Summary: A Blazer who was an F-Rank had no future in the cruel world of Blazers. Despite everything he went through in his life, he kept smiling, kept honing his skills, never gave up, and helped others if needed. Naruto Uzumaki would show it to everyone that he would become the strongest. He would change the world forever.

"Speech."

'Think.'

Martial Arts/Noble Arts

Flashback/Events of the Past

Warning: English isn't my native language.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry.

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night, looking at the ceiling. He was currently lying on the upper part of the bunk bed he shared with his new roommate. He sat up straight and looked outside, seeing the dark night.

He took his phone and opened it; seeing that it was 4 a.m., he sighed. He was used to it by now since he always woke up pretty early to begin his training. It was something he adapted during his childhood days. He began to wake up earlier than usual since he usually went to sleep earlier than other kids his age, and he trained with his foster mother from the orphanage every day. Since he was exhausted every day at the end of the day, he mostly went to sleep while other kids still played outside or did other things with each other.

Naruto yawned once before he climbed down from the upper part of the bunk bed. He looked at the sleeping beauty in the lower part of the bunk bed. Stella Vermillion slept peacefully and seemed to dream something positive when Naruto would interpret the smile on her face.

He walked into the bathroom, brushing his teeth, dressing up, and exiting the bathroom again in a black tracksuit. He made sure to stay quiet during his preparation for his training. He only needed to get his weights from the closet and place them into the backpack he used for his training. There were multiple water bottles and other utensils he would need for his training. He had a few hours before class began. Since he was an F-rank, he couldn't attain combat lessons, but theory lessons were open to everyone. Not that he needed combat lessons.

He developed everything on his own and has achieved so far. His foster mother was the beginning, and thanks to her, he began his training at a young age so he could get stronger earlier than others and had heard, even when he had to find out that his mana reserves were very little. Even if he had a little more mana than an average F-rank Blazer, he still only had a little amount to work with. So he had to focus on how to use this mana the best way he could.

Even when he trained with his foster mother for a few years until he had to live alone, he only ever did strength training with her. She never did anything besides normal exercises, so there was nothing combat-related or mana-related since she wasn't a blazer to begin with. She simply trained to remain healthy, young, and fit.

After Naruto found out he was a Blazer, he began to train accordingly after his normal training with his foster mother. So, everything he knew about combat and mana was his own development and creation.

Naruto closed the backpack and placed it over his right shoulder. He walked to the door but stopped when he heard a voice behind him.

"Naruto?" asked a sleepy Stella. Naruto turned around and saw Stella looking out from the bunk bed with a confused expression.

"I am sorry to have woken you up, Stella," said Naruto. "I didn't think I would make so much noise during my preparations."

Stella blinked a few times and stood up from the bed, rubbing her eyes. She was still sleepy but a little more awake. "What are you doing? It's still in the middle of the night," said Stella.

"I begin my training for the day. I usually train before classes, so I don't need to train after classes are over and I can relax. Yesterday was an exception since I had to do something before classes started. But usually, I finish my training for the day before classes start," explained Naruto.

Stella looked at Naruto with a weird expression. Naruto couldn't understand why she looked at him like that. It wasn't the "What the hell is wrong with you" look or the "Are you insane?" look. She seemed to try to understand fully what Naruto explained.

"Just go back to sleep, Stella. I always wake up so early in the morning, so you don't need to worry. You can still sleep for a few hours before you need to prepare yourself for classes," said Naruto.

Stella shook her head and said, "No."

"No?" asked Naruto, confused.

"No. I won't go back to sleep. I will train with you," said Stella. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Why? You can always train later, and you most certainly don't train like me, Stella," said Naruto.

"Not yet, at least," said Stella.

"Not yet? What are you implying, Stella? That you want to train just like me?" asked Naruto.

"Yes," said Stella, fully awake now. She had a look of determination on her face. "I felt it yesterday after the run… I could train much harder than I usually did. I always thought I pushed myself to my limits, but I was proven wrong. I think I can become much stronger when I train with you."

