章 29: Nakama
Bum-bum-bum-Bum!
Level up!
I got One Handed Jutsu immediately upon the quest's completion. 9 points into Melee Weapons to bring it up to 60, 10 points into Sneak to also bring it up to 60 and 4 points into Fuinjutsu to bring it up to 76. Once I get a chance to use jutsu with one hand, everyone's going to flip.
5,545 until level 17.
…
You know, I never really thought what a dungeon's 'door to before' would look like in real life. But now that I've seen it, I can truly say that it's freaking bizarre. It's just a long tunnel with a ladder going up. The ladder came to a sewer grate that was…just outside of Konoha.
Huh.
"It appears there's an entrance to Konoha right outside the south wall," The Hokage mused. "We'll have to close it."
Gai was the last one out of the tunnel, hopping out and giving everyone a smile that shined in spite of the fact that we just got out of the sewers. Is that a teeth cleaning jutsu? Should be easy enough to duplicate.
Perception Check Failed: Success not possible.
The Hokage struck a single hand sign, his hands seeming to move instantly from at his sides to a rat and I guessed from the failed check that I didn't even see the others he must have used. "Everyone move to the side."
We all moved toward the wall. I settled right behind Kakashi-sensei and watched the Professor at work.
"Rock-style: Tunnel Bomb jutsu," The Professor said and the ground around the tunnel sunk inward as it collapsed. "Good. Now if everyone will remain around me, we do need to be quarantined to avoid spreading anything to the rest of the village."
Oh, this should be good.
Perception Check Failed: Success not Possible.
…I need to turn those notifications off now that I'm not on a mission.
Again, I didn't even see the Hokage's hands move. One moment they were down, the next they were in a dragon sign. "Quarantine Technique."
A glowing bubble of chakra emerged from the Hokage's hands, the wall falling to the ground around us…did he just effectively create a negative pressure room right around us?
Whoa. There has got to be a way to weaponize that.
I'm starting to think that my seals only sped up the inevitable during the boss fight.
Which I didn't get any EXP for.
…I totally deserved that for just jumping into that boss fight. I was so utterly out of my depth, I had no idea.
The group marched right through Konoha's front gates. The bubble actually changed shape to get through the slightly narrower enclose to keep around the group. The people around us kept to one side, parting as the procession moved.
As we marched, I saw that several sink holes had opened up, plunging the buildings underneath into the dirt. Some of them got whole buildings, but most of them opened up between two of them, gobbling up part of them and the people inside. The worst part was that there were actually angler-corpses here on the surface.
I wonder how many died. We're going to have a funeral tonight…I'll have to find a formal kimono that doesn't give me a CHA bonus to avoid accusations of using the Super-henge.
Silver lining, no shortage of D-ranks now.
Aaaand then I got hit with a coughing fit. I buckled over, holding my stomach as I spewed blood from my mouth with each racking cough, the stabbing pain almost enough to bring me to tears.
"Are you going to be okay, Daisuke-kun? Naruto asked with a lot of concern.
"Yeah, I'll be fine as soon as I can take a nap," I replied, wiping the blood from my mouth in irritation. "If you want my recommendation, don't ever get stabbed. It sucks."
Level ups might restore me to full health, but they don't fix crippled limbs. Or radiation poisoning, now that I'm thinking about it. I'll need to sleep to fix this problem.
"We'll bear that in mind," Hiashi said with a stoic face.
"Someone clean that up?" The Hokage asked with a frown.
Medicine Check Success: 32/25.
Chakra Control Check Success: 100/50.
+75 EXP.
Surprising that Medicine was used to make a cleaning Jutsu. Granted, if anyone would know what the word 'sterile' meant, it would be a doctor. The jutsu was a simple cleaning technique that destroyed cells and germs and someone beat me to it and the blood stains on the ground were gone.
5,740 until I level up.
"Sorry, Daisuke-kun," Kakashi eye-smiled apologetically.
"It's okay," I shrugged. Then I remembered something important. "Hokage-sama?"
"Yes, Shimoda-kun?" The Hokage asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I found some interesting documentation regarding the origin of the sewer monsters," I, taking the scrolls about Orochimaru's experiments out of their storage scrolls and handing them to the Hokage. "I just remembered. I thought you might find them interesting."
