A/N - Alrighty! I know I've kept you guys waiting for quite a while, but quite a lot has happened and not a damn bit of it is good. x.x
First thing you should know is that I was working on another chapter (not this one) and hit a bad case of writer's block. Not fun.
Second problem? My laptop went on the fritz again, and it's pretty much useless at this point. I've only had it for a year, and already it's fucked up beyond repair. x.x No idea why. Video card just crapped out suddenly and there's really nothing I can do.
Anyways, as a result of this, I've had to go back to using my Chromebook and my mom's computer just to write and upload anything now. Needless to say, not fun. Anyways, I decided that, in order to get back into the swing of things, I'd bring a new chapter of this story to you guys. Sooo...hopefully you enjoy it! Took me all damn night to work on it and I'm pretty damn exhausted. Sooo...yeah. Read and enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4 - The Dance & Conflicting Feelings
When they arrived at their destination, where the party would be taking place, Selphie immediately grabbed Naruto's hand and rushed off with him to go see the sights and see what there was to do at the party.
Squall, left to his own devices, found a spot that suited him just fine and leaned back against the support pillar. As he stood there, he watched Selphie and, more importantly, Naruto. They appeared to be having fun, and Squall was happy for them, most especially for Naruto. You deserve to enjoy yourself a bit more, Naruto. Especially with a nice girl like that. I know how much you've been hurting. He thought to himself in silence as he took a glass of champagne that was offered to him by a young woman walking by with a tray of champagne glasses filled with the liquid.
After the woman left him alone, Squall groaned as he heard Zell shout out, "Yo!" to him. When his spiky-haired friend approached him, Squall simply eyed him boredly. "S'up, Squall?" Zell questioned. "And where's Naruto and that chick, Selphie? I thought for sure they'd be with you."
"They're going around the party together. Enjoying themselves...hopefully. Better than him moping about Quistis, if you ask me." Squall said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Zell nodded his head in agreement. "Good to hear. Anyways, I guess we're SeeDs now, huh?" Brushing his right hand on his pants, Zell soon extended it for Squall to shake. "Put it there, man."
Squall sighed before raising his glass to his lips and taking a drink. The entire time he was doing this, he sent Zell an exasperated look that said all that he needed to say.
"Hah, even as a SeeD, you're still the same." Zell said good-naturedly. "Well, that's typical of you. See ya." And with that, Zell rushed off.
It didn't take long for Zell to bump into Selphie and Naruto. When he did, Selphie turned around with a smile and waved at the tattooed man. "Oh...hey, Zell. Wanna join the Garden Festival committee and…"
Zell rubbed the back of his head in a nervous gesture before backing away slowly. "Sorry, I...ahh… Just remembered something! G-Gotta go. See ya!" he exclaimed before attempting to flee. However, when he found himself running in place, he turned to see Naruto had him pinned with a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, man. Just help her out. There's nothing wrong with that, now is there?" Naruto suggested calmly.
Zell looked between Naruto and Selphie before giving a reluctant sigh. "Fine. Fine. I'll do it. Didn't have to force me, Naruto."
"And you didn't have to make up an excuse to get yourself out of it. It could be fun, for all you know." Naruto said with a shrug.
Selphie couldn't help herself as she began to giggle. "You two really get along well, don't you?"
Naruto and Zell looked at one another before they both shrugged in sync. "Yeah, I guess we do. Naruto's my best friend. I do kinda look up to him, y'know? He's a good friend to have."
The whiskered blonde smiled at his friend and nodded his head. "And even though Zell's a bit hot-tempered, he's a great guy and fun to be around. So yeah, we get along pretty well. And I'm hoping you and I can become great friends as well, Selphie-chan."
Selphie blushed a bit and smiled somewhat bashfully at Naruto. "T-Thank you, Naruto. I hope for the same."
Meanwhile, Squall found himself mesmerized as he stared at a rather beautiful young woman wearing a golden-colored dress and high heels. When she noticed him, she offered him a smile before approaching him. Upon reaching him, she looked up into his eyes and said, "You're the best looking guy here. Dance with me?"
Squall smirked and nodded his head towards Naruto. "You sure about that? If anything, I'd say Naruto over there's probably better looking than I am." he said before taking another sip of his champagne.
The young beauty looked towards Naruto and frowned a moment before looking back into Squall's eyes. "Nope! You're better looking. At least in my opinion. Now, dance with me? Or, let me guess… You'll only dance with someone you like."
The scarred individual chuckled a bit before he took another sip from his glass, not saying another word. The young woman, after a brief moment, spoke up once again. "Ok then… Look into my eyes…" Once she had Squall's attention, she wiggled her fingers in front of Squall's face. "You're-going-to-like-me… You're-going-to-like-me…"
Stopping after a moment, the beauty tilted her head and asked, "Did it work?"
Squall frowned and shook his head before answering her. "...I can't dance."
The ravenette frowned as well before saying, "You'll be fine. Come on. I'm looking for someone. I don't want to be on my own." And with that, she grabbed Squall's hand and dragged him out to the dance floor, where they began trying to dance. Of course, just as Squall had said, he couldn't dance all that well and fumbled around a bit before he finally got the hang of it and began dancing with her like a pro. Of course, this was after the two of them bumped into another dancing couple, and the woman stuck her tongue out at them childishly for getting upset with her and her dance partner.
At the same time, Naruto had been pulled to the dance floor by Selphie, who was more than eager to dance with her newfound friend and possible crush, though she wasn't sure if she'd go that far just yet. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Naruto was, in fact, a great dancer and was able to match her step for step.
It didn't take long for the two of them to spot Squall with the mystery woman, and they had to admit that they made for a cute sight. "Heh, she must be quite something if she's got Squall so entranced." Naruto said.
"Oh? What makes you say that?" Selphie questioned as she twirled and danced with her friend.
"Squall's...a bit difficult sometimes. He's a good guy, no question about that, but he's a bit of a loner and tends to close himself off to people. The mere fact that he's dancing with her and generally being as close to her as he is right now is proof enough that she's something else. I think she might be good for him." Naruto confessed as he danced expertly with his partner.
"Well, don't look now, but she's kinda ditched the poor guy. Ran off to who-knows-where and left him on the dance floor all by his lonesome. Wasn't very nice of her." Selphie said with a frown as she and Naruto watched Squall head out to the balcony.
