Chapter 1 Log in
{Ping!
You have entered the game!
You have experienced selective amnesia. All memories of friends and family have been removed. Memories of life altered, necessary memories kept back.
Motor skills has also been retained.
Please create your character profile!}
I couldn't understand what I was seeing. A game? What game? I didn't...who am I?
{Please select name:}
I looked at the text box before me and squinted my head, I felt it buzz around, it's like something was wrong, but I didn't know what.
I looked at the other boxes before, 'my memories are...gone?' I blinked, that was...is that even possible?
I tried to remember my name, my age, anything. But I always came up blank. I...I don't know who I am.
The boxes, they were the only thing I knew now. A name? How can I give a name when I don't know what it is?
I looked around, I was surrounded by darkness, nothing but darkness. Even the ground I walked on was black, black marble.
"My name is….Darkness," I replied slowly, hoping by following through with the boxes questions I could eventually find some help.
{Name: Yami (Darkness in world's native language)
Please select gaming world:
Naruto}
Everything else was blacked out, there wasn't any other options. I blinked, I recalled that name, it's an anime about ninjas, one I liked very much. With no other choice I selected it and suddenly a new box came up, with a whole bunch of new info;
{Default settings are being implemented for game run.
Name: Yami
Age: 8
Gender: Male
Clan: Orphan (None)
Select village:
Fire
Lightning
Wind
Water
Earth}
I blinked, I didn't understand what was happening, but I decided to play along. I chose the one village I knew properly, Fire.
{You have selected Fire, here is your status page. The game will begin when you finish reading:
Yami, (No Title)
Level- 1 (0/200)
HP- 50/50
SP- 25/25
CP- 25/25
CONTROL- 20%
Allegiance- Konoha Civilian
STR- 2
VIT- 2
DEX- 2
INT- 5
CHA- 4
CC- 3
LUC- 1
Points- 0
Money- 0R
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.
Select difficulty mode:
Story mode
Normal
Hard}
I selected story mode and the moment I did the world moved away. I felt my eyes being closed and my head hitting something soft.
I blinked immediately and got up, I felt gravity working on my body as I picked myself up from a bed. I looked down, it was old and dusty. The room I was in was poor, dirty walls, no other furniture other than the bed, in one corner a small wall shelf with clothes stacked on it along with other household items.
I blinked as memories came into my mind, this was my room, I lived in it, I remember living in it. But...at the same time, I have never stepped foot in this room in my life...I think.
Just then the door handle turned and an old looking woman walked in. She had a brown kimono on and gave me a soft smile, "hello Yami, have you slept well?"
I blinked, I looked over her head, to my shock words floated above her;
{Ksume Horono, Matron of Konoha Orphanage
Lv- 14
REP- 19}
I gawked at the image before me. Ksume quickly began to look worried, "Yami? Are you alright? You're not sick again are you?"
I blinked, "I-i, no, I'm fine, it's just..." I didn't know what to say. This wasn't normal yes? The words floating above her head? I knew that for a fact, even if I didn't remember who I really am, this I know.
"Well, you better get up and ready," she smiled, "come, you best get ready quickly, breakfast will be served soon," without another word she walked out leaving me alone.
I knew what she wanted me to do, I had to go and take a bath. I began moving to do just that, grabbed a towel off the top wall shelf, which was very high up thanks to my short stature.
I walked outside and immediately realised was surrounded by children, and what's more, I myself was a child.
This didn't make any fucking sense!
Oh my God how am I so calm about all this?! Someone please tell me what the fuck is going on!
Slowly I began to find myself calming down, honestly it was almost instantaneous. I looked around, 'okay, facts first. I'm in some sort of game like world, maybe virtual reality? Yes, that's the only thing that makes any sense. So I'm in here and this world is based on the anime Naruto, what else? Oh right, apparently I can interact with this world, meaning this game needs to be played.'
I looked around, there were kids running in the hallway with towels thrown over their shoulders. One of them, a kid named Nanou according to the name over his head, smiled at me, "come on Yami! We need to get ready! Today's the day we begin ninja training!"
{Ping!
Quest Alert!
Join the academy on time!
As an orphan you don't really have much of a life, so when an opportunity comes to become something amazing, you damn well better take it!
Reach the academy before 9 AM!
Rewards;
Ninja training
+20 EXP
Failure:
Train again next year
Possible eviction from orphanage
Do you accept?
Y/N?}
I blinked, 'okay, it's a game, stands to reason I get quests like this from time to time.' So I pressed the 'yes' option causing the screen to vanish immediately. I blinked, okay, that was new.
