Chapter 6: Lost, Found and Returned

Chapter six - Lost, Found and Returned

"There probably isn't any meaning in life. Perhaps you can find something interesting to do while you are alive. Like how you found that flower. Like how I found you." - Orochimaru

It had taken them many hours, but they finally found their way out of the woods. The sun had already set on the horizon, and dusk was merging into night when the squad of four finally broke through the forest to find wonderful open terrain. Treeless and flat smooth landscape without any bushes greeted them as far as they could see. It was such a huge relief to them that they were almost shaking in relief. Well, Naruto felt it that way at least, but Shisui who she was still supporting was too tired to do anything but give a shaky breath. The sigh spoke more than a thousand words could describe.

They had been travelling slowly, mostly because Naruto wasn't able to carry Shisui on her back all the time. She'd managed to convince him a few times though. At first his already flushed cheeks had gone ever redder. But in the end he was simply too exhausted to disagree, so swallowing his pride he'd gave in.

With his face burning he'd climbed up on her back and Naruto had been pleased with the opportunity to walk faster. Kakashi had been too, but didn't voice it out loud the way the blonde did. However, Naruto couldn't move as fast as she usually did with Shisui on her back, and after forty minutes her arms had gone numb and Shisui had to walk on his own again.

The jinchūriki had still kept supporting him though. So Shisui walked with his arm over her shoulder so he wouldn't strain himself. Once Naruto had rested her arms for a bit they'd repeat the piggy back ride, and with the constant switch they had progress at least a little faster than they would had. To say it had been slow going would be an understatement, but in the light of day it was easier to maneuver.

When they walked out onto the field they had spotted a village far away, but a village none the less. Kakashi was concerned about moving in an open area he wasn't familiar with. He felt exposed and Konoha was currently at war. Who knew what they could run into here? But looking at his charges he didn't see any other options but to get to the village and hope it was a civilian village with connections to Konoha. And not... well, for example Iwa.

Coming closer they realized it was a civilian village named Kimpo. While it wasn't very large, it had someone willing to help them out.

A woman owning an inn almost by the entrance spotted them and immediately came over to ask what had happened.

Naruto had taken on the role of telling the story, making her eyes wide and teary while explaining their predicament. Shisui, who was still hanging off her arm, helped their cause for a greater effect. The woman named Sayuri was immediately horrified and showed them the way to a common room of her little establishment.

Exhausted and quite hungry, they sat down in the common room of the inn where they were allowed to stay the night. There were no rooms she could offer, and since they were penniless they didn't complain and eagerly sat down.

The room had no couches, only chairs, so Shisui and Ensui laid straight down on the wooden floor in the small darkly lit room. Both were out before Naruto could ask if sleeping on the floor was a little uncomfortable for them.

"This should at least help some, but we still need to contact Konoha." Stated Kakashi as Naruto found her way to a wooden chair and fell into it with exertion. The chair was quite uncomfortable, but to the blonde it could be passed off as the softest bed. Right now she wasn't being picky about her options.

"I'm going to ask Sayuri-san if we can borrow a messenger bird to send back to the village." Muttered Kakashi to himself, noticing how Naruto's eyes were drooping already. Her head started to slowly fall forwards before snapping back up, as if to pretend she was not just about to fall over in her tired condition.

"Yeah... bird message. Good idea... Kakashi-sensei..." She answered as her head fell sideways again, and this time it didn't snap up.

The silver haired boy snorted as he figured the girl was lost to the world and went in search for their host. By the time he returned to the common room to lay down, Naruto was still sitting awkwardly in the chair. Her feet were curled up and a little drool was escaping the corner of her mouth. Kakashi felt relieved to find out that even Naruto's stamina had its limits.

It had been a long day, and while Shisui was far from the heaviest person in class, Naruto's muscles probably weren't fully developed or strong enough to hold him up for as long as she did. Kakashi felt the soreness in his own arms while he took out his sleeping bag. Yeah, he had to train up some of his own strength and endurance too it seemed.

Naruto dreamed of a stretching wild forest where she ran around, trying to find the exit while Kakashi was the one getting a piggy ride from her. But not the child Kakashi. No, it was the fully grown thirty year old Kakashi while he told her over and over to look underneath the underneath.

Her small frail six year old body was overcome with his weight, and all she could do not to collapse was keep going. Naruto asked why she had to carry him, and he answered that she should already know that. What was his weight anyway to the weight of the world she was already carrying on her shoulders?

