Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… its characters… or anything else… all I own is my Sasuke and Kakashi figure and my manga!

WARNING: this chapter has a lot of Kakashi x Anko… just saying… next chapter will have more Orochimaru x Anko that we all love… this chapter for some reason just ended up being a lot of Kakashi x Anko… I apologize if you don't like that pairing… but this all sets up for the next chapter...

Hidden in the shadows of the forest, Kakashi stood visibly shaking with both anger and fear. He had known that Anko was training with her sensei today and was skeptical of their meeting, he and Kurenai both. Ever since they had discovered the bruises the covered Anko, they had made a pact to watch her and find out what was going on. And most importantly, make sure it stopped.

He had followed Anko halfway to the forest when an ANBU appeared in front of him, requiring assistance. As badly as he wished to tell the ANBU to beat it, he was a jonin, one of the youngest jonin, and he had other duties besides Anko. After finishing his task, he raced to the forest, his feet barely touching the ground as he ran. Kakashi stopped at the edge, hesitant to keep going. Was he overreacting? He seemed almost like a stalker at this point.

But then he remembered the bruises, the look of terror in Anko's eyes when he examined them, and hearing her sobbing through her door. He began to walk into the forest at a brisk pace, hoping to any god out there that Anko was ok.

Up ahead someone was walking toward him, a fellow Shinobi at first glance. As Kakashi neared him, he saw that it was a jonin with long black hair and sinister snakelike eyes wearing the Konoha flak jacket and standard Shinobi attire. Konoha's own sanin, Orochimaru, as well as Anko's sensei. He walked with his lips pulled into a smirk and he eyed Kakashi before passing him. Kakashi repressed the urge to shudder at the coldness that seemed to pass with Orochimaru. He could swear he even heard a chuckle come from Orochimaru as he passed.

He neared the clearing from which Orochimaru had emerged, a feeling of dread slowly consuming him. He was afraid. What if he was too late? But would that bastard really be going into town if he had done something to his own student? Was he that stupid and heartless? Kakashi felt he already knew the answer.

"Ahh," a voice yelled out, seemingly in pain. Before he knew what he was doing, Kakashi pushed through to the clearing, his heart racing and his adrenaline kicking in. Anko was sprawled on the floor, clawing at her own neck, her nails beginning to make it bleed. She was crying slightly and her eyes were closed tightly. Kakashi approached her with caution, grabbing her arm and pulling it from her neck. "No, get away!" she yelled, her eyes still closed as she struck out at Kakashi. He dodged her punch and grabbed her shoulders, sitting her up to face him.

"What happened? Anko what the hell happened?" he said with urgency, shaking her shoulders slightly. Her eyes opened, taking in Kakashi, and slowly they widened with shock and realization.

She pulled her arms back, rubbing the tears from her eyes, and looked down at the ground. "Nothing happened," she lied, unable to even look Kakashi in the eye.

"Don't lie. I know something happened," he said more sharply than he had intended.

She could not do it anymore. She couldn't lie to him, even if it meant putting him in danger. Anko needed help and damn it she needed Kakashi to know the truth. "Orochimaru," she muttered as another wave of pain hit her through the curse mark, causing dark spots to cloud her vision. All she heard was Kakashi yell her name before she collapsed into his arms.

Kakashi scooped her up, running swiftly to the village. Something was wrong and he needed to find out what. All she had said was her sensei's name before passing out. That wasn't enough. He needed more.

"Not the hospital," she muttered from his grasp. She had slipped in and out of consciousness a couple times so far.

Against all better judgment, Kakashi decided to not bring her to the hospital. He brought her instead to his own apartment, setting her down in his bed and laying a wet towel on her forehead and bandaging her neck where her fingers had scratched it to the point of bleeding. Kakashi had decided to listen to her demand so that she might actually tell him what was going on.

An hour passed and Anko was still unconscious. Kakashi was starting to regret bringing her here instead of the hospital. What kind of Shinobi was he anyways?

"Where am I?" Anko muttered softly, finally regaining consciousness. Kakashi sat down on the bed next to her, staring at her intently.

"You're in my apartment." Anko's cheeks reddened with realization and Kakashi suppressed the urge to laugh at her. Only she would be embarrassed about the most inane things at a time like this. "So are you going to tell me what happened?"

She looked away, tears watering her eyes. She had promised she would tell him no matter what but she felt like she was losing her initial courage. Taking a deep breath, Anko began to tell Kakashi everything from the first beatings to her falling from the roof to the curse mark and the threats, all leading up to today. "I don't get it. He used to be so nice and then one day he just started doing this," she admitted quietly, her hand rubbing the curse mark on her neck, now covered by a bandage. Kakashi sat next to her, trying to let everything sink in. So his suspicions were correct. He had never wished that he could be wrong as much as he did now.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Kakashi asked.

"Because he threatened everyone I've ever known," she replied softly.

Kakashi's voice rose with anger, "You shouldn't be worrying about everyone else! Just think about yourself!"

Anko glared at him. "I couldn't let him hurt anyone!" she yelled and then added almost silently, "Especially not you."

Kakashi blinked with surprise, not knowing what to say. Finally, he said, "Well, now I know." He rose, turning to face her. "And now we tell the Hokage, together," he said, extending a hand to her.

