"According to my calculations, Anko should be right back home where she belongs," Orochimaru mused, a smirk beginning to form on his thin lips. "But judging by the evidence of that scuffle a few miles away from the Konoha campsite, I won't be getting any sort of regular reports."

Kabuto raised an eyebrow.

"Plan B, then, I assume?"

"That sounds about right," Orochimaru agreed. "But then again, I don't imagine there's much to tell right yet. If I know Anko – and you know I do – she's keeping her secret well under wraps. Things won't get interesting until she has to go public with her news. That's when I will need a hand in the situation to make sure my plan remains on track."

"That is true, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied. "And, of course, we have insurance, should she decide to terminate the pregnancy for any reason."

Orochimaru laughed quietly.

"That we do."

Kabuto's lips curled into his own brand of conspiratory smile.

"You are wise, my lord. So shall I plan to depart in two months or so?"

"That sounds about right," Orochimaru replied, staring off towards a fixed point in the distance.

"I feel like shit," Anko moaned, leaning her face on the table at Ichiraku Ramen. She had been living with Kakashi for almost two weeks, and thanks to some careful evasiveness on his part, the subject of the mission and any potential fathers of the baby had been largely ignored. However, his efforts seemed to be worth it, because Anko's morale was on the mend. The mother-to-be was her old self much of the time, enjoying wearing her typical fishnets "for the last two months that it won't look gross."

Regardless of her mood, there were times when the physical ramifications of her condition took its toll – and this was one of them.

"Well I tried to get you to eat a few bites of cereal before you got out of bed," Kakashi reminded her. "You were the one that was determined to get up first. You know it makes you dizzy."

"I would have hurled if I'd eaten then," Anko grumbled. Shaking her head, she sat back up and ran a hand through her hair. "I just want my ramen - pronto."

"Your wish is my command," said a cheerful voice above her. Anko looked up and gave Ichiraku's daughter a tired smile.

"Cool. Panko flakes better be on the side."

"As always."

"How are you, Ayame?" Kakashi asked, accepting the tray Ichiraku's daugter carried and giving the girl an apologetic smile on his companion's behalf.

"I'm fine," she replied, clearly not bothered by Anko's surliness. "We're always busy around the chuunin exams, so hours are long, but it doesn't matter to me too much. Time passes faster this way anyway."

"Well that's good. Stay busy, Ayame."

With a smile and wave, the waitress departed.

"You know, if you're going to be that grumbly, you should at least tell people why so they don't judge your for it," Kakashi said as he broke his chopsticks in half. Anko just shrugged and popped a large piece of sautéed pork into her mouth.

It had been an ongoing argument for the past several weeks between the two of them as to whom Anko should tell about the baby. The chuunin already knew, obviously, but they had been doing a better job keeping the secret than anyone had given them credit to be able to do.

When Anko had chewed and swallowed the bite of food, she sighed.

"So what if they judge me? They'd judge me more if they did know why I act like this. Better an obnoxious bitch than a pregnant kunoichi."

Kakashi paused.

"You bring up a good point – aren't people going to wonder why you aren't taking missions?"

"It's a break for the sake of my health," Anko replied tersely. "Now can we please talk about something else?"

"You're going to have to confront this eventually," Kakashi reminded her. "And you don't have forever to put it off, you know… time is running out as far as your ability to make decisions on your own behalf are concerned. You know as well as anyone that Tsunade will only terminate a pregnancy within the first three months. After that, you're carrying the baby full-term, like it or not."

Anko paled.

"You're talking about an abortion, aren't you?" she asked, her voice a bit strangely-pitched.

"Well, yes. Had you not considered that option?"

"I… I guess I hadn't," Anko admitted. "Wow… that should have been obvious."

"You're considering it, then?" Kakashi asked, lowering his chopsticks and giving her a look of skepticism. Anko's cheeks turned a little pink.

"Well now that you mention it, maybe I am."

"I suppose it's your prerogative, but it's a big decision, you know."

"Well, getting pregnant at all is a big decision, but I wasn't given much opportunity to make that one, now was I?" Anko asked, taking another bite of food. "At least I'd be making this one for myself."

"True," Kakashi agreed. Anko looked at him expectantly, as though she was waiting for him to continue, but he didn't."

"You don't approve, clearly," she observed.

"Well, I don't exactly agree with it. The idea of abortion seems to me like a cheap way out of responsibility – and maybe even a moral issue. The baby didn't ask to be conceived, after all, and I think it should be given a fighting chance. But it's not my decision, I suppose."

"Damn right it's not!" Anko said, banging her fist on the table and attracting the attention of several other guests at the restaurant. "Talk to me about 'responsibility' and 'morals' when you have some unknown asshole's baby taking over your body."

Kakashi sighed, shrugged, and went back to his lunch.

