Along Came A Symbiote
Author's Note: Alright I want to thank all those that enjoyed the last chapter, especially those that left reviews. It can be depressing to work on the next chapter when you receive so little (positive) reviews. There are a few things I want to inform readers on such as the fact that the other symbiotes will be making their appearances as well as Haku's return to the plot, still a guy. But neither of these will happen till next chapter and the one following it.
Small rant (it is small considering all the things I want to rant about)
I would like to make things clear. Last chapter I had put a note in explaining why Kakashi didn't simply substitute with a log when Naruto stuck his hands together with some symbiote webbing. Like the time I said that Zaku blowing his arms off and not screaming his head off was strange, readers felt the need to correct me and use medical theories or "Naruto theories" to justify the reason I was wrong in my thinking. It's not even a matter of being kind about it, while I do thank people for not blowing up on me. It doesn't matter how nice people are, after hearing it for the 15th time it's just annoying in reviews or PM's. Imagine this cute little 10 year old, as sweet as can be, coming to you every day explaining to you that the sky is blue due to the fact that it reflects off the ocean despite the fact that you think it's black due to space being black. It doesn't matter how nice she is about it, but it does get tiresome after a while.
Without further waste of your time, here's the next chapter.
Chapter 10:It's Complicated
Few miles from Crater city
The silence that filled the forest for several miles was unusual, the animals obviously disturbed by some intrusion not made by nature. Said intruder dashed recklessly through the forest as if his very life depended on it.
His actions were not unwarranted as he gripped onto his left arm, blood trickling between his fingers and down his arm. The man had silver medium length hair that had been tousled into a wild state and his torn navy vest and shorts revealed a tone body
A shadow leapt out from behind one tree only to disappear behind another, not that the bleeding man noticed.
Naruto had been happy with his career as a hunter nin and the bonuses that came along with it. Being able to come and go from the village when he wanted and traveling across the elemental nations was just some of the perks. Of course there were some restrictions such as having to report in via messenger hawks and ultimately answer the Hokage's order to return to the village.
But that aside, he had been enjoying his new start and had made impressive progress in his career. Already he had neutralized five missing nin in the last month. No small feat when one considered that it could take weeks to simply track down one rogue. Some of his fellow hunter nins thought he was just getting beginners luck. Normally Naruto just ignored them, but today made him wonder if there wasn't something to their idea.
When he was enjoying a meal at one of the restaurants of Crater City, a missing nin walked in and sat down at one of the many tables present. He wore no scratched headband, tattoos, or even scars that would link him as a rogue or ninja. It was only thanks to Naruto's acquaintanceship with the man during his academy days that he knew the man was a missing nin from his village.
Mizuki's physique had changed much over the years, but Naruto merely assumed that it was thanks to his time in prison. He had never tried to hunt Mizuki down, but this was more because he assumed the man would have been smart enough to leave the land of fire altogether.
"Yes I would like some stuffed dumplings-"
After hearing his voice, Naruto was certain about the man's identity and began to eat at a slower pace. When he could no longer prolong the full consumption of his meal, he paid for his meal and left. Naruto knew he would tip Mizuki off if he stayed longer than the average person.
Luckily for Naruto, he had been smart about entering Crater City, changing his symbiote so that he was dressed in civilian attire, taking caution by making the clothes bulky enough to hide his hard earned muscles while avoiding any colors such as black that would give any other clues to his career.
Taking a quick turn into a nearby ally he leapt to the roof, his clothes changing into his hunter nin attire mid leap. A black pair of pants and jacket formed with hardened padding along the shoulders, elbows, and knees. The jacket was fully zipped, the zipper located from the side instead of the middle so as to not disturb the spider emblem that hugged his torso. More of the symbiote fluid spread from the jacket and pants forming the rest of his attire. Tall combat boots formed around his feet and part of his pants with gloves forming around his hands. A mask with two white torn edged, tear like eyes covered his face as the final piece of clothing.
The transformation didn't stop there as the gloves extended into sharp talon like nails and the space on his mask over his mouth ripped open to reveal sharp, jagged teeth. The teeth opened up to reveal pink flesh lining the walls inside and a red tongue. (1)
His change made, Naruto slipped onto the roof of the restaurant he was in just a few minutes and waited above the entrance, camouflaging himself so as to not draw attention from the several other civilians walking through the streets.
Naruto began tailing Mizuki the second said man exited, taking care to jump from one roof to the next to keep him within site. He took care to insure that he didn't make too much noise between landings despite the sound from the populace of the city making more than enough noise to cover his.
As he tailed Mizuki, Naruto noticed that the man was constantly checking his surroundings, stopping by vendors to look around without seeming too obvious about it.
'Cautious bastard… or paranoid.' Naruto noted to himself.
To Naruto's surprise Mizuki had led him to the out-skirts of the city and continued on into the surrounding forest. Though a surprise, the hunter nin considered this more of a convenience. If he had followed Mizuki back to a hotel or apartment as he originally thought then he would have to take Mizuki down in one swift attack. While Naruto had done this in the past and succeeded, he knew all too well that there was always a chance that his plans wouldn't go as he wanted them.
Out in the forest, away from civilians and other forms of possible collateral damage, there was room for errors.
Naruto decided to start closing the distance between him and his prey after half a mile into the forest. Once he was close enough, he struck, aiming to maim his prey first and tire him out with fatigue and blood loss.
