I do not own Naruto.

Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, is one of the five great shinobi villages. Twelve years ago, the village was besieged by the Kyūbi, the Nine-Tailed Fox, an enormous demon of near-infinite power and malice. The great beast was defeated at great cost by the most powerful ninja in the village, its leader the Fourth Hokage. Despite his great combat prowess, the Hokage could not slay the Kyūbi, so he used a secret jutsu to seal the beast inside a newborn child, at the expense of his own life. The child's name was Naruto Uzumaki.

For twelve years, Naruto would grow up an orphan, shunned by the people of his village, unaware of the terrible burden that he carried within him. But, on the evening before he would take his graduation exam from the shinobi academy, his fate took a strange turn…

"Red paint, check. Blue, green, white, all check. Brush, check. Lucky goggles…" A quick check confirmed that said eyewear was snugly wrapped around his forehead, "…check! All right, Operation Give-Hokage-Mountain-A-Makeover is a-go!" the blond child cried out, smiling proudly at the painting supplies that were laid out before him. The graduation test was tomorrow, and the orange-clad boy planned to go out with a bang by painting over the mountain that bore the visages of the village's four Hokages. Sure, he had failed the last few times he tried to graduate, but he was confident that this time would be the one! And once he did, he would be one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming Hokage. The sun was just starting to set; if he hurried now, he could finish his work by morning.

Naruto's jubilation was interrupted by a sharp knocking on his door. He immediately tensed up; had his scheme been found out? It would not be the first time that someone had disrupted his plans for a prank before he could properly implement it. Once again the mysterious visitor rapped on the door. Naruto shook his head and took a deep, calming breath. He marched toward the door and opened it a crack. Standing in his doorway was a masked ninja. The green vest, goggles, and hat with numbers along the brim, along with the large bag slung over his shoulder showed that it was a courier ninja.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" the masked man inquired flatly.

"Yes…?" Naruto answered uncertainly. He was used to people giving him a less-than-friendly display; he was more confused as to who would send him mail, let alone at this hour. Seemingly satisfied that he had found who he was looking for, the courier ninja withdrew a scroll from his bag and partially unfurled it. A few seconds and a puff of smoke later, the ninja had a small, yellow package in his hand.

"Parcel for you," he said before roughly shoving the package in Naruto's face. As soon as the boy grabbed it, the courier ninja disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Grumbling about the man's rudeness, Naruto closed the door and inspected his new package. It was definitely his name and address on the label, but it lacked a return address. Never having been one for caution, Naruto simply shrugged off the peculiarity and ripped the package open, dumping its contents onto his bed. Out of the stuffed wrapper came a small pamphlet, only a few pages thick, and a single sheet of paper, folded in half. Tossing the empty wrapper aside, Naruto grabbed the folded paper and opened it. Before he could read a single word of it, though, the paper gave off a blinding flash of light, causing Naruto to reel back in shock and pain.

Once the spots in his eyes vanished – and he finished cursing up a storm that would have had every adult in earshot rushing to wash his mouth out with soap – he noticed that a few things were different. The first thing he noticed was that there were now three horizontal bars in his field of vision, one red, one blue, and one green. No matter where he looked, always stayed in the upper left-hand corner of his vision, just far enough to be visible without being intrusive. The second thing was in the lower right-hand corner of his vision, a small image of the stylized leaf that was the symbol of Konohagakure was surrounded by a spinning circle that disappeared after a few seconds. The third was that in a corner of his apartment hovered a large orange spiral symbol like he wore on his jacket, spinning lazily in place. The final thing was that directly in the center of his vision was a small, barely visible white cross. Like the bars, no matter where he looked, the cross would not stray from its place.

"What the heck?!" the boy shouted in outrage. He snatched up the fallen paper, hoping that it would explain why it had just tried to blind him. It read:

Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in the closed beta of Hero's Journey: Shinobi Edition!

"…Huh?" Naruto asked dumbly. "Selected for what now?" He continued to read, hoping the letter would provide further answers.

We here at MultiVersal Entertainment are committed to providing you with a top-quality product. In order to achieve that goal, we have selected you to be a beta tester before public launch. Based on previously accumulated data, we have taken the liberty of compiling a profile for you so that you can get right into playing. We have also included a complimentary instruction guide for your convenience.

The game is very nearly complete, but due to the nature of the game, it is impossible for our quality assurance team to catch every single error. If you should encounter a bug, glitch, or other problems, we will automatically be notified, and will do our best to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

We at MultiVersal Entertainment hope that you have a wonderful metaphysical gaming experience, and wish you the best of luck. Happy gaming!

P. M. Crawford,

MV Entertainment Founder & CEO.

Naruto stared at the letter blankly as his brain tried to process the information. So this Kurofōdo guy (and what kind of name was that anyway?) had somehow turned his life into a video game? It was impossible! It was insane! It was…

…Actually, it sounded kind of cool. He'd heard a few civilian kids talking about video games before, and they sounded awesome, but he had never been able to play one. He had no friends to play with, and he doubted that anyone would sell one to him. Even if they did, he couldn't afford one anyway; those things were crazy expensive.

