[Fic] "The Way of the Apartment Manager" epilogue -- Naruto

[edenfalling]

And here is the promised epilogue of "The Way of the Apartment Manager," in which Iruka is uncomfortably perceptive, Kakashi continues to sneak up on people, Naga is used as a threat, Yukiko pretends to juggle, and the author throws in another OC as a reminder that this is a divergent universe and there were more than nine students in Naruto's academy class. Also, the author clearly needs to get some saltwater taffy before her obsession gets out of hand. :-)

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The Way of the Apartment Manager: Epilogue
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She was later than she'd wanted to be -- she'd run into a group of bandits on her way back from River Country and it had taken her two days to shake them off her trail -- but Yukiko made it home in time to lean against the sun-warmed walls of the academy and wait for Naruto to finish his first day of classes. She kicked off her sandals and sketched floor plans in the dirt with her toes. She was almost sure she had the money to modernize the building next door and convert the ground floor into a restaurant (and possibly a little shop of some sort), but she had to talk to Yura first.

Well, she could stop by her cousin's yatai with Naruto -- Yura specialized in udon, but she could whip up a bowl of ramen in a pinch, and the kid deserved a treat today.

"Yo."

Yukiko spun at the unexpected voice, and then scowled at Kakashi. "Don't do that. And why are you here anyway?"

The jounin's eye crinkled into a smile. "Just checking up on the brat," he said lightly, "and seeing how our dear Iruka-kun is managing in his new job. Speaking of which, how did your mission go?"

Yukiko shrugged. "Reasonably well. I brought home some long-grained rice and saltwater taffy for my uncle's store, picked off two bandits, and got floor plans and security notes for several businessmen whose dealings seem a little shady." She fished a pink-and-yellow candy wrapped in wax paper from her jacket pocket and offered it to Kakashi. "Want some taffy? I think this one is strawberry and lemon."

Kakashi eyed the candy suspiciously, but plucked it from Yukiko's hand and slipped it into his vest. "Thanks. For future reference, I prefer mocha flavor."

"I am so sorry," Yukiko said, rolling her eyes. "Vanish again, would you? I hear feet and I don't think you really want to deal with a horde of kids. Go bother Iruka instead."

"Point," Kakashi said, and flickered out of sight in a swirl of leaves.

Yukiko shoved her feet back into her sandals and jumped up onto the wall, using chakra to stick herself to the stones and stay far away from any risk of getting trampled. And then the academy emptied. The main flood seemed to be second and third year students running for freedom -- the older kids slouched along more casually, trying to prove that they were too cool to hurry like babies. Finally the first year students arrived, all thirty-odd kids, babbling to their new friends about how cool it was to get their own kunai, they had reading for homework and that was so unfair, and wasn't Iruka-sensei scary when he yelled at Kiba for letting his puppy piss all over the floor?

"It pissed on my feet!" a black-haired girl said loudly, her tone an interesting combination of disgust and pride at having something interesting happen to her. "I'm going to do something horrible to Kiba tomorrow."

"Really? Hey, hey, I can help you!" Naruto chimed in. "I know lots about playing tricks!"

The girl looked at him skeptically. "Really? You're the boy with whiskers -- my mama says you're a menace and shouldn't have been let into the academy, and I should stay away from you. And then my papa said it would be better if you were dead." She frowned. "I don't think he meant to say it so loud. But you have to be horrible or papa wouldn't have said it."

Yukiko told herself that dropping down like an avenging samurai and slapping a seven-year-old girl for having no manners would be incredibly stupid, especially when the girl's parents were the ones truly at fault. She held her breath, waiting to see how Naruto would react. "Come on, kid," she whispered. "You know you're better than that."

Hurt shone in Naruto's eyes for a second before he buried it and grinned. "Well, that means I'm really good at doing horrible things, right? So, so, you should let me help you be horrible to Kiba!"

The girl cocked her head, letting her ponytail swing out past her narrow shoulders, and studied Naruto. She bit her tongue and screwed up her face in concentration, and then said brightly, "Okay! I'm Kigaru Shinnin."

"Uzumaki Naruto. Let's be friends!" He stuck out his hand.

Shinnin grabbed it and shook up and down violently. "Okay. Let's go to the park and figure out what to do to Kiba." She started running off down the path, still holding onto Naruto's hand; he stumbled after her wearing a dazed grin.

Yukiko dropped from her perch on the wall and wondered whether to laugh or sigh -- after all the trouble she'd taken to be here, Naruto rushed off without stopping to wonder where she was. Still, it was good for him to make friends. Very good. And she could wait a couple hours before taking him out for ramen.

