Timber! [Naruto - Male SI]

[DerHesse]

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Coming to terms with this crazy new chapter, I try my best to enjoy this opportunity as much and as long as possible.

This is my first writing attempt, in a foreign language no less, so I decided to stick with the cliché SI living in Konoha.
Other ideas are floating around, but I first wanted to get into the flow of writing in a tried and familiar environment without having to worry about too much world-building.

That's why I will orient myself by the original Naruto series, Shippūden will be a non-binding guideline and some stuff will be disregarded (e.g.Minato being a perfect Sage).
The SI is neither a genius nor a special snowflake with 15 different bloodlines. He will have to make the most of his situation just by knowing what should be possible and what not.

Please enjoy and dissect the technical side to your heart's content.

Intro / Chapter 1.1

Just my luck, it's Saturday morning and I'm stuck in traffic on the motorway.

"Dear drivers, due to the sudden fog and the drastic reduction of visibility between Offenbach and Hanau multiple accidents occurred.
The resulting traffic jam is rapidly gaining in length so please consider detours as early as possible. And now back to…"

'A bit late for that.'

Making myself comfortable in my heated seats and turning the volume up I gave myself up to my fate of having to stare at a bunch of logs on the truck right in front of me.

Yawning, I noticed a pair of headlights in my mirror.

'Welcome to the club buddy.' Another yawn and I was back at staring at a bunch of wood.

What followed next was an unbearably loud tire squealing, a blinding light filling up my rear-view mirror and the feeling of a bottomless pit forming in my stomach.
My last image was of broken glass and the age rings of a random log. Talk about signs given what followed next.

Random images of people and events flashed before me in a haze, sounds came and went in a whisper and through it all a headache pulsed like I never felt before. Urgh!

"Urgh!"

"Daiki-kun," I felt a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes to the sight of a small bowl of rice.

'What…'

"Daiki-kun," A soft shake on my shoulder reminded me of the presence next to me and I glanced up into the concerned face of an elderly woman. "Is it the headaches again?"

I couldn't help but nod, but whatever was about to be said was overshadowed by a trembling and the shattering of every window in sight. What followed was a blood-curdling sound I will never forget.
'Is that howling?' I thought quivering on the floor.

I saw the wom…I saw Hifumi-neesan shakily get to her feet, a glance around and then she vanished right before my eyes. I gaped like a fish 'What the fuck is going on' I couldn't help it, but I felt the same pit forming again.
When I suddenly heard the crying and screaming around me the feeling only got worse.

Next thing an arm wrapped around my waist and I felt myself placed in a hallway with half-a-dozen other toddlers.

I glanced up and saw another elderly woman, Ayano-neesan my addled mind supplied, crouch before me.

"Hifumi-se" another tremor went through the whole building."Hifumi-senpai, we have to get out of here!"

"Hai!" I glanced towards Hifumi-neesan hovering over a screaming boy, her hand on his forehead, a soft green glow emitting between her palm and the bleeding wound.
A few seconds later and the boy reduced himself to some pitiful sobs and sniffles.

"Children!" She clapped twice to get our attention; she took a breath and smiled at us.

"Children, I want you all to listen and do the same as me." She gently took one hand of the boy she just treated. "Now Akio-chan, please take Arata-chan's hand." She nodded, "very good."

And so it went on until I clasped hands with Ayano-neesan at the end of the row. Taking the lead Hifumi-neesan guided us through the door at the end of the hallway and onto what seemed to be the streets outside.
An immediate right turn and we were among a throng of people screaming and crying heading in the same direction.

I saw Hifumi-neesan glance back. I saw her struggling, but she managed to put on a smile for our sake.

"You are all doing great, children, just a bit more and" and that's when the explosion across the street wrecked me.
___

I woke up to the feeling of soft touches and a pleasant warmth along my left leg.

"…muscle tissue seems to be fine…" I felt the warmth pool around my shin "…fractured shinbone is properly set…healing process seems to be doing fine, too."

Groaning, I tried to blink the sleep out of my eyes and get a good look at what's going on only to be greeted by the face of a young woman, who looked like she was about to keel over given the dark bags under her eyes.

"Hello little man, bedtime isn't over yet." She whispered and tapped her index finger softly against my forehead.
___

The next time I came to I nearly had a heart attack when I opened my eyes.

"Oh dear, it seems we are losing our edge, Danzo-sama, if we can't keep from waking up a child."

Speechless and frozen in confused horror I could only stare at two of the most messed up characters of a fucking manga.

Illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the only window Danzo ignored the Sannin, who was still looking at me with barely concealed humor and glanced at a slip of paper.

"Daiki Ito, orphan, born two years ago, parents chunin of no interest." Danzo looked up and practically radiated disinterest. "Chakra-level below average and given his parents a likelihood to develop a water-affinity."

Orochimaru shrugged, having already lost interest as well.

"Too old for me, too young for you, I guess Sensei can keep this one."

With that he made a weird gesture with his hand, probably a one-handed seal I thought dimly, and I was down for the count …again.
___

I observed my surroundings with a weird kind of detachment, I ignored the itch under my cast, which initially roused me from sleep, and stared at the children and toddlers sharing the room with me.

Some would spark a memory and a name, others didn't. Did these select few share a past with this…body?
I shook my head, these moments of lucidity were vexing, to say the least. My mind felt like it was thinking in two different directions without coming to any conclusions.

Thinking about my current situation was just as confusing but less irritating. The number of cots and the signs of age of this room made me think of an emergency shelter.
The location of said shelter, however, is the reason for my near vegetative state.
Chances of dismissing Orochimaru and Danzo as a figment of my imagination were dashed when I saw the woman this body called Hifumi-neesan limp past my cot with a crutch.
Somewhat glad, that the woman who protected me was alive, I couldn't help but keep my gaze transfixed on the gleaming headband tied to her shoulder.
The final nail was her almost casual use of what I now knew as medical nin-jutsu.

Apparently, my name was Daiki Ito, apparently, I was two years old and apparently I was an orphan living in Konoha right after the Kyuubi incident.
Days were going by in a constant blur for me, I knew I had Hifumi-neesan worried with the way I was behaving, given the way she was talking to me and patting my head occasionally.
I told her more than once, that I was fine because I could see, that she was run ragged by having to care for all the children while being injured herself.

It was on the tenth day, I thought, when I decided to make peace with my situation.

This is my life now and I was going to make the most of it.

I couldn't tell how many nights I was lying awake just thinking in circles to the point of nausea.
What ifs, future events, butterfly effect and random quotes like "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." or "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" kept my head spinning like a top.

Partially influenced by being two years older than Naruto and frankly the only train of thought, that let me sleep at night.

The many-worlds interpretation.

There are an infinite amount of worlds, among them an infinite amount of worlds with an infinite amount of individuals, who changed lanes so to speak. Maybe, that was the reason for fantasy in general, I thought. One particular version of Kishimoto lived a life in a different version of this Shinobi-world and decided to immortalize his memories on paper in his new world, my old one. And someday an individual will remember this world with all the "changes" I made. Basically Chinese whisper between worlds.

So how did this influence my view for the future? To be honest, it justified my selfishness.

When my last chapter closed, I wasn't even thirty and yet my back was killing me and my whole body was stiff as a board. This new body had all the potential and previously thought impossible feats were easily within reach.
I would enjoy this opportunity as much and as long as possible.

