BACK TO SCHOOL – THE PLOTTING BEGINS

In a Grassy Plane

Sakura watches as the wind blows through the planes and as the individual blades of grass react. She watches as the cascade of wind manifests visually around them. In this enormous open environment, it's the first time she has ever really seen the enormity of the wind, something that she could never have done on the same scale at home. Just a tiny gust and the entire environment shifts. While she is apprehensive and feels terror to her new surroundings, she admits that there is also beauty to be found here.

"I can't see anything but grass for miles around," she says to her partner. "Just where are we Sasuke?".

"We're obviously in a different dimension, but not like the ones from when we fought Kaguya," he recalls, "We're clearly somewhere very different. The people here us a power completely separate from chakra."

"A different kind of power?"

"If I hadn't stepped in back at the portal they would have killed you Sakura. You have to be careful where you step here. Otherwise you could die just like that."

"I understand."

Sasuke activates his rinnegan to look into the distance, taking in the enormity of the surroundings. Once he has done this, even he struggles not to gasp at its sheer size. With the power of the rinnegan, with sight amongst the greatest to have ever lived, he is only just able to see the transition from planes to a more mountainous environment in the distance.

'This plane is larger than any I have ever seen, it's larger than the land of fire.'

"Do you think we will ever see any of the others again?" Sakura asks, her head downcast. "Do you think we will ever see Naruto or Kakashi-sensei again?"

"I don't like to make promises that I can't keep."

Sakura lowers her head, overcome by the sadness of the situation.

"But," Sasuke laughs, "I don't think we will ever be able to get rid of Naruto, no matter how hard we may try. That idiot will be around here somewhere, and nothing is going to happen to us before we find him, understood?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then you had better ready yourself Sakura, because someone is coming!"

Sakura turns to look in the same direction as Sasuke and she sees what he is talking about. There is a small red dot on the horizon, but surely such a thing couldn't reach them any time soon. That fantasy only takes a second to evaporate, the red dot is growing larger at an incredible speed, and it's only a matter of three seconds before she can make out it's true humanoid shape.

ZOOM!

It rushes up to them. A man with his entire body wrapped in flames which dissipate the second he stops. As the flames disappear they reveal behind them a man with scarlet hair and eyes to match, such empty eyes. The man appears to have been on a journey of several weeks Sakura guesses from his stubble. His control over fire must be magnificent she judges from his completely unharmed body, a viewpoint that is reinforced as he brings a cigarette to his hand and ignites it with divine energy. A man in his 40s with a big black coat that comes up to his neck and a mole just beneath his left eye.

Sasuke immediately begins to memorise the details of this man's appearance, knowing that it may come in handy later.

The man takes a similar moment to observe the two strange individuals before him, inhaling the smoke from his cigarette as he notices certain commonalities between them. In particular, he memorises the common design on the head protector they both wear. Clearly they are both part of some military group.

"No divine energy, but there is something tangible in the background," the scarlet-haired man muses, "We're close to the military headquarters where all the portals are. The two of you must be pocket-worlders."

"Pocket worlders…" Sakura questions.

Sasuke is wittier in his reply. "Thanks for explaining a few things to me, so this power you use, it's called divine energy is it?"

"Yeah, it's deadly, let me show you youngsters."

The man ignites his hands, walking towards the two shinobi with a smirk on his face. Even from ten meters the incredible heat is unbearable. If it were two ordinary shinobi, they would never be able to withstand such incredible power at this range. Unfortunately for the would-be assailant, Sasuke and Sakura are far from ordinary shinobi.

Sakura leaps forward, putting herself between the attacker and Sasuke, punching him as hard as she can in the chest. A punch from one of the strongest shinobi to have ever lived, directly to the chest, a blow he had not time to avoid. Normally, this would put people down for the count, but unfortunately for Sakura, her opponent is no ordinary man either.

The scarlet-haired attacker staggers back just a single step as a result of her mighty punch. He claps his hands loudly together, sending a shockwave back with such power that it knocks Sakura from her feet.

'What incredible strength,' Sakura realises, 'It's far greater than my own.'

Sakura quickly gets back to her feet, raising her hands for the fight in front of her. However, she has not yet grown used to fighting alongside this man. This is not the Sasuke she has known through most of her life, this is the Sasuke that has been changed by Uzumaki Naruto, a Sasuke who truly wants to be a member of team 7.

