Naruto: Game On
Chapter 4: Defiance
I feel like I owe you all an apology. I said I would have another chapter ready and have updated the old ones by next month. That was three months ago.
Long story short, not long after I posted the last chapter life kind of hit a shitty point for me. I won't bother going into to detail but I really didn't want to right much for like a month. The little time I did spend writing was mostly on a side project to help me relax.
After a bit I started back working on this little by little for the past two months but never just sat down and wrote. I've written more today at once on this today than I have for most of the past three months. It's been written over extended periods of time and is hot off the press so there's probably a lot of errors and it may seem all over the place.
However, I feel like I've waited long enough as is and I can't do a thorough check because I'm pressed for time but really want to get this out.
The good news is that school is out for me come Wednesday and I'll have the whole summer to work on this. So, in a week or so I WILL update all the existing chapters to make them flow smoother and shortly after that I'll be adding a little mini chapter as an apology. Then sometime after that I'll work on getting the next chapter out.
Whoa, that felt like a lot to say!
Anyway! Ready and Enjoy!
Inferno'sLegacy Out!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the mentioned works
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Currently our blond protagonist could be seen wandering around the village with a depressed aura. He had just finished his third day at the academy and they had repeated the accuracy drill that morning. It was safe to guess the blond hadn't done so hot.
"It just doesn't make sense! How could I do so poorly after I did so well before?" He simply couldn't fathom his performance difference. It really couldn't have just been his luck. Could it?
"Forty percent. Heh…...FORTY DAMN PERCENT!" His frustration mutated into rage.
His eye started twitching as he recalled what truly made him lose it. "AAANNND of course I just had to go after Mr. Perfect Score Uchiha! Then, it just so happens that coincidentally, Kiba goes after me and gets twice my score!"
Let's also note that the Inuzuka made it a point to rub it in his face the entire day.
He let out a string of curses that shouldn't be coming out of any nine-year old's mouth as he continued walking down the side road he was on. Then, as quickly as it appeared, all the anger bled from his system and was replaced with a fresh wave of sadness.
"I barely passed this time. Is my aim really that bad?" He sighed before lowering his head and closing his eyes.
Just in time to walk headlong into someone…
"Hey! Watch where you're…...going?" He snapped his head up with the intent to mouth off at the moron who bumped into him, only to stop and resist the urge to blush.
As it turns out, that moron just so happened to be a cute girl.
She had chocolate brown eyes and was wearing a sleeveless pinkish-red Chinese style dress with red-brown colored pants and shinobi sandals. She also had her black hair in two symmetrical buns that reminded Naruto of a Panda.
"I should be saying the same to you," grumbled the girl as she rubbed her head in pain.
She looked up at Naruto with the intent to say something else, only for her eyes to widen before she started looking at the ground around her frantically. "Crap! My stuff!"
Naruto chose this moment to notice that she had been carrying several large, heavy bags. The contents of which were now strewn out across the ground. He also noted the agitated look forming in her eye.
In response, thousands of years of developed male instinct kicked in to help him avoid feminine fury.
"My bad! I'm so sorry!" He then bent down before speaking again. "Here, let me help."
The girl looked at him skeptically before nodding. She then got to a knee and started picking up the fallen items alongside the blond.
Naruto quickly threw a few into a nearby bag before he noticed something. "Hey, these look kinda like kunai and shuriken."
"Yep! That's because they are," replied the girl cheerily.
Naruto was now confused. "Okay, but why do you have so many and what are you doing with them? There's no way these can be thrown in this condition."
True to the blond's words, the weapons were all in poor condition. Ranging from chips in the metal to being completely broken or shattered.
The girl giggled before answering the blond boy, "That's because these aren't for throwing. My father's a blacksmith and he had me go collect leftover weapons from the training ground."
"Why would he need these broken ones then? I don't see a use." He was still perplexed.
"Jeez, you must not know a lot about blacksmiths. He's going to melt these down and use the metal to make new ones," responded the girl.
"Nah, I don't. It makes sense now though. Thanks for telling me," said Naruto.
The girl gave a small smile, "It's alright. You can't know everything."
By now they had picked up nearly all of the spilled salvage and the still unidentified girl was preparing to leave. She started picking up the bags but started having problems holding more than four of the large bags.
Naruto took notice of her plight, "Hey, those look pretty heavy. Let me help you."
"No….it's...alright! I got it—" she was cut off as one of the six bags fell from her arms.
Naruto shook his head before grabbing half of the bags from her.
"Now, we got it," he said with a smirk.
Panda Girl blushed and bowed her head before muttering something along the lines of "thank you".
"Don't worry about it! Now where to?" The blond was happy to help.
"Oh, just follow me," said the girl. The two then took off.
They got about 15 feet from their starting point before the girl abruptly stopped and looked at her traveling companion.
"What is it?" Questioned Naruto.
"Umm…...I just realized that you're helping me but I never got your name," said the girl shyly.
"Oh! It's fine. I'm Naruto."
"Ok. Nice to meet you Naruto. I'm Tenten!"
Now that they had finally properly introduced themselves, the pair resumed heading to her father's shop.
"Thanks again for helping me Naruto. I'm curious though. What had you so distracted in the first place? I think you mentioned something about horrible aim," questioned Tenten.
"Do you really want know?" Naruto was surprised she cared.
She nodded in confirmation.
"Yep! You can tell me all about it on the way to my dad's shop," replied the girl.
Naruto was too happy to oblige. He was happy that someone near his age was interested in his life. So, for the rest of the trip Naruto recounted his poor day to his new acquaintance. Omitting the game part for obvious reasons
As for Tenten, she listened to his story intently and at some point she found herself giggling at the blond's plight.
The duo continued on happily all the way to their destination.
(Time Style: 20 Minute Timeskip no Jutsu)
Sometime later the duo arrived at Tenten's store.
"Here we are! Higarashi's weapons!" Exclaimed the girl cheerfully.
"Weapons? So, your dad makes and sells them?" Questioned Naruto.
"Yeah, though he typically only makes higher end stuff. The rest he buys in bulk to sell," answered Tenten.
"Ah, I see. Anything else you need help with while I'm here?" He guessed it would be fair to ask if she needed anything else.
"No, I got it from here. Thanks Naruto!" Replied Tenten.
Naruto nodded his head and was about to make his leave only to be stopped by the girl.
"Oh, I almost forgot! If you want some help improving your aim, you should stop by sometime. I'm free most of next week. We'll call it repayment for your help and being so nice," said Tenten with a smile
Naruto eyes widened, "Wait! You're in the academy!"
"Yep! I'm in the year just above yours. I also happen to have pretty good aim if I do say so myself!" Exclaimed the girl with nothing but pride.
"Wow! You'd really be willing to help me?" Naruto was beaming.
"Of course, I would silly! Why wouldn't I?" Questioned Tenten as she cocked her head to the side.
Naruto's eye fell some as he answered, "Oh…. it's just that I'm not the most liked person around. Most of the village tends to act like I don't exist, most kids in my class don't give me the time of day, and I don't really have any friends…," he trailed off towards the end, looking down some.
Tenten was a little weirded out at first by his sudden shift in moods, but she soon started feeling sad for him and very confused. She couldn't understand why it was like that for the blond. He seemed really nice from the short amount of time she'd been around him.
She was about to voice her concerns but was stopped when the blond suddenly shot his head back up with a grin, "So I guess I was just a little surprised that you would be nice enough to do something like that! Anyways, I'd really appreciate you giving me a few pointers."
The blond sounded cheery and his happy grin could've fooled most people. Tenten was not most people. One look into his eyes told her he was faking it. Her shinobi training let her notice the desperation they held. She started to question him about his life but instead chose to let it be. If he wanted to talk, he would.
She waved her hand dismissively before responding, "It's alright, I get it. I really don't have a problem helping you though."
The blond relaxed internally.
"Ok, if you say so Tenten, but before I go, how exactly did you manage to carry all those bags as far as you did?" Naruto was genuinely curious.
Tenten gained a faraway look in her eye.
