Whelp, dying sucked.
There I was, driving down the freeway on my way to work when an idiot in a pickup decided to turn in front of me. So I plowed into the truck and I didn't even take the other guy with me because I ran into the passenger side.
I think it's because my cars the same color as the road. Made it difficult to see me.
After that, it's a little fuzzy. I mean, as a fairly religious guy, I'm pretty sure I went to an afterlife. I'm also pretty sure there was some kind of argument. Or maybe I'm giving myself too much credit. Whatever. Doesn't matter.
What does matter is that I'm currently floating in a liquid-y, dark place. Not breathing and I don't need too for some reason. Occasionally, I heard the echoing of voices way in the distance. I'm not sure where it's coming from. I think it belongs to the cord that's attached my stomach. If I wasn't currently in a state of maddened bliss, I might have figured out what it was.
I think it's symbolic.
As I was pondering my bizarre circumstances, a green window with text seemed to appear in my mind. Which is a good thing because I'm not sure my eyes could comprehend actually seeing something yet.
Hello, and welcome, Green-box read. To Shinobi: A Naruto RPG.
Oh, cool. I get to play video games for my afterlife! I consider this a blessing. Because I love RPG's and I'm sure I would've gotten bored eventually of this pleasantly warm-liquid- abyss thing. Eventually. It was really comfortable though.
The window changed.
Select Gender: Male/Female.
Hmm…not even bothering with a tutorial, eh? Well, I am really good at RPG's and stuff. I imagined myself selecting male since my limbs were currently non-functioning.
Are you sure? It asked.
Yes. I am absolutely sure.
Keep old appearance?
Don't see why not!
With my choice made, the window disappeared.
Huh.
Well, that's dissapointi-THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!
AND IT'S COLD.
I'm being held by these warm things!
What's happening? I…oh.
I was just born. Huh.
Well, in that case, my screaming was perfectly justified! In fact, I made a note to do as much as humanly possible because this is ABSOLUTELY BAT$#@$!!$ INSANE!
THE ACTUAL-
Oh, my mental cursing raged on and on, as I was wiped down with a warm rag and then subsequently handed to a bed-ridden person who was presumably my new mother.
Since I was very attached to my old mother, this thought was distressing and made me scream even more. To the point that my lungs were burning. Hey, gotta build those lungs nice and strong, right?
--
As I my senses started to develop, I became aware of an increasing oddity within me. It was like an electrical current, a thrum of power that hovered just beneath my skin. I wasn't really sure what was freakier, that this frankly awesome feeling existed within my body or that it seemed to be everywhere else in the world as well.
Oh, wait.
The Naruto RPG.
What I'm feeling is chakra.
I'm an idiot.
Well, that's one less mystery out of the way.
Anyway. Most of my days, when I wasn't hungry (and I was always hungry), were spent in meditation. Clearing my head, breathing and attempting to look asleep so I wasn't unnecessarily bothered were quite relaxing and pretty much the only thing I could do to adequately satisfy my adult mind. One happy side-effect of meditation was that it gave me a very keen sense of the chakra in me. And around me.
In most fiction, when characters meditate, they 'unlock their potential'. They bring to bear some hidden superpower they always had but had locked away for some reason or another. While that was extremely attractive to me, as a guy who is more or less in an extremely dangerous world and is completely dependent on other people for his safety, I know that's not how it actually works. That's not how it worked in my old world, it's not how it works here unless you're already extremely powerful.
But the main reason I did it was that, when meditating, you force your brain into a dream-like state, allowing it to process information, store it and handle it. Which was invaluable for a lot of things; like overcoming emotional trauma.
Which is something I've just been served a major helping of.
I am meditating.
I am one with the universe.
All things happen for a reason.
I am the master of my being.
My choices are my own.
I am extremely hungry.
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
--
The months went on. I ended up not needing to meditate as much as I used too and my senses were developing. For some freaking reason, the people around me were speaking English, which fits game-logic but doesn't make any actual sense.
Luckily, my tongue and mouth coordination, plus the actual lack of teeth, made it very difficult to actually communicate with them. Because getting snapped up by ROOT? At this age? Would be very bad. I mean, it might be amazing for EXP if this freaking game has any but I'd like to have some fun playing this game.
If that can even exist at this point.
So, my time was spent flailing around, trying to build muscle faster than normal babies did without also causing irreparable damage and stunting my growth. And meditating because it was easier to not rage about how bored I was when I wasn't thinking about anything other than breathing.
I was a very chill child.
Something I ended up figuring out as I grew older was that I wasn't in a home with loving parents. I was actually in an orphanage, with a lot of other kids. The person that was responsible for feeding me was actually a wet nurse, rather than my biological mother.
In a way, that made me feel better but it also made me feel awkward in lots of different ways. In fact…I don't like thinking about it. I was fed and that was that. Nope. Nothing other than that to say.
Eventually, I was able to sit up on my own. Even more impressively, I was able to start crawling! Yay! Look at me, getting all mobile and stuff! I'm just the most adorable little thing. Life in the orphanage wasn't really that bad, either. Granted, I didn't really socialize much but there wasn't much I could do about the mental gap. They were adorable, though.
--
The matron of the orphanage was an old woman, but other than her skin, she showed no signs of her age. She carried herself like someone who was still very much in the prime of her life, which meant she was a ninja.
Which meant that attempting to escape her when she came to collect you for whatever reason was hopeless. Don't get me wrong, she was nice enough, but I had a thing about being carried. I could carry others just fine (no I can't) but I don't like being carried.
So, she picked me up from my crib, token efforts to wiggle out ceased upon exiting the crib. Even I know accidents happen. She carries me, making fond, affectionate noises at me. Ugh, she's going to make me sick one of these days. Well, I got sick a lot, since I have trouble burping for whatever FREAKING REAS-ahem.
She deposits me in the play area, and the various toddlers with me are all playing with various toys. Fake, baby proofed Kunai, I think were my favorite. Made me laugh whenever I saw it. I examined the area and off by itself, I saw a thick, baby book.
…no way.
I hastened over there and found that, indeed, it was the S.P.E.C.I.A.L book, ripped right from Fallout 3. The only difference was that the illustrations had a Shinobi headband. With the Vault-tech symbol on it.
Well, that confirms that I wasn't going crazy and this is, in fact, a game. I think. First thing I did was open the book. Strength, Perception, Endurance, the dump stat, Intelligence, Agility, Luck, it was all here! Okay, Charisma might be good if it provides bonuses to my teammates if it's anything like New Vegas but screw my teammates!
I'm sure somewhere, the Hokage, wherever he is, just got the urge to spank a kid and that kid was me. Oh well. Screw him too.
Anyway. The book was formatted like a children's book. On the left page was a description of the attribute, with a number 5, bordered by arrows with the and – symbols within. On the right, was a picture of the attribute in question. A vault-boy lifting a massive weight like a circus strongman for strength, or a vault-boy being awesome by studying in the library for intelligence, or my personal favorite: A vault-boys path being crossed by a black cat and about to get beaned by an anvil. Irony was much beloved in Fallout. At the end, there was a summary, with arrows going up and down each number.
Just like that, I was torn between the two paths to godhood. It was between putting my five remaining points into Intelligence and learn new skills like they were going out of style or putting my points into Luck and let the universe itself shower me with gifts and love as it murders my enemies in comedic fashion.
Eh, I always went high INT because I hate being dumb, so all my points went there. Now, I just have to decide what to do about my dump stat. Charisma. On one hand, in my games I took all the points away and distributed them evenly. I've never simply put them right into Luck, but I was now seriously considering just that.
See, on one hand, it will almost assuredly guarantee me perfect wins on everything. Gambling will become an absolute joke. So. Much. Money. To be made. On the other hand… Charisma makes it so people like me. I want to be liked. A lot. There were some really cool people that I wanted to befriend. Maybe turn Sasuke from his destructive path and get him some freaking therapy. Give Naruto a friend…maybe lots of friends. A high charisma character with 100 speech skill could end the stigma against him. Quickly. I don't know how much the special stats affect general gameplay. Maybe they just affected skills like in Fallout 3. Maybe they affected everything.
