Naruto: the simple skills

Pov: Oswald

What...? What's happening? Last thing that I remember was getting lunch and then... nothing. What? No, no, I remember, there was that kid with the match... he lit the school ablaze... no... not like that, I didn't want to die like that...

*muffled thunks*

Something is scraping and slamming, like stone against stone... I try and see around me but my vision is not clear, I feel so tired.

Eventually the darkness clears and I am able to see vague figures? Flesh like tones so someone is picking me up, through the rubble... did I live through the fire?

I look around and realise that these people are massive... or I'm exceptionally small... no, no, no, no.

This isn't happening.

I'm going mad.

That must be it.

The people are speaking a language I dont speak but recognize... Japanese... I faint from shock but more from exhaustion.

I am a baby after all.

---

I awake and my senses are still dull, so I am still a baby... haaa- not like denying it will change my situation, it seems im in a building now, very warm and my body wrapped in a nice blanket.

Nothing much for me to do is there? Sit, eat, shit.

Please grow up fast me... I want to understand quicker!

---

I'm capable of limited movement now, I am crawling around and I have discovered I live within an orphanage, the kids around me of various age and the caretakers is what clued me off, I need to learn this language quickly... I cant sit around forever and I need to tell someone I'm not actually a child... I do not have any writing utensils or ways to tell anyone and it is infuriating to experience 'feeding time', 'nap time', 'did you poopy?', 'who is the cutest thing?' And 'aw! what a cute baby!'

I make sure I'm on my worst behaviour when parents come looking for a baby to adopt, I am not emotionally binding to anyone! I'm not going to figure out speaking and tell the people who have been raising me for a year that I am in fact a fully grown seventeen year old!

---

Okay I am not telling anyone anything anymore.

Why?

When I learned to speak a screen popped up in front of me... yeah, I have reincarnated with a system.

------

Complete: Learn to speak!

Reward: E-rank scroll

------

I am waiting till nigh time to collect my reward and I don't want anyone to see me 'find' this scroll. This small notification isn't a blue screen, no it's like an itch in my brain that wont leave... just waiting for me to accept the reward.

I can barely focus on anything else, I should nap. Napping sounds great.

---

I wake up and make sure that everyone else is asleep before I 'accept' the reward.

*puff* a small cloud of smoke reveals an E-ranked scroll in front of me, I open it and it is blank.

What? Just a scroll? Nothing inside?

------

Instructions! Do not forget!

Simply think about the skill you wish to learn and learn it! Need higher ranked skills to upgrade lower ranked ones!

To see all acquired skills meditate and imagine!

------

Right... so skills? Like I can learn martial arts or something?

I hold the scroll and think about 'Punching'

...

Nothing happens, and I think harder and harder before the scroll starts to glow a little and I loose concentration, the scroll goes normal.

All right... so any skill?

--

I have been trying anything all night and it starts glowing, from 'sneezing' to 'breathing hellfire' it starts glowing... I'm assuming it helps me learn how to do something and doesn't supplement the ability to do it, so I should stick to things a normal me can do until I have a spare scroll.

Its nearly morning and I should decide on a skill.

Heh? Something cool like ultra punch or amazing parkour skills? Wrong! I'm going to see how someone can train a skill that's something one usually never trains for!

I'm going to train to 'Stare'

... I open the scroll.

... the scroll starts glowing.

... the sun starts peeking over the village.

... but the scroll vanishes. And me as well.

Suddenly I am in a blank room, a deep orange or maybe red? It looks like the walls are close but no matter how hard I walk in a direction I never reach them.

I look around and wait.

Five minutes later the room changes into that of a interrogation room, a lone chair and table and a mirror in front, I sit down and wait.

*scratch* *scrawl*

The table starts scratching letters into it and eventually spells out a sentence.

'Stare. Stare into the mirror and don't blink for ten minutes'

"That wouldn't be good for my eyes I'm pretty sure... I need to blink you know?"

*scratch* *scrawl*

'You wish to stare. You never asked to blink'

"Why do I-"

*SLAM!*

the table goes flying into the wall and I huddle into myself, I look to that same wall and the wall has writing on it now.

'Stare. Do not blink. Ten minutes'

I gulp and try my best not to blink but it happens and happens and happens so much, I feel like I have been here for over an hour but I still cant do it, and I don't know why.

--

I stare.

Its been ages and I don't feel hungry, or tired, just staring.

Eventually, the room fades and I look around in confusion.

*scratch* *scrawl*

The floor etches new writing.

'Complete: E-rank Stare skill'

I blink and I am on my bed and my hands empty, I look around and everything is just as I left it... but it felt like an entire day in there?