Death has lost some of its edges, but there were always worse fates to consider. Memories of Orochimaru and Danzo staring at me made sure I wouldn't forget this particular lesson.

I wasn't a saint, I knew that for a fact, given the choice between right and easy I wasn't sure I would always make the correct decision. For better or worse, thoughts about killing people weren't as clear cut as I initially hoped.
Maybe it was the German in me, but the "just following orders"-justification suddenly appeared more like a lifeline for future use to me.

'Fuck it' I gave myself a mental shake, time will tell. Back to the topic at hand.

I honestly didn't want any part in Naruto's life and possible events surrounding him. I wanted to live my life the way I wanted,
I wanted to make my decisions AND mistakes with minimal influence from 'fate' and face the consequences of MY decisions and actions.
That said, I wouldn't look away if something was to stand right in front of me.

Long story short, I wouldn't look for trouble, but I would help when I could and damn the butterfly effects it would generate.
___

The same day I had my revelation, I decided to open up to the only adult in my new life.
I couldn't be bothered to attach myself to those kids, their noise and restlessness were just too much and whenever a kid was screaming its head off I felt my sanity slipping.

I watched Hifumi-neesan guide her glowing hands over my cast, eyes closed, quietly muttering to herself.
I debated with myself how to break the ice and even how to carry on. In the end, I decided to go for short and simple. No need to make this kid-thing more complicated than strictly necessary.

I saw the signs of her getting to the end of this session and waited for her to open her eyes.

"Thank you." She startled a bit but smiled nonetheless. I smiled hesitantly back, sadly it wasn't an act, I just wasn't a people-person.

She stood, ruffled my hair and made to leave.

"Umm, neesan?"

"Yes, Daiki-chan, do you need the loo again?" I grimaced mentally, another reason I daily thanked whatever deity, that put me here, was the fact that my conscious fully emerged in the body of a two-year-old.
I'm pretty sure my sanity wouldn't have stayed intact during the course of let's just call it the larval stage.

Not to mention, that I probably would never be able to look at breasts again.

Anyway.

"No, when can I take this off?" I pointed at my leg.

"Oh, your cast, you have to keep this for at least one week longer and then we will see." She told me sternly, conveying, that I shouldn't get any ideas beforehand.

I nodded, medical nin-jutsu and maybe even my own chakra seemed to have sped things significantly up.

"Okay, thank you." She ruffled my hair again and went to the sleeping boy two cots further.
___

It was a somber mood that marked the start of our breakfast.

Today was the 10th​ of October, again, and since you can't exactly herd almost two dozen toddlers and children to the official memorial service we were asked to keep a moment of silence for the lives lost right here at the breakfast table the moment everybody was seated.

Among them two kids from the old orphanage and even Ayano-neesan, which hit a lot harder, than I expected.

As everybody started to quietly dig into their food I glanced around the room and grimaced when I saw Hifumi-neesan at the end of the table.

She had significantly more grey hair and the lines on her face ran a lot deeper. She lost the crutch, but a noticeable limp remained and if you didn't know any better you would think she aged a decade in just year.
I was fairly certain losing Ayano-neesan was one reason for that.

My eyes drifted past her, more things changed.

The building was entirely new and now located further from the center of the village since I could see the top of the outer walls a short distance away.
Instead of six orphans now there were 23 provided for by three adults instead of two. I suspected, that multiple smaller orphanages were merged into less but bigger orphanages.
I had no particular opinion about that since I couldn't exactly compare and complain.

I absently dug into my rice and the kale side dish, I was no cook, but it tasted good enough and like I said I had no reason to complain.
The other kids gave me enough space after I rebuffed them multiple times, I guess our relationship was the child-version of professional, which suited me just fine.

One year already, I sighed, there were probably things I could or should have done by now, but I was content.

'Chakra-level below average and given his parents a likelihood to develop a water-affinity.'

In a way, I was glad, that this moment was burnt into my memories. It gave me reassurance, that I really had the potential to become a shinobi without having to mess with my chakra.
I didn't want to do more harm than good by forcing anything or put a strain on my chakra pathways while still being this young.

A shove from behind ripped me out of my stupor, seemed like breakfast was over the way the kids were dashing into the yard. I ate my last few bites and waited for the room to clear out.

I hopped off my chair and started to collect the empty bowls and plates on my table, depositing them on a tray next to the kitchen door. That done I went back to my table and pushed the chairs back into place.

I felt someone ruffle my hair and looked up to see Hifumi-neesan give me a nod and a small smile.
Giving a smile and a nod back I went on my way.

This was part of my routine, a month after I was discharged from the medical shelter and moved into this facility, I was getting antsy.
I couldn't exactly start a Rocky-training montage when some of my peers were still shitting their pants, could I? On the other hand, boredom started to drive me up the wall.

In hindsight, it should have been more obvious, in Chapter I as I liked to call it there was always something to pass the time. If I didn't spend more than half a day at work, I spent it on the internet or in front of the TV,
there was always a way to waste time within reach. Here? Not so much.

That's the reason why I one day insisted on sweeping the floors. Or rather one reason, the others were that I wanted to earn my keep and simply put, I wanted to help Hifumi-neesan.
I had a soft spot for her.

Going with my credo of short and simple, I plainly told her, that I wanted to help.
She just smiled, ruffled my hair and ushered me outside to the rest of the kids.

After the third time, I just grabbed a broom and started to sweep my dormitory. And that was that.
___

I jumped and landed on my feet with barely any effort. Glancing up and behind me I observed the branch I just came from.
'Yeah, I'm really not in Kansas anymore.' Shaking my head at my four-year-old body I made my way to Arata, one of the older kids, and thankfully a rather chill individual.

I nudged his prone figure with my foot. A bored grunt was my answer.

"What's up with them?" I asked and when he actually looked up I indicated to the three crying boys sitting on the edge of the sandpit.

"They probably didn't pass the test." And with that, he was back to dozing.

"What test?" I was drawing a blank here.

"Whether you are good enough for the ninja academy or not." Startled I wiped my head around.

"What!"

"Yeah, Hifumi-neesan explained it to me a few years back. You have to be really good to be accepted.
She said something like, too many orphans and not enough money so you have to earn a, what's the word, a ... a scholarship."

I honestly didn't like the sound of that.

I had the disquieting feeling, that my efforts so far might not have been enough. Maybe my worries were overblown, but I really wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

"How old are they?" Arata looked up and squinted "Six or seven, I got the news when I was six."

The tension left me, I still had time to get into shape.

"Thank you." A noncommittal grunt and I was on my way to the swings. I needed to clear my head.

Up…down…up…down…

I wasn't exactly lazy, I did things without drawing attention, at least I was trying to. That had to count for something, right?

To be honest, I was quite proud of the way I disguised some of my training.

Long jumps into the sandpit, playing tag with the older kids like Arata plus doing handstands and cartwheels like a pro. However, what paid the most dividends so far was my climbing in the trees.

I started it to get rid of my fear of heights, by now I was jumping around like a fucking monkey.
It was intoxicating, to say the least.

The other part of my training, which I didn't manage to disguise, I did in the early mornings in the dormitory when everybody else was still asleep.
Every day for half an hour I would do basic stretches I remembered from my soccer training in Chapter I.

Up…down…up…down

It seemed like I couldn't afford the secrecy anymore.

Up…down…up…down

Who was I kidding, 50/50 that Hifumi-neesan already knew about it.
I wanted to smack my head, for example, she could have just sensed my chakra flowing differently compared to the sleeping kids.