Then Jiraiya was the one on her back, telling her he'd left everything for her to fix. He still had a book to finish named Icha Icha orioke no jutsu. Soon she was carrying Orochimaru, and she told him to get off. Naruto didn't like him, and the snake protruding from his arm made her trip every time it sneaked around her legs. Instead he threaten he'd keep holding onto Sasuke if she didn't keep running.

She now knew where she was heading, and getting out of the forest was important.

Anko was waiting for her together with Shikamaru. They had fixed a new genin team with her where Gaara was her new sensei and she was teamed up with Guy and Kabuto. They were going to save killer Bee from the masked man since he had gotten a hold of him.

"Run faster, Naruto." Ordered Tsunade who had been exchanged from Orochimaru. And sitting on top of baa-chan's shoulders was Sai drawing the sunset. The weight was too much, but she kept running, wanting to get to Anko and Shikamaru.

"If you don't run faster, ugly will get mad at you, dickless." Added Sai and Naruto suddenly felt scared.

"Yes, Naruto-chan! Run!" Shouted Guy who was keeping up with her all of a sudden, Lee and Sasuke were racing next to him. The sight of the Uchiha in green uniform felt completely normal, but his eyes were closed, and she wondered how he could run without seeing.

"Run, Naruto-chan!"

"Naruto-chan."

The blonde jolted awake, staring wide eyed into the face of Shikamaru.

For a moment she was convinced she'd reached the edge of the forest and found him and Anko, but slowly she realized it had been a dream. She shook her head trying to understand why Shikamaru was still in front of her.

"Naruto-chan, are you okay? We're going home to Konoha right away, these parts aren't safe." Said Shikamaru in a deep voice that didn't sound right.

For many moments she stared confused at him, but finally the sleep left her eyes and she realized it wasn't Shikamaru at all, but his father.

A young version of Nara Shikaku, looking startlingly similar to his son, was bending down to her, an arm still on her shoulder after shaking her gently awake.

"Oh..." Was all she could reply while she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wake up and be aware of her surroundings. The Nara had no scars on his face and the goatee she remembered that he used to have has yet to be grown out. It made him look so much like her lazy friend she would have easily mistaken them even if she had been fully awake.

Behind Shikaku stood a plump man she could only guess was Choji's father Choza. He was looking down at the kids sleeping on the floor while Kakashi was next to him. "I'm going to give them one of my pills, it should help a little." Said Choza after bending down and putting a hand to Ensui's forehead. "They're both burning up, we really should get them to the hospital" He added with concern laced in his voice.

Naruto got out of the chair quickly, feeling pain shoot up her neck as she tried to move her head. Her hand shot to the aching spot, trying to make the stiffness loosen up again. "Are you alright, Naruto-chan?" Asked Shikaku, looking at the way she was trying to massage her muscles.

"Sure, I just slept funny." Naruto replied, earning a snort from Kakashi. She ignored him. "What's the time? When did you get here? Did you receive the letter to Ji- Hokage-sama?" The blonde asked, almost messing up and calling the old man "Jiji".

"It's four thirty in the morning, we got here about three minutes ago, and yes we did receive the letter, that's how we knew where to find you." Explained Shikaku with a small amused smile on his lips. "Can you walk though? You don't seem sick like the others, but Kakashi said you fell in the river too. You really should wear more clothing in winter."

Naruto felt her annoyance grow at the last sentence. How exactly was she supposed to wear more clothes? "I live in the orphanage. I couldn't wear more since this is all I could borrow for the outing." She replied stubbornly, knowing her frustration was misdirected, but she was still too grumpy from waking up to care.

"I see. Well, if you feel alright then we'll go right away." Replied Shikaku and turned towards their small audience. Sayuri had entered the room too, making it rather overfilled. "I'll carry Ensui, I know my cousin is worried sick for her son, and you can take Shisui. Is that okay, Choza?" Asked the Nara while walking towards the still sleeping boys on the floor.

They had to wake them up and fifteen minutes later they were on their way out. Ensui looking paler but just as sick as he'd been with a red face.

"Thank you for taking care of them and letting us know, Sayuri-san. I know many have been very worried about these kids. Me included. Ensui here is my nephew and I'm very thankful you found them." Said Shikaku earnestly as they were about to leave.

Sayuri blushed a little but waved her hand as if to say it was nothing. "Of course I had to help. They're just kids! And anyway, I think they found me more then I found them." She said chuckling and waved them off as they left. Naruto walked backwards and waved eagerly back, making Choza and the Sayuri smile at her antics.

