The flicker of white caught his attention the moment it appeared in the room. He waited until all of them stood in front of him grimly, like he was the Shinigami himself. Some, though, they knew better. The ones who had already been through the part of hell that Kiri created for itself. Now, he had to lead the naïve youth again until they, too, learnt why the world outside was Hell.

There were 14 children before him, one of which was the girl who looked like a ghost. Pale skin that didn't receive enough sunlight, glowing- like the waning light of the moon- in the artificial light of the classroom.

White hair that didn't even reach her shoulders, cheeks still chubby with fat, eyes the colour of water that surrounded them on all sides. He would have sighed and kicked her out on the first day if she had started crying like he thought she would. It was unfortunate that she hadn't.

There was no place for a child on the battlefield. And yet, he couldn't find a reason to kick her out yet. She was hardworking and new to many things in the life of a shinobi. The workstation must have seen that optimism and tried to keep her locked away, tried to keep her that innocent. They always tried to be contradictory for absolutely no reason.

The life of a shinobi is never easy and they should have known that. Instead of hardening the children for their future, they babied the ones with the most potential, ruining them until a skilled shinobi picked them or they died before ever fulfilling their potential. What he hated more than anything was unfulfilled potential, and yet…

He knew that this girl needed to be reported on. That he needed to tell the one of Seven Swordsmen about the future potential.

Already he could see how she would be in the future, white long hair bathed with blood, eyes would be as blue and as hard as a crystal, lips upturned in a snarl, bloodlust burning in her eyes. He mentally shook the vision away. There was no guarantee that she would even survive her next mission.

Low class civilians were cannon fodder. They were thrown at the worst of missions, the ones which had no option but to see you dead. The enemy would kill you, or your own teammate would. With looks as recognizable as that? There was almost a 100% chance that she would end up killed by her own comrades, and she would never expect that until a kunai was buried inside her chest.

She turned and beamed at a boy who looked like he would fall over, flustered, from that little bit of attention. He gave her a small hesitant smile in return. That boy already understood more about the real world than she did.

But if there was one thing that stood out about her regardless of her bright innocence so easy to see, it would be her learning curve. Already she was better than most of her classmates at kunai and shuriken throwing. Her usage of chakra was also better than most chunin. She had absolutely perfect chakra control. The kind of precision he had never seen in an untrained civilian before.

Though he would prefer it if she stopped using her chakra in the library. Already there was talk in Anbu about the white-haired civilian who was learning to be a sensor.

She would be scooped up by Anbu before she even left the Academy if she kept going on like that. Already there had been basic background investigations done before her first night in the library was over.

He had seen it, of course. It was his jurisdiction considering she was his student. Her parents had seen her unfamiliar white hair and had been afraid. The fear of unknown and the promise of certain food driving them to giving her up before the first month was even over. They had absolutely no contact with her and she was under the impression that they were dead. Better to cultivate that.

If she really needed to be broken, they could make plans to send her to kill her parents. A test of loyalty to enter Anbu, as well. Her competence in the shinobi arts would serve the Mizukage well after she got more real life experience.

The girl turned towards him and a brief look of happiness flickered on her face, the smallest of smiles appearing. A small dark pit formed in his stomach and he had to look away unwilling to name the heavy feeling forming and yet, unwilling to give up the light in her eyes either.

What a child, he thought, closing his eyes briefly.

Unknown to him, a small crystalline looking square, the same colour as her eyes, popped up in front of her.

Your reputation with the Instructor has increased by 1 level! You are now 'friendly'!

Two months passed slowly and the fear of Instructor abated in everyone little by little. How long could someone keep up a constant state of alertness, after all? And slowly, everyone got used to being competent at what they learnt or give up totally. They struggled and climbed their way up as well.

People stopped trying to pick on me because of my age. People learnt that I was good at the things I did. They spent a long time on the first level of the obstacle course and they watched as I breezed through levels every week. They watched me learn skills in front of them. They watched and watched and watched.

