The first ten years of Volkner's life were quite surreal.
It was a bit of a heavy blow and maybe even a relief to realize reincarnation was real.
On one hand, it was rotten, because he didn't have any of his family or friends from Earth with him. On the other hand, it was nice to know there was something beyond death. That was a huge weight off Volkner's shoulders, and in a way, made him appreciate life even more.
But the act of reincarnation aside, it was the circumstances that Volkner found himself born into that were a little more serious than he would have hoped.
For one, both of his parents died in the Second Shinobi World War, a war that, until recently, had been going on for the entirety of his childhood.
Secondly, he was apparently reborn as the famed electric-type Gym Leader, Volkner. Not only that, but Pokémon were everywhere. Literally every single person had a companion Pokémon with them, and they helped with things like construction, farming, and yes, even ninja work. In fact, he had gotten his hands on a bingo book once, and saw that other characters from the games were here too, and they weren't weak.
Lastly, this spiky blonde hair of his wasn't just for show. As it turned out, his older brother was none other than Mr. Yellow Flash himself, Minato Namikaze.
When most fans thought of the name Namikaze, they associated it with speed. For some people, he was their Goat. For others, he was strong, but not up to snuff with the true greats.
Volkner didn't care about any of that crap.
For Volkner, who was taught how to read, speak, mold chakra, and throw a shuriken from Minato, he was like a shining beacon in a grim world of child soldiers.
To Volkner, Minato was the only person in this world who cared if he lived or died. He was a person who suffered financially to see to his happiness, and was Volkner's greatest friend.
In short, Volkner was a total bro-con, much like Sasuke was with Itachi. If he was honest with himself, he was kind of obsessed with following Minato around, and learning everything he did. Spending one hour in his brother's shadow was like spending an entire week at a university level course.
Minato was scary smart, humble, and incredibly loyal.
One time, when Volkner was being ganged up on by a pair of Inuzuka boys, Minato not only beat them in a 2v1, but also gained their respect and accidentally acquired their loyalty.
Another time, when their budget was running low-thanks to their voracious appetite for books, berries & other ninja tools-Minato gathered funds by doing the taxes for the neighborhood families…at 9 years old!
Lastly, when Minato graduated top of his class earlier this year, and was asked to give a speech-by the Third Hokage no less-he simply bowed, and said that the Will of Fire gave him all the resolve he needed. All the while, Minato had been glancing at Volkner, Kushina, and the rest of his comrades in the class. Everyone had been so moved, that his friends chanted Minato's name, much to his embarrassment.
In short, Minato was the coolest older brother one could ever ask for.
They trained, worked out, and learned together. Minato was a prodigy in everything he did, and that included being a big brother.
Life for a time felt rather magical, especially when Minato got his starter, Evee, which was a joy to be around.
However, now that Volkner was ten years old, it was time for him to face the music.
He could, of course, always opt out of being a ninja. However, living a second life where the afterlife was 100% confirmed, and he had bs Namikaze genetics, there was no reason why he shouldn't become a ninja.
Besides, there were all sorts of crazy powerful guys in the world, including Legendary Pokémon. If he sat back as a civilian, and let Minato die like in canon-if canon even held any sway on this universe at this point-then Volkner could never live with himself after everything Minato had done for him.
Glancing at the mirror in the hallway of his apartment, Volkner saw blue eyes staring back at him, and a head full of messy blonde hair. Dressed in a blue jacket, black shirt, and black cargo pants, he was stylish, but lowkey. Today was his day.
Mind made up, Volkner finally opened the door to his apartment, took a breath of fresh air, and smiled.
"Ready? Let's go." Minato nodded at Volkner, a small smile spread across his lips as he held out his hand.
"Jolt!" Minato's companion Pokémon-evolved from an Evee into a Jolteon-hopped up from a sitting position, and sniffed at Volkner's hands.
"Sorry Jolteon, I'll pick some Salac Berries another time, our garden is running a little thin." Volkner said with a wry smile, then turned to his brother's stern face and chuckled. "Yeah, let's go, thanks for waiting for me bro."
"I'll always be there for you Volkner." Minato nodded once again, as if it were a foregone conclusion, then took Volkner's hand.
Disappearing in a flash of pure speed, Minato, even at ten years old, was proving why he would one day become the fastest man alive.
Within a couple of minutes, they traveled from the far end of a residential district all the way over to the vaunted Konoha Academy.
When they reached their destination, hundreds of families had gathered outside, and were similarly handing their children off.
Grouped separately from the crying parents/next of kin, was a group of over 500 children who were on their own, either since they arrived without parental approval, or were orphans without family. Volkner could only praise his lucky stars that he had at least one person to rely on in this messed up world.
Grim thoughts aside, the crowd of people began to grow larger and larger as more time passed.