I frowned, how could I, a total ninja-noob, keep anything secret from the senior-kunoichi tasked with taking care of us. No, I decided, let's just be upfront and maybe even ask for help.

Help was right on cue regarding my chakra. Maybe I was overly cautious, but I only wanted to handle this under the right guidance.

Said guidance was just sitting a few yards away, eating some Dango while watching over us.
I pursed my lips, I didn't want to bother her when she was obviously enjoying a rare break.

'I'll just have to make it up to her later'

Up…down…up and away.

'Aaaand… Superhero landing!… like a boss'

Imaginary bow to my nonexistent audience done, I made my way over to get my shinobi future finally rolling.
__

Spoiler: Daiki Ito

Spoiler: Daiki Ito since 2.1.1

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Update July, 23

Since I somehow managed to hit my first 100k milestone (Timber!) I decided after some encouragement to launch my patreon (/DerKopfloseHesse).

The main thing first, I won't hide my work behind some paywall. Eventually, when I deem it ready or after some constructive feedback, everything will be published on the regular channels. This is for you to donate money if you like my work enough that you're willing to support my passion for writing, a little tip only if you can spare it.

A little thank you in advance is the 2.5k words (of 6.2k) of a One Piece story I'm genuinely quite proud of and one that has the best chances in the future.

Let's aim for the next 100,000 words together!

 

[cyboot]

"What test?" I was drawing a blank here.

"Whether you are good enough for the ninja academy or not." Startled I wiped my head around.

Click to shrink...

nice to see this here. i think it's the first time in any fanfic i've read that the entrance exam wasn't just completly ignored.

 

[DerHesse]

I have a general outline, that I will try to follow, but the main focus of the story will be the journey of the SI step by step.

Chapter 1.2

"Hifumi-neesan, do you have a moment?"

"Of course, Daiki-kun" she put her Dango-stick down "how can I help you?"

"Can you teach me how to use my chakra?"

Her eyes widened slightly and she indicated for me to take a seat next to her.
I hopped onto the bench and thanked her when she gave me one of her Dango.

"Is this because of Akio-kun's test?" She didn't need to point to the still crying boys.

"Yeah, I want to be ready."

"But why?" I looked up. "Why do you want to become a shinobi?"

I hesitated, lying to her felt wrong and I just decided to be upfront anyway.

"I've seen what Shinobis can do and I know I could do it, too. I don't want to miss that."

I saw, that she wasn't entirely convinced by my reasoning so I went on.

"I know it's dangerous, otherwise I wouldn't be here. But … I remember two years ago."

She stiffened but laid a comforting arm around me nonetheless. I appreciated the gesture, but I knew that she likely needed the consolation more than me.
I wished I knew how to without making it awkward.

"I survived by chance." I looked her straight in the eye this time. "I want to be stronger, so I don't need luck or somebody else just to stay alive."

"I guess this explains your cute little exercises." She smiled down at me trying to lighten the mood, I pursed my lips.
'Called it!'

"Yeah." She ruffled my hair and I endured it like a grown man. No idea why she got the kicks out of my hair.

"Very well, after supper, you will stay behind and I will show you the first steps."

Suddenly turning serious and leaning down to me "This will be our little secret, Daiki-kun!"

I nodded, guessing multiple reasons why teaching an extremely young orphan with no clear ties to the village might be frowned upon.

That out of the way we both were content to go back to enjoying our Dango and the quiet company.

Talking about secrecy I suddenly remembered my other issue.

Swallowing my last bite I turned slightly making sure nobody would overhear our conversation.

"I'm going to train harder from now on." I paused, collecting my thoughts, Hifumi-neesan just waited for me to go on. "You know running and…stuff." I finished rather lamely.

A chuckle and a quiet humming. She indicated with her empty dango stick towards the part of the forest with the village walls peaking behind.

"Five minutes in that direction, there's a small clearing. Please make sure, that none of the others are following you. I don't want them to get injured by emulating you." A pause.

"And please only stay there. I don't want you to get lost and I always want to know where I can find you.
Oh, and always tell me when you're going out! " I saluted; she chuckled and gave me her last dango.

'Oh man, don't be so nice to me!'
___

Putting the last chair back into place I looked up and saw Hifumi-neesan indicating the seat next to her.

She pushed the chair to face in her direction and I hopped on it. I can't remember the last time I was this giddy.

"Alright, where to start?" She clapped her hands and took a breath.

"Daiki-kun, I want you to do the same as me." I nodded, she clasped her hands in her lap and I followed suit. "Close your eyes…and breathe." 'Meditation, huh?'

"Lean back in your chair…and breathe…listen to the air going in…and out." I honestly lost track of time.

"Now…breathe out and slowly open your eyes." I did just that and saw Hifumi-neesan do the same.

"Chakra is energy in all of us. This energy has two parts." She held both of her index fingers up.

"One part is the mind," she tabbed my forehead "and the other is the body." She tabbed my heart with her other finger.

"Heaven and earth, smart and strong," she leaned back, bringing both fingers up to my eye level "you always have to be mindful of both parts." A shiver went down my spine. I couldn't even imagine the feeling for when I actually will feel my chakra for the first time.

"Now, whenever you are lying in bed, ready to sleep, I want you to repeat the same breathing exercise. Don't worry when you actually fall asleep." She winked at me. She put up her hand again.

"This is the Ram-seal" suddenly I saw a faint green glow in her palms and my eyes widened.
"Close your eyes." I looked up into her face and she gave me small nod. 'Alright'

Suddenly I felt a faint warmth I remembered from the shelter, this time in my center but deeper.

"At some point, you will experience a similar feeling. When that's the case I want you to tell me and we go to the next step together. Don't start anything without me, do you understand?"

"Hai." She leaned back, took a small breath herself and clapped once.

"Now, young man, go wash yourself and be ready for bedtime." I whipped my head towards the clock at the wall. 'That was almost three-quarters of an hour'

I wished her goodnight and dashed towards the shower room, hoping that there was still a bit of warm water left.

It was during the third night I gasped and sat bolt upright in my bed. The feeling was already gone, but for a few heartbeats, it felt like someone placed a hot-water bag right on top of me.

Slumping back I went back to the exercise and almost immediately drifted to sleep.

 

[DerHesse]

Chapter 1.3

Panting, I struggled to control my breathing. This new body was insane, I thought, continuing my cool down walk in the clearing Hifumi-neesan pointed me to.

After breakfast this morning I told Hifumi-neesan in private, that I managed to find my chakra.
She just quietly told me to meet up again after supper.

Apart from that and the start of my new training regime since noon, my day went like any other day so far.

Helping with daily cores, today, for instance, it was washing the dishes with some of the older children.
After that it was lessons in reading, writing and basic math. Boring as hell, but I wasn't about to start a fuss.

Lunch came and went without a hitch and after a short nap I notified Hifumi-neesan about going out.

I had to admit, that for the first half and hour I aimlessly wandered around the clearing.
I may or may not have talked to myself.

What now? Where did I want to go from here? Should I make long term plans or should I aim for various milestones and go step by step?

After lamenting the fact, that I didn't bring a pen and paper and immediately disregarding that train of thought, because I didn't trust myself to not slip up and write something I shouldn't know, I made another effort.

'Alright, key points.'

What did I want? Easy enough, I wanted to become a strong shinobi.

'Now…what?'

'Urgh!' I was close to tearing my hair out, I even struggled to form coherent thoughts at this stage.