But some…some learnt. The angry senior who had become too arrogant in the course the first time, who pushed herself farther and farther and started to get bitter when she couldn't reach higher faster. I understood how she felt.

In my previous life, even I had felt that. There was always going to be someone better than you no matter what you did. There was someone kinder, someone richer, someone more skilled, someone more experienced.

But because I knew that, I wanted to overtake that bitterness as well. It might have been futile to try, but she was the only other female in the whole class. A class of 14 and only two were females. I wanted her to call me a friend.

Aside from her, there was Haru, who learnt well too. I suspected that someone else taught him but that was an odd thought as well. Who would take a low class civilian under their wing? Everyone who wasn't a shinobi sneered down as us. Even as shinobi, there was a strict line dividing everyone else and shinobi who were of lower birth.

And yet. And yet, he continued to grow and flourish. After the Academy, he would have an apprenticeship offer waiting for him. Maybe he would grow into a strong shinobi one day. It was a nice hope-a nice dream. But no one could tell the future. No one could say what could happen. But still, it was a nice dream to have.

The second month started with a week of learning about chakra and its properties. Some, I already knew. Some, I didn't. They taught the things that were most common and hinted at the things that weren't. I spent more nights at the library, studying tirelessly to earn more knowledge and more INT to go with it.

And sometimes, I went to that girl. The angry girl. She screamed the first time. Then the second time. And the third time. But the fourth time, she didn't. She just looked exhausted.

We just sat together and spent that time doing nothing. It was probably a waste to do so when I could have trained, but there was also a part of me that was civilian girl who used to feed street dogs, who gave starving people food, and who sat and cried at the misery in the world from my rooftop.

The world of Naruto…was a terrible place. And yet, there were people who could have become so much more than a killer for hire. There were definitely a lot of people who wanted to stop fighting. Especially after centuries of it. They wouldn't feel the desire for war that people in my previous life felt. Not for years. But by then…was it possible?

I thought about that Quest. It wasn't impossible, maybe. Or maybe it wasn't impossible for me. The Gamer was a power that had no opposition. You got good, or you got killed. There was no way to live an average life.

The world of Naruto wrenched my heart like nothing else. The end of Naruto was so perfect. So beautiful. And yet, there would be more fights after that?

That was a little bitter, that the capacity for both good and harm in humans, was immense, was something I had heard much, much before my first death, but something like that…how could people keep going on fighting like that?

I shook my unpleasant thoughts away. I get lost in my head too often for it to be good for me. I needed to concentrate on my lessons instead.

There was another thing I learnt that was different between me and everyone else.

Chakra pool could be grown by using as much of it as you safely could and then resting. If someone kept doing it, especially as a child, they would get a lot of chakra in a short period of time. It wasn't safe if the children were too young but everyone in class other than me could safely do it.

That was, perhaps the only reason Instructor hadn't realized how odd I was. My chakra pool couldn't be grown using that method. Only my VIT and INT stats could do that.

That…would be a problem. But for some time yet.

I don't need a Master, I just need time and experience. A Master is someone who chooses to teach you and pass on their abilities, and because of that, they determine your growth. But a student, when they defeat or kill their Master, means they surpassed their Master. They can take the Master's rank, possessions and anything else.

So why? Why did Masters even decided to teach anyone if there was such a big threat to their own lives, if they did?

The schooling system in Mist was odd, but it also worked. There were different classes for different casts. But the Graduation Exam was the same no matter where. You had to kill your classmate. No one spoke about it, even the older kids, who had survived it somehow.

So no one would know of it other than overhearing a shinobi- really hard to do- or a graduate- relatively easier- or having outside information- like me.

It was why I realized, Zabuza was quite fearsome. He didn't just kill a class, he killed one of the skilled classes. The ones who weren't low-born. If he hadn't, it would never have been a big enough issue. That was brave.

