Part I

Naruto had awoke the morning of his first day of classes at the Cosmo-Demonic Coal-Burning University of North America determined not to be late for a single class the entire semester. He had transferred to the university from a local community college after doing two years there. He planned to complete his degree at the university over the next few years. As he wandered around Browne Hall looking for his classroom he started to get nervous.

Come on, it's got to be around here somewhere he thought to himself.

He rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. At the far end of the hall, two boys seemed to be confronting a third. The boy had thick, shaggy brown hair and brown eyes, was fairly tall, and had two red fangs tattooed on his face, one on each cheek. One of the other boys grabbed the front of his shirt and shoved him against the brick wall, pulling his other hand back in a fist.

"Don't ever think about making a fool out of me again." he said.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled, causing the three to suddenly look up. "Leave him alone!"

Naruto quickly traversed the length of the hallway and grabbed the boy's arm.

"Don't waste your time," the boy said to Naruto. "This guy's a fucking fag."

"So?" Naruto challenged him, stepping between the two, clenching his own hands into fists. "You're bourgeois trash, but I'm not going to kick your ass for it, unless you stick around."

"What!?" the guy said, not understanding.

"Come on," the second boy said. "They probably want to make out. I don't want to see that shit. Let's get out of here."

The kid let go of the tall boy's shirt and the two walked off down the hallway.

"Wow," the fang-boy said. "You know what 'bourgeois' means, and you used it in a sentence. I'm impressed."

"Haaa..." Naruto laughed. "Well, I read a lot, so my vocabulary is probably not that of your normal college boy's. Are you really gay?"

"Hmm, are you going to beat me up now too?"

"N-no!" Naruto stammered. "That wasn't what I meant. I mean, it's cool. That drives me crazy though. People are so ignorant."

"Yeah, I'm gay. And thanks for saying something, that was cool. At least they didn't dump me in Mercury."

"Hahaha," Naruto laughed. "Poor Anthony Blanche! He put himself in there though."

"Wow, you've read Brideshead? I'm really impressed now."

"Yeah, like I said, I read all the time. I liked it a lot."

"Me too. I'm Inuzuka Kiba by the way. Thanks again for what you did."

"No problem! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you. I don't know anyone here at all, except my two dorm roommates, who I've only known for two days. I transferred from a small college that's several hours away. Do you live on campus too?"

"I have an apartment off campus," Kiba answered.

"That's cool," Naruto said. "Do you have any other classes today? I've got Advanced Comp then a two hour break, if you're around, want to hang out between classes? Maybe show me around campus?"

"Sure, OK," Kiba said. "I've got nothing until this afternoon. Normally I'd just go home, but I can stick around, that would be cool."

"Great!" Naruto said. "Hey...ummm, I'm trying to find room 211, do you know where it might be?"

"Yeah, you're actually on the wrong floor. Browne Hall is the only screwed up building on campus. You know how the courtyard is sunk down? Well, Browne was here before they did that, so the bottom floor is all rooms that start with zero. This, the second floor, has room that start with one, and the next floor up is where you'll find the two-hundred labeled rooms."

"Ohhhh, thanks!" Naruto said. "I'd have been looking around all day."

"Yeah, I don't know why they just didn't re-number the rooms. That was stupid. Just remember, all the other buildings in this quad are numbered how you would expect them to be."

Great, thanks for the info," Naruto said, then realized how long the two had been talking. "OH SHIT! What time is it? I'm late now...shit, shit, shit! Hey, where can I meet you after I get done with this comp class?"

"Take a hike over to Amory Hall, the art building. There's a student lounge area on the second floor that hardly anyone ever goes to. I'll be there. Or text me, here, let me give you my number."

Kiba quickly scribbled his number on a scrap of paper and handed it to Naruto.

"Text me from class so I'll have your number." he said as Naruto ran off for the stairs.

Shit, shit, shit Naruto thought as he ran up the stairs, two at a time. And you were so early so you wouldn't be late. You just had to stop and help the cute guy, didn't you?

Kiba picked up his messenger bag from where he had dropped it when he had been in danger of being assaulted.

Huh he thought to himself as he started to walk out of Browne Hall and across the courtyard over to Amory Hall, which was in the next quadrangle over on campus. That was some kind of record, almost getting my ass beat after my first class on the first day of the semester. Usually it takes at least a week.

It was the last week of August. The sun was shining and big white clouds hung suspended in the blue sky. Kiba smiled to himself, he kept his head down as he walked across campus to avoid eye contact with any of the other students.

Naruto was really hot he thought as he settled down into one of the overstuffed chairs in the Amory lounge and pulled a book of Rimbaud's poetry from his messenger bag. His blonde hair was so sexy, and the black v-neck and orange shorts he was wearing showed his muscles very advantageously...I should have checked out his ass. His blue eyes are so dreamy...