"Come on!" Nanou cried out running towards what I remember to be the showers.
I walked out and looked around finding a wall cock in the side. The time read 7:30, I had time. I quickly followed the boy and found myself in a crowded showering area. I blushed when I realised I would have to be naked in front of everyone else when showering.
But seeing no choice I quickly stripped out of my clothes, throwing them into a laundry hamper in one corner of the room, and walked for a quick shower.
I passed my a mirror and stopped looking at myself. Yami was right, I looked super goth right then. My hair and eyes were black, like an Uchiha's. My hair was short and spiky coming down to my shoulders similar to Madara's hair, but not as long or thick. While I didn't look anorexic, I was skinny, something I really didn't like, ribs aren't meant to be seen.
Was this my real face? Or was this just the face of the body I'm using? I honestly couldn't tell, but the fact is I recognize this, I know this face to be mine so honestly I had no reason not thinking it was my face.
Pulling myself from the mirror I took a quick shower. After I was done I went back to my small room and put on the only other fresh pair of clothes I had. It was pair of old sand coloured cargo shorts a red shirt and a pair of blue sandals. Honestly I was surprised such small clothes even fitted me.
I walked out and followed everyone else into a large mess. There the kids around my age were gathered at a table talking in excited tones. A few of the loud ones exclaimed how excited they all were for today.
I took some food for myself and sat down with them, better to be a part of a group then stick out. As I ate the small bowl of rice and skinny fish I listened to them talk.
"So is it like difficult?"
"It is! I heard only like half the kids even pass!"
"I heard only three students get to come out as a team!"
"No you idiot! That's three students per team! At least twenty people graduate every year!"
I listened as I silently ate my food, using chopsticks was difficult at first, but I managed but adapting an unusual eating habit of being very rough with the food.
But as I continued to listen intently there was another one of those gaming boxes;
Ping!
Repeated action has caused a new skill to be formed!
Easdropping, Lv- 1 (0%)
Your ability to listen in someone else's conversation without them being aware of it. This is a very important skill for a ninja to possess for information gathering.
Range: 10 feet (100% accuracy)
-10% accuracy for every additional feet
I blinked, 'well this is new,' I told myself reading the box. If I understand this correctly this means I have a very interesting power indeed. Just like a game.
But wait, it said skill, does that mean I have other skills? Growing curious I whispered in a quiet voice, "skill list." Suddenly a box appeared before me, making my eyes widen in surprise.
"Did you say something Yami?" a girl sitting besides me, Karua, asked.
I blinked, "n-no, nothing," I said looking down at my meal, hoping she would ignore me.
"What a weirdo," somebody whispered, which I promptly ignored. I freaking hate kids.
Instead I focused on the box before me. It was a menu list showing me all the skills I had. Apparently I already had two;
Gamer's Mind Lv-MAX
Allows user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind, immune to psychological status and effects.
Gamer's Body Lv-MAX
Grants the user a body that allows the user to live the real world according to the status he possess.
Okay, that's actually understable. I understand Gamer's body, meaning my body will work according to the HP and SP bar I have. Meaning the lower my HP the lower my actual health will be. And the same for my stamina.
And Gamer's mind is probably why I'm not freaking the fuck out right now. Amazing, truly amazing. So I can't get freaked out huh? Could be useful.
I blinked, I need to check something, "Menu?" And just like that a new box opened up showing off my menu card.
Okay let's see here;
Yami, (No Title)
Level- 1 (0/200)
This had my name and level. Hm, that bracket must be how much experience I have left to level up. And title, I suppose that makes sense, I'm supposed to be an orphan, a nobody, hence no title.
HP- 50/50
SP- 25/25
CP- 25/25
CONTROL- 20%
Allegiance- Konoha Civilian
Okay this isn't too bad. I'm supposed to be eight years old. An eight year old can't be freaking immortal. HP means health points, SP means stamina points. Could CP mean chakra points? Most likely yes. And CONTROL, obviously that meant chakra control, but how did it apply into the game mechanics?
I know chakra control in important for anyone, it determines how much chakra isn't being wasted...hm, maybe CP is how chakara I have totally and CONTROL is how much I can use without everything being wasted. Hm, makes sense;
Ping!
Your INT has gone up by 1 for thinking logically!
I blinked as I looked to my status, and sure enough;
STR- 2
VIT- 2
DEX- 2
INT- 6
CHA- 4
CC- 3
LUC- 1
My INT has gone up by one. Usually in games like this logical thinking would result in WIS going up, I'm guessing since this game doesn't have WIS, INT fills in that roll instead.
