Chapter 31 Getting stronger

It was after the day off and Team 7 was back at their training grounds, the team looked better after a day to unwind. Sakura had spent the entire day with Ino and it was good to just hang out with her best friend, and her reaction to the fact that she saw Naruto's real face was still funny. Sasuke seemed to be not so distance and Naruto seemed to be back to his older self as well. Of course they were now waiting for Kakashi to show up as usual.

"Naruto do you have any idea where sensei is?" Sakura asked as they waited.

"As if I'd know, all I know is that he said he needed to get something for us and get a little help for the next step in training, whatever that means." He shrugged.

So they went back to waiting around for Kakashi to show up wondering how late he would be today. Thankfully it seemed that he was only an hour late today when he suddenly showed up in a puff of smoke.

"They here, sorry I'm late but I had to pick something up and get someone's help for today." He said from his place on a branch overhead.

"Lair!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at him.

"No it's the truth," he said as it was for once. He jumped down and pull out a box. "Now all we have to do is wait for who I asked to help with your training."

"Help with our training?" Sasuke asked him wondering where the man was going with this.

Kakashi nodded, "yes the last mission made me think that you all need a bit more training. So I thought of something special on the way back. We're going to start with weapons training and elemental jutsu training for the next week."

"Alright this sounds awesome!" Naruto yelled out. "So who did you ask for help dad? Anyone we know?"

Kakashi chuckled, "oh you can say that."

"So when is this person going to get here?" Sasuke asked with his arms crossed. The last thing this team needed was someone else that was conically late. However he was still thinking about his talk earlier with Kakashi. He had been thinking about this Obito Uchiha and what kind of person he had been like to give up one of his eyes, even on death. Such a thing was unheard of as like with the Hyuga's his clan guarded their eyes fiercely.

He looked at his team as they were talking, Naruto was trying to guess at who it was that was coming and Kakashi kept smiling behind his mask. Sakura was there silently wondering what was going on as well. He thought if he was in Obito's position would he sacrifice himself for any of them? It would mean that his goal to avenge his clan would end if he did. He was also thought if he was dying if he could trust any of them with his eyes like that man had.

It still was just surreal to think of an Uchiha capable of that.

"Hey there!"

Sasuke looked up in time to see a woman in a trench coat, ninja chainmail shirt, miniskirt, who also had purple hair tied up top of her head. She landed with a bundle under her arm close to the team.

"Aunty Anko!" Naruto yelled out happily.

"Hey there brat how's it going?" Anko smiled at him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this, he never knew there was an aunt in the family but then why didn't she wear a mask too? Was it only the men that wore that? He looked around and saw Sakura looking slightly nervous and then he remembered that she had been closer to Naruto for years. It was obvious that she knew the woman. As she was talking with Naruto he moved closer to the pink haired girl.

"Sakura, you know this woman?"

Sakura jumped at being addressed by Sasuke but she smiled at him blushing slightly, "Uh yeah that's Anko, I met her at Naruto's birthday parties."

"She's his aunt?"

"Well...not really," Sakura went in to explain how Anko wasn't actually a relative of the Hatake family, she was a good friend of the family. Naruto just liked to give adults certain titles, the Hokage was the Old Man, Anko was his aunt, and Gai was his uncle. Sasuke went to ask who Gai was but she told him quickly that he didn't want to know.

Sakura had good reason to be nervous around the woman, she was creepy. She had this smile that put you on edge and the fact the first time she showed up at the first birthday party she and the rest had gone to had been a day she never forgot. They had all been there as it was the first time they had celebrated Naruto's birthday, the house was pretty large for just the two of them. The yard had been huge so the party was help out there. It had been pretty fun, of course she hadn't expected several grown ups to show up.

The Hokage stopping by was a surprise, then there was Gai who came out of nowhere. Asuma also showed up for a bit too. But then that was when Anko showed up onto the scene, she had been talking with Naruto when a kunai came out of nowhere and actually sliced his cheek a bit. She had screamed and fell back and Naruto jumped as well a hand going to his face. And there smiling was Anko.

"You're getting slow brat you used to be able to doge those better," she said.

Naruto jumped at her yelling and it kind of devolved into the point where insults were flying and she ended up putting him into a headlock. But then after that they were both acting like nothing happened all the while she had been too scared to move and every other kid just stood there frozen in shock. The adults were used to it though and Hinata seemed to take it better although she had been worried about the small cut on his cheek.

Thinking back to the present she was now worried what kind of help Anko was going to give them.

"So Kakashi you better make this worth my while," Anko said facing the masked jonin. "I'm taking time off my schedule for this and that weapons smith was on the other side of the village too."

"Alright fair enough, dango is on me then," he smiled at her.

