Chapter 10

Naruto POV

He heard Anko before she came in, the smacking of her damp feet against the tiled floor was a dead giveaway. However he wasn't expecting her to come down only wrapped in a towel, covering her almost like a full dress. She laughed excitedly with a hand behind her head, her eyes closed in a sheepish way as she motioned to the towel with her hand.

"I just remembered I don't have any other clothes." Naruto blanched, a strange blush spreading across his face before he beat it back, not even sure why it was there in the first place.

"O-Oh. Right. Umm, there should be clothes that fit you in the closet upstairs; my parents never threw anything out." Anko just nodded, still with her eyes closed in that strange smiling fashion that somehow managed to look cute.

"Thanks." She quickly spun on her heel as Naruto turned back to his scroll, but not before his eyes naturally gravitated toward Anko's retreating form. He shook his head wearily, the day just kept getting longer. Anko jogged back through the house, taking the steps two or three at a time as she quickly hurried into a large room with double bed. She figured it was probably Naruto's parents' based on the photos on the dresser. She opened up the large walk-in closet and was surprised by the mass of clothes she found.

Naruto was right when he said his parents never threw anything away; there were clothes that looked like they would fit them when they were kids her age. She saw a load of the same tracksuit that Naruto always wore and wondered briefly if they once belonged to his father. Her attention was quickly diverted when she spotted the large white coat hanging at the very end on the closet. She blinked in surprise as she gently trailed a hand down its silky material, ending at the red flame pattern at the bottom.

The Hokage had visited the orphanage a few times when she had been there and she had always been captivated by the coat. He always looked so confident, so powerful; it made her wonder if Naruto would be like that someday. She let it fall back onto its hanger as she took in the rest of the wardrobe. It was mostly Jonin outfits, a few flak jackets and some long dresses that had to belong to Naruto's mother. Finally she managed to find a long yellow shirt that acted as a dress as well. It wasn't really Anko's style but she didn't have anything else; she quickly slipped it on, tying it across with a light grey sash that seemed to go with it.

Finally, she looked at herself in the mirror on the door, turning to look at herself fully. She was fairly indifferent to the clothes, but they would do for now, at least until she got her own washed. She rushed back downstairs only to find Naruto in the exact same position as before, casually writing in his scroll. Knowing how good his ears were, she didn't even bother to try and sneak up on him. Instead, she just walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder. If Naruto minded the action he didn't show it, but inside he couldn't help but notice how nice Anko now smelt.

"Watcha doing?" Naruto just lifted the scroll slightly higher so that Anko could see it better however when she looked she just saw a bunch of seemingly random squiggles and the occasional annotation. "What are they?" Naruto put the scroll back down, putting away his ink brush as he rolled the scroll back up.

"Seals. My dad was a master in them. He had me practise my handwriting every day so that I could learn them as well. He told me to always have a scroll with me so that I could jot down anything that came to mind; he said it was how he first thought of the Hiraishin." Anko blinked at the unfamiliar word, looking between Naruto's neutral face and the scroll a few times.

"The Hirai-what?" Naruto's lips curled up into a small smile as he pushed off the chair, standing up next to Anko.

"The Hiraishin was my father's signature Jutsu, it allowed him to instantly move to anywhere he had placed a special sealing formula." His brow seemed to furrow in thought as he slowly moved into another room, carefully rummaging in a drawer before pulling out a strange-looking kunai. "Most of the time he used these" He pointed out the kanji wrapped around the hilt of the kunai "He would throw them to surprise his opponent then flash to it. He used the Jutsu to end the third Shinobi war, earning his nickname, the Yellow flash." Anko just listened in amazement, starting to realise just why the man had been elected Hokage.

"Wow, he sounds really smart." Naruto nodded with another sad smile as he replaced the kunai in the drawer.

