Note: I've posted a chapter 2 before, but because something happened (namely me hating it after weighing on it for a day) I decided to thrash it and rewrite it from the ground up and focus squarely on Louise and Naruto's starting relationship, because I think this would work better. Honestly, I had no idea what happened during the two weeks while I was working on the previous chapter, but when I read it after posting it the first time, it just did not click with me.
2
Naruto and Louise
Naruto sprang awake with a gasp, his mind reeling from the most vivid and bizarre nightmare he had just experienced.
He groaned and rubbed his head as he scanned his surroundings, looking for any hint of danger. Pain came in short, intense bursts, making it difficult for him to think clearly.
Hm, that's odd. Maybe Sakura hadn't administered him the antidote yet.
After that, he began to relax, realizing that he was no longer outside. He assumed that Kakashi-sensei and Sakura must have taken him back to the inn where they had been staying earlier that tumultuous day, with the rest of the team in tow, at the outer fringes of the territory known as the Land of Iron.
It wasn't as cold inside as it had been outside.
In fact, the room was rather cozy and calm, like an idyllic spring afternoon. Spring and sunny days weren't a common occurrence in the Land of Iron Land of Iron. At least not to this degree.
A bit outraged, Naruto recalled that Kiba and the others—to the best of his knowledge, anyway—had seemingly left Sakura-chan to take on Sasuke all by herself, which could have had pretty dire consequences!
Oh, he so was gonna tell them a thing or two about how stupid they were!
Kiba most of all. He had always been a bit of an idiot.
Where was he, anyway? And why hadn't his sandals be taken off?
They were in an inn, dammit! Did they forget basic manners or something?
"Finally awake, huh?" a female voice inquired, her pitch sounding rather childlike.
"Yeah, yeah, let's just go home, Sakura-chan…" He simply waved his hand, assuming it had to be Sakura-chan.
Maybe the fever or the concussion he'd clearly sustained after the collision with Sasuke was muddling his senses.
Or maybe a mix of both was at play.
At this point, who the hell knows? Not that Uzumaki Naruto was a medic.
"Who's Sakura?"
Naruto's eyes snapped open and, baffled by the question, looked around.
The petite girl from his nightmare was standing right next to him. Her arms were crossed across her chest, and her eyes were tightly closed, as if she were burdened by something.
He blinked, looked around, made a double take, pinched his cheek until it hurt like hell—but there she was!
He took a moment to process the situation, before stating the blatantly obvious.
"That… that wasn't a nightmare?!"
The girl stared him down with a hostile look on her face. "What is that supposed to mean?"
But Naruto simply didn't know how to respond. It's not often that dreams (or nightmares, in this case) materialize in the real world.
The girl lifted her nose with a little pout. "Hmph! I've thought about it long enough to get an ulcer, but you're better than nothing, so consider yourself grateful, peasant."
She made her way to what appeared to be her closet with a confident stride.
Naruto surveyed the room with a keen eye. It was twice the size of most apartments in Konohagakure, measuring about twelve tatamis—a rather generous size for a single-occupancy dormitory.
He was undoubtedly far removed from anything he had ever known. As he looked at the yellow plaster walls, he was struck anew by the intricate woodwork adorning the lower level.
A luxurious collection of furniture stood before him, finely crafted from wood of the highest quality. It was a far more sophisticated and refined style than he had ever seen in Konoha, with a smooth and polished finish.
To his left, nestled up against the canopied king-sized bed, was a window with purple curtains offering a breathtaking view of a velvety dark sky. How long had he slept?
There was a chest of drawers and a dressing table next to the wardrobe, both meticulously designed and carved with great skill. At the center-right corner of the room, an ornate lamp rested on a rounded table, casting a warm yellow light over the space, two cushioned chairs lying at either end. Two cushioned chairs elegantly awaited guests at opposite ends of the table.
It was immediately clear to Naruto why the spoiled brat was so obnoxiously entitled.
Not only was she wealthy, she was downright rolling in fuckin' cash!
Even Hokage and some of the Feudal Lords he'd met led more down-to-earth and modest lifestyles—nothing like this blatant display of wealth.
Naruto couldn't help but gape like a goldfish in disbelief at the sheer lavishness of the room.
Just a glance at some of the opulent belongings on display was enough to make his pockets hurt.
And yet…
No electricity? Naruto squinted. At all? The room was lit by the dancing flames of the lamp; it was obvious there wasn't an electrical socket anywhere, not even the most basic wiring.
That was odd.
As soon as he leaned against the ground, he heard a slight crunch and ran a hand through the coarse straw under his fingers. When he looked down, he saw that he was sitting on a neatly stacked pile of hay.
Naruto opened his mouth to demand an explanation, only to have a white blouse thrown over his face, obstructing his vision. As he pulled it off his head with a yell, he recoiled in shock as he saw the girl removing her clothes right in front of him!
"Since it's unlikely you'll be able to find reagents that I could use on spells or be of much use in battle, your best bet is to do menial jobs, peasant," the girl stated nonchalantly as she pulled her pleated skirt down and tossed it on the frozen Naruto's face.
"W-What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto yelled, completely caught off guard, disregarding what she'd just said. Sure, she was a total cutie, but that kind of boldness from someone you just meet came completely out of left field.
Louise was standing in front of him, her slender figure standing out in the light, her smooth skin glistening with radiance. She looked at him without a shred of shame, wearing only a sheer pink camisole, matching black knee-highs and lingerie.
"I'm changing for bed." She commanded the lamp to go out with a flick of her fingers, leaving the room in total darkness, save for the faint glow of the moonlight.
She casually rolled down the straps of her camisole, baring her petite chest. Luckily, the voluminous curls of her hair concealed the most compromising area.
Naruto swiftly averted his eyes, his cheeks alight with a deep red. "Could you not do that while I'm here?!"
"Do what?"
"What you mean what?! Getting naked in front of a guy you just met for starters!"
