-2- Ninja Academy

Two years flew by in the blink of an eye, and one thing Renji found out was that life wasn't so bad.

Over the past two years, thanks to his parents being unaware that he could understand them, they had no problems voicing all their concerns and worries out in the open in front of him.

Due to this, he found out a lot of information.

First, this new world he found himself in was called 'Narakai.' Which he found particularly interesting. Even though he knew he was no longer on Earth, getting an absolute confirmation was a little exciting.

[A/n: Nara is an ancient city in Japan. Kai = world. So 'Narakai' suggests a world with a deep history.]

Next, his parents seemed to own a ramen restaurant, and they were currently living on the second floor of the establishment.

Each day his parents would wake up early and leave him to sleep most of the day. He hated it, but his little body was always tired.

The next thing he learned was where they were and why his mom was so upset on the day of his birth.

They currently lived in a mystic realm controlled by the Obsidian Hand. The way his parents described it was that they were a terrorist organization that worked from the shadows, trying to destroy the kingdoms and empires.

It was created by this Kage-level rogue ninja after his clan was destroyed in a war 50 years ago.

His name was Shirokuma Kuzan, and he was known by the organization as the Grandmaster and he possessed the rare Kekkei Genkai of lava release.

This surprised Renji greatly because it confirmed to him that he was indeed in a Naruto-like world.

The only thing was he didn't seem to be in the same world from the show; he seemed to be in an alternate universe. He pieced this together after gathering intel for the past two years and comparing what he learned with the show's information.

One of the main things that confirmed this was the next piece of information.

In this new world, there didn't seem to be hidden villages; there were kingdoms and empires, and his parents were from the Empire of Whirling Tides, which is led by his mother's Uzumaki clan and his father's Namikaze clan.

This made Renji extremely happy once he found out that this was in fact a Naruto-type world. Being a Namikaze brought him extreme joy, but once he learned that his mother was also an Uzumaki, it took it to the next level.

He overheard recently that his parents seemed to have been on a hike a day's walk from the city they lived in, in the Empire of Whirling Tides, when they entered this cave system and accidentally stepped into a hidden rift that led to this mystic realm. That's how they got stuck here, and it happened when his mom was pregnant with him. The Obsidian Hand refused to let them leave because they now knew one of the locations to the mystic realm and couldn't be trusted with that information.

So they were forced to live in the city as normal civilians.

He didn't know much else about the world, but he did figure out that he would be joining the civilian academy at the age of 6, and unless you joined the ninja academy, you would continue with the academy until the age of 13, where you would then join the workforce, which is what his parents expected of him.

They wanted him to graduate and then start working with them in the restaurant, where they would eventually pass it down to him, but this was far from what he wanted.

He lived in a Naruto world with chakra and jutsus. Of course, he wanted to become a ninja. Also, if he stayed a civilian, how would he be able to leave this place once he turned 21 to go meet his brother? So he didn't know how he would do it, but he had to become a ninja.

"Renji, it's time to wake up," his mother Naomi said in a baby voice as she opened the door.

'Finally time to eat,' Renji thought to himself. Every morning he woke up starving.

***

Another four years went by quickly with Renji growing up trying to act like a normal kid.

The good thing for his acting was that in this world, kids seemed to mature much faster, so he didn't have to pretend all that much.

The few friends his age he had, all civilian kids that lived in the same neighborhood, all acted much older than their age would suggest if he based it on Earth's children.

"Alright, Renji, it's time to get up. You have a big day today," his dad said as he and his mother walked into his room.

Today was the day he would enter the academy.

"I know, Mom, Dad. I'm up," he said, already up and fully dressed.

He was wearing a blue shirt that had a Namikaze and Uzumaki symbol on it, showing off his heritage that he was so proud of.

He was tall for his age and had blonde hair and blue eyes, just like his father.

"Okay, well, come down and eat, and then we'll walk you to the academy," his mother said in a caring tone, both happy and sad to see her baby boy growing up.

"Okay, but I want to walk there by myself. I'm a big boy; I can do it myself," Renji internally cringed at the cheesy statement, but he needed to go by himself so he could enroll in the ninja classes instead of the civilian ones. If his parents took him, he knew they wouldn't allow it.

"Are you sure? It's a long walk," his dad asked with concern.

"I'm positive I can do it myself. I can't stay a kid forever," he said with as much confidence as he could manage.

"Alright, if you think you can do it, I'll allow it," his dad said.

"Thanks, Dad," he said quickly before his mom could change his father's mind.

"Kenshin, are you sure? I don't know if this is a good idea," his mom asked his dad.

Before his dad could speak, Renji rushed out of the room, saying, "Come on, guys, it's time to eat."

His parents followed, his mother slightly upset that she couldn't walk him to school, but she eventually relented.

After a quick breakfast of eggs and bacon, Renji kissed his mom on the cheek and left for the academy.

After leaving the house, he rushed to the academy before his mom could change her mind.

After a 20-minute run, he could finally see the gate to the academy.

A sign read 'Obsidian Hand Academy.'

'Finally, I can learn how to be a ninja,' he had been counting the days since he learned that he was in a Naruto world, and today was the first step to achieving his goal.

He walked through the gate, passing the crowd of kids and parents.

After walking through the gate, he looked ahead and saw two large buildings and a small sign that couldn't be missed in the middle of the path that read, 'Ninja Academy to the left, Civilian Academy to the right.'

He briefly wondered how his brother was doing. Was he in a safe place? Did he have a new name? Would he also become a ninja? There wasn't a day that went by without him worrying for his brother's safety and happiness.

After the brief pause, Renji smiled and walked to the left while thinking, 'Mom's going to kill me.'