Maelstrom amongst the Dead

by Kyoto141092

When the dead arise a Hero will come...walking that is, never running, jogging, or skipping. You know why? Uzumaki's don't "skip". How will Naruto survive in the zombie apocalypse? How will he save his friends? And where has all the ramen gone? Find out in my First HOTD fanfic! Naruto/Saeko possible harem and lemons!

2. 1 Harbinger of the Dead

(Updated 6/14/18)

(I don't own any part of Naruto or Highschool of the dead)

Chapter 1

Harbinger of the Dead

Ooo

Ooo

"Arrg!"

Rei growled loudly as she sat in her plush armchair in her house. It was just so aggravating. It had been two days since Naruto had joined Kendo. Well to be more accurate it had been two days since she and Mika had joined Kendo.

Naruto hadn't really joined so much as welcomed in with open arms. Saeko after her interesting encounter with Naruto had insisted on introducing him to all of the other members. In other words he'd grabbed the spotlight without even trying... again.

But that wasn't the part that annoyed her. What made her want to stab him with something long and pointy... (Maybe a needle coated in sleeping poison. That way she could tie him up and have her way with him.) …was that he was still ignoring her! And almost in spite the fact that she had suggested it!

The fact that she was a prominent member of the Sojutsu club should have counted for something. But...no. After all the work and thought she'd put into getting herself into a position where she could be close to him... he... he treated her the exact same way! It was like nothing had changed. He was still completely indifferent to her! And when they did interact it wasn't friendly. It was just that…

Interaction.

Even when they had sparred with each other that morning, he'd been distant.

Rei grimaced and massaged her rear. Distant or not he'd still kicked her ass… literally. She'd never gotten in a fight with someone who knew so many dirty moves. Even if he had been completely outclassed by her she doubted she would stand a chance against him. Naruto didn't seem to have a style. He didn't understand the concept of a set routine. When he fought it was 100% improvisation. He knew how to block and how to strike. The rest of it he just made up on the spot. It was undeniably effective. She had the bruises to prove it. He damn sure wasn't afraid to hit a girl full force.

Rei rose out of her chair and then let herself fall onto her bed with a groan. That wasn't the only part that really got to her. The other part that made her irate. Not just mad, but furious, was how close Saeko had gotten to him in just two days. It wasn't as if he and the Kendo club captain were best friends or anything, but they talked. They actually carried out a normal conversation.

She couldn't even get him interested in anything. Naruto didn't care about games of any kind. He didn't care about money it seemed. She assumed his parents must have been rich. Naruto didn't care about politics either at the school or national level. When she'd tried to ask him what his favorite show on TV was, he said that he didn't even watch TV. And before she could respond he'd said that he didn't read the newspaper or listen to the radio either.

Rei could assume that he enjoyed fighting since the first time he'd ever smiled was after he was attacked. But other than that he didn't have anything else that she knew he enjoyed. "It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't suck at Kendo. I'm a spear girl not a sword maiden like Saeko. Damn, I wished I'd joined it before I asked him. Maybe then I could have upped my game a bit."

Rei heard her father calling from the living room for her to come eat. She sighed and got off the bed. Her butt still hurt. She would have to smack Naruto upside the head for it sometime...at least Kendo was good for that much.

Ooo

-One week later-

ooo

Takashi Komuro sat on a bench in the kendo room. It was a bit early for him to be there, but the Kendo club members always came very early. A few enthusiastic members even cut class for it. And Rei... for some reason… had decided to join this class in addition to her Sojutsu activities. He didn't know why she would take a second martial arts course at the same time. She already got hurt often enough. But to add bruises from wooden swords on top of bruises from wooden poles?

He watched her talking with her friend Mika. It bewildered him. Why did she want him to come to watch her anyway? Wasn't she trying to get that blonds number? Naruto Uzumaki was it? Did she have some plan to make Naruto jealous or did she honestly want to show off to him. He'd thought that she'd had enough of his "lazy" attitude towards everything. But maybe he was wrong?

He supposed there was a chance that she was trying to catch his attention again. It would be nice. She gave him a lot of chances and he was thankful for it. If that's what this was he might even get the courage to tell her how he really felt.

