Everything went back to normal after that incident.

Arashi and Shizune returned to their usual squabbling. Jiraiya and Tsunade had long given up on trying to live together in peace and harmony.

For Arashi, life was the usual waking up at 12 noon, screaming at the alarm clock realising that he was late for work before running all the way to the Anbu HQ for work and realising that he could simply have teleported there.

For Shizune, life was the usual waking up at 7 to make breakfast for Tsunade, cleaning up the house and sweeping the front door before hanging the clothes to dry at 8 when the sun had risen, then start training at 9 when Tsunade was awake enough to teach / supervise her.

Arashi'd just joined the Anbu force after complaining that the wages he earned from frogsitting Jiraiya's frogs were too little. Since he wasn't a big fan of torturing and killing people, he simply applied for a job as a Hygiene & Cleanliness Facilitator. Besides, he was only 14. Killing others would dirty his cute little hands and contaminate his innocent, sweet little mind.

"Yeah, very little mind, indeed." Shizune stared at him when he told her.

"Hey, I resent that." He whined.

"You resemble that." She said flatly. "And what're you going to do there. It's not as if the Anbu needs wusses like you who can't hold a kunai without taking the time to complain about how the edges aren't sharp."

"I'm a HCF!" He struck a pose and grinned cockily.

"A.. Highest Common Factor?" She looked confused.

"..." He glared. "I resent that."

"... You resemble that." She replied as soon as the words left his mouth.

"You –"He sighed, not bothering himself to argue with her. "It's called a Hygiene & Cleanliness Facilitator."

"... Or simply put, a toilet cleaner." She stared.

"... I resent that." He said, regretting it almost as soon as he'd said it. He stared at her, almost expecting her to say something. She stared back at him.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

"... You resemble that."

Four years passed, and as usual, Arashi who was finally 18 arrived at work. He had been promoted from a HCF to a LCM (Lounge & Common-room Manager or Lowest Common Mutiple, for those who don't know ().

It was his fifth day at work as an LCM and so far, there had been no problem. Thing was, it just wasn't fun. At least, while he was frogsitting the frogs that enjoyed sitting on him, Shizune would come over and send him lunch which he usually didn't eat, fearing that it was poisoned. Now – the person sending him food was an old, fat, ugly lady who seemed to have an obsession with him.

"Pfft. Then again, doesn't everybody?" He sighed, grinning at his reflection in the ceiling-to-floor window he was polishing and sighed contentedly. "I am just so cute that I wonder if it's even possible to be this cute."

Just then, the door opened and from the reflection in the mirror, he could see a figure of a woman step into the room. He quickly regained his composure and continued wiping the windows but she'd seen what he had been doing and was now staring at him.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I wasn't slacking. I was just testing to see how polished the mirror was." He grinned sheepishly as he turned to face her. His face faulted as he saw that she was barely 15. "Uhh. Hi! Looking for your dad here?" Stare. "... Look, I know I'm cute – but can you say something? People might think I'm trying to seduce you."

"Anko, what's taking you so –"Orochimaru entered the room behind the girl.

"Eyy... Orochi-Jiji (Grandfather Orochi)." Arashi bowed, holding the window spray and newspaper used to wipe behind his back. If Orochimaru found out that he was spending his time doing 'mundane jobs' as he liked to call them, he'd be fired. After all, he was a sennin, and Arashi was his fellow sennin's disciple. It was bad for his reputation. Arashi thanked the gods that he had left his LCM apron somewhere in the locker room.

Arashi looked at Anko curiously.

"Anko, greet your senior." Orochimaru ordered.

"... Him?" Anko stared with a look on his face which clearly showed that she was shocked that a self-obsessed guy like him was her senior.

"... Her?" Arashi, on the other hand, was not at all surprised. After all, her attitude was so much alike Orochimaru's. If it wasn't for the fact that he was his teacher's teammate and thus of higher profile than him, he would've snorted there and then.

"Oh, wait here. I'll go get that toadface here." Orochimaru seemed to have realised something and left the room.

Anko sat down on the sofa, gathered all the magazines that had been messily strewn all over the coffee table and placed them in the magazine rack beside the sofa. Arashi watched as she did this, amusement clearly written on his face. He threw the newspaper he was holding into the bin, making a mental note to come back later to clear the bin.

"... Hi. I'm Arashi. My teacher's Jiraiya." Arashi wiped his black hands against his shirt and stuck it out to Anko. She stared at him, then at his hand before shaking it, careful not to dirty her hands.

'Pfft. She's such a high classed bitch like that snakeface.'

"... Frogface."

He heard her mutter.

"What?"

"Frogface?"

"... Oh. It's what Snakeface calls Jiraiya." Arashi shrugged. Anko glared at him for showing her teacher disrespect.

"What a disrespectful twit." She scoffed.

'And the same to you.'

"I resent that." He grinned, trying to sound as if he was kidding.

"You resemble that, exactly." She grabbed a magazine and flipped through it.

'And you're a mirror image of me.'

Just then, the door opened again. This time, Jiraiya and Orochimaru entered. Jiraiya gaped at Arashi and Anko and looked as if he was about to burst out laughing. Orochimaru seemed to have noticed that.

"THAT, dunce, is my disciple, Anko." Orochimaru clarified.

"Ooh. That dunce is your disciple? Impressive. She's almost as big a dunce as you are. You seriously are a good teacher, unlike me. Arashi here isn't half as dashing at me." Jiraiya nodded appreciatively. Orochimaru shot him a glare.

"Anyway, dunce, may I ask of you to supervise her training while I..." Orochimaru had practically hissed the entire sentence out, amusing Jiraiya and Arashi to no end. "Pfft."

"Go on vacation? Sure. You need it. Now, now – We were teammates for a reason. If you meet any hot girls, drop me a note and I'll be right there." Jiraiya grinned. Orochimaru glared at him again. Then something caught his eye.

"Is that Mama Lemon window spray I see, boy?"