""Guide me, the man proposed. For I have a ways with the wood"
- The Book of Log
C14: Genin Days (Pt.5)
Naruto stared at his ceiling. Its intricate calligraphy forming a very distinctly awesome looking demon. Tengu looked cool, even if they were humanoid crow demons who kidnapped kids, so naturally he drew one on his ceiling.
Said ceiling was a bestiary, while his wall had that strange cocoon tree made out of handprints. Looking at it, he realised that it was actually really creepy.
Sensei said he wanted us to figure out what we want to achieve… and then he would help us achieve it.
He took out a ramen flavoured pocky stick and started munching on it.
I've been feeling more since I died
He got off his fluffy duvet and walked to his breakfast table. Swivelling out a chair, he sat down and brought up his skills screen.
Gamer's Mind [Passive] {N/A} (Level: MAX):
You're immune to any mental attacks. Genjutsu and other mind ninjutsu don't affect you.
You can focus easily. You don't feel fatigue. You technically, don't even need sleep.
You're actually pretty creepy if you think about it.
The blond looked at his skill, feeling that something was amiss.
My emotions have changed, Shikamaru explicitly mentioned negative emotions.
Naruto recalled how the [Gamer's Mind] skill looked like before.
Gamer's Mind [Passive] {N/A} (Level: MAX):
You're immune to any mental attacks. Genjutsu and other mind ninjutsu don't affect you.
You can focus easily and don't feel negative emotions. You don't feel fatigue. You technically, don't even need sleep.
You're actually pretty creepy if you think about it.
"The negative emotions aspect has disappeared…"
[Gamer's Mind] skill no longer curtailed his negative emotions, he mused. This meant that he now had access to the entire gamut of human emotions.
He wasn't impressed.
It made him loose control and gave him an increased tendency to sulk.
Considering that the Kyuubi's power is the only new thing, it must be the cause. Since it is activated by negative emotions, I need to be allowed to feel them which is probably why the [Gamer's Mind] changed.
Naruto looked at the rest of his skills. He touched the little line which hid non-Jutsu and now, unusable skills.
Genjutsu: Clone [Active] {E – Rank} (Level: MAX):
NOTE: YOU DO NOT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS SKILL
60% Chakra Control required
It's your most basic clone.
It creates the illusion of a clone existing. It is only used to distract others.
You've mastered this, enabling you to also clone its surroundings in real-time making this indistinguishable from a real clone, if you constantly feed it chakra.
Water Walking[Active] {E – Rank} (Level: MAX):
Lets you walk on water, pretty self-explanatory.
Achieving mastery has resulted in this skill requiring minimal chakra use.
Tree Walking[Active] {E – Rank} (Level: MAX):
Lets you walk up vertical surfaces. Pretty nifty.
Achieving mastery has resulted in this skill requiring minimal chakra use.
He felt pretty useless again. Nothing had changed since he became a genin except for his acquisition and mastery of water and tree walking. They were useful, but not exactly something he could use for attack and defence.
What skills do I have?
Naruto could see the blade as it took his head off. He could feel his life draining as Sensei used his jutsu in anger and Sasuke's eyes glowed a murderous red.
What do I want?
He could feel the cold metallic bite of the Kubikirinobocho. It seemed like Zabuza had caught up with them.
Would that be my past life or a potential future?
He didn't want to feel that ever again.
He knew that he should tell Kakashi-sensei about the mission, but at the same time he wanted to prove to himself that he had improved. That he had learnt from his mistakes. He knew from reading that it was important to motivate yourself and so, he needed a meaningful and achievable objective. Surviving his encounter with Zabuza would meet that criteria and drive his development.
Now he just needed to figure out how he was going to achieve that.
Chamaeleon Disguise, Henge, Kawarimi, Rope Escape, Shurikenjutsu
The disguise Jutsu gave him stealth, letting him hide by giving objects the appearance of what it surrounds.
I should keep a bunch of bedsheets in my inventory, light but useful.
The henge let him transform into anything. Useful, but not really something he could use offensively or defensively on the fly.
Kawarimi let him swap himself with anything.
Hmm. Anything, in almost an instant.
Naruto looked at the skill as the gears turned in his head.
If I master this, nothing will hit me again. It will make dexterity and strength less useful. If you never get hit, why would you need to fight physically? Why would I need to invest in flexibility?
He thought about it some more.
I should invest stat points into strength so that I can at least use the advanced Konoha style taijutsu. I don't need to be any good at it, but unlocking a more complex taijutsu style, irrespective of how much power I have would be an effective investment.
The only issue was that he needed to bring his strength to ten. He dropped all his points into strength bringing it up to a grand total of six.
Now let's see the usability of my other skills. Rope Escape essentially lets me disintegrate things I touch using raw chakra.
"That seems pretty useful for offense and even defence if I can grab stuff in time, although if I don't invest significantly into dexterity, I will never reach that level." Naruto took out an Ichiraku ramen bowl from his inventory and starting eating.
The only reason it is this strong is because I've mastered the Jutsu. The odds of anyone else being this pedantic is slim.
Naruto was hit with flashbacks of mastering the E-rank jutsu he had. Hours and hours over years.
It really does seem meaningless, I'm sure most people would have just learnt other Jutsu instead of trying to master this one.
It scared Naruto a little. Now that he could feel negative emotions, he wondered how people managed. How he managed to focus unerringly on mastering his small repertoire was beyond him. No other person surely was stupid enough to master even one of these Jutsu.
Somewhere in the land of Fire, on a dirt path worn down by years of travellers to Shido, walked a woman. Shido was the location of the next Grand Poker tournament. That woman was attracted to gambling like a moth to a flame. Said female in question was none other than Tsunade Senju, reputed to be the strongest kunoichi in the world and the most skilled medic.
"Tsunade-sama, there are people following us again."
Tsunade tightened her black cloak, "If they are debt collectors, they've got another thing coming."
She may have enjoyed gambling, but that didn't mean that she was any good at it.
The crowd thinned as three plainly garbed ninja appeared in front of her, bandages wrapped around their arms and legs and a headband with the kanji for 'Debt' inscribed upon them.
