3 - Is he a demon?
Third-person POV (Hiruzen)
Hiruzen was again watching Naruto through the crystal ball. He sees Sabu, a relatively unknown student agree to go with Naruto to Ichiraku. This is expected though as Sabu is an orphan and probably took pity on him. As he watches both of them talk to one another, a smile appeared on the face of the third Hokage. Maybe Naruto would finally have a friend he could rely upon and have fun with. Maybe this is the start of something special, the start of a friendship.
However, being the Hokage that he is he couldn't help but be cautious of Sabu. There is a chance, albeit slim but still a chance, that he is a traitor or a spy from another village sent to steal the Jinchuriki. He asked for a background check performed on Sabu.
As time goes on and the two Academy students begin to sit down at Ichiraku, Hiruzen started to go back to his piles of paperwork on his desk. Each pile seems to never reduce in size, only getting larger. He then heard Sabu's speech and their conversation about their goals in life. Listening with interest, he heard the expected goal of Naruto to be the Hokage. He didn't expect my response of protecting those close to me but was not surprised as an orphan with little attachments at the current moment, it is usual to hear these words. Slightly disappointed with my one-dimensional goals in life, as Sabu went on with his goals a small smile appear on Hiruzin's face. The response from Sabu was what he wanted a shinobi to think as their job. He was all the more impressed with Sabu's definition of a Hokage.
'I like him' He thought. Believing that Sabu has a maturity of not a kid of 11 years but a seasoned shinobi who has been through war and understand the complexities of the shinobi world.
Sabu POV
Back in the Academy, Iruka announced a Taijutsu spar in which I matched up with Sasuke. 'My first fight and it is Sasuke, how unlucky. Although this is a brilliant way to test my limits at the very moment and which areas to improve upon.'
Quest Alert!
Sabu vs Sasuke
Objective:
Defeat Sasuke in a Taijutsu spar
Rewards: 500 exp, 2 Jutsu scrolls, +2 DEX, -10 rep with Sasuke
Failure: 250 exp, 1 Jutsu scroll, +1 DEX, + 10 rep with Sasuke
'The rewards for failing aren't too bad as well.'
Observe
Name: Sasuke
Lvl: 15
Title: Avenger
HP: 1200/1200
Energy: 1000/1000
CP: 1500/1500
STR: 16
DEX: 20
INT:21
WIS:12
CC: C
"Start!" Iruka said.
"Kick his ass Sasuke!" Fangirls screaming so loudly I thought I would get Tinnitus.
We did the seal of reconciliation and began. The interpreter style was based on predicting the opponent's next move. My speed would be a great advantage in this fight, but if I struck first it would have been expected by Sasuke for me to utilize my speed in an attempt to catch him out. I waited for him to strike first. Running
Sasuke darted forwards at me, throwing a regular right hook at me, which I dodged out of the way. Immediately, he went for a roundhouse kick at me which I grabbed and replied with a Kick toward his jaw. He ducked swiftly and used the other leg to hit my head.
-25 HP
Thrown back, I barely stayed in the circle. He tried to immediately follow it up with a punch to my body. I ran to the other side of the circle then twisted my foot and throw myself at him, stopping suddenly, quickness, jumped over him and performed a flying kick, landed and followed up with a punch then threw him back. All before he could react. Deactivate quickness. That maneuver consumed 80 energy points.
-20 HP
-10 HP
New skill created:
Basic Karate – An Ancient style of Taijutsu that has been lost in the shinobi world
Lvl1(0%)
Proficiency increases with the level
Coughing, he barely stayed in the circle as his face grew red. He didn't expect it. I tried to take advantage of him staying still, being cautious as I recognise that he may counterattack, I tried a kick to his lower body which was a mistake as I left myself partially open. He exploited it by punching my chest with a hook, then with an uppercut to my jaw. Being slightly off-balance as he noticed it, he took advantage and swiped my legs with his legs as I fell backward.
-15 HP
-25 HP
-5 HP
'That hurt a lot,' I thought. We did the seal of reconciliation. 'Not bad for a second dead last' Sasuke smirked, 'you must have trained your ass off during the break. I'm impressed. You are still weak compared to me.'
Quest Failed!
Sabu vs Sasuke
Objective:
Defeat Sasuke in a Taijutsu spar
Rewards: 250 exp, 1 Jutsu scroll, +1 DEX, + 10 rep with Sasuke
New skill created:
Throwing – proficiency at throwing all types of weapons
Lvl 1 (0%)
Improve accuracy when throwing all weapons by 5%
Physical endurance – improves the state of your body
Lvl 1 (0%)
Reduces HP reduction in hits by 5%
Even though I lost, I am not disappointed with my result as the match has shown that I am not too far away from Sasuke, the top of the class. The hits hurt quite a lot although my gamer body is helping me recover. I started to meditate which would improve the rate of regeneration
"Guess you're not good at Taijutsu after all!" Kiba seemingly not leaving me alone. Yet again I ignored him.
