Unlimited Courage Chapter 9: Dealing With Dummies, a Naruto + Freezing/フリージング Crossover fanfic

So, I've been meaning to answer this question for a while but kept forgetting.

No, Naruto is not getting his world's Eight Gates. That was never a possibility no matter what, I don't like double-dipping with characters powers like that if I can help it. I've got a whole different idea for the chakras

I'm sorry for any who noticed my slip-up last chapter with listing 'Naruto' under the big three in the Freezing-verse

~NRK~

Monday morning, Naruto stretched as he and the others were released from the medical wing.

In that time, confusingly enough, it seemed to have gotten out that they had their fight and the result.

So when the group left the wing, they were mobbed by students of all grades.

"Y-You beat them?!"

"Hell yes, that's one for the Limiters!"

"C-Can my Limiter do that?!"

More of such things came and went but, the most asked question was such.

"Are you going to fight the Top 3?"

Naruto's face had gone pale at the question as Ticy snorted, Elizabeth smiled, and Chiffon… Chiffon smiled.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. Is this the end of your conquest?" She asked innocently but Naruto could see the excitement behind that smile. "Why, I'd be honored to take your challenge~"

Eugene snickered.

"Hmph, it would be interesting to experience the Naruto Uzumaki," Elizabeth said with a smile as Naruto's skin drained of more color as the No.2 smiled. "Sounds grand."

Andre snorted.

"... Taking him down a peg would be interesting," Ticy said with a conflicted expression as Abel was dying in the background. "Hmm… interesting."

"No, no, no! That's not happening!" Naruto declared with a choke. "Things are fine, we're fine, they're fine-"

"Oh, we're fine now, are we-"

"Chiffon, for the love of God, don't do this!"

"That sounds like a threat."

"... Do not take what she says at face value. Nothing's happening," Naruto said, a haunted look on his face that got snickers out of Genessa and Arnette. "Things are fine, God help me if they're not."

Many looked… disappointed?!

"You all are some real assholes, you know that?!"

~NRK~

Now dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, blue ninja sandals, and a black shirt with his pendants around his neck. He turned to Rana, the young woman humming as they looked at the third-year dormitory.

Dressed in a black tube top with white borders, she wore her combat outfit's pants while wearing his black ninja sandals… No, you heard him right.

He'd looked this up and had learned that girlfriends normally stole their boyfriend's clothes but his shoes, too?!

Her hair was set in a side ponytail with the Tibetan's head framed by two, thick, chin-length bangs that were tied at the ends by orange strings.

"This is the first time I'm seeing it up close-de arimasu," she said in awe. "I-It's bigger than the second-year dorms!"

"Yeah, I came by here earlier to talk to Attia-senpai," Naruto explained before gesturing to the doors, the two of them walking in. "Be careful, though, the girls here… hoo boy," he blushed and Rana's eyebrow ticked. "T-They don't think about it and sometimes-"

"Hey, who's got some conditioner?!" Came a girl's call as she walked right past the duo, in nothing more than a towel, knocking on the doors in the dormitory. "Dammit! I knew I should have bought some more Sunday!"

Naruto covered his face as Rana's cheeks reddened a bit.

"T-This is inappropriate!"

"I-I know there are many of them… b-but every damn floor?!" Naruto wailed with a red face as Rana led him out of the elevator into the floor they needed to be on, a cloth around his eyes. "What is with the women here?!"

'I'm thinking the same thing!' This was ridiculous?!

Fated ones existed! Who just walked a-around in nothing but a towel… in nothing but underwear?!

Rana blushed some more at the second floor they walked up the stairs to, having considered it better than taking the elevator… oh, what fools they had been.

They'd done it one more time before getting into the elevators with Naruto's 'protection' on.

The two blushing teens made it to Elizabeth's room with trepidation.

Rana knocked as Naruto stayed behind her, ducking just in case as he lifted his blindfold.

The door was answered by a, thankfully, fully-closed Elizabeth Mably who wore a light blue, tiered, dress and narwhal slippers.

She took one look at the slightly blushing duo and realized, two seconds later, with a blush, what had happened.

"A-Ah, apologies," she let them in, looking both ways down a hall. "I forget that last time, you came here with Ingrid. Ahem, apologies for my fellow third-years… they're usually more covered."

"R-Right," Naruto said as Rana pouted with crossed arms. "Everyone else here?"

"Yes, they're on the balcony," Elizabeth said as the two heard the voices of the others. "Come, it'll be nice to have this talk."

When the three walked through Elizabeth's room, Naruto and Rana grew confused at how lavish the whole place was.

"I'm starting to think this school's funding needs to be put into better places," Naruto said with a twitching brow as Elizabeth tapped her chin.

"It might, these walls are concrete, not the best."

"Please tell me you're messing with me."

"Don't worry, I'm well aware of how my status might affect my way of thinking," Elizabeth said with a chuckle as the three made it outside. "Naruto and Rana have arrived."

The two saw Kazuya and Satellizer who waved at them with Arnette while Creo nodded in acknowledgment. Garou was currently working out a kink in his Pandora's shoulder, Creo shuddering as he hit a spot while Abebe was sitting next to Arnette, waving shyly at his fellow blonde male.

Kazuya had dressed similarly to his fellow Freshman, that being some black jeans and a dress shirt, casual being the name of the game as he wore slippers as well.

Satellizer, meanwhile, dressed like she always did, that being, she dressed like the noblewoman she was in a white, shoulderless, summer dress with some white heels on.

Arnette was dressed like yesterday but in a short-sleeved white shirt while Abebe had on a simple white dress shirt and black slacks.

Garou wore a set of workout wear, that being a black muscle shirt, shorts, and sneakers while Creo was wearing a white t-shirt, gray shorts, and similar sneakers to her Limiter.

"Sup," Arnette said as the two came over and were seated at the table everyone else was at.

"Attia and Ingrid won't be coming, the former due to homework while the latter is doing as she is these days," Elizabeth explained and the two newcomers nodded. "Now, this morning, we're all here to simply talk about your stipulations."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked. "Uhh… right, you mean negotiations," Elizabeth smiled as Arnette and Creo snickered or chuckled. "And, well, I don't really want anything crazy. I'd really just want everyone to look into situations more thoroughly before making drastic decisions."

"Hmm, that's fair," Elizabeth noted with a grimace. "Perhaps, had such a thing taken place, we'd not be in this situation but that time has passed," she nodded. "Anything else?"

"Eh," Naruto shrugged. "I didn't come here to be impossible, I just want us all to help each other… hmm, actually," he raised a finger and Elizabeth urged him on. "Maybe it's just me but shouldn't the third-years interact with their underclassmen more?" He asked and the group blinked.

"... An interesting question," Creo said as Garou hummed. "And… well, when I think about it, probably?" She shrugged as her Limiter spoke.

"I believe he does have a point," Garou said. "I feel like helping over the past week has been… interesting," he chuckled. "Interacting with all the other Freshmen reminded me of when I was a Freshman… and you were this big," he said playfully with his hand at a size.

At a size that didn't make sense. "H-Hold on, what?!" Naruto said in disbelief along with his friend group as Creo blushed and the others laughed.

Arnette answered with a wide grin. "Ya see~ Creo over here used to look like a total kid last year, it's kind of terrifying," she said as she took out her phone, much to Creo's alarm.

"W-Wait! Why do you have that-!?"

"Ja ja~" Arnette showed the younger group and… they froze as Creo turned into smolders. "Meet Creo Brand~"

"S-She looks like an elementary schooler?!" Kazuya paled as he turned to Garou. "S-Senpai, h-how could you?"

"... W-Wait! Don't get that twisted!" Garou said in horror as the others shot him looks of worry and/or amusement. "It's not like that! I was helping her out by giving her a proper diet!"

Creo steamed from that as Rana raised a brow.

"Proper diet-de arimasu?" Rana wondered and Garou nodded with a fist of determination.

"She used to eat nothing but junk food!"

"Garou, that's enough!" Creo screeched at him as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah, apologies."

"So, as it turns out, this lug cooks for her often and he took my cute former roommate from me!" Arnette whined as Creo blushed and Garou rubbed the back of his head.

"A healthy diet is important," he offered and Naruto chuckled.

"I can get that… though I eat nothing but ramen, most times," the blonde Freshman said as Abebe nodded in determination.

"F-French toast and coffee is my kryptonite!"

"You two can't subsist off of junk food!" Garou started with his eyes shaded by the sun, getting two flinching blondes for his trouble. "You'll never grow up!"

"Who are you aiming that at?!" Creo realized with alarm and red cheeks. "What kind of words are those?!"

"The truth!"

"H-Hue?!" She flinched back with a cough as Elizabeth giggled a bit, a knock on the door telling her who it is.

"It's open, Andre!" She called out and the door opened to reveal the Frenchman in his bear pajamas. "It's so cute today!" Elizabeth gushed as he coughed.

"I-I might have forgotten to change out of them… again."

"It's perfect!" She said with a thumbs-up and stars in her eyes, causing the others to chuckle.

"I guess even Elizabeth-senpai has this side to her," he said while Satellizer nodded.

"Naruto, what did you have in mind?" She wondered as Naruto hummed, leaning back in his seat, balancing on the back chair legs perfectly. "... H-Ha, ha?"