"Senju-sama, we have been sent by Lord-"
They were cut off by the sound of the ground breaking apart.
"You leave us no choice."
One of the shinobi threw a kunai at her shoulder.
Tsunade made to catch it, but sneezed.
"Now I'm mad!"
The blond didn't know why, but he suddenly felt like he shouldn't have said that.
The world is pretty big, it is a statistical certainty that someone somewhere must have been conscientious enough to master at least one of them.
Naruto nodded to himself. He needed to practice dodging with kawarimi. Practice disintegrating things in fights. Maybe learn some more jutsu?
He recalled his trait.
Elemental Mastery – LVMAX
This is a trait and a skill at the same time, so you have the option of either levelling up each individual skill tree through practice or investing TP into it. Lucky you! (100 levels per tree)
Wind (LV1): You can create a gentle breeze
Water (LV0): You might be able to create a ripple if you're lucky
Earth (LV0): You have a deep-buried potential to move a grain of dirt.
Fire (LV-1): You will probably just singe your fingers if you're lucky
Lightning (LV-2): You will probably just temporarily scramble your nervous coordination if you're extremely lucky
Maybe I should try learning elemental Jutsu.
Naruto waved at Auntie Ohio, who ran the dango shop in the Uchiha estate, internally dreading his confrontation with Sasuke.
Hopefully, he still wants to be friends with me.
He raised the komainu-shaped door knocker and rapped it a few times.
"Naruto?" Mikoto-obasan opened the door, wearing a red apron with the Uchiha crest proudly emblazoned on it, "Perfect timing, I'm cooking something extremely special today! It should be ready in an hour, Sasuke's upstairs in his room."
"Thank you Mikoto-obasan"
The blond entered the house, putting aside his shoes. The pungent smell of fish wafted through the air. He could normally tell a fish by its smell, having cooked many types of fish and been to the secret fish markets with Choji, Kiba and Sasuke, but this smell… he couldn't quite place.
He shook his head and walked up the stairs with mild trepidation. Naruto was worried about Sasuke's reaction, but he also knew that he needed to control his own emotions.
What will be, will be… as a great man once said in one of my books
He knocked on Sasuke's door. The hall was quiet with only a low hum to be heard emanating from behind the door.
"Who is it?"
"Uzumaki Naruto."
He heard a sigh from the inside of the room and the humming ceased.
The door opened.
Sasuke's room was neat and tidy. Cream walls, large windows with the curtains drawn, revealing an opulent balcony and lots of sunshine. Shelves with toys, academy textbooks, a few scrolls stacked on top of one another. There was also a TV with something connected to it.
Sasuke was sitting on the bed. He looked healthy enough with the plate on his bedside table, which was pretty messy with a lamp, a statue of a Kirin and some wrappers, implying that he was eating alright too.
Naruto sat down on one of the chairs and started, "Sasuke, I'm-"
The Uchiha cut him off, "You died, didn't you?"
Naruto's brain stopped.
"I'm right, aren't I? I bought some videogames and guidebooks after you told me about your ability, so that I can understand you better. If your life is a game, I wondered what kind. Taking into account what you told me, after playing a few games, I figure out that your bloodline must be akin to an RPG." Sasuke stopped to catch his breath, Naruto tried talking, but the Uchiha quickly continued, "I played around a bit, trying to figure out why you were acting up. Your eyes looked like they'd… seen things."
Sasuke waved his hands to emphasise his point, "You confided in us. Told us about your kekkai genkai. Telling us anything unprompted is unusual. From that-" He paused, clearly for dramatic effect "I deduce that you must have died and realised that keeping secrets from us got you killed."
Naruto looked at his friend, trying to figure out how he figured him out. It seemed to be a trend. He clearly didn't give his friends enough credit.
"I may act stupid sometimes, but I'm not dumb. Just because Itachi and you are super smart and Sakura seems to also understand everything you say, doesn't mean that I'm stupid." Sasuke reached under his bed and took out a box filled with baby tomatoes and began eating them, "I'd be a pretty suckish friend if I didn't try to understand where you're coming from."
Sasuke popped the tomato without closing his mouth, causing its juices to spill onto the quilt and onto Naruto's hand. Naruto took the tissue Sasuke offered and wiped it off. He'd popped enough tomatoes while speaking for the blond to be fazed.
"Dying's not pretty."
The blond looked like he was struggling to speak.
"So… you still want to be friends with me?" he hesitantly asked, unsure if his friend felt that he'd be too much effort.
Sasuke looked at him and rolled his eyes, "It's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me, Naruto."
"So, you aren't feeling betrayed because it seemed like I don't trust you enough to tell you about my kekkai genkai despite the length of time we have known each other?"
"I am still somewhat displeased, but as long as you learn something from this and tell me everything from now on, I'm good." Sasuke smiled at him, "My daily quota of being emotional is now over, lets actually do something before its time to eat. Mum's making fugu sashimi."
Naruto felt happier than he could put into the words, so he settled for the next best thing.
"I can't believe you just used 'somewhat displeased' and 'akin' in a sentence Sasuke."
Irritating Sasuke.
"Shut up and come help me set up this game. I have two controllers, so we can play together."
Kakashi looked at his three students.
They were in the same position as the first time he met them. Naruto sat on a log, Sasuke at his feet. The bridge loomed behind them. The frogs croaked in the river near them.
Well, mostly. Sakura joined Sasuke and was leaning against him, sleeping. The Uchiha was asleep too. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him.
Well, this is as good a time as any
"Naruto, how are you feeling?"
The blond's eyes bored into his, "You are quite late, sensei. It's almost night time."
He seems alright which is good
"Oh of course, I can't believe I'm soooo late," Kakashi eye smiled, "I was trying to avoid doing actual work and well, here I am."
What good kids. Anyone else, heck, I would have left if Minato-sensei had told us to arrive for a meeting at 9AM and he came at 8PM.
"SAKURA! SASUKE!" Kakashi barked.
The two kids immediately shot up. Sasuke took out a kunai and smashed his head against one of the branches coming out of the log. Naruto got off the log as the Uchiha nursed his head.
