Second Time's The Charm

Chapter 1

I am a grown man. I am. A grown. Man.

I grew up in some of the harshes conditions. Raised by war and harden by the deaths of my family and clansmen. I prided myself in my innovation and knowledge. I formed my life around structure and rules. My enemies shook at the mention of my name and my clan's name. I had created countless jutsus and worked tirelessly to further the survival of my clan and its future children. I may have not had the vision, the plan for a brighter future. I was never much of an optimist; I couldn't afford to be. However, I was the one that created the structure. Provided the realty for each situation and never allowed us to be over generous in our negotiations. I kept his vision from being our undoing, while being true to his ideals, hopes, dreams. Dreams we all shared. A dream where no child would have to die in order for others to survive.

But. Here I was.

In a crib.

Staring at a maggot.

A screaming maggot.

I was a man. A grown man. A fearsome man. Who remembers dying.

Now. I am the other screaming maggot.

I do feel a small amount of pity to the parents. Having two screaming kids, twins, has to be rough. Not that I was going to make the situation any easier on them. So I'm being immature. What are you going to do? Turn me into a baby? Tough shit, someone else beat you to it.

"-hhhh. Please be quiet for Tou-san. Your Kaa-san needs her sleep."

That would be the father. He was extremely tall, though it's hard to tell when you are as small as I am. He had very dark brown hair, almost black, and a goatee. His eyes always seemed tired, like he never got enough sleep. Although, that may be my fault. I tend to start these crying fits.

I watch him as he picks up the other one. The other baby. A baby boy. I watch as he cradles him in his arms, moving back and forth in a soothing manner. The boy hiccups and starts to drift asleep again. I have long stopped crying, as I have no intention of being picked up and treated like a baby... The whole point was to get the infant to start crying, so the parents woke up. If I was awake, so would they.

Ok. Maybe I should be treated like a baby. Clearly, I lost all my maturity in this... transition.

As the man puts his little boy back in the crib, he reaches a hand out to me, rubbing my stomach. If I could move...

"-both of you." He says smiling at me. Not that I have any idea what he said.

He just sits there for a while longer, just watching us. Watching me. Ah, he's waiting for me to fall asleep. Well he is going to be here all night because if he thinks I am going to fall asleep in some foreign environment, in this cage of a body, he is sorely-.

zzzzzzzzzZZzZzzzzzzzzz

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I estimate it to be day 30. It's hard to tell, since I sleep so often. It's a small blessing, as I would have probably gone insane. There is very little you can do as an infant. Sure, the woman comes in, picks us up and plays with us. She talks to us to. I am grateful for this, as I am started to understand her better. I still struggle with full sentences, and I am still fairly clueless when the man talks – as it is so rare. I am getting stronger too. I haven't been able to roll over yet, but I can move my fingers. I was nearly in tears when I could feel them move.

I have spent a lot of time watching the other baby. They always lay us right next to each other, as close as possible, so I have a front row view of its drooling. I've had brothers before. Many brothers. I cherished them all and the times we had together, but I lost all of them. I was the last one standing, left with the responsibility of the clan, of the village, and honestly, I didn't need another one.

This wasn't my family anyways.

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I could roll over now. I believe that makes me four or five months old. At least, it was around that time that my nephew could roll over.

The man officially looks like a zombie. I take a small amount of pride in that. That's what he gets for continuing to add "chan" to my name.

The woman doesn't look much better, and I do feel remorseful about that. She's starting to grow on me. Maybe its hormones: the kind that encourage a child to latch to their mother.

Whatever the reason, the important part is I can now roll over. Or to be exact, I can now roll away from the drooling brat.

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I am a year old now.

Normally I would be celebrating the fact that I can now walk, understand complete sentences, eat without someone roughly sticking a utensil in my mouth, but ever since I found out, it's all I can think about. I didn't believe them at first. I thought they were just trying to be cute since I'm so adorable (their words, not mine). I should have known better though. I had prided myself on my intelligence in the past. My name should have been a big glowing sign.

I was reborn...

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As a girl.

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My life as Senju Tobirama has officially concluded.

And my life as Nara Kanoko has begun.

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Seriously. What buffoon names both his children, "deer"?