Chapter 2: Moving Forward
I rose with the sun, not because I wanted to, but because the drapes decided that the sliver of light coming through should land directly on my eyes. That, and my bed of hay wasn't exactly comfortable. I'd slept on worse when I trained myself into unconsciousness before, but that didn't mean I liked hay as a mattress. After rousing myself, I debated on whether or not to wake Louise, she hadn't said to, so I doubted it was my job. Instead, I did what she had asked and laid out some clothing for her; freshly cleaned from last night.
With that, I left for the courtyard to do my morning exercises. Even this far from home, I couldn't just stop training to be a ninja. I may not have been the best in my old class, but I didn't slack off. Well, I didn't slack off when it came to fighting and stuff. It's not like anyone ever one a fight because of a history lesson. Anyways, I figured as long as I trained twice as much as everyone else, I'd be better than them someday. Today I stuck with physical workouts though; practicing the bunshin would be too depressing right now, so soon after failing at it. I was near my limit when I heard a voice call out to me. "Just what are you doing familiar?"
Stopping my pushups, I rolled to my side to see Louise dressed and leaning against the railing I had hung her clothing on to dry the night before. "Training!" I yelled back, tired and happy from the workout.
"Well, come! It is time for class! You missed breakfast!" Pushing myself up, I hurried after her. "What? Already? Why didn't you get me?" I called after her, catching up.
"Really, a familiar should stay by his master's side." She chastised me. I bristled at the master thing, but let it go. I had argued the point with her last night when she was explaining everything to me, and lost rather spectacularly. Besides, I was too hungry to argue. "You would have been fed had you waited for me; I am your master, not the other way around."
"Yes, yes…" I intoned, letting her lecture me again. "And from now on, make sure to wake me up at Dawn." I was still surprised I had worked through breakfast. What I would give for some ramen right about now. "I can understand wanting to be stronger to be a better familiar, but you must realize that you are just a commoner." She rambled on, tallying my faults. "You just cannot compare to a powerful familiar like a dragon. So at least make sure to be ready to serve me in the morning."
Ugh… here we go again. "I'm sorry for not being some mighty magical beast Louise." I drawled out.
"Lady Louise." She corrected me. "Really, learn how to speak to your master."
Nodding my head, I said "Yes yes." Before we could continue the discussion, we arrived at a brown topped tower. Entering, I followed Louise to a classroom. Hunger aside, I was interested in what these mages could do, maybe it was a ninjutsu class or something. That would be pretty cool.
The classroom itself was similar to the academy lecture halls from back home; ascending seats and desks facing a chalkboard and desk for the teacher. Students murmured to each other while they waited for the teacher to arrive. I was amazed at all the strange familiars littered about the area. There was everything from some crazy floating eye thing, to a huge lizard with fire sprouting from its tail. I was about to sit down when Louise again called my error into light, "That seat is for mages, familiars are not permitted to use it." Well, I had put up with everything yesterday because I was getting used to being in a strange world, but I wasn't just going to roll over and act like whipped dog.
Plopping myself down in the seat next to her I said, "You and me need to have a talk about this whole master-familiar thing, cause I'm not gonna stand for being treated like an animal." The scowl on her face was hushed into a glare when the door at the bottom of the classroom opened. A slightly chubby, middle aged woman entered the class, and all the students hushed for the beginning of the lecture. I think I'll count this one a win.
"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring." The lady said with a smile. She wore soft purple robe and spoke with a kind voice. Louise flinched when the instructor looked over at us. "My, what a peculiar familiar you summoned Miss Valliere." I doubt there was any malice in the comment, but it drew the usual jeers at Louise.
"Louise the Zero! Don't go around grabbing random commoners off the street just because you can't summon anything!" A slightly chubby blonde haired boy called out. Apparently they had all but forgotten my outburst the day before. Well, I wasn't about to go doing favors for Louise when she obviously didn't want them. "No! I did everything properly! He was all that appeared!" I flinched at the 'all' part of her statement. I really needed to get more respect. The brewing argument was put to a stop by the instructor. "Enough of this, you are both nobles, act like it!" The stern voice from the otherwise kind teacher shut everyone up and she began her lesson.
"My Runic name is Red Clay, Chevreuse the Red Clay." She then pointed the little stick in her hand at the able and three small pebbles appeared, well that was sorta cool, but looked nothing like ninjutsu. "This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, Mister Malicorne?"