It would be such a shame not to reward their diligence
"Ow, cramp cramp cramp." muttered Sakura, "Kakashi-sensei, what sort of time do you think this is?" she accused while rubbing her eyes.
"Rubbing your eyes is bad for you." Kakashi nodded to himself, "Very bad, you should stop rubbing them."
"Doesn't answer her question," shot Sasuke.
"On the field, ninja don't have the luxury of choosing when to wake up. Look at poor Naruto, he's been keeping watch this entire time." He pointed at the blond who rolled his eyes, and continued, "Anyway, I'm impressed you guys stayed here. Even if you two did fall asleep waiting for me."
Let's get this show on the road then
"Sakura, what do you want to achieve?"
The pinkette ran a hand through her hair and clicked her neck, "Well, I thought about it for quite a bit and have run into a few issues."
She looked at him as if trying to figure out if he cared.
Of course, he did… to an extent.
"I wouldn't be of much use if I didn't listen and help you with your problems. I actually prefer it if you think out loud, talk me through your thought process. It tells me more about you than you can even imagine."
She nodded at him, straightening up, "I have perfect chakra control. My ace in the hole, my only distinguishing feature-"
"Your hair and eyes stand out," pointed out Naruto.
"Okay, excusing them-" began Sakura again, until Sasuke cut her off.
"Those pouches you have on your utility belt and on your clothes also stand out," added Sasuke.
"Alright, I meant in terms of my skill set."
"Iryoninjutsu is not a common skill amongst genin Sakura." joined in Kakashi.
Sakura tightened her fist, clearly irritated, "Anymore interruptions?" No one said anything so she continued, "As I was saying, I researched a bit and figured out that there are three paths I'm good for. Genjutsu, Iryoninjutsu and Puppetry."
She began gesturing, "Genjutsu could be interesting, but Sasuke's here" She pointed at him, "So we already have that covered. Iryoninjutsu could be interesting to pursue, but I want some firepower. Puppetry, tools and related things fit with what I like doing."
Kakashi sagely nodded, "Good thinking." Sakura had a ghost of a smile playing on her lips, "But, I think you can do better than that."
She looked at him confused.
"Since I did say that I would help you, I won't just send you off with only a vague pronouncement to go on." He paused before continuing, "Sasuke may eventually develop a sharingan, but as you pointed out yourself, you have perfect chakra control. You should go ahead and learn a few genjutsu anyway. You do not need to specialise in genjutsu."
Their sensei sat on the log Sakura sat the first time they visited the clearing and continued, "It might be worth visiting the hospital a few times and getting some practice in, even if you aren't planning on specialising in it. Shadow the professionals and see how they go about their work; you might learn a thing or two. Since Konoha does not have, and I don't think ever has had, someone who practices puppetry, you're on your own." He eye-smiled, "So you'll be our first. From my own experience, most people use humanoid puppets so your Iryoninjutsu study could complement your puppetry."
Sakura paused, the gears clearly whirring in her head, "So, does that mean that if I don't use human-like puppets, I'll catch people off guard?"
"There are people who use animal shaped ones. The important thing is to consider what you want to achieve. Puppets" He took out a kunai from his holster, "Are just tools. You need to figure out what roles you want them to play and then make them."
"Make them?"
"As I said, there aren't any puppeteers in Konoha, so you'll need to make them yourself. I can teach you genjutsu and I know a few people who make ninja tools. You're on your own otherwise."
Sakura nodded thoughtfully, having taken out a notepad at some point during their conversation to jot down notes.
Kakashi then turned to Sasuke who looked embarrassed.
"Um, Kakashi-sensei. Nii-san wanted me to tell you something." he hesitantly shared.
"Oh?"
This could be interesting
"He said that you should give us the paper right now instead of in three years' time."
Ah, he's still sore about that. Who would have thought Ita-chan could hold a grudge? Or had the time to speak to his little brother considering all the missions the Hokage has been assigning him.
"What little faith Ita-chan has in me? Why! I actually have them with me right now at this very moment" Kakashi reached into the inside pocket of his Jounin vest and pulled out three sheets of chakra paper.
Little do they know that I always carry chakra paper with me. Hehe.
"Come children, take a sheet of paper each and channel your chakra through them. These are your current natures. If it wrinkles, lightning. If it dampens, water. If it crumbles, earth. If it burns, fire. If it is wind, it will slice into two"
Just as he finished speaking, he saw Sakura's crumble away.
"Okay Sasuke, you go next."
Sasuke's wrinkled and then burnt.
"That's nice." He eye-smiled at the boy, "The order in which the change occurs is the order of your affinity, so for you, lightning is your primary affinity, while fire is your secondary. If you train your affinities out of order, your stronger affinities will show up despite having never practiced them. I don't think you've ever used lightning, right Sasuke?"
The Uchiha nodded looking surprised, "That's like Jounin-level stuff isn't it?"
"Yes, to become a Jounin you need to have a minimum of two affinities. Naruto, you're up next."
The blond's paper split into two pieces, one became wet while the other crumbled away, after which he screamed in pain.
Kakashi disappeared and then reappeared a second later with a scrawny ash-grey haired bespectacled boy in tow.
"I'm all for cheating normally, but I don't think you were supposed to see that." Kakashi eye-smiled at the panicking boy.
Name: Yakushi Kabuto
Level: 85
Health: 100%
Chakra: 100%
Rank: Genin (+50% EXP gain until level 10, then 25% until level 20; Max Scroll Ranking: Low C)
Affiliation: Orochimaru (Strong);
Traits: Earth Nature (First); Water Nature (Second); Wind Nature (Third); Living Condenser (-75% cost to using water vapour for Water Jutsu);
Naruto looked at him. He looked like your typical nerdy shinobi teenager with his circular glasses, high-collared purple shirt and pants with a white cloth waistband. His stats said otherwise and, being affiliated with Orochimaru, who was an S-ranked criminal, meant that he was clearly a spy.
I need to alert sensei without giving away my ability to this spy
"Hey sensei, he looks almost as strong as you. Are you sure you didn't kidnap a Jounin?"
Sensei's eyes turned towards Kabuto with understanding, he was just about to speak until Sasuke interrupted him.
