Gallivanting God

Chapter 3

As they all left the missions desk; they made their way towards the richer side of the village which was where their D-Rank was requested from. After leaving the building, Naruto had received a notification from the system. It was a Quest. For doing a D-Rank mission, it was treated as a Quest. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before remembering he was in public and cooled his expression to an ear-to-ear grin. This was the first time in the week since he had received The Gamer that he had gotten a quest! A way to increase himself from Level 1 had finally appeared!
"I can't get too excited it's only a D-Rank, just like the pay, the XP won't be much either. But then again, with my clones going out and doing a bunch of them. The XP should add up." Team 7 arrived at their destination, a garden that needed weeding. The old man who owned the house came to the door as Kakashi knocked. The man was all smiles until he saw Naruto. The man's expression darkened but tried his best to hide it from the Jonin, but Kakashi saw it.

The silver-haired cyclops didn't say anything, it was clear Naruto knew about the kind of gazes he received from the villagers. The blonde himself whilst, no skill was set off, could feel the hateful stare of the man. He paid it no mind, after all, it was just another stupid villager. Naruto was more concerned about the rewards from the Quests and how much levels he would get. Currently, he needed 500XP to reach Level 2, after that the blonde wondered just how much XP was needed for Level 3. Naruto shook his head, sticking to grumbling about how weeds were stupid. At some point during the mission, Naruto had used on Analyse on Sasuke, curious to see the Uchiha's stats compared to his own.

Name: Uchiha Sasuke

Level: 20

Title: Genin

Job: Shinobi of Konoha

HP: 1700/1700

Chakra Capacity: 30,000/30,000

Chakra Control: 35%

The rest of Sasuke's stats were lower than Naruto's, except Intelligence. Naruto could see most of them because his were higher, even the INT stat wasn't that much higher now because of all the training the blonde Genin had been doing. Naruto had to thank whoever gave birth to him. Clearly his genetics as an Uzumaki and being a Jinchuriki gave some advantages. After an hour, the Genins were done with the task and the quest updated. It would appear to complete a Quest that was given as a mission, you had to report back to the Mission's Desk. Thus Team 7 returned and were in the process of having their mission signed off as a complete. Once that was done, Kakashi walked them outside where he dismissed them from Team Activities for the day. Sasuke went back in the direction of his apartment, whilst Sakura followed him trying to get the Uchiha to go on a date with her.

Naruto himself turned around and walked back into the Mission's Desk. Returning into the room, Naruto noticed the Hokage was gone and instead it was a Jonin who was handing out missions. The blonde hoped this guy wasn't a Naruto Hater like everyone else was. Taking in the man's full appearance, Naruto noticed that he looked like an older Shikamaru. "Then again, it seems in Clans. There were a lot of recurring features and habits. The Akimichi's were always fat, The Yamanaka's were always blonde, the Nara's were lazy and undriven and the Hyuga clan's people were always stoic with their Byakugan."

"For Thinking Logically, you gain +1 point into WIS!"

Dismissing the notification Naruto focused back on the Nara in front of him. The man's face was ridden with scars, coupled with a small goatee. The man looked like he didn't want to be there. The young Genin walked towards the desk, getting the attention of the Lazy Jonin. The man regarded the blonde for a moment before his eyes flashed a sign of recognition.

"Yo! I'm here to pick up some more D-Ranks!" Naruto casually exclaimed, his loud voice making the Nara grumble under his breath. What God did he piss off to make another troublesome person appear in front of him? The Jonin collected himself, before properly getting into his role as someone manning the Mission Desk. Without needing to look at any information, Shikaku spoke back.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Recent Graduate of the Academy, Rank : Genin. For normal Genin, we don't recommend taking anymore D-Ranks than what you do with your Team. It can harm you more than it can do good."

Shikaku regarded Naruto with a cold analytical eye. Of course, the Hokage had informed all those who would help with the Mission's Desk about Naruto's earlier request, but the Jonin Commander wanted to see what this boy could do.

