Kurenai fidgeted nervously outside Anko's apartment door several days after the Rose Exchange. She was unsure on how she should approach the snake kunoichi to invite her out to celebrate the success of the event for the Leaf Village with their friends. She was happy they were able to briefly exchange a few words before the Rose Exchange took place, but it was the last time she really saw the violet-haired woman. Anko was still hiding in her apartment, not daring to face anyone unless it was for a mission. Exhaling a deep sigh in the cold night, the female Jōnin rapped her knuckles on the door and waited.

The door opened slightly, showing one brown eye peeking out from the creak. Kurenai's spirit lifted; surprised that Anko actually opened it, although it was nothing more than a small wedge.

"Hey, Anko."

"Hi, Kurenai." Anko smiled faintly at her friend, moving the door a little more to show her entire face. "Is there something you want?"

Kurenai noted the sadness behind her smile, but there was also an odd, serene emotion hidden beneath those caramel hues of hers. Her voice was quiet, almost curt and fatigued, and through the creak of the door, Kurenai's crimson optics spotted bandages wrapped around Anko's neck, raising the raven-haired beauty's concern for her friend.

Clearing her throat in anxiety, she forced a cheerful tone while resisting the urge to ask the question about the bandages. "Um, I was wondering if you'd like to come and celebrate with me and a few our friends. We're hosting a small party since the Rose Exchange event was such a success, and the village made a lot of money."

Anko lowered her head to stare at her feet, her bangs falling over her eyes as she contemplated on the offer. She didn't want to go out since her neck was covered in gauze to hide the love bites she received from Orochimaru a few nights ago. She wanted to wait until they heal before going out in public, and she couldn't go the Leaf Hospital because that would bring up suspicion on how she got the lacerations on her throat. She was lucky the other marks on her body were concealed under her clothes, but she knew she wouldn't be able to hide them forever.

"Um… All right, Kurenai." Anko accepted reluctantly, not wanting her friend to worry about her. She'll just make some lie that she cut herself on a branch while training.

The Jōnin beamed broadly. "Great, c'mon!"

Grabbing Anko's hand through the creak of the door, she dragged the snake kunoichi out to Yakiniku Q.

ஜ ~ ஜ

"Hey, there they are!" Asuma hollered in joy when he saw his lover and her best friend walking over to his table with Kakashi, Ibiki, Genma, Izumo, Kotetsu, Raidō, Guy, Iruka, and Aoba.

"Sorry we're late." Kurenai apologized, plopping Anko down to cushion next to her at the huge table.

"It's good to see you, Anko." Genma grinned at her with his sweet, boyish smile. "It feels like it's been ages since we last saw you. What've you been up to?"

Anko shrugged her shoulders lightly, adjusting the collar of her khaki coat to cover up the gauze on her neck. "Nothing much."

"Really? That isn't what Ino told me." Asuma teased her with a good-natured laugh. "She told me some mystery man that sent you a violet rose during the first day of the Rose Exchange, and we never saw you on the second day. Does that mean you were able to find your secret admirer?"

The Special Jōnin tensed at his question, squirming uncomfortably in her seat. "I guess you can say that…"

"Really? So who was it?" Kurenai pressed on, her blood-red orbs shining brightly in anticipation.

"Someone who wasn't from here." Anko answered, trying her best not to lie to her friends.

"What's his name?" Izumo inquired curiously. "Maybe we know him while the event was going on. We had a lot of visitors from the other nations coming for the Rose Exchange, and Kotetsu and I were stationed at the gates the whole time. We made the list of the people who entered and exited the village, so we might've saw him."

The snake kunoichi blushed furiously, guilt clenching her stomach when the images of her time with Orochimaru during the event raced through her mind. Kurenai, noticing her discomfort, piped up to her defense. "Hey, let's not bother Anko with any more questions, all right?"

Anko flashed a grateful look at the genjutsu specialist as Asuma spoke up and raised a glass of sake in the air.

"All right, then! Cheers for a successful fund raiser for the village!" he proclaimed jovially. The group of friends joined in the happy toast and gulped down their drinks, except for Anko. She just smiled a little and let her mind drifted elsewhere, a blank expression surfacing on her face.

"It's a relief that the village will be able to pay for more repairs for the village," Kotetsu commented. "It means less missions for us."

"Still, no matter how you look at it, the village is still in a dire state because of Orochimaru's invasion." Raidō pointed out in a matter-of-factly tone. "I don't think the Leaf can take another attack from anyone else right now."

"Come on, Raidō, don't be so negative." Aoba chided his friend in a laid-back voice, smiling confidently. "With Lady Hokage's guidance, the village will be back to normal in no time!"

It was then Ibiki decided to join in the conversation. "I agree with Raidō. There aren't many shinobi available for missions since so many of us are ordered here to protect the village. Lady Hokage is even sending out Genin on higher ranked missions since our forces are so low."

"Well, aren't you two just a lovely ray of sunshine." Kakashi stated sarcastically, raking a hand through his silver hair. "If I were you guys, I wouldn't just count the Genin out just yet. There's lot of potential in each and every one of them. Look at my students for example. Naruto and Sakura are training under two of the Legendary Sannin, and they're making great progress."

Asuma nodded his head in agreement, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah, even Shikamaru and the others are improving their skills."

"My students, too!" Kurenai added in proudly.

"And let's not forget my wonderful students, as well!" Guy declared loudly, all eyes focusing on the flamboyant Jōnin. "Lee is training twice as hard than before, and Neji and Tenten are starting to embrace the spirit of youth!"