But if that's the case, and Luck is anything like in New Vegas? That becomes the most important stat in the game. Bar none. Intelligence is for personal preference, if I'm honest.
Dang, I wish I knew these things.
So, hesitantly, I subtracted all the points from Charisma, bringing it down to a measly 1 and raising my Luck to 9. I briefly consider taking a point from intelligence and putting it into luck, but I leave it. Again, personal preference. I pressed my little finger on the black button labeled 'done' and suddenly WOAH NELLY I FELT WEIRD as a warm, hot feeling washed itself all over me and in my brain and I could feel myself getting…smarter.
Woah.
Okay. Well, I hope I can handle my newfound social awkwardness.
…plans to raise my charisma later if I cannot are on the table.
For the first time in I don't know how long, I heard the sharp sound of a cash register ring in my ears. Green numbers appeared in my eyes, 100, with a small meter beneath it, demonstrating progress from level 1 to level 2. The other kids laughed because my startled reaction was apparently funny. A second later, the adults joined in.
Oh boy.
…I wonder how long I'll have to wait until I can actually tag my skills?
.
.
.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
YES!
The Matron, in her infinite wisdom, in lieu of summoning the one person I will forever feel awkward around for the rest of my life, simply presented me with a bottle. I snatched that thing out of her hands in a way that I think surprised her and drank the sweet, warm, white liquid of life!
But in all seriousness, I liked eating this way. Forcing myself to not think while I ate and…yeah. Felt awful. I'm traumatized for life.
Anyway! The dark times are over now. I can eat without guilt. Which is awesome.
I'm not sure, but I think I've been here for over a year. Calendar flips that I've been keeping track of from my crib. Twelve makes a year. Unless I've been drastically mistaken and the place I'm living in has shorter or longer months than the old world.
Speaking of the place I live in, that would be Konoha, unless the walls are decorated with Konoha symbols in a nursery in Kiri for some freaking reason.
Bottle was empty.
I want another one!
The matron chuckled, a little impressed or disbelieving as she handed me another vessel of beautiful formula! Yes! Oh I hope this is a permanent thing because I am eating guilt free! It's like being on a diet but being able to eat all of the ice cream in the world without gaining a pound.
--
Later that night, I woke up. Which is weird because I usually slept like a rock since I got here. Which is weird because it's actually a return to form in that I was kind of an insomniac before I ran that truck over with my car and missed the driver.
Grumbling aside, I stood up and gripped the bars of my crib. Underneath the door the light was on. People were talking and not being very quiet about it until being shushed by the familiar voice of the matron. I could still hear the whispers, though not as loud.
Whatever. Imma go back to bed.
I love game mechanics making it so I can go to sleep on command.
But I couldn't.
I got a small, green window that appeared before my eyes. You cannot sleep while enemies are nearby.
Oh.
Oh no.
I can't deal with enemies! I'm still a baby for petessake!
This! This isn't good! This is bad! I gotta hide! Oh why didn't I put more points into Agility?
There's people out there that want to kill me! Maybe they're in the orphanage and about to kill the Matron! Not the Matron! She gave me bottles!
But then, I got hit with a wave of clarity. Boy do I wish I hadn't. A crimson wave of light surged through the windows and the room was suddenly filled with crying children. An oppressive weight, sickening in its cruelty seemed to press down on my soul and paralyze my body. A chill went through my veins and my hair stood up on end.
The Kyuubi was attacking Konoha.
And that is a prime example of why the Naruto universe is a crappy one to live in. I mean it's just terrible. It's also on its way to a golden age. Or it was. The butterfly effect is a %$#$@ to everyone, especially me right now.
Because I don't really belong here.
I collapsed to my knees. Unable to breathe as tears started to fall from my eyes, I fell onto my back.
There's no actual way I could survive here. I couldn't even get the Water Chip back to my Vault in Fallout 1. This? This is roleplaying and reality ensues on a whole 'nother level. I'm going to die because I don't know what routes to take because they're all gone. Because I'm here.
It was on the road to world peace, arguably better than our situation back home. But then I arrived. But maybe it's not too late!
I grabbed my blanket, sobbing uncontrollably as the ground beneath me shook and the roar of a horrific beast sounded in the distance, but way too loud in my ears anyway.
Maybe I can get out of here before I do any more damage! You know, just by existing!
Maybe it would be better if I just crawled into a hole and died.
I could barely move at this point, I only saw red. Under the light of the door, I thought I saw shadows of beasts play out underneath it. I crawled under my blanket and held the fabric close to my nose.
It wasn't enough simply because air was passing through the blanky just fine, but points for trying! Right? No. It's not good enough. I gotta-
But then, the red light was gone and with it went the oppressive feeling that was cloying at every part of my mind. I shoved the blanket away and gasped for air. I moved away from it as far as I could.
…that was horrible.
I don't like it.
The Matron, elderly lady that she was, burst in the room with the ferocity of the Kool-aide man, taking the door off its hinges and leaving an imprint in the wall as a soothing aura took place and made her seem like a freaking angel from God.
…I just want to go to bed.
Like that, I was out like a light.
--
A few years have passed since the New Halloween and I was able to come to grips with what happened. That the Kyuubi attacked and I was faced with the overwhelming feeling that I had to commit suicide. For reasons that made sense at the time.
Screw the butterfly effect. We'll see world peace happen butterfly effect or no.
Anyway, I'm adjusted, but the other kids still have nightmares. They've been waking up more often with the 'help I just had something try to kill me help me' scream rather than the 'I want something to eat' scream. Especially prevalent since they've started to adopt a normal sleep schedule.
…now that I think about it, not having their sleep schedule was a thing of game mechanics and made me stand out like a thumb. That…might come to bite me in the rear later. Or not, since I have high luck. Because luck is awesome. Still, something to keep in mind, though.
I was sitting in the corner of the play room, playing with blocks and trying to stack them at impossible angles out of boredom. The other kids were of doing their own thing. Socializing with them has been difficult. They…don't really like to spend time with me for some reason. I think it's because, as we've all learned how to talk, things have a tendency to sound a little harsh or robotic or something. No innate social skills.
Low Charisma is already starting to bite me in the rear. However, I hope I'll be able to simply put points in speech to bypass that little flaw. Hopefully. I mean, it's not that bad right now anyway
The door to the play room and…holy cow. This is the first time I've ever seen him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Hokage. The man we've been learning about since we could learn how to read. Dressed in white robes with a triangle hat. I had theorized that in real life, those robes would look ridiculous. I was completely wrong. They look awesome.
I see why Naruto wants the hat.
Speaking of our number one most unpredictable Ninja, there he was, in front of the Hokage with an enthusiastic smile on his face. Wow. This…huh.
This is an odd feeling. Seeing a character, I always knew to be fictional in the flesh. Not even as a cosplayer, but the real, true blue Uzumaki Naruto. He certainly looked good.
"Here's the Nursery," The Matron put on a smile as she showed in the new kid.
"Thank you Kumiko," The Hokage said to the Matron.
Huh. She does have a name.
"Now Naruto," The Hokage turned. "I'll be back in a few hours. I have some important work to do, so why don't you go socialize and try to make some friends?"
"Okay, Ojisan!" Naruto returned with a happy smile.
With a farewell, The Hokage left without much fanfare.
Whelp, he must've been busy because I think several kids would've given their eyeballs for a chance to meet the Hokage.
Not me since I know I'll meet him a lot when I become a Ninja. Which of course I want to be a Shinobi. That's the point of the game! It's the name of the game for crying out loud! It's the whole point I'm here.
Strange there wasn't much reaction from the other kids. They must not have recognized him.
"Children!" Kumiko called out. "This is Uzumaki Naruto. He's going to be staying with us for a while. Try to make him feel welcome, okay!"
The standard round of 'Hai, Onichaan' since she was basically our Grandmother at this point. Best woman ever. 10/10. With a smile she turned to leave…and I totally caught that smile fading into a frown.
…oh no.
That…oh, that sucks.
Kumiko's going to be prejudiced.
Naruto's gonna need a friend indeed!
I mean…I get it.