The rest of my stats were...okay, for a child. My physical side never was very strong. But my brain and chakra were decent, assuming CHA meant chakra and not charisma. Which I think it did.
Points- 0
Money- 0R
And finally I had no points to allot and no money. No wonder my LUCK was only 1. Great. I looked around, the kids were nearly done, a few staring at me giving me weird looks. Why..oh, right, food.
I quickly scarfed down my breakfast and put the tray away for washing. I followed the crowd out of the orphanage as we walked down the streets of Konoha. Ksume was at the head of our little group, guide us through the streets while people smiled and waved at us.
I looked at them all, there were so many ethnicities here, blonde caucasians, a lot of them with japanese features. A few korea and even, I think, a few chinese people. But there were also white people her and people with weird hair colours like blue and green. Natural or not I have no clue.
As we walked through I noticed most of the people in the streets had a level from 5 to 20. I very rarely saw anyone passing that level, and when I did it was sometimes a kid no older than 13!
I would have been shocked, but most of those kids had a title over their heads that read, 'Genin of Konoha', which meant they were ninja. Which actually made sense.
So that mean that civilians were just below level 20 while ninjas were generally above. Hm, makes sense I suppose.
The kids were all excited, but kept their gossiping to whispers around Ksume, which did make sense. I was left out of all the socialising, guess I was supposed to be an outcast of sorts huh?
Soon however we approached the gates of an academy and I was a little taken back about how accurate all of this was too the manga. I never saw the anime, only read the manga, saw some things might be out of my reach, but so far it seemed I wouldn't be totally lost.
Ping!
Quest completed!
Join the academy on time!
As an orphan you don't really have much of a life, so when an opportunity comes to become something amazing, you damn well better take it!
Reach the academy before 9 AM!
Rewards;
Ninja training
+20 EXP
I blinked, I opened up my menu and sure enough I had gained 20 experience points, only a hundred and eighty to go.
"Alright children, wait here," Ksume called out causing us to all stop in the academy's front yard. The kids immediately began to look around, peeking into classroom windows, finding a few of the older years sitting inside lectures.
I myself was curious enough to find an open window near the side from which I could hear the lecture coming from within,
"-And who can tell me what Madara's most famous jutsu?" asked the lecturer. The man had grey hair, chewed on a toothpick and had his leaf headband tied as a bandana around his head. I looked at his name and title;
Mizuki, Chunin of Konoha
Lv- 41
REP- 0 (Isn't aware of your existence)
My eyes went wide, this guy was Mizuki?! Holy shit! His level is through the roof! And he's one of the first people Naruto fights?! Fuck me man just how strong are people?!
"Anyone?" Mizuki asked again with a deep sigh, "come on kids, you have to know this. This'll be in your history finals!"
I looked around, no one was answering the man. I blinked, hmm, might as well. I cleared my throat and spoke up, "Madara's favorite jutsu was the Great Fireball jutsu. He even made it a right of passage for the Uchiha clan, if a member can't perform it along with awakening their sharingan then they weren't considered Uchiha."
Mizuki's eyes immediately landed on me as slowly the rest of the lecture hall realised I was the one who spoke up.
The chunin looked amused as he smiled at me, "not bad kid. You one of the orphans starting out today?"
I nodded, "yes. Hello, nice to meet you."
The class exploded into laughter as Mizuki himself chuckled a bit. "Alright kid, I got to say you're pretty smart," the man smiled, and from what I could tell it was a real smile, "tell me, do you think you can answer a few more questions?"
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Answer the questions smarty pants!
Rewards:
+1 stat point per correct answer
?
Failure:
Nothing
Do you accept?
Y/N?
No risk for failure? Also a mystery reward Hell yeah! I immediately pressed yes and turned to Mizuki and smiled, "bring it."
"Oh, confident one aren't you?" Mizuki spat out his toothpick, "alright kid tell me, which clan does the first Hokage belong to?"
"Senju clan," I answer immediately.
Ping!
+ 1 stat point!
Mizuki blinked, "r-right. Next question, who was considered a SS rank threat that-"
"-Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage also known as the Yellow Flash," I interrupted him before he had a chance to finish.
Ping!
+ 1 stat point!
Mizuki raised an eyebrow, "alright...when was the first and second Ninja war fought?"
