Naruto: The White Spider of the Leaf

Konoha, 5 years before the Second Great Ninja War

The early morning sun shone over the walls of the prestigious Ninja Academy founded by the Second Hokage. You could say today was special. The teacher paired us fledgling ninjas to engage in one-on-one combat to test our abilities and assess our progress. A regular event at the academy, happening every two odd weeks or so. 

Just now, the last spar of the day had concluded. 

A fight between a white-haired kid with loose eye bags, and bandages covering his arms and legs, very cool guy, I swear. The other was a boy whose spiky blond hair and 'somewhat' charming smile couldn't be mistaken for belonging to anyone else even if you tried getting him wrong. Of course, despite being so cool, the former found himself on the ground completely covered in bruises and gasping for air after exerting himself way too much during the fight.

I'm one of them! Bet you can't guess which one, can you? Hehe, of course I...

Well, I'm the one on the ground.

Maybe not as cool as I wanted you to think, huh?

"That's enough," the instructor's voice boomed. "Namikaze Minato wins… again."

I looked up at Minato, standing straight, completely unharmed. His blond, spiky hair glinted in the sunlight. The guy hadn't even broken a sweat. Despite my exhaustion, I kept my gaze on him. 

What do I need to do to land a hit on him? How do I get as fast as he is? We're both originally civilians, yet the gap kept growing wider rather than shrinking. 

Around us, the class began their usual commentary.

"Minato won again, huh?" someone muttered. "No surprise there."

"Same old, same old," another one added, stifling a yawn.

"Shirokumo just doesn't get it, does he?" a girl snickered as she crossed her arms. "Always challenging Minato and always losing."

"Why does he even bother?" a boy chimed in, shaking his head. "He's dead last in everything."

"I'm surprised he has the guts to challenge him again and again during these one-on-one combat assessments," a different student remarked, clearly puzzled.

One of the more popular kids, an Uchiha I was kind of beginning to despise, sneered. "Maybe he just likes getting his ass handed to him? He's a creepy spider, after all!"

""Hahahahaha!""

His comment got the class erupting into laughter at my expense. I had gotten used to it by now. Always bad at practical exams, mediocre at written tests, with little to no friends, I had become the class's favorite punching bag. Minato, on the other hand, was the class ace, amazing at everything he did and admired by the girls for his looks and cool demeanor. He was my polar opposite.

"Sensei!" I stood, holding onto my shaking knees. "Wait! I can keep going!" I said through ragged breaths.

"Hey..." Minato chimed in. "You really don't know when to give up, do you, Shirokumo?" He smiled wryly.

"Heh, hehe..." I grinned. "I won't get any stronger if I take a beating and simply lay on my arse, now will I?"

The students started again.

"Oh brother, here he goes again..." a girl sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing yourself!" another student called out, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Does he think this is some kind of heroic story where he suddenly wins one day?" a boy asked, mocking my persistence.

"I can't watch; this just makes me feel bad for the guy," someone muttered, averting their gaze.

"Honestly, it's kind of pathetic," a girl whispered loudly enough for me to hear, smirking.

If there was one thing I had, it was guts. Although most in my class interpreted it as a lack of brain cells instead.

That damned Uchiha brat stepped forward, a smug look on his face. "You really think you can keep up with us, outsider?" he taunted, snorting. "Why don't you just give up already? You're only making a fool of yourself, kid. Leave the academy! You stink up the place!"

A majority of the student body seemed to agree, following him like some mob. Though a few of the more sensible ones did seem to shy away. Even I thought the bastard was getting sort of extreme with the way he treated me.

Regardless of any of that. He should know damn well I can't do that. The only reason the village is offering me any support is because I'm one more potential soldier, if I left the academy I wouldn't be surprised if they kicked me right out. What exactly can an eight-year-old like me do in the wilderness? 

Die, of course.

No, I'm not gonna go through something that pathetic. If I'm gonna be doing anything pathetic, it'll be struggling to rise above these bastards till the very end.

So I moved to attack Minato again.

"Shirokumo! Stay down. I'll call someone to look at your wounds." The instructor halted my attempt.

"I can keep going, sensei!" I repeated, refusing to back down.

"No, you really can't." Minato said, sighing and walking over to me. He pushed on my chest and tripped me over to the ground with his foot.

"Gah!" I cried out as the air left my lungs.

I certainly couldn't get up this time.

Sighing, the Chunin in charge of us spoke again. "Shirokumo, you're not going to get anywhere by mindlessly pushing yourself. You're only going to get hurt, or worse, harm your future teammates! Actual village-nin! Now stay there and wait for the medical staff to come patch you up."

The instructor walked away with most of the class, leaving me on the ground. All I could hear from him was the click of a tongue, and a disgusted mutter of the word. "Outsider."

"This sucks..." I grumbled, prompting a chuckle from Minato, who'd stayed behind for me.

"Well, you did do better than last time. I'm sure you'll keep getting stronger yet, right Shiro?" Minato spoke with a warm smile. He wasn't the type to mock someone who was trying their hardest. That part of him I liked.

"Oh, you bet! If it means wiping that smug grin off your face..."

Minato laughed loudly. "I wish you good luck with that, Shiro!" He returned to his calm and composed smile before adding. "I won't lose, though."

