Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?
Konoha's guild
"So what do you think?" asked Naruto "can I go to higher floors now?"
"Well, with these stats I suppose" said Ino "but you're equipment is not great, so I say floor 6 maximum"
"I'll take it, I'll be going to the higher floors in no time" said Naruto excited
"But this time, I want you to promise me that you'll stay on the floors I allow you to go" said Ino
"But what if I just take a peek in the next floor?" asked Naruto
"No peeks, Naruto my job is to keep you alive from here, if you do whatever you want and you don't listen to me, my job just feels useless" said Ino
Naruto had never thought of it like that "Ok, I promise this time I'll definitely stay in the floors I'm supposed to" said Naruto
"Good, and remember, you might have good stats but if the monsters start becoming harder to kill of your having trouble, get out of there" said Ino "getting killed will accomplish you nothing"
"I know, I won't die until fulfill my dream of becoming the best adventurer in the world" said Naruto "So I hope you can help me every step of the way"
"That's my job" said Ino "You just focus on becoming better and better, that way my job will be easier"
"Well I better get going, I want to get out of the dungeon early to see if I can find an apothecary to buy more potions" said Naruto "See you later Ino-san" With that Naruto headed to the dungeon
Konoha's dungeon
It took him an half an hour but he made it through floor 5; Naruto was now standing in front of the stairs to floor 6
He decided to go down into floor 6, in here it was now rare to see ants but if you did they were high level ants that could summon more of their kind to help them fight, goblins were now rare to see unarmed, and fire lizards were plentiful
The dungeon just got harder and bigger the more deeper you went, some of the higher level adventurers that could go to floor 50 said that it took at least 5 days to make it all the way down there and that was if you had a flawless run through the dungeon, it would normally take anywhere from 1 week to 10 days, but it was normally recommended that if you didn't made to at least floor 30 in 3 days that you went back it would just get harder
Naruto started exploring the floor, soon he engaged in combat with a group of goblins, Naruto decided to take the first move before they could try and surround them and overwhelm him with number, he took his knife and ran at max speed towards the goblins that were starting to organize and he slash two of goblin's heads off, he then proceeded to slash the third where he knew the crystal was located the three goblins exploded into smoke and their crystals felt to the floor
The remaining seven goblins then retaliated, thanks to Naruto's attack he was now in the middle of the them and they took slashes at him with their daggers one of them even threw his dagger towards Naruto, he managed to avoid the thrown dagger but he couldn't avoid all the goblins in melee range, he block some slashes but he was slowly being overwhelm
Before it became dangerous Naruto decided to make some distance, he slashed the closer goblin to him cutting his arm, Naruto then grabbed the dagger the goblin had been using and with dagger and knife in hand he charged slashing through the remaining goblins
"That was harder than I thought" said Naruto to himself when he finished killing the goblins, he then took his last healing potion to heal all the damage the goblins did to him and picked the crystal that were left behind, in this floor they were a little more shiny than in lower ones, they must be worth a little more as well
Naruto continued exploring the sixth floor for a while longer but he decided not to fight any group of monsters, he killed any small group of goblins he found or any lone lizard he could find, making sure they couldn't emit their death cry to call for their friends, soon he decided that it would be dangerous to keep exploring, and that he needed to go look for that apothecary so he left the dungeon early that day, but even if he went out early, he had faced much stronger monsters, so he was sure he would be stronger tomorrow
Konoha's streets
After reporting to Ino and changing the crystals for Ryo Naruto decided to keep looking for an apothecary, he had run out of potions, they were not 100% needed to explore the dungeon but you got to limit yourself in the dungeon if you go without potions, and it was safer if you carried a few
He had decided to ask Ino if she knew any apothecary, she indeed knew about one, said that Naruto should probably go to the Katsuyu familia they had an apothecary there and they normally sold good quality potion for a low price, so he decided to go check it out