A din of chuckles and sniggers aroused from the gathering ninja at the table, laughing at the green-clad man with thick eyebrows for his passionate outburst of pride about his students.

"Hey, that reminds me. Anko," Genma turned his head to look at the silent violet-haired woman from his seat at one end of the table. "Didn't you lead a squad of Genin a little while ago during your mission in the Land of the Sea?"

Snapping out her daze, the snake kunoichi bobbled her head. "Yeah, I did."

"How did it go? It was your first time leading a couple of kids, right?"

"They were fine. That little maggot, Naruto, was the most impressive." Anko replied with a smile, fond memories of her time with her Genin came back to her. "Shino and Ino were good subordinates, too."

Iruka beamed at the compliment of the Uzumaki boy who he saw as a little brother. "I'm glad Naruto's doing okay. He didn't caused you trouble on the mission, did he?"

"Not really."

"By the way, Anko, is something wrong with your neck? You have bandages on it. Are you injured?" Kakashi quizzed, pointing at her throat as Ibiki's onyx irises narrowed at her intensely.

Anko jumped in alarm, her breath caught in her throat before she stammered out her excuse. "I…just scratched myself on a branch when I was training a few days ago."

The sadist didn't look convinced; worried that Anko was cutting herself again. "Really, Anko?"

The snake kunoichi read the doubt on his scarred face easily, and she frowned at him in irritation. "Yes, Ibiki, really. It's not what you think."

The others felt the tension that sparked between the two Special Jōnin, their optics transferring back and forth between them awkwardly.

"Come on, you guys, don't fight," Kurenai pleaded.

Anko snorted, swiveling her head in the opposite direction to avoid looking at the sadist. She knew he was worried about her and she appreciated it, but she found it insulting that he would think she was hurting herself on purpose again.

Standing up, Anko brought her hand up in a farewell. "I'm really tired, so I'm just gonna leave."

"Anko, wait, don't g—" The female Jōnin's sentence broke off when she saw the sleeve of her Anko's coat slide back on her arm, revealing wounds. Kurenai's crimson irises widened in fear and she grabbed Anko's right arm to examine her injuries more carefully. "Anko, these are… Did someone hurt you?"

The purple-haired woman panicked, snatching her arm out of her friend's grasp and clutched her arm closely to her chest. How was she going to explain this? They saw the abrasions she got from where Orochimaru when his sharp fangs trailed up and down her arm when he tasted her alabaster skin.

"I'm fine, Kurenai! No one hurt me. I was just training with someone, and his fighting style was just rigorous." Anko lied quickly. She needed to get out of here before they demanded more answers from her.

"You're lying." Ibiki accused her, rising from his seat.

Anko dashed out the restaurant before the male Special Jōnin could strode over and scrutinize her 'injuries'. She ignored the shouts from her friends to come back and ran to her apartment for some peace. This was a mistake. She shouldn't come out with the markings on body she got from her lovemaking with Orochimaru. Now her friends would be harder to avoid if she sees them in the village, and they might even bring the Fifth Hokage into it.

She couldn't let that happen, her life in the Leaf Village would be compromise and they would know that Orochimaru had been frequently visiting her. She would then be branded as a traitor and be locked in a prison cell. She needed to figure out how to solve this mess before it gets out in the open and become worse.

ஜ ~ ஜ

"Miss Mitarashi is quite persistent, isn't she?" Kabuto asked casually, working alongside his lord and master in one the basements. He didn't look up from the scroll he was charting down about their most recent experimentations to see the cold glare that was sent his way by the Snake Sannin. Sasuke was down in the training hall, working relentlessly to improve his lightning techniques. "Though you keep seducing her to come on your side, her loyalties prevents her from leaving the Leaf. How will you proceed with your plan to make Miss Anko Mitarashi yours?"

"Anko's sharp, and she certainly isn't as naïve as she was back when she was a child." Orochimaru replied, mixing together chemical substances in a tube from where he was. "But she will come to me eventually, I guarantee it."

Kabuto's lips curled up into a small smirk. "How long to you suppose she'll be able to keep up the false pretenses that she's not betraying her precious village by bedding a S-class criminal?"

"Not long. Anko's…companions are quite close to her. Anko won't be able to keep her cover for long. Either they will force Anko to leave the village, or she will come to me."

"Hmm… It'd be interesting to see how things turn out, wouldn't it?" the silver-haired Sound ninja mused, glancing over his shoulder to see his lord smirking in agreement. "Out of curiosity, my lord, what are your exact plans for Miss Mitarashi?"

"I'll let you know when the time comes. Meanwhile," Orochimaru pivoted around to face his right-hand man. "Kabuto, I have a errand for you."

The medic turned to look at his master, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. His glasses shimmered with an ominous gleam, a knowing grin plastered on his youthful face. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru?"

"Go the Leaf Village, and check on my dearest Anko, won't you?"

Bowing deeply in respect, Kabuto placed a hand over his heart. "Yes, my lord."

"Good. You'll leave in the morning."

ஜ ~ ஜ

"Something's wrong with Anko, you guys. We have to figure out what it is." Kurenai remarked back at the restaurant, extremely worried about the bruises etched on her friend's body. "I'm certain there are wounds on her neck, too. What if someone is hurting her?"

"Kurenai's right, Anko's been acting weird for the last couple of days, worse than usual." Kakashi agreed solmenly; his visible eye was filled with concern for the snake kunoichi. "Something's going on with her, something bad. Anko's hiding something, that much is obvious, but we don't exactly what it is."

