Sasuke was slightly aggravated if the truth were to be told. As an Uchiha, one of the last at that, he had many expectations settled on his shoulders.

One of those expectations was that he would grow to become a strong Nin, one worthy of being the last of his clan.

Even so, Sasuke wasn't sure if his current training methods really paid any part to what he needed or if Anko was simply a sadistic woman.

He had just finished 'Dodge Training' with his newest teacher and was resting while the woman explained a summoning Jutsu to him, one known as the snake contract. She also explained that should he wish, he could have something other than snakes.

It seemed fitting to Sasuke that he could destroy Orochimaru using his own summons. To take away their loyalty and turn them against the Sanin...it would be very ironic.

He had tried to take away Sasuke. He tried to bend the Uchiha to his will and force him to become little more than a vessel of power for Orochimaru to later use. The thought was rather sickening and it pissed Sasuke off. No one would take him away from his home, away from Akihane.

He still remembered his brother's promise to him the night of their parents' deaths.

"Oi, Gaki, if you don't listen I'm going to toss you into a pit of snakes and leave yah."

Anko commented suddenly, bringing Sasuke from his musings.

Sasuke angled a look in Anko's directions. He already knew that the woman would love to do exactly as she said, but he also knew how to redirect her.

"Hun, weren't you explaining the effects of poison in your different snakes?"

He briskly asked, watching as Anko grinned and went back to explaining the fifty different types of paralysis that her snakes could deliver.

Quietly, Sasuke noted the snakes and their descriptions. It'd help the next time the crazy pervert decided to attack him with her snakes.

I~~~~I

"Are you going to let it rule you? Are you just going to let Orochimaru take control of you and everything you hold dear?"

Her words had his body stiffening. Unimaginable pain sprouted from his curse mark as he cried out.

Akihane, sweat, selfless, caring Akihane...he was going through this for her. If he didn't learn to control the curse mark then not only would Akihane's life be at risk, but everyone else he cared for as well.

Sasuke closed his eyes. He wouldn't allow this to control him. He was better than that.

He carefully channeled his breathing and worked through the tight pain encompassing his upper body.

He could feel the seal Ali's perverted Godfather had placed activating. The mark pulsed before he began to push away at the mark but keep the chakra.

Slowly he drew only the energy, not the lingering emotions, from the seal.

A refreshing feeling took over the pain. Unimaginable power surged through him. His eyes shot open and he let loose a strangled gasp as he felt the chakra spread to each of his limbs.

Was this how Aki felt when using the Kyuubi? Did she hear a warm him and feel the liquid fire rushing down her chakra pathways?

Such a feeling was far different from what he was used to. It was easy to see how he might become addicted to the way it spread through him.

"Ahh, so you managed to isolate it? Good. Now try to use it."

Anko commented from above him. Her tone had a hint of sass and it aggravated Sasuke quite a bit. He didn't want to deal with her right after managing the second step in his training.

Either way, he still needed to be able to use the chakra to make sure it wasn't wasted, so perhaps testing a fireball on the Snake Mistress was a good idea.

I~~~~I

"So, did you see the firecracker earlier? She was walking with that Nara boy, Shika-something I think his name was."

Anko commented offhandedly one day during their evening spar. Sasuke tried not to pay attention to her words, he knew by now what she sounded like when goading someone.

"I made a bet with Ibiki that the two will be dating in a year," Anko spoke calmly as she delivered a vicious kick to Sasuke's side.

The Uchiha managed to avoid the blow despite his stumbling at Anko's words.

His teeth ground down as he aimed several jabs at Anko. Akihane did not need the Nara, she had him and even the damned Hyuuga. Why did everyone keep mentioning him?

"Ohhh! Jabbed a nerve, did I Minicha?" Anko shouted at him, her body curving with a very inhuman-like flexibility much akin to that of Orochimaru's, if at a smaller scale.

His eyes narrowed and the mark on his neck pulsed. Sasuke allowed Jiraiya's seal to do its work as he flashed through hand signs and sent a large fireball at his teacher. The woman started flashing through her own hand signs, engulfing his fireball in a pit of earth.

Sasuke did not stop there and drew several kunai and shuriken to toss at his teacher. He watched in satisfaction as she was forced to dodge them.

His fingers pulled at the wires on the Kunai the moment they hit the trees fence behind Anko with a sharp 'thunk'.

Anko's chilling laughter echoed around the private Uchiha Training Ground even as fire crawled along the wires toward her body.

Sasuke added several explosive tags for good measure.

I~~~~I

"intercepted them...bleeding…might not make it…explosion-"

Sasuke slammed his fists into the wooden stump repeatedly, his eyes a deep red with three tomo remaining deathly still within them.

"-Sorry Sasuke…Why didn't you tell me!"

