Naruto: Akira’s Story

Unfortunately, when I arrived, I already knew spoken and written Japanese like a native, but fūinjutsu is built entirely on kanji. And as we all know, Japanese is a mix of hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

So, I could only understand maybe two out of every ten kanji symbols described in the book Kushina gave me. And there were over two thousand of them. No wonder I was surprised you could master basic fūinjutsu with just one book... this thing was 1,500 pages long! Eight kanji per page, each with a full explanation. 

Now I understood why so few people knew fūinjutsu. Who has the time to train and get stronger just to survive, and then spend all their free time on a book like this? And I had no doubt I'd have to reread it at least ten times. Plus, I'd have to learn to write all those kanji correctly. [ image ]



Glancing around, I took the book into the bathroom with me. As much as I respect Danzo's paranoia, I doubted they'd assign a whole Hyūga just to watch a regular guy like me. So, I summoned two clones, handed the book to one, and a huge stack of paper to the other.

"Feel the pain, embrace it," I told the clones as I locked the door, ignoring their protests.

Knowing myself, I was sure they'd complain for ten minutes, then get to work seriously. After all, they - that is, I - understood perfectly well that fūin was a solid investment in our survival. And maybe, if Danzo found out I knew a bit about fūin, he wouldn't send me to the slaughter right away - he'd keep me locked up, working me to the bone. Then, later, Sasuke would snap his neck and I'd be free. Yeah, I'm a real "genius."

Now, what was I planning to do... right! I wanted to go to the bank. Remembering my dad's advice, I decided to keep half my money in an account. Sure, I believed there weren't any thieves here, but if even one ninja got interested in my stuff, I'd never know when or how my money disappeared.

The Land of Fire didn't have debit cards, but they did have checkbooks. You could pay for anything with a check - just write the amount and sign it. Anyone could take that check to the bank and get the money. I didn't know how they verified signatures, but I figured the bank staff weren't idiots. The bank, by the way, was run by a relative of the daimyo. Maybe there were cases of forged checks, but if someone's money suddenly vanished, they could request details about who took it - at least, that's what they explained to me at the bank.

Opening a safe deposit box was free, but starting next year, they'd charge 150 ryo a year. Doesn't sound like much, but multiply that by thirty thousand people - that's almost 4.5 million ryo a year, just for storage. By local standards, that's a fortune, and the bank's main profit is still from loans.

Back home, I crossed myself, dispelled the clones with a smack to the head, and immediately grabbed my skull. Not because of the slaps - though those hurt too - but because of the migraine that hit me.

Damn! Naruto used to summon hundreds of clones at once. Even if it was just for a few minutes, that's a massive chunk of information. He definitely wasn't all there, I'm now one hundred percent sure.

My head only cleared up after a strong cup of green tea and two hours of sleep. But when I realized I'd have to go through this every day for at least three more months, I wanted to strangle myself for my "brilliant" idea. But I couldn't exactly give the book back now...

After a quick sandwich, I went out to check on the restaurant construction. The architect showed me everything was going according to plan - the first floor was already done. Nodding like a man who knew what he was looking at, I headed home.

"Man... I'm bored." The idea that transmigrators quickly forget about the internet is total crap. I'd be way happier if I'd landed in this world with a smartphone. It wouldn't make much difference, but at least I wouldn't be bored. Maybe I should draw something?

My eyes drifted to the book I'd bought.

"...No, I'm not cut out to be a mangaka. But writing a book and sketching a drawing every third page? That I could do. The only question is, what would I write about? And why?"

Money? I'd make more from the restaurant anyway. Fame doesn't interest me - in this world, it's not exactly a useful resource. Just to kill time? That's an option. But then, what would I write about?

Copying books I'd read in my old world didn't appeal to me, and besides... oh, I know, I'll write a detective story. The main character will be a member of the Uchiha clan - not that I'll say it outright, but it'll be obvious. For example, the main character will have a special eye power with three stages of awakening, and it'll be red - what a coincidence! The romantic subplot... heh, who do the Uchiha hate these days, the Hyūga? And the main character will have an inner struggle between duty to his clan and the village. 

I'll definitely add a mysterious figure with a habit of appearing and disappearing out of nowhere, helping the main character, and in the end, it'll turn out he's the real villain, while the person he thought was pure evil will be the one who saves him. Whew, okay, while my brain's still working, I'd better jot all this down.

Luckily, I had plenty of paper - I'd stocked up for fūinjutsu practice.

By midnight, I was exhausted, but I looked with satisfaction at a stack of ten pages. At this rate, I'd have a full book in about thirty days.

****

As soon as Akira collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep, a shadow appeared in the apartment. It moved silently into his room, checked his breathing, and started looking around until it spotted the stack of papers. The darkness didn't seem to bother this person at all - they read every line, then started searching for more. Staring at the peacefully sleeping Akira, a faint smile appeared on their lips, and a few seconds later, the room was empty again.

