Hi... somewhat new fanfiction. Looking back at my old fic, Naruto: A Troublesome Game, made me realize just how… iffy it was. I didn't really have a good idea where the plot was going, the merging of The Gamer and Fallout stat systems was a disaster in the making and I couldn't characterize Naruto properly. Thus I have discontinued it, and am working on this instead.
Like its predecessor it's 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 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 to remove the look of hope, to change him. That much was certain, as, in yet another cruel twist of fate, the beasts native to the Forest of Death had left the upper torso while they focussed on consuming the lower half.
Nearby there were another two corpses, belonging to the other members of Team 7. Sasuke Uchiha's body had been unable to endure the curse mark that had poisoned both mind and body. Sakura Haruno had soon followed the boys into the abyss, her broken and alone state making her easy prey for the team of sound genin who came across the weeping figure.
And still Naruto was aware of this. Which was pretty odd all things considered, when half of you is on the forest floor and the other half in the stomachs of assorted monsters. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how it's interpreted, the boys disembodied ghost, for want of a better word was not anchored to a giant spider that had eaten his leg. Or the bloody wolf that had had the other one. No, Naruto had remained stuck in place above his corpse watching events unfold.
He was angry. He was angry at himself, for being helpless. He was angry at Sasuke for… well Sasuke was actually relatively blame free in this. Sure he'd given up the scroll, but when facing that creepy and insanely powerful opponent it was probably the correct course of action. And freezing with fear was understandable. Naruto had done the same himself on the wave mission, and again, insanely powerful enemy facing them. Back to the angry feeling pooling in his stomach. He was angry at Sakura, for not fleeing the moment Sasuke died, for staying to mourn the two of them.
Why couldn't she have left? She might have stood a chance then, had she not knelt over him, her tears washing the blood from his face and apologising profusely for just about every time she'd ever hit him or insulted him. Even though he would have wished for her to feel for him before, now he wished that she really had hated him like she professed before. At least she would be alive.
Mostly though his anger was centred on one person. The one man who could have prevented this from occurring. The one man who should have known better than to enter them into the chunin exams in the first place! Hatake Kakashi had taught them basically nothing. Tree climbing and teamwork didn't quite cut it against people who could summon giant snakes or break people's eardrums in a single move. Had they been taught more, or even better been taught more and entered into the following exams, they might still have died – but their chances would have been much, much better.
They were rookie genin! It was a rare occurrence for then to be entered at all, far too risky in most opinions! So why? Naruto hated to admit this, absolutely loathed it but of all of them Sasuke was the only one qualified to enter early. Naruto barely counted, and only because of the Kyuubi and shadow clones, of which only the latter could be used at will. Sakura was like a walking encyclopaedia at times, but was not proficient in combat of any kind, maybe enough to be a decent genin, but a chunin? No way. He wasn't being arrogant either, Naruto knew that he himself wasn't chunin material based on his current academy skill set.
And what did that say about a teacher when one student was competent prior to graduating, one was only just competent due to factors beyond a teachers control and one had little improvement. Naruto could think of a few things to say about it. Most of them being incredibly rude to the point that the orphanage would have washed his mouth out with soap, had the matron there heard half of one.
It was at that point that Naruto became aware of the words on a screen that was floating perpendicular from the ground directly across the clearing. Even stranger was the fact that he was now able to move his incorporeal limbs and take a step towards it. Though he couldn't step backwards afterwards. That gave him a moment of panic as he was now out from the tree's shadow and thus exposed. Before he recalled that he was now a ghost of some sort and since he could pass through solid objects a kunai shouldn't be a worry. The only thing that could hurt him now was some kind of exorcism jutsu, if one actually existed.
Another step was taken towards the screen, after trying to move his feet to walk at any other angle, and failing. The only way he could go was forwards, and Naruto wondered if this screen was the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. It would make sense for this transient state to be temporary. Maybe the shinigami took time to process the dead or something?
So far Naruto had taken everything with comparative calm for someone who had just been killed. Even in anger he was managing to think things through rationally. However seeing the words floating in luminescent orange on the screen in front of him made the young man ponder his sanity. And then check for genjutsu. Because there was no way that the afterlife was a video game.
