Chapter Two— A Kiss for the Heart

"Anko? Wake up, honey," a gentle voice said from above the girl.

Anko slipped back into the world of the awake slowly, seeing a bright glow from behind her closed eyelids. She felt herself in a warm bed. White. She could feel white. And when she opened her eyes, she immediately closed them again. Too much white…

"Tsunade…It's too bright," she grunted, covering her eyes with her arm.

The blonde chuckled. "Sorry. I forget that you're a vampire," she said jokingly as the lights dimmed enough so that it was black behind her eyelids again; the colour it should be.

"No joking now, Tsu. My head hurts," Anko replied groggily, her head pounding. She remembered what had happened almost instantly and sat straight up in the hospital bed, earning a major head rush. Ignoring it, her hand flew to the bandages wrapped around her neck.

"Yeah, I bandaged you up," Tsunade said, reading the questioning look in her friends eyes. "You always seem to find trouble, don't you?"

"I don't find trouble," Anko retorted, sinking back to the pillow. "Trouble finds me."

The blonde laughed. "No, my friend, you're drawn to trouble. I know you. When you sense trouble, you think, 'Oh, cool.' And then run off to get yourself killed." She smiled kindly and put a hand on the blanket that covered the girl's leg. "Sweetie, I can't keep rescuing you. I'm getting tired, and I'm busier now than I have been in a while due to the recent murders in Sunagakure. They seem to think we're at fault." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's your own fault for flaunting the fact that we have the most well-trained ANBU and assassins the world has ever known, which probably isn't true, by the way." Anko rolled her eyes as well.

"You know, you're insulting yourself when you say that," Tsunade pointed out.

"I know…" the girl replied, staring blankly at the ceiling. She seemed out of it right now. But who could blame her?

The Hokage sighed. She leaned her elbows on the edge of the hospital bed and rested her chin on her fists. "So tell me. What exactly happened out there? When I found you, you had a snake on your lap and it hissed at my ANBU when they tried to get near you. Plus the large amount of blood you had lost from those wounds on your neck…Mind explaining?"

Anko continued to stare at the ceiling. My little snake came back to protect me? I told him to go away… She outwardly smiled to herself. So then, how long was I out there? It couldn't have been that long. It's still night… And where is he? Run away again like a coward? She remembered him biting her neck, him cradling her head in his soft and cold hand, the feel of his lips against hers… She shook her head vigorously, earning a bigger headache.

"Well?" asked the impatient Tsunade.

"How did you find me?" Anko asked instead of explaining just yet.

"It wasn't easy. I had a feeling that something would go wrong tonight, since it seems that every full moon you do something stupid that nearly gets you killed. I sent ANBU to your apartment, and when they returned and said that you weren't there, I sent dispatches all over the sleeping village. You're lucky I care about you as much as I do, my stupid little friend," she said, poking Anko's thigh. "So, mind telling me what happened now?"

The girl sighed. "I was running through the forest because I couldn't sleep, stumbled on a very angry snake which snuck up on me and attacked me, and then passed out after it bit me. The snake you found on my lap was an old friend of mine that obviously was worried about me."

Tsunade nodded slowly. "That still doesn't answer the question; how the hell did that snake bite you in such an ironic spot? The puncture holes are directly above your mark, just high enough so that it's not touching it. Wanna explain that?"

Anko shrugged. "I guess it was just a coincidence…" she said, pretending to be stupid. It was a good thing that she had thought this out already between unconsciousness and waking up.

The blonde sighed and stood up from her chair beside the bed. "Well, you're going to stay the night here in the hospital. The earliest I can let you go is tomorrow morning." She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, dear. I know how much you hate hospitals. But that doesn't seem to stop you from always ending up in one." She shook her head before leaving, the door making barely a sound as the latches connected.

Anko sighed and raised a hand to her neck. She felt the bandages above where the holes were—or used to be. It didn't feel like there was anything there now. It didn't even feel bruised. Did it really heal that quickly? She ruled out this being a dream because she was in a hospital, which pretty much meant that she had gotten hurt. And the pain. That pain could not have been created by her mind. And his eyes, his smirk…his lips… She shook her head again and closed her eyes.

At least she got to have a pleasant night's sleep; safe in the ANBU guarded medical facility. Though, if he really wanted to get to her, he wouldn't even waste a sweat on those ANBU. But he wouldn't want to get to her that badly. He was probably already back in Otagakure with his followers, planning his next attack on a village.

A strange kind of sadness filled her heart as she imagined that, and she pushed it away as she fell into a dreamless sleep. Her heart beat a little slower.

The next morning, as promised, Anko was released from the hospital, but nor without receiving a mission from the Hokage, of course. Not even out the hospital door yet and she was already back to work…This sucked.

The mission was a simple delivery. 'Get this package to Amegakure and return in one piece. No more snake fights.' Tsunade's words echoed in her head as she made her way out of the village and leapt away, the small package tucked safely under her arm.

She hadn't taken off the bandages yet because she didn't want anyone to wonder why her wounds were gone already. Ordinary snake bites didn't heal that quickly.

By the time she had delivered the package to Amegakure, it was already sundown, and the forest stretched before her was dark and welcoming. Though she wouldn't get back until tomorrow morning as it was, she took her time returning. She loved the night better than the day. Things were more peaceful, and the dark hid things about yourself that you could see easily during the day. The night was Anko's safety blanket.

