A/N - Okay, just wanna say this. This is the longest chapter I've written in a while. lol. Feels nice to crank out a chapter like this one every now and again.

Anyways, this chapter is mostly kinda fillerish. Sorta. It's mainly Naruto getting settled in and meeting the various students and faculty of Thors Military Academy. No action or anything in this chapter, just lots of dialogue, meeting new people, learning about the academy, yada yada yada. Good stuff, right?! lol.

Anywho, I'm tired. Been up all night writing this chapter. I had fun with it. Hopefully you enjoy it.

Chapter 2 – Settling In

It was now April 17th. For the past few weeks since their orienteering exercise, Naruto had spent a good deal of time learning more about his fellow students, especially those in the red uniforms of Class VII. Each of them were interesting in their own, unique ways, after all. However, he spent more time with Fie than anyone else. After all, he still didn't know if he could trust the others with the truth. He liked them, but after all he had been through, it was only natural to have some trust issues.

Now, however, he was staring at himself in the mirror, adjusting his uniform to try and get it just right. He didn't really care about appearances though. What he wanted was to make the damn thing just a bit more comfortable to wear. It didn't help that the outfit didn't have any orange mixed in, which was something of a bummer for him.

Shrugging his shoulders after he got a bit more comfortable, he left his room, which was right across the hall from Rean's room. Humming a little tune to himself, he descended the nearby stairs and left the dorm. Fie still hasn't opened up to any of them either. Can't say I blame her though. We do have something of a questionable past, so it's hard to know who you can trust with something like that.

As he made his way to school, he passed by a fellow student by the name of Kenneth. As per the usual, he was fishing in the river, a content smile on his face. However, when he spotted Naruto, he waved him down and shouted his name. Shrugging, he descended the stairs to the small pier and asked, "What's up, Kenneth? Everything okay?"

Kenneth smiled at Naruto and said, "Everything's perfect, actually. Great weather, a smooth current, and the fish are biting like there's no tomorrow. I just wanted to share in the joys of fishing with a friend. So I got you a present. Why don't you pick it up and give it a try?"

Looking down at his feet, Naruto spotted a fishing pole. Lifting it into his hand, Naruto tested the weight a bit and smiled. "Thanks Kenneth. I really appreciate this. I think I will fish here for a while. I'm curious to see what I can catch here."

For a while, Naruto stood with Kenneth, fishing up Swordtail after Swordtail. Shrugging it off, he soon sealed the fishing pole away into a seal he had inscribed on his jacket. Afterwards, he patted Kenneth on the shoulder and bade him goodbye.

As he entered the school grounds, he glanced around at the various buildings, most of which he had already familiarized himself with. Off to the right side, he could see the library and the student union building fairly easily. Beyond that, he knew the Engineering Club building was right behind the student union building, and even further was the trail that led to the Old Schoolhouse. On the left, he saw the auditorium. Beyond that was the academy's field where they played lacrosse and enjoyed a bit of horseback riding. In front of him was the main school building. There were two floors with a number of classrooms on each. Also inside were a number of the club rooms, the janitor's room, the faculty room, etc. etc. Finally, behind the main building were the courtyard, the garden (with a pond just beyond it), and the gymnasium.

Staring up at the top of the main school building, Naruto spotted a rather strange cat watching him closely. Huh. Never seen that cat before. Something's a bit off about it, but I don't have time to dwell on that right now. Gotta get to class.

After entering the main building and making his way to the classroom, he spotted most of the others had beaten him to the classroom. Shrugging it off, he took his seat in the back and glanced around at his classmates. He couldn't help but wonder what clubs everyone would be participating in. So far, he hadn't found anything he was really interested in, but he knew he'd have to pick a club soon.

Shaking that thought off, he stared at Fie for a time and smiled happily at her. So far, they had been on a few dates in Trista. There weren't a lot of places to go, but they enjoyed their time together very much. Fie had been a bit embarrassed to be seen together in front of other people, but Naruto had assured her that nothing bad was going to happen to either of them if they chose to be affectionate out in public. I love you very much, Fie-chan. I swear to you, I'll never leave you. Not for anything.

Later

"As I'm sure you're all well aware, the Erebonian Empire was driven to the brink of collapse roughly 250 years ago." Instructor Thomas began his lecture. "This was brought about by the conflict we know as the 'War of the Lions'—a civil war lasting several years, staged over the throne of the late emperor by the most powerful of his potential successors. But of course, I'm not here to tell you that. If I were, I think even young children would be able to pass this course! Rather, I'd like to discuss the effects this had on the Empire as members of the aristocracy were drawn into the war."

"Many hired mercenaries turned to looting and pillaging, and sadly, a similar trend could even be seen among some of the knights. The land was left utterly devastated, and morale was at an all-time low. But then, lo and behold, into this nightmare stepped a man. A man that was willing to take a stand against this bloody war of succession. He was a wandering prince who began to rally forces from the outskirts of the Empire, and would go on to make quite a name for himself. And that name, of course, was Dreichels Reise Arnor."

Huh, so that name extends all the way back to Dreichels huh? I knew about Olivert Reise Arnor, Cedric Reise Arnor, and Alfin Reise Arnor. Should've guessed as much, I suppose. Y'know, I kinda like that name. It's fun. Naruto thought to himself with a quiet chuckle.

"He would later become known as 'Dreichels the Lionheart'—the 73rd Emperor of Erebonia, and Father of the Renaissance…" Thomas continued. "…not to mention the founder of this very academy. Dreichels' army was initially rather small in number. But as he traveled across the Empire, winning over the hearts of influential sympathizers, his forces rapidly increased. Now, the place where Emperor Dreichels first began gathering his army was…"

Taking a look around at each of the students, Thomas was at first tempted to call on Rean. However, chancing a glance at Naruto, he decided he would test the enigma a bit. "Naruto Uzumaki. Would you care to tell the class?"

Naruto blinked a couple of times as he tried to register the fact that he had just been called on to answer a question. Taking a moment to think it over, he soon had the answer. "It was the Nord Highlands, sir."

"Very good, Mr. Uzumaki!" Thomas exclaimed, clearly happy that Naruto had answered correctly. "Prince Dreichels' wanderings led him to the land of Nord, where he lived with the vagabonds for some time. It was there that he heard of the civil war taking place in Erebonia, and those vagabonds of Nord became his very first allies."

Woot! Got it right! Naruto thought to himself with a grin.

After School

"Nice work, everyone. You made it through another GRUELING day of classes!" Sara exclaimed as she smiled at her students. "In case you've been living under a rock, please don't forget that tomorrow is your first 'free day.' It's not teeechnically a day off, buuut there are no classes, so it's really up to you what to do with your time. Why, you could go shopping in the capital if you want to! Orrr just do what I do and sleep all day. Sleep is so wonderful!"

Naruto chuckled and said, "Y'know something Instructor? You are awesome! I swear, you remind me so much of…" Freezing as he realized he was about to speak about something in his past, he glanced away and scratched the tip of his nose. "Um, sorry. Forget I said anything."

The others looked at Naruto strangely, wondering what he was trying to hide. Deciding not to dwell on it, Emma looked at Sara and asked, "Um… Will the academy's facilities still be open for our use?"

"Yes, I'd like to be able to use the free study area in the library, myself." Machias said.

"Of course! This school shuts down for no one, so feel free to patronize any and all facilities as you like." Sara said, though she couldn't help but look at Naruto strangely for a time. What were you about to say, Naruto? Shaking it off, she turned back to the others and said, "A lot of clubs have meets scheduled for these free days as well, so anyone who's joined one should probably check on that."