Anko thought about it, that sure would be nice but she had been thinking about Kakashi a lot more than usual lately. Ever since she saw that damn face of his, she found the image of his face showing up at the oddest times. Okay so he was physically attractive, had a major carrier, and was a single father who did his best to raise his adopted kid. Hell to most women that would be the perfect guy, although he did have his faults.

He was so secretive that only after years of knowing him did she know a bit. She knew about him going to the memorial stone almost daily and that was the real reason he was constantly late. She knew about his parents dying while he was young, the suicide of his father. She knew that behind that mask he had to be hurting a lot but he never showed it, never bothered people with it. She knew about his reading habits but in all honesty she had her own copies of the books too. Hell some women actually liked them because they had some strong female characters in them while some romance books the woman was all girly and couldn't do anything herself.

Plus the sex scenes were really hot.

But now she had him in an interesting way, he owed her and maybe now she could finally sort things out with how she felt and maybe even seeing if she could get past that wall he put up.

"Actually that might be a good idea Kakashi...for desert," she said grinning and noticed his confused look. "The dango can pay for the trip to the weapons smith but for my help training will take more."

Kakashi sighed, "Okay then what do you want?"

"Easy, take me out for a decent dinner tonight."

Kakashi blinked a few times, "huh?"

"Nothing fancy, just treat me to dinner and dango and we call it even."

Kakashi thought it over and it wasn't a bad idea actually. Plus he couldn't think of anyone else he wouldn't mind spending time with. She was an interesting woman and he had to admit she was full of life, although he knew that she put on a face sometimes but she largely enjoyed life. Besides he did owe her and he couldn't remember the last time he just went out.

"Alright it's a fair deal."

"Alright then, so which one is my victim for the day?" She asked looking at the three kids.

"Just hold your horses I have to explain things to them first," Kakashi smiled as he turned to face his team. "Okay Sakura and Sasuke, you two will start weapons training today. Sasuke even though you're good with the ninja wire I think it's time for you to learn how to use something. The academy records said you showed promise with a sword so I got you one."

He motioned to Anko who walked over and laid down one of the wooden boxes. She opened it and handed a katana to him and handed it to him. Kakashi pulled the blade from the sheath as he showed it to him.

"This is a special blade made from a strong metal that you can send chakra through. Now it will take time to learn that but I think this could be good for you. I'll be teaching you how to wield it." Kakashi said as he put the blade back and handed it to the boy.

"Now as for you Sakura, Anko will be teaching you the weapon I chose for you," Kakashi smiled seeing the girl get a little pale at the mention of Anko teaching her.

Anko pulled out two weapons from the box, they were long pieces of metal that were rounded with a handle near the bottom.

"These are tonfas," Kakashi explained to the girl who tested them out. "They can be used to defend and attack in many ways. You can disable or even cripple a person with them making them very versatile."

What he didn't say was that he wanted her to have a nonlethal weapon until she was more ready to kill; she had been the most shook up from her first kill so he wanted to give her the option of being able to take someone down without killing. At any rate she still have her kunai and shurikens if she really did need to kill, plus even a tonfa could kill. You could break someone's neck, crack their skull or just bludgeon them with the weapon.

Plus Naruto did say that she can hit pretty hard so it was a good weapon for her.

"Hey what about me?" Naruto asked looking up at him.

"I was getting to you Naruto," Kakashi smiled as he pulled out a small sword. "I had to wait to get this repaired as it was broken for a long time. I just never had a reason to get it fixed until now. Naruto this is my father's White Light Chakra Saber."

Naruto looked wide eyed at it as he gently took the small sword. "You mean grandpa Hatake's sword? The one that you once used?"

"Yep." Kakashi said to him.

"But...this is a family heirloom," Naruto wasn't sure if he should even accept it. He wasn't a real Hatake after all, he was only adopted.

Kakashi placed a hand on his should, "Who better to give this to other then my own son?"

Naruto looked up feeling so nice that Kakashi told him that, even though they weren't related by blood they were a real family. He smiled down looking at the blade used by Sakumo Hatake the legendary White Fang. Just holding the blade Naruto wanted to do proud by his adopted family. He pulled out the sword and it looked normal enough.

"You have to channel your chakra into the blade to get the full effect it will take some time but you're not doing weapons practice today." Kakashi told him.

"What? How come?" he demanded.

"Because even though you're ahead of Sasuke in the way of the sword, but he's been training with those new jutsus. So it's ninjustu training for you today." Kakashi told him. " I want you to practice those scrolls I gave you, the wind armor and wind blade will be very useful to you."

"Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked him. "Uh...will I be using more genjustu instead of ninjustu?"

"Well it's your strength but what's your element?"

Sakura didn't know, thankfully Kakashi had a few slips of chakra paper on him among his supplies. He tested her and it turned out that she was a water user. Unfortunately he didn't know any low powered water styles jutsus, and neither did Anko. Sakura was a little disappointed to hear that as she knew her chakra levels needed more work. But Kakashi did say he would looking into more genjustu and lower level water style moves as well.