"He's found a friend?"

"Looks like it," Yukiko said, leaning back against the wall. "Did he behave himself in class?"

"More or less," Iruka said. He walked over to stand beside her and watched the two kids run through the gate. "He fidgeted, of course, and I think he was the one who threw a paper airplane at me, but compared to Iinuzuka Kiba's puppy -- and I'm going to have a long talk with his parents about sending him to school without housebreaking that dog -- he was no problem."

"Were there a lot of problems?"

Iruka smiled ruefully and scratched the base of his ponytail. "Well, yes, but it's the first day of class. There are always problems -- or so they tell me. I like it, though. They're good children, and I think most of them have a good chance of graduating on time. One or two might even make genin early."

"Huh. Early graduates." Yukiko looked at the fence around the academy grounds and tried to remember which park was closest and therefore most likely to be the one Naruto would end up in. "Twelve is still young for dealing with death," she said. "You'll teach them to be good people anyway, but we're at peace right now. There's no reason to push them." The small triangular park with the mermaid fountain was closest, but it wasn't very interesting for kids. The long stretch of grass and trees down by the stream was a better bet.

"...He won't be young forever," Iruka said gently.

Yukiko blinked, and then winced. "I know, I know." She couldn't protect the kid forever either; she hadn't been here this morning to see him off to class, had she? She couldn't make everyone in Konoha stop hating and fearing him. He'd have to do that himself.

"Hey," she said, forcing herself to sound cheerful, "I'm going to stop by my cousin Yura's yatai for dinner -- I know Naruto likes Ichiraku ramen best, but Yura's always up for a cooking challenge. Would you like to come along? I figure you deserve a treat too."

Iruka flushed and rubbed his scar. "Um, okay. If I wouldn't be imposing."

"I invited you, didn't I?"

Iruka turned pinker and nodded.

"Then you're not imposing," Yukiko said firmly. Then she reached into her pockets. "Here, before I forget: saltwater taffy from River Country." She dropped the paper-wrapped candies into Iruka's hands and folded his fingers over them. "Enjoy, and stop by my place at six ."

She turned and walked toward the gate, and very deliberately didn't turn to watch Iruka's expression or see what he did with the taffy; there were limits on how far a person should go when embarrassing a younger brother. Yukiko smiled to herself, and then tilted her head sideways. "You can come, but I'm not paying for you," she said lightly.

"So heartless," Kakashi said from behind her. "I think I should come just to make sure you don't scare poor Iruka-kun or the brat to death." Yukiko grinned unrepentantly; Kakashi's eye twinkled and he whipped his latest orange book out from his vest. "By the way, I hear Naga-kun is in town this week."

"Really?"

"Mmm."

"Then I'll have to invite her, to keep you from embarrassing 'poor Iruka-kun' to death, or corrupting Naruto," Yukiko said.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "You expect her not to embarrass Iruka?"

"Point." Yukiko shrugged. "But she'll go after you too, so it should even out. Besides, I hear she's been taking lessons from her mother." She stared pointedly at Kakashi's book.

"Ah, right. I'll see you later." Kakashi hurried off, holding his book a bit more tightly than usual. Yukiko waited until he turned the corner, counted to ten, and stopped holding back her laughter.

The afternoon sun streamed down from the clear blue sky, warming her despite the brisk air. She could smell autumn on the wind: exotic spices and oils from the restaurant districts, fresh grains and vegetables in the open air markets, the sharp crackle of fallen leaves, and a hint of woodsmoke as the butchers started smoking and curing meat from the first slaughters. Yukiko slipped her hands into her pockets and strode off, smiling to herself. She had packages to deliver to Uncle Yutaro, reports and diagrams to turn in to Heika-san, and an invitation to give to Naga. Then she had a little brother to track down and drag home to clean up -- she was dead certain Naruto would be dirty by the time she caught up with him.

She unwrapped a piece of taffy and popped it into her mouth. Huh -- watermelon. Not her favorite, but it would do. She crumpled the wrapper and tossed it from hand to hand as she walked, idly adding two illusionary duplicates so she looked like she was juggling. That was a trick more often used with kunai, to make enemies wonder which knife was real, but it was good to keep in practice. She'd have to teach the trick to Naruto one of these days; the kid could probably come up with some interesting variations.

Life, Yukiko thought to herself, was good.

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End of Story

Back to chapter 17

Read the clean version here at ff.net

See the fanart!

Continue to the sequel, "The Guardian in Spite of Herself." Read it here on my livejournal or read the clean version here on ff.net.

