Anko's pupils shrank sharply, her heart sinking.
He'd heard her conversation with Orochimaru—more importantly, he seemed to know Orochimaru pretty damn well?
She didn't answer directly, instead probing, "You… know Orochimaru?"
Naruto chuckled and said clearly, "An S-rank missing-nin. The Hokage's former student who conducted human experiments behind his back. After it all came to light, he defected from Konoha—and along the way he 'spread his branches,' taking in plenty of 'disciples.'"
His gaze paused on the curse mark on Anko's neck. It made her eyelids twitch, her breathing turn shallow, her chest rising and falling hard.
Holy crap, Anko is this amazing? This is basically the "slightly chubby" body type from my last life, isn't it?
Naruto kept his expression under control and continued, "Having been Orochimaru's disciple isn't the issue. The Hokage has probably already run your background check…"
"But as an examiner, you let your former teacher—now an S-rank traitor—run loose in the exam grounds. If people find out, what do you think they'll say?"
Anko froze.
On one hand, his words startled her. On the other, she was baffled by the way he'd just ambushed an old legend.
He knew Orochimaru was an S-rank and still charged in—was he not afraid at all?
Someone like that was either missing a screw… or terrifyingly deep, able to handle Orochimaru head-on with ease.
And judging from how clear and logical he sounded, the first possibility was tiny.
For the first time, Anko felt this blond kid was impossible to read, even though he looked so young.
She hesitated. "Then… what do you want to do?"
"Two things." Naruto's tone was unhurried, calm. "First: when you fought Orochimaru, did he carve words on any trees, or say something like 'hee-hee' to you?"
Even though his shadow clone had overheard most of it, he still wanted to be sure.
Anko searched her memory, then shook her head. "He didn't carve anything in front of me. As for 'hee-hee'… I don't remember. Why are you asking?"
"Don't answer a question with a question." Naruto cut her off sharply. Anko reflexively shrank her neck.
"Second: from now on, you keep searching for Orochimaru, and you stay in contact with me."
Anko realized how serious this was. "Can you tell me why?"
"Heh." Naruto didn't explain. He raised one finger, wagged it at her—and let the Nine-Tails' chakra seep toward her.
A stab of icy terror ran through Anko's body. "Ah…!" She let out an involuntary gasp and stumbled back two steps.
Naruto watched her with a half-smile that made her instantly understand: she'd overstepped. She shouldn't be asking.
Meanwhile Naruto was thinking, Nine-Tails pressure really is handy. From now on, when I meet strangers I can use this to look like a big shot, scam food and drinks… hmm, I should probably hang around the bathhouse area more often.
Seeing her purse her lips in silence, he tapped his forehead protector and laughed. "Look, I'm Konoha. You think I'm going to harm the village?"
"Relax. I just have a grudge against Orochimaru. Konoha folks don't trick Konoha folks."
From a plot standpoint, that was true, so it wasn't a lie.
Anko hesitated a long time, then summoned a small white snake and handed it over.
"You can use this to contact me." Her eyes were complicated.
Naruto accepted it without fuss. The snake slid into his sleeve. He nodded once.
Then, out of nowhere, he added, "By the way, your body's really stiff. Want me to give you a massage?"
He walked up like he was about to get handsy. Anko jolted, backpedaling two steps—only to feel a strong pair of hands clamp onto her shoulders from behind.
She spun around. Naruto's shadow clone stood there, wrapped in Nine-Tails pressure, grinning. "Don't be nervous."
As he kneaded her shoulders, he guided the Nine-Tails' chakra toward the curse mark on her neck.
At first Anko only felt a chilly draft along her pale throat. Then came a strange, indescribable sensation—while the discomfort Orochimaru had left in her body began to fade away.
Naruto watched her expression carefully, and a preliminary conclusion formed in his mind.
Nine-Tails pressure didn't just intimidate—it also worked like a shield against curse marks… or rather, the Nine-Tails chakra simply overrode the curse mark's effect.
"How's that? Feel good?"
"G-good… n-no, not good!" Anko blurted, face flushing red.
"Then I'm relieved." Naruto smiled, dispelled the clone, and turned to leave.
The moment the clone vanished, the memory of that skin-to-skin contact snapped back full-force. Naruto flexed his fingers, lingering on the silky softness.
"They say women are made of water, and it's true. Heh-heh-heh… Anko's flavor is really exquisite…" He cleared his throat. "Ahem. This wasn't a wasted trip. At least I've linked up with Anko—and Orochimaru seems a little less suspicious now."
He sorted his intel and hurried back toward Sasuke.
On the other side, inside the tree hollow.
Sakura wrung out a sweat-soaked towel, rechecked the traps around the area, then returned to Sasuke.
In canon, she'd fight the Sound trio during the day, cut her hair, get saved by Lee, and then be rescued again by the newly awakened Sasuke.
She touched her ponytail, completely uninterested in cutting it. Canon Sakura did that only because she had no choice. This was different.
"Scritch… scritch…"
A sound came from outside—like someone rubbing a kunai against bark.
Sakura's eyelid twitched. Was it really that unlucky—running into the transmigrator here? Or had they tracked her down?
Orochimaru? He wasn't far from the last battlefield.
All her sense of safety vanished. She stood up trembling. She'd thought having Naruto with her earlier would fix things, but the nightmare hadn't faded. Her fighting spirit still wouldn't wake up fully.
"…Screw it." She clenched her teeth, yanked the trap line in the hollow, and rummaged in her pouch until she pulled out explosive tags.
If that creep really found them and forced his way in…
She'd rather die.
Worst case, she'd take him with her.
Even so, she held her breath, thinking, What if he didn't notice me at all—what if he's only carving words again? If I wait, he might leave and I'll be safe.
She waited a long time. The noise almost died out.
Still gripping the tags, she crept to the entrance and thrust her head out—
No one.
Only a crooked line of small writing on the bark.
She leaned closer and read:
[Found you. Hee-hee.]
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