Konoha Year 48 — The Night of the Nine-Tails Attack
Hell had a name.
It roared across the Hidden Leaf like a force of nature made flesh.
A monstrous, burning chakra beast with nine writhing tails swept its limbs across the skyline, reducing entire streets to rubble. The night sky was red. Shinobi screamed as they leapt from rooftops, trying to hold the line. Explosions echoed like thunder.
Far from the battlefield—tucked in a crumbling birthing ward at the edge of the civilian district—a young woman cried out.
She was not a kunoichi. Not a medic. Just a woman—nameless in the grand scheme of history.
She gave birth with no midwife beside her, no lover to hold her hand.
And she died before she could even see the face of her child.
---
A New Soul
The baby did not cry.
He breathed.
Eyes opened—wide, alert, too still for a newborn. He stared at the cracked ceiling above him, his skin covered in blood and ash. Outside, the Nine-Tails howled again.
The world shook.
And Rafael remembered.
He had died.
A car crash. Thunder. Screams. And then—nothing.
Until now.
But this wasn't Earth. He recognized it immediately. The chakra in the air. The eerie red moon. The masked man in the distance who manipulated the beast.
This was the Naruto world.
Konoha. Year 48.
The night everything broke.
---
Same Day, Two Paths
Elsewhere in the village, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, was sealing the Nine-Tails into his newborn son—Naruto Uzumaki.
But Rafael didn't care about fate's chosen child.
He was the child born in the ward next door.
Nameless.
Unremarkable.
But alive.
And already aware.
---
Konoha Civilian Orphanage – Sector 3
Age 4
"Rafael. Say it again."
"...My name is Rafael Gojo."
The matron stared at him, unimpressed.
"You have no clan," she said flatly. "No bloodline. No sponsors. No future. You're a burden."
Rafael didn't blink.
"I'm alive."
The matron's eyes narrowed. "Barely."
He said nothing.
In the orphanage, weakness was punished. Crying was mocked. There were no lullabies, no bedtime stories—just rules and rationed rice. The war had cost too much. Civilians like him? Disposables.
But Rafael wasn't just some civilian.
He was a reincarnated soul.
A stranger to this world, but not ignorant of it.
He remembered Konoha. Remembered this world's future—both its heroes and its horrors.
He had no clan, no chakra advantage, no family name.
But he had knowledge.
And something else:
> Trait: «The Protagonist» — Passive. Fate twists subtly to preserve your story. Painful growth. Unexpected turning points. Survival is never guaranteed—but it is written.
---
Age 6 — Konoha Academy Entrance
He stood in line alongside dozens of other children. The Uchiha wore proud insignias. The Hyuga stood cold and straight-backed. And in the distance, the Hokage Monument watched over them all.
Beside him, a blond boy grinned brightly and pulled faces at the instructors.
"Hey! You see that? That's Naruto Uzumaki!" someone whispered.
"Don't get close to him. He's cursed."
Rafael didn't glance his way.
He'd seen Naruto before.
Seen how the village spat on a child for something beyond his control.
And yet Naruto smiled.
He envied that.
Because Rafael had stopped smiling years ago.
---
Later That Week — Forest Trail, Outer Training Zone
The sun had nearly set when he heard it.
Whimpering.
A small voice. Strangled sobs.
He turned off the beaten path, curiosity and instinct pushing him forward.
Then he saw her.
A girl—short, with indigo hair and pale lavender eyes—lay curled on the ground, her jacket torn. Three older boys stood around her, laughing.
"You think you're better than us just 'cause you're a Hyuga?"
"Little freak. Show us your precious Byakugan!"
She didn't respond. Just kept crying softly.
The biggest boy raised his foot.
"Let's see if we can crush her eye open—"
Rafael moved.
No hesitation.
---
The First Fight
He grabbed a rock mid-step.
Not because he needed a weapon—but because he wanted to leave a mark.
The stone cracked against the boy's skull.
The kid screamed, blood gushing down his temple as he collapsed.
The others froze. Too stunned to react.
Rafael looked at them with dead, flat eyes.
"I'll count to three," he said softly. "If you're still here when I'm done, I'll take your teeth next."
They ran.
One of them tripped, scrambling over leaves. Rafael watched them vanish into the trees, then turned.
The girl stared at him, eyes wide.
"I didn't ask for help," she whispered.
"I know."
"Then why?"
He didn't answer immediately.
He knelt and extended a hand.
"You can't build anything if you let others tear you down."
She looked at him for a long moment. Then slowly placed her hand in his.
"My name is… Hinata. Hyuga Hinata."
He nodded.
"Rafael."
Her lip trembled. "Thank you, Rafael-kun…"
He stood, brushing dirt from her shoulders.
"You should be stronger," he said quietly.
"I-I'm trying…"
"Try harder."
---
Later That Night — Orphanage Rooftop
The wind was sharp, but he didn't flinch. His eyes scanned the village. Beyond the lights, the scars of the Nine-Tails attack still marked the land. Broken homes. Ash. Empty lots.
"This village is already rotting," he muttered. "It smiles while hiding knives behind its back."
But even if Konoha was broken…
He had been born here.
And he would use it.
Like a stepping stone.
Like a first stone laid for something greater.
"A kingdom of loyalty," he whispered. "Not lies."
He thought of Hinata's trembling eyes. Her shame. Her bloodline. Her wasted potential.
"I will take you from your clan," he said softly. "I'll build something they can't destroy."
"Even if I have to burn everything down first."