Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.
Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), some moderate Dumbledore bashing (he's more manipulative than evil but mostly just stubborn), and who knows what else.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter 23: Anko's Story
Mitarashi Anko was born in the wee hours of the morning on October twenty-fourth, nineteen-seventy-five and had just three years with her parents before they were taken from her shortly after the start of the Third Great Shinobi War. She ended up in the Konoha Orphanage not long after that and while she wasn't pampered, she did have a relatively decent childhood. She had decided at the tender age of five that she would follow in her mostly unknown parents' footsteps and become a shinobi of Konoha.
Anko was very talented when it came to the shinobi arts; often called a prodigy by her instructors and also had chakra reserves were two to three times larger than those of other children her age. And even though she wasn't quite on the same level as Hatake Kakashi skill wise or as Aburame Satoshi intelligence wise, she was still talented enough to capture the attention of Orochimaru and the Snake Sannin had taken her under his wing about halfway through her first year at the academy.
Anko first met the young Aburame genius when he joined the academy a month after his fourth birthday during her fifth and final year. Like the rest of their classmates, she initially scoffed at the little runt and felt more than a little intimidated when he had made no effort to hide his intelligence. She couldn't help but be impressed by the diminutive boy after the first few months had passed though; he refused to buckle under the constant bullying and in turn learned to blow the insults directed at him off with seeming ease.
That he never stopped smiling no matter what, never considered himself better than the older students (even if he clearly was), and was not afraid to admit that he was not perfect drew several of the older children to the kid, including Anko. And while Anko wasn't exactly friends with the group, she was fond enough of the boundless bundle of energy that was Aburame Satoshi that she set aside the small chip on her shoulder (that she'd developed because of her own experience with bullies due to the fact that she was both talented and a girl) to hang out with the runt and his friends.
She had graduated with such high hopes at the end of that year along with Satoshi and his friends and had felt privileged to have been hand picked as one of the three Genin to be assigned to Orochimaru (which had strengthened the growing bond she had with the Jounin). It wasn't until Orochimaru had abandoned her after giving her the cursed seal (the only one of ten to have survived the ordeal) that Anko knew that being sought out by Orochimaru had been the beginning of the end of her life and not the first step towards a bright new future she'd once believed it to be.
She had looked up to Orochimaru, seen him as a father figure because he'd treated her as if she was special and personally trained her extensively; including allowing her to sign the Snake Summoning Contract. Being abandoned by him after finding out that he'd simply been using her the entire time had hurt. Returning to the village to be faced with hate and mistrust because of her association with Orochimaru had hurt even more.
The one bright spot during that time had been Satoshi's ready acceptance of her return. He had been far quieter than she remembered but he was otherwise unchanged and with his steadfast support and friendship had come the friendship and acceptance of his older teammates; Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo. No matter how hard she'd tried to push the little bug away during that time, he'd always greet her with a smile and a kind word and she eventually accepted that he would forever be a part of her life and she found a small measure of peace knowing that.
She'd been worried to death when she'd learned that he'd been seriously injured during the Chuunin Exam their teams had entered together in Kumo. That he'd cheered on his teammates, her, and the other Konoha Genin that made it into the tournament with his usual enthusiasm had soothed her concerns as he'd bounced back much as he always had. She had quietly hoped and believed that he would always be that perpetual bundle of positive emotion and energy; that nothing could ever bring him down.
Seeing the bubbly boy she'd grown to love like a brother die (figuratively speaking) overnight after the Kyuubi's attack due to the combined losses of half his family, half of his friends, and a number of adults that he looked up to and respected had hurt. Anko had been one of the lucky ones that night; she'd had no one to loose and had therefore not lost anyone she'd been close to that night. Anko had lost touch with the younger shinobi not long after he'd been reassigned to a new team but often listened to the rumors that flew through the ranks of the shinobi about the quiet, emotionless genius that moved through his life in shadows.
On the rare occasions when they'd cross paths, Satoshi would still offer her a soft friendly greeting but the lack of his former infectious grin hurt so much that she unconsciously began avoiding the younger boy so she wouldn't have to see the shadow of a ghost wearing her honorary otouto's face. Meeting Yuuhi Kurenai shortly after earning her promotion to Tokubetsu Jounin filled the hole that Satoshi's constant absence had put in her heart and after telling Kurenai all about him; Anko finally admitted to herself that she missed him terribly.
So she stopped avoiding those places that she knew he could sometimes be found and hoped that she'd run into him more often. The few times they crossed paths after that gave her hope for the future when he'd smiled at her (small though it was) and greeted her warmly; much as he always had even if he was still a mere shadow of the boy he'd once been. Then, shortly after Satoshi turned eleven, he all but vanished; turning up only rarely during the summers and for five years she heard almost nothing of what the young Aburame was doing.
Anko didn't have time to worry about what the younger boy could be up to though as she threw herself into her work after she was assigned to the T and I Department.
She'd therefore been totally shocked to run into her old friend at the dango stand, of all places, where he introduced her to a bevy of Outsiders with whom he was obviously close friends. The biggest shock had been seeing a small glimpse of the boy she'd first befriended in the nearly sixteen year old young man that had suddenly appeared in front of her. That he still considered her a friend, even after the number of years that they'd barely even spoken to one another, was a balm to Anko's heart as she once again realized how much she'd missed her little honorary brother over the past seven years.
Before she could reconnect with her old friend though, he was gone again and she was forced to watch from the sidelines as he threw himself into preparing for the Jounin Exams; most of her information coming through the village grapevine in the form of rumors. Not wanting to miss cheering her old friend on as he'd once cheered for her, Anko made it a point to attend both of the tournament events of the Jounin Exam. She freely admitted to being impressed and amazed by his rather spectacular performances in both the Melee and during the Singles Tournament.
