Crimson Seals: The Legacy of Uzumaki

Uzu, [Before the Second Shinobi War]

“There, it’s all good now, OK?”

“Thank you, Nii-saan,” 

“You're Welcome. Now run along. I am sure your mother is waiting for you.”

“Bye!”

He waved back at the red-haired waving child whose knee he had just healed. He smiled at the crowd that had gathered around them as even after a decade of witnessing his powers in person, the shock factor among the elderly had never worn off.

When he had awoken as a shinobi in this accursed reality, he had never expected to be able to do anything of note. Most shinobis, even the ones with the famed Uzumaki bloodline failed to achieve something worthwhile in their long lifetimes. Of course, some wishful thoughts did go towards him being brought into this reality for a reason but he was painfully aware of his luck. Luck that was non-existent in his previous life so he knew that he would be lucky to have an average childhood in and itself.

As it turned out, he was blessed with seemingly everything. In his past life, he has bumped around from foster house to foster house with all his life’s belongings in garbage bags. He was lucky to have graduated high school and learned the trades. From then on, he wouldn’t say that it was a smooth sailing road but it was not as if he didn’t enjoy the various ups and downs in the life he had experienced. Mostly downs though. Sure, he made enough that there was always hot food on the table and he was never late on any of his bills but he never made enough to qualify for a loan from any bank to buy his own home.

Something that had been a dream for him ever since he was but a foster child tossed around in the system. 

It had been a normal day. He had gotten a gig that paid more than average, provided he finished the work in very little time so he had found himself working on weekends as well. Well, it was not as if he had someone waiting at home for him so he was more than happy to earn more so he could splurge a little bit extra on better booze and a better chick.

Sure, a 38-year-old living just paycheck to paycheck without ever having a girlfriend might sound sad to some people and it probably was sad for him to live like this but it was a hand that life had dealt him and he intended to play to the end.

One fine day, as it was usual for him, he had finished his work for the day and was on his way home with a six-pack of his favourite beer that he intended to finish before sleeping. Somehow, he went home and completely forgot about the beer. Instead, he cooked himself a nice dinner, something that he hadn't done for more than a month. Then, he watched his favourite episode of his favourite series and brushed his teeth, and then went to sleep in his bed. 

A routine that he had promised to himself that he would follow but had not followed for as long as he could remember. One moment, he had set the alarm for early morning the next day, and the next moment, he was waking up the night before he was awarded the title of Chunin of Uzu.

He still believed that the night before he was permanently transported to a world he believed to be fiction, there was someone who guided his actions, allowing him to live out a nice evening in his old world without the added mental fog of depression and anxiety that every 38-year-old orphan living all by himself has. He liked to believe that someone would have grieved at least a little bit when he passed but the truth of the matter was that aside from a few work buddies that he had drinks with once in a while, he had nobody he could call his own. He tried to get pets but after finding out that his landlord didn’t allow for it in addition to most pets being unsuitable to being enclosed for most of their lives, he gave up. 

Why should he add more suffering to some poor animal’s life in hopes that it could marginally improve his own? 

So, knowing that there was nothing back home waiting for him, he chose to confront this new life head-on.

And that wasn’t easy.

Finding out that you were one of the dozen chunins promoted with you being the oldest of the lot was not exactly a good feeling but later on, once he had gotten home and shared the news with his parents, he had felt a lot better about the headband that was adorned on his sleeve.

He liked to think that his relationship with his parents was nice but honestly, things in Uzu worked differently. It was mostly due to the fact that his parents were not shinobis but just seal crafters. Seal crafters were different from Sealmasters in the sense that Seal Masters could weaponise Fuinjutsu in a way few could. 

Seal crafters were the people who performed just research. They were the scholars of this accursed world. While that might seem like a profession without danger, it was anything but.

In fact, the casualty rate of being a seal crafter was oftentimes more than being a Seal Master. His mother and father, both of them were seal fanatics from a young age and had always known what field they had to go into when they grew up. Of course, his being born did put a pause on their plans for a little bit but after a few years, they were back to their full workload once again.

When he had violently awoken from his sleep the night before the award ceremony, he had been assaulted by memories of over 17 years. As it turned out, the body he was inhabiting was very special in the sense that it had eidetic memory. He remembered stuff from when he was just a year old and stuff that definitely shouldn’t have remained in his memory.

He had been quite a bit disoriented after that but Uzumaki bodies were nothing but tough in every aspect. He was all fine by the morning when he had to rush to the center of the village where every month, 

“Hey, Shino!” He was brought out of his thoughts once he felt someone crash on his barriers.

“Hey! That’s mean!” His best friend in this world, sniffed as she pouted at him from her position on the ground. Amaya had the weird habit of trying to sneak on him at the most random of times.

It was even more fun for her because he had the widest range when it came to sensing aside from old man Ashina himself. He still struggled to imagine the depth of his powers considering that he could pinpoint the movement of the Nine Tails Jinchuriki by sitting in his chambers.

Of course, she always failed due to his awesome powers. He had the power to create barriers and manipulate them to various effects.

One of those effects was an always-on shield that clung to his body like a second skin, allowing for selective materials to cross it, like air and sometimes, water. It was also intent dependent which meant that if he intended to, he could cut himself off completely from the rest of the world. It was a pretty nifty feature that dropped his chances of being ambushed to very low levels.

Of course, it was still entirely possible that his barriers could be breached but ever since he officially became an Elite Jounin a couple of years ago, he had yet to find anyone who could breach his barriers. Crack them? Yes but not entirely breach it.

The Lightning release Jutsu of Kumogakure was fearsome and he had the personal misfortune of experiencing it directly from the master of it. The fear of it was completely deserved.

“When will your stupid shields recognise that I am your friend and not some foe that needs to have their head bashed in with a stupidly tough chakra construct?” Amaya whined as she stood up and dusted off her uniform. Amaya was someone who continued to speak until stopped and was also a Jounin. He had apparently met her when they were just kids during their first days in the academy. He had no trouble continuing the friendship he had with her because the memories he had of his previous life were deeper than he had first thought them to be.

Emotions, Opinions, Preferences, Desires. Everything was offloaded onto him. He did not just receive the memories of the past as if it were a movie and he was a spectator. He received them as if he was the person who was going through everything and honestly, he was grateful for that. It allowed him to easily assimilate into the growing community and village that was Uzu.

Word Count - 1525

A/N - Another brain monkey that I thought of just before going to sleep and so had to get it on paper (or cloud) the first thing in the morning. Stay tuned for a couple more in the coming days.