Yet as he sat there he saw Saeko enter the room with the familiar blond boy. In the past week they had become what might be called friends. Even though they were in different years the two of them always seemed to be together. But they certainly weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. Naruto, regardless of spending time with her, rarely spoke.

Takashi had heard a rumor that Naruto had beat Saeko in a swordfight, but no one could confirm it. However he thought it was true. Saeko was very confident in her skills. Some might say a bit too confident. He'd seen her fight enough times, once even on TV, to know she was an expert. He knew her dad was supposed to be some big shot Kendo master. It explained why she was so obsessed with it. And to an extent why she and Naruto got along. He was obviously a kendo nut as well.

Seeing Naruto and Saeko talking made him start. He realized that he'd never seen Naruto smile. Not even once. And here he was grinning. Saeko was also smiling readily and… if his eyes weren't fooling him… her cheeks looked a bit pink.

Takashi's focus was drawn back to Rei. She too had turned to watch Saeko and Naruto, the two of which were quickly suiting up to spar. Takashi couldn't help but wonder at their enthusiasm. "Wow...they don't waste time do they? Coming in and its right down to fighting."

He leaned forward to watch.

Ooo

Saeko watched Naruto shrug on the tough leather chest piece and shoulder protection. They had already settled that they wouldn't wear helmets for the warm-up fight, not that their warm up fights could really be called such.

Naruto stretched luxuriously and raised his bokken. He was ready.

She smiled and raised her own sword. It wasn't as though he wasn't always ready. She'd attempted to flirt with him, just once to see how he'd react. Unfortunately she'd chosen the wrong way to do it. Evidently when she'd snuck up behind him to give him a sensual kiss on the back of his neck as she wrapped his arms around him... he'd been wired.

One moment she had been slipping her arms around him and the next she was flat on her back in front of him. It had hurt like hell. She certainly hadn't attended practice that day. But, despite the fact that she nearly got her shoulder dislocated... she didn't regret it. It had given her a chance to see two new and different sides to the school's most mysterious boy.

At first he'd been angry. Not angry that she'd crept up on him, but pissed at himself for reacting like that. It gave Saeko an idea. It was yet another thing that she didn't know about him. How could he pull off a move like that by reflex?

It begged other questions as well. For instance, where had he lived before attending school there? Had it really been so stressful and or dangerous that he developed that kind of response to any surprise?

After Naruto's initial anger faded she'd seen another side to him. His apologetic side. It was cute… like really cute. He hadn't stopped until she'd told him about ten times that she was alright and she wasn't hurt. (Even though she was) And even then he'd insisted on carrying her to the nurse's office, something that she didn't mind him doing… though it stung her pride a bit.

Saeko had come to realize many things in the short time since that incident. The greatest of which she could not accurately judge. One thing that had caught her though. Naruto was a very caring person and it left her wondering… why did he hide his true nature?

Saeko was snapped out of her thoughts by her own physical reaction to danger. Instinctually she brought her bokken up to block Naruto's casual swing. Except it only looked casual. Naruto's sword connected with her with a loud CRACK!

She put other thoughts aside for the fight. Naruto was a very challenging fighter. He didn't have any technique. He didn't practice kadas. In fact he had no real talent for swordsmanship at all. However he was strong and ridiculously fast. Not to mention his unconventional lack of style of fighting gave her few openings.

He always seemed to be able to gauge her weak spot just by looking at her. He didn't need to strike to test an opening. That was another thing about Naruto that she just couldn't puzzle out. "Where the hell did he learn to fight?" Naruto swung for a headshot. She blocked it but he was already closing the distance between them.

She pushed her guard down to keep him at bay but he let his bokken slide off hers. Then he was spinning to the side. "Another one of his amateur but for some reason crazily effective moves." He reached out to grab her wrist. She was used to him grappling in the middle of a fight and she quite enjoyed the challenge. It added a new level of difficulty.

Saeko pulled back. However she knew that she wouldn't be able to twist free of his grip. His hands might as well have been made of cast iron for all their strength. Therefore a different approach was needed. She swung in a looping arc for his neck while twisting out of the way of his thrust, which he had started as he grabbed her.

Naruto craned his head to the side, just barely enough to avoid the blow. Her sword went harmlessly over his blond locks. Had he been wearing a helmet she would have connected with it and won the match. But he wasn't wearing a helmet so she'd have to work harder for her victory. Saeko's analytical mind examined him even as Naruto was already drawing back for another blow.

