Chapter Four— Trouble
The early morning light streamed in Anko's bedroom window, the curtains somehow pulled apart. The girl groaned under her bed covers and shifted stiffly. She had remained in her same curled up position all night long and her limbs were stiff and ached. She slowly uncurled from her ball and slid a hand out from under the blanket.
Last night's dream was still fresh in her mind. Bright eyes that still seemed dark; fangs in her flesh; evil laughter in her ears; cold lips against hers; clothing slowly disappearing…
Anko shook her head vigorously and blinked in the stuffy darkness beneath her blankets. No more thinking about that… she told herself as she slid out from under the covers and closing her eyes tightly in the sunlight. She raised an arm to block the light from her eyes. "Who the hell opened my curtains?" she groaned to no one.
"I did."
Anko's eyes popped open and she lowered her arm, forgetting the blinding sun. She stared at the woman in her room. "What are you doing here, Tsunade?" Anko asked, a little shaken.
"I came to see how you were," the Hokage replied nonchalantly as she walked over and sat down on the bed. "What's up?"
The girl, hugging the blankets tighter around her pajama-ed body, gave the blonde a weird look. "Sleeping, you idiot," she replied groggily. "What's up with you? Did you need something?" She paused to scowl. "Is it important enough for you risking losing your head?"
Tsunade shrugged and then chuckled. "You really are grumpy when you wake up. I guess we're getting right down to the point then." The woman stared at Anko intensely for a moment, locking their eyes. "What were you doing hanging out with Orochimaru?"
Anko coughed on her own inhale. Way to be blunt about it, Tsu. "Excuse me?" she managed to choke out.
"You heard me. Now tell me everything. And I mean everything." Tsunade emphasized the last word with her eyebrows.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Tsunade," Anko replied, crossing her arms across her chest.
The Hokage took on a more relaxed posture on the bed. "You know that he is a criminal, dear," she said in a motherly voice. "It's against the law to have anything to do with him. Please just tell me why you were with him." Her tone was soft and gentle; something that requires an answer to.
Anko uncrossed her arms and ran one hand through her messy hair. "But I didn't mean to be, Tsu," she said, ignoring the voice in her head that was telling her to shut up. "He keeps following me. Everywhere."
Tsunade's eyes hardened while still looking motherly. "What do you mean, following you?"
"Well, first he showed up one night in the Forest of Death, and then on the way back from Amegakure…" Anko's voice trailed off.
"And those snake bites? You didn't get into a fight with a snake, did you?" the Hokage accused, shaking her head.
The girl covered her mouth in shock that she had let that slip. Then she snickered. "Well, technically I did."
Tsunade rolled her eyes and then looked at her friend in sympathetic amusement. "Now is not a time for jokes," she chided. "Why is he following you?"
Anko looked at her wrinkled bed sheets and shook her head slightly. "I honestly don't know. He only ever bites me and then leaves…" Her mind almost immediately wandered to the night on the way back to her village from Amegakure; the way she had stupidly asked him to kiss her, the way he did, the way his lips felt… She shook her head vigorously.
"He bites you?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow.
The girl nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think he's injecting any venom when he bites me… At least, it doesn't feel like it…"
"Hmm…" The Hokage began to consider this in her head. "Is it painful?"
"As Hell," Anko groaned.
The blonde nodded. "I see…" She snapped her fingers a few seconds later and grabbed one of Anko's hands, holding it tightly. "I know! When do you think he's coming to visit you next?"
Anko looked a little bit scared by this sudden burst of energy, and so early in the morning. "How the Hell should I know? He's unpredictable as anything and you should know that better than anyone."
Tsunade nodded again. "I know, I know. But you do know that the next time he comes he's going to bite you, right?"
The girl shuddered. "Uh huh…"
"And you're going to ask him why he wants you while I hide in your closet."
"What?" Anko nearly squeaked. "Are you insane? He knows your chakra! You wouldn't be able to get within a three mile radius of him without him knowing, let alone in the same room!"
"I can hide my chakra," Tsunade said matter-of-factly, rolling her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I know you can, Tsu, but from him?"
"It would be risky, and it might not work, but it's worth a shot, and then I could see for myself why he's tormenting you." Then she put on a puppy face. "Will you do it? For me? Please, Anko dearest?"
Anko stared at the woman for a minute, and then rolled her eyes. "Fine," she surrendered. "I guess when the Hokage puts on a puppy face as lame as that, there's no choice."
"Cha! Thanks, Anko! Oh my, this is going to be so great. He won't know what hit him. Besides, I haven't seen him in so long, so it would be nice to see him again, even if he is behind bars…" Tsunade stopped her happy rant and glanced at the yawning girl. "I'll get out of your hair so you can go back to bed." She stood up.
"Wait, Tsu."
The blonde stopped in her march to the door. "Yes?" she asked, turning back around and smiling sweetly, expectantly.
"The curtains…" Anko sleepily pointed to her window with the sun blaring in.
The Hokage scowled and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains shut tightly. Then she walked back to the door. Half way out the door, she said, "Bye, you vampire." And she was gone down the hall.
"And proud of it!" Anko shouted back. Then she pulled the covers up over her head and went back to sleep, immensely annoyed.
Anko spent the rest of her boring work day rebuilding a bridge across a wide stream that had fallen down because of the fast currents. It was a long and boring job that required workers with skill, flexibility, and a horrible paycheck. Anko fit all those qualities.
"Shouldn't we be with the Hokage or something?" one of the other ANBU had asked Anko as he wiped the sweat and stream water from his brow.
She simply shrugged. "That's her call, not ours."
Anko was secretly glad to have the separation between her and Tsunade.
