Ch 26
It took Kurenai and Naruto almost an hour to find Anko's other student. She was sitting about half-way up an oak tree, staring out at a park full of small children, all of whom were running about playing games with each other as their parents watched.
Tenten provided no clues that she had realized that she had company, so the new arrivals just stood under her, also watching the children play.
Considering what the young genin had on her mind right then, it really isn't that surprising that she wouldn't be paying much attention to her surroundings. She was too busy trying to wrap her head around the fact that her sensei, the woman who had taken her under her wing, trained her, and gave her shelter in her time of need also tortured people.
Intellectually, she understood that what Anko did wasn't hard core torture. She knew that Anko didn't beat people, that she didn't use violence to get information out of Konoha's captured enemies. No, the part she was having trouble with was the emotional part. All her life she had been taught that people who torture others were bad people, no exceptions. If you tortured other people, you were a bad person.
She didn't think Anko was a bad person though. Bad people don't offer you to stay in their home…..do they?
"Is it possible to do bad things…..and yet still be a good person?" Kurenai heard from above.
Tenten, having not realized that she had spoken her question out loud, almost fell out of her tree when she heard Kurenai speak.
"Yes. Every ninja in this village has done something in their lives that others see as 'bad,' but that doesn't make them bad people. I've done things that some people call bad, Anko has done things that people call bad, even the Hokage has done things that people see as being bad. What really matters though is why you do it, and how you feel about it. If you do bad things simply because you can, or if you do bad things and feel good about it afterwards, then you are probably a bad person.
Try to think about it like this. If Naruto were injured, and you were defending him, and you killed an enemy doing so, does that make you a bad person? You did just kill someone, after all."
Tenten thought about it for a while, and quietly answered, "No, I don't think that would make me a bad person."
"Why is that?" Kurenai responded.
"Because it wasn't my intention to…..to kill them."
"That's good. You have to remember that it is not only our actions that define what kind of people we are. The intentions behind the actions must also be taken into consideration."
Naruto was quiet during the whole interaction, having come to realize that Kurenai was far better equipped to help Tenten deal with all the things that had happened recently than he was. It was a strange feeling for him, seeing someone that needed help, but being unable to do anything about it.
Tenten soon slid out of the tree, and landed in front of Kurenai. "You think Anko-sensei is a good person right?"
"Yes, Tenten, I think Anko is a good person."
"Naruto?"
Naruto just nodded, before adding, "I mean, yeah, she does bad things, but she doesn't seem to like it, and she only does it to bad people so that she can keep us safe."
"Have you reached a decision then, Tenten?" Kurenai asked softly, "It's ok if you need more time."
"I don't want to be alone anymore," Tenten replied, so quiet that Naruto and Kurenai barely heard her, even though they were standing within arms reach of one another.
Kurenai smiled, "Alright then, let's get back to the apartment; I'm sure Anko is going nuts waiting to hear your decisions."
Xxxxxxxxxx
Anko was nervous. Well, that's a lie. She was all kinds of things. She had told her genin things that would either forge their bond into something nigh indestructible, or forever shatter it into nothing.
Kurenai had sat with her for a couple hours after the genin left to digest the information, and her presence helped a lot. Still, she had become rather attached to her genin, and it would tear her apart if they left her.
She wasn't used to dealing with these kinds of emotions; give her hate, scorn, anger, or anything like that and she knew how to deal with them. Fear wasn't difficult for her to deal with either. The nervousness, though, that was something else. And the anxiety. And worry. Would they accept her? Would they hate her? If they did accept her, to what extent would the acceptance be? Could she still be their sensei? Would they still want her as their sensei?
The conflicting thoughts and emotions were just about to make her explode when Kurenai returned from looking for the genin. She swung her puffy, blood-shot eyes over to the door just in time to see the female jounin walk in, and step to the side, revealing two rather somber genin.
"Hey," Anko called out, while managing a partial smile. "How are you two holding up?"
