AN: This is the first piece of writing I've put together in a while, and it's a pretty big undertaking, but I was inspired by my own four years of undergrad experience. Before you wonder at the absurdity of some of these situations, I'd like to point out that almost everything in these chapters has happened to either myself or my friends at college. Believe me, I couldn't make this stuff up! I have up to chapter 7 finished and in various stages of editing, but I can't make any timeline promises after that. I'm having some trouble getting line breaks to show up for time jumps, so if there's a mysterious jump, there should probably be a line break there. I may break down and just use hr tags if it gets tobe a problem. Any suggestions are welcome!

Many thanks for the beta reading of Amatyultare!

Naruto and all characters from it are copyright Masashi Kishimoto.

Thursday, August 24

It only took Naruto two trips between the Konoha University dorm shuttle and the third floor to get everything he owned into his room, and none of the upperclassmen were helping him, either. This would have made the blonde proud, had he realized that other people were getting assistance in lugging mini fridges and Rubbermaid bins up the stairs, and that everyone could request the same. However, Naruto had never received much help from anyone before, and it never crossed his mind that college would be any different.

Sure, he knew he had gotten into Konoha U as the token charity case; his grades had been nothing more than average, and his list of extracurricular activities, though long, included no leadership positions. No, Naruto was aware that his mailing address at Hokage Children First Orphanage had done more for his college career than anything he had accomplished on his own. Truth be told, he resented that fact, although he was hardly about to turn down a prestigious university because his ego was bruised. He would simply have to prove to everyone that he belonged here.

His limited wardrobe of black t-shirts and jeans were neatly folded in the chest, and his orange winter coat--$5 at the thrift shop, hastily purchased the day before—hung in his closet on a wire hanger. His top bunk was made, and Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the mattress taping his one poster to the wall when the door opened behind him.

"Wha?" he mumbled, turning around to peer at the door. There had been a name on his rooming assignment sheet, but Naruto had barely noticed. This boy standing in the doorway with dark hair and a scowl must be his roommate.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto announced, untangling his legs and jumping from the bed without even glancing at the ladder. He approached the doorway, hand extended, as the dark-haired boy shifted under the weight of the trunk he was holding.

"Uchiha Sasuke. You're in my way."

"Um, er, sorry," Naruto grunted, stepping back to let Sasuke to carry the trunk inside and lay it on the floor next to the other chest of drawers. Naruto poked his head into the hallway, looking for Sasuke's family and the rest of his belongings.

"Are your parents coming with the rest of your things? I could, uh, go help." Sasuke, busy unlocking the trunk, looked up in annoyance for a moment before turning back to his luggage.

"No. This is all I have." Naruto decided not to take that statement as a comment on Sasuke's personal life, although in retrospect, perhaps he should have. Instead, he became curious about why the boy had even less luggage than Naruto himself.

"Oh. Well, where are you from?"

"Konoha. Didn't you read your housing assignment?" Naruto shrugged.

"Only enough to know I had a place to sleep. I guess you know I'm from Konoha too, then."

"Yup."

"I wonder why we never met before," Naruto mused, ambling over to sit on Sasuke's lower bunk and gaze at the ceiling in thought. "Konoha isn't very large, you know?"

"I went to Konoha Prep—I bet you went to public school, right?" Naruto sneered at Sasuke's superior tone.

"Yes, I did—and we didn't have uniforms or any of that bullshit you guys have."

"Well, you probably didn't have an education, either. You're sitting on my bed." Sasuke had worked quickly, filling his dresser with dark shirts and pants.

"Gee, sorry," Naruto snapped, standing up and crossing the room to lean against his own dresser. He watched Sasuke contemplate the bed in bemused disgust, holding a set of plain white sheets in his hands. Naruto involuntarily glanced up at his own cartoon character-adorned sheets. They'd been purchased at the same time as his orange jacket because he'd forgotten they were necessary until the last minute, but Naruto had liked them until he saw Sasuke's arrogant smirk.

This college dorm thing was off to a bad start. He had roommates at the orphanage, more than just one, but none as irritable as this Sasuke guy. He seemed like the self-absorbed, pretty little rich boy type that Naruto expected from K-Prep, a type which happened to be one of Naruto's least favorite kinds of people. However it worked out, though, Naruto would handle it. He always did.

Before he could start putting his sheets on the bed, Sasuke was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both boys yelled, "Come in!" at the same time, and then glared at each other while the door opened and an older boy in a green dress shirt and khakis stepped in.