If one of the Swordsmen hadn't taken an interest in him, he would have been pulled in Anbu and probably died on one of those suicidal missions. He was fearsome because he did it with none of the intensive training he would have received in the Academy.

The Graduation Exam was watched by everyone who was willing to take a student, which included some of the Seven Swordsmen. It was a BIG thing. The Seven Swordsmen were all S-ranked and were commanders of their own battalions.

They were the people that even jonin answer to. And the Swords itself were given to the person who managed to defeat or kill the Swordsmen.

The cultural setting of celebrities was already formed in Kiri. It was amusing to see the way people would fall over themselves to please the Swordsmen. If anyone managed to get the chance to be their apprentice…they would, by default, have only two superiors. Their Master, and the Mizukage. Not counting Anbu because that was practically a totally different division altogether.

That said, I did not want to have a Master. I would be monitored heavily if that happened and that was something I did not want to make happen.

Still, that aside, I looked at my right, noticing my senior was dozing off. Already my reputation with her was inching higher. It was funny how not talking here was gaining me more reputation than talking would.

I lay back, and anyone who looked at me would see me enjoying cloud-watching. I silently called up my [Reputation] tab. It showed me the reputations of different factions, but what bothered me the most was the '?' symbols all over the place.

Reputation:

Reputation System classifies what certain factions feel about you. For certain factions, you must have direct contact with, or predict correctly to be shown on your screen.

Reputation starts at Neutral with all factions and as you act, and/or ally with certain factions, you reputation increases or decreases.

Hated-} Hostile-} Unfriendly-} Neutral-} Friendly-} Honored-} Revered-} Exalted

Kirigakure: Neutral

Instructor: Friendly

Recruitor Kazuki: Friendly

Haru Matsura: Honored

?: ?

Anbu: ?

Workstation 4: Revered

Class 3: Friendly

Iwagakure: Neutral

Konohagakure: Neutral

Kumogakure: Neutral

Sunagakure: Neutral

'Workstation 4' was easy enough to understand. It was the orphanage where I grew up. But that Anbu and a certain unknown faction knew about me, was irritating. Of course, I couldn't go totally unknown, but why did people have to pay attention.

Annoying, but there was nothing to be done. I had to continue doing what I was. If I couldn't grind up my skills before I was thrown at missions, life would be hard. As in, I would be dead instead.

[Instinct] has leveled up!

[Instinct] is now level 2!

I rolled my eyes in response.

Yes, thank you for the clarification.

This was one of the few lazy days I allowed myself. I lazily checked my [Status]. The stats were rising pretty fast considering I actually loved to read, and exercising was always fun cause of all the dopamine release.

There was also many other changes. I smirked as my [Status] unfurled in front of me.

Status

Name: Izumi Kawaguchi

Title: The Gamer

Class: Academy Student (low class civilian)

Level: 1

Exp: 0%

HP: 344/344 (HP regeneration: 3.4% per hour)

CP: 824/824 (CP regeneration: 11.5% per hour)

STR: 23

VIT: 34.4 (17+10+7.4)

DEX: 23.4 (16+7.4)

INT: 48

WIS: 115 (44+71)

LUK: 18

Status Points: 0

I also had gained another [Natural Perk] because of the awesomeness that was my ability. Also because Wisdom was pushed over 100.

Gamer Eyes:

This is the passive ability that lets you see the title, HP and CP of a person. It also allows you to see the System-assigned level in comparison to your level. It also lets you see if any [Buff] or [Debuff] is applied.

It is a toggle-able ability.

ON/OFF.

In a little while, INT would be pushed over 50 and I would get another [Natural Perk]. They all seemed like they were passive abilities, which was a blessing. If I was the kind of Gamer with too many active skills, I would actually be very confused. Or not. I did have INT and WIS which actually helped my ability to remember and understand better.

The next day, I went to the library instead of bothering the senior again. She needed a break after the last few days.

The library was a place which had more books than anyone would even think of. I just had access to the Academy section, but even that satisfied me.

