"Is this... the end?"
That was my last thought.
I didn't die dramatically. No car crash. No illness. No heroic sacrifice. Just... sleep. A blink in the dark. One breath drawn in, and none let out.
For a moment, I floated. Weightless. Peaceful. Then—
Pain.
I screamed. Not words, not thoughts—just the raw, helpless cry of a newborn.
Voices echoed around me. Unfamiliar yet gentle.
"She's healthy," someone said. "Strong lungs."
Another cry joined mine.
Twins.
My heart skipped. Or it would have—if I had control over it.
That other voice...
It sounded so much like...
A name rang out, clear as a bell:
"Shikamaru."
My breath caught.
No.
No way.
This wasn't just a dream.
That name...
That cry...
Someone held me close—warm arms, a soft chest, a heartbeat calm and steady despite the chaos. I turned my newborn face toward the warmth. A woman's voice, firm but kind, whispered:
"Aiko."
That was my name.
Aiko Nara.
And suddenly, I knew.
I'd been reborn.
Into the world of Naruto.
As Shikamaru's twin sister.
---
I wanted to scream again—but this time in horror.
This world was dangerous.
This world killed children.
I had seen it all before. The massacre of the Uchiha clan. The pain of Naruto's loneliness. The Chuunin Exams filled with death. Akatsuki. War. Kaguya.
And now... I was part of it.
No longer an observer. No longer safe.
I was a Nara. A clan of strategists and shadow users. That gave me an edge. But it also meant I was expected to become a shinobi. To kill. To risk. To fight.
I was just a baby. But in my mind, I was still me.
A girl who once read manga on her phone, watching Shikamaru complain about everything and secretly admire his intelligence.
Now?
I shared his blood. His home. His mother's warmth.
And I had knowledge that could change the entire world.
But should I?
---
Years passed—slowly, painfully, full of silent fears.
I learned to walk earlier than expected. Talked a bit too well. My mother—Yoshino—would squint at me suspiciously whenever I solved puzzles too fast or memorized clan scrolls without trying.
Shikamaru... he was everything I remembered. Lazy, yes, but sharp. Always watching, always thinking. We had a bond, even as toddlers. Twins. Quiet shadows in a noisy world.
At night, I'd stare at the ceiling and think about the future.
Naruto was just a loud, lonely kid with sunshine in his smile.
Sasuke was still whole. Still happy.
Hinata stammered and blushed behind walls she didn't know how to break.
All of them were children. Innocent. Unscarred.
But I knew what would come for them.
Would I stop it?
Could I stop it?
---
One day, my father took us to the Nara forest.
"Time to begin your training," he said with that lazy drawl that masked discipline.
I watched as shadows moved on the grass, as chakra twisted through forms I'd only seen in animation before.
But now I could feel it.
Now, it was real.
My first attempt to use the Shadow Possession Jutsu failed, of course.
But not because I didn't understand it—because my chakra control was terrible. I was six years old, after all.
But I was determined.
In secret, I practiced chakra control. Leaf exercises. Water walking. Wall climbing. Anything that would make me stronger, faster, smarter—before the timeline caught up with me.
---
But the world didn't wait.
Whispers came from the village.
The Uchiha were acting strange.
Third Hokage seemed tired, old.
And Danzo... Danzo was always watching.
I saw Itachi once in the market.
He was polite. Kind.
Dead man walking.
Could I save him?
Should I even try?
---
One evening, Shikamaru and I lay on the roof, watching the clouds.
"Do you ever wonder what's up there?" he asked, pointing at the sky.
"I wonder what's coming," I whispered.
He turned his head lazily. "That's troublesome."
Everything was.
Because the storm was coming.
And I was no longer just a girl watching from the other side of the screen.
I was in it.