Hehe, new story people… Plot bunnies just keep coming… Yeah, yeah I should really update the other stories, but the plot bunnies are not so nice… Anyway, this is a bit more light-hearted than my other stories, so I hope people enjoy!!!

Chapter 1

Naruto chewed on a strip of beef jerky as he scrolled through the gaming forums. Such noobs!!! All of them were complaining about how difficult it was to level their characters or buy new materials for their level. Naruto smirked; they took all this so seriously like it was real life. They never understood that in the digital world they could do anything.

Naruto left this computer and rolled over to a different computer. This one had an online game open, a 3D MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that had recently been popular in Japan.

It was called Luna, and the basic plot of the game was about a moon goddess who gave birth to three heroes, each with their own ability. The goal of the game was to attain the hero status. In the beginning, a player started out as either a female or male novice and after reaching a certain level (level 10), he can choose from three Apprentice classes, Mage, Warrior, or Cleric. Mages used magic (duh), warriors used weapons (another big, fat duh), and clerics used holy magic (sorta duh). Then each of these classes, after reaching a certain level (level 30), can become one of two Intermediate classes.

Naruto glanced at each of his characters; each account could have up to three characters. He had made each of the classes; one of them (a cleric) was a female in the Intermediate level (he leveled them up mostly by hacking) that had an IGN (in-game name) of CherryBlossom. He had chosen to make it a Priest instead of a Healer because he preferred the Priest’s attacking power over the Healer’s healing abilities.

Priests had better attacking abilities and so were more useful when powerful holy attacks were needed. They had healing abilities, but not as great as the Healers. Healers were better party members because of their mass healing abilities as well as skills that can boost attack, defense, magic, and dexterity. They also had attacking abilities, but these skills weren’t nearly as powerful as a Priest’s.

His next highest character was a male, Master level (reached at level 60) Mage with an IGN of WindxDragon. The two intermediate choices for a Mage were Ice Magi or Fire Magi. Their abilities were obvious; one used fire and the other used ice. Naruto had chosen the Fire Magus and leveled it into a Wind Sorcerer (Master level). The wind attacks powered up the fire attacks, so the level boosts the strength of the character as well as the strength of the stats. Ice Magi leveled into Lightening Sorcerers, and the Lightening attacks were powered up by the Ice moves.

His strongest character had reached Hero level (level 100) and was a Warrior with an IGN of RamenFreak. A Warrior could become either a Paladin or a Knight, which became a Crusader or a Slayer, respectively. Naruto’s warrior was a Slayer, which used swords and closer ranged weapons which had more speed. Paladins and Crusaders used longer ranged weapons which were slower but stronger than the Slayer weapons.

Ability points were used to learn new abilities or to strengthen already learned moves. Five ability points were given for each level up.

Parties can be created to share EXP or for quests. Guilds, which were like bigger, more permanent parties, can also be made.

Naruto glanced at each of his characters and sighed. He was bored with this game and didn’t feel like hacking into it again. He slid over to yet another computer which had a different MMORPG opened up. This one was called Olympia and was mainly about the Greek gods. It was newer than Luna, and just recently ended its open beta. Naruto hadn’t played for very long, just starting very recently. It was similar to Luna except the character seemed more alive in a way. Even though it was a new game, it was well-developed, and Naruto hoped that this hack might actually present him with a challenge.

A gamer started out with a human character who would apprentice himself/herself to one of the Olympian deities (Hera, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Poseidon, Hermes, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Athena, or Artemis) Naruto had chosen to apprentice his character (IGN RamenKami) to Ares, god of war and bloodshed. To prove his loyalty, Naruto had to fetch a Flaming Tusk from a Fire Boar in the Desert Region. As Naruto walked around, trying to figure out the basic locations of the game and how to play, his screen went black.

Naruto frowned as he swallowed the rest of his jerky; either his computer had crashed or someone had hacked into his system. He slid over to yet another computer (So, basically, so far he has four computers…) and opened up his tracking system as he kept his eyes on the blank screen.

Words began to form on the black screen. Naruto leaned closer to the computer, entranced by this hack.

‘Hello, Naruto.’

Naruto slid back to the hacked computer and typed back, ‘Who are you?’ This person somehow knew about him and if it was the police, he was dead. But he didn’t think the cops would use a hack to get to a hacker… Or would they?

‘Just a friend. Find me on Luna. IGN is Scarecrow.’

Naruto first rolled over to the forum computer and opened up the Luna website. As it loaded, he went to the Luna computer and signed on his CherryBlossom. He searched for this ‘Scarecrow’ and found him at Luna City AKA Noob Town. He used a teleport pot to get him to Luna City and walked around as he looked for ‘Scarecrow’. Suddenly he was buddy requested by none other than ‘Scarecrow’ who sent him a message.

Scarecrow: Took you long enough.

Naruto rolled his eyes and typed back a message.

CherryBlossom: I like to take my time. You’re lucky I even bothered.

Scarecrow: I had a feeling you’d look for me. You seem to be very bored.

CherryBlossom: How do you figure that?