"KAI!"
The screen didn't move an inch.
"KAI!"
Again, the obvious illusion did not even flicker in response. Naruto drew in his breath.
"KAIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
This time the screen did waver in front of his eyes, but so was the world around him. A moment later a gasp for oxygen revealed that he had been yelling so long he had needed air, the waver being a slight moment of dizziness. Which was beyond weird as he was a ghost? So why did he need to breathe? And was his life seriously attempting to simulate a video game?
NEW GAME
NEW GAME +
LOAD GAME
EXIT
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.
What is your First Name?
"Naruto."
After pressing the confirm button that consequently came out of the bottom of the screen, the next question came.
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… Multiple Choice?
Trait Selection Screen!
Tutorial: Traits make up a core part of both your character and play style. As such they come with both positive and negative factors that cannot be removed. You have to choose 2 Traits, in addition to the one that has already been pre-selected.
Traits Chosen:
[x] Kyuubi Jinchuriki
Positive Features
. Endurance begins at 3 points above average
. 90 Additional Chakra Points per Level Gained
. 45 Additional Health Points per Level Gained
. Regeneration Skill Unlocked
. Access to Kyuubi Chakra Reserve
Negative Features:
. No points may be removed from Endurance during Character Creation
. Triple the Skill Points are needed in order to raise the Chakra Control Skill
. Accessing Kyuubi Chakra Reserve causes bodily harm
. Uncontrolled bad emotions have a 9% chance of auto-accessing the Kyuubi Chakra Reserve
. Initial Negative Reputation with Konoha
Naruto didn't actually take the news of the enforced perk too badly at first. It wasn't like he had been expecting to not be the Jinchuriki when he restarted. He had assumed it would be the same. Only when he had got past the positive features, and reached the negative ones did he start to get a bit annoyed, mostly at the auto-access feature. And then quickly calmed himself. After all, Naruto didn't know whether that might count as an 'uncontrolled bad emotion', which he could only have 10 times before probability stated he would draw on the Kyuubi's chakra!
Though before he had to get really, really angry in order to do so, and that had only happened on a couple of occasions. But circumstances could be different in the game thing. Naruto grimaced, he really didn't want to risk it. Accepting the fact that he'd have to keep himself under control for the time being, the boy moved on to the remainder of the traits he could choose. You never know, there might be one that would help.
[ ] Elementalist
Positive Features:
. You start off with 2 Elemental Affinities instead of 1
Negative Features:
. Both Elemental Affinities are weaker at start
Naruto didn't know any elemental ninjutsu, so he really was unable to say whether this would benefit him in the long run.
[ ] Resistant
Positive Features:
. You gain +50% Resistance to Kyuubi Chakra and other Toxic Substances
Negative Features:
. Medical Ninjutsu, Medicine and Soldier Pills only aid half as much
The only way this would be good would be if Naruto started using Kyuubi's Chakra regularly. Which was not going to happen. Otherwise he would be making potentially life-saving treatment more difficult. Though he hadn't ever needed healing before – a consequence of the Kyuubi. Humming under his breath, Naruto 's mind filed it as 'of mild interest', like the first one before checking out the following trait on the screen's list.
[ ] Keep Your Distance
Positive Features:
. +10% Damage when attacking at Range
Negative Features:
. -5 to all Charisma based Skills
A definite no. He wasn't any good at hitting a target anyway and Konoha in general would already hate him, so why go out of the way to make himself less personable? Not happening.
[ ] Randomness Hidden in the Leaves
Positive Features:
. +25% chance of a positive random event occurring
. Negative random events can be turned good
. Increased number of random events
Negative Features:
. +25% chance of a negative random event occurring
. Positive random events can be turned bad
. Luck is fixed at 5 (normal)
No, handling all the bad events that he knew were going to happen was more than enough, without factoring in the possibility of sporadic crises. No amount of nice stuff would make up for an equal amount of not so nice stuff.
[ ] Tyrannosaurus Rex
Positive Features:
. Your legs gain an effective +2 to Strength, though not exceeding the maximum
Negative Features:
. Your arms lose an effective -2 to Strength, though not below the minimum
Again a no, he liked having a balanced body thank you very much!
