The elder god sighed.
BAMF!
Naruto looked around, then down at himself. It was his adult age, and he was wearing the strangest clothing. "What the heck am I wearing?!"
Business suit, said the black cat as it considered the huge empty warehouse they were apparently in.
BAMF!
A large box appeared in the center, marked [Suggestions].
Let's see, said the elder god of mischief, going to the box and fishing around in it. A paw emerged, holding up a manuscript.
Hmmm. Naruto has Cthulhu sealed inside him? No, that would get pretty icky.
Another box, this one marked [Rejects] appeared next to the [Suggestions] box. The Cthulhu Manuscript immediately went into the [Rejects] box as the cat reached for another suggestion.
Hmmm, 'Chibi-Reaper'? Some shinigami? Let's see. Oh. I can use this. Maybe hit Ranma with it sometime when I get back to him?
"Uhm."
"She's right behind me, isn't she?"
A girl in yellow growled wordlessly at the pigtailed boy.
The cat waved a paw.
The warehouse was suddenly filled with statues that looked rough and unfinished. They didn't show any details just being rough figurines.
The cat waved his tail.
The pedestals of each statue abruptly had two buttons, both a dull gray.
The cat bumped his hips.
A few statues changed in appearance. On those that changed, the buttons on their pedestals changed colors so that one was red and the other a friendly green.
"What the heck?" asked Naruto.
Definitely going to have to do this with Ranma Saotome at some point, rumbled the cat as he considered details.
"What is all this?" asked Naruto.
BONK!
"Ouch," said Naruto as some big sign had just lowered from the ceiling on huge chains to bonk him on the head.
When he backed up to look at it, Naruto blinked a few times to make sure he was reading it right.
Ninja Raising Project
"WHAT?!" demanded Naruto.
Clik! A smaller sign unlatched beneath the first sign.
[This Videogame Rated M for Mature]
"My life is a videogame?" asked Naruto.
Right, said the cat. Each of the statues is a different path your life could have taken. In some cases with a little help from myself. Some of them you've got to unlock within the game itself.
"Huh?" asked Naruto, looking around at all the rough-hewn statues and then moving to one of the finished-looking ones in particular.
It was his Centerfold Jutsu form, except that she was wearing clothes. It was kind of weird seeing his girl-form like that. Her clothes were odd too. Looked almost like something Tenten would wear. Some kind of dark blue with lighter blue trim.
Naruto checked the pedestal the statue was on, finding that there was writing in a little box that wasn't on the unfinished ones.
[Naruko. Unlocked by Centerfold Jutsu.
Naruko's Strength and Stamina are lower than Basic Naruto, while her Intelligence and Chakra Control are higher.
Naruko's childhood is rougher than Basic Naruto. As a result she's less extroverted and her stealth abilities are much greater.]
"Huh," said Naruto as he read that. It'd be kind of weird living life as a girl, but then if he gave it a try maybe he could understand girls.
If you choose an avatar, you can pause your life. Sorry, I mean 'game' and then go to the [Main Menu] or choose a help file.
Naruto glanced to where the black cat was apparently playing around in front of some sort of gadget that required him to drag a mouse (a very unhappy mouse from the occasional squeak) with one paw while typing away at a keyboard with another paw while sketching things on a stylus with another paw while composing music over there and pedalling some generator.
"Okay," said Naruto, glancing around at the colored statues as he tried to figure this out.
Naruto checked and found that the pedestals had information on the other sides as well. On the right of the Basic Naruto was:
Ninjutsu:2, Taijutsu:1.5, Genjutsu:1, Intelligence:1, Strength:2, Speed:2, Stamina:4, Hand Seals:1.
"Huh," said Naruto as he checked out the same thing on the girl-type Naruto.
Ninjutsu:2, Taijutsu:1.5, Genjutsu:2, Intelligence:2, Strength:1, Speed:2, Stamina:3, Hand Seals:1.5.
'Okay," said Naruto, glancing around at the colored statues as he tried to figure this out."Hey, how come there are TWO Naruko?"
One's the female child of your parents whose life paralleled your own, said the cat. The other one went with Jiraiya after she encountered some additional hostility. That one is... formidable.
"More formidable than me?" asked Naruto, glancing at the second female Naruto.
If the you of that time fought that version of you, she wouldn't even break a sweat handing you your buttocks, said the cat as he continued to work.
"No way," said Naruto. "How could that be?"
Your Basic Naruto is stronger physically, but Sannin Naruko is better at technique, is a fair hand with genjutsu, and is pretty good with the ninjutsu Jiraiya taught her, responded the cat. She'd slap a genjutsu on you before you could summon shadow clones and convince you that you were actually her best friend. She'd leave you with a flattened wallet and convinced you'd just had a really hot date with her.
