Chapter 8 - My SI Stash #8 - Perseverance by okmangeez (Pre-Naruto)

-I don't really wanna spoil it but the SI will be in a team along with Shikamaru's father and Sasuke's Mother, I really liked how the MC gets stronger and stronger chapter by chapter! You will too.

Sypnosis: When my senses came to, I realized that I was no longer in my a.d.u.l.t body or bedroom. Instead, I was in the body of a seven year old kid that lived in Konoha, right before the outbreak of the Second Shinobi War. With no way back home, I decided that I was going to preserve and survive, even if it meant changing the future (OC Self Insert, Pairings will be revealed later).

Rated: T

Words: 52K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13304398/1/Perseverance

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Timeline of the Naruto Universe (timeline will diverge):

25 BN (Before Naruto)- OC is born.

24 BN - Minato, and Kushina are born

18 BN - OC's mind is transported from Earth

16 BN - Kushina comes to Konoha

14 BN - Second Shinobi War Begins

11 BN - Second Shinobi War Ends

7 BN - Uzushiogakure is destroyed

4 BN - Third Shinobi War begins

3 BN - Third Shinobi War ends

0 AN (After Naruto)- Naruto is Born

12 AN - Naruto is 12 (Beginning of Series)

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

- Lao Tzu

AN: Just a warning: the dialogue will sound awkward and rough in the beginning. I was trying to portray the awkwardness after Hiro's sudden transfer to a seven-year-old body, but I understand

the dialogue is very rough regardless. The writing does get better after Chapter 2, so please do

not be deterred or disinterested. Thank you so much for reading! :)

I died.

Just kidding, that would be an extremely cliche way to start off a story. Thankfully, that trope isn't used that often. Because if dying made you appear in another world, I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would attempt to kill themselves in order to escape their mundane lives on Earth.

What really happened was simple. On a perfectly average night, I silently prayed that I could escape my continuous cycle of working, sleeping, and resting on Earth. I was only twenty-four years old at the time, yet I was already getting tired of what life had to offer. Sure, I was still young and had decades remaining in my lifespan. Even so, I wanted to live somewhere with more action and adventure, a place where I couldn't predict what would happen the next day. I wasn't very religious, but I prayed to every deity that I knew of. As I finished praying, a voice in the back of my mind whispered gently, stating that my prayers would be granted.

I almost snorted at the imaginary voice in my head, but I asked which deity had answered my prayers instead of answering with a snarky response. The voice answered immediately and claimed that a deity from another world wanted my presence in his world.

Before I could come up with a smart ass response, my consciousness faded away. The last thing I saw during my final moments on Earth was an ordinary soccer poster hanging on my bedroom wall: an image that would replay in my mind whenever I experienced hell in the other world.

I woke up.

Another cliche way to start off a story, but that single action was what began my journey in the new world. Like a Chinese philosopher once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Now, what that quote didn't tell people was what would happen after that first step. The first step was always the easiest... the steps that followed? Not so much.

For me, the second step of my journey consisted of panicking at the fact that I was no longer in my comfortable bedroom in California. Instead, I was in a rather uncomfortable bed in a dimly lit room with a single window. Panic turned into horror as I looked down and realized that I was no longer in an a.d.u.l.t male body but in a tiny child's body. I would've freaked out very audibly if I didn't see several children sleeping around me.

Luckily I did, and I wisely kept my mouth shut to not wake up the others.

When I managed to calmly assess the situation, I saw that there were three other beds in my room. All the beds were occupied by boys that looked no older than eight years old. I continued to look around in order to find any clues that would help me identify where I was, but the room was fairly bare. The color of the walls was a dirty white and the ceiling had a single ceiling lamp that was turned off. I spotted a few pieces of furniture scattered throughout the room and a gray door to my right, but nothing in the room gave me any clues to my whereabouts.

After my quick sweep of the room, my eyes gazed out the small window that was filtering in light into the room. The sun was beginning to rise over the mountain that the window was facing. As the light grew brighter and brighter, my eyes recognized the familiar looking faces that were displayed on the cliff side. My head began to spin as I realized that I might have been sent to that world. Within half an hour, my suspicions were confirmed. The sun shone clearly on the stone faces that were sculpted onto the mountain, revealing the facial features of the first three Hokage.

