Future Plans

A/N 1: It seems a lot of people are confused over Chapter 3. At first I was like 'sucks', but now I'm thinking it's my fault for not conveying it properly. Chapter 3 laid the groundwork for Moon-X and it's characters. That's all. It's not a wrongly uploaded chapter to another story or something like that. I just felt like getting all of it outta the way in one shot. My bad for not explaining, just didn't think I'd have to.

A/N 2: On a side-note, the last chapter was totally filler, something to put out while I looked over this chapter one more time.

Chapter XI: Snake Eyes and Setting Off

VVVVVVVVVVVV

I didn't know what to think.

Hell, I barely knew what to do.

My ear pricked and I glanced back, looking at the door that led into that blonde-haired idiot's apartment. I could hear the sounds of yawning, of stretching coming from the other side and scoffed. About time those lazy bastards woke up.

Me? I'd been up ever since coming back from the Hokage's office, pacing back and forth like a mechanical doll, my head still trying to wrap itself around the puzzling notion that Anko knew about this.

About me.

It seemed a bit overkill for the Hokage to have that crazy snake bitch come try to kill us so why…? Just because she and Orochimaru shared a past?

No.

It was more than that…way more.

In all honesty, I wanted to march right over to her living quarters—wherever the hell that was—and force some answers out of her. But that would be foolish. Fatally foolish even. I cursed and simultaneously congratulated myself. In the past, my Uchiha blood would have never let me admit there was an adversary I could not beat—but now, after sacrificing myself and spending so much time with Naruto 'bleeding emotions' Uzumaki, I had grown a strange yet welcoming sense of humility.

It was the only thing keeping me rooted where I was, leaned over the railing and staring listlessly as the sun rose to power.

Deep down I knew. I knew if I went around her demanding things without sufficient force to back up my wants, or without the right amount of bribery, she'd fillet my spiritual ass.

In a momentary lapse of common sense, I wondered how a meeting would go if I offered her dango? Maybe she'd be more willing to participate and then Naruto could act as my mouthpiece. No, wait…maybe she could already see me?

Fuck my life.

Nothing made sense anymore….

Now I could hear the unmistakable sounds of arguing—something, something, Naruto upset over clothing, more blabber, then Crowa suggesting this, more blah, blah, blah, then finally their laughter as an agreement was reached.

Reluctantly, I pushed all previous forethought of Anko, of being a spirit from my mind. Today would mark our cells first mission since I went K.I.A. Out there in the real world none of this shit mattered—only the mission should be the main concern. Only surviving.

I guess me and my petty problems would come later.

VVVVVVVVVV

Nestled deep within the darkest recesses of the Forbidden Forest was where a certain Tokubetsu Jonin had decided to build her home. At first, the option of having a house in such a dangerous geographical area was denied—then quickly overturned when the council figured it would be a great way to get her out of their hair, hoping to God above that one day a carnivorous beast would happen her way.

Anko knew the sole reason behind granting her permission for living space out here. She knew they wanted her to die. And she was okay with that. None of them had enough balls to actually come out and say such a thing so she felt not need to take them seriously in any matter.

Personally, she chose such an area because it provided solidarity and much needed peace of mind, something she was rarely able to achieve when living in the village proper. All the constant noise, all the constant stares…all the constant threats….

She remembered the day when those spineless villagers had set her house on fire.

With she still slept within.

Perhaps it was just her feral attitude—maybe that was the reason so many despised her…or, most likely, maybe it was due to the fact that she once abandoned the village.

Yeah, we'd go with that.

The day her house burned down was the first time in nearly a decade when she'd lost her mind. It wasn't so much the amount of irreplaceably burnt possessions that had upset her and fueled her with so much rage that she went on a rampage throughout the entire village.

No.

It was the fact that only hours earlier, she had just went on a shopping spree, which meant, of course, filling up her refrigerator with dango. Well, the refrigerator, the cabinets, the cupboard—even that secret little compartment in her nightstand.

The loss was too great. It broke her mind. To this day, she still smiled at the fact that it took twelve Jonin—Kakashi included—to calm her down.

Killing her was out of the question, regardless of the fact that it was nigh impossible to do anyway, but also because of her undeniable strength.

"Which reminds me," she sighed, stepping out of shower, "I still need to get Kakashi back for groping me…." She remembered quite well how the silver-haired jonin's hands roamed expertly over her body under the guise of trying to restrain her. Maybe it was a previously discussed strategy, or maybe he'd done it because he felt like it, but either way her capture was credited to that copy-nin finding her tender spot thus rendering her paralyzed for a split second.

