Sakura had just spilt juice, about ¼ of a cup, on the shirt of Uchiha Sasuke. The entire group of F4 was there, staring in amazement wondering what the great Uchiha Sasuke would do to a poor girl, a new student no less. "I…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" Sasuke looked angry and began to should at her. "What the hell you stupid ugly bitch? Don't you watch where you're going?" Luckily, Kiba came out and walked next to her. Lee followed him to the other side of the girl. "Now now Sasuke, Don't you think your being to harsh to this poor little girl? She's kinda cute." Kiba leaned in and asked, "So, do you have a boyfriend?" Sakura looked down the entire time. "I don't care if she's a girl, that bitch ruined my favorite shirt!" Lee was the next one to talk " Ah don't worry about him to much, hey Kiba was right! You are kinda cute, do you have an older sister?" Sakura then began to say in a soft voice "I'm really sorry, please forgive me…I'll pay for the cleaning cost…" "Cleaning? The cleaning cost! Who the fuck cares about that?" Sasuke took of his shirt and wore his black undershirt. He threw his shirt on the floor. "What's going to happen if I get sick? What if I die? Are you going to take responsibility for that?
Huh?"
Naruto couldn't take it anymore. "STO…Please…stop." Sasuke stopped looking at Sakura and changed his attention to Naruto. Naruto closed his eyes and spoke once more. "She already apologized. Please stop yelling at her." Naruto was not afraid of Sasuke, but he didn't want the whole school against him. Naruto was also trying his hardest not to insult the damn bastard in front of him. He thought that maybe, just maybe if he asked the right way, no one would be red flagged. "Please forgive her." Sasuke was shocked at this outburst, and from a poor little boy like Naruto no less. Naruto opened his eyes to see Sasuke's eyes staring right back at him. He could have sworn that his eyes flashed red for a minute, but that's not possible. Naruto looked at him and was surprised to see all the F4 members walking away. Was it his imagination, or was Neji smiling at him?
Naruto ran from school not wanting to go back ever. He couldn't ask Ikura to put him in another school; there was no way he could afford it. Ikura also seemed too happy that Naruto was going to such a prestigious school. Naruto was in deep thought the whole way to work. Why? Why couldn't I have just ignored it? Why did I take such a big risk? I should have just stayed out of it and laid low the whole time. ARG! I'm sure to get a red notice now! Well at least maybe Sakura-chan will like me more, now that I stood up for her and all. For once in his life, Naruto was actually on time for work. When Hinata came in she noticed his sad disposition and asked "Naruto-kun? Are you all right? Is something wrong?" Naruto looked up at her and said "I think I'll be getting a red notice soon." Hinata dropped her uniform that she held in her hands. "Why? What happened? How did this happen?" Hinata seemed to be in shock, and Naruto began to explain the whole ordeal in the cafeteria. "But you didn't get a red notice yet right?" Naruto nodded "But I'm sure I'm going to get one. I don't know what to do" Hinata looked deep in thought, as their boss came in on time for once. "Hey you two, get into your uniforms already!" Hinata and Naruto went to go change into their work clothes. After work, Naruto ran home and plopped into bed without even looking to see what Ikura had made for dinner. Ikura was concerned, but decided that since Naruto had closed his door, he must want to be alone.
The next day Naruto did not want to go to school. He walked to school dreading each step he took on the way. As he walked into the school, there were many people staring at him. He walked up to his locker and opened it to find the red notice. Naruto slumped, 'what the hell was the point of going through the trouble? Everyone knew I would be red tagged anyway.' Naruto looked to the boy next to him. 'Ah this annoying guy.' The young man scrambled to his feet and began yelling at everyone that Uzumaki Naruto had gotten a red notice. Naruto went to his class only to find that his desk was missing. Everyone was laughing at him and he looked at everyone and demanded to know where his desk was. No one responded and no one helped him, not that he was expecting his classmates to help him anyway. He ran through the school looking for his desk and finally found it out side. "So this is where they put it…" Naruto walked up to his desk that was thrown out by the garbage and bent over to pick it up. As Naruto began to lift his desk, garbage was thrown from a higher window. He was covered in garbage and the students continued to throw things at him. He grabbed his desk and shielded himself as quickly as possible. Naruto managed to clean up and get his desk back to its original place. During class, the teacher ignored him more than usual, and no one talked to him, but he could hear him or her talk about him and laugh at him.
