Realme Steamy: Heyo all! I would like to thank Maxfic, Darkcloudalpha, Professor Image and Marquis Black for the inspiration and permission to use the ideas in this story! I just wanted to say how I was inspired to make such a story.
First I read Professor Image's story "For want of a Clone" and I really wanted to write a Naruto story that featured some of the things from that in it, but I didn't know what to do so I decided not to ask for permission to use it and didn't make a story.
A long time after that I read the story "Naruto: The Gamer" by Darkcloudalpha which I randomly found while browsing and fell in love with the story, but I didn't have an idea for a story until after I read the Manwha (Korean Manga [I think]) The Gamer (read it, it is awesome) the story "Legacy of Uzushiogakure" by Marquis Black and then I was completely sold after reading the Naruto/The Gamer story "Naruto: The Gamer Files" by Maxfic and so I went around asking for permission to use some things from their stories.
I will put a reference to whatever it is that I used by the other people at the end of the story so that no one knows what it is that I used. Also, I am not using anything from Marquis Black. They just had an idea that I thought was cool, but what I will be doing with it will not be exact and probably totally different, I just wanted to mention them since they did help inspire this story.
Wow, really long AN!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or The Gamer or any of the things from the other stories I used. All I own are my OC's and plots, and maybe some other things but I don't know.
Steamy: I decided to leave the old one up since I don't think I'd be able to write it any better...
Naruto: Player 2
To be Deceived
Naruto panted as he jumped through the trees, the Forbidden Scroll of Seals safely strapped to his back.
He grinned as he ran, he had done it, he had taken the Scroll without too much of a fuss, actually, he doubted anyone knew what he had done just yet (little did he know that half of Konoha's ninja were about to go on the hunt for his head) and he was quite pleased with himself as he remembered what Mizuki-Sensei had said to him.
~Flashback~
Naruto had just left the Academy building after a rough day at school. The halfway point in the school year was getting closer; and Naruto only had a few more months until the next Graduation Exam came up.
This made our blond hero sigh.
He hadn't gotten much better than the last time he tried graduating. No one gave him the time of day, besides Iruka-sensei; but he was busy with teacher stuff, and the Hokage couldn't help him because he was, well, the Hokage.
Plus, the old man said it would be kind of cheating if he was taught by the renowned "Professor" of all people.
At first Naruto just accused the older man of being a lazy ass, but after a bit of thinking on his part he sort of got what the Sandaime was talking about; people would probably accuse him of cheating (though if the same thing happened to someone else they would just talk about what an honor or how cool it was for the person [cough* cough* Sasuke*cough] and move on with their lives), especially his fellow students, so he reluctantly agreed and tried to train by himself, like he always did.
But that wasn't what he was thinking about. What he was actually thinking about was how the Hell would he be able to pass the Exam this time around?
Because, so far, the Graduation Exam always had the same tests! Including his most wretched enemy; the Bunshin,
Oh how he loathed the Bunshin!
Why oh WHY did the Graduation Exam have to have the stupid Bunshin?! What good were a couple illusions anyway? They couldn't help him fight or sneak or trick anyone! All they were was a fake that could maybe fool someone into fighting it!
Naruto was so deep in his thoughts that he realized too late that someone was in front of him and crashed right into them, forcing him and the person to fall back and for Naruto to unceremoniously land on his rump.
He grabbed at his aching bum for about two seconds before sitting up straight and bowing to the person he ran into,
"I'm sorry!" he yelled; he just wanted to get the apologies over with so he could get back to his thoughts (wait, what was he thinking about again? Ah who cares?)And get out without much of a fight, though that depended entirely on the person he rammed into.
A light chuckle had Naruto quickly looking up to only relax," ah, sorry about that, Mizuki-sensei…."
Oroki Mizuki.
He was a Chūnin and an Academy teacher. He often was the assistant to one Umino Iruka and was one of the few people who didn't sneer whenever Naruto was present, or made any stupid excuses about how he was cheating in something when he clearly wasn't. Granted, he hadn't done much for Naruto, but like with Sakura, his standards of being treated as a human were so low that he thought or perhaps tricked himself into thinking that he had a close relationship with the elder man.
Mizuki smiled down at his young Academy student before pulling himself to his feet, offering a hand to help Naruto up as well.
Shock was replaced with quick gratitude and Naruto took the offered hand. After Mizuki helped Naruto up to his feet he smiled down at him once more in that teacher-ly fashion.
"Naruto, what has got you so preoccupied that you don't even notice me in front of you?" he asked curiously. Truth be told Naruto had some great sensing skills and seemed to be able to locate a person or avoid an attack without seeming to realize it.
But back onto the current topic, Naruto seemed to think it over a moment before shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, acting as if it weren't a big deal,
"Nothing really, I guess…." Crap. Naruto thought when he saw the look that Mizuki sent his way. He totally should not have said 'I guess' at the end of that.
Total disbelief and slight worry shown in Mizuki's eyes before he asked Naruto the dreaded question;
"…. What do you mean 'I guess'? Naruto, what's wrong?" Mizuki's voice suddenly took a much gentler tone than anything he had ever used around Naruto. This surprised the blond greatly because he had never thought Mizuki the "touchy feely" type.
Naruto suddenly felt very tired and weighed down, and he couldn't stop himself from acknowledging his Sensei's words,
"I-I don't really want to talk about it here…." Naruto trailed off. Mizuki nodded his head before turning around, motioning Naruto to follow him.
Later the two arrived on the roof of one of the governmental buildings and both quickly made for the side before dangling their legs over the building.
They sat in silence for a while before Mizuki prodded Naruto again.
"So, what is it?"
And in that moment it was as if a dam had been broken; because then Naruto was spilling a good number of his insecurities about the ever approaching Graduation Exams and how he would probably fail horribly and then be kicked out of the Academy once and for all, making his dream of becoming Hokage also impossible and -holy shit how the hell was he going to get through it all?-he just continued in that way for quite some time.
Mizuki merely listened, nodding his head every once in a while letting our blond hero know that he was truly listening.
It took about an hour for Naruto to get everything out which was followed by another half hour of utter silence; the sun dipping deeper and deeper behind the Hokage Monument.
