Ibiki rapped his knuckles against Anko's apartment door again. He came (forced by Genma) to apologize to Anko for earlier today. It was nighttime and he stood outside her residence for at least ten minutes already, waiting for her to open the door. She wasn't answering, so he kept trying. He knocked on the door once more, banging more loudly this time.

Still no response.

The sadist sighed tiredly, feeling ready to give up. He'd at least expected her to swing the door open and curse him off for making her feel worse about her relationship with her former sensei, but he heard absolutely no movements from inside Anko's apartment. It was quiet. Too quiet. But Ibiki knew she was in there, though. Before coming here, he checked out the Sweet Dumpling Shop she would visit frequently everyday, and the Forest of Death, the overly grown dark forest that provided her with some sort of creepy comfort that he was never capable of understanding.

His hand reached for the doorknob, and he was surprised he was able to twist it open. Why wasn't her door locked? Didn't she know someone would easily break in if she was away, or someone could come and assassinate her in her sleep? It wasn't like Anko; she was always a precautious one.

Ibiki entered, softly shutting the door closed behind him. He froze when he saw blood on the wooden oak floor, a trail of it leading into the kitchen and into her bedroom. A bitter tang of fear cut through him when he thought of the possibilities that Anko could have been attacked by someone or something. The salty-iron smell of blood lost its potent odor somewhat, but it continued to linger in the air like a fog.

"Anko?" The interrogator strode deeper into her home, following the path of crimson liquid into her kitchen. He was disturbed when he saw the pile of wet and stained paper towels clumped in her basin, her clothes lying in a heap on the floor. There was kunai in her sink too, the tip of the blade coated in Anko's blood. This place looked like someone was trying to clean a murder scene and did a poor job at it.

Ibiki made a quick stride to her bedroom door, rattling the latch vigorously to get it open. "Anko, are you in there?"

There was still no response. Growling in frustration, he raised his large foot to the door and kicked it open by force, his dark optics instantly meeting the darkness of her silent room. He switched the light on, the blackness fading as brightness overcame it. Ibiki walked over to her bed and saw her blue with white stripes blanket stained red, with her blood.

Moving closer to the adjacent bathroom in her room, he found her curled up in the middle of the marble floor, her legs drawn up to her chest and her head buried within the circle of her arms that rested on her knees. She was nearly naked, dressed in only modest black bra and underwear. She jerked her head up at his crash arrival, her eyelids heavy and puffy from her recent crying. After running to her bed to shed tears, she came into her bathroom to finish her sobbing, and Ibiki noted that she must have been in here for along time. She looked so small and vulnerable as exhaustion poured off her in waves.

"Anko, are you all right?" The sadist didn't bother turning on the light in the bathroom, some of the brightness was shining from her bedroom and allowed him to see the snake kunoichi partly in the dark. He sauntered to closer to her, couching down to her side. "Did somebody hurt you? Why are you in here?"

Anko didn't answer him. She shook her head slowly, bringing her hands to eyes to wipe the tears streaked down her tired face. She pushed her bangs up her forehead as she sighed sorrowfully, her throat tight. "I'm okay, just tired… I needed peace, quiet."

The male Special Jōnin opened his mouth to speak, but that immediately turned into a low gasp when he spotted something troubling in the dark. He saw a series wounds on her kneecaps, palms, and a few tiny razor-cuts on her elbows. The marks were tiny slices, but they made Ibiki's blood run cold at the sight of them.

"These are…" He extended a hand to pull her arm into the where the light was shining from her bedroom, but Anko yanked her hand away from him, retreating away further in the darkness as if he was some kind of disease.

The violet-haired woman stopped when she was in the corner, tremors coursing throughout her body as she shook violently. "Don't, Ibiki, just don't…"

He wanted to press questions on her, like the interrogator he was, but he didn't have to. Judging by the way she acting, he could see the story telling itself to him as he stared at her trembling form in the blackness.

