Because I have little time, I am stuck writing an Akame ga Kill fanfiction watching Naruto fillers, instead of writing a Naruto one-shot, for Naruto's birthday. Anyway, Happy Birthday Naruto! This chapter is in your honor, since you are the first anime character I could truly connect with. :)

Oh yeah, and just like in last chapter, there is a movie line in here. See if you can catch it.

The sophomores of Night Raid sat in their favorite (italics hint sarcasm) class, Driver's Ed. Their teacher, Ms. FancyNancy (not the red-head we fell in love with in 1st grade and then forgot about the next day) had spent the first week educating the students about how teenagers did not have fully developed decision-making parts of the brain, and was therefore an excuse for why they got into accidents all the time. Tatsumi noticed Akame clutching her arm every time this subject was brought up. Leone explained to him that what he had witnessed a habit that the red-eyed girl developed when she was upset or thoughtful.

So, when Ms. FancyNancy decided to put on a movie about graphic car crashes, Leone and Tatsumi looked toward Akame, towards each other, and nodded. "DOUBLE EAR COVER!" they screamed, each covering one of Akame's ears. Lubbock even dived across the desk, blocking Akame's view of the screen, for extra assurance.

"What… the heck…?" asked Ms. FancyNancy after a moment of contemplating why her students were so abnormal. (which was really quite futile)

"We actually care about our friend's emotional wellbeing and don't want to her to see or hear anything that upsets her," answered Lubbock, trying to reach behind him to grab Akame's boob.

"Yeah, I think she might be sensitive to this stuff," Tatsumi added, slapping away Lubbock's hand away. "Can't she leave the room?"

"Yes, but only if she gets upset by the video," the teacher replied. "It's very important to watch things that make you nervous about driving so that you can be even more nervous while driving and have a higher chance of getting in an accident."

"That made no sense!"

"Guys, I'm fine," Akame finally spoke up.

"Oh, do not play that card with me, missy!" exclaimed Leone. "Your best friends are going to protect you, and you're going to deal with it!" When Lubbock's hand came near Akame's breast again, the blonde immediately grabbed it and bent it the other way. "Physically as well as emotionally," she added.

"I would accept their help," Mine advised. Tatsumi stared at the pink-haired girl, whose usually only spoke insults, amazed that she wanted Akame to be helped. She then blushed and turned away quickly. "It's not because I care," she lied, "but it's rare to find people who would go H.A.M. if their friends were upset."

"Yeah, how many people do you know like that?" an unnamed student asked in agreement.

"I heard the quarterback of Fairy Tail High, Natsu Dragneel, pounded a kid for making his friend Erza cry," a blonde-haired boy named Run informed.

"Oh my god, we are getting too off-topic!" shouted Ms. FancyNancy. "This isn't Fairy Tail High; this is AP Academy! Now watch the intense and graphic video about people's friends dying!"

"Yay..." said the class in sarcasm.

During the video, a blue-haired boy named Wave kept looking at Akame. I don't know what Kurome has against her sister, but she doesn't seem too bad, he thought to himself. Although, I have to admit that Esdeath was right; Night Raid IS pretty disruptive. I'll have to tell her what happened...

After class, Run pulled Wave aside. "Do you get the idea of the kind of people we need to report to authorities?" he asked his new dorm member.

"Yeah," Wave answered. "But... I mean, sure they're disruptive, but that was only to protect their friend."

"I know, but we have to do what Esdeath says. And, considering what happened last year, I'm surprised no one started anything with us yet."

"Why? What happened last year?" Run hesitated. He shook his head and explained that he would say when the time came.

"First test! First test!" Leone exclaimed, running around the dorm. "First test of the year, people!"

"I thought you guys had a test already," said Freddy.

"Nope," Lubbock informed. "We had plenty of quizzes, but no tests yet."

"Freddy and I have our first test in English tomorrow, too," informed Sam, looking up from her Epic of Gilgamesh book. "What subject is your test in?"

"Psychology!" replied Leone in a sing-song voice.

"Cool! I wish I was taking that class!"

"Don't you say that!" Tatsumi suddenly shouted. "Don't you dare say that!" He began to shake Sam by the shoulders. "You stay a freshman as long as you can! And cherish it! You got to cherish it..."

"Alright, alright! Jesus!" Sam exclaimed, pulling away. "What the Oz has gotten into you?!" (Sam liked the play Wicked and used "Oz" or "Shiz University" in place of bad words.)

"I'm sorry, okay?! I'm just stressed!"

"Why don't you just do what I do and suck it up?" Mine told him bitterly.

Sheele entered the room in a fog, oblivious to the conversation. Instead, she noticed Mine's tone. "What's wrong?" she asked gently.