After a long while, Mizuki looked up from his musings and suggested the following;
"Well, I know of something that is an extra credit course of sorts that will give you extra points in the final exam…" he mused aloud.
This instantly caught Naruto's attention. Extra credit course? As long as it wasn't some stupid written test he was all for it!
"What is it, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto nearly shouted in excitement.
Mizuki smiled at him and said softly," well, there is this old Scroll in the Hokage tower called the Scroll of Seals…."
~End Flashback~
Naruto smiled.
Mizuki-sensei had really helped him. This extra credit would make it a certainty that he graduated and became a Shinobi, finally! But that was only if he could stay hidden for a few hours.
Pfft, as if this could deter him! Uzumaki Naruto was the most famous for getting away from even the ANBU after his greatest of pranks.
No way was anybody finding him for at least five hours.
It was by this time that Naruto got to the designated meeting spot. He smiled proudly at himself for getting there as fast as he did, and so sat down by the little storage shed that sat in the little clearing.
It took a minute or two before Naruto got full rein of his lungs again, and then promptly another five seconds before his curiosity got the better of him and he just had to look at what was inside that scroll; I mean, it had to be awesome if it had a name like Forbidden Scroll of Seals! It had to be filled with awesome jutsu!
Plus, if he could learn one of the jutsu in the Scroll, he'd probably get even more points for the final exam!
So the young Academy student tore through the scroll, trying to finds its secrets, his eyes settling on the first Jutsu in it.
Tajuu Kage Bunshin Jutsu.
Naruto stared at the characters and they stared right on back.
Why did the first Jutsu have to be Bunshin of all things?
Naruto nearly screamed in frustration before something dawned on him.
What if he could do it? It would be a great challenge and he would finally kick that stupid Jutsu's ass.
Naruto smirked in glee before looking over the Jutsu, starting his practice right away.
…..
An hour had passed, and in that hour, Naruto had made the Kage Bunshin his bitch," that's what you get for messing with me! Uzumaki Naruto cannot be beaten! Mwahahaha!" he cackled gleefully to himself as sweat trickled down the nape of his neck from exertion.
After laughing for a good couple minutes Naruto finally calmed down and looked at the other Jutsu written on the scroll.
He looked over a good portion of the Scroll, actually trying to memorize the words and depictions of hands and/or people doing something; five hours wasn't long enough to learn everything from the Scroll, it was MASSIVE, so Naruto opted to just try to memorize things instead of practice them.
After a minute or two he shook his head, reached into his hip pouch and brought out a normal scroll and a pen, trying to write down some of the harder to understand/memorize jutsu's. Some time passed as Naruto wrote down the characters and trying to redraw the drawings before he dropped the pen onto the Scroll, which then caused for the ink to spatter onto the old paper.
The blond froze, feeling like he was having a heart attack before he hastily cleaned up the mess he had made.
Luckily, he was able to clean it up without much residue left behind; he wiped his forehead in relief letting out a large sigh as he opened his eyes and looked over the Scroll again.
It then took about two seconds for Naruto's eyes to find the strange seal that had the same design as his beloved jumpsuit's shoulder, hiding near an edge of the Scroll, as if it weren't important; and so took a closer look at it.
Slowly putting away his own scroll and pen and laying the Scroll of Seals out on the ground carefully Naruto inspected the strange symbol before he noticed words running along the edge around the strange seal,
"Uzumaki Clan seal; rank A; should not be opened unless under dire circumstance,"
Naruto pondered over the writing with a thoughtful expression." Dire means important or dangerous, from what I remember, and circumstance means, uh… An important event! See, I'm not dumb!" Naruto thought, and it is true, he isn't dumb, just ignorant, to an extent; but that's beyond the point, and Naruto was still thinking over the words.
Technically, him becoming a Genin was a dire circumstance, plus, it had his last name on it, so again- technically- he had every right to it.
So without much more thought, Naruto swiftly placed his hand over the seal and pushed chakra into it.
Nothing happened.
Naruto frowned. But he quickly started to try to come up with reasons why it hadn't worked.
Racking his brain for everything he ever heard about seals, Naruto was luckily able to remember the words of his favorite sensei.
'Some seals', Iruka-sensei started, 'requires not just chakra. Some require just blood while others need Chakra and blood as well'. Naruto smiled, Iruka-sensei's horrendously long and boring lectures were good for something after all.
So, without further ado, Naruto swiftly grabbed a kunai from his pouch and nicked his thumb. With that done, he placed his now bloody hand on the seal and pushed chakra from his hand into the seal.
Nothing happened at first, but then the seal suddenly glowed brightly, so brightly that Naruto had to pull his hands away from the Scroll to shield his eyes. As the light faded Naruto carefully pulled his hands away from his face; only to suddenly have a floating pale blue crystal in front of his face.
He yelped in surprise and scooted back from the crystal and stared at it with wide eyes.
The crystal didn't move; it simply stayed in place, hovering with a light hum coming from it while emitting a soft glow that seemed to be full of warmth. After staring at the crystal for a couple minutes, Naruto's curiosity got the better of him and so he moved closer to the shining object.
The first thing he did was poke it, and all that resulted in was it moving slightly in the air before going back in its place, still humming and still glowing. Naruto hummed loudly in his throat, examining the crystal before he tried to take it out of the air, it worked, now what else to do?
Deciding to inspect the crystal, Naruto started to turn it around, examining the crystal from all angles. It was a long crystal with jagged and pointy ends. On one of the smoothed edges there was a strangely shaped symbol that looked a bit like the swirl symbol on his jackets shoulder and back.
Naruto, in a moment of brilliance, decided to run his finger on the likely sharp edged symbol, causing him to cut himself, and for the blood to fall into the symbol.
A bright light shown before slowly fading away, leaving words in its wake,
Welcome to the game Gamer!
Would you like to play?
Confirm (Y) Decline (N)
Staring dumbly at the text, Naruto makes the, again, brilliant decision to press the "Y" without giving a single thought to what could possibly happen.
Game Start!
Welcome, Player 2!
The crystal then shattered into a million little pieces, everything suddenly got too bright for Naruto to see; his world went white.
….
Everything was bleary and fuzzy; he couldn't see anything but he could feel someone shaking him.