For the last twenty minutes Naruto had used hit and run tactics, reminding Mizuki that he existed and at the same time hiding his presence directly after. He could have ended this fight long ago, but considering that his was Mizuki he decided to toy with the man and practice some psychological techniques he had learned.
He had ensured that Mizuki had seen him at times and even flashed him a grin, his sharp teeth fully flared. On top of that Naruto had also allowed a few of Mizuki's random attacks to hit him, to give the missing nin a small bit of confidence before Naruto shrugged the attack off effortlessly. The whole point of this was to terrify the missing nin, to make him think he was facing a monster. On a civilian this would be an easy feat, but this wasn't a civilian.
In the end, Naruto had succeeded in his goal and Mizuki was now running in fear for his life. Eventually everything caught up to Mizuki, his fear, his blood loss, and the strength needed to continue running. Naruto watched as his prey slowly came to a stop, the look of fear still on his face but accompanied by exhaustion.
"Did I lose… it?" Mizuki asked himself.
Naruto heard the question and held back his laugh. He allowed a brief few minutes to pass, to allow Mizuki to feel safe. When his prey's body lost its tension, Naruto dropped down and landed behind him. His fist already cocked back as he fell, Naruto swung, hitting the startled man hard enough across his temple to send him rolling.
A quick look at Mizuki was all Naruto needed to verify that the missing nin was unconscious. The normal hunter nin would have killed his target, would have ended their life and destroyed the body on sight. But Naruto had learned from his past encounters that he had skills that most hunter nins didn't and had taken full advantage of them.
Dragging his thumb across one of his sharp teeth, Naruto used the blood produced to summon a large enough snake to swallow a human. The smoke dissipated to reveal one of the more common tan snakes, whose body was now forming a maze through the forest.
"Guard us while we're occupied." Naruto ordered while performing a new set of hand seals.
Once the new set had been finished Naruto reached down to Mizuki's skull and entered his mind. He could have performed the Yamanaka clan jutsu on a corpse, but preferred to use it on a living target for two simple reasons.
The first was simply because it was far easier to look through a living persons mind than a dead one. The second reason concerned how Naruto planned to dispose of the body after he killed Mizuki. Once he killed Mizuki, he planned to feed the body to his snake summon. This ensured that all evidence concerning the missing nin's body, aside from the head, would be lost and untraceable. There was only one problem to this way of disposal and that was the fact that the snake wouldn't eat the body if it was cold. So Naruto needed to keep the missing nin alive long enough before killing him to ensure that the body was still warm enough to satisfy the snake.
Naruto loved the Yamanaka jutsu. It was such a useful jutsu for a hunter nin that Naruto didn't understand why no other person had thought of using it before. With the mind delve he could search a missing nin's mind to see if he had encountered any other missing nins in the past or even the loaction to some secret treasures or knowledge of forbidden or rare jutsu. He could use the information to hunt down others, tracking them down to the last location and gathering more information if needed.
Naruto only searched up to the point that Mizuki went rogue. No need to view his entire life. With the task over, Naruto proceeded to decapitate the missing nin. Afterwards he picked up the freshly killed body and brandished it towards his guarding summon.
"Dinner time!" Naruto said, his voice sounding distorted, as if two voices were speaking at once. (2)
The summon snake eyed the body, its tongue flapping mere inches away as it tasted the air. Satisfied with the warmth that still lingered on the corpse, it reared back to take the body in one strike. Naruto seeing this, tossed the body towards his summon and watched as the snake snatched the body out of the air with its mouth and proceeded to swallow.
With his hunt over, Naruto changed his appearance to a less threatening form. His claws shrunk back and disappeared out of existence and his teeth were covered behind a thick veil of symbiote. He would need to head back to Konoha to collect his pay; he didn't need his own people attacking him for his appearance.
After sealing the head away and dismissing his summon, Naruto headed straight for Konoha. It had taken him several hours to get there and by the time he had finished filing his report, debriefing with Tsunade on his kill, and claiming his bounty, afternoon had turned to night. So with his fatigue setting in Naruto had chosen to sleep.
Waking up the next day, Naruto thought over his plans for the day.
'Tsunade told us that there's a mission coming up that she wants us to participate in, so for the moment we are restricted from leaving the village. We haven't had a day to ourselves for some time. Could go hang out with Shino, if he isn't busy with a mission or team practice.'
His stomach growled, reminding him that he had skipped dinner yesterday.
'Guess breakfast is a good start.'
Elsewhere/Some time later
The past month for Anko had been hectic, keeping her busy and to a further extent, lonely. She was surprised by the fact that Naruto hadn't stopped by to visit. Then again she simply wrote it off as him being too busy with his new career. This didn't stop her from being upset with it as she had assumed that once he was back in the village there would be plenty of time for them to hang out like before.
Walking outside of her apartment, Anko began walking in a random direction. She walked with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her trench coat and no destination in mind.
'Maybe I should get some dango.'
That thought was dismissed when she thought about the fact that she wasn't hungry.
'Training?'
Another idea tossed as she reminded herself of how sick of work she was. Right now she needed a break, anything related to work made this pointless.
'Naru-… He's still out hunting.' she thought, unaware of his return.
Anko thought of her other friends, the few she had, but couldn't think of any that she truly felt like hanging out with or were at work. With nothing to do Anko just kept walking.
