Chapter 11 – Back to Konoha.

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. I do not own Naruko either. I don't even own Julie.

oOoOo

For the next days, while waiting for the return of Sumitsu and his crew, Anko and Naruko trained almost all their time. After waking up and taking a breakfast, they started by running together around the city for two hours, and Naruko had to do her best to keep the pace set by Anko.

Then, for the next hour, Naruko had to hide her eyes with a blindfold, and, again, run around the city the fastest possible. It was way harder for her than in Konoha, since the place was completely silent. There were no birds, no distant animals, absolutely no sound. She had to rely on the sound of the wind hitting the walls of the city, on the sounds of her own footsteps, of the air moved around by her own body, of the pebbles moving around under her feet. It was a gruelling training, but she did great progress. Obviously, she wasn't perfect at the end, she only had three days of training after all, but she was able to move at a normal speed in the silent city without bumping everywhere. She was so happy with the result, that she decided to keep the blindfold for the time being, as soon as she was not reading, and to Henge back into Yuri.

It was pretty weird, Naruko, the original body under the Henge was blindfolded, while Yuri, the Henge was not blindfolded, but still couldn't 'see' normally with her eyes. But since she was able to locate everything with her whiskers, she was able to give the impression she was looking in the eyes of Anko while talking.

When Anko asked why she was putting so much effort in that skill, she explained that, as an Uzumaki and Jinchuriki, she had so much chakra that her main weakness will always be Genjutsu, and by not seeing, she was totally immune to most of them.

After these 3 hours of running, they did one hour of sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups, then, they went to clean themselves in a body of water not far from the entrance of the city. The water started to be very cold, but they were able to warm themselves up by moving the chakra in their body.

After the bath, Naruko was reading her Fuinjutsu for an hour. At first, she wanted to let a clone do the reading, but after the first session, she realized that it was really fascinating, and that she would enjoy it even more by reading it herself. Furthermore, it was a great way to relax and an excellent stress reliever.

After the reading session, they had a quick lunch, and then, they spent most of the afternoon training Yuri's adamantine chains. When they were trying to figure out the range, they noticed something peculiar. The range varied from twenty meters with nine chains out, to sixty meters with only one. When she tried the range, alone, with the full twelve adamantine chains, the range was only of five meters. The range was apparently getting shorter by five meters each time a new chain was used. Then Anko wanted to check what Yuri could block, and so far, she could block everything she was throwing at her. Kunai, Senbon, Snakes, Ninjutsu, even the Dango Sticks were no match.

The only thing that Yuri was lacking with her chains now, was experience, so Anko took a sadistic pleasure to attack her from everywhere she could. The only instruction that Yuri had was to either dodge completely or block with her chains.

Sadly for Anko's pride, it was pretty easy for the little girl. She had a perception range of three hundred and sixty degrees, and chains that could reach anywhere in that zone. It was a bit like Gaara's sand, she was able to block from every direction, but unlike him, she was in control, the protection wasn't automatic, and she was far from being as destructive.

So far, she still hadn't touched the Taijutsu and Kenjutsu rolls, and only asked Anko to seal them alongside the sword for her. She didn't want to start training the taijutsu without solid bases, and, despite being a well rounded Kunoichi, Anko was neither a Taijutsu expert, nor she was a good teacher.

After all this, when the night was falling, they trained their stealth skill. Both went into two different places, and both had to find the other without being spotted. Obviously, to stay fair, Naruko had to turn off her detection during that exercise, and so far, she had lost every single time, but she was slowly making progress.

All that training made for three difficult and taxing days, but neither could deny that they really enjoyed the workout.

oOoOo

The third day, at noon, they were both walking above the water, on their way toward the meeting with Sumitsu.

They could see the boat approaching from afar, it was a bit late, the sea being a little bit more agitated compared to the day they arrived. Deciding that it would be easier if they were to meet the boat instead of just waiting here, they started to run toward it, then, once close enough, they just climbed by walking up the hull.

"Hey Sumitsu, fancy meeting you here." Yuri said with a smile once on the deck.

"Hey lasses. Damn that must be handy for moving around. Anyway, you managed to find what you wanted?"

"Not really. The city was even more ransacked than what we expected. The girl still managed to pay her respect, but it was… soulless? Hard to explain." Anko answered.

"Yeah, during the years after the fall. A lot of vultures came to steal as much as they could. Even if it was worthless, just so they can have a piece of Uzushiogakure. I even saw a guy once, happy for finding a chamber pot. That's when I stopped bringing people around without any good reasons.

