I am soooo sorry for the late update! I had to force the ending out! Also, this chapter is a bit of an experiment with... being more descriptive.
XxXxX
The first thing the masked man saw when he awoke was the tan sheets from the futon he was laying in. his head had sunk into his pillow, and it had grown lumpy around his head.
As he sat up, he rubbed the sleep from his eye, and for the first time, examined the room.
It was a typical Japanese room. Lying directly in the middle was his futon. A few feet away was a kotatsu with red checkered boxes as a pattern.
Still rubbing his eye, he stretched his mouth and yawned. "That was a good night's sleep." He said, before looking at the alarm clock he had set the night before. What he saw made him stop, mid yawn, and made his eyes bulge out of his head.
"Ten twenty-three!" he exclaimed, before hopping out of the futon.
First he ran to the bathroom. He opened his toothpaste, which was lying next to the sink, and squirted a lot of the sticky white substance into his mouth. In one swift movement, he turned on the sink, filled his mouth with water, and, after swishing the mixture in his mouth for a few seconds, he spit it all into the sink.
After turning on the tap to wash away all his SMWT (Saliva mixed with toothpaste), and running back to his main room, the masked man ripped his knapsack open so fast he almost tore it.
He pulled out random clothes, not caring about the color, and yanked them on his body.
It took him a few minutes to get all the clothes on properly. Especially due to the fact that he was wearing all his clothes on over bandages.
XxXxX
"How come I didn't have any breakfast prepared?" The masked man asked once he reached the outside. He wore his regular bandages that covered his skin, a black jacket and white dress shirt, a tie and a pair of pressed black pants, and normal ninja sandals. His headband was worn on a forehead. His headband and ninja sandals seemed to be the only things out of touch with the rest of the outfit.
Shimura Akane was a big fan of gardening, so it didn't surprise the masked man to see her in her front yard, gardening. Shimura had grown a wonderful garden in her yard a while back, and she loved to work on it.
The forty three year old woman was wearing a plain pink dress that stopped at her knee. A regular slip was worn underneath it, and the look was accompanied by black leggings, flip flops, and a few bracelets. Shimura had left her wavy, mid-back length black hair strait, and enjoyed the shade under her sunhat.
"You didn't pay me." The landlady said with an un-hidden smirk.
"So just because of that, I don't deserve to eat?"
Shimura grinned, an evil glint in her eye. "Exactly."
The masked man slumped even more. "That's not fair…"
"Fine then, do you want to know a way of making it fair?"
"Yeah!" the masked man replied enthusiastically.
"The secret is…" The landlady said, as she motioned for the masked man to lean forward, and only continuing when he did. "TO PAY YOUR RENT!" She hollered in his ear.
The masked man jerked back, and began to fall backwards. As quickly as possible, he bounced back on his feet, rewinding his actions.
Shimura looked shocked at what had happened.
"Reflexes." The masked man answered, a bit sheepish.
Seeing as his landlady had nothing else to say, the masked man turned and left.
'I guess I'll just make a quick trip to Ichiraku Ramen.'
XxXxX
From the bushes nearest to the inn the masked man was staying at, a pair of blue eyes lit up.
Chuckling was heard from the bushes, and several passer biers stopped and stared at the bush.
XxXxX
"One Miso Ramen please!" Naruto yelled as he sat in his favorite seat at Ichiraku Ramen.
"Coming right up!" Ayame replied.
Now, Naruto did not plan on visiting Ichiraku Ramen just to empty his wallet, but he now had an extra 4,200 ryo in his pockets. The money should have been used to buy a certain flame-carved sword that, unfortunately, had been bought by someone else. Most people would have saved the money, but Naruto, being Naruto, decided to treat himself.
And what better place was there than Ichiraku Ramen to stuff himself until he couldn't get another noodle into his mouth?
"I could eat as much as I want," Naruto said, after his ramen had arrived, as he slurped some of the ramen, "and still have enough money left over to pay my rent!" The blonde concluded cheerfully.
Next to him, a certain masked man froze.
'Shit!' The masked man thought. Visiting his favorite ramen stand had made him temporarily forget about his money problem. But of course, only temporarily.
And as the masked man slammed his head onto the counter repeatedly, beating himself up about his mistake, he grew an idea.
The masked man sat up and pumped his fist into the air.
"Excuse me, miss," The masked man called to Ayame, who turned to him.
"Yes?"
"Do you have a pen and paper I could use?" He asked hopefully.
Ayame automatically replied, "Yes, I do. Shall I bring it for you?"
"Hai! Arigatō!" He thanked. When Ayame disappeared into the back of the ramen stand, the masked man went back to eating his ramen. He savored the taste.
"Mmm, crab." He said, thoughtfully, as he chewed lightly. It was then that Ayame returned.
"Here you go." She set the pen and paper she was holding on the counter. The pen was a newer kind, the masked man noted, and the paper was plain white.
"Arigatō again!" He called as Ayame took another customer's order.
The masked man grabbed the pen off the wooden counter, and, for the first time, thought about what he was going to write.
He tapped the pen on his chin, a little habit he had picked up over the years, before uncapping the pen.
He pulled the paper nearer to him and wrote in messy handwriting at the top: 'WAYS TO EARN MONEY.' And underlined it.
The masked man dropped the pen for a moment. With his chopsticks, he stuffed his mouth with noodles, toppings, and soup. He swallowed it all in one gulp and went back to his writing.
Underneath his title, he wrote after a bullet: GET A JOB.
Next he wrote: GET A JOB FROM AKANE-SAN – which he furiously scribbled out.
Under his black scribbling, he added: OPEN A FOOD STAND – which he scribbled out as well.
After a few mouthfuls of ramen, he wrote: GO HUNTING FOR LOOSE CHANGE. His pen hovered over the sentence as he decided among himself whether or not to scribble it out. Eventually, he decided not to.
The masked man set down the pen and looked at his list. It read:
WAYS TO EARN MONEY
GET A JOB
GET A JOB FROM AKANE-SAN
OPEN A FOOD STAND
GO HUNTING FOR LOOSE CHANGE
"Looks okay to me," He mumbled, holding the paper close to his bandaged face.
After emptying his bowl, he slid just enough money to pay for his meal on the counter.
Leaving the pen, he grabbed the paper, neatly folded it and stuffed it into his pocket, and walked away.
But unknown to the bandaged man, he had been watched the entire time he was there.
Right next to where the masked man had been seated, a certain blonde haired, hyperactive ninja had been paying close attention to what the masked man had been doing.
Uzamaki Naruto. He payed for his ramen, thanked Ayame, and walked in the direction on his apartment, which was in the opposite direction of where the masked man had left.
"Looks like I have something to do today." Naruto said to himself.
XxXxX
Wow, this chapter is short. It was barley 1,000 words. And stupid. I accept all hate comments for this chapter because it… well, sucks.
It was just trying to be more descriptive at the beginning. And I promise the next chapter will be WAY longer, and it will stay on topic more, because you can see at the end I was rushing.
Time for reviews!
I want to thank: A Tragic Galaxy, Mel72000, Habu2010, kakashi-is-hot, Dragon-Wolf Tamer, Patriot-112, ChronoMitsurugi, Melikalilly, Kokala, and TS001 for reviewing!