In the show, it almost seemed like Naruto's class was the only one being taught at the academy. However, in the same show, there were over 14,000 shinobi from Konoha that participated in the Fourth War. To Volkner, he was not surprised to see such a large crowd gathering here.
In fact, there were over 2,000 prospects standing at the school's gates.
And why wouldn't one want to become a shinobi, especially with the Second War ending earlier in the year?
Becoming a ninja would raise ones status, and monetary gain. Even a Genin spamming D or C rank missions every week could make the equivalent of 100-200,000 dollars a year.
Ninja work was a big deal to the poor, as it was an opportunity to advance. Whereas to the established clans, it was a means to project their power, and cement themselves as political heavyweights.
For Volkner, he didn't want to think too deeply on the implications of shinobi work at the moment. All that mattered was that he passed.
"Thanks, big brother, for everything you've done." Volkner turned to Minato, and embraced him in a tight hug.
"Thanks to you too, for keeping my spirit up." Minato ruffled Volkner's hair, and returned the hug.
"Yup, yup, and treat that Uzumaki girl right, I don't want to hear rumors from the granny next door that a red hot habanero is chasing around a blonde pineapple…for a fifth time." Volkner slyly smirked, then pulled away from Minato just in time to dodge any retaliation.
"You brat." Minato huffed, and clawed at air, 'missing' where Volkner had been standing a moment ago.
"See you around bro." Volkner stuck out his tongue, and ran away, as the academy gates had opened.
"Volkner! Do your best! Pass or fail, I'll always support what you do!" Minato cupped his hands, and shouted at Volkner's back.
Hiding his embarrassment from his brother, Volkner secretly wiped away a glittering tear, and promised to himself he'd pass this no matter what.
'For Minato!'
Running along with a herd of other 6 year olds, Volkner discovered that they were being directed towards a mile long circle.
A scar faced man was standing on a gatepost, and shouting at them as they came. His voice was magnetic, and impossible to ignore.
"Dip your right index finger in this paint can as you pass by! Repeat this process upon the completion of every lap into a different can, failure to comply will result in termination!"
Volkner, and everyone else who had done their research knew this to be the opening test. One that measured your endurance.
If someone couldn't keep up, then they were out!
Jogging along with the other 2,000+ kids, Volkner paced himself so that he wasn't too fast, or too slow.
Starting training since he was six, Volkner was well prepared for this test. While he wouldn't say he was a genius of hard work, he was at least decent. When Minato appraised his stamina, he said 'not bad.'
So Volkner was feeling pretty confident!
After running a mile, a paint can was presented in front of him. As he drew near, a proctor was standing watch, and would shout a command to each child he came across.
"Second finger!" The proctor said, and held up his left pinky finger.
Volkner, who was acting on instinct, almost dipped his middle finger into the paint jar, as in his mind, it was normal to go index first, middle second, ring finger, pinky in that order.
Catching himself, Volkner obeyed the proctor's instructions, and dipped his left pinky finger in.
Noticing something was different, the paint color on his initial index finger was red, but now the color had been switched out, and his left pinky finger was blue!
Eyes going wide, Volkner realized Minato hadn't told him about this part. Something other than endurance was being tested here!
As he came to this realization, Volkner ran up to 10 laps, each finger accumulating a different color of paint. Along the way, he noticed that the kids who collapsed were hauled off. So whilst this exam seemed to be testing something else, endurance was still a major component to it.
By the time the tenth lap was finished, Volkner was sweaty, thirsty, and slightly out of breath.
He noticed a handful of kids going to the other side of the academy, and was wondering what was going on.
"Hey kid, what are you doing?" Volkner asked a wild looking boy.
Tongue panting wildly out of his mouth, the boy growled, and pointed at a large sign, then brushed past Volkner without a care in the world.
"Thanks?" Volkner said, feeling as if he were talking to himself.
Turning to look where the boy had pointed, Volkner shaded his eyes from the midday sun, and looked around. Hanging from the front entrance, there was a large sign. It said [come closer, and wait in the back for further orders.] However, as Volkner was about to follow the crowd, he had to pause and do a double take.
The way that the orders were written, it seemed kind of weird.
As he had this thought, he noticed a pineapple haired kid walk through the front entrance all nonchalantly, like he owned the place. Following in his wake, a gloomy raven haired boy also entered a step behind.
Volkner scratched his head, perplexed.
Turning back to the signpost, he tried to discover what he missed, to see if there was some further meaning to the words.
Getting closer to the sign, Volkner's eyes went wide as he saw the words vanish, as if it were a mirage. A new set of orders took their place.
[Disregard the previous command. Say nothing, and enter through the front door. Take the third stairs on the left, go to the top floor, and knock three times on the right most left door]
Eyes going wide, Volkner realized that a localized genjutsu had been placed upon this object to misdirect the children!
