Naruto: Mind Games Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A World of Chakra




I hate waking up early. 



The choir of the birds, the warmth of the morning sun, the chilled breeze of the wind— Those just weren't for me. 



As someone from the worst parts of Mexico… I was used to waking up late while being greeted with pollution and daily crime reports. 



Jalisco was a safe state— but not every part of it… especially not the place I lived in. 



Day in and day out I had to deal with the mobsters of the street… so one would guess that my current lifestyle was pretty good.



Oh, how wrong they are.



"Are you awake, Hikaru?" 



"Yes, father." I replied as I stretched my body and walked towards the doorway.



The deep voice belonged to my father— or well the father of this body. 



Confused? I was as well. But to put it simply— 


I had a dream where a god asked if I wanted to escape that hell hole of a life… and guess what I did? 



I said yes. 



Everything about this place was different. From the language to the lifestyle. And worst of all— this was an ancient time.



One would expect their second chance to be in a safe and calm place… 



But nope.



There was no technology in this place and to haunt me even more— this was a land of fantasy… where people could use superpowers thanks to the presence of an element in this world.



They call it Chakra.



Sounds like something from a Sanskrit book. But to put it in the simplest way— it is an element that exists in this world, which helps humans to use abilities that are often shown in movies… like breathing fire and controlling wind. 



I walked down the wooden stairway and found my father waiting near the doorway. 



"Good morning, father." 



I greeted the wrinkled man whose blonde hair was currently turning grey. His name was Yujiro Yamanaka, a member of the Yamanaka clan.



Yep… Clans are a thing in this world, and each clan has an ability that they can use. In our case, the Yamanaka can use mind related abilities like mind reading and telepathic communication. And our clan happens to be one of the major clans of this nation.



I cannot read anyone's mind currently— which my father said was normal as I was only six years old. 



Yeah… I had gone through de-ageing. I was reborn in this world but only awakened my memories around three months ago. 



But what I am grateful for is that none of the Yamanaka can read my mind. Father said that I was born with some rare ability that prevented people from reading my mind.



Convenient.



"Freshen up and eat your breakfast. We will start your training after that."



Kids in this world— if they had talent to control Chakra— joined an academy to learn about Chakra once they turned six.



Well, it's a little higher for some but being from one of the great clans of Konoha, I was allowed to join early. 



You either need to have connections or you need to be a genius to join the academy early.



And Konoha was our village where ninjas with Chakra protected the people. That's what I am training to become. 



Even though I just wanted to live a normal life, I was forced into this fanatical situation.



Giving my father a nod, I walked to the bathroom to clean myself. My father was strict but he was caring. 



My mother passed away right after I was born, but instead of hating and blaming me for her death— like most people of ancient times…



He called me a gift. That was my first time being called a blessing instead of human scum— cue to my previous life. So yeah, I was quite happy despite being overwhelmed by almost everything.



I would have loved it if he took better care of himself tho… He looks like he is in his sixties while he is only in his early forties.



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My father stared at me with his steel-blue eyes as I frowned at the piece of paper in my hand. 



Both of us had similar hair and eyes so it was quite easy to figure out that we were related.



"Do not strain your body. Relax and let the chakra flow naturally into the paper."



His guidance helped as once I let my body relax, I felt the cool chakra flowing through my body through the chakra pathway— which is similar to the nervous system as it has its own lining throughout the body. 



After five seconds, the piece of paper wrinkled in my fingers and turned soggy. 



This was a special piece of paper which was used to figure out a person's chakra nature— wind, water, lightning, fire and earth. 



These elements allow a person to cast jutsus— which are basically techniques that allow a person to do different things.



Apparently, there are more but they are mostly genetically restricted to very few.



Father showed a rare smile as he saw the piece of wet wrinkled paper fall on the ground.



"Dual chakra natures, lightning and water… not bad."



Chakra papers show the elements in different ways. 



If the paper wrinkles then the person has lightning element. If it gets wet then it's water, if it gets cut in half then it's wind, if it burns then fire and if it's the earth element… then the paper will crumble.



Honestly, I wanted earth and water— but lightning and water are good enough. It's better not to be greedy.



A person can have more than one element but it's rare. And the only person who is known to be a master of all five elements is the Third Hokage— who is the leader of our village. 



And even if there are more people who can use all five, they are not known to the public. Even my father who can use three elements— wind, water and earth is considered a rare genius. 



"While you can use lightning and water jutsus with quite ease... earth, fire and wind jutsus will be nearly impossible for you. And even if you manage to use them— it will put a lot of strain on your body and those moves will consume ten-folds the amount of chakra that is generally required. So be mindful of your usage of chakra." He warned and then regained the smile that he had. "Now I don't have the lightning element so I can only teach you some basics about it. So instead I will help you master the water element and the lightning element… you will have to master in the academy."



That's good enough.



"That sounds great." I said. 



He sighed. "You sound too mature for your age sometimes… Hikaru. But maybe that's because of your ability as well." He ruffled my hair. "But no matter what, I am proud of you."



"Now, let's start with some basic water style jutsus." He said. "Do you want to learn an offensive or defensive jutsu first?"



"Offensive." I replied instantly, at which he smiled.



"A good offence is often the best defence." He laughed. "Very well, we will learn the water bullet jutsu… which is a weaker version of the water gunshot jutsu."



I nodded as I read about the water gunshot jutsu before. 



"Watch carefully." He said. "Take a deep breath and concentrate your chakra in your throat and mouth. Then imagine water and knead the chakra into that— then focusing at a target, release the water in the form of a small fingernail-sized bullet."



Saying that— he made hand signs which were called handseals and each sequence of them helped to form a different jutsu. As he finished using the handseals, he spat towards one of the test dummies in the garden— which got pierced by the bullet. A small hole appeared on its head which is usually enough to kill a human.



"Since you are only a beginner, you won't be able to kill a human that easily. But it should be enough to fatally injure them." He explained.



It would seem ridiculous to teach a kid such a dangerous move in my previous world, but currently, I was in a world where kids died at the age of five if they were not careful enough. So this is the norm in this world.



"Now, recall what I taught and try to cast the jutsu."



I nodded at his words and focused. 



I allowed the chakra to flow into my mouth and concentrated it before doing the handseals.



Water… wetness. 



I imagined as father taught— but the practical was far more difficult than the theory. All I could feel in my mouth was the saliva.



"It's alright." Father assured. "It's your first time trying this out, so it makes sense that you are having some difficulty. But don't lose focus and keep concentrating… And you will succeed."



It took me over ten minutes to feel the water manifesting but once it did… and I had enough to form a bullet— I spat at a great force towards the dummy. 



It was nowhere near as strong as father's one so it barely grazed the dummy's face. I felt myself frowning at the little damage I caused. 



But that was not the same case for my father. He had his eyes wide opened.



"H-How…" He mumbled and looked at me with an amazed grin. "That was amazing…"



He said, which confused me. But then it clicked— he once said that it took him an entire day to learn his first jutsu and even then he was called a genius. What I did was not normal, and I understood that.



"Err… was it good?" I asked, a bit nervous. 



He grinned hard at my question. "Good? It was extraordinary! The last person to be able to do such a thing was the Third Hokage and you pulled a trick similar to him… and you are asking if it's good?" He asked. "Hikaru… get ready, because I am going to train you much differently than I originally intended."



Why… do I feel like I made a big mistake?



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[[A/N: By the time that I remembered there was no age requirement for the Academy, it was too late.]]