Naruto was about to say that he'd go see if Squall was alright, but he noticed Quistis heading off in pursuit of him. Frowning to himself, he looked away and released a heavy sigh. After a brief moment, before Selphie could say anything, he offered her a tiny, awkward smile, and said, "He'll be fine. Quistis-chan will take care of him." She really does seem to like him, huh? Naruto questioned silently.
Selphie, noticing this, reached up and placed a hand gently upon Naruto's whiskered cheek. "Are you going to be alright, Naruto? You look really upset."
The blonde shook his head. Beginning to dance with her again, he began to explain himself. "I...have feelings for Quistis-chan. I have for quite some time now. But…"
"She just doesn't see you in the same light, huh? Instead, she seems to lavish all of her attention on someone else, doesn't she?" Selphie questioned with a frown on her face. Inside, she was a turmoil of emotions ranging from anger to sadness.
Nodding his head in the affirmative, the blue-eyed warrior said, "Precisely. And that someone happens to be Squall. I suppose I'll just have to get over her if...if things don't work out. It won't be easy though, as I've already dealt with enough rejection over the years, and all kinds of ridicule, hatred, and more. I'll...explain it all to you later, Selphie-chan. I don't want to keep my past a secret from you. You're quickly becoming a close friend. At least, I hope you see me as a friend."
"Of course I do! And if she isn't interested in you, then she's stupid! You're a really great guy, Naruto!" Selphie exclaimed with a smile on her face.
"Heh, thanks Selphie-chan. Now, what do you say we get something to drink? I'm feeling a bit parched."
"Sure thing, Naruto!" Selphie exclaimed before dragging him off to the refreshments.
Squall & Quistis
As she approached her student...well, ex-student now, Quistis couldn't help but smile at him. "You really are an excellent student. Even that dance was perfect."
Squall glanced over his shoulder at her for a short while before looking away again. "Thank you." Damn it, Quistis, you doing this is only going to hurt Naruto more. What the hell is it about me that intrigues you so much anyway?
After a period of silence, Squall released a frustrated sigh before asking, "Yes?"
"So you'll dance with someone you don't even know, but you can't stand being around me?" Quistis questioned somewhat irritably.
The brown-haired youth sighed again and shook his head in disbelief. I'm disappointed in you Quistis. Naruto really deserves better than you. "...Whatever." he said irritably. "You're an instructor, and I'm your student. It's kind of awkward when you don't say anything."
Quistis giggled to herself for a bit before saying, "That's true. I was like that myself. ...Oh, I completely forgot. I wonder what's to become of me?" Sighing, she shook her head before speaking again. "I've come to give you an order. You and I are to go to the 'secret area'. It's where students secretly meet up and talk after curfew. It's inside the training center."
Squall, not liking the sound of this, asked, "What do you want to do there? Are we going there to tell everyone they're violating curfew? If that's the case, forget it. Leave that for the disciplinary committee."
Quistis couldn't help it as she began to laugh for a while. Eventually she stopped and said, "Go get changed and meet me in front of the training center. This will be my last order." When Squall looked her way, she asked, "Hm? Question?"
The brunette nodded and asked, "What do you mean, last order?"
"Well, I have a lot on my mind." Quistis said somewhat dismissively.
Squall shrugged and walked off, leaving her alone out on the balcony. As he began making his way back towards his room, he thought to himself, Get changed and meet at the training center? What's this all about…?
Upon reaching his room, he sighed and shook his head. Naruto won't like this one bit. I should probably have told him, but… Sighing again, he went about getting changed into his regular attire. No, that would have only crushed him. I don't want to do that to him when he's having fun with Selphie.
Naruto
Selphie frowned as she thought over what she had just heard. She had decided to eavesdrop on Squall's conversation with Quistis, and she really didn't like what she had heard. When she returned to Naruto's side a short while later, she looked him in the eyes and frowned sadly at him.
Before Selphie could say anything, Naruto looked into her eyes and said, "You eavesdropped, didn't you? I'm not upset, and, judging from the look on your face, something happened that I'm probably not going to like, huh?"
"Yeah." the perky brunette said sadly. "She...seemed upset that Squall would dance with a complete stranger and not her. And to make matters even worse, she's invited Squall to some kind of 'secret area' located in the training center. It seems to be a place for…"
"Students to sneak off to for certain liasons and other such things. They break curfew and go there to be alone with their significant others. I know. I even know how to get there, though I've never actually visited it myself."
Frowning at the information he had just received, Naruto looked up towards the ceiling and shook his head sadly. "Thanks, Selphie-chan. For telling me about this. I guess...I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I had a feeling she had the hots for Squall, but...I wasn't entirely sure. This pretty much confirms it for me, though."
Selphie frowned at this and reached over, gently grasping one of Naruto's hands in hers. "Are you going to be alright, Naruto?"
"Yeah. Not the first time I've been through something like this. But...I genuinely love her, so...this hurts. I knew the chances of there being anything between us were slim, but…"
"It still hurts. I'm sorry. Why don't we return to your room and we can just sit and talk for awhile, huh?" Selphie suggested.
"That...sounds good. Though I'm tempted to go to the training center and beat the crap out of the monsters roaming there. It would certainly help me to relieve some of this stress. But…"
"Yeah. I understand. Come on, let's head on back to my room." Selphie said as she and Naruto both stood and walked off, hand-in-hand.
Squall
As he approached the training center, Squall spotted Quistis and paused in his steps, releasing another frustrated sigh. This is really going to suck, I can already tell. And with that, he stepped up to Quistis and greeted her.
"Squall, I was just wondering… Have you fought T-Rexaur in the training center?"
Squall frowned and folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not sure…"
Quistis nodded in thought for a moment before she went into an explanation about how Squall could junction a specific kind of spell so that he could inflict status effects on his enemies. Again, this was mostly just recap of information he already knew, but there was nothing wrong with going over it all again.
"Well? Use a Sleep attack against T-Rexaur. Just junction 'Sleep' to your attack and attack. Simple as can be." Quistis said. Squall didn't reply, he merely nodded his head in understanding. "Come on, let's go to the 'secret area'. It's just inside the training center."
Sure enough, soon after entering the training center, Squall and Quistis encountered a T-Rexaur enemy and proceeded to fight it and eventually managed to slay it. It was a tough fight, as the damned thing wouldn't sleep for long and it seemed to be slightly resistant to sleep effects, but they did manage to pull off a victory.
