I would first like to express my gratitude toward slythefoxx2, ULTIMATE PETE, panjangya, and once again Maximmainium, but also the guests that take the time to review my story whether it is a positive or negative opinion, I will always welcome it with open arms.
I always try to answer and discuss any review I get if need be, but since I cannot do so with the guests, I hope they won't mind me answering their review here.
Responding to Shynemon's (guest) review on chapter three: your idea of him going to the red-light districts and starting to live there interacting with its people is VERY interesting, and I highly encourage you to write a story about that, I for one would gladly read it, but unfortunately, it is not the way I wanted my story to evolve; As for Naruto's independence, I am happy to tell you that this is indeed a very probable path the story will take, as I've written in the second chapter, Kurenaï's responsibilities towards Naruto will be highly diminished once he starts to live alone and attend the academy, but for realism purposes, just like I couldn't have a twelve year old know how to survive on it's own in the wilderness (unlike canon dare I say) I cannot have him go on and live alone without anyone helping him out, I am presently a twenty year old student, and I'm not afraid to admit that living alone is hell and much more complicated then I thought, for that reason, I at least had Hiruzen assign someone to help him settle and be available whenever he need assistance, and once I wrote it , I found it hard to understand how he did not do such things in canon, but I guess teenagers in canon Naruto are like super soldiers that are equivalent in knowledge and maturity to real life 30 year olds, I did not want that for my story.
I do not own Naruto or any artwork used in this chapter.
(The song I felt connected the most with the beginning of this chapter is "Rock'n'roll part 2 " watch?v=6sjGBXckGB4 ; and here is the picture i had in my head while describing Naruto's outfit : miro222/art/Old-Naruto-173838811 ; I also used the lyrics of a musical piece, i wonder if some of you will get the reference)
Chapter four: Nasty Stain
"We cannot always change what has happened to us, but we can change how we react and how we live in the future. Living with no regrets is living successfully." – Dr. Ellen Taricani
The sun had risen on the hidden village in the leaf, but instead of the usual flow of people, there was a group in the middle of the merchant district that was getting larger and larger.
If one were to guess he would think there was some kind of event, and maybe in a way it would be right; As the light blessed the walls of the district, it had become apparent that those people were staring in disbelief at their property having been totally covered in graffiti, with one large wall in particular plastered with the the phrase 'The Demon Kid was here'
Unknown to them however, a lone figure was looking at the whole situation from atop one of the hokage heads sculpted in the mountain, it was a blonde man in his teens wearing long orange pants and a black shirt with an orange flame drawn in the middle covered by a long sleeve black jacket, his glove covered hands rose to light the cigarette in his mouth as his cerulean blue eyes focused on his work, he couldn't help but feel a hint of pride "This is but music to my ears" he took off from his sitting position with a smirk as sounds of angry and frustrated civilians filled the air.
"Yeah, there is no way I'm gonna fade away like an insignificant gray point, I'm gonna be a nasty orange stain they can't get their eyes off; If Konoha is to be my cage, then I'll be the lion they are trapped inside with " Naruto thought as he was casually strolling throught the streets of the town
His life was one defined by one word: Freedom, if he wanted to get something, he'd buy it, if they didn't want to sell it to him, he'd steal it and if he couldn't steal it , he'd just go and hunt for it in the forest; He started not giving a fuck about the glares and the usual insults that often came his way, they could be telling him sweet words for all it mattered, it has been a long time since Naruto stopped caring
He finally reached his home, not the shit hole apartment he had in the middle of the village that despised him, no, he had reached the forest of death , a place where he could have the company of monsters like him, at first he had a hard time with them, but he slowly learned which creatures he could ignore, which ones he could fight, and which ones he had to run away from, it was the rule of the strongest, and Naruto didn't mind, it was, according to him, a fairer sets of rules than the ones he was stuck with in the village.
He started the day with his usual workout routine, physical conditioning was after all a very important part of a shinobi training, he thought, it also didn't hurt that it gave him one hell of a sexy body
After what seemed like hours of workout and with the sun reaching his apex Naruto was searching for his lunch, jumping from one tree to another in the most furtive way he could so as to not alert any potential prey or predator, yet he stopped in his tracks with surprise when his eyes fell on the body of a woman sitting on top of a branch.