This made me pause. I didn't have an exact date, the manga and anime never established a proper timeline...but why? Maybe they don't use time lines here? Maybe it was based on historical events, all types of civilizations based any time line around that so…
"It happened around 70 years ago," I flinched, "I'm sorry I can't be more specific."
Mizuki snorted, "no problem, that's much more than I'll get out of these morons," he said glaring at the kid who now looked embarrassed to be shown up by an orphan like me. I hope this doesn't make them….oh shit.
I just saw the REP score, or the reputation score, floating over their heads slowly turn from 0, which I assume is neutral, to -5. I'm guessing they all hate me now.
Ping!
+ 1 stat point!
"Anyway kid, one last question," this time he smiled evilly, "what's worse? A ninja who craves power or a weak ninja?"
Ah, philosophy, nice. I'm guessing based on my answer he'll try and recruit me into his cause of being a traitor. Wonderful.
I smiled, "that depends on the ninja."
"What do you mean?" the chunin asked.
"Well, if a ninja wants power to protect his friends, these is no reason he shouldn't be alone to be the best he can be. But if a ninja is weak and is scared, then chances are his cowardness will get other people killed. It doesn't matter who has power and who doesn't, all that matters is how they use it."
Ping!
+ 1 stat point!
And just like that Mizuki's REP score went from 0 to 5. Even a few of the kids started to hate me a little less. Though still had a negative score when it came to their REP.
"Not bad kid," Mizuki smirked, "you're like a little genius aren't you? Hm, just like the third hokage….a little professor."
Ping!
Quest completed!
Answer the questions smarty pants!
Rewards:
+1 stat point per correct answer
A new title!
Title gained!
Little Professor- +5% bonus marks to every written and oral test. + 2 INT boost
I blinked, "t-thanks."
"Yami!" I heard Ksume call out. I turned to see her glaring at me, "get back here this instance!"
I gulped, "sorry!" I went running away, putting the class out f my mind. I ran to her and gulped, a ninja had arrived and was taking the rest of the orphans inside the academy. Ksume said nothing as she pointed at the group, glaring at me as I ran to them.
I sighed as I slipped into the ground and listened to the ninja who was leading the group, "this is the academy, you all will study here for four years and at the end, depending on how well you do, you can become ninjas for the village!"
The man had tanned skin with a hair tied up in a short ponytail. He had a scar across his nose and a cheerful smile on his face;
Iruka Umino, Teacher
Lv- 45
REP- 5
Woah, I don't even know the guy and he already likes me? Cool.
"Ah, sensei," a small girl in the group raised a shaky hand. Iruka nodded to her allowing her to continue, "w-what happens if we don't become ninjas?"
The man smiled, "don't worry, if you don't become ninjas there plenty of other things you can do! Konoha takes care of it's own! That's our way!" The kids all smile, infatuated with the hope the man oozed out.
I could understand why, a bunch of hopeless kids like this being told they will be taken care off? It's like giving a thirsty man a water can.
We followed Iruka into a class which was already filled with a few other students. I immediately recognized a few of them, Shino, Kiba, Hinata and a grumpy looking Sasuke. The clan kids were already here.
"This is your classroom for the year," Iruke turned back to us and smile, "go on, take a seat," he motioned around.
Immediately everyone seeped into the rows of seats, a few of the braver kids talking to the clan kids and the other civilian kids.
I found one seat in the back near the window free so I took it. I was only a few seats above Sasuke and few seats away from Shikamaru, who was asleep, lazy Nara.
"Alright kids get settled in, we'll begin momentarily," Iruka said with a smile as he walked out leaving us alone.
I took this chance to look at the other kids. They all were...so young. Nothing like the monster I knew they would grow up to be. Especially Sasuke over there, he kept glaring at his own reflection, looking kind of...kiddish.
Each of the clan kids were at least level 10, Sasuke being 14. Guess he really was a prodigy. But that didn't change facts, they were all incredibly strong. Which begged the question...just what the hell am I doing here?!
This path lead to a life of killing and murdering. Yes, throwing fireballs and all will be an adventure but...god damnit I wish I knew what was going on?! Why am I here?! Who am I?!
Was this just a game?! It felt too real to be a game! Was this the fucking Matrix?! I would think so! So what….what am I?!
All I know is this, I need answers, and something told me if I followed the main story line I might get the answers. For example, the sage of six-paths might have the answer I need, he is a being that exists beyond time and space after all.
So until then I need to stay alive, and in this world that means getting stronger. Damn it, I'm shit scared but also so excited!
I opened up my menu and looked at it. I had four points to spend, but what should I spend it on?