"So Sumitsu." Yuri continued. "How was the catch? At first smell, I would say pretty good?"

"You got that right, lass. We got the hold almost full."

'Hum, Akichi would have a field day if were to summon him here.'

oOoOo

Five days later, both Anko and Yuri were camping in the Land of Fire for their last night before reaching Konoha.

The remainder of the trip went without a hitch. After accosting in the port, they parted way with the friendly Captain and set off for their return journey, Yuri back in pendant form to not slow them down.

The only notable moment was when they spotted Junro from afar in Sector 5. Anko just Shunshined just behind him, grabbed him, licked his cheek and told him that they were still watching him, then just Shunshin away without letting him the time to realise what was happening. His scared look was absolutely priceless and brightened the rest of their day.

"So, you got your story straight, girl? Do you want to share your background?"

"You just saved me from two bandits that were running after me yesterday after hearing me calling for help, then you went to check from where we were coming from and found my parents' bodies, my mother was a redhead like me, my father was bald, and since I didn't know what to do, you took me with you. Wouldn't it be stranger if you were to know more than that? I'm still a bit under shock, so I didn't speak a lot during the trip, and if you were to already know my life, well, then it would really feel rehearsed, and way more suspicious."

"Ha, I call dibs for T&I when you are Chunin" Anko responded with a laugh. It was true that most of the liars were spotted because they often had too elaborate stories, it was always feeling like the telling of a tale, and not some memories shared. "Okay girl, then I'll trust that you are ready, let's get to sleep now."

They both went to sleep, and, despite her reassurance, Yuri was still feeling a bit nervous for the following day.

oOoOo

Two silhouettes were approaching Konoha's gate post. One familiar, and one unknown. Izumo stood up, ready to control the pair, but Kotetsu stayed on the ground, looking at the sky.

"You know, Kotetsu, you could at least pretend you are doing something…" Izumo said with a sigh.

"I am doing something; I'm looking at the sky."

"You know that it's Anko coming right? You remember what she did last time she saw you slacking. And we don't have anti-venom left."

Less than half a second later, Kotetsu was standing next to Izumo, a serious look on his face.

"I'm working, see."

The pair of guards was looking at the two figures approaching. The first one was, as expected, Anko Mitarashi, the Sadistic Scary Snake Summoner. The second was a little girl, she was wearing what looked like relatively worn civilian clothes, with some bloodstains on the sleeves. She had long red hair, and was looking around with a bit of curiosity in the eyes, but her face was closed.

"Identifications, please?"

"Anko Mitarashi, Tokubetsu Jonin, member of the T&I, back from a ten days mission, and this is Yuri Nakajima, 8 years old, civilian. We will need to see the Hokage, both for the mission report and for Nakajima-san's situation. And I'm a bit disappointed to see you working so seriously Kotetsu, I had already my snake on the ready."

"With how serious I am, Anko, you wouldn't catch me slacking, you know."

"I'm sure. So, can we go?"

Izumo gave an identification badge to Yuri. "Keep that with you until you meet with Hokage-sama, it will tell you are a visitor."

Yuri just nodded while taking the badge, and both the Kunoichi and the little girl made their way in town.

Once they were out of view, Kotetsu commented. "Not really talkative, the little one."

Izumo sighed. "A civilian little girl, alone, with blood on her robe, accompanied by a ninja? No wonder she's not talking a lot, she probably lived through some traumatic shit these last few days… And no, I'm not just talking about Anko."

Kotetsu could only nod. Life could be difficult out there even for a full-grown adult, with all the Nukenins, the bandits and the wilderness, but for a little girl… And being found by Anko of all people, talk about being unlucky.

oOoOo

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of the leaf, was working hard, doing every Kage's nightmare: paperwork. At least, his three clones were working hard, while throwing him some dark looks. Hiruzen himself was sitting on a couch, with a cup tea on a table, a pipe between the lips, and the last book of the Icha-Icha series that had been released two months ago.

"Having fun, Hokage-Sama? I'm afraid you were so busy you didn't hear when we knocked on the door and let ourselves in."

"Oh. Anko. What a nice surprise. I… Hum. I was taking a small break, you know, with all the hard work." The Hokage answered, putting the book down and making his way toward his desk.

"So, I guess you are here to make your report for the mission? And that the report includes the little girl with you?" Hiruzen started, once sat behind his desk.

"Yes Hokage-Sama."

"I'm listening."