She had beautiful purple hair and a slightly brownish skin, she was wearing a beige overcoat with a mesh garment that extends from the nape of the neck to the thighs "daring, but I guess she has some good taste as well" he thought as he noticed she was also wearing a dark orange mini skirt; unfortunately , he couldn't see her face as it was buried in her legs, seemingly conveying that she was feeling dejected, very curious about what would a woman do in such a place, he scrapped his first idea of going to talk to her, for all his self-confidence, Naruto didn't know how to engage new people out of the blue, searching for something that would help him in his endeavour, a grin came upon him when he noticed the small group of boars in the forest ground not far from her "Perfect, I can kill two birds with one stone" He reached out to one of the kunai he scavanged on a dead ninja body as he prepared to attack
Anko was woken from her daze by what she thought was the screeching of an animal in panic, she swayed the area with her eyes and found the origin of the commotion, it was a blonde man fighting a group of boars; filled with curiosity, she decided to watch the scene from a closer position as she sneaked into some bushes "Now, who's this guy, I've thought I heard that this forest was barren of any human lives"
Anko then got confused as the boy that seemed in his late teens started smiling when the boars finally decided to run away from him "Well that's a failure in getting my lunch…However" he finished with a smirk as he seemingly started calmly walking toward her position "Did he see me?" she frantically thought as she tried hiding herself even more.
"Every day I worry all day ~~ About what's waiting in the bushes of love ~~ Cause something's wating in the bushes for us ~~ Yeah something's waiting in the bushes of love" suddenly, a hand grabbed the back of her trench coat and lifter her upper body up from the ground for him to see "woah, they lied to me, you're supposed to be a mutant or something, but you seems fine…yeah very fine indeed, although I don't usually dig exhibitionism"
"What?! Who are you?! What are you doing on my territory ?!" exclaimed a totally surprised Anko
"Oh girl, this was my turf before you stopped wetting your diapers, I was kind enough to let you weep and brood all day long without you paying rent but don't go around saying it's your territory and other hilarious jokes like that" he retorted with a mocking grin
"Y-you saw me?" she asked in disbelief as terror was filling her
"I wouldn't be surprised if a blind man broke his neck because of that outfit of yours, If you wanted to be stealthy I'd suggest something lik…"
Naruto couldn't finish his sentence as a pair of kunai's were thrown in his direction, thankfully he had enough time to kawarimi and appear on top of a tree branch towering the patch of land the woman was standing on
"Oi, you should be more careful with sharp objects like that" jokingly warned the teen
"I'm going to murder you, you fucking brat" spat out the now livid woman
"and dirty mouthed, I'm adding that to the list right along being bipolar and an exhibitionist, are you trying to make me fall for you?" teased Naruto
"yeah, get down here and we'll see if you can still smooth talk like that with a few missing teeth, kid "said Anko trying to taunt the blonde
"tough things to say for someone with a bomb on their neck" finally declared the blonde with very large sneer
Suddenly feeling a piece of paper on her trench coat rapidly igniting, in a blink of an eye, she tossed her jacket away and jumped to the side trying to gain some distance, bracing herself for the explosion; When nothing came, she looked up to a very entertained blonde who was apparently examining her body "Oh my, already undressing for me? it's too early, I'm not ready for this kind of relationship" whined the blonde with a fake dejected tone
"did you really think I was gonna ruin your coat? I can't have you go back to the village like that, you'd kill half the male population" he finally added still maintaining his smug smile
"you better pray to all the deities you know of that I won't be able to lay my hands on you" dangerously warned the woman
"then catch me if you can, exhibitionist-chan" he casually declared before taking off
Not wasting her time as her anger was threatening to spill over at any second, the woman took off running behind him as if her life depended on it
But after a few hours of chasing, she had to stop to recover her breath, this kid was toying with her, he seemed to know exactly what was behind every single tree of this forest, maybe he wasn't lying when he said that this was his home
"already tired? it's usually the man that gives out first " asked Naruto in a teasing tone
"Shut up! I-I'm not tired" said the woman between forceful breaths
Naruto was having a hell of a lot of fun with this woman, but after so much cat and mouse play, he was starting to feel hungry, and he bet the woman felt that as well
"hey, what do you say I pay you dinner in compensation for all the teasing I ran you through today?" he asked, not excepting an answer
"…okay" was the word that finally came out of the woman's mouth
"wow, that was easy" Naruto could not believe that the woman that was trying to kill him for the past hours just casually accepted to eat with him
"as far as it pains me to admit it, I won't be able to catch you, and I'd be dumb to refuse free food" she admitted before secretly adding in her head "and you are one of the few persons that would like to spend some time with me"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, 'The demon kid' pleased to serve you" He introduced himself with a sarcastic bow.
