(A/N: Yeah this took a little longer than expected. I'm not sure I like how it turned out though, oh well that's what reviews are for.)
Disclaimer: Nine chapters in and I'm still not-nor will I ever-making any profit from this. I have no rights or anything else.
Chapter Nine
Golden eyes scanned through line after line of accounting codes, cost estimates and fiscal data that would look like ancient Greek to the untrained; yet to Orochimaru, each encrypted message revealed a whole world of knowledge. Such as how the first of every month there seemed to be a withdrawal of exactly eight hundred and fifty dollars. His forehead scrunched together as he tried to mentally do the math, then grew impatient and withdrew the trusty calculator. Numbers quickly punched in and multiplied by another large number, then divided by another to get a percent and then more math until the equal sign was pressed. His mouth fell open as he slowly comprehended the information at hand, roughly thirty dollars was unaccounted for a day. He hadn't lost this much money since that bastard accountant had "helped" himself to pay for his daughter's college fund. Oh, Orochimaru had put a stop to that real fast. Just as he was about to call Kabuto the door to his office flew opened and slammed against the wall.
"Hey! Buddy! There you are man, been looking for you!" Jiraiya announced happily as he barged in, pulling a chair in front of the other's desk. "Tried to call you all day, had the best Mexican food at some dingy taco stand." He laughed loudly and rubbed his stomach. "Tsunade's gonna hate me tonight."
Orochimaru rubbed his temples, not believing this was happening. "I really needed to know about your bowel functions."
Jiraiya scratched his arm and laughed, appearing proud with himself for disgusting his normally stoic partner. "Anyway, what I really came here to talk about is," he stood from the chair and went to the hall, pulling in some woman, "her!"
In stepped a young woman with long blonde hair and the body of a Dallas cheerleader, adorned in a tight mini skirt and a very revealing shirt. "Hello, I've brought my resume for you to look over."
It took a moment for the disinterested manager to speak and, completely ignoring her, he asked, "What about her?" Something suddenly clicked in his mind and he turned to the woman. "Why would you bring a resume for a position as a stripper, my dear?" There was silence. "In any case, there are no openings I don't know why my partner would mislead you into thinking so."
Jiraiya appeared confused at that comment and glanced between the two. "You know, as a replacement?" he prompted.
"What, a replacement for who? Nobody turned in a notice." He began to ruffle around the papers on his desk.
The white haired man sighed and turned back to the woman. "Go wait out in the hall or get something at the bar." With a huff of annoyance, the blonde girl nodded and left the two men. Once he was certain she was out of hearing range he continued. "For Anko."
"And what of Anko? As far as I know, she still works here…and she's still alive." He added the last part for good measure.
"Ah, come on Orochimaru, I don't think she's coming back. Just let it go." This wasn't going well, not in the least.
Pale skin grew red with anger. "You want me to 'let it go'?" The other man nodded. "I can let a lot of things go." He motioned to the spending reports. "Such as a monthly fee of eight hundred and fifty dollars. Now the question is, should I add this to her debt or should you pay it back?"
"What?! Are you accusing me of-of stealing? That is absurd! We're partners in this!"
"You know, I've always wondered how she could afford to stay in that apartment, I only gift her ten percent of the tips she earns…I would assume her to spend that on food." His eyes narrowed. "Now I know."
"Where are you going with this? I never took any money…I only gave her enough to rent the place. Honestly, if she went to someone about this we'd be in a whole world of trouble. I'm not jeopardizing this business or my other one…let alone my life for a measly seventy or eighty grand." He ran a hand through his prematurely white hair. "We make that much in a week; it's not worth it, you-no we could be convicted of human trafficking! Or running a sex slave operation…or something! That means prison Orochimaru…as in getting raped in the showers, never seeing our families, no more-"
Orochimaru slammed his hands on the desk effectively silencing Jiraiya. "Damnit you fool! What makes you think that wretch is smart enough to go to anyone? I have her on a tight leash, one she cannot break."
A grimace spread across Jiraiya's features. "Seems like she did." The other man snarled in response and Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow completely unperturbed and replied very nonchalantly, "Drop the illusion of control. She is a person, a living breathing person, not something you own."
"It's about the money and you know that!"
