Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
I am sorry, but it could not be helped. I desperately wanted to avoid a cliché, but in order for my story to work—in my opinion—Naruto must be the new kid. I thought about using Kiba, Sasuke, Gaara and even Shino, but I could not convey my story believably. Maybe someday I'll make a different fiction with more thought put into the beginning. However, for now, here is yet another story with Naruto as the new kid.
"Come, Mr. Uzumaki." A young man with deep, sunken eyes commanded in a monotone. "We mustn't keep the Headmistress waiting." Suddenly, a vicious coughing fit interrupted the man. Naruto stared wide-eyed at his guide, wondering if he should try to help him.
As abruptly as it came, the fit ended. "Sorry about that. I am Hayate Gekko, Tsunade's aid."
"Aid?" Naruto asked, puzzled. Suddenly, the light bulb flipped on. "Oh, I get it! You're her secretary!"
Hayate's eye twitched slightly, but he spoke with his same monotone, betraying no anger. "I am not a secretary, boy. You'd best remember that. I also enforce disciplinary actions, along with the Assistant Principal Ibiki, so I would not get on my bad side."
"Whoa, whoa, calm down there Hayate. I was just playing around. I'm new so I could you please cut me a little slack."
"Fine I'll ease up a bit, but for future reference call me Mr. Gekko. Now, come. We mustn't keep the Headmistress waiting."
"You said that exact same earlier." Noticing the withering glance sent his way, Naruto raised his hands in mock surrender. "Just pointing it out in case you didn't notice."
Sighing, Hayate said, "I can tell that you are going to be visiting mine and Ibiki's office quite a few times this year."
Tsunade was passed out drunk, her head lying on the mahogany desk, piles of paper stacked all around her. Numerous alcohol bottles were strewn around the large office.
As Naruto walked in, he gagged, bombarded by the rancid stench. "Doesn't she ever clean this place up?" He asked, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt collar.
"Quiet, boy. It is not your place to question the Headmistress," Hayate replied, completely avoiding the question.
"Headmistress?" Hayate whispered tentatively. "Headmistress!" He said more forcefully. "I am sorry, but you need to wake up, NOW!" Hayate shattered the relative quiet by shouting the final word. Startled, Tsunade jumped up. The Headmistress's droopy eyes traveled wearily around the room. Finally, they rested on the pair and she squinted to try to make out their forms.
"Hayate is that you?"
"Yes, Headmistress. I have a new student, who just transferred. It was in the report I sent a week ago."
Before Tsunade could reply—probably to say she never receiver the report—a tall, broad man stepped inside. "Allow me, Headmistress, to deal with this." Tsunade nodded sleepily, before she promptly fell asleep on her desk again.
The stranger watched the woman for a few moments before facing Naruto's guide. "Now, Hayate, what have I told you before? If anything needs to be done just come straight to me. We all know who truly runs this school."
"I'm sorry, sir." Hayate bowed as he apologized. "However, these papers about his transfer need the Headmistresses signature. Whether she rules the school or not, the School District wants her signature, not anyone else's." Hayate said.
"I have given you many chances, Hayate. I try to forge friendship between us, but you are determined to hate me. Your last chance is coming soon; don't waste it. You do not want me as an enemy." With those words, Ibiki swept out of the room, snatching the forms Hayate was holding as he left.
Hayate watched the other man leave for a few seconds—glaring at his back—before turning back to Naruto. "Sorry about that. We'll skip the paperwork for now, so let's get your uniform."
"Uniform?!" Naruto gasped. "Why do I need a uniform?"
"Because this is a prep school. It is required to wear the school uniform, so whining won't help you. However, perhaps you can make some slight modifications, as many of the other pupils here have done."
"All right, I'm done." Naruto said as he stepped out of the changing room. "How do I look?" Naruto asked as he gave a little twirl, a fake sultry smile on his face.
Hayate ignored the boy's antics, coughing again, before motioning for Naruto to follow him.
"This is the Boy's Dorm. That far wing is for the sophomores. The students here will tell you all you need to know: the rules, where stuff is, etcetera."
"Since you are a faculty member, shouldn't that be your job."
Hayate coughed again, before he answered. "Look kid, I don't have time for this; I have work to do. So just go introduce yourself, and stop bugging me." Hayate turned and left not looking back.
"Thanks!" Naruto yelled after the man.
"Why would you thank him? He didn't help you very much."
Naruto spun around and looked at a rather obese boy that was his age. The boy wore the standard school sweater vest—that appeared to be stretching at the seams—and the school's standard khaki slacks. Munching on chip after chip the boy spoke with his mouth full, chip crumbs spraying everywhere.