Scarecrow: Lol, I know more about you than you may want to know. But enough of that… I have an interesting proposition for you… One that you might like… But before you do that you need to find me.

CherryBlossom: What makes you think I want to have anything to do with you?

Scarecrow: Hmmm, well, let’s just say that this might give you the thrill you’re looking for. If you can track me down and find out who I am, I will let you in on this. If not, you can go back to your boring life.

Naruto grinned; something that might give him a thrill… Even if it was a wild goose chase, he might as well give it a try.

CherryBlossom: You’re on. I just have to find out who you really are, right?

Scarecrow: And track me down. Don’t worry, I plan on staying at one place.

CherryBlossom: Too easy.

Scarecrow: Haha, perhaps, but I doubt it’ll be as easy as you may think. Anyway, I suggest you get started… See ya…

Scarecrow signed off, and Naruto stared at the dialogue box, wondering if the name had any certain significance.

He switched back to the Luna website and searched for Scarecrow. The Luna website helpfully provided a search engine that allowed players to look for other players. As long as you had the name of a character, you can see their rank and stats. Probably not very helpful when one was trying to track down someone, but for Naruto it provided him with a way to find out more about someone. But the search engine popped up empty, stating there was no such character as Scarecrow.

Naruto grinned; he had hoped that this hacker was smart enough to remove his character from the search engine, making it impossible to locate him through the Luna website. Naruto had done the same for each of his characters but noob hackers didn’t have a clue when it came to hiding their tracks.

Naruto slid over to the tracking computer and typed in the program to track the hack on his third computer. The program found nothing on the hack, not even an inkling from where it came from. He was about to open up a different program when his fifth (and last, I promise) computer made the IM sound.

Naruto sighed and rolled over, opening up his AIM and MSN Messenger. He also had his own private chat box, unable to be touched by other hackers or even the police. He opened up the IM and saw that it was his friend and fellow hacker Shikamaru (SN 1337D33RXD).

1337D33RXD: OMFG!!1!!!1 U gets contact from d00d called Scarecrow??//

RamenSwirls: Yeah, you?

1337D33RXD: Ya, bout hr ago on Luna. Been trying to finds him.

RamenSwirls: Same here, but he’s kinda hard to track.

1337D33RXD: Lawl. Thinks I’s gots a hold of hims… Can I’s comes over?

RamenSwirls: Sure.

1337D33RXD: I’s be rite over.

Shikamaru logged off, and Naruto went back to his hacking program. Shikamaru was a better hacker than Naruto was, and Naruto knew if anyone could find Scarecrow, it would be Shikamaru.

Shikamaru lived in the apartment across from Naruto’s, so he was over in a few minutes. He barged through without knocking, making a face at the mess that was Naruto’s room, “Do you ever clean up?”

Naruto glanced around his messy living-turned-into-computer room. This half of the room had a huge table with all his computers, empty ramen bowls, used wooden chopsticks, and a mess of wires running all over, plugging into various machines and outlets. The other half had two doors that led to the kitchenette and his bedroom, which he rarely slept in. His bedroom was for his clothes and to get to the bathroom. Most of the time he chose to sleep on the futon that was against the wall next to the computer tables or the couch on the other side. Both were covered in comforters, blankets, and pillows. Then there was a pile of boxes slumping against the wall that was filled with various electronic equipment that he knew would come in handy someday.

Naruto shrugged, “It’s not that bad.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “So troublesome.” He plopped onto the couch and opened up his laptop, “Anyway, back to this Scarecrow guy… Any leads on him?”

Naruto grinned, “He’s good.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “Yeah, duh. Any trace of him is what I meant?”

Naruto shook his head, “Can’t track the hack and can’t track him on Luna.”

Shikamaru sighed, “That’s all you got done?”

Naruto smiled widely, “I knew you’d find him. I’m gonna eat some ramen. What some?”

“Already ate,” Shikamaru said absently, lost in the world of binary.

Naruto trotted over to the kitchenette and started boiling water in the kettle as he unwrapped an instant ramen package. He waited for the water to boil, and then poured it into the Styrofoam instant ramen bowl. He kept the lid closed with chopsticks and waited for it to get ready.

Naruto walked back to the living room, ramen bowl in hand as he slurped it up. He peered at Shikamaru’s computer, “Any luck?”

Shikamaru nodded as he grinned, “I think I found him.”

-fiddles around nervously-

Yeah, not the greatest plot ever, but I was just watching this one vid and one thing led to another… Ehehe…

I know that Shikamaru’s chat isn’t in real 1337, but I thought all the numbers and symbols would get annoying so I just stuck with bad grammar…

Also, I know that some of the things they’re doing are impossible, but let’s just say in this world it is… I’m not a real hacker or anything, so I’m quite sure what’s in the realm of possibility and what isn’t so please bear with me…

Oh, and I know the entire first like… -goes back to count- …nine paragraphs were totally pointless, but I think its better I explain the game now cuz it’s gonna be important later… I think…

Anyway, read and review!!! I really want to hear what you guys think!!!111oneonesix