CHAPTER THREE

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When Anomie got back to Rin's house, she noticed the flower vase by the door. It sat on a window seal, overlooking the sun and inside was the Hezā flower, facing the sun. As she closed the sliding door behind her, she walked to the flower and stroked the petals softly with her fingertips.

"Do you like it?" Rin asked from behind her, causing Anomie to slightly jump. "I bought a vase for it. I figured it would shine protection better if it stayed alive."

Anomie opened her lips to reply, but when she looked at Rin's apron, covered in charcoal black marks she closed her mouth and stared. Rin looked down and sheepishly grinned.

"I tried to cook," was all the girl had to say before Anomie's lip twitch upwards for an instant before going back to a deadpan. "Do you think my failures are amusing?"

Anomie raised a single brow and walked into the kitchen, noticing Rin bite her lip as she did, looking like she wanted to say something before Anomie's next step. The moment she saw the scene of burn marks covering the ground and decorating the wood cabinets her eyes widened. There were puddles of water, with scraps of oil and what looked to be soy sauce scattered over the tiles.

Anomie slowly pressed her palm over her mouth, and Rin saw the girl's shoulders begin to shake.

"Hey, An-chan, are you alright?" Rin asked, but the sound of sudden laughter escaped the once stoic girl before it erupted into sweet innocent giggles that echoed across the house. It was such a sweet laugh, that Rin couldn't help but smile along, but her embarrassment was still obvious on her cheeks.

"How about," Anomie said in between giggles, "I do the cooking."

"It's not funny," Rin said as she playfully pushed the girl's shoulder. Anomie's face turned hilariously stoic once again, as if she had never laughed.

"Of course not."

"You're making fun of me," Rin said with a frown. Anomie blinked.

"I would never." Especially considering I was going to be the one to clean this up, as I highly doubted Rin really knew how to clean the big messes.

"You are," Rin said with a frown as Anomie's deadpan suddenly broke in one unconfined laugh before the girl put her hand over her lips. When she removed it, the white haired girl's expression was blank again.

"I'm just impressed you didn't start a fire," Anomie said seriously as she crossed her arm. It was as if some devil down below wanted to have a chuckle as the pan, still on the stove, caught fire. Anomie's eyes darted to Rin's before she rushed to get rid of the flames.

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"It's just until the repairs come in," Rin said as she glanced to Obito while his grandmother set up the guest bedroom for the two girls to sleep.

"So you blew up your kitchen," Obito said, and Rin frowned at his tone.

"With soy sauce," Anomie said in a monotone as she helped the grandmother set up the bed. Rin was officially not allowed to touch anything around the house after the Uchiha granny heard the story.

"Among other things," Rin added, sitting down with a pout. "But this isn't too bad. It can be like when we were kids."

"There was less of an issue with puberty when you were kids," granny muttered, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

Obito looked embarrassed and his face turned beet red when Anomie stripped off her dress to reveal her tube top and shorts underneath. She didn't seem to notice when they all stared at her at first, but she slowly glanced their way with an innocent, "what?"

"This is what I meant," granny mumbled as she walked out of the room.

"An-chan..." Rin scolded.

"What?" Anomie asked, still not getting the sudden tone shift.

"You can't dress in front of boys," she said her almost sisterly tone as if she were talking to a child. Obito whistled awkwardly as he walked out the room when he saw Anomie begin to strip out of her shorts.

"It's not like he's interested in my body," Anomie said simply as she changed into her black fitted spandex pajamas.

"That's not the point, An-chan," Rin said simply.

"I'd be more worried if you changed in front of him," Anomie said simple, slipping on knee high socks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin asked.

"Well, he likes you so when a boy likes a girl then obviously he wants to-"

"Forget I asked."

Anomie only shrugged.

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"Hey An-chan...are you sleeping?" Rin whispered in the dead of night, quite randomly even as she lay next to the white haired girl who hadn't moved a centimeter since laying down while Rin was tossing and turning. Anomie however, stayed on her back, arms straight at her side and sometimes it barely felt like she was breathing.

"Not when someone is talking," came the other's girl's reply as her eyes opened without a moment's hesitation.

"I can't sleep," Rin murmured, and Anomie turned her head to stare at Rin's eager expression. "I was tempted to ask Kakashi if we could stay with him, but I don't think he'd go for it."

That was random. "He might of. You said he wasn't a jerk, did you not?"

"Y-You think so?"

How the hell am I supposed to know? "Sure."

"I missed my chance to get closer."

"I'm sure you could have had many romantic moments when I stepped outside." Anomie mused in a small droll as she looked back up to the ceiling.

"Ah. I forgot about that," Rin sounded genuinely sad about a hypothetical situation, making Anomie want to scoff.

"He doesn't look too interesting. Doesn't talk much."

"Neither do you and I still like you."

"I speak when spoken to."

"Well, I think he's amazing. He beat everyone at the Chūnin exams. Obito lost against this one green suited guy but then there came Kakashi." Rin sounded amazed at her own memory.

"Hn."

"Have you really never liked anything like this?"

"I like melon bread."

"What?"

"I got some yesterday. It didn't taste like melon, but it was good."

"That doesn't count, An-chan."

"Why?"

"Because you can't kiss melon bread or hold hands with melon bread."

"...but you can't kiss or hold hands with Kakashi either."

Rin went silent, and it took Anomie a while to realize that her last statement pissed the purple striped girl off. Shrugging, Anomie decided to go back to sleep. The fact remained that she could get farther with melon bread than Rin could with Kakashi.