"Bullshit!" If Orochimaru was startled he didn't show it. Nothing ever gets to him, Jiraiya thought weakly before speaking. "It's not about the money! We both know you get enjoyment out of doing this…just like with the other girl. You drove her to suicide…and laughed at her obituary! Damnit Orochimaru!" And without thinking he added, "I'll pay off her debt, in cash."
Golden eyes gleamed with apathy and a thin black eyebrow arched. "In my defense, I find it quite irrelevant to mention she left behind two goldfish and secondly, why would you make such a generous offer? Can't I have a little fun?" he hissed with a glassy edge betraying any humor he may have been attempting.
"If you don't except my offer then consider our partnership over."
He blinked. "Are you threatening me?"
Jiraiya snarled. "For being a self-proclaimed genius, you're not very bright." If it were psychically possible steam would be pouring out from his ears. Ugh, he was beyond pissed! And he was sure the same could be said about his partner. "I don't know how to make it any more clearer: I. Am. Not. Go-ing. To. Jail. For. Y-"
"I get it already," Orochimaru huffed, seemingly unaffected by his friend's snide remark and grinned. "Look at us, we're no better than children bickering back and forth over spilled milk and who'll take the blame." He silently rummaged around the top of his desk and produced a quarter, holding it up between his thumb and middle finger. "Let's flip a coin, shall we?"
Jiraiya scowled at the intentional innuendo and returned the jester. "You're willing to leave our partnership to the flip of a coin? You're unbelievable." Even as he said this, his hand extended and grasped the other sealing the deal.
"See now, was that so hard? Hm, and they say I'm unreasonable."
"Whatever just flip the damn coin Orochimaru."
The man in mention grinned at his partner and calmly flicked the silver note. "I call heads, that sound fair to you, Jiraiya?" The other man mumbled beneath his breath as the coin went airborne. Orochimaru quirked an eyebrow. "What was that? I didn't quite catch that?" There was an unmistakable twinkle in his eye.
Jiraiya loudly cleared his throat. "I said, that better not be your trick coin."
That wicked little twinkle intensified as he caught the coin. "We'll see about that."
***
Iruka amused himself by cleaning up the remainder of their meal, not much work in a sense of putting away a half empty pizza box, but hey, work was work no matter how minute the task be. He sighed once the box was safely tucked away and drummed his fingers on the counter, glancing around the apartment before settling on Anko's forgotten coat. His interest peaked and he stole another glance around the empty space before making his way to the garment. The teacher picked up the coat and checked his surrounding yet again, completely aware of his paranoia.
His eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, this is ridiculous. She went to feed her snake and change." Still, an uneasy feeling crawled through his skin giving him goose-bumps. He held up the tan coat and smirked, but hesitated as his idea became more idiotic by the second. "No, I shouldn't go through her stuff…even if it's to get to know her better…or because I'm horridly bored." His shoulders slumped. "Get a grip Iruka, you think barging in was bad enough, this will be even worse."
Exhaling in a very dramatic way he dropped the coat and glanced at the clock, calculating the time she left and when she'd be back. Wait, was he counting on her coming back? He pawed the air, an act in attempt to wave the thought from his mind. It didn't work. The young man leaned into the worn cushions, mind reveling around a certain female. A stupid grin grew as he pictured her in that little orange skirt wiggling her hips in a way that leaves nothing to the imagination. A warm sensation bubbled in his stomach at the thought and his hands shaped the air in the form of an hourglass, all this done with that same stupid grin. Ah yes, even seemingly innocent teachers sometimes experience lust.
***
"Huh, well will you look at that Orochimaru," Jiraiya beamed to his partner. "You actually had a good idea for once."
Gold eyes narrowed at the sight of tails and a hiss of air escaped him.
"So, go ahead and call your goons off. If I know you, I know you've probably got them set up in her apartment. Oh boy, how did I end up with such a heartless friend?" Jiraiya looked to his friend for a sign of tolerance and he released a hearty chuckle at the sight. "Ah, whatever, you look so pissed right now!"
A dull thud rang in his ears as his anger began to rise. Why not just kill the imbecile before him? His hand twitched and reached beneath the surface of the desk. A deal is a deal. No matter the outcome.
"Okay, let's hammered and try to sneak into the women's changing room at Mervyn's again."
