Euphoric Dysphoria [A Naruto Fan Fiction]

Chapter 1 - Restart

It was probably the craziest thing that ever happened in her life. She was happy with her family and friends. She was a good student at school. She had some talents. She had a life that some people would kill for, so she would often wonder how she ended up like this. Now, she could only sit and stare, occasionally wiggling her limbs and emitting a sound out of her mouth that she did not recognise anymore. It was very strange, but it was also very terrifying and exciting. Granted, she missed her family and friends, who guided her through life with all they had even though recently she found it impossible to think of anything else other than her current predicament. However, the fact remained that she frequently pondered whether her family and friends even existed now or if they were happy and healthy. All she knew was that she wished the best for them, a hope in her heart that she would get to see them one day, once again.

For now, all she had to do was to wait and act natural. Probably.

"Kotone-chan!" A loving voice called a name that was not hers but a name that she was used to now.

The morning light streaming in from the window cast a heavenly glow around a silhouetted figure with long light blonde hair. Blinking her bleary eyes, she tried her best to view the face of the person that had intervened her inner musings with a voice that sounded like a burst of fireworks. Squinting hard, she found herself staring into deep fuchsia eyes that were staring at her with irreplaceable adoration that she could never return.

"Umi! Where are my shoes?"

Something akin to sharp exasperation flashed across the gentle eyes, giving the impression of rippling water that was once calm before the storm. Those eyes narrowed, as the cheeks lifted up in a painful smile that seemed like a screenshot of her worst exam marks projected inside her brain eternally.

She felt herself slowly lowered down to be placed on the soft, small mattress inside the wooden cot, and the last thing she saw moving other than the billowing curtains that fell around the large windows was a flash of light gold that flurried out the door.

That's right. She was in a cot.

Her name was now Kotone. She was now almost a year old. She was tiny, cute and chubby, unlike who she had been in the life she had before. It was like the painting she took years to create with so much love and dedication was turned into a pile of shit in one second, forcing her to draw out another canvas to paint on again.

Except, she didn't have a clue on what to paint.

She had no confidant and she was helpless. She had no strength and her words held no value. She was absolutely useless in her own survival, so what else better plan was there than to put up a nice charade until she was capable?

Kotone had no idea how she became like this. One night she went to sleep and in the morning she found herself being pushed through an agonisingly tight, pitch black canal, covering her in some unnamed stinky, gooey stuff that was absolutely disgusting. Yes, she woke up in a vag-

SMACK!

"Daichi! How many times do I have to tell you that-"

"Ow! Calm down! I just wanted to find my shoes!" A male voice yelped helplessly. "I know that your sweet time with our daughter- ow! Stop spanking me already, demon of a woman!"

There was a short, eerie silence. Kotone swore that she felt the hairs rise on her skin. The energy that fizzed around the air ominously caused a cold shiver to run down her spine, sending tremors through her body.

At that moment, Kotone could think of no one else but Daichi that deserved all the sympathy in the world.

"OW!"