A Simple Teenage Shop Owner

27

People along the street that contained Naruto's shop were somewhat confused as they walked along the road one early morning. A repetitive hammering filled the air and mixed with the soft tweeting of faraway birds. The sound grew stronger as one approached the store until they eventually stumbled upon its cause.

Naruto hammered diligently at the front door of his shop. With a hammer in one hand and the other holding tightly onto a thin nail, the boy was hard at work despite the early hours. His burnt orange sweatpants and black t-shirt made him look more like a class-skipper than an actual shop owner.

"And done." The blond announced to himself as he stepped back to observe his handiwork. The small amount of light from the early morning sun provided just enough illumination for the blond to view his work.

"'No random God visits allowed. Appointments must be made'." The blond read the sign out loud. The words were written in bright orange paint and had a thick black line running under it. To either side sat a black swirl while a phone number stood in the upper right corner of the wooden sign.

"This is not going to work." Kurama's voice echoed out in the blond's mind as the beast viewed the sign.

"It'll work. I'll make sure it will work. Now stop being so negative and play." Naruto stated back as he moved to walk into his shop. With his hammer in one hand, the blond pushed open the glass doors to the shop and walked approximately ten steps into the building before making an abrupt stop.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! Out. Get out!" Naruto yelled as he stomped his way up to his counter. The single person sitting at the object turned in their seat to face the blond. The figure had only a moment to react before they were pushed out of the seat towards the door.

"You gods can't just keep popping up randomly into my shop. No more! Read the sign. No more random vi-" Naruto silenced himself when he felt his grip on the person suddenly disappear. The next thing the blond knew, his intruder landed a heavy elbow to his stomach and had a knife to his throat.

"You dare lay your hands on me?" At the sound of the feminine voice, Naruto began to realize that his intruder was actually female. A carefully slow glance up revealed an almost angelic, tan face that was framed with long auburn hair. A pair of deep and viridian eyes bore into his skull, spilling the intent to kill onto him.

"Yeah, I dare do." Naruto responded as he ducked his head beneath the knife just mere moments before it would've slid his throat. From his lowered position, the blond attempted to sweep the woman's feet from out under her, only to have her jump deftly over his attack. From her aerial position, the woman sent her knife hurtling down towards the blond. Naruto was forced to roll out the way, lest he get pierced, causing the knife to land dully in his floor.

"This is why you guys aren't allowed in my shop anymore. You broke my floor!" Naruto yelled as he dashed towards the woman. The instant her feet touched the ground, the blond was upon her. A jab launched by the shinobi was easily deflected by the woman, making her respond with an attempted hook strike. Before the hit could land, Naruto grabbed onto the woman's offending limb, and, with his new grip on her, sent her flying into the air. The strength behind the throw was enough to send the woman flying across the room into the stack of chair and tables leaned against the wall. Unable to right her flight in time, the unknown woman crashed into the assortment of stacked tables and chairs.

"I just made more of a mess for myself." Naruto mumbled to himself seconds before he was forced to duck down to avoid a table that was sent flying towards his head. The blond groaned when he heard the table slam into the wall behind him. The noise of wood shattering into a countless amount of splinters made him flinch. That was another mess he had to clean.