I wonder what I have to do to win, Naruto thought to himself as he set the letter aside. A grin sprouted on his face that threatened to split it in two when he considered, I bet it's becoming Hokage. This is going to be so awesome, believe it! He grabbed the instruction manual and began to read it with unusual enthusiasm. To his disappointment, it was rather sparse, mostly explaining what the new intrusions in his vision were. The colored bars were meters, the red measuring Health, the blue Chakra (it was also much larger than the other two, he noticed), and the green was Stamina. The first two were obvious, but the third one needed some explanation, which the manual happily provided. According to the little pamphlet, Stamina was consumed when using taijutsu, or with other great physical exertions, like sprinting. Lose too much, and Naruto could have trouble even staying on his feet, never mind fighting. The white cross in the center of his vision was a reticule – whatever that is. Apparently, it was supposed to help Naruto aim or something like that.

It then went on to explain the spinning spiral in his corner. The instructions said that it was a save point and would appear in every residence, rest stop, and camp site Naruto happened to find himself in. By tapping the spiral, he could save his progress (indicated by the circle spinning around the Konoha leaf from earlier), which meant that if he happened to die, then he would revive at the last time he saved. It would also save automatically whenever he entered his apartment. Naruto's twelve-year-old mind could not grasp the idea of effective immortality that was before him other than it was freaking awesome!

The instructions had little additional information, merely stating that Naruto could look over his personal stats by saying "Show Menu," and could find additional information by saying "Show Tutorial."

Naruto closed the booklet and slid it into his back pocket before clearing his throat and declaring loudly and clearly, "Show menu." A rectangular portion of space half as long as Naruto's height suddenly appeared in front of the boy. Half the frame was taken up by a slowly revolving image of Naruto, while the rest was a series of numbers that made no sense to the boy. At the top of the frame was the word "stats," along with five others: inventory, perks, skills, missions, and options.

"Inventory," Naruto said, intrigued. The numbers disappeared, replaced by a grid that showed his orange jumpsuit, goggles, and the instruction manual in his pocket. The image of him had also stopped spinning, with several boxes now superimposed over several parts of his body. The boxes over his torso, legs, and head had a transparent image of his signature orange jumpsuit and his goggles, respectively.

"Perks." The grid changed to a plain background that listed three lines of text:

Village Prankster

Uzumaki Heritage

Jinchūriki

Naruto stared at the words in a mixture of elation and confusion. Elation at the second line, because if he had a heritage, then that implied that he had a family; confusion at the third, because he had never heard of the word before. What the heck was a Jinchūriki anyway?

In a rare display of self-discipline, Naruto refrained from investigating further, deciding to revisit the subject later before opening the skills menu. This time, the whole screen changed to list several lines:

Taijutsu

Genjutsu

Ninjutsu

Fūinjutsu

"Ninjutsu," Naruto said with an excited grin. The other lines disappeared and below Ninjutsu were several more words, along with some numbers beneath them. Listed was the kawarimi, a technique that allowed the user to substitute themselves with a nearby object, traditionally a log; the henge, a technique that allowed its user to assume another form, along with Naruto's personal take on it, the Sexy Jutsu; finally, to Naruto's chagrin, was the bunshin, or clone jutsu, which allowed its user to make illusionary clones of themselves. The last technique for some reason gave Naruto no end of trouble. No matter how he tried to cast it, his clones would always come out frail and sickly before dispelling altogether after a few seconds. What's worse, it was one of the skills that he needed to know to graduate!

Looking more closely at the text below the jutsu, he saw that it read:

Lvl. 1

Use: 11/50

Chakra: 10

Control: 45

For some reason, the number listed next to control was in red while the others were not. The blond teenager decided to check out the tutorial that the instructions mentioned to see if it held any answers.

"Show tutorial," Naruto ordered. In a puff smoke, the boy suddenly found himself sitting at his normal desk at the academy, with another figure standing by the blackboard. It was a tall man dressed in black with a dull green vest. He had tan skin, a scar across his nose, and dark brown hair tied back into a spiky ponytail. "I-Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Was the instructor in on this game?

"Hello, and welcome to the Hero's Journey: Shinobi Edition's tutorial section," the man greeted with a cheerful smile. Naruto immediately decided that this was only an illusion of some kind that had merely taken the form of Iruka for some reason. Naruto loved the man, but the boy could not recall him ever being this cheerful while teaching. "If you have any questions regarding the system, please ask me, or select one of the topics on the blackboard for more explanation on it," the not-Iruka-sensei continued, the smile never wavering. Naruto blinked and looked towards the blackboard to find several lines listed on the slate. He decided to disregard this option in favor of asking the faux-instructor directly.

"Hey, can you tell me why I suck so badly at the bunshin?" he asked.