"You had quite the adventure didn't you?" Said Choza while Shisui hang limp on his back, already asleep again but Naruto couldn't really blame him. Walking through a forest as sick as he was could not have been pleasant, no matter how many times he insisted he was 'fine.'

Kakashi seemed to find some insult in Choza's words, and his arms crossed while he walked before mutely nodding. "It could probably have gone better. But hey, at least we made it out. I had the weirdest dream where I was still running through the woods with Ero-sennin on my back." Shared Naruto, making the conscious men look confused back at her.

"Baka, You don't even make sense, who is Ero-sennin?" Asked Kakashi annoyed.

"Oh, Jiraiya of course. That pervert." Answered Naruto with a roll of her blue eyes. Shikaku barked a short laugh while Choza snickered, understanding well what she was referring to.

Minato sighed in relief when he spotted the wild silver hair of Kakashi walking next to Naruto and Nara Shikaku. The worry had been eating at him all day, and the sight of his socially inept student sent waves of relief through him.

"Thank kami you're alright. What happened?" Asked Minato the moment they were within hearing range.

"Minato-sensei!" Exclaimed Kakashi surprised while the blonde next to him smiled brightly. Minato couldn't help but notice the boy on Shikaku's back and how he seemed to be unconscious. He then looked over at Choza who was also carrying a boy. He was awake, but his cheeks were flushed red and he looked very ill.

"A lot. They ended up in the river, almost fell over the waterfall and Ensui here broke his leg. They lost their way after that and ended up in Kimpo village." Explained Shikaku with a worried look over his shoulder at the boy he was carrying.

"I'm so sorry, how is Ensui-kun doing?" He asked but it was obvious it wasn't good.

"We need to hurry, both Ensui and Shisui-kun is burning up with fever and they really need to see a medic." Explained Shikaku and adjusted the boy on his back so he had a better grip.

"I'm sorry for stalling you, let's go." Replied Minato and fell in step next to Naruto. Studying their appearance he concluded that the two of them had definitely gotten out of the events a lot better than the others.

"You two seems fine, I'm glad you're alright. Anko-chan is really worried about you Naruto-chan, you should probably let her know you're okay as soon as we get back to the village." He explained while looking at the little girl. Her clothes were dirty and ripped on her sleeve. It looked like she'd been crawling through something, since the thin jacket she wore had lost some of the buttons.

"Anko will deny everything you just said about worrying, but I'll still go and let her know. I'm sure she gonna' brag about how smoothly her own test went." Answered Naruto and snickered to herself.

Minato chuckled because he could easily picture that. He then looked to Kakashi who was walking with his hands in his pocket and his face tilted downwards. He probably felt bad about how the test had gone for him. The only reason Minato had been able to convince him was to say it was a good leadership lesson. If he ever wanted to be jōnin he need to be able to lead, and that's what this mission was meant to be like for him.

The blonde man now regretted those words.

The real reason he'd entered his team in this was to get them to interact with people, especially Kakashi. This mission was supposed to let Kakashi understand how having comrades affected you. Having subordinates was both a hard and enjoyable job. You start caring about the lives you are responsible for with your own judgements and decisions.

Never for a second did Minato believe Kakashi had made a wrong decision to land them in this state. Sometimes you are just extremely unlucky, and it was unfortunate that Kakashi's first try as a team leader had ended this badly. He, more than anyone on his team, needed this mission success.

"Good job Kakashi, this couldn't have been an easy mission for you, but you got everyone home and they will be alright." Minato said softly, making the young boy look quickly up before his cheek heated and he looked away.

Naruto smiled wickedly at Minato's words and clapped Kakashi on his shoulders. "I think you'll make a wonderful sensei, Kakashi-sensei." Said Naruto.

A shiver went down Kakashi as if he had been electrified. Slowly he met Naruto's eyes, burning annoyance clear in his eyes. "You little... Not that name again! Stop calling me that shorty! And I'll never do anything of this sort ever again." He snapped back, and a less brave soul than Naruto would have backed up from the heat in Kakashi's eyes.

"No I'm serious. You saved us. In fact you saved me twice. It was my own fault I ended up in the river. But I don't think clearly when it comes to comrades so I jumped in and I was of no help at all. Hadn't you come after us we would've fallen down that waterfall. Things could have turned out a lot worse than they did, Kakashi." She said with a gentle smile.

Kakashi didn't seem to know how to respond to that, and mumbled something incoherently before looking away.