The other enemies they countered were Grats, which were far easier to deal with. Despite not having a GF junctioned, Quistis was still proving that she could hold her own against any of these monsters, while Squall was happy just to slay the little bastards, as they were really just pests at this point.
After a short while longer, they reached the 'secret area' and proceeded to look around at the other four occupants in the area. After a moment longer, Quistis took a few steps forward and said, "I haven't been here for a while."
Together, Squall and Quistis walked forward and leaned against the edge of the platform. They were content to just take in the sight before them for a while, neither of them speaking a word for a good, long while. Finally though, Quistis spoke up. "What time is it?"
Squall quirked a brow as he looked at her for a moment or two before turning to look back out at the scenery. "It's after midnight."
Quistis sighed and laid her head upon her arms. "Oh well…" Taking some time to think on it, Quistis eventually straightened up and said, "I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an instructor as of now! I'm a member of SeeD now, just like you. Who knows, maybe we'll end up working together."
When Quistis turned to smile at him, Squall eyed her for a moment before turning to stare back at the scenery again. "...Oh really?"
"Is that all you're going to say?"
Squall sighed and shook his head. While he wanted to say what was really on his mind, he instead said, "If that's how it was decided, you have to abide by it. Although…"
"Yes?" she questioned, sounding somewhat hopeful.
"I'd really like to work alongside Naruto. He's my best friend and I'd rather not be sent on different missions than him. I know there's a chance things might not work out that way, but it's what I'm really hoping for. And…"
"Hm? Something on your mind, Squall?" Quistis questioned curiously.
Squall shook his head. "It's nothing. Forget about it."
Quistis frowned, but decided not to press the issue. Instead, she said, "They told me that I failed as an instructor. Basically, that I lacked leadership qualities." Sighing softly, she waited a while just in case Squall decided to say anything, but when he remained silent, she straightened once more and said, "I was a SeeD by the age of 15, got my instructor license at 17… It's only been a year since I got it… I wonder where I went wrong… I did my best…" After a moment, she turned to Squall with a glare and asked, "Are you listening?"
Squall sighed and nodded his head once to signify that he had, indeed, been listening to her. "I am. I'm just...thinking. It's been a year since Naruto came here as well, and he's already advanced so far in that short amount of time. I'm actually kind of envious of how skilled he is. That, and he makes the art of conversation appear to be easy as can be. Meanwhile, I have no idea what to say when you start talking like that. I don't even know what you want me to say. I don't think you failed as an instructor, but it's not my call to make. If they want to strip you of your instructor license, that's on them. Obviously things didn't work out how they would have liked, otherwise you'd still be an instructor. I don't know what else to say."
Quistis frowned as she took a step closer to him. "I'm not asking you to say anything. I just want you to listen. Now that I know you have been, it helps."
"You know quite well that Naruto would gladly listen to anything you had to say. Why choose me?" Squall questioned, sounding somewhat irritable.
"Because…! I...I want to get to know you better, Squall. And, aren't there times when you want to share your feelings with someone? That, and…"
"You just don't feel the same way about Naruto as he does you, right? Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, you should have just come out and said that to him rather than stringing him along the way you have? He genuinely cares for you, Quistis." Squall snapped somewhat harshly.
Quistis recoiled a bit before lowering her head, gazing at the ground. "I-I'm not stringing him along! I care about him. I do! But…"
Squall sighed exasperatedly and said, "Sorry. I don't mean to sound like an asshole, but you have to understand something Quistis. Without Naruto, I'd just be some loner asshole to people. He's helped me to become a better person, and I really care for him as I would a brother. I just hate to see him hurting because the woman he loves would rather dote on me than him."
"Wait...loves? I thought it was just some silly crush that would pass after a while!" Quistis exclaimed in shock.
The scarred individual quirked a brow as he looked into Quistis' eyes. "You're telling me that you really didn't know that? It was pretty obvious from the get-go that he was crazy about you. And you know how his past has affected him. The fact that you didn't just come out and tell him that you aren't interested in him instead of what you've been doing...it really bothers me. You have no idea how much it hurts him to see you acting so chummy with me."
Quistis looked down at the ground again, her eyes wide in shock. "I...I never knew. Why? Why didn't he just tell me?"
"Because you were the instructor. He figured that you might simply be waiting until he made SeeD and was no longer your student before you'd be willing to accept his feelings for you. And, trust me on this, if he knew we were here, of all places, he'd be crushed."
"I've...really screwed up, haven't I? No wonder they're taking away my instructor license…" Quistis said sadly.
Squall sighed and placed a comforting hand atop her shoulder. "If it helps any, I think you were a great instructor. Just ask around and you'll find plenty of people who would say the same. Hell, you've even got your own groupies." he said with a chuckle. "I don't know why, exactly, they're removing you as an instructor, but this is the perfect chance for you to really sit down and talk with Naruto about everything."
"Thank you, Squall. You've given me a lot to think about. Now, let's get going. We've stayed here long enough."
"Sure thing Quistis." Squall said before he and the failed instructor proceeded to leave the 'secret area'.
Naruto
"Sooo...how long have you felt this way about Quistis, huh?" Selphie questioned Naruto with a grin. "I didn't think you'd have fallen for your own instructor. Then again, I have seen her groupies before, so it's not all that surprising, I guess."
Naruto chuckled a bit and held up his Quistis card. "Heh, speaking of her groupies, I managed to win this little beauty off of 'em. Man were they ever pissed." he said with a chuckle.
Selphie giggled and nodded her head in agreement. "I bet they were. That had to hurt, losing their most precious Quistis-related object."
"Yeah, but they kind of brought it on themselves. They were...kind of cruel towards me. And all because they knew I have feelings for Quistis." Naruto said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Ah well. You asked me how long I've felt this way about Quistis. It's been around six to eight months now, I think. Not really sure when it started. She was always so kind to me, and she was always willing to talk to me about pretty much anything. She's always been supportive of me as well, and she's helped me so much during my stay here. I'll always be grateful to her for everything she's done for me."
"Wow." Selphie muttered, feeling pretty stunned by what she had just heard. "That's right, you've only been here for a year, right? Where are you from then? Balamb? Galbadia? C'mon, you can tell me!"