Naruto didn't know what to say to this statement. To hear such a thing from an A-rank Blazer like Stella Vermillion was the last thing he expected. It was a huge honor on one side, but it was confusing on the other. Why would someone with thirty times the mana of a normal Blazer train like Naruto? Stella had ways to fight Naruto couldn't dream of because of the little mana he had. He needed a strong body so he could achieve greater things, but Stella didn't need a strong body like Naruto.

She already had a B in her physical stat, and with time, she would certainly achieve an A in her physical stat. With her vast amount of mana, she could enhance her strength to heights Naruto could never dream of to do with his mana.

Naruto had to compensate with more physical training and pure skill. Stella didn't need to train like Naruto since she would be better off training like a real Blazer and not like Naruto.

"You know that you shouldn't abandon your usual ways of training, right? It was that training that brought you to this point. You had your familiar training regimes for mana and your body, so why change it so suddenly?" asked Naruto.

"Because I am stuck," said Stella.

Naruto looked at her attentively, seeing frustration in her eyes. "I trained hard from a young age since I couldn't control my vast amount of mana. I had struggled with my mana control, often burning myself with my abilities since I couldn't control it. I needed to train hard to get the proper control for my mana so I wouldn't injure myself while using my Blazer abilities," said Stella, frustrated.

"Only my family saw me struggle with my mana control. They often had to care for my health since I injured myself severely in training, trying to control my Blazer abilities," said Stella. "Everyone just looks at me and thinks that I had it easy my entire life because of my talents, but in reality, I had to train harder than others not to die," said Stella.

"My mother even said to me to give up, but my home country needs strong Blazers in the current times. I couldn't give up when I was born with so much mana and excellent abilities. When I managed to get my abilities under control, I quickly became famous in the Vermillion Empire," said Stella.

"No one wanted to train with me since everyone was either jealous, envious, or afraid of me in my home country," explained Stella. "This was the reason I came to Japan to break my current limitations and reach greater heights. I also thought I had already found a way to do so when I realized that there were methods to become stronger outside of the usual training regimes a Blazer did."

"You mean your defeat against Ikki Kurogane?" asked Naruto. He could see her face twitch into an expression of anger before she calmed down and nodded.

"Yes. I never could have imagined that an F-rank Blazer could defeat me. Many B-rank and C-rank Blazers tried it, but everyone failed and blamed the fact that they weren't born with "talent" like I did. It pisses me off to this day when I hear this. Either way, I realized that there had to be methods I can't even imagine right now to break past my current abilities," said Stella.

"Why don't you train with Ikki Kurogane then? I thought you two came to an agreement after your fight. I even thought you two were getting along pretty well afterward," said Naruto. "I am sure he could help you become stronger."

Stella looked away, trying to suppress the pain that came back to the surface, when she thought about the fact that she was now living with Naruto and not with Ikki anymore. Both were silent before Naruto said, "You don't have to tell me right now. It seems there are reasons for the actions you performed yesterday and why you are my roommate now. The reasons seem to be something you don't want to talk about, so I won't question you any longer."

Naruto looked at the watch on his wrist and saw that 20 minutes passed during their conversation. "I don't know if my training methods really help you, but I would like to train with you together. Yesterday was fun running the 40 kilometers with you," said Naruto with a gentle smile.

Stella looked back at Naruto and smiled. "Thanks, Naruto. I swear that I will not hinder you in your training. I think I can learn a lot from you. Call it my intuition, but I got a feeling when I saw you train with those weights on, putting extreme pressure on your body, that I could learn many things from you."

"Then change and prepare a backpack with enough things to last for a few hours. We won't come back in the next 5 hours," said Naruto.

Stella got sweat on her forehead. "Leave it to me!" said Stella, taking a tracksuit of her own and entering the bathroom. Naruto sat down on the couch in the room, reading something while he waited for Stella to finish preparing.