"Thank you, Shimoda-kun," The Hokage said, taking the scrolls from me. "We will put this to good use."
"Oh, and here's the cypher," I said, using a writing jutsu I developed to instantly write it on a sheet of paper from my notebook.
"…how long did it take you to decode this?" The Hokage almost sounded nervous.
"About five minutes," I replied. "Why?"
"Let's just proceed to the Hospital," The Hokage said quickly as I heard the barest hints of whispers going around me.
I just broke the game again, didn't I?
We made it to the hospital and the Hokage checked us right into quarantine. At first, I thought it was a little odd that Konoha General even has a quarantine area – that seemed a little advanced for a General Hospital. Then I remembered that it was made primarily for Ninja who fight against other Ninja who think it would be hilarious if the whole village were to catch a plague and die, so they needed a place to treat them at. Hence, the negative pressure room in the basement. We were shepherded to changing rooms where we changed our gear out for hospital gowns so they could be cleaned.
I got put on a Hospital bed and I went to…what time is it? It's only 1pm? Alright, well. I'mma sleep for the whole day because I don't feel like going through the whole hospital routine right now.
…Note to self – carry a bed in my storage scrolls in case of near death or crippled limb.
When I came too, I saw that the adults had already been released from the Quarantine. They didn't catch anything, so they got cleaned up and went off to take care of business. I imagined that they needed to go calm down the clans and start up plans to rebuild the collapsed portions of the village.
So, it was just us 'technically children' here in quarantined. I was told by the Hokage that I would be down here the longest alongside Ino who, as I expected, did catch something because while she had a scratch on her arm that got dragged through the muck, I got stabbed clear through the heart and was dragged through the muck.
I must be giving my doctor a serious headache right now. What'd he do this time? He'd say. He got stabbed through the heart and shrugged it off, would be the answer. WHERE'S MY ASPRIN?! Would be his frustrated cry as I pushed him closer to tears. Or madness.
Or both.
"So…some of your fellow orphans dosed a family of rats with soldier pills?" That was…Chouji? I think that was Chouji. "And Daisuke killed them."
"Yup," That was Naruto, sounding cheerful. "He…likes to take care of problems like that."
I sat up with a groan and looked at everyone, who indeed were sitting on hospital beds with IV's sticking out of their arms. The only one who was currently asleep right now was Ino, and she had two different IV's and an oxygen tube in her nose.
"Hey, he's awake!" Naruto looked downright overjoyed. "How are you feeling?"
"Completely fine," I replied. Then I remembered a social grace. "Thanks for asking."
"So…is that story true?" Kiba asked. Akamaru was gone, presumably getting treatment elsewhere.
"Yeah. Naruto's right, I love to solve problems like that," I nodded. "Not going to lie, my romp through the sewers was the most fun I've had in years."
"You had fun?" Sakura all but shouted in shock.
Hisako sighed. "Of course it was."
"But you got stabbed!" Sakura continued in the same fashion.
Naruto face-palmed. "Daisuke, I swear you get the worst cases of tunnel vision. Ever."
"And then we got ambushed! Several times!" Sakura continued with trembling lips. "And…"
"You seem uninjured," I replied to Sakura with a frown. "And I didn't say it was fun for you, just for me. Delving into the heart of a nest of danger and death is the description of the ideal afternoon for me."
"Daisuke…just stop. Please. Just stop," Nichiren looked downright odd without his glasses. They were probably getting cleaned.
I shrugged. "Alright."
"Daisuke…senpai," That was Sasuke. Sasuke just called me Senpai. That's just odd. "How did you get to be so powerful?"
"Bloodline," I answered with a nod. "My bloodline is like cheating. Not to say others can't get to where I am, they can, but using me as a milestone for 'how powerful someone is' is a bad idea."
"No kidding," Hisako frowned in response.
"He's right," Nichiren nodded.
"So then how do we get to where you are?" Sasuke frowned and glared at me.
"You must train to stoke the fires of your youth to become strong!" Lee announced enthusiastically…can anything dampen his enthusiasm? Probably is keeping the PTSD away with it.
"Training," Hisako repeated with a nod.
"That feels like an oversimplification," Nichiren argued, raising his eyebrow. "You need to train, sure, but you also need a good teacher – and good training partners."
