"And so…2-A's Baka Rangers have assembled!"

"Who's a Baka Ranger!?"

Negi Springfield, young teacher of English at Mahora Middle School, gave an awkward smile at the now routine burst of anger from Kagurazaki Asuna, his student, roommate, and unwilling 'leader' of the Baka Rangers, Baka Red. She and five more of his students had stayed behind after school to take part in an after-class study session. They were the six lowest scoring in the class, and had attained the nickname "Baka Rangers" thanks to this.

They were: Ayase Yue—known as Baka Black—a short girl with long hair who often sported dry expressions; Nagase Kaede—known as Baka Blue—a tall girl with short hair and always had her eyes closed; Sasaki Makie—called Baka Pink on account of her pink hair—who wore her gym uniform; Ku Fei—Baka Yellow—a Chinese exchange student who struggled with her Japanese at times; and Uzumaki Naruko—called Baka Purple—who is considered to be on par with Asuna in terms of "Baka Power" and grudgingly accepted the position of second in command.

"So I can't study! So what!" Asuna crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "This school's just an escalator school anyway! It's not like I can't go to high school!"

Fortunately, Negi knew just how to convince her to take part. "But Asuna-san, Takamichi would be sad at how bad your English grades were!"

"Erk!" The mention of her crush and ex-English teacher made Asuna flinch and sprout a full faced blush. "F-Fine. All I've got to do is take the class, right?"

"Hey, so, I don't actually care what Taka-sensei thinks about my grades. That means I can leave, right?" Uzumaki Naruko's words made Negi lose his smile.

"E-Erm, w-well…" Negi trailed off as he looked at her expectant gaze. His mind absently drudged up what he knew about her. 'Seat number 6, Uzumaki Naruko-san…' He wasn't shocked that she said something like that. Already in the short time since he started teaching, he had caught her not paying attention serval times. After the first time he asked her to pay attention, her response caused a chain of events that almost caused a fight between her and the class president, Yukihiro Ayaka. He stopped bothering after that. That aside, her eyes were scary!

Her intense gaze bore into him like it did back then. "So I can go? Great!"

"Oi, Naruko! If I have to do this then you do too!" Asuna snapped, moving to stand between Naruko and the door. "Besides, don't try to act all cool! I know that Takahata-sensei scares the crap out of you! You really want to upset him?"

Naruko flinched. "I-I ain't scared of him!" Despite her words, a bead of sweat rolled down her neck.

"Yet you gave up trying to skip out on these after the first-time sensei caught you." Asuna countered with a smug smirk. "You sure he didn't put the fear of god into you?"

Naruko twitched for a moment. "Feh, whatever." She collapsed into a nearby chair with a huff. The chair creaked from the force. She crossed her arms and glared at Negi. "We doing this or what?"

"R-Right!" Negi gulped, sending a grateful glance to Asuna. 'Looks like I can use Takamichi's name to make her listen as well!' He waited for the rest to take their seats. "First, we'll be having a little test composed of ten marks. You can't leave until you score at least six, ok?"

"This'll be a snap-aru."

"No problem!"

"Very well. Please begin!"

Naruko stared at the first question, brows furrowed.

[Which sentence is in passive voice?]

'What's passive voice?' She had no idea. 'Is there an aggressive voice? Passive voice sounds like something a loser would use. Not interested.' She moved on to the next question.

[Choose the word that best describes or modifies the adverb in bold.]

'The fucks an adverb?' She skipped that one too.

"I'm done."

"Eh? Already?!"

Naruko wasn't even shocked. Yue always tended to get out of these sessions quick.

"All right! Number 4, Ayase Yue-san. Nine points; you pass! See, you can do it! Why are you even here?"

"…I hate studying…"

"I finished!"

"I'm done, Negi-kun!"

