1 Naruto: The Gamer Files by MaxFic

this was the first fanfic and gamer fic i read.

synopsis: Naruto has always had video games to fall back on growing up while the rest of the village pretty much treated him like garbage. What happens when Naruto wakes up to find his life has become one of the video games he loves so much. Naruto/The Gamer crossover. All Chapters Revised.

Rated: Fiction M - English - Adventure/Humor - Naruto U. - Chapters: 35 - Words: 217,812 - Reviews: 5,623 - Favs: 11,478 - Follows: 12,244 - Updated: 7/18/2015 - Published: 7/28/2014 - id: 10574684

URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10574684

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Gamer (Manhwa)

You have slept in your bed. HP & CP are fully stored.

Naruto absent mindedly waved away the blue color box that his sleep addled mind created to wake him up. Clearly he'd been up far too late making his latest RPG his bitch.

Slowly he rolled to a sitting position on the edge of his bed, allowing his feet to settle on the cold wood flooring. Clearly his landlord had shut off his heat again, nothing new there. Naruto stretched his arms over his head yawning exaggeratedly as he did every morning. He looked over at his small selection of potted plants. "Good morning," he said groggily. His eyes still bleary and ignoring the yellow boxes hovering in the air above the three little plants.

He stood and walked first to his dresser, pulling out clean underwear then grabbing his track suit from the floor where he'd discarded it the night before. It wasn't technically dirty by his standards as it only really needed to be washed once a week, or if he got it bloody, covered in vomit from some drunk trying to attack him, or splattered with rotten food if he lingered too long in the market district. Unfortunately he couldn't really afford to wash it more often than that since his water bill was too damn high as it was already.

Clothes in hand he walked through the small apartment, past the combined living room and kitchen, to the small bathroom, only shower and toilet in it. He wedged the bathroom door shut, jamming the kunai he kept on the bathroom counter into the door frame to hold it shut, it was necessary given the broken doorknob that his landlord refused to repair.

He briefly glanced in the mirror, seeing the blue lettering above his head but not really registering it as he scrutinize his nose and whisker marks. He turned from the mirror and flipped up the toilet seat, careful not to break it any further as the landlord once again wouldn't fix it. He couldn't help the sigh of relief as he relieved himself of the excess liquid that filled his bladder as he slept. He put the lid down but wouldn't flush a number one, only number two gets flushed and usually he'd go out for that.

Business done, he stripped down quickly and stepped into the shower and braced himself as he turned on the water. Without any time to waste, he was met a moment later by ice cold water jolting him wide awake. He quickly grabbed the bar of soap and began to hastily scrub his body from top to bottom, making sure he got all the sensitive bits along the way. Then just as quickly he rinsed and turned off the shower. All told, it took about two minutes of his time.

Out the shower he grabbed his toothbrush and squirted a little tooth paste on it before attacking his mouth with vigor. It was not pleasant as once again he just couldn't justify using the water.

He walked out of the bathroom toward his window and fire escape to grab the water pale he'd put out the night before to collect the rain. It was about half full which was a good haul for a single night. In the kitchen he poured the water into two pitchers but not before pouring himself a glass. He then put the two pitchers into his refrigerator, which wouldn't keep them cold per se but did stop them from getting warm. The fridge was yet another thing the damned landlord refused to fix or replace and Naruto couldn't afford to do it himself.

Naruto scrubbed his mouth one more time over and took out the toothbrush. He held it over the sink and poured a little water from his glass over it, just enough for him to shake out any toothpaste. He then took a mouthful and swished it around before swallowing. He couldn't afford to waste the water either, for as lush as Hi no Kuni was, it got surprisingly little rain.

Naruto walked back to the bathroom, drinking his water as he walked. He set his toothbrush back on the counter and dressed himself. He looked in the mirror again and fussed with his hair, trying to get the spiky design he preferred just right when he finally noticed the blue glowing words hovering over his head.

Uzumaki Naruto – Academy Student – Lvl. 3

The Gamer

"What the fuck?" he questioned aloud. He moved his hands up and waved them through the words not disturbing them in the slightest.

"What the fuck?" he questioned again, blinking several times. "Okay, Naruto, you my friend, have been spending way too much of your down time playing video games." Naruto then slapped himself hard, nearly knocking himself to the floor. "Shut the fuck up. Don't ever say shit like that again," he said harshly, glaring at himself in the mirror.

The truth was video games were his only salvation in his otherwise totally shitty and messed up life. When he was five the Hokage had given him his first video game console. It was the latest and greatest and all the kids at school could do nothing but talk about them. Those that had one bragged about it, those that didn't were envious of those that did. When he said he'd had one he thought it might lead to friends and some of the kids were interested. That didn't last as their parents said 'no'. An emphatic 'no' in fact that was accompanied with threats of bodily harm. Regardless, games became Naruto's friends, taught him morality, right from wrong, good from evil. So other than ninja academy and training, video games were Naruto's life.

"You're right, what was I thinking? I'm sure this is just some kind of delusion. I must have eaten a bad batch of instant ramen. That's why I'm seeing things," Naruto explained to himself. He was greeted again by a severe slap to the face.

"Blasphemy!" he cried aloud to himself.

Naruto glared once more at himself in the mirror. Then he glanced up at the blue words again and shrugged. They would probably go away soon.

He left the bathroom once more to put on his shoes, put on his hip pouch and strap his weapons pouch to his leg. He looked around his apartment one more time to make sure he didn't forget anything before he opened his door and set out for the first day of his last year in the academy, his last chance.

The Konoha Shinobi Academy, commonly referred to as the KSA, was Naruto's school. He was one of the select few admitted. It was a school for aspiring ninja in training. He was also quite possibly the worst student there. He'd attempted to graduate early twice before having failed both times. This would be his third year in the academy and his last possible chance to graduate, if you didn't make genin by thirteen you were simply cut from the program without exception. Naruto would be turning thirteen in ten months on October 10th. The graduation exam was on November 30th. So he had eleven months to get it done or he was done.

Naruto's landlord was waiting for him at the exit to the building.

"Rent's due," he said gruffly, a golden question mark was hovering over his head.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow curious about where this would go. "What the hell, why not?"

A blue window popped up in front of him.

A Quest has been created.

There was a '?' in the top left corner and an arrow in the bottom right corner. Naruto pressed the arrow.

Quest Alert

Rent is due: Pay Rent

Rent must be paid by 6:00 pm or you will be evicted. Pay the landlord 1000 ryo by 6:00 pm or clear out the chakra rat nest in the basement by 6:00 pm (must bring their tails as proof of kill).

Completion Award: 500 Exp.

Increase reputation with landlord (reputation increase will double for clearing out the chakra rat nest).

Completion Failure: Eviction

Decrease reputation with Konoha

Yes – No

Naruto blinked several times.

"Make up your mind already, I don't have all day," said the landlord.

Naruto quickly touched the 'Yes' button.

"Remember, 6:00 pm or you're out of here," said the man once more time before walking past Naruto shouldering him rudely as he passed.

"What the fuck?" asked Naruto again. He glanced above the head of his landlord.

Michiya Ota – Landlord – Lvl. 7

Naruto put his hands together forming a handseal quickly and flared his chakra shouting, "Kai!" There was no effect at all.

"So if I did that wrong I might still be in a genjutsu but if I didn't then I'm not in a genjutsu and this is all real," he said to himself, given the hallway exiting his building was now empty.

Naruto's walk to the academy was a bit slower than usual as he looked around now seeing level markers above everyone in the village. He'd noticed quickly that most children were only level 1 and civilians topped out around 15 and those at the highest seemed to be tradesmen. The ninja that he saw varied from level 10 to around 30 and then there were a lot of ? level shinobi. It appeared the ones around level 10 to 20 were genin, 20-30 must have been chuunin. The ? must have been chuunin and jounin. If this held true to games that meant their level was so high he couldn't even comprehend it.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

Naruto blinked in surprise yet again. He tapped the blue box and another popped up.

Through continuous observation, a skill to find target's information, 'Observe' Lvl. 1 has been created.

"What the hell? What the hell is [Observe]?" asked Naruto. Suddenly there was a new pop up in orange this time.

Akimichi Dogo – Master Baker – Lvl. 15

HP: 500 CP: 150

Master Baker of the Akimichi Clan

"Cool," said Naruto, half in surprise and half because it really was cool as hell.

Naruto spent the next twenty minutes trying to obverse as many people as he can when another blue wind popped up.

[Observe]'s level has risen by one.

"Again, cool," he said to himself. Looking the master baker again he activated the ability again. "Observe."

Akimichi Dogo – Master Baker – Lvl. 15

HP: 500 (500) CP: 150

Master Baker of the Akimichi Clan. Well known for his baking prowess, Dogo serves the best breads in all of Hi no Kuni, he's even baked for royalty on occasion.

"Sweet," said Naruto. "So I can level up the skills so they work better."

Another blue window popped up interrupting his excitement.

Quest Alert

Don't be late: Arrive to Academy on time.

You have ten minutes to arrive to class before you're late.

Completion Award: 100 Exp

Increase reputation with Konoha Twelve

Completion Failure: Decrease reputation with Konoha

Yes – No

"What?" shouted Naruto, quickly tapping the yes and beginning to sprint for the academy. He barely glanced at the large timer that began to count down in his peripheral vision.

Naruto barely slid into the classroom with twenty seconds left.

You've barely arrived before the start of class.

Completion Awarded: 100 Exp and +5 to reputation with Konoha Twelve.

Naruto would have paid more attention if he wasn't huffing and puffing from having sprinted halfway across Konoha to make it to class on time. Granted he recovered very quickly but damn that was difficult. Naruto finally looked at the messages and accepted but couldn't help wondering who the hell the 'Konoha Twelve' were and why he gained reputation with them or why it was even important.

