NLS41-50

Chapter 41

I blinked, huh, so begins the crush. Usually people would want Naruto

and Hinata to get involved immediately, but me? I don't care. Let him

be with whoever he wants to. If he and Sakura get together that's fine

me with, I honestly couldn't care less.

I smiled, "that's great Naruto! Hey, if you want I can teach you a couple

of cool moves to impress her!"

"Really?! That would be awesome Yami!" Naruto cheered, "you're the

best friend I ever had! Believe it!"

I chuckled, "I'm the only friend you ever had monkey boy!"

Naruto chuckled rubbing his head, "yeah, that too."

I smiled, "anyway, it's nice to have a friend Naruto, I'm glad I get to

spend time with you, it's fun."

"Yeah..." Naruto said squirming in his seat, wanting to say something. I

waited, slurping my broth, and finally he spoke up, "hey Yami,

remember that time you asked if you could move in with me? Like live

in my apartment?"

I blinked, "yeah? Why?"

"Well, I was wondering, if you haven't changed your mind, that you

would want to come and stay with me," he said measuring every word

he said out of fear of rejection.

I grinned, "of course I will Naruto! Damn, is that what you wanted to

ask? Do you think I would actually say no?!"

Ping!

Quest completed!

Convince Naruto to let you move in with you!

Rewards:

A place of your own!

+100 EXP

Nice. Naruto and I talked about it and agreed to talk to our guardians

as well and tell them what we were doing. The Third for Naruto and the

matron for me.

I went to the orphanage at night and talked to Ksume in private telling

her what I wanted to do. She didn't think it was a good idea, but said

she couldn't stop me if I wanted to go. She warned me not to trust

Naruto and that he's a tricky boy, but I couldn't blame her for that, she

still considered the fox in control and not Naruto.

A week later:

Today's the day I finally leave the orphanage. I had a small box of my

stuff packed and ready, I couldn't carry it all in my inventory, it would

seem odd if I walked in with nothing and then suddenly began to pull

stuff out of nowhere.

I wished the matron all the best and gave her a quick hug. There

wasn't many people I cared for other than her, so I left after that.

Naruto and I were giddy in excitement that day, we could barely sit in

our seats. The Third had agreed to our request and allowed Naruto

twice the normal allowance to be shared between the two of us for

living expenses. I wouldn't need the cash, but Naruto didn't know that.

After class that day we practically ran to the orphanage to pick up my

stuff and then actually did run all the way to Naruto's place.

I placed the box on the kitchen table and looked out at the small studio

size apartment. It was honestly a dump, but, I knew for a fact that I

could fix it up with just a little bit of elbow grease and sweat.

That night Naruto and I had ramen for dinner, which was nice, but I

knew the kid needed to eat proper food. He had gotten a spare futon

for me to sleep on and quickly proceeded to fall into a ramen coma,

giving me the perfect chance to move around.

I first got rid of the filled up trash bags and empty ramen cups. Then I

began to clean the place up with a broom before wiping the floor clean

with a mop. I managed to clean every bit but Naruto's bed, I tried not to

make much noise, and this resulted in two skills getting better;

Maintenance, Lv- 10 (6%)

Maintaining something is just as important as owning it.

+9% bonus to all items you maintain (clean, polish oil) for

whatever their use is

Bonus lasts for 40 minutes

Stealth, Lv- 7 (22%)

Your ability to hide in plain sight is crucial for being a ninja.

Chances of not getting spotted- 18%

For stronger opponents, -2% for each level they surpass you

Not bad for a night's work. With the house now looking relatively clean I

sat down on the kitchen counter, the only place with a flat surface I can

use as a table, and light up a candle, writing down my second novel,

'The Man of Steel'.

While I'm sure Batman Begins will do well on it's own, I can't be too

sure. So I took up the story of Man of Steel, setting it in the same world

as the Batman universe, no ninja, all technology and a farmer's child

that came from the stars.

By the time the sun came up and I heard Naruto stirring awake I was

halfway down with the first half of the story. It took me a long time to

just describe the details and add in motions about that world that the

story moved slowly, but it was worth it and I think it'll be another

accepted book.

Chapter 42

"Groan, Yami? Are you awake?" I heard Naruto's grumbling and quickly

put the book and candle away.

"Yes Naruto, I'm awake, come on, it's time for you to get up," I told him

as I hopped down from the chair over the kitchen counter.

"What time is it?" Naruto asked looking at the clock, his eyes bulging,

"5:30?! Yami it's too early!"

"The Hokage needs to wake up at all times of the night in order to

protect the village," I said with a smirk as I filled a glass of water in the

tap, "you better wake up Naruto...or else!"

"Or else what?" he asked grumbling into his blanket.

I looked down at him and shrugged. I dipped my fingers in water and

splashed it on his eyes startling him awake.

"Hey! Stop that!" he yelled out loud, "I'm trying to sleep here!"

I shrugged, "no, wake up, now. We have to get ready."

"Argh! Why?!" Naruto asked, whining like a baby.

"Well for one, since I have all this free time I figured we could train a

little in the morning," I said with a smirk, "feel like going for a run

around the village?"

"No," he said putting the covers over his head. I look down at him and

smirked, pouring the water down in one shot. "Yami!"

"Get up lazy bones! You're supposed to be the Hokage! You can't be

lazy! Now move!"

Naruto grumbled while he woke up mentally. I had to physically push

him sometimes to actually get him to go and change his clothes and

brush his teeth.

When we were ready we walked out of the apartment at around 6 in

the morning. "Hey Yami, can't we at least get some food?"

"We can get food after we finish running around the village," I informed

her as we walked downstairs.

"Fine...but we're going to Ichiraku's!"

"No," I shut him down immediately.

"What? Why?!"

