Chapter 3: Rivalry

Naruto followed the rather plain looking woman named Shizune as he took in his surroundings. Thus far, nothing seemed out of place and everything he saw indicated that this was just an ordinary school if he took in in the perspective of an ordinary citizen.

But then again, looks can be decieving. After all, the ordinary citizen regarded Kamen Riders as some sort of superheroes and not as fellow human beings wearing powered suits. Kamen Riders needed anonymity in order to remain effective.

The same goes for this school. The nature of it's curriculum necessitated that they close themselves off from the public eye, thus it's hidden and rather remote location.

Yet despite it's secretive nature, the school also seem to recognize their student's need for a semblance of normalcy so they had set everything up here and ran the place like any typical highschool.

"Nice setup you guys got here." Naruto commented absently. "Nobody would think that this is actually a training facility for Kamen Riders though the location seems a bit remote."

"Thank you. We try to run things as normally as possible here though in our line of work, that's becoming more of a luxury these days." Shizune answered. "And there's a reason why we are in a remote location. In the event of an enemy attack, we don't have to worry about civilian casualities."

"That's a rather cheerful thought." Naruto stated dryly. "You really think that the enemy can find and breach this place?"

"It's happened before in the previous facility." Shizune said. "This time, we want to make sure that we don't repeat our mistakes in the past. Everyone in this facility is either a Kamen Rider or part of the support staff who can also fight."

"Including you?" Naruto asks.

"Including me." Shizune confirmed with a small smile before stopping in front of a door. "Here we are." She said and knocks on the door."

"Come in." A vaguely familiar voice calls out. Shizune opens the door and beckons Naruto to follow her inside. Stepping inside the classroom, Naruto recognized Iruka who seemed to be the one in charge of this class which explains why the voice sounded familiar to him.

"Good morning Iruka Sensei. I brought your new student here today." Shizune greeted pleasantly.

"Ahh... Perfect timing." Iruka said before addressing the students. "Class, I'd like you to meet your new classmate today." He then turns to Naruto. "Can you introduce yourself to the class?"

Naruto walks up front and gives his new classmates an easy smile. "Hey guys. The name's Uzumaki Naruto. Hope we can all get along." He introduced himself. He could tell that many of them were checking him out and probably wondering how'd they fare against him. The truth of the matter is, he was wondering about that as well.

"Thank you for the introduction Naruto. Can you take a seat on the empty chair besides Shikamaru?" Iruka said, directing him to the empty chair besides a sleepy looking kid with his hair done in a topknot. Naruto nods at this and makes his way towards his seat. He could literally feel everyone's eyes on him as he took his place in the class.

Turning towards his seatmate, he decides to at least be polite and make a good first impression. "What's happening man. The name's Uzumaki Naruto. What's yours?" He said, offering a hand. The topknotted kid gave him a look before taking the proffered hand and shaking it.

"Nara Shikamaru. Welcome to this troublesome class." He introduced himself before gesturing to a rather chubby boy with spirals on his cheek behind Naruto. "The guy behind you is my friend, Akimichi Chouji."

"Nice to meet you too." Naruto said as he also shook the hand of the identified Chouji.

"Likewise." Chouji said before stating. "The fact that you're here must meant that you're one of us?"

Naruto nods in confirmation as he revealed his advent deck to him. "Yeah, I am."

"Huh... Wierd. We don't usually get a new student in the middle of the year. How'd you manage it?" Shikamaru asks.

"My adopted grandfather was the one who enrolled me in here." Naruto said. "According to him, the headmaster was a former student of his."

"Well that's pretty convenient." Chouji stated. "But then again, you're a rider. And this is about the only place that teaches riders."

"If you guys are done with the chitchat, maybe we could continue with our lessons." Iruka calls out, shutting the three up as the class lesson continued.

(Lunchtime)

"Hey guys. Mind if we join you?"

Seated under a large tree while eating lunch with Shikamaru and Chouji, Naruto looks up at the speaker who was a feral looking kid with red triangles tattood on both cheeks and wore a grey, fur-lined jacket.

Behind the feral kid were two other individuals. A taller boy who wore what seemed like a trench coat which also hid his lower face and round sunglasses which shielded his eyes and a pale eyed girl with waist length black hair and a bulky looking windbreaker.

Naruto looks at Shikamaru and Chouji who both shrugs their shoulder before looking the the newcomers with a smile. "Sure thing. Make some room for 'em guys."

"Thanks. The name is Inuzuka Kiba by the way." The feral boy introduced himself before gesturing to his two companions. "These are my friends Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata."