An hour later Anko spotted two blondes talking ahead of her. She smiled when she recognized the two as her colleague's daughter and more importantly, Naruto. The purple haired sadist made no move to call attention to herself while she walked closer and the two had yet to notice her. The smile on her face diminished as she noticed the two fellow nin's mannerisms.
Ino was obviously flirting with Naruto while the blonde hunter nin was aware of the flirts sent his way, a smug smile plastered to his face. Anko didn't know for certain if her friend flirted back thanks to his stiff physical expression, but the way Ino giggled and eyed Naruto was a large factor in her suspicion.
The feelings that roused in Anko surprised her more so from the unfamiliarity of the emotions than the emotions themselves. The emotions were so foreign to her that she couldn't properly identify them.
Oddly instead of walking up to Naruto and greeting him like she planned, Anko found herself eavesdropping on his conversation.
"I'll see you later Naruto."
Anko's attempt to listen in was in vain as Ino ended her conversation with Naruto and left. Though her attempt ended in failure Anko was able to identify one of the emotions clouding her mind.
Anger
'Why that…. He should have told me that he was back! Instead he's out flirting with-'
Her thoughts calmed as reason began to sink in. 'It's still early. He could be planning to head towards my apartment next. In fact I'll play a little trick on him.' Anko chuckled to herself before stalking Naruto's retreating form.
Anko couldn't help the excitement she felt. She felt confident as they moved through one of the many paths towards her apartment complex. Every once in a while she would have to duck into a store or behind a corner to avoid being seen.
Ever since his talk with Ino, Naruto had the odd feeling that he was being followed. He had attempted to find the possible stalker on several occasions but didn't notice anyone in particular looking at him. A few more steps forward and he noticed Shino walking out of a grocery store.
"Hey Shino!" he shouted, gaining the attention of his Aburame friend.
Shino turned towards him and nodded. He made no move to close the distance between them and patiently waited for Naruto. Once close enough to have a proper conversation Naruto spoke.
"How have you been?"
Shino shrugged his shoulders. "I have been doing well. Has your new occupation been a success?"
Naruto nodded his head in response. "You wouldn't believe who we caught yesterday. We hadn't even been looking for him when he simply walked into the restaurant we were eating at. Who would have thought that we would be the one to kill Mizuki?"
Shino raised an eyebrow, though it was hard to see under his hood. "Mizuki? I see, so he went rogue. This must be why he wasn't present during our graduation from the academy."
"Actually he had committed a crime the day before our graduation. He escaped prison nearly a year ago and had been on the run since." Naruto explained.
With the new information present, Shino understood the event even better. "So that's why Iruka was sad."
Naruto merely nodded before moving onto topic. "Any chance you have any free time?"
"Unfortunately not. Kurenai had asked me to gather the rest of team 8 and meet her at our training ground. I still have to inform Kiba and Hinata about this sudden event."
"Geez it seems like we never get a break." Naruto shook his head, clearly disappointed. "It seems like the only time we'll get to hang out is if we are put into the same mission again. Hahaha those were fun. We still can't believe how you-"
Naruto was interrupted by the glare his friend was giving him.
Shino's glare hadn't lessoned but he began to speak in a whispered tone. "As friends we promised to keep each others secrets."
Naruto merely nodded before dropping the subject. The fact that Shino was aware of his symbiote thanks to the bugs swarming inside his body. The insects could not properly identify what Naruto's clothes were but they could determine the fact that they were alive and sentient.
During one of their missions together, Naruto had discovered that Shino had a sense of humor and had aided their client in pranking his fake funeral. Naruto had joked about spreading the news of Shino's secret humor, but the insect user had decided to reveal that he knew of Naruto's secret.
It was a mixture of respect and blackmail that the two decided to keep their secrets or Shino's continual decision to not speak about Naruto's.
"As friends." Naruto repeated to show that he understood what Shino was talking about.
Shino nodded in appreciation. "I still need to get home and put away these groceries. Then I need to contact my-"he stopped before fully addressing Naruto. "I hope I'm not asking too much, but I'm running late and the Hyuga compound is far from the Aburame. Could you by chance stop by there and inform Hinata in the change of schedule?" (3)
"No problem!" Naruto responded.
He prepared to leap away when a thought crossed his mind. "Hey Shino." He waited till he had Shino's full attention before continuing. "Do you see anyone specifically looking at US?" he asked accentuating the word us to point out that he meant himself.
While Naruto didn't turn his head, Shino looked around. His eyes scanned the crowds and alleyways to see if he could catch anyone taking more than normal interest in Naruto. He saw a head of purple hair followed by a tan trench coat dive into a store but couldn't identify the person as a stalker or not.
"I don't see anyone giving you a peculiar stare, but if you believe that you are being followed then you should be careful." Shino cautioned.
"Thanks we will." Naruto said while looking around and leaping towards the roof of the nearest building.
'Damn he can move!' Anko thought to herself as she struggled to both keep up with Naruto and prevent herself from being spotted.
What had begun as a simple trick to catch Naruto off guard had turned to full stalking. With time to kill and finding much entertainment in stealthily following him, Anko continued chasing him. She found it amazing how he was able to scale buildings and practically flew through the air using his webbing. The knowledge of his chakra sensing skills was the only thing stopping her from using the natural energy source to speed up. More than a few times she had to take shortcuts to catch up.
Finally they had made it to the extravagant gates to the Hyuga compound. Only to Anko's irritation that Naruto turned right around and headed off to a new destination as quick as he came. It was only sheer luck that Naruto left in the opposite direction.
