Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor The Gamer. I own nothing, really.

Chapter 17

'Wall Climbing is a surprisingly good work out exercise,' I thought to myself as I simply walked on the wall that was built just for me to train my Chakra Control on. This time, the Earth based structure was without any holes created by my mistakes, which was a major improvement from how it had been throughout the last week of classes.

As for how it was a good exercise… well, do I really need to explain? Anyone that gives the idea a moment of thought would realize it. Which isn't to say that I did, just that it is that obvious. After all, while wall walking, one needs to keep their entire body in standing position but parallel to the ground. And let me just tell you, that isn't an easy feat at all.

It was so good, in fact, that I wouldn't be surprised if-

[Intermediate Chakra Control Exercises has gone up a level.]

'Not what I was expecting, but I'll take it,' I thought while suppressing an amused smile. It wouldn't do for me to start smiling out of nowhere.

"You are doing very well, Eiji," Iruka commented as I kept walking. It was nice seeing the teacher with a relaxed smile instead of that determined or annoyed expression that he usually wore in class. Chakra Control class was an exception after all, since everyone had to seat and do their exercises in silence. It also helped that the students actually wanted to do the exercises, most of the time anyway.

"It's a lot easier than the Leaf Concentration exercise was at the start. Guess I got the hang of it since then,"I mused as I walked, making it look a lot easier than it actually was. A slip in my concentration and I would fall right on my ass. It was tiring both mentally and physically, but it was still awesome, especially when I took a moment to think that I was freaking walking on the wall.

I had to stop myself from doing the exercise with my hands too to pull a Spider-Man… I saved that for the privacy of my room.

"So," He started again, and I pondered for a moment if he actually wanted to talk or he just wanted to see if he could distract me to make me fall. "have you decided on which electives you'll sign for?"

"Yes, actually," I answered with my voice slightly strained, a bead of sweat rolling down my forehead. "Ninjutsu and Medical Training," I added, with a smile forming on my face. I was quite excited by the prospect of those classes. I really couldn't wait to start flinging jutsu around. Maybe it was childish of me, but which Naruto fan hadn't wanted to use a jutsu at least once? The dream was real for me, and I had already had to wait for an entire year. One could only have so much patience.

"And?" I blinked at his question and turned my head towards him. "What will you take for your third elective?" I blinked again and a smirk tugged at Iruka's lips.

"Third? We can only choose two," I said as a frown formed on my face, it intensified as I heard him chuckle.

"Oh my, this is going to be a great year, I can already tell," He laughed, much to my confusion. "Don't you remember that I said you could take one more if you kept your grades and performance up?" I blinked once more before face palming. Also, with my focus gone to shit, I promptly fell on my back, although I couldn't bring myself to care.

"I… forgot," I muttered, my voice muffled against my hand that still covered my face.

"Well, it's good that I reminded you then, you have time to think about it now," He reassured me, although his face-splitting grin didn't much help my annoyance.

"I'll probably take Genjutsu," I replied as I stood up and dusted myself. I didn't need much time to consider it, really. I had gone through all the options before choosing after all. The only contender Genjutsu had was Bukijutsu, and while using a weapon sounded badass and very usefull… I had foreknowledge. With so much Sharingan bullshit being thrown around, I needed a way to deal with all those illusionary jutsu.

Even if actual Genjutsu wouldn't be part of my main skillset, I needed a skill to dispel them, I needed to max it, and I needed to do it yesterday. It was great to get a head start on that by being able to apply to the elective. Otherwise I would have had to hunt down Kurenai and see if I could get her to train me after graduating, if I didn't end up in her team that is.

"That was quick, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you already had an idea of what you would prefer," Iruka-sensei said, his amused smile turning into a fond one that I returned. "I didn't take you for a Genjutsu ninja though."

"I am really not," I admitted. While using illusions was cool and all… it just wasn't my thing. I didn't much feel like it would be something that I would use much even if I got good at it. "I just don't want to fall for them, honestly," I added before taking a deep breath in and starting doing the exercise again.