"Hmm, well, why not do something once a week like my training sessions?" Naruto suggested and Kazuya considered it before smiling.

"M-Maybe like a little competition? Possibly sports? Everyone can understand a few sports!" Kazuya said and his blonde friend grinned.

"Sounds perfect!" Naruto said as he brought his chain down gently. "What do you think, Elizabeth-se-"

The sounds of numerous flashes gained the group's attention and they turned only to sweatdrop at a thoroughly embarrassed Andre getting pictures taken of him by his Pandora.

"P-Please stop."

"One more!"

~NRK~

"So, you've all defeated our upperclassmen, where do you go from here?" Kaho asked her friends as their fourth class ended, the four getting up. "Anywhere else but up?"

"Well, we do have that Dummy Test we're doing Wednesday," Naruto said. "We'll get to try out against a 60% Nova! It's gonna be good to see where we stand."

"Well, I think it'll be interesting. I also still need to call my grandfather," Kazuya said with a small chuckle. "Not sure how that'll go, though."

"Well, like I said, don't put yourself too out just to help, I appreciate the support, Kazu," Naruto said as they left towards lunch. "And, speaking of calling relatives, me and Rana are gonna talk to my parents tonight, again. Maybe they'll have some ideas on both what's going on with me and Rana and for me going forward."

They traversed the halls before finding themselves in the food hall. "Hmm… Things have gotten interesting."

In one corner of the room, Rana and Creo were going through some martial arts while the younger girl was giving the Tibetan some tips on using Tempest Turn. Ingrid was currently sat against the wall near them with Leo feeding her in a routine-like fashion while Genessa was watching.

Satellizer, Arnette, Attia, and Ticy were chatting in another, performing small Accels by a wall.

A bit away, Elizabeth, Andre, Arthur, Eugene, and Abel were chatting around a chessboard.

Each group was, summarily, surrounded by many others in the lunchroom and Naruto chuckled.

"Good stuff."

~NRK~

After classes, the large group found themselves in one of the Simulation rooms, doing some exercises.

Naruto, Satellizer, Arnette, Attia, and Chiffon were blurring about in the middle of the room, the blonde encased by his hexagons, his Bijuu Cloak Ver 0, as he called it.

Running around the perimeter of the room, Rana, Creo, Genessa, and Ingrid jogged.

A bit away, with a whiteboard, were all of the Limiters with Ticy and Abel helping go through what they knew. Elizabeth sat with them, being surprised by the information.

Elize hummed as she brought over a water cooler, all activity stopping as she did.

Naruto skidded to a stop, appearing out of thin air, while Chiffon did so with a streak of Volt Textures behind her. Arnette, Attia, and Satellizer did the same with screeches of the steel beneath their feet.

Everyone was in gym wear and drank greedily as they reached the doctor.

"So, how's the training?" She asked Naruto who let out a breath.

"Phew! Going well, just seeing how far I can push my cloak levels," Naruto said as Arnette laughed a bit.

"It's so interesting! I can just imagine what'd happen if Abebe could do that to me and I get all excited!" She stated as her Limiter chuckled.

"I-It is interesting, the theory that we're being shown," the Morrison said. "I never understood just how much Freezing can do until you laid it out in bullet points."

"It's rather shocking," Garou said with a nod. "Add on this ritual you speak of," he said, looking at his hand. "Power-Type and Linker-Type, huh?"

"It's all guesses, right now, but that seems to be the case," Elize elaborated. "Kazuya and Arthur sport different abilities with Eugene and Abel following that fashion. Naruto might be onto something."

"It's true," Abel said as his eyes rimmed gold. "It's so different like this but I actually feel like I can make bigger improvements to my Freezing like this."

"It's like knowing where to focus," Eugene explained. "If I want to use myself to the best of my abilities, I need to work on my extension and connection speed. Trying to connect takes too long and I want to find ways to speed it up."

"We've considered using equations," Arthur offered. "Maybe by learning to go through equations quickly, making our own, or even just by improving intelligence, we can improve."

"Meanwhile, we're thinking of using weights… or Chiffon-senpai," Kazuya suggested before nervously laughing as Chiffon perked up with a smile. "I-It's still in the planning phase, senpai!"

"Mou~" She pouted before turning to Naruto. "You have to take responsibility, Naruto-kun," the blonde looked so confused as the others started laughing.

"I what?!"

"Hmmm! You've inspired them so much, they don't want to play with me," she whined. "So you have to spar with me someday!"

"... Ya know what? Sure, I'm all for it."

"And there it is, ladies and gentlemen," Genessa narrated with a shake of the head. "He's doing it again, he's getting into things way too big for any of us to believe."

"Agreed."

"I'll have you know, I know the danger I'm getting into," Naruto said with a pout. "Its name is Chiffon-senpai."

"He observes but misses the point," Eugene shook his head. "That's some kind of denial."

"Ha, ha, HA! Nice and funny. Guess what, we're doing meditation training today," Naruto said with a grunt, getting raised brows all-around. "While I can't teach you all it in a day, getting a good grasp of how your energy flows in your body is a pretty decent way to understand your abilities better."

"How… Do you start?" Ingrid asked through gasps as Leo tapped at her forehead with a towel. "Mmm, thank you, Leo."

"Anything, Ingrid."

"Well, for one, since I don't want you all to do anything drastic yet," eyebrows rose. "Just sitting against the wall, in a meditative position, and activating your powers would do. Your goal would be to watch how your bodies do it, basically. Where's the pull coming from, where's it leaving, these kinds of questions."

"Hmm, this sounds oddly familiar-de arimasu," Rana said in confusion, placing her fingers on the sides of her forehead in thought. "Hmmm, oh! I think something like this was used for me learning to open the Holy Gates! This could be super important!" She impressed upon them.

"Holy Gates… Wait, is it that 'wings' thing you did?!" Creo asked in disbelief before jumping to her feet and running to a wall. "Let's get this shit started!"

The group followed her example in amusement, lining up against the wall.

"So, take a stance like this," Naruto said as he demonstrated, the others copying his position. "Good. Now, close your eyes and activate your techniques. Limiters, just focus your fields ahead of you," the former ninja added and the groups did as suggested. "H-Hmph!" He grinned before activating a light field below his field, giving him free movement.

Elize noted that down.

"Focus. Don't force it, just look at your body and follow the flow of power."

Rana hummed as she expanded her Volt Textures before following.

'Hmm, it's all over,' she considered as she felt out her energy. '...'

She deactivated it before activating it again and scrunched up the slightest bit.

Where was it originating from… wait, no, that question was silly.

It was just like her 'Gates training, it came from the Tears of Kunlun.

Her body loosened as she remembered that, focusing on her back and the textures activated there.

She hummed in thought as she, instead of forcing a controlled reaction from her special spots, just 'watched' them send out energy.

She did her little act a few more times and just felt it shoot throughout her body.

Satellizer frowned as she considered it, the obvious fact of the training was that Volt Textures came from the stigmata, which made sense. So she focused on them and filled them with energy.

She never noticed but her stigmata grew warm when she activated them… no, she only noticed it from earlier, when Naruto's energy had forced an activation from them.

Feeling that, she felt out all the different points with some difficulty before noting that some of them were… colder? Colder than the others…

…?! Her eyes snapped open. "Y-You can tell which ones have matured!" She yelled in shock, startling the others before blushing like a fool. "T-That is… it comes from the back b-but if you feel out the stigmata-"

"They're warm or not-de arimasu," Rana finished with a chuckle. "All mine are mostly warm so I can't tell."

"If that's the case," Elize spoke up. "Then if you can tell… can you affect them?" She wondered in awe.

The group looked at one another before turning to Naruto who hummed.

"Well, for now, all of you should try and feel that out," he said to the Pandora half who nodded. "Once you all can do that, I think Rana should try and take over that department."

"H-Hmm, are you sure?" She asked.

"I mean, it's not like I'm out here activating stigmata," he chose his words carefully. "Besides, you're ahead of them by miles, it only makes sense."

Elizabeth nodded. "Deferring to those with the right expertise is important, Ms. Linchen," she said to the Tibetan who looked conflicted before steeling her expression.

"A-Alright, I will-de arimasu!"

"Good!" Naruto grinned before turning to the Limiters. "Now, I bet you guys are going to feel different."

"Wouldn't we just focus on the stigmata we were given?" Leo asked with a frown.

"Yeah, but where is that for Limiters?" Naruto asked and Leo raised a hand before… stopping in confusion.

"W-Wouldn't it be the hand?" He suggested and Abel considered it. "You all know how Baptisms are formed, right?"

"We do and I was always curious about that," Naruto said and Arthur took over.

"You mean how weird the ceremony is, right?" Naruto nodded to his fellow blonde Freshman. "The ceremony, in straight facts, is done by the Limiter pressing his hand against the Pandora's selected stigmata and you all activate your Volt Textures in that area… actually, I have no idea how that feels to Pandora. I never acted Genessa."

"Gifting a Limiter a stigma is an odd process, yes," Elize said, taking over. "When you do this, make no mistake, the stigmata disappears from the Pandora and slips into the Limiter… but where it is, typically, is placed in your hands."

"So, we focus on our hands as I thought?" Leo asked and Elize shrugged.