Once more they stopped, much to Anko's relieve as she needed the time to catch her breathe. A clothing store was her current hiding spot and the A/C felt refreshing. Her years of training had helped greatly, but the speed and non-stop motion that Naruto had moved at had pushed her to her limits, add the fact that Konoha while still a village was massive in size only made things worse.
Across from the store that she was in was Naruto approaching Hinata, who had walked out of a cinnamon roll bakery. Once again the emotions that had occurred earlier in the day stirred once more. The way Naruto had eyed Hinata bothered her. His eyes had traveled up and down the Hyuga heir, taking in all the changes puberty had rewarded her with. The sight of Naruto's lips pursed up and the high pitch whistle that followed had not only turned Hinata beet red, but had caused one of the emotions inside Anko to flare.
She suddenly turned to one of the full body mirrors inside the store and observed her figure, stretching her body in ways to bring more attention to her female assets.
'Hah what am I worrying about? I've got nothing to be jea-je-j.' Anko's eyes widened as she realized what she was doing while her mind froze at the word that crossed her mind.
She didn't want to even think about the word as it only created more questions. Unfortunately she had identified another one of the emotions that had been plaguing her.
'Jealousy.'
Her mind reeled as she thought about the one word that only complicated her situation.
'What do I have to be jealous about?' her thoughts screamed. 'It's not like he and I are….. I mean he's ….. and I'm….'
She thought about her friendship with Naruto. How he was one of the few people she could have an amusing conversation with, how she felt lonelier than ever when she didn't spend time with him for prolonged amounts of time, and how she felt slightly betrayed by how he was eying other women. This confused her. She never realized how much she enjoyed his appraising eyes.
'I…. I can't feel….. intimacy for him….. Our age…. He's… just a f…. friend.' she thought to herself in denial.
Anko peeled her attention away from the mirror in time to see a blushing Hinata give a slight bow before leaving. Despite her uncertainty and conflicting feelings Anko followed once more.
She closed the door behind her, feet nearly dragging as she made her way to her bedroom. Once Anko was inside she allowed herself to fall onto her bed. Mental exhaustion finally caught up with her. Though she had identified the emotions inside of her it did little to lesson the strain.
She was still in denial after Naruto and Hinata had parted ways. Once more they were headed towards Anko's apartment. But just like before Naruto was interrupted by others that he was acquainted with such as Team guy or his old team. It wasn't till Naruto had come into contact with Temari and Shikamaru that Anko came to terms with her feelings.
The two didn't flirt nor did they make an attempt to impress the other. What did make her uncomfortable was how comfortable the two were around each other. Neither minded the invasion of personal space and merely acted like nothing happened when one of their arms grazed or bumped the other. No facial twitch, reddening cheeks, or any show of annoyance.
This spoke volumes to Anko. It told her that the two had gone past the point of being simple couple, that they had been intimate in the most physical manner. It was here that Anko realized that she cherished Naruto as more than a friend. She was jealous of the attention he gave other women, paranoid of losing him to another, and terrified of being left alone again.
Anko gave up her game. Leaving in favor of not discovering that one of her doubts may prove true.
So here she was, laying face down on her bed. Too tired from the revelation she had discovered today to do anything.
'I'm so stupid.' she chastised herself.
It didn't stop with her mere declaration as she continued to tick off why. 'He grew up. He became a hot blooded, handsome man. Someone that would want companionship and had plenty of women that are willing to return that yearning.'
Anko unknowingly curled up on her bed. 'What am I supposed to do?' she desperately asked herself.
'I-I-I don't know whether I should be more ashamed of wanting to be more than friends with someone who is technically a teenager or embarrassed that it took me this long to discover these feelings.'
"Knock Knock Knock!"
Anko ignored who ever was banging on her door. The person knocked once more and Anko did little more than glance towards the general direction of her apartment door.
"BAM!" Anko nearly fell off her bed from the sound of someone angrily kicking her door or so she assumed.
It had taken him forever but Naruto had eventually made it to Anko's apartment. After being informed by his old team that they would be doing an escort mission together tomorrow, Naruto ran into Temari only to be told that she was the escort thanks to Gaara's caution after the attempt on his life from Akatsuki. He didn't mind the mission, in fact he was looking forward to spending time with Temari again, but he did wish that the news had come at a better time.
Regardless, he was finally at his destination and he planned to make full use of the rest of the day.
"Knock Knock Knock"
He gave Anko enough time to answer the door before knocking once more. When he didn't hear any signs of life, his irritation got the best of him, leading him to kicking the door out of frustration.
"Dammit!"
Naruto was about to walking away when he heard scurrying inside and the door nearly ripped open.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU-" Anko's anger disappeared as she realized who was standing in front of her door.
"Na-Naruto. Hello." she wanted to slap herself as she recalled the fact that Naruto was initially heading to her home.
Naruto raised an eye brow. 'Anko stuttered. Alright that's weird.' "Hey Anko. Sorry we haven't stopped by but we never seemed to be in the village at the same time.'
Anko nodded. "Oh yeah." she responded, her voice seeming strange to Naruto.
"Sooo are you going to invite us in?" He asked slightly curious.
Anko snapped out of her stupor. "S-sure. Come in." she said before moving out of the way of her door frame.
Naruto walked in and made a bee line for the sofa. He took notice and worried over Anko's odd behavior.
'Why is she being so awkward towards us? She seems tired.' he mentally noted. 'Maybe she is just having a bad day or work was stressful.' he added.
