Naruto: reborn as an Uzumaki

"Mary!!!" Tom screamed, sprinting toward the edge of the roof. With a desperate leap, he grabbed her falling arm with one hand while gripping the railing with the other.

"Tom! Please! Let me go! I can't take this anymore!" Mary pleaded, struggling to break free from his hold.

"Are you insane?! I won't let you go, not now! You were so strong, so determined not to let him tear your spirit down. Why give up? I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for not understanding your pain."

"It doesn't matter, Tom. I'm done. I don't want to live anymore. Just let me go," Mary begged, forcing a smile that cracked under the weight of her despair.

"I won't! I've been scared for too long, but not anymore. I love you, Mary. I love everything about you—your pain, your flaws. I don't care that you're my cousin; I love you despite it all." Tom's confession hung in the air, and, for a moment, Mary's resolve faltered. She calmed, allowing him to pull her up.

As Mary clung to him tightly, he finally managed to place both hands on the railing. "Okay, now I can pull us—" But before he could finish, the railing gave way.

The sudden snap of the railing sent his weary hand slipping. They plummeted together, and in those fleeting moments, he held onto her tightly. "I'm sorry, Tom. I love you too." Mary's voice reached him just before they hit the ground with a deafening thud. Everything faded to black.

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"Come on, Kana! Push! You're almost there! Push!"

"What the hell?! Is someone giving birth?" Tom thought, his eyes fluttering open.

"Who... Who's that lady?! And why is she holding me?" he wondered, his mind racing to catch up with reality. "Congratulations, Kana. It's a healthy baby boy." The bloodied woman in her forties handed him off to another woman.

"Damn, that lady is beautiful! She looks like she's in her late teens or early twenties," Tom thought, captivated by the sight of the woman cradling him. "Wait... I think I know what's happening."

"Don't tell me! I got reincarnated?!" he screamed internally, but all that escaped his lips were the first cries of a newborn, echoing in the ears of the two women watching him.

Image of Kana

The woman smiled down at him—a young, beautiful woman, no older than her twenties. "He's perfect," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I wish Ichiro-san could be here to see him."

The other woman sighed sympathetically. "It can't be helped. He has to stay in the Leaf Village to take care of your daughter. The Uchiha clan elders won't accept you, but... enough about that. What will you name your son?"

"Kenshin," she replied softly. "Kenshin Uzumaki. His sister bears the Uchiha name, so I want him to carry on the Uzumaki name."

Tom—no, Kenshin—stared up at her, his mind racing. "What...what is this? Did I...did I just get reincarnated into the Naruto universe?!"

His thoughts were in chaos, swirling with disbelief. But as he tried to process everything, another sensation hit him—hunger.

"Oh, no..." Kenshin thought, mortified, as the woman—his new mother—began to breastfeed him. "I can't believe this is happening. This is so embarrassing!" But despite his internal turmoil, his body instinctively latched on, and he couldn't deny that it felt... oddly comforting.

"Wait...Mary! What about Mary?! She died with me. Did she reincarnate too? Is she here somewhere?" His mind was a whirl of questions, but his newborn body was quickly losing the fight against exhaustion.

"Ugh, I'll figure it out later," Kenshin thought, feeling sleep tugging at the edges of his consciousness. "If this really is the Naruto world, maybe I can use my knowledge to become someone important..."

With that last thought, he drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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Hello to all new readers. I rewrote the first 15 chapters because of issues with the pacing and some parts feeling forced. And this chapter ended up being short because I couldn't post image comments so I had to work around the original version without adding any paragraphs.

The following chapters might feel excessively fast paced but that's intentional. The events of the first 15 chapters, starting from chapter 5 onwards, take place in less than two days. That's why some parts feel a bit forced and fast paced.

But that's because I want to establish everything quickly and then work towards the rest of the story.

So if possible I'd like you to stick around till at least chapter 30 and then decide on dropping. Because the initial chapters are to simply establish the characters and not develop their characters much.