He walked into the door of his assigned room and seated himself in the front of the classroom, while he had no idea were he usually sat, he didn't care he made up his mind to be the most diligent in his year, and he felt in able to do that he needed to be the closest to the board to catch up to the rest of his classmates, because as it stood right now he didn't know squat about any of the subjects or the curriculums.
Thinking about that led him to realize that he didn't know what era he was in. He was already around ten years old and still had no idea if he'd be thrown into a warzone. He wanted to throw himself into some rock Lee training, but he wasn't naive enough to think his weak body could sustain such rigorous training. While Might Guy and Rock Lee both had an unwavering will to push themselves to the limit, the only reason they were able to do so was because they were blessed by kami with a resilient body able to withstand the power of the gates. If the scrawny Yuto tried to do what Rock Lee and Might Guy did in his 10-year-old body, he'd end up in the ER.
After only 4 hours in this world, Yuto started to regain some of his memories about his parents. He concluded that the boy had passed away from grief after the death of both of his parents.
He also concluded that his soul needs time to fully merge with young Yuto's to gain the rest of his memories.. And since he had no way to know how long that would take, he decided he'd pay another visit to the library. He pulled out the crumpled-up bill in his pocket and silently hoped it would be enough to purchase a history book.
The original story only gave minimal details about timelines outside of the main protagonist's era. He knew he was within the timeline after the nine-tailed attack, but he couldn't be sure whether he was in Itachi's era. He knew for a fact he wasn't in Naruto's era because the Uchiha clan was still around, and they'd already been exterminated by Itachi and Obito by the time Naruto was 10. The Hokage monument had 4 faces when he was drooling at the sight of the village, so to be sure, he'll look out for blond hair and blue eyes.
He took his hair down from its ponytail and let it sit on his shoulders. He looked up to see the familiar green vest of a chunin walk into the classroom. He locked eyes with the strong-faced male with shaggy black hair, with the Konoha forehead protector wrapped around his head.
"Yuto, it's nice to see you back," said the man
Suddenly, a name popped into his mind. "Moreno sensei," Yuto greeted.
Yuto smiled and gave him a small nod. He then looked out the window.
"Moreno sensei, can I open the window?" Yuto asked.
"Hmmm, sure, go ahead," he said.
Yuto then unlocked the window and lightly pushed it open, letting in a gust of wind, letting his long locks blow about. He pulled out a small notebook, and from what he could tell, the "Yuto" that used it before didn't take a single note in class. He let out a deep sigh. He silently hoped that his grades were at least mediocre.
He needed to build a reputation as a shinobi who is a practitioner of the will of fire. He needed to complete every task without a single mistake. He was not from a clan; he could figure that out just from his small apartment. He knew even if he did somehow come from a small shinobi family, his resources would be the same as any orphan because his parents were dead. And the modest one-bedroom apartment screamed orphan.
If he was going to survive, he needed the higher-ups to see him as a valuable shinobi that's worth investing resources into.
Not only that, he needs to gain enough merit to get promotions and build an impressive resume.
He would need the backing of high political figures. He hoped getting close to the airs of powerful clans would help him in the long run, but that was easier said than done.
He was getting nervous about the thought of all of it and quickly switched his thoughts to something else before he had another mental breakdown. He thought about putting off the library visit, figuring that what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. But in the shinobi world, what you don't know can indeed hurt you, and it would if he stayed weak and pitiful.
He felt shame in that moment; the second he met with the possibility of conflict, he trembled in his shinobi sandals. He kept repeating in his mind
"I don't want to fight, I don't want to kill, I don't want to die"
He frantically looked around and saw some of his classmates looking at his trembling form in concern. He didn't even see when the rest of his classmates entered the room. He had been the first in the classroom, and the second. He entered the classroom and pulled out a notebook. He started to tremble in fear after overthinking yet again.
He knew he was a coward; he'd always been a coward since back in his previous life. He'd been bullied in high school and took it like the good dog he was. He tried to gain his confidence, but not only had he not been physically attractive, he was utterly hideous, and he always ran at the very first sight of danger. So when met with the idea that he'd have to fight on battlefield fronts with no escape, he could only shake in his boots and pray to every god he knew that he wouldn't be pulverized by the enemy.