"Yes, Mrs. Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind." The boy from before said in reply. Huh, like ninjutsu, but they were missing lightning. The instructor nodded and continued, "And combined with the now-lost element of 'Void,' there are five elements in total, as you all know. Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth."
"The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops …"
I was already growing bored with the lecture. Drifting off to stare around the room, I was more interested in the various creatures. That was when I saw a flash of light and turned back to see the pebbles transform into gold. "Is that gold?" A student called out, asking my unvoiced question.
The professor replied with a cough to the side. "No, It is only brass. You need a square class mage to transmute gold. I am only a triangle mage." That piqued my interest, was that like ninja ranks? "Neh Louise? What does she mean triangle mage?"
Louise glared at me for speaking in class, but must have decided to inform me quickly rather than ignore me. "Mages a ranked by how many elements they can combine. Dot to line to triangle to square. That's one through four elements. Miss Chevreuse combined Earth, Earth, and Fire for that spell. The earth added to earth reinforces it." Well, that sorta made sense.
"Miss Valliere, since you have time to chat in my class, why don't you come down and show us how a transmutation?" Louise let out a 'gurk' as she flinched. I followed her with my eyes as she wandered down to the podium. The first sign that something bad was going on were the hushed warnings from the students. Then a blue haired girl got up and left. Then everyone tensed as Louise began to chant.
There was a flash of light followed by a tremendous explosion. The shockwave hit me and nearly knocked me out of my chair. I was so stupefied that I had no reaction until the smoke cleared, revealing the classroom to be a complete mess. The walls were scorched, everyone had ducked for cover. Heck, several of the windows were broken. And there was Louise, standing with frayed clothing, completely depressed from the explosion. That was something I didn't get. I am a ninja, so I might be a bit biased, but in my book an awesome explosion beats turning some pebbles into brass. That was when the students revealed their anger.
"That's why we warned you professor! Louise the Zero has a zero success rate of spells!" Ah, so that was it. She really was the class failure. But man, that's weird; I'd LOVE to be able to explode things like that.
*Scene Break*
"Now about that food." I rambled on as we left the class room. The cleaning had taken a little time, and luckily the professor had taken responsibility. Louise remained silent though. Man, depressed girls were not his specialty. "You know, where I come from, explosion powers like that would be something really cool." The girl just ignored me and kept walking. I wanted to bring up her treatment of me, but now really didn't seem to be the time.
In silence, we entered the dining hall. Now this was fancy. Elaborate statues lined the walls and rows of chairs lined the massive tables. I followed Louise to an empty spot, hers apparently, and pulled out her chair for her after she once again instructed me on etiquette. Just a little longer before I get my grub. Then she stopped me from sitting down next to her. "That is for nobles, your food is down there." She gestured to the floor.
And there, sitting on the floor was a plate of suspect soup and a piece of bread. "Rejected." I said, crossing my arms in an X.
"Well, it's either that or nothing." Louise said, once again talking down to me.
"Then it's nothing." I said in a flat voice, turning on my heels as I did so. With that, I stormed away from her, only to quickly march back, steal her large roll, and storm away again. Ignoring her admonishment of my theft all the while.
*scene break*
I was wandering around the courtyard and telling myself I was in the right when I was jarred from my thoughts. Someone stumbled into me and I almost told them to look where they were going before I realized I had knocked the serving tray from a lady's hands. She was dressed in some sort of uniform, a servant if the apron meant anything. We both bent down and began picking up the spilt tray and dishes. "Sorry about that." I said nervously.
She replied in a subdued tone. "It's alright." When we stood up, I realized she was nearly a head higher than me. The girl was giving me a look of nervousness.
Deciding to ease her worry, I forced some cheer into my voice and said "Neh neh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto; you can just call me Naruto, what's your name." I said, trying to ease her worry.
Realization came across her face, "You are the one Lady Valliere summoned right? My name is Siesta."
Ah, so she must have worried I was a noble at first. "Yup." I said, giving my biggest smile. "Siesta, that's a weird name." I commented.
"So says the boy named Naruto." She replied back with a giggle. I found myself rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment. I suppose I was the weird one around here.
Then my stomach let out a growl. A smile and an invitation later, and I found myself walking to the kitchen for some food. That was how I found myself eating some leftover, delicious, scraps of food while I rambled on to Siesta about my problems. She was nice, one of the few people I had ever had just sit and listen to my problems. "I mean, I'm trying to be this whole 'familiar' thing in exchange for room and board, and then she goes and asks me to sit and eat at her feet. Not gonna happen!" I said with bravado.
Siesta gave me warm smile and said "You should be careful of nobles." She warned.