"As far as I know, not everyone takes stigmata out of Limiters all willy-nilly save for one case," Elize frowned. "That said, Miyabi's constant switching of Limiters should tell us that it's possible, as unfortunate as that is. It has a location."

"Wait, don't the glowing veins start at our arms?" Abel asked. "So it should be in our arms, right? I mean, did all of us get it in our arms?" He asked the group of Limiters who blinked while some of the Pandoras blushed horribly.

"T-That's not important!" Elizabeth said with a squeak as Arnette began to chuckle ominously. "A-Ahem! Why not focus on using the most general-"

"Andre's got it on his chest!" Arnette said with wicked intent as Elizabeth turned a nice pink. "Imagine how-!"

"ARNETTE?!"

The two rolled as the laughing Arnette was tackled by the incensed Elizabeth.

"... Andre, just know, we're here for you bro. Not gonna ask any further than that," Abel said with a cough as Andre blushed bright red.

"T-Thank you."

Soon after the No.2 and No.4 were… appeased, Naruto coughed and tried to make headway.

"Okay, so, it's on our bodies, somewhere," the spiky-haired blonde explained with emphasis. "It's somehow removable and is the source of our connection, yeah? By kind of making them the Pandora's missing stigmata."

"It's a good way to look at it, Limiters and Pandoras are intrinsically linked by the fact that Limiters, once given a stigma, can utilize an ability Pandora didn't have before giving it to them," Elize considered that with a frown. "I never understood that, being honest. Maybe it's because most Pandora have manufactured stigmata?"

"It's possible that we simply can't handle it," Elizabeth suggested, fixing one of her bangs as Arnette sat, one Satellizer away, with a satisfied grin. "Chances are high that it's dangerous. It would also explain why we've got 'Types' as well."

"It's a good theory, it makes sense that it'd be hard for your bodies to handle it," Elize nodded with a hum. "That said… Naruto-kun, please explain your ceremony's effects on the Limiters."

Naruto followed through with examples from each of his friends, once said and done, many of those not in the know looked intrigued.

"That sounds amazing," Attia realized as she looked at Mark who nodded. "I-If Mark could reach so far across the battlefield-"

"We'd have an amazing communication system," Ingrid considered. "You've all separated them into 'Types' as well. Any other reasons?"

"Nah, it just makes things easy to understand," Naruto said, getting an understanding nod from his former opponent. "The way things go… I wonder if we can't gain something like Pandora have in the Holy Gates… Well, also," he looked at Elize who nodded.

"The way things are going, it should be explained that Naruto's body, his cells, have been empowered at a high level. With his Natural Energy, his stigmatic tissues are simply more powerful than they have any right to be."

"What does that mean?" Arnette asked.

"Well, it should be noted, Naruto also passed on these cells, somehow, to his fellow Limiters," the group looked shocked. "Yes, it's just like a Baptism but for boys-Don't let your minds go there!" Elize began to explain only for some of the girls to blush.

Better nip that in the bud early. "No, it's not like that, please don't consider that," they looked embarrassed.

"Not dignifying that. The idea is, I guess," Naruto began, ignoring any possible implications that might have just been made. "I can push my skills to a higher level, why not the other guys?"

"You say you push them but doesn't it only happen with Natural Energy?" Satellizer asked as many others nodded.

"It does… but, from what Arthur says, those who I've created a bond with seem to have, like, some of my effects. I think that, maybe, if they try and push their skills past their limits, they might absorb Natural Energy accidentally. In which case, I'm gonna explain, if that happens, you're turning to stone."

"WHAT?!"

"Yea, like, if you're stopped early you're good… but, let's just say, being partially-stoned, no pun intended, is not a good time," he grimaced. "You can be that way for days and it's just not a fun time."

"The drawback is so steep!?" Chiffon asked in disbelief. "N-Naruto, that sounds dangerous!"

"Yep and that's why you're lucky I'm here," he said. "The fact of the matter is, I know how to manage it. Who knows, you might even be able to gain it after feeling it at least once. I don't know, for us, we learned before that was a thing."

"It's more unknown territory, I suppose," Elize said with a grimace. "It really is like Pandora but with worse drawbacks."

"Hey, no one said you'd all ever need to go that far, anyway. I'm just making sure you're all aware of what can happen so don't push it too much without me around," the Limiters nodded quickly. "Now, I just realized something. Arthur, Eugene, can you tell us where their stigmata are?"

"... Huh, that would make sense," Eugene said before his eyes glowed gold and he looked at his arm. "I can see mine just fine," he said as he looked at the others along with Arthur.

"Yes. Ahem, Andre's is where we were told," the older Limiters blushed. "Hm, hm, Abel's is in his forearm," the carrot top threw him a thumbs-up as Ticy blushed a bit.

"It was a total accident!"

"ABEL!?"

"Hm, hm," Arthur chuckled before turning and ignoring the blazing gold fire that was Naruto.

"Huh, Kazuya, you also glow, I just noticed," Eugene said and Arthur nodded, confusing their friend. "You're not as blazing as Naruto is," he saw those not-in-the-know's confusion.

Explaining it to them, they looked confused.

"He doesn't look on fire, right now," Attia said as she enhanced her eyes but Naruto shrugged with a chuckle. "Nope, don't see it."

"Indeed," Ingrid agreed, much to Attia's amusement.

"Let's see, Mark's got it in his hand," Mark rubbed the back of his head while Attia wore a smug grin.

"Gentle caresses in the evening!"

"A-Attia?! D-Don't tell them that!" Mark said with embarrassment as Andre grinned widely. "D-Don't!"

"Hmm, Leo's is in his hand, I already know why," Eugene said with a chuckle as Leo laughed nervously, shivering a bit.

"No more broken legs, please."

"I-I apologized!" Ingrid said with embarrassment as Elizabeth and Creo chuckled along with Attia. "I-It was an accident," she said with a slight pout.

"Hmm, Abebe's is in his arm," Morrison blushed a bit but nodded as Arnette chuckled. "And Garou's is in his arm."

"It was a training day," he said straight-faced as Creo nodded sagely. "It just happened accidentally."

"T-Totally weird day, trust me," she said with embarrassment, scratching her cheek as Garou nodded, cheeks slightly flush as well. 'What came after wasn't so bad, either.'

"So, we know where they all are," Naruto said with a grin. "Get to it. You all know what to do."

The two groups did. Naruto closed his eyes and focused on all of them, his senses shooting on all cylinders.

He sensed each of their 'flames' and watched in intrigue as some grew more than others, the prodding of their owners important.

Naruto hummed as he looked at Rana's flames compared to the other Pandoras… He reached out curiously.

Beneath Rana, Elize watched orange hexagons spread out into a perfectly fitting sphere beneath her. She raised a brow as a similar sphere of hexagons appeared beneath Naruto.

"Hmm?" Rana blinked as the world came into focus. "H-Huh?!" Her eyes darted around and she saw… a world of gold.

Like she was standing on the sun but not being burned and the light wasn't too bright.

It was… "Beautiful…" she uttered before blinking as a familiar chuckle filled her ears. "... Naruto-kun?!"

"Sorry, I was just curious," he said to her as he floated behind her, the Tibetan looking back at him. "I've never done this before so I was just testing it out, sorry for interrupting," Naruto said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Hmm, hm, hm," she giggled a bit. "It's fine! This is interesting-de arimasu!" She said before looking around. "Is this that 'emotional mind' thing?"

"Yup," he grinned. "Though I guess I'm different since this isn't what the others told us," Rana nodded, looking around the horizon… yes, a horizon of black against the gold.

Looking up, her eyes grew wide at the sight of different-colored flames a bit away.

"What are those?"

"Those are the souls of our friends," he explained and she gasped. "Yup. I always imagined them as flames but this is pretty cool, too."

"It is-de arimasu!" Rana said with a grin. "This is all so interesting! My life became so much more amazing since you came in, Naruto!"

Naruto blushed a bit, scratching his cheek before chuckling. "I'd say the same for you. It's kind of crazy to see how easily we clicked," he said. "Hmm! The only people I can think of who I'm capable of doing this with are my family and Chiffon-senpai."

"Mmm! She can shoot back what you shoot… I believe that's how you say that."

"Hahaha," Naruto laughed a bit as they looked out at the horizon. "Heh, I'm glad we met."

"Same!" She said before the two blinked as something glowed on her back, six blue lights shined in the dark space illuminated by 'stars'. "Hmm?"

"... I think those are your Tears of Kunlun," Naruto observed before turning his head back around. "... What the?" He blinked as he looked up and far. "... H-Hey, Rana-chan… Am I the only one seeing this?"

Rana blinked at him before looking up and her eyes widened.

"W-What is that-de arimasu?"

It was like a large, white, line in the distance. It extended… far. Like, he couldn't see the end to it 'far'.

"It's so… long," he looked at the side shooting down in his direction. "That thing goes on forever!" Naruto considered as he watched that white line slip into the horizon. "... What is that?" He wondered in confusion only for Rana to pat his shoulder.

"Ne, ne, Naruto-kun. Look at Chiffon-senpai's soul," Rana insisted in confusion and he did only to blink.

There, on Chiffon's soul, was some sort of… white ring? It circled her flames in a perfect circle and seemed to just keep going.

"What do you think it is? It's only Kazu as well!"

"It looks like the white line-de arimasu," Rana considered and Naruto frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know. Like I told you, this is all new to me as well."

