Shado: Well, I finally managed to get this done. Although I will technically be on vacation after this week, I'll be busy with a number of things. It is the holidays people, so I'll do my best to update between free time at every chance I get.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the sort of Final Fantasy VII.

Chapter Four – The Misfits

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

=3=

It had been a normal day for the general despite the amount of paper work sent his way of possible potentials to keep an eye out later in the SOLDIER training program. The day was uneventful, and for once Sephiroth had some peace and quiet from a certain bouncing puppy that happily disrupted his work hours.

But to say that the general was content with the idea of someone such as Zack Fair teaching the new recruits with so little experience was a total lie. At one point, he could actually get some work done with fewer migraines of the lieutenant's cheery mood and loud voice. The other point was that the lieutenant would spend more time talking nonsense rather than actually giving a lecture to the recruits.

It was not a decision Sephiroth would have appointed Fair for his promotion, but overall the director had the last say on the matter. And to be sure Zack stuck to the schedule handed to him Director Lazard gave him permission to have surprise visits while Fair's classes were still in session.

Of course Angeal would have been more preferable, but due to being the lieutenant's former mentor he would have a high opinion of Zack. Genesis was out of the question, for whatever reason he holds a high amount of abhorrence to Zack Fair. So with those two out of the question it was left with Sephiroth.

To which the general didn't mind, to think that he could walk into Fair's class without warning would be chance he would not pass up. The idea of seeing Zack's surprised expression, pausing in mid sentence with his lecture made Sephiroth chuckle at the thought.

He wasn't going to visit during this week, though. There was simply too much work that is needed to be tended to, and it would put too much stress on the recruits as they adjust to the new life style. In fact Sephiroth had a good idea that many of the cadets would faint from being in close proximity to him. As amusing as the sight would be, he was sure the director would give him an earful about it. Not to mention the complaints from the infirmary doctors of a great number of new recruits suffering from concussions barely from the first week in.

With a sigh, Sephiroth glanced at the annoyingly ticking clock on the wall and realized that it was halfway through his lunch hour. The general blinked in surprise. It would be around this time that Genesis would call him up for a chat to cure his so called boredom from unintelligent recruits who weren't worth the effort for the SOLDIER program.

'Come to think of it, he's been acting rather odd since his return from Kalm.' Sephiroth furrowed his eyebrows at the conclusion.

Since his return with news of a young boy with a hidden warrior inside him, Genesis seemed more withdrawn. The red commander spent the last of his remaining summer vacation days in his apartment reading book after book of his endless collection of poetry. What genre of poetry Sephiroth did not know, for he had no interest in such mindless literature, and thus he didn't pay attention to the little details.

Now that he thought about Genesis' behavior, he found him rather odd. Sephiroth wasn't sure if the young blond man Genesis had met in Kalm had anything to do with his odd behavior, but it was certainly a coincidence. And it's not like he could simply ask his friend what was wrong, Genesis was not one to humor such deep questions unless he was absolutely willing to give such answers.

No, it was best not to pester him, otherwise he'll become more withdrawn and work himself into a corner and shut his friends out of his world for some time. Sephiroth had learned this lesson the hard way during their early years of their friendship.

It was not a mistake the general would be willing to repeat again.

'No matter, Genesis will eventually come to me or Angeal when he's ready.' With that final thought over Genesis, Sephiroth decided it was time to use the rest of his lunch hour for a new cup of coffee.

As he stood up and made his way through the maze of his paperwork that somehow filled the entire space of his office, Sephiroth sighed once again. He was going to need the new cup. And possibly a few more into his late night shift.

Sephiroth then remembered why he loathed the beginning of the new recruits.

=3=

After the second class for the day, it was lunch. Cloud was nothing but relieved, he was starving. And glancing over his shoulder at Xaoli, his newfound friend was the same. So the pair headed to the cafeteria with high hopes to fill their empty stomachs. Of course, they were shocked to see that the food was nothing but muck.

Upon walking to an empty table, Cloud paused to examine the abomination that dared call itself food. He thought he saw something wiggle and slither in the green, lumpy stuff. The blond was briefly wondering if he should throw the contents of his tray into the trash when the prickly feeling of being watched came over him.

Cloud turned to find himself face to face with the same recruit he splashed water in the face in the bathroom earlier. This time he had more people behind him than last time. The blond had a sinking feeling that this was going to end with fists rather than words.

To his left Xaoli tensed, already reaching the same conclusion as Cloud had. The Wutain teen shifted his weight in ready to fight when the time came to defend.