"I see." Gaius said, clearly thinking about the club he was joining.

"I'll be certain to do so." Laura said. She had already decided on a club to join as well, it would seem.

"Also, before you leave, we should go over what's happening next week." Sara said. "On Wednesday, you all have your practical exam."

"A…practical exam…?" Rean wondered aloud. It was obvious that not one of them knew what the hell a practical exam entailed, and a few of them really didn't like the sound of it.

"What does that entail, exactly?" Alisa asked for not just herself, but the class as a whole.

"It's part of your combat training. You'll be graded on your performance, so make sure you're well rested and ready for battle by then! Might be a good idea to do some training on your own time, too, just to keep from getting rusty." Sara explained.

"Hmm. Interesting." Jusis said, more to himself than anyone else.

Elliot looked nervous as he said, "I…deeefinitely don't like the sound of that…"

Fie just yawned, not at all caring about the upcoming exam. Seeing this caused Naruto to chuckle a bit. Fie-chan, never change.

"Oh, and one more thing! After the practical exam is over, I've got another important announcement…about a major part of Class VII's curriculum that I…kinda sorta haven't mentioned at all yet."

"Wh-What?" Machias asked.

Naruto smirked as he wondered about the possibilities of this hidden part of their curriculum. Ooooh, this should be nifty! I like it already!

"So! Whatever you choose to do on your free day, make it count for something. That concludes today's homeroom. Machias, if you'll do the honors?" Sara said.

"Y-Yes, Instructor. All rise… Bow." Machias said to end the day of classes.

Afterwards, Sara left the room, as did a number of the other students of Class VII. Naruto watched as Fie left the room, but didn't chase after her. Instead, he chanced a glance at Rean and his friends, Elliot and Gaius. I wonder, what will you choose to do with your time?

"I'm a little worried about that practical exam next week." Elliot admitted. "I mean, I'm still just getting used to this staff…"

"I'd be happy to help you train if you need a sparring partner." Rean offered. "The gymnasium looks big enough that I'm sure we'd have no trouble finding a good spot for it."

"That's…very kind of you to offer. But I was planning on attending club practice today." Elliot said in response.

"Oh, you've joined a club already? Which one did you pick?" Rean asked.

"I, uh…decided to try for the band." Elliot said, sounding a tad embarrassed, though he really had no reason to be. "Though, I'm not sure how much use they'll have for a violinist."

"I didn't know you played the violin. Did you just pick it up for fun?" Rean asked.

Naruto shook his head and said, "No, it's more than that. You play more than just the violin, don't you Elliot? If I had to fathom a guess, I'd say you're quite the talented musician, though it's obvious you don't think too highly of yourself. You should have more confidence in yourself, Elliot. On and off the battlefield. Besides that, you're a valued member of Class VII. If nothing else, just know that I'll always have your back. Okay Elliot?"

Elliot blinked and asked, "How'd you know I play multiple instruments?"

The blonde shrugged and said, "Partly from how you talk about music, even if you didn't say much. Partly because I can see it in your posture and from your hands. You've practiced on the violin a lot, and I'm willing to bet you've learned to play a number of other instruments as well. However, there is something else. However, I think I'll have that remain a secret, for the time being at least."

Elliot pouted and said, "Well now you've got me curious. I wonder what you're hiding?"

Naruto chuckled and said, "Maybe I'll tell you all someday. How about you Gaius? What're you up to?"

"Yeah, Gaius. Have you joined any of the school's clubs?" Elliot asked.

"I'm considering joining the Art Club." Gaius said.

"Art, huh? Somehow, that's not what I pictured for you. No pun intended." Rean said.

"I dunno. From what little I know about Gaius here, I'd say he's got an artistic soul. Should be interesting to see what he decides to paint." Naruto said as he looked Gaius up and down for a moment. I bet you're quite the artist, aren't you Gaius?

"Do you have any artistic experience?" Elliot asked him.

"I dabbled in it back home. Taught myself, though, so I feel like this could be a good chance to learn proper technique." Gaius explained.

"Wow. That's pretty cool!" Elliot exclaimed excitedly.

"I'd love to see some of your work sometime." Rean said.

It was at this point that the classroom door swung open and Instructor Sara walked back inside. Approaching Rean's desk, she looked between him and Naruto. "Oh, good. You're still here!"

"Instructor?" Rean asked.

"Is there a problem?" Elliot questioned.

"No, no. I was just hoping someone could do a…teensy little favor for me? There's something I need picked up from the Student Council room." Sara explained.

"Something you need picked up?" Elliot asked.

"What would that be?" Gaius questioned.

"Heh. That's for me to know and you to find out! All I'll say is, it's something absolutely essential to your school life. And somebody needs to go get it! Though it doesn't matter who. Any volunteers?" Sara asked.

Rean and Naruto spoke up at the same time. "I'll go." Looking at each other, they chuckled. "Maybe the both of us should go?" Rean questioned.

Naruto shrugged before looking at Sara again. "If we show up at the Student Council room and tell them you sent us, they'll know why we're there, right?"

"Wait, are you sure you don't mind?" Elliot and Gaius questioned.

Rean shrugged and said, "You two have clubs to go to, right? I'm still totally undecided, so this shouldn't be a big deal at all. I can look in on a few clubs myself along the way, in fact!"

Naruto nodded in agreement. "He's right. We'll take a look around, pop in and check out some of the clubs, see what's what really. We'll either find a club that interests us, or we could do something like help out the student council if need be. Whatever works."

"Well, if you really don't mind…" Elliot said.

"Thank you. Both of you." Gaius said sincerely.

"The Student Council room is in the Student Union building next door, at the end of the hall on the second floor." Sara explained. "It's open until quite late, so there's no rush. Thank you, my dears! I leave EVERYTHING in your capable hands!"

Rean sweatdropped and said, "Uhh… O-Okay then…"

Naruto chuckled quietly to himself as he watched Sara walked back up to the podium and began to rifle around. Yep, you are definitely this world's version of Anko. I really need to talk with you alone sometime. I'm sure we'll get along great.

After Elliot and Gaius vacated the room, Naruto looked at Rean and said, "You know, you don't have to come with me if you'd rather check out some of the clubs? I don't really have any clubs in mind at the moment, myself. Like I said, I might just decide to help out the student council on my time off."

Rean shook his head and said, "I can't decide on one either. Let's take a look around and see what the clubs are like though, just to be safe. If we can't decide on anything, maybe we really should join the student council, huh?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "Whatever works. Come on Rean, let's go have some fun."

Rean chuckled to himself and left the room, waiting on Naruto to join him. Naruto, however, walked up to Sara and decided to speak to her. "Instructor Sara, what exactly are you still doing here? I figured you'd have left by now."

Sara sweatdropped as she looked into Naruto's eyes. "Don't tell anyone, but I actually left the student register in here and forgot all about it. Good thing I remembered, though, otherwise I would've had to sit through another of the vice principal's lectures."

Naruto chuckled and said, "Yeah, he seems like a real blowhard. I'm not exactly a fan of his."

Sara giggled a bit before she turned serious. "Naruto, who do I remind you of? You started saying something earlier, but you stopped yourself. Is it someone from your past that you don't want anyone to know about?"

Naruto sighed and shook his head. "You remind me of a woman named Anko Mitarashi. She was a lot like you, Instructor. I haven't seen her in a few years though. I don't even know if she's alive and well. She was a dear friend and I miss her. I try not to think about my old life, because it's just depressing. Still, I think you and Anko would have been really good friends. Trust me when I say you and Anko would pretty much be like looking in a mirror. You two look a lot alike, only with different hair colors, different styles, small stuff like that. I swear, sometimes when I look at you, I have to remind myself that you aren't Anko."