"Pure willpower," she murmured as she gazed out into the sky.
"Noted," replied the blond.
He cleared his throat before speaking, "It was nice meeting you Tenten but I gotta run!"
That seemed to snap her out of her trance, "Oh, ok. I'll see you later Naruto! It was a pleasure!"
Naruto gave a small smile, a genuine one, as he turned and started walking off. He turned his head back towards her and raised his hand in a goodbye gesture, which she returned, before turning his head forward and continuing on.
Tenten stared at the blond's retreating for with interest. He was a nice guy. A bit weird and hyper, but nice. He also reminded her of someone but for the life of her she just couldn't think of who.
She definitely hoped he took her up on her offer.
(Time Style: 10-minute Timeskip no Jutsu)
We could now find our blond protagonist roaming a more crowded main street.
'So…...did I just make a friend?' Thought the blond
'I mean…. we talked for over half an hour and…. she even offered to train me! Although, she did call it repayment for helping her,' continued the blond.
Naruto grabbed his and shook it before yelling in frustration, "UUGH! Having no reference material sucks!"
Naruto resumed walking only to pause mid step when he noticed everyone nearby on the street was now staring at him.
"What are you looking? Can a kid not scream to the high heavens about his problems in peace?" Questioned the blonde.
They still stared.
"Oh, buzz off already!"
They did just that and Naruto shook his head.
He started walking once more and picked up his old train of thought, 'I hope I didn't weird her out with what I said. Come to think of it…...WHY did I say that? I don't even know her. I haven't even told Iruka-sensei about how bad my social status is and he's cool!'
"So why her?" He said it quietly under his breath.
The more he thought about it the harder it was for him to come up with an answer. In truth he didn't know why he let that slip it out. It was strange. He just felt really relaxed around her for some reason.
His train of thought continued much the same until he somehow ended up in the main shopping district of Konoha. He had apparently walked all the way to the center of the village.
"Hmm, didn't mean to end up here. Might as well take a walk around," said Naruto. In truth he didn't have anything to do. He had just been wandering ever since he got out of school for the day.
He started exploring and looking at the various shops and stores. He quickly noticed something though. A lot of people had blue question marks over their heads.
His experience with games gave him an idea of what this could be but he had to check to be sure.
'Open help menu,' thought Naruto. He wasn't sure if it would work but low and behold. His watch stirred to life and a light blue holographic screen appeared.
"How may I help you?"
'That actually worked…...What do blue question marks mean?' Questioned the blond boy.
"Blue question marks represent daily quests. These quests are abundant in the world and reset at a set time every day. However, they offer much less rewards in return."
'Close help menu,' the boy said. The screen then disappeared...
...Only to be replaced by another screen.
"Would you like to enable tooltips?"
Y/N
'Yes,' thought the blond. 'Why the hell wasn't that a thing in the first place?'
Naruto then walked up to a vendor who was looking particularly frustrated.
"Yo, what's bothering you so badly?"
The vendor was a lanky guy who looked to be in his mid to late twenties and had shaggy brown hair. He looked towards the blond and sneered. "What do you want brat?"
Naruto felt his temper rise and was about to mouth off but gamers mind calmed him down just as fast. This game could be really annoying at times.
He sighed before speaking, "Look, chill dude. I didn't come to start to trouble. I just wanted to know what seems to have you so stressed out."
The vendor narrowed his eyes before scoffing, "As if you'd be concerned with my petty problems."
"Well ya know, the thing is…...I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't interested!" Naruto was careful not to yell too loud but he was irritated. His eye twitch was proof of that.
"Fine…. Take a look at my stand. Notice the lack of produce? A cart filled with it was supposed to be here this morning but still hasn't arrived," said the man.
"The busiest part of the sales day is about to start and I have nothing to sell! There! Now that you know what's ruining my day what are you going to do about?" His frustration shined through as he spoke. He lowered his head once he was through.
[Daily Quest Unlocked]
Daily Freshness: His food cart's late. Help the man out!
Objectives
Find and deliver the missing food cart
Rewards: 200 ryo, 200xp, +200 rep with Burning Leaf Market, +100 rep with Konoha
Failure: -300 rep with Konoha, -400 rep with Burning Leaf Market
Accept?
Y/N
'And there's the ryo,' thought the blond as he accepted the quest. Naruto then spoke again saying, "Well, look. I'll see if I can help find your cart. Do you know the route it was taking?"
"You would rea- Ahem! I meant to say that's fine but do so at your own risk. Just know that if you fail I promise you'll regret it. That cart should've been coming from that way," the man finished off by pointing in a random direction.
Gamer Rank has increased by 1! New rank is 2!
Suddenly, Naruto's entire world shifted. His vision went black for a moment and then suddenly returned. However, now he could see several things in his field of vision. In the top right corner of his view he could see a red and a blue meter. The red one said HP and displayed his current health out of his total. The blue one did the same except for chakra instead.
There was also a small plus in the top left-hand corner but he had no idea what it meant or did. It also looked like he had a dumbed down version of his observe on. He could see people's names or ranks as well as titles and their level.
His watch also started to glow. He moved it in front of him to see what was going on only for a circular holo map to appear from it. It showed his current location and it also showed a highlighted area for him to go to as well as a line indicating how to get there.
Then a little blip appeared in his vision before seemingly moving far away. Conveniently enough to what looked like the highlighted location.
'Okay, if I know anything about video games then I'm assuming I just unlocked a HUD of sorts and whatever the hell that glowing dot was is meant to be a waypoint,' guessed Naruto.
BING! You have gained +1 intelligence for figuring out something before the game explained it to you!
'Ahh, thank you Halo!' Now if only the watch could turn into Cortana…
Naruto nodded towards the trader before taking off towards the location. As he was running he saw a timer counting down from 40.
"Guess I'm just going to need to be fast...Hyper-stride!' Thinking the last part, the blond shot off like a speeding bullet.
(Time Style: 20-minute Timeskip no Jutsu)
Reaching the location was the easy part...sort of. It took him longer than he thought because he had to weave around people in the street and Anbu were using the roofs in the area.
The hard part was actually finding the damn thing! The area it brought him to was outside a large storehouse...and there were dozens of carts!
At this point Naruto had checked well over 20 carts to no avail. Some were filled with weapons, others had clothes. Some were empty and one had stuff that he didn't even want to know was. On that particular cart there was also a message that read "For one A. Mitarashi".
All Naruto knew is that whoever that A. Mitarashi person is has to be a strange one…I mean what the hell would someone want with whips, handcuffs and other strangely shaped objects?
"If I have to check one more of these damn things I'm going to lose it!" He pulled the cover off another cart only to see…...A family of racoons?
Okay, that's it. He'd had it. What the hell were racoons doi- Wait, why was one humping the other? You know what? Never mind! He was just going to check more carts.
He then spent the next few minutes pulling tarps off of carts while silently stewing in anger.
"Hehehe*hick*hehehe."
"What was that?" Questioned Naruto as a sound rang out.
*Hick* *Hick*
There it was again. It just wasn't accompanied by laughter.
"Hehehee*Hick*heheeheee."
The noise continued this time and Naruto started following it to the source. What he found was rather surprising. There was a guy.
There was a middle aged bald dude on the ground leaning against a cart. He had a bottle of sake loosely held in one hand, his cheeks were rosey and he had a stupid look on his face.
'Yeah, he's drunk. He hasn't even noticed me right in front of him,' thought Naruto. Just out of curiosity he pulled up the tarp and he nearly saw red. Right there in front of him was what he spent the last eight minutes looking for!
"Hey! Is this your cart?" Questioned the Uzumaki.
The man barely registered the sound and just giggled. Naruto's eye twitched.
Slap!
"I SAID….IS THIS YOUR CART?!" He screamed in the dude's ear.
The man jumped, "HUH! Wha-ye-yeah. That's mine...I think."
Naruto looked at him irritated, "Is it supposed to be somewhere?"
"Yea-yeah. A food...sland. I-I shou-sloud get ist zere," he was slurring his words. The man tried getting up only to fail miserably.