While she never doubted Satoshi's intelligence, she had questioned his ability to stand on even footing with some of the older shinobi that were taking the test with him. Seeing him in action on those two days had been mind blowing as he'd cut right through and completely destroyed the impression that he was too young and too inexperienced to compete with the others. It made her wonder what the hell he'd been doing in the last five years that he'd grown so powerful without her hearing any rumors about his growth.
When she'd received the invitation from Shibi to attend Satoshi's congratulatory party for his promotion to Jounin, she'd jumped at the chance to catch up with her old friend. She'd spent two hours watching him from a distance as he was mobbed by a slue of children from ages nine to fourteen, waylaid by the Outsiders he'd introduced her to months earlier, and chatted with the rest of his clan. Each time she tried to make her way to his side, someone else always seemed to beat her to the punch.
The teen had then disappeared shortly after Jiraiya turned up and she didn't see him again until just before the party ended. She'd been reluctant to approach him at that point because he'd been radiating tension and sending dirty looks at the Sennin for the remainder of the party and she didn't want to get snapped at if he was in a foul mood. Anko had therefore gone home disappointed over the missed opportunity and uncertain of the next time she'd have the chance to catch up with her old friend.
To her surprise and irritation that opportunity came before dawn the next morning when she was rudely woken up by an AnBu Guard and ordered to meet in the Hokage's office for a mission. The whole mystery surrounding that meeting and the mission she was being given had annoyed her further; especially when Satoshi not only seemed to be part of it but was one of the few that actually knew exactly what was going on. She had been slightly flattered that Satoshi had been a little upset on her behalf over her being kept in the dark but that feeling was lost when no one seemed inclined to catch her up to speed; though Satoshi had appeared as if he wanted to.
The arrival of a huge order of dango and fresh coffee courtesy of the creepy little summon that Satoshi commanded had somewhat assuaged her temper and she'd focused on her treat (while making plots to steal Satoshi's summons so she could have her own personal dango chef). As she ate, she'd curiously watched Satoshi sketch out a bunch of seals and junk in the middle of the floor in the largest room of the run down shack that they'd commandeered for their mission. The only reason she hadn't demanded answers during that time was because even she knew how tricky seals could be if you made a mistake and the ones that Satoshi was drawing (using his blood no less) were complicated.
She'd been completely poleaxed when Jiraiya had let the cat out of the bag about Satoshi (her little runt of an honorary brother) having a way to remove Orochimaru's curse seals.
When Satoshi had confirmed that he thought he could remove the curse seal she'd gone completely numb as hope boiled up in her breast at the thought of being set free from her tainted past. Once she'd regained her wits she'd glanced to the center of the room to find one of Orochimaru's spies that had been found when the Hokage had purged the village the previous year (after the mess with Danzou) tied to a chair naked as a jay bird with seals painted all over him. Not having caught Jiraiya and Satoshi's earlier discussion about the removal process, Anko had been more than a little caught off guard when Satoshi stripped out of his clothes without any shame at that point.
She was also more than a little surprised to find that while Satoshi appeared to be nothing but a little boy (the poor kid still shorter than Anko by a full inch) he was every inch a young man. Short and slender, there wasn't an ounce of fat on his body and his muscles while not bulky were clearly defined and obviously not just for show. The scars that littered his body spoke of countless close brushes with death and at least one encounter with someone that was moderately skilled in the ways of torture (those types of scars easily recognized by the kunoichi due to the years that she'd spent as part of Konoha's T and I Department).
Instead of detracting from his appeal, those scars enhanced it as they spoke of the young Jounin's courage and skill in the face of death and pain. Anko hadn't been able to help herself when she'd whistled in admiration of Satoshi's bared form and the woman in her had been pleased when he'd blushed in response to her checking him out. All thoughts of appreciating the view had disappeared from Anko's mind the moment Satoshi started the removal process by running through a blur of hand seals.
She'd been slightly disturbed by the sheer number of Kikaichu that had poured forth from his body (she'd also briefly wondered where the hell he'd been hiding them all since his body looked far too small to hold even a quarter of the numbers that had appeared) though not enough to turn her eyes away from the spectacle. She knew the instant that the curse seal activated in response to the low levels of the spy's personal chakra reserves as her seal had flared in response to the wave of tainted chakra that had swept through the room. The taint was gone an instant later as Satoshi activated the seals he'd drawn upon the man's body.
Her breath caught as the Kikaichu had scattered and hundreds upon hundreds of what she believed were blue, green, and yellow chakra strings shot up and out of Satoshi before plunging into the spy's body. The room lit up like a roman candle at that point beneath the sheer amount of power that Satoshi was pouring into the seal arrays and into the man's body and she found it even harder to tear her eyes away from the display of pure power.
The spy's screams of pure agony had only emphasized the volume of power being fed into Satoshi's efforts to remove the seal. When the process was finished two hours and eight minutes later, Anko found her breathing unsteady as she watched Satoshi seal away the corruption that had been the unconscious man's curse seal over two hours earlier and the hope that had sprung up in her heart when she first learned what they would be doing blossomed inside of her.
It had been that blossoming hope that had driven her to declare the pain of the removal unimportant and prompted her to offer anything and everything for the opportunity to be free of Orochimaru's curse. The days between that first removal and the day her own seal was removed had been agonizing for the kunoichi as she watched Satoshi repeatedly bleed himself dry to set up the seals and then exhaust himself to remove the curses.
More than once she'd been witness to the sixteen year old arguing in his quiet way with the Sennin about the seal arrays that Satoshi was using to augment the process; something few people would be willing to do in the face of Jiraiya's reputation and skill in fuuinjutsu. Oddly enough, Satoshi never disrespected the Sennin even when he disagreed with him though Anko thought it strange how the young Jounin never turned his back towards Jiraiya no matter what; almost as if he didn't trust the man.
When it was finally Anko's turn to have her seal removed, she'd covered up her nervousness by shamelessly teasing Satoshi. She'd almost been disappointed by how professional Satoshi had behaved while he'd tied her to the chair to secure her for the removal and then painted the seals onto her flesh. Other than when she'd first removed her clothes, his eyes had remained firmly on his task instead of wandering up and down her naked body (the young Jounin had taken off his sunglasses in order to make certain she knew he wasn't being a pervert) though the slight blush gracing his cheeks and the back of his neck had let her know he wasn't completely unaffected.
