Birth and Clan

My birth came with no warning. I was happily chatting with Kiyo when suddenly my entire being jolted and my mindscape disappeared from my sight. Kiyo was left with a confused and concerned look, but quickly realized what was happening.

'Sigh... He probably won't be spending as much time with me now...' Kiyo thought with a wave of sadness.

My senses returned to the physical world and my body. I felt the fluid around me suddenly flowing out, my body being pulled in the same direction. My body had at some point turned so my head was directed forward, and I felt something squeezing my head and body. It was quite a strange for my infant body. The pulling continued, and I began to feel undulations in the muscle around me that pushed me towards an opening. It was pretty painful. And from the screams I could hear from my mother, it was likely equally painful for my mother.

Finally, after an intense struggle, I popped out into the world with a pathetic squeal.

I really had come to hate the feeling of opening my eyes and being blinded by light. But I experienced it once again. I felt myself being passed to another person.

When my eyes finally adjusted, I could make out the face of a beautiful woman, slightly blurry due to the tears I had unconsciously been bawling out. She had long and silky black hair, like smoothly flowing ink, that framed a heart-shaped face with an angular chin and pronounced cheekbones. She was not a soft and cute type of pretty, but an electrifying and stunning beauty. This was made even more pronounced by the swirling black eyes that seemed to suck in the soul of any who looked into them.

This must be my mother.

'Ooh, wow if my mother looks like that, no matter how ugly my father is I'm sure to turn out quite the looker... In fact, she actually has rather similar features to the previous me.' Not exactly the thoughts you'd expect from a baby, needless to say. Kiyo had long since decided that he would need character correction remedial lessons.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I soon discovered that I could not express any of these feelings. I couldn't even stop crying at the moment.

My mother and the other woman in the room gasped when they noticed the color of my eyes. It seems they were a brilliant, icy blue that had never been seen in their clan. Although I could not see them, they apparently shone like sapphire gems.

I started crying harder at my mother's gasp, not even sure why.

My mother's soft voice suddenly sounded in my ears, a soothing, melodic tenor that calmed the depths of my soul.

"Hush, baby. It's ok now."

My father chose this moment to rush into the room, unable to bear his curiosity after hearing the gasps of surprise.

"Is everything ok? Hai! My baby! It's a boy!"

He rushed to my mother's side, putting one arm around my mother and the other around me. He peered down at me with restless, loving eyes. He was also quite the looker. A strong jawline and sharp nose, imperious sword shaped eyebrows and pronounced cheekbones... The same black hair and eyes as my mother... It seemed both my parents would qualify as supermodels in my previous world.

"Kaito! His name shall be Kaito Yuki! Snow flying over the ocean - this name represents my hope that you will one day be strong enough to explore the entirety of this world at your leisure!"

My mother smiled, and leaned into the embrace of my father, clearly tired from the strain of giving birth. It was truly a beautiful scene. The woman who aided my mother during her birth (who I later found out was her sister), was dazed by the harmonious picture of a loving husband and wife pair and the adorably cute baby who had finally stopped crying.

"Thank you, Nee-san." My mother spoke to the other woman in the room gratefully.

My father gave her a solemn nod.

She gave a gentle smile in return, and said, "You did the same for me sister. No need to thank me. I remember how tiring giving birth was, I'll leave you guys to rest for now. I'll deliver the news to the clan leader as well."

She disappeared from my sight, leaving the sound of a closing door behind her.

My father knelt beside us, tenderly holding my mother's hand. They began conversing, but their voices faded into the background, fatigue overwhelming me as I fell into a deep slumber.

----------------

The next day.

I woke up, enveloped in a shroud of warmth. Beneath me I could feel a soft bed, and the bodies of my mother and father sheltered me on either side. They were both asleep.

I took this time to organize my thoughts.

'Kaito Yuki, huh? Same first name as my last life... Maybe that's how God chose to reincarnate me into this body? But Yuki... I've heard that name before...'

'Sh*t! Was this THE Yuki clan? The famed possessors of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai? The Yuki clan Haku belongs to? From the actions of the woman yesterday, this was definitely a shinobi clan... It has to be them...' I was almost afraid to get my hopes up. I desperately wanted this to be the Yuki Clan of the Ice Release.

I quickly contacted Kiyoshi, recounting everything I had learned to her.

"Yes, I do believe it is the Yuki clan. Actually, I have long since felt your chakra natures. You have an affinity to the water and wind elements, and obviously possess the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai. On top of that, you also have an affinity with the lightning element and seem to somehow possess the Storm Release bloodline. Although you can't control either Kekkei Genkai at the moment."

"What? How did you know? And why didn't you tell me?"

"How could I not sense the nature's of my host's chakra? Your situation was explained to me by the old man who created me. From his words, I thought you would know about all this."