STR- 2
VIT- 2
DEX- 2
INT- 6
CHA- 4
CC- 3
LUC- 1
I knew two things, one, my intelligence was my best angle, so I need to be smart about this, go with what I'm good at. And two, chakra was everything, but so was control, I need a balance.
I'm guessing since I got an extra point in INT by thinking clearly I can improve the stats by doing other things, like weight lifting for strength, running for vitality and gymnastics for dexterity. Maybe if I read books that can also help with my intelligence.
So maybe...maybe I should hold off on spending my points. I don't know what my limits are just et, not need to rush into things.
Ping!
For thinking things through you have gained +1 INT!
I smiled, this might actually be fun. I tapped my title box and found my title box still empty. Curious I tapped it opening a list of available titles. Eagerly I attached my 'Little Professor' title on, smiling, this would give me an edge over everyone else.
Just then Iruka walked in with a cardboard box filled with red bound notebooks and placed them before us.
He took one book out along with a pencil and eraser, "this is your notebook, those of you who don't have any writing instrument and the such please come down here and collect them." Ah I was wondering how they expected us to learn without any books.
I grabbed a copy for myself, it was a black book with nothing written inside, I guess this was going to be like college then, taking down lecture notes and then learning them for a later dates.
Iruka took out an older looking book and placed it on the podium, turning to face the class, "alright, let's begin."
"Wait!" came a cry as suddenly the doors were thrown open as a boy dressed in orange pants and a white shirt came crashing in. He rolled into the podium knocking it aside before jumping to his feet, "I made it in time!"
Bonk!
Iruka's fist came crashing down on his head, "no you didn't!"
I couldn't help a chuckle escaping my mouth as I looked at him. Blonde hair, blue eyes and a goofy smile. I didn't need to look at his name or title to know who he was;
Naruto Uzumaki, Jinchuuriki
Lv- 5
REP- 0
During lunch:
For the first day Iruka gave us a little speech on what ninja were. It highlights the difficult parts of a ninja's life, something an innocent kid might not know. He then gave a lecture about the village itself and why it was so important. Obviously Naruto was asleep the whole time.
We were served lunch in a cafeteria down the hall. All the kids from my year sat together in four benches chatting with each other. I found most of the attention was on the three benches, with the fourth taken up my Sasuke who sat in one corner choosing to be alone and Naruto sitting on the other side, who had no choice but to sit alone.
I walked towards the table with my lunch tray in hand and looked curiously, I had a chance...meh, what the hell. I put the tray down next to Naruto's startling the boy. I smiled as I sat down, "hey."
Naruto blinked, "h-hey," he blinked.
I began to eat my lunch with him looking at me curiously. I raised an eyebrow, "what?"
"N-nothing," Naruto shook his head, "it's just...it's nothing," he said with a big smile, "I'm Naruto! Nice to meet you!"
"Yami," I extended his hand shaking it, "nice to meet you Naruto. How's it going?"
"Ha ha, can't complain," he smirked scratching his head. Just then his stomach gave a loud growl. I groaned and turned to his meal seeing his tray half of what I had.
I sighed, "they didn't give you enough food huh?"
Naruto blinked, "what? No it's just," he chuckled, "I pranked the lunch ladies a few days ago, so I guess they're still mad!"
I smiled, "right, well then," I took my bowl of rice and poured half into his bowl, "eat up sparky."
"Hey, you didn't have to do that!" Naruto said looking saddened at being pitied.
I shrugged, "consider it an investment, I heard about your pranks, just don't do it to me deal?"
Naruto's shame immediately turned to joy, "deal!" He grabbed his chopsticks and munched down into his meal, "this is awesome!"
I smiled, "I know right," it was true, the rice here was much better than the stuff I got in the orphanage for breakfast. I looked up at Naruto's REP score, it went from 0 to 10. Guess he likes me now.
"Hey Yami, you understand anything from Iruka's speech?" Naruto asked, "cause I didn't."
I nodded, "he just explained why being a ninja is a difficult job and how the village was an important structure in the ninja world. Nothing too groundbreaking. I don't think we get to the important stuff until later."
Naruto sighed, "yeah. Hey, you want to hang out after this?! We can go to the park and play!"
I blinked, "ah, sure, I guess. Do you know any good places?"
"Yeah! There's a park right across the academy!" Naruto replied with a foxy smile.
I nodded, "sounds great," I looked over at Sasuke who did his best to pretend like he wasn't listening in on our conversation, I called him over, "yo! You want to join us?"
