In a slightly worn but ordinary courtyard in the Hidden Leaf Village…
"Kairi, it's your first day of school today, so don't go crying, alright?" The boy's mother teased him gently, tugging at his clothes with a smile.
"Don't worry, Mother. I won't." The boy, Kairi Shinatokawa, looked a bit exasperated. His mother's hand was still tightly clutching his sleeve. When have I ever cried? he thought.
Hmm… Kairi paused to reconsider. Technically, he had cried once right after he was born. Back then, confused and disoriented in his new body, he'd been slapped and started wailing. But as a self-proclaimed model youth of the 21st century, he knew even without remembering clearly: babies are supposed to cry after birth. Silence would've meant something was wrong.
So in all his life, that was the only time he'd ever cried. And it wasn't even his fault it was a physiological necessity. Even if he'd wanted to hold it in, the medical staff wouldn't have allowed that.
Kairi's mother, Sina Shinatokawa, looked at her son with a trace of reluctance. The two of them had relied on each other since he was born. Life hadn't been easy. Fortunately, Kairi had been independent from a young age. He even helped out around the house whenever he could, making things much easier for her.
Still, if she had one complaint, it was that he never really acted like a child. While other kids had their playful, mischievous sides, her son had always been quiet and mature. As a mother, she sometimes missed the feeling of being needed of being doted on by her adorable little boy.
"Come straight home after school," she said with a sigh, finally letting go of his sleeve.
"Got it, Mother. You should let go now or I really will be late."
In the end, Sina released him. She had originally planned to take the day off to escort him to the academy, but Kairi had firmly refused.
Still, she wasn't too worried. Kairi had always enjoyed wandering around the village and, more importantly, had never once gotten lost. He'd even explored the Ninja Academy grounds more than a few times.
Now that he was off to school, it was time for her to head to work. After all, it was just the two of them and she was the sole provider for their household.
Kairi Shinatokawa, age six, was born into a single-parent family. His father had reportedly been a chunin who died on a mission. According to his teammates, the man had been taking extra jobs to save up for the baby on the way pushing himself too hard and ultimately dying in an accident.
His mother, Sina, had once been a genin herself. But after settling down, she voluntarily left the shinobi ranks. After Kairi was born, she began working various jobs to support them. Thankfully, her skills from her ninja days put her above the average civilian, so finding work wasn't too difficult. With Kairi being unusually precocious, the toughest days passed quickly, and they eventually found a rhythm to life.
As for Kairi… he was a transmigrator. A full-blooded one, from womb to world. He had lived a previous life in the modern world, and his memories had followed him here into the world of Naruto.
Strangely enough, he didn't have strong feelings about it. His former life hadn't included a family of his own, and there wasn't much he felt tied to. He only regretted not having been able to repay his parents. As for Naruto, he had watched the anime but admittedly not in detail. He'd skipped a lot of the flashbacks and filler, but even a rough memory of the plot was better than none.
Then came the classic transmigrator question: Where's the cheat code?
After six years of quiet observation, Kairi had to accept the truth. He didn't have any flashy abilities or overpowered systems. No inventory space, no stat screen, no daily rewards. Just his memories of the story.
Well… that, and a possibly stronger-than-average soul. He realized that his memory retention was much better than in his previous life. He couldn't claim photographic memory, but he could learn and recall things at a remarkable pace.
As for his lineage? As far as he could tell, he was just a normal person. No special bloodlines, no Sage body, no Uchiha, Uzumaki, or Senju genes.
That part gave him a bit of a headache. Of course he wanted to become a ninja he was here, wasn't he? It would be a waste not to experience it. But if survival was his only goal, it might be safer to marry into a ramen shop instead. Not one of the great clans they'd never accept him. But a small business? Maybe.
Still, in a way, he was lucky he wasn't born an Uchiha. After all, he realized he was the same age as Naruto. If he'd ended up in the Uchiha clan without any special powers, he might have ended up dead before the story even started.
Compared to all the overpowered transmigrators with systems, bloodline hax, or mysterious blood techniques, Kairi's situation seemed bleak but at least no one had a reason to target him. That had value too.
Despite his lack of chakra, he hadn't been idle these past six years. Physical training had its place, even if he couldn't mold chakra or practice ninjutsu yet.
But he was careful his body was still growing, and he didn't want to stunt it by overtraining. So he kept things simple and safe.
His main focus?
Finger exercises.
Even if high-level ninja could perform jutsu without hand seals, most still relied on them, especially early on. Seal speed was critical, and seal speed came from dexterity.
And so, with firm determination, Kairi had been stretching and flexing his fingers since infancy.
If he kept it up, he believed he could one day reach the fastest seal speeds in the village. Maybe not the fastest, but close. Right now, he could perform nearly three hand seals per second and that was without chakra. Once he got used to chakra flow, that would likely be his baseline speed.
Unconsciously, he had already arrived at the entrance to his classroom.
Taking a deep breath, Kairi steadied himself. He'd done everything he could to prepare for this day. The academy would be a crucial period for growth and one phase of an important long-term plan.
Inside, the teacher hadn't arrived yet. Kairi scanned the classroom, recognizing many familiar faces. He was lucky among the several possible class assignments, he'd been placed in the one led by Iruka-sensei, the same class as Naruto Uzumaki.
He didn't bother seeking out any specific classmates. Instead, he chose a random empty seat and sat down.
The classroom buzzed with noise. Some kids were laughing, others were crying. Kairi quietly rested his hands on his lap and began casually cycling through hand seals.
And then someone walked into the room.
A boy with spiky blond hair and whisker-like marks on his cheeks. His blue eyes swept across the room and lit up when he spotted Kairi.
He smiled.
Because he'd found a familiar face.