"Yeah sensei! Even blondie noticed it, can't you see him? He just gives off over powered vibes. I feel uncomfortable looking at him, can you please get rid of him?"
Kabuto's eyes twitched.
"Well I guess we're going to have to accept Sasuke's executive decision to get rid of this guy, what's his name? Yakushi Kabuto, right? If Naruto and Sasuke agree on something, there's clearly something wrong here. Since, Sakura's the smartest person in this group, excluding me of course, and she hasn't contributed, then that means that they're probably right." Kakashi tightened his grip, "Well then, I guess we're off to T&I then, right Mr Yakushi?"
Kabuto's aura changed almost immediately. His eyes narrowed and in an instant Kakashi released his grip on him as his chakra scalpels came to life.
"What a pity." He drawled, "All these years of pretending to be a Konoha ninja, wasted by a bunch of brats and Hatake."
Kakashi sliced at thin air, but only the boy's last words filled the air.
"What a shame."
Sakura looked incredulously at sensei, "Why did you tell him those things? They weren't even true!"
"The best way to deal with spies is to confuse them." Kakashi looked at Sasuke, "I'm very impressed with your quick thinking though."
"Thanks!"
"He works for Orochimaru," quickly added Naruto.
"This day keeps getting better and better."
"You mean night, don't you Sakura?" said Naruto with concern as he noticed the setting sun.
Sakura looked like she was going to respond, but thought better of it.
Kakashi heard the pinkette mutter something under her breath which distinctly sounded like 'blondie.' Seeing Naruto begin to speak, he quickly started, "I think we should return back to what we were doing, before the scintillating interlude." said Kakashi, "So Sasuke? What are your aims?"
Sasuke fumbled over his words, "Well, I—I'm not sure. I just don't want to be the weakest link. Since we did our natures, I guess I want to build up my repertoire of lightning and fire ninjutsu. Once I unlock my sharingan, I'll be able to copy any jutsu, so that won't be an issue." He paused to consider what he was going to say, "I guess I just want to improve myself overall, train holistically. You know what I mean?"
Kakashi solemnly nodded, "You really have no idea what you want to achieve in life, do you?" He continued before the boy could protest, "Some people spend their whole lives trying to figure out what their purpose is."
He looked at Sasuke, "My team isn't some people. You can be a ninja, Sasuke, without conviction." His eyes bored into Sasuke's onyx orbs, "A brittle weak one. You need to figure out why you're here otherwise, the first obstacle we face may very well break you."
He glanced at the rest of his team, "I know someone who had a mental breakdown because they couldn't kill a rabbit." He paused, "I also know someone who broke under torture."
Sasuke looked hurt.
"Look, the thing is, I'm saying this for your own good. We all need something to push us through the day. To make us wake up in those mornings where all your muscles are sore and your bones are cracked. If you don't, you may very well give up in situations like those." He looked seriously at the Uchiha, "I knew good men and women who died because they gave up in situations they could have survived through."
Sasuke looked at the floor ashamed.
Kakashi muttered more to himself than to the others, "There's always hope. You never abandon a friend."
Naruto picked up on what the Hatake had muttered, "That goes against the shinobi code, Kakashi-sensei. If say there is a scenario where you have to choose between a friend and Konoha, surely the most sensible thing to do is to abandon your friend?"
Their sensei looked at the blond with intent and then at the rest of his team, "If there is one thing you three learn from me, it is this." He continued with conviction in his voice, "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. The scenario you mentioned is extremely rare, there is normally a third option and if there isn't—" He looked at Naruto, "You make it. Be strong enough to carve your own path. There is no other option."
His team seemed to be taking his words to heart.
Good
"Naruto, your turn?"
"I want to learn more Jutsu. Remember how I mentioned that my life is a game?"
His team nodded.
"It lets me instantly learn things." The blond paused, "My main concern however, is that each element needs to be levelled up individually and I'm not sure how that will work."
Kakashi reached for one of the storage seals in his vest and pulled out a scroll.
"Try this."
Naruto touched it.
Would you like to learn [Earth Style: Clone Jutsu]?
[YES] or [NO]
He tapped [Yes] and the scroll disintegrated.
Earth Style: Clone Jutsu [Active] {C – Rank}:
Creates an autonomous clone which disperses after a single hit or upon command. It lasts for as long as there is chakra.
Unlocked at Level 10.
He dismissed the screen and noticed that there was another screen.
+25 EXP to [Earth]
"It looks like I can't use it until I develop my mastery over the element and for that I need experience points. This scroll though…" Naruto looked at his fist, "It gave me experience points, so that means that I can probably develop my skills by simply absorbing scrolls."
Kakashi scratched his chin and sagely nodded, "That makes sense. Looks like I'll have to get some fun scrolls for you! The library has some, but they aren't very good and only accessible to Chunin and above because Genin isn't a real ninja rank… but that's okay cause I'm here."
Their sensei made a clone which sped off.
"So, now that we've got that sorted. What else do you want to achieve?"
"I want to get some battle practice in using my kawarimi. I've mastered it, but being able to use the jutsu is different from being able to use it in battle."
"Have no fear blondie, sensei is here. You want to practice dodging? Report to training ground twenty-three tomorrow at 5AM sharp."
Naruto sweat-dropped, "Why are you all calling me blondie now?"
"Cause it's funny Naruto," answered Sasuke helpfully.
"Anything else Naruto?" questioned Kakashi who continued after the blond shook his head, "The same thing I told Sasuke applies to you too. You need motivation to pull yourself through tough situations. When push comes to shove and you feel like you are all alone, only strong conviction will pull you through."
"Hey Kakashi-sensei, quick question to Naruto," Sasuke looked at Naruto, "You said your life was a game, right? Do you have like… a party mode? By that I mean, can you add us to your party?"
Naruto looked thoughtful and repeated his friend's words, prompting a screen to appear.
PARTY
(You can have up to three members in your party)
Inviting characters into your Party results in the following:
Host Passive traits apply to the entire party
Health and Chakra levels of party members can be viewed at all times, this applies to the entire party
"Add Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi to my party," said Naruto, hoping that it would work.
