Chapter 23
If it was anyone else, perhaps things would have been different and she wouldn't have to get within five feet of a demon's heart. Sadly, Anomie's life had never been blessed with luck, and rather, it was cursed with a hopeless nothing.
Anomie couldn't get near the demon, Naruto, without Kakashi noticing her. Someone as strong as him and as perceptive as him would see through any attempt in trickery.
That was why she took notice to some little child with long hair that rested down to her back. The girl was so bright and happy and pink. Anomie didn't much care for children, and even less so now.
"Sakura! Hurry up!" A woman's voice rang, and Anomie glanced left through the partition of tree branches, towards the blonde girl with equally as long hair that rested past her elbows in a ponytail.
"I'll catch up with you later," Sakura replied as she gathered her books into a pile on her desk. "I have to go check in with my mom this time." Sakura scoffed, sounding annoyed. "She got mad last time I didn't ask."
The blonde girl huffed, causing bangs to scatter upwards. "Alright, but if you're too late, then I'll just have to have Sasuke all to myself."
Anomie raised an eyebrow, are they stalking someone? It was with calm bemusement that she noticed a raven haired Uchiha boy in the back with all the attention of the female population in awe.
Anomie let out a sigh, shutting her eyes and rolling them when her lids opened. "Maybe I should choose someone else..."
The truth was, Sakura would probably have the most effect. She was loud and bright and colorful.
"This is going to be annoying," Anomie muttered out, watching as the students left the school one by one, heading home for the night. They were so happy that it made Anomie sick to her stomach.
Sakura was rather clueless when it came to her surroundings, and didn't notice when Anomie tossed a kunai with wire attached to the end, into the ground. The wire caught on the girl's leg, causing her to sprawl to the ground.
Anomie's lips twitched in amusement as she jumped out of the trees, her kimono loose at her sides as she walked towards the child. "Are you alright? That was quite the fall."
Anomie held out her hand, watching as Sakura stared at it for a short moment before placing her palm into Anomie's awaiting grasp.
"Thanks," Sakura said, her eyes running over the woman's perfect face and perfectly sized forehead.
This girl wants to be a ninja and can't even tell when she's been tripped with a wire?
Anomie's lips spread into a gentle smile that felt foreign on her face. "It's no problem, but it looks like you hurt yourself." Anomie knelt down, placing her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her palms.
Sakura glanced down at her scraped knees with a pout, "Aw man, my mom's gonna be so annoying about this."
Anomie was confused, "Why is that? It's only a cut. Won't she just kiss your wound and tell you to be careful?"
Sakura's frown deepened, "She's always worrying for no reason because I chose to be a Kunoichi."
That's probably because you're so weak. "Mother's worry, but if you like, I can heal that for you."
It was smaller than a battle wound and would require little to no effort. Anomie reached forward, her palm glowing green as her Chakra brought back together the broken skin on Sakura's knees. In the meantime, Sakura was staring at her hand as if Anomie were performing a miracle.
Anomie hated medical Ninjutsu, as it was difficult and often caused her to inflict more damage than aid. More than that, the only person that Anomie had ever really needed to heal was herself, and performing medical Jutsu on her own body was an advanced practice that took months to master. She just never had the patience for it.
"That was amazing. You're a Kunoichi?" Sakura asked, running her fingers over the now healed portion of skin.
"A Shinobi," Anomie said with a simple shrug.
"I've never met a female ninja up close before," Sakura admitted, causing Anomie to smile.
"I'm glad to be of service, but I'm actually not here to chat," Anomie reached over and turned to smoke, catching Sakura unaware. Her body filled the girl's and in mere moments, any trace of Sakura was gone.
Anomie glanced at her small hands before running her fingers through the pink strands of hair at her sides.
"Sorry kid," Anomie muttered, her voice higher than normal like that of any child. "I just need to borrow it."
She grabbed the bag of books that Sakura had dropped to the ground before she walked over to the kunai that Anomie had thrown into the concrete. The wire was still attached and it would probably be her only weapon for a while.
