Chapter 1

It was a sunny Monday, September 3rd. In all honesty I never cared to remember any dates, even of the supposedly "important" events of my life. Why should I? There wasn't much I cared about in general, apart from myself here and now. 'Only fools waste time thinking about the past, and even bigger fools try to anticipate the future.' This was my motto for years. At the age of 17 I already went through a period of home abuse, murder trial and two psychiatric hospitals. Sure when I was younger I tried to imagine what my future will be like, just like any other kid. But reality likes to verify our conceptions of what lies ahead of us.

As I stood in front of a large, slightly rusty iron gate I almost congratulated myself. Despite the somewhat adverse circumstances I was entering college to study Art. This was the only part of what I imagined as a child that came true. Perhaps if I was more inclined to produce any kind of positive emotions I would be smiling or feeling happy. Instead, I let my usually quite deadly stare soften a little. My face and posture still screamed "unapproachable!" but maybe no one would shriek in horror at my sight. At least for a while.

The College of Leaf was a strikingly average institution. It was average in terms of rankings, average in terms of achievements and average in terms of size. The buildings were also average and somewhat worn down. I could not care less about these things. I didn't care about the future, job prospects or anything of this kind, so why would any of the above matter. What did matter was that the campus was relatively large, with quite a few woods and green areas, and that I was able to get a single room in the dorms, so I could enjoy my solitude.

I looked up at the main building ahead of me as I walked past the gate. It was large, white, in a neo-classical style. It held the academic and dorm administration offices, as well as some of the 'important' faculties, like law and medicine. And the entire courtyard in front of it was swarming with people. Tons of people everywhere, not only excited students-to-be, but their conflicted parents and guardians as well. I winced at the thought of having to stand in the long queue for registration. I hoped that getting here early would let me avoid the crowds. Apparently, everyone and their mother had the same idea.

I adjusted the straps on my large, travel sized backpack and made my way inside the building. To the college's credit, the organisation was almost decent with lots of staff around, and despite the horde of people after about an hour I had my dorm room key in one hand, campus map in the other. I was afraid that the overall excitement that seemed to prevail would lead some people to try to talk to me, but my blank expression paired with my outfit seemed to have worked better than I anticipated. The only things I had to say so far were: "Gaara Sabaku" when asked about my name, and "Art" with regards to my main subject of study.

I wanted a large campus expecting an overall lower density of students per square meter, however after I checked the campus map I winced. Yes my dorm was technically in the best location I could wish for, right at the back in a secluded area of the campus, surrounded by a forest, but it was also almost 2 miles away and my backpack was heavy. Majority of the students came with parents who would simply drive from the main building to wherever they needed. I felt anger build inside of me. I hated exercise and being tired, and this 2 mile walk was going to make me sweat.

By the time I made it to my building I was on the verge of fury. If positive emotions were alien to me, the negative ones defined me entirely. I could go from zero to murder in two blinks of an eye. I tried calming myself down as I finally made it to the building, and almost managed to bring my blood temperature down from red hot to merely boiling, but before I realized what happened I found myself on the ground.

'What the fuck…' was all I thought before the anger overtook me again and thought processes seemed to have stopped. I looked around trying to pinpoint the fool who I was about to release my fury on, and my eyes landed on a blonde kid lying on the ground next to me. My muscles tensed up in anticipation to kill but before I managed to get up and launch myself onto my aggressor (accidental or not) he was on his feet.

"Oh no! I'm sorry! Damn I knew, I shouldn't run around like crazy and pay attention to where I'm going! I'm just ay too easily excited, that's my problem you see. Are you okay? Let me help you up! I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto by the way!"

The kid extended his hand to me in order to help me up. I must admit I was a bit startled by the fact that my clearly murderous face didn't shut him up immediately when he looked at me. No, the kid was smiling like it was all good fun. His attitude was aggravating, and all I wanted was to wipe that smile off his face with one clean blow. Maybe two, just for the good measure. But I was tired and starting a fight did not seem to be worth the trouble that was sure to follow.

"Fuck off." was all I decided to say, hatred clearly leaking from those two words. I stared at the kid and he took a step back as I got up.

"Hey um.. I did say I was sorry, are you that hurt? Maybe I…" he tried to say something else, though his voice sounded unsure. I shot him another glare which shut him up effectively, picked up my backpack and headed towards the dorm door. I could feel his gaze still on me as I was entering the building, perhaps he was still in shock. He was probably one of those overreacting happy teenagers who always smiled and found good things in everything. Sickening. I hoped to never run into him again or I would not vouch for myself. With that thought I shut the door behind me.

It was a sunny Monday, September 3rd when I first met Uzumaki Naruto. I didn't know it at the time, but for better or for worst, my life was about to change.

Hello, this is Joscelin, I'm glad you made it this far! This is my very first fanfic. I do hope that you find it interesting, the pace will eventually pick up and I do intend for this story to be quite long. It's a lot of fun to write, hopefully see you in the next Chapter soon!