And ninja's only needed a split second.

Using the back of her hand, she rubbed away the mist that had formed over her bathroom mirror. She smirked at the woman smirking back at her and let the towel drop. The body that met her eyes was one of undeniable beauty: perfectly toned ivory skin that shone like marble; her thin waist might make one think she cared about what she ate…but she didn't, not at all, yet it flowed alluringly down into her noticeable hips, then into a pair of flawless legs.

The body of goddess, she thought, pleased as she began to run a comb through her locks of lavender hair.

She didn't flinch when a relatively small chakra signature sparked to life behind her. The combing continued as she peeked into the reflection, her eyes meeting the slanted pupils of a miniature garden snake; it was positioned in the bathroom door, raised halfway up on its scaly green body.

"Ah. News, Hebitano?"

The snake nodded its head and, oddly enough, began hissing.

To any normal person, this might have seemed strange, but Anko hadn't chosen the Forbidden Forest just to get away from the villagers. Somewhere between being trained by Orochimaru and being subsequently abandoned by him, she had picked up his strange fetish for experimentations. Granted, it wasn't to his maniacal extent—namely using humans as tests for trail and error—because hers focused on the connectivity between snakes and chakra.

Case in point, Hebitano, her chakra made manifest in a snake form. Took her months to come up with the proper formula, and years to actually get it to work right. There were many times when she was left drained of energy, near death, stuck within this hellish landscape filled with monstrosities with no way to signal for help.

How she had survived for so long was anyone's guess. Her guess was she didn't care.

The ramifications behind Hebitano's origin lay in countless bundles of paper and research scattered all throughout her home. Looking back, she felt proud, proud that she had acquired at least something after being used and tossed aside like a condom. The vast information that bastard had opened her up to, all the hidden social networks that she now knew—hell, she could probably rival the toad sannin in gathering intelligence now.

I'm still going to kill you, sensei.

Pushing those more sinister thoughts from her head she turned and dropped to her knees in front of the snake as it continued to hiss:

"The two genin you wanted me to watch, Naruto Uzumaki and Moon-X child Crowa, they're about to leave the village."

Anko's heart skipped a beat. "Leaving…the village? Now?"

Hebitano, being a part of Anko, could feel her rapidly rising anxiety levels and quickly added, "Not for that reason, mistress. They're being sent on a B-ranked mission to retrieve the escapee Mizuki."

Inhaling deeply to calm herself, Anko sighed, letting her shoulders drop. She stared long and hard at Hebitaro, a multitude of strange emotions rolling through her chest. She'd told Naruto she never wanted to see him again if he kept up his suicidal 'revival' plan…yet the thought of him leaving the village felt like a punch to gut.

That little brat was impulsive—so was she, but she at least had good sense when to set it aside when her life could be in danger.

She racked her brain for any information on Mizuki, remembering that sneaky bastard well for the trouble he'd caused. On CQC terms he was perhaps two, three notches below Kakashi; concerning ninjutsu skill, well, that was blank as she'd never paid him enough attention to find out what styles he utilized. Considering he had reached Chunin rank then summarily denied himself advancement, maybe he had latent abilities…?

Latent abilities, she thought, growing tired of kneeling naked on the floor. Standing, she wrapped herself in the towel once more and proceeded into her bedroom, a moderately sized room where the floor was completely buried under several pages of notes, drafts, files, and manila envelopes. Like snow, she trudged through, making it to her bed where she took a seat on the edge, crossing her legs.

"Latent abilities have the power to escalate a simple B-ranked mission into a class SS."

She watched as Hebitaro slithered atop all the mess, still marveling at the pinnacle of all her hard work. He was different than regular summons, possessed different skills and abilities. "And it's looks like now is a perfect time to try one of them out," she concluded with a little clap.

A twisted smile quirked her lips.

"This is going to be a very interesting mission indeed."

VVVVVVVVVV

Naruto, Crowa, Sasuke, and Kakashi stood at their training grounds. All four of them had been waiting there for the past four hours, Naruto, Sasuke and Crowa showing up three hours ago while Kakashi had arrived just a few minutes ago.

Oddly enough, Kakashi noticed that Naruto hadn't accused him of being late nor a liar when he retold a story of helping a window cleaner on his way over—Crowa, well, he hadn't expected the hybrid to know of his legendary tardiness.

No, that was perhaps the least of what Kakashi thought was 'odd'.

