Now Playing - Naruto's Day

I watched with some satisfaction as I was able to finally get the thin, long metal needle between my fingers to consistently rotate. I'd been at this for a bit, and it was trickier than it looked. [Observe.]

Low-Grade Senbon (Blunted)

Rotational Velocity: 3.2 spins per second

The game seemed to love adding these pointless things. Game, can you lift the level restriction I've had for months or explain why my skills don't go above level 33 despite the menu claiming I should be able to reach level 130 in it off of stats alone? No, that'd be silly. How about I treat you to a èen spinning skill instead?

Your Skill Level has increased!

Object-Spinning, Lv.30

Your ability to rotate objects in your hands, for entertainment or practice. Mostly useless.

Checking my stats, I grinned as I realized that my Dex had finally gone up by one again. It'd taken fifteen levels of it for the game to grant me one point, and now that I'd reached level 30, I was basically at my current cap, with level 45 being unreachable.

I'd largely given up on understanding what made a certain task constitute as a skill. Likewise, figuring out which skills gave out stat bonuses was an exercise in frustration. Why did I have a generic kenjutsu skill, but apparently taijutsu fell into different styles that each gave their own stat bonuses?

My never-ending frustrations with the game aside, I'd added senbon to my repertoire after realizing that I was exactly as skilled using them as I was at kunai- apparently, the Shurikenjutsu skill applied to basically all thrown projectiles rather than just shuriken. So I reckoned that it was better to have them and not need them.

Also, Hazuki had taught me how to put up my growing hair; apparently cutting it too short was off-limits. Not because I was a girl, but because I was an Uchiha. Go figure. Thus, I was now armed with a senbon in my hair, and now I looked cool as fuck for it.

As I sighed and went to put the senbon back into my hair like I'd been taught, I saw a hand place itself on my desk.

Hmmm.

Large, adult hand where it shouldn't be.

Looking back up, I followed the hand's trajectory over to our instructor, who had an unamused expression on his face.

Bekkō, Academy Instructor, Lv.26

"Tomo-chan, if you're quite done spinning your hair pin, please solve the problems on the board."

"Eh?" I asked on autopilot, staring at the board.

80+62

24+56

30x5

Huh. Didn't realize we'd started multiplication. Big boy stuff. Absolutely riveting.

Not.

Looking back at Izumi, she was just putting her hands to her face at my being caught spacing out. A lot of giggling was going on around me, and I realized that they thought I was stumped. Glancing for a moment outside the window, I noticed that one of the other classes was exercising in the courtyard.

Itachi Uchiha, Uchiha Clan Prodigy, Lv.20

He, of course, had not been level-locked by the system. Without a word, I stood up, walking over to the board and reaching for some chalk. I had to jump for the first one because I was the shortest kid in the class, which only added to the laughter, but soon after I solved all the problems on the board. While I could assume that my fellow kids had no issues with addition by this point, the laughter lost in intensity once I began writing the answers, and completely stopped by the third one. Notably, I'd just written the answers, without the process we'd been taught.

Go me. Basic math powers activated.

I turned back around to stare at the teacher, whose frown had turned bemused. I had nothing against our homeroom teacher, he was a nice enough man to the rest of the student body and he had some rather funny eyebrows but still, putting me on the spot like this was mean, given he clearly expected me to fail. I kept saying nothing, just staring at me.

"It's... correct, Tomo-chan. But for the sake of the class, could you explain how you solved it?"

I sighed, before slowly going through the process. It was like riding a bike and suddenly having training wheels strapped on it- it was slower and more difficult when I didn't need to use them. Still refusing to say a word, whenever I wanted to point out what I wanted the class to notice I just aggressively jabbed the chalk against the blackboard.

I cringed slightly at having to write out 30+30 five times, and just took full advantage of my now 70 dexterity to get it over with as soon as possible.

By now, the teacher's expression had turned from bemusement to thoughtful, before nodding. "Very good, Tomo-chan. You may go back to your seat."

Walking back to my seat, I caught a girl's leg sticking out of her seat to try and trip me. Right. This was a classroom we were talking about.