Naruto wiped some chip crumbs off his face. "I was being sarcastic, kid." He said, obviously annoyed.
"Oh. Right. Sorry, but that stuff goes right over my head." Crumbs continued to rain on Naruto, spoiling his decently good mood. "So you're the new kid, huh? I'm Chouji." The fat kid stuck his hand out in greeting.
Naruto gave a quick half-smile and tentatively shook the other boy's hand, quickly letting go to wipe the slobber off on the wall.
"Uh…yeah. I'm Naruto. Maybe I'll see you around later, but now I've got to unpack. Any idea where my room is?"
"Yup."
Naruto stared at the boy for a while, hoping he would supply more information on his own. Exasperated, Naruto finally asked, "And that is…where?"
"Oh! I thought you knew, and was just making sure I knew so I could visit you and stuff. Sorry. Down the hall fourth door to the left." Chouji paused in his snacking to point down the hallway. As Naruto walked away, Chouji called after him, "See you later!"
"Hopefully not." Naruto muttered under his breath.
Naruto walked in to the correct room, and threw his stuff onto the bed. Lying down on the bed, he smothered his head into his pillow hoping to get some relaxing sleep. Turning his head to the side, he noticed something odd. Naruto groaned, and slapped his hand to his forehead.
"I have a roommate?! Damn it; this sucks." On the other side of the room was another bed, and a dresser filled with miscellaneous junk.
"I'm not really too keen on the idea either, Naruto."
"Now, who is it?" Naruto moaned, looking over at the door. There stood a boy, leaning against the doorframe, hands in his pockets. He had dark, black hair that stuck up in a spiky topknot.
Not thinking clearly with his sleep-fogged brain, Naruto blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Your head looks like a pineapple."
The other boy sighed, and muttered, "How troublesome." In a louder voice, he replied, "Thanks kid. I'm Shikamaru Nara, your roommate. First things first, do you snore?"
Sitting up on the bed, Naruto yawned, before answering. "Nope, I do not snore. Second things second, how did you know my name?"
"It says it on your luggage, and Mr. Gekko told me your name when he notified me you would be moving. One and a fourth year without a roommate and you finally break my lucky streak. Third things—"
"We need to stop this, now, before we annoy the hell out of ourselves." Naruto interrupted wincing at the thought of how long that could have gone.
Shikamaru nodded. "Your right, it was already getting troublesome. I hear you've met my friend, Chouji—"
"Chouji is your friend?" Naruto asked, disgusted. "That kid is gross. How can you stand him?"
Shikamaru looked genuinely angry this time. "He's a friend of mine, because we're friends. That's all you need to know. Now, he may look bad on the surface, but if you get to know him, you'll find out he's a cool guy."
"Whatever, man." Naruto said, getting off the bed, and walking to his luggage. "I've got to unpack, so unless you're going to help me, go away."
Shikamaru sighed, and stuck his hands in his pockets. As he strolled away, he turned his head and gave one last piece of advice. "Most of the kids in this school are sharks. They'll eat you alive, so you may want to make all the friends you can before you completely alienate yourself at this school."
Shikamaru's words of warning fell on deaf ears.
Finally done packing, and finding sleep not coming, Naruto sauntered into the Boy's Common Room. Glancing around, he wondered whether he wanted to watch TV, play ping-pong or pool, or try to talk to some of the other students.
"Hey, New Kid. Come here." A voice commanded him.
Naruto obliged and walked over to a large group of boys. The one who called him over, had silver hair and large glasses. He wore an expensive aquamarine sweater, a crisp dress shirt underneath and straightened English Drape Trousers. His attire screamed that he was a prep.
"Hello Naruto. I am Kabuto. I know everything there is to know about this school, so I take it upon myself to orient all of the new students."
"Are you a sophomore too?"
Kabuto chuckled. "No, of course not. I am a junior, not some underclassman. Now, Listen. This is one of the most famous prep schools in the country. Not because of the grades though, this is the one of the most brutal schools to have ever existed. Watch what you do and say, and you may survive."
"This place is famous? How come I've never heard of it before?"
Kabuto chuckled again. "Because almost everyone's parents here are rich. Super rich. They keep everything hush-hush. I say almost everyone is here rich, because some of the students—like you—I have no idea how they were able to enroll. A mystery for another day I suppose." Kabuto paused for a moment to completely examine Naruto.
Kabuto shook his head and continued. "Back to you orientation. First Rule of thumb is: don't even talk to a girl unless, you know who or if they are dating. You look like a scrawny punching bag to most of these guys, so it would be a shame to be beaten up over something so trivial." Naruto could not tell, but something about Kabuto screamed that he was not completely truthful when he said the last statement.