"Felt a need to update the wardrobe, huh?" he asked casually, surveying his two visible students. He could feel a certain…pressure to the right of Naruto and figured it had to Sasuke. Best to ignore that for now.

Like it didn't matter, Naruto hunched his shoulders. He had indeed changed his clothes. Gone was the orange jacket. He only wore the blue shirt underneath, the necklace Tsunade had given him clearly visible around his neck. And gone were the orange leggings, replaced by a baggy pair of pants colored a deep iris; to help keep them up he'd tied an assortment of crisscrossing red belts to his legs; a kunai holder had been tied to his right thigh. His hair had been pulled back into a small ponytail while a few renegade strands hang in his whiskered face. On his hands were a pair of fingerless gloves in the same fashion as Kakashi.

"I died when Sasuke died…so it's only fitting I dress this body in something different," was the answer.

Kakashi nodded. That was acceptable. He looked at Crowa, noticing how the hybrid abandoned a shirt altogether and only wore a black vest over his torso, which matched the black ankle-high shorts, a kunai holder strapped to his left thigh. A scarlet-colored headscarf had covered his fiery orange hair, with wild tufts shooting from underneath and his ears poking through holes cut into the top.

"And you…?"

"My previous clothes restricted movement," replied the hybrid. "Not mention my hair was all over. That could get me killed out in the field."

Kakashi stared. Yeah, that much was true, with is way he kept his styled up and to the back. It's one thing to die fighting bravely and another to be done in because your hair caught a case of the dumb.

"How much longer are we gonna have to wait for Sakura?" asked Naruto, voicing his annoyance for the first time. He was ready to go, ready to find that rat bastard and bring him in. "I mean, shit, I can understand you being late but she's usually so punctual—"

"Wait—wait, I'm here!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Crowa glanced over their shoulders, each with their eyes widening at the sight of their kunoichi emerging through the trees.

It was evidently clear that all three members of cell 7 had come to some sort of unspoken yet unanimous conclusion, the same life-altering decision.

Sakura had completely foregone her infamous pink dress with the biker shorts underneath. Bandages covered her chest, an idea taken from the few samurai that existed in other lands, while her mid-section remained bare. Instead of biker shorts, she wore a pair of dull pink hakama bottoms that tilted sideways off her hips revealing the line of her underwear. Was that on purpose? Kakashi couldn't figure it out. Her hair remained the same yet it was her eyes, those deep pools of green that had changed, had hardened. She still wore zori and, shockingly, her nails were bare, untouched by any kind of paint. But perhaps the most shocking was the anbu-like sword that she had tied to her hip. Kakashi knew it wasn't a real anbu sword—she'd have been apprehended just for touching one—it was more the fact that she carried it. Why? She had no practice in the art of swordplay so…?

"Sorry, sorry—just had to make a little stop at Tenten's house," she informed, taking her place in line on Crowa's other side. She looked down the line of her teammates, bypassing their ogling eyes and dropped jaws. "So…are we ready?"

I can see her panties, thought Sasuke with more lechery than he knew he possessed.

Join the club, Naruto thought back.

Now Kakashi had to wonder if this mission would remain a B-ranked or deteriorate into a D-rank? Each one of his charges had changed into totally different personas, literally overnight. Looking at them, Kakashi felt a certain piece of himself swell with pride. So young…yet so ready. He didn't even feel it proper to be reading his book and promptly put it away.

"Alright. Questions. Naruto, why the belts?"

"To keep my pants up. Duh. They're made from a special fabric I found at the valley of the end, after my fight with Sasuke. It's spun by a special bug yet weighs more than forty kilograms*." And despite the weight, Naruto easily lifted a leg into the air, rotating it twice, before standing straight. "If you're worried I'll be a detriment because of it, don't be. I've been practicing with these for the past sixty days."

The look of awe that showed itself in Kakashi's eye was not spread to Crowa nor Sakura. It made the copy-nin wonder…did they already know of this?

Sakura was clapping. "Yeah! I was beginning to think you'd given up on those!"

Naruto allowed himself a modest smirk. "Like hell. Train, train, train, that's all I did." He looked to his sensei. "Does that answer all your questions, Kaka-sensei?"

"All except one," and Kakashi turned to Sakura. At first, when he opened his mouth, he had an idea of what he wanted to say—of the words of caution he wanted to convey to her—but when it came time to speak…the words failed him as he once again stared into her eyes.

Nothing but determination and resolve stared back.

He smiled. "Never mind."

Naruto grinned. "That's what we thought. Let's get going, okay? Mizuki's got an ass that's just waitin' for my foot."