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There. I have now officially and completely finished a novel. Granted, it's only 75,000 words (I haven't done an exact wordcount for several chapters, but it was averaging 4,300 words per chapter and it's 17 chapters plus a 1,700 word epilogue, so... 74,000, approximately?) which is a fairly short novel, but still. It's a novel. I can write novels.

*dances*

Tell me if anything about this feels off, truncated, or rambly, please. I'd like to get it up on ff.net soonish, so I can put COMPLETE in the story summary. I really want to see that.

Comments

[deralte.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thanks for all the effort you've put into this story. It was a nice epilogue, and I look forward to the sequel:)

[edenfalling]

Thank you for reading and reviewing! I am holding off on really starting the sequel until I have the plot pulled together; otherwise, it would just ramble and be self-indulgent instead of having an internal story reason to exist. So, yeah. Sometime in December. :-)

[icedark-elf.livejournal.com]

I'm torn. On one hand, I feel like letting loose a happy sigh at a wonderful story that is complete in an excellent way. On the other hand, I want to cry because this wonderful story is over.

*grins* I cheer you on for writing a short novel. Much longer than anything I could write.

Now, to continue stalking you for more fic. *sets up tent*

[edenfalling]

Then it was a good ending. *rubs hands in satisfaction*

(The scary thing is that my unfinished Harry Potter novel is already longer than this -- something like 90,000 words last I counted -- and it's not even 2/3 done yet! *wails* My stories have a terrible habit of getting away from me.)

[icedark-elf.livejournal.com]

A very good ending.

And fics that get away are good. Why? Because it means I have more to read. *grins*

Is this HP fic posted, or should I start begging?

[edenfalling]

Ah. I was, of course, talking about "Secrets," which is up on ff.net. (It's also up on Schnoogle, but that's a moderated archive and for some reason my edited versions of chapters 4, 5, and 6 never got posted. So the ff.net version is more definitive.

It's a retelling of CoS from Ginny's point of view, in an attempt to explain what the hell she was doing writing to an enchanted diary (and why she didn't tell anyone what was going on) and to explain why nobody else noticed that something was, in fact, going on. As such, it's a darker and more internally-focused story than "Apartment Manager," though I flatter myself that it has cheerful moments. And OCs, of course, since I had to populate Ginny's year with people besides Colin Creevey and Luna Lovegood.

I think you'd like Sir Vladislav the enchanted suit of armor... *tempts*

"Secrets" is my baby, you see. I've been working on it since before OotP was published, and it has become unintentionally personal in many ways. It takes skill to weave things into the timeline of CoS while still making sense in terms of my own story. It's interesting to try making some of JKR's weirder ideas practical. Ginny is my woobie, and Tom is way too much fun to write in all his sociopathic glory. And freakin' nobody reads it! *pouts*

[lukita.livejournal.com]

You're done! ♥

[edenfalling]

Yup. It feels good... with a tinge of sadness, because I will miss the story. Can't step in the same river twice and all that. *sigh*

[lukita.livejournal.com]

It's a good story, and your characters are growing up. Pretty soon your OCs would take off with the story without telling you and stay out at all hours of the night.

...

Now I have that stupid Disney song stuck in my head.

[edenfalling]

o/ How high can the sycamore grow o/
o/ If you cut it down, then you'll never know! o/

*evil laughter*

[permetaform]

yay! gooooood stuff! thank you so much for sharing this! ::GLOMP::

[edenfalling]

No problem. *glomps back*

[valles-uf.livejournal.com]

Life, Yukiko thought to herself, was good.

Yes. Yes, it is. Especially with fic this good around.

Now just about the only thing that could make my life better would be more of Akai Kage (http://www.livejournal.com/users/elsab/983.html#cutid1)... well, that and actually being able to get myself to -write-, dammit...

*wanders off, grumbling at himself*

Ja, -n
(who feels that this epilog is paced just right for what it is, a reflective little slice-of-life coda thing, like Watsuki-sensei did at the end of Kenshin that COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY INVALIDATES THAT EVIL, EVIL, EVIL SEISOUHEN THING! *hyperventilates*

...err, oopsie. Sorry 'bout that. ^_^; *slinks off before he embarrasses himself even -worse-*)

[edenfalling]

Ooh, that is an interesting AU...

Thanks for the compliments!

[askerian]

awwwwwwwwwwwwww. naruto = cute. ;__; yay for having friends!

I love the relationship she has with kakashi and iruka XD *pinches iruka's cheeks* references to her two jobs are cool too ^^

[edenfalling]

I didn't mean to have Kakashi in the epilogue, but he unilaterally decided that he was going to be there. By this point, I've pretty much given up arguing with him when he thinks he should be in a scene. He always manages to pop up anyway, and generally makes the scene work better too.

