(AN: Uploaded the last chapter a little too fast, only got 1.1k views. lol. But that's fine, this one's going up too even though it's a little shorter. So 3 chapters, back to back, hope ya'll enjoy it!)

"Those are some nice threads, Naruto." Sakura said as soon as he had walked up to the gate. "I'm surprised you even know how to wear something that isn't garishly orange."

Naruto simply smiled at her. He had forgotten that the team hadn't seen his real equipped clothes. Normally, he just wore his regular glamoured clothing. The Orange Monstrosity Flaw was just too good for leveling his stealth, which was now almost 75.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. "It looks better on you than your usual clothes."

Naruto raised a brow at that. However, before he could say anything to the boy, their sensei arrived with their clients in tow. "Everyone ready?"

"You bet, sensei!"

[World Map unlocked!]

It was beautiful. The air outside of Konoha was so crisp and clean that Naruto was having to stop at the side of the road every once in a while just to take a deep breath of that intoxicating smell.

"It's amazing."

"Isn't it?" The fox said. "I used to roam all over these lands. Enjoying my well-earned freedom."

"I'm sorry."

"If you're sorry, then—"

"No offense, but when I eventually let you out, I want to make sure I'm alive after the fact."

Silence.

Still. This freedom was amazing. Naruto eyed the world map that blinked with every step. He had even gotten a small perk to go with it.

The Explorer (Perk): With every step into the unknown, your confidence soars. You were made to be free and explore the world at large. So take your freedom and explore each and every crevice you come across.

Reveals Hidden locations on the map as Black and Gray Question Marks when within a certain distance.

+10% EXP when completing quests outside of your designated home.

+15% bonus to resting mechanic.

Bringing up the world map revealed a sea of gray, with the rough locations of certain landmarks dotted throughout. Every 100 or so feet into the gray sea would reveal a fairly large area around him, and supposedly he could buy maps that would reveal areas without the need to actively go there. Of course, those maps were quite expensive unless you simply got a bare bones map. Plus, every ten sections he unlocked, he got a small bit of EXP. Something that his WIS would give a boost to at times.

"Oi! Dobe! Stop being distracted and get over here!" Naruto looked away from the beautiful lake they were passing, and jogged to the front of the group, where Kakashi was waiting for him.

"Get it out of your system now, Naruto. There might not be time to take in the scenery on a future mission." The man chuckled. "Of course, it's always better to do so on the way back from a mission, not during."

"Oh, he's just a child. I'm sure it's fine." Their female client said. "Plus, we have the great Copy Ninja himself guarding us. The Fourth's apprentice."

"Just student." Kakashi instantly replied with a hint of warning on his tongue. "I was a student, nothing more."

"It is nice to see outside the walls of Konoha." Sakura mumbled.

"My first time out, I didn't have time for distractions, since we were at war." Kakashi shrugged. "Of course, sometimes I would get caught up in the simplistic beauty of the world."

"It's alright, I guess." Sasuke shrugged.

Kakashi snickered. "That's because you were taken to some of the most beautiful places in the Land of Fire by your father, didn't you?" Sasuke blushed red at the accusation.

"I—"

"It's fine." Kakashi patted the boy on the head. "Of course, they have nothing on the Land of Snow or the hidden waterfall. I went there recently on a diplomatic mission. The whole village is beautiful. If a bit too wet for my liking."

"I heard the Mist is like that as well."

"Ah, much worse actually." Kakashi shuddered. "You can barely see five feet in front of you, and the bugs. Don't even get me started on the bugs everywhere."

Their clients laughed loudly at that, and Naruto stood back, content to let the information fill his mind.

"Why don't we go ahead and set up camp? If we're lucky, you'll see something amazing at this lake."

"Amazing?" Naruto finally spoke.

"You'll see. We'll go into the trees across from the lake. But as the sun sets, we can step out for a while." He turned to the clients. "With your permission, of course. I would love for you all to see it."

"Really?"

"It's something I always offer to clients when taking this road. I've even had three propose here, you know."

Naruto rolled his eyes and muttered to Sasuke, "I didn't know Icha Icha made someone into Cupid."

"Disgusting." Sasuke scrunched his nose up.

That was something new about the boy. He really didn't like those books after Naruto explained what they were to him. "Maybe you'd cill out more if you tried them."

