Me and my siblings were telling freaky stories at

each other one afternoon when Ichigo my plotbunny from

hell popped outta nowhere and this was born.

So, uh, yeah. Enjoy?

EDIT – Beta-ed by The Curtain! Wee!

SANITY 1

Raidou buried his face in his hands. Just moments

ago, he'd received word from his landlord that his

apartment building's foundation was too weak and that

the entire complex had to be knocked down.

Three years after the Sandaime's death and the battle

against Sound, there had been a great increase in the

rebuilding of many of Konoha's business and

residential buildings. Just last year, Raidou had had

to shelter two of his friends while they searched

through Konoha for available places to rent. It had

taken them nearly a month of tedious searching and

enquiring until they had finally settled for a nice

small apartment with an attached kitchen somewhere

down on Market Street.

Raidou wasn't so sure he'd have the same luck as

Izumo and Kotetsu.

Just less than nine months ago, the apartment Genma

had been comfortably living in since his ANBU days had

to be knocked down thanks to some genius who had

decided to counter the Sound attacks with a Douton

jutsu and managed to shake the foundations enough to

create air gaps. What used to be a secure foundation

fitting for an eight-story building was now weakened

and heavily damaged.

Genma had come to live with Raidou for a few weeks

before he quickly grabbed the first vacant studio

apartment he could find. And it was just two blocks

away from the Academy. The apartment turned out to be

so small that whenever Raidou came to visit, he

stubbed his toe so many times from walking in to the

corners of the furniture that he lost count. There

just wasn't enough space to even walk in. The kitchen

could not even really be considered a kitchen and the

bathroom was barely even mentionable as a room.

Genma's older place that had gotten torn down had

been at least three times the size of his current one.

But this was shelter and a place to eat and sleep in

so he couldn't complain.

After all, ninjas can't be picky.

Kakashi had suffered the same fate, as did many of

Konoha's bachelors. It wasn't rare these days to find

a Jounin or a Chuunin walking in and out of apartment

complexes crossing out newspaper ads with a pen.

Raidou remembered how Iruka had suffered the most;

he'd had to move nearly eight times in less than a

year and a half.

Raidou sighed in to his hands before taking a good

look at his soon to be ex-apartment; a single bedroom

with kitchen, bath and a fairly spacious living room

designed for a single person. Raidou liked his current

home and regretted that the landlord wanted him gone

within the a week so that the reconstruction could

start as soon as possible. But as much as Raidou

wanted to complain, he really couldn't.

After all he wasn't the only one suffering the same

fate. Just a few months ago, Gai had been forced to

pack up and live under Lee's roof for a while because

his building was being reconstructed too.

Raidou had considered himself a lucky man with his

current apartment because one, he lived next to an old

lady who thought of him like her grandson and always

makes sure he had dinner to eat; two, his landlord was

a rather nice, petite woman who cared about all of the

building's occupants and gave laundry services; and

three, his block was one of the cleanest and most

decent places in the village since the majority of

it's occupants were families.

"It shouldn't be too hard." Raidou grumbled to

himself as he got dressed for work.

Besides, there should be loads of available spaces

for rent in Konoha. It is a pretty big village, after

all.

XXX

Raidou dropped himself into one of the office lounge

chairs, exaughsted. It never ceased to amaze him how

much proto-nins would drain their teachers. One of the

Academy teachers was on maternity leave and since

there was no one else with experience, Raidou had been

taken in as her substitute until she returned. Raidou

wasn't complaining because the pay was still the same.

It was just draining him so much to be teaching on top

of being at the critical point of losing his home and

he didn't even have enough time to take a look around

Konoha for apartments.

Cracking his knuckles, Raidou grabbed a nearby

newspaper and flipped through the ads section,

searching for available spaces to rent. It was by the

second page that Genma strolled into the lounge

looking like he had just came out of a bull fight.

Raidou gave him a funny look and wrinkled his nose at

the soiled pants and calf-wrappings.

Raidou blinked, setting the newspaper on his lap for

a moment. "What happened to you?"

