Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!
"So what motivates you in pursuing a future in Keijo?"
"My family I guess... also, I like Keijo. I've liked it since I was a kid, my Mom and I always watched Keijo together." Naruto answered the interviewers question with sincerity. The exams were split up into several, the first day being interviews, and the second day being the physical exams. Naruto knew he would have no problems with the second day, seeing as he was extremely confident in his body in general.
The judges, three of them, seemed to be happy with his answer as they started to write down their own notes on him. The interview was limited to a few short minutes, because there were a TON of applicants for the school.
"Your motivation is your family, but what is your goal for your career? What do you plan on accomplishing by going pro?"
Naruto paused when they was asked those two questions. He was stumped, because he knew why he wanted to play Keijo on a pro level, but he didn't really have a goal that he wanted to strive for itself. Naruto's face showed this, because two of the interviewers begun to write down his reaction to the question.
"... I... just want to play Keijo I guess... I love Keijo. I haven't really thought about where I want to take the career itself." Naruto spoke slowly, thinking his words through carefully. "I guess for now I want to discover a goal... I do know that I want to beat Jin-chan in a fair race." Naruto remembered Jin, and his mock race with her. The fun he had on the land with her, facing one on one against her felt almost like his old rivalry he had with Sasuke when they were in high school together.
It was fun, and he wanted to do it again.
"Very nice... Final question, and then you are free to go meet up with your group. If you were to be sponsered by a company, or a group... what type of business would you want your name on?"
Naruto blinked.
"... What do you mean?" Naruto asked, unsure of what the question meant.
"In many sports, including Keijo, the more popular or talented players are offered sponsership deals. Sponsers will support the athletes, and in turn the athlete supports the business via advertising it, increasing their profits."
That had Naruto thinking, since he was the first and currently only, man being accepted into Keijo, he was sure that he would be getting offers for sponsership. After all, what business didn't want to sponser an athlete that was making history? That question though was that Naruto didn't know what kind of business he would like to sponser him, if he did indeed get offers to get sponsered. He was fine with or without it, but being sponsered would be nice to him, knowing people supported him and trusted he would be good for business.
Naruto smiled.
"... I think maybe some place that is involved with ramen." Naruto finished it off, knowing that it would be nice to give back to his favorite food.
One of the judges snickered at his answer.
"Thank you Uzumaki-san. You will be in Group A, who will be eating in the cafeteria shortly. Do you know where that is?"
"I'll find it, thanks for the interview." Naruto stood up, bowed, before he started to walk towards the door. Naruto placed his hands in his pockets, grinning to himself, sure that he aced their expectations even as he walked through the door. Naruto closed the door behind him, not expecting there to be a boy standing in front of him. Naruto blinked a few times when he saw not only was it a boy... it was several people standing in front of him.
A boy his own age, but standing a large amount shorter than himself. Naruto glanced down at the boy.
He was wearing the male Setouchi uniform, with a notebook in his hands as he looked towards Naruto. His eyes green, with black rings around them. He had red hair that was neatly combed to the side, but still slightly spiked. He was very pale skinned, though oddly enough he had a tattoo on the side of his head.
"Uzumaki Naruto-san?" The boy asked, though he already knew his answer.
"Yeah... I thought I was the only male keijo player... duh you're studying to be a Keijo Engineer aren't you... nameless dude." Naruto heavily hinted that he wanted to know the boy's name, and why he was approaching him.
"Sabaku Gaara... I heard you were being interviewed now, and wanted to catch you before you went with your group. I was hoping that I could get you to look at my own designs for a Land I've been inventing." Gaara bowed politely to Naruto, though his tone didn't really have emotion to it, neither did his eyes.
It kind of weirded Naruto out.
"... I'm not really sure why you want my opinion... I mean, I'm a Keijo player... I don't really know all about that Land making stuff." Naruto admitted to the boy, unsure of what to really say. As much as he would like to make this guy happy by looking at his designs, he wasn't really very good at judging that kind of stuff. "My father was the engineer, not me." Naruto explained further, and Gaara nodded.
Land making was his father's specialty, something he did not inherit in the slightest, he should know after all.
"... I understand your confusion. I'm not asking that you give me advice as an engineer. I simply wanted your opinion on my ideas as a Keijo player. I understand your hesitation though." Gaara nodded, and started to walk away.
It would seem the answer was no.
"I don't mind helping you know." Naruto stated, and Gaara stopped, turning to look at Naruto with the slightest widening of his eyes. "I just want to know why me. I mean, there are plenty of girls here that you could ask. I'm not the only Keijo player." Naruto would look at the designs, because there wasn't a reason to say no to the guy. It didn't hurt to look at them, seeing as they were both aiming towards jobs in the same sport.
