1 Gary Stue or not

I was never quite sure how exactly it happened, but before I knew it my life as a normalish fifteen year old was gone and the sweet oblivion of being blind for months set in.

As I tried to move my body I realized that it was not truly my own, starting with the fact that I could feel my rather underdeveloped fingers, months later I was greeted with air...

The rest was a blur as I began wailing and passed out shortly. The following morning I realized with great fascination that yesterday had been my birthday.

And so I smiled a cute babyish smile and then I was struck with a terrifying thought, I did not know the language of these people, and they did not know mine.

Of course I never considered that my tiny little brain was well suited for learning new languages. However when a day later that thought came I was pleasantly surprised that it was a language I had the minutest knowledge of, Japanese.

Of course this left the question of where and more importantly when I was; I had noticed that the clothing was far from modern.

Naturally I also recognized the most significant problem I was faced with, reading. Well, that could wait I supposed, I was very tired.

In my previous life, as I would now call it, I had never thought myself physically powerful, beyond a few pride filled moments where I bested wimps my age. Still, I certainly didn't know anything combat related, something I had every intention of rectifying. After all, fighting was cool, wasn't it?

So in light of my new found enthusiasm, I rolled over in my little crib and began a frightfully pitiful attempt at a push-up. I looked at my fat filled pudgy arms in unhidden contempt as I began to think of a way out of this dilemma.

I realized with growing frustration that I had no way but to wait.

1 Year Later

Let it never be said that I cannot learn a new language, for I have proven the naysayers wrong! Idiocy aside, I felt somewhat proud of my new-found ability to communicate. I had learned, by now, that Haha was Haha and Chichi was Chichi, I had not yet discovered what their given names were.

My own name, I had known for months now, was Nanashi, or as Haha put it, Nana-chan. Though it sounded rather girlish if I had to say, Nana-chan, not Nanashi.

Recently I had also discovered I had an older brother with whom I shared a large age gap. His name was ... nii-san. Rather embarrassingly I did not have knowledge of his given name either.

Well, names and family aside, I had made excellent headway in my private push-up contest, as my rather impressive four can attest to. Of course, I was shooting for at least 300 in ten years or so, admittedly, I was rather incapable of pressuring myself to such an extent, so I hoped that my family would goad me on, well, I did now. Doubtlessly if they did, it would irk my less than saintly temper.

My vocabulary was still woefully limited but I could speak now, somewhat.

I was rather eager to begin eating solid food, albeit the awkwardness of the current situation was limited, and it did much to convince me that I had a loving mother, but still, eating was eating. I must say I am curious as to what real Japanese food tastes like.

1 year later, 3 days after my second Birthday

I have now been officially weaned, that is, I now eat only real food, such as rice and chicken.

Progress with my exercises has been woefully slow, but I have made sure to stretch to my fullest extent and beyond every day that I may grow up limber. I've also taken up sit-ups and jumping.

My world is still quite small as I have not yet ventured out into the wide expanse of green that is the outdoors without being held in someone's arms. Visitors have been very few, aside from my brother, mother, and father, only a few older looking men who came to do naught more than look at me.

My growth has been slow, but I expect that within two years my size will have at least doubled.

I have not yet discovered a mirror so all I know about myself is the size of my appendages and the color of my hair, which is dark, as opposed to my blonde hair in my previous life.

Father is a stern man if I were to describe him; his hair is a dark brown, slightly lighter than my own. His height is no taller than 5' 9" but he could be a couple inches shorter, my new size makes measurement difficult.

Mother is nice, a kind voice of unwavering support to my whole family.

Nii-san takes after father, but he is more proud, I get the impression that my Chichi was like him but then something happened that humbled him somewhat. In any case my brother's temper is shorter than fathers, although neither often gets angry in my presence.

My life was simple at this point, little more to do then explore the expansive house, exercise, eat and sleep.

The reason for my main disappointment was the lack of reading material I had discovered, not, I suppose that I could read it even if I did, which brings up an excellent point. Ask and you shall receive.