"Having a bad day?" he asked.
"What?" was Anko's sudden response.
Naruto thought over his words carefully before speaking. "Are you having a bad day? You don't seem like yourself."
Anko's somewhat void tone turned glum. "You could say that."
Her voice told him it was not something she felt like discussing so he decided not to press it. It took him some time but he had eventually gotten Anko to be more talkative. Though he had succeeded it was still only small responses.
He had spent the next few hours explaining how his career was going and thankfully Anko seemed interested despite her mood. Afterwards they had turned on her TV and simply sat silently while watching anything that had caught their interest. Once more Naruto began to take notice of unusual things that Anko was doing. For one she shied away from the sitting on the sofa with him. Her energetic, screw you attitude was missing and there seemed to be a small amount of tension aimed towards him. Once again he assumed that it had to do with a bad day.
After some time Naruto used the excuse of his mission in the morning to head home. Anko, for whatever reason, needed time alone. He regretted how his time with Anko went but at the same time he understood the need to be left alone when dealing with issues.
'Sigh, I'm sorry Naruto.' Anko thought to herself.
It was obvious to her that Naruto had picked up that something was wrong and she was grateful that he didn't persist on it. It still didn't help how she felt worse thanks to the way she acted out of character around him, but at the same time she wasn't ready to face him much less tell him what was truly bothering her.
'Thank god he's going on that escort mission. I can use the time to…. get my head straight.' Anko thought before once more collapsing on her bed, this time drifting off to sleep.
Next Day
Team seven and Temari vaulted from tree branch to tree branch as they made there way towards Suna. Despite attempts to start a conversation from Team seven to Naruto the group traveled in silence. Naruto was in a unsocial mood, a little troubled with how his evening with Anko went, and made no attempt to participate in the conversation unless directly spoken to. Temari had participated but seemed partial to talking with Naruto.
After several miles Naruto suddenly stopped and dropped his pack.
"We'll camp here for tonight and continue traveling tomorrow a few hours before dawn." he ordered before unpacking and setting up a tent.
'Ok who made him team leader?' Kakashi asked himself, not truly bothered by Naruto's decision although curious.
Sakura seemed to be the only one to question his authority. "Ok what's going on? We have plenty of time before the sun sets."
Naruto's response was quick and informal. "Deserts hot, don't want to travel in it while the suns up for too long."
What he didn't tell them was that while the heat would be highly uncomfortable for them, it was going to be roasting him thanks to his symbiote's weakness to fire. It was one thing to be within the walls of Suna where plenty of shade was present and the walls themselves protected him from the wind that only bathed him in hotter air.
Sakura made to bring up another argument, but Temari chose to interrupt.
"The desserts of the land of wind can be very unbearable during the day. We're near the border, so if we head out before the sun rises then we may be able reach Suna before it gets too hot."
"So why don't we simply cross it during the night?" Sakura innocently asked.
Temari chuckled at her ignorance. "Because the dessert is freezing at night. We wouldn't make it half way before we gave into pneumonia."
"Oh." Sakura simply said before helping her sensei set up camp.
Later that night the four were gathered around a fire as they ate their rations. Naruto's mood had improved and the others began to feel more comfortable with small talk.
"So Naruto, how are you so familiar with the deserts of the lands of wind?" Sakura asked.
Naruto swallowed a portion of his ration bar before answering. "We spent some of our time in Suna."
"Yeah it wasn't until a few months ago that he left us." Temari added.
"Us?" Kakashi asked with his only visible brow raised.
Naruto allowed Temari to answer in his stead. "During Naruto's training trip, he left Jiraiya to go train on his own. One day he showed up in Suna. Afterwards we all got to know each other and he stayed with me and my family till he left to return to Konoha."
"Now that I think about it Jiraiya did admit to being ditched." Kakashi stated.
"Why did you leave Jiraiya?" Sakura asked with shock and confusion plastered on her face.
Naruto shook his head. "We were learning more on our own." he simply stated.
After finishing their ration bars Kakashi began setting watch rotation.
"I'll take first watch, then I would like Naruto to take second shift, afterwards Sakura will take watch then Temari if that's ok with you?" he asked the sand kunoichi.
Temari thought over the rotation for a second before answering. "Actually if it's ok with Sakura I would like to take the watch before the last."
The pinkete was curious about the switch but made no argument. With the rotation agreed upon, Kakashi took his perch on one of the many tree limbs and began his. The peace and quite didn't last long as Sakura's screaming burst forth.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OUR TENT NARUTO?"
Kakashi looked towards one of the three tents. Movement was seen occurring in the last tent toward the right before Naruto was seen flying out of it.
Naruto quickly stood up shortly afterwards. "She didn't just kick us out!" A few seconds passed before he turned towards the tent. "Oh hell no, she didn't just kick us out!"
Kakashi watched with humor as the scene played out. He watched Naruto reenter the tent, heard Sakura squeak a protest, then saw her thrown out.
Sakura got up and tried to repeat Naruto's action only for Temari to block her entrance.
"Hey what the?"
"We set up this tent. We are definitely not going to be kicked out of it." Naruto stated before getting comfortable in his sleeping bag.
Sakura wasn't finished. "Men and women are supposed to sleep in separate tents."
"Says who?" Temari asked. "As long as I can trust the man sleeping in my tent I don't mind."
Sakura simply stayed knelt in front of the tent's opening as she processed this information. The stupefied look finally fell from her face as she accepted the circumstances.
