Rebirth

Bullshit.

That was the only word that could describe my current situation. Complete and utter bullshit.

You're probably wondering right about now, what could've possibly happened? Well, I died. That's what fucking happened. I died. And I'm well beyond pissed. Now before you say anything hear me out, I'm not upset at the fact THAT I died. I'm upset at HOW and WHY I died.

It could've been anything, from a car accident to a bank robbery gone wrong. Hell, even falling down the god damn stairs was something that I would take. But no. I was killed over a fucking Arizona Iced Tea. A god damn drink. Let that sink in.

Now before you get confused and ask too many questions, let's run it back a little bit so I can explain everything a little bit better.

My name is, or was, Jaylin Michaels, I was a recent high school graduate and fresh off of my 19th birthday. I had a decent job working at a foot locker with good pay and quite a few close friends that I hung out with on my off days.

I wasn't that bad looking honestly, just your average 6'2 dark skin boy with dreads and a nice face. I was usually a reserved and nonchalant person, choosing to stick to myself and my friends majority of the time.

There were rarely any times that I would cause problems and I never really had any troubles with people. Minding your own business is a great thing really.

I just generally stayed out of the way and out of problems. So it really caught me by surprise, and pissed me off, when some fat fuck decided to run up on me and hold me at gun point for my Arizona tea. Something that would literally only cost you 99 cent at the gas station. See it had been a long day and it was way too hot for me to be dealing with something as stupid as this. But just the simple audacity of the man just pissed me off.

Now note that even though I'm a reserved person most of the time, I'm still a hot head who refuses to back down from any situation. So my first instinct, which was truly stupid in retrospect, was to talk shit because quite frankly I was pissed that someone was really trying to rob me for a 99 cent drink.

Honestly though, now that I think about it, I should've given him the drink. Because I didn't even get to finish my first insult before a bullet hit me in the neck and ended my life. Dead at age 19, over an Arizona Ice Tea. What a shitty way to die to be honest.

I really should've listened to my cousin when he said not to move to Florida. Because of that I'm now stuck floating in this dark abyss by my lonesome while some sweaty dickhead drinks my tea.

Where the hell did I come to anyways?

My initial reaction upon coming here was to try and look around but I soon discovered that I had no body, something that freaked me out for a little while. It seemed like the only thing that I had left in this abyss was my consciousness, something that I could feel slowly eroding away as the time flew by.

Time.

A concept that I was slowly losing sight of. Being surrounded by an eternal expanse of darkness gives you nothing to tell the time with, which I soon lost track of. It could've been days or months since my death. Hell it could've even been years, and I would've never known.

The fact that I couldn't recall how long I've been stuck in here was slowly driving me over the edge. Wearing down my mental defenses, leaving me vulnerable to the voids influence. I could feel it too, The Void, grabbing and pulling at my consciousness. Trying to consume me completely. Fighting it off was a struggle, a battle that was never ending. It was maddening.

I could hear it's whispers in the back of my head, the hushed tones hard to make out but there me. Tormenting me. Slowly but surely leaving its mark on my psych. My very soul.

My sanity, or what was left of it, was only held together by the few memories of my life that I had left. Flashes of my friends, my family, and all of my favorite shows and games and favorite past times surfaced to the forefront of my mind. Keeping me grounded in this darkness. Keeping me sane. Barely stopping the void from fully tainting my psyche.

When I finally thought I was gonna lose my mind and be consumed by the void I saw it. I finally saw it.

Light.

I could see it, just barely. A light, small, but still there nonetheless in the distance. It was like a tiny speck in this vast sea of darkness. I could feel my consciousness slowly coming back to me as the light in the distance grew bigger.

With it my senses were slowly returned to me too. I could finally feel myself in a body again, although a tight constricting force was currently surrounding myself. I felt a tug on my body and the light grew even brighter. From the light I could hear muffled sounds, similar to voices if I was hearing it right. The light suddenly grew brighter and brighter until eventually I had to close my eyes, letting out a wail of surprise.

Feeling something large grab me caused my eyes to open up to a blurry site, a large unknown blob holding me up and speaking fast and aggressively in a strange language followed by a solid smack to my brand new ass. In my defense, I did not scream at all.