Naruto shook his head before looking at the man and then the time left. He got behind thee cart and started pushing it. He vaguely heard a shout of what sounded like "Hey! That's my cart!".
He ignored it.
'I have less than 15 minutes to get this back. I need to hurry!' He activated Hyper-Stride and said a prayer for those in his way.
(Time Style: Timeskip no Jutsu!)
Naruto was breathing raggedly as he lied down on the ground. He pushed that cart at what felt like the speed of light for ages. His muscles ached severely and he was out of breath. He did complete the quest though. He had been a bull. He pushed through hordes of people, nearly hit an old lady and destroyed a guy's stand. He didn't feel bad about the lady because he knew her and she was a bitch to him. However, he had to resist the urge to stop and bust out laughing when the guy who owned the stand screamed "My cabbages!". He also gained a point in STR and DEX for breaking his body.
After a few minutes he stood up and walk around some more. He was going to head home and get some sleep but then he saw it...
Another blue question mark.
'Fuck me.'
(Time Style: Timeskip no Jutsu)
It was now Saturday morning and we could find our favorite blond heading to the academy to meet Iruka for his training session. Two days ago, he discovered he had access to daily quests. He found a man's food cart, rescued a stranded cat and delivered milk. The all were chores and he'd only found the three but it was a daily source of exp.
...or so he had been told.
Apparently, when the game had said they refresh daily it meant per quest. So, for example: Today he could do the milk delivery quest. Once it was completed he would have to wait three days to do it again. However, tomorrow he could find the food cart again.
In short, he could only do one quest per day. The game was throttling his xp and it annoyed him greatly. He cursed up a storm when he figured it out. Also, he had done the accuracy drill twice more. He did slightly better than Wednesday but not by much.
'Those lessons with TenTen can't come soon enough.'
Soon the blond found himself standing just outside the large building dedicated to educating and training the future of Konoha. He proceeded inside and walked down the halls he had come to be rather familiar with for over a year.
Predictably, Iruka was in his classroom working intently on some papers. He could've been grading old assignments or making new ones for the upcoming week. Naruto didn't know or really care. Well whatever the case, Iruka's work had him so distracted he didn't even notice the blond enter the room.
"Yo, sensei! Don't tell me you forgot about our training today?" Naruto wasn't going to let that last long.
Iruka's head snapped up in alert and did a quick scan of the room before he landed on Naruto.
"Oh, it's you Naruto. Sorry, I was lost in my work," said Iruka while scratching his head.
"I guess you're ready for our sparring session?"
"Yep!"
"Alright, let's head outside then." Iruka stood up and walked out the classroom. Naruto not far behind.
The pair soon found themselves standing in the center of the same ring in which Naruto had his slugfest with Shun in. Fitting that this would be the same spot he improved himself at.
Iruka took steps back and got into a position to observe his student, "Alright, settle into your stance Naruto."
Hearing his teacher's instructions, the blond fell into the same one he beat Shun senseless with.
Apparently, that was the wrong one…
"Naruto…. when I said your stance, I meant the Academy Style…." Iruka shook his head in exasperation. Iruka heard a small, embarrassed "oops" before the aforementioned blond took up the correct stance.
"This one sensei?" Questioned Naruto as he looked towards Iruka.
"Well, yes. That looks vaguely like the right stance…. but something looks off," commented Iruka as he looked over his form.
The academy style was taught to shinobi hopefuls for a specific reason. It was a loose, adjustable style that has good offensive and defensive capabilities while still being flexible enough for the user to use it how they feel most comfortable.
Typically, the stance relies on the user's feet being spread apart with the dominant one place forward and the other placed back for balance. The user's arms are also meant to be spread out pretty wide with one extending forward for quick attacking while the other remains close to the chest for guarding.
As Iruka said, Naruto's form looked close to that but his feet were placed weirdly and his arms were too extended. If he tried to make too quick or sudden of a movement he was liable to trip over himself and any punch he threw would be super easy to telegraph and dodge. His guard would also be extremely slow. Long story short, Naruto would be a sitting duck using this crap.
"So, uhm, Naruto...who taught you this exactly?" Questioned the scar faced chuunin. Iruka kept an upbeat expression on his face but inwardly he was concerned about how Naruto's stance was so poor. He hoped it was simply the boys own error.
Naruto blinked, "Um...it was the same guy who taught everyone else. I think his name was Mr. Ishida. Don't you remember him? You were the one who told him to teach us sensei."
"So, I did," said Iruka vaguely. In his mind he added on, 'So it was Ishida huh?'
Iruka remembered Ishida. He also didn't want to think one of his comrades would intentionally sabotage one of his students. Maybe Naruto just hadn't understood his instructions. Regardless there was only one way to find out.
"Did he happen to give you the pamphlet which explained the form in more detail?" If that indeed was the case then he would've at least done this much. That way the blond could try to correct himself.
"Wait! There was a pamphlet!?" Naruto clearly hadn't gotten wind of that little detail.
Iruka chuckled a little before reaching in one of his many pockets and pulling out a small booklet. He chucked it at the blond saying, "Here, take a few minutes reading this over then try that stance again."
He ended his sentence with a small encouraging smile for the blond, but inwardly he was seething. He would definitely bring this to the Hokage's attention.
Meanwhile, Naruto had been trying to figure out what his sensei had been trying to get at. Regardless all of his antics, he wasn't slow and as their conversation continued he realized what his sensei was trying not to imply. He'd been fucked over again.
This was why Naruto wasn't a big fan of the Academy. Most of the staff made it hell for him. Iruka was one of the few exceptions. That aside, he was now faced with a new problem entirely.
'Just what the fuck am I going to do about this book. I need to read it to help fix my taijutsu but I damn well can't have it get digitized in front of Iruka!' The blond was at loss for what to do. He could fake reading it but that wouldn't help and his only other option was to expose Iruka to his secret. Which he wasn't ready to do.
'Damned if you do. Damned if you don't,' lamented Naruto.
PING!
Tooltip: You can learn skills by reading over the skill book or scroll instead of absorbing it. Be warned that this can take much more time.
'Oh, well that's oddly convenient,' Naruto said before simply shrugging. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?
Naruto then sat down and cracked open the pamphlet. It was time for some old fashion learning.
(Timestyle: Timeskip no Jutsu)
"Alright, now the sixth form," said Iruka as he observed the blond. Naruto had finished reading the booklet after about ten or so minutes. So Iruka decided to see if he learned anything by having him run through all the different katas for the style. He'd had him doing this for the past 20 minutes and so far, he'd done perfectly. Needless to say, Iruka was really impressed.
The knuckleheaded gamer ran through several more forms at Iruka's request before relaxing and stretching his muscles. It was most definitely more annoying to actually read as opposed to simply absorbing the knowledge. He was almost positive the game slows down his sense of time when doing it this new way, because it felt like he had been reading for ages.
On the bright side of things, he no longer had the flawed status next to his academy taijutsu. Not to mention the form just feels better and stronger. Fighting like a street rat is still what comes most naturally to him, but Naruto was sure that if he had used this while fighting Shun that fight would've been a whole lot easier on his part.
"So, uh sensei...what now?" Questioned the blond as he looked at his teacher expectantly.
"Well, you caught on a lot quicker than I thought you would. You seem to have the forms down so the only way to progress from here is to see how you hold up in a fight," responded the Chuunin.
"Wait! We're sparing?" Surprise was evident in the child's voice.
"Yep, you think you can handle it?"
"Oh, you're being cheeky Sensei? Bring it on!"
Iruka smiled before moving to the opposite end of the ring. He then settled on the most advanced form of the academy style, not that Naruto knew what it was. He would take it easy on the blond and limit himself to the combat level of the average fourth year student.
Across from him, the very excited blond settled into his "newly" learned stance. Even if he didn't have a megawatt smile on his face you would've still been able to tell how happy he was based on his body language alone.
Before there spar began Iruka decided he'd give his student the heads up, "Hey Naruto, be warned. I'm starting off on the offensive. Prepare yourself."
