M.K.- (Walks in) " Hello, everyone here's the opening Chapter."
Zack- "C.G. does not own Final Fantasy VII or Naruto if she did she would be a multibillionaire."
~Chapter One: "Are You Ready to be A SOLDIER?"
Cloud came screeching around the corner in his steel toed boots courteously provided to him by the Shinra officials along with cerulean blue army pants, cerulean blue tunic with leather padding, a belt and gloves and a cerulean blue hat that was cropped on top of Cloud's chocobo feather blonde head. If the hat was to be taken off you would be able to see that Cloud's hair stuck out in spikes in every direction except down, with the exception of his bangs that fell dangerously into his sky blue eyes that have not yet been touched by mako due to the missing green glow. A zanbantou with no special detail about it was strapped in a weird sheath to dangle diagonally down from his right shoulder to his left hip. Leather straps wrapped around Cloud's left shoulder and under his right armpit to come to a clasp in the middle of his abdomen.
"Dammit! When are they going to give up?" Cloud muttered darkly with a growl-like edge to his voice.
"Don't let him escape! Haha, you're going to get it now shrimp!" a voice not unlike the sound of nails on velcro collided painfully with Cloud's ears.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the fourteen year old thought, a year younger than the standard age for SOLDIER trainees.
You would think that people would have thought that Cloud was an admirable boy in their eyes for being so determined to join the proud ranks of SOLDIER and help defend the citizens of The Planet from enemies of SOLDIER, but alas, it was not to be. Quite the opposite, in fact, the soldiers while not thinking themselves to be so lowly as to kick a boy around like the rusted can everyone kicks on the side of a road, they still look upon the blonde, quiet boy from Nibelheim in the mountain ranges to the far northern edges of the capital Midgar. The look was one of scoff, like the boy stood no chance in entering the almighty ranks of SOLDIER. The boy was nothing more than a mere insect in which everyone could ignore, an insect that is too weak and helpless to be of any use to them. So this insect, no matter how determined it may be, should just go back to the easily ignored village of Nibelheim of his as the only thing that was of importance in that mountainous village would be the reactor itself.
Cloud would have none of it for he was as stubborn as a hungry chocobo and as determined as a mail moogle trying to get the messages they were entrusted with to the people they were meant to be read by. No matter what his peers may think of him he would continue his training to be a SOLDIER of Shinra. He was as skilled in combat as any seasoned SOLDIER out there, after all, one had to be fit in order to outrun the monsters that lied in wait for their next meal that dared to venture out of their village and when Cloud was younger he would always venture the trails in between the reactor and Nibelheim to get some practice and battle experience in. Another skill Cloud had going for himself was his wit in his classes for if a mere test showed the level of skill one has in combat, why, Cloud would be running circles around the pansies the blonde called his classmates. Ask anything of Cloud and the blonde would not only be able to give an answer but also tell you the details of the answer like the history of the answer like how that answer came to be so, and what the cause of answer was.
"C'mon, Cloud, class is just around the corner and then you can actually kick these pansies' asses without any SOLDIER Instructor yelling at you for it," the blonde encouraged himself.
Sliding around said corner, Cloud dashed into the open door that led to the training facility for combat courses. The door revealed an open outdoor woodsy clearing that already had other occupants training to hone their skills and or come up with new techniques in the hopes that it would help the trainee make it into SOLDIER. Just after Cloud came to a halt at the section of the bleachers Cloud inwardly smirked as he heard the muffled curses and shuffling feet behind him from his tardy pursuers.
"RENO! You and your gang are late for the 6th time this week! What's your excuse this time? Too busy saving an old lady from having a heart stroke? Or is it the imaginary evil cat that always manages to get itself stuck in the Yen tree?" their instructor snapped at the red head with said red head's gang cowering in Reno's shadow squirming under their instructor's piercing glare.
"Uh…well, you see….um, it's quite the long story actually!" while Reno tried to defend himself and his gang from the wrath of his instructor, Cloud found it best to avoid any attention that might be accused on him from Reno by sneaking undetected from the instructor's gaze. Pretending to be taking down a practice dummy, Cloud felt the instructor's piercing stare befall upon him when Reno had finally resorted to fall back on his favorite excuse of,
"CLOUD DID IT! IT WAS HIS FAULT I SWEAR!"