"You're not very nice, An-chan," Rin murmured, but suddenly cuddled into the woman's waist, making Anomie's eyes open in surprise.

Blinking, she let out a small sigh and turned her head towards Rin's form, resting on Anomie's belly.

"What can I say, I'm a bitch," she didn't hear Rin's response, which assured her that the girl had probably fallen asleep. Anomie's heart slightly warmed in an unfamiliar, but soothing ease that she had never felt before.

Anomie's world in Kemuri had been shades of grey, outlining every corner that she turned. She had grown so used to those grey clouds that she had forgotten that colors actually existed. She had forgotten that people could be inherently kind and she forgot what kindness looked like.

But with Rin, she wasn't so afraid of finding out if it was possible to remember what that forgotten something felt like.

The girl was too kind and Anomie knew that kindness wasn't easy to have in a world that is so unfair and Anomie wanted to cling to it for as long as it isn't snuffed out.

Then, maybe, she could learn to see the colors that had darkened, one shade at a time.

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Staying with Obito had proved to be uncomfortable, mostly for said boy, as being in sleeping distance to the girl of his dreams made him clumsy and awkward to be around. It didn't help that Anomie's body was constantly uncovered and there were time she'd walk around the house in nothing but a towel. By the second night, grandma Uchiha had finally set her foot down.

"New rule, Anomie wears a robe," the woman said, holding the once mostly revealed girl in a frilly, thick blue robe that had obviously belonged to the old Uchiha lady.

Anomie didn't look affected or ashamed as she sat down on the bed while Rin sighed. "Sorry Obaa-sama. The repairs will be done by tomorrow so we should be out of here by then," Rin said, and the elder only chuckled.

"I like having girls around. I'm not trying to make you feel unwelcome, Rin," the elder Uchiha said before giving Anomie a stern glance. "But I wouldn't mind teaching this one some modesty." As she looked at the girl's blank face, the older woman sighed. "Although, I'm starting to think it's impossible."

Rin gave her friend a glare, to which Anomie responded with a confused glance, obviously not understanding her own disrespecting posture. After a moment, Anomie finally spoke. "I like the robe."

"This child," the grandmother walked out, shaking her head back and forth. The moment the elder was gone, Anomie ducked as a pillow flew in the space where her head would have been.

"Was it something I said?" she asked, causing Rin to sigh.

"You need to respect your elders."

"I did. I said I liked the robe even though the blue makes even the thinnest person look like a whale."

"Shh!"

"Was it something I said?"

"You're impossible."

Anomie shrugged, taking off the robe, earning a stern glance from Rin. She then proceeded to get dressed in tight black leggings and a loose dress. She put on her shoes quickly and grabbed her wallet.

"Where are you going?"

Anomie barely glanced up, "I'm hungry."

"It's midnight."

"I'm hungry," she repeated it, as if it was obvious, and Rin laid her head roughly against the bed.

"It's dark. There's weirdoes at night."

"I'll bring a flashlight."

"That's not what I meant," Rin began, but the other girl already walked out of the room. Rin sighed, laying her head against the pillow as she heard Anomie brush off the grandmother's questions as to where the girl was going with a simple "I'm hungry" before she heard the door close.

"I think Baa-chan really likes Anomie," Obito said from the doorframe, his grin contagious.

"I didn't think that would be possible at this point in their relationship," Rin said as she sat up and glanced his way.

"She only gets this protective when she likes someone," Obito said simply. "I wasn't too sure when you took her in, but after seeing you two together I think it's good for you."

"You're just saying that cause you think she's pretty," Rin joked, and Obito immediately blushed.

"Ah...well...I don't know if she's my type."

"You don't have a type. You're 13!" came the grandmother's shout, causing Obito to frown.

"Baa-chan!" Obito whined back, causing Rin to let out a giggle.

"You have one job at 13," came the grandmother's continued shout, echoing throughout the Uchiha's house. "Study and eat. There is no in between."

"But Baa-chan!"

"Study and eat."

"Baa-chan!"

"Study and eat..."

Before long, Rin was doing all she could to stay calm as her shoulders were shaking from contained laughter.

"I don't think Anomie has a type anyway," she said, and Obito glanced over. "Unless you're rich...I think that's her type."

"Give it up! You can barely afford socks," Baa-chan's shout came out almost mocking, making Obito's cheeks inflame.

"Baa-chan!"

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The darkness of Konoha was inviting as she walked down the streets under the moon's silver glow. Her boots were soundless over the paved road, so if she closed her eyes, the silence allowed her to muse into oblivion in her head. The further she walked into town, the more people began to spring up.

They were mostly teenagers, many still in full ninja gear; making her wonder if they had just gotten back to the village. Some were probably civilians, but she didn't care to figure out which were and weren't. The food stalls were mostly pitch black, closed for the night, but some were illuminated with candlelight making it shine out.

A lot of the groups were chatting amongst themselves, and their idle whispers faded into murmurs to Anomie's ears.

She was pleasantly surprised to find the Ichiraku ramen house still opened and she saw the spiked silver hair of Kakashi, sitting on the booth. She pursed her lips as she walked forward, moving the curtain from her face as she took a seat by the wall, as she had last time. She ignored the fact that she had taken a seat next to Kakashi, despite all the empty seats. She liked the wall seat the best.

Kakashi didn't look her way, and she didn't say anything.

"Welcome. What can I get you this time?" Teuichi asked with a warm smile.

