Maelstrom of Cold Steel

by MercenaryGrax

Arriving in a new world with no memory of how he got there, Naruto is taken in by Rutger, the Jaeger King, & given a place to belong. Eventually he winds up in Class VII with his closest friend. With all the chaos in the country of Erebonia & the social divide & massive corruption throughout the country, Naruto will certainly have his work cut out for him in this new world.

3. Chapter 3

A/N - Okay, first thing you're likely to notice is that this chapter is looong. Over 14k words long. I really worked hard on it and I am dead tired from writing all dang night and into the morning.

Anyways, a looot happens in this chapter. There's a couple of bonding events, there's requests to deal with, people to meet, and all kinds of fun stuff. I wanted to get through the Old Schoolhouse Mystery request and the practical exam so I could get started on the first field study in the next chapter, but this chapter was turning into one really long chapter. I had to end it where I did. lol

Okay, as I said, I am dead tired. Read on and enjoy!

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Chapter 3 – First Free Day

Naruto and Rean frowned as they looked over the tasks Towa had left for them. They each only had three tasks to take care of. One request was completely optional, apparently, while the other two were mandatory tasks. Reading over his, Naruto chanced a glance at Rean to see he received the same task titled 'Old Schoolhouse Mystery'. Agreeing to put that off until later, they both began to read over their other two tasks.

While Rean had a task titled 'Orbal Delivery' that would take him to the Engineering Building, Naruto got one mandatory task from Instructor Sara, and an optional task titled 'A Noteworthy Loss'. Reading that one first, he saw that it was from a girl named Colette. "Let's see here…"

'I kind of dropped my student notebook, and now I can't find it anywhere.

Would anyone be willing to help me look?

I'll be looking for it on the first floor of the Student Union building, and I'd really appreciate it if someone lent me a hand.

~Colette, Year 1, Class IV'

"That sounds easy enough to do." Naruto commented with a shrug of his shoulders. "Could use this as an excuse to try and make another friend. Could always use more friends, right?" he asked, looking at Rean for a moment.

Rean smiled at him and said, "Of course. Let's see here, the optional task I got is from a girl named Vivi…wait, we met her yesterday, didn't we? I wonder what she wants…"

'I need help with a little something. I'm trying to plan something big for a friend of mine, but I'm missing a few ingredients. Think you can help me out? Much appreciated!

~Vivi, Year 1, Class IV'

Naruto chuckled and said, "Yeaaah, good luck with that one. I get the feeling she's planning a prank. Why this task was given to you and not me, I don't know. Still, make sure you make us proud, got it Rean?"

Rean sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sure thing. If she's planning a prank, I just hope it's not a dangerous one."

"Meh, she doesn't seem like the type that would pull a prank with the intent to harm someone. It's all in good fun. Go easy on her, okay?" Naruto said. When Rean simply nodded, he took a look at the 'Old Schoolhouse Mystery' request and saw that it was a request from the principal himself. Seeing that Rean was reading this one too, he began to read aloud.

"I have reason to believe that strange phenomena have been occurring in the old schoolhouse of late.

As such, I would like to request that one or more combat-ready students look into this and report back to me.

For more details, come see me in my office on the first floor of the main building.

-Principal Vandyck"

Frowning in thought for a moment, Naruto looked at Rean and asked, "Any idea what kind of phenomena he's talking about? I mean, I know the place is strange, but what the heck could all of this be about, I wonder?"

Rean shook his head and said, "No idea. I think it would be smart to save that particular request for last. What's your second mandatory request say?" Looking at it, Naruto read it aloud as well.

"Naruto, I want you to come see me in my room. I've got a little something to discuss with you. That, and I have something special I want you to do for me. Make sure you come prepared! Toodles.

~Love, Sara"

Naruto sighed and said, "Yeaaah, that's not helpful at all. I wonder what the heck she wants."

Rean simply shrugged and said, "Not a clue. At least mine seems normal enough. Help delivering orbal technology to people. Seems simple enough to do."

"Lucky you. Ah well, let's get going. Might as well get to work, right?" Naruto said. Rean simply nodded and proceeded past Naruto and up the stairs, obviously heading for his room to get a few things he might need. Meanwhile, Naruto glanced towards the nearby dining room and said, "You can come out now, Fie-chan."

Stepping out into the entry room, she folded her hands behind her back and stepped up to him, looking over his tasks for the day. "Busy day, huh?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "Yeah, seems like it. Have you decided on a club to join yet? Or are you planning to wait a while?"

Fie shrugged and said, "I dunno. You joining any?"

Nodding his head once, Naruto said, "I'm planning to join three of them. The Wind Orchestra, the Art Club, and the Gardening Club. Might be kinda nice. I'll have to trade places with my clones once in a while to really feel like I'm participating, but I think it'll be fun. Sadly, these tasks might have to take priority. Who knows?"

Fie hugged him and said, "I might join the Gardening Club then. Seems relaxing, and you'll be there too."

Kissing his girlfriend sweetly on the lips, he smirked at her and said, "You sure you don't just want to spend time cuddling or something? Gardening can be hard work, but it's definitely a rewarding experience when the plants you spend so much time nurturing finally start to grow. When flowers bloom and crops begin to take form, it's a wonderful feeling. I'm sure you'll love it."

Fie nodded before she released him and looked into his eyes. "Love you. Be safe." She said before she left the dorm to go and do her own thing.

Left on his own, Naruto shrugged and thought, I think Instructor Sara's in her room. Seeing as that's a mandatory request, I'll have to make sure I come back here. I want to take care of everything else first.

Stepping outside, he looked around, taking in the sights of Trista for a time. So far, he had yet to really get to know the people of Trista. Naruto figured now would be a good time to get to know the residents of Trista on a more personal level. So, looking towards the house that was right across the street from the Class VII Dormitory, he proceeded to walk towards it, only to pause and look down at the little boy walking around outside. "Heya kiddo, how's it going?"

The kid, a boy named Kurt, looked up into his eyes and asked, "Hi! Are you going to school today, too?"

Naruto smirked at him and said, "Darn right I am. I've got some errands I need to run and people to meet. Anyways, the name's Naruto Uzumaki. If I'm remembering their names right, you're Harison and Hanna's son, right?"

"Yep! Nice to meet you Naruto! I'm Kurt!" the kid introduced himself.

"Cool. You seem like a busy kid. What are you up to, huh?" Naruto asked.

"I'm gonna go shopping for Mommy! We're having curry for dinner tonight. It's gonna be sooo good!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Cool. You know, I have club activities and a bunch of other things I need to take care of. Would you like to see a cool trick?" Naruto asked, a sly grin on his face.

Kurt nodded and said, "Oooh! I like tricks! What are you going to do Mr. Naruto?"

Holding up a single hand seal, he said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu." and summoned four clones. Smirking at the kid's gobsmacked expression, Naruto said, "These are called shadow clones. I can use them to get a lot of things done at once. Now, you four know what to do. Get going." He commanded.

"Right, Boss!" they cheered before rushing off to do as their creator willed.

Once he was left alone with the real Naruto, Kurt exclaimed, "That was awesome! What else can you do?!"

Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "Maybe I'll show you someday. For now, I really do need to get going. Take care, Kurt." he said before walking up to Kurt's house and knocking on the door. Afterwards, he let himself inside and smiled as he looked around the cozy-looking house. "Wow. Sure is nice in here."

"Why thank you." Hanna said as she stepped up to him. "You're from the nearby dormitory, aren't you? Has everything settled down for you now? Everything seemed pretty chaotic for all of you until last week or so."

Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Yeah, things were pretty hectic for a while. Doesn't help that Jusis and Machias are always at each other's throats." Sighing, he shook his head and said, "Thanks for all of your help, by the way. We really appreciate it."

"Oh, my. That's very polite of you. But really, it's perfectly all right. I just want you to remember that you'll always have a neighbor you can rely on in times of need, okay?" Hanna said, smiling kindly at him.

Naruto nodded in thanks and said, "Same here. Take care Hanna-san." And with that, he left the house and entered the nearby pawn shop, which belonged to a man named Micht. Looking around at all the various knickknacks and various baubles, he soon stepped up to the counter and looked the old man in the eyes. "Huh, you've got quite the look about you. You're a lot more than meets the eye, aren't you Micht-san?"