And so I found my mother.

"Haha, can you teach me to read?" I asked boldly.

She smiled, "Of course Nana-chan, let's go find a book I can teach you with."

I never was an expert on baby development, but if wanting to read at two is not normal, she was not the one to tell me. Perhaps they expected such things from their children? Or was nii-san a genius perhaps? Well, I am unconcerned.

Being taught to read a new language that I did not yet even speak wholly well was a daunting, if not exciting, task. Over the months that I learned to read I constantly dreaded writing these letters... I mean really, five strokes of a brush? However did the people here find the patience for it? Nevertheless literacy is important, if you can't read you can get cheated pretty easily.

3 years and 1 month old

"Nanashi, it is time to begin your training." My father said.

"In what?" Was my impudent reply.

"The shinobi way, an Uchiha who cannot fight is not an Uchiha at all." He replied without hesitation.

I forced myself to calm down, over three years I may have forgotten certain things, but, if someone mentions something I recognize I'll know it. So I was an Uchiha? That explained nii-sans and Chichi's dark eyes.

"Indeed." Was my short reply, I could not say anything more wordy. For what if the massacre was tonight, or even in the next few years? My will to live was stronger than ever, Itachi would not kill me.

I followed father to one of the Uchiha clan's training grounds. A wide open area with six, eight foot tall, wooden poles a couple hundred feet away.

"Attack me." He said simply.

I thought hard for a bit, and then I lay down in the short grass.

"Nanashi." He said warningly.

"Attack me." He ordered with a hint of anger, obviously he valued obedience. When I refused to answer he began calmly walking toward me.

I swallowed my palpable fear and waited till he was directly above me. Then as fast as my young muscles could I launched up from the ground, throwing a flimsy punch at the groin as I did so. Father easily caught my hand almost a foot before it should have impacted. Well... not unexpected.

I looked up wordlessly at my father's face, he smiled.

"Good. Continue." He said, not releasing my arm.

In less than a second I had my plan, as fast as I could I grabbed his hand with my much smaller one and swung my legs at his knee. Still perfectly balanced despite my full weight on his outstretched arm, he released my arm and shook me of, causing me to land awkwardly on my bottom.

I somersaulted backwards and then took my best rendition of a boxer stance. Then I opened my left fist and made the come here motion.

Faster than I could react he grabbed my arms, twisted them behind my back and sent me sprawling face first into the dirt.

"Ow." Was what I matter of factly said.

"You are weak." He said.

"I'm three, and you're what?" I asked, "A ninja." I answered for him.

"Indeed, you could not win from the very start."

"It was a test, winning isn't the goal." I respectfully retorted.

"The point was to show you your own weakness, tell me Nanashi, do you like losing?" He inquired seriously.

"No." I answered calmly.

"Good, I'll show you the scrolls you can access."

I silently nodded, mentally noting that I really needed to read up on chakra.

I followed father into a small library that was, classically, hiding behind the tapestry.

"Until you can use Katon: Great Fireball, this will be the limit of your studies." He informed me, and then exited.

There was a large window on the far wall that provided light. There were several books and numerous scrolls in this room. I am surprised that father let me into the library so early, perhaps he knows of my like for reading?

Well, for now I needed something useful. I looked first at the books, How to Train Fire Chakra, was useless for now. Pre-academy Chakra sounded basic enough, but let's keep looking. Nin, Tai or Gen, How to know what to Focus on seemed somewhat over my head and also slightly like a 'if you're like this Genjutsu is all you'll ever excel in' type. History of the Uchiha Clan sounded somewhat interesting for later perusal, the rest were history or more advanced material.

So Pre-academy Chakra it was.

No one has ever truly discovered what chakra is, however for many years it has been understood, yet unproven, that chakra is made up of a person's physical energy, affected by their physical size and muscle mass. The other side of chakra is the spiritual side, affected by a person's strength of will and mental prowess.

Accessing chakra for the first time can be exhausting or completely harmless. Don't worry about it as unless it causes pain you probably don't have a problem. The first step is concentration, to find something that you have only had described to you can be difficult. You'll want to find somewhere that doesn't have too many loud sounds for this.

