Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Orochimaru looked at his student with a sinister smile. Anko was sitting across from him on the ground, her brown eyes trained on her sensei with fascination. It wasn't often that they could enjoy a moment of peaceful sitting. Much of their time was spent training for combat, and this small repose made Anko both anxious and happy.

"Being a ninja is a lot more than physical strength and strategy," her sensei began. "A ninja must also have goals to achieve. What I want to know is…" He trailed off, looking at Anko intently. "What are your goals, my dear?"

Anko quickly formed her answer, "I want to be a great ninja like you, Sensei, and then I want to be strong enough to protect the village." Her enthusiasm made Orochimaru snicker. "Sensei, what is your goal?" Anko finally asked, and her teacher looked at her in surprise. He had only ever been asked that question once by his own master. However, since that time, his goals had drastically changed.

"My goal is quite simple," Orochimaru began. "What I want is complete control of the Leaf Village. I want to mold it into my own vision."

Anko looked at him quizzically. "Like as Hokage?" she asked.

Orochimaru chuckled. "No, the title Hokage will cease to exist once I'm done with the Leaf Village."

OOO

Anko awoke before the sun had peaked over the horizon, and her apartment was still cloaked in darkness. She rose from her bed and made her way to the bathroom. She fixed her ponytail, which had become quite disheveled during the night due to her constant tossing and turning. She leant in close to the mirror, observing the dark shadows under her eyes that were only getting worse as time progressed. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since her mission with Ibiki and the ANBU agent.

Truth be told, she hadn't gotten a good night sleep for many years before that mission.

She splashed some water on her face, drying it with a towel, before pulling on her coat and shoes and leaving her home. By the time she left, the sun was already in the sky.

Today was the day of the third phase of the Chunin Selection Exams. Already, excited villagers were making their way toward the arena where the exams would take place. Anko followed the people toward the arena, hands in her pockets, blending into the crowd.

The past month had seemed like a blur to Anko starting with her return from her mission. After their return, the Hokage put her to work helping prepare for the exam. Much of her time was spent making sure the arena was flawless and sending out letters inviting the nobles to the grand display. It was mundane work, but Anko felt that the Hokage was giving her these tasks for a reason: to keep her in the village and under his watchful surveillance. Anko was almost thankful for the distraction. Almost.

She found a place to sit in the arena that gave her a good vantage point of both the fighting area and the Kage seating area. She was still part of the protection detail, although she was told that she could relax. She had been assured that every ANBU Black Ops agent was prowling the village and multiple agents were located at various spots in the arena. She was also told that Ibiki was heading a protection detail at the main gate of Konoha with a dozen or so other shinobi. Still, she thought it better to be safe so she stayed on her guard.

"Anko!" a voice called behind her, and Anko looked over her shoulder to look for who called her name. Kurenai and Asuma sat down next to her, and Anko smiled in greeting.

"We haven't seen you in a while," Kurenai said. "I guess we've been busy training our students. How are you?"

Anko shrugged. "I've been better. How are you guys doing? Ready to see your kids fight for their lives?"

Kurenai, who normally would have looked worried at such a statement, only smiled. "I'm sure Shino will be fine. That boy scares even me sometimes."

Asuma shrugged. "I'm not expecting much out of Shikamaru. We actually have bets on how long he'll stay in the round without quitting because 'fighting is too troublesome.'"

Anko smirked. "Sounds like you have a real winner there."

"There they are," Kurenai said, pointing down at the fighting area. Anko mentally counted how many there were but her count came up two short.

"Wait there's two missing," she voiced her conclusion and saw that Kurenai and Asuma wore the same confused expressions as she.

"That kid from the Sound village isn't here…" Asuma began.

"And neither is Sasuke Uchiha," Anko finished, growing worried. With all that was going on with Orochimaru and Sasuke's curse mark, Anko couldn't help but worry about the boy.