Micht looked up from his newspaper and peered into Naruto's eyes for a time. "One of the red ones, huh…? You're a sharp one, I'll give you that. Need anything?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "At the moment, I can't really afford much. Maybe another time, hm? Nice meeting you, Micht. Take care." And with that, he turned and left the shop.

Once he was gone, Micht smirked and thought, He's gonna be one to keep an eye on. Looking forward to seeing where you go, Naruto Uzumaki. Yes, despite Naruto forgetting to introduce himself properly, Micht knew exactly who he was. After all, he made it his business to know everything about everyone, no matter what it took.

After leaving the pawn shop, Naruto walked up the nearby steps and approached the flower shop owner. When she turned a sad look upon him, he asked, "Is everything okay?"

The woman, Jane, said, "The lino flowers are gradually starting to wilt and die. There's still a certain beauty to them, but they're a symbol of springtime, so it's always sad to see them go. Such is the passing of seasons, though. At least we can look forward to next year, then they'll be back in all their splendor once again."

Naruto nodded and looked at the various flowers and other plants she had on display. "I can tell you take real good care of all of them. I love gardening myself, you know? Umm, do you think you can deliver some of these flowers to my room in the Class VII dormitory? I'm in room 206."

"Sure! Did you have anything specific in mind?" Jane asked, an eager smile on her face. She loved doing business with people, especially those that she knew would take real good care of them.

"Let's see…" Naruto looked at the various plants and pointed to three of them. "I'll take these three, thank you." Looking at the price tags, he reached into his wallet and pulled out enough mira to pay for everything. Afterwards, he thanked the woman and proceeded to approach the nearby man walking around the perimeter of the park. His name was Old Man Euler, or at least that's what people called him.

"I was once told that free days were set up as a means of helping students to become more independent. So try not to let this go to waste. I'm sure that your parents would be upset if you did such a thing. Try not to laze your way through the day just because you have no classes." Euler said.

Naruto frowned deeply at the man and said, "I'd thank you not to speak about my parents, please. They died the night I was born and I grew up without any kind of familial love. That's all I'm gonna say on the subject. As for lazing my way through school? I have no intention of doing something like that. I'm really interested in learning all I can, which is why I'm going to continue working hard and earn top marks on everything. I refuse to slack off and fail any of my classes."

Euler frowned and shook his head. "Wasn't trying to be rude, but I can understand how what I said might come off that way. With an attitude like that, I'm sure they're probably smiling down on you from Heaven. Take care, kid."

"Yeah, you too." Naruto said before stepping out of the man's way. My parents, huh? I wonder sometimes.

Approaching the nearby girl who was tending to a few items on display outside her parent's shop, he greeted her kindly. When she looked at him, she said, "You know, most of the new students come in to buy stationary from us this time of year. It's always fun to show them around since they seem like they're having a good time. April's always a good month. We actually just got a bunch of stationary and other writing stuff in stock." Giggling a bit, she said, "If you want to write on something fancy, our store's the place to be!"

Naruto grinned at her and said, "That's quite the sales pitch there. I can just tell that you're going to make for one heck of a businesswoman someday. I bet your parents will be real proud of you when you grow up. And for your information, I've come into the store a few times by now to get supplies. Your dad's been real good to me so far."

Tyzel looked at him closely for a minute before her eyes widened in recognition. "You're Naruto Uzumaki, right?! I'm sorry! We get so many people coming and going that it can be a little hard to recognize people sometimes. There's so many of you students, after all."

The blonde chuckled and gently patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm gonna head inside and see if there's anything I want to get. Might have to wait though until I get more money…" Heh, not really a problem, considering my books have been selling as well as they have been. These people don't need to know about that, though.

Tyzel nodded in understanding. "Makes sense. Take care, Naruto!"

"You too, Ty-chan." Naruto said before entering the store, Brandon's General Goods. Upon entering, Naruto immediately spotted Hugo and walked up to him. "Hey there Hugo. Whatcha up to?"

Hugo turned to Naruto and said, "Ah, Uzumaki-san. Good to see you again. You're not with Rean today?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "Rean and I were assigned some tasks by Towa-chan that she'd like us to take care of. So we split up to tackle them one by one. What about you? Been busy?"

Hugo shook his head and said, "Not really. I'm just browsing the goods. The stock here isn't bad, considering how small the town is. Have to admit though, everything is quite a bit cheaper at our shop, though, due to our consistently priced bulk-buying strategies. I happen to know a thing or two about business management thanks to growing up, helping my dad with his shop. Heh, all this business discussion when I only came here to buy a notepad."

Naruto shrugged and said, "Nothing wrong with that. You do you, Hugo. So long as you're enjoying yourself, that's what matters. I think I'm gonna look around for a bit and then get going myself. Things to do, after all." Bidding goodbye to Hugo, Naruto began to look around the shop, though he didn't find anything of interest. Maybe another time.

Stepping up to Brandon, Naruto was about to ask him if he had a certain item in stock, but Brandon beat him to the punch. "Yo! You're one of those first years helping out the Student Council, aren't ya? They're always helping us Trista folks out. Which means you probably will, too. Nice to meetcha, in that case. We're all pretty indebted to Towa thanks to all the help she's given us. Here's hoping you'll do the same."

Naruto smiled at the man and said, "Gotta say, Towa-chan's pretty darn adorable. I kind of envy her work ethic. She's so supportive and helpful. She's a really good person. And did I mention she's cute? Sooo adorable." Chuckling softly, he decided to browse the shop a little more before shrugging and leaving the store.

Venturing next door into the Le Sage Boutique, he began to browse to see if there was anything he might like to try on and potentially buy. "I swear, there's never any orange. I like orange dammit." He grumbled to himself. Deciding not to bother the salesgirl, Julia, he stepped outside and skipped through the park and over to the café. He immediately noticed Machias, but chose not to disturb him. It was obvious he was lost in thought, so Naruto didn't want to bother him.

Entering Kirsche's Café & Inn, Naruto looked around and frowned at how empty the place was. Then again, he supposed people had better things to do than sit at the counter drinking beer or something. So, putting that thought aside, he approached the waitress, Dolly. When she saw him and the color uniform he was wearing, she said, "Sara really needs to calm down with all the drinking. Just the other day, she got really drunk and started complaining to me about all sorts of different things. Mostly about how she can't handle the vice principal, and how she's worried she'll never find the right man for herself…" Sighing softly, she shook her head and said, "Even listening to her tired me out."

Frowning for a time, Dolly looked Naruto in the eyes and said, "When she's not rambling, she's a real beauty, too… I dunno, maybe she should try laying off the alcohol for a while, huh?"

Naruto frowned as well and said, "I'll try talking to her, but I doubt she'll listen to me. I don't want her killing herself because she drinks too much. She's a good person and I like her a lot. I'll do what I can to help her, okay?" Dolly nodded in thanks before she bade Naruto goodbye.

After chatting with the sole patron and the barkeep, Naruto left the Café & Inn and proceeded to walk down the road to the Trista Radio Station. Entering, he smirked to himself as he saw the recording studio behind a wall and some windows. "Man, I'd love to be on air one of these days. How awesome would that be?" he asked nobody in particular. "Ah well, one can dream."

Seeing Munk standing nearby, Naruto was hesitant to approach him, but did so anyways. "Heya Munk. What's up?"

Turning to face Naruto, Munk looked around for a moment before shrugging. Looking Naruto in the eyes, he said, "Radio Trista will be debuting a new program tonight. I can hardly wait." Chuckling to himself in a rather creepy manner that sent chills down Naruto's spine, Munk soon said, "What could it be about? My heart's racing just imagining the possibilities. I can tell, this new program's going to be good, whatever it is. I suppose I'll need to work extra hard to find some material now."

There he goes talking about 'material' again. I don't think I want to know what the hell he's talking about. So nod, say goodbye, and try not to run away from Mr. Creepypants. Naruto thought to himself before he turned and walked off, leaving the radio station. He did not want to be anywhere near Mr. Creepy.

Returning to the main plaza, Naruto entered Keynes' Bookstore and smiled when he saw Becky standing behind the counter while the owner stood off to the side, looking over his inventory. Choosing to ignore the owner for the time being, he approached Becky and asked, "How's it going Becky-chan?"