"Oi! How do you know who I am!? Are you a stalker!?" Naruto held his arms close to himself, shivering in apparent disgust. However, something appeared in front of the youth that worried him greatly.

"Lying and Acting skills failed."

"Of course, I know who you are. I'm the Jonin Commander of Konohagakure." Naruto cursed his own stupidity and used Analyse.

Name: Shikaku Nara

Level: 135

Title: Jonin Commander of Konohagakure

Job: Shinobi of Konoha

Chakra Capacity: 500,000/500,000

Chakra Control: 95%

Naruto instantly paled, during the last days of Team 7's week of recuperation, the blonde read History Books in the Library about The Great Wars. Shikaku Nara, was Konoha's Greatest Tactician in the Third Shinobi World War, his strategies had been enough to turn dire front's into one-sided catastrophes. There was no way in hell Naruto could deceive someone that skilled. The young Genin relaxed his posture and let out a sigh. Instantly, the prankster Naruto faded and was replaced by someone who bore a striking resemblance to the calm and collected Yondaime Hokage. The only thing Naruto was appreciative of was the fact it was only him and Shikaku Nara in the room.

"Sorry 'bout that Old Man Nara. Whilst for most Normal Genin that's the case. But we both know I ain't normal." Naruto rested a hand on his gut, gazing at the Jonin Commander with a calm expression. Shikaku was deeply surprised at the change in attitude, but he didn't let it show. Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuriki of the Kyubi was known to be boisterous, cocky and loud. Yet this person in front of him was none of those. The man had to give the boy praise, to fool a whole society like that, possibly including the Hokage, what a feat. Unlike Hiruzen, Shikaku had no interactions with the boy and thus didn't have any bias with him. Typically, the Nara Patriarch would report this to the Hokage. But the Jonin Commander was also one to plan. The Third Hokage was growing older and feebler as the days went by, it wouldn't be that much longer until a Godaime Hokage would be elected.

Naruto could prove to be an invaluable Shinobi. The Jinchuriki of the Kyubi, a powerhouse on the frontlines, a top-tier spy, the likes of which could rival Jiraya of the Sannin. One of the Legendary Three. The Jonin Commander would never conspire against the Hokage, never in his life would he have the motivation to do something so troublesome, but, this boy in front of him, was full of untapped potential. The Jonin had to find out more.

"To my understanding, Uzumaki, you've been deceiving the village this whole time with the cocky and loud Naruto everyone knows of, right?" Naruto nodded to confirm the Nara's hypothesis. "Then explain to me, why? Why all this secrecy, deceiving your own allies?" Naruto was still locking eyes with the intense scrutinising gaze of Shikaku, thinking of how to word his reply properly.

"It's more to do with my status as the Carrier of the Kyubi." Naruto began. "The Hokage doesn't know, at least, I hope he doesn't. Every year on October 10th, the day of the Kyubi Festival, a group of villagers would always come to my place and beat me." Once again, the Jonin commander was surprised. The Hokage certainly didn't know about this, hell, even he didn't know.

"Why didn't you tell the Hokage about this?"

"Cause, I didn't understand why they did it, I was 7 when it started. Didn't know I had a freakin humongous fox inside my gut. To me I was just being beat for no reason. Initially, I hated them all for it, but once I entered the academy, I became curious as to why they did it. As you know, I've never had proper social interactions with anyone, so I didn't – and still don't – understand proper human and societal queues."

The Nara looked at the blonde, what point was he trying to make? That didn't justify him hiding that information from the Hokage.

"That still doesn't explain why you never reported it to the Hokage. From my understanding, you and the Sandaime are remarkably close, almost to the point he would consider you his surrogate grandchild." The scarred man queried the Jinchuriki as he still looked over the boy.

"I suppose you're right. But you're also wrong at the same time. For me back then, that was plenty of reason no to say anything. It's only recently that I've come to be aware of my Jinchuriki status, as well as what Jinchuriki's mean to a village's military power. Back then, I thought I was an unassuming orphan, who didn't have any kind of special purpose. All I wanted to do was find out about people, understand them and fit in with them."

