"Found you~!"

Julia couldn't keep her neutral face as her eye caught sight of her target's signature purple hair. Anko Mitarashi, 12 years old, Chunin, Dango lover, and most importantly... Orochimaru's former student.

The ninja in training had been looking for her the past few days, visiting all the sweet shops in the village. Heck, she even convinced Gai to take her to training ground 44 for some "super special survival training!" sessions.

Needless to say, but she'll say it anyway to emphasize, that sucked hard.

She wasn't a squeamish girl by any means, she wasn't scared of rats or bugs and even found slithering snakes pretty cool to look at, but there was just something deeply wrong and disturbing seeing 5 meter long centipedes crawling around and all the other giant insects and animals in that godforsaken place.

She shook her head to clear away the memories which she was sure would continue to haunt her before following the young snake mistress. Neither of the young girls was ignorant of the harsh glares one of them was receiving from the villagers. The Chunin barked out an order at the shop in a foul mood and soon left with a bag full of four entire boxes of sweets.

Julia trailed the older girl into a clearing, watching as Anko sat down on a log and began eating, wondering how to best approach her target. She didn't have time to think for long because suddenly something flew towards her face. She narrowly managed to tilt her head out of the way and avoided getting her eye poked out or something.

Blue eyes widened as they turned and saw a wooden skewer shaking ever so slightly from the impact, imbedded halfway within a tree 5 feet behind her. She felt a small trail of warmth run down her right cheek and didn't bother to check to know that she was bleeding.

Holy shit what the flying fuck.

"Wha the... A brat..? What the hell were you doing following me, kiddo?"

She felt her spine go ridge as a voice suddenly appeared next to her ears, and although Anko tried to hide it quickly Julia had seen the gleam of cold steel before the kunai was hidden back inside the other's sleeve. The Anko she had been watching suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. A clone, one of the simplest trick in the book, and she fell for it like an idiot. Even she knew the E rank Jutsu for god's sake, her face was cramped and confused whether to go pale in fear or red in embarrassment.

Note to self, following someone in a village of rightfully paranoid assassins was a God awful idea. I wanted to be like the main characters, but I didn't mean this!

Thinking fast she decided to go with the most reasonable option for why she was here and not make Anko weary of her.

"Hi! I'm Julia Rose!" Pretending to be the kid she actually was. After all, not everyone was an uncute little shit like Shisui, Itachi, or Kakashi, right? Kids were normally innocent or whatever even in a ninja village, right?!

"..? Anko. Mitarashi, Anko. You still haven't answered my question yet."

"I- er, C-can I have some?"

Julia pointed a finger at the log towards the warm box of sweets, which didn't disappear, unlike Anko's clone. The smell of honey and green tea carried on the breeze. Anko furrowed her brows in slight confusion staring at the odd child who had followed her from the center of the village all the way out to the middle of nowhere in a dangerous forest... Just to try and mooch some food off her. A second glance at the girl's ratty outfit and the small cuts and bruises that layered her body and her gaze softened and she gave a small nod.

Fellow orphans should look out for each other after all, because in this cold and harsh world nobody else would. Especially abused ones.

Sympathy and misunderstandings were heavy in the air, but neither decided to address it. Although in retrospect, what Gai called training probably would've been considered child abuse back in her old world, here in the elemental country it was known as "Tough Love".

"Which one do you want?"

Anko was being surprisingly nice. Julia wasn't sure if it was because of the strange pity she saw within those brown orbs, guilt from almost assaulting a child, or maybe she was just plain lonely from how most of the other villagers clearly isolated her, but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth...

Now that I think about it, that is a terrible phrase because that was exactly how Troy got fucked. I should especially be careful considering where and who I am...

The oddity of modern linguistics aside, Dango was pretty fucking great. She had never had it before, but it was like a softer and chewy Mochi! There wasn't much flavor to the dough itself, but there were so many options in the sweet syrupy glazes. She had actually taken the safe choice of matcha, or green tea, flavored ones paired with a slightly sweet drink she couldn't identify the name of. Was it utterly stupid and contrary to what she had just told herself not even five minutes to be accepting food and drinks from what was basically a stranger?

Absolutely.

Did she give a fuck?

Absolutely not.

If this was poisoned, it was the sweetest poison she had ever tasted and the trip to the hospital would've been well worth it. It was just that good.

"Hey, kid?" Julia gave a small hum in acknowledgment, far more engrossed within her sticky hands and licking the powdered sugar and syrup than any conversation, "You do know who I am... Right? What're ya doing so far out with someone like me?"

Something in her tone of voice struck something within the young Medical student. There were the usual pain and anger at her situation, being a ninja and an orphan to boot couldn't have been fun, but also a deeply rooted bitterness not at the world, but herself. The raven-haired girl had a good inkling as to why. A certain Snake Sanin and his Cursed Seal of Mindfuckery

Julia was studying to be more of a General Practitioner, but she had considered being a pediatrician at one point. Ironic considering she loathed dealing with kids on a day to day basis. They were fine when they were content and cute, but once they started acting up she felt like crying too. Anyways, that meant she was taking classes on psychology as well.