OOO

It had begun to rain as Anko and Kakashi made their way to the Hokage mansion. They were soaked to the bone and shivering greatly from the cold. But they were determined to end this. It had to be done.

"Anko, you naughty girl," a voice said from behind, causing Anko to jump. Her sensei stood a mere ten feet behind them, smiling at her devilishly. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kakashi stepped in front of her, pushing her slightly back. "Run, I'll hold him off," he told her.

"What? No, he'll kill you!" she exclaimed.

Kakashi pulled his forehead protector up, looking back at Anko as he did so. "I can protect myself a little better than you may think," he said, opening his eye that had always been covered by the headband. As it came into focus, Anko could see the red and black pattern of the sharingan.

"What? How?" she asked as she stared at his left eye. The sharingan was the kekkai genkai of the Uchiha clan. Kakashi was of the Hatake clan. How could he…?

"I'll explain later. Go!" he said and she obeyed... well slightly. She ran about ten feet before diving behind a shop and watched the fight. The fighting began as Orochimaru tried to run after Anko, whom he assumed was already long gone. Kakashi fought valiantly, keeping Orochimaru's snakes from reaching where Anko was currently hiding. Anko seemed to gasp each time Kakashi deflected an attack, almost unable to watch. She had never felt so useless.

Suddenly, Kakashi fell to the ground, clutching his chest in agony. His blood pooled under him as he looked up at Orochimaru who was inching closer. Orochimaru was slowing shoving a large sword down his throat, the blade of said sword covered in what could be assumed was Kakashi's blood. Orochimaru swallowed the sword, smiling down at the Hatake as he did so. He licked the blood that the sword had left behind from his lips and bent down, grabbing Kakashi by his hair and pulling him up. Kakashi was holding a hand to his chest which was bleeding heavily and his eyes seemed to droop slightly as he began to lose consciousness from bloodloss.

"Are you going to come out from there, Anko? Or should I kill this boy?" Orochimaru yelled in her direction causing Anko to stiffen. He had always known she was back there. She felt too stunned to move, her breath caught in her throat as she hid behind the wall, paralyzed with fears. Orochimaru sighed, "Well, I guess that settles things." He exposed Kakashi's neck, about to bite down.

Anko jumped from her hiding place, kunai pulled. "Let him go!" she yelled, throwing three kunai at her sensei followed by a few shuriken. He dodged them easily. She yelled, forming hand signs at a record speed. Thrusting her hands forward, she yelled, "Striking Shadow Snake!" Two snakes slithered from her arms, straight for her sensei. He jumped up quickly, avoiding the snake and landing with ease, smirking slightly. He held two fingers toward his chin and Anko collapsed to the ground in pain.

"You cannot use my own jutsu against me, my dear," he cooed. "Now, are you done?"

Anko looked down at the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain. She felt defeated. There was nothing more she could do. Kakashi was bleeding, obviously unable to fight and she was unable to use jutsu that her sensei did not know about. And besides, with this damned curse mark she could be rendered useless within seconds. She bowed her head in defeat, standing and walking toward her sensei. She stopped a few feet away, looking up at him pleadingly. "Please don't hurt him," she begged.

Orochimaru smiled devilishly at her, and then looked back at the semiconscious Hatake. "Of course, little Anko," he said and threw Kakashi aside. Kakashi's body slumped to the ground like a rag doll. The blood quickly pooled under him and the ground quickly became stained scarlet. Orochimaru grabbed Anko's hand, pulling her away from her seemingly dead friend.

"It is better this way, Anko," he said, leading her away. Silently, Anko prayed a message to anyone, particularly Kurenai.

"Please find him," she asked silently, staring back at the crumpled form of Kakashi.

OOO

"Where are we going?" she asked sullenly. They were now far from the village, at least a day's journey away.

"The Land of Waves," Orochimaru said and Anko sighed loudly. They were going far.

Orochimaru looked at her questioningly. "You seem upset, Anko," he said, "Is that boy worrying you? I can fix that you know."

And with that, Orochimaru made Anko forget about the injured Kakashi.

OOO

The rain continued to pour down at a steady pace and all Kakashi could do was lie there and let it wash over him. He could not move his body and his chest ached. He could taste the salty taste of blood in his mouth and the ground beneath him even smelled of the substance. Dark spots clouded his vision. Was this what death felt like?

He closed his eyes, maybe for the last time.

~AN~

CLIFFHANGER! Will he live or die? I think you all know the answer to that... anyways! I'm sorry that this was pretty much Anko and Kakashi but it had to be done... now we're getting into where he takes her to the land of waves which they cover in the anime. That will be next chapter and possibly the one after that... I haven't decided.

And basically, to clear an confusion, Orochimaru makes Anko forget about Kakashi getting fatally injured so that she won't be as... for lack of a better word, rebellious (even though that's her whole character). And having Kakashi know now makes it so that Orochimaru is isolated from the village (so basically we're getting back into the Naruto storyline). Please stay tuned!

Let me know what you think! I've been super happy with all your reviews especially since they are all nice and they compliment my characterization! Thank you!... plus now I'm on a forum which is cool! You should check it out.. it has a lot of Anko x Orochimaru stories!