Chapter 4: New Life?
From what the gang told Anko she was out for a couple of weeks. It would explain on why she felt weak and over all hungry. Tobeo brought her some dango, knowing that it was her favorite. When Anko saw the small balls of goodness she tried to hold herself down so she wouldn't attack the young boy. She popped one after another till her stomach told her she was full. She enjoyed the deliciousness of the dango. It was evident to the others that she was hungry. Anko knew it and she felt as if it made her vulnerable. She popped the last of the pyramid of dango into her mouth. She leaned back on the bed with a satisfied feeling inside her.
Tsume kept close to her side since he was being forced by Anko's hand holding his jacket tightly. Ever since she woke up she didn't want Tsume or Tobeo to leave her. Tsume, just like the others, can't believe that she's back. His whole life he wanted her back because she never gave them the reason on why she left. From what Kiba told the group was that she and Kiba got into an argument and it lead Anko leave. What was said in that argument? Tsume wanted to know. He knew he had to be patient with Anko.
Blue and Hige kept to themselves in their wolves form. Blue's head was on Hige's neck. Her eyes were shut from the sleep. Hige had his head on his paws watching the rest of the group. Cheza slept soundlessly on Kiba. His white fur tickled the Flower Maiden's face. Her hands were under her head touching the soft white snow fur that was under her.
Kiba had the look that could kill.
He was still not happy that Anko was back. He didn't like how Tsume and Tobeo were all over her. He didn't like the fact that she still looked the same. He didn't like how her scent was strong and vibrant.
He wanted to forget the past.
He wanted to forget her.
XXX
The next morning everyone was awake and ready to hear what Anko had to say. Even though they knew that she didn't remember them, they listened to what her life was like. The Village Hidden in the Leaf was Anko's home they found out. They knew of the people and its customs by Anko. She told them of what was her position in the village. The young one, Tobeo, was entranced by what the Jounin told them. It was a different world for the wolves and to the Flower Maiden. They've always kept to the woods and forests and yet they never found any villages.
"That's why no one can find them. They are hidden by the Hokage's soul. He is the protector of the village and its people. That's why when the people see people like me, who had lived in the villages, they always want to know where I came from or they end up following me to see where I live. No other person can find the villages only those who live there." She said. In the saying there was a lie. Yes no other person can find it but there was a way for the outsiders to find one and get in. Anko didn't tell them that. She was not going to betray her village's secrets. Then again she never was liked in her village.
"Wow! That's something." Tobeo's eyes grew with excitement. "When you get your memories can you take us there?" He begged. Anko smiled, she looked at the others who had the same plead. She touched his hand gently with little hesitation.
"I'll think about it." She said. The young pup eyes beamed with the possibility that the maybe might be a yes.
"Anko, how did you lose your memory?" Hige asked. The eyes were on her. Anko sat up from the bed, her head falling a bit, and her hair made a wall between them. For a second Hige was about to apologize but then Anko brought her head back up to look at them.
"Well I don't remember from what I could remember is that I woke up in the hospital of the infirmary and the Hokage was there by my said and with Ka-"She stopped herself from saying the name. "He was by my side. He told me that I ran away from Orochimaru and I was being chased by him. He told me that I had fallen into the ocean to escape. The fall almost killed me, he said, and that I was lucky." She explained to them. "Then he asked me where I was for the past three years. I had no idea where I've been in those years. I had no idea how I escaped from Orochimaru and this thugs when I was running in the forest."
Everyone went quiet as they thought back to the day they first met Anko. The twelve year girl being beaten and being dragged into whatever the creeps wanted from her. Kiba stared hard at the window. Blue exchanged glances with Hige who stared at Tsume. Tobeo watched everyone waiting for someone to speak. Kiba growled and turned to the purple hair girl.
"We found you when you were getting attacked by Orochimaru and his men. Tsume and Tobeo decided to play heroes to save you." Anko turned away like a child being yelled at for breaking a family heirloom.
"Kiba calm down!" Tsume stood up. Everyone got ready to break up the fight that was going start. Cheza watched Kiba and held his arm. Kiba ignored the girl's touch and the man's advice.
"Why did you come back huh Anko? Why?" He asked her. He walked up to her. Anko got out of the bed and took her stance. She felt comfortable seeing him mad.
"I thought you could help me." She glared at the long wavy haired man. "I wouldn't have left my village if I didn't think you guys would help me figure out where I've been for the past three years!"