"CADET STRIFE! CENTER FORWARD!" the sensei bellowed in command like he was trying to direct an army over the roar of firing bullets and war cries.
So Cloud went and stood at attention in front the instructor with his zanbantou sheathed, legs spread shoulder width apart, hands clasped behind his back and head raised to gaze straight ahead at the invisible spot just behind the instructor's left shoulder. Cloud was ready for whatever Reno and his gang threw at him.
"Reno claims that you made him tardy by stealing his goggles, is this true?" the instructor ever-so-stoically asked.
"How could I have his goggles, when they are around Reno's very neck, sir?" Cloud answered with a question of his own.
Lo and behold there the goggles in question hung about the sweating red head's neck. The boy's adam's apple bobbed up and down as Reno gulped in nervousness and apprehension. Cloud could only resume his training on the practice dummy when their instructor dismissed him only to grab hold of Reno's ear like a granny scolding a grandchild. Reno may have been unable to terrorize Cloud but that didn't stop his gang from sauntering up to the blonde's back with their quicksilvers and sneers. But, today seemed to be smiling on Cloud for the gang hadn't event touched the blonde when a deep voice cut across the clearing.
"Alright you maggots! Line up in front of the dummies and I mean every single student in class C-4!" the instructor's second in command bellowed above the battle cries and explosions from magic clashing against other kinds of magic. When the order was performed, the second hand finally got started with the day's objective.
"Ah, what a day," Cloud sighed as he neared his quarters the training facility provided.
What Cloud had in mind for when he got to his room was to take a nice, relaxing shower followed by something to eat, and do whatever else he found entertaining afterwards until it was lights out and time to hit the hay. He was NOT picturing a leering Reno and his gang blockading the hallway to Cloud's room.
"Aww man, what do you guys want now? Can't it wait until next Tuesday? I've got a shower screaming my name back at my room," Cloud groaned obviously not in the mood to play the Defend-Yourself-to-Stay-Alive-From-Reno's-Gang-game that Reno seemed so fond of.
"Not a chance, Strife! You're gonna pay for making me suffer from our instructor's agonizing torture! Thanks to you I'm not only stuck with water rations for two months but I also have to shuck out the chocobo stables for six months!" Reno steamed pissed off already as he growled and glared at the blonde cadet.
"Aww, poor baby-would you like some cheese with that wine? Tch, it's your own fault making up such a lousy excuse!" Cloud drawled sarcasm dripping off of his tongue.
"Grr, that does it! Boys make him suffer I want to hear him scream bloody murder for mercy!" Reno ordered his gang in his most venomous voice.
"I guess that's my cue to run like hell," Cloud thought before darting back down the way he'd previously come. Cloud was not wrong in assuming that Reno and his gang was hot on his tail for the angry shouts, the timed thudded beats and squeaks of booted feet on the tiled floor and the bullets being rained down on him was a sure dead giveaway. Rounding the corner Cloud cursed when he saw a dead end. Trapped, Cloud wheeled back and found himself glaring defiantly at the leering faces of Reno and his gang that awaited him.
"Haha, this is going to be fun," Reno sneered preparing to strike at the crouching blonde who was ready to defend himself from whatever Reno and his gang threw at him. Cloud's gloved hand reached behind his shoulder to grip the hilt of his zanbantou ready to swing it at the invisible signal that adversaries know when to dance to.
"What's going on here!" a sharp feminine voice cut through the tension making Reno do a double take. Turning to look behind his gang, Reno sneered at the raven female that stood before them with crossed arms and a penetrating stare that she fixed them with her midnight blue eyes like that of a hawk daring its meal to bite at its talons.
Cloud when he saw the female had to bite back a gasp at the beauty before him. Cloud was wishing he could drown himself in those eyes like that of the midnight sky at night with the green glow around the pupil signifying that the female was a SOLDIER of Shinra. But unlike any of the other Soldiers within the facility the female didn't clad herself in the accustomed uniform of one. Instead the female's clothing gave Cloud the distinct impression that this woman was a kunoichi; although, after the Wutai war between Shinra SOLDIERS and the shinobi had ended not too long ago. So it was a wonder why this female was here in SOLDIER of all places.