"You're kidding," said Naruto.
In the initial test of the timeline, she did that to Kiba in the Chunin Exams.
"Eh," said Naruto by way of comment. THIS version of Naruko was dressed a bit differently, having some sort of stringed instrument across her back, wearing a blue that matched her eyes. The stance though - that was familiar. Arms crossed in front of her, feet widely spaced, grinning and looking as if she was ready for whatever the world was going to throw at her - because she was ready to kick its behind.
There we go, said the cat as a bunch of statues abruptly shifted to color and full detail. These are the Naruto-adopted choices.
"Oh?" asked Naruto, seeing that they were all similar in appearance. "Why do it that way then? Why not show the family?"
Yeesh. Picky, ain't you?
The statues of family-Naruto disappeared, replaced by family photos hanging there in midair above the pedestals.
"Much better," said Naruto as he went to the first one.
[Naruto Aburame]
[While not suitable for an insect colony himself, Naruto has been adopted by the Aburame clan. He doesn't fit in well for several reasons. The fox chakra disturbs the colonies and he tends to be quite emotional by Aburame standards. On the other hand - his emotional and chakra control are greater than Basic Naruto. He has benefitted by his association with the Aburame also in that he is better educated, although by Aburame standards he's overly emotional and prone to impulsive behavior.]
"That one's kind of weird," said Naruto, moving on to the next one.
[Naruto Akimichi]
[While not allowed to learn the hijutsu of his adopted family, Naruto Akimichi has benefitted from intensive practice in taijutsu and the exercise equipment available. Not to mention the amount of food. As a result, this Naruto is much stronger and faster, which he can use efficiently in hand to hand fighting. He gets along very well with his brother Choji and his friend Shikamaru.]
"Hmm," hmmmed Naruto as he considered the picture of himself with the two parents in the background and he and Choji apparently trying to give each other a noogie. That one looked like it had possibilities actually.
Naruto went on to the next one, a little more intrigued now.
[Naruto Haruno]
[While adopted by a non-ninja family, Naruto has gone on to learn at the Ninja Academy with his sister Sakura. Since his sister is adamant about his grades improving, Naruto's strength is lower but his intelligence is higher. At first Sakura tried to set Naruto up with Ino, but in the last year of the Academy learned of Hinata's interest and has since devoted much time and effort to get them together.]
Naruto decided that was weird, but it might solve a lot of problems in the long run if Sakura was his sister.
[Naruto Hyuga]
[Despite not having a Byakugan, there was an attempt to use the Caged Bird Seal on Naruto as a measure of control. The outcome involved Naruto being hospitalized at the age of three. An attempt to kidnap Hinata was foiled as she was in the room with Naruto, and there were many eyes constantly checking on the two due to the lack of trust towards Naruto. As a result of this, Hinata has become fascinated with medicine and becoming a medic. Naruto still suffers from the occasional blinding headache and has a driving need to prove himself similar to Rock Lee in that he has no Byakugan or similar bloodlimit while being surrounded by those whose skills are directly dependent on such.]
"No Inuzuka?" asked Naruto, noting that the next one was [Naruto Nara].
Nope. Already done.
Not understanding that comment at all, Naruto just went ahead and checked the pedestal's description.
[Naruto Nara]
[Though not eligible to learn the hijutsu of the Nara clan, Naruto has learned a great deal of the other specialties of the clan. Tending to the herds of deer and the forests of the Nara clan, Naruto has learned much of animal care, trap-making, and medicinal preparations.Naruto Nara is quieter and more subtle than Basic Naruto, though just as likely to pull elaborate pranks.]
"Why does he look like he's planning something?" asked Naruto.
Gee, I wonder.
When he got to the next one, Naruto slapped his face. "This is just wrong."
[Naruto Uchiha]
[After being adopted by the clan, Naruto managed to survive the Uchiha Massacre as Itachi pronounced him not worthy of being killed by him. Sasuke and Naruto consider each other brothers, though Sasuke is quite aware that Naruto never will manifest a Sharingan.]
After seeing the scowling hateful expression on his statue's face, Naruto moved on to the next one.
[Naruto Yamanaka]
[Constant exposure to the clan techniques of the Yamanaka has revealed that trying to possess Naruto with the Kyubi in him is a bad idea. It has also given Naruto some odd and uncontrolled ability to glimpse possible futures.]
After looking them over, Naruto decided to try:
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(Posted Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:10)
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