I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/ NARUTO SHIPPUDEN
Chapter 14
"You ready for the second test?" Without waiting for a response, she pumped her fist into the air. "Good! Let's go follow me!"
Dead silence, no one could honestly believe what they were seeing. This scantily dressed lady had just crashed through the window, spouting about the next exam.
A disgruntled Ibiki peered around the banner. "Your early, again." With that, all of Anko's gusto ran away, quite embarrassed, she turned to face the Genin again.
"How many are there? Ibiki, you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy; you must be getting soft."
Ibiki smirked. "Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year. Also, if some brat hadn't told anyone the point of the test, there'd be less of them." That piqued Anko's interest.
"Which one was that?"
"The one who is currently hiding in fear," he stated bluntly, pointing to the tuft of blond hair. "I don't know what you did to him; he knew you were coming and hid."
She looked where he was pointing; she knew that colour of hair anywhere. 'So he's here too.' She thought. "Doesn't matter." She dismissed him emotionlessly. Naruto heard he knew they were talking about him, the way she spoke made him clench his stomach. Her words felt like she was driving a knife through his chest.
Ibiki frowned; she acted the same way she had just before she was forced into time off. He didn't think that the kid would do anything terrible to Anko; maybe she had done something to him? He would ask her.
He looked at Anko like a little sister; she took to T&I better than anyone before her. They had worked together for years, making sure that she didn't fall back into the funk she did before was something he had to do. If it was that Naruto had done something to her, he didn't care how the Hokage thought of the boy, Naruto would regret it.
"Anyways, they don't look any tougher. Trust me, when I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated, some dead."
"More than half? Really?" Sakura called out. The seeming crazed lady suddenly began to scare her.
Anko ignored her; their fear was thrilling. "This is gonna be fun." She muttered underneath her breath. She turned her gaze up from the floor. "Alright, you maggots have had it easy so far, but things are going to be different starting first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where to meet me." No one moved, continuing to stare at the woman.
"Dismissed." she finished playfully, scaring Genin was still her favourite thing to do. They followed her instruction, and all left the classroom, Ibiki and Anko watching their every move.
When the final candidate left, Anko turned to Ibiki. "I'm so looking forw-" Seeing the frown on his features, she halted. "What?" Anko asked.
"What happened between you and Uzumaki?" Anko didn't react, though inwardly, she groaned. She hoped that he wouldn't pick up on it; realistically, that was an idiotic wish.
"Nothing."
"That's crap! What's between the two of you? What happened?"
"Why does it matter?!" she snapped; why did he care what happened between them?
"Because you act like this." referring to her anger. "This impeded on your work once before, you were clearly unhappy then and see him now, you returned to that state. I'll ask for the third and last time; what happened between you two?"
She mentally reasoned that the quicker she got through this, the less she had to think about it. "You remember my 'extra duties' that I used to have?" Ibiki nodded. "Well, I was training a brat, he was that brat."
He nodded once more, that was the beginning, but there was more. "And?" He prodded, she needed to speak about this; defiance and bottling up led to excessive anger.
Anko, who had turned to leave, looked over her shoulder as Ibiki grabbed her wrist. "What do you mean and?" she spoke venomously, attempting to rip her wrist from his grip. Failing, she glared at him.
His hard stare met hers; she would not win this. Sighing, she relented. "We got close, closer than I ever thought we would. But we got close in different ways." She finished, hopefully, that was enough.
Ibiki was confused; his standard blank stare had shown this confusion. "What ways was that?" He asked.
Tears stung at the corners of her eyes, a sheen covering the rest of her brown orbs. Dropping her head as she refused to meet his gaze. "H-he saw me as a si-sister." She began through sobs. Ibiki looked like he understood; that topic was always hard for her. Orochimaru had been the closest thing to family for her, and he had abandoned her.
"I se-"
"No, but, for him to see me as a sister when I... I... Lov-" As her features were pointing at the floor, Ibiki couldn't see her expressions. He didn't need to know her expressions to understand what she was feeling. Her unfinished sentence spoke volumes to him.
He didn't understand, Anko, the most sadistic female in the village, actually loved someone. And that someone saw her as family, as a man of the mind, he could only try and piece together what she felt.
"Does he know?" Ibiki asked, releasing her arm. Not trusting her voice, she just shook her head. "Why was he scared?"
She hated how talking about him brought her to tears; it made her feel so weak, just like the kunoichi she swore off because of their fan-girl tendencies. And here she was crying over a boy because he didn't feel the same way.
"I... T-the last we spoke, I-i just ran away. T-then Yugao spoke to h-him, she told me, he l-looked broken." It didn't quite answer his question, but he now understood more.
"Mmm... he should know," Ibiki stated. Anko's head snapped to meet his, a fearful look in her eye. "He needs to know, I don't think he's scared of you, but of what you think and what you will say to him."