Now, Anko was in her bedroom, sitting on her bed, in her pajamas, reading a book, while Tsunade awkwardly hid in her closet. They had had a long conversation beforehand, and the girl had gotten quite uncomfortable, and, to get the blonde bimbo to shut up, she pushed her into the closet and told her not to come out. Surprisingly, she listened.
Anko was about to turn the page of her book when the room grew somewhat colder. To her knowledge, that only meant one thing. He was here.
As if summoned, a billow of smoke appeared beside the bed and the snake stood in the shadows of her room. "Good evening, Anko," he said, a bland expression on his face.
"Good evening, snake," Anko said back, trying to hide the fact that she had nearly been scared out of her skin behind a similar bland expression. "What do you want this time?"
"What do I always want?" he countered, a smirk working his blank lips.
Lips…
"You always want whatever you won't tell me," Anko answered, slowly closing her book and setting it down on her bedside table.
"Exactly," he said smugly, leaning against her bedroom wall and crossing his arms over his chest.
Anko rolled her eyes. She spared a nonchalant glance at the closet door. Here I go, Tsu. I hope this works…for your sake. "I have a question for you, snaky."
"Well there's a shocker," Orochimaru sneered.
Ignoring the comment, Anko continued so as not to lose her cool. "Why do you keep coming to visit me?" she asked him. "Before, you had nothing to do with me. Now you've seen me for the past few nights."
He shrugged; a lazy movement of his shoulders. "I don't think I need to answer that." He stared at her for a moment. "Now I have a question for you, dear Anko."
She gave him a suspicious look and nodded slowly. "Yes?"
"Why did you ask me to kiss you in the forest?"
Anko visibly flinched. She spared a quick glance at the closet door, imagining exactly what the Hokage's reaction would be to that. It wasn't pretty. "Well, I was…just…curious, that's all."
"Curious?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Curious of what? What I kissed like or what it felt like to be kissed?"
Keep saying it, why don't you? "I don't think I need to answer that." She made an effort to make her voice sound like his.
"And why not? Too embarrassed?" he asked. "Or is it because of your friend in the closet?"
Anko visibly flinched again. "Um…what friend?"
"Don't be stupid. She had always been horrible at masking her chakra. I sensed her the moment I came in the room." He turned to the closet. "You can stop pretending you're not there, no matter how much I want it to be true."
There was a moment of silence, and then a thud, and then a click, and then the door slowly swung open and revealed a red faced blonde with a bump on her head.
Anko covered her face with her hand. This isn't happening. I don't know her.
"You're an ass, snake," Tsunade spat, walking haughtily and proudly out of the closet.
"So I'm constantly reminded of, thank you," Orochimaru replied. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Mind telling me what you were doing in there? Spying?"
The blonde put and hand over her heart and dramatically gasped. "Spying? Me? No, never! How could you ever say such a thing?" she said in an offended tone.
"Sure, Tsunade," the snake said, rolling his eyes. "And why were you spying on me?"
"Why should I tell you?" Tsunade asked, walking over and sitting down on the bed next to Anko. She wrapped an arm around the scared girl's shoulders. "We have our own reasons."
"We?" he asked, giving Anko an interesting look. "I see. Well, then, I should be taking my leave." Without another word, he was gone.
Anko closed her eyes and prepared for the onslaught that was sure to come from the Hokage of the village for finding out about her asking a criminal to kiss her. And she was surprised when the onslaught didn't come. She opened one of her eyes and warily looked at Tsunade.
"You…asked him to kiss you?" the blonde asked calmly. "Why?"
"Um…I actually don't know…" Anko replied, looking at the floor. "It just kind of…came out…"
Tsunade released the girl's shoulders and scooted away from her on the bed. "Asking a wanted criminal to kiss you doesn't just 'come out'. Why did you ask him to kiss you?"
Anko stared at the floor for a while before answering. "I just…I don't know. Something in my head took over and asked him for me. By the time I was myself again, he was already kissing me…" Her voice trailed.
The woman closed her eyes and pretended that that bit of information had no effect on her. "Was it worth betraying your village?"
Anko's head snapped up and she stared at the Hokage in disbelief. "No way! How could you ever think that?" she squeaked. "I love this village more than anything, and you know that. It was a stupid mistake."
Tsunade's eyes became gentle with sorrow. "But by doing this little mistake, you have betrayed your village. And on top of that, you lied to me." Her voice was sad and hurt.
"But, Tsu…" Anko started. "…I'm so sorry. You know that I would never hurt this village. Please, forgive me." She reached over and tugged on her friend's sleeve.
After an unbelievably long minute, Tsunade sighed heavily and looked deep into the girl's eyes. "Alright. I won't tell anybody about this, but only because I love you so much." She stood up, pulling free of Anko's grip. "One more mistake and I can't be so nice anymore. You're dealing with a criminal. Next time…I'll have to arrest you…" With a sympathetic and sad look, the blonde vanished from the bedroom.
Minutes passed as Anko sat in the silence that filled her now empty bedroom. Her jaw was dropped slightly and her heart was beating abnormally slow. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes and her body began to tense.
Jail? she thought in disbelief. The word made a tear roll down her cheek; made her heart sink; made her sick. She didn't like the thought of going to jail, or how much that would hurt Tsunade.
Her body finally gave out and she fell back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. Tears were rolling silently down her cheeks now in large amounts.
Jail…
Anko rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, crying like a child who had just lost a parent. Her audible sobs were muffled by the pillow, and it absorbed her tear flow, but anyone who saw her then would see how hard she was crying.
She spent the rest of the night weeping and muttering apologies to Tsunade, who walked back to her tower, having seen enough through Anko's window.