Sara frowned and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, you're going to need to talk to somebody about your past at some point. You can't keep it all bottled up forever. It's not healthy for you."

Naruto simply shrugged and said, "We'll see." before he turned and left the room, joining Rean in the hallway. When he asked if Naruto was ready to go, the blonde nodded and said, "Sure thing."

Once he was gone, Sara frowned and thought quietly to herself, Naruto…just what happened to you in your past? All I really know for certain is that you're not from Erebonia and you're powerful. Insanely so. Can't say I know much else.

Naruto

Rean and Naruto passed the other first year classrooms, which were somewhat ironically on the second floor, whereas the second year classrooms were on the first floor. After rounding the corner, they approached a blonde girl ahead of them by the name of Rosine. She turned and asked them, "Have you two decided on what club you want to join? I'm considering focusing my time on extracurricular activities during our free days, myself. Hopefully we can all make the most of our free day tomorrow."

Naruto blinked and said, "That's right. We don't have to join a club, do we? Extracurricular activities, huh? Sounds like that could be pretty fun. I'll have to think on that."

Rean chuckled softly and said, "Have to admit, taking the day off to relax and do something not related to schoolwork could be just what we need."

As they prepared to enter the room nearby, they spotted a rather fat noble girl standing outside a nearby room, her mouth practically watering at the delectable smell pouring forth from the room beyond. "Oh, my. What a delectable smell." She could be heard muttering to herself. "It seems to be coming from the Cooking Club. Perhaps I should follow my nose and grace them with my presence."

Sweatdropping, the duo decided to just leave her to it and entered the room behind them, which just so happened to belong to the Wind Orchestra. Off to the side they could see Elliot doing something, but they decided against disturbing him for the time being. Instead, they approached the duo standing at the front of the room and got the attention of the boy. "My name's Hibelle, and before you joke that my name 'rings a bell,' I'm head of the Wind Orchestra. The name's a bit misleading, though, since we focus on more than just percussion and wind instruments. If your interest lies in strings or something, we'd still be more than happy to have you. If you'd like to join, just stop by whenever you can."

"Huh, sounds like they're pretty varied in what they do. Sounds interesting. I'll have to think on it. I've never played an instrument before, but it would certainly be fun to learn how. We shall see." Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Rean looked at him and asked, "Are you sure you want to join the Wind Orchestra? You can only join one club, right? Unless you think you can somehow manage all of them?"

Naruto looked into Rean's eyes with a smirk. Holding up a single hand seal, he said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu." In an instant, a small army of clones popped into existence, crowding the room and freaking everyone out. Dispelling them little by little, he grinned at Rean and said, "Of course I could participate in all of them. I can be everywhere at once."

Rean and the others in the room blinked in shock at what they had just seen. Elliot hurried over to him and asked, "What the heck did you just do?! That's not like any art I've ever seen!"

The blonde simply chuckled and said, "Let's just say I'm not your average human being and leave it at that for now. Point stands that I can be wherever I want to be. And I think learning to play an instrument would be a lot of fun. Now, we'll leave you all alone. It's time to go and check out the Cooking Club."

Rean nodded dumbly and followed Naruto out of the room. "Those clones of yours, do you learn what they do, or are they just for show?"

The whiskered teen looked at Rean and said, "Whatever my clones learn, I learn the moment they dispel. So if one of them learns how to play a drum or the piano or something, I'll learn what they learn. It's a useful jutsu, wouldn't you agree?"

Rean nodded again and said, "Makes sense. Though now I'm just curious to know more about you. You won't tell me anything though, will you?"

"Right you are, Rean. Now come on, let's go see what the Cooking Club's all about, huh? Besides the obvious, of course." Naruto said as he walked past Margarita and opened the door.

Once inside, they spotted Instructor Mary towards the back of the room. Ignoring her for the time being, the duo approached Nicholas and struck up a conversation with him. "Hello, and welcome to the Cooking Club. Whether you want to learn the essentials of cooking or research new, exciting dishes, this is the club for you. You should definitely join if this whets your appetite."

"I'd love to join, but I'm afraid I don't really know how to cook anything. I can cook simple dishes, but nothing grand. Besides that…" Naruto said, glancing over his shoulder at the door.

Nicholas nodded and said, "I sense an unstoppable force lurking just outside the club room. Haha. Perhaps it's a new member just waiting to make their entrance."

"Yeaaah, you could say it like that, I suppose. Or you could call it what it is and say that there's a ravenous beast out there waiting to sink her claws into not just food, but suitable marriage candidates." Naruto said, shivering in horror at the imagery running through his mind.

Rean chuckled nervously and said, "It can't really be that bad…can it?"

Naruto looked into Rean's eyes with a deadpan stare. "You have NO idea. I once knew a guy that was so popular, his fangirls were like ravenous beasts hungry for his sperm. Yeah, you don't wanna think about it, trust me."

"I'll take your word for it. I could also do without the imagery." Rean said, sweatdropping afterwards.

Approaching Instructor Mary at this point, they decided to strike up a conversation with her. "Oh, hello there. You're Class VII students, are you not? My name is Mary. I'm the Cooking Club's adviser. Were you hoping to join?"

"I'm afraid not. We're just trying to familiarize ourselves with the campus." Rean said apologetically.

Mary giggled a bit and said, "That's fine. I happen to be the adviser for the Art Club and the Wind Orchestra, too. If you're interested in joining either of them, we'll be sure to welcome you with open arms."

"Cool. I'm considering joining the Wind Orchestra, and I'm interested in art as well, so we'll see." Naruto said, smiling at the kindhearted instructor.

Mary smiled at him before saying, "You know, it's only been two weeks since I started as an instructor here. Heehee! I suppose you could say I'm something of a first year myself. I hope that this year can be a learning experience for all of us. And of course, please don't hesitate to let me know if you wish to join any of the clubs I look over. If you're really interested in joining either the Wind Orchestra or the Art Club, I'd love to have you. Um, what was your name again?"

The whiskered teen smiled at her and said, "Naruto Uzumaki, ma'am. It's really nice to officially meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Mary said. "Remember, my door is always open."

"Thanks Instructor. Goodbye for now. We've got stuff we need to take care of." Naruto said before he turned and left the room with Rean.

This time, the duo walked down the hall a bit and entered the Art Club's clubroom. They immediately took notice of Gaius, who appeared to be painting something on his canvas. However, Naruto couldn't help it as he took notice of a rather beautiful pink-haired girl sitting near Gaius, painting something herself. Blushing slightly, he was actually a bit shy about approaching her. Seeing this, Rean frowned in confusion and asked, "Naruto? What's wrong? Don't tell me you're interested in her? Don't you have Fie?"

Naruto quickly shook his head to snap himself out of his daze. Looking into Rean's eyes, Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said, "Yeah, but it's something of an open relationship. Sort of. It's hard to explain. Maybe I'll explain it to you later. For now, let's introduce ourselves."

Rean frowned in confusion for a time before he eventually chose to shrug it off. Approaching the pink-haired girl, Rean said, "Hey."

The girl, whose name was Linde, looked between them for a moment before saying somewhat unsurely, "I wonder if joining this club was a mistake. Clara's supposed to be the head of the club, but she's so caught up in her own work, she won't teach us anything. Then there's Gaius, who seems…a little hard to approach. I shouldn't be so quick to judge, though. Maybe I just need to take the initiative and talk to them! That's perfect! I just need to get to know everyone…tomorrow, maybe."

