02 - Tough times

With my sister in my arms, I ran around looking for a hospital, asking people who surprisingly spoke the same language as me where I could find a hospital, they gave me directions until a young man who looked like he was wearing a cosplay of a Shinobi from the Rain Village or something decided to help me.

His name was Inara Kurioshi, a Shinobi from the Rain Village, and he helped me get her to a nearby hospital, gave me the location of the hospital, and said he would be there with her. 

My mind was racing with the fact that I felt incapable of offering my sister the most effective help at that moment when she needed it so much, as well as the fact that everything in this world seemed to be the world of Naruto, but since the situation was an emergency, I immediately accepted my fate and took that risk as well, trusting my sister Inara. 

"Please... help her... I'll be right behind you" Kosuke said shakily

"I'll wait for you there, I promise to do everything I can" Inara said with conviction. 

Immediately after this conversation, Inara made an extremely precise and quick jump in the direction he had informed me about, losing sight of him in less than a second of my attention. 

When I arrived there about 10 minutes later, I spoke to the receptionist and he told me that the girl named Saksa had arrived at the unit.

That was a great relief, but not everything, so I asked if I could see her in the room I was in, and the nurse told me the room with some trepidation.

"Room 201 sir Kosuke" the nurse said. 

I ran through the corridors looking for the room and found it on the second floor.

When i entered, i saw my sister's body with a cloth over her face, her vital signs at zero and a doctor taking notes with Inara sitting next to her. 

"Is she all right?" Kosuke asks shakily. 

The doctor recognizes the situation and hesitates for a moment before speaking.

"She already arrived lifeless..." the nurse says. 

That day... 

I decided to take revenge. 

Returning to the house where I had been teleported to, I began to realize my situation, I seemed to be in the Village of the Rain, I still did not quite recognize the time period I was in, but I had a plan to find out. 

When I asked some of the locals, they all told me that the leader currently in charge of the village was Hanzo, the legendary Ninja of the Salamander.

However, when I asked them about the Second Great Ninja War, they all told me that this war was over, so much so that the village had suffered sanctions from other territories, which had been extremely damaging to the village's economy. 

With this information in hand, I finally arrived at the house, which I didn't know if it belonged to me, but... it was the only place I knew I could find shelter. 

Still shocked, I searched the house for money, where I found 15,000 Ryo's, I couldn't tell if it was a lot or a little, but I kept the money in a backpack I found in the house for any emergencies, that said, afraid of catching a cold or something, I decided to go to the bathroom to take a shower, found some clothes around the house and went to the bathroom.

There I was confronted with something that completely shocked me, my eyes were black, around my pupil there were circular shapes that stretched across the black of my eyes in white color, something like a... Black Rinnegan ?, I couldn't believe it, because 

very few ninjas have received the rinnegan, my only theory so far would be that this is either from Kaguya or the Sage of the Six Paths, which makes me even more confused...

"Madara ?" Kosuke spoke to himself. 

"He doesn't even know me... i think" kosuke thought confused. 

"What does a god want with a 17-year-old boy from Earth?" Kosuke was going nuts.

I had also noticed that my body looked much younger, about 12 to 13 years old, so if anyone asked me, I'd say I was 12, which I think would get me out of trouble.

After I showered, I went looking for food.

All the food I found in the house I couldn't even cook. Strangely, some things had been there recently, indicating that someone had lived there before, a sign I ignored and hoped would never come back.

Even though I'd been through a trauma, I tried to stay convinced and distracted.

I always wanted to try the ramen noodles that Naruto always ate in the manga, that would probably cheer me up, after searching for a while I finally found some sort of little restaurant in the middle of town, very similar to the ones that Naruto himself used to go to.

I found the ramen there and saw that it cost 250 Ryos.

The price scared me a lot, because I realized that even though 15,000 Ryos seemed like a lot, it would probably feed me for two months at the most, so I would have to find a way to work.

So I talked to the cook who was serving me and asked him about possible jobs in town.

He was surprised to hear this from a 12-year-old, but he answered anyway.

"Tough times uh ?" Said the cook. 

"You don't even know..." Said Kosuke apprehensively. 

Serving a ramen the cook said.

"Look, here in the village, you can choose an education in farming, carpentry and other professions, which generally pay the same, but... as a shinobi, you get the best possible wages, the only problem is mortality, you know ?"

"Hm hm" Kosuke said attentively while staring at the ramen.

"Jesus... this looks delicious" thought kosuke having his trance interrupted by the cook's response. 

"I see the job as a shinobi as something really honorable, really, but in these turbulent times of war since forever, I think it's hard to find the old ambition of the children to become a leader of the village one day."

The cook sighed, thought for a moment and continued. 

"If you are willing to accept this madness boy... you will earn more than me in less than 3 missions you complete, D-rank missions pay 5,000 Ryos, I have heard of S-rank missions that pay 500,000 Ryos upwards, an absurd amount that I could never imagine having but... I deny myself, for the love of my own life, besides I am too old for that hahahaha."

The cook says with a laugh.

Kosuke smiles slightly at the cook's charisma, but when he sees something, his smile fades.

"Sir, what is that mark on your neck?" Kosuke says pointing to the scar on the cook's neck.

"This boy... it was the war..." The cook says.

"Were you ever a ninja?! ?" Kosuke shouts.

"Yes, I was a Chunnin" says the cooker.

"If you're wondering why I'm out of the war, it's because I've already served it, I lost many comrades in battle, and with that I also got this scar, which narrowly missed killing me, I ended up in a deep coma for months until I regained consciousness and managed to pull myself out of it... i lost so much blood you dont even know..."

"In the end, I was dismissed from the organization, both because I was too broken down from the traumas of the war and because I could no longer show the strength necessary to serve the military purposes of the village" said the shaken cook.

"It was very humiliating to know that I would not even be able to serve as a human shield for the village's ninja force, but that is okay, it will give me enough relief to know that I will not have to kill anyone fighting a war that they did not cause" said the cook

... ...

*Slurp 

"It was great, sir... excuse my manners, what's your name?" Kosuke said.

"My name is Maruki" the cook said.

"Thank you for the food Maruki" Kosuke said thanking. 

"The pleasure is all mine, Kosuke" Maruki said.

//

Author note

10 chapters ahead at p@treon.com/persima