'Aha, the paint, the sign, they must be testing our ability to follow orders, as well as our comprehension! For a military, there is nothing more important to the commander than following orders. As for comprehension, a smart ninja was a living ninja. If you can't spot tiny details in the field or at home, that could spell doom!
…Am I in some parallel Naruto world where stealth actually matters?!'
Shaking his head at such thoughts, Volkner scrunched his brow as he once again read the sign, to see if he missed anything, or if he had interpreted the instructions incorrectly.
Memorising the content in the message, Volkner nodded to himself, then set off.
Realizing he might be under scrutiny at the moment, Volkner kept his mouth shut, put on a serious expression, and strode into the building as if he belonged there.
Standing on his six, a tan, grim faced purple haired kid in a long sleeved grey jacket followed closely behind. Even further back, a grey haired barefoot girl with an even darker tan, in tight fitting gymnasts clothes followed with a bit of a clueless look on her face.
Ignoring them, Volkner proceeded up the third pair of stairs on the left, but when he reached the top floor, he paused as a new message presented itself.
[To all those who made it this far, congratulations. Choose wisely. Failure for one, means failure for all others within the room.]
Volkner's first instinct was to expand his senses, and see if he could hear any movement behind any of the doors, or any other unique chakra signatures. However, there was nothing.
But just because his attempt to gather clues didn't mean Volkner couldn't solve this conundrum.
Right when he felt as if he had the correct choice, a bitter voice sounded out from behind him.
"Move."
Glancing at the sallow, purple haired boy, Volkner shuffled to the side, then once again began to think up the answer to this riddle. Slightly annoyed by the loss of his train of thought, Volkner tsked.
"What are we waiting for, it's just knocking on a door, right?" The girl said from behind, and walked up to a door seemingly at random.
Without any hesitation, she lifted her hand, and knocked once.
"Oi." Volkner raised a hand in caution.
Had she not read the sign?!
"Stop." The boy hissed.
"Hm?" The girl questioned as she finished her second knock, and her fist was advancing forward for the third knock.
Seemingly unwilling to have his fate decided by this random girl, the boy ran at her in a tackle.
Feeling somewhat similarly, Volkner moved as well.
However, as he ran, Volkner realized mid-flight, that the door she was knocking on, the 2nd furthest door to the right, was the left most right door!
Upon having this realization, Volkner slightly changed his trajectory, and intercepted the boy instead.
Pushing him away, they crashed onto the floor, and the boy glared at him in an expression of pure frothing hatred.
"Do you know what you've done? You've sold out our futures to a witless girl. Fool." The boy roughly shoved Volkner off, and looked like he was ready to throw hands.
Volkner rolled away, and dusted himself off as he stood with a smile.
"Ah, but if you stopped her, she would have only done two knocks. Choosing the correct door wasn't the only part of the orders."
"What are you-" The boy said, yet silenced himself as the door swung open.
"Well said, young Namikaze. I was hoping you would be among my students this year. Teaching your brother was such a treat, why, I haven't had such fun in many years!" An old white haired man in a lab coat said with the warmth of a grandfather, and the fire of an educator.
"C'mon gramps, that's the past! Now that a genius Senju is here, everyone will know what a real ninja is like." The spiky brown haired kid from earlier said.
"Eh heh heh, ignore my grandson, Blue, and please make yourself comfortable. We wouldn't want the other test takers to cheat now, would we?" The man, no, Professor Oak said kindly, and waved the three of them into a generic looking classroom.
"I did it! Thanks for leading the way earlier, I'm bad with directions." The girl scratched her head in embarrassment. "Oh! I'm Bea Hatake, by the way! l usually let my fists do the talking, so let's get to know one another, kay?!" Bea said, then roughly punched Volkner on the shoulder, and looked at him expectantly.
"R-right. Names Volkner Namikaze. Pleasure to meet you, and yeah, I look forward to our spars. I know like two katas, so it's something I could really work on." Volkner ran a hand through his shaggy hair, and smiled sheepishly.
Spending most of his time reading books, experimenting on berries, throwing shuriken, and training his body for the entrance exam, Volkner's martial skills were just about nonexistent. If the sting of her casual punch was anything to go by, this girl meant business!
"Awesome, I heard you're a younger brother, I have a baby brother at home, Kakashi is the cutest! But you said your name was VolkanaNami-wastu now? Hmm, too confusing. You have bright hair, and I like your smile, how about, hmm, Sunshine! And you, purple dark and scary, kind of a downer…how about, Gloomy!" Bea clapped her hands, and pointed in Volkner and the other boy's faces excitedly.
"The name's Paul Shimura. Now leave me be, I intend to learn everything Senju sensei has to offer. I have no time for such childish trivialities." Paul stuck his hands in his pockets, then roughly brushed past both Volkner and Bea to claim a seat in the front row.
"Mkay, see you in the training grounds, Gloomy!" Bea waved at him energetically, then tugged on Volkner's arm. "C'mon, let's go say hi to everyone else!"