Sasuke stormed off into the forest as Sakura called him an idiot and followed after.

"Sensei!" Naruto turned to his teacher. "When I'm don't with the camp, could I get some training in with my clones?"

"How many can you do now?" The man asked as the rest of them made their way to the forest.

"10, so 11 including me!" 10 clones with 32% learning speed was nice. He was making so much progress now. Only 15 more levels too, and he'd get a third 'leader' as he'd taken to calling Alpha and Beta. "Maybe I should try to focus on leveling that for a few days? See how far it gets me? Maybe when I get back from this job."

"Just make sure you're not training on your watch, and make sure you actually sleep. Sometimes You won't get more than a couple hours at a time. So make sure you take advantage when you can."

"Yes, sir." Naruto saluted and followed his sensei. As he did, though, he stared at the small question mark that slowly pulsed just past the lake's edge.

"This way, my young students. And lovely couple." Kakashi walked everyone to the edge of the lake as the sun was setting. "This was why I asked if you two were comfortable camping, plus it's a faster route than taking it through Asatori."

"Living on a farm, you get used to sleeping under the stars." The man said, eyes held shut tightly.

"I'm glad you chose this way." Kakashi muttered. "Everyone's eyes still closed?"

"Yes, sensei!" His students chorused.

"Alright. On three… one… two… three!" Eyes flew open, and gasps were sounded around the area.

"Wow…" Sakura muttered at the sight.

Naruto agreed. "That's amazing…"

"…" Sasuke was silent.

The couple ooed and awed as they ran forward for a closer look.

"It's funny… sensei. This was our exact reaction, wasn't it?" Kakashi thought, eyes never straying from his students. Sakura and Rin, Obito and Naruto, and Sasuke and himself. Word for word. Or silent appreciation in Sasuke and his case.

"Sensei. Give me a sign if you can. Tell me if what I'm doing is right. Sasuke's secrets. Naruto's hidden skills… am I doing right by them for ignoring it all? Why couldn't Sakura be more like Rin at least? Maybe I should get her some medical ninjutsu to go with her new favorite style? Look out for me, Obito, Rin, Sensei.. Give me your strength."

Naruto couldn't tear his eyes away as the sun set behind the mountain range across the lake. Waves of flame danced across the water's surface thanks to the wild wind that blew around them. All accompanied by thousands of fireflies that drifted above the liquid flames.

"This is so amazing… being here with you." He heard the couple whisper sweet nothings into each other's ear.

Sakura was gone, tearing after them into the water, jumping excitedly as the waves lapped her ankles. Naruto grinned and ran after her, thoughts of swimming and diving flitting through his mind. Though on a mission, he couldn't quite entertain those thoughts. Still, it was nice of their sensei to convince their clients to do such a thing.

"It does look… nice." Sasuke squelched through the mud and sand to stand nearby.

Before Naruto could crack a joke, Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and told all three of them. "You will most likely never have a job like this again. We lucked out with having a couple as clients who didn't mind stopping to see what I promised was an amazing scene. These two have been dating for years, ever since they were kids. It didn't help that I also convinced the gentleman to do something else. I'd better bump up my tallies."

"Tallies?" Naruto asked, only for a loud gasp to sound nearby. He turned, watching as the man sat on one knee, a beautiful ring in hand.

"He confided in me that normally he sent one of the farm hands to make the sale. But his hometown doesn't have any good jewelers. So I introduced him to a good friend of mine."

"You met with him yesterday?" The woman tackled her now finance, embracing fiercely as the sun continued to lower more and more.

"Something you all should get used to." Kakashi added. "Most Genin team simply have the Jonin sensei meet with their client, leaving the kids out of it. But it's something you should get used to doing in the future."

"Why's that?"

"It's always best to be prepared. When taking a mission, all the information on the client is on the paperwork given, including their current living area. It's good to meet with them, learn any information they might have that you can prepare for. Figure out their preferred path or if they'd be able to take a safer road. Things can also change in between accepting a mission. The client could get sick or injured. You may need to hold off on leaving. Or a letter could arrive, and you'll need to leave sooner. Finding out all of this information can mean the difference between life and death."

"I'll remember that, sensei." Naruto nodded.

"See that you do." He hollered at the couple, making a small joke that had the man roaring with laughter and the woman giggling into her fiance's shoulder. "Oh, and Naruto."