The Nara Patriarch did not betray his stony expression with his internal thoughts and reactions. This child, a Genin of only 2 months, had found out he was a Jinchuriki on the day of his Academy Graduation, and now has found out there are others like him and the roles they play for their villages. If he was any less of a Nara, he may have shown a shocked expression. Instead, the cool exterior he perfected to avoid suspicion from his wife's prying into his intermittent house lazing had come in handy here.

"So, now that you know of the role a Jinchuriki plays for their village, what are your thoughts?"

"Now? I don't care about the villagers; their tiny brains can't possibly comprehend what I am. They're part of the most pathetic people I've seen in my life next to Gato. However, I will protect this village and its people. Not because I am a Shinobi of this Village, not because I was born here. But because, The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato sealed this fox into me to protect them. Despite what anyone may say, I am the Hero of The Village Hidden in the Leaves."

For a moment, Nara Shikaku was blown away by the sheer confidence and determination that one statement shoved upon him. The ghostly visage of Minato Namikaze fully overlapping with the blonde before him. That was all the black-haired shinobi needed to see and hear. His doubts were cleared about the boy in front of him. Despite his aversion to remaining himself in front of his own comrades, the boy was for all intents a protector of Konoha.

Naruto was lazing around in his apartment, currently sticking to the ceiling looking at his floorboards. Yesterday his kerfuffle with the Jonin Commander had been fortunate for himself. Now Shikamaru's father knew a little more about him but was assured he wouldn't tell anyone else about it. When asked further why the Shadow user wouldn't say anything to anyone else, he got a tired sigh and mutterings of "troublesome events". With that said and done Naruto had gotten all the available D-Ranks left for that day, as all the other teams had completed theirs. Whilst not worth much by themselves, the XP quickly added up. The amount of experience he got differed per mission, but the minimum value never dropped below 25xp.

Konoha's Genin cell's must have been slacking, or these missions were meant to be completed over long periods of time, because Naruto was able to clear 100 missions by himself, just barely reaching the XP threshold for Level 2. Upon achieving his level up, Naruto received 10 assignable Skill Points and an increase in his stats because of some of his Attributes. His Chakra and HP also increased with his level up. From his earlier Tutorial, Naruto's HP only went up because of the increase in the Stat Vitality. His HP and Chakra are also subsequently restored when he Levels up. The feeling of Levelling Up, brought Naruto a sense of progress, something the blonde loved. Today was another day of Team Training and Missions for Team 7. Seeing as it was still 6am, Naruto decided to get out the training fields early and begin his Clone Training,

After a fulfilling breakfast, the blonde was now in the vast barren training fields towards the far reaches of the village. A gentle breeze rustled the trees, and a few stray leaves found their way towards the blonde. The Genin caught between his index finger and thumb. Quickly sandwiching it between his palms, he concentrated Wind Chakra to his palms. Relaxing his hands, Naruto eyed the now split in half leaf. Whilst he was Henge'd as a Jonin, Naruto had gone into the Jonin section of the Konoha Library. After relearning about Chakra and its composition, the blonde also educated himself on Elemental Chakra.

Like it's name implies, Elemental Chakra is used to channel the forces of Nature into your techniques. Each great nation on the Shinobi Continent had an Element that denoted the most common Nature Release to it's inhabitants. The Land of Wind had Wind Release, The Land of Water, Water Release, The Land of Earth, Earth Release, The Land of Lightning, Lightning Release and The Land of Fire with Fire Release. After finding out about these, Naruto found several of the basic Chakra control exercises for each element, as there are outliers in every nation. As such, the blonde sought to train in all of them, but found the Wind Release to be his easiest one. Through logical reasoning, Naruto assumed that Wind Release was his Chakra Nature as it came to him easier than the other four.

The blonde had already completed the first step of the Wind Release Chakra training but could not find a waterfall to start the second. As such, the blonde was devoting his efforts into the other Nature Releases. Due to his struggle with the Lightning Release, the blonde put more clones into that, than the other elements. Aside from that, Naruto could only improve his body and Chakra Control now. Today after their training, he was going to ask Kakashi to teach him another method of Chakra Control. The Blonde also picked up weights for himself.

