Chapter 09: Exploring the System

My Life as Naruto Uzumaki - Harem Version

Chapter 09: Exploring the System

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[MC POV]

I looked at all of the new buffs I got from my new titles and wondered how much these would help really. I decided not to think too much about the game aspects of my life for right now. Sure it makes things interesting, but this isn't just a game. It's my life, the life of my friends, the life of everyone in the world. I'll keep all of this in the background for when it's relevant.

Anyway, these were mostly self-explanatory, with the biggest question mark being the Asura Ōtsutsuki one. I wonder if I'm still a transmigrant, or if I absorbed him or something when I transmigrated myself... I'm legit wondering if I'll ever receive enough damage to my shield to be worried for my health... I'm pretty sure 1-hit-K.O. moves will still do me in, but there are very few of those in Naruto if I recall.

I also checked out the Wind, Tree-Walking, and Fūma-Shuriken scrolls. I've always gotten sets of clothing, tools, money, or even food from my missions. Never scrolls, so I was wondering if they were technique acquisition scrolls or just regular scrolls I would have to learn from by reading and practicing.

I opened the wind scroll first since if anything, I wanted to learn at least the wind-style gale palm or something simple to give me a bit of variety aside from clones and shuriken; which isn't really all that bad honestly. I read the thing and it just had info on what the element was, ways to train it, and the different types of wind techniques. Not bad, but I was hoping for a jutsu. 

Regardless, now that I have shadow clones, I can train my element a lot quicker and get to a point where I can infuse my ninja tools with it when fighting. This won't be for a while though. 

I did the same for the other scrolls and found much the same, except the shuriken one had several techniques I could learn, which I'd already done for one of the available techniques. 

As I was reading through the scrolls and trying to practice some of the simpler stuff in my apartment, I heard the door open and saw Hinata along with Ino and Sakura, much to my surprise, come into the apartment. They caught me standing on the ceiling, though, so it was incredibly awkward.

"Uh... hey... I was... just trying stuff..." I chuckled nervously and dropped down.

"Hey? Hey!? HEY!? Do we look like horses to you!", Ino screeched in apparent annoyance.

"Yes," I said without batting an eye.

Hinata and Sakura both giggled and Ino could only stare at me with a twitching eyebrow.

"Hmph! Well, at least you're feeling better now. Hinata told us that you were asleep all day yesterday", Ino replied, showing her worry only slightly.

I knew she was just trying to put up a front, though why I couldn't understand. Normally she rushes me with hugs and sneaks in a kiss on my cheek when no one's looking. I liked hugging Ino, so I walked over to her and hugged her close to me, kissing her cheek a bunch affectionately. I knew she was happy because she returned the hug full force and wasn't letting me go. 

I separated eventually and gave Hinata much the same degree of physical affection. I loved my girls and I always wanted to shower them with love and affection whenever I could. Hinata reciprocated and boldly kissed me on the lips. I was shocked but happy. I couldn't hold my smile as I closed my eyes and held the kiss for as long as I could.

We separated after some moments and my head was in the clouds.

I turned and stretched my body facing away from them, hoping my body would relax to spare me the shame, "Yeah... I didn't want to worry you girls any more than you probably were, but I'd been up since the day of graduation, so I was in desperate need of sleep"

I finished stretching and gave a sigh of relief at my body relaxing. I turned to them and Sakura was blushing the same color of her shirt, holding her cheeks with an embarrassed expression. 

Ino looked affronted but also had a similar blush to Sakura on her face. She looked at Hinata who was looking down poking at her fingers cutely with a small smile on her face. Blush going all the way down her neck. Ino continued to stare at her with her mouth agape and then looked at me.

I sensed danger.

"I want a kiss, too!", she whimpered.

I felt bad... I love Ino a lot too, but is it alright for me to kiss her after kissing Hinata? Hinata gave a small nod and Ino pounced, initiating another kiss for herself. I enjoyed it just as much as the one with Hinata, proved by my need to turn and get behind the counter so they wouldn't see me.

I took out a pot to make some tea when I heard a voice coming from the window, "Care to tell us why it was that you were so tired?" 

I turned around to see Ayame climbing up the window with an empty pot of ramen strapped to her back.

"You could've just used the door Ayame! You could've gotten hurt!", I told her while pulling her through the window.

"I wanted to surprise you, hehe", She grinned at me.

"You can be so weird sometimes, but... thanks for the ramen", I chirped.

"Hm? I didn't bring ramen. I did bring the ingredients to make it, though", she smiled as she opened the pot.

"Even better!", I exclaimed in pure joy at getting to eat fresh Ichiraku ramen at home.

Ayame would begin to cook the ramen with Ino and Hinata helping out after their hearts had calmed down. Sakura would eventually also calm down and begin to help, or rather learn how to make ramen so she could help out in the future. I think this is maybe the second time Sakura's come to my apartment. The first time she came to drag Ino to her house since she hadn't left mine for a few days.

