Gone [Naruto fanfic]

#24

Shoving open the door to my apartment, I kicked off my shoes and changed my clothes. Then promptly collapsed on the bed.

Zaara had moved out last week. She had gotten far enough in her training that she could go on missions, so she had made enough money to buy her own apartment. Which was considerably larger and better than my own.

-Maybe I should look for a bigger apartment... I thought groggily.

*You have the money for it, so I don't see why not.

-I'll start looking for one later....

I was out cold in two minutes.

                      *******

I woke up in the early afternoon to the sound of a knock at the door. I shot up while simultaneously throwing off my blanket.

I peeked through the peephole in the door to see who it was; it was my sister. I opened the door tiredly.

"Ehm, hi!" Zaara stepped inside.

I yawned as I closed the door, "What're you doing here? Did you finish training for today?"

"Yeah, we just finished. I felt like hanging out."

"Oh okay. Since you decided to pop by, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" She asked suspiciously.

"I'm want to look for a bigger apartment since I have enough money, do you have anywhere in mind where I can look?" I explained with a shrug.

"Well, some dude next to me just moved out, so I guess you could check that out."

"Oh! Well that makes my life easier."

"What happened to you by the way? You usually don't wake up so late."

I looked down at my pj's. "Last night I did a second bell test against Kakashi with Naruto and Sakura. I'm an unofficial chunin now or something like that since the three of us were able to beat him. I didn't get back here 'til dawn, so I crashed as soon as I got back."

"That explains why you look like a frickin' zombie."

"I WHAT?!" I pushed past her to the small mirror on the bedside table. Dark circles hung beneath my eyes, and my skin had a ghostly white tinge to it.

"Shit! I didn't expect to look this tired. I don't think I've ever looked this bad before...meh, I'm sure I'll look normal again once I've cleaned myself up a bit. Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready to go."  

Twenty minutes later, I was talking to the landlord of the apartment complex my sister lived in. After a few more minutes of talking, and signing the contract, I officially had a new apartment.

Zaara came back with me to my old apartment to help me pack my things up(not that I had much). When we finished, I thanked the landlady, and then we left.

We each carried a box of my belongings as we walked to the building, the sounds of the bustling village surrounding us as we went. Upon our arrival, the landlord handed me the key and gave me a quick rundown of how things worked. I grew a little excited at the thought of living in my new apartment.

-Geez,I must be getting old if I'm excited about moving to a new apartment...

Going up the stairs to the third floor, I balanced my box on my hip as I stuck the key in the lock and opened the door.

The apartment was spacious in comparison to the tiny place I used to call home, but it had a cozy feel to it. Zaara stuck her box by the door and then left me to fix things up. 

I plopped myself on the couch, wondering what I was going to do the whole rest of the day besides scaring the crap out of myself because of the Akatsuki and what was going to happen tomorrow.

Sighing, I got up from the ridiculously comfortable couch and headed back out.

-My sketchbook is nearly full, so might as well get a new one.

*Don't you think that perhaps preparing yourself for tomorrow will be better than buying yourself a new sketchbook, wimp?

-I've already done all the preparing I can! And besides, it might come in handy.

*What? You think Deidara or Sasori are going to stop fighting just so you can draw their portraits?

-GASP! YOU'RE BRILLIANT!

*You're very slow at figuring things out, aren't you wimp?

-No need to be so sarcastic! But both Deidara and Sasori consider themselves to be 'artists' (though in my opinion they're just a pyromaniac and a sadistic psycho) and since they argue with each other about art a lot. I'm sure I could come up with something!

*Yes, and throw away all the planning you just did. Reeeaaal smart wimp, real smart.

-I don't have to forget all of my planning! Just give me a little while and I'm sure I'll be able to incorporate this little plan into my greater one perfectly.

*Whatever you say...I just hope you realize that if you make one mistake, you get both of us killed; either in battle, or by their dumb Bijuu ritual.

-Nice to know you have so much confidence in me.

*I don't.

-Thought so.

                                                                                *********

After I bought a couple new sketchbooks and some more pencils from Grandma Akane,  I headed over to Ichiraku's for some food.  I wasn't at all surprised to find Naruto there, slurping away at what appeared to be his fifth bowl of ramen.

"Hungry or something?" I teased.

"I alwayf eaf thif muchf."

"Please don't talk with your mouth full Naruto, it's a little rude."

I sat down on one of the stools and ordered some ramen for myself.

While I was slurping away, I pondered on how I could use my sketchbook to my advantage. I'd heard and seen pictures of Sai, (who I assumed was supposed to join the team in the near future) and I also knew that he used an art jutsu of some kind, I just wasn't sure what.

-I wonder if I'll be able to learn an art jutsu in less than 24 hours....

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you want to fight somebody!"

"What?" I looked up from my bowl to look at Naruto(who had finished eating), and cocked an eyebrow.

"Your face, you looked really mad about something."

"I'm not mad." I replied, slightly exasperated. "I was just thinking about something."

"Whatever you say." He paid for his ramen, but when he was about to leave he turned to me.

"Do you want to train with me sometime? You seemed pretty good last night."

His question surprised me, but then again Naruto will train with just about anyone if he has the chance.

"Sorry, but I can't. I'm going to be busy after I finish here. Some other time maybe?"

"Okay, sounds good to me." And then he left.

I swallowed the last of the soup, thanked and paid for the ramen, then headed towards the library.

I had work to do.

=============================The upcoming chapters legit brought out the feels in me, so I'm warning you now to brace yourselves!