The sound of a call chime from his front door broke Kakashi's stupor, dragging him back to the world of the living. Briefly, he considered just ignoring whoever was out there, and hoping that they'd lose interest and leave him in peace. Unfortunately, whoever it was would have no reason to think he wasn't home, and if anyone was even bothering to come see him they weren't likely to just give up. His unused joints popped in protest as he rose from his sofa with a groan and headed to the door.

It'd been three days since Asuma Sarutobi had made his way to the bridge of the Konoha and made the announcement that would change everything. Since that fateful morning, Kakashi had returned to his quarters and not left. It was early evening, but he scarcely noticed; All of his windowscreens had been dimmed for days, cloaking the entire suite with a melancholy orange light. Though his quarters were still fairly neat and tidy, small signs of non-maintenance were beginning to pile up; a discarded pile of papers left in a corner of the living room, a dirty dish towel forgotten to soak forlornly in the kitchen sink, and more.

Kakashi himself had been floating through life in a daze, since being relieved of command. There were deep shadows under his eyes, and he could feel a scruff of a beard beginning to push at his mask, making him itch. He hadn't even made his way to his bedchamber to sleep the last few nights, instead simply passing out on the living room couch when his body simply couldn't stay awake any longer.

Every day, he fought the yawning blackness that threatened to consume him; and every day, he fought with a bit less conviction than he had the day before.

In spite of his half-hearted complaints about the rigors of command, and the generally apathetic persona he tended to display to the public of the Konoha, serving the people of the station had been his life. No matter how much he blustered about not wanting to be a "prodigy", there was no denying that this life was what he was meant to do, and he was damn good at it.

In one fell swoop, Sarutobi had taken that from him- but he wasn't really to blame, at the end of the day. Kakashi had made this bed for himself, and now he was finally being forced to sleep in it. He'd been stupid and prideful, thinking that he could resolve the matter of Hinata's disappearance without needing his most trusted commanders to know. Even as the investigation had progressed, and it became more clear that the situation was more dire than anyone had possibly imagined when Naruto had first barged into his office, he'd stubbornly clung to his plan, so certain that his trust in Sasuke had been properly placed.

He'd gambled everything on his plan, his so-called "brilliance". And he'd lost the bet.

Slowly working a kink out of his neck as he stepped into the kitchen, he paused in the act of reaching for the door catch and looked around. All of the small reminders of his inertness over the last few days seemed to glow with harsh, accusatory red light, but he couldn't bring himself to even make a cursory attempt to hide them. Instead, he pressed the slowly flashing button next to the door.

"Good afternoon, honey. I wasn't even expecting you to answer, if I'm being totally honest."

Kakashi blinked. The list of people he'd expected to actually come out of their way to seek him out had been short to begin with, and he hadn't even thought to place Anko on it. And yet, here she was, standing in his doorway.

Her purple hair was loose from its usual carefully styled top-knot, instead being pulled messily into a ponytail at the base of her neck. Her pale brown eyes, usually sparkling with mirth, were unusually somber as she gestured with her head over his shoulder, into the apartment. Her mouth curved into a half-smile.

"It's a bit rude to let someone just linger in the hallway. Are you going to invite me in?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to refuse, ready to explain that his quarters were unsightly, and he personally was not in the proper state of mind for company of any kind. But his excuses died in the back of his throat. Anything he tried to say to talk his way out of it, Anko would see straight through.

And besides… He'd be lying to himself if he said that some actual human contact wouldn't feel a bit nice right now.

Closing his mouth and licking his dry lips, he nodded and stepped to one side, allowing her to enter. Her perceptive eyes flicked around the kitchen, noting the various signs of disarray, but she said nothing as her thoughtful gaze took everything in. Instead, she simply breezed through the small space to come to a seat on his couch. Numbly, he followed, allowing himself to be led to his living room like a toddler.

Once they'd both sat down, there was silence. Kakashi hadn't uttered a word in days, and it practically felt like he'd forgotten how. Meanwhile, Anko simply studied him, her eyes betraying a hint of tired sadness, and it was all he could do to not grab her by the shoulders and scream, to stop her looking at him like some destitute antique, like one of her damned experiments that had failed testing.

