CHAPTER SIX

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HER QUESTIONS REMAINED UNANSWERED FOR THE REST OF AUTUMN BEFORE a change swept the winds into winter. Anomie didn't particularly feel any guilt over the incident that had occurred, and while she admitted that, she was still scared.

Frequently, much to her horror, she found that parts of her body turned into hazy smoke when she was stressed or sad or disgusted. Although, it never attacked anything but her own conscious.

One of the clients tried to touch her, even though it was his first visit and physical activity wasn't supposed to occur until the third. He didn't see when her arm went up in smoke, but by the time he started coughing, her flesh was corporeal once more. She didn't take on any more clients that day or the days after.

She didn't know whom she could talk to because as far as she could tell, this wasn't normal. At the slight motion of breeze she grew fearful that her body would fade away into nothing. Rin had been busy preparing for a mission to some bridge in a couple days and Anomie hadn't the courage to part her troubles onto someone so close to a dangerous mission.

But she was scared...

And then she met him.

It wasn't a spectacular meeting, and neither was it a very good impression.

Visiting the bathhouse had become routine for her days in Konoha. It was the only place where she felt she could calm down and relax with no fear. She hadn't gone for a long while, as the scars that came upon whips and had marked her back were now healed into small, purple bruises. It was also only days prior that one of her regulars had requested her only to find that she was busy entertaining another. After that, he was forceful in jealous rage the next night he had gotten her alone. It took everything she had to keep him from attacking her face.

But the hot water felt warm upon her skin, soothing the bruises as she glanced around. Many of the girls around her were much older than her. She found herself watching two girls, giggling and splashing water at each other with amusement. They couldn't be more than 18, and had supple skin and rather voluptuous bodies.

Anomie was only 14, and already developed in a relatively nice manner, but she didn't quite look like that.

Her back rested against the bamboo barricade, closing her eyes and sighing as she tried to calm down her stress levels from last night's fright. She had a dream where she was floating in her room, hovering still in the middle of the air. It was frightening when she woke and slammed face first into her tatami bed.

She had taken to sleeping primarily at the Yūkaku house, as she'd rather Rin didn't see her turn into a grey cloud. But more than that, she was afraid.

She was afraid of hurting the one person who took her in and if there was one person she couldn't stand causing pain would always be Rin.

The sound of giggling broke her out of her thoughts as she heard a deep, male, voice heaving a rather perverted laugh from behind her. She glanced behind her, examining the bamboo wall, only to find a small peephole in the middle. It blended quite well, and if she hadn't been looking for it, Anomie was certain she would have missed it.

Anomie's eyes darted from the hole, to the half naked girls giggling, none the wiser, before she stood up and walked out of the steam filled room and to the front desk. The kind, older lady smiled her way, the crinkles of her eyes caving as her lips upturned.

Anomie slipped on a robe and gata sandals from her locker before she walked to the woman, tucking a small, white strand behind her ear. She always made sure to cover the tattoo on the back of her neck with her hair, as she had not desire for that type of recognition.

"How may I help you?" asked the woman, and Anomie tilted her head.

"I was curious...do you get a lot of lecherous people here?" she asked, and the woman's smile vanished into one of a musing expression. It looked to Anomie that the woman was mulling over a memory.

"Why? Is someone peeking?" The woman looked about ready to snap, as her face sagged into a rather scary scowl. Anomie wasn't sure she'd wish this woman's wrath on anyone.

"I was just wondering," Anomie said, brushing off the concern as she gave a polite bow before walking out into the outside area where many came to cool off and enjoy the Japanese stone garden and small hot springs.

Anomie wasted no time to follow the stone pathway that wrapped around the building. When she finally came to a stop, she saw a man with white hair. He was a tall man, with waist-length, spikey hair tied back in a ponytail with two, shoulder length bangs that shaped each side of his face. Anomie took particular notice to his red haori and the large scroll on his back.

Anomie took a deep inhale of breath, closing her eyes for a moment and speaking the moment she opened them, "Oh my God! There's a pervert peeping in the bathhouse!" she shouted, watching as his body froze as a swarm of 'oh my god' filled the inside of the building where many of the girls no doubt scrambled out.

"What did you do that for?" The man turned towards her, and took in her age and appearance before, most likely, shrugging her off. "Scram kid."

"I'm sure the headmistress would like a word with you," came Anomie's calm retort, enjoying the look of pure horror on his face. "She really likes perverts, or so I hear."