"It is most likely because you lack sufficient control," Not-Iruka answered immediately. After Naruto expressed his outrage at the perceived insult, the facsimile continued, "All nin-, gen-, and fūinjutsu, as well as some taijutsu techniques require a certain degree of chakra control. Your chakra control must equal or exceed the control requirements in order to successfully cast a jutsu; insufficient control will cause the technique to fail." Naruto pondered the explanation for a while before he understood the problem. So, he lacked control; good thing that now he had numbers to show just how badly he needed to improve.

"How do I find out how much chakra control I have?" the young ninja-to-be asked. Not-Iruka pulled out a second blackboard displaying a rendering of the stats page that Naruto saw earlier, minus the spinning body image. "Your chakra control score can be found here," the instructor said, indicating where Naruto could find it. "It is calculated by dividing your Intelligence score by your Chakra score, then multiplying by one hundred and rounding to the nearest whole number," he continued, indicating where the stats could be located. Naruto had a momentary headache from the math talk, but he called up his stats menu to find his chakra control score. It turned out to be a measly 29. Okay, definitely not getting the bunshin to work with that score, Naruto thought with a grimace as he checked his Intelligence and Chakra scores while he was there. His Intelligence was 10, which he guessed was okay, but when he saw his Chakra…

"Holy crap, how did I get a Chakra score of thirty-five?!" he screamed out in shock at the ridiculously high number.

"There are two ways that you can increase your Chakra score," Not-Iruka answered, interpreting Naruto's rhetorical outburst as a legitimate question. "The first is, obviously, investing skill points in it upon leveling up. The second, less common way, is to take certain perks or items that provide bonuses to Chakra." Naruto blinked in confusion before shaking it off; he could look into it later.

"How do I improve my chakra control?" he asked.

"There are three ways to improve your chakra control score," Not-Iruka replied. "The first, obviously, is to invest skill points into Intelligence upon leveling up. The second is to practice certain techniques that provide bonuses to chakra control after sufficient use, like tree walking. The third is to practice the problematic jutsu itself."

"But I have been practicing!" Naruto whined in protest. Not-Iruka ignored the blond in favor of bringing forth a third, smaller blackboard that had a rendering of a jutsu in the skill screen.

"When you use a jutsu enough times, it levels up," Not-Iruka continued his lecture. "When this happens, you gain a greater understanding of the skill. The effects of this vary; it could become more powerful, require less chakra or chakra control, or even alter its nature, allowing you to use variants of the technique." Naruto nodded in understanding; get smarter and practice jutsus, sounded easy enough.

"So, Intelligence and Chakra…" the blond began, waving his hand vaguely, "…and all that other stuff – what does that mean, exactly? What do they do?" he asked, hoping that the question wasn't too vague. Fortunately for him, it wasn't, as Not-Iruka pulled the stats board to the fore.

"There are eight primary traits that influence all other skills," the teacher lectured, pointing to each one as he described what they did.

"Strength is, obviously, an indicator of your physical strength. This trait influences the damage caused by your taijutsu attacks. It also determines how much you can lift and carry, along with your chance of blocking attacks. Some more advanced taijutsu skills may require that you have a certain Strength score before you can perform them.

"Dexterity is your physical speed and coordination. This trait influences all jutsus: it will increase the speed and accuracy of your taijutsu attacks, and it will increase the speed of your hand seals, allowing you to perform jutsus faster. This trait is especially important if you're going to be using fūinjutsus, as accuracy in creating the design is absolutely crucial in making a successful seal. Investing points into this skill will also increase your movement speed and chance of dodging attacks.

"Constitution is your physical health. This is crucial, as this trait influences your total health. It would be wise to always invest at least one skill point into this trait every time you level up. If you lack sufficient chakra to perform a jutsu, then you can use your health score as a substitute. Obviously, this is extremely dangerous, so you must be very careful when using this particular mechanic.

"Endurance is the limits of your physical capabilities. Investing in this trait will raise your stamina, which allows you to perform more and more powerful taijutsu skills. While not as protective as armor, Endurance also provides a bonus to defense; the higher your Endurance score is, the less damage you'll take from attacks.

"Intelligence is a measure of your knowledge. The higher your Intelligence score is, the more and more advanced jutsus you can learn. It is also one of the primary components of calculating chakra control; the less difference there is between Intelligence and Chakra, the higher your chakra control score will be. This trait will also allow you to more easily identify unfamiliar objects and phenomena, and how well your resist genjutsu.

"Cunning is a measure of your ability to think outside the box. A high Cunning score will allow you to identify, disable, and construct more elaborate traps. It will also assist in the use of fūinjutsu and operating stealthily, either remaining out of sight or infiltrating a location under disguise, along with improving your genjutsu capabilities.

"Chakra is a measure of your energy. The higher your Chakra score is, the more jutsu you can cast, and the more powerful they are. It will also increase the effectiveness of medical ninjutsu.

"Finally, Charisma is a measure of how charming and convincing you are. Though it has little combat application, it is useful during infiltration and conversation. In some instances, it can even prevent combat altogether."

