Freedom at Last…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…Yet
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Chakra Beast/Boss/Summon"
(AN: Authors Note)
(Side thought)
'Game'
"Jutsu"
Emphasis
Chapter Two:
*SLAM*
Both Naruto and I looked at the door in shock, having just been quite literally thrown out of the orphanage by the Matron, leaving us at the mercy of the village. After snapping out of our shock, I looked around us, noticing the dirty looks the rest of the villagers were giving us, immediately putting me on guard. It looks like the Matron managed to tell some of the other civilians about her plan.
"C'mon Naruto, let's go." I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him in a random direction, making sure to keep him close.
'Where are we going?"
It was an innocent enough question, but it was nearly enough to make me stop in my tracks. Wracking my head for a safe place, I finally thought of something.
"We're going to the forest, it'll be safe there." I said, forcing a smile on my face
"But, isn't it safe here? Why can't we just ask someone here for help?" Again, it was an innocent question. One that should have had a simple, positive answer, but…
"I wish we could, Naruto, but I don't think that's a good idea. But don't worry! I'll keep us safe, all right? Just trust me, can you do that for me?" It was hard to keep the smile on my face, but I managed. Right now, I had to get us to a safe place. Somewhere away from the civilians. It wasn't safe here, especially not today, of all days.
"Of course I trust you! You're my brother! How could I not trust you?" He beamed back at me, his smile seemingly lighting up the still-dark street. And just like that, any hesitation I had disappeared. Returning the grin with one of my own, I continued to lead Naruto to the nearest forest, training ground 39.
When we finally reached our destination, we were both exhausted, the long walk far more then we were used to, sapping most of our energy. Heck, the walk alone gave me 5 points in Vit!
It took us another 30 minutes to get far enough in to not be noticed by random passersby.
Thankfully, the trees were easily large enough for us to lay down on comfortably for sleep, and there was a fairly large lake that we could use for food or training. It was also fairly exclusive, but I still wouldn't be practicing anything noticeable until I had some sort of 'Sensing' skill. I would have to work on that soon. For now though, we needed to rest, eat, and set up a shelter.
Setting out a bedsheet I stole from the orphanage, (one of twenty), I pulled out some food for Naruto to eat while I made a plan.
The first thing we would need to do was make a shelter, but I could make some of the sheets I borrowed *cough*stole*cough* into makeshift hammocks, and use the surrounding materials to make tarps so we didn't get soaked while we were sleeping. The second thing was that we would need to train as much as we could. We couldn't waste a golden opportunity like this after all!
Though I'll need to stick to physical and chakra exercises, since I can't tell if anyone's watching or not…
I should probably work on that.
Anyways, I'll have to awaken mine and Naruto's chakra before we can do anything with it.
With that thought in mind, I sat in a meditative position, focusing inwards in an attempt to locate my chakra. It didn't take as long as I though, as a few minutes later I was 'looking' at a fairly large ball of blue, glowing energy. Reaching a mental hand towards it, I tried to will a bit of it outwards, towards my hands. It took a few minutes, as every time I tried it, it slipped through my mental fingers. But finally, after around ten or so minutes, I was able to channel it towards my hands, causing a new screen to pop up in front of me.
New Energy 'Chakra' Unlocked!
Grinning at the screen, I dismissed it as I got Naruto's attention.
"Hey, Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"Want to unlock your chakra?" I grinned, watching as he started bouncing up and down in excitement
"Heh, I'll take that as a yes. All right, you saw what I was doing earlier, right?" A nod "Good, you'll need to do that, but you'll need to try to imagine a blue ball of energy, it should be somewhere near your stomach, then you'll need to try to 'push' it towards your hands, got it?" Another nod "Perfect. Now, don't worry if you don't get it right away, it might take a few days to-"
"I got it!"
"…What?" Immediately looking over to Naruto, I saw his hands glowing a bright blue
"Huh, good job! You got it even quicker than I did! And now that we have chakra unlocked, you know what happens now, right?" I said, a smirk forming on my face
"We get to learn cool Jutsu?!" He shouted, grinning
"Nope" I said, popping the 'p'
"Huh?" his smile dropped, "Then what are we doing?
