A/N: So, this is my first fanfiction in a while, and I'll probably change a lot of the writing in the future. However, I thought I'd start putting it out here to see what readers think of it. So drop a review if you felt literally any sort of mental response to the letters and words that exist on this page. I'll appreciate it.

Checkpoint: N/A, Loads: 0

I had received an incredible scholarship to my preferred university, and I couldn't wait to begin the next part of my life. Then I stopped at a gas station on my way home one night, feeling tired but content after a good meal with good friends.

It was one of those spots where everything in the night sky seems perfectly clear and still. The peacefully white moon perturbed only slightly by the gray clouds, like thick ocean foam from dark blue waves poured into a circular mold. The craters, like the haphazard playfulness of a child, poking shallow dents into the substance with tiny fingers and palms.

Bright, ivory dots followed the glowing moon's example, shining impartially but with great passion. The pitch darkness was like black fondant sprinkled with powdered sugar, blanketed across the sky.

My eyes flicked over to the yellow lights of the gas station, where a primal, instinctive paranoia began to sink into me, like the cold, wet tickling of rain droplets right before a storm sets in.

I shivered slightly, and my eyes returned their unsettled focus to the sky, where I once again was enraptured by the calm blackness of night. For a moment, it was as though the moon and stars were giving me encouragement, but not an emotional kind. It was a cold, logical statement of fact they reminded me, something I had heard years ago but barely could recall. They told me, "Everyone dies eventually."

And a phantom spike of pain ripped through my rapidly beating heart as I heard heavy footsteps on the concrete behind me. I turned slowly, the vertebrae in my neck shuddering as my face went numb. I could feel it, the inevitability I had been warned of but forgotten.

I knew I should spin around quickly and try to stop the monster behind me, but I had already realized that it was useless. Thanatos would not loosen his grasp until I choked on my own doubt and let myself be taken to Hades.

I tore myself back to reality - life wasn't over yet. Life wasn't fucking over. I didn't do all this shit so I could die before I achieved any of my fucking dreams. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I pivoted my foot and brought my arm around to grab my potential assailant around the neck. My other hand reached for the object he had been aiming at my back.

But I was slow, and guns are fast. I knew immediately that a bullet had been put through my chest, and with the drums pounding mutely in my brain, I reached for his weapon and wrenched it out of his hand, turning it around. A quick squeeze and his wound matched mine.

I heard his gurgle of pain and toppled over his body. I could not feel my feet, nor could I feel my head, or mind or anything. Why? Why had I shot this man? I was a murderer… but so was he, and it would all be over soon. There we were, two dead men, different in life but identical in death… For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.

I thought of my family, my friends, my hopes and dreams and the glorious, enlightening future I had wanted to have. Which had been taken from me in moments. I couldn't feel at peace… I had no reason to. On the other hand, I could still appreciate what I had left.

With that settled, I spent the last few minutes of my life staring at the moon. The dark clouds that had partially covered it had finally floated away, leaving a pearly white orb at the center of my focus. I don't know how long I watched the moon, but it kept moving on its journey across the blackness; the deaths of two men could never change the path of such an ancient being.

I wondered then, if the man I lay upon looked at the same sky. And then I had a thought. If only I could see something like this again, I would spend another lifetime before continuing on the inexorable course of existence.

I slept for a while. It was the kind of sleep that, waking from it, you can almost remember your own unconsciousness and estimate the time you were asleep. For me, it seemed as though I had awoken from a month-long slumber.

"You wanted another life?" a voice asked. My mind was still slow and fumbling, but I knew it was speaking to me.

After a few moments, I said, "Maybe." I had said it without a mouth, without hearing myself.

"If you'll let me, I can make sure this life will last longer than your previous one," said the voice, though it had no inflection, because there was no sound.

Get thee behind me, Satan.

I thought for a long time.

"How long?"

"As long as you wish. There will always be the option to move on."

"Why?"

"Your life was pointless. Why should anything else be different?"

It made me angry. My life was not pointless, as long as I felt it had purpose. And it said "was", as though I wasn't still alive. I didn't need a body to be alive… as long as I was conscious, I had a life, and as long as I had a life, I had a purpose. I wanted to prove it wrong… even though I knew it was trying to provoke me.

"I'll take it. All of it."

And it knew what I meant. I think it already knew everything about me. Was I talking to myself?

Once again, it didn't matter. We both knew my decision from the beginning.

I had eyes now. I was still in want of a body. Looking around, all I could see was whiteness.

Then, abruptly, something resembling a GUI appeared in front of me. It consisted of a single text box to the left of a blue square with white lettering that read simply, "Continue". Words appeared in the text box letter by letter, spelling out sentences:

"Welcome to your new life. You will be reborn into the Elemental Nations, the setting of the Naruto universe."

