My world blinked into existence with the searing pain of a bright light stabbing through my eyelids. Instinctively, I shielded my eyes with my hand.
"Okay, so he's got a concussion, a bruised spine, sore back muscles, a swollen cheek, and re-aggravated wounds. Just fantastic!" I was still groggy, and the ringing in my ears made it difficult to fully grasp what was happening. A hand pushed pills into my grasp, and I heard a voice saying, "Take these," as my shoulder bandages were removed, and healing began.
I stared at the pills for a moment, lost in a haze, until a sharp slap to the back of my head snapped me back to reality. I swallowed them down with some water, and suddenly, clarity returned.
"Damn," I muttered. I was in Naruto, smack in the middle of the Second Great Ninja War. I was in deep shit.
"Kobachi, you're an annoying pain, you know that," I heard a voice say. Turning my head, I saw a woman with a purple bob cut and brown eyes, wearing a white lab coat under a regular shinobi guard.
"Thanks for your help, though, Niko," someone else chimed in. These two were preoccupied, especially the person who had inflicted harm upon me. Niko seemed to be muttering about people taking advantage of her kindness while healing me.
My gaze was drawn to the one responsible for my current predicament. His name was Kobachi, and he had been the one to beat me up for reasons that remained a mystery. We locked eyes briefly, and I quickly averted my gaze.
"Are you okay?" Kobachi asked, but before I could respond, Niko interjected.
"Of course, he's fine. I'm the one healing him!" she declared with a hint of annoyance.
"Could you shut up for a second, Niko? Thank you," Kobachi retorted.
"That's the thanks I get from you, you rude bastard! Remember, I'm doing you a favor!" Niko shot back, pointing a finger at his chest since she was significantly shorter.
"Could you keep it down? People are trying to sleep," Kobachi deadpanned, towering over her.
"Fuck you, Ko!" Niko muttered, refocusing her attention on me as she pulled out a clipboard.
"Alright, kid. This idiot thinks you have amnesia, so I'm going to ask you some questions. Do your best to answer." Niko's tone was gentler now, her aggression temporarily set aside.
She proceeded to ask me basic questions: my name, home address, whether I remembered any family members or friends, and anything from the past year or even this week. Each question received the same answer - a resounding "no."
"So, you don't remember anything, huh?
Well, you're in deep shit." She mutter with her hand tapping her mouth
"What do you mean?" Both Kobachi and I asked simultaneously.
"It's not uncommon for shinobi to suffer amnesia due to head trauma, but this level of memory loss is unusual. While I was healing you, I examined your brain, and aside from the injuries, everything seems relatively fine. Especially for a nine-year-old with an extensive history of using chakra,this amnesia is puzzling.
I also checked the nerves responsible for memory, and they showed no signs of damage. In fact, they appeared to have expanded, capable of holding more memories than the average child your age."
Niko put her hand over her mouth, her finger tapping her upper lip repeatedly as she mumbled to herself about the strangeness of the situation.
We stood there, waiting, when suddenly, out of nowhere an unexpected threat materialized. Out of nowhere, a shuriken sliced through the air, hurtling straight toward my neck.
Time seemed to slow down, I took in the scene - Niko form after her throw, Kobachi reaching for a throwing weapon with an alarm but collected face, and in that fleeting moment, my instincts kicked into overdrive.
With lightning reflexes, I leaned my body to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly projectile. I rolled off the bed and crouched low, my hand instinctively searching the spot where my pouch would be, desperately seeking a kunai.
"Like I suspected, your muscle memory intact"
" NIko!" Said Kobachi
"People are sleeping ko. Be quiet, it was a test" Niko couldn't help but chuckle seeing Kobachi getting riled up. I Just look at them bickering while clouded by my own thoughts. Astonished of what I could but still levied that she could have killed me.
" But what if I couldn't dodge," I said once my thoughts cleared.
" Then I would have healed you" she responded rapidly. I just look at her crazy and just let it go. I sigh with my head down and I look back up and she now a inch away from my face
" But truly fascinating, your body hasn't forgotten how to be a ninja. But yeah You definitely have a heavy case of amnesia. Here is some paper with your information on it."
She finally moved away from my face and handed me a folder of documents. I open the folder to see my name: Haiiro Kai, Height:5 '0 , Age: 10, Academy band: blue, rank: 20, station: north gate battlefront. It had my home address and even a picture of my parentage.
" But the most intriguing thing here is how onside your chakra is," Niko said.
" Are you saying he has a chakra imbalance" Kobachi asked
" yeah he has too many freckles in his iris to an almost insane degree. Granted some children who possess a greater mind than their body may have such things but not to such an extent. Come." Niko said to me
I walked over and Kobachi came out of his corner too. Niko brought a light to my eyes asking Kobachi if he seeing that amount of freckles in my eyes.
" That is a lot." Kobachi said. His tone, more than worry than surprise.
" I know right so, his spiritual chakra must be too hard to handle for his body so combine that with his concussion. Maybe that caused his amnesia, but again that's just theory."
Niko finished with a satisfying sigh saying my mind is so interesting.
But I was just standing there while she ranted with a light in my face.
" One, what the hell is a chakra imbalance and please removed the light from my face" I stated more annoyed by another adversity I have to overcome
" Oh, yeah. Sorry." She respond move from my face but instead of her Kobachi responded.
" What do you know about chakra?" He asked. I was at a crossed road on how to answer his question. I know the basics of chakra but right now I have severe amnesia.
If I answer correctly, how do I know? I could lie but he's a train ninja could he tell. I think i'm a good liar to normal people, not trained assassin. My heart started to race on how to answer it, my thoughts started to swallow me whole. I smile thinking I'm running out of time to answer but before I could open my mouth Niko interjected.