Naruto heard his words and gave a nod of acknowledgement. A few scant seconds later his teacher launched towards him.
'Fast!' The blond barely managed to avoid his sensei's open blow by pivoting in his back leg.
Iruka spun around and threw a left at his face but the punch was barred purchase with a double arm block. However, that was just what Iruka wanted as he used Naruto's slower recovery time to land a punch to the side of his stomach.
The blond was sent reeling back from the blow. It didn't hurt much but it was disorienting. He then heard his sensei's voice ring out.
"Using both arms to cover your face makes a good defense, but you have to be sure your opponent is using their dominant hand and is putting a lot of weight behind the blow. Otherwise, they could easily capitalize on the time it takes for you to get your arms back in position."
Naruto righted himself then prepared for round two. His sensei lunged at him once more but this time he ducked under the blow and swerved out of the way. He popped up on Iruka's right side which caused the teacher to pivot towards him with left hook. Naruto was ready for him this time though. Instead of going for a full block, he used his right arm to parry the blow and caught the ensuing right jab with his free hand.
He then attempted to use the captured fist to propel his knee into his teacher's gut. He didn't give Iruka enough credit though. Iruka bent forward preemptively to reduce the power of the blow and used the momentum to get out of the blonds grasp and put distance between them.
"Much better," said Iruka while smiling.
Naruto simply grinned in return.
The two soon found themselves locked in exchange after exchange and Naruto found himself falling into a rhythm and working on autopilot.
Left hook, doge, success. Right cross, duck, success. Swerve to his left, success. Kick out leg, missed. Heavy right! Block! Success!
'He's catching to this a lot better than I thought. Let's see how well his offense is,' thought Iruka. The academy teacher then intentionally overextended a missing right jab in order to leave himself wide open.
Naruto saw the opening and rushed to capitalize. He grabbed the other grabbed his teachers free hand before using his other arm to slam a fist into his gut.
Iruka had to admit that for an academy student, that had hurt. However, he had been hit with far worse in his lifetime. Although, for the sake of playing the part Iruka acted as if he had been slightly disoriented from the blow.
He stumbled back with his right arm clutching his stomach and his left flailing kind of pointlessly. Naruto rushed forward with a right haymaker charged up. Iruka saw and "scrambled" to dodge it.
The attack just barely missed and Iruka continued his act by simulating the effects of imbalance from a rushed dodge. His feigned imbalance lead to Naruto coming at him with a string of different attacks. All of which he managed to avoid before letting himself "accidently" roll through one of the blond's attacks. The maneuver threw off Naruto and gave Iruka the amount of time it would take for a fourth-year student to right themselves.
After they adjusted, there was a small lull in combat. The two opponents using the time to catch their breath. Although the break was more for Naruto's sake.
"I'm pretty impressed Naruto. You've kept up pretty well so far," started Iruka.
Naruto grinned, "Heh, I just think you're slipping Sensei. You sure all that time behind that desk hasn't affected your fighting skill?"
"Oh, you have jokes now? Lucky for me that wasn't even trying!" It was a joke made in good humor and Iruka took it as such. However, he couldn't miss the opportunity to frustrate his most irritating student.
Naruto just smiled, embracing the challenge.
And a challenge it was. This time when Naruto went after Iruka it was as if he was fighting a whole other person. Before, his movements were much slower and his dodges were pretty bad. His speed and nimbleness had still made it hard for the blond to hit him but Naruto was sure it was at least possible then. Now his blows were being skirted like he was moving in slow motion.
'Why the fuck is he so fast now? I guess he really was playing with me,' Naruto thought irritably. Seeing his sensei school, him like this was ultimately expected but still frustrating to no end.
Admittedly, he was only using the most basic form of the Academy Style and Iruka knew it like the back of his hand. Not mention it only really focused on basic offense and defense. Plus, Iruka was a chuunin…. Yeah, the more Naruto thought about it the more he realized how hopeless this was.
Regardless, he was still putting forth his best effort. He was stringing together every set of punches and combos he could think off based off what he had just learned. However, it was a fruitless endeavor. Iruka simple weaved mere centimeters between each blow, causing the blond to hit nothing but air every time.
Iruka himself raised a mental eyebrow as a particularly strong gust of wind blew past his face, 'Damn, that one must've had a good bit of speed with it.'
Iruka had ramped his speed up to low genin level yet Naruto was still trying to keep up with him. To say he was impressed was an understatement. Iruka backed up a few feet from the blond and then let a smile play on his lips as he spoke up.
"You've done well Naruto! Really well. However, it's time to end this," said Iruka before blurring forward. He appeared in front of the blond with his fist buried in his gut. The blow wasn't overly strong but it had enough power to bring a second-year student to their knees.
He saw Naruto's eyes go wide and his head slump forward. He then counted the seconds until the blond slid off his fist and caught himself on the ground.
Thump!
"Da-...Dammit! I thought that would work," groaned out Naruto as he slumped down in pain.
As he collapsed to the ground he missed the look of utter shock on his teacher's face. In Iruka's hand, mere centimeters from his face, was one of the blond child's fists. Instead of immediately crumpling to the ground, Naruto ate the blow before throwing out a lightning fast reflexive jab to Iruka's jaw.
If he weren't a chuunin level shinobi and didn't have the reflexes to match, he would've been knocked out cold. His hand stung from the power of that blow.
Meanwhile, Naruto was trying to shake off the pain. That blow had dealt 30% of his health in one go. Needless to say, it had hurt!
"So…*pant*…. how'd I- *pant* how'd I do?" The blond was lying on his back when he asked the question.
"Great! You honestly did far better than I expected and I don't even mean that in a bad way!" Iruka truly was outdone. He had caught on and performed better than some 4th year students. He continued by saying, "Sorry if I hit you a little hard. I knew you wouldn't stop trying unless I forced you to."
Naruto eyed him before laughing, "Ha-ha! Ya know? You're probably right!"
The two chuckled for a few moments before settling into a comfortable silence. The blond had righted himself and was sitting crossed legged. Iruka sat a few feet across from him.
Suddenly time slowed to a crawl for the blond and he was met with a notification.
Quest Complete:
Of Combat and Family
Objectives Complete
Train with Iruka Saturday
Rewards: 1000 Ryo, 800 xp, +400 rep with Iruka Umino
You have reached level 6! +3 stat points! 11 points remaining.
'Alright! I leveled up again!' cheered the blond mentally. 'I should probably use some of these skill points. I have 11 of them now after all.'
He then used his watch and pulled up his stat sheet:
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Rank: Academy Student (+25% exp gain to lv10)
Title:
Ryo: 7500
Stat points available: 11
Affiliation: Konoha
Level: Lv6 next lv=159/6000
HP: 2490/2490
CP: 2100/2100
VIT: 27 (10)
STR: 9
DEX: 7
INT: 10
WIS: 9 (5)
LUK: ?
Looking at his stats he decided to dump 4 points into strength, 4 into dexterity and the last 3 into vitality.
So, Naruto's new stat sheet looked like this:
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Rank: Academy Student (+25% exp gain to lv10)
Title:
Ryo: 7500
Stat points available: 0
Affiliation: Konoha
Level: Lv6 next lv=159/6000
HP: 2700/2700
CP: 2100/2100
VIT: 30 (10)
STR: 13
DEX: 11
INT: 10
WIS: 9 (5)
LUK: ?
'Yo, what the fuck! I feel stronger already,' thought the blond with excitement. He felt like he could've kicked Shun's ass 5 times over. Why exactly hadn't he done this sooner?
Oh wait, he was probably still adjusting to his life being a game.
Naruto made a note to use his stat points the moment he got them from this point forward before closing the sheet. Then the world then unfroze and everything was as it was before.
The silence that had settled in lasted a short while longer before Naruto came up with a new question.
"Hey Sensei?"
"Yes Naruto?"
"Did you ever find out anything else about the Uzumaki Clan?"
Iruka's eyes sparked with remembrance before replying, "Yes. Nothing groundbreaking but I do have some more information about them."