Now Anko was confused. "Did you say anything about it last time you spoke, or did you just run off after hearing it?" She hung her head once more, giving him his answer.
"You need to tel-"
"How?" She asks, she doesn't know about how people might react as Ibiki does.
"Carefully." He answers. "If you push him, he might resort to flight. Ease him into it, make sure he's calm; otherwise, he might not take it in properly. Everything thing else is up to you."
Her head still hung relatively low. She had literally found the boy she would fall love with, how amusing. She found it so funny that she laughed mirthlessly. Ibiki raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
"Thanks," Anko said. "I'll see ya around."
~ The Next Day, Training ground '44' ~
Anko had regained her strident personality. She studied the crowd of assembled Genin; many looked on without much concern. They were likely unaware of the training ground's reputation and the reason it held that reputation.
"This is the location for the second phase of the exam. It's the forty-fourth battle training zone, but we call it the Forest of Death." Naruto smiled fondly; he remembered when Anko raved about the forest to him.
Hinata saw the look on Naruto's face; she wanted to ask about it but remembered his actions the day before and decided against it.
A shuffling noise made itself known. Naruto looked to his left to see the same box that the Konohamaru Ninja Squad had tried to use a week ago.
"Guys, that's the same disguise you used last time; that and it's rocks on grass, how is that hidden?"
"You got us again?!" Came the muffled voice of Konohamaru. Naruto studied the situation; he then wondered about the three children in front of him. "What are you three doing here?"
The trio suddenly got much more excited as they all jumped out from underneath the box, taking their previous positions. "We're here on official business!"
Moegi stepped forward to continue from the young Sarutobi. "Yeah! That's right; we came here for an exclusive interview." She told him, holding her hands to her chest.
Udon nodded in agreement.
"What's the interview for?" the blond asked. Naruto always found them to be fun, so he decided he would listen. "We're here on assignment to write an article for the academy's newspaper. It's a big-time feature story all about the Chunnin selection examinations."
Konohamaru was ecstatic that he could talk about his idol taking the gruelling exams.
Moegi reaffirmed Konohamaru's statement. "So that's why we want to do an exclusive interview with you!" she said chirpily. "Please tell us you're going to do it."
"It would mean a lot." Udon agreed with his two friends.
Naruto smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, but now isn't the best time. We are about to start another exam, sorry." He apologised, the three looked heartbroken.
Anko looked on with a smile on her face; Naruto seemed to be fantastic with kids, even when he's so young himself. 'He'd be wonderful with our kids.' Her eye's widened at the thought, how could her mind go there? What was he doing to her? She wouldn't lie to herself that the idea of children with the blond made her giddy.
One Cloud Genin had become impatient. "What are you doing with those brats?! Stop wasting all of our time."
"They're here for interviews for our academy newspaper." Anko reasoned, Naruto still couldn't look at her, but he smiled wider than he had in some time. "Everyone! We're taking a ten-minute break for the interviews. If you have an interview, please be respectful of the reporters!"
The next few minutes were filled with people from all villages. Naruto from the Leaf, Shio from the Mist, Omoi from the Cloud, Kin from the sound, Kankuro from the Sand, and three other from the Rain, Waterfall, and Grass villages.
Naruto briefly wondered where Fuu was; she was the same age as him after all. Thinking about it properly, it would be doubtful that they would send their Jinchuuriki away to another village.
"This whole place just completely creeps me out," Sakura admitted. Anko smirked at that; even some Jonin feared the forest. "It should; they call it the Forest of Death, and soon enough, you're going to find out why."
"Is that supposed to scare us?" was the question from Chojuro's teammate. "So, it looks like we've got ourselves a tough guy." Anko's smile twitched for a second.
Without the notice of many Genin, the Snake Mistress drew a kunai from her sleeve and launched it at the Mist Genin. The boy who had lost interest suddenly felt a prick of pain as the kunai sliced his cheek open.
"What the!?" Was his only response as Anko sped behind him. "You tough enough to handle this?" The boy froze in shock. "You're not afraid, are you?" she continued to whisper.
She gripped his face. "Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest."
Naruto watched with rising anger, was it?... Jealousy. He didn't like how someone else was in his position, how he missed training with Anko. He looked over to his teammate, whose line of sight was clearly quite degrading of the kunoichi he was inspecting.
"Kiba!" The force he spoke with was even a shock to himself; why was he so angry? "Keep your eyes up, or you'll find yourself in a lot of pain." He growled. Those with the keener ears picked up on it, including the proctor, who wasn't sure whether to smile or forget it.
"Why do you care?" Kiba replied both embarrassed at being caught and defensive. "That's not your business." Kiba didn't doesn't like that. "You even dare thinking of cheating on my sister, and there won't be a place you can hide from me." He barks at Naruto.
