Konoha ninja residence district, one week after the bombing incident

Anko Mitarashi, Konoha's Snake Mistress, Special Jounin and T&I specialist

"Three straight shifts, and then Ibiki decides that I am the one that needs to do a performance assessment on THE gaki genin?" Anko wasn't actually angry about her last assignment before her allocated monthly leave, but talking to herself was a subconscious habit she had fallen into years ago when she was tired to keep herself focused.

The fact that it also scared most of the civilian assholes who still thought the worst of her was a completely unexpected side effect, or that is what she would claim if her new boss tried to bring her to task on the matter.

But given she was dressed in a long and flowing shirt and loose slacks, rather than her usual 'work' gear, she mingled with the bustling crowds of Konoha's main residential streets well enough to avoid the usual distancing and cold looks.

"Why Inoichi couldn't come out of retirement to deal with this, given his daughter has snapped the gaki up as her 'first project'..." This wasn't the first time Anko had been to see this particular 'patient', though it was the first time he would in fact be awake for her visit.

With a full squad of ANBU assigned to protection detail around the clock, she had full information about the recent activities of the fresh Genin teams, as well as their academic records. Anko knew she couldn't trust what the former Chuunin Mizuki had included in the records, though she doubted that the traitor had changed anything too radically in order to maintain his cover.

"Though given some of the idiots we've dealt with over the last week…" Of the 43 civilians they had arrested so far, only three of them had been actually 'useful'.

The others had been middlemen and disposable informants, ranging from shady thugs operating in Konoha's criminal dregs, to innocent homeowners that thought they were simply forwarding a former owner's mail. Some of those they had brought in had been so unprepared for interrogation, they had been spilling every unrelated misdemeanour they could think of.

When a 78 year old civilian woman, barely two thirds of Anko's height and half her weight, admits to running an underground fighting ring, all the ridiculous events of the last week quickly became comparatively less absurd.

As she reached the apartment building that her target lived in, Anko shook off her thoughts about the interrogations and instead returned her focus to the task at hand. There were three ANBU she could see at first glance, not including the 'chuunin' guarding the door, no doubt there were at least three others hiding far more effectively in the shadows.

"Special Jounin Mitarashi. You are expected." The ANBU couldn't have sounded less friendly if he had tried, but given the amount of stress and embarrassment the ANBU were currently under, the need to be professional obviously outweighed the need to 'fit in' with his 'disguise'.

"Here to profile Black level target following attempted assassination and torture attempt. Alpha six Lima eight Foxtrot." Having spoken the authorisation code she had been given by Ibiki and then burned in front of him, Anko was glad to see the ANBU make three hand signs and stand to the side of the apartment building entrance.

Whilst she was no doubt still being watched closely, she wasn't going to be preemptively detained. For now at least.

"Target Fox returned from Genin team training approximately two hours ago, with Genin Yamanaka and Jounin Hatake, both of whom left shortly after." Kakashi had probably come along to ensure that Inochi's little princess wasn't turned away at the door, or arrested for the hissy fit she would throw after being refused entry.

"Target has been pestering Agent Koala for training over the last half an hour, despite having collapsed at Genin training, which is why he was returned early. Agent Koala has been teaching him mostly theoretical knowledge so far, as that seems to have been the areas most affected by former Chuunin Mizuki's sabotage."

Anko noted the use of the words 'most affected', implying that there was a lot of work to do with the target's training to get it up to Genin standards.

"So Uzumaki wants to learn about being a ninja, despite his condition and the attack?" Anko started switching her mannerisms as she gleaned that useful piece of information.

She wasn't here to interrogate, so a more personal touch was probably required, given Uzumaki's lack of combat experience and the reports about his upbringing she had been given by Dr Yakushi.

"That is correct. Target Fox was at the training grounds just after daybreak, with visits from both Genin Hinata Hyuuga and Chuunin Iruka Umino during the morning before combined training in the afternoon." The smirk that had risen on Anko's face at her target's enthusiasm for their shared line of work vanished.

Standing alone in the training grounds that she had once thought of as her second home, rain drenching her freezing skin even as she worked through her kata, the middle of the night the only time she could train without being judged...

Memories of her own childhood, and the betrayal of Hebi-teme that came with it, flashed to the forefront of her mind. They were just as quickly reburied in the part of her mind she tried not to enter, but it had been enough to throw her off balance for a moment.

"Special Jounin, is there a problem?" Obviously she hadn't managed to bury the feelings fast enough, though she waved the ANBU off with a return of her playful smirk.

"An issue with Fox seeming to have no other outlet for his emotions and time than Ninja work, but I will assess that fully after the first couple of meetings with him. Any further procedures or can I head in?" With a slight shake of the head from the ANBU, Anko was able to head inside the block of apartments.