"Fine Fine, I guess I can trust Na- Oph" Once more Sakura was pushed out of the tent.
She looked up only to find Temari chuckling as she zipped up the tent opening. "Sorry. While I don't mind sharing, this tent is crowded enough with just the two of us."
Sakura shook her head before entering one of the other tents.
With the event over Kakashi turned his attention back to the surrounding forest. Eventually he pulled out his green Icha Icha book and began reading to pass the time. Kakashi chuckled as he recalled the wave mission and how Naruto had stolen his Icha Icha book that day.
Time passed on as he stayed vigilant on his watch while enjoying his adult literature.
"Oooh…. haaahn. Ahh..Harder!"
'Hehehehe oh Kimi- wait a second! I didn't read that line.' Kakashi thought to himself.
His neck creakingly turned towards the direction the noise came from. Eventually his vision settled on the tent Naruto and Temari occupied.
"(Due to the site managers insistance I have been forced to remove the lemon that used to be here. Considering that ChronoMitsurugi wished for this fanfic to be banned due to this scene I can't help but think that he/she had something to do with this. If that's the case all I can say is HAH the rules allow me to imply that sex occured)
The two lay naked upon their sleeping bags, sweat glistening their bodies and mouthes slightly open, releasing and caputring much needed air.
The Temari snuggled closer to the Naruto, content with the feel of his body pressed against hers. The symbiote host snaked an arm around her waist to ensure that she didn't roll away in the midst of their sleep. He loved the feel of a woman's bare body, and he enjoyed waking up to the feeling even more.
Realizing that his turn was quickly arriving, Naruto decided to stay awake instead of catching only a hand full of sleep.
"I missed you." Temari seductively admitted.
Naruto chuckled. "We've missed you too."
"It's a shame that you don't come by Suna more often." she stated.
"You know we can barely handle the journey through the desert on our own. It was only thanks to a passing squad of Genin that found us the first time that we didn't become a charbroiled corpse." Naruto said jokingly.
Temari chuckled. "I remember that day. You were dehydrated, feverish, and sun burned to the point of mimicking a lobster. You know…. I could always move to Konoha."
Naruto shook his head. "We've told you before. We won't separate you from your family. Besides, we both know that this… relationship is mostly physical."
Temari's fingers dragged along his chest and past his abs. "Mmmmmmm I can't say you are wrong."
The sand Kunoichi suddenly brought herself up, straddling Naruto's hips once more. "Speaking of physical, any chance you have enough stamina for round two."
Naruto's erection was a clear answer to her question but his groan told her otherwise. "It's almost our turn to be look out."
Temari pouted as she realized he was right. "Fine, but after my shift we finish where we left off." she said as she ground her hips against erection.
Naruto simply gazed at Temari's tan body, admiring her smooth stomach, the handful size breasts the hovered above, and the animalistic grin marled on her face.
Placing his hands behind his head, Naruto got into a relaxed pose before uttering an acquaintance's phrase. "Troublesome."
The laughter that erupted from Temari couldn't have been held back even if she tried.
Naruto emerged from his tent, shirtless to Kakashi's ire.
"Sooooo-"
"None of your damn business!" Naruto roughly interrupted.
The rude response shocked Kakashi. "Well you certainly made it my business and possibly Sakura who was sleeping in the tent next to yours."
Naruto didn't say anything, it was nothing personal against Kakashi but he didn't want his business spread around Konoha. He didn't care what the majority of Konoha thought of him, but he did care what they thought of Temari.
She was someone he respected. Someone that he got along with on levels that rivaled his friendship with Anko.
Ignoring Kakashi's questioning glare, Naruto grab a spot amongst the tress with the best cover. The fact that Kakashi quickly joined him only continued to irritate him.
"You're not going to let this go." Naruto plainly stated.
"Well you're having blissful adventures with our client." he dully stated. "I feel as team captain that I'm entitled to some explanation."
Naruto stayed silent, contemplating between talking and kicking his ex-teacher's ass again. "We are just friends, with very enjoyable benefits. There is nothing more that you need to know."
The copy nin considered pushing for more info but quickly decided against it when his shirtless subordinate pushed him off the tree branch.
Finally alone, Naruto's thoughts drifted off in several directions. He thought about how cool the night air felt against his skin, the amazing way Temari turned him on, and finally the worry he felt for Anko. While he respected Anko's decision to not indulge him in her problems, Naruto also worried about her. Anko didn't act anything like she usually did. Something was bothering her greatly, that much was for sure, but what was beyond him.
As time passed by Naruto tried to deduce what could have possibly upset Anko. But with nothing more than her awkwardness, sad demeanor, and lack of attitude, he couldn't think of anything. Finally his turn was over and he switched places with Temari. Sleeping in her sleeping bag while she took up his branch.
Back In Konoha/Anko's apartment
Her television was on, though she wasn't paying attention. Anko lay across her sofa as she thought over her dilemma.
Despite the many days Naruto had been gone, Anko still had yet to find the answers she needed. Her main problem was the lack of people she could seek out for advice. Sarutobi Hiruzen was one of the few people she felt comfortable enough to talk with about her troubles. But the old man had passed on several years ago.
There was her co-worker Ibiki Morino, but in truth she wanted a woman's advice. She was sure that any man would simply tell her to grant the wish of many teenage boys and screw him. Unfortunately Anko couldn't think of any female co-worker or friend that she trusted. That only left her with acquaintances.