Was that all fake?

No... I stare forward and don't blink and I know that if I wanted to I wouldn't stop.

I sit in a crossed legged pose and meditate, trying to imagine my skills.

It takes till breakfast but I finally manage to do so.

------
Skills:

Stare: E × D • ︎C • ︎B • ︎A • ︎S • ︎K •︎

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Huh... × must mean that I have it at that level... while •︎ must mean I haven't.

Why is S and K at the end? Is S special? Then what does K mean???

I feel so tired.

"Wake up children! We have so many things to do today!"

The cheery young lady who helps out at the orphanage enters and I groan in annoyance, I will not stay up late ever again! Way too tired to learn how to read.

I beg that time stops moving so slow as the day goes on and eventually I get some sleep the next night.

--

I wake up and go through my routine, eat breakfast, learning activities and finally free time- I am used to using this time to learn how to speak but I'm done with that, looking around at the other one and a half year olds fumble about I try to find something of interest.

I crawl over to the corner to try out some of the books that have been left for the older kids most likely, but as I approach I hear sniffing and silent crying.

Hmm? I look hiding next to the bookshelf in the corner and see a blond small child crying to himself, he is on the floor crying into it.

"Hey, you... okay?" I separate my words and try not to mess up the pronouncement of them.

"Huh? *sniff*" the kid makes a confused noise and looks up at me, I raise my eyebrow and he looks around... mostly up though, he is looking for any adults, why?

"Looking... for... big... person?"

He shakes his head and looks at me with confusion.

"Cry? Why?"

He shakes his head and wipes his tears before stubbornly looking away.

Doesn't want to admit it huh? Well I came here for a book... so yoink.

I sit down on in front of the shelf and start reading some basic children's story about a ninja who lost his way but eventually came back to the village.

*flip*

I start reading through the book and making sure I understand every character before turning the page, halfway through a hand jabs into the book and slams its finger at a ninja.

"Woahh!"

I turn in surprise to see that the kid has been next to me that entire time, he stares at the ninja in wonder and I flip the pages more watching the kid then anything else as he mimics throwing shuriken and jumping in joy when the ninja returned to see the Hokage smiling at him in joy.

"Do... you wish... to read.. another?"

I ask and he nods frantically but yelps when he sees the young adult behind him.

"Little one..."

She places a hand on my shoulder as she kneels near me, I still keep an eye on the kid who seems unusually downcast all of a sudden.

"Lets go play with some of the other kids shall we?"

She asks innocently enough for a kid not to notice but I do, she is glaring at the blonde kid and trying to separate me... why?

I stare back in silence.

"Come one, lets go"

She tugs my arm but I don't budge and continue staring at her.

"Little one why don't I read you a few stories with the others?"

I stare and her smile starts to crack.

"Little one-"

"Why?"

"Sorry?"

"Why... not... with him?"

She looks in between us and the kid opens his eyes wide at that, I look at her and she almost sneers when being asked that.

"Okay, time to go" she adds in a less gentle tone, I stare back unblinking and respond.

"No"

"Excuse me?"

"Are.. you deaf? I... wish... to.. read with... this kid"

I gesture to the boy who smiles brightly and she scowls before getting up and heading to the staff room.

I pick out a new book and both me and the kid sit in the corner to read it.

I have time to waste and making a friend never went wrong for anybody... I think so at least... okay now I'm thinking of people making friends with those they shouldn't, is there anybody like that?

He tugs my shirt interrupting my thoughts.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" He beams at me.

A name? Oh right... I can't say Oswald and I am not used to my name being Kenzo...

"Call me.. O"

"O?"

"Easy to... pronounce.. yeah?"

He nods his head before being glued to the book again... soon after I receive a notification.

------

Complete: Make a friend!

Reward: D-rank scroll

------

Nice~ I will make sure to unbox that later, for now though lets make sure that Naruto here gets his friendship.

I make sure to go over any words he doesn't understand and we eventually have to find our way back to our beds to rest.

I look around to make sure no one is watching before I accept the scroll and it falls into my hands, I open it and think of something useful... but unused!

'Speed walking!'

...

Nothing happens no matter how much I think on it.

Huh? Does it only work if I have a skill to upgrade into D-rank? Damn, I thought I could skip the first step with this one.

I think about the skill 'Stare'

... it glows.

Suddenly I'm shunted into this room again, with a deep red/orange hue- soon the room shifts into a forest and a mice approaches me.

*scratch* *scrawl*

I look to the trees and words scratch onto them.

