AN: I got inspired while reading 'Game of Shadows' by Adrian King1, I highly recommend that you check it out. I like the idea of the Nerfed Gamer ability. I just don't like self-inserts. The abilities that Naruto is going to unlock with his Gamer ability will be similar to that in Game of Shadows. Things like having an inventory, being able to summon status menu, having quests, etc, etc. Anyways, without further ado, let's get into it!

Haku did not intend for it to happen. That boy. That stupid boy. He just ran into the fray while Haku was in the middle of sending in a pair of senbon placed in just the perfect location to be "lethal" to his target - Sasuke Uchia. What Haku thought would happen is simple. Sasuke would be incapacitated, and his heart and other bodily functions momentarily stopped. This way Haku could end the fight in the most peaceful way he could. An ending that would not spill the blood of a child, something that Haku couldn't bring himself to do. Of course, the number one knuckleheaded unpredictable ninja would ruin that plan. Naruto's body moved without the boy even thinking anything. His feet flew him forward, right in front of his comrade. When it comes to precise and lethal locations even the slightest difference can make or break a target. In Naruto's case, the points where the senbon entered his body were lethal. Lethal lethal.

Oh no. Oh no no no. Haku's mind raced when he saw what just happened. Never before in his life did Haku take the life of anyone. He just wasn't made for killing. As much as Zabuza laughed and touted the boy's prowess as a lethal machine Haku desired to be far from such a notion. All it took was one brief moment and whatever innocence in Haku's heart that was left shattered. As for Naruto…

"You. Y-you idiot. What were y-" Sasuke coughed through staggered breaths, "You thinking?" he finished.

"I wasn't thinking…" The words barely slipped out of Naruto's mouth. "My feet. They just… moved… on their… ow-" the sentence trailed off just as the light in Naruto's eyes fled. His body fell limp. First his knees to the ground, then his shoulders to the floor. Just like that, one thump, and the boy lay dead.

As I gazed into the void, a shiver ran down my spine. It was as if the darkness was alive, pulsing with ominous energy that threatened to consume me whole. The feeling of constraint around my body was more than suffocating - I could not breathe. Breathing would require movement. Movement of the chest as my heart would beat, pulsating the oxygen through the blood in every cell of my body. Except, as I looked around, I found there to be no body for me to even see. I wondered how it was even possible for me to see. Then again…

There were no stars or planets in sight, no sign of life or movement anywhere. It was just me and the emptiness, floating in a seemingly infinite abyss. The silence in itself was deafening, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over me. It was as if I was in some sort of void - a vacuum that sucked the life and light out of everything it touched. And yet, despite the darkness and the emptiness, I couldn't tear my gaze away. There was something mesmerizing about it, something that drew me in like a moth to a flame. Even if I had wanted to move my gaze, I was stuck.

It was only when I felt a cold, bony hand on my shoulder that I snapped out of my trance. I turned around to see a figure cloaked in shadow, its face obscured by darkness. "You shouldn't be here," it rasped, its voice echoing through the emptiness. "This place is not a place meant for the living."

With a start, I realized the truth of its words. I was dead. I was dead. I couldn't believe it. I refused to believe it. I am Naruto Uzumaki. There is so much that I've yet to do. So much that I refuse to give up on! No, the void was not a place for mortals like me. It was a realm of the dead, a place where lost souls went to fade away into nothingness. And if I wasn't careful, if I didn't fight with everything I had, then I might just be joining them soon.

As I looked closer at the figure cloaked in shadow, I realized that it was not human at all. Its eyes glowed a sickly green, and its features were gaunt and skeletal. I couldn't see its face, but I could sense a level of benevolence in this being. My heart raced with fear. I thought, unable to speak, "Who are you?" The stammering continued. "What do you want with me? I shouldn't be here you know! I - I am going to be the next Hokage! How did I even end up here?!"

The figure let out a low, rattling laugh. "I am the Shinigami," it said, its voice like the whisper of the wind. "The death god. I am here to collect your soul. Inside my stomach, it shall be in an eternal battle with the others that I've swallowed."

Somehow I could feel blood turn to ice in my veins. "What do you mean?" I cried. "I just told you, I'm not dead! I can't be! I shouldn't be! I refuse to be! Do you know who I am?"

The shinigami shrugged its bony shoulders. "That may be true, mortal, you shouldn't be dead just yet. But you are the fool that intervened with fate. You are the fool that stood in place of another. And the most ironic twist to it all, your precious friend that you saved-" I cut off the shinigami before he could finish his sentence.

