Chapter 22

Time moved on and Naruto apologised to his friends, he knew he shouldn't have lashed out like that but he was bottling up his emotions unhealthily. They of course forgave him, after very little thought, but to say their eyes hadn't been opened slightly would have been an injustice. To Shisui, Naruto had always been a pillar of strength; before he came along he was always known as the other Uchiha, the one that wasn't Itachi. Of course he held no resentment towards his cousin but it was lonely when everybody else only paid attention to the 'prodigy'.

To see Naruto, somebody who worked hard for what he wanted and achieved it, without any kind of Kekkei Genkai or Doujutsu, it made him hope. He was the calm one, the one who kept his head but still found the time to have fun and enjoy life. To see him lose it like that, it cracked the image the aspiring Uchiha had of his friend. In the same way thought helped their friendship; when Shisui stopped seeing Naruto as some kind of goal to strive for and instead saw a person with emotions and limits. He found it easier to smile and speak softly with Naruto, after those thoughts.

For Itachi, his body clenched painfully in silence; while both he and Naruto would call each other friends, he knew it was a loose term at best. They were sparring partners, rivals, people who used each other to improve themselves. He never went over to talk; never saw a purpose to that. He never specifically considered Naruto for something other than a mechanism for training. In a way, Itachi envied his cousin. Shisui and Naruto were friends; that much anybody could admit. When he witnessed how wrenched Naruto felt about feeling abandoned by the Third (and perhaps by his parents), he realised that something would need to change.

Over time after that incident the three only managed to grow closer, Itachi began to try more, acting like a friend instead of an acquaintance. Shisui and Naruto were already close, frequently spending time together. But afterward, each practically lived in the other's house. There would always be a place set for Naruto in Shisui's home and a bed ready for Shisui in Naruto's. They continued to do missions, always excelling and getting noted for their impeccable teamwork and innovation in tight situations. In the six months after that both Shisui and Itachi managed to reach the final stage of their Sharingan, the youngest in recorded Uchiha history since Madara Uchiha.

Anko, well... she was Anko. If there was something in Naruto's life he could count on to always be there and never change, it was her. She was like an immovable rock. When she had heard about the way he had erupted at his friends she had forced him to go straight over and apologise, after squeezing him to death for about five minutes of course. It had led to an amusing conversation regarding who exactly was the guardian in their relationship, needless to say it didn't end well for Naruto and he ended up in the Uchiha district with an aching side.

It turned out that during his absence on the mission Anko had practically thrown herself into her studies and training, easily becoming the top Shinobi in her class. Naruto couldn't wipe the grin off his face when he heard that, but there was a lot of teasing about her having nothing else to do without him around. It was amusing because of the shade of red her face had turned when she couldn't think of a suitable comeback or answer.

Six months later and nothing had changed; Anko was still flying through the academy with distinction, although she did have Naruto helping her whenever he could between missions. It turned out that after their first successful B-ranked mission, it had opened the floodgates. After a while they even began to be specifically requested by clients; although some were sceptical when they actually showed up due to their age. The team wasn't complaining though, the missions paid well and usually the most they had to deal with was the occasional errant A-rank missing-nin.

In essence, life was good! Everybody in their close-knit group was never bored, never abandoned to themselves. Naruto and Anko's frenetic antics were enough to keep Shisui entertained while Itachi found pleasure in training and carrying out his missions. Sometimes Naruto believed he believed too heavily in the ideals of the village and not enough in his own but he couldn't really do much about it. Despite not being open with it Itachi could almost prove to be as stubborn as an Uzumaki; whether you could take that as a compliment or not was debatable however.

Finally, time had passed quickly enough that Naruto found himself lazily, yet nervously sitting on the couch in his home. He was trying to flick through a scroll of intermediate sealing but his mind really wasn't focused on the paper in his hands. Instead his gaze kept flickering between it and the door, anxiously awaiting Anko to walk through. She had passed her Genin exam a few days ago, the only one in her class to do so even though others had tried.

That worried Naruto, thinking she might be placed with an older group of Genin who would no doubt belittle or under-appreciate her because of her age. Right now she was in the academy with the rest of the Genin who had passed this year, all likely waiting for their Jounin Sensei to arrive, or already having met them. He desperately wanted to know who she got; it would more than likely define the Kunoichi she became in the future, even with his own influence in her training. They say there was always at least one student who took after their sensei; in their group at least it was Shisui.

Just as he was about to get up and move outside to train and calm his nerves he heard the front door open. He swivelled on a dime and immediately walked over to the hall where he watched a grinning Anko practically bounce through the door. The sight brought a smile to his face; the Jounin instructor must have been a good one for her to be so happy.

"So I take it by your smile it went well?" Anko just beamed as she skipped towards him, actually skipped; it was enough to make him double-take. Anko wasn't particularly girly so to see her acting this way was...weird to say the least.

"Better than well; awesome!" The redhead just raised an eyebrow, chuckling as he followed the euphoric girl back through the house to where she simply flopped down on the couch with a satisfied smile.

"So who did you get?" Anko's happy smile quickly morphed into a very mischievous and somewhat smug grin as she turned and stared him right in the eyes.

"Oh nobody..." She turned disinterestedly and began to pick at her fingernails with a kunai, a habit Naruto had no idea how she picked up because it wasn't from him "...just, you know, Orochimaru of the Sannin." She said it with such nonchalance that it actually took a moment for Naruto to register what she had said.

"Orochimaru? As in the teammate of Jiraiya, the guy who trained my father?" Anko just nodded happily, yet again with that same slightly smug look on her features.

"The one and only, and not only that but he took me on as an apprentice!" Naruto blinked in surprise; he wasn't doubting Anko's abilities of course, or Orochimaru's judgement; in fact Anko was an astounding Kunoichi already. There was the fact that it was almost unheard of for somebody to take such a young apprentice; at that age it was usually difficult to predict the kind of ninja the student would become. Even so that didn't stop the smile that spread across Naruto's face as he pulled Anko into a somewhat unexpected hug.

"Congratulations!" Anko was shocked for only a brief moment before she accepted the hug, smiling happily into Naruto's shoulder until he broke away.

"Thanks, I already know it's gonna be awesome, he's going to teach me so many cool jutsu, maybe I'll even get a summoning contract!" Naruto grinned again; getting a contract was one of the greatest honours bestowed on a Shinobi, usually passed down from parent to child or sensei to student. His own father had inherited the toad contract from Jiraiya as Anko would no doubt receive the snake contract from Orochimaru.

"Well I think we should celebrate!" Anko initially looked happy at that thought but her face suddenly took on a slightly green tinge as she remembered the last time the two had 'celebrated'. She now knew that alcohol, no matter how delicious, would have to wait until she was older and it wouldn't incapacitate her for an entire day.

"Alright, how about visiting that new restaurant that opened up, the Dango place." Naruto just nodded happily, already getting up and pulling on his tracksuit top; today was Anko's day and they would do whatever she wanted to do. As they left Anko was wondering how dango tasted, never having had the pleasure of tasting the sweet dumplings; ironic considering her namesake. She just shrugged; she would find out soon anyway.

AN: I know that it's a bit slow rn, but the plots are kicking up