(Six years after the Nine Tail's Attack......)
"So this is your first solo mission, huh?" Anko commented as she took a swig of her beer.
"Hai." the blonde kid answered. "Although, it is one that requires a team." he commented. "I believe Commander-sama is testing me." he mused thoughtfully.
Anko took a look at the child that was sitting in front of her. It had been one year since she helped him get into the ANBU. After being under her tutelage for 3 months, she sent the commander a private request of initiation. At first the commander was skeptical about the ordeal. However, after meeting the blonde and testing him, he accepted the kid into his corps under an alias of course. After being sworn in, the only people that knew of his true identity was Anko, the ANBU Commander, his assistant, and Naruto, himself. The Commander had decided it was best to keep the Hokage out the loop for various reasons.
"You're growing on me." Anko mused, causing the 6, almost 7 year old to look at her.
He offered her a small smile. His life had changed drastically since he met her. Sure they had gotten off to a rocky start, but after being his sensei and now, very close friend, he could honestly say that life seemed to be a bit brighter. Sure he still had to deal with the physical and verbal abuse of the villagers, but it didn't effect him like it once did. Since he joined the ANBU, he finally felt like he had a purpose in life and that he felt needed. Since he met Anko, he finally felt like someone genuinely cared for him and he had someone precious to live for.
"Well I can't be a kid forever." Naruto said as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"But you still are a kid." Anko said.
"I stopped being a kid when I was raped." he said sharply.
Anko went silent at this. Naruto hated it. He hated when adults around him felt the need to remind him of his age. As far as Naruto was concerned, he had never been a kid. He was always seen as a demon. The Kyuubi reincarnated. When they kicked him out of the orphanage, they didn't see him as a child in need. He was a demon brat. When they would beat him and hunt him like an animal, they didn't see a child. They saw a murder, a slayer of the innocent. When he walked the very streets of Konoha, they didn't see a child. They saw a destroyer, a ticking time bomb that would grow to consume them all. A danger to their very lives. A threat that needed to be removed.
When he was violated that night, they didn't see a child. They saw the cause of their pain and a reason to make him suffer. A repayment for their own grievance. So when any adult speaks on his age or calls him a kid, he questions them. What has he done to qualify that title? What kind of life has he lived to fit the very idea of what a kid embodies? He lost that innocence, an innocence that could never be regained or returned. So what made him different from any other adult.
The atmosphere was tense and the room was silent. Anko sighed as she saw him frown. She knew she had unintentionally hit a soft spot and silently cursed her big mouth. She turned and looked at the clock to see what time it was.
"You should probably get going." Anko commented, avoiding his gaze.
Naruto stared at her intensely for a moment before he nodded. Naruto stood up from the table and sheathed his dual katana at his back in an 'X' formation. He then turned to Anko who was taking another swig of her drink.
"You're going on a mission as well, ne?" Naruto inquired.
Anko nodded. "Yeah. I leave tomorrow." she answered.
Naruto nodded before walking up to her. He stood on his tippy toes and gave her a kiss on her forehead before he stepped away and pulled his face mask onto his face (like Kakashi's). Anko lightly blushed at this, but continued to avoid eye contact with the blonde.
"Stay safe." Naruto said before pulling on his porcelain fox mask on. He disappeared from the room with a shunshin, leaving Anko alone to her evening drink.
Anko snorted at this. Sometimes she forgot who was the oldest in their relationship. He always acted like an elder brother would towards her, although it should be the other way around. Anko shook her head as she gulped down the rest of her beer. She looked at the clock again and saw it was around nine at night. She was bored. Deciding to go out, Anko stood from the table and grabbed her usual coat. Perhaps she could find someone good to entertain her tonight.
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(Days later.....)
Naruto had been sleeping in all day. He was currently lying across Anko's bed. He had just returned back from his mission a day ago. After intense training with the ANBU commander's assistant, the blonde returned home exhausted. Once he finished washing and packing a bag, he went to Anko's house, knowing that he had told her that he would be there when she got back. He didn't know when she would be returning so he packed for a few days just in case.