"Exactly Kakashi. A leader is those who make sure their team does their best. You did just that in a very hard situation." Said Minato, trying to word it so Kakashi wouldn't associate it with his father's actions. The blonde man knew how closed off Kakashi could become if someone compared him to his father. A man who'd broken the rules to save his comrades, and paid a heavy price for it.

"So how exactly did Ensui-kun and Shisui-kun end up like this?" Asked Minato to steer the conversation a little differently, he was also curious as to how it had happened. He guessed it was the cold weather that had gotten both the boys sick. But Kakashi and Naruto looked fine, so he couldn't be sure.

"It was when they fell in the water. We were trying to cross a river in the forest. The stream was dangerous so we tried to cross it by walking over a fallen tree which lay across it. The tree trunk broke when we were all walking on it. I was close to the other side so I managed to hold on to Naruto while hanging from the side off the cliff. I think Ensui broke his leg when he fell, he was in an odd position and maybe he hit his leg on the trunk. I'm not sure, but he struggled to swim afterwards. Naruto threw herself after them, so I had to save all three." He said this last sentence with a pointed glare in the oblivious girl's direction.

"So everything was wet, and it became dark right afterwards. They got sick from being soaked and outside in winter." Summarized Kakashi with a deep sigh.

"But you seem fine, Naruto-chan. Did you not get wet?" Asked Minato confused.

"She was soaked through and had the least amount of clothing, I've got no idea how she didn't get sick." Answered Kakashi without letting Naruto reply. The blonde sent a frustrated look to her old sensei but nodded to confirm what he was said was correct.

"That was lucky, but maybe you should take it easy. And if you start feeling ill at all, go straight to the hospital alright?" Lectured Minato and ruffled her hair.

Naruto denied the fact that she would be sick, but eventually relented and promised to go to the hospital if she felt sick. It was impossible to resist the Namikaze for too long after all.

It was rare for Naruto to be this excited to see a simple stone wall. But there she was, walking next to Shikaku and was almost dancing with joy at the sight of the village borders fencing in Konoha.

The moment they crossed the borders to the village they headed for the hospital while one of the guards stationed by the entrance shot off towards the Hokage tower to let the Third know the missing children had been found.

Meanwhile the rescue party followed Naruto and Kakashi up to the hospital with Ensui and Shisui. The man at the entrance desk took one look at Ensui and Shisui before he called up to the nurses to come quickly.

The two boys were admitted immediately while Naruto had to wait for her own check up with Kakashi.

The older boy was annoyed he had to have a physical too, but Shikaku insisted that it was better to be on the safe side.

It was a very crowded room and Naruto used her time studying her fellow patients while she waited for her own appointment. A few were obviously injured while most looked fine. Maybe they were just sick or waiting for someone who was sick.

The Third Hokage came in after twenty minutes of them waiting and he had two people in tow. Naruto could tell by their appearance alone that they had to be the father of Shisui and the mother of Ensui.

They were heading straight for the small group sitting in a corner of the waiting room, people making way for them as they spotted the Hokage.

"I'm glad to see you two are well Naruto-chan, Kakashi-kun. I hear Shisui-kun and Ensui-kun is currently being treated because of their high fevers." Said the Hokage to the group, not really telling them anything they didn't already know.

"Are you two waiting for news or have you not had your own checkup yet?" Asked the Third and studied the two youngest of them.

"We're waiting for our check-up, Hokage-sama." Stated Kakashi while folding his arms and looking impatiently towards the help desk. The Third studied both the kids with a calculating gaze to see if anything was out of place.

"I see. Then I hope you won't have to wait too long. You have to excuse me though, I'm quite busy and I have a few appointments to get to. I hope your appointments go well and that Shisui-kun and Ensui-kun will make a quick recovery." Said Hiruzen before he nodded to Shikaku and Choza before turning towards the service desk. Shikaku walked up to Ensui's mother while Shisui's father sat down next to Naruto in the Nara's empty seat.

After a quick introduction Naruto found out his name was Uchiha Kagami. They had to wait for a long time since the hospital was getting more people the longer they waited and a lot of the people being brought in looked horribly injured. Clearly they came from a battle that had taken place somewhere.

As Naruto took in the sight of a man missing his left arm Kagami suddenly started talking. Telling her all sorts of stories she hadn't asked for. The blonde suspected Kagami was trying to distract her from the injuries being strolled by one after the other.

He seemed to know the Third quite well since his father who Kagami had inherited his name from had been close friends with Hiruzen. He had also once babysat Asuma. An event which hadn't been repeated since Asuma had spent the whole four hours crying out for his dad. Shisui had just been born and Asuma was three, making the combination a nightmare with two crying kids. Naruto had giggled at the idea of the cool and collected Asuma crying like a baby. But then again, they had all been children at one point. Technically Naruto was a child again as they spoke.