Well, it was helpful I guess. I assumed my amateurish meditation pose and sought my energy. If Naruto fan fictions were to be believed I should try to feel deep down and then pull. But I had a different understanding, chakra was everywhere... it was energy within one's self, that could be directed and controlled with a mere thought. And so I gathered up my energy and then sent it down my arm and into my hand where it would be expelled. I wriggled my now slightly glowing fingers in absolute amazement, call it magic, call it chakra, but it was real!

The glow faded as I had stopped directing chakra to my hand, I now realized that my hand was slightly tingling, less severe than if it had fallen asleep, but still, interesting. I was marginally more tired now as well, but still I felt up for more. Once again I gathered up my chakra, then sent it down my other hand, telling my energy to keep running to my left hand I tested something.

To my intense disappointment my hand was no stronger than before. I looked at the book, remembered my spot and left the little library.

I stretched my arms out and then reached down and put my palms to the ground before kicking as high as I could. I was surprised to learn how much time had passed, as well as by the wonderful smell from the kitchen. Sukiyaki was truly a wonderful dish.

"Haha." I greeted my mother.

"Nii-san, Chichi."

"Otouto." My elder brother replied shortly.

"Nanashi, I trust you found something useful to read?"

"Hai." I answered, and then showed my new-found glowing hand off for inspection.

"Hn." Was his reply, well good to know you're an Uchiha for real huh?

My nii-san simply watched with interest as I stopped channeling my chakra.

After eating, my young body was read to rest and so I retreated to my crib, only to find it gone and in its place a futon. So, training begins and you get a bed, mat, whatever? I'm not complaining.

Bright and early my father woke me, watching as I went through my short wake-up stretches. When I finished he said "Come" and so I followed him out to the training grounds.

"As you know Nanashi, I am a busy man. As much as I regret not being able to personally teach you, I simply to do not have the time. As such, most of what you learn will be from reading and..." He gestured to a brown-haired Uchiha who had a three-tomoe sharingan spinning. The man was slightly taller than my father and had a respectably toned appearance.

"This is Uchiha Hiroshi; you will call him Hiroshi-sensei and do as he says." Fathers tone left no room for question.

I inclined my head very slightly, "Hiroshi-sensei, please take care of me."

"A pleasure to meet you, Nanashi-kun."

Chichi turned and succinctly left us alone.

I've never been much of a people person, keeping to my family in this life and the last.

Hiroshi waited until father had gone beyond Ninja hearing distance before turning to me in earnest.

"First we'll see just how capable you are." He then instructed me to do push-ups, followed by sit-ups.

"Good." His tone gave nothing away.

"I understand that you have already accessed your chakra, as such we'll begin with the Leaf Sticking Exercise. The goal is to stick a leaf to any location on your body." He walked a few hundred feet and procured a number of leaves before returning with the Shunshin.

"Too little and the leaves will fall off, too much and you'll either destroy them or blow them away."

The leaves had already been deposited on the ground in front of me. I picked one up, put it on my hand, and then channeled chakra to said hand. To my frustration when I turned my hand over the leaf fell right off.

Picking it back up I tried to tell my chakra to grab the leaf, with limited success. However it held, if only for a moment, I suppose there is a reason this is a control exercise.

"When you complete that exercise, come and let me know, I live two houses to the left of your own."

Well, the hands off training method works fine for me too. I spent hours before I could consistently hold a single leaf to my hand. I then moved my stiff body until I broke into a run going in circles in the short grass of the training ground.

Now the thing to do was, of course, to stick multiple leaves at once. Disappointingly I turned hungry long before I could complete this little challenge. I walked home rather sluggishly, my tiny body worn out from chakra depletion.

I eagerly ate the meal mother made for me, and though it was only afternoon I retired to bed.

Early in the morning I woke up, well rested from plentiful hours of sleep. One curious thing about Naruto-verse was the fact that fridges existed. I, however, did not complain since it gave us the ability to keep food relatively fresh for far longer than would otherwise be possible.