Finally, blissfully, his visitor broke the silence. "It's all over the ship, you know. Once the cat was out of the bag, Naruto requested an audience with the command team to explain everything. How he'd come to you the day he found out that she was missing, how the two of you had formed a plan to try to find her. He's fiercely loyal to you, you know." She sighed. "Captain Uchiha ordered him off-duty, to allow him time to emotionally process the stress of what was happening. Luckily he wasn't interested in laying blame."

Throughout her entire explanation, Kakashi felt the tiniest spark of hope ignite in his belly, pushing against the darkness. Either Sasuke had got to Naruto before anything official had occurred, or Naruto had had the sense to conceal Sasuke's involvement in the entire plot. Either way, it meant that Asuma's plot hadn't succeeded entirely, and Sasuke was still staying several steps ahead of whatever investigation would be carried out into Hinata's whereabouts.

It's probably for the best, anyway. Sasuke is going to be better at this job than I ever could have hoped to be.

That spark of hope wouldn't lift him out of the pit he found himself in, but having a tiny source of light would at least make things a bit more bearable.

Swallowing thickly, Kakashi fixed Anko with as light an expression as he could possibly muster. "Thank you for coming to tell me. Is that why you're here?" His voice cracked with disuse as he spoke, and he had to physically stop speaking halfway through his thought, moistening his lips and swallowing a second time.

Then, to his utter surprise, Anko let out a bark of laughter at his question. The sound was so unexpected, so loud in the dead quiet of his empty suite, that he jumped slightly in spite of himself.

"No, you idiot… I came to see you, to make sure you're okay. No one has heard a word from you for days, you ignore every communication that's sent to you. Everyone is worried sick: Inoichi, Might, even old Fugaku can't totally hide his anxiety. I'm- we're all worried about you." Even in his current state, Kakashi caught the way her tone changed ever so slightly during the last few words.

Anko's half-smile fell from her face as she fell silent again, as though expecting a response. Once it became clear she wasn't getting one, she sighed deeply.

"There's no beating around the bush with you, is there? Kakashi… why do you find it so impossible, so difficult to accept, that someone could possibly care about you? Could possibly… have feelings for you?"

There it was. For years, the issue had been hanging between them like a shared heart, always shrouded by the veil of Anko's humorous and inappropriate advances, and his own awkward dodges of the same.

But now it was finally out in the open. No theatrics, no innuendo. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Kakashi let her words sink in, for what felt like a very long time.

Could he tell her the truth? Could he finally loosen the grip he'd held on his heart like a vice, clutching it deep within himself, never to be seen? Just once, could he let someone in?

The deposed Commanding Officer of the Konoha drew a deep, ragged breath.

"Because of my father."

Anko's brows knitted together in confusion, but she said nothing, just looked at him expectantly. Dragging himself forward, every word feeling like it was being passed through a stone crusher, Kakashi finally let his walls break.

"My father was an honorable man, and a kind man. The type of man who put duty before anything else, but would still give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it. When I was growing up, he was the kind of man that I knew I wanted to be.

"When he first met my mother- I mean, I can't say for certain, but I imagine it had to be love at first sight. It had to be, for someone as pragmatic and measured as Sakumo Hatake to court a woman so deeply, and so quickly. As near as I can tell, they were hardly together a ship's year before my father announced that they were expecting their first child.

"I was a difficult birth, from what the medical records say. But throughout it all, through the long hours of labor, my father never left my mother's side. He was with her the entire time.

"We were the picture of a model family: A highly-placed, well-respected naval officer, his fiercely intelligent and independent wife, and their beautiful infant son. Practically something out of a novel.

"Then it all disappeared. Just over a year after I was born, my mother vanished. I don't even remember what she looked like, and I've never seen a picture, because my father never kept any in our quarters. Once I finally grew up enough to understand the absence, and to wonder what had happened, I tried to ask my father.

"He tried to put up a strong front, telling me that my mother had simply 'Had a change of heart', that it was a terribly sad event, but something we should put behind us. Even back then, at seven years old, I don't think I really believed him. How could a mother just change her mind about her son? I thought.

"I'll never forget the look in his eyes when I asked him- I'll never forget that I was capable of putting such a strong man through such intense pain. Even though I know it's not true, there's always been that tiny voice in my head, whispering that if I had never asked, if I had never forced him to relieve the pain of whatever had happened, that things would have played out differently.