"Meeting in fifteen minutes in the common room, okay guys? How's everything going in here?" their RA asked. Rock Lee had introduced himself to each student upon their arrival; he was a sophomore, and was responsible for the third and fourth floors of Fire Hall.

"Fine." Both boys spoke at the same time, and Lee laughed.

"Good, it looks like you're getting along already. See you in fifteen, then." Lee stepped back into the hallway and looked at the door he had closed behind him with a sigh. The tension in room 302 had been palpable—this would be a room to keep an eye on this year.

LINE BREAK+

The forty freshmen from the third and fourth floors stood in a circle on the residential quad, circles of other freshmen from different dorms scattered across the grass to their sides. Their meeting in the common room had lasted half an hour as Lee went over the dorm rules, and now they were supposed to be getting to know each other in the late summer sun. Naruto was excited, but Sasuke looked supremely bored, to Naruto's annoyance. New friends—any friends—were a rare prospect for the orphan, and it irked him that Sasuke didn't seem to care about something so important.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and my favorite hobby is—well, probably eating ramen!" he said enthusiastically when his turn came. Everyone laughed, and he added, "Really, it's martial arts. I've been training for most of my life." Sasuke stiffened beside him, and Naruto turned to him in curiosity, since it was his turn anyway.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, and my hobby is martial arts training as well," he said coolly, not looking at Naruto, who stared at him incredulously. They had the same interests? Naruto didn't quite know how to take that information.

"You're staring at me," Sasuke muttered. Naruto scowled.

"You have the same hobby I do."

"Yeah, so?"

"So we have something in common. Why are you such a bastard?"

"Why are you so annoying?"

"Um, guys?" Lee interjected, raising one dark eyebrow. Naruto and Sasuke turned away from each other, noses in the air, not realizing that they shared the exact same look of indignation.

Naruto tried to pay attention as the rest of the residents told their names and their hobbies. He recognized some of the people from when he was moving in: the girl with pink hair and her platinum blonde roommate from 412; the two boys from 303, one of whom had brought a bag of potato chips to the meeting; a tall, shaggy haired boy who looked like he'd pulled a prank or two in his day; a quiet girl with dark hair who appeared to be scared to say her name. Naruto didn't really catch much about them, however, since he was too busy stewing about Sasuke's attitude problem.

When the introductions were done, Lee announced that they had to attend a lecture from President Sarutobi before going to dinner. There was general groaning, but they all followed Lee's green shirt through the crowds of freshmen to the campus' largest auditorium. Naruto found himself in a row between Kiba and Hinata, the boy who looked like he was a trickster and the quiet girl; Sasuke, he noticed, had somehow ended up between the girls from room 412, who were apparently named Sakura and Ino. How did that bastard already have women clamoring for a seat next to him? Naruto wondered, watching other girls shoot Sakura and Ino dirty looks. He leaned over and tapped Hinata on the arm.

"Hey. Do you think he's hot?" Naruto asked, jerking his head toward Sasuke. Hinata's eyes widened and she blushed.

"Um, him? Sasuke? Well, er, he's pretty hot and all, but, um, not really my, er, type," she stammered, shocked to be put on the spot by a guy she had been internally ecstatic about sitting beside. To her surprise, this Naruto guy, whom she personally thought was her type, looked happy with her answer.

"Good. He's an ass. He's my roommate, so I know," he told her authoritatively, sneaking another look at the dark-haired boy. "Not that I'm judging him or anything."

"Right." Hinata giggled. She was sure that Naruto and Sasuke were having some sort of macho, male-roommate sort of competition, and she didn't take his words too seriously. In fact, it was kind of attractive.

She admonished herself for trying to develop a crush on the first day, and resolved to control her emotions better as President Sarutobi walked to the podium.

LINE BREAK+

Naruto carried his cafeteria tray into the main dining room, looking around for the other people from Fire. Kiba said they would get a table on right side, but—there they were! The group had shoved several tables together, and most of the people Naruto had already met were sitting around it laughing about something or another. Naruto's brow creased when he saw Sasuke sitting between Sakura and Ino again, as if he were some sort of sex god. Just his luck to get the roommate all the girls wanted. It would be nice if some of that luck could rub off on him.

"Hey, Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed, waving to him frantically. "We put a chair at the end for you." Naruto smiled as he approached the table and put his tray in front of the chair they had saved just for him. That was a great feeling, to be wanted.

"What IS that?" Shikamaru, sitting to Naruto's right, peered into the bowl on his tray. Naruto sat down and picked up his chopsticks.

"Ramen, duh!"

