Thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning flashed brightly, streaking its blots across the dark sky. The storm splattered down its raindrops onto the deserted streets of the Leaf Village, houses' rattling windows blocked out the booming sound that the raging tempest produced.
Inside her apartment, Anko shivered, her body coated with cold sweat, her messy bangs sticking to her forehead, her breaths were small and ragged that slipped past her parted mouth. The Curse Mark throbbed in her sleep, coursing its torment throughout her body, her heart jackhammering inside her chest painfully and eyes screwed shut as she endured the anguish she felt in her dream of him.
ஜ ~ ஜ
She stood at the pier, the endless ocean stretched out before her, its waters glistening clearly under the shining sun and around the islands that inhabited the middle of the sea. The wind breezed through her and her violet hair softly, and she was enthralled as she admired the beautiful landscape around her. She was young, her innocent brown optics filled with wonderment.
"Where…?"
"Where…?"
She, the older Anko, was there in her dream, her voice overlapping her younger self's.
"Where…?"
"Where…?"
"Am I…?"
"Am I…?"
A sudden gust of wind floated at her, causing her to hide her eyes until it passed, her hair sweeping in her face. When it was gone, she smiled at man standing to her on the wooden pier.
"Lord Orochimaru…"
Pale lips formed into a beautiful smile, directing it towards the girl who adored him with all of her heart. The image of that smile ended far too soon, vanishing into a void and was replaced by the sound of her agonizing cries. She was there one the ground, on her knees and panting heavily as sweat cascaded off her like a waterfall. The only exit closed in front of, snaring her in complete darkness. Outside, she could hear the sound of a lock clicking shut over her broken gasps for air.
The excruciating pain took its course through her small body as she curled up into a tight ball and out, her nails scraping lines in the dirt beneath her, her chest feeling like it was being lit on fire, the flames emanating from the weird mark on her shoulder. She started to trashed and screamed and cried out, a cold chuckling vibrated in the air around her in sadistic glee. She couldn't bear it, she felt like she was going to die… She needed to get out, to escape from this pain—from…
ஜ ~ ஜ
Anko jolted up in her bed, awash in sweat and her eyes wide. She took in deep, measured gasps and pants to force oxygen down in her lungs. She cringed at the pain; clutching the Curse Mark as sweat tickled down her lithe form. Trembling in her bed as lightning cackled and flashed from outside, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep for a long time.
ஜ ~ ஜ
"What kind of disturbance?" Anko questioned the next morning, standing in front of the Fifth Hokage and her trusty aide, Shizune, who was holding Tsunade's pig, Tonton.
"Not sure." Tsunade admitted. "Some sort of creature has been terrorizing our neighbor, the Land of the Sea. They called it the 'Demon of the Ocean'."
Anko frowned to match the one that sent towards her by the Hokage, her heartbeat suddenly drumming too loudly for her liking. She didn't like it when the Hokage narrowed her hazel eyes at her as she brought her hands up to her face to cover half of it.
"What's wrong? You will go for me, won't you?" she inquired in a stern tone.
Anko flinched visibly at her shady, knowing voice. She hated to admit it, but she was intimidated by this woman. Anyone in their right mind would be afraid of her; she was one of the Legendary Sannin and possessed immense physical strength, but what scared Anko the most about the blond woman was that she could her as easily as Orochimaru could.
Collecting herself firmly, Anko straightened in front of the Hokage and Shizune, the aide's onyx eyes filled with concerned at her. "Yes, milady."
"Shizune." Tsunade snapped her assistant out her daze.
She jumped at her mistress's sharp tone, her eyes drifting on her mentor. "Uh, yes?"
"Give her the rundown."
"Oh, sure." Shizune nodded, displaying a map at Anko as she explained the mission. "The Land of the Sea is composed of islands of various sizes. Lately, vessels carrying monetary shipments have been coming under attack, their cargo plundered."
"All the people on board these ships claimed that the damage was done by this 'Demon of the Ocean'." Tsunade added in.
"And that's the mission, huh? You want me to find this thing and take it out, right?" Anko asked.
"Well, almost. There's a hair more to it than that."
"The Land of the Sea has no Hidden Village, not of its own." Shizune informed her. "So they've established a military alliance with their neighbor, the Land of Water. They make payments every month, but the ship carrying their latest installment was attacked by the Demon of the Ocean as well."
"I get it." Anko put a fisted hand to her chin thoughtfully, considering the situation's delicate problem. "To preserve their relationship with the Land of Water, the Land of the Sea will do whatever it takes to protect their next ship."
The Fifth Hokage nodded. "Bingo. Your mission is to safeguard the latest delivery and take out this 'demon'. Your support team has already been assembled, the rest I leave to you."
"Support team?" Anko repeated, puzzled. She was never used to working with other people. She'd much rather prefer to work alone, and she was capable of finishing any job once she take it.