Naruko, half listening, looked back at her sheet. With a shrug, she picked a random answer for each question and stood up to join the rest who had finished. After a couple of minutes of marking, Negi stared at the results with a sweat drop. One 4 and three 3s. Naruko snuck a peak, surprised she guessed that many correctly.

"Huh? What about you, Asuna-san?"

"Ergh…"

Half a minute later, Negi stared with a blank expression at the "2" he wrote at the top of the page.

"O-Okay! Let me give you a few pointers!"

"Yes sir!"

"When I'm done I'll give you the test again."

A few minutes later, Naruko went and chose the correct answers she guessed last time. This time she looked at another question, half-curious if she could get any of them right properly.

[Which of the following sentences is a compound sentence?]

She ticked the second one. Maybe she'd be right this time. Once again, she picked the rest at random, this time finishing first.

"That was fast, Uzumaki-san!" Negi took the sheet and picked up his marking pen with a smile; it quickly became strained.

Taking the paper back, Naruko stared at the underlined "2" with indignation. "Oi, how come my score is worse this time?! I picked the same ones as before, I should at least have three!"

"Erm, this is a different test sheet than before, Uzumaki-san."

"Eh, it is?! How am I supposed to keep guessing until I get all the right answers then?"

"Y-You've just been guessing?!" His glasses slipped down his nose as he gave her a shocked stare.

"Duh, you think I understand any of this shit?"

"A-Ah…" Negi had apparently run out of words. He was saved from having to say any by Ku and Kaede approaching them.

"Sensei, I finished!"

"Ah, number 21, Nagase Kaede-san! Number 13, Ku Fei-san! Both of you scored eight points, you pass!"

The two gave victorious poses. "It best I can do to study Japanese!"

"Ha ha ha." Negi laughed as the two left the room.

"Here, sensei!" Makie handed him her paper.

"Hmm, number 17, Sasaki Makie-san, six points! You just barely pass."

Makie ruffled his hair. "Sorry I'm such a dummy, Negi-kun."

After she left, Negi turned to Asuna, with slight trepidation. "L-Let's see…what about you, Asuna-san?"

A disgruntled Asuna handed him her test, and she looked away as Negi put a big fat "1" at the top of her paper.

"Th-That's alright! When you get the knack for it, you'll have no problem getting eight points! Even I managed to master Japanese in three weeks."

'Yeah rub it in why don't you.' Naruko glared.

"I'll try to be more thorough, so let's do our best for the next question!"

"I give up! I'm just an idiot anyway…"

"Kill me."

After at least two hours and a dozen tests between them, Asuna and Naruko were ready to give up.

Much to Negi's distress. "Ahhh! Don't give up, Asuna-san, Uzumaki-san!"

"Hey! How's it going in there Negi-kun?" A voice from the window asked. Leaning on the windowsill was Takamichi, looking in with an amused smile. "Oh! Asuna-kun and Uzumaki-kun are here as usual, I see. Don't give Negi-sensei too much trouble, ok?"

"T-Ta-Takahata-sensei!" Asuna freaked out at the man's words, trying to speak through her stammering. "That's not…I mean…this is…"

"Well then, you three do your best now!" And with that the man left, chuckling away.

"Ass." Naruko mutters, voice barely audible with her mouth squished against the desk.

Thankfully, Asuna was too trapped in her own distress to hear her.

"U-Uh, Asuna-san…Um…don't take any notice of him…" Negi, bless him, tried his best to console her. Unfortunately, his best was nowhere near enough to stop the girl running out of the room in tears.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Asuna-san, wait!" However, she was already most of the way down the hall. "Wah! She's fast!" And then, completely forgetting that Naruko was still in the room, he jumped onto his staff that he always carried with him. "ASUNA-SAAAAAAAAN!"

Naruko watched with a blank expression as he zipped out of sight, calling after Asuna as she ran through the halls. She sat up and blinked. Approaching the door, she poked her head out, seeing them nowhere in sight.

"…Guess this means I can finally leave."

