Disclaimer: I don't own anything worth a dime connected to Naruto.
Finally back! Let's get to it.
When things hang by a thread
The onsen is, according to some, a place for letting your hair down, taking a load off or similar metaphorical description of enjoying the company of friends and alcohol. To others, it's a place of information gathering, preying on those that would let their tongues wag in the forgiving atmosphere of the baths. To some, it is simply a pressure valve, offering a brief period of sanctuary from the harshness of real life.
Shikamaru had, naturally, learned quite a few secrets that weren't really meant for him in various onsen. Information gathering is after all the second most well known activity of a shinobi. But tonight the onsen at the inn he'd gotten him and his team rooms at was not his destination because of his mission. He simply had a headache. As well as stiff shoulders, to go with his sore back. His 'team' had turned the afternoon into a kind of extreme slow torture, never going all the way to outright addressing him. Instead he'd had to suffer through hearing his name being murmured, or the pronoun 'he' ghosting into the edge of what his ears could catch from their muted talks. It was absolutely infuriating.
And apparently, a good way to get physical stress symptoms. He'd been kept very busy with damage control during the initial time of the new teams coming to Konoha from Bamboo, and so he'd largely gotten out of any of the many social gatherings that had been arranged for whatever reason. He had heard the interesting tidbit about there only being females on the teams coming to switch allegiance, but he wasn't that interested in women to waste the little leisure time he had on some stiff, formal get-togethers. Unfortunately that left him uncharacteristically unprepared to handle the girls he'd picked for his current mission. They were acting in a very different way from any kunoichi he'd worked with before, and he had never taken the effect of them being a trio of True-sisters into calculation either.
In effect, although he was the leader, they were the majority. And in any efficient shinobi team, the majority always obeyed the leader. His problem was that they didn't see him as an authority figure, a leader, and instead utilized their internal hierarchy to determine their actions. He was holding on to the hope that their maverick ways wouldn't end up with anyone getting killed, or him having to spank them into submission. Which he was almost ready to do, he realized, slipping into the hot waters and allowing the heat to start its work on his muscles. He could almost feel the tension oozing out of his pores, the stress of having his entire team treating the mission as a picnic trip slowly releasing its grip.
"Guess the gays know something the rest of us don't." He thought to himself, idly thinking up and discarding ways to make the rest of the mission pass with less weariness inducing stupidity. Sending the girls back to the Hokage with a stamp of 'silly girls' wouldn't work. Any Bamboo kunoichi accepted to join Konoha had to undergo extensive testing, harsher than that normally required for the equivalent rank. Which most likely meant that at least one of his team mates should be a chuunin, his own rank if you looked at the papers.
It did kind of fit together, he was a tokujou in effect, and the only reason he hadn't tried for jounin was that it would be troublesome being officially rated as such. So, he should think of this as a jounin leading a team of chuunin? Or perhaps even a jounin-chuunin mix? He didn't know, and their actions had shown nothing he could use as evidence one way or the other. So until he had a chance to see for himself how they could handle a real shinobi mission, preferably combat, he'd have to content himself with them acting like a bunch of scatter brained teenage girls. Why didn't he become an accountant instead?
As the steam and hot waters sent him into a world of relaxation and solitude, he let his mind drift. Usually he'd get his best ideas when focusing, but sometimes his mind needed time to wander without steering to find the connections between certain events. The fact that his nerves had been rubbed raw the last day or so might be the reason for him not noticing how the air currents shifted, as the door to the onsen opened for a short while, before closing again soundlessly. It was the kind of thing that was not supposed to pass unnoticed by a shinobi of his caliber, but he was unexpectedly tired.
He did pick up the almost silent padding of bare feet on stone, but if the owner of the appendages had been hostile it might well have been too late at that time. Instead, even as he started to get to his feet, a loud cry of "Shikamaru-kun" was all the warning he got before someone crashed into him. An almost aggressively female someone. They fell back in a tangle, barely keeping their heads above water. This did not mean that Shikamaru could breathe easy, or even breathe. Although he was still trying to catch up with the events of the last few seconds, he felt he had a pretty good idea about just who it was trying to suffocate him with huge, err, well, let's just say it felt like pushing your head into a warm water bed, sort of. Shikamaru managed to get his hands on the person's shoulders and pull his head from out of that someone's cleavage, take a gasping breath.
"My, my. You look awfully red in the face there, Shikamaru-kun, have you been staying in the onsen for too long?" Michiko's voice was predictably filled with both mirth and mischievousness.
Focusing his gaze at Miyako's face, Shikamaru gave as coherent reply as he could. "Ah, umh, wha?" Okay, maybe he could work on that, but considering the situation, he felt he could justify being a bit flustered. Before he could elaborate, his gaze was drawn to Miyako's dark eyes. They felt as if they were bottomless pools, and he was being pulled into their depths. Realizing that he was letting them call the shots, he jumped out of the water and put his back to a wall, thankful that he still had a towel wrapped around him. "Okay, this is starting to go beyond troublesome. What the hell are you- cover yourself woman!" The last part was directed at Gina, who was staring absentmindedly at a small statue. She'd apparently forgotten where she was, as her towel had started to slip down, barely a thread holding it in place and soon not even that.
Shikamaru kept his eyes averted, not wanting to turn his back on the others just yet. Gina kind of shrugged the towel back on, the motion trying to draw his gaze from the corner of his eye. "Man, one girl is trouble enough, how the hell am I supposed to keep track of three of them?" His mind kept speeding along, trying to catch up to just what the hell their game was. He was pretty sure he had all the pieces he needed to figure them out, their invasion of his privacy obviously a well-planned action. He just needed to know their motivation for doing this. "Girls, the teams are all girls. It's a village with 'unusual demographics', which would mean…" He still couldn't pin it down, but he knew he was close.
