Kakashi found it more than annoying that he was constantly getting teams that failed the simplest of lessons. He didn't understand why it was so difficult for them to grasp teamwork.

"Didn't it take Obito's death for you to grasp it?" Anomie would have said in the past.

Even in his own imagination she never said anything kind.

He was half way home when Gai had jumped out in front of him with his signature green spandex hugging his curves as he posed with one hip leaning out and his pointer finger directed at the sky. Kakashi briefly contemplated which bleach flavor to soak his eyes with in order to forget the way the spandex cupped Gai's lower body.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival, I challenge you," Gai said inching closer without breaking pose.

"Don't thrust at me," Kakashi told him in return.

"I didn't hear you say no," Gai said in return, finally breaking his pose and stroking his chin.

"Let me rectify that," Kakashi said. "No."

"Now, I am sure you are demoralized from the last time I beat you," Gai said in return.

"It was a tie but sure," Kakashi began what he knew was about to turn into an irrational debate on Gai's end, but he spoke anyway.

"Aren't your ready to sow your oats," Gai's change in topic was not welcomed and it was kind of gross. Kakashi began to wonder what prompted him to take this route to get home instead of the quicker route through the hotel district. "Kakashi, my rival, I'm going to teach you how to live."

"No."

"It's about time we have a challenge on the majesty of women," Gai continued, making Kakashi attempt an exit plan.

"You know, as great as that sounds," I would rather die. "I actually left the stove on, so I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Nice try, Kakashi-kun, but I won't fall for that again," Gai replied, wrapping an arm around Kakashi's shoulders.

I should have gone with the new mission excuse, Kakashi thought with a sigh.

Gai walked Kakashi along, but moments later, Kakashi's body turned into a log. "You got me again Kakashi."

On his way home, trying to avoid Gai, he saw Jiraiya leaning against his apartment building, holding a book that rested loose in his fingers.

"Is that what I think it is?" Kakashi's face immediately perked, noticing the title of the cover. Jiraiya smirked.

"Well, if you mean is it my new book, I'm not sure," Jiraiya commented and Kakashi almost immediately had to cover his excitement.

"Don't toy with me. It either is or isn't," he commented in return.

"Not even released on the shelves yet. How good a friend am I," Jiraiya handed it over with a smile, and almost immediately Kakashi snatched it up and turned to the first page.

"Who did you base this character off of?" Kakashi asked, having taken great notice to the detail of the drawing on the cover. Jiraiya merely shrugged, as if Kakashi didn't already know.

"It's based off a woman I met in the land of clouds," Jiraiya replied, noticing the way Kakashi's fingers curled around the book a tad stronger.

"You don't say," Kakashi's voice was in a monotone, but his heart had leapt into his throat.

"She is living well. Peeping on her ended up being quite...enlightening."

"As long as she's not hurt..." Kakashi replied in a hushed whisper, causing Jiraiya to smile and shrug, knowing it would be foolish to say 'as long as she's happy' as he doubted she ever was happy.

"Enjoy the book. It's a steamy one, ehehehe," Jiraiya commented, and Kakashi was happy he had his mask. It covered the nose bleed as he turned a page.

»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««

The searing pain was a decadent reminder of that night so many years ago, where Ohashi watched over me, making certain that no mistakes would be made to the pronged daggers that surrounded the small silver hairpin on the back of my neck.

Anomie should have always known that her path would go nowhere if she forgot where she came from. To say goodbye to that branding would be like erasing Ohashi's sacrifice and the way she always treated Anomie like a daughter. She was selfless, taking up customers that were known to beat their women just so Anomie could get through her life untainted.

Selling one's body was dirty and harsh, but it had once kept Anomie off the streets where she could have been raped and killed or starved. Perhaps luck would have been on her side and some kind stranger would rather marry the girl, but it was unlikely that anyone would take a wife who had no father and no dowry.

Anomie closed her eyes and rejoiced in the pain of the tattoo being marked upon her skin, making a promise that she would forever hold its branding, regardless of how many times it got burned away.

There were other ways she could have gotten the job done, without stepping foot in another brothel. However, Anomie didn't want anymore blood on her hands when she was still trying to wipe off the blood of the times before that. At one time she had believed that fucking was no different than killing, but after feeling the way an eye can just pop if you squeeze to hard, she discovered that perhaps that was not the case.

