Full Summary: What if Naruto at the age of five had decided he had enough of a village so filled with hate, he attempted to end his own life? What if at this pinnacle of emotion he was saved by Anko and instead of growing up alone he learned to rely on her? Taking him under her wing Anko becomes the sensei he never knew he wanted and Naruto become the piece of her life Anko never knew she needed. Can such an odd relationship stand?

Chapter 1: The Demon's Tears

Naruto Uzamaki

A lone figure walked the desolate streets of Konoha, once again bleeding and in pain. He was a small boy for his age, with a head full of blonde hair, and eyes so blue they rivaled the oceans luster. He had what looked like whiskers on both cheeks. The black t-shirt he was wearing was torn, battered, and covered in dirt. The boy looked like he had been on the bad end of a beating, which he had been. It had happened only a few hours ago, and the boy remembered it well. After all, how many times had he been on the receiving end of that beating in his short life? A hundred times? A thousand? He could no longer count the times he had faced such abuse but this time, something was different. When they had beat him nearly into unconsciousness and the sweet relief of that darkness, they had stopped. An ANBU had stopped them from rendering the boy immobile, telling the crowd to disperse before they were deemed to have taken criminal action. The villagers left in a hurry, leaving Naruto and the ANBU alone. Instead of making any attempt to heal Naruto as some of the other ANBU may have done, he instead knelt down next to the prone Naruto and spoke to him in a voice so filled with hate, it seemed to thicken the air.

"You are a disease. You're continued existence a joke, and if I could I would end you here and now... But those are not my orders. So instead you will lay here in your blood, and the dirt, and the trash. You may heal at a faster rate than most, but after that beating I can imagine it'll take a long while. I hope it is as slow and painful as all those lives you once ended Naruto." Standing the ANBU made a few hand signs to disappear adding at the last moment, "And don't hope for any help, my partner and I agree you should pay and we will be the one's watching you struggle in the dust like so many of our fallen comrades. How many of their pleas for mercy did you ignore? How much blood was shed that never seemed to sate your thirst?" With that, the shinobi was gone.

The ANBU was right that it took a long time for Naruto to heal, but in the moments that he had stood over Naruto and spoke, something broke inside Naruto. This time he could not get the image of the villagers beating him out of his mind, the ANBU standing over him, the death that everyone seemed to pray and hope for... It all came crashing down on the five year old as the tears he always fought so hard to keep at bay started to fall. He knew without a doubt, this village he called home hated him. The amount of people Naruto thought truly cared for him, he could count on one hand. Looking at his hand, it started to shake as he began to wonder, What if Hokage-jiji doesn't really care about me? Isn't he supposed to control the ANBU? Isn't he the one that always tells me he cares? Naruto thought over these questions and fell to his knees as the conclusion came to him.

No, the Hokage doesn't care about me... He's known about these beatings ever since the first incident. He does control the ANBU, that's why they always step in AFTER I get a beating. The stream of Naruto's tears slowed as he thought to himself and completely stopped as his little heart broke on the last thought. Just words. That's all it ever was to him. He doesn't... No, he NEVER cared. With those thoughts echoing in his mind, Naruto decided he had had enough. He was done trying to put on a smile as it was kicked out of him every day. Why pretend to be happy when each day he was treated just as coldly as before. With a dead look in his eyes, Naruto began walking...

Anko Mitarashi

It was getting late as lone woman walked through the Red Light District. She had on what others would call questionable at best, and unsavory at worst. She didn't give a damn about their opinions of her style though as what she had one she thought did the job she needed them to do. One might wonder what Shinobi sandals, ankle guards, a short orange battle skirt, fishnet shirt, and a trench coat would get done but that was besides the point. Anko had justified her wardrobe countless times, but everyone still either gawked or glared when she would pass them by. Well screw them all. I am sick of them thinking I'm a- Anko's thoughts were interrupted as a couple drunk men called out to her.

"Hey there! Why don't you come over here and join the party? Wouldn't want a pretty woman like you deprived of pleasant company. Am I right men?" The rest of the drunks cheered for their friend, and so he thought he had successfully picked up a girl when she stopped and walked back with a smile on her face. As she approached though the drunk slowly sobered up as he realized that rather than a warm, inviting smile, the near stripped woman before him had a smile that froze the blood in his veins.