"Mission. I was clean when I got back, mind you. Some

brat was practicing the mud-slide technique just as I

was passing by." Genma spat his senbon into the bin

because it was broken in half.

"And you didn't try to dodge it?" Raidou asked

slowly.

"I didn't even know what hit me," Genma grumbled and

that was when Raidou couldn't help but laugh at the

sheer stupidity of it all. "Hey! I just got back from

an A class mission. I'm tired! I'm out of charka and

I've been sleeping in wetlands for the last two days!"

"You got hit by a douton jutsu from a kid! That's not

an excuse, jounin-san!" Raidou grinned and picked up

the newspaper. "Go home, Genma. You're starting to

smell."

"Not funny." Genma grumbled, grabbing a bottle of

mineral water from the fridge to drink. "You looking

for something?" Genma mumbled as he took long sip of

water, eyeing the newspaper Raidou was absorbed in.

"Hmm yeah, sort of." Raidou answered, not looking up

from the paper. "Too pricey." He mumbled to himself.

"What are you looking for?" Genma asked, draining the

bottle and tossing the empty plastic in the bin.

"My apartment is going down." Raidou answered sadly,

a hint of depression in his voice.

Genma couldn't help the wince. "Oh Raidou." There was

pity in his voice and Raidou glared at him for it.

"Hey, you can come live with me then."

Raidou went back to reading the paper with the

occasionally grumbled 'no way' or 'can't afford it' as

he read and disregarded one ad after the other. "Sorry

Genma, but I really, really shouldn't. Don't you think

you're being a bit forward? We haven't even slept

together yet."

Genma blinked, a bit pink in the cheeks. "Raidou, I

didn't mean it –"

"Genma, my friend, I was joking." Raidou looked up

from the paper and offered him a smile.

Genma grinned. "So does that mean you're still

willing to sleep with me?"

"Take a bath first and then I'll answer that

question." Raidou grinned back. It wasn't uncommon for

them to be heard flirting with each other shamelessly.

It was sort of a best-friends act of affection. "I

appreciate your offer Genma. Really I do. But your

apartment is small enough as it is even without my

fridge, gas range and boxes of junk. You don't even

have enough floor space for an extra mattress."

"Hey, hey, I thought you said you're willing to sleep

with me." Genma pointed out, hands coming to rest on

his hips.

"Be serious man." Raidou mumbled, turning the page of

the newspaper. "I doubt I'll be getting much sleep at

all for the next week. I have seven days to find

someplace, starting tomorrow. Most of the other

tenants have already started moving their things out."

Genma felt sorry for Raidou again and apparently it

showed because it earned him a good kick on his soiled

shins. "Raidou, I'd gladly keep some of your stuff

under my roof. I mean, sure, the door is going to be

blocked but that's where the window comes in handy,

right?"

Raidou smiled gratefully at him, "Thanks. I'll

probably end up having a junk sale though." Raidou

folded the newspaper and sighed heavily. "Rent has

gone up lately, and with the amount of money I'm

paying for my pension, food, laundry, and current

rent, I really don't have much in the way of savings.

Missions have been on the downside lately and I'm

teaching. Half of the rates in the paper are double

the amount I'm paying for my apartment right now."

"Which is why I say you should just come live with

me. We can split the rent!" Genma sighed.

"It's okay Genma. Maybe after you propose." Raidou

stood up. "I'm going to go check out a few of these.

Some are only a thousand ryos and a little higher."

"Raidou," Genma sighed tiredly. "Look man, I'm here

if you need anything."

"Thanks Genma." Raidou said gratefully and rubbed at

his scarred cheek. "I'll be fine. I bet you a week's

worth of dinner that I'll have shelter found in no

time."

XXX

Raidou dropped onto his bed at eleven o' clock that

evening after much snooping around and checking out

the places he was willing to pay extra for. So far,

out of the ten ads he'd circled in the paper, all of

them were crossed out.