"Nice to meet you guys." Naruto said, shaking both Kiba's and Shino's hands. But before he could shake hands with Hinata, a white hand slaps it away. Looking up at the culprit with a scowl on his face, he sees what seems to be a white bird themed monster in front of him.

"You peon will not touch Hime with your filthy hand. Not unless you want to loose it." The creature said.

"Imagin!" Naruto hissed as he reached for his advent deck. But before they can fight, Hinata steps between them.

"P-Please stop. Sieg is my Imagin familiar." Hinata said to Naruto before turning to the white imagin. "A-And Sieg, you were being rude. Naruto san merely wanted to shake my hand as a way of greeting me."

"Be that as it may Hime, I'd be remiss in my duty if I allow just anyone to lay their hands on you." Sieg said.

"Hah! That's funny. Sieg was the same way when we first met too." Kiba guffawed.

"You've got a real attitude problem, you know that?" Naruto said, glaring at Sieg.

"And you are a savage brute just like your ghastly pet, Kyuukiri." The imagin shot back at Naruto who gave him a look of disbelief. "Kyuukiri is a familiar like myself so of course I can sense him, you ruffian."

"Kyuukiri?" Shino spoke for the first time, his eyebrows shooting up behind his glasses. "You actually have him as your familiar?"

Naruto sighs in resignation, but nods his head as the others look on in confusion.

"What is Shino talking about Naruto?" Chouji asks the blonde.

Naruto brings out his advent deck, draws a card from it and shows it to the others. "He's talking about this guy right here."

Kiba was the first to recognize the creature on the card and recoils in shock. "No way man. You've got THAT guy as a familiar? Members of my clan have been trying to tame it for years. How'd you do it?"

Naruto shrugs his shoulders. "I dunno. It just happened." He said, not really wanting to elaborate on it any further because of what the Headmaster told him. "Kyuukiri chose me and that's not gonna change anytime soon so you better get used to it."

"So that's the infamous Kyuukiri." Shikamaru said, studying the image. "I've heard a lot of stories on how aspiring riders tried to get their hands on it to be their familiars. Just so you know, a lot of them are probably gonna be upset at you."

"So I've been told. But I don't really care." Naruto said dryly before giving Sieg a withering look. "And just so you know, if those riders DO start gunning for me, I'm blaming it ALL on YOU birdbrain."

Sieg was about to retort but was stopped by Hinata. "T-Technically, Naruto is right Sieg. You're a gentleman and your revelation of possibly private information is not something that a gentleman does."

"My apologies Hime." Sieg apologized with a low bow, sounding appropriately chastised. "It shall not happen again."

"Logically, if people are aware that Kyuukiri is your familiar, they would naturally be wary of you. Why is that so? It's because they know what sort of power Kyuukiri possesses." Shino stated plainly. "But of course, that goes both ways too. Why is that so? People who crave power or a good challenge would obviously seek you out."

"Gee... That makes me feel soooo much better." Naruto said sarcastically.

"Speaking of challengers, here comes one now." Kiba said, looking at someone coming from behind Naruto with a frown on his face. Naruto looks back and sees the dark haired boy who gave him the most appraising look back in the class approach him. Trailing behind the boy is a blonde haired girl with a bang of hair hiding one of here pale blue eyes and a pink haired girl with a prominent forehead.

Naruto stands and faces the incoming boy who stops just a few feet away from him. "Is there anything I can do for you Mister...?"

"Sasuke... Uchiha Sasuke." The dark haired boy supplied as he studied Naruto. "You seem fairly strong."

"Ermm... Thanks... I guess." Naruto said, unsure how he was supposed to answer to Sasuke's words. "But you still haven't told me what you want from me."

"Hey! That's no way to talk to Sasuke Kun!" The blonde girl accompanying Sasuke said to Naruto who turns to her and her pink haired friend. "I'm sorry. And you guys are...?" He asks.

"Yamanaka Ino. And forehead girl here is Haruno Sakura." The blonde haired girl identified herself and her pink haired companion. "We're friends of Sasuke Kun and you should apologize for your rude behavior." Behind Ino, Sakura could be seen sighing in exasperation.

"Right then Yamanaka San. I don't see the reason I should apologize because as far as I know, I haven't offended anyone here." Naruto said before turning back to Sasuke. "Did I?"

The raven haired boy gave Naruto a small smirk. He was starting to like the newcomer if only for his ability to talk back to the blonde bimbo who is one of his stalkers. "Of course not. It's rather hard to get insulted when there was none given." Sasuke said, much to Ino's dismay.

"C'mon Ino. You're acting obsessed again." The girl named Sakura said before turning to Naruto. "I apologize for my friend's behavior. She sometimes act this way especially where Sasuke's concerned."

