Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Highschool DXD if I did this story would not be here

Vermilion Devil

Chapter 2:Going through the motions

Last time on Vermilion Devil

As Naruto started to slow down into a walk he decided to think about the info he just acquired.

'Japan? What the hell is Japan? I've never heard of a place called Japan and I've been all around the Elemental Nations during my 3 year training trip with Ero-sennin.' Naruto then shook his head as a thought suddenly occurred to him 'Unless…no but that couldn't be right? I've never heard of anywhere outside of the elemental nations. I mean sure there's the small villages outside the five great countries but-' Naruto then started to grab his head and shake it in frustration "Argghh all this thinking is making my head hurt! It doesn't matter where I am or how far I am from home I'm gonna find a way out of here, get back home and keep my promise to Sakura-Chan then become Hokage. I didn't give up back then and I ain't gonna start giving up now cause that's my nindo my ninja way!"

He had told himself that one year ago, a now 17 year old Naruto Uzumaki can be seen walking through the park deep in thought about the past year. When he first came to this place he was sure he could find a way out of here and back to Konoha in no time.

Boy how wrong he was

It would be an understatement to say his time here in this town was a rough one, a couple days in he realized he had no money, absolutely none which meant he was homeless for the better part of the year. He also had to constantly pick pocket civilians for money, (something he took zero enjoyment out of) though he only took enough so he could buy necessities like food and clothes. (his jumpsuit and haori he was wearing was getting him a lot of attention) Another thing he had found out about this place was that the civilians were weak, like weaker than what he considered weak. He had stumbled upon an attempted assault on a man in an alley. When the leader of the group assaulting the man tried to punch him, he dodged and punched him right back. Although Naruto didn't put any power to that punch, he was shocked when the man almost died. Thankfully no one saw his face cause it was nighttime. Naruto learned two things that week: The people of this town were weak and number 2 was that these people had no chakra.

He had found that one out about a day after the assault incident when he went into sage mode and scanned the people of the town. The fact that the people here had absolutely zero chakra and was still breathing unnerved him greatly, because as far as he was concerned EVERY living being needed at least some chakra to survive. He had a theory as to why this was but he refused to entertain it cause it brought him sorrow everytime he thought about it.

So here he was now walking through the park to get to his job to open up shop. Yes you heard right Naruto Uzumaki has a job, he had to get one if he wanted to stop robbing innocent people. It was as you'd probably guessed it a ramen stand. Apparently this place had no ramen in any of the places he went to eat, and being the fanatic that he is he could not allow this disrespect to his favorite food go unchecked and thus 'Naruto's Ramen' had been created.

It wasn't very popular but it was very convenient when people got hungry and it did help him pay his rent on time plus it was the only thing that brought him some type of comfort as it reminded him of home.

It also kinda helped that he was the only one working there so he could keep all the money the shop earned.

As Naruto made it to his shop and got set up he watched as several students of the school he was going to soon pass by. Yeah he couldn't wait to get back home cause it was mandatory for someone his age to go to school. So unless he wanted a trip to the police station he had to go to school again. He also couldn't get into Kuoh Academy without some legal documents so using his skills as a ninja he forged some pretty solid information, though the only real thing on those documents was his name and date of birth.

As regards to his progress on getting back to the Elemental Nations? None, he was no closer to getting home than he was a year ago and not for a lack of trying. He was searching non stop for the whole year, He had gone from asking around Japan, to using the local library (something he was loathe to do) he had even tried using most of his chakra to see if anything would happen (That idea left him bedridden for a week) and none of his ideas had any positive results.

Although Naruto hadn't given up on going home, it was getting harder to continue everyday after he came to the realization that he was going to be here for a while.

After a few hours of working Naruto closed up his shop and walked back to his apartment. This has been his routine for the past year, doing it so often he could do it blind.

"I'm back" Naruto called out but as he expected there was no response when he walked in. He then gave a sad sigh at this, honestly he should be used to this given his past but some days it just hits a little harder than others coming home to an empty house.

That's another thing that really bothers him about being in this place. He was alone, truly alone and he hasn't felt this way in a long time. He also hadn't heard from the kyuubi since his fight with pain. The thing that had tipped him off about this was when Naruto was mourning over his loss of his master and everything else and he didn't sense him reaching out, no words, no temptation, not even a whisper. At first he was a little relieved that the kyuubi didn't try anything. But one day he wanted to talk to somebody badly so he went into his mindscape to contact the kyuubi.

Only to find out that he wasn't there at all

Naruto couldn't believe he was saying this but dammit he misses the damn fox. Now he knows that he and the kyuubi didn't have the best relationship but the kyuubi's disappearance only served to drive home the fact that here he was more alone now than he'd ever had been.

