Naruto woke himself up and pulled himself out of bed. Today was a new day and a new School. He hated school so much… Why did he go again? That question was irrelevant.
Naruto forced himself out of bed and plopped himself on the floor. It was time to get ready for a new day. Don't get him wrong, the day before hand and any day prior will be exactly the same. The only thing to change will be the content.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and shifted his feet on the floor, one after the other. He soon reached his kitchen counter/dinner table and placed a stray packet of Ramen in a bowl with some water. He picked the bowl up and put it in the microwave, heating it thoroughly.
There was a specific pattern to making Ramen in which Naruto would always adhere to. First cook the ramen for five minutes. Then take it out of the microwave, put a paper towel over the bowl with a pair of chopsticks to hold the towel in place. Then remove both and stir. Then place them both back on top and wait another five minutes.
When Naruto finished that, he was ready to eat the most delectable thing in the world. He slurped his Ramen with haste and smiled appraisingly at his hard work.
Soon he was finished with his school day routine and began to get dressed. He reached under his bed where all of his clean clothes were stored and got himself dressed. He wore a white button down white t-shirt with a black tie with a pair of black pants. He hated the schools dressing policies, but that was just how Japanese people liked their kids dressed.
He still wore his running shoes, which were a cheap pair of black Asics. American brand shoes tended to be a bit more resilient then Japanese ones. It was all trial and error on what shoes he would wear.
He then walked out of his apartment and locked the door. He placed the key under the doormat and took off. He was a runner and that's what runners did, they ran. It was a simple concept in all honesty and it didn't take a lot to understand. It wasn't like any other sport. After a while, you'll be too old to play baseball, or shoot some hoops or score a goal, but theirs no such thing as to old to run. Simplicity.
Naruto kept his head down as he felt the wind glide past his face, rubbing against the tattoos on his cheeks. It was a ticklish feeling, but easily ignored.
He weaved through the crowds of people who cultivated themselves around Upside. It was like none of them had anything better to do then mope around town like a bunch of stupid zombies without a purpose. He guessed that's just what money did to people. It killed their drive.
He jumped forward and brought his hands in front of him, landing on a bench. He use his momentum to vault himself onto a telephone booth, feet first. He stopped on a dime and looked up, noticing a pipe glowing orange. He smiled.
He bent down and used the extra space he had given him to launch himself at it. He caught on and pulled himself atop the building. He turned toward another building, jumping across to it. He did this a couple more times until the buildings began to get to high and zip lined down someone's clothing string.
He was in someone's backyard. He didn't care who's it was and simply hopped over the fence. Whoever owned that house must have had some form of money. It cost to have a backyard. Especially in Upside.
Naruto was now on the streets again and he had finally found what he was looking for.
'North Konoha High School.' It read atop the building in Japanese wording.
Or as everyone else knew it; Upside High School; home to the richest, snobbiest, fakest people in all of Konoha. Naruto's stomach churned.
Why did Shikamaru ask him to go here again? He couldn't remember for the life of him but right now, he was too nervous to even care
He took tentative steps toward the menacingly beautiful school. The grass was green and well attended. The students seemed to be conversing in the front, just outside the doors. Naruto walked into the area and he felt more out of place then he had ever felt before.
He kept his head down as he noticed a kid or two would point in his direction every once in a while. He took a seat near the front door, looking out at the student body.
They all had their shirts tucked in and belts. Their ties were well tied and their hair was well kept. The buttons on their clothes were all well fastened and they all wore dress shoes. Naruto did not adhere to any of those things.
Naruto had his shirt tail hanging out of his pants and he lacked a belt; which were for losers. His tie was loose and half done and the buttons on his shirt were undone on the top. His shoes weren't tacky, they were Asics. He didn't really fit in at all.
Let's not forget he was the only one tatted up. His only ones that could be seen were the ones on his face. He kept his head a little low so nobody would point them out as well.
Soon the bell rang and everyone rushed inside so as not to be late for class. Naruto stayed and waited for the crowed to go by him before he entered. For being a city boy, he sure hated congestion and in all honesty; who really wants to go to school?
Soon most of the crowed had started to reach their predetermined destinations and he was one of the few people in the hallways now.
Naruto wondered aimlessly as he looked for the principles office.
