Legends of Konoha High: Prologue
The blonde freshman was dumped harshly into a trash can. This was the third time this month that the Junior bastard Kabuto had managed to do this, with his little squad of tougher Seniors, Sakon, Tayuya, Jirobo, and Kidomaru had ganged up on him. The blonde freshman, Naruto Uzumaki, cursed under his breath as he climbed out, listening to them making fun of him for the whisker patterns that were his birthmark.
Naruto had dealt with this ever since Middle School, when kids began caring how each other looked. He'd had some girls back in fifth grade say the whiskers were cute, but now the same girls called him a freak. He really had only one friend, and that was Shikamaru Nara. He was a nobody to those who paid him any attention. Even Sakura, his only crush, ignored him. She would add to the birthmarks the fact that he always wore an orange jacket over whatever he was wearing.
Naruto was jerked from his emotional thoughts as the bell signaled the end of lunch. Naruto groaned as he realized his lunch was on his ass, for it had been dumped before him. He quickly shook most of it off, leaving just a ketchup stain he knew he would receive so much shit for.
Behind him, though unbeknownst to Naruto, a kid with black hair resembling a duck's butt, from Naruto's own freshmen class, stared with a smirk. "He's perfect to join our group." He said to himself, making a mental note to call the Hyuuga Sophomore he was friends with after school.
Naruto got home to "his" apartment with a sigh, dropping his bag on the floor. His parents had died in a fire at their office when he was young. They had owned their own computer company, but Naruto never saw any of the leftover money. All his relatives had cheated him out of it, as they were jealous of his father for being so successful. A year ago, a previously unknown aunt had taken him in from the orphanage he'd been stuck in. But when Naruto thought he'd have a family, she up and left, turning up only when something requiring her attention popped up, or when it was required to keep the apartment in her name. In other words, the only way Naruto could take advantage of this was by running up the bills.
At the same time, Sasuke Uchiha met with his own friends. He wore a plain blue t-shirt and had his favorite red contacts in, and a pair of black shorts and he scrutinized the ones he'd met today at the food court. Across from him was Neji Hyuuga, wearing a white t-shirt, black shorts as well, and his Hyuuga eyes creeping out anyone who didn't know him.
To Neji's right was Lee, whose last name he wouldn't give, calling himself Rock Lee. Even the teachers called him Lee in role call. Lee, like Neji, was a Sophomore at Konoha High. He had a crappy bowl-shaped haircut and very fuzzy eyebrows. He always wore green, from the shirts to pants and shorts. Nejo even saw that Lee's whole wardrobe was green. Lee was currently trying for the track team, which Neji knew he could make with ease. He looked like a clone of the track coach, Miato Gai.
Next to Sasuke sat the oddest one, Kiba. He had slightly elongated canines, and when he wasn't at school he hung around with his dog everywhere and wore make-up made to look like war paint. He also always wore a coat that gave him a wild look when the hood was up. He was known as the Wild Freshmen, who, like Sasuke and Shino Aburame next to him, gained immediate popularity when they entered High School.
Shino was the quietest of the freshmen, showing almost no emotion unless they hung out at his house. This was shy they often chose too. His coat was weirder then Kiba's, as it allowed most of his face cover. He also was constantly seen wearing sunglasses, which his family was known for. The Aburame family had a bug lab in Konoha, where different members would often perform experiments to discover new qualities of bugs. Shino, while he still liked bugs, had no intention to carry on that tradition.
Finally, next to Shino, was Choji. He was the only fat guy who was popular at school. That was because his hair made him look cool, and he'd recently gotten rid of swirls on his cheeks that he'd been wearing all through middle school. He wore a blue and white striped shirt, with a light green jacket that was open and white shorts. He currently enjoyed a bag of salt and vinegar chips. "So what's up Sasuke?" He asked, starting the conversation.