"It's fine Sakura, let me handle this," he says reassuringly as he walks towards their attacker. "Hey, have you seen anyone wit h similar powers to us, tell me, have you seen any other 'pocket-worlders' as you call us."

The attacker punches his hand into Sasuke's stomach with a grin. "You don't get to talk down to the people of this world, pocket-worlders. Know your place, we are your superiors."

"I don't think you understood me," Sasuke declares as the tomoe of his eyes begin to spin.

The attacker looks at his own hands in disbelief as Sasuke disappears from in front of him. He knows straight away where Sasuke has gone, he can feel it in the air, through the changing of the ambient temperature. The pocket-worlder had gotten behind him in an instant.

'Genjutsu still seems to work on these guys,' Sasuke notes.

The attacker turns around to look at Sasuke.

"I asked you a question, have you seen any other pocket-worlders?"

The attacker laughs loudly, throwing his head back as if shouting jubilantly towards the heavens. "I like you kid, and I sense the imperial guard are approaching anyways. As a reward for showing me something new, I will let you live today. I hope that you can escape from the guard though, otherwise you will die anyway."

With that, the attacker dashes away, escaping just as quickly as he had arrived.

"That was amazing Sasuke, you actually managed to…" Sakura begins.

She is interrupted as Sasuke collapses to his knees. She gasps as she sees the blood pouring from his torso.

"Sasuke…" she runs to his side.

"Quickly, heal me," Sasuke demands, "We haven't got any time to wait around, we need to get away from hear now."

Sakura begins to heal Sasuke. "I thought you had avoided him, I thought his strike missed thanks to your genjutsu?"

"No, he got me, I just managed to get behind him unnoticed with genjutsu," Sasuke explains. "He thought he missed because I used genjutsu to hide the injuries as well."

"So he did this much damage with one hit?"

"Sakura, I meant what I said about their power," Sasuke groans, "That guy was far stronger than you and I."

Beneath the Military Academy

Lara enshrouds her fists and feet in 'light' energy, striking out at Clyde with incredible speed and power. With equal speed and power, Clyde uses 'dark' energy to block each strike. For the few people powerful enough to come close and watch, it appears that their strikes are thrown randomly as fast as the two generals can go. To those powerful enough both to watch and to see, they observe that this is not the case, and that both warriors have magnificent control of their attacks.

The two generals who have forever been the antithesis of one another develop a methodical yet rapid motion. Each strike resonates through the underground area they find themselves in, sending shockwaves powerful enough to shake the bones of the other special students training down here with them.

"Yes, that's right, keep striking at each other, keep wondering what will happen with each elemental clash," Sora instructs them as he watches from nearby, "Question everything that is happening. Your elements are polar opposites, this makes you the perfect training partners for one another."

As the minutes pass, one of them finally begins to gain the upper hand, it's Clyde. The 'darkness' using general begins to outmanoeuvre Lara more and more with every passing exchange. He gets faster and faster until he completely outclasses Lara.

"Don't look down on me Clyde!" Lara bellows as she continues to lash out at him.

Clyde is unperturbed, switching to a blocking style that depends only on one hand. For years he has looked towards Lara with fear and reverence and known that her power is mightier than his own. Now for the first time in his life he can do more than just think that he can beat her, he can look at her and know that his own power is greater. He continues to block with one hand before eventually managing to slip a jab through Lara's guard with the other, sending her stepping back a whole ten paces.

"What's happened to you?" Lara snarls before realising.

Clyde's energy begins to transform, externalising into a cloak around his body before increasing in purity and intensity. The sheer amount of energy increases dramatically in a four second period and only stops after another ten.

"Clyde you…"

"He's managed to understand a little more of his training manual," Sora smiles, "Isn't that right, Clyde?"

"… yeah…"

"Then congratulations, you've just made the most significant breakthrough down here," Sora explains. "For the first time since you visited his pocket world, you can say that you are just as strong as Naruto."

Clyde looks down into his own hand, bringing a tiny bit of 'darkness' energy to it. Certainly, the intensity of the energy is now on par with Uzumaki Naruto's, that's a good thing. Next he looks into his own soul and asks himself the question, 'can I defeat Uzumaki Naruto?'. The answer that comes back, 'of course I can't.'

