Tayuya woke to the sound of a running sink and dishes being clattered against each other. Her baggy eyes strained to open as she scratched her head while sitting up from the couch she slept on. She couldn't remember the last time she slept that well, mainly because she could barely remember the last time she was able to sleep on something as soft as couch cushions.

She sat and looked around for a bit, unable to see Anko. That could only mean that she was in the kitchen, having been the source of the noise that woke her up. She groaned as she slowly stood up to walk to the bathroom and answer nature's call. She washed her hands and exited, only to see a stack of pancakes in the same spot she was sitting a minute ago. She had assumed it was her stomach tricking her into smelling the food being made, and was glad to see that it was not the case

Her stomach grumbled as soon as she saw the thick, almost perfectly rounded pancakes, and her first instinct was to grab them and dig in. But she remembered that she was in someone's home, and that she still had enough decency to at least confirm that the food was for her.

"Yes, they're for you." Anko called out from the kitchen, as if she read her thoughts. Tayuya wasted no time in heading over to the dish once she heard that. She loved pancakes.

Less than five seconds later, Tayuya had taken her first bite. She moaned crudely upon tasting them. They were fluffy, sweet, and just overall absolutely delicious. She wasn't sure if she was enjoying them so much because they were perfectly made or because she hasn't had many great things to eat in the past few months, besides the dango she had yesterday.

The red-head opened her eyes again, only to spot Anko directly in front of her. She jumped hard in response, and almost dropped the plate she had in her lap.

Anko smirked, "I take it from that moan that almost sounded as if you just climaxed, the pancakes are good?"

"They're... amazing." Tayuya admitted, stuffing another bite into her mouth, "God... how did you make them so good?!"

Anko grinned cockily, "It's a Mitarashi recipe I invented when I was little. I won't tell you my secret, but I will tell you that the syrup is mixed with the same paste that's used with Mitarashi dango."

Tayuya thought the syrup tasted a bit different than she remembered, but was too busy stuffing them down her throat to realize, "Well, shit, you could make a profit off of these babies, for sure."

"Glad you're enjoying them." Anko said, "Now hurry up and eat because we got places to be."

"Uh, we do?" Replied Tayuya with a full mouth, "Exactly where are we going?"

"Well, for one thing, if you're going to be staying here any longer, we'll have to get you your own clothes. I don't like sharing, and it'll be good for you to have more clothes for yourself when you head back out."

Tayuya paused, remembering that she probably shouldn't be getting too comfortable here. After all, Konoha owes her nothing, and she already outlived her usefulness with her lack of information about Orochimaru. There wouldn't be much use for them to keep her here much longer.

But she had to admit, it wasn't bad staying here for the past twenty-four hours.

"...Right. I'll be sure to get ready soon then." Tayuya mumbled.


Anko and Tayuya exited a nearby shinobi clothing store, both holding a decent amount of shopping bags.

"Strange how we have similar fashion tastes." Anko commented, "I thought I was the only weirdo who fully enjoyed fishnet and mesh suits."

"Not as much as you, but yeah. I can't do the trench coat thing like you do, though." Tayuya replied. Anko snorted.

"Not everyone can."

The Curse Mark pair then comes across Naruto walking from the adjacent direction, who was paired up with Sakura, as well. Naruto waved at the two and kept moving. However, before Naruto passed by Tayuya, the latter decided to stick her leg out, causing Naruto to trip and fall. The red-head chuckled as Naruto landed on his face with a muffled 'oof!'.

"Klutz." Tayuya grinned, shaking her head. She then grabbed Naruto by the back of his coat and pulled to help him back up.

"You tripped me!" Naruto grunted, dusting himself off.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh!"

"Naruto!" Sakura interrupted, "C'mon, Tsunade-sama is waiting on you!"

Naruto scowled at Tayuya, where she simply smirked in reply.

"Better get going."

Naruto growled, "Grr... I'll get back to you later."

"Promise?"

Before Naruto could reply, Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbed Naruto's arm, and pulled him to their planned destination. Tayuya simply laughed as Naruto continued barking at her, even as he was being pulled away.

"Wow." Said Anko, shaking her head with a grin.

"What?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were flirting with him."

"As if." Tayuya scoffed as they continued walking.

"You remind me of me when I was your age. Just a little bit more grumpy." The Jounin stated, "And I have a feeling that, like me, you act like a bully to anyone you have a crush on."

Tayuya shook her head, "First of all, I never have and never will have a crush on someone, so let's get that straight. Second, I'm a bully to everyone. Naruto just makes it easy."

"You're not a bully to me."