"Sensei, why is Sabu sitting like this weirdly?" the dumb blond asks.
"This is called meditation, Naruto." Iruka replies, "It helps the body recover quicker. I have not told you this as it isn't very practical in a real fight. Your enemy would not allow you to meditate in a real fight."
Meditation has gone up a lvl
I stood up as my HP finished regenerating.
"Too bad! I thought you did well against teme." Naruto tried to encourage me, "I'm going to beat your ass Sasuke!"
"Hn"
As the fights finished off, we started throwing shurikens. Naruto got 12/20 and pouted as he got less than Kiba with 15/20. "Deadlast stays dead last," Kiba says smugly. Shikamaru gets 13/20 and Couji gets 14/20. Sasuke being Sasuke got a perfect score.
As I threw my shuriken, my confidence was not as high as the previous 2 as I am not nearly as good at throwing as the other two. I was also relatively weaker in this area than the other ones when I was in the army. I got 10/20. I tuned out on what Kiba had to say as his comments bring zero value to the table. Well at least I got one good thing:
Throwing has gone up a level
We went back to the classroom as we finished off the day with more boring classes in which I was not interested in participating.
As the day in the Academy ends, Shikamaru and Choji came up to Naruto and I. Shikamaru says to me, "Since I last saw you before today, the way you walk has changed drastically. You have been more cautious recently and looking around at places for possible ambushes." In my head, I flinched at that word, as the memories are still fresh. "Troublesome, you are. Did something happen over the break that nobody knows about?"
"No. I'm just trying to be more perceptive of things around me. Sorry, I have to go. I have something important needing to do." I replied. I lied, there wasn't anything really important for me to do, I just needed to stay out of this conversation, Shikamaru is just too smart.
As I returned to the orphanage, I heard Keiri, my matron, walking towards I see some sadness and lots of anger in her eyes. "I see you made a friend," she said, very unsubtle. She continues "What's the boy's name?" She tried to make the connection towards Naruto seem natural, although I saw through it with relative ease.
"Naruto" I replied, trying to sound as much of an 11-year-old as I can, "He was nice to me and seemed to be very lonely" I added. This would be heading in a bad direction, I could tell. I would probably lose at least 30 reps with her.
"Don't go near that kid all right. He is a bad influence on other kids, going around pranking."She said, trying to convince me not to go near him.
"I don't think so. I thought he was very nice and fun to play with. He even took me to a Ramen shop called Ichiraku!" I continued with my innocent child charade, hoping I would be wrong about the reps. I did not want to make the civilians of Konoha dislike me as there is a chance that it could lead to disarray in the future.
"Just trust me, please. He isn't a good kid."
"Why not"
"He's A DEMON," She says raising her voice.
My charade drops. I coldly gazed at her. These are people which I disliked. They are influenced by factors and biased toward something important and in need of an objective viewpoint. However, rather than just ripping her into shreds (using words), I wanted to change the villager's viewpoint on Naruto. I didn't want to scare them into respecting or being nice to Naruto. I want to influence them into liking him, into changing their opinion, into admitting that they are wrong. Some may have not wanted to do this, when they watched the show, being pissed at the protagonist for being treated horribly, thinking that the villagers were also monsters themselves, but no. I know most of the villages lost someone they cared about in the nine-tail attack. I know that they are scared of a power stronger than them. I know that they are scared of the possibility of a repeat of the attack. This would lead to a biased viewpoint and opinion. The cycle of hatred has to end, someone has to end it and I would certainly try. "Did you lose someone to the nine tails?" I asked, changing my demeanor, and trying to be gentle, aware that if my attitude would be different or cold, the outcome may change drastically.
+2 WIS
"How did you know?" She was shocked, to say the least. It was an S-rank secret. Little to my knowledge, there was Anbu that was tracking me. They heard me say an S-rank secret. Behind their mask, their eyes widened in shock, shock at the bombshell which I dropped. They were ready to tell the Hokage, but waiting and listening to the whole conversation to report to them. Their suspicion of me has risen, and they were even more cautious of me.
"I figured it out by myself. Please answer my question."