"I'll go see what I can find out," Asuma said as he got up and left the two women alone.

"I'm sure everything will be fine. Sasuke does have Kakashi to look after him. Kakashi is as good a bodyguard as anyone," Kurenai assured her, but the slight waver in her voice told Anko that even she didn't truly believe that.

Anko could see the Hokage take his seat next to the Kazekage from the Sand Village, the only other Kage to come to the exam. She saw him talking with a few shinobi most likely about the absence of Sasuke, and Anko had never wished that she could hear him more at that moment. A few seconds later, she saw Asuma enter the seating area, leaning to whisper something in the Hokage's ear. He seemed to receive the information he came for and left the seating area with a polite bow to the Kazekage and Hokage.

Shortly later, Asuma came back, just as the first match was about to begin. "I found out that Dosu, the kid from the Sound Village, was killed not too long ago. Probably for the best given what we now know about the Sound Village."

"And the Uchiha and Kakashi?" Anko asked.

Asuma shrugged. "No one knows. They're giving him until when his match starts to get here. You know Kakashi; he's always late no matter what. Give him time. He'll get him here in one piece."

Anko stood suddenly, turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Kurenai asked, confusion evident on her face.

"I'm on protection detail and that means making sure all of the genin show up for the exam. I'm going to go find Kakashi and drag him here myself." Before the other two could protest, Anko was gone, flitting up and down the streets of Konoha quickly, scanning the area for the duo. She knew that she couldn't sit still until she knew that the Uchiha boy wasn't in Orochimaru's clutches. She had to make sure of that.

Anko stopped to catch her breath, finding herself near the front gate. She could hear the sounds of cheering as the third phase of the chunin exam began in the distance and could already hear the fighting commence for the first round.

"Anko, what are you doing over here? Weren't you told to enjoy the fights?" a voice called from the watch area above the gate. Anko shaded her eyes from the sun, looking up to see who had called to her. Ibiki sat on the edge of the gate, his legs dangling over the edge as he looked down at her. Anko smirked before jumping up to where he sat.

"I was looking for the Uchiha boy. Have you seen him or Kakashi around?"

"No, not since this morning. The two were walking toward the training grounds for some early morning training. Disappeared into the forest. Why are you looking for them? Shouldn't they be at the arena?"

Upon noticing Anko's look, Ibiki grimaced. "Really? Kakashi's even late to this? He of all people should know how important this is. The nerve to show up late…" He trailed off, looking over toward the arena. Then he looked up at one of his companions who was supposed to be standing watch with him. He was instead positioning his binoculars to get a good view of the fights.

"Hey, you see Kakashi or Sasuke Uchiha there yet?" he asked. The shinobi with the binoculars looked closer, scanning the arena from left to right.

"Yeah, they're there. Looks like he just showed up not too long ago."

Ibiki turned his attention back to Anko. "See, nothing to worry about. I told you. Now sit back and enjoy the fights. There's another set of binoculars over there. Make yourself comfortable."

Anko took him up on his offer, sitting down beside him with the spare binoculars, watching the fights from the distance. She was surprised by some of the outcomes as the fights progressed, most noticeably the Uzumaki kid's win against the Hyuga. That was not something that she had foreseen.

But the thing that struck Anko the most was Sasuke's fight against the Sand ninja, Gaara. The two had unparalleled power, both bloodthirsty and vengeful. The two made her shiver.

And then, all hell broke loose.

So many things happened at once that Anko could not even comprehend what had happened until she saw through her binoculars that most everyone in the stadium lied unconscious, and the Hokage was taken captive by the Kazekage. It took Anko a brief second to realize this before her instincts kicked in, and Ibiki yelled at her to go to the stadium to help. Anko ran in a hurry, her feet barely touching the ground. Only when she was at the door of the stadium did she realize the full extent of this attack.