"She hasn't been acting this way since a 'couple of days', Kakashi." Asuma replied, his expression grim. "She's been like this since our mission when she ran into Kabuto. What he said to her has been bothering her ever since."

"You don't think this has something to do with Orochimaru, do you?" Genma inquired, his voice layered with hatred for the rouge Sannin. "I'm sure it does. This goes way back before your mission shutting that human traffic operation. She's been this way since the Chūnin Exams, since the moment that wretch appeared back in the village."

"That wouldn't surprise me." Ibiki mumbled under his breath, leaning forward in his seat. "Anko's been living on the brink of despair for a long time. She's been that way since Orochimaru left her in the Land of the Sea. She's been lost, broken. It was worse than any of us could imagine."

"Ibiki, you know something, don't you?" Raidō quizzed, referring back to the argument between him and the purple-haired woman earlier tonight. "If this concerns Orochimaru and that is connected to Anko's strange behavior, then we need to know what you know."

The sadist let out a long sigh, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I promised Anko that I wouldn't tell anyone, but I suppose desperate times calls for desperate measures."

"Anything you can tell us would be of help to us." Kurenai told him.

"There was a time when I found Anko with her body covered in lacerations, ones that she made onto herself." The scarred Special Jōnin watched as each and every one shinobi at the table gasped in shock at the information. "They weren't that bad, and Anko told me why she did it. She said she wanted to escape the pressure she was feeling, and I knew when she said that she meant Orochimaru."

"You don't think Anko is cutting herself again, do you?" Izumo questioned, sharing uneasy looks with Kotetsu.

"No," Asuma answered for Ibiki, shaking his head gravely. "The wounds on Anko's arm were by someone else. The bruises looked like something was scraping something sharp across her skin, but they don't look like knife marks. I think I saw bite marks on her skin, too."

"Oh, my God…" Kurenai covered her gaping mouth with a hand; terror seeping into blood coldly. "You don't think… Could Orochimaru be harming Anko and she isn't telling us about because she's still seeking revenge on him?"

"That's a highly possible reason, but we don't know the facts." Kakashi pointed out. "We need to inform Lady Hokage of this, and then let the ANBU Black Ops take it from there."

ஜ ~ ஜ

Anko murmured a ripe curse, flopping facedown on her bed and burrowed her face in the pillow. Damn, what was she going to do now that they saw her arms? She needed to come up a plausible explanation for the injuries on her body. If not, she might as well come clean about her affair with Orochimaru to the Fifth Hokage herself. But she couldn't do that; she'll be labeled as a traitor for the Leaf Village, and then would be pitied upon that Orochimaru was just manipulating her and her naivety was to blame for allowing herself to be toy with again.

She didn't blame them if they did find her as a traitor, because she knew that she was. She'd betrayed the Leaf by sleeping with the enemy, and that was just as bad as deserting the village to join Orochimaru. Forgiveness and redemption was forever out of her reach. She had committed sins that were unforgivable, and she did it willingly.

And then there were her doubts, about whether or not Orochimaru really loved her. He could be playing her for a fool once more; it wouldn't be much as surprise because he was a master of manipulation. He was clever, self-centered, greedy and deadly, just like a poisonous serpent. However, he was also…he was her…

"Damn it!" Anko shouted in frustration, burying her face deeper into her pillow. She couldn't deny that fact anymore. She loved him and she wanted him to love her too. She wanted to believe him, however, there many times when people would say, including Anko herself, that someone like Orochimaru was not capable of love. He only cared about himself and uses others for his own selfish gains.

Knowing that, what options do that leave her with?

If the Leaf Village find out about her illicit relationship with the Snake Sannin, then they will slam the nail on her coffin when they do. She could lie and say that it was Orochimaru's fault, but that in turn will make her former mentor hate her forever and she certainly didn't want that since she finally learned of his…intense affection for her. On the other hand, she could leave the Leaf Village and go with Orochimaru like he wanted her to do, but she knew she couldn't bear standing on the sidelines as he plan to crumble the village into dust. The Leaf Village was her home, and her friends lives here as well.

Oh, God… If friends knew about her and Orochimaru, they would hate her and never see her the same way again. She loathed the choice she had to make between being with the one she loved and leaving her home and friends behind who she cared deeply about. What the heck is she supposed to do?

Well, there was one thing she was sure of: She can't stay in the Leaf Village for much longer. She has to leave as soon as possible, before they figure it out and throw her in a cell. However, she will not be going to Orochimaru either. She wondered how he would react when he found out that she left the village the next time he comes to see her. Will he be angry and hate her too? Or will he go out and search for her?

He wouldn't do that. Anko thought, shaking her ridiculous musings away as she hoisted herself off the bed and started packing her things. This was the only thing that she could do right now. She can't stay in the Leaf because of what she did with her ex-mentor and she won't be going to where Orochimaru was. She didn't even know where to find him.

The guilt was already eating her alive, the piles of lies and doubts just waiting to burst out. The snake kunoichi knew she couldn't keep the pretenses up for long to the Leaf. The shinobi of the village was not stupid and they would've find out from studying the wounds on her body and her odd behavior. She could never atone for her willful actions.

Forgive me, Lord Hokage… Anko sauntered to her bedroom door, gripping the backpack and the other bag in her hand firmly. She'd only packed the things she absolutely need or could not live without—money; clothes; weapons; food; books; her pillow and blanket; a bedroll; and the pictures of her parents and of her and Orochimaru. She gazed over her room for the last time and bowed her head down sadly. Can sins ever be forgiven?

