Hello readers! I would like to thank Jazz for reviewing the previous chapter plus Nashi-ossu for following and ankwhat for favoriting Maybe, Just Maybe...! Thank you very much! I really appreciate it!
He sure does Jazz! :3
ONLY THREE TO FOUR HOURS?! THAT'S SO LITTLE AND I THOUGHT ONLY SIX WAS HORRIBLE! I FEEL SO BAD FOR YOU! ToT
No problem! I'm glad they have cooled down now! :D
Thanks! C:
It's fine! ^_^
I'm relieved that you aren't upset! :1
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I HOPE YOU CAN ENJOY THIS SPECIAL OCCASION AND THAT THESE UPDATES WILL KEEP THE STRESS DOWN! XD
Really?! I had no idea that happens to you! :O
I agree! Poor Naruto! At least he has his plan! J:
Wow! I wonder who usually wins... ;)
Leave it to him indeed! Ü
Actually, I don't believe Kakashi has made an appearance in this fic so far; maybe he'll show up later! Well anyways, I hope Naruto would too! :T
Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own this and every other story I have.
Naruto was going to get to the bottom of this.
"WHAT THE H*** ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Naruto had hastily picked up his phone, punching in the appropriate numbers with a force that surprisingly didn't destroy the buttons as they were nearly busted open each time. The boy waited without even a single shred of patience as the device rang, tapping his fingers on the table as he anticipated the individual's response to his call. Immediately after the person's voice finally came through, the infuriated oh so quietly began screaming into the receiver.
"You don't need to yell, Mr. Uzumaki."
"YELL?! I HAVEN'T BEGUN TO YELL YET! WHY ARE YOU KICKING ME OUT?!"
"Calm down, sir. Have you read our new policy yet?"
"Policy?" The angered hissed. "I haven't heard of it. What is it?" The boy felt a dreadful pit in his stomach deepen, apprehending what he was about to hear.
"As of today—"
"TODAY?!" The listener interrupted, fury radiating off his very being. "NO WONDER I DIDN'T KNOW! I WAS AT SCHOOL!"
"Let me finish." The landlord huffed. "As of today, Akatsuki Complexes will be making renovations to improve its overall infrastructure and service. In order to do that, we need to better our appearances by raising the rent so we will have more money to do so."
Steam was literally smothering the area as the blond's frustration only grew. "HOW MUCH IS IT NOW WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ME BEING EVICTED?!"
The youth heard a sigh of annoyance coming from the other end before he spoke again. "Rent is now $2000 per month—"
"WHAT THE?!" The flaxen interjected once more. "THAT'S FOUR TIMES THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT! ARE YOU TRYING TO LOSE ALL YOUR BUSINESS?!"
"You don't need to worry about that." As if he cared in the first place. "With our strategic location of being near the entire Konohgakure School District—the most prestigious in all of Hi no Kuni—and being in the center of market street as well as a vast variety of well-desired companies, Akatsuki Complexes is becoming more and more in demand. The price increase should do nothing to ward them off."
"THEN WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!" One could swear glass could be heard shattering in the background.
"Like I said before, we need to improve our infrastructure. That includes those who inhabit this space. We can't have potential customers walking around solely to find filth occupying the space next door." That was a nice way of putting it. How cold. "We know your income isn't enough to continue to pay off your rent and that isn't even including your other bills. Totaled together, the cost will be $2500 per month. To save us all the trouble, we decided to give you a notice so you could pack up your possessions."
"ALL I'M HEARING IS THAT YOU WANT TO GET RID OF ME BECAUSE I'LL MAKE YOU LOOK BAD! THAT'S A MORONIC REASON! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M A SLOB WHOSE APARTMENT COULD RIVAL A ZORILLA AND SKUNK PUT TOGETHER IN STENCH! IT'S JUST BECAUSE I'M POOR, ISN'T IT?! I WORK MY A** OFF JUST TO LIVE BY AND YOU DO THIS TO ME?! HUH?! HUH?!"
"Goodbye Mr. Uzumaki. Have your stuff and your person out of here in two days or else we'll make you leave by force." The man then hung up as if he hadn't paid the slightest attention to that explosion, the heartlessness smashing down onto the hapless like a ton of bricks.
The dejected put his phone down, happening to glance at his clock at the same time. Panic tore through his frame as he realized what had occurred. "AH CRAP! I'M LATE!"
The 3rd of December
"How will I break this to them?"
Lady luck seemed to be emptying all of the grudge she had accumulated over the years on this truly unfortunate boy recently; from being kicked out to being fired, there was nothing positive about his situation. What did he do to deserve this? Had the devil cursed him? Or was God toying with him? What kind of god would allow this?! These were the times that made people question everything, from religious beliefs to the very aspect of life. Only those who were utterly stupid would keep faith after losing this much, he now thought.
"Nothing could be worse than thi—" Upon stepping past the school gates, it seemed as if everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at him, the glares absolutely unnerving. "Oh yeah. Never mind." The now completely sullen walked on, head hung to avoid catching others' eyes as he trudged towards his locker. "Can this day get any worse?"
"Hey you!" Oh no. God no. Please no. Did he just jinx himself?! The apprehensive slowly turned to the source of the exclamation, his entire body freezing up; a horde of girls surrounded him from all sides, blocking off all possible escape routes. Where were 'responsible' grown-ups when you really needed them?
"What did I do?!" The target held up his hands defensively, cowering in quintessential terror.