She stopped resisting the hand pulling on her and allowed him to drag her forward. His next strike connected with her side, but it was at a bad angle. She underestimated how fast he would swing again though. The next strike was still below the power level of a callable shot, but if he hit her again he'd put enough force into it.

Bringing her bokken right over her head and keeping it flat against her back, she blocked his third strike. Saeko was unable to restrain a slight yelp of pain as the back of her bokken was slammed into her butt cheek and she flushed pink. She attempted to pull away then. At this distance... at this angle… she wouldn't be able to land a solid hit on him either.

But Naruto kept his arm locked. She frowned, attempting to maneuver out of the situation. Then she saw why Naruto was keeping her close. He'd reversed his grip on the bokken and was about to stab her in the side. He was too strong to pull away from and her sword was in the wrong hand to deflect it. There was only one thing to do. She arched her back into him.

She smirked.

The point of his sword scraped the small of her back as this time it was his turn to blush. Then he was overbalancing. Saeko felt the grip on her arm loosen and took the opportunity to twist free.

Saeko gasped then. The very tip of Naruto's bokken had swung by her chest as he felt backwards. It hit the leather chest piece with enough force to send a ripple through her cleavage. It stung… pleasantly even as she brought her own sword around. She smiled and pressed the attack.

Immediately Naruto called on his nearly impossible agility to catch his fall... and perform a twisting hand stand as his momentum carried his feet over his own head. Saeko marveled at his flexibility as she aimed for his stomach. But then Naruto performed his second nearly impossible stunt a split second later.

As Saeko's bokken drew close Naruto tensed his arms. Then he used only the strength in them to jump upwards and over her swing. Saeko's eyes went wide as he did a back flip over her weapon and came down, firmly on his feet.

Then Naruto had his sword in hand. Saeko knew that his next strike would land and it would hurt.

Naruto bokken impacted her side, but it had no force behind it. Saeko looked into his face. He'd suddenly gone pale... as though from fright or sever blood loss. Naruto's hand dropped the bokken. Then without warning he fainted.

Saeko was frozen as she watched him drop unconscious to the floor. The clatter of her own sword matched Naruto's as she dropped it. Then she was kneeling over him checking his pulse. Shouts from several people heralded the approach of the rest of the club members. Rei arrived first.

"What happened?!"

"I don't know. He might have strained something with that last maneuver. Regardless we need to get him to the nurse's office. Shizuka will know what's wrong with him."

The other students nodded.

Saeko gestured to Rei. "Rei help me pick him up. Don't worry he isn't that heavy."

Rei nodded but she blushed slightly as she levered Naruto up. It was several moments before her and the other girl coordinated enough to carry him easily. She was right. Naruto was surprisingly light. Rei wondered distractedly how Saeko had known that about him and was secretly gratified to see that Saeko was flushed a much deeper shade of pink than before.

Ooo

-Two hours later-

ooo

Naruto woke feeling sore and utterly exhausted. He didn't bother opening his eyes. He knew what he would find. Not the outside world but the cage inside his mind where Kurama rested. He'd been tired for a long time. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep in months and... that didn't even include the nights when he couldn't sleep at all.

Kurama's deep rumbling voice sounded strained as well. "I can't keep going on like this Naruto... I'm going to have to rest sooner... or later. If I don't then my chakra will run out and we will both die slowly. You need to swallow your reluctance and go into sage mode... regardless of how repulsive it feels here."

He didn't bother speaking to the fox. He'd heard this all before. It was the same thing every night. Every time he used a jutsu it was the same warning. But it wasn't as if he could do anything about it. He was trapped here. This strange, difficult world where little or nothing made sense.

"How long have we been here? I can't even remember."

Kurama realized that Naruto wasn't paying attention. He sighed loudly. "Going on nine months."

"And how many times have I tried to get home?"

Kurama let out a sound that resembled a pained whine. It was a sound he would have expected from a dog, but not the Ninetails. "I stopped counting. Perhaps if you stopped experimenting with the reverse summoning jutsu..."

Naruto growled. "No... I can't give up. The village needs me. They can't win without my help. Everyone is in danger while I'm stuck here!"