"You may have evaded us earlier, but this time there's more of us to take both of you on." The boy smirked, leering at the blond.

Cloud narrowed his eyes in defiance. If there weren't any witnesses, he'd be glad to take this arrogant boy down and the rest of his men without breaking a sweat. But Father had warned him not to attract too much attention to himself. On the other hand, he needed to have everyone learn not to mess with him either.

Either way, there was no way he could avoid this fight.

Just as the arrogant boy was about to strike the blond for not responding, a different voice interrupted.

"Justin, what did this kid ever do to you, eh? Leave 'em be, they're not worth even half your time."

Cloud looked to his right, and blinked. Another teen about half a foot taller than him, stood. He had dark skin, and thick hair that reached just below the shoulders. The blond had not encountered anyone like this before, and he wasn't sure if this young man was friend or foe.

"What the hell do you mean?" Justin, Cloud gathered, replied with a menacing tone.

"I mean he's in a class all on his own compared to you." The other replied

"He's right!" At the sound of his new voice, Cloud realized that someone else had stood behind the tall teen. This boy was short, shorter than Cloud himself, with dark red hair and freckles all over his face.

"Shut the hell up Ozzie! You're all a bunch of misfits! All of you!" Justin yelled, indicating the four of them, and the short red head immediately cowered behind his friend.

Cloud nearly flinched as the tension in the air intensified. A part of him was glad to have two more on his side, but it was not his intentions to find friends in this sort of predicament. Cloud then focused solely on Justin, if he could somehow prevent the arrogant boy go any further then the rest will back off. Once the leader of the pack is proven useless, the pack then disperses and scatters like headless chickens.

Suddenly feeling uneasy, Justin then looked down to the blond. The intensity of Cloud's gaze nearly made him jump. No one in this planet should ever have such deep blue eyes. If Justin had been completely honest with himself he'd say his reasoning for all this trouble was simply because those eyes frightened him.

"So what's with all the ruckus, yo? I mean, there shouldn't be all this tension on the first day of training."

Cloud tensed, as he did his best to keep his heartbeat steady. For the past few moments had been so quiet he could've heard the echo of a pin drop several feet away. During his entire stay here, the blond had been aware of his surroundings and who was around him. Although he couldn't identify anyone, he could still sense anyone who came close or left.

But the voice who just spoke stood just behind him, and Cloud had not sensed his presence at all. The blond half turned, trusting that Xaoli will still have his back while he was distracted. There stood not one but two people who were certainly not part of the army.

The first to catch his eye was someone with red hair so bright Cloud could guess it was dyed, but he was not one to judge. Many thought his own very hair was bleached, so in a way Cloud couldn't say that this redhead was natural or not.

The redhead stood aloof, but Cloud could see that it was all a fake. The way his green eyes moved rapidly to study his surroundings was a tell tale he was anything but aloof. He wore a loose white shirt and a black suit that was not buttoned, as if he was either lazy or an interesting way of giving off the illusion he was lazy. Maybe a little bit of both.

The second man made the blond even more uneasy. He stood stiff and poised, as if he was ready to strike when someone so much as even moved his direction. Unlike his companion, his suit was buttoned and in perfect condition. His shades were too dark to even see the outlines of his eyes, and black gloves adorned his hands.

They were both Turks.

Cloud wanted to scream at his own conclusion. He wanted to scream and run, run and hide somewhere dark and safe from them. He had heard stories of them whenever he explored some quiet town, running errands for Father. It didn't help that Vincent warned him of them before their departure.

'Whatever you do act submissive and keep your head down and stay out of their way. Do not ever, ever let your guard down around them. Keep your face void of expression. They can sniff out even the smallest hint of fear.'

Cloud blinked, giving off an air of recognition of who they were. He then stepped out of their way and lowered his head enough show he wouldn't give them trouble. Next to him he sensed Xaoli's confused gaze at his face. The blond ignored Xaoli as he concentrated on slowing his breathing down enough to calm the muscles in his face, allowing all feelings to flow out and replacing them with a plain and simple mask.

The redhead grinned and stepped forward, tilting his head at Justin with confidence.

"How about you back down, Mr. High and Mighty. This ain't supposed to be a sparring room after all. It's simply a cafeteria."

"And what gives you the impression that I'm the one causing the trouble? That blond one there started all of it." Justin scoffed, not yet realizing who these men were.

