"Find the place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." - Joseph Campbell

~*~*~

As eighteen-year-old Naruto Uzumaki strode towards the dorms of Konoha University, he pulled out the map from his pocket and sighed.

When Jiraiya had shown him his late-transfer acceptance letter, Naruto scolding him for going through his post again, but then grinned at the fact that he actually was accepted into such a prestigious school. But unfortunately, his first day was not going well.

His dorm flat wasn't in the main building with the majority of First Years, but instead in a separate building about a ten-minute walk to the edge of the campus. He found this peculiar, of course, but he didn't have any right to complain. He groaned as he paused and spun around and scanned all different directions.

All he could see was the main dorms, as well as a few cafes and a small supermarket. He was pleased about this, of course, because one of the main reasons that he wanted to go to Konoha was because it was a campus, meaning that he didn't really need to leave it in order to survive. He could buy food inside the campus, go to classes inside the campus, and live inside the campus – Naruto didn't really like being outside of his comfort zone.

"You'd think there would be more signs around." He grumbled and glared at the map again, hoping that by staring, he would magically figure out where to go.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a figure walking past him, yelping in surprise he turned and called out. "H-Hey! Sorry, I'm a bit lost..." He rubbed the back of his head.

The man turned around and smiled, he had long black hair and a pale face which wasn't exactly comforting or welcoming, but instead just sent a shiver down Naruto's spine.

The man, who seemed to be a teacher, smiled again and walked forward, plucking the map out of Naruto's hands. "And where do you want to go?" He asked.

"Ah," Naruto racked his brain for a moment to remember the name, "The Shinobi flat."

To his surprise, the man grimaced at Naruto. With a snarl, he dropped the map onto the floor as if it was contaminated with some sort of a disease, and started walking away. His long dark hair flicked behind him.

Naruto was standing, frozen, dumbfounded as he didn't even get a reply. He could have sworn that he heard a hiss, but he must have been imagining it.

He clenched his teeth and yelled after the rude man, "You could have at least given me some directions!" He huffed in irritation, "Useless teacher." This really wasn't a good first day.

"You're looking for the Shinobi flat?"

Naruto gasping and almost jumped out of his skin – now, Naruto would never admit that he squealed like a little girl, but he definitely squealed like a little girl. He slapped a hand on his mouth to prevent the oncoming scream and then exhaled in relief when he saw who spoke.

The boy who appeared out of nowhere was standing in front of him with his eyebrow raised, and arms crossed. He looked to be about Naruto's age, and wore a comfortable and casual t-shirt with jogging bottoms. His hair was slicked up and spikey at the top and his expression made it seem as if he would fall asleep at any moment.

He scowled and put a finger in his eat, "Aaah, it's too early, don't scream, it's too troublesome." He drawled.

Naruto blinked and then composed himself, "It's midday," He challenged, then blushed, "and I didn't scream."

The boy snorted, "Sure you didn't." He turned around and started walking.

When the boy noticed that Naruto was still just standing on the pavement, he paused and raised his eyebrow again. "You want to get to the Shinobi flat, right?" With Naruto's eager nod, the boy waved his hand and motioned for him to follow. "Come on then."

Naruto grinned and ran after the boy, he put away his map since he didn't need it anymore and started appreciating the surroundings.

As much as they probably had horrible teachers (the memory of that creepy man coming to mind), Konoha University definitely took care of its facilities. Everything looked new and clean, but the only problem was that the other students were frowning and glaring at him in distain.

"Don't let it bother you."

As if reading his mind, Naruto turned his head to the other boy. "Huh?"

"I'm Shikamaru," He introduced, "The other kids don't like us very much." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. "It's tiring to deal with for some, but people hate things they don't understand, after all."

Naruto furrowed his brows; firstly, 'us'? It was his first day, why did the other students hate him? He didn't do anything wrong. But the reaction of the teacher earlier made sense finally. He frowned as he walked next to Shikamaru.

