Chapter 09

Anko POV

Anko was surprised when Naruto, instead of taking her towards the village, began leading her towards the clan districts. She was doubly surprised when he finally led her to a small, but quaint two story home, hidden next to the Nara clan estate. Naruto just smiled at her as he unlocked the door, leading her through as she looked around in trepidation. Naruto caught her nervousness again and just patted her on the shoulder before moving through the house towards the kitchen.

"You wanted to eat right?" Anko just nodded with a small from as she took after the redhead, suddenly very curious about where he lived.

"Yeah but I thought you meant a restaurant or something." She heard Naruto snort from the kitchen and quickly walked through the door to already see him put a large pot on for boil.

"Why would I take you to a restaurant when I make the best ramen ever?!" Anko snickered at that, some of the tension easing form the air with the small boast.

"Isn't that a bit presumptuous?" Naruto turned around, blinking at the long word for a moment. His smile returned slowly, thinking he understood it.

"Kaa-san taught me the recipe and hers was the best ramen ever so naturally mine will be too!" He said it as though it should be obvious. In a weird way, the slightly twisted logic made sense to Anko's young mind. Naruto left the water on to boil as he sat down at the kitchen table, struggling just a bit to get onto the tall chair.

"She sounded awesome." Naruto nodded with a sad smile as he looked down at the table, noting some of the stains that littered the wood. He couldn't remember what each was from but he was sure it was probably a humorous moment when his Kaa-san found out about it.

"Yeah." He looked up suddenly, curiosity evident on his young face. "You're always talking about my parents, what about yours? I mean won't they be worried if you don't go home?" Anko looked away for a moment, her gaze just catching a photo on a shelf nearby. In it she saw a younger Naruto, maybe four years old, on a tall blonde man's shoulders she recognised as the former Hokage. To their left a kindly red-haired woman hugged her husband tightly, smiling at the camera with beautiful purple eyes, the same colour as Naruto's.

"I, I don't have parents; I never knew them." Naruto looked down sadly, his next question dying on his tongue as he looked across at the melancholic girl sitting next to him. "I was raised in the orphanage for as long as I can remember." Naruto looked away, idly checking on the boiling water before turning his attention back.

"But then why don't you-" Anko turned suddenly with a hint of anger, not aimed at Naruto though.

"No, I hate it there. The other kids are mean and bullies." Naruto went quiet again as Anko once again took to staring at the small framed photo, wishing that she could have memories like that.

"So who taught you how to fight?"Anko scowled at that, managing to tear her eyes away from the photo for a moment. Her eyes softened though when she just saw Naruto's genuinely curious expression; she was still shocked at just how genuine he could be.

"There was a boy, a few years older than us. He was at the orphanage as well; he was called Aoi. There were some kids picking on me because of my eyes so he beat them up." Naruto blinked at that, he couldn't see anything wrong with Anko's eyes, they reminded him of chocolate. "After that he taught me how to fight so I could protect myself; then he left, went to the academy and I never saw him again." Naruto nodded at that slowly, still trying to puzzle out the thing with Anko's eyes as he failed to prioritize in his mind.

"Ever since then the other kids just ignored me, treated me like I didn't belong just because I defended myself. The people who work there hate me as well, I can tell, they ignore me too and think I'm a bad influence on the other kids." Naruto wasn't quite sure what to say at this point, he couldn't imagine living like that, it seemed really lonely. Suddenly his eyes shot open wide and he nearly fell off his chair as he rushed over to the pot on the stove, now boiling over. He quickly adjusted it so it was on simmer before adding in the noodles and various vegetables for flavouring.

When he returned to the table Anko seemed pretty much back to her usual self, the sadness in her eyes gone, or at least hidden for now. Naruto didn't say anything, not wanting to upset the girl any more than he might have already. They stayed in silence for a little bit as Naruto continued to cook and Anko flitted her gaze between him and the photos dotted around the room. Finally when the ramen as ready Naruto lay it out on the table in front of Anko, giving the girl a small smile as he did so.

"Itadakimasu." Anko nodded back with her own fleeting grin before tucking into the steaming Ramen, her eyes immediately lighting up as she drank in the broth.

"Het, fis is reaggy goog!" Naruto chuckled as she returned to trying to eat the ramen as fast as physically possible, managing to get through it in an impressive time.

"Wow! If you think this is good just wait until I take you to Ichiraku's." Anko just nodded happily as she drank down the rest of the broth, smacking her lips loudly in satisfaction.

"If it's better than this, then I'm in!" Naruto chuckled again as he took her bowl, bringing it over to the sink where he could wash it up later. He turned back around with a smile and Anko suddenly looked very meek, her hands once again fiddling behind her.

"So umm, thanks for the food, I guess, I should, uhh, probably go then." Naruto cocked his head to the side ever so slightly as he gazed at her suddenly inverse attitude. He was amazed at how quickly she could go from a bubbly pile of energy to a meek little girl. He just stood there, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he looked between her and the door.

"Umm, you don't have to, I mean you could uhh stay here I guess; It's not like I have to ask my parents or anything." He chuckled lightly, blinking afterwards when he realised just what he said. Anko just looked startled, not really expecting anybody to ever be so kind to her.

"Really?" Naruto just nodded without really meaning to, his body just reacting automatically.

"Umm yeah?" In a flash so quick he though his dad was back, Anko was across the room, hugging him tightly with her head over one of his shoulders.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Naruto stared blankly, frozen in the contact, completely unsure of what to do in this situation. Once again though he was reminded that Anko hadn't changed in two days as his nose was assaulted by the scent of earth and pine needles, as well as a few other less pleasant scents.

"But you umm, might want to take a shower." Anko immediately broke away, a huge blush staining her cheeks as she coughed into her hand nervously.

"Uhh right, sorry." Naruto led her to the bathroom where she quickly ducked in, still managing to maintain her slight blush the whole way there. Naruto laughed as he went back downstairs; scampering away to grab his scroll. He had left it absently in the hallway along the way. He sat at the kitchen table, eating the rest of his ramen calmly as he occasionally scribbled down a note in his scroll. By now he would usually be out doing his normal exercises but he supposed that could wait for a day, while he had a guest.