Naruto was not excited for lunch, but went there anyway. He had no better place to be. He was happy to finally see a familiar face when he spotted Sakura. He ran up to her and waved. Trying to say hello, Naruto was brushed off. Sakura ignored him and went off in another direction, looking back for only a second. 'What was I thinking, it's not like she has a red notice or anything…' Naruto was about to walk off when he heard someone snicker. He turned around to find Ino, Tenten, and Temari. "Oh look here girls, Naruto is all alone now!" Ino laughed at her own comment. Tenten and Temari soon followed saying "That's right!" "Yea he's all alone!" Naruto became irritated and, he shouted at them. "Who do you think you are! If you want to fight with me then bring it on anytime!" Ino only laughed some more triggering the laughter of her two friends. "Oh my aren't you manly? Picking a fight with girls!" Naruto did not think he would really be able to punch a girl, so he ran off to his own little sanctuary.
At the stairway, he noticed someone there already. At first glance, especially since all you saw was the back of the person, you would think that the person staring into the horizon was a woman. Upon glancing once more, it is easy to tell that the figure has a masculine build. Naruto however, did not notice any of that. He didn't care and he just figured he'd leave. He could come back another time. As Naruto turned around, he heard a voice. "So, Where you here yesterday too?" He looked back at the figure to see that the figure hadn't turned around at all. "Well?" Naruto gulped. It was obviously a boy, and from the looks of it, it seemed to be none other than F4's Hyuuga Neji. Rather than fear him Naruto decided to become defensive. After all a good offense is a good defense…or was it the other way around? "So? What if I was?" Neji turned around and looked at him as though he was expecting it to be Naruto. "I was trying to read in peace yesterday, but someone came by and screamed their head off, I thought it was you who said those things yesterday." Naruto paled a bit. 'Oh crap! He heard everything I said…Now I'm in even bigger trouble!' Neji chuckled. "What's so funny!" Neji looked at him with his unusual pale white eyes. "I completely agree with what you said yesterday." Naruto looked even more shocked if such a thing was possible. Neji looked off into the distance. "Sometimes I just don't want to bother with it anymore. Anyway, it's nice to know that some people in this school have their own brains." Neji walked closer to Naruto in order to get through to the door. Passing by Naruto, Neji whispered in his ear. "Don't give up and keep strong, it looks nice on you." Neji left Naruto there to contemplate everything that was said between the two.
'Maybe he's just screwing with my mind…yea that's gotta be it…' Naruto was on his way to work again. He practically crashed into the doors not bothering to wait for the automatic doors to move out of his way. When Naruto was dressed for work, Hinata noticed something odd about Naruto. 'He seems so off today…' Hinata came up to him. "Naruto-kun? How was today? Did you get a red notice?" Naruto looked up at her and nodded. She gasped but Naruto began to talk before she had a change to ask any questions. He told her everything, even about the stairway incident. She looked a bit shocked and confused at the same time. Hinata's brain began moving again and she asked Naruto a very important question. "So, What do you think of Neji now?" Naruto looked up in thought but threw his hands up in dispare. "I don't know what to think!" Hinata sighed and decided that it would be best to leave things as they are without questioning them for now. Naruto then suddenly blushed a bit. "He…I have to admit, in a tiny way, he did help me…" Naruto's boss was very nosy, and therefore could not help but overhear. "You should be careful, Naruto-kun. You never know when situations like these turn bad, rich people have ways of making people dissapear…" Hinata looked at Naruto worried. "Kakashi-san! Please don't say things like that you're going to scare Naruto-kun!" Kakashi merely shrugged and laughed while walking off. "At least you have that prince charming who was nice to you, maybe he's got a crush on you and you can be a pretty princess! Hahaha…" Hinata glared at his retrieving form and muttered. "What's up with Kakashi-san today? He's so weird." The rest of the workday was spent actually working, or talking about old times they spent together.
The next day, Naruto went to open his locker only to find a bunch of snakes had been placed into his locker. He got his things quickly, and ran to class. Things were just as last time with people staring at him and laughing. He hated when they laughed at him, it made him want to prove that he was better no, the best out of everyone there. Naruto just ignored the stupid people in his class. He stole a glance at Sakura, the one girl he would have thought who would be on his side or help him. He couldn't blame her though, maybe because he liked her just a little. 'Yes, that's right. I do like Sakura…' An image of Neji and the kind words of encouragement he gave him echoed through his mind. Naruto was one confused student, but managed to pay attention slightly in class.
