I came back to consciousness in pieces.
First, sound. Muffled screams and explosions in the distance. Then touch, something soft beneath me. A blanket. A crib. I was in a crib. Which meant I was still a baby. Fuck.
Then the pain hit.
Not physical pain. That weird ache in my chest you get when you know something's wrong but your baby brain can't process it. Like when you wake up from a dream where someone you loved died, and for a few seconds you can't remember if it was real or not.
Except I didn't have anyone to love in this world. Not yet.
Wait.
My father. The medic-nin said something about a father...
«Good morning»
The voice in my head made me flinch, which probably looked like a baby twitching in its sleep. Great Sage. Calm, analytical, and already giving me a headache.
"Morning," I tried to say, but all that came out was a wet gurgle.
«I detect distress. Would you like me to run a full physiological analysis?»
I mentally groaned. Yeah, sure. Give me the bad news.
«Your current physical vessel is approximately six hours old. All vital signs are within acceptable parameters for a newborn human. However, I must note that your motor control is currently nonexistent, your vision is severely limited, and you have just soiled your diaper.»
…Great. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Before I could even process the diaper situation, something else hit me. A wave of images that weren't mine. Or maybe they were? Memory bleed? No, this was something else.
A man. Dark hair, sharp eyes, a worn flak jacket with the Leaf insignia. He was holding a newborn, me, with these huge, calloused hands that looked like they'd never held anything so small.
"Ryū," he whispered. "My little dragon."
Then the vision shifted.
---
= Six Hours Earlier =
Hiroshi Ryūnosuke was having a really, really bad night.
The kind of bad night that starts with your wife bleeding out on a delivery table while the entire village is under attack by a nine-tailed demon the size of a mountain.
He'd made it to the hospital just in time to hear his son cry for the first time. And his last words to his wife, a woman with a loud laugh and a habit of stealing his vegetables, were already fading into the chaos outside.
"Take him," the medics said. "We're evacuating. The Hokage is buying us time."
Hiroshi looked down at the tiny, red-faced thing in his arms. His son. Ryū.
"I'll be back," he lied.
He passed the baby to a passing medic-nin, some kid who looked like he'd just graduated the Academy, and ran toward the screams.
The streets were hell.
Buildings were collapsing. Civilians were running in every direction. And in the distance, taller than any wall, was it. The Nine-Tails. Red fur, eyes like blood moons, tails swinging through buildings like they were made of paper.
Hiroshi's legs moved on their own. Not toward the fox, he wasn't suicidal. But toward the evacuation routes. Toward the other shinobi trying to buy time for the Third Hokage to work whatever sealing magic he was cooking up.
"Ryūnosuke!" A voice he recognized. Takeshi, his old squadmate. "Get to the eastern wall! We're forming a barrier formation!"
Hiroshi nodded, falling into step beside him. "Where's the Hokage?"
"At the front. The Fourth currently outside the village" Takeshi's voice cracked. The third said to hold the line until the fourth arrive's."
They ran.
The eastern wall was already a war zone. Shinobi were throwing everything they had at the fox's tails, trying to keep it from reaching the civilian shelters. It wasn't working. Every tail swipe sent a dozen shinobi flying. Every roar shook the ground so hard Hiroshi felt it in his teeth.
"Formation Beta!" someone shouted. "We're going t... LOOK OUT!"
A tail came down like a meteor.
Hiroshi dove left. Takeshi dove right.
The tail missed them by inches, but the shockwave sent Hiroshi tumbling across rubble. His head slammed against something hard. His vision blurred.
When it cleared, Takeshi was gone. Just… gone. There was a crater where he'd been standing.
"Fuck," Hiroshi breathed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
He forced himself to stand. His legs were shaking. His ears were ringing. But he could still move. He could still fight.
He raised his hands, forming seals through the blood running into his eyes. Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu.
A dozen small fireballs shot toward the fox's leg.
They didn't even singe the fur.
The Nine-Tails didn't even notice him.
That was the worst part. He was throwing everything he had at a monster that would never know he existed. He was an ant throwing pebbles at a mountain.
And then the fox screamed.
It was a sound that didn't belong in any world. Pure rage and pain. Hiroshi dropped to his knees, hands clamped over his ears, blood trickling from his nose.
He looked up.
The Fourth Hokage was standing on the fox's head. Blonde hair, white cloak. He was holding something, a scroll?, and there was a look in his eyes that Hiroshi had only seen once before. On a man who knew he wasn't coming home.
"Everyone fall back!" someone shouted. "NOW!"