"Pleasant company, huh? You're right, I would enjoy that." The smile that terrified the men still on her face, she proceeded to say more watching the men grow in both fear and astonishment. "I actually work for T and I. For those of you here too drunk to remember what that means it stands for Torture and Interrogation. My idea of pleasant company are the broken bodies I leave in pools of blood. So who wants to go first?" The smile only intensified as the drunks only gazed at her in horror, unable to say a single word. Sighing, Anko finally dropped the smile opting to instead reach forward and grab the entire bottle of sake off the table. Turning away from the drunken men, Anko took a swig straight from the bottle.

"Wait... She took the sake!" One of the drunk men protested when she was a good distance away.

"Do you know who that was? That was the snake whore of Konoha man... You're lucky she took just the Sake bottle, not your life." Anko drank another swig from the bottle at those words. The ones that had haunted her ever since her old sensei had abandoned her... 'Snake Whore.' It had somehow started on the lips of the few, but soon enough all of Konoha knew her as that title. There were a few other titles that they had added as well, but Anko didn't give a damn about acknowledging that kind of crap. She had better things to do with her time. Speaking of which, she took another swig of sake. Almost gone already? Damn... I needed something to take the edge off. I guess I could always buy more... As that last thought hit her, she checked her wallet on the inside of her coat and came to a realization. Shit. I can't be out of funds again already! I still need to pay off a month of rent. Maybe I could convince the Hokage to give me a few missions for decent pay?

Lost in her thoughts Anko had managed to meander and walk out onto a lonely bridge over by the bath houses. Snapping out of it, she looked up noticing for the first time since leaving the Red Light District she was not alone. Standing at the edge of the bridge was some kid looking out at the water. She looked out were he was looking and saw nothing really of note. The moon was on the other side, so he wasn't staring at that. No birds out there or people. What are you searching for kid? Anko was so busy analyzing him, she almost failed to notice he was now standing on top of the guard rail. Almost.

"What the hell are you doing kid?" Anko yelled to him trying to see if he would answer as she walked forward. She got her answer as the kid slowly leaned in and fell towards the water. So he's going swimming? Why the hell dive off the bridge? Anko's confusion deepened as bubble came up from the dark water but not the kid. Um... That's a lot of bubbles... Come on kid, got to come up for air sometime. As Anko watched, the flow of bubbles slowed, then stopped. Shit! Without another thought, Anko took off her coat and dived into the water. Hitting it Anko was amazed that there wasn't a layer of ice on top. Hot damn! This water is freezing! What is that kid thinking? Quickly spotting the boy, she saw his eyes were closed and he didn't look like he was struggling.

Swimming down to him, she grabbed his tattered shirt and dragged him up towards the surface. Anko managed to pull him out of the water, and towards a small pad under the bridge used to help get to the sides and a ladder that could be used to get up to the streets. Taking stock of the situation, Anko soon realized why the bubbles weren't coming up anymore. The kid wasn't breathing! Anko worked quickly pumping his chest twice, and performing CPR. After a few agonizing moments were Anko wasn't sure if the kid was coming back, he soon was sputtering and coughing up all the water that he had inhaled.

Anko let out a relieved sigh as the boy attempted to completely recover, and before Anko knew it he had thrown himself against her chest as he cried hard enough to rock his little body. Putting her arms around him, she wondered just what was going through his mind.

Naruto

A few minutes before the jump

Kami, I know just how much everyone hates me. It's pretty obvious now, so I'll make you a deal. Show me just one person who cares, ANYONE, and I will stop now. Naruto continued walking towards the bridge waiting for that someone but no one appeared before Naruto. That's what I thought... Naruto looked out at the water, taking in the serenity of it all. This is what everyone wants. It would be peaceful like this all the time if I was gone. He picked himself up, getting on top of the guard rail. I guess... I guess this is goodbye. A lone tear fell from Naruto's eyes as he pitched his body slightly forward, hearing a woman's voice call out to him.

"What the hell are you doing kid?" He didn't turn as he fell into the water with a splash. The frigid water hit Naruto hard as he fell further into it's embrace. Huh, so this is what it's like to drown. This isn't too bad. As the bubbles left Naruto and went up towards the surface, he closed his eyes losing himself in the still water. As the last of Naruto's air left his body and traveled upwards, he was hit with a burning sensation from his lungs. His body was demanding air and he knew it, but still he fought to keep from panicking.