Five minutes later, the two roommates left their one-room-apartment and made their way to an isolated area where Naruto liked to begin his training. Both were now standing in an open clearing that was like a park of sorts. They both placed their backpacks on the ground before Stella turned to Naruto, waiting for introductions.

"Let's stretch before we begin with anything else. If we aren't properly warmed up, we can hurt ourselves with the training we are about to do," said Naruto, going down to begin stretching.

Stella nodded and said, "Ok." She began her own stretching but stopped when she saw how flexible Naruto's body was. He could bend down his body to such a degree she hadn't seen before. She tried to mimic his movements, but she couldn't do it. But she felt the difference in intensity the moment she tried to stretch like Naruto. It was more effective than her methods.

'I knew it,' thought Stella under some pain. 'I can already feel the difference, and when I use this method from now on, I will achieve better results… it was the right decision to train with him, even when I would have liked to sleep a few more hours.'

It wasn't just to forget about Ikki and Shizuku. She didn't know why, but when she was around Naruto, she could forget what happened yesterday. Naruto Uzumaki had something about him that Stella couldn't describe. Maybe it was the way he spoke with others, his empathy, his general way of handling situations, but it didn't matter in the end. Even after only knowing him for not even 24 hours, she could tell that Naruto Uzumaki was different than other boys in their age group.

"Do you want me to give you instructions even in stretching?" asked Naruto when he saw that Stella tried to mimic his way of stretching. It was a routine he developed over the years. He tried many different positions of his body to get the maximum efficiency out of each exercise.

Stella blushed a little when she realized Naruto noticed that she was trying to imitate him. "Y-Yes, that would be good. I could feel that your way of stretching is more efficient than mine," said Stella.

"Ok, then listen here…" Naruto showed Stella a few exercises he used to stretch and warm up his body for the intense training they were going to do. Stella had some problems with a few positions since Naruto also used some exercises where he needed to bow down his body to an extreme degree.

To make it simple… Stella's giant breasts were in the way of this kind of exercise. She couldn't bend down as much as she wanted because her breasts would press against the surface. It was highly embarrassing when Naruto helped her with one stretch, where he pushed her upper body towards the ground while she sat on the ground.

After 20 minutes, both ended their stretching, and Stella already noticed the difference in her usual finish of stretching. Her entire body was working like never before. Her muscles were all wide awake and waited for actions; her pulse was heightened to make the blood flow more efficient, and in general, she felt her body better.

Naruto stood up from his low position and looked at Stella. "I start my training with the so-called horse stance, where we will train our lower body and balance of center," said Naruto. He walked to Stella and said, "I will guide your body a little and make corrections so you can get the feeling for the horse stance. It will be very unusual at first, but you will notice very fast that holding the horse stance isn't easy."

"W-What? You want to t-touch me?" asked Stella, blushing. "Y-You can't do this!"

"Wait, you understand this in the wrong way, Stella," said Naruto, a little in panic. He could see she was defensive and glared a little at Naruto.

"I am sorry, I should have explained it better to you," said Naruto. "I don't want to touch you in the way you think right now. I would only guide your body like in the stretching exercises before. I don't want to touch you in a perverted way, I promise."

"So, you wouldn't want to touch a girl like me?" asked Stella with a cold expression on her face. "I am not enough to turn you on, huh? Are you also someone who prefers little sisters with no curves?"

Naruto got sweat on his forehead. What was this situation? He got a feeling this had something to do with Ikki Kurogane and the incident that was connected to Stella becoming his roommate. He could tell this wasn't just out of a temper. This reaction was because of something that happened just recently.

'Did Ikki Kurogane do something with his little sister?' thought Naruto. He shook his head, focusing on the problem at hand. "What are you talking about? I would always prefer a girl like you, so don't ever assume you wouldn't turn me on, and don't say things like that. You are dead gorgeous, and I have never seen a girl more beautiful than you, so stop this nonsense," said Naruto, blushing with a frustrated voice. He couldn't believe he had to say such obvious things. "And besides, I don't have any siblings. I am an orphan."