[ ] Constitution over Chakra
Positive Features:
. Health increases much faster
Negative Features:
. 90% of the Chakra Points you would receive on Levelling Up are changed into health points
And which would take away his ability to create shadow clones in large amounts. No, his one trump card was staying right where it was, thank you very much game. And one Lee was enough…
[ ] Genjutsu Buster
Positive Features:
. You gain a +25 bonus to detecting and dispelling Genjutsu
Negative Features:
. You are unable to cast Genjutsu
Perhaps, though it would be nice to make illusions like the one on the door during the first part of the exam. If only he knew how good a bonus 25 points was!
[ ] Shadow Clone Jutsu (NEW GAME + BONUS!)
Positive Features:
. You start the game with the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and permission to use it
Negative Features:
. None
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Selecting New Game + was definitely a good idea, if it got him shadow clones without having to steal the scroll of seals. Now he didn't have to fail the genin exam, or if he did he could learn another useful jutsu in the time he had with it. Naruto did quickly check the last Trait, but it was another one he wouldn't consider helpful. Certainly nothing to celebrate about – unlike this one.
[ ] Sealed Talent
Positive Features:
. Seals now have +20% effectiveness when used
Negative Features:
. -20% to total number of Skill Points per Level
Since these Skill Points sounded important, Naruto ended up choosing Dual Natured as his final Trait. The idea of having two affinities sounded like it could be of great use in combat, he had seen Sasuke's fireballs in action. And he had a faint memory from his academy days that told him that each element was weak to another. If he had two then that pitfall would be neatly avoided.
[x] Kyuubi Jinchuriki
[x] Dual Natured
[x] Shadow Clone Jutsu (NEW GAME + BONUS!)
Then the screen moved on to the matter of his surname, only this time rather than asking him, Naruto was presented with a long list of names to choose from.
Aburame
Akimichi
Ayugai
Benitsuto
Chimaya
…
Gotanda
…
Hamakaze
Haruno
Hasimoto
…
Higurashi
Hyuuga
Inuzuka
...
Kurama
Kyogoku
…
Nara
…
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! And some of them were his classmate's families, which was strange. He flicked through the descriptions of several. Oddly enough each and every one was his mother's clan, with his father's name remaining a mystery for all of them. Why not his father – children typically took their father's name after all?
Upon tapping on the screen again Naruto found himself staring at one particular origin. The one that told him his mother's name. It was Kushina Uzumaki, who was a refugee from a hidden village called Uzu, that had been destroyed. Having no intention of changing his parentage a single tap asked him to confirm the bonus's he would get from this origin.
Mother: Kushina Uzumaki
Stat Bonus: +1 Endurance
Skill Bonus: + 5 Fuuinjutsu, + 5 Kenjutsu, + 5 Regeneration
Unlocks: Chakra Chain Bloodline Perk
After that was confirmed, Naruto finally got his first glimpse of information about his father. But still, no names were mentioned!
Father: Unknown
Stat Bonus: None
Skill Bonus: + 5 Bukijutsu, + 5 Ninjutsu, + 5 Fuuinjutsu
Unlocks: Heritage Quest Chain!
The only clues were in the bonus given, and that went beyond vague. But since he was controlling his temper, and the fact that ranting at the screen that it obviously knew who his father was since it had a quest based around the subject… Naruto drew in a deep breath and confirmed. He was promptly moved on to the next screen where he was able to see what these 'bonuses' actually did.
How SPECIAL are you?
Strength: - 5 +
Perception: - 5 +
Endurance: - 9 +
Charisma: - 5 +
Intelligence: - 5 +
Agility: - 5 +
Luck: - 5 +
Special Points: 5
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 traits. Not that having such a high Endurance was bad at all, he realised as he read the Stat Descriptions.
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 the 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. Intelligence would be good to have in the academy, and considering how bad his control was any increase would be a blessing. Other than that… strength? But when he fought Sasuke and the others in the academy the problem was that he didn't have enough speed, and couldn't read their moves – it was not that he did too little damage. Perception and Agility should be prioritized then, average Strength would have to suffice. Naruto spent his points accordingly before looking at his resultant Stats.