While they exchanged stories, mostly entailing Shisui since he was the only one they had in common, the other two males stayed silent. Choza looked like he was dozing off and Kakashi was leaning back in his seat, staring up at the ceiling tiles. It was after two hours of waiting and five visits up to the help desk to ask about the status of Shisui and Ensui, that Naruto finally noticed that Kakashi looked weird.

Before anyone could have stopped her, Naruto's hand shot forwards and landed on Kakashi's forehead. The silver haired boy had not been paying attention to her, but his reflexes was quick and Naruto's arm was viciously smacked away before the blonde could be sure of her suspicion.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Snapped Naruto, feeling her hand sting and go red where Kakashi's hand had knocked hers away.

"Reflexes. What were you doing?" He answered monotonously, not bothering to move from his position and continued finding the lamp above his head very interesting.

"I think you're sick too, Kakashi-sensei." Answered Naruto concerned.

Kakashi grimaced and folded his hands in front of him. "I'm fine. And stop calling me sensei. It wasn't funny to begin with and now it's downright frustrating."

Naruto pouted and looked up at Kagami with an unsatisfied expression. "I think he's sick, but he didn't fall in the water." Stated Naruto, feeling a little confused at the aspect.

"You do look pale Kakashi-kun." Added Choza who had leaned forwards when Naruto had said Kakashi looked unwell. "Maybe the other two boys gave you the illness. You did carry Ensui-kun for a very long time after all." He said while studying Kakashi's face. The boy being scrutinized huffed and looked away, clearly disagreeing.

"So? Naruto carried Shisui almost as much as I carried Ensui, and she's just as annoying as ever." Muttered Kakashi, having problems finding an argument against their claims.

The truth was that he was starting to feel unwell. But his physical condition was none of their business. If Kakashi was sick the only ones who had any right to pry into that was his superiors. Which meant the people at the mission desk and his teammates who would be affected.

Kakashi also couldn't stand showing weakness. In that sense he was a lot like a cat, and when he got sick or injured he liked to remove himself from other people, just like cats did. Licking his wounds in private. Though he considered himself a dog person in general, there was no denying he hated to be around people when he was at his most vulnerable. Most of all annoying people who drained him of energy just by looking at them. Like Obito.

Or worse, Naruto.

He was perfectly sure that if Naruto got sick she'd cling to anything breathing she could get a hold of. Moaning and wanting company while she was feeling unwell. It was also why he was quite certain that she was not feeling ill yet. While she was still calling him 'sensei' and being an attention craving annoyance, she wasn't any different than she'd been since the moment he met her the day before. Which also ticked him off a little.

Naruto had even fallen into the river. She'd been sharing a duvet with two sick boys and she had been in close proximity to Shisui for a whole day. Still, the only thing about the blonde that looked tired was her clothes, and they had been shabby to begin with.

Naruto had given a snarly reply to his words, but he hadn't caught them. "hmm... Did you say something?" He asked absent mindedly, starting to really feel unwell at this point and again ignoring the dumbfound look on Naruto's face.

Whatever it was Naruto was about to repeat Kakashi never got to know, because right then a nurse finally came over and told them that Kakashi could come in for a checkup. Which was a blessing in disguise really. With a polite farewell to Choza and Kagami and a nod to Naruto, he followed after the nurse while he wondered how to best get well before the chūnin exam in two weeks.

"Naru!"

"Naruto-chan!"

The shouts were exclaimed in unison the moment Naruto came in through the front door of the orphanage, Anko was right on front of her in a second, hugging her hard. Shocked, but a little pleased, Naruto smiled over Anko's shoulder to Madam May.

"Hi guys, the trip lasted a little longer than we expected." Said Naruto sheepishly when Anko released her. Madam May smiled back while Anko ruffled her hair.

"What took you so long?" Asked Anko with a small frown and Madam May came up to them, embracing Naruto tightly before doing a quick examination of her condition with her eyes alone.

For the umpteenth time that day Naruto summarized what had happened. It was only one o'clock in the afternoon and the kids were still in class while Anko and Madam May had apparently found a temporary comradeship while waiting for her return. "And after finishing with my checkup I came back here." Finished Naruto smiling widely. "It was funny though, I think Kakashi caught the illness from Ensui, because he wasn't looking too good when he went in for his checkup. And you know he's taking the chūnin exam soon." Giggled Naruto before turning serious at that thought. "I do hope he'll get better though, he's just the type to wander into danger despite his condition being bad. He can be a bastard but I don't want him getting injured."

