"It hath sustained for an eon until the artful lady doth appeared. Thusly, at thy witching hour, she asketh of us a boon. We bestowed it unto her, for verily, we art merciful. "
- The Book of Log
C5: Academy Days (Pt.1)
Beta Reader: Izaranna
Sunlight filtered into a room with an extremely warm colour scheme, ranging from bright yellows and oranges to the darkest of reds. The most dominant feature of the room were its walls; the areas closest to the ground were covered with red handprints made from varying shades of darks and lights, suffusing onto the walls after smearing the floor liberally.
Above it was a childishly made tree with branches extending from the roof all the way to the centre of the floor. Each branch had exceedingly detailed cocoons drooping from them and surrounding the tree were bodies, ranging from barely recognisable stick men to unrealistically realistic corpses.
It was a picture that recorded the entirety of Naruto's drawing skill, from level one all the way to hundred.
It was a picture that came to the blond in a dream that he had no trouble remembering.
The feeling of death; corpses all splayed on the ground like trash in a rubbish dump, with a stench to match, their entrails all displayed callously for anyone to see.
The feeling of blood; its sticky embrace caressing his tongue like ramen.
The feeling of dread and defeat; of overwhelming loss and despair.
At the centre of the grotesque composition lay a tree, its form fleeting, with the only substantial thing on it being the cocoons of humans hanging from the plant like fruits.
He wasn't sure why he dreamt about it, but it plagued him. It was too realistic. He regretted reading that one horror book that night before going to sleep.
It was funny that today of all days was when he had the dream again—the day he was going to join the academy.
The blond's eyes shot open with trepidation. He could still feel the red liquid on his lips.
I really wish I didn't have such good imagination sometimes.
He rose and performed his daily ablutions, intent on ridding himself of the remnants of the dream. Naruto opened his mouth to greet his Anbu compatriots but stopped himself. He remembered that they told him that they were leaving now that their mission had ended.
He'd known this day was coming, but no amount of foreknowledge stopped the waves of sadness from engulfing him.
He'd tried to cry himself to sleep, but had failed once more. The blond had read that that was the appropriate response to the loss of parental figures, but his [Gamer's Mind] prevented such things from occurring. He just didn't see the need to do so.
Naruto ate his food in quiet and in the process, noticed an envelope stuck to his door. He finished and went to examine it. Within it lay a letter and 500 ryo.
Dear Naru-chan,
Today is the first day since you were born that you have not had someone watching over you. I have left 500 ryo on the door, which will be taped here on the second of every month. Your food will be replaced as required by Anbu every fortnight, and every alternate month, Anbu will visit to ensure that you are living safely and healthily.
Enjoy being a ninja Naru-chan, or should I say, Naruto? You are now in training to become a ninja, after all. Be safe and take care! If you are ever in danger, you know what to do.
Yours truly,
Sarutobi Hiruzen
Jiji
The blond read the letter and took out the money.
"Now, what do I do with this?"
Naruto didn't need to wait long as the moment those words came out of his mouth, his status screen materialised.
He remembered that beneath his attributes there was the word 'ryo', along with a zero next to it, so he tried to find a way to transfer his cash into that attribute.
After much searching, he found a box labelled cash. The blond placed the 500 ryo note in it and watched it vanish, only to be replaced by a ryo attribute.
Hmmm, if this is how it works, then would simply thinking…ten ryo.
The moment the last two words flitted across his mind, ten ryo appeared in his hands.
That is pretty cool. Now, time to get dressed and leave.
Naruto stepped out of his house and was greeted with another screen.
Academy Days (1):
Today is your first day at the Academy!
It's a start to a new life! And with a new life comes new connections. The more you have, the higher your chances of survival will be, and to do that, you will need to make sure to have a good first impression. What happens if you fail? Look at the completion failures!
Objectives:
Time Attack - Arrive at the Academy on time (6:45 AM)
Completion Award:
[Alarm]
+5 EXP
Completion Failure:
-5 Reputation with everyone in Class [Umino Iruka].