Said blonde slowly opened his eyes. Looking around, he realized that it was dark outside and the room was lit in mild light of a lamp. Feeling a weight on his body, he turned to realize that he was no longer alone in bed. Looking down, he saw an arm draped over his torso and a leg over his two legs. He sighed as he looked at his friend. 'When did she return...' he thought aloud as he turned to look at the clock. It read 11:00 p.m.
"I returned two hours ago." he heard her respond in his back.
Naruto slowly turned around to be met with Anko's light brown eyes gazing into his own. She had a grin on her face, an expression that caused Naruto to smile at her.
"How did your mission go?" he asked as he put a hand on her arm.
"Fantastic!" she exclaimed before she brought her face closer to his own, making him blush a little before his expression returned neutral. "You know how strong your big sis is. It was a piece of cake as always." she boasted with a grin before rubbing her nose with his.
Naruto stared at her. He knew that there was something she wasn't telling him. Anko was only overtly affectionate when something was bothering her. He gave her a look over. She was wearing a loose sleeveless top and a pair of short shorts. Naruto saw some red bruises on her shoulder and two small cuts on her forehead with a bandage on her neck. Naruto sighed at this. The more he delved into this ninja business, the more he saw the need for medic-nin to be on the field. Waiting to get to a village to get proper treatment can be a hassle and even fatal for ninja when they take higher grade missions that covers a greater distance. And knowing Anko, she probably didn't even go to the hospital.
He put his index finger on the bruised shoulder and saw Anko wince immediately. "Right....." he commented. "If it was such a piece of cake, then how did you get this make up, huh?" he asked with his voice laced with sarcasm. Anko turned her head to the side to hide her blush of embarrassment, much to Naruto's amusement.
"You are such a bad liar, Anko-chan." Naruto whispered softly into her ear before he gave her a kiss on the forehead.
He then sat up in bed and got out, revealing that he was only wearing a pair of shorts. Anko watched him as he walked around the bed and toward the light switch. Naruto had changed a lot since she first met him. He was no longer that malnourished 5 year old who couldn't fend for himself. He his body was now was filled out and was now lean and muscled, making him well built for someone his age. He was a soon to be Captain in the ANBU Black Ops and was growing at exception rates both in his ninja studies and career. He seemed to walk with his head held higher and lastly, he had grown more attached to her than he or she would ever admit.
Naruto flicked the light switch on, causing Anko to hiss at the sudden bright light. Naruto put on a plain black t-shirt before walking over to Anko's side of the bed. He pulled the covers off of her, causing her to look at him in confusion.
"Sit up." he said, not leaving any room for her to argue.
Anko slowly sat up, casting her legs over the side of the bed. From the look on his face, she knew not to argue with him. Her eyes stayed trained on him as he moved onto the bed beside her. His small hands found their way to her injured shoulder. She winced as his fingers pressed upon it. Naruto frowned as he brought both of his hands to the area, placing one in front and behind it.
"AH!" Anko screamed as she suddenly felt her bone snapped back into place. "Fuck......"
Naruto hummed as he cracked another bone, forcing it back into place. Anko muttered a slew of curses as she bit her lip in pain. Naruto cooed at her as his hands began to glow green. Anko felt foreign chakra enter into her system, easing the pain and calming her muscles. Naruto stayed like this for several minutes before he finally stopped. He lightly panted as he removed his hands from her shoulder, causing Anko to frown a little.
When she turned to look at her shoulder, she gasped at how clear it looked, having no evidence of her being injured and her bruises gone. When she turned to look at Naruto, he was already sitting in front of her, on her lap, pressing his hands upon the two scratches on her forehead. Once they disappeared, Naruto removed his hands from her head and hopped off her lap. He walked to the bathroom and came out with a first aid kit before returning to the bed.
"Lean your head to the side." Naruto ordered as he opened the kit.
