Naruto Destiny Altered Thunderstorm

**A/N:** "self" insert because fuck it. everyone else was doing it. Also fuck canon. (but only a little bit) also I don't know any Japanese but I will use words like kage and genin and jutsu . Also tbh I realized ElectraSev5n named her character Aiko right before I was about to publish this, and since I'm too lazy to change it hopefully no one will get super confused. But also I might change it later just because of how much it frustrates me. Kazumi maybe? Character does _not_ know the full cast & plot, but knows enough fanon to mostly get by without being surprised. Character has uzamaki blood but it's not a plot point and not relevant except to explain her (very limited) sensing ability.

My new name is Akiko. It's about the only thing the caretakers knew about me. Or they may have renamed me when I came here, I don't want to ask. I'm not sure how I feel about being in an orphanage. It's strange not to have my needs met immediately but I'm a quiet child, and I think the caretakers are grateful for that.

It took me 7 months to concentrate long enough to figure out what happened to me. Realizing you died is a lonely feeling, like everyone you love moving away at the same time. I didn't actually realize I was in the Naruto world until a group of genin came to babysit us for a D rank. They mostly focused on the older kids around five, so no one noticed my momentary freak out. That night I felt pretty stupid that was the first conclusion I jumped to and didn't even question it.

Over the next couple months I started exploring the world around me. It was obvious the language was Japanese, or some version of it. I still only understood basic instructions, and I haven't said a word yet. I think the caretakers were worried at first when I never talked, but stopped caring when I interacted with the other kids just fine. All I had to do was smile or follow after them; babies were ridiculously simple to please.

What would I even say? Tell the Hokage I "may" know the future or that I'm old enough to be a spy possessing this body? We all know how that works out. As far as anyone is concerned, I'm just some orphaned girl in the village hidden in the leaves. My first clue I was in the naruto world was the leaf hitate; my second was the huge mountain with four faces carved into it. Thankfully I'm in a timeline I'm familiar with. Seeing the Hokage monument also brought with it acceptance of this new life.

Being outside was my favorite thing since being born here. It took a year, and even then I was only allowed a few feet away from the door. Once outside, everything felt alive. I couldn't feel the nature chakra or anything, but it was just some sort of unspoken understanding. Like a tree could set fire and burn; the tree would die but the fire would grow. That's what if felt like, everything feeding off each other and living together. Maybe it's because I'm from the city and it was still a new experience for me.

Thinking about nature chakra naturally led me to try to see if I had my own chakra. After a couple days of meditating with no progress I decided I was probably too young to try anything. It was _not_ giving up, just taking a break.

Then everything changed when the nine tails attacked.

The feeling was like I'm going to die times a thousand. Like someone sneaking into your bedroom in the middle of the night and only noticing them once they had you at knife point. Like a dozen clowns melting out of the walls to surround you. Like being covered in spiders but not being able to move. It was the most terrifying experience in either of my lives, including my death. The thought of my death let me take my first breath and when did I stop breathing? Walking over to a window all I could see was darkness. There wasn't a big orange monster or dozens of people running past, it was just empty.

Sometime later we were all evacuated through tunnels. I wasn't paying much attention; too focused on thinking that minato was dead. I said I wasn't going to do anything but it was so _hard_ to not feel responsible. A lot of that night was spent comforting the other children, mostly the older kids because I couldn't watch babies die just from exposure to the air. And that's all chakra was, air. It was… everywhere. Once I felt the kyuubi chakra it's like my eyes were open for the first time. It was in the people, the trees, the water. I don't think I slept much that night but I must have because next thing I know someone is checking to see if I'm dead.

I'm not sure how long we spent in the tunnels but once we got back there were more than a few empty beds. The saddest part was it didn't take them long to fill up, and then overflow. It took a week of shuffling us around but eventually they found room for everyone. People trickled in slowly after that, but continued coming even a month after the attack.

On the 8th day I met my first friend in this world. His name was Kenji and he spent the last 7 days in the hospital hoping for his mom to live. He refused to talk to anyone and never ate much food. Most children were able to bounce back and move on after a day or so. It sounds bad, but children are so open minded and adaptable it's not very hard to cheer them up. On his 3rd day here, Kenji's eyes followed me as I spent the day setting up games with the children. The caretakers either think I'm some kind of prodigy or a natural leader, It's hard for them to tell when I never talk. Either way they were understaffed enough that they weren't going to argue with a one year old keeping most of the children entertained.

Kenji probably thought I was a kindred soul or something and was inspired by my ability to help others. I honestly have no idea why he approached me and started helping with the other kids. I'm ashamed to say I didn't really notice he was following me until the 3rd group we played with; it kind of creeped me out. He was only three, but it was the first time anyone had ever taken interest in me in this world. I probably would have confronted him, but a few days later he asked me why I never talk.

Embarrassingly, I just kind of stared at him for a beat. It was the first time anyone had engaged me in a conversation where they expected me to understand them and provide an answer. I thought he would blush, but he just stared at me waiting for an answer. I think that's why I told him what I did.

"I don't have anything to say" if I was older I might have shrugged my shoulders and felt offense, but as a one year old that would have looked weird so I waited to see if he would say anything else.

"My name is Kenji, what's yours?" His face and posture relaxed but his eyes were still determined and focused.

"Aikio."

He smiled and walked to the next group of children. Not sure what just happened I followed him. Over the next week he seemed more relaxed and started eating again. Every day he would tell me something about his life story and ask me one question about myself. He told me how his mother and father were both ninja and that his father died on a mission a year ago. Kenji told me about being in the hospital for a week and how it was too crowded for everyone to get care. He told me he loved to read but hated writing.

Kenji learned through observation that I was more willing to talk to him if no one could hear us. I think it took him so long to notice because he didn't want to talk to anyone else yet, and would unconsciously isolate us before talking.

He learned that my favorite color was purple and that I loved being outside. He learned that I'd never had dango and that I didn't remember anything before I was in the orphanage.

After a month, it felt like Kenji had always been a presence in my life and I was so thankful for someone to talk to. Kenji had the wonderful way of just accepting everything I said. I'm not sure what his goal was but he always had something to talk to me about. I'd started to talk to the caretakers and I think they were ecstatic to see I had a personality. I asked for chores and they had me changing diapers and other ways to take care of the babies. Kenji helped me sometimes, but usually he just followed me around or got permission to take me outside.

Almost 8 weeks after the attack, the orphanage got a new baby with blond hair and blue eyes.


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Drama