Chapter 5: Potential

"Ara, ara. It seems I've been overlooked," a soft voice spoke up.

"Oh, sorry. I was distracted," Naruto said while once again scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment at the oversight. He turned to look at the person. Immediately he grew pale.

It wasn't because of the looks of the person. The girl, better to refer to her as a woman, was stunning.

She had the classic Yamato Nadeshiko look to her. Her eyes were a clear violet, and her incredibly long black hair was tied back into a ponytail(with an orange ribbon, dattebayo!). Two strands of her hair were sticking up, sloping backwards.

She was also incredibly buxom, surpassing even Rias, who was very buxom as well. She was the type of woman every male probably wanted to settle down with.

No, he paled for another reason. His gut and training with Jiraiya told him a very disturbing secret of the proper looking woman in front of him.

Pointing at her in terror, he then yelled in panic, "Aaaahhh! Sadist! Run away!" Naruto then did just that. Turned tail and ran with his tail between his legs.

Never let it be said that Naruto was a masochist. He might have let Sakura hit him, but that was because that had simply been part of the weird relationship they had between them.

He did something stupid, she hit him. If he dodged, she just got angry and would try to hit him twice. The only way to avoid being hit entirely was to not do something stupid, not likely, so he just accepted the one hit as the best choice.

The idea of someone getting sexual pleasure from causing him pain scared him so much he just outright avoided sadists.

Since part of his training with Jiraiya involved being able to properly identify people's sexual fetishes(yes, Jiraiya chose to teach him stuff like that instead of techniques), Naruto was very good at avoiding them.

The football club unfortunately arrived just in time to see Naruto point at Akeno, call her a sadist, before running away.

Calling the prim and proper Himejima-oneesama a sadist was more than enough to reignite the fire of their determination to catch and punish Naruto.

Such a lie was unforgivable…ignorance is truly bliss. So they ran past the Two Great Ladies of Kuoh Academy while screaming insults at Naruto.

"How dare you insult Himejima-senpai. Die!"

"Filthy lying pervert!"

"Burn him at the stake!"

"For Himejima-oneesama's honor!"

Akeno just watched this all occur with wide eyes. Needless to say, she had never had a guy run away from her before like that. Usually they bowed in worship when she smiled.

Too bad. She liked his book, Icha Icha Slave. Seems there is some truth to his apparent claim to not being the original writer.

No one capable of writing a book about masochism so well would run from a sadist with such fear.

"Ufufu, seems someone got a perfect measure of your heart with just one look, Akeno," Rias commented with an amused smile.

Akeno just smiled as she replied calmly, "I am offended, Buchou. I am not only a sadist…I am also a masochist."

Rias just sweat dropped before suggesting, "You say that, but you always seem on S mode. Even I've never seen your M side."

"But, Buchou, you already cover the masochist base in our club. Doubling up is a waste. So I have no choice but to cover the sadist base," Akeno claimed with a wide smile.

She then put her cheek in her hand and sighed before adding in an exaggeratedly sad voice, "I'm such a good friend to my king that I have no choice but to take incredible pleasure in the pain of our enemies. Oh, woe is me."

Rias just sweat dropped again before muttering, "You always say that, but I'm not a masochist."

"Yes you are. My sadist senses always tingle around you, Buchou," Akeno retorted immediately.

That caused Rias to shiver. Akeno had always openly claimed to not care about gender. 'As long as they feel pain.' She did not know what to think when Akeno says stuff like that.

Rias' mood took a 180 after that. Straightening, she grew serious before asking, "So that is Uzumaki Naruto. Never met him face to face before. You felt it too, right?"

"Yes," Akeno answered, matching her king's seriousness. She then continued, "His magic reserves are above average…for a human. We've known that for a time."

Rias just thought for a few seconds before asking, "What else do we know about him?"

Akeno shrugged at her king's curiosity before reciting from memory, "Uzumaki Naruto, seventeen years old.

Blond hair. Blue eyes. Considered good looking. Just under six feet tall. Looks Scandinavian despite his Japanese name.

Orphan. Second year. Transferred in two weeks after the start of the year. Below average grades. Incredibly physical fitness. Writer of the Icha Icha erotic novels.

Empathetic, kind, enthusiastic, blunt, honest, and an emphatic prankster. Popular. Rumors of high sexual appetite. Not confirmed. Likely result of his status as author of Icha Icha."

"And his magical abilities and potential?" Rias quickly asked.

"He has above average magical reserves for a normal person. Many of his pranks also indicate a high likelihood that he is capable of using a form of magic, due to the overall difficulty of them.

His magic reserves are low for magicians though, meaning he is likely a failed magician. He's physically fit, and claims to know many different martial arts.

Possible close combatant. Potential is good, if average. Likely a long term project. Little short term potential. No sacred gear," Akeno explained easily.

"That's a shame," Rias stated with a sigh. He seems a decent candidate for a peerage if one has time to properly nurture him, but she doesn't have that sort of time.

She needs someone capable of being an asset within a few months. Seems Issei is still her only real hope. She turned and started walking away as she finished by saying, "He was kind of interesting too. Not bad looking either."

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"Man, who'd have thought calling out a sadist would motivate people so much," Naruto commented as he walked out of class.