Uchiha Sasuke was in his room at home. He didn't have to attend school if he didn't want to, that's just the kind of power he had at the school. He received a phone call on his cell phone. "Yea? WHAT? You can't do anything can you! I want him to run away crying today. I don't care WHAT you do, but make him quit this school. DO IT OR ELSE!" Sasuke slammed the phone shut and yelled loudly. "Why is he still there!" Sasuke decided that he wanted to stay home all day today. He was going to go to lunch so that he could show of his greatness, but this news of that little brat staying in school made his day horrible.
During lunch, Naruto was happy that there was no sign of the almighty Sasuke, but he was still confronted by Ino, Tenten, and Temari. "Oh! Poor Naruto sits all alone! How sad that no one wants to be near you, let alone talk to you!" "That's right" said Temari. "Yea yea!" added Tenten. Naruto was getting sick of how annoying the three girls were. "Just shut up already! You're so annoying!" Ino huffed "At least I'm not some poor loser boy who is hated by everyone in the school!" Ino turned around with Tenten and Temari following. Naruto got up and packed his bento box again. He decided that since he actually finished early, he would have enough time to go to his locker and the balcony for some stress relief. After all, he was sure Neji wouldn't be there since he wanted to read in peace. At his locker, Naruto put his bento box that still had some food in it into his locker. He would have finished everything but he lost his appetite thanks to the three girls from lunch. Naruto closed his locker and breathed out ready to head to the balcony.
Suddenly, three guys from behind who covered Naruto's mouth grabbed him before he could shout for help. He knew it was useless to call for help in this school anyway. They took him away to the science room and pushed him to the floor. Naruto didn't know what to do. The room was empty and he was sure he was going to get the beating of his life here. However, Naruto was not hit once yet, and he was wondering why. Instead, one boy grabbed his arms and held him down. Another boy held his feet and Naruto began to get nervous. He looked left and right for a way out and couldn't figure out what he should do. He began to shout and yell at them to let him go, but no one listened. Instead, the last boy there began to take off Naruto's school shirt. Naruto shook his head. "Stop! Let me go! AHH!" Naruto was getting scared of what they were going to do to him. Soon, his shirt was wide open and the boy had unbuttoned his pants. Naruto was going to cry from helplessness. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't shake off three guys at once.
Naruto was held down by two boys as the third one began to undress him. He struggled as much as possible but he couldn't take all three at once. Naruto was scared and thrashed about. "No! STOP!" Just as the boy on top of him managed to get his pants undone, there was a voice. "Let him go already." The voice seemed to come out of nowhere. All Naruto could see were two feet walking toward the group. "But…Sasuke told us…" Neji sighed. "I don't care just leave him be already!" The boys left the room and Naruto sat up, tears flowing. "…Thank you…" Naruto hated looking so helpless, especially to someone who was part of the reason why he was having such troubles, Neji may have been nice to him, but he was still a member of F4. Naruto closed his unbuttoned shirt with his hands and curled up into a ball. The tears continues, although Naruto quickly wiped them away. Neji came close to him and wrapped an arm around him. Naruto leaned into Neji's shoulder. "Thank…you…" Neji and Naruto sat there for a while in silence until Neji spoke "The cleaning lady was mopping the balcony stairs…" Naruto looked at him for a moment. He chuckled a little before wiping away all of his tears.
At work, despite his horrible encounter, Naruto was quite happy. He smiled and laughed the entire time. Hinata knew something good had to have happened to him, so she asked him why he was so happy in particular. Naruto talked to Hinata and explained the entire situation. Hinata looked horrified at the thought of those three boys treating Naruto so badly. "Don't worry though because Neji came by to stop them. I was soo lucky that he was there!" Hinata looked to the side a bit and asked "So then, is he like your prince charming?" Naruto looked at her. "I…no! No way! Like he needs to save me? Yea right…I'm strong too you know." Hinata smiled, for once Naruto seemed excited and happy. Hinata had worried that going to that school cause him to lose a piece of himself. She was worried that the school was slowly killing Naruto on the inside. So what if the thing that made him happy happened to be her cousin? As long as he was happy she was happy. Hinata contemplated things for a bit, and decided that since Naruto seemed more interested in her cousin, that maybe she should start looking for a prince charming too. Hinata almost laughed at the thought of her seemingly uptight cousin with laid back Naruto. "…but don't think that I love him or anything because that is so not true! Hey…are you listening? Hinata?" Hinata snapped out of her thoughts. "Ah I'm sorry Naruto-kun…" Naruto stuck out his tongue at her. "C'mon, Kakashi will be here soon." Hinata went to the back to change into her work clothes.