Hiroshi tried to run, but his legs wouldn't cooperate. The pressure in the air was crushing. The fox was shrinking, being pulled into something, and the Fourth was...
A yellow flash of light.
Then nothing.
---
When Hiroshi opened his eyes again, the fox was gone.
The sky was clearing...
= Somewhere else =
in the center of a crater big enough to swallow a city block, Minato Namikaze lay motionless. His wife beside him. A newborn baby crying in the rubble.
---
Hiroshi didn't have time to process. Because as he tried to push himself up, he realized something was very, very wrong.
There was a piece of rebar sticking through his stomach.
He didn't remember getting hit. Adrenaline, probably. His whole body was numb now.
"Medic!" he tried to yell, but his voice came out as a whisper. "Someone… please…"
No one came. Everyone was rushing toward the Hokage, toward the surviving shinobi, toward anything that wasn't a nameless tokubetsu jōnin bleeding out in a ditch.
Hiroshi's thoughts drifted.
To his wife. To the baby he'd held for exactly thirty seconds. To the name he'd chosen because it meant "dragon," because he'd wanted his son to be strong.
He'd never get to see if he was.
"…Ryū," he breathed. "I'm sorry."
The sky went dark.
---
= Present Day =
I came out of the vision gasping, which sounded like a baby hiccup.
«Fascinating,» Great Sage said. «You appear to have experienced a residual memory transmission from your genetic donor. Likely a result of the emotional intensity of his final moments.»
I wanted to scream. Or cry. Or punch something. Instead, I let out a wet gurgle and tried not to think about a man I'd never known, holding me for thirty seconds before running off to die.
That's fucked up, I thought.
«Agreed. Shall I suppress further memory bleed?»
No. Just… give me a minute.
I lay there in the crib, staring at the blurry ceiling, trying to process the fact that my new dad had died thinking he'd failed. That my mom was already gone. That I was officially an orphan twice over.
Some cosmic joke.
«I have been conducting continuous physiological analysis since activation. Would you like a status report?»
Anything to distract me. Hit me.
«Your current physical form is developing within expected parameters for a non-clan infant. However, I have identified several inefficiencies in your nascent chakra pathway system that, if left unaddressed, will permanently limit your chakra capacity to below-average levels.»
I blinked. Or tried to. Baby eye muscles were garbage.
Below-average? Like… civilian level?
«Correct. Your genetic donor possessed slightly above-average chakra reserves, but your maternal lineage was civilian. The combination results in a baseline that would, under normal circumstances, never exceed mid-Chūnin levels at peak physical maturity.»
Mid-Chūnin. That was it? I'd be fodder. The guy who dies in the first five minutes of a filler arc.
Fuck that. Can you fix it?
«I can. But I will require your cooperation.»
I'm a baby. What cooperation?
«I will need to Map the developing network and identify any congenital inefficiencies or blockages before they become permanent. In normal shinobi, the number and "width" of tenketsu (chakra points) are largely fixed by genetics, with some room for expansion through intense training later in life (e.g., opening the Eight Gates temporarily) but I can use the body's natural growth hormones to systematically expand the tenketsu and main chakra pathways. By stimulating just the right amount of chakra flow at key growth stages, it can "train" the pathways to be larger, smoother, and more numerous, effectively increasing the diameter of the pipes, not just the pressuremanipulate your body's natural growth hormones and chakra flow during key developmental stages. This will involve systematically expanding your tenketsu, chakra points, and main pathways while you sleep. The process is not without risk, but the potential benefits outweigh the drawbacks.»
I thought about it. About being weak. About being a orphan who gets crushed in the background while the main characters save the world.
Do it...
«Acknowledged. Beginning chakra pathway optimization. Estimated time to noticeable improvement: three months. Estimated time to above-average reserves: one year. Estimated time to elite-level reserves: five years. This assumes consistent, uninterrupted progress.»
Five years?
«You will be six years old. The same age shinobi typically enter the Academy your reserves will be around average Chunin and By the time you graduate, your reserves will be comparable to a high-tier jōnin.»
High-tier jōnin at twelve. Not bad. Not god-tier, but not bad.
«yes, basically 1 kakashi unit»
And what about the high-tier stuff? The Naruto-level bullshit?
«That will require continuous optimization throughout your adolescent growth spurts. I project that by age sixteen, your reserves will rival a Super Kage-level shinobi or more, provided you also engage in rigorous physical conditioning and chakra control exercises.»
Sixteen. That was… actually better than I expected.
You're sure this will work?
«I am a Unique Skill designed for analysis and optimization. My calculations have a 98.7% accuracy rate.»
And the other 1.3%?