"Why?" He questioned, still not entirely understanding what was going on. He felt burns on his back from probably all the glaring and daggers being metaphorically thrown at him.

Shikamaru shrugged, "Well, if you're in the Shinobi flat, it means you're different."

Naruto instantly stiffened and gripped his backpack tighter. "I don't know what you're talking about." He muttered defiantly.

The other boy chuckled lowly, "Yeah, okay."

After a couple of minutes of silence, they arrived at a small building which wasn't as new as the other flats, but wasn't completely tatty either.

Patting himself down, Shikamaru groaned, "Ah, forgot my key."

He took a quick glance at Naruto and looked like he was conflicted about something, Naruto fiddled with the hem of his jumper and then heard footsteps on the other side of the door.

The door swung open and an annoyed looking brunette with his long hair tied in a low ponytail appeared. He was holding ice covered with cloth on his cheek and narrowed his eyes with his eyebrow raised.

"Forgot your key again, huh?" He stated flatly.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Neji, you were three seconds later than you were last time," He pushed past the newly named Neji and walked into the first visible room. "Sakura again?" He teased.

"I accidently walked into the bathroom while she was changing." He muttered.

A snort was heard from the communal area. "Troublesome."

Naruto stood at the doorway awkwardly, the lavender-eyed boy noticed him and studied him for a second. "Nice to meet you Naruto, come in."

Naruto furrowed his brows and Neji rolled his eyes, pulling his arm and pushing him into the same room that Shikamaru was now relaxing in.

"H-Hey, how did you know my name?" The Uzumaki questioned nervously.

Neji smirked and Shikamaru chuckled, leaving Naruto even more confused. They probably just found out his name from the accommodation services or something...

"How many times have I told you not to grow flowers in my room, dumb Ino-pig!" A loud shout was heard from upstairs.

"Don't hog the fucking toilet then! I need to do my makeup, ugly billboard brow!"

The lights in the living room flickered and one exploded, making Naruto jump and the other two sigh in exasperation.

"Can you girls just shut up?!" A deep and annoyed voice snapped.

There was another scream, "Oi Sasuke! Turn the fuckin' lights back on, yeah!"

"... Maybe coming here was a mistake..." Naruto mumbled quietly to Neji who simply stared blankly.

A few minutes later, a black-haired boy walked down the stairs and entered the living room while grumbling to himself. He frowned as he saw Naruto.

"Who's the kid?"

The voice was the same one that he heard earlier, so Naruto presumed that this was 'Sasuke'. He didn't look much older than Naruto, so his use of 'kid' wasn't appreciated.

His hair was gelled up in the back so it kind of looked like a duck's butt, but his face was clear and pale, dark eyes glaring at Naruto.

Clearing his throat, Naruto extended his hand, "I'm Naruto, I'll be living here from today."

Glancing at his hand, Sasuke looked back up and walked away, about to plant himself down onto the couch but glowered at Shikamaru who was lying down, taking up the whole space. He shoved Shikamaru away, and made space for himself.

Naruto dropped his hand and clenched his teeth in irritation, why was everyone so rude?

"He's always like that." Neji smiled in apology to Naruto, answering the question that was on his mind.

A series of thumps came rushing down the stairs as a pink-haired girl came stumbling into the room and drew her hand back to punch Neji, who narrowly stepped to the side and let her fall face-first into the ground.

"Damn Neji! Stop walking into the girl's bathroom!" She growled.

"Sasuke was occupying the boy's bathroom." Neji remarked flatly. "It was an honest mistake, Sakura."

"Like hell it was!" Sakura then noticed Naruto's presence and tilted her head to the side, standing up and walking to the small kitchen on the other end of the room. "Ugh, someone get Deidara, Sasuke's messed up the stove." She exhaled.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw a dark shift in the air - so he turned. Blinking, he narrowed his eyes in confusion, "I could have sworn that..."

There was another shift on the couch and a long-haired blond boy who looked feminine, rubbed his head and stood up, groaning.

"You fucking know I hate when you do that, yeah!" He kicked the couch and snapped his fingers.

