I knew today was going to be annoying the second I woke up to my mother yelling.
"Shikamaru! You're late! Your team's waiting!"
Troublesome.
I groaned, rolled over, and stared at the ceiling for a good ten seconds, seriously considering faking an illness. But then I remembered I still hadn't written the final chapter of Kasuma's Tale: Volume 5. And writing at night meant pretending to be exhausted in the day.
Which… I was. Technically.
I grabbed my notebook and stuffed it into my pocket, along with a pencil. A writer's tools.
By the time I reached the training grounds, Ino was already complaining.
"Finally! I swear, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward in time."
Choji, bless his patient soul, offered me a chip.
I took it without hesitation.
Asuma-sensei gave me his usual look — part disappointment, part amusement, mostly 'what am I gonna do with these kids?'
"Alright, today's mission is another D-rank. Helping clean up the bookshop's storage room."
I blinked.
A bookshop?
My bookshop.
I mean — technically it wasn't mine, but it was one of the shops that sold my novels. I'd even snuck in there a few times to watch people browse the shelves, quietly judging anyone who didn't pick up a copy of Kasuma's Tale.
This was risky.
If someone saw my notes, or worse, a manuscript… it could blow my cover.
"Can't we do something less dusty?" Ino whined.
"It's good training," Asuma shrugged. "Now move."
We arrived at the bookshop, and the owner, a balding, round man named Mokichi, waved us in.
"Ah! Team 10, right? Good, good — the back room's a mess."
The place was stacked with unsold scrolls, faded magazines, and crates of old books. I scanned the shelves quickly, checking for any copies of my novels lying around unsecured.
None. Good.
We split up.
Ino started reorganizing scrolls alphabetically.
Choji carried boxes like a human forklift.
I… found a quiet corner, sat on a crate, and discreetly pulled out my notebook to jot down a new idea:
'Kasuma seduces the dangerous twin mistresses of the Forbidden Library.'
Genius.
Asuma wandered past, glanced at me, and sighed. "At least pretend to work, Shikamaru."
"Tch… I'm supervising."
That's when it happened.
The bell above the shop's front door jingled, and a familiar, loud, obnoxious voice echoed inside.
"Oi! Old man! You got the new Kasuma book yet?"
I stiffened.
Naruto.
Of all the people to walk in right now, it had to be him. The knucklehead loud enough to wake the entire village and twice as nosy.
I peeked through the crack in the doorway and saw Naruto grinning like an idiot at Mokichi.
"The new one's not out for a week," Mokichi laughed. "But we got all the old volumes. Sold a bunch of them yesterday too — it's our top-selling series, y'know."
Naruto pouted. "Aww, man! Fine, gimme Volume 4 again. I wanna reread the scene where Kasuma uses the Shadow Claw Technique!"
I blinked.
Wait… he liked my books?
Since when?
I'd never pegged Naruto as a reader, much less a fan of my work. I mean, sure, my novels had fights, smut, comedy, and the occasional overpowered move named something dramatic… but I thought he was more the 'believe it!' kind of guy.
Mokichi bagged the book. "That'll be 450 ryo."
Naruto scratched his head, counted out coins, and dashed off, book in hand.
I leaned back against the crate, smirking.
"Well… guess that's one more fan."
A tiny ding sounded in my head.
[Fan Count: 9,001]
New Skill Selection Available!
I nearly laughed out loud.
Idiot just got me a new skill.
I quickly opened the system menu in my mind.
Available Skill Elements:
Fire
Earth
Yin
I scrolled through the list, eyes narrowing.
Fire Release: Blazing Palm — too flashy.
Earth Release: Stone Shroud — too defensive.
Yin Release: Mind Veil Technique — hmm.
I hovered over the description.
'Creates a mental barrier, concealing thoughts or intent from detection jutsu and minor genjutsu. Can also mask killing intent or suppress mental fluctuations.'
Now that was useful.
Especially for a guy with a mountain of dirty-minded stories stored in his head.
I selected it.
A cool sensation swept over my mind, like a soft veil of mist wrapping around my thoughts.
Perfect.
Back to work.
I scribbled a note.
'Kasuma develops a forbidden mental cloak technique to seduce the head priestess of the Mind Temple.'
The inspiration was flowing now.
"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted from across the room. "Stop lazing around and help move these boxes!"
I yawned, stretched, and slid the notebook back into my pocket.
"Troublesome woman."
But inside, I was grinning.
By evening, our mission was done. The bookshop sparkled (sort of). Ino was smug. Choji was hungry. Asuma was chain-smoking.
And me?
I was one fan richer, one skill smarter, and one step closer to my goal:
write, grow stronger, stay out of actual work.
Naruto would never know he'd powered me up today.
No one would.
And tomorrow?
Maybe I'd reward him by killing his favorite character off in Volume 5's draft.
Heh.
Troublesome… but entertaining.