With my wide eyes
I've seen worlds that don't belong
My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize
Tell me why we live like this

Broken – III

"Anko-san, that's the third time this week." Anko folded her hands under the desk and looked up at her teacher. "Why haven't you been doing your homework?"

"Sorry Sensei." She murmured, her eyes locked on the desk. "I just…forgot, is all. I was really busy last night."

The teacher shook her head. She was obviously disappointed. "See me after class, Anko-san."

Anko nodded. "You too, Obito-kun." The teacher added to the Uchiha boy, who nodded in a sullen way. Anko smirked a little, feeling a little smug. At least she had an actual excuse for not doing her homework, even if she couldn't use it. Uchiha Obito was just plain lazy.

When the last bell rang, Anko and Obito dragged themselves up to the teacher's desk, wondering what kind of punishment they were going to receive. Their teacher could be very harsh when it came to punishments.

"All right you two, explain." She said, looking over her hands at them. "Obito-kun this has been an all-year thing with you, I don't suppose I should be very surprised, I just want you to work harder. But you, Anko-san…I expected more from you. I wasn't overly sure about letting you skip a grade at first, but you proved me wrong quickly enough. You were a good student, and your work was exceptional. But the last few weeks or so…the quality of your work has gone down, and your homework has been later and later…or it hasn't come at all. Would you like to explain?"

Obito made a face, not sure why he had to be here, if he was doing exactly what the teacher expected.

"I…I'm just a little overwhelmed right now, Sensei. I'm sorry, I'll try harder…I'll try harder, I promise." The teacher sighed.

"All right, Anko-san. But if there's anything you want to talk about, let me know." Anko nodded. "Okay. Obito-kun, would you like to take a chance at explaining yourself?"

"He's a lazy good-for-nothing, what more do you need to know?" Said a voice from the door. Kakashi and Rin were standing there, waiting for Obito so they could start heading home.

"Kakashi-kun, that's no way to talk to your fellow student." The teacher scolded the white-haired teen. "Obito-kun?"

Obito shrugged. "Homework bores me. That's all there is to it."

The teacher just sighed again. She knew Uchiha Obito was a lost cause. "All right. You two are dismissed."

"Thank you ma'am." The two bowed at the same time before leaving. Kakashi and Rin gave them weird looks.

"What was that all about?" Kakashi asked as they started going down the hall. Obito shrugged, annoyed.

"Stupid bitch was down my back about homework, that's all. Nothing new." He scowled and looked down at the floor. By chance, he caught sight of Anko's left arm.

"Oi, Mitarashi. What happened to you?"

Anko jumped as if Obito had taken a swing at her, and looked down at her wrist. "What? This? Oh…it was nothing. I…tripped. Fell down the stairs. Landed on my wrist. Hurt like hell."

Obito snorted under his breath. "Wow, your clumsier than I am." He snickered.

"Obito you trip over air. I don't think it's possible to be as clumsy as you." His happy moment was short-lived as Kakashi threw in his own two cents. Obito scowled as Anko and Rin laughed. By chance, Kakashi's eyes drifted over to the former. She had a rather cute smile…

Kakashi shook his head quickly. Ugh. What the hell is wrong with me?

"I'd better get home." Anko's voice cut through Kakashi's confusing thoughts. "Orochimaru-sama…well, he doesn't like it when I'm late. I don't know if he'll be home, but if he is…I just better not be late. See you guys later."

"That was weird." Kakashi said, watching her run off. "She changed when she said Orochimaru's name. Am I the only one who noticed that?"

"You did too, huh?" Rin asked, looking over her shoulder at Kakashi. "Really weird. Either she's scared of him, or she just wants to please him."

"Could be both." Obito said, resting his hands behind his head. "In all honesty, I'd be terrified twenty-four/seven if I lived with that freak. Can you imagine? You know he used to live at Konohagakure, right?"

Kakashi blinked. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, the fact that he hadn't known that, or the fact that Obito had.

"He did?" Rin asked. Obito nodded.

"Yeah. Minato-Sensei told me about it. Guess he came from a really bad abuse case. His father nearly killed him. His mother didn't do anything about it. He was always a little messed up, from what Minato-Sensei told me. Didn't talk as much as the other kids, kind of withdrew into himself." Obito shrugged. "Not that it really matters, but you know, it might explain a little bit about him."

"He comes from an abuse home?" Rin asked. She sounded a little concerned about that. Obito looked over at her.

"Yeah…" He said slowly.

"What is it, Rin?" Kakashi asked. Rin bit her lip.

"Well, nothing…" Rin said slowly. "That's just a little concerning, isn't it? And Anko was acting pretty weird when she was talking about not being late…"

"What do you think?" Obito asked. "Orochimaru hits her? I doubt that Rin-san. He may be a creep, but even creeps have their limits."

Kakashi, however, wondered if maybe there was some truth behind Rin's concerned words. He shoved his hands into his pockets, quietly contemplating what had just been said.

The velvety blue sky was dotted with scattered white spots. Stars. Anko looked up at them, barely able to focus. Pain was coursing through her entire body.

"Please, Orochimaru-sama! Stop!"

She'd never begged before. But the pain was just too much. Why was he even hitting her? What had she done?

He didn't respond to her begging. He only hit harder. Blood was falling from her temple in a small, slow river. It was warm against her skin.

The world swam before Anko's eyes and she stumbled forward, wondering if she was going to faint. That would have been nice. It would have been an escape from the pain.

And if there was one thing Anko needed right then, it was an escape. An escape…from everything.

