The D-Ranks Begin

It was 6 in the morning and I was looking through the manual for perks. Trying to fit together a general build path for me now that I'm actually going to start gaining EXP now. I'm trying to find early perks that center around Taijutsu, and I've been…fairly successful. Stone Wall is a great perk, but needs another point of endurance and strength for me to get.

It's honestly been a while since I've read this list in its entirety. I've forgotten some of the good ones, from the classic 'Paralyzing Palm perk' (which is like Jyuuken on steroids, though it requires a level of 18) to the new Chakra Vampire perk, which is an activated effect that turns my Taijutsu strikes into chakra siphons, stealing a little chakra away from my opponent at a time, though it requires level 34 and a Ninjutsu of 50, alongside the Taijutsu requirement of 60.

The only activatable effect I remember from Fallout was V.A.T.S, but I guess that's just the advantage of my unique situation here; no keys to worry about, more activatable effects. Speaking of V.A.T.S, I don't have it. I looked for it in the manual, thinking it may have been a perk but then I found it in the F.A.Q near the end.

We felt that V.A.T.S was unnecessary in a reincarnated platform title, due to skills being more than capable of allowing the player to hit limbs without an arbitrary slow-motion camera with cinematic flare.

But those are awesome! But I saw their point. Besides, I hated getting killed mid-VATS because I couldn't cancel the animation to get out of the way of a super-sledge to the face. That was the worst.

But the cream of the crop? The perk I absolutely must get when I reach the right level? The one thing that will make this all worth it? Level 30's Almost Perfect.

Yes, it's a thing here. Yes, it does exactly what it did in Fallout 3; raises every special stat that is beneath 9 too…well, 9. For me, that would impact Strength, Perception, Endurance, Agility and Charisma. Yes. ESPECIALLY Charisma. Why is that so cool?

Well, in this game that I've found myself in, the maximum level I can get is 50, so I can take advantage of a lot of the perks that particular perk affords me, plus all the skills that suddenly get bonuses from the heightened special stats. Oh, and if that's not enough, the stat bonuses from my level are…wait, let me check the book again…are retroactive, so it the bonus I get is as if I had 9 the whole time!

That's one of the biggest power boosts I've been able to find and it takes care of my biggest weakness! It's…my goal. The thing that will make everything I went through for the past twelve years be okay. Even if every perk I plan right now becomes something different with the situations that arise, I am taking that broken-$# perk.

Of course, there's a lot of perks in the manual. I haven't counted them, not even I got time for that, but there's a lot.

It also the only way that I'm going to increase my Charisma any time soon. Because if I'm right, my Henges bonus will get larger with a higher Ninjutsu, thus largely fixing the problem and it's not like I'll need a Charisma in a fight. I hope, anyway. I haven't seen anything indicating otherwise, so I don't think the Charisma was used in combat aside from helping teammates, which makes sense since that's what all the perks for charisma seem to do. That can be good but I…can't really rely on having my team to back me up at all times, can I? It's not like we're glued together.

"Hey, guys!" Nichiren shouted, waving to us as he ran up to Hisako and myself, headband worn proudly. "They let me stay on the team!"

"That's great!" Hisako smiled. "Kakashi say how much training you're in for?"

"Uh well," Nichiren rubbed the back of his head. Then he bent toward us and beckoned us forward. "I think it might be of the lethal quantity."

"Oooh," I said with sympathy. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it."

"So was Kakashi-sensei with you?" Hisako asked, looking behind him.

Nichiren straightened up. "Yeah, he said he had to take care of some things before he got here."

"How long do you think he'll take?" Hisako said with a frown.

"Two hours' tops," I offered.

"I think closer to an hour," Nichiren replied. "He didn't say he had to take care of much. Just some paper work."

We were currently at training ground 1. I was sitting on a cut down stump just on the side of the road, with Hisako leaning against a wooden lamp-post, sharpening her kunai with a whetstone. Nichiren sat down cross legged on the grass.

An hour and a half later, Kakashi-sensei walked up the road. His book was dark green this time and he didn't seem to be paying attention to anything around him.

"You're late," Hisako snarled at him.

