Hidden Villages

I: Hot Water

School was boring.

Even more than before, Naruto didn't think anything the teachers taught would prove useful. On top of not finding anything Iruka sensei said useful, he now found the man a major spoilsport who couldn't possibly understand what being a young child was like, let alone a child with no family.

He also found himself perturbed by the man in the fox mask. Every so often the man showed up, and in Naruto's honest opinion - his very childish opinion - the man's attention was unwanted and unneeded. The young academy student would turn and glare right at the man in the fox max every time he appeared and let his face scrunch up so his eyes narrowed.

Naruto found Iruka sensei quite mean assigning them detention simply for sneaking out and playing. "He must have no life."

"What a drag."

"Yeah. That." Naruto nodded his head at what Shikamaru said. Shikamaru stopped looking up at the sky and looked right at Naruto as if contemplating something. Choji continued munching on a bag of chips.

"So, what are we going to do since we snuck out of detention today?"

"You guys snuck out of detention. I didn't caught, remember?" Shikamaru returned to walking alongside his classmates and turned his attention back towards the sky above. "What a drag."

Kiba let out a laugh. "So, what are kind of fun are we going to get into today?"

Naruto frowned. "I used to sneak into the bathhouse with sensei." His three companions stopped walking forward. Naruto's blue eyes blinked in confusion as they looked at him. "What?"

"Did you just suggest that we sneak into the bathhouse?" A grin appeared on Kiba's face.

"I want to know if you're for real." Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets even more.

"Did you just dare me?" Naruto folded his arms across his chest and stuck out his lip. Choji shoved another handful of chips into his mouth. Kiba folded his arms behind his head

"Um, no. I didn't." Shikamaru glared at Naruto. "I meant, are you for real about us going into the bathhouse."

"Well, duh, yeah."

"I'm out." Shikamaru turned and started walking away from the two. "Come on Choji. We'll see them later."

"Hold on!" Naruto pointed his finger at Shikamaru. "You were wanting to dare me to go in..."

"I wasn't."

"... and now you aren't taking on the dare yourself."

"Idiot." Kiba's next laugh echoed through his nostrils.

"Oh! I bet you couldn't do it!" Naruto pointed his finger at Kiba.

"Oh yeah?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "What a drag. Anyways, I'm not going to do it."

"Because you think you'll get caught?"

"Because my mother will seriously hurt me if she gets even the slightest inkling I did such a thing. She'll also know. She just always does."

Kiba's mouth twisted slightly while he laughed. "You're afraid of your mother, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Aren't you?" Naruto grinned at Shikamaru while putting his arms behind his head like Kiba did.

"So what if I am? My mom is one of the last people you want to cross. She's scary." Shikamaru looked right at Kiba. "That said, the same goes for your mom Kiba."

"My mom's not gonna know." Kiba continued grinning. "What about you Choji?"

"I want to get something to eat." Choji snapped the now empty bag. "Plus, you can't take food into the bathhouse. You've got to wait until after your done to eat. As such I've never felt the need to go."