After walking closer to me, he crouched and whispered, "I'll see you after school. Be at the place." 

He turned and promptly left the training grounds.

"Right..." I allowed my body to relax, finally feeling all the fatigue from our earlier spar. Or well, bullying was more like it. I'd gone toe to toe with Minato, again, for the thirteenth time in the academy, and the one hundred ninety-third time in general.

"Huff... Huff..." Still breathing heavily after everyone had already long since left the training grounds, I couldn't help but think to myself, Damn that genius asshole... He really doesn't pull any punches, does he?

Six months had passed since I joined the ninja academy, and around three months since Minato and I became friends, or the equivalent of that, at least. We were reading buddies. Minato had always been more of a loner; he enjoyed reading books in his spare time rather than socializing with the rest of the students. I knew that, which is how I got close to him. Back in the day, when my parents were still alive, they'd bought me quite a few books, as per my request. I wanted to learn more about the world I'd found myself being reborn in. That initial plan eventually led to me getting close to a bookworm who'd later become the Fourth Hokage.

We bonded after I recommended a book to Minato, the very first piece of literature written by a young Jonin. It might shock you, might not, but that Jonin's name was Jiraiya. Minato found it exceedingly interesting at the time and instantly became a fan of the author! Because he'd found the book through me, we became friends and started exchanging books with each other. A truly cunningly executed plan on my part, not gonna lie. It's a good thing I was a big fan of Minato's during my past life, or I'd never have known he enjoyed reading as a kid and that Jiraiya's books were his favorite. Truly, that knowledge has been a blessing to my poor soul.

It really got me thinking, though. Since coming to this world, that's the one thing that's gone well for me. People disliked my hair color ever since I entered Konoha. My new parents were outsiders, not even ninjas, just some civilians. Those same civilian parents of mine ended up dying while traveling outside the village not long ago, and I got enrolled in this stinking academy because the village didn't know what else to do with me! Now, I'm here, getting humiliated by the ninja family kids daily!

Their words are mean, man!

And that's not even the worst part! 

After arriving, I found out I'm in one of the worst timelines too! You know what kid Minato my age means? The bloody second ninja war is on the horizon! I've got a few years at best. Like, five? Yeah, probably around that much. If I get deployed there, I'm dead!

So here I am, eight years have passed since I've reincarnated in the world of Shinobi, but I don't even know how I got here. I don't remember dying, I never met a God, never got to choose any sort of cheat or anything of the sort, nor was I born within a famous and rich family like the usual novel protagonists I read so much about in my past life. The closest thing I had to a 'cheat' was being friends with a protagonist-level character. That's it. Heck, I didn't even know how I died. I'm just a nobody with a hair color that sticks out, no Kekkei Genkai, no Doujutsu, no special talents! Nothing! Just regular ol' Shirokumo... God damn it.

Ever since I enrolled in the ninja academy, I put everything I had into train myself, knowing full well that I needed to if I wanted to survive, but it really didn't seem to be working all that well for me. Forget cheats, even my talent was trash! I was mediocre at best, not good at ninjutsu and absolutely terrible at genjutsu. I couldn't do it. My taijutsu was below average too. 

I haven't enjoyed my time in this world, like one might guess. 

However, the friendship I'd made with Minato helped me a lot. Since we started reading together, every day the two of us would go out and both read books and also train, Minato obviously being the one to help with my training. I couldn't do a damn thing for his training other than provide a fleshy punching bag.

Yet that mere act, all the tips he had been giving me, and his positive outlook on my improvements, have truly made me quite a bit stronger after three months. Even though I wasn't special, I was at least good enough now to call myself ALMOST average. By stark contrast yet again, despite his exceedingly young age, Minato was already above most Chunin ninja and was still growing stronger with every passing day, a thing that none of the other students or teachers had noticed yet. But I did, oh I sure did, with every punch and kick that came on each following day, I could certainly feel it. That guy was improving at a rapid rate! It wouldn't be long before even Jonin stopped being his match.

The greatest talent in the academy's history. He certainly lives up to the hype.

Me? Well, fuck me, I guess. 

Couldn't whoever put me here at least give me a fifth of that talent? 

Oh, whatever. Bitching about it won't do me any good. Training might though, so I'll go and continue the grind with my buddy ol' pal... 

Who uses me as a punching bag.

Damn it all.

"I swear... One day I'll land a clean hit in that perfect jawline of his..." I grumbled in annoyance on the ground.

"Hahaha, I'm sure you'll do it someday, little snowflake." The voice of a young girl sounded from above me, prompting me to move my gaze.

Sun rays shone brightly, obstructing my view, but I didn't need to see her face to know who she was.

"Mocking me again, Yukino-chan?" I asked, smiling bitterly.

She was the one person aside from Minato who didn't treat me as if I were lesser than the rest of them, which I appreciated.

"Of course not, why would I?" Yukino seemingly smiled, speaking with a tad of sarcasm. She crouched to get a closer look at me. "You did well today, good job, you hard-working snowflake." Yukino said as she flicked my forehead.

Once she'd gotten closer and had obstructed the sunlight with her body frame, her facial features became visible. She had a pretty face, porcelain skin, and long, silky black hair that curled at the ends. However, her most noticeable feature was her pale white eyes.

"How I wish I at least had the Byakugan..." I murmured, gazing at her eyes with deep longing.