"Training! After all, you need to be strong to be Hokage, right?" I asked the frowning blond
"I guess…" He muttered, looking at the ground sadly
"Aww c'mon, don't look so upset. Tell you what, since I'm sure you're tired, why don't we set up camp today and I'll teach you a cool technique you can do with your chakra tomorrow, is that okay? "
"Deal, dattebayo!" the noticeably happier Naruto said
Chuckling at the complete 180 my brothers' mood just took, I sent Naruto to get me some fresh leaves and sticks while I made the hammocks.
Taking some sheets out of my inventory, I tore two of them into thin strips, braiding them into several lengths of rope, and using a sharp rock to put holes into the ends of the future hammocks. After that, I used the makeshift rope to tie the ends together and used the leftover rope to secure them several feet off the ground, finishing the hammocks just as Naruto got back with multiple decently sized sticks and dozens of very large leaves, each about the size of my head.
"Hey, uhh, Naruto?"
"Yeah?" He looked at me, looking somewhat smug
"Where did you get those leaves?" I asked hesitantly
"From a tree!" He replied
"…Where?"
"From the woods!"
"…"
You know what? Whatever, I don't care enough
Rolling my eyes, I gathered the sticks and leaves and started combining them together. It took a few attempts, but I finally finished a panel after around thirty minutes when a screen popped up in front of me.
Due to repeated action, a skill has been created!
'Crafting'
Level-1 0/100
One of the most basic, (And important), skills for someone to know, this skill can be used to make anything from simple wooden blocks to intricate sculptures and beyond!
Chance of success: 25%
Chances of Legendary quality: 1%
'Huh, not bad. It looks like I'll need to practice a bit for it to be any good though.'
Starting where I left off, I grabbed the supplies for the next part of the 'roof'. Grabbing the leaves, I starts tying them to the sticks, making sure not to leave any gaps that water could leak through. Carefully looking over the final product, I set it to the side, satisfied that it wouldn't fall apart. When I finished the next one however, it fell apart as soon as I held it up. Blinking a few times, I tried again, this time proving the same results.
Letting out an annoyed groan, I tried a third time, this one finally managing to stay together. Letting out a small sigh of relief, I started working on the fourth, and final, roof piece. Failing another two times, I managed to get it on the third try yet again.
Looking at the four pieces I managed to make thus far, I grabbed the last two pieces of rope, tying two of the pieces together to make an angled slope, covering the top in another layer of leaves to prevent any water from getting in through the top. After finishing it, I stepped back to examine my work,
*Thump*
Only for it to fall apart at the last second.
"…Fucking dammit"
Ignoring Naruto's snickering in the background, I tried again. This time, thankfully, it held. Working on the second one, it held on the first attempt. Letting out a sigh of relief, I took another sheet out of my inventory, braiding it into two ropes, using them to hang the makeshift roofs over the hammocks to prevent us from getting wet.
Standing back to admire my work, I gave a nod of satisfaction.
Pulling out a couple blankets I had commandeered from the orphanage, (they were really, lacking in security with their laundry), I threw one towards Naruto, and the other onto one of the hammocks, claiming it as mine.
"I'm finished, go get some sleep, alright? We've got a big day tomorrow."
Getting a begrudging nod in return, he went to sleep, snoring a few minutes later.
'He must have been more tired than I thought. I better get to work if I'm going to show him a chakra related skill tomorrow. Now, what's a good starting skill that I can use? I mean, I guess I could try tree-walking, that should be pretty simple to learn, and it'll help with chakra control."
Making up my mind, I walked over to the nearest tree, channeling chakra to my foot as I did. Pulling on my foot a bit to make sure it stayed in place, I did the same with my other foot. Taking a few hesitant steps, I stopped at the nearest branch about ten feet off the ground. Immediately after I stopped channeling chakra to my feet, a screen popped up in front of me.
'Tree-Walking'
Level- 1 0/100
One of the most well-known skills in the ninja world, this skill allows you to use chakra to stick to any solid surface.
Cost- 100 CHA per min
Skill gives 1 CC per level, and 5 CC per 5 levels
Nodding at the screen, I immediately got to work running up and down the trees, trying to level it up as much as possible by tomorrow morning to surprise Naruto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Panting heavily, I looked at the window in front of me, grinning happily at my progress.
Thanks to my high wisdom, I was able to work non-stop last night, letting me max out the tree-walking skill at level 10.
'Tree-Walking'
Level- 10 [Max]
One of the most well-known skills in the ninja world, this skill allows you to use chakra to stick to any solid surface.
