A Demon Misplaced

~Leper Messiah~

"Uzumaki!"

Blue eyes opened reluctantly. He stared at the screamer. Shido was his name, the man hated him. Another one among the many who shared the sentiment.

"Sorry, sensei," he said. The words were impassive and uncaring, something he wanted everyone to know.

"Be sorry when you become a hobo," Shido snarled at him. The teacher pushed his glasses back as he continued the charade. "This is the third time you fell asleep this week. Disrupting the class with your blatant show of delinquency. Sleep when you're at home!"

"I worked late last night," the blond replied, his unkempt hair flickering as he ran his hand through them. He wasn't going to apologize a second time.

He didn't say anything further. There was no need to. They didn't care about him, nor did anyone else. Well, a few did but they were unique cases.

No guardian, no parents, no relatives. It was funny to him. This whole situation.

Naruto Uzumaki mused in his mind, laughing at his fate. The man who flipped off destiny on every turn –finally admitted defeat in its face. He could tell how his friends and family would react to him acting in this manner.

His parents would probably frown at him. While his father would take a more meticulous approach, his mother would rip him a new one. Jiraiya and Tsunade would've done something, anything, to break him out of that state. His friends too.

But they weren't around. None of them were.

He was alone.

The blond understood what Sasuke meant that day. He knew why the Avenger sought solace in such a dangerous manner.

Losing the people that meant the world to you was harsh. A part of you went with them and now that Naruto wasn't with them any longer, self-loathing and isolation became tempting drugs.

It was better this way.

Naruto was a far cry from the person he used to be.

Despite all that, he missed them.

All of them.

Sighing, he reluctantly grabbed his pen and started jotting down notes. He didn't need to think about them right now.

He didn't want to hear Shido's obnoxious voice sneering at him, berating him and so many other words that he chose to ignore. It irked him at the moment. The hushed whispers and gossips regarding him didn't help his case either.

It only annoyed him further.

'Just a bit more,' he thought. 'Then I can go home.'

If he didn't fall asleep a second time. Then again, lunchtime was up ahead. The school cafeteria was a place that he looked forward to visiting. That was something worth looking forward to.

xXxXx-ADM-xXxXx

"So," a beautiful redhead said. "What have you picked up, Koneko?"

"Pervert smells like a dragon, Buchou," a bland, monotonous reply came from a petite, fifteen year-old girl. Far too small and lithe for her age.

"It seems our hunch was right," the redhead said. Hope swelled in her. "And what of the Fallen? Is she still dating him?"

"Yes," Koneko replied. "He goes out with her nearly every day." The girl's answer was short, crisp and blunt. Just as usual. The deadpan tone however was something the redhead tried to change, and failed, every time.

"And you managed to put a flyer on him?" she asked and saw the petite girl nodding as she ate pastry, whatever was left of it. "Good. That'll be all, Koneko. Make sure to be here tomorrow."