"Don't...play the fool Naruto. You've been pretending to be like that stupid Uchiha for the last six months. You have managed to be careful for all this time. I can't call you stupid any longer, but you need to wake up! No matter how many times you use up 99.9 percent of your chakra on a reverse summoning jutsu... we can't leave that way. Even with our chakra combined we failed. Give up and start reserving what chakra we can for everyday use!"

Naruto knew Kurama was right. They had tried every means at their disposal to get home, but every single attempt left him gasping on the floor of his apartment. During the day he barely could keep his act together. He'd been resorting to shadow clones more often than he'd like. And even those were hard to do. For some reason this... world, dimension, or whatever the hell it was. It didn't have even a fraction of a fraction of the chakra his did.

He needed to stay still for nearly a half a fucking hour just to enter sage mode. Back home it took him less than a minute. And other things were screwed up too. For instance almost no one had chakra. So far... he met about two. TWO people in nine months. And the two people who did have chakra...were... pathetic. He could have killed them in less time than it took to blink.

Hell a ten year old Hinata could wipe the floor with the entire school. It was just so aggravating. His chakra recovered at only an infinitesimal sliver of what it once did, thanks to the injuries he'd sustained before coming here. He had to concentrate for minutes to use summon more than three shadow clones. And Rasengan? Forget about it. Sage mode was required just to get it started. And then Kurama had to pitch in to finish it.

So in effect he was limited to standard chakra manipulation. He could readily say that he'd become a master at that since being stranded here. Sakura wouldn't be able to hold a candle to him if he ever got back home. Then again... with the amount of chakra he could summon on short notice. He could either give himself extreme speed and strength for a little while... or her could do what Sakura did and time each attack for massive damage.

But there was one good thing about this world. He hadn't encountered anyone who would stand up against him in a real fight... not even one. If he wasn't using enhancement techniques and he was unarmed. All of Kendo club might... just might be able to take him down. But at it was he could beat them all bound and blindfolded.

Naruto heard Kurama mutter quietly. "Don't do anything foolish. I'm going to sleep, so you're on your own for a while..."

Naruto nodded and snapped himself out of his trance.

Ooo

Ooo

Saeko and Rei watched as Shizuka opened Naruto's uniform and then performed a minimal inspection. She put her head to his chest then checked his pulse two or three other ways to be sure. Eventually she straightened and looked down at the young man with a perplexed expression. "He doesn't seem to be unwell. His pulse is strong and normal." She looked up at the two girls. "Are you sure nothing happened prior to his fainting?"

Saeko shook her head and Rei shrugged. "He pulled some amazing acrobatics just before, but other than that, no."

The president of Kendo club watched Shizuka. She was young for a teacher at this school. Only twenty seven. Her long blond hair matched her personality, which was ditzy. In fact she was a classical definition of a ditzy blond. Saeko wondered if she fit the stereo type in other ways. It certainly looked like she'd traded brains for bra size.

But then again she was treating Naruto, so she wouldn't complain.

She was caught off guard as Shizuka sighed in resignation. "Okay then there's nothing for it. Help me remove his shirt. If he strained or popped something I need to check now."

Rei and Saeko exchanged looks. Saeko had abruptly gone pink. Her eyes darted furtively to the blond. Then they went over and helped take Naruto's shirt off. It would have been so much easier if he had worn a button up. But instead he wore a burnt orange T shirt under his uniform. Both took note of the customized red swirl on the front, though they didn't know what to make of the rough stitching around the edges.

It required a little more effort than it might have to remove the shirt. It was tight on him and they were attempting to touch him a little as possible. Or at least Rei was trying not to touch… Saeko seemed to be feeling his muscles appreciatively. Rei wondered what would happen if he woke up to find three girls undressing him.

He'd probably just yawn and act bored.

Shizuka gasped as they finally pulled the shirt off. Rei and Saeko stopped as well. Naruto's chest and shoulders were... almost chiseled, like a stone carving from a Greek museum. His tanned skin was even all the way from forearm to forearm, showing that he must work out without his shirt a lot.

But that wasn't what caught their attention. What caught their eyes were the patchwork of scars and in particular the massive one just over his heart. It was the size of a fist and it was jagged. Rei put her hand to her mouth in shock. There was also a long swirling scar over his stomach. Its ridges of slightly paler skin rippled with his six-pack. Temporarily more interested in examining his many scars they forgot all about their reason for being there.