Accept?
Yes/No
Naruto should have been happy that he'd finally gotten a quest.
He had asked Nii-san to get him as many books as he could find on games and knew that they were instrumental to success, especially in his case, as it seemed that they would be the only way to get experience points for the time being.
The blond walked through the bustling streets of Konoha, looking at everything with a smile on his face. The village still hadn't lost its lustre to Naruto. He decided to eat some Takoyaki, using his newly discovered ability to pay for it. He simply put his hands in his pocket and materialised the money to hide his ability. He had plenty of time, after all.
He walked towards the academy and noticed many parents bringing their children. Many clan children were present, which made Naruto smile.
Perhaps the quest is correct. Plenty of connections can be made here. Hmm.
The instant Naruto walked through the doors of the Academy, he was greeted by a screen informing him that he had succeeded in his quest.
The blond nodded and closed the screen. He continued his way through the Academy. Taking special care to be quiet as the weathered timber flooring creaked at the slightest of movement, but that didn't stop the other kids from running across the ground.
Naruto opened the door labelled Umino Iruka, remembering that the quest did indirectly mention that this was his class.
Children.
There were so many of them.
Naruto was dazed by the number of kids that were in front of him. He had been to the village centre but seeing all of them gathered in one group was different. Especially considering that they were all here to do the same thing.
He had become used to seeing seas of colours floating over everyone's heads—bars that denoted their health and chakra levels, numbers that denoted their level, a mugshot that denoted their emotion, and words that showed him their affiliations, traits, titles and names.
Luckily, he had discovered how to turn it off or, rather, hide them.
He muttered 'Selective vision'.
Much better…
The blond scanned the seats in front of him in an attempt to find a place to sit and while doing so, he discovered a boy who was glaring at him.
Name: Uchiha Sasuke
Level: 2
Health: 100%
Chakra: 100%
Rank: Academy Student (+ 50% EXP gain until level 5, then 25% until level 10; Max Scroll Ranking: Low D)
Affiliation: Konoha (Low); Uchiha (Strong)
(?): Lightning Nature (First); Sharingan (Dormant)
Naruto's lips turned into what some might call a half smile.
We meet at last, after all this time.
The Uchiha was surrounded by many girls, so the blond continued searching for a seat and found one next to the heir of the Aburame Clan.
Name: Aburame Shino
Level: 3
Health: 100%
Chakra: 100%
Rank: Academy Student (+ 50% EXP gain until level 5, then 25% until level 10; Max Scroll Ranking: Low D)
Affiliation: Konoha (Strong); Aburame (Strong)
(?): Earth Nature (First); Insect Symbiosis (Passive)
The Aburame heir was wearing dark round sunglasses and a sea-green jacket with a high upturned collar. He seemed preoccupied with an insect on the table.
It's definitely a type of beetle; its front wings are hardened to serve as protection for the row of wings underneath– elytra, almost like wing cases.
The blond stared at the beetle intently, trying to figure out what kind it was.
It looks most similar to an extinct family, one which secretes poison. Perhaps the Aburame have a secret stash of them…
Naruto was about to confirm his suspicions but was interrupted by a man who was clearing his throat at the front of the class. He was a chunin—a Level 25 one to be exact.
"Class," the man began but was ignored by the chattering of the class. He repeated himself, beginning to get irritated.
"CLASS!" Iruka bellowed.
The students became silent in an instant.
"Let's begin this year on a better note than last year, hmm? Before we begin our lesson, we have a new student joining our class, Uzumaki Naruto."
The man picked up a calendar from one of his drawers and flicked through it. "I will reintroduce myself. My name is Umino Iruka and I will be your instructor for…"
The man paused and then continued. "Three years, three-hundred and fifty days, six hours, twenty minutes and ten seconds, after which you will either have to retake the last year or will have become a shinobi."
Everyone stared at him in awe at how he managed to calculate something like that. Some wondered if he kept track of it because he couldn't wait to get rid of them.