"Language, Naruto-chan." Said Madam May seriously, scolding Naruto for her bad words before sending Anko an angry glare. She probably thought Anko was giving the blonde a colorful vocabulary, but Naruto ignored it.

While Madam May went into the kitchen to make some food for Naruto, Anko and the blonde sat down in the food hall. The genin was off duty for the day because Orochimaru was on a mission. Normally she would be training, but she had waited for Naruto instead. After making sure her friend was alright she started talking about the chūnin exam instead.

"I can't wait! I'll make chūnin for sure!" Exclaimed Anko while Naruto stuffed her face with porridge that Madam May finished a bit ago.

"But how can you take the exam alone? I thought it was a team sort of thing." Asked Naruto off handily, sprouting a little food from her mouth since she hadn't swallowed yet.

"That's disgusting, Naru. But I can and I will. Orochimaru-sensei is setting me up with another team who is one member down. The last member made chūnin a year ago so I'll take his place." Explained Anko while the blonde nodded in understanding.

"That's awesome! I'll be cheering for you during the third round!" The blonde replied excitedly, but immediately regretted those words.

"What do you mean? Final round?" Asked Anko confused.

"Uh.. Well, there isn't just one test is there? I mean... they have to filter people out to find out who's the best option for chūnin promotions, right? I'm just guessing." She added quickly, not wanting to seem like she knew more than she did.

"Oh... You're probably right. I never thought about that." Answered Anko thoughtfully, sending Naruto a considering glance.

"Well, no matter if I get promoted or not I'll still move out soon. I've almost saved up enough money for a deposit on an apartment. I can't wait to get out of this place." Said Anko and gestured around the room.

Naruto looked up startled, missing when she tried to fill her mouth with porridge and smeared food on her chin instead. "What!? You're moving out?" She asked startled.

"Well, duh. I don't want to live here anymore. I'll do much better on my own, I hate living here." Stated Anko, folding her hands and leaning back in her chair.

"That's too bad. I'll miss you here and who's gonna' scare away Akiko and the girls when you're gone?" Naruto complained, feeling truly sorry for the loss of Anko at the orphanage. "Hey, can I come visit you? Maybe I can crash on your couch too?" She asked eagerly, but Anko smacked her over the head in answer.

"You can't sleep away from the orphanage except when you have a leave of absent from the academy or someone higher up in the system. Like someone in the council. You're not legally an adult, and unless you graduate you won't be that until you're eighteen. Do you not think I've tried that already? Idiot. But you better come visit me during daytime, or I'll kick your ass."

Naruto smiled wistfully to her and then raised her bowl of porridge and emptied it into her mouth straight from the bowl. "Yeach', Naru you have no manners! If you eat like that in my new place I'll kill you, shorty!"

A month later Anko did indeed make chūnin, but Naruto didn't get to see the finals because of how the exams were arranged during war times.

There was no need for a tournament. After all there would be no one from other villages participating because of the war. No need to waste money and time when everyone who'd watch it was already inside the village. Instead, from what Anko told Naruto in great detail, it was held in the old fortress in the middle of the forest of death. The only ones allowed to watch were the participant's teammates and sensei plus all the exam proctors.

Anko spent a whole week away from the orphanage while doing her exam, and came home with ripped clothes, a few bruises, scrapes and her left wrist in bandages. It was just sprained, so luckily she'd be fine in no time.

The one big difference was her glowing smile on her usually scowling features when she showed every kid in the food hall her new chūnin vest and bellowed so loudly they could probably hear it all the way to the gates. "I MADE CHŪNIN!"

The dark haired chūnin had joined Naruto by her table. Making Akiko and her crew eat up in record speed and leave so fast you'd think Anko was a fire jutsu instead of an eight year old girl. She'd then told in rich description how the exam had been and what she'd been tested at. Naruto listened with rapt attention since the exam sounded different from the one she'd been in herself.

"And after Genma and Asuma had their final match we had a two hour break. It was so nerve wrecking! Then all the finalists were asked to come to the fighting arena, and Hokage-sama called up those who had earned a promotion. That was me, Kakashi, Raidō and Guy! Only four, and I was one of them!" Exclaimed Anko excitedly, clutching at the green vest she'd laid on the table when she sat down.