"WAIT, you are the 'demon kid'?" she asked in disbelief
"are you new to the village? you're probably the only person that doesn't know who I am"
"man, I saw what you do to the villagers, and it's art, serves those cock-suckers right if you asked me"
"hohoho do I have a secret admirer?" teasingly asked the boy while laughing behind his hand
"Fuck off; don't get full of yourself, you're still a brat" retorted the woman
"and since you still haven't told me your name, you're still miss exhibitionist-chan"
Blushing a bit from embarrassment before she declared "I'm Anko Mitarashi, I recently came to the village after…" she stopped dead in her track and suddenly found the ground to be very interesting
noticing her body tensing, Naruto decided to intervene "If I cared to know where you came from, I would've asked you"
Shooting him a heated glare, she then realised what he did and shook her head with a small smile "you're too smart for your own good, kid"
"and how am I supposed to not 'get full of myself' after comments like that?" smugly retorted the boy
They walked together toward the village in a calm fashion until Anko decided to break the awkwardness
"aren't you excited to go on a date with the super sexy Mitarashi Anko?" she tentatively asked with a teasing grin
"a date huh ? if I wanted to take you on a date, you'd be having the most fun of your life right now" he declared before adding "going to a restaurant for a date is just 'okay' in my books, and as you might have already guessed, I don't do 'okay'; I just don't want you to try and murder me every time you'll get the chance to " finished the boy with a deadpan
"And who said paying me dinner would be enough to make me stop?" she inquired as she was still trying to mess with the blonde walking besides her
"Are you trying to make me change my mind?" he retorted before he saw a distressed look on her face that was more than enough of an answer
"hahaha, you're so helpless, so, what do you want to eat? "he let out after a small laugh
"I guess grilled meat would be fine" she let out without any excitement
"alright, let's try again, what do you really want to eat?" now asked the blonde in a serious tone
Taken aback by the question, Anko pondered for a moment in embarrassment before letting out "…I've always wanted to try dango, but…"
It was all Naruto needed to hear as he grabbed her hand and started to run in the streets, seemingly having a clear destination in mind, he was blacklisted in most of konoha's establishments, but a rare few were still open towards him, he didn't yet understand the reason thought, but he thanked the gods that the dango restaurant owner was one of them
Sitting across one another, they casually began to chat about their lives and shared interests, he learned for exemple that Anko was a chunin and that she was seemingly very impressed with his 'Masterpieces', so he obliged and recounted his best works to her
"if you want, I can take you with me from time to time" he casually offered
"REALLY? I've always wanted to fuck with the civilians" she quickly answered with visible excitement in her voice
"would that be enough for you not to try and kill me at every occasion?" the boy tentatively asked
"awnn come on, didn't we have so much fun together?" teased Anko with a sarcasticly sad expression
"I would prefer to keep my balls well into adulthood thank you very much" was the quick answer that came from the blonde causing his counterpart to giggle
"I have to admit, you know how to bargain your way out a situation, kid" The woman admitted, seemingly content with how the interaction turned
As the food was served, Naruto discovered that he was the only one of the two not born with a sweet tooth, as he watched in dismay while the woman made a handful of dango sticks disappear in what seemed like seconds; Naruto was scared for his money, but he was happy the woman enjoyed her food as much as she did.