"Ne, Shikamaru-kun, is there something wrong? You seem so tense, what me to give you a nice back-rub?" Miyako was speaking in a happy, whimsical tone of voice, not at odds with the very warm and inviting look she was giving him. Not to mention the effect that a wet and clingy towel was having on her physique.
"Wait, think of pieces, one attacker, one feinter, and a planner. It fits, they're bloody well trying to group seduce me. And it's working! But why?" Shikamaru felt his eyes thin, as something completely absurd suddenly struck him. It sounded so wrong, yet made so much sense, unless they were planning on betraying Konoha, in which case things were about to get extremely hectic from now on. "Michiko-san, are you planning on having kids anytime soon?" He managed to direct his gaze over at the informal leader of the trio, tearing it from the inviting Miyako, focusing on her piercing blue eyes to avoid the distractions flanking her. "Please, say you're gonna betray Konoha!"
"My, aren't you the bold one Shikamaru-kun. Are you offering to do the honors?" Michiko started blushing, but barely missed a beat in answering, which should have been impossible unless she actually was considering that crazy idea. And her smile suddenly seemed to turn just a tad too happy to just be a whimsical nonsense reaction.
"Shit! How the hell did this happen? Does Tsunade know about this? Was that why she mentioned that there was a Bamboo team that specialized in aerial combat? I'm too young damn it!" Shikamaru knew two things now. One, Michiko wasn't as clever as she thought, not being able to anticipate him figuring her out and therefore not being ready to fake her reply convincingly. The good part was that they wouldn't have to try and kill each other now, as there was no evidence of betrayal. The bad part was that his question had tipped his hand as well, it was just a matter of time before one of them made that connection.
The second thing he learnt was that his trip was about to become very interesting from here on.
"Well, I just remembered something I have to do, so I'll see you at dinner!" With that, he shunshined his ass back to his room and got dressed faster than Naruto could finish a bowl of ramen. He absently noted that it was the first time in over a year that he hurried to do anything. "Troublesome."
It had been over an hour. They had talked about his parents, cried, shared a few stories and even talked about things that had absolutely no bearing on the life-changing information that Naruto had been given. Now, it was time to move on. The world doesn't stop moving for anyone. Not even for a Hokage or a jinchuuriki. So Tsunade cleared her throat, and let her face assume her Hokage mask, the serious facade that she employed when absolute sincerity was needed. "Naruto, I know that you have a lot to think about, but you have a date to attend to, and I don't think Anko will appreciate you skipping it. That goes for the rest of the week as well, although I doubt you'll have any more news as difficult as these." She let a small smile crack the mask. "I suggest you pass by her house and talk over the evening with her right away. Feel free to tell her that you are under orders to have an early night tonight. I'll back you up."
"Humph, that crazy woman. You know, she claims that they spiked my drink at your party? That that's why I accepted having all these dates?" Tsunade almost managed to hide a hint of surprise, but Naruto managed to catch it. "Yeah, I know, and she made it sound like one of the other girls was involved as well. " He frowned and looked at her. "You don't think she's telling the truth, do you?"
Tsunade merely shrugged at the question. "I suggest you ask her. Now, go wash your face and get over to Anko's place. Do you know where it is by the way?" When she received a negative head shake, she walked over to her desk, jotted down a few words and gave him the note. "It's not hard to find. We'll meet up on Sunday and have a nice, long talk. I expect you'll have some questions for me by then, so I'll try to answer them for you. Oh, and if you see Kakashi, tell him to come by, I'd like to break the news to him, he'll probably be a bit upset too. Other than that, I want you to keep this information to yourself, except possibly for Sabaku-san." Tsunade smiled. "Since she's apparently sleeping in your bed, I expect she can be trusted as well."
Naruto had the decency to blush at the last remark. "Well, it's not what you might think, she just doesn't like to sleep alone. We never do anything. She's sort of a sister to me."
"Like Shizune you mean?"
"Yeah, except I know Akane-neechan a lot more since we've been hanging out a lot lately." Naruto smiled, thinking of his 'sister'. Then he shook himself. "Time to head off, later oba-chan."
As Naruto slipped out through a window at speed, Tsunade furrowed her brow. "Again with the 'old lady' remark. I'm gonna have to talk to him about that." Then she wondered if talking to yourself would be a sign of old age.
As Naruto sped away towards Anko's address across the rooftops, he kept a small smile on his face. The idea that he had a father had always been something abstract, full of unpleasant possibilities and questions, the kind orphans are often faced with. During his childhood, no one had seemed to know anything about him, and he'd been too caught up in trying to gain the attention of those he met to think about how that could be possible. The same went for his mother, although he'd understood relatively early that he'd had to have a mother at some point.
The questions that had plagued him most, even to this day, had been those concerned with why. Why hadn't they kept him? Why didn't anyone know anything? Why was he continuously being shut out of the community? Sometimes he'd fantasized about his father coming to find him, a powerful shinobi that would take him away from the cold, hateful people that surrounded him and care for him. He'd figured that his mother wasn't alive, and if she was, she wouldn't want him anyway. Why else abandon him? His father might have had a reason to not be in Konoha for several years. It was a childish fantasy, of course, but some days it was all that kept him going.
Now he had gotten a lot of those answers. He'd eventually want to know more about them, especially his mother, who was an unknown to the village in general. For now, he could content himself with the fact that he hadn't been abandoned, rather trusted to be a legacy of them as a living sacrifice. And now, he was carrying their killer within him as a prisoner, in effect being its jailor and punisher. It gave him some small measure of satisfaction that he'd done a good job of it so far. Now he just had to keep it up, and continue his growth. He'd been kept busy with all the dating and other activities so far, but soon he hoped he could return to something more than a quick work out whenever time permitted. He had jutsus to practice after all.
