Chapter 12
Anko's POV
I stood before the lasting chunin, all the jounin behind me except three of them. I could tell by the look on Naruto's face that he didn't know yet. Kakashi left the job of telling him to me while he and Kurenai went looking for Ayame. Naruto wouldn't be taking the last part of the exam. He was the last person who saw her, so we needed to have him interrogated. Kakashi said he came home and she was nowhere to be found, just her mother's journal lying open on her dresser. At first we thought she might've run away but there was no sign of anything being missing or any note saying where she went.
"Now before we begin the exam, Uzumaki Naruto, please step aside. You will not be taking the last part of the exam. You will follow me. Gemna will take it from here," I said, watching Naruto's face turn outraged.
"WHY AREN'T I TAKING THEM TOO? I'M JUST AS GOOD AS THOSE GUYS!" he yelled. I just gestured for him to come over, but he shook his head. "I'M TAKING THE EXAM!"
"Naruto, please come here. We have a different job for you," I said, and with that his face lit up and he followed me out of there and to the hokage's office. He said I could borrow it while he was watching the exams. "Listen, you were the last person to see Ayame last night, do you remember her being upset or something?" I asked.
"Uh, no. Why?" he asked. "What does this have to do with the exam?"
"Do you remember seeing anyone else while you were there?" I continued, ignoring his questions.
"Just Kakashi Sensei. What's going on?" he pressed. I wrote down quickly that he said he saw Kakashi, when we had it on record that Kakashi was on a mission. "What's going on!" he shouted. I looked up at him.
"Ayame's missing. Kakashi came home from his mission around nine at night and found that she was nowhere. We've already searched the entire village," I said. His face was confused.
"That can't be right. Kakashi Sensei came home when I was over. I saw him walk into a room in the hallway. Ayame even said hi to him," he said, his eyes full of confusion.
"Whoever that was, it wasn't Kakashi Sensei," I said, which just made him look scared and angry.
"Where is Sensei?" he asked, determined. He would want to go help the search.
"You aren't going to help Naruto. If it's someone dangerous, we don't need you getting hurt. If you help at all, you'll help here. That's it," I said firmly. He gritted his teeth.
"Do you have any leads?" he asked, pacing the floor practically. I shook my head.
"Kurenai and Kakashi are out looking with Pakuun. They're trying to trace her scent, but who knows when this went down. Whoever it was, they must've been strong to take her like that," I said, thinking about how it'd take a lot of effort to do that, let alone without anyone noticing.
"I can't believe some stranger got into the house and I didn't even notice! I was there," he said, the guilt setting in.
"You couldn't have known. Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be fine," I said, trying to be comforting.
Ayame's POV
I woke up in an almost completely black room, except for a small torch on the wall. It was cold and damp, like a basement, but the floor and walls were dirt. My arms and legs were connected to chains that were bolted to the wall. Where was I? I remember someone grabbing me but not much after that.
I rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the light, and tried to stay calm. Obviously, whoever they were, they wanted to make sure I didn't leave. There was a door on the opposite end of the room from me, with smoke coming from under it. The door opened and in walked a person. I couldn't tell if it was a woman or a man since the features were unisex. I was guessing woman but it was flat chested. Its eyes were like those of cats, green and glowing while its long black hair framed its face. There was purple makeup accentuating the eyes and the pale skin.
Its hands rested on its waist as it stared at me. "Good morning Ayame," a whispery voice said, walking over to me. Now I was beginning to freak out.
"Who are you? How do you know me?" I started asking, backing into the wall like I could go through it.
"My name is Orochimaru. I know you because I knew your mother," he said, still walking closer to me. On paper I may look like a jounin level ninja, but I was terrified. I knew a properly trained jounin wouldn't be.
"How did you know her?" I asked, my voice shaky. He was grinning at my fear.
"I had my eye on making her my apprentice back when she was young," he said simply, still walking closer.
"What do you want with me?" I continued, really focusing on each word.
"It ruins the fun if I tell you, but since you can't do anything, I might as well. You see, I'm working on finding the perfect tool. An apprentice who will kill when I ask, without question, and who is strong enough to do so."
"And you think that's me?" I asked, not liking the sound of this.
