chapter 2

I'm so lucky I found another orphan to follow instead of Naruto. My original plan to follow the orange clad kid back to the building had been too naïve. I had forgotten about the Jinchuriki's tendency to prank. Which was a stupid mistake for anyone remotely aware of the series. If I had gone through with my plan to follow him not only would I have been dragged all around the village but I would have most probably lost him at some point during one of his escapes.

As it was, I was fortunate enough to hear a pair of orphans talking about going back to the building and so I followed them from a distance. This had the advantage of earning me a new skill that would be dead useful in my shinobi career.

[Stealth (Active) – Lvl 1

Hides your presence according to the level of the skill and the awareness level of others.

Consumption 10 Energy Points per second.]

If I could get it to a higher level that is, because, as it was, it wouldn't be useful for shit. Ten seconds wasn't nearly long enough and level 1 sure as hell wouldn't hide from anything. So, I would have to grind the shit out of that skill. The problem was that, I came to realize as I spent my Energy Points in Stealth while following my unaware guides, EP's regeneration rate was complete shit.

It was official, the Game hated my guts.

The silver lining of all this was that Energy Points didn't seem to equal my stamina. I had spent them until I only had 10 left and I didn't feel any different. A little while later when I regenerated 2 more points, I spent 10 more with Stealth and I still didn't feel anything. Conclusion? Energy Points were a source for skills that didn't affect me in the slightest. It was a relief really.

Once I was inside the apartment, which was exactly as Naruto's was in the show with one kitchen/dining room, one bathroom and one bedroom, I had taken some time to see what the rate of regeneration was. The result after doing some math was roughly 2 Points every 10 minutes. Which was shit, let me tell you. I prayed to every god I was aware of, fictional or not, that it at least was 2% and not just flat 2, because that would be too much for my poor heart.

That deduction made sense though, as after some math I came to the conclusion that my Energy Points would regenerate completely after roughly 8 hours if it was 2%. That was a reasonable enough time to recover energy if I was exhausted. It sucked, but it was reasonable. I just needed to find a way to increase the regeneration, the total amount or decrease the consumption, or, hopefully, do all that at the same time.

Once I was done crying, almost literally, over the stupidly nerfed Game, I started cooking something to eat. Not eating lunch had been killing me all day. Fortunately for me, there was some food in the fridge for me to whip something edible up. I would have to buy something soon though. I received another possibly useful skill after this.

[Cooking – Lvl 1

Improves the quality of cooked goods by 10%.]

It wasn't much, but I held hope that I would be able to get something out of it in the long run. If I got some Energy Points with a meal, that would make me pretty happy at this point. I wasn't enough of a dreamer to wish for Stat Points after receiving disappointment after disappointment. I had come to expect the Game to dash my hopes. 'Have I jinxed it? Fuck.'

Once I was full, I got my notebook/Eiji's diary out and started writing everything I could remember of the series. Especially the characters and their skills. The world could be an AU or the plot change a lot just by me existing in it but there were a lot of chances that the character's skills would stay relatively the same. That was my only reassurance.

I tried to concentrate in everyone from outside Konoha first, as it was more likely I would face those first. Soon, I realized a little problem. I didn't remember shit. I had never been a diehard fan of Naruto. I liked it well enough, but I had read it only once and everything else came from fanfics, which were a poor source of information at best. There was also the fact that if this was the anime world instead of the manga, I was even more screwed. I had only watched the anime before Shippuden and I hadn't even watched all of it.

I had some information on what could be considered the most important ones though. Zabuza, Haku, Orochimaru was a tricky one because he was so high level that he probably hadn't showed a lot on screen, the Sound shinobi, both the Chunin Exams ones and the Sound Four plus Kimimaro, Kabuto and his team, which I had to make some serious effort to remember, the Sand siblings. I found that I didn't remember shit from the other missions that had gone on during the anime, only that they existed and some random fact here and there. There was something about a meteorite or 'star' having a strange chakra for example… something like that. From Shippuden I could only remember the Akatsuki members and Zetsu was a mystery, for some reason I didn't remember shit about the character. I had probably not paid too much attention. After a frustrated hour, I decided to leave it be. I would try to squeeze more information later.

As a way to prevent a headache that I knew was coming my way and to possibly gain a useful skill, I decided to sit on the floor with my legs crossed and close my eyes. Then I proceeded to try and meditate. Or more specifically, try to clear my head of as many random thoughts as I could. It was easier said than done though and I didn't have too much success but I did calm down a bit. Some long but relaxed minutes later I opened my eyes to another screen.