The sixth sense she had for being watched stopped pushing at the back of her mind, and Anko was able to relax and slip into her 'role'. Her body language softened, as did her facial expressions, and a quick chakra technique caused her hair to fall in a casual style.

Suddenly she was no longer Special Jounin Anko 'the snake princess', but Dr Mitarashi, self and formally trained psychologist and counsellor. That wasn't to say she wasn't still a ninja, as Anko's eyes caught sight of the newly installed bell on the stairs landing below Naruto's floor, and the message above it 'ring and wait, traps ahead'.

It was part of the system that Yakushi-sensei had insisted was installed when the target moved back into his home. Not only did it provide early warning of any visitors, but it also allowed for the entirety of the targets floor to be trapped without the risk of someone accidentally activating them.

Anko could see at least three traps on the flight of stairs to the target's floor, judging by the quality of the rather amateurish traps she suspected that the target himself had set them up. Given what had happened, giving the target the opportunity to learn some trapping skills in such a practical manner would help him feel a little more secure, even if it would be the professionally set traps that would actually provide most of that security.

"Dr Mitarashi?" Anko wasn't overly surprised by the appearance of the target, before she even had the chance to press the bell.

Admittedly, she was impressed that she hadn't even sensed the boy before he appeared from behind the masterfully created tarp on the ceiling, even if his other skills were in doubt, his stealth skills were to be respected.

"That's me squirt, I'm surprised that you were waiting for me, though your disguise in the ceiling was outstanding." Her tone was similar to her actual personality, though toned down considerably for her audience in question.

"Koala-chan told the boss that you would be coming around this evening, so he notified me and the others." Even as Anko realised the boy she was talking to wasn't actually the target of her visit, and therefore likely a clone of some type, two more of them appeared seemingly from nowhere.

The sudden appearance of the clones nearly overwhelmed Anko's control over her reflexes, surprise was not something to pull on another ninja lightly, but she managed to keep her reaction to a half step backwards.

"Nobody mentioned anything about you having clones…" Sending out a couple of pulses of chakra, a basic method of chakra sensing that every Chuunin learnt during their promotion acclimatisation, Anko strained her senses for any other surprises that people had forgotten to mention to her.

Ibiki had undoubtedly meant this as another one of his 'tests', deliberately not mentioning some information about a subject to test her ability to adapt to things on the spot, but he wasn't the only person that hadn't said anything. It was certainly something the ANBU outside should have told her about…

"Sorry Mitarashi-dono, but the boss didn't want to take any chances after… last time…" The gaki clearly struggled with something for a moment, but then seemed to recover and try to put on his best smile.

"You are a ninja Mitarashi-dono?" The question was something of a surprise, but Anko managed to reign in her first instinct, which was to deny it in a way that would allow her to deflect onto another subject.

Infiltrator training was not an easy thing to shake off, especially given her fatigued mind, but something in her told her that the kid would know. So instead she nodded, the clone breathing a sigh of relief as the other two burst into smoke.

"Great, didn't want to have to undo all the traps, would take the boss all night to feel comfortable again otherwise. Follow me, and please don't miss any of the steps, Koala-chan says it… it won't be pretty." Despite how the clone made it sound, the method of getting up the stairs was easy enough for Anko, though she supposed it had been made for an injured boy who wasn't even a formal Genin yet.

Still, three floors up, Anko was impressed by the number of traps in place if nothing else. And the fact they were now on the seventh floor meant the information she had on the Gaki's living arrangements was incorrect as well. Something that she would be reminding the ANBU downstairs was their job to update, not for her to discover second hand.

"Here we are Mitarashi-dono." If Anko hadn't already seen the Gaki's skill with the disguising tarps she would have missed it, but the fact that the clone had stopped in between the apartment doors about halfway down the building helped.

It was beautifully done, the tarp barely large enough to cover a crawl space at about her waist height, with some obvious seal work given the almost imperceptible transition between the wall and the tarp. Just as she started to reach for it though, Anko's instincts made her pause and look around once more. There had been a lot of misdirection involved in the Gaki's new 'defences' so far, and despite the clear quality of this entrance, something was off about it.

"Koala-san said you were good Mitarashi-dono. Damn it, I owe her a bowl of ramen now Dattebayo!" It was the first sign of real emotion she had seen the clone exhibit, though she didn't have much time to think on it further before the clone jumped up and lifted a section of the ceiling up and out of the way.

"I will be sure to thank Koala-san for the compliment, though I would make sure to keep this entire corridor clean if you wish to continue using that as an entrance Naruto-san." As the clone's head reappeared through the gap in the ceiling, Anko made a show of grabbing a small piece of dust that was just settling from his leap.

"This section of floor is far dustier than the rest of the corridor, which makes it obvious that this is the point of entry, even if the wall tarp will throw off some of the interest." She hadn't been entirely sure where the other entrance had been, but the roof made sense given the mobility ninja had.

