ch 8

(A few months later)

(Second Term)

"Huh? Who the heck are you?" the conceited voice of a young girl suddenly filled the air as she and her friends glared behind them at the person who'd approached them. Judging from their outraged expressions, it was clear that they did not like the fact that they'd been interrupted from their little game.

Of course, the situation that was currently unfolding in the clearing just off of the playground and climbing courses outside of the academy wouldn't exactly be considered fun. Gathered around a tall oak tree and surrounded by a grove of flowers, a group of about three young girls in their first year of school were standing with their backs turned to a fourth girl, who was currently kneeling on the ground in tears after some rather hurtful lashing. Obviously being the antagonists in this scenario, the group of cocky-looking youngsters were now staring down a blonde, spiky-haired boy wearing a ragged looking white and orange jacket, a green, stained scarf, and tattered blue shorts.

He was looking at the trio with an expression akin to a dead fish, which didn't exactly scream scary or intimidating in any way, but from the current look of dreadfulness and exhaustion on his face, he didn't appear worried in the least.

Stepping forward from her troop, the purple haired girl in the striped shirt and pack leader folded her arms and smirked at the child. "What do you want, whiskers? Can't you see we're busy here?"

Naruto, having clearly been through a rather rough day himself, glanced past the three girls to the fourth behind them, where he spotted the pink-haired form of who he recognized as one of his classmates. Sakura Haruno, if he remembered correctly, dressed in a nice red shirt and skirt, with long pink hair.

Noticing that her knees were scuffed and that she was sobbing as she stared back at him through the locks of her messy fringe, the whiskered-blond gave a couple of blinks before then turning to the three girls, who'd once again taken a step closer to him.

The now impatient-looking Ami leant forward and glared right at the boy, hoping that her friends' presence would prompt the child to back off. "Well? Speak up. Aren't you going to say something? Or are you too stupid to answer the question for yourself?"

"Yeah. Come on, runt," the tall, ginger-haired Kasumi spoke with her usual gruff tone. "Give us something. Otherwise we'll just have to flatten you like we did to 'forehead girl' here." She said this while gesturing back to the girl on the grass, who quickly looked up when she was addressed.

Through the haze of tears still fresh in her eyes, the pinkette spotted the blond boy confronting the three girls that'd been picking on her out of sight of any of the teachers. Realizing that he was now drawing their attention away from her, the girl at first felt relief, until she saw them begin to circle the boy. This immediately had her look up in worry, as she was well aware of how aggressive Ami and her friends were, especially towards boys.

Hopefully they wouldn't do anything bad to him. He was on his own after all.

Exhaling deeply at the incredibly fierce stares he was receiving from the trio in front of him, the bored Naruto then responded in a flat voice. "The three of you are in my way. Could you please move so that I can get past?"

"Huh?" Ami balked, staring at the boy in surprise. "What did you just say to me?"

Not reacting emotionally in any way, the unflinching Naruto repeated his response, "I… asked if you could move."

"Oh… you want us to move, huh?" Kasumi huffed and stomped forward.

"Why don't you just go around us?" the spiky haired Fuki asked with a foul glare directed towards the blond. "It's not like you have to walk very far."

Ami then raised a hand and waved at the blond. "You're annoying. Go away."

Closing his eyes and breathing a heavy sigh, Naruto then looked up at the three girls to see Ami's two friends advance on him. "Look… I'm trying to be nice… and I'm doing my best to not cause any trouble at school. But if you three don't move in the next few seconds, I'm going to start breaking noses from idiot to idiot, because I'm not in the mood for messing around." A familiar scenario then started developing again, as the blond felt the encroaching feeling of being ganged up on. Honestly, it was a feeling that pissed him off and began revving the metaphorical engine inside of him.

"You want to do what?" the imposing Kasumi asked while stepping up to the slightly shorter Naruto to stare him right in his tired face. Looking him up and down, the big girl huffed. "Your clothes are dirty and gross."

"And you smell funny," Fuki exclaimed, at the same time pinching her nose to illustrate the problem.

Naruto's eye twitched as a result. "That's because I found these clothes in a fabric dumpster… jerks." If they knew what he was doing outside of school they would probably understand. But he highly doubted it.

