"I'm screwed," Anko muttered to herself, with nothing more eloquent to say in the face of what would be her fate.
She sighed to herself upon coming close to the patch of grass inside their new training grounds. Orochimaru stood off to the side, looking a mixture of impassive and cunning—she didn't know how he pulled it off either.
Intimidated, she shut her mouth and went to stand next to the two other boys she was stuck with for the experience.
"Nice for you to join us, Anko-kun."
She nodded with narrowed eyes. Her voice was trapped in her throat and she tried not to shake beneath the weight of his gaze.
"You were the top kunoichi of your graduating year," Orochimaru said. "Let's see if that talent carries on into your genin years, shall we?"
Like textbook, Anko could now see the pieces falling together.
She still didn't know their names but the Hyuuga had to be the top male graduate, and the civilian boy the dead last of his class. It didn't hint at good things coming their way. Although, Dead Last didn't act like the blond from her dreams, and she did not act like the girl with pink hair. It was debatable, the Hyuuga's solitary attitude aligning with the Uchiha boy.
Uchiha.
She blinked when the next piece fell into place.
Sometime in the future there would be a tragedy—a massacre. The sole survivor would become someone like her. The both of them would recieve a curse seal. At least, something like that happened—she didn't know how or why though. She didn't remember.
Nothing about the harder to swallow story had stuck. Anko could only recall the details that hadn't scared her, or kept her up at night. She'd spent too long forcing herself not to think about it. Shoved it down deep, crammed every little thing that had ever reminded her of it, and had not let herself think about it.
It was because Anko had given up on the world—on herself.
Little parts of her screamed to do something about it, but she could squelch it down and say it was a lie.
Denial had taken her to this place, however.
She didn't regret being short-sighted, it had saved her pointless fear—but the things that she found so terrifying were all she had to guide her. It was how she might escape the sealing, how she might avoid everything, or how she might change things. Anko doubted the last part.
There wasn't any reason she had to get involved more than she had to. She only needed to look after herself—it was all anyone did.
Anko looked up and met her new teacher's gaze and nodded.
She decided she would not be nervous about the future. She would not be scared. She would not deny its existence.
Instead she would let the world take her where she needed to be.