"Sorry, Deidara." Shikamaru quipped without any real remorse.

Naruto heard happy humming from Sakura behind him and he decided that he couldn't take it anymore.

"Where the fuck did you come from?!" He yelled in shock.

The older blond grinned, "Who's the hottie?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." Neji commented again, which made no sense because how would he know Naruto's surname?

"-Again, how do you know that?!" Naruto shouted hotly.

"Mind reader." Sasuke raised his brow.

From behind him, Naruto felt something flying towards him quickly and he turned to see Sakura grinning with the pot in front of her in the air. Her Cheshire grin was half covered by the pot that already left her hand, it was spinning towards Naruto's direction as if in slow motion.

Naruto's eyes widened and he instinctively raised his hands to cover his face in protection.

"Well, damn." Deidara's voice muttered.

A new girl, Ino laughed from the doorway, "Well, now we know why the newbie is here!"

Naruto opened his eyes and his face shifted into one of horror, the pot instantly dropped from levitating in front of him to the ground.

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, struggling to speak.

"I-I, um..." He couldn't think of an excuse. "Wow... How did that happen..." He mumbled lamely, dread filling his body.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Oh relax, did you think you were the only one with supernatural powers?"

"Hehe," Sakura smiled in apology and pushed a chair forward for Naruto to sit on, which he instantly planted himself onto. "Sorry! Just wanted to see what you could do."

Snorting, Ino folded her arms, "So you threw a metal pot at his head?" She shook her head and shrugged innocently, "That's why you're single."

Sakura shot her a glare and then smiled at Naruto again, sitting down next to him.

Naruto stared at them all blankly, "So... you all...?"

At this, Shikamaru chuckled. "Aren't you wondering how Deidara and I appeared out of nowhere?" He smirked at Naruto.

Naruto's ears tinted red as he recalled his outburst at the event, "So you can-" He tilted his head, "-do what exactly?"

"He can walk through shadows," Deidara supplied, striding towards the other blond and held out his hand, a small flame appearing until he made a fist and it disappeared. "I'm kind of a pyromaniac so I guess that's why I can control fire, yeah."

Sakura grinned, "I have super-strength!" She gestured to Ino to enter the room.

"I'm Ino." She shook Naruto's hand, "I can control nature." She waved her hand and the small potted plants which were scattered around the room bloomed and grew.

Naruto gazed in awe as Sasuke snapped his fingers and the lights turned on and off, "Sasuke can control electricity," Neji explained as Sasuke spared Naruto a short glance and then turned his eyes back on the T.V, which was playing a cooking show. "And you wondered how I knew your name, right? I can read minds."

Blushing, Naruto wanted to cover his face as he realised that the brunette could access all of his inner thoughts. The said long-haired brunette smirked.

"Stay out of his mind, Neji!" Ino snapped, "You know it's annoying!"

Rolling his eyes, Neji replied flatly while throwing the ice he had on his face onto the table, "It's not like I can control it." He turned back to Naruto, "And you?"

Snapping out of his trance, Naruto blinked a couple of times and finally noticed the small dark and singed areas in the room, especially on Sasuke's hair. The number of flowers was also astounding, and there were a couple of holes in the walls which he assumed were due to Sakura's punches.

"I'm telekinetic." Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly, "I can control stuff with my mind."

Ino clapped her hands together and bounced excitedly, "That's so cool!" She beamed.

Sitting up, Shikamaru exhaled and then leaned on one hand, gazing at Naruto with a lazy smile.

"Welcome to the Shinobi Flat; they call us freaks, we call ourselves the Supernaturals."

Welcome to my new Naruto Fanfiction!

This will be a long story, and I've been working on it since after I finished The Jinchuuriki Alliance, I'm looking forward to completing it.

I can't draw for shit, but I can Photoshop, which you can see above haha. So if anyone can make fanart, it would be much appreciated, I'll put it into the story too and dedicate the chapter to ya x

I hope you all enjoy it! Vote! Comment!

~Wolfie