First Person POV, Naruto Uzumaki
…
After that nightmare ended, I was moved to a hospital ward where there were other infants in beds on either side.
For two days, I just stared at the ceiling and slept. That time was a blur. I don't remember anything else. Now it's the end of the second day, and I… feel much better.
In a short time, I had grown very attached to my new parents. I don't know or don't remember why, but family ties were important to me. And… it was hard to lose them.
Frankly, this applies much more to Kushina. After all, I spent almost all my time with just her. During the months inside her, I mostly felt a sense of satisfaction from my progress in energy manipulation, as well as an ever-present warmth and what felt like support in all my endeavors. It's so cold in the outside world without her… It's like I was thrown out onto the street, and then my house was demolished right before my eyes… Yeah, it's probably not great to miss a person as if they were some kind of building, is it? (-_-)
And there, my gloomy mood finally cracked. Besides, what good is it? To be honest, I would have been evicted from the "house" anyway. But the feeling of warmth is important to me, just a different kind now.
Even though things weren't perfect, Kushina and Minato were my closest relatives. We could have had a good relationship, mutual support, and all that stuff people like me need. The fact that I'm a reincarnator and somehow ended up in the body of their unborn son doesn't bother me at all. My new shell had no personality—what personality could it have at this age?—which means the shell was nobody's. The blood ties are also indisputable, which means, again, Minato and Kushina are my relatives. That's how I should perceive them, a fact that the appearance of my mind in a new body doesn't change.
However, once again: there's no point in thinking about it. They're dead, and I have to somehow go on existing in this Godless world. Preferably with comfort. And it's a bit too early to think about that. Because right now, the opportunities for preparation aren't very significant.
I let my "gaze" wander over the several cribs with "bars" in the rather long room. Once I had calmed down, I was able to regain control of my spherical vision. That is, I could focus on something, change my viewpoint as if I were moving a camera through the air, and even close the "lens" to see nothing.
The room remained the same as before. I was gradually getting bored. These two days, I suppose, served as a good rest for me. But with every passing second, my mind, now recovered, began to generate more and more intrusive thoughts. Energy is starting to just well up, and it needs to be directed. So, while I have time, why not start preparing for the future now?
I "poked" my chakra core; it's fine. With a slight mental push, I began to circulate the energy faster and faster, just as before. I clenched my "mighty" fists, then relaxed them. This energy is so dense… The chakra flowing through my channels was much more saturated than my soul energy, and even in a newborn's body, it surpassed my soul by multiples—no, by orders of magnitude.
In the womb, I would sometimes just circulate my chakra, without messing with it in any other way. I remember how members of the Hyuga clan in the anime could stop blows with a stream of chakra. So, releasing it through the extremely small special points—tenketsu, which I had barely managed to locate and could now feel well—was a bad idea back then. There were three hundred and sixty-one points—I had nothing better to do in the womb, so I counted. But now I'll start trying to release a little chakra.
After about ten minutes, I switched to soul energy. Although it had grown stronger, my spherical vision had somehow diminished compared to what it was There. As for the reasons why, I could only speculate about the presence of natural chakra in the world. I simply didn't know of anything else that could interfere. Kushina's chakra, even though it was likely different from the world's, had hindered my soul. At this point, I should probably be grateful that my soul's abilities were only cut by some fraction. It seems like all abilities that interact with the outside world were affected. Because my feelers also became a bit harder to create than before.
These feelers, as I remember, don't interact with the world at all. Or rather, judging by the feeling of resistance when extending them outside my body, that's not entirely true. But that bastard in the mask didn't even feel them. Which is actually a good thing; I've found a task for the future—to solve this issue. It's not like I have anything better to do now anyway.
Twenty minutes later
My mood was darkening. For a different reason, one with little connection to the events of the past few days. Everything around me seemed to grow darker, and not because it was evening.
Rage flows like ice through my veins…
With the clang of steel, thoughts filled with hatred began to echo in my head.
Pain is the universal language. This world is rotten. It created me this way only to humiliate me. By causing me pain, it made it clear that it hates me.
But at the same time, the world is blind. It doesn't understand when its actions cause others to suffer.
But pain gives birth to mutual understanding. Pain is the only way to achieve harmony.
This world shall know pain. And then it will understand true peace… with me.
"Waaah-waaah!" the baby in the next crib started bawling, interrupting my thoughts.
"Aaaah! Mwaaah!"
"Ee-waaah!"
One after another, to my confusion, the children around me began to cry. What happened now?
Yes, I had shit myself. Literally. And yes, I was angry about it over here. "Cultivating" hatred, you could say. But why react like that? It doesn't stink… yet.
On the first floor of the hospital
Sarutobi Hiruzen entered the building with a grim expression. He had recently held a meeting with the village residents who had participated in the battle against the Kyuubi, though the outcome had not pleased the "old man."
The meeting concerned his new ward, Naruto.
And now, the Hokage had come to check on him.
The hospital was located almost in the heart of the village. There was no ANBU guard here. Who would attack a building full of shinobi, even if they were wounded? And alone, at that, since a large number of shinobi passing through would be impossible.
But, to his surprise, as he approached the stairwell, Sarutobi felt something threatening. He immediately bolted toward his destination.
At the same time, the escort of several special shinobi who always accompanied the Hokage sprang into action. They had received a hand signal from their threat-sensitive leader and immediately moved toward the various exits. The ninja hoped to trap the intruder in a pincer, with them on one side and the Kage on the other.