"Tare," Anomie let out her one word reply before turning towards Kakashi and placing her cheek flat on her palm and stared, her elbow resting against the countertop. Almost instantly his eyes met hers.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," came her reply.

He sighed, glancing back towards his ramen, he hadn't eaten any of it yet and his eyes were trained on a book in his palm. After five minutes of staring, he appeared to of had enough as he glanced back towards the girl next to him.

"Stop it," he ordered and she tilted her head.

"Do you take off your mask to eat?" she asked and saw the indent of his lips settle into a frown. "Do you have some battle scar? Or buck teeth. Battle scars can be sexy and buck teeth can be helpful when in the presence of nuts and other foods with hard shells."

"That's rather rude," he said simply, being the fifth person to call her rude that day, one would think she'd take it to heart. She only continued to stare.

"Are you offended because of your buck teeth?" she asked slowly and his eyes crept to her once more.

"I don't have buck teeth," he said simply, while Teuichi attempted to stay a neutral party by focusing his entire attention on cooking.

"So I'm not rude."

"It doesn't work that way," he said simply, his eyes going back to his book.

"Are you reading porn?" she asked and he snapped his head to her.

"Will saying yes make you shut up?"

"So you are reading porn?"

"So you aren't shutting up?"

"Obviously," she said, and stopped talking when Teuichi placed a bowl of ramen in front of her. She didn't spare Kakashi another glance as she ate. By the time she looked back at him, she saw that he was already halfway done, his mask still on. "Ashamed of your buck teeth?"

He scowled over to her and opened his mouth to say something witty, but was interrupted by a loud voice, and a pat to his back.

"If it isn't my rival with my lady love," Gai said, laughing as he patted Kakashi's back again while both Anomie and Kakashi went stiff.

"In your dreams," Anomie said slowly, causing Gai to grin and place a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Every night at sundown," Gai said, and her face emptied.

"What's my name?" she asked, and Gai's eyes humorously widened.

"You have the beauty of a lotus flower," he said, ignoring the girl's comment. "Am I interrupting a date? Two people, in the prime of their youth, eating ramen so late ate night." Gai looked about ready to cry as he stared between Kakashi and his apparent love interest.

"Her name's Anomie." Kakashi said simply, not bothering to deny the accusation. Nothing would deter Gai from an assumption anyway. Kakashi had learned that the hard way. Anomie sighed, as the mention of her name made Gai get closer to her.

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I'm Maito Gai."

"I know who you are," she said in reply.

"So you've heard of me!" Gai looked too proud, and she saw Kakashi turn his head, hiding his smirk even though his mask did that already.

"You introduced yourself already," what is wrong with you?

"You remembered, this must be love," Gai replied, and she closed her eyes, realizing that he was going to turn everything she said back on her.

Kakashi stood up, placing money on the counter and attempted to leave before Gai placed an arm on his shoulder.

"I challenge you Kakashi," Gai shouted, while Anomie turned her chair back to her ramen and continued eating.

"It's late," Kakashi said in reply. "I don't want to."

"You can't back out this time," Gai said.

"Don't you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk," Kakashi replied, but Gai's stern looks never eased, causing Kakashi to sigh. "Fine. How about rock, paper, scissors?"

"I'll beat you this time. I will master this game of chance!"

After eight rounds, Gai was almost in tears after having lost every round. Kakashi looked ready to pound his head against a wall, and his eyes remained in an ever-present deadpan.

"This game of chance is stripping me of my youth," Gai shouted after the tenth round.

"That's because you keep picking rock," Anomie said, sipping her tea as her stool was turned towards them, having nothing else to do. She enjoyed watching Gai lose, as his expression towards rejection and losing made her slightly giddy.

Gai looked her way, "My lady is right, her gentle concern for me is making me want to cry."

"Cry somewhere else," Kakashi said simply. "I win. So I can go."

Gai held up his index finger with a gaze of determination. "One more round and if I lose I will sprint around Konoha 500 times on my hands."

"I don't believe you," Kakashi said, and Gai's expression turned hard.

"A man in his youth doesn't go back on his word," Gai said, and the silver haired ninja let out a deep sigh before he finally held up his fist in ready position. This time, Guy chose scissors, but at that moment Kakashi chose rock. The green suited man looked ready to die as he held up his index finger again and said, "one more time."

"This is hell..." Kakashi said after a moment of silence. Anomie slightly smiled, covering it in her cup as she took a sip of tea. Even Teuichi looked to be having fun, giving them tiny looks of amusement as he made the ramen for a woman who came inside a took a seat in the booth.

"Come on, Kakashi-san, give the guy a chance," Anomie finally interjected, causing Gai's eyes fill with hearts as he looked over to his self-proclaimed love. The down-casted expression that overtook Kakashi's face made messing with Gai's feelings worth it.

"I'm in hell," Kakashi mumbled in a repeat as he held up his fist. "Tell you what, I'll give you a hint. I'm choosing scissors."

"You won't fool me with your tricks. I have your brain figured out, Kakashi," Gai shouted, and Kakashi almost fell to his knees in annoyance. Gai lost. Kakashi chose scissors. "So the trick was inside the trick. Clever Kakashi. No one else could be my rival but you."

Kakashi's expression seemed to get even more deadpan, only now boarding on irritated. He slowly closed his eyes and sighed, turning around to escape.

"I'll beat you one day, Kakashi," Gai shouted, getting started on his laps. It was only an hour later that he sat down next to her, his face glistening with tiny beads of sweat. Other than that, he gave no indignation that he had just sprinted around Konoha 500 times on his hands. Anomie was soon faced with the full force of his stare.

