Ch.1
"Ne, sensei, thanks. I'm sure I could've gotten free somehow, but thank you for helping me," Naruto told Kakashi after being untied. "Not many would help me, I guess, so I'm grateful, hehe," he continued, rubbing the back of his head in what Kakashi assumed was a sheepish habit.
"No problem, blondie, that's part of my job now, to help you when you need it."
"My name is Naruto," interjected Naruto, in a somewhat colder tone, "perhaps you've forgotten because senility has set in? Don't worry, sensei, I'll remind you often."
Must not be as dull as I thought, Kakashi mused, Hmm…I should punish him, though, shouldn't I? He did just call me senile and therefore old.
As Kakashi stood thinking about his next course of action, Naruto was quite calmly walking in the general direction of his apartment and laughing to himself.
So much for an interesting sensei, thought Naruto as he continued walking, he hasn't even reacted to being called senile! Maybe he really does have some issues. But he's a jounin, he's got to be sharper than that. Unless, Naruto suddenly gasped, stopping mid-stride, they're short on staff and pulled him out of retirement.
"Oh, why did it have to be meeee?" he whined, crouching in the road and shaking his head.
"Why did what have to be you, blondie?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto looked to his right and there was Kakashi, crouched next to him, his eye curving down in apparent glee.
"It's Naruto," he ground out. "I was just thinking of my roommate's strange requests, so don't mind me. Bye, sensei!" Naruto waved and ran off.
As far as Kakashi knew, no one would dare live with the Kyuubi container. He had to admit to himself that suddenly the most primal of human emotions got the best of him at this moment: curiosity. He masked his chakra and followed behind Naruto at several yards.
"Geez," Kakashi whispered, "I never thought I'd be practically stalking my new student."
Naruto, on the other hand, sensed Kakashi following him and mentally cursed his big mouth. Upon reaching town, he decided, he would shop for hours to bore Kakashi away. Naruto stopped first at a clothier's and chose a new outfit for him and his roommate. Then he stopped for some new scrolls to study. Looking over all the scrolls he honestly almost forgot he was trying to lose Kakashi, when he caught sight of his new sensei buying the latest Icha Icha "novel".
"Tch," mumbled Naruto, "Not only is he old, but he's a perv too."
Naruto continued his shopping, stopping finally at a grocer near his apartment and buying the essentials for the week: bread, eggs, milk, flour, sugar, salt, tea, a cut of pork and another of beef. Lastly he stopped at Ichiraku's and bought that night's dinner, fifteen servings of ramen, various flavors. Much to Naruto's chagrin, Kakashi did not relent. He muttered under his breath, cursing old, dirty scarecrows with too much time on their hands, while trying to open the door to his apartment and juggle all his goods.
The kid'll lose his ramen at the very least, thought Kakashi. Maybe I should help him?
The wind picked up and soon it was drizzling. Naruto was having no luck with the door and started opening his mouth, presumably to yell.
Kakashi, recalling that afternoon's shouting, settled on helping Naruto, rather than facing another bout of loudness, when the door to the apartment opened and a red-haired, pale-skinned man stepped aside to let Naruto in.
"I thought maybe you'd gotten lost, kid," joked the Kyuubi's human form. "Oh, ramen! We haven't' had that in a while," he said, rolling his eyes in mock exasperation, and following Naruto to the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just close the door, I'm a little cold."
"I figured you would be when I saw how the wind blew, so I've got tea on that'll be ready in a moment." Kyuubi said, gently placing a hand on Naruto's head and vainly smoothing his hair. "What do you say we go over those new scrolls tonight, after dinner, over tea?"
"Thanks, I wasn't sure if you'd want to. I thought you might go out later."
"No, I want to stay in and celebrate a little, you know, because you're an official genin now. It may not mean tons, but I'm proud of you." Kyuubi pulled Naruto in for a hug.
Naruto stayed in his arms, blushing, "Of course it means a lot, Kyuubi, you're the person closest to me, you're the one who's helped me the most and kept me as safe as you could."
Kakashi watched on through the kitchen window, fascinated with this side of Naruto and the mysterious man whom Naruto obviously cared for. His little visit was cut short, however, when the man looked at him with angry and flashing eyes over the top of Naruto's head. Kakashi took that as his cue to leave.