"What?" Naruto cried out. "Why would you want to avoid a fight?" he demanded.

"All eight traits, though primarily Charisma, can be used in dialogue for certain skill checks," Not-Iruka explained, ignoring Naruto's tone as always. "For example, perhaps you are confronted by another ninja in a crowded area. He may be looking for a fight, and you may reciprocate, but such a conflict in your current location would undoubtedly cause massive collateral damage and draw the ire of the local authorities. If you have a high enough Charisma score, you can convince the aggressor to move your confrontation to less crowded locale, or even diffuse the situation altogether. If you pass a skill check, you will be granted experience, and possibly items and quests that you could not have accessed otherwise." Naruto hummed in understanding.

After questioning Not-Iruka on several more things, the blond boy opened his stats menu and looked at his stats more closely now that he understood what everything meant. He saw that he was currently Level 5, with 30 skill points to spend. He also saw that, with the exception of his ludicrously high Chakra, Cunning (13), and Charisma (5), all his traits had a score of 10. Naruto knew that his first priority should be to fix his chakra control score, so he started pouring points into Intelligence, keeping a keen eye on his chakra control score. It eventually reached his target number at 16 Intelligence, but after a moment's consideration, brought it up to 20, bringing his chakra control to 57; a little extra never hurt anyone, after all. His next priority was to bring up his Charisma. All his life, people had shunned him and he never knew why. This would be his chance to fix all that. Besides, he couldn't become Hokage if nobody liked him. Eight points were dumped into Charisma, bringing it up to 13. He spent the remainder by putting three points each in Constitution, Cunning, Endurance, and Strength. After figuring out the password to leave the classroom ("Exit tutorial"), Naruto nearly jittered with excitement as he flipped through the seals for the clone technique. Ram – snake – tiger…

"Clone Jutsu!" he cried out. Grey smoke filled his apartment, and when it faded away, he saw three bright, healthy looking clones. "Yahoo!" he cried out in jubilance. "Watch out, Konoha! I'm definitely gonna be Hokage one day, believe it!"

"Ah, shaddup, kid!" a groggy voice shouted from the apartment next to him, causing the blond to flinch in embarrassment. Laughing sheepishly, Naruto dispelled the clones with a puff of smoke.

"Okay, gotta make sure that wasn't a fluke," he whispered to himself. Flipping through the seals again, he summoned the clones once more. With a million-watt smile on his face, Naruto dispelled and summoned the clones again, and again, and again….

Brrrriiiiiiiiing! Brrrrrriiiiiiiiiing! Brrrrrriiiiiiiiing!

"Ugh…" Naruto groaned as he returned to the land of the living. He had spent so much time practicing his jutsu that he had passed out on his floor in exhaustion. Slowly crawling over to his alarm clock and slapped it off. As he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, he peered blearily at the time. He suddenly leapt to his feet wide awake, as if hit with a shot of adrenaline. "Oh crap, I'm late!" he lamented. Grabbing a couple of slices of bread without toasting or buttering them, he dashed out the door, barely remembering to lock his door behind him as he raced to the academy. His mad rush was abruptly ended as he plowed into a green-vested figure, knocking Naruto on his butt. "Uh, hehe…" the blond chuckled nervously. "Hey there, Iruka-sensei. Nice day out, isn't it?" Looming over him was the same man whose image the tutorial had used when counseling Naruto the night before. But unlike the unwavering cheerful smile the copy sported, the real Iruka Umino looked downright livid.

"Naruto…" the instructor said in an eerily calm voice, "what are you doing out here, when you should be in class?" The man's tone and withering glare promised unpleasant consequences should the boy not provide a satisfactory answer.

"I was practicing!" Naruto declared as he pulled himself up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "I stayed up all night last night and sort of lost track of time…" he finished sheepishly. This threw Iruka off; Naruto had never been the most studious of students – in fact, he was rated the dead-last of his class – so the idea of him pulling an all-nighter was mind-boggling.

"Okay," he said with a shrug. This threw Naruto off, who expected more skepticism from the teacher.

"That's it?" he asked, not believing his luck. "You're going to believe me, just like that?"

"I believe that if you were pulling a prank, I would have found evidence by now, either by the mess you left, or by the small army of chunin chasing you. Since I have seen neither, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. And if you've been practicing like you said, then you should have no problem with the exam later today. Now let's go, we've wasted enough time." Without warning, Iruka grabbed Naruto by the waist and, holding the boy like a sack of potatoes, took to the rooftops back to the academy, Naruto protesting all the while.

He was still squirming and complaining when the two returned to Iruka's classroom, where teaching assistant Mizuki was keeping order. Depositing Naruto in front of his seat, Iruka returned to his own desk.

