Greetings everyone! I know that Valentine's day is way past us now, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to publish this or not. After some thought, I decided to post it! I love the pairing! I DO NOT own Naruto or any of the characters, no matter how hard I wish for it. Enjoy!

It was a bright and clear day in Konoha, the sun was out, and the village was already humming with excitement. It was Valentine's Day, and many of the vendors in the Shopping District had flowers and candy to sell. One kunoichi in particular liked this day for one reason alone – candy. The ninja in question is Anko Mitarashi. She had even gotten up early to scope out where she would get her chocolate for the day.

Anko walked through the streets of the Shopping District, hands tucked into the pockets of her tan jacket. Already couples were in the streets, exchanging gifts and getting all mushy – Anko wasn't a big mush fan, but there was the very occasional longing for someone to hug. She shook her head – the chocolate fumes were getting to her.

"Jeez, Anko, you've gone soft." Anko muttered under her breath, suddenly irritated with herself. Anko was always pegged as the type that didn't care about romance, and for so many years she went with it, although inside, she was quite the sentimental person. People just couldn't see past her loud and perhaps even sadistic outside.

/

After buying boxes of chocolate, Anko debated on going to the Forest of Death. It was her favorite place to go, but she really didn't want to fight giant animals for her sweets. Instead, she decided on sitting at the top of the Hokage monument since it had such a nice view. The day was young, and Anko knew she would go back and shop for more candy. For the moment, though, she thought about her Valentine's Days as a child…

It was Valentine's Day at the Ninja Academy, and many of the twelve-year-olds were exchanging candies and flowers and cards, blushing furiously. A young Anko looked on, wishing all of the candy were hers. She was by her little cubby, looking for the sweets she had brought for herself. A timid tap on her shoulder made her spin around and put a kunai to the throat of the boy in front of her.

"What to you want?" Anko demanded, her gaze boring into the other student.

"I – er – I've admired you for a while…" the boy stammered. Anko didn't recognize him from any of her classes, and she noticed that he had no defining features about him, except for maybe the scar across his nose.

Anko put her knife away, hoping a teacher didn't catch her. "Who're you?" the purple-haired girl asked.

"I'm Iruka… Umino Iruka. Please don't hurt me."

"What made you think I was gonna hurt you?" Anko smirked. She had heard of Iruka – the nerdy boy in the homeroom next to hers.

"The knife…"

"Then you should know better than to sneak up on me." Anko smiled.

Iruka shook his head, trying to muster up some courage. "So anyways… I got you this." He handed her a little heart-shaped box. "I hope you like it." And he ran.

Anko peeked inside the box, content when she saw that it was, indeed, chocolate. "Sweet. Though I dunno if I like him…" Anko thought Iruka came off as a wuss, and Anko did not like wusses. Either way, she was happy to get something for Valentine's Day.

After that day, however, Iruka never really approached her, even in the present, he only dealt with her when it was for business, and each time her did have to see her, he stuttered a little and didn't meet her eyes.

That brought Anko to another memory, one only slightly more recent, in fact it was a little more than two and a half years before…

It was Valentine's Day, and Anko walked through the halls of the Hokage's building, where most shinobi to work when they weren't on missions. Anko saw Asuma and Kurenai in a corner, exchanging gifts. Those two had started dating only weeks before, and they tried to keep their relationship a secret, but everyone knew the truth.

Anko kept walking, and saw Guy at his locker, (for keeping extra things so one doesn't have to go home when given an assignment) wondering aloud why no "sweet lotuses of the Leaf Village" would give him gifts. Anko rolled her eyes, "we would if you weren't so damn crazy."

Walking further down the hallway, Anko spotted Kakashi, trying to clean up the heart-shaped boxes, roses, cards, and stuffed animals holding hearts that must have fallen out of his locker. Anko stopped walking to take in the sight. "Looks like you have plenty of secret admirers." She said.

"They're hardly secret… this one's from the Academy's teacher – the one with the glasses." Kakashi held up a bear with glasses.

"Wow, that's kind of creepy." Anko could smell the perfume wafting from the bear.

Kakashi held up another bear, holding a stick of dango, his one visible eyebrow cocked. "And this one isn't from you?"

Anko was surprised to see that someone had gotten Kakashi a bear like that – Anko thought she was the only person to be that obsessed with dango. "Nope. Wasn't me."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi was smirking, his mouth moving his mask a little.

"Yeah, and don't be so full of yourself, Hatake." Anko turned on her heel and walked off.

When Anko did reach her office, she found a rose on her desk, a note attached to it. It was obviously Iruka's handwriting. Anko rolled her eyes. Iruka was a persistent one, but she just wasn't interested. A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in." Anko said, slightly annoyed. The door opened to reveal Kakashi. "What do you want, Hatake?"

"As you know, I really dislike sweet things. Did you want my stalker chocolate?" Kakashi held up his candy.

Anko almost wanted to leap up and grab the boxes from him, but she stayed put. "I know you hate sweets, but how do I know that those aren't poisoned by your stalkers?" The possibility was very real – Anko knew Kakashi's fan girls were crazy…

"I promise they're not."

After a moment of silence, Anko finally allowed her sweet tooth to get the better of her. "Sure, I'll take those off your hands." Anko grinned, and Kakashi put the boxes on her desk. "Thanks for the sweets."

"Don't mention it. See you." Kakashi went back to work.

"Well, looks like I'm on break now." Anko took her new candy to eat in peace.

Anko sighed, realizing that she was nearly out of chocolate. "I should get more soon." She muttered to herself, she felt lonely again – all of her friends either were out with a special someone or on some mission.

Anko sat for another few minutes, feeling a presence that had been coming closer for the past moments. Soon enough, that presence was right next to her.

"What do you want, Hatake?" Anko asked casually.

"I thought you'd be at the Forest of Death, but I guess not." Kakashi replied.

"Just answer the question." Anko looked at him, curious.

"I came to bring you this." Kakashi pulled out a large box of candy.

Anko's eyes sparkled when she saw the gift. "Wait a second – it this from a stalker of yours?" she eyed him suspiciously.

Kakashi put his hands up defensively. "No – I got it for you."

"Why'd you get it though?" Anko asked while tearing the box open.

"For the same reason Iruka's been giving you gifts all these years." Kakashi said lazily.

Anko blushed a little, embarrassed. "Yeah right, whatever you say." Good thing she hadn't put any food into her mouth before he had said it, or she might have choked!

"I'm serious, you know." Kakashi went on, his voice had an undertone to it that Anko had never heard before.

Anko popped a few of the candies into her mouth before covering the box. After she had tried those, she came in close to Kakashi. "I know you're serious… but you should also know…" she smirked.

"What?" Kakashi was completely focused.

"That I play hard to get." She whispered into his ear.

"Wha…" but she was gone. "That woman…" Kakashi chuckled – he had to go and catch her now.