720The Sky Fox
Chapter 20: The Mysterious Blue Lady
"Darn it, of all the times I should sleep in, it has to be during a school day which I'm currently late for class!" Naruto grumbled as he ran along the hallway as fast as he could let himself do so without attracting too much attention to himself.
[You best hurry, it's already ten minutes since the first lecture has begun] Minato notified from the bracelet.
"Why didn't you guys wake me up?"
[You're at the age where you be able to wake up by yourself, especially without an alarm] Kushina retorted.
"But Chifuyu is gonna kill me!"
[More of a reason to learn how to wake up by yourself, this ought to motivate you]
"Ugh, and to think that I let Kurami-chan sleep over at Nohotoke's place,"
He rapidly ran up the stairs to the floor where his class was located and was rounding a corner when he saw someone in the way and in his path. With his instincts subconsciously taking over before his mind reacted, Naruto stomped a foot strongly onto the floor to launch himself into the air over the person and landing behind her in a crouch.
"Sorry about that, I was in a hurry and…," Naruto turned to apologize but trailed off upon seeing who the person is "Wait, you again?"
The person turned out to be the blue-haired girl whom he had encountered not too recently with the person smiling slyly behind an open fan "It seems to me that we keep running into each other, time and again,"
"Yeah…who are you?" asked Naruto curiously.
The girl continued to stare at Naruto with a playful smile for a moment before turning around and walking away much to his confusion "We'll see each other later…and you might wanna hurry up, Miss Orimura isn't someone you want to annoy,"
…
…
…
"…Oh crap!" Naruto finally understood the meaning behind her words and took off even faster than normal, not seeing the girl glance over her shoulder to smirk at him behind her folding fan.
"So, that is your excuse for coming late to class?" asked Chifuyu as she along with everyone in the classroom stared at a very awkward Naruto.
"It's the truth, I almost ran into her when I was rushing over here," Naruto explained.
"And so you prioritized having a conversation with an unknown female over coming to class early,"
"No, it's not like that. I was just making sure that I didn't hurt her,"
"I see…," Chifuyu turned to Charlotte much to his confusion and for some reason…dread "Dunois, demonstrate the Rapid Switch for me now!"
"Yes Orimura-sensei!" Charlotte left her seat and approached Naruto with a smile which bears no sign of friendliness "I will begin the demonstration," she called upon her IS and aimed a machinegun at Naruto.
"Um Charl-chan, you're not going to shoot at me without my IS equipped, are you?" asked Naruto nervously.
"Whatever do you mean by that?" Charlotte simply responded with that smile of hers while cocking her firearm "Let's get this started, Revive!"
"Oh sh-,"
*Ratatatatatatatatatat*
Charlotte pulled the trigger to rapidly fire live ammo upon Naruto, throwing up a cloud of dust. The dust cloud soon settled to reveal that Naruto was cowering behind the Beam Guarder, having used the Partial Deployment to equip his left arm with Odin's gauntlet.
It appears that you've master the Partial Deployment to the point of it being second nature to you. Quite impressive," said Chifuyu nonchalantly.
"I'd take that as a compliment if you guys weren't trying to turn me into Swiss cheese," thought Naruto with a frown as he got up with the gauntlet dissipating.
[You need to learn how to explain things better] Minato advised his son.
"What part of my explanation didn't make sense?"
[All of it] Kushina deadpanned.
Grumbling at the unfairness of it all, Naruto went to his seat and Kurami padded over to him and hopped to the table to stare at him with a quirked eyebrow.
"What really happened?" asked Kurami via their mental link.
"Ask my parents, apparently I can't explain stuff well," Naruto retorted, paying attention to class especially since Chifuyu was looking straight at him.
Some time later after class, everyone was called to assembly hall by the student council president for an announcement. Now that Naruto thought of it, he had never met the president before which is kinda odd this far into his duration spent in the school.
"Hey Naruto, are you doing okay?" asked Ichika curiously.
Naruto turned towards him with a quirked eyebrow "Are you seriously asking me that question after seeing what happened to me because of your sister and Charl-chan?"
Ichika looked away sheepishly at that "…sorry,"
"I thought so,"
"Now, the student council president will explain the details," someone spoke up through the loudspeaker.
Naruto noticed something step into the podium and approach the microphone, a much closer look at the person made the blonde ninja lean back in shock as he recognized the girl as she reached the microphone and began to speak to everyone.