So I kicked her leg aside when she tried to trip me and then walked on by, too fast for anyone to see me despite the girl's shout of pain as I passed her by. I didn't allow my eyes to linger enough to learn what her name was.

As class progressed and I found myself without something to do now that I had "mastered" pen-spinning, I decided that I might as well find a new hobby.

Genjutsu.

Or, well- Genjutsu preparation. I obviously couldn't throw the damn things around yet- both because I'd been refused learning them for... some reason (apparently, very much room for fucking up with terrible consequences that I was not explained?)

Itachi was similarly not yet allowed and he was my measuring stick, so at least I was not being given an unfair treatment. Probably.

But having read up on the theory, all of the upper-end genjutsu (those that did not rely entirely on the subconscious of the target to work for you) required an excellent awareness of the space around you. And given that I was apparently supposed to be super good at genjutsu, I decided that I might as well start with something of that nature.

With that in mind, I gave as good of a look around the room, my peers and the instructor as I felt I could in five minutes of time, trying to commit every detail to memory before looking back down.

I pulled out my so far unused notebook and began drawing the class. After a moment's thought, I decided to turn on [Meditation] to fully tune out the class, now that the instructor decided that I apparently was too cool for school.

I began by drawing the vague outlines for the entire room, slowly filling in details like the trashcan in the corner, the chalk and eraser on the side of the blackboard, the individual desks. I was delighted in how quick this went- I needed to sharpen my pencil often, but my DEX was allowing me some truly quick drawing speed. After that came the people- and the more I drew, the more my mind started to automatically conjure details, such as the fact that I started to remember the names of the students from the floating tags that I saw above them, or the fact that I remembered what they looked like. I didn't need to go in extensive detail, just enough to make them recognizable.

I think I was losing track of time, at some point, too engrossed in my drawing. Vaguely, I heard the ringing of a bell. Izumi was saying something to me. "Sure," I mumbled. Some girlish screams of delight. Itachi's name being called out. One of my female classmates' voices yelling, closer and distinct from the mass of fangirls.

-14HP! (nonlethal)

My head flew to the side from a sudden meaty smack to my face- I was able to lift the pencil before it damaged the drawing. It hurt.

"Stop drawing and answer me, you stupid brat!" One of my classmates, Hana Tatsushima, Konoha Civilian, Lv.8, was shouting at me. Her hand was raised, and she was about to grab my arm with the same hand that slapped me.

A hand grasping my arm as I weakly tried to break free, vision swimming in my right eye. A boy, eyes filled with wonder and curiosity- and with that same curiosity, he simply asked "I wonder if you're made of sterner stuff, to survive my initial attack. Should explain why you were sent together with the adults." A squeeze like a hydraulic press. A soft pop. Pain exploding in my arm as my wrist dislocated, before a crack and a break.

I couldn't tell if the one screaming was me or her- by the time I'd gotten myself back under control, I was blinking notifications out of my eye and I was aware that I had a white knuckled grip on someone. Or rather, something.

*Crack*

The sound of bone breaking. I blinked each notification out of my eyes, trying to regain my vision.

Critical Success!

New Skill Acquired due to repeated actions!

Drawing, Lv. 1

-Your ability to effectively portray a subject through the medium of traditional art.

Your Skill Level has increased!

Drawing, Lv. 2

New Skill Acquired due to repeated actions!

Superior Awareness, Lv. 1

Your ability to quickly pick out and pay attention to details. Increases both Genjutsu Resistance and Genjutsu effectiveness.

Your Skill Level has increased!

Superior Awareness, Lv. 2

Your Skill Level has increased!

Superior Awareness, Lv. 3

Your Skill Level has increased!

Superior Awareness, Lv. 4

[You have suffered a hallucination.]

New Skill Acquired due to repeated actions!

Battle Trance, Lv.1

Increases effectiveness in battle while meditating and fighting on pure instinct.

Critical Hit! 41 damage! (nonlethal)

Hana Tatsushima defeated!

+120 exp!

Your reputation with Konoha has decreased a little due to gravely injuring one of its citiziens!

Your reputation with the students of Class 1C has decreased due to gravely injuring a fellow student!

Your reputation with members of the Tatsushima family have greatly decreased due to gravely injuring Tatsushima Hana!

