Hi... new fanfiction based on the challenge below. Hope you like it, it was partially inspired by Konoha's Number 1 Knuckleheaded Player and Fractured Fate. Do check them both out as excellent examples of a video game plot style story.
Naruto: "REBORN A NARA" by NaruAndHarrHaremFan
Naruto dies during the 4th Great Ninja War and is reborn as Shikamaru Nara – sort of...
Preferences
-Naruto retains his memories from his past life - accepted
-He gains Shikamaru's intelligence - accepted
-He keeps his own work ethic - accepted
-Must befriend new jinchuuriki - accepted
-Must not hold back, but must still graduate as a part of the rookie nine - accepted
-Pairing: any you want, but harem with Ino, Samui, or Hanabi is preferred - accepted
Restrictions
-No Rape - accepted
-NO ORANGE CLOTHING - accepted
Up To You
-Whether or not he has any leftover chakra from the Kyuubi - nope
Naruto: The Troublesome Game
Naruto Uzumaki was a child often seen with a goofy grin on his face, to the extent that it was almost as much of a trademark as the colour orange and his love of ramen. Always an optimist in nature, it had taken his death at the hands of Pein to remove the look of hope, to change him. Life was cruel, giving him knowledge of his father only to take his comprehension of it away, but it was not that that had caused the look of despair etched into his features by rigor mortis. It was the other knowledge that he had been given. The knowledge that he had failed everyone haunted him even beyond the grave.
Pein had come for him, and he had been unable to do anything in the end. Even Sage Mode had not been enough. Even though Jiraiya had sacrificed himself he had not managed to prevail. He was dead, alongside the many, many casualties of the attack. His body lay broken, not beyond recognition, but that made it worse in a way. For the survivors could still see the traces of that innocent child – for that was what he was, many of the villagers now realised. He was not a demon… He was a child, forced to become an adult all too soon.
Lying next to him in a pool of blood, but either mercifully or cruelly, still recognisable was the body of Shikamaru Nara. The two had grown to be good friends, and Shikamaru had in the end sacrificed himself in order to block a blow meant for Naruto. It had been a wasted effort though; the Nara had made an error in his strategy. The orange clad boy, having never had such a true friend, was completely demoralised by the death of the one person he had thought he could rely on. The pause while he screamed in pure, unadulterated agony had been more than enough for the Deva Path to strike with a killing blow. This started a cycle of destruction that rampaged over Konoha.
Konoha was a bloody carnage and it was doubtful if it would ever be able to return to its former glory. The ninja population had been devastated, as had the civilians. Of a Hidden Village formerly boasting an army of thousands of active Ninja', hundreds remained. The civilians had fared no better. Their lack of protection made them easy to hunt. Naruto would have wept had he seen the ruin of Ichiraku's; that is if he had had any tears to spare after viewing the destruction. The Hokage monument was nothing but rubble. The memorial stone had permanently been erased. Not that they could have continued to engrave the names of fallen heroes. The stone would have had to be more than ten times the size to record all of the honourable and pointless deaths.
And what of Naruto – what was happening to him? He was currently in an endless spiral of darkness, falling further and further downwards. This continued until his vacant eyes reflected the light at the end of the tunnel, where a figure was waiting. But they did not see, it was as if all life had been ripped from him.
"Namikaze-san, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Naruto simply stared, unable to process any information. Chakra walls spun around and around the odd duo…
"I had thought that I would see you again… just not so soon."
The shinigami stated, almost casually. The blank look in the boy's eyes didn't change at all. He remained unresponsive, numb to pain."
"The question is what to do with one who has entered so far into my realm. I should have supposed that when I accepted Minato's sacrifice that something akin to this would happen. Yin and yang chakra are not supposed to be separated, after all."
He paused a moment, having seen something that should not be happening. Slowly but surely awareness had begun to seep back into Naruto's eyes. As thoughts, memories and experiences returned to the soul, its neutral stance broke; falling to its knees. Still the shinigami continued increased haste in movement the only acknowledgement of Naruto's awakening. The shinigami does not panic, after all.
"Well I can't send you to the abyss from here now… So I guess I'll have to make do."
With that his hand reached out to grasp an ornate hourglass, the bottom filled with swirling chakra, the top completely empty. With a flick of thin and reedy fingers the chakra began to spin in a tornado like pattern as it was sucked slowly upwards. The flow was chaotic and needed stabilising, but there was no time for it to settle. Souls from the mortal realm must never awaken in such a place; else the disturbances would be massive. Instead the shinigami hurriedly enforced rules to make the chakra settle, rules that would govern the world's very existence. These in turn warped into Game like rules which, unknown to him would latch on to the newest addition.
Nothing was ever predictable when it came to one Naruto Uzumaki. Strong though the boy's sense of self had been... at that moment his only thoughts were of self loathing. Naruto Uzumaki did not want to be Naruto Uzumaki. And so as the former jinchuuriki's soul was absorbed into the hourglass small changes occurred. Then the larger ones began to make themselves known. The mix of chakra had changed and now nothing would be the same for the elemental nations. It could never be put back to where it was before, ever again.