"Hmmm?" Kakashi looked up from his erotica briefly. "I'm sorry, I was just asked to do a mountain of paperwork for your teammate here."

…I think that is the most plausible excuse I've heard from Kakashi in either life.

"It…yeah, it was a giant mountain," Nichiren nodded, folding his arms. "I'm not sure why I thought he could get it done in an hour, it has huge."

"Exactly," Kakashi intoned. "Thank you, Nichiren."

I wasn't sure if Nichiren was lying or not.

Perception Check Failed: 5/7.

Okay, that tears it.

With a grunt of annoyance, I took out my black book. There had to be an option here somewhere. Something to…reduce the number of alerts I get. Those things are super annoying. I mean, every time I'd try to talk to someone, it was Charisma Check Failed this and Charisma Check Failed that. Now I'm failing Perception Checks left and right and it's pissing me off!

I turn passed the list of perks and came to a section helpfully named Options, went to the Gaming subsection and there was an option titled In-game Messages, fitted in a column on the left. On a column on the right was the word All with arrows on either side of it. I pressed the arrow on the left, and it changed to EXP gain, I pressed it again and it went down to None.

Okay, that would be better…I think I only need to know if I gain EXP from something so I can number crunch, so…yeah. There we go. I changed the option to EXP gain and closed the book and…noticed that my team, including my sensei, had gathered around me to look at what I was fiddling with. They looked confused.

"Ummm…" I said blankly, looking at everyone. "Can I help you?"

"What were all those weird symbols in your book there?" Nichiren asked, tilting his head.

"They were symbols," I said, nodding.

"Daisuke!" Hisako snapped. "That's not an answer!"

"Yes it is!" I answered. "It's just a really vague one!"

"Why are you being vague?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"Because the things in this book are private," I replied, looking up at him. "It's like a journal but with lists and stuff."

"What kind of lists?" Nichiren asked, adjusting his glasses.

"You know, things I have to do, things I can do, that sort of thing," I answered, pocketing the book and I think it vanished off to wherever it goes when I do that. "It's not really something I think I need to share."

The group mulled over that for a minute.

"That's fair," Kakashi shrugged.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," I said. "Now, what are we doing today?"

"Training," Kakashi said, closing his own book and pocketing it.

$#% .

"As you know, your teammate here isn't entirely up to where he should be," Kakashi said, putting a shoulder on Nichiren. "So, I will be personally testing and training him to see where's he's fallen behind to bring him up to speed while you two spar and practice your Taijutsu. Understood?"

"Hai Sensei," Hisako and I said at the same time.

With that…we walked a few feet away…and started sparring.

She opens up with a punch that I'm barely able parry, aimed at my face. A well placed hand sends it just to the fight, barely clipping my ear. I retaliate with a fist to her stomach, but she dodges to the left.

I barely caught a kick to my stomach, and I pulled her into a kick of my own. My sandal goes into her side and she's sent to the ground with a pained grunt.

"You okay?" I ask, offering my hand.

"Yeah," She takes it and pulls herself up. "You've been holding out on me."

"Graduating was very inspiring," I replied. "Unlocked new levels of skill I didn't even know I had."

"Oh haha," Hisako took a deep breath. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Okay," I settled into a stance with a sigh. This was going to take longer than I thought.

After two days of non-productive training, Kakashi-sensei finally told us to meet him at the entrance to the Academy's administrative building. Which could only mean one thing!

D-RANK MISSION!

I never thought I could be this jazzed about the idea of pulling weeds or painting houses. Usually I hated both of those activities but I guess tying those things to obtaining world ending power makes them much more appealing than normal.

I was the first one there, having been mostly successful in resisting the urge to skip the whole way there. Mostly. Bouncing on the balls of my feet as I stand; definitely doing that right now. It wasn't long before I saw Hisako walking up, with a small smile on her face.

"What are you so happy about?" She asked me.

"I've been wanting a mission for a long time," I replied almost too jittery to notice her smile fade away.

"You do know that we're just going to be pulling weeds or something, right?" Hisako folded her arms. "It's not like we're going to be doing anything exciting or important."

