The day to herself had done quite a bit of good for her sanity.

Anko no longer felt so overwhelmingly frightened and unsure of herself. Dealing with the aftermath of her little incidents would be difficult, no doubt, but it wouldn't be the end of her. After all, she was more than tough enough to push through it!

She'd come up with a plan - a plan Kurenai approved of much more so than "go all out trying to scare the shit out of people". The new plan was just...go through the day as she always did. Return to normal. Kurenai said it would work much better, that her original plan would just cause her more worry and more stress. Acting like she always did was supposed to...right her, in a way. Work out all the kinks.

And that plan had quite a bit of merit. She'd been getting herself deeper and deeper into that whole little world of sparkles and glitter by worrying too much about it. Simply ignoring it and going back to how things always were would be the best way to go about this.

Besides, there wasn't anything to worry about! She wasn't a cute person, so she didn't have to care about those incidents! She could just roll up to work and do her thing.

Plan? Already working.

Still, returning to her job was nerve wracking. Stood directly outside the door to the T&I building, there wasn't a single doubt that she'd see both Inoichi and Ibiki by the end of the day. Inoichi would probably be the easier to face, but even that was putting her on edge.

'Just...focus on getting through the day like always.'

She had to make sure everything went without a hitch. In order to better play the part of herself, she'd made sure to get there early so she could arrive late, perfectly timing her entrance so it would be how it always was.

This was the perfect idea.

Taking a moment to prepare herself, Anko kicked the door to the T&I offices open, sauntering in with her hands in her pockets and a self satisfied smirk plastered across her face.

She was trying hard to look indifferent to everyone already in and working, but she couldn't help a few glances around to judge the reactions of her beloved co-workers. Some of them looked just a little unnerved. Some looked annoyed she'd arrived late as she always did. And some looked like their day had gotten worse just from looking at her.

Nothing out of the ordinary so far.

Right. Right! Why would today be anything but completely, one hundred percent norm-

"Oh, Anko!"

Inoichi.

Anko froze in place, almost afraid to turn and face the man that had called out from behind her. She wouldn't have a choice, though. She could tell from the quick taps of his shoes that he was walking up to her.

Taking a deep breath, Anko turned around, her best "mildly annoyed" face in place.

"Yo, what's up?"

"I've got an assignment for you, I need you t-"

"Wait, an assignment?"

Anko's eyes nearly sparkled with excitement. Nearly. She stomped down the joy she was feeling that Inoichi was just approaching her about normal, everyday work. After all, this was normal Anko time. Normal Anko doesn't get weirdly happy like that, and she most certainly does not sparkle.

Coughing into her hand as she brushed away any lingering strangeness from having interrupted him, Anko blustered back into her usual persona.

"I mean, yeah, an assignment. Something good, right? Riiiiight?~"

Inoichi looked momentarily taken aback, but didn't seem to question her reactions, quickly returning to his own half of their usual banter.

"Nothing that exciting I'm afraid. I need you to take these papers to-"

This time, Inoichi was cut off by the heavy clunk of a boot stepping against the floor, both he and Anko turning towards the noise.

There in the doorway was none other than her main worry of the day. Ibiki.

The intimidating man looked utterly casual, striding into the room with a firm assurance in his position.

That is...until he looked in her direction.

Almost instantly after locking eyes with her, he stopped walking and looked away. A moment passed before he composed himself enough to turn his head back in her direction, giving a single nod in greeting.

"A-...Anko."

Anko, for her part, was still averting her eyes.

"...Ibiki..."

A few moments of absolute silence passed between the two before Ibiki kicked himself back into gear, hurrying passed her. Alright. That wasn't...too bad. It certainly could've been better, but at least the two had managed to speak to each other. With any luck, they'd move past this sooner rather than later. And it didn't seem like he'd been spreading word around the office about the existence of..."Moe-Anko"...

"...What the hell was that?" A voice broke in.

Oh, yeah. Inoichi was here. Anko grabbed the papers out of his hands, hurrying to get off the topic of Ibiki.

"Nothing. Talk assignment, buddy."

The morning had gone by without incident after that first encounter with Ibiki, and Anko had dug up the determination to go about her normal routine of bugging the man during lunch break. It was one of the few places she could get away with not paying attention to work, so it was most definitely not something she wanted to give up because of a little awkwardness.

Besides, she'd done well enough to return to normal, so their usual back and forth would probably help Ibiki forget about The Incident too. He could see that nothing was out of the ordinary. Just your everyday Anko, here.

The guy was sat squarely in his desk chair, opening his lunch boxes (fucker has two, and never even shares), and, loathe as she was to admit it, she was scared. Taking a breath and holding it for seven seconds before breathing out (a trick Kurenai had taught her to help calm her nerves), Anko walked up beside him.

"Hey uh- Ibiki."

Shit. That came out a little weird. She tried to cover it with a few coughs, but he probably noticed. Ibiki slowly turned his head and looked up at her, and the two were silent for a few seconds. Just when anko was getting to be sure she'd have to say something, Ibiki sighed.

"...Look. I'll- I'll give you the dango I brought, just...just don't do that thing again."

Oh. Whoa. "That thing", he says? No doubt he was referring to The Incident, but...It didn't sound like he was saying "don't make a cute face at me", it sounded like he was saying "don't look like you were just dragged up from hell to haunt me in my dreams".

Maybe...maybe she WAS overreacting? Maybe Kurenai had been right, and this WAS mostly in her head. It could be that her expression at the dango shop hadn't been 'cute' at all, it had been...horrifying! Ibiki certainly sounded horrified.

...that's PERFECT!