Anomie gripped her hands around the base, finding that Sakura's strength was pathetic, but after two tugs she managed to yank the kunai out from the road. After that, Anomie rolled the wire and shoved it into her bag before tossing the bag over her shoulder.
She had never possessed such a weak body, but she doubted she needed strength in an equally as weak village.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
"Sakura!" The nameless blonde nearly tackled Anomie into a hug the moment she managed to catch sight of the blond demon boy. Said boy was kicking a stone as he walked into opening gates of the ninja academy. Anomie wanted to skewer the blonde girl for being one of many annoyances in the last fifteen hours. "You ditched me!"
The first annoyance was of course, Sakura Haruno's mother, who proved to be an overprotective and observant woman who nearly immediately noticed the change in her daughter's behavior.
Anomie narrowly decided against making Sakura an orphan, and now she was narrowly deciding against making Sakura friendless.
"Maybe Sakura just didn't wanna hang out with you Ino pig," came a snooty girl's voice, and almost immediately Ino's body stiffened and she turned towards the speaker of the insult.
"Why you!" Ino's hand raised in a fist, giving Anomie enough of a distraction to escape towards where Naruto had disappeared.
Sakura's Chakra levels were pathetic and low, but Anomie knew enough about control to make every ounce count. She slowly closed her eyes, feeling for the demon's Chakra and the moment she found its potent spark, she sprung to life and walked in its direction.
She slowly came upon the giant door to the classroom that Anomie had seen Sakura in only sixteen hours before. She slid it open, finding Naruto sitting near the window, staring out without a single person next to him.
She noticed a boy with spikey, nearly pineapple shaped hair, sleeping two seats down. There was another boy, munching on chips, spewing pieces over the table with loud and obnoxious sound effects. Anomie rolled her eyes and walked past them, pulling out the chair next to Naruto, despite the fact that all the other spots were empty in the class.
Naruto almost immediately turned his puppy dog eyes towards her and she was forced into staring into his baby blue eyes that looked so similar to his father's that Anomie nearly lost her breath.
"Is this seat taken?" She asked with a bright grin that visibly caused Naruto's eyes to widen.
"You want to sit by me?" He asked, and she felt a moment of disgust and bemusement. Of course not.
"Is this seat taken then?" She repeated, and watched Naruto bite his lip.
"Are you mocking me, dattebayo?" He asked, his eyes lighting up with a fire that almost caught her off guard.
She'd have to act more genuine if she wanted the little monster's trust...
"I am not very good with jokes, Naruto-san," she said simply, her smile not wavering as she took a seat next to him anyway. He was watching her so carefully that she was certain any other child would become flustered and self-conscious.
Obviously, Anomie wasn't any child.
"You've never talked to me before," Naruto muttered with his arms crossed.
"Really?" Anomie asked, placing her pointer finger on her bottom lip. "That's a shame cause I like talking to people. Mom says that I talk too much, but she's really annoying and she talks a lot too. Mothers are always annoying, don't you think so?" This part I'm playing is pissing me off, but it looks to have gotten rid of the demon's anger and replaced it with sadness.
Naruto's face contorted into pain at the mention of a mother he no longer had, and seeing it didn't make Anomie's heart feel any amusement and it only struck a cord of guilt.
But the Sakura that Anomie had witnessed was thoughtless and clueless. "What's your mother like?"
"None of your business, dattebayo!" Naruto snapped, standing up. Anomie immediately gripped his wrist, forcing him back down. Sakura's strength was still pathetic, but Anomie sent Chakra up into her arm and concentrated it into her muscles in order to bring Naruto back down.
"I didn't mean to make you angry," she said, watching the surprise dart over his face in mere moments. "I just want to be your friend."
"Y-You do?" The vulnerability in Naruto's face didn't quite feel like that of a demon, and seeing it almost made Anomie's composure break apart.