About half way back to the village, her mark began to throb again. "Damn it," she said aloud, a hand flying to her bandaged neck and clutching fiercely at the fabric. She had stopped on a tree branch and braced herself against the trunk. Well, it was only a light throb, so that meant that he couldn't be that close, right?

Wrong.

An arm reached out from behind her and wrapped around her waist, pulling her off the branch. She landed on her back with a thud and an "oof" on the dewy grass at the base of the trunk and closed her eyes from impact. The man that had grabbed her was sitting on top of her, holding her wrists to the ground on either side of her head.

Anko opened one eye somewhat to see who it was, though she obviously knew. "What do you…want this time…snake?" she choked out, his weight on her stomach making it hard to keep breath in her lungs.

"I just thought I'd say hello," he sneered, looking down at her condescendingly.

"Liar…" she spat. "You followed me here, didn't you? It's way out of the way to either Konohagakure or Otagakure."

He chuckled and leaned his head down close to hers. "Maybe I did. So what? There's nothing you can do about it." His voice was too seductive.

"I can do more about it this time than I could last time," she said defensively. "I have more strength this time." Which brought another question to mind. "And why is the mark barely reacting to you?"

"Neither are important," he replied coldly. "It doesn't matter if you have more strength this time. You still can't fight me." He pulled her wrists high above her head and collected them both in one pale hand, leaving the other one free. He used it to grab hold of her chin and forced her face up so that it was looking directly into his eyes.

She hadn't had the time or sense to close her eyes before it was too late. Her eyes locked with his, and she couldn't pull away. The golden pools mesmerized her; the malicious black slit that ran down the center of the gold entranced her. They seemed to look directly into her soul and they held it there. Before she knew it, she couldn't move at all. Her arms and legs felt useless. So this was his plan all along. It didn't matter that she was back in health and strong again. She was stupid enough to look into his forbidden eyes.

As soon as Orochimaru was sure that he had her paralyzed, he released her wrists, which stayed in the same place unmoving. His attention shifted to the bandages wrapping around her neck. "Did they think these would accomplish anything?" he asked, more to himself than to Anko. He rolled his eyes and tore the bandages from her neck, revealing the place where his bite marks had been before. There was no trace of them now.

He smirked to himself and glanced up at Anko's distant and blank eyes. She was out of it. Perfect… He lowered his head to her neck again, bracing himself against her chest using his arms. With no hesitation, he sank his fangs into her neck again, deeper and more prominent this time, earning an absent yet startled gasp for air from the girl's mouth.

It hurt, but the foremost pain was dulled so that it mainly just felt like she had a cramp in her neck instead of two fangs. She still couldn't get her body to move.

Several minutes passed before the snake slowly pulled his fangs out of her skin and licked his lips. "Sweeter every time," he breathed. He stared down at the motionless girl for a moment, and then slowly lowered his head again. This time, he pressed his ear to her chest right above her heart. He listened patiently to her heartbeat.

Thump…pause…thump…pause…thump…pause…

It was beating too slowly for it to be called normal. Orochimaru raised his head and sighed. He thought of a reason for it to be like that, and then decided to try and figure out a way that would make his favourite plaything well again. He could only think of one thing.

He looked back into her distant eyes, cursed himself for doing this, and then lowered his head to hers. His lips brushed against hers lightly, and he felt her dull heartbeat pick up slightly beneath his hand, which was pressed to her chest. He kept his lips lightly touching against hers for a while until her heartbeat was near normal again, and then he was about to lift his head when she surprised him.

Anko closed her eyes and leaned her head up in order to make the kiss more of a kiss. Her once motionless arms came down and encircled his neck, holding him there and trying not to let him go.

Gently, he unhooked her arms from around his neck and pulled back from the kiss, his eyes staring down at her, disbelieving and puzzled, one eyebrow raised.

The girl blushed and looked down, which was pretty much looking at his chest. "S-sorry…" she muttered in a small voice. Her arms were tucked against her chest and her fists covered her mouth in a cutely embarrassed motion. "I…um…" She paused, feeling even more embarrassed at how silent and motionless he was being. "Can…can you kiss me…again?" she asked in a whisper, her cheeks growing more red.

Orochimaru continued to stare at her blankly, not saying a word or even giving some hint that he had heard her.

Seeing his apparent hesitation, Anko closed her eyes and cursed herself for being such a fool to have even asked him that. Stupid…What was I thinking, asking him that? I'm such an idiot… I mean, of course he'd think I'm insane. I hate him more than anything, and here I go asking him to kiss me? I'm such a loser…

Since Anko was busy mentally beating herself, she didn't notice Orochimaru slowly lowering his head to hers again. His arms reached up and took hold of her wrists, pulling them away from her mouth and holding them to the ground next to her head again. He pressed his lips against hers again, only harder this time, meaning it as a kiss and not just a means of torture.

The girl came back to earth with a start as she felt his lips again, and then she quickly sank into the kiss, closing her eyes and focusing on how good his lips felt against hers.

Making the kiss deeper, the snake pressed his mouth harder on hers, his tongue running along her bottom lip and then slipping into her mouth. He ran it along the inside of her lips and cheeks, savouring her taste. His lips moved against hers skillfully and passionately, making the kiss last as long as he could.

When he finally had to pull away, his eyes were gentle as he watched Anko open hers, keeping her eyelids drooped. Her lips were still parted from where his tongue had slipped out and his saliva still clung to her lips. Orochimaru licked his own lips once, slowly, and then he smirked at her. "I have to go." And he vanished from her, leaving her lay in the wet grass in the same position she had been in, her breathing heavy, her heart pounding…