Those 'some' would be correct.
Nara Shikamaru, the heir of the Nara clan, opened his narrow brown eyes, counting on his fingers to double check his teacher's calculations, seeing as how he was counting it down too.
His face could have been carved out of mud with how droopy his features were, and how bored he was at having to sit in a classroom. His shoulder length black hair was tied in a spiky ponytail, and simple silver hoop earrings glinted from his ears.
"This year, just like last year, I will be teaching you everything except for taijutsu, which will still be taught by Mizuki-sensei." Iruka informed the class, mostly for Naruto's benefit.
Mizuki appeared from the shadows like an evil bat with a grin on his face. He wore his forehead protector like a bandanna, which kept his blue-tinted white shoulder-length hair out of his face, and green eyes.
"Today, I will go over the basics of what we will cover this year in your curriculum."
He took a deep breath and declared, "We will operate from Monday to Friday, where we will dedicate each day to a different task. Fridays will be dedicated to weekly review sessions, and on the last Friday of each month, we will do a review session of the entire month's lessons. On the last Friday of the year, there will be tests to determine your progress and overall ranking in the class."
Iruka drank some water from the glass on his table before continuing. "Mondays will be for History and Tuesdays, Taijutsu theory. On Wednesday, you will be taught the core civilian subjects; on Thursday, physical conditioning, from Bukijutsu to obstacle courses."
Umino pulled down the blackboard and began his speech, "This term will be spent covering the history of our illustrious village, Konoha. We will begin with its founding. Our First Hokage, Hashirama Senju founded the village in…."
Naruto zoned out, having already lost interest in the topic at hand. He already knew everything there was to know about Hashirama Senju and all the Hokage. To pass the time, the blonde decided to engage the other boy in a conversation.
"Is that an Itazura beetle?"
The blond couldn't tell if Aburame heard him. His eyes were covered by sunglasses and he made no motion to acknowledge his question.
Just as Naruto tried to ask again, the boy spoke, "No… They are extinct."
He waited to see if he would continue, but he didn't.
"Is it an Aburame cross-breed, then?"
"Yes and no. It is a cross-breed, but we didn't do it. It occurred naturally. We found it recently around Konoha." The Aburame paused for a bit before continuing, "It is surprising, what can be found hiding in innocent tomato plants."
"Did it cross-breed with the Konoha beetle?"
The boy replied with a hint of surprise. "Yes, how did you guess?"
"It has a dark green thorax and thin faint lines on its abdomen, which are very similar to the Konoha beetle."
Shino nodded, before continuing in a more excited manner. "We are planning on breeding it with the Kikaichu and its cousins to tame it, in hopes that it will be more agreeable to becoming a part of our symbiosis, as its poison gas is quite handy"
The blond blurted without thinking. "Poison gas! Why did you bring it to the Academy? What is its potency? Is it… oh. You probably…"
Shino smirked. "It has had its poison-secreting glands removed."
"That's pretty cool. And so is being able to harbour insects and make them eat your enemies alive. I might even go as far as to say that it's even cooler than jutsu. However, it is quite limited in its functionality, and gives the user a really bad weakness."
"Which is?" cut in Shino.
"Fire?" said Naruto, beginning to doubt the veracity of his thoughts on the Kikaichu.
"Really?" questioned the boy, trying to hold back a smile.
"Yeah; a book I read said so."
"Well, that book's wrong. My brother managed to convince his insects to allow us to genetically modify its genes with a Taika worm we managed to buy from Amegakure, after which we will make his Rinkaichu more predisposed to mating with our more normal Kikaichu. Eventually, we will have made all our insects resistant to fire. No flames could kill them, except for perhaps Lady Amaterasu's flames, or a Nekomata's blue fire."
Naruto was impressed. "That sounds really cool."
"I know."
The Aburame resumed observing the insect. Naruto tried his best to listen to the speech, but soon enough, his eyelids turned to lead and fell.