"Well you can already put together where you've been. You've been with us and end of story! You can leave just like you left five years ago." Kiba yelled. Tobeo ran to Cheza seeking comfort. Hige and Blue got up making space between Anko and Kiba. Tsume was stopped by Blue who shook her head which meant, 'let them fight'.
"I can't go back there!" Anko shouted back at him. "I left that life of mine to find you! Now that I did I'm going anywhere till I remember how I escaped and what happened in the three years. It might seem nothing to you but it means a whole lot to me. I've been in the dark for so long I don't want to be haunted by it. I want to remember! I want to remember everything. I want to know why I left you guys. I want to know everything!" She was proud that her tears didn't expose the emotion that she felt inside. It wasn't the only reason why Anko wanted to stay with them. She loved how she felt so much at home with them. She enjoyed their company. She didn't want that to disappear.
All her life she's been the outsider of her village. No one wanted her. Her family gone she was nothing to everyone. One man came to her rescue but he was not the person who she thought. Orochimaru gave her a home and a family but with them it wasn't enough to make her whole. With the pack she felt almost whole. "You're my family… You may not see it but I do." Anko whispered. Kiba stopped his rage and really looked at Anko. "I'm sorry for whatever harm I caused you or your pack but can you find it in you to forgive the past and live in the present?"
XXX
Orochimaru was seated next to the dark cold water. Several shadows of bodies moved behind him. Their voices disturbed his trail of thoughts. He turned to them with a glare. The voices stopped and waited. Orochimaru yelled out for Konan. The group looked at each other they had no clue where she was. A cluster of paper butterflies swarmed the room in a swirl, the swarm came together forming a body. Konan's melancholy face appeared first then the rest of her body. Orochimaru crushed an extra paper butterfly that landed on his hand.
"Where's Anko?" Orochimaru didn't get any information on his student since he brought Deidara from the last time Oro-san saw Anko. Since that day he hadn't sensed Anko and for just a few seconds it bothered him. Konan explained to him that she lost Anko from that one time.
"I doubt she will survive a second cursed mark." The blue hair girl replied. The look on her face was mixed with worry, anxious, and anger. "You shouldn't have done that Orochimaru. She could be dead."
"She survived." Orochimaru replied.
"If she did survive, she would be difficult to control. She would be stronger and would possibly destroy everyone." Itachi slipped through the bodies of the Akatsuki that were getting uncomfortable by what they heard.
"So?" Deidara shouted from a distance, "Why do we even bother with the bitch?" He touched his wounds from the attack few weeks ago. A menacing smile came from the girl with blue hair. Orochimaru waited for her to explain what she had in mind.
"Anko had lost her memories right? She wants to know what happened in her past. I say we help her with that." The men smirked, "We give her what she wants and she will be ours." The Akatsuki snickered as they watched the four members made a plan.
XXX
Anko glanced back at the city that she was leaving behind. Everyone decided it was time to leave and move to a different place again. This had been the third city that the group had left in matter of weeks. The pack's quest was still on their minds. They wanted to find Paradise and now that they have Anko back they were ready to finally go home. Kiba's relationship with Anko stabilized for the time being. Tsume kept close to Anko in his wolf form and Tobeo kept close to him. Back on the road Anko told herself. She hoped that staying with them something could spark inside her but at the time she could only hope.
Night fell when the group stopped at a dinner. The wolves changed in their human form before getting close to the dinner. Kiba, Cheza, Blue, Hige, and Tsume went to get a table while Tobeo went with Anko to order the food. No one said a word. It didn't bother the young pup but he wondered if it bothered Anko. He grabbed the cups that were given to them. Anko and Tobeo went to the fountain drink, filled their drinks, and went to sit with the group.
In matter of minutes their order were brought to them by the waitress who winked at Kiba. When Kiba didn't respond to her she turned her attention to Hige but Blue gave the waitress a look. The young girl looked at Tsume who made eye contact with her for just a few seconds. The waitress face flushed lightly and quickly served the food. Tsume watched the girl walked away. She had long black hair that was up in a pony tail, she was slightly tall, and wore a pink and white uniform. He gave her one last glance watching her closely in case she was threat.
Anko never enjoyed city food but she found herself enjoying the French fries. The thinly cut sticks of potatoes with a perfect season to it. The Jounin noticed that the grey wolf was watching the waitress. It bothered her just a little bit. She coughed softly trying to get his attention. When he turned away and back at the group Anko felt better.
"We need to find a place to sleep." Blue's eye were on the Tobeo who had his head that rested on Anko's shoulder. "Tobeo is tired and I bet everyone else is too."
"Alright were too?" Hige asked taking a bite from his hamburger.