It gave him an advantage.
"... I am not very good at speaking with women. They find my lack of emotion disturbing, and it affects the responses I get." Gaara started to walk back towards Naruto, and despite the way he said he lacked emotion, he seemed to be excited in his body language.
"Gaara, come on! You need to hurry, or we are going to be late for Bee-san's class! Stop bothering the Ass-man."
Naruto raised an eyebrow when he saw a woman coming towards them, wearing the same Engineer uniform was Gaara. She had a very... she looked the opposite of Gaara in every way. She had mocha skin, green hair that was flat to her hair, orange eyes... the only thing they had in common was the fact they both lacked a figure. She lacked a traditional woman's figure, being more tomboyish in looks, while Gaara lacked the muscle tone that a lot of men naturally had.
"Fuu-san." Gaara greeted her.
"Ass-man?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
Should he be offended by that?
"Yeah, you're a Keijo player... you're pretty famous around here. I'm Fuu, you Keijo players are all focused on your chests and butts... so Ass-man. Must be pretty nice being all popular. Want to stop by the Engineering room sometime and see some of my designs?" Fuu asked excitedly, speaking with SO much emotion that it was literally the opposite of the way that Gaara had been speaking. Naruto looked at the contrast between the two of them, unsure of what to make of this pair of friends.
It made sense, they were opposites, so naturally they would get along to this extent.
"I've already asked him to look over mine." Gaara interupted, and Fuu pouted.
"Dude, come on... I spent a lot of time designing my Web-Land, I need the opinion of a popular dude to see if it will catch on." Fuu complained to Gaara, and Naruto was about to open his mouth.
"My Sand-Land has more value, the design itself limits the way that Keijo players could move, thus ensuring more exciting matches." Gaara argued back without emotion, nor expression, and before Naruto could open his mouth, more voices interupted him.
Why couldn't he talk.
"Yo say ho... Don't bother Naruto. This fool wants to play, so listen to what he has to say. He can look at both of your designs... but read his signs."
'My ears are bleeding.' Naruto thought when he saw a man only slightly taller than himself. Large and muscular, but not without some fat. He had white hair, and seemed to be middle-aged. If anything, that made his raps even worse to Naruto, though Naruto palmed his face when he saw the teacher's uniform. "Actually... I think I'm going to... go and... Mio, lets go get something to eat!" Naruto grabbed Mio the second that she came out of the interview room, and started to pull her with him.
She was his excuse to leave the situation he was in, before it got anymore awkward. Mio raised her eyebrow and looked back at the people that had been starting to cause a scene.
"Who were-"
"Don't ask... That is a problem I'm going to have to deal with later. You in group A?" Naruto asked her, since his excuse wouldn't work if she wasn't.
Mio nodded, and he let go of her as they walked together to the cafeteria, now that they were out of earshot of the engineers-to-be. She glanced back towards the students that Naruto had escaped from.
"... I didn't know that there were female engineers... Neat... Crap, Keijo Players and Keijo Engineers aren't allowed to have relationships. She is kind of cute." Mio complained when she realized she couldn't tease that girl they escaped from. It was a rule that players and engineers weren't allowed to form relationships, seeing as it was considered an unfair sports advantage to know the secrets of future lands that were yet to be released.
Players were not allowed to have insider knowledge on yet-to-be-used land types that were being developed, of some some did get the knowledge anyway, but it was looked down on to have the knowledge.
It was a fair sport after all.
"They were asking me to look over some designs... for something called a web and sand land? I don't even know, but I do know I'm hungry." Naruto's stomach chose that moment to growl, so he added the hungry bit near the end. Mio snorted at his stomach speaking up, and nudged him in the ribs for it.
Yeah, she could eat.
"Get used to being popular. I had to deal with it when I won gold in swimming... you are a celebrity now. This stuff comes with the fame. Yeah, I could eat too... we kind of have to go to eat anyway." Mio commented, her only response was a groan from Naruto at the mention of what fame was going to bring him. Naruto paused for a moment, before he smelled the air.
...
He literally picked Mio up over his shoulder, and booked it towards the cafeteria with a spring in his steps. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, slid open the door with drooling lips, and stared at the far end of the room.
They were serving ramen.
"I knew I could smell ramen... score." Naruto dropped Mio on her feet, the girl's unrly hair even more of a mess than it usually was.
"Why is he so excited, ramen isn't even that good."
"Shut your whore mouth." Naruto responded to whoever had said those words. Everyone who had been on the same bus as him instantly recalled him saying those exact words to somebody else.
He really loved ramen.
He blamed his parents for that.
Chapter End!
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