"I am not a pervert," his eyes rose with fiery passion as he held up his fist and placed his left foot on a rock for more declaration and emphasis. "I am Jiraiya, the legendary Sannin and Toad Sage."

"Hm..." Anomie's obvious show of doubt made Jiraiya frown.

"And I am not peeping! I am researching for my book," he continued and she perked up a little at his statement.

"How is looking at girls research—you know what, I don't want to know." Anomie attempted to turn around, but his voice immediately made her pause.

"Hey girl," his voice was oddly serious for someone who was just caught peeping, but Anomie had to admit, that wasn't the worst thing he could have been doing. She half-turned her body towards him, her face curious as his eyes stared her down.

"Hm?"

"Your Chakra...do you realize what it's doing?" he asked, as if he was unsure of how to approach the topic as he stared her down.

"How would I know?" She didn't mean for the statement to sound off-putting, so she turned her body all the way to face him. He may be a pervert, but she had manners.

"It's fluctuating at an alarming rate like a rising beacon," he explained, and when he saw her confused frown, he continued. "A-Are you a civilian?"

"Possibly." Since a week ago Anomie had grown unsure.

"I could sense it from the moment you entered the bath an hour ago," he sheepishly grinned at her sudden frown. "Anyway, it's dangerous and unstable if you leave it unchecked. At the rate its going, you might find your Chakra coils...irreparable."

Unsure how to respond, Anomie only stood still and stared. It wasn't like she could say, 'oh thanks. I'll get right on that.' She didn't even know what a Chakra coil even was, as she had learned many things in her time, but coils weren't one of them and the thought only succeeded in being confusing.

"Could you..." She didn't know how to really ask, as she didn't like getting help from anyone. She finally shook her head and turned to walk away. The sense of panic swarmed her insides like a wisk scrambling an egg. Her gata sandals clicked against the stone and by the time she turned the corner, her chest was heaving and her heart was beating erratically in her chest.

She groaned as she felt her body begin to fade from its corporeal form and flicker from skin to smoke. The robes where her arms had been fell loose to her side, and she barely heard the sound of Jiraiya frantically turning the corner to meet her panicked gaze.

"Help me," she whispered, just as her body turned into smoke and her clothes fell to the ground.

It couldn't of been an instant's hesitation where Jiraiya held up five fingers, glowing with a blue hue, and shoved his hand into the slowly departing cloud of smoke. It took a moment, but Anomie's body began to form, quite naked, before it fell from mid air and into Jiraiya's arms.

Her skin was milky pale, he immediately noticed, and he could feel her heart beating erratically. He swiftly covered her shivering form in her discarded robes before his eyes met her frantic gaze. She seemed to be in pain and her Chakra was practically gushing from her skin.

"It...hurts," she murmured and attempted to cover her face with her arm. He immediately noticed a burned off portion of her skin, white and red, just under the heel of her palm. He slightly recognized a part of the black seal and his fingers wove around her wrist to get a better look.

His eyes went from the burn mark to her face before he did a quick Jutsu and disappeared in a tiny upheaval of leaves.

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Anomie woke up to dim lights and a bordered off room that felt like suctioned air. She could barely breathe from the moment she opened her eyes. She was lying in a small, hospital bed, and her clothes were standard, but the room was unlike the last one she had been in so many months ago.

It felt stifling, and it was empty. Just four walls, no sink and no windows...nothing but white, smooth walls and a bed. The door was a heavy looking wood, with no crevice or opening at the bottom. Her chest began to rise and fall in panic, but she took a calming breath, attempting to slow it down.

She didn't get far, until the heavy door opened and Jiraiya walked it. He had a smile, but he didn't look particularly happy.

"What...happened?" she asked, quickly getting to the point.

"I think it's my fault," he said, rather sheepish as he carefully closed the door behind him. "I shouldn't have startled you with the whole, your Chakra will kill you, kind of thing. Your body wouldn't keep form and we had to move you to a place where the smoke wouldn't drift away."

"What...am I?" Anomie's voice quivered and he signed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, you're definitely human," he said, silencing her doubts. "It could be a bloodline ability. Does your mother have this power too?"

"My mother's dead," Anomie said without hesitation.

"I see," his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall with crossed arms. "On your wrist, there's a seal. It's been burned off but I know Fūinjutsu when I see it."

She glanced at that portion of her skin, curious at the mention of it. "It's been there for as long as I can remember...until recently." She left out the details as she'd would rather he didn't know.

"Do you remember what it looked like originally?" He asked and Anomie slowly nodded her head. He wasted no time to bring out a tiny slip of rectangular paper and a pen. "Draw it."

