Author's note: an update, at last! thanks again to darkness of the blue moon-for sticking around. :) this would have been up sooner if i didn't keep having troubles with logging in. happy valentine's anyone?

Chapter 7

The Strategic and Hasty Retreat of Class 2F

While Shimada Minami was cutting off her arms and legs in an attempt to strategically retreat from the main force of Class E, Kinoshita Hideyoshi was having the time of his life, hacking his way through what remained in their classroom. Similarly, his men were having their own grand time, ganging up on the enemy left in the battlefield.

They all had marched into the battlefield thinking themselves dead men, but resolved into holding out until reinforcements came. It was an appeal to their nobler side, Hideyoshi surmised, as most of them were males, and somehow, the idea of being the frontliners—the brave warriors who faced death without trembling—was alluring. Imagine their surprise then to find the wing almost empty, save for a few cocky E students, who merely smirked and launched a cumulative History scores battle.

At that, Hideyoshi snorted. Having a cumulative History scores battle was his lucky break, turning over the tide of the battle. With one swipe of his avatar's naginata, half of their enemies were eliminated. The rest were being taken care of by his squad's combined efforts.

The thundering footfalls of retreating comrades made Kinoshita Hideyoshi look up from his latest killing. His eyes widened at the sight of less than twenty of his classmates—what remains of Shimada Minami's forces—rushing towards him. The self-proclaimed math wizard was at the helm, leading her troops. Towards him. With an army of what looked to him like hellhounds.

Panic rushed through Hideyoshi's spine. "What are you doing?" He cried to the Minami when she got nearer. "You're not supposed to be here!"

"And we're not supposed to be fighting the president!" Was Minami's reply.

"Stay back!" Hideyoshi cried, not caring for Minami's retort. Or the fact that, had the plan gone through, he would've been the one dancing around Nakabayashi Hiromi. "Don't go any nearer! You'll mess up my battle sphere!"

His words were all for naught. The first group fell back at an alarming speed, as Class E's top students advanced relentlessly, preying on the wounded. More and more of Class F's students fell, prolonging the list of those who would join in on Morino Ibiki – sensei's 'Detention from Hell'. Soon, the two battle spheres collided.

All hell broke loose. The moment the two spheres overlapped, Nakabayashi's group turned to Hideyoshi's. A loud battle cry rang, coming from Class E. To the wounded underdogs, it was like the call of Morrigan.

In the midst of the battle, Hideyoshi found himself back – to – back with Minami. "This is not working," he cried desperately, slashing at another enemy who came from nowhere. His quick victory had, in the blink of an eye, dissolved into an all – out melee, confounded by the convergence of the battle spheres. Now there was no way to know who he was targeting; he was finding himself getting almost – fatal wounds from the cumulative test score students. More and more of his men were falling as their HPs drastically decreased with a single swipe from the enemies.

"Thank you so much, Captain Obvious," Minami snapped. She too was tiring easily, and though her HP was still in the green, she knew it would run out quickly. 'There had to be a way to turn the tide,' she thought desperately.

"I'm running out of HP," Hideyoshi grumbled. "This school should've devised some battle items, like potions, like in real MMOs."

"That's it," Minami cried ecstatically. "You are a genius!"

"What? What did I say?" Hideyoshi asked as he was forced to dodge an incoming bullet. It grazed his side, costing him 45 HP. His HP bar blinked an angry red.

Minami did not bother replying. Her eyes roamed the crowded corridor, calculating distances and risks, looking for possible routes. The battle had now advanced to F Wing. They were halfway through the long corridor, about two hundred meters from the classroom. But before they reached the classroom—

"Everyone," Minami shouted, her voice a loud herald, "fall back! Fall back!"

"Are you crazy?" One student asked. "If these bastards reach the classroom, we're all dead meat!"

Minami's mouth tightened. "We'll get reinforcements from the third group stationed outside the classrooms!" Discreetly, she composed a group message. Ppl wit red HP, take supplmntal xam!

And with that, she turned on her heel and ran for her life.

The classroom was dead quiet. And boring, Naruto decided for the umpteenth time. He had just taken a peek at his classmates standing guard outside, and they were all standing tense and constipated – like, in his opinion. Looking at them hurt his eyes, and so he resigned himself to enduring Shikamaru's boring company. Who knew these wars took this long? The last war he had witnessed, he had been an unknowing participant, and that was like, two minutes at most. He had been an innocent passer-by, wondering (quite stupidly, he had to admit to himself), why there was such a ruckus in the hallway, when he caught sight of an avatar flying straight to his own. The next second, he felt the pack of a solid punch. Of course he had to retaliate, his avatar punching the perpetuator straight in the face. The poor fellow was out like a baby the next second.

And that was that. He didn't understand it himself, and he couldn't be bothered with Shikamaru's winded tactical explanations. All he gathered was that poor fellow was named Hyuuga Neji, and he had been the Prince of Konoha Academy before he got the daylight knocked out of him. That part when Shikamaru spouted something about punishments and inspectors, he tuned out. Who the hell cared about punishments, anyway? So long as it wasn't with Morino Ibiki and his scarred, ugly mug, Naruto didn't care.

Naruto watched as Shikamaru played another round of chess. That was another thing he did not understand. How could Shikamaru stomach all those pieces with different moves? And the most baffling of all, how could Shikamaru remember which moves which?