Sakura and Sasuke stepped back while Kakashi leaned forwards.
Naruto noticed that in the sides of his vision, three new objects appear. His teammates' names with their level written to the right of their name along with two bars; one denoted their health and underneath that one, another signified their chakra levels.
Selective Vision?
The bars disappeared.
"Naruto! They're gone!" exclaimed Sasuke.
"Try focusing at the spot they were at?"
"Still nothing."
Remove Selective vision
"I see it!" said Sasuke excitedly as he moved his head in weird angles trying to make it glitch.
The blond saw his sensei almost tap-dance on the spot, shaking his head, clearly trying to make it glitch out as well.
"I'm impressed." Kakashi looked at his student, "Can you see stuff like this all the time?"
"Yes."
"You can see our health and chakra levels all the time?" Sakura tried using her chakra, causing everyone to notice her chakra levels drop, percentage by percentage.
"Yes, along with your levels using this feature."
Naruto's answer was greeted with blank stares.
"Can't you see your own levels?"
Kakashi and Sakura shook their heads, while Sasuke spoke excitedly, "You can tell us what our levels are?"
Should I tell them? I did promise myself that I wouldn't keep secrets anymore
"Yes."
"No," said Kakashi quickly, "This is an order from your sensei, I don't think that relying on Naruto to judge your skills will be motivational or helpful. Are they always accurate?"
He turned his head towards his student who shook his head and told them that he wasn't sure how it calculated levels because some weak people were strong and vice-versa.
"If you can't see the methodology behind how Naruto's kekkai genkai calculates its numbers, you can just feel demotivated, so it might in fact be detrimental to your training and may even perhaps inhibit your growth." he declared.
Kakashi looked pointedly at the blond, "Can I trust you to not tell your teammate their levels, at least, until they are strong enough to not feel affected by it. I reserve when that time comes to your judgement since I know that you have a good head on your shoulders."
The boy nodded.
He turned to face Sasuke and Sakura, "I want you both to meet me at 9AM here tomorrow for your elemental Jutsu training."
Sasuke nodded happily, while Sakura adopted a more pensive look, "Why should I learn elemental ninjutsu? Wouldn't it be more time efficient to develop my strengths?"
Kakashi looked at her and said nothing, hoping that she could figure it out on her own.
"Well… I—I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a hidden trick up my sleeve."
There was a slight pause as Sakura scribbled into her notepad.
"Hey, sensei?" Sasuke asked hesitantly, "I want to work on my tracking."
Kakashi eye-smiled, "Report to training ground eight tomorrow at 9AM," and vanished. He had a lot of prep work to do for his team. It would be a shame if that resulted in him not having enough free time to do the Hokage's chores.
Naruto walked up to training ground twenty-three wondering why 5AM was the time Kakashi picked out to train him.
Perhaps he wants me to also join in on the elemental Jutsu training? It would make sense, after all, three hours should be plenty of time to practice dodging.
"YES! Do I see Kakashi's student awake and ready at the crack of dawn?" boisterously yelled a man dressed in a form-fitting green jumpsuit wearing a bowl cut. In one jump, he covered the length of the training ground and grabbed Naruto's shoulders, "You truly are in the Spring time of your YOUTH!"
Naruto saw the man's eyebrows waggle with almost a life of its own.
"Gai-sensei! That was such a youthful jump!" exclaimed another green jumpsuit wearing male as he pirouetted to reach his sensei in two bounds.
"Lee! This is of great importance, I need you to understand that you can always learn something from someone," Gai-sensei turned away from the blond, put an arm around Lee and looked at the rest of his team, "For EVERYONE is blessed by the dazzling BRILLIANT SUNSHINE OF YOUTH!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
Lee started crying and his sensei followed suit as they stared off into the sunrise.
Naruto felt oddly intimidated by them. They looked like the archetypal mesomorph, their muscles shimmering in the cold dewy morning. If they tried poking him, he'd probably keel over like a lemming. Gai-sensei and his mini-me, Lee?
Name: Maito Gai
Level: 93
Health: 100%
Chakra: 100%
Rank: Jounin (+ 15% Damage when using Natural Elemental Affinities; +5 to all stats. Clearance Level: Jounin; +20 REP to Konoha [Citizens]; -20 REP to Cloud [Ninja] and Stone [Ninja]; Max Scroll Ranking: S-Rank)
Affiliation: Konoha (Strong);
Traits: Fire Nature (First); Lightning Nature (Second);
He's stronger than Sensei? Even without all the traits? He must be scary
Name: Rock Lee
Level: 22
Health: 100%
Chakra: 100%
Rank: Genin (+50% EXP gain until level 10, then 25% until level 20; Max Scroll Ranking: Low C)
Affiliation: Konoha (Strong);
Traits: Chakra externitis (Cannot externally release chakra; inability to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu);
He's already as strong as a low chunin? Wow, is this who Sensei wants me to train with?
"This is foolish," scoffed a voice from behind the pair with his hands in his pockets.
Name: Hyuga Neji
Level: 25
Health: 100%
Chakra: 100%
Rank: Genin (+50% EXP gain until level 10, then 25% until level 20; Max Scroll Ranking: Low C)
Affiliation: Konoha (Medium); Hyuga (Medium)
Traits: Fire Nature (First); Byakugan; Curse Mark: Caged Bird Seal;
This person is even stronger than Lee? Is it he who Sensei wants me to train under?
The Hyuga had long black hair tied in a loose ponytail and wore a beige shirt with brown shorts. He looked effortlessly cool based off the current trends, this Naruto knew because he subscribed to Shinobi Jump after Shino's recommendations a few years back. The man had objective style.
"We should not be helping the competition Gai-sensei. Even the Hyuga clan know how dangerous this boy is," he muttered. His lavender tinted white eyes looking at the blond with disdain.
What?
"Why Lee, unlike you or me, fate has handed out her gifts to him with open arms. Those with the Byakugan know how with unerring perfection he walks, how every action is perfect with no movement wasted," The Hyuga formed a hand sign and yelled out 'Byakugan' and looked at the blond, "Yes, the creepiness of this boy knows no bounds. It is both simultaneously enrapturing and terrifying. No normal human being can-"
The boy was cut off by the final teammate in their squad, "Neji, you should be a little nicer to our guest. He's sensei's rival's student after all! We should get along with him!"
