Chapter 19: Sage of Hearts C-19
Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?
"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)
'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought
*To clear up any confusion, Audrey is the name I gave Alice's unnamed older sister!
Two months after Naruto and his group jumped worlds…
Our story resumes as we cast our eyes on an unassuming school in the quiet suburbs of Oxford, England. The time was twenty minutes after nine and the students (who happened to be all females ranging from ten to eighteen years old) had just completed their homeroom classes and were shuffling over to their respective blocks(class periods for those uninitiated in the lingo across the pond). It was a day like any other - while the actual selection of courses was nothing to write home about, certain classes did stand out.
Of course, once again - remember that the courses themselves were nothing too special. That didn't mean that the teachers were boring though – oh no, they were anything but. Two months ago, four ladies applied as teachers at the school and through some skillful convincing, also allowed a male 'faculty' status (he wasn't really a teacher – he was basically a glorified chauffeur and general handyman who occasionally taught physical education…). The ladies took the Music, Drama, Home Economics and Chemistry classes while the man became the unofficial Woodwork and Physical Education teacher.
The new arrivals blew new life into the otherwise humdrum life of all the people in the school. The Music teacher was Miss Snow(she technically had two first names but felt that would be too long for the students to say every time…besides it made her feel weird to be called Miss Snow White…) and she entertained and enthralled many a pupil with her enchanting voice. Her classes were usually after lunch and the young ladies had their refined tastes sated just as much as their tummies were as the music room was filled with many girls singing along with their teacher or playing an accompanying piece on any musical instrument on hand (while the local wildlife outside was in a frenetic frenzy – Snow WAS a Disney princess…kinda in the job description to drive animals crazy with songs…).
The Drama class was also a very involved class, just not in the way one might be thinking. Madonna was a strict mistress who had a surprisingly deep love for opera and the theater. After delivering a moving rendition of a Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (a poet she'd taken a real liking to) she had proved the power of a poignant performance and how it could affect people. Her students then learned to appreciate their taskmaster of a teacher, becoming very well-read individuals and respectable thespians as a result.
Ella, ironically was not really excited to be a Home Economics teacher but upon realizing that the class was not just housework, she quickly found that she would go off on long spiels expounding on the nature of taxes, cooking and feng shui (to the ever present amusement of her students, who enjoyed watching the relatively reserved woman become so animated). Naruto would pitch in every now and then with some tips on woodwork and furniture and played the part of the perfect husband in Ella's demonstrations of standard household activity – an activity that most of the pupils enjoyed watching as their darling teacher and hunky beefcake of an assistant played house in front of them.
The Chemistry classes were a strange affair – the students couldn't deny the bewitching teacher anything and Grimhilde delighted in educating the young ladies in a very "hands-on" manner. Explosions and bursts of color were a common sight in the class as Grimhilde demonstrated various reactions and even tried some tame ones on her students. The students who frequented her classes soon found themselves coming to classes just to feel the heady rush of adrenalin that came with every successful experiment (sure, they ended up thrill seekers but on the bright side, the students had never paid so much attention to Chemistry before – especially seeing as most, if not all the girls in the class would end up as noble ladies and didn't need to know much, if anything about science…).
Coming back to the man of the hour, Naruto was not a teacher at the school. After all, having a make faculty member in an all-girl school would lead to nothing but scandalous rumors, especially seeing as how his charming demeanor and devilishly handsome looks had unwittingly made him the object of the first crushes of most, if not all the girls in the school and a guilty lust of the married teachers and mothers. Those who were single did try their luck to woo the handsome handyman/chauffeur as he was at the teachers' beck and call as part of his unofficial job but they failed spectacularly as the man in question was used to Grimhilde's seduction by now and the tame 'wiles' of the average British lady didn't really register with him. He just thought people were being really friendly with him and while his ladies knew better, they were content to simply watch the women throw themselves at their beloved (it made for some excellent comedy at least).
