“Ughhhhh,” Naruto groaned and fell face first onto his pillow – probably in an attempt to suffocate himself.
‘Just my luck to get stuck in the same room as this asshole...For a whole year. At least.’
Naruto felt the other boy’s glare shift from him, and he heard the bed creak lightly as he stood up again. A few seconds later he could hear a zip, and Naruto guessed he was unpacking. Deeming it safe to look up again, he struggled into an upright position and stared at the back of the other boy’s black shirt.
‘Ugh. Trust me to make such a bad impression in less than an hour.’ Naruto rolled his eyes at himself.
‘However...If I’m stuck with this guy for another year – at least – I guess I should try to make amends with him. After all the rivals I had in my previous town, I came here to make friends, not more enemies. After all, this guy can’t be too bad...’
“Um,” Naruto cleared his throat and tried to figure out what he should say to clear things up with this guy.
“Er. I guess we started off on the wrong foot...” he started. The pale boy sighed crossly and turned around to face Naruto, hands stuffed in his pockets, and raised an eyebrow at him. Naruto gulped anxiously, and for the first time took in the other boy’s appearance.
He was tall. Tall, yes, but Naruto was tall too and they were nearly exactly the same height. He was also thinner than Naruto...Although Naruto wasn’t fat; he just had a lot of muscles. He trained. Naruto couldn’t help noticing that he was the complete opposite to himself; whereas he had bright blonde hair and shining blue eyes, this guy had silky black hair and black eyes too, and where Naruto just left his hair in a natural messy mop on his head, this guy looked like he used 15 different styling products on his own – it was stuck up at the back with black bangs at the front that kept falling into his face. Lastly, he had unnaturally pale, flawless skin whilst Naruto was tanned and had scars on his cheeks that looked like whiskers.
‘Shit.’ Thought Naruto. ‘He’s...flawless. Like a doll.’ Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when the other guy cleared his throat and shot him a questioning look.
“Sorry,” Naruto mumbled. “Well, anyway, yeah, all I wanted to say is, seeing as we’re going to be living together for a year, we might as well, y’know, be friends. I’m Naruto,” he said for the second time today. When the pale guy didn’t answer he hastily added “Sorry for blocking the cars earlier. And for, uh, walking into you,” he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned nervously. It wasn’t like Naruto to be nervous...It was just something about this other boy that set him on edge.
“Yeah. Whatever,” he replied, turning his back on Naruto and continuing to unpack. Naruto’s mouth gaped open, before he clamped it shut and ground his teeth together angrily.
‘Calm down,’ he scolded himself. ‘One last try.’
“So, uh, what’s your name?” Naruto asked.
“None of your business,” came the man’s cool response. Naruto clenched his fists.
“Well, ‘None of your business’, nice to meet you! I’m Naruto Uzumaki!” Naruto grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn, before grabbing his hand and shaking it furiously while still grinding his teeth together. The pale boy snarled and pushed Naruto away from him, sending him slamming into the wall. Naruto swung a fist at him but it was blocked instantly. The other guy shot him a death-glare and then turned and strolled back over to his bag as if nothing had just happened. Naruto was furious and, without a second thought, flung open the already unlocked door, stepped out into the hall and slammed it shut behind him.
“Fucking bastard!” he yelled at the closed door, kicking it hard, and then resisting the urge to fall over because of the pain coursing through his foot.
‘Fucking bastard. Fucking door. If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under by now,’ Naruto glowered at the closed door, as if the bastard would drop dead behind it if he stared hard enough.
“Woah, woah, what’s your problem?”
Naruto spun around to see another guy stood behind him. He was a brunet with strange red tattoos on both his cheeks – Naruto almost fell over again from the momentum of spinning around so fast, but he grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled the blond back onto his feet again.
“Sorry,” Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. “Didn’t see yah there.”
“It’s no problem. I just heard you abusing the door and thought I’d make sure you was okay,” he raised an eyebrow at Naruto and then eyed the door. “What did the door ever do to you?” he joked. Naruto laughed.
“Not the door, the guy on the other side of the door,” Naruto’s mood instantly blackened at the thought of the raven-haired guy. Kiba raised his eyebrow again.
