Hidden Villages

I: Meeting Naruto

Naruto disliked people telling him what to do.

He hated waiting for the rain to stop, but also hated the fact Jiraiya told him to stay. The adults in the room outside of the sage were in fact strangers. One stranger was old and the other wore a mask. Worse, the person who came and took him away also wore a mask. The mask was white with red marks, had strange fur on the back, but also looked like a fox.

As such, his words to the person made complete sense in his mind. "Put me down you stupid fox face!"

The person who scooped him up under his armpits shifted him just as Naruto attempted kicking what would be a rather tender spot if his captor was in fact male. The person carried him through the rain and soon arrived at an apartment. When inside the person plopped Naruto down onto his bottom rather unceremoniously.

"Jerk face!"

"You know, I really don't care if you call me that." The person made sure the window they came through was securely locked before disappearing into the hallway. Naruto folded his arms across his small chest while his small ears picked up the sound of clinking. Before his curiosity got the better of him the person peeked around the corner. "I've prepped a hot bath for you."

"You're not my father!"

"How many times did you tell the old sage that when you didn't want to do what he asked?" The person asked. "Did the fact he wasn't your father stop him from making you do what he told you to do?"

Naruto's lip stuck out while his arms crossed his chest in defiance.

"Well, I guess you don't want to warm up in this nice warm bath and get into dry clothes then while I make you a nice hot meal." The person pointed at themselves. "I certainly would rather not stay in these wet clothes."

"Pervert."

"I'm not even sure you know what that word means."

"Where are your clothes?"

"Hnn..." The person simply folded their arms across their chest. "Maye if you go take your bath you'll find out."

Naruto's curiosity perked and he walked into the bathroom. The door closed behind him and the child realized the man wasn't going to give him an answer. "Hey!"

"Take your bath. Soak for as long as you want, but not shorter than what you need to thoroughly clean between your toes and behind your ears."

"I hate that."

"Then you can very well miss dinner. You're unfortunately too old for someone to bathe you anymore, otherwise this would be done and over with a lot quicker."

Naruto folded his arms across his chest but finally relented. He found the bath in fact did feel good, but he refused to scrub between his toes and ears. Instead he simply pretended an epic battle was going on. Some water splashed over the edges as he made swooshing sounds. A knock at the door made his head jolt up. "Yes?"

"Are you done yet? I've prepped dinner for you."

"Oh." Naruto looked down at his toes he'd not scrubbed and decided he absolutely would not do as told. "Yes. I'm done."

"There's a change of clothes in the mudroom," the person said before disappearing.

Naruto got out of the bath not caring that he dripped everywhere before heading into the room between the bathroom and the hall. Sure enough, a pair of dry clothes waited for him. He didn't bother toweling off and just pulled the clothes on before heading into the kitchen area. He climbed into the chair and folded his arms across his chest in defiance.