Uzumaki Apartment:
*Tringgggggggggg!*
Hearing the ringing of his alarm clock, Naruto shifts in his bed and finally sits up groaning. He slams the clock and mutters while yawning,
"Ugh, it's already 5:15... gotta get up and prepare for Ichiraku... can't be late on the first day."
Getting up and going to the washroom, Naruto's thoughts drifted to his second sign-in target for today and the reason why he needed to get up so early in the morning.
Brushing his teeth, Naruto wears his clothes and shoes and gets ready for a morning jog, deciding to grace Konoha early in the morning.
From slow jogging to picking up speed, he sprints off—not towards Ichiraku, but towards the familiar streets. After 10 minutes, Naruto looks at the familiar gates - Konoha Academy.
Jumping over the still-closed gate, Naruto finally steps onto the academy ground. He takes a deep breath as he takes in the sight of the familiar scenery in the morning sunshine and focuses mentally on his system.
(Sign in.)
==============================
Ding!
Sign in location: Konoha Academy
Reward: Growth skill – Academy Student (1st Year)
Academy student (1st Year): An average first-year Academy student with all comprehensive knowledge in all taught classes.
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After signing in, Naruto felt a rush of memories of basic subjects that were taught three years ago, just like when Naruto joined the academy in his first year.
A rush of memories flooded his mind.
Math. Writing. History.The Will of Fire. Village culture.Basic taijutsu forms.
Bukijutsu—kunai and shuriken handling.Chakra molding theory.
Leaf-sticking exercises.Hand seals and their functions.Proper shinobi posture, breathing, and running techniques.
how to regulate breath, and keeping the right posture.
Naruto thought. It took him quite a while to absorb those memories, and he seemed to be standing still during that time, even though it was just some elementary stuff.
(It seems like I need to be careful while signing in from now on)
While reminding himself about this, Naruto focused on the important parts—mostly chakra and knowledge of hand-seals.
Naruto had found these things boring before, especially the chakra control and other basic points that teachers taught to focus on.
Walking off to the side of a tree, Naruto bends down to pick a few leaves on the ground and tries the chakra-control exercise.
( It's like a rusty player who comes back to play after a 2-3 year gap. There is muscle memory in the body, but it still needs time to get back in shape. I feel a little powerful and energized—is it the basic strength of an average 6-year-old first-year academy student? )
Feeling a little energized and a healthy, warm current slowly dispersing inside his body, Naruto felt it—very little, but still there. But Naruto's thoughts were in a different direction.
(If I can find Jonin or Kage sign-in then... but it's a Growth type skill. Since it says first year, then there will be 2, 3 and up to 6 year, and then maybe Genin or...)
But Naruto stops there because graduating from the academy is already Genin. (Need to find new sign in for Genin, Chunin and others.)
Naruto looks back towards the Hokage office. That building is to the very back of the academy, separated by a thin wall. If it wasn't because of his fears, he would have signed in there.
(Soon...)
For now, it's time to head back home and prepare for Ichiraku.
Jogging back to his home, Naruto took two leaves and started practicing the leaf-sticking exercise with both arms. At first, the leaves fell every 2-4 meters; by the time he reached his apartment, the leaves only fell in between 6-9 meters.
While bathing, Naruto remembered last night and the training session this morning, finally focusing on his unique skill.
(Inner Strength is a real Growth skill. It helps me train and grow faster, and it's without any level cap, whereas Academy Student only targets the shinobi career. Now let's see if it also affects cooking and washing dishes.)
Ichiraku Ramen :
After getting out and dressing up, Naruto eats some boiled eggs and milk and heads to Ichiraku. At 6:40 AM, walking slowly, the streets are filled with a small amount of people who, despite seeing Naruto, didn't seem to react much.
After all—washing up, combing his hair, putting on a half-face mask, and not wearing anything orange... unless he starts shouting and dancing and proclaiming himself the "Great Naruto-sama," everybody is busy with their own lives.
Some friendly villagers greet him with, "Good morning." After a little surprise, Naruto responds back the same: "...Good morning."
After walking for 15 minutes, Naruto finally arrives at Ichiraku and sees Ayame-nee dusting the front of the shop. "Good morning, Ayame-nee!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ayame looks and sees a different Naruto, but this Naruto is giving off a totally different vibe.
After a while, Ayame replies, "...Good morning! Huh, is that you Naruto? What's up with the mask?"
"Ninja stuff, Nee-chan. You won't understand," Naruto huffs in a jovial tone.
"Then Ninja-sama, come help me wash dishes!"
"Oh... Lead the way."
"Yes, this way Hokage-sama!"
Hearing the address, both Naruto and Ayame start laughing and head further in. Inside the shop, they head towards the cleaning station. While getting ready, Naruto asks Ayame, "Where did Uncle Teuchi go?"
"Dad has gone to get ingredients—veggies and other stuff. He told me about your matter yesterday."
Hearing Ayame's reply, Naruto asks back, "I heard that this kind of stuff gets delivered to your doorstep."
"I know, but he is too picky about those things. Everything needs to meet his standards, even if he gets tired in the morning," complains Ayame.
"No wonder the ramen is always awesome," mutters Naruto.
"Hahahaha!"
Bickering back and forth like this, the dishes get cleaned in an hour with the extra pair of hands. Teuchi arrives and addresses Naruto: "Come over, Naruto. I am preparing breakfast. You help."
Hearing Teuchi calling him over, Naruto washes his hands and starts heading to a different kitchen counter inside the shop. "Alright, today you just watch and help me a little."
"Yoshhh!"
In this way, Naruto helps in preparing a basic breakfast—miso soup, steamed rice, and some side dishes. After preparing these things, all of them sat together to eat. "Itadakimasu!" "Itadakimasu!" "Itadakimasu!"
After eating breakfast, they all started prepping things for ramen. For the whole day, Naruto inquires bits and pieces here and there. He works until 1 PM and then departs back home.
Going back on the street, his thoughts drifted back to a major event that happened just half a year ago:
The Uchiha Clan Massacre.
S-rank rogue-nin Uchiha Itachi killing his whole clan in cold blood while leaving a single survivor. Knowing the mysteries surrounding it, Naruto's thoughts weren't on the tragedy, but on something else.
(Hmmmm. Uchiha Clan Grounds, Konoha Police Force, Naka River, Naka Shrine... but tomorrow is for...)
Thinking up to here, Naruto looks to the clean and majestic Great Hokage Rock and heads to the Academy Training Ground to train.
(I need to make these skills mine.)
Not knowledge—but instinct.
He trained under the scorching sun.
Running.Taijutsu.Kunai and shuriken.Chakra control—leaves stuck to his arms as he transitioned between movements.
Again.And again.
(I need to make the skills that I got from Sign-in mine. Acrobatics, flexibility, running, kunai and shuriken throwing, basics of taijutsu and its forms, chakra control... I need to make it all real instinct and not just knowing it.)
Hokage's Office :
Looking through his crystal ball and watching Naruto practicing basic academy stuff under the scorching sun of summer and slowly getting it right brought a faint smile to the old Hokage's face.
From basic taijutsu to kunai and shuriken throwing, and then interchanging between running while simultaneously throwing kunai and then switching to taijutsu while keeping leaves stuck on his arms.
Looking at Naruto stopping in between to pick up leaves and starting over again was both gratifying and worrisome for the Third Hokage. Looking at it now, Naruto starts practicing the three basic academy ninjutsu.
(Hmm, today he is focused on practicing substitution jutsu more.)
After putting away the crystal ball, the Hokage starts facing his biggest bane: The Paperwork.
"Ughhh, my back... when can I retire, o Kami?"