"Don't care," I cheerfully informed her. "Mission."

She looked at me like my brains had melted out of my ears, leaving an empty canal she could see through if she wasn't to irritated to look. At this point, I would believe it if I had. I was pretty excited. This means, hopefully, EXP. And if my hopes are true, that means additional levels and I can get the crazy amount of EXP I was hoping to get through the academy.

At least I hope.

"You're a weirdo," Hisako snarked.

"Yes," I nodded with a thoughtful frown. "Yes I am."

A few minutes later, Nichiren shows up. Team 13 exchanges greetings and then we sit down and begin the long vigil.

"Please tell me he's not going to be four hours late again," I grumbled, burying my face in my hands.

"The longest he's been gone is two," Nichiren offered weakly. I glared at him.

"Just be patient Daisuke," Hisako sighed. "All Jounin have a quirk, this is his."

"I would've taken the guy in green if he proved he could be on time," I frowned sharply.

"Okay that's a little harsh," Hisako replied. "He is our sensei and you need to be more respectful."

"Whatever," I said, booting up the wait command. "I'm going to do that meditate thing again."

"Oh. You want us to shove you again when Kakashi-sensei arrives?" Nichiren asked with a frown.

"Yeah. But this time?" I said, looking Nichiren square in the glasses. "Wait until I actually don't respond before shoving me, okay?"

"Okay," Nichiren replied, looking downcast.

"Thanks," I wait for an hour. No show. I wait for another hour and my wait gets cut off early, because Kakashi showed up, looking bored.

"You're late again," Hisako stated, sounding completely resigned.

"Sorry, a little old lady got hit by a wagon and I had to take her to the hospital," Kakashi explained sheepishly. "It was the strangest thing."

"Uhhh…" Nichiren made a sound, looking at me.

"Yes, I'm awake Nichiren," I nodded at him. "Thank you for checking."

"No problem," He said, standing up.

"So what does that mean, exactly?" Kakashi asked, looking at me.

"Oh, I've got this meditative technique which lets me skip hours at a time," I replied. "It's how I dealt with you being late the first time."

Kakashi's eye blinked. "Is that why Nichiren shoved you that first day in the class room?"

"Yeah, I asked him to shove me when you showed up if I didn't respond," I explained, standing up and stretching. "This would be the second time I've done it."

"Huh," Kakashi cupped his hand. "That seems…convenient. Where did you learn the technique?"

"Kind of taught myself," I replied, rubbing the back of my head. "Not sure I can teach anyone else-can we get a mission now?"

Kakashi looked at ne for a long moment. "Alright. Let's go inside."

The mission desk was an interesting place. The office where it was located in was decorated with motivational posters, telling Shinobi inside to do their best and that we could do anything with the Will of Fire. Nationalistic crap but I supposed it did the job well enough.

Kakashi lead us to one of the Chunin, who had dark skin, hair tied in a pony-tail wait - it's Iruka! Huh. I think I saw him in the school from time to time but didn't recognize him. That scar across his nose really stands out, now that I think about it. Huh.

"Hello, Iruka-san," Kakashi said.

"Hatake-san," The instructor returned with a slight bow from his seat. "I see you've finally passed a Genin-team!"

"They were a very insistent team," Kakashi breathed in subtle exasperation. "Do you have any D-ranks for us?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Iruka said, taking out a few scrolls. "Here you go."

Kakashi examined each scroll carefully. One by one, he rolled them up and placed them back in the basket, before putting the second to last one in his pocket, and placing the last one back in the basket. "Thank you, Iruka."

"Have a good day," He said cheerfully. Then he turned to us. "Enjoy your first mission!"

"So what are we doing?" I asked, jumping up and down like a little kid. "Pulling weeds? Painting houses? Doing construction?"

"You are way too excited for any of those," Nichiren deadpanned.

"Don't care," I answered cheerfully. "Mission."

Kakashi-sensei looked me oddly. "We're pulling weeds for a gardener just outside the main walls of Konoha."

"Yes!" Fist-pump.

Quest Accepted: D-Rank: Weeding the Garden on the Outskirts.

Go to the garden with your team.