"Well then, things had gotten rather hectic this year, so I hadn't been able to introduce myself. My name is Tatenashi Sarashiki," the blue-haired girl introduced yourself.
"Is that the girl who made you late to class?" asked Kurami.
"Yeah, but I never would have thought that she is the student council president," thought Naruto.
[What an unexpected reveal] said Minato.
"Tell me about it, hm?" Naruto glanced up to see Tatenashi staring right him then she winked at him saucily, making him feel nervous.
"So, as for the school festival that is coming up this month, I wish you all good luck in deciding what it is you want to do as a class," Tatenashi opened up her fan to reveals words written on it 'DEADLINE COMING SOON'
Once the assembly came to an end, everyone went back to their classrooms and began discussing on what they want to do for the upcoming school festival. Same went for Naruto and the others as they put up 'viable' suggestions.
Naruto stood at the board and had jotted down their ideas "Well, all the suggestions for the class entertainment are…," he glanced at the board
Naruto Uzumaki and Ichika Orimura's Host Club
Twister with Naruto Uzumaki and Ichika Orimura
Pocky Play with Naruto Uzumaki
The King Game with Naruto Uzumaki
"…all rejected!" Naruto declared sternly.
"Eeeeeeeehhhhhh!" the girls exclaimed in protest.
"What's wrong with you all? Just who would want to do these kinds of things?" Naruto pointed out.
"I would, I'm sure I would!" said a girl with cheeks tinged pink.
Naruto blinked in confusion "Say what?"
"She's right! You and Orimura-kun need to fulfil your duties to please us girls!" said another girl.
"Are you serious?!" Ichika exclaimed.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Ichika Orimura are our shared property!" a third spoke and soon the rest began cheering in agreement.
Feeling lost and confused, Naruto turned to the one person who could talk some sense into the class "Maya-sensei, please do something about this!"
"What? Well, I guess…," Maya began shyly poking her index fingers together which reminded Naruto about a certain girl back in Konoha "…I'd like the one with the pocky game though,"
"Looks like you're cornered, Naruto-kun," Kurami muttered as said person was at his wits' end.
"…look, let's choose a much more normal one. Something even I can agree with," Naruto tried again, not wanting to use those ideas.
[I've never been glad that Jiraiya isn't in this world] said Kushina.
[I would have to agree with you on this one Kushi-chan] Minato agreed with slight hesitance.
"How about a maid café?" Laura suggested, effectively silencing everyone in the room and letting her continue "It is bound to be received well plus an eatery will earn you back the money you spend on it,"
"That's a good idea, why don't we have Naruto and Orimura as butlers or kitchen workers?" Charlotte spoke.
Laura nodded in agreement "I can personally vouch Naruto to be a very capable cook, as to be expected of my bride,"
Naruto sweatdropped "At this point, I'm already tired of correcting her,"
"I've heard of Maid Café before, it sounds like fun and the maid uniforms are so cute!" said Penny excitedly.
"I can't wait to see Uzumaki-kun and Orimura-kun as butlers or cooks! The thought of eating their food is making me excited!" said a girl and the others soon joined in, already making plans like sewing maid uniforms, taking pictures and many more.
"Aw man, I wasn't expecting any of this when I woke up this morning," the blonde ninja sighed.
Afterwards, Naruto submitted the papers containing the selected idea to the teachers' room and received their approval. He stepped out while rubbing the back of his head, wondering about how he'll be taking part in the maid café when the time comes.
"Now then, I wonder what I should do now that I have some free time," Naruto muttered to himself.
"How a little siesta under a tree? You could definitely use some relaxation with me," Kurami, blushing underneath her fur since she wanted to spend time alone with him.
"You got a point there, I could use some down time," said Naruto, he began walking away when someone suddenly called out to him from behind.
"Hey there!"
Naruto turned around was surprised to see none other than Tatenashi approaching him "Tatenashi-san?"
"There's no need to be so formal with me," said Tatenashi as she stood next to him.
"So, what is it you want?"
"I'm going to be your IS coach for a while,"
Naruto frowned at her statement "What's that supposed to mean?"
"But you realize that you're weak,"
"I think you're mistaken, I'm not weak. I've been training even before the reveal of me being the second male IS pilot, I've still continued to training even while I'm helping the others,"
"I'm quite aware, you even helped Orimura Ichika attain Second Shift as well as was the one to face the newly introduced Knightmare and emerged victorious. Sounds to me like you're riding on the coattails of your recent achievements," said Tatenashi slyly.