"Don't you have anything else to add to this conversation?" Anko demanded after a minute or two. "I'm all ears."

"I don't think there's too much more to be said," Kakashi replied finally. "It sounds like I'm getting you an appointment with Tsunade."

"I would appreciate that."

Two weeks later, Anko lay on a gurney in the operating area of Konoha's hospital. Tsunade and Sakura stood above her, latex gloves on their hands and look of determination in their eyes.

"This is your last chance to say no, Anko," Tsunade said. "I've seen too many women – some younger than you – burst into tears on my operating table when they come to. I'd hate to see you make a choice that's going to ruin your life."

Anko narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not backing out now. I've made my choice. Past tense. The only thing that could ruin my life now is keeping this mystery baby, because it means nothing to me. It half belongs to a stranger, so it might as well not be mine at all."

"Okay then," Tsunade sighed, her expression difficult to read. "I guess the procedure can begin. Sakura will begin cutting off feeling of the chakra points below your neck. Take the serum she gives you, and you will be sound asleep for a good hour. Sakura?"

The younger medic-nin handed over a greenish vial, and Anko promptly popped out the cork and took it like one might a shot of liquor.

"See you in a few," she observed. Sure enough, in less than a minute, she was resting peacefully on the operating table.

"Kakashi, the procedure is done," Tsunade said, walking into the waiting room. "Anko should wake up within about a half an hour – we had more time to spare than we anticipated.

The jounin sighed.

"No more baby, then?

The words were nonchalant, but the sentiment behind them was anything but. He had been struggling with his feelings since Anko went back into the operating room – and he was still trying to figure out why. It wasn't because he had any kind of attachment to the child, that was for sure. Most often he resented it for upsetting Anko so much and jeopardizing her career so heavily. The sensation was more a hollowness or fear. Maybe he was concerned Anko wouldn't need him anymore once she got her life back. Or maybe he was just afraid of the magnitude of what she was doing. Maybe both.

Regardless, Kakashi had a bad feeling about what had taken place.

"Well, not exactly," Tsunade replied. "There was a… complication."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"She's okay, isn't she?"

"Yes, yes, Anko will be fine," Tsunade said. "The only thing is… we couldn't abort the baby. It was physically impossible."

"Impossible? How?" Kakashi demanded.

"Well, there's some kind of shield surrounding the baby," Tsunade explained. "And it's not made out of bodily tissues, either – it's chakra. And it isn't Anko's."

Kakashi paled.

"Someone is determined that she keep this child," he said softly. "Determined enough to extend and deplete their own chakra reserves to ensure that it happens. This is no simple jutsu."

"You're absolutely right," Tsunade agreed. "And… to be honest with you, there's something I need to share."

"Of course."

"Well," the hokage began, "we have a very dedicated group of chuunin here in Konoha."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to argue that, but how so?"

"Two of the members of your retrieval team came up with some evidence of what occurred during Anko's mission and went so far as to perform their own brand of tests on it. They came to some… intriguing conclusions."

"That's unbelievable," Kakashi muttered under his breath.

How could those brats have found something he missed?"

"Well, believe it," Tsunade said. "Kiba and Hinata came in here with a piece of hair they had recovered that could only have come off Anko's clothes. But it obviously wasn't hers – it was far too long and dark."

"What kind of proof is that?" Kakashi scoffed. "It could have come from anywhere."

"Not so," Tsunade replied. "I thought the same thing at first, but there's simply no way. Hinata had used a byakugan technique on it, and it harbored its own chakra. Ridiculous amounts – way more than the trace amount that could have been expected to remain on an article from even the most powerful of shinobi. But… that's not all. It wasn't normal chakra. It was dark, muddled, and highly unusal in nature. Think about it, Kakashi. Dark hair. Strange chakra. Anko Mitarashi."

Kakashi's expression was incredulous at first, but after a moment he lowered his head in recognition.

"What you're saying, then, is there's no debate as to whom the child belongs," he said finally.

"We're both thinking it," Tsunade agreed, "so there's no use trying to deny it anymore. Anko is carrying Orochimaru's child."

Kakashi swore loudly enough that Shizune took notice and poked her head out the door into the waiting room. However, a stern look from Tsunade sent her back to the operating area immediately.

"No need to act so surprised, Kakashi," Tsunade sighed. "You know it from square one. We all did."

"I wished it wasn't, though," he replied. "I would have given anything for it to have been anybody else. I didn't want to believe it."

"I know," Tsunade replied. "Believe me, I know."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"So what on Earth are we telling Anko?" Kakashi asked. "If the chuunin know, it's not like it's any kind of secret. We're going to have to tell her something."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Well… perhaps not," Tsunade countered. "They've done an excellent job keeping her condition a secret to the village, so I don't see how this would be any different."