"I'll race you there!" I told them, racing ahead.

"But you don't know where the garden is!" Hisako called after me in annoyance.

That stopped me immediately. Because unlike Fallouts 3, New Vegas and 4, I didn't have a compass. Which meant finding objectives was more immersive, but it left me with just my own sense of direction. Crap.

I wonder fast travel will ever be a thing? Probably not.

"Alright," I said, falling back in step with my team. "Let's go."

Quest Updated: D-Rank: Weeding the Garden on the Outskirts

Completed: Go to the garden with your team.

Remove all the weeds in the garden.

The garden was actually planted in someone's back yard, behind a surprisingly modern looking house. The owner was an older gentleman, with short gray hair and was basically skin and bones. He led us out back, gave us gloves and tools and told us that everything in that plot of dirt was a weed that needed removing.

The yard was pretty decent sized. Wasn't the yard I played weed exterminator for, but it was up there. Kakashi sensei laid against the fence to watch us work and make sure we weren't slacking off. While I was pulling on a weed, I had a thought.

I hadn't tried to make chakra strings yet.

I mean, those things were a pretty underutilized skill, if I had to be honest with you. They could trip people, control puppets and thrown weapons and frankly just ruin people's day if used right. So…let's see if I can guess how it works.

So, I pooled chakra into the tips of my fingers, then I attached it to the stem of one of the weeds I was pulling, as if doing tree walking. Then, I gently pulled my fingers away, feeding chakra through my fingers as if lengthening the string and…

Chakra Control Check Success: 100/75.

+150 EXP.

Perk Earned: Chakra Strings.

You can create strings of chakra to manipulate things at a distance!

Nice!

440 until level 6.

I checked my chakra levels and they were going down, slowly. I pulled on the weed and my levels went down a little bit faster but the drain wasn't too bad. I pulled a little harder and the weed came out. Nice.

I need to see how these things work out in combat. Next spar with Hisako, I'll let her know and we'll test it out.

So I moved on to another weed and this time, I sent strings down into the soil, deep alongside the things roots. See, the problem with weeds is that if you don't get rid of the whole root, it will eventually grow back. So, I pull with the strings and out it comes…and out…and out…geeze, this thing reached two feet deep!

I tossed it in the weed pile.

Okay, anything else I can think to test while I'm here?

…see if I can pull multiple weeds out with chakra strings?

I walked over to a clump of them and attached chakra strings to the base of each one. Didn't go too deep to preserve chakra, but this should be enough to get the surface one out. I pulled with the strings and my chakra took a bigger dip, but out they came.

Awesome.

I experimented the whole time, attaching strings from a range, using strings to tie weeds together for better leverage, lots of other things that just made me giggle as I imagined the other stuff I could do with the strings alone.

We ended up finishing ahead of schedule because my strings were really good at this mundane-utility stuff. So with that, we started to head back to Konoha.

"So where'd you learn to do that?" Nichiren asked as we started to trek home. "That blue-string thing, I mean."

"Oh, I wanted to see if Tree-walking could be used over distances," I lied, trying to look him in the eye. I knew that you couldn't tell a liar from if they break eye contact or not, but I hoped he didn't know that. "It could and it worked."

"Oh, okay," Nichiren replied, facing forward just a little too fast.

"You just wanted to see if something could work and you just make it work like that?" Hisako asked incredulously. "I'm jealous."

The word she wants is envious but I stop myself from correcting her. "It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"Yeah," She agreed, looking forward. "It sure is."

Yeah, it's pretty cool. Speaking of stuff I want to test, there's something I've always wanted to see. Tree-walking allows a shinobi to stick to any surface. I wonder if I could do the opposite and make the ground underneath me really slippery. There's quite a bit of offense in something like that, now that I think about it, but I was mostly just wanting to slide across the dirt like I was on skates.

"So Kakashi-sensei," I said, walking backwards and looking at him. "Do you think we can do another mission today?"

"Why don't we report this one in first," Kakashi asked with a risen eyebrow. "Before seeing if there's another mission we can do."

"Okay Sensei," He had a point. I turned around just in time to avoid running right into a wooden post.

