Bum-bum-bum-Bum!

Level Up!

Level 22 was pretty simple. I just dumped all 23 skill points into Ranged Weaponry, bringing it up to 64 without bonuses. since all of the important skills were already maxed and I wanted to be good at my little proof of concept weapon before I removed all the seals, trashed it and then made a better looking one with wood release, seeing as how I just grabbed the Earth Elemental training.

Medicine was at 80, and I seriously doubted I would be called upon to solve a plague or anything of a lot of difficulty, Luck Willing. Speech was really only used when I was attempting to convince someone of something and that..well, with how small my social circle really was, that didn't come up very often.

9,195 more EXP until level 23.

Following Danjuro's advice became a lot easier once I became hit with the reality that I lived in a Ninja village and lived in an apartment where it was easy to spy on me. Like when Kakashi copied Stonehenge. I wasn't really surprised that he had, I was more upset he didn't simply ask me for jutsu. That, and I had to go through a lot of hoops to visit the penguins, and I realized that this would be simpler if I simply had a hideout like the Batcave or the Fortress of Solitude.

Or a Vault.

Leave a clone behind for most of the day while I'm over there. Heck, since I'm planning on going underground, I might not even need to purchase the property in question or, I might not even need for it to be in Konoha. That would actually be best, since that would reduce the odds of someone accidentally happening upon my hideout to a very small probability. I'll leave a clone in the Apartment, take the canister, use the water-stealth jutsu I figured out (which is utterly broken) over the past couple of days to hide myself from visual cues and the lightning aura to speed myself up and go as far as I possibly can for several days.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably want my..let's make it a Vault. Why not show some..I don't want to say appreciation but some..fidelity to my other franchise. Acknowledge my roots, as it were. Anyway, I want to place it due south of Konoha. Like, miles. Not to the peninsula, though, I don't want to be too close to the land of Iron..you know, it just occurred to me that the Elemental nations are about as large as the Americas and Africa smashed together and rearranged. Just..how big is this planet that summoning areas like the frozen seas can exist alongside the Elemental countries? Maybe there is some dimensional tomfoolery going on and people used too, in ages long since passed, be able to travel to the summons realm more or less freely. But the whole 'turn to stone' thing that Captain Shizo said..I don't think I should think about it too much until I have more details.

But I want to figure it out now.

Whatever. First, let's plot out where I'm going to build this Vault.

Well..there's the Valley of the End. But that's to the North, though.

I mean, it's a huge Konoha monument to the battle between Hashirama (who the Hokage had emphatically corrected, did not forest the entire land of fire. I was completely in the wrong there as well, and I had seen mostly forgotten screen shots of the first Hokage so..yeah. But he did create the Forest of Death and that was, as far as I was concerned, much better) and Madara Uchiha who..gets brought back as an all-powerful zombie? I..think that's what happened? I literally just saw a video on the internet of him fighting an army that had Naruto in it. You know, I think this setting has the most powerful zombies in the world, which is a far cry from the cannon fodder they usually are.

It would be a delicious bit of irony that the Valley of the End might house yet another monument, but this one to a series detailing Humanity after the end of the world. And I haven't really heard of anyone going to see or witness, or admire the Valley. It's not a tourist attraction, really. Well, this world doesn't really do tourism the way my old world did, so that would be why. And most Ninja are too concerned with their missions or with being safe in the village to venture outside the walls of Konoha for very long. Even the Nara grounds, as expansive as I had heard them being, were still inside the village boundaries. That, and it was quite dangerously close to the Land of Sound, a new village that had arisen over the past few years because of I-know-who.

Though I don't think Orochimaru's going to be scouting that area out either, if I'm totally honest with myself.

So, if I'm going to do that, what's the point of the apartment?

Well..I do need to try to socialize with my friends, right? Maybe..the apartment can be more of a neutral meeting ground for all of them? I know the clans all want me to be their political ally and I'm loath to play politics. I've always hated politics in games. But..hanging out with all of them, at the same time? Leaving my door open, since being social is something I need, per Danjuro's instructions, to do more of. That's not picking favorites if I give an open invitation, right?