Yes, I did mean three faces. I did read the entire Naruto manga series, and by now, I was aware that I was most likely in a time period before the original show. Much earlier, if the Fourth's face wasn't even up there yet. While I was a bit excited at the prospect of becoming a shinobi, I was also extremely terrified at the fact that if I did become a shinobi, I would most likely die at an old ripe age of 20, if not younger. To make things worse, any foreknowledge that I knew from the Naruto series that could have increased my chances of surviving was all but useless. Even though I did know what would happen in the future, much of the future that I knew of from the series was years off, if not decades. I knew bits and pieces of events that happened before the main series, but they were merely that: random pieces of information. The Naruto series was terrible at labeling specific dates on events before the main series, thus I had no idea what would happen to me in the immediate future.

But hey, this was what I wanted right?: an uncertain future, tons of adventure, and almost a bit too much action.

I sighed and I shifted out of bed, feeling a bit awkward controlling my new body. I flexed my hands and pinched my cheeks to make sure that this wasn't a dream. After confirming that I was in reality, or in a really vivid dream, I opened the door and trekked out of the room.

The door led me to a narrow hallway with numerous closed doors. The hallway was peacefully silent except for the sound of whispers that came out of several of the doors. I glanced at both sides of the hallway and spotted an open doorway with a bright light shining through. Feeling out of place, I cautiously approached the doorway and stepped through it.

I had half expected the room to be filled with more sleeping children, but I was surprised to discover a bright room littered with toys and books. Paintings drawn by children were strewn across the wall and even a small playground set was present inside the room. The room looked like it belonged in any typical daycare or kindergarten, which I hoped was the case. But I had just woken up in a room filled with other children and had witnessed the sunrise from where I had slept. That could only mean that I was in...

An orphanage.

Before I could take another step forward and come face to face with the reality of the situation, a voice spoke behind me. "Oh, Hiro! It's nice to see you awake so early this morning since you're never eager to wake up early! Are you excited for your first day at the Academy?"

The voice surprised the living hell out of me and I tumbled onto the floor. As I was getting up from the floor, I managed to get a clear view of the person that spoke to me. She was a pretty woman with jet black hair and emerald eyes. Her face showed signs of weariness and age, but she still looked a bit younger than forty years old. From the looks of her outfit, with her apron, Konoha headband, and a nametag that stated her name was "Aina," I concluded that she was a caretaker of this place. She chuckled as she helped me up and dusted my clothes. "Aren't you a bit jumpy today! You better not let any ninjas scare you from behind like that, or you won't be a very good ninja!"

She let out a small laugh at her own joke while I gave her a smile. The joke was pretty amusing and I knew that if what she was saying was correct, then I would be off to the famed ninja Academy in order to become a shinobi. Even though I realized that I didn't need to do anything in order to get into the Academy itself, I was extremely nervous attending the Academy right away. I didn't know anything about myself except for my name, I didn't know how to get to the Academy, I didn't know what time period I was in, and I didn't have any memories of my past "self." I didn't know if I was supposed to act like a brooding emo, a bright ray of sunshine, or just a very basic vanilla character. Thinking quickly, I opted to act like a normal, curious child until I could find out more about "myself."

"Aina-san, when am I supposed to go to the Academy again? I just woke up early because I didn't want to be late." I asked the caretaker, with my best childlike tone. The pitch of my voice was much higher than my usual voice, which annoyed me a bit.

Thankfully, the woman did not treat me with suspicion and instead answered my question, "You're supposed to be at the Academy by nine for the entrance ceremony. It seems like the Hokage himself is coming to welcome all of you into the Academy! As for getting there, I will walk you and the others to the Academy for the first week. Afterward, it is expected that you find the way to the Academy yourselves. You should be honored that he would come to visit you on your first day!"