Naruto sat down finally with a huff looking around and seeing that all of his classmates had the same blue lettering above their heads with their names and levels. It didn't make him happy either. As he looked around he noticed that most of the students were between levels 3-6 with the exception of eight of his classmates.

Haruno Sakura Lvl 7

Yamanaka Ino Lvl 7

Hyuuga Hinata Lvl 8

Nara Shikamaru Lvl 8

Akimichi Chouji Lvl 8

Inuzuka Kiba Lvl 9

Aburame Shino Lvl 9

Uchiha Sasuke Lvl 12

Naruto wanted to cry out and scream in frustration. They were all so much better than him, even the object of his affection. How could it have been possible that they were all so much stronger than he was?

Naruto began to [Observe] each of them in turn only serving to frustrate him further.

Haruno Sakura – Academy Student – Lvl 7

HP: 100 (100) CP: 50

Haruno Sakura is the smartest student in class. Though very intelligent she is not very physically gifted. She pines after Uchiha Sasuke and is bitter rivals with Yamanaka Ino for 'Sasuke-kun's affections.

Naruto growled after that one.

Yamanaka Ino – Academy Student – Lvl 7

HP: 100 (100) CP: 100

Yamanaka Ino is a member of the famed Yamanaka clan known for their mind techniques. She is quite vain placing too much value on looks instead of her skills. She pines after Uchiha Sasuke and is bitter rivals with Haruno Sakura for 'Sasuke-kun's affections.

Naruto actually almost snickered when he saw the last line mirrored Sakura's.

Hyuuga Hinata – Academy Student – Lvl 8

HP: 150 (150) CP: 100

Hyuuga Hinata is a member of the elitist Hyuuga clan known for their doujutsu and unique taijutsu style. She is a very sweet girl but very shy so not well known by her classmates. She finds the strength to improve from watching the person she most admires.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at that. Hinata sounded awesome, he made a mental note to try to get to know her a bit this year.

[Observe]'s level has risen by one.

"Already," mumbled Naruto. "Let's see what this does."

Nara Shikamaru – Academy Student – Lvl 8

HP: 100/100

CP: 150/150

STR: 7

VIT: 10

DEX: 11

INT: 15

WIS: 35

LUK: 3

Nara Shikamaru is a member of the famed Nara clan known for their intellect and laziness. The unique ability to manipulate shadows makes them rather versatile shinobi. Shikamaru is by far the smartest Nara born in many generations and in turn is also the laziest.

"Damn, Shikamaru is smart," Naruto said in appreciation, earning a glance from the 'sleeping' Nara from a few seats over. Naruto smiled nervously at the look but was able to laugh it off.

Shikamaru admittedly was curious but decided to shrug it off mumbling "Troublesome" as he turned his head back and closed his eyes once more.

Naruto would have continued scanning the rest of the class but his teachers chose that moment to enter.

Thankfully he had Umino Iruka again as a teacher. His assistant was new though.

Umino Iruka – Academy Instructor – Lvl 25

Touji Mizuki – Academy Assistant Instructor – Lvl 22

Naruto was starting to like the names above their heads. This time though he noticed there was a leaf symbol next to their names.

Umino Iruka – Academy Instructor – Lvl 25

Affiliation: Konoha

HP: 1000/1000

CP: 750/750

STR: ?

VIT: ?

DEX: ?

INT: ?

WIS: ?

LUK: ?

Umino Iruka is a dedicated Academy Instructor finding his life fulfilled teaching the next generation of Shinobi.

Now Naruto found that odd. The data wasn't near as complete. It was similar to his level two of [Observe]. It must have been because Iruka's level was so much higher than his own. Naruto tried on Mizuki and the results were the same. It told him there was a limit to his ability while his own level was so low.

That raised several other questions. How could he level up? Was it only quests? For that matter what were his own stats? Then it occurred to him that if this was a game he should be able to get a command prompt of some kind right?

"Profile," he tried first. "Pause. Menu. Status-" the last one popped up an orange menu

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Class: The Gamer

Title: Academy Student(+25% experience gain up to level 10)

Level: LV3

Affiliation: Konoha

HP: 600/600

CP: 600/600

STR: 10

VIT: 20 (10)

DEX: 5

INT: 20 (10)

WIS: 3

LUK: ?

Status: ? (+10 VIT, +10 INT, +?% experience to [?] Skill), ? (+100 HP & +100 CP per Level), Prankster (-5% reputation gains, +5% experience to [Trap] Skill, +5% experience to [Stealth] Skill)

Uzumaki Naruto is the dead last of the Konoha Academy having failed the graduation twice before while clearly not prepared to graduate. His past is shrouded in mysteries for him to uncover.

Point: 0

Ryo: 3500

"What the hell?" he grumbled.

"You need something, Naruto?" asked Iruka, how man was suddenly looking over his shoulder he had no idea.

"No, Iruka-sensei," said Naruto hoping the man would move on quickly.

"Then you can tell me what I just said?" asked Iruka.

"You introduced us to Mizuki-sensei?" asked Naruto, hoping he was really lucky.

"I guess you were paying attention," said Iruka moving on.

Your Luck holds out and you save yourself from detention on the first day of class causing your LUK to go up by 1.

Naruto had to restrain himself from jumping up and down and cheering. He checked his status again and his LUK stat was still '?'. So either it was really high or negative if it could go negative for that matter. What the hell does LUK do for him anyway?

Naruto tapped the '?' symbol in the top left corner of his Status window. Instantly several small boxes appeared in black with yellow writing and yellow lines were drawn pointing to each area of the status window.

LUK: Luck is the chance of an event falling in your favor in non-combat actions. This impacts mostly gambling and loot drops.

Naruto nodded before looking at the other stats.

STR: Strength effects how much damage your physical and weapon attacks deal and how much damage your ability to parry reduces. Speed is increased 0.25 when both STR and DEX increase by 1 if equal.

VIT: Vitality impacts your total HP and endurance. The more vitality you have the more damage you can take and the longer you can fight. This also impacts how quickly you recover HP while not in combat.

DEX: Dexterity effects how effectively you can dodge attacks and how accurate your own attacks are. Speed is increased 0.25 when both STR and DEX increase by 1 if equal.

INT: Intelligence impacts your total CP, how quickly your CP recovers and how much damage your jutsu cause. The also impacts your ability to learn and memorize information.

WIS: Wisdom affects how smart you are and how well you can use what you know. This has a massive impact on your Chakra Control.

Status: Throughout the game you can acquire and unveil any number of status effects both temporary (i.e. Stun, Sleep, etc.) and permanent (i.e. Sharingan, Hyouton, etc.). Some permanent effects can only be gained through genetics while others require specific actions.

Title: Earn your title and gain varied and sometimes beneficial titles throughout the game.

Naruto couldn't help but sigh. It was a lot of information for him to process. Naruto closed the menu and tried to pay attention to the lecture but quickly zoned out as he daydreamed about all the kickass things he could do with his new gamer ability.

"Okay, students, please read this booklet and then we'll head out to the practice range to work on kunai and shuriken bukijutsu," said Iruka.

Mizuki then began passing out the booklets to each of the students.

"Why do we have to read this again?" complained Kiba. "Every year we get this damned booklet."

"Because every year we like to refresh our students so they don't get sloppy or lazy in their technique," said Iruka, his glare quickly silencing the Inuzuka boy.

Naruto sighed as he looked at the booklet in front of him. He grabbed the book and made to open it when a new pop up appeared.

You've obtained the skill book [Kunai and Shuriken Bukijutsu].

Would you like to learn the skill?

Naruto nearly tore his hair out at this. He knew how to throw damned Shuriken and Kunai. What the fuck was wrong with this game?

Naruto tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' just to see what would happen. The book going up in fire and smoke was not ideal and earned him glares from both Mizuki and Iruka.

You've obtained the skill 'Kunai Bukijutsu' and 'Shuriken Bukijutsu'.

Two large orange windows popped up a moment later.

[Kunai Bukijutsu (Passive/Active) Lv1 Exp: 0.00% CP: 5]

Weapon's technique specific to Kunai usage in both melee and ranged combat.

Passively increases kunai accuracy 10%

Passively increases kunai parry 10%

Additional 10% increase for 15 seconds in STR when active.

[Shuriken Bukijutsu (Passive/Active) Lv1 Exp: 0.00% CP: 5]

Weapon's technique specific to Shuriken usage in ranged combat.

Passively increases shuriken accuracy 20%

Additional 5% increase in ranged damage for 15 seconds when active.

"Nice one, Naruto," shouted Kiba, laughing heartily.

Naruto though was wide eyed. "It was an accident, I swear." He didn't know that would happen. He really didn't.

Iruka glared and threw another booklet at Naruto nailing him right between the eyes.

You've obtained the skill book [Kunai and Shuriken Bukijutsu].

This skill has already been learned. Cannot learn again.

Naruto glared at the pink warning closing it and setting the book on the desktop opening it to give the appearance he was reading it. Then it occurred to him that he'd learned the whole book instantly. He also learned that based on the book he'd been throwing kunai and shuriken wrong for years now. Apparently someone decided to teach him incorrectly years ago.

Naruto sat in his seat now glaring at the booklet and grumbling to himself about pranking Shugo-sensei so hard he'd never be able to show himself in public again.

"Okay, class, let's go outside and get to work on refreshing those bukijutsu skills," said Iruka, allowing the students to close their booklets only too happily.

Outside the group all stood in front of five target dummies, six people per line.