I mean, I never sleep either, so it's not like an assassin can get the drop on me, though they're welcome to try.

Though I suppose I might be obligated to try to take him alive if possible. Danjuro's council. I'm taking that seriously.

Quest Added: No Place Like Home.

Go to the Valley of the End.

Anyway, first things first. You know what Konoha doesn't have? Pineapples. You know what my favorite fruit used to be? That nectar of tropical goodness, Pineapples. So, since I have water release, and earth release, and I need a Wood Release, that's going to be my first wood jutsu.

I had bought a small pot, filled it with soil and made the hand signs. Pineapple Jutsu!

Sometimes, the local vernacular was perfect for jutsu names.

Ninjutsu Check Success! 100/55.

Survival Check Success:26/25.

+300 EXP.

You have unlocked Wood Release.

I, thanks to the skill, knew that Pineapples didn't actually grow on trees. They grew in spiny bushes. It could easily be grown indoors, which is what I was doing here. The spiny leaves of the plant sprouted out, giving me the start of a new plant which will grow. I could probably get it to grow to full length but..well, my Dad, in my old life, loved to garden. He wanted to be a farmer for the longest time. I always brushed it off but..now maybe I could try to take care of a plant.

My Dad was a jerk, but..you know. I do miss him. Them. All of them. Mostly Mom.

Wipe that tear away, hold yourself together.

Anyway!

Now that that was done, what's on the docket for today?

Tactics training was done for today, Kakashi honestly seemed pleased and I was pleased that I could tell that he was pleased. Freaking slow power creep finally doing something. So..right, ask Ayami about my girl troubles. That..not entirely sure I'm looking forward to that therapy session.

I had waited until it was after dark and I was sure that Naruto..wouldn't be around. He stays up late, but this late after dark? With the training regimen that he's started? Haha, no. Not even with the Kyuubi charging him up like a battery.

The stand wasn't closing up though, it would be open for another hour. I came inside and there was Ayame and her father, talking while stirring up some pots of ramen. Then the Teuchi caught sight of me and gave me a wave. "Shimoda-kun! Good to see you, how was your day today?"

"Boring," I replied with a slight frown. "Definitely boring. Not bad, otherwise."

I can't even call awesome new power ups exciting anymore, considering how often I get them. Wood release was..okay. I mean, it brought good fruit. Literally and it was the essence of 'solving explosive problems without explosions' but..it was boring.

"Well, some would say that boring is better the interesting," Teuchi smiled. "Anything we can get you?"

"A bowl of the miso," I replied, forking over the correct amount immediately.

"Coming right up," Teuchi said, scooping up a bowl for me immediately.

The aromas were enough to make my mouth water and broke the sticks after telling the man thanks. I scooped up a clump of noodles and pork and stuffed it in my mouth with a great deal of pleasure. Something I'll forever be happy about is the fact that I didn't need to eat didn't impede how much I enjoyed eating good food. Ramen was cheap, but when it's fresh and perfectly prepared, there wasn't anything to complain about.

"I need to go put the spare ingredients back in storage," Teuchi said quietly. "Can you man the counter?"

"Sure, Dad," Ayame replied cheerfully.

"Thank you," Teuchi ducked into the back closet.

"So, how have you been, Daisuke?" Ayame asked me.

"Getting better," I answered, having already finished my bowl. "Can I ask you something? Besides that question, I mean?"

Ayame's mouth turned into an amused smirk. "Sure, go ahead."

How..do I phrase this. Speech, don't fail me now. "I've happened upon the unlikely circumstance that I'm having girl trouble."

"Did you actually ask someone out?" Ayame smiled wide.

"No," I replied with a frown. "The trouble is I'm not sure if I should or not."

"You should," Ayame nodded. "Trust me, it'd be so cu-good for you."

Danjuro thought the same thing, I thought with a frown. "The problem I have is that I don't think I really understand her enough to know if I really like her."

"That's really what dating's for," Ayame replied, turning a burner off. "Getting to know each other in a one-on-one setting."