Taking a look around, realizing he'd been going on mental autopilot for a while, he recognized a small stand near a corner. Since it was selling dango, and he'd rather not have to spend a few hours running away from Anko again, he decided to make a quick stop. After disguising as a random civilian he'd noticed over in Kaze, he went in, picked up a large order of the treats and headed off again. The idea that he could have gone in and bought it as himself never crossed his mind. In theory, they might have mellowed out in Konoha concerning him, time finally healing the mental wounds of the catastrophic occurrence almost seventeen years earlier. But he had too many old memories of how they'd treated him as a child to let his guard down just like that. He knew he'd have to face up to that sooner or later, a Hokage couldn't be afraid of meeting his own people, but now was not the time.
He checked over the note with directions, turned left at a corner and realized that he'd finally arrived. Anko apparently lived in a flat of her own, the building a not-too-big, slightly scuffed apartment house. Heading in, absently checking the names of those that lived there, he realized that the building was almost half-empty, and except for Anko, nobody was living at the top two floors. Confused and curious about the odd distribution of tenants, he headed upstairs, resolved to talk to Anko about that fact later.
The corridor was not very well lit, few lamps working in their holders on the walls, and the paint was obviously getting old, ranging in skull white to beige from age. He'd noticed that maintenance in general had gotten less attention as he ascended the stairwell, and although he wasn't sure why, he could recognize the signs of someone that most people wouldn't want to be near. It was sobering, and saddening, to discover that he was not the sole example of a social pariah in Konoha. It also made him start to wonder about why she'd set him up for a date, and then spent it hunting him like an animal. Something didn't quite add up.
Her door was not hard to find, as it was the only one with a welcome mat outside. Well, the words were 'Oh no, not you again', but he figured that would be as close as she'd get in actually welcoming anyone. He knocked, having tried and found out that the door bell was broken. After a few seconds without any life signs from inside, he knocked again, wondering if she was out perhaps. Then he felt something slide along his neck, something cool and metallic, and knew exactly where one Mitarashi Anko could be found. Crap.
"I do hope you brought something for me in that bag, considering that stunt you pulled this afternoon." Her voice was a low, sibilant hiss, making his hair stand on end and sending a shiver down his spine. Then he realized that it wasn't him, but her finger, tracing a slow, deliberate route along his back. That didn't go well together with his expectation of her, a blade in the back? Sure. A not-too-subtle flirt? No.
He turned to face her, ignoring the trickle of blood appearing on his neck. "It's dango, of course, and I distinctly remember you being the first one to pull stunts. Who said you could declare an open season on me anyway?" He wasn't sure whether she heard him or not, as her eyes were glued to the dribble of life-fluid slowly tracing its way down towards his collarbone. She mumbled something inaudible, before leaning in towards him and slowly licking up the dark red fluid, continuing up to the line of angry pink that her sharp kunai had drawn next to his jugular vein. Once she'd let the tip of her tongue trace the shallow wound in full, she stopped and released a sound somewhere between a purr of contentment and a whine of disappointment before leaning back again. "And that's why most people think you're so fucking scary, you know."
She blinked, seemingly focusing on where and when she was, before blushing an almost alarming deep red. "Sorry, I kinda got distracted there. Anyway, I know you think I cheated, but you started it." Then she closed the distance between them, one arm snaking around his waist, the other reaching for the door handle. As she molded herself against him, causing all sorts of strange sensations for him to try and ignore, she opened the door while using him for support as she was reaching behind him. "I and Akane-chan go way back, and you just waltz into Konoha with her in tow as some kind of cute little assistant, charm the underwear off of most of the fertile female population in the entire village and then have the guts to whine about having to go on a date with me. I mean, were you ever going to consider my feelings in this?" Although she tried to keep a light tone, Naruto had spent enough time around people like himself to recognize when someone was trying to cover up hurt feelings.
Against his better judgment, but with the moral support of his libido, he wrapped his unburdened arm around her, sighing softly into the slightly tickly hair covering her ear. "I'm not sure about the other stuff, but no, sorry. I didn't stop to consider your feelings, because I honestly didn't think it mattered to you. You always act like nothing or nobody matter, when you're not threatening to neuter or handicap someone, so I never dreamed you actually cared about what I thought about you." He chuckled quietly, not missing the way her entire body had gone rigid when he held her back, or the way her breathing changed at his words. "So, let's try these dango, okay? I'm no expert on them, but I've heard you're sort of like me and ramen when it comes to them."
The door behind them had opened slightly, and Anko, feeling the need to take back control of the evening, slipped a leg between Naruto's and did a simple tripping technique, opening the door wide by slamming Naruto into it and landing the two of them on the hallway floor, her strategically on top. While he struggled to not let on just how, well, exciting, their new position was, she simply sat up, thighs holding on to him and the special part of her in between grinding slowly and suggestively against a special part of him. He knew that she could feel just how interested that part of him had become, and she knew that he knew and so on, leaving him feeling more embarrassed than he had in, well, several hours at least. Okay, a few then.
"Um, Anko?" He was quite proud that his voice was even and almost completely under his control. She was dressed in her usual attire, minus trench coat, which meant that he really didn't have to strain himself to imagine what she would look like topless.
"Yes?" She sounded completely innocent, a dead give-away that something nerve-wrecking was about to occur. She was still holding her kunai, so he was pretty sure that trying to man-handle her would end with him discovering new and interesting ways of feeling pain.
