2 2 Travel Arrangements

Sitting in the terminal, James received odd stares from kids and their parents. A few boys recognized his costume and gave him a thumbs up before being dragged away by their parents.

Glancing at the time, he smiled.

As the door to the passenger boarding bridge opened, a young woman at the terminal desk announced, "Now boarding first class" through the intercom with her sweet voice.

Without delay, James stood up and walked to the counter to get his ticket checked. After that, he boarded the plane and found his seat by the window, which was spacious with only one seat next to him. He wondered if someone would sit next to him and watched as other passengers walked to their seats.

After a few minutes, the coach passengers started to board. James released a breath of relief as the seat next to him remained empty.

"Just my luck, no strange looks from my seatmate this flight," he thought and pulled out his phone to ignore the passengers walking down the aisle.

Suddenly, a foul smell filled his nose. Looking to his right, he saw a morbidly obese man plop down into the seat.

James smiled and asked, "Excuse me, Sir, who's your favorite Naruto character? Someone of your size has to be a Naruto fan. A fifth of the people in my club were people of your size."

The obese man replied, "Naruto? That lame show? Freaking loser, look at yourself," spitting as he spoke. The fat on his face jiggled as he looked down on James.

James wiped the spit off his face and tried to calm down, thinking of his favorite fight scenes from the show. Meanwhile, the obese man felt proud of himself for shutting James up and started to play his favorite game on his laptop.

The man's fingers, large and meaty, hammered away at the keys of his laptop.

Few things bothered him as much as people looking down on the things he loved.

In his younger years, he had been a violent person who struggled to find a place where he fit in. Then, he discovered Toonami and anime, which resonated with him in a way nothing else had. Instead of getting into fights and staying out late, he would go home and watch anime. That was when he found Naruto and it changed his whole life.

The English episodes were too far behind, so he taught himself Japanese. Wanting to spread the joy of Naruto, he began adding English subtitles to help people like him who wanted to watch more episodes. Soon, he learned Mandarin, Spanish, and Russian to spread Naruto even further. If it weren't for Naruto, he didn't doubt for a second that he would be in jail, because even to this day, he struggled with a terrible temper.

After subbing the anime for a while, his love for words grew stronger, and he began reading the manga. Following the same trend, he began translating the manga as well, and the rest was history.

As he opened his eyes, a voice came over the intercom.

"Please fasten your seatbelts. We will begin takeoff."

Looking out the window, he caught his reflection and saw the frosty look on his face. The pavement below began moving at a rapid speed as the plane accelerated.

"Fus-Ro-Dah!" he heard the Fatman say, referring to a shout in the game Skyrim.

Glancing over, he noticed that the man was using the alternate start mod, but he wasn't upset about that. What bothered him was the fact that the man already had the full shout, which suggested he was using console commands.

As the plane took off and rapidly ascended, the turbulence grew increasingly severe. A flight attendant's voice came over the speaker to reassure the passengers that there was no need to panic.

Everyone's faces began to show panic, and even the fat man looked worried. The flight attendant's voice provided some temporary relief until air masks suddenly dropped from the overhead compartments.

"AhhhahhhHha" Shrieks and screams began to fill the plane.

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard. James looked out the window and saw that the left-wing engine had exploded, and half the plane was on fire.

As James reached up to grab his mask, the fat man grabbed his wrist and begged for help. "You HAVE to help me!! I can't put on my mask! You're supposed to help your neighbor first! I'm disabled!!" Spit flew out of the man's mouth and drenched James's face.

Just as James was about to lose his temper, the plane exploded again. The laptop fell on his lap and got caught in his hat as the plane began to spiral towards the ground.

James quickly unbuckled the man's seatbelt and pushed him out of the seat as the plane spun out of control. The man was flung around the plane like a pinball, and death cries spilled from his mouth.

As the G-forces stripped James's consciousness, he listened to the blood-curdling screams and bit his teeth. His hands began forming seals, and a smile formed on his face.

"For my last jutsu," a weak voice escaped his mouth, as he found it hard to breathe. Holding up his right hand, he pointed his middle and index fingers up while his thumb held down his other fingers into the shape of a fist. "Flying Thunder God."

