Home sweet home?
“ Your apartment looks just like mine! ”
Naruto shouted from your new bathroom. Humming, you took one last survey of the room you were standing in. The bedroom was pretty empty, save for a bed and cupboard. The kitchen which was connected by a small hall to the bedroom, was the same, empty, not including the fridge but that was it. There wasn’t even a stove or anything. How were you gonna cook anything?! Another thing to add to the buying list, it was getting so long it was almost irritating. With everything being empty, it made it look extremely lonely.
A lonely home for a lonely girl.
You sighed as you put your hands on your hips. This was your new home so you were gonna have to make the most of it, you planned to go shopping after eating food so maybe you could buy yourself a table and seats so you could eat.
You’d have to save up your money if you wanted to get a TV. Well whatever, you could keep yourself happy with this apartment with the thought of how you could go out and buy cute utensils and plates. You always felt excited at the thought of finally be able to decorate your own home how you like. You took one more look at the empty space of your new apartment before turning and walking a couple down the hall to your door.
Iruka, who had been waiting at the door, pushed himself off the wall noting the glum expression you had on. His brows furrowed, “ Are you ok, is something wrong with your apartment?”, you blinked at him as he asked you this, nothing was really wrong with it, it was just….
“ its just.. its really empty and um-its kinda….”, waving your hands, you tried to think of what to say without sounding pathetic. Maybe the right word would be-
“lonely.”
You jumped as you turned, Naruto stood behind you, having snuck up on you. How he did that considering you were in a hall with almost no space for three people, you didn’t know, blame it on the ninja skills.
You grumbled, “ Naruto geez you scared me.”
He rubbed the back of his head, “sorry…”, he snickered.
Your shoulders slumped as you relaxed, not actually being mad. As the word he said registered you realized he had said exactly what you were hesitant to say, although you knew that you could brighten this place up but even if it was full you still feel like it would be lonely. Without your mom being there to add some of her mom touch to things and without your dad coming in to fix things you would never dream of fixing, it wouldn’t feel right. You looked at Naruto, he was smiling at you, such a sweet smile hiding such a broken heart.
Your eyes turned soft, “ but…yeah… lonely is….definitely the right word.”, Naruto paused as he stared back into your eyes. He could see pain behind your eyes, the loneliness. His hand dropped from his hair a sad frown formed on his lips. Although he had only met you a couple hours ago, you were so kind to him and to see the same pain as his in your eyes made him sad.
“But its fine I’m sure ill be able to.. make this place like home. Now-”, you clasped your hands together, “how about we go eat because I’m starved.”, you looked between at Naruto and Iruka with a small questioning smile. Iruka nodded to you with a soft smile, seeming to realize you wanted to leave it be. He turned to the door grabbing the knob and twisting it, you smiled with gratitude at him, happy he let it go. Opening the door, rays of sunlight came in illuminating the hall. You turned to Naruto as Iruka walked out. He seemed to be thinking about something as he stared at the floor with a hard gaze. You looked at him with furrowed brows, you shouldn’t have said anything it seemed to have really bothered him. You blew air softly out your nose, sighing. You leaned over slightly and grabbed his sleeve tugging on it to bring him towards the door.
“Cmon Naruto I know your also hungry.”, you spoke encouragingly.
He seemed to stop thinking about whatever was on his mind as he looked at you, than to where you were tugging on his sleeve. It didn’t take long for him to grin at you seeming to bounce back as easy as that, “heck yeah I am!”, you could only yelp loudly and stumble as he quickly clasped his hand around your own before running out of your apartment with you following behind, “cmon let’s gooo!”, you both passed a shocked and amused iruka as you were dragged like a ragdoll down the stairs and into the street,
“Wait Naruto! I need to lock my apartment!"
You were out of breath as Naruto kept pulling you around by your hand. You had both just run down at least three blocks, you were so out of breath it was almost killer and the rocks were really hurting your feet. You don’t think you’ve ever run this much since the beep test in gym(you hated those things, so annoying)! You had both lost iruka on the way, you were kind of worried but you knew he would turn up somewhere, maybe even scold you two for running off.