Anko didn't know, and she didn't have the will to find out.

ஜ ~ ஜ

"Anko Mitarashi is missing!" Shizune reported to the Fifth Hokage the next morning, her ebony eyes wavering with alarm and dread.

"What?" Tsunade bolted from her chair, slamming her palms hard on her desk. "What happened?"

"Kurenai Yūhi went by Anko's apartment this morning and found her gone, with all of things missing. There was no trace of her belongings anywhere. She'd left the village, milady, most likely last night." Shizune explained.

"But why?" Tsunade inquired, slumping down in her chair and bit down on the nail of her thumb. "Why would Anko leave the village?"

"I spoke with Kurenai and the others. They said it because of what they told you yesterday," the young medic replied. "About her might having a connection to Orochimaru."

"By leaving the village without my permission, that proves that our suspicions was correct. Anko was secretly seeing Orochimaru behind our backs." The Fifth Hokage stood up in her seat once more, asserting her voice in an authoritative tone. "Send out the ANBU! Alert the shinobi on guard at the border to keep an eye out for Anko Mitarashi! She must not be allowed to leave the Land of Fire!"

"Yes, my lady!" Her trusty aide rushed of the office to deliver the orders. Tsunade pounded a fist down her desk in anger, causing cracks to from the harsh pressure from her inhuman strength.

Damn it… Some Hokage I am… Tsunade cursed, feeling responsible for Anko's defection. I drove her to this… This is my fault…

ஜ ~ ஜ

"Anko Mitarashi has left the Leaf Village." Kabuto whispered to Snake Sannin while he was observing his protégé training in the training hall. Orochimaru's golden irises enlarged slightly at the news, swiveling around to look at his most faithful subordinate, quietly demanding an explanation from him. "I found out when I left for the village. I wasn't even at the border when I heard that the ninja over there were in a panic searching for Miss Mitarashi, who decided to leave last night."

"Do they know why?"

The medic shook his head. "No, not really. I heard rumors that some believe it had to do with suspicions about her meeting you in secrecy. They said they spotted lacerations on her body and thought it had to do something with you."

"Hmm…" The pale-skinned pivoted his back to his servant, contemplating on what his dear girl was planning to do now that she had defected from the placed she now-once called home. It was clear that she wasn't coming to him anytime soon, judging from the way she didn't send a messenger snake to alert him of her arrival and directions to his current hideout in the Sound Village.

"Should I go look for her?" Kabuto inquired, placing a hand on his hip.

"No, that would take too much time." Orochimaru shook his head with frown. "There's no telling where Anko would head first, but keep your eye out for her if she so happens to wander onto our land."

The medic inclined his head in understanding. "Yes, sir."

ஜ ~ ஜ

Anko hopped from tree to tree as fast as her feet could carry her, getting far away from the Leaf Village as possible. Not once did she stop to rest since she snuck out from the village, heading to an unknown destination. She didn't care where she would go, just as long as the Leaf and Orochimaru couldn't find her.

By nightfall, Anko decided it was the time for her to take shelter. She was able to get past the border of the Land of Fire without a being detected, and she needed to take a break. She came upon a rough town named Fūma Alley, where many citizens were beating up each other for petty reasons like bumping into you. There were plenty of thieves and prostitutes strutting in the streets, picking up men and women for sex and money. The town was disgusting, Anko thought, but she had nowhere else to go for the night.

She checked in at a place called Wind Horse Lane Inn, and had to held back the murderous urge to punch the perverted man stationed at the registration desk, who kept staring her bosom. Anko planted her butt in a stool at the bar in the tavern, ignoring all the lustful grins and smirks she was receiving from many of the drunken men at the tables, despite they already have women rubbing their scantily bodies against them. Maybe it was because of her interesting appearance or the dangerous aura she emanated that attracted the men to her. It didn't matter to her, so she shrugged it off as she chow down on her sweet dumplings and sake that she ordered.

The bartender—an old, plump man with a brown beard and a bald head—sat a cup of ale down on the counter for her that she never ordered, and Anko raised her head from her dumplings to give him a perplexed expression.

"From the guy over there." The bartender jerked his head in the direction of her admirer that she didn't attempt to acknowledge. The snake kunoichi shoved the alcohol drink back to the old man and scoffed icily.

"I don't want it." Anko clambered from her seat and exited the tavern for some fresh air. She placed a hand on her forehead, feeling dizzy and woozy from the sake she'd consumed. The cold air fanned at her face, stinging her warm cheeks as she exhaled a sorrowful breath.

Her inhalations of oxygen was interrupted when a clammy hand shot from behind her and muffled her cries, her attacker pulled her back to an alley between the bar and another building. She struggled, but her actions were feeble and sluggish, her muscles weak and loose from the alcohol she drank.

Anko was pinned harshly to the wall, her aggressor's body against hers to force her to remain snared in his trap. The man's filthy hands were skating up and down her legs, hitching her skirt to rub the juncture of her thighs through her mesh bodysuit while his mouth made slobbery trails of saliva on her neck and collarbone.

"Get off!" The violet-haired woman brought her knee to kick the man in the groin, but he dodged it by shifting himself away her incoming shin.

"It isn't very nice to refuse a drink from a gentleman," the man sneered, his foul breath reeking with the scent of stale cigarette and bitter alcohol.

