Chapter Text
She honestly hadn't expected to die.
She had been walking home from a long shift at work. When a man came up behind her and told her to keep walking. She could feel what she assumed to be a gun pressed against her back as he whispered in her ear to come with her quietly. She knew whatever he was going to do to her, death was going to be kinder.
All the cold case stories she had heard of women going missing after being kidnapped came to mind. With a single prayer in mind, she quickly turned around and attempted to take the gun from him. They tussled for a bit, her only motivation was that she really wanted to make it home to her sister. She heard it before she felt it.
Bang
She glanced down in shock as red soaked her shirt, pain following soon after. As she collapsed she watched the man run away from her with her hazy vision. As her eyes closed, she had one thought.
I really don't want to die.
-
Year 42
Purple.
Specifically a dark burgundy purple.
That was the color eyes of the women who carried her around. Waking up to see a face super up close was terrifying. It spooked her enough she started crying and the arms holding her were rocking her in an attempt to sooth her.
She tried to ask who this woman was, if her family had been notified. Her sister was going to freak out if she didn’t get a text. But all that came out was garbled sounds that couldn't be made out in between her sobs.
She tried to move around and was unable to do much as her hand came into view. Her thoughts paused for a moment, they were tiny and chubby. Her hands had never been chubby, at least not since she was a baby. Oh my god. She was a baby again. It hit her, she had read stories before. Loved them actually but she hadn't thought they could happen to her. She had made jokes before about what she would do if was reborn and how she would do better.
The realization was startling, she wouldn't see her sister again. Oh god how was her sister going to survive without her. Her mind was spiraling and there was nothing she could do about it. Her second thought was that she really hoped she wasn't reborn into a man's body, followed by the thought she was going to have to go through puberty again, fucking high school again.
As the days slowly passed, she slowly learned the woman with the dark purple eyes was her mother. Her mother would come and go sometimes and she was left with nannies. She didn't mind too much; she was a pretty calm child. She never saw her father in fact she could hardly recall seeing any men. It was nice she honestly thinks she would've started sobbing if a man held her.
Baby vision was pretty sucky. It wasn’t as bad as she assumed it was, her sister had studied child development and she recalled hearing that baby vision was terrible. They could barely make out things and were guided by the scent of their mother. Adeline had found that her vision wasn’t terrible, some things were a bit blurry but for the most part her vision was good. She wondered why that could be.
She had nannies that would coo at her and say words with a sweet tone as they changed her or fed her. She could not get over the mortification that came with being changed by others. It wasn't words she could understand, in her original life she knew English and Spanish. But this language only sounded vaguely familiar. She swears she may have overheard it at some point. Despite this she made an effort to learn how their mouths moved when they made certain sounds.
She wasn’t used to such a stationary life, in her old life she was always on the move. Always doing something. Sitting still for too long kept her angsty and nervous. So she was absolutely bored out of her mind.
As she laid in her crib, entertaining herself with attempting to have some motor control. She never appreciated being able to move around freely until she couldn't anymore. She heard footsteps behind her and tried to turn her head as she recognized her new moms voice. She made garbled noises as hands picked her up, it wasn't until she was face to face with her mother that she noticed the headband on her mother's head.
No fucking way.
She stared at the headband. She had to have been hallucinating. Because there was no way she was staring at Konoha's headband right now. Feeling overwhelmed, her tiny body did what it does best and she started crying.
It took awhile to get over the shock. After came the realization she was going to die again. She didn't know where in the time-line she was. She barely even knew much about the actual anime. She had a short phase where she read fanfiction but she never sat down and watched it. She had no idea what information she had was canon and what was fanon.
She stared at her mother as she spoke to her, not managing to understand much but she managed to catch the name of her new life.
Ahma.
It was a pretty name, she liked that it started with the same letter as her original name, Adeline. She wondered if people here could pronounce it.
-
Year 43 - 1 year old
She had long learned that she was actually part of a clan or something of the sort. Seeing as they had a last name it had to mean something. She thought last names had to have been a big deal or at least she could recall hearing that only ‘important’ people or something held last names.
The nannies let her wander around the house, with one of the younger nannies shadowing her, seeing as she was a pretty calm child and rarely caused trouble. From her crawling around the house she noticed that it really did resemble traditional Japanese houses. They weren’t like the houses she was used to, even the floors were made of wood here. It was fascinating to her that she was actually within an anime.
One day she wandered into the library, her shadow, one of the younger nannies. Perked up at seeing her make grabby motions towards the books and stared at the books for a moment before perking up and pulled one out.
“Let me teach you how to read Ahma-hime!” She sighed at her name, she had given up on correcting them. Knowing that she had to resign herself to being called by a new name, ‘hime’ she had learned that word translated to princess, Adeline was not too sure where this came from. She assumed it was similar to a doting family. Chiasa hurriedly grabbed a pillow for her to sit on and sat next to her before she started reading the kanji in the story. Allowing Adeline to look at the kanji and follow along.