Either way, Ide Takeda was a letcher, known for brothel hopping and Anomie was rather talented at getting letchers to tell their secrets. Even the most confidential ones from a high counsel elder like Takeda.

The inside of the Cloud village's brothel was extravagant. Even more extravagant than the ones back in Kemuri; from the luscious green bonsai trees to the round shoji window that Anomie knew to mean 'window of spiritual enlightenment'. The thought made her want to laugh. Enlightenment is likely all these men pay to find, but she knew it wasn't on a spiritual level. The tea ceremony room of Meigetu-in, kamakura was perhaps the only room the Anomie had ever felt safe in for most of her childhood.

But that safety was butchered the day Chiyohana, one of her fellow oiran, was raped and murdered in that same room by a known criminal of killing whores. It took a small amount of coin to allow the crime to go unpunished, and the master was more angry about the breaking of his teacups than the death of one oiran.

Nowhere was safe. In here or out there. Anomie knew that now, and although she was blessed with the ability to kill, she still felt that nervous and childish apprehension creep down her spine. Perhaps she should be thankful that she could still feel fear.

"Your sponsor has filled our pockets with your debut," said one of the lead Oiran as she bowed her head in false diffidence.

"He has been so kind these months to grace me into such a prestigious house as this one," Anomie bowed her head, pins sticking into her hair as ornaments caused her head to feel near heavy. She had almost forgotten just how much weight that this form of beauty bore.

Here she was, making pleasantries about a sponsor that was her own clone and in a dress that could probably get her killed if she ran into one of her enemies. After all, who wasn't her enemy at this point.

"We have been promoting your flower and it has indeed bid a high price," the woman said, and Anomie covered her face with her fan whilst letting out a childish giggle. "Are you not at all curious about the man who bid a fortune for you tonight?"

Anomie already knew who bought her 'flower' without having to ask. Her clones had been running around dropping hints to the letcher of brothels for days now. It was a waiting game now, sitting through stupidity and Oiran customs of never bedding on the first encounter until he has paid his worth in gold.

The custom may have been stupid, but it always proved beneficial, and by the second week he would have probably asked her to be his wife if village doctrine and the Oiran law of no marriage weren't in their way. That was always the significance to the branding of covering the hairpin, a known symbol of marriage, between the death of two pronged blades.

That of course didn't mean that men wouldn't try and own the property they rented. They just couldn't marry the girl if they wanted to maintain their honor, status, and reputation. Anomie knew what future she had been offered when she was free of it.

And even in the span of two weeks, Anomie was back to the same gossip of whose client did what.

"How was Ide-san? You cannot have a man of more experience for your first bedding," Tomoko Yuuki whispered into Anomie's ear and nearly causing her stretched out facade to falter as she fanned her face whilst covering her face to subtly whisper. In front of the two gossiping oiran, the singer on the stage continued her lullaby and men attempted to run their hands through the robes of the Oiran stationed around the room.

"The only thing he is experienced at is crying before, after, and during," Anomie whispered and Tomoko let out a low giggle. If anyone deserved to cry it was I, for letting that sloppy fatass touch me.

"So the rumors are true," Tomoko stated, holding her tongue. Men were so keen to share their secrets with whores since an Oiran life was so easily forfeited if secrets became known to the public. However, much like an echo trapped in a tight room, the sound would carry to all those who resided in the house, but die the moment the doors opened.

"A little too true," Anomie murmured from underneath the shadow of her fan. And as far as skill, I would choose Kakashi any day.

Once more, Anomie chided herself for the feelings of which she still couldn't rid herself.

On nights like this, she missed him so much that she could scarcely breathe.

"Someone has bought your company for tonight," the voice of Saya Takahara was a sudden reprieve from the melody on the stage. Anomie stood, patting down her robes as she followed Saya's retreating back towards the back exit of the room, simultaneously catching Ide Takeda's eye as she moved further and further away.

The money for her bed was a rather welcome sight after refusing Ide's company for the night. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and he was likely to shed all his layers to win her favor once he knew he had competition.