Anko would have been offended if he'd not been affected by her well toned body (her pride as woman would have been crushed to think even her oldest friend didn't think of her that way at least once).
There had been one moment when she'd felt like screaming as he started the removal process (before the actual pain started) when his Kikaichu had swarmed over her from head to foot. The feel of thousands of bugs crawling over her bare flesh had been utterly disturbing, their little feet tickling and itching as they touched every inch of her bare skin while they devoured her chakra. Satoshi, ever the gentleman, had offered to knock her out for that part of the process but she'd told him that she was a big girl and that a few bugs weren't enough to make her scream.
He'd laughed softly as he stood naked in front of her, his green eyes filled with worry and concern for what he was about to do, while proclaiming he'd always known she was the strongest of the kunoichi that had attended the Academy with him. Further contemplation of her friend had ground to a halt as she felt her curse seal attempt to activate before it was cut off when Satoshi activated the seals he'd painted on her. Then came the feeling of an influx of comforting warmth and cool strength as Satoshi had plunged his chakra through the cuts he'd made around her seal and down into every corner of her being.
The feeling had been uncomfortably intimate and at the same time undeniably exhilarating to share her body in such a way. If she was honest with herself, Anko had been turned on by the feel of Satoshi's chakra (and his magic though she wasn't aware of that tidbit) sliding through her entire body right up until the moment it had latched onto the roots of the curse seal and began the agonizing process of pulling the seal out by its roots. It was pain unlike anything she'd ever felt; ten times worse than what she'd suffered through when Orochimaru first gave her the seal.
The pain might have driven her insane if not for the connection she still felt to Satoshi's chakra and the feel of his hand comfortably resting over her heart between her beasts.
An eternity later, she found herself being untied from the chair by Tokage; her entire body feeling as if it had been thrown in a meat grinder, ground up, and then cooked over an open flame. Tired and sore as she was, the first thing she'd done was twist her head around to catch a glimpse of the now bare (if bloody) stretch of flesh where her curse seal had once sat before flaring what little chakra she had left to test for any trace of the seal; she saw and felt nothing. Uncaring that they were both still naked, she'd wrapped Satoshi (who'd just finished sealing away her curse) in a hug; making the sixteen year old blush bright red in embarrassment even as he hugged her back.
The rest of that night and all of the next day she'd spent in bed recouping and letting her body heal from the ordeal of having Orochimaru's seal ripped from her flesh. While she'd been recovering, Anko had given a considerable amount of thought as to what she could do to repay the teen for what he'd given her. She instinctively knew that he would never ask for anything; it wasn't in his nature to demand payment for helping those he considered friends.
During that time, she couldn't get the image of Satoshi interacting with the children during the party less than a week earlier or the rather telling assortment of scars that covered his body out of her mind. An older memory of a much younger Satoshi happily telling anyone that would listen about how he was officially a big brother as they traveled towards Kumo surfaced in Anko's mind and in that moment she knew exactly how she was going to repay Satoshi for freeing her from Orochimaru's taint.
She had her doubts more than once after coming to a decision but was determined to give Satoshi something of equal value for the gift he'd given her. The pleasant few hours they'd spent catching up over their meal the night they returned to the village had only reaffirmed her resolve. So when he'd expressed an interest in meeting Kurenai, Anko had jumped at the opportunity to invite him back to her apartment without needing to proposition him right off the bat.
Things had gotten shaky for a few minutes then when it looked like Kurenai had been prepared to hate Satoshi but the sixteen year old had managed to charm the older kunoichi with his impeccable manners, intelligence, and the way he didn't dismiss her as weak simply because she was a genjutsu mistress. In fact, Anko's two friends had found common ground when Satoshi had revealed that he often used genjutsu as a defensive and an offensive tactic as well as using it as a diversion. Of course, that had led Kurenai to challenge the Jounin to a genjutsu spar and an exchange of genjutsu techniques; two things that he'd willingly agreed to.
Kurenai had left not long after that and the moment the older kunoichi had departed, Anko made her move.
All of Anko's planning nearly crumbled beneath her feet when it looked like Satoshi was going to reject her and she felt desperate enough to practically beg him. When it turned out that Satoshi's hesitation had in part come from the fact that he was far more inexperienced than she originally believed (based upon how professional he'd behaved while she was naked during the removal process); Anko couldn't believe her luck. Part of her had feared that she'd be unable to provide her first gift and had therefore not told Satoshi what she really wanted to give him in return for what he did for her and now he'd given her the perfect solution.
She'd teach him how to properly please a woman; a dangerous weapon in the right hands since even the best kunoichi could become vulnerable when exposed to physical pleasure. If, during those lessons, she managed to achieve her original goal, then she would happily see her plan through to the end and if not, well then at least she knew that she had not failed to repay him as best she could.
That first night had been all about thanking him properly and there was no doubt in Anko's mind that Satoshi had enjoyed every minute of the evening they'd spent together.
She'd had him completely at her mercy and it had thrilled her to no end that he trusted her enough to allow her to put him in such a vulnerable position. That he'd responded to her time and time again stoked her ego to no end and gave her the courage to plow ahead with her plans without giving into the growing need to confess to Satoshi exactly what it was she intended to happen. When she finally did send him on his way home, he'd looked adorably rumpled and Anko was almost sad to know that neither one of them really saw one another as anything but a friend; that was just the way it was.
The two nights a week she spent with him over the next three months were some of the most enjoyable as she taught her young lover how to bring pleasure to a woman's body. That he was a quick and eager learner only made what could have been weeks of frustration and un-fulfillment during the early lessons into pleasant memories that in turn led to some of the best nights of sleep that she'd ever had. Kurenai had, in the beginning, given her a hard time about cheapening herself until Anko quietly asked Satoshi to allow Kurenai to know that he'd been the one to remove her seal.