"This is kind of awkward, you know?" Okay, not sounding like he was straining with something was getting difficult.
"It is?" Still that infuriating innocence, while slowly rubbing pelvis against pelvis. So not fair.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure of that." Now he was, ever so slightly, starting to feel the urge to rub back at her, consequences be damned.
"Oh, okay." Oh, good. She understood. So why didn't she get off of him?
"Anko?" It was really getting hard to control himself now. And his voice kept heading upwards in pitch, which was adding a whole new dimension to his embarrassment.
"Yes, what is it now?" Her voice was also changing. Was she finally starting to let the sensations get to her?
"Would you, slowly and carefully, without putting a hand somewhere it might hurt, kindly stand up?" Naruto wasn't sure, but he was pretty certain that he'd just won some kind of price somewhere. The question was whether he'd live to regret it or not.
"Why?"
"Please? I think the dango will go bad otherwise."
"Oh, crap the dango!" Somehow it didn't surprise Naruto that the one thing that got her off of him was her favorite food. He'd probably act the same if it was ramen. He managed to stifle a long, suffering sigh, and started to rise. And realized that he was at least temporarily stymied in his movements. Thinking up a solution, he asked and was directed to the bathroom. While she was kept occupied with the 'Anko-sized' order of dango (yes, there actually was one like that on the menu.) he quickly went and emptied his bladder, sitting down. The chance of missing otherwise was just too great.
"Lucky, I'd never have been able to live down getting caught with a boner by Anko." The most pressing business taken care of, Naruto took the opportunity to check out one of the most private of rooms in someone's living space. Jiraiya had tried his best at imprinting some basic investigative tools, and the importance of just what someone kept at their washstand had been expressed more than once. So he did a quick inventory, finding that she was, indeed, female, as the sheer number of bottles, crèmes and make-up accessories easily matched the number of bathroom articles he'd used during his entire, if short, life. Not that he was sloppy with hygiene, he just didn't need seven different skin crèmes. Or five moisturizers, whatever that was.
Other than that, she seemed to have quite a pharmacy, various pills in small plastic containers marked with a number-letter code instead of names. Although using drugs and poisons wasn't unusual among shinobi, Naruto was certain that only medic-nins or drug-dealers would carry that kind of stock in Konoha. So, female and possibly reliant on medicine and or drugs. What else could he tell? Well, she did seem to like the color purple, from her towels, as well as orange, from the shower curtain. Other than that, it was all Kiri-battlesigns to him. What on earth did it mean that something was 'nucleus-restorative'?
Deciding to leave the mysteries of the female hygiene world to fend for itself, Naruto left the bathroom, passed through the small hallway and entered the kitchen, wondering if there might be anything left for him to nibble on. Any hopes of such were quickly dashed, as he surveyed the destruction that Anko had wrecked on the take-away he'd brought with him. Hoping that there might be an alternative dinner later, he pushed thoughts of food aside and focused instead on the apartment's inhabitant, who was currently sitting with a content grin at the kitchen table. "Hey, you feeling less inclined to molest people now?"
"Ummmm, yeah. Give me a minute or two and we can pick up where we left off."
"If it's all the same to you, let's talk a bit first. I'm supposed to get some rest tonight, Hokage's orders. And I had a few questions for you."
"Okay, I'm not going anywhere right now."
"Well, what was that about you drugging me at Tsunade's party? That was just a joke right?"
"Oh, it was? Okay."
When nothing more was forthcoming, Naruto could actually feel sweat gathering at his brow. "Um, that's not the answer I was hoping for, did you or didn't you?"
"Well, I certainly didn't put anything into your drink."
"You didn't? Did anyone else do that then?"
"Well yeah, at least two girls put something in it. I thought it was a bit unsophisticated so I just coated the rim of your glass."
"W-w-what? You're saying I had three different drugs in me at the same time?"
""well, mine was just a mild, slow working aphrodisiac. It did wonders for our onsen visit."
"And the others?"
"Don't know actually, you'd better ask the girls that did it."
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Who else was it? I can't ask them if I don't know who they were, right?"
"Sorry, that's something I promised not to tell. You'll have to figure that part out by yourself."
"Aw, man. That's just not fair. Why is every girl I meet so damn weird nowadays?" He sighed, resigning to the fact that she wasn't going to be persuaded to tell him more. "So, anyway, what do you want to do for the rest of the evening?"
Anko looked at him, then let her gaze travel down his body, taking in what could be gleaned from how his mission outfit clung to the body underneath. She had something very special in mind, and he was obviously fit. She just hoped he would be limber enough to be a challenge to her. As her eyes met his, she let a disturbing smile spread in place of the grin she'd worn before. "Let's just say I have an idea."
Naruto suddenly felt the urge to swallow down a lump of anxiety.
Neji was out in Konoha, moving in a random, roving patrol pattern. He'd had dinner with his wife, having a nice conversation at the table and actually managing to make her smile once or twice. Then he'd put on his ANBU armor, mask and cape and headed out into the night. He knew that he'd have to face the music soon, and find a way to live with his new 'beloved', but right now it was so much easier to work. He was heading down Konoha's main entertainment street, keeping to the shadows and moving slowly.
His ear-piece squeaked, static from interference quickly replaced by a voice. "Hey, Neji, are you still interested in what Uzumaki is up to?" He recognized the voice as coming from Naruto's watcher for the night.
"Sure, what's happening?" He'd put the word out amongst his colleagues, hoping to find out just what the deal was with the recently returned jinchuuriki.
"Well, I'm outside Anko's apartment, and I think you might want to hear this." There was a few scraping sounds, and then, distantly, a conversation between two people he knew.
"Naruto, I'm not sure I can do this."
