Chapter no.71 Naruto

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Chapter no.71 Responsibility, Thy Name is Naruto

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Ayame walked up the stairs to Naruto's apartment, a bag of groceries in her hand and a mix of amusement and exasperation on her face. I wonder if Naruto actually finished that milk I bought him last week. Or if it's still sitting there, curdling, she thought with a sigh.

She and her father, Teuchi, had taken it upon themselves to check on Naruto now and then. It started a few years ago, when the boy proudly bragged about how he had stocked an entire cupboard full of cup ramen. That revelation led to some very concerned glances between Ayame and her father.

Thank you so much, Hokage-sama, Ayame sarcastically thought as she climbed the last few steps. What genius thought giving a kid free pocket money with no guidance was a good idea? Of course, he spent it all on ramen. Not that she was against ramen—she worked at a ramen shop, after all—but even she knew Naruto needed a more balanced diet.

"I swear, if I find nothing but cup ramen again…" she muttered under her breath as she reached his door.

Pausing, she heard the unmistakable sound of chaos coming from inside. Something—or someone—was running around, crashing into things. She frowned, her hand hovering over the spare key she always carried for emergencies.

"Please don't let it be another failed attempt at cleaning…" she murmured, sliding the key into the lock.

She opened the door, and what she saw nearly made her drop the groceries.

The entire apartment was a mess. Furniture was askew, laundry was piled everywhere, and Naruto was running in circles, chasing what looked like a… lizard?

"What the—?"

Naruto spun toward her, the lizard slipping through his fingers as it bolted across the floor and ran straight between Ayame's legs.

A gust of wind later, Ayame blinked and found Naruto standing behind her, holding the wriggling creature aloft like some sort of bizarre trophy.

"Finally caught you, you little bastard."

"Naruto," Ayame said, still trying to process what she was seeing. "What is that?"

"Oh, this?" Naruto grinned wider. "It's my new pet! Isn't it adorable?"

Adorable was not the word Ayame would use. The lizard, which had six spindly legs and a large, jagged crystal growing out of its back, glared at her with its beady eyes as it wriggled in Naruto's grip.

Ayame blinked, then pinched herself. Nope, she wasn't dreaming. This was real. "Is this a… Shinobi thing?" she asked weakly, gesturing at the creature.

"Sure, whatever you say, Neechan," Naruto replied, already walking back into the apartment.

Still in a daze, Ayame stepped inside and put the groceries down, surveying the chaos. "Naruto, what happened in here?"

Naruto shrugged. "Crystal lizard happened. It's fast, and it hides."

Ayame sighed as she started gathering Naruto's clothes from the floor, tossing socks, shirts, and what she hoped weren't month-old boxers into a growing pile. Then, with a resigned groan, she walked into the bathroom and returned with an overflowing laundry basket.

Naruto watched her with wide eyes, still holding the squirming crystal lizard in his hands. "Neechan, what are you doing?"

"Well, Naruto," Ayame said, dropping the basket with a thud, "the lizard in your hands looks like it's about one hiss away from biting your face off. So, I'm making it a safe place to hide."

Naruto tilted his head. "Safe place?"

Without a word, Ayame gestured to the pile of laundry, which now looked more like a small mountain. Naruto frowned but decided to trust her. Gently, he released the lizard, which immediately bolted to the pile, paused for a moment as if inspecting its new home, then burrowed into the clothes like it was digging through dirt.

"Wow, you're a genius!"

Ayame didn't respond, too busy staring at the sheer size of the laundry pile. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Naruto, why do you have so much laundry? Have you even washed any of these?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I was waiting for rain. You know, natural cleaning. It's free!"

"Rain?! Naruto, you can't just leave your clothes outside and hope nature does your chores for you!"

"Why not? It works on my plants."

Ayame sighed, shaking her head. "At least you're taking care of the plants. I'll give you that."

Naruto puffed out his chest, looking smug. "See? I'm doing great!"

"You're doing something," Ayame muttered, tossing another pair of socks into the pile.

"No one is perfect, Neechan."

"It's not about being perfect, Naruto. It's about doing what you can. You're a ninja now—you need to start being more responsible."

"Responsible?" Naruto huffed and raised his hands defensively. "I'm trying!"

Ayame raised her fist threateningly, her eyes narrowing in mock warning. Naruto immediately threw his hands up. "Wait, wait! Mercy! I'm just a clone!"

"A clone?"

Naruto gave her a quick explanation about shadow clones, and Ayame nodded slowly, absorbing the information. "So… how long have you had this pet of yours?"

"Only a few hours," Naruto replied, his voice taking on a defensive tone. "I found it injured, and I healed it. So now it's mine."

"That's nice," Ayame said, placing her hands on her hips, "but you decided that just because you healed it, it's your pet?"

"Well, yeah!" Naruto grumbled. "I always wanted a pet, but Jiji never let me. Something about how I wasn't responsible enough or whatever."

Ayame swept her arm dramatically, motioning to the mess of his apartment. "Gee, I wonder why he thought that?"

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I am on your side," Ayame said, rubbing his hair affectionately, "but you have to admit, you're not exactly the poster boy for responsibility."

Naruto looked down, his cheeks puffing out in mild frustration. Ayame softened her tone. "Look, you have a pet now. That means you have to step up. No more excuses, okay?"

Naruto gave a reluctant nod. "Okay…"

"Good," Ayame said. "Now, what's your plan for taking care of it?"