"We lived alone, just the two of us, for seven more years. Father never showed an interest in another woman, began distancing himself from his old friends. He spent longer at work, coming home to me later every day.

"Then, when I was fourteen, I came home from school to find him lying in his bathtub, motionless. He didn't respond to me shaking him, saying his name, screaming at him to get up. The toxicology report showed an unknown narcotic in his bloodstream, several times the dosage of even the strongest opioid used by the medical cell.

"There was a note on the floor next to him. I never told the investigators that there was a note, never shared its contents with a soul. As soon as I'd read it, I burned it immediately. Every word is etched into my brain.

"In the note, he told me that not long after I'd been born, my mother had flown into a rage at him. She said that she didn't feel the love for him that he felt for her, claimed that the only reason she'd stayed with him at all was because a separation scandal from such a high-ranking officer would make her a pariah. She hadn't wanted a child, he'd been so insistent that she'd been forced to go along.

"Finally, one day she'd had enough, and absconded to Sector 6. As far as I know, my father never went looking for her. Neither did I. If she didn't want to be found, there was no point looking down there; if there's one thing Sector 6 is good for, it's losing people and things for good."

The silence in the cabin had turned brittle and cold. Anko's face was a mask of horrified confusion, faint traces of tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Kakashi turned his dull black eyes to her face, staring directly into her own pale brown orbs.

"I spent the first fourteen years of my life trying to be my father. And my father lost everything, because he allowed himself to love when it wasn't right. I swore to myself, that day, that I would never allow myself to stray down that path. I built myself walls, and promised on my father's name that they would never come down."

Anko swallowed, reaching up to pat the corners of her eyes dry. Tentatively, she reached out and touched his right shoulder.

"Kakashi… It looks to me like those walls are already gone."

That was all it took. With a final, thundering crash, the last vestige of control he had crumbled, and he collapsed onto her shoulder. His breath came in shuddering gasps as he attempted, then failed, to hold back tears.

He sobbed and sobbed, until it felt as though every ounce of water in his body had drained, then mercifully passed out.

The first thing he was aware of when he woke was his coated tongue. The muscular organ felt thick and sticky in his mouth. Cracking open his eyes, he saw that he was lying down on his couch. A tan blanket had been pulled up over his legs, the edge resting just below his ribcage.

The events that had transpired before he lost consciousness rose to the surface of his mind. His breath hitched in his throat, but no tears came this time. His head pounded; proper hydration hadn't been much of a priority over the last few days, and the way he'd lost control had apparently been the final straw.

Slowly pushing himself upward into a seated position, he became aware of the sound of activity from his left. Blinking blearily, he rose from the couch and headed toward the kitchen, rubbing the back of his sore head.

Anko was busily wiping down the inside of his kitchen sink. He let his gaze track over the room, stunned; it was spotless.

"Anko…" he couldn't manage any more than a whisper. She turned to look at him, and even though the sadness was clear in her eyes, she smiled.

"I'm just about finished up here. Go back and sit, I'll be in shortly." Kakashi felt his legs carry him back to the sofa, not truly processing what he was doing. Sitting down, he stared at the steel wall in front of him, his mouth hanging just barely open beneath his mask.

He'd told her. He'd opened the locked box he kept deep within himself, and let out his one devastating secret.

A rustling sound announced Anko's return from the kitchen. Placing a steaming mug on the coffee table in front of him, she settled down on the couch cushion right next to his, stirring her own tea with a small steel stir stick. Looking down at the cup as though it was the first thing he was really processing as being real, he blinked several times before reaching out and cupping it with both hands.

"Thank you."

Anko nodded, sipping from her own mug. With a satisfied nod, she cradled her tea in front of her chest. Kakashi reached for his mask, paused, then carelessly ripped it off to take a drink. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Anko's eyes widen fractionally, but he couldn't bring himself to care. She'd seen beneath his most private mask, so keeping his face hidden suddenly felt silly.

"Kakashi."

Her voice was soft, and achingly kind. Just the sound of it nearly broke him all over again.

"Look…" She set her mug down on the faux wood coffee table and took a deep breath. "I know you're not looking for sympathy, but know that I am sorry for what happened to you. I am so sorry." She reached out and grasped his left hand with her right. Kakashi's muscles felt like rubber, and he made no move to stop her.