"Now, you will step to the line and throw five kunai then ten shuriken. After that, go to the end of your line. Everyone will get five chances to throw. We will take your best round for your grade," explained Iruka, a gold '?' appearing over his head a moment later.

Quest Alert

Kunai and Shuriken Oh My: Score 80% or better

You have five attempts to throw 80% or better with Kunai and Shuriken

Completion Award: 400 Exp

Academy Kunai (10) and Academy Shuriken (20)

Completion Failure: 100 Exp

Now this was Naruto's kind of quest. And with his newly acquired skills he was going to ace this test.

Naruto was third in his line and was excited to get to the line and show his stuff. He stepped up and threw. His first try he hit with four kunai and seven shuriken. He was miffed to have missed his quest requirement on his first try but was pleased to see he gained 10 Exp per kunai hit and 5 Exp per shuriken hit.

Naruto's second time up he hit with all five kunai but once again only six shuriken leaving him just about 7% short.

On Naruto third time up, he hit 86% completing the quest.

You've hit the target mostly.

Completion Awarded: 400 Exp and Academy Kunai (10) and Academy Shuriken (20)

Naruto was pleased only to get another alert right away.

Quest Alert

My Personal Best: Score 90% or better

You have two attempts to throw 90% or better with Kunai and Shuriken

Completion Award: 1000 Exp

[Academy Intermediate Taijutsu] Skill Book

Completion Failure: 200 Exp

If the last quest had him excited then this quest had him chomping at the bit.

[Kunai Bukijutsu]'s level has risen by one.

Passively increases kunai accuracy 15%

[Shuriken Bukijutsu]'s level has risen by one.

Passively increases shuriken accuracy 25%

"Yatta!" Shouted Naruto excitedly. Not only did he get a new quest after succeeding with his last one but he also gained a level with his two skills also increasing their passive accuracy buff.

Naruto waited practically bouncing with excitement once again to get a chance to beat this next quest.

Stepping up to the line Naruto let them rip hitting 85% again but gaining experience anyway.

"Okay, last try Naruto, do your best," said Iruka, watching from the side and keeping score as the students worked.

Naruto threw the kunai first hitting five for five. Then came the shuriken where hit eight for ten. "No," cried Naruto dropping to his knees again.

"That's an 86% Naruto, good job," said Iruka with a kind smile.

Quest Failed

Completion Failure: 200 Exp.

Naruto looked completely dejected.

Congratulations! Your level has increased by 1.

Naruto perked back up immediately at that news. So the failure sucks but a level up has to be good.

Naruto collected the practice weapons he threw and returned them to the teachers. He decided to wait until he got back to class to check out what his level did for him so that he could focus on it.

Practice makes perfect causing your DEX to go up by 1.

"Sweet," cheered Naruto excitedly. He was getting skills and stats like mad. If things kept up at this pace he'd max out his level in no time and then the Hokage title would be his.

"Okay, students, back inside for history," said Iruka, earning a groan from all the students.

Naruto was actually excited to get back to class so he could sit down and look more at this status screen and maybe even his skills if they have a menu for it.

Once inside a lecture began and Naruto tuned it out to check out his status page.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Class: The Gamer

Title: Academy Student(+25% experience gain to level 10)

Level: LV4

Affiliation: Konoha

HP: 700/700

CP: 700/700

STR: 10

VIT: 20 (10)

DEX: 6

INT: 20 (10)

WIS: 3

LUK: ?

Status: ? (+10 VIT, +10 INT, +?% experience to [?] Skill), ? (+100 HP & +100 CP perLevel),Prankster (-5% reputation gains, +5% experience to [Trap] Skill, +5% experience to [Stealth] Skill)

Uzumaki Naruto is the dead last of the Konoha Academy having failed the graduation twice before while clearly not prepared to graduate. His past is shrouded in mysteries for him to uncover.

Point: 5

Ryo: 3500

Naruto wanted to scream in outrage. A level didn't give him any base stat increases, only points to spend. Such bullshit. Naruto knew that if he increased his DEX it would improve his accuracy which would have helped him with that last quest he failed. So Naruto hit the button four times bring it up to ten total points leaving him with one point. Seeing that WIS was his lowest he added a point to it hoping that if he brought himself more in balance then things would improve.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Class: The Gamer

Title: Academy Student(+25% experience gain to level 10)

Level: LV4

Affiliation: Konoha

HP: 700/700

CP: 700/700

STR: 10

VIT: 20 (10)

DEX: 10

INT: 20 (10)

WIS: 4

LUK: ?

Status: ? (+10 VIT, +10 INT, +?% experience to [?] Skill), ? (+100 HP & +100 CP perLevel),Prankster (-5% reputation gains, +5% experience to [Trap] Skill, +5% experience to [Stealth] Skill)

Uzumaki Naruto is the dead last of the Konoha Academy having failed the graduation twice before while clearly not prepared to graduate. His past is shrouded in mysteries for him to uncover.

Point: 0

Ryo: 3500

Satisfied with his changes he tapped the accept button making the adjustment arrows vanish.

"Skills," he whispered next opening another orange window with a number of small thumb images with a name next to it, the type of ability, skill level and a brief explanation next to it.

Gamer's Mind – Passive – Max – Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effect.

Gamer's Body – Passive – Max – Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. After sleep in a bed he restores HP, CP and all status effects.

Observe – Passive/Active – 2 – Through continuous observation, a skill to observe objects, situations, and persons was generated that allows for quick information gathering. The higher the skill, the greater the data obtained.

Kunai Bukijutsu – Passive/Active – 2 – Passively increases Accuracy and Parry. When Active it increases strength.

Shuriken Bukijutsu – Passive/Active – 2 –Passively increases Accuracy. When Active it increases ranged damage.

Trap – Passive – 1 – Passively increase you skill when making and placing traps.

Stealth – Passive – 1 – Passively increases your skill when trying to sneak into and out of places. Passively increase your ability to avoid being tracked or spotted by others.

Henge – Active – Max – The perfect disguise is hard to come by but with a little chakra and some imagination you can become anyone or anything. A perfect transformation skill allowing you to become anyone or anything, this is a true transformation, not an illusion that most shinobi use.

Kawarimi – Active – 2 – Log, all praise that which is available only to save us from the direst of circumstances, amen. Used to change places with objects to prevent damage to one's self.

Naruto read his list of skills and while it wasn't long it was interesting. He tapped on the [Trap] skill to see if it gave more detail.

[Trap (Passive) LV4 22.73%]

Traps are an essential skill to any shinobi. They are used to surprise and confuse enemies and friends alike depending on the situation. They can be used both for fun and for slaughter equally well.

Passively increases Trap effectiveness 12.5%

Passively increases Trap damage 12.5%

Passively increases Trap placement 12.5%

Naruto nodded to himself as he read the details. He never thought of his ability to set a prank as laying the ground work for more effective traps.

He closed that window and tapped Stealth

[Stealth (Passive) LV2 3.61%]

Stealth is an essential skill to any shinobi. It is used to sneak and hide in equal parts so as not to be caught by friend or foe.

Passively increases Stealth infiltration 10%

Passively increases Stealth avoidance 10%

Passively increases Stealth concealment 10%

"Neat," Naruto mumbled to himself, finally closing the window entirely and trying to pay attention to the lesson at hand eventually nodding off anyway.

After History they all had lunch… well the other students had lunch, Naruto went back to the target range and practiced the two bukijutsu he had learned managing to gain to more levels for each gaining another 10% accuracy for both.

After lunch it was more classroom time, Naruto's favorite.

"So first, here is the review booklets for both squad tactics and academy taijutsu. I know it's more of the same from the last few years but clearly some of you have not taken to these lessons as well as you should have," said Iruka.

Naruto couldn't help but think that Iruka was speaking to him specifically.

Once again the two booklets offered Naruto the skill to learn but in an effort to avoid getting into trouble Naruto chose to hold off until after the academy let out to really dig into it.

Unfortunately that meant when they all went outside for Taijutsu practice, Naruto got his ass handed to him and ended up failing three more quests, one for each match. He still got some good experience from it and even gained another passive skill.

[Physical Endurance] – Passive – 4 – The body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken. 4% decrease in damage taken by attacks.

It was painful to learn but he didn't have much choice. On the other hand he could still see where this would be a valuable skill later on.

Naruto finally left the academy around 4:00 pm. He'd spent an extra hour after class working on the target range gaining another level for the two bukijutsu and another 5% more accuracy to each. It also increased the active abilities this time.

[Kunai Bukijutsu (Passive/Active) Lv5 Exp: 0.00% CP: 5]

Weapon's technique specific to Kunai usage in both melee and ranged combat.

Passively increases kunai accuracy 25%

Passively increases kunai parry 10%

Additional 15% increase in STR when active.

[Shuriken Bukijutsu (Passive/Active) Lv5 Exp: 0.00% CP: 5]

Weapon's technique specific to Shuriken usage in ranged combat.

Passively increases shuriken accuracy 35%

Additional 7.5% increase in damage when active.

Now Naruto had another quest just burning a hole in his pocket.

Naruto rarely ever went into the basement of his apartment building simply because the chakra rats tended be both aggressive and disease ridden and he couldn't exactly afford a visit to the hospital. Now however, all he had to do was kill them all regardless if they poisoned him because he could just go to sleep and all the status ailments would be gone in the morning.

Stepping off the final step in the basement Naruto called them out. "Alright you, rat bastards. Time to clear you fuckers out of this place.

It was only a second later the first of the rats attacked. It darted out from under the steps just behind him and bit into his ankle.

Naruto yelped but turned quickly drove a kunai into the little bastard killing it with one hit. It was only level 1 so very easy to kill.

The next ten were not so easy to kill. They ranged from level 1 to level 4 so while some died in one hit most took between three and four hits to end.