"Yeah sensei?"

"Meet me at the campfire during your watch. There's something I want you to show me."

"Me show you?"

"If you can impress me more than you did during the Genin test, I might have something special to teach you."

A snarl was heard from behind, and Naruto looked back to see Sasuke stomping away, with a -5 relationship flashing across his vision.

Kakashi cupped a hand over his mouth and called out, "Don't worry Sasuke-kun! Master those three techniques I taught you, and you'll learn something just as good!"

"What about me, sensei?" Sakura whined from nearby.

"Same to you. While you and Sasuke need some more help with the basics, Naruto's almost ready to take the next step as a Shinobi."

"But… he was the dead last?" She muttered.

"You saw what he did to me during that test. No offense—no, that's a lie. I do mean offense when I say, you, Sakura, need to focus more on your training and what it means to be a Kunoichi. Once you accept that, you'll grow in leaps and bounds. That brain of yours can become this team's best weapon. If you get serious about it, that is."

The girl grimaced, but said no more.

"Now then. Let's all take the lovely couple back to camp and get ready. We have about two more days, three if we dawdle."

The shinobi left the lake shore. Deep in thought, Naruto specifically worried about the quest that popped up.

[Urgent Quest Unlocked!]

[Priority Quest: Passing on a Legacy.]

[Description: Take on the Copy Ninja's challenge and learn his teacher's special technique.]

[Rewards: +1 A-Ranked Jutsu, +500 EXP, Receive a Special Reward from the Ninjutsu Master.]

The A-ranked jutsu was absolutely amazing, but a special reward could prove even better. And it certainly was what motivated him. However, the failure line was ominous.

[Failure: Death. Painful and long.]

It had been a while since the System had given him acted this ominously. But why now?

Naruto had a lot to think about. And a lot to prepare for.

Later that night, once the group was settled, Naruto stood before his sitting sensei as the others slept in their tents. "What now, sensei?"

The man stoked their fire, before standing with a familiar hand sign ready. Two clones popped into before and disappeared into the surrounding trees. "They'll take over our watch, for the time being. Let's head down to the lake."

The walk was quiet, with all of Naruto's questions being ignored. After a while, he simply stopped asking, and instead focused on the lake before them. It was just as beautiful now as it had been at sunset, with the silver glow of the moon's rays draping themselves over the water as the stars glittered on the surface.

He stopped at the lake shore, but his sensei continued on, walking across the water. Naruto followed, dread creeping into his heart.

Finally, they stopped in the middle, letting the sound of nature drown out the silence.

Kakashi spoke first. "You've gotten better at water walking. You're not even struggling now."

Naruto grinned. He had hit level 10 just last night, though the quest he received hadn't been completed yet. "I've been working on it constantly."

It took almost five minutes before the man finally spoke again. "Good job."

[Quest complete!]

There went the water walking quest from his Premium Gift. Still, nothing had popped up from the current mission.

"Why'd you bring me out here, sensei?"

Kakashi crossed his arms, drumming his fingers on his elbow. "I want you to do something for me, Naruto."

"What's that sensei?" It was like a ball of lead was forming in his stomach. Burning through his gut.

"I want you to try and kill me."

That—was not what Naruto had in mind. "K—kill you?"

"You'll have five moves. I won't count any shadow clones. Also, I won't move from this spot. If I do move, or have to stop a blow in any way, you'll win."

"What's stopping me from just stabbing you with a kunai in the neck or temple?"

"I've enhanced my skin with chakra. A simple kunai or shuriken won't scratch me. You'll need to use a jutsu or enhance your body to the point that my defense falls below your strength."

"But—"

"You've got one minute to prepare."

And there was the quest update. Counting down from 1 minute.

Naruto leaped back, summoning two clones at his side immediately.

"What's the plan, sir?"

"I say we just go in, fists ablaze!"

Naruto shook his head, pulled out a master craft kunai. "I brought you two out to brainstorm."

"45 Seconds left."

"Flooding Waves is a must." Beta said, "10 clones would make 5 casts."

"That would be all five attacks, though."

"Maybe they should only use it twice?" Alpha offered. "Use the other three for something else.

"30 Seconds."

"Wait," Alpha interrupted. "Remember that lightning attack he used before? That Raikiri?"

