Disclaimer: I beg you, Masashi Kishimoto, who lives somewhere in the universe. I desire and plead from my heart, give me the rights to Naruto. Damn, it didn't work. Guess I'll try again next time, but until I succeed, I don't own jack.

Shinobi of Zero

Chapter 2: Handed on a plate

"W-what?" Naruto asked, at a loss for words. At that moment, he was hoping that he had just misheard what Louise had just said.

"You heard me right, familiar. You'll do my laundry, or else… no food tomorrow," Louise tried to look down at the blond and look intimidating, yet with such a petite look, it was nearly impossible to do so.

Naruto wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed, annoyed, or angry at the fact that a small teenage girl is asking him to wash her and dress her up every day from now on while standing half naked in front of him.

"I warn you," the pink-haired girl insisted, and wiggled her index finger near Naruto's face, almost as if he was some sort of pet.

"Fine, master," Naruto said, clearly showing the last word with an unusual high amount of sarcasm.

The girl raised her head even further and closed her eyes in satisfaction, "That's much better," she said as she settled into her large bed.

"So this is where I'll sleep. Looks nice enough," the blond said as he patted Louise's bed, prompting her to smack it across.

"W-what are you doing, familiar? Who do you think you are?" Louise nearly screamed as she gave him a look that resembled how someone looks at a pet when it makes a mistake.

Louise gestured towards some hay thrown on the floor. Naruto was getting absolutely livid at what Louise thought he would oblige in sleeping. 'I'll play along for some time,' he thought as he laid down on something that really wasn't any more comfortable than laying on concrete.

Louise had explained, somewhat, where he had truly gotten himself into. Naruto still couldn't help make any sense of it, so for now, he thought a good course of action would be to inspect and gather information about simple things such as leaders of the country, culture, and most importantly, a way back. Though before that, he also needed a plan as to how he could possibly defeat the monstrous powerhouse that is Kaguya.

As the thoughts slowly kept coming in and out, his eyes went shut. Unknowingly, he finally slept for the first time in a week.

XxX

The time seemingly came to a halt, as Naruto now lay on a small puddle near the massive opened gates. Opening his eyes, he saw what he already knew, yet was too afraid to confront.

Kurama was no longer here. In the battle against Kaguya, he used what he deemed to call "Baryon Mode." Or more accurately, Kurama was the one who used it, which made Naruto rival Kaguya in strength for some time, yet the short-lived time wasn't enough.

Maybe if it lasted longer, he could've done more, or maybe not. The idea of everyone dying beside him, as he continued to live on, tore Naruto's heart.

Nobody wanted to die, but he'd rather die a warrior's death than be saved by everyone dying in the process.

There was nowhere to go or hide. He had failed.

Tears of frustration started dropping on the brown-looking puddle as Naruto gripped his fist, making blood pour through it.

"I'll fix it. I'll fix it all," he thought to himself as he almost saw and felt his comrades stand beside him, watching him cry to himself.

XxX

To wake him up, he felt a light sensation gently touching his stomach. However, as he opened his eyes, it wasn't intended for him to feel just a gentle touch since Louise was trying her best to make him feel pain.

"Why didn't you wake me up? Why didn't you clean my clothes? Why didn't you—" Before she finished her sentence, Naruto placed his palm on her face to quiet her.

A yawn escaped Naruto, and amidst it, he said, "I've had a few rough weeks. I can't remember when was the last time I slept."

Louise, however, wasn't entirely satisfied with the answer. She moved away from Naruto, and to his annoyance, continued ranting, "You're not getting any food. And if you continue to act like that, I'll take the hay away too!"

"Fine, fine," he said as he stood up, but he was halted as Louise placed her palm on his stomach, gesturing him to stop.

"Do you think it's okay to walk in… that?" she said, pointing to Naruto's torn clothing. She sighed, "I'll get you something to wear today. I can't let my familiar walk in clothes that even plebians wouldn't wear. Let's go."

XxX

When she said 'let's go', Naruto imagined they'd go somewhere together, but he was wrong. "Wait here. As I've said, you're not getting any food tonight," she declared.

Naruto just now realized how hungry he was as he saw Louise entering the cafeteria where he saw many people eating breakfast. "What have I gotten myself into?" he thought aloud.

Then, he turned his attention to the numerous animal and monster-like creatures around him. Even in his own world, beings like these would be weird. A headless chicken, dragon, salamander, some sort of huge brown mole creature, and so many more were standing or lying on the ground outside.