Naruto chuckled and nodded slowly. "Okay, okay! Would you believe me if I told you I'm from another world? Actually, I'm from another world in a different dimension than this one."
The brunette blinked a couple of times before saying, "Really? I...honestly wasn't expecting that. You're serious?" Seeing him nod in response, she rubbed the back of her head and gave him an awkward smile. "You're going to have to explain all of this to me, because that's shocking to hear."
"Alright, well, let's start at the beginning, shall we?" he said with a kind smile on his face. "There's a few things you need to know before I really get into the juicy stuff…"
Squall
"Somebody help!" Squall heard as he and Quistis made their way towards the entrance/exit of the training center.
Sighing to himself, Squall said, "I swear, Naruto's bad luck when it comes to this kind of thing must be rubbing off on me. Let's go see what's going on and see if we can help."
"Right." Quistis said before they hurried forward to find out what the problem was.
Upon reaching the next area, Squall was stunned to see the woman that had visited him in the infirmary after his duel with Seifer. "Squall!" she exclaimed, her eyes practically begging him for help. Then, when Quistis ran onto the scene, she exclaimed, "Squall! Quisty?" right before the winged beast turned its attention on the two of them and attacked.
"Guess we'll have to deal with her later. Right now we've got these things to deal with!" Squall exclaimed as he and Quistis began to fight the Granaldo and the three Raldos enemies that were accompanying it.
The first thing the two of them did was allow Squall to Draw from one of the Raldos and casted the Protect spell on the both of them to lessen the damage they'd receive from the enemies' physical attacks.
The second thing they did was Draw from the Granaldo and put it to sleep so it could throw around the Raldos to damage them. They also found out that without Granaldo to use them, the Raldos practically did nothing on their own. They were content to just wait for Granaldo to throw them like cannonballs.
As a result, Squall was able to stock up on magic while reapplying the Sleep and Protect effects as needed.
When it finally came time to kill the beasts, they targeted the Raldos first, as they believed that without its allies to use as cannonballs, the Granaldo would be a much easier target to take down. This proved true as, after about four attacks total for each of them, making it twelve in total, the Raldos went down without putting up much of a fight.
Once the Raldos were gone, they focused their attention on Granaldo and began to lay the hurt on the giant, flying insect-like monster. Squall summoned forth Quezacotl to deal some massive damage to the beast while Quistis kept up with her attacks using her whip, which dealt a good amount of damage per hit to the beast.
When the monster finally died a short while later, they breathed a sigh of relief before turning their attention on the woman. When she fell to her knees, Squall was about to rush to her before two strange men dropped down and said, "It is not safe here. Please, let's go."
As they helped her to her feet, the woman quietly said, "...Alright." And as they walked past Squall and Quistis, she looked their way for a moment before she and her escorts left the training center, leaving Quistis and Squall to wonder who she was.
"Who was that…?" Quistis questioned, clearly confused about the identity of the woman that referred to her in such a familiar manner.
"I wish I knew." Squall said quietly before he placed a hand on Quistis' shoulder. "Anyways, we should get out of here. It's really late and I'd like to get some rest."
"Right."
As they made their way through the hall that led from the training center to the main hall, Quistis stopped and turned to Squall. "Squall. I...um...thank you. For spending time with me and for what you said. I'll try to talk to Naruto, but…"
Squall waved his hand dismissively. "Meh, I'm sure you'll think of something to say to him. And so long as you're honest with him, I think it'll all work out okay. Now, we should probably get some sleep. Take care, Quistis."
"You as well, Squall."
A few moments later, as Squall entered the hall leading to the dormitory, he saw Zell waiting for him. "Finally! There you are! Where the hell were you? I was lookin' all over the place. Can't find Naruto either, for that matter. I figured he'd be in his room, but no dice. Anyways, we're all now members of SeeD, right? Well, guess what!? We got our own rooms, baby! Your new room's right across the hall from your old one. Naruto's is right next to yours. I was going to tell him, but… Anyways, that's what I was asked to tell you. Man, it took me forever!"
"You can't find Naruto? That's weird, he should be in his room…" Squall muttered as he brought a hand to his chin. "Hmm…"
"Maybe he's with that Selphie chick? I don't know where the hell her room is." Zell said.
"True, he might be with her. We might just have to tell the two of them tomorrow morning about their new room assignments. Unless, of course, they're already in Selphie's new room."
Zell couldn't help it as a smirk crossed his face. "I wonder just what those two are doing together. Kind of fun to think about, huh Squall?"
Squall sighed and shook his head exasperatedly. "Get your mind out of the gutter. C'mon, let's go get some sleep. I'm exhausted."
"Roger that! See ya in the morning, Squall!"
"Yeah, yeah. See you in the morning." Squall replied before he and Zell made their way back to their new rooms so they could get some much needed rest.
The Next Morning
Squall was awakened by knocking on his door. This was quickly followed by Selphie's voice. "Squall, it's our first SeeD mission! Looks like we're going to Timber. Meet by the front gate. Hurry!"
The scarred teenager slowly rose to his feet and stretched to get out some of the kinks in his back and shoulders. Afterwards, he picked up the issue of Weapons Monthly April that was lying on his desk before leaving the room. He decided that he'd go review things on his terminal and see if there were any new announcements or anything of the sort.
After reaching his old classroom, Squall was a little surprised to see Naruto sitting at his study panel. Walking up to him, he offered Naruto a wave before taking his seat and turning on his panel. After browsing everything and seeing nothing different, he decided to check out the page dedicated to the Garden Festival Committee.
Clicking on the top entry, appropriately named Garden Festival Committee, Squall read what it had to say.
Hi! My name's Selphie Tilmitt! I just transferred here from Trabia Garden. I was on the Garden Festival Committee there, so I'm excited to join… But...there's no one on the committee here. So, I guess that makes me the chair! As the Garden Festival chair, I plan to make full use of this page.
So, here we go! Who wants to be on the Garden Festival Committee!? C'mon everyone, join!
Let's all work together to make the Garden Festival a success! (Personally, I want to have a concert! What do you all think?)
Clicking on the next tab without a word, My Friends, he decided to see what she had to say on this topic.
I've come up with a new bulletin board! But I don't know what it'll be about. I was thinkin' something along the lines of friends, but I don't really have any friends at this Garden, yet. This is a great chance for me to make friends! And then we'll work together to make the Garden Festival a reality!