"But still," I replied with a frown. "I've known her for years and I..look, I don't understand people all that well to begin with. The fact that I wouldn't say I understand someone I've known for years is pretty embarrassing."

"Well, let's start with the basics," Ayame said, lifting the lid on a pot and taking a small sniff. "What do you know about her?"

"I know she loves Taijutsu," I replied, starting to rattle things off. "I know her parents are gone a lot of the time. I know she aspires to join the ANBU Black Ops and that she's..fiercely competitive? I think? I know for a fact that she likes me..and it hasn't gone away for whatever reason."

"What makes you think she's competitive?" Ayame asked, placing the lid down.

"Well, while we were in the Academy, she sparred against me in order to get better at Taijutsu," I replied, counting the items on my fingers. "She's tried on a couple occasions to outdo my performance on missions. She also hates the 'overpowered' part of my bloodline. It lets me cheat."

"Her words or yours?" Ayame asked with a frown.

"I told it as a joke one night and she laughed really hard," I answered with a shrug. "That, and she bemoaned how she can't possibly compete with something like my bloodline. She's said she's gotten over it but..I doubt it."

It's eating you alive inside, huh? Nichiren had said when I revealed that I had perfect Taijutsu. Hisako growled at him in response, the same way she did whenever he pointed something out and she didn't want it pointed out.

"This is Hisako you're talking about, right?" Ayame asked, placing both hands on the counter and leaning forward on them.

"Yeah," I nodded. "You've met a couple times?"

"You've brought her here a couple times," Ayame shrugged. "I'm not sure Ramen is really her thing, she hasn't come in otherwise."

"But..this ramen is amazing," I blinked and frowned. How could anyone dislike this ramen?

"Sometimes people eat food for more than just taste, Daisuke," Ayame smirked. "But thank you, we do appreciate the compliment."

"It's good ramen," I replied, still frowning.

"But anyway, back to your problem," Ayame started, frowning in thought. "It sounds like you understand her decently well. Anything you disagree with?"

"Well," I started, looking at the noodles and stirring them. "See, I hate my bloodline too. For several reasons. My inability to understand and communicate effectively, being the biggest reason."

It stealing my ability to reason out solutions beyond 'punch harder' being a very close second.

"But Hisako..she hates it because it lets me do..anything," I continued with a sad sigh and a frown. "Basically, she hates the one thing about my bloodline I actually love. Like, a lot. And I don't know..as much as I hate to admit it, it's a part of me. How I see the world, how I interact with it, how I fight solutions to my problems. She, honestly, feels threatened by its existence and I..don't like that. It makes me feel bad."

"Why does it make you feel bad?" Ayame asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I don't want the only girl that likes me to feel completely inferior because of what I can do," I replied with a shrug. "Honestly, I think it's a miracle she does like me at all."

"The only girl.." Ayame's eyes narrowed, her mouth turning into a light frown.

"That's why I feel I don't understand her," I finished. "She doesn't have any real reason to like me at all. Yet she does."

"Well..you've talked to her about this already, right?" Ayame asked, turning off another burner.

"How did you-?" I started.

"Nichiren and I have been talking," Ayame replied. "I've been trying to help him with his..nerves."

"Oh. Alright, then," I shrugged. That makes sense, she is basically the village therapist right now. "Yes. I've spoken to her. Shut her down."

"Did she say why she liked you?" Ayame asked.

"I'm not an arrogant jerk," I said with a shrug. "I guess. I mean, she beat me fair and square in the Academy at Taijutsu, my specialty, and I respected that. When I won..well, I win at almost everything. No real satisfaction in beating anyone anymore."

"She beat you in Taijutsu," Ayame blinked.

"Fair and square," I repeated with a nod.

"Wow," Ayame nodded. "So..she seems to like you because you're humble even though you've got a lot of power."

"There's no satisfaction in being arrogant," I replied, the sting of every check I've ever failed hanging in the back of my mind. "I'm not perfect or anything. But, still..I guess that's a good reason to like someone. But there's the whole 'hates my bloodline' thing."