Naruto blearily opened his eyes to see the face of Iruka looking at him in slight concern but there seemed to be annoyance in his gaze as well. Naruto blinked rapidly and sat up, a small groan escaping his lips as his head throbbed dully, but after shaking it a couple times the pain was gone which left Naruto with an Iruka that no longer looked concerned and just plain pissed off.
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly," hehe, I guess you found me…" he mumbled, Iruka merely huffed in annoyance.
"Naruto, what on earth do you have to say?" Iruka nearly exploded, but faltered ever so slightly, seeing Naruto have his goofy grin in place really threw him off.
"What do you mean? I passed didn't I?" Naruto asked confused while opening his eyes before stopping short.
There, above Iruka's head was lettering, hanging and glowing like the crystal,
Umino Iruka – Academy Instructor – LV27
Naruto stared at the lettering, bewildered and wondering if he had gone insane, he also noticed that there was the Konoha symbol floating by his name as well that was glowing a soft green.
"E-eh, I-Iruka-sensei….?" Naruto stuttered nervously, Iruka didn't really notice, still pondering what Naruto had said earlier," what do you mean by 'pass' Naruto?" he asked, a feeling of dread rising in his gut.
Naruto was momentarily snapped out of his wonderings and smiled largely," Eh, what do you mean Iruka-sensei? Isn't it that if someone can successfully steal this scroll and learn a jutsu from it they can graduate to Genin?"
Iruka started, his eyes widening considerably," if you-who on earth told you that?" he nearly yelled,
"Mizuki-sensei! He said that if I can successfully steal this scroll then I wouldn't have to take the last part of the exam the next time around!" he cheered happily, but that cheer faded quickly when the look of surprise and alarm crossed his favorite sensei's face.
Iruka suddenly turned and pushed Naruto out of the way, an array of kunai and shuriken rained down upon him suddenly as he brought his hands up to protect himself," I see, so that's how it is…" Iruka muttered,
"I'm impressed, Iruka, that you got here before I did." A voice sneered from the trees. Naruto's head snapped up only for him to see Mizuki standing there, with a less than friendly smirk in place. Naruto was suddenly filled with dread and guilt; it was as if he had just done something horrible, which he probably had,
Mizuki looked at him," Naruto, give me that scroll, now." He ordered firmly, not a single trace of the kind teacher from a few hours prior in his face or tone,
"H-hey! What the hell is happening?" Naruto asked, panicked.
"Naruto, that scroll has forbidden and dangerous jutsu in it, Mizuki used you so he could get his hands on it!" Iruka yelled while he pulled a kunai from his leg, his words only causing Naruto's eyes to widen in alarm.
"He's lying to you Naruto; Iruka's just afraid of you having that scroll!" Mizuki sneered back,
"What are you saying? He's the one that's lying Naruto; do not give him that scroll!" Iruka yelled with as much conviction he could muster, but Naruto was only half listening,
"What do you mean? Why would Iruka-sensei be afraid of me?" Naruto asked, shaken. Mizuki smirked at him before he replied,
"Oh, would you like to know?" He asked mockingly while Iruka's eyes widened,
"Don't you dare!" Iruka yelled; but Mizuki ignored him as he continued,
"Would you like to know why all the villagers hate you?" He asked in the same mocking tone. Naruto suddenly perked at that. Did Mizuki really know? What was the reason for the hatred directed towards him his entire life?
"Wh-why do they hate me?" Naruto asked in a shaken voice, Mizuki sneered again,
"There was a law passed eleven years ago," Naruto looked confused." A, a law?" he asked,
Mizuki smirked," yes, a law that says something that everyone can know, except for you, that is," Naruto started.
"Stop, Mizuki!" Iruka nearly screamed but he merely ignored him again while Naruto was even more confused than before,
"W-what is it?!" he questioned in desperation.
"It is the law to not say that Naruto is actually a monster fox! In other words, you are the nine-tailed fox that destroyed the village and killed Iruka's parents eleven years ago!"
"Eh…?" was all that left Naruto, this new revelation causing him to pause,
"Stop!" Iruka screamed in a hoarse voice that was filled with desperation.
"Didn't you think it strange? How everyone in this village seemed to hate you, despise you for no reason at all? Wasn't it-" but that was all Naruto heard from him, Naruto's world suddenly froze, everything seeming to pause as this bit of information was processed in his mind, and though he felt like getting angry or panicking Naruto was surprisingly and unnaturally calm, his mind logically dealing with the matter,
"I see, so that's why the villagers hate me…. It makes sense as to why they treated me in such a way, and is probably why Mizuki chose me to do this; he probably hates me like everyone else… but what about Iruka-sensei? Does he hate me too?"
His thoughts were suddenly cut through by Mizuki's voice," -and if I kill you now, everyone will see me as a hero who has done a great deed!" he announced while loosening one of the fuuma shuriken strapped to his back, spinning it furiously," Die demon!" Mizuki yelled while he let loose the spinning blade of death.
Naruto suddenly started to try and get away, but his legs weren't working right and all he could do was attempt at crawling away from the crazed man,
"Naruto, get down!" Iruka's voice cut through the clearing, so Naruto did just that, curling his body with his hands covering his head, waiting for the inevitable pain.
But none came.
Upon feeling something wet and warm fall on his face with the grunt of pain and gasp of surprise, Naruto looked up, only to see Iruka kneeling over him, blood trailing from his mouth and tears in his eyes.
All Naruto could do was stare in shock," w-why…?" he asked in a broken voice. Iruka didn't answer at first, before he looked Naruto in the eyes,
"Because, I know what its' like to be alone. After my parents died, no one paid attention to me, praised me when I did something right or helped me when I needed it. So I made a fool of myself, just so that I would get some attention, it wasn't like I was all that good in class to begin with, but I just made it worse, since no one noticed me when I was a good student; so I acted like an idiot…."
Tears were suddenly falling onto Naruto's face," it was tough," Iruka almost whimpered," right Naruto? You were lonely right? It was tough right? I'm sorry, Naruto. If only I had been more aware, maybe you wouldn't have had to have suffered like that," Naruto was just about to answer when the dark chuckling of Mizuki filled the clearing,
"Don't kid me! Iruka has hated you ever since you killed his parents! He just wants to get that scroll back!"