Close one.

Quest Complete: D-Rank: Weeding the Garden on the Outskirts

+150 EXP.

Only 150? Well, that's disappointing. Whatever, I got a new toy out of the deal, so I guess I technically got 300 out of the deal but still.

We went to the desk, there was Iruka again, he accepted our scroll and apparently all the D-ranks had summarily been taken while we were away by other teams who wanted to get two missions done in a day. We were handed our pay vouchers and I just stared at it for a second.

Was I disappointed? Yeah. About ready to blow a gasket? At first, but then I took a deep breath and counted to 10. Now I was just bummed. Oh well, more time for experimentation later.

"Daisuke?" Nichiren poked me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said a little faster than I wanted. "There'll be more missions."

"That's the spirit," Kakashi encouraged, taking his book out. "You all worked very hard today. Nichiren and Hisako, you're both free for the day. Daisuke, I want to talk with you before you go."

Uh-oh.

Hisako and Nichiren both looked at me with a little concern, but they left all the same.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" I asked.

"Let's go for a walk," Kakashi replied, still reading his book.

"Okay," I said, following after him.

We strode out of the academy gates, down the street.

"That jutsu you used is called 'Chakra Strings'," He said. "It's usually used by the Suna Puppeteer corp. to control their puppets."

"Okay," I said, looking down at the sidewalk. I wasn't sure where this was going. I wasn't in any trouble, was I?

…maybe those perception checks were at least a little helpful.

"Usually Puppeteers go through a lot of training to be able to do that jutsu," Kakashi continued. "You figured it out on a D-rank. It's…remarkably impressive."

"Thank you, Sensei?" Seriously, where is this going?

"You said this level of chakra control you possess is a part of your bloodline, right?" Kakashi asked.

"Well yeah," I answered, looking up at him. His eye didn't seem dangerous. "I mean, normal Genin don't have the control I do, so where else would it come from?"

"Point," Kakashi responded. "The Hokage has asked me to get your bloodline tested."

"…what would that all involve?" I asked him. There was a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Well, a simple blood test for starters," Kakashi said. "Then we'd work out a baseline of what you can do from there. Things like if you can pass it on or if there's anything you need to know about it going forward with your career."

"After that?" I asked with a frown. I was over the fear of being denied a career, but I could also end up being the future leader if the abilities I build are inheritable, if not the game system itself.

"I'm not sure," Kakashi admitted. "You don't have to do this if you don't want too, but it would help us find out if there's anything we…need to know."

If my bloodline causes me to turn into a giant monkey every full moon upon puberty, for example. Alright, I can dig that. But not right now. "Maybe later, but not today."

Kakashi looked at me. "Alright, but remember, it would be a good idea so we can help you discover what you're capable of."

Quest Added: Future Proofing.

Get your blood tested.

"Never mind," I said. "Let's go."

"…okay," Kakashi said, clearly taken aback.

He led me off to the Konoha General Hospital and made an appointment. The reason Kakashi put for my visit? Check-up.

I guess they got the memo immediately because the receptionist went off to go find a doctor.

I wonder why they didn't test my blood when I was here the first time? Maybe they discarded the samples before I revealed I could get better from anything after a night's sleep? Nah, that's dumb. Maybe the Hokage has a policy in place not to store bloodline information unless explicitly given by consent to avoid ticking off the head of a future clan? I'm not actually considered an adult so that's suspect at best. Or maybe they did do tests and they just want additional samples now that my chakra control is at 100? Would that actually affect a change?

Theories abound.

But eventually the same doctor who treated me for rat mauling all those years ago came out, with a large smile on his face. "Daisuke, good to see you!"

He actually remembered my name? Huh. I don't remember his. Awkward.

"Hello Doctor," I bowed slightly. "You know why we're here?"

"Yes," He replied, eyes shining with excitement. "Let's not waste any time, I've got a room all ready for you."

Part of me wanted to ask if that rooms been ready for the past four years, but I held my tongue. We were led to a small office and he had me sit on one of those hospital beds, while he presented a needle.

Ugh, needles. I do not like needles. I mean, I'm not afraid of them but they really annoy me.