"Like what?" Naruto looked up curiously at his sensei.
"Well for starters they were experts in fuinjutsu. Otherwise known as the art of sealing," started the chuunin.
"I already know that Sensei," interrupted Naruto.
"How? I haven't covered that in class. In fact, it's not even in the curriculum," questioned Iruka.
'Me and my big mouth,' thought the blond.
"Umm...I read it in a book about sealing. I didn't get very far because the librarian didn't let me have it but I remember reading about them," lied Naruto.
"Oh, that makes sense. I guess that's why you asked me if the existed in the first place," responded Iruka, content with his answer.
Luck check! Success! +1 skill point!
"Anyway, aside from their skill in sealing they were also known for their longevity, massive chakra pools, and their red hair," continued the teacher.
"So, wait. If Uzumaki have red hair why is my hair blond?" Questioned Naruto. The 9-year old's mind was alarmed by the difference.
"Well, that's probably because one of your parents had blond hair," responded Iruka. He didn't want to mention that there was still a chance Naruto wasn't a Uzumaki by blood.
"Oh."
"It's alright. I didn't expect you to know that Naruto. Where were we again?" Iruka tapped his foot and scratched his chin in thought.
"Oh right! The Uzumaki were cousins with the Senju clan and were regarded as one of the strongest clans in the Nations. Right alongside the Senju and Uchiha. In fact, some argued that they were even stronger given that they frequently stepped in to stop the other two's quarrels," said Iruka.
Iruka watched as Naruto's eyes slowly started widening to epic proportions. He could practically feel the excitement rolling off the blond. Iruka was certain he would explode if he heard anything else….
He smiled saying, "In fact...their village, Uzushiogakure, was strong enough to be considered the 6th Great Shinobi Village."
3…...2….1
"OH, MY KAMI ARE YOU SERIOUS!? WE WERE A GREAT VILLAGE AND RELATED TO THE SENJU?" The blond yelled so loud Iruka was certain Iwa heard him.
Now it was time to cool his jets some.
"Well to be specific, no one knows the exact relation between the Senju and Uzumaki but they were both close. As for being a great village...it was unofficial but they were in all but name," clarified the teacher.
"They were also very close with Konoha. In fact, the 1st Hokage's wife was Mito Uzumaki. Unfortunately, it was because of their strength and relationship with us that they were targeted so heavily," finished off Iruka rather somberly.
Naruto got even more excited at the fact that one was married to a Hokage but quickly quieted down upon being reminded of their fate.
It was quiet for a few seconds before Naruto looked his sensei in the eyes and asked a question.
"So, who exactly was responsible for Uzu's destruction sensei?"
Iruka remained quiet at first, debating if he should give an honest answer. One more look into the pleading blond's eyes gave him his answer.
"Well, the blame for that is hard to pin on any one nation since many smaller villages joined in on the attack, but the main three responsible were Kiri, Kumo and Iwagakure," he said.
"Wait, why would that many villages target one clan?" Questioned the small child.
"It wasn't just the Uzumaki Clan. There were a few dozen other small clans that called Uzushio home," clarified the teacher.
He cleared his throat and spoke again, "However your point still stands. While the Uzumaki was the ruling clan, they barely numbered over 300, a lot for one clan but not unheard of, and the village's total shinobi population was just over a thousand. So why did they get attacked so heavily?"
"The answer to that question is fear. Uzushio and the Uzumaki were small compared to any of the Big Five but what they lacked in numbers they made up it skill."
"The numbers can tend to very on depending on who you ask but an army of roughly 15,000 soldiers were sent to siege Uzu. It took well over a week for the village to fall and less than a third of the invading force made it back," Finished the teacher.
"Wow! Were they really able to do all that?" Naruto's eyes had widened once again and for good reason. What the Uzumaki did was no small feat.
Iruka smiled, "The numbers vary but yes. The Uzumaki alone were already complete monsters with their mastery over seal and abnormal amounts of chakra. Then you have to understand that those clans that pledged loyalty to the Uzumaki weren't anything to be laughed at."
A comfortable silence once again fell over the two. Naruto mostly used the time to soak in the information he had just received.
Soon a new question had formed.
"Hey sensei, why don't they teach this at The Academy?"
Iruka gained a thoughtful look, "I'm not entirely sure Naruto. They taught it to us when I was in school but by the time I started teaching they had stopped. Maybe Lord Hokage knows?"
Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and silence reigned once more.
"I have another question Iruka."
For all of ten seconds….
"Yes Naruto?"
….
….
….
"Well, what is it Naruto?" Iruka was getting slightly impatient.
….
"What does longevity mean?"
(Time Style: Timeskip no Jutsu!)
Naruto could now be found heading towards one of the far corners of the village. His training session with Iruka had went nicely but the teacher had to wrap it up not long after their talk. He said he would be willing to do it again but wouldn't be able to for a couple of weeks. In turn the blond had gotten another quest of the same name. The rewards were much higher though and it said "part 2".
Naruto however, was still very energetic and wanted to practice his new moves out some more. It was for that reason he was heading to the part of the village were the shinobi training grounds were located.
He had stumbled upon them during a day of pranking gone wrong and ever since then he would occasionally come back to watch ninja train. It was because of that he knew that training grounds 1-12 were almost always active and the others were a 50/50 to be occupied.
It was for that reason he found himself heading to training ground 13.
It took the blond about 20 minutes before reaching what looked to be a lush grassland that faded into a forest with a rock outcrop behind it. At what could be called the entrance was a large billboard with #13 on it.
"The training posts should be a little deeper in. No point in just sitting around." As Naruto walked under the large sign he never noticed the words shift from "#13" to "PD #1"
The further the blond walked into the training ground the more confused he got. Training ground 13 was meant to be grassy but not like this. The grass was currently above his ankles and in some random patches it looked as if it would reach his knees.
It looked as if it hadn't been tended to in months, and he knew that couldn't be the case.
Rustle! Rustle!
Naruto's eyes snapped to the tall grass a dozen feet to his left and he saw the grass being pushed around. Something was in them...and it was coming his way!
Naruto grabbed a Kunai from his pouch and held it at the ready….
Only to be greeted by a small cat jumping out of the bushes.
Feral Cat Lv 2
Hp: 200 Cp: 50
A stray cat that has been turned feral due to being in the wild for so long. Be warned, they are highly aggressive!
"Oh, it's just a cat. For a moment I thought I was in real tro-" One day Naruto would look back and realize that putting those points into his dexterity was one of his smartest decisions ever because it was the only thing that saved him from getting his face mauled as a child.
Combat has started!
The seemingly "harmless" cat had jumped at the blond's face with the ferocity of a mountain lion. His upgraded dex let him barely manage to roll under it while he swiped with the kunai out of reflex.
Fatal Critical! +75xp
As Naruto stood up and turned to face the threat he was greeted with it's fresh, warm corpse. Apparently, when he swung his kunai he had caught it in the throat and with it being such a small, weak creature, that was all it took.
As he watched the blood pool around the cat's body, Naruto's eyes widened ever so slightly. He looked between the dead creature and his now bloody kunai. He had never killed anything before and there was more blood than he was used to seeing.
Strange emotions were starting to crash down on him. Guilt, regret, horror…. excitement?
He was starting to breathe heavy and was on the verge of hyperventilating.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle! Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Just like that instinct snapped him out of his trance like state and got him ready to fight for what could've been his life.
Six more of the feral cats had jumped out of the grass and were now circling him while hissing. One was even swatting the air in his direction.
Naruto slipped another kunai in his other hand and readied himself for combat. He was still scared and nervous, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt excited.
As one, two of the cats charged him and leaped. Naruto was ready this time and ducked under them while slashing. He caught one on its stomach and the other on the side of the face.
Not enough to kill either but they were both severely hurt.
He sprung up just in time to kick away a third that had tried jumping on his crouched form. However, he couldn't stop the fourth cat that had jumped onto his other leg before it was able to sink it's claws and fangs into the skin.
"GAH! Bastard!" Naruto cried out in pain before jamming a kunai into its skull out of reflex.
