A/N: Hey everybody! Welcome back. Ever wanted to see Anko REALLY angry? Go ahead and read this chapter then. Oh yeah, and you'll see who the Pearl is too. Her name means pearl in Japanese. Time to get to it. Enjoy!

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Before long, it was lunch time. Anko went to the lunchroom where surprisingly, Kakashi was waiting for her. "You're early," she said. "You feeling ok?"

"I'm fine. I just want to get going as soon as possible." They turned and started to walk toward the exit of the lunchroom, and eventually the exit of the academy. They both waved to Kurenai as she too left the academy to run her own errands.

Anko asked, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"No hints?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because you may not go if I tell you where we're going."

Oh fuck. "Kakashi . . . what are you doing?"

"Just verifying something I need to know."

Anko was starting to worry. Kakashi had never been this obscure with her before. Sure he made her guess things at times, but this was a little too weird.

Kakashi smiled at her and said, "Just follow me." Anko followed along; even though she began to feel a bit more uneasy with just about every step they took.

After walking about five minutes, Kakashi turned a corner suddenly and at the same time, grabbed Anko by the arm. He had her inside a shop before she could protest. When she looked around at what was in the shop she tried to pull away from him. She didn't want to cause a scene, but she was on the verge of panicking. He held her arm firmly and practically dragged her forward into the shop. She finally said quietly yet angrily, "What the hell are you doing bringing me HERE?"

Kakashi said, "Settle down. I just want to know which you prefer, and what your favorite color is. I thought it was purple, but I wanted to make sure."

"You can't be serious, and yes it is purple. I thought we weren't going to do this until I was ready!"

"We're not. I just wanted to make sure I bought the right one when it WAS time to do it!"

"I'm leaving."

"You're not. Not until you help me pick what you'd like."

"You're not buying it now!"

"I know! I just need to know WHAT to buy when the time comes!"

Anko sighed. She knew Kakashi was going to have his way on this little battle. She stopped trying to force him to let her go, and he let go of her arm. She said, "OK. I'll look, but I want to get out of here before anyone sees us!"

"Understood. So start looking."

Anko thought I can't believe he did this to me! I could KILL him! So help me GOD if anyone sees me, I WILL KILL HIM! She fixed a permanent scowl to her face as she glanced around the store with her eyes, until she found something she'd be "ok" with when the time came. She said, "That one. That's the one."

Kakashi went over to the object Anko pointed to and said, "This one? Ok. We can go now."

"So if you're buying me that, then I guess I'll have to buy you yours."

"If you want to. We are the only family we've got."

Anko thought about that and said, "Very true. So when the time comes, I'll be happy to buy it for you."

Kakashi smiled. He was glad he did what he did. He was glad he brought Anko to the shop and made her face a little bit more of their impending wedding. Now, all he had to do was get them out of there so nobody saw them.

But that was not to happen.

Across the street and two shops down, Kurenai was paying for her purchases. As she turned to leave the store, she stopped dead in her tracks. She saw Kakashi's head coming out of a specialty shop that sold wedding obis. She almost dropped her bag when she saw Anko follow him out. Oh my GOD! They're not just moving in together. They're getting MARRIED too! But Anko's not carrying anything. Maybe they're just browsing. I can't believe it! I'm going to sit her ass down and make her tell me! She can't keep secrets from me! I'm her best friend! Alright, little Miss Anko, you've got a date with ME later tonight!

Kurenai waited a few minutes to leave the shop to make sure Anko and Kakashi didn't see that she had in fact seen them.

As Kakashi and Anko headed back to the Academy with Kurenai following at a distance, two figures entered Korekimi's office. Both used cloaking jutsus to disguise their looks, but the receptionist desk girl, recognized both immediately.

One of the men said, "Shinju, you've done well. You shall be rewarded for your loyalty."

Shinju bowed her head to the man and said, "Anything you wish, anytime. I am your servant."

The man laughed evilly and said, "Where is Korekimi?"

"She's at lunch right now. She should be back momentarily."