Naruto looked at his teacher, and gave a weak smile of his own. "We're holding." Tenten then looked at Anko, and the Tokujo could see the myriad of emotions in both of their faces. She let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding when she didn't find hate and revulsion in their expressions.
"Have…have you reached a decision then?" she asked slowly, almost dreading the results.
Tenten nodded her head a little stiffly, and Naruto quietly added, "We're home, sensei."
Relief hit Anko with an almost tangible force, knocking the wind right out of her. Kurenai just crossed her arms while leaning against the wall with a smile on her face while the genin rushed over to check on their teacher.
"You ok sensei?"
Despite the tears flowing freely down her face, Anko smiled, and replied, "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."
Xxxxxxxxxx
It took the better part of a half hour before the genin were convinced that their sensei was alright, and to get everyone calmed down enough to move on to the next order of business.
"Alright, it's been a long day, but before you go off to bed, there is one more thing that I need to tell you," Anko said to the genin. "In order for me to let you two stay here for however long you want to, I have to become your legal guardian. What that means is that I would be responsible for you. If one of you had some kind of form to fill out with a 'parent' section, for example, it would be filled in by me. Really, though, no problems should come up since you're both genin, and practically considered adults anyway."
"Who is our legal guardian now?" Tenten asked.
"Err…..I honestly don't know," Anko replied, while turning to her lover, "Nai-chan?"
"I'm not completely sure either," the red-eyed woman replied, "but my best guess is either the Head of the Academy, or that they are wards of the village, and I'm not sure who is in charge of them then."
"Why would they be in the charge of the academy Head?"
"Like I said, it's just a guess. I mentioned it though because orphans in the academy are technically either wards of the Head or of whatever orphanage they're in, and it usually takes a while for them to be officially passed along once they graduate or move out."
"Huh. I'll just ask Hokage-sama about it tomorrow. Anyway, what do you two think?" Anko asked, turning back to her genin.
"Would that make you like our mom?" Naruto asked, clearly confused, and a little hesitant.
Anko promptly shook her head. "No. I know that both of you don't know a whole lot about your mothers, but I am certainly not going to try and take their place. I would be in charge of you in a legal sense only, really. I'm not going to try and control what you do or where you go, but there will be some basic rules that we can work out later. Any other questions?"
The genin shook their heads 'no.'
"Alright then, rules. I'm not your mom, as we just established. Therefore, I'm not going to follow around behind you picking up your shit. You make a mess, you clean it up. I'm not going to do your laundry either. If you don't know how I'll show you, but after that you're on your own. Also, don't come barging in to my room unless there is a real emergency, and by that I mean things like we're being invaded by Iwa or the apartment is on fire or something like that. You will be extended the same courtesy." Anko then turned to Kurenai, "Anything you want to add?"
"Yes, actually. While we certainly don't expect you to contribute much, you will both have to give some money for food. We can work out an amount later. Also, I'm not sure if this will affect either of you, but no jutsu practice in here. There just isn't enough room. Other than that, basic common sense stuff really. Have you both been keyed into the door?"
Naruto nodded, and Tenten shook her head.
"Ok. We'll get you keyed into the door in a minute Tenten. Oh, before I forget, I'm sure Anko mentioned it already, but we're rather private about where this apartment is. By that I don't mean that you'll never be able to bring people over, just that you ask one of us before you do, and that you don't randomly shout out about it. Also, it would probably be best if you don't mention my relationship with Anko. It will lead to a lot less awkward situations that way, and it isn't any of their business."
Anko picked up at that point. "Ok, if that's it, then I would like for you two," she said, looking at the genin, "to either keep working on that lock or to go over some of those situations I gave you the other day for at least a little while before you turn in tonight, ok?"
Xxxxxxxxxx
The next day found four rather groggy people before the old Hokage. They all knew that they didn't have to be there that early, but as none of them really slept that night, they decided to just get it over with.
"Well?" Sarutobi asked Anko, "Have they decided?"
Anko nodded, "Yeah, they would like to stay with me and Kurenai."
