Before the Fifth Holy Grail War started...
All that humans were ever good at is fighting.
They're so good at waging war to the point where it's like breathing. The war itself doesn't have to be anything big, it can start from the smallest of things like territorial dispute, disagreements, different views and even personal dislike towards a certain rule or stereotype. Humanity, when at war, is actually showing how monstrous, vile and corrupted it can be. They point their muskets and blades at each other like it's in their nature to kill the opposing force. No more sense of justice and duty when fighting… as they have been too immersed in all the bloodlust and fury. They all won't surrender and will always be at each other's throat even if they're both equally bloody, no matter how brutal or sure the consequence of death is, humans will always fight.
He, himself, has seen his fair share of war. He has covered wars, fought in them too.
All the blood, sweat, tears and sacrifices he has made… not to mention the comrades he lost… in the end, he thought, 'did I really win?' Is war even worth winning? They had no choice, it was either fight or be killed, regardless, death was inevitable. He remembers that day quite well, after all, the lives they lost that day was far too many. Nearly fifty percent of the Shinobi population was wiped out. Kaguya, Madara… maybe even Obito… why did they want war? Kaguya, well, she's a crazy bitch; let's not be subtle about it. But he understands her resistance and reason for fighting. Chakra, the energy that ninjas have been manipulating for decades, came from her after all. They, literally, have been abusing her power.. well not hers, it was actually the Shinju's, but same differences.
Madara… now this was one psychopath he hopes to never meet again. He's way crazier than Kaguya. The man's head could no longer contain that thoughts that were running in it because it had surpassed to the realms of the Gods. Madara was not only crazy for power and the status of Godhood, he was a growing tumor that will spread if not operated quickly. Not to mention the godlike powers he had despite being mortal and dead at the same time… it's a good thing that they had the help of the deceased Hokages, otherwise they wouldn't be able to even lay a scratch against him.
Obito was not as much as a lost cause as the previous two, in fact, he was simply that; a lost man with an atrocious cause. It's a good thing that Obito took a change of heart in the middle of battle, he was the key in defeating Madara. He was strong too, with momentary power of the Juubi in him, he could easily kill them all. But he knew that Obito was still worth saving, which explained why he didn't proceed with his initial plan directly. He heard the story behind Obito's past, all the sufferings and hardships he'd been through… it all made him a lost cause.
Those three individuals are the only people he will never want to meet ever again, also Orochimaru, for obvious reasons. Just imagine all three of them stumbling into the place where he's currently living in trying to get revenge on him… now that'll be a pain in the ass to deal with.
He really should stop thinking such pessimistic thoughts… it'll make him older than what he already is…
…but it's not like he can die anyway.
"Ah, shit, I forgot to mop the second floor's hall."
Uzumaki Naruto. Former Shinobi of The Hidden Leaf Village, Seventh Fire Shadow of the same village, the Savior of the World, the Child of the Prophecy, Konoha's Orange Hokage, the son of the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot Habanero, a father of two, a loving husband and now… an immortal janitor working at Fuyuki High.
Nothing much has changed over the past few… eh… er… gazillion years or so appearance wise. He's still that same old tall, buzz cut, blonde, blue eyed, whisker marked idiot who worships ramen as if it's some kind of deity. He's not wearing his orange jacket or the black post-war uniform anymore, having realized that they're actually out of fashion in today's society. Currently, since he's at work, he's wearing the plain grey janitor uniform issued by the school with a plain orange t-shirt underneath the top. To top things off, he's wearing a matching grey cap while pushing around a cart that is filled with mops, brooms, a bucket filled with soap water, cleaning solutions and – for some reason – bleach.
The janitor lacks any solid expression on his face, seemingly giving the impression of someone with a low job satisfaction. He won't lie, the job here does not pay as much as your standard office job, but it's one of the few jobs that does not require any solid background.
Oh yeah, before anything, he should at least mention why he doesn't have any real backgrounds. Thing is, see, he woke up in present society's barely a month ago. Boy was he scared when he saw a car for the first time… anyway, moving on…
And even though the pay's not that good, he'll be doing menial chores anyway like mopping the floors, watering the flowerbeds and fixing broken tables and chairs in the classroom. Not to mention, the school provides housing for their employees too! And yes, he accepted this job because it's the only one that offers him housing. Speaking of which, his apartment is nothing fancy, just a small run down ten tatami matted apartment somewhere around the area.