He soon found himself at the apothecary of the Katsuyu familia
"Welcome to the katsuyu familia apothecary, what can I help you with?" asked a woman with black shoulder length hair
"I was looking for healing potions" said Naruto
"Oh, those they are 1000 Ryos a piece" said the woman
"Are they really that expensive?" asked Naruto surprised, he expected a lower price from what Ino had told him
"Yeah, it takes some mid quality crystals to make a batch of potions, this is actually the lowest we can sell them and still make a profit" said the woman
"Well, it seems I have no choice, I'll take two" said Naruto
"Only two that will not last if you plan on going to the dungeon" said the woman
"That's all I have for right now, I'll get more later" said Naruto
"You must be a new adventurer" said the woman "I'll tell you a secret you might not know, to help you in the dungeon"
Naruto listen carefully whatever she said might be useful
"If you get damaged, but the wound is not that deep, you should just take half the potion, it'll recover you just like the full thing, that's something that must rookies don't know" said the woman
"Thanks, ma'am I didn't know that, it will be helpful" said Naruto
"Call me Shizune, I hope you become one of our frequent costumers" said Shizune
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll be sure to come back to buy more things when I have the money" said Naruto then Naruto paid for his potions and left deciding that was enough for today
Kurama's apartment
Naruto returned to his and Kurama's home, he wanted to get his stat updated as soon as he arrived he wanted to see if he had become stronger
"Naruto you're a little early today, something bad happened in the dungeon?" asked Kurama surprised when he arrived early and also worried for him, he might have gotten really hurt
"Nothing like that Kurama-sama" said Naruto calming her down "I just left the dungeon early to look for an apothecary, luckily ino-san knows one and made it easy for me"
"So you managed to buy those potions?" asked Kurama now calm to know that Naruto was fine
"Yeah, with this I'm one step closer to becoming the greatest adventurer I can be" said Naruto
"Speaking of that, you never told me why you wanted to be an adventurer" said Kurama, really curious about that, she had been curious about it for some time now
"I never told you, did I Kurama-sama?" asked Naruto, already knowing the answer "Well, it was a long time ago, when I was young"
"What happened?" asked Kurama
Naruto sat back down on the bed and started remembering that day when he decided to be an adventurer
"Well me and my mom, Kushina we lived in the town of Uzushiogakure, she always told me about my father, he was a great adventurer he explored more than 5 different dungeons, but he apparently died in the Konoha dungeon, he went too deep into the dungeon, he got hurt he tried making it to the safe zone but he died in the boss floor just before it" said Naruto
"It must have been hard growing up without your father" said Kurama
"Not really, I was just one year old when he died, I didn't know him, and my mom always took care of me, it was lonely sometimes and I always wondered how it would have gone if he had stayed alive" said Naruto remembering his childhood days "Anyways, as you might know Uzushiogakure actually has a small dungeon, its only 15 floors deep, it's so small it has little security"
"Yes, from all the dungeons on the world, the one in uzu is one of the smaller ones, it would be at least one of the top 3 smallest dungeons" said Kurama showing her knowledge on the subject
"Well one day I wandered close to the dungeon, I got lost" said Naruto his face taking sadder look "My mom went to look for me, that particular day a troll decided to wander outside the dungeon, the monsters were acting weird back then"
Kurama remembered that some time ago in a one of the meeting of the gods, they discussed the problem of monsters acting weird, they were going to floors they normally didn't go to, some even trying to leave the dungeon, but the problem kinda solve itself, some weeks later the monsters were normal again
"So, I was lost close to the dungeon, when I hear this roar behind me I turn around and come to see the troll that had escaped the dungeon" said Naruto, his hands started shaking a little "I still get scared when I remember that moment"
"If you don't want to, you don't have to tell me Naruto-kun" said Kurama, worried for her new family
"Don't worry, I think I need to get this out of my system" said Naruto his hands shaking less "Well, the troll rushed me, I was paralyzed by fear I couldn't move, when he was a few inches away from me, I heard my mother she screamed for me to run, I did, I ran away"