"Hey look, I'm openminded to accepting help from others but I'm not let myself be downplayed," an annoyed Naruto responded.
"Are you willing to bet on that?"
"Of course, if I lose then I'll do whatever you want me to do!"
Tatenashi smiled brightly at that "Sure thing, follow me to the training,"
"You idiot, you were being baited and you fell for it hook, line and sinker," Kurami grumbled.
"Huh, I did? Oh man," Naruto groaned in realization.
[He sorta got that from you, Kushina] said Minato.
Kushina pouted [You don't have to bring it up, dattebane!]
Naruto followed Tatenashi to the training room where they both donned training gis and face each other from opposing sides with the floor panels mechanically flipping over to reveal tatami mats.
"Here are the stakes, you win the match if you manage to knock me down once while I win when I render you unable to battle," said Tatenashi.
Naruto groaned at this "Giving me this much leeway…you're underestimating me aren't you?"
"Don't worry, I'm going to win,"
Naruto looked into her eyes and saw something which interested him, confidence in herself and strength with hardly a trace of arrogance. That alone told him that she's not underestimating him per say but then again, she doesn't know him at that well.
"In that case…," Naruto took on the stance of the Hummingbird Style "…here I come!"
Tatenashi simply stood there with a smile "Come at me at any time,"
Music Start: Tekken 5 - Dark Resurrection OST; Hiten
Naruto took a few small steps forward before breaking into a run whilst rapidly approaching in a zigzag pattern with his upper lowered to the ground till he was close enough to attack with a rising diagonal knifehand jab at her. Tatenashi leaned back to evade the strike to grab him by the wrist and attempted to flip Naruto to the ground but he rather went with the momentum to somersault and land on his feet then retaliated with a low sweep kick which the bluenette evaded by jumping out of range and landing a short distance away from him to avoid potential follow-ups.
"You're pretty good," said Naruto as he retook his stance.
Tatenashi simply smiled "At IS Academy, the title of student council president means one certain thing. The student president, in other words, the head of all students is the most powerful!"
Naruto started to smirk "Is that so? I'm starting to feel rather excited,"
He dashed towards her once more and attacked with a swift jab which Tatenashi deflected with a palm strike and reached to grab him yet again but Naruto was well aware of that tendency as he parried with a forearm and countered with a shoulder charge, knocking her back.
Tatenashi stumbled back before regaining her balance right on time as Naruto was upon her once more and attacking with a combo of punches, palm strikes and knifehand swipes which she defended against and retaliated with attacks of her own
The combatants pushed back and forth throughout, smiling inwardly at facing an opponent who can actually push them outside of piloting an IS. To Naruto, it felt like he could let out a bit of his real self in this fight even if it's only Taijutsu. As for Tatenashi, the more she fought the blonde, the more interesting he became in her eyes. They disengaged and leapt away then began to cautiously circle around each other, not looking away.
"Hmm, this is fun and all but this fight's gone on long enough…time to pull out a page from an old friend's notebook," thought Naruto as he kept his eyes on his opponent.
"He's up to something, he intends to end this fight with his next move. Let's see what he's got," thought Tatenashi, the blonde's slight crouch told her that he was about to attack and braced herself for the incoming attack.
Sure enough, Naruto charged straight at her full tilt before leaping into the air "Leaf Hurricane!" he attacked with a roundhouse kick aimed towards her head, Tatenashi quickly ducked the kick with a crouch but he remained unfazed as he twisted his body in midair to land sideways on one hand and now attacking with a spinning low kick.
"I can't dodge in time; I've got to block!" Tatenashi moved her arms in preparation to defend, then she saw Naruto form some sort of sign with his free hand. Next thing she knew was that she felt a strong impact on her cheek and was sent tumbling away from Naruto much to her shock.
Naruto did a handspring to land on his feet and smirked "Looks like I win,"
Music End
Tatenashi snapped out of her stupor and got up whilst rubbing her cheek "I guess you did, but did you have to hit so hard?"
Naruto shrugged in response "Sorry about that, fighting you got me letting loose more than usual,"
"In other words, you weren't fighting seriously…and still aren't from what this spar told me," Tatenashi pointed out, her eyes glinting at the end of her sentence.
"Yikes, she's on to me. Better be careful around her," thought Naruto.
"By the way, what was that move? I don't think it's a part of your Hummingbird style,"
"Oh, that's because it belongs to an old friend of mine. He's amazing in the art of tai-I mean close combat. No doubt he would give you a run for your money," Naruto explained, smiling in nostalgia as he recalled Rock Lee and hoped that he was doing well back in Konoha.