"A guy?" She leaned over to look at him, eyes big and innocent. "You're just a familiar."
The blonde turned to face her. "'Familiar' this, 'familiar' that! You keep using that word, but you still haven't told me what the hell it means in the first place!"
The girl's underwear landed on Naruto's head. His eyes twitched.
He wasn't having it and immediately yanked it off.
Louise slipped on a sleeveless lavender nightgown. "Wash those for me," she said as she lay down on her bed.
"Hey! Wait! You're not going to sleep just yet!" Naruto barked, an accusatory finger pointed unerringly at her.
The girl raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Hey, I was right in the middle of an important business before you pulled me into this mess! I am a victim here, missy! An explanation is the minimum I deserve!"
The young mage sat back on her bed, a disgruntled grumble rumbling in her throat.
"Sshhh!" she hissed. "Fine! I'll tell you all you need to know but keep it quiet it's already late, you know!"
Louise pouted as she raised her arms to her hips, "Jeez, you really need to stop shouting so loud!"
Light was cast from the lamp on Louise's desk, dancing softly within the fogged glass. With a second snap of her fingers, she reignited the flame, then began to brief her familiar on the very reason for he was there in the first place.
While Naruto's attention span wasn't particularly impressive, he nevertheless did his best to make sense of what the girl was telling him, even though it wasn't clear to him at first.
"So," Naruto began, remaining seated on the haystack as he looked at Louise, seated once again at her table. "I'm in the land of Halkeginia, more specifically in Tristain's Magic Academy, 'cause you had to summon a familiar. It's kinda like a graduation exam?" he asked, tilting his head.
Louise blinked, puzzled at the way he shut his eyes like a fox did. "Well, I suppose you could put it like that."
"And you're a student here, right?" Naruto said pointing at her, like a kid would at his playmate.
Louise's eye twitched in outrage.
"I won't allow you, a peasant, to address me in such a flippant manner," she stated firmly. "My name is Louise—Louise Françoise Le Blanc De La Vallière!"
Naruto couldn't help but find her voice comical. It was oddly cute, sounding squeaky and babyish even when she was trying to intimidate him with that overly-long name. As if she actually could.
"You're not expecting me to actually remember all that, are you?" he said with that fox-like look of his.
Louise sighed, "Why couldn't I have a cooler familiar?"
"Well, you can still send me back home if I'm so lame, you know?"
"What?"
"You cast that jutsu, didn't you?" Naruto reminded her. "Just send me back."
"Impossible," she shook her head firmly.
Naruto frowned, "You know, you could at least think about it for a minute."
"Regardless of who you are or where you came from, once the contract is established it is absolute," Louise affirmed. "As much as I hate it, we're stuck with one another for the rest of our lives."
He crossed his arms and retorted, "Bah! That's some pretty crappy Jutsu design there if you ask me! How can you not undo a Summoning Jutsu?"
"Well, there is a way to break the contract, if you're that desperate," Louise said, her expression stern.
"Wait, seriously?" Naruto grinned. "Finally some good news! You should've told me earlier, dammit, so, what do I have to do—!"
"Kill yourself," she said succinctly.
Naruto froze.
His face turned pale like a skull and then his eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Eh?"
"In order to summon a new familiar, the previous one has to die," Louise explained, soberly. "Do you want to die?"
He swallowed hard, "Yeah, I think I'll pass…"
"Either way," Louise stated, "you're my familiar, which means you have a duty to obey any and all commands I give you."
"Commands?"
"Yes," she nodded decisively. "Your duties will involve washing clothes, keeping things tidy, and other menial tasks."
"I'm a ninja, Louise, not your babysitter," He looked at her with a pout on his face, his outrage written all over his face.
"That word again, 'ninja'," Louise said, her eyes narrowing in curiosity. "What does it mean?"
For a moment, Naruto hesitated, weighing his options.
Ninjas, as far as he was aware, don't just blurt out all the secrets they hold, no matter how firmly they are told to do so by their 'masters'.
"Let's just say…" Naruto hummed thoughtfully for a second, then he finally came out with an answer that didn't reveal too much. "I'm a warrior…" he scrubbed the back of his head, "sorta."
"A warrior, eh?" Louise directed her gaze to the parallel whisker marks on either side of his face.
She then responded with a derisive sneer, "I seriously doubt you could even harm a raven."
A vein pulsed under one of his eyes. "Don't test me…" he growled under his breath.
"Anyway," Louise went back to her bed, "I want you to wash my clothes tomorrow. Or else you won't have a meal."
"Huh?!" Naruto snapped. "Hey, you! I told you I ain't your babysitter, shorty! If you want your undies washed, do it yours—!"
"Then tell me, who will be taking care of you?!" she demanded.
Naruto looked at her, at a loss. Louise curled up in bed, with her back facing her familiar, and draped her warm cotton bed cover over her shoulder.
"What?!" he exclaimed. "What does that mean?!"
"You're my familiar," she said, sounding drowsy. "Cleaning, laundry, errands—they are to be expected. Make sure to have my clothes ready by tomorrow."
Her shoulders shifted ever so slightly on the bed, while her voice began to fade into a gentler tone. "Do a good job, and you'll be fed, it's easy."
Naruto clenched his jaw fiercely, his lips pressed into a thin line from the outrage.
"Fed?!" he snapped, his fist clenched in protest up in the air. "What am I?! Your lapdog or something?!"
However, no response came from Louise. Her breathing slowed, her chest rising and falling in a smooth, even rhythm.
She clearly had drifted off to the land of dreams, abandoning Naruto in the darkness where he sat surrounded by nothing but his annoyance. He stood there, watching her sleeping form, enraged at her apparent indifference. After a few moments, unable to get her attention—Louise seemed to be quite the heavy sleeper—Naruto simply let out a deep sigh and sat down on the haystack.