"Hey, this was your idea. I said that it would be easier in the living room, but you insisted that you wanted to do it on the bed."
"Well, I didn't think you were so big, you've grown more than I realized."
"Shut up and put your hand on it. It's no fun having to listen to you procrastinating."
"Uhh! There, I got it. Whoa, it's kinda slick. You're turn." The female voice, which he recognized as Anko's, sounded strained.
"Oh great, I gotta put my head at that place. Hold on, I need to twist my arm a bit." Something fell over with a crash, and Anko gasped.
"Damn, you have some skills at this boy. Now go slowly, I don't want you to hurt yourself, that's my job." Naruto simply grunted in return. "Oh, good boy, you got it. See this is kinda fun once you get into it, right?"
At that point, Neji walked into a pole. Stumbling backwards, feeling slightly dizzy, he pulled the receiver of the wireless from his ear and decided that he'd make sure to have a talk with Hinata about a certain blonde. She definitely couldn't have a date with him unsupervised. The fact that he removed his ear-piece meant that he missed Naruto's reply.
"Well, I still think Twister would be funnier with more people, and why play it on a bed anyway?"
It was an hour or so later. The Twister game had been put away, Naruto had managed to escape the bedroom with his pants mostly still on, and now they were curled up in Anko's sofa, watching a horror movie. As powerful as they were, anyone would be frightened by a being that just wouldn't relent, no matter how brutally beaten down. "Return of the Zombie Fangirls III" really was scary, especially to Naruto, who'd gotten between real fan girls and Sasuke more times than he could count. Naruto hadn't seen the Snow princess/actress, who played the hero's girlfriend, for at least a year and a half, and so had been relentless in begging Anko to watch it with him. It took almost a minute to convince her to watch it, and almost half an hour to convince her that he did, in fact, know the princess personally.
Then he'd been sent to scrounge up whatever snacks he could find in her kitchen, while she got changed for sloughing away an evening in her sofa. It wasn't quite what she'd imagined a date with Konoha's new favorite meat would be, but for some reason she was having a really good time. Naruto didn't seem to care about a lot of things, like her looks, strange behavior or the fact that she had been trained by Orochimaru and had a curse seal. And he also exuded confidence, which for some reason was making her feel very safe. She'd gotten used to being on edge, seldom feeling protected enough to drop her mask and be herself. With Naruto, it came naturally after a while. It was as if he'd simply declared her apartment as part of his territory, to protect and watch over, and anyone coming to hurt her would have to go through him.
Which was a completely ridiculous idea. He was a sixteen year old boy, known throughout the village for being stupid, obnoxious and an almost perfect example of how not to be a ninja. Most people wouldn't trust him to lead a waterfall downstream, much less be a Hokage. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that as long as he was there, nothing could go so wrong that he couldn't make it right. Eventually. She hadn't spent all that much time with the gaki, but even she could tell that he'd changed a lot more than could be seen by the eye.
Letting her gaze leave another blood-drenched scene as the undead caught another meaningless pretty boy and his silly girlfriend, she studied the guy who'd actually managed to trick her earlier that afternoon. It was strange, he didn't really look all that good. His fashion sense was so far out there that she seriously doubted there was a map in Konoha that could help in finding it. He spent a lot of time either looking confused or thinking hard (and failing), and his hair was mostly an unruly mess. There didn't seem to be too much of interest in the young jinchuuriki.
Unless you knew just how fit he was underneath those weird orange and black clothes he wore for missions. Or happened to catch him smiling one of those devil-may-care smiles, always daring and mischievous, never nasty. And ignored his eyes. She'd noticed earlier just how much he could say with those big, shiny, blue eyes. They were currently slightly overcast, as if a cloud had drifted in front of the sun. He was apparently finding the zombie fan girls all too real, unconsciously squeezing a pillow to death.
Maybe that was it, she thought to herself while scrutinizing his face. He was not just optimistic enough to drive you insane, he was also so darn naïve. If she hadn't sworn off squealing about cute things in front of other people a long time ago, he'd probably have her doing that right now. "Eyes like that shouldn't be legal, they should be banned in an international treaty somewhere." He just looked so damn adorable, curled up in the other end of her sofa, so close that she could have reached out a hand and touched him. It was tempting, but it also seemed like a bad idea to interrupt the tranquility, her urge more an instinctive reaction than a real desire. She realized that she wasn't used to feeling, well, at home, like she was now. "Wonder if this is what family feels like?"
Deciding that she was getting much too mushy for her own good, she turned her eyes back to the screen, where someone was apparently being eat- no, they weren't eating the poor boy, were they. Suddenly the horror movie got a whole lot scarier, making Anko check her date's reaction. Apparently Naruto had realized just what the zombies were doing as well, as he was actually holding his hands in front of his eyes, peeking through his fingers every now and then. It was silly, childish, and absolutely adorable. Anko had to force herself to look away, mentally shaking her head. "Acting all grown up one minute, and the next he's back at being six years old wanting his mum. It's like he's never had a chance to be a kid for real."
Resting her gaze at the disturbing scene in front of them, she let that thought roll around her head for a bit. It would explain a lot about Naruto's recent behavior, as well as his well-known pranking during his early years. Was that something they had in common? She knew he was an orphan, like herself, and that he'd been ostracized by most of Konoha for a long time, although he'd lived like that most of his life, while she'd at least had a decent childhood. Course, it took a while for her to remember it.
