Orange Day

Naruto woke up that morning after an undisturbed sleep, of course it was always undisturbed, no one lived with Naruto. No one wanted to live with Naruto.

He sipped the crusty brown, month-old milk from its faded container and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his orange school cloths. This would have been an unforgivable act if he had a mother who washed those cloths or even cared. But it didn't matter. No one would nag him about his stained shirt, or ripped pants, because he was all alone. He'd go to his stream in the woods later on, but he was not trying to impress anyone. He'd go to school dirty if he had to.

Naruto had always been a big fan of laziness, because it helped out now, unlike perseverance and hard work, which helped out later. That is why he dismissed the idea of taking his weekly bath and headed for the long way to school past the Hot Springs. It didn't matter; no one was going to sniff him or anything when he got to school. Heck, why bother to brush his hair? That's why he had thrown away the brush his neighbors had donated to him a month ago. It didn't matter; he wasn't trying to get a date or anything.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck as he headed to the Ninja school.

It probably would have been smart to brush his teeth before he went to school...but...the neighbor's cat had stolen the brush he got from the 3rd Hokage. He'd buy one soon enough, but money was always a scarcity. No person would hire him for a job. He had none.

But Valentines Day was coming up soon, that was a good thing. No, never mind. It was a horrible thing. Naruto had never gotten a card in his life. Every year Sasuke would be running from the rabid fan girls because he had too many cards. Wait. Hinata had always been nice to him. It was strange. It was foreign. She had even said his name a couple times. Hearing the word "Naruto" made him twitch, even though it was his name. It might be because people had always said "Hey you!" when they wanted him to move or stop looking their way. I heard bullying was an easy way to bring out a point, too. And Naruto hadn't even mastered 5 jutsu skills; this was a big advantage for his pursuers. If only he had put in that little effort in class instead of napping or drawing. But Naruto didn't really feel like it. That's what held in back, besides the lack of motivation.

If he were...wait...Naruto got a little idea from somewhere in his mind. He was almost to the school, and could sense someone in back of him.

If I become Hokage, no one could possibly ignore me...I'd be respected...I...think...I can do that. Yeah, I'll become Hokage!

Naruto smiled at himself. He had a motivation. He had a purpose.

Right then Naruto say out of the corner of his eyes a group on ninja. The same ones from his class that had laughed at him the day before. He wasn't quite sure what they were doing, but he didn't want to ignore it.

Crap...what do I do? I didn't pay attention last class!

Something deep inside of him told Naruto to block on his right, and do a left back kick.

He hadn't practiced in a while.

The first of the group ran up on Naruto's right and attempted a round kick. Naruto pushed up his arms to evade the attack that produced a lucky escape, and tried a spinning back kick. Naruto raised his leg up as high as it would go, not extending yet, and waiting for a good opportunity. He knew it wasn't wise to rush in, he didn't exactly want to get hit, so he waited. One lifted up his leg for a front kick, which would decrease his balance.

You would hear a sickening crack, as Naruto gave the boy a full spinning back kick to the rib cage (Naruto was still suffering from lack of practice), making him dizzy in the process.

"Wow"...said the small crowd now circling around Naruto, like he was in fact a foreign weapon.

The other boys in the group stood there and watched Naruto in fear, but also in respect.

"Boss! Boss! Are you all right!" cried out one the first's followers.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Naruto...nice...kick!" said the first, struggling to get the words out.

He had no idea where this knowledge of self-defense had come, considering he had slept through almost every class he took.

"Did you know Naruto could kick that well?"

"No"

Shikamaru, the kid, got up out of his kneeling position Chouji was standing by him with a stick in his mouth (his effort on trying to reduce) Shikamaru looked at Naruto in amazement, but didn't get up, it was so tedious to get up and talk to someone, so he sat and waited for something to happen.

"Damn, shouldn't have ran in like that"

Sasuke was watching from the branch of an Oak tree. There was a frown on his face, his nose was wrinkled.

"Sorry I hit you so hard", said Naruto to the unlucky kid he had pummeled, his hand was rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"Nah, sorry I ran to hit ya for no reason, Naruto!"

"Hey, would you like to sit with us at lunch?" asked Chouji.

"What? Y...Yeah!"

Naruto smiled, but them pulled it back when he saw Sasuke watching him.

Naruto thought of getting back his hairbrush, and taking a bath tomorrow on his way to school.

But in back of him, Sakura was glaring. She was furiously trying to rid her shoe of Naruto's spit, even though it had all washed away last night. The thought of Naruto's mouth bacteria disgusted her. She'd get him back tomorrow, though. Oh yes, she'd get him back.