I looked down. My drawing was still there on my desk- I'd stood up, grabbed Hana's arm before she could grab mine, and physically cracked it on one of the desks with as much force as I could, snapping it in two.

She was definitely screaming now. The rest of the class had turned to look at me with horrified looks.

...oh.

Oh no.

"Hello, Inoichi-sama." Aid, a yawn hanging onto my words despite my best efforts to reign it in. From my earlier panic, there had been a lot of things going on. But chiefly, a waiting time of three hours, after being separated from the class for… well, obvious reasons.

Hazuki had to physically pry Izumi off of holding me- of all the things that the girl could worry about, the chief fact was that I was being "bullied", because I'd been slapped.

I'd resumed drawing in the meantime, though admittedly I'd only really sketched out a few objects in the empty classroom I'd been placed in- the one for the second years, of which there were none for obvious reasons- with only an academy instructor. What had followed was a very short conversation where he asked why would I do such a thing, me telling him I was startled and did it accidently, and then him asking how I'd even learned how to "accidently" snap someone's arm like a twig.

He was not very happy that I just kept repeating about not being at liberty to say. I don't think he expects a five year old to actually be an ANBU soldier- veteran, technically? I don't know if I've been discharged.

"Hello, Tomo-chan." The tall, blonde man replied, an edge of exhaustion in his voice. "I've heard you had an incident here at school today?"

I tilted my head in askance. "Yes. Is Inosuke-san not available?" The man had been my shrink for my weekly-turned-biweekly mental check ups. I… wasn't really fond of him, if only because I'd had no choice in whether I would see a shrink or not, but. He was sworn to secrecy by the Hokage and he helped, somewhat, in dealing with what happened during my stay in ANBU, if only because I could not discuss it with anyone else. I think he would've been able to help more if he was at liberty to say that the Hokage had fucked up in allowing that to happen and what happened to me was a genuine abuse of power, rather than "a miscalculation".

"I'm afraid he's recently come down with an illness, but I am available, if you wish to talk about what happened."

I consider the idea. I'd met the man once or twice, and he was the father of one of the supporting cast members. Sure, Ino didn't do much, but she was marginally stronger than Sakura, if I remember. Not a high bar to cross, obviously, but still...

"Alright then. No mind walk though. How is Ino?"

He smiled wearily back at me. "Very vocal about her disapproval of being left in her cousin's care."

"I'm sure she'll grow up into a fine woman." I replied conversationally, not wanting to say kunoichi or think about the fact that that was synonym for "child soldier".

"As will you. But enough about my worries, we have to talk about today's little incident." My stomach churned at that- both at the idea of turning into a "fine woman", and the topic being shifted back onto me.

Being both a shinobi and a shrink, he had no problem picking up on that, as his brow furrowed. "Is something wrong?"

Nope. Nope. Deflect. I'm not dealing with this today, thank you very much. Think about the other thing that sickens you about yourself.

I didn't have to fake the agitation I felt as I remembered what had happened. "How is Hana?" I asked softly, shame crawling down my spine.

Inoichi paused. "From what little I have heard... she will be fine. It was far from a life-threatening injury. However, I sincerely doubt she will be making her return to the academy- an injury such as that is often career ending for a child so early in development, especially one without a personal healer's assistance."

I blinked, digesting the information. That was... not fine. But at least she would recover.

"Thanks for the honesty, Inoichi-sama." ...maybe I could help speed it up, somehow.

I instinctively dismissed the popup window that appeared in front of me, but kept note of it.

By the time I'd finished spacing out, I noticed that Inoichi had whipped out a notebook and was writing something out. He looked at me.

"I apologize if I went too in detail. Other members of my clan are more specialized in children's psychology... but there was no one else with the clearance to talk with you." He smiled apologetically, though I could see behind those weird eyes a curiosity to learn what was it that made me special. "Whenever you feel ready, we can start by recounting what happened today."

I sighed. "It was like any day, really. Woke up, got to the Academy. We had yet another spiel about the Will of Fire thrown in together with a recount about the battle of Madara and Hashirama Senju." I thought about the idea of pretending to be more... "patriotic", I guess, but I felt that such a thing would both be both too exhausting to maintain and too out of line with what happened to me.