Actually, if I were honest, that reason was the answer I gave to anyone who asked me why I liked Superman the most instead of one of those newer heroes. Beyond the pure power fantasy that I vehemently denied existing, I loved how..good he was. People would say 'but it's not realistic for someone to be that good', I would tell them that outliers exist in real life, too. Some would say 'but someone that good isn't relatable' to which I would think, but never say, 'well that's your problem, ain't it? Git gud, morality scrub'.

..I'm a pretty presumptuous person, now that I think about it. That, and I'm..not exactly a good person anymore, I don't think. I need to fix that.

"That is a thing, isn't it," Ayame muttered to herself.

"I mean, I think she's trying to get past it, but..I don't really like causing someone to feel inadequate just by existing," I shrugged with a frown. "That's a really..unhealthy relationship dynamic. Right?"

"Right," Ayame nodded.

"But she's literally my only option right now," I sighed, depressed. "Once my social issues get fixed, there'll always be this..doubt in my head, if I get with another girl. Does she like me for me or does she like me because I'm the perfect man? Hisako, for whatever reason, at least does like me. For me. I think. If it's not one of those crushes that goes away after a while."

"I don't think it's really that," Ayame said. "I..think she's still trying to get your attention, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "She's...redoubled her efforts, but I don't think we'd really go together."

"So what you're saying is..you don't like her back," Ayame said.

"I don't think so," I shrugged. "I'm not competitive. She's overly competitive. She loves Taijutsu, I only like it as long as it kills my enemies. She hates my bloodline, I only hate my social retardation. But..she likes me. She really likes me. A lot and I don't..want to break her heart. Again and..she's really the only person I can safely say likes me for me. For some reason."

"Well, as you said, she does like you," Ayame started, grabbing cloth and starting to clean off the counter. "She's fiercely competitive. She loves competition, your bloodline gives her something to beat, so as odd as it sounds, she probably does like your bloodline..in a 'worthy opponent' sort of way."

"I guess," I shrugged. "That makes me feel a little better, but..seriously, she did not see it that way at first. You should've heard her that night."

"What'd she say?" Ayame asked with a frown.

"She was wondering how she was going to compete with my bloodline and the question was clearly distressing her," I answered. "She even told me, when I spoke to her later, that she hates how powerful I am. I..guess she may have changed her attitude but..I think she's still conflicted."

"I see," Ayame nodded, putting the cloth down under the counter. "You really don't think you can look past her dislike?"

"It's a part of me," I replied. "But I..might have too. She's the only girl crazy enough to like me..for me, right?"

"Well, if I told you that Yamanaka Ino also liked you, what would you say?" Ayame asked with a slight quirk of her mouth.

"I would say that you're crazy," I replied with a raised eyebrow. "Have you met me? I'm me. Girls don't like me."

"It's true," Ayame nodded. "She's pretty interested in getting to know you since you saved her life."

"Clan Politics," I replied with a glare. "It has to be."

"I seriously doubt it," Ayame replied. "She came up to Nichiren and I about how to approach you. Nichiren gave her the third-degree, but she seemed pretty sincere..I didn't want to step on Hisako's toes, since she does seem kind of attached to you, but if you don't think of her in that way..might as well, right? She really likes how cool you were when you were fighting through the sewers and has no problems with your bloodline."

"I..she's a clan heir," I replied. "Don't want to mess up something like that, probably should wait until-"

"Daisuke," Ayame said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Man up. You've got no reason to be so..skittish."

She's 11. Who cares if I'm physically and mentally twelve, that still makes me feel icky, I thought. It was at this point that the traitorous part of my brain pointed out that, whenever I read fanfics like my situation, I thought worrying about the age-difference for a reincarnate of any stripe to be utterly bizarre since it the mental state of such a dynamic would be so messed up it would be best not to worry about it. Now, I thought that my old self was being hopelessly na?ve about the complexities of this situation.

"I've got plenty of reason," I replied, pushing her hand off. "I can't share that reason, but.."

The one person I did share it with thought I was being stupid, I thought to myself. "I..I'll think about it."

"I hope you do," Ayame told me with a reassuring smile. "You're a good person..you deserve to be happy."

I stood up. "Thanks."