"What?" she asked and he took a deep breath and sat down next to her.

"Two more green teas," Gai ordered the chef, who looked at Anomie for confirmation, who only shrugged.

"You paying?" she asked, as she fully rotated her chair forward to the countertop. She glanced at him lazily while he gave her a very wide grin.

"The men should always pay on a first date," he said simply and she stared at him in a deadpan.

"This isn't a date," she replied as Teuichi placed a green tea in front of her and then in front of Gai.

"You can't run from love, An-chan," Gai said with a bright grin.

"Why do people keep calling me that?" she muttered, taking a sip from her tea, placing her fingers against the bottom as she lifted it up to her lips.

"It looks like Kakashi is my rival in combat and love," Gai said with eyes full of fire. Anomie glanced towards him, trying to decide whether or not correcting him would be fun.

"I wish you wouldn't make your inferiority complex my problem," her eyes rolled, deciding the continued effort wasn't worth it. Her gaze darted to its corners, watching as a man passed by the curtain, drunk and hanging off his friends. She heard him speaking of the Oiran girls in a slurred tone as his friends all but dragged him away.

She could barely hear Gai speak after that, and her mind wondered to the red light district. The third Hokage had seemed reluctant to give her any details on the place and strictly mentioned that prostitution was illegal, but she had her doubts that the rule would be enforced in a time of war. A girl's body is hers to sell, and many had families to feed and husbands who died in war. Sometimes, all a girl could do was sell was she had.

She listened as Gai speak, but her mind never returned from that dark corner.

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"It looks good as new," Rin commented, happily rushing her hands over the new counter in the repaired kitchen. The fire that exploded had spread surprisingly far, making Rin's lack of skills feel all the more deadly.

"I'll cook," Anomie said, placing the paper bag of groceries on the countertop.

Rin sheepishly nodded, "that's for the best."

Anomie glanced the girl's way, "Cooking is all about directions. I'll teach you."

"What if I blow something up again?" Rin said with a pout. "I can't afford the repairs twice and if mom comes home to a burnt kitchen, she'll kill me."

"Don't be a child. If you're ever going to be healthy, then you have to eat something that isn't ramen for once. Or at least learn how to not make a fire when you make rice."

"I can make rice."

"I'm genuinely surprised."

"Hey...you're mocking me."

Anomie shrugged, "a little, but I'll teach you how to be better so I don't have to worry about you setting yourself on fire when I leave."

"It's not like I'm about to kick you out," Rin said seriously as she let the girl drag her back into the kitchen.

"I can't live with you forever. Someday, you and Kakashi are going to get married and you can't have me there with you," Anomie quietly joked, and Rin's lips curved into a bright smile at the thought.

"We could adopt you," came Rin's reply and Anomie turned towards her, hand on hip with a single brow raised.

"I'm older. That's weird," she retorted, and she immediately began washing the rice.

"Well, I'm sure if my hypothetical, possibly unreturned, crush on Kakashi works out, then adopting you won't be so bad," Rin replied simply, watching as the girl washed the rice.

"It's only possibly unreturned, because you possibly haven't confessed," Anomie replied, allowing the water to drench her hands as she slushed around the small grains.

"You try confessing to someone you see everyday," Rin muttered, and Anomie turned her head to Rin, eyes serious.

"Rin. I love you. Romantically. Date me," she replied, before nonchalantly going back to the rice while Rin turned to stone.

"It's different if you don't mean it!" came Rin's retort, sticking out her tongue in a childish fashion.

"Who says I don't mean it?" Anomie replied, noticing Rin's eyes immediately widened and her face reddened. Anomie's lips broke into an amused smile and a mocking wink. "I don't know why people are so afraid of confessing their love for someone. It really isn't embarrassing to tell someone that they are amazing enough to deserve affection." Anomie shut off the water and glanced back towards Rin. "Finish the rice."

Rin obeyed, shaking the water off the grains through the strainer before placing it in the rice cooker. "It's nice to think so, but confessing isn't embarrassing because of the fear to tell someone that they are always on your mind, but it's the fear of rejection that is the worst."

"Meh," Anomie brushed off Rin's words as she began adding ingredients to a bowl and whisking them together. "Then enjoy never getting any closer to Kakashi in the way you like."

"Your advice makes me so touched," Rin sarcastically retorted as she watched the other girl begin to skin the chicken before cutting it into tiny slices.

"Confess on your own time, but if you wait too long then life might ruin opportunities, even if he did feel the same way."

"Life?"

"War. Death. Those sorts of things," Anomie replied, and she glanced towards Rin. "War changes people, men and women alike, and you can't go through life thinking that if you do good, bad things won't happen to you. Bad things happen to good people everyday. If you wait too long, then you'll be the only one to suffer."

"You give advice like a mother," Rin said after a moment of pouting, to which Anomie only shrugged.

"When is your mother coming home?"

"The mission is supposed to of ended a couple days ago, but her missions usually get prolonged all the time. I can't wait for her to meet you. Maybe I can cook for her when she gets back," Rin sounded excited by the thought, and Anomie tossed the girl the knife, to which Rin reflexively caught.

"Get practicing then."

After an hour of cooking, and eight minutes of Rin putting out a small fire in the sink, the food was done and Anomie was mentally exhausted to the point where she could barely eat. Cooking had never been her favorite pass time, and she was by no means an expert, but cooking and worrying that Rin was going to set another fire the moment she turned her back wasn't how she planned spending a Friday.

