" This motherfucking limbed dick loose asshole of a village!"
I cursed internally for the umpteenth time as I was absolutely seething because my Kunai and Shuriken set I bought up yesterday cost me double, DOUBLE, what it cost everyone else, and on top of it all, even with my limited experience, I could tell my set was a piece of shit! My Kunai felt off balance, and my Shuriken were bent in a few places that would throw off their flight path.
I sighed as I had to go to three different shops beforehand to find someone who would at least sell me a set. I could not go without, as my Shuriken and Kunai were necessary for class. I really need the Transformation Jutsu; otherwise, I am just wasting money on these worthless villagers. I entered the Academy and went to class, still feeling annoyed and angry. At least I got Chakra to look forward to and sparring as well.
As I waited for class to start, I heard someone take a seat next to me, and I looked to see Sarada. While I did wonder why she decided to sit next to me, I really did not care as she had not antagonized me. However, unfortunately, her brother sat next to her as well, and that meant.
" Sasuke-kun!"
His fangirls followed him. I felt a headache coming on as the Sasuke Fan Club gushed over him at full blast. What happened next made me snap, almost.
" Hey, why don't you move so I can sit next to Sasuke-kun!"
I looked to see Sakura looking high and mighty as she demanded my seat. I decided to ignore her as I felt zero obligation to comply with her request since she asked so rudely. Of course, she could not take a hint.
" Hey, I'm talking to you!"
She grabbed the collar of my shirt to get my attention, and I seriously wondered if her brain cells went on vacation when Sasuke was around. As with my reputation, starting anything with me is just a bad idea. I grabbed her wrist and squeezed as I coldly retorted.
" And?"
She grunted in pain as I started to bend her wrist away from me. Thanks to my daily training, my strength was better than a pathetic excuse of Kuniochi like her. I briefly wondered if I could break her bones like this, but I stopped thinking about that, as taking my recent anger out on her would make me no better than the rest of this worthless village.
" Let me go, You're hurting me."
I did as any more than that would be cruel, and the pinkette then said with tears in her eyes.
" I'm telling Aki-Sensei!"
" Go ahead."
I said as I sat down, and it gave me an excuse to avoid Shuriken throwing class with my faulty Ninja tools. I won't miss Chakra Control if I can help it, as I need that class to get started on my training. Ino then stood up for her former friend, now rival.
" Hey, what's the matter with you? That was uncalled for!"
My fellow blonde must be looking through rose-tinted glasses as Sakura started it, or she did not care. I retorted as I was getting more and more tempted to start something myself.
" Do you want a list, or are you being rhetorical?"
" Who do you think you are!?"
She shouted at me, and I was getting closer to losing my temper, consequences be damned.
" Someone who is starting to find this whole Sasuke Fan Club business idiotic and annoying."
" Ha! You wish you were even half as cool as Sasuke!"
I rolled my eyes as the rest of the fangirls were showing solidarity by standing against me for some odd reason.
" Yeah!"
" Ino's right!"
" Loser!"
Pack mentality at its finest, and I felt my blood start to boil as I shot back.
" Better to be an uncool loser than a bunch of brainless fangirls who are gushing over a guy who won't even give them the time of day."
" HOW DARE YOU!"
They shouted in complete sync, much to my poor eardrums' misfortune. They collectively glared at me, but I wasn't scared because if they escalated things, I had no issue taking it even further like I did last year. I put my hands in my pockets as I got up and stared them down while imagining what I would do to them in retaliation. I did find it funny I was having a stare-off with a bunch of dumb fangirls.
Aki-Sensei came in at last and said.
" Okay, everyone, to your seats as we take attendance."
The fangirls ignored her in favor of keeping on glaring at me, but I complied as it was not worth it yet. Aki-Sensei raised her voice.
" In your seats now, class!"
The Sasuke Fan Club grumbled but complied, but not before shooting me one last collective glare. Part of me hoped they would give me a reason to prank them and make them miserable in general. As class started, I felt my neighbor elbow me, and I turned to look at Sarada as she told me with a whisper.
" Nice work on those annoyances."
I shrugged, as it was not a big deal to me.
________________________________________
After standard classes like Math and science came Shuriken practice, which was a disaster for me, and then some sparring practice, which allowed me to vent on some poor civilian kid. However, finally, we got started on the lesson I was looking forward to the most: Chakra Control. Aki-Sensei began to explain what she intended to do.
" First, for those that have not been taught about Chakra beforehand, please stand forward."
Aside from me, there were a few others as well who had not learned anything about Chakra before this class. Aki-Sensei then continued explaining.
" Let me give you a quick once over on what Chakra is. And it is the fusion of Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy that happens naturally within your body. Every living thing has Chakra in it, and the absence of it leads to death. With this in mind, follow my instructions to the letter. Get into a comfortable position to mediate, then close your eyes."
Everyone, including myself, complied as we continued to listen to the Chunin Instructor.
" Relax and focus on your breathing. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Next, look within yourself and try to feel the energy, your Chakra, flowing within you. Feel it from the top of your head to the tips of your toes."
I felt something, at least, but whether or not it was my Chakra is another matter. It felt like thick syrup to me as it flowed slowly and carefully throughout my body. I then heard Aki-Sensei's next instructions.
" Now take what you are feeling and direct it to different parts of your body, starting from your head and working your way down, then back up."
I compiled as I tried to control the flow of my Chakra, and it reacted slowly to my intent. There was resistance every step of the way as I tried to guide my Chakra. If this is what the Original Naruto's Chakra felt like to him, no wonder Chakra Control was such a chore for him. I knew what I needed to do next to improve my Chakra Control: the Leave Sticking Exercise, then Tree Climbing, followed by Water Walking.