"Well, now that our wayward classmate has finally joined us," the instructor announced, "we can begin. He claims that he was up all last night practicing, so he shouldn't have a problem demonstrating his skills." There were a few disbelieving snickers in the crowd; Iruka did not grace these hecklers with a response. "And since you all should have been studying as well, none of you should have a problem with that as well." A loud chorus of protesting groans echoed throughout the room. "When I call your name, you will step up and henge into myself. Aburame, Shino…." This routine continued on until he reached, "Uzumaki, Naruto." The blond child stepped up and got into the proper position to perform the jutsu. He thought about shocking Iruka with his Sexy Jutsu, but after some consideration, he decided that that may not be the best idea. Best save it for when his ninja prospects weren't on the line.

"Henge!" he shouted, quickly consumed by a plume of smoke. When the cloud cleared, in his place was a picture-perfect image of Iruka. The instructor nodded in satisfaction and, after a couple more demonstrations, brought the students outside for their taijutsu test. Naruto was pitted against Shikamaru Nara, who was undoubtedly the laziest student in the class.

"Can I just forfeit now?" the laconic boy asked hopefully.

"No," Iruka said shortly. This prompted the ponytailed boy to give a weary sigh.

"What a drag…" he groaned as he slipped into a textbook academy-taught taijutsu form. Naruto did the same, though in a much sloppier manner. The fight ended a few minutes later when Shikamaru yielded after Naruto caught him in a hold. The blond had a feeling that the other boy had deliberately half-assed the fight so that it could end quicker, and could have beaten him if the lazy child had the inclination to, but Iruka counted the win as valid, so it was no longer Naruto's concern. As he sat down on the sidelines to observe the other matches, two fighters in particular caught his eye.

The first was a pink-haired girl named Sakura Haruno, who was currently fighting a girl whose name Naruto could not remember. He had crushed on the pinkette for as long as he could remember, and he gave a wistful sigh as he watched her hair blow in the wind as she traded punches with her opponent. Unfortunately, the object of his affections only had eyes for his subject of observation, Sasuke Uchiha, currently fighting Kiba Inuzuka.

A few years ago, Sasuke's entire clan, once hundreds strong, had been wiped out in a single night. The identity of the killer was never officially released, but since the only other member of the clan that wasn't confirmed dead was Sasuke's older brother Itachi, who was conspicuously missing right before the massacre, even an idiot like Naruto could put two and two together. To Naruto's annoyance, since then the village seemed to be tripping over itself to help the "Last Uchiha," including virtually the entire female student population, while he strolled around in a distant, arrogant manner. However, the class genius had the skills to back up the arrogance, so there wasn't much that Naruto could do about it.

"Hey, Naruto," Iruka said, knocking Naruto out of his brooding. "Are you all right? You seem kind of out of it," he continued, frowning in concern.

"I'm fine, Iruka-sensei!" the blond assured his teacher with a wide grin. "I'm just a bit tired, you know?" Iruka looked at him with an unreadable expression, eventually morphing into one of sympathy.

"You know, if you want, you can go back to the classroom. It should be another half-hour or so until lunch, so you can get some extra sleep," he suggested. Naruto nodded in acceptance and took off back to the classroom. As he took his seat, the blond considered checking his stats again, perhaps looking more closely at his perks to see what they did. But he really was tired, and it wasn't like those perks were going anywhere. He leaned over and nestled his head in his arms; he could check his stats later.

Half an hour later, the students had finished their sparring matches. Mizuki led them to the cafeteria while Iruka went to retrieve Naruto. He found the blond at his desk, head buried in his arms and snoring softly.

"Naruto, wake up, it's time for lunch," Iruka said softly as he gently tried to shake Naruto awake. The boy merely shifted in his seat.

"Stop, monkey's got my ramen…" he mumbled sleepily before he resumed snoring. Shaking his head in amusement, Iruka pulled a ration bar out from one of his vest's pockets and set it next to Naruto before leaving the boy to the sleep he so clearly needed. He'd make up letting him missing lunch to him later.

Another half-hour passed for lunch before the class returned to their classroom. This time Iruka shook Naruto more forcefully to wake him up properly.

"Froggy, no!" Naruto cried out as he shot up. His outburst caused several of his classmates to burst into laughter.

"Enjoy your nap, Naruto?" Iruka asked with an amused grin.

"Yep!" the blond replied with a grin of his own. "I'm rested up and ready to go, believe it!" His declaration prompted a fresh round of laughter.

"Now that everyone's rested and refreshed," Iruka said as he returned to his own desk, "we will begin the final part of the exam. In order to pass, you need to summon three clones and hold them for thirty seconds. Come up when I call your name. Shino Aburame…." Once again Iruka called forth students one by one and ordered them to summon their clones while Mizuki timed their progress with a stopwatch. When they passed the test, he would reach into a box on his desk and give the student their hitai-ate, the metal forehead protector that denoted their status as shinobi. Finally, Naruto's turn came. Normally he would be nervous, but not this time. This time, he was certain that he would pass. He stepped up to the teacher's desk and, on Iruka's order, flipped through the seals. Ram – snake – tiger…

"Bunshin no jutsu!" he cried out. Three puffs of smoke appeared around him, clearing to reveal three perfect copies of the boy. Mizuki started the timer and they waited. Each second felt like an eternity, each tick of the clock as loud as a drum, until finally…

"Time," Mizuki announced as he pressed the stopwatch. Naruto immediately dispelled the clones and looked at Iruka hopefully. The scarred instructor had a proud smile on his face.