That's when he had a brilliant idea. There was no way she would notice if he escaped, since she was such a drowsy sleeper. And to make things a lot easier, silly Louise hadn't bothered to lock the door. Silly Louise, you obviously don't know the first thing about ninjas: they see beyond the deceptions. That's the first lesson all aspiring ninjas are taught.
Basically, everything he needed to escape was right there for the taking. Not capitalizing the opportunity would undoubtedly be a foolish move.
Naruto's lips stretched into a mischievous smirk. "Heh! Like hell I will!"
A few minutes later, as he pulled on the door handle, he heard a distinctive clicking sound that momentarily threw him off balance. He glanced back, hoping it wouldn't have roused Louise from her slumber, only to see her rolling over to face the ceiling.
She was still deep enough in sleep; the sound hadn't been loud enough to dislodge her from it.
The ninja breathed out in relief. He didn't waste any time. He stood there for a moment, looking determined, then closed the door quietly behind him and left.
The castle's empty passages were quite difficult to navigate. Like Louise's dormitory, they were made of plaster and carved wood. The dim candlelight from burning rows of tapers illuminated the path as he made his way through them.
He wished he could run to his heart's content, but his footsteps might have alerted someone, so he kept moving. As the old saying goes, slow and steady you win the race, after all.
It was a stroke of luck that he came around a corner and saw an open window. A beam of moonlight shone down the hallway, and Naruto's spirits soared. He grinned with his eyes closed, white teeth glinting in the pale light.
"Great! An exit!" he exclaimed.
Without missing a beat, he dove out the window and dropped into the courtyard of the academy. He allowed the cool night wind to ruffle his frizzy hair back from his forehead, basking momentarily in its embrace.
Alright, his face hardened. Time to find the way back. I'll find the nearest shinobi village and get in contact with Konoha and—
At that moment, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. Arms at his sides, he came to a complete halt. He stared up at the starry firmament, his face grown stark white at the shocking sight before him.
Y-You've gotta be kidding me… He thought, his eyes suddenly widening as he gazed blankly, unblinking.
Admittedly, Naruto wasn't an expert on astronomy, but he was pretty damn sure that only one moon existed. Moreover, he was certain that it was neither blue nor pink.
He slammed his hands against each other in a clap, instantly recalling one of the invaluable skills Pervy Sage had imparted to him: Genjutsu dispersal. It was a technique he would need to face off against a Sharingan.
Sasuke had undoubtedly snared him in an illusion wrought by his visual prowess. He was perplexed by the strangeness of it all, but he was not eager to delve into the mystery.
"Release!" he exclaimed, but nothing changed. "RELEASE!"
Half an hour passed with Naruto persistently attempting to break through the illusion. It was only when he realized it was a tangible reality that he finally gave up.
He lowered himself to the grass and sat there, weighing up the seriousness of the situation as he breathed out in defeat.
This ain't Earth, Naruto realized. This ain't Earth…
The sheer gravity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. Sasuke, Sakura-chan, everyone…
All his goals—all his dreams—disappeared in an instant, snatched away from him.
Was there anything left for him to do?
If he can't bring Sasuke back—even do something as small as help a friend in need—how could he possibly hope to mend the broken world of shinobi? How was he going to become the Hokage who might finally put an end to the cycle of hatred?
Naruto brought his head down, his resolve faltering like never before since Jiraiya's passing. Suddenly, his stomach clenched painfully, his insides churning like a whirlwind. He firmly pressed a hand to his stomach, through his loose-fitting orange jacket.
He hissed through clenched teeth. The poison, without any antidote…
The sheer unfairness of it all grated on his nerves. Poison was rendering him helpless, he was stranded in a bizarre, foreign world, and he was reduced to a goddamn pet in the absurd status quo he found himself stuck in.
Sometimes, fate really was a bitch, but this was way worse than he could have ever imagined!
Naruto weighed his options. On the one hand, he had no wish to go back to Louise. But on the other, what other choice did he have when he didn't know anyone there?
Technically speaking, his sole remaining companion was the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed in his body, and Naruto was certain it was still just as bloodthirsty and furious as it's always been, especially after the Fourth Hokage mended the seal. There was no way he could rely on it, either. Not after it almost tore down the rest of the village in its previous rampage against Nagato's Six Paths.
However, he couldn't quit. Not yet at least. Shinobi are supposed to endure, and they do so until the worst come to pass.
He was the Child of the Prophecy, so surely there had to get out of this. There just had to be.
Uzumaki Naruto doesn't just quit—the moment he would start second-guessing himself he would only end up soiling the name he had been given.
And yet he couldn't help but feel something dark crawling at the back of his skull that threatened to sap whatever resolve he had left.
In the end, Naruto simply gave a sigh and headed back to Louise. He would probably regret it later, but he felt he had not much choice in the matter.
He'd be her familiar or whatever she'd called it, until he found a way out of this mess and go back home. Not like the first time he'd had to babysit a spoiled noble against his will, anyway.
Naruto didn't get much sleep the remainder of the night.
He settled on a haystack in an attempt to rest, taking a seated position with his eyes closed as his body demanded it. He rested for what he estimated to be a few minutes. Louise had never noticed he had left the room at all, so he had been spared from a harsh reprimand—a good thing for his sanity.
He looked down at the clothes Louise had ordered him to wash, scattered around the floorboards.
Naruto would normally have thrown them in her face, or something, but at that moment, with his current situation, he said to himself, 'Ah, what the hell' as he went ahead and gave them a good wash to the best of his ability.
At least it helped him momentarily take his mind off the grim reality of his situation. And frankly, it seemed like the girl was not particularly adept at doing laundry by herself.
Who knows? Treating her with kindness might just bring her back down to earth and get her to stop being so spoiled.
He had seen it work wonders before.
He casually tossed her neatly folded clothes on top of her and lackadaisically said, "Here," Naruto said flatly, "You really need to take lessons in laundry."
Louise gently rubbed her eyes, looking at Naruto with a somewhat drowsy gaze.
"Huh? Who are you?" she asked, somewhat scared.
