A Senju Tale: Change of Fate

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

"Ughhhhh, is it 6 already?" James groaned and rolled over in bed to stop his blaring alarm. Today was the last day of having to go to the hospital before he would get a week off for President's Day. After slowly sitting up he thought, 'One more day, and then I will get some me time! Maybe I'll go out tonight.' After washing up and putting together a light breakfast of toast, coffee, and some blueberries, he sat down to enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet before yet another hectic day at the hospital.

He thought back on the busy life that led him, James Mitchell, to this point. 'I was always a smart kid, at least that is what everyone told me. I didn't realize how smart I really was until I got into college. Going to Stanford University is a pretty big deal. Especially when studying engineering and going pre-med. Taking only 2 years, I finished my undergraduate degree with a double major in Biomedical Engineering and Biology. I also managed to finish my masters in Biomedical Engineering within a year after that. I then went on to finish medical school at Stanford by 23 years of age. Since then, I spent two years in my residency at a hospital in Los Angeles. It was a pretty big change from all the research I was doing at the university. I didn't really think much of the research but everyone else went crazy about it. They went on about how I am some kid genius and that my work is revolutionary. Meanwhile, I was just trying to find something interesting that I could pour my time into. I guess that meandering had some positive consequences.'

'After all of those things, free time was hard to come by. However, I had two pass times that I could not get enough of. The first was just aimlessly hanging out with my friends. I found a nice group of people. We all enjoyed getting together and doing mindless activities to allow us all to rest our brains. The other thing was watching anime. There were so many crazy worlds that people come up with and make into stories. I would spend a lot of time wondering what it would be like to live in one of those worlds. The thought of being one of those helpless side characters is somewhat scary but ironically funny at the same time. I guess I have a bit of a dark sense of humor. How could I not with how serious and boring my daily life is. Everyone needs to have some kind of entertainment, right?'

"Ughhhhhhh," he said looking at the clock. He sluggishly got up from my seat and cleaned up his dishes. He grabbed his car keys and ID badge and mosied his way out the door. After what felt like a really short amount of time, he checked his watch and noticed that his shift was over. He blinked in disbelief and turned to the doctor next to him. "Is it really 5 already? It feels like I just got here!" The doctor turned to James and said, "James, I don't know why but you are right. It just doesn't feel like it is the evening already. But yeah, you are done for the day. Will you be coming in next week?" James shook his head with a smile, "Nope. I get a whole week off. I need to go visit my family and friends. It has been a while since I have been home." The doctor smiled, "That sounds like a great time. Safe travels and enjoy your week off!" James turned and started to walk away. As he walked, he turned his head "Thanks, I'll see you when I get back!" James looked back ahead of where he was going and picked up the pace.

He exited the hospital and walked outside of the hospital. It was already dark outside but it was not too cold. The parking garage was down a few blocks from the entrance so he made his way over there. When he walked into the garage, it was dark. Usually, there are lights lining the walls of the garage. For some reason, many of them were out. He thought nothing of it since he was so set on getting home and starting his vacation.

As James rounded the corner to get to the row of spots where he parked, he froze. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down and saw blood pooling on the ground. He started to panic and as he looked to the side where the pain was coming from, he saw a person dressed in dark clothing holding a knife covered in blood. He could do nothing but watch as they came at James with the knife again to stab him in the chest. With this blow, he fell over. The pain was overwhelming and was nothing like he had ever felt before. James coughed and could taste the blood pooling in his mouth. As he laid helplessly on the ground, the person emptied his pockets, removed his watch, and grabbed his bag. As James faded out of consciousness, he could hear the person's footsteps as they ran away.

Everything was dark. James couldn't see or feel anything. 'Is this the end?' he thought. Over the next hour, a few images flashed. The first one was what appeared to be a group of EMTs putting him on a stretcher. The next one he saw a blur of white as he was rolled through the corridors of the very hospital he just walked out of. Then, he didn't see anything else. All he could hear was a heart monitor.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

It continued to slow down and after what felt like a few seconds, it went solid. Just then, everything went dark. Nothing could be felt, seen, heard, smelt, or tasted. 'What is this place?' James thought to himself. 'Is this where you go when you die? Never would have thought that it would be this but oh well. What can you do? This form I have taken is… interesting.' James didn't feel any kind of body. It was almost as if he was just an existence that was floating through a void.

After what felt like a few hours, a light began to become visible. 'What is that? Well, I'm already dead and have nothing to do so there's only one way to find out!' James Moved towards the light. As he did, a deep, soothing voice called out to him, "Come here my child." Suddenly there was a flash of light. "WAIT, I CAN SEE!" James yelled out. He heard a laugh from next to him. James looked over and saw a humanoid figure standing next to him. Their presence was powerful and they exuded a certain pressure. They could only be described as omnipotent.

After taking a good look at the figure, James then looked around and realized that they were standing in a cemetery. Immediately, he started to see some familiar faces. They included his friends, his family, and some of his colleagues. Suddenly it struck him. He thought to himself, 'No, don't tell me this is my funeral.' The figure turned to James, "Ahhh. I see you've already figured it out. That makes sense with you being so smart." James turned to the figure, "You can hear my thoughts?" They chuckled and said in a cheerful tone, "Of course I can. I am God after all." James could do nothing but stare at the figure in disbelief.