"That's all you're eating?" Shikamaru's roommate Chouji asked from Naruto's left. Naruto laughed, eyeing the pile of food on Chouji's own tray.

"No, this is all that would fit on the tray with my drinks. I think five or six bowls ought to do it—"

"Did you just say you're going to eat six bowls of ramen?" Sakura broke in, leaning forward to look past Sasuke to Naruto.

"Well, yeah . . ."

"How can you DO that?" Naruto gave a little shrug.

"With my mouth?" Shikamaru snickered, and Naruto thought he saw Sasuke stifle a laugh as Sakura glared.

"I know that. I meant, eat that much, idiot!"

"Oh, that. I'm a growing boy, you know." Naruto gave Sakura an exaggerated wink and began to eat as the others laughed.

Hinata watched Naruto from the other end of the table, where she was trying not to get drawn into Sakura and Ino's conversation with Sasuke. It was more like a conversation AT Sasuke, since he really couldn't get a word in edgewise. Hinata found that a little sad. She hoped the other girls in their budding group wouldn't turn out to be man-crazy fashionistas, like the girls from high school.

Although she kept an eye on Naruto as he laughed with Chouji and Kiba about some video game, a voice in the back of her head was screaming alerts. She always did this: every time Hinata met an attractive, boisterous male, she started to get a crush on him, knowing that he was unattainable and therefore safe. College was supposed to be different. She was going to find a guy who was good for her and actually date him, not chase the ones she could never have. Hinata had promised herself this, and swore once again to stick to it.

"Hinata? Isn't that right?"

"Huh?" she asked in confusion, blinking at Sakura.

"Men! They don't understand how we women are complicated. It's easy for them to tell us to relax, but they just don't understand how we think. Of COURSE we worry all the time!" Hinata's mouth hung open for a moment.

"Well, um, women have less confidence. Er, we, um, always wonder about what we are, you know, doing."

"Exactly!" Sakura said, banging her palm on the table. She continued talking at Sasuke as if they were actually having a dialogue, when really Ino was the only one responding to her statements, usually with sounds of agreement. Sasuke, meanwhile, was watching Hinata watch his roommate. The girl seemed terrified of attention. Was she merely shy, or was there something in her past that made her this way? Sasuke was mildly curious. However, why was she looking at his failure of a roommate? The boy didn't seem at all like he belonged here at Konoha University, wearing what were obviously hand-me-down clothes and acting so laid back. Class clowns wouldn't get very far here.

LINE BREAK+

Sasuke sat on his bottom bunk, his back against the wall and knees bent in front of him, bare feet curled in his blanket. He was staring at the first page of a paperback novel, but wasn't getting very far. Everyone he had eaten dinner with was in Sakura and Ino's room playing Monopoly; he had refused out of habit, but now found himself wondering what they were doing. Sasuke hadn't been tempted to socialize with his peers for a long time, ever since he'd figured out how shallow his K-Prep classmates were. All he ever had in common with any of them was his parents' income; while the other students were off trying to seduce girls in the cramped back seats of their sports cars, Sasuke was spending his time silently training in martial arts or reading the works of bitter, dead philosphers.

At the same time as he coolly ignored his classmates, though, Sasuke had always assumed that even the shallowest of them was closer to his own worth than other people who had less money and less power. It was an elitism that he had had never questioned, one that his parents had instilled in him through actions more so than words, one that was shared by everyone who traveled in his circle. Even his martial arts training, overseen by his father, had been in the company of other young men of the same social level. And, yet—here he was, wondering if he should have agreed to play Monopoly with a loud group of slightly vulgar college classmates. It was an impulse completely at odds with how Sasuke saw himself, and he was confused about where it came from.

A knock on the door ripped Sasuke from his daze, and he called for whomever it was to come in, half hoping it was someone asking him to go and join them.

"Oh, hi, Sasuke. I wanted to talk to you and Naruto real quick," Lee told him, leaning his right forearm on the doorknob of the opened door. "The Activities Fair is coming up, and I wanted to tell you both about the Martial Arts Club. My friend Neji and I are the co-presidents, and I thought you might both like to join."

"You're a martial artist?" Sasuke asked incredulously, eyeing Lee's pressed khakis. Lee laughed.

"Yes, I am. I started when I was young because I wanted to be a superhero, and I really liked it. I've always wanted to save someone's life. I guess everyone has their own silly reasons for being a fighter," he added, his left hand going to the back of his head in embarrassment. Sasuke stared at him, his fingertips pressing into the pages the only sign he was affected. Everyone had their silly reasons, all right.

"Yeah, I guess they do. I'll let Naruto know." Lee tilted his head to the side.

