Summary: "We're not friends Kakashi." Anko's voice is quiet, the sibilant whisper of a snake's, one that barely carries over the steady plop of the rain. "We never were."

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Rain patters down on Kakashi as he steps out of the Konoha library. He pauses just outside of the eave and waits for the woman leaning against the side of the building to speak. He already knows what she will say and he has no wish to start this particular conversation. Anko was never one to shun silence and it is mark of how agitated she is that she breaks it first, her voice dangerously lowered and carrying its ever present bite of cynicism. "Been busy?"

The water forms rivulets down his face as it drip from his dampened hair. It is icy cold, and though night has only just fallen it seems as if all of day's warmth has already been leached out from the world. "I thought there might be a way to help."

"Help?" Anko's eyes flash as she tilts her head to the side and they catch the light. Their reflection is like that of a cat's, laconic and predatory and filled with a vague kind of disinterest. "Help? How could you help?"

"There are ways." Kakashi knows better than to think that Anko will listen, but has to try all the same. "There may not be a way to completely rid you of it, but there are ways to suppress it. If-"

Anko laughs. It is a sharp and cruel noise that proclaims to the world exactly how pathetic she thinks the target of it is. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to help."

"No. You're meddling in something that is none of your business." She leans forward fully, tilting her head so that the entirety of her sneering grin is caught by the light. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and they pull the collar of her shirt down just far enough so that the mark on her collarbone is visible. "This is my screwup."

"You don't have to fight alone."

"We're not friends Kakashi." Her voice has grown quiet, the sibilant whisper of a snake's, one that barely carries over the steady plop of rainwater running off the library eave that veils her. "We never were."

"Why not?" The sentence rings unnaturally, breaking the rhythm of words and falling rain, a single note out of place in a song that has been rehearsed for years.

Anko pulls back into the shadows, the cat-like glint in her eyes flickering out as she turned her head to the side, disinterested, and says in a quiet voice that has nothing in it but the tired tone of one explaining something for the hundredth time. "My friends are kunai and shadows. You're far too sentimental to be either."

Her footsteps patter as softly as the rain as she turns and walks away, leaving him standing in the rain where he started. Kakashi leans his head back and closes his eyes, letting the rain fall unhindered. He has no answer. He never did.

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AN: I plan on making this into a series of Oneshots centering on Kakashi and Anko before the current Naruto timeline. It'll be updated pretty sporadically though.