Only one sentence could come into mind. "So what now?" James asked. "That, my child, is up to you. As I am sure that you have realized, you have done some amazing things in your life. Your medical research is going to go on to save countless lives and also will serve as the foundation for many other discoveries. It also helped that you spent every day helping with the treatment of sick people at what you call the hospital. Due to all your contributions to my human race, I have decided to have a little fun with your afterlife. I am going to do this by giving you a few choices. Firstly, you can choose to enter Heaven. It is wonderful there but I won't lie to you, it gets boring pretty quick. Secondly, you can choose to be reborn into a human child on your Earth and live a completely new life. You have already done that so I doubt you would want to do it again. The last choice is the fun one! You can choose any fantasy world that your race has come up with and be reborn into that with a few conditions that we can come up with. Now which will you cho…" James immediately cuts off the end of God's speech and adamantly says "THREE! Ahem, sorry, I'll take choice three." In response to this, God laughed hysterically and said through the laughter, "I had a feeling you'd choose the fun one. I am only surprised that you did not ask about the conditions prior to making your choice." James smiled, "Well Heaven sounds boring. Earth? Been there, done that. Also, it was boring. How could I not want to spice it up. But now that you mention it, what are the conditions? They won't change my decision but I would like to know." God turned and thought.

As if a crazy idea had popped into his head, "How about this?" God turned back to James. "First, I will give you one of my Angels that has studied Human literature. They will be augmented into you as a system that can help you navigate the world. They will have some other advantageous capabilities that will be made available to you over time. Second, I am going to have you keep all of your necessary memories. That includes anything you've studied, morals, language(s), food, world knowledge, and a few other things that I'll let you figure out. For your convenience, I will remove any memories of friends or family so that you can actually enjoy your new life. Now that I have said my part, what are you thinking about the destination world and any additional conditions?" James grinned and quickly replied, "Here is what I came up with. I want to go into the world of Naruto. I want to be born into the Senju clan and be about the same age as Minato. Other than that, I want one other thing. Other than looks, I want to have all of the same characteristics as Hashirama. Wood release and all. Is that possible?" God smiled and replied, "Ahhh, yes. Naruto. That is a fun story, isn't it? As for your requests, I can accommodate them. However, don't come crying to me if what I have decided to do will mess with the story that you want to live in." James smiled, "Great, I am glad we could figure this out. I appreciate that you decided to pick me to have some fun with. The afterlife sounds utterly boring! But wait, what do you mean when you say that the story might get messed up?" God smirked and snapped his fingers. "That, my child, will be a surprise!"

James tried to ask again but no words would come out. Suddenly everything was dark. Then, a soft male voice that was quite relaxing made itself heard. "Hello. My name is Kensho, I believe the old man just told you about me." James, still not able to speak, thought to himself, 'Ah, so this is the angel. I wish I could talk to him. I also wonder if I am the only one that can hear him. "Uhhhhhh, I can hear your thoughts you know. I am living inside your head after all. And for that last thing, yes, you are the only one that can hear me. Think of me as a voice inside your head that is not due to mental illness." Kensho chuckled as he said the last part. "I should probably also say, you are no longer James Mitchell." James was confused after hearing this. 'Then who or what am I?' Kensho laughed again, "That is what you will find out in just a few minutes when you are born!" James's mind moved through ideas like a race car. He was trying to think of who he might be when he comes out.

A few minutes went by and suddenly, a dim light began to appear. It got brighter and brighter until everything was white. He thought to himself, 'Ah shit, here we go again!' As he thought of this, he realized he could feel his body and a cool breeze. James opened his mouth to try and ask where he was but all he could hear is "WAAAAAAAAAAA." 'Oh right, I'm a baby. Stupid vocal cords.' Kensho then started to crack up at this. "OH MY, this is gonna be fuuunnnnn!" Kensho said through his laughter. As James's eyes started to adjust to the light, he felt himself get lifted up into the air as he was wiped off and wrapped in a blanket. The woman who picked him up then said, "Oh look at how cute he is! What a healthy child." James was finally able to open his eyes and he was able to see the woman that picked him up. 'I guess this is the nurse that delivered me. WAIT! SHIT, I DON'T KNOW JAPANESE!' Kensho couldn't hold in his laughter anymore. This was just too amusing to him. "I almost forgot, let me help you with that… aaannnnd there." A notification popped up in the top right corner of his vision.

*Skill Mastered: Japanese*

'Thanks, I guess' James thought. The nurse then turned towards the bed and said, "Toka Sama, look at your baby boy." 'Toka? I've never heard that name before. Then again, there are probably a lot of people in this world that weren't in the anime. I'll need more information to find out who I am.' "Tetsuya Sama, do you want to hold the baby?" asked the nurse. "A man standing next to the bed said, "I wouldn't dare touch him before my wife can hold him." James was now even more lost. As he was handed over to Toka, Tetsuya called out, "Okaa Sama, Tsunade! You can come in now!"

'I must have misheard. Did he just say Tsunade? Like the Sannin?' James slowly turned his head over towards the door that slid open. As he did, a blonde, young girl ran right up to the side of the bed. Following her was one more person. As he recognized her, his eyes widened. Standing before him was Tsunade, who he presumed was his sister, and his grandmother and Uzumaki Mito. 'Shit shit shit shit, did I actually just become Hashirama's grandkid? THIS IS SICK!' Tsunade turned to Tetsuya and said, "Awwww, I wanted a sister!" She pouted as Mito asked in an enthusiastic tone from behind her, "Wow, I can't believe I have lived to see the day when I have two grandkids. Did you two decide on a name?" Toka nodded and looked towards Tetsuya as she was too exhausted to speak. "Yes we have. He will be named Nawaki. Senju Nawaki."