Naruto chuckled softly and said, "Take your time. There's no rush. You have two years here to figure everything out and make friends with people, your fellow club members included. If it helps any, I think I'll join as well. I don't know a lot about art, but I'm always happy to learn. Maybe you could teach me something sometime, huh?"

Linde blushed a bit and said, "That sounds nice. You're a member of Class VII right? I'm Linde, a member of Class IV. It's nice to meet you."

"Naruto Uzumaki. It's very nice to meet you as well Linde. I hope we can become good friends." Naruto said, smiling at her.

"That sounds wonderful, Naruto." Linde replied.

Afterwards, Naruto and Rean walked to Gaius' side and looked at his canvas. It seemed that he was working on a landscape painting of some kind, though it was in its early stages and they couldn't quite tell what it was he was painting.

"Hmm… Creating art while I'm surrounded by art… Being able to paint in a place like this is an invaluable experience. Definitely not something I was able to enjoy back home." Gaius said to them.

Naruto smiled kindly at the tall teen and patted him gently on the shoulder. "You do you, big guy. I'm looking forward to seeing what you create here. I just hope I can draw or paint something half as decent." He said with a chuckle.

Afterwards, they walked over to the club leader, Clara. Before they could even say anything to her, she glanced at them and said, "I guess we have new members all of a sudden. Well, bully for them. I've got my own art to focus on."

Rean and Naruto both sweatdropped before Rean leaned over and whispered to Naruto, "Shouldn't a club head be a bit more friendly? Or at least kind of welcoming?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "Heck if I know. At least she's dedicated to her art. That's something, at the very least."

Rean shrugged as well, but didn't say anything more. Instead, he walked out of the room and waited for Naruto to join him.

As he made to leave the room, Naruto stopped and turned to Linde, waving at her with a smile on his face. Afterwards, without another word, he joined Rean outside and together they made their way to the rooftop to see if anyone was up there worth talking to.

Upon reaching the rooftop, they looked around and spotted Fie. Walking up to her, Rean asked, "What're you doing up here, Fie?"

Fie looked from Rean to Naruto and then back again. "The short answer? Being bored."

Rean sweatdropped and said, "That's not exactly what I meant. Are you planning on joining any clubs? How about we help you look ar—"

"Too much work." Fie said before yawning.

Rean sweatdropped again, but didn't say anything. Instead, Fie looked out over the railing and said, "Nice view up here. I might come here when I'm bored."

Naruto chuckled and stepped up beside his girlfriend. "I might just join you." He said with a grin. "Can't let my girlfriend be bored all the time, now can I?"

"Damn right." Fie said with a smirk aimed in his direction. "You go have fun. You're busy, right?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "Yeah. Rean and I are looking around, taking in the sights, and trying to see if any of the clubs interest us. Sara's also got us acting as little errand boys. We've got to go see the Student Council about picking up something or whatever."

"Then go. Don't keep them waiting forever." Fie said.

"Sure. Love you sweetie." Naruto said before kissing his girlfriend's lips. Afterwards, he and Rean descended the stairs down to the first floor of the main building. Glancing around, they ignored the receptionist and proceeded towards a noble and his maid. The noble seemed to be chatting up a short, green-haired girl. Upon getting a closer look at her, Naruto frowned for a moment and thought, She reminds me of Fu. Whoever this girl is, she's very pretty.

Upon noticing them, the girl, whose name was Mint, turned to them and said, "I-I was just trying to get to my club when this weirdo started harassing me… All I wanted was for someone to tell me where the music room is. Do you know?!"

Naruto frowned as he looked at Vincent, the noble. After a brief moment, he looked back into Mint's eyes and said, "I do. It's on the second floor on the eastern side of the building. If you go up the stairs right over there and take a left, it'll be the first room on your right. A buddy of ours is joining the Wind Orchestra as well. He's got orange hair and his name is Elliot. I'm sure that if you talk to him, you'll really enjoy his company. Okay?"

Mint smiled happily at him and hugged him tight. "Yay! Thank you so much! I still don't know my way around this academy. Um, I'm Mint by the way. Who are you?"

Gently hugging her back, he smiled and said, "Naruto Uzumaki. It's really nice to meet you Mint. Now run along. I'm just going to have a chat with this fellow. Hopefully we see each other around more often, Mint-chan." The green-haired girl nodded and thanked him again before running off in search of the music room.

The moment she ran off, the noble reached out a hand and shouted, "Wait! Come back!" When she disappeared up the stairs, he turned a fierce glare onto Naruto and said, "Look at what you did you low class buffoon!"

Naruto smiled sinisterly at him and said, "Y'know, girls don't appreciate a random guy walking up to them and harassing them. You might think you were just being nice, but your advances on her were creeping her out. Believe me though, I get it. A school full of beautiful women and you can't help but want to get to know them on a more personal level. That's why I'm not going to kick your ass. No, instead I'll make you this promise. Keep harassing girls like that and I'll prank you so bad you'll be afraid to talk to anyone ever again for fear of what might happen to you. Do you understand me?"

Vincent sweated nervously and nodded his head rapidly. "Clearly. I'll behave."

"Good." Naruto said with a kind smile on his face. "C'mon Rean, let's continue on our merry tour."

As Naruto walked off, Rean sweatdropped and thought, Note to self: NEVER piss off Naruto Uzumaki. And with that, he hurried off to catch up to his classmate.

Entering the janitor's room, they approached the man and listened as he said, "Heh, new students huh? Well, if you're ever in need of advice, just stop on by. I'll help you in any way I can. Even if you bust a window or three, you can let me know. I won't get after you too much!"

Rean chuckled and said, "All right. You'll be the first to know if I start endangering the school's glass."

The kind janitor, a man by the name of Gyler, chuckled a bit before saying, "Thors has a long history behind it, so you can be it's got a lot of rules. Wouldn't hurt you new students to give your student notebook a good once-over. If you know the rules, you're less likely to break 'em."

"Good advice. We'll be sure to memorize the school rules. I'd rather not get suspended or something." Naruto said before he and Rean left the room to venture to the other side of the building. This time, they went to the nurse's office where the school physician, an elderly woman by the name of Beatrix was currently working.

"Well, hello there. Welcome to the infirmary. You two seem quite a bit healthier than our average visitor. Hoho! Well, classes are over for the day, so feel free to relax here if you'd like." Beatrix said, smiling kindly at the two of them.

"Thank you for the offer." Rean said. "It might be nice to just come and relax once in a while. It seems peaceful in here."

Leaving the infirmary, they headed into the Faculty Lounge to see who might be in there to chat with. The first person they saw was Instructor Makarov, their Orbal & Natural Sciences teacher. "You're from Class VII, right?" Makarov asked. "Must be one weird class if stopping by the faculty lounge is how you spend your free time."

Rean chuckled and said, "We're just coming to grips with the academy's layout."

"Cool. Anyway, just do me a favor and try not to fail any of your tests. I really don't want to think of new stuff for retests, and if nobody fails, I won't have to." Makarov said with a dismissive shrug of the shoulders.

Naruto and Rean both sweatdropped at this. "You might not want to say that too loudly, considering your position…" Rean said.

Shrugging it off, Makarov looked between the two of them and asked, "You know Mint from Class III? She's my niece. She's a good kid, but wherever she goes, chaos follows…I should probably go make sure she hasn't set herself on fire." Then, as if he realized something, a look of dread washed over Makarov's face. "And she's gonna be here for two whole years…"

"Mint? That cute girl with green hair? She seems so sweet though." Naruto said, sounding a bit puzzled. Seeing Makarov nod, Naruto chuckled somewhat nervously and said, "Well, this should be an interesting two years at least. Right?"

