Part One
Anko's POV
'Anko.' That familiar, cold voice called out to me. 'Anko, I know you're here.'
'What do you want with me?'
'Join me. My army needs a person like you.'
Fear struck through me. 'NO! Never again will I follow you!' I screamed back to the haunting voice, but I was left in the empty void.
'You know I could always make you. Why don't you come to me and save your pride?' He said convincingly. It took all my power to break the trance he had put on me.
'There is no pride in following someone like you!'
'I didn't want to do this, but…' I imagined what he would do if he were there. He would look away sympathetically but it was an act; his evil smile would be full of anticipation.
A jolt of pain surged from my left shoulder. The curse mark was pulsing with angry chakra that was just waiting to break loose. I screamed in agony.
I woke up panting, sweat covered my body. My body trembled in fear. There was no doubt in my mind that Orochimaru had found a connection into my subconscious. I wouldn't betray my village on purpose, but could it be that my very being was still putting everyone in danger?
My eyes glazed over to the alarm clock on my bedside table. The glowing red numbers read 3:34 AM. Most likely, everyone in Konoha was still asleep. I glanced around my bedroom. I was alone. Sluggishly, I moved my body out of bed and started the shower. Warm water bounced off of me and all the muscles in my body released all the tension. It felt like every nerve was a livewire, but contrarily, my body was left in the fuzzy feeling of burned adrenalin. The hormone faded and the rapid pulse shifted back to normal. If only there was a way to slow down my mind. My fears kept spilling over like a waterfall, drowning me in doubt. The water turned cold and I stepped out of the shower. I slipped into my bathrobe and headed towards the dresser. I had gone about five steps, and then I collapsed to the floor, feeling the burns pulsing again, trying to break free of whatever was holding them back. But I felt that was going to break soon. The burn was getting hotter like a branding iron that wouldn't cool. I felt like there would be scars after this. More screams were let out as the fire sped up quickly through my body then died down. As it left, I could feel my eyes grow heavy and my head go light as I passed out.
A pounding on the door barely woke me from my dead slumber. I wasn't awake enough to see who, but someone was carrying me. Was it Orochimaru's followers abducting me? Is this what he meant by me not having a choice? I had no energy left in me to struggle; only a couple of muffled words were able to be spoken.
"Don't worry. I'm just going to take you to Lady Tsunade. Anko, you're going to be just fine." That voice was so familiar. I knew this person from somewhere but my mind just couldn't connect the pieces. Instead, it just shut down and I slipped back into the darkness.
"Anko?"
"Anko!"
"She's waking up, everyone back up!" A strong voice commanded. The Hokage? She was here? But, where was here? I woke up in total disorientation. How did I get into a hospital bed? Lady Tsunade was looking at her clipboard, and my eyes glazed around the room. Sakura, Ibiki, and Kakashi were all standing against the wall. Ibiki was watching me with careful eyes while Kakashi was lazily reading one of his Icha-Icha books… the perv. "Anko, how are you feeling? Dizzy, confused, hungry… anything?"
"Umm… why the hell am I in the hospital?"
"Well, your paperwork seems to be fine." She shown a light in my eye. "No head injuries that we know of."
"Lady Tsunade, I need to speak with you alone," I told her. Tsunade nodded and sent them out of the room. When everyone left, I told her about Orochimaru's connection to me and what he had said. She responded with a couple of nods and told me to stay in bed while she went to go check on something. But I could see through her words- there was worry in her eyes.
Minutes passed by and she finally returned with Kakashi. She explained how he was going to seal the curse mark and hopefully that would break the connection. I hoped they were right.
