Chapter 6
It didn't take long for Shanan and Naruto to become the best of friends. More like siblings even. She thought maybe she had always wanted a little brother, but she couldn't be sure. Of course, she hated the way people treated him. She wasn't sure why they did, but they really did run away from him.
Two years had passed and Naruto was in school now, and Shanan had since started at the Ninja Academy. She was making friends, but was often teased for forgetting things. It wasn't as bad as it used to be, but names were still hard for her sometimes. She could handle being teased, but she would always stand up for Naruto.
Either way, they were happy kids. They shared every meal together. Shanan helped teach him to read and write. She kept him clean. She taught him how to keep his apartment clean and to not make a mess in hers. They even took turns sleeping over at each other's apartments so as not to be alone. You hardly ever saw one without the other. They thought it would always be just the two of them.
That is, until the Uchiha Massacre. It really was a tragic event. A boy named Itachi Uchiha had murdered his entire clan for seemingly no reason. All except for his seven year old little brother.
Shortly after that, the apartment on the right side of Shanan started seeing frequent visitors. Furniture was being moved in. Food, clothes, bedding, etc... being stocked into the cabinets and closets. All the things she had found when she had arrived at her apartment.
She had never met an Uchiha. But Sasuke, she knew, went to school with Naruto. And Naruto had often complained to Shanan about how all the girls loved Sasuke and wanted to marry him.
After a few days, Sasuke finally arrived with a shinobi escort who left Sasuke alone after just a few minutes. "Ah yes, one of Konoha's flaws," Shanan thought to herself. The thought seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't remember ever having thought it before.
Naruto begged her not to go over there, but she couldn't leave that poor boy all alone. She knew he had to be so lost and broken. She knew he felt confused and betrayed. She knew he was in a dark place right now and that he needed help, and perhaps... a little bit of light to remind him that he can be happy again.
She walked outside and waved, just like she always did, and made her way to the apartment on the right.
She knocked on the door a few times. She didn't want to startle him, so she kept it fairly quiet. No answer. She tried a little louder this time. Still nothing. She considered giving him space, but the thought of him being alone started to overwhelm her. She took a deep breath and knocked again. "Hi... I'm your neighbor. I'm coming in, ok?" She opened the door and saw a boy with black hair, laying on his new bed, crying his eyes out. He was facing the wall, but she could see that he was sobbing pretty hard. She felt so heartbroken for him and it took everything in her not to run over and hug him until he stopped.
Shanan closed the door as quietly as she could, but it seemed to startle him a little and he rolled over to see her standing there. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he sat up, wiping the tears off of his face with his sleeve.
Shanan stopped for a second when she saw his face. She was sure they'd never met, but he was familiar. Of course, once the tears started flowing again she was brought back to this moment and she couldn't help but feel pity as she walked towards him. "I'm so sorry about what happened, you poor thing," she said as she made her way across the room. She thought for a second that she knew how he had to have felt losing everyone he knew, but then she remembered that she had no idea how he felt. But that didn't mean that she couldn't try and comfort him.
Sasuke didn't appreciate being talked down to like that, even if he had just lost everything that ever meant anything to him. "Please just leave," he said quietly.
"Ok," she replied, realizing how condescending she had sounded. "But, if you ever need anything, I live right next door. I'm about to make dinner. I'll bring you some."
He didn't say anything else to her. He just cried, even though he was clearly trying not to.
"I'll leave now, I'm sorry." She made her way to the door and opened it before turning back to look at Sasuke. "You don't have to be alone. And I don't want you to be. I'm Shanan Takagi! I'll see you in a little bit, Sasuke," she tried to sound somewhat hopeful as she closed the door to leave him alone in the dark.