BECOMING NARUTO
The air was smoky, revealing the downtown city roads below packed with cars. People were heading home after a long day of work, eager to see their families and eat dinner.
Meanwhile, near the outskirts of the city, a guy on a bike was speeding down the road, heading home from college. He was a third-semester student with over two years left before completing his degree. He had just finished a meeting for a class project, and honestly, that was his entire life: college, home, and sleep. He was going to go home, crash, and not wake up until the next morning. But while he was a good student, he was also a massive anime fan. And not just someone following the newest trends—he was an OG fan. He grew up on Dragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter, One Piece, Bleach, Sailor Moon, and Cowboy Bebop.
But just as he turned his bike around a sharp corner, his eyes widened. Right in front of him was a truck.
CRASH!!
The impact was immediate. Metal folded like paper. The bike was reduced to a block of scrap in a mere second, and the guy was dead before he could even process what had happened.
....
In a small town nestled deep within the Land of Fire, the morning sun was just rising outside a window. The streets were beginning to wake up, the sun painting the world in its warm, golden light.
Inside a rented room stood a young, blond teen with hair as wild and spiky as always. Wearing his signature green pajamas with black highlights, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. The room around him was a complete disaster. His mattress was shoved into one corner, his blanket in another, and his pillow was tossed completely out of sight. Discarded clothes, empty instant ramen cups, snack wrappers, and soda cans littered the floor, but he wasn't focused on any of that. His eyes were glued to the mirror.
For a long moment, he didn't move. His eyes were unfocused, like he was lost in a dream. Then, suddenly, his pupils shrank. His breath hitched, and he blinked rapidly, as if snapping back to consciousness.
"Huh?"
He touched his face to see if he was dreaming, pinching his cheeks until he felt a sharp sting. He looked around the messy room again... and his expression froze.
"The… fuck." Those were his first words. "Where the heck am I?"
Looking back at his reflection, he muttered, "No way." His frozen expression slowly melted into a massive smile of pure excitement.
"I'm… Naruto Uzumaki," he whispered. The realization hit him like a thunderbolt. He was the unpredictable ninja of the Hidden Leaf, the number one knucklehead destined to save the world.
A grin spread across his face, and he started laughing. His heart was racing—not with fear, but with a pure, childlike thrill.
But before he could celebrate, a rush of memories hit him like a bursting dam. Flashes of Naruto's actual life—the misty bridge in the Land of Waves, the absolute chaos of the Chunin Exams, the heartbreak at the Valley of the End, traveling the Fire Country with Jiraiya, and saying goodbye to his friends—all flooded his mind at once. Every wound, every joy, and every failure burned vividly into his core. Unable to breathe, he gripped the edge of the sink to keep from collapsing.
When the rush finally ended, he was gasping for air. He shakily raised his head and locked eyes with his reflection once more.
"Okay… okay. I'm him. I really am him," he breathed, his eyes trembling.
A few minutes passed, and his initial excitement began to settle. He sifted through his new memories as vividly as he could. Sitting down on the misplaced mattress, a heavy frown settled on his face. He knew exactly where he was in the timeline: he was supposed to be on his training trip with Jiraiya.
Except that he couldn't even call it a training trip. Based on these memories, Jiraiya hadn't taught him a single new combat style. The legendary Sannin was just making him rely on the Nine-Tails' chakra, teaching him how to form the Big Ball Rasengan, and showing him a few basic taijutsu moves. That was it. And he only had six months left before he was supposed to return to the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Man, I always knew time skips in anime sometimes felt useless," he muttered to himself, "but this is just stupid. Jiraiya might be a legendary ninja, but as a teacher, he sucks. He has barely taught me anything."
"Fine," he said, loudly cracking his knuckles. "If I'm going to be stuck here, I am not wasting this second chance. I'm going to do what Naruto should have done. I am going to train until my bones ache, and I won't stop until I am the strongest."
His blue eyes filled with fierce determination as the morning sun fully illuminated the Land of Fire.
"Time to lock in."
TO BE CONTINUED