He had, by then, gotten to know the older kunoichi enough that he hadn't thought twice about the request as he might have if he'd never formally met her. Anko had then confided her entire plan to her only kunoichi friend and confessed her worries about what would happen if she was successful. Kurenai had called her a fool for not talking to Satoshi and telling him her plans but the older woman had also understood why she hadn't; the other kunoichi well aware of Anko's past and her insecurities. Kurenai had also promised to be there for her no matter what happened.
It was exactly two months and two weeks from the night she and Satoshi first became lovers that Anko learned her plans had been successful; she was just over nine weeks pregnant.
Over the course of the next two weeks, she'd tried to work up the courage to tell Satoshi but found herself unable to tell him she was carrying his child. She feared he would be angry with her; especially after the night he'd softly told her about his dreams of becoming a Jounin sensei once summer arrived one night over a meal of fried shrimp and vegetable tempura (with a large batch of homemade dango for dessert). While Anko really knew nothing of children and even less of babies, even she knew that it took a lot of time and money to raise a child and a child would definitely ruin Satoshi's plans to train a trio of Genin. And that was why Anko couldn't quite bring herself to tell Satoshi.
The next thing she knew, Satoshi was gone on his whirlwind of missions; a planned bid to visit as many countries as possible so as to reduce the chances of leading his Genin into a place where even he would be traveling blind. Before he left, Anko had told him that she'd taught him all she could (and she had) and that she wouldn't need to steal so much of his time anymore and Satoshi had told he would miss her lessons but that he would miss spending time talking with his friend even more, though he did promise to look her up when he had time so they could share a platter of dango every now and then.
After his first handful of missions he showed up as promised with a bag of dango in tow and the two of them had just talked and Anko had been surprised to not feel awkward about the fact that they'd been lovers but now were not. She had almost feared that he might have come to expect to end up in bed with her whenever he stopped by but she should have known he wasn't that kind of guy; though she would occasionally catch him watching her with a wistful expression on his face.
By the second month of the back to back marathon of missions, Satoshi was so worn out that his down time between missions was more often then not spent sleeping when he wasn't hanging out with the children or the Outsiders. Anko had watched him from a distance during that time, wondering if she would soon lose her friend completely when she finally found the courage to speak with him. A small part of her feared that the end of his periodical visits had been because he'd learned the truth and wanted nothing to do with her; though she knew he wasn't that kind of person.
The platters of familiar homemade dango that were somehow left in her apartment from time to time were a balm to her soul as she knew it had been Satoshi that had arranged the gifts – though even that couldn't wash away all of her fears.
In this way, his absence was both a blessing and a curse; it was a blessing because it meant that she wouldn't have to hide the growing evidence of her pregnancy from him and a curse because the longer she waited to tell him about the baby, the angrier she believed he was going to be. By the start of her sixth month, three months after the last time she'd shared her bed with Satoshi and two months after he'd last stopped by to spend time with her, Kurenai half talked and half bullied her into at least telling Shibi about the child if she couldn't tell Satoshi.
She needed to inform Inoichi about her pregnancy at that point as well since she was going to have to go on maternity leave eventually and she was not naïve enough to think that Shibi was not aware of the relationship she'd shared with his oldest son. And he was smart enough to put two and two together to get four and realize that she was carrying his son's child. That didn't mean she wasn't nervous about facing a potentially irate Clan Head over what could essentially be considered line theft because she'd not even had Satoshi's permission to carry his child.
To kill two birds with one stone and to have a witness present in case Shibi decided to kill her once he learned what she'd done (not that he would), Anko requested a meeting with both Inoichi and Shibi at the end of the day a week after Kurenai made her promise to talk to Satoshi's father. And that was how she'd found herself dithering outside of her boss's office dreading the coming conversation.
"Come in, Anko," Inoichi's voice called from inside his office, after she finally found the courage to knock on the door.
Anko walked into the office with a knot of dread filling her stomach as she caught sight of Shibi sitting casually on the edge of Inoichi's desk while the older, blonde shinobi was seated in his chair sorting through the most recent reports. Swallowing her fear, Anko closed the door and formally bowed to both men as best she could around the growing bump that was evidence of just how well she'd gotten to know Satoshi. When she straightened up, she took care to hide her figure with her trench coat in order to keep from drawing the older men's attention to her condition before she was ready.
"Anko, it's not like you to request a private meeting," Inoichi declared softly as he leaned back and penned Anko with concerned blue eyes. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"
Anko couldn't help but laugh as she'd temporarily forgotten that her boss was a rather intuitive person, as well as the best friend of her former lover's father. She blushed slightly as she waved one hand around the office briefly while she reined in her emotions enough to do what she came to do without humiliating herself too badly. Once she felt she was in control (of herself if not the situation), Anko took a deep breath and made a single request, "Could you please secure your office from casual eavesdroppers and from any little bugs that could pass along word of what I wish to discuss with you first?"
The reference to bugs made Shibi frown and glance sideways at Inoichi who shrugged and nodded at him. Anko swallowed thickly as she watched close to five thousand Kikaichu sweep through the room before a couple thousand were herded out of the room. Inoichi raised a privacy barrier a few second later and Anko felt a shiver run down her spine as she watched the yellow shield settle over the walls before disappearing.
"Arigatou," Anko murmured as she bowed to Shibi a second time before addressing the Head of the Aburame Clan with far more respect and formality than she normally would (as Kurenai had instructed her to). "Moushiwake arimasen, Aburame-sama; I fear I have dishonored the Aburame Clan with what I had, at the time, believed were good intentions and I find myself at a loss as to what to do now."
"And what, pray tell, is it that you think you have done to dishonor my clan, Mitarashi-san?" Shibi asked carefully as he studied her intently through his dark glasses; his face completely unreadable behind his jacket collar.