"I can get us some rooms?" Anko offered, "I don't mind. I noticed that I took the only room with a bed back at the abandon house." She reminded them. Kiba thought about her offer.
"Alright but we will leave before sun rise."
Anko came back with three keys. She handed one to Blue and Hige, one to Kiba and Cheza and the third one was for Tsume, Tobeo, and her. "I hope you don't mind sharing a room with a girl." She asked Tsume who carried Tobeo in his arms. The tough guy didn't mind at all. She entered the room checking the room before she gave it a search of every room. She was taking no chances on being attacked or having the others harmed. Tsume placed Tobeo on one of the beds. Tobeo buried his head in the softness of the pillow. Anko grabbed a towel from one of the drawers a sign to Tsume that she was going to shower.
The hot water touched her skin when she entered the shower. Steam formed when it touched her icy flesh. The dirt from her body was washed away by the soap and shampoo provided by the hotel. She had forgotten how good it felt on having a shower. After turning off the water, the steam evaporated into the air. Anko wrapped the towel around her body and got out. A fresh set of clothing waited for her on the sink. Her hand swiped the mirror that revealed her reflection. Anko's hand touched the place where Orochimaru bit her. She turned her body to see what became of her cursed mark. To her surprised the new cursed mark blended with her old one. This new cursed mark shifted its position closer to her shoulder. Her fingers ran through the mark, a light glow appeared at her touch. Anko sighed.
She didn't know if it was good or bad that she survived another attack from Orochimaru. All her life it seemed that she was always on the run from him and never really confronting him.
Anko pushed everything about Orochimaru and her problems from her mind.
She got out with her new fresh cleaned clothes. Tsume kept an eye on the outside world from the window. Tobeo was sleeping on his bed. Anko made her way to the empty bed. It felt good to be on a bed again. The whole week of traveling and not having a real bed to sleep on did a number on all of them.
"Tsume come here." Anko found herself always wanted to be with him or Tobeo. She didn't want to separate from them. The grey haired man went to her bed and lay next to her. She rested her head on his chest. Tsume hesitated on how quickly she got close to him. He wasn't use to having someone so close to him. His hands slowly moved up to hold her. "Tell me about Paradise." She asked him.
"Don't you remember Anko?" Tsume saw her staring at him.
"I do but I want to hear it from you." She broke eye contact resting her head under his chin. Tsume's heart raced.
"Paradise is a place where we wolves can be free from the humans that want to hurt us. It said to be very beautiful with white lunar flowers everywhere. Wide open spaces and forests that are filled full of life and freedom. Every wolf searches for it and desires it." Memories came when he first met Kiba, the lone wolf that searched for something that Tsume at that the time didn't believe in. It was Kiba who made him believe that there was a place that no danger can hurt him. "The only way to find Paradise is with the help of the Flower Maiden, Cheza. Now that she's with us we are closer to go to Paradise."
"Oh…" Anko whispered.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just I'm not like you." Anko whispered, her hand tugging at Tsume's shirt.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not a wolf. I'm human. Paradise is for wolves not for humans. Cheza can go with you because she's part of Paradise but I'm just a human. When we find Paradise I won't be able to be with you or the others. You would leave and I would be alone. At this point I don't care if I don't get my memories back. All that matters to me are you guys. You're my family and soon we'll be separated…" Fighting the emotion that she felt was easy but it was her tears were she lost the battle. "I don't want to be alone."
Tsume held her close. His finger brought her face up. He leaned down and filled the space between them. Anko felt his lips touch hers in a kiss. In the kiss Anko felt her wall that she built in her crumble. All this time Tsume denied his emotion for girl. He never had any serious relationship with anyone. Having Anko back he felt that there could be a chance with her. In the past he was young and didn't think she wanted to have any relationship with anyone. So he bottled up his feelings hoping that one day he would have the courage to open them. His chance came and he took it.
"Don't worry Anko you will come with us no matter what." Tobeo's sleepy voiced caused Anko and Tsume to break apart. He rubbed his eyes with a yawn. "You guys don't mind if I sleep with you guys do you?"
Anko smiled and took the young boys hand, "Nope come and you can sleep between us." She watched Tobeo hesitated in his sleepy stage and looked at Tsume who also was smiling.
"Get over here squirt." Tsume said with his smile. Tobeo jumped between them, hugging Anko, and then went back to sleep. Anko slept in Tsume's arms. Tsume soon followed. He slept happily knowing that he finally had Anko. The three slept soundly in each other's arms. The three finally were back together. They were finally a family again.