Eventually, he dozed off.
When he woke, the other guy was sitting up in his bed, his phone in his hand. The room was fairly dark, so the phone lit the guy's face.
Zaku rubbed his eyes before sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
"Hey man, I'm Shikamaru Nara," the guy said, looking up from his phone.
"Zaku Abumi," Zaku replied, cracking his neck a couple of times.
"Nice to meet you," he replied, his gaze going back to his phone.
Zaku said nothing more to him, going out of the dorm, in search of the cafeteria. He had no idea of the time, but hoped there was something to eat.
As he walked, he saw a clock proclaiming it to be after ten. He walked faster, hoping to find the cafeteria before they stopped serving dinner.
When he found it, he found he was allowed to get as much as he wanted, since he was probably going to be on the boxing team. He grinned and got two chicken sandwiches, some green beans, and two cups of peaches with two water bottles and a little carton of chocolate milk.
Food, it always made him happy, especially when there was a lot of it.
He took a seat at a table by a row of trash cans, sort of in the middle of the cafeteria. He saw very few others, but one guy in particular caught his eye. The guy had two trays of food, one was loaded with barbecued items, the other contained some fruit and vegetables. He also had a gallon jug of water on the bench beside him.
He grinned to himself, studying the guy as he ate. Brunette, looked to be averagely tall, a bit of a gut but obviously well-muscled. Football was probably his sport, or soccer goalie. He dressed in a short sleeved dark red shirt and a pair of gray basket ball shorts.
As much as he disliked people, he definitely wouldn't mind getting to know that guy. Rather than directly approach him, he would ask Shikamaru if he knew him.
He finished his food and threw away his tray, deciding to go on a quick run of the campus to help burn off some of the excess calories he just consumed.
When he returned to the dorm room, a half hour later, Shikamaru was gone, and it was getting late, so he decided to sleep and talk to him tomorrow.
Around eight, Zaku woke up. He dressed in black shorts again and a dark purple tank top this time. He went to the cafeteria for breakfast, to hid delight, they had scrambled eggs, they came in little boxes of two, so he took two and, also to his surprise, they had chocolate soy milk, so naturally, he took two cartons of that and took his seat at the same spot. Only a handful or two of people were there, the guy he had seen yesterday wasn't there, which was slightly disappointing.
Finished with breakfast, he went to the fitness room, the same routine as before. He decided that upon Iruka's visit, he would request some swim trunks, purple, if possible. Swimming was excellent exercise. Worked all the muscles at one time.
Grinning, and dripping sweat, Zaku walked at a leisurely pace back to his room.
Shikamaru was still asleep, so he picked out another pair of black shorts and a yellow tank top, getting a shower before settling down to wait for the other guy to wake up.
He laid on his bed and blissed out to some music while he waited, eyes open, but not really seeing anything, lost in thought.
In all his wildest dreams, he had never expected college. Much less a college with a boxing team. As for a major..., he had no ideas. College had never been something that interested him. But..., he could go into Sports medicine, if his boxing career wore out, he could fall back on that, it wouldn't be exactly what he loved but it would be a stable income.
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. When had he gotten so... Adult-like? Probably when they had sent him here..., told him it was his last shot. His last chance, if he didn't somehow control himself, he would likely end up in jail.
He hated that they were right, but he didn't want to go to jail...
Looking over, he saw Shikamaru was awake.
"Do you know where the boxing team meets and trains?"
Shikamaru glanced over, "I don't but my friend is trying out, he knows and is going there in a little while, he can show you if you want."
"All right, thanks man."
"No problem. His name is Kiba, I'll text him, he'll probably be here in like an hour or less."
"Do you know a guy who's about average but kinda tall, brunette, and got a gut but he's also muscular lookin'?"
"Uh yeah, that's my dude Choji Akimichi, he's a cool dude."
"What's his sport?"
"Football, he's a offensive tackle, why?"
"No reason, just saw him in the cafeteria yesterday," Zaku replied with a shrug, looking away.
"Since you're new around here, I'm sure the guys wouldn't mind if you hung with us sometime, we usually go to the dude's rec room almost every night, for gaming, cards, or movies," Shikamaru told the other guy, not looking at him either, suddenly very interested in his phone.
Zaku didn't bother to respond, fiddling with his headphones and iPod, trying to get the cord down his shirt.
A while later, a knock sounded on the door.
"That should be Kiba," Shikamaru said, so with a nod of thanks, Zaku got up and went out.
"Hey, you must be Zaku, I'm Kiba Inuzuka," the taller male said with a friendly smile.
Zaku nodded, with a motion for Kiba to proceed.
Kiba walked on, chattering about the boxing team, asking if Zaku had ever boxed, if he had ever seen a boxing match, if he knew the rules.
When Zaku replied no to all of his questions, Kiba stared at him for a moment before then beginning to explain all the rules and what would be expected of him if he made the team.
It was a mixed team, most matches would consist of tournaments, two mixed teams per ring, one match every week. The coach was a man named Maito Gai, one of the best fighters was a boy he had adopted named Rock Lee. Lee had been practicing since he was very young, he almost rivaled Gai in skill.
Zaku listened without comment, curious about Lee, a good fight could be had with someone of actual skill. A fun fight. He itched to fight him, at least once. At last, they reached the training room, it was under the fitness room, complete with about ten rings, mats covered the floor, punching bags and dummys were set up throughout.
Kiba told him that this was where most practices were held, but you were expected to also go to the fitness room three times a week at least. Practice was four times a week, usually tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and saturday, times were anywhere from 11am until 11pm, as long as you spent at least three hours, each time, you were good. Most people had no trouble with it.
Zaku nodded, eager to begin, especially if Kiba was to be his first opponent. He was taller, definitely fit and muscular. A good match.