"Yeah, but one day I'll figure out how he did it, something not even his teacher could do, then I'll make him proud by making an even better Jutsu!" In that brief moment Anko couldn't doubt Naruto for a second; despite his level voice she could feel he determination radiating off him in waves. He shrugged with a small smile, motioning to the scroll again "But until then, I have to work my way up from the basics like he did." Anko pouted at that, if there was one thing she didn't like - it was having to wait for something good - even if it was definitely worth it. However a smirk quickly replaced the pout as she looked at Naruto.

"Well just make sure you don't leave me behind when you become the fastest guy alive." Naruto's smile grew a bit as he laughed.

"Of course not. You're my friend aren't you? Come on, I'm used to training at this time, you can join me if you like." He smiled again and walked out the room towards the large open field out the back of the house. Anko just stood still, rooted in her spot as she let Naruto's words sink in. She had never had a friend before, at least not anybody who would openly say it like that. While her tone had been joking it was a genuine concern of hers; the only other person to ever show her any kindness had quickly abandoned her, thrown her aside to move on with their own life. She just didn't think she could go through that... again.

Realising she had zoned out a little and could hear Naruto calling her from outside, she quickly ran out, slipping on her sandals as she went. The two sparred for a while, Naruto testing out how effective Anko's Taijutsu was. It was an excellent style, if seemingly haphazard, unrefined and imbalanced. Despite her skill, due to his inherent speed, Anko was still unable to land a hit on him once. Even so, in that brief hour he managed to correct a few things that she had let develop into habits that would very well get her killed in a serious fight.

By the end, the purple-haired Kunoichi-to-be was panting and out of breath, while Naruto was only a little winded, his reactions slightly dulled. Usually, a session like that would have him feeling the same as Anko, but lately he had been less and less tired by what used to be exhausting. He looked down with narrowed eyes at his stomach, knowing exactly why that was. Anko caught her breath as she stood back up, sweat now soaking her clothes and slickening the hair that wasn't tied into her pineapple-styled ponytail.

"H-How come you aren't even tired?" Naruto just shrugged with a casual smile, for once not having to strain himself to do so. He always felt relaxed after a training session; it meant his mind was focused on one thing alone, keeping his thoughts from straying to the past.

"I'm just used to it I guess." Anko just nodded, too tired to argue with the explanation as she slowly walked back inside. She managed to catch a second wind as she straightened up, looking at Naruto curiously as he wiped of the small amount of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead.

"So uhh, where can I sleep?" Like before, Naruto immediately froze, for some reason feeling incredibly awkward as he stood there and again not knowing why. Anko seemed to notice this and quickly clarified with a nonchalant shrug. "Like, I'm okay with the couch if you don't have room or anything." Naruto quickly shook his head, managing to push out a small smile.

"Umm no, we have a few beds or some fold-out futons." Recently he had just been sleeping in his parents' room, ignoring his old room in favour of the one that reminded him of his parents. Anko just nodded as Naruto led her upstairs again, this time in the opposite direction to the master bedroom and the bathroom. As the passed a slightly open room Anko peeked in subtly, noticing the colourfully painted walls and small but cosy crib set up in the corner.

Finally Naruto stopped at the end of the hallway, pushing open a door to a fairly plain, white-painted room with a single bed and a few unused shelves. It was a guest room for the times when his father would personally host a guest from another nation. As such the bed was suitably comfortable while the entire room maintained a very neutral atmosphere. To Anko though, when she compared it to the slightly dingy room that she shared with two other girls, it was like a small palace.

"You could sleep here if you want." Anko just nodded lamely before catching herself and smiling her usual bright smile.

"Umm... thanks. It's perfect." Naruto shrugged, still feeling slightly awkward about all this. He turned to leave and put Anko's clothes in the wash, but she quickly caught his hand before he could go. He turned, not quite sure what to expect; it certainly wasn't to be pulled into a brief but warm hug. He took a shallow breath, struggling to process a vague feeling inside him, once again finding himself in a situation he had no idea how to react to, twice in a day.

"Thank you for being my friend." Naruto just nodded mechanically, chuckling nervously, before Anko finally released him, disappearing into her own room with the smallest of blushes across the bridge of her nose. The redhead walked towards the bathroom in a daze, not realising the smile that had automatically found its way onto his face.