Becky smiled brightly at him and said, "Welcome! Have a look, Naruto! We've got some solid books for students lined up here! You keeping up well in class, mate? I hope ye are, 'cause being a student's all aboot getting yer heed in the books! I cannae say much though, 'cause I'll be focusing on working instead. Yassss!" Coughing to compose herself, Becky giggled nervously for a moment before she got back on track. "Try to dae us a favor and don't try tae read through the books here waeout buying them. It's fine if ye have a wee swatch to check the contents and stuff, but make sure ye buy it if it's what ye're looking for!"

Naruto smiled and said, "You make quite the sales pitch, Becky-chan. Might wanna be careful not to go overboard, however. Anyways, lemme see what's for sale today."

"Sure thing Naruto. Have a wee look see and tae me what ye want to buy." Becky said as she showed up what was available.

Frowning at the poor selection, he shrugged and bought Issue 1 of the Imperial Chronicle. He knew that the Imperial Chronicle was biased and was full of bullshit, but he figured he might as well see what they were talking about in this issue. Thanking Becky for the newspaper, he rolled it up and placed it in a storage seal for the time being. Afterwards, he bade Becky goodbye and proceeded to speak with the shopkeeper.

"Have you heard of 'Red Moon Rose'? It's a pretty popular novel these days. As a matter of fact, I happen to have the first chapter of it right here. Why not give it a read?" Keynes suggested as he handed Naruto a copy.

Naruto blinked and looked it over a couple of times. "You sure I can just have this? Shouldn't I pay for it or something?"

Keynes smiled at Naruto and said, "Think of it as thanks for helping the Student Council with their work. And besides, giving you a free book makes you more likely to buy one from us in the future, right?"

The blonde chuckled a bit and said, "True. Thanks, Keynes. Much appreciated." Stepping outside, he went and sat down on a bench in the park nearby and pulled out the Imperial Chronicle he had just bought.

'[Politics] Annual Budget Announced

The government today held a press conference to reveal its annual budget to the nation. At the same time, new plans to expand the military were announced, reaffirming earlier statements made by Chancellor Osborne.

With the neighboring Calvard Republic continuing to expand its own armed forces, this seems an appropriate reaction, and the duty of a great nation such as ours. (Staff Writer)

Reactions of the Imperial Diet

Both the House of Representatives and House of Peers met to debate the budget in Heimdallr. The House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of the budget and military expansion plan, but the House of Peers remained fiercely critical of both proposals throughout the debates.

'I pray that His Majesty decides in the best interests of this nation.' (House of Peers President)

However, with His Majesty leaving decisions regarding the budget in the hands of the chancellor, it seems unlikely that it will be overturned.

Imperial Governor Regnitz Speaks—

In response to an Imperial Chronicle reporter outside City Hall, Governor Regnitz had this to say about the budget debate:

'The proposals have my full approval. Much has been made of the military aspects, but taken as a whole, I feel the budget is remarkably well balanced. It seems apparent to me that His Excellency has a clear vision for how to proceed in modernizing this country.' (Governor Regnitz)

[Society] The Imperial Transportation Act

It has been a year since the Imperial Transportation Act was enacted in Heimdallr. The law was drafted with the expectation that the number of orbal cars in the city would continue to increase, but how have our dear readers reacted to the bill?

'We have found that the majority seem to be in favor of the new law, though some have argued that giving the cars of commoners regard equal to that of the nobility makes little sense.' (City Hall PR Representative who supported the law)

The Imperial government maintains that the law has been successful in reducing the number of motoring accidents, and aims to eventually introduce it in the rest of the country.

[Culture] Celdic Grand Market

The eastern town of Celdic is best known for the Grand Market, which is held regularly throughout the year. This year's spring market is bustling as usual and has attracted large numbers of tourists and merchants. But what is it that makes the market so lively?

'Because the town is located on a trade route that has long been vital to this nation,' is the opinion of Otto, the market manager. He believes that Celdic's position as an interchange station, where passengers can transfer from the Transcontinental Railroad to national lines, makes it easily accessible for visitors from both outside and inside the country. Whatever the reason, the market's popularity is showing no signs of letting up.

[Spotlight] Welcome to the RF Store!

Our goal is to deliver the latest Reinford Group products. We're your one-stop orbal technology shop!'

Naruto blinked a couple of times after he finished reading the paper. "Well, that wasn't as bad as some issues get. I'm used to a strictly biased opinion leaning more towards the nobles than anything else. And it's interesting that they interviewed Machias' dad. As for Osborne…no comment there." He mumbled to himself. Resealing the newspaper, he proceeded to walk across the bridge towards the academy.

As he made to walk across, he spotted Rean down below on the pier, fishing with Kenneth beside him. Chuckling a bit, he decided to just leave them be. Entering the house nearest to the small pier, he approached the wife/mother of the household and listened as she grumbled. "My husband's become completely unbearable. The only words out of his mouth when he comes home at night are 'bath,' 'dinner,' and 'sleep.' What, has he convinced himself that I'm his personal maid? I can't stand him anymore… He has no respect for the fact that I take care of everything at home."

Naruto frowned in thought for a time before he decided it would be best not to get involved at this point in time. Simply smiling awkwardly at her, he said, "I hope things improve for you soon. I've some errands to run myself, so maybe I'll see you again sometime, hm?" She simply shrugged and watched as the kind young man left her home.

As he approached the church, he saw a couple of kids standing outside chatting away with one another. While he was curious about what they were talking about, something told him he didn't really need to know. So instead, he entered the church to see what was going on in there. He wasn't a very religious person, but that didn't mean he wouldn't worship Aidios and show his thanks for guiding him to this world.

Entering the nearby room where he sensed someone, he smiled at Sister Ornella and greeted her politely. "A student of Thors will be coming here to help us today. She apparently wishes to be a sister, too…" Giggling a bit, the woman smiled kindly at Naruto and said, "I look forward to her arrival. I'm sure there will be much I can teach her."

Naruto blinked a couple of times before bringing a hand up to his chin and stroking it for a moment as he tried to think of who she could mean. When nothing came to him, he slumped over and said, "Yeah, I have no idea who you're talking about right now. I hope she does well here, whoever she is."

"I'm sure she'll be just fine. How have you been, Naruto? Still praying to Aidios, I hope?" Ornella questioned.

Naruto smiled at her and said, "Yeah. I may not do it every day, but I still make time to pray to her. I owe her my thanks for bringing me here."

"I'm glad. Never lose that faith, Naruto. I know you may be busy with schoolwork and helping the Student Council, not to mention any potential clubs you want to join. I want you to always remember that we are here for you should you ever need us. May Aidios guide your path." She said, bowing politely to him.

"Thank you Sister. You have a good day." Naruto said before leaving the room and approaching the father. "Hello Father." Naruto greeted.

"Why hello there, Naruto. You know, around 50 years have passed since the Orbal Revolution took place… Our lives have become far more convenient now thanks to the invention of orbments. However, it is important that we remain humble, even now. One must never forget to be thankful for the life they've been given." Father Paulo said.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Of course. Things may have become easier on the people, but there's still so much conflict, political disagreements, violence, hatred…" Sighing sadly, the blonde shook his head and said, "People deserve to be able to live their lives happily with their loved ones, regardless of all the chaos."

"I agree. Remember, Naruto, that you are always free to come here and speak with the two of us should you ever need somebody to talk to. We are here for you." Paulo said.

"Thank you Father." Naruto said with a bow. "I have some errands to take care of, so I'll see you later. Take care Father!" And with that, Naruto hurried out of the church and walked onto the academy grounds.

Walking past the auditorium, Naruto decided to explore a bit, ignoring the fact that some random, unnamed students gawked at him with wide eyes. It was pretty obvious to him that they had seen a few of his clones attending the various clubs he had decided to sign up for.

As he walked towards the academy field, he saw Jusis looking in the direction of the stables. Walking up to him, he asked, "Whatcha up to Jusis? Looking to join the Riding Club, by any chance?"

Jusis sighed irritably and looked into Naruto's eyes. "Perhaps. Not that it's any business of yours. Please leave me be."

Naruto sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Very well. But you should know I'm not some grumpy person like Machias. And I'm also not a stuck up prick either. I just wanted to try and make friends with at least someone in our class. Sorry for disturbing you." And with that, Naruto walked off, going down onto the field to go and check on everybody and maybe talk to a few people.