'Stare. Stare down the opponent's and don't stop. The second you do, they will attack you. Stare for your survival'

I look back to the mouse who stares at me... I stare back unblinking, the mouse scuttles away after it blinks and soon a rabbit appears doing the same thing.

The animals get bigger and bigger and after ten minutes I blink while staring down a big dog, when I did it moved closer to me, as if ready to launch himself.

Cant. Blink. Will. Suffer.

Ten more minutes and I'm greeted with a bear, just a small one but it can kill me easily, and my eyelids really want to fall.

...

Shit. I blinked.

*SLAM*

I lost track of its eyes and now it has slammed me into the ground, what? Under two years old cant do anything against that.

I feel my bones snap and my flesh tear as the bear starts to kill and eat me.

I blink and I am standing in the forest, looking at the mouse again.

Fuck... I have to do that again! This is insane... why didn't I chose 'relaxation' as the skill... or something like 'how to please women' or maybe 'Stare, but I get to keep my mental stability!'

I stare at the mouse and he leaves, I stare at the dog and I stare at the bear... but I always fail, it takes about ten or more minutes to get to the bear and I keep blinking by then...

I feel like I have been here for days at this point with the constant staring has me going insane.

I do it again.

And again.

And again.

I do find that eventually I manage to make it to staring down an adult bear, then next is a Gorilla, then lions and wolves and every animal you can think of, they get bigger scarier worse and I have sliced, diced and torn to shreds more times than I can count but finally the world goes back to that dull red and orange plain.

I take gasps of air and I look around to the writing on the floor.

'Complete: D-rank stare skill'

I gasp for air in the night and I am sweating profusely... like I have awoken from a nightmare I put on myself.

I blink and don't open my eyes till the morning comes.

---

Today I am woken by someone jumping onto my bed, I open my eyes to to look and see Naruto, he is beaming a smile at me and points to the window which is glowing brightly with the warmth of the sun, right. I slept in? Why would the caretakers let me skip breakfast?

I get up and stretch as Naruto keeps pulling on my arm and pointing at the books again.

Is it just me... or are all the kids in this orphanage including myself growing exceptionally fast? Like not in size but in spirit and mind...

I get up and make sure my bed is spotless before going to the bookshelf which... currently has a bunch of dictionaries and geography books on the bottom and all the ones Naruto is beaming at are on the top... I cannot reach that.

I pull out a geography book and start reading through it, Naruto looks for a minute but is obviously bored.

I open up to the big map and- that is not earth.

Elemental Nations? We are here? Naruto points at the legend on the side where it lists the names of a village its lands and for Naruto the most important part is Hokage of Konoha.

Konoha? Is that where we are? All the stories say that the Hokage is the best and that he lives in a shinobi village... which sounds insane now that I think about it out loud... then again a notification pops up in my head and delivers me skills...

I shake my head and start reading through the book as Naruto attempts to climb the bookshelf.

The day ends and I finish my book as Naruto falls on his ass for the last time today, I look around and we weren't called for lunch? Where is everyone actually? I wasn't paying attention but everyone has disappeared and the place is unusually silent.

I put the book back and Naruto flashes me a grin before pointing at the top shelf, I shake my head and he frowns- *creak*

"Okay kids back inside now, make sure to wash your hands!"

The young caretaker opens the door and a bunch of kids swarm into the orphanage again- the young caretaker carries a large picnic basket into the staff room.

I approach one of the others.

"Where... did you... go?"

The young girl looks at me curiously before replying.

"Park! You... stayed... here? Amazing sandwiches!"

I nod my head and the young caretaker comes out and kneels next to me.

"Are you finally playing with the others? Don't go near that kid again okay? You must be hungry have a sandwich we had some left over"

She offers me a sandwich with a smile on her face... but I turn to Naruto who is watching this scene with an upset expression.

A normal kid would feel hungry enough to take the bribe and sit with the group... but I prefer the dead languages and facts only a minority would know.

I shake my head and smile before going back over to Naruto who smiles brightly again, I pull out the geography book again and show Naruto the most interesting parts that revolve around ninja facts and cool places that had battles happen.

I glance back up at the caretaker who is glaring at me and Naruto, I stare back and she huffs before getting up and walking away.

It seems that the lady doesn't like Naruto so much, meh- never one to go with the flow after all, I point to the place where the fourth Hokage defeated an entire Iwa army... I skip over the details for the kid, it seems these books are not child friendly at all... maybe that lady tried to replace the books with something boring... hahaha! Loser~ doesn't know I love these kind of books.

We sit for a while and enjoy the rest of the day.

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