“were so close cmon!”, you and your bare feet felt relief knowing you could finally stop and sit soon. All that running almost felt worth it knowing you were much closer to food heaven.
You let him drag you down another street as you turned a corner. “Its just down the street!”, he seemed almost more excited than you with how wide his smile was.
“then lets go!”, you exclaimed, searching the shops hoping to find the popular ramen shop as you pushed yourself to run even faster, ignoring the growing in your feet. You had always dreamed of tasting the ramen from that shop. That glowing rich looking broth with those perfectly cooked noodles and toppings. You almost drooled at just the thought of that famous ramen.
Naruto quickly followed clenching your hand as you pulled him along. Everything was all fun and light as you both ran, even with the weird stares from the villagers nothing could ruin your fun.
Except… for Iruka of course, who you spotted standing a couple meters away with his back turned to you both. You slowed down as you got closer, only to be surprised when Naruto didn’t and kept dragging you along. You laughed as he dragged you along, for being at least a head shorter than you he was quite strong.
Iruka who called out to you both as you ran by him, you only looked back for a second to say something only to be smacked square in the face with a curtain.
You yelp and tried to maneuver the curtain as you were pulled forward. In the end it didn’t help and only messed up your hair even more. Naruto let go of your hand as you fussed over your hair trying to get it out of your face and mouth, once you finally succeeded you realized where you had been dragged.
You gasped pleased to see you were at the famous Ichiraku ramen. So cool! It was as amazing as in the show! It was lit by a nice soft glow of naturel light as a lovely scent blew around the shop, breathing it in you smiled, this place really smelled amazing. Your eyes scanned the shop spotting Naruto sitting on one of the many seats chatting it up with who you recognized as the owner.
Iruka suddenly pushed past the curtains and walked in going towards Naruto to sit next to him greeting the shopkeeper. What was his name again? You racked your brain trying to find his name, as you did so you didn’t realize you were staring at him until he smiled at you,
“im Teuchi nice to meet you.”, he greeted.
You bowed your head softly and gave him a big friendly yet nervous smile. “nice to meet you too , I’m y/n”,
He bowed back before raising an eyebrow after seeing you not making any moves to take a seat, “well are you gonna sit and eat or are you gonna stand there staring?”, he chuckled as did Naruto and iruka as you fumbled over your words, a small blush dusting your cheeks as you nervously tucked your hair behind your ear. How embarrassing!
“Umm yes-sorry,um…?“, you hesitated on where to sit, beside Naruto or iruka?
“Here y/n-chan, sit next to me!”, Naruto said enthusiastically, making your decision for you.
You gaped for a second, y/n-chan huh…that was new, definitely not unwanted but just new. You quickly recovered and smiled as he patted the sit. You made your way towards it and climbed onto the red seat and turned to towards Teuchi keeping your gaze low your smile turning slightly awkward. He crossed his arms as he grinned at you.
“Iruka here told me your new to the village.”, he jabbed his thumb in Iruka’s direction, who only kept a soft smile on his face.
“uh, yeah that’s right”, you confirmed.
He hummed in approval as he straightened his back and put his clenched fists on his hips a look of determination on his aged face as he nodded.
“Ayame!”, he called out suddenly. It almost made you jump as you laughed softly.
“yeah!?”, the voice of a woman called back to him from the back of the shop.
“We have a newcomer here! You know what that means. We have to give them our best!”
“yes father!”, Ayame called back enthusiastically as she walked out from the back of the shop. She scanned your small group looking for this ‘newcomer’ her father was talking about. She seemed to immediately know when her eyes landed on you, she smiled warmly at you, “you must be the newcomer, welcome to Ichiraku ramen I’m Ayame. ”, well she was refreshing, it was nice finally talking to another girl.
“Thank you, im y/n.”
She tightened her apron as she started to get ready to cook, “well what would you like to eat for your first time here.”