"Plan?" Naruto blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Ayame said, counting on her fingers, "what are you going to feed it? Where's it going to sleep? How are you going to get it to trust you? What happens if it gets sick? Do you even know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Naruto's head spun at the barrage of questions, his brain struggling to keep up. "Uh… uh…"

Ayame sighed and headed to the kitchen.

Naruto watched her, still trying to process everything. "Neechan, you know a lot about this stuff."

"Of course I do!" Ayame called back. "I wanted a pet snake when I was younger, but Dad said no."

"A snake?" Naruto asked, tilting his head. "Why didn't he let you?"

Ayame came back with a bowl of diced vegetables and bits of meat.

"Well… apparently, snakes have a bad reputation. Something about a really strong ninja who used snakes and then turned traitor. Ever since then, snakes are seen as bad omens in the village."

Naruto frowned. "Wait, so people used to keep pet snakes?"

"Oh, yeah. They were super popular because of that ninja, actually. But after what happened… not so much."

"Guess that makes sense," Naruto said thoughtfully.

They crouched by the laundry pile, Ayame carefully scooping a spoonful of the food she'd prepared. She made soft, coaxing noises as she held the spoon near the pile.

The crystal lizard poked its head out, tilting it curiously at the food. It inched forward cautiously, sniffing the spoon.

And then it bit Ayame's finger.

"AAAHHH!" Ayame yelped, dropping the spoon as the lizard snatched it up and scurried back into the pile.

Naruto burst out laughing, clutching his sides. "Neechan, you just got bitten by a girl!"

"Wait, it's a girl?" Ayame asked, shaking her hand.

"Yeah! Didn't see any balls, so…"

Ayame gave him a deadpan look. "Naruto… you're a goddamn idiot."

"A responsible idiot," Naruto shot back, grinning.

Ayame sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she muttered under her breath. "The things I put up with for this boy…" Her grumbling trailed off when the distinct crunch of metal being chewed drew her attention to the laundry pile.

"Naruto," she said, "what exactly is that lizard?"

Naruto, who was busily folding a towel in the most haphazard way possible, glanced up. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Nope," Naruto replied cheerfully.

"Naruto, what do you know?"

"That I'm awesome."

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The original Naruto was facing his greatest challenge yet—a written exam.

For six grueling hours, he sat at the training ground, hunched over a test paper Kakashi had personally designed. The stakes? If Naruto scored higher than Sasuke and Sakura, he'd finally get the jutsu Kakashi promised him. But this wasn't just any test—it was a ninja's nightmare. Questions about physics, biology, geography, and strategy filled every inch of the paper.

Naruto groaned, tapping his pencil against the desk Kakashi had set up just for him. "Why do I even need to calculate the trajectory of a kunai?! I just throw it and hope for the best!"

Kakashi, lounging in the shade with his ever-present orange book, glanced up lazily. "Well, imagine you're on a mission, Naruto. The success of a sneak attack depends entirely on one kunai—one throw. If you don't calculate its trajectory properly, you might miss and fail the mission. Simple enough?"

"I guess that makes sense... but it still sucks."

When the six hours were finally up, Naruto slammed his exam paper down in front of Kakashi, who picked it up with an amused eye crease. "So, feeling confident?"

Naruto crossed his arms and grinned. "I mean... I just need to beat Sasuke and Sakura, right? That's easy."

"You'd need at least a 99% to beat them, though," Kakashi added casually as he pulled out a red pen.

Naruto's confidence faltered. "What?! Wait—uh, can I go to the bathroom real quick?"

"Nervous about your results? Don't worry, Naruto. Even if you don't beat them, what really matters is how much you've improved since the academy—"

"Kakashi-sensei, bathroom," Naruto cut him off, looking increasingly desperate.

"Fine, fine, go ahead."

The moment Kakashi gave the green light, Naruto vanished in a blur of Shunshin.

Naruto arrived at his apartment in record time, practically bursting through the door. Inside, Ayame and one of his clones were standing over the pile of laundry, which was now shifting and making strange crunching noises.

Ayame blinked at him.

"Hi, Neechan. Bye, Neechan!" Naruto shouted as he slammed the bathroom door shut.

Once inside, he quickly grabbed the Darksign from his pocket and activated it. A rush of heat washed over him, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself in Lordran once again, sitting at the bonfire.

"Alright," Naruto said, standing up and cracking his knuckles. "Time to grind."

He summoned a dozen clones. "Go out there and kill every hollow in the Undead Burg. We're leveling up."

The clones saluted and dashed off in all directions, cutting through hollows with brutal efficiency. Meanwhile, Naruto sat back at the bonfire, mentally tallying the souls they were collecting. After a few minutes, the clones dispelled, sending a flood of memories and a sizable pile of souls back to him.

[Souls: 3,203]

"Finally!" Naruto grinned as he opened his stats menu. He navigated to his intelligence stat and dumped the necessary points.

[Name: Naruto Uzumaki]

[Level: 19 → 20]

[Attributes:]

[INT: 10 → 11]

Naruto frowned, tilting his head in thought. I don't feel any smarter… he muttered, his voice laced with confusion. He glanced at the bonfire's gentle flicker, its light casting long, shifting shadows across the ground. For a moment, he stood still, his mind oddly quiet yet brimming with something he couldn't quite name.

"Whatever, let's just get back to Kakashi."

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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 34, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.

To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!