"Hm," He hummed and nodded. "Smart decision, not sure the teacher will like your reason though."

"I'm still interested in the subject, just not the way they want," I shrugged and grinned unrepentant. Sensei simply smiled and shook his head.

'I'm walking on a fucking wall,' I thought giddily to myself. That rush of excitement wouldn't get old anytime soon, I could already tell. Despite all the things I had done since arriving, Wall Climbing really got the point across that I as in a world of Naruto. Funny considering that I was friends/brothers with Naruto himself, but the mind is a strange thing.

[Constitution has gone up a level.]

'A bit late, Game, but thanks,' I thought jokingly.

[}-o-{]

"Good afternoon, everyone!" I called out as usual while entering the Yamanaka shop.

"Good afternoon, Eiji," Noriko answered with a warm smile. I would have happily worked for free just to be with the woman, she was that nice. Not that I would ever tell them that. I preferred to get paid, thank you very much.

"Ino out shopping?" I asked jokingly as I took the Noriko's place behind the counter, freeing her to see to the plants.

"No, she's at the back looking after the gardens," I grinned at that. The young Yamanaka only did that when she was angry. And she only was angry when, one, someone annoyed her (mostly Kiba, Naruto or me) or two…

"What did she want now?" She had an argument with her parents. Those were the reasons for Ino to need a moment to relax while tending to the plants. Thus, imagine my surprise when Noriko frowned and stayed at the counter without moving when I got closer. "That bad?" I asked hesitantly. Despite the casual approach I had taken, it was always uncomfortable to discuss their family problems. Uncomfortable only for me, apparently, since they always seemed fairly open about the whole thing.

"No… we didn't argue this time," She replied and my smile vanished as her frown deepened. "She arrived like that today, she hasn't said a word about why though. I'm worried," The woman bit her lip nervously. "I guess we'll have to talk about it with her tonight."

"Want me to try?" I offered. I didn't think Ino would open up to me of all people, but trying was always important. Furthermore, she was part of our group. Granted, we weren't as close as, say, Shika and I, but it still counted for me. "Actually, I will try," I corrected, earning a smile from the woman.

"You don't have to; you know? I know you aren't the closest of friends," She said with a sad smile.

"No, but we are friends, and that's enough for me," Besides, she had been helping Hinata come out of her shell and didn't insult Naruto anymore (when he didn't deserve it that is). The least I could do was try to help her when she had a problem.

"Thank you, Eiji," I waved off her thanks as I moved towards the back.

And so I was on my way to speak with either a very pissed off girl or a very sad girl… 'Why did I offer to do this again?' I asked myself with a grimace. But it was how things where. At least she wasn't a full on teenager. Although, with how children matured in this world… 'Oh Kami, I'm going to be talking with a teenager in a mood… this is just great, isn't it?'

"I told you I'm fine, mom," I didn't need to be her mother to know that she was upset, that voice said it all. I suppressed another grimace as I steeled myself.

"I'm not Noriko."

"Even better, just go do your job, Eiji," She responded quickly although her voice cracked a bit. 'Was it because of me or because of something else?' With no way of answering that question, I simply approached the girl that was kneeling besides a particularly dangerous plant like it was a normal flower and sat next to her.

"We both know you are not fine, Ino," I said softly.

"Of course I'm fin-"

"Ino," I interrupted, putting a bit more steel in my voice but keeping it soft. "I may not be your best friend," I took note of how she flinched at the words 'best friend' and continued. "but I have known you long enough to know when you are upset."

"So what?" She countered this time. "I'll be fine in a bit, I just need a moment without anyone annoying me," I didn't need to be a genius nor an adult in mind to realize what she meant by that. Despite that though, I didn't go away.

Instead, I stood up and started looking after the plants too. In silence, I moved around watering what needed to be watered, weeding what needed to be weeded and so on. I never moved far enough to be out of Ino's sight though and she noticed. She let out a long sigh but kept looking firmly towards the plant she was working on.