"Well, the information was correct, I tracked down Rokusho Aoi in an abandoned warehouse in the Land of Waves, where he was having a meeting with a businessman that was buying information. I couldn't confirm with certainty the identity of the pi… of the man, but by the description I have of him, it looked like Gato. I waited until the end of the meeting, then, once Aoi was alone with his guard down, I just poisoned him. I have both his body and the sword sealed with me. I probably could have just paralyzed him for information, but I didn't want to take the risk, since I couldn't come back before several days at least."

Hiruzen just nodded, he knew she couldn't really take any chance while being alone with Naruko.

"After that, I took a few days to go check the North of the island, like you advised me to do but I couldn't find anything suspicious, so I made my way back. It was during the return trip that I heard some screams. I ran into that direction, I saw the bodies of two civilians, a man and a woman, and a little bit further, I could see a little girl running away, purchased by bandits, so I intervened and killed the two bandits. I wanted to bring the girl back to her family, but apparently the bodies were her parents, and she didn't know where to go."

"I see. What is your name?" the Hokage asked, looking straight at Yuri.

"Yuri Nakajima, Hokage-Sama"

"So, is what Anko's saying correct? You don't have anywhere else to go?"

"Yes, Hokage-Sama. I had a grandmother, but she died several weeks ago. It was just me and my parents."

"And where were you all going?"

"My father was crafting wooden toys, but there weren't enough kids around our home to make a living, so he was always travelling around to sell. Normally he always went alone, and was never bothered by bandits since, as he said 'he was looking like a poor bum.' This time, he was going to my grandmother's village, so my mother wanted to go with him, to visit her grave. They couldn't really leave me alone, so they brought me with them."

"And what happened with the bandits?"

"I… I… Sorry Hokage-Sama. I don't remember much. We had already been attacked once. My father said that having two girls with him was attracting the attention too much, but the first time, he managed to get away by giving his money." She shivered a bit. "The second time, the bandits were really not happy since he didn't have any money left. They were saying that since he couldn't pay, they would take the women. My father just rushed at them, shouting at us to run, I couldn't at first, I was too scared, but my mother told me to run too, so I did. Then while I was running, I heard my mother's screams. When I looked behind me, my parents were on the ground, and the bandits were running towards me. That's when I started to scream too, and tried to run faster, but I'm small, and the grass was tall. But I heard a noise behind, and when I looked again, I could see Anko-san beating the bandits to a pulp. After that, I… I was so scared; I think I just fainted. When I woke up, I was near a camp fire, and Anko-san was next to me." The Hokage was pretty impressed, if he didn't know everything was just bullshit, he would have seriously believed it.

"I see, and what do you want to do now? You want to go back home?"

"I... It's stupid, but I don't know where home is… We were isolated in the woods, so my father could sculpt his toys. My mother was always just calling it 'home', and when they were going in town, it was always just 'to the village', I was always at home, reading, so I never thought about it too much. I never needed to know the name of the place." She took a wooden doll from a pocket, then looking at it with a teary look, she said. "That's all I have left now. But Anko told me that it was possible for orphans to become like her? I… I really don't want to feel that helpless and scared ever again, and if I can help to prevent others to live through that, I'll gladly do it. I know I'm really lucky she arrived that soon."

"Well, you can enrol in the Academy, true, but as an orphan and not from a clan, you will have to work harder than anybody, most of the others students will have a big advantage over you from the start"

"But it's not impossible, right?"

"Of course, not. The forth Hokage was an orphan too, but with a lot of talent, hard work and determination, he proved that even he could do it, so you will have to do the same."

"I'm not afraid of hard-work, Hokage-Sama, I want to do it." Yuri replied, with a determined looked on her face.

"Very well then, ANBU, can you ask the secretary to bring us the necessary paperwork? Anko, do you have any idea where we could loge her?"

"Well, Hokage-Sama, I think there are some free apartments next to the Uzumaki boy, but they would need a bit of fixing up. I could just keep her in my guest room until it is ready."

"Very well. I'll assign a Genin team to do that, and during that..."

"Hokage-sama, what does 'a throbbing member' and 'turgescent' mean?" they could hear Yuri asking, from the side of the office.

The Hokage's neck nearly broke with the speed he used to turn in the direction of the voice. Yuri was near the couch, reading cutely at the Icha-Icha book that he left earlier. With a speed that reminded every ANBU the speed of the Hiraishin, the Hokage managed to reach the couch, snap the book from the little hands and go back behind his counter like nothing happened, with only a slight blush on his face.

"It's nothing, Yuri-chan. Those are ninjas terms that you'll learn when you are Jonin."