"Let me finish. You see, I started by trying to make that tool be your mother. I went to all of the trouble of killing her entire family to make her cold and hard, but that was unsuccessful since she was able to bounce back from it. Since she was a failed project, I knew I had to get rid of her, so I captured her while she was on a mission and tried to destroy her. She put up a good enough fight though that I had to leave before I ended up dead, but I knew she put a tremendous strain on her chakra. From what I've heard, she died recently, correct?" he said, talking as if this was nothing. I was in shock that it was all his fault that my mom's family is dead and that she overused her chakra.
"Uh, yes," I said, realizing he was talking to me.
"So, this leads us to now. I had two specific people in mind for my apprentice. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Both of them grew up without their families, which could make them cold, although Naruto doesn't seem to be. I was going to go with Uchiha, but then I saw you and Naruto walking around together, and I realized that you'd be the perfect bait. There's no one that could bait Sasuke except maybe his brother, but once Naruto finds out you're here, he'll do whatever he has to do to get here," he said with a smile. "Now, I have to go prepare for when he gets here," he ended, leaving me in the dark room to face that I'm bait.
Naruto's taking the exams though. I doubt he even knows I'm gone. My dad is probably out looking for me. It won't be Naruto. But what will Orochimaru do when he sees Dad and not Naruto?
I fought the chains in the wall, trying to break free, but they were charged with chakra, so it was hopeless. I started digging into the wall with my hands, thinking that I could dig deep enough and pull the chains out of the wall entirely. It'd take some time though. I'm not even sure how long I've been gone, so I have to hurry.
Anko's POV
"Naruto, if you really want to help, you have to tell me everything that happened while you were there," I said, sitting down. He was still pacing like a mad man. "Sit down or you'll wear a path in the floor."
He sat down, feeling somewhat useless, which is understandable. He's only a genin, and this mission is too hard for him. "I already told you everything! I came over after the exam and we were just hanging out, then Kakashi Sensei, or someone who looked like Kakashi Sensei came, and then at one point I fell asleep and woke up on my floor. I'm assuming Ayame got me home," he said, going over the night.
"Ok," I said, knowing we wouldn't really find anymore information out through Naruto. It was already late afternoon and we've been sitting here talking about the same few hours. Kurenai came in, looking completely exhausted. "Find anything?"
"No," she said, sitting down next to Naruto. "Kakashi's still looking. Whoever it was, or if it was Ayame, they were smart about it. Her scent is all over the place."
"How about you go home and rest Kurenai. Me and Naruto will look around," I said, standing up. Naruto stood up quickly; glad he was getting to help out. She nodded and disappeared.
"Where are we going to look?" he asked, determination filling him.
"We're going to Ayame's old village. It's literally only ten or fifteen minutes from here," I said. With that, we were off to the neighboring village of Konoha. It was a small rice farming village, where most people had tons of land. We walked up to the old Hatake residence, which has been vacant since Ayame moved here. It was a small two bedroom town house that at one time had beautiful gardens in the front and was so full of life. Now, the gardens were overgrown and the house in general felt ominous, except there was a light shinning through one of the curtained windows. "This is Ayame's old house. I don't know why anyone would be here though," I said, briskly walking up to the front door with the blonde genin trailing behind me. I tried the door, pleased to find it unlocked and we walked in.
I heard a hauntingly familiar voice humming in the kitchen. I froze when I saw the small, willowy woman walk across the doorway. "Miku?" I whispered, walking towards the kitchen. She beat me though, standing in the doorway. I felt faint. She's been dead two months, hasn't she?
"Anko!" she said happily, giving me a hug. Now nothing made sense. I knew she was dead. I went to the funeral. I saw her in the casket.
"What's going on here? I thought you were dead!" I said, looking her over. She was wearing the same thing she'd been buried in, a flowing white dress that she'd made back when she was healthy, and was covered in dirt. "What happened?"
"It was strange. I was indeed dead, but something dragged me back to my body. I woke up in my casket, underground, broke out, and came here to find the house empty. How long have I been gone?" she asked, brushing the dirt out of her plum colored hair. She was staring at Naruto. "And who is this?"
"You've been dead two months, and this is Naruto," I said, still confused. "What do you mean something dragged you here?"
"I was in heaven. I was content with my afterlife and everything seemed ok, and then it was like an arm reached up and dragged me back into my body. It was really strange. I didn't know what else to do but to come home. I don't know where Kakashi lives," she said, sounding confused herself.
"So, are you back for good then? Are you getting a second life?" I said, excited to think that my old friend would be back.