Rei traced a scar high up on Naruto's right arm. It ran completely around the bicep. Then there were the neat circles that ran down his chest. Six on his chest in total. They looked like they had been made by bullets, but they were so evenly spaced...

Saeko gasped as she turned his hands over. "Look at his hands. I never got to look at them up close. I've never seen so many tiny scars." And she was right. Naruto's palms had dozens of scars on each one and both hands had a round scar on the back and palms of his hands.

Shizuka sounded horrified, "I've...never seen anyone... so...much damage."

Saeko muttered, "It's strange. He doesn't have any scars on his face... I wonder why." She hovered over him and pulled back his hair, checking his forehead. There was a small scar. It was jagged line just under his hair line. There also seemed to be a divot in his skull. Saeko's blue eyes watched his own sleeping face.

Then as she watched his own eyes opened. They were... different. The pupils were slitted like a cat's and there seemed to be a red ring around the outside of his iris. Naruto blinked and his eyes were back to normal.

She drew back hurriedly as Naruto sat up and looked around. He brought a hand to scratch over his stomach, yawned loudly, and then adjusted himself to his surroundings. Eventually he acknowledged Saeko, Rei, and Shizuka.

"Uh... where am I?"

Shizuka explained quickly. "You're in the school nurses office. You fell unconscious at Kendo practice. Your friends brought you here, but I was unable to find anything wrong. Are you ok? Do you have some kind of medical condition?"

Naruto attempted to put his mask of "coolness" back on but was unable to do so. He was just too tired. He mumbled, "Yeah...you could say that, but there isn't anything you can do about it. I just needed some rest is all."

Rei leaned in close. "But why did you collapse?"

Naruto had to ask himself that question first. Then it occurred to him. "Oh...my shadow clone back at the apartment must have run out of juice. Then he transferred his exhaustion to me. Damn I hate this world." He grinned. "I...uh... was just tired."

Rei asked rhetorically, "So you were so tired that you decided to do a back flip strait out of a handstand?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head embarrassed. He looked away from her. "Yeah...I guess so..." He trailed off. It was blatantly obvious that he was withholding information. That reminded him of why he had been acting like someone he wasn't. When he was impersonating someone it was easy to lie. But right now his mind was blank. He took note of their disbelieving looks and quickly tried the first thing that came to mind. "I'm fine... Don't worry about me. I just need to rest a bit more and I'll be fine."

"Please don't call me out, please don't call me out!"

Rei nodded. "We should take you home then. You need to rest. Where do you live?"

"Shit..."

Naruto coughed once and tried his best not to sound too suspicious. "Well about that. I don't exactly live close by so maybe I can just rest here and go home after school..."

Saeko and Rei were looking at him... well… suspiciously. Shizuka seemed puzzled too for some reason. "But I see you walk to school every day. You always go past my friend Rika's place. It's not that far."

"Double shit."

Rei smiled down at him. "Don't worry Naruto. We'll take you home. It's not as if we're doing anything later... right Saeko?"

Saeko nodded distractedly, her eyes having fallen down to his chiseled chest again. If one were to look closely… they might have seen the drop of red just under her nose. Naruto however wasn't looking at her.

"Damn... shit… fuck... Can't let them in my apartment. They'd never leave. How much worse can this get?! Aw..I just freaking jinxed myself. I know it."

Rei smiled. "Maybe we could even come over to help out. If your parents don't mind that is."

Saeko snapped out of her trance as she saw something flash across Naruto's face. Something dark and hurt, something buried deep. Had it been in response to Rei's comment about coming over or his parents? She decided not to ask in front of the others.

Naruto shook his head. "That's not a problem. I don't live with my parents."

Shizuka again looked puzzeled. "Then who do you live with?"

Naruto hesitated then admitted, "No one right now. And no, I'm not interested in hearing about how I should have a legal guardian caring for me. I can take care of myself."

Slightly stung Shizuka leaned away from him. Rei also took a step back. For a second there she'd felt really uneasy. Like Naruto was reprimanding her or telling her to mind her own business. She watched as Naruto attempted to get out of bed. The blood drained from his face again and he quickly laid back down. Worry flashed into her mind and she asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. He whispered, "I just... need to rest a bit. I'll be up... before you know it."