Naruto stopped to take a breath and then he continued "hearing my mom, the troll decided to attack her instead of me, he didn't chase me, but I didn't care I just kept running" said Naruto now sounding a little angry "I didn't saw my mom again" a tear appeared in Naruto's eye but he hold it back
"I'm so sorry to hear that" said Kurama feeling bad for making Naruto remember those memories
"The next day, I discovered someone killed the troll, I never knew who but at least it didn't hurt anybody else" said Naruto "sometime later I decided I wouldn't run away anymore, that I would be strong, strong enough to protect for those I care about, so I decided to be an adventurer, but not any adventurer I would be the greatest of them all, the one that can protect everybody"
"That's a noble ideal" said Kurama "Protecting those who are important to you is important, but remember you don't have to do it alone, I'm here to help"
"I'm glad to hear that Kurama-sama, I hope, that I will be able to protect you and everyone that becomes important to me" said Naruto
"Come on, let's update your stats" said Kurama, and they did it just like usual , Naruto removed his shirt and Kurama updated his stats on his back, but something was different this time "Wow, all Bs" said Kurama looking as his stats updated, he had really become stronger, but then in the area below the stats letters appeared
Skill: The will to protect
Naruto had developed a skill, he had really done it, and Kurama was happy because of that, but she didn't wanted Naruto to know he had it until she knew exactly what that skill did, so she had to read a little bit
"Can you wait a little moment before I copy the stats Naruto, I want to check something" said Kurama trying to keep Naruto patient until she figured out what the skill did
"What do you want to check Kurama-sama, did something happened to my stats?" asked Naruto worried, he had heard her said all Bs so he was excited to check the stats
"No everything's fine, don't worry, just give a few minutes?" asked Kurama moving to grab a book
Now where is it? Thought Kurama as she checked the book, then she found it Here it is, The will to protect: it gives the user the ability to protect someone else or oneself for one time, afterwards the skill needs some time to recharge, to protect someone else the person needs to want to protect said person
It activates on it's own in the lower levels, but become an active pass level 3
Can only be gained at level 1
Kurama didn't really understand the skill, but it seem that it would help Naruto in some way, although that recharge time was worrying since it didn't really specified how much time he would have to wait but in the end there was no hurt in letting him know
"Sorry for making you wait Naruto, I just had to check this" said Kurama "You got a skill"
"I got a skill?" asked Naruto not really believing it
"Yes you do, just let me copy it in a paper" said Kurama as she copied the stats "There you go" she said as she handed him the paper
"I got a skill" said Naruto amazed "I got a skill" he repeated "I got a skill Kurama-sama" he said again as he stood up and grabbed Kurama in a hug
The hug surprised Kurama but she couldn't complain "Yes you do Naruto-kun" said Kurama
"I want to go test it" said Naruto putting his shirt and grabbing his equipment but before he could leave Kurama stopped him
"No you don't" said Kurama "Its late and you already went to the dungeon today, you'll go tomorrow" she was in reality only worried about him, if he went now he would probably be too excited to fight properly "apart from that, you don't know how it works"
Naruto was too excited, he had to test this now but Kurama was right "Your right Kurama-sama, I don't know how it works" said Naruto
"Good, now get to sleep and you'll test it in the morning" said Kurama with that they both decided to call it a day
The next day – outside the Konoha dungeon
Naruto was too excited to go ask Ino if he could go further into the dungeon, he would do it later when he exited the dungeon, right now he wanted to test the skill, according to Kurama-sama it would activate by itself when he needed it, but he didn't know what that meant, but would probably find out on his own when the moment comes
"You're alone adventurer-san?" asked a feminine voice to Naruto
Naruto looked around and found a short girl with short dark brown hair that was carrying a huge backpack "Are you speaking to me?" asked Naruto not being sure
"Yes, you're an adventurer right?" asked the girl
"Yes I am why you ask?" answered Naruto more confused
"Well you can't go into the dungeon without a support, can you?" asked the girl
"I have being going without a support since I started, I think I can handle" said Naruto
"What?" asked the girl "Don't you know the benefits of having a support?"