"Nah, I'll be fine. I have my pride you know?"
That seemed to surprise the maid. "You must have a lot of courage."
I gave her a smile, "Nothing brings Uzumaki Naruto down!"
"Hey kid! If you're gonna eat so much at least serve some deserts to the nobles." One of the chefs called out. Head chef maybe?
Not one to freeload, I smiled and said "Sure!" These people had been so nice, why not return the favor. Siesta and I were handed a tray of small cakes each and then the maid led me out through the kitchen doors and toward what seemed to be an outdoor section for dining. It wasn't hard; none of the nobles even registered me giving them cakes. I was on my last cake when I found myself walking toward a familiar face. It was the couple from last night.
The blond haired boy was wearing a frilly, low cut shirt and waving around a rose for the brown haired girl. His movement must have jostled his pocket, because a small vial filled with purple liquid fell out. Without thinking, I bent over to pick it up. "You dropped this."
Turning to look at me, his eyes narrowed and he said, "You are mistaken, that's not mine." Whipping his head away to dismiss me from his mind.
"Oy!" I called out; man this guy really annoyed me. Last night he had been a hairs breath from a fight, and now he was acting like a prick again! "It fell from your pocket, take it you bastard." I said, shoving the vial into his chest and storming away. I'm sure he would have come after me if not for the girl's exclamation. "That perfume! That shade of purple perfume belongs to Montmorency, her special blend! Guiche, I knew you were going out with her!"
"Listen Katie, it's not true, you know you are the only one for me!"
"Guiche?" A voice called from the side. The freckled girl from the summoning was standing there, a look of confusion on her face.
The boy began panicking. "Ah Listen Montmorency; this isn't what it looks like!" The two girls, realizing they had been two-timed, ganged up on the boy who was busy flailing for a life line.
"You! You were going out with her."
"Chasing after the first years!"
"Listen, ladies!"
"Good bye!" They both said, slapping him in tandem before turning on their heels and storming off in different directions. Defeated, the boy, Guiche looked toward the ground, shoulders drooping as he sighed. The whole sight was so hilarious I let out a little snicker.
That seemed to get his attention. Snapping up, he glared at me and said, "This is entirely your fault, familiar of Zero, if you had shown more tact!"
"It's what you get for two timing." I said back, still smiling at his misfortune. I love it when people get what's coming to them. The fact that I particularly disliked this guy made it all the better.
"He's got you there Guiche!" One of the other students called out.
Not to be derailed, Guiche continued, "Listen commoner, I pretended not to know what the vial was and you rudely shoved it into my hands. I will not be manhandled by a commoner. Now apologize!" He said with command and outrage.
"Go to hell!" I said back, sticking out my tongue and pulling one eyelid down.
Red in the face, Guiche cried out, "That's it! I will not suffer you anymore! I challenge you to a duel! We will settle this like men!" Well that was unexpected. I hesitated a moment, "You are my familiar and I am accountable for you actions!"
Screw it; I was never one to back down from a fight. Besides, he was picking the fight. "Bring it on!" I said, giving a feral grin.
The boy only smiled, like he had already won. "I'll be waiting in the Vestri Court."
With that, the boy walked off, presumably toward the named court. I almost followed right after, but was stopped by none other than Louise. I wasn't sure when she arrived, but she obviously knew what was going on. "Familiar, I came to discipline you about not acting properly and I found you doing this!" She whispered half screamed out at me as she grabbed my hand and began dragging my away. "Forget the incident in the dining hall! Guiche will kill you, we have to go apologize!"
Yanking my hand from her grasp, I simply said, "No."
"Excuse me?" She looked at me, like a mother at a toddler do something foolish. "You can't take on a noble. Comparing nobles to commoners is like comparing wolves to dogs." As if her analogy would change my mind, her eyes pleaded for me to relent.
"I won't do it. I can fight him. I can win." I said, determination in my voice. I would not, could not, back down from this fight. Never. Without waiting for her response, I walked in the direction where Guiche had left to. "Familiar! Stop!"
Whirling around, I released all my pent up anger, "Listen! I didn't ask for you to summon me and I know you wanted some cool magical beast. But I'm not! I'm a human being and I won't just do whatever you say like some dog! So stop ordering me around and try to understand that I have nothing right now! You took all that away when you yanked me away from Konoha! I have no home, no money, nothing to my name but what I'm wearing and my pride. I will not give up my pride! I will not give my pride to some snobby pretty boy or some Zero!" I called her by that name, too angry to realize how hurtful it was. With that, it turned and snapped out "Where is the Vistri Court?" to a passing student.
