Hey guys, Striker777 here with the next chapter. Be sure to tell me what you think and all that. Also, someone in the reviews talked about separating the speech by a line, but sorry, this style was how I was taught to write and I don't really feel like changing it. But enough of that, onto the story!
Naruto looked down at his bowl in disappointment.
[The following food is responsible for the [Malnourished] affliction. Eat a balanced diet of vegetables, protein and fruits to get rid of this status.]
The food of the gods, the best food in the world even, was responsible for hindering his ability as a shinobi. Then again, he did eat a lot of ramen, but you could never have too much ramen, right?
…
Well, if his [Malnourished] affliction was anything to go off, apparently you could.
Naruto made his decision, and that despite his overwhelming desire to munch on as much ramen as humanly possible, he decided to cut back a bit on the godly food. Teuchi had laughed and admitted that it was probably a good thing, and that he would always have an extra bowl saved for him whenever he came by. Naruto thanked them, and Iruka offered to walk him back to his apartment and talk to him about some after school training regimens. Naruto accepted the offer, walking home with his teacher, and on the way home, his [Detect Bloodlust] skill leveled up. Iruka was running Naruto through his regimen, 20 push ups and 10 sit ups in the morning before school, followed by a jog around the training forest and some taijutsu practice on some trees after school. Naruto agreed to the regime, and Iruka smiled at his student, rubbing the top of his head affectionately, like an older brother. Naruto smiled fondly at his sensei, before his eyes became wide and his smiling face turned into one of shock. Iruka followed his gaze and looked in shock himself.
Naruto's apartment was ruined, smashed up and broken. Covered in red paint and water dripping out of a giant hole in the wall.
Naruto rushed forward, Iruka rushing after him. Naruto got to his door, which was broken, and looked upon his wet and discoloured floors. His furniture, which was only a table, a chair, his bed and his wardrobe, were completely destroyed. His whole house had red paint, with the words 'Demon!', 'Murderer!' and 'Die!' all over his walls. His clothes were torn to pieces, his windows smashed, and his sink and fridge filled with what he could only assume was dog crap from the Inuzuka Clan.
Iruka came in and saw the damage, his hands balled into fists and anger radiating off his face. He looked down at Naruto who had tears rolling down his eyes, nothing but rage and confusion on his face. Iruka placed a hand on his shoulder, which made Naruto look up at him. "How about we go to my place? I've got some leftover takoyaki and not enough mouths for dinner tonight." he offered. Naruto simply nodded and stepped out of his house with dead eyes, knowing that he would not find anything to save. Iruka took one last look back at the apartment and walked off with Naruto, making sure to make a mental note for the Hokage later.
Iruka led Naruto down to his apartment, arriving a few minutes later, and bumped into another tenant leaving.
"Oh, hey Iruka." said a man with a cigarette. He had a black beard and top of hair, with the Konoha flak jacket, black shirt and pants, the symbol for fire on a white piece of fabric under his shirt, and a pair of trench knives on his hips with his tool pouches,
"Asuma, hey. Naruto, this is Asuma. He's the son of the Hokage. Asuma, meet Naruto, one of my students." said Iruka, introducing them.
"Nice to meet ya, I'm Asuma Sarutobi, son of the third, one of the twelve guardian ninja, Jonin, all that stuff. Dad told me a lot about you, so I would appreciate it if I didn't wake up with bright pink hair like the old man did."
"Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage at your service!" yelled Naruto. Asuma laughed and shook his head.
"Well then, future lord Hokage, I hope to live to see your reign." said Asuma. "I'm headed off on a mission for this afternoon, so I'll see you guys tonight." Asuma then walked away, holding his hand in the air and lightly waving back.
[Due to your… interesting introduction, you have gained 500 reputation points with Asuma Sarutobi.]
"Well that was nice. What do you say, Naruto, wanna play some card games for a while?" asked Iruka.
"Sure!" said Naruto, going into the apartment. Iruka, smiling at Naruto's sudden change of mood, smiled and walked into his apartment, grabbing a pack of cards off the top of one of his cupboards and began shuffling.