Sarutobi looked at the two genin, who nodded back to the old man; each of them too tired and too strung out emotionally to form a verbal response.
"Alright then," he continued, pulling two forms out of his desk. He gave both of them to Anko, and she signed them. He then extended one to each of the genin. "Once you sign this, Anko will become your legal guardian. Do either of you have any questions?"
The genin shook their heads, and each of them signed the document presented to them. Sarutobi took them back and looked them over once more to be sure there were no errors, and was just about to say something to the two youngsters on the other side of his desk when he realized that both of them had fallen asleep in the chairs they were sitting in.
He chuckled at the scene, and looked over to Anko, who was barely still conscious herself, and Kurenai, who at least had the decency to look awake, even though the old man knew she was probably just as tired as the rest of them. he gave a meaningful look at Kurenai, and the young jounin lightly tapped a point in her lovers neck, and the purple-haired Tokujo joined her genin in unconsciousness.
Once Sarutobi was convinced that he and Kurenai were the only ones awake, he spoke. "I'm sure you're probably wondering why I had you knock Anko out, but I assure you, my reason is appropriate. It has to do with that apartment you mentioned to me a couple weeks ago." Kurenai's eyes widened. She had made an off-hand remark about looking for another apartment, but hadn't expected anything to come of it. "Oh, good. You weren't expecting anything. It just so happens that a rather spacious four-bedroom unit has come available, and I thought you might be interested in viewing the property."
It took a moment for the information to filter through, but once it did, the jounin could barely speak. "I….I'm flattered, really. It was just an off-hand remark….i certainly wasn't expecting this!"
The old Hokage just smiled, and handed her a brochure. "This is the property; I'm sure you will find it up to your specifications."
Upon seeing the brochure, Kurenai was completely floored. She and Anko had looked at it previously, but had determined that it was far outside their price range. "How….? We looked at this one before, but it's too expensive. With both of us teaching genin right now we just don't bring in enough to cover it," Kurenai reluctantly admitted, as she set the brochure back down on the desk.
Sarutobi picked it up, and began tapping it on the desk, where it made an odd rattling thunk every time it hit the surface. "Did you look through the entire brochure? The market status of this property has recently changed," he said, as he handed the information back to the woman.
Kurenai gingerly took it back, and this time opened it all the way, allowing some keys to fall into her lap. She picked them up and smiled wistfully at her superior. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, a tour won't change the fact that we can't afford it."
"What do you mean? How could you not afford a property that is already yours?"
Seeing the red-eyed woman's blank look, he pulled yet another form out of his desk, and handed it to the stunned woman. "That is the deed for the apartment, registered to Special Jounin Mitarashi Anko and Jounin Yuuhi Kurenai. It is also the registered address of Genin Uzumaki Naruto and his friend Tenten."
The room was silent for a full ten minutes as Kurenai tried to wrap her head around what she had just been given. The apartment was closer in size to a house, and in a much higher-end area of the village than their current one. Had Kurenai and Anko still been on regular missions it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch for them to have gotten it, but seeing as being a jounin sensei only payed as a high B-rank, it just wasn't enough.
"I…. we can't accept this. It's just too much," the woman eventually managed to stammer out. "Surely we don't deserve something like this….?"
Sarutobi stared at his lap for a moment, and then fixed Kurenai with a look that completely blew away every shred of mental stability she had left. It was the look of someone who had done what they felt was right, tried their best, and still came up short. Kurenai even noticed a lone tear make its way down the wizened old face. "You, Anko, and Tenten have done something that I have failed repeatedly at. You made Naruto happy, and for that no thanks is enough. You have given him knowledge, friendship, a home, and a place to belong. That is worth far more than it seems, and if the best way for me to pay back that debt is with a building, then it is surely a small price to pay."
AN: the emotional parts are almost over, i promise. chunin exams are coming soon, as is sarutobi's talk with sasuke. how well do you see that going over? also, it means that you will get to meet some OC's. yes, i am just about to the point where i will have to make some original people. *crosses fingers* i really hope i can make them believable.