Anko bowed her head as she softly replied, "I'm pregnant with Satoshi's child and not only does he not know that I am pregnant, he had no knowledge that I was attempting to become pregnant during the time we spent together. I know what I have done can be viewed as line theft, even if that was not what I intended as I had fully planned to gain Satoshi's permission first but I feared he would flat out reject my offer or that I couldn't keep my promise because I hadn't even known if I could still become pregnant at the time because of any damage the curse seal might have done."
"When I first learned that I was pregnant I tried to tell Satoshi but that was the same time he told me about his wish to take a Genin team and I feared he'd be angry with me because a child would be an added complication he hadn't asked for. And he's so busy now that he hasn't even had time to stop by to say hello like he used to do even after we stopped sharing my bed. That was about the same time I learned I was pregnant but our physical relationship was only ever temporary because while we had fun together neither one of us really saw each other as anything other than a friend."
"My son informed me of your offer to teach him the physical aspects of the art of seduction in payment for what he'd done for you," Shibi slowly stated while Inoichi just sat there in shock over the rather unexpected drama that was unfolding. "I was under the impression, however, that there would be no strings attached once you'd both felt the debt had been repaid. You don't sound as if you are trying to use your child to railroad my son into anything so I don't feel a need to threaten you with the line theft laws. Why don't you tell me why you chose to gift my son with a child instead of something a little more practical?"
"My Genin Team was one of those chosen to attend the Chuunin Exams in Kumogakure along with Satoshi's team and the thing I remember most about the trip up to Kumo was Satoshi bragging to everyone that he had just become a big brother and I can still remember how full of life he had been before the Kyuubi's attack. It hurt to see him close himself off and become nothing but a shadow of himself after the attack. The night he received his Jounin promotion I saw a fraction of the happy, bubbly ball of perpetual excitement he had once been as he interacted with the horde of children at the party."
"After he removed my curse seal I thought that maybe… having a child of his own would bring Sashi-chan a lifetime of happiness and that maybe, just maybe, that would be repayment enough for what he'd given me. I also couldn't help but notice the scars that covered his body during the process of removing the seals and I had plenty of time to study those scars even before we became lovers and I came to the conclusion that your son has had many a brushes with death throughout his lifetime. I worried about what that meant for his life expectancy; especially if Orochimaru should learn that he is capable of removing the curse seals."
"I think I can follow your logic even if I still think you should have given your decision a little more thought before jumping in with both feet. What do you plan to do now? Obviously, you plan to bear the child to term or we wouldn't be standing here right now discussing your pregnancy. However, given your reputation for disliking any child under the age of fifteen; how are you going to deal with a newborn infant?"
"Before you answer that, Anko-chan, please sit down," Inoichi ordered softly. "I know the further along you are, the more uncomfortable it is to stand on your feet and I'd rather you not stress your body just for the sake of protocol."
Shibi actually jumped down off the desk and brought Anko a chair to sit in to her embarrassment, Inoichi's words bringing forth the other man's memory of his wife's pregnancy. Once she was comfortable settled in the chair, Anko thanked the man that could, if he chose, end her career as a shinobi due to her decision to 'steal' his heir's firstborn child. She took a couple of deep breaths before she dove back into the conversation.
"Like you surmised, I plan to carry the child to term and then I intend to give full custody of the babe to Satoshi; which was what I planned from the very beginning. I… I don't hate children but they do make me uneasy so the thought of raising a child when I myself don't have many memories of my parents leaves me feeling unsettled. As does the fear that any child of mine would be subjected to the discrimination and hate that have followed me since Orochimaru deflected. I also know that I'd make a terrible mother just like I know that Satoshi will make a wonderful father after watching him interact with the children he's been training. I don't need or want any money; if that was what you were worried about."
"How many people are aware that you are pregnant and of those that know, how many know that it is Satoshi's child that you are carrying?" Inoichi inquired as Shibi sat back and considered everything he'd learned.
"Just Yuuhi Kurenai, a close friend of mine, and now the two of you."
"Have you not been seeing a medic or a midwife?" Shibi asked in concern.
"Kurenai has been keeping an eye on me and helping me," Anko confessed. "I've never felt comfortable at the hospital so I avoid the medics whenever possible. I've cut back on the junk food I usually eat, stopped drinking completely, and made certain to be extra careful so as not to hurt the baby."
"I'm going to call Tokage to give you a check up before you leave here tonight," Inoichi declared in a no-nonsense tone. "He is Satoshi's personal medic and a trustworthy man; so you won't have to worry about him spreading rumors or making a big deal out of your situation. I also take it that the reason you asked for me to be present tonight was because you will need to request time off work and not just to use me as a shield against Shibi's anger?"
"Hai," Anko replied both to the order and Inoichi deduction.
"You do know that Shibi wouldn't hurt a fly, ne?"
"You'd be hard pressed to find any Aburame that would," Anko snorted back with her usually brashness. "That doesn't stop them from slitting the throat of someone who crosses them nor does it keep them from teaching their children to aim below the belt."
Both men laughed at that; neither of them denying the truth of Anko's statements. After a few minutes, Shibi addressed the kunoichi once more, "Anko-chan, I have no doubt that it took a considerable amount of courage to bring your condition to my attention and I thank you for doing so well before the child is born. I'm not angry, even if I am a bit disappointed that my son didn't use a bit more common sense and use protection during your extracurricular activities."
"I'm not really ready to be a grandfather but I don't have any room to complain since I wasn't much older than Satoshi is now when I found and adopted my son nor was I married at the time so I can't even complain about him being a single parent. What are you going to do though? Are you certain you wish to give up all rights to your son or daughter? Are you going to work up the courage to tell my son about his child before he or she is born?"
"I don't mind the idea of watching him or her grow from a distance; I knew that before I even made the decision to carry a child that I knew I didn't personally want. This child wasn't about my wants though; it was about giving Satoshi a precious gift to thank him and while I could have planned things out better, it's a little late to change things now. I do regret not being more open with Satoshi about what I intended because it's only grown harder to broach the subject with him the further my pregnancy progresses. How do I tell him though? Am I supposed to just walk up to him and say; surprise, I'm having your baby, sorry to ruin all of the dreams you've been working so hard to achieve by giving you an unexpected responsibility but hey, it's my gift to you?"