Fatal Critical! +75xp!
He heard movement behind him and turned around while throwing a wild swing. The blow had some much behind it that it took the 5th cat's front left leg clean off. However, the wounded cat still landed on the blond's face. Managing to cover it in blood and scratch him once before being thrown off with a blade in its side.
+50xp
+50xp
Naruto then stumbled forward as he felt two weights jump on his back. The sixth cat and the one he kicked away had gotten behind him.
"Get off me! Get off!" Naruto was flailing and trying to get them off his back. However, he couldn't grab or stab them with any true force. He couldn't shake them off either.
Feeling them start to tear through his shirt he did the only thing he could think of. He threw himself hard onto his back.
+50xp
The maneuver worked but it only killed one as the other had jumped off when he started falling. He heard little feet coming from his right side and threw his other kunai at the cat while it was in mid jump. The projectile impaled it and threw it back.
+50xp
Naruto was panting and desperately trying to catch his breath, but he would have no rest. One of the last living cats ran up between his legs and jumped at him. Instinctively, Naruto's arms shot forward and tried to grab it.
He caught it mere inches from his face. The beast was shrieking and hissing while it flailed it claws, desperately trying to find purchase in flesh. Naruto looked the creature in its face and saw it was missing an eye. That made this one the one slashed in the face.
Realizing it couldn't get his face, the cat turned its attention to his arms and started raking at them. It even bit into Naruto's left hand.
Biting back a scream the blond moved his right hand from its body to its throat. He grasped it as hard as he could and squeezed. The feral cat struggled even harder than before and bit down harder on his hand.
Eventually it started feeling the effects of oxygen deprivation and it let go of his hand and it's struggling started to get weaker and weaker. That was all the motivation Naruto needed.
Crack!
As the feral's neck snapped Naruto tossed it to the side. He started to breathe a sigh of relief but he realized he still wasn't safe. Springing up, he did a full 360 of his surroundings, eyes desperately scanning for signs of the cat he had slashed in the stomach.
Eventually, his eyes landed on its cooling corpse near the edge of the tall grass. If the trail of blood leading to wasn't enough then the large pool of blood it was in was enough to confirm it had bled out.
Knowing that he truly was safe now Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. However no sooner than he did, his brain manage to properly compute the very gory scene surrounding him.
He sniffed and the smell of blood assaulted his nose. All those emotions he felt earlier returned but far more potent. The guilt, remorse, shame and horror all came crashing back into him at once. The adrenaline and satisfaction were still there but it just felt so muted in comparison.
"Oh Kami-" Naruto opened his mouth to verbally express his emotions but regretted it immediately. There was still plenty of blood on his face from one of the cats and it gladly rushed into the open crevice.
Retch!
Naruto immediately dubbed over and emptied the contents in his stomach. He stayed hunched over for what felt like hours dry heaving and retching before finally stumbling back and landing on his ass.
He wiped his face off before focusing on the top right corner of his vision and seeing his health. They had dropped him about 400hp.
After he caught his breath he looked up and saw the strangest thing. The bodies of the ferals seemed to have blue wisps of light coming off them. He watched in fascination as the bodies and blood completely dissolved in a few seconds.
He thought he was seeing things but then a glowing light appeared in front of his face and formed a stack of cash that fell to the ground.
"What the hell? Why is money falling out of the sky?" Naruto stared at the cash in pure confusion.
He didn't have to wait too long for his question to be answered.
"Congratulations! You have discovered practice dungeon #1. Dungeons are locations within the world that let you fight monsters for experience, money and items. Not to mention plan old fun! Each dungeon has its own recommended lv and unique enemies. Practices dungeons were designed to give you a taste of them in a safer environment. Beat all 3 practice dungeons to unlock true dungeons."
New Quest Unlocked
Dungeon Dweller: The game has set up 3 practice dungeons for you to beat unlock the real deal.
Objective: Unlock true dungeons
Rewards: 5,000 xp, 5000 Ryo and access to dungeons.
Naruto was sure the stare he was directing towards the notification was the deadest one he'd ever made.
"So why couldn't I have been told about this before getting jumped?" Naruto's voice was so flat it hurt.
Tooltip: Some elements of the game are meant to be a surprise.
"Suuurre…. Why did all the..bodies disappear into the air?"
Tooltip: It is so they can be transformed into the proper rewards. Auto loot has been toggled on. If turned off bodies of enemy creatures will remain for you to desecrate. Also, it keeps the game nice and clean!
"It keeps the game clean….," Naruto repeated the words disbelievingly. "Just fuck you watch."
Tooltip: I have been programmed to respond with You're Welcome!
Naruto closed the notification without a second thought. He then grabbed the stack of cash and placed it in his wallet.
+140 Ryo
Since he had been sitting down Naruto felt much better. He looked himself over the best he could and noted he was already starting to heal. He checked his health saw he was sitting at 2500/2700. Meaning he had regained half his lost hp.
'Why DO I heal so fast?' Thought Naruto absently. It couldn't have been a game thing because he had always had fast healing. Maybe it was from his clan?
Clearing his head, the blond stood up to push forward. If this was some type of quest then it would be a waste not to do it. He was still a little shaken by the earlier events but his mind felt calmer now. Knowing they were most likely made by the game for him to kill made it slightly easier to accept that he had just butchered a bunch of cats.
It seemed he chose a good time to get up.
Rustle!
"Fuck! Not again!" Before whatever was in the grass could come out, Naruto dashed over and grabbed his lost kunai before spinning and facing the noise.
Wild Cat Lv 4
Hp: 400 Cp: 100
A cat that has been born in the wild. They're also faster, stronger, smarter, and have thicker skin then feral cats. They are drawn to the smell of blood.
'Well that's just great,' thought Naruto as he held his knives defensively.
The wild cat started circling the child as if he was sizing him up. After seeing what looked like an opportunity it rushed straight at him.
Naruto slashed at it only for it to swerve to his right at the last moment. Thankfully Naruto was able to use the momentum from the slash to roll to his left and make separation.
The moment he popped up he launched a kunai at it and slashed its side. Although it's tougher skin made the cut shallower.
The wild cat screeched in pain before running towards the blond once more but noticeably slower.
Naruto was ready for it this time though. His eyes tracked it perfectly as it tried the same maneuver as before. He shifted his body and sliced at its other side. This time the blade nicked its leg making it trip over itself.
Naruto immediately threw his last held kunai at the down creature's head. Once again it didn't pierce as deep but it was more than enough to kill it.
Fatal Critical! +115xp
Once again, Naruto watched as the creature dissolved in blue wisps and a stack of cash fell in front of him.
+30 Ryo
"Ok then. Let's see what else tries to kill me," said Naruto as he picked the cash up. He grabbed his two kunai before placing them in his pouch.
Seeing no point in sitting around he chose to push deeper in the grounds.
(Time Style: Timeskip no Jutsu!)
Naruto had been wandering for about an hour or two now and he had encountered just over a dozen ferals and four wild cats. The ferals came in smaller groups and were much easier to deal with than before. A wild would usually follow the group of ferals but Naruto dealt with them in short order.
At one point he had run into a particularly large group of ferals and wilds. There was well over 30 in total. His watch had said something about it being a "Horde Den" but he was too busy using Hyper-stride to "GTFO", more commonly known as Getting The Fuck Out, to care.
After that little encounter he headed into the forest and had been fighting there ever since.
Currently he was a clearing near the back of the forest. He had just dealt with a lone feral before looking up into the sky and noticing that dark clouds seemed to be forming overhead.
"I should probably start heading back," he said to himself. He turned to do just that but then a white blur raced passed his vision. His head snapped to the left as he tried to follow it but another blur raced pass him and he felt pain in his leg.
He checked his hp and saw that he had taken 100 damage from something and when he looked down he saw a cut on his leg. He heard hissing behind him and turned around immediately.
What he was greeted with was a large cat that was about two feet long and a foot and a half tall with white fur and black dots.