Then I shunshin'd off.

The best part about my little black book was that it came with maps. Both the local map, which I abused horribly in the sewers to avoid back-tracking and the world map, where I could track where I was as far as nations were. During the academy, we were trained on the locations of each nation and the monuments, leaving the spots marked on my map here.

Of course, that I only really started using the map shortly after the Organ Trail really spoke of how..game-like, I treated everything. I wonder if that's got something to do with how Kakashi and the Hokage both seem to be handling me like I'm a fragile bottle of toxic waste.

..I'm not going to think too deeply on that.

So, the Valley of the End was on my map, due north. After some deliberation, I decided that that's where I would build my vault. Obvious land mark that no-one really visits, or else Naruto and Sasuke's fight would've featured tourists running away at all the fireballs.

I repeated the process I had done when I had to go visit the Penguins. Clone, activate canister, substitute. After I buffed him and his duration (a full twenty-four hours, now) and activated the Water-Stealth jutsu, which was perfect invisibility. It buffed the skill straight to 100, gave me a stealth-boy effect, suppressed my scent, muted my footsteps and didn't even get me wet.

It's a freaking dream. Of course, now my chakra regeneration was nearly halved. Then, I applied the Lightning Aura. I had figured out a Storm Variant, but it didn't make me any faster than the plain lightning variant, it just let me hit harder and made the lightning trail-off significantly more deadly.

The plain lightning variant was suitable for my own purposes. I dropped the henge to allow for a slightly smaller penalty on my chakra-regen, allowing it to come back slowly. That taken care of, I checked my destination and WAITASECOND.

I almost forgot, but I have Earth Release now. Mentally, I started to salivate..and maybe cry a little.

Ninjutsu Check Success: 100/75.

+600 EXP.

8,295 more EXP until level 23.

A smile, glorious and unrestrained began to form on my face as I started to drift upward. A soft laugh, muted by the stealth jutsu came out as easy as breathing. When I was a kid, I wanted to fly. I used to try and think and focus and meditate, thinking that if I wanted it bad enough, then the laws of the universe would bend over backwards and let me fly. It never happened, but I wanted it too. Now..I had my dream.

I flew out the window. Then straight up with Shunshin.

Oh, I hooped and hollered out at the top of my lungs as I rose into the clouds, straightening out at a ninety-degree angle, heading due north. Below me, the moon shined down on the trees and greenery, giving everything a silvery shine.

Above me, the stars shined brightly. Civilization wasn't as..prolific here as it was in my old world. That was a bad thing in a lot of ways, but one of the ways that was good was a complete lack of light pollution. Which meant the stars above were really bright. Like an ocean of gleaming diamonds against the black velvet of the night.

..the writer inside me is slowly coming back. Welcome back, writer!me. I missed you!

Shame, actually. I had this cool idea for a Teen Titans fanfic..that's the one with Superboy, that archer chick and the rest, right? Right. I had a cool idea for a fic I was going to write and post to a forum I used to post on. Starbattles? But then I died..eh, it probably wasn't good enough to actually post, so I guess it's just as well that I..well, that got morbid fast.

Not as fast as I was flying, but still..

The two statues came over the horizon. One of Madara, the other of the Hashirama. The two statues were built at the end of a water-fall in a valley. With that, I cancelled the lightning armor.

Perception Check Success: 8/6.

There was no-one else around. No one hiding, no Genjutsu, no one standing guard, as I remembered. I cancelled the stealth jutsu and floated, yes, floated down to the waterfall. Down to the base I went and saw through the two breaks in the falls that it was a solid wall.

Time to get my Earthbender on.

..I'm so happy I still remember that show. It was so awesome. Not it's shoddily written sequel series, that was happily left in the bowls of forgetfulness.

Several seals and I placed my hand on the wall. A foot above my head and to the right, a wedge-shaped opening appeared, and got larger until I was reasonably sure it would account for my future growth. Behind the opening, the stone was moving. I think the ground beneath me was shaking as, about two feet past the stone, the earth moved and packed itself away, leaving a cavern.