"You can't just eat ramen Naruto, you need other fruits and vegetables

to grow up big and strong. Understand?"

"What?! No ramen!"

And now que two hours of me dragging his sorry ass around the village

for a single lap while he complained all the while. It got so bad I had to

physically run faster pushing myself to my limits just to avoid his

constant yelling.

This created a new skill for me;

Running, Lv- 1 (0%)

Your skill to run at amazingly fast speeds.

Max speed- 6 Km per hour

Cost- 10 SP per minute

Okay...not the bad, but not that good either. Either way I managed to

finally shut him up about ramen as by the time we finished the run he

was too tired to say a single word. And so was I.

As we dragged our sorry asses back home I had him stop by a tea

shop and drink some water and biscuits to regain his stamina. The

woman in there didn't like Naruto, and when she tried to overcharge us

I started making a big racket that caused the lady to reduce the price

just to shut me up.

I then had Naruto wait outside as I went into a grocery store to buy

some eggs and bacon, while I did have a cooking skill I never used it,

here's hopin I can change that.

We came back to our apartment around 7:30, Naruto went for a bath

while I made the eggs and bacon, earning enough EXP to level up my

skill;

Cooking, Lv- 2 (30%)

You can cook and make something to eat. It may not be edible.

Bonus- 4% to all food items you make

Growing curious I actually observed my meal for the first time, trying to

see what bonuses it would give;

Eggs and bacon, E class item,

A plate of eggs and Bacon made with some competence, meaning

it's not half bad.

+20 HP (Bonus of 0.8 HP)

Okay, not bad. I then observed the easy to make Ramen cups Naruto

had lying around;

Ramen, E class item,

A bowl of noodles with spices that can be easily cooked to

perfection in three minutes.

+5 HP

Hm, no wonder he looks so malnourished, this stuff barely gives more

HP that I can regenerate. I began eating my plate just as Naruto

walked out drying his hair and smelling the food.

"Oh?! Did you make something Yami?" Naruto asked as he took a fork

and began scarfing down the eggs before him.

"I did, go slow or else you'll-"

"Cough!"

"Choke," I sighed, "take it slowly Naruto, if you want I can just cook

more."

Naruto nodded as he drank water, "thanks," he looked around as his

eyes grew wider, "did you clean up in here?"

I nodded, "yup! About time you noticed! I swear you sleep like a log," I

said quickly finished up the simple meal, I need to go grocery shopping

later.

"Ah, alright," Naruto said looking around, "do you need some help?"

I shook my head, "no, I like the chores," more like it's the perfect

excuse for me grinding my maintenance skills, "and besides, I'm

basically staying here for free, think of this as my way of paying you

back."

Naruto scratched his head nervously, "you don't have to do that you

know."

"I know, but I want too," I said finished up my meal, "I'm going to take a

bath, wash the dishes will you?"

Naruto smiled, "you got it!" Hm, maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Yami, Little Professor

Level- 4 (980/1,400)

HP- 200/200 (+20)

SP- 100/100

CP- 150/150

CONTROL- 32%

Allegiance- Konoha Civilian

STR- 2

VIT- 9

DEX- 5

INT- 11 (+2)

CHA- 16

CC- 21

LUC- 7 (+5)

Points- 0

Money- 381,000R

An Orphan living in Konoha, born the day after the Kyuubi

attacked, Yami has been known to be a quiet child, people barely

even realise he exists. He has no real past, but his future is blank,

his potential is in his hands alone.

Chapter 43: TRAIN UNTIL YOU DIE!

Two days later I went back to the library to see Misa, to see if she had

any developments in the hunt for a publisher. The moment I walked

into the library though I spotted her with an older looking man in a

kimono;

Baroma Hachiku, Publisher

Lv- 12

REP- 0

The man was blading but looked like he did a lot of manual labour,

maybe running, maybe something else. Misa noticed me immediately

and she smiled waving me over.

"Good morning Yami," Misa smiled, "you arrived right on time. This is

Baroma, the head publisher of the White Lily publishing house and a

close friend," she turned to Baroma, "this is the little genius I was telling

you about."

The man looked at me and immediately had an eyebrow, raised, "this

is the boy who wrote the best book you have ever read?"

I raised an eyebrow, "did she not mention my age?"

Baroma grunted, "learn to speak with respect boy."

"Learn to spot talent old man."

Baroma's eyes went wide, "what?! You disrespectful brat! I have been

working as a publisher for over twenty years I can spot talent a mile

away!"

I shrugged, "then why didn't you see me?"

He snorted, "you have the arrogance of a writer down pat brat, I'll give

you that. Let's see this book Misa keeps going on about," he said

snapping his fingers at me.

I grumbled, I hate dealing with annoying people. I turned around, facing

away from them and opened my inventory taking out the book in

question. I turned around and gave him the book, the man taking it with

a raised eyebrow at my odd behaviour.

He looked over the first page, his eyes going through each lines in

seconds. Damn, I wish I could read that fast, hm, I wonder if I can get a

skill for speed reading

He finished the first page in moment going into the second on, flipping

through ten pages in the span of five minutes. And then he stopped

shutting the book and closing his eyes in contemplation. I won't lie, I

was a little nervous as to what he would say.

He looked at me, opening his piercing black eyes, "it's decent."

I smirked, "I know."

Misa groaned, "one good book and he already thinks he's the king of

the world."

Baroma smirked before turning to me, "I'll read the rest of the book and

tell you my response. If I like what I read then we'll take. Where do you

live?"

"I live in the Ubru district in Red Leaves apartments. I'll be in room 18,

just ask the manager where Naruto Uzumaki lives, he'll be able to

guide you."

The publisher's eyes went wide, "you live with tha d-boy?" he quickly

changed his tone the moment Misa's shape jonin eyes landed on the

man.