Stella blushed madly when she heard the first words from Naruto, getting completely red in her face. She looked away, embarrassed, when she realized her outburst was completely unjustified. When she heard Naruto's last words, she twitched and regretted the things she said.

"Naruto, I am sorry, I – " she was interrupted when Naruto said, "Just forget it," said Naruto with a hand before his face. He couldn't believe how such a situation would escalate so fast. He took his hand from his face and looked at Stella.

"Listen, Stella, I am not angry or anything," said Naruto. Stella looked at Naruto with a surprised expression on her beautiful face. "I don't know what happened between Ikki Kurogane and you, but I would advise you to speak with someone about this topic so you can overcome the current pain and struggle you are fighting. There has to be a reason for you to snap too quickly. I want to avoid moments like this in the future."

"You don't even have to talk with someone, but please try to overcome this. I want to get along with you, but this could be difficult if you react the way you did moments ago to simple things like that," said Naruto.

Stella looked at the ground with a defeated expression. "I am sorry, Naruto… I really shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I know that you aren't him… you just reminded me a little of him, and I got a flashback of the events that made me become your roommate."

"You know… I really liked Ikki; he was so different from others I met so far," said Stella, explaining everything to Naruto. She didn't know why, but she just had to tell him everything. The way Stella met Ikki the first time, the aftermath of the fight, her feelings through the process, her thoughts, and everything else. She even told him about Ikki and his little sister making out in the middle of the school grounds, letting her feel the pain she never felt before.

What could Naruto say when he heard everything? It was somewhat understandable that Stella reacted the way she did. But hearing Ikki Kurogane kissing his little sister in public, or more specifically letting her kiss him and not fighting back, wasn't normal. That's for sure.

But he didn't know the circumstances of the relationship between Ikki and his little sister. He wouldn't think too much about it since it was something that was out of Naruto's reach.

"I see… I am sorry. It must have been painful to watch the person you like to kiss someone else," said Naruto.

Stella nodded and said, "Yes… I only realized it after the run yesterday when I had a clear mind again. I really liked Ikki and even have some feelings left for him… but I know that this is over. I could never see myself with him after what he did with his little sister."

"Why don't we begin our training then to let your mind concentrate on something else?" asked Naruto. "We need to warm up again, but this is done in no time."

Stella nodded with a small smile. "Thank you, Naruto. You tolerated my outburst and even let me pour out my soul before you. I don't know how to repay for your kindness," said Stella.

Naruto waved his hand, shaking his head. "Forget it. Let's just begin our training so we don't lose more time," said Naruto. He turned away and began to stretch again. Stella looked at Naruto's back and smiled. 'Thank you, Naruto,' thought Stella.

After they stretched, Naruto showed Stella the horse stance. Stella did it wrong at first, like many others, since she didn't feel much, but when Naruto corrected her stance just a little, she got wide eyes, feeling the pressure on her legs and lower body. It was intense, and she had struggled with maintaining this posture, but she fought through it and maintained the stance as long as she could.

"That's enough," said Naruto after 45 minutes of staying in the horse stance without moving a single muscle. Stella gasped and swiftly went into a more comfortable standing position. Naruto smiled and said, "You did great. You only used a little amount of mana at the end to maintain the posture. You truly are incredible."

"Say this about yourself. You didn't even flinch the entire time. My legs began to shake after 20 minutes, and I had trouble even getting my legs to stay still," said Stella.

Naruto chuckled and said, "I have done this for years now. I think that's pretty normal. So let's continue with the training."

Naruto and Stella would continue to do various exercises for the body, always with a clear purpose in mind. Stella swiftly noticed that Naruto's physical training didn't just train his muscles and stamina. He also trained things like balance, coordination, and other things that were important in a fight.

