Naruto Uzumaki was not, by nature, a light sleeper.
However, being a shinobi required certain skills. Skills that Naruto, through sheer hard determination, had perfected. At least somewhat. Or, when it was necessary, anyway.
Like that morning, for instance.
The blond-haired boy had woken up early. Much too early to wake up on a day off, and Naruto Uzumaki did not get many days off. It was a sound that woke him up. A quiet but persistent scratching noise that was grating on his ears and preventing him from sleeping. It was a shinobi's instinct not to ignore strange sounds in the night; especially when said sound was coming from his window.
Instantly awake from the oddness of the situation, Naruto slowly sat up and reached for the shuriken hidden under his pillow.
The scratching noise paused, as if sensing his movement. The jinchūriki froze, fingertips brushing the concealed weapon. After a few tense seconds, the scratching noise started up again, louder this time.
Naruto decided that whoever was scratching at his window was not a shinobi. No decent shinobi would be stupid enough to make that much noise.
With that in mind, he swung his legs over the edge of his bed and approached his window. In his hand he clutched the shuriken, just in case. He doubted he would need it at this stage, but it was always a good idea to have a weapon nearby anyway.
He stopped in front of the curtains, readied himself for battle (again, just in case), and, holding his breath, he opened the drapes a sliver and peered outside.
Fully expecting to see a person crouching outside his window, Naruto was a bit jarred when he saw nothing. He blinked, confused. The scratching noise stilled, and he lowered his eyes to his windowsill.
The source of the scratching noise was sitting in front of him, all abnormally large eyes and pudgy cuteness.
It was a kitten.
Naruto was half-relieved, half-embarrassed.
He put the metal star on the desk beside him and opened the window, staring down at the small black kitten. It stared back at him, green eyes wide and completely innocent.
"Man," he said with a sigh, rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep out of them. "It's just some cat."
It stared at him.
"What are you doing scratching at my window?" Naruto asked the cat, fully aware that it wouldn't answer back. "Did you think I was your owner or something?"
His neighbours didn't own any cats. At least to his knowledge. The owner of the building didn't permit pets, but a woman a few apartments away snuck a little white dog in. Sometimes he saw it at the window, wagging its stubby tail.
There were no cats, though.
"Eh, whatever," he muttered, running a hand through his spiky hair. "Just don't wake me up again."
As he went to shut the window, the kitten have a pathetic mewl.
Naruto cringed.
"I'm not feeding you," he told the kitten. "I'm not your owner, so you might as well give up and go away."
He shut the window, and the kitten stared at him through the glass with wide eyes. He shut the curtains, refusing to be sucked in by the kitten's adorableness.
"What a weird cat," Naruto said to himself, yawning widely and shuffling back over his bed.
The whiskered boy collapsed onto his stomach and lay there, face buried in his pillow. It was much too early to get up, and Naruto wanted to get at least a few more hours of sleep before getting up.
He would need his energy for later. He was going to spend the day training with Team 8. Naruto still wasn't sure how he had been roped into that, but he wouldn't turn down a day of training.
Naruto was on the brink of falling asleep once more when the scratching noise started up again. He growled into his pillow and tried to ignore it.
The scratching noise continued.
After a full two minutes of listening to the annoying sound, the shinobi groaned and sat up again, glaring at the covered window.
When the noise still didn't stop, he got up and walked over to the window, pulling open the curtains a second time. The kitten stopped and stared at him, looking even more pathetic than last time.
"What's your problem?" Naruto hissed though clenched teeth. "I don't have any cat food! Shoo, you stupid cat!"
It did nothing of the sort.
In fact, it sat down.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. He hooked his fingers under the window and opened it again, trying to shoo the cat away with his hands.
"Go! Go away!" The kitten merely battered harmless at his fingers, looking amused. Naruto promptly gave up. "Ugh, fine. Stay there. Just stop scratching."
It mewled a tiny pathetic squeak.
Naruto was not immune to its cuteness.
"Alright, fine. Just... stay right here," he said, backing away from the window. "I'll get you some milk or something..."
If he gave it something to eat, maybe it would go away. Hopefully back to its proper owners. That is, if it even had any owners. Naruto didn't see a collar, but the kitten was clearly too used to humans to be a stray.
Maybe he should just keep it, since it seemed so intent on staying.
Naruto dismissed that thought immediately. He wasn't allowed any pets. The woman might be okay with risking her apartment, but Naruto certainly wasn't. He couldn't afford another place to live, and he had grown rather fond of his apartment. He wasn't going to risk it for a random kitten.
But... maybe he could give it to someone else. At least to look after it for a while, until he found the kitten's owner.
As Naruto fetched a plate from the kitchen, as well as a jug of milk, he wondered who he should give the cat to.
It couldn't stay at his apartment. It didn't seem to want to leave, though. It wasn't a stray, but it didn't have a collar. Who could he give the cat to? Someone that would take good care of it, but would give it back should they find the cat's proper owner.
Who was kind and liked cute things?
Hinata Hyūga.
Naruto grinned.