"Is he around? I thought I might talk to him about training—I heard him tell Kiba he's going to the gym, so I thought that he may want to train with Neji and me. Martial Arts Club members tend to hang out together a lot." It took Lee a moment to see that Sasuke, although he didn't seem the type to admit it, would probably want to be included to, and he felt a flash of guilt for excluding the boy in the first place. "Listen, ah, you can come, too."

"I'll think about it. Naruto's in four-twelve with everyone else." Sasuke could have added that it was discovered during dinner that all of the newfound friends were actually martial artists, and they might all want to join the club. Lee would find that out on his own in a few moments without Sasuke saying anything, though, so there was no reason to waste the breath. Lee nodded.

"Thank you. We're going to go to dinner as a group tomorrow again, so I'll see you then, okay?" Sasuke merely nodded a good-bye, and Lee backed out of the room.

Lee wondered about the boy's story as he climbed the stairs to the next floor. He was very quiet, in a way that seemed arrogant and dismissive at first. However, Lee was getting a feeling that there was more to Sasuke than elitism. The freshman had looked eager when Lee opened the door; when that was put together with the fact that everyone else was having a party elsewhere . . . well, it seemed to Lee that Sasuke just needed to adapt to college life, and then he'd open up.

Kiba and Naruto were in a heated debate over the snake-eyes payout rules when Lee knocked on the door of room 412. He knew this because they could be heard from two doors down the hall. He also knew that Sakura was annoyed with Naruto because he was loud, Ino couldn't concentrate on painting her toenails, and Chouji had misplaced the bowl of potato chips. Quiet hours were going to be hard as hell to enforce with this group.

Lee knocked again when no one answered, hitting the door harder to be heard over the din. There was a brief, blessed moment of silence from the room, and then Sakura yelled, "Come in!" When Lee looked around the edge of the door at the assembled freshmen, she cringed.

"Sorry. Are we being too loud? It's all his fault," she said accusingly, gesturing toward a gaping Naruto.

"Is not! I was just explaining to—"

"Whoa, don't worry, you're fine. Just keep it down after eleven, okay?" Lee laughed, holding up his hands as the door closed behind him. "I actually wanted to talk to Naruto for a moment. Sasuke said you were in here," he addressed the blonde. "I'm one of the co-presidents of Martial Arts Club, and I thought I'd invite you and Sasuke to sign up at the Activities Fair in two weeks. Also, I overheard that you wanted to work out, and the other co-president and I work out every other day in the gym, if you want to come," Lee explained. Considering that most of the people in the room had named something else as their hobby earlier in the afternoon, he was taken aback by the extent of everyone's response.

"Wow, cool!"

"I didn't know there was a Martial Arts Club!"

"When are your meetings?"

"When's your next workout day? I want to come, too."

Naruto shrugged and looked up at Lee, his eyes grinning.

"I think we all want to join. They're all gonna get their asses kicked, of course, since I'll be there, but—"

"What the hell're you talking about? I can take you out with no trouble!" Kiba laughed, jumping to his feet and motioning for Naruto to come and get him. Naruto was on his feet then as well, about to pounce on Kiba.

"Hey guys, wait until—" Kiba and Naruto moved toward each other before Lee could finish his warning, and without thinking about it, Lee jumped between them. The two boys froze, with Lee's left hand around Naruto's throat and his right foot under Kiba's chin. The other freshmen stared at their RA in shock.

"Save it for training, okay? Someone could get hurt." Lee let go of Naruto and lowered his foot, oblivious to the looks of awe he was receiving. "Kiba, to answer your question, we're going to go work out tomorrow morning. Around nine, I think. Anyone who wants to come can stop by my room. Naruto, can you tell Sasuke the time?" He smiled at the freshmen and gave them a thumbs up. "I'm glad to hear you all want to join the club. See you tomorrow morning!" He left the room with a big smile, and the remaining students looked at each other.

"He's good . . ." Chouji marveled, eyeing the door. "I wonder what type of martial art he uses."

"Looked like Tae Kwon Do to me," Shikamaru commented with a shrug. "It's annoying as hell to defend against with someone that fast."

"I could have done it if he hadn't caught me off guard," Naruto muttered, plopping back onto the rug. "Come on, let's finish the game."

Meanwhile, Rock Lee was whistling quietly to himself as he walked back to his own third floor room. The Martial Arts Club was in desperate need of recruits, and these all seemed like good kids who could also be a lot of fun as friends. Besides, even though he wasn't allowed to have any relations with his residents . . . those girls were pretty cute!