"Eh? Er- that way." He said, taken aback, pointing to his left.
And that way I went. Leaving a stunned Louise behind me.
*Scene break*
Standing in the middle of a large ring of students was Guiche. Holding his rose with one hand in front of his face, he spoke to me as I approached. "I commend you for not running away. But you will lose, you must know that."
Man he really annoyed me. "I won't lose." I said with finality. This was the time for fists, not words.
"Guiche wait! Stop this nonsense!" It seemed Louise had broken out of her stupor in time to try and stop this duel again. "Duels are forbidden!" She pleaded to the arrogant boy.
"I am sorry Miss Louise, but I cannot concede this duel. And only duels between nobles are banned. Your familiar is a commoner, is he not?" That quieted her. "Besides, this duel has already begun!" The boy exclaimed, waving his rose at me. A single petal floated outward and touched the ground. Soon after, there was a flash of light and an armored woman stood where there was nothing before. Clad in a green tinted suit of Iron, she held a spear in her right hand and had something akin to a half skirt around the lower part of her armor. No, not a woman, the waist was far too thin, an earth clone of some kind? "My bronze golem Valkyrie will be your opponent. I am Guiche the Bronze!" He said, calling out his name like some sort of hero.
Well, I'd best reply in kind. Calling up my chakra, I could feel the thrum of my life force prepare for battle, suddenly everything was clearer. There was an opponent, a fight, and I was going to win it. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, ninja of Konoha!" That was right, even though I was farther away from home than I ever imagined possible, I was still a ninja of Konoha, nothing would change that. I may have been forced to sit still the past day, but now with my adrenaline pumping and my heart racing I remembered who I was. I am Uzumaki Naruto. I never give up; I'll beat this guy, go home, and be the Hokage! Even if it took me half a lifetime, I'd still do it!
As soon as I declared my name, the golem rushed forward, aiming straight punch at my gut. Caught off guard, I almost didn't react in time. However, the training ground into me by my old teacher Iruka kicked in. Leaping to my right, away from its weapon hand, I mostly dodged the punch, only just barely being clipped by the armor. Man that stung, it really must be solid bronze.
As soon as my feet touched ground I leapt backward, diagonally away, expecting a swing of the spear. However, no attack came as I landed. Seeing the stunned look on the boy's face was all I needed. He expected it to be over with that. Can't say I was sorry to disappoint. It took only a moment for his face to grimace into a glare. Looked like he was taking this seriously now. Good. I don't want him saying I caught him off guard after this. I was fighting to make a point, not just win.
"It seems you aren't just some runt, but no matter the person, a commoner cannot beat a noble!" He called out to me. If he was trying to get a rise, it didn't work. Throwing a kunai at him was out of the question, the ring of students meant a miss could hit someone else, but it didn't matter. I was faster than the golem, I was sure of it. All I had to do was get past the golem, and it would all be over. As if to answer me, the golem charged again, raising its spear up to make a sweep. In response, I charged right at it. I'm sure Guiche expected me to dodge left or right, and that was why the golem went for a wide swing. However, I knew the sky was the way to go. Jumping at the last second, I cleared the sweep of the spear, planed my right hand on the golem's head, and vaulted over the thing. My weight pushing it forward behind me.
I broke into a charge as soon, as my feet hit ground. Thirty feet. Guiche swiped his rose in panic. Twenty feet, I could hear the golem right itself toward me. Ten feet, I caught the smirk on Guiche's face and knew something was wrong. Flashes of light from all around revealed five more golems around me. Surprised as I was, I wasn't ready for the spear butt to the stomach. My own forward momentum caused me to wrap around the stick like some weird sandwich. I was flying backwards, looking at the sky when I abruptly changed direction again, this time into the ground as the poles of four spears smashed me downward.
That hurt more than anything I had experienced before. I literally bounced when I hit the ground, but the pain that came next was worse. I briefly caught sight of a golem's foot rushing towards me. With only enough time to defend my side, I raised my left arm in defense, which didn't worked out so well if the crunch was anything to go by. Then there was a snap and I was flying through the air. I had been punted by the bronze golem like some sort of ball.
I hit the ground rolling. Man fighting one on five sucked, I really wished I could do that. There was no feeling in my left arm as I pushed at the ground with my right. Then everything was dimmer, fearing whatever blocked out the sun was another golem, my head snapped up to reveal a head of pink hair. "Stop this." She asked, pleading in her voice. It was nice, she wasn't berating me, she was concerned. It was a really nice feeling. She was worried for me. Never the less, I kept pushing myself up.
