Anko Mitarashi! Leaf Village's Sexiest Shinobi!

"Mh-mmh..." Anko hummed thoughtfully, considering the taste and texture of the gooey goodness in her mouth. As she did so, the man who made her treat watched nervously at the pointed stick as it spun over the kunoichi's knuckles.

Anko finally swallowed the bite of dango and sighed happily, a slightly too-long tongue licking her lips clean. Her smile widened into a terrible grin and she raised her hand, causing the dango skewer to *thunk* deep into the wall right beside the dango merchant's head.

"I'll take a dozen more!"

"O-of course, Miss s-shinobi-san. That'll be two thousand—" Anko's warm brown eyes seemed to flash red. "I mean! Five hundred ryo! Special discount just for you!"

"Aww, thanks mister~" She patted the trembling man's shoulder. "Y'know what, keep buttering me up like that and you'll be my new favorite dango guy! Especially since that last one got caught smuggling and selling moonblossom dust to kids." Her grip tightened until the man could easily mistake it for steel instead of a young woman's slender hand. "You wouldn't ever do a thing like that, wouldja?"

Eyes wide and sweat dripping down the sides of his face, doing his best to pretend the hissing coming from her sleeve was his imagination the merchant fixed a smile in place. "Of course not! I'd be h-h-honored to be your favorite dango provider, Ma'am!"

The purple-haired young woman gave a cherubic smile. "Good to know!"

Five minutes and almost a dozen bites of delicious dango later, Anko was walking the bustling streets of Konoha, savoring the last sweet treat. Sure, as an elite jonin she could easily hop from roof to roof or even blur halfway across the village in seconds, but where's the fun in that?

How else would she get to know all the wonderful, polite, innocent civilians she was sworn to protect even at the cost of her life?

"Out of the way!" A hurried man reached out to shove Anko aside, stumbling when she suddenly wasn't there.

"The red light district's that way, slut!" That comment came from an older woman working a rice stand, tanned face paling when Anko pointedly tapped the band of metal on her forehead. The sign that she was an active ninja of the village and very dangerous to piss off.

Anko swallowed the last mouthful and smiled cheerily at the woman. "Thanks! Knew it was somewhere near here." She allowed her overcoat to hang open further and struck an alluring pose, revealing the mostly transparent mesh bodysuit and faded orange miniskirt she wore underneath. "See you there tonight?"

Leaving the woman spluttering an outraged denial behind her, Anko continued onto the next street. Turned on the corner and was nearly bowled over by a gaggle of excited kids too young for the Academy.

She let them run passed her, most of them barely seeming to notice the strangely dressed woman that had blurred to avoid a collision. All except one purple-haired little girl in lopsided pigtails. A hair tie had loosened until it was one sudden motion away from falling out completely.

"Your hair is really pretty, miss ninja lady!"

"Aww, thanks sweetie!" Anko reached down and fixed the girl's hair with a single gentle twist of her fingers. "Not as pretty as yours though!"

Anko watched the girl run after her friends in excited delight, telling them all about the nice ninja lady who'd helped her. Smile wider and more honest than ever, the kunoichi kept walking.

Yeah, walking on the street can be much better than roof-hopping.

Something that was immediately reinforced by the glint of gold catching Anko's eye as she passed an alleyway.

"What's this?" She muttered to herself and picked it up out of the scrap pile it'd been hidden under. "Some kind of Wind Country lamp?"

The thing was surprisingly clean for being left in an alleyway, whatever it was. Anko brushed away some dirt and sawdust to see if she could make out any writing from the swirls on the surface.

The second her hand pulled away, the lamp pulsed brightly and thick smoke from its tip blanketed the alley.