"You know he's not gay though," Kiba's inner conscience said. "He's straight as an arrow. He just happens to be open-minded enough to speak up when he sees something going on that he feels isn't right."

Blaaaaaaahhhh Kiba replied to himself I'm sure you're right. I only fall in love with straight guys anyway. It sucks...what the fuck is wrong with me?

"You are so low key you can't deal with your average flamboyant homosexual male."

Ugh, you're right. Kiba cringed involuntarily.

"You spend too much time alone too, you need to get out more, meet new people, get your face out of your books all the time. Hang out with Naruto, maybe it'll be good for you."

Yeah, he seems really cool...I'll have to see, I've only talked to him for a few minutes. It would be nice to have a boyfriend again though too instead of just maybe a friend...well maybe. It's been three years since I was dumped.

"You know, it's also a safety mechanism...you fall in love with the people you know you can't have, that way you won't get hurt again."

Enough!

Kiba's phone suddenly began vibrating on the table next to him, indicating he had received a new text message. He unlocked the screen and opened the text window.

hey, it's Naruto. Hope you're still around, i'm getting outta class now, short day. see u soon.

A second text came as he was reading the first one.

oh, here's my number too so dont lose it. :)

Kiba chuckled to himself and sent a text back to Naruto after saving the number to his contacts.

Lulz...your number is save to my phone now, so no worries. And i'm still here, see u in a few

A short while later Naruto came through the heavy fire doors of the stairwell and looked around. He saw Kiba sitting in the otherwise deserted lounge.

"Hi" he said walking up to the brown-haired boy. "How's it going?"

"Oh, it's going. Are you hungry? All I ate was yogurt this morning."

"Yeah, I am actually. Want to go get some lunch?"

"Oh yeah," Kiba said, gathering his things up and putting them back in his bag. "But let's not go to the Student Commons. There's some smaller places around campus that are more quiet."

"I didn't know that," Naruto admitted. "You need to fill me in on all these secrets. Are you also a third-year?"

"No, I'm actually a second-year." Kiba answered. "And I'm not sure I should reveal all my secrets to you in one day! We've just met afterall."

Naruto laughed and the two walked out of the building and started to head over to the Science Quad, which was located on the complete opposite side of the large university's campus.

"There's this sandwich place over there, I guess so the sci and engineering kids don't have to come all the way back here to eat. It's soooo good."

"Cool," Naruto said. "What class did you have this morning? Let me know if that asshole tries to do anything to you again."

"Algebra," Kiba said. "And don't worry, I'm actually transferring out of that class because I want to take an Ancient Civilizations course instead, for part of my history requirement. I despise math. I just went today so I could have the professor sign my transfer slip."

"Ok, good, I was worried he might try to pull some shit on you again." Naruto said as they reached the sandwich shop and went in.

Kiba looked at the blonde boy sideways, but didn't reply. They sat their bookbags down at a table near the window and went up to the counter to order. Kiba ordered a club sandwich with potato chips and Naruto ordered a giant Italian sub with Cool Ranch Doritos.

"We got here just in time," Kiba said. "In about twenty minutes, this place will be packed."

As they waited for their orders to come up, they talked about different classes and what their majors were and where they were from.

"And what are you currently reading for fun?" Kiba asked Naruto after they had got their sandwiches and were now eating.

"I'm in the middle of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Naruto said. "It's all ancient Chinese wars and political drama, but the fights are epic."

"That sounds interesting," Kiba said. "I've never heard of it. Let me know about it when your finished. Maybe I'll pick up a copy if you think it's worth it."

They two new friends talked for a while longer then headed back to the other side of campus to make it to their next classes: British Literature for Kiba and Literary Theory for Naruto. They left each other's company with the promise to text each other and hang out again when they both had free time between classes.

After his Brit Lit class let out, Kiba walked back to his apartment, which was only a few blocks off campus. It was part of a renovated old mansion that had been split into four apartments. Kiba loved it because of its charm and character. His apartment was a walk-up on the second floor. As he unlocked the door, he heard his dog, Akamaru, pawing at the floor, he always knew when his master was coming up the stairs.

"Hey Akamaru," Kiba said crouching down and hugging the big animal. "How was your day? Ready for your walk? I met someone really cool today, and hopefully we'll be good friends..."

The two went outside and down the stairs. Akamaru minded Kiba so well that he didn't have to use a lead on the dog when he just took him out in the yard. Really, he didn't need a lead at all, but he didn't want to risk getting into trouble due to the town's local laws regarding loose animals. Akamaru was Kiba's best friend and the two had more or less grown up together. Akamaru was also the only being on the planet that Kiba shared all his secrets with.