After the twentieth kill he received a notice.

Congratulations! Your level has increased by 1.

Naruto barely had time to think about it before a king chakra rat appeared. It was level seven.

King Chakra Rat Lvl 7

HP: 1000/1000 CP: 400/400

King Chakra Rat is the leader of a nest. He is the meanest of the bunch and bites the hardest but in his time as king has had the benefit of the largest portions causing him to gain excessive weight slowing him down significantly.

Naruto was thankful for the information but not pleased by it. This was going to be one really mean rat. Naruto checked his own health quickly to see he was just above half but the poison he'd taken from the bites were slowly ticking his health downward.

"So you need to die quickly or I'm completely fucked. So bring it you fat bastard," said Naruto taunting the rat.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

Through continuous trash talking, a skill to anger an opponent, 'Taunt' Lvl. 1 has been created.

Naruto was surprised slightly to have learned such a skill but quickly closed the menu as the rat now looked really angry and seemed to have taken a red tint to it.

"Crap," said Naruto. "Red like that usually means rage. So you can only attack physically and only me but your damage will be increased as a result."

True to form, the rat charged straight at him.

Naruto rolled left just as the rat closed in on him and sliced the ugly bastard along his side dropping its health about 5% as he passed.

Naruto rolled back away from the rat to dodge the tail that swung rather suddenly like a whip. The rat turned around to look at Naruto again only to charge forward again.

Naruto repeated his roll slice and rolled away again. He didn't really have much ceiling clearance to be jumping around. In all this, the rat seemed to have a pattern and now Naruto had that pattern down pat.

It wasn't long before the rat was down to its last 25%.

The rat seemed to have lost its red aura and tried to run back to its hole.

"Oh no you don't," shouted Naruto. "Kunai Bukijutsu." He felt his arms strengthen instantly and pulled a second kunai and jumped forward driving both kunai as hard as he could into the back of the rat. One kunai went into its neck and the other into the head killing the rat finally.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

Through creative use of kunai, a skill to counter attack an opponent, 'Roll Slash' Lvl. 1 has been created.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

Through creative use of kunai, a skill to finish a weakened opponent, 'Double Pierce' Lvl. 1 has been created.

"Nice," said Naruto. "Way to go me." Naruto checked his health to see he was just under half. His decision was really easy at this point. He quickly collected the tails from the dead rats and threw the bodies away. Then he ran up the stairs and turned in the tails as proof that he'd done the quest.

Congratulations! Your level has increased by 1.

"I'll deal with the levels in the morning, for now it's time to sleep," Naruto said to himself rushing for the stairs to get up to his room and into bed.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Class: The Gamer

Title: Academy Student(+25% experience gain to level 10)

Level: LV6

Affiliation: Konoha

HP: 900/900

CP: 900/900

STR: 10

VIT: 20 (10)

DEX: 10

INT: 20 (10)

WIS: 4

LUK: ?

Status: ? (+10 VIT, +10 INT, +?% experience to [?] Skill), ? (+100 HP & +100 CP per Level), Prankster (-5% reputation gains, +5% experience to [Trap] Skill, +5% experience to [Stealth] Skill)

Uzumaki Naruto is the dead last of the Konoha Academy having failed the graduation twice before while clearly not prepared to graduate. His past is shrouded in mysteries for him to uncover.

Point: 10

Ryo: 3500

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Gamer (Manhwa)

You have slept in your bed. HP & CP are fully stored.

Naruto's eyes snapped wide open at hearing that chime. He smiled brightly at seeing the message. It was still happening meaning there was a chance this was all real.

"Yes!" he shouted springing up to his feet and his arms rose in celebration.

"Shut up!" shouted voices from the surrounding apartments.

Naruto though just grinned. He ran out to the living room, opened his bag and pulled out the two booklets that he knew to be skills books.

You've obtained the skill book [Beginner Academy Taijutsu].

Would you like to learn the skill?

Naruto tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' button.

You've obtained the skill 'Beginner Academy Taijutsu'.

[Beginner Academy Taijutsu (Passive) Lv1 Exp 0.00%]

Taijutsu or hand to hand combat is another essential skill for all shinobi to learn. The beginner level focuses on appropriate stances and basic strikes, kicks, and blocks.

Passively increases STR 5%

Passively increases VIT 5%

Passively increases DEX 5%

"Hell yeah," said Naruto, not too loudly though so he wouldn't bother his neighbors again.

Naruto took the next booklet out.

You've obtained the skill book [Beginner Academy Tactics].

Would you like to learn the skill?

Naruto tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' button. However instead of learning the skill a red error box popped up instead.

You cannot learn this skill.

Required WIS: 10.

Naruto groaned and set the booklet back down opening his status screen. Luckily he had points to burn at this point. He dropped six points in to WIS to get himself to the required 10 points. He then put the remaining four points into dexterity. He was going to get his accuracy up if it killed him. Quickly tapping the accept button and closing his status window he picked up the booklet again.

You've obtained the skill book [Beginner Academy Tactics].

Would you like to learn the skill?

Naruto rolled his eyes but tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' button anyway.

You've obtained the skill 'Beginner Academy Tactics'.

[Beginner Academy Tactics (Passive) Lv1 Exp 0.00%]

Team formations, ambush points, counter ambush and many other tactics.

Passively increases INT 5%

Passively increases WIS 5%

Naruto grinned and closed the window only to have another pop up.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

Through learning academy tactics and taijutsu, a skill to improve group combat, 'Teamwork' Lvl. 1 has been created.

"Now what the hell is this?" asked Naruto. "Skills."

The skills window had grown since yesterday to include the three new attacks and the new passive abilities he'd just learned.

Taunt – Active – 1 – Trash talking at its best. This ability will enrage a weak willed opponent into attacking, causing them to focus on you to their own detriment. Opponent's damage dealt increases 25% and damage taken by 10%. Rage will fade when opponent HP drops below 25% or after 60 seconds.

Roll Slash – Active – 1 – A counter attack designed to dodge an opponent at the last moment by rolling past them and slashing at their side. 15% increase in critical chance. 25% increase in attack damage. Can only be executed with edged weapons.

Double Pierce – Active – 1 – A finishing move to inflict massive piercing damage on a weakened opponent. 50% increase in critical chance. 200% increase in attack damage. Can only be executed with knives.

Teamwork – Passive – 1 – Passively increases teamwork. While working with a team all team damage is increased by 10% when all members are attacking the same target.

Naruto had to reread the [Teamwork] skill a few times because it was such a massive boost. The only downside is that it required a team of people and for the team of people to all focus on the same target.

"Okay, so I have a ton of shit to work on. Man, this is gonna be tough," complained Naruto. Huffing once in annoyance he closed out of the open windows and decided to go about his normal morning routine.

Once again he got the ten minute warning quest to make it to the academy on time which he happily accepted.

He arrived with almost a full minute to spare this time.

Running for the goal has caused your STR to go up by 1.

Running for the goal has caused your VIT to go up by 1.

Running for the goal has caused your DEX to go up by 1.

Naruto would have cheered again but just didn't feel up to it instead choosing to sit down and try to observe the rest of his classmates before the teacher showed up.

Akimichi Chouji – Academy Student – Lvl 8

HP: 300/300

CP: 100/100

STR: 20

VIT: 30

DEX: 5

INT: 10

WIS: 10

LUK: 4

Akimichi Chouji is a member of the famed Akimichi clan known for their large frames and larger appetites. Capable of the unique body manipulation jutsu make them very powerful shinobi. Chouji is a very kind young man but has a short fuse in the event a certain three letter word is used around him.

Naruto smiled, he'd liked Chouji when they'd hung out in the past. His description was quite fitting and gave Naruto a new appreciation for the rotund boy.

Inuzuka Kiba – Academy Student – Lvl 9

HP: 200/200

CP: 100/100

STR: 15

VIT: 20

DEX: 15

INT: 10

WIS: 7

LUK: 3

Inuzuka Kiba is a member of the feral Inuzuka clan known for their close relationship with ninken. That close relationship has allowed their clan to develop very animalistic abilities and jutsu making them fierce combatants and excellent trackers. Kiba, though a son of the clanhead is fairly average for an Inuzuka.

Naruto frowned a bit at Kiba's description. From what he could see of the stat, Kiba should have been a very powerful fighter. His stats were well balanced and he knew a good number of techniques from what Naruto remembered.

Aburame Shino – Academy Student – Lvl 9

HP: 200/200

CP: 150/150

STR: 10

VIT: 20

DEX: 7

INT: 15

WIS: 15

LUK: 2

Aburame Shino is a member of the acclaimed Aburame clan known for their silent nature and appreciation of the little things. Known to host a colony of kikaichu within their bodies that make their techniques and abilities not just powerful but also extremely creepy. Shino is the heir to the clan and a very capable shinobi in training.

Naruto tried not to shudder as he thought about sharing his body with anything like that. Still, Shino was pretty cool if a bit creepy.

[Observe]'s level has risen by one.

"Nice, just in time to look at the prick," said Naruto, chuckling to himself.

Name: Uchiha Sasuke

Title: Academy Student (+25% experience gain to level 10)

Level: LV12

Affiliation: Konoha

HP: 400/400

CP: 460/460

STR: 20

VIT: 40

DEX: 34

INT: 46

WIS: 32

LUK: 1

Status: Unawakened Sharingan (+2 DEX & +3 INT & +1 WIS per Level), Avenger (+25% to all stats when attacking Uchiha Itachi), Firebug (-15% cost to katon jutsu, +10 damage to katon jutsu)

Uchiha Sasuke is the last loyal surviving member of the infamous Uchiha clan. Well known for their doujutsu the Sharingan which has allowed them to excel as shinobi in the field. His past is clouded by the pain and misery of losing his family so much that vengeance is all that remains to him.