Then Naruto was out again like a light.

Ooo

Ooo

After he fainted Shizuka went through the school records and found where Naruto was registered to live. It was an apartment not too far from where she was house-sitting for her friend Rika. So after school was over she helped Saeko and Rei put Naruto in the back seat of her car. Then she drove them to his apartment.

They were in the car now. Naruto was still out. He'd been out for a while this time. Saeko wondered what was wrong with him. He was strong and fit. Naruto's many scars might suggest that he had some king of internal injury that hadn't healed. There really wasn't any way to tell.

When they arrived a Naruto's apartment they found that it was actually an eight story building. It was also lavish. There was even a guard at the lobby door. Saeko and Rei carried Naruto with them as Shizuka talked to the guard.

The guard was a very imposing black man wearing a pristine dark blue suit. It turned out that he wasn't nearly as intimidating as he looked. He greeted them warmly as they approached.

"Good evening ladies. I see you have brought our resident home from... wherever he happened to disappear to this time. I hope he wasn't hurt."

Shizuka tilted her head to the man. "He was actually at school, but he had a medical problem. He said he had some kind of condition but it isn't on his school record. We thought we'd take him home and check to see if he had any mediation that he might have forgotten to take."

The guard smiled. "Well that's very considerate of you. May I help carry him. I can't imagine it was easy moving him around."

Saeko shrugged. "We managed but I appreciate the help."

"You welcome, though I think it would be safe to say young master Naruto should be able to take care of himself. In the nine months since he moved in I have never seen anyone with him. This is the first time he's ever had a noteworthy incident."

Rei looked surprised. "Young master Naruto?"

The man chuckled. It sounded like someone beating a large drum. "Well he refused every other honorific I gave him. When I called him that he just gave me a funny look and went in. Since then I've been referring to him as that. I suppose it seems strange to you. But I am a professional. I used to work at a prestigious resort in Britain. I was often taken to task for not calling guests that."

He chuckled again as he took Naruto from them. "My name is Francis by the way. This way ladies."

Shizuka followed the guard in, finally realizing just how expensive this place must be to have a professional valet/guard at the entrance. It wasn't even a hotel.

The two younger girls did so as well. Rei wondered out loud, "What does his room look like I wonder?"

Francis let out a bark of laughter. He walked across the lobby to the elevator. He pressed the button and the doors slid open. He stepped inside. The moved inside as well.

Rei raised her eyebrow at Francis. "What's so funny?"

Francis chuckled humorously. "Dear... You said room as in the singular. You obviously don't know much about your blond friend now do you?"

Rei admitted that she didn't. Saeko shrugged. "He doesn't share much."

The large man smirked and pushed the button to close the doors and ascend. Rei and Saeko watched at the indicator turned from a 1 to a three, then a 5, then a 7. It finally stopped there. Rei let out a long breath. "I half expected him to live on the top floor. But I guess he's not that much of a big shot."

Francis's smirk became a full blown grin. "You have remarkable intuition. He does live on the top floor. The penthouse suit to be exact. But young master Naruto here actually is renting the top two floors. Don't ask me how. It isn't my job to pry."

Shizuka gasped as the door opened and the guard led them into a hallway. He went straight to the end and pulled out a card, which he then passed over a scanner by the door handle. They watched as the door cracked open with a beep. The guard stepped to the side and gently reinstalled Naruto into their arms. "If you need me, just call. I'll be in the lobby."

Shizuka nodded dumbly as Francis departed.

They entered the main room of the apartment and were immediately seized by a notion. Naruto had some bat-shit crazy secrets going on. He had every single kind of ramen they had ever seen or imagined, and quite a few they hadn't. They were lined up against one wall. Rei whistled in wonder. It was truly a wonder to see.

After that they tried to ignore the ramen wall and moved through the room. It seemed normal enough besides that. Although there were a few oddities besides that. Namely a headband with an engraved steel plate, which rested on a small table. Next to it was...

All three of them stopped. Rei and Saeko dropped Naruto with a thump. Saeko hurriedly picked him up again, levering him over her shoulder as Rei and Shizuka walked over. Cash... Lots of cash. As in a completely ridiculous amount of cash. Enough money was stacked on the table to pay for a decent house. There were seven sacks of hundreds. Each one over a foot high. Rei ran her fingers lightly over the stack of money. Then her eyes caught a list next to it. She picked it up and read out loud.