They kept chatting in a jovial atmosphere , and even more so after Anko decided to order some sake
"You know it's illegal for me to drink, right?" asked a worried blonde
"Come on, you seem mature enough to me" whined the woman as she filled her glass
"Yeah no thanks I'm not going to jail for your pretty ass" he declared prompting the purple-haired kunoichi to burst out laughing
after the most fun the woman had in a long time, they both departed as Naruto offered to escort her home seeing as she was barely able to hold herself after the amount of liquor she drank
"did you really have to live that far?" asked the blonde, seemingly tired from supporting the woman on his shoulders
"Are you saying I'm heavy naaaaaruto-kun? "threatened the woman as she got a kunai out,
Not wanting to try his luck with a drunkard handling a sharp weapon (suffice to say, he didn't have the best experiences when it came to those) he gave in and tried to appease her, Declaring "Anko-sama, you are as light as a feather, would you like me to carry you bridal style since your figure is oh so slender?"
"yeah, you wish, kid" jokingly responded the woman
"we're here" she declared as they reached the door of an apartment before adding in frustration "shit, where are my keys?" she asked to no one in particular while clumsily searching her pockets "bah whatever, NAI-CHAN, CAN YOU OPEN THE DOOR ?!"
"Nai-chan? ...oh fuck" was the only thought that filled Naruto's head as the door opened to reveal a very surprised raven-haired woman with deep red eyes that were trying to punch holes in his being
"Well, hey there Kurenaï-nee, long time to see, I was just about to take off soo…" he sputtered as he was trying to casually escape
"Why don't you come inside for a cup of tea?" she calmly said in a very dangerous low tone that sent chills down the teen's spine
It was like an invisible force was pinning him in place as he turned in defeat, following the kunoichi inside as they laid Anko in her bed while she invited him to sit with her in the living room.
"So, Naruto…why don't you start explaining yourself" she firmly opened the conversation with
"Ehm, I saw a sad puppy in the forest and decided to cheer it up a bit, I even paid her dinner after she tried to kill me and stuff" he started explaining with a hint of discomfort before adding seriously "I promise I didn't have anything funny in mind"
"You know I wasn't talking about that" she sighed before adding in a somewhat saddened tone "Why have you been avoiding me?"
Realisation struck him as he suddenly found the ground to be very interesting "Kurenaï-nee, I…" he tried weakly, his discomfort apparent in his posture
"You think I don't know what you're trying to do? not wanting other people to associate the oh so high and respected kunoichi that I am with the 'Demon kid'?" she sarcastically spat with anger
Surprised by what the woman just said, Naruto looked up at her with wide open eyes, as he tried moving his lips, but no words came out
"Did you even consider how would I feel? What would I want? Do you even realize how selfish you were?" not letting the blonde any time to rest between her sharp questions
"…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to hurt you, Kurenaï-nee" were the words that finally came out from Naruto's mouth with a glum tone
After a few minutes of silence, the red-eyed kunoichi finally sighed before declaring "You know Naruto, even though you became an arrogant and sometimes very annoying brat, I still love you, so don't you dare try something like that ever again, is that understood?"
Not expecting what happened next, Kurenaï was surprised by the warm body hugging her tightly "yes…I understand, Kurenaï-nee, I've missed you so much"
"then you shouldn't have been avoiding me you idiot" she laughed before returning the hug
"I've missed you too, baka"
Since that day's events, one would be hard pressed not to notice that 'The demon brat was here' Was often replaced with 'The demon brat and the snake whore were here".