"Naruko-san, so this is where you've been all afternoon. I wondered why you didn't turn up for our sparring match."

"Hmm?" Naruko turned the other way to see her best friend approaching her. "Yo, sup Setsuna?"

The dark-haired girl looked past Naruko and down the hallway that Negi zoomed down. "Sensei isn't being very subtle, is he?" She sweat dropped, wearing a bewildered expression.

"Pfft, he totally forgot I was here." Naruko shook her head, smirking slightly. "He's lucky we already know about magic, or he'd be screwed."

"As long as his carelessness does not hurt Ojou-sama, then it's none of my concern." Setsuna narrowed her eyes, as if daring the non-present mage to try anything.

"You worried about your girlfriend's purity, stuck with him as her roommate?" Naruko waggled her eyebrows, getting a fierce blush from Setsuna.

"I-Yo-Kono-cha-I mean, Ojou-sama is not my—urgh!" Setsuna gave Naruko a death glare; her fire engine coloured face took away from her intimidation factor. "Do not insinuate any such things between Ojou-sama and someone like me! I could never be worthy of Ojou-sama. N-Not that I feel that way in the first place! I am merely a bodyguard, nothing more."

"Wouldn't being a bodyguard imply you're with her at all times?" Naruko raised a brow, and Setsuna practically hissed.

"How many times have I told you to drop that subject! Someone like me does not deserve to be too close with Ojou-sama."

Naruko, as always, wanted to call bullshit on that. But she also didn't want to push Setsuna too much. "Yeesh, fine. I'll drop it." She raised her hands in surrender.

Setsuna glared at her for a moment, before taking a deep breathe to calm down. "Thank you." She muttered after a minute, finally getting her emotions under control again.

"Still up for that spar?" Naruko asked. "After being stuck in there for hours, I need to move about a bit. Got plenty of frustration to burn off. I'll buy dinner after too. Make up for making you wait so long."

Setsuna took the peace offering for what it was and nodded. "Alright." The two began walking down the hallway. "It wasn't as if I was waiting around aimlessly, you know? I did some training while I waited."

"Ugh, I wish I'd been training for the last two hours." Naruko's shoulders slumped. "I could have been practicing my Ki control or something."

"You didn't enjoy Negi-sensei's after-class session?" Setsuna wondered, lips twitching at the corners.

"Hell no!" Naruko straightened up and pointed at Setsuna. "That was torture! He didn't even use the same test each time so I couldn't guess them!"

"How terrible of him." Setsuna deadpanned.

"Right!? Anyway it's a total waste of time 'cause I don't even need English to be a super strong mage!"

"Speaking of," Setsuna interjected, "have you even been practicing your magic lately? Every time we train together you just focus on your fighting skills."

Naruko's expression turned abashed. "Er, well…"

Setsuna shook her head. "A mage who doesn't even practice her spells. How will you ever reach your dream without improving your magic skills?"

"Bah who needs them?!" Naruko scoffed, crossing her arms behind her head. "I'll just become so strong that the Sect will have no choice but to make me the leader. And if they don't I'll just kick all their asses and take the position myself. Besides…" Naruko's expression faltered again and she looked away with a pout. "…I ran out of talismans a month ago."

Setsuna shook her head again. "Then ask for some more to be sent from Kyoto." She said, exasperated, thought she couldn't keep the hint of fondness from her tone.

Naruko sighed. "Come on, you know how much those things cost. I don't have that kind of money."

"If you had paid more attention in your lessons, you might have learned how to make them yourself."

"Bah, those lessons were so boring. Plus Amagasaki-sensei was a total bitch."

Setsuna grimaced at the memory of the bespectacled mage. "Ah, yes, she wasn't exactly pleasant."

"Damn monkey-fetishist." Naruko grumbled, kicking at nothing. "Whatever, just forget it. I wanna spar already." The two finally left the building, and Naruko turned to Setsuna with a smirk. "Race you there?"

