Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ It Always Comes At A Price ❯ Part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

“Oi Naruto! Where have you been man? Haven't seen you for ages!”

 

 

The blonde whirled around, stopping in mid step at the familiar, zealous voice that came from somewhere towards the back of the food court. Hands waved at him ecstatically, the whole group indicating for him to join them. With a single look down at the meagre sandwich that was placed sadly on the plastic tray he held, he made his way over, meandering carefully through the labyrinth of long tables that occupied the canteen. Students barged past him, oblivious of his efforts to reach his friends but in the end he managed to stumble over to the table and set his tray down with a sigh.

 

 

“Wow dude, you look like shit.” Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the less than helpful comment from the boy opposite. Admittedly it was true- he looked bad with the dark rings that hung under his blood shot eyes and his rather greasy hair plastered to his head, his skin was pastey, expression haggard, his clothes crinkled…well you get the picture. Shit was in fact probably an understatement. Wearily he took the seat next to Hinata, half collapsing on it as he attempted to glare at Kiba.

 

 

“Observant as ever dog breath,” he growled half heartedly. He scanned the faces around him, happily noting that he knew everyone. Slumping slightly he began devouring his sandwich, only pausing when he was asked how his course was going.

 

 

“Guys I think I'm gonna have to drop out,” he announced whilst wiping his mouth of offending crumbs. Everyone stopped mid-conversation, turning to stare him with looks of shock.

 

 

“What are you saying Naruto? You need this degree if you wanna go and work for Hebi Studios(1). They won't accept an undergraduate, you know that!” Sakura broke the silence, voicing her incredulity, “Don't be a moron!” Naruto smiled weakly at the pinkette, nodding and saying, “Yeah, yeah I know.”

 

 

“So why are you quitting Naruto-kun?” came the meek voice next to him. He glanced over to the Hyuuga girl, grateful for the concern that laced her milky pupil-less eyes. Resting his elbows on the table and his head in his hands, he rubbed at his eyes then took a deep breath.

 

 

“I work 3 part time jobs and I can barely afford to pay the dormitory rent, there is absolutely no way I'm gonna be able to pay next term's tuition fees.”

 

 

“What happened to that grant you applied for?” asked Shikamaru who had just joined the group; he lazily slouched into the only available seat left- opposite Naruto.

 

 

“The government have had to make major cut backs on the grants that they offer students- it turns out that these cut backs effect students taking courses in the arts- photography included.”

 

 

“Yeah but surely there are independent companies that offer financial aid- doesn't Hebi itself pay for some of its potential employees to get into graduate courses?”

 

 

“I tried getting interviews for sponsorships but it turns out companies are not really interested with penniless students from poor backgrounds and as for Hebi,” he snorted, “They send out talent scouts every year for artists, but they only search for people in their last year of high school, that way they have direct control over the student's progress. Face it- I'm on my way out.”

 

 

The atmosphere grew sombre as each person exchanged worried looks at their friend's predicament. Naruto slumped back, completely fatigued and ready to fall asleep, well that was until he heard a loud rustle and audible munching sounds above him. He cracked open an eye and saw the not so pleasant sight of Chouji ramming several potato chips into his mouth at once. If he'd had the energy he would have groaned in complaint. Through bites, Chouji wheezed out, “Well all you need is a lot of cash, and fast.”

 

 

“Idiot, if it was that easy we wouldn't be sitting here,” Shikamaru drawled.

 

 

“How about borrowing the money from one of the other students?” Sakura supplied as she sipped at her coffee.

 

 

“Like who? I wouldn't be able to pay them back within a reasonable amount of time anyway.”

 

 

“I know who wouldn't even care if the money wasn't paid back,” quipped Ino who was sitting next to Sakura and picking at a salad in front of her. The blonde girl had a mischievous glint in her eye that everyone noticed. Somehow they knew this would be a controversial suggestion- they were right.

 

 

“How about asking Sasuke-kun? He comes back from that course today, right?”

 

 

Horrified, Naruto spluttered and coughed, “What? How can you-? Why would you even think I would-? I would never take-! I won't become indebted to that bastard damnit!” By now he was seething and punctuating his words by slamming his hands on the table. He eyed the girl with a vehement glare then crossed his arms, sulking and becoming red in the face with absolute outrage.

 

“Naruto…don't be so unreasonable…he might be able to help-” Sakura began.

 

 

“Hold that thought right there!” he interjected.

 

 

“Don't be so big headed baka!” She leaned across the table and whacked him around the head. Naruto recoiled in anguish, bringing a hand to his now throbbing temple.

 

 

“Look, I'm not accepting charity off of that guy and that's final,” he mumbled.

 

 

“None of this explains why you look so shit,” Kiba stated, grinning madly as he reclined backwards, swinging on his chair, “So did you get hammered last night?”

 

 

“Erm I may have had a few drinks…” he conceded. He tried to ignore the scowls that had appeared on everyone's faces. “Okay so I blew the last of my money- but it's not as though I was gonna be able to pay the fees so I might as well spend the little I have, right?”

 

 

“Troublesome. You've been complaining about money problems even though you're quite happy to spend it on alcohol,” Shikamaru sighed.

 

 

“It's not like that! And I got Ero-sennin to pay for the drinks anyway…I just paid for the food- I gotta eat to live!”

 

 

“So did you finally get screwed?” Kiba said wolfishly.

 

 

“Kiba!” Everyone cried simultaneously, and then everyone seemed to round on Naruto. “Wait, you're twenty-two and you've never had sex?” laughed Ino.

 

 

A heavy blush permeated his cheeks and he slowly slid downwards, trying to direct the attention off himself. “So what…I'm waiting for the right one.”