"SASUKE! I can't be dead. I have to go save Sasuke!" I finally mustered the strength to yell.

"Your friend is going to be fine. He was always going to be fine. As a shinigami, I bear witness to the fates of all. You, however, have disrupted the balance of life and death."

My mind raced as I tried to think of a way out of this. I couldn't die now, not when there was still so much left to do. But the shinigami seemed implacable, its glowing eyes fixed on me like a predator on its prey. Suddenly, the being spoke words that I couldn't have wished for more.

"You should not be dead."

"SEE, I told you! I knew I shouldn't have been dead. So what do we do now? You're the God of death right? You can totally send me back! And then I can do things right! I can train, be strong enough to save Sasuke and Sakura, stop Zabuza, and then I'll go back and be so strong they'll have to make me the next Hokage!" I rambled.

The shinigami spirit cackled "Yknow, I do appreciate your spunk. Usually, people don't have the balls that you do. And, usually, I don't end up doing this, but I think I'll give you an exception. I'll make you a deal. You get one more try. One more. Consider yourself lucky, usually, people only have one chance and that is it."

I felt a sense of relief wash over me. The feeling of the weight upon my shoulders lifted. No, like it literally lifted. The constraints on my chest also lifted. I could breathe again. I could breathe again. I finally could see my body materialize and light begin to emit from my surroundings. I began to grin from ear to ear. My face smiled so hard that it hurt, but the pain felt so good. FEELING felt so good. I had been scared of not existing before, but this! This took it to a whole new level. I made a promise to myself: "I refuse to simply exist. I will truly live, and never let the void consume my precious moments or people ever again."

Naruto's chest heaves as he gasps for air and his body struggles for oxygen. His gasps were empty, filled with no air, and made no noise. His eyes bulge wide and his mouth gapes open in a silent scream as they desperately suck in air. His hands clutched at his sides, clinging onto the sheets that were under him. Finally, with one exacerbated and painful breath, his lungs burned full of oxygen. He then let out a deep, rasping cough. "Oh god, was that real?" Naruto spoke as he lay up in his bed. He sat in his dark room, clearly at nighttime. Even with the lack of light, Naruto could distinguish the lack of fluorescence from the true darkness that was void.

"Ghaaa!" He yelped as he started to grab and poke at the space in front of him.

Please adjust the brightness so that the square is just barely visible

The words appeared scrawled across a white floating scroll that floated just in front of the boy's face. On this scroll, the text sat right below a grey square upon a black background. "Oh I see…" Naruto tried dispelling the scroll as if it was some sort of genjutsu. The scroll did not go away. Naruto tried to wave his hands through the scroll in hopes that it would disappear in a cloud of smoke. His hands simply phased through the floating paper.

"Ughhhh what is the deal with this" Naruto said as his head hit his pillow again. He sunk into that pillow, not sure of what was going on. Eventually, he popped back up, oddly chirpy. "This probably has something to do with the shinigami! Well, if I have to" he almost yelled as he followed the instructions of the scroll. First, the brightness. Afterward, the name. "NARUTO UZUMAKI!" He all but screamed. Following this, the scroll then poofed and went from horizontal to vertical.

Menu:

Abilities

Inventory

Map

Quests

Skill Tree

Stats

Help

…

…

Naruto's eye twitched as he read the menu in front of him and his mind raced with so many thoughts - so many that even he couldn't handle them! That screen was the last thing Naruto saw before he passed out, his body practically flying back into his bed. The scroll faintly glowed before turning into a cloud of smoke and being absorbed by his stomach. The seal on Naruto's stomach glowed with the same tint of gold that the white scroll had just moments before. A slight rumbling, almost akin to laughter, could be heard bellowing from within the gullet of the boy.

"Just because I give you a second chance doesn't mean I can't play with you for some entertainment."

AN: Okay so that was a lot more fun to write than I thought it would be. I haven't been on this site in SO LONG. It is honestly so crazy to me. I used to enjoy writing a lot, but school ruined it for me, and now that I'm almost done with my degree I feel like I can go back to this hobby and fall in love with it again. My goal is to write ~1,000 words a day. Keep chapters short, and just put something out. Doesn't have to be this story, and some days it won't be. But, this has been in my head for a while, and it feels good to get it out.

Let me know if you'd like to see anything different, what you liked and didn't like, and what you wanna see in future chapters!

My goal for the gamer ability is to be a system where Naruto can actively see how to grind up the stats that he has and see how he can unlock new abilities (jutsus).