What even— wait. This makes sense. All my actions from walking to breathing had to be levelled up, so considering that they're at max level, I guess it would look pretty creepy.
Naruto tried focusing on the girl. Everyone on their team had black hair, but she wore hers in two buns. It made her look normal in this monster of a team. She had a pouch, only one though unlike Sakura, attached to her waist. Her pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse made her look more like a civilian than a ninja in Naruto's opinion. Both she and Neji had their headbands where they were supposed to be: on their heads – which wasn't that common all things considered.
"Neji! You shouldn't be rude to Tenten even if you look so cool when you hmph like that!"
Naruto heard Neji hmph and then continue with a drawl, "How about we get back to training? He did come here to train with you Tenten, so I don't find the need to, how do I put it in laymen's terms?" He paused and looked at Naruto slightly menacingly, "Get along with him."
"Well you heard the man! His youth is ever burning and that is something we all should strive towards because the FLAMES OF YOUTH SHALL NEVER FADE!" Gai-sensei pumped his fist into the air, "LET'S GOOO TEAM!"
Neji sighed and walked in the trail left behind Lee and Gai-sensei leaving Naruto in the clearing alone with Tenten.
Tenten looked at him thoughtfully before pulling out two scrolls and sitting on the ground. She motioned to Naruto to follow suit.
"I know that they seem a bit… eccentric." She looked not embarrassed exactly, but perhaps sorry for him, "But they mean well."
"Even Neji?" Naruto decided to ask, perhaps he'd get more information, "Why is he like that?"
"He's had a tough life and its hardened him." Tenten's expression darkened, "It isn't really my place to talk about his life, so lets just leave it there, okay?"
Naruto made to respond, but she continued instead of letting him speak, "Shall we introduce ourselves? I get the feeling that your sensei is as bad as mine is at telling us what he's got planned for us."
"Yes, Sensei materialises out of thin air and vanishes just as swiftly."
Tenten smirked, "Sounds about right. I guess becoming Jounin probably means have a screw or two loose?"
Naruto felt that her statement perfectly summed up his instructor.
"My name is Tenten, no last name. I know, it's crazy, but true. Feel free to call me that. You don't know how often Lee pesters me to find out about my non-existent 'secret' last name!" She paused as she shifted from a cross-legged position to one where she sat on her knees, "I'm a self-professed weapons expert who one day hopes to be as amazing a kunoichi as Tsunade-sama."
Naruto nodded in affirmation and spoke, "I am Uzumaki Naruto. My skills are painfully limited and my ability in using those skills in combat situations are even worse, so that is why I'm here."
He paused and noticed that Tenten seemed to be expecting more, "I don't really have any motivation besides avoiding death."
Tenten made to speak, but Naruto tried interrupting her, having the gut feeling that she was going to criticise him for not having any grand goals.
"I wasn't going to criticise your motives," She looked slightly offended, "You do you. What I was going to ask-" she looked at him pointedly, "-before you tried interrupting me is what you wanted me to help you out with?"
"I'm sorry," Naruto felt a bit ashamed, he thought he had his emotions under control.
"It's okay," She smiled at him encouragingly, "I don't think I've ever expected an apology before, so I'm not going to start now."
He looked at her confused, "Aren't apologies part and parcel of being a polite and functioning member of society?"
Tenten sighed, "I thought you seemed normal despite what Neji seemed to think," She shook her head, "Looks like I was wrong."
Naruto made to dispute her grievances about him but she interrupted, "It's fine. No one on my team is normal. I just sometimes wonder if I'm the only normal ninja around."
"I do not think that we have enough time to get into a philosophical debate on the theoretical model of the normative ninja"
Tenten sweatdropped, "I'm not even going to go there."
"But why? The premise is interesting, but I've already done it a few times and ultimately I think the time we have would be better spent practicing my kawarimi."
Tenten got up immediately, "Yes perfect, kawarimi. We'll train your kawarimi," She paused as Naruto stood up, "Wait, why kawarimi? That's an academy staple, right?"
"Yes, but I've mastered it. Technically. I've not used it in a fight enough and I want it to become second nature."
Tenten raised an eyebrow, "When you say 'mastered' it do you mean like, I can throw a kunai 95% of the time on target or do you mean a 100%?"
Naruto appreciated the unique comparators she employed, "I like your use of language and yes, a 100%. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, although I've recently learnt that I need to try and learn more things."
"My use of language?" She paused, "Kami-sama, I don't think I'll ever get used to the way you speak, but that's okay. You're alright just the way you are."
Tenten picked up and inspected her two scrolls, "Probably. Well, anyway I've been working on a new technique which I've been meaning to test out." She grinned mischievously at him, "You can be my guinea pig,"
Team's Gai's sole kunoichi started to do some stretches.
"Get ready and I'll count down till ten."
Naruto focused on the environment around him. He couldn't be caught unawares.
Not again. He needed to notice the slightest of movements, the twitch of darkness.
"Eight"
He could see the blade in his peripheral vision, just before it sliced through his head.
"Six"
Naruto shook his head. He needed to focus.
"Five"
He readied himself.
Kawarimi, kawarimi, kawarimi-
"Three"
I can do this! All I need to do is dodge all the projectiles.
"Two"
Naruto looked at their surroundings. The field was almost empty, the sky was clear. He could swap positions with the grass, his level of substitution Jutsu let him kawarimi with basically anything if he had enough chakra for it. But would that be effective? Perhaps he could substitute with a grass right next to Tenten-sensei?
"Go"
Naruto thought the words
Kawarimi
He was in the same spot Tenten was, but she had jumped into the air with her scrolls unfurling. He coughed in the smoke that had just erupted from her position. His eyes teared up a little.
"That was quick Naruto! But-" She formed a hand sign and changed the angle of her scroll, "Not quick enough!"
Naruto heard the sound of kunai cutting through the smoke and substituted with a blade of grass in his original spot, just in time to see a barrage of kunai assail the area he was in.
