Too Far to Reach (Kakashi Love Story)

[6] Neighbors

Kakashi scratched his head in thought. "Is this, uh, okay?"

I blinked at the apartment door in front of me, my eyes trailing off to the door right next to it. I pointed at it, "That's your apartment."

"Uh-huh."

I pointed to my door. "And that's my apartment."

"Yup."

"So does that mean that we're neighbors?"

He shrugged. "I guess so."

"Next door neighbors?"

"Yeah..." he muttered in thought. "There weren't many apartments available at this time, so..."

"I see," I replied, unlocking my new home and stepping inside. It was almost exactly like Kakashi's apartment, but things were arranged a little differently.

"Well, if you need me, you know where to find me," Kakashi said, handing me a pouch of money. "Use this for whatever you need to buy, including food and anything to make this place feel a little more like home. You start at the academy tomorrow morning, so be there by 7:30." He did a closed-eye smile and waved. "Bye."

"Bye," I mumbled incoherently, but Kakashi had already left. I set my bag against the wall and put my hands on my hips. "Now then, what to do?" That question was answered when my stomach made a loud growl. I looked down at it. "Jeez, I guess I'm kinda hungry, huh?" I facepalmed. Dammit, he did it to me again! I have no idea how to get around this place, and he didn't lift a finger to help me!

I opened my apartment door and stepped out, looking over the railing at the sun. Kakashi is most likely not home; I guess I'm doing this all on my own.

Jumping from the railing, I landed on my feet safe and sound, from ten feet above. The grass was itchy on my feet, so I started running, feeling the wind hit my face with pure happiness. I got to the village and ran through the streets, hearing the loud and aggravated shouts from the disturbed people. I let out a laugh, only to be interrupted by the scent of something delicious nearby. Skidding to a halt, I looked over my shoulder to see a small, road-side ramen shop on my right. Licking my lips, I ran back to it and nearly crashed into one of the seats.

"Miso ramen, please!" I said to the shocked store-keeper. He composed himself and went to the back of the kitchen to cook once more.

"Wow, you must really like ramen too, huh?" a small voice came from beside me. I glanced over, my eyes landing on a little boy wearing an orange-and-blue jumpsuit with a pair of green goggles on his forehead. His hair was spiky and yellow, and his eyes were a nice shade of blue. He had strange, whisker-like markings on his face. There was no sign of a shinobi headband on his body signaling that he was a genin yet. He was probably as old as my body is right now; 12.

I chuckled. "Who doesn't?"

He giggled a cute little-boy laugh and slurped up some ramen. "Su," he said as he was eating: "awre ywou nwew?"

"Yeah," I said, holding out my hand, "I'm Tomiko."

He let go of his chopsticks and took hold of my hand. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!"

When he grabbed my hand, I could feel how rough and worn out his palm was. How hard did he train to get such injuries?

"Well, it was cool meeting you, Naruto," I said with a smile.

He grinned. "You too!" He picked his chopsticks back up and continued to eat his ramen.

"Alright, one miso ramen," the store-keeper said, and I turned my attention to the bowl in front of me, inhaling the delicious aroma.

"Mmm, this looks really good," I said giddily, picking a pair of chopsticks from a cup and breaking them apart. When I tasted the noodles, I couldn't help but grin. It almost tasted like home! Home...I thought to myself. At home, I'd always go to Hiroshi's Ramen Shop with my older brother. Hiroshi's ramen was the best, and he was a very charming young man. He was only 22, and we were arranged to get married. I had no problem with it, of course; Hiroshi was a nice, funny, attractive guy. But the wedding would've been six months after it happened...

I shook the memories away. I can't keep thinking about the ones I cared about like this! It's unhealthy for my mind...

"Hey, are you listening?" Naruto said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Old Man Teuchi wants you to pay now!" I glanced down at my now-empty bowl, and back up at the store-keeper, Teuchi, whose eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Er, sorry." I pulled out the pouch that Kakashi gave me and took out a handful of ryō, not counting how much it was. "Here, is that enough?"

Teuchi's eyes widened as he took the money with shaky hands. "T--thank you, please, come again!"

I waved to the old man, then smiled to Naruto. "I guess I'll see you at the academy tomorrow, then!"

Naruto stared at me with a look of excitement crossing his face. "Really, you're going to the academy?"

"You bet!" I replied. "See you there!"

I walked away, my thoughts on the beaming boy I just left at the ramen shop. He was a really nice kid. I can't wait to see what kind of friends he has. They must be good ones...

~~~~~

Wow, this is just too sad. I mean, I got all sad writing those last few sentences. Aw, just wait until Tomiko discovers that Naruto has no friends. :(

Okay, I know the song of the side isn't Neon Trees, but I'm switching it up a little. I was listening to this song the whole time I was writing this chapter. Here's an experiment: listen to this song, but don't watch the video. Just close your eyes and think about it. What do you imagine in your head while listening to this? What is the mood, character, and setting to you? Listen to it twice to make sure that you can think about it correctly. Think about that new instrument that joins in; what is it? What does it change about how you imagined the song from the beginning? We did this in English class, and I want to know if you all think about the same thing that my whole class thought about while listening to it. I'm not going to tell you what we all thought, just sort of talk amongst yourselves about it. Good luck ;)