Within what felt like a moment, he was pulled out of sleep's loving embrace by Shino, who was hesitantly nudging him.
"What?"
The boy looked in front of him and noticed that Iruka was looking pointedly at him. He assumed the worst and simply asked him to repeat the question, hoping that that was the reason Shino had woken him up.
"You especially should be paying attention, having missed an entire year of education! Regardless, what was the name of the first Hokage's wife?"
"Uzumaki Mito."
"That is...correct." The Chunin looked at the boy with surprise, assuming that, contrary to what he had thought, the boy was actually listening.
The blond went back to sleep, even though he was interrupted periodically with questions about the lesson.
Over the next few days, school became a part of his daily routine, and his life returned to a fastidious equilibrium. He made up for the sleep he lost in the night due to burning what books he had in class. After that, his nightly escapades included chakra control, ninjutsu, and taijutsu forms. The only days when he was awake during class were Thursdays and Fridays, where physical activities ensured that adrenaline kept his brain wide awake, which was a good thing, considering how many missions he received during those activities.
The first Thursday saw Naruto getting his second mission, immediately after Mizuki let them have free reign on practising Bukijutsu.
Academy Days (2):
Bukijutsu practice!
Would you look at this? You can't even throw a paper ball, let alone a kunai! Time to bring your skills up to snuff, eh? Reach LV10 of [Projectile Weaponry] to gain a maximum of 10% accuracy when throwing any projectile! Accuracy is dependent on luck and level of skill.
Completion Award:
+5 EXP
Completion Failure:
-5 Reputation with everyone in Class [Umino Iruka].
Accept?
Yes or No
Naruto nodded and tapped yes, prepared to practise his jutsu repeatedly until his limbs felt like lead. By the end of his lesson, he was greeted with two screens, one informing him that he'd failed his mission, and the other telling him that he'd gained three levels in [Projectile Weaponry].
At the end of the day, he was cornered by Sasuke before he could leave.
"You're a ninja!" He accused, "Even though you've missed every shot and almost nicked your Femoral, you're still a ninja…"
The onyx eyed child trying to look intimidating, "Not a word of what happened that day to anyone, got it?"
Naruto smiled, remembering the glares he got from Nii-san when he tried stealing his books. "Yeah, sure."
The Uchiha looked at Naruto, confused and hesitant, "And thank you for your help on that day. I've improved a lot, so don't go thinking that I'll break down at any moment, okay?"
The blond nodded and Sasuke continued. "You know what? You aren't half-bad. At least, you're not as bad as almost everyone else here... I'm the only Uchiha in this class, and I'm the clan head's son too. They've all been tripping around me, trying to get in my good books. Aburame and Inuzuka're the only others who're like you, but Aburame's weird and Inuzuka's…well, he has bad breath."
The Uchiha paused and Naruto looked confused. He wasn't really sure why the boy was confiding in him like this; Naruto only listened to him when Sasuke needed someone to listen to him. Perhaps this was a sign that he wanted to be friends with Naruto? He remembered reading such things in his books on friendship. Friends listen to each other and help them through tough times.
"Would you like to be friends then, Sasuke?" asked Naruto who had decided to make sure that he wasn't just assuming things. He stuck out his hand in a gesture of acceptance, waiting for him to take it in the event that he felt the same.
There was a pause.
The blond started to withdraw his hand, feeling that perhaps his attempt at making friends had failed and that he had ruined future relationships with Sasuke, until he felt another hand close over his hand.
"Sure! I can't play with you today since aniki's picking me up, but maybe tomorrow?"
The blond felt even more confused. "Play?"
"Yes, play. Haven't you ever played with anyone before?"
Naruto was worried that his reply might make the boy feel that he wasn't worthy of being friends with, but the blond also remembered that his books told him that honesty is the best of policies.
"No, I haven't played with anyone before."
The Uchiha frowned. "That sucks. I don't know how to play like other kids normally do either. There aren't many kids my age in the clan. I guess we could try finding others? Or we could do something else?"