She nodded, weakly taking it into her hands and drawing circular spirals, wrapping around a kanji she didn't actually know the meaning off. It was intricate, but she finished from memory easily and handed it back to him. His eyes scanned it, brows furrowing before glancing back to her. She was fairly certain she liked it better when he wasn't serious.

"It's a sealing Jutsu...made to take away or dormant Chakra...at least that's the basis of it. It seems like it's a new kind, mixing the elements of Chakra intricately through weaves around your coils...in theory...it's pure genius," Jiraiya explained and she leaned back against her propped up pillows with a blank expression. "Do you know who made it?"

Anomie always had it, and never really knew anyone but her mother, so she made no hesitation in her deduction. "Probably my mother. I always thought it was an ugly marking."

"I think that it was placed to keep your Chakra unusable. The smoke thing...how long has that been happening."

"Since I destroyed the marking."

"I think your Chakra has been gathering so many years that it went out of control recently after losing what kept it in check."

"What do I do?"

"Learn to control it," he said and Anomie didn't like how he made it sound so easy. "You have remarkable Chakra storages, if you can control your input and output, you can become an incredible Shinobi."

Anomie covered her frown at the very thought, but said nothing about it. "Can the seal go back on?"

"Your Chakra has reached its limit. Chakra blockers aren't safe and I'm sure if your mother were still alive, she would have already removed it."

"...Then...can you help me?'

Jiraiya wasn't one for taking up students, and he never did it lightly, but the longer he looked into her eyes, the more potential he saw in them. She was rather old to understand the concepts that are supposed to be taught much earlier, but he couldn't deny that she had certain strength about her. He could see it from her gaze to the feel of her Chakra.

He had never taken on such an untrained student before, but he couldn't say no. Mostly it was because he didn't trust the task to anyone else and maybe it was because her abilities interested him. Maybe it could also be that she was so cute, but he kept that part to himself.

"I can," he finally agreed, and he hoped that he wouldn't come to regret his decision. Taking up a student in the midst of a war wasn't the smartest thing he could do, but she didn't exactly leave him with many options in a literal life or death situation. "What's your name?" He realized he didn't know.

"Kougin Anomie."

And it looks like she officially lost control of the direction of her life again. She didn't want to be a Shinobi, but she supposed learning how to defend herself couldn't be too bad.

Leaving the Yūkaku house however, the idea scared her. Her old life in Kemuri had stopped suiting her and her rash decision to restart it was a mistake.

She had been afraid to change and had willingly sold her body at every turn until it no longer felt like her own anymore.

The idea of reclaiming it didn't sound so daunting this time.

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"You're...giving me porn," Kakashi stated as Anomie handed him the purple book, wrapped with a sweet black bow that really contrasted the not so sweet gift.

"Well," Anomie began, choosing her words carefully. "I figured that since you are so busy with missions, you obviously don't have time to do boy stuff." She could practically feel his annoyance rise and she worked to keep the smile off her face. "So now you can read about other boys doing...boy stuff."

He was vaguely impressed that she had the nerve to wink at him. And it was not in a good way.

"Do you not like it?" She asked, her voice innocent of the mockery he could see erupting in her eyes.

"I don't...even..." He had never been so lost for words.

"Try reading it. Who knows, maybe you'll like it." She stated, and he now heard the amusement in her voice, causing his eyes to visibly narrow. "You're a Jounin now, Kakashi, you need to let off some steam and have fun."

"Is this your idea of fun?" He held the book numbly in his hands.

She covered her smile by motioning a thinking face with her hand. "It could be...it could also be yours. I'd suggest reading it when you're alone. I picked it out for you. The main character had a bit of your personality."

He glanced down at the book, his eyes briefly reading the summary and she saw his left eye twitch before their gazes connected once more.

"The main character is a..." He trailed off and saw that she was desperately trying to hold her laughter.

The main character was a closet pervert and an otaku who had a thing for much older girls.

"I liked you better when you didn't talk to me," he finally said, and she shook her head.

"Just accept the gift, Kakashi," and she giggled when he tried to give it back. "No take backs! Enjoy page 62!" And like that, she left him there with the porn book loose in his hand.

When he was sure she could see, he untied the ribbon and turned to page 62.

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"So you're leaving today?" Anomie asked, following Rin as she exited the house in her full ninja gear. "What rank is the mission?"

"If I tell you, you'll only worry," Rin said, watching with slight amusement as Anomie's face remained blank, but her eyes remained concerned. "You try to act all tough, but you worry all the time."