"So Naruto, ever heard of blackjack?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was distraught at what he saw. All the damage and destruction, and don't even get him started on the smell. He had received a message from Boar, one of the ANBU he trusts most, saying that Naruto's apartment was apparently ransacked and destroyed. He even bumped into Kakashi Hatake on the way and dragged him along to help. The silver haired Jonin was pissed, so pissed that he unconsciously started to channel lightning chakra into his hand, but was stopped by Hiruzen. Giving the old man a thankful nod, he turned back to the scene before him. "What the hell?"
"Exactly." said Sarutobi. "I failed Naruto so much, letting this happen. I failed Minato and Kushina so much for letting this happen to their son. Kakashi… what am I going to do?"
"Well, first off, we need to find Naruto." said Kakashi.
"Actually-" said one of the ANBU, Neko, "he is currently with his teacher, Iruka Umino. From what we have observed, he seems to be doing terribly against him at blackjack."
"Oh poor Iruka." said Sarutobi. "Well, I do believe we should pay Iruka a visit."
Iruka got up grudgingly from his spot on the floor, all his chips gone and Naruto enjoying some popsicles from his freezer which he bet, and opened his door. "What can I do for you?"
"How is your little guest, Iruka?" asked a familiar voice. Iruka immediately stood up straight and bowed.
"Lord Hokage! Please, come in!"
"Thank you Iruka. Would you mind if Kakashi here joined us?"
"Not at all. Make yourselves at home." said Iruka, letting in the Hokage and Jonin. Naruto instantly ran to the old man.
"Old man!"
"Hello Naruto. How are you?" asked Sarutobi.
"I'm alright, kinda sucks about my apartment though. The landlord is gonna kill me." muttered Naruto.
"I'll take care of it. Naruto, have you met my friend Kakashi here?"
Naruto looked over to the silver haired Jonin, who gave him a wave and what he assumed was a smile under his mask. "Nice to meet you, Naruto. I'm Kakashi Hatake."
"Nice to meet you, Kakashi. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!" said Naruto.
[Due to your previous experiences with Kakashi Hatake, your Reputation level with him is already Well Liked.]
"Well then, Naruto, I look forward to your reign as Hokage." said Kakashi. "Who knows, I may even become the Jonin-sensei of the Hokage."
"Maybe…" said Naruto, still curious as to why his reputation with Kakashi was so high already. Not bothering to think about it for now, he returned to the conversation.
"So me and a few of the other Jonin and Chunin still in the village are gonna go have dinner down at the BBQ place on the main road. How about you two join us? I can introduce you to a few of my friends, and it's my treat." said Kakashi.
"Sounds like a wonderful idea. What do you two say?" said Sarutobi.
"I-is it really alright. I'm only a Chunin." said Iruka.
"There's already some Chunin coming. You know Kotetsu and Izumo, right?" asked Kakashi. "What about Raido, Mozuku or Iwashi? They're there too."
"Yeah! Come on Iruka-sensei!" said Naruto.
"Oh, alright." said Iruka. "Now then, who else can we expect to see there?"
"Well…"
"ASUMA!" said Naruto, waving as the man entered the BBQ restaurant.
"Naruto. Fancy seeing you here." said the cigarette smoking Jonin. "Who invited you here?"
"MY ETERNAL RIVAL DID!" screamed the bushy browed taijutsu master from the table. "The flames of youth burn so bright inside him! YOU MUST TRAIN WITH MY TEAM SOME TIME!"
"Guy, come on." muttered Hayate, before coughing. "The kid's still an academy student. He can't handle that level of training."
"Maybe you could teach him a thing or two in kenjutsu Hayate." said Genma, pointing at him with his mouth senbon. "I heard that several of the academy boys wanna learn under you for your kenjutsu. Or maybe we can pawn him off on Yugao and see how she goes." he teased. Hayate immediately slapped him upside the head, causing Naruto and most of the group to laugh.
Iruka was actually having a pleasant conversation with Kotetsu and Izumo, and Kakashi and Guy were talking to Naruto about his training. Asuma was the last in the group to arrive for the little get together.