They were all located in bad areas to begin with

since most were either near the landfill or the red

light district itself. And on top of that, not one of

them had good plumbing, some didn't even have

bathrooms, and one of the ones that did didn't have a

toilet seat. Raidou had been left with a horrible

headache by the end of it all. What annoyed him the

most about the whole deal was that they were over

charging for extremely unhealthy and unsanitary living

spaces; if they could even be called living spaces.

Raidou wasn't able to sleep that night so he busied

himself with gathering his things and packing them in

boxes. By four AM, he fell asleep only to be roused

four hours later to attend to his Academy duties. He

had a pounding beast of a headache the entire day and

all his breaks and planning periods were spent reading

through newspaper after newspaper and running around

the village checking out vacancies.

Raidou suddenly didn't feel all that lucky.

Either all the good priced apartment was already

taken or there wasn't any plumbing in the places he

checked. Because most of Konoha was undergoing

renovations and/or reconstruction, Raidou was having

one hell of a hard time pinning down a decent place to

live. So for the next five days, he got neither sleep,

rest nor proper food from all the running around and

hurrying to find an empty space.

By the seventh day, Raidou was feeling more than

willing to share Genma's bed and stub his toes on the

walls, bed, fridge and table if it meant having

shelter and actual plumbing.

Raidou stepped out of his morning shower and got

dressed. There would be a lot of things he'd miss when

he moved out. For one, he'd definitely miss the bakery

across the street. He bought himself a muffin for

breakfast as he walked to the Academy, feeling more

and more sullen about the whole ordeal of moving away.

He sighed as he tossed the muffin wrapper in to the

litter bin on the street, ignoring all the ads posted

on the walls and lamp posts.

Exhausted and weary, Raidou sighed for the umpteenth

time that day. He knew he really had very little hope

of finding a house right away. When he reached the

lounge, he sifted through the papers to find the same

ads he'd seen the entire week. Sighing, he tossed the

paper back on the desk just as the bell rang to

signify the start of the school day.

XXX

Raidou felt stressed to the breaking point. Banging

his head on the wall was beginning to seem very

inviting at the moment.

"I'm doomed," He grumbled into his hands.

Raidou remained that way for a while before standing

up to go find Genma. Genma was on gate duty but

perhaps he could strike a deal with one of the other

guards to take his shift while he gave Raidou a hand

with moving boxes over to his apartment.

Raidou walked down the common path towards the

Southern gates. It was a windy afternoon and the food

wrappers that were blown out of the litter bins were

dancing in circles in the empty street. Raidou would

have picked them up if he weren't so dead on his feet.

He was barely even paying attention until a page from

a newspaper blew up and slapped him in the face.

Raidou grumbled and cursed and ripped the paper off

his face. "Damn litter bins should have covers –" He

stopped dead in the middle of his sentence as he

realized that he was staring at a small newspaper

article advertising available spaces for rent.

Raidou read the ad properly and found that the

apartment complex was located in one of more decent

areas of Konoha where the majority of its residents

were families. Looking around him for a moment, Raidou

rolled the paper up and tucked it into his back

pocket, switching directions to make his way towards

said part of town.

The price wasn't listed, but according to the ad, it

was a two bedroom apartment with a washing room,

kitchen, and a bathroom with a tub. For that area and

space measurements, Raidou was more than willing to

pay one thousand ryos more than before and just work

double shifts to pay for it.

With adrenalin rushing through him, Raidou hurried on

his way.

XXX

To say that Raidou was impressed would be an

understatement. He stared at the ten-story, beige and

maroon painted building. Raidou noted that the windows

were made of the one-way view tinted glass that seemed

to be the newest trend in Konoha. Just seeing the

building was enough to make Raidou want to live in it

even more.

The pavement was smooth, well kept and seemed to be

newly painted, the area was quiet with no hints of

litter, there were little bits of greenery around, and

just down the street Raidou could make out the river.

It was definately a good deal.

Then it hit Raidou. Could I afford this place? It

doesn't look like it'll come cheap.

Inhaling deeply, Raidou steeled himself and entered

the apartment's lobby. He noted that the place indeed

looked a lot more expensive than any of the other

buildings he had seen in the past week. The floors

seem to sparkle and smelled faintly of some sort of

floral cleaning agent. Raidou was very pleased to

conclude that there seemed to be a good maintenance of

building-hygiene.