It had a huge variety of books, from Medicine to Astronomy, from History and Basic Code Breaking. It had different books about the same thing with a different perspective. There were books about the formation of the Village. About famous figures in other Villages and also a little about well known things about my own Village too.

If a spy really did read so many books, they might catch what I was getting to. There were secrets in the library too. Subconsciously, I had been breaking it down, trying to understand what felt odd, until I realized what was staring in my face.

The books were arranged in a specific way, forming a code. I didn't decode it. I didn't look at it more than I had to. There had to be someone watching because of this, and so I looked at it and then ignored it.

But when I reached my bed, I recreated it in my mind and tried to decode it then. If it was a week before, I would have tried to decode it in the library but with the leveling of [Awareness] and [Stealth], I realized that there were very well hidden people there.

Anbu.

That was how Anbu faction knew of me. They were in the library already. They had probably sensed me training my [Awareness] and because of [Stealth] leveling up, sometimes, they didn't realize either how strong the chakra was, or they completely missed it.

No wonder [Stealth] was leveling so easily. It was trying to compete with the senses of Anbu. But because they already knew of my habits, I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop. It was also an amazing way to level up that skill.

[Telepathy] was lagging behind now. I didn't use the skill often enough and using it on anyone strong or more than once might mean I would get caught. Bloodline limits were still considered strong but after a few years, it would be hated. There was no way I could reveal it.

The second month passed too. There was a sense of excitement as the third month began. The seniors actually looked excited, even her. When the theory began, I realized why.

They were teaching about swords.

I had already read some books about it before because that's what you do. I read about how it was made, how the Legendary Swords were made by the most famous Swordsmith in the World. They sent assassins after him. There were stories. Many, many wonderful stories.

'The Hidden Eighth' was a story everyone had heard at least once. It said how there was another Legendary Sword hidden somewhere in Kiri but no one knew where it was. Based on that, there were stories about a prince stumbling over it in his quest to win over his beloved and how he fought a dragon but was gravely injured, making his beloved promise to return the Sword from whence it came.

It was romantic but most of the ninja population believed it to be untrue even as they wished for a Legendary Sword to fall in their hands.

Of course it was untrue. Why would a famous blacksmith hide the sword in the first place? Even if they did, they would only know blacksmithing, they couldn't possibly gain some kind of skill that would let them hide from a whole Village.

So. It was impossible for it to actually exist. But it was still a thrilling prospect for all shinobi of Kiri to understand.

For one week, we learnt about the creation of swords, of the best metals found in the Land of Iron about the Second best in Kiri. Somehow. Considering the whole place was an island.

There were different theories about the method of creation of sentient swords. But it was a universal fact that the blacksmiths in Kiri was unmatched. Even the ones in Iron couldn't compare.

It was a shame I had no interest in swords though. I could have become some kind of legendary wielder, but I held no interest in swords.

Of course, that was why I gained a weapon skill because of gaining a sword.

Weapon Handling: Level 1

You can use weapons in your hand to defend, attack or hold skillfully.

-Possible chakra usage 0%

-Passively increases DEX by 0.1

It actually reminded me that we hadn't yet learnt how to use handle kunai and use it to fight. We only learnt how to throw it, which was probably deemed more important that actually learning how to use it in a fight where we will be terribly out-skilled.

Made sense when I thought about it, but it was a little odd that I was receiving a skill like this now instead of ages ago.

From the moment we started working on swords, everyone was eager to learn. Instructor warned us about chopping other people's hands off while we were handed swords.

As in, actual metal swords. There were no practice swords for us. If we chopped something off, bad luck. I actually came close on the first day but I managed to avoid it because I instinctively shifted away before I even knew for certain there was something.

The boy who almost cut my arm off was one of the three who tried to bully me. He grimaced, trying to hold his sword more steadily.

He nodded once and that was that. No apologies, nothing. After all, what would an apology solve? Either do it, or don't.