"Damnit! Alright, calm down, get a grip!"

Thankfully at that point I remembered the breathing exercise and calmed down enough to form a tentative plan until I hopefully started the Academy.

Where did I realistically want to see myself by the age of six?

Depending on my amount of chakra and talent for it I wanted to at least have the control of a Genin, which meant tree-walking.

I wanted to manage 100 reps of sit-ups, push-ups and squats each.
I've seen crazy kids in the previous Chapter, I was certain I could do it in this body, which really should be enough for the academy start.

I wanted to make use of my football experience from Chapter I, strangely the thought of kicking somebody in the face already seemed preferable to punching someone.

'I mean, what's the difference between taking a beautiful cross volley and kicking someone's head of their shoulder?'

Anyway, thoughts of violence were thankfully a distant second place.
The real reason was that I remembered most of the exercises, which focused on speed, flexibility and endurance.
Even the stretches I was already doing were a part of that.

Memories of training sessions almost 20 years in the past had me fired up to the point where I almost laughed out loud because of my giddiness, everywhere I looked I already saw myself doing various drills.

Six trees in a nice row looked perfect for slalom runs, two trees some 30 feet apart at the edges of the clearing looked like the perfect distance for shuttle runs and there was even a freaking log, that I could use for box jumps.

Glad that I finally had something resembling an actual plan and that I was in the mood to get things going I went right at it.
Which finally led to me doing interval training, basically I did some light jogging switched into a full sprint and went back to jogging again. Rinse and repeat.

Taking a deep breath, I noticed the shadows getting longer and decided to make my way back.
Shivering at the thought of a nice hot shower before supper had me skipping along.
__

'Breathe in … and out… breathe in….' We were sitting on the same seats like last time, again facing each other.

"Now remember the feeling, take your time, let it come to you."

'…'

"When you feel it, give me small nod."

'…'

I couldn't stop the smile forming and gave Hifumi-neesan the sign.

"Very good, now keep breathing. Let it sit there."

'…'

She gently took my hands and guided them into the ram-seal.

"Feel the warmth slowly rise to your chest, don't push or pull, just let it happen.
Nod when you can feel it settle in your chest."

'…' A nod.

"Now slowly up to your right shoulder and along your arm"

So it went on until I managed to guide this warmth, my chakra, along all my limps and even to the bottom of my feet.

"Oh dear, Daiki-kun," she gently pried my hands out of the ram-seal "please open your eyes."

I did and saw Hifumi-neesan trying to hide a grimace while getting up.

"What's wrong?" She just pointed at the clock 'past curfew'.

I hurried of the chair and put both of them into their place. She was already waiting at the door, ready to switch the lights off. A last glance from Hifumi-neesan, that everything was in order and we were on our way to my dorm.

"I want you to repeat what you learned today as much as possible." She said quietly.

"Do it before going to sleep, do it after waking up, maybe even do it during breaks in your training."

I nodded. We stood in front my door, I was about to go in and sneak into bed my when I saw Hifumi-neesan seemingly debating with herself. Giving her my full attention I waited for her to gather her thoughts.

"A month, Daiki-kun, a month should be more than enough time for you to master this exercise, after that we will work on your control."

Eyes wide 'A month?!'

She ruffled my hair, "don't look like that" she chuckled "now off to bed already."

 

[Darkarma]

Hm. This seems fun. For being a non-native english speaker the writing is pretty good. I'll put in my watch.

"Oh dear, it seems we are losing our edge, Danzo-sama, if we can't even keep a child from waking up."

Click to shrink...

Though this part does sound a bit funny. Did you mean "we can't even keep a child from falling asleep."? Or were they trying to be stealthy and didn't mean to wake the MC up?

In which case, I recommend "if we can't keep from waking up a child."

 

[Darchias]

Yeah, 'keep a child from waking up' implies they drugged or Genjutsu'd him and failed. 'Keep from waking up a child' implies he was already sleeping and they failed at not waking him. English is a bastard sometimes.

Keep is modifying the term immediately after it, placing responsibility for that term on the speaker. 'Keep a child' means they acted on the child, 'keep from waking' means they acted to prevent waking. Make sense?

 

[DerHesse]

Hm. This seems fun. For being a non-native english speaker the writing is pretty good. I'll put in my watch.

Though this part does sound a bit funny. Did you mean "we can't even keep a child from falling asleep."? Or were they trying to be stealthy and didn't mean to wake the MC up?

In which case, I recommend "if we can't keep from waking up a child."

Click to shrink...

Yeah, 'keep a child from waking up' implies they drugged or Genjutsu'd him and failed. 'Keep from waking up a child' implies he was already sleeping and they failed at not waking him. English is a bastard sometimes.

Keep is modifying the term immediately after it, placing responsibility for that term on the speaker. 'Keep a child' means they acted on the child, 'keep from waking' means they acted to prevent waking. Make sense?

Click to shrink...

Thank you both for your replies and help. I changed the bit accordingly.

 

[DerHesse]

I probably won't be able to keep such a writing pace, since I still struggle with putting actual words down and my work is about to pick up again.
That said, I will try to 'force' myself to get at least 1000 words out every two or three days.

I would appreciate a few words of feedback, but what really interests me are your thoughts about the genre itself (OCs included). Any pet peeves, things that make you drop a story or something that you would like to see?

This story, apart from being a small plotbunny, was more or less born out of annoyance.
An example, SI's are generally always wish fulfilments, but is that reason enough to go overboard. Do you (in case of SI) really need an OP gimmick to be interesting?
I like to think less is more and yet I'm catching myself giving the character a small gimmick in the next chapter, but at the same time, I'm trying to convince myself that it's necessary for the character to survive in his new world.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1.4


'80…81…82…'

Even after a year of constantly using it, chakra was still as fascinating to me as the very first time when I saw Hifumi-neesan use her medical-ninjutsu.
The way it was influencing the body just kept me hooked.

'83…84…85'

I had the feeling by using chakra internally for a handful of times in a certain way the body would almost immediately remember it, distantly similar to muscle memory in a way, and the exercise would become second nature.
An example from a while back, during the month before I started control exercises, was me trying to channel chakra to both feet at the same time.

I tried it first before going to bed, I tried it a second time after waking up and I mastered it on the third try in the early evening the same day.
Since then it worked flawlessly without almost any effort whenever I did the routine.

'86…87…88'

Now I also understood why Hifumi-neesan insisted on a whole month. By the third week and with an ever-increasing difficulty of my self-imposed chakra-related drills I suddenly felt a change during one of my sprint exercises.
There was no feeling of warmth but a feeling of lightness covering my whole body and I felt energized to the point where I thought I could immediately do the whole training day a second time over.

'89…90…91'

I liked to believe I now understood the reasons for the exercises and what happened that day.
My theory was, that my chakra pathways resembled in a far-fetched way a messed up garden hose.
After applying enough pressure , in my case me guiding more and more chakra along my pathways, the hose suddenly unfurled and the water, the chakra in this analogy, could now, with all the bends and kinks straightened out, flow freely.

'92…93…94'

Funnily enough, the second I understood one aspect about chakra another popped up and kept me awake at night.
One day during another meeting after supper with Hifumi-neesan I wanted to show her my progress with the leaf-sticking practice.

Leaf sticking to my forehead, eyes closed, I suddenly felt a glow, for lack of better terms, right in front of me.
Eyes snapping open I saw Hifumi-neesan staring at me in the exact place where I imagined the glow to be.

