A Simple Teenage Shop Owner

24

The sun was particularly bright this morning, he noted. The heat radiating through the air was a testament to its brightness as he had long since discarded his shirt to avoid it getting drenched in sweat. It wouldn't do him much good to get sweaty so early in the morning.

Naruto was taking part in his daily ritual in a new section of the forest. A couple of days ago, he had finally wizened up and started to use clones to help in his purification process. With their help, he managed to get a lot more done in a very short amount of time. He managed to get so much done that he was actually starting to plan sending his clone out of the city and into the surrounding area, and eventually into other countries.

"Even with the clones, covering the whole world will take a while." Naruto sighed to himself as he broke his meditation. He always seemed to pick the hard goals that took forever to do. Though, he didn't really have anyone, but himself to blame.

"What am I thinking!" Naruto suddenly yelled out, disturbing the ring of animals that had settled around him while he was purifying the area. The animals gave him a quizzical look as he stood up to his feet with a wide grin stretched across his face.

"No task is too big for Naruto Uzumaki, and his gang of clones." He exclaimed before two clones popped into existence beside him. The three Narutos began to shake hands with one another and dance merrily, earning them each strange looks from all the animals. Seeing that their 'peace radiator' was now gone, the animals began to slowly disperse throughout the forest. After only a minute, a single animal was the only thing remaining with the blonds.

That animal's presence became known to the blond when it came sprinting from the edge of the forest. At the sound of the creature's yipping, Naruto turned his head towards it. His eyes immediately soaked in the sight of the tiny, evergreen fox that was sprinting towards him. His clones didn't get to experience his surprise as they dispelled seconds before the fox landed at the blond's feet.

"Where did you come from?" Naruto asked out loud as he kneeled down to inspect the animal. The little kit didn't make the task easy for him as it immediately hopped onto his outstretched arm and ran up it. The blond merely raised an eyebrow at the animal's behavior as it ran up the length of his body and planted itself firmly onto his shoulder.

"Well, you aren't shy." The blond rose back up to his full height as he glanced over at the kit. The little thing met his gaze and gave a curiosity filled look in return. In all honesty, if Naruto couldn't feel a not-so-hidden well of energy contained in the fox, he would've found the moment to be unbelievably adorable.

"You do know that animal isn't normal?" Kurama questioned as Naruto kept his attention on the kit. The blond let out a thoughtful hum as he absentmindedly lifted his hand and began to gently rub the fox's head. The animal showed no sign of reluctance as it immediately began to shove his head into Naruto's hand.

"I figured that out when it hopped on my shoulder. Foxes aren't really supposed to have supernatural energy." The blond ran his eyes over the creature. The thing was no bigger than his head, yet he could feel a power source that was equivalent to a devil radiating from it. Its white and yellow color scheme also made it pretty unlikely that the creature was native to Kuoh.

"You're just going to let it come with you?" Kurama questioned when his partner began to walk out of the clearing. Naruto gave a shrug at the kitsune's question, earning him a displeased look from the fox on his shoulder as the movement jostled it slightly.

"Why not? It's not like it can do much harm." Kurama huffed at his partner's response. The boy's lackadaisical attitude was going to get them both killed eventually.