Aside from his job, he never really goes out much. On weekends, he'd just walk around the block aimlessly until it's nighttime and then retiring for the day, repeating the same thing on the next day. On weekdays, he stays inside the school, doing work and lazing inside the janitor's closet. The neat thing about Japanese schools is that the teachers encourage students to actually do the cleaning, so he's used to not having anything to do. This's literally a less pain more gain work here, like hell he'll complain.
But if there's one thing that he wants to voice his opinion about… it'll be the food in the cafeteria. Now they have ramen, thank god, but the ramen is shit. It is literal donkey shit, hell, even donkey shit is better than that crap. He's been giving the lunch lady the stink eye ever since he ordered ramen for the first time during lunch. Since there's no other way to deal with that dilemma, he's forced to eat foods other than ramen. Good thing that the gyudon is not as bad as it looks…
"Hm~ hm~…" he hums a tune to himself as he pushes the cart through the school's second floor's hallway. He's just finished mopping the first floor and is planning to move on to the second floor and the third floor next, but it's almost recess so it'll be useless to do it now. So, he's returning the cart back to the closet for him to use later when the kids are back in class.
Several minutes of walking leads him to the designated door that reads 'janitor's closet' that's sticking out of the hallway's wall like a background scene from a manga. Using one of the many keys he has with him, he opens the door after twisting the knob open. He flicks the light switch, before pushing the cart inside.
"Phew… now that I'm done here…" he breathes out, wiping a bead of sweat that threatens to fall from his forehead. "I guess I'll take a small break."
And by that he means taking a stroll outside. Right at same time as he exits the closet, the bell rings and immediately, the halls are swarmed with students of both genders. Naruto walks through the increasingly crowding hall and towards the stairs, as he's walking, he hears someone calling him from the distance.
"Oi! Naruto! C'mere, wait for a sec!"
The janitor stops dead in his track, body tensing for a moment, before relaxing again. He sighs loudly, a displeased expression fixing itself on his face. He turns around to greet his caller, but he can't do anything about the expression he's making currently. "What is it… Shinji?"
Matou Shinji… is an asshole. He's a whiny ass bitch who's obsessed with getting what he wants, just your typical pretentious assholes that you won't even consider getting to know with. Yet, somehow, here he is, having a conversation with this purple haired prick. Shinji's about your average teenager height, dressed in the boring tan-brown uniform with a shirt underneath it. His face is one of those types that actually makes him want to punch the living hell out of it, but since the bastard's a student and he's a janitor, he'll refrain from doing anything that'll get him kicked out from his job. The sly coon has this smirk on his face when he's approaching Naruto, acting all buddy-buddy by offering the janitor a wave of his hand.
"What?" the bastard's smugness couldn't get even smugger… "Can't I just say hi to the only janitor in this school?"
Naruto, still maintaining that bored expression on his face, merely lets out a sigh of discontent. "I would appreciate it if you talk with me when I'm not working, Shinji… not that I'd mind if you decided not to."
However, instead of getting the clue that Naruto wants no part of this conversation, Shinji laughs pretentiously, making a stupid pose with his nose high up in the air like a horse. "Hmph! You should be glad that someone such as I would even notice one like you, but anyway," the rich kid's former smug look transformed into that of a sly one. "do you have the keys to the girl's locker room?"
'Now ain't you one straightforward prick…' Naruto raises an eyebrow, feigning cluelessness. "Hm? Why would you need it? Did you leave anything there? No… did your sister leave anything there?"
It's no secret that Shinji has a sister, in fact, one would probably remember the sister more rather than the brother because she's not an asshole like he is.
At the mention of his sister, Shinji's smirk turns into a full scowl, irritation showing in his eyes and through his furrowed eyebrows. "Kuh…! Do you even have to mention her? Thinking about that useless… piece of weight makes me want to puke!" now agitated, he's grown impatient. "Now, do you have the keys, or not?"
Naruto hums, looking innocent. "I do, but you'll have to get it from the faculty office since it's there. Besides, why on God's unholy earth are you going to do with those keys, Shinji?"
Pulling Naruto to a safe place where there's less crowd, the purple haired teen growls mutedly. "What else? I'm looking for treasures, duh!" then he lets go of the janitor's uniform, sighing in disappointment. "But since you don't have it, I guess I'll have to postpone doing that. Oh, and if you dare tell anyone about our conversation I'll make sure that you're out of jobs by tomorrow!"