"So where are the ladies?" he asked. "I don't see Kurenai, Anko or Yugao anywhere. Come to think of it, I don't see Ibiki either."
"We decided that it was time for us guys to have some time to ourselves." said Genma. "Besides, if Yugao was here, Hayate might as well bring a leather whip to whip himself with."
"Do I have to drag Ibiki *cough* down here to keep you under control? He said he was busy but I will." threatened Hayate. The room erupted into laughs once more, and Naruto found himself looking over at all the Jonin and Chunin with him. All the reputation levels of these ninja were already Friendly, even Asuma now that he was here. He had found friends among the older ninja of the village.
"No." said a voice. Naruto and Kaksahi, as well as several of the Jonin, looked in the direction of the entry to see a woman with who they assumed was her husband and two kids looking in their general direction, but directly at Naruto. "I refuse to eat there. I refuse to eat near that damn f-"
"Honey, you can't speak of that. They're watching." whispered her husband, and the woman looked to see most of the ninja staring at her.
"Problem?" asked Genma, his senbon locked onto her right eye.
"N-no. No problem here. My kids just want to sit over there." said the woman, ushering her children over to the other side of the restaurant. The Jonin all shook their heads and sighed.
"Don't listen to her, Naruto. She's just a fool who doesn't know how great you are." said Kakashi.
"MY ETERNAL RIVAL! YOU ARE SO CORRECT!" screamed Guy. "You must come train with me and my team some time, Naruto." he offered.
"Really?" asked Naruto.
"Now hold on Naruto." said Iruka. "You're still an academy student, you need to graduate before training with a Jonin."
"Anyway… I need to get home before Yugao gets there. She had a long day at work." said Hayate. Genma made a whipping sound and the table erupted into laughter once more. The others decided to call it a night too, so Iruka took Naruto out of the restaurant.
"Thank Kami that damn demon fox is leaving." said one of the patrons with his group of two friends.
"No kidding. Damn Kyu-" began another one before he was cut off.
"Shut up you idiots." said the other one. "You can't talk about it."
Naruto watched them curiously, before another screen appeared.
[Quest Alert
Finding the Truth
Discover the reason why the villagers act the way they do around you.
Bonus Objective: Learn about your heritage as well.
Rewards: ? Perk Revealed, +1500 EXP, +10000 Ryu
Bonus Rewards: ? Perk Revealed
Failure: Nothing.]
Naruto looked at the quest in confusion. Was this related to his [Pariah] affliction? Maybe it was. Naruto stashed it away for later, despite wanting to know what his Perks were and gaining their effects. He lived in this village for almost 12 years, and no one had ever told him why he was hated or his heritage, not even the Hokage. If Naruto was gonna find out, he had to do it on his own. For now, he would focus on becoming stronger.
Naruto returned with Iruka to his apartment, and fell asleep as soon as he got in the door. Iruka placed Naruto into his bed and he went out the door once more.
He had a meeting with the Hokage to discuss Naruto's options.
[You have slept in a bed
HP and CP fully recovered]
Naruto awoke the next day with a few things bugging him in the back of his mind. One, he was not in his apartment. Two, he was having a very hard time getting out of the comfortable bed he found himself in. Is this what an actual bed was like? Was it meant to be soft? It was weird, waking up like this, but Naruto enjoyed it.
Also, there appeared to be two scrolls just lying next to him.
Naruto took one of the scrolls curiously, opening it up and looking at the content. It seemed to be a type of jutsu. Then, the screen appeared.
[You have acquired [Water Style: Azure Dragon Palm] jutsu scroll
Do you wish to learn?
Y/N]
A jutsu scroll? And the screens were still there. That was a no to the crazy dream theory. Naruto, deciding he had nothing to lose, clicked the Y option. The scroll dispersed immediately, and a pair of screens now appeared before him with a pair of brand new messages.