Strength: 5
Perception: 6
Endurance: 9
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 8
Agility: 6
Luck: 5
Special Points: 0
After confirming his stats Naruto found himself with a new challenge… A gigantic list titled 'Skills'.
Skills
Art: 11
Bukijutsu: 15
Chakra Control: 4
Crafting: 10
Fuuinjutsu: 23
Genjutsu: 12
Intrigue: 10
Iryojutsu: 13
Kenjutsu: 15
Knowledge: 13
Lock Picking: 11
Mercantile: 10
Medicine: 13
Ninjutsu: 18
Persuasion: 10
Poisons: 13
Regeneration: 19
Seduction: 10
Sensing: 11
Stealth: 11
Survival: 10
Tactics: 13
Taijutsu: 13
Trapping: 11
Skills Tagged 0 of 5
After tapping on a skill, and therefore 'tagging' it, the corresponding number would increase by 10, giving it a significant boost. Unless the skill was Chakra Control, then it increased by a mere 3! Obviously the increased requirement for that particular nightmare was in action.
Chakra Control was still the number one skill picked despite everything. Naruto had had enough problems before to know the value of being able to manipulate chakra better. Maybe this time he could float that irritating leaf! Speaking of academy basics Taijutsu was also important, as was Bukijutsu. Ninjutsu too! They were all chosen, and 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: 11
Bukijutsu: 25 - TAGGED
Chakra Control: 7 - TAGGED
Crafting: 10
Fuuinjutsu: 23
Genjutsu: 12
Intrigue: 10
Iryojutsu: 13
Kenjutsu: 15
Knowledge: 18 - TAGGED
Lock Picking: 11
Mercantile: 10
Medicine: 13
Ninjutsu: 28 - TAGGED
Persuasion: 10
Poisons: 13
Regeneration: 19
Seduction: 10
Sensing: 11
Stealth: 11
Survival: 10
Tactics: 13
Taijutsu: 23 - TAGGED
Trapping: 11
Skills Tagged 5 of 5
The world flashed around him before fading into the darkness. And a seven year old Naruto woke up on the day he was due to start the ninja academy. Luckily he woke up early as it took him a while to process that he was back in the realm of the living. And take in the changes. His body was taller, and better nourished. His apartment was not littered with the discarded packaging of eaten cup ramen. Though the next thing he noticed explained that.
The cupboards in his small flat had food, most of it dried. However there was a large supply of tinned fruit and vegetables. More horrifying though was a chart on the door's inside – one that limited his ramen consumption! No allowance was made for cup ramen and he ate at Ichiraku's only three times a week. Even then he was constrained to three bowls at a time. This was heresy! Against everything his ramen addiction stood for!
And yet… his body was a whole lot healthier. Measuring himself told him just how much change the ramen timetable had wrought. Naruto was exactly 155cm, at the age of 12?! That was actually ever so slightly above average, before he had never even reached that height range… Had increased intelligence and a new diet really made that much difference? A cursory glance around revealed a few basic cookbooks and another kid's book on healthy eating. The latter had clearly been thumbed through many times.
Far more interesting to Naruto was the glowing golden question mark hovering over a large pile of scrolls nearby. Could it be...? He reached out to touch it-
New Quest: Learning the Ropes!
Description: Learn as much of the standard academy curriculum as you can…
Picking up a handful of scrolls a mini-screen appeared, telling him the title of each one as well as the skill levels required to learn it.
A Basic History of Konoha [10 Knowledge]
All the key events and figures in Konoha's past are covered here
An Essential Guide to Shinobi Rules [11 Knowledge]
A long, long list that's tiresome to memorise
Chakra Theory 101 [10 Chakra Control, 12 Knowledge]
All about understanding Chakra, both in theory and in practice
General Genjutsu [Requires 14 Genjutsu]
The basics of detecting and dispelling Genjutsu, and the core theory behind it
Fuinjutsu Facts for Beginners [Requires 14 Fuuinjutsu]
How to use seals and tell them apart
Finding Out About Fire Country [Requires 14 Knowledge]
Informs about the geography, politics and history of Fire Country
Logistics: Avoiding Getting Lost [Requires Intelligence 6, Perception 6, Knowledge 10]
Map reading and making at its most basic. Unlocks Mini-map.