"Heh, she must have written all of this before she met us." Squall muttered to himself before looking towards Naruto, seeing that he was browsing the same page as he was. Looking at the last entry, Squall felt a little guilty as he clicked on it. It was titled: "My Diary". Afterwards, he clicked on 'Previous diary' to see what she had written before.
[Passing the SeeD Exam]
I passed the SeeD exam! Whoo-hoo! Just wanted to let you know! The field exam took place in Dollet. I was a member of Squad A, the intelligence team. I thought to myself, this will be easy, but then, I was asked to deliver a message. Now that was a nightmare! (Oh well, it's part of my duties.) Anyway…! Squad B, which was supposed to secure the Central Square, was nowhere to be found! So I ran and ran! I had to deliver this message 'cause I didn't want points deducted. Well, I ended up finding squad B but somewhere completely different. And the squad leader was going berserk! What was going through his head!? But anyway, I remained calm and delivered the message. I think that is what got me the points…
Anyway, I'm really excited to be a SeeD.
Oh yeah… That squad leader actually congratulated us. Seems like a nice guy. He's famous at this academy, right? Maybe if he joins the Garden Festival Committee, he could do the recruiting?
Well, good luck with the next field exam, Seifer!
[My First Day]
Booyaka! (It's a lingo I wanna spread.) Anyway, I've started my own diary! I can't believe I'm doing this! Selphie's Public Diary. That's a good title, right? But I've never kept a diary before...I wonder how long it'll last? Well, I hope you find it interesting. Enjoy.
I'm from Trabia. It's a really nice place. If you ever get the chance, you should visit it someday. I'm here because I want to be a SeeD!
You can take the written test in Trabia, but the field exam is here, and plus, once you become a SeeD, you'll be stationed here in Balamb. That's why I decided to transfer here.
I do have a strong attachment for Trabia, but before I knew it, I was writing my application for a transfer. And what do you know!
My field exam is today! AHHHHHHH! But I'm gonna go out and do my best! Wish me luck!
Having read those two entries, Squall couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself. Then he clicked on 'My Diary' again and proceeded to open up the latest entry.
[My First Mission]
Booyaka! (No one's using it!)
I've been assigned my first mission. I'm not sure where we're to be sent. Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. But once the mission's done, we're free to talk all we want, so just wait, ok? (I hope someone's reading this…)
Well, wish me luck! I'll be back soon!
Worry #1
Side effects of GF
I've been studying up on the GF 'cause I know I'll be using more of it now that I'm a SeeD. Am I going to lose my memories?
Worry #2
My other party members.
I hope they're nice people.
Worry #3
The Garden Festival will be on hold.
C'mon, we're still looking for members!
Having finished with her diary, Squall logged out and leaned back in his chair before turning to Naruto. "Well, what do you think, Naruto?"
The whiskered teen looked at his friend and shrugged. "Personally? I hope she updates this soon and lists us as her friends. And if she wants that lingo to catch on, she's gonna have to try some new tactics. It's obvious that we're probably the only ones reading the stuff on her page, so we might as well try to help her out in any way that we can."
"If you say so. I'd rather not get involved, but I already agreed to help. So, I'll do what I can. Anyways…" Looking into his friend's eyes, he frowned slightly, "You already know about last night's events, right?"
Naruto sighed and nodded his head slowly in the affirmative. "Selphie eavesdropped on your conversation with Quistis after you left last night. It sounds to me like Quistis-chan...really likes you, Squall. Can't say I really blame her. You're a good guy, and you've got that whole 'cool, silent type' thing going on, so...yeaaah." Sighing again, Naruto leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "She's never seen me in the same light that I've seen her. I doubt she'll ever be interested in me like that. But...I understand. If it wasn't meant to be...then it wasn't meant to be."
"I'm...sorry, Naruto. I wish I knew what to say that might help you through this, but I really don't know what I could possibly say to make things right."
"Not your fault, Squall. Now, you've heard already that we've got a mission, right? Well, let's get going. Well, I say that, but I do plan to take a moment to play Cid in a game of Triple Triad. I heard he's got a really rare card, so I plan to win it off of him."
"Heh, you're absolutely crazy about that game, Naruto. Maybe I should challenge him too, see if I can win it before you do." Squall teased before he and Naruto made their way out of the room and back down to the first floor.
The two of them journeyed past the small gates nearby and proceeded into the next area, where they met up with Selphie, who was now in her regular attire, a yellow battle dress of some sort and a pair of brown boots. Headmaster Cid was also there along with one of the Garden Faculty members.
The Faculty member frowned and looked at his watch after a while before saying, "...One more minute…"
It was at this point that Zell came riding up on his T-Board and exclaimed, "Made it!" He was also wearing his regular attire, which consisted of a red and black biker's jacket and blue jean shorts.
"T-Boards are prohibited within Garden. Have you forgotten?" the Faculty member said irritably.
"Oops, sorry!" Zell exclaimed somewhat ashamedly. It was obvious that he had forgotten that little tidbit of information. "But this is really cool. It may come in handy on a SeeD mission, someday."
"We'll be the judges of that." and with that, the Faculty member stepped forward and snatched the T-Board away from Zell. "Confiscate it."
A second Faculty member walked up and took the T-Board before leaving with it, leaving Zell looking on in a mixture of shock and horror. His precious T-Board!
"All of you are members of SeeD, but… Nevertheless, you're still students at this Garden. Furthermore, because you are SeeDs, you must set an example to all others and abide by the Garden's rules. Understood!?"
Zell looked absolutely furious as the Faculty member walked away to stand behind Cid. However, before he could say or do anything, the Headmaster began to speak. "Well, about your first mission… You are to go to Timber. There, you will be supporting a resistance faction. That is your mission. A member of the faction will contact you at Timber Station."
The Faculty member chose this moment to speak up. "This person will talk to you and say, 'The forests of Timber sure have changed'. At this time, you must reply, 'But the owls are still around'. That is the password."
"Just follow the faction's orders." Cid said.
Zell looked around for a moment before saying, "Uh… Just us 4?"