[You have learnt [Water Style: Azure Dragon Palm]]
[Water Style: Azure Dragon Palm - Level 1 (0%)
A water style jutsu that requires close contact. Push your arms forward into your opponent to release a spiralling torrent of water. (250CP) (500 damage)]
This was incredible! Just like that, he knew a jutsu, and not an academy jutsu either, but an attack jutsu! Picking up the other scroll and opening it, Naruto looked down at the new screen.
[You have acquired [Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu] jutsu scroll
Do you wish to learn?
Y/N]
This was one of Sasuke's jutsu! Imagine the look on his face when Naruto whipped this one out on him. Clicking the Y option again, Naruto was greeted with the dispersion of the scroll and the meeting of two new screens.
[You have learnt [Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu]]
[Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu - Level 1 (0%)
A short range fire jutsu. Exhale fire from your mouth into small fireballs and launch them at your enemy and surrounding area. (25CP per fireball) (Max of 6 fireballs) (100 damage per fireball)]
How amazing was this? Two new jutsu and he didn't even need to be taught how to use them. He was so gonna practice with them later. He put those thoughts aside, however, as Iruka entered the room.
"Morning Naruto. I made some breakfast. Want some?" he asked.
"Yeah! I'm starving!" said Naruto, hopping out of bed and going with his teacher to the kitchen. On the table he saw some toast, with some bacon and scrambled eggs.
"I'm not the best cook, so please don't expect a 5 star meal." said Iruka. Naruto simply placed some of the food in his mouth, relishing his food.
"It's good." said Naruto. "Not as good as Ichiraku, but still great."
"Gee, thanks Naruto." said Iruka. "Now hurry up. We're heading off for the academy soon, so get in your push ups and sit ups before we head out."
"Sure." said Naruto, beginning to do his pushups and situps as Iruka prepared for the day with the lesson plan as well as some lunch. As Naurto finished, Iruka was ready to set out, so the two made their way to the academy.
On the way there, his [Detect Bloodlust] skill almost levelled up once more. When he arrived at the academy with Iruka, some of his classmates shot him confused glances. Shikamaru was the one to actually come forward and asked. "Yo Naruto, why are you coming to school with Iruka-sensei?"
"Oh, my apartment got trashed while we were training yesterday, so I'm staying with him for the moment until I can find somewhere else to stay." replied the blonde. "There was water damage, graffiti and I swear someone put the crap from the Inuzuka Clan in my fridge and sink."
"Woah man, that's such a drag." replied Shikamaru. "You alright?"
"It is kinda a drag, but I'm alright. I'm gonna be Hokage, so I can't get down from something like this, believe it!" replied Naruto. Shikamaru smiled and shook his head at the boy.
[Shikamaru Nara appreciates your unwavering resolve in the face of adversity, +500 Reputation Points with Shikamaru Nara]
Naruto smiled as he saw the screen. He and Shikamaru were a little bit closer now. "Come on Naruto, class will start soon and I'd rather not get yelled at by Ino again."
"Alright." said Naruto. He and Shikamaru walked into the classroom and sat down with Choji. The three were soon joined by Kiba and Akamaru, and the four (or five) of them sat around talking about trivial things like food and training. Naruto let slip that he was excited for the monthly jutsu lesson coming up on Thursday, which got the attention of the other three (or four). However, before they could pressure Naruto into telling, their sensei came into the room.
It was lessons as normal for the whole day, but funnily enough, Naruto levelled up his [Detect Bloodlust] skill, but he was away from the civilians that actually hated him, so who was sending bloodlust his way?
Naruto put that thought in the back of his mind as he sat on the swing, Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba around him in a circle as they ate lunch.
"Man, it was so great that they gave me the leftovers." said Naruto. "Kakashi and Genma sure know good food."
"Who?" asked Choji.
"I know Genma. He's a Jonin from the village, right? Senbon in his mouth all the time?" asked Shikamaru.
"Yep, and Kakashi is the one with the mask." said Naruto. "He came with the Hokage to check up on me last night and invited me and Iruka out to dinner at that BBQ place you love so much, Choji."
"Wow! Dinner with a bunch of Jonin? How lucky are you?" asked Kiba.