'95…96…97'

I had an inclination what this might actually mean and against my better judgment I kept it to myself.
I didn't know if it was a sense of pride, but I didn't want to run to Hifumi-neesan because of every single hiccup.

Trying to replicate the sensation the very next day in my little training haven had me smack my head.
Yes, let's practice sensing in an empty clearing. My next attempt was at night in my dormitory, but for the life of me I couldn't get into the state I vaguely remembered.

Attempt number three was the next day, same place, same time, because what's a good night's sleep in a room full of little children anyway, right?
Difference was the leaf sticking to my forehead. I thought it wouldn't hurt to reconstruct the same circumstances and lo and behold it worked, kinda, let's say it didn't miss much and I would have dismissed it entirely.

If I were to compare sensing Hifumi-neesan to a light bulb, I would have compared that sensation to a bunch of wet matchsticks in a dark cellar.

'98…99…100' "Fucking finally!" face pressed into the grass I kept breathing hard. "One down."

That's when I decided I would stop beating around the bush. Swallowing my pride, admitting defeat, call it what you want, but I wouldn't hinder my education in a life and death profession for petty reasons like that.

Hanging back after breakfast I waited for Hifumi-neesan to finish her daily planning for today's schedule with the other two caretakers.
I had no problems with Miu-san and Nanami-san, both Gen-nins in what looked like their late forties, we treated each other polite and friendly, but not particularly affectionate.

I think I was something like a no-brainer for them. They knew I could take care of myself and when push comes to shove I would help them with the other kids.
At the end of the day, I was Hifumi's 'property' anyway.

Nodding to both as they went past me I headed to the chair Hifumi-neesan was patting next to her.

"How can I help you, Daiki-kun?" She sipped the last of her tea and I went ahead and refilled it.

She ruffled my hair and I didn't have the heart to do anything but endure it.

"Someone is becoming quite the gentleman."

"Yeah, well, practice makes perfect."

"Oh? Already someone in mind?" Abort! Abort! Abort!

Repressing thoughts about living with little children was a daily struggle for me otherwise I wouldn't be able to stop the bile rising thinking of myself as a fucking pedo.
Thoughts about puberty were already filling me with enough dread the way it is.

I stopped myself from going green and just frowned. Hifumi-neesan just thought it was incredibly cute and continued to drink her tea.

"Anyway, what's the problem?"

"I think I can sense other people's chakra."

"You think? Can you explain what you feel or how you feel?"

Thinking things through I tried to formulate the sensations into the most coherent way.

"Whenever I stick a leaf to my forehead, and just my forehead, and close my eyes I can see in my mind a glow, like a floating fire without heat, with its size probably depending on the amount of chakra."

She hummed and I continued.

"It's just, can all shinobi sense each other like that or is this something different?"

"This certainly sounds like true sensing to me." She leaned back, took a sip and continued.

"Every shinobi has a sixth sense helping detect each other. It's just more along the lines of feeling someone watching you. A tickle at the back of your neck, goosebumps and so on. You basically sense ill-intent in your direction and rule of thumb is whenever there's ill-intent there's an enemy nearby."

My eyes were wide and I refrained from pumping my fist. I really was a sensor-type.
And hearing stuff like that was always just incredibly fascinating plus it made me look at Hifumi-neesan in an entirely new light.

She sighed and I gave her a questioning look.

"I might know someone who can help you."

 

[Jason14k]

I like it so far, though I agree less is more, I love naruto si/oc stories but many of them the character has a bloodline or is able to learn several powerful jutsu fairly quickly while I can understand having one or two as a ace in the whole, though it usually goes beyond.



Since Daiki is two years older naruto he has a decent chance of being on a team that is assigned to on of the other teams Kakashi tested dosen't he?

 

[Aemon Targaryen]

The thing i hate is when the SI become friend with naruto, because that change him too much and honestly i prefer than the team seven stay the same, naruto, sasuke and sakura.

 

[Lordyellowsnow]

This is really good, being a sensor isnt too overpowered, and is actually expanding upon a generic quality of water affinity nins, woth Tobirama, Itachi, and Iruka being sensors with an innate water affinity.

 

[Chillingbear]

I've enjoyed this quite a bit, looking forward to see where you take this.

 

[Marco]

For writing, I'd suggest that if you want to use the Japanese honorifics you limit it to when characters are speaking rather than using it every time their name comes up. It can become a bit awkward otherwise.

As for general suggestions on writing a Naruto SI fic:

- Try to avoid putting them on the same team as the main cast. Lots of writers tie themselves too closely to cannon when they do this.

- Don't be afraid to use minor characters that already exist instead of entirely new OCs. This can open up new stories and possibilities while giving you something to work off of.

- Enact meaningful change. Whether through your characters actions or by events beyond their control your story should diverge from cannon.

- Humans make mistakes. Your character should screw up in big ways and small throughout the story, don't be afraid to have them do this as it gives you a means to strength your story and provide your character with lessons.

 

[DerHesse]

I hope you can bear the slow burn of the story, but I still want to focus on the slow development and establishment of the MC step by step.

Chapter 1.5

"I'll write him and make sure he's available." Hifumi paused and adopted a thoughtful look.

"Would you mind joining me tomorrow before breakfast on a short trip to the market? I wish to show you Konoha's messenger-service."
Curious, I happily agreed.

Being an early riser given my exercise routine I had no problem to be up and ready.
I appreciated the clouds getting bathed in soft pinks and purples by the sunrise and made my way stealthily to the bathroom.

Hifumi found me sitting in the dining hall with a cup of tea, which I wished was a cup of coffee, balancing a leaf on my forehead.
I smiled when I saw her trying and failing to suppress a yawn and wordlessly slid an empty cup and the teapot to the seat next to me.

Hair ruffled, tea finished and we were ready to go.

It was a five-minute walk with leisure to the market of our district. I had no real comparison, but our neighborhood seemed incredibly quiet and cozy.
Houses were rather small, one-story with the occasional two-story building between, and the residents seemed to mostly consist of civilians.

When we reached the market itself Hifumi pointed to a small wooden box fixed to a sturdy post at the edge of the market square.

"This is a messenger box, these are distributed all over the village."

Walking up to it Hifumi continued, "When you become a genin there's a good chance you will see them on a regular basis."
She held up her small scroll for me to see and put it through the opening of the box.

"At the end of the day, a genin will come and collect all the scrolls inside and deliver it to the administration building beneath the Hokage Mountain."
She pointed in its general direction.

"This is the first of a set of D-rank missions revolving around our messenger system."

It wasn't the first time I noticed Hifumi talking to me like that, it might be subconscious on her part,
but I'm sure the other children in the orphanage wouldn't have understood a single word.

Letting that stray thought go, I quickly continued to listen to her as we turned and made our way back.

"Missions are divided by their difficulty and danger. D-rank is the easiest and safest and A-rank the opposite." She paused,
"There's also S, but you hopefully won't see that for a long time or better yet ever."

"Anyway", Hifumi was on a roll here, "after the scrolls are delivered other genins will mark all scrolls with a code and note down said code and the recipient of the scroll."

She adopted a frown "These are considered D-rank missions as well, but they are usually reserved for shinobis that are unable to continue with regular missions because of injuries."

"The next morning a new set of genins will deliver the scrolls in their respective district.
Upon delivery, the recipient will sign it off and the completion will be noted again in the administration building.
When everything is said and done payment will be distributed."