As for Kurenaï, she was happy to see how cheerful Anko became after meeting with Naruto, they would often go on their pranking adventures together, only to come back for dinner being very dirty yet with happy grins plastered on their face, It was as if as if she became the mother of two very problematic kids, laughing at the image in her head softly, Kurenaï had to stop when she felt a slightly uncomfortable pinch in her heart "althought I wouldn't mind if he was to spend a bit more time with me as well…" she thought as she was going through the pile of letter she received this morning, 'Naruto Uzumaki's Academic Semester Results' since she was officially Naruto's guardian, she was the one receiving those kinds of letters, Curious, she decided to take a look to see how her younger brother figure was doing in that aspect
"What the hell are those grades!" she exclaimed in shock, she knew Naruto was smart, even though he didn't seem to care much for his academic life, she knew he could at least stay in the middle of the class without too much effort, "How did this happen?" thinking for a moment, her mind came with the only logical conclusion "…Anko", it all made sense, he finally found someone that could relate to him, someone he could spend the entire day with, fooling around like no tomorrow "and this person isn't me…" she painfully admitted, getting up as she decided she needed to rest a bit, giving one last glance to Naruto's results; That's when her eyes lit up, she swiftly took the piece of paper and took off to the hokage's tower "that might work" she thought as grin adorned her fair features
"…And that is why I should be assigned to be Naruto's tutor until his grades improve back to acceptable levels" she finished with a proud smile
"You seem very keen on teaching the blonde, are there any specific reasons you want to do this?" calmly noted Hiruzen
Fighting back the feeling of embarrassment, she tried to reply as stoically as possible "Well technically I'm still Naruto's gardient, and I wouldn't allow him to get kicked out from the Academy because of his bad results"
Seemingly approving her arguments, the hokage gave her a nod before ordering one of his anbu "Get Naruto Uzumaki here."
After about half an hour of waiting in silence, a young man came through the door
"Ahh jii-chan, how is it going?" cheerfully declared the blonde
Upon receiving a serious gaze as his only answer, he casually approached the hokage and tried to force his mouth into a smile "You know you should smile more jii-chan, or else your face will be filled with wrinkles…more than it is right now that is" he declared with a teasing grin
"Oh, I think it's your face that is going to have some wrinkles after this meeting" it was now Sarutobi's turn to sneer evilly
A confused Naruto then turned to the lone female in the roam " Oh hey Kurenaï-nee, I didn't notice you were…" he stopped in his tracks when he saw the piece of paper in her hand, starting to shake with fear, he tried to defend himself "Listen…I-I can explain"
A few days later, the blonde and the raven-haired kunoichi could be seen in her house, as she gave the boy his first tutoring session
"Sooooooooo boring…" comically cried Naruto as his face slammed against the table he was studying on with his new tutor
"maybe it wasn't that great of an idea, I don't think I can make him have fun with me like that…" Kurenaï realised after only dozens of minutes into their session
"Don't you have more important stuff to do than this? I know I screwed up, but I promise I can manage to fix it next semester"
"And who do you think is responsible for the situation we are in? you shouldn't forget that I'm still your guardian" she bluffed, praying he would fall for it
"eh…alright, alright; I get it " he answered sounding totally defeated
"Naruto, this is knowledge that every shinobi needs in his career" she argued trying to persuade him into focusing
"Yeah, you must've done a lot of function analysis and thermodynamic studies seeing as you're a chunin then" sarcastically retorted a bored sounding Naruto
"I…" an embarrassed Kurenaï was lost for words as he used her own logic against her
"You know what would make this any less boring?"
Confused at her sudden attention he nontheless continued
"maybe I would be a little bit more enthusiastic if my cute teacher was to wear a proper uniform " he teased with an evil smirk as he watched his counterpart get flustered in embarrassment
"you…" she started with a low voice before forming a hand sign wanting to trap her student in a genjutsu, a painful one that is.