After the strength exercises were over, Naruto and Stella took a short break. Stella was panting heavily on the ground, drinking from her water bottle. Naruto was standing a little away from her, going through a few body motions.

Stella looked at Naruto, confused. "What are you doing, Naruto? Aren't you taking a break?"

Naruto stopped after another minute and sighed. He looked at Stella and nodded. "I do, don't worry. This has something to do with one of my techniques. Nothing you need to worry about," explained Naruto. "It's a simple routine to let the body calm down."

"I see… then I won't ask you further on it. But how can it be that you are still so fit? I needed to use mana to be able to keep up. Even when you have done this for years already, we didn't take a single break in the last two and a half hours between the various exercises we performed," said Stella.

Naruto had crossed his arms before his chest while he looked at the sun that slowly appeared on the horizon. He looked at Stella and said, "It's a bit complicated to explain. Let's just say I have a method to replenish my stamina to some degree. It's not that I won't get tired, but I have a way to stay fit longer than normal possible."

"What? Does this have something to do with your Blazer ability?" asked Stella. She thought Naruto didn't have an actual Blazer ability like Ikki Kurogane. Ikki's Itto Shura was something artificially created. He created this on his own and wasn't born with this Noble Art. He created it to boost his physical abilities.

"No. I don't have a Noble Art like you. I only possess a device, but it has no ability in itself. I am pretty much like Ikki Kurogane in that way. His device has no ability besides being a weapon," said Naruto.

"So how is it possible? Is it a Martial Arts technique?" asked Stella.

"Yeah. Technically, it's possible for everyone to learn," said Naruto. "But it's a technique I created to be able to stand a chance against others. If I teach just one wrong person this technique, then the world would change forever. If this technique would be public knowledge, then everyone would want to learn it."

Naruto's expression turned deadly serious. "Are you ready to promise with your life to never say something to others about what I will now tell you?" asked Naruto.

Stella nodded and said, "I promise to never tell anyone about it."

Naruto sighed and looked at the sun. "I created a technique that let me replenish my mana," said Naruto.

"What? This is possible?" asked Stella, shocked.

"Yes. It was a coincidence that I found a theoretical way to replenish one's mana in the middle of a battle or training. It took me 5 years to bring my theory to practice, but in the end, I found a way to replenish my mana permanently. To make it simple, I never run out of mana. Even when I have so little to begin with," said Naruto.

"This is my biggest accomplishment and the only reason I was able to achieve so many things when it came to my combat abilities. Unlike Ikki Kurogane, I can use mana without worrying about running out after using it for a short time because, as F-rank Blazers, we have so little mana in our bodies to begin with," explained Naruto.

"That's… that's incredible!" said Stella.

"Yeah, but when this information becomes public, many will be after me," said Naruto.

"Understandable. Everyone would want to be able to replenish the mana they used directly," said Stella.

"I hope you understand why I keep this hidden from others," said Naruto. "I trust you, Stella. This is the only reason why I told you that. I hope I don't regret trusting you."

Stella shook her head. "You won't! I will never say something about this. I promise! Your secret is safe by me!"

Naruto smiled and said, "Thanks." He rolled his shoulder and said, "Shall we begin the last stage of our training? The 40 kilometer run?"

Stella nodded and said, "Yeah." Both took everything to walk toward the benches where they began their run yesterday. Stella looked at Naruto from time to time and thought about everything that happened. She felt a weird sense of calmness when she was beside him. She felt like she could be herself. It was weird what this boy did to her. It wasn't like with Ikki. Naruto was just… real. She didn't know how to describe it. The more she did with Naruto, the less pain she felt thinking about what happened with Ikki and Shizuku. It was like Naruto slowly cured her of the pain she went through, even when he hadn't done anything special so far besides letting her cry her heart out.

Others did more things for her, and she didn't feel like she did now. She would need to think more about it during classes and when she finished the 40-kilometer run.