"You're no gentleman," Anko hissed vehemently through clenched teeth. She flinched in agony as she felt the Curse Mark suddenly started to pulsate. Why was it resonating now, for no reason at all?

The attacker brushed off the comeback, and the snake kunoichi could see a nasty grin spreading on the man's face in the darkness. "You got me there, but maybe I could teach you some manners, you little bitch."

Anko snarled threateningly when she felt one his palms squeezed her right breast, the other one slapping her across the face to knock her out. Her vision became blurry then, her mouth spitting out blood onto the concrete pavement. Anko growled venomously as the fingers of her attacker made its way to the top of her mesh bodysuit, ready to rip it off to expose her voluptuous chest.

But before he could, something happened. Through her slipping sight, the snake kunoichi saw the color of red—of blood—splattered in the air before her bleary optics. Her knees buckled and Anko fell down to the ground, feeling all of her strength washing away from her. The last thing she heard was the sound of the would-be rapist's horrid, painful screams of pain and the sight of two glowing, golden orbs framed by a curtain of ebony hair gazing down at her.

ஜ ~ ஜ

Heavy eyelids slowly fluttered open, awareness coiling her senses. Anko twitched; the sound of a pencil scrapping its tip on paper was faint to her ears. Her irises met with a dark ceiling, and she squinted her eyelids to block out the lights from blinding her.

"Good, you've regained consciousness," a smooth voice remarked, one that sounded achingly familiar. "How do you feel?"

"Where…am I…?" Anko croaked out, her throat parched and her head was beating like a drum. "My head hurts…"

"You're safe, you should just rest before you try to get up." The man with circular glasses put a glass of water to her mouth, supporting her up in a sitting position to help her drink. However, as soon as the rest of senses kicked into her, Anko spit out the cold liquid—chastising herself in her head for accepting something might have been poison—and curled her hand around the neck of the medic, who merely smiled at her politely.

"Relax, Miss Mitarashi, it's just water. You have my word."

Brown optics broadened when her vision became lucid, her grip loosening around the silver-haired shinobi. "Yakushi…?"

"Just call me Kabuto. That wasn't a very friendly greeting, Miss Mitarashi." He pulled her hand away from his throat and smirked. "Welcome to the Hidden Sound Village."

"The Sound…?" Anko repeated quietly, memories of last night came flooding back to her mind. She recalled how she left the Leaf and wandered to a town, where she was attacked by a man at a bar, and then… Nothing. She must have hit her head last night, and that was why she couldn't remember anything else. "Why am I here?"

"Lord Orochimaru brought you here late last night after he saved you." Kabuto set the glass on a nearby table, and gave her an amused smile. "Make sure to show some gratitude to him for saving you from that scum."

Ignoring what the Sound ninja was trying to insinuate in his all-knowing tone, Anko transferred her eyes down at her body, realizing she was nearly nude, except for her bra and her underwear. She turned her head to Kabuto, glaring at him mistrustfully. "I'm naked."

"You're observant," the medic retorted, his optics drifting from her to the door of the medical room. At the doorway stood a figure, shrouded in the darkness. "Sasuke, come in."

The Uchiha boy did not respond, ignoring the medic and pivoted his head to look at the half-naked woman on the bed with his Sharingan eyes, a cold shimmer in those crimson hues.

"Uchiha…" Anko muttered in disbelief. It's been a long time since she last saw him, and she knew the Sasuke she was seeing now seemed…different than she remembered.

"Mitarashi." Sasuke's aloof voice gave away the annoyance he felt towards the girl that was delaying his training with the Snake Sannin. He swiveled his head to Kabuto. "What is she doing here?"

A flash of anger showed in the silver-haired shinobi, but he retained a calm and collected tone to the imprudent child. "She's our guest for the time being."

"You don't have to worry, Uchiha. I won't be staying long," the purple-haired woman announced, feeling extremely irritated by Sasuke's sharp, accusing voice. "As soon as I'm done here, I'll be off."

"Lord Orochimaru will not be pleased at all." Kabuto said, eyeing her and his lord's future vessel. They've only been in the same room together for less than five minutes, and they were already radiating off hatred for each other.

"Orochimaru's not here right now, and I'm not staying with him. I already made up my mind." Anko argued. Flinging off the blanket, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed to stand up. Her legs went wobbly when her toes made contact to the hard, cold floor and she fell back on the bed. The snake kunoichi was shocked, realizing now that her body felt strangely numb.

"Don't try and stand up, it won't do you any good." The Snake Sannin's right-hand man held up a syringe filled with a strange substance. "I gave you some anesthesia to numb your body. You won't be going anywhere for at least a day."

"I'm not staying here." Anko scowled at the medic for drugging her. "Give me something to make the numbness go away and give me my clothes back."

Kabuto shook his head, offering his trademark half-smile to her. "I'm under orders to not let you leave, so you might as well save your breath, Miss Mitarashi. Besides, where exactly are you planning to go? You've cut your ties to your home, and now you're classified as rouge ninja. The safest place for you is here with us."

"I'd rather by anywhere else but here. I'm not like you or him," the violet-haired woman answered, pausing to jerk her head in Sasuke's direction with a sneer etched on her features. "I don't plan living my life in lust of power. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."

"You're a very ungrateful woman, aren't you?" the Sound ninja inquired rhetorically, pivoting his back to her to run a medical exam on the Uchiha, who finally decided to enter the medical room. Sasuke slid out one arm from under his white shirt, holding it for Kabuto to take a blood sample as the medic continued to speak with the his female patient. "Show a little respect for the person who saved you during your mission to shut down Seiteki's human traffic operation."