But then my chakra ran out and I fell down and through the water. I quickly got out of the water as I suddenly had the impression to check around me for fish-men or sharks. Slight panic, nothing to worry about. I hope.

Like a snake, I carefully slid in through the entrance and came to the cavern I had made inside.

It wasn't large enough for me yet..no, actually, it was too large at the entrance. I want it to be more like a cave? Back in Fallout 1, Vault 13 was located in a cave, secreted away from everything. I want it to be kind of like that.

Wait..I'm on Cell 13. Heh, cool bit of irony there.

Anyway, my Chakra's back, so let's close the cavern up a bit. I made some hand-signs, the earth beneath my feet rose, to my side, started to cave in. I felt really awesome about myself, being able to terraform like this. As I moved deeper, I made the cavern widen out and I expanded further back..until I felt like I had gotten far enough back. I made the cavern it opened into wide and large. I pushed it back and kept going until my chakra levels depleted once again. I left a large slot in the side where my first construct was going to go.

I took a breath. Maybe Air manipulation so I can just make more air..because I foresee that as being a problem down here.

Survival Check Success: 26/25.

With a sense of pride that I had enough of a skill to be worth something, I got to work. This was a wood jutsu. I'm going to try to make a complex mechanism here, that was large and honestly going to represent one of the most proactive things I've ever done.

Ninjutsu Check Success: 100/22.

..that is the first check I've ever seen that wasn't a multiple of 5. I wonder what that means. It's got to be a reference to something.

Intelligence Check Success: 10/10.

I'm so glad my intelligence is paying off.

But, yes. It felt like it was fairly simple. First was the frame, which extended into the slot to allow the door to roll in. Next came the crane on the inside, which would slot the door in and out of its place. Then was the door itself, a massive cog that I made sure weighed as much as wood could possibly weigh, filling it with stones to make it weigh more to give that semblance of might. The semblance of you shall not pass. That feeling..of a Vault.

Painter's Touch was a water jutsu, one that did exactly what you thought it did, and painted things. In particular, it painted the wood of the door so thickly, you couldn't tell it was wood. In fact, I thought it was a hard metal, shame there was no 'metal' element, but I guess the magic system had to be limited somehow. I'd have to replace it with a real metal door at some point, but for now, this would do.

On the front of the door, I painted a symbol. A yellow series of circles with a trio of spires with rounded tops coming out the sides. It was the symbol of the Vault-Tec corporation. The makers of the vaults for which Fallout was famous for. These people..in some cases, these monsters, were responsible for the underpinnings of the setting of Fallout.

Their symbol, which decorated the headband of the Vault-Nin in my notebook, was representative of everything that I was. My life, as I knew it, ended twelve years ago, in a destructive accident. I emerged from a womb to experience this new world, a world of harsh war and supernatural weapons. I, in corresponding of my nature as a Fallout protagonist, have become one of the most important forces in this world, not by charisma, words and diplomacy, but by deed and the fires of battle.

For the longest time, I had hated Vault-Tec. I hated their symbol, I hated what it meant for me. I hated the game for everything it took from me. I still hate it. But..it's not the games fault. In fact, this game is the only reason I haven't died again, with how fast I can recover from anything and everything. Like the people of the Old World, they owed Vault-Tec a lot. Not enough to excuse their crimes against humanity, but enough that they can honestly say that those vaults were the whole reason that humanity and civilization had survived in any measure at all.

I had let my blinding hatred of the situation I'm in turn off my brain – because I didn't want to think about my situation. I still don't, but...I think I'm starting to be able too. To..understand that..this is my life. This is real. I need to stop treating it as just another game, because it's not. I need to treat the people in my life as real. No matter how hard that is.

Which means I need to get to level 30 as fast as possible, but not to rely on murder as my method to do so. The people around me..my friends..they enjoy my presence. Or at least tolerate it. I kind of enjoy them being around, in spite of my anti-social misgivings. I need to have them around more often.

You know what, screw it. Let's invite everyone to the training sessions I hold, then hang out at my apartment..I'm going to need to make furniture. Having the friends I had over without it was bad enough, but with this man-->>

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