He wanted to run, oh so badly, but he didn't his mind wasn't letting the panic overrule him, but then, Iruka grabbed his shoulder, his tears still running down his face but a determined look within his eyes,
"Naruto, run," Iruka urged softly, so that Mizuki couldn't hear him," make sure Mizuki doesn't get that scroll!" he told him sternly.
Naruto quickly nodded and started to run away, but not before taking a glance at Mizuki and the letters hovering over his head.
Oroki Mizuki – Traitor – LV34
There was also the Konoha symbol floating by the name, but instead of being green, it was a deep red with a slash through it.
Naruto's heart nearly stopped at that. Mizuki was a higher level than Iruka, and from what Naruto remembered from the few games he had played in his life, that also meant he was stronger.
But Naruto didn't stop running and just prayed that Iruka could defeat him.
But suddenly, a blue window appeared before him,
Quest Alert:
Run, run as fast as you can!
Run away from Mizuki and keep the Forbidden Scroll from him!
Completion reward: Exp 1000
Increased Reputation with Konoha +200
Increased Reputation with Umino Iruka +500
Increased Reputation with Sarutobi Hiruzen +600
Completion Failure: Exp 100
Decreased Reputation with Konoha -5000
Death
Confirm (Y) Decline (N)
Naruto nearly screamed in surprise before staring at the box blankly before hurriedly and hesitantly pressing the Confirm and heading off again, running away from Iruka and Mizuki.
…
It was some time later when Naruto finally stopped. He sat against a tree catching his breath from running so far but soon calmed down. But his heart was sent racing again when yet another blue box sprung to life,
Objective completed: Awarded Exp 1000
Completion Awarded: +200 with Konoha, +500 with Umino Iruka, +600 with Sarutobi Hiruzen
Naruto tapped the screen and it was gone again. He sighed, "This is not good for my health!" he thought exasperated.
He thought this because his mind was working over time because every time he focused on something, even just a little it would suddenly give him a name! Naruto sighed, he had a feeling this strange ability he suddenly had was caused by the crystal, and he probably shouldn't have touched the damn thing! Because now, everything looked like a damn game!
It wasn't like he's been playing games his entire life, but he has played enough to notice that his life seemed to have just turned into one, what with all the levels and quests and all that.
Sighing once again, Naruto looked down at the scroll he held in his arms,
Forbidden Scroll of Seals – LV?
Naruto grimaced as he saw the floating yellow words when suddenly a loud ping sounded.
A special skill has been created through a special act.
Naruto nearly yelped in surprise before he stared dumbly at the blue box that hung in the air before he hesitantly touched it causing it to disappear only for another box to take its place.
Through continuous observation a skill to find more information "Observe" Lv. 1 has been created.
All Naruto could do was stare at it before tapping the box, yet again causing it to disappear, though Naruto half expected another blue box to appear, he looked down at the scroll in his arms before trying out his new "skill". Because if this was a game, all he had to do was say the skill for it to work, and so he did just that, muttering," Observe,"
Suddenly an orange box popped up momentarily surprising Naruto before he shook his head and started to scan it,
The Forbidden Scroll of Seals
Level: LV?
Status: Catalogue
This powerful scroll was created by the first and second Hokage being filled with many powerful and dangerous Kinjutsu.
Naruto's eyes widened yet again before another box popped up,
[Observe]'s level has risen by 1.
"Awesome," he grinned while tapping the box causing it to vanish, but his grin disappeared when the sounds of grunts of pain and the sound of something or someone hitting the forest floor was heard.
Naruto stiffened before subtly looking around the tree he was hiding behind to see Iruka on the ground with- wait, was that him?- standing and breathing heavily, then Iruka started to talk,
"How, Naruto?" Iruka asked as the other Naruto took the scroll from his back and unsteadily backed into a tree as Iruka turned with a look of murder on his face," How-" a puff of smoke," did you know I wasn't Iruka?" Mizuki sat there, looking about ready to kill the other Naruto, who chuckled before another puff of smoke filled the air,
"Because I'm Iruka," The now revealed Iruka muttered lowly,
"Ah, I see," Mizuki spoke while he stood, placing his hands on his hips while turning to Iruka looking at him in almost disappointment,
"What good is it to protect the one who killed your parents?"
"I'm not going to let an idiot like you get your hands on that scroll." Iruka spat at Mizuki,
"Ha, you're the idiot. Naruto is like me," Iruka looked at him in disbelief,
"Like you?" he questioned,
"Anything is possible with that scroll. There's no way that Naruto, the demon fox, won't use its' powers."
"Hmm, you're right." Naruto heard Iruka consent. This caused for Naruto's eyes to widen and for him to hide his face in the scroll.
"I knew it. Iruka-sensei doesn't see the real me-"
"If he was a demon fox," Naruto's eyes widened," But Naruto is different. He's an excellent student that I recognize fully. He's a hardworking, clumsy, and honest kid; and no one recognizes him. He knows the pain of others well, but we don't see his pain. He's not a demon fox; he's Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha!" Iruka finished.
By this point Naruto's tears had long ago welled up and were now streaming down his face, but they stopped when he heard Mizuki start talking,
"Heh, what a fool. Iruka, I said I would kill you later, but now I take that back," the sound of metal sliding against metal caused Naruto's heart to quicken and his eyes to widen, but then;
Quest Alert:
Defeat Mizuki!
Defeat Mizuki and protect Iruka, but remember to keep the Forbidden Scroll from harm and Mizuki's greedy hands.
Completion reward: Exp 2000
Increased Reputation with Umino Iruka +500
Increased Reputation with Sarutobi Hiruzen +100
Increased Reputation with Konoha +200
Bounty reward 1500 Ryo
Completion Failure: Exp 0
Death of Umino Iruka
Decreased Reputation with Konoha
Death
"Now die!" Naruto heard Mizuki scream, so he quickly pressed Confirm and sprung to action.
Naruto jumped out from his hiding place and head butted Mizuki, sending him flying back and making the large shuriken fly into the trees.