"Ouch," Inoichi supplied as he grimaced in response to Anko's bluntness.
"He might be angry that you hid your intentions but he's not going to hate you," Shibi softly declared. "He won't be pleased to find an exploding tag thrown into his plans but I also don't see the babe being as big of a problem as you are making it out to be; Satoshi has always found solutions for dealing with the impossible. Promise me you will at least try to warn him about what to expect?"
"I… I think I can promise that."
"Good. I also want you to promise me that you will come to me if you need anything, anything at all."
"I don't…"
"Not negotiable. You are carrying my grandchild and the future of my clan."
"I promise that if I need anything, I will let you know," Anko capitulated with a sigh and a huff as she realized that Shibi had a point.
"Thank you. The last thing I am going to ask you to promise is to not tell anyone whose child you are carrying," Shibi stated as he leaned forward to pierce Anko with his dark chocolate eyes over the top of his glasses. "My son has made a number of enemies through the years since he earned his hitai-ate and there are those that would be greatly interested in the possibility that the child you are carrying possesses his Kekkei Genkai and they would do anything to get their hands on that child; either to kill the babe or to steal his Kekkei Genkai and its secrets."
"I would protect this child with my life; if only because he or she is a part of Satoshi and he is my oldest and dearest friend. I used to call him my little brother but after what we shared it's hard to see him as such without feeling extremely weird and icky; so he's something more than a friend but a friend none-the-less."
"I'm putting you on desk duty from this point forward," Inoichi informed Anko once Shibi indicated he'd accepted her declaration as a promise not to reveal the father of her child. "Not only do I not wish to risk your health but Shibi would kill me for even think of putting his grandchild at risk. I'll leave Tokage to determine your physical restrictions as I'm not a medic but you can expect me to reinforce his orders if I find you are trying to skirt them. Was there anything else you needed to discuss?"
"No."
"Then I'm going to send for Tokage now," Inoichi stated as he dropped the barrier and created a single Kage Bunshin and sent it off to hunt down the AnBu medic. "Would like me to fetch you some tea or water while we wait?"
"No thank you, I'm fine."
The three of them sat in silence while they waited for Tokage to arrive, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Inoichi was trying not to picture his ten year old daughter sitting in Anko's place, Shibi was trying to wrap his head around the knowledge that he was going to be a grandfather very soon, and Anko was thinking how lucky she was that it was Shibi to whom she'd needed to approach in his capacity as the Aburame Clan Head and not, say, the Hyuuga Clan Head.
Much of the stress she'd been feeling for the past three months had faded away now that she'd come clean about her pregnancy and not had charges of line theft brought against her. She still worried about Satoshi's reaction but his father's calm acceptance had soothed much of the fear she'd been feeling; making the prospect of facing her one time lover far less of a life or death ordeal and more of a troublesome necessity (much like going to see the dentist for a checkup).
Once Tokage arrived, Inoichi brought up the privacy barrier once more and allowed Shibi to briefly explain the situation and why they'd specifically sent for him instead of a midwife. To his credit, Tokage took the news that Anko was carrying Satoshi's child in stride; the man well aware of the circumstances that would have led to that scenario as he'd been the medic overseeing the removal of the cursed seals from the three prisoners and Anko.
And while Tokage had never personally delivered a child before, he was trained to assist in childbirth. All AnBu medics received such training due to the potential for AnBu kunoichi to become pregnant for any number of reasons. In most cases, that meant an avoidance of the public hospital in order to protect their identities.
The exam didn't take very long as Tokage confirmed that both Anko and the babe were healthy, that her due date was on or around August seventeenth, and informed Anko that she should avoid heavy lifting and intense physical training (though light stretching and walking were recommended) and continue to eat healthily. Weekly appointments were also arranged so that Tokage could continue to monitor the progress of her pregnancy with the medic drawing a sample of Anko's blood to be screened for potential health problems. When asked if she'd like to learn the sex of the baby, Anko hesitated for a moment as she glanced at Shibi, who'd shown a modicum of interest at the question, before nodding.
Two minutes and a quick diagnostic jutsu later she was told she'd be having a little girl.
The rest of May and the first half of June passed by quickly and Anko still hadn't been able to find a moment to catch Satoshi in order to speak to him about his daughter; and this time she'd actively been trying. Anko had been there on the day the students at the academy took their Genin Exam (her condition hidden beneath a henge to protect herself, the child, and Satoshi) and she once again watched from the sidelines as Satoshi interacted with close to twenty children sporting brand-spanking new hitai-ate.
She knew that Shibi knew she was there as he'd looked in her direction briefly as Satoshi had allowed himself to be led away by the children (the elder Aburame had attached several dozen Kikaichu to her in order to watch over her and his unborn granddaughter). Not wanting to crash the celebratory party that was sure to be thrown for the children, Anko had opted not to follow them home that day, thinking she'd be able to catch her friend wandering about the village over the weekend; she hadn't.
The following Monday she watched as Satoshi took his first Genin team and she felt even worse about burdening him with the child she carried when she learned that it was his two brothers (one unofficial) and the young Hyuuga (whom Satoshi had often spoken of fondly) that he'd been assigned to train. While he hadn't mentioned just who he'd wished to have on his team (he'd feared that he would jinx himself if he spoke of it too often) he had, on the other hand, spoken of those three children with an undisguised fondness during their time together.
He'd also spoken of the other children frequently (especially the four orphans and his nephew that he'd taken under his wing so to speak) but it was obvious that he was closest to those three. For seven days she watched him put those children through the ringer as he prepared them for their life as Shinobi of the Leaf and the more she watched, the more her earlier fears had crowded into her heart.