"You did this to yourself, didn't you…?"

"No!" she shouted angrily, her voice faltering when she saw the stern glare he was sending at her. She clutched her arms to her closely, hiding the cuts she made. It wasn't just the tiny slice she made when she first needed to feel peace. She needed more calmness, so she took another kunai knife and scrapped it along her elbows until they were a series of cuts marred on her arms. "Not all of them…"

Through with her hiding, Ibiki came to her and took her arm, dragging her out of the bathroom and roughly shoving her down on the bed. Her back hit the soft covers and she was then yanked up again, Ibiki gripping her wrist as he examined the lacerations on her arms and palms.

"You did this to yourself," he started, profound fury shadowing his eyes. "Why?"

She pulled away from his tight grip with a ferocity that surprised him a little. She plunged under the covers, shielding her figure from his inspection. "Can we drop this? I really don't want to talk about it."

"Maybe you should."

Anko glared furiously at him, her meek shell cracking to show her tougher self. "You wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand, Anko?" inquired her concerned friend that wore the face of a fearless, ruthless sadist. "That you needed to hurt yourself?"

"I didn't do it because I wanted pain, it wasn't painful to me." She drew in a long breath before she continued in a gentle voice. "I wasn't burying traumatic memories or anything. I cut myself because…bleeding soothed me; it was calming to me. I didn't even cut myself that much; they were tiny cuts. They weren't very deep, and the rest of the wounds I got are from when I fell and scraped myself on the ground. But whether I got hurt on purpose or on accident, the sight of blood helped me feel normal, like everything strange around me would vanish, along with all the pressure I was feeling."

She kept her defiant eyes on his unwavering, cold gaze. Oddly enough, she felt like a heavy burden was lifted off her shoulders, like a new gate was leading her down a road where she can be free—where she could be herself, and not care what people think of her.

After a long pause, Ibiki nodded his head understandably. "I see…"

"I'm not crazy, if that's what you're thinking."

"I'm not thinking that at all." he answered sincerely.

"I despise pity."

"I know you do. So do I." He picked up on the quiet, deadly warning in her words.

"Good. Then get out."

"No," Ibiki objected. "We have to treat those injuries of yours before they get infected. And don't think of saying no to me. Just remember: I'm just as stubborn as you are."

Anko stared at him and wanted to protest, but she sighed in exasperation and allowed herself to be taken care of by her friend. After a few minutes, Ibiki sat on the snake kunoichi's bed, tending to her wounds. His touch was kind and warm to beautiful purple-haired woman, who was still in a delicious state of near nudity. If it weren't for her lacerations on her lithe figure, she would match the image of a dark goddess. She would look perfect in complete, exposed nudity if the ebony brassiere and panties weren't in the way. Still, they revealed the creamy swells of her buxom and the taut muscles of her toned abdomen.

"You know," Anko began after twenty minutes of stillness between them. "You never told me why you here."

The male Special Jōnin transferred his optics from her bloodied palms to glance at her for a moment, his expression unreadable. "I came to apologize for earlier."

"Oh," was all she said in a low tone. There was another awkward silence between them before she added, "It's okay. I'd overreacted."

"I'm used to it." She kept her head down to look as he wrapped her palms in bandages he found in her bathroom cabinet. She didn't need to look at him to see the barest of smiles on his lips; she could hear it clearly in his voice. "I know you don't trust people easily, Anko, after what happened with—"

"You're right," the snake kunoichi, her mouth twisting with distaste at the near mentioned of her former sensei's name. "I don't trust people easily, but even if I didn't, I'd still like my solitude."

"Everybody does."

"But you know with me it's different, right…?" The question slipped out her tongue before she could chain it up. She didn't want to ask him that, she didn't want to hear his smart mouth telling her that she was as weak she appeared to him right now.

However, she got her answer as he nodded. "Yes."

"Good." Anko rubbed the back of her neck with her now bandaged up hand, turning her strong gaze to face him with full force. "I don't trust easily. Please don't betray me."

