A/N: Well, here's the first chapter of the highest voted story on my Poll! Which has now been redone with a new story idea to replace this one. So please, go vote again.
First Meetings
Nagato stared, through the eyes of his dead teammate (fittingly renamed Pein), at the red-haired, whiskered, baby boy inside a crib tucked away in a darkened corner of a secluded room. A few days earlier, Madara (though Nagato highly doubted that Tobi was truly Madara) had told him about the Kyuubi attacking Konoha and it's sealing into the Fourth's own son. Nagato really did not want nor wish to know exactly how Madara knew about the Kyuubi being sealed into the child before him. The boy yawned and opened his bright blue eyes. The eyes scanned over the ceiling tiles before coming to rest on him. The baby whined and held up his arms to be held. Nagato, despite knowing how bad of an idea it was, obliged the child. He wrapped his arms around the baby instinctively and gently patted his soft red hair. The boy cooed happily and snuggled closer to Nagato. Nagato shifted awkwardly, but continued his motions. He glanced around the room, absently sending a bit of chakra out for a quick scan of the area, and noted that no one seemed to be anywhere near him. Nagato looked back at the baby and, noticing that he had fallen asleep, carefully placed him back down in the crib.
"Now..." Nagato whispered, moving around to the side of the crib facing away from the wall. A small plaque was placed there on the crib, a wrinkled sheet of paper sticking out of it depicting the boy's name. Nagato stared at the words silently for a few seconds before sighing softly. "Naruto... Uzumaki Naruto..." He ran his fingers over the Kanji for Uzumaki. 'Maelstrom, huh?' Nagato let a small, almost unnoticeable, smile cross his face. Madara may want the Kyuubi that this young child held, but Nagato would try everything possible to stop that madman. He just couldn't find it in him to harm a fellow, properly redheaded, Uzumaki. Nagato stilled suddenly, tilting his head towards the door. He sent a bit of chakra to his ears.
"...well, let's get this over with. Damn brat..." He heard someone mutter. He glanced back down at the sleeping baby.
"We'll meet again, Uzumaki Naruto..." He gave Naruto one last gentle pat on the head, before he shunshined away, just as the door opened.
When Nagato had enough spare time to see Naruto again, almost an entire year had passed. In fact, if Nagato's research was correct, Naruto would be turning a year old in a week and a half. The clocks had just struck midnight when Nagato slipped through an open window into Naruto's so-called room. He frowned at the open window once he landed inside in a graceful crouch. It was a rather cold October night that night. Why was the window open? Had one of the caretakers forgotten to close it? He shook his head at the caretakers' forgetfulness, and approached the crib in the corner. Naruto was sleeping peacefully inside, shivering only slightly from the cold. Nagato frowned again, and looked around for a blanket of some sort to wrap the child in. He spotted a ragged looking orange blanket on the ground a metre or two from the crib, and went to pick it up. He brought it back to the crib and gently, so to not wake Naruto, wrapped him in it. After a few minutes, Naruto's shivers died off and the child smiled softly in his sleep. Nagato swept his fingers carefully through the babe's red hair, and untangled it somewhat. He shook his head. Naruto would probably have such unruly hair when he was older. He withdrew his fingers and smiled down at Naruto.
"Perhaps I shall bring Konan next time. She would just love you..." He affectionately pet the whiskers on Naruto's cheeks, before he hopped through the window, gently shutting it behind him.
Nagato made sure to return to Konoha to see Naruto a few days after his birthday. He patted a hidden pocket of his cloak, where a small plush Toad (which doubled as a wallet and definitely did not remind him of Jiraiya-sensei) sat, as he flew across the many rooftops of Konoha. Trailing a few metres behind him was Konan, who looked perplexed as to why they were in Konoha. Nagato came to a stop atop the Orphanage Naruto was currently situated in, and waited for Konan to drop down next to him.
"Nagato, why are we here?" She asked, taking a few steps towards him. Nagato gave her a silent order to follow him. He ducked down to a small ledge that he could barely walk on without chakra, and pried open the window on the furthest end. "Nagato?" Konan asked, as he hopped inside. He gestured her in, and approached the crib in the corner once again. He reached into his hidden pocket as he neared the crib, and pulled out the small toy Toad. He quietly placed it next to the slumbering redhead inside.
"Konan, come closer. I'd like for you to meet my cousin, Naruto." Konan quietly padded across the room towards Nagato, and peered down at the child.
"He's..." She trailed off as Naruto's eyes opened slowly. They immediately landed on Nagato's silent form, and Naruto started tearing up and whining as he reached up at him. Konan watched as Nagato bent down to pick up the squabbling baby, and quietly shush him. "The Kyuubi's Jinchuriki... is your cousin?" Konan breathed, staring at the sight of Nagato (though technically it should be Pein) holding a slowly calming baby in his arms.
"Yes. Uzumaki Naruto. Maelstrom." Nagato stroked the child's head as Konan took a moment to process the fact that her best friend (and, despite denying it in her heart, love interest) was related to a Jinchuriki.
"But we... Madara has asked us to hunt down the Jinchuriki in a decade's time. You... to get attached to one is ridiculous!" Nagato gave her a shrug.
"It does not matter to me. Madara cannot make me harm one of my only remaining family members." He then held out the child in his arms. "Here, why don't you hold him for a while?" Konan hesitated for barely a second before accepting the child that Nagato held out. Nagato smiled as she gazed down at the toothless grin Naruto had.
"Nagato..." Konan started, still staring at Naruto. "...this child is... so... cute." She smiled at Naruto, who gave her happy giggles in return. Konan glared at Nagato. "We mustn't let Madara harm a hair on his head!" Nagato could only smile as Konan returned her attention to Naruto.
A/N: Ah, well, by the way, I'm not sure I want every chapter to be over 1'000 words. 'Cause it's just easier when I can write a snippet of an idea and upload it immediately afterwards.
So it's up to you guys. Snippets (between 100 and 700 words) or full chapters (1'000+ words)? Just remember that full chapters are harder to write and snippets (like what's going on with So an Uzumaki Delves Into a Scroll) are far easier to. I can manage both (i.e, upload a snippet if a chapter is taking a bit to write out).