"What of it?"

"Can't we use elemental abilities with Bursting Palm?"

"You're thinking Lightning element?"

"Two casts of Flooding Waves by four clones, two wind speed boosts for momentum, and a lightning infused bursting palm, maybe?"

"15 Seconds!"

"What if it doesn't work?" Beta whined.

"We die apparently." Alpha shrugged. "Might as well try it. Oh. Dump your attribute points. You have 19. What does Bursting Palm scale with?"

"Strength I think. Should I dump all of it?"

"Half STR, half DEX?"

"Five seconds!"

Eight more clones burst into existence around him.

"Switching title," Beta muttered from behind.

"Go!" Kakashi ordered. In a flash, Naruto and his clones set to work. Though he was surprised when the man reached up to grab his headband.

"Water Style: Flooding Waves!"

"Wind Style: Basic Wind Reduction!"

"Wind Style: Wind Break!"

"Speed techniques?" Kakashi got out just before being drowned out by two waves of crushing water.

"First time we've tried this!" Naruto shouted as he fell into his intermediate taijutsu stance, activating its bonuses. He then launched himself forward, flying across the water.

STR: 57

DEX: 88

He gathered the chakra into his palm, changing his title to Dancing Spark as lightning spread across his hand.

"Lightning Style: Bursting Palm!" Naruto Uzumaki roared into the night, smashing through the waves of water, and aiming straight for his sensei's chest. He crashed into the man, and pain lanced through his body.

"Not bad." Kakashi's voice washed over him. "Not bad at all."

As the mist cleared, Naruto felt that same pain pulse in his wrist. He looked up and saw Kakashi grabbing his hand tightly. But he was distracted by the large burned hole in the Jonin's flak jacket, singed flesh poking through. Nothing horrible, but certainly something that would hurt.

"Fuck." Naruto's body groaned in pain.

"Honestly, I haven't seen that jutsu before. Consider me surprised." Naruto looked up into his sensei's face and squinted through the darkness at the almost glowing red eye that starred deep into his soul.

"Uuuh."

"Congratulations, Naruto. I'd say you passed." He dropped the boy into the water, and he sunk like a rock. Within a second, Kakashi's arm dove in and pulled him back out. "Sorry about that, Naruto. I didn't realize you weren't ready to water walk yet."

The blond spluttered and gasped.

"Let's get you back to the campfire. You'll need to dry off."

"Ugh." Naruto groaned again. Half of his HP was gone, and that was from his own doing! And boy, was he in pain!

[New System unlocked!]

[Please wait for the Tutorial.]

"Ugh, not another one…"

Naruto was safely deposited, if unceremoniously, by the fire.

"That'll dry you off."

"Ah, no need for all that." Naruto grunted and summoned two clones. Each one put their hands on either side of their creator, and slowly the water pooled around their hands until eventually, he was 90 percent dried. "Good as new."

"Most Chunin don't know that trick with Water Nature Transformation."

"I heard somewhere that most people in Konoha are Fire or Earth style. So maybe that's why."

Kakashi snorted and fell beside, doing the same technique, faster and by hisself.

"Show off." Naruto grinned.

"I try." He smiled back, this time with both eyes. Though, after a moment, the man slowly lifted his hand and pulled his headband back down to cover his eye.

"Hey, sensei." Naruto interrupted the man. "How come you've got that eye?"

"My eye? I was born with it." He motioned to his regular one.

"No, no. The red one."

"Don't worry about that, Naruto. Or mention it."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive?"

Naruto shrugged. "Alright, sensei. I'll drop it."

"Good."

"It's just weird that one of your eyes looks just like Sasuke's did that one time."

The man froze. "Pardon me?"

"Ah, don't worry about it, sensei."

"When was that?"

Naruto laughed. "I thought you wanted me to drop it?"

Kakashi grabbed him by his shoulder, wholly serious once more, and asked. "When did Sasuke have eyes like mine?"

"Uh, it was just the red one."

"When."

"About a year ago. We got into a spar, and I took him to the hospital. He had red eyes, just like that."

"Hnn." Kakashi finally leaned away. "That long, huh? Maybe it was during the massacre?"

"Massacre?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll tell you what, Naruto. Why don't you go ahead and head to bed?"

"But you promised me a reward!"