"Right, people who know what they're doing," Hisako nodded. "And you need to be willing to examine yourself for flaws and correct them. That way losing has a purpose and doesn't just make you mad."
"You also need to study," I interjected. "Study, study, study. Learn as much as you can from everything you can get your hands on. The Hokage didn't get to where he was by goofing off and yelling about how great he was."
…Huh, I think that came from my experience with Naruto, now that I think about it.
Speaking of, Naruto's shoulders slumped and he looked utterly depressed.
Whoops.
"Sorry, Naruto," I said to him. "I wasn't trying to call you out or anything."
"It's okay," He muttered with a frown.
Now I feel even worse.
"What do we study?" Sasuke seemed unusually focused on me for some reason.
"I don't know, what holes do you have in your skill set?" I replied, a little uncomfortable with being in the spotlight of a bunch of people. "For me, I don't know any medical Ninjutsu and that nearly got me killed several times due to the coughing fits. That's a hole I need to patch. Do you have any ideas?"
"…my great fireball is too slow to effectively hit the enemy," Sasuke admitted after a pause. "…do I need another jutsu?"
"No," I answered and Sasuke actually seemed relieved. "I wouldn't use it as an opener, though. Better as an execution; something to take out an already wounded or restrained enemy."
"That," Sasuke thoughtfully looked up. "That actually makes sense."
"By the way, Tenten?" I said, turning to the Kunoichi? "You wouldn't happen to have a breastplate or something like that in stock, would you?"
"I don't think so, but we can make one special," Tenten replied. "Would that be okay? You can come to the shop later and you can hash out the details with my parents and I?"
"I'd like that," I said. "Getting stabbed sucks."
"I saw that," Tenten frowned with a nod. "Yeah, we can get something for you."
"Hey, Daisuke?" Hisako said sweetly. "Could you come over here for a second?"
"Uhhhh…sure?" I replied, hopping off the bed, picking up my IV and walking over to her. "What's up?"
Well, she clearly was feeling pretty well because she jumped up and wrapped her arms around me in hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."
I…returned it. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Hey!" Naruto pouted. "Where's mine?"
"Wait your turn," Hisako sounded kind of smug.
Naruto grumbled dirty words behind me and I released Hisako. "Honestly, I thought everyone was dead when you showed up in the chamber."
"I thought you were dead when you got swallowed whole," Naruto barked behind me.
"Alright, alright," I said, sliding over to Naruto and giving him the hug he wanted. "There, I'm not dead and I don't ever plan on dying. Ever. Happy?"
"Yes," Naruto replied, burying his face in my shoulder.
"So, going back to training," Kiba started, sounding a little annoyed. "Anything you guys would recommend?"
"You are all clan heirs, correct?" Neji asked the group. When everyone nodded their heads, save Sakura and Naruto, he continued. "Then your parents are all going to work you to the bone after you get out of this. I wouldn't worry too much about what you're going to do…it's being decided for you."
Hinata looked stricken, the poor girl. Sasuke gave Neji a glare that had to be seen to be believed and Naruto just frowned deeper.
"What a drag," Shikamaru groaned in frustration.
"Are you seriously moaning about training after what just happened?" Nichiren asked in disbelief. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," Shikamaru replied. "Don't get me wrong Senpai, I understand why. I just don't like it."
"Fair enough," Nichiren shrugged.
"Besides, I think we're forgetting something in all our asking for your help," Shikamaru replied, clearing his throat. "Thank you. All of you. Without you we would've been fish-food. Especially you, Shimoda-senpai, because you caught us first and nearly died getting us out."
A round of 'thank-you Senpai's' went around the room. This felt weird.
"Your welcome," Nichiren smiled.
"It's what we do," Hisako nodded.
"Of course!" Lee gave a thumb's up and a smile.
"I'm happy we were able to help," Tenten replied.
Neji offered no verbal reply, only giving a nod.
"Just looking out for my best friend," I offered a weak smile to which Naruto offered a much wider one.
Then…the game froze. A green window appeared in my sight and the contents nearly made my jaw drop.