He took the teachers to the school in the morning and watched over the children as they took their morning and afternoon breaks as he tended to the school grounds and checked its equipment. He also supervised the students as their parents came to pick them up – it wasn't a difficult job seeing as most of the parents free to pick up their daughters were mothers who were all too eager to see the handsome minder of the school. It was at this time of the day that Naruto, Snow, Ella and Grimhilde would spend some time talking with Alice before Audrey came to pick her up.
The young lady was quite the spitfire and was very opinionated on certain things, particularly how life was very boring and ordinary, with nothing interesting ever happening. This never failed to amuse Naruto and the ladies as they knew too well just how things could change for the worse but chalked it up to her immaturity.
This is where our story picks up as Naruto was having an interesting conversation with Alice.
"So Audrey wants me to come to the park with her tomorrow to study History for the entire morning! The book is so boring – it has no pictures and there's nothing interesting in it! No conversations between important people or anything like that…I thought History was supposed to be all about that stuff!" Alice said as she jumped on Naruto's back and rested her head on his shoulders with a little pout on her face. Off the side of her vision, she caught more than a few women and students give her the stink eye for being so familiar with Naruto but she paid them no heed. Naruto was her friend and she could act as she liked around him (at least she didn't act weirdly around him…).
"Oh, you guys are going to the park this weekend? I was thinking of inviting you and your sister over to our house for a pleasant little luncheon – Snow and Ella have been insisting that we do this to repay your sister for helping us buy the house on your block." Naruto said, reaching over to ruffle Alice's hair playfully as she giggled at him before swatting his hand away with a faux look of outrage.
"Oooh you ruffian! Do you know how long my sister spends to fix my hair every morning? You are ruining all her work with your antics!" She said as Naruto hummed in mock regret before she fixed her tousled hair.
"I have an idea – Naruto dear, why don't you accompany the sisters on their trip to the park tomorrow and when they return for tea, you can lead them to our house for the luncheon?" Ella said, Snow nodding emphatically. Off to the side, Madonna and Grimhilde hummed in assent as they didn't like feeling indebted to anyone, even if they were friends.
"Sure! That would be great – please say that you agree Naruto! Audrey always listens to you; maybe you could get her to ease off on me!" Alice said, jumping off Naruto's back to run in front of him and grab his hands as she gazed at him with a piteous look.
"Urk! You don't have to go that far! Sheesh…I would be happy to accompany you and your sister to the park. Look – here she comes now…" Naruto said as the group looked over in the direction he gestured to, noticing Audrey walking over at a sedate pace( she might have looked unflappable but she spent a lot of time primping in front of the mirror trying to look good in for her not so secret crush).
"Oh hello Naruto. I see you and my sister are getting well acquainted every time we get together. When am I going to be graced with your presence at last? You've been giving my sister so much attention and neglecting little old me~." She said, inwardly grinning at Naruto's lost look before he apologized to her for seemingly ignoring her (the ladies laughed quietly at their dynamic while Alice merely puffed her cheeks in annoyance as she may have been nursing the teensiest little crush on her friend).
'Curses! If only I wasn't so young – by the time I am a woman, Audrey will have snapped Naruto up as her husband…'
"Oh don't you worry about that! The ladies and I wish to extend an invitation to you and your sister for a luncheon date tomorrow! Alice here told me she has some studying to do with you in the morning at the park so I'll also tag along – if that's okay with you of course…" Naruto said, watching as Audrey's eyes lit up in delight as Alice walked over to her sister and taking her hand in her own.
"That would be lovely! We'll be waiting for you at the park – shall we say eight thirty?"
"That's fine with me – now shall we go home? I think most of the students have already left." Naruto said as the group walked over to their shared little cul-de-sac. However, for one little girl, the next day promised something that she yearned for with all her heart.
A truly wondrous experience.
That was the end of chapter 19! Alice in Wonderland is a short film – most of the excitement was a single dream that Alice had so I have to make do with a shorter arc than usual. I think the arc will have two more chapters tops (the last one will probably be a lemon with Grimhilde…).
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