A knock came at the door and Anko pivoted her head as Tsunade allowed her visitors to come in. "Enter."
"Hmm?" Anko blinked her eyes as they lay on familiar looking faces, three young Genin—two boys and one girl. When the boy with spiky blond hair and bright blue optics spotted her, he yelped in recognition and pointed an accusing finger at her.
"What the—? You're that psycho proctor from the Chūnin Exams!" he shrieked in alarm and fear.
Anko grinned at him sheepishly, the memories from the Chūnin Exams flooding back to her. "Hmm…Yeah, good times. Feels like it was only yesterday, doesn't it?"
The blond girl with the short ponytail pointed at her in surprised, a hand covering her mouth. "Anko Mitarashi-sensei…?"
"So what're you doing here?" Naruto inquired, frightened and prepared to rush out of the room if the snake kunoichi were to pull another scary stunt on him.
"Listen up!" Tsunade's authoritative voice interrupted them, drawing their attention back to her. "Your mission is as followed! Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, Naruto Uzumaki! You three will be working as a team under Anko for this assignment. What she says goes!"
The two blond-haired Genin made a fuss over the combination of selection the Hokage made of the squad, but Tsunade quickly covered it up by saying she thought out the mission carefully and hand-picked all of them by deciding that their separate skills would fit perfectly for the mission. Although, both Shizune and Anko knew that wasn't exactly the case. There were only a few ninja available since they were already out doing other missions, and the village was shorthanded.
"Now put those abilities of yours to good use and get the job done!" the Fifth Hokage concluded.
The newly formed squad straightened themselves, answering her attentively. "Right!"
"Something here doesn't smell right." Naruto stated with his arms crossed over his chest in speculation, wiping the Hokage's sneaky, self-satisfied grin off her face as she sweat-dropped.
"Okay, you've got your marching orders. Zip it!" Anko came to the Hokage's defense, walking over to tug on Naruto's ear firmly.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow!" All right, all right!" he yelped in pain.
"Now then, let's get this show on the road!" the snake kunoichi declared with a smile, her other hand of her hip. "Go pack your gear and meet me at the front gate."
The other two Genin straightened at her command. "Roger!"
The Genin swiveled around as they made their way the door, with Naruto mumbling as he rubbed his sore ear, "Man, that really hurt…"
The purple-haired woman made a move to follow, but halted at the sound of Tsunade's call. "Anko!"
Anko stopped, but did not turn around to face her.
Tsunade brought her hands up to her chin again, her hazel eyes piercing at her back. "Be careful."
"Right." Anko replied after a short pause, and then left the room swiftly.
ஜ ~ ஜ
About 30 minutes later, Anko and her subordinates stood at the entrance gate in the Leaf Village with their backpacks strapped onto their bodies, Ino holding a book describing the creature they will be dealing with on their mission as the boys to read over her shoulders.
"'Demon of the Ocean has physical traits both human and fish-like.' What is this?" she inquired incredulously.
Naruto agreed with her. "These people need to have their eyes examined. Something like that doesn't exist."
"Not necessarily." Shino chimed in his usual stoic tone. "This could be ninja resorting to piracy with genjutsu at their disposal."
"Well, whatever. We still need to look into it, this problem's not solving itself." Anko told them cheerfully.
"Of course!" Ino nodded obediently. She was such a good girl.
Anko smiled, holding up one finger to the group. "All right, Mother Island's at the center of the Land of the Sea. Let's head to the nearest port town and charter a boat."
"Got it/All right!" The Genin nodded, Naruto being the most eager one.
"Okay! Let's set sail for the Land of the Sea!" he shouted in enthusiasm, pumping a fist in the air, Anko grinning at the boy's energetic personality. Though, the Yamanaka girl seemed annoyed at his 'gung-ho' attitude as they set off.
ஜ ~ ஜ
Back inside the Hokage Tower, Shizune placed the cup of hot green tea down on the desk she was carrying for her Hokage, who was sitting sideways in her chair while petting Tonton in her lap.
"Here you are." Shizune looked at her mistress curiously. Tsunade knew what her aide wanted to ask about Anko from sensing her hesitation from earlier. It was one of the reasons why Shizune was such a good assistant; it was because she was a good observer. "So… Um, Lady Tsunade…?"
"Hmm?" The blond woman lifted her head to look at her student.
"About Anko, I was wondering…" Shizune stammered, having a hard time finding the right words to say. "I mean… Well, did something happen in the past?"
"Sort of." Tsunade sipped her tea as Shizune picked up Anko's file from her desk and flipped through the pages.
"Wait a second. This file… These are her mission records from age ten and on, they're so fragmented." the younger medic stated in surprised at the black lines crossing out sections in the book.