"Stay on your feet." Orochimaru snapped, grabbing her by the back of the shirt and dragging her up. His fist connected with her side, her back, her stomach, anywhere he could reach. He set her on the floor again, holding her by her wrists as he continued hitting her. He wasn't holding back at all tonight. He'd hit her face and legs as well, as if he didn't care. As if he wanted everyone to see what he did to her. Of course, he'd leave her to make up an excuse to explain away the bruises. And she would.

Why did she insist on putting herself through this?

She yelled out in pain again as his foot connected with the lower part of her leg.

The cold, cruel wind blew, assaulting Anko's bare, bruised arms. She'd left the house wearing nothing but a t-shirt, shorts, and shoes. She'd been so desperate to get away, she hadn't even thought about getting anything else. Unwelcome tears were welling in her eyes. She willed them not to fall, but they did anyway. It just hurt too much.

He released her at last, and she fell backwards, hitting the floor. Her legs were too bruised to support her anymore. She laid still where she was, her eyes devoid of life as she stared at the floor in front of her. What had she done? What had she done to deserve this?

"You're worthless." Orochimaru hissed, towering over her. He kicked her in the stomach, and she flew back, slamming into the wall. "Utterly worthless. You're not even worth keeping around."

He turned to walk away. "Then why?" She choked out, pushing herself up with shaking arms, ignoring the pain that screamed in her left wrist. Orochimaru turned back to her. "Why," she gasped, glaring at him, "do you let me stay with you? Why did you even take me in the first place? If you hate me so much, why do you let me stay here?"

Orochimaru smirked as he walked over to her. She almost regretted speaking. He'd been about to leave her alone…

He kneeled down and grabbed her by the throat, holding her against the wall. "Why? Because I hate you, Anko."

Maybe her brain was fuzzy, but she didn't understand any of that. Her confusion must have shown on her face. "You." he hissed, tightening his grip on her throat, just a little "You and your perfect little family…your parents, as I assume you know, are from Konohagakure, just like me. They tried to be my friends, when we were in the home, and when we left. When you were born, they never stopped talking about you. It was sickening. I was glad when they died. And when I found out they'd made me your legal guardian…it was my chance, I realized. To show them what I really thought about them and their perfect little family."

She stared at him, her eyes wide. He was insane. Completely insane. She would have said that if she had been able to talk. But all through his speech, he had been tightening his grip a little more and a little more, until she couldn't breath at all. Now she was struggling against him, trying to throw him off. Finally he relinquished, allowing her to breath again.

"If I kill you, it'll look suspicious." He said, standing up again. "Best to let you live…for now."

And he walked out. Anko stared after him, her eyes wide. At that moment, only one thought was ringing in her mind: I have to get out of here.

She stumbled up, holding onto the wall for support, found her shoes, slipped them on, then carefully opened the door and slipped out, careful to close it quietly behind her. Then she did the only thing that made sense; she ran as fast as her legs would allow her to.

Running didn't seem like such a good idea now. The sky overhead had clouded up ― Anko could no longer see the stars. Raindrops were falling, lightly at first, then more quickly. Soon it was a downpour. Anko shivered as the wind continued to blow. In a matter of minutes she had become soaked.

Go back there and die…stay and die. I don't have a choice. Either way, I'm not going to live to see tomorrow.

This thought hit her in a sickening realization. She wasn't meant to see tomorrow.

With that in mind, she fell at last, her eyes closing. And she thought, at least the pain will go away.

"Oh…great." Kakashi said as he glared at the sky. The rain poured down on them, causing his usual gravity-defying hair to hang limply around his face. He and Rin pulled up the hoods of their sweatshirts in ditch attempts to stay dry. Obito pulled his goggles down over his eyes (he had been wearing them as a head-piece).

"If we don't catch pneumonia, it'll be a miracle." Rin said as they started running down the street.

"Sarutobi-sama is going to kill us for dripping all over the floor." Obito called over the sound of the rain beating down on them. "Maybe we should have waited for the rain to stop."

"We've already missed curfew." Kakashi cut in. "If we waited for this to end, we would have―"

He stopped as they turned the corner down another street. He squinted his eyes, trying to see through the rain.

"Kakashi-kun?" Rin came to a halt next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Hey Kakashi, weren't you just complaining about being late?" Obito asked, stopping as well. "What―"

"There's something on the sidewalk." Kakashi said shortly, stepping forward. Rin and Obito followed him apprehensively.

"What do you think it is?" Obito asked, just a little bit scared. He was afraid it was some drunk guy that would jump up and attack him.

"What's wrong, afraid?"

"Shut it Kakashi."

"Guys…that's a person."

That was Rin's terrified voice. She didn't hesitate for a second before rushing forward. Kakashi and Obito quickly followed. "My Lord…" The girl whispered, her voice strangled by shock. "It's Anko-san."

Kakashi knelt down quickly beside his friend. She was right. The purple-haired girl was laying on the sidewalk, her eyes closed. She was shivering, and she looked as if someone had taken a baseball bat to her.

"'The hell happened?" Obito asked faintly. "She get hit by a truck or somethin'? ― Hey, Kakashi, what are you doing?"

The silver-haired teen had slipped his sweatshirt off, and was wrapping Anko up in it. "What does it look like I'm doing, idiot? I'm not leaving her here." He scooped the small girl easily into his arms, holding her tightly to his chest. Rin and Obito straightened up as well.

"Minato-Sensei and Sarutobi-sama are definitely going to kill us."

"Don't care. Let's go."

Author's Note - Hmn...Well, this is pretty much what I've been leading in to. This is where the real story begins. Don't ask why I didn't just publish this as the first chapter. I like dragging stuff out. Anyways, review! Also, might be throwing a Twilight story your way soon...I started reading the series and I'm addicted...so if you're a fan, keep an eye out - Sam