You tapped at the counter with your nail as you thought about what you could eat. In the corner of your eye you could see that everyone seemed to be waiting for your answer. You almost wanted to tell them to look away as it was making you feel nervous and rushed. Stop it, damn it!
“you should the miso chashu pork ramen, it’s what I get!”, Naruto suggested suddenly, you looked at him in consideration, maybe miso soup would be good. Teuchi chuckled,
“Yeah it’s what he gets every time, with extra pork.”
“Yeah cause it’s delicious!”
You ignored both of them as they started talking, just happy that they weren’t staring anymore. Instead you turned your attention Ayame who was smiling waiting patiently for you to answer. She made you feel much less nervous, she had a very friendly smile.
“do you guys maybe have pho, I’d like some?”, you inquired.
Nodding she started listing off your option, “yes, we have chicken, seafood , vegetables and beef, which would you like?”,
“Umm, beef please.”
You usually picked beef, it was your safe option and you always use to eat beef pho with your family every Friday, it was a sort of tradition really. Maybe this could replace it, lunch with Naruto and Iruka, it would probably never truly replace it but it could come close.
She nodded at you , “of course, coming right up.”, she turned towards her dad pulling her sleeves up, tapping him on shoulder signaling him to start working, he turned to you and gave you a thumbs up.
“You won’t be disappointed little miss, this is the best ramen shop in Konoha.”, he grinned at you.
“I can’t wait.”, you really couldn’t, the hospital food hadn’t been bad but honestly home made pho is always gonna be better. In your opinion.
Teuchi was quick to get to work as he started cutting up the veggies and meat. A calmness fell over you all as you watched them cook. It was in a way mesmerizing; watching them meticulously cut all the ingredients.
Naruto turned to you, not seeming to think the same thing, being bored more than anything really, “so what did you order y/n?”
“just some pho.”
He smiled at you, “ yeahhh, good choice those are really good.”, he turned to Iruka, “ what did you get sensei?”
You looked over Naruto at Iruka, who turned towards you guys at the sound of his name.
“Just some Tonkatsu.”
“yummm”, you answered turning back to Ayame and Teuchi as they prepared your soups, “ if I had the stomach for it I think I’d eat everything on the menu.”, you jested.
“With the appetite Naruto over here has he probably could.”, Iruka chuckled pointing his thumb in Naruto direction.
Naruto as nothing but proud as he smiled at you,
“better believe it, I have the highest record of most ramen eaten.”
“Seriously!”
“Believe it!”
That’s how you ended up spending your afternoon, talking about anything and everything with Naruto and Iruka while you all ate. To say your ramen was delicious would be an understatement, the broth had been super flavourful and the beef and rice noodles were perfectly cooked, your favourite thing though had to have been the sprouts. They added a great crunch to every bite, you totally could have eaten another bowl if it weren’t for how full you felt.
You learned quite a lot about Naruto’s class, many things that you already knew; like how pretty Sakura was, how annoying Sasuke was, how smart Shikamaru was and many more things. Iruka had chimed in a couple times scolding Naruto for a couple rude comments Naruto would casually drop. All in all it was really fun, it made you feel as I’d things wouldn’t be so bad now.
In the end you practically had to drag Naruto away from the ramen shop waving to Ayame and Teuchi as you walked away, giving them both a farewell promising to come back. With full bellies and Iruka’s empty wallet(which he seemed to try and not cry over),you all started walking towards other stores to buy some things like clothes(god knows you needed a bra) and things to fill your apartment with. You had given them the chance to leave and go home if they had wanted to saying how the sun was gonna start setting but they insisted on coming with you. Which you didn’t mind at all, you had kind of hoped they would stay, not really liking the thought of wandering around alone.
The first thing you decided to look for had been clothes, underwear and a BRA. Buying a bra was the best thing yet most awkward thing ever, you had gone into a bra store, Iruka and Naruto staying outside, obviously (although you did catch Naruto trying to peek in before iruka hit him upside the head), and as soon as you stepped in you were swarmed by ladies ready to take your size and get the perfect bra ready for you.