Plus, if I was loyal and reliable, then I could be entrusted back into ▊▊▊▊'s ranks. And frankly, fuck that.

Of course, Inoichi questioned it. "You do not seem enthused about it."

I smiled thinly. "I do believe that it exists." Should I...? Inosuke would likely break doctor-patient confidentiality, so I guess there's no point in maintaining my secrets. "The head of ANBU believes in it too. The tree's falling leaves burn as one to fuel the pyre." I said, maintaining a straight face even as his eyes widened, before shrugging. "I suppose that it's no wonder I got scorched under such a belief."

It was testament to Inosuke's skills as a shrink that the only thing I felt as I said that was the resentment brewing in my gut, rather than the onset of a panic attack.

He straightened himself out. "I see... so young, though?" he murmured, and I shrugged. "May I continue?"

"Of course."

"Second period came, and the teacher began explaining math problems. I spaced out, he called me, I went to the solve the problems on the board, and on the way back, Hana tried to trip me."

"Are you not well-liked among your peers?" he asked.

"I don't know. They definitely- at least, before today's episode- just saw me as my sister's imouto." I replied uncomfortably. "Being a year younger than the current Academy starting age, they didn't really want to deal with a "kid". And the only person who is actually my peer in that place is in another class- the son of the Uchiha clan head." I added when I saw the question forming.

He kept on scribbling. "How ahead of the rest of your class would you say you are, as of right now?"

I pulled the drawing I'd done earlier and squinted at it. Highest after mine level was Izumi, who was still level 9... "Three to four times?" I said, considering the fact that the skill points doubled from level 10 onwards.

Inoichi blinked. "That's a peculiar answer." I squinted in confusion for a moment, before realizing that I'd forgot people don't see this world in cold, hard numbers. "What do you mean by that?"

"I, um... never mind, it's nonsense."

"Not to you, it isn't, Tomo-chan. I wish to understand the way you think so that I can better help." he smiled kindly. God freaking damn it.

"I'd like to finish the story first." I said, hoping he'd forget about it. Or Hazuki would come pick me up. He motioned for me to continue. "So basically, I kicked her leg aside and returned to my desk, not really caring about it. Then, since I knew I wasn't going to be learning anything new,"

"Because you already knew what your sensei was talking about?" I nodded. "Continue."

"I pulled out my notebook and began drawing." I omitted why. "I guess I got really into it, because I was only vaguely aware that the bell had rung and the recess period before P.E. had started. Next thing I know, my face is stinging from being slapped hard, someone is shouting in my ear, and my arm is about to be grabbed." I don't need to fake the shudder that comes out of me at that.

"By Hana-chan." I nodded. "And that caused you to react violently?" I nodded again.

"I really don't like people grabbing me. And I think that I'd just zoned out so hard that I just... moved." I got a skill called Battle Trance out of it, after all. "Most of the people who grab me are either way stronger than me, like Shisui-san, or tend to just kinda make me expect it. I think the pain didn't help either."

"I see." he said, writing something down before scooting slightly closer. "May I take your hand, Tomo-chan?"

"...um." I breathed in and out of my nostrils, for a moment.

"Only if you want to. Here." He gently laid his hand, palm down, on the desk.

"Alright..." slowly, I reached out for it. I kinda wanted to laugh at how large his hands were compared to mine- if I balled my hand in a fist, he could likely completely envelop it in his own. Even Hazuki's hands, who was the only other adult who took my hand often, were far smaller.

When I put my hand on his, he gently grasped it. I... don't think I couldn't break out of this, if I wanted to, but then again, he was hardly using all of his strength.

"How do you feel?"

Still uncomfortable as all hell "Uncomfortable." I said as much. "Mildly inadequate in terms of hand size."

That apparently drew a surprised snort of amusement out of him. "I do have large hands. My teammate, Choza, often complains that I should be the one to use the Hand Enlargement technique."

"...can I have my hand back?"

"Of course." he let go, returning to leaning back on his chair. "In terms of what happened today, while I do believe it to be an unfortunate accident, it is one that comes with your unfortunate conditions; while most people know that it is foolhardy to startle a shinobi, you have trauma and skills that both far exceed what you should have at your age.

