"W-WHAT?!?!?!" Hiro yelped, staring at the giant fox in pure horror.
"You heard me." growled the fox, one of his tail tips twitching.
"B-but why can't someone else do it?!" Hiro howled, ears flicking back in panic. He desperately tried to think up a way to get out of it. "Why don't you have…" he trailed off, trying to think of who he disliked a lot, or at least enough to suggest this job for. "Arisu!" he yelled, remembering the name of a female fox demon. To say that they didn't get along was a huge understatement, and Hiro would just LOVE to see her get stuck with a lame mission like this, especially since it would probably be such a long one. The vixen (female fox) might be gone for months, or maybe even years! It was his dream come true…
"Arisu?" the fox questioned slowly, eyes narrowing.
"Yeah! She'd be great for the job!" Hiro snatched at the chance, sensing that the great fox demon was considering what he said. "I mean, I would have no clue how to raise a kit, but Arisu watches over other fox's kits all the time!" he said eagerly, deciding to milk this for all it was worth.
The giant fox nodded in agreement. "Very well then."
Hiro felt relief sweep through him. He wouldn't be stuck watching the brat after all! But the giant fox hadn't finished.
"Arisu shall be assigned to this mission with you. You shall both raise the kit together, since you seem so sure that you won't be able to do it on your own." The fox said, and then flicked one of his nine tails. Instantly, another, much smaller fox with three tails appeared next to him. "Go and find Arisu. Tell her that I have a mission for her and to be here in the next five minutes." He growled. The smaller fox yipped in reply and dashed off at an unnatural speed.
Hiro felt all of his relief vanish. This couldn't be happening. He wanted to howl in misery. Not only was he stuck watching the brat, but now he had to spend that time with someone he hated!
"So Hiro is gonna be like my daddy?" Naruto squeaked, grinning.
"NO! I AM NOT GOING TO BE YOUR DADDY!!!!!!!!!!" Hiro roared at the top of his lungs.
The giant fox ignored him and nodded at Naruto, who gave a squeal and began to run around at high speed. Hiro snarled in frustration and reached out, grabbing Naruto by the back of the shirt and bopping him sharply on top of the head, ignoring his yelp of protest.
"Stop that!" he snarled, glaring at Naruto. "You look like some kind of hyperactive squirrel! If I have to put up with that every day, I'll go insane!!!"
"Hang on!" The Hokage spoke up, hands raised in protest. "How am I supposed to explain this to the villagers? They're not exactly fond of demons. And the ninja of my village will certainly notice if two demons are walking around the city!"
Hiro glanced up at him, Naruto still dangling by the back of his shirt from his hand. "So then don't tell them." he said smoothly, voice cold. "And I seem to recall that your village had a large number of people dressed in black cloaks and masks running around. So just give us some of those and we'll be fine." he dropped Naruto on his bottom.
The Hokage glared at him. "The people who wear those are the ABNU Black ops (A/N no clue if I said that right…) and have earned the trust and respect of the village through hard work and loyalty to the village. It is something that is earned, not given."
Hiro threw his hands up in exasperation. "So then give us a test! But unless you want to see the brat killed by a mob or something, you'll just have to deal with it you old goat!" Hiro paused, considering. "And I apologize to all of the goats that I may have just insulted."
The Hokage was brought up short by the comment about the mob. As much as he hated to admit it, it was true. No ninja in his village would willingly protect Naruto. He glared at Hiro. "Fine." He muttered. "But if you put one toe out of line…" he didn't bother to finish his threat.
Hiro opened his mouth to retort, but was cut of as with a soft grating sounded from behind him as the door that they had come through opened. 'Let the torture begin!' Hiro thought, groaning in misery as the fox who had run off and another person slipped through the door.
The fox trotted forward. "Ok boss, I got her." He said cheerfully. The giant fox nodded, and the smaller one disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The other demon walked forward cautiously, looking at each person in the room until her eyes landed on Hiro, instantly narrowing. "Hiro." The other person said coolly.
"Arisu." Hiro snapped, his voice even colder.
Naruto leaned around Hiro to see what the new person looked like. She had slightly dark yellow eyes, with slit pupils like Hiro's, except a bit thinner, but with similar fox ears. Her hair was dark blue and ended just below her shoulders, while her 5 tails swayed in constant motion behind her back as though caught in a breeze. The tails and fox ears themselves were a very dark blue, with light silvery gray tips. Her clothes were pretty much the same as Hiro's, except they were made out of gray rabbit fur. She looked like she was about the same age as Hiro, 15 or 16.
Hiro glared at her with pure loathing, and she glared back with equal dislike.
"You have a mission for me?" Arisu asked, still glaring at Hiro as though hoping to burn a hole through him.
"Yes. Your assignment is to raise the kit with your partner to prevent the kit's death." The giant fox rumbled, while the other demons shifted slightly.
"Kit?" Arisu asked, looking around in confusion.
"This one, stupid." Hiro snapped, picking Naruto up by the back of the shirt and waving him around carelessly before dropping him again.
Arisu raised an eyebrow. "Either that kit is very good a human disguises; and by good I mean scary good; or that's a human." She said, looking at the head fox with a bemused expression.
The giant fox nodded. "He is a human, but he has one of ours sealed inside of him." He shot Arisu a swift look.
Instantly understanding dawned on her face. "Kyuubi." She murmured softly. Even Hiro bowed his head in respect at the name. The fox nodded calmly. Arisu turned to look at Naruto with new eyes. Naruto just looked confused.
"What?" he asked, eyes squinting in confusion.
"You'll find out when you're older." The giant fox rumbled, sweeping his tails dismissively.
"So who am I working with?" Arisu asked, completely ignoring Hiro.
The giant fox motioned towards Hiro. "You'll be working with Hiro."
Arisu stared at the fox for a few seconds, speechless. "Is that a joke?" She turned to face the fox. "Am I being punished for something?!" she asked weakly, giving him a pleading look to say that this was just a cruel joke.
"I wish!" Hiro snapped at her.
A fierce, deadly rumble suddenly shook the room, sounding like an avalanche. Dust shook free of the rafters and floated down to settle on the ground. Everyone turned to look at the source of the noise, incredulous expressions firmly in place. For a second, everyone was silent.
Arisu was the first to break the silence. "WAS THAT YOUR STOMACH?!?!?!"
The others turned to look at the now deeply blushing Naruto. "Sowwy. I'm weally hungwy."
"Apparently." Arisu murmured, still shocked.
"And the first thing that you have to do," the fox rumbled, not giving her another chance to protest, "is feed the kit and give it a bath." His nose wrinkled up in disgust as he looked at the muck and grime covering Naruto.
Arisu glared at the fox for a minute before bowing her head in defeat at the unyielding sternness in the fox's eyes. She gave a long, pitiful sigh, hoping to at least send the giant fox on a guilt trip, a skill that thankfully most females have. 'Success!' she cheered in her mind as the fox's ears drooped back slightly.
"All right, Hiro, you take him to get a bath, and I'll go and get us some…" her voice died off as she turned around, "lunch." she finished. Hiro wasn't in the room anymore. She turned to look at the giant fox. "Where did Hiro go?" she asked, looking annoyed.
"He ran away about a minute ago."
"Great." Arisu muttered sarcastically. "C'mon you two, follow me then." She added to Naruto and the Hokage, walking to the back of the room, where another door was.
She swung the door wide open, spilling harsh, bright light into the darkened room. "Welcome to the Demon Realms."
The Hokage squinted out the door looking shocked and amazed at what he was seeing. "It's…"