"Kakashi… I can't claim to know your father, or your mother. But I know that you are not your father, and even if you were, I am not your mother. For years now, I've been chasing after you, and it's not because I see you as a fling, or as some challenge for myself. I've been doing it because I love you.

"What happened between your parents was horrible, make no mistake. But you can't let it stop you from ever loving someone."

Kakashi turned his head and stared into Anko's eyes. He suddenly felt very acutely aware that everything he was, his past, his future, balanced on this moment.

He spoke, and the last piece of the puzzle that was Kakashi Hatake clicked into place.

"What if I'm not my father… What if I'm my mother?"

Without a word, Anko grabbed him with both arms and pulled him into a hug. There were tears flowing down her face now, but she made no effort to hide them or wipe them away.

She gripped him tightly for several seconds before pulling back and looking directly into his eyes. One hand traced his uncovered chin, her eyes shining with tears.

"We can't know what the future will bring. Maybe we aren't meant to be, maybe you won't feel the same way about me that I do about you. And if that's the case, we go our separate ways, and maybe we're able to stay friends, maybe we aren't. All love is a risk, Kakashi.

"But don't we owe it to ourselves to try?"

Kakahi stared into those dull brown eyes, feeling a dull wonder seeping into his mind. This woman had come to him, found him at his very lowest. She'd heard the worst that he had to offer, had understood his fears, and was still willing to love him.

All at once, a flame roared to life in his core, lighting the darkness in his soul, banishing it. He smashed his lips into Anko's, and she parted them ever so slightly to allow him in.

Naruto sat at his kitchen table, his hands folded in front of him. Across the table sat Hiwamari, her short purple hair expertly pulled into its usual modest updo. Neither of them spoke, as Naruto occasionally glanced at the suite door. Finally, Hiwamari sighed.

"Dad… I don't think he's coming."

Naruto closed his eyes and felt his head slump forward.

"I… I know. I just hoped that he would give me a chance to explain myself."

"Dad, he's hurting, and I don't blame him. You know how much like you he is. It's going to take him a lot longer to find it in him to be forgiving."

Naruto sighed.

"Well, what about you? Are you ready to hear what I have to say?"

For a moment, Hiwamari was silent. Her blue eyes stared at the tabletop for a few seconds, and Naruto could almost see her thoughts flashing behind them.

"You lied to both of us, about the most important person in the three of our lives. That's not going to go away any time soon… But I know that however misguided your motivations might have been, you were only trying to protect the two of us from the truth. You've got a big heart, dad, and sometimes it's too big for your own good, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. So yes, I'm ready to listen."

Naruto's shoulders sagged in relief, and he felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

What did I do to deserve kids like this?

The blonde man took a deep breath, opened his mouth-

Then the front door chimed.

Father and daughter both looked at the door, their faces perfectly matched expressions of annoyance. Then they saw each other's faces out of the corners of their eyes, and neither could help the laughter that ensued, in spite of everything else. Hiwamari might take after her mother, but there was no denying the fact that she was still very much Naruto's daughter.

"Sorry, honey… I'll keep it short, and get rid of whoever it is quickly." Rising from his seat, Naruto keyed the door open, and was mildly surprised to see Kiba Inuzuka standing on the other side.

"Kiba? Umm… What brings you here?"

The brunette flashed his wide smile, then rearranged his face into a slightly more neutral expression. "Well Naruto, to be honest, we've been missing you a lot at the office… I just wanted to drop by and see how things were doing, make sure you were okay."

Naruto felt a lump catch in his throat. Looking down, he saw that the other man held a small Spheres set in his hands, and the lump doubled in size.

Swallowing thickly, he wiped his lips with the back of his hands. "Kiba… I mean, I don't know what to say…"

His coworker reached out his fist and rapped him lightly on the upper arm. "Well, 'Come on in!' would definitely be a start!"

Naruto looked back into the room, shooting an uncertain glance at his daughter. A small frown creased her face, and his resolve hardened.

"Kiba, I'll tell you what… Come on in, make yourself at home in the living room. Hiwamari and I just have to go to my bedchamber and talk in private, but I'll gladly kick your ass once we're finished, how does that sound?" He shot a wink at his daughter, and was gratified to see her frown melt into a smile, her blue eyes flashing with gratitude.

