With my wide eyes
I've seen worlds that don't belong
My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize
Tell me why we live like this

Broken — Epilogue

—:—:—:—13 Years Later—:—:—:—

"We found him."

The words Mitirashi Anko had waited thirteen years to hear.

It had greatly disturbed her when, two years earlier, Kakashi, fresh from the police academy, had requested to be assigned to the search for Orochimaru. She knew he did it for her. She wished he hadn't. But arguing and even forcing him to sleep on the couch hadn't convinced him to switch. And so Anko had grudgingly given in. Kakashi could be so stubborn sometimes…

Anko twisted to look at Kakashi, a great accomplishment, considering he had snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, effectively trapping her in place. Her eyes were wide with shock — and disbelief. "You did?" She demanded, always the skeptic. Kakashi chuckled.

"Yes, Ms. Pessimist. If you'll believe it he was about five towns over — unlucky son of a bitch, the house he was hiding in was busted for drug possession, and one of the cops recognized him from the posters so they called us. You have no idea how satisfying it was to see him in handcuffs. I even got to drive him back."

Anko knew Kakashi was grinning under his mask. She rolled her eyes and reached up, tugging at one of his spiky silver locks. "You're a sadistic little man, you know that right?"

He kissed the top of her head. "Proud of it too. There's just one thing…" Anko groaned. That statement didn't usually end well. "They want you to go down to the station. Verify that it's actually him or something. Like I don't know what he looks like…"

"And when exactly do I have to do this?" Anko demanded. "I do work you know, I can't just run around all day—"

"You're in charge of the detention room at Konoha. No one will complain if you take a day off — especially not the kids." She slapped Kakashi over the head. "I hope you don't do that to them. Anyways we can go down right now if you want — they said as soon as possible."

The idea of seeing Orochimaru in police custody was a tempting image. "How quickly are you willing to drive to get us there? Keep in mind that if you go any lower than ninety I'm taking the wheel."

Kakashi laughed and bent down, kissing Anko on the lips. "Let's go. And I'm driving."

Anko pretended to pout. "You're a very mean person Kakashi. I hope you know that. You're just mean."

"And I'm okay with that, as long I don't suffer too badly for it later." Anko smirked, pretending to think.

"What's your idea of too badly?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Kakashi's lips twitched under his mask and he took Anko's hand, pulling her towards the front door.

"Anything after being kicked out of bed would constitute as bad, I think."

Anko grinned. "I'll think about it."

The car-ride was fairly silent. Anko became more and more apprehensive the closer they drew to the police station. Her initial giddiness at the thought of seeing her former bastard of a guardian finally in custody was starting to fade. Now it was turning into fear. It had been thirteen years since she'd laid eyes on the man and part of her had hoped to never see him again. On the other hand he would have handcuffs on…he wouldn't be able to hurt her…right?

Anko shivered lightly, her mind slipping to the nightmares that haunted her to this day. The same nightmares she vaguely remembered plaguing her during her bout with amnesia, except now she understood everything, making them all the more worse.

"Scared?" Kakashi prodded lightly, keeping his voice in a teasing tone. Anko's head twisted to look at him, eyes widening with disbelief. She stuck out her tongue out him.

"Me? Scared? Absolutely not. What the hell ever gave you a ludicrous idea like that?" She rolled her eyes. "Scared. Really…"

Kakashi bit his lip to keep from chuckling, glad that his mask hid his face. If Anko had been able to tell he was on the verge of laughing, he would have been sleeping on the couch that night for sure.

They sat out in front of the police station for at least ten minutes, Kakashi trying to psych Anko up. "He won't be able to see me?" Anko asked for the millionth time.

"If he was do you think I'd really bring you down here? It's a one-way screen Anko. They should still be interrogating him, and if they're not he'll just be sitting there. He doesn't even know anyone's coming to id him. The closest you'll come to him is standing on the other side of a one-way mirror where he can't see you."

Anko took a deep, shaky breath and jerked her head once in a nod. She felt as if she were glued to her seat though. Kakashi climbed out of the car and walked around to the passenger's side, opening the car and holding his hand out. Anko stared at it blankly for a second, then reached her own hand up, placing it firmly in his. He pulled her up, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and guiding her towards the front entrance of the police station.