"Oh, okay. I'll wait a bit then. It's too bad. 'Plunging it into her moist core' seemed interesting." Yuri answered with a really cute pout that shouldn't appear on the face of someone using this kind of words.

"Ho-ka-ge-Sa-ma" Anko asked sweetly, looking at the Hokage with a predatory smile.

"Now Anko, why don't you take Yuri with you to fill the paperwork? I still have a ton of work to do, preparing the flat, and everything. It should be ready by tomorrow, I'll send an Anbu to you with the keys and everything you need." Hiruzen answered, with a bit of sweat on his forehead.

"Are you sure Hokage-Sama? Because I would be really happy to stay for a bit and discuss your tastes in literacy."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure. Go!"

Once the two women left the office, Hiruzen sat on his chair with a big sigh.

"The first ANBU who thinks about laughing, I'll assign him to protect the Daimyo's wife during her next trip to the onsen."

Strangely enough, nobody wanted to laugh anymore. They all knew the Daimyo's wife, and this was a totally unfair punishment.

oOoOo

"Hahaha! That was priceless, girl. And why do I have the feeling that those words where not even written on the page you were reading." They were both back into Anko's flat, after two hours of tedious paperwork where Yuri had to make up a lot of stuff on the fly, like her parent's name. Luckily, the name she had chosen, Nakajima, was coming from an anime she loved, so she just had to use the two main characters, so she would not forget her parents' names, Keiki and Yoko Nakajima. (A/N: if you don't know the Twelve Kingdoms, just go and watch it, it's a bit on the older side, but it's still a masterpiece.)

"I may have made things up a bit, but I must admit, I didn't expect the Hokage to be this fast at taking the book out of my hands. I could hardly see him."

"And what do you want to do now?"

"I have my first stipend, so I could go and do some shopping to get ready, but I think I will wait until the apartment is ready, so I won't carry the stuff several times. I'll just rest a bit; the last two weeks have been pretty busy."

Anko just nodded, a little breather would do her some good too, when they both could hear a knock on the door.

Anko just shrugged, stood up and went to open the door.

"Hey Kurenai!"

"Hey Kurenai? That's all you have to say? You didn't even warn me you were going on a mission, and then you leave for ten days? You could at least have left a note or something! I had to ask to the Hokage when you didn't show up at our usual meeting place."

"Yeah, sorry, it was a bit of a rushed mission. A Nukenin had been spotted and we didn't really have time to wait for him to just disappear again, you know. Anyway, why don't you come in?"

They both entered Anko's apartment, and Yuri could have a first glimpse on the famous Kurenai Yuhi, and she had to admit, the woman was a top model kind of beauty, long flowing black hairs, red eyes, perfect figure, really a sight to see. She didn't want to meet her as Naruko yet, since she didn't want the secret to spread, but as Yuri, she had no problem at all.

"Kurenai, this is Yuri Nakajima, a young girl I saved on my way back that will start the academy in April; Yuri, this is Kurenai Yuhi, my best friend, a Chunin of the leaf, but she should become Jonin pretty soon if all goes well."

"Pleased to meet you, Kurenai-san." Yuri answered. She didn't want to speak too much yet, she was supposed to be still under the shock of having her parents killed in front of her.

"Hello Yuri-chan. Nice to meet you." She then turned back to Anko. "So, who was the Nukenin who had you in such an hurry?"

"Me? I didn't really care, but it was Rokusho Aoi, and the Hokage really wanted the Raijin sword back. He couldn't care less about Aoi either, the guy was a non-entity."

"The Nidaime's sword? Well. I can understand the urgency, then. Ok, you're forbidden, but as an excuse, our next three meetings won't be at the dango stand."

"What? But that's way too harsh of a punishment! I don't deserve that, I only obeyed orders! Only the next meeting!"

"Pff, ok. I know I can't do more, only the next meeting, then. So, your name was Yuri, right?"

Surprised to suddenly been spoked to, since the two kunoichi were lost in their conversation, Yuri could only nod.

"Where are you going to live?"

"I don't know, the Hokage told me it was a nearly empty building, next to someone called Uzu... Uzu something."

"Uzumaki? You'll probably hear a lot of rumours about him, but don't believe everything. Just make your own opinion. And will you manage to live on your own?"

"I... think? I know how to cook, clean, sew and stuff, so I should manage. And I don't really have a choice since Mom…" she let out a small sob. "Sorry, since my parents are dead now, I'll just have to do my best, so they can be proud of me." She was again fidgeting with the wooden doll, a sad look on her face.