This is what everyone wants though... They always say that they would rather I die. A deep breath and the cold water flooded Naruto's lungs.

It's so cold... The burning sensation was replaced with something else as he frantically began breathing in and out attempting to get air to his brain with it not realizing that the process didn't work well with water. It demanded oxygen and the way to get it was breathing.

This is... what everyone... wants... Right...? Naruto's mind was trying to make him swim up but he didn't have the strength to move anymore. He was still tense and hurting from the beating he took.

Everyone but... me... Someone... Anyone... HELP! Naruto's last thoughts as the darkness claimed him.

Coughing and sputtering, Naruto got rid of a large portion of water that had recently resided in his lungs to see a women kneeling next to him, giving him some space to get rid of the water. She was dripping wet looking relieved that he was breathing again. Without hesitation, Naruto buried his head in her chest, hugging himself to her as he cried. She saved me... She actually saved me... The one everyone hates... but SHE saved ME! His tears hardly did anything to make the shirt he was clinging to any wetter as she put her arms around him and rocked him gently. Thank you Kami... You did send someone. I won't give this person up. I swear it. Naruto vowed to himself that he would some how, some way, and some day thank this woman for saving him in more ways than one.

Wow, the kid is crying pretty hard. I wonder what he's thinking. Anko continued holding the boy until the tears slowly stopped and he finally let go of her. She was relieved he had let her go, but was surprised to see why he had let her go. The kid was now bowing to her on his knees, his head to the cold concrete they were on at the moment.

"I don't know why you saved me, but thank you." The kid still hadn't risen from his bowing posture and it was making Anko feel a bit awkward.

"Don't worry about it kid. It was no problem. Heh, you got a name?" Anko figured she should at least know just who it was that she saved, and noticed as his shoulders slumped, as if he didn't want to say his name.

"I'm... Naruto... Naruto Uzamaki." Anko quickly put together a mental picture of the jinchuuriki and couldn't understand why the boy had jumped into the water. He always seemed so go lucky when I saw him in the street. What happened to him?

"Well my name's Anko Mitarashi and I'm the better known as the sexiest kunoichi in Konoha." She added the last part with a small laugh, when Naruto looked up at her.

"Alight, thank you for saving me Mitarashi-san." Again Naruto bowed to Anko.

"Don't get all formal on me kid. Just call me Anko. I don't like the formality crap when I have to do it, and hearing it from you it doesn't seem any better." Naruto sat up finally as Anko finished speaking. "Now tell me why you tried to go swimming just a minute ago."

A look of complete and utter confusion passed over Naruto's face. "Swimming? I don't know how to do that..."

Anko stared at Naruto and asked slowly, "You don't know how to swim?" Naruto nodded his head. "Then why did you jump into the water! You could have killed yourself like a little idiot!"

"Anko... That was the idea..." Naruto looked at the floor as Anko tried to absorb that little piece of information.

"You were attempting to kill yourself Naruto?" Another nod, as if Naruto was ashamed to speak. "Why? What the hell were you thinking!"

Anko's anger at his attempt shocked Naruto, he had never met anyone that would've been mad that he had attempted... Now failing... That was another matter all together. Naruto gave a small shrug of his shoulders and looked down at the ground before he spoke. "Nobody wants me around... Everyone hates me... I know that when I get hurt I can heal really fast, so cutting myself or something was out, and I thought of falling off the monument but I don't know how to get up to the top. So my last idea was to drown." Naruto calmly spoke as if he was discussing the weather with Anko, rather than his attempt at suicide.

"Naruto..." There was compassion in her voice, something Naruto found a bit odd. "You shouldn't care what those idiots think. It's your life. Do you want it to end?" Naruto thought on how to answer that. It was quiet as Naruto decided what he should say next.

"I want... I want to live." Anko smiled slowly.

"Then let me teach you just what that means... gaki." Naruto frowned at the last bit but Anko's grin only widened. Looks like I'm going to be teaching the kid a few tricks.

What did I just sign up for? Naruto didn't know, but he was going to find out.