Chương 80: This sword is not yours!

The seventh team, composed of Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki, was preparing to return to the village after successfully completing the mission assigned by Tazuna to protect him during the construction of the bridge in the Land of Waves.

The appearance of multiple assassins raised the mission's rank and revealed the client's trap. However, for some strange reason, Kakashi considered there was no problem in continuing it solely due to his team's insistence.

He thought it would be good for their experience, and they would see some action.

"This bridge will be known as the Naruto Bridge!"

The news excited the blonde boy, but it annoyed the others to hear him bragging about having a bridge named after him. As they bid farewell to Tazuna's family, Kakashi sensed a familiar scent and discreetly turned his head in a specific direction.

"What's happening?" Sasuke noticed the unusual behavior of the jonin, and without any delicacy, he looked in the same direction, realizing something seconds later.

"Isn't that where they made the graves for that Zabuza guy and the kid named Haru who intervened in Kakashi's attack?"

"Tomb raiders?" he murmured, intrigued by the possibility.

"Huh?" Naruto turned upon hearing Sasuke, and when the words processed in his small head, his face turned red with anger. "Who dares to do something like that? I'm going to teach them a lesson!" he proclaimed, shouting as he ran towards the graves.

"Naruto, don't cause trouble!" Sakura tried to stop him, but the blonde ignored the kunoichi. "How can he move like that with the injuries he had?" she sighed tiredly.

"Let's go," Kakashi had a bad feeling and hurried to catch up with Naruto.

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances and, without saying anything, quickly followed, concerned that another concerning event had arisen after the mission.

"Hey! Drop that sword before I get angry; it's not yours!"

Kakashi heard Naruto confronting the person who had taken Zabuza's Kubikiribocho before being followed by the sound of a loud thud and Naruto shouting as he crashed into a tree.

"Get lost, brat. I found this sword lying here, and now it's mine."

Kakashi widened his right eye upon hearing the voice, and after two seconds of doubt, he believed he recognized the other party.

"Anko?" Kakashi asked with uncertainty in his voice as he tried to confirm his suspicions and made sure Naruto was okay.

If it weren't for his previous contact with her when they were younger, he wouldn't have almost recognized her. The changes she had undergone since her time as a declared B-rank rogue ninja of Konoha in the Bingo Book were considerable, and to be honest, most people believed she should have died at the hands of Orochimaru years ago when he took her for some of his experiments.

Anko was dressed in a strange ninja outfit that vaguely seemed familiar. He was sure he had read something in some report, and her figure had developed significantly—perhaps only Lady Tsunade could surpass her at the moment. That look of fear, loneliness, and loss had disappeared, replaced by one of determination, confidence, and cunning.

She no longer tied her hair as she used to when she was younger and let it grow longer, almost touching her shoulders. She was holding Kubikiribocho with strange ease over her shoulder, and there was a sense of danger around her.

It was only when he saw the headband that he began to connect the dots quickly and realized that Anko's disappearance might never have had anything to do with Orochimaru!

Were they deceived, or was there a story he didn't know?

Perhaps she escaped from Orochimaru somehow and ended up in Seimeigakure by accident?

He still remembered the face of Yamanaka, the head of the intelligence department, before leaving on the current mission, walking like a zombie while holding an empty coffee cup (normal, it was upside down) due to his exclusive and exhaustive work of locating that village, with no result despite all these years.

The reward for that information had tripled on the black market!

"Kakashi?" Anko looked at the newcomer and, upon noticing his white hair, mask, and covered eye, immediately knew who he was. "Ha! I never thought the day would come when Kakashi Hatake had to lead a team of brats. So, is the blonde idiot part of your team?" she asked. "Well, good thing I didn't decide to kill him."

"It hurts!" Naruto's cry interrupted their conversation. "Damn witch! I'm going to..."

Without warning, Naruto suddenly felt numb from head to toe and couldn't move no matter how hard he tried. Panic set in.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and recognized the symptoms—poison.

"It seems your mastery of poison has improved a lot over the years," he commented after making sure it was just a harmless paralyzing poison. "What has happened to your life since you disappeared?" he asked, wanting to extract information.

"Before that, do you want to control the rest of the brats, or should I break a few bones?" Anko asked as she looked behind Kakashi.

Sasuke and Sakura arrived to see Naruto completely rigid in a strange position and got into a combat stance.

"Calm down; it's not someone you have a chance against," Kakashi warned sternly. "Sakura, pick up Naruto. Sasuke, escort both of them to Tazuna's house. Be careful of ambushes."