Adeline resisted the urge to sigh in defeat, kanji was so different from the alphabet system she was used to seeing. She spent the following weeks learning the kanji, there were so many and then she had to learn to write them as well. Every time Chiasa-chan caught her with a book she would sit down and read with her.
-
Her new mother had walked in on her sprawled out on the ground with a book in front of her. Adeline was determined to get the language down. The faster she could read and understand the more complicated words the more she would be able to learn. She knew chakra systems and what not existed here and she knew they had to be fascinating.
The woman kneeled by her side and asked her, “Are you reading all by yourself Ahma-chan?” Adeline looked up at her and let a toothy smile overtake her face, nodding excitedly. She pointed at the book she was reading, specifically a word didn’t recognize. She missed the sparkle in the woman’s eyes as if something had just caught her attention.
The woman chuckled before speaking, “That is the kanji for panther and leopard in this case it is referring to panthers. Are you reading a book about panthers, Ahma-chan?”
Ahma nodded excitedly, it was the first book she had been able to reach. Her mother ruffled her hair before standing up, “Have fun reading.” before walking out of the room, leaving her to her own devices, a smile on her mother's face.
-
Year 44 - 2 years old
Adeline surpassed a sigh as her nannies dressed her up, it was her birthday today and it seemed her clan had decided to throw her a party. She stared down at her kimono, it was beautiful, way too expensive for a two-year-old to be wearing but instead she giggled “Pretty! Kiku-san, it's so pretty!”
Her nannies smiled in amusement as they did her hair and got her all dolled up. Kiku-san was the nanny in charge of all her clan etiquette classes, as her mother wanted to ensure that her daughter wouldn’t embarrass the clan. Adeline had learned that Kiku-san was actually her great-aunt. Apparently, she was her grandmother's sister or something like that.
As they were finishing up the final touches her mother entered the room, she immediately turned around “oka-san!” She exclaimed in happiness as her mother walked over to her. Her mother gazed at her with amusement.
“Remember Ahma. You have to be on your best behavior. Other clan heads will be here as well.” Adeline nodded seriously, as her mother extended a hand to her she immediately grabbed on. Walking alongside her mother, she was walking slower so Ahma could keep up without running.
As they walked Adeline was curious, she hoped that this event would give her a clue on where exactly she was in the timeline. She wasn’t really allowed out much, her life had consisted of her clan compound. She hadn't had the chance to look at the Hokage Monument so what number Hokage they were on. What were they even called, Sandiame, Godaime, Yondamie. She is pretty sure she went out of order.
She was broken out of her thoughts as they arrived at the entrance. They were stationed at the door to greet people as they walked in. She went through the motions of bowing and greeting the guests, thanking them for coming. She ensured to speak in an excited voice and smile at the guests.
Her eyes perked up as she caught sight of spiky hair. So sue her. She may or may have not had a small addiction to the Nara clan during her short Naruto phase. Her eyes widened as the man approached her followed by two others, a blonde man and someone she knew was an Akimichi based on the markings. Oh god, she was really looking at a Ino-Shika-Cho trio!
“Kurohyou-san, a pleasure.” The spiky haired guy spoke followed by greetings from the other two. Adeline watched as her mother let a grin slip, “Nara please just call me Ankoku. Thank you for coming.” Her mothers' sight slipped to her and Adeline immediately bowed, thanking the gods for Kiku-san lessons that forced her to practice, “Thank you for coming.'' She muttered before standing back up.
The three men smiled at her before Nara spoke once more, “Then Ankoku-san Shikari is fine.”The blonde next to him laughed slightly, “We are all shinobi and we’ve all fought in a war, we are equal here. Your daughter is quite cute though Ankoku-san.”
Her mother’s smile never left her face as she laughed. “Thank you! And where are your children and wives?” She asked, this time the Akimichi answered, “Ah they are around here somewhere my wife was being helped by Inoki’s wife to put the cake in place.”
Adeline's eyes sparkled, “You made the cake?” She perked up at the thought of an Akimichi made the cake it had to be good. She remembered hearing that they were famous for their food. She wondered if they actually had restaurants or grocery stores in the area. The Akimichi laughed at the look on her face, “Yes, I hope you like it! I spent a lot of time on it and even my sweet Nora helped me decorate!”
Eventually, the trio wandered off, as more guests continued to come. There were some people who vaguely resembled characters she had seen. She was pretty sure the trio she saw wasn’t part of the main cast, so she was still at a loss of where she was. She thought it possible that maybe the clans had multiple trios like that so it could be branch family members.