"Of course. Why else would I sit by you?" She said simply
Before Naruto could speak, Ino's loud voice broke through it all, "Sakura, what are you doing hanging around that show off?"
Anomie wanted to roll her eyes, but kept her mask up as she turned her head towards Ino. "What show off? Right now the only show off I see is you, Ino-Pig."
Anomie wasn't certain that the line was something Sakura would normally say, but watching Ino's face contort in surprise and rage did bring upon a small sense of satisfaction.
How petty...I'm insulting a child half my age.
"Sakura, you'll pay for that," Ino hissed out and Anomie rolled her eyes turning back towards Naruto.
"Why did you do that, dattebayo?" Naruto asked and she shrugged.
"Cause I felt like it and she was being mean," Anomie replied, taking out one of her workbooks that spoke of ninja strategy. She decided to back off a bit, as she didn't want to force a friendship on his hands.
After all, if you try and force iron to bend, the brittle metal would only break.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
Kakashi watched in boredom as the pink haired girl sit next to Naruto. He flipped another page in his book, which was the only thing keeping him from bashing his head into the nearby tree out of pure disinterest.
Although, the bubbly pink haired girl sitting next to the blond boy was a slightly interesting break of routine, but it wasn't enough to make Kakashi pay close attention.
A part of him was bitter that such a mission fell on his shoulders, as it was so different than what he was used to. For he most part, he suspected it was another useless life lesson that the Third had taken to imposing on the Anbu captain's shoulders.
Perhaps it was an attempt to give Naruto a link to his father through the student of said father. Kakashi didn't much care for either option and settled for merely aiding from afar.
He slightly peaked his eye out from the cover of his book when he noticed the pink haired girl trail behind the boy that she normally avoided like a plague. It was a rather random occurrence that threw Kakashi off, but perhaps if he paid more attention to Naruto's personal life, then he wouldn't be so surprised.
Or maybe he would, as the boy didn't seem too comfortable with the pink haired girl's presence either.
For a moment, Kakashi could have sworn the child had glanced in his direction with a smile that felt too childish and coy to match the pink girl's innocent face.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
"How about we hang out then?" Anomie suggested as she followed Naruto out of the school gates.
"You want to play with me?" Naruto asked and Anomie twirled a strand of pink hair, a habit she noticed many of the girls in class had taken to.
"I sort of insulted my best friend for you," Anomie admitted, "so now it's rather obvious that you're my only option." Anomie saw a flash of sadness in his baby blue eyes. "Also, you seem fun."
It seemed like the boy was beginning to warm up to the idea as wide grin spread across his face while he scratched his nose. The smile was almost infectious and Anomie slowly found her lips twitching to smile as well. "Okay, dattebayo, let's play ninja."
Ninja playing ninja?
"I'm sorry, Naruto-san, I don't know that game," Anomie slightly frowned, a slight pause in her smile.
Naruto gasped, "I have a lot to teach you, Sakura-chan."
She nearly flinched when he grabbed her hand, and if he noticed her instant of hesitation, he didn't show it.
"Okay, so I'm gonna be the Hokage and you're gonna be the assassin. You're gonna have to find me, dattebayo," he exclaimed happily and Anomie's grin widened as she nodded her head vigorously.
"Got it," Anomie wanted to scoff, as if a demon could become leader of a village. "Go hide, Naruto-san."
"Close your eyes and count to ten. No peeking," he stated simply, his expression turning coy.
"Got it," Anomie closed her eyes, placing her palms flat against her eyes for extra cover. Under normal circumstances, she would have already been sensing for his Chakra, but to do that she'd have to filter her own into the air. Doing such a thing would be advanced for a girl her age, and surely Kakashi would realize such an action if he'd pay attention for just a moment.
Perhaps if she was in her own body, she'd be able to hide it, but in Sakura's body, using a foreign Chakra would be as obvious as seeing a drop of oil in water.
Of course, turning Sakura's own Chakra in an advanced direction would be something she could do. Although that would be possible, it would bring about too much suspicion when she left the vessel and the near prodigy like strength would be gone.