'You know Sasuke I…I think I finally understand what you meant back then'

Flashback

'You don't have any parents or siblings, how could you understand!? You've been alone from the very beginning… What could you possibly understand about me, huh?!

Flashback end

'This is how you felt everyday isn't it Sasuke, knowing everyone and everything you've ever known was ripped away. It's torture' Naruto then shook his head to clear his thoughts as he went to go hang up his Kuoh academy uniform on the doorknob of the dresser. Naruto got in his bed and started sulking about the fact that he has to go back to school before falling asleep about an hour later

With the elemental nations

Naruto Uzumaki's disappearance was a big curveball to the Hidden Leaf Village as well as to the ninja world. Of course, being the jinchuriki of the infamous nine-tailed fox, losing him was a critical hit to Konoha's military power as well as to the power balance throughout the world. Konoha was in a really tight spot right now as they lost both of their most powerful heavy hitters. It has been one year since his mysterious departure and no one has any luck even finding a possible trail to his whereabouts.

Kakashi woke up with a start from another nightmare. After the events leading up to Naruto's disappearance Kakashi started to have nightmares about Naruto falling into the portal. Kakashi looked at his hand before turning his head to look at the nearest wall. On the wall hung what he considered his failure as a teacher.

Naruto and Sasuke's headband

Naruto had given him Sasuke's headband for safekeeping before going on his trip with Jiraiya but due to everything that's happened since his return Kakashi never had the time to give it back. After the fight with pain Kakashi had hung Naruto's headband next to Sasuke's as a reminder to the students he felt he had failed.

After staring at them for a couple minutes Kakashi got out of bed and went to get ready to head out on his mission. His mission? The mission he was on for the past year: Find a clue to Naruto's whereabouts and bring him home.

Kakashi grabbed his anbu gear and headed out of his home. After Kakashi came back and revealed what had happened regarding Naruto's disappearance, team 7 was disbanded shortly after. When Sakura heard this information she was shattered, learning both of her childhood friends and teammates had left her was too much to bear and she hyperventilated and passed out. Afterwards she fell into a deep depression as she refused to do any ninja work opting to work at the hospital instead. These days Sakura only frequently visits 3 places: The hospital, The Naruto statue with Hinata and Ichiraku Ramen going with Hinata once every week.

After a couple of hours of searching for clues with no success, Kakashi could be seen walking towards the Hokage's mansion to give the Hokage his report on his search. This has been Kakashi's schedule for the past year. As he made it to the door of the Hokage's office he knocked and waited for a response once he heard a "come in" Kakashi walked into the office.

"Any luck on finding Naruto Kakashi?" The question came from Tsunade Senju, the current 5th Hokage. She was one of the ones most affected by his disappearance as Naruto was the one who convinced her to become Hokage 4 years ago. Over time she had begun to think of Naruto as a son so she was pretty heartbroken when Kakashi came back with nothing but his headband.

"Nothing Lady Tsunade and none of my ninken were able to catch his scent." Replied Kakashi

Tsunade could only give a sad sigh at his words then she sat straight up in her chair with her face showing a calm expression but you could still see the pain in her eyes.

"I see and the Kazekage haven't seen or heard anything about him either. What's your report on the akatsuki?"

"Nothing too important report on them either, after the fight with Pain they have barley made a move, although rumors say that Sasuke had joined them for a brief period but left soon after"

"Sasuke? There also hasn't been much activity from him since Itachi's death either." Tsunade replied, it's true Sasuke hasn't been spotted since his battle with Itachi. However, the rumors about his brief team up with the Akatsuki were a little concerning if they were true

"Do you think Naruto may have had something to do with his inactivity Lady Tsunade?"

"Might be, You said you saw him during the presentation of the Naruto Statue right? It's odd isn't it? All that talk about severing his bond with Naruto yet he still made an appearance." Konoha had built a statue of Naruto near the graveyard in order to honor the hero of the village a couple of months back. People to this day visit and take good care of that statue, two people in particular.

"That is correct. Sasuke did make an appearance but he was far in the back and in the shadows. We sent some ninjas after him but they were all taken down. We would have sent some more after him but our forces were spread thin as well and doing so would cause a public panic and that was the last thing we needed at the time."

Tsunade nodded at his words before her face dropped its calm expression and into one of concern "How are you holding up Kakashi?" Tsunade asked Kakashi as he was also one of the people that was hit the hardest from Naruto's disappearance.

"I'm fine Lady Tsunade" Kakashi replied, keeping his calm demeanor.