I rolled my eyes, "yes, I live with Naruto. He's my friend and so far has

been kind enough to let me share his home. So please, if you do wish

to work with me, be aware he will be around me. Also I would watch my

tongue if I were you, call him a demon once and you might have to

refer to the Third's Anbu force," I finish with a wink.

Both adult's eyes went wide. "Y-Yami! How do you know about the

Third's law?!" Misa asked in a hurried whisper.

I rolled my eyes, "oh please, I'm training to be a ninja Misa, I know

when people are keeping secrets from me. Plus, I'm not an idiot. I

figured out why people hate him ten minutes after hanging out with the

kid. It's pretty obvious, you morons really think kids are that dumb?

Please."

Ping!

Lie successful!

Ping!

Your skill has leveled up!

Lying, Lv- 2 (30%)

You ability to lie to people without getting caught.

7% chance of success

-20% if the lie is too unbelievable

Hm, cool.

Misa gulped, "well that certainly is...reveling."

I shrugged, "whatever," I turned to Bamora, "I'll see you later then old

man!"

"Don't call me old brat!" the guy yelled, but by then I was already out of

the library.

The school days for me were...kind of boring to be honest. For the last

few days I payed attention when possible to lectures and the teachers,

but it was just so...slow!

God I could learn all this in my sleep! Which I did! I learnt the entire

history syllabus by myself using the history books I bought from the

library! Hell, I had even gone a few steps further!

So like Shikamaru, I took to sleeping in class to pass the time, unable

to the sheer boredom. I did pay attention in the odd class, like Iruka's

lectures on ninja etiquette and Mizuki's lectures, which should

eventually earn me a point in INT, though it hasn't done so yet.

But after school Naruto I spent time together. Today we spent it sparing

together in the academy training yard. From the beginning of the

school year nearly two months ago the training yard had slowly

become more and more crowded. We however didn't have a choice,

confined to one small corner so as to not attract too much attention.

Luckily thought most of the crowd left by 4, since their parents

demanded it. Naruto and I could stay there much longer. Today we

finished the training at 5 and we our separate ways. Naruto wanted to

prank a store owner that had refused to let us buy groceries for

breakfast the other day.

I told him I wasn't really feeling it and told him to go nuts, promising to

meet him home. Plus...there was no quest alert, seemed like a

pointless waste of time. So I let Naruto do his own thing while I decided

to continue my hunt for the 30 legendary spots in Konoha where I

might find a golden leaf!

Chapter 44

There was one place I had yet to try which I knew would have a golden

leaf for sure, the memorial stone! Kakashi was obsessed with it, plus it

was important to the entire village, there has to be one there!

So finding directions to the stone I walked over, keeping track of where

I was going. And soon I found a pathway that lead directly to the stone,

walking into the edge of training yard seven, so technically I wasn't

breaking my promise to those two ninjas who gave me my very first

weapon.

I found the stone quickly, tall black thing that shined in the day's light.

But oddly enough, I wasn't the only one there. A ninja wearing a dark

green flannel jacket with a face mask covering his lower face and had

silver hair that stood up defying gravity. His headband was pulled down

over his left eye and his right one looked sad as his fingers traced a

name on the stone.

Kakashi Hatake, Copy ninja

Lv- ?

REP- 0

"You know, it's rude to stare," the man called out, not bothering to look

up.

I gulped, damn, a living legend right before my eyes. I blinked, "s-

sorry."

The man looked up and his eye softened, almost looking like a smile,

"it's fine. I was just done away." And then he suddenly disappeared in a

whirl of leaves leaving me alone. Damn, I Really go to learn that jutsu!

I sighed and approached the stone. I looked down and saw the names,

so many damn names. All dead….and for what? Because some moron

thought they were big shit. And don't even get me started on the fact

that Obito Uchiha's name is on this thing, damn bastard's still alive!

I sighed, 'okay, not the time. Focus! Find the golden leaf!' I then began

to look around. It took me an hour of active searching before I finally

found it nestled under a rock a few feet away from the stone;

Ping!

Congratulations! You have found a legendary spot: Memorial

stone!

Locations found in Konoha: 4/30

Select your reward!

+800 EXP

+5 stat points

Random armour drop

Random dead ninja's speciality jutsu

Okay, I'm starting to see a pattern here. Exp, points, something that

involves luck and a fourth option of sure fire chance that might be

useful. However in this case I ended up with two random drops, which

could be anything. Damn it.

Thinking logically I should just take the stat points to be safe, but, I

really really really wanted to take a chance now that I can actually use

some chakra. My luck it right now 12, not bad but not good.

So which do I pick? Experience points is out, it's far too little. The stat

points are important, but so predictable, I want to live a little! The

armour drop is important, but no, the one I was going to pick, and I

know this for a fact, is the speciality jutsu!

Because, if I'm understanding this right, this would include the previous

Hokages' speciality as well. Meaning if I'm lucky, I can get the Lighting

god step from Minato! Or maybe a random earth jutsus from some

fallen cunt.

Damn it! I don't care! Justus here I come!

Ping!

You have obtained the jutsu: Spiral flame techniques!

The golden leaf let out a poof of smoke as a scroll appeared in my

hands. I didn't recognize the jutsu, but since most ninjas in the village

do have a fire I'm assuming whoever I got this from was just some

grunt.

I looked around, I didn't want to risk someone seeing this, so I opened

my inventory and put the scroll inside to be opened later. Hopefully the

jutsu would be worth the wait!

I walked away, not intent on finding more golden leaves. I racked my

brain and only came up with a few options. One, the hokage tower, but

it's too high profile, I need to improve my stealth before I approach that.

Two, the hokage mountain, but it was too damn big! Sigh. And three,

the orphanage I stayed at.