"Don't lay another finger on Iruka-sensei; or I'll kill you!" Naruto said in a menacing voice causing a shiver to go down Iruka's back," Observe," Naruto then quietly muttered so Mizuki wouldn't be able to hear him,
Name: Oroki Mizuki
Level: LV34
HP: 745/800
MP: 1000/1050
Mizuki is traitorous scum that has been working for an Unknown person for quite some time and has been selling information about this generation of Shinobi to the highest bidder; he is merciless and cruel, making him a formidable foe.
Naruto then grit his teeth," how am I going to defeat him? I don't even know how strong I am! But at least I know a little more about him."
"Talk while you can!" Mizuki yelled," I'll take a kid like you out in a second." Naruto scowled at that,
"Oh yeah? Well I'll just repay it a thousand times over!" Naruto crossed his fingers together,
"Why don't you try if you can; demon fox!" Mizuki yelled hysterically,
"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"
Suddenly, there were a thousand Naruto's standing in the clearing, in the trees and bushes which caused Mizuki to gasp and look around him in alarm,
"Eh? Didn't you say you were gonna get me?" taunted the Naruto's as Mizuki's alarm only grew as he ungracefully landed on his butt.
"Well, if you won't get us, we'll get you!"
Mizuki screamed.
[Ahem, not appropriate for children]
Objective Completed: Awarded 2000 Exp
Completion Awarded: Increased Reputation with Umino Iruka +100, Increased Reputation with Sarutobi Hiruzen +100, Increased Reputation with Konoha +200, Bounty 15000 Ryo
Congratulations! Your level has increased by 1.
A special skill has been created through a special act.
By continuous badmouthing, the skill "Taunt" Lv. 1 has been created, continue to badmouth your enemies and piss them off to have a higher chance of winning.
Naruto happily tapped the boxes before looking at what he had done. After the beat down; Mizuki lay on the forest floor, his HP having reached zero and was broken and bloody twitching every so often. This caused for Naruto to sheepishly scratch his head,
"Ehehehe, I may have gone overboard….." Iruka stared in disbelief before shaking his head with a smile on his face," Hey Iruka-sensei! You alright?" Naruto asked, concern lacing his tone. Iruka looked back up at him and smiled,
"I'm fine Naruto-"suddenly he hunched over in pain, clutching at his stomach which caused for alarm to cross Naruto's face who rushed over, muttering," Observe!" while he ran over to him,
Name: Umino Iruka
Level: LV27
HP: 300/750
MP: 10/1000
Umino Iruka's parents died in the Kyuubi attack, and as such became an orphan. Because of this he became the class clown to get attention, but matured once he grew up and followed his passion to teach by becoming an Academy Instructor and quickly found a soft spot for one of his students; Uzumaki Naruto.
This caused worry to enter Naruto's veins which was only made worse when every few seconds the HP bar would lose ten points. He quickly reached his teacher and asked while pretending he didn't just see what he did,
"What's wrong? Ah, I'm an idiot; you were just stabbed in the back! Oh course you're in pain!" Naruto quickly chastised himself before looking over Iruka;" don't you have a first aid kit or whatever?" He asked hurriedly.
"Yes," Iruka muttered, strained, while he slowly straightened himself before pulling a scroll out of one of his vest pockets, opening it and placing some of his blood on it.
A first aid kit appeared and Naruto quickly grabbed it but before he could do anything a blue box appeared,
You have obtained [First Aid Kit] would you like to add it to your Inventory?
Naruto quickly scanned the words, and, because he had no idea what this 'Inventory' was, pressed no and opened the kit up," Observe," he muttered, Iruka was in too much pain to notice,
Tape Bandages: a Medical Item used for covering wounds. Ointment should be applied before use. Stops bleeding effect.
Medical Ointment: a Medical Item that helps heals wounds faster than by leaving them alone. +50% to overall HP recovery; 20 HP points per minute.
Cotton Ball: Used to absorb liquids, it can be used to place medicinal ointments on wounds or to clean blood from wounds.
Band aids: a small bandage that is used for covering smaller cuts. Stops bleeding effect.
Alcohol: alcohol used on wounds to disinfect them, can also be consumed if patient is in a lot of pain.
Pain Killers: Pills that lessen the pain by half for every one pill taken. Temporary -10% to STR every three pills taken
Naruto slowly nodded his head before taking out the alcohol and cotton balls. But before he could do anything Iruka tried to take the items from his hands, only managing to fumble and almost drop them. Naruto grabbed Iruka's hands,
"No Iruka-sensei! Let me help you." He chided the man. Iruka chuckled before leaning back against the tree,
"Okay Naruto, help me." He said with a kind, yet tired, smile.
A quest has been created.
Naruto blinked,
Quest alert:
Iruka's request: Wrap it up!
Disinfect and wrap up Iruka's wounds before he passes out from blood loss.
Completion reward: Exp 100
Increased Reputation with Umino Iruka +400
Completion Failure: Decreased Reputation with Iruka Umino -2000
Umino Iruka's possible death
Naruto gulped before pressing Confirm and getting to work.
It took a while, but he was able to clean Iruka up pretty good. He had to forcefully take his vest and shirt off because Iruka was very adamant about not taking them off but Naruto needed to get to the wound in his back so Iruka eventually complied. After that Naruto wrapped what he could on the rest of his body, but he made sure to place disinfectant and the ointment on Iruka's wounds before wrapping them.
Naruto sighed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, 'that was hard work!' he thought with a smile at Iruka who was looking better than before but without his shirt since Iruka told Naruto that if he moved around too much it could irritate his wounds and make it worse, so putting Iruka's shirt and vest back on was a no-no but at least Naruto got something else out of it.
A special skill has been created through a special act.
Through diligent work the skill to wrap up, disinfect and heal wounds "Medical Prowess" Lv. 1 has been created.
Objective Completed: Awarded 100 Exp
Completion Awarded: Reputation with Umino Iruka went up +400
Naruto had almost whooped at that, he even gained an additional level to the skill, plus, Iruka's HP had stopped going down and was slowly filling back up.
Naruto stood up and stretched," Iruka-sensei, are you feeling better?" he asked nervously. Iruka grinned at him before nodding,
"Yes, I am feeling much better, thank you Naruto." Iruka looked up at the sky," we should probably head back now though," he muttered to himself. Naruto stiffened; he had been afraid that that would be the case.