They felt no shame in making you remove your camisole to measure your boobs up close and personal, it made you feel slightly vulnerable because not only were you conscious that you smelled but you were also naked on your top half. Although considering they were girls you didn’t feel too weird. In seconds they were able to find the right bra for you and you were on your way out the store almost as fast as you came in. The bra they gave you was quite nice and very simple, it was black and had more v shaped pads.
You decided not to put it on immediately and instead only when you were showered and clean. Speaking of showers you needed to buy a washcloths, soap, and deodorant and shampoo with conditioner.
After the bra you went out to buy a couple outfits and a couple hundred pairs of underwear, because you can never have enough underwear. Oh and let’s not forget socks and shoes, you bought a pair of those with the help of Iruka, because this whole time you had been walking around barefoot. Somehow no one really noticed, at least you hoped so. Unlike the bra you were quick to put those on, they were the same shoes all shinobi wore; toeless and heeless , which technically meant they were more like sandals, but whatever.
Once that was all done you guys had decided to drop by your apartments to leave all the bags of clothes in your room to not have to carry them everywhere. Those things were heavy.
Funny enough on the way to others stores after dropping everything off, you passed by store full of toiletries. Perfect! Smelling bad was your worst nightmare so you spent a bit of time sniffing through all the hair products and soaps before finally picking a set of lilac scented shampoos, conditioners, body wash, lotion and deodorant. You even bought a small lavender colored washcloth because no way you’d only wash your body with soapy hands, it never truly gets all the grim off your skin. You also bought a toothbrush which you had almost forgotten to do aswell as some toothpaste. You were quite happy, you hadn’t gotten the chance to clean properly at the hospital, now you finally could!
After all that the next thing on the list of shopping had been kitchen stuff, all you had wanted to buy was a kitchen set, some plates, bowl and some silver ware. You ended up finding and buying all the things you wanted from this very nice old lady. You would have almost missed her store if it hadn’t been for a small ceramic black cat sat outside her store pointing in the direction(it was quite clever). Her store had been full of handmade ceramics and tools, the plates and bowl you took were all food themed, for example some of the bowls you bought were like pumpkins with a cover that had a stem and some plates were like certain fruits and vegies. One of the plates even had a cute egg painted on it! You even got cute silver ware which had meticulously painted drawings in the bowl of the spoon, although those were made of metal instead of clay. Everything was absolutely adorable. Iruka and Naruto had to physically stop you from buying everything, you almost fought them when they held you back from taking the sea creature themed cups and mugs(which in the end you won)!
You almost bought the whole store and as a thanks she gave you cute duck shaped measuring cups and spoons. Saying how no one really bought her stuff due to her style not being that popular and with all the stuff you bought you basically saved her this week and the many other weeks to come. You’d left that store with a lot of missing money but a proud feeling and a promise to always buy your kitchen needs there (you still needed spatulas and such, which you saw hidden in the corner but decided to save for food and a table later).
Iruka and Naruto had been impressed with the amount of stuff you had bought from just one store, one store! You bought way less when it came to clothes! (Not really)
Hmph there’s more were that came from, shopping was an art and you were an artist!
Next up on the shopping list had been furniture which is why you were here in a store called furnistore(so clever ik, courtesy of moi) looking for a table to eat on as well as some chairs with cushion to make them comfy.
You had already found some nice cute dark brown cushions to sit but right now you were having a hard time deciding between two cute tables; one was a brown wooden table which had dragons engraved on the legs making it look like the dragon were holding the table up while the other one was this really cute pastel colored table with flowers engraved on it. They both came with 4 chairs each, dragons carved legs for one table and pastel colored with flowers for the other one. You put your hand on your chin adjusting the cushions under your arm and the bag of toiletries in your other hand as you went into thought trying to decide which was better.
If you were being honest you liked the dragon one more. It was more tame and would fit incredibly well with your matcha green walls and your small cushions, but the pastel one was your favorite color and it cost way less. Hmmm this was hard, you were gonna need some help with this decision. You knew the perfect people for that, or animals for that matter.