But, after seeing Rin's proud expression, it all almost felt worth it and she figured that after an entire morning and afternoon of mission prepping, Rin could use the time out to enjoy something. It wasn't everyday that they got so much time to spend together, so she enjoyed what time they did have. Their schedules were quite different as most days Rin was either away on missions or training, while Anomie had usually paid a visit to the red light district.

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There weren't any girls her age in the pleasure district, but Anomie had been blessed with a matured body, so she didn't get much questions. She didn't know why she went there, especially when there were other jobs she could have gotten, but some nights felt empty and boring without the life and laughter of the entertainment.

Some sick part of her had grown so accustomed to it in her old life that it wouldn't detach from her shadow. She could do without the pleasuring aspect, but some nights she missed that as well.

The Oiran house wasn't as secluded as the one in Kemuri, as none of the girls there were allowed to leave on there own and freedoms had been dominated by the men. These ones seemed to offer more freedom, and were more crowded. The girls weren't as beautiful than in Kemuri, and but their garments and robes were stunning that Anomie grew envious as she stared at them.

She knew that if she offered herself to the house, she wouldn't be allowed to leave often and she wouldn't be allowed to see Rin on her own. She wouldn't be allowed to have even half of the freedom she had now. That thought kept her away, but each night, her thoughts walked closer to that place.

In Kemuri, she had been abducted off the streets and taken to a brothel. It was shabby, and most of the girls were homely and poor. The guests didn't care if the girl was a child. She made the house much money, before a noble man in the upper district noticed her. She was by far the youngest, and no one cared that her age was illegal.

In Kemuri, there were only two classes. The rich and the poor. The poor were of many, thin and without food, while the rich made shows of their wealth with litters of gold. There was no middle class and the rich stomped on the poor. Not many girls in the brothels ever got the chance to be anything more than a common prostitute, and many died from abortions or drunk men who put too much strength behind their fists.

The fact that a girl of nine got noticed at all was rare. She was taken off the streets and the nobleman took a personal interest in her education. He called her beautiful everyday and would often stroke her face when he bought her clothes and makeup. Only once she had been groomed, had he taken her to the Oiran house. She was the only peasant there, and it had brought unnecessary attention. She hadn't even met a Tayū until much later, and from the moment she saw the woman, showered with praise, elegance, and beauty, she had strived to become one. She wanted to be the first girl from a common brothel to become a Tayū. There was no higher honor.

Kindness didn't exist in Kemuri, and once she turned eleven, she realized why the nobleman had raised her to greatness. A man of his stature couldn't be seen or heard with a common whore.

That being said, she didn't know why her thoughts strayed back to the red light district. She had no nobleman with pockets of gold to sponsor her, but she knew that if she appealed to one of the Oiran, they would see her potential and sponsor her out of their own pockets. She was a girl already trained and as many men had agreed, she was beautiful. Anything they give her, she could repay tenfold in under a year.

So her eyes drifted back to the Oiran house once more, but she couldn't find it in her to take the first step inside.

Perhaps she wanted to enjoy her peasant life a little longer this time, even if a part of her missed the lavish fortunes of the Oiran house.

But more than that...she didn't want to disappoint Rin.

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Team Minato was leaving to some important mission in the morning, as Rin explained to her early on as she began packing her bag. Anomie didn't ask what it was, but knew that Rin would tell her eventually, as the girl had proved to clap her jaws at every secret when Anomie was near.

"The map you brought," Rin said while she packed her medical kit. "They deciphered the meaning and now dozens of missions are being deployed." Rin turned her head towards Anomie with a wide smile. "You may not know it, but you're a real hero."

"Urgh," came Anomie's grimace, causing Rin to let out a brighter smile. "I hate that stupid scroll. Everything about it is bad luck, including the information on it."

Rin giggled, sealing another medical kit into her scroll and placing it on her waist. "Well, no matter what you think, you've still saved many lives by bringing it here."

"The missions haven't been fulfilled yet. We'll see how many make it back."

"An-chan," Rin scolded, and Anomie finally remembered that Rin was about to go on a mission from the scroll's presence. Her face looked almost apologetic, to which Rin rolled her eyes at.

"Where are you going anyway?" she asked, not caring if it was confidential information, and by the nonchalance of Rin's expression, neither did she.

"The border's crossing."

"Ah. Fun," Anomie said in a toneless manner as she lay down on the bed where Rin packed.

"Well, Obito and everyone were thinking about hanging out before we all left on missions. It's sort of a tradition for us. Would you like to come?" Rin asked and Anomie glanced towards the girl from the corner of her eye.

"Where?" she asked, and Rin smiled.

"We usually get dumplings. There's lots of space in the shop so it should be fun," Rin said and Anomie blinked before shrugging.

"Whose everyone?"

"Oh, just Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Genma, Raidō," Rin noticed Anomie's eye twitch at the mention of Gai, but decided to ignore it. For the most part, the more names Rin said, the less Anomie began to care. "And Ebisu."

"Isn't Kakashi coming?" She asked, and Rin glanced over surprised.

"Why do you ask? Do you have a crush on him?"

"He isn't bad to look at."

Rin didn't seem to like the girl's honest answer, causing Anomie's lips to quirk in a mostly contained smile. "So what? Are you planning on confessing to him?"

"If I did, would you be okay?" Anomie quipped, turning on her belly to look Rin in the eyes.

Rin's eyes narrowed, and her lips pressed flatly together as she began going through her medical kit for checkups. "Of course. You and Kakashi would be cute together." Her fingers snapped something in half as she went rummaging through her bag.