Some students were sitting and eating outside with their familiars. They appeared a few years older than Louise, yet he couldn't know for sure since she herself looked like she could be 13, and not 16 as she claimed to be.

A woman in a black and white maid uniform with bluish-black hair was the one serving the food, doing everything with maximum efficiency, but still hurrying to the kitchen, almost running to get it done quickly enough.

'Might as well help someone. Don't have anything to do anyway,' Naruto thought as he came closer to her and greeted her with a wave, which made her eyes widen in curiosity.

"Wouldn't you be Miss Vallière's familiar?" she asked as Naruto approached.

"I guess you could call me that. But I'd prefer to be known as Uzumaki Naruto," the blond said, and he heard her name, Siesta, soon after.

The girl was pondering at that moment why he had come to her, and noticing her confusion, Naruto clarified, "I don't have much to do and I see you're very busy. How about I help you?"

The girl was a bit taken aback by it. "Help me? Why?" she asked, to which Naruto simply responded with a smile and a thumbs up.

"Because that's what a good person would do," he stated. Siesta then explained the simple tasks at hand, and Naruto was more than happy to help.

As he entered the kitchen to pick up the food, he suddenly realized that he hadn't yet revealed his true powers to anyone. Based on his observations, it didn't appear that anyone was posed any danger or had the strength to challenge him. Nevertheless, he deemed it was wiser to hold back and not draw attention to himself.

A piece of black chocolate brown was the first dish he had to serve. 'Maybe just a part of it,' the blond thought as saliva began pouring onto the floor.

He grasped a knife and delicately sliced a part of it, and then slid it into his mouth. Part of him wanted to continue, but he didn't think Siesta would be very happy with him eating the food he didn't own, especially not all of it.

Going outside, Siesta gestured towards a blond man and another equally blonde girl, making Naruto's hair look not so different in contrast.

Approaching them, he couldn't help but overhear some rather cringe-worthy bragging, and an accent that made Naruto cringe inwardly. A plate was then placed on the table, and the simple idea of helping someone in need put a smile on Naruto's face.

However, the blond man in the school uniform scornful scoff, "Did you, a mere plebeian, dared to eat a portion of this?" His offence irrationally getting bigger at such a small problem, as he carried on with his tirade, "You better know your place, plebeian!"

Naruto had reached his limits. There was only a certain amount of insults he could tolerate in a single day. "All I've been hearing is 'plebeian' this, 'plebian' that, in here. As far as I can see, you're all made from the same cloth, albeit the plebeians are a bit nicer," he said, raising both his hands to his neck.

Guiche's temper had reached a boiling point, pushing him to the brink. He stood up flamboyantly and announced, "Apologize now, or accept a duel against me, you coward!"

Being labeled as a plebeian might not have stung Naruto, but being branded as a coward was a label he had never anticipated, and wasn't happy to wear.

"What kind of challenge? I don't think a tea-drinking contest counts as a duel here, so your chances are low," Naruto grinned.

The flamboyant boy then shook his rose, pointing at Naruto. "So a duel it is. You'll regret it for your entire plebeian life! I'll wait for you at Vestry field!"

Naruto was enjoying himself far too much, and he didn't manage to notice the student group forming around the two of them. Really, he didn't believe for a second that such a weak-minded person could ever be any significant threat to anyone but himself.

"What do you think you're doing?" Louise angrily said as she took his right hand and started dragging Naruto.

Naruto arched an eyebrow but allowed himself be pulled by her. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked in confusion.

"Guiche is not someone to be messed with! He's an aristocrat, like me," she attempted to persuade Naruto, to no avail of fear or any emotion coming from him.

"So, you're taking me to the Vestry field," the man with whisker marks asked, to which Louise nodded while tugging him along. 'Very well,' he thought, and he began walking with a swifter pace, eventually taking the lead in front of Louise.

XxX

A crowd had gathered at Vestry field, a location near the school's entrance, surrounding the eccentric blond man with a rose in his mouth.

Guiche mused to herself, "I wonder if the plebeian will actually accept the challenge." Her words made Siesta give her a glance, instilling slight fear for the man's life.

'Please, for the love of god, apologize,' the brunette muttered to herself in hope.

However, luck wasn't on her side, and Naruto came with a full intention of seeing what people in Tristainia could do. Or, at the very least, what arrogant, flamboyant men here could do against him.

"Well, let's get it started," Naruto grinned, and now Louise had reached her own breaking point.

"T-the hell are you doing?" she stammered, realizing what Naruto really intended to do.