Approaching the stables, Naruto saw a blonde girl petting a horse. He paused and listened as she said, "Wow… This is the first time I've ever touched a horse. They're really amazing up close…! It's so docile, but at the same time…I can feel how strong it is. I guess I'd be spending a lot of time with them if I ended up joining this club, huh…? Maybe I'll give the test ride a shot, at least."

Naruto smiled at this and thought silently to himself, Lambert, you're gonna make this girl a pretty happy person if you let her join your club. I'm sure she'll just love getting to know all of the horses here. Deciding to leave them be, he decided to go and check on the Lacrosse Club on the other end of the field. However, as he approached, Naruto took notice of Vincent and Sariffa, his maid. Sighing, he was about to go and say something about being a creepy stalker again. Then, taking some time to think on it, he looked between Vincent and Ferris a few times before piecing it together. Holy crap, Ferris is his sister. It was then that he realized something else. He's definitely perving on the girls. He's lucky I don't just clock him and be done with it.

Sighing irritably, he decided to just ignore Vincent and his maid and walked up to the Lacrosse Club. "Hey girls, how's it going?" he asked. At first, they wondered if he was just a pervert trying to get in their pants or something, but Naruto quickly waved that notion off. "Sorry, didn't realize my approach might have come off that way. I'm exploring the campus, trying to get to know everybody. I'm helping the Student Council with some things, so I figured it'd be a good idea to get out and meet people, y'know?"

They nodded in understanding before Ferris looked at him curiously for a time. She didn't say anything to him, however. So, ignoring her, he walked up to Alisa and asked, "How are you doing today, Alisa? Enjoying yourself?"

Alisa sighed and looked him calmly in the eyes. Whispering to him, she said, "I get the feeling that this Ferris girl isn't exactly fond of me… Hopefully it's just my imagination. I've got practice to focus on, anyway…"

Naruto looked at Ferris again before looking back into Alisa's eyes. "Think of it this way. Might make for some healthy competition between the two of you. You'll push each other to get better and better, and in the end, who knows? You might even become the best of friends."

Alisa frowned for a moment before nodding, smiling at her friend. "I'm going to choose to believe that. Thanks, Naruto."

"No problem Alisa. Enjoy yourself." Naruto said before he turned to the captain and vice captain of the team. "Nice to meet the both of you as well. The name's Naruto Uzumaki."

The blonde girl introduced herself first. "I'm Theresia, and this is Emily. Nice to meet you Naruto." She said, smiling kindly at him. "Emily's feeling rather enthusiastic about our new members. Last year, we were in the same position as they are now. It's rather nostalgic, to be perfectly honest. We were the ones being coached last year, but this year, we're the ones doing the coaching." Giggling a bit, she said, "Hopefully it won't be too tough to get into the swing of things."

"I'm sure you two will be just fine." Naruto said before turning to speak to Emily. However, she was so focused on instructing the first year students that she practically tuned him out. So, shrugging it off, he proceeded to make his way to the gymnasium and stepped inside. As he did, he saw Bridget, one of the Wind Orchestra members. Frowning in confusion, he approached her and asked, "Is everything okay Bridget?"

Jumping from the shock, she turned around with a hand pressed to her heart. "Oh dear, you really startled me."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry about that. Seriously though, is everything okay? I figured you'd be at the Wind Orchestra practicing the piano or teaching Elliot a bit or something."

Bridget shook her head and looked back at the door to the Fencing Club. "My old friend, Alan, apparently joined the Fencing Club, so I thought I'd pay him a little visit. It seems really busy right now, though. I wouldn't want to interrupt… Maybe I'll stop by some other time." Sighing sadly, she turned back to Naruto and said, "Alan and I have been friends since we attended Sunday School. I don't want to bug him while he's busy though, so maybe I'll stop by again some other time."

Naruto frowned as he looked at the door to the Fencing Club. After a moment, he looked back into Bridget's eyes and smiled at her. "I hope you get to speak with him soon, Bridget. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you." He said before patting her gently atop the head. Afterwards, he walked into the swimming pool and blushed deeply when he saw Laura at one end of the pool. "O-Oh…wow." He muttered quietly to himself. If she looks this good from back here, I wonder how she'll look when I get closer. Damn I sound like a pervert right now! Still though…damn.

Klein, the captain of the Swimming Club, looked at Naruto with a smile on his face. "We've got ourselves a great group of first years this year. Casper seems like he's really into learning. And then there's Laura, who I don't even need to teach at all! This is the stuff that makes being club captain so worth it!"

Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Yeah, I can picture that. Laura seems to be good at pretty much anything she puts her mind to."

"Agreed." Klein said before turning to watch his clubmates practice.

Approaching Casper at this point, he listened as the blonde spoke. "I grew up by the ocean, so yeah, I'd say I'm a pretty good swimmer. That said, I joined this club to get even better. Which reminds me, I wonder if Laura wouldn't mind teaching me some stuff. She's a noble though, isn't she? Do you think she'd mind if I just asked her for help? I was gonna ask her for a few pointers, but…"

Naruto lightly chopped Casper on the head. "Relax. Laura's a pretty good person. I'm sure she wouldn't mind teaching you if you asked her nicely. And of course, Klein is available to chat with too. They'll both help you as much as you need, I'm sure of it."

"Thanks. Um, my name's Casper by the way. Nice to meet you."

"Naruto Uzumaki. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Casper." Naruto said before he approached the girl that was watching Laura.

"Whoa… Look at how cool that second year with the blue hair is…I've been checking out the different sports clubs, but I think this one might just be the one for me… Maybe if I join, I'll be able to get as confident and strong as she is." The girl said.

Naruto blinked a couple of times and looked at Laura for a moment before looking back at Monica. "Um, Laura-chan's a first year, like you and me."

Monica blinked and asked, "Really? Wow. I hope I can be as amazing as she is soon. I'm definitely joining now! Um, by the way, I'm Monica. It's nice to meet you."

Naruto smiled at her and said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. It's very nice to meet you, Monica. Take care, okay?" Seeing her nod emphatically, he walked over to Laura and blushed deeply as he took in the sight of her in her swimming suit. Shaking it off, he looked her in the eyes and said, "Hiya Laura-chan. Enjoying your new club?"

The blue-haired noble turned to face him and smiled politely at him. "Good day, Naruto. Have you come for a swim, too?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "I'd love to, buuut I kind of have some errands for the Student Council to attend to. I wouldn't mind staying for a while though, if you wanted to chat or something. Actually, now that I think on it, isn't it a little strange for the Swimming Club to be active around this time of year?"

"Well, it's true that winter swimming isn't for everyone." Laura said, nodding in understanding. "The water is rather chilly, but I think it makes for good training."

Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Good training indeed. I'm definitely going to have to come here sometimes and swim for a while. Might be kind of nice." Looking her in the eyes, he had to resist looking at her amazing body. "Would you mind if I stayed and watched the club practice for a while? Call it curiosity, if you want."

"You'll get no objections from me." Laura said, smiling at him. Whether she knew the effect her appearance was having on Naruto was unknown to him at the moment. "In fact, you came along at the perfect time. I was just about to test my short-distance swimming speeds. Do you think you could record my times?"

Naruto nodded and took a stopwatch from her. "Sure thing, I can handle that."

When Laura took her position, Naruto took his as well and gave her the signal to begin. As he watched her, he couldn't help but admire her natural beauty. Still, he kept an eye on both her and the stopwatch and stopped it the moment she reached the other side. "Aaaand goal! That took you, let's see…22.34 seconds!"

"Hmm, that's just a so-so time. Darn." Laura said disappointedly.

Naruto smirked at her and said, "So-so time? Laura-chan, you tore across the pool like a champion. Still, if you say you can do better than this, I don't mind staying for a while until you knock your time down a little more. Might be worth it, you never know."

Laura giggled a bit and said, "Why thank you, Naruto. Still, I could have done much better. I feel like I've lost my touch somewhat. I have to admit though, my father could outswim me and probably even a dolphin. He's incredible."