Naruto grumbled unhappily as he glared at the Uchiha's stats. The information his observe gave him now was kind of awesome but it didn't change the fact that he felt Sasuke was over-powered. It helped even less that the guy was a complete prick.

"Good morning, class," announced Iruka, entering the classroom followed closely by Mizuki.

There was an echoed "Good morning, sensei" from the students.

"So yesterday we reviewed more of the physical aspects of shinobi work. Today, we're going to focus on the more chakra related side of things," explained Iruka. "Before we start are there any questions?"

Naruto was quick to tune him out as he began lecturing on chakra and its yin and yang.

"Reputation," mumbled Naruto. He was curious about the reputation gains he'd made and what kind of impact they had.

Reputation

Konohagakure – Hated – 15/1000

Landlord – Hated – 750/1000

Iruka – Friendly – 560/1000

Mizuki – ? – 1/1000

Sarutobi Hiruzen – Friendly – 950/1000

Konoha Merchant Guild – Hated – 5/1000

Ichiraku Ramen – Honored – 9000/10000

Akimichi Bakery – Hated – 15/1000

Higurashi Weapons – Neutral 500/1000

Konoha General Store – Hated 1/1000

Konoha Clothiers – Hated 1/1000

Yakiniku Q – Hated 5/1000

Farm Stand – Hated 1/1000

Surplus Arms – Hated – 1/1000

Konoha Twelve – Unfriendly – 990/1000

Uchiha Sasuke – Unfriendly – 550/1000

Haruno Sakura – Unfriendly – 10/1000

Nara Shikamaru – Friendly – 105/1000

Akimichi Chouji – Friendly – 150/1000

Yamanaka Ino – Neutral – 500/1000

Hyuuga Hinata – Honored – 6500/10000

Inuzuka Kiba – Friendly – 50/1000

Aburame Shino – Neutral 500/1000

? ? – Neutral 500/1000

? ? – Neutral 500/1000

? ? – Neutral 500/1000

Naruto wasn't really sure what to make of the info. It seemed he was mostly hated by everyone but a few he had regular contact with. At least there were some he was on friendly terms with, even a couple of honored.

Naruto tapped the '?' in the top left corner and similar to the status page a black box with yellow writing appeared but no arrows pointed to anything.

Reputation is your status with various factions with the game world. A hated status will often have reduced or limited quest availability and increased cost of goods if they are even willing to sell to you. As your reputation improves you will have more quests available and reduced cost of goods if they have goods to sell.

"Well that's some bullshit," groused Naruto to himself. It was soft enough to not be heard thankfully but did earn him a glance from Shikamaru who happened to be sitting next to him today.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled. "What are you doing now, Naruto?" he asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just reviewing some stuff," said Naruto, hoping Shikamaru would drop it.

"Whatever," said Shikamaru, clearly seeing Naruto was hiding something. "Just don't get me involved in one of your pranks. It's too troublesome."

Naruto laughed nervously. "You got it."

The rest of the morning class was very boring and Naruto eventually joined Shikamaru in napping on the desk. Lunch found Naruto once more at the target range gaining one more level in his bukijutsu skills but gained no improvement in the passive or active skills. Even so he was feeling more comfortable and familiar with the weapons than he ever had in the past.

Naruto finished his last toss and went to collect his weapons. The first kunai he pulled loose snapped the tip off. "Shit, these things are terrible," he groaned out loud. "Hey, wait a second, what happened to the shuriken and kunai I got from that quest yesterday?"

Naruto used observe on the kunai and shuriken still stuck in the target.

Dull and Rusted Kunai – Old kunai do reduced damage and break easily. -5% damage & accuracy. Stats: 1-3 Damage (melee), 3-5 Damage (ranged), DUR 1/25.

Dull and Rusted Shuriken – Old shuriken do reduced damage and break easily. -5% damage & accuracy. Stats: 2-4 Damage (ranged), DUR 1/25.

Naruto growled. "Inventory."

A new orange window popped up for him showing several thumb size images, most of which were empty, and an image of his body overlaid with several thumb size images indicating his clothing and equipment.

"Cool," whispered Naruto, grinning like an idiot. Naruto tapped his jacket wondering what kind of stats it gave him.

Orange Overstock Jacket – Made of a thin lightweight material this jacket does not provide much protection from weapons or the elements. Stats: +5 DEF, -15% effectiveness to [Stealth], -5% reputation gains, +0.50 to speed, DUR 2/30

"What?" demanded Naruto loudly. "That's bullshit, again. This game is fucking broken, kami damn it."

Naruto closed the window in disgust and annoyance. He tapped the icon for his pants expecting similar, he wasn't wrong.

Orange Overstocked Running Pants – Made of a thin lightweight material these pants do not provide much protection from weapons or the elements. Stats: +7 DEF, -15% effectiveness to [Stealth], -5% reputation gains, +0.50 to speed, DUR 3/30.

Naruto tapped on his shoes next.

Blue Academy Issue Shinobi Sandals – Made of lightweight material these sandals are perfect for learners as they do not impede flexibility or chakra. Stats: +3 DEF, +5% effectiveness to [Stealth], +0.50 to speed, DUR 10/30.

Then his goggles.

Green Goggles – High quality eye protection often used by doujutsu user to protect their eyes from damage in the field. Stats: +5 DEF, +10% effectiveness to [Observe], DUR 40/50.

That was better, Naruto thought. He could see his leg pouch had one slot with the damaged kunai assigned to it and his hip pouch had three slots with his shuriken taking up one of the slots and the other two were left empty.

Naruto looked over to his inventory and in the two occupied slots were the Academy Kunai (10) and Academy Shuriken (20). Naruto touched one and dragged it over top of the currently equipped item and they traded places. He quickly repeated the action with the other and closed his inventory.

Naruto lined up to try out his new weapons only to be interrupted with the KSA bell chiming the end of lunch.

Naruto trudged unhappily back to class, pouting the whole way because he didn't get to try out his new equipment. Speaking of new equipment, he'd definitely have to stop at one of the weapon shops in town to see if he could do anything about his running suit, he either needed to replace it, something he was dreading, or get it repaired. It would be a matter of what he could afford.

The positive of this was that he now knew of at least one store that he was Neutral with which meant not getting over priced goods.

"Welcome back from lunch, everyone," began Iruka. "Now, let's start with a review of the three basic academy jutsu."

Mizuki once again walked along the end cap handing a stack of scrolls to each student to pass down.

Naruto got his three scrolls.

You've obtained the skill scroll [Henge].

This skill has already been learned. Cannot learn again.

You've obtained the skill scroll [Kawarimi].

This skill has already been learned. Cannot learn again.

You've obtained the skill scroll [Bunshin].

Would you like to learn the skill?

"Fuck it, I'm not getting my ass kicked again because I chose to wait until after school to learn something," said Naruto, tapping the 'Confirm (Y)' button.

You cannot learn this skill.

Required WIS: 25% of CP.

Naruto blinked, then blinked again. He had nine hundred CP the last time he checked and only ten WIS. He couldn't get close to that number if he tried, not with one of his status effects giving him +100 CP with every level. Even now he would need 225 WIS and that number would just keep going up.

"Ano, Iruka-sensei," said Naruto raising his hand.

"Yes Naruto?"

"I can't learn Bunshin," he said.

"Naruto, I'm sure if you put some real effort into it you could learn. Now stop causing scene," said Iruka, effectively dismissing him.

"But sensei," he tried to protest.

"What, Naruto?"

"I have too much chakra for it," he tried to explain.

"There is no such thing as too much chakra, Naruto. Only not enough control," said Iruka trying to placate him.

"So how do I improve my control," he asked.

"I've already taught you this, try to remember," said Iruka.

Naruto frowned. What did Iruka teach him before? "Was it that stupid leaf thing?"

"Yes, Naruto, that 'stupid leaf thing' is a very basic chakra control exercise," he explained. "I suggest you spend some time working on it if you want to improve your control enough to use Bunshin correctly.

Naruto groaned.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

You remember a past lesson that was previously disregarded. Chakra control 'Leaf Sticking' Lvl. 1 has been created.

Naruto immediately opened his skills list and tapped the [Leaf Sticking].

[Leaf Sticking (Passive/Active) Lv1 Exp 0.00% CP 15 per 5 seconds]

Introductory chakra control exercise taught to all academy students. This exercise improves your chakra control the more you level it up.

Passively increases WIS 5%.

Naruto wasn't overly pleased with the exercise. Even if he maxed it out and gained a 100% bonus to his WIS it would still only give him 20 WIS total which wouldn't come close to meeting the requirements for Bunshin. And that was assuming the passive buff even went up that high.

"Right then," said Naruto. "Sensei, do you have a leaf?"

Iruka smiled kindly before taking a leaf out of his hip pouch and handing it to Naruto. "Here you go," said Iruka.

"You carry around leaves?"

"How do you think we leave behind leaves when we use shunshin?" asked Iruka.

"Really?" asked Naruto. "I mean . . . really?"

"Really," chuckled Iruka, nodding slightly.

"Huh, who knew," said Naruto, laughing a little himself before sticking the leaf to his forehead. "[Leaf Sticking]"

Naruto sat at his desk focusing on the leaf on his forehead while his CP continued to tick downwards rather rapidly. Just short of the five minute mark Naruto ended the skill allowing the leaf to float down and his CP start to recharge.

[Leaf Sticking]'s level has risen by one.

[Leaf Sticking]'s level has risen by one.

[Leaf Sticking]'s level has risen by one.