"Well, I happened to be in front of the poster saying that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And people started asking me if I was supposed to be the Walking Breast Cancer Ribbon."

"Okay, tell me who said it," Sam demanded.

"Why?"

"So I can throw them through a wall, duh! You think I'll let someone get away with insulting my friend?!"

"Since when were we friends?"

"Um... since, like, 3 seconds ago." Mine was silent for a moment, mildly shocked, before turning away with her signature "Hmph!"

Leone tried to get back on topic by giving Tatsumi some tips on how to do well on his first test. However, she also told him that most kids in AP Academy dropped out after their first test. This made Tatsumi nervous, but at the same time, he was determined to prove himself to his fellow dorm members, especially to Akame, who caught her two dorm members still studying at 10:00 at night.

After getting the last question on his study guide right, Tatsumi cheered. "See, Akame?" he asked the girl as she continued to look over him with her normal expression. "I'm prepared for my first test! I'll ace it without a problem!"

"I can't acknowledge your capabilities until grades are posted next week," the red-eyed girl replied seriously. "If you get cocky now... you're going to fail and drop out."

"WHAAAT?!" The brown-haired boy was now in a panic as Akame walked away to go back to her room. Leone bit her lip, knowing why her friend was acting like this, as Tatsumi tried following her. "I'm not going to drop out just because I fail one test!" he called after her as she ignored him and slammed the door in his face. "Hey, I wasn't done talking to you!"

"Tatsumi, leave her alone," Leone ordered. "She's upset enough as it is." The boy calmed down and turned to the blonde. "Upset? Why?" he asked.

"I can't say."

"Why do you people refuse to say why she's emo?!"

"She's not emo; she's depressed! There's a difference!"

"Well, why?!"

Leone sighed and told the story, "When Akame was a freshman, she was originally part of a dorm called Empire. She had a strong bond with everyone there. There were a couple of incidents, and to make a long story short, all of her dorm members dropped out within the first semester. She was devastated, and... she even felt so upset that... she..." Her voice caught in her throat.

"Lubbock told me the rest," Tatsumi cut in to save Leone from getting upset. "But... she's alright now, right? She hasn't attempted suicide since?"

"No, thank goodness. But... even though she seems emotionless, every second of the day, she's worried the same thing will happen with us."

Tatsumi bit his lip and stared at the floor. Maybe I was a little harsh back there... he thought to himself. Okay, I was a LOT harsh. Hopefully, there's a way I can make it up...

"Alright, what are you still doing up?" Leone asked playfully, giving Tatsumi a gentle slap upside the head. "Get to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow."

The next morning, at lunch, Tatsumi and Leone were doing some last minute studying before their psych test next period. Once the bell rang, they, along with Lubbock and Mine, felt confident they were ready. "Well, wish me luck!" Tatsumi exclaimed, waving to his fellow dorm members. This was intended as a farewell, but also as a friendly gesture to Akame, who didn't seemed to react at all. The word FAIL rang loudly in his head.

Tatsumi had the feeling he did well on his test, but he had to wait until the week after to see his results. Until then, he kept busy with his numerous homework assignments. He even witnessed what happened when you tried to borrow Sheele's scissors; poor Freddy was chased by Sheele out the door and about a block away. Luckily, the purple-haired girl forgot why she was chasing the freshman, and they came back into the dorm as best buddies.

(to be read in SpongeBob narrator voice) One week later...

The members of Night Raid stood outside the door of the principle's office, where grades on the first tests were posted. A grin came on all of their faces (well, except Akame's, although she was pleased) when they saw that they passed. "Hey, Akame! Check this out!" Tatsumi told his dorm member, pointing to his name. "This said I have a 92! Not bad, right? I passed!"

At first, the girl's red eyes gazed blankly at the paper, and then back at Tatsumi. Then, to everyone's surprise, Akame's lips curled into a small smile, and a blush came to her cheeks. "I agree. You did well," she complimented, extending her hand.

Tatsumi could only stare in shock. After several moments, he smiled, blushed, and grabbed her hand. "Thanks," he said, shaking hands with his dorm member.

"Just promise me you'll keep doing well... Tatsumi."

"Yeah! So long as we can be friends... Akame."

"OOOOOH!" exclaimed the rest of Night Raid, suspecting that Tatsumi had more than friendship on his mind.

"WHAT'S WITH ALL OF YOU?!" Tatsumi was now embarrassed and threw a nearby pencil at them.

To clear the tension, Najenda informed the group, "It's October 10th, Naruto's birthday. You guys want me to set up my Crunchyroll so we can watch the Pain battle?"

"Sure!" everyone shouted in agreement.

Okay, so I just heard the new opening of Naruto Shippuden... and I just know it's going to be the last one... I may have cried a little bit. Screw these fillers.