Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Konoha Sengoku High ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

It was the end of a long first day of high school, and Sakura was still dying to know what motivated Sasuke to get out of his seat. She still hadn’t had a chance to ask him. It seemed Naruto had attached to her, as after every class he walked up and asked her where their next class was located. To her extreme annoyance, his schedule was very nearly exactly the same as hers. Her only blessed reprieve from the annoying new boy was study hall, right after lunch. The only problem was Sasuke wasn’t there either! This whole thing was driving her up the wall. In all likelihood, she wouldn’t be finding out today. Sasuke disappeared as soon as the bell rung, and was impossible to track down. She had attempted many times, and never once succeeded.
Hopefully she would have more luck tomorrow. In the meantime, she would go meet up with Ino before walking home with Shikamaru. Their houses were on the same block, so she walked home with him a lot.
“Hey Forehead!! Over here!” Sakura really hated that nickname. Ino has been calling her that since grade school, which only made it all the more irritating.
“What do you want Piggy? In case you haven‘t noticed, I‘m trying to think here.”
“But you’re always thinking! If I wait for that big forehead of yours to stop working, I’ll be old and gray before we talk! Anyway, what did you do to get Sasuke-kun out of his seat this morning? I hope you know you’ve made every girl in school jealous, myself included.”
“Well, I hate to disappoint you Ino, but the one he actually wanted to talk to Naruto-san. He barely said a word to me.”
“Naruto-san? That new kid? What could he possibly want with him? I mean, all he knows about Naruto-san is his name, right?”
“I wish I knew. They were speaking so softly I couldn’t hear them, even though I was right next to them. It’s been driving me crazy all day!”
“Why didn’t you just ask Sasuke-kun what it was if it was bothering you? I know I would’ve in a heartbeat! Any chance to get him to break silence must be taken at all costs, in my book.”
“Don’t you think I tried? But Naruto-san latched onto me for some reason and asked me to guide him to his classes, since we’re together in every class but one. I didn‘t get a chance to talk to Sasuke-kun today.”
“Oh that must have been horrible! Why didn’t you just ask tell him to go bother someone else for directions! Who cares about some lost new student? This is a chance to talk to Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!!!”
“Well you may not care Ino, but it’s not his fault he’s new and isn’t familiar with the school yet. He’ll be better tomorrow, so I’ll have time to talk to Sasuke-kun then. Naruto-san may be brash, but talking to him showed that he can be pretty smart. Hey, speaking of Naruto-san, there he is!”

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It was the end of a long first day of school, and Shikamaru was happy to see it gone. School was such a drag. It’s nothing but sitting in a fixed location day after day, listening to the same people give an oral explanation of a book he was mandated to read anyway. In these days of high speed internet, it would be enough to give the students books and then have them take a test online by a certain date and time. Then again, Shikamaru thought most everything was a drag.
All he wanted to do during daylight hours was lay down in the park and watch the clouds roll by. Now that was a relaxing pastime. No one had the patience to stay too long with him, so he wasn’t bothered by mindless chatter. Even better, there was no activities that needed organizing.
But as much of a drag as school and homework is, Shikamaru understood that unless his teachers gave him good grades, life would be much harder later on. It looked like he wont be cloud-watching as much as he would like.
He could always use the time the kendo club blocks the gate. Honestly, he had no idea why they chose to stand in the exact center of the only way out of this accursed place, but he used the extra time to watch the clouds go by. They always got mad if someone tried to get past them, anyway. It’s easiest to just lay back and wait for them to leave.
“Oi Shikamaru!! Get your lazy ass over here!!”
It was Kiba. One of the worst people o get caught by after school. Every time Shikamaru heard his voice, he felt his free time crumbling to dust. Kiba wouldn’t let him relax now, so he’d best see what he wanted. Maybe it would be quick.
“What do you want Kiba-san? I was on my way to go do something, you know.”
“Haha! I’m surprised, you never want to do anything! Whatever it was, though, you can forget it for now. The kendo club is there again, so we’re stuck for a while.”
“Kiba-san, you know Shikamaru likes time to relax. The kendo club blocking the exit gives him that time. Sorry Shikamaru, I tried to get him to leave you alone.”