Instead, she used her other senses, noticing that Naruto's breathing was loud and his steps were clumsy. "One," she murmured and was careful to keep up her grin as if she were having fun. Naruto giggle. "Two."
She heard his steps dart towards the bushes by the time she counted to eight.
Wherever Kakashi was, wherever he watched, she had no way of knowing. How inconvenient and annoying.
She opened her eyes, already able to see Naruto's tracks in the grass where his feet stomped over the greens blades. They were now crushed and broken with little twigs snapped in half the closer the track got to the forest.
She was tempted to roll her eyes, but glanced around with a smile as if she had no idea where he could be hiding. As if.
Likely, if she found him too quickly, then it would hurt his pride. No boy wanted to lose to a girl.
After about two minutes, she figured she wandered around aimlessly long enough so she changed her direction and walked towards where Naruto sat in the bushes.
The moment she pushed aside the leaves a swarm of dirt clods came flying towards her stomach. She found herself caught by surprise, causing her natural reflexes to nearly kick in and she almost dodged the attack. Immediately she halted her body and dug the heels of her feet into the ground while she covered her face. This allowed the attack to hit her in the chest.
What she hadn't expected was the pain to pour from above her, and this time she nearly lost her Sakura composure and dodged the attack.
Paint dripped down her face and she caught sight of Naruto laughing and unable to control his breath that came out in gasps between laughter as he heaved over. For extra measure, tears even escaped through the corners of his eyes.
"HAHA!" He exclaimed, through his shaking shoulders and wheezing breaths. "I got you good, dattebayo!"
I hate this kid.
Anomie lifted her hands up, inspecting the paint that dripped all over her palms.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto stopped laughing. "Are you mad?"
Anomie grinned, using her shirt to wipe away the paint from her face. "You really got me, Naruto." She got rid of the honorific, something that caused his cheeks to slightly fluster in pink hue.
Anomie's grin turned coy as she took a step forward. "Sa-Sakura-chan...what are you doing?"
"Giving you a hug, Naruto," Anomie answered, moving forward, her body covered with dirt and paint.
Naruto let out a squeak and avoided her arms.
Eventually, Anomie figured it would be appropriate timing and tackled him to the ground, wiping her messy and paint smeared hands against his face. Watching him scream from underneath her attacks was rather funny.
For some reason, despite her passive aggressive attempt to attack him, Naruto was laughing.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
Kakashi rolled his eyes, turning another page in his book with his legs propped up on the tree branch as his back rested against the bark. His anbu mask rested snug against his face, moving with his head when he turned it towards the laughing children as the pink one smeared paint over Naruto's face.
"This sucks," Kakashi muttered, flipping another page as he glanced away from the two children.
He did find it odd that the pink girl who normally avoided Naruto like a plague was now laughing along with him.
"I hate kids," he muttered out again, glancing between them and his book with a sigh.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
"Let's eat ramen, dattebayo," Naruto suggested and it took everything Anomie had to not grimace in disgust.
"I've never eaten ramen before," Anomie admitted, trying to slyly back out so she could go back to Sakura's house and get dressed. Every portion of her body was covered in specs of red paint and she could feel it start to harden over her legs.
Instead, Naruto gasped as if she just said the most atrocious comment possible in his vocabulary. He grabbed her hand in a surprisingly tight grasp that nearly threw her off guard.
"You're about to have your life changed, dattebayo," Naruto exclaimed, dragging her behind him as she made no motion to hide her disgust when his back was turned.
"I'm excited," she replied, forcing out another grin as she took a quick and fleeting moment to scan for Kakashi's Chakra.
She knew she'd have to be fast as she expanded Sakura's Chakra and mixed bits of her own to maximize her senses. In moments that felt like forever, she managed to get a glimpse, but before she could focus on where it was, she felt Naruto shake her shoulder.
