Chapter 2: Future Apartment Mates & Career Path

Kimi turns around and sees a young boy with sharp black hair, blue shirt, and white shorts. He has a headband with swirl symbol around his forehead. His face is full of shock. There is a moment of silence as both stare at each other's eyes.

"No…" Kimi replies, breaking the silence. The young boy shakes his head as though he was awakened from a trance.

"Then why do you have the sharingan?" he asks immediately. The serious tone in his voice shakes up Kimi's backbone as she tries to make an answer.

"Well…may be one of my parents is an Uchiha," Kimi immediately replies.

"May be? How can you be unsure about your own parents?" His questions are coming out more sudden and rapid.

"Well I was abandoned at a very young age!" Kimi starts screaming. What does this guy wants? He already knows one of my secret skills! Now he wants to know about my past life? Mind your own business, will you! After her reply, the young boy's expression relaxes. He slowly walks to Kimi's side and sits down.

"Heh, I see. You're just like Naruto," smirks the young boy, as he stares towards the opposite side of the lake. "I possess the sharingan too. That's why I thought you were an Uchiha."
Naruto? Is it even possible for someone to be like me? Kimi stares at the boy as he stares across the lake.

"Wait! I heard that the Uchiha clan was wiped out and there were only two survivors. If you possess the sharingan, then you are one of the two surviving Uchihas... You are Uchiha Sasuke!" exclaims Kimi.

"You finally figured it out?" says Sasuke as he slowly faces Kimi.

"Uhh…" Kimi has no clue how to respond to that. "My name is Sumbate Kimi by the way." Kimi holds out her hand and looks at Sasuke. Sasuke finally gives a small grin, shakes her hand, and says, "Don't worry about it." Kimi smiles gently. However, that smile did not last long once the thought of a home returns. Right…I forgot I need a place to stay. Well, Sasuke is an orphan too…sort of. He must be staying somewhere. And with his clan gone, his home should have plenty of room. Maybe if I reason with him, he would let me stay with him.

Kimi breaks the silence, "Because I am an orphan, the hokage allowed me to stay in Konoha. However, I don't have a place to stay so I wish to ask…"

"You can stay at my place," Sasuke interrupts.

"Thank you!" Kimi answers with a big smile. "I promise I will keep it in good shape." Sasuke hands Kimi a piece of paper with his apartment address. Kimi carefully folds the paper and tucks it in her pocket. That was easy.

"I'll meet you here in an hour then," Sasuke instructs. Before Kimi could respond, Sasuke vanishes, leaving only a few leaves in where he just stood. Seeing that she had an hour of spare time, Kimi decides to tour around Konoha. Before she knew it, she could hear her stomach growl from hunger. Grrr... I should find a place to eat. She goes to the nearest food store that she could find. Pushing the hanging entrance cloths aside, she finds a young blond boy slurping on some ramen very loudly.

Kimi sits on the stool next the blond boy and leans over to say "Excuse me, I'm new here and I'm wondering if I could get some food here."

"OH OK!" the blond boy shouts. Gyah! The boy's response surprises Kimi as she almost falls backwards.

"The ramen here are the best! So what's your name? My name is Uzumaki Naruto! It's nice to meet you!"

Wow, he's a bit hyper. Wait, he's Naruto? How am I like him? Kimi is still startled by Naruto's answer. She quickly collects herself together and answers, "My name is Sumbate Kimi, and uh… I'm a little short on change, so I was wondering if you could lend me some money. I promise I'll pay back!"

Naruto continues to smile as he replies, "No prob! In fact, it's on me as long as you'll be my buddy, ok?"

"Really?" Kimi is surprised with the offer. "Thank you! I owe you next time." After the two children finish their bowls of ramen, they chat as they walk.

"Hey, if you don't have a place to stay as well, you can join me. I'll make room!" Naruto offers.

"Thanks but I already found a place to stay. I'm staying with someone named Uchiha Sasuke," Kimi replies.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" screams Naruto. "Don't stay at his place! Stay at mine! My place is better than Sasuke's!"

"It's ok. I'm cool with Sasuke," says Kimi. Do you have something against this guy?

"Fine… but don't get too close to him. You might get some of arrogance," says Naruto as he closely eyes on Kimi. Quit staring at me, you creepy weirdo."Well, see ya later, Kimi!" Kimi waves good-bye as she speed walks to the lake. Hyper and weird. Sasuke, how do I remind you of this guy? When Kimi arrives, she can already see Sasuke waiting for her by the lake.

"So, you finally arrived," states Sasuke.

"Sorry I'm a bit late," Kimi apologizes. Sasuke leads Kimi to his apartment. He opens the door and leads Kimi to an unoccupied bedroom.

"You can stay in this room," Sasuke says. Kimi steps into her future bedroom and explores the area.

"I'm getting dinner soon. If you want, I can get you some too," says Sasuke as he walks towards the front door. Kimi quickly turns around.

"Thank you so much for the room. Uh… Since I don't have any money yet, I guess it would be nice if you can get me some. I promise I'll pay back!" Kimi answers quickly. Sasuke nods as he leaves. Half an hour later, Sasuke returns with dinner and sets up the table. As they both eat their dinner, Kimi starts a conversation.

"So, Sasuke. Since you live by yourself, how do you make a living?" Kimi asks.

"I'm a ninja. I work for Konoha. Why?" Sasuke replies.

"I just wanted to find some job options… to pay back what I owe."

"Well, if you want to be a ninja, you'll have to talk to the hokage. You can talk to him tomorrow morning."

"I see…" Kimi goes straight to bed after eating and cleaning the table.

The next morning, Kimi wakes up at 4am. She does some exercises and a few training moves before she meets the hokage. Once the hokage mansion opens, Kimi quickly meets up with Sarutobi to ask about the job as a ninja.

"Hmm… If you are that interested in becoming a ninja, it is possible," Sarutobi replies. "However, you will have to take a few tests before becoming a ninja or you will have to study in the ninja academy with the younger kids."

"Give me the tests!" shouts Kimi.