"Anko was one of Orochimaru's students once, remember?" Tsunade reminded her, taking another sip from her tea.
"So the passages blacked out are connected to Orochimaru's activity, so they correspond to confidential files."
The blond woman placed her tea down on the table, stroking her pet's back again. "Well, some of them."
Shizune became bewildered. "Huh?"
"For parts of it, we have no record at all." Tsunade answered calmly.
"No record at all?" her aide repeated, shocked. "Even for the entire period she was here in the village?"
The Sannin sighed deeply, leaning against her chair. "That Orochimaru… He must not have wanted to anyone to know what he was doing." Hazel eyes turned to look outside the village, staring into the white clouds in the blue sky. "When he left the village, he was careful to erased sections of Anko's memory."
Knowing that information, there will be questions regarding Anko's reliability to the village. Having a connection to Orochimaru was something people would try to avoid from getting into trouble, and Anko had a deeper relationship with the Snake Sannin than anyone else. The Third Hokage trusted and respected her, as did Tsunade. However, seeing Anko's reaction going to a place where went with former sensei, the Slug Princess couldn't help but wonder if sending Anko there was the right move to make on her part.
ஜ ~ ஜ
"Ahh… Smell that ocean air!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, enjoying the sight of the beautiful watery environment around them from the cliff they were standing at. It gave them a good view of the town they arrived in, as well as the ocean and the bright sun. Seagulls could be heard above their heads as they took in the salty breeze.
"Well, we made it, you guys. Feast your eyes on the Land of the Sea!" Anko relished at the sight of the gorgeous view of the land.
"So is that Mother Island, then?" Ino pointed to largest island in the center of the sea. At the moment her eyes saw that island, a sudden gust of cold wind hurled at her and through her soul. All the warmth she felt before was extinguished, her mouth gapped open and eyes wide as visions of a shrine gate crossed her mind. She curled her fingers into tight fists, her teeth shaking as they chattered against each other, the Curse Mark pulsing its fiery torment inside her body once more.
Memories flooded back to her, swirling in her head like she was in the middle of a tornado. She saw an image of her panting heavily as she ran down a forest path as fast as she could, her head pivoting back to see the snakes closing in on her. The visions kept shifting swiftly from one thing to the next: the shrine appeared again, then pictures of herself standing in a dark corridor with her head down, followed horrid images of bottled filled green liquid with organs and other weird things inside made her stomach lurched in disgust.
Anko gasped, choking for air when she realized she couldn't breath anymore. She covered her mouth with a hand in an attempt to calm herself down. What is this feeling coming over me…?
Her eyes were too wide with terror, her body trembling violently. She felt cold all over, despite the sun's warm rays shining down of her. She sensed the Aburame boy watching her, observing cautiously. The snake kunoichi then pulled herself together quickly, not wanting anyone to see her weakness and the fear she felt at the moment.
"Hey, guys," She put on a normal, happy face and tone for the Genin. "Just go on ahead, will ya? See if you can rustle up that boat."
"Ah… Yeah, but, Sensei…" Ino wanted to protest, but was interrupted.
"I have some business to take care of, I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm done. Back in a bit!" And then she was gone, jumping out the sight and into the forest before she heard the Genin's shouts to stop. Anko leaped off a tree branch and landed against the tree trunk, clutching her neck tightly as perspiration broke out on her face.
This Curse Mark is killing me! This presence… There's no question. Anko glanced around the area and chose the direction where she felt was the strongest. This way!
She staggered down the path; her feet feeling like it could give out any moment. The snake kunoichi stumbled through the light beyond the trees, and came the edge of a cliff with a clear view of islands the Land of the Sea was composed of. Her eyes gazed at them intensely, and then she looked down below and saw a wooden pier that shocked her enough to have more pain and memories rushing back to her, her heartbeat increasing its pace and volume. She was drowning in her memories again, but there weren't as bad as the one before… They were almost…
ஜ ~ ஜ
A young Anko stood at a pier in Land of the Sea, her sensei by her side. She giggled lightly at the sight of small islands and a large one in the middle of the sea.
"I know which ones are which. Lemme see, that's one Mother Island, that's Taro, and that's one Jiro Island." She named out at the islands with her finger, pausing for a moment—with a finger to her lips—until she pointed at the last one. "And uh… That's one Demon Island!"
The man next to her smiled. "Certainly done your homework, haven't you?"
Young Anko let out a warm laugh as she gazed at the man she admired most in the world happily. "Yeah, well, I kinda have to, right? If I wanna be a shinobi with strength and wisdom like you!"
Orochimaru grinned down at her and chuckled, making her smile broadened in joy, relishing at the adoration she held for him.