"Yeah, because you're already one to me."

Anko narrowed her eyes, her smirk still showing.

Tayuya smirked along with her, "And third, you don't know me as well as you think you might. So don't go around throwing out assumptions."

"I like to think of it more as confirming a fact, but whatever you say." Said a smug Anko. Tayuya did not reply, but simply rolled her eyes and shook her head.


Later that day, Anko and Tayuya returned home and Tayuya showered and switched into one of the outfits Anko purchased for her. It consisted of a pair of dark forest green cargo pants that stopped just before her ankles. On her feet were a pair of standard shinobi sandals, and wore a small charcoal colored tank top, one that exposed her lower mid-section and had a small slit in the middle, exposing a generous amount of cleavage. Short sleeves of fishnet were wrapped around her elbows as well.

"You look good." Anko admitted, enjoying her day off at the T&I department by kicking back and reading on the couch wearing nothing but underwear and a large t-shirt.

"Thanks. Can't remember the last time I wore decent looking clothes." Tayuya mumbled, checking herself in a nearby mirror. She then felt eyes glaring at her and looked at Anko, who was behind her, through the mirror with a sweatdrop, "Err, clothes that were actually mine."

Anko nodded and continued to her book. Tayuya finished checking herself out and turned around, "Hey, so I think I wanna take a stroll around Konoha, that way I don't have to stay locked up in here all day."

Anko let out a short chuckle, "You know you're technically still a prisoner, right? Besides, I thought you enjoyed my company."

"I mean, you can come with me if you want."

"No thanks." Anko sighed, "I don't feel like getting dressed again. And right now, I just wanna lay down and enjoy my day off."

"Okay..."

"Heh, I was messing with you, though. I don't have to watch you twenty-four seven. You can walk around if you want. Just be sure not to cause trouble and come back at a reasonable time, since you are still my responsibility. Other than that, you should be fine."

"Oh, alright." Tayuya said, heading for the door, "I'll be back later then."

Anko waved her off, not taking her eyes off her book, "Mm-hmm."


Tayuya spent a few minutes walking around and through Konoha's main districts and roads, making sure to memorize her directions as to not get lost. However, she figured there was no point, seeing as she'd be leaving soon. Tomorrow, most likely. And after realizing it, Tayuya knew that she didn't want to leave. Not to go back out there, where she didn't have a home or a decent place to rest like she did here. She was exhausted. Exhausted from fighting for everything she needed, whether it was food, rest, or even her own life. She wanted to feel safe for a change, and although she spent most of her life as a servant for Orochimaru, at least she had a bed and meals granted to her to keep her going.

She simply sighed and decided to prepare for the inevitable. At least she was able to get a break.

Before she could continue her thoughts, Tayuya noticed herself walking toward Naruto again, who was sitting on a bench, somewhere close to Konoha's hospital. He sat forward with his face in his palms, not even noticing Tayuya's presence.

"Hey." Tayuya greeted before chuckling, "My bad for tripping you earlier. I just felt like messing with ya. No hard feelings, I hope."

Tayuya barely received any response. She hardly knew Naruto much, if at all, but knew that his lack of a response was quite unusual.

"Hey, what's your deal? Why are you so quiet?" She inquired. Naruto sighed, and wiped his eyes before putting his face back in his palms.

"... My mentor died." He mumbled with a cracked voice.

"Yikes." Tayuya thought to herself, "Oh. That's a tough break, man. I'm sorry to hear that. You gonna be okay?"

"What's the point...?" Naruto choked, "What's the point of even being a shinobi if it means seeing constant failures and deaths of your loved ones?"

"..." Tayuya wasn't sure what to say.

"I mean, I can't even get my best friend to come back home, where he belongs. And then my mentor, someone who I almost look up to like a father, is murdered in on a mission. And it just... It's terrible. I'm trying so hard not to feel discouraged, but all this disappointment hurts... And I'm not sure I can handle much more."

The air between Tayuya and Naruto got uncomfortably quiet for a while. Realizing this, Naruto looked up a bit and sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to vent out to you like that. I know we hardly know each other."

Tayuya thought for a minute, then came to a decision and sat next to Naruto on the bench. She lounged out on it, with her extended arms resting on the back of the bench and her legs resting in the four-figure position.

"I can see where you're coming from, for the most part. And I agree with you. It's hard to see the point of going on with anything if it causes you so much pain. And it's exhausting, I totally get that." She stated with a far-off look into the distance.

Naruto glimpsed his teary eyes at Tayuya, before giving a long deep sigh. The red-head stretched and gave a short sigh herself.