"Hey, man. I'm pretty bulked up, look at these muscles. No one is gonna mess with me." Naruto said flexing his bicep.
Someone behind Naruto laughed at him. "That is pathetic. I'd spend a whole lot more time in the gym if I were you. Then maybe you can be as strong as the girls here, weakling."
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto angrily twisted around, tired of people sneaking up on him. The kid wore a black sweater over matching black pants. On the boy's head was a skullcap with two points sticking up, looking like two cat ears. His face was completely covered with purple face point that formed unique designs.
"Someone important, punk, so watch it." Shoving past Naruto the kid ambled away.
Enraged, Naruto began to pounce on the jerks turned back, but a hand on his shoulder held him back. Startled, Naruto looked back at Kabuto, who was slowly shaking his head. Pushing his glasses back up his nose, Kabuto explained who the rude boy was. "That was Kankuro Sabaku, one of the Sand Siblings. He is the least scary of the three, but you definitely do not want to mess with him. Besides, even if you somehow managed to 'punish him,' Temari and Gaara would just obliterate you."
"Who are Gaara and Temari? Please, tell me they aren't as freaky as this guy."
"One isn't. Temari is the oldest, and the most normal. Amazingly smart, athletic, pretty and rich this girl has it all. Unfortunately, she is extremely aggressive, cruel and sadistic. In other words, sweet she is not. The other is the most dangerous. No one in the school will dare mess with the youngest Sabaku. Gaara can and will kill you without hesitation—or effort. He is also brilliant. Gaara should only be a freshman, but skipped a grade. I'd be careful; both Kankuro and Gaara are sophomores—your grade—so making enemies so early would not be beneficial for you."
"Damn it. The students here seem hardcore. Is there anyone else I need to worry about?" Naruto said running a hand through his blonde, spiky hair, feeling overwhelmed.
"There are also the Uchihas. They aren't as bad as the Sabakus in my opinion. While the Sand Siblings will kill you without blinking, Itachi and Sasuke feel everyone else is far too beneath them to bother with that. Itachi is one of the most feared kids in school, but he is also respected. No one respects Gaara, except his deadliness. I am uncertain as to who would win in a fight between those two titans, but I really do not want to find out."
Kabuto paused to catch his breath. Smiling, Kabuto finished up. "Sorry, but that was a very long winded way to say that you need to avoid the Uchihas and Sabakus. I've got to go to bed now; it's around eleven, but if you need any more introducing to the school come find me."
BEEP
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BEEP
"God damn it!" Naruto reached over and slammed his fist in top of the alarm clock. Jumping out of bed, Naruto cursed again, hoping the school would not charge him for the shattered clock.
He glanced over to look at his roommate Shikamaru, but the other boy had already gone.
"Great." Naruto muttered sarcastically. "Now, what am I supposed to do?"
"Well, lucky for you, today you don't have any classes. You'll get your schedule today and start attending class tomorrow."
Naruto jumped and whirled around, startled. "How does everyone sneak up on me like that?! It's really annoying."
Kabuto gave yet another chuckle. "What can I say? We are all sly and sneaky creatures at this school. We could probably ninja."
"A ninja? Kick ass! That would be so cool! I bet I'd be the best ninja ever; like the leader of them or something. Believe it!"
Kabuto stared at the weird boy. "Don't ever do that, again." Kabuto remarked, referring to the last statement Naruto had made. "We are getting off task. Follow me and I'll show you where the cafeteria is. Breakfast is from 8am to 9am; lunch is from 11:30 to 12:30; Dinner can be eaten anywhere from 5pm to 10pm. Its 8:30 right now, so you'd best hurry up."
"Just me?"
"I already ate."
When Naruto was ready five minutes later, Kabuto and him walked toward the cafeteria, which was packed.
"This is a pretty small cafeteria for such a wealthy Prep School." Naruto remarked as he began piling food onto his tray. "But it is cool how all the food is free."
"Our parents pay for all of the food costs. The Leaf Academy takes only the best, so our student body is fairly limited. Less the a hundred per grade. Since you do not like the brightest of kids, I'll explain this simply. There are two main groups: cool kids, and losers. There are many sub categories as I'm sure you'll find out, but make sure you're sticking with the right group. All losers are scum, avoid them. Nevertheless, while most cool kids get along, some sub classifications do not work well with each other. Be careful who you talk to."