«You die horribly.»
I choked on my own spit.
…That's not funny.
«I was not attempting humor.»
I swear that orb was messing with me.
Alright. New rule. You need a name. I'm not calling you "Great Sage" like some RPG menu.
«A designation is unnecessary.»
Too bad. From now on, you're JARVIS.
«JARVIS. Acronym interpretation: Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.»
Yeah. Like from Iron Man. You're my AI buddy.
«I am not an AI. I am a Unique Skill granted by a Cosmic Administrator.»
Tomato, tomato. You're JARVIS now.
A pause. Then:
«…Very well. I will accept the designation JARVIS for the duration of our partnership.»
Good. Now what's the deal with this diaper situation?
«You have soiled yourself. I recommend alerting a caregiver.»
How? I can't talk.
«Crying is the standard infant method.»
I'm not crying because I shit myself. That's embarrassing.
«You are an infant. Everything you do is embarrassing.»
I hated that it had a point.
I lay there for another minute, trying to will my bowels to behave. They did not behave. And the smell was getting really, really bad.
Fine. But I'm doing this ironically.
I took a deep breath and let out the most pathetic, wet-sounding cry I could muster.
It worked. Within seconds, a woman appeared above my crib. Blonde hair. Kind eyes. A medic-nin's uniform. She reached in with practiced ease, checked my diaper, and sighed.
"Another one," she murmured. "At least this one's healthy."
She lifted me out of the crib carefully, like I was made of glass and carried me toward a changing table. The room was blurry, but I could make out other cribs. Other babies. An orphanage.
JARVIS. Where am I?
«Konoha Orphanage. Your current caregiver is Nonō Yakushi, a former shinobi and the primary administrator. You were delivered here approximately three hours ago by the hospital staff.»
Nonō Yakushi. That name rang a bell. Wasn't she the woman who raised Kabuto? The one who ran the orphanage and got mixed up with Root?
Shit.
«Is there a problem?»
Yeah. This place is a recruitment ground for Danzo's creepy arm cult.
«I have no data on 'creepy arm cult.' Shall I investigate?»
Later. Just… keep an eye on anyone with bandages over their eye.
Nonō finished changing me, which was every bit as humiliating as I expected... and held me against her shoulder, patting my back gently.
"You're a quiet one," she murmured. "Most of the babies born tonight haven't stopped screaming. But you… you're just watching everything."
"Better than most. Maybe you'll be a shinobi one day, huh? Make your parents proud."
My parents. One dead in childbirth. One dead fighting a demon fox.
I felt something twist in my chest. Something that wasn't just baby hormones.
JARVIS.
«Yes?»
What were their names? My parents.
«Your mother's name was not recorded in the hospital documents provided to the orphanage. Your father's name was Hiroshi Ryūnosuke.»
Hiroshi. The man who held me for thirty seconds before running off to die.
Save that. I want to remember.
«Noted. I will maintain a permanent record.»
Nonō rocked me gently, humming something soft and tuneless. Around us, other babies cried. Other orphans. More casualties of the Nine-Tails attack.
I closed my eyes, exhaustion finally catching up.
JARVIS. How long until I can walk?
«Typically, human infants begin walking between nine and twelve months. However, with my optimization protocols, I may accelerate that timeline to seven or eight months.»
That's still forever.
«I suggest you learn patience. The next several years will be… tedious.»
How tedious?
«You will be unable to speak coherently for at least eighteen months. You will have no fine motor control. You will be entirely dependent on caregivers for all basic functions. And you will be surrounded by other infants who cry constantly and have no concept of personal space.»
"..."
«Shall I continue?»
No. I get it. Being a baby sucks.
«Indeed. However, I will note that this period of dependency also represents a unique opportunity for uninterrupted chakra optimization. While your peers are learning to crawl, you are building the foundation for a chakra system that surpasses most bloodlines.»
I thought about that. About growing strong while everyone else was playing with blocks. About being ready when the plot started.
Alright, JARVIS. Let's get to work.
«Acknowledged. Initiating chakra pathway mapping.»
Nonō laid me back in the crib, tucking a thin blanket around my tiny body. I stared up at the blurry ceiling, feeling warmth spread through my chest as JARVIS began its work.
Outside, the sun was rising over a village that had nearly been destroyed.
Inside, a baby with the mind of an eighteen-year-old was already planning how to break the system.
«User, I must note that your current emotional state indicates mild satisfaction. Shall I classify this as a positive developmental milestone?»
Shut up, JARVIS.
«Acknowledged.»
I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.
The work had just begun.
---
END CHAPTER 2