The Faculty member said, "Correct. We have agreed to do this mission for very little money. Normally, we would never accept such requests, but…"
"Enough talk about that." Cid interrupted. "Well then, Squall, you are the squad leader. Use your best judgement based on the situation. If you need help, Naruto will be your second-in-command. Understood?" Seeing Squall nod, Cid looked at Zell and Selphie. "Zell and Selphie, you are to support Squall and give your all to carry out the faction's plans." And with that, he was done, leaving the four of them to converse about their new mission.
After a few moments though, Squall turned to Cid as he coughed to get their attention. "Oh, and Squall, I forgot to give you this. It's a cursed item, but if one with enough power uses it, it should be of great help." And with that, he handed over the Magical Lamp item.
"A cursed item huh?" Naruto questioned as he peered at the lamp over his friend's shoulder. "Huh, it does look kinda spooky. C'mon, let's go see if there's any info on the thing in the library, shall we? Or find a safe place to use the thing and see what happens. Either/or, I'm all for it."
Zell looked at his friend like he was nuts. "Seriously? A cursed lamp and you want to use it?!"
"Yeah, why not? Like the Headmaster said, it might prove pretty useful. And, if what I'm sensing from it is correct, it most likely will prove useful. Provided we don't get ourselves killed in the process…"
Selphie giggled a bit and nodded her head in agreement. "Who knows? It could be fun! I say we go for option #2 and use it someplace away from people. Like the training center! Or our dorm rooms...somewhere where we don't run the risk of other people getting caught up in the crazy."
"See? Selphie-chan's on board with the idea! Let's have some fun with this baby! Oh! First though, I want to win that card from the Headmaster. Hey, Headmast-" Naruto said, turning around to challenge Cid, only to find that both the Headmaster and the Faculty member had already left. Grumbling a bit, he looked at his friends and said, "Can we stop at the Headmaster's office first so I can win that rare card of his?"
Zell chuckled a bit before turning to Squall, as he was the squad leader. "What do you say squad leader? Willing to go along with him while he whoops the Headmaster's butt in a game of cards?"
The scarred teen sighed and nodded his head slowly. "Sure. Let's go and get you that card, Naruto. If you don't win it though, I'm going to. I hope you know that."
"Oh, it's on, Squall! I'll win that card! Just wait and see."
Headmaster's Office
"Now that's just not fair. He didn't even use it in the game against me. Then he uses it against you and you beat him fair and square. Damn. 'Grats Squall. You win this time." Naruto said.
"Heh, thanks Naruto. Though I'm not too happy about who's portrayed on the card. Seifer." Sighing, Squall slipped the card away with his deck before the four of them bid the Headmaster goodbye and returned to the first floor. Once down there, they ventured to the training center and went to the 'secret area' where they were sure to be alone at this time of the day.
Upon arriving, they looked at the Magical Lamp sitting in Squall's hands. Looking around at his party, Squall asked, "You guys ready?" When they each nodded in affirmation, he looked back at the cursed item before holding it aloft. When he did, they were sucked into a world of darkness where they came face to face with a GF, the being known as Diablos.
"Well...shit. Wasn't expecting that." Zell said as he prepared for a fight.
"Well, this should be interesting. Let's beat him and earn his cooperation guys!" Naruto exclaimed with a wild grin on his face. "This'll be fun."
"Who dares disturb my slumber?" the large GF questioned irritably. Shortly after that, it eyed its 'visitors' with a critical eye. Before anyone could so much as speak a word, it casted a Demi spell on Naruto, causing him to groan as the spell drained him of his health. Shortly afterwards though, Naruto felt himself recovering and chuckled a bit.
"Sorry buddy, but spells like that just won't cut it. Sometimes the natural healing factor can be a bitch, but not this time. Now let's do this!" Naruto exclaimed as he quickly thought over their options. He knew that if his friends were hit by such a spell, they'd be in real trouble. On top of that, despite his boasts, the spell would hurt, even if he'd simply heal from the trauma almost instantly afterwards. He'd rather not have to deal with anything more powerful than what he had just experienced.
That's when it hit him. "Guys! I'm pretty sure we can Draw the Demi spell from him and use it against him! I'm not sure how much damage it'll do, but if we cast it enough times, it should help tremendously."
Squall and the others nodded their heads in understanding before they turned to Diablos again and began to do as Naruto had suggested. Sadly, Selphie and Zell had a bit of trouble Drawing the magic out to be used against the GF, but Naruto and Squall more than made up for their troubles. It helped that they could also Draw the Cure spell from the mighty GF.
Things got really bad when Diablos got low on health. The bastard began to cast the mighty Gravija spell on the entire party, causing them to collapse to their knees in agony as they were drained tremendously by the blasted spell. However, this also had the side effect of enabling them to use their Limit Breaks.
Selphie quickly used her Slots Limit Break to cast Full-Cure on the entire party, while Squall and Zell used Renzokuken and Duel respectively. Naruto, meanwhile, decided to unleash a Limit Break of his own, even as he was naturally recovering from the attack. "Kyuubi's Barrage!" he exclaimed before using the Kyuubi's chakra to coat the bullets in his handguns. Afterwards, he pointed them directly at his opponent and unloaded the entire clip into him from both of his guns.
As Diablos howled in agony from the combined attacks, and the Kyuubi's chakra dealing even more damage over time, Squall and Naruto proceeded to cast Demi on him a few more times until Squall shouted out, "Alright, we've done all we can with the Demi spell! Either summon your GFs or go all out with your attacks!"
Naruto and the other two nodded before Selphie began the process of summoning Siren. Naruto and Zell, on the other hand, began to lash out at Diablos with physical attacks. Naruto switched to his sword and began to hack away at the mighty GF until finally Diablos fell to their attacks.
"I'm too weak… Slept too long…" Diablos muttered before feeling pain flare up in his face. Looking at the cause of said pain, Diablos narrowed his eyes on the whiskered blonde.
Before he could say anything, however, Naruto spoke up. "Don't go making excuses Diablos. You lost to us fair and square. Now, are you going to aid us in our journey or are you going to sit there and be a sore loser?"
Diablos narrowed his eyes at the impudent brat, but eventually released a frustrated sigh. "Fine. You four won this battle, so I'll go with you on your journey. Summon me when you need my assistance. Now begone from this place." he said before, with a wave of his hand, Squall and the others disappeared from sight, back to where they had come from. "Damned brat. He'd make an interesting partner though."
Balamb Garden - Squall & Co.