"Since you wasted about five minutes of my time with that little vent of yours, I might as well waste five minutes of yours with a story." She said, "As you well know, I used to serve under you-know-who for many years. And you can imagine how miserable I was for those years; being forced to do stuff I didn't want to do, being experimented on, being around weirdos and creeps on a constant basis, and being tortured if I even thought of retaliating... It was rough. But then, miraculously, I ended up getting crushed by a huge tree during a fight, which should have killed me instantly. And before that tree came down on me, I was actually glad that it was happening. To be free from Orochimaru. To be free from that constant pain and slavery. However, this little old man decided to save my life and take care of me. How he managed to get that tree off of my body and then heal my fatal wounds are still a mystery to me to this day. But he did it, and for a while, I hated him for it. I asked him why he would bring me back. Why he would bring me back to this terrible, shitty reality we call life. And the fucker had the nerve to smile and say, 'something tells me that your job isn't done just yet'. I can't say I have much of an idea of what he meant by that. But he continued to take care and provide for me until those bandits came and murdered him. But before that, he would always try to convince me that while life does have it's misfortunes, it is still worth fighting for things that you want. I told him that I didn't know what else I wanted other than to be dead, where he only replied 'You just want to be happy. I can tell, you haven't known much happiness in your life, and you just want to be free and do what you enjoy'."

Tayuya paused to make sure Naruto was still listening, "So after I killed and became free from those bandits, I found that I was only back to square one, except it was worse because I was alone and had to fight and do things I'm not proud of to get everything I needed to survive. And it made me sure that the old man was full of shit. My life had only gotten worse after being pulled from the brink of death, and I constantly wondered what I did to deserve it. Why I continued going through this pain, when all I ever wanted was peace. It wasn't worth the trouble, and to this day, I'm still not completely sure if life is worth fighting for. I'm still scarred from everything that happened, from my days with him, to events leading up to you finding me in that cave. I can barely even get a good night's sleep, due to the trauma and nightmares. But, even though I went all this time suffering, I'm still here; I never went through with offing myself. I've thought about doing it every day, and I still do. Some days are harder than others to resist going through with it, but something stops me every time. At first, I thought it was because I was a pussy and just didn't have the balls to do it. But after a while, I came to realize that some things that old man said stuck with me. Things like 'Your job isn't done yet' and 'Fighting through the pain will pay out in the end'. And as much as I hate to admit it, I guess I just want to see if the bastard is right. Even though I haven't seen much results so far, something keeps telling me in the back of my mind that if I keep going, all this pain and suffering will be worth it in the long run. I'm not saying I'm sure of it. But there has to be a reason why I had to deal with everything I've dealt with all my life. A reason why I didn't die and finally be at peace when I should have. And I guess I just continue on to see what that reason is."

Naruto stared off in the distance, thinking about Tayuya's words, while she sighed. She can't remember the last time she spoke this much continuously, "So what I'm trying to say is, yeah, life sucks. The pain you go through sucks. But there has to be a reason why you go through it. There just has to be. And if I never gave up my life, I don't see why you should give up your title as a shinobi. I'm sure your mentor wouldn't want that either. It's okay to get knocked down when life throws you a curveball, but I think getting back up might be the key to seeing if all of it will be worth it, ya know?"

Things got quiet between the two, before Tayuya let out a shocked yelp when Naruto pulled her in for a tight hug.

Tayuya's shock and confusion held her there for a minute before she gave him a sharp elbow to his ribcage, "Get the hell off me, you nut-sack! Who told you it was fine to break the space barrier?!"

Naruto winced as he held his stomach, though she didn't hit him too hard. He simply chuckled, "Ehehe... I just ahh, I guess I got caught in the moment, sorry. It's just... no one really broke it down to me like that before."

Tayuya rolled her eyes, but had to fight the urge to let a smirk break out on her face, "Well, if that's your way of thanking me, at least give me a heads-up next time."

"Sorry." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "But in all seriousness, thank you. What you said helped me feel better. I'm sorry you went through what you went through, though. I wasn't completely sure at first, but you're a very nice person, in your own weird way..."

Tayuya laughed, "Thanks, I guess. Just don't give up, at least not before I do or I'll kick your ass. Deal?"

"Deal." With that, Naruto offered his hand to shake on it and seal the deal, to which Tayuya accepted.

She then stood back up, "Well, since I helped you feel better, the least you can do is treat me to something to eat."

Naruto smiled, "Sure, I'm actually kind of hungry myself, now that you mention it. I know this ramen spot that serves the best ramen on earth! Wanna tag along?"