"Everyone keeps telling me that, and it's getting really annoying. I'm no that stupid I need people to repeat everything they tell me over and over." Naruto snapped as he sat down at the end of a table with Kabuto.
Kabuto looked down his nose arrogantly at him. "We shall see about that, won't we?"
Naruto looked around the cafeteria trying to find any of the students he had been warned about. "Oh, there is that jerk, Kankuro. I'm still mad that he called me weak."
"Well, you could use some more muscle. Especially, if you are going to try out for any sports."
Naruto looked at his new friend with a small gleam in his eye. "Sports? Sweet! What's offered?"
"A lot, but the ones you would be more interested in would be Football, Soccer or Basketball. Since you are desperate to prove yourself, those get the most recognition and respect."
"Hasn't football already started?" Naruto asked after he swallowed his mouthful of food.
"Nope, our league starts much later, because we want our last game to correspond with when the NFL playoffs start. In fact, if you really want to join, there is meeting this afternoon if you want to try out."
Directly after everyone had been dismissed form their afternoon class, Naruto walked toward the gym locker-room. Kabuto had completed Naruto's tour, so he felt fairly confident about not getting lost.
He walked over to a man holding a clipboard with long black hair, and a strange earring dangling from his left ear.
"Are you the coach? Mr. Manda?"
"Yes." Something about the coach's tone sent shivers down his spine. It was masculine and feminine at the same time, making the older man sound creepy. "If you are trying out go wait over there."
When Naruto sat down, Coach Manda addressed the hopefuls. Naruto watched as the coach read the list of names on his clipboard.
"Most of you I can eliminate right now. Rock Lee, get out of here."
A boy wearing an all green version of the uniform stood up. Pouting with a ridiculous face, the boy whined, "Why? I'm much better this year. I'm now really fast."
Cackling, the coach responded. "Am I to believe that you went from being one of the slowest kids I've seen to super fast. Oh, I'm sure you ran all day and all night everyday since I last cut you, and all that hard work paid off. Yeah right! Now, LEAVE!" The coach looked scary, as he snapped the last sentence at the whimpering boy.
Lee instead dropped down on his knees and pleaded to the coach. "Zabuza!"
"Yes, sir."
"Remove this trash from my sight. Take the Akimichi brat while you're at it."
Chouji, the disgusting boy stood up. "Why me too? I'd be a really good linebacker, and from what I hear your team is lacking a good defense and offensive line."
"You are leaving because you are a filthy, repulsive boy. You should not even be at this school, let alone a sports team."
Before either of the boys could reply, Zabuza Momochi, one of the assistant coaches yanked both boys up and chucked them out the door.
"Tenten get out of here as well. How many times must I tell you the league does not let girls play. Go talk to Temari about a girl's sport or Ino about cheerleading."
The only girl stood up and walked out the way Rock Lee and Chouji had been removed, grumbling to herself.
"Oh, Kankuro. I did not see you there boy. I'm glad that you finally decided to join the team. That's marvelous. You can leave of you want, because you made it."
The jerk stood up and walked out grinning at all the other candidates.
"Talk to one of my assistant coached tomorrow about practice and your jersey and other important things like that."
"We don't have many slots open, so I would not get my hopes too high if I were you. I am Coach Manda, but please feel free to call me Orochimaru."
If any of you have played the game Bully for PlayStation 2 you will notice some slight—and not so slight—allusions. Bully is highly recommended to everyone, as long as you don't mind its T. Nobody should since most eight-year olds I know—including my brother—play Halo and other M games all the time.
While Bully is some of my inspiration, it is limited. This idea has been in my head for a while, but Bully was the final piece to get it started. This is not a rehash of the plot. In fact, I've already deviated from the original story.
I realize that Naruto was a tad OOC this chapter, and Chouji's habits were also exaggerated. However, fear not, because this should not last much longer—at least Naruto won't. Who knows about Chouji?
From now on, I will try to un-cliché this story. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Pairings are open to any and all suggestion, except Yaoi and incest. Remember that this is High School so most pairings won't last long. That may be good and bad for you, but for me it means I can do some pretty unorthodox pairings and be able to give reasonable explanation.
Last note. I know many of you may know nothing about football. If you don't, leave a review and I'll explain the basics next chapter. If you do…leave a review anyway. I will try to not use OC's but in order to have a convincing student body there will have to be more than thirty kids. If you have any ideas on what canon characters should appear that I might not remember please tell me. I already have roles for Rookie Nine, Gai's Team, Sand Team, Haku, Sound Genin Team (Dosu, Zaku, Kin) Sound Five, Zabuto's Genin Team and Akatsuki. If there is anyone else, please tell me.