Anomie watched with obvious amusement, to which Rin would have noticed if she took her eyes off the bandages that she rearranged. "We could have a June wedding and I could be his perfect little housewife and fold his laundry and make him food for when he comes home from a long mission."

Rin's expression soured, but she kept her lips sealed, trying to cover her obvious jealousy of a hypothetical situation.

"So you should confess soon before some bitch like me comes along," Anomie leaned up on her palm, flat on her chin while her elbow sunk into the mattress.

"You were playing with me." Rin said, meeting Anomie's gaze.

"Yeah."

"An-chan..."

"He'd fold his own laundry."

"An-chan..."

"And a June wedding is too hot. I see November for my future."

"I'm a ninja. I can physically kick your ass."

"You're right, you're right," Anomie said, smiling into her palm. "December would be better."

A pillow slapped her in the face before the other girl could dodge; causing Anomie's to let out an uncharacteristic laugh. In the mean time, Rin beat the other girl senselessly with a pillow, both laughing while getting wrapped into the bed.

"Alright, I give up, I give up," Anomie said, trying to get away from Rin's barrage of tickling, touching her sides. "Stop! Stop," came the girl's out of breath plea as she laughed and attempted to crawl off the bed, her hands reaching the carpet below and dragged her legs off until she fell onto the floor.

"Wuss," Rin stated as she laid her back against the bed, still breathing hard from laughing while Anomie stood up.

"Not cool," she said in reply. "I've never been tickled before. I don't like it."

"Good. I didn't do it for you to like it."

"Rude. What would Kakashi say? Well, when we're married, I'll ask him."

"Anomie..."

"What? I thought you said we look cute together. We both have white hair. It's a match made in heaven, Rin-chan."

Rin leapt off the bed in battle formation, nails extended into claws. Anomie swerved, seeing it coming this time as she appeared behind Rin's clumsy body and locked the girl's arms wrapped around in her own, her body pressed against Rin's back. "Let me go," Rin whined, and Anomie made a tisking noise.

"Thought you were a ninja. Where's all that ninja strength? Kick my ass," Anomie said in a mocking tone, causing Rin to pout.

"Anomie...you're surprisingly strong," Rin said as she struggled in the girl's grasp.

"What can I say? Sit-ups, push-ups, and plenty of juice," came Anomie's reply, releasing Rin from her arms.

"Screw you, Anomie," Rin pouted, facing the girl and using one hand to shove her on the bed before walking over to finish packing her supplies.

"I thought I was a hero. The bringer of the map."

"Shut up, An-chan."

"But in all seriousness," Anomie maneuvered her head to look over to Rin, who stood at the end of the bed. "Don't overdo it...you Shinobi might think nothing of sacrificing lives for a village, but...anyway, don't over do it." Anomie's voice was nonchalant and Rin opened her lips to respond, but the sound of knocking caught her attention, so she quickly put her response on hold, her lips in a playful smile.

"No one's dying yet, An-chan," she replied as she walked out of the room to answer the door. Anomie barely moved before the girl came rushing back in, Rin's face now stricken in worry. Anomie's eyes furrowed together as she watched the girl's once happy expression replaced by whatever news the girl had been struck with only 15 seconds prior.

"Do you want some water?" Anomie asked, glossing over the idea of asking what was wrong, and Rin looked ready to fall down.

"I have to go out for a while. The Hokage's calling me," Rin said, her lips forming into an obviously forced smile. Anomie didn't question it because if Rin wanted her to know what was wrong, Rin would tell her in her own time.

"Do you want to go alone?" Anomie asked, her tone coming out in monotone.

"I'm sure it will be okay. I might be gone for a while. I'll meet you at the Miriko's dango shop...adjacent to Ichiraku, kay." Rin didn't give the other girl a chance to respond, as the girl darted out of the room.

Anomie only nodded her head, watching as Rin rushed out of the house without a second thought. Anomie stood up from the bed, and walked to the door, watching as an unfamiliar man in a Konoha Hitai-ate, wrapped securely around his arm, motioned for Rin to follow him. Rin followed him out without a second thought.

Anomie had little else to do but watch the girl walk out, and she thought back on the worried, almost scared expression that Rin had given her moments earlier. With that thought in her mind, Anomie began to wonder what new expressions this unknown news would bring.

But she wasn't a ninja...and she had no business interfering in this part of Rin's life so Anomie settled for waiting for the girl to return.

●▬▬▬Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ▬▬▬●

Rin didn't show up to the dango house, and apparently Anomie appeared early enough to be alone with Gai, who also decided to show up much before the set time. Her attempts of hiding behind a menu didn't work, as Gai was quick to sit in front of her and yank the menu out of her hand, calling her his lotus flower while doing so.

She didn't mind being called pretty, and it was actually the best part of her days, but Gai always managed to slip a compliment about himself in every compliment directed towards her.

"I know, you are stunned by my impeccable youth and strength," came Gai's comment, and she glanced up from her menu, meeting his gaze.

"I'm stunned about a lot of things," she said simply, eyes going back to the menu. "But not that."

"You're so cold, ice queen," he made a chilled motion with his hands and she found herself holding back a smile.

"What did you call me?"

"You're as dazzling as the first drop of snow."

That was new. If Gai could apply all his thought into clever pick up lines and into a different fashion sense then she might of given him a chance. Maybe. He definitely was nice, so good for him with that. "You're hilarious."

"And you are wonderful company, my lovely lotus," came his response.

"That wasn't funny or clever," Anomie mused, surprised that she actually enjoyed making fun of him and his presence was, altogether, not so bad.