The man laughed out loud, a deep and hearty laugh that made Naruto smile. "Tomorrow. I need to get a few things ready. So just wait till then. Aren't you feeling sleepy?"

Matter of fact, he was. For some reason.

"I think you're feeling really, really tired."

Why was the world spinning now?

"Fucking Uchiha." The fox growled.

"You think it's in a cave?"

"Will you shut up?"

"Come on!" Beta whined. "I don't want to be diving here all night while the boss gets to sleep. I wanna rest toooo."

Alpha rolled his eyes, and it took everything he had not to dispel the clone and do the work himself. "Don't wake the others. And I don't want to be out here all night. So you take the left, I'll take the right."

"…" Beta glanced over the water. "Don't you think it would be faster if there were more of us?"

"The boss is out like a light. Do you want to wake him?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. Now get to swimming."

The two clones stood at the water's edge, overlooking the lake, but more specifically, where a large gray circle had formed over the map. When Naruto had arrived with Kakashi that night, a sub mission had appeared.

[Secondary Mission Unlocked!]

[Discover This Area's Secrets!]

[Description: Discover this area's secrets.]

[Sub Mission 1: Discover 1 Secret.]

[Sub Mission 2: Discover 3 Secrets.]

[Rewards: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?,]

Alpha dove into the ice cold water and immediately ran into an issue. It was too dark out. "I could use a lightning coated kunai to see?" But he knew that was dangerous. If he got startled, then the lightning charka could grow too strong, and he'd dispel. He surfaced and tried to think of what he could do. He glanced at their creator's skill and perk menu, knowing that ever since becoming a 'Leader' Clone, he was able to actually use these points. Though the boss wouldn't be too happy if they spent anything without talking to him first—Why could he see under the water now?

"Yo! Alpha! I bought a Perk. Let's get back to work!" While thinking about the dilemma they had. Beta had jumped the gun and immediately purchased something. The boss was going to kill them. At least it only cost 1 point.

Zora's Blessing (Perk): You have been blessed by the ancient Zora Tribe. While submerged in water, you feel calmer, more at ease, and, most importantly, safe.

Can see up to 10 feet while under water, even in the dark.

+50% Movement Speed when submerged in water.

+25% Damage when using Water Related Techniques.

+25% Damage Reduction when submerged in water.

It was actually a good perk. At least Beta wasn't stupid enough to blow all their points on something frivolous.

Now then. Where were those secrets?

"What!?" Naruto jerked away as Sasuke screamed just outside his tent.

"Probably the night of the massacre."

Naruto fiddled with his tent and finally opened it. "And you knew? You knew!"

"No, no. Just something I figured out last night."

"Last night?"

"Thank Naruto. He told me. We'll talk later. I have some information that would be a help with training it."

"Naruto…?"

"Morning!" the blond finally made himself known.

"Ah, good. You're awake." Kakashi announced. "Start getting your tent put away. Our clients are down by the lake with my original keeping an eye on them."

"Original?"

"Shadow Clones."

Naruto grinned.

"Get packed. We need to hit the road soon."

The clone walked away, Sasuke however, still stood by, glaring at the ground. "When did you find out?"

"Huh?"

"When!?"

Naruto threw his hands in the air. "When what!?"

"When did you discover I had the Sharingan?!" The boy sounded almost accusatory. Well, there wasn't anything almost about it. But when Naruto looked closer at the boy, he had two deep red eyes. Exactly the same as they had been a year ago.

"Is that about your eyes? I saw them last year. I hadn't realize you didn't know about them."

"Of course I didn't know! I—" the boy threw his hands into the air, and spun, muttering, "Fine. Whatever. Hurry up and get packed to leave, dobe. You're already behind."

"What the hell just happened?" Naruto muttered.

"Baka." Sakura walked by with a roll of her eyes, toothbrush in mouth.

"Kami. The rest of this mission had better go by as easy as it had been."

"Don't jinx yourself, boy."

He jinxed it.

But in the meantime. Alpha and Beta dispelled themselves.

(AN:

Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Title: Genin

Job: Genin

EXP: 1210/6500

Level: 17

Health: 181/181

Chakra: 1900(9500)/1800(9500)

STR: 57

CON: 70

DEX: 88

INT: 42

WIS: 48

LUK: ?

Attribute Points: 0

Skill Points: +7

Perk Points: +3