Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor the Teen Titans. If I had Naruto would not have been such a chowder head and would not own far better and cooler shinobis with his disgrace of a jutsu arsenal. And Raven would have gotten a lot more screen time in TT if I owned that. Also there would be ore character deaths in both since I am a Martinite. Disclaimer over.
Here it is, doubt it was worth the wait; sorry.
Serpent Stalking
No alarm sounded; hangover or not she woke up on schedule without one. Anko Mitarashi was no morning person, but the pounding in her head was motivation enough to see to her morning rituals. Since she had set no alarm she knew without having to think that she had no pressing business this morning. Rising from her bed the cool air hit her face, further bringing her senses into focus; it had been years since she had bought proper night clothes, just wearing a comfortable bra and panty to bed. With no great difficulty, she groggily made her way through the cluttered room, sidestepping the trap triggers hidden by the clutter, to her bathroom.
Disarming the explosive trap that was the sole hazard in the washroom, Anko lifted the lid of her toilet tank to retrieve the bottle she kept there. "Hair of the dog that bit me," she thought.
As shinobi working in the field do without virtually all the luxuries that civilians mistake for necessities, personal hygiene often took a backseat quickly. Not just on the wilderness missions that make facilities inaccessible but in the midst of civilization one couldn't afford the momentary weakness of an actual bath or shower. So when you could a field shinobi's routine for cleaning themselves, it was scrubbing the face and appendages and applying deodorant.
As a result of this, shinobi when off duty tended to themselves usually in one of two ways. They took advantage of being able to actually enjoy the benefits of hot running water and accompanying products, knowing they could end up going without them very quickly. Others, like Anko, uncomfortable with the field set never fully leaving did it and got it over with.
So it was in short order Anko was cleaned, dressed, and on her way to the mission office. While she had no previous business to attend to, she saw herself as past due for some action. Unlike Maito Gai and some other ranking shinobi she was hardly a workaholic, but quite frankly other than work she had little to fill her time.
True there were always missions available but anything below a B-rank did not interest her. Such work might pay her bills, but a bored Anko was not good for clients.
For whatever reason she decided to walk the distance from her flat to the Tower rather than leap the rooftops. Perhaps it was the beautiful day, or possibly the lingering effects of her hangover causing acceleration to not sound appealing. After a few minutes of walking down one of the primary traffic arteries Anko noticed someone tailing her.
She couldn't exactly tell when, but she could figure it out within a few minutes. At one point, someone's attention went from casually observing her movements to a broken but constant surveillance.
While keeping her expression disinterested and grumpy, Anko frowned internally. Getting shadowed was nothing new to her. After all, in a village of shinobi it was pretty much policy to have the shinobi watch shinobi to ensure the Hokage's rule was secure. The policy had been lessened at certain points, but the Uchiha massacre had made it clear why the policy existed in the first place. And, of course, being of suspected loyalty, Anko had come to expect more than her fair share of scrutiny; not that she liked it one bit.
But this was wrong.
She did not know who was following her, but it sure as hell wasn't a yomi and in all hells was not an ANBU, or even a chunin. She had picked up on the tail far too easily. It could have been someone wanting to know she was being watched, but this just felt sloppy.
"Alright then, I'm being stalked by someone who only has a bare idea of what they are doing. A villager then? Bastards always did have it in for me! What he thinks he can catch me at something a shinobi couldn't? Or is he just looking at me? I'm being stalked by a pervert! Well mister happy, meet misplaced aggression!" Anko declared under her breath. As she turned onto a side street Anko vanished from sight replacing herself with a bunshin. Time to school a pervert in the reasons one never makes a kunouichi the object of their attention.
Naru grinned at the easy hiding spot as she leaned around the corner enough for one eye to track the purple haired woman. She had spotted her earlier and decided to investigate. Clearly, her shinobi skills were improving, as the woman had no idea-
The false sense of pride was quite ruined as Naru was yanked up into the air with one tug to her shirt collar. Naru squealed with indignation kicking at the air while grabbing for the hand that was holding her aloft.