Once they were back in the 'secret area' of the training ground, they collapsed on their butts or their knees and breathed heavily for a short while. "Damn that was tough. He hit so hard with those physical attacks of his. Not to mention that damn Gravija spell he used!" Selphie exclaimed as she looked herself over to make sure everything was still in one piece.
"Tell me about it." Zell agreed. "I never want to fight that guy again!"
"Despite my natural healing factor...yeah, I'd have to agree. That fight was a real bitch." Naruto said as he ran a hand through his spiky, blonde hair. "We should probably return to our rooms to rest for a while. We need to recover after such a hard fight."
"Agreed. We'll get some rest and then set out for Balamb so we can take the train to Timber. Now let's get out of here. Hopefully we don't encounter anything on the way out of the training center." Squall said as he rose to his feet.
Sure enough, however, as they were making their way out of the training center, they bumped into a couple of Grats enemies. As weakened as they were by the battle against Diablos, they made the decision to simply escape and live to fight another day.
After making their way to their rooms, Naruto bid his friends goodbye and told them to sleep well before he made his way towards his room. However, as he reached his room, he paused and glanced slightly over his shoulder. "Yes, Selphie-chan? What can I help you with?"
Selphie fidgeted a bit and shuffled her feet slightly as she found the floor very interesting at that point. "Uh, um...I was kinda, sorta...maybe hoping I could cuddle with you again? Like last night…"
Naruto sighed, but smiled softly at her. "Alright. If that's what you want, then come on in. Don't get too used to this, however."
"Might be hard not to. You're really warm and cuddly!" Selphie exclaimed before she followed Naruto into his room to get some sleep with him.
As Naruto went into his room, Squall couldn't help but chuckle a bit, having seen the entire scene play out from his room. "Heh, so that's where he was last night. She really is good for you, Naruto."
Later that Afternoon
Now that they were fully rested and had recovered from their great battle earlier, the party of four were ready to make their way to Balamb. However, Naruto paused after a moment and looked at his friends. "Hey, guys? What do you think about taking some tests to raise our SeeD ranks a bit? I know I'd like to improve my rank and earn more spending money than what I'm earning now."
Zell stopped as well and looked around at the others. "I'm all for it. What do you say Squall? You're the squad leader, so in the end it's your call."
Squall paused and rubbed his chin in thought. After a short while, he said, "We might as well. It can't hurt to raise our ranks a bit. We could definitely make use of the Gil we'd be earning."
Selphie cheered and rushed off for the elevator, planning to head up to the classroom so she could take a few tests. Naruto and the other two guys joined her before she could take off without them.
Once in the classroom, Naruto turned on his study panel and selected the option to take a test so he could hopefully raise his rank.
As it started, Naruto looked over the questions he was being asked.
Question 1 - Draw extracts magic from enemies.
Well that one's easy. Yes. Naruto thought to himself with a dismissive shrug.
Question 2 - GF stands for Garden Fighter.
Naruto chuckled at this one before selecting 'No'.
Question 3 - There are a total of 8 elemental attributes.
"Yep." Naruto said as he selected 'Yes'.
Question 4 - In battle, higher Strength causes more physical damage.
"Yep again. That one's pretty obvious." he muttered.
Question 5 - HP-J is a junction ability.
Another easy one. Yes.
Question 6 - You can't assign specific abilities for your GF to learn.
"Well that one's kinda stupid. The answer is No."
Question 7 - Magic consumes mana power (MP).
"Nope."
Question 8 - You can name your GF.
"Yep. Though I don't see why you'd name them something different than what they are already called. Then again, calling someone like Diablos 'Puppy Chow' would be kind of amusing." Naruto said with a chuckle.
Question 9 - You can wear protective gear.
While technically, you can, the answer to this one is a big, fat 'No'. There's no armor shops or anything of the kind that I've come across. Besides that, we already covered this. Pretty much, the way it goes here in this world is 'Offense makes the best defense.'
Question 10 - GF level up with Ability Points (AP).
Nope. Naruto thought to himself with a shrug.
You scored 100%. You passed the level 1 written test. Your SeeD rank will go up to 7.
"Woot! That's one test done. Might as well do another one real quick and raise it up one more time." Naruto said before starting up the next test.
Question 1 - You can raise your Vitality by junctioning magic.
"Yep-a-roonie." Naruto said with a chuckle.
Question 2 - Squall's weapon is the Gauntlet.
The blonde blinked before looking over at Squall. He considered saying something, but decided against it. He'd let his friend see the strange question for himself. Ah well, the answer is No.
Question 3 - You can Stock drawn magic.
Yes. On to the next one!
Question 4 - Any action taken while Poisoned causes damage. There is no damage if you take no action.
"As painful as that is to think about, the answer is Yes."
Question 5 - Being hit by a physical attack removes Confuse.
"Yep, as painful as that might be to experience."
Question 6 - Squall's Limit Break is Kenzokuken.
Another question about Squall? Who the heck wrote these tests?! Anyways, the answer is No.
Question 7 - To junction magic, you need a matching junction ability for the stat you want to junction.
"Yep."
Question 8 - There's Basic Parameters, Elemental, and Status Junctions.
"Again, that's a Yes."
Question 9 - The 8 elements are Fire, Ice, Thunder, Poison, Earth, Sorcery, Wind, and Holy.
"Ooh, so close. Sorcery isn't an element. Interesting choice, though."
Question 10 - There is a limit to how much magic you can draw from monsters.
"Trick question. While you can only Stock 100 of each spell, there really isn't a limit to how much you can Draw from them. The answer is No."
Seeing his rank raised up another level, Naruto saw that he would be earning 6000 Gil after set intervals. It was certainly better than what he was making before.
Shutting down his terminal, he looked at his friends to see they were all ready and waiting. Standing up, he joined them and grinned. "So, how'd you guys do?"
"We're all good. I decided to do three tests. Squall did one, and Selphie did one. How many did you do, Naruto?" Zell asked.
"I only did a couple. I can do more later if I'm really strapped for cash." Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Anyways, we should probably get going. We've got a train to catch!"
"Agreed. I'd rather not keep our client waiting any longer than is necessary." Squall said before he began to lead the party out of Balamb Garden and towards the city of Balamb.
Balamb Train Station
"The train to Timber is here." they heard a member of the Station Staff say as they approached the train station. "Please purchase a train ticket."