Anomie followed the shoji doors, down the halls and past many open windows, overlooking the night sky and the zen garden underneath the bright moon. Saya stopped at a closed door, and for a moment Anomie was reluctant to step inside as a sense of foreboding overcame her heart.

"Is he handsome?" Anomie asked, but ultimately deciding it didn't matter. Saya batted her fan near her chin with a subtle giggle.

"Are they ever?" Saya replied, tapping on the shoji door three times before opening it. Inside sat a man, spinning around a sakazuki cup, lying flat in his palm. His white hair fueled Anomie's memory almost immediately with a sense of calm, but approaching dread. "Umino Hanagumo is here as requested, Jiraiya-san."

"Hanagumo?" Jiraiya stated, glancing towards Anomie with a look for amusement.

"It means 'cloud of flowers'," Anomie stated, stepping inside and allowing Saya to close the sliding door behind her. "Surely someone as educated as you would know."

"I am well informed," Jiraiya replied with a shrug.

"I wouldn't be too certain about that. I do read your books from time to time," Anomie stated, sitting across from him with only the small wooden table to separate the two.

"It is good literature," he replied, his own arrogance slipping out.

Anomie giggled, glancing down with practiced swiftness as she attempted to reorganize her thoughts. Something told her that she could never hope to defeat someone like him as she was now, especially not in the restricting dress and hair decorations that she bore like brass armor, that being they weren't helpful, and instead just shiny, easily broken, and heavy. "I wouldn't say it is literature."

"Still have a horrible personality, An-chan," he replied taking a sip.

"I apologize if I am misreading your intentions of being in a brothel with a woman a quarter, and that's putting it lightly, of your age," she covered her face with a fan.

"As long as you are over 18, according to laws, I am in the clear," he replied, and she let out a chuckle. "Sadly, that is not why I am here."

"Sad indeed. I'm sure those untouched little guys are black and blue from apprehension and loneliness," she replied with a bat of her lashes. "What is it that you want, Jiraiya. I am on an important task so I'd rather not be kept long with frivolous reunions."

"Everything you just said was incredibly rude," Jiraiya commented with a frown.

Anomie dipped her head with a smile, "I'm quite educated as well. What is it that you want?"

"I heard you were sighted here and merely wanted a frivolous reunion," Jiraiya answered with ease as his lips contorted into a grin.

"Last I heard, I was a wanted Konoha criminal. I see nothing frivolous about your presence."

"Are you crazy? You think I'm planning on attacking you in a brothel and taking you prisoner?" Jiraiya replied with a snort, taking another sip of his drink after Anomie had refilled it.

"You don't feel like walking all the way back to Konoha, do you, Jiraiya," Anomie whispered, and he chuckled once more.

"You caught me. It's a four day run and I haven't even been able to sample the local cuisine," he admitted.

"By cuisine you been one of the many many bath houses in the Cloud?" Anomie laughed. "You haven't changed a bit."

Jiraiya shrugged once more, "I like to think I've grown taller."

"Only in ego," she said, standing up and nearing the tatami mat. "Well, how about about it sensei. I've got a body that could fill your pages, wanna take a peek."

"I don't pay for that," Jiraiya actually looked offended causing Anomie to let out a sudden, musical laughter.

"No. You just spy on unwilling victims."

"Do you really want to get into unwilling victims right now, Koneko?" Jiraiya broke apart the friendly mood and added a strain of tension that could fill the room at the mention of the Uchiha massacre. "They say you took their eyes."

Anomie placed her hand on her hip, her smile not disappearing as she applied her weight to one side and shook her head. "I'm making a scrapbook, do you want to see it?" and as she spoke she pointed to her head, just next to her eye, finishing the badly timed eye quip.

"That's in bad taste, even for you," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "Where are they?"

Anomie heart slightly trembled, trying to forget the way men's eyes would dilate with fear as their lungs erupted with the flames. Anomie doubted anyone knew that she only took the eyes after they were already dead, in the midst of their bodies lighting aflame she scooped them out quick and clean, "who knew there was so much power in Uchiha eyes from dead men?"

"Cut the act. What did you do with them?"

Likely rumors that she took their eyes and then burned them alive would follow her until the day she died.