Perk Unlocked: Nakama. Your ability to make friends in spite of your social retardation is almost magical! Those who you call friend are no longer affected by charisma lower than 5, It read, bringing tears to my eyes. Requirements 10+ friends, 5 Charisma.
I…holy cow. This…I…just what I needed.
I was wondering when I was going to get a perk from quests…I mean, I guess this doesn't really count but it gave me the friends amount to get this perk. Wow. Just wow.
Thank you, Luck Stat.
The next day, we were all still in quarantine. Ino managed to wake up, looking a lot better than she did yesterday. She thanked us all much like everyone else did. We all talked, talked about the Anglers…or 'Fish-men' as they've been calling them. Because I called them that at first.
Whatever.
It was kind of interesting because while I didn't change in the slightest, everyone seemed…a little more at ease around me than usual. Even Nichiren and Hisako. It was…great. Fantastic, really. I don't freak out the people I care about anymore.
We all paused when the door to the quarantine opened and the Hokage stepped in. "Everyone, good news. You have all been declared clean and will be free to return home in a few hours."
"Yes!" Kiba smiled, a smile which got even bigger when Akamaru ran between the Hokage's feet and jumped on Kiba, licking his face.
"Your possessions will be returned to you shortly, but first I wanted to share a few remarks with you," The Hokage smiled and cleared his throat. Everyone in the room sat up a little straighter. Even me. "You have all performed admirably in the face of almost insurmountable odds. You each showed a remarkable amount of courage and dedication – a willingness to fight for your fellow villagers and their safety. I'm not just talking about those who fought, but all of you."
Each student and Genin perked up, looking at the aged ruler as he spoke.
He took a breath before he continued. "Each of you, in spite of danger pressing on you from all sides, pressed on. You did not bend or break. You obeyed orders and did your duty. Most importantly, you all survived. You have the Will of Fire burning brightly within you, and it's beautiful to see."
Lee was smiling wide. Hisako was nodding with approval and Nichiren was clearly listening intently.
He smiled, a gentle grandfatherly one he probably practiced a thousand times. It was very effective nonetheless. "There may be those among you who desire to give up. Who would refuse to believe they can make a difference in the face of such stark odds. I ask that you heed my words when I say – don't give up. Keep training. Keep working. Keep improving yourselves. Keep doing that and I promise you that when confronted with these similar odds, that you will make a difference. The Jounin that protected you are a reflection of your future. Mighty carriers of the Will of Fire, capable of protecting the ones they love and avenging their wrongs. That will be you one day."
Sasuke perked up considerably after that. Sakura appeared thoughtful as she considered the Hokage's words.
"But if you give up, the village, the people you love will be short one protector," The Hokage said with a solemn frown.
I doubt the Hokage is saying this for anyone in particular – more like he's afraid this experience will have crushed most of them and he's trying to ignite the spark back in the student's cores so they'll have a desire to push forward. An experience like this is like dumping a pile of logs on a fire that's only started. You'll probably put out the first fire, but you can ignite the logs with enough heat.
"We can't have that," The Hokage said with a resolute gaze that passed over everyone. "You, all of you – Genin and Students alike, are our future. We need you. You will be the protectors of our village and I promise you that the next time this happens, you will be up to the task."
"Do you understand?" Hiruzen asked.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," We replied as if we were in a classroom. It was a good speech; I give it an 8 out of 10. Fairly impactful on the room, but it didn't particularly inspire me. That's mostly because I'm already a disgusting game breaker being told that the village needs me. I've heard it before.
Actually, I just had a thought…can I access my black book? I know they've all taken it away from me to clean it, but…I can.
This book really never leaves my side. Well, I was currently sitting on it and while it felt clean, I was probably going to have to clean it anyway before I left quarantine. Just to be safe. I'll wait until the Hokage is finished with his speech.
"Thank you, students and Genin," Hiruzen smiled one last time. "I will see you all when you graduate and are placed in Cells. I know you'll all make fine Shinobi – some already are."
With a wave goodbye, the Hokage left. Keeping my book down under me, I placed a hand behind me and used the clean-up jutsu I invented yesterday. Then I felt the book get really warm and that whole area was now as clean as I possibly could get it, which was pretty darn clean.