Cost- 10 CHA per min
Skill gives 1 CC per level, and 5 CC per 5 levels
Still grinning, I used telekinesis to dump Naruto out of his hammock. Ignoring his cry of shock, I got some food out of my inventory for him to eat for breakfast.
Watching Naruto finish eating, I got his attention
"Oi, Naruto, ready to see the technique you'll be learning?"
"Yeah! Teachmeteachmeteachmeteachme!" He shouted, speaking so fast his words started jumbling together.
"Alright alright, calm down, jeez." I said, smirking, "You need to calm down if I'm going to teach you anything."
Immediately calming down, he sat down, looking at me expectantly. Smirk growing wider, I walked over to the nearest tree, and walked up it. His eyes widened, looking at me in shock
"So," I asked, "What do you think?"
"…"
"…Naruto? You okay there?"
"…That was so cool dattebayo! You're going to teach me to do that!?" He shouted, startling me enough to make me lose concentration and fall out of the tree, landing with a crash
"…ow"
Quickly standing up, I turned to the now sheepish Naruto.
Patting myself down, I answered "Of course! After all, I promised you I would, didn't I? And an Uzumaki never goes back on their word!" I said, getting a wide grin from the blond
"Now, first things first, you remember the feeling you had when you unlocked your chakra yesterday, right?" A nod "Good. You're going to need to do that with your feet, but you'll need to send some into the tree as well, to keep you connected. But be careful, too much chakra and you'll be launched back, too little and you won't stick, got it?" Another nod, "Great, now, when you first start it helps if you get a running start. Start whenever you're ready, I'll be right here if you need me, but I'm not going to stop you from falling unless you'd be seriously hurt, understood?" Instead of responding, Naruto just glared at the nearest tree, running at it full speed. As soon as he set foot on the tree however, he was launched back, rolling head over heels away from the tree, much to my amusement.
Letting out a small chuckle, I watched Naruto try again, only to fall on his back, having the exact opposite effect that the last attempt had, causing him to glare at the tree before trying again.
Looking away from Naruto for the moment, I started looking at my stats to see where I could improve. My Int and Wis were already incredibly high thanks to Telekinesis, so they didn't really need worked on at the moment, but my physical stats had stagnated due to the confined space we had in the orphanage. My most worrying stats though, were my Luc and Cha, since I haven't trained them yet. Now that I thought about it though, Luc should be relatively easy to gain points in, if I could get my hands on some dice.
hmm…
Pulling up my Crafting skill, I let a feral grin form on my face. Using Telekinesis to tear down one of the saplings and brought it over to me. Pulling out a knife, (This one I stole from a merchant!), I started cutting the tree into various shapes, only for them to turn to dust a moment later.
'Damn low skill level…'
Trying again, I managed to turn the sapling into a plethora of six and twenty-sided die, adding up to five of each. Using Telekinesis to flatten a four foot square into the forest floor, I threw the dice onto the now smooth surface while thinking of only even numbers.
Of the ten dice I threw, only one of them landed on an even number, but that one die was enough to raise my Luc by 1. Grin forming on my face, I grabbed more saplings and got to work.
After I had finished the great tree massacre, I had a total of around 110 various types of dice. Throwing the large collection of dice, I thought about the number seven. After the dice landed, I counted a total of 16 dice with the number seven, raising my luck from a petty two, all the way to twelve.
Repeating the process, I managed to get my Luc to 34 before it started to slow down, only granting around one point every time I threw the dice. I figured I could fix this by making more dice, but I decided to take a break for now. After all, Luc, while important, could wait a little bit.
Wondering what I could do now, I was struck with a memory from a story I remembered reading. In that story, they could invite people to their 'Party', so that person could get stronger quicker. I had to wonder, could I do that? Did I even want to…?
Hell yes! The stronger we could get the better! Besides, I told Naruto about my powers a long time ago.
"Invite Naruto Uzumaki to party." As soon as I finished speaking, I heard a startled shout from Naruto, causing my head to snap in his direction in panic, only to calm down once I saw him. Apparently Naruto had managed to get a decent ways up the tree before the window popped up, causing him to lose his concentration.
Barely managing to hold back my laughter, I helped Naruto up.
Sending me a small glare, he turned back to the screen, his eyes widening in shock and surprise as he read it. Hesitantly clicking yes, the screen immediately disappeared. Watching him look above my head, I saw his eyes widen even further, just staring at what I presumed to be my name.