"Do I know you brat?" a gruff female voice demanded. Grabbing onto the arm holding her, Naru was able to turn herself around, and found herself face to face with the purple haired woman. Anko had not meant the question to be taken seriously, mainly because the answer did not interest her. However, recognition flared as she saw the marks on the girl's cheeks.
"I'm Uzumaki Naru, put me down crazy lady!" the girl yelled her response in Anko's face. Anko's face split in a grin as she released her grip, letting Naru fall to the pavement on her rump.
"Ow! Why'd you do that?" Naru demanded rubbing her sore bottom.
"Just granting your request brat. Why are you following me?" Anko countered.
"You saved me from those guys," Naru stated crossing her arms.
"And?" Anko left the question hanging.
"Usually it's the masked man that helps me," Naru continued while tilting her head to the side.
"If you're trying to thank me, then why are you stalking me?" Anko asked while her eyebrow twitched.
"I'm practicing my mad shinobi skills!" Naru chirped grinning broadly. A grin that turned into a scowl as Anko burst into laughter.
"Skills? Brat, never mind that you're too young to even make the Academy, but I have meet drunks with more stealth. You'd think with how small you are you could pass under the radar with ease," Anko chuckled.
"I'm not small!" Naru screeched. Her anger was replaced with pain and confusion as Anko bopped her on the head with her foot, leaving the limb resting on the girls scalp.
"I have to disagree since you can easily be stepped on like a little bug," Anko grinned sadistically as the blonde grabbed her ankle trying vainly to push the foot off her head.
"Get your stinky feet off me crazy lady!" Naru screamed.
"Stop calling me crazy. And who are you calling smelly? When was the last time you even bathed?" Anko retorted, grinding her foot on the greasy locks. The Snake Mistress sweat-dropped as the blonde actually stopped her struggles, in order to assume a thinking position in response to a rhetorical question.
"The day before yesterday," Naru answered confidently.
"Really, guess I'll have to wash this sandal," Anko grinned. Lifting her foot free suddenly and Naru once more fell to the ground.
"Crazy lady! Stop knocking me down!" Naru demanded red in the face.
"You're the one who can't stay on your own two feet klutz," Anko commented, walking away.
"Well at least I'm not crazy!" Naru called at her receding back. Anko stopped; growling under her breath, she did not turn around.
"Brat, this has stopped being fun, call me crazy one more time…" Anko left the threat hanging in the air.
"Or what, crazy lady?" Naru challenged, placing her hands on her hips.
A short time later:
The observing ANBU was a bit confused as to what action to take. The situation really did not fall into the guidelines for intervention, but he supposed he should do something. Deciding a minimalist approach might be for the best he let a single shuriken fly, severing the rope attaching Naru to the tree. With a squeal the girl fell the few centimeters that kept her off the ground, landing amidst the clumps of grass she had vainly torn up with her free hands.
She was apparently undamaged as she quickly set about freeing her ankles from the knots tied in them. The ANBU was a bit impressed at how quickly she freed herself now that she was upright. Not even bothering to dust herself off the blonde stomped from the spot; he barely caught the words "crazy lady" carried on the wind.
Much like her alarm clock Anko found her stalker had become a part of her daily routine. As far as she could tell there was no rational explanation, so she stopped looking for one. The brat wanted to annoy her for some reason and she would keep leaving the girl "hanging" until something else grabbed that short attention span.
The kid was getting better. Still not good enough to pass unnoticed, but better than the first time. Whenever a confrontation occurred it always managed to devolve into some stupid argument that ended by Anko tying the girl to a tree.
Normally, if something like this happened she would just put the fear of the kami into the problem and move on. However, the brat was under the Sandaime's protection, and the last thing she needed was to skirt a line with the Hokage. She could have gone to him and asked what would merit trouble and what was permissible, but that somehow seemed unsporting.