Sasuke paused as he looked at me in surprise, amazed I would even ask him. "Pft, that bastard? Forget it Yami, that guy doesn't do anything fun," Naruto glared at Sasuke daring him to say otherwise.
The last Uchiha looked at me and Naruto and returned to him meal without saying a word. Naruto snorted, "see?"
I shrugged, "worth a try. Alright then, it's settled, anyway, eat your food Naruto, it's going to get cold."
Naruto blinked "oh, right!" He immediately began to dig in. I turned to Sasuke, who once again was caught red handed looking at me and Naruto. I raised an eyebrow and smiled at him, and he promptly ignored me, got up and left. Wonderful.
After lunch we returned back to class. This time Naruto sat down next to me in my seat a few rows back. He and I chatted for awhile, I told him that I was an orphan and live in the orphanage. He confided in me the same and that he had his own apartment.
I sighed, "damn, I wish I had my own place, it would be so much better than where I'm living right now."
Naruto chuckled nervously, "yeah, it's not all cracked up to be what it is. My place is honestly kind of a dump. It's in a bad place too."
I shrugged, "but it's yours," I hummed, I wonder, can I get Naruto to share his apartment with me? I could do it right? It would be so much better than the shit hole I live in right now.
And just as I had that thought a new box popped up;
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Convince Naruto to let you move in with you!
Objective:
Gain 40 REP score with Naruto to unlock this option!
Rewards:
A place of your own!
+100 EXP
Failure:
Stuck in orphanage until you graduate
Do you accept?
Y/N?
I blinked, I didn't realise my personal options can be made into quests that affected the real world! This is awesome! I immediately pressed yes, so all I have to do is get him to like me until he said yes, sounds easy enough.
As soon as I pressed yes the door opened and Mizuki walked in, "alright kids settle down," he stood behind the podium and looked at us with an unamused eye, "listen up kids I'm Mizuki, I'm going to be your history teacher, I know it's a boring subject but-" his eyes landed on me and he smiled, "well well well Professor, didn't expect to see you so soon. Why are you sitting all the way in the back there?"
I blinked, "ah, I like it here. Let's me think."
Mizuki shrugged, his eyes landed on Naruto sitting next to me and I saw a quick hardening of his glare, guess he doesn't like the blonde even now. Immediately the man smiled, "well as long as you keep answering questions I don't care. Now, shall we begin? First up is the history of our great village, the village hidden in the leaves."
And it was one hell of a class. I don't think by the end there wasn't a single kid who didn't fall asleep. I did my hardest to stay awake, but even I nodded off a couple of times.
But in the end it was all worth it;
By listening to a lecture you have gained +1 INT!
I smiled, 'sweet! But wait...I listened to Iruka's speech as well, why didn't I get a stat point then as well? Unless...unless the higher my stat points the more difficult it would be for me to learn more. I guess I should hold off on spending my stat points, don't know when I'll need them.'
After Mizuki left Iruka came back and had us all walk out of the class in pairs. Obviously Naruto was my partner. We reached the Academy's backyard which was not the ordinary backyard one can find in a normal school.
There was a complex obstacle course in one corner, a small area cleared off with a white circle serving as a sparing area and the far wall had wooden targets painted on it, obviously for target practise.
"Alright kids, this is where we will train you physically," Iruka said pointing at a bunch of 12 year olds who were currently running a very complicated obstacle course where they had to jump through hoops while dull kunais and shurikens were thrown at them. I'm honestly surprised someone so young could move like that, it seemed abnormal, but then again they were training to be ninja after all.
"Woah! Are we going to do all that cool stuff too Iruka-Sensei?!" Naruto asked for the class.
"No, not yet," the man smiled, "for today, you kids are going to undergo physical training," he grinned, "ten laps around the field! Get moving!"
The kids looked surprised and a little startled. Clan kids like Sasuke just obeyed while a few lazy ones like Choji and Shikamaru walked instead of running. Iruka did manage to get us all running in the end, with me bringing up the rear thanks to me...less than stellar physical stats.
Naruto, seeing me struggling, held back as well, walking besides me as I struggled to finish one lap. "Come on Yami! You can do it!"
I grumbled, "I-I try," I groaned, "don't hold back-run faster."
Naruto blinked, "ah, you sure?"
I nodded, "don't hold back to make me feel better moron," I panted, "run."
Naruto grinned, "alright!" And he took off like a bullet pulling up third right behind Sasuke and some other civilian kid that looked like he was used to heavy labour.
I was the last to finish, panting and sweating like nobody's business. I was mildly aware of Naruto picking