"It's completely different," Kakashi said. "Because now they're keeping a secret about Anko from Anko herself, and that's not right. Pretty soon one of them will figure out what they're doing to her, get all noble about it, and tell her to her face at the worst possible time and in the worst possible way. It would be better for her to hear it now, from one of us."

Tsunade sighed.

"I don't think you understand the entirety of the situation, Hatake Kakashi," she said, her voice more stern. "You and I both know Anko. As well as anybody does, at least. If she found out she was stuck carrying her hated sensei's child full-term, there's a frighteningly possible chance that she would resort to something drastic. You went on and on about how terrible it was for to lose her career. If you tell her what's going on now, she may very well take her own life."

All of the blood drained from Kakashi's face.

"I… understand," he replied softly. "I didn't think about it before, but now I see. We can't tell her – you're right. Now my question is, how do we make sure the chuunin keep the secret?

"They've already been sworn to secrecy," Tsunade replied. "That's all I can do as far as they're concerned. But there's a more pressing matter at hand: now it's your turn to make me a promise. Under no circumstances do you confide to Anko what you've learned here today. It's my intention that she gives birth to the baby before she learns to whom it belongs. We can tell her after the delivery and help her cope with her feelings on the matter, but for the next seven months, don't breathe a word. By managing to remain silent, we very well may be saving two lives."

"What… what if she never trusts any of us again?" Kakashi finally asked.

"Well then, I guess that's a risk we'll have to take."

Another pause came, followed by a sigh and a labored response.

"I guess you're right."

Kakashi knocked on the doorframe of the hospital room Anko occupied. A moment or two passed, but she finally turned her head towards the sound. Her expression was a little dazed, but she was alert enough to understand what was happening.

"Good mornin'," she said casually. "What's up?"

"You, evidently," Kakashi replied, taking a seat on a chair that had been left beside the bed. "Feeling rested?"

"Mmm, I am, actually. It's nice to wake up not wanting to throw up."

Kakashi chuckled a little bit, but it was clear enough to Anko that his mirth didn't extend to his eyes.

"What's got you down?" she demanded, sounding a little defensive.

Of course – she assumed he was resenting her for choosing to abort the baby.

"Well, um… the procedure didn't go exactly as planned."

Anko's expression transformed rapidly through several different stages: first surprise, then confusion, then finally, anger. She sat up, a hand having moved unconsciously to rest over her abdomen.

"What are you talking about? It's practically an outpatient procedure! Tsunade does these monthly at least. How could it have gotten messed up?"

"Your situation is a bit different than most of the ones Tsunade sees come through here," Kakashi sighed. "You're – "

"Wait," Anko interrupted him. "Before you tell me anything else. Am I going to be okay? And what's the story on the baby?"

"You're going to be fine," Kakashi replied with more certainty than he actually felt. "And to make a very long story short, you're still pregnant."

Anko swore.

"Okay, fine. I'm going to be okay, but I'm still having the baby. Fine. Just explain to me exactly what on earth happened to make things end up this way."

"Everything was ready and all was going according to plan. You had already been numbed down and put to sleep, and Tsunade had started cutting," Kakashi explained, the words tumbling out. "But as soon as the scalpel Tsunade was using struck the lining of the womb, it was repelled with a powerful force. She couldn't get within an inch of the tissue surrounding the baby."

Anko's eyes and mouth were both wide open with shock.

"A chakra barrier…" she said softly.

Kakashi nodded.

"That's the only thing it could have been."

"But Tsunade's a sannin!" Anko exclaimed, her expression returning to frustration. "She should have been able to get rid of that with no problem."

"Don't think she didn't try. But every time she tried to cast a sealing jutsu, the barrier got stronger. After about twice, she gave up."

Anko shook her head, staring down at her lower body in awe.

"Incredible," she muttered. "It's ridiculous."

"So, that's why you're still pregnant," Kakashi finished. "And it looks like you're staying that way for another seven months."

A few minutes of silence passed between the two, Kakashi occasionally casting glances at Anko, who still appeared deep in thought. She twirled a lock of violet hair around her forefinger and chewed absentmindedly on her lower lip. Her expression was troubled and anxious, but at least she didn't seem angry anymore. Kakashi knew that Anko wasn't one to be needlessly emotional. Evidently, she had moved past the point of frustration and had progressed to trying to accept the situation in which she found herself.

"Fine," Anko sighed after another moment or two, confirming Kakashi's suspicions. "If I'm going to be a mother, I'm going to be a mother. There isn't any half-assing it now. I guess that means we need to get more of those stupid pills. I'm on my last bottle of them."

"Done," Kakashi replied. "I'll talk to Tsunade. You're pretty brave, you know that?"

"Hmph."

As Kakashi got to his feet, he placed a nonchalant kiss on Anko's forehead. Her expression aghast, she followed him with her eyes until his back had disappeared around the corner.