It would make any visits from civilians almost impossible, though the floors full of traps would put off all but the most determined regardless. And as the clone flashed the first genuine smile he had shown her so far in her direction, Anko got the sinking feeling that civilian accessibility hadn't even figured into the Gaki's head, or if it had it had been something of a moot point.

"Really? Thanks Anko-chan! I wouldn't have thought of that." The 'mask' seemed to have slipped from the clone, even for a few brief seconds.

As the clone ducked back into the roof space and she jumped up after him, Anko could only hope that the original would be as easy to open up.

Given the complexity of the other 'hoops' she had been forced to jump through, literally as well as figuratively, Anko was surprised that this last section was so simple, the roof space going in a diagonal line back towards the start of the corridor for less than five metres before the clone dropped down into what Anko assumed was the Gaki's quarters.

"Boss, Koala-chan, the psycho lady is here!" Even as she dropped through the roof space, Anko was a little offended at being called a psycho, she had been perfectly well behaved!

"Naruto-san, we have discussed this, it is 'psychologist', not 'psycho-lady'. That has completely different connotations. And I believe we also discussed the negative impact you pretending to be one of your clones would have on your psychological state." The living room was quite possibly the largest that Anko had seen in a Ninja apartment, but that was probably in part because it was clearly the entirety of one of the apartments on this floor.

An Anbu was sat on one of the comfy but clearly old armchairs off to Anko's left, and given her rather pointed words towards the rather sheepish Gaki who was now standing in front of her, she hadn't been accompanied up here by a clone at all. The real Naruto, assuming this wasn't another ploy concocted by the two of them, reached up and scratched the back of his head in clear confusion.

"Conno-what now? I keep telling you Koala-chan, you don't need to keep using all these complicated words Dattebayo!" Even as the Gaki clearly relaxed somewhat in his reaction, showing a level of perceived safety with displaying his lack of knowledge, Anko analysed the unintended additional piece to the latest puzzle she had been asked to unwind.

"Connotations is not a complicated word Naruto-san, and you must get used to understanding and using more complex words and phrases in your vocabulary, even if you don't like them." The ANBU tossed her shoulder cut black hair back as she finished chopping a set of spring onions, moving them to one side with a clinical manner that showed her ninja training, whilst also highlighting a lack of passion for cooking.

"Eh, why'd I do that?" Naruto seemed ready to speak further, but with a flick of her wrist that had Anko reaching for her back up kunai, Koala flicked a small bean bag in the Gaki's direction.

It wasn't exactly a fast projectile, especially given the almost absent minded manner that Koala carried out her 'attack', but the boy still only just managed to dodge it. Anko was almost disappointed for a moment, but then remembered quite how thin the boy looked and the fact he had been breathing hard just climbing those three flights of stairs.

"You mean 'Sorry Koala-san, but why would I want to use such vocabulary?'" Koala turned on the gas hob underneath the Wok she had at the ready, the sound of sizzling vegetables filling the apartment a moment later.

"H-Hai, Koala-san. I mean when I'm Hoka…" This time the bean bag was not going to be dodged, so Anko decided to earn herself some points with the kid while at the same time inserting herself into this conversation/lesson.

"And you think the Hokage does not have to deal with Nobles and other rich snobs as representative of Konoha? First rule of being a Ninja Uzumaki-san, everything is a battlefield, and the more weapons you have, whether in the form of words or otherwise, the more likely you are to survive." As she lowered her hand, the second small bean bag grasped between thumb and two fingers inches from catching the gaki full in the face, the belated shock and jerking dodge only preempted her danger sense going off by nano-seconds.

The speed at which a wave of chakra lashed out from the boy, like a whip the size of her forearm, meant Anko had no choice but to let go of the mental restrictions she had put on her skills. She was across the otherside of the room in a moment, though the chakra had still caught her withdrawing hand at the wrist.

"Holy..." The exclamation was nothing more than a whisper, the burning feeling telling her she was going to have a bruise there tomorrow at the least.

But the exclamation was more for the look of blossoming horror on the Gaki's face, obviously that hadn't been done on purpose, and her reaction hadn't helped whatever mental trauma the gaki associated with the subconscious attack.

"Impressive move Gaki, we will work on controlling how much you project your chakra as part of our sessions, but that's at least a B-Rank Jutsu right there." She spoke without really having a plan, as she knew if she seemed to pause or hesitate now then the reaction would not be a positive one, and that kind of negative interaction at the first session would damage the relationship she needed before it even formed.

"You're… You're not scared?" The horrified expression on the Gaki's face lessened slightly, but his deep blue eyes remained fixed on hers even as she moved slowly back in his direction, clearly expecting her to admit some kind of nerves.

Truthfully though, Anko wasn't particularly concerned about the technique, subconscious or otherwise. It would mean her normal ways of forcing a teenage boy to be more open with her wouldn't work, or at least not in the short run, but she could adapt to a 'no-touching' policy.