Kurenai just couldn't resist; she stood up and went to hug the little girl. Anko, for her part, couldn't believe how easily the girl could bullshit her way around. She knew that everything was just lies, that she just bought the wooden doll at the market in the Sector 5 three days ago, and now she was looking at the piece of crap like it was the most valuable treasure in the Elemental Nations… She fucking bargained for it because it was too expensive! She was an expert in interrogation, and she still had to control herself to not go and hug the little girl herself to reassure her.

She met some people talented in lying, but this girl took the crown without any shadow of a doubt. They were really lucky she was not lying for the pleasure of deceiving others, but only by necessity, or they would soon have the biggest crook around.

"So," Kurenai started to talk again "you're starting the Academy next year?"

"Yes Kurenai-san. I don't have anywhere else to go, and if I can help people to prevent more ending up like me, I'll try my best. I know I can't fix everything, but a tiny bit can help, you know?"

"Well, if you need any help or advice, don't hesitate to ask me. Anko would probably teach you how to torture people around."

"Hey! I'm still here. And I'm not that bad. I only torture when threats are not enough."

"Whatever you say. Anyway, I have to go now. I just wanted to come and scold you a little. See you later Yuri-chan, it was nice meeting you. See you Anko, I'll see you in two days, not at the dango stand, though, but I the restaurant I wanted to go since three months ago."

"Good bye, Kurenai-san."

"Yeah, Kurenai, whatever, I'll eat some dangos before the meeting anyway."

Kurenai just shook her head, then left, not without smiling a last time to the little girl, that was still looking at the little doll.

Once alone, Anko couldn't resist to comment "You, girl, are shameless."

"What? We all agreed I would have to lie, no? What would be the point otherwise?"

"Yeah, but so easily?"

"I was not totally lying. I really want to become a Kunoichi to prevent people to become like me, and also because I don't want to feel helpless anymore. Being punched around by a civilian is probably no less fun than being punched by a bandit. For my story, I don't know, when we saw the doll at the market, the story I wanted to tell just jumped into my head, crafted around this doll. It was just perfect. It was justifying the isolation and the travelling around. Then, instead of just trying to find a lie for everything, I just had to say 'I don't know' for the rest. Only the liars know everything, because they make-up everything. Only someone telling the truth will admit he doesn't know something."

"Well. It just confirms my wishes, I really want you in the T&I when you will be Chunin, you're a natural. Now, it's time to eat a bit. Come, we'll go in town, I'll treat you to some dangos!"

oOoOo

The following day, around two o'clock in the afternoon, an ANBU knocked at Anko's door with the keys of Yuri's apartment and all the paperwork she'll need.

"Girl? You want to go to your flat now?"

"Already? Wow, Hokage-sama didn't waste any time. Sure, we can go now. I have everything packed." And by everything, she meant a sealing scroll containing all the books she found at Uzushiogakure and the sword.

The trip around the city was uneventful, she could see a lot of people were looking at Anko with dark eyes, but it was a lot less obvious than the looks they were giving Naruto. Probably because Anko was a lot more dangerous than Naruto, and had a lot less self-control.

"Here you are, that's your new door, here, take the keys." Anko said, giving the little girl the set of keys she had been carrying so far.

Yuri took the keys, opened the door, and immediately could notice that a lot more work had been put into this flat than in Naruto's one. Even at the start, when she was just four years old, it was not looking this good.

They both entered, leaving the door half opened to look around. The layout was exactly the same than the apartment next door, so she wouldn't have any problem, but all the doors were neatly paint, the furniture's were new, the bed looked absolutely comfy, the hot water was working, and the people preparing the flat even did the shopping, the cupboards were full of groceries!

"Well… That's… Unexpected. I guess I'll only have to by some clothes, then."

"Looks like the Hokage really wanted you to feel welcome. Well. I guess I'll leave you to it, then. You have everything ready now. Don't hesitate to come say hello, either at my flat or in the forest."

"Thanks a lot, Anko-san. You really helped me out a lot." Not knowing in an ANBU would survey the new orphan, she didn't want to get into details in what Anko helped her for, especially with the door still half opened, but Anko understood perfectly.

"No problem, Girl. I'll follow your progress in the academy anyway. Bye bye, Girl"

"Bye Anko-san."

When Yuri was finally alone, she realised that she could finally relax for the first time in the village. She didn't need to fear an attack of a villagers anymore, nobody would blame her for anything, she could just sleep soundly for the time being.