Honestly, I don't know why I didn't bother looking there before! It's

obvious, since Naruto lived there, there must be a golden leaf there as

well! I had to try.

It was getting dark soon, but I didn't care. I knew around this time

everyone would be at lunch and I had twenty good minutes to look

around.

First thing's first, I looked around the walls, quickly running around,

observing them from the inside and out. And then I went inside,

sneaking past people as I looked into rooms and even the showers.

I wanted to continue, but the kids were quickly returning! I cursed and

ran to the exit, only to see the watch man and returned, and this man

was new, I didn't know his watch patterns!

So with no other choice I ran around, intent to use the monkey bars in

the playground out back as a way over the walls.

I reached thee quickly enough, and since no one was yelling at me I'm

assuming nobody saw me as well. I grabbed onto the bars to pull

myself up, when suddenly;

Ping!

Congratulations! You have found a legendary spot: Konoha

orphanage!

Locations found in Konoha: 5/30

Select your reward!

+100 EXP

+3 stat points

Random item drop

+5 kunai pouch

I blinked, 'seriously?' I removed my hand and looked around finding a

golden leaf embedded on the other side of the bar. Honestly, why did I

never think of this before? Maybe because I never actually came to the

playground before. Damn.

Chapter 45

Okay, down to business. Hm, okay, EXp was shit, I'm guessing I was

supposed to have found this a long time ago, maybe even when I first

came here. Okay, so no exp, no points, that left the random drop and

the +5 kunai pouch.

If I was weaker, that is before I went into my first dungeon, then I would

need the kunai. But now I can just buy all the kunais I want. So that just

left the random item drop. Yipee!

Ping!

You have obtained: 5,000R!

Okay, not something mind blowing, but hey, I can use this money to

buy myself some kunai so that's nice.

I took the money and put it away before climbing onto the monkey bars

and leaning over the wall, landing on the other side and running to

Naruto's place.

It took me awhile to get there, but I did reach before it was too late. I

opened the door and called out, "yo! I'm home!"

"Yami! About time you bastard! We've been waiting for you!" Naruto

called out from inside.

"We?" I asked curiously as I walked in to find Naruto sitting with

Baroma, the old publisher man, "Oh," I said with a smile, "hey old man.

Did you finish reading it?"

The man stood up, "yes, I did," he took out the book and handed it over

to me.

"Yami! You bastard! Why didn't you tell me you were writing your own

book!" Naruto cried out.

I shrugged, "I wanted to see if people would actually like it. Plus it's not

like you're an avid reader," I took the book back and looked at him

raising an eyebrow, "and? What did you think?"

The man narrowed his eyes, "I think you have a very childish and

idealistic way of thinking."

Naruto blinked, "what's idealistic?"

"Just another word people use for when you have a dream which other

people think is impossible," I told him looking at the man.

"A hero that doesn't kill?" the man snorted, "you do know the world we

live in yes? You yourself are training to be a ninja."

I nodded, "yeah...but life still has value. And like you said, in this world

of ninjas, eventually people will forget that value. That's why they need

stories like this. Sure, the hero is unrealistic, but he exactly the kind of

hero people need to look up to. To know that justice needn't come

from...killing."

The man sighed, "you're young, you don't understand the world yet.

But...that doesn't change the fact that it's a good book." I grinned as he

continued, "I'm very much interested in publishing this book, and any

other sequels you have in mind….you do have something in mind yes?

You can't just leave this as it is."

I nodded, "I do have an idea. But...it's kind of unique."

The man sighed, "fine, whatever," he walked away to the door, "I'll

bring the official contract over tomorrow night. Be ready to sign it."

"I'm going to have to read it first."

The man nodded, "as you wish. Good night Yami," he looked over my

shoulder at Naruto, his eyes softening, "Naruto."

The door shut behind him and I turned to Naruto, "what did you say to

him?"

Naruto blinked, "what do you mean?"

"In the morning he hated your guts, but now, he kind of seems….nice?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know what you mean. He came by an hour

ago, we just sat here and waited for you."

I groaned, this brat. If I was to guess he probably has a +20 REP

bonus to everyone he talks too for more than ten minutes. No wonder

he turns enemies into allies like it was nothing.

We had dinner, which I cooked;

Ping!

Your skill has leveled up!

Cooking, Lv- 3 (3%)

You can cook and make something to eat. It may not be edible.

Bonus- 6% to all food items you make

Not bad, maybe I can actually use this for something. Anyway, after

that Naruto went to bed, I waited until I heard him snore before

climbing out of bed and sat on the table, which Naruto told me I could

use for whatever I want. I hadn't really set it up for anything, but...I

thinking somewhere along the mad genius range.

First thing's first. I took out the skill scroll and opened it up;

Ping!

You have obtained a skill scroll!

Would you like to learn it?

Y/N?

I quickly selected yes and watched as the scroll disappeared giving me

the knowledge of the jutsu;

Spiral Flame jutsu, B rank

The user takes in a giant gulp of air before spewing it out as a

spiraling cloak of flames that lunges forward.

CP cost- 150 CP (Additional CP can be added)

DMG- 600 (+25 DMG for ever 50 CP)

Okay...so basically I can never use this jutsu. Well, at least I level up

some more. Damnit! I so wanted to use this fucking thing! Sigh, such is

life.

Still I have to say, it does some amazing damage. Totally worth the CP.

This makes it two fire affinity jutsu I have, hm, I wonder, do I have a fire

efinity? Would make sense...hm, maybe I should buy some chakra

paper tomorrow.

So with that in mind I took out my notebook and writing set. I walked

out of the apartment and approached a nearby tree plucking a few

leaves. I sat down, activated the leaf concentration exercise while I

began to work on my kanji. I really needed to get this shit down!