Chouji, who was standing with Kiba, was the only person who understood his desire to simply do nothing. In fact, Chouji would sometimes join him. He would just walk up and lay down a short distance from him without saying a word. It showed an understanding of Shikamaru’s character that words couldn’t express. The two of them have been the best of friends for a long time.
‘That so? I honestly can’t figure out how you can relax when the Kendo club does this. It drives me crazy! I mean, it‘s one thing to block an exit, but they refuse to let anyone pass until they‘re done talking! They don‘t own the place, get out of the way!”
“Hey don’t say stuff like that so loudly. I don’t want them to hear you and come over here. That would be far too much trouble….It’s easiest to just relax until they leave. It’s only an hour or two, no big deal.”
“No big deal! Do you know how much training I could get done during that hour or two?! It’s a huge…..hey, Isn’t that the new kid in our class?”
Shikamaru glanced over where Kiba pointed. Sure enough they saw Naruto, walking down the courtyard towards the gate. Straight toward the Kendo club. Troublesome. It’s his first day here, so he probably doesn’t know about them blocking the gate everyday. O well, he’s about to find out. He’ll know after today. If Shikamaru went over to stop him, he might get beaten too. It’s not like he knew the kid. Yeah, stopping Naruto was far too much trouble. He’ll just stay here and watch. If it’s bad enough, he can always get someone from the health & fitness club. They were pretty good at first aid. Yeah, that’s the easiest route. At least, that was his plan.
“Shikamaru we have to go warn him about leaving now! He’ll get hurt if we don’t” That was the sound of Shikamaru’s plan crumbling to dust.

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It was the end of a long first day of school, and Naruto had to admit this place was rather interesting. The school had a martial arts club, which was bound to be full of strong guys. He couldn’t wait to spar with them. Naruto was a brawler himself, with no particular style other than what he found to work against people.
Naruto had grown up on the streets. His parents disappeared before he was old enough to remember them, sticking him in an orphanage. That place was hell on earth. It was an eat or be eaten kind of environment, and Naruto unfortunately wound up being eaten more times than not. The other children at the orphanage were bullies who enjoyed picking on the weaker and younger kids, just to feel powerful. Well, that was over.
Two months ago he was “adopted” by a weird old man by the name of Jiraiya. Naruto was eternally grateful to him. If Jiraiya hadn’t shown up, he might have become just another bully. Instead, he was inspired to turn his life around, and has since vowed to always stand up for those being bullied wherever he finds them.
That, of course, didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy a good fight every now and then. He should definitely try out this martial arts club. Tomorrow he would talk to Neji and see about joining.
As he was walking towards the school gates, he noticed a group of students blocking the exit. Some of them were wielding bokkens(wooden practice swords) and the nearby students were shying away from them. Naruto recognized the body language immediately. It seemed this was the ‘trouble’ that Sasuke jerk told him about. Seems like the interesting encounters weren’t over yet for Naruto. As he was about to walk up to them to demand they step aside and let people pass, he noticed three of his fellow classmates running towards him. Actually, it was more like two were running towards him while dragging the third. Wondering what was going on, Naruto waited for them to reach him.
“Hey guys what’s the hurry? Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chouji right?”
Chouji was the first to speak up. “Yes that’s us Naruto-kun. We were hurrying to tell you not to leave the grounds right now, it’s a little dangerous.”
“Dangerous? You mean that group of punks blocking the exit over there?” As he said this, Naruto pointed with a thumb over is shoulder.
“So you noticed. They’re not you average bullies you know. They’re members of the kendo club, one of the martial arts groups in the school. The one in the center there is Daimonji, the second strongest member in the club. He’ll attack you full force if you try and get past them. It’s a real problem, but no one has ever managed to stop them. Even the teachers pretend not to notice, since he attacks them too.”
“I see. So the reason everyone is gathered here is because you’re scared of that Daimonji guy and his thugs over there?”
“Well, we use it as a time to talk freely with our friends and relax before heading home to do the day’s homework. It’s not so bad really. At least not bad enough to risk getting a beating over. You don’t really know anyone yet, right? You can come talk with us while you wait if you want.”
“No, that’s okay. I appreciate the offer, Chouji-kun, really I do, but my uncle will be mad if I’m late, so I have to go straight home for today. Can I take you up on that tomorrow?”
