Inside on the Outside

Thursday night, 9:30 pm. The party had officially begun even though no one had arrived yet. Gai had a nice, 3 bedroom apartment on the third floor of a complex that bordered the trees. He had a deck that would be used for most of the night’s events. It was also coincidental that he was a great cook. He and Kakashi were the best jounin cooks, living alone most of your life does that to you. By 9:45, the first wave of Kurenai, Asuma and a few others. By 10:15, Anko, Iruka, Genma, and Hayate had arrived. Kakashi was the only one unaccounted for which wasn’t too much of a surprise since he was late to everything. Anko threw her arms around Gai.

“Hey baby, happy Thursday.” She said most affectionately.

“Hey Anko. I’m glad you came; even though you are a little terror when you’re drunk.” Gai kissed the top of her head. Anko laughed.

“I know! Where’s your hard liquor and where’s Kakashi?” she immediately wanted to know.

“The hard liquor is right here, and god only knows where Kakashi is. He’ll be here. Then you can hit on him all you want.” Gai prepared to pour Anko a shot of rum but Anko just took the bottle out of his hand.
“It’s okay, Gai. I’ll just drink like this.” Gai couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Well, I have plenty of it, go ahead. You’re going to be real trashed real fast though.” He reassured her. Anko started in on her bottle and decided now would be a good time to start harassing Kurenai and Asuma. The time was 10:32 and most everyone had started drinking at this point.

“Asuma! Kurenai!” Anko proudly called to them. They were inside on Gai’s living room couch.

“Is she hammered already?” Asuma asked Kurenai.

“No.” Kurenai said softly. “That’s her harassment voice.”

“So, are you two like together, together? Or are you just doing it?” Kurenai smiled and she and Asuma glanced at one another quickly.

“We’re together, together, Anko.” Kurenai said.

“Aww, you kids. I always knew you’d eventually realize you were meant for one another.” Anko gave them both a squeeze on the arm and went off to find someone else to harass. By 11:07, Kakashi had arrived. At this point some of the jounins were already drunk. Anko had just gotten to her drunken state. She was still toting her bottle of rum around. Kakashi had slipped in and managed to find Gai. They were friends, even though they constantly told each other that they were eternal rivals. In fact, they were close friends. One of the first things Kakashi wanted to know upon his arrival was the whereabouts of Anko. Gai directed him to the deck. Kakashi slipped out the door only to find her leaning on the balcony talking to some of the other jounin instructors. He snuck up behind her and put his arms around her waist.

“Hey, how drunk are you.” He said to her kissing the side of her head. Anko spun around. Anko gasped.

“You’re not wearing the mask! Are you drunk?” Kakashi laughed at her.

“No, but I figured if I was going to drink, I would have to take the mask off anyway, and everyone here is pretty over the edge, so I figure they’ll never remember a thing by tomorrow.” Anko laughed.

“Oh! Here, have some rum!” Anko made the gracious offering of her bottle of rum. By the looks of the bottle, it was obvious that she had already had plenty. “I’m actually stopping for now, so dive in!” She said. She handed her bottle over to Kakashi who immediately took a drink of it. Kakashi managed to keep his back to everyone inside….just in case anyone started to sober up. The secret had already been revealed to Anko. It was the perfect evening to have the party. By 12:50 Kakashi was good and buzzed. Anko was drunk but had long since quit drinking, that was all she needed was a hangover the next day.

“Why don’t you come home with me tonight?” Kakashi asked her.

“Really? You want me to?” She acted surprised. They were still facing the woods before them.

“Yeah of course. But you don’t have to sleep with me, you can just sleep with me.” Kakashi said. Anko smiled.

“And why wont’ you ‘sleep’ with me? Did I not live up to your expectations?” Anko teased. She was good and she knew it.

“The truth is, I like you Anko. I want to spend more time with you. You spark my interest greatly.” Kakashi said taking another sip of rum. Anko smiled to herself. There hadn’t been any men take a true interest in her they always took interest in something else.

“Well, of course I’ll go home with you.” She said.

“Good.” Kakashi said. They stayed at Gai’s until close to 2:00 am and then they headed for Kakashi’s house. As they left Gai’s apartment, Kakashi reached down for Anko’s hand. “Has anyone ever held your hand?” Kakashi asked her. This questioned pierced Anko deeply, because it penetrated her on so many levels. She looked up at her silver haired jounin.

“No…the walks of my life have been taken alone and never has there been a hand to cling to.” Anko laughed partially because she was drunk but also because this was her way of remaining calloused, a way of escaping her past and most of all; a way of wearing her outside on the inside, tucked away for no one to see. Kakashi, like her was hiding more than just his face…she could feel her heart grow heavy and light at the same time. It was dawning on her that she and he had more in common than she ever before thought. She leaned in against his shoulder as the two of them approached his house.