"You are a good familiar. I'll stop ordering you around. Please just stop. I'm sorry for taking you away from your home, but don't die here. Just stop." Tears were beginning to fall from Louise's eyes by the time I was fully standing.
"Don't worry. I'll win." I said, smiling at her with my scuffed up face. "No one has ever cried for me before. No one has ever worried for me. Thank you. But you don't think I'm a good familiar. You don't believe in me. You don't even believe in yourself. But right here, right now, I'll prove I am worth believing in."
"Your arm is broken." She protested, weakly trying to stop me. Placing my good hand on her shoulder I said. "Don't worry, I have a spare." With that I grinned at her and pushed her softly aside.
"Sorry for the interruption." I apologized, restarting the duel.
"It's no problem. But you must realize you cannot win. I have already broken your arm, if this goes on, you might end up crippled." I gave the blond golem user my best grin. "Even if you break my arms I'll kick you. If you break my legs I'll bite you. I am a ninja. I will not lose. I will not stop fighting. That is why I'm gonna win. You are just a bully, and bullies give up once they don't know they can win. That is why you will lose. Now… let's fight." Immediately the, six golems set up a defensive formation in front of Guiche. Five close and one further out, obviously an interceptor.
I reached into my kunai pouch, grabbing a knife with my right arm. Retrieving the blade, I held it with a reverse grip. Suddenly, I felt light. Was this the battle clarity Iruka-sensei had talked about? Whatever, I felt stronger. I was going to win this.
The forward golem charged, intent on putting me down. I was ready this time. Hell, I was more than ready. I ducked the swipe of the spear and swiped out with my kunai across its chest. Bronze parted like butter before my weapon. However, the length of the kunai was too short to do real damage, and the golem struck out with its off hand. Quickly I pivoted on my left foot, letting my broken arm flail as I did so, and spun around the punch. Back to my enemy, I used the piercing force the reverse grip gave me and drove the kunai through the side of the golem's bronze arm.
Stuck as it was inside the golem, the kunai made a great handhold as I placed my leg inside the golem's stance and pulled its arm downward. Simple leverage caused the large opponent to flip up and over my back, smashing to pieces on the ground. Wow, when did I learn that throw?
There was no time to think about it as Guiche sent the rest of his golems after me, no doubt trying to rush me. Flipping the kunai to a forward grip, I intercepted the first golem. The bronze construct struck out with a stab of its spear. One movement and I separated hand from arm. Letting the kunai fall from my grasp, it's pommel ring causing it to slide down my pinky finger, I used the same hand to grab the spear from the air, twirled it point forward, and stabbed out, catching the next golem in the chest, piercing straight through it and onward through the Valkyrie behind it. Both teetered forward, unable to stay upright conjoined as they were.
The final two golems were upon me in an instant. Side by side they swung their spears downward in a dual chop. But I was not to be caught like that. Already I was forward, standing behind and between them. My kunai back in a reverse grip I stabbed it into the back of the golem to my right, and then yanked it around into its partner, sending them both to the ground. Though I had to abandon my kunai to the Valkyrie's back, it didn't matter. The fight was over.
I felt the strength leave my body as I walked toward Guiche. Limp arm trailing at my side as I did so. But nothing mattered other than finishing this fight, do I kept walking. He was shaking, eyes disbelieving. "Impossible…" I heard him mutter. Oh it was possible. I did say I would win. I was almost upon him when he fell onto his butt, completely giving up. "I concede." He barely managed out.
That gave me pause. I had really wanted to punch him. But now, looking at him, I realized I was right before. He was no warrior, just a bully. Not even that. Right now, he was just a scared kid. Looking down on him I said, "You have no guts, you aren't worth hitting." With that, I limped away toward the tower and Louise's room. I really needed to lie down.
I was vaguely aware that I was helped most of the way there by Louise. I was having a hard time concentrating through the exhaustion. Soon I felt a soft mattress beneath me, and warm blankets above. I was asleep before I knew it.
*End chapter 2*
Alternate Dialogue before the Naruto-Guiche fight:
Naruto: "I'm gonna befriend the shit outta you."
Ending Note: So what do you think? How was the fight scene? I feel like I'm doing better this chapter than the last. Please let me know what was better and what was worse!
As for Naruto spouting tons of speeches during the chapter, I feel that is pretty in character for him, what do you think?