It looked like the three of them were going to try again to convince him to stay. Naruto never had anyone express concern for him before, and he almost wanted to stay and talk with them. But as much as the idea of having friends for the first time appealed to him, he couldn’t just pretend these bullies weren’t there. Naruto turned and resumed his journey home.
As Naruto approached the Kendo idiots, he took stock of his opposition. There were five of them, with two carrying bokken (Japanese wooden practice swords). One of the two was the huge guy in the center of the crowd. That must be Daimonji. Naruto decided to take him down first.
Stopping right in front of the group, he could feel the atmosphere change. Every last conversation in the entire courtyard stopped. All eyes were on him, the idiotic new student about to get a beating. Or so they thought anyway.
“Hey, you guys are blocking the exit. Can you stand somewhere else? I’m sure I’m not the only one here who wants to leave!”
Almost as one, the five of them turned to him and sneered. Daimonji was the first to speak. It was his duty as the leader of a band of bullies after all.
“Huh? You must be new here boy. We don’t move for anyone. Now scram before you come to regret doing this.” We’re busy over here.”
“Oh yeah real busy I can tell. Must be exhausting doing all that posturing, since it seems your brain can’t handle anything else. Even a task so simple as moving out of someone’s way. The only place I’m going is to my house. I’ll go through you if I have to.”
As Naruto spoke, the four lackeys moved to surround him, Daimonji was right in front of him, with the other armed guy directly behind. The other three spread out to his sides. This was obviously practiced.
“Wow real brave of you. It takes five members of a martial arts club, two of them armed, to take on me alone? I’m beginning to wonder how tough you all really are.”
“Oh you said it now!! Prepare to die!!” Enraged, armed lackey A charged with his bokken held high. Naruto didn’t even turn around. He launched a donkey kick aimed right at the poor guy’s groin. The man doubled over, falling to his side clutching his crotch. He wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. One down, four to go.
They all charged him at once now. Daimonji came in with a wide horizontal swing, aiming at Naruto’s head. Naruto ducked it, and Daimonji hit one of his own lackey’s, sending him flying into the other two. Two down. As the other two were untangling themselves from their fallen buddy, Naruto attacked Daimonji’s wide open rib cage with two quick punches. They produced a grunt, but not much else.
Surprised, Naruto jumped back to gain some distance. ‘Damn, this guy’s muscles are hard. Normal attacks won’t do much huh? I’ll have to find another way’
The other two were coming at him now. Naruto would have to take them out so he could focus on the big guy. He met them head on, jumping in the air to kick one in the face while simultaneously punching another. As they staggered back, Naruto landed and put a spinning side kick right in unarmed lackey B’s gut. Lackey B doubled over, and naruto dropped an axe kick to the back of his head, knocking him out. Three down. The other one had recovered, and tried charging him again. Unfortunatly for him, Daimonji was charging too, coming in with another huge swing.
‘These guys don’t learn too fast do they’ Naruto smirked as he dodged he bokken attack, letting it hit unarmed lackey B right where the shoulder met the neck. Four down. It was just Naruto and Daimonji now.
“Hah, you guys suck! Great job boss, you took out two of your own guys! I could beat you in my sleep, bring it on!”
Further enraged by the taunt, Daimonji screamed and attacked with a huge downward slash from over his head. Naruto saw it coming of course, and stepped into it, using Daimonji’s own momentum to throw him over his shoulder. Daimonji landed hard, momentarily stunning him. Moving quickly, Naruto stepped on his wrist, forcing him to let go of his bokken. He then kicked it away with his other foot, and planted a foot on Daimonji’s heart and leaned in.
“Face it ‘boy’, you can’t beat me. Now let me and the other students pass, or I’ll have to kick you around some more.”
Daimonji by now was terrified. He just lost a fight with four guys helping him out. He wasn’t too eager to get knocked out like his lackeys on the ground next to him. Letting out a little squel, he nodded his head as fast as he could.
“Good. If I catch you blocking the exit again, you’d best move when someone asks nicely like I did. Otherwise we’ll do this all over again. Only next time, I won’t hold back.”
Naruto then took his foot off, put his hands in his pockets, and proceeded walking home.