"Don't forget that I let you go, rather than stopping you from escaping when my comrades showed up." Anko countered, scanning the room to find where her clothes were in a basket for safekeeping, along with her bags and weapons.

"Great. Codependent relationship." Kabuto replied sarcastically. He sauntered to her and eased her back on the narrow bed. "Don't strain yourself. I gave you a good dosage of anesthesia, moving your body while the numbness is still there would only make it harder for you."

The snake kunoichi smacked his hands off her in a swift movement, her irises blazing with anger. "Don't touch me."

He inclined his head in a small nod, and obliged to her demand. He went back to examining Sasuke, glancing over his shoulder once and a while to check on her. As Anko observed them from where she laid on the bed, her mind was brainstorming for a plan to escape from the hideout and get back on the road, far away from Orochimaru. Although, a part of wanted to stay and see him one more time and say good-bye to him properly, but she knew that would make it harder for her to leave.

"When will Orochimaru be back?" Sasuke questioned Kabuto, and Anko tensed mildly at the sound of her lover's name, eagerly anticipating the answer from Orochimaru's infamous servant. She'd guessed that the pale-skinned shinobi was out somewhere else, since the Curse Mark wasn't resonating with his presence like it did last night.

"Soon, when he's finished with his errand."

"Hmph."

The room was silent after that short exchange of words, and Anko paid no mind to what Kabuto or Sasuke was doing now. She flexed the muscles in her legs under the covers, hoping to force some of the numbness away.

Sasuke left after a few minutes to return to his training, leaving Anko alone with the silver-haired shinobi. He was stroking a few keys on a computer in the room, not worried that Anko was going to escape because of the drug. Anko surged her body upwards to sit on the bed, and smoothing her hand over her figure to feel that all of her wounds were now gone. Kabuto must've healed her while she was asleep, but she didn't open her mouth to thank him. Instead, he opened his to get answers out of her.

"Why did you leave the Leaf Village?"

"That's none of you business." Anko responded coldly.

"Perhaps," Kabuto mused, shrugging his shoulders. "But I do find it interesting why someone like you, who was so loyal to the Leaf, would just abandoned her home after repeatedly refusing to come with Lord Orochimaru. Did the Leaf figured out you were bedding a S-class criminal?"

Anko glared lethal daggers at his back. "Shut up, Kabuto."

The medic chuckled at her reaction to the sore subject. "Forgive me, Lady Anko."

"Lady?" The snake kunoichi raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You are Lord Orochimaru's lover, so I must start treating you in a proper manner. Or would you prefer me to call you 'Miss Mitarashi'?"

"Anko."

Kabuto pivoted around to look at her, his lips quirking into a half-smile. "Hmm?"

"Just call me Anko," she told him in a low mumble, offering the same request as he did to her when they met on her mission. The Sound ninja nodded his head, and then turned his attention back to the monitor. "What is Orochimaru planning to do with me?"

"Nothing in particular. You're his lover, and I'm sure he doesn't want you to stray off somewhere else. He wants you all to himself."

Heat made its way to her cheeks at the response. "Is that so…?"

"Why do you insist on trying to escape from Sound?" he proceeded to quiz her. "I would have guessed that you want to be with Lord Orochimaru after what happened between you two."

"You wouldn't understand." Anko replied simply.

"You may be right about that. In any case," Kabuto swiveled around and started to stride to the doorway. "I have things to attend to. Stay here and be nice and quiet."

The Sound shinobi only got a defiant snort in return, and he grinned her fiery attitude before leaving. When his footsteps vanished down the long corridor, Anko sprung her plan into action as she dropped her legs to the floor once more. She felt her knees buckled, but she was determined to get out of the snake's den, before Orochimaru gets back from his 'errand'. She walked to where her clothes were and hastily slipped them on, strapping her bags and weapons on her back. Once she was done, she peeked through the door to make sure that the coast was clear.

She staggered down the dimly lit hallway, in the direction where she believed the exit was. The hideout was like a maze with its long and identical corridors, and the snake kunoichi had no idea how long she took to find the door that led to her freedom. She followed where the cool breeze wafted inside the base, following the invisible wind current until she found the exit. When Anko saw the opening that led to the outdoors, she beamed and took a step forward, but halted when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Where are you going?"

Anko didn't need to turn around to know whom the owner of that icy voice belonged to. "You don't really care, do you, Uchiha? I thought I'm doing you a favor by leaving."

"I could care less what you do." The dark-haired youth moved closer to her by a few steps.

"Good, then do me a favor and don't tell Kabuto."

"You won't be able to leave. You're wasting your time." Sasuke told her calmly, pointing a finger towards the exit. "The entrance to the hideout has a seal from the outside. No one can leave unless they use the right series of hand signs to release it. It's a failsafe to prevent prisoners here from escaping."

"Huh, that so?" Anko pivoted to face the young boy, her eyes locking on his crimson hues that were his Sharingan. "Are you helping me leave this place?"

She didn't get a reply because his Sharingan peered deeply into her optics. By the time she figured out what he was doing, she became woozy and collapsed onto the floor, muttering a harsh curse at Sasuke for snaring her into a genjutsu as she lost consciousness.

"I'd rather kill you, but I'm also under orders to stop you from leaving." Sasuke knelt down to unconscious kunoichi, throwing her arm around his shoulder to support her weight as he dragged her back to the medical room.