"Woah…"
"Cool, isn't it? I just figured out how to invite you to The Game, at least temporarily. But this should make training easier for you." I gave him a moment to let that sink in. "If you say 'Stats', it'll bring up your stat page so we know what we need to work on. But for now, just work on mastering the tree climbing exercise. I have another chakra exercise planned after you're done." Getting a nod from the whiskered blond, I watched him start charging the tree before I turned away, heading to the lake.
Arriving at the water's edge, I put my clothes into my inventory, leaving me in only a pair of boxers as I waded into the water. Wading far enough in that the water reached my stomach, I took a moment to relish in the cool water before I began. Taking a deep breath, I launched myself forward, kicking my legs once I hit the water.
After a few seconds of useless floundering, I managed to get enough momentum to push myself forward in an embarrassing attempt at swimming. After a few minutes, I managed to get a bit better, but nothing amazing.
Hearing a familiar ping, I swam back over to the shallows before looking at the screen,
'Swimming'
Level- 1 0/100
While a simple skill, Swimming is something that humans have been doing for millennia for many reasons, including hunting, travel, necessity, and simple amusement. Don't take this skill lightly, however, it might just save your life someday.
Max Swimming Speed: 1 mph
Lung Capacity: 20 seconds per breath
Dismissing the screen, I resumed swimming. It was surprisingly enjoyable, and the water was a much more enjoyable temperature than the clearing was. Though I suppose I can blame that on my King of Winter skill. Not that I mind, it's an amazing skill. I honestly can't wait to upgrade it again! But like I said previously, I can't practice anything non chakra related until I managed to make some sort of sensing skill. (Why haven't I done that yet?!)
Anyways, back to swimming!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~A few days later~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been almost a week since we got here, and we had been training the entire time. Thanks to the Gamer ability, our progress had shot through the roof. Naruto had mastered Tree-Walking, and I had gotten swimming up to level 34. I had also mastered water walking so I could teach Naruto.
'Swimming'
Level- 34 11,968/13,000
While a simple skill, Swimming is something that humans have been doing for millennia for many reasons, including hunting, travel, necessity, and simple amusement. Don't take this skill lightly however, it might just save your life someday.
Max Swimming Speed: 17 mph
Lung Capacity: 5 minutes and 40 seconds per breath
.
'Water-Walking'
Level- 10 [MAX]
A required skill for any Chuunin, water walking lets the user walk on water as if it was solid ground!
Required CC- 20%
Cost- 15 CHA per min
Skill gives 1 CC per level, 5 CC per 5 levels, and 10 CC per 10 levels
Watching Naruto try to water walk had been hilarious, to say the least, but he managed to get it up to level 7 already, so he was making good progress, even if he constantly claimed that the water was 'too cold'. Though that might have been my fault for being too close, to be honest.
Oh well, he was making progress, and that was all that mattered.
Once Naruto mastered Water-Walking, we would start working on our physical stats, even if Naruto hated me by the end of it. Not that I would stop swimming, it had already brought up my Vit and Dex to 51 and 49 respectively. I would just have to limit it to only at night.
Anyways, back to work!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two weeks later~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had been in the forest for around three weeks now, and our stats had grown in leaps and bounds. Naruto had managed to master Water-Walking and began training with me. He tried swimming, but had stopped at level 15 when it got too repetitive for him. So we started training physically; running around the lake, lifting heavy logs, and exercising even after we were tired. I made sure we were safe and had plenty of rest, of course, we just pushed ourselves more than someone normally would, leading to better results.
Normally this would have caused permanent damage since we were only 5, but a mixture of Gamers Body and Heal stopped that before it could even begin. It still didn't level up Heal though…
Anyways, my Swimming skill was at level 53, with Str, Vit, and Dex now at 49, 67, and 61 respectively.
Sadly though, Naruto made me take a week off of training with him for a 'fun week'. Not that I disagreed with him, he'd worked hard these past three weeks, and only focusing on training can't be good for anyone, especially not a 5 year old.
So with these thoughts in mind, I taught Naruto how to weave using grass and twigs. It was actually pretty fun, but now I had twenty or so baskets in my inventory. In other news, I wove us a table! Not a big table, but Naruto didn't have to eat on the ground anymore so I considered it a win in my book.
The second day I managed to make a chair.
I mean, it wasn't a good chair, but it held our weight…barely.