"Oh yeah, sure thing, I understand- you guys both do whatever you need to do, I'm in no rush." Kiba waved a hand as he strolled into the suite, immediately making tracks for Naruto's comfortable recliner. Naruto rolled his eyes and chuckled before turning back to Hiwamari.

"Well… shall we?"

Nearly an hour later, Naruto and Kiba were seated on either side of the living room table, a game of Spheres laid out between them. Kiba was frowning in concentration, studying the small holographic orbs with the kind of intensity usually reserved for lion tamers and explosive disposal experts. Naruto turned to Hiwamari, who was seated on the couch beside him, and flashed her a thumbs-up. She offered him a small smile in return. Their talk hadn't erased everything that had happened- Naruto knew that he had much more work to do before that trust returned.

But it had been a start.

"How do you always do this? I don't understand it!" Kiba's outburst pulled him out of his melancholic thoughts.

Naruto chuckled. "Is that another forfeit I hear screaming through space toward us?"

Kiba grumbled something incoherent to himself before reaching out and pushing one of his spheres forward three spaces. His eyes narrowed, and he snuck a snide glance across the room at Hiwamari.

"So, Hiwamari, how have things been at the Academy? How are things with that guy I saw you taking a stroll with through Sector 5 the other day?"

Hiwamari's eyes widened at his words. Naruto's hand, which had been halfway through moving a sphere to the upper tier of the board, froze, before he turned to his daughter, his game piece forgotten halfway through his move. A wicked grin flashed across Kiba's face as he moved one of his spheres to capture his opponent's suddenly abandoned piece.

"That guy ?"

Hiwamari anxiously wiped her mouth with her hand. "I mean… I was going to mention it! I was just, y'know, looking for the right time…"

Naruto's incredulous look intensified. "Who is this guy? Do I know him? Who do I have to hunt down?"

"Dad! It's nothing like that, we're just talking! I just, um…" Hiwamari inhaled deeply, bracing herself: "He invited me for our first date tomorrow night, actually."

Kiba roared with laughter at Naruto's face, which had turned brick red. For a few moments, he struggled to speak through the parade of words that all rushed to his mouth and tried to fight each other to escape. The game of Spheres completely forgotten, he reached out a hand and aimlessly swiped one of his small orbs across the holographic space. Kiba pounced on the abandoned piece, then, sensing that he had caused enough distraction to secure victory, hastily moved to begin damage control.

"Oh, Naruto, did I tell you the latest from the Science division about Site III?"

Naruto stopped sputtering indignantly and his face began to even out in colour, but the look he shot at Hiwamari before he turned to his friend clearly indicated that this conversation was far from over. Hiwamari, blushing even redder than Naruto had been, hastily excused herself to the kitchen.

"When Shino came home yesterday, he told me that they've been running final approach checks, now that we're close enough for detailed atmosphere and terrain analysis. The latest readings put habitation possibility at 97.6%!"

Naruto raised his eyebrows and nodded approvingly. "That's excellent! We might be about to find a home!"

Kiba grinned. "Yeah, Sci-ops is working day and night to make sure everything is just right. Shino's exhausted when he gets home, but this is about as animated as I've ever seen him. You know how he is, when he's got a real project to sink his teeth into he's happy."

Naruto smiled and nodded. As he did, he casually reached out a hand, grasped one of the tiny green orbs between his index and middle finger, and casually slid it forward. "And, I believe that's game."

Kiba's eyes bulged out of his head. "I- what- how did-"

Naruto's face lit up in his trademark toothy grin. "One more?"

Several levels above, in the open park at the center of Sector 5, Boruto and Sarada were sharing a bench. The artificial sun beamed down from the videoscreen roof, bringing with it the vision of a pleasant spring day, but Boruto couldn't bring himself to enjoy it.

Sarada placed her hand on his shoulder. Her other hand fiddled absent-mindedly with the silver necklace her father had given her a few days prior. "Boruto… Are you sure you aren't going to go talk to him?"

The young blonde man sighed deeply and placed his face in his hands. "I just… I don't think I can. He lied to me, Sarada. He knew Mom was missing, that she might be in trouble, and he didn't even think Hiwamari and I were worth telling." He turned to look into her eyes, and Sarada's heart broke at the anguish swimming in those pools of blue.

She nodded once, reaching down to intertwine her fingers with his. "I understand. I know how much your mum means to you… I'm sure if my dad lied to me about something like this, I wouldn't know what to think."