"It'll be all right." He whispered in her ear right before they walked in.

He kept his arm around her as he guided her to the back interrogation room, flanked by two uniformed officers. The closer they got, the more Anko felt like running. She knew Orochimaru wouldn't be able to see her. She knew she was in a police station filled with cops with loaded guns that would (most likely) be able to make Orochimaru back off, should he try anything. But Anko was still scared. It was stupid and irrational and just plain annoying, but Anko was more scared now than she could ever remember being.

"We're just hear long enough to id him." Kakashi assured her quietly. "We can leave the second you've confirmed it's him. We don't have to stay for anything."

They stopped in front of the interrogation room. An officer was standing in there, but he didn't seem to talking. Anko's eyes swept quickly over him, then landed on the man sitting in the straight-back chair directly in front of her. A violent shudder tore through Anko's body, shaking her right to the core.

It was him. Of course it was him. Who else could send Anko into near convulsions, who else could invoke terror unlike anything she'd ever known simply by sitting in front of her? It could only be Orochimaru.

Kakashi held Anko a little tighter. She was practically coming apart at the seams. Kakashi locked his eyes on the hateful man in the interrogation room, wishing there was a way to kill him and make it look like an accident.

"Can we go now?" Anko whispered, snapping Kakashi out of the violent turn his thoughts had taken.

"Is it him?" One of the police escorts asked. He obviously couldn't hear the fear in her voice. It pissed Kakashi off.

Anko nodded slowly, and the officer gave them the okay to go.

Anko breathed easier the second they were out of the station. Kakashi wrapped his arms around her from behind, brushing his lips against the top of her head. "Better now?"

"Yeah." And she was. She'd just seen her ultimate wish come true. Orochimaru was in police custody. Over the years of digging, they'd find evidence linking him to the deaths of not only Obito, but Anko's parents, Rin's disappearance (though there was still no proof she was actually dead), and not to mention about twenty other people. And now that the police had him, they were never going to let him go. Anko was finally free of him. Really and truly free.

"Shall we share this good news with Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi asked, shaking Anko out of her thoughts. "I'll bet Kurenai's still there too, she'd love to hear this."

Anko twisted around to look up at Kakashi. "Definitely. Let's go."

The ride to their old home wasn't a long one. Konoha hadn't changed that much in the thirteen years that had elapsed since Anko had first come to stay there. Sarutobi had passed away three years earlier; everyone had been surprised when Tsunade had stepped up to take over. She'd said she was never going to escape the place, but they could tell that was just fine with her. Kurenai and Anko had both taken jobs there practically the second they turned eighteen. Kakashi and Asuma (who, like his best friend, had gone into the police force) worked as volunteers during the weekend. They were all still tied to the place.

And that was okay with them.

"Naruto!"

A blonde streak, followed by a second blonde streak, whizzed by as Kakashi and Anko stepped inside. They both took an automatic step back to avoid being taken away by the hurricane.

"What now?"

"Hey, I thought you left for the day." Kurenai walked up next to them, completely not put-off by the chase scene that was taking place in the front hallway.

"Missed seeing your pretty face."

"Aw c'mon Anko, don't talk like that in front of Kakashi, he'll get suspicious."

"What, I already know him and Asuma have a thing going. We have no secrets."

Kurenai rolled her eyes, but she was laughing. "So what'd Naruto do this time?"

"It's Naruto. Is it even worth asking?"

"Probably not." Minato's rambunctious, eight-year-old orphaned son was a spot of trouble in Konoha. But every worker had admitted, more than once, that he was one of their favorites.

Unfortunately, the poor boy had a knack for getting on Tsunade's bad side. He practically had a seat reserved for him in the detention room.

"So seriously, what's up?"

"Let's wait for Tsunade-sama. I'm sure this is something she wants to hear as well." Kurenai raised an eyebrow.

"What? Are you—?"

"Don't say it Kurenai."

Kurenai wisely closed her mouth, and looked over her shoulder as Tsunade began to approach them. "Naruto got away?"