ஜ ~ ஜ
The wind blew at her again; her eyes still enlarged at the memory that she had once cast aside. This place… It was the place where she and her sensei parted ways, going down their own paths. Terrible feelings welled up inside her; her survival instincts telling her that danger were soon to come. The snake kunoichi continued to stare at the islands in a daze, her mind lost in her racing thoughts.
ஜ ~ ஜ
Anko wasn't able to rejoin with her Genin at the port until it was nearly nightfall, and she saw the Nine-Tailed boy stepping down the stone staircase to his two comrades. Something told her that he managed to get separated from Ino and Shino, judging by the way the blond girl was rebuking him with an accusing finger. Anko edged in closer to listen.
"Boy, you and our squad leader are two of a kind, you know that? You both just vanish at the drop of a hat!" she complained, slightly angry at the blond boy, placing her hands on her hips. She then sighed in exasperation. "No getting around it, we've got a bumpy road ahead of us."
"Say what?" Naruto was profoundly offended by her comment, his right hand balled into a fist and optics wide as saucers as he yelled angrily, "You can't lump me into the same category as that screwball! She's certifiably insane!"
Smirking to herself, Anko snuck behind the boy quietly and slide one arm around Naruto's shoulders while holding a kunai to his neck, her tongue darting out to lick her lips in excitement that made the boy tensed in discomfort and fear. "Who're we talking about?"
The boy sweat-dropped; quite uncomfortable since her kunai was so close to his jugular. "Oh, well, I…uh…"
This lady is one loose cannon! Ino thought as she sweat-dropped as well while Anko saw the boat she and Shino were able to procured.
"Hey, good job securing us a boat, by the way." she praised the two, still hovering her kunai closely to a shaken Naruto.
"S-Sensei," Ino began nervously. "Where in the world have you been?"
"Aw, just off gathering a little information." She pulled the kunai from the Nine-Tailed boy, who sighed in relief that his life was spared. The snake kunoichi grinned broadly at her Genin, her face shining exuberantly. "Okay, is everybody ready?"
ஜ ~ ஜ
"It's getting dark." Ino remarked as she down beside Shino, her elbows on her knees and her hands cupping her face. Naruto was at the back of the boat, steering the oar with the violet-haired woman in front of him, and was sitting directly across from the other two Genin.
"We'll be at the island pretty soon," Anko assured her. "Just a bit further."
"Sounds good to me! Mother Island full steam ahead, everybody!" Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Sun's down, you know." the Yamanaka girl told him, her eyes closed. "Seriously, where do you get all your energy from?
"Yeah, well, at times like this, your state of mind is key." Naruto replied with a grin.
The blond girl sighed exhaustedly, her blue eyes opening. "Sakura's got her hands full. I feel so bad for her."
Anko chuckled at the two Genin's banter. She had to admit it, they've grown on her even though they only been together for only a few hours. These kids were cute and funny, and when she was around them, she could almost imagine herself a happy, cheerful child again.
Then abruptly, the boat started to fumble, Anko jerking forward as it came to a shaky halt. Naruto had some difficulties trying to move the oar, claiming they might've hit against some rocks, and the Aburame boy stood up from his seat and carefully made his way to help his comrade.
"Eyes front, guys! We've got trouble!" Anko ordered, pointing ahead as she saw they were about to head inside a whirlpool. "Change course, hurry!"
"Easer said than done!" Naruto grunted as he tried to pull the oar.
"The oar is jammed!" Shino stated dreadfully.
"Let me help you." Ino offered, wobbling over to help the boys when all of sudden something came out from the water and snatched her away from them. It looked like some sort of tentacle. "Whoa—Ahh!"
"Striking Shadow Snake!" The snake kunoichi directed one of arms out, serpents sprouting from underneath her coat sleeve and slithering in the air in an attempt to catch the blond child away from her captor. Anko cursed her luck when Ino was dragged down in the ocean, and she had to jump in to retrieve her. When she emerged from the water, dripping wet with an unconscious Ino her arms, she saw Naruto and Shino standing up the water like she was, watching the boat being pulled inside the whirlpool. "Huh, showing himself so soon."
"Man, that was a close call." Naruto said, watching the whirlpool dissolve.
"Careful, you two, we're being targeted from underwater." she warned the boys, her optics narrowing when she felt something approaching them. She turned to Shino, giving Ino gently into his arms while Naruto was off yelling at a couple of toads he summoned that was proving useless in this fight. It was time she took action. "Shino, you kept an eye on her."
"Okay." He nodded, securing the blond girl in his arms. Anko dashed swiftly across the surface of the water, allowing the tentacle from before to shoot out and wrapped around her waist as she jumped into the air.
"All right." She smirked when it took the bait. She made the Tiger hand sign, holding down her breath until she released an enormous from her mouth, letting it trailed down the tentacle. Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!
The fire swirled in a blazing dance as Anko plopped down back onto the water, narrowing her brown eyes when the flames cleared and she saw a silhouette of a man that dissolved into water.