Tatenashi hummed thoughtfully "Interesting, anyways you've knocked me down and won the bet,"
"That's right, goes to show that I'm not weak," Naruto blinked as he thought of something "Since you've lost, what does that mean for you?"
"You'll find out by the end of the day, I'll need to prepare it for you. Just wait and see," said Tatenashi mischievously, Naruto started feeling nervous in spite of having won the wager.
"Why do I feel this way when I won the bet?" thought Naruto.
Later, Naruto and Kurami were at the park resting underneath the shade of a tree. The former was currently looking the stats and schematic of the Dot-Phasor via a Holoscreen from his Profiler whilst communicating with his parents.
"*Sigh* That fight with Suzaku and his Knightmare seriously impaired the Z-Shield, we'll need to rebuild it from scratch," said Naruto, swiping the Holoscreen to display what's left of the Z-Shield with the words UNUSABLE pasted over it.
"It's a given, considering that there was so much that the shield could defend you from," Kurami pointed out to the blonde ninja.
[The Z-Shield has served us well up until this point, this is the perfect chance to upgrade it and I already have some ideas for it] said Minato thoughtfully.
"Really, what are they?" asked Naruto curiously.
[For starters, I'm thinking of giving the Z-Shield a similar structure to that of Odin's Beam Guarder…] Minato accessed the Profiler to create a simulation of the new Z-Shield closely resembling the Beam Guarder [But it doesn't stop at just that. I referenced from Laura's AIC and developed a concept whereby the Z-Shield would be capable of absorbing energy-based attacks then sending it right back at the attacker] the simulation went on to display the Z-Shield absorbing energy attacks then countering with an energy beam.
"That's pretty cool, but is there a catch to it?" asked Naruto thoughtfully.
[Actually there is, there would be a limit as to how much energy the Z-Shield can store up from after absorbing. You will have to make sure to have used the energy in the shield before attempting to use it to absorb attacks again]
"Hmmmmm, I'm sure that there's more we can do on the shield but we'll stick with this concept for now,"
[Then I'll be sending the data to Fabio-san for him to begin right away] said Minato.
"Alright, time for some R&R until I go to the training grounds to meet up with Cecelia-chan and Charl-chan for some IS training," after putting away the Profiler, Naruto laid back on the grass and proceeded to sleep with Kurami curling up blissfully on his stomach.
Close to the end of the day, Charlotte and Cecelia were at the training grounds doing some last-minute stretches when they heard footsteps heading their way and looked to see Naruto running towards them whilst dressed in his pilot suit.
"You're late Naruto, what kept you?" asked Charlotte.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Sorry, I was taking a nap at the park,"
Cecelia huffed in response "Well, it's not polite to keep a lady waiting,"
"Sorry about that, so what's on the agenda today?"
"Well, we're about to partake in a Shooter Flow in the Circle Rondo formation," said Charlotte.
Naruto hummed in thought "Well, I could do with some refreshing on my shooting skills. You girls can start first then I'll have my turn,"
"Very well, I shall show how much I have improved since the last time we had sparred," said Cecelia before closing her eyes in concentration as her earrings glowed brightly before it faded away to reveal her in her IS Blue Tears.
Then Charles placed a hand over an orange necklace as it glowed brightly before finally dimming to reveal her IS Raphael Revive "Let's begin!"
The duo began to circle around each other, gradually increasing in speed as they rose towards the sky. Charlotte brought out her Assault Rifle whilst Cecelia equipped herself with her sniper rifle then they proceeded to exchange fire with each other with Naruto watching attentively.
"Been some time since I last did this," Naruto muttered lowly.
[Mostly because you were more focused on your Kenjutsu and Taijutsu. This exercise involves you manually shooting and controlling your high-level airframes at the same time, all the while you need to pay attention on evasion and targeting] Minato explained.
"Man, it sounds so complicated,"
[True, and we both know you learn better by being practically. Let's use the Dot-Phasor so I can guide you while we're at it]
"Okay, dad,"
Soon the session was over and it was Naruto's turn to partake with Cecelia as his partner, unaware that the girls fought over the position beforehand with Cecelia emerging as the winner. Naruto donned the Dot-Phasor then called on one of his firearms.
"Set Up, Z-Rifle" the pack opened up as two pieces of equipment shot out from it and combined to form an assault rifle before dropping into his hands "Alright Cecelia-chan, let's get started!"