"Well, my apartment just got wrecked so…" said Naruto, making Kiba look down for a bit.
"Oh yeah… sorry."
"It's cool, no harm at all!" said Naruto. The group continued to eat, and by the end of it, Naruto had gained around about 400 reputation points with each of them. Shikamaru was two points off being Well Liked.
Naruto spent Mizuki's afternoon class on math to use [Observe] on all his classmates, levelling it up and almost getting to the next level. So far, Sasuke was the strongest at level 13, 2 off the cap, Shino was second with 10, Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba with 9, Hinata with 8 and Sakura and Ino were level 6, like Naruto. For the rest of the class, Naruto looked to the board in a vain attempt to learn something in Mizuki's class.
It didn't go well.
After the academy day, Naruto decided to go on that jog around the training forest that Iruka told him about whilst he waited for him to finish up his teacher duties. Naruto went full out, going through a few training areas and saying hi to a few classmates that were training. He eventually made his way to an empty training area, and was gonna take a break, when a screen popped up in front of him.
[You have found the location of a Field Dungeon.
Info: Field Dungeon - Snakes (Beginner - Recommended Level 8).
Would you like to enter this dungeon?
Y/N]
A [Field Dungeon]? The hell was that. As if reading his mind, another pair of screens appeared.
[A Field Dungeon is a type of training area, a wide open space of any biome with monsters ranging in both type and level. The recommended is for your assistance, so you don't go into a dungeon that is too hard or too easy. If you are below 10 levels of the recommended level, you will not be allowed entry into the dungeon.]
[Quest Arrived - Dungeon Slither
You have found a Field Dungeon full of snakes. Clear out the snakes and defeat the boss in order to clear the dungeon.
Rewards: +3000 EXP, random scroll
Failure: Nothing]
Naruto looked at the screens in glee. It was a place only he could access, so jutsu were free reign, and he could gain experience if he cleared the dungeon. Naruto was all for it, and pressed the Y option of the entry screen.
[You have now entered the field dungeon.
Best of luck.]
Naruto saw that the area around him turned fuzzy and wavy, before the forest he found himself in was no more. Now in a jungle, Naruto saw that the jungle was covered in vines, and the peaceful tweeting of birds threw him off. Then, out of nowhere, a snake appeared from one of the trees and lunged at him. Naruto quickly dodged before casting [Observe] on the creature with white scales.
[White Scaled Snake - Level 7]
Naruto looked at the snake and sighed, rushing the beast with a kunai in his hand. The snake lunged once more, but Naruto quickly moved to the side and slammed his blade into the head of the snake. It hissed in agony before dropping down to the ground.
[You have slain - White Scale Snake
+150 EXP, +White Scale (Common)]
[Level Up!
You now have 5 stat points to spend.]
Naruto sighed. "That was easy." he said, smiling to himself. However, at that moment, more snakes appeared out of the trees, hissing at him for what he did to their friend. He counted 6 snakes, all level 7. Naruto gulped, but then remembered something. Forming the necessary hand signs, Naruto gulped in some air before shouting "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Spewing out 6 balls of fire in the direction of the enemy, he watched as the trees and snakes went up in flames, He didn't really have that much control over it, so it was difficult for him to use it.
[You have slain - White Scale Snake X6
+900 EXP, +White Scale (Common) X6]
Naruto looked at his screen in satisfaction, before noticing that the fire was still burning, and getting larger. Naruto, freaking out, ran in the other direction, crying out as he fled the scene.
With the fire on his back, he retreated to a safe distance from the flames. "Okay, no more fire jutsu in here." said Naruto. He turned back around, ready to continue, when a hiss distracted him. He turned around to see a black snake looking back at him.
[Black Venom Snake - Level 8]
"Talk about a drag." said Naruto, once again channeling his inner Shikamaru, as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a shuriken. He threw it at the snake.
[You have slain - Black Venom Snake
+200 EXP, +Black Venom Snake Fang (Common)]
Hey there guys, I hope you're enjoying the work so far. Be sure to follow this story or me for more updates, but for now, Striker777, over and out.
