Chapter 36: When The Timeline Says, Fuck It

My Life as Naruto Uzumaki - Harem Version

Chapter 36: When The Timeline Says, Fuck It

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I smiled. I was getting closer to my parents through learning their techniques... or at least I hoped I was... I felt like I was.

I read through the scroll and began to make my own notes for my version of the technique. I made some clones to have them ask Sasuke what the steps were for mastering Lightning Release, since I felt it was time to start trying to develop my second affinity. I also had one ask Sakura about how she trains her Water Release in case I ever decided to develop said affinity. 

I spent my day doing just training what was in the scroll and made okay progress. My chakra control was fine, but trying to replicate the effect of the Area Scanning Technique was proving to be... explosive. I relished in the fact that I couldn't just do it, but it was frustrating that I was basically just planting mines in the ground. 

I wrote down what I was doing wrong in a notepad I kept on me at all times. I was writing things down so that I could learn from what I was doing and also come up with ideas for new techniques I may or may not create in the future. This particular learning experience is giving me Exploding Clone vibes and I was going to be assigning some clones to work on this, along with the development of my lightning-affinity.

I wanted the technique to be a little more utilitarian than just blowing up the ground. Anyway, I got home and found Hinata and Shizune chatting merrily in the living room.

"Hi girls, how's things?" I asked, putting my shoes away in that cubby.

"We're doing fine, Naruto. I hear you've been making holes in the ground all day." Shizune poked fun.

"Hmph, that jutsu requires more than just 'good chakra control'. I'm getting better at it, though. What about you, Hina?" I brought out some soda and handed her a can.

"I'm alright, Naruto... I'm just worried about the new announcement Lady Tsunade is going to be giving tomorrow..." She said in her soft voice.

"Hm? Shizu-chan?" I gave her the best puppy dog eyes I could.

Shizune looked like she was in pain and looked away as she replied, "I can't say... Naruto-kun..." 

I had to sigh at at that. "It's fine, I guess. I know the old bat has our best interest in mind when she makes a decision, so I wouldn't worry too much."

I told Hinata and caressed her cheek. "Whatever it is, we can handle it, okay?"

She gave me that adorable shy nod she does and shimmied closer. I kissed her forehead and went to my room to put my notes away. I'd be reading through them later.

"Oh, Naruto. Lady Tsunade wanted me to give you this." Shizune came into my room and gave me a scroll for Tsunade's strength technique. 

'Chakra Enhanced Strength'

"Cool." Thanks Shizune. I kissed her softly before putting the scroll next to my other new technique scroll.

I then spent the rest of the evening with Hinata and Shizune; Haku came in late from her shift at the hospital. Haku was exhausted and just commandeered my bed without so much as a peep. I smiled at her.

She wasn't a nurse yet, still recovering from the surgery as she was, but she was starting to take some shifts and was getting more and more familiar with the hospital environment. Haku specialized in physical therapy and pharmaceuticals. Her and Ino shared a peculiar passion for poisons and toxins.

From what I understood, most of the newer staff, that being my class which included Haku, would be under Shizune when she officially took over as the head of the hospital once Tsunade crowned her fully trained. I was happy for them, everyone was making great progress in their desired areas and we were all able to spend enough time with each other that it didn't feel like anybody was left as an afterthought.

I got better at managing my time with them, finally. It took a lot of work and effort on my part to get there.

That said, I took an overdue shower and cuddled next to my sexy nurse for the night.

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Today was a spectacular day. The sun was shining, the skies were clear, I was stuffed full of red bean buns, and I was sitting next to my best friends.

All as we listened to the announcement that genin would be required to complete 16 D-Rank and 8 C-Rank missions before being allowed to take the Chunin Selection Exams. As well as the extra special requirement of at least 9 months of experience for rookies wishing to join in on the deadly exam. The kicker was that this applied to all teams wishing to apply, foreign or domestic.

This fucked everything I could've planned for regarding the chunin exams. It fucked it so bad that I didn't know what was going to happen next. Would Obito waltz through the village and rip Kurama from my gut the moment Tsunade finished speaking? Is Kaguya actually alive and just sipping some honey ginger tea in a secluded luxury resort? What if Orochimaru is actually an ANBU on a super secret assignment? Would this world's Hidan be a world renowned doctor who saves lives without asking for monetary compensation?

What's next?!

All of these thoughts and more were cycling through my head and I could only smile pretend like everything was fine and my expectations for this world's major events didn't go to shit.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

Even if my plans for the future arcs of my story were made near-irrelevant, this afforded me an experience that would be entirely new to me now. Much like how most of this life has been much different than anticipated. I looked at my friends and smiled, thinking that maybe I would get to spend more time with them instead of disappearing for two-and-a-half years as soon as the Akatsuki rears their head.