So, the gaki grew up with a mask on, taking the responsibilities of an adult from an early age, entered the academy and spent most of his time goofing off, then spent about an hour with the scroll of forbidden jutsu and could suddenly perform one of the most dangerous, chakra demanding and difficult jutsus ever developed. Then, after getting tossed into the most mismatched team since the Sannin themselves, he somehow managed to get involved with about two dozen or so power players, apparently including becoming friends with the most sought after movie star in the five elemental countries. He'd also had time to rip the Suna jinchuuriki a new one, bring back the current Hokage, who was one of the Sannin and befriend another of the super trio, leading to him being taken on a three year long training journey.
"Wonder how many could have gone through that and kept their sanity in the process." It certainly seemed likely that Naruto was carrying around a lot of baggage, on top of his demonic guest. No wonder he kept reverting back to a small child every now and then. Repressing one's childhood could easily lead to various mental instabilities and personality quirks, and he'd done it while being actively pushed down by his surroundings. It would have been almost like growing up in a warzone, except for the risk of physical violence. An obsession with ramen, the color orange and getting everyone's respect was not much in the way of negative consequences if you put it like that.
His knowledge of how to annoy pretty much anyone was more likely a natural ability. Possibly even a bloodline limit.
As the hero managed to get away from the zombie horde, resisting their temptation in favor of his True Love (fat surprise that one), Naruto snored. He'd apparently managed to fall asleep while she was busy puzzling over him. He was very much like an onion, layer upon layer, and the more you peeled the more you risked tearing up. While the cast and crew rolled across the screen, she sat looking at the gaki, slightly put out that the one time she had a male over whilst being sober, he fell asleep without there being sex involved. Unless you counted her incessant teasing and flirting of course. Shouldn't there have been something else? It'd be a shame to let him suffer through foreplay without enjoying the main act.
A knock on her door brought her out of her not very innocent thinking. Padding over silently, she opened the spy hole that was hidden on the side of the door. Recognizing the red mane of hair, she let a clone open the door, and when the probable Akane didn't stab it in the back, walked out and greeted her. "Hey there cutie, what are you doing here?"
"Hi Anko! Just coming to pick up blondie, wouldn't want you to get tempted." Akane grinned at her, a hint of smugness evident.
"You know me too well." Anko stepped closer, putting her hands on Akane's hips.
"Yeah, I think I do, got here just in time huh." She responded by putting her hands on Anko's shoulders.
"I ain't admitting to nothing." Anko let her hands slip up and behind Akane, squeezing lightly.
"Not with your words, but that body is talking a different language." Akane let her own hands slide over Anko's shoulders in response, bringing the two women closer together. They were inches apart, lips almost touching.
"Huh, Akane-neechan? Wha-"Naruto was interrupted by a huge yawn before he could finish his question, bleary eyes closing as he covered his mouth with his free left hand, the other holding his jacket. "What are you doing here? What time is it?" Anko jumped back, realizing that she'd gotten so caught up in the hot woman holding her that she'd stopped watching her surroundings.
Rounding on the blonde, she bopped him on the top of his head. "Damn it Naruto, don't interrupt a good thing!" He simply pouted in return, eyes extra shiny from sleepiness induced tears, and looked over at Akane.
"Now now, Anko. I won't have any fighting between you two. And Naruto, I expected you to have come home at least an hour ago. You wouldn't want me to sleep alone, would you?"
"Looks like Anko could take care of that for you just as well, would you mind not seducing my dates in the future? It's tough on my self-esteem."
"Aww, you make it sound like I have to choose between you two. Wouldn't you like a bit of two on one, gaki?"
"Anko!" The reply was shouted by both Naruto and Akane, both blushing up a storm.
"We're siblings, keep what you two do in the bedroom to yourself!"
"Don't put ideas like that into my otouto's head, I'm not gonna let anyone corrupt him just yet!"
"Sheesh, you two really do act like siblings, how annoying. And here I was looking to reenact a bit of my favorite Icha Icha scene. I'm very disappointed in you two."
"If you want to play with Naruto, that's fine, but don't try to drag me into it. I want to keep what we have."
"Well, I suppose there are good things to come from variety too."
"Akane-neechan, let's head home now, I'm gonna get hunted down by Lee tomorrow for a spar, so I'll need some rest." Naruto glanced at Anko. "Unless you'd rather spend the night with Anko again."
"Meh, she prefers you and your onsen, gaki. No skin off my back, I'll just come over and visit tomorrow." Anko grinned, returning her usual mask of indifferent insanity.
Naruto frowned. He was pretty certain that she was covering up some hurt feelings again, and now that they had started forming a real bond, he wasn't about to let something like that get past him. "You know, Anko, I have a lot of space over at the house. You could move in if you want."
She froze, just for a fraction of a second, before shaking herself and opening her mouth to deliver a sarcastic 'No thanks'. Naruto beat her to it however. "It won't be a problem for me, and I'm pretty certain you'd like it better there where you're actually welcome than in this dump." He fixed his eyes on hers. "I do know all about not being universally loved by the villagers, and I don't give a shit about what it was that made people avoid you." Seeing that she was about to reply again, he put in a last jab. "At least think on it, okay? I won't be expecting anything in return, I'd just like for you to have a real home." With that he turned to Akane, who was smiling mysteriously. "Okay, I'm all done, let's go home Akane-neechan! Bye Anko-san!"
"Yeah, later Anko-chan."
"Umm, bye you two. Have a safe trip." Anko realized just how flustered she was after she recognized the words coming out of her mouth. Since when was she ever polite? "Stupid gaki." She muttered to herself, before stalking into her living room. Somehow she just knew that she'd be sleeping poorly that night.
While Anko started on her routine for going to bed in a bad mood, Akane and Naruto started making their way back to his mansion. The warm summer breeze was a welcome change from the sweltering heat of the day, and now that the sun had gone to rest, the evening was pleasant, various insects providing a discreet backdrop of sounds to round off the idyllic moment. "So, I expect you and Anko had a good time then?"
