Chapter 12: I Live to Serve

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This fanfiction is written purely for fun.

Mist swirls around the room- or is it a room? The space is too large, the mist too thick, for one to be certain. He smiles, knowing that the thing he is waiting for will happen soon. The mist begins to part, as a black-cloaked figure emerges from the fog. The figure kneels before him, and he smiles again.

" You have done it?" He whispers, hardly loud enough to be heard, but sound reaches the cloaked figure's ears. Expectantly, He waits.

No answer.

" I asked you a question", He snaps, still expecting a positive response.

He is disappointed.

" I… I apologize", responds the cloaked figure. " I have… have failed".

Trembling, Hatake Kakashi recounts the events of his visit to Sunagakure. When he finishes, there is a long pause. Kakashi's breath is harsh and erratic, and his heartbeat pounds in his ears.

" You have… failed?" He echoes, as though he does not know the meaning of the words.

" I have", replies the cloaked figure.

There is another long pause, and then He sighs loudly, and a minuscule smile appears on His face.

" In that case, I suppose I was wrong as to the depth of your affections", He responds. " Since you obviously no longer value her life…" and His hands come together, beginning to form the signs for a jutsu.

Rat, tiger, snake, bird, horse…

" At first", began Sakura. " It seemed as though there were no traces left when Kakashi killed. However, on examining the bodies I noticed something so small that it would be passed over by almost any medic. Each body had one thing in common: their-"

She was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream.

Mitarashi Anko had fallen to the ground, her hands clawing at her forehead. Managing to tear off her headband, the kunoichi raked at her head, almost mad with pain. The ninja rushed at her, pinning down her limbs and trying to hold her still, trying to see what had caused such a reaction. Anko's eyes were unfocused and crazed. The woman writhed frantically in their grasp…

" NO! PLEASE!" shrieks Kakashi, springing up from the ground on which he kneels and throwing himself at the bottom of the stone throne He sits on.

" I-I'm sorry, I'll never fail you again, I swear, please! I beg of you!"

Impassive, He continues His hand signs.

Ox, rabbit, snake, monkey…

Anko began to foam at the mouth. Her eyes rolled up into her head and the flailing of her limbs made it difficult for her captors to hold her in place.

Dragon, tiger, horse, bird…

Suddenly the purple-haired kunoichi went limp. Her tight muscles relaxed simultaneously. However, her eyes still showed pain and struggle…

Ram, dog, rooster…

" I'LL DO ANYTHING!" screams Kakashi. He pauses in the midst of his jutsu, still keeping his chakra in motion, ready to complete the technique, and turns to the cloaked figure, a smug smile playing around his lips.

" Anything, Kakashi-kun? Anyone at all?"

Kakashi regrets having spoken, however, he nods mutely.

" Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto…?" he asks, hands poised to complete the jutsu.

Kakashi attempts to conceal his horror. His students? But then the image of a screaming Anko appears in his mind…

Once again, the traitor of konoha nods.

" Oh my", He remarks, amused. " You really would do anything. I'll give you three days".

Kakashi nods for the last time, still staring at His hands. Laughing, He pulls them apart, breaking the jutsu. Kakashi sighs with relief.

" I live to serve… Orochimaru-sama".

Anko gasped, her eyes rolling back into place and refocusing. She began to sit up slowly, panting heavily. Her body was drenched in sweat.

" Is it over?" she whispered weakly.

" Anko-sensei! Are you alright?" gasped Sakura. " What happened?"

" An attack", the purple-haired woman responded. " I have them once in a while. This one… was worse than others."

Sakura began checking the older woman's pulse and breathing. Neither were as stable as she could hope, however, they were righting themselves.

" Don't trouble yourself with an examination, Sakura", Anko told her. " I've gone to Tsunade-sama herself. She can't understand why I get these attacks… or how to cure them".

" There isn't any way…?" began Sakura, but the older woman shook her head.

" I'm afraid not", she replied. " I'll be alright in… in a bit. I just need a moment to recover…"

Anko was given a glass of water and after about ten minutes she was well enough to apologize to Gaara for interrupting the meeting. Casting a worried glance at Anko, Sakura continued her lecture.

" All of the bodies had one thing in common: their chakra systems were stretched a bit more than is normal. Most of the time, unless the stretching is quite severe (and in this case it was not) the situation would be accounted for by the fact that ninja often do stretch their chakra systems while using jutsus. However, some of the victims in question were not ninja. Therefore, I studied chakra systems more and come to the conclusion that Kakashi is able to suck all of his victim's chakra out, killing them in a manner that left barely any traces of what he had done".

Her audience, who had been silent throughout her speech, now burst into conversation. Was it really possible… The girl was exaggerating! She was lying, she had to be! No individual could actually suck out someone's chakra…!

" SILENCE!" roared Baki. Immediately the chatter ceased. He turned to Gaara. " kazekage-sama, what is your opinion as to these claims?"

Gaara frowned. " I believe that it is a plausible suggestion that Sakura-san has made. However, as the bodies have all been incinerated, there is no way of telling whether what she speaks of is the truth. The evidence is gone."

The Kazekage turned to the konoha ninja.

" It seems that I have no choice but to accompany you to konoha and address Tsunade-sama about this affair personally".

Hatake Kakashi leaves his meeting point, his heart heavy with dread. Of all the victims to choose, of all the people… But no, he must do this. Or else…

" I will save you, Anko-san", he whispers. " I love you… I can't let you go!"

A.N.: I'm sorry this took so long! I had a bit of a busy stretch, but anyway, here is chapter 12! I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!