"Hmm," she tapped her feet before thinking about the 'floor'. "Naruto-kun? What are we standing on-de arimasu?"

"O-Oh," he blushed a bit. "I think that's my soul."

"Ah… Wait, what?!" She balked! "I-It's so much bigger than everyone's-de arimasu?!"

"I-I don't know! It's just like that!"

"Hmph!" She grunted curiously, looking down at it. "... I knew you had a big heart but not a big soul\-de arimasu," Naruto blushed.

"Y-Yeah, I get that," he said. "I wonder how long this is supposed to last?"

"Y-Yeah! How much time has passed?!"

"Oh shit-!"

The two let out confused noises, alerting the others.

"Done with your communication?" Elize asked and Naruto blushed before sitting down and rubbing the back of his head.

"Y-Yeah," he said as Rana nodded with red cheeks, those around her blinking at her in confusion.

"That was weird," Genessa said with a long exhale. "I-It was like… I have three warm ones out of five," she said. "Gah, I feel like I just woke up. Smck, smck," she smacked her lips and grunted at how fuzzy it tasted.

"It was an interesting experience," Ticy said. "Almost all of mine were warm, as well."

"Rana believes this is because we haven't been able to emit wings, yet," Satellizer explained and Ticy's mind went over how insane that sentence was before just accepting it. "She thinks that's the final step."

"Wait, the final step to what?" Arnette asked in confusion as Elizabeth nodded.

"Oh, well… Let's explain this simply," Naruto said as Elize looked interested.

"Another discovery?" She asked.

"Yes and no? Okay, so, my dad's similar to me…" He began and then went on to explain his father and mother.

He then explained what his father has hypothesized about people like him who could use Natural Energy before finishing that off with the act of him and Rana performing the little thing that confused them.

"What the hell did you bring to Earth?" Arnette asked as she, like the others, surrounded the two and touched the hexagons between their hands. "This got way too high-concept on me!"

"It's true," Creo said as she touched a symbol. "Cross-Texture Formula?"

"Well, it's only what my dad said," Naruto shrugged. "Being fair, he's always been bad at naming things. The only reason my brother got his name so short was because mom decided it before dad brought out, like, fifty dictionaries… oh, it was not fun to be him that day."

"Sound fun," Abel said as he considered this before looking at Ticy who nodded. "Come on, let's try it and see what happens."

Those in a Set went on to do this save for Chiffon and Eugene who denied going to do so.

"Not interested," Chiffon said with a waving hand as Eugene nodded.

"Y-Yeah, trust us, it's not as interesting to us as you think."

Naruto found that weird… but then he remembered that Chiffon's soul… it'd been different compared to the others.

Were they aware of that and knew something?

… 'honestly, it's not even my business,' he'd respect his friends' privacy, it wasn't his place to pry. "Alright, you two, it's none of our business."

"Mmm," Rana nodded and Chiffon looked… confused and… worried?

"... Why did you say that?" Chiffon asked as the others tried their own acts. "... D-Did you two…" Eugene looked alarmed.

"... Come over here," Naruto gestured to the far wall and the four of them walked over, the two looking worried. "Okay, so, when me and Rana were connected… we could see everyone's souls in my mindscape," Chiffon looked alarmed.

"W-What?!" She whispered hotly, confused, worried, saddened, and resigned. "W-What are you going to do?"

"I… don't understand," Naruto said as Rana nodded.

"You're different-de arimasu," the Tibetan girl said with a nod as Eugene winced. "But you're our friend," Chiffon flinched back.

"M-Me?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "And even if you weren't that's none of our business," Rana grinned. "Your secrets aren't ours to share. You two can trust in that."

Eugene looked… relieved in a special way, his shoulders sagged and his face creased in gratitude that couldn't fully be understood.

And Chiffon… Chiffon bit her lip.

"Even though I'm different, you don't care?" Asked with a grimace.

"Why would we?" Rana asked as she came forward and Chiffon grimaced, looking down. "... If you ever wanna talk, we're here, you two-de arimasu."

"Rana's right," Naruto said, coming in and placing a hand on her shoulder before grinning, his Pandora reciprocating. "If you two have problems, even if you don't want to say anything outright, we can just hang. Nothing's wrong with getting to know my friends more."

Chiffon choked a bit and Eugene smiled at her.

"I think it's alright to at least do that," he suggested and she looked down but nodded all the same.

"... I really do think this isn't fair to you, Eugene."

"I offered, I'm not regretting this," he said before turning to face Rana and Naruto. "Maybe, one day, she'll say it, it's basically Chiffon's secret, but I'm glad we have you in our corner and you won't pry."

"No problem!" Rana said.

"Ditto," Naruto reiterated. "Now… actually, you two," the two blinked. "There was another thing we saw in there and it pertained to why we understood Chiffon was different."

Chiffon froze and looked up in horror.

"It was some kind of white line-de arimasu," Rana said as she crossed her arms. "We didn't know what it was, it went on forever and Chiffon-senpai was surrounded by a ring of it. Kazuya-kun also had one but it was smaller."

"... Naruto-kun, Rana-chan," Chiffon spoke up with a seriousness that got frowns out of the both of them. "I… I know this seems unfair, it truly does, but whatever you do. DO NOT tell other people about what you saw. Especially Kazuya."

"... It's that dangerous?" Rana asked and Chiffon wore a strained, sad, smile as Eugene frowned.

"It's complicated," he said and Naruto nodded.

"Alright."

"We know this is unfair," Eugene said quickly with a wince. "And, for that, I'm truly sorry."

"Nah, man, it's fine," Naruto grinned and threw him a thumbs-up. "You've got your reasons."

"... You really are… one of a kind, Naruto-kun," Chiffon sighed out with a small smile. "... I'm glad you two can even call me a friend."

"You're just different, it's nothing crazy-de arimasu," Rana said with a chuckle as Chiffon giggled a bit.

Naruto noticed, pleasantly, that Chiffon looked… lighter like they'd shared her burden, even if only a bit.

"Like I said, anytime."

"I-It's closer!" Kazuya's voice shouted as the four turned to see Satellizer's Volt Textures all the way to their hands. "I-It's kind of forming but it can't stay."

"Hmm," Abel looked intrigued. "For us, it stops at Ticy's wrists."

"It does," Ticy said as she turned to see Naruto's group coming over with a raised brow. "Chiffon?"

"Hm?"

"... Nothing, you seem like you figured something out," Ticy said with a small smile before turning back to Abel, Chiffon's mouth falling a bit as Eugene chuckled with Naruto and Rana. "That said, Rana, you think that awakening these 'wings' will make this happen?"

"I think so," Rana considered it before smiling. "When we did it…" She went on to explain how the group first learned this fact.

Naruto smiled as he stood by Chiffon and Eugene before both pat his shoulders.

"... That thing you saw, Naruto," Eugene began with a fake smile for all to see. "Is bigger than any of us could even know."

"That concept is beyond most humans' understanding," Chiffon said with a sad smile and Naruto shot her a look that softened. "A little hint but you seem to have gotten it already. Well, even if this might be toeing a line… Kazuya-kun is a part of all this… even if he doesn't know. Though, I wonder what your existence means in the grand scheme of things," she said with a smile. "I hope it can make things much better than you've already done here."

Naruto's eyes filled with determination. "Whatever I can do, I'll be sure to do it to help people, to help everyone," he said with a nod of conviction as Chiffon giggled. "You're important to us just as much as any human, Chiffon-nee."

Chiffon's mouth dropped at the change in title before she grinned widely, Eugene's mouth setting into a grin.

"Not bad."

"I try."

"Hm, hm, hm."

~NRK~

Wednesday came rather quickly and, soon enough, the group was standing in front of the school during their second class hour.

They all wore what they'd been wearing last Saturday before being led back to the Simulation Center.

"Change in plans, we're going to make this a whole day of simulation training," Kim said as she wore a coach uniform, adjusting her visor so a single cowlick came over the top. "You all might not know this but there are different kinds of simulation rooms. The ones we've been using, another where we simulate human opponents with several levels, and target rooms. You're gonna see everything the building has to offer," she said as they entered the Simulation Center.

Arthur, dressed in his gym clothes along with most of the other Limiters who hadn't fought in the past week, cupped his chin. "Well, do you mind giving us an idea of our goals? Anything specific things we should do?"

"Like sub-missions?" Abel asked with a chuckle. "Well, do you have anything like that set up? Ms. Kim?"

"Hmm, I hadn't considered it… alright, since you seem so eager," Abel grinned as she chuckled. "Go wild."

"Alright! First order of business!" Abel said as Ticy shook her head. "... Garou! Think of an exercise without Naruto in it!"

"You people seriously need to stop doing that!" Naruto wailed. "Why? Why do you keep doing this to me?!"

"Because you're an outlier, Naruto-kun," Garou said after some thought. "You could probably easily tip the scales that said, I want this sub-mission to be… odd." Creo hummed at that. "The next to go ahead, the only people to be supported will be Naruto Uzumaki and Rana Linchen with the former as the Finisher and the latter as decoy… and Kazuya Aoi with Abel Rotomaster as the Strikers," the group looked surprised by this.

"That's a rather curious team," Elizabeth said with a hand on her chin. "I can see what you mean, though. If I may, providing the percentage levels for each sub-mission would be a good idea. For a non-sub-mission situation… 50%."