Makarov simply looked horrified at the prospects, so the duo left him to himself and proceeded to go and speak to Instructor Thomas, the only other occupant in the room. Seeing the two of them, Thomas exclaimed, "If it isn't Rean Schwarzer and Naruto Uzumaki! What brings you two here? Oh, don't tell me—you wanted to learn more about the War of the Lions! Well, that's just fine by me! Allow me to be your guide through the hectic history of the Middle Ages. As luck would have it, I just so happen to have five or so hours to spare today. That should be enough for a cursory primer."

"Th-Thank you for the offer, but we wouldn't want to bother you…" Rean said nervously as he began to back away.

"Oh, what a shame… Now I really want to tell SOMEONE about the War of the Lions. I suppose my authentic Eastern haniwa statue will have to do…" Thomas said, sounding rather disappointed. Deciding to leave him to it, Rean and Naruto left the faculty lounge and proceeded to go next door to the principal's office. However, along the way, they ran into Vice Principal Heinrich, who Naruto was NOT fond of at all.

"You there! Hmph. You're members of Class VII, are you not? Listen here! Contrary to the tainted image your instructor has provided you, this is a highly distinguished academy. You can see this exemplified by our upper class students, whose noble behavior you would do well to learn by! Take heed of their every action and mannerism. Do you see THEM running in the corridors? No, you do NOT. Understood?" Henrich lectured.

Rean wisely chose to remain quiet, but Naruto glared into the man's eyes and said, "Not all nobles are as perfect as you make them sound Vice Principal. And Sara's a great instructor. I like her and I'm glad she's our instructor. But enough about that. We've been asked to meet with the Student Council, so we'll just be on our way now. Goodbye."

Heinrich didn't like Naruto's attitude or what he insinuated about him, but he decided against doing anything to punish the teenager. Instead he simply huffed and continued his patrol of the school's corridors.

Once they had left the main academy building, Naruto grumbled irritably to himself and said, "I cannot stand that windbag. He's like the king of all douchebags! What a fucking slimeball!"

Rean patted Naruto on the shoulder and said, "You showed more restraint than Machias would have. Let's just do our best to leave that guy alone from now on. I'd rather not bother with him unless we absolutely have to for some reason."

"Agreed." Naruto said before he walked with Rean towards two students in green uniforms standing a short distance away from them. Their names were Hugo and Becky. "Hey there, Becky. Have you decided on a club to join yet?"

Becky said, "Here, how many times dae I need tae tell ye tae stop acting like you're my mate?! Hmph…I'm joining the school store. Got a problem wae that?"

Hugo chuckled and said, "Becky, that's not a club at all!"

"I know! You 'hink I'm daft or something?!" Becky exclaimed in frustration.

"As usual, you continue to baffle me…and presumably everyone else." Hugo replied, sounding genuinely confused. Afterwards, he turned to face Rean and Naruto and said, "I'm attending the academy from my home in Heimdallr. A commute like that makes it very difficult to join a club or work a part-time job like Becky does."

"I bet." Naruto said before looking at Becky. "You've got quite the accent. I kinda like it." He said with a thumbs up.

"Why thank ye. Here, ye know that massive corporation Kleist & Co.? Well, this wee bam's fae there! He thinks he's a pure ticket 'cause his family's well-off. He willnae stop following me aboot, either! Actually daein' my heed in! Aye, you go have a wee giggle wae your family's money. Meanwhile, I'll go get a job and make my own money. Cannae waste the good academy life, now!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger in Hugo's face.

While Rean looked a bit confused thanks to her interesting accent, Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Sounds like you've got quite the academy life ahead of you Becky. Take care and try to have some fun, okay?" he said before turning and walking off with Rean toward the academy field.

As they approached the field, they saw an orange-haired guy with a checkered cap on his head. Approaching him, they listened as he said, "Whoa, there! Those ladies in the lacrosse getups are lookin' mighty fine! It'd be a crime against photography if I didn't snap some pics! Man, this academy's the place to be if you're lookin' for cute girls. Yeah. I'm gonna be late to the Photography Club, but when inspiration strikes, you can't just ignore it!"

Naruto deadpanned at the teen before rearing back his fist and clocking him in the back of the head, causing him to lurch forward, nearly dropping his camera. "Hey! The hell was that for?!" Rex exclaimed angrily.

"Don't snap pics of girls without their permission. Get their consent before you start snapping pics, otherwise you'll just come across as a massive pervert. I doubt you want them to think of you like that." Naruto said.

Rex simply blinked before saying, "I am a pervert though. Most people are to some extent. You got a problem with that?"

The blonde sighed and palmed his face. Great. Jiraiya, you should've taken this guy as your apprentice. He's an unashamed pervert, just like you!

Leaving the guy to his own devices, Naruto and Rean proceeded down to the field and made way towards the Riding Club first where they met a second year noble by the name of Lambert. "Welcome to the Riding Club! I'm the current captain, Lambert Mach, and this is my trust steed, Whitcomb. Are you new recruits, by any chance? If you've the slightest interest in joining, by all means, please do!" Lambert suggested, a grin on his face.

"Sorry, it's not really my thing." Naruto admitted. "What about you Rean?"

Rean shrugged and said, "I like riding horses, but I'm afraid this isn't exactly the club for me. My apologies."

Lambert simply smiled and shrugged it off. "Not a problem at all. If you know anyone that might be interested in the club, just send them my way."

"Sure thing Lambert. Catch ya later." Naruto said before he turned and walked towards the Lacrosse Club members. Once there, the two of them saw Emma and Alisa standing there, though it looked as if Emma was more than a tad uncomfortable. A purple-haired noble girl was standing behind them, glaring at the back of Alisa's head.

"So, that's the Alisa girl I've heard so much about. She has a different air about her than the other first years. She's awfully cocky for a commoner. She intends to join the Lacrosse Club, does she? What a lovely turn of events. I can use this to teach her her place." The girl, whose name is Ferris, said to herself.

Naruto leaned close to Rean and whispered, "Goodie. Another of those arrogant noble types. How pleasant."

Rean chuckled and said, "She's not quite as bad as some nobles I've met, at least."

Naruto shrugged and said, "You've got a point there."

Looking at Alisa, they heard her say, "W-Well, she's passionate, to say the least. Joining a sports team does seem like it'd be interesting, though. Friendship, hard work, and success, huh? I've never joined any sports teams before, but they must be pretty fun if she's this excited."

Deciding to leave her be, they approached Emma who turned to speak to them as soon as they entered her line of sight. "Alisa and I are taking a look at all the clubs here. Would you care to join us? I'm not much for sports, myself. I think something like the Literature Club would be the best fit for me."

Naruto shook his head and said, "We'd love to join you two, but we kind of have to be somewhere sometime soonish. We were asked to go to the Student Council room and pick something up. At the moment though, we're just having a look around to see the sights and check out all the clubs. I've seen a few that I'm interested in, but I haven't quite decided yet. We'll see though."

Emma smiled at him and said, "Well, I hope you two have fun, whatever you decide to do. Do take care."

"Of course. Let's go Rean. We do have stuff to do." Naruto said before he walked off with Rean to continue their tour of the campus.