"Once again, Kiba, that isn't your business." Naruto snarled. "Bull! My sister, and what you do with her is my business!"
"I wouldn't dream of doing something like that to Hana-chan, so I advise you to remember that." Naruto didn't want to continue this conversation. "Good but, you think that you think that you can single me out just because I'm looking at the same girl as you, especially when you're with my sister."
Naruto didn't respond to the Inuzuka heir this time though his cheeks reddened slightly, unnoticed by the aggravated teammate. Still, it didn't slip past the Aburame. Naruto was suddenly less excited after Kiba's questioning of his feeling for Hana on top of how unsure he was of how he felt towards Anko, it was somewhat… possessive?
Anko herself, listened to the interaction, angered at some points and blushing at the insulation that Naruto might have been eying her. She wore clothing or lack thereof for its effect on most men and some women, but to have the object of her affection, seeing her like that was different.
"Seems like everyone here today is quick-tempered. Must be something in the air." Anko questioned with light humour. Her chocolate orbs hanging briefly on the arguing pair, specifically one member.
Naruto's face glowed brighter at Anko's words.
"This is gonna be fun," Anko states as she made her way back to the front of the group. "Now, before we begin this test. I have something to hand out to you all." Holding out the stack of paper, she smiled brightly. "It's just a standard consent form."
Everyone in the crowd grew confused, had their applications for the exams not been enough? What were they consenting to?
"Before the test, all of you are going to have to read over this form and sign it!"
"What for?" Comes the confused voice of the Akimichi heir.
"Some of you might not come back from this test, and I have to get your consent to that risk." Gaining an amused expression, she speaks through her choked laughter. "Otherwise it would be my responsibility." Her following laughter caused a few of the Genin to shudder in fear.
"Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test." She handed the papers to the still irate Mist Genin. "The first thing you need to know is this test will tax every one of your survival skills."
They all received their consent forms and filled them out as Anko continued. "First, I'll give you all a description of the terrain in the practice field."
Anko described the Forest of Death, but Naruto had stopped paying any attention. He knew this hellhole almost as well as Anko herself did. Anko once again reached into her trench coat, from one of the many pockets she drew two scrolls; one black and white.
"Your goal is to get your hands, on these scrolls." She stated challengingly.
"Both of them?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, you'll be fighting to get both a heaven scroll and an earth scroll." Everyone narrowed their eyes at the small pieces of parchment.
"Altogether, thirty-two teams will be taking part in this test. So, half of those teams will be going after the heaven scroll and half of them will be going after the earth scroll. I'll hand over one kind of scroll to each team, and that's what you'll be vying for."
~ Sometime Later ~
Squad' 8' and Naruto found themselves looking at gate sixteen. Their bored sentinel watched on impassively; he was not thrilled by the opportunity to partake in these exams.
"Yahoo!, we rock at survival, there's no way we can lose!" Kiba hollered. Shino nodded at his assessment, as lax as it was still valid. They possessed the best tracking skills; with the inclusion of Naruto, they would very unlikely be snuck up on by opposing teams.
"Naruto you better not drag us down, you got that." The blond merely rolled his eyes at that. The extra member looked to the Aburame, blue eyes meeting that of calculative glasses. "Did you plant the insects on the other teams?" then he faced the Hyuga, her lilac eyes signifying her deep in thought. "Hinata, did you watch for what teams got which scrolls?"
The pair answered with nods. "We are between a Hidden Grass and Mist team", Shino spoke to which Hinata added, her Byakugan. "The Grass squad has a heaven scroll, that paired with our earth scroll we should target them first." The Hyuga heiress had seriously stepped up her game; she still didn't speak with the confidence of Kiba or Naruto but included herself more in team discussions and planning.
Their sentinel glanced down to the watch, seeing it strike two-thirty he traced over to the gate, unlocking it. Once the lock and chain fell to the floor, he put himself between the Genin and the forest.
Anko, who too had been keeping a close watch of the time, saw the time. "Alright, heads up you maggots! The second part of the test has begun!" Her commanding voice carried to all of the competitors; all of them turned their attention to the gates that surrounded the training ground which flung open simultaneously.
The increased squad '8' had followed their plan and moved south to intercept the identified Grass squad. Naruto's experience with the forest meant that he led the team, attempting to avoid areas that were infested with the deadly animals that inhabit them.
After only five minutes of travel, the four Genin had located the Grass ninja. Looking down from their position, one of the trio made Naruto question himself. Naruto, creating a small militia of clones, decided to confront the opposing team.
"Hey there!" He called out cheerily, causing the unknowing team to all turn to face him. The girl who was looking on in surprise recoiled in fear, knowing her role in the group she hid behind her teammates, but her stark red hair refused to let her be out of Naruto's view.