Anko did what she was told, exposing the side of her neck. Naruto removed the dirty bandage from her neck, revealing a still open cut that was lightly bleeding. Anko heard him 'tsk' as he placed the bloody bandage on the night stand.
"The cut is deep, but not fatal." Naruto said as he pressed down on it a little. "Light stitching and ointment should treat it just fine." he commented as he began to fumble in the medic kit.
"Where did you learn this stuff, kid?" Anko asked before she winced in pain as a needle pierced her skin. She glared at the blonde, who continued to work on stitching her wound.
"Mai-sensei." Naruto stated as he carefully sowed her open cut up.
"They sure are teaching you a lot, ne?" Anko stated as she kept still, not wanting Naruto to accidentally prick her.
"Hm." he hummed in response as he concentrated.
Once he was finished sowing up her wound, he wiped the blood off and cleaned it with rubbing alcohol. He placed a new bandage over it before cleaning up his mess, disposing the bloody tissues and bandage wraps into the trashcan. He returned the medical kit back to the bathroom and walked back to Anko, standing right in front of her. Anko's eyes never left his small form as he looked at her with an emotionless expression.
"You should take better care of yourself." Naruto scolded. "I'm not going to always be here to patch you up." he said with a huff.
"I was fine. A few cuts and bruises has never been enough to take me down." she replied.
"It's always fine before you're dead." Naruto said scoldingly.
Anko scoffed. "Need I remind you who the adult is in this relationship?" she said.
Naruto rolled his eyes and walked away, heading towards the bedroom door. "Are you hungry?" he asked, redirecting the conversation.
"Yes." Anko said sheepishly as she got out of bed.
"Hm." Naruto replied as he walked to the kitchen.
When Anko arrived, she took a seat at the table, watching the little 6 year old make her dinner. Naruto grabbed a small stool from the closet and pushed it up to the stove. After getting what he needed out of the refrigerator, Naruto climbed her counters to get the needed ingredients from the cabinets. Anko watched in amusement as he struggled to reach for certain things. While she would help him, she couldn't bring herself to do so, highly entertained by his quest to reach high things and his lack of height. Naruto sent her a glare as he heard her giggle at him.
Once he had all he needed, he began to prepare the meal, turning the stove on as he mixed what was needed to cook. Anko continued to watch him as his face contorted into pure concentration. He was focused and paid no attention to what was around him, zoned in on only what his hands were doing. The purple haired jonin smiled a little. He was like a grown man in a child's body. Despite being 6, almost 7 years old, he carried himself as if he was older. And he most certainly didn't act like most kids his age. Though, most kids haven't been through what he had gone through and continues to go through.
"Where did you learn how to cook, gaki?" she inquired, haven't known anything about his acquired skill.
"Mai-sensei." Naruto answered, not turning around. "Chief said that since I'm living on my own, I need to learn how to do things on my own. He also said that cooking was the way to a woman's heart." he said with a light chuckle.
Anko chuckled as well. "Well he wouldn't be wrong about that." she commented.
"This is my first time cooking for someone." Naruto said as he began to pour his mixture into the pan.
"Let's hope its good." Anko said. "I wouldn't want a bad case of food poisoning." she said jokingly.
Naruto laughed at her comment with a shake of his head. The two sat in comfortable silence. Soon, the room was filled with the delicious smell of chicken, vegetables, fried egg, and cooked cheese. Anko felt her mouth water at the aroma. Whatever the hell he was cooking sure smelled delicious. She only hoped that it was as good as it smelled. When Naruto finally finished cooking and plating the dish, he created a shadow clone to clean the kitchen.
Naruto walked to the table with a plate in hand and placed it in front of Anko, who was looking at it curiously. "Stuffed Tamagoyaki." he said.
Anko stared at the plate as Naruto went back to the kitchen to grab her utensils and something to drink. She frowned when he came back with a cup of water. She rolled her eyes at his explanation, saying that she needed to stay hydrated. Sometimes, the blonde could be such a mother hen. With a lick of her lips, the nineteen year old dug in to her dinner. She moaned at her first bite.
