Sunlight streamed in through the small window, the cheap blinds doing a half-assed job of keeping the blinding rays out. A blond, blue-eyed young man groaned as his eyes fluttered open.
They snapped shut almost immediately.
A beam of light hit him so hard he was pretty sure it was trying to burn his retinas.
Damn that sun. Couldn't it have picked a better time to rise? Or better yet, not risen at all?
One of these days, he was going to find a way to turn it off.
Or blow it up.
He preferred blowing it up.
With a low grunt, the blond pushed himself upright, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand. He hated mornings. They always showed up at the worst possible times.
They actually didn't.
He just wasn't a morning person.
As his mind slowly caught up with his body, he stretched, twisting left and right, arms raised high as his back popped and cracked in a way that would make most people cringe. Slowly but surely, Uzumaki Naruto dragged himself out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom.
It was just another day in his new life.
He turned on the shower and ran a hand through his spiky blond hair, then glanced up at his reflection.
At seventeen years old, Naruto could honestly say he liked what he saw. When he was younger, he'd always been short. Even after returning from his three-year training trip, he'd only grown enough to match a few of his friends.
But in the past few months, he'd finally shot up to a nice, above-average height for his age. Sure, he wasn't as tall as Jiraiya—but he was taller than his old man had been.
That had to count for something.
Absentmindedly, Naruto brought his hands together, fingers forming a strange seal that resembled a cross. He focused, eyes narrowing as he stared toward his stomach, searching inward and outward at the same time.
His mind, body, and soul strained to feel something—anything.
A second passed.
Then another.
Naruto exhaled slowly.
"Still nothing…"
Not even a hint of what he'd been hoping for ever since coming here.
Depressing didn't even begin to cover it.
He shook his head sharply and slapped his cheeks, snapping himself out of it. No point dwelling on it now. There was always tomorrow, right?
Right.
Steam began to fill the bathroom as the water warmed. Naruto stepped into the shower and groaned as the heat loosened the ache in his shoulders and back. He braced his palms against the wall and let the water run down his body, matting his hair.
It felt way too good.
Especially after another night spent trying—again—to get his ruined body back into shape.
That old saying about never knowing what you had until it was gone?
Yeah. It had never felt more accurate.
By the time he finished showering, Naruto was awake enough to function. Getting dressed meant pulling on Kuoh Academy's uniform: black blazer, white long-sleeved shirt with black accents, black ribbon at the collar, and matching black pants.
Underneath it all, though, he wore an orange short-sleeved shirt. On his feet were orange-and-black sneakers.
Technically acceptable.
The principal had frowned when he saw them.
Naruto didn't care. If the man didn't understand the greatness of orange, that was his problem.
Once dressed—and once his stomach was full—Naruto locked the door to his apartment and stepped outside with a grin.
Today was going to be a good day.
He could feel it.
…Today was going to suck. He just knew it.
In his excitement to start this so-called new life, he'd forgotten one simple fact that evaporated his optimism like a water jutsu hit by an overpowered fire jutsu.
He had school.
Worse, it was a normal high school.
Naruto hated school on the best of days, but at least when he'd been eight they were teaching him how to be a kickass ninja. The stuff they tried to shove down everyone's throats here was useless.
What good was algebra or science if you weren't planning on being some nerdy science geek? What good was history when he didn't give two twats about the past? And when was he ever going to need to know that the velocity vector of an object could be calculated as the derivative of its position?
Never.
That's when.
Naruto wasn't a physics professor in the making. He was a ninja. Combat was his profession. Kicking ass was practically his calling card.
He didn't need math, history, or science.
Let the people who were actually going into professions that required that crap learn it.
He was fine with his fists.
Granted, he had no idea how a ninja was supposed to live in this world—but he was sure he'd figure something out eventually.
Until then…
He was stuck going to school.
Talk about sucking it big time.
The place was called Kuoh Academy. Naruto had heard it used to be an all-girls school before switching to co-ed sometime prior to his arrival.
And as much as he hated to admit it, the campus was impressive.
Huge, too. Several buildings spread across the grounds, with the main one a long, rectangular structure four stories tall. A slanted roof, reddish-brown tiles, and an overall design that reminded him of some kind of European mansion.
At least, he thought it was European. His knowledge of this world's history and architecture was sketchy at best—meaning nearly nonexistent.
Still, it looked nice. And he supposed that was what mattered.
All that said, he still didn't want to be here.
Why he'd let that strange man talk him into coming was beyond him, and definitely not worth thinking about this early in the morning.
Ignoring the stares and whispers—years of being glared at had trained him well—Naruto made his way toward his first class.
Halfway down the hall, he slowed.
A strange sensation crept up his spine.
Naruto stopped.
For just a second, it felt like something was watching him.
He frowned and glanced around. Students passed by, laughing, talking, complaining about classes. Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Naruto shook his head and resumed walking.
Guess I'm just being paranoid.
Still…
The feeling didn't go away.
::: A/N - I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This is a new crossover project for me, and I'm working hard on the writing and editing. I would love to hear your thoughts—please leave a comment and let me know what you think so far! :::