Naruto shrugged and said, "Yeah, maybe so. But one thing you need to understand is that it's not wise to live in someone else's shadow. You need to step out and assert yourself and prove that you are more than just your father's daughter. Your swimming prowess, for instance, is amazing as it is and it's something you've accomplished all on your own. Your abilities with a blade are incredible too. You strive for perfection and struggle with all you have to really make your way in the world and prove yourself to not just yourself, but to others as well." Sighing softly, Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said, "If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll give you an example of something. An instance from my past that might help you move on from this particular phase."

Laura frowned for a moment before she sat down beside Naruto. "I promise I will never tell a soul about what you wish to tell me."

"Thanks, Laura-chan. Fie-chan knows this already, but I used to know a guy named Sasuke Uchiha. For most of his life, he lived in the shadow of his older brother, Itachi Uchiha. His whole childhood, he looked up to Itachi and wanted to be just like him. No, he wanted to be even better than his brother. One day, Itachi killed his clanmates, leaving only Sasuke alive." Hearing her gasp, Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. "Itachi fled, leaving everyone wondering what exactly happened."

"Anyways, after that, Sasuke always felt like he was inferior to his brother while he developed a nasty superiority complex. I know, weird to have both a superiority and an inferiority complex, but what can ya do? Anyways, Sasuke vowed vengeance upon his brother, but no matter how hard he worked for it and no matter how much power he was given by people, he never quite felt like he could measure up to his brother. And yet, he wanted to kill his brother for his crimes. They did end up meeting again, but Itachi showed Sasuke just how far he had to go before he could ever hope to measure up against him."

Sighing at this point, Naruto shook his head and said, "Sasuke…fled the village to join one of our village's biggest traitors, a man named Orochimaru. He was a monster, a truly terrible person that did many terrible things. But more on that some other time, hm?" Chuckling softly, he looked into Laura's eyes and said, "Sasuke tried to take the shortcut to power rather than working towards it on his own. He wasn't patient and it turned him into a criminal as well. He was absolutely obsessed with surpassing his brother and enacting his revenge. When he finally fought Itachi for real and his brother died…it left a gaping hole in Sasuke's heart. All that he had strived for was over and done with, just like that. He didn't know what to do with himself anymore now that his goal, his reason for living…was gone, just like that."

Grumbling irritably, Naruto continued with his story. "So Sasuke vowed vengeance upon the village of Konoha, or rather a despicable man named Danzo Shimura. Sasuke lost himself in his emotions, unable to truly come to grips with reality. And it all stemmed from his childhood, always being compared to his prodigy of a brother. Sasuke was never good enough. It was always Itachi." Looking into her eyes, Naruto tucked a strand of Laura's hair behind her ear, causing the blue-haired girl to blush. "So you see, it's not good to remain in the shadow of someone else. You need to allow yourself some breathing room so you can be the best you can be without the shadow of someone else looming over you."

Despite the blush on her face from the affectionate gesture, Laura frowned and said, "You've experienced it as well to an extent…haven't you?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "Maybe to some degree. But that's a story for another time, maybe. For now, I think it's time for you to take another swim. Let's work on getting that time down at least a couple of seconds. Sound good?"

Laura pouted cutely for a few seconds before she composed herself. "Very well, Naruto. Let us continue." And with that, they continued to time her for a few more laps, slowly cutting down her time until she was finally satisfied.

Once they had finished, Naruto bade Laura goodbye and left the gymnasium, heading to the Gardening Club where he saw one of his clones helping Edel tend to the flowers. When she looked up and saw him, she initially went to wave at him, only to frown in confusion and look back at his clone. After a moment, she rose and turned to stare at him again. "Are you twins?"

Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. There's really only one of me. No siblings to speak of." When she went to ask him another question, he held up one of his hands and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

When another Naruto appeared beside him, Edel's eyes widened and she clapped her hands a few times. "That is wonderful! Come, let's put you to work Mr. Clone. You'll be such a wonderful helper." Naruto chuckled softly and watched as his clones and Edel resumed working on the garden.

Leaving them to their own devices, Naruto turned around and approached Fie, who was looking at a bench in the courtyard. "Heya Fie-chan. Looking for new places to nap?"

Fie looked up at her boyfriend and shrugged. "The shade here's nice. Might be good for napping. I like it here."

Naruto smirked at her and asked, "Would you like a clone to cuddle with while you sleep? I'd cuddle with you personally, but I still have those errands to take care of. Busy busy."

Fie smirked at him and said, "Make one. I want to nap together."

"Coming right up, Fie-chan." He said, making a shadow clone for her to snuggle with on the nearby bench. "Love you Fie-chan. See you later."

"Bye." Fie said, watching as her boyfriend walked off and rounded the corner up ahead. Once he was gone, she smirked and grabbed onto her clone, pushing him onto the bench so she could snuggle up next to him. "Comfy."

Naruto

Naruto bypassed the Student Union building for the time being and entered the library. Approaching Librarian Karol, he asked her how she was doing. "I've been looking through a list of who has books on loan from the library today. Lo and behold, there are an upsettingly high number of overdue books out at the moment. And the award for the highest number of overdue books goes to…" Sighing, the woman continued, "our favorite second year. Of course. You'd think he'd have learned by now… He'll be getting quite an earful the next time he steps into this library."

"Anyways, while the academy is rather famous, it doesn't cater to the wealthy alone. We have students from all walks of life. Unfortunately, it seems our friend from Class V still needs some education when it comes to library due dates, however."

Naruto frowned in thought for a time before he asked, "This second year, does he have silver hair and look a bit disheveled?"

Karol nodded and said, "That would be him. His name is Crow Armbrust and he's a real pain in the butt sometimes."

"I see. Thanks for telling me that." Naruto said before he walked off, leaving the library and its occupants behind. So your name is Crow, is it? I'll be keeping an eye on you.

Heading into the Student Union building, he immediately took notice of Colette, the one who had made the request. Deciding he would get to her in a bit, he went up to the nearby school store and talked to James. "The principal told me you'll be investigating the old schoolhouse. Make sure you're well equipped before you head in there. I've got weapons, armor, medical supplies…anything you'd expect out of an academy store! You can never be too well prepared. Especially with all the monsters lurking around inside the old schoolhouse. Make sure you've got everything you need."

Naruto smiled in thanks and browsed his wares, making sure to buy a few restoratives. Afterwards, he bade the man goodbye and walked across the way to the woman manning the counter at the cafeteria. "It seems a lot of this academy's decisions are made by a few directors behind the scenes. I've heard they're all very important people, but I've never had the chance to meet any of them myself. Next time they visit the academy, I'd love them to try some of my husband's cooking." Frowning in thought for a time, she said, "I wonder what the directors of this academy are like? No matter what they're like, I'm sure they'd love my husband's cooking."

The whiskered teen chuckled a bit and said, "I'm sure they would. Your husband's a great chef. We'd know, considering we ate here just last night."

Samantha smiled at him and said, "I remember you. I'm glad you enjoyed his cooking. Make sure to eat here plenty from time to time, okay?"

"Of course. Now, I've got some errands to run, so I'll let you be. Take care Samantha." Naruto said before he went upstairs and entered the Literature Club room. Seeing Emma and Dorothee talking, he frowned and thought, Please don't corrupt Emma. Pleaaase don't corrupt Emma.

"Based on what I've seen, she's very well educated and has a real way with words. I'm sure we'll enjoy our time together in this club. Now I just need to drag her into the wonderful world of passionate young men! Sooo, Emma…wh-what kind of books do you like? How about books about hot, passionate friendships between beautiful boys?" Dorothee asked, grinning pervertedly the entire time.

"Umm…" Looking at Naruto, she whispered to him, "What does any of this have to do with literature?"

Naruto simply shrugged in response and whispered back to her. "So long as you don't end up being corrupted by her, I think it'll be fine. If you start going crazy like her, I'll be scared for your sanity as well as mine."

Emma giggled a bit as she whacked him on the chest. "That's not very nice of you, Naruto. But you're right. I'll be fine, I promise."

Chuckling a bit, Naruto patted Emma on the shoulder before he left the room and entered the Lower Class Chess Club room, where he saw a boy named Stefan. Upon seeing Naruto, he looked at him hopefully, only for Naruto to shake his head negatively. "Sorry, I'm only looking around, trying to familiarize myself with the layout of the school and all of its students. I do know somebody that might be able to help you though. His name's Machias and I think he'd be a good fit for this club. Try talking to him sometime."

"I'll do just that. Thank you! Umm, I'm Stefan by he way. What's your name?"