These girls obviously weren't doing his kind of training or probably any.

"A 'nobody' like you can't give us orders," Ami said a little louder, also getting up into the blonde's face. With a huff, she then reached up and poked him in the chest… hard. "Now beat it, loser." Touching the blond turned out to be her big mistake, as in a blink of an eye Naruto effortlessly grabbed her hand with his right and twisted it in a textbook Z-shaped lock, turning it downwards and forcing Ami to bend with it. The girl's eyes widened the moment her body started bending towards the floor as a sharp pain shot up her limb. "OW-OW-OW-OW-OW!"

Expression remaining unchanged, the boy then saw the two girls beside Ami about to step in to help her. Acting on instinct, the boy changed the hold he had on the purple-haired girl, spinning her around so that she had her back to him and her arm locked behind her. Upon doing so Naruto then reached up, pushed his hand through his hair and slicked it back. He then gave the two girl's a very threatening smirk, which had Kasumi and Fuki back away when they felt the boy's ire on them.

"Would you girls do me a favour and walk away now?" Naruto asked in a gravely tone of voice, warning them if they tried anything he would hurt them.

Looking between the youngster and Ami, whom gave a pained yelp when the boy tightened his hold on her wrist and intensified the lock, Kasumi and her friend then wisely took a step back.

"S-Sure…"

"Thanks for understanding," Naruto hissed, before then releasing Ami and shoving her forward. Almost immediately upon being released the terrified girls then took flight, leaving Naruto and Sakura alone, the latter of whom couldn't help but stare after them in bewilderment.

Upon seeing the trio leave, the pinkette then turned to the boy who helped her, only to find he was standing directly beside her. She jumped a little when she looked up to see him glaring down at her- his eyes narrowed darkly and blond locks still slicked back- giving the impression that he was going to attack her as well. However, just when Sakura leaned away in preparation for yet another aggressive confrontation that she did not want, the blond orphan spoke in his raspy voice.

"Why were those three giving you such a hard time?"

"I… I…" Not knowing what to say at first, Sakura sniffled before quickly bringing her hands up to cover her face. "Th-They were making fun of my forehead… and telling me I was ugly."

"Really?" Naruto then tilted his head at the girl's appearance, looking to see if there was anything wrong. He then leant forward and pushed aside the bangs hanging over her face, causing Sakura to curl up a little more and clench her eyes shut. After inspecting it for himself, the blond grunted and let her bangs fall back into place. "I don't see anything wrong. You look perfectly find to me."

Blinking, the girl looked up at him in surprise. "Huh? R-Really?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded, before then slipping his hands back into his pockets, gestured in the direction the bullies had ran. "You shouldn't let those girls pick on you and call you names… or anybody else. If you let them walk all over you now, then they'll keep doing that… and call you a weakling for the rest of your life. Trust me… it will suck." Noticing the pinkette staring up at him through her veil of pink hair with a look of awe and amazement, the blond felt a tad bit of discomfort overcome him. Feeling his face heat up, the sullen youngster turned around. "If you want to stop them from pushing you around… train… work hard… and get strong enough so that people will be too afraid to mess with you." He then walked away, not wanting to be around if the girls decided to go fetch a teacher.

As Sakura watched the boy walk towards the forest and away from the children on the playground, the child felt an overpowering sense of motivation and wonder settle in. Not only was she moved by the mysterious boy's words and tone, but upon looking back at his actions and remembering how he so handily chased those girls away from her, the pinkette also felt a great deal of reverence to his confidence and skills.

She'd never seen another boy act and talk like that, with such a calm and poised disposition. It was almost like he was a grownup, even though some of the words he spoke didn't belong to an adult.

When the image of his face looking down at her crossed her mind once again, his piercing blue eyes, rugged face, and whiskers framed by his slicked back blond hair, Sakura felt a bit of heat swell up in her cheeks. As a result, her hands and stomach clenched a little tighter, as a surge of energy washed through her.

"If you want to stop them from pushing you around… train… work hard… and get strong enough so that people will be too afraid to mess with you."

His words echoed through her head like a ring from a bell, filling her with newfound feeling of enlightenment and confidence.

"He's so cool…" Sakura whispered.