Naruto naturally knew none of this. All his now suddenly awakened soul could distinguish was the words which were floating in front of him. But they were words which made no sense whatsoever. Well, actually they did make sense... just an impossible kind of sense that made him automatically disregard them.
NEW GAME
NEW GAME +
LOAD GAME
EXIT
What on earth was going on? Where was he? Why was he here with these floating words when he should be in oblivion…? With ero-sennin and hokage-jiji and his parents and everyone else who had ever cared for him. Nothing was making any sense. It was like he was a character in a video game – wait a minute! Genjutsu! Flaring his chakra outwards with a loud cry of 'Kai' Naruto waited for the world to distort back to the ruins of Konoha, because that was where he must be. Nothing happened though; the screen did not even waver.
A video game… That was what these things were called… Weren't they? He had seen them used before, albeit rarely. But that was no reason for his life to become one! Still the idea of a new game, was that something like a new start? Naruto would give almost anything for one of those. A second chance in which he could make sure that no-one would have to die! And that made his mind up. He pressed the button titled New Game +. And then the questions started.
Are you Male or Female?
That was simple enough to answer, even if he had created the oroike no jutsu that only meant he took the form of a woman to defeat the enemy. It most certainly did not mean that he wanted to be one for good! Next up…
Do you take after your Father or your Mother?
That one was harder to answer, but in the end he selected his father. After all he had never known either of his parents, but he did resemble the yondaime. And that was one way of taking after someone.
Choose your paternal lineage
Aburame
Akimichi
Ayugai
Benitsuto
Chimaya
…
Gotanda
…
Hamakaze
Haruno
Hasimoto
…
Higurashi
Hyuuga
Inuzuka
...
Kurama
Kyogoku
…
Namikaze
Nara
…
Sarutobi
Senju
…
Uchiha
…
Uzumaki
Yamanaka
The list went on and on, mentioning clans that Naruto had absolutely no knowledge about, or had only heard of in passing. He was pretty sure some of them no longer existed! Not to mention he knew for a fact that there were no male Senju left… How could his father, even hypothetically be one? It didn't make sense! Grimacing at this new puzzle, his mind was further bewildered when he was unable to select Namikaze as his father's family. This did not make sense, in the slightest. A quick tap told him all he needed to know, though.
Naruto: Gamer Edition: Tutorial!
In order to unlock heritages you must become true friends or lovers with a member of that particular clan, and have the sentiment reciprocated. But be careful – the heritages available are only the ones that you had unlocked in the previous game... and will be unavailable should you attempt to begin again.
Those comparatively few words both warmed Naruto's heart and froze it. He was glad, truly glad that he had Shikamaru as a true friend... but he was sad that even after all team 7 had been through together, their relationships with each other were not that strong. Or rather they simply did not like Naruto as much as he liked them.
Naruto knew that he had considered Sakura to be the girl he loved, and Sasuke was his best friend and rival! But the fact that they evidently did not value him in the same way hurt...Brushing away what would have been a small drop of his water running down his face, which was most definitely not a tear!- Naruto braced himself and selected 'Nara'.
Father: Shikaku Nara
Stat Bonus: +3, Intelligence
Skill Bonus: + 10 Tactics, + 10 Ninjutsu
And other Nara specific Bonuses, including unique perks!
Upon tapping on the screen again Naruto found himself staring at another list of names, this time in order to select his mother. This time however there was only one other option – Yoshino Nara... It then hit him that these were Shikamaru's parents. He was going back as... Shikamaru! No... He couldn't do that! He would not rob his only friend of his existence! The absence of the back button said otherwise, there was no choice but to press on or be stuck in limbo for all eternity. Not that Naruto knew that, he just had a short attention span.
Mother: Yoshino Nara
Stat Bonus: +2, Intelligence
Skill Bonus: + 5 Tactics, + 5 Kenjutsu
And other Nara specific Bonuses, including unique perks!
At this point Naruto had expected the game to have finished with his background, but it seemed that there was more to come. This time he had to choose his distant ancestry, something much more troublesome. Damn! He was already starting to sound like Shikamaru! The Nara Clan were no longer an available option due to his earlier choices, and he didn't have any other relatives that he was aware of.
Then a thought struck him. Why not choose the Senju lineage and be family to Tsunade-baa-chan? Even if it was only a distant connection… He could maybe help one of his precious people…. There was also the fact that he knew Tsunade didn't consider him a friend or a lover, but like a family member, which was probably why he had not been able to select Senju as a direct relation.
Distant Ancestry: Senju Clan
Stat Bonus: +1, Strength
Skill Bonus: + 5 Chakra Control
And other Senju specific Bonuses, including unique perks!
After that was confirmed, Naruto finally got his first glimpse of what these 'bonuses' actually did.
How SPECIAL are you?
Strength: 6 +
Perception: 5 +
Endurance: 5 +
Charisma: 5 +
Intelligence: 10
Agility: 5 +
Luck: 5 +
Special Points: 3 (New Game +)
After a fair amount of experimentation he discovered that he could increase any SPECIAL stat up to a maximum of 10, and most could be decreased to a minimum of 1. The exceptions to this rule were the stats which had been increased by Naruto's choice of origin. For example, since he had got a + 5 bonus in total to Intelligence, the minimum it could be decreased to was 5. The same principle applied to his Strength which had a minimum of 2.