———

Pain shot through my body like lightning, shrouding my senses and clouding my vision. But still I crawled on endlessly, slowly dragging my limp body through the blood soaked mud. My breath came out in rasps as I struggled to pull myself forward, I had to escape, I had to get out of here. I needed to get back home.

I struggled against the weight of my mud soaked armor, making little progress due to it. But I didn't let that stop me, I couldn't let that stop me. I can't die here, I won't die here, not when the tree line was so close. Salvation.

Suddenly I was knocked out of my thoughts and my painful journey came to an abrupt halt as a Sandal clad foot slammed into the back of my head, forcing my face into the mud painfully. 'No no NO! Not like this… I was so close…' I wasn't close at all.

"Now where do you think you're going..." came a deep exhausted voice. Pushing my head up slightly, I managed to slip a quick look at the person holding me down and my eyes turned blank as I let my head drop in defeat. It's over for me now.

Any struggles came to a halt as the man above me continued to speak, raising a blade as he did so, "You're going the wrong way boy... That's the direction of my home."

I wish I never came here. I wish I was back home.

The man above flipped me over onto my back roughly sending another searing hot bolt of pain through my body. Tears streamed down my face and a soft sob slipped out as the tip of his Katana hung ominously over my face waiting to drop.

I should've listened to my family when they said not to enlist. I should've just stayed at the mine.

The man pointed to the south and my gaze trailed after gazing at the vast mountains. Mountains I once called home. A forlorn look covered my face and I struggled to reach out a hand. Reach out to my family that I knew I'd never see again.

"Your home boy… is over there."

I wi-

Squelch

———

The man let out a tired sigh as he removed his blade from the head of the boy. A boy who couldn't have been no older than 14. Not too surprising to see nowadays. With how turbulent the times are it's quite common to see children on the battlefield.

A hand landed on his shoulder pulling him from his thoughts and the man looked back to see a young boy standing behind him, armor clad and caked with mud and blood. "Lord Sozen we've received news from home... Lady Amai... She didn't make it…" His voice trailed off and his eyes looked away for a brief moment before continuing with a small smile, "The baby however did. Lady Amai gave birth to a healthy baby boy, a lively one if the message was anything to go by."

The older man closed his eyes for a second and sighed deeply. The news of his wife's demise saddened him greatly but the news of having a healthy boy managed to alleviate those feelings, if only a little.

Sozen opened his eyes and the amber colour sparked with a hidden flame, he swung his blade ridding it of the blood and sheathed it smoothly, "I'll stay here with the others and round up all the injured and prisoners. Head back to camp and give the order to break down. It's time to head home."

The young man stood straight and saluted with his right fist over his chest, "As you wish Lord Sozen." And promptly vanished.

—————

I was a baby again. That honestly came as a huge shock to me. Apparently that light I saw and that constricting force I felt was me being born again, something I really... really... want to forget. And that blob holding me up was apparently the family nurse or something. Putting those thoughts to the side though, being reborn was something I honestly didn't expect.

I truly thought I would be stuck in that Void forever, and that thought scared me. I could still feel the after effects of the voids influence in the back of my mind, whispering away. I'd rather not deal with that for all eternity, I would've went mad.

It was hard getting used to my new life at first, but I learned to make do. The first thing I learned was that I wasn't in my time period anymore. Based on the paper sliding doors, wooden cradles, tatami mats, and overall old vibe. I was somewhere in ancient Japan. What really pushed that point home were the copious amount of kimono wearing servants running around.

Another thing that proved my point were the diapers I wore. That's right. I have to wear diapers once more. The shame I felt every time I shit or piss on myself was unbearable. But instead of the normal polymer diapers of my time, I was wrapped up in cloth.

I couldn't wait to walk so I could use a proper toilet. I was tired of being changed and wiped, it was humiliating.

But besides all of that, I haven't really been able to gather much else information on my situation. Being trapped in this infantile body makes it hard to get around. But one thing I have noticed was my lack of parental contact.