The redhead took a quick glance over Cloud, cat green eyes quickly scanning any sign of guilt or anger swelling to the point he'd throw a punch at Justin. Sensing neither, the redhead turned back at the leader.

"He's harmless, yo. You're starting all of this drama over nothing." The Turk shrugged.

"He's anything but harmless! And his partner threatened us!" Justin accused.

The redhead sighed, as if this was simply too much effort to sort out. Still he turned to Cloud and Xaoli, tilting his head.

"Is what this lad says true? Did you threaten him?"

"I did nothing of the sort, sir." Xaoli replied softly, feigning ignorance. To his credit he pulled it off, which surprised Cloud when the Turk didn't question Xaoli further.

"All right, someone's lying here, yo. My partner and I aren't too fond of liars. And it doesn't look like thing are working out too well for you." The redhead motioned to Justin.

"What the hell? But I –"

The bald Turk cleared his throat as he took one step forward.

"I believe now would be the best time to back down before we ask for your name. From there on you'll be receiving your resignation papers and you'll be so kindly kicked out on the first day of the trial week."

The redhead snickered at his partner's choice of words. "Way to go, Rude. Goin' all commando on the poor recruit on their first day. That's gotta be a new record for you, yo."

At those words Justin cringed and finally stepped away. The group behind him dispersed, going their separate ways. Once the tension left did the Turks, to Cloud's horror, turned their attention on him. His heart skipped a few beats. The blond quickly calmed down while somehow maintaining his void mask.

"So, Blondie, I'd like to ask ya a few questions. How is it that ya know who we are when it's only the first day?"

Cloud gulped, this was not good. He had to think fast. The blond briefly eyed their uniforms.

"Your uniforms, they are nothing of the sort that I recognize among SOLDIER. You are not simple employees such as a receptionist with the way your partner stands like a guard on watch. So I assume that the pair of you are from the higher ups, and I have heard talk of strange men in suits who are to be feared." Cloud hoped it wouldn't be too suspicious of an answer.

At his words the redhead raised an eyebrow.

"So you don't know who we are? You were just wary of us because of our uniforms?"

"Yes, sir." The blond nodded.

The Turk grinned, and Cloud wasn't even sure if that was good or bad. His partner nervously cleared his throat.

"Reno." The bald Turk shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"Right, we were supposed to go pick up a few files from the director's. Dunno why they're making us do simple errands when they can just fax it over, yo." Reno sighed, suddenly in a foul mood.

But nonetheless the redhead followed his partner out of the cafeteria. Once they left Cloud relaxed his tense muscles in his shoulders with a much relieved sigh. Although that incident has now completely ruined his appetite to brave the abomination on his tray.

Along the way to throw away the mushy contents, Ozzie and his friend followed suit.

"Hey, thank you. For earlier I mean." Cloud sent a smile their way as he dumped his lunch.

"Nah, it 'twas nothing really. We misfits gotta stick together, ya know? Name's Carter. This here is Ozzie." The tall teen offered a hand for a friendly shake.

Cloud accepted the outstretched hand, and for a moment he was overwhelmed how Carter's seemed to engulf his own. Carter laughed at his expense.

"I get that a lot, not many hands out there as big as mine, eh?" Carter chuckled again.

"I bet. My name is Cloud, Cloud Strife." The blond smiled.

"Is that really your name? It sounds like a cool super hero name from a comic!" Ozzie's eyes widened, finally stepping out of Carter's shadow to look up at Cloud with a toothy grin.

"Yes, it is my name. I get that a lot, same with the hair. Believe it or not it's natural, and I don't use any hair products to make it like this." Cloud said.

"Really? Never would have guessed it was natural." Carter commented.

"That's so cool! You've got everything to be a hero! How strong are you, are you good in combat? You've already got everything else. It'll be a cinch for you to get into SOLDIER!" Ozzie nearly jumped up and down in excitement.

"I don't think I'm that good, but I'll still try my best."

"That's what we're aiming for, too. What about your friend here? I don't think he's said a word yet." Carter motioned to Xaoli. "C'mon, don't be shy. I don't bite."

The Wutain blinked, glancing at Cloud. The blond nodded, knowing full well what was silently asked. Xaoli needed to know if Cloud trusted them, which was true. In this conversation the blond sensed no harm from them.

"My name is Xaoli Lung. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet ya, you wouldn't mind if we call you Lung for now?" Carter

With the Wutain's kind smile, and the warm welcome from Carter and Ozzie, Cloud knew that maybe his search for friends wouldn't be so bad after all. When they compared their living quarters, they learned the four of them were assigned to the same room.