But Naruto mutes Shinji's voice away, having already walked away before the teen could say even more. "Feh… horny teenagers…" he was not like that when he was younger, now that he thinks about it, puberty did come pretty well from him. As in the meaning that he experienced only the positive things like growth spurt instead of wet dreams and out-of-control hormone levels. And he thought Jiraiya was going to be a bad influence on him…
Anyway, now that the fly's away, he's finally free to do whatever he likes since it is break time. His initial plan of wandering the school's yard has to be abandoned because he's no longer up for it, maybe he'll stop by the mess hall and see what's for lunch. Yeah… lunch sounds nice.
"My wallet, godammit, I left it at home again!"
The school's cafeteria is filled with students from all grades, either eating alone or with friends. This is the first recess, so the mess hall's packed with students spartaning their way over to the counter to beat their friends on getting that super rare yakisoba bread like King Leonidas is leading them himself. Personally for him, he never really liked breads anyway, so meh, he'll stick with something other than bread and shitty ramen. Holding a tray with a steaming bowl of udon on it, Naruto cautiously walks over to an empty table far over on the corner of the mess. He sits down, carefully placing the tray down before sighing.
Thankfully, the lunch lady took pity on him. He explained that he forgot to bring his wallet and that he'll definitely pay the money owed tomorrow. He promises to never think badly of the lunch lady for making shitty ramen anymore. He breaks his chopsticks apart, digging in, and then slurping the thick noodles down into his system. He grimaces a little.
"Just think of it as ramen… think of it as ramen's fat and slightly unpopular cousin…" he keeps repeating the mantra over and over again in his head just so that he can consume the udon properly. Still, it is futile. "Well, beggars aren't choosers…" he slurps everything down in one go.
Screw savoring the taste, he'll eat just to fill his stomach!
"Whoa… are you okay there Naruto?"
The blonde sits the bowl back down on the table to look at his watcher. Naruto's cerulean blue eyes blink several times, registering the image of the person in front of him.
"Oh… Shirou, wassup?" he gives the student in front of him a lazy wave.
The orange haired teen laughs wryly at the blonde's lackluster response. Shirou, unlike Shinji, is actually a very nice guy. He's kind, nice, friendly and helpful. In fact, he's waaaay too helpful. He's so helpful that Naruto's sure that if he didn't pick up the job as the janitor in this school, it's Shirou who'll be the janitor. Kid's even got reputation of himself for being everyone's little helper. If Shirou's a ninja back in his time, every D-ranked mission would probably be taken because of his willingness to help others. And what's outrageous is the fact that, sometimes, kid won't accept payment or any form of compensation.
Shirou's holding a tray of his own lunch, he got the katsu-don special. Lucky bastard…
"I don't usually see you eat in here." Shirou says as he sits down on the vacant spot opposite of the blonde janitor. "Why the change?"
Naruto gives the boy one of his bored stares, before rolling his eyes sideways. "Nothing, really. Just thought that I should probably eat something healthier than cup noodles or anything instant." A frown mars his face. "But this shit might've as well been instant."
Shirou shakes his head at the janitor's attitude. "So why don't you go get another one, then?"
"Nah, I forgot my wallet today… and besides, I just eat to fill my stomach." The blonde drones out monotonously. "Tongue's so bitter that it could hardly taste shit."
"Why's that?"
"…an accident, I suppose you could say that?"
Shirou blinks two times. "How?"
"…well… it's something stupid really…" Naruto sighs, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "My… previous job had me taste the products that they make, see? You can say that I was a hired taster… anyway, the stuffs that I tasted were actually shit. Well not literally, but the food they make is, you got me? I worked there almost all my life so years of tasting shitty foods actually took a toll on my tongue. Now, I can't even taste the mint on my toothbrush anymore."
The student sitting in front of him gives him a look of condolences. "That bad huh… then why didn't you quit the job earlier?"
Before giving an answer, Naruto shakes his head. "Got nowhere else to go, kid. I was always broke and homeless. But when I got… eh… discharged in the end, I got a better job."
"…What kind of job?"