When the man told them the price that one ticket would cost them, Naruto felt like curling up into himself. "3000 Gil? That's nuts!"
Squall chuckled a bit before he paid the 3000 Gil in full for the train ticket to Timber. He was about to say something to Naruto before the Station Staff said, "Please go inside right away. The train to Timber will be leaving shortly."
"You heard the man. Let's go." Squall said before leading the way into the train station proper. Once inside, they boarded the train and waited for the train to depart.
Once they were on their way, Selphie peered out the window and giggled a bit before exclaiming, "This train is awesome!"
Naruto chuckled a bit and shook his head. "I don't have fond memories of trains. The last one I saw was when I was in a tunnel. I had to outrun the damn thing with a princess on my back. I tell you, that was not easy to do."
Zell chuckled a bit and said, "Damn man. You're faster than I thought if you were able to outrun a freaking train! Anyways, this is a transcontinental railroad, baby! It even runs through an underwater tunnel to get to Timber. Pretty cool, huh?" he asked as he looked to Squall.
Squall sighed and nodded his head slowly as he continued to relax and peer out the window. "Sure is…"
The tattooed blonde frowned and slumped over at hearing this. "Guess you're not interested."
Naruto chuckled a bit and patted Zell on the shoulder. "Nah, he is. He just doesn't show it all that well."
"If you're sure, then that's good enough for me." Zell said before turning to Squall once more. "By the way, Squall… You have to use the ticket to get inside."
Squall nodded once before walking over to the nearby machine and inserted the ticket. "Ok, we can go inside now."
The ID Check machine beeped once before saying, "Confirming… Access granted…"
Selphie quickly rushed over to Naruto and grabbed his left hand with both of hers. "Let's go check out the front! Thanks Squall!" she exclaimed before practically dragging Naruto with her through the door and through the next car.
Zell chuckled a bit before looking at Squall again. "Let's go check it out, Squall."
Squall shrugged his shoulders before following after his friend into the next car. Might as well. Got nothing else to do on this train.
As he made his way into the next car, Zell turned to him and exclaimed, "Yo, check it out! So this is SeeD's private cabin…!" Afterwards, he opened the nearby door and was about to step inside the room, only to suddenly shout, "WHOA! OHHH YEAHHH! AWESOME!"
Squall sighed and shook his head in exasperation before approaching Selphie and Naruto by the windows. Before he could say anything in greeting, he heard Selphie say, "I love trains."
Naruto chuckled a bit and leaned against the wall, staring out at the underwater tunnel they were coasting through. "They are pretty neat, I'll give you that. I'm still not all that comfortable with 'em though."
Selphie found herself giggling at this before she turned to Naruto, her hands behind her back as she tilted her head cutely. "You really have been through a lot, haven't you Naruto? I bet you've got all kinds of cool stories you could tell me. And...I hope you can come to love the kinds of things I do with enough time."
"Heh, I just might Selphie-chan." the blonde said with a small smile stretching across his face.
Selphie smiled happily before she turned back to face out the window. She began to hum for a moment before singing, "Train Train, Take Us Away. Take Us Away, Far Away. To the Future, We Will Go."
Naruto found himself chuckling a bit at this before he began to sing along with her, the two of them simply making up the lyrics as they went.
Squall smirked and shook his head in apparent disbelief before he turned and entered the room Zell had just gone into. Upon entering the cabin, he spotted Zell bouncing up and down on the cushioned seat. "Heh-heh...this is so cool!"
The brunette sighed and shook his head before approaching his oddball friend. "...I'm glad you're so excited."
Zell stopped his bouncing and looked into Squall's eyes. "They even have magazines here." And with that being said, he handed Squall [Pet Pals Vol. 1].
After Squall took a seat beside him, Zell continued saying, "This is pretty damn amazing. It pays to be a member of SeeD! Squall, y'know anything about Timber?"
Squall sighed and shook his head. "Not too much."
Zell grinned and leaned back. "Thought so. Well, let me fill you in. Timber used to be a country surrounded by deep forests. But 18 years ago, Galbadia invaded. Timber fell quite easily to Galbadia. So now Timber is under Galbadian occupation. It's said there's a whole bunch of resistance factions, big and small."
Squall frowned at this information and asked, "...And?"
"Nope, that's it." Zell said, not sounding at all ashamed of his lack of any further information.
"..." Squall remained silent, unable to formulate any kind of response to that. Eventually he settled on saying, "...Thank you, Mr. Know-It-All-Zell."
"Hey, no prob!" Zell exclaimed joyfully.
It was at this point that Selphie entered the cabin with Naruto supporting her. "I'm not...feeling well…"
"She was just fine a moment ago, then suddenly she looked like she was about to pass out. I'm not sure what's going on." Naruto explained, sounding very worried for his dear friend.
Squall stood up and looked into Selphie's eyes. "You should get some rest, Selphie. You don't look too good."
"I'm really sleepy…" Selphie mumbled out as she wobbled on her feet, barely managing to stay upright, thanks to Naruto.
"You ok?" Squall asked as he turned to look at her.
Before she or Naruto could respond, Zell suddenly shouted, "Hey! What the…!?" as he shot to his feet. "Something's wrong with me too. I feel...so sleepy…"
Squall looked between his three party members and frowned in confusion as Zell and Selphie had clearly just passed out. "What's going on?"
"I really don't know. I don't like this." Naruto said as he checked over his two close friends.
Before Squall could say anything in response, he suddenly shouted, "Ugh! ...What is this?" before he, too, collapsed to the floor, falling into blissful unconsciousness.
Looking around at his three friends, Naruto frowned in worry for them and shook his head. "This really isn't good. C'mon guys, please be ok!"
A/N - Aaaand that's the chapter. As you can see, a lot of things happened in this chapter. I know the fights probably weren't the best, but they're pretty simple bosses to deal with, despite the fact that Diablos hits your party hard as freaking hell at that point in the game.
Anyways, I do hope you enjoyed the chapter. Like I said before, it took me all damn night to finish this damn thing, and I only just finished it minutes ago. So I really hope you enjoyed it.
Anywho, I'm tired and I'm kinda sick of dealing with all the crap I've been dealing with lately, sooo...I'll just end this here. No idea what I'll get up next. Hopefully I can finish the chapter I WAS working on before I had to switch to this one.