As his voice faded, the plane crashed into the ground and exploded into a brilliant ball of fire.

James's consciousness began to flicker, and he realized he was alive. He tried to move his body and wondered if the jutsu had worked, transporting him back to his apartment where he left his mark.

Noticing that he couldn't move, he tried to open his eyes but realized he couldn't. All he could see was darkness, a never-ending void.

"Did I crash and survive? But I feel no pain? Does that mean I snapped my spine?" As he began to panic, fog rolled into his view.

Bewildered by the fact that he could 'see' fog, he forgot that he couldn't move. "I'm not blind? Where am I? Is anyone there?!" He tried to yell at the top of his lungs but soon realized something.

"If I'm not blind, where is my body? Am I really even talking? Did I..." Soon a realization hit him. "Am I dead?"

The fog continued to fill the blackness slowly. He tried to will the fog to move, but nothing happened. All he could do was wait. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Days went by, and finally months.

After five months, the entire black space was filled with swirling fog. To pass the time, he went over everything he knew about Naruto, and because he was no longer limited by the constraints of a human body, he was able to recall every single detail.

During the seventh month, things began to change, and he started to hate Naruto because of all the plot holes and inconsistencies.

"If it were me, I'd write a better story."

During the eighth month, he started to feel rage. He was only 27 years old, too young to die like this. If he could do it all again, he'd live his life to the fullest with no regrets.

During the ninth month, he finally got his wish.

The fog began to twist and turn, forming images and words in the black void. Ninja clans spread throughout the lands, fighting and killing. Soon a few clans formed together and became a great power. Not wanting to be outdone, four more great powers formed together, creating the five great nations.

The village hidden in the leaves, Konohagakure, in the land of fire.

The village hidden in the sand, Sunagakure, in the land of wind.

The village hidden in the clouds, Kumogakure, in the land of lightning.

The village hidden in the rocks, Iwagakure, in the land of earth.

The village hidden in the mist, Kirigakure, in the land of water.

And with these great villages, the strongest ninjas became the Hokage, Kazekage, Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Mizukage. With individual ninja clans banding together, peace was restored.

To ensure peace, the first Hokage trapped eight of the nine tailed beasts and sold them to the other four nations in what would be called the first Kage summit.

But peace was a lie, as the majority of the shinobi clans gathered in one place, the scale of war only grew bigger. The first shinobi world war erupted between the five great nations, as well as the smaller nations. Fighting went on for years, the Kage began to die, but the fighting never stopped. Soon their successors, the second Kage, started to die as well.

After many years of battle, a peace treaty was finally signed, but not before every village suffered great damage.

However, peace turned out to be a falsehood as the majority of shinobi clans gathered in one place, and the scale of war grew even larger. The first Shinobi World War erupted between the five great nations, as well as smaller ones, and the fighting went on for years. The Kage began to die, but the battle never stopped, and soon their successors, the second Kage, started to die as well.

After many years of fighting, a peace treaty was finally signed, but not before every village suffered severe damage. However, peace between the great nations only lasted a short twenty years before war erupted again. Konohagakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and smaller nations started the Second Shinobi World War, while Kumogakure sat out the war as they were recovering from a rampage by the eight-tails beast. Kirigakure was undergoing a civil war, and despite being a united nation, all the separate islands saw themselves as their own major power.

The second war saw the birth of many heroes, but also many tragedies. Once again, the war ended with a treaty, but four short years later, war was once again looming.

[Character Creation]Choose your race:

Konohagakure

Sunagakure

Kumogakure

Iwagakure

Kirigakure

As the fog finally faded, it revealed a few words. James's breathing became completely haggard at this point, as the excitement he felt was completely overwhelming.

"Am I going to be reborn right before the Third Shinobi War??" he began to calm down. "If it's the year the war began, that means there are only around four years until the Nine-Tails attack. Itachi should be about one year old at this point, and Kakashi is eleven."

Looking at the choices, he began to smile. "I know everything about Konoha, even their secrets. If I go there, I can take advantage of my knowledge and live an easy life, but I won't be anything but a side character."

Examining his options, he 'reached' to select his choice.

[Selected race: Kirigakure]