Anko returned home after a short mission. She felt exhausted, even though it didn't last long and she didn't even have to leave the village. She had to search the entire Forest of Death to clean it up, and find traces of Sasori of the Red Sand. The man, who was clearly not a genin anymore for a long long time, had pretended to be a participant. His teammates, according to a report done to the Hokage earlier this week, were puppets. And all those puppet bodies had been destroyed somewhere in the middle of the woods, and Anko's task was to retrieve them because the Kazekage asked for them. Both teams involved – one from Suna and one from Konoha – couldn't even tell where exactly they fought Sasori, to make things worse for Anko.

She was now finally home, after an interrogation from both the Hokage and Kazekage, who wondered how Sasori was able to pretend to be a genin – but eh, not Anko's fault he went by a false name – and she hated being interrogated like that. The only thing worse than two Kages interrogating someone was T & I, but since Ibiki was proctoring the first part, he was questioned as well, so the Fourth had preferred keeping T & I out of the loop this time.

Just before she opened the door of her apartment, she stopped and watched through the window. What she saw brought back a smile on her face, which was good, she didn't want her son to know she had had a bad day.

Shisui was playing with Tadashi, and her boy was really into their pretend play. It was cute seeing him interact with the Uchiha man. She understood why Tadashi now begged her to call him whenever she needed a babysitter.

From what she could observe, Tadashi had immediately loved Shisui, even though Tadashi usually didn't like strangers very fast. Herself had taken months before he fully trusted her. Maybe it was that Shisui always kept his composure, something that Anko struggled with, and his calm personality? Sure enough, Tadashi threw tantrums every time Anko had to leave him on someone else's watch. And then, she'd come back home to learn he pulled pranks on the babysitter. If only Shisui's day job was a babysitter and not a police officer, it would make her life much easier. He was not often available to watch Tadashi.

She observed them for a few minutes again, loving how comfortable Shisui was with the boy. Anko couldn't help but think that whoever Uchiha got that guy as a boyfriend – if he even had a girlfriend – would become a lucky wife. He'd make the perfect father. One that Anko wished she could give to Tadashi. Eh, it wouldn't be Shisui. Even though he'd be a good step-father, Uchiha were obligated to marry within their clan. It was the most stupid thing Anko had ever heard.

Tadashi ran into her arms, even if she had been gone for the afternoon only. "Look at what I did in school!"

Tadashi was still going to the regular school for the moment. Since the Fourth was Hokage, children could only attend the academy at eight years of age. It was one of the first rules he made when he was nominated for the role. Anko approved of it, she couldn't imagine her son going to fight in a war at his age. Wannabe chunins were between twelve and fifteen this year, the Kazekage's daughter being the oldest because she was teamed with her younger brothers, and it felt right to Anko. She couldn't imagine what the exam would be like if younger children were involved.

Tadashi brought up a drawing he made. There were two humans drawn, if you looked very closely. One smaller than the other. There was also another thing drawn next to it.

"What's that?" Anko asked, trying to show interest in the painting when she really couldn't care less.

"That's a snake."

Ah. The shape made sense now.

"Why did you draw a snake, Tadashi?" Shisui asked, as he was gathering his belongings before leaving.

"I don't know, because if we were to have a pet, I think it would be a snake, like mom's jutsu, and because my father loved them."

Where do you think I learned that jutsu, Tadashi? Anko thought. Shisui had a little mocking smile. Probably he thought something similar. Or maybe he was judging the choice of pet.

Usually, Anko couldn't care less about Shisui, other than having him around to please Tadashi, but she surprised herself into thinking that grin was cute.

Stop thinking of him. You're only going to get hurt. He can't love you.

But as he kissed Tadashi goodbye, took his backpack and left, Anko couldn't help but notice how strong he seemed. His perfect silhouette. His beautiful dark eyes. Besides, if Uchiha could marry outside the clan, she thought he'd make strong babies. Babies that wouldn't have Orochimaru's creeping eyes. That was the only thing Anko hated about her son. His eyes reminded her so much of the sensei she got to hate. His experiments that hurt her. It had taken her months to get used to becoming a mother, but even after four years of interacting with Tadashi, she still wished his genitor was someone else.

She prepared food for Tadashi and her, and then, she asked her son to do his homework.

"I already did them," he said, with a smile.

Anko wasn't sure if that smile meant he was lying to her. It wouldn't be the first time he tried to get away with them.

"Really? Can you show me your school book and the instructions from your teacher?"

"Okay. I did them with Shisui, you can call him, if you don't believe me."

Tadashi would usually find a way for Anko not to look at his school works. She was tempted to just trust her son, but she also liked to see his progress, so she still asked for the book. Sure enough, he had really done his homework. And it was his writing, not Shisui's. Anko noticed her boy seemed to make fewer mistakes than he usually did. Tadashi usually hated maths.

"That seems good to me. You can go play."

"Shisui didn't know when you'd be back, so he decided we'd start by doing homework. He says I'm more focussed right after school than just before bed."

Who was Shisui to claim he knew Tadashi like that? Anger filled her body, but then, she realized that by claiming that, he helped her a ton through a daily irritant of her life. Having Tadashi to finish his homework had been a constant battle since he started school. Hours of screaming and crying. From Tadashi, but also Anko, who at some point started finishing his work because she just couldn't bear fighting with Tadashi every evening.

Anko washed the dishes and cleaned her apartment a little. That's when she noticed a book she didn't remember buying. Did Tadashi bring it back from the library by mistake?

She inspected it. It was not an image book meant for children. Maybe Kurenai brought it here the other day when she came to chat? Anko started to skim through. It was a psychology book. On children development to be more precise. A library card fell off of it when she opened the book. She took it from the floor. The card said it belonged to Shisui, and it dated from when Anko was proctor for the chunin exam. Which meant he had borrowed it the first time he watched Tadashi. Anko laughed. Shisui really didn't want to mess up with Tadashi, uh? He'd really be a keeper, if she had a chance to date him.