Cecelia nodded in response "Here we go!"
They proceeded to undergo the same sequence, flying around each other in a circle and increasing gradually in speed as they ascended towards the sky. Naruto was maintaining the manual control of the suit whilst Minato guided him through the sequence before they proceeded to exchange fire with each other.
[Remember son, you need to focus on your flight pattern, firing accuracy and evasion constantly] Minato notified.
"I know, this is tougher than it looks!" thought Naruto.
[I understand, but this is no different from when you face other ninjas in the battlefield. Treat this just as seriously]
"Right, I will!"
Naruto missed several shots and received grazing shots from Cecelia which nearly shot him down time and again, but he was gradually attuning to the formation and missing his shots less and less. Soon the sun had completely set and the training was over.
"Okay, I'm turning in for the night," Naruto called out to the girls as they prepared to return to their dorm rooms.
"Okay Naruto, I'm sure that class will want to continue discussing about the Maid Café tomorrow," Charlotte pointed out.
"Indeed, I am honestly rather curious about the menu you might have planned for it," Cecelia added.
Naruto rubbed his forehead "I thought so, I'll come up with a list to show everyone tomorrow so they can choose which one would be suitable for the maid café. See you guys tomorrow,"
"Goodnight Naruto!" the girls waved at him as he left the training grounds first.
Naruto was trudging up the stairs and walked along the hallway towards his dorm room, feeling rather exhausted both mentally and physically today "Man, I can't wait for a nice long bath, a bite to eat then eight hours' worth of sleep to recharge,"
[You certainly deserve it after today] said Minato.
"I know right?" Naruto arrived at the door and opened it before going through, he then noticed something rather odd…he wasn't alone in the room per say and that was made fully known vocally.
"Welcome home!" a feminine voice cheerfully called out.
"T-T-Tatenashi?" Naruto stammered, and for very good reason too as said person was wearing nothing other than a pale-blue kitchen apron.
"Would you like to have dinner? Or take a bath?" Tatenashi leaned forward with her arms crossed, making her breasts very…pronounced "Would you like…me?"
Naruto stood there blankly until Kurami puffed her cheeks and slapped his face with her tail, making him snap back into reality as he ran out of the room to look at the number plate to make sure that he didn't enter the wrong room…which he didn't.
"Okay, this is my room. So, why is she…," Naruto mumbled in confusion.
"What's the matter master, don't now what to choose yet?" asked Tatenashi, leaning out of the door but Naruto pushed her back inside and closed it behind him in fear of anyone seeing this and assuming things.
"Care to tell me what the heck is this all about?" Naruto demanded, not asked…demanded.
"Why this is the result of your wager; I have become your maid," Tatenashi pointed out as a matter-of-factly.
"What's that supposed to mean? The deal was that if I win; you won't be my coach since I've proven that I'm not weak," Naruto protested.
"That may be true, but I recall that we didn't exactly settle on what were to happen if I had lost. Therefore, as your newly appointed maid; I'll serve and aid you to be the best master a maid can be proud of," Tatenashi said this mischievously.
Naruto opened his mouth to refute but no words came out of his mouth as he realized that she was right and it slammed into him like a freight train.
"She got me…whether I won or lost the bet. She would benefit the most either way," thought Naruto in horror.
"You really are weak against strong-willed girls," said Kurami in annoyance.
[How devious of her, she would have made a great kunoichi back in our dimension] said Kushina with a hum of approval.
[Next time son, you need to fully set the terms before going ahead with a deal] said Minato sympathetically.
Naruto could only groan with his head bowed down as Tatenashi smiled gleefully. It just doesn't seem to be Naruto's day today, maybe he needs to think back on which side of the bed he woke up this morning.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto was running to class was even more so due to bumping into a girl he hadn't met well enough which left him at the receiving end of Charlotte's gun. He later learns the girl's name to be Tatenashi and she's the Student Council President, it appears that she has some sort of interest in him as she offered to coach but he refused only to be challenged in spar which he was able to win. He and the class had also decided on a maid café for the oncoming school festival much to his relief as the previous ideas were none too comfortable for mostly him and Ichika. Returning to his dorm by the end of the day, Naruto finds Tatenashi waiting for him, turns out she came up with a roundabout way to still coach him with the bonus of staying in his room much to the blonde's chagrin. Just what are her reasons for doing this? be sure to read and review like always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.