"That's awesome, dattebayo. So Kakashi and Guy made it too?" Wondered Naruto and smiled when Anko nodded absent mindedly.

"Mhm, they had their final match against one another, and Hatake actually won that one but not by much." Replied Anko and first now realized her lentil soup had gone cold with a thin layer starting to emerge on the surface. She hurriedly dug in, gulping down the plain food as quickly as she could.

Since the war started the quality of food had dropped considerably in the orphanage. It had never been high quality, but now it was downright depressing.

They used to get a glass of milk during breakfast with sugar and jam to make the porridge tastier. But that was long gone. They had water to every meal and the food usually consisted of soup or plain rise.

Konoha was cutting down on all expenses except warfare, resulting in the fact that the orphanage had recently had a few more runaways who believed they'd do better on their own.

Madam May had been asked to identify a thirteen year old girl only last week who'd been found a few kilometers outside Konoha. It was an orphan alright, but also a girl who died from a slit throat.

Since they saved up on hot water, washing of clothes were done more rarely. A few of the better teachers had quit because the pay the orphanage could offer had been reduced, and in general the standards had fallen.

Needless to say it was lucky the outing had gone as well as it did for Naruto and her team. All activity outside Konoha had been prohibited two weeks ago because of the rapid growing numbers of attacks close to the village. And a few days ago there had been an official instalment of food coupons instead of money to rationalize the food supply.

But that rule was only for the civilians.

While Naruto understood that ninjas usually ate more than civilians, they did a lot of physical exercise after all, she could also understand the jealousy civilians had towards the guards of Konoha. There was a big unbalance in the system now that the third war had officially started and the civilians were the ones who struggled the most.

Naruto was also nervous about her place in the academy, since it was rumored that they would start taking payment to be allowed in. She had no money what so ever, but Anko didn't believe they'd do that. Simply because the demand for ninja had gone up with about a hundred percent raised rate. If anything she believed it would be easier to get through it. This would result in more fighters on the battlefield, but also a higher death toll of kids.

"So do you get a pay rise now that you've made chūnin?" Wondered Naruto aloud, voicing the conclusion from her long string of thoughts.

"Oh yeah! I'll be doing more serious missions too, so no more D ranks. Not that I've done many of them... But they're actually talking about making the academy students do some of them now since everyone who's graduated is needed at higher ranked missions. And that reminds me, I've found an apartment." Said Anko in a long rant, again forgetting about her meal.

"Oh?" Answered Naruto surprised, feeling dread when she realized Anko would probably leave any day now.

"Yeah, it's not big, but it's really hard to find a place. Everything in my price range has been snatched up right away. I hate war time. It makes everything so much more expensive." Anko muttered and stirred her cold soup absent mindedly.

"I don't think it's more expensive, we're just poorer." Answered Naruto with a shrug.

"I actually accepted it before the exam started. I did it on my way to the forest of death." Replied Anko uncertainly, catching the sour mood Naruto had fallen into.

"That's great, Anko. I'll help you settle in, dattebayo. Maybe I can get some of my friends from the academy to help out too? Not Ensui though, he's still walking around with a cast." Replied Naruto and got up to put her dirty dishes on the rack next to the sink. There were two more days until it was her turn to be on wash up duty, it was one of the more boring tasks every kid took turn doing.

"He's still a cripple?" Asked Anko surprised. Naruto would have bet anything that the older girl would be out of the orphanage before it was her turn to do the washing. Which meant Naruto would probably have to take her shift. Great.

"Yeah, but the cast will be off in two weeks. Though I still don't think he's up for moving stuff yet, dattebayo."

Naruto, Iruka and Shisui looked curiously and a little apprehensible around the bare room.

They were all holding one box each. Naruto's box contained everything Anko owned from the orphanage. Which was basically the stuff she'd bought since becoming a genin months ago. Iruka's box was a set of cutlery and pans Anko had managed to buy at a flee market very cheaply, and Shisui's contained her bowls, plates and cups gained from the same place as the rest of the kitchen equipment.

Anko herself was carrying a futon under one arm, her backpack filled with different sort of weapons and a bag in her remaining hand. The bag had toiletries and packages of rice and tea.

They stood in the entrance hall of her newly rented apartment. It was on basement level, so the windows were high up on the wall. Shaped as long narrow openings which lit up the ceiling efficiently, but not the floor area which were too far down for the light to reach.

The dark colors of the room absorbed the light and none of the surfaces reflected the sunbeams efficiently. It resulted in a stark contrast from outside to inside, making Naruto squint constantly for the first few minutes inside until her eyes had adjusted enough. You could also see the feet of people walking by on the street above, and Naruto wondered how the apartment would hold up if there was a flooding.

