Chapter 1: Apartment 7C

"'Get an apartment' they said, 'it'll be great' they said…" I grumbled as I hauled my suitcase up the fifth flight of stairs.

Turns out the elevator of my new apartment complex was broken

And my apartment was on the seventh floor…And why is my suitcase so damn heavy? What did I even put in there? I snorted, oh right, just my whole life.

How could Jiraiya believe this was even a remotely good idea? As far as I'm concerned, I can barely take care of myself and now I'm expected to become a self-sufficient, responsible, uh, homeowner? Or technically apartment owner...well it doesn't matter either way because it's still shitty no matter how you-

"Sounds like you're out of shape." Came a voice behind me. I jumped a few feet and clutched my chest before whipping around and coming face to face with a very bored looking guy.

"Aw geez, you scared me man!" I chuckled nervously.

"I know. I don't think I've seen you before and judging by your...condition, you must be new?"

"Uh, yes, yes," I stuck my hand out and gave him my widest smile. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Shikamaru Nara" He said, shaking my hand quickly and promptly shoving it back into his jean pocket. "You better start getting used to going up those stairs, the elevator never works. It hasn't for almost a year now and I'm pretty sure the sign they put up about fixing it soon is just for show. It's such a drag."

I sighed, "Damn."

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders "At least you don't live on the tenth floor like me." I winced.

"I'm on seventh, how do you survive?!" Shikamaru's eyes widened a bit at my outburst.

"Seventh?" He asked warily.

I nodded. He snorted a bit before shaking his head. "I take it back, with neighbors like those, I'll take ten floors any day-" What's that supposed to mean?! "Anyways, I guess I'll see you around or whatever." He gave a half-hearted wave and began steadily making his way up.

"W-wait!" I said, quickly attempting to follow after him. Maybe he can tell me where-

My suitcase slipped a little out of my hand and promptly tumbled down the steps. "Dammit!" I hissed. By the time I finished scrambling to chase after my suitcase, Shikamaru was long gone. Damn, for someone so lazy looking he's fast...

By the time I reached my floor, I was wheezing. Damn suitcase

I rummaged through my pockets for the room key. I just wanted to sink into bed and take a nice long nap and forget.

God, I don't even want to think about tomorrow…

I flipped the key over to look at my designated apartment number. 7C, floor seven, apartment C. If I remember correctly, each floor has three apartments called letters A-C. Meaning my apartment was the last on this floor. All the way down the carpeted hall. It was simple enough to find.

My hands shook as I shoved the key into the lock. This was it, my new life, or my fresh start as Jiraiya put it. Despite not needing one or wanting one…

I shook my head bitterly, no use crying over it now.

The apartment was nice. Upon inspection the walls were a nice shade of cream, the floors were a nice dark wood, the kitchen counters were nice (not even chipped), the large window in the living room was nice (especially the breeze that drifted through when I opened them), the bathroom looked nice (no suspicious stains to be seen), my closet looked nice (not too big or small), my bed looked very nice…

Until something caught my eye

It looked so harmless, a few feet away from my bed, so inconspicuous, blending in perfectly with the nice cream-colored walls. A door.

Another closet? I frowned, why isn't it the same dark wood as the other doors? And why the hell does it have a keyhole?

I unsuccessfully tried to open it. After a couple of inches, the door would hit something large and heavy, blocking it from being opened. I frowned again. What the hell? I pushed against the door and felt the thing blocking the way scraping the hardwood floor below it. A piece of furniture? A dresser?. I pushed again managing to make it budge again. A fucking wardrobe? A dresser can't be this big and heavy. I took a deep breath before throwing all my weight against the door.

CRASH!

I gasped, as I lost my footing and fell forward along with the mysterious piece of furniture blocking the way. I shut my eyes and groaned as pain shot up my knees.

"Owie."

I heard a garbled yell coming from somewhere in front of me. Ugh clumsy-

My eyes snapped open. Wait.

I looked up to see a dark-haired man clenching a toothbrush in one hand and toothpaste in the other. His eyes wild.

I swallowed back a scream. Oh, God! It's like in the fucking movies! Where there's a crazy hobo man living in the basement for years and you don't find out till he slits your throat while you sleep one night and ohgodohgod-

The man took a step forward. "What th-"

This time I screamed before scrambling backward, reaching blindly for the doorknob. I need to go fucking back, get help.