A Water Clone? She wondered as something else coiling around her neck, a shinobi with brown hair and glasses coming up from behind her. She gripped onto his extendable arm, trying to yank it off her.
"You let your guard down!" he cackled smugly, but was quickly kicked away when Naruto came to her aid. The Nine-Tailed boy was then dragged down by another shinobi, and Anko dive in the water, frantically searching for him and their attacker.
Where did it go? She thought, making a 'tch' sound as her eyes peered through the murky water. There's no visibility down here.
When she submerged from the water, she saw the shinobi from earlier standing next to another glasses wearing ninja, looming over an unconscious Naruto, who was floating facedown in the water.
"What's going on?" she demanded angrily, Shino kneeling on the water with the still unconscious Ino. She heard the two shinobi chuckled. "Who're you?"
Their attackers merely ignored her, creating a series of hand signs before another whirlpool appeared and sucked Naruto down in it.
"Ah, great…" Anko sarcastically muttered under her breath. "That complicates things a bit."
The Aburame boy looked on, worried about his friend. "Naruto…"
Anko continued to search in the sea for Naruto for who knows long, and when she popped up, she was in the water a few several feet from where Shino was standing in the boat that they managed to get back.
"Any sign of Naruto?" he asked.
Anko shook her head. "I looked, but I can't find him."
"I see…"
"He must be pretty far away by now. Either he drifted away or swam off." She climbed back onto the boat, her arms folded across her chest, her eyes gazing down at the still-unconscious Ino. "Anyway, with the fog as thick as it is, there's no reason to stick around and keep looking. Let's find the closest shoreline and start again when it clears."
"Fine." Shino replied briefly, his voice still nonchalant, although he was concerned where his comrade drifted off to.
The Curse Mark throbbed for some reason then, and Anko tensed at the searing pain, trying her best not to cry out loud as she clutched the mark over her coat. It was almost like she could feel him close by, just like the last time.
ஜ ~ ஜ
Somewhere else on Demon Island, a single candle flickered, illuminating the dark room with an eerie, oppressive atmosphere. A man with sea-green hair in a white lab coat knelt before the main sitting in the throne-like chair in front of him, bowing his head at lord and master.
"It's been far too long, Lord Orochimaru." Amachi stated, his eyes to the cold floor.
"Indeed it has," came the snake's honey-like voice. "How fortunate that I dropped by and happened to find you still here."
"I'm lucky, for now I have the opportunity to stand in your presence once again." the scientist said in a flattering manner.
The Snake Sannin chuckled ominously. "And I assume the reason you remain here is that you're continuing our research."
"I am." Amachi lifted his head slightly up, seeming to feigned surprise. "I still believe that someday that it'll be very useful to you, sir."
"I certainly hope so." Orochimaru hissed through his bandaged-up face, his only visible golden eyes gazing down at the kneeling man, seeing through the man's pathetic façade of loyalty.
"Of course, I only continue out of loyalty to you."
The Sannin chortled slightly, shutting his exposed eye disinterestedly. "Well, carry on. Do as you wish."
"I'm grateful, my lord." Amachi bowed his head once more, glancing up when he saw the young man standing on his lord's right. "By the way, is he the one you spoke of before?
"Yes, the younger brother of Itachi Uchiha." Orochimaru turned his head to look at the irritated, silent Uchiha child.
"Really?"
"Yes, and also my—"
"Some things are better left unsaid." Sasuke interrupted acidly, his eyes snapping open to revealed his bloodshot Sharingan, glaring in fury at the man kneeling in front him and his mentor. He despised that his loathsome brother's name was mentioned in his presence.
Orochimaru observed the boy from the corner of his eye as his subordinate gasped in fear at the Sharingan and immediately averted his head back down the floor, secretly gritting his teeth at the two men before him. The Snake Sannin chuckled amusingly at his protégé; unknown that him that his old student's Curse Mark was flaring in response as his cold laugh echoed in room and the candle promptly blew out.
ஜ ~ ஜ
Anko and met with the man in charged with latest shipment at the Shiragiku (White Chrysanthemum) Inn with Ino and Shino at her side when dawn came. They were still worried about Naruto's location, and had informed the local authorities on their missing comrade.
"I am the ship's financial administrator. Welcome, my name is Hitode." the bearded, bald-headed old man greeted respectfully. "I am well aware of the situation. Your colleague is missing and I'm sure you're very worried about him."
"Yes, have you gotten any information at all about where he is?" Anko pressed urgently, sitting across the small wooden table with Ino and Shino behind them on a purple cushion like her. She spoke professionally to the officer in charge over a cup of tea; the man's subordinates were also in the room.
"Unfortunately, I have received no reports yet from any shipwreck survivors."