I've met the many servants that attend to me, and from time to time I've seen two children come visit me. I could only assume that they're my older brothers. But despite being here for nearly 3 months I have yet to meet either of my parents, something that was very concerning. But then again if the servants running around are any indication I must be of noble lineage. So they're probably just very busy and haven't had the time to see me.

Typical of the nobility of this time, I think.

Soon a small yawn escaped from my mouth cutting off my inner monologue, I could feel my mind getting hazy. I forgot that infants get tired quickly. Most of my days are spent sleeping and laying around doing nothing. What a way to live. My eyes slowly started closing and I let out a light sigh, another nap. Great.

Another few months pass by and I've reached 7 months old. I recently started crawling much to my surprise, I don't know if infants start crawling this soon but the fact that I'm mobile now keeps my mind off that thought. The servants seemed to be happy that I was moving around on my own though, they even started taking me to a play pen now to keep me entertained.

It was there though that I got a first glimpse into what my world may be, and honestly I don't know whether I should be scared or excited. Instead of the traditional toys one might find, my play area was littered with wooden kunai and shuriken. Of course there were some blocks and wooden figures laying around, but the kunai and shuriken stood out more.

Now what world besides the Naruto world would have their children playing with weapons from a young age. And if that wasn't enough I had guards, yes actual armed guards, posted outside of the building that housed my play area.

Now this is where I felt fear. The guards weren't wearing ordinary Jonin or Chunin outfits like I would've thought. No. They wore traditional armor, similar to samurai. The kind of armor I've only seen Madara and Hashirama wear. That is what scared me.

Over the years I've read my fair share of fanfictions and web novels, something I've kept to myself really. That meant that I was already hip to the Isekai genre, it was my favorite after all. So I wasn't really all that surprised to be isekai'd. Was kind of hoping for it on the low.

But seeing that I was obviously in the time of the warring clans instead of the hidden villages however, did surprise me. Greatly. But surprise wasn't the only emotion I felt. Fear and excitement, I felt both. Though I didn't let them fully overwhelm me. There were pros and cons to this situation of mine, but the pros probably outweighed the cons.

Crawling over to the set of blocks I spotted in the corner I grabbed them all and started making a pros and cons pile. Starting with the cons, obviously the first being I was in the warring states era. Given this fact I also didn't know what time frame I was in either, for all I know Hashirama and Madara might not be born for a while. Or they could've been born already, who knows.

Now with that being said this is also a dangerous time period, so I'd have to work extra hard just to survive compared to the other time periods I could've been born in.

This is where we lead off into the pro's list.

Considering the time period I have no reason to hide my strength whatsoever, seeing as Danzo's slimy ass hasn't been born yet, so I don't have to train in secrecy.

I could potentially use jutsu from the future that I remember considering none of its creators will be alive for possibly a few centuries. But that's only if I'm even capable of recreating them. For all I know I could be shit at Ninjutsu. Guess I'll shelve that thought for later.

And finally, many of the threats I'd have to be wary of in the future, now don't exist. Or won't exist for quite a while, besides zetsu but he won't cause any problems. I hope.

At that thought however I dropped the blocks. None of the threats of the future will be born yet and I'm in a time period with none of the other characters either. The cogs in my head started to turn until a grin formed on my face. With no main or side characters I could do as I please.

So early on in the show, I could change the flow of history with no one here to stop me.

A childish giggle (read: evil laugh) escaped my lips and I clapped my hands in joy drawing the attention of the attendants who only smiled and cooed my way. Damn childlike body ruining my moments. I could only grumble before returning to my thoughts.

Most of the stories I read back in my old life had characters who wanted to do nothing but keep the main story in check, make sure events played out and always follow the plot. But I won't follow that. I have no need.

No instead I'll just make this story my own, I'll become a force so strong my name will be written in legends and remembered until the end of time. I clenched my tiny fist and smirked. A powerful force indeed.

"Awww his serious face is just so adorable!"

Curse this baby body.

————///—

An: Had to repost the story because it got blocked. But everything should be good now. This is just a little project of mine to help me improve my writing before I start on other projects. Make sure to vote and leave powerstones