She hummed as her thoughts ran wild. She turned to face her mother and her mother nudged her. “Feel free to walk around and explore, Ahma. It is your birthday after all.” Adeline nodded eagerly, hugging her mother, “Thank you, kaa-san!” She exclaimed before wandering off.
Looking around to see where she could hide out but scope out who was at the party. She glanced around as she located a corner where not too many people were, she moved easily through the crowd. As she took a seat at the table, she started glancing around. Everyone was dressed very classy. It seemed as if everyone wanted to show off.
“You’re in my spot.”
She startled at the voice, turning to the side to see a boy. Probably around her age, she raised an eyebrow at him. “Does it have your name on it?” she snarked back before she could stop herself. Sometimes she forgot to keep up her childish act.
He raised an eyebrow at her before a lazy smile overtook his face, giving a half-shrug as if saying ‘you’re right’ and taking a seat next to him. Not saying another word, they sat in silence. She analyzed him from the corner of her, realizing that the boy was probably a Nara. She slid over a plate of her cookies as a silent apology, firmly not looking at him. He didn’t say anything as he reached for a cookie, accepting her apology.
After some time, her mother called her over. As she stood up she turned around and grinned at the boy who only stared back at her, “Bye, Nara-chan!!” she exclaimed, before walking over to her mother.
The rest of the night passed by uneventfully, it was just her mother pulling her over to look and act cute in front of random people. Overall, it was an okay experience but she was absolutely exhausted by the end of the night. At least the Akimichi made a good cake and the presents she received were kinda worth it.
-
The rest of her year as a 2-year-old passed by, it was very boring. Her mother would be around at times and at other times she wouldn’t see her for weeks. During those weeks the nannies tried to distract her from asking about her mother. Honestly, she kinda understood why people couldn’t remember their infant years, there was nothing exciting to remember.
Year 45 - 3 years old
“It’s time you start the learning kata’s, Ahma.” Her mother spoke sternly to her. Sometimes Adeline had trouble remembering that this woman isn’t the soft spoken mother Adeline had. This mother was dangerous and it showed in the way she moved, in the way Adeline could never surprise her no matter how quietly she moved. Adeline was surprised to say the least, it had barely been 2 weeks since she turned 3. She didn't have a large party like the year before. Her guess was the last party was a show to show that the Kurohyou clan was strong and had an heiress.
But it seemed her mother had deemed her worthy to start training at three years old. This made her realize that she really was within Naruto, she really had to fight and kill as the clan heads daughter she had no choice.
Adeline was currently dressed in loose black pants and a t-shirt. She stood up as her mother beckoned her to follow her to the dojo they had within the house. She followed along as she walked to the center. Her mother helped her stretch a bit before telling her to copy her movements.
“Our clan, the Kurohyou clan, are known for our flexible yet powerful fighting style. We are not short women, our long flexible limbs help us during battle, able to flow and twist as needed to survive. “
Her mothers soft tone soothed her as Adeline followed along, her movements slightly clumsy but she did her best to control them. “Close your eyes and focus within yourself as you repeat.”
Adeline did as instructed, she could hear everything in the silence, the sound of her breathing, as she focused ‘within’ herself, it was similar to mediating a past hobby of hers. She felt it, she tried not to startle but she knew this was something her past body didn’t hold.
“Do you feel it Ahma? Do you feel the chakra within you?”
Ahma breathed out as she searched for the chakra within her body. “Focus on that chakra, it's all over your body from the tips of your toes to every last strand of hair. “
Taking deep breaths Adeline felt the tension leave her body as she focused on the circulation of chakra throughout her body. Maybe it was because she wasn’t used to the feeling of chakra within her body that she was now hyper aware of it. It was like her blood circulation but chakra felt different like a cool sensation within.
It got her wondering about chakra outside her body, without thinking too much about it she attempted to use her chakra to sense her mother. She felt her chakra flare in shock before her mother spoke, “That’s enough, Ahma. Don’t want to tire you out.”
Her chakra quickly retreated back to her body, she opened her eyes to find a satisfied look on her mothers face.
“You will be the pride and joy of the clan.”
-
Now that she had felt her chakra once, she wondered how she had gone the last three years without noticing this energy within her. She was fascinated by and she would be found by clan members sitting on the ground meditating and swirling the chakra within her body. She recalled hearing something about chakra control, and how some would stick leaves to their arms or tree climbing.
She hummed in thought at the endless possibilities she had now that she had chakra. She slowly worked her way up, asking Chiasa-chan to bring her leaves from outside so she could practice. The first few times were a failure but she expected that. Can’t expect perfection immediately,
Adeline was excited, she finally had something to entertain herself with. The days of sitting around and doing were over, she had goals she wanted to accomplish. The first time she was able to stick the leaves to her arm with chakra she grinned.
This was just the beginning for her.
