"…Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty." grunted the raven-haired boy, re-racking the bar, as he sat up from the bench. Nobody but him remained in the weight room, and as he looked at the clock, he realized why. It was almost eight o'clock, and there was a cold silence in the huge room. He heard a slight ringing, as if the weights were trying to talk to him. It was as if they were saying
"Just one more set, Sasuke. Just one more set," and whenever he heard the weights, he listened. They always wanted to do more sets, almost like they had feelings, and got lonely without him. 'More weight' was the only thing going through his head, as he put two more forty-five pound plates on the bar. He counted the weight, and it ended up adding up to three hundred-fifteen pounds.
"One, two, three, four…" he went on, and on, and on, and on. He finally walked out of the weight room at about eight thirty, and he went home, so he could sleep, and start all over tomorrow.
He panted as he jogged around the track. He was just starting his seventh mile when he finally saw Sasuke walking towards the parking lot. Jogging to catch up with the Uchiha, Naruto slowed his pace when he was side by side with him.
"So, Sasuke, just getting' done, huh? Me, too!" announced Naruto, his voice echoing clearly through the empty parking lot.
"Eh." replied Sasuke. 'Why is this loser talking to me?' he thought, speeding up his pace a little, pulling away from Naruto, who kept pace with him step for step.
"Well, I'll, uh… see you tomorrow at practice, then I guess!" as Sasuke, still barely acknowledging Naruto, got into his brother's car, that proceeded to peel out of the parking lot. Naruto jogged back to his apartment, and before he went to sleep, he performed his nightly ritual of cooking and eating nineteen cups of ramen.
The next day, it was the same routine, and they day after that, and the day after that. Every other day, it was Naruto in the weight room and Sasuke on the track, but they were never in the same place. If Naruto tried to stay in the weight room once Sasuke was going in, Sasuke would turn on his heels and go to the track. During the regular practice, Sasuke was one of the best. He was the coaches' favorite choice for JV quarterback, and one of the best safeties on the team. Naruto was undoubtedly going to be the starting running back, and possibly the second-string nose guard. For the one week out of town training camp, Sasuke and Naruto were paired together as bunkmates; And Sasuke decided that he didn't like Naruto. Since then, all he had done was ignore Naruto as often as possible, and give him a dose of angry glares every time they accidentally made eye contact.
"Only a weekend left of summer, and then its time for school. Whoopty-fuckin-doo." commented Kiba Inuzuka, the tight end for the Konoha high-school football team. He had smudged eye black on his face, and they looked like red triangles, because they were mixed with the dirt from the field. It was the last day of summer practice, and nobody was less excited about the start of school than Naruto Uzumaki. He had transferred from a different school district, and he didn't really know anybody from Konoha high. He knew some of the guys on the football team, but other than that, he would be the guy who nobody knew. He wouldn't have classes with anybody he did know, either, because he had nothing but remedial classes, and while all of the other freshmen were in algebra 1 or geometry, he would be stuck in a middle school class, as he would be in all of his classes. He decided to call it a day with the rest of the team, leaving Sasuke to brood over his life while lifting in the weight room.
On Saturday, he got all of the stuff he would need for school: pens, paper, notebooks, and sharpies. He opened the door to his apartment and walked into the dark living room.
"Honey, I'm home!" he shouted to no one. He lived alone, and nobody heard him, but it still made him feel good to hear himself talk sometimes. He found his backpack among the mess he called a bedroom, and put all of the new school supplies in it. He found a clean spot of floor, put his backpack there, and walked to his bed, falling asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Sunday came too quickly, as Naruto woke up after what seemed only seconds. He ate a ramen cup for breakfast, put on some pants, and went out into the world. 'First stop, nowhere' he thought, as he locked his front door. He tested the lock to make sure the door still wouldn't open, and walked down the steps. He walked down the stairs of his apartment complex and started walking on a wall separating the street from the apartments.
As he walked, he noticed something. Not really something, it was more of a someone. She had bright, bubble gum pink hair that went down to her shoulders, a short black skirt, and a red tank top. She walked down the street, with look on her face that just screamed, "Talk to me". As she walked by, Naruto sat on the wall with his back facing her, leaned back, and faced her upside down, his spiky blonde mess of hair flopping under him.