[Leaf Sticking]'s level has risen by one.

"Wow," said Naruto appreciatively. He'd gained four level in just five minutes.

[Leaf Sticking (Passive/Active) Lv5 Exp 97.85% CP 10 per 5 seconds]

Introductory chakra control exercise taught to all academy students. This exercise improves your chakra control the more you level it up.

Passively increases WIS 6%.

Naruto read the update and was not impressed. Sure, it cut down the cost of the skill but it only increase the passive buff by 1%.

Naruto ended up actually paying attention to class while watching his CP refill in his status screen.

An hour later the sensei began having each student practice the three techniques. Naruto received quests for each though the reward was very minor, only 200 Exp each for the two he could do and 100 Exp for the Bunshin he failed on and no bonus quests for succeeding.

Finally class ended and Naruto was set free for the afternoon with only one . . . make that two objectives in mind. First he needed to go to Higurashi Weapons and then he had a bowl of Ichiraku ramen with his name on it.

Higurashi Weapons was a small rundown looking shop at the end of the market district. According to the wooden sign hanging above the door they had been serving Konoha since the founding of the village.

Naruto cautiously stepped inside, allowing the door to close with a soft thud behind him and a jingle of a bell. There wasn't anyone readily visible to Naruto as he entered deeper into the shop.

"Hello," he called out cautiously.

"Be with you in a second," called gruff male voice from somewhere in the back.

Naruto looked around the shop knowing it was fairly safe for now. It turned out to be a veritable cornucopia of weapons and armor. His [Observe] was working overtime with everything he looked at.

"Now, what can I do for you?" asked the shopkeeper, setting down a large box with a heavy thud on the counter.

"Um, I need to see about getting some better gear or getting my current gear repaired," said Naruto, still unsure how the man would react.

"Well, fixing the crap you're wearing now shouldn't be a problem but I would strongly recommend burning it and let me tell you up front, I ain't touching that thing until it has been thoroughly washed and sanitized. That said, let's see if we can get you some decent gear. How much have you got to spend?"

"I only have 3500 ryo," said Naruto.

"I didn't ask how much you have. I asked how much can you spend? If I take all your money how will you eat? Pay your bills? Live?"

"Oh, um, then I guess about 1500," said Naruto. It was the money he'd been saving up to buy a new game but this was more important.

"Right, we should be able to get you some decent pants and a better jacket but not much more than that," said the shopkeeper.

"That works for me," said Naruto, finally starting to relax around the man.

Naruto took a moment to study the shopkeeper as he trundled through the narrow aisles. He was a large man, easily twice Naruto's height. He had a large gut but his arms were thicker than Naruto was and they were very well muscled.

"Here," said the shopkeeper, handing Naruto a pair of black pants. They looked like standard issue shinobi pant.

Black Academy Issue Pants – Made of a thin lightweight material and reinforced with light leather armor inside these pants provide reasonable defense. Stats: +15 DEF, +5% effectiveness to [Stealth], +5 DEX, +0.50 to speed, DUR 60/60.

Naruto's [Observe] reported, making him very excited for try these on.

"Pick a jacket," said the shopkeeper holding up four different jackets.

Black and Crimson Academy Issue Jacket - Made of a thin lightweight material and reinforced with light leather armor inside this jacket provides reasonable defense. Stats: +12 DEF, +5 DEX, +5 STR, +0.50 to speed, DUR 60/60.

Black and Navy Academy Issue Jacket - Made of a thin lightweight material and reinforced with light leather armor inside this jacket provides reasonable defense. Stats: +12 DEF, +5 DEX, +5 STR, +0.50 to speed, DUR 60/60.

Black and Olive Academy Issue Jacket - Made of a thin lightweight material and reinforced with light leather armor inside this jacket provides reasonable defense. Stats: +12 DEF, +5 DEX, +5 STR, +0.50 to speed, DUR 60/60.

Black Academy Issue Jacket - Made of a thin lightweight material and reinforced with light leather armor inside this jacket provides reasonable defense. Stats: +12 DEF, +5 DEX, +5% effectiveness to [Stealth], +0.50 to speed, DUR 60/60.

"Um, Black and Olive," said Naruto. It wasn't orange and while the Navy looked cooled, it would be a cold day in hell before Naruto dressed more like the Uchiha prick.

The shopkeeper nodded and tossed the jacket to him, hanging the others back up. "That's 1200 ryo total. You could probably get some cheap gloves or forearm or shin protectors with what you have left."

"Um, no thanks," said Naruto, deciding to quit while he was ahead.

The shopkeeper shrugged and led Naruto back to the counter of the shop where Naruto paid and thanked the man for his help.

"Before you go, my regular delivery girl is out on a mission. If you've got time I could use the help," offered the shopkeeper.

Naruto grinned at seeing the blue window pop up.

Quest Alert

Deliver the Goods: Make the Higurashi weapons deliveries in place of the regular delivery girl.

Deliver the box to the Hokage tower in fifteen minutes or less.

Completion Award: 500 Exp

500 Ryo

Increase reputation with Higurashi Weapons

Completion Failure: 100 Exp

100 Ryo

Decrease reputation with Higurashi Weapons

Naruto tapped the 'Confirm (Y)'.

"Great, take this box to the Hokage tower. Be careful, it's heavy. Oh, and make sure the receptionist signs for it."

Naruto picked up the box happily and ran out of the shop with it. As soon as he was out the door the timer popped up and began to count down. "Let's do this," he almost shouted as he took off at his top speed.

Nine minutes later Naruto had arrived at the tower and reported to the tower reception with the box. As soon as he got her to sign the form the timer stopped with 00:05:43 left on the clock.

You've completed the delivery with time to spare. Return to Higurashi Weapon's to claim your reward.

Naruto grinned and strolled out of the tower with a little bounce to his step.

"You made good time kid," greeted the shopkeeper when Naruto came in waving the signed form around.

"You bet I did," said Naruto.

Completion Awarded: 500 Exp, 500 Ryo, +50 to reputation with Higurashi Weapon's.

Bonus Award: 500 Exp (100 Exp per minute remaining on timer), 500 Ryo (100 Ryo per minute remaining on timer) +250 to reputation with Higurashi Weapon's (50 reputation points per minute remaining on timer).

"Good work, come back next week and I might have another delivery for you," said the shopkeeper.

Naruto finally bothered to look up at the man's name.

Higurashi Hiten Lv ?

"Thanks, Higurashi-san," said Naruto. That was awesome. He doubled his award just for being fast.

"Now get out of here, I'm closing up for the night."

Naruto said a quick farewell and departed the shop, eager to get home and try out his new clothes.

Once home, Naruto popped open his inventory and dropped the new clothes into the open slots and dragged them to his chest slot and legs slot. It was kind of a weird feeling as it happened but Naruto wasn't going to complain about it at all. After it was done he ran to the bathroom to check out his new look in the mirror.

"I make this look good," he complimented himself, grinning all the same.

Now Naruto had to figure out what to do with the rest of his evening. Obviously his plans for Ichiraku had changed so the first order of business was to get some instant ramen in his belly.

Naruto ended up eating a few bowls of instant 'Cup Ramen' for dinner, it wasn't exactly cooking but it would do.

The rest of the night was spent working on [Leaf Sticking] and video games in between while he waited for his chakra to replenish. By the time he passed out for the night he'd gained five more levels with it.

[Leaf Sticking (Passive/Active) Lv10 Exp 63.82% CP 8 per 5 seconds]

Introductory chakra control exercise taught to all academy students. This exercise improves your chakra control the more you level it up.

Passively increases WIS 8%.

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Gamer (Manhwa)

You have slept in your bed. HP & CP are fully stored.

Naruto awoke with a wide grin on his face. Closing the sleep message and sitting up Naruto started his day the best way he knew how.

"Leaf Sticking," he said as he placed the leaf from his night stand to his forehead. A little more than 9 minutes later he cancelled the skill allowing the leaf to float free.

[Leaf Sticking]'s level has risen by one.

[Leaf Sticking]'s level has risen by one.

[Leaf Sticking (Passive/Active) Lv12 Exp 43.12% CP 8 per 5 seconds]

Introductory chakra control exercise taught to all academy students. This exercise improves your chakra control the more you level it up.

Passively increases WIS 8%.

Passively reduces excess CP lost from using too much chakra by 5%.

"Hell yeah," said Naruto, not just pleased with the levels but also with the CP loss reduction for all of his other skills.

Naruto rushed through his morning routine and got outside into the open air ready for the day to kick off. Naruto noticed immediately that the streets were much more crowded than usual for this time of the morning. Then he remembered that today was the KSA induction day for new students.

Naruto charged a bit of chakra to his legs and leapt up to the nearest rooftop.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

You leap tall buildings in a single bound, movement 'Chakra Leap' Lvl. 1 has been created.

[Chakra Leap (Passive) Lv1 Exp 0.00% CP 1 per 10 meters]

Using chakra to reinforce your leg muscles you can now jump to incredible heights.

Additional jumping range when Active.

"Cool, but shouldn't that have already been a skill?" asked Naruto, pausing on the rooftop to read the description. "And does that mean it will use Chakra automatically?"

Naruto shrugged and ran for the roof ledge and made the leap to the next building. He watched his CP to see what would happen and it momentarily dipped before refilling almost immediately.

"Huh, that's interesting." Naruto shrugged again. He had to get to class and still had a ways to go. Pushing a bit of chakra into his legs again he began to run across the roof and leap to the next all the way to the academy.

A special skill has been created through a special act.

You run like the wind, movement 'Chakra Sprint' Lvl. 1 has been created.