-
Adeline was fighting the urge to jump up and down. She was finally being allowed out of the compound! She convinced Kiku-san to take her with her as she ran a few errands, she had to pull out her puppy eyes but eventually, Kiku-san conceded and told her mother she’d be taking Adeline out.
“You will be on your best behavior, you hear me, young lady.” Adeline nodded her head excitedly, she was fighting the urge to tell the woman to just hurry it up. Kiku-san sighed as she took her hand and guided her out of the compound.
Her eyes were immediately darting everywhere. They had to walk a bit to hit the main part of the town as their compound was more towards the forest. As soon as they reached town she was immediately catching sight of everything that she hadn’t seen within her compound. Her eyes finally landed on the Hokage Mountain. Oh my god, Minato’s face wasn’t even on there yet which means she was farther back in the timeline than she had assumed. Wait, weren't there like so many wars before Minato took up Hokage. Maybe she was in the era of peace shortly before Minato became Hokage.
She sighed in exasperation as she followed Kiku-san into the shops, staying quiet as she looked around the stores and bought what she needed. There were many items that Adeline didn’t recognize. As they walked into a weapons store, her eyes widened as they took in the different kinds of weapons. She has been thinking about if there is a specific weapon she would like to specialize in but nothing has come to mind yet.
Standing by as Kiku-san placed an order to kunai and shuriken. Adeline hummed as she waited, her eyes tracing the katana that was hung up on the wall. She was entranced by it, at the hilt there was purple wrapping.
“Ahma-chan.”
Her eyes snapped away from the katana to see Kiku-san waiting for her. “Coming Kiku-san!” She rushed out to grab ahold of her hand. As they walked around, Adeline saw the men walking around and a thought came to her. “Nee..Kiku-san?”
The woman turned slightly towards her. Raising an eyebrow in a silent question, as they started their walk back to the compound.
“Why are there no men in the clan?” She has been wondering this for a while, she was thankful for it when she was initially reborn as her being killed was fresh on her mind. She hasn’t been exposed to men in recent years until her 2nd birthday. Now she was curious as to why there were no men in her clan, at least not any she had seen. Maybe they were in hiding, she pondered.
As they reached the entrance to the compound, Kiku-san fully turned towards her and smiled as she spoke, her eyes creasing into half moons.
“Men have no place in our clan, hime.”
-
“Work harder, Ahma! No daughter of mine will be weak!”
Adeline took deep breaths as she ran through her katas. Sweat running down the side of her face. The motions were slowly being ingrained into her muscle memory. She could run through them in her sleep she swears at this point.
Her mother had caught her practicing her chakra and decided the regime she currently had for her daughter wasn’t enough. Adeline has folded her body in ways that she did not know were possible. She was pretty sure they were only possible right now because her infant flexibility was present.
“Yes, kaa-san!”
The days continued as Adeline’s schedule was filled with lessons from Kiku-san for history, etiquette and such and lessons from her mother on chakra and physical training. She was always knocked out at the end of the day like it was nothing.
-
Adeline knew her mother was dangerous, and knew there was a reason why their clan was respected despite only having women. But she never really realized it until men broke into her house, attempting to get her. She watched from the spot where Chiasa-san had hidden her when she heard the chaos outside. The man held a kunai to Chiasa-chan's neck as he shouted in her face.
“Where is the hime?”
She felt a spark as memories flashed before her eyes. She never felt such anger as she did now, she grabbed the kunai she had hidden on her. Moving quickly she jumped up and grabbed hold of his neck lifting her arm as she stabbed the kunai into the back of his neck. She ignored his trashing, putting her weight on him as she pulled the kunai out only to stab back down. She wanted him dead, as the door opened she took the kunai he had dropped and dropped into a defensive stance.
She wouldn’t die at the hands of another man, not again.
She felt her legs tense, her muscles coiled ready to attack as the door opened to reveal her mother her katana in hand coated in blood. She had never felt such relief as kunai clattered to the ground, staring up at her mother who had a look of relief across her face before a smile overtook her.
“You activated our kekkei genkai, Ahma.” Confused, she looked at Chiasa who offered the kunai she had dropped to look at her reflection, bright purple eyes stared back up at her.
“Kaa-san…” Her mother leaned down to pick her up, walking out of the room as two women walked past them into the room where the dead man was. Clean up she assumed. They walked past the dead bodies of three more men and into her mothers' study. But she was more focused on her mom carrying her. She had long stopped carrying her since Adeline learned to walk.
“It’ll take a bit before it turns off. Our kekkei genkai is fueled by bloodlust and anger, when activated we become hunters. Did you feel it, Ahma, the Kurohyou blood running through you as you killed a man three times your size?”
She stared at her hands. There was blood under her nails, she stared at her hands. She survived this time, he did not kill Chiasa-chan. He did not kill her, Ahma Adeline had won. She looked back up at her mother, smiling as she spoke “Yes kaa-san.”