However, before I could make my escape, large hands grabbed my shoulders and before I could muster up another scream, I was completely pinned down. I felt the large man place his weight heavily on my back making it a little hard to breathe. Or maybe that's just me not fucking breathing. I felt tears gather up against the corners of my eyes.

I felt the man shift and sit up on me, but his hands were still firmly pressing down on my shoulders. I felt like jello. Even if I wanted to, I was sure my body would not cooperate with any escape plan I came up with. Without my consent, I let out a pitiful sniffle.

"Are you fucking crying?" The man asked harshly. I whimpered.

I can't even die with dignity….

The man stayed silent for a couple of seconds, before sighing and mumbling something inaudible under his breath. I felt him lift his leg off the right side of my body, so he was no longer sitting on me, and slowly release his hold on my shoulders. He was no longer touching me but I still didn't dare move a muscle.

"Why did you break into my apartment?" He asked quietly.

I felt my brain go blank. "What?" I croaked out.

"My apartment. You broke into it." He reiterated, losing patience. I quivered, even I knew that making your potential killer impatient was bad. "I didn't even know these two units were connected…" He added sounding a little thoughtful, mostly to himself.

"Whuhh?" I blurted out. Without thinking, I sat up and looked around. Sure enough, the door I opened led to a room with the exact same layout as my bedroom. "Oh." I murmured stupidly. While the stranger's bedroom had the lights off, mine were on and it offered enough light for me to get a look at his face. I frowned. "Guess you don't look like a killer hobo." The man's blank face didn't change.

"A hobo." He deadpanned.

"I thought you would kill me like in the movies you know, where the homeless guy stay-"

"You broke my bookshelf." He sighed before standing up and walking towards the now completely destroyed bookshelf. I cringed as he began inspecting the damage. He had so many books that were now scattered all over the floor. I picked one up that was near my foot, the title read 'Medical Psychology'. I swallowed.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't know my room was connected to yours. I just moved in, like uh ten minutes ago. I'll pay for the damage man." I looked at him hopefully. Surely that was reasonable right? I genuinely didn't mean to…

"You're a moron." I felt my mind go blank with the rapid change of his attitude. What did he just say to me?

"Excuse me?"

"I called you an idiot. Who the fuck forces their way into a room that's obviously blocked off?" I felt my eye twitch.

"I'm not an idiot! It was an honest mistake and if you've been living here longer shouldn't you have already known about the stupid door and not placed your bookshelf there?" I said hotly.

He scoffed and looked at me like something he scraped off the bottom of his shoe. "I'm not the one who literally broke into another person's home, destroyed property and screeched around like a dying animal." I felt my grip tighten on the book I had picked up. I wanted to throw it at him. "I said I'd pay for the damages asshole."

"Don't bother. just get out." This time I didn't even bother restraining my urge to throw the book. He barely dodged it before it landed heavily with a thud somewhere in his dark room. Before he could say a word I had already grabbed another fallen book nearby, 'The Human Anatomy', ready to throw it at his stupid head but he was fast.

Next thing I knew both my wrists were in the bruising grip of his hands, forcing me to drop the heavy book harmlessly onto the ground.

"I don't have time to waste with a child like you." He hissed, his eyes flashing dangerously. I resisted the urge to gulp, I'm not backing down from this asshole. Hell no. I tore myself away from his grasp.

"What makes you think I have time for a senile old man either? Especially one with a stick shoved up so far up their ass!" His nostrils flared and his glare bore through me.

"Get. Out."

"With pleasure bastard!"

At that moment I realized I was still sitting down stupidly in the doorway, right on the divide of both our rooms. I shuffled to my feet clumsily, my knee protesting slightly, with as much dignity as I could muster and limped across "the border" to my side of the doorway. I wanted to say something snarky just because I fucking could but when I turned around, the door promptly slammed shut on my face.

"And stay out!" Came a muffled snarl from behind it.

I hate this godforsaken apartment complex and all the people in it, I mean who the hell had the brilliant idea to add a door connecting a complete stranger's apartment to mine? Now I know what Shikamaru meant...Damn you Jiraiya.

End Ch 1

Mysteryturtle here...

Thanks for sticking around till the end. Please feel free to review and leave feedback. This is my first ever story/writing piece or whatever so I'm still new at this...but practice makes perfect and I'm pretty hyped to keep writing :)