"Well my advisor explained it, but I don't really want a support right now" said Naruto
"Come on you should know that you won't get far that way" said the girl "I know, I'll be your support for today, we can split the gains 50/50, if you still think you don't need a support after today I'll leave you alone" said the girl
"I don't know, that's a good offer but I don't really think I need a support" said Naruto
"You just don't know the benefits for yourself, come on just for today" said the girl
Naruto was getting a little annoyed but he couldn't see why to say no, so he decided to accept the girl's offer "Ok, just for today, I'm Naruto by the way" said Naruto
"Thanks you won't be disappointed" said the girl "and my name's Hanabi, now let's get going, we don't want to lose time do we Naruto-sama?"
"Naruto-sama?" asked Naruto seeing it weird that she was calling him that
"It's just a supports thing, we call the adventurer we work with Sama since you are the boss technically" said Hanabi explaining
"I see" said Naruto not really sure "I don't know if I'll get used to that"
"You'll get used quick enough, now let's get going Naruto-sama" said Hanabi heading to the dungeon Naruto following behind her
Inside the dungeon Naruto quickly came to see that having a support was really benefitting, Hanabi had told him about monster that could have flanked or surround them and he had been able to prepare for them, Hanabi also helped him picking the crystals with that they made it to floor 6 in no time
"We should start being more careful now" said Naruto when they made it to floor 6 "This is the farthest they have allowed me to go"
"Don't worry Naruto-sama, with what I have seen from you on the other floors, I think we'll be fine, I have worked with other adventures that could go father and they were not half as good as you" said Hanabi "We could probably make it to floor 10"
"You think so?" asked Naruto maybe he had gain more strength that what he had thought from the last update and the new skill
"I'm more than sure, but you're the boss so we'll go wherever you want to go" said Hanabi
"We'll stay here, I don't want to run into trouble, we've been fine till now but I don't want to have to take to many enemies at the same time and leave you open to attacks" said Naruto
"If that happens I have some defenses too" said Hanabi showing pouch she was carrying at her leg "This is full with throwing weapons, I can use them to help you too, but since it has all been going so well, I decided to not use them till now"
"You could have told me earlier, I would have fought better" said Naruto wondering why she had not said anything about that since now; he had been so worried of a monster attacking her
"Sorry Naruto-sama, is just that it's second knowledge to adventures that supports also carry supporting weapons to protect themselves and their adventurer that I forgot to tell you" said Hanabi
"Never mind then, it just seems I need to learn more about being an adventurer" said Naruto "Let's keep going, we still got a lot of time to burn"
With that they kept exploring, eventually they found themselves fighting a group of five fire lizards
"Be careful Naruto-sama, if you let them emit their death cry we could get surrounded" said Hanabi
"In that case we're getting out of here, ok?" said Naruto telling the plan to Hanabi
Naruto charged in, the lizards moved to attack as well, two of them charged their breath and expelled fire towards Naruto, he easily dodged it, the other three got close and try to use their tails to strike Naruto to open him to an attack
Naruto dodged two of the lizards and cut the tail of the third one, he then proceeded to impale it where he knew the crystal was and the lizard exploded
The others got in position to fire their fiery breath at Naruto; he could not evade it all
"Look out Naruto-sama" said Hanabi as she threw a kunai she had in her pouch to one of the lizards, it made the lizard stop focusing on Naruto and change targets to Hanabi, it also gave Naruto enough space to evade the other fire streams he moved and killed the lizard before it could get close to Hanabi
"Thanks Hanabi" said Naruto, she had really saved him there, he would have not died, but he most than likely would have had to use a potion if he took that hit; now he could save it
"Don't worry Naruto-sama, I'm here to help, now defeat the other ones" said Hanabi
Naruto did just that, he closed in and cut one of the lizards straight through the center, he then moved to evade the lizard that was about to breath fire at him and used the momentum to kill the other one, it was easy now, he got close ones the mouth of the last lizard stopped shooting fire and he sliced right where the crystal was
"That was incredible Naruto-sama" said Hanabi seeing at how Naruto had defeat those lizards so fast "Maybe we should go to the next floor this one doesn't seem to be a challenge for you"
"Nah, I think that's enough for today, I don't really want to go further and we still have to change those crystals" said Naruto, in reality he wanted to keep his promise to Ino, he would not go further without her permission, even if he really wanted to
"If you say so, but I think we're losing money here" said Hanabi starting to collect the crystals from the lizards
"Don't worry, next time we'll go further" said Naruto as he started helping Hanabi
It took her a moment but she caught it "So you're saying you want me to keep helping you as your support?" asked Hanabi
"Yes, today was great, I don't have to go and see how much money we made, I already know it's more than what I normally do, and you're a great help in the dungeon, I could fight without worrying for ambushes, and I got all the way faster than normal" said Naruto explaining his reasoning
"That's just the basic job of a support" said Hanabi
"Ok then, let's start heading back" said Naruto as he finished picking the crystals and started heading back to the stairs to the previous floor, Hanabi behind him
Konoha's guild
When they arrived Naruto told Hanabi to wait since he had to report first, he then looked for Ino he found her fast enough
"Hey Ino-san" said Naruto catching her attention
"Naruto, good to see you, I was worried when you didn't come in the morning, but afterwards I just thought you might have just gone to the dungeon directly" said Ino
"That's exactly what I did, I was excited since yesterday I got a skill" said Naruto, he had kinda forgotten that he was going to the dungeon to test the skill, but it didn't activate so he would have to wait for that
"You got a skill?" asked Ino as her eyes grew wide open showing surprised "At level 1?"