"Challenging me to a race?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "If you want to lose twice this afternoon, sure."

"Oh it's on, bitch." Naruko grinned. "Three…two…GO!" Naruko vanished in a burst of speed.

Setsuna balked. "You cheater!" Setsuna blurred away, chasing after the sound of Naruko's cackling laughter.

Chapter End

Omake: Kyoto Babies Pt 1

In the middle of a dojo, a small girl was practicing her kendo skills. For the last few hours, she had been swinging her practice blade, drilling them until she could do them in her sleep. Her sensei had told her that once she has mastered all the forms she taught her, she would be able to move onto Shinmei-ryū techniques. Beads of sweat ran down her neck, glittering in the small amount of sun light leaking through the windows. The sound of a door sliding opening registered in her mind, but she ignored it in favour of her training.

"Setsuna-kun, could I have your attention for a moment?"

The young girl paused in her katas, almost losing her grip on her shinai. She turned around and bent down in a perfect right angle of a bow. "Eishun-sama! O-Of course! Please forgive my impertinence!"

She missed the drop of sweat on his forehead. "Now, now, Setsuna-kun, stand up straight. You can't see the person I'd like you to meet like that."

"M-My apologies!" Setsuna then proceeded to stand as upright as possible. She was practically standing on her toes. Now that she wasn't staring at the ground, she could see the new person standing next to him.

It was another girl her age, although she looked a little taller than your average eight-year-old. Her appearance was also like a complete reversal of Setsuna's own. As opposed to her own pale skin tone, the other girl had dark skin. Unlike Setsuna's silky long obsidian hair, hers was like thick straw that sat atop her head and fell to only the nape of her neck. Two blue eyes stared into dark brown, then back at her shinai with a look of awe. To finish her observation, Setsuna noticed three strange whiskers-like marks on her cheeks.

All in all, she looked like nobody Setsuna had ever seen before.

"This is Uzumaki Naruko-kun." Eishun dropped his hand onto Naruko's head, looking amused at her fascination with the training blade. That fascination swiftly turned to annoyance as he ruffled her hair. He chuckled when she batted his hand away, though Setsuna narrowed her eyes at the lack of respect. His amusement was replaced with melancholy as he said, "She's my goddaughter, and she'll be staying with me for a while."

Naruko's irritation vanished as she looked down at the ground. The sad girl didn't react when he returned his hand atop of head.

Setsuna's mind did what it was want to do, and started overthinking things. She put two and two together— "My apologies, Eishun-sama, but I cannot look after someone else at this point."—and got five. "I'm far too busy practicing my kendo, and I've already proven that I am incapable of protecting anyone as I am right now."

"Ah, Setsuna-kun—" Eishun tried to set her straight, but he didn't get the chance to.

"Oi! Who says I need protecting!" The sad aura around Naruko was gone, replaced with a burning anger. She pointed at Setsuna, glaring at her heatedly. "I can look after myself-dattebayo!" She crossed her arms and gave Setsuna a look that had her bristling. "Besides, I doubt a shrimp like you could protect anyone."

"A-Ah, Naruko-kun—" Eishun looked down to Naruko, realising things were going terribly wrong.

Naruko's words had Setsuna's eyes morphing into a livid glare. Her fist tightened around her shinai to the point where to wood creaked. "If it was from someone like you, I could protect just about anything."

"Oi, is that meant to be an insult or something?"

"You figure it out."

"Gah, it definitely was!"

"G-Girls, please—"

"I bet I could kick your ass, even with that little stick you've got there!" Naruko boasted, the previous awe when looking at said "stick" gone. "I bet you're not so tough."

"Please, feel free to try." Her tone made the polite words pointless, for they did nothing to hide her distaste. She got into a stance, holding the shinai with both hands, pointing it directly at Naruko's throat.

"Now come on you two—"

"Gladly!" Naruko ran forward with a yell, much to Eishun's distress.