Chapter 46

The next day:

The next day after school Naruto and I played for a while, though I

really wasn't into it. Afterwards we went our separate ways. Naruto for

some ramen while I decided to find a store that would sell me ninja

tools.

I walked into the merchant district and looked for the fanciest ninja

wears shop I could find. It took me a moment, but I found a shop called

'Steel Blood' at the end of merchant road.

I stepped inside and found rows and rows of ninja weapons and other

tools behind a counter near the back. And before it was racks of

clothes, minaj grade I'm guessing from the mesh underneath. I'm

guessing the weapons you'll have to order from behind the counter

while the clothes you could try on.

"Oye kid," I looked over finding a thin man with long blonde hair and a

short french beard behind the counter looking at me with a raised

eyebrow, "can I help you?"

Hikaru Chomeru, Steelblood owner

Lv- ?

REP- 0

Okay, chunin or high jonin, nice. I walked over to the man, looking over

the clothes, none of them seemed to be my size, the smallest would

still be a few sizes too big, damn it I really need to grow up!

I stopped before the man, "ah, I would like some kunai, shuriken, ninja

wire and...oh, some fuinjutsu scrolls please."

The man blinked, "you in the academy kid?"

I nodded, "yes."

"Which year?"

I knew this was a trick question. Technically all the items I asked for

should only be used by a second year student as that was when they

even began weapons training. So…

"I'm in the second year," I told him.

"Oh really?" the man raised an eyebrow, "then you wouldn't mind

showing me the leaf concentration exercise."

I blinked, 'really? That's all I have to do?' Oh well, won't look a gift

horse in the mouth. I took out a leaf I had on hand from last night and

placed it on my forehead focusing chakra there as I looked at him, "this

enough proof?"

The man narrowed his eyes at me and looked at the leaf, he waited 30

seconds, guess he expected me to drop it or something. Finally at the

one minute mark he nodded, "right, how many of those did you want?"

"Around 20 kunai, 15 shurikens, ah, twenty feet of ninja wire and

around...ten scrolls?"

The man said nothing, working effectively and gave me all the

requested items. The kunai were in a small pouch that looked to be of

a cheap quality. The shuriken pouch was a bit bigger and would fit on

my hip. The wire and scrolls were given to me in a bag.

"Your total is 1,000 Ryo."

I smiled, yup, money was way more important than kunai. Because it

would probably get you even more kunai.

I gave the man the correct amount and walked out of the store with the

shuriken and kunai all in the same cover. I walked into an alley and

quickly put the entire bag in my inventory.

I stopped my the library on my home that night to tell Me that I was

going to be published, she was so excited for me and warned me to

make sure the fame and money didn't go to my head. Which I'm sure it

won't. Kind off.

I went home that night and did the usual, cook and clean up. I waited

till Naruto fell asleep and this time instead of just working on my kanji, I

used my chakra threads to handle to open, thereby improving on that

skill in particular.

By morning it had leveled up once;

Chakara thread, Lv- 6 (30%)

A concentrated thread of chakra that can be attached to

manipulate certain objects.

CP cost- 5 CP per minute per 1 feet

Max length- 16 feet

I didn't really do anything else the next day, just played with Naruto,

since the boy was starting to feel left out. I wanted to show him he cool

new tools I got, but I figured he would start asking questions I couldn't

answer so I decided to abstain from that action.

That night Baroma came around and we looked over his contract for

me. It was pretty simple, he would publish everything I wrote, if he

deemed it good enough. His company would take care of advertising

and distribution, but in return I would have to depart with 35% of the

money I made from the books, which doesn't include the price of

printing which if the books didn't sell I would have leveled against me.

The last part was a dick move and I told him so. He and I argued about

that point for a while before he agreed to remove that clause entirely

after I threatened to look for someone else to publish my work. Guess

he really wanted the book.

We had to agree on a few other points, like the fact that he wanted me

to work as a ghost author for some other asshole who was down on his

luck but whose name was still held up in high regard.

Obviously I refused. The offer was tempting sure, if I became a ghost

writer I would face no risk and a lot of money, but I didn't want that. I

wanted my name on the cover of the book. I demanded it. And

begrudgingly the man agreed to my demands.

Chapter 47

In the end I did sign it, and he went home a happy man with the master

copy of my book. I would have my name on the front cover, dark black

letters on the cover with the hand drawn bat symbol I had illustrated as

the cover.

It would take two months to print the copies apparently, but I was

happy, that meant I had a steady stream of money I could now use,

which can also serve as an excuse for anyone who wonders why an

orphan has so much cash! It's a triple win mother fuckers!

I treated Naruto to ramen that night to celebrate, kid was so happy I

was making some money, he claimed I could buy us any toy we

wanted, which was true, heh.

That night Naruto was in a food coma and I decided it was time I went

dungeon training again.

I snuck out and went into the park, stopping before the blue glowing

leaf symbol. I took out my weapons first, I strapped the shuriken pouch

on my pant belt while the kunais went around my right thigh. I also put

on the forearm bands I had obtained and even took a few of those fang

daggers and hide them around my person, just in case.

I then touched the blue leaf symbol and immediately a menu came up;

Ping

You have discovered a natural dungeon! Would you like to go

inside?

Y/N

Dungeon, Lv- 1

Dungeon, Lv- 2

Hm, two options okay, first dungeon has Rattatas and Meowth's which

the rare Growlithe spawn. The second dungeon was a mystery but it

could hold more loot items and EXP. But...I need to get used to fighting

pokemons, plus maybe I can tran Growlithe as well!

Right, my mind made up I selected the first level dungeon and

immediately found myself in the forest once more. I looked around and

nodded, "pokemon menu!"