Looking as the blonds body tensed and eyes were staring straight forward, she let out a sigh before declaring with pride "that'll teach you not to be a naughty pervert"
"did you really think I would tease you like that without having an ace up my sleeve, Kurenaï-nee?" suddenly stated a smirking Naruto as he regained his composture to a Kurenaï still in shock
"H-how?" "did I fail my jutsu?" she thought as she tried to trap him in her illusion once again
And once again he came out of It a few seconds later seemingly totally unphased "you're gonna have to try harder" teased the blond
Kurenaï couldn't believe her eyes, despite still being a chunin, she was considered to be the best Konoha had to offer in terms of a genjutsu specialist, and here she was, unable to beat a teen that had yet to even graduate
"Why can't I get you in my genjutsu?" she asked with no small amount of annoyance
"it's a secret" Naruto's was enjoying this too much for her liking as his smug face still displayed his arrogant smirk
"Tell me now!" she demanded with as much authority as she could muster
"Ara ara, and where would be the fun in this?" he joked while letting out an amused laugh
"Fine, what do you want?" she reluctantly muttered in defeat
"Oh you know exactly what I want, Kurenaï-sensei" answered Naruto finishing in his special 'innocent' tone
After a few minutes of intense silence and a heated staring contest, Naruto declared in a cheerful mood "welp at least I tr…" he was abruptly interrupted by his counterparts firm voice "Fine; But I get to choose the outfit"
Eyes filling with excitement, Naruto quickly hid it with a hurt expression saying "You don't trust me to choose something decent for you? you're breaking my heart, Kurenaï-nee "
Not bothering to answer, Kurenaï got up and went into her roam searching for something to wear in order to satisfy her pupil's demands "I can't believe I'm doing this" she thought as she put on an assortment of high heels, thigh high stocking that defined her long slender legs, a black skirt and a tight long-sleeved button-down white shirt that showcased her womanly curves, with the last touch being a pair of glasses that complimented her gorgeous red eyes
"although I have to admit that I do look hot wearing this " she tried doing a sexy pose in front of her roam's mirror before blushing furiously while shaking her head
Meanwhile on the main roam, Naruto could not help but think "Man I can't believe what I just made 'Konoha's ice queen' do, I'm gonna regret this so much one of these days" he began shaking in fear thinking about his future punishment, but the sound of a door opening revealed one of the sexiest sights he had ever gazed upon in his life "Ok scrap that I'm not regretting this"
"Wow…" was the only sound that came from his awe struck and blushing face
"Could you please stop staring please? it's embarrassing enough as it is" declared an uncomfortable Kurenaï
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" he apologised as he tried averting his gaze which prompted the raven-haired beauty to let out a laugh "I just realised that's exactly how our first interaction went, are you sure you didn't have a crush on me Naruto-kun?" she then asked with a teasing grin trying to at least get back at him for her humiliating situation
"S-shut up" weakly retorted the blonde while failing to keep himself from furiously blushing, unknown to him, said woman could not chase a very happy feeling that invaded her beating heart, one that even she couldn't understand
"alright, you got what you wanted; Now tell me everything, Naruto no ecchi "
Taken slightly aback by the surname she gave him, he quickly regained his posture, or at least tried to before seriously declaring "Okay so, when we were first taught about genjutsu and how to dispel them, I foolishly thought that it could be easily defeated by just using the taught method of dispelling them, after all, anybody with at least an ounce of skill could determine they are in a genjutsu, right? Wrong, the moment I got hit by one, I lost all my calm and started panicking, so much so that I even thought I was just having a bad dream and that I would wake up soon"
Kurenaï just nodded as she was familiar with the way people underestimated the effect genjutsus had on their mind
"Then, I tried to find a way to systemically solve this problem, I figured I needed some kind of anchor that would help me stay stable and inform me whenever I got trapped into an illusion" he continued, trying to sound as concise as possible
"An anchor? And what exactly could that be? seeing as the genjutsu user has free reign over the victim's perception of his environment" she asked sceptically
Not phased by the question, Naruto smiled before grabbing the soft hand of his teacher and placing it on the left side of his chest
After being confused for a few moments, kurenaï suddenly realised what he was getting at as she felt the strong and systematic beating of the blonde's heart
"You don't mean ?!" exclaimed a wide eyed Kurenaï
"Exactly" simply responded the teen with a smile
"But even then, how would that help you? "
"Well I just thought about pulsating small waves of chakra following my heartbeat, and the moment I feel a disturbance in the rhythm, I would send a stronger pulse to get me out of the effect of the genjutsu, although that would require me to know that I'm facing a genjutsu user, and that would also be useless if i wasn't prepared for a fight…" he ended, but noticed that his counterpart was still locked in a state of awe
"Kurenaï-nee?" he tried calling out for her
"Naruto, do you realise that you've just created a very strong technique? " she asked him in a more than serious tone
"I guess I did? haha" he replied sheepishly
They spend the next hour talking about the art of genjutsu and Kurenaï was frankly impressed by the teen input and thoughts on the topic, he seemed to notice things that took years for others to comprehend and went even further and used those observations to form coherent theories that could amplify one's ability to either use or defend against illusory techniques.