"This one, duh." Naruto gives Shirou a 'are you dumb' look. "I get paid higher than any of the jobs I had after I transferred to Fuyuki combined, I get housing and I get to listen in on the lectures you guys receive!" he says snarkily. "Work, housing and education combined? Man, they should let teachers and principals run the country." He chuckles at the joke.
But, apparently, Shirou doesn't find the last part of the joke amusing. "You… you listen in on lectures? Don't you… you know… have one before?" it might be a thin black ice he's walking on right now, but he can't stop himself from asking more.
"Kid," Naruto starts while chuckling. "the last educational institute I went into only cared if I could count to a hundred and recite the entire ABC's in terms of academics. We were more… practical. Our advisors were more like coaches instead of teachers, think of military drill sergeants rather than strict lanky old men. Think rigorous exercise rather than boring homework. Think of promotions instead of graduations."
"Eh…" the orange haired teen is in awe. He swallows his food before asking again. "So how did you end up as a janitor anyway?"
"Funny story, that one." Naruto rubs the under part of his nose. "So after this graduation we graduates weren't technically graduates yet. We still have that one last exam that none of us expected of even existing in the first place. I, along with a few others, managed to pass the exam, barely. Things… start to go uphill from that point. I made new friends, enemies, got along with people and the opposite happened too so on and so forth. The next thing I know, I'm here in Fuyuki, jobless, for the first few weeks and I just got this job for no more than two weeks ago."
Shirou still looks confused. "But didn't you say that it's a funny one? It didn't sound like that at all to me."
The only thing Naruto does is smile, his head shaking. "You'll understand when you're older."
Left with only a cryptic ending, the orange haired teen continues his meal in silence. Meanwhile, Naruto's back staring off into space with a faraway look in his face.
Shirou knows the janitor through a freak accident. He kids you not, it was literally a freak accident.
Two weeks ago, he was cleaning the archery equipment in the archery club since he used to be a member there. The club's president trusts him enough to go in and out without permission from her, but unfortunately, the same can't be said about the vice president. Shirou does not like Shinji, he doesn't think anyone likes him at all. But anyway, that day, when he was busy cleaning the equipment, there was this faint smell that he'd eventually recognize as fire. He, at that time, dismissed it as nothing; but the smell stuck around and he started to get worried. He managed to track the smell back to its source, and it was inside the chemistry lab. He had a good sense of smell you see, explaining why he was able to smell something from that far. And then, when he barged into the room with a fire extinguisher, he saw the janitor sitting there, with the chemistry set activated, mixing substances like it was ninth grade chemistry all over again.
The Bunsen burner, which was used back then, was burning a solution that produced a rather pungent smell similar to smoke. So it was not fire that he smelled back then, but something similar to that. It didn't help make matters better when the janitor was in fact using school's property without permission. When he asked the janitor what in the hell was he doing using the chemistry set, the blonde only replied with a calm,
'Ah, I was just curious if you could make potions from these. You know, like in that one game with the dragon and shouting and all?'
He never knew that Naruto played Skyrim, but anyway, he quickly asked the blonde to stop whatever it was he's doing so that he wouldn't get into any trouble. But the blonde dismissed him saying that it's fine and that he used to this kind of thing every day…
'I used to do this kind of shit every day!…Eh… probably.'
Still… Shirou was pretty sure that the solution he's boiling was in fact just plain old tap water, so how in the hell did it emit such a strong smell?!
'I dumped a few of the things inside those suspicious looking bottles over there, who knows what kind of potion I'll make?'
Shirou remembered the way the blonde giggled. It was freaking scary.
When the blonde deemed that his 'potion' was done, he carefully transferred the suspicious liquid into a flask like the one in the videogame he mentioned earlier. But as soon as it entered the flask, it exploded.
End of story.
…long story short, Shirou will never stay back late in school ever again, knowing what kind of freakishly stupid things that the blonde does after school hour.
"…say, Naruto, aren't you supposed to work right now?"
"Nah." The older man waves his hand. "I'm on break right now."
'What a carefree guy…' maybe the word 'carefree' is an understatement.
"Ne, Shirou, you wanna help me with a little project I have-ah, he's running away, damn." The orange haired boy is no longer sitting in front of him. The boy leaves, bringing along the plate and food he was just eating earlier. Naruto shrugs. "Oh well, more experience for me."
At least he tried.