The snake kunoichi hang her head down, equally disappointed as the two Genin behind her. "I see…"
"That's not all the bad news." Hitode announced, Anko's head shooting up at the grim sound of his voice. "I'm sorry, but the schedule for our ship delivering the money has been moved up."
"You're leaving earlier?" she inquired in surprised.
"Our new departure is scheduled for tomorrow morning. My apologies for such a late notice." The old man cast his face downward, his eyes grave. "As you can imagine, the relationship with Land of Water is fragile. Hence the decision was made to push up our departure forward."
Anko closed her eyes, comprehending the situation. "We understand. Even so, we need to spend as much time here as possible trying to find our teammate."
Hitode nodded. "Of course."
"Good. Then we will meet your ship tomorrow at the port for guard duty, with or without him." Anko replied back.
The old man bowed at gratefully. "Thank you for your cooperation. One thing more."
"Yes?"
"As you can see, our nation is not a wealthy one. And recently, the fishermen of our land have been especially nervous about this Demon of the Ocean." He bowed his head once more to Anko, his men joining in this time. "Anything you could do would be greatly appreciated."
"We'll it our all." Anko promised with a determined face.
After the meeting, Anko and the two Genin head out to question the villagers around the area for any sign of their friend. Well, at least Ino and Shino. Anko came by the cliff again, her hands snuffed down in her coat pockets as she stared intently at rocky view of Demon Island, her mind elsewhere. She got an odd feeling coming from that place, something familiar that bothered her.
ஜ ~ ஜ
Back in the Hidden Leaf Village, Tsunade was so absorbed in the file she was reading on her desk, that she didn't hear Shizune shouting her name and ignored the mountains of paper waiting for her to complete.
"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade!"
"Huh?" The Fifth Hokage looked up at her assistant.
"Ugh… I brought you that information you requested." Shizune's eyes drifted down to the file on her mistress's desk. "Ah… Is that about the Land of the Sea? So, you are worried, after all."
"Mmm-hmm…" Tsunade replied, gazing down at the snake kunoichi's picture in the file. "You see, when Orochimaru abandoned Anko, she was found in the Land of the Sea."
ஜ ~ ஜ
Anko sat in the center of the interrogation room on a brown chair, Tsunade and the Third Hokage standing behind her as the medic tried to question her about what had happened to her when the ANBU Black Ops found her on the shore at the Land of the Sea. Glowing green marks surrounded her, lighting the dark room dimly.
"It's no use…! I don't remember anything! I should know this, but everything… It was dark, empty. My body was so in much pain…" The traumatized child clutched her head, struggling to remember until she started to cry, her hands covering her scared eyes. "I can't…"
"Just calm down. Take as much time you need to think." the medic told her, kneeling down on the floor.
"I'm not even sure I even got this weird while I was there…" She trembled and sobbed, grasping the Curse Mark on her neck.
The doctor turned to the Hokage. "The damage is deep. Everything she knew may have been erased."
The old man walked slowly to the weeping girl, placing a warm, comforting hand on her shaking shoulder. He knelt down next to her, a kind smile blooming on his face. "Rest easy. I know you must've been through quite an ordeal."
"I..." Anko started, but was unsure on what to say.
"It's going to be fine." Third Hokage assured her, flashing her another gentle smile. "Don't worry about remembering. Our priority is treating the Curse Mark before it gets worse."
"Lord Hokage, I'm…" the young girl whimpered, a tear dripping down on her face, and she brought her hand up to wipe it away.
ஜ ~ ஜ
"She never did remember anything. Even to this day, part of Anko's memories is simply gone." Tsunade finished the story, closing the file shut.
"So that's what happened." Shizune stated, astounded by the tale. "And this mission is the first time Anko had set foot in the Land of the Sea since she went through all of that?"
The blond woman brought her hands to her chin, her hazel eyes laced in concerned. "Yep, that's right. I had hoped this trip might bring back some of her lost memories, but…"
ஜ ~ ஜ
It was nearly dusk by the time Anko had regroup with Ino and Shino, the blond girl giving her a thumb-ups in joy when she debriefed her about the girl who was supposedly 'spirited away' to Demon Island, and was the only one to return. She hopped through the trees with the Genin following her as the snake kunoichi progressed the story in her head.
"Interesting… So she's only person who ever came back after disappearing."
"Yeah, that's why I figured we should at least go check it out." Ino responded.
Shino agreed. "She may have some useful information about Demon Island."
"Hold it." Anko stopped on a branch and held out her arm, signaling the others to stop. They looked through their hiding spots to see a girl walking along the sore of a beach, near a cove.
Ino moved closer to see it was the girl that they were searching, but was confused why she doing all the way out here. "What, it's her?"
Anko held up a hand, pushing her back before the Yamanaka child could jump and revealed herself before the bandaged-up girl.