Anomie glanced to the side as she and Rin walked side by side in the near empty streets of Konoha. Not many people woke so early and the ones who did, mostly left to missions. There were small food stalls opened to Shinobi who wanted to get an early breakfast, and more opened every week as the war dragged on.

"Don't be worried," Rin said with a smile, leaning forward while walking so as to get a clear look at Anomie's down casted face. "We have Kakashi as a Jounin leader. No one is stronger."

Anomie's eyes snapped to Rin, and her expression grew fierce. "There is always someone stronger, so always remain aware."

Rin whistled, happily accepting the advice as she straightened her back. Her eyes, however, remained serious. "I won't become a burden to my team. I promise. I'll become stronger and protect them all. Obito is a Chūnin now, so I can't be left behind."

Anomie nodded her head as they walked in silence up until they reached the village gates where Kakashi waited, bored and leaning against a small, abandoned building. She saw his eyes narrow on her, probably still annoyed about the present and the thought managed to cheer her up quite a bit.

"Good morning Kakashi-kun," Rin stated, her eyes shining with a soft hue of emotion as she stared at him. Anomie was starting to wonder how he couldn't tell that the girl was obsessed with him before deciding that no one could be a genius in everything.

Kakashi gave a small nod of acknowledgement but it was enough to make Rin's entire aura perk up in happiness. Anomie had to admit that the girl's admiration was pure and sweet, even if Kakashi didn't fully deserve it. She still hadn't told Rin that she had ended up giving him porn, as she was sort of afraid of Rin's ninja skills, going in full force to kick her ass.

It wasn't like he could date a fictional character anyway. If anything, Anomie did Rin a favor. If he pinned over a girl in an erotic novel, then the chances of him finding a real woman would drop. Although now that she thought about it that would lower Rin's chances as well.

Anomie shrugged, deciding to keep that secret sealed for a little while longer.

Rin managed to speak the entire wait, with little breaks, until Minato and finally Obito, arrived.

"You're late." Kakashi immediately scolded.

"I had to help a grandmother carry bags," Obito whined, fixing his goggles. When Anomie thought about the excuse and the fact that Obito was very kind, she dropped her doubts of it being a lie.

A small argument erupted, and like usual, Minato didn't do much to stop it. According to observation, Anomie suspected that he enjoyed the banter and Rin didn't mind that much either as long as it didn't affect their mission or their teamwork.

"Well, good luck on your mission. Come back safely," like usual, Anomie bowed as they departed. They all, sans Kakashi, smiled and said a couple parting words before leaving. The moment their backs were turned and their forms departed out of the village, she found herself wishing that they all wouldn't go, that they'd give this mission to someone else.

But that wasn't the life of a Shinobi, so she settled with pressing her palms together and wishing them safety and she didn't move until she couldn't see their forms any longer.

The moment she turned to go back to the village, she found herself running face first into a red haori and a muscular chest. She leaned back and rubbed her nose as she stared into the face of Jiraiya, who had a small smile on his face as he looked down at her short form.

"You actually showed up," she murmured, her voice astonished while he looked offended.

"I said I would," he retorted.

"I expected you to ditch for research," she admitted and his face flickered to lecherous thoughts for a moment before clearing his throat and crossing his arms.

"I am a man of my word," he said with a wide grin.

"You're a man of many things," she replied, her lips forming a small smile. "But I don't think that your word is really one of them, Jiraiya-san."

"Call me sensei," he ordered as they began to walk down the road.

"Not on your life."

"You're not a cute kid."

"And you are not a very mature adult," she retorted.

"I am very mature."

"I doubt it."

"Name one time I wasn't mature."

She stopped in her tracks, looking at him like he was crazy, "we literally met with you spying on naked girls." She left out the fact that she was one of those naked girls because, for her sanity's sake, she chose to believe that he didn't look at the underage ones.

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" he said with a frown, reading her thoughts.

"When you stop peeping, then I'll let it go."

"..."

"..."

She was starting to believe they weren't going to get along.

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"You're kidding," Anomie muttered, as she stayed in her position of mediation as she attempted to block out the noise while Jiraiya continued to make perverse laughter while he stared at giggling, half naked girls through the cover of the bushes. "I don't have a lot of experience with teachers...but you officially are the worst."

"Eh hehehehe," came Jiraiya's laughter, as he easily ignored the white haired girl's voice.

"What if I turn into smoke and blow away in the wind," she muttered again, feeling her body begin to loose its form. She winced as she got it back in shape.