"Let's try both, but you need to leave now. You wouldn't want to keep your brother waiting, would you?"
Sasuke nodded and bid him good-bye with a promise to see him the next day.
Naruto was once again in the Hokage's office. He was too big now to sit on the table, so instead he sat on a chair next to the Hokage, who was sorting through some files and passing them to him.
"This team should theoretically function to an…adequate level, but having the lowest scorer paired with the highest scorers for both sexes will lead to resentment for the two higher scorers. In addition, the highest scorers may treat the lower one badly. That seems to me," he said with glib impertinence, "a recipe for disaster."
Sarutobi exhaled.
"And like I have told you the last six times you've brought this up, Naru-chan, Konoha owes their most famous teams to that formula."
"That's confirmation bias, Jiji," Naruto stated.
The old man sighed. "When you get to my age, you learn that, more often than not, people surprise you. The team will be fine."
"But you aren't perfect. No one is. Everyone makes mistakes, correct?"
Hiruzen half-smiled at the boy's question statement.
"That's true, but her potential is limitless, and this team will let her shine best. Statistics only go so far to show the true merit of a person."
"I'll take your word for it, Jiji. You know her better than I do, after all," replied Naruto, unconvinced.
The Hokage ticked the last sheet in the wad of paper, sealing the fates of the Genin hopefuls for the year.
"I'll need to go in a few minutes. The oven should be done baking my latest concoction."
"You should come by more often, Naru-chan," said Sarutobi wistfully. "This old man misses your company.
The blond felt slightly ashamed. "Sorry," he replied contritely. "I've been very busy."
Sarutobi quickly responded. "Don't worry about it, Naru-chan – I'm glad you're keeping busy and active. Productiveness is a fine trait for any ninja."
The blond nodded and tightened his cold fists.
"You look cold…" The Hokage narrowed his eyes as he looked at the blond's winter attire. Dark orange sweater, check. Kumo gloves, check. Kushina's hand-stitched muffler…
"What happened to your muffler?"
The blond looked at his shoulder and then back at the Sandaime, "I gave it to someone because they were shivering in the snow."
"Your mother knitted it for you, Naruto."
The child's eyes widened a fraction. Hiruzen could tell that he hadn't expected that and perhaps, he'd actually regret handing over one of the few things they still had of his family. He still hadn't seen the boy display any negative emotions. If Danzo was sneaking behind his back…
"Her needs were greater than mine. It is just an article of clothing after all, even if it was my mother's." The boy shrugged, "The mother whose identity you refuse to reveal to me."
At that pronouncement, a jet-black haired person appeared in the office with nary a sound.
"Hokage-sama," said the onyx-eyed teenager composedly, mildly contemplative in his gaze. "Naruto-sama."
He was garbed in a simple raiment, dyed black, and wore it with an air of semi-formality.
"Ah, yes," said Sarutobi, subtly studying Naruto's reaction, glad for the intrusion. "Itachi. I believe you two have met?"
"He is an Anbu, is he not?" he responded immediately. "I can only vaguely remember his mannerisms." The blond turned Itachi and looked at him. "You were the one who left halfway through your second rotation for an emergency mission, right?"
The Uchiha nodded with an unnatural evenness, unnerved by this level of memory-recall.
"Weasel," stated Naruto with an air of finality, and Itachi almost flinched, unconsciously flitting his eyes to his Hokage. "Anyway, I really have to leave. Burnt food tastes abhorrent. Bye!"
The blond quickly leaped off his seat and rushed out of the door without any more ceremony.
As the door quietly closed, the Hokage looked at Itachi with a hint of mirth in his eyes, while taking out a pipe. "Go ahead, Itachi-kun."
"Naruto-sama should not have known my codename," said Itachi, relaxing at the lack of reproach in the Hokage's eyes. "No one ever uttered my codename during the rotations."
"The boy more than likely has had a glimpse of the Anbu roster and seen your name on it. After that, it would be short work to come to the conclusion… for a trained adult."