"Sakura-chan!" His voice, she was slowly finding, was ridiculously loud. It almost immediately broke her concentration and it took more than she cared to admit to keep her persona up on her face. "You spaced out, dattebayo. I ordered miso for you."
Oh God no.
Naruto must have misread the absolute disgust that transformed her expression into horror, because he immediately began to grin. "Prepare to have your mind blown, dattebayo."
"I can't wait!" Anomie exclaimed, and it almost sounded sarcastic, but luckily Naruto wasn't able to differentiate facial expressions to save his life.
She watched with disgust as the miso ramen was placed in front of her, and it took her a moment to recognize the cook, Teuchi and it felt nostalgic to see him so unchanged in front of her. He still had that same smile and that same comfortable silence about him.
In fact, Konoha itself had remained unchanged. That simple fact made her lips form into a sad frown.
She glanced down at her miso ramen, finding that it still smelled as greasy as every other ramen dish and she forced her chopstick apart in apprehension. She could feel Naruto stare as if she were about to do something amazing instead of just eat ramen, and she found the boy to be slightly soothing when he's silent.
She took a bite, feeling the slippery grease slide across her tongue and she grinned turning to Naruto. "It's delicious, Naruto!" She took another bite, able to get a large smell of the bamboo and egg the closer that she leaned in. "I was missing out."
"Ramen is life, dattebayo!" He exclaimed, eating the ramen to every last drop before he asked for another.
Anomie eyes widened slightly as she watched the boy eat bowl after bowl by the time she barely managed to finish half of her own.
She rolled her eyes, listening to his mindless chatter as she used Sakura's Chakra to search for Kakashi's Chakra as she absently tried to ignore the taste of the ramen as she slurped it.
She could feel tiny Chakra levels from wandering villagers, but they were weak and unbalanced. None of them held the same feel as his. She hated that she still remembered his Chakra, but she ignored that surge of annoyance as she finally closed her eyes, allowing her world to fade to black. She toned out Naruto's voice and the sound of Teuchi stirring the broth. She toned out the sound of ramen being obnoxiously slurped and she silenced the sound of footsteps from all around her.
The wind that once flooded through light strands of her hair and against her cheeks disappeared from her senses.
Ah...there you are.
He wasn't far, and his Chakra was concealed to the point where had she not spent so much time around it, then she would have never found it.
Her lips pressed into a toneless smile to block out the fact that her senses were shot, and yet the thought of him being so close made her want to run away.
I will destroy this feeling...if it's the last thing I do...
She nearly fell off the chair when she heard Naruto's grumble from next to her.
"What do you mean you have no money?" Teuchi stated with a frown, and Anomie watched as Naruto sunk into his chair.
"Sorry gramps," Naruto muttered while scratching his nose and adjusting his goggles.
Anomie could tell this wasn't the first time this has happened and she could barely react by the time Naruto grinned, grabbing Anomie's arm and dragging her away before she could leave money for her food.
"Sorry gramps, I'll make it up to you, dattebayo," Naruto exclaimed as he dragged her away.
Anomie did, however, catch sight of something Naruto did not.
Kakashi jumped down from the ledge with a bored sigh and an orange book in his hand, Anbu mask and all, and left money on the counter.
Anomie began to run faster than Naruto, dragging him down an alleyway to escape from Kakashi's eye.
"Sorry Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned, scratching his head and adjusting his goggles while they walked through the ally way and in between the buildings.
Anomie glanced at him from behind her with a smile, "I'm having a lot of fun actually. We should hang out more often."
She doubted Naruto was expecting that, judging by the fact people and kids alike avoided him so drastically. She remembered that even with her time in the village, not many had nice things about the demon host, least of all herself.
Guilt.
Maybe it was because he reminded her so drastically of Obito. Maybe that was why she couldn't actually hate the demon as much as she wanted to.
And Obito reminded her of Rin.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
Anomie walked in the middle of the road, careful to overlook the buildings near the academy. The sun was just beginning to set in the east by the time she stood, in Sakura's body, in the same position she was in when she first possessed it.