The two males noticed that Naruto had his eyes keenly focused on their teammate; they felt overlooked, one spoke up. "You're that loser who told off their weak teammate, you should have just let yourself fail, 'cause now we're gonna grind you into dust."
Naruto's attention didn't stray from the female member. "You," still looking at the girl. "What's your name?" Her hair was almost a mirror image of his mothers, the ire of the other team members only grew at the further lack of care from the boy.
The way Naruto spoke, he appeared to be bored, he didn't see them as a threat!
"You know what?! We're taking your scroll and the-" He was cut short as Naruto had unclipped his sword and thrown it like a disc, the semi-circular indent at his neck lodged against the tree. "Don't move."
His less vocal teammate turned in a furious state and charged at Naruto. Still disinterested, Naruto went through the signs: Boar, Tiger.
"Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" Naruto called out. The ground that the Grass Genin was charging towards him on turned to a viscous liquid, his feet sunk and sooner than he could think he was buried up to his hips.
The two boys found themselves defeated in less than ten seconds, who was this kid?
The girl made a run for the nearby shrubbery, Naruto who was intrigued dashed after her and caught her wrist. She tried her hardest to struggle from her grip, thrashing about so much that her glasses were knocked from her head.
Her pupilless red irises that matched her head, now all the more visible. "Let me go!" she screamed. "What do you want from me?!"
Naruto created a Shadow Clone and had it pick up her fallen glasses, it then walked over to the erratic female. "What's your name?" He asked soothingly; there was no threat in his tone.
"Karin." Was her still frightened response.
"What's your last name?" Karin grew keen at what he was asking; the grass village did not have prominent clans like the Leaf did with their Hyuga and others.
"Uz-Uzumaki." She muttered softly, struggling long forgotten. Naruto stared at her for what felt like an eternity for the poor girl when she was going to ask why he was so interested when he did something completely unexpected.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her into the air, cheering emphatically. Her cheeks reddened at the sudden contact; this is not what you would expect of a competitor from another village.
"What are you doing?! Put me down!"
Naruto sobers quickly realising what he was doing. Stumbling through a list of apologies as squad '8' makes themselves known. "Goddammit! First the proctor now her?! What's wrong with you?!" Kiba yells, remembering their conversation, the confused Naruto takes on a look of understanding.
"No, no, you've got it all wrong," He waves his hands in a placating manner. He then gestures to Karin. "She's family!"
"Huh?" Was the collective response, even Shino is visibly confused, Karin most of all. "What do you mean?" She asks.
Naruto realises that he hasn't introduced himself. "Sorry! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" He calls out. This appeases Kiba as Naruto as an orphan had found someone from his family, he would relent and let him have his moment.
Karin for a moment before becoming sceptical. "You don't have the Uzumaki hair; yours is blond when ours is red." Running a hand through her hair for emphasis. Naruto knew that he couldn't speak too much of his heritage, but he could talk about specific details.
"My mom was Uzumaki; she had the same hair that you do." He implied that he received his features from his father as if he outright came and said it, people would likely look into it.
"Who was she?" The tone from Karin was no more curious than speculative. Naruto gained an anxious air around him; he leant into her ear to whisper. "Could I tell you when I'm away from my team? After the test?"
He leant back to which Karin was going to ask, but it died in her throat seeing the sudden serious expression that adorned his features. Nodding in response, two-thirds of squad '8' watched on in confusion.
Naruto was interested in finishing as soon as possible. He created a shadow clone for each member of his team and her teammates. The clones that were created for the two other Grass ninja quickly set about knocking them out, collecting their scroll from one of them. Naruto still stood next to Karin. Naruto had Flying Raijin seals all the forest; they were the best spaces to train, one of those was the tower, they would be able to complete the first exam within ten minutes of it beginning.
"Everyone take hold of a clone." Shino nodded, knowing why physical contact was necessary. He walked up and gripped a clones shoulder. Hinata and Kiba following suit, they knew that Shino would do whatever would guarantee success or at least lead to the highest chance of it.
"Tense your stomachs." The Aburame could still vividly remember the queasy feeling of this technique and did as told, Kiba and Hinata followed suit, though the Inuzuka was still not quite prepared.
Within an instant, they found themselves outside of the tower. Kiba, Karin and Hinata all fell to their knees to dry heave. "What the hell?" was spoken by Kiba through the increased onset influx.
Naruto always found people's first experiences amusing, but was more entertaining was…
Kiba, Karin and Hinata all steadied themselves through their sudden sickness, silently taking in the fact that they were already at the tower with both scrolls in awe. "Naruto-kun?" Was the soft voice of the Hyuga heir. "How did we get here?" Even Kiba didn't speak due to the disbelief; they had just travelled close to ten kilometres in less than a second.
"Doesn't matter," He told them excitedly. "We passed!" He looked up and down the familiar red tower—the even brighter red doors with a sign plastered on. Tearing the paper sign off, he swung the doors open, the clones dispelled; apart from those carrying the unconscious members of the Grass team.