He frowned, "Hey, don't mess around."
She immediately calmed down.
"Oh, right, you're the peasant I summoned the other day, are you?" Louise regarded at her clothes, "You did a pretty good job, I must say."
Naruto shrugged.
"Kinda had to learn to do my own laundry from very early on. It's not that hard if you practice."
Louise gave him a blank stare.
"Where's the underwear?"
"What?"
"My underwear. Go fetch it, I don't have the entire day!" She pointed at her closet, "They're on the bottom drawer of the wardrobe, by the closet."
"Why do I have to do it?" Naruto said, shooting her a look, "You got legs and arms for a reason, so use them."
"When a peasant is available a noble will not dress herself, so stop lazying around and get my clothes!" she barked.
"Like I care," Naruto groused, snatching the garment out of the drawer and tossing it to the girl.
The girl picked up her blouse and began to put it on, running her sleeve down one of her arms, then the other one. Naruto remained kneeling, his eyes fixed on the empty cabinet as he kept awkwardly quiet. The beatings that his master had been subjected to in the past had been brutal, leaving him with a lesson to remember: if he wanted to avoid pain, sneaking a peek at a woman was not an option. Sure enough, he wasn't about to try his luck.
But at that moment, he decided to break the silence.
"Louise, can I ask you a question?"
"What?" She sounded annoyingly impatient, but he was starting to get used to that.
"If… if I told you I am from another Earth, how would that sound?" he tentatively asked.
"I would say you're out of your rocker," she said firmly. "More so than I'd expect"
He gulped, "Well…"
Louise understood immediately, and scoffed in complete disbelief. "Oh, please, you're expecting me to believe that?!"
Naruto sprang to his feet, "I know this sounds completely insane, but you have to listen to me!" he exclaimed.
"What do you even mean another earth?"
"Where I come from there are—" he began to count his fingers "—no mages, there's no magic, people can't fly, and there's only a moon—"
"Can something like that exist?" Louise asked, raising a brow.
"Well," he folded his arms, "that's how things are from where I'm from, it's not crazy like it's over here ya shorty!"
"Don't you dare call me that, peasant!" she hissed, her face red with outrage.
"Who you callin' peasant?!" he fired back.
"You are no mage, so you're a peasant!"
"Who gives a crap about that?!"
"Listen, you really don't know a thing about this place, do you?"
"Because I'm not from here!" he insisted. "Look!" He reached his hand to his back pants pocket, pulling out his green toad-shaped wallet.
Louise recoiled, her face turning blue like a traffic light. "W-What is that?!" she stammered, looking completely aghast.
Naruto tilted his head confused, "What? It's my wallet."
The girl calmed down a bit.
"Of course, only a peasant like you could have such a gross-looking wallet."
Naruto looked offended.
"Hey! Don't insult Gama-chan like that, he's very sensitive!"
Is he seriously talking about that thing as if it's alive? Louise thought, a massive sweat drop falling down her head.
"Here!" Naruto handed her a card.
"What is—"
Louise just stood there with a poker face as she stared intently at the painting of a younger Naruto—or at least, that's her best guess—it was so hard to tell with all that wild white and red paint all over his face and hands.
From the way the image was drawn, with his arm stretched out and his face grimacing with a closed eye, it looked more like he was trying to cover himself from whoever was drawing him than anything.
"See?" Naruto asked.
"…" Louise was at a loss as to how to even go about responding to that. "I see, but I have no idea what is this. Are you a jester or something?"
"It's my ninja license!" Naruto snapped. "See, it says Konoha there and—"
"I can't read any of this, peasant," she said.
"… Eh?"
"I don't understand a single thing here, they look like weird scribbles," she gave it a quick look again, "Well, except for the numbers here."
Naruto rolled his eyes, "C'mon... Look, the spiral symbol with the triangle shape and the head means 'Konoha' that's how our village is called: The Hidden Leaf Village."
Clutching her long hair, Louise shook her head.
"Ugh! Fine! I'll believe you, Mr. Different World, I don't have time for this!" she began to button her blouse. "I've spent a long enough time babbling with you, so I'll overlook the fact that you forgot to get me dressed. But don't expect a similar leniency next time!"
Naruto just groused. I hope I'm not staying here for much long…
The constant chatter in the nobles' dining hall greeted them as they made their way into the vaulted chamber. Clean and refined, the hall was as immaculate as could be expected of such a prestigious and esteemed institution as that academy.
It was rather ironic that despite openly disliking him, Louise was nevertheless enthusiastic about impressing her familiar, peasant or not. Eager to flaunt the wonders of her land and its riches, she seized every opportunity to do just that, her smug smirk only widening when the ninja gaped at the immensity of the hall. It mostly came across as if she was desperately trying to impress someone, even if it was him.
He was rather bothered by how much it reminded him of his own efforts to change the way the villagers treated him. Before becoming a ninja, he had also been desperately looking for a way to impress anyone.
"Tristain's Magic Academy doesn't just teach magic, you know?" Louise began, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Ohhh, really?" Naruto stared at the statues of very tiny soldiers in armor that were mounted on the walls, a bit puzzled. They didn't evoke images of fabled warriors—the kind who get statues dedicated to them in their honor—but were more reminiscent of plush toys.
"There's a saying in Tristain, 'Nobility comes from magic.' It means that to be a noble, you have to have magic, see? That idea is the foundation over which we build our education. Thus, our dinning hall have to be fit for a noble's status."
Naruto sweat-dropped. "Y-yeah, I can tell…" The hall was massive—the three identical tables, placed side by side, comfortably seated at least a hundred people—it could have easily sheltered at least a small village.
"Understand," she lifted her nose, with a snort. "Normally a peasant such as yourself would've never laid a foot on the Alvíss Dinning Hall, so be grateful."
Naruto's face crumpled up.
"Thanks for the compliment," he retorted, sourly.
His attention immediately shifted to the absolutely mouth-watering feast laid out on the tables, especially the grilled chicken. He could hardly believe this could be considered a simple breakfast.