"No, I'm not as strong as him," Clyde admits, "There is still a certain strength of mind, of the soul, that separates the two of us."

Sora looks at Clyde in admiration, seeing himself from many years before. He two once broke through to the same level as a man he greatly admired, to the same level as his brother-in-law Endou Akashi. Back then Sora knew that he would never be the stronger of the two, that Akashi had a power deep within him that nobody could hope to replicate. Once one understood that power, one knew the sort of person that they were facing.

"Dammit, why am I helping with this training anyway, I've reached my maximum potential right now," Lara curses, "I've already got a golden 'light' cloak. I've already mastered my divine ability. I can't get any stronger until I study a training manual as well."

"Give us time Lara, when we have a training manual we will give it to you," Sora insists, "But right now all you can do is improve your technique and help the others to train."

"Pah," Lara spits, "well if there is one thing I'm not going to it's to waste my time on making Clyde stronger."

Lara walks off like a child having a tantrum. Sora shakes his head as he watches one of his most promising students walk away from the fight. She's always so competitive and while others may think she is just antagonising them, there is a reason Lara is so strong. Her personality makes everyone else better, whether they are trying to protect others from her temper, whether they are trying to live up to her expectations or whether they are trying to be stronger than her, Lara is their measuring stick. Lara is a leader unlike Clyde, one who doesn't inspire through words but drives through emotion.

"Hey Mirai!" Lara shouts to her shinobi friend. "I wouldn't trust these fools if I were you, what sort of training do they have you doing anyway? It's probably not even meant to make you stronger is it, it's probably for another one of these idiots."

Clyde holds his head in his hand. "I'm sorry Headmaster Sora, Lara has always had a short fuse, that's just her nature."

"You don't need to apologise to me young man," Sora says patting him on the back. "Still, I never realised that she liked you so much Clyde, her body language is so transparent."

"I think you may have misread it sir."

"Oh no, she trusts you, perhaps more than anyone else. If you ask me, I think that she has come to depend on you as the only constant in her life."

"It's Mirai she has come to depend on, not me," Clyde explains. "I don't know how she did it. That pocket-worlder has managed to make a connection with Lara in days that most of us couldn't in years. She has something that can't be taught that one."

"I think you do as well, General Clyde."

Clyde looks at Sora, that wasn't his voice. He looks around, to his left and sees that someone else is approaching.

The newcomer has kind brown eyes and olive skin, a youth in his early twenties, a similar age to Naruto. Clyde can tell from the confidence this man holds himself in that he must be facing someone extraordinary. The plain white shirt the young man wears shows that he is not part of any official institution. His dark black hair travels from just above his eyes all the way down to the bottom of his neck with a few strands dangling between his eyes over the top of his nose.

"Thank you," Clyde says after a few seconds, "I don't believe that we have met."

"Clyde," Sora begins, "You will know that I have decided to keep a close eye on Naruto's training, giving him status as my own direct student. But Naruto isn't the first such person, this young man is Ming Dai, my first direct student."

"Greetings Dai," Clyde says politely, his tone lighter than previously, "I never realised that the headmaster had a direct student before."

"Yes, I'm afraid this was concealed deliberately, but now that you are ready to fight against Furst, it's a bit safer to reveal my identity," Ming Dai explains, "I often overheard teachers and students talk of your exploits in pocket worlds. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, General Clyde."

To the North of the Military Academy

Nadia and Swen stand around in the area to the North of the Military Academy. On the edge of a cliff face with an almost hundred meter drop beneath them. Growing impatient, the young-looking Swen lowers himself onto his stomach and hovers his head over the chasm below.

"Get up Swen, or you'll fall over the edge," Nadia sighs.

"I'm a royal, I'm not going to be hurt by that sort of fall, yep."

"Oh good," Nadia grins before nudging him forward with her foot.

Swen catches hold of the edge just as he is about to fall down into the chasm. He glares at Nadia as he looks back up, only to see the Queen smiling gleefully. As he pulls himself up the two of them argue over the quality of her humour, bickering like a pair of children. This is how the two of them have been for years, this is their life now. The ultimate royal team, perhaps Furst Jonas greatest weapon against any potential rebellion.

"You are certain the two of them are supposed to be going this way Swen?"

"That's what the woman seemed to think, yep."

"You didn't get the female's name?"

"No, she was very keen to conceal it, she didn't even reveal it to the bar's owner when she made her reservation."