The menu opened up before me showing my only pokemon, Flamer. I

selected it and immediately a pokeball appeared in my hand. I grinned

and threw the ball, "go Flamer!"

A white light came out as the puppy pokemon appeared before me. I

smiled as it yipped looking around before spotting me and rushing to

my side. It barked cutely and wagged it's tail, I smile as I bent down

and scratched it behind the ear, pleasing the dog.

It's funny, last time it saw me I was stabbing it in the back with daggers,

guess it really did forget once it entered the pokeball.

"Alright Flamer, you ready for some training?" I asked.

"Growl!" it cried out.

Just then the bushes began to rustle as a Rattata came out, potting

Growlithe and immediately began charging.

'It's on!' I realised as I jumped back, "Growlithe! Doge and use tackle!"

The pokemon obeyed as it jumped away from the Rattata before

tackling it into the ground. I reached around into my shuriken pouch

and flung it at the pokemon causing the metal star to cut into it's side,

though I was aiming for it's head, damn it! Guess shurikens don't work

the same way as kunai.

-4 HP!

And only four DMG, damn that's bad. I looked at the Rattata;

HP- 36/50

"Famer! Ember!" I cried out.

"Growlithe!" the pokemon cried out sending out a small fire blast that

light the rat's tail on fire;

HP- 16/50

'Nice,' I reached into my kunai holster and took one out throwing it at

the rat. This time the weapons flew true and hit it right in the head;

Ping!

You gained a critical strike! DMG is multiplied by 5!

-25 HP!

HP- 0/50

The pokemon died on the spot. I smiled, "good job Flamer!" The

pokemon growled happily. I opened his status and looked at his EXp

seeing if he gained anything;

Flamer EXP: 5/1000

Hm, so he got half the EXP from the Rattata, that means I got half,

since I assisted. Hm, so maybe I shouldn't do that anymore until he can

properly level up.

"Alright Flamer, for the next one I want you to handle it on your own

okay?" I told the dog pokemon as I picked up my ninja tools and the

loot, one pelt and one fang.

"Growlithe!" he cried out nodding.

"Right," I quickly climbed a tree, grumbling as I had to bend in odd

angle to reach the branches. I so need to learn the tree walking

exercise. I sat there and waited, Flamer looking at me funny, I sighed

and shooed him away, the pokemon confused but obeying my order.

I looked at my map and found around…..fifty enemies there, with no

giant red dot which would indicate a boss. Meaning we had to defeat

enough opponents before we could move on. I watched as two dots

came towards us, "get ready!"

Flamer waited as suddenly two more Rattatas came running out,

charging at him. He growled and waited, I called out, "doge, tackle and

ember!"

"Growl!" it cried out as it did just that managing to burn on Rattata while

the other escaped. That thing tried to charge my pokemon from the

back, but one kunai from me that cut into it's head stopped it right in it's

tracks.

Ping!

You gained a critical strike! DMG is multiplied by 5!

Thanks to stealth, your critical strike is doubled!

- 55 HP!

I watched as Flamer slowly beat down the Rattata until it's HP came

down to zero. And then only loot remained. I smiled from my hidden

positions, yeah, this was going to be fun!

Chapter 48

Flamer and I went around the forest, the pokemon behaving

marvelously in battle. I had him take on every pokemon in the forest

and if they tried to double team him I would be there to help make sure

he survived.

My kunai and stealth skills did improve;

Kunai techniques, Lv- 8 (39%)

Your ability to handle a kunai accurately.

Aquaracy- 46%

Bonus- 5% to DMG

Stealth, Lv- 8 (2%)

Your ability to hide in plain sight is crucial for being a ninja.

Chances of not getting spotted- 20%

For stronger opponents, -2% for each level they surpass you

And I finally got a skill for handling shurikens;

Shuriken techniques, Lv- 2 (90%)

Your ability to handle a kunai accurately.

Aquaracy- 25%

Bonus- 1% to DMG

Obviously I was better at handling kunais. I kept to the shadows most

of time and let Growlithe fight the battles. He was really good with the

Moths, which made sense since he was a dog and they were cats.

In the end of the long grinding session I ended up with 21 Rattata

fangs along with 45 pelts, 6 of which I used to make fang daggers.

Meaning I now had 20 fang daggers.

And with so much free time I now had used to simply observe Flamer, I

could now spend it actually looking around the forest, paying attention

for any random loot items. And my lack of focus payed off.

Hidden in the trunk of a tree was a blue spray bottle, I immediately

recognized it;

Potion,

Spray on injury to cure it. Regenerates 200 HP. Single use.

YES! I got a pokemon loot item! Oh I can't wait to find a rare candy! I

can use it to automatically level up! But...if I took so long to find a

simple potion, I can only imagine how much time a rare candy would

take to find.

I also gained 7 gold coins from each Meowth and happened upon

another fake tattoo, this one again I put away for storage.

And of course came the EXP points. Out of the fifty opponents we

faced, 32 were Rattata and the rest 18 were Meowth's. I helped with

most of the Rattata, since they were at the moment too fast for Flamer.

But the Mouths the guy could handle himself, with a few exceptions.

Growlithe ended up with 745 EXP points while I got 475 EXP. Not a

bad haul for the day.

Flamer- EXP: 760/1000

Ping!

You have leveled up!

Yami, Little Professor

Level- 5 (70/1,800)

HP- 250/250 (+20)

SP- 125/125

CP- 200/200

CONTROL- 36%

Allegiance- Konoha Civilian

STR- 2

VIT- 9

DEX- 5

INT- 11 (+2)

CHA- 16

CC- 21

LUC- 7 (+5)

Points- 5

Money- 385,000R

Sweet! I barely did any work, Growlithe got in a lot of training and I still

leveled up! Fucking awesome!