It's mind boggling at how things have changed. He's old. Waaaay older than any of your grandfather's age combined. His people, the Shinobis of his time, have no longer existed; they are already forgotten. The society today, from what he has gathered upon his awakening here, is built from war and conflict. Japan, especially, will not be the country it is today without experiencing those nukes that the Americans dropped right on top of their head during World War Two. The same goes for all countries. Without experiencing hardships and struggles, they won't be where they are today, for the better or worse. It's somehow reassuring to know that pain and hardships still shapes people the way it did during his time. He sees it as a sign that humanity is, at least, still capable of learning from their mistakes and change. Again, for the better or worse…
But there's still no denying just how far things have changed. Before awakening in today's society, the last memory he remembered is that of a fight. A very, very fierce fight. With who? He cannot remember, but whoever he or she was, they're very strong. Thankfully, he still remembers his technique and all the skills he has learnt. Things were lonely without the company of a mountain sized nine tailed demonic fox sealed inside his stomach. Ah Kurama… his oldest friend, already with him the moment he was brought to this world. May that bastard rejoice wherever he is, but saying it like that probably makes it sound like Kurama died or something. No, the fox did not die. He can't die. After all, Kurama is an embodiment of the Juubi's chakra, along with the rest of the Bijuus.
He still remembers the day when Kurama left his being entirely… the correct term would be 'dissolved' since that's exactly what happened. Kurama passed on. Chakra, like energy, cannot be created nor destroyed. So, Kurama simply dissolved into him, merging with an existence known as Uzumaki Naruto, becoming one in body and soul. Kurama is now him, and he is now technically Kurama. So, yes, that makes him a Kyuubi. But, aside from his chakra, nothing has changed; thankfully, he was worried that he might start to sprout ears or nine busy tails or something. Jokes aside, he misses the fox… even if they're technically one being now. Even Ashura, yes, the Sage's son, is no longer around. He cannot remember the last time he talked to Ashura, but he could just be wandering there inside his mindscape for all he cares.
It disheartens him to know that he's literally the last of his kind… and he's cursed with this gift of immortality. Thinking about it, it's still unclear where he got this immortality from. But if is to put a lot of thought into it, then it's a possible side effect of his merging with Kurama. As he knows, Chakra is energy and energy cannot be created or destroyed. Eternal. But since he is a being that was already created, existed, only the last half of the law applies to him. Immortal. It's a rather confusing concept, but it's the most solid one that he can ever think of. If only a certain Uchiha is here to do all the thinking…
Naruto releases a lengthy sigh as he stares to the far away yonder from the school's rooftop. The windy weather threatens to blow his cap away, but unable to do so due to how firmly it is placed on his head. His left hand, covered in white bandages that he regularly changes, is there as a reminder of his long dead rival. Yes, dead. Even if, IF, if Sasuke is still alive; he would have been able to sense him, no matter on which part of the world he is, he would have been able to sense him. Sage Mode and all that; he still has access to them and could activate them anytime he wants to. But he's positive that the world does not need to know about that.
The strong wind is not entirely bad as it cools his skin upon contact. It also acts as a refreshing way to keep him awake, though he won't deny how sleepy he is. Recess ended four minutes ago, and he has clones doing multiple jobs around the campus secretly to lower the chance of suspicion. He can't let anyone see two of his clones at the same time, after all. Especially a teacher.
Being a janitor is not so bad, but it's definitely not the most preferred jobs out there, otherwise there won't be any vacant jobs lying around. He chuckles. He has already learnt so much of today's society within a one month's time. He's more than aware that there are actually better paying jobs out there than being janitor, some are actually related with his skills, but he decided to start anew starting from last month. No more fighting-well, most of the time- no more stopping evil bad guys from taking over the world, no more prophecies to fulfill, and no more fate to follow. He'll just be him, a ramen loving idiot who also happens to love the color orange.
So why? Why is he getting the feeling that everything will turn to shit sometime soon?
"…" a light frown mars its way on his face. "Trouble is coming…"
Looks like trouble will eventually find him no matter how long has passed.
Stepping away from the railings, Naruto allows himself to flare a little bit of chakra. Instantly, he's inside one of the janitor's closet inside the school's building which also acts as his transportation spot. He exits said closet, ending up in a hallway in the first floor. He sensed trouble from the roof and he's about to see what it's all about. He exits the school's main building, walking towards the direction of the gymnasium. Once there, he does not enter the building, but walks to the back of said building.