Quickly reigning in her thoughts, Anko let a confident smirk surface as she settled back into her rough and tough persona.

"Eheh, uh, yeah. As long as you keep the dango comin', sure."

Ibiki let out another sigh as Anko grabbed up the stick of dango he'd offered, this one out of relief rather than apprehension.

"Thanks. The last thing I want to do is think of you as cute."

The dango stick snapped in her fist.

Inoichi Yamanaka was many things. He was kind. He was honest. He was a smart man, well versed in the art of reading people. Very little got passed him without giving him some form of insight into the situation. That was why, lately, the thought of Anko had been bugging him.

For the life of him, he could not figure out what was going on with her.

Inoichi yawned, leaning back in his work chair as he rolled over the details he'd gathered.

It had all started from just seeing Anko in a tea shop he liked to frequent with his wife and daughter, and had gotten a taste for on his own as well. He called out to her, thinking maybe this would give them an actual talking point besides work, and she just...flew into a panic.

Her mug shattered, and the look in her eyes was akin to an animal trapped in a corner, desperately searching for a way to escape. He'd tried to reel the situation back in, but then-...

Then she...jumped through the window. Perhaps he should've expected that from her, but somehow, it still took him off guard.

Then, all throughout the next week, she was nervous around him, but she carefully avoided any mention of the tea shop, even if he gave her a perfectly fine segway for it.

So he dropped it, and things returned to normal. Until...Until yesterday. She hadn't shown up for work, and turned up today with an excuse concerning mental health. Now, don't get him wrong, Inoichi was all for taking care of mental health, Anko especially due to both her circumstances and her stubborn unwillingness to talk about them.

But...it had come out of nowhere. What could have suddenly happened that would change her mind concerning her mental stamina, and...just for one day?

Her return had made everything even stranger, if he were being honest. She turned up looking stiff and nervous, her sharp tongue honed to new levels and her usual swagger calculated at every point as if she were overcompensating on being...herself.

Ordinarily, that would be a sign of a spy, but...

Then Ibiki showed up. The two refused to meet eyes, and their greeting was the most awkward thing he'd ever seen. As well, Inoichi could almost swear Ibiki was...blushing. Just slightly, but it was there.

Something happened between them.

...

...

Inoichi leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.

...

...

...had they slept together...?

The mental health day. Ibiki only becoming awkward once Anko returned to work. The blush.

It certainly sounded like a case of a drunken hookup turned strange the morning after. The alcohol would also explain Anko's sudden, one night interest in men, and Ibiki's sudden, one night interest in Anko.

It fit all the parameters, but Inoichi couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this...

*stomp*

"...hm?"

*stomp stomp*

Inoichi looked over towards the door. There was some noise quickly charging in the direction of his office.

*stomp stomp stomp stompstompstOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMP*

*BLAM*

The door to his office crashed against the wall as it flew open, almost shaking the entire room and likely putting a pretty large mark on the space it had hit. In the now open doorway stood an Anko that looked...extraordinarily out of it. She was sweating, head low, hand raised and trembling as if threatening to strangle anyone that was close to it.

Before he could even speak, she ran to his chair, grabbing him by the vest and hoisting him up out of his chair, pushing him back against the wall.

"INOICHI!"

He groaned at the impact, as well as how loud her voice was. Maybe he was getting old.

"...yes...?"

"The-...the tea shop..."

"...y-yes...?"

"When you saw me at the tea shop...did I look...weird to you…?"

Her eyes met his, both crazed and pleading, searching his own for an answer she was desperately hoping for.

"Weird...? Um, no, not really. Actually, I was pretty surprised to see you at a place like that."

She flinched back like he was about to strike her. He hurried to defuse the situation.

"It wasn't- I wouldn't say anything about it was weird, however! Honestly, it was kind've cu-"

"NO!"

Anko shook him maniacally, his back hitting the wall over and over with every panicked shake.

"Dammit man, don't say it!"

"Urgh...don't...don't say what...?"

"That WORD!" she screamed. "Don't say that WORD, INOICHI!"

…

They were just staring at each other now. Anko looked absolutely manic, breathing labored and hair tussled and out of place as sweat ran down the sides of her head.

…

"...UGH!"

She threw him back against the wall, and he groaned at the soreness he would most definitely be feeling for the next few days. When he opened his eyes again, she was already gone, having stormed off in a huff.

...There was most definitely more to this situation than a bad one night stand.

Anko's mid-life crisis was coming far too early for her liking. She always envisioned it being about like...a job change, and her dango eating habits catching up with her or something. Not...not this!

She'd fled to the roof of the T&I building, allowing the wind to blow away just a bit of her stress the cool air flowed against her. Anko ran a hand through her hair, sighing out as she laid down.

First Iruka…

Then Kurenai.

Then Ibiki.

And she'd just barely stopped Inoichi from saying it.

Every single one of them, nearly unprompted, had referred to her as...as...

...cute...

She needed to kill something. Go out on an S rank mission or- or be allowed to torture one of the prisoners or...or something!

No. She couldn't delude herself anymore. It was getting harder and harder to run from. So much so, that running from it at all was starting to seem like a bad idea. Instead, she just had to...

She just had to face it now. Be strong about it. That's what Anko does. She faces things head on, and tackles them into the ground.

So she would admit it.

She was-

No...She could be...c-u-t-e. Sometimes. In weird, freak situations.

...this was a problem. Already, four people knew about this part of her; even more if she were to count the bystanders in the dango shop.

She had the capability of being cute. She could even enjoy cute things.

...she'd need to hide this.

AN: I think this is my favorite chapter so far. This thing is an absolute joy to write, by the way.