There were enemies everywhere, all masked and fighting the few elite ninjas who were capable of releasing a genjutsu of this magnitude. Blood was everywhere, and Anko could only hope that it was the blood of the enemy that she was stepping in. She ran inside, only to be attacked as soon as she had made it three feet into the stadium. She easily took out her opponent, leaving the shinobi dead on the floor to join his comrades.

She fought her way toward the center of the stadium to get a better vantage point of the situation. Finally, she saw the gate partitioning the stadium from the audience's seating area, and Anko saw her fellow shinobi standing at the gate looking on together. All around them lay the dead enemy shinobi as well as a few from Konoha. Anko was grateful to see Kurenai, Kakashi, and even Guy were at the gate together with a few other shinobi looking onward.

"What's happening?" Anko asked them as she joined them. Then she noticed someone missing, someone who seemed to always be at Kurenai's side. "Where's Asuma?" she asked, dread filling her stomach.

Kurenai pointed to the roof of a neighboring building. "He went to see what he could do about that." Anko followed her finger to the roof, seeing the barrier that was up shielding what looked like a forest inside.

"What the hell is that?" she asked, feeling a bit naïve.

"It's a barrier ninjutsu," Kakashi explained. "Inside is the Hokage who's fighting against… Orochimaru." He said the name with such disgust that it caused something like a chill in the air. Anko saw all of the shinobi visibly shudder at the mention of his name.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Anko asked, trying to mask the franticness in her voice. Her sensei was here. She was so close to exacting her revenge.

"We can't," Kurenai muttered.

"We're utterly useless," Guy said in an equally serious tone.

Anko clenched her fists. Useless: she hated that word. She had felt it for so many years but she was going to change that. She turned on her heel, making her way back outside. She barely heard her friends calling behind her.

Outside the stadium was more chaos. The dead lined the streets and multiple buildings had been crushed and pulverized by giant snakes. There was no doubt now, this was his doing.

A shinobi tried to jump her from an alleyway, but Anko quickly slashed his throat with her kunai. His blood splattered wildly, spraying her and leaving crimson splatter stains on her coat. Her hands were stained with the coppery substance, and Anko felt like a monster. Why was this happening? She felt so guilty. If she had only stopped Orochimaru when she had had the chance this would never have happened.

While she stared at her hands, she failed to notice another ninja like the first approaching from behind. He was about to stab her, and she had barely turned around, her eyes widening as she thought she was about to die, when the ninja was launched from the roof, and he fell dead to the ground.

Anko looked up to see who had saved her, and her eyes met those of an older man, his white hair flowing down his back in a spiky ponytail.

"You ok, kid?" he asked. She nodded, trying to remember where she had seen this man. He straightened his back, looking at her as if were trying to do the same. He snapped his fingers, obviously remembering something. "You're Orochimaru's old student, right?" he asked. She nodded again, this time her eyes showing sadness. The man quickly backtracked. "Uh, I'm Jiraiya. But I guess this is no time to talk." He turned away, running down the street toward the stadium. "Try to stay alive, kid," he called back with a wave of his hand.

Anko only hoped that she could.

OOO

Many were lost that day in Konoha. It was a solemn day. Everyone wore black, and almost everyone had at least a tear in his or her eye. Everyone except Anko who had tried her hardest to keep the tears from flowing because she knew they would never stop.

She stood toward the back of the procession, scanning the crowd, taking in every sad face. What got to her most was a young boy standing next to Iruka who was crying into the man's shoulder. That was Konohamaru, the honorable grandson. There weren't many of the immediate relatives of the Hokage left, Konohamaru and Asuma being two of the only ones. It was a sad day for the Sarutobi clan.

Anko was the last person left in the graveyard. She stared long and hard at the many new graves that had been dug that day. She took in the white roses that had been left in front of each picture of the deceased, noticing the contrast of the white on the black that was supposed to be beautiful. It made her sick. The thought of that many lives lost was too much for her to bear. Tears welled in her eyes, and she fell to the ground in anguish. Her fingers dug at the ground, pulling up grass and dirt clods as she clawed angrily.