I wasn't sure if I liked the thought process of the people here or not. They were so much more practical, but so ruthless too. I clutched at my own tiny half used sword, probably from one of the other classes.

It was heavy. I could hold it because my STR was high enough, but other people had problem holding it. A lot of them were using chakra to hold it better. Some were a little too big or a little smaller for them, but they managed to keep holding it.

With new ownership of swords, we were then taught how to hold it, care for it, and finally how to use it. There was so much in it that it made my head spin. We were taught about swords until we could look at one and tell if its quality, and how long it would take to break.

We were taught about its brittleness, and somehow we went into the field of chemistry, talking about metals, their properties, how much heat or cold it could take. So much information about swords.

I reluctantly read about it, but when Instructor spoke so passionately about it, it wasn't hard to get some sort of interest in it too. I think we got more information than we needed but no one really protested.

Haru was, by far, the best at kenjutsu. The seniors were good, but Haru? There was something about the way he moved with a sword in his hand. It wasn't obvious at first. But as the days went by and we learnt the Kirigakure Sword Style, it became more and more apparent.

I was good with books, I had a decent learning curve. I could be called a genius. But Haru? He was pure talent. He moved like he was gliding through water.

Haru, as I knew him, was a quiet boy. He helped when someone asked for it, he was fast and nimble enough to run away in the beginning before he could be targeted for kunai and shuriken stealing. He was shy.

But when they put a sword in his hand, no one could look at his face and call him shy. It was a little like Chojuro. It would be funny if they were related considering they looked nothing alike. Haru had dark hair that- maybe, in the right light- could be called midnight blue and his eyes were ash-gray. His eyes were quite pretty but uncommon.

It was apparent to beginners like us that he did, indeed, have a teacher. But, you didn't speak about things like that. If you did, the mysterious benefactor could have you and their student dead and no one would be willing to point fingers no matter how talented the students could have been.

So, Haru continued to move his sword smoothly while everyone else stumbled about with their sword. The other girl looked at Haru with respect and defiance and clutched her sword, determined to do better than the new talent. She turned around and our eyes met. Her eyes narrowed and she held up her sword in challenge.

I smirked back at her, lifting my sword as well.

"Stop getting distracted and continue with the next step." The Instructor said from right behind me. I almost jumped in surprise, restraining myself to a sharp jerk. I turned around towards him and nodded.

I looked back and saw Haru smiling at me instead. I winked at him, in return. The Instructor rolled his eyes at the exchange, ignoring it, to continue his class.

Everyone knew by now that I was his favorite. Which also meant, I got away with more things, but that I also had to perform better than almost everyone in the class, regardless of their seniority over me. It was a give-and-take situation.

The class timings had started to last till evening on the third month. It had started to take so much time, it was hard to do most of the after class training. I still ran and did different types of training but now, I started socializing a little more as well.

The Academy was supposed to take two years. The first year was things that would let us fight if our Village was every invaded or any emergencies. Now, we were taught to run and how to defend and carry the basics of what made us a Village. If the Village couldn't continue, we had the very basic knowledge of what made us Kiri.

The second year was where they hammered in the taijutsu and kenjutsu into our body. They made us match up against each other and determined our skill level which would lead to the match making in the Graduation Exam.

So, the first year showed which kind of people were naturally talented. Haru was and so was I. But so was this angry girl who sometimes took the time to give annoyed pointers and then insult the ground I walked on.

It was actually tougher to get her name than any advice she deigned to throw at me. It was hilarious, let me tell you. Would you like to know what her name was?

A girl with red hot temper that probably went hand in hand with the Uzumaki clan.

Mei Terumi.

Medicine: Level 57 - 67

Telepathy: Level 27 - 34

Cooking: Level 44 - 50

Run: Level 70 - 74

Stealth: Level 15 - 28

Projectile: Level 7 - 8

Instinct: Level 1 - 2

Awareness: Level 56 - 71

Weapon Handling: Level 1