"Damn." Anko said as she shoved another piece of the tamagoyaki into her mouth. "I don't what that woman is teaching you, but this good."
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly in light embarrassment. "She got me through the basics, although stuffing it was my idea. It was my first time trying it." he said bashfully.
"Well you get a 10 from me." she said with a grin as she gave him a thumbs up.
Naruto returned her grin before Anko began to start on her meal again. Naruto watched her eat, happy to see her enjoying something he had cooked for her. Soon, his face contorted into a frown. He had needed to talk to her about something. And he wasn't sure how she would take it. Anko felt the sudden shift in the atmosphere and looked up. She became confused when she saw the happy blonde now frowning with a grimace.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Naruto looked up at her for a second, his expression unreadable. He stared at her for a few moments before he took a deep breath and spoke. "Is there something you not telling me, Anko?" he said.
Anko was now completely confused. "Not that I know of." she replied.
Naruto sighed before he put an article of clothing on the table, in front of her. Looking at it, the jonin saw what appeared to be male underwear. Anko scrunched her face up in disgust.
"What the hell, Naruto." Anko said distastefully. "Get your underwear off my damn table."
"These are not mine." Naruto stated. "I found them on your floor along with a used condom when I returned from my mission."
Anko scrunched her face of in disgust. She was going to kill that fucker for leaving that type of shit on her floor. She looked up at Naruto to find his arms crossed over his chest, looking at her with a displeased expression. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"What's this all about?" she said.
"Who was he?" Naruto asked.
"Why do you want to know?" she asked with her eyes still narrowed.
"Because I want to know the man who stained your sheets and didn't have the decency to clean up after himself before he left." Naruto said.
"Where is this going, Naruto?" she asked, avoiding his question again.
"I don't like it, Anko." Naruto finally said. "Seeing all types of men walking in and out this threshold. It's unbecoming."
Anko narrowed her eyes at him further, feeling her anger begin to bubble. "Why is it suddenly 'unbecoming' when a woman wants to fuck, but men are praised for fucking every cunt that gets offered to them." she seethed.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the insinuation. "I don't like seeing you entangled with a bunch of strangers, Anko. Running through you like the prostitutes I see in the red light district." he said.
"I'm not like them, Naruto. I choose who I want to fuck and I don't fuck for money. I control my damn life and if I want fuck a stranger, I will damn well do it." Anko said as she glared at him. "I am a kunoichi. Don't sit here and treat me like some innocent virgin. Sex comes in the job description, so I don't understand why you're hounding me about this."
"I am fully aware of what a kunoichi is, Anko-san." Naruto snapped. "I am aware that sometimes your body is sacrificed for the sake of the mission. However, allowing different men inside you. Allowing them to have you only to leave the next day, being nothing more than a notch in his belt. It is beneath you Anko."
"Why can't you just mind your damn business?!" she yelled.
Having enough, Naruto slammed his hands down on the table. "BECAUSE I WILL NOT HAVE MY SISTER ACTING LIKE SOME COMMON WHORE!" he roared at her, before he came to his senses and realized what he said. Guilt marred his expressions as he looked down at the floor. "Anko...."
"So you view me the same way, huh?" Anko said lowly as her bangs shaded her face. "I'm nothing more than the Snake whore, right?"
"Anko...." he said softly.
"Shut up!" Anko snapped. When she looked at him, her eyes were cold, glaring at him intensely. "Out of everyone, I didn't expect you to judge me, Naruto. I thought that you understood."
"Anko...." he started.
"NO!" she snarled. "I'm the whore, right?" she said with a raise of her voice. "Let's talk about how this whore was the same whore that picked you from that alley the night you became someone's bitch! Let's talked about the one who trained you and the took you away from the living hell you called a life! Let's talk about how this whore helped you get into the ANBU. You would be nothing without me, Naruto. And you better damn well remember that."