He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them again. He knew he needed to stop trembling. He knew this wasn't the world from before, where people would coddle him the second he felt sadness or depression. People from this world wouldn't recommend you to a therapist; they'd hand you a kunai and tell you to fight with your back to the wall until you drop dead, and slap your name on a stone tablet for your sacrifice.
Once he calmed down, he sharpened his pencil and began to write down the notes on the board. He didn't have the time to subdue his wounded conscious.
After a grueling 7 hours of listening and writing, he felt accomplished as he actually learned a little more about this world. He confirmed he was in Itachi's era after hearing one of his classmates whispering about Orochimaru's defection after the teacher talked about the legendary sanin. As expected, half of the lesson was brainwashing about the will of fire and how Hashirama Senju could beat the nine tails with his pinky toe. If he were really 10 years old, he would have actually bought it. He suspected that at some point, people realized later on in their shinobi careers that the will of fire is complete bullshit, but didn't dare to question the leadership of the village, or leave the shinobi ranks for obvious reasons. But he still decided to right down the notes as he needed to be an ideal leaf shinobi, an part of that meant he would need to preach about it like his life depended on it, because it did. he knew if a half ass shinobi like him showed a hint of disloyalty he'd be shipped to the genin reserves and wouldn't have a chance at a promotion until the next hokage.
He walked back home from the library with a history book along his notebook from class in his hands. When he finally arrived back at his apartment, he kicked his sandals off and put a thought in the back of his mind to get a shoe rack. His bare feet slapped against the ground as he let out a sigh at the dirt and grime on the floor. His palm instinctively grabbed his forehead as he took in the look of the dirty countertops with instant ramen cups all over the place. He knew the brat had just lost his parents, and fell into deep isolation, so it made sense to some degree, but it didn't make cleaning it any easier.
After a few hours of deep cleaning, he wipes some sweat from his brow. He had a light smile on his face, looking at the sparkling countertops and floors. He was about to prepare his small breakfast table to study, but he was interrupted by a knock on his door.
His faced change to confusion and curiosity as he had know idea who could be knocking on his door.
He walked towards the door, his bare feet again slapping against the ground, except the floors were cleaner this time around. As he opened the door, He was surprised when he was met with the daughter of the store owner.
"Hey, Yuto," she said.
He'd gained some more memories in his grueling time at the academy, so he had an idea of who she was to an extent. Apparently, they were close and had a younger brother and older sister relationship, but after the death of Yuto's parents, the kid isolated himself for weeks, and Iami didn't know how to comfort him and help him mourn.
He realized he was spacing out again and quickly came to his senses.
"Iami," he said awkwardly
"Don't treat me like a stranger, are you going to invite me in?" she said playfully with a genuine smile.
"Um, yeah, of course, come in," he said, stepping aside and gesturing for her to come in.
He led her to the breakfast table that had some old textbooks he'd found in the drawer while he was cleaning, and a single scroll left behind by his father.
Iami spoke, "I see you cleaned up." She then sniffed the air, "Is that lavender?" she asked.
Yuto gave her a light nod.
"Look at you taking care of yourself like a little man," she said in a teasing tone.
Yuto let a small smile grace his lips at her antics.
Iami then raised an eyebrow at the scroll and looked at Yuto with a questioning look.
"Oh this, my father left it behind it's the only thing I have left from him besides some oversized clothes," he said with a reminiscent smile.
"Oh..." she said with a pause. "When do you plan on opening it?" she asked.
"I've decided to open it today," he said.
"Oh, I can come back later if...."
Yuto cut her off "No" he quickly said, "I want you to be here while I open it".
While Yuto didn't have much memory of Iami, he knew he could trust her based on the memories he had. And he'd rather have someone there while he opened the scroll.
He reached for the scroll on the table and took a seat across from Iami. He took a deep breath and then rolled open the scroll across the table. He gasped in shock at the seal written at the bottom of the scroll below the letter written above it. Memories flooded into his mind about how to mold and channel chakra along with the steps of how to open the seal. "Looks like this brat's memories are coming back little by little," he thought. He looked at the kanji on the scroll in excitement. For the first time in his 12 hours being in the ninja world he finally had something to look forward to.
[Be sure to give me your power stones]