"The youth is soaring in your eyes. We should exercise together and feel the burn and sweat of the morning."

She tilted her head, her expression serious as she closed her menu and leaned over the table, watching as his body froze and his face suddenly flushed when she neared his face. Her lips neared his ear and she felt her hands, palms flat against the wooden table. "No."

She leaned back, just as calmly, and opened up her menu again, checking the flavors.

"That was cold, An-chan," Gai said, dabbing his dry eyes while she only shrugged.

"And intimate. If you're like that to everyone, count me in, gorgeous," came the voice of a man, with a senbon needle in between his lips as he sat down directly next to the girl and turning towards her. "I'm Shiranui Genma. The man of your dreams, I know it." Oh god no.

"Then I'm sorry to tell you that you are the only who does," Anomie said, turning the page in the surprisingly long menu of a fucking dango shop.

"Ouch, you wound me. I feel the injury," Genma held his hand over his heart, as if wounded. "But a kiss would make it better."

"You're right. Absolutely right," Anomie closed the menu, turning towards the man, surprising him, although Gai seemed to recognize the false tone that had fooled him moments early. Her genuine tone faded into nothing as her eyes went back to a deadpan. "Gai is right there. Kiss away."

"I love this girl," Genma said, placing his arm around the girl's shoulders in a friendly gesture, rather than flirty.

"You see the youth in her eyes too," Gai sounded excited.

"No. But I see other things," Genma shrugged, and Anomie found that she didn't like the guy's tone.

"Genma. Get off her," came the voice of a woman, walking into the shop and sitting next to guy. She had dark black hair and equally dark red eyes. A man with a nonchalant gaze and a cigarette in between his lips followed suit and across from to her.

"My love," Genma leaned closer to the woman, taking his arm off Anomie's shoulders as he did so.

"Not very faithful," Anomie commented nonchalantly as she opened back at the menu.

"I am very faithful..." Genma's eyes went to the red-eyed woman's, his face brightened by a grin, the senbon in between his teeth. "...to my heart." He grabbed the red-eyed woman's palm, and kissed the back of her hand. She looked unaffected and tore it from his grasp.

"Bite me, needle-face," she stated, and Genma winked, placing his arm back around Anomie's shoulders, who let out an unladylike snort at the insult. "Anyway, I'm Kurenai, this is Asuma. You must be Anomie."

"Must be," came the girl's placid reply.

"Is Rin here yet?" Obito asked, sitting next to Asuma.

"I was expecting her to come with Anomie, considering they live together," Gai said in a calm tone, crossing his arms over his chest.

"A ninja came this morning and escorted her to the Hokage's tower," Anomie replied, leaving out the details as they seemed to be something that was Rin's business alone.

"Is she okay?" Obito suddenly looked worried, and Anomie glanced up towards him as his expression faded into concern. "Do you know why?" Obviously, it was strange for just one ninja in a team of three to be summoned alone.

Usually Anomie would have answered back with nonchalance, and a probably bitchy retort, but seeing the genuine concern on Obito's face, mixed with the fact that he had let her stay in his house...well she couldn't do that. "I don't know. She looked...scared. So...I don't know. I didn't ask, but she said that she would meet me here," Anomie glanced toward Genma with a deadpan, "Hence, the only reason I came." She shrugged the boy's arm off her and glanced back towards Obito's expression that looked genuinely worried.

Rin didn't show up, and her absence was felt despite the fact that the atmosphere was light and energetic. Kakashi ended up showing up, but froze the moment Gai met his eyes and stood up, screaming about their rivalry.

"I just want to eat," Kakashi said, sitting down next to Anomie's only free side that wasn't occupied by Genma, who kept managing to place his arm around her shoulders. It was actually rather impressive.

"Not without a fight you won't. 100 laps around the village!" Gai shouted, much to the waitress's distress as she passively tried to calm the green suited man.

Kakashi's expression remained blank, the stick of dango, loosely in his hands, two were gone, although no one saw him eat them. "Don't you ever get tired of hearing yourself speak?"

"That's a quitter's talk, Kakashi, my man," Gai ignored the insult, and his fingers formed an arrogant 'v' with his thumb and index from under his chin. "You are loosing with 20 to 19. Let's race, and let the sweat on our backs determine our strength."

Anomie visibly grimaced as she took a small nibble from one of her dangos. She nudged Kakashi, "Race...far away from here," she murmured, and everyone agreed, even the waitress.

"Traitors," Kakashi muttered, standing up. "Alright."

"That's the spirit Kakashi. LETS DO THIS," Gai looked to be even more hyped up, as he got into running position. "100 laps and then we will meet back here."

"Ready, set, go," Anomie said, unenthusiastically, and Gai winked her way.

"How about a kiss of luck, my lovely lotus?" came Gai's response.

"Genma, time to get that kiss you so desperately wanted," Anomie said, and Genma looked to consider it for a moment.

"No deal," Genma finally said, and Anomie shrugged.

"Let's go, Kakashi, for the power of youth," Gai wasted no time to sprint when he saw Kakashi make a running motion. Gai's body dashed from the shop while Kakashi calmly walked back to the booth and sat back down.

"That was fast, Kakashi," Anomie said simply, everyone laughed. "You barely broke a sweat in those 100 laps."

"The life of a prodigy," Kakashi said nonchalantly.

"I could beat Gai, hands down," Obito said, smirking over to Kakashi.