The Kyuubi was frankly the worst thing ever to happen to the village. To me. Even worse than dying. That's saying a lot. But, this kid? Blonde, enthusiastic and happy-go-lucky? He's a hero. Why? Because he's keeping it contained so it doesn't murder everything.
I mean I wish the Fourth could've murdered the Fox entirely – well, maybe not since he was apparently mind controlled into his attack. I never read Shippuden, but I did spoil myself until it got too stupid to even do that.
…I'm going to regret not spoiling myself that far.
Anyway, going back to Naruto who is currently bragging that he's friends with the Hokage and the other kids not believing him. He seems to be doing alright. The other kids are hanging onto every word because he's been with the Hokage for so long.
I hang out on the outskirts of the group while he talked all about his Ojisan, who was basically the most powerful Shinobi ever as far as Naruto was concerned. Shame I can't tell him about his Dad yet. I don't want to die again.
Eventually, as kids do, they got bored of hanging onto Naruto's every word. They went off to do other things, play Ninja, go-fish and other things. I stood up to go back to my blocks which had honestly turned into a meditation exercise when I got stopped.
"Hey you," I turned, and there was Naruto looking at me with a smile. "What's your name?
I stopped. So did the world, which grayed out and time had stopped, indicating that the game had paused. A green dialogue box popped open with a statement.
Enter your name.
Family Name:
Given Name:
...
I stared at the screen, blinking. Are you…are you serious?
HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THIS BEFORE? If I could move in the pause, I would have fallen to the floor, laughing my rear end off while also being more than a little creeped out. Seriously, how? How do I not notice I don't even have a name?
Eventually, I got myself together, still giggling, and started to decide on a name. I've always been fond of the name Daisuke, so I entered that in the given name section. I used to be big into Digimon when I was growing up and Davis, which is what his name was for the English dub, was my favorite character. So, it stuck.
I had no idea what I was going to do for the family name though.
Luckily, there was a question mark next to the Family Name: space, so I pressed that. Yamada…Nakamura…no…Shimoda? Shimoda. Shimoda Daisuke. Daisuke Shimoda. I continued sounding it out in my head, testing it on the proverbial lips.
I like that one. Shimoda Daisuke, I put in and pressed the done button.
"Shimoda Daisuke," I blurted out unexpectedly. I accompanied it with a short bow. "Nice to meet you."
"You too!" He mimicked the bow.
"Ummm…" Okay, what to do? First meeting with the main character. Nervous. Very nervous. "I was going to go play with those blocks over there."
"Okay!" Naruto said. "Can I join you?"
"Sure."
--
A couple of other kids actually tried to come over to convince Naruto to come play with them instead. He turned them down, continually chatting my ear off about what it was like to be friends with the Hokage.
What sort of bizarre world have I stepped into?
Actually, these kids would all be orphans and wouldn't be conditioned to dislike Naruto because the other kids had parents who knew who Naruto was and disliked them, leading to the kids disliking Naruto for literally no reason.
Not me, though. 'Kids adorable.
"So, how old are you?"
"I'm three!" He said, holding up three fingers. "How about you?"
"Four," I replied, holding up nine fingers.
He laughed. "What? That's not four!"
"Well yeah, but I couldn't leave this hand out of it!" I had a doctorate in Insane Troll Logic. At this point, I think it's as real as everything else I'm going through. "See, if I raised this hand, then the other hand would get mad, so while the hand with four fingers gets to be right, the other hand gets to feel better by getting more fingers!"
Naruto guffawed.
I think it's luck that he thinks that's actually funny.
It occurs to me that if I'm a year older than him, then he and I won't be in the same class. I'll be in Neji, Lee and Tenten's group. Interesting.
That actually makes me feel good, because that gives me more time to level up and grind before I face the nightmare that is the Chunin exam.
Eventually, the Hokage did as promised and returned to check up on Naruto. This time, since everyone actually knew who he was, he got swarmed it was hilarious. Naruto stood up and got all huffy. "Hey, get out of the way! He's my Ojisan! Mooove!"
I actually chuckled at this as Kumiko used…I don't think it was killing intent, so much as it was 'Spanking Intent', but it got all the kids to gangway for Naruto. The Hokage patted Naruto on the head. "How was your day?"
"Great!" Naruto reported. "I made a friend!"
"Did you now?" The Hokage smiled. "Who is it?"
Naruto turned to me and eagerly beckoned me forward. As I came forward, I could actually feel killing intent coming from the other kid's eyes boring in on me. I bowed deep. "Hi, uh. Hokage-dono."
"This is Daisuke!" He smiled. "Hey stand up straight, you don't need to bow so low!"
"It's alright, Naruto," The Hokage replied. "But you can stand up straight."
"Right, uh…" I stood up straight. "It's nice to meet you."
"And you as well, young one," The Hokage smiled.
Wow. Uh…heh. You know, morality debates from my old world aside, standing in the guy's presence? He's the coolest guy in the world. Clearly cares about his village and people in it. Including me.
"So, children!" The Hokage called to everyone. "Gather around, I have a question for everyone!"
The kids did so and Naruto and I sat down.
"So, has anyone here thought about what they want to be when they grow up?" The Hokage asked.
All the hands went up, mine included if to ensure I wasn't the odd man out, with choruses of mememememe! Ringing out. The Hokage pointed at a kid at random. Named Miyamoto, I think it was. He had black hair in a bowl cut, but without the eyebrows, any unintended resemblance was minimal.
"I want to be a Ninja!"
"Hmmmm…" The Hokage said, nodding as if that was a very thoughtful response. It was naturally the one he was looking for. "You want to be a ninja. Who else wants to be a Ninja when they grow up?"
Again, memememememe all around!
"That's good!" The Hokage turned a little serious. "Being a Shinobi is very important. It's Shinobi that defend the village. It's Shinobi that ensures everyone gets to live a safe and happy life. By wanting to be a Ninja, you help everyone you meet here in the village!"
Everyone was hanging on what he said with baited breath.
"So it makes me so proud," He continued. "To see that all of you want to help keep the village safe and I know that each of you will continue to make me proud."
"Now, does anyone know what the will of fire is?"
The will of fire is a philosophy upon which the village was founded upon. It emphas-
"I know, I know!" Naruto had his hand up, bouncing up and down in his seat as he proclaimed his knowledge loudly in my left ear.
"Okay, go ahead Naruto," The Hokage said with a smile.
"The Will of Fire means that everyone in the Village is family," Naruto said. "And everyone with the Will of Fire will love and cherish the village forever!"
…hey, what can you expect from a three-year-old? I'm actually impressed.
"Very good, Naruto!" The Hokage beamed and Naruto plastered a really happy grin on his face. "Yes. The will of fire is the heart of our village. All within it, with the will of fire can stand against any problem, no matter what it is, simply because we are united in love for our village."
And the sermon is being dumbed down for toddlers. Of course. It has to be done.
So while he talked and was very inspirational, I ended up missing most of the actual words he was saying. Helped deal with the nagging feeling that he was setting the kids up around me to become soldiers. Eeeeek.
--
Naturally, more time passed. Years, actually. Surprisingly, Kumiko was putting in an effort to not be horrible to Naruto, even while the rest of the care takers would rather he didn't exist.
This had the sad effect of pushing the other kids away from him while before they wanted to be his friend thanks to him being close to the Hokage. This makes me sad.
Well, I'M not going to let that stop me! I'll be Naruto's best friend until he ends up on Team 7 and even beyond because…well, he needs better friends than Sasuke turns out to be.
Wait, can I do anything about that?
…
…nope!
Great, now I'm depressed.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Naruto appeared right in my face and shouted, causing me to screamlikealittlegirl drop to the ground in astonishment.
"Geeze, Naruto!" I said, picking myself up. "You scared me!"
"I got you good, didn't I?" He grinned happily.
"Yes, you sure did," I said wryly. "It's my birthday already?"
"Yup!" Naruto said. "Come on, I got a present for you!"
He took me by the hand and I could do all of nothing against his Jinchūriki strength, he dragged me all the way to the play room where a small table was set up and the freaking Hokage was sitting in one of the chairs.
What.