"What do we do now?" she inquired her squad leader.
"Let's find out where she's headed."
"She's cautious." Shino noted when he saw the girl glancing around for anyone who may be nearby.
"Let's follow, but make sure she doesn't see us." Anko ordered, jumping down below as the Genin followed suit. They hid behind some rocks as they watched the girl carefully until she entered widow peak-shaped cave. The Leaf ninja crept in after her, finding themselves in an enclosed space opening to the ocean. The girl stepped in the water, her bandages flying off her body as her skin transformed into a scaly green colored with sharp fangs and fins.
"Look at those features!" Ino exclaimed, startled by the other girl's appearance. "So you must be the Demon of the Ocean!"
The fish-like girl swiveled her head when she heard their arrival, growling before she leapt into the water and swam away from them. Anko was still at her spot, stunned as memories rushed at the back of her brain. She saw images of a girl floating in a tank with green water.
"What the…?" The Curse Mark pulsated again, and Anko grabbed at her neck at the pain that was more intense than previous one. Her pupils were wide as she watched the mutated girl swim off as the Genin chased her, her eyelids closing slowly as she drowned in her memories.
ஜ ~ ஜ
A young Anko stood in front of the huge tank containing a strange-looking girl with long hair, her optics enlarged with fear and shock. Behind her, her sensei and another man stood, staring down at her. The room was dark with a sickly green glow, its spaces occupied by other containments and tubs holding some of monstrosity in them.
She blinked, unable to take her eyes away from the helpless girl in the tube. "B-But, Lord Orochimaru…"
"I'm going to teach you something very special today. This is one of the secret chambers where I develop jutsu." The Snake Sannin informed, indicting the tank in front of them. "I was hoping you would help me with this specimen, my dear."
Anko swiveled around to face her teacher, a worried expression plastered on her youthful face. "But, if the villagers knew about this—"
She was cut off by when her sensei placed an assuring hand on her shoulder, his golden eyes gazing down at her, ominous just the smile he gave her.
"This one isn't going quite as smoothly as I planned. Only one more step and she's done. Don't be silly, little one. There's nothing you should be afraid of." He caressed her face gently with the back of his hand, her eyes tracking it and then back at her beloved sensei. Normally, such affectionate gesture would make her feel better, but not this time. "There's only thing we ever need fear, and that's neglecting our duty to pursue this kind of knowledge."
Anko turned back the tank, still frightened at the sight of floating, fish-like girl. She was torn between pleasing her sensei and the uneasy feeling her consciousness told her to go against him. She wondered when there would ever be a day when her sensei will look at her the same way like the girl in the watery cage.
ஜ ~ ஜ
"Could it be the same girl…?" the snake kunoichi pondered out loud, still shocked. Ino managed to stop the Demon of the Ocean by using a Paper Bomb on a kunai to destroy the rock arc the sea creature was heading for. Shino pinned her into the water by entangling wire strings around her body. The situation became complicated when Naruto finally found them, and he recognized the girl by the name Isaribi.
The girl—Isaribi… She broke out from the wires and the one of the two shinobi that attacked Anko and her crew yesterday appeared. The violet-haired woman, still grasping at her Curse Mark and panting in pain, slowly moved to join the others on the surface of the water. When the mysterious male shinobi made a hand sign to use the water to escape with Naruto's supposedly friend, the Uzumaki boy ran up to them.
"Don't chase that guy too far! Remember yesterday!" Anko yelled after him, stopping Naruto from going any further as the duo vanished from sight. Visions of that girl from the tank hit her mind again. "No question about it… That was her…"
The Curse Mark flared and the anguish overcame Anko, forcing her to collapse facedown into the water as she passed out.
"Sensei!" Ino shouted in alarm as she knelt beside her fallen squad leader.
ஜ ~ ஜ
Anko was watching her younger self through her memory, staring up at that girl in the tank again in that dark room with fascination and terror. The scene changed when she saw herself on her bed, her back against the blood-covered wall, various scrolls and books littering the wooden floor. In the center, there was lamp burning brightly in her room.
She gazed at the flame with her knees curled up her chest, her arms hugging them tightly. The sight of the mutated girl disturbed her, and she sought peace in her room. She was alone, her sensei off conducting experiments with Amachi or something. Wanting to take her mind off it, she headed to the kitchen, letting the faucet run over the bowl of lab containers and tubes. If she were to do something, her mind would be focused on that task rather than the girl in the tank.
She turned the handle off and picked a mortar bowl from the sink, wiping it until it slipped out of her hand and shattered into pieces on the floor, much to her dismay. She knelt down to pick up the mess before her sensei could see the clumsy mess she made, careful not to cut herself with the sharp edges.
"What happened?" a voice came from behind her.