"You're welcome to try, but if you weren't able to beat him in the Chūnin exams, I doubt you will now," Kakashi said simply, and this seemed to piss Obito off.

"You bastard. You just watch. When I activate my Sharingan I kick both of your asses."

"You're special eyes wouldn't be any help for our obviously superior speed, loser," Kakashi retorted, Obito stood up, slamming his hands against the table.

"You and me, outside," Obito challenged, to which Kakashi reacted with even less emotion than he had with Gai.

"I don't need to go anywhere to beat you," Kakashi said, as if it were a fact. "Sit down and eat. Don't get offended by the truth."

"You rat bastard," Obito snapped again.

"Now, now," Kurenai said slowly, trying to calm the group down. "We aren't going to be allowed back in here if you keep causing all this commotion. I for one, will kick both of your asses if that happens."

"I'll referee," Asuma said simply.

"And I'll go on a date with An-chan," Genma said with a happy smile.

"Why do people keep calling me that?" Anomie muttered, not fully liking her new nickname.

45 minutes passed, and Kurenai and Asuma dragged Genma out of the dango shop. The man obviously didn't want to separate from the white haired girl, but two ninja against one wasn't very good odds, and the two eventually managed to get him out.

Not much time had passed, with Obito and Anomie chatting, Kakashi and Obito arguing up until Gai came rushing back inside, looking barely out of breath. He took one look at Kakashi, sitting nonchalantly in the same spot as before, and promptly dropped to his knees in front of their table.

"How..." Gai gasped out. "Impossible. You beat me."

Kakashi didn't look remotely about to utter the truth, and no one else bothered to either.

"I see. I chose my eternal rival correctly. I must get stronger," Gai stood up, the fire appearing back in his eyes. "I will beat you next time, Kakashi! After my 100 laps around the village!"

And like that, the green man disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"He actually bought it," Obito muttered, disbelieving as Kakashi shrugged.

"It only works once," Kakashi muttered as they split the bill.

"Rin's still not here," Obito said, and Kakashi's eyes snapped over to him.

"Neither was Ebisu or Raidō," Kakashi said keeping emotion out of his voice, and Anomie thought back to the way Rin greeted the ninja at their door, as if she knew him.

"Although, knowing Raidō, he probably ditched," Obito said with a tiny grin.

"Does he have, like, really unnecessary sunglasses?" she asked and both ninja looked her way as she stood up off the bench, them following suit as they walked out of the shop.

"That's Ebisu," Obito said simply.

"Then he might have been the ninja who escorted Rin," Anomie said simply. "Don't worry too much, Obito, she's strong. Even if it was serious, Rin can handle anything. If not, I suggest Kakashi takes her out for a bite to eat."

Kakashi glanced up towards her, "Why me?"

Obito didn't look happy, "Why him?"

"Boys." Anomie didn't spare the two another glance as she began to walk back to Rin's house without much else than a short, "See ya."

When she got back to the house, she noticed Rin's shoes by the door. They were usually neatly placed in a straight line, but today they were messy and far away from each other. Anomie fixed them up and took her shoes off next. Despite the fact that Rin was obviously home, all the lights were off and she walked straight into darkness before feeling the wall for the light switch. When it flickered on, the room appeared to be a mess, and the pillows of the couch had been ripped open and thrown around. The feathers from the cushions were scattered over the floor.

She heard quiet sobbing and breaking glass, causing her feet to rush into the bedroom that she had never been in as it belonged to Rin's mother.

Her fingers flicked up the light switch, and Rin's shaking form was tearing apart the room. Shattered glass littered the ground from the broken lamp, and Anomie slowly noticed a bit of bloody footmarks covered the hardwood floor.

It took her a moment to realize that Rin was crying. The Iryō-nin made no noise in between breaking stuff, including the other lamp, making the room go back into darkness.

"Rin," Anomie had no idea where the glass was, but paid no heed as she walked over to Rin's sobbing form and barely managed to see an outline of Rin's face through the little amount of light that escaped from the window. It was covered in tears and the girl looked to be doing her best to keep from sobbing out loud.

"Go away!" Rin snapped, throwing a pillow towards Anomie's frame.

"Don't be a child," Anomie said, feeling her feet cut against the glass as she knocked the pillow out of her way, grabbing onto Rin's arm and forcing the girl's arms down, despite the strength of Rin's struggling.

"I..." Rin couldn't seem to get a word out as she thrashed against Anomie's strengthening grasp, before slowly submitting to the embrace and letting out a loud sob into the girl's shoulder.

Anomie didn't ask what happened, but it didn't take a genius to not notice the picture frame, covered in broken glass and blood, fall from Rin's grasp. The light barely illuminated a picture of a girl, a smaller version of Rin, with a dark haired woman with the same blue stripes.

She didn't have to ask. Some things you just know.

Author's Note

I made some progress in character development. I tried to add a touch humor to expand An-chan's character a bit. This version of Genma is my spirit animal and my lovey dovey.

This is also one of my only more humorous chapters, so I had fun with that :)

There was a little bit of development in plot and character relationships, but so far the only person who's close to Anomie is Rin, since An keeps everyone at arms length.

I actually already have like 10 chapters written, so the updates will be rather quick in comparison to other stories, but once I get closer to that newest chapter, I am certain that it will slow down :p

Thanks for reading! ^-^

菊の花 (Kiku no Hana) (Chrysanthemum) - symbolizes fidelity, optimism, joy and long life. A red chrysanthemum conveys love; a white chrysanthemum symbolizes truth and loyal love while a yellow chrysanthemum symbolizes slighted love.