I was going to do everything in my power to master Chakra Control as I wanted to at least learn a few Genjutsus and Medical Jutsu to help me gain strength the Original Naruto never had. Class ended not long after, and the rest of my time at the Academy today was uneventful. I directly returned to my apartment and went straight to work on improving my ability to manipulate my Chakra.
The thick, syrupy feel of my Chakra still gave me a sense of resistance, but it was more responsive by the time I went to sleep. It felt surreal to me that I had Chakra, a means of getting true hard power that was impossible back on Earth. I yawned as I felt the need for sleep call for me, and I muttered as I stripped off my clothes.
" What a day."
________________________________________
" Okay, class time for the next step in learning to master your Chakra Control."
Aki-Sensei said after a week of practice on getting a feel for our Chakra. I already had an idea of what was next, but I still felt giddy regardless. The Chunin Instructor then took a leaf from a tree and explained.
" The next step is what we like to call the Leaf Sticking Exercise. Basically, you focus your Chakra on your forehead to start in order to keep a leaf stuck there. You will start with one leaf and then work your way up to as many as you can manage. Take your leaves and get started."
It was a bit of a boring class, but I managed to get up to five leaves by the end of it. The Uchiha twins got ten right off the bat, and the clan kids got around seven to eight by the end. Experiencing it firsthand, I got the idea to try things other than leaves, like rocks or coins, to increase the difficulty, plus maintain it throughout the day under my clothes. I could probably even do it during my workout sessions in the morning. After classes, I went to the Shinobi Library today to see about buffing up my Chakra Theory in order to see if I could gain any further insights on possible Chakra Control Exercises.
I picked a few scrolls and a book to get me started. The material was drier than a desert, but I still saw it as necessary as I had a limited amount of time until things went to shit. I took a moment to rub my temples over the headache Chakra Theory was giving me, mainly on the how and why the fusion of Physical and Spiritual Energy was natural and automatic within the body.
The brain is the container for one's spirit and is also part of the body, which was one of the points where Spiritual Energy met with Physical Energy. However, the fusion did not start there but further along the body near the gut or stomach where the debate on how the Chakra is mixed in the first place. Some suggest that natural digestion was the cause, but others point out it might be another method altogether. Dry, right?
As I trudged through the knowledge, I heard someone call out to me.
" Why are you here, Naruto!?"
I looked up to see the pink banshee, Sakura Haruno, and I ignored her as I went back to reading.
" Hey, I'm talking to you!"
" And why is that?"
I asked dryly as I did not bother looking up from my Scroll, and she retorted without answering my question.
"You're rude and mean, you know that?"
I then decided just to tune her out as best I could.
" It's because you don't have a mother or a father, isn't it? If you had them, you wouldn't be acting like this without a care in the world, disregarding any consequences because they don't exist for you like everyone else."
Okay, scratch that. This pink-haired little bitch in the making needs more than a few smacks. I usually don't care what the dumb kids say about me because they are dumb kids, but she dares to think she knows about me and what I have to deal with every day. Maybe my temper is getting the better of me, as it is worse than it ever has been since I had to deal with this idiotic village and its people but. I. DON'T. CARE.
I looked up to see Sakura looking smug and like an annoying know-it-all-all. I grabbed her hair on top of her head and viciously slammed her oversized head into the table. A satisfying smack rang out through the library, and I then clamped the pinkette's mouth shut with my hand. I looked her in the eyes and spat out every bit of venom I could muster in a low tone since this was a library.
" Now, listen here, you ignorant little bitch. YOU. DO. NOT. KNOW. ME! And I don't know you, I don't care enough to try, I don't have enough patience to tolerate you either right now. The vast majority of this village hates my guts for whatever reason they do not deem to tell me, and I stopped caring a long time ago, but that does not mean I will take shit from anyone, not from shopkeepers, not from random strangers, and certainly not you.
Here is what is going to happen you are going to shut the fuck up, or I make you by sewing your mouth shut, and you are going to walk away and leave me alone. Otherwise, I will do everything I can to make you miserable, from setting your hair on fire to striping you naked in front of class. DO. I. MAKE. MYSELF. CLEAR!"
Her green eyes shook with fear and resentment as they teared up. I asked again as I squeezed her mouth shut, and she gave no visible reply.
" Do I make myself clear!"
She gave me a shaky nod, and I said before letting her go and getting back to my reading.
" Good. Now, do not disturb me again."
She then ran out with tears in her eyes, and yet I did not feel guilty. I sighed as the lack of guilt bothered me a bit, and I blamed my hostile environment after sighing with exasperation, feeling mentally drained.
" Fuck this village."
________________________________________
Sakura returned home and locked herself in her room. Despite her parents' worry, she kept to herself as she tried to understand what just happened with her and the Crazy Demon Kid as she covered herself with her bed covers. She did not like him from the get-go. His reputation alone was enough to mark him as the monster everyone else said he was. And her previous interaction when she tried to get him to move so she could sit next to Sasuke-kun.
Sakura still remembered the bruises she got from when the Demon grabbed her and the sense of helplessness at being unable to resist him. She asked out loud to herself as she dried her teary eyes.
" What did he mean?"
She replayed what he said to her, specifically the part where the village hated him, and he did not understand why. She knew his reputation from where he tormented anyone that crossed him. It then hit the pinkette, and she asked herself.
" Why would anyone do anything to him in the first place?"
Aside from his reputation, she did not know what he was like before when she first heard about the Crazy Demon Kid. Before that, he was simply called a demon, and her parents warned her not to get close to him. She then wondered.
" Why was he called a demon in the first place?"
While still having a good reason to fear Naruto, she also felt curious and decided to ask her parent for more details, but for now, she was tired and wanted to sleep.