"Okay, let me help you get up so that we can get going," he muttered begrudgingly. And so Naruto helped Iruka back to his feet, grabbed the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and strapped it to his back and helped Iruka walk back out of the forest. It wasn't long before they were surrounded by five ANBU, one of whom had a tiger mask on and stood forward.
Naruto looked at all of them and the words above their heads,
Tora – ANBU Captain – LV?
Neko – ANBU – LV?
Karasu – ANBU – LV?
Rat – ANBU – LV?
Inoshishi – ANBU – LV?
Naruto was surprised that he couldn't see their real names, or levels for that matter. Did that mean he could only see levels up to a certain point? His thoughts were interrupted by Tiger,
"Chūnin Umino Iruka, report." He stated in a commanding tone. Iruka nodded and quickly told them a brief version of what had happened. Tora nodded as he was signaling to the crow masked ANBU member who swiftly disappeared, only to reappear a moment later with an unconscious Mizuki thrown over his shoulder,
"Neko, take Umino-san to the hospital." The ANBU Neko nodded once before taking Iruka from Naruto.
Before Naruto could protest Iruka gave him a reassuring look that made Naruto keep quiet and nod his head with a frown. Suddenly, Iruka and Neko vanished, along with all but Tora of the ANBU and he looked down at Naruto," come, the Hokage wishes to see you."
Was all he uttered before turning and sprinting away. Naruto went after him quickly and quietly, he was worried about what the old man would say. Would he be angry? Naruto was sure he would. Would he let Naruto explain himself? Maybe, maybe not. Naruto knew what he had done was horrible, but there wasn't much he could have done, well, if he had listened to the little voice in his head that said not to trust Mizuki this probably wouldn't have happened, but then again, the village probably wouldn't have known about Mizuki's betrayal before it was far too late.
Naruto decided to go with that thought; it was by far more pleasant than the rest. And so he continued to follow Tiger towards the village.
[Location: Hokage Tower]
After running for about thirty minutes Naruto and Tora arrived at the Hokage Tower, and upon seeing it Naruto gulped audibly. Tora glanced his way briefly before muttering," the Hokage is in his office, he is expecting you." And with that he vanished, along with the Forbidden Scroll.
Naruto sighed dejectedly before trudging into the large building, it was empty save for a few people who of which just ignored him, it was awfully late, or early so most people were at home sleeping.
Walking through the almost empty building just made Naruto nervous, but it was countered by the strange calmness of his mind that was starting to freak him out, but before he could ponder on it he was in front of the Hokage's office. Naruto gulped again and knocked hesitantly on the door.
"Enter," Came the gruff voice of the Sandaime. Naruto took a shuddering breath before opening the door and swiftly entering, the door closing behind him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, his pipe in his mouth with a stern look on his face. Naruto shrunk into himself slightly at the look and he fidgeted in the spot he stood," sit Naruto." Hiruzen commanded. Naruto quickly nodded and sat in the chair in front of the desk. After a couple minutes of calculating silence the Hokage spoke,
"So, Naruto-kun; what led to your little adventure tonight?" Naruto sharply took a breath before letting it out slowly; he just had to tell the truth; that was the only logical thing to do. Wait a minute, since when did he think logically? But that wasn't important and Naruto shook his head to clear it while taking a deep breath,
"Well, it started at the Academy…." And so, Naruto went on about how he had confessed some of his insecurities about the upcoming Graduation Exam and how Mizuki had lied to him about an extra credit course. He talked of how he had stolen the scroll, ran to the clearing and even learned the Kage Bunshin, which caused the Sandaime's eyebrow to rise slightly, but he skimmed over the whole strange ability thing. He spoke of how Iruka had found him and how Iruka had saved him, telling him to run and keep the scroll safe and how Mizuki had tried to kill Iruka and what Mizuki had told him. Here the Hokage stopped him,
"So, he did tell you?" Naruto nodded,
"Yeah, he told me that I am the Kyuubi-"
"You are not the Kyuubi, Naruto-kun, nor will you ever be. Understood?" Naruto was surprised by the sudden outburst,
"But, he said I was…?" Hiruzen shook his head.
"No Naruto-kun, that is not true, but it is close to the truth." Naruto's heart sped up,
"Wh-what's the tr-truth?" Naruto stammered. The aged Hokage smiled kindly at him before answering,
"You are what's called a Jinchuuriki, Naruto-kun." Naruto looked puzzled,
"A genie-what?" he asked confused. Hiruzen chuckled.
"It's Jinchuuriki, Naruto-kun. It's the term applied to a person who has a Biju sealed in them." Naruto nodded his head but a confused look still adorned his face.
"What's a Biju?" he asked with confusion.
Hiruzen sighed," a Biju is a creature made entirely out of Chakra, like the Kyuubi, and there are only nine of them, the Kyuubi being the strongest, I was hoping I would be able to tell you about this myself after you became a Genin but I guess that won't be happening now. Do you understand?" Naruto sat for a moment before nodding his head,
"Yeah, I get it, but what do you mean by sealed and why me?" Naruto asked. Hiruzen seemed to ponder that for a moment before taking out a scroll and a kunai from what seemed like thin air and placed them on the desk.
"Do you see these Naruto-kun?" he asked, Naruto nodded and so he proceeded," let's say that you are the scroll and the Kyuubi is the kunai," Naruto unsuredly nodded his head again," now watch," he placed the kunai on top of the scroll, did a few hand seals then laid his hand on the scroll. A puff of smoke later and the kunai was gone.