****

Early in the morning, feeling full of energy, I grabbed some eggs, got dressed, and went out for a run.

This time, I was determined to actually run a full lap around the walls, not like yesterday when I cut the route short. Yeah, I'd underestimated the size of the village a bit.

Given my good stamina - which I'd already confirmed - I started at a solid, steady pace, not like yesterday's easy jog.

Even so, it still took me about two hours to run all the way around the village.

No, I didn't have a watch to check the time, but when I got home and looked at the clock, I figured out roughly how long I'd been running.

Hmm, considering my speed was about 12-15 km/h and the village is basically a circle... let's say the circumference is 28 km. Now, let's remember some middle school geometry and divide that by 3.14 - that gives a diameter of almost 9 km. Thinking back to how long it took to get from one district to another, I figured those numbers were about right. So... what's the area of a circle again? Pi times... I think radius squared. So the village covers about 50 square kilometers.

"Why did I even calculate that?" I suddenly realized.

"...Oh right, what kind of idiot decided that a city this size, with this population, should be called a village? What, 'City Hidden in the Leaves' doesn't sound cool? Or 'Hidden Leaf City.' That's probably the only reason they still call it a village."

After a shower, I'd cooled off both physically and mentally.

Today, I was in the mood to sit on a veranda somewhere, eat some pastries, and drink tea.

It took some effort to find the right place - near the Akimichi clan in the northeast. Sipping tea like a true artist, I started thinking about the cultural development of the locals, and it was honestly pretty sad. I finally realized what had been bothering me during my walks - there were no museums, no galleries, no places for creative exhibitions. And Konoha is supposed to be a city, even if it's called a village on paper.

Back home, I quickly sketched out my suggestions for the Hokage. As a citizen of this city, I had every right to demand that some of OUR tax money be used to build a cultural center for personal development. Don't even get me started on the lack of libraries. People were fine with just a bookstore, and whatever, let them be.

When I got to the administrative center, I felt like I came here more often than anywhere else in Konoha.

Homuri-san's eye twitched when he saw me, but he still managed a smile and waved.

"Akira-san, what brings you here today?" The other people working there smiled politely and went back to work.

"Homuri-san, it'll be easier if you just read this," I said, putting the paper on his desk.

He put on his glasses and started reading every word with interest. At first, he didn't get it, so he read it again. Then, realizing what it said, he read it a third time, just to make sure he wasn't imagining things - or maybe my handwriting was just that bad.

"This is... alright, Akira-san, I'll accept your proposal and stamp it. It'll be reviewed at the next clan meeting."

I wasn't surprised they accepted it - I'd even underlined that, as a citizen of Konoha, I was legally demanding the village leadership consider this idea.

"Thank you, Homuri-san, for your trust... you know what? I'm planning to open my restaurant next month, construction's underway. You'll be on the list of honored guests and get a permanent twenty percent discount."

Homuri didn't refuse and thanked me.

Leaving the administrative center, I remembered my twenty thousand ryo and turned right, heading for the northwest district.

At the station, just like last time, the same young guy was at the desk, and he seemed to recognize me.

Well, I guess I'm not exactly inconspicuous.

"Oh, you must be Akira-san. I was told to take you straight to Keitaro-san if you came in."

We went to the office, which looked a lot different from last time. Papers were piled everywhere - on the desk, on the floor - and the man himself had changed too. At least now he didn't look as energetic as before.

"How are you, Keitaro-san?"

"Akira-san..." He drew out my name strangely, staring at me for a long time.

"Yeah, it's me." He shook his head and started rummaging in his desk. Pulling out a bag, he tossed it to me. I opened it and saw banknotes and my wallet. "Oh, so you found those guys."

"We found them, of course. Now they'll have plenty of time to think about their behavior," he said, with a strange gleam in his eye.

"Thank you so much, Konoha Military Police." I bowed respectfully. "So... do you need anything else from me?"

"No, Akira-san... you're free to go." As soon as I left, Keitaro let out a deep sigh.

****

[POV - Konoha Military Police Chief, Keitaro Uchiha]

Damn the day he got the idea to ask the clan head for advice about that guy's report. The clan head didn't just brush it off and tell him to file it away - no, he studied the report in detail and held a clan meeting, where he and the elders discussed the possibility of officially recording all minor and major offenses in writing. 

The idea was debated for half a day, and in the end, everyone agreed that this way, if anything happened, they could easily use official documents with the victims' signatures. It got to the point where now every patrol officer carried a folder with ready-made report forms, which he filled out and had the victim sign. Yeah, now they didn't have to write up reports from scraps of notes and patrolmen's memories, and in the future, this would really streamline the police paperwork system. 

But what about all the old reports that were just lying around gathering dust? Turns out, those had to be converted into report forms too - and who was supposed to do that? The clan head just gave him a look that made it clear it was his job.

"Those bastards! Couldn't they have robbed someone else?"

🔥~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🔥

Thank you so much for the power stones! I really appreciate the support!