As they approached the gymnasium, they stumbled upon a boy named Munk who was mumbling to himself. "Hmm…I wonder if I can find any good material for this month…" Upon spotting them, he said, "Oh, don't mind me—just talking to myself. I do that sometimes. Actually…Class VII might just end up being a treasure trove of material. Heheh. I've got a feeling your class will provide me with some good material. You better not let me down! Heh heh…"

Naruto sweatdropped and said, "I don't even want to know what this 'material' is you're referencing. Instead, I'm going to back away slowly. Goodbye." And with that, he turned and entered the gymnasium, hoping to put some distance between himself and Mr. Creepy.

Once inside, they spotted a rather beautiful redheaded girl looking at a nearby bulletin board. Approaching her, they listened as she said, "I guess this is where the Fencing and Swimming clubs are located. I'm not exactly what you'd call 'athletic,' but it might still be worth checking them both out. I mean, we're at a military academy and all. There's not much point in being here if I'm not healthy."

"Gotta admit, you've got a point." Naruto said. "Still, I'm not one for Fencing or Swimming, so I'll have to pass on those clubs. What about you Rean? You interested in either of them? I think Jusis would probably be a good fit for the Fencing Club."

Rean shook his head and said, "I'm not really interested in either club, to be honest. You're right though, Jusis would be a good fit for the Fencing Club."

Shrugging, they entered the Fencing Club's clubroom and watched for a little while before approaching the nearby blonde girl, whose name was Paula. "What's with that guy? What, does he think he's hot stuff just because he's a noble? I've never been able to get along with jerks like that. Can't see that changing anytime soon, either. He's been preening even more than the other upper class first years. Guess I won't be joining this club after all."

"That's a shame. If you enjoy fencing, it sucks that one pompous asshole would turn you off of it. Sorry to hear that." Naruto said, patting her gently on the shoulder. Turning, he watched as the noble, an arrogant prick named Patrick Hyarms, spoke to the vice president of the Fencing Club. Deciding to simply ignore the argument taking place between them, he looked at Rean and said, "Let's go. I've gotta admit, even if I was interested in fencing, a jerk like that just ruins the whole thing."

Rean nodded and left the room with Naruto, not wanting to be around Mr. High & Mighty. Walking to the indoor swimming pool, they immediately took notice of Laura and a couple of boys, one of them wearing some swimming trunks. "Hmm… Fascinating." Laura said. "I suppose there are some things we can only do while we're students… It looks like there's a lot I could learn in this club. I'm going to fill out an application this very instant."

As the image of Laura in a swimsuit filled their brains, the duo blushed a bit and quickly shook it off. Okay, need to do something else. Laura in a swimsuit sounds way too nice. Naruto thought before quickly turning around and leaving the gymnasium, Rean hot on his heels.

Afterwards, they went to enter the garden nearby, but Naruto spotted a familiar face sitting on one of the benches in the courtyard. "Is that…Linde? No. They look alike, but they're different. Must be twins." Naruto said as he approached the girl. "Hi there."

The girl, whose name was Vivi, looked up into his eyes and said, "A year seems like a long time, but it'll fly by if you waste it all studying. It was hard work getting into this academy, so we deserve to have some fun while we're here. Now, if I were something fun to do, where would I hide…?"

Naruto sweatdropped and asked, "You're a prankster at heart, aren't you?"

Vivi giggled and said, "Yep! I can tell, you're just like me, aren't you? The name's Vivi. Pleasure to meetcha Mr. Tall & Handsome!"

Naruto chuckled softly and said, "Yep. I used to love pulling all kinds of pranks on people back home. I haven't pulled a good prank in a looong time though. Kind of unfortunate, really. Still, I'm a prankster at heart and I wouldn't have it any other way. The name's Naruto Uzumaki, by the way. Nice to meet you, Vivi-chan."

The pink-haired girl smiled at him and said, "Looking forward to seeing you around, Naruto. Take care!"

Naruto and Rean walked into the garden at this point, looking around at all the pretty flowers. A noble girl by the name of Edel approached them and said, "It might seem a little quaint, but gardening is both fun and enriching. We'd love to have you join our club if you have so much as a budding interest. I'll teach you everything there is to know about plants. The more love you pour into your flowers, the better they'll grow. Teehee. Feel free to join our club if you want to cultivate a green thumb."

Naruto smiled as he looked at all the flowers. "I used to have a small garden back where I'm from. Can't exactly call it home anymore, but I did enjoy raising my garden. You know what? I think I'll join this club too. That makes the Wind Orchestra, the Art Club, and the Gardening Club so far. Guess I'll be making good use of the Shadow Clone Jutsu after all."

Edel tilted her head, looking slightly confused. Shrugging it off, she said, "It will be nice to have you with us. My name is Edel. You are?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. It's nice to meet you Edel."

"Likewise, Naruto. I look forward to having you with us." Edel said before she watched as Naruto and Rean left to continue their exploration of the campus.

This time, they bypassed the Engineering Club building, which was currently closed, and passed the Student Union building as well. Venturing to the library, they paused when they saw Machias standing outside. "Argh. Why is HE in there?"

"What's wrong?" Rean asked.

Naruto sighed and said, "Jusis is in there, isn't he?"

Machias flinched, but didn't say anything in response. Instead, he grumbled a bit and proceeded to leave, heading back towards the dorm. Seeing this, Naruto sighed and shook his head in mild disbelief. "I honestly didn't think his hatred of nobles would be this bad. Why do I get the feeling it's only going to get worse between them before things start getting better?"

"Because I feel the same way. We'll just have to deal with it when it happens and hope for the best." Rean said before he led the way into the library. Upon entering the building, the first thing they saw was large bookshelves filled with all kinds of books. Glancing up at the second floor, they could make out some study desks and even taller bookshelves. The next thing they noticed was Jusis sitting at one of the tables reading a book of some kind. "Looks like you were right." Rean said.

"I usually am." Naruto said with a chuckle. "Wanna go say hi?"

Rean shook his head and said, "Nah. Let's leave him alone. He deserves to enjoy a good book by himself."

"If you say so." Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Not really sure what else to do here, soooo let's go to the Student Union building. Sound good?"

Rean nodded his head in agreement. "Let's." And with that, they left the library and ventured next door to the Student Union building. Before they could enter, they heard someone call out to them.

"Hey there, first years." The figure said in greeting.

Turning to face whomever it was that had just greeted them, Naruto's eyes narrowed as warning bells went off in his head. Something not right about this guy. He's a dangerous one.

"U-Umm…?" Rean started hesitantly.

"How's it going?" the second year student asked. "Academy life been treating you well this past half-month?"

"Oh. Y-Yeah, it has. It's not easy, but I'm managing. Mostly. Though I have a feeling it's only going to get harder from here on out." Rean replied.

Naruto looked hard into the second year's eyes, but rather than say anything and make his suspicions known, he smiled and said, "Yeah, things have been great so far, aside from a few bad apples. They seem to crop up everywhere you go, I swear."

The second year chuckled and said, "Yeah, I hear ya. And…" Looking at Rean at this point, he said, "Of course it will. Your class is going to be more intense than the others, too. But you just hang in there, okay?"

"O-Okay. Umm… Wait. You're a second-year student, aren't you? Do you mind if I ask your name?" Rean asked.

"Hey, now! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. First things first: how about you let me show you this cool trick I've been practicing?" the second year student asked with a sly grin on his face.

"Trick…?" Rean questioned unsurely.

"Hmm… You got a 50 mira coin I can borrow?"

Naruto nodded and pulled out a 50 mira coin, handing it over to the silver-haired teenager before him. "Yeah, here ya go."