"Excellent work, Genin Uzumaki," he said as he reached into the box and pulled out a hitai-ate, handing it to the blond. "Congratulations, Naruto, you've earned this," he added proudly.

Naruto slowly took the bundle of cloth and metal and held it almost reverently. He did it; he was finally a ninja! His vision started going misty and he barely restrained the urge to fling himself over the desk and wrap Iruka in the biggest hug he could muster. Instead he managed to squeeze out a timid "Thank you" before he returned to his desk, gazing at the hitai-ate as if it were a priceless treasure.

Soon, the last of the students had completed the task and received their forehead protectors. Once they had all returned to their seats, Iruka stood up to address the crowd.

"It is my pleasure to say that you are now all officially shinobi of the Leaf, and I have never been more proud to have you as my students," he declared. "I hope that go far in your careers, and will continue to serve the village with honor and pride. You will return here one week from today at ten 'o clock for your team assignments," he continued.

As soon as the class was dismissed, Naruto grabbed his hitai-ate and dashed to the nearest restroom. Gazing intensely at his reflection, Naruto took off his goggles and slipped them into his pocket. He unfurled the forehead protector's cloth band and slowly, deliberately lifted it to his forehead and wrapped the band around before tying it into a firm, but not overly tight knot at the back of his head. He admired his reflection in the mirror before vacating the restroom, running into Mizuki in the process.

"'Scuse me, Mizuki-sensei," the blond said from his place on the floor.

"No problem, Naruto," Mizuki said dismissively as he pulled the blond up and brushed down his jacket. "Iruka was looking for you; something about meeting up for ramen later," he said, causing Naruto to drool with anticipation of eating his favorite food. "Congratulations on graduating, Naruto," he continued as the blond began to leave. "Hopefully you'll get on a team." This caused the boy to stop in his tracks and turn to face the chunin.

"Why wouldn't I get on a team?" he asked suspiciously. Mizuki shrugged nonchalantly.

"The fact of the matter is, is that there are more genin then there are jounin instructors to teach them," he explained. "Only a handful of genin get formed into teams; the rest have to get by on part-time jobs and D-Rank missions until a team slot opens up. You made a good effort at the end, but with the way your grades were the rest of the year, you probably won't make the cut. Sorry," he apologized with another shrug. Naruto felt his world crumbling around him. He needed a team – how could he become Hokage if he was stuck in some dead-end job for the foreseeable future? "Luckily, I happen to know a way that'll help you," he added. This brought Naruto out of his depression.

"There is? What is it?" the hyperactive blond demanded eagerly.

"It's supposed to be a secret," Mizuki replied. "Part of the test is finding out about it to begin with. But you're Iruka's favorite, so I'll throw you a bone. There's a large scroll hidden in the Hokage's chambers." He then went on to describe the rough dimensions of the scroll in question. "The mission is to retrieve this scroll and bring it one mile outside the southern gate without being detected. Do this and I guarantee that you'll get the attention of every jounin in the village."

"Really?" Naruto gasped hopefully. "Thanks, Mizuki-sensei!" he said as he ran off. The blond was initially ecstatic that there was a way for him to be guaranteed a spot on a team, but as he exited the academy building, a thought occurred to him. Wait a minute, he thought to himself. They expect a freshly graduated genin to break into and steal something from the Hokage's office? The place where the strongest, most badass ninja in the village works? That's insane! Suddenly a line of text started blinking in front of him, causing him to yelp in surprise. Ignoring the strange looks he received, he saw that the text read:

New Mission – See Menu

Frowning in confusion, Naruto took refuge in the nearest restroom and whispered "Show menu." The menu screen appeared before him and Naruto saw that the tab labeled "missions" was flashing. He opened it to find a single line. "Post-Graduate Work," he read aloud, which expanded the mission to show a blurb of text.

Congratulations, you have become a genin! But you have just found out that you may not be accepted into a team. Luckily, Mizuki-sensei has given you a task guaranteed to attract the jounins' attention: Steal a scroll from the Hokage's office and bring it outside the village without being detected. Will you follow his advice, or take your chances?

EXP: ?

REWARD: ?

After checking to make sure that there were no other new features for him to explore, Naruto closed the menu and left the restroom. The more he thought about this, the more Mizuki's story smelled fishy. He was going to visit the Hokage anyway, so he'd bring it up then.

"Hey Old Man! Guess what, guess what? I graduated!" Naruto cheered as he entered the office of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. The wizened man in white robes and triangular hat laughed at the boy's exuberance.