"I gave them away," she replied, without a lack of honesty as her eyes focused on the silhouette of trees that rested outside in the garden. The petals would float down into the dark abyss and begin to wilt, not long after leaving the branches.

"You gave them away."

"I believe I just said that."

"You actually gave them away."

"Really?" Anomie scoffed. "What was I really going to do with them? The scrapbook idea ended up being a complete failure. Who knew, right?"

"I should be surprised that you're making jokes about all this, but I'm really not," Jiraiya replied, causing Anomie to sit back down across from him, simultaneously loosening her obi. The tension in the room was palpable, but Anomie was trained to cut through tension with wit and entertainment. After all, many customers were too shy to talk.

"Now, don't be rude, Jiraiya," Anomie chided with a wry smile. "You are not a saint either."

"I'm certain I've never killed a child," he replied and Anomie scoffed.

"Maybe so, but you would probably be up and ready to sleep with someone who has," she playfully opened her robes, revealing the smooth cleavage and more of that pale white make up that covered her skin like armor. Upon opening her robes, she saw his nose slightly dampen red before he covered it by taking a drink.

"Don't be crude," he commented and she laughed once more. "Not everyone wants to get into your pants."

"We both know that's not true," she stated with a smirk, leaning over and lowering her voice into a whisper. "And I'm not wearing any pants." She lowered her hand to her lap just a little too slowly, "No underwear either."

His nose dripped with blood like a waterfall, and he nearly fell backwards with a perverted snort.

"Look at that, Jiraiya-sensei," Anomie felt the act sicken her in a grotesque dance, but she knew that seduction was Jiraiya's only exploitable weakness. She wasn't ready to die and she certainly wasn't about to die in a fucking brothel. "Does that happen every time you get an erection?"

"It isn't going to work. I have no desire for a fight. You don't have to do that," he stated, trying to stop the nosebleed. "As amusing as your act of seducing me has been, I, Jiraiya the-"

"You don't have to say your title. I know who you are," she raised her hand to stop him from continuing, causing him to frown.

"You never let me finish," he muttered.

"From the looks of all that blood, I'd say no one lets you finish," she retorted.

"Your personality is the opposite of cute," he retorted.

"I read your new book," she replied, and he froze. "Oddly enough, your main character has white hair, an uncommon color."

"I have white hair. That doesn't mean anything..." he retorted and she gave him another sweet smile that didn't seem genuine when matched with the long nails and glint in her eyes.

"I suppose I won't mention her ability to turn into fire and fact that she is a prostitute. I'm not judging you for making me your muse, sensei. I've been known to pop into a wet fantasy or two. I didn't become the love interest of your top selling book because of my cute personality, now did I?"

Jiraiya leaned back with a sudden bout bout of laughter. "You got me."

"I am only curious," she leaned over, having a moment of genuine amusement. "If you know someone with breasts as big as Tsunade, why would you use my image?"

Jiraiya looked horrified. "Do you realize what that woman would do to me if she caught even the rumor that I did such a thing?"

"So you've tried?" Anomie asked, deducing her conclusion by the tone in his voice.

"When did you meet Tsunade?"

"That's besides the point," Anomie waved off his question.

He took another drink or his sake before chuckling, "you really are trained on the art of conversation, aren't you Anomie? I nearly forgot the reason I walked in here."

"Can I tell you a secret? Especially considering we have established that you weren't about to start a fight a brothel filled to the brink with Cloud Ninja citizens and elders. Scandalise what kind of damage such a thing between a Konoha sannin would bring to village relations."

"If the secret is the color of your panties, I am not interested."

"Didn't you publish a book titled 'Color of her Panties'?" her question was met with a shrug. "Either way. I am still wearing the same amount of underwear that I was five minutes ago."

"What's the secret?"

"Come closer sensei," she murmured in a low hush.

"Don't call me sensei," he muttered and she smiled.

"Why? I think it's kinky," she said with another smile as he came closer.

"Shut up," he muttered again and she grabbed his chin and maneuvered his face so his ear rested against her lips. "What are you-"

"Shush, I never know if I'm being watched. I gave the eyes to the Akatsuki. A man by the name of Tobi. Be weary of him. He is not what he seems. Tell Sarutobi that I had no choice." Anomie, for extra emphasis on the act, ran her lips over his jaw and met his eyes.