Chakra Lynx Lv 5
Hp: 800 Cp: 300
Chakra Lynx are rare creatures that are able to harness and channel chakra. They are able to use it to sharpen their claws and enhance their speed. Be warned that they tend to come in pairs.
Naruto looked behind him just in time to see another creeping up on him.
"Fuck me!" He once again praised his increased dex as he jumped out of the way and hopped up to his feet. He turned to face the Lynxes and saw them side by side, slowly approaching.
He grabbed his two trusty kunai and readied himself once more. As soon as he did they launched at him. Naruto tried his best to keep track of their movements but they kept blitzing around him.
Soon he felt a cut appear on his leg followed by another, and another, and another. It took most of the blond's willpower to stay standing after the 6th or 7th. After the 8th he managed to kick one of his wounded legs out and kick one of his attackers.
The predator was sent bouncing along the ground due to the backlash of being stopped so suddenly at it's speed. It got up fairly quick but it looked injured.
Its partner saw this and shrieked in what one could call anger. It dashed around to Naruto's front before lunging at him with a paw raised and claws glowing a faint blue color.
Naruto saw what it was trying to do and was going to deal with it like the other cats before realizing his mistake. This one was faster, much faster. He had no time to completely dodge so he leaned as far back as he could.
"GAH!" The claw missed his face but he couldn't get away unscathed. Its claw raked across his chest, tearing through his shirt and leaving a fairly large cut going diagonally across him.
Naruto stumbled back in pain while clutching his chest. 'These guys are hurting me too much. I have to figure something out.'
His little mind was racing trying to figure out a solution. The biggest problem was their speed. If he could slow them down it would make it all the difference. The gears in his brain starting working overtime to figure something out before his eyes widened ever so slightly.
He had got an idea.
The obvious answer was to go for their legs but the problem is that they were too fast for him to be able to hit with his kunai. Kunai weren't his only weapons though. Out of his pouch he grabbed the handful of shuriken he owned. He hadn't been using them because his aim was poor and they weren't all that sharp but for what he had in mind he didn't either of those things.
"Come on you stupid cats! Show me what you got!" Naruto used Hyper-stride to jump over both of the Lynx and get behind them. They both turned and eyed him down. They snarled before launching at him. 'Perfect.'
Naruto waited a split second before using Hyper-stride to jump high into the air and twisted his body while throwing out the shuriken. They scattered in a wide arc. Not accurate at all but enough to frighten them into a stop.
He remembered how the other Lynx acted when he hit it. It had too much momentum to be stopped so suddenly without backlash. The same effect happened again and both cats tumbled to the ground due to the sudden stop.
Naruto used his remaining airtime to launch two kunai at the downed creatures. His luck shined through and one of the knives found purchase in throat of one. Unfortunately, the other only managed to leave a large gash in the other lynx.
Fatal Critical! +225xp
The blond landed in a crouch. The impact of the landing rattling his bones a little. He got to his feet quickly and drew a third kunai. He waited for the last lynx to rise to its feet and charge him again. Predictably, it did just that.
As it rushed him again Naruto was prepared. When the lynx got close it lunged at him once more but he had seen it coming. This time his hand shot out and he grabbed it by its throat and while it was flailing in his grasp he lodged his kunai into its skull.
Fatal Critical! +225xp
"Gotcha bitch!" Naruto cheered as he watched the dead animal dissolve into the blue wisps of light. Then he watched as a wad of money dropped in front of him.
+100 ryo
+1 rare lynx fur, D rank item
The fur of a chakra lynx. It's fairly uncommon and sells well. It can also conduct chakra.
"Ok, this is new. Haven't gotten an item before," said the blond as he wondered if this was a fluke or not.
"Maybe the other enemies weren't strong enough to drop stuff? Oh well, it doesn't matter much. What should I do with this though?" He thought about it for a while before he noticed another pelt lying where he had killed the other lynx.
Walking over to it he picked it up along with his kunai before sitting down. He then quickly realized a small problem, "Just where am I putting these? I don't have a backpack or anything…. wait a minute…. inventory!"
Naruto turned his attention to his watch and opened up his inventory. When he opened it, it was completely empty which made sense because it was his first time using it. He saw a store item button and pressed it before waiting for something to happen but nothing did.
After some trying and failing he just thought about the pelts and they vanished. With that solved the boy let out a sigh before letting himself fall onto his back. He was tired and those lynxes had hurt
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted his hp, "1200 out of 2700 left? Damn, I better rest a bit before heading out of here. No way I'm risking getting jumped by more cats like this."
He started to just lay there but as soon he peered into the darkening sky he realized just how close it was to raining.
He now was faced with a dilemma. If he stayed out here for much longer he would get soaked to the bone. On the other hand, he really didn't want to risk getting jumped by more lynx or running into that horde again. At least, not while his health was still so low.
He did know that at the back of the forest there was cliff face. There had to be a small cave or crack in the rock to he could recover in. It was just a matter of finding it in time.
In the end his options were A: Head home, get drenched, and probably jumped, or B: Try to find shelter, possibly get drenched, and possibly get jumped. One promised shelter at home but he would get wet and most likely attacked. The other left it all to chance.
The boy was still trying to make up his mind when a single drop of water hit him dead in the forehead.
"Screw it! Luck don't fail me now," muttered the child. With his mind made up he quickly started making his way to the back of the forest.
After about 5 minutes of traveling it started to drizzle. In response Naruto used Hyper-Stride to speed up his travel time. In another five he had reached the edge of the forest.
When Naruto did he was greeted with a stretch of open grass about a dozen yards wide that separated the tree line from the cliff face. He walked up and down the tree line while scanning the cliffside in search of a hide away.
He did this for a few minutes with no avail. He was just about to curse his luck when at last it seemed to have shined through. In front of him was a large crack in the rock that formed a jagged, triangular mouth to a small cave.
He found it just in time too, as it had just started to truly rain instead of slight drizzle from earlier. The rain clouds had rolled fully rolled in making it grow dark. Even the forest behind him, which had been fairly well lit, now appeared as one large shadow formed by the trees.
Naruto was little over have way across the distance to the cave when he heard something.
SNAP!
A branch snapped behind him and the sound was just loud enough for him to hear over the rain. His head jerked in the direction of the sound instinctively and he was met with a pair of glowing blue eyes peering back at him…. or more specifically, two pairs of eyes.
Chakra lynx eyes.
Unfortunately, it wasn't just them. Slowly, pairs of eerie yellow eyes started appearing one by one in the darkness of the tree line all around him.
"Oh, come on! Really!" Naruto cried under his breath as he turned to face the new threats. They must have been here for the same reason as him. What were the odds man? As he went to grabbed a kunai from his pouch the cats slowly began entering the clearing.
He wasn't sure of exact numbers but there were easily several dozen cats. Amongst the horde he could see ferals, wilds and even several chakra lynxes. It was taking all he had not to shut down in fear. This group was much larger than the last.
"Deep breaths now. You got away once you can do it again," Naruto whispered to himself. Water dripped down his face as his eyes shot all over the place in a poor attempt at keeping track of all the creatures. He was just about to activate Hyper-stride and run for it when he heard something that sent shivers down his spine.
RRRAAAAWWRRR!
A high-pitched shriek that seemed to be a mix of a roar and a snarl ripped through the clearing. The sound was scary but what the blond found even more terrifying was that the sound came from behind him.
He once again turned around, ignoring the known threat in favor of the new one, and as he did he saw all of the other cats stop in their tracks. Those closest to the roar even went as far as to start backing up, completely ignoring him.
The child's eyes peered into the cave frantically searching for what was behind that horrid roar. Fortunately, or unfortunately, it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for.
From the depths of the cave a pair of large glowing red eyes peered out at him. Slowly but surely, he could start making out the figure of a large animal. It was far larger than anything else he had ever seen.
That much he could tell from its shadow. Only as it left the shadows of what was apparently it's cave and came into the dim light of the clearing could he look at it fully.
To repeat his previous assessment, it was big. It was only a head shorter than him on all fours and easily 7ft long. It's dusty brown fur and feline face gave away what it was immediately and that only made the blond panic more.