When she glanced back at Jiraiya, she saw him looking at her, almost thoughtfully before he closed his eyes. "Your Chakra control is getting better, but you still have a horrible attitude."

"Beats yours," she muttered, making sure he couldn't hear her.

"You lose control based off of your control of yourself. If you have no fear, then the wind won't blow you away," he explained, and she glanced towards him.

"How can a human separate themselves from fear?" She didn't sound convinced, and Jiraiya let out a deep sigh.

"That's what the meditation is for. I've never heard of your Kekkei Genkai, so I am not certain if you will ever truly be able to master it, but I can feel your Chakra when you lose control. It fluctuates based off of emotion, but if you keep perfectly calm, your Chakra will bend it to your will." Jiraiya drew out a small diagram in the ground, showing where the Chakra reacts in a mini drawing of her that wasn't very good.

"Why did you draw a blush on my cheeks?" she asked by the time he was done explaining, referring to the squiggly line on the dirt drawing of her cheeks.

"I had to make you cute to make up for your bad personality," he stated with a snicker, and she raised a brow but didn't say much against it.

"How do you know all this stuff about Chakra?"

"Why? Do you want to be a Kunoichi, An-chan?" he asked, and she visibly sneered at the nickname that seemed to be a universal way of referring to her. She wasn't sure how or why so many random people shortened her name.

"I...guess that learning defense isn't so bad," she finally muttered, a little pissed at having to admit her growing interest in the Shinobi arts. She was even more pissed to admit that Jiraiya wasn't the worst trainer she could have.

The Oiran house was starting to treat her like a slave, and she didn't like it as much as she thought she would. She thought that going back would make her feel like she fit in this village, but it only made her feel more distant. Sometimes she dreamed of slaughtering everyone in the red light district and basking her hands through liters of blood at her feet.

And sometimes she had dreams...dreams filled with fire and ash and she as among the destruction. She dreamed of death and the feeling of taking a life. The man who had attacked her would not leave her mind when she closed her eyes.

"-omie! Anomie," came Jiraiya's voice and her eyes snapped opened to see her entire lower half was smoke. The wind was blowing and it didn't move. When she came back to her senses, her body returned to normal and Jiraiya let out a visible, shaky breath. "It looks like you managed to control yourself better. What were you thinking about?"

Death.

She couldn't say that. A part of her was worried that if he found out about her accident...the murder...he wouldn't look at her the same. She wanted to be innocent in his eyes. In everyone's eyes. She didn't want to kill...

But she did...

It was like removing the seal and obtaining this power unlocked a side of her she didn't know existed. It was one thing to kill to live, like she had done in Kemuri, but to kill because she wanted to...

It was scary.

"Anomie, calm down," Jiraiya ordered, watching as the girl began to lose shape and the smoke began to slowly blow, stagger even, in the wind. "You have to keep focus."

"I..." She whispered, her voice coming out weak as she felt pain run through her Chakra coils as they attempted to keep up her shape.

"Think of something to calm you down. Something happy," he ordered, and she slowly realized that those types of thoughts didn't come naturally.

She couldn't think of anything but the fear of being rejected. Nothing escaped its grip on her and she began to lose control.

She watched his hands rush through signs through a blurry vision, before it all faded to black.

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She woke up in that room again. That closed off and white room that held no light apart from the small, flickering candle on the ground of each corner. Her eyesight was blurry, and it hurt when she forced her lids to open. This time, however, she wasn't alone and she found a kind looking old man at her bedside. It took her a moment to recognize him, and the more she stared at his frame, the more the recognition settled in her mind.

As if he could feel her stare, his eyes glanced towards her. His face looked tired, and almost haggard when she examined the bags under his eyes. She could only guess that the weight of a war on his shoulders took its toll.

"You're awake," he whispered and she winced as she tried to sit up. Her body felt...wrong in a way that scared her. It was as if she had fallen into pieces and put back together...wrong and there were pieces missing.

"How long?" her voice was hoarse, and not nearly as soft as it once was.

"A couple days," the Third Hokage replied and she slowly nodded her head. "Jiraiya has told me of your...abilities. I can't say I have ever heard of your clan, so I can't tell you for certain if you are the only one."

"Will it kill me?" Anomie's voice was free of emotion, and she didn't sound particularly afraid of the prospect of imitate death. The Third only sighed, his shoulders sagging.

"I have had many sensors and healers look at you in the last couple days," his eyes darted to meet hers, and there was a tiny amount of sadness in his stare. "You won't die. It seems like the amount of Chakra in your system is built up and overflowing. It grows everyday and protects you."