“Uh...Who’s yah roomie?”
“I dunno. The bastard wouldn’t tell me! I was nice and everything!” complained Naruto.
“Yeah, you seem nice to me. Dunno what you did to get him so pissed. If you knew his name...I’d probably know them. Most people here live locally. I’m Kiba Inuzuka,” he said, offering his hand out to him. Naruto clasped it with his own.
“Naruto Uzumaki,” he grinned. Kiba grinned back, and then strolled over to Naruto’s door and knocked on it.
“Kiba! What are you doing?!” he hissed at the other boy, wondering if he was suicidal. Naruto dived to hide behind Kiba. “He’ll eat you alive!” he joked.
“He can’t be that bad,” insisted Kiba.
“What the fuck do you want?” came a snarl from inside the door. Kiba’s eyes widened by a vast amount.
“Shit!” he hissed. “You didn’t tell me it was-!” the door was flung open.
“Sasuke! Hi!” Kiba grinned awkwardly. “I was just coming to...Uh...See if you was okay,” another stupid grin. Sasuke glowered for a few more seconds before slamming the door shut in his face. Kiba sighed with relief, and then turned on Naruto and jabbed his index finger at him.
“You didn’t tell me it was bastard-Sasuke!” he roared.
“I didn’t know!” whined Naruto. “I don’t know anyone here,” he insisted. Kiba sighed.
“I’ll let yah off then. But if you ever submit me to bastard-Sasuke again I’ll castrate you,” he growled.
Naruto squeaked.
“Can I...Uh...Take refuge in your room for a while?” Naruto grinned.
“Nah. It’s boring – and a mess. How ‘bout you come with me? I was just going down to grab a bite to eat, and y’know, meet up with the guys.” Naruto grinned and nodded his head enthusiastically. He turned to follow Kiba down the stairs – not before giving room 5’s door a strong kick first.
- - - - -
“Hey guys!” greeted Kiba cheerfully, plopping down at the table with his sandwich. Murmured replies were spoken – they all looked extremely tired.
“Who’s this guy?” said a chubby boy, eyeing Naruto suspiciously as he sat down.
“Don’t worry, Chouji. This guy is nothing to be scared of,” Kiba grinned and thumped Naruto on the back friendlily.
“That’s Chouji,” said Kiba to the blond, gesturing to the chubby boy who was now chomping his way through a king-size bag of crisps.
“They are Sakura and Ino,” he pointed to two girls who were bickering on his left “And that’s Shikamaru,” he nodded toward a guy who looked like he’d passed out – or was sleeping – on the table. “He’s lazy,” added Kiba, probably noticing Naruto’s confused expression. “And lastly, that’s Shino,” he said, pointing at a guy with dark glasses sat on the end of the table. All of them raised their hand in a wave or spoke to greet Naruto – or in Shikamaru’s case, snored. Naruto grinned at them all.
“I’m Naruto,” he grinned.
“You new here? I haven’t seen you around before,” asked Chouji, spraying him with pieces of crisps.
“Uh, yeah. I came from a village that’s like, 5 hours away,” Naruto replied, taking a bite into the sandwich he’d bought as he’d entered the canteen. There were quite a lot of students here – Naruto guessed that most had finished packing and were now coming for something for lunch. Kiba had showed him that the canteen was at the end of one of the corridors that branched off the main hall.
“So, Kiba, where are you?” asked Shikamaru, who was now lazily leaning on the table.
“Uhhhh...Building B, floor C,” Kiba grinned.
“What room?”
“6. Opposite Naruto’s room – he’s in number 5.”
“Awesome. It’s great that this university lets you choose who you want to be roommates with,” Shikamaru grinned lazily. “Kiba, you’re with Shino, right?” Kiba nodded.
“Thought so. I’m with Chouji, and Sakura and Ino are in a room together too,” he jerked his thumb toward the two girls who were still deeply in a conversation of their own. “I think they’re in building A...But we’re in Building B too. Floor B – below you.”
“Come see us later, yeah? We’re in room 10,” Chouji mumbled between mouthfuls of crisps.
“Yeah, yeah. Course,” grinned Kiba. “Oh...But you’ll never guess who Naruto’s roommate is,” he started laughing. The others looked puzzled.