Mountain Lion Lv 7
Hp: 3000 Cp: 400
Rarer than chakra lynx, mountain lions run these woods. They're large, powerful and excellent hunters. They can't use chakra but their natural speed and strength more than makes up for it. Watch out for their sharp claws and powerful bite.
The red-eyed lion roared once more. As if to gloat at the games acknowledgment of its species prowess before leveling its glare on Naruto angrily.
It also could've roared to say 'leave or die'. Yeah…. that's definitely an option.
'Shit! Not good. I need to leave now!' His health was still nowhere near full, sitting at only 1800. He couldn't do this. Not now.
Naruto turned to leave with Hyper-Stride but ran into a problem immediately. His path away was being blocked by the other cats. They were staying in the woods and at his sides observing him and the cougar. In fact, they had formed a sort of semi-circle around the cave.
RRRAAAAWWRRR!
It seemed Naruto wasn't the only one to notice he was trapped.
The blond didn't even have time to curse as he hit the floor and watched the large cat sail over him. It landed gracefully and turned towards Naruto just as he picked himself up. Seeing that he was still slightly off balance it charged him.
It was nowhere near as fast as the little blurs of light that were the chakra lynx but it was still incredibly fast. It had cleared the distance between them in just over two seconds.
Naruto just managed to sidestep out of it way, expecting it to jump again. However, instead of pouncing it lashed out with a claw. It just managed to lightly graze the boy's chest as he got out of the way.
He grunted in pain while stumbling back a little as the blow threw him slightly off balance. He gained his footing and saw his hp dip a bit as he grabbed another kunai and held them both in a reverse grip.
The cougar was now facing him once more so the blond starting backing up to put distance between the two of them. That however, stopped once he heard hissing behind him. Naruto wouldn't dare take his eyes the threat in front of him but he didn't need to anyways. He knew it was most likely the cats blocking his way.
As to why they were still here? He didn't know. Maybe they were trying to appease the cougar with his corpse like ancient people did gods? Unlikely, but it made a small dark part of himself laugh in the back of his head.
He didn't know it yet, but he had just attained one of the greatest skills any ninja worth their salt could have. The ability to laugh in the face of death.
Seeing that escape was not going to be an option he changed approaches. He slowly started moving closer towards the big cat. If he couldn't run he was going to have to fight.
The cougar saw him approaching and let out low growls. It noticed how careful he was moving now and chose to take a similar approach. Instead of charging or leaping it started to slowly circle him looking for an opening.
It was a motion quickly copied by the blond.
'I'm hurt and this thing is already stronger than me in the first place. I can't afford to make any mistakes so I'll need to play defensive.'
The rain was coming down harder now. Naruto's eyes stung from the water and his clothes felt heavier. The grass was also starting to get slick so he had to mind his footing.
The hunter and hunted circled each other endlessly. One waiting for the other to make a mistake first. This calm before the storm lasted a handful of tense seconds more before the cougar grew impatient.
It struck out at the blond with one of it's large, clawed, paws.
Thinking fast, Naruto used a short burst of Hyper-stride to dodge around the lunge and jammed a kunai in its side. The mountain lion roared in pain before rounding on the blond.
The sudden movement mixed with the wet grass caused Naruto to release the kunai and stumble back onto his ass.
Big mistake.
The enraged animal wasted no time and pounced on the downed blond.
The scared child did the only thing he could think of and raised the last kunai he held in defense. The kunai sinking into its chest was the only thing that saved him from immediate death. It roared out in pain instead of biting down on his face
Sadly, he still was only inches from the literal jaws of death though.
Naruto's left shoulder had been pierced and pinned down by one of the cougar's large claws when it pounced on top of him.
When the pain registered within him he screamed out in in agony and used his free hand to try to remove the offending appendage but to no avail. Within moments the cougar recovered from being stabbed again and went to bite at its trapped prey.
Out of sheer reflexive Naruto moved his good arm to shield his face. Again, it saved his life but at a cost.
The small boy let out yet another bloodcurdling scream as his arm was savagely bit down on and shook by the wounded predator.
He trashed around for a few seconds in an attempt to escape, only injuring himself further, before his mind began to numb. If not for gamers mind he would have blacked out from the pain by now.
His hearing then began to fail him as a ringing sound filled his ears. Shortly after that stopped feeling the pain. Soon Naruto just watched numbly as he was being mauled by the animal.
He wasn't panicked or frustrated. Hell! He wasn't even sad or scared. Just like he had lost the energy to fight back, his brain lost the energy to form those emotions. However, there was one thing he felt.
Disappointment.
He was about to die here. In a forest, surround by cats from hell, while being mauled to death by what might as well be the devil in disguise.
Not peacefully in his sleep from old age or on a battlefield defending his village as Hokage.
No, he was going to die to an overgrown housecat at the tender age of nine.
Fucking pathetic.
Wasn't he supposed to be a ninja?
For some reason that feeling of disappointment stuck with him. Morphing and twisting itself into something new. Something different.
Rage.
Defiance.
Naruto's eyes suddenly filled with a grim determination.
He wasn't going to die here.
No, not here…and certainly not like this.
Then those same eyes that were filled with fire, rage and defiance bled red.
A faint red haze came over his frame as the whisker marks on his cheeks grew darker and thickened. His canines also extended ever so slightly as a snarl placed itself on his face.
Power filled Naruto's veins and fueled his rage and determination.
He used a small fraction of that power and kneed his captor hard in its stomach. The cougar was forced to go of his arm and leaped away in pain and surprise. However, before it fully retreated, the blond used his previously pinned arm to grab the knife from its chest with speed he didn't know he had.
As Naruto rose to his feet he was met with another terrifying although weakened roar from his foe.
He wasn't shaken…
Naruto's unknowingly slitted red eyes stared into the creatures own.
He roared back…
As his war cry died in the air, the blond disappeared briefly before reappearing on the lions back. He used his previously mauled on arm to rip out the other kunai that had been lodged into its side.
The sky was now out right pouring water down onto the ground. Strangely enough Naruto didn't even feel wet. In fact, he felt quite warm…. or maybe he did and just didn't notice.
To be honest he wasn't thinking his clearest at the moment. His hearing had long since returned and the downpour served as a white noise to block out all the sound except for his mind.
And right now, it was screaming two things.
LIVE!
KILL!
With another bestial war cry the blond took both of the kunai and jammed them into the beats neck before dragging them in opposite directions, cutting open it's throat.
The cougar tried to roar once more in its own form of defiance but all that came out was a strangled gurgling sound.
Naruto hopped off the beast and watched it thrash for a short time before falling to the ground unmoving.
As soon as it did, the red haze faded, and Naruto returned to normal, non the wiser of its existence. As exhaustion creeped in on him, he took a moment to look around the area only to find himself completely alone. Apparently, the other cats had turned tail and ran.
He took a step towards the cave but as soon as he did his world started to spin. He suddenly felt extremely tired. Like really tired. Before he knew it, he was falling onto his back.
Briefly, he saw some notification pop up before his head hit the ground and he knew darkness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Rank: Academy Student (+25% exp gain to lv10)
Title:
Ryo: 9,170
Stat points available: 4
Affiliation: Konoha
Level: Lv7 next lv=320/7000
HP: 2700/2700
CP: 2100/2100
VIT: 30 (10)
STR: 13
DEX: 11
INT: 10
WIS: 9 (5)
LUK: ?
Bio:
Naruto Uzumaki, a child whose origins are shrouded in mystery and false truths. He is the pariah of Konoha and as such he has been hated and treated unfairly by the Village all his life for reasons unknown. Due to this he developed a love of pranking and video games to alleviate his loneliness. Despite it all he still has hope in the people of Konoha and is driven by a unbreaking will and pure heart. Naruto strives to be a ninja of his village but has been handicapped every step of the way thus far. If he will crack under pressure and fall into darkness or rise above his oppression and forge a legend all his own remains to be seen.
Edited: 9/4/19
Changelog:
-minor grammar updates and sentence correction
-Slightly altered PD fight scences