If it had been any other time, his stomach would have been rumbling from hunger. Right then, however, he felt a different thing—like his insides were twisting painfully. He was not hungry at all.
Should I tell her?
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Louise barked. "Pull my chair! You're not very helpful, you know?"
Naruto did so begrudgingly.
"So, where do I sit?"
Louise glared at him. Then pointed to the ground.
Louise turned to face him with clear disinterest and gestured to the floor.
"That's a bowl of soup," he stated flatly, looking down.
"Yes it is, familiar," she nodded.
The ninja squinted at the soup. It looked too much like water to be anything remotely similar to broth, "There's something in there."
"Familiars usually stay outside," Louise said flatly, "You're only here because I asked for it."
Naruto glared at her for a moment, almost as if he were considering to say something, but then he reconsidered it.
"I ain't hungry anyway!" the blonde turned around, waving his hand at his 'master'. Like she would help me at all. She'd probably let me die so long as she gets a cooler familiar.
He was about to storm off until he was called to by a voice.
"Quite the stir you're causing," Naruto recognized the redhead girl from the other day. The girl addressed to him in a rather coquettish tone, "Hello~ Louise's familiar. And who you might be?"
The tiny girl's face immediately scrunched up, "Zerbst…" she growled.
"Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet ya!" he introduced himself with a thumb gesture.
"This is my familiar, Flame."
Naruto turned his head and came face to face with a hulking crimson-colored lizard just inches from his face. He jerked back, shocked by the seemingly sudden appearance of the creature.
"I hope you two can be good friends!" Kirche said with a cheerful voice.
"You summoned a salamander?" Louise asked.
The girl nodded, "Uh-huh! Do you like him? He's perfect." She then turned around to look at the other short girl with neck-length blue hair, even tinier than Louise herself was, "You should see Tabitha's familiar. It's even better! She summoned a Wind Dragon!"
"Hey! It burns!" The blonde forcefully pushed the lizard away from him. Its breath felt like fire on his eyebrows.
"Late for breakfast," Tabitha said succinctly, her voice hardly a whisper. "Hurry."
"Ah, yeah, I shouldn't be wasting my time with Vallière," she shot the strawberry blonde girl a smug look.
"Hey, Zerbst! That's my chair!" the girl barked.
She spun around, her eyes blazing as she faced her familiar. "Hurry it up, do something, peasant!"
The tyrannical brat didn't bat an eyelid as the lizard bit at his head.
"Uh… a little help?"
"Hurry it up! Jeez could you be any slower?!" Louise barked impatiently as she ran across the hall, books in hand. Naruto trailed behind, at his own leisurely pace, with his hands on the back of his head.
The peasant boy stood his ground and flatly refused to carry her textbooks, daring to ignore her orders in a way that only added fuel to the fire of her mounting frustration. It shocked her to her core. A peasant defying a noble's command was unheard of, and for a servant to do so was simply unthinkable. Even more so because she was a daughter of the prestigious Vallière family!
And yet, he still dared raise his hand against her.
She would have given the peasant a severe reprimand if she could have spared the time, but her schedule was full.
"Relax, will ya?" Naruto groused. "It's no big deal. Just a stupid lecture. Skip it if you want. Nobody's going to care. I always loved to skip mine, you know?"
"Just because you're such an irresponsible, lazy peasant doesn't mean I want to be one too!" his mistress shouted back, not stopping for a moment. "For us nobles, education is important."
"Booooooring…" Naruto grumbled.
Once again, Louise grunted at her familiar's attitude.
That's when they ran in a familiar figure. "Miss Vallière!"
"Mister Colbert?" Louise turned to Naruto, who in exchange looked at her, then she—as he had come to expect—snapped at him. "Don't stay behind!"
A vein throbbed in the boy's forehead, "You know that's not how you talk to people."
She ignored him, "Um, Mister Colbert," she said, changing her tone in record time, "I'm going to be late."
"Just a second," the older man gave the girl a warm smile. "Boy, can I see your hand."
He greeted the blonde with a smile, the kind Iruka-sensei often gave him. So he did as he asked. "Sure, no problem."
He lifted his left hand.
He studied it for a moment, then with a nod, he seemed to confirm whatever he was thinking. "Ever since the summoning, I've been researching the runes on his hands."
"Really?" Naruto blinked. "Is something wrong?" Then he paled as a grim thought popped in his head. "Please tell me I'm not going to die, or something worse."
Colbert chuckled sheepishly, "A-Ah! No, it's not that," then he composed himself as he looked at the girl. "They're just unusual. You've been called 'Zero', but I believe the familiar you summoned, might just be more special than just an ordinary peasant."
At first, Naruto was taken aback by the words, but then he smiled, a bit flattered. "Heh, thanks."
The teacher turned away, "I'll let you know once I deciphered these runes, you should hear from me again soon!"
"T-Thank you, sir," Louise tilted her head, a stilted grin on her face.
"Later, sensei!" Naruto waved goodbye to the older man, before turning to her. "He's a nice teacher, he's trying to figure this stuff out for you," his grin fell somewhat, while thinking back on Iruka and Kakashi. "Y'know, it reminds me of me and my teacher. We had a sort of bond, y'know?"
The girl's face crumpled, "I appreciate his help, but I'm not sure if I want to know what he finds out. Plus such sentimental drivel as that is stupid."
Naruto watched her walking past him, his lips tightening.
"And what does that mean?"
"A noble's primary concern is the status and power of their family. Everything else is inconsequential." Her expression darkened, "A noble who can't even make a single spell is like a broken tool—useless and easily expendable," she said without even turning around to face him. "Now hurry it up."
The blond scoffed at that.
"You can't just say that! People aren't—"
"Your world is a different place to mine," she cut him off. "Now be quiet."
He scowled at her words, resisting the urge to counter her viewpoint.