He then turned around to exit the mansion Tsunade's voice reached out to him

"I miss him too, you know. it's been hard to go on without him." Tsunade said

"Yes, yes it has." Was Kakshi's only response. As he was in the doorframe Tsunade's voice reached out once more.

"Check on Sakura for me will you? If you need to find she should be where she usually goes these days."

Instead of giving a verbal answer Kakashi only nodded his acceptance at the request and walked out the Hokage's office to search for the last remaining member of the original team 7.

With Naruto

Naruto woke up with a groan, the sun was beaming straight into his eyesight preventing him from going back to sleep. Well he couldn't even if he wanted to. He has school in a few.

God he hated the sound of that

With a sigh Naruto sat up in his bed and stared at…nothing actually he was just staring into space. After staring at nothing for a few minutes he got out of his bed and cracked his back. He then released a relieved sigh as he walked into his bathroom to brush his teeth. Naruto looked in the mirror as he went to grab his tooth paste. His hair had grown over the past year and his eyes which were once bright blue now on the dull side due to his failed attempts to get home. Now if you were to ask a random person they would say his eyes were a regular blue but to anyone who knew him they would definitely say he's depressed. He had also grown a little taller becoming 5'7.

After getting done in the bathroom Naruto walked out to get dressed in his Kuoh academy uniform. Naruto looked at his uniform with distaste before putting it on. However, Naruto wore an orange t-shirt with a custom made Uzumaki swirl on the back though no one can see it due to the blazer on his back. He took one last look at himself before giving a sigh. "I'm heading out." Naruto said before stepping out the door.

It took him a couple minutes to get to Kuoh Academy cause he got lost a couple times along the way. He had to admit the school was huge. Due to Naruto being a new student Naruto was met at the gate by the president of the student council Souna Shitori.

"You're the new student Naruto Uzumaki correct?" Souna asked him

Naruto looked at the bespectacled young woman with curious eyes, for some reason Naruto got the sense that something wasn't quite right with this woman but then again nothing in this place seemed right to him so he put it out of his mind for now and answered the woman's question.

"Yep that's me" Naruto replied with a bit of a melancholic tone, Naruto normally would've answered with an energetic tone like "Yo that's me you're looking at, Naruto Uzumaki!" but he hasn't really felt like his energetic self since coming here.

"Follow me quickly so you can get to your schedule, you're almost late to your first class" Souna said in a strict tone as she turned around and started walking towards the school.

Naruto shrugged before saying "I got lost on the way here" but it wasn't like she could see him actually shrug,nevertheless Naruto followed her without much complaint.

After quickly getting his schedule and being rushed to his class by student council president Naruto knocked on the door and waited for a response after hearing "come in" Naruto walked in as the teacher announced him as the new student and waved a lazy hand towards his classmates "Yo, Naruto Uzumaki" was all he said.

"Ok Now that the introductions are out of the way Naruto you can sit in that empty seat by Kiba" The teacher said.

"And who might that be?" Naruto asked honestly Naruto would've laughed a bit at the name because of its familiarity but before he could The guy named Kiba raised his hand

"Over here Naruto-San" Kiba said in a polite tone as Naruto walked over and gave him a nod and sat down.

Apparently that had been the wrong thing to do as chaos erupted in the classroom in the form of girls whining.

"Awwwww why does he get to sit next to Kiba-Kun" A girl whined

"I wanted to sit next to Kiba-Kun though" another whined

"Sensei, why can't I sit next to Kiba-Kun?" and another girl whined, yeah there was a lot of whining.

Naruto could only sigh at his new predicament. Seriously, he sat down for half a second and already chaos erupted. At least this time he didn't get beat up for being near the pretty boy of the school.

Fucking Sasuke

"Sorry Naruto-San I am quite popular among the girls of the school you see." Kiba apologized, he honestly felt for the new guy as popularity could sometimes be a curse.

"Really I never would've guessed you were popular." Naruto sarcastically said though his sarcasm only made Kiba chuckle a little bit before retorting.

"Yeah you'd really have to take a closer look to notice." Kiba said with a smirk which made Naruto shake his head a bit and give a small smirk in return.

And So began Naruto's life as a Kuoh Academy student where he would meet the people that would change his life forever.

Not that he knew that of course

Chapter 2 done

Ok this chapter took me a couple days to finish. I would've finished sooner but school is almost out for me and I have to prioritize my assignments right now. Now as for the comment about me plagiarizing. I will admit that I did take inspiration from another story about how Naruto got here but I did add my spin to it but that's just about it. Make sure to leave any critics or suggestions you might have in the review section. With that being said This is The Devious Duckling signing out.