The kunoichi wore a black fishnet tank with a midnight blue wavy tank that only had one strap stretching over the left shoulder. The end of the shirt slanted down from just above the abdomen to the right hip. Over this shirt was a black spandex like sports bra slash belly halter with the only strap thinning into a tiny cord as it traveled from the right armpit to up the kunoichi's right shoulder and collar bone to wrap around the neck like a choker necklace.
Black spandex shorts stopped at the mid-thigh with the cloth of the same midnight-blue see-through material bound in a knot over the shorts. The cloth bound at the left hip and slanted down to the right knee cap while a single black cord that had flaming crimson red beads that looked like there was fire dancing within them, with a gold strip around the middle of the beads at the end of the cord wrapped around the waist like a belt.
Black bandages adorned the female's arms from the elbow to disappear underneath the black fingerless gloves with silver metal guards over the knuckles.
Over her legs were also black bandages that started at just below the knee cap and twisted down the calf to end at the arch of the foot which, strangely, were shoeless. White medical tape bound two brown pouches at each thigh over shorts, two green but smaller pouches were on each hip with a katana that had blue bandages wrapped around the hilt tucked in the cloth before the pouch on the left hip and another katana with gold bandages wrapped around its hilt both of which were in black sheaths. In between the green pouches were five black, cylindrical scroll containers. Over the calves were harnesses that kept the two pairs of Sais from stabbing the raven's legs with the two pairs of Sais looking completely opposite from the other. The pair of sais on the outer calf were of an ebony black color as the blade and hilt with a forest green line carving its way up the sides of the hilt that had a forest green wolf howling at the butt of the hilt. The pair of sais on the inner calf were of an ivory, bone white color and the blade was a three-pronged blade with the hilt also white a golden yellow line swirled around the hilt which had a tiger's head in the midst of a roar at the butt of the hilt.
Over the raven's back was a large zanbantou of a blood and tuscan red and a huge but shadowed nine-tailed fox in black was engraved on the side of the zanbantou with its head acting as the guard with its jaws looking like it was trying to eat its clawed paw that acted as the hilt, it's nine tails flowing behind the fox and around to the other side of the zanbantou's blade.
To complete the kunoichi outfit a black mask covered the lower half of the raven's face fitting snugly over the nose and tightening over the jaw-line and a small portion of the neck. Then a hitae-ate of black cloth with a silver metal plate that had what looked like a leaf engraved in the middle that was bound at the back of the head just under the white medical tape that bound the kunoichi's hair in a french-braided ponytail that ended at the knees. Reno smirked not noticing the luminous glow of green mako in the kunoichi's eyes as a mark of SOLDIER.
"Oh nothing, just showing the new guy how to get around the place without getting lost. He's only been here for a couple days and doesn't know where everything is just yet," Reno lied in response.
"Really? I didn't think cornering someone was what he had in mind especially with guns and nightsticks poised at him in a threatening manner nor do I think is it also the SOLDIER's policy. We have people created for such purpose and if you say what is true then the associates at the desk would have requested one to do so for this "new guy" as you say," the kunoichi deadpanned. Cloud had to put up a lot of effort to suppress his grin in amusement as he watched Reno scowl in irritation. Said red head shuffled up to the female in an intimidating manner.
"And who are you to have a say in other people's business? I have half a mind to beat you to a pulp along with him right now," Reno sneered at the raven.
"If you did have half a mind which I now doubt from what I just witnessed, you would realize not to mess with my authority over you to where I can suspend you from the SOLDIER program—permanently," the female growled in a cold tone that matched the death glare in her midnight blue eyes.
"Y-You? Authority? Pu-lease! The only people to have the power to do that would be the President of Shinra, The General of SOLDIER, and the Captain of SHINOBI," Reno shot back haughtily.