"I can see that, Naruto. Congratulations," he said. "Looking forward to getting on a team?" he asked. To the old man's surprise, instead of a joyful agreement, Naruto gave a slight grimace. "Naruto, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Well…" he began hesitantly. With a wave of his hand, Sarutobi willed the doors to his office closed and gestured for Naruto to take a seat. "It's just…I heard something really strange today. Something about not all genin making it onto a team?" Sarutobi sighed as he packed his pipe with fresh tobacco and lit it with a snap of his fingers.

"Unfortunately, you are correct, Naruto," he said mournfully. "We try to accommodate as many as we can, but there simply aren't enough jounin instructors to go around. But don't worry, Naruto, you have my personal promise that you will have a fair chance of getting onto a team," he assured the worried teenager, which seemed to brighten him up.

"Really? That's awesome – thanks, Old Man!" he cheered. "That's good, 'cause Mizuki-sensei told me something weird." When the Hokage raised his eyebrow in curiosity, he continued, "He said that there was a test that would guarantee me a spot on a team. I had to swipe a scroll from your office and take it outside the village without being caught. But this is like, the most secure place in the village! It'd be simply insane for a genin like me to try that!" he cried out. The Hokage furrowed his brow and stroked his beard in thought.

"I don't know why your teacher is trying to scare you like this, but I'll have someone speak to him about it," Sarutobi said. "I assure you, Naruto, that there is no test that guarantees you placement on a team. Trying to do as he suggested is, like you said, quite insane, and would get you in quite a bit of trouble as well." He took a puff from his pipe and exhaled, subtly using a jutsu to blow the smoke out the window before his young audience could inhale it. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk to me about while you're here?" he asked.

"Umm, yeah…" Naruto said uncertainly. "What's a jinchūriki?" he asked. It was good that Sarutobi was not taking another puff when the blond asked, for he would have assuredly choked on it. As it was, the Hokage's pipe hung limply from his lips, his mouth dropped open in shock. Setting the pipe aside before it fell out and burned something, Sarutobi quickly flipped through several seals and the window suddenly slammed shut before an intricate seal flashed on both it and the door.

"Naruto, where did you hear that word?" the Hokage asked, more serious than Naruto had ever seen him. Shocked, the blond could only stammer confusedly. "Naruto, this is very important, who told you about jinchūriki?" he demanded.

"No one!" Naruto exclaimed. "Not directly, at least," he added more softly.

"Explain," Sarutobi ordered. So Naruto spoke of the events that had transpired the night before, about how a mysterious courier-nin had arrived to give him a package, and about the game he found himself in. After Naruto had finished his explanation, Sarutobi simply stared at him expressionlessly for several long, tense seconds. Finally he said, "You do realize that this is very hard to believe, right?"

"But-but I'm telling the truth!" Naruto protested. He reached into his pocket and withdrew he instruction manual. "Here, read this!" he said, giving the booklet to Sarutobi. The Hokage took the pamphlet and flipped through it.

"…Naruto, this is blank," the old man said flatly.

"What?!" Naruto snatched the booklet back and flipped through it, finding as full of text as it was the last time he read it. "Listen to this: 'The red bar in the upper left corner is your health meter. If this is drained, then you will die. The blue bar is your chakra meter; this allows you to perform jutsus. If it is drained, jutsus will be used using your health. The green bar is your stamina bar; this allows you to use taijutsu and other physical activities like sprinting. If it is drained, then you cannot perform taijutsu and will have difficulty moving.'" The blond looked up at his grandfather figure only to find the old man looking back at him with a mixture of confusion and pity.

"Naruto, I have no idea what you just said," he confessed. "All you said was a bunch of gibberish."

"But I'm telling the truth!" Naruto shouted, nearing hysteria. "Show menu! Look, see?" he asked as he ran so that he was next to Sarutobi. "These are my stats. There's my Intelligence and Strength and Endurance and – oww!" he yelped as he felt a shock on his neck. "What was that for?!" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Sarutobi apologized, "but you were hysterical. I had to make sure that you weren't under a genjutsu of some sort. Between the chakra I pushed into you and the shock itself, it should have canceled any illusions. Do you still see this…menu?" he asked, hesitating at the last word.

"YES!" Naruto screamed, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "I'm not lying, and I'm not crazy! Why won't you believe me?" he asked, trying to hold back sobs. Sarutobi pulled the broken down boy into a firm embrace.

"I believe that you believe it, my boy," he said as he tried to console the blond. "But something like this has never been heard of before, so you'll have to forgive my skepticism."

"T-that's okay," Naruto said between sniffles. "I probably wouldn't believe me either," he continued with a rueful laugh before muttering "exit menu," dispelling the stats screen.

"Do you still want me to answer your original question, or do you want to come back tomorrow when you feel better?" Sarutobi offered. He wasn't sure about answering Naruto's question with him in the state he was now, but if the boy insisted, then the old man would provide the answer he sought.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the blond assured him as he wiped his eyes and returned to his seat. "It's what I came here for, anyway."