Naruto and Hinata had another slow day at work. Naruto decided that maybe he should walk Hinata home. "Hey Hinata, would you like me to walk you home?" Hinata blushed a little. "Ah it's ok, I'm getting picked up." Naruto laughed. "Oh yea, you usually get picked up right?" Hinata nodded. "Good bye Naruto-kun!" Naruto smiled on his way home. Ikura was not home when he got there. Naruto looked around the small apartment and decided that he must be working late again. Ikura had the tendency to work late grading papers of the students or filling out paperwork about them. Naruto went to go relax in his bed and changed his clothes to rest in his bed. Naruto finally finished all his homework, and decided that it would be a good time to just close his eyes and relax a bit. After a couple hours, Naruto awoke suddenly. He heard a noise in the kitchen and decided to go check it out. Normally, Naruto is a heavy sleeper and wouldn't notice all the noise at this time. However, since he had slept early, he was awoken by the noise. Naruto slowly crept to his door and opened it a crack. There stood Ikura hovering over a container in the kitchen. Naruto could barely make out what he was saying. "I hope Naruto really likes this ramen I'm going to make him." Ikura was seen chopping up some of the Naruto he was going to use inside of the ramen. Naruto smiled and turned around closing his door. It was nice to feel loved by someone. Naruto climbed back into bed and fell asleep.
The next day Naruto happily skipped his way to school. He had a nice day and he would be darned if someone was going to ruin it. He was going to have a good day no matter what happened. Naruto went through the day ignoring the usual stares and laughs. He had a secret weapon. His special lunch made by Iruka was a strength that was given to him. Even Ino and the girls weren't having an effect on him. Naruto sat down and opened his lunch container. Iruka was a smart man apparently since he kept the noodles separate so that they wouldn't get soggy in the broth of the ramen. Also, He placed small heat packets next to the broth and noodles to keep them warm. Naruto couldn't get any happier. He opened the containers and place it all together. Naruto smiled really wide and broke the chopsticks apart. "Itadekimas!" Just as he was about to dig into his lunch made from the love of his guardian, Sasuke walked in front of him. "Oh look here…Naruto was it? Aren't you a little trooper coming to school where you are no longer welcomed." Naruto looked up at him and glared at him. "Oh what's this you have here? Ramen? I don't know why anyone would like it. IT SUCKS!" Sasuke grabbed the container and threw it across the room, spilling the ramen all over the floor. Naruto looked at the spilt ramen and thought of Iruka, and how hard he worked and how he stayed up late just to make it for him. Naruto stood up and looked down at the floor.
Sasuke began to walk away and stepped on a pile of noodles with a naruto flake and rubbed his foot in it. "Hey Kiba, let's go shopping today." Kiba looked at him confused. "Why is that?" Sasuke looked back and Naruto and saw him bend down to clean up the remnants of the spilled ramen. "Heh, it seems my shoes are dirty." For Naruto this was the last straw. He got up after collecting all the containers and placing them on the table. "Wait right there…" Sasuke stopped and looked at Naruto as if Naruto had gone crazy. Naruto came close to Sasuke and looked him in the face. Sasuke turned fully and said "What now?" Naruto then surprised him with a cross punch to the face. "Don't be so full of yourself!" Sasuke landed on the floor. While on the floor Sasuke had a flash back of a similar punch he received. "Quit joking around Sasuke!" Sasuke quickly got his thoughts clear and stood up. Naruto continued with his speech. "You're nothing but spoiled brats who never earned a single penny on your own! You don't know anything about money or responsibilities and your think you own everyone. Well fine. If you're going to declare war, then so will I. You hear me? I declare war on YOU!" Naruto huffed and took his things away to his locker. When he got there he sighed and leaned against his locker. 'Naruto, what have you done?'
TBC