Different place? If anything, her words echoed a bitter reminder of the mindset of shinobis and their culture. We're tools, they believe, we can't have emotions, so we must cut our hearts. The boy made up his mind years ago that he wouldn't follow that philosophy after seeing what it had done to Zabuza and Haku. That's why he forged his own nindo—his own way of the ninja.
Maybe that's why Naruto thought this situation with Louise could've been salvaged, at least to some extent. Though he was really starting to doubt it now.
"And as everyone knows the four major elements of magic are Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. Together with Void, the lost element, they make up the five points of the Pentagram," The teacher, a short, chubby woman clad in a purple robe and hat, proceeded to sketch the outline of a five-pointed star on the blackboard. She then tapped the tip of the chalk against the lower left portion of the diagram, drawing attention to that particular area. "Now, Earth is the most important of all. It is the element that connects to all lifeforms…"
Louise put her notes aside and furrowed her brow. Loud, garbled sounds made it impossible for her to focus on what she was doing. Glancing down, she was met with her familiar, lying flat against her chair's legs, a loud snore escaping his lips. She could already taste the embarrassment. Eyes from all around the classroom were fixed on her, and some even giggled at the view.
Louise made the sensible move, at least from her perspective, and planted a kick right at his back.
Naruto let out a yelp as he reached up to clutch his back. "Ow!" he retorted in a scathing voice. "What was that for?!"
"I told you not to snore your brain out while I'm in class," Louise hissed.
"I'm bored out of my mind here!" the peasant whined. "Could you at least hand me one of your books, so I don't get bored in the meantime?"
"Figure it out on your own down there! That's your punishment for ignoring my orders earlier."
"Tch…"
All of a sudden, the teacher turned her attention to her. "Miss Vallière! Are you listening to me?"
"Y-Yes?!" The petite mage rose to her feet, looking a bit startled.
"Then, I suppose you wouldn't mind going over the basics of the Earth element, would you?"
She took a deep breath and spoke with a confident look on her face, although she briefly stuttered at the beginning. "Um… the basic magic of Earth is Alchemy. It can create metals or cut stones for construction and aid in harvesting—it's very useful."
Meanwhile, the peasant familiar continued to thump his head along the wood with a drowsy look, And I thought Iruka-sensei's lessons were boring.
The teacher nodded her head in complacency.
"Marvelous!" At that moment, she spotted Naruto on the ground. "Oh, and I see you summoned quite the unusual familiar."
The remark had been innocuous at most, but the subsequent reaction was something else: all the other students burst out laughing; apparently the incident the other day was still fresh in their minds. The boy turned to the nobles with a defiant look, annoyed. But he was met with even louder laughter.
"What's so funny?" he groused, exasperatedly, leaning an elbow on Louise's desk.
That's when he finally realized that he wasn't the one getting laughed at. When he looked up, he saw Louise tugging at her skirt and quivering as she turned as red as a beet. Her eyes were planted firmly on the ground, any confidence she had shown before vanished in the wake of the laughter.
"Hey…" Naruto uttered, gulping. "What's wrong?"
But then he promptly turned his attention elsewhere, scowling as he reminded himself of how unfairly she had treated him the entire day. Whatever was the deal with the other nobles and her wasn't his headache to deal with. Hell, from what he'd seen, it was nothing more than a spoiled brat's drama—nothing worth wasting an ounce of his energy on.
"Did you really summon it?"
"Don't just go grabbing poor peasants off the streets, Zero, that's just cruel!"
Nevertheless, despite her familiar refusing to stand up for her, Louise spoke up bravely, not giving in to their teasing.
"OF COURSE I SUMMONED IT!" she insisted, but the relentless laughter only grew louder.
"Stop lying, Louise the Zero! Bet you can't even cast the Summon Servant spell right!"
"I CAN!" Louise pointed at the rather pudgy blonde classmate behind her, "MRS. CHEVREUSE! MALICORNE 'THE COMMON COLD' IS INSULTING ME!"
Naruto shook his head, Common Cold? She really sucks at this, huh?
"HEY! I HAVEN'T CAUGHT ANY COLD! ALSO, IT'S MALICORNE THE WINDWARD!"
Both glared at each other as if they were about to fight, but then the teacher turned her wand on them and they both went back to their chairs. She reminded Naruto of how Iruka-sensei used to scare troublemakers like him, hitting them on the head with a textbook that he conveniently always carried around with him at all times.
"Next time either one of you stir trouble I'll cover your mouths with dirt, understood?" she warned.
Maybe it was the prospect of getting his mouth covered with dirt, even when the threat wasn't even intended for him, but Naruto couldn't help but wince a little.
"Okay," she cleared her throat, "Now that we know the basics, we can get back to work," She placed a hunk of rock on the table. "I'm going to cast an alchemy spell on this stone, so watch closely," The chitchat was apparently over, and they moved on to something more worthwhile.
Alchemy? Naruto thought, this should be good.
The teacher waved her wand and a brilliant light engulfed the rock, instantly transforming it into a glimmering piece of gold.
Naruto stood there, eyes wide, unable to believe what he was seeing. He had his doubts about all that mumbo jumbo Louise was spouting, until he saw this. This was absolute proof that the mage wasn't pulling his leg.
After all, how many Earth Style ninjutsu can turn rocks into solid pieces of gold?
Kirche leaned on the table, eyes twinkling. "Woah! Amazing, is it real?"
"Fake," Tabitha muttered.
"Oh, dang it."
"Hm."
"Tabitha is right, it isn't real," the teacher nodded, then went on to explain. "I combined copper and zinc to create brass. Only a Square Mage, one has control over the four elements—Fire, Water, Earth and Wind—can accomplish such a feat like creating gold," she coughed, "Not to brag, but I am a Triangle Mage, which is why I'm able to create brass. Meanwhile, a Line Mage can only turn rocks into glass," she smirked. "I think all of you can do that, can you?"
"What?" Louise snapped to Naruto in a hushed voice, who was pulling from her cloak while looking at her with that confused fox-like stare of his. "Can't you see where I'm the middle of class?"