The Hokage breathed into his pipe and exhaled softly.
Itachi blinked. "Being surrounded by faceless, sexless, highly trained ninja explains his uncanny mental acuity, but that level of comprehension…it reminds me of Yondaime-sama."
There was a pregnant pause at the almost accusatory tone of Itachi's voice (though it was inconspicuous to a normal person).
"Your mother was a close-friend of Kushina's," Sarutobi said in lieu of addressing the elephant in the room. "Regardless… it does seem that the next generation will succeed the previous, doesn't it?"
"Iruka-sensei is ill today, so I will be covering your review session."
Mizuki grinned at the class from the podium, before continuing. "We shall begin today's review session with a little 'warm-up'. To the grounds, everyone."
The whole class filed outside underneath the greying clouds. The white-haired instructor coughed to get his pupil's attention, before giving them their instructions. "All right. Laps around the outer field, until I tell you to stop."
Everyone became quiet as they stared at him, waiting for him to tell them to start. Unbeknownst to them, he had expected them to have already begun. "What are you waiting for? Get to it!"
The entire class began to jog around the academy's ground in complete silence, except for a brown-haired boy who slowed his pace down to meet up with another boy. "This is gonna be a breeze!"
Mizuki interjected before the other boy could reply, "Inuzuka Kiba and Daiki Tanaka, stop doing laps. You've failed!"
"What?!" yelled both of the boys.
"Stop wasting my time! If you slow down, you fail. Back into the classroom, both of you. Revise for next period's history test."
"Hai!"
Eventually, the class was called out one by one because they inevitably slowed down due to the water cascading from the sky. All except for two people.
"Hey, Sasuke! I remember a time when you used to be faster than me. But you're actually really slow, huh? I'm on my fiftieth lap. You?"
"I'm on my fiftieth lap too, idiot!"
"Not for long!"
Naruto ran ahead of Sasuke, prompting the raven-haired boy to try and surpass him. However, he failed and decided to return to his previous pace. The blond looked backwards with a grin on his face as he fast approached the lap marker, but his temporary lapse of attention, coupled with his fast pace and the slippery ground caused Naruto to slip and fall headfirst.
"Uzumaki Naruto, you have failed. The Uchiha is, unsurprisingly, the winner!"
Naruto spat out the mud in his mouth and immediately looked ahead, trying to find the finishing line, but the rain blocked any chance of him seeing anything in front of him. He walked into the general direction of the academy until he realised that the voice came from behind him which would mean that he had slid past the finish line.
"Why did Sasuke win? Shouldn't you have waited, until he reached the 52nd lap, before declaring him the winner?" asked the boy.
Mizuki looked at Naruto with raised eyebrows and answered him. "This was an endurance event, Naruto. The last one who was left standing would be the winner. Endurance and patience are very important attributes a ninja, something which you clearly need to learn. If you hadn't tried to show-off, Sasuke wouldn't have been the winner; any ninja could've seen that he was running out of steam after you two tried to race an entire lap, which I recall was your 45th lap, and—"
Naruto interrupted his white-haired instructor, "Actually it was my 35th lap."
"Don't interrupt me when I am speaking! Really, kids these days! Haven't your parents taught you any manners?"
Naruto's eye's darkened. "My parents are dead."
"Really?" Mizuki continued in a tone completely devoid of emotion. "They probably died due to that accursed nine-tailed demon."
"Probably."
Mizuki stared into the distance for a few seconds and then shook his head. "Anyway, you two! Go inside."
Naruto looked to his side and started a bit when he saw two things: Sasuke, and a red coloured icon with the symbol for infection on it. Focusing on it, a window popped up.
Rhinovirus: Infectious, not life threatening.
Treatment: Rest, hydration, Antihistamines, and nasal decongestants
After changing, they began walking to the classroom.
Sasuke looked at him with a grin. "You've really improved Naruto, even though I'm still better. I remember when you first came here—you couldn't even throw a kunai straight! You kept hitting people's butts!"