"I tried to talk to Sakura after school," I didn't say anything, but kept my focus on her words. That explained why she hadn't joined any of us after classes were over, at least. "I tried to get her to join us too. I thought…" She trialed off and I waited for a moment until it seemed like she wouldn't continue talking.

"I take it that it didn't go well?" I asked gently as I moved to stand next to her and sat down again.

"She started screaming," Her voice grew strained, like she was choking down tears and, by the look of her face, she was. "Saying that she wouldn't fall for it and would win Sasuke's heart by herself without cheating like I was doing," This time she couldn't stop it, a tear fell down and a sob left her moth. "I… I just wanted…"

"You just wanted her to be your friend," I finished for her with a sad smile. It was much better than the angry expression I really wanted to show. I had never been a fan of Sakura's, especially pre-time-skip. Meeting her in person hadn't helped. I just hoped she would get better sooner now that I was here, but it didn't look like it yet.

Ino sighed and another tear escaped her eye.

"Yeah… did you know?... We were pretty close a few years ago… best friends even, like you and Naruto or Shika and Chouji… but then…"

"You grew distant?"

"We fought… when we realized that we both liked Sasuke… we fought and then we barely talked to each other…" She explained in between sobs and deep breaths. "I thought we could go back to that, now that I had calmed down… but she… she hasn't and that didn't help."

After that, there was a moment of silence. I don't know what Ino was thinking meanwhile, but I was remembering, my mind brining up hazy memories from a time where I didn't go by the name Eiji.

"I had friends, before Naruto and the rest, you know?" I started softly. I could play it off, I guessed. Just keeping things vague would be enough. "But, when things looked bad, several left," Half my friends had left when the news of my condition had come out. They hadn't shunned me or anything, but they had slowly grown distant. I didn't fault them for trying to escape the pain, but it hurt nonetheless. "What's important is to focus on those who stay."

"I know… it's just…"

"It hurts," I nodded understandingly. "I know, and it'll keep hurting. But you'll be fine, eventually," I reassured and she nodded, although she wasn't looking at me, her eyes still firmly set on the plant. "You should talk to your parents. You'll feel better afterwards."

"I already feel better," She replied, her voice so low that it was barely a whisper. Fortunately for me, I managed to hear it.

"I'm glad I could help then," I said with a small smile. "Take your time out here. I'll help your mother with the shop meanwhile," And with that, I stood up slowly, just in case she wanted to say anything else. When it seemed like she wouldn't, I made my way back inside.

"Thank you," I heard behind me and my smile widened.

"That's what friends are for."

"Thank you," I heard once I stepped back in, the mother echoing the words of the daughter.

My response was the same.

[}-o-{]

"I mean, I get it, I really do," I explained myself quickly with a wry smile. "It's just that… I really didn't see you as the kind to take Fuinjutsu and Trapping instead of something more…" I waved my hand uncertainly.

"Flashy?" Shika suggested with his usual bored tone as he made his move on the board.

"Yeah, Naruto, you have to admit that you don't… seem the type," Chouji spoke through his handfuls of chips.

"… You guys suck," The blond in question grumbled. "I mean, yeah, I would love to sign for Ninjutsu and learn something badass, but really… trapping and fuinjutsu go really well together from what I've, ugh, read. Just imagine the pranks…" He added with a dreamy look as everyone except me shuddered. Nobody wanted to think about a fuinjutsu and traps trained Naruto setting up pranks. 'Good thing I'm relatively safe on that front,' When you are the one to feed him the 'food of the gods' Naruto tended to leave you alone.

Maybe that was why Ichiraku Ramen still had business. Being a safe spot for Naruto's pranks had to be good PR. 'Huh, food for thought.'

"So, what about the rest of you, guys?" I asked this time. "Decided already?"

"Intelligence Gathering," The younger generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho replied in unison, much to the older generation's amusement. They had to have rehearsed that, I was sure.