“You didn’t choose a roommate?” asked Chouji.
“No...I didn’t know anyone!” complained Naruto.
“Ah well. If you don’t choose anyone then they just randomly match you up with another person who didn’t choose anyone,” replied Shino. This confused Naruto – why would Sasuke have not picked anyone to be roommates with? Judging by what Kiba had said earlier, he lived around here, meaning a lot of people would know him.
“Anyway...” said Kiba “Naruto’s been put in a room with bastard-Sasuke,” he said, and then burst out laughing. At the mention of Sasuke, both Ino and Sakura were silent – and drooling. Shino and Shikamaru looked shocked, and Chouji started laughing with Kiba.
“It’s not funny! He’s an asshole,” groaned Naruto, dropping his head onto the table.
“I feel sorry for you,” mutter Shino, patting his back sympathetically.
“What’s the guy's problem? I mean, I only walked into him, and he acts like I’ve attempted to murder him or something,” mumbled Naruto.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. He always acts like that. Most people have got used to him by now – and just stay out of his way. Sucks that you got put in a room with him,” snorted Kiba.
“Why?” asked the blond.
“Why what?”
“Why does he act like such a prick all the time?”
“I dunno...” Kiba paused. “He always has done. People just learned not to talk to him. He was alright at the start of highschool, but then he disappeared for a few months, and when he came back he was different. Distant.” he was cut off by Chouji frantically making coughing noises and motioning with his eyes to the left. Sure enough, Naruto could see the raven-haired boy stalking past their table to sit at one by himself in the corner of the canteen.
“Why’s he always on his own?” Naruto furrowed his brow.
“He prefers it that way, I guess,” Kiba shrugged. “Most people - er, boys - hate him. It’s not like he doesn’t have the chance to sit with other people though...Pretty much the entire population of girls around here worship him,” he rolled his eyes. “Anyway, why so curious about the Uchiha-prick?”
“I dunno...I guess, I used to be on my own a lot, and I hated it,” Naruto frowned again. “So I kinda feel sorry for him...Although, he is a bastard, so he probably deserves it,” he snarled, angry again as he was reminded of what had happened between them less than half an hour ago. However, there was a tiny part of his conscience telling him that no one ever wanted to be alone, no matter how they acted. It hurt.
‘For fucks sake! Why do I have to care so much about other people?’ Naruto argued with himself.
‘Because you know what it’s like to be alone,’ a tiny part of his mind echoed back. Naruto groaned and rolled his eyes, annoyed that he was having a mental conversation with himself.
‘The bastards a prick, but everyone can change, and no one deserves to be alone. I guess...I can try talking to him again later – I just gotta hope that he doesn’t attack me with a chainsaw, or some kind of voodoo, or something.’
Naruto glanced around the table and was glad to see everyone was chatting amongst themselves, apparently unaware of Naruto’s bickering conscience. He’d made up his mind – he would talk to Sasuke later, and in the process, risk being brutally murdered. After all, he’s a nice guy like that.
Naruto’s eyes wandered over to the corner of the cafeteria where Sasuke was still sat alone, seemingly staring down at the table. It wasn’t until he turned over a page that Naruto realised he was reading.
‘Who reads in the canteen?’ Naruto asked himself, raising an eyebrow. Sasuke was obviously going for the ‘stay-away-from-me-or-I’ll-behead-you-with-this-chainsaw’ look.
‘Antisocial bastard.’
- - - - -
“Bye, Kiba!” called Naruto, waving to his friend as the door to room 6 closed. The grin fell right off his face as he turned around to face the offending room number 5. He groaned. The antisocial Sasuke had left the canteen before he had, meaning he was more than likely going to be in their room. Naruto had stayed for a few more hours in the canteen chatting, before going off with Kiba and Chouji to look around the university in preparation for the next day. Naruto had already found where most of his classes would be held.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto gripped the door handle and stepped unwaveringly into the room. Sure enough, Sasuke was there. He was laid on his bed with his back to the door – reading, unsurprisingly.