"I'll get him next time. Little brat…" Her eyes locked on Anko and Kakashi. "So what can I do for you two?"

"Can I tell them?" Kakashi asked Anko, sounding ridiculously eager. Anko just rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"I swear, you're happier than I am, and that's saying something. Go ahead." Kakashi couldn't stop himself from grinning under his mask.

"Thank you. At approximately eleven-thirty this morning we arrested Orochimaru. He is currently sitting in the police station waiting to be brought to his cell. They're already talking about trials."

Silence followed Kakashi's announcement. Kurenai and Tsunade just stared, obviously unable to believe Kakashi. "I would have taken pictures if they'd let me. I'm sure you'd have loved to see that Tsunade-sama."

"I can't deny that the idea has a certain appeal." Tsunade admitted. "And it's really him?"

"Yup. Even had Anko go down to the station to confirm it." Kurenai gave Anko a sharp look.

"You saw him?" She nodded. Kurenai stayed stern for another moment before her face melted into a look of elation.

"That's it then. Isn't it?"

Anko made a face and looked back at Kakashi. "I don't know. Is that it?"

Kakashi looked surprisingly relaxed. "It is for you. The sword's out from over your head, for once. There's enough charges on him to keep him in jail for ten lifetimes. He can't hurt you — or anyone else — ever again."

Anko felt as something warm was washing through her, heating up her entire body. It seemed impossible that this was really the end.

But then, in a roundabout way, it wasn't. Orochimaru's arrest wasn't the end of the story completely. Just the end of that part of her life, a part she was more than happy to say goodbye to. For the first time since Orochimaru had become her guardian, she was really and truly free. Like Kakashi said, the sword over her head was finally gone. For the first time she could truly live.

She smiled as Kakashi took her small hand in his own. Of course, she planned on living with him by her side. The strange boy who, like Kai (who Anko still missed every day), had attached himself to her and never let go. The one person Anko knew she could never live without.

"Let's celebrate." Kakashi said, bringing Anko back to reality. "After everything, I think we deserve that."

"Does your idea of celebrating include a lot of drinking?"

"Maybe…"

Anko rolled her eyes and laughed. "Good thing there's a bar within walking distance of our house."

They said their goodbyes to Tsunade and Kurenai (Anko had no doubt Kurenai and Asuma would be joining them as soon as Kurenai got out), and headed home to drop off the car so they could walk. The setting sun warmed them as they made their way down the street.

"So it's really over." Kakashi broke the comfortable silence that had settled in between them. Anko just shook her head, smiling.

"No, it isn't. It's just beginning." Kakashi looked down at her, bewildered.

"What's just beginning?" He was obviously confused. Anko smiled lightly as she leaned against his arm.

"Everything."

Author's Note: THE END

And have I mentioned I suck at conclusions? Please don't hate me for it. Oh, and a cookie for anybody who can find the vague but existing reference to TwoTails' "Friends" Series. And to answer the question I got a lot last chapter, no, there will be no sequel. I never even planned on writing this, a sequel is definitely not in the works. I'm retreating back into the Bleach fandom now.

Title: Dawn at Dusk

Category: Bleach

Pairing(s): IchiRuki

Rating: T

Summary: —AU, IchiRuki— To everyone else, Kurosaki Ichigo was just another person to avoid. Rukia, on the other hand, saw everything in him that was worth fighting for.

First chapter will be going up 2/12 (exactly one week from today). If you're one of my regular readers who reads my Bleach stories, it's something to look forward to. If you just read this because you like Naruto…obviously you don't care. Don't count on me writing another Kakashi/Anko story anytime soon, I haven't had any good ideas as of late. This one just kind of came out of nowhere. But I've had lots of fun writing it, and of course your reviews have kept me going.

As always, a special thanks to Zapenbits, who's faithfully reviewed every chapter of every story I've ever written. Love ya Zappy :) And another special thanks to TwoTails, who's a great friend and appreciates the necessity of hell in a story. You're the greatest ;)

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through this. You're all the absolutely amazing and I know this never would have gotten finished without you ;) -- Sam