I had considered the entirely infeasible chance that I'd be given a second life in a fantasy world, but it seemed puerile to expect, let alone imagine. Yet, in clear defiance of all rational thought, I would be living in an anime universe, of all things. And I was ashamed to admit to experiencing a sense of excitement. I clicked the "Continue" button with nonexistent fingers.

The text box was replaced by a much larger interface with the title "Create your character". There were two panels on the side: "Appearance" and "Story".

The "character" part threw me off a little. The GUI was odd, as well. Perhaps the system was modeled after what it perceived to be most familiar to me.

Regardless, I liked this format. It was very straightforward. But before I chose "Appearance", I worried about the chance of forgetting how I looked in my last life. Still, I clicked the panel, and the blank GUI was filled with a 3D model of a naked figure. The buttons to the right included "Body", "Face", and "Hair".

Then I noticed another button at the bottom of the interface. "Original appearance".

I clicked on it, and the 3D avatar became me. The way I looked before. I had brown hair and eyes and an average appearance altogether. I was happy with it.

I selected "Story", and the text box from before appeared. "Your 'Story' consists of your place of birth, heritage, family, inherited abilities, and the way you have come to be where you are now. There are many preset stories to choose from. There is the option to create your own story, but there are limits to how extreme you can make it."

I clicked "Continue", and saw several panels appear on the side of the GUI. They listed nations, the five big ones and multiple smaller ones. Choosing one opened stories that took place in that land.

I took the time to read each one, but eventually decided the best way to go would be to create my own story.

Firstly, I had to be an orphan. Living with a new family wouldn't just be painful and strange, but it would make hiding my secrets difficult. This also meant I couldn't be adopted while I was in an orphanage.

Next, I wanted to be a shinobi. I knew it would be a gruesome experience, but I couldn't possibly sit back and live a quiet life knowing what this world had to offer.

Then, my birthplace. There were a lot of choices… it had to be the Hidden Leaf. It was the most familiar to me, and likely the most friendly. My knowledge of the events in the Naruto world would come in most handy in the Leaf.

That brought me to my next question. When would I be born?

The text box reappeared. "You will be born within a year of the Rookie Nine, no matter where you live."

Then my choice was only reinforced. Now, abilities. Of course, it was always good to have an advantage, but I obviously couldn't have the Sharingan, Byakugan, or Rinnegan. What abilities could I have?

Countless panels replaced much of the screen, listing generic things like "Good Chakra Control" and "Charismatic" to Kekkei Genkai such as Scorch Release and Magnet Release.

I didn't want a Kekkei Genkai. While it appeared objectively naive, I wanted to be known for my own power. Besides, I'd draw less attention that way.

A few of the abilities caught my eye. They were, "Quick Thinker", "Motivated", "Large Chakra Reserves", and "Fast Healing". There were small descriptions of each, but the names were mostly self-explanatory. According to the… whatever this thing was, the "Quick Thinker" ability would let me react faster under pressure and make split-second decisions. The "Motivated" one would do exactly what it sounds like, but I was hesitant to pick it. I always felt like my laziness was almost part of my personality.

"'Motivated' will only make it harder for you to quit when working toward a goal you want to reach. Your personality will be largely unaffected."

The text box reassured me. In that case, I didn't mind it, even if it gave me some form of a periodic obsessive disorder. I couldn't be lazy if I wanted to survive as a ninja in this world. I chose the four aforementioned abilities, and another screen showed up.

"You may only pick three non-Kekkei Genkai abilities."

I deselected "Quick Thinker", because I had felt slightly uncomfortable causing such a large alteration to the way I think. After all, the mind is a person's last sanctuary.

Now for my story itself. How was I orphaned? The easy answer would be the Kyuubi attack. But even that left too many potential connections to other Leaf citizens, shinobi, and especially characters like Naruto.

How about… my mother was a Land of Fire native who was captured and raped by bandits…. Then she was rescued by Leaf shinobi and… and died after giving birth to me only days after her arrival. It was sad, but at least then there would be less doubt about my loyalty to the village. And that way, my parents wouldn't have had connections to anyone I met. Although, I should modify it slightly to make certain she had no connection to anyone else.

I spent some more time considering any other backstories, but I couldn't come up with anything I liked better.

My character was almost done. Now I just needed a name.

I didn't like the idea of making a new name, as it felt like I'd lose part of myself, but my name wouldn't fit in even slightly the way it is now. So I started thinking.

It had to be Japanese, obviously. Now if only I had a book that conveniently contained Japanese given and family names…

I wasn't surprised for one to appear in front of me. I read for a while, and picked out what I thought was a good name. Kenshi as my given name. Kimura as my surname. I went ahead and chose my mother's name too: Sara.