ஜ ~ ஜ

"She tried to leave, as you predicted, but I sent Sasuke to stop her."

"I still say we kill her and get it over with, or let her leave likes she wants to. She's a nuisance."

Soft, male voices traveled in waves to her ear, Anko's eyes fluttering open for the second time today as she heard men talking. She recognized the first two as Kabuto and Sasuke, and when the third voice chimed in the conversation, heat spiraled throughout her body.

"Anko is valuable to me. She stays."

"Why waste your time with that woman?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Just leave her here and continue with my training."

"Now, now, I won't tell you again. Watch your tone when speaking to Lord Orochimaru."

"Ugh…" Anko groaned, three heads turning to see her awaking. She forced herself to sit up on the comfortable bed she was in, and her irises darted to the men in the room. "What happened…?"

"Leave us." Orochimaru commanded Kabuto and Sasuke, both of them strolling out of the room and shut the door. The Snake Sannin sauntered to where Anko laid in his quarters, after he'd moved her from the medical room when he arrived home. He extended a hand to her face, caressing her cheek softly. "You've been a bad girl. Anko, you should've come to me when you left the Leaf Village."

"I told you I won't live with you," she reminded him. "So let me go."

"I'd rather kill you myself than let you go." Orochimaru admitted harshly, hissing in her ear. Anko gasped at his words, but she relaxed when she realized it his way of telling her that he wanted her to stay with him. "You've nowhere else to go, do you?"

"I'll manage. I can't stay here, I won't." she asserted steadily. Why did he had to make this harder for her than it already is?

"You won't survive as a rouge ninja, my dear." His lips claimed hers in a rough kiss, penetrating his tongue in her sweet mouth and let it lead a fiery dance with hers. The snake kunoichi moaned, cupping his face instinctively before he pulled away. "Your best chance of survival is with me. Don't you want to be with me?"

"I do, more anything…" Anko trailed off her sentence, averting her eyes elsewhere to avoid looking in his golden hues.

The Snake Sannin gripped her chin and guided her face back to his. "Then stay."

The silence stretched between them as Anko perused on his offer once more. She wanted to stay with him, she really did. However, was she prepared to live with him under his dark cruelty and endless destruction? Would her love weigh more than her hatred and doubts for him? Did he genuinely mean what he said when he loved her? There was only one way to find out.

She breathed out a deep sigh as she demanded softly, "Then I want a promise from you, and I want you to mean it. Promise that you won't let me do anything I don't want to do, that you will never use me and toss me aside. And I want you to give me a reason to believe you when…when you said you loved me."

The Sannin's mouth curved into an amused smile. "You give me orders, girl?"

Anko nodded her head firmly. "I do."

"Those words I said weren't lies, Anko." He was never the type to take orders from anyone, not even from his sweet girl, but if he would make a promise to her, then there was a promise he wanted to hear from her first.

Their mouths joined in a smoldering kiss, electric liquid rippling through Anko's nerves as heat pooled at her core. Her back hit the mattress, her clothes being ripped off rapidly as she buried her hands into his ebony hair. It didn't take them long to shed the rest of their garbs off into a heap on the floor, both wanting to feel and have each other inside them as quickly as possible. They didn't have to hold back their passion from each other any longer; Anko was now out of the Leaf and was free to enjoy the sensual sensation that was Orochimaru.

She groaned in pleasurable delight when she felt one hand enclosed around her right breast, squeezing the soft mound of flesh. His thumb skated over the pebbled-hard nipple, both those tight, rosy buds on her breasts just aching to be touch like never before. She got her desire granted when she felt a set of lips wrapped her other breast, sharp teeth nipping and suckling gently in a teasing pace. Orochimaru's other hand roamed down to her wet, hot entrance and Anko clenched her legs together when she felt his digits prodding her velvet channel.

His smirking lips left her mouth to lick a tantalizing path all over her skin until his tongue rammed through the petals of her heated silk, tasting her feminine sweetness. Anko writhed beneath him, gasping in airy moans as she gripped the bed sheets so tightly that her knuckles turned stark white.

"Ah… Ahh! Orochimaru… Ahh!" Anko screeched, tossing her head from side to side. He continued to feast on her like sizzling nectar, the tip of his fangs grazing over her tender skin. The snake kunoichi let out a surprised, throaty moan when she felt their bodies melded together, lining perfectly as he thrust into her in a hard tempo. Anko clutched onto him intensely as Orochimaru shifted his hips, her back arching up to take more and more of him inside of her. Her nails scored his back, drawing crimson blood as she cried out at the impending orgasm that shattered within her, an explosion of pure ecstasy rippling through her lithe form.

Golden, amused irises stared down her writhing figure, relishing in the sight of her tightening muscles and taut stomach, the sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead as she begged him not to stop. Anko was trembling as she climaxed again, their hips meeting each other in ferocious strokes. As the last release roared within her body, Anko threw her head back into the pillow and screamed out his name in ecstasy. "Orochimaru!"

ஜ ~ ஜ

Anko parted her lips from his later that night, the couple spending the last two hours kissing and caressing each other's bodies, their hands exploring every inch of their heated skin. The sated purple-haired woman ran her fingers through the silky curtain of her lover's hair, twirling the strands idly.

When she recoiled, she sighed in fatigue from their lovemaking. She drew the sheets over her exposed bosom, turning on her side so her back was facing him. The Sannin loomed over her languid figure, coiling one arm around her waist while his other hand brushed away her hair from her ear.