"I'll take Mannerisms," Ino added with a slight smirk that confirmed my previous thoughts. It was good to see her back to her normal self too, after our encounter a few days ago.

"Recon and Tracking," Shika offered, eyeing the board between us intensely. It was fun now that we were more evenly matched. I was just waiting for the day that I would get my first win at this point.

"Huh, I thought you would take something more theory related," I replied as I moved one of my pieces.

"It goes well with strategies," He offered as explanation before shrugging and I nodded. That made some sense.

"I imagine Kiba is going to take that class," I said casually and promptly smirked as Shika all but flinched, piece still in hand.

"Man, don't do that to me," He grimaced. "At least Shino and Hinata will join me there," He reassured himself, much to my amusement.

"True that."

"I'll take the Survival course," Chouji said after a moment and I turned to him, looked him up and down…

"You just want to know what you can eat out in the wild, don't you?" I deadpanned at him. The Akimichi nodded unashamedly, earning a face palm from Ino and a laugh from his parents. "I'm not surprised anymore," I shook my head and looked at the board.

"What about you, Eiji?" Chouji asked and I suppressed a smug grin.

"Ninjutsu, Medical Training and Genjutsu," I listed off. For the first two, the group nodded before I said the third and they frowned.

"You can't take three courses," Ino pointed out.

"No, you can't. I can," I said and more than a little pride slipped into my voice. "Iruka-sensei told me last year that I could take an extra course if I kept my grades as good as they are and passed the End of the Year exams in first place. Kinda like what he did with the Chakra Control training."

"I remember you saying something like that," Shika nodded. "But you hadn't said anything else on the matter since then, so… wait… You forgot, didn't you?" My smile grew strained as I chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of my head.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Ino laughed out loud next to us and I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. What was with everyone enjoying me being dumb once or twice?

[}-o-{]

"So youthful!"

'I had been wondering how long it would take for me to meet this guy,' I thought to myself while half-smiling at the enthusiastic Jounin. Right next to the one and only Might Guy was his mini-me, Rock Lee. It seemed the poor guy had already fallen and was already wearing the green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers and the red forehead protector as a belt.

As for how we met?... I crossed paths with them while Free Running… as simple as that, really.

"Hm…" I started awkwardly. And I think it was justified. How are you even supposed to react when this pair just up and runs in front of you and shouts that right off the bat? "Hello?... I'm Eiji Satou, nice to meet you."

"My name is Might Guy!" The guy introduced himself all but shouting. "And this," He paused for dramatic effect for… reasons, I guess. "is my most youthful student, Rock Lee."

"Guy-sensei!" The mini-me exclaimed with stars in his eyes as if this was the best day of his life. I simply blinked at them. However, with my established group of friends I had already got used to quirky personalities.

"Pleasure to meet you both," I smiled.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt your most youthful training," Guy said, sounding like someone that committed the worst kind of sin. I wanted to deadpan at him. "But we saw you and couldn't help ourselves in the face of such a youthful person."

"We never see anyone just running for training," Lee explained, or tried to, at least. "Usually most people we come across are just commuting."

"And how do you know that's not the case."

"You are sweating, a lot," He replied, and I had to concede that point.

"Yeah, well… I'm in my last year at the academy and have the first place in the obstacle course. I want to keep it that way," A smirk formed on my face and only grew wider as I saw the Genin's eyes shine.

"Oh! Are you a taijutsu specialist by any chance?" He asked enthusiastically.

"Not really," I denied, immediately crushing his hopes. "Taijutsu and Shurekenjutsu are my strong points, yeah, but that's only because I haven't got much training in anything else," I shrugged. The Jounin-sensei nodded with a thoughtful expression before sending his signature smirk my way. I'll admit, it was really awkward to be on the receiving end of it.

"Would you like to join a Jounin and a Genin on their training, young man?" Anyone else would have jumped at the chance, elated by the offer. But, of course, what I did was…

"Of course, Guy-sensei!" I jumped at the chance, elated by the offer.