Arriving at Training Ground 7, Naruto knew he was "late", but this was also a test for his Sensei. To see if Kakashi was always late and was not just watching them from the shadows. Naruto had noticed recently that he could detect Chakra if it was within a certain radius of himself. It made the blonde excited, he could also be a Sensor. As well as a Ninjutsu powerhouse? Shaking himself of those thoughts, the blonde slipped into the Prankster King very easily. Walking up to the group, Naruto was berated by Sakura for being "late". After lying to them saying he had assblasting diarrhea from something he ate, Kakashi then chose to show up, and didn't say anything about Naruto showing up as late as he did. Confirming Naruto's hypothesis on the man, as he only felt his Chakra when he appeared behind them.

Sakura and Naruto did their usual, berating their teacher for being late, which was succeeded by Kakashi giving an excuse made up by a twelve-year-old. After that, Team 7 headed off to get another beloved D-Rank. Which then brought them back to Training Ground 7, as Kakashi said they were going to do some training. It consisted of Hand-to-hand combat, which Naruto forced himself to hide his new prowess with Taijutsu and instead used his old tactics. Resulting in him being trounced by Sasuke. The blonde noted that Sasuke had gotten a slight bit faster, but his punches seemed to have gotten weaker? Or had the blonde gotten stronger? Either way, team training came to an end fast, and as they were all leaving the blonde approached Kakashi, who had stayed behind to look over the Memorial Stone.

"Kakashi-sensei! There's something I gotta ask ya!" The blonde hollered as he approached the silver-haired scarecrow. The Jonin cast his eye towards the blonde, not really thinking too much of what the blonde was going to ask. Usually, it was just about some trivial matters and was never anything too important.

"What is it Naruto?" The question drawled out of he masked man's mouth, his eye going back to the Memorial Stone, instantly fixating on the names of his previous team.

"I was wondering if you could teach me another Chakra Control thingy!? My control absolutely sucks, ya know!" The blonde pouted as he crossed his arms over his chest. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise. Not even Sasuke had asked him for anymore help after the Wave mission. If anything, Kakashi was glad, he really had no idea how to go about teaching Genin. Yes, he was lazy, but Kakashi also wanted this Team 7 to succeed unlike all the other ones.

"Sure Naruto, follow me." The blonde Genin was surprised, he had fully expected Kakashi to blow him off for some dumb reason. Perhaps, his initial assumptions of the man were incorrect? Regardless of his inner questions, Naruto exuberantly responded.

"Oh! Yatta!" With large and exaggerated hops off the ground, Naruto followed Kakashi to the section of river he was blown into during the initial Bell Test. The blonde pondered deeply about what Kakashi could be showing him next. As he looked at the water, Naruto briefly remembered the first encounter with Zabuza, were, both The Rogue-Nin and Kakashi were both standing atop the surface of the water. Could that be what the Jonin was going to teach him? After all, the Tree-Walking they were taught was considered Chakra Control. So, did that mean Water-Walking was also considered Chakra Control?

"For thinking and using logic to deduce aspects of a Chakra Control Technique, you gain +1 to WIS and INT."

"Sweet." Naruto chorused inwardly. The blonde looked towards his Sensei, seeing him getting ready to explain what it was he was doing here.

"Like you told me, Naruto, your Chakra Control is horrendous, but because of your large reserves that's to be expected. As such, I'll be teaching you the continuation of the Tree-Walking exercise." Kakashi spoke concisely and factually, before stepping onto the water's surface, the liquid breaking into ripples as the man's sandal made contact. Naruto used Analyse on Kakashi and could see his Chakra Bar dipping by 1 point every once in a while, before it was replenished to full again. "The Water-Walking exercise." The silver-haired scarecrow stated plainly. Naruto quickly began to fake a surprised and awed reaction. Getting a notification that his lying and acting skill went through, the blonde continued it a little more before settling down. As Naruto was about to attempt it, Kakashi quickly added the specifics about the technique.