"Naruto, as Ninja we know techniques that can kill a person, or even an entire group of people in an instant. Unless there's more to your technique than I can guess at, I just need to avoid making sudden moves around you that your brain might read as 'attacks', which is hardly a big challenge. Honestly, that kind of defence will be damned useful on the battlefield." Use the patient's first name, attack the source of their concern directly and then find a way to turn their experience into a strength.

"Really? I mean Kakashi-sensei said something like that… Yatta! Take that Teme" For a moment she saw a sign of the troublemaking prankster commonly running through the streets less than six months ago, but even as she reached the three metre line from him and stopped there, he seemed to draw back in on himself.

"But what about my team? I can't risk hurting Sakura-chan by accident!" Anko appreciated that his first concern was hurting others, even if he had only mentioned one of his teammates, and it was a valid fear that she didn't have an immediate answer for.

"So tell them." Koala's blunt statement cut in before Anko could work out how to put a similar suggestion more delicately.

Contrary to popular belief in the Academy, Genin teams didn't have to be comrades for life, and there were many cases where teams had been split up after the first Chuunin exam they participated in due to personality and skill incompatibility. So though Anko could see that the Gaki was terrified of such disclosure, no doubt thinking of the giant furred reason he probably had such a new skill from, she nodded her head in agreement.

"What Koala-san is trying to say is that you can tell them about why you will be keeping your distance Naruto. You don't have to tell them how you unlocked this ability, or about any other secrets that they might not be aware of. Take one small step, and see how they respond to this information. I will speak with your Sensei and Hokage-sama, and we can ensure that when you tell them we can provide a demonstration, so that they understand why you are being so cautious."

Such a demonstration would probably be needed, because teenagers were still very much like Children, and telling them not to do something was waving a cloth over a flame. It might not catch light the first time, and when it did catch light it would be too late for everyone.

"Perfect, you're the best Anko-neechan!" It was like a switch flipping, even as Naruto managed to stop himself from presumably trying to hug her in his sudden bout of happiness.

Even as he calmed himself down once more, Anko knew that this wouldn't be a one time issue for her to deal with, the jumping between emotional states something that would only settle with a level of closure about his attack.

Though, she appreciated the neechan suffix, and not just because it showed that she had crossed some threshold in Naruto's perspective of her.

It brought her back to a better time, before the only memories she had of family were blood and screams...

!"£$%^&*()_+

Hokage Tower, Konoha, Two Weeks after 'Graduation Night'

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage of Konoha

"Someone has been cleaning house…" Danzo looked up from the 34 cases of 'fatal accidents' that had occurred in the last 72 hours, the man's single eye not showing any sign of having known this information beforehand.

"And I know that you and your 'Root' are behind it… Don't even try." Hiruzen was tired, emotionally exhausted and running almost entirely on the fury he felt at the failures in his village.

So he had no time for the back and forth bullshit he and Danzo occasionally engaged in. Despite their disagreements and rivalry, Sarutobi believed they still wanted the same thing for Konoha, and that meant it was time to remove an issue off the board or use it more constructively.

The net of informants and spies spread far beyond Konoha's walls, as well as deeper than even Ibiki's darkest paranoia wanted to put a number against.

"I have been willfully ignorant of your black ops for too long Danzo, but I admit that they serve a purpose that the normal ANBU will not be able to fill." Especially given the current state of the Numbers and the general morale issue that was slowly seeping across the entirety of Konoha's Ninja groups.

"So, tell me who these people were, why you 'removed' them and who else you are planning on targeting. Then we can work out which targets I actually want targeted by your group outside of Konoha, and we can coordinate intelligence regarding other potential leaks and moles." Fire and fury spent, Hiruzen almost collapsed into his seat with a sigh, his eyelids threatening to remain closed every time he blinked.

"The problem is Sarutobi, whilst I will admit to the continued existence of Root, these aren't mine…"

All of a sudden, Sarutobi's eyes were wide awake, and there was no chance of him nodding off any time soon.

A/N: I will admit, this fic has sat for more than a year with less than 1 k words. Then someone accused the fic of being abandoned and suddenly I found some inspiration. Now, word of warning, this doesn't mean that accusing my stories of being abandoned will produce results, this was probably just a one time thing.

Anyway, another jump down the rabbit hole into the aftermath of the attack, as well as the introduction of another key character in the story. Naruto is not going to be 'fixed' quickly, and Mitarashi Anko is going to be taking a good long look into the darkness and depth of Naruto's psyche.

Part of this will be dealing with the aftermath of the attack, part will be dealing with the other aspects of Naruto's personality that would set off alarms in any psychologist's head.

And of course, I couldn't resist the little snapshot at the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, please Review and let me know what you think!

Defias Out!