With all the small time pokemon taken care off Flamer and I now turned

to the boss of this level, which was another Growlithe, this one with the

same base stats of my own, so lamer couldn't do this alone.

We waited and I used the same methods to draw it out, and casted a

genjutsu on it. The pokemon began to act like a mad man, growling

and scratching the air, Flamer recognized this tactic and knew to wait

until the thing was knocked out.

The moment that happened Flamer made to move, but I stopped him.

It looked at me confused, I smiled, "I totally want to try something

here."

The Pokemon watched as I opened my jutsu list and pulled up the

Great Fireball jutsu. It costed 50 CP to do, and with my new 36%

control rate, I can use now 72 CP in one go! Meaning after using the

genjutsu, I can also do this;

My hands were a blur as they went through the hand sings, my body

moved on istics as it sucked in a big gulp of air and swallowed it

holding it tight as I felt chakra from my gut enter my lungs and mix

properly.

'Great Fireball jutsu!' I thought as I pushed all the air outside, the

moment it left my lips it was ignited, turning bright red as a large fireball

came flying out startling Flamer.

The Fireball hit the unconscious Growlithe bathing it in flames;

Ping!

Due to fire nature of enemy, effectiveness of fire jutsu has been

reduced by half!

Ping!

You gained a critical strike! DMG is multiplied by 5!

Thanks to stealth, your critical strike is doubled!

-1,000 HP!

I grinned, even if the jutsus had been reduced to half its total damage

power, my stealth and critical bonus more than made up for it.

I smiled as the flames slowly died out revealing the scorched ground

where the pokemon once was, nothing left behind, except three loot

items.

5,000 R

Fire proof pelt, C class item

A pelt that can withstand extreme temperature.

-50% DMG from all fire based attack.

Pokeball

"Growlithe," Flamer said in awe as he looked at me. I smirked at him

and I saw his REP score go from 0 to 10. Guess he respects me a little

now.

I ruffled his head and we walked out of the clearing. I quickly took the

money and pokeball, now I could catch another pokemon, hm, maybe

next time I should catch another Growlithe, make a little pack.

The fire proof pelt was very important, if I can somehow make leather

armor using this and the rare cut fur pelt, I would have a pretty sweet

set of armour.

Ping!

Quest alert!

Create armour using the fireproof pelt and rare cat pelt!

Rewards:

New armour

?

Failure:

Unable to fully use the pelts abilities.

Do you accept?

Y/N?

I of course pressed yes. I put away the pelt and looked around, the

message that we cleared the forest came up again and once again I

found myself back in the park. I looked around, everything was the

same, no time had passed.

Chapter 49

"Growl!" Flamer cried out next to me, looking around in surprise. He

snarled his teeth, unsure where he was.

"Sorry about that boy," I said opening up my pokemon menu and

selecting his pokeball, "I totally forgot about you," well at least I know

he can exists in the real world as well. I quickly put him back into his

ball and put the ball away. Hm, I really should make a poke ball belt

holder or something, could be more useful, especially if I'm in a time

sensitive fight.

I made my way back home and spent the night asleep, yes funny thing,

just because I didn't need to sleep didn't mean I didn't want to. And

after a long mentally exhausting day like this, I needed all the rest I can

get.

The next day:

The next day I went to Steel Blood weapons shop again and took i

hand five fur pelts, not the special kind, I would first need to test and

see if this guy could make some armour for me.

I walked in and found Hikaru serving another customer at the time, a

couple with a small child that had her face plastered onto the weapons

counter staring in awe at all the weapons displayed. I saw the girl's

name and wasn't surprised;

Tenten Higurashi, Weapon lover

Lv- 3

REP- 0

I scoffed, even at this age she loves harp pointy things. I waited in the

back while they were done, looking through a few clothes I could

eventually maybe wear. When they finally left I approached Hikaru with

the pelts, "hey."

The man looked down at the odd purple and white fr pelts I had in

hand, "what do you want kid?"

"Can you turn this fur into leather?" I asked putting the pelts onto the

counter.

The man looked at it and then me, "it'll cost you 1,000 Ryo. Each."

My eyes went wide, "a thousand ryo?! For leathering something?!"

The man shrugged, "it would be a custom order, shit like that's

expensive. If you don't like it, do it yourself."

And then it hit me, of course I'll just do it myself! I had a crafting skill

didn't ? I took the petals back and left, heading straight to the library. I

returned the books I took on kanji and grabbed the ones on leathering

and metal works. It was a huge book that had both, and the moment I

touched it;

Ping!

You have obtained a skill book!

Would you like to learn it?

Y/N?

I couldn't say yes, obviously. So instead I got the book's name and

author name and wet to a bookstore and got my own copy. Five

hundred ryo less I walked out with my own copy of them book which I

ten quickly learnt;

Ping!

You have unlocked two crafting skills!

Tanning- Helps convert fur into leather.

Iron- Allows the crafting off iron tools.

Crafting, Lv- MAX

Your ability to make an object using the raw materials at hand.

Recipies known:

Fang dagger

Tanning

Iron

Okay, now this is cool. I immediately took out a pelt and touched the

tanning option on the crafting menu. Only:

Ping!

You cannot craft leather without using the appropriate items

needed for tanning!

Fuck me! Seriously?! Dman it, and when I just thought things were

going my way! The amount of machinery needed to tan leather was

phenomenal! I can't just fucking build it on my roof! Or...no, won't ever

work.

I sighed, so now I need to find a tanning place that would let me use its

tools, sounds perfect. I looked around the village and found a tanner

near the outskirts of the village outside the giant walls.

I told the owner I just wanted to see around and the man refused, so I

had to pay him a thousand ryo for that privilege. He didn't ask any

questions.