One-Handed-Jutsu was already pulling its weight. Since this book never leaves my side, I can just leave it in the room and grab it later when I leave quarantine. I consider this awesome. Heck, I could probably write storage seals in the notes section of the book and store things in there and…this thing is broken.
I like it.
No, scratch that.
I love it.
True to the Hokage's word, the Doctor arrived and told us all we were free to go. We were all unhooked from our IV's and taken to the desk where our gear was returned to us. The changing rooms were really busy as we all lined up to put our stuff back on. I was the fastest since I could summon my book at will and could equip things from the inventory screen. I'm glad no one's ever seen me equip things like this, because that would be a very awkward conversation.
I left the changing room not ten seconds after entering, nodding to everyone I passed. I wasn't thirsty, I haven't been thirsty in years, but I just wanted some water, so I made my way to the drinking fountain.
+5 hp.
You know, I used to think water was flavorless, but that's actually false. It tastes like water. And sometimes, it tastes really good.
+5hp.
You know, this boss fight was a serious wake-up call. I shouldn't just assume that everyone person I end up fighting is someone that I can beat. And see, I knew that because of the Concrete House Monster and how I couldn't fight that thing. I needed Nichiren and Hisako to blow it up before we stood a chance.
+5hp.
So, I really need to work on my tactics and-OHMYGOSHTHATISBROKEN!
+5hp.
In my excitement, I ended up taking some water down the wrong pipe, and I started coughing.
"Daisuke are you okay?" Hisako asked from the changing room in concern.
"Yeah!" I replied with a smile. "Just some water down the wrong tube."
"Alright," She sounded non-committal and everyone else looked at me with concern, especially the doctors.
I smiled and gave them a-thumbs up. They all blinked oddly and went back to their business.
Alright then. Well, whatever.
I regenerate health with water. Suddenly, Water techniques are the best thing I could ever ask for. Permanent regeneration. From basically everywhere. Heck, with a powerful enough technique, I could make water in the middle of the desert. Make a technique that absorbs water like a sponge and see if it works like that.
It's like I don't…well, I need medical techniques still for crippled limbs, but for raw health damage? Water, baby. Then add Adamantium Skeleton, which while not completely eliminating the possibility of getting my limbs crippled, will make it much harder for that to happen.
I…wow.
I've found my next element. Should I put off getting the Ninja or Paralyzing Palm perks in order to get the Elemental Training Perk for Water? It shouldn't be hard to mix Water and Lightning together either, with my chakra control. I mean, I understand that's normally in the purview of Bloodlines but all Bloodlines do is make a chakra mixture happen naturally…not that it's impossible for anyone else.
For a brief moment, I regretted not drinking water while I was down in the sewers. Then I remembered I was in the sewers and decided that it wouldn't have been worth it. Although a water filter jutsu might not have been hard…
I wonder what Lightning and Water do when they're mixed. Storm clouds? That'd be a cool thing to see weaponized. Ooh, and I'm coming up on actually being able to use the Rasengan. Storm-Cloud Rasengan! Figure out how to make it ranged and call the technique 'Rolling Thunder'.
So many possibilities.
"Hey, Daisuke!" Naruto called from the door, waving me forward. "Are you coming?"
"Heh, yeah!" I replied with a smile. Whoops. "Coming!"
I was at his side in a second and we walked out of the quarantine zone and up the stairs.
"So…Daisuke," Naruto began, somewhat uneasily.
"Yes?" I asked, my giddiness coming through my smile. "What can I do for you, Naruto?"
"Man, you got really happy all of a sudden," Naruto blinked. "Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."
"I'm listening," I replied, genuinely curious now.
"So…a couple months ago, I…" Naruto took a deep breath to steady himself. "I told the Hokage that I'd ask you for help. Since you offered and you could do it."
"You did?" I blinked. "Okay."
We checked ourselves out of the hospital at the front desk. We stood in the lobby
"I've…been avoiding it," Naruto shrugged. "It…Training's really hard. Studying's even worse. It's so boring and I hate doing it. Just sitting there, doing the same thing over and over again and…well, I thought maybe I could ask you…later."
"Okay," I nodded to him.
"Then…this happened," Naruto said, gesturing in front of him. "We got captured by fish people and taken down into the depths of the sewers. No one, not even Iruka-sensei could do anything about it. When you saved us…I thought that it was over. Then we got ambushed and you got stabbed from behind."