The Doctor seemed to be waiting for something. I took that as a sign to roll up my short sleeve. "Go ahead, Doc."

"Alright, on the count of three," He said, that grin on his face seeming a little creepy now. "One…two…three."

Needle went in, I barely noticed. He drew some blood, stored it in a vial. "Alright, that's it. Do you have anything that hurts right now? Any pain on the inside of your chest?"

I assume he's talking about my coils. "No, no pain."

"Incredible," He breathed. "Anyway, this should be the only sample we'll need from you for a couple of years. You're entitled to all our findings and you can be assured that each record will be kept secret from Konoha's clans."

"Thank you," Makes sense and I'm grateful. I don't want to be singled out by clans wanting to make a quick allegiance, or to remove an early rival, if that's an actual problem in Konoha. There's also root. "Is there anyone else that can access the results?"

"Not besides the Hokage and myself," He replied. "But only because I'm your doctor."

"Fair enough," I replied, nodding. "Is that everything."

"Yup," He said. "Your sensei will sign the paperwork and you'll be released. Thank you for this opportunity."

Quest Complete: Future Proofing

+150 EXP.

Wait, that's it? Seriously? That…dang it! With a name like that, I thought it would be one of those prolonged quests with a huge payoff at the end! This sucks!

Because I only have 40 more EXP to level!

Later that night, after I cashed my pay vouchers and was sitting with a lot more money than I have ever held in this life before, a whopping 200 Ryo that was sitting underneath my bed in an old box, I was scheming.

If the chakra slide is a thing, then I'll logically get more EXP for getting it, have a new trick I can pull out in combat and have a new form of entertainment. Because that's always important.

I channeled the chakra into my right foot. I was careful in molding it because I didn't want to leave a hole in the floor and have to pay for its repair. I gently push against the floor and kick off lightly with my left foot and…

Chakra Control Check Success: 100/50.

Perk Unlocked: Chakra Slide.

Slide across the floor with reckless abandon using chakra!

+150 EXP.

Bum-bum-bum-Bum!

You have leveled up!

Yes!

Okay, since I haven't noticed any problems with just specializing in one skill every time, I put all 23 skill points in Taijutsu, bringing it up to 80. Then came the perks.

The usual list of perks was joined by Silent Jutsus, which made saying the Jutsu's name unnecessary. I mean, saying the jutsu's name helped you focus on the jutsu itself as a form of fire discipline and was actually pretty useful for warning your allies if you were about to throw an explosive fireball into an area filled with friendlies as well as hostiles. This made that irrelevant in a fire discipline sense, which was good. It made me feel like an idiot, announcing the name of the Henge out of habit whenever I got up in the morning.

…that probably has less to do with jutsu and has more to do my own quirks but whatever.

However, during the bell test, I noticed something: I failed a lot of perception checks. I bet that Kakashi was shadowing me the whole way and that unnerved me. Because as Ninja, we had to, and it pains me to say this, Look beneath the underneath. My inability to do so would be negated as I rose in levels, but right now? It was scary.

And I don't think an average Perception would help against Nin who were my level.

But...would 6 perception help at all? Probably not. In...wait.

I met Iruka today.

Iruka had a chakra-based sonar that he used to gain a Sensor-rating. I have 100 Chakra control, so that's a no brainer.

AND I've got 5000 Ryo sitting under my bed. Gear with improved stats is a thing here! There's probably some goggles or something which would increase my Perception! And other Specials. Because I live in a game.

I can't believe I almost wasted a perk like that.

I chose Silent Jutsus as my perk here because I love perks like that. No more shouting out jutsu at the top of my lungs. Or even at indoor voice levels. I could be, mercifully, silent.

I re-applied my henge and smiled in bliss at no longer having the urge to blurt out my technique.

The sun went down over an hour ago and it was clearly dark. I should probably work on that Ecolocation Jutsu and Tsunade's punch, but I can do that later. I just leveled up. I want to play.

With that, I jumped out the window, head up to the ceiling and get ready to test out my new Jutsu. Because there is no way I'm wasting this beautiful night when I could be doing adrenaline pumping stunts.