"Getting tired of all this job stuff. Can't get a "job" or find "work" anywhere. Must find easier ways to make money. Have to waste less time."

Below that appeared to be a list of times and places. Saeko walked over and blinked in surprise. "I recognize some of those places. That one right there is a popular hangout for martial arts fanatics. It's known for its illegal gambling since its popular with the Japanese underworld organizations."

Rei was curious where Saeko had heard about that. "How do you know about that?"

Saeko explained, "My dad used to fight there for cash when he wasn't training for tournaments around the world. It was before I was born, but he told me about it... mainly to stay away from it."

Rei asked, "So what are these times and dates for?"

"Probably for the matches. With the way Naruto is... maybe he makes money by fighting in arena matches? It would kind of fit with all the scars he has."

Shizuka let out an un-teacher-like squeak as Naruto let out a groan. "Um... he's waking up again!"

They hurried back to where Naruto's eyes had opened. He still seemed tired. He mumbled, "Sakura... Kakashi be quiet... I'll be up in a sec..."

His eyes closed again.

The three girls exchanged glances. Rei looked around the room as if searching for an answer that simply wasn't there "I don't know about you two, but I've never heard of Sakura or Kakashi. Could they be friends of his?"

None of them knew but it was another then minutes before Naruto raised his head and looked up at them. He grimaced. "Urg... Where am I?"

Rei gestured to the room around them. "We took you to your apartment but we're stuck on the second to top floor I think. The guard didn't take us to the last floor."

Naruto forced himself to sit up, taking in the room around him as he did so. "The elevator normally would go all the way to the top floor, but I paid Francis not to let anyone go directly to the top floor. You have to use the personal VIP elevator in the back of this room. I have the key somewhere."

Saeko offered, "Tell us where you left it and we'll take you to the top floor and you can rest."

Naruto shook his head pointedly. "No good. Top floor is off limits for a reason and no I'm not telling you what it is. Thank you for helping but I can handle myself from now on. Just help me up and you can go." This shocked them enough for Shizuka to be speechless. Saeko didn't know what she could say to that. He didn't want them on the top floor for some reason. Rei however had plenty to say.

"Naruto! Don't give me that! You can barely stand right now. Are we supposed to just hand you the pass to this place and leave like nothing happened. Then I suppose you come to school tomorrow and pretend like none of this happened. For that matter how about this fake mask you're always wearing at school! Why the hell do you go around acting like some rich punk?! Why do you avoid everyone? Why do you have scars all over your body? Why do you have a hundred thousand in cash on your coffee table?!"

She took a deep breath and shouted, "WHY THE HELL IS THE DAMN TOP FLOOR OFF LIMITS?!"

Naruto blinked up at her. He looked like he'd just been slapped, but his expression quickly changed to anger. "And why should I tell you? Tell me why you even care! All I'm trying to do is get by without everyone following me around trying to eavesdrop on everything I do!"

He growled, "WHY can't I get a little PRIVACY!?"

Rei took a step back. His anger was covering thinly veiled desperation. She thought, "I just wanted answers. I didn't mean to upset him..."

Saeko spoke bluntly. "Are you doing something illegal? Is that why we can't go to the top floor?"

"I don't do stuff that's against the law. I thought I told you that I like my privacy. If I go breaking the rules then people will start snooping around."

Shizuka was sufficiently recovered to ask her own question. "Well, if it's not illegally made, then how do you get all that money?"

Naruto grumbled. "It's prize money. I do fights all over in my free time."

"But that's illegal for minors." Shizuka seemed worried. "And it looks like you get horrible scars from it. The one over your heart... I've never seen one that bad on a teen. Actually I've never seen anyone with that big a scar before. Is that from fighting in...?

"No." He sighed. "I almost never get hurt in arena fights. And yeah I broke that rule, but I'm not good at normal jobs." Naruto didn't know if they would buy his story. The fact was he had a scam for making a ton of money fast. He would enter a competition while his appearance was altered. Then he'd have one or two clones in the audience making bets on him. Usually he took the form of a particularly scrawny man he'd seen in the Leaf village. It worked wonders. And he always used a false name so it was like he just disappeared each time.