I went inside and looked around, finding the first contraction needed for

leather, the lime baths. I approached it and immediately a menu

popped open;

Tanning:

Available-

80 fur pelts

1 rare cat fur pelt

1 fire proof pelt

I selected the a single fur pelt and suddenly the pelt disappeared from

my inventory and instead in it's place a leather sheet, perfectly square,

around 10 inches in length. I grinned, perfect.

I then turned my attention to the two special pelts I had, I choose to

use the fire proof pelt first, just incase it lost its property when tanning, I

didn't want to risk losing the +5 STR bonus from the rare cat fur pelt.

And instantly I got a brand new leather sheet, 15 inches in length and it

still had it's properties! I nearly squealed in joy seeing the menu say

that!

Ping!

Your skill has leveled up!

Observation, Lv-5 (1%)

The skill to learn about an object or person by observing them.

Kind of random, but okay. I quickly converted half of my remaining pelts

into leather sheets and the rare cat fur into leather as well. I walked out

of the tanner smiling, the owner couldn't understand why because as

far as he knew I just stood there for five minutes poking the air.

Now I needed to make this into a useable armour piece and for that I

decided to go to a smith I knew was across the tanning factory and

asked the man in charge whether he could make items with the leather

I hade. Luckily, he could.

It costed me 10,000 Ryo but I think in the end it was worth it. I had the

man make the rare cat fur into a large cowl with a removable face

mask and hood. I had him make it size adjustable since I would

eventually grow up and I intend to be using this thing for as long as

possible.

Chapter 50

The fire proof leather on the other hand I asked to be made into

vambraces with a detachable metal plate covering my forearm. The

leather strips holding together could be easily reforged and the metal

plated replaced if needed.

Over all he promised to have it all ready in a month's time, which was

just fine with me.

Funny thing being an eight year old kid, time just seemed to fly by you

when you blink. I spent most days in school forced to listen to boring

old lecture or playing outside with Naruto, who honestly became less

and less like a character I admire and someone who seems like a good

friend to me.

By the end of the first school year his REP score reached 83, the

highest I ever saw on someone. We became close, like brothers.

People used to say when the blonde goes the shadow is forced

along...or something like that.

I honestly didn't mind, it was fun goofing off from time to time with the

guy, helped me keep my mind off anything too serious.

I did manage to finally get my work published, people were skeptical at

first but soon almost everyone in the village had at least heard about or

had a copy of my book, 'The Batman', I wanted to call it Batman

Begins, but my editor was an ass about that.

Either way now that I was published I gained a new title:

Author- +20 REP with people who admire your work and are aware

you're the author

That last part was important as not many people knew I wa the writer.

Based on Baroma's suggestion I decided to keep my name out of the

books, putting it under a pen name: Stan Lee. Hehe, in this world Stan

Lee created Batman, the irony is thick.

But now luckily I got a steady stream of cash incoming, a month

deposit of 120 thousand ryo every month based on book sales. I had

all of it in the bank, which I decided would be my white money, the

money that I legally earned, with the money I gained via my gaming

ability be my lack money, money no one knows of.

By the fifth month I had more than enough cash to buy my own place. I

found a cheap three bedroom and two bathroom place near the

Inuzuka clan compound, it was cheap since the dogs from the Inuzuka

clan kept barking at all hours of the night.

I bought it for 500 thousand easy, and then spent another hundred

grand furnishing the place. I had one room for myself and the other for

Naruto. The third I had assigned as a workroom, but since Naruto

never used it, unless he was pulling off a high profile prank that needed

planning and preparation, I got to use it as my own study.

Naruto's face when I told him I had gotten my own place was priceless,

he looked like he someone had gotten him a puppy, gave it to him long

enough for him to fall in love with it, and then killed it.

Yeah, he was sad, figured I was going to leave him. Moron, when I told

him I expected him to come with me he actually cried. Idiot, like I would

ever leave him behind.

Naruto had talked to the Hokage and got it okayed. The man gave us

his blessing and also reduced Naruto's pocket money by half since he

no longer needed to pay rent. The man's REP score grew to 38, guess

because I took Naruto in and treated him right the guy thought I was a

good person. Which I am.

The day we moved in however I noticed a few people lurking about,

mostly Inuzuka ninjas looking at us from their compound wall, which

was the first thing you saw when you looked out of our second story

window. But there were also people with the title 'ANBU' looking at us.

Really creepy shit.

I'm guessing Naruto's change in location warranted the surveillance

and because of this I needed to make sure any gamer related activity I

did ws done without being seen. I had enough trouble to deal with,

having to explain my gaming powers was not one of them.

For the first few weeks I had sneak around with the utmost care, by the

third month I was used to it and by the fifth month I had their patrol

patterns memorized, which is saying something when the only thing

way one knew about their location was by observing the floating words

and numbers over their heads.

But, on the bright side, by the end my sealth had gotten a major

upgrade!

Stealth, Lv- 27 (8%)

Your ability to hide in plain sight is crucial for being a ninja.

Chances of not getting spotted- 56%

For stronger opponents, -2% for each level they surpass you

Not bad for over two years worth of sneaking around. It wasn't much

higher simply because of the fact that I could only be sneaky during

night time. I was building a profile for myself, quiet and smart, I don't

want to give any observing ninja the idea there was more to me than

meets the eye. Hence, only stealthy during the night.

And speaking of training, though my schedule was now almost always

jam packed, I made a promise with myself to train in the natural

dungeon every week at least once, and as time went one I found

myself sticking to that promise like religion.

I always made sure to only use the first level for the first few month, so

that I would be well prepared for whatever that be in the second

dungeon. Because of this I killed an average of 40 pokemon, fighting

them with mainly Growlithe as my main attack force while I provided

long range support, though a few times I did get myself involved to

improve my taijutsu.