Chapter 7

XXXXXX

Anko stood in the middle of the street as one hand smacked her forhead harshly. Frowning, her sharp eyes looked down at herself and glared at her clothes. At least, at the single shirt she wore that reached the middle of her toned thighs. Her shin guards only came to her knees.

"Damn it. This is just stupid." she growled and pushed her sleeves to her elbows.

After glancing around quickly she jumped to the roofs and began running swiftly to her destination. It was to late to turn back to her own home, and besides, it's not like she didn't wear much more than this in her usual attire.

And she did need to speak with Kakashi, Shizune, Genma, and Raidou before the night was over. If that went well, and they all spoke to Tsunade in the morning about the plan, then walla! A mission pretty fast. Hardly any time on stand-by, which would be a relief.

The spiky haired kunoichi narrowed her eyes slightly. That all depened on when, if Tsunade agreed to the mission, they would be dispatched. If the ANBU team was sent out a day later, then the back-up would be held for about a week, giving the search and destroy team time to look around.

Anko growled and picked up the pace.

With an almost silent crunch of gravel beneath her sandals, the kunoichi stood in front of the door that she had exited hours before.

She glanced down at her clothes again, and shrugged. No use whining over spilt milk.

XXXXXX

Yasei's ears pricked foreward as he lay curled up on the bed next to his master. His bright yellow eyes stayed closed in his half-sleeping state as his ears flicked back and forth, attempting to locate the source of noise.

A rap on the door brought his head up quickly and he gazed out of the bedroom. A gutteral growl rumbled deep within the canine's chest, and immediatly brought Kakashi out of his sleep.

The jounin sat up in bed and looked around blearly, his mismatched eyes attemtping to focus on his surroundings. Yasei looked up at him before stepping off the bed and stalking toward the door, snarling harshly while he walked.

The other nin dogs continued to sleep, unbothered by the interruption.

Kakashi sighed and stood from the bed, disgruntled from being awoken from a sleep that felt like the most relaxed to date. He immediatly adjusted his mask that had fallen to his neck in his slumber, and absently rubbed his bare chest in an attempt to relax the stiff muscles.

Yasei barked from the door and growled threatningly. Kakashi rolled his odd colored eyes and walked to the door, running a hand through his messy silver strands.

"Heel." Kakashi demanded quietly to the wolfish dog, who obeyed as soon as the word left his lips, and moved away from the door and promptly sat on his haunches.

He stared at the dog lazily as he opened the door, watching as the canine's eyes glinted with mischief and humor. The jounin wondered what he found so amusing.

Kakash's mismatched eyes slid away from the nin dog to see who was standing at his door at two in the morning.

The first to come to his attention was that Anko stood in his doorway with an impatient look in her almond eyes and a grin that mirrored Yasei's. He tensed in response to that smile. He knew she was planning something.

His eyes then slid down and took in her choice of clothing. Or lack there of. The jounin shirt that she wore was riding up on her hips, giving a good view of her longs legs. Strong and slim, he noted. Her shin guards barely reached her knees, and were scuffed from the run to his home.

He quirked a silver brow at her and met her gaze curiously. At least he would have, if she wouldn't have been staring at his chest. The silver haired jounin glanced down and remembered that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Only his mask.

Kakashi smirked from underneath his mask and coughed to catch her attention. "Anko?"

Her eyes rose back to his and she looked at him impatiently. "I need to come in."

He nodded and stepped aside, effectively making sure his feet were away from hers in case she saw fit to stomp them like she had almost done earlier that afternoon. She walked by him briskly and stood behind a chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

The was a silence that ensued, and he glanced around before locking gazes with her again. He blinked when she continued to stare at him, and she leaned foreward the slightest bit. Yasei panted in the corner, his eyes flicking between the humans in the room.

Kakashi cleared his throat and tilted his head to the side. "What did you need, Anko?"

Her eyebrows drew together and she spoke in a low voice, careful almost. Like she was treading on dangerous grounds. "I've never seen your sharingan before."

He stared at her from across the room. His gaze hard, borderlining cold. She drew up and lifted her chin defiantly, not allowing him to stare her down.

Kakashi didn't mean to look angered, but the mention of his sharingan was enough to make him grimace. It always reminded him of Obito's last words.

'Now we can see the future together, Kakashi.'

He averted his gaze to the ground, pinning his gaze to the carpeted floor, and closed his blood red eye. The silver haired jounin sighed and returned his eye to Anko who was frowning at him.

"Is that all you needed tonight?" he gave her a reassuring smile, letting her know that he didn't mean to look so harsh.

She blinked and allowed a small grin to twitch her lips. "No. I have some...." she scrunched her face in thought. "...business to go over with you."

"Oh? What kind of business?"

Anko shook her head slightly and smirked. "First, lend me a pair of you pants, then we'll talk."