"Cheers." The silver-haired boy said. "All right, watch closely."

"Wha…?" Rean started, only to watch as the teen before him flipped the coin into the air. When it began to fall, he watched as the silver-haired boy's arms shot forth and snatched the coin out of midair. Or at least, it seemed that way. To Naruto though, he saw exactly what happened. However, he remained quiet, watching Rean to see if he could figure it out.

"Now!" the bandana-wearing teen said. "Which hand is the coin in? Left or right?"

"It's in your…" Rean started, looking between his two hands. Pointing towards his left hand, Rean said, "Left hand!"

The silver-haired teen chuckled and said, "Too bad!" Opening his fist, he showed that the coin was not in that hand.

"Heh, guess you win." Rean said. "I'm usually pretty good at following moving objects, too. Though, wait. You said this was a trick…which means…"

"You catch on quick." The teen said before opening his right hand, revealing that the coin wasn't in that hand either.

"Huh?" Rean asked.

Chuckling a bit, the silver-haired teen said, "Keep up the good work, man. You're gonna need to be pretty tough to get through a year with Sara as your instructor. Oh, and the Student Council room is on the second floor. Furthest room back. See you around. Have a good weekend." And with a wink, he walked off, leaving Rean and Naruto to their own devices.

Rean deadpanned as he looked at Naruto. "He never gave you back the 50 mira."

Naruto shrugged and said, "Doesn't matter. He can keep it."

"If you say so. Oh well, let's get in there and take care of this errand." Rean said before leading the way into the Student Union building. Without a word said to anyone on the first floor, they proceeded up to the second floor, but paused outside of the Literature Club's clubroom.

Looking at the stairs leading up, Naruto frowned and shook his head. "And up there's where the nobles go to get pampered and relax. I swear, nobles get all the good stuff, don't they?"

Rean chuckled nervously and said, "Sure seems that way, doesn't it?"

Naruto quirked a brow as he looked at Rean. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

Rean quickly shook his head and said, "N-No! Not at all! Come on, we should probably go see the Student Council president and see what's up." And with that, he hurried down to the end of the hall and waited for Naruto to catch up to him before he knocked on the door.

"Hello!" a familiar voice called out from inside. "Please, come in! It's open!"

Naruto and Rean looked at one another and nodded as one. "I recognize that voice." Looking back at the door, Rean said, "Pardon the interruption."

Entering the room, they weren't surprised to see who it was. It was the girl from before the entrance ceremony, the one that took their weapons from them. "I thought that was you!" Rean said.

The petite girl giggled and said, "It's been about two weeks, hasn't it? Welcome to the Student Council room, Rean Schwarzer and Naruto Uzumaki. Instructor Sara sent the two of you, right?"

"Y-Yes. So…you're a member of the Student Council, then?" Rean questioned.

Seeing the look Rean was giving her, she asked, "Hmm? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, um, I'm sorry. I was just wondering… Umm… Are you a, um…second-year student?" Rean questioned.

The young-looking girl giggled again and said, "I am, but there's no need for formalities with me. There's no junior or senior in my book! The name's Towa Herschel. I'm the Student Council president. It's very nice to meet the both of you."

"P-President?!" Rean shouted out in shock.

Naruto chuckled a bit and patted Rean on the back. "I could tell right off the bat. You're a little slow on the uptake, aren't you buddy?"

Towa blinked and tilted her head cutely. "Does that surprise you? I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to interact with you and the other first years during your time here. So if there's anything you need help with, you just come and let me know, okay? I'll do everything in my power to make it better!"

Rean smiled at her and said, "Th-Thank you. That's very kind." Coughing into his hand after a moment to try and compose himself, he said, "Umm, so…the reason we've come here is because you're holding on to something for Class VII, right?"

"Oh, of course." Turning, Towa picked something up off of her desk before turning and handing the items over to Rean and Naruto. "Here you go. Rean, yours is the one on top of that pile. Naruto, yours is the one on top of your pile."

Rean nodded and looked at the items in his hand. "Let's see… Oh, our student notebooks! I completely forgot about these."

"I'm really sorry it's taken so long. Class VII's curriculum is pretty different from any of the other classes'. And you're even using a different kind of battle orbment! So yours had to be compiled separately." Towa explained.

"Meaning, these notebooks have information in them about…" Rean started.

Towa nodded and said, "The ARCUS, yes. All the student notebooks double as instruction manuals for their accompanying battle orbments. Ad the other first years are all using the same type as last year, so we could just reuse last year's template. But the ARCUS type you're using works quite differently, so we had to write a whole new set of directions from scratch."

"That makes sense." Naruto said as he flipped his notebook over and looked at the cover for a moment. He'd check it out in detail later. "Wait, who's 'we'?"

"Pretty much…just me? Instructor Sara asked me to do it on her behalf. Which means it's my fault this has taken so long. I'm really sorry!" Towa exclaimed before bowing to the both of them apologetically.

"Oh, no, no! If anything, it sounds like we owe you a huge debt of gratitude for putting so much time and effort into it. Is that really part of the Student Council's job, though? It seems more like something our instructor should be handling herself…" Rean said, sounding rather skeptical.

"Technically…you're right. But she's always so busy, and I help out the other instructors a lot, too, so I don't mind lending her a hand from time to time." Towa explained.

Naruto frowned at her and said, "You do realize that they're kiiiind of taking advantage of you and your kindness…right?"

Towa pouted cutely at him and said, "That's not true! I like helping out where I can. It's not their fault, I swear!"

Naruto sighed and said, "I swear, you're adorable. If you wanted, you could probably kill someone with your level of cuteness."

Towa blushed prettily at this and looked away shyly. "Am not."

While Naruto just chuckled a bit, Rean decided to get the conversation back on track. "So, you just need us to give these to the other students in Class VII, right?"

"Yes, please!" Towa exclaimed, thankful for the change in topic. "I really appreciate what you've all agreed to do, too."

Naruto and Rean blinked in confusion at this. "Huh?" Naruto asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Towa giggled cutely and said, "I heard all about it from Instructor Sara! She said you've agreed to help out the Student Council with our work, right? It's such a nice gesture! You're really getting Class VII off to a great start here at the academy."

Before Rean could say anything, Naruto placed a hand upon his shoulder and shook his head. Looking into Towa's eyes, the blonde smiled kindly at her and said, "Indeed we did. We'll help out however we can, so don't be afraid to assign us tasks you might have a hard time handling or that you might be a bit too busy for."

"She said you were all really eager to help out, so I should try to delegate some of my duties to you." Towa said, smiling thankfully at them.

Naruto looked at Towa and smiled awkwardly. "I swear, you're really too damn cute for your own good."

Towa pouted cutely at him, which only made him chuckle. Shrugging it off, she said, "Oh, wait! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to start trying to force work onto you when you've only just enrolled!"

Rean smiled kindly at her and said, "Don't worry about it. Your plate is as full as I've ever seen, so if I can help you in any way, please let me."

"Phew. I worried that I was asking too much too soon. Thank you ever so much!" Towa exclaimed, smiling at the two of them. "Don't worry though. I won't give either of you anything too difficult. It'll mostly just be fulfilling 'requests' from people in the academy, and in Trista."

"Requests?" Rean questioned.

"Yup. Sometimes people send in feedback and list things they'd like us to do for them, and we try to help out however we can. I'll pick some up for you to do by the end of the day and drop the list in the mailbox at your dorm tomorrow morning. Will that be okay with the two of you?"

"Sure thing. Thanks Towa." Rean said.