"Very well, then" Sarutobi said with a nod. "Before I begin, I have to inform you that everything you will hear is considered an S-Rank secret. Are you absolutely certain that you can handle that responsibility?" he asked seriously. Naruto considered it; S-Rank secrets were the highest of top-secret. But if he didn't get his answers now, it would keep gnawing at him until he found out somewhere else, in a way that he may not want to hear about it from.

"Yes," the blond answered, equally serious. The Hokage stared at him for several seconds before nodding in satisfaction.

"Very well," he said. "What do you know about the Kyūbi attack twelve years ago?" he asked.

"Uhh…" Naruto groaned at the apparent non-sequitur. "Something about how it just showed up one day and started wrecking the village, so the Fourth showed up and beat it, dying in the process," he summarized.

"All true," Sarutobi confirmed, "but there are a few details absent from that account. The implication from that story is that the Kyūbi died that night, but that's not true. No man can kill a demon of that caliber, not even the Fourth, so he had to seal it in a host infant, a jinchūriki." Naruto immediately caught the implication.

"And that baby was…me?" he asked faintly. "I have the Kyūbi sealed inside of me? Is that why everybody glares at me?" he continued to ask.

"Yes, to all of your questions," Sarutobi confirmed solemnly. "I tried to protect you by passing a law making it illegal to speak of your status to those who did not already know, but it seems that in my efforts to keep you protected from outsiders, I failed to adequately protect you from the village itself. For that, I am truly sorry, Naruto. Can you forgive me?" he implored.

"Huh?" Naruto grunted, still lost in thought. "Oh yeah, it's cool," he said dismissively. "I mean, it wasn't that bad in hindsight. People just glared at me or wouldn't sell me things. It's not like any of them tried to hit me or anything," he said with a weak laugh. Well, there was that one time. But the guy was drunk, and Naruto never saw him again anyway, so he didn't feel the need to bring it up. "So, why me? Why did the Fourth pick me and not someone else?" he asked.

"I'm sure he had his reasons, but I'm afraid that I was not privy to them," Sarutobi said. "For what it's worth though, his last wish was that you be seen as a hero to the village, something else I have failed you at." Naruto furrowed his brow as he considered that new tidbit.

"A hero, huh…?" he muttered to himself. "All right then, then that's what I'll be!" he declared, jumping up from his chair. "I'll get strong, I'll be a hero, and then I'll be the best darn Hokage the world's ever seen, believe it!" The Hokage laughed at the blond's newfound enthusiasm.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?" the old man asked. Naruto thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Then you'd best get home. Remember, do not talk about what we just discussed without my express permission unless they already know, am I clear?" he asked. At the blond boy's vigorous nod, he said, "Good. If you'd wait outside, I'll have someone escort you home." With a few hand seals, he dispelled the seals on the window and door. Bidding him farewell, Naruto left Sarutobi's office to return home. "So," he said to the empty room as he reignited his pipe, "what did you think of that, Kakashi?" Behind him, the wall warped and rippled until it revealed a tall man in black clothes and a dark green vest. He had spiky silver hair, a black mask covering his face, and his forehead protector pulled down to cover one eye.

"Well, he'll certainly be an interesting one," the man named Kakashi said casually, "especially if that story of his is true. I checked him over, and I couldn't find any evidence of a genjutsu. An illusion that can't be detected or dispelled, and can be applied to objects – if we can figure out how that works, it would be a major coup for the village. Of course, this is all moot if he doesn't get on my team to begin with," he added with a shrug.

"Oh?" Sarutobi inquired as he turned to face his jounin. "And here I thought that since you specially requested Naruto, you would pass him automatically."

"I may have requested him, but that doesn't mean that I'll give him a freebie," Kakashi said with a lazed glance. "He still needs to pass my test, and if he doesn't, then I'll fail him, regardless of who he is. Same goes for the Uchiha boy," he continued insistently. "Right now, I'm more interested in this apparent plot to steal the Scroll of Seals."

"Yes, that is disconcerting," the Hokage said with a frown. "I do not relish the thought of traitors, but one within our own education system?" He shook his head in disgust. "Did you see—?"

"Yep," Kakashi interrupted. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it," he assured his superior.

"Do that," Sarutobi said. "And while you're at it, have someone bring Iruka Umino to my office."

While this discussion was going on, a ninja had escorted Naruto back to his apartment. After the emotional roller coaster that he had just experienced, the boy was exhausted. Carelessly flinging his clothes around and carefully hanging his hitai-ate on a hook, the boy flopped onto his bed and quickly slipped into a deep slumber.

I read Naruto: Ramen Days and Naruto: GOTY Edition, liked what I saw, decided to take a crack at it myself. That's the thought process behind this fic in a nutshell. I hope I did well.

In case you're wondering, the game system is primarily based on the newer Fallout games, with some elements of Elder Scrolls, Tales of… series, Diablo, and Dead Space thrown in for flavor.

I hope you liked it, and don't forget to leave a review.