[Chakra Sprint (Active) Lv1 Exp 0.00% CP 20]

Using chakra to reinforce your leg muscles to grant you a quick burst of speed.

Additional +20.0 to run speed for 10 seconds when Active.

"More skills that should have already been there. What is going on with this game?" Naruto asked, frowning in frustration. "I guess the game can't know everything but still, this is a bit silly."

Naruto dropped to the ground from the roof across from the KSA entrance landing with a soft thud.

[Physical Endurance]'s level has increased by one.

Naruto glance at his HP and saw that he did indeed take 10 points of damage from dropping off the roof. He'd honestly never even consider that dropping from a roof like that was hurting him because it was something all shinobi did regularly. On the other hand his HP had already recovered from the fall so it didn't really matter.

"Maybe I should use Chakra to reduce the fall damage?"

A special skill has been created through a special act.

You can't hurt me, protective 'Chakra Reinforcement' Lvl. 1 has been created.

[Chakra Reinforcement (Active) Lv1 0.00% CP: 100]

Using chakra to reinforce your body can now protect you from taking some damage.

Additional 100 HP damage reduction when active.

Reinforcement lasts until -100 damage has been inflicted upon you.

"What? That's fucking awesome," said Naruto excitedly. "I didn't even have to try to use the chakra first, just thinking about it created it." Then Naruto took a moment to register his morning events. "Fuck! That's three more techniques I have to build up. Son of bitch."

Naruto groaned one more time before dragging himself inside the academy for what was bound to be a really long day.

Naruto ended up sitting through the day of class bored out his mind while Iruka droned on and on about history and the tactics he'd already learned completely from the skill book. He'd already drained his CP twice, once repeatedly using [Chakra Reinforcement] and once using [Leaf Sticking].

"Okay, time for lunch and the rest of today is conditioning," ordered Iruka.

Naruto grinned, he could totally get behind the conditioning plan but that would mean he definitely needed to eat lunch for a change.

Naruto got himself to Ichiraku as quickly as he could and happily sat to eat his favorite meal.

"Hello, Naruto-kun, haven't seen you much since academy classes started up again," commented Ayame.

"Just been busy, lots of training. I have to graduate this time or I'm out of the program," explained Naruto.

"Okay, just don't forget about us," said Ayame, smiling sweetly at the boy.

"Of course not, Ayame-neechan. I could never forget you guys. I meant to come yesterday but things got a bit crazy. Oh yeah, do you like my new clothes? I got them yesterday. I know they aren't as cool as my orange clothes but I think they're still pretty good."

"I have to say it's a major improvement," said Ayame, earning a gasp from Naruto. "Don't you gasp at me. I know you like orange and I know I'm not a shinobi but I can't imagine orange is a good color for the job."

"Yeah, you're right about that but I only found a shop that would sell me the good stuff yesterday," explained Naruto.

"Well then, you'd better not let your new clothes go to waste then. I expect you to graduate with flying colors come November or I'll cut off your ramen . . . permanently."

"Not that, anything but that," pleaded Naruto.

"Then I guess you'd better just make sure you graduate then, huh?"

"With ramen on the line you can consider it done," said Naruto.

"You'd better hit the road, Naruto," called Teuchi from the back of the stand. "It's ten to one."

"Thanks, Teuchi-san," said Naruto, quickly swallowing down the last of the broth and noodles. Naruto used his [Chakra Sprint] and [Chakra Leap] all the way back to the academy earning a level in both along the way.

Naruto made it back to class just in time for the Iruka to come in and lead everyone outside to the open training field.

"Now, I want twenty laps around the training field," ordered Iruka.

There was a loud groan from the class as they all began to move at a steady pace around the dirt track that had been well worn into the edge of the training field.

Naruto ran as ordered not really caring, it wasn't like it would tire him out at all. It was around lap fifteen that a blue window popped up.

Your exercising pays off causing your VIT to go up by 1.

Naruto grinned as he usually did whenever something good happened to him. This meant if he kept exercising his stats would keep going up like his skills went up as he trained them.

"Nice work, everyone. Now I want fifty sit-ups and twenty push-ups each," ordered Iruka.

Naruto dropped to the ground and began his sit-ups as ordered. That was one thing he did appreciate about his stamina, he never seemed to get tired. And it paid off again as on sit-up forty-five another blue window popped up.

You feel the burn causing your STR to go up by 1.

Grin . . . again.

Naruto finished the sit-ups and flipped over to start on the push-ups. This time a blue window popped up on the twentieth push-up.

You feel the burn causing your STR to go up by 1.

Naruto looked around to see most of his class was still doing their sit-ups with only a few on their push-ups except for the eight students Naruto identified as being higher level than the rest of the class.

Deciding he had more time, Naruto decided to do another set of sit-ups hoping to boost his STR a little more. Unfortunately after fifty he hadn't gained any more STR. So he flipped over and did the push-ups.

After two push-ups the blue box reappeared.

You feel the burn causing your STR to go up by 1.

Okay, he could work with this. It seemed that to get his STR to go up, he'd have to do more exercises per point. But that made him wonder if there was a cap. He'd already gained one point the previous morning from having to sprint to get to class and he'd just gained three more points. But could he gain infinite points?

"Hurry and finish up your sets. It's time for your favorite exercise of all, the obstacle course," shouted Iruka, calling the attention of all the students earning another round of groans from the students.

Naruto pushed through the push-ups he needed to complete his second set and popped up to his feet and got in line for the obstacle course. It really was Naruto's favorite exercise but most of the class dreaded it, partly because it was hard and partly because if you screwed up you'd probably end up dirty.

Naruto was pretty far back in the line because of his second set of push-ups so he used the time to work on [Leaf Sticking] while he waited. He'd drained most of his chakra working on it but didn't get a level which meant that he was getting less and less experience for his skills which meant it would be getting harder and harder to improve them as their levels got higher. So level capping his skills would be darn near impossible.

"Naruto, wake up, it's your turn," said Iruka, snapping his fingers in front of Naruto's face.

Naruto blinked and looked up at Iruka. "Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I was totally spacing."

"Just go," said Iruka, sighing and pointing at the obstacle course.

Naruto stepped up to the line and instantly a timer appeared in his peripheral reading 00:00:00.00. It definitely made Naruto curious but he could think about it later.

Naruto started off at a sprint toward the quintuple steps, a series of steps angled 45° toward a water pit, his foot barely touching each before landing on a small hill climb which ran up to a suspended log with a few grip holes. Naruto jumped onto the log gripping as hard as he could while the log glided down a rail track suddenly dropping every few feet trying to shake him loose. He then had to run across an unstable bridge with several platforms that would twist left or right if he stayed too long on any one of them. From there he had to grip a pole suspended by a series of pegs, known as a salmon ladder, and use the pole to jump up to the next peg and the next until he reached the top. At the top was a long board suspended over a water and mud pit. From the bottom of the board were several round metal bulbs just large enough to grip. Naruto grabbed the first and swung to the next grip and the next for about twenty meters until he reached another platform. He ran down a few steps to face a warped wall. A twenty meter tall wall of wood curved outward toward him. He ran as hard and as fast as he could up the wall hoping to gain purchase at the top. Once on top he sprinted fifty meters to the finish line.

Naruto's timer stopped just as he crossed the finish line showing 00:03:47.87.

You bend and twist your way to the finish line causing your DEX to go up by 1

Naruto though ignored the message while he tried to reclaim his breath, his hands firmly on his knees and gasping for breath. That course sucked today. The KSA was actually well known for their obstacle courses such that many chuunin still use them for training on a regular basis. They change regularly with new and different obstacles with the exception of the steps at the start and the warp wall and fifty meter sprint at the end.

Finally catching his breath Naruto took a minute to review the advantages of his conditioning day. Running laps, not sprinting, but running increased VIT. Push-ups and sit-ups increased STR. And the obstacle course increased DEX. Knowing this Naruto knew he'd have to spend time here more often trying to increase his stats as much as possible. That still left him with the question of whether or not there was a limit to how many stats he could gain through physical training.

"Good job, Naruto," said Iruka. "You came in fifth this time."

"Who beat me?"

"Sasuke, Kiba, Hinata, and Tomodo," answered Iruka.

A quick observe on each of them show they had higher DEX stats than he did. It also showed that Kiba had gained another level and was now level 10.

"I guess I'll have to work harder then, huh, sensei?"

"Keep working hard like you have this week and you'll definitely graduate this time," said Iruka, his normal kind smile adorning his face.

"Can I run it again?" asked Naruto.

Iruka looked at the sky and then at the line. "You can get back in line and you can try to squeeze one more run in but no promises."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei," shouted Naruto, running back to the line.

Naruto did manage to run the course one more time but didn't get another point of DEX.

After school, Naruto could once again be found at the target range switching between [Leaf Sticking], [Chakra Reinforcement], [Kunai Bukijutsu], and [Shuriken Bukijutsu] skills trying to level them as much as possible. Naruto also noticed that hitting the target no longer granted him any experience toward his level.

Naruto continued this until his stomach grumbled that it was time for food. So he went for food then home and at home he continued to work [Leaf Sticking], [Chakra Reinforcement] but this time he did Sit-ups and Push-ups during the down time. He gained 2 more points of STR in the first four sets but the next five sets did nothing. He finally determined that he could only gain one bonus stat point per level. So the six points to STR was all he could get until he leveled again. This meant he could increase his VIT four more times and DEX three more times. He just needed time to work on it with all of his other skills to level.

You have slept in your bed. HP & CP are fully stored.

Naruto once again woke up excited to get to training his skills. Right away he drained nearly all of his CP working on [Leaf Sticking] before going through his morning routine.

Naruto decided that he could get his VIT level capped quickly enough by running to school every morning and taking a longer route depending on how much time he had. And that's exactly what he did.