Together the four misfits could make the first week. Cloud knew from there they'll have to look to someone who'll be willing to grant them extra time. It was the only conclusive idea the blond could think of, in order to pass the exams six months from now.

Now if only he could catch even a glimpse of Genesis in this maze of a building.

=3=

By the early evening Sephiroth's quiet time was interrupted when Genesis strolled into his office and sprawled himself over the spare couch. No words were exchanged between them for Sephiroth was still working through his piles of paper and it was clear with the way Genesis released a sigh that he was tired.

Within minutes the general could hear the soft, even breathing as his friend slept. Sephiroth smiled, it was often times that when Genesis wanted to get away from stress he'd waltz into his office without warning and simply sleep on the couch.

However, this wasn't the only guest that decided to visit him on a whim tonight. About an hour after Genesis came in, Zack stomped his way through the door and opened his mouth about to shout a loud hello.

Quickly and silently, Sephiroth threw a roll of newspaper straight at the puppy's face. At Zack's open mouth he caught the newspaper by accident. Accident or not, he still looked like a dog. Sephiroth distracted himself from laughing at Zack's confused look by motioning to the sleeping Genesis.

The lieutenant let out a squeak, immediately pulling the newspaper out of his mouth and throwing it at some random corner. The paper caused some ruckus, but despite Genesis being a light sleeper he didn't stir from the noise.

After a tense moment, both general and lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief. Disturbing Genesis during his catnaps would bring hell to everyone involved and the environment around them.

Zack quietly as best of his ability tip toed his way around the maze of papers towards the desk. The large grin adorned his face was a tall sign that he had some news he wanted to spread.

"Guess what, Sephiroth? Remember the cute chocobo Genesis brooded about a while back?" Zack whispered, his body trembling with excitement.

Sephiroth blinked. Of course he remembered, he thought of the mystery boy earlier this morning.

"What about him, Zachary?"

"He's in my class! He's one of my underlings, isn't that awesome?" Zack nearly danced in place.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Did you at least get a name, lieutenant?"

At Zack's slumped shoulders, the general knew that the answer was 'no'. The pup had probably been so excited that he forgot to do roll call.

"But…I cross referenced all of the names and photos of the class he was in." Zack suddenly perked up, grinning once more.

"So, spill it, what is his name?" Sephiroth furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, pray tell, what is the chocobo's name?" Genesis spoke, sitting up from the couch. "I've been doing nothing but keep an eye out for him, only to feel nothing but disappointment. This news the puppy brings has lifted my spirits."

At the sound of his voice, Zack nearly jumped. But upon the realization the red commander was not going to throw fireballs at him the lieutenant calmed down and managed a grin.

"The adorable chocobo is none other than Cloud Strife. He's so damn cute in person! I haven't spoken to him outside of class, for he left before I could catch him."

"Oh? Why would he leave in such a hurry? Could it be that he doesn't like the way you teach, puppy?" Genesis inquired in a teasing manner.

"Hey! I wasn't too bad, okay? He left with a friend of his that he stuck close to during class." Zack pouted.

"No matter, we got a name now. I suppose the director will call me in sometime within this week to verify the signature." Genesis shook his head.

"Are you satisfied now, Genesis, about finally having a name to the face that haunts you?" Sephiroth said coldly.

At the general's tone Zack gulped. The lieutenant stepped away from the desk and warily glanced at the red commander.

Genesis glared heatedly at the general. He looked about ready to throw Hell Firaga at Sephiroth.

"The question here, dear Sephiroth, is that are you the one satisfied to finally have a name?"

This time, it was the general's turn to glare at his friend.

=3=

Shado: Things are starting to heat up. And if this chapter seems short, I did what I could to make this as long as possible. But I had to end it here, for it was starting to become hard for me to continue from there on. And it'd make for a good cliffe hanger, so it seemed even more right to end the chapter like this.

So, thing's are progressing rather well so far for Cloud. He's got two more friends, and on the side lines Seph and Gen are taunting each other with Zack in the middle. But...I think something's missing. Next chapter will cover that missing something. Or at least a part of it. I'd love to see if anyone manages to guess right as to what the missing something is xD

And one question, did I do all right with Reno and Rude? I can sort of get a good idea as to how Reno would act and do, but I still have some trouble. And Rude...well, I feel that I failed miserably with him.

So, without further ado please click the lovely review button.