Hey there everyone this is Nexus of Dark World here and I've been honoured to continue this awesome story – The Journey to Lordship by Sesshyfluffballofevil, I'll be making changes of course, but don't worry his awesome stories will continue!

(This takes place a little after the mission to wave)

THE JOURNEY TO LORDSHIP

Chapter 1 – meeting of the fox and the snake

Mitarashi Anko was a Jounin, one of the best. She was known for cruelty and brutality when dealing with an enemy. When not in battle she was a happy go lucky girl with a taste for blood. Because she refused to let people in no one ever saw beyond that. But deep inside she was hurting.

It all started with her former master Orochimaru. He had left the village in search of power. And in doing so he betrayed and abandoned Anko. The villagers hated her merely for being his apprentice. They began to glare at her and spit at her feet whenever they saw her. Only the Hokage showed her any respect, but the Times when she saw him were few far and in between. In other words she was on her own in world out to get her.

There were however a few people willing to interact with her, those being her fellow Jounin. Out of all those colleagues, there were only three that she would call friendly. Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, and Hakate Kakashi were the teachers of the rookie 9, and the only ones willing to speak with her outside of missions. They would get together every once in awhile for a drink or two, but that was it. Though they didn't out right hate her, and for that she was thankful.

There were only two places where she could seek her Solace. Outside The city walls are, or in the forest of death. The latter was the more common place. It seemed like almost every day she went in to escape the hatred the villagers piled on her. There were no emotions here, only survival. In this forest she was free.

When she came here she would make her way to the tower in the centre. On the way there she would take out her frustration on any living thing she came across. After she had worked out her anger she would enter the tower. It was here after she was sure that she was alone that her mask would crack. Once that happened the tears started to pour, and she would cry herself into exhaustion. She would leave the forest in the morning, only to return every night and repeat the same thing as before.

This night however, was a different story. Tonight she did not enter the forest alone, she had followed someone in. someone with bright yellow hair and an ugly orange jump-suit. She knew that this was the dead last that Kakashi was always talking about, Uzumaki Naruto. The speed and Grace he moved with though told another story.

She trailed him all the way to the tower, and jumped to a window. Looking in she saw him look around before he glowed red. He concentrated the chakra that was surrounding him into his right arm. Then he swung around in a circle, letting the energy coat the walls.

While he was doing this Anko caught a glimpse of his face. It was a face she knew all too well, for she wore it every night. It was the face of a broken soul. Though his face told much, his eyes said the most. Pain, a lifetime of pain was visible.

It was then that he took off his jacket, and revealed a ratty white T-shirt. Before he knelt down she caught a glimpse of a kunai in his hand. She saw a little movement before he became still once again. The next thing she saw was small pool form around him. It took a few seconds to realize what was, before it came to her. Blood. He was trying to kill himself.

She didn't think she just reacted, and began to bash on the window. But the window was as hard as a rock. It would appear that the red chakra had formed a barrier around the room. So she began to bombard it with Jutsu. After four continuous minutes the window finally shattered, and she jumped in.

The boy had already lost consciousness. His skin was an unnatural pale, and you could clearly see that he was near death. Two perfect slashes adorned each wrist. Those cuts brought back unpleasant memories before she buried them once again.

Reaching into her pack, she took out two pills and forced them down his throat. One was a soldier pill, and the other a blood pill. Then using what little medical knowledge she had, she began to close the cuts.

It was a good five minutes before the cuts were completely healed. They were now angry red scars. By this time the pills had gotten to work. His colour had returned to normal, and his breathing had deepened and evened out. Now it was only a matter of waiting for him to wake up.

So she dragged him down to the cots on the next floor. After she placed him on the bed she sat herself in a chair and waited.

(Three hours later)

When Naruto awoke he found that he had a splitting headache. When the pain had subsided enough he opened his eyes and found a white room. There were a few beds but nothing more. Had he succeeded? Was he dead? He swung his legs over the side of the bed and shakily stood up.

"Finally awake are you?" said a voice from behind him. When he turned around he found the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. A woman with purple hair done up in a pineapple. She wore a fishnet bodysuit, a miniskirt, and a trench coat. Now he knew he had succeeded.