Nadia shakes her head as she takes out her notebook and writes down what Swen just told her. Naturally she couldn't have known exactly who was going to be staying where but she had a rough idea of the right sort of bars to ask questions in. The fact that someone wanted to keep their name hidden is a large part of what lead them here onto this path. All in line with her expectations, another successful prediction.

Nadia snaps her book closed and tucks it away. "It looks like you were right."

A pair of aristocrats begin to run past them, kicking dust up from beneath the grass in the moorland environment. They go the other side of the chasm, two of them, one male and one female, exactly as the bar owner had described. Nadia is pleased to see that one of them is indeed a familiar face. She and Swen, the two royals, dash around the chasm, putting themselves in the path of the two rushing aristocrats, bringing them to a halt.

"Juan!" Nadia shouts gleefully, "It's so good to see you again, don't tell me you were just going to run past the capital without dropping in to see your favourite queen?"

"Yeah," the man replies, his voice gravelly and deep, "I thought you wouldn't want me to waste your time my queen, I understand that you've been busy lately."

Nadia grins, "I've always liked you Juan, you always know the right things to say to keep things spicy."

"I do my best."

This aristocrat is called Juan, Swen believes that he has heard the name before but he is not sure where. He decides to ignore the question for now, entrusting the situation to Nadia and instead turning his attention to the woman they couldn't identify. She's wearing a hood to make things awkward, and any aristocrat strong enough to wish for anonymity would know who he was and when he was using his full power to read her mind. She raises her head slightly, just enough for her eyes to meet Swen's, then lowers her head once again. Swen doesn't recognise her. Her identity remains a mystery, meaning that Nadia is going to have to be the one to work it out.

Nadia approaches Juan and places a hand on his cheek. "Well, it appears that you are in a hurry my dear little aristocrat," she says before handing him a cyan coin, "Here, why don't you have another one on me, but you better come and see me at some point, yeah?"

Juan takes the cyan coin. "Your wish is my command Queen Nadia."

Juan and the other aristocrat continue on their path, running south towards the military academy as fast as they can.

"I didn't know that you liked him Nadia?" Swen asks.

"Did you read my mind, Swen?"

"Never, I just think your acting has gotten a bit worse over time, yep"

"He's always been quite helpful, it's easy to manipulate someone when they're always drunk," Nadia remarks, "He's definitely one of the easiest pawns on the board to use. Even when he's working for your enemy."

"So you don't mind paying for his drink?"

"Not at all."

"I see."

Swen questions if he is just another pawn in Nadia's game of world domination. He made a promise to her long ago but he always has to wonder what is going on in her mind. Nadia's schemes are fierce and brilliant, her planning so immaculate that even Emperor Furst respects her for it. He could always try to read her mind but no, that could spoil whatever friendship there is between the two of them. If there is one thing that Nadia's actions have proven to him over the years, it's that she is on his side, and she always has been.

"You had to use the weak mind-reading on the two of them," Nadia observes, "did you get anything while they were here, the woman's name perhaps?"

"No, she did a remarkable job of keeping her mind blank. I would have had to use my full power."

"Couldn't you get it from Juan's mind?"

"I think Juan's mind is always blank."

Nadia laughs, "You're getting cheeky Swen."

"That's me, yep, can we go back now, it's obvious that he didn't recognise your divine ability when he saw it."

"Yes, yes, OK, you're like a little kid at times. Fine, we can go back now."

A Short Way South

"That was a stroke of good luck then," Juan muses, "Neither of them recognised you."

"Good," his accomplice responds, "We could use a run of good luck about now."

In the Military Academy

Alongside his teacher, Ming Dai approaches Uzumaki Naruto. This is the first time they would ever meet, two people tied together by a unique identity. These are the only two direct students that the man once called Muto Sora would ever take on. Each of them has been chosen for a great purpose, for the eventual rebellion against an emperor harsher than any who have come before him.

"It's good to meet you Uzumaki Naruto" Ming Dai says, shaking his sibling disciple firmly by the hand. "You are my master's second direct student, I never thought that would happen."

"It's good to meet you too Ming Dai," Naruto replies after a quick explanation from Sora.

The two discuss their backgrounds for a few moments, getting to know each other and their opinions about the current situation. It quickly becomes clear that they are very like-minded, that they share common goals and desires. Naruto's allies watch on and notice certain features of Naruto reflected in this man Ming Dai.