Top right drawer, just grab it and shut this moron up once and for all. A cool knob came into contact with hot skin.
"Hey you remember the time we snuck into the changing room and those two people were going at it? I've never seen you so red!"
The drawer slid out with a hushed whoosh and a glossy black object came into view.
"Damn man, I got lucky huh? Ha, I need to call Tsunade…hmm she might give me something special to get a piece of this luck."
Oh God, definitely time to shut him up. Orochimaru's fingers closed around a cell phone and brought it to the light. "That's enough. I don't wish to hear about your sexual rampages with my sister." He flipped open the phone with another plan coming to mind. "Give me a minute Jiraiya."
"What you don't want to soak in the glory of the great Jiraiya?!"
"Get out now."
The other man wiggled his finger. "Oh no, I want to hear you call and say it."
***
Anko groaned as her vision started to come into shattered focus. Cold water streamed over her and she dumbly came to the conclusion she was in a shower…though how that came to be wasn't ready to be remembered. Broken sentences fluttered through the air and she tried to catch onto the words and voices…two voices, two male voices. Were they arguing? More importantly what the fuck were they doing in her apartment?! Her head rolled toward the sound of the voices (oh God, her head fucking hurt) but squeezed her eyes shut at the ensuing marching band using her skull as the street. The strangers must have noticed because their voices fell hushed and one approached her.
"Heh, I know you're awake so stop pretending."
Him. The hair rose on the back of her neck and a shiver crept down her spine. Her eyes rolled open when two harsh fingers pinched the sides of her face and violently shook her. Anko hissed and jerked her head from his grasp, blindly grabbing to something to pull herself up. "Get away from me!"
"Calm down whore." He sent a swift kick to her stomach. "Today's your lucky day. Jiraiya pulled through for you. You must have been one hell of a fuck."
Anko held onto her stomach biting back her boiling anger, the meaning of his words not reaching her jumbled mind. "I'm going to kill you," she whispered so low he had to lean in to hear.
"Good luck bitch," he snickered before giving her a forced kiss, biting at her lip and pushing his tongue in her mouth. "Let's go Misumi," he said pulling away before he could get his tongue bitten. "You heard what the boss said."
"Yeah, I can't believe he'd wager something like that on a coin toss and actually lost."
The two men continued talking as they slowly made their way from the bathroom and floated out of hearing range. Only when the front door slammed did Anko finally move from the shower. Her legs were like jell-o when she stepped onto the soft carpet of the living room, doing a quick swivel of the area and thanking whatever higher being there may be that that monster was gone.
Tearing the soaked clothes from her body, she did a visual inspection looking for any cuts or signs of trauma. As far as she could tell nothing other than a knot on the head (which would explain waking up under cold water) was out of place. Yet another thing to be thankful of, if she would have woke up in another situation…well, she wasn't sure she wanted to travel that avenue. Putting the incident behind her with all the determination that her day would not be ruined, she adorned a pair of low cut shorts and a tank top before brushing her hair out. After all, she had told Izuka (that didn't sound right for some reason…) that she was going to shower.
***
Iruka had graduated from shaping an hourglass to what looked like squeezing round objects that belong on the female (and overweight male) anatomy when his daydream was cut short.
"What the hell are you doing?" Anko stood against the front door, arms crossed over her chest as she regarded her neighbor with a mix of worry and humor. Not that she was a creepy stalker in any way, but she had been watching him for a good thirty seconds.
Iruka stopped his musings drained of any color and stared with horror to the source of his fantasy. He swallowed hard. Damnit, why did she always catch him on the spot? Mark his word; he was going to go to the end of the earth to catch her in an awkward position…no pun intended of course.
"Or…do I even want to know?"
"Um, I…I…oh look!"
"Huh, what?" she fell for the age old trick and almost slammed into the door. "Little bastard," she mumbled beneath her breath, turning around only to be greeted with Iruka's trademark smile and a cold beer in his hand. "Ooh, beer."
And that was all that needed to be said among the two adults for the previous question to be forgotten.
(A/N: Okay, note to all who've added this to your alerts/favorites, I thank you I really do. But I love reviews the most, even if it's just a short "nice story" or something like that...I'm easy to amuse and it keeps me excited and interested in writing. So don't be shy and hit up that button.)
