The known

Cole watched as the sun bathed Konoha in its orange morning glow and felt like dying.

After the sudden revelation of some very status-esque info sheets Cole had barely slept a wink. The moment Naruto and Iruka split up he dashed back into his room, clutching the energy, heat and image within his eyes in a show of willpower he never knew he had. There was no way he would let this clue go.

He gripped the ethereal forces with the ravin of a starved and dying man, so much so that he felt it bulge and squeeze out between his metaphoric fingers. He reigned in his greedy emotions and used a softer touch, coaxing the skittish energy to settle down. At the end of the day, it was his.

A gossamer of barely perceiveable energy.

It trawled lazily through his mind, conflating unknown power with every fiber of his being.

He couldn't quite place if the evocation of the Status created this thread, or if it had been growing throughout the day and allowed for the former. Whichever the reason behind its emergence, Cole was excited.

Once activated it was a simple task to imitate the feeling for a second time. He himself was the target, the intent revolving in his head like a mantra. Who was he? What did he stand for? And most important of all, a desire to have these questions answered.

With a zap that set his eyes ablaze his own status was unveiled.

---

Name: Cole Marin

Title:

Sex: Male

Age: 22

Health: 110/110

Vitality: 11

Strength: 12

Agility: 13

Perception: 10

---

It was less comprehensive than he expected. He thought of two reasons for that.

One: Things like his emotions-scape were well within his ambit and didn't need showing. He knew himself best, after all.

Or two: This ability was much more dynamic and adaptible.

Option one stood on shaky legs at best. He had aches and pangs like any other too-sedentary person his age and minute disallignments expected from too-enthused weightlifting. Then why wasn't his cricked rotator cuff displayed? Where was his allergy-induced asthma? All questions, no answers.

He had no means to prove option two at this point in time either.

To Cole this spelled trouble. Intuiting knowledge of his opponents that he already had was a helpful reminder at best and totally useless at worst.

There had to be more. At least a vague description of the statuses, an explanation to the mechanic behind the flair.

Cole persisted with the thought, having learned from earlier, and molded it into intent. He didn't just think of it slapdash. He demanded insight.

Immediately the thread was spurred into action. It flexed and whipped back and forth, coiling and then growing infinitessimaly. Soon it relaxed and heat pervaded Cole's chest. Words passed before his eyes and whispers sounded in his ears. He found his skills.

---

Insight:

Gain information on a selected target, dependant on familiarity. (Cannot evolve further.)

---

'Skill.' Bitter didn't do Cole's feelings justice, but he was also incredibly excited.

With the influx of knowledge of his first skill came an inner understanding of his powers free-form nature. Essentially, it worked of his will and mental prowess to create new skills or ameliorate former ones - not unlike Chakra. Imagination was crucial, as was the permanent usage of any skill he had or would acquire. The strand of energy needed exercise like any old muscle would and in turn it grew to allow for more and stronger abilities. It was unequivocally powerful and Cole was excited to plan out his next steps.

A knock scattered his revolving thoughts.

Cole was skipping as he stepped through the room, but got himself under control to the end of it. No need to gayly prance about and abash himself.

He opened the door and saw the elderly proprietress staring up at him, her smile genial as the night before. "Breakfast is ready my dear, the sign at the reception shows you the way.", she spoke in a matronly rasp.

"Ah, yes, of course. Thank you.", Cole bowed his head, she nodded back and the woman walked away, a surety in her demeanor from a life of experience. He followed her with his eyes as she conscientiously knocked on the door of her patrons. The thread within bunched, fire funneled into his eyes.

---

Name: Ayame Konji

Sex: Female

Age: 77

Level: 19 (-)

---

So, two conversations that could be abridged into just platitudes amount to 4 lines of information. Cole couldn't say he was disappointed. Hardly any interaction at all gave him a rough outline of somebody's strength, that was good enough.

Cole made his way to the dining area, some of the information in the recent statuses occupying his thoughts. Naruto and Iruka, their health exuded longevity and persistence. He knew for a fact they would heal from their wounds. Ms. Konji on the other hand, her level, her everything, it was a sick thing, frail and withering; a mighty oak that had fallen and was now dry and dying.

That cleared up one skill he had to create. A form of healing. Medical ninjas were potent and certainly able, but Cole had no guarantee he would have one around all the time.

Cole claimed a spot at the far end of the dining room and sank into his chair. A certain Kato Konji, age 52, served him a bowl of miso soup, steamed veggies and salmon, a heaping bowl of rice and lastly a fragrant green tea. The food smelled marvelous and Cole's stomach rumbled ravenous assent. He gave the man his profound thanks and got a cheery thumbs-up in return.

Mouth and hands worked overtime, but Cole kept an eye out for anyone he could analyse. A few patrons were up and about, most leaving with little fanfare, others joining the dining room. Everyone was encapsulated by his vision, names and age laid bare. The rare few that donned entire sheets of masking cloth only offered up a name.

'Visual cues are important then.', Cole pondered over a crisp piece of broccoli.

He was studying customers diligently, draining the bowl of the last drops of delectable miso soup, when the thread suddenly frayed. One end, connected to his eyes, came undone and pulled back, opening up in a spiral of fractional filaments. There was pain, a gunshot behind his eyes, then darkness. Electricity arced through his head, lights flashed like a thousand strobes in his mind. His ears were ringing with a constant pitch and a messy noise - he realised he was screaming. Something touched his face, his shoulder, his arms, he couldn't quite tell.

Until finally, like an indifferent bunch of cats, the threads lazily came together and began reforming, stronger. The pain abated, his scream only a weak moaning, and Cole opened his eyes.

Everything was tinged a soft red, the walls, the ceiling; his table, his hands; the gawking customers; the girl that was softly patting his back, staring intently at him; Naruto that hurried his way, unheeding chairs and table corners, help written all over him, as the fearless ninja was wont to do.

Cole stemmed his stooped body with one hand and forestalled assistance with the other. "I- I'm fine. I'm fine. Thank you.", he coughed out. 'Holy fuck that hurt...'

The girl propped him up despite his assurances and regarded him intently, lips drawn in a line. Cole returned the look in kind, under the pretense of giving her a thankful smile.

He noticed the two prominent buns on her head first, the Konoha bandeau over her bangs second and her face third: a tall but thin nose, high cheekbones, thin lips and big, inqusitive eyes and otherwise soft features. He couldn't make out her hair and eye-colour, what with all the red he was seeing, but all in all? She was cute. 'Will be cute in the future!' Cole admonished himself. He knew exactly who she was.

(So yeah, the start will be painful and consist of a lot of limit testing, but hey, our MC got 4 years to prepare, am I right guys? ....

To stop any coming questions. I have no idea if this will have harem or even romance. Almost all important characters are children, even at the end of the Shippuden arc, and I don't know if I am comfortable writing about that. Although I am writing this on the fly, I did intend to include explicit sexual content, so that's gonna be rough.

I understand that the characters in Naruto are much more mature for their age, but man... re-visiting the wiki and seeing that they are only 15-17 in the last episodes is heavy stuff.)