Three boys, one girl.
'Ah… teenagers and their raging, and uncontrollable hormones… the teachers would have a fun time giving these boys an earful.'
The victim is a girl, duh, and it looks like she's no more than a first year sophomore. The situation is getting pretty heated from over there. The girl's gotten herself surrounded, backed up to a wall and with no way of fighting back; unless she's packing something like a brass knuckle or taser in her. Boy number one is already laying his hands on her, attempting to win her over by caressing her chin and shoulders. It's obvious that he's the leader of the small group, with how bold the way he is in molesting the girl in front of his friends. Boy number two is no better, he's helping boy number one hold the girl preventing her from struggling. Boy number three is further away to keep watch, but he's doing such a bad job at it.
"Come on, let your senpais have a little fun, hm?"
"Hurry it up man, we're gonna get spotted!"
"No we won't, I'm keeping watch so just do yer damn thing already."
The girl, who's already in a state of disheveled mess, weakly struggles against two of the boys' stronger hold on her limbs. "N-No… I don't want this… no…!" she shivers in fear when she feels rough palm groping her most nether area, the feeling of fear continuously growing in her. "No… please… someone… help…"
From his spot, Naruto watches the scene with a stoic front. Seriously, this situation is a matter of moral. Either you're decent enough to intervene, stop what's going on with the consequence of getting beat up to a pulp by three dudes or pass by, pretend you didn't see anything and feel miserable for the rest of your life for not helping that girl. The old him would intervene with no hesitation, beating the three jocks 'till they're black and blue all over. But right now, his position as a janitor forbids that. Just imagine what will the school think of an older, yankee-looking janitor beating three of their students to a pulp? And it'll be great if the victim supports him, but chances are, psychological damages done to her will prevent any spark of bravery from ever happening.
He let a ghostly smile grace his lips. Screw it, he's coming in.
With style.
"Oi, don't you three kids know what yer doing?"
The three boys stop whatever they're doing to look at the fourth person in the area. They, including the girl, see a tall figure drabbed in grey standing opposite if where they are at a rather lengthy distance. A blonde, blue eyed and definitely older male with a cap is looking upon them with a damn-I'm-bored expression fixed on his face. Normally, they would have scatter immediately if it's a teacher, but this guy does not look like he's a teacher or a student.
"Who the fuck are you?" the leader punk demands aggressively.
Instead of a straight answer immediately, the blonde tips the edge of his cap forward, as if mocking them. "I'm just a janitor, nothin' special. So, tell me, do you three kids know what you're doing right there?"
Boy number two, feeling a little brave, speaks out in retort. "O'course we know, what'cha gonna do about it, janitor-san? Tell the teachers on us? Like hell they'll believe you, you're just a janitor. And if this bitch tries to rat us out, we'll just do the same shit again to her."
The third boy, however, is quiet, as if he's ready to bail at any second.
Naruto sighs loudly for all of them to hear. "True, I can do that. And yeah, I considered the outcome of you threatening to do the same thing again to her if she speaks up. So, I'm just going to give you three two choice." He lifts one finger. "First, you let her go, apologize and make sure to not do this kind of shit again."
"Like he-"
"Second." Naruto's voice cuts over. "I walk over there, beat your asses down and then dropping you off at the faculty room to be punished severely by the teachers." He finishes laying out the choices. "Your choice."
The leader lets go of the girl, but the look of hostility that's directed at the janitor remains. "You know, we're gonna make a third choice." He says cockily. "We walk over there, beat you up and then have our way with the bitch while making it look like you're the one who did it to her. How's that?"
Instead of frown or an aggressive response, all that the gets is a smile. A very wide smile. "You cheeky little coont." Naruto says with traces of laughter. "Who raised you? An alcoholic rapist for a dad, or a bitch of a mom?"
The cockiness disappears from the boy's face, replaced with anger and irritation. "Let's fuck this guy up!" two of the three boys run after the janitor, while the third one remains to make sure that the girl does not run away.
"Sorry, but I don't swing that way." Naruto takes a step back, leaning his body backwards as well as raising an arm. "But I swing like this."