"You must promise me something first," he whispered gently.

Anko peeked over her shoulder to look at him, and her heart soared in joy. He was actually going to make that promise to her, making her stay permanent as long he upholds it. "What is it?"

"I want you to promise me that you'll stay by my side and be mine, no matter what happens or what the consequences may be."

The snake kunoichi twisted around, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead against his. "A willful promise, isn't it?"

The Snake Sannin chuckled lightly, capturing her mouth in a fast, gentle kiss. "Be mine, Anko."

"Mmm…" She burrowed her face in the crook of his neck; her tongue flickered out to give his white skin a small lick and grinned wearily. "To be honest, I think a part of me have always been yours since we first met."

"Good girl…" Orochimaru smirked broadly. "Then I promise to your…conditions."

"Then I'll stay with you, no matter that." She locked her mouth with his, allowing herself to fully be hovered by his impressive body. After a few minutes, she moved her lips away from his by an inch, her brown hues duskier with passion. "I promise to love you forever…"

"You don't need to promise me that, you've kept it ever since you were a child. " He descended his mouth to plant a kiss on her forehead. "And besides, forever is a very long time."

"Not long enough." Anko smiled playfully, their lips joining in a long, ardent caress. With those willful promises spoken, no other words were heard for the rest of the night.

ஜ ~ ஜ

A/N: Not exactly my best chapter ever, is it? In any case, there are a couple of things I would like to bring up to my readers. First, I appreciate all the reviews I have gotten thus far, but I will only thank those at the very end of MorningGlory. That was my plan from the beginning since I started writing.

However, the lack of reviews is sort of…discouraging. I keep getting a bunch of alerts and faves, but my reviews are only up to 34. When I write a fic, I would like it to keep to my standards, as I explained to one of my friends. Normally, a fic would get at least 5 reviews or higher for each chapter, according to one my statistics in my research. With chapter 10 posted, I should at least reach up 50 reviews or more.

A little feedback wouldn't hurt, and people can tell if a fic is good by the amount it has. Having only 34 reviews makes me kinda…disappointed. I know how my friend, Shekiah Rosay, feels. It makes me think why I just keep posting fic one by one, instead of just uploading the whole thing. I mean, before Morning Glory was posted, I wrote over 10 chapters of it. I'm actually almost done writing it; I only have the last chapter left.

My friend, Jigoku-Dayu93, assured me that if I kept getting alerts and faves, then it's okay. But I'm not so sure if that actually means people are reading the fic. How am I supposed to know if people are reading if they don't send a review? I believe the faithful readers are the ones that do review. Jigoku-chan told me because most people are lazy, but I doubt it. Sending out a review only takes, like, 5 seconds. Depending if I reach the standards, I'll update the next chapter faster.

There are a few reasons why I haven't given up on it, despite the lack of positive feedback I am receiving. One: When I start I fic, I don't give up on it, unlike 98% of the OroAnko authors. Two: I have my friends. When I'm feeling down, reading their reviews always cheer me up, gives me the motivation to keep updating at a regular pace. Three: I've already written all the chapters, and I'm seeing it all the way through, like a true author! Believe it~!

Moving on from that subject, I like to let all of you Orochimaru fan girls out there that the English Dubbed new episode for Naruto: Shippūden, episode 89, come out yesterday! The episode marks the end of the Hidan and Kakazu Arc and the beginning of the Three-Tails Arc, which I am happy to announce that Lord Orochimaru and Kabuto appeared throughout it! Kyaa~!

If you're a true Orochimaru fan, you should have by now watched it, and if not, then go do it! And like a true fan, you'll watch the whole arc, even though it's just a filler. I strongly believe that more people should appreciate the filler arcs that the anime gives, since they give viewers more out an inside look at the characters. We're even luck that we get to see characters that aren't even set to appear until their time in the manga.

And speaking of the new episode, guess who was able to have a talk with Guren's voice actress: ME. Yep, I contacted Erin Fitzgerald to praise her about her voice for Guren and I ended having a friendly, small chat with her after I watched the episode last night! Of course, I'm not going to dive into details about, unless you're one of my friends. However, I will tell you what Miss Erin said about voicing for Guren:

Miss Erin Fitzgerald: Guren is a complex soul with a heavy journey. I loved playing her. LOVED IT!

And to wrap this extremely long author's note up, I would like to help promote publicly to one of Miss Erin's other current works. On July 26, the summer's hottest and horror game called Catherine will be out. I found out about the game when visiting Laura Bailey's website, who all Naruto fans knows to be Anko Mitarashi's voice actress for the Land of the Sea Arc and onwards.

Catherine will be featuring many voices we know from Naruto, such as Tory Baker as the main character Vincent Brooks, who voices Captain Yamato; Laura Bailey as the title character Catherine, who voices Anko Mitarashi and many other characters in Naruto; Michelle Ruff as Katherine McBride, who voices for Orochimaru's female body, Sasame Fūma, and Matsuri; Liam O'Brien as Orlando Haddick, who voices for Gaara and Kotetsu Hagane; Travis Willingham as Jonathan "Jonny" Ariga, who voices Zetsu and Jūgo; Yuri Lowenthal as Tobias "Toby" Nebbins, who voices for Sasuke Uchiha and additional voices in Naruto; Erin Fitzgerald as Erica Anderson and Trisha, who voices Guren; and Jamieson Price as Voice, who voices for the First Hokage.