"I don't want to inflate your already big enough ego, but you know you could become a master in this field if you wanted to?" she asked still somewhat shocked by the blonde intelligence
"Meh, I figured early enough that I had too much chakra to be good in either genjutsu or medical jutsu, and I don't plan on having to train for years in chakra control just to be able to execute the basic techniques" he stated nonchalantly before adding
"and besides, Konoha only has one genjutsu genius... and right now, she's wearing a very erotic outfit" he teased as he enjoyed how Kurenaï furiously blushed remembering what exactly she was wearing
Giving him a heated glare before letting out a sigh, Kurenaï then dejectedly said with her head now hanging in defeat "How am I even supposed to punish you now?"
Finding an opportunity to tease his tutor even further, Naruto declared " if you keep talking about 'punishing me' while wearing theses clothes I'm definitely gonna get a nosebleed"
Not finding the energy to retort, Kurenaï just began laughing
"oh crap, did I break her?" joked Naruto
"you dummy, I just thought about how I was supposed to be teaching you and yet ended up learning a thing or two in the domain I'm said to be a master of" she stated while smiling softly
"And I really enjoyed discussing stuff like that with someone as intelligent as you, so I guess we're even" he added while sending one of his rare beaming smiles that would disrupt her heartbeat so much, she would think she was in a genjutsu if she was using her student's new technique
They sat in their comfortable silence, enjoying each other company in what felt like a very happy moment for both of them before they heard a voice coming from the front door "Nai-chan! I'm home "
Now looking like a shaking mess Kurenaï,could only form one thought: "Fuck" before she heard grocery bags hitting the floor as her eyes met with a very surprise and very still Anko Mitarashi looking straight at her
"…I think I'm bisexual" finally declared the shocked woman as a small strain of blood could be seen coming from her nose
A few days later, one could see a very relaxed blonde laying on a tree branch in a calmer than usual forest of death, but a voice came from another branch below him to disturb his calm moment
"maaaaaan this sucks so hard" whined Anko
"Oi, it's not my fault today is a holiday"
"but even if their store is closed, why can't we just prank them in their houses?" tentatively asked the woman
"I don't screw with people's home, Anko, everyone should at least have one safe place where they can be happy with their family, I love making their life hell, but I draw the line here, if you want to do it, it's gonna be on your own" declared a slightly annoyed Naruto
" Awn but what would I be without my evil master-pranker?" answered the woman with a fake sad smile
"Piss off, Anko" lightly retorted trying to go back to his peaceful moment
Frustrated by her counterpart lack of willingness to entertain her as he usually does, she jumped into the upper branch, joining the blonde teen, and declared with a smirk "I'm not letting you nap until you show me something fun"
"eh, you know you can be a pain in the ass when you want to?" said Naruto as he finally gave in after a few minutes of being disturbed
he got himself into a sitting position facing the purple-haired woman, and casually began to take his shirt off
starting to blush furiously, Anko panicked a bit as she sputtered "W-what are you doing? Naruto I-I'm not ready for that yet"
looking at her with a pair of confused eyes Naruto burst out laughing before deciding to tease her "Jeez, what a virgin "
trying to avert her eyes from him in an embarrassed fashion she weakly tried to retort "S-shut up, it's not like you're not a virgin as well", not hearing any response for a moment she rapidly turned her head to a very smug looking blonde "No fucking way!" she exclaimed prior to asking "you're not a virgin?"
"I will neither confirm nor deny" he answered before adding "let's not get ourselves lost in this, do you want me to show you or are you going to pass out from looking at a man's chest?"