“Uh, hey,” Naruto greeted, rubbing the back of his neck. Sasuke responded by half-turning his head, blinking, and then turning his attention back to the pages of his book. Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Why are you always on your own?” asked Naruto, getting straight to the point. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him and snapped his book shut, moving so that he was sat up.
“Because I want to be.”
“Holy shit! The Great Sasuke spoke to me!” Naruto feigned shock. “When are you gonna stop being such a bastard to me?” Sasuke sighed and rubbed his temples with his index fingers, closing his eyes.
“I’m tired. Piss off.”
“No!” shouted Naruto angrily. “I’ve only known you for half a day and already I hate your guts! I seriously don’t see what I’ve done to upset you, oh mighty one, but if you could stop being a prick to me for one second and answer my question, it’d be appreciated!” Sasuke opened his eyes slowly.
“It’s none of your business,” he snapped, standing up and stalking into the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind him and a moment later Naruto heard the shower running.
“God dammit!” shouted Naruto angrily, kicking the wall. “What the fuck is his problem?”
- - - - -
Naruto was awoken to the sound of persistent beeping – which he soon identified as his alarm clock. Groaning, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He yawned and glanced at the alarm clock. It read 9.50am. The blond’s eyes widened in shock and he leapt up from his bed – succeeding in getting tangled in his bedsheets – and crashed to the floor. Cursing under his breath, he crawled to the foot of his bed and regained his footing, hitting the ‘stop’ button on the alarm clock. Panicking, he rifled through his drawers and pulled on the first jeans he laid his hands on and an orange t-shirt with a black swirl on the back. He grabbed his messenger bag – which he’d luckily packed all his books in last night – from over the chair, and rushed out of the room with his shoes in his hands. He locked the door, cursing as he realised that he’d forgotten to grab a jacket or some socks, but shrugged it off, as he didn’t have any time. The blond hopped down the stairs two at a time, putting on his shoes as he went and shoving his keys in his pocket. Once his shoes were safely on, he continued to run down the rest of the stairs and jumped to the bottom.
Naruto’s stomach growled and Naruto groaned. He could go without socks – but not without breakfast. Why the hell his alarm clock had gone off so late – he had no idea. Maybe he set it wrong...Or maybe it wasn’t loud enough to wake him up. Either way, the Bastard could have woken him up when he left. He must’ve known Naruto was going to be late.
The blond dashed into the canteen and skidded to a halt when he realised it wasn’t serving food. There were vending machines and coffee machines against the wall, but Naruto didn’t have any money with him. Scowling, he turned on his heels to leave, when he noticed a familiar shadowy figure in the corner of the cafeteria.
“Hey, bastard!” he called across the room. Sasuke looked up as he saw the blond approaching.
“What’re you doing here? You’re gonna be late,” frowned Naruto, looking at the raven who was sitting calmly with a coffee. There was a moment of silence.
“...Are you stupid or something?”
“What?!” growled Naruto.
“Look around. This place is deserted. And look outside,” he jerked a thumb toward the window. “It’s only just sunlight. Classes don’t start until 10am, you know,” he smirked. Now that he mentioned it, thought Naruto slowly, it did seem a lot earlier than 9:50am. He turned slowly to see the giant clock on the wall and his jaw dropped when he saw the time on it.
“6AM?!” he screeched, jabbing a finger at Sasuke. “You did this on purpose!”
“I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to fall for it,” Sasuke shrugged.
Naruto’s face turned red in anger. The bastard had changed the time on his alarm clock and set it so he’d get woken up at 6am!
“You bastard,” snarled Naruto. He swung a fist at Sasuke’s jaw but the pale boy caught it. The blond looked up to see Sasuke glaring at him.
“No need for violence,” snapped the raven, shoving the blond’s fist away. “It’s your fault you fell for such a stupid prank,” his eyes narrowed even further.
Naruto was fuming and he clenched his fists tightly, squeezing his eyes shut to control his anger.
“If that’s how you treat people who are trying to be friendly to you,” Naruto snapped, “it’s no wonder you don’t have any friends.”
“I don’t want any,” replied Sasuke coolly.
“Fucking liar!” shouted Naruto.
‘If that’s how the bastard wants to play, then so be it,’ thought Naruto as he swiped Sasuke’s coffee from the table and stalked out of the canteen.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.