Naruto smiled at him and said, "Naruto Uzumaki. Nice meeting you Stefan." And with that, he left the room and went next door to the Photography Club. Seeing Rex again, he sighed and listened for a moment as the club captain asked Rex what kinds of pictures he wanted to take. When Rex exclaimed 'Pictures of cute girls, of course!' Naruto facepalmed in mild disbelief. He hasn't learned a damn thing. Whatever. Let the pervert be a pervert. Ugh.

Leaving the clubroom, Naruto entered the Student Council office and approached Towa. When she turned to look at him, he offered her a smile and said, "Hiya Towa-chan."

"Hello Naruto. Did you and Rean have a chance to look over the requests I sent to your dorm?" Towa questioned.

Naruto nodded and said, "Yep! We're taking care of them right now. Well, kinda sorta. I've been taking the time to familiarize myself with the people of Trista, as well as all of the other students. I wanted to get to know everybody better, especially if I'm going to be helping the people with tasks such as these from now on."

"That's wonderful! I'm glad you're taking such initiative, Naruto! Thank you so much! It's a really big help! We get so many of them that there's no way we could handle them all on our own. It might be tough, but good luck!" Towa exclaimed excitedly.

Naruto chuckled and poked her nose. "Boop. You're still too dang adorable, Towa-chan." He said, sticking his tongue out at her playfully. When she went to snatch it, he smirked at her and said, "See ya later Towa-chan. Have a good day, okay?"

Towa giggled a bit and watched him leave. Thank you, Naruto.

Heading back downstairs, Naruto approached Colette and asked, "Um, hey there. You're Colette from Class IV, right? You submitted a request to the Student Council, didn't you?"

Colette nodded and said, "Yeah, I did. You're from Class VII though, aren't you? Did you join the Student Council when I wasn't looking?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "Not quite. Rean and I are just helping them out with some of their tasks. Gotta try and lighten the workload a bit. Towa-chan asked that I handle your request."

"I see. Wow! We're both first years, but you seem so much more grown up than me… The people in Class VII must be amazing." Colette said, practically looking starry-eyed at this point.

Chuckling a bit, Naruto said, "Nah, it's really no big deal. I'm just happy to help. Anyways, you wrote that you need some help looking for your student notebook, right?"

The orange-haired girl nodded and said, "Yeah. I've been looking everywhere I could think of since this morning, but there's no sign of it. So does that mean you're going to start looking right away? They said that if one person wasn't able to help me, they'd send someone else to do it."

"I see. Well, you can count on me. I'll find it for you in a jiffy." Naruto said.

"Really? Thank you so much!"

Naruto looked her in the eyes and said, "Little early to be celebrating. I'm going to need some clues to go off of here. When did you first notice that you dropped your notebook?"

Colette frowned as she thought it over. "Hmm. It was right after school yesterday when I went to borrow a book from the library. You can't borrow books without your notebook, so I went to take it out…and I couldn't, because it wasn't there."

"Yesterday after school… Okay, got it. So when was the last time you remember having it?" Naruto questioned.

"Probably right when classes had finished for the day yesterday, when I was still in the classroom. I remember using it to take notes while I was talking with my friends, so I definitely had it then. I guess I must have dropped it somewhere between my classroom and the library…"

"All right, that's good. That narrows the search area down quite a bit. Did you stop anywhere on your way to the library?" Naruto asked.

"Well, after I left the main building, I came here to the Student Union. Pretty sure I went to the library after that. That should be everywhere I went…" Colette explained.

"I see. There's really not a lot of places where you could have dropped it then. I'd say the best way to go about searching for it would be to check in the main building and the area surrounding it, I think." Naruto suggested.

"Yeah! That's just what I was going to ask you to do, actually. I'm hoping it's there, 'cause I searched the library from top to bottom this morning…and the rooftop's out, because the janitor said he didn't notice it when he was doing his morning cleaning rounds." Colette explained.

"Okay, so the main building it is, then. Sooo, do you think I should start with the classrooms?" Naruto wondered.

Colette shook her head. "No, I don't think you need to check them at all. I searched my classroom yesterday and didn't go into any of the others. It'd probably be a good idea to focus on the halls and the rest areas in there. I have a feeling that if it's in the main building, it's going to be on the second floor somewhere."

Naruto grinned and said, "Well, that makes this easy. I'll go look for it and bring it back to you no problem. I doubt it'll take all that long either. You just stay here and look around a bit more, just in case."

Colette smiled thankfully at him and said, "Okay, will do. Thanks for agreeing to help me out!"

With that, Naruto left the Student Union building and proceeded to enter the main building. Deciding to take it easy, he decided to postpone the search for a bit and talk to everyone in the main building, just in case they had any interesting information to part with. Weirdly enough, he sensed someone in the janitor's room way down at the end of the west hallway. Weird. Last I checked, the janitor was outside…

Walking down the long hallway to the janitor's room, he opened it and saw none other than Mint standing there, looking as lost as ever. "Mint-chan?"

At hearing the familiar voice, Mint turned around and looked up into Naruto's eyes. "Naruto! I'm lost. Where am I now? I'm trying to find the faculty lounge, but I can't find it anywhere! Now I'm gonna be late, and my uncle's gonna be mad…"

When it looked like she was about to start sobbing, Naruto wrapped her up in a hug and gently rubbed circles on her back to try and soothe her. "My uncle always says, 'Mint, ya couldn't find yer way out of a paper bag if I drew ya a map.' So how does he expect me to meet him at some faculty lounge I've never even been to?!"

Naruto patted her gently on the back and said, "Come with me, Mint-chan. I'll take you right there. You're on the right floor. You just went the wrong way."

"Thank you Naruto." Mint said as she took his hand and allowed him to lead her all the way around to the faculty lounge on the other side of the building. Once there, she leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks. You're a really good person." And with that, she entered the faculty lounge to go and speak with her uncle.

Blushing a bit, Naruto touched his cheek and said, "Soft. Heh, she is cute, I'll give her that." Chuckling, he went into the nurse's office and walked up to Instructor Beatrix. "Hey there doc. How's it going?"

Beatrix smiled at him and said, "Did you know that free days were originally conceived as a training exercise of sorts to develop each student's judgment and individuality? We instructors want to see you develop your abilities to weigh your options and make wise decisions of your own accord. Be sure you don't relax too much, though. Letting yourself get soft is basically asking for an injury. I'm worried that some students are letting their free days make them soft. The last thing you want to do is get yourself hurt and ruin your next chance to go out on the town."

"Gotta agree with you there Instructor. Don't worry about me though. I'll never let myself grow stagnant and put myself and my loved ones in danger. It's just not in my nature." He said with a chuckle.

"Glad to hear it. Now, if I'm not mistaken, you were given some tasks to do by the Student Council. I'd get working on that if I were you." Beatrix suggested with a smirk on her face.

Chuckling softly, Naruto said, "Yeah, you've got a point. Take care Instructor." And with that, he left the room and approached Instructor Thomas and Rosine. He overheard them talking about a permission slip of some kind and the church. That's when it clicked for him. So Rosine's the one that wants to be a sister? Huh, I bet she'll look pretty cute in a habit. We shall see. Shrugging that off, he passed by the faculty lounge, choosing to leave the vice principal alone and allow Mint and Makarov to talk. So he went to the end of the hall and walked up the set of stairs.

Once on the second floor, he went into the Art Club room and looked at his clone, who appeared to be having fun painting something, though he wasn't sure what it was. Linde was watching over Gaius, trying to help him with some pointers. However, when she looked at him, she blinked a couple of times as her gaze turned to the other Naruto in the room. "H-Huh? Twins?"

Naruto smiled at her and shook his head. "Nah, not twins. They're clones. I'm sort of a special kind of person. Maybe I'll explain it in detail someday, but not today. For now, just know that that's me, yet not me at the same time. It can get a little complicated if you think too hard about it."

Linde blinked a couple of times before saying, "I see. Clones. Got it. I think I'm going to sit down now…"

Naruto chuckled softly and said, "Sorry Linde-chan. I'll leave. I don't want to disturb you too much. Take care, okay? See you later Gaius." Gaius simply smiled at him before refocusing his attention on his art.