Sakura felt a bit better at that, that is until a hand slapped down onto her shoulder. She looked up nervously at a grinning Anko and swallowed hard.

"Well Pinky looks like we get to play," Anko said dangerously.

And so the day went. Kakashi trained Sasuke in the finer uses of a sword while he went to check on Naruto and Sakura to give any helpful hints. Naruto was using his shadow clones trying to get his chakra just right for the moves. He already had the hand seals down, but the moving and altering your chakra part he knew Naruto would have trouble with. So he gave helpful hints now and then. He also noticed that at least one clone was training with his father's sword, he should have known that Naruto would still find a way to train with that.

He saw Sakura was actually learning well from Anko, although the woman was pushing the young girl very hard. Sakura asked if she could take off the weights that were on her ankles and wrists but Anko told her that if she even thought about it again she would get her heavier ones. Sakura didn't mention it again after it.

Sasuke did have some talent with the sword and he could see that he picked the right weapon. He also asked Kakashi more about Obito while they trained and Kakashi did. It was actually nice being able to talk about his best friend. Sasuke did have to admit after hearing the stories that Obito was nothing like an Uchiha.

By the end of the day all three students were wiped out. Sakura felt like her entire body ached, Sasuke arms hurt from using the blade for so long and Naruto was getting close to chakra exhaustion. But all three genin felt like they had made some progress for the day, so Kakashi let them off the hook a few hours early. The kids went off and he was proud of how well they were doing for the first day. He was thinking about getting them some new weights as well as this training would help them adjust to them even more.

"So Kakashi you better keep your end of the deal." Anko told him.

"Oh don't worry I know better than to get on your bad side," he chuckled.

After they both went to their homes for a quick shower and a change of clothes. Although it was just a dinner between friends both felt a little strange by this. They had eaten before, but never alone. Usually Naruto was with them and/or they were with their friends as well. So now they were both wondering if they should just dress casual or at least put a little effort into it. For Kakashi he just decided to dress down a bit, mainly just pants without the taping at the bottom, and with no chunin jacket either. In fact he went with a simple dark shirt that matched his mask.

For Anko she was wondering a bit more about her appearance, this was just one step to see if there was anything between the two of them. She didn't want to dress too strongly but also wanted to give him something to think about. She got rid of all the ninja gear and her trench coat. She kept her hair in its usual way, but went with simple sandals, a skirt and a nice shirt that went with it. The good thing about the shirt was that it had a nice little v-neck line that let her show off some cleavage but not too much.

She decided with only light lipstick for the night as she picked up a purse she wore when she went out in more civilian clothing without her coat. With that ready she walked over to Kakashi's, after all she told him that she would meet him. She was in no mood to wait around for him in case he was late again.

She got to the front door and knocked and when Kakashi showed up she liked the casual look although she wished he wouldn't wear the mask again. She mentally sighed seeing him wearing it.

"So you ready to go?" Kakashi asked giving her an eye smile.

"Sure thing," she said as they walked to their destination. They had a little light talk on the way there as he asked her about Sakura's progress. Anko had to admit that Sakura was raw but the girl had some talent when she actually applied herself. With some proper motivation and training she was sure that the girl would become a good ninja one day.

They decided on a nice little place that was more civilian patronage, mainly because they didn't want to run into anyone from work and starting all kinds of rumors. They both didn't need any more rumors running about them, not that they cared but it did get a bit annoying at times. Plus the place sold dango so Anko was sold on that point alone. Dinner turned out to be very nice for them, Anko was still annoyed that he somehow managed to eat and drink without taking the damn mask off.

If she hadn't seen his face that one time she would have been convinced that he had been born with the damn thing on his skin. At any rate they would talk about the usual things that ninjas would talk about, new missions they had been on. New ninja supplies and which store offered the best merchandise and what new things were in stock. New information on the ninja world as well, such as who just got into the bingo books and why, and who was now off the books. (and there was only one way someone usually got off the books).

They even would talk about a in jokes that only ninjas would get as well. And the latest news on their fellow ninjas too. Kakashi wasn't surprised to find that Gai was last seen trying to climb the Hokage mountain with a boulder on his back with both arms tied behind his back. Apparently he made it halfway up before he crash landed, he was expected to get out of the hospital in a week.

After dinner, Anko decided to have her dango to go as she ate it happily as they walked out. Kakashi had to chuckle at how childlike she was when she was happily eating the snack food. It really took the edges off her personality and he felt that he was getting a small look at a side of her that she didn't let out often.

"Hey Kakashi you want some tea?" Anko asked as she finished off her last stick. "We're close to my apartment and I could use some after that meal."

