Few months had passed since Konoha had been devastated by the attack of the Nine-Tails, and it had been quite the event—and tragedy. The village still carried the scars, and in many cases, open wounds which would probably take a lot of years to heal.
Rebuilt walls stood where entire districts had once been erased. The scent of fresh timber and plaster lingered in the air, mingling with sothing far less tangible—grief. The morial stone had added quite a few nas in the past couple of months, including the na of one significant figure in the shinobi world.
The 4th Hokage.
But as they say—life moves on.
In a quieter part of the village, away from the main roads and reconstruction zones, stood a modest ho belonging to the Amagi family.
Inside, the atmosphere was anything but quiet.
"Breathe, Hana, breathe—slowly!"
"I am breathing, you idiot—stop panicking!"
"I'm not panicking!"
"You're sweating like you just fought an S-rank mission!"
"That's because this is an S-rank mission!"
"You have never been to an S-rank mission!"
"…Details!"
The argunt would have been amusing—if not for the intensity behind it.
Daichi Amagi, a standard chunin of Konoha, stood utterly out of his depth. He had faced rogue shinobi, completed escort missions through dangerous terrain, and survived the chaos of the Nine-Tails' attack. But none of that prepared him for this mont.
His wife, Hana Amagi, lay on the futon. Unlike her husband, Hana was a dical-nin—a skilled one at that. Under normal circumstances, she would have handled a situation like this with practiced calm. And she did have help—though right now, it clearly wasn't enough for her liking.
A midwife and an older dical kunoichi knelt beside her, guiding her through the process with steady voices.
"Good, Hana. You're doing well," the older woman said. "Just a little more."
Daichi hovered nearby like a particularly useless bodyguard.
"Daichi," Hana snapped between breaths, "if you keep walking like that, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."
"I—right. Sorry."
He froze. Then awkwardly sat down. Then stood up again.
"I don't know what to do!"
"Sit. Down."
"Yes, ma'am."
(He sat down. This ti, he stayed down. Progress.)
Daichi's breath hitched.
Hana collapsed back against the futon, utterly spent, but her lips curved into a faint smile as the midwife carefully lifted the child.
"It's a boy," she said warmly.
The baby's cries filled the room—stronger than one would expect. Tiny fists clenched, face scrunched in protest at being brought into a world that he definitely did not give consent to.
Daichi stepped forward slowly, almost hesitantly.
"Can I…?" he asked.
The midwife nodded, gently placing the child into his arms. And just like that, the seasoned chunin looked utterly terrified.
"He's so small…" Daichi whispered.
"That's because he's a baby, Daichi."
"I know that, I just—what if I drop him?!"
"You won't."
(He absolutely looked like soone who might.)
Dark hair—barely there, but visible. A small face that would one day grow into sothing unknown. His breathing steadied, tiny chest rising and falling with life that felt… miraculous.
"You… you did it…" Daichi said.
"Yes," she murmured. "We did."
The words put a smile on Daichi's face, though he never thought he did anything worthwhile for the birth of their first child, especially at a ti of huge upheaval. He had taken only two missions since his wife got pregnant, and even those stopped after the attack, as directed by the Third Hokage for internal peace and security.
His wife saying that he too had contributed to the birth of their beloved child did put a huge smile on his face.
"What should we na him?" Daichi asked.
"Rei."
Daichi blinked. "Rei…?"
Daichi looked down at the child again.
Rei.
"…Rei Amagi," he repeated, testing the na.
The baby shifted slightly in his arms, letting out a small sound—almost as if acknowledging it.
(It was either that or a complaint. Hard to tell.)
"It suits him."
1 year later
The winter had co and gone, and with it, so of the sharper edges of grief that had once gripped Konoha began to dull. And in a modest ho tucked away from the busier streets, sothing unusual was quietly unfolding.
At just six months old, Rei Amagi did not behave like other children. At first, it had been small things.
"He's… very attentive," Hana had said one evening, watching her son lie quietly on his futon instead of fussing like most infants. She had taken care of babies before in the hospital as part of her dical training, thus she had a good idea of what she was watching.
"That's good, right?" Daichi asked.
At the ti, they had both believed so.
By eight months, it beca harder to ignore. Rei didn't babble—he observed.
Dark eyes followed movent with unsettling precision. When Hana worked with herbs or dical supplies at ho, his gaze lingered—not randomly, but deliberately, as if tracking each step of her process.
At nine months, Rei stood. Not stumbled. Not wobbled. He stood.
Daichi had nearly dropped the cup he was holding when he walked into the room and saw his son gripping the edge of a low table, legs steady.
"Hana."
Both of the parents were now watching the child, who seed to carry himself quite differently.
By ten months, he walked. There was no clumsy trial-and-error most children displayed. Rei moved like soone who had already understood the concept before attempting it.
Daichi crouched a few feet away, arms open.
"Co on, Rei. Co to ."
Rei looked at him. Paused. Then walked forward—one step, two, three—before stopping just short of his father's reach. Not because he couldn't go further.
But because he chose not to.
"You're going to give your old man a heart attack at this rate," Daichi laughed nervously, scooping him up anyway.
Rei didn't laugh. He simply looked at him. If one could discern any aning behind his look, one would understand that Rei wanted to say:
"I am an adult. I would not like to be scooped by a grown man."
Yup. Rei Amagi was a transmigrator. If it wasn't stated before, then it was ti for it to be made clear. Rei had been aware of his surroundings at around five months after his birth. He thanked the gods for not giving him awareness in the womb itself.
Now that would be quite the tragedy.
But right now, Rei was anything but jolly. There was a reason why he hardly cried—because he hardly laughed either. He might smile once or twice seeing the antics of his parents, but in his mind, he was already trying to find ways to save himself from this disaster of a world.
It didn't take long for Rei to understand which world he was in, nor that he did not give consent to being born here. He had been quite a successful "nerd" in his previous life.
Born and brought up in the USA, graduated from NYU with a degree in Marketing, and eventually landed a job in a growing startup in San Diego. His parents were quite wealthy, and thus he didn't have to struggle with student loans or even searching for a job. His parents had all the connections.
(Not that he complained back then. He absolutely would complain now.)
Not that he ever gave anyone any reason to doubt his ethical or moral compass. He had always been straightforward in his previous life and spent most of his free ti watching movies, ani, and series—anything to take him away from reality.
And now that he was far away from his "reality," he didn't know what to feel. He was terrified and also excited. He was sad for his parents, who lost their beloved and successful (as his dad used to say) child, but also excited for what was to co.
Or rather—how to survive in this world.
5 years later
"Happy Birthday to you."
"Happy Birthday to you."
"Happy Birthday to my dear Rei… Happy Birthday to you."
"Mom, can you not smother so much?"
"Hahaha… Your cheeks are so squishy! Of course I want nothing more than to kiss them and touch them."
This made Rei roll his eyes, making the couple laugh out loud.
Today, Rei was 5 years old. Five years since he had been in this world. He was glad that he was born in the sa ti as Naruto, which ant he and Naruto would go to the sa Academy.
Though his parents lauded him as so kind of genius, he knew full well that his genius level was only at an intellectual level. He didn't know if he had any affinity for chakra, so he wasn't proud or arrogant despite his parents hailing him as the best child in all of Konoha history.
Yeah… they were dramatic that way.
Having Naruto as his fellow age-colleague ant he knew exactly what plot was going to follow and thus knew when to act and how to act—provided there wasn't a massive butterfly effect from him.
(Which, considering he existed, was already debatable.)
As he was going through different thoughts, his mind suddenly seed to gain access to a kind of mory…
That he never had before.
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