He let out a laugh, then another, and another. They kept growing in volume as a smile spread out on his face. His laughs stopped as he let out a contented sigh. "I did it. I'm dead."

"No you're not."

"What?"

"You're not dead."

Now Naruto was confused. This was just like he imagined heaven would be. How could he not be dead? "You're wrong, I am dead. I woke up in a white room, and now I'm talking to an angel. I have to be dead." He saw a blush growing on her cheeks. Why would she be blushing? I only called her what she is, right?

Anko on the other hand, was shocked, embarrassed, and flattered all at once. An angel? Her? It just didn't seem possible after all those years of hatred. But the kid was still in denial and she had to set him straight. So she did the natural thing, walked over, and slapped him.

"Ow! What the hell was that for? That hurt you know."

"It was supposed to hurt. YOU. ARE. NOT. DEAD. I brought you here after I healed you."

Naruto who had turned to the side after the slap turned his face to her. Then in a frigid cold voice he said, "What did you say?"

Suppressing her shiver at the voice she replied, "I said I healed you after I figured out what you were trying to do." He turned his face from her once again. She was getting nervous now, the boy practically screamed 'danger'. She didn't get much further in her thoughts before he turned around, and backhanded her, hard. After she had landed on the floor she heard him yell.

"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT? I WANTED TO DIE! WHAT RIGHT DID YOU HAVE TO INTERFERE?" His voice began to break. "Why did you save me? All I wanted was to die in peace. Can I not be granted that one thing?"

It was then that all of his defences broke down, and he fell to his knees, sobbing. He was only there for a second before Anko, in a moment of uncharacteristic tenderness came over and wrapped him in a hug.

Naruto grabbed onto her like she was his last lifeline, before burying his face into the crook of her neck, and sobbed. He cried out twelve years of pain and suffering. He cried for himself, and for the Yondaime, who died to save the village and seal the fox. He cried for the old man, who had to retake the seat of Hokage at his age. He cried for Iruka, who had almost died to save him. He cried for Zabuza, and for Haku. Both of whom died for their ideals. And finally, he cried for the woman who held him. A woman who had seen fit to save him even when he didn't want to be saved.

Finally, when all his tears were spent, he looked up at the woman who he had thought to be an angel, and asked, "Why did you save me?"

She looked at him before answering, "I uh… I didn't really think about it at the time. I just kind of reacted. Looking back at you though, I see a lot of myself in you." She held out her wrists, and if you looked close enough you could see a scar just like Naruto's on each of them.

He looked at her with none too little shock in his eyes. "You, you tried it too?" She nodded at him. "Once, years ago, when my mentor first defected from Konoha. He just, left, and abandoned me like yesterday's trash."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you sad."

She waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, I uh," She sighed, "I'm over it now. It's the past." He nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm, what?"

"Um, well, I uh kind of wanted to know. Why did you do it?"

"Well, when Orochimaru became a missing-nin, the village felt betrayed. They eventually turned that anger onto me. That hatred along with his betrayal was too much." She gained a pained look on her face, and Naruto hugged her just a little bit tighter. "Luckily Hokage-sama stopped me before I died, kind of like with us. Although we didn't end up in this position."

Indeed they were in a position. Anko was sitting on the ground with Naruto in her lap. They had their arms around each other, and Naruto's head was on her shoulder. One might say they were getting 'comfy'. A bit of a blush made its' way to his cheeks before he fought it down.

"So uh, kid?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you do it?"

He was silent for a bit while trying to find the right words. "Well, the villagers have always hated me. They only saw the Kyuubi." Seeing the confusion on her face he answered the unspoken question. "Mizuki told me about him when he betrayed the village." She seemed to accept that, so he continued. "The only one who actually cared for me was the old man, but he was always busy running the village. The only other beside him was Iruka-sensei, and now you. So hatred was as common as breathing. I was the dobe of the academy, nobody respected me.

I was placed on a team with a sensei who ignores me, one teammate who doesn't care about me and another that outright hates me. But it was this afternoon that really sealed the deal."

Flashback

Naruto was walking toward their team's usual meeting spot. When he got there he greeted his teammates with an overly loud voice. "OHAYO SAKURA-CHAN! Sasuke-teme."