His musings were interrupted by a nervous classmate. "We've sighted Group A and B," he reported. "They're heading here fast."

Shikamaru did not even bother to look up from his game. "Brace yourself, Naruto," he said absently. He moved a black knight. He moved two white pieces as well, smiling predatorily as the lines of power on the board matched his strategy. "It's time for the next stage."

Shimada Minami sent a prayer of heartfelt gratitude to the gods of her ancestors as her feet touched F Wing's technical room. Like all the wings in the classroom, 2F had a technical room, which served as a supplemental examination room during any summons war. In battlespeak, it was like a sanctuary, a place where one may replenish health points. Supplemental tests were the potions Hideyoshi wished for. They meant a huge databank of test questions in every conceivable subject—one merely had to specify which subject to take, shade the proper circle in the answer sheet, feed the sheet into the scanner, and voila! Instant HP.

Quickly, Minami headed to an available seat and requested another supplemental test for Geometry. She was impatient to return to the field, and desperately hoped the third group could hold off the attack while she took her test. She had a score to settle with Nakabayashi Hiromi, she decided grimly as she glanced at the rows. Wasting no time, Minami grabbed and completed hers, only looking up when she felt her HP bar was sufficiently full.

At the moment, the technical room was filled with F students who had managed to escape the melee.

Her eyes widened when they landed on the third row. There sat Haruno Sakura, slowly and methodically working her way through piles of test papers. Beside her was a stack of filled answer sheets, waiting to be scanned. Her avatar flashed nearby, displaying her scores.

At that point, Minami could not decide whether the sharp pang of envy she felt was due to the avatar, or the way the scores climbed up. Compared to Haruno Sakura's, her own avatar, clad in a blue naval military uniform and holding a saber, looked shabby and tacky. And Minami while could only dream of an HP reaching four digits, the pink-haired princess' HP was already on 1245, and steadily increasing.

"What the hell is that," she murmured as the supervising faculty handed her the questionnaire and answer sheet.

"That," came the reply, "is Haruno Sakura taking all the past examinations. Now mind your own business."

"Oi."

No response.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

Poke.

"Oi, Shikamaru, don't you go ignorin' me!"

Silence.

Poke. Poke.

"Shi-ka-ma-ru!" he yelled vigorously poking the class president.

The lazy genius let out an irate sigh. "What now, Naruto?"

"It sounds as if they're all getting pulverized outside. Aren't ya worried?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I have you."

Naruto's ego inflated. "Well of course there's that. Ha! Those idiots have no chance against the great Naruto – sama! Believe it!"

Shikamaru snorted. "So says the Ultimate Idiot."

"Hey!"

"Relax, I meant it as a compliment, Naruto," Shikamaru chuckled.

"You did?"

"Well, in a way, yes." Shikamaru glanced cursorily at the closed doors. The sound of battle was intensifying; it was getting nearer and nearer the climax. "You see, you are very special, Naruto."

Blue eyes widened, sparkled with anticipation. "I am?"

"Of course you are. Even the deadlast deserves recognition, yes? But you won't comprehend how special you are even if I make you read the entire student manual." Shikamaru shook his head. "It's too troublesome anyway. So let's put it like this, Naruto. You are the Punishment Inspector."

"Where'd I hear that before, I wonder," Naruto said, his countenance contemplative.

"From me, you idiot," Shikamaru replied exasperatedly. "I told you about that when you asked how Uchiha Sasuke won that freshman summons war, remember?"

"Ah, I remember now! But I still don't understand anythin' ya said 'bout that."

"And that is why you're an idiot, Naruto."

"What's great about this inspector thingy, anyway?"

"Listen well, Naruto," Shikamaru tore his gaze away from the chessboard and regarded the blonde solemnly. "In this school, there are three students given special statuses. The first one is the Prince, whom you already know of."

Naruto's fists clenched tightly. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Yeah, well, basically, the Prince is determined not by succession, but by victory in war. Whoever defeats the current Prince earns the title, and automatically receives privileges, including becoming elected president of the Student Council—"

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto interrupted, "I'm not interested in that teme. What about the inspector thingy?"

"The Punishment Inspector," Shikamaru explained, glaring at Naruto as he did, "is the title given to the idiot who has the worst grades among the students in any given level. As the Punishment Inspector, you have the ability to touch corporeal objects. Your HP, ATK and DEF are determined by your physical strength, and not by your scores. Of course you have the disadvantage of receiving feedback, so any damage taken by your avatar would be transmitted to you."

"I really don't get what you're saying," Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "But does that mean I can win against that Uchiha teme?"

Shikamaru sighed. "If we play our cards right, yes, you just might. Anyway, the third—"

"That's all I need to hear." Naruto grinned ferally.

At that exact moment, the door opened, and in marched Nakabayashi Hiromi. She marched inside, flanked by roughed – up – but – still – tough lackeys. "Well, if it isn't the idiot class's president and the idiot of idiots."

Naginata – a variety of traditional Japanese sword shaped as a pole weapon. It is made up of a wooden shaft with a curved blade on the end, like a glaive. The blade, crafted in the same manner as a traditional Japanese sword, is usually 30 to 60 cm long, while the shaft ranges from 120 to 240 cm in length, and is oval – shaped.

and all this i got from wikipedia. please review if you have the time. :)