The blond just gave the girl a quick glance before placing his eyes on his opponent. "Don't worry that much. It's just a duel, after all. I won't do anything too bad to him," he tried reassuring her with sarcasm, a thing Louise didn't pick up on, and she went to Guiche to try to persuade him.

"Duels are prohibited!" she tried reasoning, but Guiche was having none of it.

"Not against plebeians," he informed and gestured to Naruto, who was now wearing an even larger grin than before. "The duel starts now," he said as he made circles with his rose, chanting something, and from the ground seemingly arose a metal warrior. The being was entirely made out of bronze, except for the white feather wings on its head, which looked like they served no purpose but to make him look more flamboyant. The warrior itself had little to no torso, yet the armor on his shoulders were massive. On the lower part of his body, he wore a short white cloak-like thing that had some red at its end.

"I hope you have fun with my Bronze Golem Valkyrie!" he said grinning as he pointed his rose at Naruto, making the Golem attack as ordered.

As the punch came forward, Naruto avoided it so easily that he couldn't help but grumble inside. 'That's it?' he thought to himself as another punch came, and just as swiftly he avoided it. Then, he decided to let himself get hit in order to feel some pain. 'Huh, I still hadn't tried that. Maybe it will wake me up from this dream,' he thought as the punch hit his stomach, not moving him in the slightest.

"W-whoa," Louise, who now looked from a distance away, exclaimed her thoughts aloud. She hadn't known what to expect or what use a plebeian could provide.

Kirche was now at odds. Maybe Louise didn't have it that bad with her familiar, but she refrained from saying it out loud.

Each punch kept missing, and while it was fun to play around, he had more interesting things to do, well, not really, but it was getting more boring to him each time he missed.

Then, just as swiftly as he avoided the attacks, he landed a punch, completely destroying the Golem in one hit. "Underwhelming…" he muttered aloud.

"W-what?" the blond stammered before a scowl appeared on his face, prompting him to summon more warriors instead.

'Two can play at this game,' Naruto thought as he performed his iconic jutsu, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"

Out of a cloud of smoke, four exact replicas of Naruto appeared, each standing and grinning at Guiche, which made him gape. In fact, it made most people's mouths go wide open, and even Tabitha, a quiet girl with short blue hair, stopped reading a book, something she hadn't done all day.

The clones quickly made work of the guardians, each defeated with one punch. 'Enough games,' the real Naruto thought as he approached Guiche and delivered a right hook to his stomach, making him fall to the ground and creating a small crater around him.

A hit far too strong for anyone here to take resulted in the boy spewing a huge amount of blood from his mouth, his eyes letting out a few tears in the process.

"You can use magic?" Louise questioned, her eyes wide in surprise at whatever had just transpired here.

"Guiche!" A blond woman came running to the now unconscious boy, glancing at Naruto who now stopped grinning, realizing he went too far. This is not Kaguya or Madara he's fighting; it's just a teenager.

"H-he's…" the blond woman with curly hair said as she placed her head on his chest, and luckily, just a sigh came from him. "Alive."

A sigh escaped Naruto, but he didn't feel like apologizing. The guy was certainly ready to give Naruto a beating of a similarly extreme level, so Naruto had little empathy for the smug man.

Students' reactions varied, most of which had a mix of surprise and fear. 'What kind of monster does Louise have at her disposal?'

As the pink girl came closer, she was now having doubts about herself. Could her harshness backfire, as she found out that the familiar was incredibly powerful and didn't seem to follow her orders.

"Sorry, Siesta. Made a bit of a mess that your friends or you will have to fix," Naruto surprisingly apologized to the servant, and not to the aristocrat lying on the ground.

"N-no problem, Naruto," the girl said, and for seemingly no good reason to Naruto, bowed to him, which made him raise an eyebrow.

Louise kept glancing at Naruto and Siesta, now suspecting and inventing scenarios in her mind. 'Is he really even my familiar? How could I have summoned him?'

Then, to her surprise, Naruto looked at her with a smile, seeming to be in a far better and happier state than he was yesterday as he released some of the steam he had held for a while. "Let's go, Louise. I wonder what kind of clothes I'll get here," he said as he put his finger through a hole in his pants.

"Y-yes, let's get you some proper clothes," Louise, in a situation she'd never expected to find herself in, was now afraid of her familiar.

My memory is a bit rusty when it comes to Familiar of Zero, so there's probably a handful of important plot points I've forgotten.

Never forget to leave a review! It helps motivate me to continue this story :) Hope this chapter was enjoyable enough.