Garou considered it.

"Then, for my own… 40%."

"Whoa, someone's feeling supportive," Creo said with a raised brow as Garou chuckled.

"I… call it a hunch but I don't think 20% would be enough, scarily so."

"I'm liking where your headspace is at!" Naruto said as Rana giggled. "You've got a keeper, Creo!"

The group snorted or laughed at that as they were led into one of the specialized rooms. "Welcome to the Anti-Personnel Rooms, there are only four of these in the building due to how expensive it is to run these things."

It was an observation deck in a wall with a console ahead of the door leading in and a door at the side. Down below, they could see a wide area that was colored ocean-blue.

"Ah, this place," Ingrid said with a smile as Ingrid chuckled. "I still come here every now and then."

"Then do you mind handling it, Ingrid?" Kim asked and the redhead nodded as she walked to the door to the right of the console, going in. "Now, a quick rundown, this is a room whose system allows for ten levels of difficulty. This increases the speed, strength, and unfairness of the 'opponents' who you'll face. The highest score you can get is from beating opponents from level 5 and up in under 40 seconds for the former up to 60 seconds in level 10."

"Sounds interesting," Rana considered. "I-I wanna try it!" She said with a gleam in her eyes that Naruto snorted at.

"Same," he said and Kim rolled her eyes.

"No one's surprised you want to," he grinned. "Ingrid, are you ready?" Yu-Mi asked over the microphone.

"Yes!"

"Alright. We'll approach your best at level 6. The highest score is gained in under 40 seconds," the instructor said as she turned in a dial before adjusting a knob. "Max time limit is 5 minutes."

Ingrid activated her Volt Textures before nodding as the room grew a hint darker and humanoid-shaped polygons appeared around her.

"START!"

Ingrid hopped back, eyes on a swivel as the three opponents lunged at her before turning at impossible angles to give chase.

Ingrid's eyes narrowed before she twisted low and lunged at them only to then hop over one of them that had a lance and throw her fist down.

In that same instant, one of her Volt Weapons appeared over the limb and cracked the 'doll's' head as Ingrid landed into a roll that took her away from one of a pair of axes.

"That's smart," Naruto said. "She can move her arms faster without her weapon and, when it's over, she can just lighten her arms again."

"She's been trying that out recently," Arnette explained. "She tried it in the Third-Year bracket of the last Carnival when she was against me," she grinned. "It wasn't as polished as it is now, though… I kind of-"

"Calm down, battle-junkie," Creo said with a shake of the head as Arnette laughed nervously, Abebe chuckling into his fist behind her. "Don't get too into it."

"Hmph!"

Ingrid destroyed the other ones in quick order, leaving the group to throw her some praise as the time of 39 seconds was her newest record.

"I'm going in!" Naruto called it before anyone else could try. "Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!"

"N-No fair! I want this!" Arnette said with despair. "I can never reserve this damn room!" She cried.

"Hehehe~" Naruto snickered. "Let's do this! Dattebayo!" He said as he zipped into the room. "Nice work, senpai!"

The group shook their heads in amusement before Satellizer focused on something, tilting her head in confusion.

"What does 'dattebayo' mean?" She asked Kazuya who smiled before his face twisted into confusion as Garou took several seconds to realize what it was.

"O-Oh… you all are probably going to ream him for this," he said with a small chuckle. "I believe he has a verbal tick."

"..."

"... That's fucking hilarious!" Arnette nearly screamed as she held her stomach in disbelief, Ingrid reappearing in the room that very moment. "Ingrid! He has a verbal tick!"

"..." Ingrid froze midway as Naruto spoke up, embarrassed, over the intercom.

"O-Oi! D-Don't worry about that!"

"But it's so cute!" Chiffon said with a grin as the blonde grumbled. "Hm, hm, hm, and you don't have the excuse of a different dialect."

"T-That's not-!" Naruto looked ready to implode as he burned bright red. "F-Freaking! Leave me alone! Sensei, hit it, please!"

Kim snorted before adjusting things. "How about level 3? The highest score is under thirty seconds. You'll have two opponents who could be around two well-established second-years like Genessa," Genessa looked intrigued.

"Just about?" She asked and Kim hummed.

"It's not perfect but an estimate."

Naruto watched as two 'Pandora' appeared at his sides, the room gaining a darker tint as it did before.

"And… Begin!"

He pressed his hands out against the two's forearms before twisting and slamming them into the floor.

The cracked tile was all they resulted in before he held his hands up to their heads.

A blast of Freezing sent their noggins into the floor.

Two more blasts and they were done.

"... that's it?" He asked the deck.

"Being fair," Chiffon considered with a hand on her chin as Genessa made a cringing sound as she rubbed her neck. "They're speed and reactions are also low by this point."

"To you, Chiffon," Arnette said with a shake of the head. "Well, to me, too, but that doesn't count."

"Hmm."

"Give me the next level!"

Kim snorted before turning the dial up to level 4. "Alright, let's see what you can do with these three. As of this point, they're about at the level of Satellizer or a middle-ranked third-year."

Satellizer piqued up, eyes looking down below as three 'Pandoras' surrounded Naruto, the blonde's grin widening as he bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"I'm ready!"

"Hmph. Alright, level 4, three enemies, highest score at 35 seconds… Begin!"

Naruto's eyes glowed as he used his hexagon-covered forearm to bat aside an ax before appearing behind the swinging knife at his back. His hand reached out only for his eyes to widen as a trident stabbed into the space behind the second doll.

He kicked back before raising his hands and the first enemy, the one with the ax who was already rushing him, was shot back by a blast of Freezing.

Naruto considered something… 'No, I want to see how I can do without Freezing.' It'd be a better match that way.

He crossed his arms to block the trident Pandora before a rebound happened by his forearm.

He slammed the halberd-user into the floor before stepping on her to keep her down and push himself into the guard of the knife-user.

The doll swung out and he stepped past her on her side, allowing its weapon to glance off his forearm before grabbing her bicep.

A perfect stance, rock-hard foundation, and toiling energy.

"Nagarekari." (Flowing Light)

He unleashed the hexagons around his offending limb.

The blow tore through the doll's side before slamming into the wall next to it, creating a large crater in the wall.

"H-He used my move-de arimasu!" Rana said in awe before grinning and placing her fists on her hips. "Good work!"

"That looks painful," Genessa said as Kim considered something before sweatdropping.

"Well, durability-wise, they're as durable as a middle-rank second-year," Genessa's eyebrow twitched. "Hm, hm, well, it'd be a good idea to also work on your durability, anyway."

"We just take blows, correct?" Satellizer asked with a frown as their instructor hummed.

"It's both that, stigmata maturity, and just plain old getting good at using Volt Textures. If you could, say, increase an area on your body's defense with a bunch of it, you could probably take that blow with ease. Man, you should have seen Elize back in the day, she was a real weirdo who could shake off most blows in her senior year when we were in the Numbers."

"Interesting," Chiffon said with a hum. "I think I could take such a hit head-on but that's not to say it won't do damage if it does internal attacks."

"The Flowing Burden is meant to cause sharp pain in the abdomen-de arimasu," Rana explained, getting a shiver out of the younger Pandora. "Mm-hmm if you get hit by that, you're gonna have a hard time fighting. The core's a vital part in most people's styles."

"Yup," Creo said. "Imagine if you got stabbed there, for example. You're gonna be down in efficiency," she shook her head. "People think it's just the head and limbs but you can't just ignore your stomach, that's gonna get you beat the hell up one day and it won't be pretty."

"Exactly," Kim said right as the clock by the console stopped at 32 seconds. "Phew, not bad, Naruto-kun."

"This stupid thing is bullshit! It was playing keep-away!"

"Yes, well, they meant to push you and try to make it difficult for you to succeed," Ingrid explained. "The whole point is to improve enough to not let that happen."

"Hmm… Rana-chan! You're up next!"

"Yes!"

"No!" Arnette wailed as Rana and Naruto switched places, hi-5ing as they did. "Come on! Be a bro! Let your, totally awesome, redheaded, ponytailed," Ingrid huffed. "Get a chance at this, I wanna wreck faces!"

"Ah, the Mad Dog persona has returned," Mark said with a finger scratching his cheek as the visual of a barking Arnette reached everyone's minds. "... Hmph," he chuckled behind a fist as Attia wore a large grin.

"I'm ready-de arimasu!"

"Hmph, let's see…" Kim considered Rana's chances. "The idea is to see which of these settings would allow you the chance to try for the top score…?" She blinked as red and white hair came into view, Creo and Ingrid looking over the knobs and buttons. "... You two know best," she said as she pushed back in her seat, letting the two mess with the console.

"Rana Linchen," my take on your skills, as another blunt-force Tempest-Type, gives me confidence that you could handle Level 6."

"Yeah, with practiced martial arts, you've got a good foundation," Creo said as she and Ingrid looked at one another. "That said, you don't know Tempest Turn but have those Wings of Light. This should be even," she said before nodding to Ingrid who turned a knob to '6'.

They adjusted the time. "Three minutes, the chance to pull off a high score is to beat them all in under 40 seconds… and the group will all have mid-ranged weaponry," Ingrid explained as three dolls appeared around Rana. "Remember, these dolls will have unfair kinds of movement, don't let that trip you up."