Anko gasped quietly and she turned her head to see her teacher standing there, a sense of anxiety rippling through her. "Uh… I'm very sorry, it just slipped outta my hand."
"Ah." His amber eyes narrowed at her, and she his a frown on his face, knowing that he was aware of her new fear of him. She averted her away, not wanting to meet his scary gaze.
She picked up the last piece of the broken bowl and stood up. "I'll get this clean up right away."
"Anko." He halted her when she moved swiftly to the door.
Almost reluctantly, she stopped and pivoted around to see him. "Yes?"
"The work I've been doing here… The Hokage already knows about." He gave her a small smile, trying to reassure his student of her fright.
"Understood…" she replied in a meek tone, unsure whether or not she should believe him. Some feeling she had in her gut told her that he was lying as she left the kitchen.
Orochimaru stared silently as he watched his student retreated from him quickly, the frown of his face deepened harshly before he swiveled back to his lab.
ஜ ~ ஜ
When Anko twitched as she came to, she could hear the Genin arguing around her heatedly about the girl, Isaribi, and the fact she was the Demon of the Ocean, as well as whether they should go after her and continue on with their mission to protect the next shipment in the morning.
"I'd overheard something. There's an island out here that's at the heart of all of those people taken away by spirits." Shino told Naruto.
"So where do we find it?" he asked impatiently.
"It's a barren crag where the Demon of the Ocean lives: Demon Island." Anko answered, alerting her team of her awakening.
"Demon Island?"
"Oh, Sensei, you're up. Are you feeling all right?" Ino questioned her with worried.
The snake kunoichi sat up, her coat around her shoulders. "Yeah, I am. But forget about me, there's something I need to tell you guys about the demon. This isn't some sea creature we're dealing with. Our demon was made in a lab, it used to be human."
This evoked a surprised reaction from everyone.
"Huh?" Ino gasped.
Naruto was the most confused, making sure what he heard was right. "What did you say? It used to be a human? What're you talking about?"
"A good number of people did mysteriously vanish in the Land of the Sea ten years ago, but it wasn't because of any demon. They were being snatched up and used as test subjects in experiments conducted by Orochimaru." She spat out his name like venom, her eyes imbued with hatred.
"Orochimaru…!" Naruto snarled at the man's name that stole his best friend away from him. "So you're telling me he's mixed up in this somehow?"
"I don't understand, though." Ino said, puzzled. "Orochimaru and experiments—Where is all of this coming from?"
Anko sighed as she began telling the story. "I think I better start at the beginning, back when he left the village. More than ten years ago, Orochimaru's lust for knowledge and power became so insatiable that he gradually exceeded the normal limitations of a shinobi, and began experimenting with Forbidden Jutsu. Of course, this all became common knowledge in the Leaf Village. But his missions have taken him far and wide in this world. The Hidden Leaf Village wasn't the only place he had a research facility set up."
"And one of those is hidden on Demon Island, I take it." Shino guessed correctly.
"So, the people who disappeared..." the Yamanaka girl trailed off, afraid of the answer.
"Human guinea pigs…" the Aburame confirmed it her, his voice dreadful.
"Ah…!"
"That psychotic lunatic!" Naruto growled, his fingers curling into a fist in rage. "What the heck does he think people are?"
Anko was pleased with the reaction of the Genin, all of them—especially the Nine-Tailed—agreeing they would go and help the Demon of the Ocean girl.
"Sounds like a plan!" Anko stood up with a satisfied smile. "Let's pay the Demon of the Ocean a visit, shall we?"
The team set off when they able to obtain another boat from the docks. Naruto was at the oar again, rowing it vigorously closer to Demon Island. Anko sat against the side of the boat between Shino and Ino.
"So, Sensei, how exactly do you know so much about this Demon Island, anyway?" Ino asked curiously.
"Orochimaru was the Jōnin I trained under back in the day," she confessed, shame washing over her as she saw the startled expressions on the Genin's faces. She closed her eyes to shut them out. "Tell me when we get close to the island."
The Curse Mark throbbed at that moment, the torment worse than before as they got closer to Demon Island. The snake kunoichi gritted her teeth to prevent herself from screaming out her suffering. The pain is getting worse…!
ஜ ~ ஜ
In the dark room where Orochimaru stayed, the Sannin lifted his head when he felt a familiar presence approaching. He knew this chakra… It was sweet, dear old student. But what she doing here?
"Someone draws near," he said to Amachi and Sasuke.
"So, what do you think we should do?" the scientist inquired.
"I leave that to you."
"All right." Amachi nodded, leaving the dark room, not being unable to hide his sneer from his 'master'. Orochimaru chuckled to himself, pleased that his old pupil still had some use to her, after all. She'll be able to clean up his troublesome subordinate for him, like the good girl she was. He contemplated whether he should stay and greet her, but he decided against it, since it was time he left this place with his future vessel.