Oddly enough Shizune, the mousy assistant of the Hokage appeared as an option.
"As if I need my boss finding out."
Another woman entered her mind that had large glasses with circular frames that somehow had spirals in the lens.
"Only I know nothing of the women other than she worked in Intelligence."
Kurenai entered her thoughts. It was rumored that the proud kunoichi had hooked up with the son of the third Hokage.
"Maybe she'll understand."
The more Anko thought about it, the more it seemed like Kurenai was her best option. With that thought in mind, Anko left her apartment only to walk five doors down. Another factor in her decision was the fact that they were actually close neighbors.
She knocked on Kurenai's door and waited for the women to answer. The door opened to reveal a confused Kurenai. Her hair was more wild than usual and her red nightgown was covered a by a white bath robe for modesty.
Anko was quick to chuckle before apologizing. "Sorry I've been dealing with some problems and I forgot what time it was."
"What do you want Anko?" Kurenai asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her crimson eyes.
"That problem I was talking about…. I need help, and… I don't know who to turn to."
Kurenai's face turned to worry. Though she wasn't friends with Anko she could tell the fact that she was far out of character.
"Come in."
Anko hesitated only a moment before accepting the invitation. Once inside Kurenai led her to the kitchen and prepared a pot of tea. Both sat at the square table near the corner of the room while they waited for the tea to finish.
Once the beverages were placed on the table the two were ready. Anko still hadn't said anything and Kurenai was truly beginning to worry over her fellow kunoichi.
"So you said you had a problem." Kurenai stated in hope of breaking the ice.
"I do." Anko replied.
Kurenai gave her guest a few seconds to continue before starting again.
"What exactly is the problem?"
It was easy to walk over here, talking seemed impossible to Anko now.
"I… discovered… that I… have feelings for a man."
Silence filled the air as Kurenai simply stared at Anko. "Really?" she asked painfully plain before continuing. "And what seems to be the problem?"
Anko debated with herself before speaking. "He's…. He's…. Dammit he's seventeen years old!"
"Oh!" Kurenai blurted, understanding of Anko's reserved behavior settling in.
"So how strong are you're feelings for him?" Kurenai asked.
Once more Anko found herself fighting to speak. "Strong enough that I locked myself in my apartment when I thought about him dating another girl."
Kurenai's face took on a thoughtful look. "Does he know of your feelings?"
"HELL NO!... I mean, I didn't even know about my feelings till a couple of day's ago." afterwards Anko avoided eye contact, taking more interest in the tea she hadn't even touched.
"I see." Kurenai stated. "Do you at least have some form of relationship?"
Anko's response was meek at best. "We are just friends."
The two stayed silent while they finally began to drink their tea. Anko finally opened her mouth after what seemed like hours.
"What should I do?"
"How should I know?" Kurenai simply asked.
Anko stared at Kurenai as if she slapped her. "W-What?"
Kurenai gave Anko an apologetic smile. "I've never been in your situation before. The best I can tell you to do is confess to him."
The doubtful look on Anko's face was only matched by the dry chuckle that escaped her lips. "That's it. Just confess. It's not that simple."
Kurenai sighed. "Of course it is."
"NO ITS NOT!" Anko screamed. "After Orochimaru betrayed me I couldn't find it in myself to trust anyone. I've been so afraid of betrayal that I've rarely opened up to anyone. What if I do confess? What am I supposed to do if he becomes repulsed by the fact that someone of my age has the hots for him!"
It was never her intention to spew her fears to Kurenai, but at the same time she didn't come here to be told something she already knew. Being told the obvious just set something off in her.
Kurenai for her part patiently waited for Anko's rant before talking once more.
"Either you confess and risk losing him or simply stay friends while watching as he flirts with other women. Do you really want to stand back and watch as he dates other girls, eventually gets married and another women has his children just because you were too scared to leave the friend zone?"
Anko knew she was right, but she wanted a solution not an ultimatum.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get the advice she sought, Anko prepared to leave.
"Thank you Kurenai, but it is getting late."
"It's already late." Kurenai chuckled as she lead Anko to the door. "I'm sorry I couldn't help but this is something that you have to figure out for yourself."
Anko merely nodded as she made her way back to her apartment.
Five days later
Team seven plus Naruto walked up the stairs of the Hokage tower as they made to their way to Tsunade's office. The debriefing for their mission had gone uneventful save for the way Kakashi tried to hint about Naruto's and Temari's exploration of each other. His remark was rewarded with a quick elbow to the ribs courtesy of Naruto.
On his way out of the office, Naruto was stopped by Shizune of all people.
"Heh what's up Shizune?"
The Hokage's assistant didn't say anything till Team seven left. "Anko came by here asking when you would return. Poor woman was so…. just looked so horrible that Lady Tsunade gave her a few days off."
'What's wrong with you Anko?' Naruto thought to himself.
Shizune continued on. "You should go by and check on her."
"We will. Thank you for informing us." Naruto said before making his way towards a nearby window.
Opening the window, he crawled through and shot a string of symbiote to connect to a near building before allowing gravity to swing him forward.
Anko's apartment
It only took a few minutes for Naruto to arrive at his destination. A quick, hard knock on the door and Naruto didn't even wait for permission to walk in once Anko opened the door. Anko was confused and almost slammed the intruder against the ground before throwing him out until she saw who said intruder was.
"Naruto! It's good to see you." she said weakly, too unprepared to speak confidently.