They entered what appeared to be a sparing area with two observation decks; banners lined the walls. The five of them looked around until Hinata started speaking.
"If qualities of heaven are your desire, then you require wisdom to take your mind higher." All followed her line of sight to be met with a board covered in scriptures. "If earthly qualities are what you lack, then train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are open together, the perilous path will become righteous forever, this… something is the secret way the guides us from this place today".
Karin looked at the pair of scrolls; they used the same names as what Hinata just said. The words of the Proctor rand through her head.
'None of you, absolutely none of you may look at the contents of the scrolls until you've reached the tower.'
'until you've reached the tower.' Her mind continued to think about.
"Naruto-san." She gained his attention as he turned from the board to look at her. "They want us to look at the scrolls." Naruto facepalmed at that, and it should have been so easy to see, it was so simple.
After Naruto had gotten out of his minimal self-loathing, he agreed and pulled out the scrolls from his pouch. He began to unravel them when he saw the markings that were written.
'Summoning!' He mentally screamed, throwing the scrolls away, the two pieces of parchment landed next to each other, overlapping. For a moment nothing happened then in a puff of smoke appeared a surprised Leaf Ninja.
He wore the standard uniform, navy long pants and long-sleeved pants with a Chunnin vest; his headband matched the blue of his uniform. His most defining feature was the scar that began at the bridge of his nose and fanned out all over his left cheek.
Staring wide-eyed at the Genin, he took a moment to speak. "You… you've already completed the exam? It's been ten minutes!" The Tokubetsu Jonin was floored, this wasn't just a broken record, this was ridiculous.
"Yep! Uhuh!" Was Naruto answer through vigorous nods, he was still overjoyed at meeting Karin.
"Unbelievable, at least I can leave now." He muttered to himself. Raising his head, he studied the group, he knew he was in charge of telling a four-person squad but the extra three, two of them being unconscious was unexpected.
"Congratulations! You've passed the second test! Though, we should probably get those two to the infirmary. Why are they with you, anyway?" They all realised that it was an odd situation they were in.
"I needed to talk to Karin here." Gesturing to the red-haired girl. "And well… I knocked her team out so… I kinda brought them with us."
It was a weak explanation, but it still made sense. "Before we go, I should introduce myself. I'm Raido Namiashi, Tokubetsu Jonin."
'He's one of Dad's guard!' Naruto mentally asserted.
"I also need to explain to you what this saying means." Looking up to the board. "Heaven refers to your mental qualities, if you lack the tactical and theoretical knowledge, train your mind, study. If your lack conditioning and physical prowess, then train your body." He spoke.
"Then what's the deal with that missing bit?" Kiba spoke up.
Raido smirked. "That refers to someone who has both qualities of heaven and earth. If you have both, then you will be able to take most of what is thrown at you."
He created his own Shadow Clone; he and the clone took the unconscious boys from Naruto's clones. "And that is all; now I really should get them some help." Leaving in a swirl of leaves.
~ Out of the forest ~
Anko was seated atop the stall, enjoying her favourite dish, Dango, her namesake. Delicately consuming the sweet dumplings as she relished in the screams of the Genin. About to move on to her last stick of the ever-delicious pink, white and green balls, a sentinel made themselves known.
"Anko-san!"
"What?!" she called out; her mouth still full of sugary goodness.
"There are two things: A team has already passed the test." Anko's stared at the man as if he was stupid. "And?" she drawled out.
"We found bodies of a Genin, but…"
"But what?!" She was getting impatient.
"They didn't have any faces." He spoke softly, but it rang in the ears of the Tokubetsu Jonin proctor.
"What! Where are they?! Take me to them!" She screamed; she knew of only one person who would do something like this. He nodded before taking off, to which Anko followed.
He stopped outside of gate '15', and as she was told, there were three Genin, all lying face down in the dirt. Rushing over, Anko rolled one around and just as he said, the face of the young Genin was missing.
Shiore that was the name of the once Grass Genin, the lifeless body was cast aside. 'No doubt about it, this is his work.' She thought as she reached her hand to the obscure mark on her neck. 'Why is he here? What's he doing at the Chunnin exams?'
"Okay, I need photos of what these three used to look like. Where are their ID's?" The sentinel pulled out three slips of paper from the stack that was in his hand. "Right here, ma'am."
Anko looked over the ID of Shiore. 'So, this is the face he stole.' She turned as two other sentinels appeared. "We've got big trouble. Okay, tell Hokage-sama exactly what happened here, and while you're at it tell ANBU Black Ops, they better get a couple of convoys to the forest of death."
She prepared to leap away, looking over her shoulder. "Meanwhile, I'm going to head in after these guys, now go!"