[New Skill Acquired: Meditation – Lvl 1]

Opening it for more details I got sight of this:

[Meditation (Active) – Lvl 1

Increases the recovery rate of Energy Points and Chakra Points by 5% while active. You can't move while using this skill.]

Well, depending on how high I could get that percentage, this could be a pretty useful skill. Pushing that aside I started considering what my best bet would be in order to get powerful in the possible two years that I had before canon.

My first though was the same that it usually was in fanfics, chakra control. Starting to work in my chakra control right now would do wonders to improve my strength, especially considering that I had small chakra pool. Or I thought so, as I didn't have any way of actually confirming that what I had was small. It would also help with pretty much any path that I decided to follow that wasn't a Taijutsu specialist.

Soon I thought of a problem though. I was an orphan. How was I supposed to explain that I had knowledge of the chakra control exercises all the way up to water walking? In the show not even Sakura had known when Kakashi taught them, or at least that's what I remembered. So, how had an orphan that had literally no one to teach him found out? I couldn't very well expect them to believe that I had come up with them myself. No one would believe it, and even if they did, I didn't have the confidence to be able to maintain the façade of a prodigy of that stature even with some foreknowledge.

No, it was better to work with what someone in my position had knowledge of. The only remotely suspicious skill that I had right now was Meditation and that wouldn't be too difficult to explain in my opinion. Furthermore, getting what I had to high enough levels would take enough time. I had time and I wasn't Naruto. I didn't need to worry myself with flashy jutsus. At least not for some time.

With that decision made, I looked at the clock and saw that I had a few hours before I needed to go to bed. Sitting down I activated Meditation again with a thought.

While the skill was active, I considered my options for the future. Not being from a clan sucked as I wouldn't have any outside help for my development. But it was the price of not looking suspicious for any family members so I would have to deal with it.

As far as I knew, all Academy students without any background came out with only the basic skills and the Academy Three Jutsu, if Sakura's skillset was to be believed. Body Replacement, Transformation and Basic Clone Jutsu. The thought of only having that in my arsenal was a depressing one. However, I soon realized that it wasn't too bad though. I wasn't going to look like a main character at all, but I could definitely do something with those three. It would depend though, on how far the Game let me improve them with levels.

In the worst-case scenario, I would have to work especially hard on my Taijutsu until I made Genin and got someone to teach me some more advanced Jutsu. It would suck, but it was my only option as of that moment. On second thought, it wouldn't be too bad. Lee and Guy were pretty cool once you got passed the outfit and their… quirky personalities.

After those thoughts I decided to just focus on meditating. I wasn't quite sure if putting more effort in the skills affected their grow but I could try. I didn't have anything better to do at the moment anyway. I had had enough thinking for a day.

As a way to clear my head I decided to simply feel. After so long being ill and especially after the void, letting myself feel my own body, the clothes against my skin, the floor beneath me and the air passing through my nose and mouth, it just felt amazing. So, I relished in the feelings that I had almost forgotten.

There was a surprise for me though. Quickly I started to feel something else aside from air and blood flowing inside my body. It was difficult to describe but once I got the feeling of it, I didn't want to let go. I kept my mind focused on it. It felt somewhat warm but at the same time I fell the hairs on my body stand. It felt… amazing. I couldn't quite describe it any other way.

Soon, I had to end Meditation though. I didn't want to go to sleep too late. The Academy was my only source of training right now. I wasn't going to waste it.

[Meditation has gone up a level.]

'Nice.' I thought with a smile. I didn't know how long ago it had leveled up though. I could only hope it hadn't taken me a whole hour to do so. I didn't want to think how long it would take on the higher levels.

Taking a deep breath in, I looked at the clock and confirmed that I still had time. I didn't want to continue meditating though, I could easily spend too much time doing so and it would get late. I really didn't want to confirm if I needed sleep right now. Considering that I needed food, it was almost certain that sleep was a must too.

I decided it was better to do something else, so I was sitting at the table with my notebook out and drawing a map from the Academy to the building. Which, maybe not surprisingly, was pretty close. It made sense when you thought that it was a building used for the orphan shinobi program.

As such, I was finished pretty quickly so I decided to continue detailing as much as I could remember. The normal buildings where dull, the shops were left blank. Once I confirmed what type of shops, they were I would differentiate them. Over all, it was a half decent map if I do say so myself. Better than I thought it would be, definitely.