She probably thinks I'm strange or something now. Shame too, she's really pretty. I'd love to be friends with her at the very least… Naruto thought with a shrug. Walking into the Cooking Club room, Naruto spotted Margarita standing in front of Nicholas. Whatever she was making, he did NOT want to know. So he quickly turned around and walked into the Wind Orchestra room to check on his clones there. Yes, he sent two clones to the Wind Orchestra. He was eager to learn as many instruments as he could! Approaching Instructor Mary, Naruto tapped her on the shoulder and asked, "How's it going, Instructor? Are my clones doing all right?"

Mary turned and blinked at seeing him. "So many Naruto's. Umm, yes, they're doing just fine. It took a little while for them to get the hang of things, but they seem so excited at the prospect of playing instruments. They're doing so well now! Thank you, Naruto. And, not counting you, we've had three new students join the Wind Orchestra this year! All the new additions should definitely keep things lively, I think. I hope this club serves as a platform that allows all of you to boost yourselves and your musical abilities to new heights. After all, music is a beautiful art that gives people the freedom to truly express themselves."

Naruto smiled at Mary and said, "Thank you Mary-chan. I'm really looking forward to being a productive member of the club. Well, clubs, I should say. I'm truly grateful that you're allowing me the opportunity to express myself like this. It means a lot to me."

Mary simply nodded and said, "Of course, Naruto. But you obviously have things to do today. So you should probably get back to it. You are helping the Student Council today, aren't you?"

The whiskered teen nodded and said, "Yeah. See you later Mary-chan. See ya Hibelle!" And with that, he walked out into the hallway again. This time he went into the nearby rest area and began searching the couches and under the tables, even in the plants in his search for Colette's notebook. He found it on one of the couches and smiled as he checked inside, finding that it was, indeed, Colette's student notebook. "Mission complete. Now to return this to Colette. I hope she doesn't lose it again." He said with a chuckle.

Making his way out of the main building, he returned to the Student Union building and proceeded to hand it to Colette. "Here you go, mission complete! Why don't you double-check to see if it's really yours or not. Pretty sure it is, though."

Looking it over carefully, Colette smiled at Naruto and said, "Thank you so much! This is the only form of ID we students have, so it would've been awful if I'd lost it. Especially since our instructor would've chewed my head off if I needed to get another one issued… Thanks so much for your help, Naruto!" Hugging him tight, she said, "Sorry. I'm just so relieved to have it back."

Naruto blinked and gently patted Colette on the back. "No worries. I'm glad I could help. I kinda need to get going now though. I still have to help Instructor Sara with something and then I need to go meet Principal Vandyck with Rean. We're both pretty busy today, I'm afraid."

Colette pouted and said, "Aww. Pooey. I was going to invite you out to lunch so I could repay you for what you did for me. You sure you don't have the time?"

The blonde chuckled a bit and said, "Sorry Colette-chan. Maybe another time, huh? Take care." And with that, Naruto left the building and began his trek back to the Class VII dorms so he could take care of Instructor Sara's request.

As soon as he was gone, Colette giggled to herself and said, "Oh yeah, he's a cute one. I wonder if he's taken?"

Class VII Dorm

Upon entering Sara's room, Naruto walked up to her and said, "Hiya Instructor."

Sara smirked at him and asked, "Sooo, hopping right to it, huh? Aren't you the diligent student?" Giggling a bit, she said, "I'll bet Towa's got you so wrapped around her finger already that she snaps her fingers and you leap into action."

Naruto shook his head and said, "Not quite. I swear though, you could weaponize her cuteness. It's that dangerous." This naturally got a laugh out of Sara, and he couldn't help but be reminded of Anko again. I swear, they really are a lot alike.

Getting serious at this point, Sara looked up into his eyes and said, "I'll cut right to the point. Naruto, you're something of an enigma to me. You've hinted at things about your past, such as this woman I remind you of. You're far stronger than you let on too. You're hiding so much from all of us and I want to know more about you. So I propose we have a spar. I want to see how I measure up to someone of your caliber. I don't want you to hold back on me, Naruto. Unless of course your best will get me killed, in which case…yeah, please don't."

Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Sure, I don't mind. I assume you want to make some conditions though, hm?"

The redhead nodded and said, "Yep! No arts, no crazy super techniques, just flat-out weapons combat. If you used all those nifty tricks at your disposal, I'd prooobably die. Can't have that happen, now can we?"

Chuckling again, Naruto walked with Sara out of the dorm and out onto the East Trista Highway. Once they were far enough away, he stepped away from her and folded his arms across his chest. Seeing this, Sara frowned at him and asked, "You're not going to draw your weapon?"

The blonde shook his head and said, "My weapon's kinda dangerous. I'd prefer not to use it in a friendly spar such as this. Tell me though, what do you really want out of this spar? 'Cause I get the feeling you want me to open up to you about my past."

Sara nodded and said, "Even if you only tell me a little, I want to learn more about you. You're my precious student, after all. That, and you need to let people in. You can't keep shutting people out of your life, Naruto. So please, after this spar, I want you to tell me something about yourself. It doesn't have to be anything big. It could be something small if you want. I just want you to start talking to me and your new friends. Whaddya say, huh?"

Naruto sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I suppose that's fair. Okay then. Once this spar is over, I'll tell you a little bit about me and where I'm really from. Now, let's begin!" he exclaimed before launching himself at her.

Sara blinked at the kind of speed Naruto was showing her. What the hell have I gotten myself into this time? This is going to be tough! Quickly bringing up her sword, she blocked a punch, only to feel pain shooting through her arm from the sheer force behind the blow. Quickly realizing that blocking his attacks would be a terrible idea, she chose to start deflecting blows while slipping around to Naruto's side and even firing a few bullets at him, only for him to dodge out of the way each time, no matter how close she came to actually hitting him. Okay, so he's fast as hell. Strong too. The hell'd those Jaegers feed this kid?!

Seeing Naruto zigzagging towards her, she focused and unleashed her S-Craft, trapping Naruto and allowing her to finally nail him. However, when he simply cracked his neck and then his knuckles, she knew her attack had failed to do any lasting damage to him. "What the hell? I shot you full of bullets! Yeah, I wasn't trying to kill you, but that should have done at least something to you!"

Naruto smirked at her and said, "Oh, that did sting, believe me. But I'm afraid I'm a lot tougher than your average Human. Maybe I'll tell you someday. For nooow, I think it's time I end this little spar of ours."

Sara frowned deeply and watched as he disappeared, moving so fast she couldn't even see him. So she closed her eyes and focused on her other senses. When she sensed him behind her, she turned quickly and slapped his fist away with her gun before slashing into his side with her sword, drawing blood for the first time in this fight. Even her bullets hadn't done any damage to him, so she was glad when she felt her blade sink into his flesh. Thinking on it, she wondered if the glee she felt from such a thing made her a terrible person. Shrugging it off, she continued to use her heightened senses to counter Naruto's attacks and deal what damage she could, even if it wasn't much.

After some time, Sara opened her eyes and smirked when she could finally see him moving around at such a high speed. Pointing her gun at him, she waited until just the right moment to nail him with one of her bullets, even though it didn't penetrate the skin. She still wasn't sure how that was possible, but she wouldn't dwell on it for the time being. No, she was just glad she was starting to keep up with him. "Looks like I might just win this thing after all. Unless you'd like to take me a little more seriously now?"

Naruto chuckled and said, "Very well. I knew you were something special. You're like Anko-chan in that regard. Still…" Disappearing again, faster than Sara could follow, he soon reappeared with his fist buried in Sara's gut, sending her tumbling back along the ground until she came to a stop. "It isn't enough. I'm sorry."

Wincing in sheer agony, Sara slowly sat up and rubbed her rapidly bruising stomach. "Damn kid. That felt like I got hit by a freight train! I yield. That was a good spar Naruto. I had a lot of fun and I definitely learned more from that fight than I've learned from anything in the past. Holy crap."

Naruto chuckled softly and walked over to her. Placing his hand against her stomach, causing her to blush prettily, he focused on his chakra and proceeded to heal her wound. Afterwards, he looked himself over and frowned. "Aww, my clothes are ruined. Going to have to repair this soon…maybe. Meh, whatever. Soooo, anything in particular you want to know Sara-chan?"

Sara nodded and looked into his eyes searchingly for a time. "What exactly are you, Naruto? You're definitely not human. Well, not totally anyways."