"Right!" The three recited as they went to do their respective tasks.
Still holding the mark, she looked deep into the forest. 'He's come, he's in the Hidden Leaf Village.' With that, Anko leapt into action, hunting after the man who made her life hell.
~ Later That Day ~
It had been four hours since they had arrived at the tower, unsure of what to do their time they had all migrated to their rooms to prepare for the night. They had separated the successful candidates from the unsuccessful, Karin had said that they would talk after the exam. She decided to watch over her teammates as they were still unconscious.
The young blond had just been walking around, staying active when a pack of Chunnin had shot past. "Anko's gone after him! Get the ANBU Black Ops!" Naruto heard this; if Anko was doing something that required ANBU back-up, he didn't care about the repercussions he would be there.
Naruto flashed to Anko's seal.
~ With Anko ~
"It won't work Anko-chan." The pale man held a half-Ram seal causing Anko to fall to her knees, clutching the mark that haunted her. The man slowly trudged forward, dropping the kunai that he held in his other hand.
He was now facing Anko when she spoke. "Why are you here?"
The man smirked. "I'm disappointed, I expec-" He was cut short by the unmistakable feeling of a high-speed fist making contact with his face.
"Stay away from Anko-sensei!" Naruto screamed, taking his stance. Anko, who was still shaking in fear behind him, looked up in shock and awe.
Orochimaru pulled himself to his feet. "Ah, young Naruto-kun."
"Who are you? What do you want with Anko-sensei?" The man's smile returned as he had fully righted himself. "I can't believe you haven't told him about me Anko-chan, you are his sensei." He chuckled cynically, taking note of the suffix.
Naruto was too busy trying to maintain focus to think about who he might be. The pale man saw this, and as if he read Naruto's mind, he spoke. "I see you don't know who I am, and to think I was your sensei Anko-chan."
Naruto instantly knew who this was and how out of his depth he was. When sparring with Jiraiya, Naruto knew he was fast, on par with that of an above-average Jonin but in comparison to a Sanin he paled. Knowing that Jiraiya and Orochimaru were almost on par with each other, so Naruto knew that in pure speed, he would be beaten.
Orochimaru, who was standing on the end of the same large branch, began strolling towards the unnerved pair. Unknown to Orochimaru Naruto had created four clones who were masking their chakra and clinging to the underside of the branch.
The four clones could hear the light taps of the feet of the Sanin; they knew where the original and Anko were. They all held out their palms; chakra began to circle; it's glowing blue hue formed a sphere.
Naruto who'd created the clones with the purpose to be a distraction spoke firmly. "I'll die before you lay a hand on Anko-sensei, if you want her, you'll have to go through me."
"My my, how bold of you, to threaten a Sanin. I thought you would be smarter Naruto-kun. As I just told poor Anko-chan there, I have already done what I came here to do; a young Genin has interested me. Though he has not yet inherited the pride of the Uchiha clan, he is already quite gifted."
Naruto narrowed his eyes, anger ever increasing. "What do you want with Sasuke?"
"I am simply intrigued by his clear talent, that is all." The smirk never left the Sanin's face.
Orochimaru had not stopped his slow movements; the pressure in the air seemed to increase with every step. The yellow-slitted eyes of the snake-like Sanin were those of a predator, though while they held the dangerous edge, they also seemed to be humoured, unknowing of what was occurring below him.
"Rasengan!" They simultaneously called, slamming the swirling balls of chakra into the branch connected to them. The cloud of dust and splinters littered the air providing Naruto the time to reach out to Anko. Orochimaru who had to cover himself to block the mass of debris recognised this as a literal smokescreen.
Ignoring the chunks of the tree that flew past his face, he dove across the newly made gap in the tree to be met with air.
As the dust settled, Orochimaru had found himself to be alone and aggravated. He merged with the tree he was standing on, he had better things to do.
~ With Naruto and Anko ~
Naruto had chosen the seal that he had placed in his mother's house. Once Anko had realised what he had done, completely forgetting the upsetting feeling in her stomach, she jumped at Naruto and wrapped him in a tight hug.
To Naruto, Anko was the epitome of strength, she, alongside his father and Jiraiya was someone that he respected most. To be treated like a second-rate human by the broader population of the village and still come out on top took great strength. He knew better than anyone what she was going through.
Anko's mind was a mess, the pure fear that she had felt when Orochimaru had gotten behind her was almost too much for her. In a matter of seconds, Naruto had appeared, said that he would die to protect her and then had gotten her away.
She did something that had not happened since she had been brought back to the Leaf Village after her training trip with Orochimaru.
Still holding onto the young blond, she buried her head in his chest and cried. Naruto knew that something like this needed time, he would hold her as long as she needed him.
Maybe he needed a hug too.