"So... I was born in the Yuki clan... Could this be my second perk? Or the storm release? My first gift was Kiyoshi, and now my second is possessing two Kekkei Genkais? I wonder what the third will be..." I couldn't help but be excited. As long as I could have time to develop, just possessing two bloodlines limits could let me become a kage level shinobi, like Mei Terumi. Add onto that the almost unlimited chakra supply from Kiyoshi, I would be ashamed of myself if I couldn't match the power of Sasuke Uchiha at the end of the series.

'Wait... Yuki clan... Land of Water... Sh*t!!! There was probably already a civil war going on! The Yuki clan doesn't survive! I won't even have a chance to become strong...' Tears streamed down the cheeks of my mental apparition.

The voices of my parents roused me from my depression.

"Asami..."

So my mother's name is Asami.

"It's not safe here... Now that we have Kaito-kun, do you think we should leave the clan? How can we raise our son here during the war? The Yuki clan is a target, you know this."

"Sigh... Like Miyuki nee-san did 4 years ago... I... I don't know. Let me think about it."

(Miyuki is a different sister, and also Haku's mom)

"Hmm. Very well. But we must decide soon, before it becomes to dangerous to travel in this area."

"Hai. I know, Tatsuya. I just can't quite bring myself to up and leave just like that."

So dad is Tatsuya.

The conversation continued, but shifted to unimportant topics, so I let my attention wander.

My body felt quite tired. Being born is not as easy as it sounds. And my muscle control was still none existent. I couldn't even control my vocal cords enough to speak. I could only continue doing the same exercises with Kiyo whenever I was alone for the first two weeks after I was born.

I spent these weeks simply enjoying the warmth of my family. I wasn't exactly aware of what happened in the Land of Water, only knowing that there was a war and the Yuki clan would eventually be killed off. But for now, I could only work on my basic muscle control and and chakra control and set these worries to the back of my mind.

My chakra control was progressing with incredible speed. Although I was nowhere near the level required for medical ninjutsu to even the shape transformation of the rasengan, I made a great deal of progress. I even began to suspect that the third perk I was given was an enhanced chakra control of some sort that allowed me to more easily master chakra control.

After a month, I began trying to increase my chakra reserves. It was slow and tedious, but fortunately I could talk to Kiyo during this time.

At around three months, I started crawling. It was quite an advancement for me, and my parents were overjoyed. They even threw a mini 'First Crawl' party.

My parents had both died when I was young in my last life. It had been too long since I last felt the loving warmth of family. But somehow, my parents in this world reminded me of them greatly. My beautiful and calm mother, handsome and emotional father... I wished I could spend an eternity basking in their warmth.

But the knowledge of the impending doom of the clan weighed on me like mountain, always in the back of my mind. At the age of 6 months, I began to walk, and secretly started training my body wherever I could, always making sure no one was around to witness the odd sight of a not-even year old child straining to do a pushup.

By the age of one, I was the pride of the village. Exaggerated rumors circulated about the genius of the Yuki clan, a baby who didn't cry, who learned to walk at 6 months and talk at one,although I was careful to never say any complicated sentences or words, who peered at people with the calm eyes of a man who had experienced the trials and joys of life.

But I didn't care. As soon as I revealed that I could speak, which was easy as they spoke Japanese here too, I began trying to persuade my family to leave the village. I desperately tried to convince my parents that we needed to leave. That the Yuki clan was not safe. That the Land of Water would ruthlessly slaughter Kekkei Genkai Clans.

My father agreed immediately, not wanting to question how I knew this but capitalizing on this as a chance to sway my hesitant mother. Dad actually wasn't a Yuki clan member. He was from a clan somewhere in the land of lightning. Mom on the other hand, was born to the Yuki clan and had a high standing in it - she was a candidate for the successor of the clan, and therefore felt a responsibility to stay and protect them.

As days passed by, and the war became more and more intense, I became more and more scared. The Yuki clan lived on the edge of the Land of Water. The war hadn't reached our home yet. But I grew more and more afraid that it would anyway now. A year passed by in this manner.

Finally, I snapped.

"Mom! I'm begging you! Please trust me on this! The Mizukage is insane! He means to slaughter all bloodline clans that have resisted his rule! The Yuki clan is part of the clan alliance! Even if we surrender now, we won't receive any mercy from that man! If you feel a responsibility to the clan, tell them of your fears! Bring everyone who will come with us, and we can relocate to Konoha! They'll accept us there! They want as many Kekkei Genkai clans there as they can gather, they'll be more than happy to accommodate us!"

Finally, finally she gave in. She told me that she would speak to the clan tomorrow, and convince as many as she could to leave. Either way, she would leave with me. But it was too late.