"Say, say, what's all that yapping about squares and triangles mean? But keep it simple."
"It's the number of elements they can add to a spell," the girl explained tersely, "It also determines a mage's level."
Naruto pursed his lips, "… I told you to keep it simple!"
She sighed, "The mages who can use two elements—say, Fire and Earth—to create an even stronger spell are called Line Mages. Mrs. Chevreuse by combining three elements—Earth, Fire and Water—is a triangle mage."
"Ahhh, I get it…" he traced a triangle shape in the air with his fingers. "Three sides, and then if you add one more, it becomes even stronger, forming a square!" He crossed his arms, grinning a wide, toothy smile like an idiot. "It's pretty easy to understand when you put it like that, it's like the Nature Chakra we use in our ninjutsu!"
"I… I guess that works…" Louise remarked with a massive sweat-drop on her head.
"Hey, what kinda elements can you use?"
She got flushed. "N-None of your business."
Naruto pouted.
"Sourpuss."
"Be quiet already!"
He stuck his tongue at her.
"T-This familiar, I oughta…"
"Miss Vallière!"
Louise winced as the teacher shot her a harsh look. "Y-yes?!" Meanwhile, Naruto just grinned mischievously.
"Busted…" the blonde said.
"Since you have the time to chatter, would you like to demonstrate for me?"
"E-Eh?" she pointed at herself. "M-Me?"
The older woman nodded firmly, "Yes. I want you to turn these pebbles into a metal of your choice."
But Louise didn't want to get up. She stayed where she was, fidgeting, hands on her knees, unwilling to look up. Her face was even redder than before, looking as if she had a fever or something.
"Hey" Naruto nudged at her, "You should go, she's calling you."
"Miss Vallière is something wrong?"
Suddenly, Kirche spoke up. Her usual flirtatious demeanor was gone and she was sounding honestly concerned.
"Um… I think it'd be for the best if you… didn't let her do it."
"And why is that?"
"It's dangerous," She succinctly replied, as though it was the world's most obvious thing, like the grass is green. Most students nodded in agreement.
"Do you really think she really is 'Louise the Zero'?" the teacher regarded her with sympathy, "Surely even a 'Zero' can cast a spell as simple as that, right?" She smiled at her, "Don't be afraid of making mistakes, just give it your best."
That seemed to have restored her spirits. Louise promptly got up, her expression more determined than before, despite still holding onto the hem of her skirt. As she did, Kirche leaned against the table behind Louise and looked at her with pleading eyes.
"Hey, Louise, you don't have to do it, you know?" the redhead said hesitantly.
"Mind your own business. I can do this," the girl hissed as she strode up to the teacher's desk.
"Have it that way!" Kirche snapped. "Don't complain when it blows up in your face!"
Naruto turned around, propping an arm on her table, "Say, why do you guys call her 'Zero'?"
She just turned to him and replied with a strained smile, "You'll find out soon enough. I'd take cover if I were you, just in case, if you don't wanna get hurt."
She giggled at Naruto's look of confusion.
"Don't tell me her spells are just that powerful," Naruto said, turning around to look at Louise who was casting the spell, "She seems to come from a very wealthy family, and given everything she told me about nobility, it wouldn't shock me if her spells were that big."
Maybe she's a genius just like Sasuke or Neji…
Naruto remained where he was, undeterred by Kirche's warnings. While the other second-year classmates had ducked under their desks, acting like soldiers hiding in the trenches, the ninja chose simply to face whatever would happen face-on.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," the girl whispered.
As he observed her recite the incantation, Naruto was momentarily transfixed. Up until that point, he hadn't fully realized how incredibly beautiful the young mage was, as long as that volcano of a temper she constantly displayed wasn't erupting from her face. She bobbed a cute nod, radiant in a way he'd never seen from her before.
Her immaculate fair skin, delicate features, and striking hazel eyes were indisputable proof of her noble lineage.
She would have made the perfect angel come down from heaven—if only she could ditch the nasty attitude.
Something about the way all the students acted towards her was bewildering. Don't they see how cute she is? It was as if they viewed her as the plague. He was convinced that a girl as pretty as Louise should have been as popular as Sasuke was.
There wasn't a girl in the whole class as pretty as she was. The only one who came close was Kirche.
Louise's eyes slid closed, her voice rang out, as she intoned the runes and waved her wand with a confident hand.
Naruto was sure the spell would be nothing short of flawless. She would transform those mundane pebbles into a magnificent golden masterpiece, a fitting match for her radiant beauty. Clearly, the teasing came from jealousy. He could relate; he and Sasuke had been rivals since their youth, and most of his surliness during their earlier days came from the way Sasuke seemed to outshine him in every way.
As it happens, Naruto couldn't have been more wrong.
He barely had the chance to even register what was about to go down when he spotted that first flash of light coming from the tiny girl's wand.
"Oh, dam—"
KA-BOOM!
The pebbles didn't just explode—they fucking rocketed through the entire classroom, almost dislodging every foundation in their path.
The teacher, Louise, and Naruto—the latter of whom had made the stupid mistake of not diving for cover like the rest had—were hurled backwards. The former slammed into the blackboard, while Naruto smashed straight into the brick wall between the windows.
The chaos immediately threw the fellow familiars into a wild frenzy. Kirche's salamander surged forward, unleashing a roaring fireball into the wall. A manticore—the blonde watched in bewilderment through a blurred haze—charged headlong through the roof, desperately seeking an escape route. A snake attempted to slither across his leg, only to be snatched up by a raven and swallowed alive in one swoop.
Naruto immediately shook his head, his ears ringing from the blast lingering uncomfortably in his ears for a moment.
The boy was motionless in the ruined classroom, looking like he had just stepped into some kind of war zone. As the sounds came back, loud and clear, pieces of rubble crumbled around him. Tables, despite their heft, laid in disarray, upturned and scattered across the room haphazardly. One had even wedged itself into one of the windows.