"Yeah, neechan, of course! Why shouldn't we?"
"Well, I'm just surprised she hadn't tied you to her bed is all, I know how she usually like to treat her dates. Not many guys can keep up with her."
"Well, maybe she doesn't think like that about me? I mean, except for the usual weirdness she likes to pull we spent most of the evening watching a movie."
"Naruto, I've known Anko for years. If it's male and in her apartment, she will have her way with it." Akane grinned. "I especially remember that guy Iruka. She used to have him entertain her on free weekends, starting off with a hunt and ending it with him strapped to her bed. She can be loads of fun when she feels like it."
"She did that to Iruka-sensei? No wonder he has eight locks on his door."
"By the way, were you serious about her moving in with you?"
"Of course! Why should she have to live at a rat's nest like that?"
Akane shook her head in wonder. "I can't believe she actually let you ask her to play house like that without getting all emotional."
"Anko gets emotional? She doesn't seem the type, you know?"
"Oh yes, she gets very emotional, in an 'I'm-gonna-stab-you-to-death-and-bury-you-in-dog-shit-bags-all-over-Konoha' kind of way. Anko is not into relationships of any kind, except for a very select few." She gave him a look. "Figures my little brother would succeed where so many others have failed."
"What, she's that popular?"
"She used to be, sort of. She's a firecracker in bed, she loves partying and she doesn't care much for whom she does either with. A lot of guys figured that means she's easy to get close too, although not for very long." Akane grinned. "The idea of a long term relationship doesn't really appeal to Anko, so she usually scares away anybody trying."
"Well, she probably doesn't think I'm serious, or just think of me as a friend. I mean, she did let me leave without anything improper – er happening."
"What does 'improperer' mean? Did she do something improper to you?"
"Ah, well, nothing too bad. I mean, like what Tenten did for example. She was kinda fired up when I got there, and there was an awkward moment when I won the Twister game, but otherwise it was fine. I even fell asleep."
Akane gave Naruto a look. "You fell asleep? Within a few feet of Anko? And you weren't molested?"
"Yes, yes and most definitely yes."
"Oh dear, I hope she's not coming down with anything."
Third northern tunnel, abandoned Sound complex.
"S-Sorry sir, I'm afraid I can't go on." The nin was hurt, blood oozing steadily from a severed artery in the leg. That could have been healed by a competent medic, but the part of his face that had been burned off would have been a challenge even for Tsunade. "Just make it pa-painless and quick."
As he'd done so many times, Sasuke activated his Sharingan eyes, giving the dying youngling a blissful end before letting the body slide to the floor. He wasn't sure if the images he'd catch a glimpse off as the teen left the world of the living was just a hallucination, or if he really was guiding his comrades towards some kind of afterlife paradise as they died. He didn't care much either. Mercy killing always wrenched at his conscience, even when he knew there was nothing he could have done. Some day your number simply came up, and then you got to meet your ancestors. All he did was help those he could along the way.
They were down to three now, himself included, but the exit from the old tunnel complex was close by, and a full squad would be waiting for their return. He'd left a lot of good shinobi behind him, taken down by the demons that now inhabitated Orochimaru's former base. In a pouch hidden away among his clothes were the prizes they'd been sacrificed for, and he dearly hoped the cost would prove to be justified. Looking towards the next intersection, he turned his back on the dead and signaled for his depleted team to move out.
As they crept slowly towards their destination, he kept his concentration on the shadows, expanding his awareness to hopefully find his enemies before they found him. He'd found it strange how useful their various shinobi skills and jutsus had proven against the horrors now stalking the underground passages. They ghosted across a wide arena, using the roof to slip past three of the creatures patrolling underneath. These were the lowest kind of demon he'd encountered, easily duped or avoided, but deadly if engaged in combat. The more alert and intelligent ones were a bigger challenge to avoid through stealth, but also much rarer. He'd even seen one, in the distance, that had a full four horns. It had towered head and shoulders above those around it.
There was a low whistling sound from up ahead, as though a wind had passed through a crack, and his team stopped. He waited until the whistle had repeated two more times before blinking his flashlight twice. When there was a response of two flashes his team moved forward, meeting up with the team in charge of covering their escape. No words exchanged, he simply traded understanding looks with the grizzled veteran he'd put in charge of the rearguard before signing orders to withdraw. They all headed topside, then took off quickly towards the first of three resting points that had been prepared in advance. As expected there were no wounded to care for. As soon as they arrived at the first camp, he sat down with his depleted task force, doing a quick debriefing. After confirming the ones lost and receiving the report of the rearguard, he set up a guard roster and went to sleep. They would rest until the next night before moving on, and he'd need all the rest he could get.
It would be a long and hazardous journey to Konoha, and the danger would only increase the closer he got to what had once been his home.
"Yo, Itachi-san, what are we waiting for? The complex is not far away now."
Itachi didn't react to his long-time partner's words, letting his gaze linger in a southern direction. He'd felt a brief flash of something from that direction, but now it was gone. It had seemed familiar however. He was tempted to go and investigate, but this time his mission would have to go before his personal interests. "True, Kisame-san. Let us be on our way. I am most curious about what has been happening in Sound while we have been busy elsewhere." Without any further pauses, he led the way towards the location of one of Orochimaru's former bases.
Their leader had had them trying to track down the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, but without any luck, as the teen had been taken under the protection of the toad Sannin. The wily old man had a lot of experience in hiding in plain sight, and although they had sometimes seemed to have gotten quite close, the trails would suddenly turn into nothingness, as another false lead was revealed. They'd learned quite a bit about investigating as the search went on, and spent a relaxing half-year on a southern island when their target had disappeared from the elemental countries completely. They still didn't know what had happened during that time, only that the leader had ordered them on a vacation. This had seemed absolutely silly right up to when they stepped into the warm azure blue waters for the first time.