"Ah," He said, taking his pipe out of his mouth. "Happy birthday, Daisuke."
"But-but-but," I stuttered out.
"Calm down," The Hokage said, causing me to calm down immediately because he's got a jutsu for that. "I had some time and Naruto said he wanted to do something for your birthday. So here I am."
"I-thank you! Thank you, Hokage-dono," I said, bowing and righting myself.
How the heck did I get so lucky to befriend Naruto enough to get Sarutobi to tolerate my presence with one charisma…oh. Right.
9 Luck.
Derp.
"Here's my present for you!" Naruto said, thrusting a piece of paper.
It was a drawing. Crudely drawn, with two characters, one with brown hair and one with blond, labeled Daisuke and Naruto respectively.
You know, I was kind of figuring that I wasn't going to have a lot of friends growing up because of my choice in dump stat. But if I can only have one or two friends in my entire time here?
I lucked out.
"I love it!" I said, giving Naruto a giant bear hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"Gaah! Daisuke! Can't breathe!" Naruto said, kicking and flailing in my grasp.
"Oh, whoops!" I said, releasing him. "Sorry. I guess I don't know my own strength."
Wait. Have the benefits of having 5 Strength already kicked in? At my young age? Questions for later.
"I'll admit I'm also here for another reason," The Hokage said, standing up with his hands behind his back. "You turned eight today, right?"
I nodded rapidly.
"Then you'll be ready to enter the Ninja academy when the next semester starts," The Hokage said with a smile. "You are still planning on attending, aren't you?"
Attending the academy is the whole point of the game. That's where all the stuff to do is. It's also a terrifying prospect because while I haven't seen all of Shippuden, I have seen Madara fight. That, right there, is a very nice tall glass of nope.
But if I play my cards right, I'll be pretty terrifying myself.
Though I haven't seen a single time where my game saved, which is worrisome. If I screw up, I'm not sure I get another do-over.
But I can't not try. I'd never forgive myself.
So I looked up at him, his face seemed…impassive. I gave him a vigorous nod. "Yup! I wanna be the best Ninja ever!"
"Very good," The Hokage said with a happy smile.
"That's too bad because I'm going to be the best Ninja ever!" Naruto said.
A flash of annoyance, then I mentally sighed and let it go. "Well yeah, you're going to be Hokage. But you still need awesome ninja to order around, don't you?"
"Yeah! Let's play Hokage!" Naruto said with a smile.
"Wait a minute Naruto," The Hokage said. "I need to give Daisuke my present."
"Oh yeah!" Naruto said, sitting down on the chair.
The Hokage took out, from the back of his robes, a book. It was small and had a black cover. Taking it in my hand revealed it was leather. I opened it up and…it showed my stat screen. A vault boy with a vault-tech headband walking along in an animated ink drawing. I flipped the page. It was my inventory, then my quest data and map. It was a Pipboy. In book form.
"Naruto told me how much you like to read and write," The Hokage said as I was perusing the book. "So I got you a journal to write down how your days went. If you treat it well, it'll last you for your whole life.
Okay, game did not pause when I opened my Pipboy. Good to know. With the biggest, most genuine smile I could manage, I bowed low. "Thank you so much Hokage-dono."
"You're very welcome Daisuke," The Hokage said. "Now did either of you want cake?"
Heck. Yes.
--
Okay, so later, after we had cake, the Hokage left and Naruto and I played a loooooong game of Hokage, I was able to look at my book in peace.
Luckily, darkness did nothing about my ability to see the books contents, so I was able to look at my character sheet.
Daisuke Shimoda
HP: 200
Chakra: 75
SPECIAL
Strength: 5
Perception: 5
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 1
Intelligence: 10
Agility: 5
Luck: 9
Skills:
Barter (CHA): 9
Chakra Control(INT): 27
Fuinjustu(INT): 27
Genjutsu(PER): 17
Medicine(INT): 27
Melee Weapons(STR): 17
Ninjutsu(END): 17
Pick Lock(PER): 17
Ranged Weapons(AGI): 17
Sneak(AGI): 17
Speech(CHA): 9
Survival(PER): 17
Taijutsu(END): 17
Perks:
None.
EXP: 100/1000
And that was all there was on my character sheet. Sort of empty, but I was level one. In the longest tutorial in gaming history. At this point, it's a miracle that I'm not crazy. Or maybe I am. Still…I'm concerned about how low my Speech is. That's…I mean, in the games, speech was only used when you were trying to convince people of something or to get them to do something. I think that's why I've been getting so much leeway in combination with my luck stat but…that is really low. I'll have to put points into it at some point.
Not next level up, but soon. Before I hit level 5, definitely.
I flipped the page and that's when the book got started with the manual proper, which gave me a sense of relief.
Hello and welcome! It read. Thank you for choosing to play Shinobi: A Naruto RPG. We're very proud of the work we've put into making the game system part of the world and allowing you to experience life as a Shinobi of Konoha, either good or evil. There are no limits to the choices you will need to make to survive this harsh and unforgiving world of flashy jutsu and shadowy betrayal.
Well, that's not ominous at all.
The book basically went on to talk about things I already knew, telling me that it was an RPG. However, this little note about the game was very interesting. However, due to the circumstances of the game world and how it interacts, some features have not been implemented. Such as a save and load feature. While we fully intend to input these features at a later date, we will likely hold off on such an update until all current play times are finished to avoid crashing the game and taking all of reality with it.
It was also quite terrifying. This game literally has no replay-ability at all. I mean the length of the tutorial kind of clued me into that already but come on! I can't make different choices or anything? Well, on the bright side, it'll be much harder to become a sociopath ala Sakura syndrome.
…wait. I'm in the same universe as her. Huh.
A couple more paragraphs, including one interesting one about the S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats. Each stat gives a flat bonus to skills and physical or mental attributes. However, due to the superhuman world that SHINOBI takes place in, each of these stats also increases in strength the higher level you are. A shinobi with 100 Taijutsu and 5 strength won't be doing as much damage as a Shinobi with 50 Taijutsu and 10 strength. Though the difference in skill will still be obvious. Each stat does give better bonuses as the player levels, except for Luck, which is already overpowered enough.
I can't really argue with that.
As a result, if you picked a dump stat, it will eventually become serviceable through this process, though not until the later levels.
Oh, okay. Whew. That means I won't be almost friendless forever.
Just most of the time. Dang it.
I leafed through the manual some more. Then it started talking about skills. Each skill represents a player's skill and maximum potential in an area. For example, a Shinobi with 50 Ninjutsu can learn a Ninjutsu that requires 75 in Ninjutsu, but will be severely handicapped when attempting to perform that jutsu. A high Chakra Control skill can minimize this, but it won't entirely remove the enhanced chakra cost and won't bring nearly the same results.
Good to know. To be perfectly honest, I think Taijutsu is a good first skill to max out, simply because I'll be using it start to finish. People with weapons have this annoying tendency to be disarmed and I don't want that to happen to me.
Especially not in the literal sense.
Turning some more pages, I came to Perks.
Perks are the secret weapon in every player's arsenal. They allow the player to bend and at higher levels outright break the rules of the game and the setting. Sick of getting knocked back and on your rear by an overzealous Ninjutsu or Taijutsu user? Get the Stone Wall perk and become completely immune to getting knocked back and even gain resistance to melee and Taijutsu damage!
Okay that's awesome. I mean, holy cow! Just sit there and be completely unaffected especially Wind Jutsu's, I imagine. but I'll also have to be careful. I don't want to paint a target on my back until Higher levels, so I can laugh at the opposition as they try to stop me.
…I like this.
After that, there was a giant list of every perk in the game. Things that reduced the chakra cost of Ninjutsu, stone wall…I'm actually getting excited looking at all of this. But I should probably save this for later. Not tired, but I could see a caretaker come in to make sure I'm asleep.
So, bed time!
.
.
.
Eventually, as all things must, summer came to an end and I shed tears of joy as the single most boring period of my life came to a close. I was so happy, my backpack was full of lunch and I was heading to the academy for throwing fireballs and being awesome.
Basically being a Shinobi.
I am ready. I AM SO FREAKING READY I CAN'T STAND IT.