"So, Naruto, weren't you about to tell us about your all-nighter?", Sakura asked.

"Uh, sure. But, maybe we should call the guys too? I mean, I'm sure that they're at least curious about why I disappeared after the graduation test", I reasoned.

Ino's eyes sparkled in anticipation.

"Party?" She asked with a look that told me the answer was yes regardless of my wishes. 

I had to sigh, all of my girls were so nice and comforting whenever I was concerned. But when their peculiar passions or quirks became involved they turned a little bossy. I liked it though, I'm not fond of doormats and I don't want the girls to be meek and subservient. What's the point?

"Sure. But! Just the guys I'm friends with, I don't want the whole village in here", I declared but she still gave me the puppy dog eyes.

"No, Ino. No extras. Hinata will help you out. Right Hina?", I put my foot down and also bribed Hinata with my own puppy dog eyes that she seemed to have more than just a soft spot for.

"Hm, you can count on me, Naruto", she nodded and dragged Ino away with her with a look that said she would take this as seriously as an S-Rank Mission.

I thought it was cute and couldn't hold back my smile. Hinata dragged Ino away faster.

I turned away from the door and admired Ayame as she cooked ramen for me along with teaching Sakura. Ayame was the nicest big sister. I hoped I could get big sis Kitty Cat back too. I got lost in my thoughts after a while and heard Sakura speak to me.

"...Hey, Naruto? What was that scroll you were reading when we came in?", Sakura asked with stars in her eyes.

Sakura was a total bookworm and liked to read books more than I do. I've hinted at her trying to learn medical jutsu or genjutsu since her chakra control is so good, and while she's dabbled a bit with both, she told me she needed to find a way to practice what she reads or she won't realistically be able to do much on the field. 

It sucked that she wouldn't have much practical skill in medical jutsu, because, she was right, if she can't practice healing techniques, there's no way she's going to get better at them and perform them when necessary. That said, she was great at genjutsu and had a mean right hook that gave even me pause. She had the worst stamina out of everyone, though, and her reserves were still minuscule, but she was working on that with Ino and Hinata, so it was only a matter of time.

She was also close enough to let me see the details of her eyes and I nearly jumped out of the sofa in my surprise.

"Oh! Uh, it's a, it's just a chakra control scroll. I got it the other day. I'll tell you more when everybody's here. I don't want to repeat myself; too lazy today." I told my bubblegum-haired friend and melted into my sofa.

We then spent the next two or so hours talking. Ayame and Sakura had never spent much time together, so this was a chance for them to bond. I just kept some clones reading and re-reading the scrolls in my room while I went through the system and checked all of the ins and outs of it. I could have done this much sooner, sure, but I didn't feel the need. I was at the academy, ya' know?

[Named Opponents:

Mission/Objective/Boss/Special Opponents are those that have great significance within the world's history or the story of the 'game'. Their difficulty scaling is not determined by the system.]

[Difficulty Ranks:

Difficulty is shown using a scale from E to S. The system only informs the Player of the difficulty of opponents or missions. These are not System Determined.]

[Ally Stats:

The Player can verify an ally's current level, DS(HP), and CP at any point when in a party/squad/team. These are only representations for player reference.]

[Player Stats:

DS - Damage Shield is how much damage is deflected by the Player's chakra shield before they can be harmed directly. Damage Shield increases with the Player's Vitality. (This is a Player only ability. The system will display opponent and party member HP as DS for uniformity's sake.)

CP - Chakra Points are how much chakra the Player can use safely. Chakra Points increase with the Player's Intelligence.

STR - Strength is the Player's attack power.

AGI - Agility is the Player's speed and maneuverability.

VIT - Vitality is the Player's defensive capability and survival rate after suffering mortal wounds.

INT - Intelligence is the Player's chakra control and jutsu strength.

SNC - Sense is the Player's ability to detect chakra signatures in their immediate area and ability to effectively sense illusions.]

I looked to the side and saw that everybody was almost here. Sakura and Ino were having one of their usual arguments about something or other. Hinata was trying to get Shino to get more involved in the group, along with a very cheery Akamaru. Shikamaru was setting up a shogi board and giving me a sidelong glance. Choji was munching on his chips and sharing them with the playfully barking Akamaru in Hinata's arms. And Kiba was just lying on the floor next to my couch, I gave him a grin and he grinned back. I got up and stretched limbering up for the pending disaster.

I asked Kiba why he wasn't with Sasuke and he shuddered, covering my mouth as if to ward off the boogieman. Him and Sasuke had a weird relationship. They got along just fine, but Sasuke was... pushy with Kiba to put it lightly. I knew why that was, but Kiba didn't and I thought it was funny. Sasuke really was just awkward with his friends.

He wasn't here yet, though, but I'm sure he's just trying to get here after everybody else. He's such a deva, ahahaha