It was either I gave the eyes I had, or he would butcher the rest of the clan for his own.

Jiraiya searched her gaze for a long time and she began to wonder if she made a mistake in sharing her secrets. However, she didn't know how else to gain his trust and avoid conflict.

Maybe that wasn't true. Maybe she just didn't want him to completely despise her like everyone else did.

"I should have known," Jiraiya commented with a smirk, managing to control his nose bleed for the time being.

"Well, since I obviously cannot satisfy the Great Jiraiya the Toad Sage, would you like me to send someone who can?"

"I don't pay for that," he repeated.

"Sensei, trust me, you will be doing these girls a favor. An attractive and talented ninja in their bed instead of a corrupt old man high in the village counsel," Anomie said, leaning over and brushing her fingers over her loose strands of hair. "I'm trying to pay you back for your service in training me."

"You are an odd kid," he replied and she shrugged.

"Jiraiya," she said, standing up and walking to the shoji doors. "I wanted to thank you. One last time for the road, I will say, thank you."

Jiraiya didn't say anything for a long moment before he closed his eyes and drowned down the rest of the sake. "I don't see why you are going down this path. You had so many chances."

Anomie's brows furrowed and her head turned, catching his eye. "The way I see it, this was the only choice I had."

"Don't delude yourself," Jiraiya replied, causing her body to turn towards him completely as she leaned her back against the thin shoji doors.

"I could think of a million things I could have done differently if given the chance, but lamenting over the past will not make my future any brighter," she said, turning back around and opening the sliding door. "There is no going back and it's too late for regrets."

"Do you have any?" he asked, just as she was about to close the door.

Kakashi's face drifted into her mind, as did a life she knew would never be hers. His smile as he kissed her forehead or the way his hair would stick out in every direction as he woke up next to her. She fantasized how their children would look like or the face they would make as she made them food. She thought about what she would name them, Rin and Obito. Maybe she'd have more children if she could. The fantasy didn't matter as dreams were all pretend.

"Too many to count," she whispered.

"Is there message you would like for me to deliver?" Jiraiya asked and she thought of so many in that slow hesitation.

How could she ever show her face to Kakashi or voice out her regrets when all she had ever done was bring him pain? "No. I'll take my regrets to my grave."

"There's no going back," Jiraiya agreed and Anomie scanned his face over and over before she found herself smiling.

"What cynical person told you that?" she asked and Jiraiya shook his head, a sad smile lingering on his lips.

"A woman who I will probably never understand," Jiraiya replied.

"She doesn't sound so complex," Anomie said, feeling the weight lift from her shoulders, even if it was only a little.

"Complex and cynical," Jiraiya's disagreement made Anomie's smile widen.

"As long as she's very pretty."

"She has that going for her."

Anomie found that beauty was becoming her only redeeming quality. "That would be enough. Goodbye, Jiraiya."

She was thankful for his acceptance. It felt almost freeing to know that at least one person didn't completely despise her. This would be enough.

It had to be.

Author's Note

This chapter is titled 蘭 (Ran) or Orchid, which is a symbol of the exotic beauty. It symbolizes refinement, thoughtfulness and mature charm. It also symbolizes proud and glorious femininity.

I toyed with the order of information in this chapter. The beginning half happens after the second half because for one, I wanted to begin with something light hearted and humorous, and two, I felt like it would make the chapter run smoothly.

This was nearly 4200 words, so it is a bit on the long side. I have noticed that my chapters are much longer when I am going through my own material instead of Kishimoto's vague timeline of what happens in this time period. Love his writing to death, but I wish he would release a history book or something. I want to know the government controls Konoha, right down to the little details and the treaties, alliances, all of that. Village tensions, what happens to criminals who commit petty crimes. Is there Konoha prison? Is there washing Machines? Okay that last one had nothing to do with politics, but is the lack of proper clothes washing machines the reason no one ever changes their clothes?

Ahem. Kakashi is adorable. Anomie is the opposite of adorable. I'm legit always mad at her and then myself cause I wrote this character into a metaphorical corner. Oopsie poopsie.

See you next time friends!