I MEAN REALLY.
"Bye Naruto," I said, waving at him over my shoulder as I left.
"Bye Daisuke!" Naruto called out from behind me.
What a great kid. He'll definitely grow up to be the hero the story needs. And me? Well, I'm going to learn how to…well, first I'm going to learn the Academy three, level up a bunch of times and hopefully be able to learn cool stuff from whoever my Jounin Sensei is. Then I'm going to roflstomp pretty much everything that stands in my way and…I actually don't know. Maybe I'll travel?
Barring any railroading, this is going to be great.
Quest Update: The First Step
Attend your first day of school.
FINALLY! YES! THE FIRST QUEST OF THE GAME! WITH BIG REWARDS AND BIGGER PAYOFFS! HALLELEUJA!
I approached the front gate of the academy. Parents, teachers and new students were gathered together, standing before the podium to watch the Hokage give his speech to further indoctrinate the impressionable young youths before him to help bolster Konoha's mercenary force.
Don't get me wrong, I like Konoha. Their policies make my old world morals cringe and scream in agony and outrage. But they don't apply right now. Not in the slightest. Not until I can back them up with a giant fireball. Or a million.
…by hook or by crook, I am stealing a fire jutsu from the Uchiha. Those are awesome. Also, irony points. Those are always good.
Is the speech still going on?
"…you will learn what the Will of Fire…"
It's still going on. Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it, in this world, to do what I've always done and put all my points into one skill every level until it's maxed or to split them evenly. On one hand, it guarantees that I WILL be able to handle anything involving that skill. If it involves, say stealth or Taijutsu, where an error could mean death, I won't fail barring obscene penalties. With the right perks, even those won't be so bad I can't maneuver around.
But if I need a certain skill at a certain time and I haven't trained it, which has happened in my games, it could go badly. Very badly. We could end up in an avoidable fight, like in the cases of Stealth when I decided to max out Guns first.
Though maxing out Guns first was worth it to delete the first Legion Patrol I saw.
Hmmmm…let's think about this and decide when I level up.
How's the speech coming?
"…thank you."
Perfect timing.
With that, we were lead into the academy to begin orientation. Didn't see Iruka, which makes sense, there's more teachers than just him. My sensei was an older guy. Grey hair. Had an eyepatch, which looked intimidating.
"Good morning students," He said, writing Kanji on the board. "My name is Okawa Yuko. I'll be your Sensei for the duration of your time here."
I look around the class and see literally no one I should be able to recognize. Nope. No Konoha 11 for me. I am on my own. Which could be a good thing. I don't want to get mad at Neji this early. Because I would get mad.
"Now, before we begin with the rest of orientation, I'm going to pass out a quiz."
Groans passed through the class, only for the whole class, including me, to get sent straight to seated-attention when the room shook and lightning strikes a little birdy outside on a clear day. At least I think it struck a little birdy.
"It's just a survey to see what your preferences for specialization are," Sensei Okawa snapped, handing a pile to a kid on the end of each row.
Eventually I got mine. I looked at it and mentally sighed. It was the G.O.A.T from Fallout 3, only modified to fit the Naruto universe. It was stupid. Really stupid. It was the one thing I remember disliking from Fallout 3. I did not spend fifty bucks to sit in a classroom to take a written exam.
So, I looked at all the questions and filled out the bubbles at random. I don't really care what it said, but If they're going to subject me to a meaningless test, especially when I get to just pick the results of the test later, I'mma doodle a smiley face with little dots.
Sure enough, the moment I finished the test, a screen with all the skills showed up with. With three tagged skills. In the Fallout games, when you tag a skill, you picked what you were supposed to be good at. In Fallout 3, it added 15 skill points to the skills themselves, to give you a boost. The three skills currently tagged were Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons and Barter.
The only one I thought was good was Barter, since that made supplies cheaper. However, the other two were Melee Weapons, which I already decided I don't want and ranged weapons, where the whole point was to toss them at the enemy and end up restocking at the end of a successful mission. Since we have jutsu, which is like ranged weaponry but with infinite ammo, that just makes it an impractical money sink. So, I untagged all three and put them where I thought they should go.
That would be Taijutsu, Chakra Control and Speech. Taijutsu because that's going to get me a lot of experience in the short run, Chakra Control because it's just that valuable in learning jutsu (which I suppose will be around levels 20 to 40 before seals take over) and Speech to compensate for my crappy charisma. Hopefully, that'll make for an…at least bearable time at school. This brought Taijutsu to 32, Chakra Control to 42 and Speech to 24.
Pressing 'done', I watched as the dots on my test skipped and rearranged themselves on the test by magic. I snorted.
"Shimoda," Sensei called to me. "Is there something funny?"
"Uh…sorry, Sensei," I said, sheepishly. "I just got a joke that got told to me this morning."
He groaned in annoyance. "Very well."
There is no way he bought that.
cha-ching!*
I saw the EXP bar go from 100 to 200, and then another message popped up. Charisma Check Failed: 1/6.
Nope. Did not buy that at all. Then where did all the EXP come fr-oh, right. The G.O.A.T.
After the test was passed, we were told to report to the training fields outside the academy. On my way out, I could feel Sensei Okawa's eyes on me. Eugh that's creepy. Like the feeling of my nonexistent sins crawling on my back.
So, we were escorted by another Chunin whose name I don't know yet. We were in lines the whole time, boys on one side, girls on the other. I briefly considered goose stepping out of audacity but decided against it when I realized I would accidentally kick the person in front of me. And the fact that no one around me would get the joke.
In the training room, we were greeted by a silver haired Chunin, complete with official flak jacket. I always thought those were really cool. I want one.
"Hello everyone," He waved at us. "I'm Mizuki and I'll be your Taijutsu instructor."
Hey, someone else I recognized! Cool! I wonder if he's a complete jerk right now or if that comes later. I hope it's later. I haven't actually seen too much about Mizuki aside from him getting mauled by a mountain of clones. Which, admittedly was pretty funny when he tried to kill Naruto just before.
Anyway, that was before, this is now.
"So, who here has some Taijutsu training?" Mizuki asked.
Hands went up, but mine wasn't one of them. I guess I did technically have training now, with the skill tags, I don't think it's worth to tip my hand just yet. There was a potential traitor in the midst, after all.
"So about half of you?" Mizuki said with a sniff. "Alright, we can work with that. Everyone that raised their hand step over here. Everyone that did not, over here."
I moved over with the group who did not raise their hands. When we were in place, Mizuki started matching us up in pairs. My sparring partner was a prospective Kunoichi, with long black hair with locks going down her shoulders. She wore a green shirt with a white stripe going down the center, with black pants and ninja-sandal's.
"Hi, I'm Daisuke," I said with a smile. "What's your name?"
She let out an exasperated sigh. "Hisako."
"Bow to your partners!" Mizuki ordered and I followed. Upon coming back up, I saw that she had returned it.
"Now, you each will spar with each other until the bell rings. Then you will take a quick water break and we will head over to the target range," Mizuki said. "No permanent injury. No broken bones. This is just to see where everyone stands. We'll be watching. Ready? Set!"
The bell rung.
Hisako wasted no time in rushing me with a fist directed at my face. I slapped it out of the way with a hand to her forearm, before retaliating with a kick to the stomach, which sent her back a couple feet. She blinked, holding her stomach, looking at me with a risen eyebrow.
I offered a small smile.
She assumed an actual stance and started to circle.
This time, I went in for the attack, going for a fist to the face which disguised another punch to the stomach. She crossed her wrists and caught the punch, sending it upward over her head, then she counter attacked by bringing her elbow down on my shoulder-OW THE PAIN!
I went down with a yelp and saw my health bar for the first time, and it was going down by forty-five points, yowza. That spelled the end of my feint and I got up and quickly moved back before she could hit my face for real.
I brought up my fists in a pseudo boxing stance. Okay, clearly this girl knew what she was doing. And this is literally the first fist fight I've ever been in either my lives. She moved forward in a zigzag, before she went in for a circle kick to knock my feet out from under me. I simply jumped over it and brought my fist down on her face on the way down.