Sasuke held back a giggle as he remembered their last get-together like this, where Choji had just earned some money and pigged out enough to throw up. Incidentally, this had been last week. "You know how we've been looking for some new people to hang out with?" He asked, eying the other guys seriously. "Yeah…" Neji said, hanging on there for Sasuke's next words. "How about Naruto Uzumaki and that pineapple-haired kid Shikamaru Nara?" He asked.
Everyone laughed, except Lee and Shino. Lee was thinking it was a good idea, if only to get the lazy Nara boy off his ass to challenge to a race. Since he wasn't in the comfort of his own home, Shino wasn't really showing emotion, but did also think it would be good.
As everyone stopped laughing, Neji began the argument against this. "That Uzumaki kid is the biggest loser in your entire class, Sasuke. Our group would look horrible." Sasuke scoffed, and retorted. "His only problem to me is wearing too much orange. I mean, yeah, so half of his shirts are as orange as his jacket, but we can get him out of that." Choji snorted. "What about the whiskers?" He asked. Sasuke was annoyed now. "And what about your swirling cheeks, fatass?" This shut Choji up, along with everyone else. Sasuke was normally quieter than this. In fact, Shino was normally the only one quieter. Sasuke also noticed no one complained about the Nara.
"Very well Sasuke, we'll give it a trial." Neji said, with a unanimous agreement. "Anyone know a way to reach him?" Shino offered, trying to get off this slightly tense subject. Choji brightened up. "My girlfriend Ino knows the Nara kid, and he knows Naruto. I'll call her and get Nara to call me, so we can set arrangements." With that settled, they hung around talking about the usual stuff, like grades, crappy teachers (including Mr. Hatake, the science teacher to freshmen), and in the case of Sasuke, Choji, and Neji, their girlfriends. Sasuke was dating a girl with short pink hair and green eyes named Sakura Haruno, while Neji recently began seeing Ten-Ten, a flat-chested girl who kept her hair in two buns. Neji particularly liked her because of her abnormal obsession with knives, as her father ran a knife store. That was another thing they generally had in common: Each of their parents were at least semi-rich, for they did something good. Even Sasuke's dad was chief of the Konoha police. Choji's parents ran a restaurant, Kiba's a pet kennel, and Lee's a gym shop. This is wear Lee got the weights he used when trying to get ready for track season this year.
At 9:53 p.m. that night, Naruto received a call while he was plopped on his couch channel flipping, knowing he didn't want to watch South Park or the cooking channel. Knowing this house, it was either Shikamaru or bill collectors. Thankfully, to Naruto, it was Shikamaru. He just didn't have an excuse this time for Aunt Aleera's absence. "What's up Shik?" he said absent-mindedly. "Hey Naruto," replied the pineapple on the other end, "I just got a call from my friend Ino. We've been invited to join the group of all those semi-rich kids." Naruto laughed. This had to be a joke. "Shikamaru, I haven't been rich since I was one. Besides, they'll probably want us to do something stupid like prank Principal Tsunade. I've tried that, and it doesn't go to well even before your punishment." He sighed, remembering the need for a new desk in that office. How she became principal is beyond me.
"Nah dude, this is straight. Ino heard directly from her fatass boyfriend who's in the group, and if you tell her I said that I'll kill you." Naruto laughed. While most thought he was dim-witted, he had easily noticed the jealousy Shikamaru felt when he saw Ino with Choji, for it reminded him of a more intense version of the look he gave Sasuke when he was with Sakura. With a sigh, Naruto gave in. "Sure. I'll put up with this. See how far it will last." He was sure it was a prank. "Thanks Naruto. I'm glad to have you with me in this." With that, Shikamaru complained about troublesome parents and left.
Naruto couldn't help but grin as he lay on the couch with his hands behind his head. It was possible, just possible, that things might finally start going his way. Who says High School has to be a drag?
A/N: This is only the first to the three parts of the prologue. The second part will involve Naruto and Shikamaru actually joining the group, and what they do after. The final Prologue chapter will reveal in detail the element with which I plan to make this different from any High School fic I've ever heard of.