It was a bare studio apartment with a simple sink propped next to the doorway of Anko's tiny bathroom close to the hallway entrance. The main room itself was dark and clad with old wooden panels and bare concrete floor. It was a depressing place but Anko seemed to love it anyway.

If anything, Naruto was sure this must have been a butcher's workshop at some point, since there were some suspicious stains on the floors.

"Okay, you take the equipment to the sink, Iruka. I'll get a hold of a shelf to store them in later. Maybe I can even make one myself! You just leave my bag on the floor underneath the corner window Naruto. And Shisui, hmmm... Just put the towel in the bathroom and the leave the cups and plates in the box next to the sink. I'll figure out the rest later." Anko instructed and walked with Naruto to fold out her futon underneath one of the two windows in her apartment.

They all did as instructed. It wasn't a large place, so Naruto only had to take a few steps before she stood by the opposite wall.

"Gyah!" Came the scream from Iruka by the "kitchen", and everyone turned towards him. He was smacking vigorously at the wall with a wooden box containing forks.

"What?" Asked Naruto confused, coming up next to him. There was a dark smear of something gooey on the porcelain of the sink, and Naruto guessed it had not long ago been a very large cockroach. "Ugh... At least the orphanage isn't infested." Said Naruto sourly and turned towards Anko. "Are you sure about this Anko?" She wondered carefully, already knowing the answer but still felt the need to ask for the fifteenth time. Anko put on a defiant face and marched up to the sink.

"Of course I am, Naru. I'll research some poisons. I'm sure Orochimaru-sensei knows tons and I'll have this place insect free within two days. This is my new home, so be careful about what you're saying." She said threateningly and Iruka moved sideways away from the older girl. He was clearly quite intimidated by her presence.

"It seems... Intimate." Said Shisui coming out of the bathroom. He was still carrying the box but it was now stained. "There's some sort of leakage in the shower though. You should tell your landlord."

Anko bristled, but Shisui hadn't said anything offensive so instead she went to check out the problem herself.

"This is a shit-hole." Stated Iruka in a whisper the moment Anko was out of view. Naruto shrugged, looking up around the dark room.

"It's her choice. It's not like I can help her out with finding a better place." Muttered Naruto dejectedly.

"It stinks in the bathroom and it's a lot of mold there. I hope Orochimaru-sama has a large enough repertoire of poisons for her to use." Muttered Shisui and looked carefully around.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he has more than enough, dattebayo." Naruto bit out in a whisper.

"Who lived here before? It's really filthy." Murmured Iruka and glanced skeptically towards the sink, but jumped at the sound of trampling feet coming towards them.

"He died. The landlord didn't know though, so he didn't notice the body until he came down to get the rent the dead guy hadn't paid. Found him stone cold on the couch where he'd probably been rotting for a month." Said Anko and came out from the bathroom with a stubborn expression, probably having overheard the comment about the state of her new home.

"Oh, maybe it's haunted too then!" Snickered Shisui, but it wasn't Anko who snapped at him.

"Gah! Don't say that, Shisui!" Cried Naruto and shivered. She hated ghost... The place wasn't haunted was it?

"It's not haunted, idiot!" Snapped Anko sourly and she put her hands on her hips. "But it became cheaper since no one wanted to live where someone has been lying dead for so long. It's been on the market for four months without anyone picking it up despite it's good location. It's actually less expensive than I'd been expecting, which means I can afford things like a table and a couch if I go to a yard sale." Anko told them seriously and then she turned towards the bathroom.

"I just hope I don't have to pay for that damage though, plumbing is really expensive." She added, sounding a little worried at the cost implication.

Iruka smiled and looked towards the bathroom. "I have a neighbor who might be able to help. He's a plumber." Suggested Iruka, trying to make up for the snide comment she'd overheard him say earlier.

While Iruka and Anko discussed the matter of fixing the pipes, Shisui turned towards Naruto. "We have an old dresser in the attic we're no longer using. Maybe Anko-san wants it?" He said thoughtfully, looking at the bare walls and concrete surfaces where the boxes and bags lay randomly on the floor. They didn't have anywhere to go.

"Yeah, she'd like that, Shisui. Anko probably don't want to mess up her new chūnin vest." Naruto replied and chuckled at the idea. "Let's go ask your dad right away. It sounds like Anko is bargaining with Iruka, so it'll probably be a while before they notice we're missing."

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To be continued...