She was knocked to the floor only to jump back up and away from me.
You know, if I could go for a permanent injury, this fight would've been over much more quickly. This is getting a little bor-ohcrapdodge!
She came back in with a fist to the face, which I dodged. I tried my own punch to the chest, but she dodged to the side and kicked at my stomach, which I dropped to the floor to dodge, hopping right back up to kick her in the stomach again.
The kick landed and she was knocked back onto her rear.
"Why do you keep-" She breathed heavily. "Kicking me in the stomach?"
"I dunno, obvious target," I said, shrugging.
She looked up and glared, rising sharply to her feet, about to say something.
The bell dinged. She glared at me and simply walked off with a huff.
Cha-ching!
I will never get used to that. Another 100 EXP and suddenly, I'm now 30% of the way to level 2. Whoo! I'm on the highway to l33tness now!
Okay, not really. But still. I'm guessing radiant quests will be a thing aren't there.
Another settlement needs your-
PRESTON I SWEAR TO-oh, the class is leaving. Whoops.
I hurried over to the group and kept pace with the back. I didn't see Hisako again which I will count as a blessing because I do not want to get jumped by a bunch of students who may, in fact, be as good or better as I am. At least not until I can be sure that non-lethal K. O.'s actually get me experience. I hope they do. Or this is going to be a long school year.
Long four years, actually.
So, there were five targets.
"Okay!" Mizuki called out. "So, you have five kunai in the little bucket to your right. You must throw them all and try to hit the center of the target as close and or as often as you can! When everyone is finished and we give the all clear, you will go and collect your kunai and deposit them in the bucket for the next student. Is that clear?"
There were scattered 'Hai, Sensei's' scattered throughout the group.
"I said," Mizuki cleared his throat. "IS THAT CLEAR!"
"HAI, SENSEI!" I certainly shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Much better!" Mizuki nodded with approval. "But seriously, wait until we give the all clear. People with bad aim become really good at hitting people when they don't want to be."
Ooh. That can't happen to me, right? A critical miss? My high luck makes me less likely to critically miss. Actually if I remember correctly, it makes enemies less likely to critically hit but more likely to critically miss. Hmmm. The rule is important and must be followed.
So, I wait patiently for my turn, watching some amazing shots, some terrible shots, one that hit a bird nesting ten feet above the target. I guess it was whistling a little loud.
…if I did that, would it give me EXP?
Eventually, it came around to my turn. I took hold of the Kunai. My ranged weapons was only 17. Only one thing for it.
LEROOOOOOOOOOOY JENKINS!
I missed 1, 2, hit the target with the third, missed again with the forth and with the fifth…the fifth buried itself in the bullseye, becoming completely invisible.
The all clear was given and I went to retrieve my Kunai. Well, numbers one through four were easy enough, but as I dug into the straw of the target, I took hold of the handle and pulled. It wouldn't budge.
Strength Check Failed: 5/7.
Oh boy. "Uhhh…can I get some help?"
Mizuki was by my side in an instant. Kind of creepy, actually. "What'd you do?"
"Somehow my Kunai got stuck Mizuki-sensei," I explained, still pulling futilely.
He scoffed. "Seriously? Here, watch me."
He took hold of the handle. "You just have to put your back into it-hng!"
He pulled with everything he had, but the kunai refused to budge. Mizuki looked at it with frustrated confusion. "Kid, how hard did you throw this thing?"
"About as hard as the others," I said, rubbing the back of my head.
Mizuki's string of cusswords under his breath as he tried to dislodge the kunai became increasingly comical as he strained. Eventually, he did get it out, and pulled a large chunk of wood which was stuck on the bent end of the Kunai.
"Whatever, we have spares," He said, pocketing the kunai. "Try not to do that again."
"I'll do my best, Sensei," I said, rubbing the back of my head again with an uneasy chuckle.
With that, I stuck to the back of the group of students as it was now time to head to another class.
Cha-ching!
Only 60 EXP? Not even a bonus from my high INT? Oh whatever. Now I just need 640 To level. Whatever. The lines were back up, with Mizuki facing us. "Now that we've had a chance to see how each of you handle Taijutsu and Bukijutsu-"
Wait, what? Oh, right. Weapons.
"We'll take a break for lunch. The little park outside is open, feel free to sit under the shade, play on the swings, whatever," Mizuki gestured. "We'll be back to class in an hour so make sure you eat fast and get your energy out. More than you already have, that is."
Welp, I had my backpack, so off I went!
I separated from the main group, walking around the wall and out of sight from the main compound. I…had a fabulous idea.
I dug out my black book. The thing never seemed to leave my possession for long. I flipped over the inventory screen and…yup! There it was. In my inventory, was my lunch of rice balls, sauce and delicious sushi. I always loved sushi.
So in Fallout 3, you ate food and stuff through the inventory screen. I wonder if I can do the same thing here with the book. So…I tapped the food item to select it…then I tapped it again and it disappeared from my inventory and I was graced with rice-ball taste on my tongue.
Wow. Huh. Well, let's go for the packets of soy sauce…huh. Okay, that was way too strong. Didn't mix well at all way. Okay, I tap a sushi roll and it's delicious. I almost tap a wasabi packet, but decide I'm not crazy. So, I simply dig out the remaining sushi roll and enjoy it like a normal person.
Due to eating literally half of my lunch via assimilation, I was done fairly early.
With that, I stood up and looked at the concrete wall.
There was another experiment I wanted to try. So, tree-walking. Apparently, you needed to utilize your chakra to stick to the surface of a wall. Too little, you fall off. Too much, and you break the tree. Though in the case of concrete walls, I might just go flying off. Although…breaking stuff like that might have been the basis for Tsunade's megaton punch jutsu.
I know that's not what it's called but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. Anyway, back to tree-walking.
I want to try it. So, I lift up my foot, channel chakra to my foot and try to stick. Anchor.
Cha-ching!
Chakra Control Check Passed: 42/25.
10 EXP? Seriously?
Alright, whatever. My foot is stuck to the wall in glorious fashion! Excellent! Now for the other foot.
With more than a little bit of trepidation, I pull my other foot off the ground, keeping the other foot stuck to the wall. With some focus, I channel some chakra to the other foot as well and…
Cha-ching!
Chakra Control Check Passed: 42/40.
25 EXP. Okay. 605 to go.
Cha-ching!
What'd I do that time?
Perk Unlocked: Tree Walker
Using your chakra, you can walk up and down walls with ease!
150 EXP! NOW WE'RE TALKING!
Wait, how's my Chakra?
The little bar underneath my magically refilled health bar, wasn't budging. Huh. I guess it's because I'm not using it up or getting rid of it? I guess? Whatever, it's awesome. I get to act like Spider-Man and I got the biggest EXP boost I've seen in ever! See, this is cool.
How much do I need to level again? 455. Okay.
Maybe I should try walking on water next? Eh, there's nothing nearby. Darn. Oh well, this is great. Rasengan? Nah. I can see that having an arbitrarily high skill check simply because of what it is.
I dropped to the floor and sat on the ground.
Think I should try using the 'wait' command?
Nah. I don't want to miss the bell by accident. Okay. Ummmmmm…darn.
So, skill points? Dump them in one spot or shift them around? Speech needs help. But maxing Taijutsu as fast as I can…agh. It's the same arguments I keep sifting in my head. Not going to get anything done.
You know what, whatever. Let's try the Rasengan. How'd it go again?
So, I held out my hand, started to pool chakra, to spin the air into a ball, then another ball going the other way then I felt a sting as the chakra in my hand disappeared. Waving away the pain in my hand, I read the inevitable message that I knew was coming.
Chakra Control Check Failed: 42/80.
80?!? Then how did Naruto…? He used a shadow clone to give himself a boost. Derp.
Then the bell rang. My chakra was slowly replenishing at any rate, so I wasn't worried as I shouldered my bag again and ran to step in line.
We were lead back into the classroom we first started in, with Okawa-sensei standing at the blackboard. "Welcome back, class. So, now, we're going to talk about Chakra. Can I have a volunteer to describe what chakra is."
My hand shot straight up because I have 10 INT. This will be a breeze.