"TWIN RISING DRAGONS!"
He looked in horror as he realised that if he hadn't kawarimi'd out of that spot, he might have, scratch that, definitely, have died.
What even-
He shouldn't have thought.
The horde of flying kunai had already picked themselves off the ground and were now charging towards him like a bull. He heard a wasp on the other side of the field and substituted with it.
The poor wasp had no chance.
His drenched shirt was starting to wet his orange jacket, so he took it off. After he did so, he noticed that the kunai were already half-way towards him. He decided to swap with one of the kunai, knowing instinctively that there wasn't enough time to substitute with anything else and that his last substitution spot was still occupied by plenteous kunai.
Naruto felt for a fleeting second that he was free, but then the next, he felt the kunai gore his body. His [Gamer's Body] helped avoid permanent trauma and distribute the pain throughout his body, but it still hurt.
"Are you okay?"
Tenten appeared next to him as he tried to stand up straight, yanking out a kunai from underneath his patella.
"I have no idea how you're still standing and why your body isn't just a bunch of holes, but I'm glad."
Naruto looked at himself. He looked like a pin-cushion. He couldn't feel anything except a dull ache, but he knew theoretically that it should have hurt a lot more.
"Maybe we should stop now?"
"No."
He may have almost died, but he knew that this was important. He could feel his shirt clinging to his back, the cold air biting into the nape of his neck. The numerous kunai embedded all over his body like an art display. He hadn't actually moved much but the stress, substitutions and the kunai made him feel like as if he had run a marathon.
This was exhilarating.
"Are you sure you feel up to it Naruto?" Tenten looked at him with concern, "You barely managed to avoid my attacks, forget being able to counterattack. Although, I am impressed with how you substituted with a kunai in my barrage, although it wasn't very effective. You could perhaps try constantly substituting yourself with a different kunai until you've reached to the outer edges of the barrage? That might work!"
He made to respond, but she interrupted him, "You've just become genin right? Don't feel too hard on yourself, we've been genin for over a year now," she paused, "Kami-sama, I feel old. Anyway, so don't feel too bad about this defeat. Looking like a pin-cushion is normal when you face off against someone amazing like me!"
Naruto nodded. He knew that he was pretty weak, so he didn't need her to try and make him feel better by saying such nice things. He should be ashamed.
"That is exactly why I need to train," Naruto remembered that his pleading face which he used to extract concessions from Jiji when he was a kid was pretty effective, so he tried it, "Pleaaase… Ten-ten?"
She looked at him confused, "Please never do that again. It looks alright on a kid, but even though you're still a baby compared to me, you're not young enough anymore for puppy eyes to work."
She put a hand into her pocket, "Well I guess we can try again because I noticed that there were some issues with my Twin Rising Dragon technique and if you're willing, I won't need to bully Lee or Neji into helping me out."
Naruto pulled out the final kunai in his body, carefully placing them on the floor as to not damage them. He knew how much good quality kunai were worth. Window shopping helped out a lot in that respect.
"But no more today, you need rest. We can train on alternating days, same time, same place until I say otherwise," She gave him a thumbs-up, "Capische?"
"That sounds good,"
It was only a few days before the mission to Wave, Naruto noted to himself as he walked down the road to where his team agreed to meet. He'd just come back from training with Tenten who pushed him to his limits. It sounded fantastical, but underneath her guidance, he genuinely felt like he hadn't wasted his life trying to perfect useless skills. Putting them into action gave him such exhilaration that it was hard to capture the intensity within the human language.
As he walked, he looked up and noticed that Sasuke and Sakura had already reached the meeting place. His gut told him to not interrupt them, he wasn't sure why but it had a pretty good head on its shoulders, so he trusted it.
"How've you been?"
Sasuke seemed to have come straight from training, with a few splashes of blood that looked like he'd tried to wash it out, but gave up.
"Dead."
Sakura was pretty accurate with her words. She looked extremely fatigued, but otherwise okay.
Sasuke smirked and looked at her, "Are these wood shavings?"
The Uchiha reached out and brushed some off her shoulder causing her to stiffen.
"Woah, I'm sorry. I forgot you guys aren't very touchy-feely."
Sakura just seemed tired, "No, it's fine. I've been on the wards for way too much time than is healthy and have been getting barely any sleep."
He looked concerned, "You aren't being paid to do this, right? Why don't you just leave after your allotted time?"
"It's been super busy the last few days with the increasing attacks outside of Konoha, they need every hand so-"
"It doesn't mean that you should run yourself ragged, Sakura. You could be a danger to your patients… or even yourself." He muttered in a low volume just so that she could hear him. Naruto of course, could hear it.
Sasuke picked up her hand and showed it to her, "You're twitching."
"You look like you've seen a ghost," She retorted as she took back her hand. He looked away from her.
Naruto felt like he'd heard enough. It was time and he also wanted to contribute to the conversation as well.
"Took you long enough blondie," Sasuke said as he noticed him.
"What do you mean? This is the exact time we agreed upon…" he trailed off realising that he was overreacting. He really needed to control himself.
"We've been waiting here for some time, didn't your sensei let you go? Tenten-san wasn't it?" Sakura said as she took out a water bottle from the pouch on her belt and opened it, "You look like you've been rolling around in the grass."
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, we've just been going through my academy skills and beating them into shape ready for our mission on Monday."
Sakura sighed.
"Hey, at least we have a few days before the mission, right?" said Sasuke hopefully looking at Sakura and then Naruto.
"Yes, should be perfect for cramming in more work." said Naruto, "I think we've almost perfected team tactic number six and it should be ready for Friday."
Sakura nodded, "I'm going with mother on a trip over the weekend. The village is on the outskirts of Konoha so it will be a lengthy journey, but there should be a master woodcarver there. I've hit a bit of a dead-end with my work and it's driving me nuts."
Sasuke just looked at his own hands and then at them, "I think I'm going to relax this weekend" He gave them a smile which Naruto felt was slightly sad, "I have no idea how you maintain your work ethic."
"Hey Sasuke, you never mentioned what you've been up to." stated the blond.
