Disclaimer: I don't own anything even remotely related to Naruto. I only own my writing style and ideas.

Details: This fic is intended to be a two-part story. I was supposed to be posting this on the 24th (Anko's char birthday), but my internet connection didn't allow it, so the 25th had to do.

Dedicated To: Caeribormaith; I will admit I was quite influenced by her way of role-playing Anko.

Part One – Haunted

She woke slowly, her eyes protesting against the light and trying to keep closed, even as the ears transformed the noise into acoustic impulses that nudged her brain towards awareness. There was heavy rain pouring methodically outside, the drops hitting the pavement just below her window in a rhythm whose quickness had made the distinct notes into indescribable homogeny. But that was not what created the bothersome dissonance that broke her sleep so unpleasantly. Those sounds – or more precisely that single sound – formed a far simpler pattern, mingled with intervals of silence that were nearly the same in length. The whole mix was dull and completely unmelodic, the noise of wood slamming against yet more wood.

She didn't know what it could be. She had only rented the small apartment the day before, to use during her stay in the small town her mission had brought her to. She hardly knew it well enough to identify noises around the place. She bore through it for a while, stoically refusing to rise and begin her day before her own physical needs had decided it was time. But there was only so much one's patience could take; it definitely had a limit, while the source of her distress was devoid of such boundaries. Something had to give in. Finally, her eyes cracked open.

Anko's bare feet thudded against the floor in muffled and perfectly synchronized tones, and then she stood, allowing the sheets she had been hugging to herself just earlier to brush off of her at leisure, falling prey to gravity. That took a few seconds, during which she stretched discreetly, in a fashion that did not involve much movement, but merely the tensing of her muscles and a bit of shifting about from the part of her shoulders. Finally, as the white and cumbersome fabric fell away completely and left her clad in shorts and an old T-shirt, which she had donned to sleep in, she had to suppress a shiver at the realization it was rather cold.

The woman made her way towards the kitchen, blinking back the remainders of her wish to lie down and give herself to blackness again. Her steps were accompanied by the same auditory disturbance, whose intensity grew more and more as she came closer. As soon as she pushed open the door to the other room, her eyes fell on the source: a small cupboard to her right, not the craftiest and most well maintained of all. Its miniature door was struggling with the wind that soared in through the wide-open window, and it kept slipping open, then slamming shut again.

She hesitated and stood there looking at it. Having been brought to consciousness too soon and against her will, Anko's brain was slow to process the visual information it received and turn it into a logical decision. So she just lingered there pondering for a few prolonged moments on a simple matter whose outcome she should have been able to decide in a heartbeat. Right now, it dumbfounded her, stopping her thought processes entirely. The cupboard was closer, so she could deal with that first and then head for the window… but then again, if she shut the window, the cupboard would fall silent as well from the lack of any more air currents. She could construct the argument, but failed to truly weigh the options and pick one.

It was then, in that state of slowness, that the unannounced throb of pain found her, sudden and sharp, causing her to freeze. No consideration or checking were needed to identify the source of it, she knew instantly, and her hand was there by instinct, fingertips pressed to the spot before she could even picture it in her mind. The Juin.

Though acute, it seemed to have been just one stab that did not intend to return, because only calm followed it. Not from her part, though. Her hand was still there, reluctant to lower itself back to her side, for fear it would be all that the pain needed to return. Her teeth remained gritted, her bracing against the unpleasant sensation having been replaced by helpless frustration.

Some things just didn't leave people alone, no matter how much time passed since they had been abandoned by both parties. And this one, the small mark, most certainly had… hadn't it?

It was his fault. All of it was. (And hers for trusting him and looking up to him that much.)

That latter thought, that unwanted side note… she wished she could erase it. Denial would be sweet. But there was always that tiny corner of her mind that chose to admit the truth instead. She couldn't do much about it when it was her own self that disagreed with her first. No one would ever be able to prove a point they didn't believe in to the world. Maybe unless something was being given in return… but she'd get nothing from anyone for this.

He'd told her that. He had promoted a self-centric manner of dealing with things that he had claimed was the only path to efficiency. Despite solid proof, Anko would never openly admit he was right and she knew it. He was, to himself. But society and the requirements of consideration towards other people made him wrong. Her own concept and sense of ethics made him wrong.

Her hand slipped away, the pressure of nails and skin dispersing from her left shoulder. She reprimanded herself internally for letting the one thing she truly hated in the world affect her in such a fashion. It – he – was only a memory at present. And yet, she had even forgotten about the cupboard, when it had been disturbing her so just moments earlier. The sight of it pushed the thoughts back some more.

A venomous glare at the door as it slammed again and a heavier sigh vented her negative emotions out.

Venomous... negative emotions…

She shook her head, and moved to the window, clear thought and method having been found again. She forced it closed and made sure it would stay that way, taking pleasure from the abruptness and the vicious character of that one move.

Something to take it all out on… anything. She had found, this time.