Chapter 5

Shanan wasn't sure what to do in this new apartment. Kakashi had told her not to feel sad, though, so she didn't want to let him down. But what was this place? She only knew the hospital and she was never alone there. She started to feel the overwhelming feelings come on, but she stopped herself and took some deep breaths. "In through my nose and out through my mouth," she remembered as she did her breathing exercises.

She looked around. On the right side of the room was a bed that was already made up. On the left side was a kitchen counter, with cabinets above them, a sink, a stove and a refrigerator. A little bit past the bed and kitchen area was a table and chairs. On the far wall, there was the bathroom door on the left and 2 doors on the right which were a linen closet and a deeper walk-in closet.

She decided to try and find a good spot for her books. Eventually, she would get more, Kakashi had given her a list along with the books he had given her. But she needed a good place to keep them.

As she opened doors and cabinets she saw that there was food, there were clothes and there were blankets and towels. Some things she would have to buy on her own from her monthly allowance, but much of it was stocked for her every week.

She was surprised to realize that she thought she might know how to cook a lot of this food. She didn't know how that was possible, but then she remembered the time Kakashi had told her she might know how to do some things and not know why.

Reading had been one of those things. She knew she could read when Kakashi had dropped a book called "Make-out Tactics" from his pocket and Shanan asked him very loudly, "What's 'Make-out Tactics?!'" That was the one and only time he pulled his mask up when it was just the two of them and she never saw the book again. After that, was when he brought other books and decided to start reading aloud.

In the hospital, Shanan had learned that she loved books and she loved painting and was quite good at it. She got to go to an art class a few times in the hospital and the teacher was quite impressed. She was good at painting things and scenery, but not people. The teacher told her some people can never get that right, but that she should keep painting when she gets home. However, there were no paints here.

She did find a shelf tucked away in her closet that would be perfect for the books she had, but she would need to buy a bigger shelf if she wanted more books, which she did. She unpacked her books and set her bear on her bed by her pillow.

As she sat on the bed, she tried to remember what she was supposed to do next and then she remembered the boy next door. What was his name again? She couldn't remember for the life of her. "Well," she thought, "I guess I'll just go and ask."

She was a little scared to go outside, but she was already feeling lonely, so she took some more deep breaths to calm down. She laughed a little to herself as she looked straight out and waved really big at no one before she turned left and made her way a few feet to the corner apartment and knocked.

A dirty, little, yellow-haired boy answered the door. He smelled. Bad. He had a dirt mustache. And his hair needed to be washed and brushed. Not to mention all of the food on his once white shirt.

"Oh! I- I'm Shanan..." she said as she closed her eyes and held her hand out. She knew his hands were probably gross, but she wanted to be nice to him.

The little boy poked her fingers curiously. "So?"

Shanan looked over his shoulder and saw how messy his whole apartment was. Poor kid. He definitely needed some looking after, just as Kakashi had said and she wanted to help him. "I'm your new neighbor, can I come in? I'd like to be your friend!"

The boy suddenly looked a bit hopeful, but then his expression deflated to sad, "Y-you do? But don't you wanna run away from me?" He looked at the ground and Shanan knew he was probably hiding a few tears.

"Why would I do that?" She smiled reassuringly. She was genuinely confused. Sure he was a bit smelly and dirty, but he was a little kid. "My name is Shanan, we should be friends."

"Oh. Well I'm Naruto," he said excitedly.

"Ohh, that's right," she said as he reminded her. "Can I come in? Do you have food? I can cook!" He opened the door wide enough for her to come in. "First things first, though, let me see your bathroom. I don't mean to be rude, but you need a bath. Don't worry, I'll help," she assured him as they made their way in.

Naruto's apartment was basically the same as Shanan's, just really messy and smelly. She couldn't believe that nobody came and cleaned it for him. She went into his bathroom and filled the tub for him. She made sure that it was the perfect temperature and even added soap to make bubbles.

Naruto couldn't remember the last time he had taken a bath. He didn't like them very much, but Shanan made it fun. She even showed him how to wash his hair without getting soap in his eyes. When he was done, she had clean clothes waiting for him and even helped him dry off so that he didn't spread water everywhere.

Shanan rifled through his cabinets and the food at his place was a bit different than the food at her place. "I see you mostly have instant noodles,'' she said, "but I saw vegetables in my apartment that I can chop up and try to make it taste even better. Do you want to try that?" She was pretty hungry herself and was ready to see if she actually could cook. She was pretty sure she knew what she was doing though.

Naruto didn't care what went into his noodles, he loved all kinds of ramen and it was really easy to make. Even if he did burn himself on the hot water sometimes.

Shanan cleaned off Naruto's table as she waited for the water to boil. And when it was all done, they sat down and had a nice first meal together. She was happy to finally be able to help someone that needed it.