The day she decided just to walk up and tell him, if only to escape the constant fear that wouldn't let her sleep, she turned up at his house just after nine (she'd grown familiar with his schedule over the past several days) only to learn that he'd taken a mission and would be gone for at least five days.
The stress was really getting to Anko at that point and on her next weekly appointment with Tokage (the day before Satoshi was due back), he put her on bed rest. The medic ordered her to stay off her feet as much as possible and told her to refrain from using any jutsu (as the fluctuations of her chakra could trigger premature labor because of how stressed her body had become due to her emotional turmoil and a lack of proper sleep). Kurenai was a godsend during the days Anko was virtually confined to her bed; the older kunoichi kept her company and kept her from sinking too deeply into her depression due to her fluctuating hormones and her continued worries over Satoshi's reaction.
Shibi would stop by twice a day to check up on her as well during that time, the man just as concerned for her health as he was concerned about his granddaughter and he made certain that Anko knew that. He even offered to speak to Satoshi on her behalf but Anko felt she had to tell Satoshi herself; to explain her reasoning and her fears in order to try and explain why she hadn't told him sooner.
Shibi would shake his head over her stubbornness but he respected her request; if only because he knew that a confrontation she wasn't prepared to deal with would not be good for her or the baby at that point and Satoshi would wish to confront her the moment he learned about his daughter. That didn't mean that Shibi wasn't having a hard time keeping such a huge secret from his son; something his son would be upset about right up until he learned that Shibi had given his word that he wouldn't say anything.
Rumors that Satoshi had collapsed upon his return from his latest mission drove Anko's barely stable emotions into a huge downward spiral as she feared the worst (very little information about his recovery leaked out of the Aburame Compound while everyone had seen Kakashi carrying his unconscious body out of the Hokage's Tower) and began to believe that Satoshi might die without her ever having told him about his daughter. A very real possibility given how close to death he'd come in the past and how fleeting the life of a shinobi was when compared to a civilian's life; even if in this case it was an over exaggeration because Satoshi had just been suffering from severe exhaustion.
Unfortunately, by the time Anko learned that Satoshi had completely recovered and was up and moving around again; the damage had already been done.
Shibi had known the instant that Anko went into labor during the early evening hours on July ninth (three days before her next scheduled appointment with Tokage) on a night when Kurenai wasn't home as the kunoichi had been called to take a mission to a village two days travel from Konoha. If not for his Kikaichu watching over her, there was a distinct possibility that Anko would have lost the baby as she'd been completely alone and in no condition to go for help. As it was, it took close to an hour for Shibi to track down and send Tokage to the Anko's apartment before heading there himself so he could be on hand in the event that the medic needed anything.
Tokage ended up transferring Anko to the AnBu Infirmary within a half an hour of arriving at her apartment and she would spend over thirty-nine hours in an exceptionally difficult labor; giving birth to Satoshi's daughter in the wee hours of the morning on the eleventh. It was touch and go for two days after that as both Anko and the baby came close to dying more than once. Anko was stubborn enough to fight through though, and aside from the toll the past couple of months had taken on her body, she had otherwise been in excellent condition (she was a kunoichi, after all).
Satoshi's daughter seemed to have inherited both of her parents' stubbornness as she tenaciously clung to life (her immature magical core bearing the brunt of the trauma as the magic she'd inherited through her father struggled to cope with her premature birth). When both mother and daughter were confirmed stable and out of danger, Shibi breathed a sigh of relief and allowed himself a moment to admire the tiny little caterpillar that was his granddaughter.
Born approximately five and a half weeks early, the as yet unnamed baby girl was near enough to being full term that she wasn't at risk for respiratory problems since her lungs were fully developed. On the other hand, her immune system wasn't quite as prepared to deal with life outside the womb; the mother's antibodies still being transferred to the fetus during the thirty-fourth week of pregnancy. That meant that even catching a common cold would be a serious issue for the premature babe. On top of that, her distinct lack of body fat meant her little body would be easily chilled.
Her hair was extra fine and stuck out all over the place much like her father's, though the color of her hair was more a mixture between Satoshi's and Anko's; a deep purple that had a slightly more reddish than bluish cast to it with strands of pure black and deep red mixed in. Her eyes, the one time Shibi had caught sight of them, had been a medium blue (typical of a newborn baby) but lacked a defined pupil; a trait she shared with her mother. He half hoped that she'd end up with her father's brilliant emerald eyes, though it wouldn't really matter much in the long run as he would love her no matter what her eyes looked like.
At roughly thirteen and a half inches long and weighing less than five pounds, she was so tiny that she appeared dwarfed by the blankets she was tucked up inside of and Shibi could easily fit more than half her body in one of his palms. The fact that she'd been born so short hinted that she'd gained both of her parents' rather diminutive physique and would be lucky to reach five foot (though part of that would be due to her premature birth).
Once he finished inspecting his granddaughter, Shibi turned his attention to the child's mother and watched the young woman as she slept. He'd never seen the normally brash and boisterous kunoichi ever so unsure of herself as she'd been the day she'd brought him the news that she was carrying his granddaughter. He had tried to be as supportive as she'd let him (which wasn't as much as he would've liked) but he knew she had more than a few issues trusting others due to her association with Orochimaru several years earlier. Her ostracization due to said association with the traitor hadn't exactly helped her cope either.
He had been proud of his son for openly accepting the young kunoichi when she returned to the village after the fiasco with Orochimaru and while they may have lost touch for a few years he knew his son had never completely forgotten her. Shibi knew Anko was strong (she had to have been to have survived and in some ways thrived after the ordeal with her former sensei) but her strength had hidden a wealth of insecurities that he hadn't seen until her world was seemingly closing in around her.
Satoshi had known those insecurities were there, had mentioned them specifically when he'd defended his decision to accept what Anko was offering to him. His oldest had always been able to see the connections that other people tended to miss or overlook due to his eidetic memory though. Satoshi had trained himself to pick up on those connections quickly so he could analyze them and determine his course of action in a split second. It was what gave him the ability to keep ten steps ahead of everyone else and meant that it was exceedingly difficult to catch him off guard.