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask. "Business first."

The purple haired kunoichi frowned sharply and stepped out from behind the chair, balling her fists up tightly.

Kakashi knew it was probably dangerous to provoke her, but she was asking for it really. What with her coming to his home dressed in nothing but a shirt. That was just begging for jibes at her ego and pride.

How could she forget clothes anyway?

"As much as I know you would like to ogle my legs all night," she smirked dangerously. "I have other people to visit besides yourself, and I don't feel like running all the way back to my damn apartment."

Kakashi pushed himself away from the wall and tilted his head at the kunoichi. "You caught me, I want to stare at you untill my eyes fall out. But, since I don't want any other person to have that privilege, I'll lend you something to wear." he sighed heavily and, drooping his shoulders, walked down the hall to retrieve her some clothes. He smiled slightly when her laughter reached his ears.

He took his time as he dug in his drawer, looking for his smallest pair of pants. Eventually Anko ventured into his room and sat on his bed, watching him as he continued his search.

"Not much of a pack rat I'm guessing." she said off handedly while adjusting her shin guards.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see the point of keeping something that just takes up space."

The kunoichi nodded and sat up. "Agreed."

With a grunt of satisfaction, he pulled out the smallest pair of relaxed pants he had, and tossed them to her, which she caught easily. Anko kicked off her sandals and shin guards before starting to pull the pants on.

Kakashi turned around to give her privacy, and pulled on one of his sleevless undershirts with an attached mask. He easily pulled off the mask that wasn't attached to his shirt without exposing his face, and tossed it to the side.

He turned when Anko let out a frustrated noise, and fought not to chuckle at her appearance. Though the pants were his smallest, they were still big on her, and she was holding them up at the hips with her legs spread apart while she tried tying the drawstrings tight.

However it proved to be difficult trying to tie it with one hand and she growled while glaring up at him as if it was his fault.

He shrugged lazily and crossed the room to her. "Hold them up while I tie it."

Nodding she released the drawstrings and held the sides of the pants on her hips. Kakashi stepped closer to her, he could feel the heat coming off her body, and the slightest of shivers ran up his spine. It was to small to notice.

He frowned as he tied the drawstrings in a tight knot, and they still fell low on her hips. Grinning she shrugged and patted his gut.

"Time to step up the training?" she teased

He rolled his one eye and raised his shirt to expose his muscled abdomen. Anko's grin wavered before returning with a glint in her eye.

"I don't believe that I need to step up anything." he said as he grinned under his mask and dropped his shirt.

She lifted one shoulder and dropped it nonchantly. "Maybe your right." she waited until he turned away and walked to the dresser to fix the jumbled mess before adding, "But I swear I saw some extra weight on you just then."

The spiky haired kunoichi strutted out of the room with a sly grin on face, and chuckled when she glanced over at Kakashi who was frowning at her. Rolling his eye, he followed after her, refusing to let her jibes get to him.

Once back in the main room, Kakashi joined her on the futon and cupped his chin in his hand while resting his elbow on his knee. Turning a lazy eye to her, he said, "So what kind of business are you talking about exactly?"

She grinned cheekily and replied, "You don't want to be on stand-by for long do you?"

"Not particularly....especially if I'm losing muscle." he added and mock pouted at her.

Anko outright laughed. "Kami forbid Kakashi lose tone."

"It would be a sad world." he agreed with a look of amusement.

Over the next few minutes, Anko proceeded to explain her plan. From the ANBU search and destroy team, to the second dispatch team of back-up consisting of themselves plus Genma, Shizune, and Raidou.

Kakashi listened openly, interested in what she had to say. It seemed very helpful, and considering the lottery tickets Tsunade had won, the plan was put into even more consideration. As she went into details of locating abnormal things, his excitement began to build.

He was itching to go out on a mission, and how long had he been home now? Two days? Three? Long enough. On missions he didn't have time to brood. He didn't have time to think of what had happened in the past.

Doing that could cause someone to die, so you had to stay focused. Keep a clear head and keep in mind your target and goals. Look at the mission from all different angles and search for flaws in each plan. There was no room for anything other than the mission.

He nodded as she finished up, her eyes bright and excited. It was obvious she was wanting to get out in the field to.

"And if we do happen to find something amiss, like say rogue ninja, we can some fun." she grinned dangerously and he almost shivered from the muderous gaze she had. Instead he chuckled nervously.

"That's depending on the Hokage's orders. Maybe she wants to bring them in for questioning." He gave her his crinkled eye smile. "Would you be willing to steal Ibiki's fun?"

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "No. For all I know he could stick me in the torture chambers if I stole his victim."

Kakashi chuckled. "True."

"So? Are you willing to back me up when we speak to the Hokage?" she asked and leaned foreward slightly.

