Professional... otaku?

Lord Hokage

The little wolf cub had a hard time even getting to its feet. It was already very hungry and had barely any strength left. But Dix didn't intervene, he just watched it from a safe distance as it slowly stumbled its way towards the food. When it reached its goal it started devouring the meat like there is no tomorrow. Well, there really wouldn't be if it didn't eat. Dix decided to restart the fire, as there was still some leftover on the boar, which he could give to the puppy, but it was already cold and stiff so he wanted to reheat it properly. The pupper was still a bit scared, but didn't have enough energy to worry, so it just kept on consuming the meat and the water next to it.

By the time it finished the chunk of the meat in front of itself the fire was already rekindled and Dix had another well-heated roasted pork in his hand. He wanted to feed the wolf himself so they grow closer and form a basic bond he can build upon. Again, it took quite a while for the cub to move, as it kept staring with the still present hostility at Dix, as he kept holding out the slab of meat he just reheated. But soon the wolf had enough and just went with the flow. It approached Dix and slowly but firmly took the meat from his hands and walked a few steps away to eat it in relative safety.

Dix just chuckled a bit at its antics and proceeded to prepare another piece of meat and sent a clone to get more water in the bowl. As the puppy finished with its current food it came closer to Dix without him even showing anything. It was staring at him, without hostility by now, with its huge eyes. Dix suppressed another set of laughter and just handed more food to the pup, whom didn't run away anymore.

As it was focusing on its meal, Dix decided to touch it to help the bond grow. It was pretty preoccupied, but still noticed the approaching hand and it stiffened while letting out a warning growl. Dix didn't heed it, he proceeded to pat its head and scratch its ears. First it looked like its afraid, but that really soon turned into relaxation as it seemed to quite enjoyed the gesture. Soon he continue munching on the pork, as Dix kept petting its head.

"That's it, calm now, are we? Good boy... girl... Uh... Damn I never had a dog of my own before, so I guess I'll have to look a few stuff up, huh?" Dix said with great conviction and a stupid grin on his face. He was excited at the thought of having his own nin-dog. "Kakashi, a renowned and famous ninja relied on these animal helpers too... Well actually those are spirit animals and can talk but... Well... This is quite good too I believe! Maybe even better. Its a bit contradictory for me if an animal can speak."

It looked like it tried to pay attention to Dix, but was too focused on munching even more, which looked absolutely hilarious. Dix always loved the cat and dog doing funny things kinda videos on yutbob back in the days, so he was all for this. He decided to learn as much as possible about dogs, so he had another target now in the public library. Dix looked at the location of the sun on the sky and had to see it almost touched the horizon in the distance. He wasn't late from entering the village, but he had to start moving right away. He summoned a clone that would take care of the puppy for the night and started running home.

He entered the village without any problems, the gates were scheduled to close in around half an hour, so Dix was well in time. He greeted the familiar ninja and he nodded back. Thus, he hurried along, and because he had some more time before curfew in the orphanage, he decided to check on the library. It was mostly empty at this hour, just the clerk was there and a few dedicated people. He just strolled past the clerk without even looking at her. She was quite obnoxious, so Dix decided to ignore her and move in. She looked angry, but didn't do anything to stop him.

Dix arrived to the section he wanted to visit. It was full of natural sciences, but knowledge about animals and such were also stored here. Dix summoned ten clones, which was quite dangerous and reckless in this situation. Dix usually doesn't use jutsus or techniques in the village as he could be easily found out, but he scouted around and decided that with nobody around it was kinda safe. He set one of the clones on the lookout and told half of the others to go and find relevant information about dogs and their training, while the other half had to go and study new jutsus.

He had around half an hour before he had to rush to the orphanage, as the village is operating at a uniform curfew policy. This seems logical as the village itself was a military establishment to train and deploy ninjas. Thus, even in peace time, a certain level of security had to be kept. People had to get back to their homes within 10 minutes of the curfew starts and there shall be no one on the streets. Because of this Dix had to hurry up and gather as much knowledge as fast as possible.

After around 25 minutes passed he dispersed all the clones and made his way out of the library before the clerk had to throw him out herself. She was about to stand up from her desk to do just that, when she noticed how the boy hurried away. She just clicked her tongue and frowned, but didn't say anything this time either.

Dix was rushing back to the orphanage at the maximum speed allowed in this zone. He left enough time for himself because he didn't want to be fined. As he got close he noticed Elma standing in the door once again. He got a bit scared, even though he knew he was in time. He jogged in and came to a halt right in front of Elma, with his hands on his knees he tried to look like he was out of breath after a long sprint. Elma looked at the clock in the hall of the orphanage and let out a loud 'Hmph!'

"You were lucky this time you little rascal, but you cut it really close. This can't go on like this, from now on you have to be here ten minutes before curfew starts! No buts!" Elma said with slightly red cheeks. She wasn't really angry, but she was annoyed for sure. Maybe she was lamenting the fact she missed the chance to give the little ever-moving an earful.

"Bu- hah... Uh, okay, sure. If you say so, then that's how it will be..." Dix said trying to act as innocent as possible. Elma looked a bit less annoyed and more satisfied as she found Dix's answer good enough. She also broke out a smile and patted his head.

"Okay, now get yourself into a presentable shape, the Lord Hokage came to visit you. He is waiting for you in my office. Hurry now, he doesn't have much time to waste."

Dix's eyes widened, as the Third rarely visits him. It happened a few time in the last four years but most of the time he was barely able to talk, if at all, which made the interactions quite one-sided. He hasn't seen him for more than a year now. This was surprising for sure. Dix rushed away to his room to get a change of clothes and clean himself at least partially. When he was done he headed to Elma's office, as instructed.

When he entered Elma was already there chatting with the Third. They both sat in their own armchairs, as there were two of those in the office, along with a slightly bigger couch. The Third was wearing his signature Hokage uniform, which was a long white and red kimono with a similarly colored huge circular hat on his head, which had the japanese kanji for 'fire' written on its front. When Dix entered the room they were laughing about some interesting old memory they shared, and when they noticed him they both turned his way. The Third had a delightful and cheerful glimmer in his eyes.

"Ah, my boy, the one I was looking for. Its hard to track you down these days. You are quite the adventurous kid for sure. Elma, what did you name him, please refresh my memory..." he said with giddy amusement in his voice. In his hands he was holding another one of his signature item, his tobacco pipe. When he is resting he usually starts smoking too. This helped Dix determine the direction of this visit a bit better.

"He is our Little Explorer!" she said with a heartwarming smile and a nod.

"Hahaha, that's it. Yes, now, come here son, sit down on the couch and tell this old bear what you are up to. I want to hear what you do nowadays." he said while gesturing to Dix to come closer.

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I like the concept of the Third in the role of the happy and funny uncle. In the anime we could only see him being annoyed at Naruto's bad behavior, so this meant to reflect his other side.Thanks for the read, I'd appreciate if you would leave your thoughts in the comments and donate some upvotes. Cheers! :D

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