[New Skill Acquired: Cartography – Lvl 1]

I grinned. That was what I was waiting for.

[Cartography – Lvl 1

Improves the quality of maps drawn by 5%.]

'As everything so far, let's hope it gets good enough with levels.' I though dismissively. 'I wonder if mapping all Konoha will get this to max level or I'll need more.' After that thought I paused for a few seconds before sighing. 'I wonder if Quests are more difficult to get than that? Or does this Game not have them in the first place. That would suck. What about Dungeons?'

Being pretty sure that what I had felt while meditating was chakra, I set myself up to try and replicate the original Gamer's Instant Dungeon skill. I got nothing. And yes, I did check to see if I was doing things right and as the Game showed me, I had used chakra while messing around. With a resigned sigh, I accepted that my game didn't have artificial dungeons. Probably wouldn't have natural ones either.

So far, the Game seemed to work with an as-realistic-as-possible-while-still-being-a-Game type of logic. It sucked. With those depressing thoughts I went to bed for the first time after coming to this world.

I drowned myself in the feeling of being alive once again before falling asleep.

[}-o-{]

The next week was spent much the same as my first day in the Naruto world. I went to classes using Running, had something for lunch that I usually prepared beforehand, continued classes, used Stealth while going back to the apartment and then used Meditation once I got there. I tried to use Stealth while actually trying to be stealthy, just in case some ninja saw something suspicious if I used just the skill in the middle of the street. I had also started to explore the area around the apartment and the academy. Especially when I had time during the lunch break.

It was a relaxing week, especially considering that the first few days I had been scared of my own shadow, thinking someone would catch something strange about me and find out about everything. Realizing that I wasn't going to be killed in my sleep didn't help me much though. Training at all hours had started to take a toll on me. I was annoyed most of the time and Meditation had started to get difficult. Soon I found myself wanted to annoy Sakura just to get a punch to the face when I noticed that I was stupid. I had decided that my nindo was 'Live life to the fullest' and here I was wasting every minute I had training like a madman. That's when realization hit me, surviving wasn't the same as living.

So, it was with a new mindset that I had gone to the Academy on my second week as Eiji Satou. That made me be quite restless as Iruka explained to us the differences between the Elemental Nations. It seemed that most of those fanfics that seemed to believe that the Academy only focused on history were wrong. It also contradicted canon where the students didn't seem to know shit about the other countries. At least, that's what I remembered, maybe it had been just Naruto that didn't know.

I was practically bouncing on my seat until Sensei finally decided that it was time for our physical training. Grinning from ear to ear I mentally called for my status screen.

[Eiji Satou

Title: Academy Student

Energy Points: 120/120

Chakra Points: 50/50

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 6

Constitution: 6

Chakra: 5

Chakra control: E]

It hadn't improved a lot, I'll admit. Physical Conditioning was doing its job, albeit slowly.

Then I did another mental call.

[Running (Active) – Lvl 4

When used increases the speed of the user while running by 40%.

Consumption 9 Energy Points per second.]

This was the reason for me deciding to have some fun. Running seemed to level up both by use and by me simply running without actually using the skill. That was godsent, really. I was especially glad about the drop on the consumption that it received at level 4. I had hopes that the skill would level all the way up to 40 and it would become free. Not to mention that the 400% to my running speed would be great.

Now, back to my plan to have fun. I was going to use the skill right from the start of the laps. Hopefully it would give me enough advantage over Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba to finish the laps first.

Now, people must be thinking, 'Don't be an idiot, that change will give you away!' and I would say, 'Probably' with a shrug. However, I couldn't care, if I lived with the fear of using any of my skills then what good was having them? I was also counting on everyone seeing it kind of like my little stunt during my first day where I started pretty well.

This had nothing to do with Kiba bothering me the whole week about how I had gone back to being a weakling. No, it wasn't that at all… I swear.

"Start." Iruka said calmly and I mentally activated Running.

Running was my favorite skill. Not even the feeling of chakra flowing through my pathways compared to the rush of blood and the wind against my body that I felt as I forced my legs to do their very best. Kiba's confused 'What?' behind me was just the icing of the cake. Sadly, the rush weakened after 13 seconds and the three speed powerhouses passed by me eventually.

I gave a long string of mental curses as I put my hands on my knees once we had finished the laps while my lungs tried desperately to catch my breath.