"Yes, Shimoda?"
Nice.
"Chakra is a mix of physical and spiritual energies, generated by Chakra Coils," I rattled off. "It is what fuels all Jutsu and is the foundation of everything Shinobi do."
"Very good," Okawa nodded.
Cha-ching! 100 EXP. That leaves me with 355 more until I, finally, hit level 2.
Luckily I was able to keep my victory dance in my head and Okawa continued to go on with a lecture about all of the ways chakra could be used and how seals were the basis of shaping and molding chakra, and how we use those in conjunction with moving the chakra to where it needed to go.
Fascinating stuff. I know that in my old world there were lots of people who believed in similar practices, though the effect was nowhere near as pronounced as it is here; it was more thought of as a spiritual pursuit anyway.
But this also brought to mind something I've usually considered. When I was growing up, I used to play Neverwinter Nights and Dungeons and Dragons. I always, always rolled a sorcerer and built him around one, simple, thing: Metamagic.
I hate casting animations.
They take too long, announce your presence to the enemy and if you're paralyzed you can't do anything. Specializing in Taijutsu can go a long way in helping me avoid little things like interruptions, especially if I obtain some sort of 'evasive' style but I'm not sure such a style exists in the game world and it doesn't actually solve the problem that's really starting to irk me: I will end up with casting animations. Or, hand seals. I might also have to at least say the name of my jutsu if the world is as similar to the one from the Anime.
…wow, that line of thinking is bizarre. I'm in a cartoon. A violent bloody cartoon about a crapsack world. But still a cartoon.
Anyway. I do have a list of perks in my book, so I should really take a look at what I have available to me. Shame I don't have a walkthrough to get the best perks, but no use crying over what-ifs. Though, the question of what if springs another thought. Are there any jutsu that didn't require hand seals?
Besides the Rasengan…which is far and away one of the best jutsu in the world, which I take as a sign that I'm on the right track…there was Tsunade's megaton-punch thing. Which was gathering your chakra up and releasing it at the time of impact. Didn't seem to be any hand seals involved.
Huh. Well, that jutsu fits into two of my tagged skills; Taijutsu and Chakra control. Probably be a reasonably high requirement for both, but it's something to shoot for. I wonder if I can just figure it out like I did tree-walking and presumably, the Rasengan if that failed Chakra Control check is anything to go on, or if I need to be taught by Tsunade herself. Hmmm…
By the way, speaking of tree walking, what would have happened if I failed that check? Put too little in it, I just fall off. Put too much, the tree explodes…wait. I just thought about this! And it's the perfect cover story! I learn Tsunade's megaton punch and if someone asks me about it, I could just say I thought about weaponizing the side effects of putting too much chakra in a tree-walking jutsu! Perfect!
"Shimoda!"
"Huh?" I sprang to attention as the room shook and lightning struck outside the windows.
"Care to answer the question?"
"…I'm terribly sorry, Sensei, I dosed off," He looked mad. "Please repeat the question?"
Cha-ching!
Speech Check Success: 24/20.
Whew! Enhanced speech is already saving my butt! With 10 EXP to boot.
"Do you know what seals we use in our jutsu," He asked levelly.
Cha-ching!
Intelligence Check Success: 10/9.
50 EXP. Awesome.
"There's Ram, Boar, Tiger, Bird, Rat, Monkey, Dragon, Ox, Snake, Hare, Horse, and Ox," I recited from memory.
"…that's very good, Shimoda," Okawa said, somewhat surprised. The class, dull though it is, becomes somewhat interesting when Okawa demonstrates a chakra-control exercise to stick a leaf to his finger and make it dance across his hand.
I wonder if he can make it do that can-can. I probably could.
"Students!" Sensei Okawa called over the sound of the bell. "Your homework is to practice the leaf exercise and you will be required to demonstrate it when you come in tomorrow."
So I'm required to make a leaf do the can-can? Awesome! I will train my leaf to be the best can-can dancing leaf in the entire elemental countries! The fact that it will be the only can-can dancing leaf in the entire elemental countries is superfluous and unimportant!
Also, 295 EXP until level-up. Sweet.
I stood up and left the building, feeling Okawa's eye still looking at me. Part of me would appreciate it if he had a preference for dishonesty, but that would be bad for everyone else in the long run. He already seemed to be willing to let me off easily, especially since he caught me lying.
…that is bad. Lying is bad and I should feel bad and…no, lying's a fact of life of the Elemental Countries. I need to accept it and make the best of-oh who am I kidding. This place is king crapsack world on crapsack mountain.
I'm just glad I didn't land in 40K. This place has NOTHING on that nutty universe.
Quest Updated: The First Step.
Completed: Attend your first day of school.
Return to the orphanage.
On my way, mystical dialogue boxes!
Wait…I'm not Deadpool. I need my own gimmick.
So I quickly made my way back to the Orphanage and opened the door. I had expected Naruto would be waiting for me with baited breath. What I got was a look at nothing.
"Ummm...Naruto?" I called after.
"He stepped out," The Matron replied, stepping around a corner. "How was your first day at the academy?"
"Awesome!" I said, gushing like the eight-year-old I supposedly was. "We got to fight each other and throw kunai and I got every question right and-"
"Okay, okay," The Matron smiled, patting me on the head. "I'm glad you had a good day. Go ahead and wash up for dinner."
…stupid level 1 charisma. I really need to fix that one of these days. Whatever. Wonder where Naruto went off to. Hope he's okay.
I heard a door slam to the right.
"What was that?" I asked the Matron, who had turned around to head to the kitchen.
"I don't know," She said over her shoulder at me.
Quest Update: The First Step
Completed: Return to the orphanage.
Investigate the noise.
"I'll be right there," I said, turning to go check it out.
I turned a corner and there, at the door to the orphanages cellar, were two of my fellow orphans; Santo Naora and Ashida Rikyu. They were students too, apparently. They had slammed it shut and were holding the door shut with their backs as they braced themselves with their legs against the opposite wall.
"So, what's up?" I asked.
They looked at me, looking rather panicked.
"Nothing!" Naora said.
"Yeah, go mind your own business!" Rikyu added.
Okay, I may have 1 charisma but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
"Okay, Obasaan just asked me to wash up," I replied. "Sorry to bother you."
I walked past them, clearly going to the washroom. I shut the door and turned on the sink. Then I opened the door as quietly as I could.
Sneak Check Success: 17/15.
10 EXP.
Perception Check Success: 5/5.
20 EXP.
Ooh, another one I might need to upgrade at some point in the future. That was close.
"How long until you think they'll go away?" Naora asked Rikyu.
"I don't know," he replied in a whisper. "I've didn't think rats could get that big."
"Why did you even feed them soldier pills?" Naora asked. She sounded like she was close to crying.
Oh crap.
See, I'm scared of rats. Not in the 'I was traumatized when a rat yelled at me then ran away when I was a kid' sort of scared, but in the 'I know those things have iron in their teeth, will eat through anything, are incredibly smart and can develop an insatiable taste for human blood upon getting a taste'. If they've mutated to be even more dangerous, and if that mutation was any sort of permanent, then kids were going to die unless something is done about them now. Especially the babies in the nursery, who were very vulnerable and that could start a horrible chain reaction.
"It was your idea!" Rikyu returned hotly. "So you get to tell Obaasan!"
"You're the one who said it was a good idea," Naora snapped back. "…we should get out of here. Daisuke's already been by here and if we're still here, we'll look suspicious."
"So then what do we do?" Rikyu asked, sounding pretty scared.
"Hope the soldier pills wear off?" Naora offered weakly.
Ooh, good point. The rats are still a problem, though.
"We'll tell Obaasan about the rats after dinner," Naora nodded, some semblance of calm restored. "We can be sure the pills will have worn off about then. Then she can clean them up and no-one will be the wiser!"
Hmmm…if they fed them whole soldier pills, to a body of their size and density, I don't think they'll wear off for a while. Possibly not for another few hours if not clear until tomorrow.
They stood up and ran off toward the kitchen and I shut off the water.
Quest Updated: The First Step
Completed: Investigate the Noise
Clear the cellar of soldier-rats.