Naruto dropped his transformation and revealed to Sara his fox-like features. "I am what is referred to as a hanyou. I have essentially become a half-demon. Claws, fox ears, nine tails, the works." He explained before reapplying his transformation.

Sara nodded and said, "Damn. That might explain a few things, but it also leaves me with even more questions. Like how can you create solid clones and move so fast?"

Looking towards the sky as he sat beside Sara on the grass under the shade of a tree, he smiled sadly and began his explanation. "I'm not from this world, Sara-chan. I'm from a land called the Elemental Nations on a planet called Earth. I don't know how I got here, and I'm not going to question it. As far as I'm concerned, the goddess Aidios brought me here to save me from the hell I was in before."

Looking into Sara's eyes at this point, he said, "I'm what you'd call a shinobi, elite warriors of the great Ninja Villages. I hail from a village known as Konohagakure. Anyways, you asked about my powers. You see, we shinobi are able to harness a power known as chakra to perform incredible feats of strength, speed, and powerful jutsu. However, if we use up all of our chakra…we die. It is literally our life energy. I can summon thousands of clones at a time to help me out with a variety of things. I can use a technique called Rasengan. I can do a LOT of things with my chakra. And the main reason I was moving so fast was because I was applying chakra to the soles of my feet and using that to speed myself up to an extent. I was trying to take it a bit easy on you, but I didn't expect you to be so damn skilled. My mistake."

Sara frowned at him for a time before saying, "I'm actually kind of glad you decided to take it easy on me. I know I asked you to fight me at your best, but I don't think I could've handled that. You really are strong, Naruto. I feel safe knowing you'll be there to look out for the other members of Class VII."

Naruto smiled at her and said, "I'll always look out for my fellow classmates. I'll look out for everyone at Thors Academy. I'm making new friends now and I refuse to let anyone harm any of them. Heck, I'll even defend that stuck-up pig, Heinrich. May not like it, but it's not like I want the guy to die." Shrugging, he looked back up into the sky and continued. "Anyways, if you want to know more, I don't mind confiding in you. You remind me so much of Anko-chan. It hurts sometimes, because she was one of the only friends I ever had. I don't even know what happened to her or if she's even okay. I can't remember how I got here and I can't remember what exactly happened to me before I ended up here in this world. Those memories are just gone somehow. I swear, she's probably the only person I'm really going to miss."

The redhead frowned and asked, "You loved her…didn't you?" Seeing him nod affirmatively, she asked, "What about now? What about Fie?"

Naruto smiled at her and said, "I love Fie-chan to death. I'd gladly die for her if need be. She means everything to me. I gave her fair warning that I'd probably end up being with more than one woman thanks to my unique circumstances. You see…umm…yeah, never mind. Maybe I'll tell you some other time."

Sara looked at him quizzically for a moment before asking, "This has to do with you being a half-demon, doesn't it? Are you and Fie really comfortable with these 'circumstances'?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "I don't really have much of a choice in the matter. I won't do anything unless Fie-chan tells me it's okay. I refuse to hurt her in any way. She means the world to me, just as I said before. Hell, if she wants me to be with her and only her, I'll adhere to her wishes. Might be kinda rough for a while, but I'll deal with it."

The redhead blinked a couple of times and said, "You've lost me. What the heck are these circumstances?"

The blonde shook his head and said, "Maybe later. It's a tad embarrassing. That and it's kind of, erm…personal. It has to do with a dear friend of mine that nearly died saving my life."

"I see. Well, if you say so. I won't question you on it any further. Come on, we need to get back before people get worried. Besides that, you need to go see Principal Vandyck about your final request. Good luck." She said, kissing him on the cheek. "There's that kiss I promised before." She said with a giggle. Afterwards, she led Naruto back into town and decided that she would visit Kirsche's Café & Inn.

Meanwhile, Naruto stretched his arms above his head and let out a tired yawn. "Man, today has been a tiring one. Ah well, might as well go see Principal Vandyck about his request. I bet Rean's already there waiting for me."

Principal Vandyck's Office

Sure enough, just as he expected, Rean and Vandyck were both waiting on him. Smiling apologetically at that, he said, "Sorry. Things took a lot longer than I expected them to. Sooo Principal, what exactly is the deal with the old schoolhouse request? It sounds like something really weird is going on there."

Vandyck smiled at him and said, "I'm glad you're both here. I was waiting for quite a while. Towa told me that you've both accepted my request. I truly appreciate you both taking time out of your free day to assist me in this."

Rean simply smiled at the man and said, "It's really no problem at all, sir. We were happy to help out."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Right. Anyways, the request mentioned that you're looking for somebody to investigate the underground area of the old schoolhouse? Did I get that right?"

Vandyck nodded and said, "Precisely. And I couldn't have found a better duo for the job, considering your class was down there so recently. Incidentally, it was Sara who insisted on making use of that trap door, not me. I probably should have tried to stop her. Please do accept my apologies."

Naruto shrugged it off and said, "Meh, water under the bridge. No need to apologize."

"He's right Sir. We don't blame you or anyone else. Besides, it all worked out in the end. I'm glad for the experience we shared with one another." Rean said.

"Getting back to the matter at hand, there are a number of interesting stories regarding that old schoolhouse. That gargoyle you fought is just a drop in the bucket, all told." Vandyck continued.

Rean began to stroke his chin with his hand. "Hmm, now that you mention it, I did get the distinct impression while fighting it that it was no ordinary monster… It was almost as if…"

Vandyck nodded and said, "Indeed. Almost as if it weren't a 'monster' at all, but a…hm, demon? Perhaps the word 'fiend' might fit better. In our experience, if left alone, it will always regenerate to its original statue form…eventually."

Rean and Naruto blinked and asked, "Really?"

Vandyck nodded once more. "Yes. And as a result, the area has long been used by students in tests of strength. But in the past year, many strange…'alterations' have begun occurring there. I've received reports ranging from doors appearing ut of nowhere to strange and eerie voices from the darkness…"

"Yikes. That sounds like a whole bundle of fun right there." Naruto said sarcastically. "So you'd like us to go and investigate these reports and see what's up, right?"

"If possible, yes. Specifically, I would like you to walk through the underground area and check for any significant changes since last month. A task for which you are uniquely qualified, given your prior experience down there." Vandyck said.

"I suppose that is true." Rean said. "And we'd be happy to undertake this mission. Right Naruto?"

Naruto nodded and said, "Damn right. We'll figure out what's going on down there. Sounds creepy as hell though, just sayin'."

Rean chuckled and said, "It does. Oh well, nothing we can do about it now. Let's just head on down there and see what there is to see. Though, now that I think on it, if that gargoyle has regenerated, things could get a little tricky…"

The principal smiled and said, "If that turns out to be the case, I would have no objection at all to you turning back. I should also stress that I'm making this request to Class VII as a whole. By all means, ask your classmates for assistance. I'm certainly not expecting you to go it alone with just the two of you."

"Oh… Understood sir. We'll do exactly that." Rean said.

"Splendid. I believe you'll be needing this, then." Vandyck said before handing Naruto the Old Schoolhouse Key. "It's the key to the front door of the old schoolhouse. Best of luck to the both of you, and please…be safe."

"Thank you, sir!" Rean exclaimed. Afterwards, he turned to Naruto and said, "Why don't you ask Fie to join us? I'm going to get Elliot and Gaius. Meet you at the Old Schoolhouse, Naruto."

Naruto nodded and watched as Rean rushed off. Afterwards, he left the room and went off to speak to Fie. This'll be entertaining. I just hope the Old Schoolhouse doesn't throw anything too crazy at us. Then again, it's not like it would present much of a problem for us. Still, you can never be too careful. This is gonna be fun.

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A/N - And that's the chapter! I know, reaaaaally long. Still, I think it turned out really well. I had fun writing it and I'm eager to write some more for this story.

Anywho, as I said before, I wanted to get to the field study in the next chapter, but I dunno if that'll happen. It might, it might not, I have no idea. We shall seeeeeee.

Okay, I am really, really tired. So I hope you enjoyed! I am going to get some sleep. lol

EDIT: Okay, just wanted to let you fine folks know that there is a new poll on my profile. It has to do with this story and I could really use some opinions on it. I know what I want to do, but I want to see what you all want. So please go and vote!