But if she was more honest, at least with herself, her encounters with the girl made for an interesting diversion. After all, except for sparring her only social activity was the occasional drinking with Kurenai.
Still, Anko did have other things to do with her free time, so today she had made her way across the village via rooftop so as to avoid obnoxious blondes. Yes, today she had decided was perfect for a visit to the hot springs, and she was not one for public bathing.
"Ah moments like these are what makes life worth living," Anko thought to herself. She might have sighed, but refrained from doing so. She was well concealed in her hiding place, which granted her a nice view of the hot spring's patrons in all their glory. Taking a pull from the small sake bottle clutched in her left hand she quietly partook of the beverage she viewed as heavenly. Peeping required stealth under the best of circumstances, and more so when your marks were seasoned shinobi. But for Anko, the superior viewing pleasure that training produced merited the extra effort.
"Gotcha!" a high-pitched voice proclaimed. The exclamation was accompanied by a poke to the kunouichi's rear, and both caused her to spray sake as she bolted upright whirling to confront the poker. To her shock and anger one orange clad Uzumaki Naru was sitting down amidst the decorative shrubbery grinning like a fox.
"YOU LITTLE-"Anko began to bellow, grabbing Naru by a dress strap. She stopped abruptly as someone coughed, and recalled that she herself was an intruder. The men in and around the hot spring were watching her with puzzlement and some with amusement.
"Mitarashi?" one asked, pushing his sunglasses up from his eyes as if to confirm. Anko responded to the unasked queries with all the dignity she could muster.
"Ahhh, eh, uurrr, bye!" Anko let out before escaping in a swirl of leaves, taking Naru with her.
"Was a woman… peeping on us?" one chunin asked unsure.
"Most unyouthful!" a dark haired man, with large eyebrows, added from the water.
Her face still as red as an apple, Anko tossed Naru into a nearby tree.
"Ow! What did you do that for?" the girl demanded, as she fell to the base of the tree.
"You stupid brat! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Anko roared. Naru wilted under the words and did not get up, instead looking at her feet before her.
"Playing tag?" she offered.
"Do you think I've been tying you to trees as a term of endearment? You're annoying. And you just made me look like some stupid pervert!" Anko spat. Naru did not respond, still looking down, so Anko did not see the blonde's eyes moistening. Calming down some Anko gave a sound of exasperation, waving her hand in dismissal.
"Get out of here brat," Anko ordered. 'The girl left quietly at first, but once she got some distance from the woman, she ran. That night Anko found herself wanting a bit more sake than usual, and she wasn't sure why.
Two Weeks Later:
Anko was thankful for a B-rank assassination mission. Enjoying her work aside, she needed to get out of the village for a while. The hot spring incident had given her peers ample ammunition for mockery. Kurenai in particular had been irritated, something about not making things any easier for women seriously pursuing careers as a respectable shinobi; her usual crap, in other words.
Either way, Anko had been gone for over a month and was falling back into her downtime routines. Despite an excellent performance on her mission and a fat wad of ryo to spend on whatever struck her fancy, the snake mistress was feeling down. It had been following her for a while, the dampener. She really didn't know what else to call it – her education outside of job related fields was not exactly sterling.
Before the mission she assumed it was due to losing what remained of her reputation, though she had now decided to hell with the thing. Let people think what they want… a thought that would have been nobler if not for the fact that in this case it was correct.
The solution actually came to her when she was walking to her favorite dango place. Here she was, walking in broad daylight, and no one was tailing her.
"Shit," Anko stated to the street at large. A civilian woman cast the kunouichi a dirty look for such language in public.
Mitarashi Anko, the snake mistress, cast off apprentice of the sannin traitor, felt guilty for yelling at a brat. She would have liked to see that civy come up with a better word to sum up how wrong this situation was! Anko felt she had more than enough issues to deal with than worrying over some brat's feelings.