"Gotcha!"

Rana took in controlled breaths as she got into stance.

"Ready… GO!"

The first Pandora of the three, one having a lance, sped towards her from her right before Rana's left hand came up, stopping the large ball end of a long-shafted mace.

She ducked down and skipped forward before rotating and throwing the back of her fist into the face of the 'lance-user' only for the doll to 'fade' out the way in a small shifting blur.

'That's the unfairness?!' She grimaced as she missed before turning her off-balance spin into a flip. 'They're also quick!' Rana realized as she ducked, batted aside, and black the thrusts of a lance. 'FASTER!'

Her eyes narrowed before she pushed off her back foot, putting into practice a Naruto-inspired idea.

She had a grand control of her internal energies, the Seimon Hyakaku-Ken gave her the discipline to manipulate it well and like the heat in her body.

So using that same principle on her feet wasn't impossible, just new.

"Whoa, she's copying my idea!" Naruto said as Chiffon and Arnette nodded.

"Yeah, for someone who isn't an Accel-Type, she's decent at moving around," Arnette said with consideration. "... Hmm."

"It's basic but brilliant. Likely, it revolves good control over one's Volt Textures but put into effect it'd be a good way for those without speed techniques," Chiffon noted.

Satellizer's eyes focused, glasses in her hands, as she watched Rana then use that same idea on her sides.

She dodged unsteadily, mind you, this was likely all new ideas… but she was easily able to get out of situations where they might have pincered her.

'She's amazing,' Satellizer realized. '...' Her eyes went to Naruto who grinned as Rana defeated one of her opponents with a crack to the eye. 'Inspiration…' Blue eyes closed in thought.

Something to push her ahead, to stay on the same footing with her peers. She wasn't an idiot, that last match, had it been her instead of Naruto facing Arnette, they'd have lost. She simply couldn't keep up.

So she needed to improve on her strengths… with a few of her weaknesses dealt with. Her stamina and reactions weren't great but she had amazing attacking power and pretty good speed. Chiffon had said those and she'd been embarrassed but proud to be told those things by a peer.

So, she needed to… use this room, basically, more.

At the 60 seconds mark, Rana blew a hole in the last doll, a crater, the slightest bit smaller, like Naruto's being imprinted behind the doll.

"Nice!" Naruto said as Eugene hummed.

"Hmm," he looked at his hands. "Hey, Naruto-kun, do you have any ideas for combat with our specific type?"

Naruto turned to him as Rana pranced back to the room, chatting amicably with Creo and Ingrid who gave her pointers.

"Let's see… Well, for human opponents, messing with their heads wouldn't be a bad idea," Naruto said as Eugene nodded, Arthur coming to stand in a circle with them along with Abebe. "Let's see… have you been able to change your field's power yet?"

"Slight successes," Eugene offered. "I can lower it, Chiffon's been my partner, but I don't… Ah, wait, yes, d-didn't she mention walking on walls?" Naruto grinned. "Y-Yes if I can handle that, maybe I could even use it to bring people to safety?"

"Duh!" Naruto threw him a thumbs-up. "Remember, I'm here for ideas no matter what."

"Y-Yes, thank you!" Eugene said with fires in his eyes as Chiffon giggled a bit.

"Hmph, I've actually been considering something," Arthur said before leaning into a whisper for the blonde's ear. "There's something I want explained…" He whispered and Naruto blinked with surprise before humming as he nodded.

"Alright, alright, that sounds like a good idea. It's also a good offensive skill if used correctly," the spiky-haired teen said before Arthur chuckled and turned him towards Rana. "Nice going, Rana-chan!" Naruto said with a grin as his partner grinned right back at him.

A fistbump was soon established and Rana giggled a bit.

"Who's next?"

Kim hummed as she looked over her papers.

Naruto: Level 4 (32 seconds)

Rana: Level 6 (60 seconds)

Satellizer: Level 6 (200 seconds)

Arnette: Level 7 (50 seconds)

Chiffon: Level 8 (120 seconds)

Creo: Level 6 (75 seconds)

Limiters: Level 2 (150 seconds)

Kim chuckled as Kazuya, Abel, Arthur, and Eugene gasped for breath on the floor as their Pandora partners either chuckled or checked on them.

"Kazu?" Satellizer asked him as she helped him sit up. "Are you… alright?"

"W-Working on it, Satella-senpai!" He squeaked as he groaned. "N-Naruto-kun, how?"

"It's just good ol' training and experience, Kazu," Naruto explained as he and Rana sat cross-legged before the four. "You just need to experience more battle, that said, you've got a pretty good reflex," the blonde said. "Abel and Eugene seemed like they were capable of keeping up with them the most. That's not bad, especially since they're second-year-level enemies. That said, having four of you getting beat that bad? Yeah, you've got training in your future."

"Y-Yeah, that sounds about right," Abel said as Ticy held his head in her lap. "Hmmm, God, Ticy, is this what fighting feels like for you?"

"... Not exactly," she answered with a sigh and a shake of the head, one of her hands moving one of Abel's bangs off of his forehead. "That said, you're beginning to see it. Combat is very taxing on the mind, there's no guarantee you won't just collapse afterward," her eyes flickered to Chiffon. "Those that can are STRONG," she whispered to him and Abel's eyes gained an understanding.

"Understood."

"How's it feelin'? Arthur?" Genessa asked as she chuckled and crouched by her Limiter. "Feeling the burn? Loving the adrenaline? Realize you've gained a certain amount of crazy?"

"... Yes," Arthur said after some consideration. "Yes," he nodded.

The German laughed.

A thirty-minute resting session which included some stretching later, the group stood in one of the specialized Simulation Rooms.

"So, we'll start with my suggestion. I assume that there are no problems?" Elizabeth asked as the others shrugged or nodded. "Then, I want to ask, who's going to go down there along with our underclassmen?"

"I'm definitely going," Abel said with a grin as he walked forward and he and Naruto bumped fists. "I mean, we're also a part of this, gotta test out these changes," he said as he flexed his hand, gold forming over it.

Eugene nodded as Chiffon hummed.

"So all the Limiters affected by Naruto-kun and their Pandoras? That seems appropriate though this is a Type-S dummy," she said and Kim cupped her chin.

"That's not untrue but, at best, this is a Nova's power at 30% so, with how strong the Power-Type's fields are, this should be doable," Yu-Mi explained. "This is the main reason they're being tested, after all."

"Correct," came Sister Margaret's voice as she entered the room. "There'd be no point if we didn't see you all trying, that's the main point. We want to see what you all can do. What's been explained so far?"

When everything was explained to her, Yu-Mi handing her the information on the previous exercise, Margaret nodded as she flipped through the paper on Yu-Mi's clipboard.

"Fascinating… And, if you all are designating positions," she began, looking at the to-fight group. "Then Ms. Roland will be one of our decoys along with Ms. Lichen when she can. Ms. Bridgette, you are going to be the Finisher, is that alright?"

"Y-Yes!" Satellizer answered with a nod. "... So, Finishers, all they do is prepare the final attack, right?"

"Yes," Margaret said with a nod. "The way it's done is such. Your job is to build up energy, keep moving, and find the perfect moment for your attacks to hit. Sometimes, it's not gonna be perfect but that's why your fellow Pandora are there for you."

"Hmm," she nodded, considering everything that she'd been told before turning to Rana. "R-Rana, how do you control the energy inside of you?"

"Hmm?"

As Rana went about explaining her methods, Naruto hummed before Margaret spoke to him.

"Your job, Mr. Uzumaki, is as a Striker," she said and he hummed before nodding. "But, I also want you to help Ms. Bridgette with her job. So, say, if there's a shot she can't make but you can…"

"Gotcha, back-up Finisher," he grinned. "This'll be interesting."

"It should also be explained how tough a Nova's core is," Kim began. "Think of it as an iron wall, it needs the power to break it."

"Hmm… I gotcha."

"A-Alright," Kazuya swallowed as Eugene pat his shoulder with a chuckle. "T-This is going to be so different. I'm nervous, Eugene-senpai."

"It's what it is, Kazuya-kun but, remember, this isn't an actual Nova. Merely a dummy. You need to simply do your best. Remember, our responsibility is to ensure they can move safely," Eugene emphasized. "While Naruto-kun is… a very big outlier that doesn't mean we can all fight like that."

"... I understand, senpai," Kazuya understood well.

Not everyone could be Naruto, which Kazuya agreed with wholeheartedly.

So he had to find ways for even being a support to matter in battle.

"I've already begun talking to Naruto about some of my own ideas," Arthur explained. "The fact remains that we've gotta also work on ourselves, Kazu. We can't just rely on him for everything."

Kazuya grimaced a bit before rubbing the back of his head with a sigh. "Y-Yeah, I get that… I just don't feel like I'm as creative as you all are."

"Eh," Abel shrugged. "You do remember that Naruto told us that anime can help us think of ideas, yeah? Why not look through some of your collections? Hell, why not look up superpowers that you think you could do?"

"... Abel-senpai, you're kind of proving my point."

"... Oh shit," Abel gasped in shock as Ticy and Arnette snorted. "Well… Eh, ideas come and go."

"I'll think about it."

Now situated down below, the Limiters in the combat-ware of Chevalier, Naruto looked at the space ahead of them at a large faux-Nova.