Naruto blinked his eyes twice, looking at Louise's sorry state, covered in ash and sooth. Her uniform was a tattered mess, and her hair, once neatly styled, was now an unruly tangle. As she stood there, her expression was one of utter resignation, as if she knew full well that this was bound to be the outcome.
Despite having found cover, the blast had clearly reached some of her classmates, who now stood, covered in ashes and dust, with their hair a mess. Unfriendly glares and scowls shot her way as they rubbed their heads, making her look even smaller as a result.
The teacher twitched on the ground, but she was still alive, at least.
There wasn't a peep of jeers, just angry shouting across the room. A few peers held their peace, while the rest had plenty to say. And they said it loud and clear.
"You're a failure!"
"Why you're still here?!"
"You're a nuisance, all you do is screw everything for everyone, Louise!"
"Go away, already!"
His hands curled into fists, and he tightened them, unable to stop himself from shaking. He just bared his teeth and watched Louise as she cowered under the barrage of insults that rained down on her.
Then, he couldn't see her there anymore. Instead, he watched a little boy with spiky blonde hair flounder under a barrage of insults and mockery because he had managed to flunk the basic Transformation Spell and all he could do was transform into a short, ugly shadow of the Third Hokage.
Is this kid for real?!
You've been here for three whole years and you can't even do a decent Transformation Jutsu?!
What a joke!
And then, again, whenever he attempted the graduation test—a simple Clone Jutsu—he always failed, resulting in the unintended consequence of making a zombie-like duplicate of himself.
He also can't even perform a Clone Jutsu!
Is this guy for real?!
Just give it up already.
"Just you wait and look!" he had declared, in a particularly infuriating instance of mockery, where tears almost welled in his eyes, as he pointed at the entire class. "One day, I'll become an actual and real Hokage! Then you'll be sorry!"
Naruto remembered it all too well. There was no way anyone could simply forget it all: the endless teasing, the vicious insults, the cruel laughter.
No matter how much he had grown both as a person and as a ninja since those difficult days, the bitterness that had haunted him back then sometimes threatened to creep into his mind once more.
Kirche snorted playfully behind him. "Now you know why we call her 'Louise the Zero'. Get it?" but she got no response. "Uzumaki Naruto?"
Louise, looked up hesitantly and her stomach churned. She knew her familiar was looking at her. There was no way he would let this slide. She braced herself; he would surely continue to mock her about it for the rest of their relationship. That's what everyone who wasn't Cattleya did.
W-Why isn't he laughing?
And yet, against all odds, despite her cruel treatment throughout the morning, despite calling him a lowly familiar and worse, Naruto did not scowl at her like the others. He stood there, meeting the poor girl's disheartened look with the most sympathetic gaze she had seen in a long while.
Both Louise and Kirche were bewildered by this.
Naruto silently watched as the jeering carried on. Despite being the one who had annoyed the girl throughout the morning, Kirche didn't say a word afterwards, not even as she left with the rest. Whilst the teacher hadn't been particularly stern when she eventually regained consciousness, and even gave the students a break for the rest of the day since the classroom was left in chaos, Louise nevertheless stayed in the classroom well after everyone had departed, at least to clean it. Or more accurately, to have him do so.
Although it was not her usual authoritative voice. She spoke in a hoarse whisper, low and pathetic, as if she were about to be swept away by the wind.
"C-Could… could you at least help me clean this up?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable as he gazed all over the ruined classroom. Throughout the entire morning, he had been irritated and had vowed not to obey her orders after the fiasco at the dinning hall. But, now he felt he couldn't just turn his back on her like that in the state she was.
Louise was not arrogant and explosive simply because she was spoiled to a fault.
She was an insecure mess, desperately seeking for some—any—level of validation—of acknowledgement. What she shouted at him about bonds suddenly sounded like a desperate plea for some connection, at least.
Not unlike the way he had been before.
Maybe, just maybe, there was more than coincidence at play when he ended up bound to Louise de la Vallière as her familiar.
If he was going to stay there for as long as it took him to find his way back home, the very least he could do was make sure Louise didn't have to be this alone. Naruto wasn't expecting her attitude would just go away as soon as she got over this particular incident, but maybe, he could get her to mellow down a bit, the way it had happened to him after that fateful accident with the scroll years ago.
So, without hesitation, Naruto walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Aye, aye, boss," he nodded with the broadest, most trademark Uzumaki Naruto grin he could muster. "Just leave it to me, you don't have to deal with all of this alone," he finished, placing a clenched fist on his chest.
Louise swiftly dried her eyes and reverted to her usual quick-tempered demeanor, though her face had turned a dazzling hue of red. "O-O-Of course you will! T-T-T-That's your job as a familiar! N-No slacking, understood?!"
Naruto pouted, and his chest fell in record time. "A 'thanks' would've been nice, you know."
"You'll get one if you do a good job, now clean!" she jabbed a finger in his direction.
"Wait! What about you?!"
"I'm a noble, dummy, a noble!" she snapped. "I have no idea of how to clean a mess like this unlike you peasants! Now get back to work, Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Dammit, okay, okay…" then he stopped. "Hey, wait… did you just call me by my name?"
She promptly turned around, her face beet red, "S-So what if I did… what kinda master doesn't know her familiar's name!"
"Hey," Naruto got too close to her, when she turned around, his face was staring right at her, "You okay, Louise? You look like you got fever!"
"I said none of your business, now get back to work!" she shrilled, a tiny fang peeking out her mouth as she yelled.
"Tsk, guess I will…" Naruto was going to turn around, but then he spotted Louise starting to clean up too. She was grabbing some of the scattered papers with her hands. "I thought servants were supposed to do all the work," he retorted with a sarcastic smile.
"Hmph! You're such a useless familiar that I can't let you do this on your own, so I'll help you out! But only this time!" she pointed at him again, "Got that?!"
Naruto smiled, "Loud and clear."