The two incoming boys have no experience with fighting or whatsoever. They're just punks, kids who thinks that they're strong enough just because they're good in sports. Typical jocks. So when Naruto swings his fist for a jab, they do not know what to do and the hit connects, knocking the leader out cold. The second boy jerks back at seeing his friend being knocked out cold from a single punch, but his mistake, since he is not paying attention to his surroundings. Naruto lifts the younger boy up with one hand by the collar of his uniform, the smile is ever so present on his face. The boy struggles to escape from the older man's grip, but is not able to do so.
"L-L-L-Let me go you brute! I-I-I'll tell my parents about this!"
"Oooh I'm scared." Naruto does not need to act to make his tone sound mocking. "What if I tell you that I'll tell the teachers about this, hm?"
"J-J-Just let me go man! We-We won't do shit like this again!"
"Really?"
"Y-Yeah! For real!"
Still putting up his I'm-not-convinced expression, Naruto then drops the teen down to the ground. "Then scram. Bring your friends with you and tell the nurse that he fell from the stairs and hit an umbrella or something." The blonde waves his hand in a dismissing motion to the terrified kids.
Scared and beat, the two remaining teens struggle as they carry their unconscious friend to the nurse's office, leaving behind a quiet area for the blonde and the victim girl. Seeing as the 'threats' are dealt with, all that's left is to make sure that the girl does not suffer from a troublesome case of PTSD or worse, mental shut down. He, surprisingly, has dealt with people who suffered PTSD before. During the war and after the war that happened during his time, a lot of people were suffering from mental illness. It's not exactly the one that makes you a psychotic killer or turns you into a laughing clown. It was the type that scarred veteran ninjas from ever taking up a Shinobi's job ever again. The numbers of surviving ninjas that they have to lay off were ridiculous and at a point, only a few active and sane ninjas were left for duty.
This case is no different. This girl, whoever she is, has just suffered from something that will probably traumatize her for the rest of her life. Or worse, she might just develop a severe case of androphobia. So he needs to be extra careful in handling this. Handing her off to the counselor would be the best solution, but he did promise those boys that this will be a private matter between them, so that's out of the question.
"Hey, you okay?" Naruto approaches the girl, who has her back glued to the wall, shivering and still, unmoving. He kneels down at an appropriate distance, getting a closer look at her. The last thing he wants to do right now is to touch her, as it will not help her case. "Can you move? Did those boys do anything risqué to you?"
It takes a while, but in the end, she finally speaks.
"I-I-I-I'm f-f-fine…" she chokes out in gasps. Her hands are wrapped around herself like some sort of protection, something that she's been doing ever since she's free from her captors. "I-I-I…"
Naruto does not let her speak. He simply shushes her while offering her a hand. "It's okay, one fine is enough. Come, take my hand."
As the girl takes his hand, Naruto notices something that he has not noticed all this time. The sun is at the other side of the gymnasium, casting a shade right where they are right now. And because of that, he wasn't able to get a good look at the girl. But now that she's standing and close enough, he can get a clear look.
Her eyes are a lighter shade of purple than her hair.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Matou… Matou Sakura."
"Eh… so you're Shinji's little sister… never got to meet you, so sorry for not noticing."
"Er… er…"
"And such a beauty too… you're wasted having a brother like that." He taps the girl's bandaged knee lightly. "There, you're fine now. You should've told me that they scrapped your knee earlier…" he then lowers his voice a little bit. "I'd get to hit them a little bit more."
But Sakura can hear every word he says, making her feel a little uneasy. He has taken her to one of the janitor's closet nearby in the east wing of the school. Classes are still in session, so she's technically committing truancy right now. The original plan is to take her to the nurse's office, but she wants this whole matter to be kept secret, so they decided to find another place to treat her injured knee.
"Welp, we're done here." He checks the corridors, making sure that there will be no one passing. It'll be weird for a janitor to be seen with a student, female especially, coming out from a closet together after all. "You can go back to class now, Shinji's little sister."
"U-Um!" Sakura stutters out as she exits the closet, but still facing the man who's still inside. "T-Thank you for helping me before. If Uzumaki-san hadn't come… I… I…" she feels a small chop on her head. "O-Ow!"
"Oi, don't think about it anymore." It's hard to tell whether he's scolding her or ordering her to do exactly as he tells her to. But if Sakura is to guess, he's doing both. "Just get back to class, go home, sleep and pretend that today never happened."