"No apologies are necessary Sakura San. You weren't the one at fault here anyways." Naruto stated.

"Why are you apologizing to him Sakura? He was being rude to Sasuke Kun!" Ino demanded.

"No he wasn't. Even Sasuke said so." Sakura corrected her friend.

Before Ino could retort, the bell rings which signified the end of their break. Iruka can be seen gathering the students and herding them towards the gymnasium.

"What's going on? Aren't we going to class?" Naruto asked.

"Don't you know anything? This IS class for today." Ino sniped but was rather upset to see that Naruto wasn't really paying any attention to her and was talking to Sasuke.

"What we're going to do is part of our studies here. And this situation actually works out for me." Sasuke said.

"How so?" Naruto asks, not really liking where the conversation was going.

"We're doing live combat simulations. And everyone wants to see what you're about. Including me." Sasuke answers with a smirk which did little to reassure Naruto.

"Am I really THAT interesting to you guys?" Naruto asks a bit nervously. "I know that things out of the ordinary are the norm here so why are you guys so hung up on seeing how I perform?"

"That's because you're the first person to EVER get transferred to our school in the middle of the school year." Shikamaru provided. "The higher ups don't do that unless you've got some serious backing, mad skills or even both. Everyone wants to know if you're a hack or the real deal."

"I don't suppose I can claim to be sick, can I?" Naruto asks hopefully.

"Not a chance." Kiba spoke up with a grin. "It's just as Sasuke and Shikamaru said Naruto. Everyone wants to see what you can do. Besides, it's not as if you won't be doing the same to us since we're all gonna show our moves in the exercise."

Naruto had to admit that Kiba had a point. He was also curious to see what his new classmates can do and this is the perfect opportunity to scout them out.

The inside of the gymnasium looked much more spacious then it did outside. And in the middle of the practice field is what seemed to be an abandoned construction site.

"Ok, settle down everyone." Iruka calls out and waits for the murmurings to stop before continuing. "Today, the exercise will be search and destroy in a rural environment. What you see here right now is an abandoned construction site which has a lot of places for someone or something to hide. Each of you will have to go in, find and eliminate as many targets as you can before time runs out."

"So who are the target?" Naruto asks.

"Not who. What." Iruka said, nodding to a fellow teacher who presses a button on a wall which opens a gate down by the field. A number of hunchbacked, humanoid insects cautiously walk out before scampering into the abandoned construction site. Naruto stares down at the site before looking at Iruka.

"You actually keep Worms around here?" He asks with a frown. "Don't you think that's a little dangerous in our line of work?"

"We only capture weak ones which we use in exercises like this to be realistic. Besides, we keep an eye on them at all times." Iruka replied. "We will also be monitoring your progress from here and security officers are on hand in case anything goes wrong so there's absolutely nothing to worry about."

"What's the matter? Don't tell me you're scared of some weak little bugs." Ino mocked Naruto.

"Yamanaka San. It would be foolish for you NOT to take this exercise seriously." Iruka reprimanded. "Though they may seem nothing more then weak, ordinary monsters, keep in mind that higher class Worms had to start from somewhere."

This statement shut the blonde fangirl up. Naruto himself ignored her and instead concentrated on the practice field.

"Alright then. We'll be doing this alphabetically so Aburame Shino, you're up first." Iruka said. This piqued Naruto's interest and watched as the mysterious teen who kept his identity hidden away behind the dark sunglasses and the trenchcoat walked down to the battle site.

Shino makes short work of the Worms attacking him by first transforming into a black/green figure wearing bulky, bug-like armor before another command explosively removes the armor to reveal a sleeker rider form with the same color scheme and finishes off the worms with a high speed attack too fast for the naked eye to follow.

"Alright Shino. That's enough." Iruka calls out and motions for the teen to come up.

"Nice work Shino." Naruto whispers to the young Aburame as he takes his place back with his class. "You didn't even give them a chance to mount a decent offense."

"I believe in finishing my tasks as quickly and as efficiently as possible." Shino replies. "Why is that so? It is to minimize any damage to property and personell."

"Rrriiiggghhhttt... Whatever you say man." Naruto said, unsure of how to respond to Shino's statement as he settles back to watch his other classmates in action.

Many of the students were blank riders and didn't really dominate the opposition like Shino did. But there were also a number of exceptional ones as well.

Like Inuzuka Kiba whose rider form and fighting style reminded Naruto of a vicious wolf on the hunt.

Nara Shikamaru's keen intellect and stag themed variation of his Advent system earned him the interest of more then a few individuals.

Akimichi Chouji had massive strength which, coupled with his butterfly-like rider form utilizing the Hibiki system, made him a force to be reckoned with.

Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura's fusion into an unusual Spring themed rider surprised the hell out of Naruto. Never mind the fact that they used a thankfully legit Memory system.

Hyuuga Hinata whose natural grace and white/gold rider form made her resemble an angel in Naruto's eyes. An angel extremely skilled with a pair of razor sharp blades in her hands.

But the person who interested Naruto the most was Uchiha Sasuke.

Simply put, the raven haired teen is a genius on the battlefield. Not only was he quite a skilled fighter, he is also extremely intelligent and calculating. Using a card based rider system, he easily decimated the large number of Worms whiched attacked him in record time and goes back up to the viewing area with a small smirk on his face.

"Excellent work as usual Sasuke." Iruka said, checking his name off the list he had before looking at Naruto questioningly. The blonde simply sighs in resignation and nods his head.

"Alright, last but certainly not the least is our newest addition, Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto makes his way towards the abandoned construction site and brings out his Advent Deck while waiting for the Worms to make their move.

He didn't have to wait long as a pair of Worms charges at him. He sidesteps from the first one's wild attack and kicks away the second one before he inserts the Advent deck on his belt. "Henshin." Naruto intones and transforms into the form of Kamen Rider Youko before drawing a card from his belt and inserting it into his Kyuuvisor.

"Sword Vent." A mechanical voice sounds as Youko's Kukri-like sword materializes in his hand. Using the blade, he quickly finishes off the Worms.

"So far, so good. He made that look pretty easy." Sasuke said with his arms crossed as he watches closely.

"It's not over yet though." Chouji comments, pointing towards another pair of Worms who charges at Youko.

The fox themed rider also easily dispatches the new attackers before turning his attention towards four more monsters who tries to surround him. But after inserting another card on his visor and a mechanical voice announcing "Strike Vent", the tendrils on Youko's helmet comes alive and destroys the monsters surrounding him.

"Something's wrong." Sakura stated as she watches yet another group of Worms try to bum rush Youko. "Does anyone else here thinks that the Worms look like they're starting to work together?"

Kiba frowns as he observed how the Worms moved against their new classmate. "Hey! You're right. It's almost as if they're herding him somewhere."

"Herding him? You mean like cattle? But to where?" Sasuke wondered.

Meanwhile, Youko had the same thoughts as his classmates.

"Ok. This is getting annoying." Youko mutters to himself as he cleaves another Worm in two. "There's no end to these pests. I kill one and another takes it's place so they're deliberately wearing me down for something. But for what? And since when did mindless Worms start working towards a common goal? Unless..."

As he fought off the weak Worms, Youko looks around and after a bit, finds what he was looking for. "There you are you little creep!" He said charging towards a corner.

Meanwhile, the other students got confused when Youko suddenly took off towards a dark corner.

"Has he finally lost it? Where the hell is he going?" Ino asked.

"To the source of all his problems." Shikamaru stated as he watched Youko attack a vaguely arachnid-like Worm. "That Worm is the one directing the actions of the others so he's going after it first."

"I-It must have molted inside after it was released." Hinata surmised. "I hope he'll be alright."

"He'll be fine. Iruka Sensei's not even stopping the exercise so he must know that the newbie can handle this." Sasuke points out. "Lets watch and see what happens."

Back down on the training field, Youko skids back after taking a particularly strong attack from the Arachnid Worm with sections of his armor smoking from the corrosive web it spewed and stares at the monster. "While you're definitely tougher then these other small fries, those extra arms and the corrosive web are irritating and it's starting to bore me." The blonde rider said as he drew a card from his deck and slid it into the Kyuuvisor where a mechanical voice intoned "Switch Vent".

The Arachnid Worm spews a ball of corrosive at Youko but instead of hitting the rider, it hits one of the weaker Worms instead. It then finds itself knocked back by a strong kick from Youko who had suddenly appeared besides it.

"Time to end things." Youko said as he slid a new card into his Kyuuvisor which intoned "Final Vent". Kyuukiri suddenly appears besides Youko then transforms itself into a copy of the rider. Both riders leaps into the air and splits into nine riders whose bodies blazed with power and falls towards the Arachnid Worm with their feet extended. The Arachnid Worm tries to protect itself by directing the weaker Worms to use their bodies to block the attack but it simply plows through the wall of monsters and connects with nine tremendously powerful dropkicks in rapid succession which destroys the Arachnid Worm as well as the weaker Worms it surrounded itself with in a massive explosion. Glowing orbs floated from the remains but was quickly devoured by Kyuukiri.

The class could only gape at the display of power by Naruto which made Iruka smirk.

"Class dismissed."

Author's Notes: A new chapter for you guys. Enjoy :)