Anyways, we spent most of the second day watching the clouds. It was actually pretty relaxing, I could definitely see why the Nara's found it so appealing. The rest of the week was basically the same thing, but these last few days felt…off. I couldn't place it, but it felt like we were being watched. Whatever it was didn't feel like it wanted to hurt us, so I let it go, making sure to keep an eye out. Though it wasn't until day 6 of our 'fun week' that the figure revealed itself.
It was around 12 or so on day six. Naruto was eating lunch next to me while I was leaning against a nearby tree. Suddenly, a ninja appeared out of nowhere, simply standing at the edge of the clearing. Snapping my head towards them, I was able to make out a white mask before they started walking towards us, revealing more of themselves.
The ninja, an anbu if the mask was to be believed, was a little under 6 feet, with a grey vest, black pants, and grey arm guards. The most noticeable feature about the man though, was their gravity defying silver hair.
Oh…I'm glad I remembered to reapply our illusions. That would have been bad…
Standing up, I watched Kakashi walk closer, wondering what he wanted.
Once he was only a few feet away, he stopped, just looking at us for a few moments before speaking.
"Will you two be willing to accompany me to visit the Hokage?" He asked politely
Blinking a few times, it took me a moment to process what he said. Before I could ask why, the Hokage wanted to see us however, Naruto began to rapidly nod his head, eyes filled with wonder.
"Very well, prepare yourselves, this might be a bit disorientating."
Before I could say anything, we were whisked away in a swirl of leaves, reappearing in what looked to be a lobby of some sort.
Taking a moment to shake off the dizziness, we were lead up a flight of stairs to a pair of large, heavy looking doors. Tapping a gloved hand on the door, Kakashi proceeded to open them a moment later after a muffled 'Come in' was heard from inside.
Entering the room, it was a fairly large, circular room with plenty of windows overlooking the village. To either side of the room were large bookcases filled with various different books and files. In the middle of the room was a large desk nearly overflowing with paperwork. Sitting at the desk was an elderly looking man wearing a white robe and a hat with the kanji for 'fire' on the front. The Hokage.
Looking up from his desk, the Hokage's eyes immediately darted to me and Naruto, a questioning look in his eyes.
"Inu, may I ask why these two are in my office?"
"I found them in the forest, Hokage-san." He replied, short and to the point
Taking a moment to let that sink in, the Hokage let out a deep sigh before speaking.
"Inu, just because we found and recruited you from the woods doesn't mean you can go around and kidnap random children! The council is already insufferable enough, imagine what they would be like if they thought I had ninja going around and kidnapping children! And what of their parents? They must certainly be scared out of their wits looking for their children!" He exclaimed, verbally berating him.
Deciding to take pity on the man, I spoke, "I don't think our parents would mind, Hokage-san."
Looking at me now, he took a moment to take a breath before speaking, calmer than before. "Oh? And why would you think that, little one? I'm sure your parents must be very worried about your absence."
Letting out a small laugh, I answered. "Well, I'm sure they might be worried, if they were, you know, alive."
"I…I see. I'm very sorry for your loss." He spoke, eyes softening
"Don't worry about it, you didn't know. Besides, we've never met them. Apparently they were killed by the Kyuubi during the attack." I'm not lying, technically, just omitting some details. Besides, I'm sure he'll figure it out soon
"I see," He started, his face adopting a look of slight confusion, "But, if I may ask, why aren't you in the orphanage, if that's the case? Surely it would be safer than the woods, wouldn't it?" I could see him start to connect the dots
Before I could reply, Naruto spoke "We can't, the mean lady kicked us out last month and wouldn't let us back in. Then everyone was looking at us meanly before Sora and I left to go to the forest. Then Mr. Ninja showed up and took us to see you dattebayo!
As soon as he finished, speaking, I saw Sarutobi finish connecting the dots to reveal an ugly picture, if the scowl on his face was anything to go by.
"I see. Inu, can you fetch the orphanage matron and take her to T&I please? Oh, and please tell Anko and Ibiki to give her the special treatment, will you?" Receiving a nod, the figure vanished into a swirl of leaves not even a moment later. "Now then children, why don't you two take a seat while I get something ready, alright?" We nodded, taking a seat on the couch "Excellent. Now don't worry, this shouldn't take too long."
Liar
End: Chapter Two
Fun fact, I can indeed weave in real life, and have made a chair, two tables, and a multitude of baskets! (And by weave, I mean like with grass and string/rope and stuff for baskets, not cloth, sorry for any misconceptions.)
See you next time!