Later

By the time they had finished in the Student Union building and proceeded to leave the building, it had already turned to night. "Dusk already?" Rean asked. "Can't believe she wound up treating us to dinner in the cafeteria. And she's still got even more Student Council work to do yet! How is she so busy?!"

Naruto shrugged and said, "I dunno, but that level of cuteness should be forbidden. I just wanted to hug her and pinch her cheeks and I dunno what else. She's just way too damn cute!"

Rean chuckled, but before he could say anything, he received a call on his ARCUS. Flipping it open, Rean held it up to his ear and said, "Umm… Hello? This is Rean Schwarzer speaking."

"Guten Tag, my favorite little Wunderkind! I hear you two had a nice little dinner date with the Student Council president. Ooh la la!" Sara teased.

"It wasn't a date if there were two of us with her, you know that. And if this is how you treat your 'favorite little Wunderkind,' I dread to think how you'd treat people you don't like. Would you care to explain why you've been signing us up for things behind our backs?" Rean questioned somewhat grumpily.

"I'll skip the details for now, but it's got something to do with the other part of your curriculum that I'll be announcing next week. I thought it'd be a good chance for the two of you to do a little rehearsal before the main event. And since the Student Council truly is busy, I figured, why not kill two birds with one stone? A fine plan, if I do say so myself." Sara explained.

"I have a feeling half the reason they're as busy as they are is because of certain instructors, but all right. I'm happy to play along. Basically, you just want us to spend our free day tomorrow helping the Student Council, right?" Rean questioned.

"Oh, that's entirely up to you. If there's a club you're interested in joining, far be it from me to force you away from it!" Sara exclaimed.

"No. To be honest, I still haven't found one that really clicks with me, so that won't be a problem. Naruto's planning to join at least three different clubs though, so I dunno…" Rean said, only for Naruto to create a Shadow Clone next to him to prove a point. "Never mind. Naruto can help too. Anyways, there is one question I'd like to ask. Why us, exactly? This seems like the kind of task typically entrusted to the class president or vice president. So Emma, or Machias. And even if you were choosing based on social class, Jusis and Laura were both born into noble families. I wasn't. And I don't know about Naruto, but I get the feeling he wasn't either. So what makes us so special, exactly?"

"Well, in a sense, you two are effectively at the center of Class VII." Sara said.

"Pardon?" Rean asked.

"I'm not saying either of you are its leader, of course. But in a class full of nobles, commoners, and exchange students, you two in particular are…'special', let's say. Surely even you can see that, no?" Sara explained.

Rean frowned and looked at Naruto. "Well…Naruto, I suppose I can see. Me, on the other hand? I don't know…"

"Regardless, that's why I decided to give you two…'first dibs,' so to speak. I wanted to get an idea of how things might go from here on out. There's never been a class like yours before, after all. So, there you have it. The beans have been spilled aaaaaall over the place. Ball's in your court now." Sara said before she took an audible chug of whatever it was she was drinking.

"Wait, what are you drinking?" Rean asked.

"Beer, of course." Naruto and Sara said at the same exact time. "It's the weekend, and I'm stuck wasting away in my room, imbibing libations—alas!—all by my lonesome. If only I had a classy gentleman friend who'd go out drinking with me. But, woe of woes, such a man is nary to be found!" Sara exclaimed.

"Umm… Are you okay?" Rean asked unsurely.

"Never better. But you! Instead of trying to put everything in its place, why don't you just…go with the flow for a change?" Sara suggested. "It seems like you're desperately trying to find…'something'…but if you don't plant yourself somewhere, you're just going to blow away with the next big gust that comes along. Heh. And on that note! Make sure you're back in the dorm by curfew, and all transgressions will be forgiven. Toodles!" And with that, Sara hung up the phone.

"If I don't plant myself somewhere, huh…?" Rean questioned nobody in particular. "She may have a few screws loose, but she's got a point. Maybe I should just try going with the flow, and see what comes of it…" Sighing softly, he looked at Naruto and asked, "What about you? How do you feel about all of this?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "I'm perfectly fine with it. Fie might not be, but I'm cool with it. And yes, Sara's a bit odd, but she's got a good head on her shoulders. I think she's pretty awesome, actually. Reminds me of an old friend of mine. Don't ask, I won't say anything about it. Anyways, we should get back to the dorm. Come on."

As Naruto walked off, Rean frowned to himself and thought, Naruto's probably the biggest mystery in our class. I wonder what makes him tick… It was a question that would go unanswered for quite some time.

Class VII Dorm – Later

Later, after returning to the dormitory and taking care of a few things, Naruto and Rean met up outside their rooms on the 2nd floor and decided that Naruto would head to the 3rd floor to give the girls their notebooks while Rean would handle the other guys on the 2nd floor.

Naruto's first stop was Alisa's room. Knocking on the door, he heard her call out that she'd be right there. When she opened the door, he offered her a smile and said, "Hey Alisa. Rean and I are handing these out to everyone. Here, it's your student notebook."

"Oh, thanks Naruto! Did you need anything else? I was kind of busy…" Alisa questioned.

Naruto shook his head and said, "No problem. I was just asked to deliver these to you girls. Sleep well Alisa."

"Thanks Naruto. You too." Alisa said before closing the door again.

Next, Naruto went to Laura's room, which was next door to Alisa's. Knocking on the door, he waited for her to open the door before handing her her student notebook. "Thank you Naruto. Will that be all?"

"Yep. You look like you've been pretty busy. Practicing your swordsmanship, I assume?"

Laura nodded and said, "I try to get in some practice every day. I can't let my skills rust, after all."

"Good attitude to have. Keep it up. I still need to give Emma-chan and Fie-chan their notebooks, so I'll let you be. Have a good night, Laura-chan." Naruto said before he turned and left Laura alone.

Knocking on Emma's door, he waited for her to answer the door. Once she had, he handed over her student notebook. "There you go Emma-chan. Mind if I ask what you were up to before I bothered you?"

Emma smiled at him and said, "I honestly wasn't doing much. I was mostly just studying and trying to figure out what I am going to do tomorrow."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Of course. I'm sure you'll think of something, Emma-chan. Good night and sleep well, okay?"

"Of course. You as well, Naruto. Sleep well." She said before closing the door.

Afterwards, Naruto walked to Fie's room and opened the door, stepping inside and smiling at his girlfriend. Hurrying over to him, Fie hugged him tight before they kissed each other. Once they separated, Naruto handed Fie her student notebook. "Here you go Fie-chan. You have a good night, okay? I'd stay and cuddle with you for a while, but we boys kinda have to stick to the 2nd floor. I don't think Instructor Sara would approve of us sleeping in the same bed…"

Fie pouted at him and said, "No fair. Cuddle time is the best time."

Naruto chuckled softly and said, "I can't argue with that. Oh well." Hugging his girlfriend close, Naruto gave her another kiss before he turned and left her room, stopping just outside the door to turn and say, "Good night sweetheart. See you tomorrow, okay?"

"Of course. Night." Fie said.

Naruto smiled at her and closed the door behind him. Afterwards, he returned to his room and let out a sigh. "Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day for sure." He said to himself before he changed into his nightclothes and went to bed. He'd worry about tomorrow later. For now, he wanted to just get some sleep and not have to worry about anything too crazy for a while.

A/N - And that's the end of the chapter! As you can see, a bunch of different things happened...and yet, not really. lol. I think the chapter turned out pretty well for the most part. Hopefully you enjoyed it.

Anyways, I really don't have a lot to say. I think the chapter turned out fairly well. *shrugs* If you don't like it, oh well. Can't please 'em all. :P