Chipped Mask

Part I - What Happened to My Dork?

Disclaimer: I own a computer. That's about it.

Warning: References to destruction of property and addicts?

First Beta: featherstofly

Second Beta: Lavendor Queen

Editor: Sansho

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

"Don't worry, this is all on me," I said to a beaming Naruto. He was so, so, adorable. That kind of adorableness should be outlawed. It was dangerous.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide.

"Of course," I said confidently, sticking my hand out of the stand and into the street, palm outstretched. I could hear the slight flickering of movement before a giant wad of cash was placed into my hand, and I pulled it back into the stand. "See?"

"Whoa, where'd that money come from?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening even further.

As I handed the money to Teuchi, I gave Naruto a mysterious smile. "Who could say?"

Naruto gave me a bright and sunny grin in return, and even Teuchi smiled.

"So Naruto-chan," I began, "I'm actually looking for a place to live at. I don't suppose you know anywhere?"

As Naruto slurped his noodles, he continued to beam at me. "Well, the apartment that I live it is actually pretty empty except for a few shinobi—" Naruto stopped himself, his face burning bright. "A-Ah, but... I don't think you'd want to live there."

"How come?" I questioned.

Naruto steadily shifted his gaze down to the noodles. "It's... not a lot of people like living there."

I hummed thoughtfully. "I don't care about appearances if that's what you're worried about—that stuff can change. And money isn't an issue. So what's wrong with it?"

"I live—" Naruto's eyes widened, and he caught himself, his face taking on a redder hue.

"You live there so therefore something is wrong with it?" I repeated blandly. "Don't be absurd. I think it'd be pretty awesome to live next door to you. Besides, I'd prefer to live near someone I at least know."

"Really?" Naruto gaped at me, eyes lighting up with excitement.

I felt a twinge in my heart. It was a sad day indeed when a little boy was happy just at the prospect of someone actually wanting to be in the same space as him.

"Really," I assured him.

Naruto gave a tiny smile as he looked back down at his bowl of ramen, his face beaming.

Damn, he was so adorable. I want to adopt him.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

"And here it is," Naruto said shyly at his front door. I smiled at him, and patted his head. He continued to smile shyly and blush sheepishly. So cute! How could anyone hate this?

Wow, I was starting to sound like an old lady.

Ah, hell with it. He was adorable, and so I would gush about him in my head.

"Thanks for showing me the apartment," I said with an easy smile. "I'll probably move in tomorrow, 'kay? So I'll see you then, Naruto-chan."

"H-Hai."