"See? The kunai is now gone, it has entered the scroll, but even though this is true, that doesn't make the scroll the kunai. Do you understand now Naruto-kun?" the aged Hokage asked patiently. Naruto sat with a finger to his chin, a contemplative look on his face, but then he looked at the Hokage,
"So, what you're saying is that even though the scroll has the kunai in it, it isn't the kunai, and the same goes for me and the Kyuubi?" he wondered aloud. The Sandaime nodded his head, a fond smile on his face,
"Yes, you are correct Naruto, though there are a lot more complications and complexities regarding the sealing done and the seal containing the Kyuubi, these are the basics that allowed the Yondaime to seal the Kyuubi, and to answer your other question," Naruto sat on edge," I cannot tell you!" the old man finished with a grin. Naruto deflated before glaring at the Hokage,
"You can't tell me or won't?" He asked suspiciously. Sarutobi chuckled good heartedly before answering,
"A little bit of both, Naruto-kun. I don't know the exact details of why the Yondaime chose you but I do know some, sadly that is classified information that I won't be able to tell you any time soon. The Yondaime wanted you to be told once you became a Chūnin, so, perhaps then?" he seemed to ask himself which just caused for Naruto to scowl at him again. The Hokage chuckled again before motioning to him," but now with that out of the way, you may proceed with your explanation, Naruto-kun."
Naruto sighed before continuing again. It took a moment for him to remember exactly where he left off before he went off again, telling of him running and hiding then protecting Iruka from Mizuki, he even talked of how he helped patch up Iruka before the ANBU found them, he even slipped in the information about Mizuki working under someone else,
"He even stupidly mentioned how he was getting the scroll for some sort of offering for whoever he's working for," he slyly added, having absolutely no idea how right he was." And well, now, here I am….." Naruto finished lamely.
Hiruzen nodded his head before he leaned back in his seat. A couple minutes passed while the Hokage let the information swirl around his brain, processing how to handle the situation exactly.
Coming to a conclusion, the old man sat up in his seat catching Naruto's attention and he too sat up. After staring at him for a few more seconds Hiruzen opened his mouth," Naruto-kun, though I can't tell you why the Yondaime chose you yet, I can tell you who your mother is and some other questions you may have." Naruto brightened at this,
"Really? You knew who my mom was?" Naruto asked with a hopeful look, Hiruzen nodded.
"Yes. She was a fine woman; you are actually a lot like her, Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled,
"Really?" He breathlessly asked, the Hokage nodded, his features softening,
"Really. Would you like to know her name?" He asked kindly. Naruto nodded his head vigerously which caused the old man to chuckle,
"Okay then I shall tell you. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina, one of the last of the Uzumaki clan." Naruto's face brightened before a look of confusion over took his face,
"Uzumaki clan? I have a clan?" he asked confused. Hiruzen sighed,
"It would appear you haven't been paying attention in class, Naruto-kun, this should have been mentioned in the history lesson at the Academy." The Hokage chided, Naruto scoffed,
"Yeah, like I would know anything about that." Hiruzen raised a brow,
"Oh? And why would that be, Naruto-kun?" he asked curiously. Naruto looked at him incredulously before answering,
"Well, first off, it's really boring," Hiruzen chuckled," and now that I know that I'm a Jinichuri-"
"It's Jinchuuriki Naruto-kun," Hiruzen interrupted patiently,
"Yeah that," Naruto frowned. He still had a hard time remembering big words," Anyway, now I know why they did it, but ever since I joined the Academy, most of the teachers either ignored me or belittled me and would send me out of the classroom for no reason or for something really little like yawning during a lecture-"The room suddenly dropped a few degrees, forcing Naruto to stop talking immediately, looking up at the now enraged Hokage.
Hiruzen was livid. He couldn't believe anyone was willing to do that, just to get at a child! He would be having some words with the teachers in the Academy, because, if they were willing to sabotage Naruto, what would stop them from sabotaging other children?
"Naruto-kun," Hiruzen started in a clipped tone, making Naruto gulp nervously," who were these teachers?" his voice was eerily calm, which caused Naruto to choose his words carefully,
"U-um, it was, uh, Kai-Kairi-sensei and some of the assistants…. but no one else!" Naruto didn't really want anyone to get in trouble because of him, mainly because it would end up making a lot of things worse. The Hokage took one deep breath then let it out slowly,
"Naruto-kun, you can tell me anything, always remember that." Naruto nodded his head before looking up at Hiruzen,
"But I-I don't want to get anyone in trouble….. Won't that just make it worse?" he asked. Hiruzen shook his head,
"This isn't just about you anymore, Naruto-kun, if they are willing to do what they've done to you, regardless of your status, what's to stop them from cheating on any other child? I want to get rid of this problem before it bleeds out towards all the other children. I'm sorry for not noticing before, Naruto-kun, I should have realized something was wrong when you couldn't pass the exam twice in a row, especially since you were so excited about going to the Academy and becoming a Shinobi, that was neglect on my part so I am sorry." Naruto was stunned. The Hokage had never apologized to him before, mainly because he was always apologizing to whoever was his latest prank victim.
Naruto then smiled brightly," That's okay Jiji! It's not all your fault. It's not like you can spend all your time looking out for me when you have an entire village to look out for!" He cheerily exclaimed which put a smile on the old mans' face.
"Thank you Naruto-kun. Now, what would those teachers' names be and what exactly did they do?" The Hokage asked and so Naruto dutifully replied, telling the few names of the teachers and assistants that had messed with his education, belittled him and seemed to just overall not teach anything whenever they couldn't just send him out, though he was a bit hesitant about telling everything they had done to him but the aged Hokage was able to coax most of it out of him.
"Now that that's out of the way, what else would you like to know?" Hiruzen smiled after writing all the names down along with their crimes, he would definitely be having some words with them.
Naruto immediately perked up at this, then put on a thinking face with a finger to his chin while thinking,
"Well, can you tell me more about my clan?" he asked, hopeful once again. Hiruzen chuckled warmly,
"Of course, Naruto-kun," And so, the aged Hokage went on and told all he knew of the Uzumaki, how they lived, where they lived and how they had been killed off. Naruto was sad that most if not all of his clan was dead, but that was short lived when he found out about something,
"Fuinjutsu?" Naruto asked excitedly. Hiruzen nodded with a smile,
"Yes Naruto-kun, your clan was well known for their Fuinjutsu prowess, most if not all were masters of it, your mother included." Naruto grinned," awesome!" he exclaimed which caused for the old man to laugh heartily,
"Yes, it is awesome." A few more chuckles escaped his lips before he continued speaking," anyway, Naruto-kun, there isn't much else on the Uzumaki that I can tell you, what else would you like to know?"