"Well hey, there! What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" he asked the girl, who nearly jump out of her skin at the arrival of the loud blonde boy on the wall. When she realized what was happening, she looked the boy up and down. As she looked up, she noticed his shirt falling up his chest, revealing an eight pack that would make some weight lifters jealous. She smirked a little as Naruto blushed, pulling his shirt back up and tucking it into his pants, so it wouldn't fall back up himself. 'Damn, she's hot. I'd tap that right here, right now.' Naruto thought, as he too looked Sakura up and down.
"Who the hell are you?" she finally respond, trying to sound like she wasn't really interested. In all honesty, she wanted nothing more than to know who this mysterious blonde boy was.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm kinda new to the neighborhood, so I was wonderin' if you could show me around." he replied as he flipped himself onto the ground, grinning what Sakura could only compare to a fox's smile, landing gracefully right next to her.
"I don't see any harm in that," she answered, as she walked away. "By the way, I'm Sakura."
"Cool. Wait, where're you goin?" asked Naruto, who stood in place, as confused as a fat kid at a track meet.
"You just asked me to show you around, follow me." She replied, chuckling slightly at the pure obliviousness of the blonde boy who was now following her very, very closely.
"Good point." He said, blushing a little. They walked for a little bit, turning here and there at random corners, the girl telling him what stuff was and where places were. Finally, they stopped at the apartment directly below his.
"And this is my place, my mom really isn't a bitch about havin' guys over, so any time you wanna come over, just knock." Sakura said. She opened the door as she said this, signaling for Naruto to come in.
"Cool. You got any food in there?" Naruto asked as he walked in. The layout of her apartment was exactly the same as his, but way cleaner and more organized than his.
"so, you go to Konoha high, right?" Sakura asked, as she dug through her fridge, looking for something for Naruto to eat.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess. How bout you?" Naruto replied, as he caught the apple Sakura had just taken out of the fridge and thrown to him.
"Nice hands," she said, walking to her couch. She plopped down on the pink couch, and Naruto noticed another figure sitting on the couch apparently sleeping. The other girl's head was rolling loosely on her neck, and she was snoring lightly.
"Ino, wake the fuck up! We have some company." Sakura snapped at the blonde girl next to her. 'Ino, huh? She's pretty hot, too. Wait, doesn't Ino mean pig or something like that?' thought Naruto as the sleeping girl slowly woke up.
"whosthefucksyousgoinsonabout?" she mumbled, not seeming yet to be able to talk right yet. She stood up, stretched with her arms up, and as he did with Sakura, looked her up and down.
"Damn!" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura and Ino looked at him, and he realized that he had said that aloud. 'ohhhhhhhh shit.' He thought, as he tried to think up an excuse for his outburst.
"Uh, I uh, really sensitive teeth, it's a cold apple, can't believe…" Naruto rambled absent-mindedly. About fifteen different scenarios were going through his head. 'I swear, this is the plot for every good porno,' the thought, and he had to think about anything he could to keep himself from getting hard. A locker room, an old fat guy scratching himself, and the pledge of allegiance.
"So, what's your name, cutie?" asked Ino, still trying to wake herself up completely. Naruto, smiling his foxy grin again replied,
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm new in the neighborhood, and Sakura's been showing me around all day. So your name's Ino, right?" asked Naruto, as Sakura looked on, feeling almost invisible and unwanted in the conversation.
"Yeah, it's a shitty name, and it doesn't suit me at all, but whatever, right? Say anything about it and I will beat the shit out of you, just so you know." She added. At that, Naruto laughed, looking her down and wondering how she could beat the shit out of anything. She had the build of a cheerleader: skinny, nice legs, pretty. "something funny bout that? Or is it that you don't think I could kick your ass?" she questioned, walking up to Naruto. He backed up a little, and held out his hand as if he wanted to shake hers. She held it out for him to shake, so surprised by his actions that she forgot she was supposed to be trying to me mad. He took her outstretched hand, and kissed the back of it.
"It's been great meeting you, but I'm gonna have to get going." Naruto said. He turned slowly and stopped.
"I'll make sure I see you tomorrow at school. See you tomorrow too, Sakura." he added
"Bye," Sakura replied.
"Can't wait." Replied Ino, smiling at the back of Naruto's golden spiky mop of hair.
I know, its rough and stuff, but whatevs. its not gettin beta'd and i'm tryin out my own hand at this shit. If you li ke it, review, and if you dont, review anyway, talk shit about it. as always, thanks.