NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Chakra Awakening
A/N: Aknadin only knows stuff from like the first season of Naruto, btw. He knows some basics about the future from spoilers but only vague stuff out of context like there being an insane rabbit moon goddess and that there are people that can throw meteors
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first spark was electric in how foreign it felt, like I was intruding on a place not meant for me or anything else that is truly alive. The way it flowed like fire through my veins, pushing something out that I could only identify through it's absence, and yet the energy in my blood was easily controlled, bent to my will like an animal in chains, tamed by the whip. The analogy is probably more apt than I can really comprehend with what chakra does when given form. Internal use seems easy enough so I try moving it outside my body through my pointer finger but I feel the chakra dissipating before I can sense it outside my body so I stop to not waste energy. A quick reread of the scrolls tell me that I only need some basic control to be able to fuse layers of paper together so I get up and stretch, noting that it is starting to get later in the day and that I should probably eat lunch. After checking my pocket money, I decide to go out to eat from a food stall so I can grab a leaf or two on my way back for the first chakra training exercise.
.
After making sure I am presentable (putting on a tan over-shirt that stops above my waist) I open the front door for the first time since reincarnating this morning.
.
Stopping myself from stumbling from the influx of semi-familiar sights and sounds is near-impossible as I am again confronted with the fact that half of my memories are not my own. The sense of wrongness grows as I unconsciously walk down road that 'my' body remembers. When I am more aware of myself, I find myself sitting on a park bench, one that 'I' remember frequenting to relax on my days off. My hand moves to wave at a kid playing in the grass that 'I' recognize as one of my neighbors before my mind can even acknowledge his presence. Can he tell that I am not the 'me' that I was yesterday? If not, how long will I be able to keep it up? I nearly throw up at the thought of fully subsuming 'my' life and yet it seems to be the only option I have. I can't go back to my old life since I died and I can't end this one out of fear of what will happen if the rightful owner gets a chance to come back. Yet, none of that matters since I don't if whatever brought me here won't just put me into someone else's body again and even worse, I still have the selfish desire to live. Will I ever get another chance like this, much less with someone actually deserving of having their soul supplanted by another?
.
.
.
.
.
In the end, none of this existentialism even matters. I am here and living now. Now is the envy of all the dead. Slowly, I get up from the bench and start walking back... home. I grab a few leaves from nearby trees as I walk, turning them over in my hand. Worst case scenario, I'll just do my best to keep improving and maybe that is all that matters. Making a life that 'I' could be proud of.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: How's the chapter? I think I portrayed the struggle pretty well but I would like some constructive criticism. Also, kinda maybe not really spoilers, it's just a dormant memory until _____ condition is met kind of thing so soul-wise, it's fine but an argument can be made that memories are what make the soul or whatever, point is that's why Aknadin is unconsciously sticking to the I and 'I' when differentiating between post-memory unlock Aknadin and pre-memory unlock Aknadin and also I thought it was a fun writing challenge. Hope you guys are doing good and did anyone catch that Don Hertz reference?