She decided there was nothing for it. To get this monkey off her back she would have to track the brat down and force her to accept an apology!
Others might have trouble tracking down a single snot-nosed brat in the kingdom that is leaf village, but those people were not Anko Mitarashi! She was trained in the arts of silent tracking and assasinations; this kid should be no problem! She could only seem to be finding Yamanakas at the moment, but that doesn't mean anything! She was seriously thinking about asking for directions, but that doesn't mean she needed help!
Finally and at long last she found the apartment building that was supposed to house the blonde brat. Frankly she had seen much better and far worse. It was at the edge of what passed for slums in the village. Wage workers, day laborers, and poor old folks inhabited the area. Not exactly the traders district, but it would do in a pinch.
The kami of timing seemed to be doing her a favor, for as Anko observed the building from a ledge, her quarry emerged. The girl was not easy to miss, the hair aside she was wearing an orange dress. Who told this brat orange was a color worth wearing? The Snake mistress prepared to spring down and force her apology on the girl, when a smile split her face.
"After all that harassment I deserve a little payback," Anko muttered to herself. She would shadow the girl for a bit, give the brat a taste of actual "mad shinobi skills" and reveal herself at the least appropriate time for the brat. Vengeance and a guilty conscience would be satisfied in one mighty stroke of justice!
The subconscious had a queer way of working.
Three Days Later, Hokage Tower:
Anko had observed Naru's daily routine for three days. She was not sure what she had, expected, but what she had found had left her … uneasy.
'What exactly am I doing here?' Anko wondered, as the Hokage's secretary waved her into the ruler's office.
"Ah Anko, I was surprised at your request for an audience. You're not due for another high ranking mission for a few days yet, or perhaps you want a C-rank?" the old man asked. He had been standing next to his large desk looking out over the village. As he addressed her he turned to face her with a fatherly smile.
"Hokage-sama, I may as well nap the day away for all the thrill a C-rank would bring. Besides which I wouldn't want to deny the cute genin their chances at loosing their blood virginity," Anko smirked.
"Well if you are not here for business what can I do for you?" the sandaime inquired, puffing on his pipe.
"Ah, yes well. You see sir, I have been…" Anko cursed herself for not rehearsing how to phrase this.
"Something to do with Naru?" the old man supplied helpfully. Anko almost felt her jaw drop, but schooled her features. Of course he would know, he's the fucking Hokage!
"The ANBU kept me well informed of yours and Naru's… interactions. I am very pleased you exercised such restraint, you really have come a long way," the Hokage told her. His mind drifted back to a younger Anko, released from custody with part of her memory gone and an instant pariah. She had been so full of pain and hate, he would not have been surprised had she gone missing nin to both seek revenge and escape the condemnation of the village.
It was a sad irony that, in all likelihood, the sole reason she had not deserted was because she did not want to follow her sensei's example in anyway. The god of shinobi was brought back to the present by Anko's words.
"I have been watching her," Anko admitted. The sandaime smiled at her childishly guilty expression; it gave him comfort to see that the hardened killers he commanded could retain such degrees of humanity. In truth that was the reason he tended to tolerate their eccentric behavior.
"And?" he pressed Anko.
"It's no good," Anko declared.
"I see, has someone harmed her?" the Sandaime commented, taking his seat at the desk.
"Noone touches her, that's the problem. When she doesn't get to see you, Hokage-sama, she goes to a ramen stand for a while then just wanders around. Even I at least hung around with other kids; she hears insults more than anything!" Anko found herself exclaiming. Though she could not help but recall how those casual acquaintances had deserted her when she most needed support.
"What is your point?" Sarutobi Hiruzen demanded.
"If something isn't done your going to have a psychotic container on your hands," Anko stated.
"What would you have me do?" His voice was steel as the brim of his hat cast his face in shadow. Anko took a half-step back, suddenly self-conscious of the situation.