"In that regard, I would recommend you practice more awareness of your surroundings- if your lashing out occurs only when you are startled, then make sure to not let yourself get startled to begin with."

"...is that it?"

"Technically, no," he sighed. "But, well. I would recommend pursuing psychological assistance, but you are already doing it, and the process takes time. While the force you used was definitely excessive, you were assaulted first by your classmate, and you did not consciously maim her. And while such a reaction would be more than a little problematic in a civilian, as a shinobi in the making such as yourself, intentionally dulling such a reflex can prove deadly to you and your team."

"So I'm free to go." I replied, left more than a little bewildered.

"You are, though I would like to ask you a few more questions, before you go." So no.

"Alright..."

"May I see the drawings you made today?"

Nodding, I presented the drawings in question, realizing with barely-concealed horror that I'd left on them the level tags above each student.

Of course, he noticed, brows furrowing. After a minute, he turned back to me. "What are these?" he said, placing the drawing back in front of us.

Shit... well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Not like he was the first to learn of this. D-bag Danzo had that honor. "Name, descriptor, approximate strength level."

"Are these things you define for yourself to keep track of your classmates?"

I could have lied. I really could have.

But I was just so damn exhausted by this point.

"No. It's..." The game system, which trapped me in your world as a toddler with magical powers. "my bloodline limit. I actually see these. Over everyone."

Now Playing - Stargazer

[The fourth wall is shaking.] A notification in front of me appeared together with a sound cue, but I dismissed it. Should have warned me ahead of time, game.

His eyes sparkled with barely concealed interest. "I see. What is mine?"

I turned to stare at above his head.

"Inoichi Yamanaka, Yamanaka Clan Head, Lv.?" I parroted, substituting Lv.? for "Level Unknown".

"I see. I hope you don't mind if I write down for you a few questions- I believe that you could use a little more time to think about them. Feel free to take this home, if you have hard time thinking about it now." 'I want this in writing and will report this to the Hokage' went unsaid.

I looked down to read the questions and silently answered them. They were hardly difficult.

What is your level? - 15

What is the difference between levels? - General prowess, scaling exponentially.

What other information does this grant you, if any? - I can observe more intently someone or something to learn more about their specific attributes.

Why do you believe my level registers as unknown? - Too strong.

What do you believe to be the level of your peer Itachi, an average adult male civilian, an average genin, an average chuunin, and an average Jonin, and the Hokage?

I paused at that before answering. So the rumors had spread this far? Damn. Sure, I'd caused them intentionally, but I just wanted them to reach Fugaku, not all of Konoha. 20, 5, 15, haven't seen one, can't read them, unknown but triple digits.

"Can I go now?" I said, handing in the sheet and taking back my drawing. I mean, it's what got me into this whole mess, but it's my first Critical Success, damn it!

His eyes trailed over the sheet. "I see. Thank you for your time, Tomo-chan."

I began standing up, but paused. "What does having a bloodline limit imply, especially since it appears that I'm the only person possessing it in all of Konoha?"

He looked pensive. "Well, we do not know that. Of course, there might be inquiries with your relatives as to whether they share the same talent, but other than that, it'll be entirely up to you. Other villages practice a certain level of separation between people with bloodline limits and regular ones, but beyond the system of Konoha's shinobi clans- not all of which have bloodline limits, such as my own" I tilted my head at that, but didn't further inquire. I thought that the mind walk was their thing? "we do not practice any distinction between people with abilities and people without." I could feel the relief crash over me like a wave.

"I see. Thank you for your time, Inoichi-sama. Send Inosuke my regards."

The cascade of Tomo's Gamer Abilities had already started with her ability to revive from death, but here we see it truly begin to snowball. The System isn't too happy about having to deal with aware NPCs.

If you wish to support my writing, you can check me out on the place of patrons where I post five chapters ahead. Alternatively, you can always PM me in private if you wish to commission something written where we can hash out the details. Otherwise, a review is still more than enough, and I can't be thankful enough for it.

Ffnet continues to be a determined headache. I missed a Royal Business upload because those goons took 10 days to remove a frankly disgusting review from my fic.

Drink water, stay awesome, Nick of Name out.