He pretended to think it over a few minutes, just until he saw impatience clouding her almond eyes before grinning and replying, "I believe I'll go along with this."

The spiky haired kunoichi grinned cheekily at him before standing from the couch. "Good, now I have to go recruit the others."

Kakashi stood to and grasped her shoulder in his hand, preventing her from leaving. She turned toward him with her brow furrowed curiously.

"Anko, it's 3:00 in the morning. I don't think they will appreciate you assigning them a mission when they are not even fully awake yet."

The kunoichi blinked and turned to look at the clock on the wall. Her eyes widened slightly and she turned back to him. "How long have I been here?"

He shrugged and released her shoulder. "A few hours at most."

"Damn." she sighed. "I was hoping to get to everyone in one night, that way we could all speak to her in the morning."

Kakashi thought for a moment before calling her attention again. "Since Tsunade-sama doesn't arrive at the office until rather late in the morning, we could brief the others before she arrives. Shizune-san is at the office before anyone, correct?"

Anko nodded, a grin growing quickly on her lips. Kakashi's lips twictched in response. She reminded him of a child with a new toy. Or, in her case, a rather large package of dango sticks and dumplings.

"Then we can catch them in the morning, brief them, head to the Hokage tower, inform Tsunade-sama, and hope that she will agree." he ticked off the list.

"That sounds perfect." she crowed and rocked back on her heels, grinning widely. "Oh, Kakashi?"

He met her almond gaze, and took a fraction of a step back. She was smiling innocently at him, and with Anko, that had to be bad. Very bad.

"...Yes?" he answered hesitantly.

"You know, my apartment is so far away, and since we will both be going to the same place tomorrow, don't you think it would be nice if I slept over here for a few hours?"

Kakashi blinked and stared at her. Where was the threat of death? The kunai at his throat? Was Anko actually asking for something? Did she really just ask for something? It had to be a joke.

The silver haired jounin pinched himself and flinched at the sharp sting. Anko was still smiling at him, looking like an innocent woman. He knew better though.

"I...Sure. That would be....good." he answered slowly, wondering when the traps were going to go off and he would fall into a pit full of venemous snakes.

It didn't happen. Instead she grinned cheekily and plopped down onto the futon. "Thanks. I think I'll try to get some sleep before we tackle the Hokage."

He stared at her minute before asking, "Would you rather take the bed? I can sleep there - "

"No, this is fine. But a blanket would be good." she cut him off and smirked up at him.

He nodded and went to retrieve a blanket from his closet. When he entered the living room again, Anko was half way asleep already, and he smiled slightly underneath his mask. Spreading the blanket over her form, he chuckled and turned to go back to his room where his nin dogs continued to sleep.

He would have to train them better. They were the worst of watch-dogs.

Kakashi stopped when something enclosed around his hand. Looking back, he was met with Anko's half-lidded gaze.

"Just so you know....I'm going to get that mask off you...soon." she yawned and smiled before closing her eyes again.

He laughed slightly. "Others have tried, and all have failed." he sighed and thought of his Team 7 days.

"But I'm...not 'others'. I'm different." she managed before she slipped into sleep.

Kakashi stared down at her for a long moment. Thinking over her words. Yes, she was different. He could actually stand her company for long periods of time without getting fed up or wanting to slip away. Her teasing was enjoyable, and provided entertainment when you could manage to get her riled up.

She was a volatile, dangerous, capable, and strong kunoichi. Worthy of the title of a Konoha Ninja. Someone that, once you got to know them better, could be better company than others. She was also the type of person that, once having accepted your friendship, would die trying to save you.

They had a few things in common. Especially when it came to that.

The jounin turned and went back to his bedroom to get some sleep. Yasei curled up beside him, and eyeing the woman lying contendly in the apartment.

Though the wolfish dog didn't understand humans aside from his master, that sixth sense that helped him get the feel of a human was softened around that woman. He could tolerate her.

Underneath her rough exterior, even the canine could sense what a kind person she was. Soft hearted. Deadly, yes, but he could tell in the way she held herself that she was true-hearted human.

Yasei even understood that sometimes, qualities like that could lead to the person's downfall.


So this was supposed to be out earlier today. I have sort of stuck to the schedule of updating this story every other day. Hopefully I can keep to that. But anyway, please review and let me know what you thought. By the way, what are your favorite couples? I have some in mind for this story, but there are a few I'm not sure about. Before you start naming the people from the Rookie Nine, keep in mind this is mostly a story about the Jounin. So I don't know exactly who I will bring in from the younger ones. I know that Gaara and his siblings will be in this, as well as Baki. Ah! Baki! Who is good with Baki?

There you go. Please be so kind and press that button and leave a review as well as a few pairings and someone for lonely Baki. He needs some loving. ^_^ Thank you!