What? This was Might Guy! No way I was letting the chance of training with Konoha's one and only true master of Taijutsu pass. I was a fan of his, truth be told. Not much of a fan of the clothes and the haircut but everything else about him was badass as hell, even his personality was kinda cool, even if the previously mentioned points made it a bit obnoxious.

'Maybe I should have controlled my inner fanboy though,' I thought to myself a couple of hours later, sweat literally raining down from my body to the ground. My everything hurt. Although, I took some comfort in the fact that Lee looked exactly like I did. It was a very small amount of comfort though, since I knew he was probably already wearing weights. Granted, there was a fair chance that they wouldn't be as heavy as the ones he used during the Chunin exams but still, the point stood.

"So youthful!" Guy shouted, almost tearing up from sheer happiness. I could only groan, even listening to the guy took too much effort from me. "It's a shame that I won't be able to be your sensei, having two youthful students would have been a true boon!"

I took a second to thank whatever deity looked over me for small mercies.

"With that said though, Lee and I must regretfully leave for today," The Jounin added, with a sad tone. I suppressed a sigh in relief. "Hopefully we'll see you soon. Take care and keep your youthful training going, young Satou!"

A second later, the enthusiastic sensei all but dragged his tired student away.

I could only drop to the ground, falling on my back and turning my eyes towards the sky.

"Never again," I swore to myself. The points I had gotten into Strength and Constitution weren't worth it, neither were the levels in Free Running and Intermediate Taijutsu. I may have been a training maniac like Shikamaru liked to say, but I wasn't batshit crazy. "Ugh, it's going to be a long way home today…" I groaned as I stood and dragged my feet slowly towards our house.

[}-o-{]

Later, Unknown PoV

The person sitting on a desk grinned as he looked over the reports. All of then regarding the same person, Eiji Satou. Everything was there, from information gathered in his numerous background checks to his latest answers in the monthly tests the figure had procured for him.

'Cold and pragmatic but extremely biased towards people close to him.'

'Driven in a controlled manner… Training almost completely around battle prowess…'

'Almost unbiased opinion regarding civilians and ninja.'

Everyone in the higher ups had different opinions on the boy. Some said he was the return of the Flash. A natural leader, prodigious and charismatic.

Others feared they had a new Orochimaru in their hands, and the man couldn't fault them, even if the only one with actual proof on the matter was himself. After all, despite the high profile of the boy's group, having someone actually trail him everywhere was something the higher ups didn't want nor truly could do. Having a Jounin or an Anbu trail an academy student out of paranoia would just look bad and anything less than that had the chance of being caught.

But he had done it, he had been watching the boy. He knew, after the incident regarding the now pariah Inuzuka, that the Satou could be more than just a shining model student.

There were lots of other theories running around, comparing the boy to the various geniuses that had appeared through history. Kakashi Hatake, Itachi Uchiha and many more.

Funnily enough, nobody had compared the boy with who the man himself considered the closest approximation.

Tobirama Senju.

The man smirked.

'I look forward to your development, Eiji Satou,' The figure thought as he set the papers back on his desk. 'Show me if you are a second coming or something entirely different.'

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Writing Might Guy was an unexpected challenge, not gonna lie. I expected it to be a lot easier, but it wasn't the case. I can't have things go easily for me, I guess. He might have come out tamer than he actually is, or more over the top than he actually is. In any of those cases, I'm sorry.

Everything else I'm happy with.

I'll admit though, I'm a bit nervous about the last part. I hope that Eiji does seem more similar to Tobirama. If he doesn't I just made a fool of myself.

If you can't wait until next week, there's up to three chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Random Question: This is unrelated to the story but, Slugs, Toads, Snakes or something else? I personally like the Snakes more. Slugs and Toads are just lame, despite how much they want to sell the toads as cool. It just doesn't work on me. I'd also really like to see snakes painted in a good light for once, what with Naruto, Harry Potter and lots of other stories making them the picture of evil and all that.

See you.