Variable

Three whole weeks passed, and Yasui's training continued without rest. Comparing his current self to before, he had indeed improved. The benefits came in the form of a muscular build and an increased chakra limit. Although he's not able to summon the fourth shadow clone yet, he's almost there.

At first, he wondered why his chakra reserves suddenly began to grow at such a fast rate. Upon analyzing, however, Yasui concluded that the results were due to exhausting his chakra daily and pairing it with physical and mental training.

His other gains came from better chakra control and a solidified understanding of the basics of being a ninja. This includes but is not limited to: walking on trees, perfecting the transformation technique, and better grasp of shuriken/kunai throwing.

The Yasui from before did have some training in this aspect, but that guy was very lazy–even as an Uchiha. So lazy that even his dead brother Shisui couldn't get him to train. Even the kid Obito might be more proactive than he was.

And although his appearance is on par with Sasuke, his class ranking isn't anything great. The previous Yasui just ranked in the middle of the class in terms of knowledge. Yasui is confident that he could raise his class ranking right now, but he didn't plan on doing it. There is no reason to do it in the first place.

He also got access to his money from the publishing contract.

The Shiba publishing firm acted quickly and his novel–Shinobi Love Master–already began its distribution. The firm didn't waste any opportunities and compared his book with Jiraiya's Icha Icha series in an amazing advertisement tactic.

This created an uproar amongst the adult civilians and shinobis. Those who had partners had locked themselves in their rooms when they got their hands on the book.

There were also those like Kakashi–who was recently relieved of his Anbu duty. They would read the book for both the scenes and the plot.

Due to the bustling economy of the village, merchants also picked up the books to be sold to other places.

There was only one problem, and that is that they were short on supply! They couldn't meet the demand of their customers, and the Shiba firm was forced to contact many partners for resources to continue printing the novel.

Among the readers, each and every one of them wondered who the author of the Shinobi Love Master is. The author didn't divulge his or her name and only used an alias, so they didn't know. Was it perhaps Jiraiya?

The person of interest–Yasui–didn't want to become a popular image yet. For one, he is only 8 years old! His public image would totally be destroyed if anyone found out that he is the author of such a book.

Therefore, he made sure to include a clause in the contract that his identity will be kept secret. Violation of this clause would be held against the publishing firm, and they will have to pay him a violation sum. This sum in question is not small too.

…

Since today is academy day again, Yasui strolled to school as usual with his aching body. Although he could've made a shadow clone come in his stead, he still had an obligation to go and eat his classmate's food.

He has money now, but he wouldn't abandon the sweet little flowers who make food for him. He had principles.

"Huh? Isn't this Shikamaru and Choji?"

As Yasui came across a bridge, he saw the chubby Choji and lazy Shikamaru looking down towards the road below.

"What's happening, guys?" Yasui approached the two and wondered what they were looking at.

"Oh, hello Yasui." Choji ate his potato chips and greeted.

"It's you, Yasui. Look, they're telling Naruto to go up into the hills to look for spoils from a battlefield." Shikamaru's lazy face had a hint of annoyance and concern on it.

"Eh…" Yasui saw that Naruto is surrounded by three kids from their class. He thought back to a filler episode that he watched. Indeed, Naruto was tricked into going to a recent battlefield, and he was attacked by Takigakure Kunoichi spies.

"Alright, I'll definitely bring some spoils back with me!"

Naruto suddenly yelled and scurried off towards the hills.

The three kids from their class said some quiet stuff amongst themselves, but Yasui could guess what they were saying.

"What a drag…" Yasui puffed out some air and copied Shikamaru's catchphrase.

"Yes… what a drag indeed." Shikamaru wanted to follow Naruto, but he also didn't want to do any work at the same time.

"Shikamaru, can you go to class and tell Iruka sensei about this? I'll go after Naruto." Yasui knew that Shikamaru and Choji is essential. They were the messengers that needed to get Iruka and Kakashi to save Naruto.

"Sure…" Shikamaru nodded and went off to class with the chubby Choji.

"See you then, Yasui." Choji continued eating his potato chips.

As for Yasui, he had to go after Naruto. Although he had only interacted slightly in the stupid plot, he is still a variable. Therefore, he had to do as variables do and play his role diligently in case the worst scenario happens and Naruto somehow dies due to some shitty butterfly effect.

…

Shikamaru and Choji proceeded to go to the academy and told Iruka about how the three classmates for Naruto to go into the battlefield.

After Iruka left and they were given self-study time, both of them decided to go buy some snacks for Choji. This was where they met Kakashi, and their interaction also led Kakashi to know about what was happening in the hills.

…

[A/N: This will be the first time that I try to interject in a plot from the anime. Won't be the best because I'm learning as I write.]