You turned your head and grabbed a couple strands of hair before whispering to them, “what do you guys think, dragon or pastel?”
It didn’t take long for you to feel the familiar coolness of your snakes scales as a couple of them formed, checking out the tables. You saw them in the corner of your eyes look between the two. It didn’t take long for them to quickly decide and point they’re snouts in the direction of the dragon table eagerly hissing at it.
You smiled, “yeah I thought that too-“
“who are you talking to y/n?”, you shrieked at Iruka’s voice, your snakes being quick to disappear as you turned around hurriedly trying to be inconspicuous. When did he get here?! Iruka stood in front of you an eyebrow raised in question as he held your box of ceramics kitchenware under his arm.
“No one!”, you hurriedly exclaimed, “-just myself. I was- um I was just struggling in deciding which table I liked the most, I was thinking the dragon one.”, you tried, hoping to change the subject once again.
You could see the suspicions flash in his eyes before it quickly disappeared replaced by thought as he stared at the tables.
“oh yeah definitely the dragon one.”, he said nodding as he looked at the small furniture. He thought the same thing you did, it was tame, fit more with your walls and the dragons looked nice.
“yup alright! Its decided then that’s what I’ll get.”, you said hurriedly. Well that was much easier than you thought, now to go tell the cashier cause this table is way too heavy to bring to the register.
You approached the cashier greeting them before telling them the table you wanted. They were quick to ring up the price which as you saw the numbers made you cringe, you wouldn’t have any money for food at this point, “hey where’s Naruto?”, you suddenly asked Iruka while paying, you hadn’t seen him the whole time since you had been in the store.
Iruka looked around seeming to be reminded that the trouble maker was now left alone in a furniture store, he seemed almost worried, not worried for him but more about what he would try to pull. Quite understandable considering it was Naruto.
“Now that you say I-“
“I’m here!”
You jumped, as Naruto once again snuck up on you. You turned to Naruto, who had a big smile on his face and gave him a slightly aggravated glare.
“Stop scaring me like that!”, you hissed, you had just left the hospital you weren’t in the mood to go back due to a heart attack.
“sorryyyy”
You just grumbled knowing he wasn’t truly sorry as you turned to talked to the cashier. You didn’t miss the glare of disgust they sent Naruto before it quickly turned to a customer service smile as they turned to you. It took everything in you to not glare at them, absolutely hating their foul attitude, even if it’s because they didn’t fully know everything about Naruto, you still thought it was unneeded and misplaced.
“Naruto”, Iruka called, “where did you disappear to?”, he said with a slightly scolding tone, crossing his arms.
“No where! I was right here the whole time!”, Naruto was quick to explain to Iruka as you talked to the cashier, they told you how they’d deliver your table and chairs to your house tomorrow at the end of the day for you seeing how you probably couldn’t do it yourself. Although begrudgingly, you thanked them, giving them your address, just happy that you weren’t gonna have to lug those things around all the way to your house.
“alright well-”, you spoke up, after having said goodbye and good day to the cashier, stopping them both in the middle of their bickering, “I’ve bought everything I want. I think I’m ready to go home, you ready to go home Naruto?”, Naruto paused staring at you for a moment with an unrecognizable look. It clicked in your head not even a second later. You hadn’t realized but without parents Naruto had probably never been asked that; to go home. You softened at your realization, this kid was too precious. Swinging your toiletry bag you sent him an inviting smile.
Iruka who realized that as well, put his hand on Naruto head reassuringly, snapping him out of his thoughts as he smiled big at you, “ Yeah let’s go home!”, he barreled towards you and quickly started to pull you along. You yelped as you struggled to keep up with the 4 cushion tucked under your arms, slipping slowly.
“Naruto!! Careful!”
“Right! Sorry!”
“You crying!?”
“No its just sand in my eye!”
Iruka chuckled at your antics watching you two leave the store hurriedly, laughter following you both out. He smiled fondly as he slowly followed you two out. He was happy Naruto seemed to have found a new friend who would believe in him and care for him just as he does.
He could already see the amazing friendship you both would have.