Reincarnation of the Aburame God (Naruto Fanfic)

"Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures, and that is character."

—Horace Greeley

...

Ascension. That's the word that has always defined me in every respect.

I was born into a poor family and had to do everything in my power to become a man of value. I worked in dozens of jobs. They ranged from a newspaper delivery boy to a cosmetics manufacturer in a factory with questionable hygiene.

Still, I never gave up on the basics: studying. Improving myself intellectually was the only way to make sure I wouldn't live forever in a dump with my two drug-addicted parents.

As an adult, my efforts paid off. I got into a good college, got a good internship, and these two things led me to a higher-paying position in a small financial company.

It was at this job that I heard about cryptocurrencies, and it was right when Bitcoin had just been launched. Some of my colleagues said it was a joke, something worthless.

In fact, it was an almost worthless virtual currency. As everything was very cheap, and a colleague was very excited about it, I put in ten dollars. This allowed me to buy over 3,000 bitcoins at the time. It was something new, and I felt it had potential because it was a decentralized currency.

My life went on after that. Years later, I quit my job, set up a cryptocurrency exchange company, and improved myself as best I could. I studied many languages, cultures, and, as CEO, I had a lot of time to catch up on the culture I hadn't had access to when I was younger. I played hundreds of games, watched series, anime and even started reading novels.

My biggest flaw and quality was that I became a nerd. I tried to enjoy the things I couldn't in childhood, not a billionaire who likes to splurge at parties.

Luckily, that didn't stop me from being successful with women. I was never one to brag about it, but I was handsome, tall, intelligent and rich, so they were naturally attracted to me. Every week, I received up to ten invitations to dinner, from work colleagues to the daughters of other rich people.

Sure, I went out with many of these potential suitors. I wasn't someone who only stayed at home on weekends, at least not all the time.

One of these suitors, who was especially good in bed and intelligent, captured me in her web and got me to the altar of a church, where we got married.

We had two beautiful children. A girl and a boy.

As they grew up and my eldest son even had a girlfriend, I felt I had finally achieved success, no? It was something bigger than that. Fullness was the word. Because there were many successful people who couldn't achieve what I did.

Unfortunately, feeling so happy and fulfilled made me blind to the surrounding dangers.

On an ordinary Friday evening. My wife and children had gone to her parents' house for the weekend. It was a place where it snowed a lot, and my children loved skiing. I had some meetings on Saturday morning; otherwise, I would have gone with them.

I was in my office, sitting at my desk, and behind me there was a large glass wall with a panoramic view of the city of Atlanta. It was then that I heard a noise and looked forward.

"Ah! I knew you'd still be here, Aiden," said the man in the suit who had just walked through my office door. He was Kim, the other senior partner in the firm.

Kim was the fellow cryptocurrency enthusiast who got me to invest in cryptocurrencies. Years of discussing the same subject turned this friendship into a very lucrative business partnership.

"Hey, Kim. What are you doing here? I thought you'd finished for the day," I replied, returning my gaze to the computer screen in front of me. I was trying to get through the next day's work so that I could leave Atlanta straight after lunch and join my family.

Kim walked over to my desk and pulled out a chair to sit down. "Yes, I was going to a bar with some friends in Las Vegas after catching a jet. But I thought of something I wanted to talk to you about."

At that moment, his words piqued my curiosity, and I took my eyes off the computer.

"And what could be so important that you need to talk about it in person rather than over the phone?"

Kim scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed. "It's embarrassing to say this, but do you remember when we bought bitcoins?"

"Yes, of course I do. Why? Do you regret selling all yours at the last high?"

"N-not that. I kept some, but I don't remember the password I put on my account. I just remember that we, as a joke, put in the pizzeria's name we liked and also their number."

I laughed out loud when he reminded me of that. "Yes! It was one of the dumbest things we've ever done!"

"Yes! Anyway, you remember the password, don't you? Because I've been forgetful lately."

"Come on, Kim, why beat around the bush? Of course, I remember. Let me just get a piece of paper here and write it down for you."

I opened a desk drawer, took out my diary, tore out part of the last page, and wrote the funny password.

"I don't like to brag about it, but my memory is great," I said as I wrote.

Kim took the piece of paper when I held it out to him, and his eyes ran over the password written in my handwriting. An almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face, and he read it aloud:

"Frontstreetpizza718_875_3700..." He held the paper carefully, folded it, and put it in his inside jacket pocket. "Aiden, you really are an impressive man. You have a good memory. You have always shown dedication and intelligence. But apparently you've become naïve."

"What?"

Kim put his hand in his pocket and made a rough drawing motion. Before I had time to move, a small pistol was pointed at me, and the click of the pistol's release was enough to tell me it wasn't fake.

"Kim, what are you doing?" I asked as I slowly raised both hands.

"Do you think we've come this far together by accident, Aiden? I always knew that you were the key to my success. But you know what else I know? You don't know when to stop. You'll never stop being the man who wants to be at the top. And that... well, that doesn't suit my plans."

"If money is what you want, Kim, we can work it out. I have more than enough. You don't have to do that."