If Iruka were real, I would so adopt him. He's like the brother or uncle everyone wants but usually isn't lucky enough to have.

[redwolfoz.livejournal.com]

Love the ending. It ties the story up beautifully.

[edenfalling]

Thanks! I probably could have left it at the end of chapter 17 -- all the plot was resolved -- but I like the added falling motion and settling into new circumstances that the epilogue provides.

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

the thing that makes this story so, so good is that it really seems like what naruto's world would look like when it wasn't full of the akatsuki and orochimaru's threat and etc etc etc. yukiko is such a great lead character. ♥

[edenfalling]

Heh. Yeah. Of course, the sequel will be a little bit darker (unavoidable consequence of the Uchiha massacre and an actual ninja mission instead of just a test), but this is a calmer period of time.

I always like it when people like Yukiko. *beams*

[tjalorak.livejournal.com]

Lovely. ^_^

The way Naruto handled the situation was brilliant and so telling of *his* change as well as Yukiko's own matter of fact mental itinerary, mixing ninja and business. Been a fantastic ride and loving that you're going to be doing a sequel. :)

[edenfalling]

Yeah. Naruto changed less during "Apartment Manager" than Yukiko did, but the differences are definitely there, and they become more telling as time goes on. In one sense, the story and sequel (and any potential further continuations) are an experiment in Butterfly Effect theory -- change one little thing and watch the effects snowball. The world isn't much different yet, but it will get more so with every year as the consequences build on each other.

The matter-of-factness is the key, of course. If Yukiko were still stressing out over it, she wouldn't have properly learned her lesson. :-)

[tjalorak.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to imagine the new Naruto with all the tricks Yukiko's teaching him and the success of his pranks now as well as the evilness of them. ^^;

[futago-02.livejournal.com]

Hi, read your entire fic, I LOVE IT! It's really cute, yet impressive the way it is told by a small apartment manager. just love it...

[edenfalling]

Thank you!

[mrsdoodlepunk.livejournal.com]

I just read the FF.net version (after reading your little preview and then this posting) and just now noticed one little thing. In Japan, the school year starts in the spring. I like the little 'fall is in the air' thing and hardly anybody is likely to notice, but I just wanted to let you know.

BTW, I have been reading fanfics for nearly *counts on fingers* 8 years (holy crap!) and I love the way you write. I don't think my whole meaning to that gets across very well. I have difficulty writing. Think of it as the highest of compliments I can give to a fanfic writer. Thank you for sharing your work.

[edenfalling]

Ah. I am aware that I'm using a more American school year system. I rationalize it in two ways: 1) Naruto's world is not, in fact, Japan, and 2) Kishimoto is somewhat unclear about drawing seasons anyway, so it's hard to tell in what time of year any events occur. I will put that in an author's note somewhere; thanks for pointing it out!

[chibirisuchan.livejournal.com]

Yay! Happy ending and nobody's dead and/or permanently scarred, traumatized, and/or insane! (that's a much, much rarer description than it should be in the Naruto fanfic world... ^^;;;)

I'm really hoping for a sequel too though - with stuff like what happens when Naruto brings his teammate/s home for dinner and Angsty Avenger Boy gets a sanity check from Yukiko, and what happens when Naga and Naga's mom get wind of Orochimaru's current location and occupations, and sooner or later trade or spying's going to take Yukiko to Sand and it's pretty hard to miss Gaara, and and and... ::itching for more story, hoping you feel inclined to scratch the itch one of these days? ^__^::

[edenfalling]

The sequel, "The Guardian in Spite of Herself," picks up about a year after the end of "Apartment Manager" and deals with, among other things, the fallout of the Uchiha Massacre. There will also be actual shinobi missions (not just tests) and potential business side plots (for which I need to do some research, argh). Anything further in the future is very much up in the air right now.

Though yeah, if I ever get to Naruto's chuunin exam and the whole Sound/Sand attack, Naga and Taizen are going to be righteously pissed off. *makes note of idea for future reference*

[toki-usagi.livejournal.com]

Oh, talk about the perfect ending to a wonderful novel(la)! Much love. (goes off to read ffn version)
Hmm...thanks to Asuka I'm on a chibi-part-furry pic-drawing spree. Sooo... If you had to give Yukiko, Naga, and Iruka animal forms, what would they be? I'm assuming crow for Naga.