The females sneered. "Sasuke-kun won't be able to save you now. Now feel our wrath you ingrate!" What should he do?! He couldn't hit a girl let alone hundreds!
"GRRRRRRRR..." All of them snapped their attention to the origin of the growling, the ladies utterly shocked; a giant dog was snarling at them, ready to bite.
"GET AWAY FROM OUR FRIEND YOU HORMONAL MANGY B****ES OR ELSE I'LL UNLEASH AKAMARU ON YOU!" The canine was straining on his leash, barking boisterously. The damsels ran away shrieking, none willing to be shredded into pieces by a potentially rabid creature.
"What's going on?!" So that's when the teachers care; only when 'innocent' girls are involved. A woman stepped out of her classroom, leering at the five.
"RUN!"
The Uzumaki breathed a sigh of relief as he faced his comrades. "Thanks Kiba. You saved me."
"Of course." The Inuzuka smirked, glowing with pride.
Chōji shivered. "I can't imagine what they were about to do to you."
"Trample him, claw his eyes out, slap him until he can't even move..." Shikamaru shrugged. "Just naming a few."
"Oh great." The almost victim grumbled, not exactly wanting to hear that. He groaned. "Life sucks."
"Who the h*** are you and what did you do to Naruto?!" The brunet grabbed the crestfallen by the front of his shirt, shaking him roughly. "Since when were you negative?! Aren't you always a ball of energy?! What happened to your hyper self?! Why do you look so depressed?!"
Uh oh. That was exactly what the blond was trying to avoid. "Uhh...I didn't get enough sleep last night?"
"You're a terrible liar." The Nara sighed, shaking his head. "Just tell us."
"That's what friends are for, right?" The Akimichi piped. "Don't be shy!"
"Which would be even more unlike you!" The auburn pointed out. "Spit it out already or else I'll get Akamaru to pounce you!" The pooch bent down, prepared to do just that.
"Okay! Okay!" Seriously, you did not want to get that monstrosity to sit on you. How much did he weigh? A thousand pounds? The tawny gestured with his hand, signaling them closer. "Yesterday was h*** on earth for me. After I got home, I was given a notice that I was going to be evicted in forty-eight hours a.k.a. tomorrow. Then when things couldn't get worse, my landlord heartlessly told me that he was kicking me out because since I can't pay the new $2500 per month rent I'm below Akatsuki's 'standards' and that phone call made me late to work so I got fired because of that!" After the flaxen had finished, panting for breath, he glanced at the bunch, surprised at what he saw; uncharacteristic fury shone in the normally docile's eyes as a cold, calculating flame lit in the genius's while uninhibited rage emitted from the feral's and his beast's frames. "Um...guys?"
"THAT B******!" The words echoed down the halls, scaring those nearby off.
Everyone thought the world was going to end as the portly opened his mouth. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM!"
"It's alright! I'll figure something out!" The vulpine attempted to pacify them but to no avail; he was simply ignored.
"I wonder what's the best way to commit murder without having it traced back..." The lackadaisical pondered, the ominous aura creeping them out.
"Here I thought you were clever. It's not smart to discuss killing someone where others could possibly hear you."
"Teme..." The group looked up as Sasuke sauntered over to them, hands in his pockets.
The raven quirked a brow as he eyed the quadruped. "What's that mutt doing here? Aren't we at school?" The mentioned bared his teeth at that remark.
"You jerk!" The owner glowered. "Akamaru's a Great Pyrenees, not some 'mutt' and for your information, my Animal Science class allows me to bring him here! I was just about to drop him off in fact!"
"Whatever." The Uchiha shrugged, irking the brunet. However, before he could act, the sable approached the Uzumaki, stopping before him. "What's up with you, Usuratonkachi?" Only silence met him. "Why aren't you your usual idiotic self? Why are you being so quiet?" Still nothing was said in response. The stoic made to grasp him only to be held back.
"Leave him alone." Shikamaru stated. "As you can probably see, Naruto isn't in the mood for your 'I'm better than you' attitude."
Chōji nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing. "Terrible things have been happening to him and he needs some space."
"You mean those annoying fangirls who aim to kill him?" The other sighed. "Why should he be upset about that? It's not as if they actually did anything yet."
"That's because they're obsessed with you!" Kiba screamed. "I haven't seen nearly as many mindless b****es as there have been since you transfered!"
"But that's not what this is about." The Nara interrupted. "It's something much worse. You couldn't possibly understand what Naruto is going through."
"Try me." The addressed challenged.
The hazel was seething by now. "Humph! We don't need to tell a b****** like you! Besides, you'll just mock Naruto and not help him at all!" He glimpsed at his companions. "Come on, let's get to class."
"Wait." The tetrad paused in their tracks. The Uzumaki glanced at them. "Go on without me. I'll talk to Sasuke myself."
The genius appeared uncertain. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah." The queried nodded. "I'll be fine."
After a few moments of hesitation, the chubby shrugged. "Okay." They then made to walk away.
The auburn turned back. "If I find out you hurt him, there will be h*** to pay!" The four then vanished, leaving the two alone.
The blond quirked a brow. "Why do you even want to know?"
"Does it matter?" Of course he would say that.
"Yes; this is personal after all." The speaker crossed his arms. "Do you still want to know?"
The raven wore an emotionless mask. "Hn. What do you think?"
"Fine." The tanned sighed. "I'll tell you on one condition."
"What dobe?" The insulter inquired.
"Tell me why you are so afraid of your own father."
Translation: Hi no Kuni=Land of Fire
How was it?
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