"Ah, but it's too late for you to think about that, my friend. I've already planned. When you're gone, I'll have everything you have. The bitcoins..." He tapped his hand lightly on the pocket where he had just put the paper with the password. "I'll also have a company and even your wife. I don't think a woman like her can stay a widow for long. I'll play the part of the best friend who's grieving and needs consoling."

That insinuation about my wife. About my family. My blood ran hot, but I had a gun pointed at me, and I had to keep calm. One wrong word, and it would all be over in an instant for me.

"Kim, don't do this."

"It's a shame, Aiden. We were good friends for a few years. But... business is business."

I didn't have time to reply or try to understand his motives. He pulled the trigger.

The sound was deafening, and the pain was immediate. The impact of the shot threw me backwards, and I felt the heat of the blood stain my shirt. My body toppled off the chair, crashing to the hard marble floor.

My vision went dark, but I could still hear Kim's footsteps. That meant I was still alive.

Kim stood up and looked at me. When he saw that the bullet had hit the left side of my chest, he smiled.

"I could finish the job by shooting you in the head now, but I won't do that. You'll soon die of blood loss. Because only one shot was fired, they will assume a professional assassin from a competing firm eliminated you. The camera system is under maintenance, so they'll never know it was me," he said, turned, and started walking towards my office door. "You've always trusted people too much, Aiden. That's what destroyed you."

My mind was spinning, but one thought stood out amidst the pain: 'I'm not finished here yet!'

My hands groped the floor, looking for something, anything. It was when my fingers found the edge of the table that I remembered the button. A few years ago, when the company started to grow, I created a contingency plan.

With effort, I reached under the table and pressed the hidden button. A secret compartment opened, and a small pocket pistol fell into the palm of my left hand.

Kim, already near the door, stopped when he heard the click of the gun unlocking. He turned slightly, but it was too late.

The gun was in my hand, and I pulled the trigger. An instant after the sound of another gunshot echoed through the office, Kim's body fell to the floor.

'A headshot... It seems my aim is better in reality than it used to be in FPS games...'

With my gun still raised and my hand shaking from blood loss, I smiled. Then my brain started to fail.

Disordered flashes of countless images came to mind. My children's smiles, Sarah's laughter, and one happy Christmas with my parents before they died of an overdose. Even the happy laugh of what I considered my best friend, Kim, echoed in my mind, which caught me off guard.

'My family... My little ones... I wanted to see them one last time. Just one last time...'

The world went black.

When I opened my eyes, the pain was gone. The feeling of the cold marble on my living room floor had also disappeared.

I was on my feet. I squeezed my eyes shut and looked around. I was in a train station, but it was different from the train stations I was used to. It was older. Everything was too clean, too organized, and blindingly white.

I was alone.

"What the hell? I really died. But why did I end up in some kind of station?"

[Hello.]

A semi-transparent screen appeared in front of me without warning.

Surprised, I took a step back and then leaned forward slightly. "Is that what I think it is?"

[You've become a wandering soul, Aiden. Now, you have the option of choosing your destiny.]

"Choose my destiny?"

[In five minutes, a train will arrive on the platform to your left that will take you to the 'Beyond All Things' station. Also, in five minutes, on the platform to your right, a train will arrive that will take you to 'A New Chance'.]

[You are free to choose what you will do after your first life.]

To be lying on the ground dying one moment and faced with a choice the next was almost suffocating.

I knew what the names of the stations meant. The station 'Beyond All Things' was probably the place of souls who have lived lives and want the cycle to end. And the other? A new chance? Reincarnation, of course.

I would like to go to heaven, but my heart was racing, and I didn't dislike the feeling.

"I'm not ready to rest yet..." I said to myself. "But going back to Earth? No... I can't stand that place any longer."

I had a choice, but none seemed good enough.

"Before I decide, I need to know more. Where exactly am I?"

*Ding!*

The screen flashed before changing. New words appeared, clear and direct.

[You are in the valley between Life and Death. For you, the representation of this is King's Cross Station from the Harry Potter movies.]

I almost laughed. I knew it was ironic, but it made sense, considering how much I loved Harry Potter.

"I had already noticed the familiarity. I just didn't want to say it out loud. What about other worlds? Are there places other than Earth that would be an option for me to reincarnate? Even if it's an alien planet?"

[Of course.]

[To inspire souls to reincarnate, we usually let them choose any world. This includes those in their universe that are only fictional. They can also pick five skills to aid their new journey.]

For me, reincarnation was never synonymous with going home. It meant starting over, in a new place, with new rules and challenges. But if I were to choose to start again, I would want to be reincarnated in a world where I could live life to the fullest.

I looked at the platforms to my left and right, both offering different possibilities. One for eternal rest. The other for an uncertain journey. But, if I were to be honest with myself, the idea of starting again appealed to me irresistibly.

I could choose where I would live and what skills I would have. It was like playing the game of life, but with the possibility of choosing the skills my avatar would have.

"I want to know more about these world options. Then I can choose my skills."

A list that seemed endless, with each name more exotic than the last, appeared in front of me. They were mostly strange names in languages I didn't know. It made sense. It was an infinite number of worlds. Yet, there was a search bar to use.

"So, let's start with the obvious... Harry Potter."