It was a no-legged, broad-shouldered, Gundam. Its head was, seemingly, covered by a pompadour-like helmet with a sharp point for hair and a feminine face below it with the eyes covered by the 'helmet'.

It looked like it was wearing armor to match the helmet with a narrow waist with the chassis coming into a cone-like shape in the center of the chest and large pauldrons where two, large, blade-like 'wings' coming out.

This was a Type-S Nova, or N1, the latest, most powerful, renditions of their interdimensional enemies.

"Hey, Eugene-senpai, what were the other types again?" Naruto asked with a raised brow as Eugene listed off the known ones.

"Type-Q, Type-R, and, the one before this one, the Type-F," he said with a frown.

"Any special powers?"

"Well, the Type-F used to use a lot of projectiles and had a shield while also being the first Nova to deploy Freezing and caused the creation of Limiters," Eugene began. "The Type-S, on the other hand," he pointed to the bladed tendrils on its sides. "They have energy whips that can jut out from its arm-sockets and its Freezing is more powerful than the Type-F's which also increased over time…?" He frowned at the sentence he'd just said as Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Wait, it what-"

"Everything alright down there?" Came Kim's voice over the intercom. "Are you all ready?"

"Yes!" Naruto answered while the others followed suit in responses. "... Damn this thing is big."

"Yes, most Type-Ss can be over ten stories tall," Sister Margaret's voice said. "They're ridiculously BIG adversaries."

"No wonder we need so many kinds of fighters," Genessa said with a frown as she engaged her chain weapons. "Man, this looks sturdier than a thick iron wall," she observed as Rana hummed while Naruto engaged his Bijuu Cloak Version 0.

"I think I could break it open," he said before cupping his chin. "That said, I have a helluva start-up time."

"Yes, that hit of yours is slower than the whips," Ingrid's voice came through. "You need something faster and not as obvious."

"Got it!" Naruto spoke up as he placed his hands together as his form began to brighten. "Everyone ready?" He asked the others as they, too, got into position.

The Limiters engaged their Gold Networks, a name he'd found fit and they were more than happy to accept. The three Pandora with them activated their Volt Textures while activating their Volt Weapons.

"Satella-senpai," Kazuya spoke up as Satellizer stood in the front. "Wouldn't it be better if you stayed at the back? If you're a Finisher, you need the least amount of attention."

"Astute, Kazuya-kun. He's right, Satellizer, you're not supposed to outright fight but stay on the OUTSIDE and find your times to shine," Kim said from above.

Satellizer nodded slowly before locking eyes with Kazuya.

"We'll do our best to make an opening," he said with a smile and she nodded once more before jumping back behind the line of Limiters.

"All set?" Came Margaret's voice as the dummy began to gain colors, mostly tan but with blue accents. "Then the dummy is activated."

Naruto's senses pique and his form blurred along with the others as four whips slammed into their previous positions, shattering the metal below.

He appeared directly beneath the dummy before flipping to the side only to see a tendril swinging his way.

A hexagon extended before he kicked out and broke it.

The whip and his kick forced one another back before the blonde recovered and rolled to a standing position, eyes glowing.

He vanished in wisps of orange light.

Genessa grimaced as she dodged a tendril before her eyes went up the Nova at the moving tendrils.

'They so wiggling,' she considered as she rolled to the side and readied two of her chain heads. 'And they can angle if I'm remembering the videos in class!' Genessa thought before sending out three chains at a tendril that sliced through them. "Oh shit!"

She jumped away, eyes ahead.

"From behind!"

Her eyes widened before she balled up her weapon and used it as a shield to knock the bladed whip off-target.

Green eyes widened as her feet skidded against the floor. 'Arthur?'

Arthur found his idea to be a great success. "Hit them now!" He ordered Abel and Kazuya whose eyes narrowed as they raised their arms.

The tendril chasing Rana was knocked to the side, allowing the Tibetan to charge in and climb the Nova's body in leaps.

"Don't let up!"

FREEZING!

The dummy cracked the floor as the groups rushed in.

Rana grinned as she let off bursts of her energy with each leap.

Tree-hopping, yeah? Rana was looking forward to doing that again!

All it took were six leaps to bring her to the core's height.

She focused energy into her fist and held it back with her other hand before twisting around and unleashing it all.

"ENGA!"

The Burning Fang slammed into the chassis and it broke apart a good bit before she jumped back to backflip over an oncoming tendril but it made a sharp turn from the chest back at her.

She 'felt' him coming before she considered blocking, Naruto's body appeared in front of her.

His hands were held out and four of his hexagons moved in front of him before expanding.

The whip slammed into it before cracking his black.

Bright blue eyes glowed before he shattered his protection.

"Frost Blow!"

The whip was knocked back into the dummy's chest, cracking the cover and allowing the group to see the core.

"SATELLA!" The two called out.

"..." Satellizer's eyes narrowed as she got into her favored attack, eyes glowing blue as lines appeared around her form as her body began to blur at the edges.

All at once, don't let your mind be muddled.

Focused on the when, where, move, and attack… All at once!

Singularity Accel.

Her body burst to the brim with Volt Textures, the small of green rectangles coming out of her stigmata. Her eyes dilated and focused on the one point with her entire being.

Remember Rana's words.

Focal Point!

She took one, imperceptible step-in before Satellizer vanished in an explosion of noise as the Nova's tendrils came-

The core exploded as she smashed through the Nova's chest before slamming into the wall beyond it, cratering the surface with a wet cough, several scratches along her exposed skin, several parts of her clothes ripped, and a slight loss of breath.

The Nova's form lost color before it went still, with no lights coming off its frame.

Naruto cheered as he and Rana jumped for joy.

"Knocked 'em down!"

"Phew," Arnette wore an impressed smile as Margaret blinked in surprise. "Damn, that's a nice ass Accel. Geez, she called that Singularity Accel but she's gotten sharper with it so quickly."

"It did," Chiffon said as she looked out the window at the cheering group. 'While that was only 30% of a real Nova's power…' That was still impressive.

The only one who sustained any injuries seemed to be Satellizer but that was from her own attack. If she polished it up a bit… she'd be a real monster of her own.

"That move's attack potency… it's rather fragile," the Morrison said with some thought. "But if she has teammates capable of opening for it, it won't matter, she could end the fight quick enough," he said with a chuckle as he turned shining blue eyes at his partner. "Why, you might have some serious competition, Arnette."

The redhead's eyes glowed as she looked out with a widening grin, looking more like the Cheshire Cat.

"Fascinating!"

"Hmph," Ingrid considered the replays happening around the room on different monitors. "He was prepared to unleash the rebound the moment of contact," she said as Elizabeth hummed.

"You've experienced this move, yes?"

"Yeah. Naruto Uzumaki takes your blows and turns it back on you but it's a technique that requires him to absorb the blows with his 'cloak' and turn it all in one direction. He got past that limit by focusing it all in one direction, a sure counter if it's attacks from one direction, he has the skills to make it an inevitability."

Elizabeth hummed. "Impressive. Add on that Ms. Linchen's internalizing of Mr. Uzumaki's skill means she's capable of increasing her speed further," she reminded them. "That's an impressive amount of control… and it also means any of us who don't know Accel can learn it."

"Hmph, hmph," Arnette chuckled, confusing the group. "No, even people with Accel can do it," she explained, shocking Elizabeth. "You didn't see it but, the most she launched forward, she took the smallest of step-ins. It wouldn't matter to someone with no intervals… hehehehe but to Satellizer, it's as different as night and day."

Attia realized, with some horror, what she was saying. "H-Her learning curve is insane!" She squeaked in disbelief. "D-Didn't she only just learn that?!"

"Yes, she did," Kim said with some shock as she replayed Satellizer's movement, slowing the footage down to 0.25 speed. "... Yup, there it is,' she said as they saw the step-in.

"So small one can't see it," Leo realized. "... Actually," he turned to the others with a look of disbelief. "M-Ms. Kim… how did Satellizer learn Accel?"

Margaret looked confused for all of three seconds before the realization dawned on her.

"She shouldn't have been able to," the woman realized in disbelief, shocking the others. "Satellizer wasn't taught the High-End Skills at any institution… it shouldn't be possible."

"... S-So what you're saying is…" Mark began with a swallow.

"Is that she figured it out?" Garou finished in disbelief. "H-How the hell does one even do that?!"

"In theory, it shouldn't be hard… but that's because no one's realizing how difficult it is on first go," Arnette said. "The fact remains that Satellizer might very well have been working with crutches this entire time."

And that fact was horrifying.

Chiffon's froze at the sheer idea of someone just figuring out Accel while Ticy was starting to consider some of Abel's words.

Where were all these odd cases coming from?

As this dawned on them, the group heard the door at their side opening for the victorious group to enter.

Arnette beelined to Satellizer before jabbing a thumb to a corner of the room with a grin.

"Chat with me for a moment," she said before leading the blonde away with Bridgette looking confused.

"I'm guessing we missed something?" Naruto asked Ticy and Chiffon, the of whom snorted. "That's a yes if I ever heard one."

"Simply considering how weird all our underclassmen are," the Monster of the West stated with a pixie-like smile. "No, but, seriously, where did all of you come from?"

"Uhhh… Planet Earth?"

"Of course."