 

 

“Abstinence in this day and age? God, that's so freaking hilarious,” Ino shrieked, accompanied by a few giggles from Sakura. Hinata leaned forward, her lips pursed and fingers twiddling in anxiety. “If Naruto-kun wants to wait then I think that's quite romantic.”

 

 

With a snide, Ino remarked, “We all know you would think that, jeez stop being such a square.” Kiba grunted, fixing the audacious blonde with a look of hatred. “Leave Hinata-chan alone.”

 

 

“How about we all shut up and divert the conversation away from sex!” Naruto said, feeling quite hysterical that his private life had just been cruelly brought right out into the open.

 

 

“Wait Naruto, that's it!” Ino gleamed. Sakura turned to her, bewildered that the girl wasn't going to waste more time humiliating her friends. “I have the most perfect idea, but Naruto you're gonna have to follow me!” She leapt up and careened over to Naruto, yanking him up and forcing him to trail after. Giving his friends a pleading look, he then allowed himself to be dragged in whatever direction Ino had in mind. It wasn't until they reached the I.T department in the west wing of the university that Naruto bothered to ask exactly what she had in mind. She ignored him and proceeded to jump into one of the computer booths and access her account on the university's network. Her fingers flew dexterously over the keypad then after a few clicks she pushed the monitor around to give Naruto a better view. What he saw made him gasp.

 

 

On the screen appeared to be an auctioning site with multiple bids on- he gulped- a teenager's virginity. Someone was auctioning their virginity. On the internet. “What the fuck?” The information at the top detailed the girl's age and why she was doing this. Apparently she didn't want to be bogged down with student debts and this was an easy way to get a quick injection of cash. Realisation dawned on him.

 

 

“You want me to auction off my virginity,” he whispered for only the girl to hear. She nodded enthusiastically. He closed his eyes, trying to muster some self control. “Are you fucking mad?” he breathed, “Why would I want to give my body to a complete stranger?”

 

 

Ino frowned, somewhat irked that her great plan had been rejected. “But it wouldn't be a stranger- we would hold an auction for the students of this university and we could always moderate who is allowed to bid. You'd be mad not to take this up Naruto- look!” She pointed at the bottom of the screen, which he followed. His cerulean eyes widened at the figure the tip of her finger was pressed against.

 

 

¥ 2,000,000(2)

 

 

“Seriously think about it Naruto- with that kind of cash you could easily pay for next term's tuition and the next. Plus you'd be killing two birds with one stone. Do you want to work for Hebi Studios or not?”

 

 

Deliberating for a brief second he came to an easy conclusion. “Fine, let's do this. But you're organising the whole thing.”

 

 

A smirk formed on her lips. “Just leave it to me.”

 

 

------------------Next Day-----------------

 

 

Naruto strolled down a corridor, carrying a section of his portfolio and a tripod for one of his cameras. Somehow he had to lug this back to his dormitory, get changed and go to his first part time job at the local convenience store in the next five minutes. He was late because of Kakashi-sensei yet again. The man didn't seem to realise that his students needed to get a basic requirement of work finished before they could leave because most of the facilities were within the design area. So, when he was late everyone else was too. This in itself wasn't too bad, he could have dealt with being slightly tardy but because he had his mind preoccupied on other things, for instance, leaving his virginity in the hands of a maniacal harpy, it meant that his productivity had reached an all time low thus make him even later. Today was just a bad day…

 

 

“Naruto!” Said blonde stopped and waited for the puffing boy to reach him.

 

 

“What's up Kiba?”

 

 

“Is it true? Ino is setting up an auction?”

 

 

“Yeah…oh god how many people has she told?” Naruto groaned.

 

 

“Only half of the people on campus. I can't believe my boy is gonna become a man.” He wiped a non-existent tear from his eye, dramatically sighing and clutching his heart. The blonde kicked him fiercely in the shin causing him to wince with pain; however the suffering didn't last long as he soon wore his trademark shit-eating grin.

 

 

“I can't believe you're letting her do it- well rather you than me. Do you even realise that's she's put a policy of `anything goes' up? That means you could be in the hands of some serious perverts tomorrow night.”

 

 

“Oh god…what have I done? But there isn't going to be many women who are into that kinda stuff, are there? And what do you mean `tomorrow night'?”

 

 

“The auction is being held today and whoever bids highest by the end of today will have you tomorrow night. And dude…what do you mean by women?”

 

 

“I never knew you were this dumb- you have heard of women right? Opposite sex…you've been dating them for years…”

 

 

“That's not what I meant Naruto.” His tone suddenly became serious. “Please tell me she told you…”

 

 

“Told me what?” Kiba was never this grave- it made him feel quite unsettled.

 

 

“Buddy I don't know how to tell you this but…she hasn't opened the auction to girls.”

 

 

“But that means…” Kiba averted his eyes and coughed into his hand, looking anywhere but at the figure opposite who looked about ready to explode. And then he did. The brunette thought the string of foul profanities that flew from his mouth was quite commendable and he would have laughed.- would of if he didn't think he'd get his eyes gouged out by the tyrannical blonde who had now dropped everything in favour of tearing down the corridor screaming for that “conceited, lewd, jumped up pig” to get out here right this minute. Kiba picked up Naruto's things but nearly dropped them when he heard a smooth baritone voice behind him.

 

 

“What's wrong with the dobe?”

 

 

The brunette cocked his head back, a feral smile on his lips. “Well he's a tad bit annoyed that our dear friend Ino had been auctioning of his virginity to people of the male persuasion.”

 

 

Obsidian eyes fractionally widened. “Really? How interesting…”