"As long as you're paying, sure."


"Shit, Naruto... If I hadn't known any better, I would have sworn that you were the one who's spent the past few months starving." Tayuya commented while leaving Ichiraku's ramen bar. Naruto only chuckled and patted his bulging stomach.

"It felt like I was. I hadn't realized I was that hungry until I started eating!"

"You literally had triple the amount that I had. I can't imagine the size of the turd that's gonna drop in your toilet bowl tonight."

Naruto paused and looked at her as if she spoke complete gibberish, "...Who says things like that?"

"I do, obviously."

Naruto still felt weirded out by Tayuya's blatant lack of verbal etiquette, but had nothing else to say regarding the matter. Ayame approached the pair, handing them their bill. Naruto graciously took it and paid for everything like he said he would.

"Wow, Naruto-kun!"Ayame commented, "You're paying the whole bill this time! I guess it's only natural when you have such a pretty date."

"Thanks." said Tayuya in reply to the compliment, "But we're not on a date."

"Oh... could have fooled me!" Ayame said with a chuckle. This made Tayuya and Naruto blush.

"Stop instigating, Ayame!" Naruto exclaimed. Ayama laughed nervously, raised her hands defensively.

"I'm not instigating, just observing!" She defended, "But fine, I'll leave you kids alone for now. Enjoy the rest of your night!" The chef's daughter said, returning to the back of the kitchen with a grin.

"Crazy lady..." Naruto grumbled childishly, "Let's go before she comes back."

"Fine by me." Tayuya scoffed before exiting out of the ramen bar with him.


"Yeah, this is it." Tayuya told him just as they arrived towards Anko's apartment complex, "You didn't have to walk me home, ya know."

The pair stopped just before the front entrance, "It's only polite to walk a girl home after hanging out with her, right?" He said with a smile, "Besides, I kinda like talking to you."

"Well, don't get to used too it." Tayuya replied, "I'm probably going to be leaving soon."

"What? Why?" Naruto asked.

Tayuya shrugged, "Probably because I've outlived my usefulness to you guys here. There's no real reason to keep me around, really."

"So what, we're just gonna kick you to the curb and send you back-?" Naruto was cut off when the door behind Tayuya opened up, "Oh, hey, Anko-sensei..."

"Oh, Naruto-kun, what a surprise! Didn't expect you to be here." Said Anko.

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, I was just walking Tayuya back home."

Tayuya sighed as she felt Anko's eyes staring intently at her, "Oooohhh, is that so? It's funny, because I was just about to head out and look for her myself. So thank you!"

Naruto nodded, still rubbing his head. Anko always made him so nervous, "Hehe, yeah no problem..." He then waved to Tayuya, forgetting about what they had been talking about prior to Anko opening the door, "I'll catch you guys later!"

Anko waved as he walked off. Tayuya stepped inside and sighed.

"I don't want to hear it."

Anko followed in after her, a very obnoxious smirk pasted on her face, "What happened to 'I never have and never will have a crush on someone', Tayuya-chan?"

"Don't call me that. And I'm not crushing on him." Tayuya said dismissively.

"I'm sure you just decided to hang out with him and let him walk you home because you hate his guts, then." Said Anko with her words coated in sarcasm.

Tayuya rolled her eyes, "I don't hate him and I don't like him. He's tolerable. He was feeling bummed out over something and wanted someone to come with him to get something to eat. He was treating, anyway, so it would be dumb to turn down free food."

"Well then, it sounds to me like he might be crushing on you, then."

Tayuya sat on the couch and grabbed the orange book she picked up yesterday. Not to read it, but to try and tune Anko out, "I doubt it. I don't see what would interest him other than my tits."

Anko laughed, "I have the same sized tits you have, yet you don't see him treating me anywhere."

"Yeah, but you two are in two different age ranges."

"That means nothing." Anko countered, "Naruto can pursue me just as easily as he'd want to pursue you."

"Sure." Tayuya said with another roll of her eyes, "I'm just saying that I'm not exactly what most people would consider 'the perfect catch'. I'm rude, not very well-mannered, a complete tomboy... I just don't see why anyone would want me for anything more than my appearance."

Anko sat next to her, picking some leftover dinner out of her teeth with a kunai, "Well, even though you may not see it, you'll never know. Someone else might like those kind of things."

"Yeah, weirdos." Tayuya scoffed.

"Naruto is a big weirdo, thus, proving my point."

Tayuya closed the book and pinched the space between her brows, "You love to argue, don't you?"

Anko grinned, "Only when I know that I'm right."