'Soldier-rats'? I guess it's more creative than simply 'giant rats'.
I opened the door to the basement, the darkness not being inviting at all. Then at the bottom of the steps, I saw a pair of glistening eyes.
Oh no. You are not getting upstairs. I swiftly closed the door behind me and leapt down the stairs. It squealed at me, revealing those darkened teeth that frankly freaked me out, but it wasn't fast enough to dodge the two feet which stomped down on its head, breaking its neck instantly.
5 EXP.
I heard squeals and I turned around, seeing rats feasting on the various stores of food down here. Yeah, none of that's edible anymore. It wasn't that dark in here, though that's because of the torches lit and mounted on the walls.
The rats rushed forward. Two of them went for my legs but I jumped and tried to stomp on one again, though the rat simply dodged and bit me in the calf why?!?
-15 HP.
I slammed a one-handed haymaker down on its head and it still wasn't dead.
One jumped and clawed at my arm, pain shooting out from the scratches in my skin and blood started to trickle, I punched that one back down to the ground and kicked it in the face.
-10 HP.
5 EXP.
Nice. But how many are left-AHHOW!
The back of my knee got slashed open, putting me on my knee in shock, and the rat then tackled me in the back, sending me back to the ground. Suddenly, I was getting double teamed and sliced up.
-10 HP.
-15 HP.
-10 HP.
Yeah. I'm in deep $#$@ here.
I spun on my back, putting an elbow to a rat's face and bashing it away from me with the entirety of my forearm. I leapt back up, but the rat that was slicing up my back was now clinging to my back with razor claws and a chunk of my shoulder in its mouth for good measure.
-1HP.
-1HP.
-1HP…
My health was depleting continuously because the rat on my back was applying a damage over time with his bite and it was super painful! GEEZE!
I jumped up and fell on my back, once, twice until the DOT stopped and the rat dropped limply from my back.
5 EXP
It was worth more than that you piece of crap game system.
This was bad. I was down to 129 HP from the DOT plus all the other attacks. I'm fairly sure my arm was close to being crippled, which was really bad in of itself. Not only that, but my quest journal hadn't updated yet, meaning there's another rat around here somewhere.
I was breathing haggardly and blood seeped from the wounds I had acquired. Where's the rat? Where's the rat?
Seriously, where?
Enemies don't usually use stealth like this.
Not in any of the RPG's I used to play.
A squeal had me looking up to see themissingratdivingformyfaceohCRAP!
It started to slice and claw at my face and I was beating it with my fists to get it off.
-20HP.
-25HP.
-25HP.
FREAKING EXTRA HEADSHOT DAMAGE!
Then I forced it off through excessive use of force. It tried to bite me on the nose but he was flung off with as much gusto as I could muster. Blood leaked in my eyes making me strain to keep them open through the sting.
Then the game graced me with another message.
Your head has been crippled! Use a medical jutsu or sleep in a bed to heal the damage!
Well, good to know using a bed still heals me.
In my swimming vision, I was having a bad time trying to pick out the rat from the shadows, which seemed to be blurring into one another, with the torchlight.
Oh crap.
Oh crap oh crap oh crap.
This is very bad.
Then, I saw it.
Rushing toward me, I saw the distinct blur of the rat rushing for my legs.
Luck, don't fail me now!
The kick to its head connected, sending it sprawling.
5EXP.
Quest Updated: The First Step
Completed: Clear the cellar of soldier-rats
Talk to Matron Kumiko.
Whoopee.
Well, I guess…ooh, this vision thing is annoying. Okay, well, the Matron, Obasaan or Kumiko or whatever I'm supposed to call her is going to want proof so…where are those corpses?
With more than a little disgust, I grabbed each rat corpse by the tail and held them in my fist like a perverse bushel. I slowly ascended the steps because I didn't want to fall and endanger the 59 hit points I had left.
I got to the top and opened the door.
"Daisuke, what happened?!?"
I wiped my eyes with my forearm and saw the Matron looking down at me in shock and worry. Behind her were Naora and Rikyu who were white as sheets and staring at me. Or the bushel of enlarged rodents. Maybe a little of both.
"Oh, I found out that someone fed the rats in the cellar some Soldier Pills," I explained, hoisting the bushel for them to see. "I went in and wiped 'em out for you."
"I…yes, I can see that!" the Matron was, naturally, very worried for my health. Awww. She does care! "We need to get you to the hospital immediately."
I'm not even going to argue. Trying to convince her of the truthfulness of being okay with just a nights-sleep is a completely futile exercise with my stats. "Good idea, Obaachan."
Quest Update: The First Step
Completed: Talk to Matron Kumiko
Sleep at the hospital.
Well, that was straight forward.
Well, Kumiko simply scooped me up in her arms and rushed me with NINJA SPEED to Konoha General. One look at my wounds, and I was admitted straight to the ER where they doped me up on pain killers, which I appreciated.
I didn't say a word. Didn't really have to with my legal guardian taking care of all my stuff. I got my wounds cleaned up pretty quickly and put into a room. When I was put into a bed, I decided that it was time to go to sleep. For about about…five hours.
When I woke up, it was 10:29, so the old sleep function from Fallout still worked.
Quest Completed: The First Step
300 EXP.
NICE.
Bum-bum-bum-Bum!
You leveled up!
Level Achieved: 2
Down below that was a list of my skills.
For Tsunade's Megaton Punch, I dumped all twenty skill points into Chakra Control. That jutsu was going to be so incredibly useful, plus the idea of getting Rasengan which was good enough to become Naruto's Signature Technique except for the clones. That brought Chakra Control up to 62. Nice.
Next was Perks.
On that list were the perks Intensive Training, Taijutsu Enthusiast, Swift Learner and Wall Crawler.
Intensive training let me raise any one of my S.P.E.C.I.A.L points by one. This could easily fix my charisma problem, which has been…really bad, but at the same time, I've gotten used to not getting much social attention. It's not like I'm dying for social contact and there are other things that are more pertinent to my early game survival. So, increasing my charisma is on my to-do list, but it falls behind increasing luck.
Taijutsu Enthusiast was an interesting one. It increased my damage and magnitude of special moves by 10%. So my strikes would do more damage and my grapples and suplexs would be more effective at throwing people. Excellent perk.
Swift Learner made it so that I gained 10% more EXP whenever I gained EXP. I always passed by it on the rationalization that there was enough EXP to get to max level even if you penalized me %10 EXP per EXP gain. Now, I might get it to make things faster. Then again, I'm also a year away from the plot, when all the major crap happens so I think I can hold off. For now.
Wall Crawler makes my Tree-walking Jutsu 15% more powerful, which would be exactly what it says on the tin: I am now 15% harder to dislodge from vertical and upside-down surfaces.
Hmmm…I'm torn. I really want to bring Luck to 10 to give me that sweet 10% critical hit chance. That's actually what happened earlier with the target practice, now that I think about it. I hit a critical on the target, causing the kunai to get stuck. A guaranteed attack with extra damage is nothing to sneeze at. Then there's Taijutsu Enthusiast which is amazing for combat. Swift Learner is on probation for now and I don't feel the need to get Wall Crawler at this moment.
Ummmm…well, Luck made me friends with Naruto, as cliché as that is. That's amazing. So I know it works wonders when it wants too. But Taijutsu Enthusiast was an amazing perk, more consistently reliable, too. Hmmm…
Honestly, Luck seems to be pulling double duty in providing amazing benefits and compensating for my biggest weakness. So, yeah. I picked intensive training, then increased my Luck to 10.
The game was paused during level-up, which is darn nice for convenience. As the world faded back into color, I noted that it was, indeed, nighttime. I wasn't hurting anymore and my hit points were at full. My vision wasn't swimming so my head was obviously fixed up. Pretty sure it's because I decided to take a nap, though Ninja doctors are nothing to sneeze at. Maybe it's a mix of both.
Well, questions for later. Right now, I'm going to feel amazing with the knowledge that I just completed my first quest. As well as understand that any attempt to leave early will result in being detained by irate nursing staff. So, back to sleep for me. This time, I'm sleeping until morning.