Part 27

To be honest I thought I'd give up on this after I killed off Katya and Arin

But here I am still writing

Anyway part 27 wow

Wonder what Rue's up to now…

Read the side series

I only own Rue

Enjoy and give feedback

Part 27

For a while after Naruto left Rue continued hiding in bed. Though she soon decided it was time to get on with her life. She missed her parents but Rue was sick and tired of hurting over it.

So she cleaned. Naruto's apartment was filthy. This was weird, because, he was hardly in it.

Regardless she cleaned out the spoiled food, mopped the floor, did the laundry, and changed the sheets and blankets on the bed. Going into the bathroom she cleaned the sink, scrubbed the shower and sanitized the toilet.

She cleaned until everything in the apartment sparkled. It certainly distracted her from how she felt. She missed her parents, wanted Gaara, just to be with him really. She also wanted to go to sleep and wake to find the last week was just a bad dream.

Hearing her stomach growl she blinked and looked down at herself. She was in the same outfit she'd worn the previous day, a tank top and shorts, her go to outfit for bed time.

Her stomach growled again, making her frown.

"I know you're hungry, but relax. I need to do some shopping and then we'll eat." She told her stomach calmly.

She grabbed a clean outfit and went to the shower.

As she showered she thought about what she'd done since the death of her parents; she'd cried, burned their possessions, lived in bed, and did not properly care for herself.

It's officially been a week since their deaths and Rue felt disgusted with herself. Turning the water off, she wrapped a towel around her body. Wiping steam from the mirror, she eyed her reflection.

"Have I always been this pitiful?" She asked herself. She didn't want the answer to this question though.

She dried off and dressed in a long black skirt with a slit going up to her left hip. She paired it was a red long sleeve shirt.

Then she went and purchased everything she'd need to restock the kitchen. Fruit, vegetables, milk, and other food products, as well as toiletries.

With the bags in hand she went to her family's old shop. Everything was how she'd left it when Naruto packed her things.

Placing the groceries on the counter, she grabbed a bag from the back room and put all the weapons inside.

"Need any help?" A male voice called from across the shop.

Rue jumped and looked up.

Standing there was someone she'd only met recently.

"Oh, I didn't see you there. Um Shikamaru, right?" She asked only to receive a nod.

"Going to war?" He asked playfully, pointing to the bag she'd filled.

She smiled and shook her head.

"Shop's closing, permanently. So I'm cleaning up." She informed him.

"Oh, want help carrying you bags back to Naruto's?" He asked her, walking towards the counter.

"Yea, if you don't mind." She told him.

"Wouldn't have asked if it did." He said lazily.

"Right… Thank you."

He nodded and grabbed her two bags of groceries. Rue took the bag of weapons

"How've you been holding up?" He asked after a moment of silence as they walked.

"Pretty bad actually. Been hiding in bed." She answered honestly.

"Isn't that how normal people deal with the death of loved ones?"

"I guess. But how'm I supposed to move on from it if I don't try to? Hiding won't help me feel better."

She shrugged and smiled at her softly. The rest of the walk to Naruto's was in silence. When they arrived, Rue opened the door and led him inside.

She places the weapon bag with her things and Shikamaru placed the bags on the table.

Rue went to the table and took the things out of the bags. Putting the milk away.

"Need any more help?" Shikamaru asked.

Rue returned to the table and looked up at him.

"Not really, but thank you." She smiled and leaned up kissing his cheek. An action that made them both freeze.

"Sorry…" She said softly, looking away from him.

"I should go." He told her as he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Rue sunk to the floor. She and Shikamaru weren't even friends. Why did she do that? Sure she thought he was fairly attractive, despite his head looking like her favorite fruit. But that doesn't mean she should kiss him.

Sighing she got up and finished putting things away. When she finished she ate an apple.

For the rest of the day, Rue made sure everything was tidy and put away. Every now and then her thoughts would wonder to Gaara, or her parents, or she'd wonder how Naruto was doing.

After several days Rue wrote her interaction with Shikamaru off as an act of gratitude. She seemed almost back to herself. The village was back to its usual bustling self. Well as far as Rue knew it was.

Rue was going outside more and interacting with others again. She'd even go with Sakura to check on Lee sometimes.