Snacking on what I could find, I began my morning exercise. After travelling twice to the training ground I was confident I could do it alone. And so I did.

Picking up the leaves where I had left off I again tried, this time focusing on the concept of adhesion I succeeded, in due time, in sticking two leaves to one hand, but not one leaf to each hand.

In a week I had sufficiently trained in the exercise to stick a leaf to my bare foot. I considered this enough to say I had completed the exercise, since the bottom of the foot is considered the hardest place to channel chakra.

I went to the house two houses to the left of my own.

I knocked twice, "Hiroshi-sensei, I'm done." I informed.

The light-brown haired Uchiha answered the door shortly, "Let's see it."

It was fortunate I had expected this and brought leaves. I removed my sandal and stuck a leaf to my foot, then held it up for inspection.

Hiroshi nodded, "I see you are done."

I looked at him expectantly.

"Put your sandal on; meet me at the same training ground we first met at." So saying he Shunshined into the distance.

"I need that jutsu." I said as I tied my sandal back on, running all the way to the training ground.

"Now we'll go through the Kata's for the interceptor style."

He took the first stance which I copied to the best of my ability. He walked over, correcting discrepancies in my stance. Doing the same we went over all the Kata's slowly once we had done each three times over Hiroshi looked at his watch.

"Lunch time, kid. Run along."

"You aren't eating with us?"

"Kid, I haven't eaten with anyone but myself for years."

"Then you should come, I'm sure mother won't mind."

He smiled, "Whatever kid, let's get going."

I smiled back as we walked together to my place; he was limiting his own speed in deference to me. I looked ruefully down at my tiny legs, willing them to grow with zero success.

"If you ever want to practice your Kata's but can't remember what they all are..."

"Yes?"

"You should be able to find the scroll for it in your little library." So either he knows about it some other way or father trusts him enough to tell him, not that anything sensitive is in there.

"Arigato." Was my brief reply.

Three months later

"Come." My sensei told me.

And so I did, with all the ferocity and cunning in my almost three and a half year old body. The interceptor style is really much weaker without the Sharingan, not that I could beat a full grown man with it in any case.

I had been sparring with Hiroshi-sensei for two months now and I am proud to be his student. Father has checked on my progress twice, making no negative comment so I can only assume approval.

My tolerance to pain has increased, not surprising, given that I go home with bruises every day. Today is the day I'll start reading How to Train Fire Chakra having already completed the somewhat thin Pre-academy Chakra.

I like to think that I've made good progress in my clan's taijutsu style but I know I have a very long way to go. Being humble is something I try to do every day.

I've found the ignorance of my current time frustrating, to say the least. Itachi hasn't been mentioned nor are we all dead yet, so I'll hope for the best.

Uninterestingly enough my dislike for tomatoes has carried over from my increasingly insignificant first life.

I suppressed a yell as I lunged at Hiroshi-sensei with my right hand, he deflected it with the back of his own and I quickly disengaged, knowing that a straight from his left hand was coming next.

As soon as he had committed to his counter I reengaged with a sweeping left kick that left me completely open. As was soon evidenced by the fact that he stuck his right leg under my kicking left and knocked me completely off balance.

I quickly did a backwards vault, kicking out with my legs to keep my opponent at bay. Hiroshi-sensei dived in after, plowing through my guard and smashing his shoulder against my chest.

I feel onto my rear rubbing, the spot that would no doubt turn dark with an angry bruise.

He offered his hand, I accepted and we began to go home for dinner.

"You still hold back a ridiculous amount." I informed him.

"If I didn't, you'd be dead."

"True" Was the only answer I could muster.

After eating with us Hiroshi-sensei left to his own place.

I brought my dirty plate to the kitchen along with my brother. As I handed him mine and he set both of ours in the sink I asked a question. It was hard to believe I didn't know this already.

"Nii-san, what's your given name?"

He raised his brow, "Fugaku, otouto, Fugaku."