"Almost there, Weakling." Said a smirking Kiba much to my annoyance.

"That was so cool though." Added an apparently amazed Naruto. "You were so fast at the start, how did you do it? Was it a Jutsu?" He asked getting right into my personal space. "Can you teach me?"

"It's not a Jutsu." I said simply. It was uncomfortable to have him so close to me. I had been a loner for the last week and it had been who knew how long since I had actually interacted with someone. The disappointed blonde's shoulders slumped as he stepped back. "I'll beat you, just you wait, Dog breath." Naruto snorted at that.

"What?" The annoyed Inuzuka grabbed me by my collar and pulled me towards him.

"Ahem." Iruka-sensei chose that moment to clear his throat looking clearly unamused. "Taijutsu spars don't start until after the first month, boys." He said simply while raising an eyebrow at Kiba who let me go.

"Just a few weeks, Weakling." Said a smirking Inuzuka. I gulped, knowing that he would surely destroy me in a Taijutsu spar. It was one of his strong points after all. I didn't need to check his stats to know. Not that I could as I hadn't been able to get the Observe skill either.

"Let's start with the physical conditioning, shall we?" Announced Iruka while clapping. Sighing at the situation I had gotten myself into just for some fun I dropped to the floor and started with the push-ups. Halfway through the exercises I received a notification.

[Physical Conditioning has gone up a level.]

Which resulted in this:

[Physical Conditioning (Passive) – Lvl 4

Improves the rate at which your Strength and Constitution increase during training by 20%.]

[Constitution has gone up a level.]

'Nice.' This was especially nice because it confirmed a theory of mine. Constitution seemed to level up by both running and the exercises while Strength only leveled up during the exercises. The extra 20 Energy Points and the extra space in the inventory were nice too. Yeah, the last one had been a relief. I had been worried that they were just five until Constitution leveled up.

Once Sensei announced the lunch break everyone started groaning as they stood up to go eat something and try to recover energies. Everyone except the stamina freak with an oversized rabbit-fox in the gut.

"Great, I can finally go to Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto said extending his arms to the sky. The worst part was that he always said it like it had been a long time since he had last gone, and I do mean always. "Who wants to taste the food of the Gods?" That question popped up sometimes too although, no one ever answered.

"Yeah, why not?" I said tiredly while sitting on the ground and resting my arms on my knees. Suddenly a lot of eyes turned to me making me feel pretty uncomfortable. A lot of them seemed highly confused. But the best reaction was Naruto's own, he was openly gaping at me. I suppressed a chuckle while I stood up and dusted my pants. "Now, where do we find this 'food of the Gods'?" I asked casually and that seemed to snap him out of it.

"Ha! Just follow me, I'll guide you to the heavenly broth and the divine noodles, believe it." He said taking my arm and literally dragging me out of the school. I couldn't help but grin as my legs tried to keep up with the hyperactive blonde. 'Live life to the fullest indeed.' I thought amusedly.

Yes, I had decided that to hell with the Hokage, Danzo and Naruto's probable Anbu and Root guards. If befriending Naruto caused any type of backlash that wasn't civilian based towards me then this village was truly messed up. In a way, that was even more reason to do it. Naruto was an idiot, but he didn't deserve to be treated like a monster. Especially considering that half the reason for him to be like that was because he was treated as a demon.

Halfway through our journey towards Ichiraku though, Naruto let go of my arm and reduced his speed considerably. When I turned to look at him, I caught him looking around nervously. Following his gaze, I saw that several people were looking at us with contempt written all over their faces. I tried to suppress my annoyance as I continued walking with him with my head high, especially because he had seeing me looking around too.

"So, should I order something in specific once we get there?" I asked, not knowing how to start a conversation with him. His eyes widened clearly surprised. By what, I didn't know, but I could guess and it didn't make me happy at all.

"That would be miso ramen, it's the best, believe it." He said with his iconic wide grin before frowning in thought. "But they are all amazing. Honestly, how can you try to compare them?" He said as if I had committed heresy.

"Sorry, my mistake." I deadpanned at him and he nodded as if accepting my apology. I shook my head at him. "Oi," I decided to try again with something different. "How can you run like that? Trying to keep up with you, Kiba and Sasuke is a real pain." He just laughed amusedly.

"Don't know. I just don't get tired so easily. I don't get how you can't run like that." I deadpanned again at that answer. Of course, the stamina freak would think like that. Seeing him scratching the back of his head, I sighed. He was as awkward about this as me, it seemed. Fortunately for both of us, we made it to the stand at that moment. "I'm here Ayame-neechan, Teuchi-jisan. A bowl of miso ramen and keep them coming." The blonde announced instantly after taking his seat.