[edenfalling]

Naga would definitely be a crow or snake, depending. Iruka... well, a dolphin would be the obvious choice... maybe a puppy if you want something land-dwelling? Yukiko strikes me as more of a cat, but I'm not especially tied to that; she'd be kind of cute as a rabbit. :-)

The ff.net version isn't vastly different, just... cleaned up a bit.

[filleyice.livejournal.com]

......Alright, so I wrote you this really glowing review because I absolutely love this fic. It makes me go all fangirly inside.

FF.Net however, sucks. It gave me an error message instead of submitting the review. -_- So I'm gonna try again. Now I will note that I tried again...and was DE-NIED. So yeah, I'm gonna post this here, even though all the surrounding stuff is over two years old. :P

I love your imagery. You have the perfect mix of action and description in my opinion. The way all the characters interacted had me laughing and I completely got caught up in their lives.

Now, I am wondering if you have some experience in a form of karate because of some of the terms you used and your weapons knowledge. You have the best fight scenes I think I've probably ever read, and they required strategy!

There are so many little details that just made this story come alive that I want to gush on about them for hours...but I'll restrain myself.^^

Ah. Based on some of your author's notes, I assume you've gotten some flak concerning anything that doesn't line up perfectly with cannon...and I'm going to go out on a short limb here and presume that the same goes for the OC's. Anyhow, I loved ALL of your characters, even the ones I disliked. Yeah, that sounds odd, but it's true. Honestly, it doesn't matter that things don't align with cannon, and that you created a lot of your own characters because they are well written. They are their own distinct people with personalities and pasts. By the way I really liked Naga. I personally haven't run across anything about Orochimaru's family or clan. This is definitely one of my fav stories.XD

[edenfalling]

I have taken very desultory karate lessons (1 year when I was in high school, and 4 months in college), and one of my friends is into Tai Chi, as well as more unusual martial arts (Indonesian knife-fighting, old German swordwork, etcetera). Apparently, that gives me experience to fake sounding like I know what I'm talking about. *grin* The rest of the fight scene stuff is just trying to think strategically -- saying to myself, "If I were character A, with these skills, these supplies, and this injury, and character B does X, and I know she has those skills and those supplies and that injury, what would I try next?"

Actually, surprisingly few people have complained about the OCs, and even if they do, I don't mind too much -- people read fanfiction mostly because they like canon characters, so any time a writer introduces OCs, even if the OCs are well-written, it's like playing with fire. The canon errors bother me more because I try hard to be canon compliant, and it's annoying to find out the places where I screwed up... especially if the screw-up, as with Kakashi's age, could have easily been avoided if I'd known about the timelines beforehand. *thwaps self for not thinking to look*

[filleyice.livejournal.com]

That's cool. I don't think that I've managed to get a full year of karate lessons in the last five years. Never made it past the second belt. :) You really do make awesome fight scenes.

I wasn't sure whether or not you were having that problem since your OC's are so well done.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I do generally like fics that follow cannon really closely, which yours does for the most part. In a way, I think that made cannon divergence a little more...disconcerting? Not really the word I want, but I kept having 'wait, oh yeah' moments. ^^ Just to be clear I'm not complaining, just agreeing. Um...if your interested, I know a post with some pretty good timelines. Then again, I don't even know if your still writing Naruto fanfiction.
*offers icepack and cookie* ^^ Don't be too tough on yourself.

[kurushi.livejournal.com]

I just thought I should drop by here and thank you. Or maybe curse you. I've avoided the Naruto fandom for a while now.

I've been reccomended Naruto fics before, and been struck down with infuriation with the jargon, and in-house knowledge. I've found most fics inaccesible, headache-inspiring, and in a way exclusionist. My partner reccomended I try this, and not only was I not screaming and swearing in the first ten seconds, but after thirty more knew that I would read this to the end and love it.

It is very rare that books grab me like this, let alone fanfiction. I wanted to thank you, for taking what to me is a very frustrating manga as source material and making a story that I adore. There need to be more authors like you in this world.

[edenfalling]

Thank you very much!

I think fanfic for most series develops a sort of jargon after a while -- people read each other's stories, and get tired of recapping the same information, so they take shortcuts. Because I was using several original characters, and because "The Way of the Apartment Manager" is set six years before the start of the manga, I had to explain and introduce a lot of stuff that many writers tend to skip over. (I also wrote original fiction long before I ever heard of fanfiction, and I carry over habits I developed when I had to create and introduce every story element on my own rather than rely on my readers' pre-existing knowledge base.)

I had a lot of fun writing "The Way of the Apartment Manager," and I'm always glad to hear from people who enjoyed reading it!