I… was done.

In response, the interface showed a profile:

Name: Kimura Kenshi

Sex: Male

Mother: Kimura Sara

Father: ?

Kekkei Genkai: N/A

Next, there was the naked 3D model of myself, which was… weird to look at closely.

Kimura Sara was a civilian woman who, along with her family, was captured by a group of bandits. She was the only one left alive and was raped regularly. At some point before the Kyuubi attack, she was rescued by Leaf ninja and given refuge in their village. Unfortunately, she died after giving birth to her son Kenshi, who now resides in the Konoha Orphanage. Despite being civilian-born, Kenshi has significantly larger-than-average chakra reserves, and enhanced regenerative abilities.

I liked it. This would be my new life, and I'd live it to the fullest. I would become powerful, famous, and bring peace to the land.

Or then again, I might just die on my first mission. I guess I'd find out.

"Do you wish to begin?"

Was that a rhetorical question?

Whiteness filled my vision.

This feeling… it was the feeling that the adventure of a lifetime - or rather, that of a second lifetime - was about to commence. I could barely imagine the incredible th-

"You have one more ability. At certain points in your life, you will reach a Checkpoint. These Checkpoints will be load-able saves which you can return to at any time. However, once a new Checkpoint has been reached, all previous ones will be overwritten. If you die, you will automatically be returned to your last Checkpoint. All physical, mental, and spiritual accumulations will be retained, though any physical impairments will be reset to their pre-damage state. Acquired clothing, weapons, and other items will not be retained. Good luck."

...what? What kind of ability was that? I couldn't die. I could go back in time at any point and keep memories and chakra and physical improvements. It was incredibly overpowered. The main problem that was presented was the fact that each new checkpoint would overwrite the previous ones. ...And the "certain points" part. At any time my checkpoint would be at risk of being overwritten. I would have to be careful.

I began to think more about the implications of this power before I was thrust into the world.

Then I realized. I was being born, wasn't I? I tried to focus on the doctors around me and not on the… well, I wouldn't go into that. I couldn't really hear anything being said, and it wasn't just because I didn't know Japanese. I remembered reading once that newborns can't hear clearly because fluid still remained in their ears.

I was put into the hands of someone else, I guess my mother… Kimura Sara. Did I... create her? Was this person… no, this world wasn't real. None of it actually existed before this moment. But then, if they have the memories, created now or long before I got here, did that make it any less real?

The hands holding me brought me up to a face. I looked into deep brown eyes, ones filled with past anguish, regret, shame, and… countless other things, but those were in minority compared to the happiness and pride I could see. We stared at each other, her with a happy, tired smile, and me with increasingly worried confusion.

She seemed surprised by the intensity of my gaze, but it appeared to make her only prouder.

Then she spoke, and for some reason I would probably never understand, I could make out her words, and I could tell what they meant. A language and sound barrier was broken by something I couldn't look too closely at.

"Kenshi… that's your name, okay?" I realized… it was real.

"I want you… I want you to be happy." Something soft and gentle was caressing my back.

"I want you to… to go out into the world and… and find the things that make you smile…" She was someone real. She could feel and hurt and cry just like anyone in my old world, just like I could.

"...you… you have to go and explore them till you can't stand them anymore." Kimura Sara had her own dreams and aspirations. She was captured by bandits, raped to conceive a child she never wanted, and had no loved ones to comfort her.

"and… and I want you to find people you can trust with everything." I created her pain, I tore away everything she ever loved… it was me.

"You… you'd better do all that, all right?" And now she would die here, giving birth to a murderer… to her murderer.

Her tears, held back till she finished speaking to me, to her child, came slowly dripping down her face. Her smile, weak in her dying moments, was a pale-pink boat with so many holes it was always a wonder it was still afloat. Even now, when drops from above spilled over the ledge and filled it with liquid, it stayed up, straining to stay over the surface.

That boat didn't sink, even when everything around it gave out. Because that boat could not sink, not when its most important person was still watching.

And as my ears returned to normal, I heard a strange sound. I didn't realize till later, but it was the sound of crying. It was the sound of a newborn child losing its mother moments after seeing her for the first time.

Checkpoint Reached!

A/N P.S.: Expect this Naruto world to have slight AU aspects that aren't always explicable with Kenshi's changes to the world alone. Any significant differences from the Naruto world depicted here and the real Narutoverse are probably intentional, and the reader should assume that Kenshi's version of the Naruto world reflects his own Earth reality's fictional creation of Naruto. Also, this story is kind of an SI because I'm doing it in first-person and the protagonist has some similarities with myself, but keep in mind that Kenshi is a character unto himself. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and are excited to see Kenshi really interact with the world later on.