With that, the orphanage came into view and we settled into a comfortable silence.

Reaching the door Hifumi turned to me once more.

"I will inform you when I get an answer until then keep up your training."

Two days later after supper, Hifumi told me we would make the trip to the western part of Konoha near the edge of the Nara Clan Forest.
Apparently there was a park, which was where we were to meet her associate.

I was to pack a small lunch and put something to drink into my back bag, which made me hesitant because this started to sound like a long trip.

Voicing my thoughts as gentle as possible regarding the long walk and her injury I was met by I something I have never seen before.

Hifumi sat straighter and looked almost pissed, which had me wide-eyed.

"I'm still a chunin of Konohagakure." She said stiffly and that was the end of any discussion.

The next morning after breakfast we were on our way again.

"I told Miu-san and Nanami-san, that I was taking you with me to get some supplies from the Nara pharmacy and that I wanted to show you some parts of the village."

This conveyed to me, that this was supposed to be our cover-story if somebody asked.
Despite my hesitance from the previous day, I was pretty damn giddy.

Apart from the occasional group trip to one of the bigger playgrounds we were asked not to wander and stay in the vicinity of the orphanage.
To be honest I was perfectly fine to stick to the rules since I was somewhat happy to stay in my comfort zone and keep to my daily routine.

What had me especially in high spirits was that depending on how the meeting went I might be given the clearance to go on my own in the future,
which would literally open up a whole new world for me.

Having planned most of the day for the trip we were in no rush and enjoyed the silence.
Relaxed atmosphere, not too crowded and the weather was pleasant.
I wouldn't mind going for a stroll through the village more often.

I tried to recognize people, while Hifumi explained various landmarks and points of interest, which were supposed to help me with navigation in the future.

"If you follow this road" She pointed to our left. "you will end up at the Konoha Cemetery."

She paused and looked at the sky, probably estimating the time.
Seemingly coming to a decision she motioned for me to follow her and we made our way down the street she just pointed to.

A short walk later she paused again at a little booth that apparently sold cut flowers based on the honor system given the way Hifumi put two coins into a little metal box after she took two flowers.

Rounding the next bend and suddenly we stood in front of the entrance to the cemetery.

"Here" she gave me one of the flowers and signed for me to be quiet from now on. "Follow me."

I dutifully followed in her step and we ended up in front of a gravestone.

'Ayano Suzuki'

She put her flower into the little ceramic vase and closed her eyes. I followed suit and since I had no idea about prayers and the like I just kept quiet and waited for Hifumi to finish.

 

[DerHesse]

Chapter 1.5.2

"We are almost there." I hummed around the Onigiri in my mouth.

We stepped into the park and apparently Hifumi found who she was looking for the way she steered towards a group of older men huddled around a Go board.

One gentleman noticed us and stepped around the two playing men and strolled towards us.

The man's light grey hair was tied into a short ponytail and he happily continued to puff away on his worn looking pipe.
He eyed Hifumi with what looked like faint amusement and seemed to wait for something.

In the meantime, I glanced at his obviously missing arm and wondered about that particular backstory.

"I thought I told you to quit smoking!" Hifumi glared with a bit of heat in her voice.

"I thought I told you to quit nagging me." The man was obviously enjoying this.

"You know how it is, me and my pipe just go hand in hand." I barely suppressed a snort and Hifumi just sighed.

"You are horrible." She shook her head but couldn't help smiling herself.

"How are you doing?" Some genuine concern crept into her voice.

"Well enough. So… that's the squirt?" I sensed a poor attempt at changing the topic, the way Hifumi tried to hide her frown she sensed it, too.

"Ichirō Yamanaka, this is Daiki Ito."

"Yo." Little wave, he only raised his eyebrow.

"Daiki Ito, this is Ichirō Yamanaka, my old teammate." He continued to stare at me and I stared back unbothered.

"How old is he? Isn't he a bit young to mess with his chakra?"

"He's five and incredibly bright for his age. The way he described his sensing after he mastered the leaf exercise reminded me of what you once said."
She ruffled my hair, while Ichirō and I proceeded with our staring contest.

"Leaf exercise… like I said, isn't he a bit young for that and isn't that what the academy is there for?

"He's already fixated on becoming a shinobi and you haven't seen the way he trains. I thought it was safer to guide him." He shrugged, obviously not caring either way.

"So what do want me to do anyway? You were pretty vague in your scroll and I doubt you want me to teach him one-handed juggling."

'Well, that was almost funny.' Hifumi wasn't impressed either and ignored the comment altogether.

"No, I hoped you could give him some pointers and some ways to practice his skill. He'll figure out the rest himself."
She finished in a mix of pride and fondness, which made me stand just little straighter.

"If you say so," he sounded doubtful, "well, if it's fine with you he can come here tomorrow; same time and I will see what to make of him."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." We said our somewhat awkward goodbyes and Hifumi and I started our journey back home.

As soon as we were out of earshot I couldn't stop myself.

"His humor is certainly a bit of a handful." I quipped and got whacked over the head.

"Please don't say things like this to his face, he is…just acting tough around me."

 

[DerHesse]

One more update and we should be at the start of the academy.

Feedback and comments are always appreciated.
Please enjoy,

Chapter 1.6.1

I didn't like Ichirō Yamanaka.

The guy just rubbed me the wrong way right from the get-go.

I stared at the Go-board, which made me frown even more.

I didn't dislike the game; I just sucked at it and Ichirō was always quick to point it out.
As if I didn't realize it myself after I lost the fifth game.

The real kicker, however, was that he also was bad teacher.

The very first day after our initial meeting, almost three weeks ago, I described my sensing exactly as I did to Hifumi.
'Sounds about right' he had said, shrugged and pointed me to the empty board.

Then we started playing, I was polite, I was patient.
Maybe he was gathering his thoughts and made a plan on how to proceed.

After my first and thankfully quick loss, I finally asked what his plans were going to be.

"So, any plans?"

"What plans?" And that's when I was starting to recognize his kind of type.

I was pissed the whole way back to the orphanage.

He was one of those adults, where you question how they even reached adulthood in the first place.

He was one of those guys whom you give responsibility only as last resort when no one else is available, and you have to spell out in the simplest way, that they are in fact responsible for whatever task you give them.
But deep down you know something will go wrong and you will have to waste your time to check and correct again, because he just didn't care or because he didn't understand it in the first place.

Seriously, screw that guy. Maybe being teammates with the guy gave Hifumi the chance to get used to him.
'He's the way he is' or 'He means well' just wasn't going to fly for me.

I had to literally worm the information regarding sensing out of him with some guided questions and had to hope for a somewhat useful tidbit that I had to check at home.

I couldn't be to direct, because at the end of the day I was still a dumb five-year-old child.

One such example was when I inquired about people, that developed the sensing abilities.
"My clan was always pretty famous for it." He had told me proudly, while I had fruitlessly waited for him to elaborate.

This had me thinking about the Yamanaka clan and their specialization. Some faint memory and Hifumi's first lesson about chakra itself gave me the idea that the Yin part, my mind, might have played a significant role.

Having the mind of an adult in the body of a child probably tipped the balance of my chakra heavily to the Yin-side.
Channeling said chakra with such a high percentage of Yin-release to my head during the leaf-exercise seemed to have unlocked the skill.

Why couldn't the guy just give me straight and helpful information?