"Good morning, class," greeted Iruka as he entered the class room. "So, we're back to our day one schedule so let's all try to improve."

Naruto tuned him out as he began talking about various uses of bukijutsu and the physics that can be applied. Instead he chose to once again drain his chakra to almost empty, this time on [Chakra Reinforcement] before setting his head down on the desk and closing his eyes until it was time to go outside for practice.

It didn't take long before they were outside at the practice range and much to Naruto's delight he got a quest alert immediately.

Quest Alert

My Personal Best: Score 90% or better

You have five attempts to throw 90% or better with Kunai and Shuriken

Completion Award: 1000 Exp

[Intermediate Academy Taijutsu] Skill Book

Completion Failure: 200 Exp

Naruto had to wipe the drool from the corner of his mouth at the thought of succeeding. He quickly tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' button and got himself in line.

Naruto's first time up he hit 93 only missing one shuriken hit.

"Yatta!" he shouted with joy.

You've improved, well done.

Completion Awarded: 1000 Exp and [Intermediate Academy Taijutsu] Skill Book

Naruto was super eager to get right into the book but was interrupted by another notification.

Congratulations! Your level has increased by 1.

Naruto grinned happily at that.

Quest Alert

Perfection is its own reward: Score 100%

You have four attempts to throw 100% with Kunai and Shuriken

Completion Award: 2000 Exp

Completion Failure: 500 Exp

Naruto quickly tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' button and went to the back of the line to check out his new book.

You've obtained the skill book [Intermediate Academy Taijutsu].

Would you like to learn the skill?

Naruto impatiently tapped the 'Confirm (Y)' excited for the new skills.

You cannot learn this skill.

Required STR: 20.

Required DEX: 20.

Required [Beginner Academy Taijutsu] LvMax.

Naruto previous joy just crumbled into nothingness. He needed to attain a max skill level. How was he supposed to attain a max skill level? Stats wouldn't be a problem, he'd just gotten five from his leveling up plus he could train one more STR and four more DEX. But to get a max skill level in his beginner taijutsu? He was screwed.

Naruto decided to put three stat points into STR for now and one into DEX and think about what to do with the rest later.

Before he knew it he was up to throw again, another 93%. In fact all four of his tries were 93%, he'd always miss with at least one which really pissed him off.

The rest of the morning was boring history followed by lunch which found Naruto outside and running the obstacle course to try and gain a couple of DEX while he had the time. He did actually manage to gain two points before the end of lunch.

His improving his stats got him thinking. How could he go about improving his INT and WIS, especially his WIS?

It got him looking around the room and observing his classmates again only to see that Shikamaru' WIS was higher than the last time he checked but hadn't gained a level which meant he did something to increase it. The question is, what did he do?

"Hey Shikamaru," called Naruto softly, trying not to gain the ire of Iruka-sensei in the process.

Shikamaru turned his head a little to look at Naruto. "Yeah?"

"How did you get so smart? What do you do? Do you study a lot or something?"

"Che, troublesome," complained Shikamaru. "I don't really study unless I absolutely have to. I guess it's from playing so much Shogi."

"That's a board game right?"

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that," said Shikamaru. "Why did you want to know?"

"Think you could teach me how to play?"

"Troublesome," whined Shikamaru again. "I guess I can teach you after school today. Just don't do anything troublesome."

"Really? Thanks a lot, Shikamaru. I'll owe you big time for this," said Naruto, smiling from ear to ear.

"Whatever, I'm going back to sleep until it's time for taijutsu practice."

Naruto couldn't wait for the day to end, hopefully learning Shogi from Shikamaru would help him increase his WIS. That still left him with his INT problem but with his strange status buff giving him VIT and INT with every level he didn't really need to worry about it unless that buff suddenly vanished on him.

So Naruto once again drained his chakra training his skills while waiting for taijutsu practice to start. Two more levels to his [Chakra Reinforcement] and it was time for taijutsu.

When time for taijutsu practice came Naruto was disappointed when he didn't get a quest of any kind. He did just gain a level so maybe he exceeded the max level for the taijutsu quests. Either way Naruto was miffed.

Naruto found himself standing across from one of the civilian kids name Midori Tomodo for his first match of the day.

Midori Tomodo Lv6

HP: 150/150

CP: 50/50

STR: 10

VIT: 15

DEX: 20

INT: 5

WIS: 5

LUK: 2

Midori Tomodo is a civilian born academy student. While moderately skill in taijutsu, he is severely lacking in other aspects of the shinobi arts.

So Naruto was stronger than him and just slightly less dexterous. Naruto figured based on that information it would be a fairly even fight.

They bowed to each other then settled into an academy basic stance, Naruto in a defensive back stance and Tomodo in an aggressive front stance. Naruto wanted to see how Tomodo fought before trying to attack him.

"Hajime," called Iruka.

Tomodo wasted no time in springing forward at Naruto with a flying round house kick to the head.

Naruto's arm shot up parrying the kick but still managing to break through the block and knocking him slightly off balance.

Tomodo followed up his kick with punch to Naruto's stomach making solid contact and causing Naruto to grunt in pain at the hit.

Naruto quickly counter with a stomp kick to Tomodo's shin causing the boy to drop to one knee. Seeing his opponent down, Naruto attacked with a knee strike, missing Tomodo's face but still hitting his shoulder hard enough to knock the boy out of the ring.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto," called Iruka.

Naruto wanted to celebrate his first win in a while but instead bowed as was proper and stepped out of the ring.

[Beginner Academy Taijutsu]'s level has risen by one.

[Beginner Academy Taijutsu]'s level has risen by one.

Naruto finally did celebrate. "Yatta!" Not only did he win the fight against one of the better taijutsu users he also leveled his [Beginner Academy Taijutsu] twice. It was a triple win if you asked Naruto's opinion.

Naruto had two more fights that day, one against another civilian student named Ito Momo and another against Inuzuka Kiba. He beat the civilian like a drum but lost to Kiba if just barely. Either way he gained another level in taijutsu.

Class for the day ended with the last match in which Sasuke mercilessly destroyed Tomodo. It made Naruto respect Sasuke's skill a little but still detest him as a person.

"Yo, Naruto, you ready?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah, let's go," said Naruto. He was excited to hang out with Shikamaru for a bit.

"Yeah, yeah," said Shikamaru, yawning lazily.

Together they walked to a hilltop park a kilometer from the KSA. There were a bunch of Shogi tables spread around, some of them occupied but mostly empty.

Shikamaru guided him to one of the larger tables with a canopy over top of it. He sat down and pulled out a scroll and unsealed a small box containing the game pieces. He then set up the table for the game.

"Do you know anything about the game, Naruto?" asked Shikamaru.

"I know nothing about it," answered Naruto honestly. "Never played before and never have been shown how to play before."

"Troublesome," complained Shikamaru. Then he launched into a long and drawn out explanation of each piece and how each piece moves and how to promote each piece before finally explaining captured pieces. Then he showed Naruto a couple examples before finally allowing Naruto to play a game with him.

"You lose," said Shikamaru, it took less than twenty moves.

"What? Already?" asked Naruto, not fully understanding. "Damn it, again."

"You lose," said Shikamaru, twenty minutes later. This time the game took about thirty moves. "You did better but you're still learning."

"No kidding," said Naruto, groaning in defeat. "Another game?"

"Sure," said Shikamaru.

And so another game started and about halfway through Naruto got his first pop up message.

[Beginner Academy Tactics]'s level has risen by one.

You worked smarter not harder causing your WIS to go up by 1

Naruto would have cheered if not for him trying to focus on the game. He was losing, quite badly but it was still better than the previous game.

"You lose," said Shikamaru, smirking a little. "That's it for me today. I've got get home or my mom will nag at me. But if you want, we could play again another day."

"I'd like that."

"Cool, make sure you buy your own pieces for next time," said Shikamaru. "I know you're new to the game but it is good etiquette to provide your own pieces."

"Where can I buy a set?"

"Konoha General Store should sell them," said Shikamaru, shrugging as he wasn't very sure.

Naruto couldn't help cringing. "Um, they don't really like me there."

"Troublesome, I'll pick up a cheap set for you. You can pay me back," offered Shikamaru.

"Thank you again," said Naruto. "I really appreciate it, Shikamaru."

"Maybe next time you won't prank them so much," he suggested, then walked away at a lazy gate.

"Now, it's time for me to get to work. I need one more point of DEX and STR," said Naruto to himself, feeling the excitement and enthusiasm building.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru's walk away from the blonde enigma was all but enthusiastic. He was glad his pseudo-friend was taking an interest shogi but it was definitely unusual for the blonde prankster. Something had changed in Naruto and it seemed to be a recent change. The question was, what caused the change and how troublesome was it going to be in the future. "Troublesome," he grumbled, yet again.

Shikamaru's walk home was as sedate as usual. Upon entering the house he was nagged immediately by his mother, first for coming home late, then for not taking the trash out that morning before he left for school, and then to do his homework and go out and feed the deer followed by training in the family hijutsu.

Two hours later, his chores were done and his homework was ready to turn in. Shikamaru found himself sitting at his family's dinner table.

"So why were you late coming home from Academy today?" demanded Yoshino.

"A friend from school wanted me to teach him how to play shogi," answered Shikamaru, lazily pushing his tofu with his hashi (chopsticks).

"What friend?" asked his father.

"Naruto wanted to learn. I didn't really see the problem with it," answered Shikamaru.

"Hmm, interesting," said Shikaku, while Yoshino just frown.

"You'd better not pick up any of his bad habits," stated Yoshino strictly.

"Troublesome," complained Shikamaru.