There were simple words, but powerful too. It was peculiar to hear such words from Anko, who doesn't like to relay on anyone or anything. She was one who faces the world with energy and passion; a confident grin plastered on her smooth lips, a sharp-whipped tongue at her disposal at anytime, but under all of that layer of valiant hides a woman with flaws and weaknesses just like anyone else. The six-foot tall shinobi was silent as she went on, rambling to herself more than him.

"I keep to myself, I like spending most of my time alone. I only have a close circle of friends that you're involved in, Ibiki, but I could never be comfortable enough to share my thoughts and feelings with you. Do you understand? There are things I want to keep to myself, and not want you guys to pry on me to find answers."

When she was done, Ibiki let out a light chuckle, finishing bandaging the wounds on her knees. "You are a mysterious one, aren't you?"

Anko shot him an inquisitive look, bewildered by his question that sounded more like comment. "What do you mean?"

Uncharacteristic of him, he extended a hand and lovingly to touch the side of her face, tucking a few tendrils of her purple hair behind her ear. "I can't figure you out sometimes. You said you wanted to be alone, but it also seems like you just want someone to be near you, to support you and comfort you. Or that's what Genma seems to think."

Anko withdrew from his caress, moving back on her bed. "I'm not a mystery, I'm just…me."

Yes, that's all, Anko confirmed firmly. She was a woman who preferred solitude over to company, keeping her distance from anyone who would fear her or would be afraid of her connection to Orochimaru. She was as strong as steel, and she was happy with that fact, but she felt empty inside—like there was a void in her heart, the piece that carried the most passionate emotion in a woman above anything else: Love.

Part of her was glad that shard of her being was gone, not wanting to feel love ever again. She didn't want to get heartbroken for a second time, not from anyone. She hated that part of herself—the foolish, childish part of her that clung to a love towards her sensei she knew that was unrequited. However, it was because he was the one that tore that part of her that she still probably felt her these emotions to him. It was if Orochimaru took her shattered heart and kept it with him, never to be return again. Even if she were to find a man who would cherish her and care for her with gentleness, that love would be fleeting. She could never experience that sort of fervor intensity of emotion ever again, not with someone who wasn't Orochimaru.

Ibiki eyed her observantly, almost reading her like a book. He saw her sadness, her anger, her hatred, her longing, her pain, her unrequited love—all of it directing towards one man, the person she would ever want to love in her entire life. He wondered when there will be a day a man, besides the one she desires, would pop in her life and break down the barriers she built to protect herself from getting hurt, allowing someone to treasure like the jewel she was. Maybe, one day, he could…

"I better get going." He stood up from the edge of the bed.

Anko tried to give him a thankful smile over her anguish face. "Okay, then. Thanks for helping me. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

The sadist pivoted around to give her a slow nod. "All right."

"Thanks for everything tonight." The violet-haired woman accompanied him to the door. He opened it and let the cool night breeze hit her nearly naked skin. Slowly, Anko snaked her arms around his neck and tiptoed to plant a small, warm kiss to his scarred cheek. Ibiki looked astonished as she retreated, her cheeks flushed with a pink tint. "Thank you, Ibiki. I mean that."

"It's nothing." Ibiki replied, smiling slightly at his…friend. She was his friend. But somehow, she knew his words were a lie, and he did too. It wasn't just 'nothing' to them.

It was something much more.

ஜ ~ ஜ

"Were you able to find anything out?" Tsunade didn't look up from her pile of paperwork on her desk, the lights to her office still on. Standing outside one of the windows to the Hokage Tower, Jiraiya shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest with his back against the building.

"Nope, nothing we don't know already. It's obvious how much Anko is tormented with her feelings, but there shouldn't be any reason why you should be worried. Anko knows the difference between right and wrong, so it's not necessary to send me to check on her. Even if she still has feelings for Orochimaru, what would be the point? He would end up using the poor girl again."