The question was now how he should distribute his bonus points? Strength affected damage done with Kenjutsu, Bukijutsu and Taijutsu. It also affected how much he could carry. Perception affected his accuracy with Kenjutsu, Bukijutsu and Taijutsu, as well as his ability to spot hidden enemies and pick up on small details. Endurance affected his health, stamina and Chakra levels, in addition to how fast they recovered.
Charisma affected people's reactions to him, which in turn improved his buying and selling prices. Intelligence affected something called skill points per level, his memory and his ability to rationalise. Most vitally it would improve his control of his chakra. Agility affected his attack speed, his skill with precise movements such as hand seals and aiming, and lastly his flexibility.
All of the above, in addition to what was mentioned, would affect certain skills – though Naruto still wasn't completely sure how. Then lastly there was luck, which affected everything, particularly increased chances of finding money and loot on a defeated enemy, which would come in useful.
Naruto was torn. All of them had great uses, but he could only increase a few! Charisma was not a must, Shikamaru was not the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and thus would not be sold spoilt food or left to eat whatever was cheapest, like instant ramen. So no points would be spent there. Strength was something that the old Naruto would have been raising manically, but his extra Intelligence seemed to kick in. He was a Nara now, hardly a close-combat specialist. Furthermore it had always seemed that skill was more important than brute force. Surely being accurate and quicker to attack would be of greater benefit?
Thus two points were deducted from Strength, leaving it at the below average value of 4. Three of the points were added to Agility, the other two to Perception. As Naruto fiddled with his stats, he found that he could actually begin to see some changes in the way he felt. For example everything seemed so much clearer. Not that he had needed glasses before, but his senses were definitely heightened. Likewise he felt more flexible, but also like he had less muscle.
Strength: 4
Perception: 7
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 10
Agility: 8
Luck: 5
Special Points: 0
After confirming his stats Naruto found himself with a new challenge… A gigantic list titled 'Skills'.
Skills
Art: 14
Bukijutsu: 15
Chakra Control: 25
Crafting: 8
Fuuinjutsu: 15
Genjutsu: 17
Intrigue: 15
Iryojutsu: 20
Kenjutsu: 16
Knowledge: 20
Lock Picking: 15
Mercantile: 10
Medicine: 17
Ninjutsu: 25
Persuasion: 10
Poisons: 17
Regeneration: 9
Seduction: 12
Sensing: 14
Stealth: 16
Survival: 13
Tactics: 35
Taijutsu: 12
Trapping: 17
Skills Tagged 0 of 5
After tapping on a skill, and therefore 'tagging' it, the corresponding number would increase by 15, giving it a significant boost. And he could only pick 5. Chakra Control was number one, he had had enough problems before to know the value of having solid basics. Taijutsu was also important, as was Bukijutsu. Ninjutsu too! Last but not least Knowledge was selected. Who knows…? He might be one of the better students this time… If he wasn't your average lazybones that Shikamaru had freely admitted to being, he maybe could even be Rookie of the Year. How hard could it honestly be?
Skills
Art: 14
Bukijutsu: 30 - TAGGED
Chakra Control: 40 - TAGGED
Crafting: 8
Fuuinjutsu: 15
Genjutsu: 17
Intrigue: 15
Iryojutsu: 20
Kenjutsu: 16
Knowledge: 35 - TAGGED
Lock Picking: 15
Mercantile: 10
Medicine: 17
Ninjutsu: 40 - TAGGED
Persuasion: 10
Poisons: 17
Regeneration: 9
Seduction: 12
Sensing: 14
Stealth: 16
Survival: 13
Tactics: 35
Taijutsu: 27 - TAGGED
Trapping: 17
Skills Tagged 5 of 5
The world flashed around him before fading into the darkness. The unusual thing being that this darkness was moving and blurring as if something was covering his eyes. Slowly but surely he managed to prise open the offending eyelid, and found himself in the arms of Yoshino Nara, who was currently ecstatic.
"Who's going to be a good baby boy? Yes... you are! You are going to work hard and not be all lazy and sleeping like papa."
Seeing the baby's eyes move she sat up from the hospital bed pillows that she was propped up on smoothly and held out her little darling to his father. Cradled in the loving arms of two parents Naruto made a new resolution, one as important to him as his promise to save Konoha. He would be the best child ever for his new parents... A nurse entered the room with a bottle of milk and held it out for Yoshino. Apparently somewhere during his mother's pregnancy she had forced his father to agree to do all nappy changes, in exchange for her feeding their new-born.
Even though Naruto's independent side railed against the fuss, his mind was telling him that he was warm and snugly, he was with parents who cared and lastly that he could not be happier. Those were his thoughts as he drifted off to sleep.
So... what do you think...? Yes this is a harem... so far there are 3 girls confirmed, as well as several possibilities. Oh, and just so you know there will be no bashing in this story... neither civilians nor Sakura. I fully intend to continue this story no matter what, though a beta would be appreciated *hint* *hint*