Sending him a glare as an answer, she looked as he slowly took off his shirt revealing a very toned and appealing upper body, not letting herself ogle too much at the sight before her, she noticed something on his chest, it was a tattoo of the kanji for 'Demon' and she couldn't help but think it looked pretty cool
"looks nice huh? I did it myself " he declared with a hint of pride
"yeah it is, but aren't you a bit too young for tattoos?" she asked now perplexed at how fast the teen across her must've grown quickly to do these kinds of stuff
"So, you didn't mind the sexual jokes and remarks but now you're worried about some ink? although now that I think about it, maybe a prude like you didn't even notice them "
Anko couldn't believe it, the snake whore, the woman that consistently teased and played with men like they were toys using her sex-appeal was being called a prude and a virgin; she began shaking in anger as her hair was obscuring her eyes
Panicking upon noticing the woman's rage build up, he started to swiftly think of any plan that would save him from unmeasurable pain, moving on instinct alone, he launched himself forward at the woman and whispered in her ear "Although I don't mind inexperienced girls" he said in the deepest voice he could make before planting a quick kiss on her cheeks; not one to test his luck any further, he swiftly disappeared, fearful of what the woman might now do, hoping that he at least got himself a few seconds before she started chasing , because this time, he didn't have the terrain advantage, as after their time together, Anko became as familiar as he was with the forest
If Naruto had stayed, he would have seen a very confused and blushing Anko patting the spot where the teen's lips were planted moments ago before she realised that he was buying time to escape her wrath, not wasting any moment, she took off behind him albeit with a noticeable smile on her face
After a very fun yet exhausting cat and mouse chase that reminded the duo of their first encounter, they both laid on the grassy ground of a large clearing, equally trying to regain their breath, before relaxing in the comfortable silence that came upon them
"You know…I have a mark as well" she declared seriously as the duo shifted into a sitting position
Slightly leaning his head in curiosity, Naruto waited for her to continue
He looked as she took off her trench coat while he was fighting the blush that was threatening to adorn his face, still confused by his counterpart's actions
she slowly approached him, and he now was feeling his heart beat faster with each centimeter she closed between them, it was only when she tilted her head to give him a clearer view of her neck that he noticed three black tomoes arranged in a circular pattern drawn on her skin, after a few moments of examining the symbols "what is this? I've never seen such thing in my life " asked a confused Naruto
"This is a curse mark… it's been given to me by the traitor Orochimaru of the sannin while he was trying all sorts of sadistic experiments on me…I was rescued from one of his abandoned labs a few months before I met you, but I wasn't allowed to roam the village freely for a long time as they were interrogating me, making sure I was loyal to Konoha, yet even then, I was considered a traitor by most in the village, and how could they not ? I still have this godforsaken tattoo that will taint me for the rest of my life, constantly reminding them exactly what I am, and if it wasn't enough, my former sensei's 'gift' sometimes flares up causing me immense pain as it disrupts my chakra control which makes me a shittier ninja in unpredictable and potential life or death situations" she monologued while staring at the ground with a sorrowful expression
"you can't get the seal taken off of you?" he asked weakly
Shaking her head in defeat she answered "there is no one in the village that knows enough about Fuinjutsu to get this shit off of me…And I don't even know if there is someone in the world that could, If I was being honest…"
"come on Anko, I didn't know you to be a loser, I'm sure there is someone out there that will clean this stain for you; You just have to stay strong, okay?" he tried to recomfort his friend but failed miserably as he saw her slowly nod with a face still filled with despair
"And if no such person exists, then I'll become that someone" he declared in his head promising that he would fend the skies and split the seas to help his friends, compared to that, what was reading a few books on some mysterious art?
"you know...I lied when I told you that my whiskers were birthmarks…" he started
Raising her sadness-filled eyes to see him, Anko weakly asked "So, what are they?"
"I was assaulted by a drunk man when I was twelve, he said my face looked too 'innocent', so he wanted to give me something that would 'remind me of what I was' as he said, he then drew those on my cheeks with his knife" recounted the blonde as he was gazing at the distance
Feeling anger and sorrow fill her being, Anko was now now finding their situation to be very similar, he was like her, a hurt soul trying to find some life in this unfair and utterly shitty world
"Two pariah talking about their dreadful existence, isn't it a bit too miserable?"
"No, I think it's comforting" admitted Naruto with a serene voice
"what do you mean?" asked Anko, confused
"It could've been one hell of a desolated life being the only defective person around, but you and I need never be lonely again" he declared solemnly with a small smile
Tears started to fill her eyes as a happy beam slowly replaced her previously sorrowful expression "Maybe it's not that bad…as long as it is with you"
I really hope the lenght of the chapters isn't becoming a turn off for you guys, if you have any thoughts about that or anything to comment on the chapter, please leave a review or send me a private message.