The blond glared at him, "It was one time!"
"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I heard about a cool place we could go to tomorrow!"
"Actually Sasuke, I'd recommend that we don't go anywhere. You have a cold."
Sasuke gave him a funny look. "And how would you know that?"
Well, I can't say it's because I have multiple screens and icons, that only I seem to be able to see, floating around everywhere, and one of them told me you have rhinovirus...hmm, has he begun to express the symptoms of a cold? Yes, yes, he has. With the weather on my side, he should hopefully just accept it.
"You have a slightly runny nose, your posture has changed, most likely due to a slight ache, and you are sweating a bit. Due to the weather being as it is, all the signs point to the common cold."
The Uchiha sneezed.
"Forget I asked. Should've figured you knew these kinds of things. Anyway, let's go and see how the others are doing."
The duo walked to their classroom, only to discover silence as all of the other students were busy scribbling away at the paper in front of them. Sasuke nudged Naruto to make him speak to Mizuki first.
"Mizuki-sensei?"
Mizuki looked at Naruto and, after a moment, reached into one of the drawers and took out two scrolls.
"Because you two managed to come first and second, you can try figuring out how to use this jutsu. They will come in handy for when you become ninja in a few months' time."
"Thanks, Mizuki-sensei!" exclaimed both of the boys, happy to learn their first new jutsu in months.
Everyone looked up and glared at them, noticing what was in their hands, but they were immediately yelled at by Mizuki to continue writing.
"You can both go to training room 8 to learn these techniques. No messing around!"
The blond gestured questioningly at the classroom, while Sasuke's face fell, having realised that the blond would probably ask their teacher why they weren't doing the test with the others.
Mizuki grinned. "As a reward for winning the race by a wide margin, I'll let you off the test, but don't tell Iruka-sensei. Now go on! You can dismiss yourselves when the day ends."
"Hai!" the two whispered.
The duo went to the training room and sat down in front of their scrolls. While Sasuke had his opened and was peering at it, the blond was going through his recently completed quest.
Academy Days (70):
Racing time!
Run and run, till the cows come home! Either come in first or second to complete this quest. Endurance is key, so remember to keep up a sustainable pace!
Completion Award:
+20 EXP
Random Jutsu Scroll [Rank: E]
[Collect Reward]
All that practise paid off! Jutsu, here I come!
Naruto tapped [Collect Reward] and received his experience points.
Now, how much [Time] do I have remaining?
Time
2:45:12 [PM] {H: M: S}
The Uchiha turned around and talked to Naruto, "Which one did you get?"
"Hmm? Let me check."
The blond opened his scroll and by reflex tapped yes.
Oops.
There was a pause.
"What are you doing Naruto?" questioned the Uchiha.
"Um, nothing? It was the rope escape jutsu."
"Ah. I already know that one. You can keep it when you're done."
Naruto went over the name of the Jutsu in his mind and then realised something. "I need you to tie me up with rope."
"Sure," Sasuke said, shrugging.
Sasuke proceeded to tie Naruto to a chair with some rope he'd found in a cupboard, unsurprisingly labelled 'Rope'.
Naruto thought [Escape] and felt his chakra slither into the rope and rip apart the bindings like a snake. However, in reality, it took a few minutes.
"Neat! Would you like to see mine?" Sasuke helped Naruto up and put the chair back.
The blond nodded. The Uchiha picked up his scroll and showed it to him. The [Disguise] Jutsu.
"That sounds pretty useful!" exclaimed Naruto, his mind going through the potential uses of such a technique.
The bell rang signalling the end of the day.
"It does, doesn't it? Anyway, I'll see you later. You have to come with me, though. The place I want to take you is amazing! I heard about it from one of my cousins that they even paid a thousand ryo to get into one of the places there."
"Sure, Sasuke. We'll go there."
The two bid each other good-bye and departed to their respective homes.
R&R (Suggestions and advice are always welcome!)