Saeko and Rei shared a look. Shizuka said, "I guess its fine as long as you're not getting hurt. The other students would have noticed if you were injured. But it's strange. You have excellent grades. Why can't you get a job?"

That caused Naruto to pause. "It's...uh...complicated. Do you have to ask why?"

Rei looked away from his hangdog eyes. "I guess not...but can I ask you to do something?"

He warily said, "Okay... Fine ask away."

She looked back at him sharply. "Will you stop acting weird at school! Can you be yourself at least? I can't stand it, knowing that you're pretending all the time!"

"Why does it even bother you?"

Rei's mouth snapped shut. She realized that he either was pretending that he didn't know she liked him. Or he was clueless that she liked him. Either way... this wasn't the place to tell him she had a crush on him, especially with Saeko and Shizuka there. "Damn...I bet he is clueless. It would explain why he treated me the same even after I got him into kendo club." She decided to go for lightness. "Well, you're my fellow student after all. I get worried... that's all."

He blinked as if this had never occurred to him. "Oh... I um… sorry about that. I suppose I can start acting normal if it really bothers you."

Rei smiled as if she had won something. And as far as she was concerned she had won something. Naruto had agreed to act more normal. "I'll have to see if he keeps his word tomorrow."

Naruto glanced back at Shizuka. "I'm okay now. You three can go now."

Saeko stooped by him and pulled a small pen from her pocket. She took his hand and wrote her number. "If you need help or anything call. That's my cell, but I don't keep it on at school."

"Um... thanks.."

Everything moved fast after that. Saeko stood and spoke briefly with Rei and Shizuka. Then the three girls left. It was only a few moments after that and he was sitting alone in his apartment. He felt tired still. He needed sleep, but he needed chakra more. At the moment he was running on empty. Fumes so to speak. If he had to do anything strenuous at this point... he'd be doing it on his own. Not that he wasn't much stronger than the average person without chakra.

"I need to go into sage mode and then go to sleep. Then...tomorrow I can figure out how to play it when I go back to school. Rei seems to have some interest in me besides what she said. Saeko wants to be my friend... and I think she has a crush on me. That time she tried to kiss me made that obvious. Shizuka is a nurse so she is going to be concerned about my health anyway. I guess the question I need to ask, is how much attention am I going to draw acting normal? Do I even remember how to act normal at school? It will almost be like acting in the other direction."

He sighed and stood up. It was a surprise that the girls had let things go. But then again they would probably grill him for answers the next morning at school. He wasn't looking forward to that possibility. In all likelihood he'd be forced to tell a bunch of lies so cover the truth.

"I know I almost gave myself away back in the nurses office when Saeko asked about parents. I hope she didn't catch anything."

Naruto stood up and moved to where his headband was on the table. He bent to pick it up. Turning it over he took the keys that were fastened there.

The personal elevator at the back opened silently and he stepped in. He pressed the button to go up.

The door closed and opened after a brief moment. Naruto walked out and into his personal stronghold. Every inch of the top floor had been devoted to one training type or another. And a large circle in the center was dedicated to his attempts to get home. That area was scorched and scarred as though raked by red hot claws.

Naruto avoided that part, instead heading towards the medium sized bed on the far side of the room. Navigating the obstacle course of equipment, Shuriken, kunai, ninja wire. Several weapons he had acquired in this world and even a few firearms. The floor was littered with storage scrolls, his less than effective attempts to create chakra seals.

Once he was at the foot of the bed he pulled off his clothes and dropped onto the one clear spot in the room. He rolled on his back and looked up at the ceiling. He prayed that nothing would happen on the following day. He just wanted to be left alone so he could work on a way home.

"But it feels good to have someone worry about me. I wish I could count them as friends. It's just... I can't lose myself to this place. It isn't my home. It is NOT where I will live for the rest of my life." He closed his eyes. Never mind going into sage mode... He was too tired.

"Don't be a fool. You'll be wiped tomorrow if you don't gather chakra."

Naruto ignored the fox and let his breathing slow. His body felt weighed down. It would be so nice to just... rest...

Ooo

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So there is chapter 1. Hope you like it. Please remember to review and I'll try to get back to those who ask questions... (If I feel like answering them) Kyoto out...