There was a ninety-two percent chance that Satoshi already knew something was up with Anko but because he'd been so busy, he'd not had time to check up on his friend to find out exactly what was wrong with her. That was the only reason he could think of why his son was still unaware that he was now a father; Shibi knew full well that Anko hadn't managed to tell him herself before she'd gone into labor. And Shibi knew his son didn't know about the baby because he was confident that Satoshi would have come to him the moment he'd learned about his daughter.
A second look at the sleeping Anko had Shibi thanking his ancestors and the gods that she'd survived. He didn't think his son would have been able to handle her death all that well if he'd learned that she'd died giving birth to his daughter prematurely due to the stress she'd been under. Knowing his almost seventeen year old son as well as he did, Shibi knew that Satoshi would have blamed himself for her death because he'd not been there to help her through those last few critical weeks that had led to the child's premature birth.
He also knew that his son was going to be angry that something this big had been kept from him for so long. Shibi didn't think he'd turn his back on his daughter or the young woman that had borne her but he knew his son would have words to say and that things would be rocky between the two friends for a while. He was at least thankful that their physical relationship had been mutually ended on amicable terms months earlier as that would have been an added complication in sorting out the current mess.
Once Anko recovered enough to recognize her surroundings and remembered what had led to her being there, she'd fearfully thought that she'd lost the baby the moment she realized her stomach was far flatter than it should have been. The relief she'd felt when she'd learned that Satoshi's daughter had survived turned to fear the moment she was asked if she wanted to hold her baby. Anko was absolutely terrified that she'd hurt the tiny babe when she'd finally laid eyes on her daughter and saw how tiny she was. She did, however, name the tiny little girl; giving her the name Saki (in keeping with the Aburame's tradition of giving their children a name starting with 'S').
Kurenai rushed to visit her when Shibi informed the older kunoichi of what had happened the moment he got word that the woman had returned to the village (so she wouldn't panic when she discovered Anko wasn't at home). Kurenai had taken one look at the baby and proclaimed her adorable before turning around and hugging Anko and telling her that she was glad she and the baby were both fine. Shibi would leave the kunoichi to take care of her friend, knowing that Anko trusted Kurenai far more than she trusted him and she needed a friend right now; though the man would frequently visit his granddaughter throughout the day each day mother and daughter remained in the hospital.
Fourteen days after Satoshi had returned to training with Team Four, ten days after she'd gone into labor, and eight days after she'd given birth; Anko and her daughter were both released from the hospital. Shibi had left Anko and Saki in Kurenai and Tokage's capable hands while he tracked down his son after he was told that his granddaughter was ready to come home. He found the soon to be seventeen year old puttering about the kitchen making lunch for himself and the various children that were home while the kids in question worked on the assignments the teen had given them for the day.
Shibi felt a slight pang of uncertainty as he was suddenly faced with the prospect of telling his son that he'd been a father for over a week now. Pushing aside his worry over the coming confrontation, Shibi drew the mantle of authority he held as Clan Head around him as he ordered the children to gather their things and leave the house with clear orders not to return for anything short of an emergency for at least the next four hours.
Any protests were cut off before they fully formed by Satoshi offering to assign them extra laps on the wall to the first one that opened their mouth.
The kids vanished almost instantly.
Translations: Japanese to English
Moushiwake arimasen – a very formal apology, usually used when one has seriously messed up and is apologizing to a stranger or a superior. I believe the literal translation is 'I have no excuse'.
Saki – girl's name that means blossom of hope
Sashi-chan – intentional misspelling of Satoshi's name and the nickname given to him by Anko when they first met
Notes:
Line Theft – in Anko's situation, line theft is referring to an underhanded tactic employed by some kunoichi in an attempt to produce a child that carries a clan or family's Kekkei Genkai and not a family's monetary wealth.
AN: Okay, since I know some people were confused back when Anko and Satoshi first hooked up for his nightly 'lessons' I want to take the time to state that Satoshi and Anko are NOT a couple. In a world where shinobi frequently court death with each mission they take outside of the village, their life expectancies are rather short and therefore opportunities to produce children are often jumped on before they die (at least, that is my reasoning). In Anko's case, she recognized Satoshi's close brushes with death and wanted to give him a gift she felt equal to what he'd given her when he removed Orochimaru's curse seal; a life for a life.
Was it impractical? Yes. But is that really all that surprising when you consider just how messed up Anko was after everything Orochimaru did to her before he dumped her like yesterday's garbage? It wasn't until after she achieved her goal that Anko realized she just might have gotten herself in over her head with her impulsiveness; hindsight and all that rot. Also, I didn't intend for Anko's choice to be seen as a slight against her skills as a kunoichi; it was meant to reflect the impairment of her judgment due to her experiences.
There are very few shinobi or kunoichi in the Naruto verse that aren't messed up in the head. They all have their own vices, questionable hobbies, odd quirks, or destructive tendencies (both self directed and otherwise). Not even Satoshi has escaped that stigma; though his might be harder to spot. Anyway, bottom line here is that there will be no ships setting sail between Anko and Satoshi despite the fact that Anko chose to give him a child.
Now that that has been said, I have a question for all of my readers and reviewers. I already asked this at the end of the newest chapter I posted in Hunter x in the x Making but since I know not all of my readers are following all of my stories, I thought it best if I repeat it here. If I created a Forum for my stories where I can answer questions regarding my stories (instead of answering the same questions multiple times through PMs), would you visit/use it?
I'm trying to decide if it would be worth the extra effort to maintain a forum where your questions and my answers can be viewed by all readers. I actually have a proboards forum that I have used for a number of different things over the past eight or so years but its pretty dead. I don't think I've even visited it in over a year and the last thing I'd want is to open yet another forum and have it be pretty much ignored as well. If there is enough interest though, the extra effort would be worth it since I don't mind answering questions (I just dislike the review system on this site). =) ~ Jenn