Setsuna watched as Naruko ran without abandon, pulling back a fist. "Pathetic." She used the tip of her shinai to knock Naruko's fist upwards. Naruko yelped as her arms jolted upwards, only to freeze when the wooden blade stopped an inch away from her neck. "Is that all you've got?" Setsuna raised a brow, very unimpressed.

Naruko growled and grabbed her shoulders. Setsuna didn't have time to react when she had her feet swept out from under her. She landed on her back with a harsh cry. Naruko kicked her shinai out of her hands and stared down at her with a smug look. "Is that all you've got?"

"ENOUGH!" Both girls flinched at Eishun's yell. Instead of an angry expression like they expected, he just looked disappointed. For the first time since they met they were in agreement; this was worse. "I think, that this has gone on long enough." His voice was quiet now, emitting a commanding aura worthy of the chief of the Kansai Magic Association. "Naruko-kun, please help Setsuna-kun up."

Knowing it wasn't a request, Naruko grudgingly held her hand out. Equally as reluctant Setsuna took it. She grunted as Naruko yanked her to her feet, and rubbed her shoulder with a petulant glare.

Eishun sighed. "I was hoping that the two of you might become friends, but I see that I was a little hasty."

"Like I'd want to be friends with a stuck-up sword freak like her." Naruko turned her nose up petulantly.

Setsuna twitched. "Even if I wanted to be friends with someone like her, I don't have the time for such things."

The two girls gave each other nasty looks, before looking away with matching huffs.

Eishun held back another sigh and looked to Naruko. "Well, let's get going, Naruko-kun. Let's leave Setsuna-kun to her training."

"Fine by me." Naruko acquiesced easily, not looking back at Setsuna as she stormed out of the dojo. Eishun watched her leave then turned to Setsuna.

"…Keep up the good work, Setsuna-kun. At this rate, you'll become a wonderful user of the Shinmei-ryū."

Setsuna bowed low. "Y-You humble me with your praise, Eishun-sama. Someone like me doesn't deserve such kindness."

Eishun found he was sighing a lot today. Knowing that whatever he said wouldn't change the girls mind, he left it at that and left after Naruko.

As the door slid closed, Setsuna straightened out of her bow and picked up her sword. Staring at it with narrowed eyes, she nodded and returned to her practice with renewed vigour.

Omake End

So yeah, that was the first chapter of my new Naruto/Negima crossover. I think this is the fifth version since I cancelled Seat Number 32 (the one I uploaded as a preview was the third, I believe). After quite some time, I realised that I was over complicating things way too much. I ended up coming with convoluted back stories just to get Naruko to where she was, and I started spending too much time on them. I'm much happier with this version, as it's very simple now. That simplicity will—in theory—allow me to focus less on the past and more on the present. Way too much of that going on in all the other versions.

Now, you'll notice plenty of differences, not only from the original but also from the preview chapter. That's just how things go in the re-write process. Hopefully, this new story will be better than the shit show that Seat Number 32 turned into.

You might be wondering why Naruko is now Seat Number 6. Well, that's because her second name, Uzumaki, would be sixth on the class register, as it goes in Japanese alphabetical order. That means that everyone after Ako on the register is one number down form their canon positions (e.g., Asuna has gone from #8 to #9.)

I might do the Naruko Question Corner again, but that's only if the demand is high enough. If so, they'll take place after the Omakes, which will be every chapter and will show how Naruko and Setsuna's friendship developed.

Anyway, numerous author's notes have shown that I am terrible with them, so I'll cut this short. I hope you all enjoy the new story. I'm not 100 sure I'm happy with this chapter, but I just really, finally want to get the ball rolling. Feedback and criticism are welcomed and desired. Constructive feedback is ideal, but any review is welcome. Except flames since they're utterly pointless. All they do is make me laugh (on second thought feel free. I enjoy a good laugh.)

Until next time, NinGo out.