A growl spread from his throat as his hand shot through the trunk, obliterating it. Rage-filled chakra surged through him as he started to form one-handed seals.

"Why him…? Not enough…Yes, you are…Are you mad?"

Breathing, Sasuke expelled fire into the open air. The sweat on his face began to evaporate when faced with the intense heat. The area before him took on a red ethereal glow.

"Don't you trust me anymore? Akihane, why do you keep on letting him in when we've only ever had each other?"

Sasuke snapped and turned sharply, the blaze beginning to die as he grabbed several kunai and flung them at the surrounding targets.

Stupid Akihane. The idiotic Uzumaki had nearly gotten herself killed all for those damned brothers of hers. Not only that but when faced with nearly dying, Akihane had turned to the bastard Nara.

Nara Shikamaru was really starting to bother the Uchiha. Several times the Genin had interfered in private matters between the Sasuke's Uzumaki and the Uchiha, and yet Aki continued to allow him to be around her.

How many times had the Nara trained with Akihane? How many times had Sasuke planned something only to find out that Akihane wouldn't participate because she already had plans? When she told him about her father and his lineage, he had expected to be the only one or at least for Hinata to be told as well. Sasuke had never expected Shikamaru to find out or be told by Aki herself.

Sasuke felt betrayed. He had stood beside Akihane for far longer than the Nara, and yet the boy was already so close to his Uzumaki.

Their bond was important, and now it was being threatened by the Nara and Sasuke could do nothing to stop it.

"Are you mad?"

His fingers lost their grip on his kunai and a shuddering breath had his entire body slumping in defeat.

Her eyes had held fear. When she had asked him those three words, she had looked like her world was falling apart.

His knees hit the ground and Sasuke allowed his body to slump completely as he stared at the sky.

"Yes."

Had he just made the rift between them larger?

I~~~~I

Sasuke had to blink several times upon walking in on Akihane and Kakashi both sitting on a stool in Ichiraku, a Shogi board between them.

For once Akihane was not breaking her ethics in order to enjoy the Old Man's ramen, instead focusing wholeheartedly on the game between Kakashi and her.

Sasuke took note of the places of the pieces and had to hold back a groan when he recognized the layout on the board.

Aki tilted her head and reached for her piece, but upon doing so she shook her head. Her eyes glittered as she grabbed an unsuspecting pawn and placed it ahead of itself a space.

Kakashi looked absolutely confused by her actions, his one eye raised to look over the Ivory haired Genin.

"Mah…Aki-Hime, are you trying?" The lazy Scarecrow bit out in a tired drawl.

Akihane raised her gaze to her Sensei's and blinked away a haze in her eyes. She seemed to refocus and took notice of Sasuke.

Her lips tilted into a warm smile and her eyes lightening as she gazed at the Uchiha Heir.

"Hello, Sasuke-San." She commented softly, her eyes flickering back to the board as Kakashi placed her king piece in check.

Sasuke's insides fluttered and his body became warm at the sight of her smile. He nodded at her and took the seat behind her as he observed the board again.

Strangely enough, Aki reached over and used the same pawn as before to steal the piece Kakashi had used to place her king in check.

"Well,…that's game then Aki-Hime," Kakashi commented smoothly as he moved one of his pieces forward in what was perceived as checkmate.

Aki laughed gently and reached over, managing to move one of her pieces in a way that both intercepted Kakashi's piece and made a rather telling play known.

"It is, Sensei."

Kakashi had to blink at the board in a rather shocked manner. He hadn't even noticed the piece there. In fact, Aki had been leaning on that side of the board for a while now…

Akihane calmly took his King and hummed under her breath as she dangled it in front of him while explaining. "You forgot about that piece. I noticed how your eyes stopped straying to that side of the board after I fainted moving the piece and set my arm down. I pulled that trick with Asuma-Sensei too. He wasn't amused."

Kakashi let out a sigh and snatched the piece from his student, narrowing his one grey eye on her in slight contempt.

"That was dirty, Hime."

Akihane no longer seemed bothered by the nickname, something that told Sasuke she was rather used to Kakashi's teasing by now. Instead, the girl sighed and tapped the board with a sealing scroll. The board vanished with a puff of smoke, the contact-oriented storage seal glowing faintly before Akihane replaced the scroll at her side.

The girl leveled a look at her Sensei as she reached for her unbroken chopsticks. She calmly answered the man. "I'm a kunoichi Sensei, not to mention my mother's daughter. Of course, I will use underhanded tactics to win."

The Uzumaki promptly turned and began to eat her ramen, seeming to not notice the flash of an unknown emotion in her Sensei's eyes, before he too turned to eat his food.

Sasuke sighed and ordered his own food, taking another glance at Kakashi and Akihane. The two were a lot closer than normal, in fact, it rather reminded Sasuke of the beginnings of Naru's relationship with her other brothers.