Naruto sat back with a finger to his chin, pondering on what exactly he should ask next. There wasn't much else he wanted to know, but there was a strange nagging feeling that he had forgotten something. Naruto quickly glanced up above the Hokage's head, seeing the light glow of blue and green.
Sarutobi Hiruzen – Hokage – Professor – LV?
Naruto just stared at the lettering." That's strange," he thought, "There're two titles instead of one…." He shook his head and opened his mouth to say he didn't have anything else to say, but then was suddenly struck with an idea.
Hiruzen chuckled at the suddenly bright face of his pseudo grandson,
"Can you get me a teacher?" Naruto suddenly exclaimed. Sarutobi was surprised by the question,
"And what do you mean by that Naruto-kun? Don't you already have Iruka as your instructor?" he questioned. Naruto vigorously shook his head.
"Not that I don't like Iruka-sensei, I do, but he can't take all that much time out of his day to help only me or fix everything that's probably been messed with. He has an entire classroom to take care of, not just me, so I was thinking that maybe you could find someone to teach me some things." The Hokage nodded his head to that, and then a thoughtful expression covered his face,
"Do you have anyone in mind?" the old man asked; names and faces swirling in his head. Naruto grinned,
"Yeah!" he exclaimed before continuing," I was thinking that it could be Inu-nii!" Hiruzen stopped short, glancing up at Naruto with a bit of surprise.
"Inu-nii? Now who would that be?" he asked, inwardly laughing at the face he imagined said Inu-nii would have made if he had heard Naruto ask for him. Naruto simply beamed at this,
"I now know why they were there, but I remember when I was little, there was an ANBU squad that sometimes helped me when I was in trouble or when I needed help with something. Inu-nii was the one that seemed to like me the most out of all of them, aside from Weasel, who was the one that taught me how to read and write. He was really cool and I haven't seen him in a long time! I want him to teach me because it would be totally awesome, and also kinda because I want to thank him for helping me out," Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly,
"Plus I want to see his real face!" he finished with a wide grin. Hiruzen chuckled heartily at that before going a bit more serious.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun," Naruto slumped at this, "but I won't be able to do that," he held a hand up before Naruto could start complaining," the reason is that your Inu-nii is a very busy ninja, one that I currently can't allow to stop working yet, though I'm sure he would be very glad to see you again, he has a lot of work to handle right now, especially now that we've captured Mizuki and you've given us some very helpful information. I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."
Naruto slumped in his chair even more," that's okay," he mumbled," but can I still meet him again?" he asked hopefully, giving the Hokage his best puppy dog eyes, he knew the old man wouldn't be able to resist that. True to his thoughts, the old man relented,
"Yes, I believe I can do that. Just give me a couple days and I will see what I can do." Naruto literally jumped in victory before hurriedly running around the desk and hugging the old man. Sarutobi laughed heartily through the hug, patting the young blond on the head.
After a few seconds Naruto pulled away and ran back to his seat, sitting down. A few more chuckles escaped the Hokage before he was able to ask," So, do you have anyone else in mind?" Naruto looked up in thought for a moment,
"Eh, I sorta know Kotetsu and Izumo; whenever I've seen them they looked pretty bored, uh... Oh, Genma and uh, his names Raidou? That's all I can think up though... what about you?" he asked curiously.
Hiruzen nodded to at the suggestions before taking a moment to think. After a while he shook his head," I can't think of anyone else at the moment," Naruto nodded to that; Hiruzen smiled, glad that he wasn't complaining or whining and smiled while saying," let me think about it for a couple days, I'll get back to you on that." Naruto nodded his head, but then suddenly, he stretched and yawned widely. Hiruzen chuckled," it would appear I have kept you up too late, Naruto-kun. You are dismissed."
Naruto opened his mouth to protest but merely shrugged before he sleepily stood up, waving carelessly to the Hokage," bye Jiji," he tiredly mumbled while heading out the door. Hiruzen once again chuckled,
"Goodbye Naruto-kun. Have a good night." Naruto nodded and left the room.
As soon as Naruto was gone Hiruzen looked straight at the wall," Inoshishi," a boar masked ANBU suddenly appeared in the room,
"Hai, Hokage-sama?" he questioned.
Hiruzen nodded toward the door," make sure he gets home safely." Inoshishi nodded once before disappearing again. Sarutobi sighed while leaning back in his chair, before he stood, turning toward the window partially and staring at the Hokage Monument, more specifically, the Yondaime's face.
"It would seem I have failed your son, Minato-kun," he sighed tiredly," I'm sorry." And with that, the aged Hokage turned and headed out the door, heading home for the night.
[Elsewhere]
In the darkness of the night someone was walking along the streets. The soft clip clop of their footsteps echoing eerily in the quiet of the night as everyone was in bed, and so the streets were empty.
Suddenly they stopped, lifted their hand into the air swiftly before seeming to press it,
"Ah," a voice murmured quietly," it would seem I have company." A smile glittered in the moonlight,
"This will be fun."
Darkcloudalpha came up with the crystal and is in their story, Naruto: The Gamer. That is all for this one, nothing else was used. Goodbye!
Concerning the ANBU names; I decided to use the Japanese translations of most of the names, you probably noticed that I didn't for some of them. The reason for that is because the Japanese translation for Rat (at least the ones I was able to find) was Ratto which is not that much different than Rat, and in the case of Weasel, Itachi-the word-means weasel, so I didn't want to make it seem like Naruto was talking about Itachi but just an ANBU named Weasel. I will be doing this in the future if I run into any other type of Japanese word that looks like it's just an English word with a few added letters.
Translations:
Tora = Tiger
Neko = Cat
Inoshishi = Boar (which, for those who don't know, is why Sakura calls Ino a pig)
Karasu = Crow
Inu = Dog (wolf is ōkami)
Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Massive/Multiple Shadow Clone Technique
And just in case some of you weren't aware;
Kage = Shadow
Hokage = Fire Shadow (this is true for all Kage [the position] it's the name of their land with Shadow attached at the end)
Bunshin = Clone
Jutsu = Technique
P.S most of this chapter and about half of the second one were written by RealmeNevertobeseen, but the rest will be by me. Also, I will be trying to update once a week, so I should be putting up the second chapter next week on Monday.