"Fine," Sasuke had gained a new respect for Kakashi after this mission and knew he still needed to strengthen himself significantly if he wanted to kill that man, so he followed the instructions and withdrew while keeping his eyes on Anko until he disappeared among the leaves, alongside a struggling Sakura dragging a paralyzed Naruto.

"So, what were you saying?" urged Kakashi, interested in knowing what happened that night and maintaining an apparently relaxed posture that would actually allow him to react to any attack.

"There's not much to tell, really," Anko shrugged and began to tell the story she had agreed upon with everyone. "I was kidnapped by Orochimaru for one of his strange experiments, but before he could tie me to the operating table, I managed to escape thanks to a gullible jailer. During my escape, I suffered a blow to the head that gave me amnesia," she lifted her gaze slightly as if remembering, just as she had rehearsed many times. "Later, I found a place to call home, people who appreciate me without prejudice or belief in manipulated rumors. I fell in love, and over time, I regained my memories," her gaze returned to Kakashi, and she put on a genuine smile—the only honest act of her performance until now. "Looking back at what I had, the choice was easy."

"Didn't you think of returning to the village, even for a moment?" Kakashi asked seriously.

"The same village that declared me a rogue ninja within twelve hours of my abduction? Sure, they'd welcome me with open arms and a smile," Anko retorted with a tone laden with mockery and sarcasm. "Don't play dumb with me, Kakashi; you know very well that I was only used as one of many targets for the village's anger. Beaten to the ground, only for that idiot Sarutobi to come and show me the warmth of the Will of Fire. Apparently, he likes to find young fuel to burn, from what I heard."

Anko remembered what Enel told her about how "coincidental" Sarutobi's arrival was during the Nine-Tails uproar. Right after Minato made the seal, he appeared the next second like clockwork. Or like someone who saw an opportunity and decided waiting was the best...

"You shouldn't insult the Hokage in front of a Konoha ninja," Kakashi became more serious and looked at the kunoichi with intensity. Seeing that she showed no fear, he could only sigh and add, "Yuhi worried a lot about you."

"Yeah, I thought about writing her a letter or something to put her mind at ease. You know, since she was my best friend and all, but you know," Anko pointed to her face, "it's a bit difficult when you have amnesia and are declared a rogue ninja. Remember?"

"So why is that not a problem now?" Kakashi wanted to know, unable to understand her behavior. "You know I'll report this encounter to the Hokage; I won't keep quiet that I saw you."

"You're right; I should be worried about that," Anko frowned before putting on an enlightened expression. "Oh, wait, I just remembered, when I deliver this sword, it won't matter, actually."

"The Kubikiribocho?" Kakashi looked at her strangely. "Why the hell do you want that big piece of iron? Its only ability is to regenerate with the iron in the blood of its victims; it's not even properly made of chakra metal!"

"It's my ticket to achieving my latest dream," Anko responded mysteriously as she blushed slightly. "In fact, I don't know why you don't take it as a war trophy to ask Kirigakure for a ransom, but it works for me. That way, I avoid using those brats as hostages for you to hand it over."

Kakashi frowned at the last statement. Not only did he not like what he heard, but he understood that the sword seemed to have a higher purpose that he didn't know.

Anko, on the other hand, would have left long ago if Kakashi weren't one of the few people who didn't treat her badly at the moment, although he didn't offer to help her either. But Kakashi at that time was essentially a zombie with his own problems, so she could forgive him.

She was impatient to finally complete the task and deliver the sword to Ameyuri, so she could call her big sister!

Collecting one of the seven Mist swords was her condition for recognition.

Pakura had given her approval two years ago, so when Enel whispered to her in secret that there was a high probability she would get this sword in this place these days, it felt like she had eaten honey-covered dango.

She had been waiting for this moment for years, and now she was twenty-four! She didn't want to wait any longer!

"So don't worry, Kakashi," Anko said as she turned to leave and left behind words that left the white-haired jonin stunned. "Unless that old fool wants to suffer the retaliation of an entire village, he won't dare to give me even a dirty look. Oh, give this to the Uchiha brat," she tossed a storage scroll to him. "I think he'll like it."

She used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared, leaving Kakashi pondering the possible meaning of her words.

"And I thought things were going to calm down," he sighed as he turned around to see if Naruto had regained mobility and reflexively checked if the scroll had any installed traps.

It wasn't until later, when he saw its content, that he was completely bewildered.

Why was Sasuke crying at the sight of an apple pie?