"No, I don't think so. I think there's something I need to do that brought me back, but that it isn't permanent," she said. "I got to see my family again though, and all of the friends we've lost. The afterlife is truly wonderful Anko. Nothing to be afraid of," she ended cheerfully. I helped her dust off some, noticing parts of her body that had decayed but were healing themselves.
"Maybe you're here to help us Miku," I started. She looked at me questioningly. "You see, something's happened to Ayame. We aren't sure whether she was kidnapped or went missing," her eyes grew wider and wider. "Kakashi's out looking for her, and we are as well. We thought she might've come here."
"Well come on, we need to make up for lost time," she said.
"You know where she is?" I asked, surprised.
"No, but I know what her chakra feels like and I know her scent better than anyone. I'll find her," she said, running off. We followed her as she raced through the streets. As we ran she slammed head first into Kakashi. "Oh hi. Come on lets go," she said, grabbing his arm, still running while the shocked jounin was tripping over himself.
"Miku! I thought you were-"
"Dead? I know. I am. I'll explain later. We have to find our daughter first," she said, no nonsense. One good thing about being a shinobi is you're trained to accept and deal with whatever is placed in front of you, without question, so Kakashi followed with us. "I can sense exactly where she is. She isn't far from here, but it feels like she's….underground? Can that be right?"
"Well, she could be in a basement or something," Naruto said, adding his two cents. It would be nice to think that she was safe in someone's basement, but we all knew that wasn't the case. It wasn't long until Miku stopped, feeling the ground with her hands.
"She's under here somewhere," she said quietly, leaning her head against it, trying to hear anything. "But wherever she is, it's deep. I'm going to try and get some sort of reading on the surroundings," her voice sounded colder than I ever remember it. I guess the thought of her daughter being in danger made her more than upset. She used her chakra to try and sense anything that could lend a hand, but she wasn't having any luck. "I guess we could just start digging."
"And fall right into an area that could be dangerous?" Kakashi said back. She whipped over to face him, her actual rage showing.
"My daughter…Excuse me, our daughter, is missing. It doesn't matter if we're walking blatantly into danger, as long as we get her out of here. I'll go in with you as my back up. Anko and that kid can stay up here in case things get bad and we need help," she said, flames practically shooting from her mouth. I pulled myself away from the couple to see Naruto, who was trembling next to me, either scared that Ayame was in trouble, or afraid of Miku's wrath.
"Don't worry, we know what we're doing," I said nicely to him, adding a 'most of the time' in my head. Miku and Kakashi started digging into the soft soil, with some help from us. You could've cut through the silence with a knife.
"This isn't working," Miku said, still digging with her hands. "Anko, what's that kid's name again?"
"Naruto," I answered quickly.
"Naruto, go to the closest village and get some shovels," she ordered. He listened to her and was off. She kept working silently, occasionally looking up at Kakashi. "So how have you been, minus all of this?"
"I've been ok. Mind explaining what's going on?" he asked.
"If you're asking how I came back, I haven't the slightest clue. I woke up underground, knowing I'd been dead for a while, but had the feeling like I had something I needed to do. I unearthed myself and went back to the house. Not long after that, Anko and Naruto arrived. That's all I know," she answered, staring intensely at the dirt. "Ayame's been ok right?"
"She wasn't at first, but more recently yes. She misses you… I miss you too," he said, looking up at her. She was still staring at the dirt, focusing on what she's doing.
"I miss both of you. Well, at least I miss the old you," she mumbled.
"Why didn't you send someone to get me…when you were…on your way out?" he asked.
"I didn't want you coming because you felt like you had to. You had Kurenai anyways. I don't think she would've liked that very much, no matter how close we'd been. Speaking of Kurenai, are you nervous?" she looked up, still digging though. He looked shocked.
"How do you kn-"
"We know everything up there. It's nice. I even know whether it's going to be a boy or a girl, but I'm not telling," she said teasingly.
"Yea, I'm nervous," was all he answered back when Naruto came with the shovels. Once they were using shovels, the process went a lot faster. Within an hour they had a small hole, which looked like it was in the ceiling of some sort of basement. There was a light in there, even though it was small.
"Well, she's in here. Anko, Naruto, I want you two to stay put at the top, so we can throw her up to you if we can't get out in time," Miku said, sticking her shovel in the ground next to the hole. "Ready?" she asked Kakashi. He nodded, and they both made the plunge into the dark cave. I couldn't help but feel dread as I sensed a chakra that was all too familiar, but it was too late. They'd have to go up against Orochimaru.