The lady clapped her hands together as she looked at me with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I almost forgot! Since today will be your and your friends' first day at the Academy, I will be giving all of you some papers that will contain information about yourselves. Once you get to the Academy, you'll need to fill in some paperwork to be officially accepted. After all, we wouldn't want

someone as talented as you to be delayed from entering the Academy because of some paperwork! Here, Hiro, I'll give you yours first since you're already awake. Make sure to read it carefully and fill in the paperwork at the Academy correctly. Follow any and all instructions the instructors give you on your first day. We'll be leaving in about an hour and a half to the Academy, so go read over there while you wait!"

She handed me a small packet of papers and gestured to a small table in one of the corners of the room. I internally shrugged and sat down to read the packet that I was given, hoping that the information packet would give me a glimpse of my background. After reading the first few lines, I realized that for some miraculous reason, I was able to read kanji and also understand Japanese. It was as if I had a translation software in my brain, allowing me to comprehend a language I had no familiarity with before. I should've noticed that small fact when I read the caretaker's nametag and when I spoke with the woman, but my mind was reeling for a few minutes after the lady had scared me from behind. I thanked whichever deity had left me with the ability to read and understand Japanese and skimmed through the material.

My full name, according to the information packet, was Hiroyoshi Osato. A picture was stapled to the top left corner of the front page, revealing a small boy with brown hair and light green eyes. I became an orphan after my parents, both of whom were Chunin, were ambushed and killed in an attack by several Kumo ninjas. They were on a standard patrol on the border when a Kumo infiltration team surprised my parents and overwhelmed them. I was five years old at the time. My birthday was July 4th and I was currently seven years old. I snorted a bit when I saw my birthday, as it coincided perfectly with America's independence day. The rest of the packet did not contain any other useful information that I would need to completely assume my Hiroyoshi identity. The only other interesting information to note was that I had taken an aptitude test for the Academy and passed with very high marks. I had no idea what was on the test, but I had to assume that it wasn't a normal test, since the test was for future shinobi. Still, that did mean that I had to make an effort in the Academy and work hard in order to make sure that I maintained my image as a prospect with high potential.

Not that I was going to slack off or relax while I was living here. I was going to make sure to work hard to become a kick-ass shinobi and survive in this harsh world.

While I was reading the information at hand, I saw that several other kids that were going to attend the Academy had woken up and had greeted the caretaker. Aina greeted each and every child personally but repeated nearly word for word what she had said to me earlier, minus the surprise part. As I replayed her words over and over again, I realized that she emphasized and stated a lot of words that my mind hadn't noticed before. Her words were an attempt to make the kids feel special and privileged to enter the Academy. By doing so, the kids were more enthusiastic to go to the Academy and also less inclined to cause mischief or break discipline. Since most of the kids were around my age, they were most likely unaware of the grim realities of the shinobi world.

It also made sense why she had a Konoha headband. If she had a headband, that would mean that she was at least a Genin. She was most likely tasked to watch over the kids here not as a simple D-ranked mission, but to evaluate and to see if any of the kids within the orphanage had the potential to be a shinobi.

Realizing that the caretaker was underhandly manipulating the kids almost made me wish that I was a child, just like the others. But I wasn't a child. And I knew that if I really wanted to survive, then I would need to advance more quickly compared to any of my classmates. In my head, I was already making a list of things that I would prioritize in order to become an accomplished shinobi.

I was still lost in thought when the caretaker gathered all the prospect Academy students around and started to herd us out onto the streets.

AN: Welcome to my newest fanfic!

It's an idea I had in my mind for the longest time, but something I never really managed to put into words. I'm going to make sure that this story becomes my longest and best writing piece. It should be a bit easier than my other stories since technically I am the main character and POV.

No, the OC will not avoid combat or try to run away from the shinobi life. No, the OC will NOT be overpowered or have rare bloodline limits. The OC will gradually grow and acquire skills and abilities. He has a headstart because he's mentally an a.d.u.l.t, so he'll have more drive and mental awareness to improve his skills.

Pairings are not official, but I do have some in mind. And no, I won't go the conventional pairing routes :).

As always, feel free to comment and critique my work. I will respond to you in the following chapter.

Till next time.