"Make your move." I held up my hand, not looking up from the board, following a rather important train of thought and willing the other guy to be quiet.

I had asked about applications in the field, variations, limits, etc.?

And the guy started to talk about how he lost his arm during the Second Shinobi War to a hidden Suna puppeteer, who used a new kind of poison.
Apparently Hifumi managed to contain the poison long enough in his arm for an antidote to be used, which was distributed by Tsunade, who passed through their camp.

I might have thought it fascinating if Hifumi told me about it during one of our talks, but at that moment I just didn't give a single fuck about the guy's life story.
Maybe I should have pitied the guy, he probably just used me as an opportunity to actually talk to someone, maybe even impress someone for once.

But I couldn't, not when my current train of thought was always lurking in the back of my mind.

I was wasting my time!

Deep down I knew Hifumi was happy, that I was spending time with her old teammate and thought that everything was going swimmingly given the way I always smiled when she asked. I was such a coward.

Those last three weeks sensing was occupying my thoughts and the meetings with Ichirō, not to mention the walks to and fro, my time.

Maybe I was overly dramatic or fatalistic, but those games of Go really opened my eyes, when I started to see them as shinobi fights in regards to strategy, seeing underneath the underneath, sensing traps, etc.

My games always started rather carefree, placing random stones on random places on the empty board.
At some point I would start to go after Ichirō's stones.

I would manage to trap a handful of stones, but only when it was too late I would notice, that I wasted too many resources for too few gains while losing track of my opponent's placements.

Placing just a few stones and he would suddenly start capturing more than double the stones I did by that point. I would obviously try and fail to do damage control and could only watch him wipe my stones off the board.

This is what had me worried. It wasn't just one or two games, by now it was a dozen times.

If I faced a shinobi in combat, would I be able to keep track of everything, could I spot signs of traps?
I wasn't an idiot, I wasn't dumb, but I also knew that I couldn't hope to compare myself to most high-level shinobis the way they pulled strategies out of their asses at the drop of a hat.

I needed to make sure, that I was strong and more importantly fast enough to always have the initiative.
Force the opposition to react, keep them under pressure and best case scenario end it as quickly as possible. Worst case I needed a safe exit strategy to potentially reengage.

Thankfully I already had vague directions and skills in mind that I thought had potential and feasibility.
Sensing, while useful, would need to be relegated to the sidelines for future development.

I managed to get it to the point, where I could sense an adult chakra-level in an adjacent room without too much trouble anyway.

Which meant…time to make this short and simple. Let's reign in my temper and not piss off the Yamanaka, who could potentially delve into my mind.

"This will be our last game."

"No problem, you can come this Wednesday again." I shook my head.

"No, there won't be any further meetings from now." I bowed slightly "Thank you for your time and effort." and signed my surrender regarding the game.

He stared at me uncomprehendingly. I stared back, nodded and made to leave. Tree-walking was already on my mind.

"Wait!"

"What?" That might have sounded too harsh given the way he recoiled slightly.

"…nothing." I probably should feel bad, but the guy gave me serious deja-vus about people I disliked in the previous chapter.

Whatever, out of sight, out of mind.

 

[Vauron]

He expected a shonen outburst demanding that he actually teach you, didn't he?

 

[Icklesworth]

I'm really liking this so far, especially the MC just taking the training time to make a plan, and then just changing his mind about it like a normal person. You don't see that very often in fics.

 

[TheLoserEllimist]

bit of a dick move. Shortsighted too in a village where relationships are viewed as the absolute best shit ever. The guy clearly just needs someone to spend time with him and in exchange, the MC gains valuable intel on wha tlife as a shinobi actually means, has someone else he can turn to when things inevitably go wrong and someone he can detox with for a little bit over a relatively stress free game of go. Mental health is important. Also, his games of go clearly demonstrate he needs to account for things going wrong. And he just stabbed himself in the freaking kidney.

 

[Vorlent Bleu]

This has me curious, is it really so rare that a character decides it's not worth it having to rant at a mentor about getting actually taught things?
It feels like it should be more common, but it certainly does not feel that way.

I mean, if he feels he's wasting his time and decides the possible gains are not worth it, whatever these 'gains' may be, then it's his choice, forcing yourself to spend time with someone you may be starting to actively dislike, for whatever the reason, sound like a recipe for disaster.

I'm actually rather interested in where this may be going, more than I was before, at any rate.

 

[cyboot]

i'd go so far as to say waiting 3 weeks was way too long...
he should have refused to play even a single game of go the first day. he came to the guy to learn sensing not strategy nor to be company for some old guy.

 

[DerHesse]

The MC's plans are not set in stone.

Chapter 1.6.2


Lying on the grass, my feet firmly sticking to a tree, I had been certain that there was more to the exercise than initially portrayed.
Glad for my decision to start with baby steps as I was proven right after my first few tries.

Starting with bare feet I had no problem to get them sticking, however the moment I put on my shoes again I had to significantly increase my chakra output.
Maybe it was just my age, but I did notice some strain after a while.

The strain was the reason I was glad I started by lying on the ground instead of running at a tree full-tilt.
Using chakra only at your feet during the exercise and you would just end up hanging off a tree by the soles of your feet.
Maybe a Genin who learned the exercise did it subconsciously and didn't even feel it anymore, but your whole body had to be strengthened by your chakra to give it the much-needed rigidity to fight against gravity.

This was the task I set for myself during the four-month period until the recruitment test for the academy.
Get to the point, where tree walking was second nature and the strain to my chakra was negligible.

I was fairly confident, that this at least was within my reach.

Overall I was feeling confident and actually quite content.

The night after I decided to quit meeting Ichirō I was doing my breathing exercise,
but instead of meditation to feel my chakra or to sense the caretakers in the orphanage, I used it to gather my thoughts and to bring them in order.

I had worked out a preferred model, which I was going to aim for.

Haku's speed, flexibility and precision and a variation of Zabuza's fighting style involving silent killing and water-style ninjutsu plus certain skills to augment the whole construct.

How was I going to reach that?

I have a high chance of a water affinity.

Do I know how to make use of that?

Not yet, but it wouldn't hurt to experiment on it during my academy years.
Wind chakra meant cutting a leaf, maybe I could work on the moisture of the leaf?

Speaking of wind. I knew what exercises are involved.
Did I want to potentially waste time on a nature I had no advantage on?
Yes, if water didn't show any progress without a teacher.

I have exceptional chakra control for my age, which I will keep on improving by starting the water walking exercise at the earliest opportunity.

Sheer speed and dexterity only required continued dedication towards training and the augmentation through chakra and potentially various techniques like the Shunshin, which I hoped to combine with my sensing.
The Eight Gates were a technique I wanted to look into as well, which in turn brought me to medical ninjutsu.

I reminded myself more than enough, that I was not an academic, but I had hopes that my chakra control and enough practice would be enough to get me to the point where I could do the chakra equivalent of first aid and more importantly massages to immediately alleviate potential strains caused by the Eight Gates.

A potential go-to strategy will probably involve the Hiding in Mist Technique and my sensing to avoid a prolonged confrontation and deal a fatal blow without giving the enemy the chance to react.

Again my chakra control seemed to be a blessing, because I couldn't think of a reason not to augment the mist with hidden genjutsus.

The more I thought about it the more I was beyond pumped to actually start at the academy.

The second I was an academy student, a shinobi in training, there was a real legitimacy to my efforts.