"If a mob were foolish enough to form, demanding her blood, the ANBU would reduce them to bloody ribbons. It was only bizarre circumstance that made your own intervention necessary. But this is not Iwa; I cannot tell the people how to behave within the bounds of the law. If the merchants cheat her and the people shun her there is nothing I can do without loosing credibility," the Sandaime told her what she should already have realized.
"Even, if she isn't injured nothing good will come of her living alone and isolated like this. Isn't there somewhere you can put her?" Anko offered meekly.
"The very night I revealed the Fourth's final act, several clans offered to adopt her into their ranks," the Hokage admitted.
He turned too looked out the window, his usually high shoulders seemed to droop a bit. "But in the end her adoption would have been a matter of politics. The Uchiha and Hyuugas seeing her as a means to increase their power and most holding a similar motivation to some degree. And there were those who believed she should be put to death. Danzo actually requested her being raised in his ROOT program," Sarutobi elaborated. Anko winced at that last one, she had encountered the one-eyed elders agents; he seemed to take the Nidaime's worldview too far by a couple of kilometers.
"Others, like the Aburame, seemed sincere, but in the end politics prevailed. As Hokage my duty is to protect the Leaf, and that includes maintaining internal stability. The Uchiha-Hyuuga rivalry made the situation worse back then, and now the Hyuuga would see any other clan taking her in as a challenge to their dominance."
He bowed his head, still facing the window. "The civilians are out of the question. Their fear is strengthened by ignorance. They view Naru as the Kyuubi reborn, and treat her as such. Many times civilian families have inquired about adopting her, only to prove hostile under investigation. Even with those who are not malicious, I doubt any of them could provide the security she would need growing up amongst such a hostile community."
"As for shinobi, outside the clans… in all this time only one shinobi has offered to adopt her and proven pure in his intentions. However, I denied his request," Sarutobi finalized.
"Anyone I know?" Anko asked. She frowned at this information, it was hard to believe that any sincere applicant would not have been an improvement.
"It was Maito Gai," the Hojkage answered.
"Who? Oh, that eyebrow guy that yells about youth? What was wrong with him?" Anko inquired. Trying to recall what she could about the man she remembered he liked green, and she thought she had once seen him carrying a boulder on his back. Searching her memory she did not catch the Sandaime's murmured initial response; something about 'green monsters' and 'not needing anymore.'
"I am sorry what?" Anko queried bringing her attention back to the present.
"Ah, well, you see in addition to taking many missions his style calls for an intense and time consuming training regimen. As such he would not really have the time to fill the role of a single father without neglecting his duties. A most, regrettable fact," the Hokage affirmed stroking his beard.
"So, that is the best you can do?" Anko sighed. The elder shinobi looked at her with understanding and world weary eyes.
"Ruling is not like completing a mission, often it is impossible to tell if you have succeeded or failed," Sarutobi told her. The Snake mistress excused herself shortly after, thanking him for his time she departed less spirited than she arrived. The Hokage would reflect on the meeting for sometime as he returned to his paperwork.
Naru sat on the roof of her apartment building, legs dangling over the end of
the ledge. The sun was setting and she liked to watch the twilight play out
across the village. There were many spots she liked to watch from allowing
different views of the city, though she had yet to find anything that she
could call the best spot. Anyone who knew her would comment on how at this
time she was uncharacteristically quiet and focused.
"Hey brat," Anko greeted, crouching directly behind Naru. To say the girl was
surprised would be an understatement, Anko couldn't help but grin as the tiny
blonde literally popped up in surprise. As the girl's new footing was a bit off, she flailed wildly to keep from falling until Anko seized her orange shirt backwards and kept her from harms way; also known as falling on her ass. Not that she stayed down whirling on the purple haired woman and meeting her at eye level with a furious gaze.
"Crazy lady, are you trying to kill me!" Naru shrieked. With the words her
said, her mind finally seemed to kick in and she deflated. The change caused Anko's own smirk to fade as she remembered why she was here.