Naruto took notice of her tone. "Anko what's wrong?" he asked bluntly
He respected her privacy, but the fact that whatever was bothering her hadn't been solved in the near week he had been gone told him that this wasn't something she could take care of on her own.
Anko tried to find her voice, but no matter how many times she opened her mouth, nothing came out.
Naruto quickly grew irritated. "Someone close to you died? Do you have something to hide? Has someone been blackmailing you?"
"What! No! Why would you ask that?" Anko wondered, the questions surprising her.
"Because something is obviously bothering you and the Anko we know wouldn't be bothered by anything else."
Anko's eyes narrowed. "The Anko you know? What the hell do you mean by that?' she said in a near hiss, her previous trouble forgotten for the moment.
"Yeah the Anko we know is strong, feisty. Our friend wouldn't be acting like this timid, nervous, GIRL! She wouldn't have sat around for a week straight and moped." Naruto stated.
Anko suddenly slammed Naruto against the door he had just walked through. Her hands were still gripping his jacket as she snarled at him.
"How dare you barge into my home, talk down to me, and then insult me without even giving me a chance to explain."
Naruto didn't back down. "Well if this weak little girl would just spit it out then we wouldn't have to insult her."
Another growl was elicited from Anko's throat.
'Yes that's right. Yell at us, hit us, do something that only Anko would dare do to us.'
He observed as her eyes became predatory and braced himself in preparation.
"Mfph"
Naruto had expected many things to happen. Being kneed in the balls, slapped across the face, and even kicked through the door. What he didn't expect was for his friend to slam her body against his and press their lips together in a hungry kiss.
"What the hell?" Naruto yelled once their lips were apart.
Anko looked away after she separated from him. She was waiting on him to insult her again or just leave altogether. When no sign of disgust occurred she finally looked at him to be met by shocked eyes, not disgusted, simply surprised.
"I like you." she merely stated.
"We… see this." was Naruto response, still too surprised to ask the questions that were floating in his mind.
They stayed silent for several minutes as Naruto hadn't found the voice for his questions and Anko refused to speak. Neither new why, but they eventually made their way to the sofa, not sitting next to each and at the same time only allowing enough room between them that seemed respectable.
"So how long have you….. liked us?" He finally asked.
"Since last week."
Naruto simply stared at Anko with a blank look. Eventually she understood that he was waiting for her to further explained.
"I followed you last week in order to play a joke on you, instead I never got to because of how upset I was in the end."
Confusion came over Naruto as he tried to think of anything he could have done that would bother Anko. Aside from having sex with Temari which Anko wasn't present to watch he couldn't think of anything.
"What bothered you so much?"
Anko gave him a deadpanned response. "You, flirting with all the women of Konoha. And the way you were eying them all. You practically undressed Hinata with your eyes" 'Or at least imagined her in a skin tight suit.' she thought to herself.
Naruto chuckled to himself. 'We just imagined her without that hoodie on.' Another thought occurred to him. "You got jealous!"
Anko made no move to deny his sudden statement. Instead she merely blushed and slammed one of her heels at his thigh. Naruto grunted from the quick shot of pain but otherwise started laughing. Once his laughter died down Anko voiced the question she truly needed answered.
"So… you haven't done or said anything to let me know about how you feel….. about this."
Naruto thought over the situation, absent mindedly stroking the leg Anko had yet to remove from his thigh. "We honestly haven't thought about a relationship with you."
It stung Anko to hear that, but in all fairness neither had she before a week ago.
"The thought of dating doesn't sound bad. Sounds nice in a strange way." he admitted
This perked up Anko's mood. "So our age difference doesn't bother you?"
He chuckled at this. "Maybe if you were old enough to be our mother, but at best you're an older sister. Besides it's not like we are short, three years ago would have been strange."
"Yeah." Anko immediately agreed, a slight shiver running through her body.
A comfortable silence filled the room. The tension that filled Anko was replaced by comfort thanks to Naruto's acceptance. Their positions had changed to a small degree on the sofa thanks to Anko relaxed body. She lay across the couch, her legs no longer planted in Naruto's thigh and instead resting across his lap. Naruto was still content with rubbing the length of her leg.
"So what now?" Anko suddenly asked.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "We eat out, go to movies, date, and see where it goes from there.
Anko nodded in agreement. "Mmmmmmm. Hey watch where that hand goes!"
Naruto quickly removed his hand that had found its way going up Anko's thigh
"…Sorry."
Author's note: Holy crap this was a pain to write. It wasn't so much the lack of time as it was the worry of writing Anko out of character. I felt that this kind of relationship coupled with Anko's past needed a strange start. I felt that drama was something that couldn't be avoided and so I tried to realistically describe how Anko's insecurities played in the start of her finding out that she felt for Naruto more than she initially thought. Like I said before, I wanted the start to be strange and drama filled, so having Naruto realize his feelings first wasn't a possiblilty as he would have simply said "Fuck it" and "let's see where things go, which I hope that I conveyed well enough in the chapter.
1. Naruto's hunter nin outfit was based off of Flash Thompsons (6th host) Venom suit with key features from Eddie Brocks (2nd Host) Venom suit such as eyes, mouth and symbol.
2. This is both the voice produced thanks to the fact that Naruto is currently using the symbiote mouth to talk through.
3. Don't know the real distance between the Aburame and Hyuga compounds. But for the sake of plot they are far from each other in this story.