Dai looks at Naruto in a different way though. Not with the jealousy that many would expect, not with envy or arrogance or defiance, but he looks at him and asks a question. 'Is this man really the one who can defeat Furst Jonas?'

After a few minutes, Ming Dai dares to be slightly rude and ask Naruto to prove himself.

"I hope you don't me being a bit rude Naruto, but there is something I've been meaning to ask you," he begins, "Could we have a quick fight?"

"You want to fight me?" Naruto asks, "That's fine I guess, but I don't need to hold back do I? I know there aren't many people I can fight with all-out."

"No, I have a rough understanding of your level," Ming Dai assures his sibling student, "You can come at me with your full power."

Ming Dai smiles, he's never had a sibling student before. This is the closest thing he's ever had to a friendship and it's only been a few seconds. Instantly he managed to get a sense of Naruto's personality, he's a straightforward and honest man, much like himself. This is going to be fun.

Dai activates his elemental cloak, which starts out as yellow before making a just noticeable switch to a golden elemental cloak. Whatever his element is, it becomes instantly clear that he understands it completely.

Naruto creates a rasengan, enhances it with 'life' energy and swings it towards Ming Dai.

In their little contest the two youngsters seemingly forgot all about the nearby people who could be hurt by the clashing of their power. Sora quickly reacts, taking everyone away from the danger zone before the two mighty foes can lay a hand on one another.

Dai manages to avoid Naruto's rasengan, fully realising that his opponent was just testing the waters with that first strike, something he will not be doing. Underestimating an opponent on this level means instant defeat, it's his job to prove that to Naruto. He fires a strike back, slapping Naruto in the chest and sending him flying backwards, passing between two soldiers sparring with each other at what they thought was a safe distance before tumbling back along the ground.

Naruto's family and friends all wonder if he is OK, and just how powerful Ming Dai might be if a single strike from him can have such a devastating effect on Naruto. Still, they knew that he would be powerful from the moment they first realised who he was, this is Sora's direct student. This is the student of a man who manhandled not only Naruto, but Sarada, Lara and Clyde as well.

Naruto picks himself up and dusts himself off as if he had simply fallen over rather than been sent flying. The 7th Hokage then proceeds to walk back towards his sibling student, pacing towards him methodically and calmly, leaving no openings in his posture as he closes the gap between the two of them.

'Just what is he doing?' Dai wonders, 'I expected him to recover quickly because of his 'life' energy but he is not putting me in his eyes at all. Doesn't he realise that I'm more experience than him at this level?'.

That is Dai's first and final mistake in this battle. He is now the one underestimating Naruto.

Naruto walks right up to Dai's face before throwing a right-handed punch towards him. Dai evades this just as expected, pivoting on his right leg, once again, just as expected. Naruto reaches down with his left hand, pulling Dai's leg out from underneath him. They may be equal in power, but as a shinobi Naruto's hand-to-hand technique is vastly superior.

Dai falls onto his back and before he can recover from the shock of the counterattack, he sees another 'life' enhanced rasengan coming down towards him. There is no way for him to react in time, he has lost this fight. However, to his surprise the rasengan travels just past his face, stopping just short of the ground beneath his shoulders and buzzing next to his ear.

Naruto has demonstrated his superior skill, so he missed on purpose.

'But he is so young, to outmanoeuvre me in such a way, to outperform me so dramatically is incredible,' Dai realises. 'This is amazing, master, you've finally found the man you've been looking for.'

Naruto offers a hand to his sibling student and helps him to his feet, and with their hands gripped firmly together Dai becomes confident that his previous question has been answered by this one exchange.

'This is the man to take down Furst Jonas!'.

Author Note:

Hi All,

This is the first chapter in Part 8 - Back to School.

I'm sorry for the delay but illness and business have kept me from being able to work on the story during the last few weeks.
Because of this I still haven't finished scripting part 8.
However, since it has been held back for so long now I'm going to try to write it and script it in parallel.

This will mean that until I have finished scripting the story the release rate will be slower than before.
I'll try and release at least one chapter a week until I have finished scripting part 8, then I will increase the release rate.

Thanks for your patience, I know these gaps between parts are always longer than intended. I will try and find a way to make them shorter in future.

Regards,
Cbehrills