"Bra- . . . Naru," Anko caught herself. Naru narrowed her eyes at the second word, Anko had never once used her actual name. They stood there for about a minute; neither saying anything.
"What?" Naru finally demanded.
"Shut up brat I'm trying to apologize for the other day!" Anko yelled. Naru
took a step back before frowning.
"You're apologizing?" Naru asked puzzled.
"Yep, glad that's over," Anko said rising to her feet. Naru's mouth fell open
before her expression darkened.
"Wait a sec, you didn't really apologize! That doesn't count!" Naru shook
her fist at Anko.
"Well since it was half your fault, I only need to make a half assed apology, so that should be good enough," Anko shrugged. Naru scowled and crossed her arms before looking up at Anko grimly.
"You suck," she said flatly. Anko roared with laughter at the dead pan
declaration and reached over to ruffle the girl's hair.
"Now now, brat keep the insults up and I might not buy you dinner," Anko
chided.
"What?" Naru squeaked, still trying to push Anko's hand off her head.
Have you ever had one of those days? A day in which work, family, or really
anything has left you so drained that when you finally reach the sanctuary of
your quarters you long only for bed and the rest that will take you away from
the exhaustion that permeates your being? Forget food, bathing is not even
considered, and even changing out of your current attire is dismissed as
something for later; nay all that matters is bed plus you. Only for you to
discover upon reaching the much coveted piece of furniture has been replaced by a board covered in pointy metal spikes. The expression Naru wore on her face would fit that situation. She stared at her plate, as if both enraged by the contents while simultaneously trying to alter reality by sheer force of will to remove aforesaid eatables.
"I wanted ramen," Naru pouted.
"Well you're getting dango," Anko remarked from across the table. Both of them
were sitting at a corner table to Anko's favorite dango place, which actually
served a number of items. The place was much quieter than one would expect
from the number of patrons present, the musician that thrummed on his stringed
instrument reduced the conversation to a mere murmur in the background.
Though I suppose it was to be almost expected, this establishment proudly
catered to Shinobi of the Leaf, and loud shinobi were the exception to the
rule. Granted in Konahoa one could confuse that fact with the behavior of a
number of its famed shinobi. Either way most respected the establishment as a
calm environment and left their rowdiness to those businesses that were quite
receptive of such antics
As it was Anko was the usual suspect for disturbing the peace, and tonight
with a guest she garnered even more attention.
"Dango's disgusting," Naru muttered.
"I'm buying so I decide what to get," Anko responded cheerily, lightly bonking
the girl on the head with a spent dango stick. Naru rubbed the spot and pushed the plate laden with dango away.
"You're supposed to be apologizing, you should get what I like not what you
want," Naru whined.
"Well I never said I was good at apologizing. Now eat, it's a crime to
let good dango sit like that," Anko said through eating another skewer.
"No, it's yucky," Naru shook her head.
"I'll have you know dango is a blessing from the kami. I dare you to take
one bite and tell me otherwise," Anko scowled. She grinned internally as
the little girl picked up a skewer of dango, the brat struck her as the type
who couldn't refuse a dare.
The internal grin slipped as Naru bared her teeth and somehow tore a single
grain of rice from the ball into her mouth. After making a show of chewing
the grain she stuck out her tongue with a look of disgust.
"Oh no you don't! There is no way you even tasted that!" Anko yelled, bolting up
from her seat as the little girl continued blowing a raspberry at her.
"I don't have to taste poop to know its yucky," Naru stated. A chill
descended over the restaurant and Naru quickly realized she had crossed a
line. For when dealing with Mitarashi Anko, you could insult her, insult her
precious serpents, desecrate her mother's grave, and even mock her few
friends; most often she would just laugh it off and quietly plot vengeance and
forget before doing anything. Dango, though, no one insulted her precious in
front of her with impunity.