A quick cross-reference through her mental list and she came to a conclusion she always knew. Shinobi children needed far more love and support than normal to be functional and happy.

"Someone like you..? Is there something wrong with me hanging out with you?"

"Whaddya mean "is there something wrong"? Of course, there is, you stupid brat! I'm Anko fucking Mitarashi. The former student of Orochimaru," She spat out his name as if it was venom within her mouth, shivers started racking her frame as her emotion started running high. "You know, the Traitor of the Hidden Leaf? The monster that experimented on all those people, including hundreds of kids just like you?!"

Although she tried to suppress it, the Cursed Seal reacted to her heightened emotions and stress. Tears pooled within her eyes, an equal part from the agonizing pain, an equal part from frustration. Julia almost felt physically sick from the sensation of the vile Chakra slowly permeating the air, polluting it with its sinister aura.

Chakra was life energy, which meant it was tied fundamentally to who you were, your emotions and your personality. Orochimaru must've been a real piece of work to make her want to vomit from just feeling such a small fragment of his diluted Chakra from five feet away.

She couldn't even imagine having to stand such disgusting Chakra actually running through you.

Still, such developments only further fuel Anko's distress, feeling as if it was only proving a point. That she was only a hazard to others, a danger to society.

It was a physical, tangible, irrefutable proof. That she was marked by him. Tainted. Dirty. Lesser. Worthless. Her existence was an unforgivable sin. Why was she even breathing? For what purpose was she born? As the Cursed Seal of Heaven spread, so too did the negative emotions, like a raging forest fire the dark thoughts were all-consuming.

A part of Anko's mind idly wondered what in the nine hells she was doing.

She didn't know this weird doe-eyed child, but she had started taking a liking to her while sharing a meal together. She couldn't believe that the kid never even tried Dango before! The blasphemy! The poor deprived child. Still, the look of wonder in her blue eyes when she took that first bite was priceless. Such an innocent and stupid child, to be so happy over something so simple.

It was a burst of sunlight she didn't even know she desperately needed. A breath of fresh air from the muck that was her life.

So why the fuck was she ruining it all? So what if the kid was too damn stupid to figure out who she was. So what if she remained ignorant of the fact she was eating desert with "Konoha's Snakewhore"? The girl didn't need to know about that. So why was she ranting and blabbering away? To someone she didn't know? Why was she pushing this dumb brat away? She never cared about others getting hurt or even hurting them herself before.

Because she cares. Because she didn't deserve to live with my stigma, guilt by association.

No. Anko couldn't bring herself to ruin this kid's future and be so selfish like her former Sensei. She was so deep into her introspection and emotional turmoil she never noticed the "brat" staring at her as if she was an idiot stating the obvious, which to be fair wasn't far from the truth. Seriously, how many fucking Anko Mitarashi was there? Especially one with such a distinctive purple hairstyle and raging love for, admittedly delightful, sweets? Not to point out the fact that Orochimaru of the frigging Sannin was her teacher, the snake faced fuck that was even known by name and face in other countries.

Even if she was actually the child she physically was... It'd be pretty fucking dumb to not be able to connect the dots especially with the not so subtle looks and insults sent their way walking here.

"God, why are ya here hanging out with me ya dumb idiot. Let's go, stupid, now that you've finished your meal I'll take ya back to wherever and we can part ways-"

A cough interrupted Anko midway.

"If you're quite done calling me every goddamn synonym for stupid you can think of," Purple eyebrows raised in shock, whether at a 6-year-old cursing or the glare sent her way was anyone's guess. "I'm fully aware of just who you are." This was no time to be acting like a kid, not when an actual one needed her for support whether she knew it herself or not.

"Right... I guess my reputation precedes me" A hollow laugh and an empty smile.

"Yup, you're Anko Mitarashi, the Dango loving, trigger-happy, purple-haired idiot,"

"Hey!" Whatever anger and indignation she felt quickly died as the girl continued.

"and my friend."

It was cheesy, corny, and exactly what Anko needed to hear at the moment. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Anko. They were so small and thin-looking, yet so warm with a deceptive amount of strength. How odd, that she could feel so happy and safe being held by someone half of her age. A bit of life returned into her honey brown eyes and while her smile became more subdued, it became all that much more real and vibrant. The burning mark hidden beneath her shirt slowly subsided.

"Now c'mon, let's get some actual food, my treat this time!"

"What? What're ya blabbering about, brat, Dango is actual food."

"No, it's a snack, now are you gonna come or keep debating a point in which you'll most certainly lose. To a six-year-old, because I assure you that is most certainly what will happen if you attempt to continue this line of conversation."

"Oh, what do ya know? You're just a dumb brat, I guess the wonders of Dango is lost on such young and stupid children. It's an adult's taste, ya know?"

Ah, the irony... It hurts.

"Oh, I'm sure. Nothing says "adult" quite like sugary balls of dough and colorful syrups."

The sarcasm was thick enough that someone could cut it with a kunai, but like water off a duck's back, Anko ignored it with a shit-eating grin.

"Ya damn right!