Kakashi thought about it and it did sound nice, plus he knew it wasn't going to lead up to anything. He had a couple of dates in the past that used the 'you want to come up for some tea' line but Anko didn't put any hidden meaning behind the wording. Plus he had never seen her place before so he was interested in what her place looked like. They walked up to a ordinary apartment complex, nothing major as you see them around the village all over the place.

It helped to save space to build apartments rather than housing, because the more the village grew you ran into a problem with the walls surrounding the village. You would have to expand the walls and that wouldn't be an easy feat and very expensive as well.

So they walked up to the fifth floor as she put her key into the lock and they walked inside.

Kakashi looked around as she went to the kitchen to make the tea. It was a fairly neat and tidy place. He hadn't been sure what to expect but it was a fairly ordinary place, it was lived in but something was odd about it. He looked and realized it was actually kind of plain.

There were a few decorations here and there but nothing that really stood out like she decorated to just fill in space. Although he guessed she filled those spaces with things she liked. He noticed a painting in black and white of a lone tree in a valley. It was kind of lonely looking to him.

A few other things here or there but he noticed that one shelf held a lot of pictures. He smiled as he looked at one with a younger Anko and Kurenai smiling with chunin vests on. It was most likely taken just as they were both made chunin together. There was one of her with Naruto and himself at one of Naruto's birthdays. A few others of the few friends as well were there but there was one that caught his eye. He gently picked it up seeing a very young Anko with two older people. From the looks of it he had a guess they were her parents.

Anko came back with some tea and saw him looking at her pictures and when she got closer she saw the one he held. She silently looked on not sure what to say, it wasn't easy talking about her parents. Thankfully she didn't have to as he suddenly spoke up without looking at her.

"It's hard living with this kind of burden isn't it?"

"What?" she asked.

"Living on after those we loved have gone." He said as he gently put the photo back still looking at it. "I was young too when I lost my parents. I can barely remember my mother anymore, other than from pictures and I find myself struggling to even remember her voice."

Anko now knew what he was talking about and she felt it too. Having to move one with her parents gone hurt every day. Sure it didn't hurt as much as it did but there was a hole in her life that she would never get back. And now she remembered that Kakashi most likely had that same hole as well.

"I was so young when they died," Anko said silently. "I remember them hugging me and telling me they would be back from their mission soon. I waited and waited but they never came back. I would stay up all night waiting for them when they didn't come back on time, then I heard they had been killed on the mission."

"I was devastated, I was filled with so much pain and anger. I thought nothing would be okay again and then..." she trailed off remembering what happened next.

Kakashi was interested in knowing, ever after all these years he still didn't know much about her. But then again they were both secretive people. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder making her look up into his eye.

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to, I know how painful the past is."

Anko nodded but instead she felt like she had to get this out. Only Kurenai knew about this, and that took a long time to trust her with this. But she felt that she could trust him, after all this time maybe it was time to start opening up a bit. Besides he was just as screwed up from a painful past as she was so maybe he could relate.

"That was when Orochimaru found me," she stated and Kakashi nodded his head. "He became my teacher, my mentor and...well he helped me. Or at least I thought he was helping me but I was nothing but a tool for him. He told me all the right things and made me trust him, then he puts this damn cursed seal on me and leaves me behind. He took my memories as well...do you know what that's like?"

"I feel like I was violated in a way that I didn't know existed. That bastard ruined my life for a second time."

Anko clenched her fists in anger feeling all the old pain rising up. Then she felt Kakashi gently holding onto her shoulders and she was brought out of it. She looked into his eye and she didn't see pity or sorrow. She saw a deep understanding in that single eye of his.

"No matter what happened Anko just remembered that you endured. You rose up from the wreckage to become even stronger than you were before. It's not an easy thing to do and you should be proud of that. I know what it's like to have been left behind to pick up the pieces. It's never easy but I learned something." He said to her.

"My life hit rock bottom the night of the Fox's attack and I lost the last precious person in my life. I had nothing and yet that was the night I took in Naruto. Because I knew what it was like to have nothing and I didn't want that for him. But the funny thing is that even though I took him in to help him, he helped me as well. He gave me a reason to get up in the morning and something worth living for. I learned that you don't have to go through it alone."

Anko smiled a little, "I did have Kurenai to help me out when we became friends. And later the other few friends I made too."

Kakashi smiled back at her. "Yeah and well...you know me and Naruto will be there too."

Anko felt a warmth in her chest that he would be there for her, she hadn't felt a feeling like that in so long. She wasn't sure what it was but it felt nice to her. "Thanks Kakashi and well...the same goes for me too."

Kakashi nodded his head, he wasn't sure why but he felt glad about that. "So what about that tea?"

Anko just laughed at that moment, it figures that he would break up a moment like this with something like that. But she was glad for it as they went to get their tea together as they went into more light hearted conversations.

Next up chapter 32: Rematch with Lee