deep in the woods

01 • black sheep

Honestly, Hiruko could have stood to be a little less understanding of the Kami. Of course they would drop her in this same timeline again. They liked to toy with her to see if she would break. If life was a video game, this was hard mode.

This is Timeline Four, or 'The Naruto Chapter', as she liked to call it. She always ended up dying before she could complete her life and get past the Fourth Shinobi War. It sounds gruesome, but it's what she's known since Life #1. She was used to her own demise.

So, when she first opened her eyes to a wrecked (yet slowly rebuilding) village, Hiroko cursed her luck. Lingering in the back of her mind was a quiet voice. Huh. She'd never had to complete a task before.

End the Fourth Shinobi War before it ends you. Huh. Cryptic. How was she to go about that one?

For most of her baby years, she slept. What else was she supposed to do? Overthrow the government? Not with these weak limbs. So she watched and waited, learning what she could about this new life. Her caretaker's name was Yua, a loving parent, if they could even be called that. Their short reddish hair and amber eyes clashed with their wardrobe of light purples and blues. And they had... an obsession?

Yua was often seen talking about the 'Honō no Usagi'. A minor deity, as far as Hiroko knew. Ramblings of a madman about how