He couldn't help but smile as he approached the desk

where a teenager was sitting and listening to music

through a pair of headphones. He tapped the desk to

get the boy's attention.

"Heyo' how may I help you sir?" The boy asked.

"I read an ad in the paper that you have available

spaces for rent? I just wanted to have a look around

and ask about prices." Raidou answered.

The boy blinked at him slowly once, twice, before

sighing. "Ah, well the boss isn't here right now. He's

gone to his grandson's birthday party. I – I can show

you around if you want." The boy shrugged.

Raidou smiled a bit. "I'd like that, thanks. Namiashi

Raidou." He stuck his hand out for the boy to shake.

"Kaoru Hoshi." The boy took the hand. "People just

call me K."

"Nice to meet you K." Raidou dipped his head.

"So uh, you a Chuunin or a Jounin? It's on the last

floor actually, and the elevator's machine is being

repaired. It should be done by tonight." K said,

pointing to where a group of men were fixing the

elevator down the far side of the lobby.

"Jounin. And no, I don't mind." Raidou peered at the

men who were installing new elevator wires and chains.

"Cool. Follow me then." K motioned for Raidou to

follow him to the opposite side of the elevator toward

a set of sliding doors that opened to reveal a clean

staircase.

The hike up to the tenth floor was tiring for K,

being the average teenager, but Raidou didn't mind

stopping for the boy to catch a breather. When they

did reach the top floor, Raidou was more than pleased

to find that the hallway was clean and that each door

had a rubber mat in front.

"This is a very nice place." Raidou mumbled, looking

up at the bright ceiling lights.

"Yeah, the boss poured most of her cash in to

building it. Anyway, this way. Each floor has seven

doors. There are four spaces for rent here on the

tenth. Doors ten-C, ten-D, ten-E and ten-F. So far, C,

D and E have been reserved but they're all pretty much

the same. So I'll just show you F."

"No problem." Raidou followed K down the hall and

watched the boy pull out a set of keys from his lose

pants and unlock the apartment door.

"Here we are. Each floor is given a theme. The tenth,

being the highest, was given the name Sky by the boss.

I don't know why but I figured it must be something

sentimental. So uh, half the stuff in here goes with

the color blue." K switched on the lights and motioned

for Raidou to enter. "Go on. See if you like it."

Raidou touched the smooth, blue-tinted walls and ran

his fingers across it as he entered the living room.

The floors were a light color of blue. Even the

bathroom and kitchen were pretty much the same shade.

The area was big, the toilet seemed to be functioning

properly, and the apartment itself looked well

maintained and appeared to get regular cleanings until

someone rented the place out.

"So how much are you guys renting this place out

for?" Raidou asked, pushing one of the windows open.

From there he had a view of the river and the Academy.

It was a beautiful place to live, and he could even

have Genma move in if he wanted to split rent and have

a bigger space.

K was fiddling with his walkman in his pocket while

he answered. "Oh, uh, this place goes out for two

thousand ryos a month."

Raidou felt his legs turn to jelly. "That's it?" he

gasped.

K blinked. "Uh, yeah. Is it too much?"

Raidou couldn't believe his luck. His old apartment

went out for two-thousand-three-hundred ryos and it

wasn't even as spacious as this one. It didn't even

have a view. "No. No it's not. In fact, it's perfect.

When can I move in?"

K blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh,

whenever you want I suppose. Though I suggest you wait

for the elevator to be fixed."

"That's fine. My current residence is going to be

knocked down tomorrow or the day after. Is it all

right if I bring in a few possessions?" Raidou asked.

"I suppose it shouldn't be a problem. You just have

to fill out a few forms, pay this month's rent and

I'll hand you the keys." K beamed.

Raidou blinked. "And your boss?"

"Will speak to you two days from now. He left me in

charge so it's okay." K smiled sheepishly.

Raidou took another look around the place. "That

seems fair. So where are those forms?"

TBC

Chapter lengths may vary.

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