"Yeah well, today I had a day off from the stupid mutt and his team so I was with fa-"
At that moment, they heard someone call out to them.
"Naruto?"
Naruto wondered who that was and turned around to see Ino who waved at him.
"Do you need my assistance with anything?" he asked the blonde.
She stopped to catch her breath, "I've been…" She stood up straight, "I've been searching for you every single day, but for some reason I always seemed to lose you. Today, I thought I saw you from a distance so I ran to make sure you didn't get away from me this time."
The rest of his team looked at her confused.
"Ino?"
"Oh hi Sakura! And Sasuke-kun, of course," Ino looked like she was about to engage in conversation with them but decided against it, "I really need to talk to Naruto about something, but we can catch up afterwards." She said looking at them with a smile.
Naruto was very confused.
"What do you want me for?" he asked. He wanted Sasuke to finish his sentence because its incompleteness was getting on his nerves, especially since he did want to hear the end of it.
She looked at the rest of his team before looking at him, "It's about…" She lowered her voice, "What happened the other day."
Naruto recalled any memory associated with her in the past few weeks and the only one which matched was the incident.
"Okay."
Ino started walking away until she realised that Naruto wasn't following her, "Hello? I thought you'd want to go somewhere private?"
Naruto looked at her wondering why she was acting so suspicious, "We don't need to go anywhere private. Out in the open with my team is fine."
He didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. Being a ninja, even though the Anbu extolled its praises in what felt like a lifetime ago, was risky business without following almost-strangers into private places.
"Are you sure?" Ino asked looking surprised, "It sounded quite personal."
Naruto was impressed with her use of reverse-psychology, trying to make him retract his previous statement.
"Yes, anything I discuss with you I can discuss with them."
She nodded and walked back, "So, what was all that about? I would be angry at you having a go at sensei, but I'm too tired." Her breathing seemed to normalise, "I've been running all over the place every day trying to find you to figure out what sensei and you were hiding."
Ino looked at him with what he assumed was pity, but he wasn't sure.
It could be constipation.
Sakura is our team medic and she's here, so it should be okay…
"The only way it makes sense is if you have a past history of spending a lot of time with the Hokage, so I did some digging and found out that you were essentially brought up by the Hokage and a coterie of Anbu."
That is classified information, just how did she-
Naruto's line of thought was interrupted by Sasuke.
"Ino, was it?" the Uchiha asked, "I'm pretty chill about most things, but be careful about what you say because that is an S-class secret and you finding out about it could put you in danger."
"Thank you so much for you concern Sasuke-kun, but I'll be alright," She smiled at him before turning back to Naruto, "I'm not sure if it was an exclusive group or not, but because of that you have an unhealthy attachment to both parties. Sensei triggered your revulsion because he was the anti-thesis of everything you believe in. With how you behaved in class and considering the fact that you haven't said anything as of yet, I'm pretty sure that you have somewhat of an imposter syndrome where-"
What
Naruto genuinely had no response prepared for a situation such as this.
"Ino."
Sakura glared at her.
Ino took a step back, not expecting this from Sakura.
"What?"
She just continued glaring at her.
Naruto never realised how scary Sakura could look. He thought Asuma's glare was scary, but this… this was something else.
Ino subconsciously took a step back, but then her expression quickly soured, "What is your problem? I know I haven't met up with you in a long time," She tried looking straight at Sakura, although it was clear that she was still intimidated by the girl.
"Hey, stop that!" She looked at Sakura and then looked away from her.
"I just wanted to know what was going on," She looked at the pinkette who only looked more detached, "Hey, you know what I'm like about these things, when I find out something I just… I just need to know."
"You know what I mean, right Sasuke-kun?" Ino looked at the Uchiha, hoping for some support.
Sasuke stuttered. He'd rarely ever talked to girls and now here was one asking for his help with a pleading look in her eyes.
He looked at her and then at his team, "Well… I-I get what you mean," Ino gave him a small smile, "But, well…" He looked at his other teammates. Sakura looked almost ready to kill somebody, Naruto just stood there and observed calmly as he always did.
"You can't just walk up to people and ask them something like this. You don't even know Naruto and to say such things to him is just-"
Sasuke looked a bit lost, so Naruto decided to step in. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, after the temporary brain fart disrupted his thought process. Never in a million years could he have imagined her to come out with that, well, that is if Shikamaru hadn't told him about her.
"Yamanaka Ino." The blond looked straight at the person in question.
She immediately turned away from Sasuke and looked at him, slightly offended.
"I fully understand your concerns. You are somewhat right actually. I try to avoid scrutinising relationships because then I feel guilty."
Ino looked confused. Naruto made to speak, but she interrupted him, "You felt guilty because when you think about why you're friends with people, you start thinking of them as tools to be used. Am I right?"
Naruto nodded.
Ino looked extremely happy, "I knew tou-san's training was coming in handy!"
Naruto looked at her and felt somewhat irritated he decided. It was a weird feeling, like sandpaper being rubbed against nail. Not enough to anger... but enough to provoke.
"My books do tell me that most people when they learn something, they try to use it at every possible opportunity. I did suspect that this was the case because although lessons were boring I was awake long enough in the Academy to know that I was the only one who spoke like that. Knowing you're the Yamanaka clan's heiress, it makes sense that you would have access to such information without much difficulty and the training to make deductions like that."
Ino made to speak, but Naruto interrupted her.
"However, there is a time and place for something like this. You do not use this on anybody except in T&I or on someone you really hate. Not some random person off the street like me. I can tell from how my teammates reacted that this is something that could have angered me."
He leaned forwards to emphasise his point.
"I don't get angry easily, but the Anbu currently watching us wouldn't be too happy if they knew what you know."
The Yamanaka looked pale.
She made to respond, but Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her sympathetically, "You should probably just go now."
Ino looked at him and backed up, before briskly walking away.
Sasuke looked at Naruto after she was sufficiently far enough, "Are there actually Anbu here or did you just make that up?"
Naruto grinned at him.
"Naruto, please never do that again. You look like a psychopath"
Naruto grinned at him, again.
R&R (Suggestions and advice are always welcome!)