He took a deep breath. "I thought you were dead. Then I thought you were dead again when you got eaten alive. I couldn't do anything about it...even when I got so mad I saw red; I couldn't do anything against that giant."
I put my hand around his shoulder. That was something I should be doing, right? Being comforting? I think so.
"So…I don't want that to happen again," Naruto took another deep breath. "I don't want to be helpless and watch as my friends die in front of me. But…I can't do it on my own."
I nodded and hummed thoughtfully. I looked around. The clan heirs were already gone, their families having taken them home as fast as humanly possible. The only people left were my teammates, who were talking with Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura by the door, a sobbing Sakura who was being reunited with her own parents…oh, so it's her dad that has pink hair. I made an error, for I judged wrongly. And Sasuke…who was watching me and Naruto.
I was getting distracted. "Alright, Naruto. I'll help you. I know you might find training boring, so we'll find a way to make it…more entertaining for you."
"Daisuke-senpai," Sasuke actually came up to us now. He took a breath before continuing. "…I know you and Naruto are friends and I have no business asking but…I need help too."
"Why do you need my help?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you were the Rookie of the Year."
"As our latest experience shows and your teammate pointed out, that is a worthless title," Sasuke took another breath. "Look, I…need to get stronger. As strong as I possibly can. I need to kill… a certain…someone. And I can't do it as I am. The other students have their families. Like Naruto…I don't. I don't have anyone else. So, I need to ask you."
Right. Itachi. He needs to be a strong as possible to murder the man who massacred his family. A truly monstrous act that I dimly recall having more than a few layers of deception around it. I'll need to figure out those layers at some point.
"So, what's going on?" Nichiren walked up, followed by Hisako. I saw that his Parents stayed waiting by the door.
"I'm being asked for help," I replied with a nod. "I'm perfectly willing to do so, but I doubt that I'd be all that good of a teacher beyond 'here's some pointers'."
Hisako hummed, then she narrowed her eyes. "You were going to ask us to help you help them, weren't you?"
"Yeah," I nodded, the sudden burst of understanding…is kind of unnerving. "Can you?"
"My parents understand when I'm on training exercises," Hisako shrugged. "When they're here, that is."
"My Mom always said that you learn more when you teach," Nichiren nodded with a small smile. "So, I think they'd be okay with it."
That is completely true, Nichiren. Your mother is a smart woman.
"So, when…after our training exercises with Kakashi-sensei?" I asked, thinking about it.
"I think that'll be fine," Nichiren nodded. "We can take an hour or two once we're done for the day, assuming they don't have homework from the Academy."
"Wait, really?" Naruto looked stunned. "All three of you?"
"…so, uh…" Sakura came up now, looking more than her fair share of nervous. Her parents were less than ten steps away, watching their daughter.
I see where this is going.
This feels weird.
"I…overheard you talking," Sakura continued. "What the Hokage said…earlier? About all of us being able to protect our loved ones?"
"Yes," I nodded. "You can train with us."
"I don't want anything like-wait, really?" Sakura's eyes were gleaming. "Really?"
"Yes, really," Hisako smiled at her. "I promise you can become an amazing shinobi. You all can."
"But just so we're all clear," Nichiren stated. "We aren't Jounin-sensei's. We're still learning everything ourselves, so we could get things wrong. This is more like a…study group. Something where we all get together to improve."
"Yes Senpai," Sakura replied, sounding absolutely relieved.
Sasuke nodded with a stoic look on his face.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "We're all going to be amazing Shinobi! Just you wait!"
"So, when do we start?" Sakura said.
"Uh…well, if this goes along our last absurdly dangerous missions," Hisako replied, looking up and tilting her head in thought. "We should get a week's furlough…maybe two weeks? We could start tomorrow."
"You guys know where training ground three is?" I asked.
They all shook their heads.
"Okay, meet us at two o'clock in front of the academy, we'll walk you there," I explained. "Sound good?"
This was weird. In a good way, I hope.
クリエイターの想い 
Leylin_Farlier
Leylin_Farlier The Previous was a Fanbased Work of Fiction, written by Fulcon. Naruto is owned by Shueisha, Viz Entertainment and Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the Official Release.
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