"Welcome, Naruto! Coming up!" Shouted Teuchi from the back of the shop.

"How have you been, Naruto-kun?" Asked a curious Ayame before I took my seat next to Naruto. "Welcome, I don't believe we've seen you here." She said with bright smile. That smile alone must negate a lot of the bad reputation Naruto involuntarily gave them. It looked that effective to me.

"Eiji Satou." I introduced myself. "And no, it's my first time coming. I was curious about how good the place Naruto has been singing praises since forever actually was." I said with a smirk. "I'll have a bowl of miso ramen too. Expert's advice." I added signaling to the blonde that was once again scratching the back of his neck with an awkward grin.

"I asked if anyone wanted to come and he decided to take my offer." Naruto said after Ayame gave him a questioning gaze.

"Well, we have to live up to the praise then. You heard that, dad?" She asked the last part a little more loudly.

"A bowl of miso ramen for Naruto's friend coming up." Teuchi said and I saw Naruto freeze next to me.

"You never did answer my question, Naruto-kun." The waitress pointed out quickly, probably trying to keep the blonde from being too nervous. He snapped out of it pretty quickly.

"I've been great." He said beaming at her. That was a lie if I ever saw one. The flash on Ayame's eyes told me she knew as much. "The Academy is as much a pain as ever though."

"What do you mean?" I asked raising an eyebrow making them turn to me. "You sleep during all the theory classes. You ace the physical parts and you aren't too bad with Shurikenjutsu." I said putting up a finger for each point.

"Iruka-sensei doesn't let me sleep that much." He grumbled. I exchanged a look with Ayame at that.

"I still wonder how you passed last year with that work ethic." I said shaking my head while the waitress giggled.

"Did you come just to be mean?!" He all but shouted. I tensed up. It seemed that I had struck a nerve. "I'm going to be Hokage, just you wait! Then everyone will respect me!" This time he did shout. I just looked at him, thinking how much of that was his desire and how much was just him trying to cheer himself up.

"Heeeh~." I continued looking at him. "Is that so?" I simply asked. He seemed kind of taken aback by my reaction. He expected me to laugh, I guessed.

"You can laugh if you want. It'll happen and you'll see, believe it." He said resolutely before turning his attention to the bowls of ramen that Ayame placed in front of us.

"Then I hope you pay your Jonin well, Godaime." I said amusedly as I picked up the chopsticks. Thank Kami that I had practiced at the apartment. Eating with those things had been a true pain at the start. I was slowly getting used to it, fortunately. After tasting it, I turned to Naruto once more. "Wow, you weren't joking. This is amazing."

"Thank you, Eiji-kun." Ayame said beaming at me. But my attention was on the blonde. He was kind of choking on his ramen, thing that I thought was impossible for him. Once he could breathe again, he turned to me.

"You want to be a Jonin?" He asked, his tone and expression were strange though.

"That's the plan." I said grinning at him.

"That is so lame."

"You got a problem with me goal?" I said, my eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"Yes. Your dream is lame. Honestly, there's nothing special about being Jonin." He said moving his arms around as if to make his point. "You have to dream bigger!" He exclaimed spreading his arms wide. "Like Jonin Commander or Anbu Captain, those are some cool dreams, believe it!" He said grinning from ear to ear. "Not Hokage though, I would hate to ruin your dream." He added before laughing.

'Something bigger, huh?' I thought as we both turned back to our meals. From the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto finish his first bowl while I had just started mine. I snorted at that.

'Are you using the famous Talk Jutsu on me, Naruto?' I thought. Because it seemed like it. Just by listening to him, it sparked something in me. That dreamer attitude seemed to urge me to dream too. I idly wondered if this is how everyone in the show felt after Naruto's speeches. But that attitude felt refreshing. 'Live life to the fullest, wasn't it?'

"Well then." I said as I finished my bowl. Naruto turned his eyes towards me as he swallowed from his fifth bowl. "If you are going to be the next Hokage, then I'm going to be the next Shinobi no Kami." I grinned at him.

"Hahaha, that's more like it." He laughed. "Another one, please, Ayame-neechan!"

"Another one for me. We'll need that energy if we want to make our dreams true."

"Hahaha, believe it!"

[} Chapter End {]