A Short Time later:
Yuuhi Kurenai was not in the best of moods. Somehow she had acquired Kakashi for evening conversation, and that always irritated her. It was not his man of few words approach to conversation, or even his air of casual disinterest in most everything. The source of her problem lay between two orange covers and now, as always, was being held shamelessly by the infamous Copy Nin.
Kurenai prided herself on maintaining a proper lifestyle despite her career. To date she had avoided the infamous eccentricity of the Leaf Elites and the deadened worldview common to other ranking Shinobi. While she leaned towards conservative she did not consider herself prudish. There was absolutely nothing wrong with wanting smut that depicted women as sex crazed nymph nudists to burn die and be consigned to yomi along with all who create such filth.
Preoccupied with her prim and proper thoughts she only idly noted they were going to dine at one of Anko's hangouts. It wasn't unusual to arrive in the midst of the self proclaimed snake mistress causing a disturbance. The sight that greeted the jounin and elite chunin however gave both of them pause, quite the achievement considering their experiences as shinobi.
Anko stood over her usual table, pinning some poor girl to it, as she apparently forced a skewer of dango down the poor child's throat. Kurenai despite long association with the borderline insane Snake mistress was floored by the, oddity. Kakashi however after he took in the situation simply gave one of his trademarked "eye smiles".
"I must say when the priests talk about combating hunger I never thought it would turn out so literal," Kakashi remarked, before returning his attention to the porn. Anko's head snapped up so quick at his voice Kurenai was a bit worried her friend might have pulled something. Realizing she was being observed in an act which even to her made little sense, the kunouichi became self conscious for once. Apparently the other patrons did not register to her as a valid audience. Straightening herself up she faced her friend and superior scratching the back of her head, leaving Naru to try and pull out the skewer rammed down her esophagus.
"She insulted the dango," Anko answered the unasked question. Kurenai's eye twitched, she tried to be patient and the bigger person, but Anko just had to maintain the second poorest impulse control in the Leaf. Kakashi only looked lazily up from his book taking the situation in stride it would seem.
"I didn't realize you two were so close. Never thought a day would when Mitarashi Anko would willfully share her dango," the elite jounin remarked. Anko paled realizing she had indeed wasted some of her precious on an unenlightened culinary heathen. But the implication she noticed a second later was far worse. So Anko went to her default.
"Bye!" Anko yelled. Grabbing the still choking Naru by the hair Anko vanished in a swirl of leaves.
"So am I buying?" Kakashi asked Kurenai idly.
Naru's Apartment Building:
"Ahh!" Naru squeaked as she was tossed up into the air by her hair and landed on her rump. Never one to stay down she was quickly on her feet rubbing her much abused posterior as she glared at the chief offender. Anko was rapidly regaining what passed for her composure, meeting the girl's glare with an amused grin; an expression which only seemed to further agitate the child.
"Well now we're square," Anko declared. Naru ceased her glaring to blink in confusion at the words. Realization caused her to stomp forward and point accusingly at the purple haired woman.
"No! You almost killed me with your yucky dango! That doesn't count all!" Naru whined shrilly. Anko just yawned and pulled a skewer of dango out from her jacket. Naru leapt back raising her arms defensively, only to nearly face fault when Anko began casually eating the food.
"Well either way good night brat," Anko remarked. Naru looked around for the first time and realized they were actually in front of her apartment building.
"Neat," Naru commented awed at the distance the jutsu had seemingly taken them. She turned back to see Anko already walking away, and after a moment of indecision jumped up yelling.
"Crazy lady!" Naru yelled. Anko stopped and turned her head still chewing on her post dinner snack.
"Umm, even though your crazy; I'm glad your back," Naru murmured. Anko merely flicked the spent skewer at the before vanishing yet again in a swirl of leaves.
Well there you have it. I doubt it was worth the wait. This was very hard to write, so big thanks go out to Snipa, my new Beta.
DANKE SCHON SNIPA!
Serpent Stalking