Kisame had made a strangely contented sound and disappeared into the waters, only to reappear a few times a day to check on Itachi. Itachi himself had found a deserted beach, a cliff to dive from and a store that sold his favorite books. After the initial rush of slacking off was over, they started routinely sparring with each other to stay in shape, but they still had several hours a day to enjoy themselves.
Itachi was torn away from his memories when a malevolent feeling came rolling towards him from a dense patch of wood. It would seem that the rumors were true, he hadn't felt anything like this except when fighting jinchuuriki. And he knew for a fact that there were no living jinchuuriki in the entire country of Sound. While Kisame unwrapped his giant sword, Samehada, he himself drew a kunai and activated his Sharingan. It proved wise, as three large, feral shapes bounded out from under the cover of dense foliage and launched themselves at the two shinobi. Itachi managed to catch a decent look at their assailants, noticing red eyes with slits for pupils and mouths full of large, sharp fangs. They all sported a single horn, jutting out from the middle off the forehead on each of them.
They moved insanely fast, covering the distance in the blink of an eye. If their opponents had been unprepared, or just less skilled, the fight would have ended then and there. But Itachi and Kisame weren't just any opponents. Kunai and sword flashed through the air, the former ripping open a belly as the wielder danced under a talon covered paw, while the latter met force with force and severed its resistance at the waist. The third demon was unfazed by the deaths of its comrades, but before it could pounce a stream of liquid fire splashed over it, igniting its fur and sending it to the ground writhing and roaring in pain. Itachi ended his jutsu as Kisame severed the dying demon's head from its still burning body.
"It would seem that the rumors were no exaggerations. Let us see what we can learn in Orochimaru's old lair, shall we?"
"Why not? It's been too long since me and Samehada had a real life-or-death battle with worthy opponents. And I doubt anyone will be all that upset at us killing these beasts." Kisame had an even wider grin than normal, blood splattering his robes and the right side of his face. "Do you think they can talk? I've never tortured a demon before."
"Possibly, at least the higher ranking ones are supposed to be able to speak. These were quite low on that scale." Itachi's reply was almost animated, as an unusual feeling of excitement started to spread within him. Although the fight hadn't been too taxing, he had actually been forced to activate his Sharingan. These demons would most likely mean a real challenge to him, which he'd lacked dearly of late. "Let's go hunting Kisame-san."
"With pleasure Itachi-san."
With that the two Akatsuki members moved onwards, unusually eager to find more opponents to test themselves against.
Konoha, that evening.
As events were unfolding that would have an impact on the entire world of shinobi, four nins having dinner were totally oblivious to the fact that a time of legends was about to start. They were seated together at a table outside one of Konoha's more respected restaurants, working their way through some rather exotic dishes. Their conversation had mostly been centered on the Village hidden in Bamboo, as the three women had moved permanently to Konoha almost two years before. The one speaking the most had been the lone male, Osamu, while the others provided questions on all sorts of things, from relatives and friends to new building projects and changes in the village politics. The agreement between the Hokage and the Takekage was complex, as their main allegiance was supposed to be to Konoha, with a few exceptions. The fact that Osamu was there and that they'd just recently made some interesting discoveries meant that they were now moving within one of those exceptions. It was clearly stipulated that the agreement would be voided unless Konoha and its inhabitants upheld all agreements made between Konohagakure and Takegakure. If anything pointing towards Konoha not fulfilling their end of an agreement was discovered, the former Takenins were allowed to act to bring that to the attention of their birth village.
The topic they all avoided, albeit with great difficulty, was that they had found proof of such a thing, although the agreement couldn't be called upon just yet. To Osamu, it meant a chance to reclaim a part of the honor that his clan had lost in their failed coup attempt and a possibility to prove his loyalty to Take. To the other three, it was waving the possibility of visiting the village of their birth, and the many people they had left behind when moving to Konoha. Currently an ANBU born in Konoha was keeping an eye on them however, forcing them to hold the discussion of how to get the information back to Takegakure in discreet sign language.
"I'm not staying here, I'm wearing the wrong forehead protector." Signed Osamu.
"Neither are we! I've barely heard from my sisters in two years, and the men keep misunderstanding what the bonds mean. I want a vacation!" This was Saki, fingers twitching irritably.
"Well, maybe we can get an escort mission to Take if we convince Tsunade-sama that he'll need protection?" Saki's True-sister Aoi suggested.
"And why would she let us go? Saki's been acting like she wants to rip open his belly and pour honey on his innards, then invite an ant hill to a picnic." This was Yui, their teammate, well known for being outspoken and colorful in her choice of words.
"Maybe if we made it sound like we just want to visit the village, show that we're not angry at Osamu-san anymore and are ready to do it for half the usual pay?" Aoi played the role of mediator once more, focusing on solving the problem.
"Hmm, that just might work."
Both Saki and Yui winced. The idea was sound, but it would also mean a large drain on their budget for shopping.
A/N: Yes, it has been too long. I'm back at doing full-time work, so things have been changing rapidly in my daily routine. Anyone wanting to help me catch mistakes is welcome if the tone is kept civil. I am writing in two languages that aren't my own.
I'm hoping for a few reviews, would be nice to hear how the story is developing from someone that hasn't been keeping it in his head for longer than is really healthy.
Hmm, now to decide on what to write next. There are so many things to do!
I'll try to be faster with the next update (not very hard, right?), so until next time (whenever that may be).
Ja ne!