"What are you still doing here?"

Anko turned slightly to recognize Kakashi standing close behind her. He was attempting to cover his head from the rain that was falling in steady, icy sheets. She turned back to face away from him.

"Go away. This is my pity party, not yours," she said, never wanting to be alone more than she did now. She didn't want someone to see her cry like this. She felt so weak and vulnerable and, yet, she couldn't stop crying.

"Would you just talk to someone about this? I mean, you were about to chase after him yourself with no backup after you found out about the Hokage's death. If Iruka hadn't stopped you, you would have done it and gotten yourself killed. And what for? Just so there would be another grave that had to be dug today."

Anko remembered it clearly. When the dust had settled, and Orochimaru had gotten away with the help of his four Sound ninja, all that was left was the Hokage's dead body. The shinobi who were still alive had gathered around his body in anguish, no one knowing what to say. Anko had handled all of it surprisingly well until she had seen Asuma toward the front of the crowd. The man, whom she never thought would show any weakness, looked like he was about to cry, and Kurenai had stood so close to him that only a person who was being very observant could tell that she was holding his hand, trying her hardest to comfort him. That was when she had tried to make a break for it to run after Orochimaru, but Iruka, who was standing toward the back of the group, had caught her arm and held her back.

"Don't you get it? It's my fault they're all dead. It's my fault that Sasuke Uchiha has fallen victim to that sadistic monster. It's my fault that Konohamaru was balling his eyes out as he watched his own grandfather's body be lowered into the ground and that Asuma doesn't have his father anymore. I had a chance to stop him, and I wasn't strong enough!"

Kakashi was now growing irritated and angry with her. "How many times do you have to be told that it wasn't your fault? No one can beat him. Not even the Hokage could! Stop blaming yourself for his crimes. What he does isn't your fault. Just because you were his disciple doesn't mean you are responsible for what he does. We will get him but only if all of us work together. So stop crying and stand up."

Then he murmured, "I had the chance to stop him, too, and I couldn't. This is as much my fault as it is anybody else's. If I could have just been strong enough when he was there when I sealed the curse mark on Sasuke then I…"

Anko dried her eyes and looked at the man before her. "What did you just say?"

Kakashi caught himself, muttering that it was nothing. He had forgotten that Anko didn't know about what had happened during the preliminaries, and he had just let the cat out of the bag.

"So that's what you guys were talking about then. That's what you were keeping secret," Anko said, finally piecing the pieces together from the preliminaries. Anko got up and stormed past Kakashi. Before she was completely out of the graveyard she yelled back, "I remember this: when everyone was keeping secrets from me to protect me when, in fact, they did it because they couldn't trust me even though that bastard took my memories. But how could I blame them? I was his disciple after all. God, I thought that we were past all of this, but I guess I still can't be trusted with information because I might still be his little spy." She turned back to the jonin, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Mark my words: Anko Mitarashi is not a spy or a traitor. I will kill Orochimaru even at the cost of my own life. Keep all the secrets you want but it changes nothing."

"We didn't keep this secret from you because we doubt your loyalty, Anko. We kept it because of this. You rush into everything without thinking." He sighed. "The last thing any of us want is for you to get hurt or killed. We've all got your back, all of us. Every single person in this village is here to help. We will catch him, Anko. It may take time, but we will catch him."

Anko did not have the heart to voice her doubts.

~AN~

It's been a long time, guys. Hopefully I still have readers out there... somewhere. Anyways, I've had this written for a while, or at least most of it, but school has prevented me from submitting it. Oh well. But it is finally here! The end of the chunin exams! Luckily, half of the next chapter is already written so hopefully it will come sooner than this one...

Thanks to all for your praise and for reading and reviewing. This story would not be here if it wasn't for you. Special thanks to NinjaSheik for saying kind words about me on her forum. That makes me so happy!