"N-No!" Sakura says with ferocity that surprises Naruto. He may not know Sakura that well since this is literally their first meeting, but from experience – real experience – a somewhat soft spoken girl like Sakura don't normally lash out like that. "I'm indebted to you! I can never repay you for saving me. But, please, if there's anything I can do, tell me."
Naruto is a man, and just like any men out there, he has his weakness. Looking at adorable, glistening and teary eyes is one of them. This explains why he dotes on his daughter too much, he was basically spoiling her rotten. Seeing Sakura doing what Himawari does best during her time is making him feel no different, where it should in the first place. First off, Sakura is no daughter of his. She's literally a stranger to him. Second, she's older than Himawari when the tyke pulls this kind of trick on him. And third, Sakura's more… er… adult-looking than his late daughter.
She's got boobs.
"…you… won't let this down no matter how hard I try, will you?"
Her persistent stare is his answer.
Naruto sighs, heavily and tiredly. "Fine! I give! Just don't stare at me like that." He raises his hands in a surrendering motion and Sakura's staring begins to lesser in terms of intensity. "Look, I don't want you to feel indebted to me, it makes me feel terrible as an adult. But I know that you'll feel terrible too if you don't at least do something for me, am I right?"
Sakura nods.
"Then, do this for me:" He scratches the back of his neck, averting his eyes away from the girl. "There's this boy a year older than you… orange hair, quite tall and nice kid. He's kind and good at helping, but he doesn't know how to help himself. I'm not askin' you to be his friend or date him or anything…" he says, much to Sakura's embarrassment. "but try to get along with him. Maybe say 'hi' when you happen to meet him in the halls or something. Oh yeah, his name's Emiya. Emiya Shirou."
"Emiya… Shirou-senpai… huh?" Sakura unconsciously tests the sound of the name with her mouth. "E-Er… if I may ask, Uzumaki-san, why do you want me to get along with him?"
Naruto gives her a blank look, having redirecting his gaze back at her again. "No reason. Just don't tell him that I tell you to get along with him, okay? The guy needs a friend. A female one. All I've seen him talk to is that friend of his from the student council…"
"I see… but… Emiya-senpai is not related to you or anything, right?" Sakura asks. "Why do you seem so worried about him?"
Here, Naruto's looks changes. He gives her a wide vibrant grin, but with the slight wrinkles that defines his age showing. "It's an adult's job to worry about kids like you. Just be nice to him, okay? He'll need it."
Seeing as their conversation has ended, Sakura nods one last time. "Thank you, Uzumaki-san." She bows sincerely and gratefully.
"No worries, Shinji's little sister. Oh, and call me Naruto. Uzumaki-san makes me feel old."
"Then please call me Sakura, it's my name after all." Sakura gives him a small but sincere smile.
Naruto smiles as he watches her vanish around a corner back to her classroom. "Cheeky girl…" he shakes his head, while his hands grab a bucket filled with soap water and a mop leaned on the wall. "Oh well, back to work."
Being a janitor ain't so bad.
A/N: Yet another story from me. Wow. Sorry if you're looking for updates on my 'Ambitions of Uzumaki Naruto' story, but I'm afraid that my interest is leaning somewhere else at the moment.
Is there anything that you could do about that? No? You're right, there's nothing.
Anyway, I'd like to state a few things to avoid all the FAQs from happening, but hey, ask a question anyway.
Q: Will Naruto join the Grail War?
A: Duh, otherwise there won't be a story.
Q: Will Naruto be a master?
A: No, sorry. See, Naruto is technically a heroic spirit in his own rights, so I think that it'd be unfair for the rest if he and another equally badass character team up and curbstomp the rest of the casts to death.
Q: OP Naruto?
A: Maybe. This Naruto is the post war, married Naruto with Kurama fused into his very being, making him literally the next Kyuubi no Yoko. I don't know if that counts as OP in your books, but it sure as hell does in mine.
Q: Pairings, bruh?
A: Bruh. Later. No need for that now. Just give me suggestions though so I can eliminate the candidates.
Now that that's done… I suppose that it's time for me to politely ask you readers to read, review and favorite this story as well as send me suggestions of what you might want or not want to see in this story. Ah, also, hope you don't mind references. Cuz there'll be lots of references.
And I mean a lot. You might have noticed a few in this chapter. And cookies for those of you who guess them right and write them in the reviews.
Virtual cookies.