The pair lay there for hours, eight to be precise. Anko had fallen asleep relatively quickly; Naruto hadn't slept a wink in comparison. He held just as he told himself, brushing the top of her head.
Her dark mauve hair had lost its hairband, the usual ponytail had fallen away and formed a makeshift bob, better framing her face.
Her eyes attempted to open, finding that they were crusted over she went to brush it away. Not only did she discover that she couldn't move her arms as they were still wrapped around this incredibly warm object, but a foreign hand had brushed away the dried tears.
She hadn't looked up; still, she noted that the object was Naruto. Memories of the day before flooded her mind, Naruto and his promise of protection, then coming to where they are now.
Deciding to no longer to delay the inevitable she looked up, meeting eyes that were sleep-deprived and full of worry on a smiling face. It was a forced smile, one that seemed pained, not physically but emotionally.
Anko wasn't sure what she was thinking, briefly thinking back to her words with Ibiki.
'"Carefully." He answers. "If you push him, he might resort to flight. Ease him into it, make sure he's calm; otherwise, he might not take it in properly. Everything thing else is up to you."'
'Fuck it!' She thought. Without a moments notice, she shifted forward, crashing her lips against those of the young Uzumaki. Naruto's eyes shot wide open; they had been half-lidded up until a second ago. The feeling was unexpected; he didn't return the kiss for two reasons. One, Hana, he couldn't do that to her and two, he didn't know how to kiss. He despised the feeling of betraying Hana, though... it felt right.
After a few moments of contact, Anko retreated, it took her a few seconds to realise what she had done. She had just forced herself on someone half her age, no matter how they felt, it was wrong, and the feeling in her stomach was foul.
Frantically, she tried to stand up, Naruto who was still in a state of shock couldn't stop her. Once they were both standing Anko made an effort for the door only to be tackled and held down by the blond.
"Let me go!" She continued to struggle, fighting tooth and nail to escape.
"No." Was his calm response.
Anko broke down in tears again, why was her life so screwed? What had she done to deserve it? What kind of monster was she in a past life?
"What's wrong with me?" She whispered, in between the silence and the sobs it was heard by the figure on top of her. Naruto's face hadn't shifted from the warmth and worry.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong with you." He promised.
"Then, why?!" She wailed.
"Why, wh-"
"Why does everything go wrong?! A man made my life hell, and there's a constant reminder of it. Then the next guy I get close to, I come to love only to force myself on him?!"
She let go and kept pounding his chest, they weren't hard punches, but they were heavy, weighed down by the emotion behind them. "Why?! Why?! Why?!" She howled.
"Because it's unfair. Life's unfair, you amongst all people should be used to that by now." Why was it unfair, why couldn't she get everything she wanted, she deserved it.
Naruto loosened his grip on her, pulling her up, their chests flush against each other. At that point and time, Naruto didn't feel the two pillows press against him, but that wasn't important.
"I don't know why you're crying." He stated, much to her visible confusion. "You are the Anko Mitarashi; no one else is lucky enough to call themselves that. And right now, no one else is as lucky as me."
"Wh-what do you mean by that?"
"Who else gets to be this close to and not be fed to your snakes. I'm guessing the list for people who got to spend years together with you isn't very long."
Anko was now starring at the young boy; it appeared to be shock written all over her face. Slowly taking in what he said, she turned her head to the side, unable to meet his gaze.
She was red from her hairline to her shoulders. Naruto, the centre of her affection had just said that he was lucky because he could spend time with her.
"Never forget who you are Anko, the village would be less without you." Naruto turned his head down. "I would be less without you."
Anko couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"This is where you've been!" Both turned to look at an angered ANBU operative. "We've been sent to bring you to Hokage-sama. Anko-san, we need to go now, he needs to know what happened."
Truth be told Anko didn't want to leave. Call her selfish, but she was enjoying being wrapped up by Naruto, she wanted to stay for as long as possible.
Hoping that Naruto would retort somehow, she looked up. Meeting a reassuring nod and smile, she let out an exasperated sigh. Her duties were calling.
"Go on, Hokage-sama should hear about this," Naruto reassured her.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly.
"Sorry? For what?" The Uzumaki asked curiously.
"For what I did earlier, it was just wrong." By now the ANBU operatives had moved outdoors, they were to find and summon Anko, that was it.
"I know about you and Hana and well..." Anko ducked her head again, back into Naruto's chest. "What I did... I'm sorry."
"Why?"
Directing the anger, she was feeling towards herself at Naruto for a split-second. "Why am I sorry? I just forced myself on a twelve-year-old, that... That's just so wrong." Holding her head in her hands.
"No. Why did you do it?" Naruto appeared to be relatively slow on the uptake. Anko lost her dejected aura for a split second to stare at the boy with a look as if she'd just been slapped, shock evident.
"You idiot!" She shouted in the brief moment
"Huh?! Why am I the idiot?" Naruto retorted, slightly offended.