"Yeah and I'll give you three guesses of which of the three I am, I'll give a hint, I'm not the General nor do I want to be a president," the kunoichi snarled after grabbing Reno by the collar of his tunic to bring the red head closer to the raven's face and give him a leveling glare that just dared him to call bluff on her.
It was just then that Reno finally noticed the green spark of mako swimming in those midnight blue irises. The green spark to which proved the Captain's words true to the red head's misfortune.
"O-Oh-well…um….I-uh—aw, shit!" Reno spluttered in the concept of that he was treading in dangerous waters with someone that could very well have his hide thrown into a mako reactor without anyone ever the wiser.
"Humph, I thought so and let's see how many lackeys we have to accompany you on this grand tour-ten, whew! Well then I say that's ten months of water rations and mucking out chocobo stables. What a lovely thing you've volunteered for, we should tell the General of your generous tasks so he knows why you'll be so busy for the next ten months before and after classes. To make sure none of you get lost on the way I'll give you boys some guides to help you to General Sephiroth's office," the now revealed Captain ordered with fake innocence.
Before anyone of Reno's "volunteers" could complain, a poof of smoke appeared before them dispersing afterwards to reveal ten more kunoichis ready to escort Reno's gang up to the General's office.
"And you Reno, don't think don't I know of your punishment you received from your combat instructor thanks to that little stunt you failed to perform correctly. So I'll have a personal escort for you up to General Sephiroth's office to find a more suitable punishment for you since you seem to think that water rations and mucking out chocobo dung isn't a good enough punishment for you," the Captain said producing two more doppelgangers to grab Reno by each arm and march the whining red head up to the feared General of SOLDIER. With that nuisance squashed, the Captain was able to turn and look at Cloud.
"Are you alright? I saw you running from that poor excuse of a mob, if it weren't for running down a dead end I'm sure you could have handled yourself. Anyone who could wield a zanbantou like yours is bound to be more than match for eleven people despite whether they have guns and nightsticks," the Captain inquired of Cloud.
"I'm fine, but I thought it was against regulations to fight one another when not in a training room or class?" Cloud asked not sure whether to feel embarrassed at having been seen running away from the enemy or proud that someone had praised his fighting skill at being able to fight off eleven people with nothing but a zanbantou and some materia for magic spells that were only half mastered.
"True, but when you're being attacked, you're not just going to sit back and let them take a shot at you when you have that massive sword to defend yourself with, are you? That's just plain suicide against guns and nightsticks," the Captain countered looking at Cloud like he had inhaled too much laughing gas that's made him laugh himself silly.
"Oh, well I am Cloud Strife Cadet trainee for SOLDIER," Cloud offered an opening for an introduction to the Captain he'd never really heard of up until now.
"Oh sorry, I'm Salira Drystilia, Captain of the SHINOBI division of Shinra," the Captain looked appalled at the fact that she was so rude as to not introduce herself to someone she'd saved from a gang.
"If you don't mind my asking, why is it that I've never heard of the SHINOBI division up until now? I thought there was only the Turks and SOLDIER," Cloud inquired in a puzzled manner.
"That's because no one is really ever interested in ninja. They're more concerned with SOLDIER and their big flashy swords and mako spelled materia," Salira explained rolling her eyes as if she couldn't believe how everyone could make SOLDIER such a big deal when it's really not.
"Oh," was all Cloud could think to say to this revelation.
"Well Strife-san, I think it would be best if I were to escort you back to your quarters since it is well past curfew and we wouldn't want you be stuck in the same punishments as Reno and his friends, now would we?" Salira offered gesturing for the chocobo-blonde boy to walk with the kunoichi.
"Uh, well, no, Arigatou Captain," Cloud thanked the generous kunoichi and fell in step at her side.
M.K.- "Well that's the end of that Chapter. Check back for the next one and please review I do need some feedback to know what I'm doing wrong every now and then. Also it may seem like this is going slow but remember that this is only the beginning of the story so right now I'm focusing on the currently important characters and then the action will pick up to explosions and monsters."
Zack- "Nonsense! You're doing great! Now when do I enter in this wonderful story?"
M.K.- "Patience is a virtue, Zack."