"Yeah, here's the paper" said Naruto taking the paper out of one of his pockets and showing it to Ino
"All Bs!?" she said surprised by the big growth he had in so short time "And Skill: the will to protect, I haven't heard about that one"
"Kurama-sama said something about it activating on its own whenever I need it, it would let me protect multiple people or myself in a situation of danger, but we really don't know what that means" said Naruto explaining what he knew
"I see, well I know some skills that activate by themselves are sometimes rare to activate at all, since some need really detail circumstances to activated" said Ino
"Kurama-sama also told me that I would be able to activate it by myself pass level 3" said Naruto
"That's really rare in skills like this one, they normally don't turn into an active skill, but since this skill seems to be rare it could really do anything" said Ino
"Also I found a support today, her name's Hanabi, she helped me in the dungeon today, I wanted to report so we could go get the crystals changed into Ryo and split the pay" said Naruto
"A support?" asked Ino, she had thought he would have waited more before he got one "That sound good, but afterwards you should do the paperwork for a support, it's not 100% necessary, but you should do it anyways"
"Ok, here's everything we got" said Naruto as he showed four bags full of crystals
It seems Naruto just kept surprising her, four bags, yesterday he had just one, and the crystals also looked higher quality "There I finished the report go change it" said Ino "I don't want to keep your support waiting"
"Thanks, by the way, can I go further into the dungeon next time?" asked Naruto
It was hard to calculate were exactly she could let Naruto go since she didn't know what the skill did, but with stats alone he might be able to make it to floor 10 but since he was missing equipment
"Floor 9 will be alright, those stats are great" said Ino
"Ok, I'm excited I want to know what's down there" said Naruto as he left to go look for Hanabi
When he found her, she volunteered to change the crystals for him, he saw no evil in that, so he let her, she came back with two bags
"I got to admit Naruto-sama, when I met you I thought you would not be able to make that much money, but we got 6000 Ryo" said Hanabi
"6000!?" asked Naruto surprised
"Yep, 3000 for you and 3000 for me" she said as she gave him one bag
"Wow, we definitely need to keep working together" said Naruto
"I would like that, Naruto-sama" said Hanabi "It's easy working with you, when will you go next to the dungeon?"
"How about tomorrow, same hour as today?" asked Naruto
"That's fine by me, see you tomorrow Naruto-sama" said Hanabi leaving
It seems he would be able to buy some equipment before the tournament, he had thought that he would have to stay with what he had until he turned level 2, but with how much money he would be making he might be able to buy another set of armor in a week, he could wait to tell Kurama-sama
Decided to end it there, tell me what you thought
Also one of you asked why Kurama went to Gyuki for the weapon, well you might have missed it, but I mentioned Gyuki being the master of arms of the bijuus, with that I meant that he was the best blacksmith there was amongst the bijuus, maybe even amongst all the familias
also I'm not sure about the skill name, might change it, if I do I'll let you all know