"Because I... " Anko continued to murmur more under her breath.
"What was that?" Naruto asked, slightly impatiently.
Anko further spoke under her breath, the ire of the young boy holding her only grew.
"What are you saying?"
"I lo..." Anko tried to speak, she really did. But every time she wanted to put it into words, they would just die in her throat.
"Fine. Don't tell me, go do your job. I need to go." Naruto said sharply, he knew that he'd likely broken some rules in the exams, he didn't care, but he should return to the tower.
"No! please don't go." She pleaded.
"Then what is it?" He hotly returned.
"Look, Naruto." Anko fought the tightening of her stomach to meet his gaze. "When you told me that you loved me like a sister, it hurt..."
Naruto lost his anger, turning quickly to regret. "I knew I shouldn't have pushed it."
"That's not it; it wasn't because of that. It was that I felt close to you, too, just in a different way." Anko's words were spoken softly.
"Huh?" Naruto's mind failed to put the dots together, did she like him like a son? If that was the case, why would she react so... well... in the way she did?
Catching herself before she lost him again, she collected herself, taking a few breaths. "Screw it! I love you, not like a sister, but like a relationship, you know, that kind of stuff!"
Dead silence.
You could almost hear the gears in Naruto's mind whirring, putting everything in place. The snake mistress was gradually becoming more worried; the blond just seemed to stare off into space.
Thinking that the boy would reject her in some way or just feel that she was weird, she nervously tried to untie herself from him. She was not expecting what happened next.
Naruto just wrapped her in the tightest hug he could muster. "I knew I wasn't the idiot, you are." He chuckled.
"What does that mean?" She questioned indignantly. Her irritation was lost as her voice was muffled; her head was being pressed firmly against his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked, his voice still carried its previous humour.
"Why didn't I tell you? maybe because I was worried about..." She let the sentence drag out. Naruto just raised an eyebrow, signifying that she should continue. "Worried about what you might say."
Silence once again reigned, that was until the boy burst out laughing. Anko became irritated, what was so funny?
"What?" She growled out.
"Sorry, it's just funny." He admitted, he then took on Anko's previous air, becoming nervous. "Umm... do you think that you could maybe... you know?" Turning his head away to try and his hide his knowingly scarlet face.
"What?" She asked coyly.
"Maybe... do it again?" Looking slightly confused for a moment, she smirked as she realised what he was asking. "Oh, and what would Hana-chan think about that?"
Blushing all over he waved his hands in front of himself. "I just want to test something." he rushed out.
Anko knew that Naruto thought of others before himself the entire time. She didn't believe that he would do anything that purposefully betray a friend. Let alone, Hana.
She shuffled slightly to raise her head to meet his, still smirking she pressed her lips to his again. The difference between this kiss and the last was that Naruto participated in this one.
The younger boy was amazed at how soft Anko's lips were, comparing them to velvet clouds—completely forgetting about the current situation, feeling bold. He parted his lips slightly.
Taking it as a sign to deepen the kiss Anko copied his actions, though she did not just open her mouth, she pushed her tongue forward. Startled by the feeling of a foreign object massaging the inside of his mouth, he attempted to recoil.
Finding that he can't, he accepts it. Matching her movements with his own saliva slickened muscle. The duo soon remembered that oxygen was a necessity and released each other, gasping for air and severely red-faced.
It was sloppy, neither had the experience, so it was more of a shot in the dark. Nevertheless, both had enjoyed the feeling immensely.
"That was... just..."
"Wow." Anko finished his statement. Both remained there for a few more moments as they regained their breath. Taking on a more serious look, Naruto studied Anko.
"We'll need to tell Hana-chan." He stated bluntly. He saw no reason to beat around the bush; one of the problems with his situation was the impending and constant feeling of betraying someone.
"I know, after the exam." She offered.
Naruto nodded, agreeing as complications may hinder his chances should something arise. That and he wasn't technically allowed out of the tower until the five days was over.
Both after a small amount of time, unwrapped themselves from the other. Naruto brushed himself off. "I should be getting back to the tower, and you need to see Hokage-sama."
Anko nodded, agreeing. They freshened up then both walked outside, meeting the ANBU operatives. "Anko-san, we have taken enough time, we should go."
"Of course, see you later Naruto... -kun." She tried saying it for the first time.
"See you then, Anko-chan." Unconsciously adding the suffix, he proceeded to leap away. The purple-haired woman was left feeling butterflies in her stomach and her face regaining the red tinge.
I know the Karin and the Second Stage of the exams likely felt rushed but I've been drafting and, drafting the next chapter. in an effort to get this out i needed to shorten it. also if you could cover ground instantly would you not?
Anko Joins, will there be a conflict with Hana, or will it all fall into place?
Karin will come more into play after next chapter likely.