"Well, hello, Naruto," Anko smiled. She saw that Naruto was still dashing looks to the sides to find if there was an open to get away. She decided that she would sit. She trusted him enough not to do anything. "Do you want to sit back down with me?" She looked up to see Naruto thinking over with it, and then he sat down catiously. They were quiet for a little time. Anko knew that she was going to have to say something before the silence got too uncomfortable. "It's nice up here?"
"It's my safe spot," Naruto muttered, not looking at me. He didn't seem like he trusted me yet. She thought it was because of the news about her association with Orochimaru, but then she realized that it was something else. The mobs were what it was, and I was fighting against them. He probably had no one that ever fought for him instead of someone beating him up. She figured out that was the reason for the confusion.
"Does that happen often," she questioned him. Naruto nodded. "How often?"
"Almost every day," Naruto replied. Anko couldn't help but stare at him in shock. She was calculating, and it astonished that this kid survived so many times of abuse.
"How old are you, Naruto," she asked.
"I'm six," Naruto answered. "And I'm going to be starting the academy soon!" She could see that he was excited for that fact. His excitement even caused her to smile, which was a feat in and of itself.
Then she thought of something that she should have asked before. "Naruto, where are your parents?" His smile immediately faded and he looked so innocent again. She couldn't believe one question would cause it, but she should have known that they weren't alive.
"I never knew my parents," he whispered as he looked out. He sounded older than he should at that moment. He looked so sad about that fact. He didn't even look at her at all. "Hokage told me that they had died, my mom, during my birth, and my dad soon after. No one took me in; no one decided that I was theirs. I have no family, so there was no one to take me in. Everyone looks at me with hatred and some look at me with fear, yet I don't know why. It hurts, knowing that someone decides to hate me when I didn't even do anything to cause it. The old man, the Hokage I mean, wouldn't tell me why they hated me either. No one likes me at all, and I can't think of any reason why."
"My parents died when I was nine during one of their missions," I admitted. "No one would take me in either, except this one person. I didn't care why he decided to take me in; I thought it was because he was my sensei. He was a mean person really. I never saw it though, and when I did, I ignored it. I wanted his attention, for him to notice me. He took me in, and when he decided to run away from Konoha, I decided to go with him. He was an evil man, Naruto. He did some really bad stuff. There are many things that are unforgivable about him. I thought that I could trust him, but then it turned out badly. He gave me a mark, and I wish that he never would have given it to me in the first place. Then he took my memory of the time that I was with him, so that it would stay a secret. After seven years, I finally came home to Konoha."
"Can I see your mark," he questioned. Anko shrugged down my shirt a little, and she pointed to it. She knew that he'd be curious, but she didn't think that he'd do anything but look at it. "What's that man's name?"
"His name is Orochimaru," she answered. "Why do you want to know anyways, kid?"
"Because if I ever find him, I'm going to hurt him for you," Naruto stated. Anko stared at him in surprise. "No man should do that to a pretty lady like you. He doesn't deserve to live actually. I hope that he dies."
"Orochimaru will never die," she sighed. Naruto stared at me with confusion. "You know what jutsus are, right?" He nodded. "Well, Orochimaru found a jutsu that makes him immortal."
"What's immortal," he questioned.
"It's where he'll live forever," Anko answered. Naruto pouted, and she laughed. "What's that pout about, huh?"
"That means I can't kill him," he stated.
"He can die, Naruto," she stated. There was even more confusion in his eyes, and it was started showing on his face. "Just because he can live forever, doesn't mean there aren't ways to kill him. He'd die if there wasn't any more people, and he'd also die if he was hurt too badly."
"So that means I'd have to get so strong that I can kill him then," Naruto smiled as if that was the only answer in the whole world. It made Anko smile.
"Sure, kid," she stated.
"By the way," Naruto said. "What's your name?"
"My name's Mitarashi Anko," she introduced.
"How old are you," he asked.
"I'm sixteen," she replied. "And in a month, I'll be seventeen."
"You're birthdays coming up soon," he questioned. Anko nodded. "When?"
"June 6th," she answered.
"That's cool," he smiled. "Mine's on October 13th and I'll be seven. I'm going to be in the academy then too! It's going to be so cool. Then I can learn how to become a real ninja."
"That's awesome," she replied. "Do you have any goals?"
"What's a goal," Naruto questioned.
"It's what you want to be able to achieve later in life when you start something," she replied. "For example, if I did only 50 pushups right now, and that's all I could, maybe I'd try for 150 pushups in the end. And once I've got that goal down, then I'd start a new one." She watched thought about it, and then it was like a light bulb went off in his head.
"I got it," he yelled with joy. "When I grow up, I want to be the Hokage."
"The Hokage huh," I stated. "Why'd you want to be that?"