Volkner couldn't help but smile. This girl had the energy of a labrador retriever. As much as he wanted to chill out, he found he couldn't hate on her even if he tried.
However, as they were about to approach Blue, several more kids filed into the room, bringing the total number of students up to 12, and it became rather noisy.
"Alright children, you're all here. Please be seated, your Pokémon journey has just begun!" Professor Oak raised his voice, and everyone scrambled to obey.
Wanting to claim the back window seat, Volkner saw that it was already occupied. The raven haired pale kid-a person who Volkner assumed was the OG protagonist of Pokemon, Red-was staring out the window with a blank expression.
Glancing at his reflection through the glass window, the kid observed him silently.
"....."
Volkner gave the kid a tiny wave, so as to mask his shock. Not at the revelation of Red's identity…but because of his eyes!
Red had crimson pupils, and not the kind that Kurenai had. No, they were single tomoe sharingan! While this was a constant drain on chakra, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was for Kakashi. As a biological Uchiha, Red must barely feel the strain.
This was shocking to Volkner, because for one, what kind of emotional trauma did this kid experience at the ripe age of 6 to unlock the sharingan? Secondly, to always leave them active, it reminded Volkner of Goku and Gohan during the Cell Games, when they lived their everyday life as Super Saiyans. To everyone else, this may just be creepy, or a useless drain on chakra, but to Volkner, he recognized this as an insane mode of training.
"Be careful of the grandson of Madara, he might put you in a genjutsu. You should just ignore him! Instead, you should team up with me, Blue Senju! I heard that you're Minato Namikaze's younger brother. Well, since you're in the advanced class, you're qualified to follow me! With my stunning good looks, supreme intellect, and kekkai genkai not seen since my great-uncle, Hashirama, now is the time to form bonds with your future Fourth Hokage, and Champion." Blue spat out a litany of self praise, and smirked at Volkner. At the same time, he placed his hand over Volkner's shoulder, and tried to guide him towards the seat next to his own.
"Thank you for the offer, but I am comfortable where I am. The sun often burns brightest next to those with lofty aspirations." Volkner shrugged himself out of Blue's embrace, and sat next to Red.
"Heh, lacking in ambition eh? You'll regret not taking my open hand now. Not that I need to threaten you or anything, I'm simply too good for such trivial veiled threats. My success will be your regret." Blue smirked, then swaggered off as he tried to rope in an Aburame kid, and a Hyuga next to his seat.
Already, several students had overheard their conversation, and looked at him disapprovingly.
Volkner sighed, hoping he didn't majorly mess anything up. The Senju were the preeminent heroes of Konoha. Blue's actions may be arrogant, but in this ancient warrior society based on Japanese custom, Blue didn't do anything wrong.
However, Blue was really rubbing him the wrong way. Plus, someone so openly marketing themselves as the next Hokage was kind of crazy. Especially since, if his claim about having the First Hokage's bloodline limit was true, he had a really good shot of achieving it!
At the end of the day, Volkner could only believe in his brother, and support his dream..
Turning to Red, Volkner saw the kid staring at him intensely through the reflection in the window. The raven haired boy performed a single, ever so slight nod of his head, then went back to staring at clouds.
Volkner made sure to smile brightly at the kid, and gave him a cheerful wave. You had to be hurting bad to unlock the sharingan at such a young age. Besides, there was no harm in making friends with the titular protagonist of Pokémon…plus, Red was giving off some serious school shooter vibes. Definitely not someone Volkner wanted to mess with.
'It really is a shame that Blue is such a self aggrandizing jackass. If both he and Red teamed up, they could become unstoppable, like what Madara and Hashirama could have been.' Volkner thought to himself with a sigh.
"There you are Sunshine! Don't think I forgot about you. None of the others were interested in exchanging names, imagine that!" Bea ground her teeth, then after a moment, looked as if she had a lightbulb go off in her head. The short tan girl glanced at Volkner with a shark-like grin. "So what!? You're pretty smart, so I figure with my fists, and your brains, we team up, and sweep these arrogant jerks." Bea finished her statement by holding out her fist.
Chuckling to himself, Volkner held out his own, and met her knuckles for a fist bump. It was pretty nice being in an advanced class. All the other kids took learning seriously, and were way more mature for their age. Maybe they were a little chuni, but that was fine, there would be time for growth.
"Heck yeah. Teamwork is Konoha's strength for a reason." Volkner smiled at the labrador retriever in human form known as Bea Hatake.
Taking his seat, and glancing at the Professor, the day's worry left him. The test should be over, and he couldn't wait for class to start in earnest.
Shaking his head, Volkner put on a smile as he looked forward to the rest of the day. He had heard a rumor about the Academy handing out starter Pokémon.
Perhaps today was his lucky day?!