The Scion, the Seer, and the Scourged
Chapter 1: Enter: Anko Mitarashi
"When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew." — Hiruzen Sarutobi; last words.
– 忍 –
Anko Mitarashi was the most dangerous kunoichi in Konoha. A reputation she took great joy in reminding people of. Which made it all the more ironic that she could currently be found entering an innocent looking sweets shop.
Dango-ya, as it was called, was famous in Konoha for its namesake dumplings. But it was even more infamous as one of Anko's usual haunts. Evidenced by the fact that everyone in the shop tensed up upon her entrance. She felt a smirk tug at her lips as she dramatically sauntered over to her usual spot and unabashedly stretched out in her seat, making her presence known, and reminding everyone how little her loose fitting trench coat did to conceal her mesh armor undershirt.
Despite their fear, a few did chance a look over in her direction, only to hurriedly look away when they found Anko expectantly meeting their sidelong glances, her smirk growing more wicked as she caught them in the act. She was not only the most dangerous kunoichi in Konoha but also the most daunting. And in more ways than one, as her onlookers' stolen glances proved. She was well aware of the effect she had on people, particularly men, and she relished in tormenting them with it at every opportunity.
"What will it be today, Mitarashi-san?" A server asked her, notably much more composed than the rest of the shop's inhabitants.
"The usual, and keep 'em coming."
"Of course, right away, we'll send out three orders of mitarashi dango to start."
Her arrivals in Dango-ya were in some ways dreaded by the staff, because it meant everyone would be working double time to supply her with enough of her namesake snack to satisfy her insatiable appetite while she indelicately gorged herself on her favorite food, which… had the tendency to put the other patrons on edge, to say the least.
However, the laborers had grown used to her inevitable visits. She was a rather well paying customer afterall.
Anko was about five plates deep into her splurge when her good mood was suddenly interrupted by the distinctive sound of the body flicker technique being used nearby. In a ninja village, such a sound was as common as the birds chirping, but this one came with the appearance of an ANBU Black Ops operative crouching behind her.
"Mitarashi Anko, the Hokage requests your presence," the female cat-masked ANBU agent intoned.
Anko barely restrained from glaring at them for interrupting her fun, but ultimately she relented. Anko sighed before reluctantly waving over the server. "Alright, tell the cooks to give it a rest. I'll be done once those last few orders come out of the kitchen. Just put the bill on my tab, I'll pick it up next time I come by."
"Of course Mitarashi-san, they'll be out in a few minutes."
"Lady Hokage was quite clear she wanted you immediately, are you sure you should be waiting that long, Anko-san?" The ANBU spoke up with a tinge of anxiety in her voice.
Anko bit back a growl. She could just wave the ANBU agent off, however this particular agent happened to be a friend of hers, a kunoichi with distinctive long purple hair named Yugao.
Officially, the identities of the ANBU Black Ops were meant to be unknown. So officially, Anko likewise shouldn't have any clue on who this masked operative may be. But the activities of your close comrades tended to be more of an open secret among the higher ranks. When you've fought side by side for years, it took more than a mask to hide your identity, especially where Shinobi are involved, masters of intelligence and espionage they were. And considering that most ANBU and their colleagues were at least special Jonin in rank, their clearance was high enough that it wouldn't be considered a security breach if their teammates knew their identities anyhow.
Still, if Anko was tardy to a direct summons from the Hokage, that technicality wouldn't stop Yugao from getting told off for letting Anko procrastinate because of their friendship. Anko was the most dangerous and daunting kunoichi in Konoha, but that was except for the Hokage. With that in mind, Anko decided to cut things short to save her friend some grief.
"Fine, I'll leave." Anko stood up and turned to the server. "Make that last plate take-out, I don't need the rest."
With that, Yugao disappeared as quickly as she came, and Anko made her way to the Hokage office, absentmindedly munching on her last few sticks of dango on her way.
– 忍 –
Anko decided to make her cut across town to the Hokage office, walking in by way of the Leaf Ninja Academy on the same lot. She had just finished her last stick and was using it to pick her teeth by the time she turned down the hallway connecting the academy with the missions desk. At the same moment, a couple kids playing ninja tag barrelled past her. No sooner than they had done so did one of them suddenly trip and fall flat on their face after a wooden chopstick had somehow made its way through the hem of their pant leg, and pinned it to the floor.
Heh, brats. What could she say? Anko loved tormenting the little rascals, part of the reason why she enjoyed proctoring the Chunin Exams so much. Had to learn to toughen up somehow, so she might as well have a little fun with them along the way.
Her mood slightly improved, she rounded the corner and came in full view of the mission desk, which was being manned by Iruka now that his class was over for the day. He was in the process of handing a mission scroll over to Kakashi who was accompanied by the head of the Inuzuka clan, two friends of hers.
"Here it is, that B-Rank Land of Sound reconnaissance mission."
Ah, so this must be what Lady Hokage was summoning me for. "Kakashi, Tsume! What's this I hear about a new mission to the Land of Sound, hmm?" She intoned with a pleased hum.
"Oh, hello there Anko, the Hokage just mentioned that she was looking for you. Said to send you in if we came across you. I assume that's why you're here?" Kakashi drawled in that far too laid back voice of his as he momentarily lifted his half lidded eye away from his book.