"Because then everyone will be nice to me and will acknowledge me instead of trying and beating me up and stuff."
"That's a good goal, Naruto," she smiled. She couldn't believe that his goal would be so high, but she couldn't help but think that he was going to reach it.
"So Naruto," she said after a couple of minutes. "What do you like?"
"Well, I like the ramen at Itiraku's stand, and I like ramen, and I like chicken ramen, and I like beef ramen."
"Alright, I get it," Anko scoffed. "You like ramen. Is there any other food that you like?"
"No, not really," he stated. "That's the only cheap food that I can buy. I've never tried anything else."
"Alright then, is there anything else that you like," she questioned.
"…nope, not really," he shrugged.
"Well, you're simple," she stated.
"Yeah, so," Naruto scoffed. "It's not like anyone around here is taking care of me, or that wants to be my friend."
"I want to be your friend," she smiled. His eyes sparkled with joy as he took in her statement.
"Really," he questioned, as if he thought that it was an illusion. She nodded with a smile. Anko didn't expect that he would jump at her and give her a hug. She laughed as she hugged her back. Then she heard some sniffing.
"Are you crying, kid," she questioned. She felt him nod, and she chuckled. "I'm glad you're happy, Naruto, but if you ruin my shirt, I will make you pay." He backed away quickly, and took his original spot while wiping his eyes. Anko wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Come on, kid."
"Where are we going," he questioned.
"I am taking you home, and then I have to go do my stupid test," she replied before getting up.
"What test," he questioned.
"Well, you see, I have to take a test because I was out of the city for seven years, and they have to see what rank I'm in before assigning me to a team."
"So basically, you have to wait to be promoted?"
"Yeah, it's exactly that," she stated.
"That's so stupid," he scoffed.
"It's the way the ninja world works," she shrugged. "Now come on, kiddo, let's get going."
XxXxXxXxX One year and six months later XxXxXxXxX
"Come on, Anko," Mei whined as I yet again made them go at a fast past. Mei's one of Anko's ANBU teammates. After she took the test last year, she was promoted to ANBU, even though she wanted to be in the interrogation unit, but they wouldn't let her because she wasn't trusted enough to question the people yet. She was getting there though, she knew she was. She just had to be patient until the Hokage said that it was alright for her to be an interrogator like she wanted.
Anko thought Mei to be annoying, especially since he'd always bug her about her personal life since she didn't like to be bugged at all. "There's no rush. We'll be to Konoha in a couple of hours. Can we at least rest?"
"No," Anko barked. "We've got to get there in an hour. I have to be there before he wakes up?"
"Oh, so Anko's finally found a boyfriend, huh," Mei questioned. "What's he like?"
"Well, he's got blonde hair, he loves ramen, he's hyperactive, he's short, and he's seven years old today," she smiled as Mei sputtered as he finally found out what she was wanting to go home so bad. Her teammates knew that she was friends with Naruto, and they also knew not to speak badly about him around her. If they did, they wouldn't be able to produce babies ever. It was her threat against them, and they never took her threats lightly, especially since they witnessed her giving a man a serious concussion because he didn't take her threat seriously when she said that she'd punch him in the face if he didn't stop talking about Naruto. The crime rate around Naruto also went down because of her. She would always ask Kurenai to look out after him when she was gone on missions, since Kurenai had some students to look after, and it didn't surprise Anko to see that Kurenai had grown attached to him. It didn't take that long for Anko to be attached to him either.
"So, it's Naruto's birthday, huh," Kichiro questioned. He was the captain of the squad. Anko had to admit that he was more trusted by her then Mei was. He didn't dig into her business, except when it was brought to his attention. He even grew fond of Naruto a little bit from when he'd met him when he came to get Anko a couple of times for a mission. He always noticed that Naruto was the only one who made her genuinely smile. It saddened him a little bit because he had grown fond of Anko, and he'd wish that he could date her, but he knew Anko would say no. She was all business when it came to the team and others. Naruto was the only one who could touch her heart in matter of fact.
"Yeah, and I still need to give him a gift," she sighed in frustration.
"Why don't you get him a year supply of ramen," Mei suggested. "That'd make him happy."
"And make me broke," she countered. They all knew how much ramen that Naruto ate in just one meal. The top that she had seen was five, and he was so young!
"A leaf poster would work," Kichiro suggested. "You know how much Naruto loves the town."
"That'd work perfectly," she smiled as she sped up yet again. They were able to be there within thirty minutes, and she went straight to the store and went to buy the poster before she headed over to Naruto's. When she came, the door was unsurprisingly unlocked because Naruto had gone countless of nights without locking the door before when he was too tired to even do anything. She walked right in to find that he was laying on the couch. "Happy Birthday, Nar—." The sight before her made her scream.
"NARUTO!"