"That was interesting," Abel said with a hum and crossed arms as he walked to stand by Ticy. "The fact that we were so coordinated, Arthur's really getting the hang of this," he said with a chuckle as his Pandora hummed.

"Good synergy," she noted with a nod as Arthur blushed a bit before laughing.

"I-I'm happy we could make that work," he said as Genessa leaned on his shoulder. "Now, don't we have a special scenario to do?"

Naruto and Rana grinned as they pumped their fists.

"Let's do this!"

They considered the new dummy Nova in front of them.

Naruto, Rana, Kazuya, and Abel looked on with an understanding of how difficult this would be.

Naruto hummed before slamming his fist into his palm, a grin on his face.

Rana hopped in place a bit, an excited expression, shooting on all cylinders, on her face.

Kazuya swallowed as he shivered.

Abel frowned as he flexed his fingers.

Behind them, Arthur and Eugene spoke through their Freezing before they nodded.

"Is everyone ready?" Kim asked through the intercom, getting nods from the actually excited pair. "... Everyone who isn't Rana and Naruto?" She asked with an amused tone.

"Y-Yes!" Kazuya said with a stutter as Abel chuckled nervously before nodding. "We are."

"I'm ready," Eugene said with a hum as Arthur nodded.

Naruto and Rana bumped fists and the Pandora's body burned gold as Naruto's became encased by his Bijuu Cloak Version 1.

"You're going to need as much power as you can get," he considered before nodding to them all, jumping to the back of the group before getting into a low stance. "Ready whenever."

"Then let this exercise begin! The dummy Nova has been activated!"

Rana didn't waste time and lunged at the Nova before shifting to the side, two tendrils coming at her.

She dodged with practiced ease, form blurring to the sides every so often as she 'bursted' to and fro to evade them all.

"And their False Set has been activated," Chiffon said as Creo hummed.

"They did explain it to us, still not sure why they didn't use it," she said with a slight huff as Garou smiled.

"Naruto explained it as not lasting long, yes?" Elizabeth remembered with one eye closed. "I guess not everything he does is as long-lasting as we could expect."

Kazuya and Abel moved around the occupied Nova.

'Aim for the chest. Aim for the chest!' Kazuya recited in his mind as he came to a stop at the Nova's side. 'Do your job and break it open!' His hand raised as Abel reciprocated his gestures.

"FREEZING!" They called out in unison and their fields slammed into the chest of the dummy, cracking it but that was all. "Dammit!"

Kazuya balked as he tentacle heading his way.

"Don't lose focus!" Abel said as he expanded his field. "Slow down!"

Kazuya's eyes widened as a narrow field flew past his feet and under the tentacle… which slowed down.

"Move it, Kazu!"

Kazuya snapped into focus and jumped away from the whip as Abel released his field on it, the carrot top grimacing as he jumped back from another tentacle before using a blast of Freezing to shoot back and slam it further into the ground.

He recovered into a roll as Kazuya circled. "Don't slow down! We have to do our jobs!" He commanded of his junior who flinched but nodded. "... You've got this, we have to save our home," he said softer with a grin that Kazuya stared in disbelief at.

Rana grinned before a field spread beneath her feet.

"Rana, can you take all the tentacles in one direction?"

She heard and focused before she bounded off the dummy's body before reaching its 'eye-level'.

"Kuga!" She threw out her fist and a shockwave slammed into the dummy's head, knocking it off-kilter the slightest bit. "Kuga!"

She shot off two more before expelling a burst of Volt Textures at her side, bringing out of the reach of the bladed tendrils lancing at her location.

Landing on one of the dummy's pauldrons, she vanished from her spot and landed on the wall to the dummy Nova's side, its attention on her.

As ordered.

Kazuya followed Abel's lead as they ran to the side while Rana gained the dummy's attention.

'Dammit! Are you just going to let everyone take care of you?!' He shouted at himself, mentally. 'They're not your caretakers! They're not your… T-They're not Kazuha… They're your comrades,' Kazuya thought before wiping away some 'sweat'. 'You can't let them down because you were too weak again! You've got the power to change things.'

Naruto believed in him, gave him strength, offered him wisdom.

Arthur was his first friend and they shared many interests.

Abel was his senpai, his joking, funny, senpai.

Eugene offered him patient and information.

Rana was his best friend's Pandora and a well of energy.

… And Satella… She was important for reasons he knew were wrong but, ever still, she was important to him. She trusted him more than he thought he deserved, he was her council.

And she, as of recently, became his strength.

'So stop being a coward!' He told himself as he raised his hand the moment he and Abel came to a stop. 'Aim! Focus! Concentrate!'

Naruto had said it himself, right? Freezing, on principle, condensed.

So he did, he allowed it to do so before coming to form those familiar hexagons.

Then he shot it as Abel's own eyes narrowed.

"FREEZING!" They called out and the chest of the dummy cracked… Then it was carved into.

"What?" Kazuya wondered before the dummy turned to them. "Oh, no-"

'You've got this, Kazu,' Naruto considered as he held his arm up at his side. 'Focus,' he thought as he closed his own eyes.

Ingrid had been right, while the Frost Blow was a powerful skill, it was too slow. He'd seen how the Nova could come in droves in videos and having a one-way counter wasn't going to cut it.

He needed something smaller, condensed… spiraling… but the Rasengan was too form with Freezing energy. He'd tried numerous times but all he came away with was a rotating disc. This was how he'd come up with the Frost Spiral.

… He allowed orange hexagons to appear around his arm before expanding outward. "Rotate," he narrated to himself as the hexagons did as he commanded. 'Faster.'

It soon began to move at decent speeds… but decent wasn't good enough. The spiral wasn't big enough and needed to be faster.

'Faster!'

It became a glowing orange ring as he felt the energy near his arm grow heavier, getting a wince from him as his wrist began to be crushed by the weight of his own technique.

His eyes opened and slitted pupils saw the room around him.

He saw the opening the moment Kazuya's attack carved the dummy's chest.

Naruto's eyes widened before he exploded from his spot before appearing in front of the Nova, arm reared back as the ring of Frozen Energy expanded.

Then he swung.

"Spiral Emperor!"

Rana jumped back as the ring around her fated one's arm expanded to the size of the dummy's chest.

The attack eclipsed its upper half as gold light slammed past her vision.

When it all ended, with a loud bang at that, she opened her eyes to see…?!

Naruto's own eyes widened as he saw the large missing chest of the Nova as he fell to the floor and landed with a grunt.

He balked at it.

"Son of a-"

"-Bitch! What'd he do?!" Abel wondered with shock as they looked at the Nova's body indented into the wall. "Dude!"

Arthur gaped along with Eugene.

'H-He's ridiculous!' Eugene realized in disbelief as he stood witness to the strength of Naruto Uzumaki. 'I-It's just like-'

'Me?' Chiffon didn't think Naruto could surprise her like this.

Well, no, she was sure he would eventually not so soon after realizing that she and Kazuya were different. Not after seeing that thing.

But, now, here he was, doing all this again and she wasn't sure what to think about the fact.

The dummy Nova's levels were important, their material was as strong as their percentages would allow… but he's blown off the Nova's chest. That wasn't some core-destroying damage.

He'd basically just blown up a two-story house.

"W-What?!" Creo gaped along with the rest of them. "T-That's not… Is this that Frost Spiral on a different level?"

"... I assume this is more of the training I missed," Elizabeth said with a calculative frown as the group came back into the room, Naruto holding his wrist. "... Of course, such a thing couldn't come with no drawbacks," she said as she winced at his wrist.

Besides being entirely purple, it was crushed in a way that made her shiver at the thought of it.

"Geez," Arnette grimaced at it, coming over before crouching to look at it closer with Abebe who flinched back when he saw the true damage of what had been done. "Yeah, no, time for the medical wing."

The group, as one, nodded and quickly took off, leaving Kim and Margaret in the room.

"... Thoughts?"

"This is ridiculous, ma'am," Yu-Mi shook her head but the disbelief stayed as she surveyed the carnage again. "T-The damage he caused in one go is-"

"Yes, it's beyond what most Pandora, in the world, could muster… but it's clear that this kind of power isn't without its downsides and Naruto's entire cloak came undone. This is a last resort if anything," she said as she considered the replays. "It's really amazing to think that he could pull out something this powerful but then I'm noticing that all our newer students are incredibly capable."

All the most noteworthy moments of the dummy training played on all the screens as Elize rushed through the door.

"Why is Naruto's-What the fuck happened here?" She began to ask with urgency only to gape at the destruction in the area in front of her, rushing to the console to look out the windows. "What the hell?!"

"Our students are a bit more destructive than we could imagine," Margaret said with a chuckle as she walked off. "That said, Kim, do you mind getting the tapes of all of them?"

"Gotcha," Yu-Mi said as she worked a few buttons and several recorders at the sides of the room began swirling. "We'll have 'em in ten minutes."

They'd need to look over these, give copies to the group, and then hold onto them for the future.

'Mr. Uzumaki, you're quite a troublemaker.'

~NRK~

Did we ever find out how Satellizer learned Accel? Am I crazy? I could have sworn we never learned.

Also, apparently? Rana was an All-Rounder? Isn's that anime only or am I crazy? I know she's not an Accel Pandora from the manga… I'd hope.

Words:

~NRK Out~