The man looked at his pale companion and said, "We'll wait in the back for her to return."

The pale man said, "Are we going to kill her?"

"No. She's much too valuable. I'll cast a genjutsu on her – basically put her to sleep. She won't even know we've been here. I need her to continue to treat the shinobi of Konoha so our little Pearl here can continue to feed us information on them. That way, their weaknesses will be exposed and we can eliminate them one by one."

The pale man said, "Brilliant."

"Yes. Come. Let's wait for Korekimi."

Shinju opened the door and led them back to Korekimi's office. Before she could leave, she asked, "Is there anything else you require of me?"

The man said, "Actually yes there is. I'd like you to write a note to Kakashi. Tell him that Korekimi wants to see him at 2:00PM today. Say that it's nothing important, and that it won't take but a moment."

Shinju said, "Right away my lord. I'll have a courier bring the note to him immediately."

The man said, "You'll have to find another courier. The last one you used was quite – careless." The pale man smirked quietly by his master's side.

"I understand. I'll take care of things immediately."

"That's a good girl." The two men sat in Korekimi's office and quietly formulated the next part of their plan, which included a note written to Anko that would be delivered at precisely the right moment.

After Kurenai returned to the Academy, moments after Anko and Kakashi had, she ran to find Asuma. She had to see if he'd heard anything from Kakashi about an upcoming engagement or wedding. She frantically searched for him, and soon found him with Gai discussing their upcoming mission. "Asuma!" she yelled at him breathlessly.

"Kurenai, what's wrong? What's going on?" Gai jumped to his feet ready to attack anyone who might have bothered Kurenai.

"Nothing happened. Well something DID happen. I SAW something I don't think I was supposed to see and I have to find out if you know anything about it!"

Asuma said, "Well what is it?"

Gai said, "Should I be here now?"

Kurenai said, "Since it involves Kakashi you can stay. Ok. Ready? I think that Kakashi and Anko are engaged."

Gai shrieked like a howler monkey, "WHATTTT???!!!!"

Asuma joined him, "WHATTTT???!!!! How do you know this?"

Kurenai breathed and said, "I was out getting some things at a store and when I turned to leave, I saw Kakashi coming out of the shop that sells wedding obis and Anko was right behind him!"

Asuma said, "Did they buy anything?"

"I didn't see either of them carrying anything, so I don't think so."

Gai had fallen suddenly silent. He thought back to when he and Rock Lee had run into Kakashi and Anko outside the hardware store. He quietly said, "Oooh Kakashi, you are a crafty one."

Asuma and Kurenai turned to him and Asuma said, "What do you know Gai?"

Gai said, "It's just something that Kakashi almost said."

Asuma said, "And that would be???"

Kurenai said, "YEAH, what did he almost say??"

Gai said, "Anko backhanded Kakashi for giggling at me, then he told her that she'd become quite the hitter since he propo,"

Asuma said, "Since he propo?"

Gai said, "YES! SEE! It's all true! They must have been obi shopping for their yui-no!"

Kurenai's mouth fell open, their yui-no! But they don't have any family. Why didn't Anko tell me! She's got some explaining to do! Kurenai asked, "Asuma, were you sworn to secrecy about this?"

Asuma said, "NO! Kakashi didn't tell me anything! I had no idea that they might be engaged. I just helped him move his couch to their apartment!"

Kurenai said, "I wonder why they're keeping it such a big secret then?"

All three shinobi wondered quietly why Anko and Kakashi were keeping their engagement, if they truly were engaged, such a big secret.

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A/N: Aha! So now you know who the Pearl is. More on her later. And will Kurenai, Asuma and Gai find out FOR SURE if Kakashi and Anko are engaged. Only I know right now, but I'll tell you before the story's over!

Next up: Anko's still pissed at what Kakashi did, he gets "the note," and Kurenai tries to confront Anko. Finally, the "master" is revealed (if you haven't figured out who it is yet). Oh, the tension's going up, up, up! See you soon!