Boruto leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder. For a moment, they sat in silence, watching the occasional passerby ambling through the park. A small group of young children ran past, shouting excitedly and chasing each other back and forth.

"Sarada… Thank you, for being here for me. And thank you for talking to your dad about Mom. I really don't know what I would do without you.

Boruto suddenly became aware that Sarada was staring at him intently. There was something stirring in her black eyes… something he couldn't readily identify. He opened his mouth to ask, and suddenly her lips had crashed clumsily into his.

His eyes widened slightly, then closed. Sarada leaned in closer, deepening the kiss-

Then Boruto pulled back, breathing heavily. Sarada froze, every nerve in her body suddenly feeling like she'd been thrown headfirst into a vat of ice water.

"Fuck, Boruto, I don't know why I did that! I'm sorry, I didn't mean-

"No, Sarada… Don't apologize. I…" Boruto swallowed with difficulty. "It's not… Look, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, or even that I didn't want it. I just… I don't think I'm ready for- that- right now. Not with everything else going on." His eyes were sad, but the corner of his mouth turned up into a slight smirk. "But, y'know… Don't wait too long before you try again, alright?"

Sarada returned his smile, taking one of his hands in both of hers. As they both turned to look back out across the park, Boruto shuffled his weight on the bench, moving himself closer to her, returning his head to Sarada's shoulder.

They stayed that way for hours, idly watching the goings-on of the park. And little by little, Boruto felt his mood lightening.

Anko rolled off Kakashi's body and laid on the bed next to him, letting out a deep, contented groan. Kakashi himself was lying limp against the sheets, panting, a thin sheen of sweat shining in the dim light of the bedchamber. For a moment, he just allowed himself to enjoy the feeling, lazily reaching out to stoke Anko's exposed stomach, a happy purr escaping from her lips. Then, he lifted himself up on one elbow and turned to face his lover.

"Listen, Anko, I-" She reached out and pressed two fingers against his lips.

"Shh, no talking now."

Kakashi gently took hold of her wrist and moved her fingers away. "I know, but I need to tell you something. If we're going to be… If this is going to work, I need to be completely honest with you." Anko levered herself up on her own elbows raising one eyebrow questioningly at his words.

"I need you to swear to me, that this stays between us. At least for now."

Anko nodded, a brief flicker of caution passing across her face, but it was quickly wiped away and replaced with resolve. Emboldened, Kakashi sat up in the bed.

"Sasuke Uchiha was involved in my plan, to find Hinata. Naruto hasn't told anyone, and it needs to stay that way. Sasuke is the Konoha's only chance, and right now, he's Hinata's only chance too."

Anko breathed in sharply. "So that day you came to see me-"

"Sasuke had already started trying to track down Hinata. He was in the Records Cell, trying to follow the trail of what she'd been looking for. Eventually, he tracked her to Sector 6, but the lead bottomed out at a group of maintenance crew led by a man named Nagato. Now, with everything going on-" He stopped, noticing Anko's face change at the mention of Nagato's name. "What is it? You know him?"

Anko pursed her lips, her eyes misting over slightly in thoughtfulness. "Something about that name… it's tugging at the corner of my mind. I'm almost certain I don't know who he is, but the name is familiar for some reason. Maybe something in the Science Cell…"

For a few moments, Anko appeared lost in thought. Then she shook her head and returned to the present, smiling and leaning over to rest her head on Kakashi's chest.

"When I go in to work tomorrow, I'll check for you. I know I've seen that name before, maybe I can help. Any information we can find is good information, at this point."

Kakashi beamed at her. He hardly dared to believe how drastically his outlook had changed since the morning; suddenly, the path ahead was not only clear, it was bright and sunny. Even if he never resumed command, even if his naval career was over… for the first time in over sixty years, he had someone to share his life with. He mattered to someone, and just maybe, that would be enough.

Reaching under the sheet toward Anko's legs, he let one of his fingers slowly trace its way down her thigh, looking cheekily up into her brown eyes. "Tomorrow is a long way away… What shall we do in the meantime?"

Anko's eyes took on a hint of the predatory gleam that he'd seen so many times, usually before he became the butt of one of her joking advances. However, this time there was no joke inbound, and the look sent a thrill coursing through his body.

"I'm sure we can come up with something…"