Naruto was silent. He turned away from the fuming jonin, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He bit his lip, trying to hold it in. He wasn't going to let her see that her words at hurt him.....deeply. Her words had reopened many wounds that he was trying to bury. A bitch. That one sentence brought back memories that he would try to forget. Nightmares that he would try to escape from. He wasn't being fair. Not to Anko or the women in his life that had helped him when he was in need. He had no room to talk. Not when he was reduced to something less than what he called her. He clenched his fists, not being able to stop the tears that fell down his face. He held his sobs. Gritting his teeth as he continued to look away from her.
When her temper finally began to simmer, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. Once she opened them, she turned to look at Naruto to find that he had his back toward her. His body was shaking and his fists were clenched as if he was trying to hold something in. She instantly felt a wave of guilt hit her. She knew that what she said hurt him. Probably worst than she was hurting right now.
"Naruto....." she called out.
The blonde didn't respond. He kept his back toward her and didn't even moving to look at her. Anko sighed. She stood from the table and walked to Naruto's side. When she got in front of him, she kneeled down to meet his height. When she looked him in the face, her heart damn near broke at the sight. Endless tears fell down his whiskered cheeks and his eyes were a whirlwind of emotions. His body shook and his teeth gritted harshly. He avoided eye contact with her, moving from her touch like a plague. The small shift of his body away from her made her heart pang. It was like he was that scared little boy she had seen at the beginning.
"Oh, Naruto....." Anko said painfully as she pulled him into a hug.
His body stiffened at her touch, however, this didn't stop Anko from engulfing his small body into hers. After awhile, she felt something wet on her shirt. Naruto's body began to tremble and his little arms wrapped around her waist, clenching her shirt. Her heart seemed to lurch as she heard his muffled sobs. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to him as he cried into her shirt. She looked away in shame, knowing that this was her doing.
"I'm sorry, Anko." Naruto said in between his sobs. "I just........I'm tired of seeing you hurting. I know why do those things Anko. I know you do it to cope. To deal with what he did to you. To deal with what the villagers say to you." he began to share. "I just wanted you to see that someone cares about you. And you don't need to do those things to feel loved or be happy. I wanted to you to know that I was here." he cried.
"I didn't mean to make you feel that way Anko. I didn't mean to hurt you." he sobbed.
Anko was speechless. She froze at his words. So, that's what it was all about. She looked down at the child that was crying his heart out into her shirt. Tears subconsciously began to pour out of her own eyes. He cared for her. More than she had realized. Anko pulled him closer, closing her eyes as tears continued to fall. She wasn't used to this. Having someone caring deeply for her. Someone treasuring her. People around her were always concerned, but she always questioned if they cared. But, the child holding onto her like a life line, loved her. Much like a brother loved his sister. She was feeling many emotions right now - shame, happiness, guilt, compassion, understanding.
The two stayed there crying into each others arms for awhile, neither one letting each other go. When Anko no longer heard the muffled cries of the child, she opened her puffy eyes and looked down. The blond had cried himself to sleep. She smiled a little as she stood up. He whimpered at little, latching onto her tightly, not wanting her to go. Anko picked him up in her arms and coddled him into her chest. For once, the blonde looked his age, holding onto her like a child holds his mother. He looked peaceful that way.
Anko cut off the lights and walked to her bedroom. She carefully got into bed, tucking them both into bed. Naruto snuggled into her bosom and had a small smile on his face. Anko rolled her eyes at this as she scoffed.
"Little perv." she voiced out lightly, however, she didn't move him.
In fact, he was unnaturally warm, making him good to snuggle up with. She would be sure to abuse this fact in the winter. Anko chuckled mirthlessly to herself. She couldn't believe it was a mere 6 year old that hard torn down the walls she had spent years building. She had only known him for a year, yet he had read her like he had known her all of his life. She sighed as she closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. Her tiredness was finally sweeping over her like a heavy wave.
A small smile riddled her expression when she finally succumbed to sleep. 'This kid is something else.'