Apparently, Aki had adopted another one. He really needed to tell her to stop doing that.

I~~~~I

Sasuke panted heavily as he collapsed against a tree. Anko stood beside him, observing his progress.

"So you managed to use the Earth Wall pretty well. That's good. I think next we'll try out a Lightning Strike."

The woman commented while glancing toward her student, taking note of the sweat dripping down his forehead and across his bangs. The boy's hair had grown a few inches over the course of their training, leading to him having to tie it up in a small ponytail to avoid having it in his face.

In all honesty, Sasuke looked a lot like his father to Anko.

Sasuke closed his eyes and tilted his head up toward the sky while his breathing evened out. The past three weeks had been hell with Anko. However, despite being the worst experience in his life next to the massacre, Anko was an amazing teacher. Her sadistic tendencies weren't exactly child rearing material, per say, but she had managed to introduce him too far more branches than anyone ever before. Even Aki's brothers hadn't managed that, and there were quite a few of them.

"Now, how about we try out that other technique I showed you. My favorite one." Anko's devilish words cut through his head and he opened his dark eyes to glare at the woman.

Far too many times the woman had mentioned that training, and it pissed him off to no end.

"I will not succumb to being a practice dummy for you, Mitarashi." Sasuke hissed in a final manner, his eyes glinting dangerously while his fingers inched closer to his weapon pouches. There was only one form of training that she could be speaking of and Sasuke was not in the mood to be shocked.

Anko broke out laughing, her head tilting back while she held her hips. Her jacket fell past her shirt, revealing her fishnet-clad torso. At this point, Sasuke was used to the provocative woman's tendencies, including her insanity and pervertedness. A little peek at what she had behind her too-small trench coat really didn't affect him.

"Well, I suppose we can call it a day. Speaking of which-" Anko was abruptly cut off of her question by a newcomer to their training ground.

Sasuke spotted the porcelain mask on the figure's face with only animal markings depicting their status, before the woman ANBU was handing Anko a scroll.

The woman's mask was that of a cat and her hair was raised over her head in a high pony-tail. Automatically Sasuke inclined his head while rising to stand.

"Neko-San." Sasuke greeted the ANBU he knew to be Yugau curtly, turning away so the woman wouldn't have to give him a reply.

It was common courtesy to greet an ANBU officer, but it was also common practice for them to not respond. Though many residents, civilian or ninja, knew of the identities of ANBU officers, they still were kind enough to keep their knowledge on the down low. With the Chunin Exams still occurring, Sasuke knew his discretion would be even more appreciated than normal.

"Well Gaki, it looks like you get to go to a meeting held by the Old Man. Come on, see if you can keep up with the jutsu I showed you."

Anko broke Sasuke's thoughts again, her grin causing him to scowl once more. Without a pause the three vanished in shuinshins, Sasuke's edged with ash and lightning, while the other two portrayed nothing but a shift in the air.

I~~~~I

By the time that Sasuke entered the Hokage's office, the teams for Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, and even Kakashi had already arrived. Akihane was leaning beside the Hokage, discussing something softly with the aged man, while Sakura was talking idly with Ino and Hinata. Shikamaru kept eyeing Akihane from his spot next to Asuma and Choji, while the rest of Team Eight sat with Team Nine on the couch.

The moment that Sasuke entered, everyone turned to both Anko and him.

Sasuke sighed and walked toward Akihane, ignoring the looks that everyone passed between him and the continually grinning Mitarashi.

"Oi, Kashi, haven't seen you in a while."

Anko called out, turning on her heeled sandals to detour to the quiet nin still reading his perverted book. The man glanced up to give a smile to the woman, carefully slipping his book into his back pouch as she approached. A lazy draw left his lips just as Anko stopped her prowl right in front of him. "Mah, Anko. How have you been? I hope my cute Genin Student isn't causing you any trouble."

Sasuke quickly tuned out their blatant flirting before he died from too much information, reaching his own target within a few more strides.

Akihane turned toward him with a smile working its way onto her lips, her eyes meeting his in a lavender haze. "Hello, Sasuke-San."

Hiruzen watched the two exchange words with a soft smile on his lips, glancing over at the other gathered Nin as a weight lifted from his shoulders.

Despite the fact that he was about to tell all of these young souls about a coming war, he couldn't help but believe they would succeed. Suna and Oto had no idea what would be hitting them when they chose to attack Konoha.

I~~~~I

This took way too long. I mean, a good couple of weeks and I didn't even manage to get it posted on time. Hopefully, the coming chapters turn out better, because this is ridiculous. Not to mention, I have a few Student Council events going on in November, while FCCLA is having several this month. Don't be too surprised if updates are late. I'll try my best though. Hope you enjoyed, please stay tuned for more!