naruto timeline. This had been bothering him for a long time. Despite having watched Naruto in his previous life, Soraki had no clue what year it was.

He knew that the village was still ruled by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. But the strange part? Soraki had never actually seen the Third Hokage, not even from a distance. This puzzled him, especially since he remembered the Hokage always strolling through the village in the anime, making appearances here and there. But in reality, for a civilian like Soraki, catching even a glimpse of the Hokage seemed near impossible.

And that was exactly why Soraki hoped today would be different. Maybe at school, he could run into one of the famous characters he remembered from the series. Ideally, he'd like to see the Hokage, but even if not, meeting a few familiar faces would help him understand when exactly he had been thrown into this chaotic world.

If I'm lucky, Soraki thought to himself, maybe I'll be in the same class as Naruto and Sasuke. Not that he had any particular obsession with them or a romantic interest in any of the female characters. No, Soraki's main concern was survival. The period when Naruto was a student at the academy was relatively peaceful—by ninja standards, anyway.

Of course, "peaceful" was a very relative term in this world. Soraki remembered that during that time, the biggest events were Danzo's scheming and the tragic massacre of the Uchiha clan.

"But none of that matters to me," Soraki muttered under his breath. "I just want to survive. That's all."

He shook his head, trying to clear away the jumble of anxious thoughts that threatened to overwhelm him. He waved a hand behind him in a half-hearted goodbye, knowing his father was still watching from the crowd of parents and new students. The school grounds were bustling with excitement, but all Soraki cared about was staying alive. That, in itself, would be an accomplishment in this world.

With what he thought was a confident wave and his coolest look, Soraki turned on his heel and walked toward the school building, ready to face whatever lay ahead.

Although parents were allowed to observe the opening ceremony, they wouldn't be standing with the students. And thank God for that—Soraki didn't need his father watching over him every step of the way.

"I should see the Third Hokage today," Soraki muttered as he nodded to himself. "It's a big day, and the Hokage loves these kinds of occasions where he can win over the hearts of the people. He has to show up."

Soraki chuckled to himself. "I'm a genius for figuring that out."

"Wait… hold on a second. Why does that kid look so familiar?" As Soraki was making his way toward the teachers, a silver-haired, masked boy passed by him. His steps were calm, his demeanor cool.

"No way…" Soraki's eyes widened, and he gulped audibly. "Is that… young Kakashi?!"

Soraki's eyes were glued to the masked boy. That unmistakable silver hair, that mask—there was no doubt about it. It had to be Kakashi! He was even more intimidating in person, his presence alone sharp enough to send shivers down Soraki's spine.

Kakashi must have noticed Soraki's gaze because he turned his head slightly, his sharp eyes narrowing as they met Soraki's. His gaze was full of suspicion, an intensity that made Soraki's heart skip a beat. No wonder they called him Konoha's top technician, the Copy Ninja.

Fortunately, Kakashi only glanced at him briefly before turning away, uninterested. Soraki let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

Thank God! Soraki thought, relief flooding through him. Not because Kakashi's gaze was terrifying—though it kind of was—but because Kakashi hadn't said that infamous line from Earth that would have led to a fight:

"What are you looking at?"

"So What's wrong with you?"

And then, Soraki would have been toast.

Soraki mentally sighed with relief, but only for a moment. Wait… why am I relaxing already? It's way too soon! Damn it… Soraki's mind raced. The Second Great Ninja War had just ended, and it wouldn't be long before the Third Great Ninja War erupted. And after that? Orochimaru's betrayal, the Nine-Tails attack, and a series of increasingly dangerous events that would leave the village in chaos.

Fate really does hate geniuses, Soraki thought, feeling the weight of destiny pressing down on him.

In this period, countless future legends were still growing in strength, many of whom wouldn't even survive long enough to reach their full potential. Soraki thought about Kato Dan, whose death would later cause Tsunade's hemophobia, and Uchiha Obito, the future antagonist of the story.

"Wait a second… if Obito's here, then he should be at the academy right now. Where is he?" Soraki quickly scanned the crowd of students, his eyes darting around as he searched for Obito's familiar face.

"Holy crap… there are so many Uchiha kids!" Soraki's gaze swept across at least a dozen young Uchihas. Some of them might have been girls, but at this age, it was hard to tell. Especially since some of the boys had long, flowing hair that looked almost styled.

How could he tell they were boys? They were simply too ugly. Ugly to the point where it was hard to imagine anyone would find them cute.

Just as Soraki was getting lost in his thoughts, a chunin suddenly appeared in front of him, snapping him back to reality. "Stop dawdling! Go get your registration card and confirm your identity," the chunin barked.

It turned out that after Kakashi had walked by, Soraki had unconsciously moved to the front of the registration line, blocking the others behind him. The people had been waiting patiently, thinking Soraki was next, when in reality, he'd been daydreaming.

What the heck? I wasn't daydreaming—I was thinking! Soraki fumed inwardly. But fine, this guy is probably cannon fodder anyway. Let him live for now.

Though his mind raced with thoughts, Soraki kept a calm and composed expression on his face. With a sincere smile, he apologized to the chunin and proceeded to register.

Soraki quickly discarded the random thoughts in his mind and swiftly collected his number card.