This place was huge! Naruto went to a 2A sized school with a 3A population. This place could easily be 5A! It was easy to get lost at a 5A so he did. Now he had no idea where to go and the hallways stunk of air freshener to the point that he almost felt like crying. It wasn't even the natural smelling stuff, it smelt like strong cherries and strawberries that left an after taste of medicine in his mouth.
Naruto wasn't looking where he was going and crashed into something, knocking it on the floor. He looked at what he had knocked over and his heart skipped a beat. It was the same girl from yesterday. She was blushing heavily.
"So we meet again mysterious maiden." Naruto said cheekily.
She looked away from him, afraid to meet his gaze. Naruto smirked. He quickly got off of the girl and helped her up.
"T-T-Thank you." She said and turned to leave.
"Hold up a minute." Naruto said grabbing her arm to stop her from escaping.
'He's grabbing my arm! What am I supposed to do?' the girl thought to herself.
"What's your name?" Naruto asked.
"H-H-Hinata." She muttered.
Her hair cascaded down her face, blocking view of her face from Naruto; much to his dismay.
"Well Hinata-chan! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm new so… Can you help me find the principle's office?" Naruto asked.
She gulped.
"H-Hai." She said.
She went over to the principle's office, which was only down the hallway. It wasn't too hard to find. The door read in big letters 'principles office'! She didn't care though. This new kid Naruto was all that was on her mind currently.
Naruto smiled. His new friend Hinata was pretty awesome. Going out of her way to help a poor fellah like himself out where points in his book. She wasn't too bad in the visual department either. In fact; she was probably one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen.
"H-Here it i-is." She stammered.
And she had a cute voice!
"Thanks Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, giving her a quick hug and slipping through the door, leaving a heavily blushing Hinata in the hallways.
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Naruto stepped through the door to see a very old and wrinkled man sitting in a chair wearing a suite. A monkey suite if you asked Naruto.
He was working on papers and he had a pipe in his mouth. This guy was either really old school or really stressed out to be smoking on the job. Or both.
"Are you Hiruzen Sarutobi?" Naruto asked.
The man looked up from what he was doing and took the pipe out of his mouth. His eyes were a kind of hardened that let you know he had gone through rough times, but held a kind of softness that let you know also that he wasn't broken.
"You must be Naruto-san! Welcome to North Konoha High School!" The principle said getting up and holding out his hand for a handshake.
Naruto looked at the hand for a moment and took it and shook. Not very conventionally if you asked Hiruzen. Naruto had grabbed his hand and slid it across the old mans palm and then brought it back and locked their fingers. To end it he brought him into a hug without releasing his hand.
Very South Side Konoha. They weren't very proper down there but; they sure were friendly.
"Nice to meet you Ji-Ji!" Naruto said.
Hiruzen smiled. It had been a long time since anyone had called him that before. It brought an emotion to himself that he had forgotten he had. Happiness.
Naruto smiled back.
"You seem to have a lot of energy in you lad!" Hiruzen stated.
"So I've been told! What's your plan Ji-Ji?" Naruto asked.
'So he's already caught on? He's either moderately more adept with his intelligence then I thought, or'
"Hey Ji-Ji! What is this thing for?" Naruto asked, holding up a protractor.
'he's got help.' Hiruzen thought, a drop of sweat rolled down his head.
"Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?" Hiruzen asked.
Naruto looked up into the sky thoughtfully. Had he ever heard of the Akatsuki. Hmmmmm… well they rang a bell. Shikamaru was talking about it once, but he couldn't quite remember. Something to do with hunting. Hunting….. Jinchuuriki!
"Yeah I heard of em! What about it?" Naruto asked questioningly.
"I want you to go to my school so that you can be protected. Their goals contradict with our own." Hiruzen said.
"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.
"The Elemental Nations are changing. How they change will be decided over the next couple of months and a lot of the change will be decided on you and the others." Hiruzen spoke.
'Which us are we talking about?' Naruto thought.
"Well now that you know my reasoning… Welcome to North Konoha High!" Hiruzen said, pulling out a schedule for Naruto.
Naruto took it from his grip.
"Thanks… Oh wait! Someone wanted me to give you this!" Naruto shouted.
He pulled out the Red Stone Jiriaya had given him a day previous. He placed it on the table, leaving a slightly shaken Sarutobi in his office. Naruto had school to attend.