VVVVVVVVVVV

Cell 7 stood less than fifty meters from the village gates when a sudden shout caused them all to look back. There was a well-known purple-haired kunoichi running towards them in usual attire, slowing to walk as she neared, then finally stopping in front of Naruto, hands playfully behind her back.

Naruto instantly dropped into a fighting stance, legs crouched, one fist out with the other pulled back. The last words she had spoken to him were still very fresh in his mind so words were wasted.

He knew what she wanted to do but he wouldn't beg, he wouldn't make offers, and he damn sure wouldn't go down without a fight.

Anko smiled, pushing as much sincerity and kindness as humanly possible into it. "Is this any way to greet the person who just baked you the most delicious piece of apple pie?"

And not only was Naruto stunned, but everyone behind him when Anko brought her arms around, showing them the slice of smoking pastry.

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you," came Crowa. His face was indifferent as he stared at Anko who continued to smile. "Regardless of the fact that she tried to kill us less than forty-eight hours ago, she's probably put poison in it. That's what anyone with a brain would assume."

"I agree," said Sasuke.

Sakura's eyes bugged. "What? She—you tried to kill them?"

Anko turned to Sakura, eyeing her up and down. "Your claim is too meager. Had I tried to kill them they wouldn't be here right now. I tried to dissuade them. Nice change of clothes, by the way. I was getting pretty sick of that ugly dress."

"I didn't change for your approval!" yelled Sakura hotly.

"You should have, mine's the only one that matters," laughed the special jonin. She turned back to Naruto, extending the plate towards him. "C'mon, kitty, you know you want it," she almost purred. "It's even got a little piece of me inside of it to make it extra special."

Now Crowa stepped up to Naruto's side. "That could mean so many things. Which did you bake into that cake, lady Snake: fingernails, toenails, hair, or bodily fluids?"

"So suspicious," giggled Anko. She was practically bouncing on her heels. "I mean, would I really stoop so low as to piss in the food of someone who disagreed with me?"

In unison, Naruto, Sasuke, Crowa, Sakura, and Kakashi all echoed, "Yes."

Anko thought for a second, then laughed. "You're right, I would. Not this time though. This time, I only want to wish you good luck on your mission." Her eyes grew soft; it confused Naruto. "I know what Mizuki tricked you into doing, Naruto, all the pain he caused….I know this is going to be more of a personal vendetta than an actual mission so to help…I want to keep you full. Our differences aside, it's what we do…as fellow ninja of leaf."

Relaxing his stance, Naruto nodded, took the pie, and—"Naruto! DON'T!"—downed it in one bite, licking the flakes from his lips as he stared her full in the face.

"Somewhere in your little speech there is a pack of lies, but I can't pinpoint where." Naruto smirked. "One thing you ain't lyin' about is this pie. Friggin' tasty."

Anko smiled so wide that her eyes closed. "So glad you enjoyed it, kitty."

Figuring kitty was a nickname, Naruto accepted it and, ignoring Sakura who was fussing, turned to lead his squad through the gates.

"Are you, like…okay?" asked Sasuke, staring at the blonde like he might suddenly collapse.

"Yeah, feel good," answered Naruto staring over his shoulder at Anko who remained where she was waving. "Hey, Anko, you should know that if you are trying to kill me, going through my stomach is likely to fail as I can digest almost any kind of poison no matter how strong." He flicked her a thumbs up. "Just a little heads up."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Come back safe now, all of you."

Eyeing her wearily, Kakashi nodded. "We'll make sure we do."

Continuing to wave even after the cell had vanished from sight, Anko slowly lowered her arm, her friendly smile turning sinister. Of course she knew there was no point to poisoning Naruto—the fox within him could easily nullify such trickery. No, what she'd done was something a bit more intricate, literally placing a little piece of herself within him.

"Let's see how well this turns out, shall we? Stay strong, Naruto…because I'm about to put you through the ringer. Call a sort of…initiation, if you will."

Giggling madly, she spun on her heels and began the long trek back to her home, her head filled with nothing but thoughts of sweet dango.

VVVVVVVVVVVVV

*40 kg= 88.2 pounds rounded

A/N 3: I recently read a fanfic called My Little Dashie. Honestly, I've never read another fic that's come close to making me feel like that one has—and I've read a lot of fics. I actually cried, had tears running down my face so hard I got a headache. It was the first time I'd cried reading something so here's my congratulations. Fucking awesome. Takes a lot to make me bawl like a little bitch but, well, there it is. Ha.