Her eyes were drooping and the skin no longer fit as well as it had when she first possessed it. She knew if she didn't remove herself, she'd either be forcefully rejected or Sakura would die.
Probably both.
She decided to go for the better option of leaving on her own, and in moments she ejected herself and felt her smoke body erupt out of Sakura's mouth and nostrils until Anomie was once more kneeling in the same position she had been when she first entered the child's vessel.
She had made sure to dress the girl in the same out she had been in before and she made sure to leave her in the same time of day as before.
Slowly, and none the wiser, Sakura blinked her eyes. "Are you alright?" Anomie asked with a soft tone as she leaned in a millimeter closer. "You spaced out for a moment."
Sakura shook her head, letting out a cough that sounded raspy and dehydrated in her lungs, "I'm sorry, my head just hurts all of a sudden."
Anomie nodded, "it's fine. Take care of yourself." She stood up straight and her hair bobbed over her shoulders.
"Yeah." Sakura murmured, squeezing her eyes shut in pain as she watched the Shinobi turn around the corner of a building and disappear.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
Anomie's Chakra was depleted and she could barely move her arms by the time her body slumped over the wall of a building. Every muscle in her body felt sore and her tongue was cracking with thirst.
The sun had set and the darkness of night felt cold on her skin by the time she dragged her body through the alleyway and to the bright lights of the red light district. Men laughed as they hung over their friend's shoulders in a drunk slump.
Her fingers dug into the bricks as she forced her legs to move closer to the Yūkaku house that remained bright and standing in the distance. It still looked the same, that bright house surrounding by darkness, always being the place sucking away the life from other houses.
She took a deep breath, using the last of her strength to turn into smoke and sift through the air until she pressed through the cracks of the wooden window near the entrance.
Her vision was hazy and she could barely make out the head Tayū's body, straight and rigid with her legs folded underneath the kotatsu table. Her hand wrote in soft sprawls and squiggles over parchment after parchment. Her hair was still clouded in black locks, perfectly weaving over and in between hair pins. Her lips were still that familiar red to contrast well with the pale makeup of her face.
The room was orderly and perfect until Anomie's body fell from the smoke that hovered over the ceiling until her silhouette became whole once more in a kneeling position in front of Minami.
Minami glanced up with a slight jump as Anomie raised her head, her hair falling over her shoulders and dragging to the ground.
"Guess whose back," Anomie greeted with a thin smile, noticing Minami's lips part in recognition.
"Charming as always, Kiyomi."
Author's Note
ピンクのフロックス (Pinku no furokkusu) also known as a pink Phlox. It means hope of a new friendship. Obviously, it's used to signify Naruto's new friendship with "Sakura". Obviously, the actual Sakura hates Naruto, so it's breaking my heart to do this to him.
Hurting Naruto is something I don't wanna do, and it's weird cause writing so many insults for him that are so obviously prejudice is annoying. Anomie's a racist! :D
I want to bring Kakashi and Anomie together slowly. Right now, they have some serious issues to resolve and she's not making it easy. I'm getting frustrated with her, but if I change the way she acts right now, she'll be out of character aha.
It's weird that it's possible to make your own character out of character, but it's possible apparently.
Now, I have a few things to say. Thank you so much to everybody who commented last chapter. You guys were so sweet and I really appreciate it. I have a few regular commenters who always make me happy when they share their opinion.
I love constructive criticism, and I got a few over the last few chapters. Some of you reviewers really know how to leave a constructive message, and I appreciate that so much. They give me details on what I need to work out and what they liked. Be balanced in your criticism if you're gonna leave it. Don't just point out a bunch of mistakes, and then say 'but other than that, good job :p'
To me, that's insulting and rather hurtful and it makes me think "Okay, why did you get to chapter 23 if all you see is negative things. Is this story even good" or I start thinking "was the emoji sarcastic? How do I take this comment?"
I won't be a happy camper if you're insulting me~! But I can handle it~ :D
Thank you for reading! ^_^