Anko stopped in her tracks."Yeah…" She replied with a hint of confusion. "I was just about to go in. And you? It's just the two of you for the mission?"
Tsume nodded. "Basic tracking mission, got a lead on the potential location for one of Orochimaru's hideouts. In and out, simple enough for two Jonin," Tsume's nin-hound growled in protest at that statement "two Jonin, AND their ninja dogs of course," Tsume corrected as she patted her partner's head.
"It's only really a B-Rank because of the chance for it to be promoted to A or S-Rank should we make contact," he flexed his hand at his side, "And I've got a good feeling about this one" Kakashi clarified, hiding his intensity behind his carefree tone.
The unspoken truth behind the mission was clear to everyone: the manhunt for the traitor that invaded their village at the last Chunin exams was still ongoing. And despite Kakashi's newfound determination following the loss of his student to the snake a couple months ago, it was having diminishing results. Anko couldn't help but relate; afterall, the same snake had taken everything from her as well.
None of that was new to Anko. In fact, she herself had been on many such missions with Kakashi and Tsume––what with her own tracking skills and personal history with Orochimaru. What surprised her was that she apparently wasn't being included on their latest lead.
"Well in that case, count me in. Some extra backup won't hurt, and I'd never pass up on the chance to get back at my dear teacher." Anko offered innocently, only for Tsume to shoot her down:
"Sorry sis, we already asked. Hokage was clear, you're sitting this one out. Maybe next time."
"What! You can't be serious, I'm always the first one put on these missions. What else could the Hokage be assigning me at this time? Take me with you anyway, I'm sure a shadow clone can handle whatever the Hokage has in store for me. Don't even need a cut of the pay. Come on Kakashi, what would you do if you were left off the mission and knew Uchiha was there."
This time it was Iruka who spoke up. "Anko! I know you have a personal stake in this, we all do, but it's against protocol to butt in on a mission you're not assigned to, not to mention you'd be directly disobeying the Hokage's orders. Even Naruto put his personal feelings aside to go train with master Jiraiya. It's time for you to grow up too."
And that was that. Anko left grinding her teeth in the hallway, the chance to confront her personal tormentor slipping away from her. To make matters worse, Iruka's outburst had the added effect of alerting the Hokage that Anko was standing just outside her office.
Tsunade walked into the mission desk room with a severe look on her face."Mitarashi! How good of you to finally drop by. I need you in my office." And with that, she turned back towards her office, daring Anko to not follow suit.
Tsume cackled at her predicament as she and Kakashi walked past to go on their mission without her, "I wouldn't keep the Hokage waiting, see you when we get back, Anko."
Kakashi, however, paused for half a second as he walked past, just long enough to whisper into her ear unnoticed. "Meet us at the north gate. We leave tomorrow at dusk." Kakashi knew Anko had said those things to manipulate him, but Anko was right. He wouldn't abandon a comrade, even if it meant breaking the rules; Anko deserved to be on this mission.
Anko was a little shocked to hear that Kakashi actually agreed with her, but made sure to school her features, responding with only a subtle nod. With that, the two walked past each other and Anko soon found herself walking through the door to the Hokage's office.
"Why did you leave me off the Sound mission?" Anko stated flatly before Tsunade could address her. Thanks to Kakashi, she knew she was gonna go on that mission with or without the Hokage's approval, but she still wanted an explanation for why she wasn't included in the first place. And she had better have a pretty good excuse.
"Ah, that. Normally I would just say that we can't afford to continue dedicating so many resources to following a trail that has long since gone cold, but even I must admit that keeping tabs on Orochimaru is of vital importance, especially with Jiraiya occupied."
"Then why!–"
"Because I have an important assignment for you that I can't give to anyone else."
"Oh yeah? What, you need me to proctor for the Chunin Exams this month or something? You sure you need me for that? Konoha isn't even hosting this time around."
"Actually, Konoha won't be participating in the upcoming Chunin Exams at all this time around, we still need to recuperate from the disaster of the last exams."
Anko was actually surprised to hear that, not that she let it show. But if not the Chunin exams, then just what could Tsunade need her for, maybe there was a new victim at T&I? No, she knew for a fact that Ibiki wasn't occupied enough that she would need to step in for him.
"Alright you've piqued my interest. What exactly is this assignment then?"
Tsunade suddenly had that condescendingly smug smirk on her face that appeared whenever she gained the upper hand over someone. "Tell me Anko, what do you think of teaching a new squad of Genin?"
– 忍 –
A/N: The first chapter of the Naruto story I've had in the works for awhile, as you can probably tell, this story is mostly gonna take place during the time skip following a team of Genin OCs, while keeping true to the classic themes and patterns of Naruto.
An alternate title I had for this story was "The Wraith, The Waived, and Waif" and I'm still not sure which of the two I prefer, let me know in a review which title you prefer.
This chapter was originally going to be longer and introduce the three main characters by having Tsunade go over their academy profiles with Anko. But I decided it would be better to introduce them first hand in their own dedicated chapters and then come back to finish the rest of this scene afterwards. Anyhoo, let me know what your impression of the first chapter is. I know there isn't much to go off of so far, but I'm interested in any thoughts, ideas, and theories you might have. Hope you all enjoy what I have in store.