" Ko you dumbass. He has amnesia. How could he answer such a question."
Save by the bell I thought as I took a sigh.
"Listen, kid, chakra is formed when you blend spiritual and physical energy together. Physical energy comes from every cell in your body, and you can boost it through training, stimulants, and exercise. On the other hand, spiritual energy comes from your mind's consciousness and can be enhanced through studying, meditation, and life experiences. As these two energies become stronger, the chakra you create becomes more powerful and your pool expands.
So, if you keep practicing a technique, you gain experience, which increases your spiritual energy, allowing you to generate more powerful chakra. It's like a cycle, you see?
The more you work on a technique, the more potent it becomes. The same goes for physical energy, but here you need to focus on building your endurance. Got it?"
I stood there shaking my head.
" But what makes your chakra even more potent to increase your chakra pool is balance. Yes, as you increase one your pool will grow naturally. Usually people have more physical energy than spiritual energy until they hit their later years in which it reverses.
Mostly because it is way easier to train physical energy than spiritual. But for you, you have an influx of spiritual energy which heavily outweighs your physical energy. Which is why you have a chakra imbalance and it can affect the way you mold and use chakra." She lecture.
" Fuck me" I thought to myself. Why this on top of everything too.
" So is there a cure or something." I asked simply, exhausted by everything.
" Yeah, it's simple, you have to balance it. you can alway close that gap with chakra control and building up your physical energy" She responded to me.
" At least it's pretty simple, but it's getting late and I Have to be up early, I think? Do I?" My eye fell on my "friend" with the goggles for an answer.
" Yes you do, go."
With that I wasted no time to put my ass on that hard ass cot.
I walked through the camp toward the sleeping tents. It was dark, but the stars illuminated the sky, a sight I couldn't muster the energy to appreciate.
As I approached my destination, a guard stopped me, asking for a shinobi code. Confused, I wondered what code I could possibly have.
"The code is for security, to ensure you are who you claim to be and not a spy. You have a one chance to tell me your code, shinobi," the guard said, kunai already in hand, prepared for a deadly confrontation.
As other guards noticed the commotion, I found myself slowly getting surrounded.
Tired, angry, and overly exhausted, I lacked the patience for this. "I don't know my shinobi code; I've been diagnosed with amnesia. You can check with Niko, the head of medical," I explained.
For a moment, everything went black white, and the man confronting me was enveloped in a purple hue, this fog like thing. Before I could comprehend it, my throat was slit.
My world returned to color, and just as in my black-and-white reality, I was about to face another attack. I did nothing but closed my eyes, anticipating the worst.
"Daichi, enough. He does have amnesia, and his shinobi code is b646s4," Kobachi intervened. Stepping between me and the person about to kill me.
"Sorry, Kobachi. We're just doing our jobs," Daichi replied.
"Yeah, I know. Just return to your post." Kobachi instructed.
With that, Daichi stepped back, and I was spared from further confrontation. Another guard informed me, "Your tent should be in section B, tent 4."
"Thank you. I'll guide him to his tent,"
Kobachi said. The encounter left me shaken, realizing that even in this unfamiliar world, danger could manifest at any moment. I took a deep breath, grateful for Kobachi's intervention, and continued on my way to the sleeping tents, hoping for a moment of respite.
"Here, take this," Kobachi handed me a piece of paper. I took it, wondering what it was.
"It's your shinobi code. Memorize it. You can't enter any stronghold without this. It's essentially your identity within bases."
"Okay, thank you," I replied in a monotone, devoid of energy. We walked in silence until reaching my tent. It was larger than the others, but my roommates were already asleep.
"Seems like this is my stop," I said.
"Yeah, it does." We both stood there in silence, the atmosphere somewhat awkward.
"Thank you for—"
"I'll come wake you up early tomorrow, so get some rest."
"For what?" I asked, feeling alarmed. That came out of nowhere.
"We have two days until we resume operations to protect our homeland, as estimated by headquarters. In those two days, I'll make sure you're ready when we resume." After that he just vanished.
Probably the body flicker I thought.The night air in the camp held an eerie stillness as I entered the tent, my thoughts echoing with the events of the day.
The piece of paper Kobachi had handed me felt like a lifeline in this unknown world, a thread connecting me to a reality I was struggling to comprehend.
I lay on my cot, surrounded by the rhythmic sounds of my sleeping comrades.
The dim glow of the lantern cast shadows on the tent walls, amplifying the solitude that had become my companion. The events at the gate replayed in my mind, the kunai at my throat, the sudden threat, and Kobachi's timely intervention.
Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I opened the piece of paper, revealing the characters that formed my shinobi code. As I stared at the seemingly random combination of letters and numbers, I couldn't shake the feeling that this code held more significance than I could fathom. It was my key, my ticket to navigating the intricate web of this shinobi world.
I traced the characters with my finger, attempting to commit them to memory. Kobachi's words echoed in my mind—this code was my identity within the bases. The weight of the responsibility settled on my shoulders, and a sense of vulnerability washed over me. In this world of shinobi, trust was earned through secrecy, and my inability to recall my own identity left me exposed.
Closing my eyes, I let out a heavy sigh. The events of the day had drained me both physically and emotionally. Sleep beckoned, promising a temporary escape from the complexities of this unfamiliar reality.
As I drifted into a restless slumber, my dreams danced between fragmented memories and glimpses of the shinobi world. Shadows of battles, faces I couldn't recognize, and a pervasive feeling of foreboding haunted my subconscious.