The Big Book of Bukijutsu [Requires Bukijutsu 17]
From calculating trajectories to correct form, this book covers it
The Way of the Wire [Requires Chakra Control 15, Trapping 15]
How to manipulate wires through channelling Chakra
Beginners Academy Taijutsu [Requires 9 Taijutsu]
Adds all the beginners academy taijutsu techniques to your repertoire
Intermediate Academy Taijutsu [Requires 14 Taijutsu, Beginners Academy Taijutsu]
Adds all the intermediate academy taijutsu techniques to your repertoire
Advanced Academy Taijutsu [Requires 20 Taijutsu, Intermediate Academy Taijutsu]
Adds all the advanced academy taijutsu techniques to your repertoire
Trapping: Tall Tales and Truths [Requires 13 Trapping]
How to make basic traps, detect them and disarm them
Hand Seals – A How-To [Requires 5 Knowledge]
The correct forms of each hand-seal and their respective names
Using Anatomy [Requires 15 Medicine]
The physiology of the human body, including its weak and strong points
Chemical Concoctions & Their Uses [Requires 13 Poisons, 13 Medicine]
Identification of medicines and poisons, of a low level, and their ingredients
Equipment Encyclopaedia [Requires Crafting 10]
How to tell equipment quality and maintain it so it stays at its best
[LEARN ALL?]
Yes
No
Naruto quickly pressed the yes button, and suddenly an influx of information entered his brain. And he now knew stuff. Stuff like the reforms implemented by the Nidaime, which he must have zoned out or otherwise missed previously. He now could recall, with a bit of thought, every rule on that stupid shinobi code. And it went on – and on, and Naruto's knowledge had suddenly skyrocketed. He was by no means perfect, but he was definitely looking at a high score on the written papers. But only a few…
Failed to Learn:
Chakra Theory 101 [1 more Chakra Control required]
General Genjutsu [2 more Genjutsu required]
The Way of the Wire [6 more Chakra Control, 4 more Trapping required]
Trapping: Tall Tales & Truths [2 more Trapping required]
Using Anatomy [2 more Medicine required]
ABILITIES LIST UPDATED!
VIEW?
And after pressing yes Naruto was transported to yet another screen, with yet more stuff to take in.
Naruto Uzumaki
HP: 135/135
MP: 270/270
Naruto Uzumaki is currently the dead last of the ninja academy, and has failed the genin exam twice before, when attempting early graduation.
Abilities List
Can identify common poisons and knows their uses
- No known poison recipes or synthesis abilities
Can identify common medicines and knows their uses
- No known medicine recipes or synthesis abilities
Can recall an intermediate amount of information about…
-Konoha
- Fire Country
Can identify basic to intermediate seals and can use them.
Can make basic seals if calligraphy improves enough
Can identify and map unknown locations of basic difficulty level
Can make, detect and disarm basic traps
Can identify basic to intermediate level traps
Can make hand-seals correctly with genin level speed
Can maintain equipment at a decent durability level
Taijutsu List
Beginner Level Academy Taijutsu - Mastered
Intermediate Level Academy Taijutsu – Mastered
Advanced Level Academy Taijutsu – Proficient
Jutsu List
NONE
After closing the screen with a wave of his hand Naruto looked greedily at the four remaining scrolls. All three academy jutsu were there, along with his precious shadow clones!
Authors Note:
Chapter ends here for now, just wanted to offer my apologies for the info-dump, I promise that this won't be standard issue for chapters, just the intro. Anyway, Naruto will probably be having a different team and definitely a different jounin sensei this time around. And yes he got a sudden power boost from the scrolls, but he's still not as good as Sasuke… yet. I've simply put him at academy passing level in most areas. Besides he can't learn from every scroll he sees, that would be way too over-powered. Like I said a starting boost.
Chapter 2 should be out in tomorrow or the day after! Yay, I'm finally back to writing regularly now home stuff has settled down slightly. That and a-levels results have arrived!