He was greeted with Sakura's fist as she shouted at him. "SHUT UP NARUTO! And don't talk to Sasuke like that!" Sasuke meanwhile just muttered a, "Dobe." Once again Naruto was nursing a wound from sakura while she fawned over the Uchiha.

After waiting for three hours for their sensei to show up, and after another lame excuse with two shouts of, "LIAR!" Team 7 began training. It went like this. Sasuke sparred with Kakashi, Sakura fawned over him, and Naruto was ignored.

While Sasuke was getting beaten, Naruto walked behind sakura and said, "Looks like Sasuke's going to lose." He got another fist in the head while she said to him, "Shut up Naruto! Sasuke is way better than you! You're just a dobe, and that's all you'll ever be! No one would even care if you died!" She put her hand over her mouth after that last sentence.

Naruto began to walk away after that. When sakura started shouting for him to wait, he ran. No one even saw the tears in his eyes.

End Flashback

"I ran to the top of the Hokage monument. I thought over my life, and made my decision. I went to the forest of death after dusk, and you know the rest." Anko simply increased her hold on him.

They sat there for a few minutes before Anko brought up something that was bothering her. "Hey kid, you say you were the dobe of the academy but you move with the grace of a Chuunin at least."

"Ah yeah, um I got that from the Kyuubi. The old man said something about merging or something, and that it had to do with the seal. I've already started to move like him, and his knowledge is beginning to trickle into my head when I sleep."

Now that was some shocking news. She must have shown it because Naruto asked, "Is that okay? Do you hate me now?"

"No I don't hate you. I was just shocked is all. I mean to find out that you will have the power and knowledge of the most powerful tailed beast is big information, ya know?"

He nodded, and tried, very unsuccessfully to hide a yawn. This made Anko give a little smirk.

"Let's get some sleep. It is the middle of the night you know."

"Um ok. Where am I gonna sleep?" Anko got a mischievous smirk on her face after he said that. "Right here ding dong." He was now blushing so red he looked like a volcano ready to burst. "H-here w-with you?" She nodded. "On the f-floor, Together?"

"Is there a problem with that? I won't bite you know." He only blushed harder. "Look, all we're gonna do is sleep." That eased his blush down somewhat. "Anyway, I get this weird feeling when I'm with you. It's like everything is right in the world, like I'm…"

"Complete?" he offered, knowing just what she was talking about.

She nodded. "Yeah that's it, complete. Now," she said, grabbing a pillow from the nearest bed, "Go to sleep."

Naruto snuggled close to her, but he needed to know something. "Anko?" He got a murmur of consent. "What's gonna happen tomorrow?" He heard her sigh.

"Well I was thinking, if you agreed, that I would take you on as my apprentice." She opened her eyes and looked into his. They openly showed his hope that she would.

"Y-you'd do that?" His voice was hesitant and cautious.

"Yes I would. You've got a lot of potential kid, and I like you." She then found herself on the receiving end of the biggest hug in the world.

"Thank you. Thank you." Yelled Naruto with gratitude, tears briefly appearing at the corner of his cerulean blue eyes.

"You're welcome kid. Now get to sleep. We're gonna need all of our strength if we're gonna argue with Kakashi and Hokage-sama tomorrow."

"You're right. The old man can put up a hell of a fight." Agreed the fox container, smiling at the thought of getting a proper education now in the ninja arts, Kakashi just ignored him and focused his attention on the cool acting Uchiha.

She gave a snort, and said, "That he can. That he can, his a determined old sot – By that's probably why he's still clinging to the title of Hokage, he should just give someone else the title'

'Yeah like me!' announced Naruto, giving Anko his trademark foxy grin, however this one had some warmth in it, unlike his mask that he wore among most people to protect what's left of his sanity and innocence – that and it pissed off the villagers to no end.

'Night…Anko-Chan'

A/N: Well guys hoped you liked it, I made a few changes of course – I wonder if anyone can notice those changes – they'll become more apparent as the story goes on – and if any of you can point all of the changes in this chapter I'll make you a minor character in the Chuunin exams!

Later!