"I don't understand."

"Your Chakra that has been stored in the long amount of time you have had the seal is what is keeping you alive. Jiraiya has explained much of your time together," he explained and Anomie merely blinked, trying to follow along with what he was saying.

"You just need better control over your Chakra and better control over your emotions," he said, and his gaze looked all the more tired. "We had a Yamanaka take a look into your memories, so as to discover a way to figure out the source of the emotion that has been dominating you and maybe find the source of the seal itself." His gaze was kind, free of judgment as he stared at her. For a moment her expression turned ashamed, but his hand ruffled her hair, making her glance up surprised. "You have had a difficult time, and I had hoped that coming here would free you of your past. Instead of trying to be happy, you have purposefully placed more strain on your mind."

"Am I sick...?" She began to laugh, hand covering her face as she forced out more laughter. The shame almost made her want to cry, but she found herself unable to shed a tear past the embarrassment. She never thought she'd be so ashamed of her actions, of purposefully selling her body. "I killed someone."

"In self-defense," the third Hokage replied, and for a moment she wanted to snap at his justification of her actions, but when she looked into his eyes she stayed silent. "I want you to be trained specifically in Anbu."

"And become a ninja?" Her expression turned surprised. "I don't understand."

"You have potential to be strong, but as a civilian you will only cause harm, not only to others, but to yourself as well."

"I killed someone...I've killed before."

"It is war and in war, lives are lost. You may not be fighting in the sense of battle, but everyone must eventually feel a result of war." He stood up, and she met his gaze. "I believe that you becoming a Shinobi will save your life and others. Instead of filling yourself up with self-hatred, become someone who is capable of change."

Her lips opened and closed, unable to decline or disagree. He wasn't wrong. Nothing of what he said was wrong, but still she found herself protesting. "Aren't I past the age of learning how to fight."

"Not necessarily. Jiraiya has told me your stamina and Chakra in general is far above your age. You have very little amount of strength to fight well in hand to hand combat, but your Kekkei Genkai is destructive," the Third Hokage motioned for her hand, and she reluctantly placed her hand into his. She felt his Chakra enter her fingers and tingle through her skin. "Your body naturally absorbs Chakra and turns it into your own. It's a dangerous ability, Anomie," he dropped her hand and his eyes turned serious. "It's one of the many things you need to train and control before you hurt someone you don't mean to hurt."

"Am...I cursed?" She covered her face with both hands, and heard him sigh.

"Your abilities are strong and destructive, I won't lie. With control and the proper guidance, you can be anything you want," she glanced up towards him, finding no lie in his voice.

"I want to...be stronger," she finally admitted and his lips formed into a kind smile.

"It won't be easy."

"Nothing ever is."

"You will have to train far more than anyone else..."

"I'm not afraid of that."

He looked like he wanted to say more, and she saw a conflicted emotion cloud through his eyes. She waited patiently, and the look that strayed through his gaze slowly disappeared.

"Rin's team got back from their mission," he said slowly, and Anomie's eyes slightly narrowed, before her expression disappeared.

"Is Rin...alive?" she asked, her voice coming out oddly calm.

"Obito was unfortunately the one to lose his life on this last mission."

For a moment, Sarutobi was afraid that this information would make the girl change her mind about becoming a ninja. He couldn't lie to her and had to make her understand what she could be giving up: safety.

But she didn't, and her calm expression didn't waver.

The Third Hokage was slightly surprised at just how empty her gaze remained, and it made him slightly relax. He had been right. Just looking at this girl, he saw swarming bits of potential, flooding out of her at every moment. She had what it took to become a Shinobi, even if the Third wasn't quite sure he wanted her to subjugate to such a life at a young age. She was still a child and had no idea of the nature that being a Shinobi took. She was, however, somewhat knowledgeable of the sacrifices of war. Her abilities were dangerous and there wasn't anything else he could do.

And there was nothing to say.

Author's Note

This chapter is named after the flower Anemone (which was a name I briefly considered for Anomie). アネモネ, means fragile. Anemone on a darker note indicates fading hope and a feeling of having been forsaken. On a positive note it symbolizes anticipation. She's still developing and her abilities are going to be be utilized in later chapters. I hope I don't disappoint anyone. Kakashi and Anomie's relationship will also undergo a change in the next few chapters, especially while she gets stronger. Sadly, she is still a flawed character who wouldn't know the meaning of romance even if she was knocked along side the head with it.