Chapter 1: Arriving in Konoha
Konohagakure - The Village Hidden in the Leaves
In the Hokage's office atop the most prominent building in the village, an elderly man sat smoking his pipe, his weathered gaze fixed on the window before him.
Behind him, stacks of documents awaited his signature, piled high on his desk.
Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, continued staring out at the monument bearing the face of the Fourth Hokage carved into the mountainside.
Today marked the one-year anniversary of the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha.
The Third Hokage released a heavy sigh.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha had suffered devastating losses, forced to fight against every other hidden village simultaneously.
Then, just a year after the war ended, the Nine-Tails had been unleashed upon the village. The attack claimed not only the Fourth Hokage's life but also countless shinobi and civilians.
The aftermath left the remaining ninja overworked and the village orphanage filled beyond capacity.
Hiruzen sighed again before finally turning to face the mountain of paperwork awaiting him.
Konoha Orphanage
In a small room within the orphanage, a five-year-old boy named Kaito lay sleeping.
Suddenly, he screamed in agony, clutching his head, before collapsing unconscious.
His screams woke the other children in the dormitory, who quickly rushed to alert the caretakers.
Several hours later, Kaito's eyes fluttered open. His head still throbbed with intense pain.
What the hell is going on? This headache is killing me! Sure, I pulled an all-nighter finishing that project, but it's never been this bad before. It feels like my memories are all scrambled...
He slowly opened his eyes fully and looked around. The unfamiliar surroundings made him frown in confusion.
Where am I? This isn't my apartment.
He tried to sit up but froze in shock.
Why are my hands so small? Did I... travel back in time?
Before he could process what was happening, two children entered the room and rushed toward him.
"Kaito! Are you okay?" one of them asked.
"What happened? Why were you screaming earlier?" the other added.
Kaito stared at them blankly.
Who are these kids? Wait... the way they're talking to me, it seems like I should know them. But that's impossible...
Damn it, this headache is unbearable. I need to figure out what's going on.
Kaito decided to pretend he'd fainted again, buying himself time to think.
The two boys panicked and ran out to fetch the caretaker once more.
While feigning unconsciousness, new memories began flooding into his mind—memories belonging to someone named Kaito who had lived in this world.
For five agonizing hours, he sorted through these foreign memories. Along with the splitting headache came an incredible, terrifying truth.
No way... NO WAY!
I've been reincarnated! And not just anywhere—I'm in the damn Naruto world! How is this even possible?
He couldn't even remember dying in his previous life.
You're supposed to die before reincarnating, right? So how did this happen?
He'd gone from his safe, modern world with laws and order to a world filled with superhuman ninja capable of mass destruction.
And I'm just some random civilian kid with no special abilities!
After several minutes of denial and frustration, he forced himself to calm down and accept reality. He needed to plan for his survival.
Okay. From now on, I'm Kaito. The original Kaito... I guess he lost his life when I took over his body.
Based on these memories, his parents died during the Nine-Tails' attack a year ago. He survived by sheer luck and ended up in this orphanage. Looks like he was checked by some organization called Root to see if anyone would adopt him, but nobody wanted him.
If the Nine-Tails attack was a year ago and I'm five years old now, that means I'm four years older than Naruto and his classmates.
That gave him a significant advantage—more time to train and grow stronger before the major events began.
The Uchiha Massacre should happen in about seven years.
The Konoha Crush during the Chunin Exams in twelve years.
Pain's attack and the Fourth Great Ninja War in sixteen years.
Suddenly, he felt something strange—an unfamiliar energy flowing through his body.
Is this... chakra?
The original Kaito's memories contained nothing about having chakra.
Does that mean my chakra awakened when I reincarnated into this body?
Finally, some good news! This should make getting into the Ninja Academy much easier than it would be for other civilian kids.
But how does my chakra compare to others? Well, no point worrying about that now. First, I need to check out my surroundings and get a better understanding of this place.
With that thought, he decided to stop pretending and "woke up."
He sat up and noticed it was already evening. The clock on the wall read 6:30 PM.
His stomach growled loudly.
I haven't eaten all day. No wonder I'm starving. I need to find some food. And I'll have to act like a normal five-year-old kid. Hopefully, nobody notices anything different about me.
He walked to the door and heard voices outside.
Opening it, he saw the two boys from earlier playing in the hallway.
Their names came to him from his new memories: Takeshi and Ryo.
Both were Kaito's close friends and shared the same dormitory room. Takeshi had also lost his parents in the Nine-Tails attack, while Ryo's parents had died in the Third Great Ninja War.
They looked up at Kaito with concerned expressions and immediately rushed over.
"Kaito! How are you feeling? Are you better now?" Ryo asked.
Kaito nodded. "Yeah, I'm much better. Sorry for scaring you guys earlier. My head was killing me."
Takeshi let out a relieved breath. "Thank goodness. We were really worried about you."
Just then, Kaito's stomach rumbled loudly. Both boys looked down at his midsection simultaneously.
Kaito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm starving."
Takeshi grinned. "Makes sense—you've been asleep all day."
Ryo threw an arm around Kaito's shoulders. "Come on, let's go to kitchen and see if we can get you something to eat."
The three boys headed toward the kitchen together.
Along the way, many children stared at Kaito with curious expressions. Several approached to ask how he was feeling.
They must've all heard about me screaming and passing out, Kaito thought.
From his inherited memories, he knew the orphanage housed over 250 children who'd lost their parents in the various wars and tragedies that had befallen Konoha.
He wondered if Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, was also living here.
When they reached the cafeteria, they found one of the caretakers, a kind-looking middle-aged woman named Suzume.
Seeing Kaito, she hurried over with a concerned expression.
After confirming he was feeling better, she visibly relaxed. "We were all so worried about you. We called a medical-nin to examine you, but he couldn't find anything wrong. I'm glad you're alright, but you'll need another examination just to be safe."
Kaito nodded respectfully. "Thank you for taking care of me. But right now, I'm really hungry. Is there anything left to eat?"
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