No one could question a dedicated student, unlike now where I was still scared to flaunt my skills outside of my clearing.
Furthermore, if I went at it the right way, asked the right people the right questions and so on, there was no reason not to learn advanced techniques while still in the academy.

I mean, what teacher would deny a bright, dedicated and dutiful student the chance to learn such lowly d-rank jutsu like the Shunshin or the Kirigakure Jutsu to keep him motivated?

No to mention the academy jutsus, particularly the regular old Bunshin had me giddy to try out some of my ideas.

Keeping my feet sticking to the tree I started a new set of sit-ups. No pain, no gain after all.

'1…2…3…'

Tree walking

'4…5…6…'

Enter the academy

'7…8…9…'

Get used to and master the academy curriculum

'10…11…12…'

Start Water walking

'13…14…15…'

Try to befriend older academy students

'16…17…18…'

Get on the good side of my teachers

'19…20…21…'

 

[Sono]

Again my chakra control seemed to be a blessing, because I couldn't think of a reason not to augment the mist with hidden genjutsus

Click to shrink...

He's forgotten that he doesn't have a particularly large amount of chakra, hasn't he? There's probably a reason that pre shippuden people didn't spam jutsu.

I mean, what teacher would deny a bright, dedicated and dutiful student the chance to learn such lowly d-rank jutsu like the Shunshin or the Kirigakure Jutsu to keep him motivated?

Click to shrink...

Eh, unless you're Shisui combat use of the shunshin is limited. And besides that, just because a technique is easy to learn doesn't mean it's not costly. There are several examples of high rank jutsu that cost little or no chakra, so the inverse is likely true. Rank seems to have more to do with a combination of difficulty of learning, average combat power and rarity rather then straight up chakra cost. The lower the rank, the likelier it is to be inefficient and/or something everyone is familiar with and knows how to counter. Everyone is trained to detect and watch out for genjutsu, and canonically Kirigakure is a common technique for Kiri nin, so most vets would be able to deal with it.

Not to say that they're useless, but rather that you need to become an expert in it's use like Shisui or Zabuza to get mileage out of it.

So yeah, realistically he'll try it and, like you said, change his plans. If it was easy more ninja would be doing it. It's not like a lot of them aren't creative or dedicated, so there's probably a reason they go for a different approach.

 

[drshree]

Good premise and progression. The SI not having a bloodline is a very good decision. Just let him be the "Hardworking Hero". And use time skips in between chapters. You dont need to put the time progression into words always. Keep up the good work. 🙏

 

[DerHesse]

Chapter 1.7.1


It was a surreal experience watching the ground rapidly approach knowing full well that you were actually not falling.
Keeping my pace I sprinted the tree downwards kicked off at the base, made a short sprint to the tree standing some 30 feet away and made my way upwards again without breaking my stride.

Reaching the top, I braced myself and jumped to the previous tree.

I was doing laps. Vertical laps.

Keeping an eye on the hourglass Hifumi lend me I saw the last grains of sand about to run through.

Reducing my pace to a measured walk to cool down I noted my improvement. Just three days ago I was doing five laps less.

I came to a stop near the tree I was using to run up and I eyed the bark of the trunk.
Dragging my palm along I felt the rough texture threatening to break my skin. I couldn't help but frown, this was a recurring thought I had one week before my test.

I wasn't used to pain. The extent of my experience was stumping my toe, which I considered pure agony and that's about it.

I was reasonably certain, that the examiners wouldn't expect children my age to know how to properly punch, let alone punch against a log post without breaking their hands. Yet, I was slightly hesitant given that I would need to get used to the whole pain business the sooner the better.

Shaking my head, I was being unreasonable. Yes, shinobis were able to tank incredible punishment,
but like with seemingly everything the answer probably was chakra and chakra was taught at the academy.

I didn't want to risk injuries at this point anyway.

I turned to collect the hourglass and instantly my back straightened.

Hifumi was staring at me with a gaze that was mixed with shock and wonder if I had to guess.

'…Busted?'

"Since…when can you do tree-walking?" Now she sounded like she was surprised to be surprised.

"Since I stopped visiting Ichirō."

"Did he teach you?"

I only managed to tamper some of my incredulity at the thought.

"No, he didn't. I saw a boy do it and I thought I could do it, too." I shrugged slightly. That the boy was from a manga went unmentioned.

"I see." Apparently she did see something, because she looked like she came to a decision.

"Come on, I want to show you something." She motioned me to follow her and I hurried to catch up and fell in step with her.

We headed back towards the orphanage, but instead of going in she parked me at the front door and went to notify the other caretakers of our leave.

A minute later and we were out of the gate heading towards the village.

Despite being curios I kept silent. There was an odd mood surrounding Hifumi.

"I never really noticed just how advanced you were." She sounded like she was talking more for her own sake.

"There's no doubt, that you will be accepted by the academy." I stared. 'Hooray?'

During the walk, she suddenly started to point out various shops and even some tidbits of information regarding them.

There was a weapons shop, which gave a reasonable amount of money for weapons beyond repair, which you could deliver. Recycling of sorts.

She gave me the advice, provided I was fast enough, that I should buy my groceries, particularly vegetables, during lunch break.
Apparently the morning rush would be over, the vegetables would still be fresh and the prices somewhat lower given that the business would be slower and the shops wanted to get rid of their perishables.

At long last, we arrived at a building I recognized. This was the place I was hoping would be the focus of my attention for the next few years.
The place, which could define my entire future. The academy.

"Did you notice that there isn't a single academy student living in our orphanage?"

"I didn't, I haven't really thought about it." She nodded.

I was starting to have a feeling where this was going, Hifumi's melancholic tone only made it more apparent.

"That's because we are a civilian orphanage." She put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"When you enter the academy you will have to leave the orphanage."

This really shouldn't have come as a shock, but it still rocked me slightly. Apparently my life would change even more significantly than I initially thought.

"What's going to happen?"

"During the month between your test and the start of the academy you and everybody else that passes will visit a daily class here at the academy teaching you about living on your own."

A month of dedicated home economics, I actually liked the sound of that, but…

"Where am I supposed to live?"

"The village will provide you with one of its small apartments in the area. I'm not sure about the age,
but at some point you will have to move out to make room for the next generation."

I just nodded. Despite it all being logical and reasonable it was starting to become quite a lot to take in all of a sudden.

Sensing my hint of weariness Hifumi led me to a nearby dango-shop and treated me to a few sticks.

Finishing her treat she pulled her saddle-bag onto her lap and fished out an old and worn looking book.

"I was about to give it to you once you properly entered the academy, but seeing your progress changed my mind.
You always had your own pace and it more and more seems like the sooner the better."

I tried to read the title.

"This is my copy of the introductory textbook for Medical Ninjutsu from the day I started my training."

I stared, was she…

"It is obviously outdated and lacks all the advances Tsunade-sama has made, but the basic things like anatomy and chakra haven't changed."

My last dango-stick lay forgotten on my plate as Hifumi pushed the book across the table towards me.

"You were always fascinated with your chakra and you have a talent I have never seen before. I'm certain you will make the most of it."

It wasn't just the book but the entire gesture; I was at a loss for words so Hifumi took my hand and continued.

"You will have to leave the orphanage, but you are not forbidden from visiting."

She tried a humorous smirk.

"As long as you can bear to be around an old hag we can still have our tea in the evening and when you are officially an academy student I can actually teach you something advanced."

I distinctly remembered her green glowing hands from the shelter all those years ago.