"This is different from the Tree-Walking variant, because instead of one steady constant flow, you need to change the amount of Chakra in small amounts to match the flow of the water. For you, this will surely be a massive boon in your Chakra Control." The blonde nodded eagerly towards Kakashi absorbing the explanation in it's entirety and dissecting it. Ordinarily the blonde would just summon and assload of Shadow Clones, but he didn't want to show Kakashi he knew of that function yet. The man might say the mental strain and feedback would be too dangerous. Even worse, the man could start to spy on his training. Whilst Naruto was a Shinobi of Konoha and a student of Kakashis' he also wanted some things to be kept to himself. If word got out that the blonde had figured a way to exponentially increase his training and power, it could be disastrous.

Not only that, but it would potentially compromise his mask, Naruto had painted himself as an Idiot who didn't know how to use his brain unless it was for either eating ramen and totalling how much it cost him and battling. If the Hokage got wind of his training methods, they could be stopped right there and then. All in all, Naruto deemed it too much of a risk to use Shadow Clones to help him now, unless Kakashi himself brought it up, he would not use them.

The blonde Genin took a tentative step onto the water's surface. Placing both of his feet the blonde simply stood, and didn't move, allowing himself to adjust to the constant change in Chakra required to stay on top of the water. Kakashi watched Naruto as he attempted the Chakra Control exercise. Usually, everyone starts of like Naruto does, getting their feet on the water, then, they make the mistake of walking before they can crawl. The silver haired Jonin had fully expected the blonde to make that error too. But, what Kakashi was seeing in front of him deeply surprised him. Naruto was slowly adjusting his Chakra to the minute changes needed to stay on the water's surface.

Kakashi thought about the recent events of Wave. Maybe it had affected Naruto more than he let on it did. The blonde still acted brash and indignant in front of everyone, but his Shinobi training had stepped up in the level of seriousness apparently. Maybe, Naruto had the same knack for the Shinobi arts that Minato once did? It was hard to tell. Kakashi's musings were cut short as the blonde opened his eyes and started to walk towards him. It wasn't a continuous motion of walking; the Genin did falter every now and then. But not once did he panic and fall under the water's surface. Instead, when his foot began to sink, he took a step back and recollected himself, this continued until Naruto made it to where Kakashi was in the middle of the river.

Once the youth reached Kakashi, Naruto walked past him and continued until he made it to the other side of the river. The blonde promptly turned around and walked back to the side where he started. This continued until the blonde could walk across the surface normally, which took him 15 more minutes. Kakashi was deeply impressed. The blonde clearly had learned well from the Tree-Walking exercise. Whilst this lacked the blondes usual exuberance for training that he had seen, it was certainly more effective for using less of the boy's stamina.

When the blonde had adjusted to normally walking on the water, Kakashi had told him they would work on it whilst the water was deeply disturbed, or if his focus was not entirely on it. I.E, combat practice. For the next 2 hours, the Jonin thoroughly sparred with Naruto on the water. After the end of the two hours, Naruto had finally acclimated to combat Water-Walking, but was drenched to the bone for it. With that, Kakashi had dismissed Naruto for the day.

The silver haired Jonin was happy with the progress made. Maybe, if Naruto kept it up, he would teach him some Jutsus. Of course, that would be after he had tested Naruto's Elemental Affinity.

The blonde himself was sitting on the edge of the riverbank, using Futon Chakra to dry off his clothes. On the matter of his clothes, the blonde had decided, that for the Chunin Exams. If he was ever going to get into them, he would take things more seriously. Only then would he put on the new clothes he had bought recently. If the blonde does get into the Exams, he will merge some of the aspects of his real personality and his mask together.

Naruto stared towards the sky, taking in a breath of fresh air. He had training to do, lots of it. And there was no better time than the present!

AN: Haven't really had time to work on stories since about November of 2020. Managed to get myself a Job. Thanks for reading, don't really care for reviews, hope you enjoyed. (If there are any grammar errors or anything I'll go over it once it's uploaded and correct them)

Adios.