"Yes" she replied, I could see her holding the urge to burst into tears. Memories going back at her. Memories that shouldn't exist. Her loved ones are being killed by the nine tails as she remembered everything. All the details of that day has came rushing back. To a point where I felt bad as I too have experienced something of a similar caliber. My friends, my comrades dying right in front of me. Knowing that my actions would be futile however much I try. It was in these moments that I felt indifferent to the Gamer's mind. I wanted to be able to feel these emotions strongly. I related to them and it pains me to not be able to express that. Never would I be able to talk to someone about it. Never would I be able to face my past with someone else I thought. They would think me to be crazy. No, I had to live past it. It was my past, and now my future would be more important, I need to convince her. It was a necessity for me so Naruto would not feel the pain of loneliness. I don't want him to cry alone at night. Hoping and begging for shops and stores after my conversation with Keiri, to no longer kick him out. It pains me to talk about this topic. But it had to be done, no one else would.
"A scroll that contains a kunai isn't the kunai itself" I replied.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She replied. More confused than ever as more tears begin to drop down her face.
"It means that something that contains another thing doesn't mean that they are not the same object and in this case, a person. Naruto is just a child whose parents perished in the attack, just like most people in the orphanage. He was chosen to contain the Kyuubi as a baby." I replied begging her to listen to reason, to understand the true meaning of a Jinchuriki, to stop the cycle of hatred.
"Ah, so that means Naruto is the jailor of the Jinchuriki, he is keeping the nine tails in bay and stopping it." She seems to finally understand as her tears gradually stop. "That means, that means I no We have been hating on him, calling him a demon, while he is by himself keeping the village safe. He should be a Hero!"
I blew a sigh of relief in my head. It worked. Thank lord it worked. "Exactly"
"Thanks for that Sabu, I'm changing my ways. I'm going to treat him better, maybe convince my friends to change their ways as well"
Keiri +10 Rep
I smiled as she ran away happily. I stayed at the same spot for a few minutes as I felt that I have already made a positive impact in just the short while I was here. Or is it positive? I asked myself. Would this mean that more people and groups like Akatsuki and Orochimaru would be aware of Naruto? Would he be in more danger? My thought was then broken by a notification.
Sarutobi Hiruzen +10 Rep
Shimura Danzo -10 Rep
Main Quest:
Chain Quest (1/3)
Objectives:
Help to kill Orochimaru
Bonus: help to kill Kabuto
Rewards:
500,000 exp, 50 stat points
Bonus – 100,000 exp, 10 stat points
Name: Sabu
Age: 11
Clan: Orphan
Lvl: 8 Exp(450/500)
Title: Academy student
HP: 400/400 (4 per second)
Energy: 500/500 (5 per second)
CP: 500/500 (4 per second)
STR: 14
DEX: 12
INT:23
WIS:9
CC: D
Chakra: 4
Stat points:5
Ryo:1000
Fame:
Konohagakure students know you as second dead last
Skills:
Gamer mind – Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through, allows a peaceful mind, prevents Genjustu
Gamer body – Grants a body that allows the user to live the world like a game. After sleeping in a bed for at least 4 hours, it restores HP and CP and all condition effects. The body would be in top condition. Quicker healing in a body.
Running – Speed of user
Lvl MAX
Bloodlust – Killing intent
Lvl MAX
Transformation – E rank technique where creates an illusion over yourself to disguise
Lvl 8 (15.23%)
Substitution - E rank technique in which the user switch places with an object of similar size
Lvl 10(21.53%)
Clone technique – E rank technique that creates an illusion of a clone that dispels on a hit
Lvl 5(10.23 %)
Basic Academy Taijutsu – standard taijutsu taught in the academy
Lvl 11(50.12 %)
The skill of taijutsu increases with level
Observe – see the stats of the person
Lvl 2 (0%)
As the level increase, you can see more of a person's stats as well as people with significantly higher levels than you.
Meditation – increase cp, hp, and energy regeneration
Lvl 3 (12.15%)
HP – 8 per second
Energy - 8 per second
CP - 8 per second
Quickness - improve the quickness of your movement
Lvl 1 (0%)
Physical condition – progress of your physical body
Lvl 1 (0%)
Basic Karate – An Ancient style of Taijutsu that has been lost in the shinobi world
Lvl 1 (20.53%)
Throwing – proficiency at throwing all types of weapons
Lvl 2 (10.12%)
Physical endurance – improves the state of your body
Lvl 1 (0%)
Reputation – (0 is not shown)
Naruto (Friend): 20
Hiruzin (Respect): 15
Shikamaru (Friendly) : 10
Choji (Friendly): 10
Keiri, matron (Friendly): 10
Danzo (wary/dislike): -10
Mizuki (Hatred): -50
Title:
Academy student – 5% increase in speed of learning