The Fifth Hokage agreed. "I know, but I still can't help but be concerned for one of my girls. I had hoped that her adoration for Orochimaru would be gone, but it hasn't diminish after all this time."

"Well, it isn't wrong for her to be sad about it. We all trusted him, we knew him longer and better than Anko did." The Toad Sage gazed up at the night sky, the stars glistening like diamonds. "It took me a long time to get over it, too, you know. He was our friend, and he betrayed us, but even then..."

"I know, I miss him, too, but for Anko…" The female Sannin let out a deep sigh of frustration, her pen faltering slightly. "For Anko, it seems like she haven't let go of her emotions yet, for Orochimaru. It's almost like she's purposely hurting herself with that part of her that holds her sentiments for him. We have already let go of those because we knew that would cloud our decision when the time comes to kill him. But for her, she wishes to die alongside him. That's no way for someone to live their life."

"That's true," muttered the white-haired hermit.

"I don't even know why she would even cling to those feelings of hers." Tsunade dropped her pen on her desk and leaned back in her chair, feeling a headache coming on. "After what he did, I'd figured that she would hate him. What that snake did to Anko was much worse than him betraying us. He used her, Jiraiya, and yet she still cares for him."

Another stillness swamped them from reminiscing about the depressing past before Jiraiya spoke up. "I told Anko that I won't pretend to know how she feels and that's the truth, but I do know the bond between student and teacher goes deep. Anko was an orphaned and it was Orochimaru who looked after her, so that leads me to believe that no matter what he does to her, Anko will always have some sort of affection for him because Orochimaru was one of the first people to care for her. Though she claims she hates him, she does care for him, like she always did. She'd forgotten that in order to hate, you have to love first. However, because she still loves and hate him is the reason why she can't stop caring about him."

"That's love for you," Tsunade stated, a grim smile spreading across her face. "Anko's sentiments for Orochimaru are in vain, I hope she knows that. He won't return her feelings; he's not capable of love. Maybe she could forget him if she finds someone else—a man—to care for her."

The Toad Sage let out a cheerful laugh from outside. "I'm sure that'll be easy for her with her looks. She's a real beauty, I'll tell you that much!"

"Yeah, but she would most likely reject anyone who comes her way." The blond woman stood up from her seat and walked over to the window where her friend was the closest. The cold night air kissed her warm skin and she breathed it in, reveling how it calmed her stressed head. "I've seen girls like Anko before. Whatever feelings she would give to any man would probably be fleeting, just as unrequited as her love for Orochimaru is."

"Yeah, well…we'll just have to see what the end results would be. No use worrying about it." Jiraiya moved off the building and returned to his full height. "What that kid with the glasses, Kabuto, said still worries me. If Asuma and Kurenai's reports were true, Orochimaru is playing toying with Anko's feelings. It's odd that he would go to such lengths to keep her safe. He's obviously planning something, so I keep an eye out when I'm on the road again."

"You're leaving?" Tsunade cast a surprised look at him, her hazel optics filled with concern for her former teammate. "You just got back."

"Duty calls. See you, Tsunade. Take care of yourself." The hermit flashed her a wide grin, a cloud of smoke engulfing his form and then he disappeared, leaving the blond woman to stared at the spot where he stood for a long time. She hopped through her window and stood on the slope of the Hokage Tower, exhaling as the wind wafted through her. A pair of amber orbs peered through the trees near the tower, and it was only then Tsunade sensed his presence.

Whirling around, she shouted at the intruder in her village. "Come out, coward!"

The snake's chuckle came out as a hiss of amusement as he slithered out from his hiding spot, plopping himself on a branch to properly face his former teammate. The corners of his lips were curved up into a smirk; his hypnotic golden optics stared at her with malice that darkened with his wicked aura. "I'm impressed you were able to notice me, Tsunade."

"What do you want, Orochimaru?" The Slug Princess shifted her stance, prepared to defend herself if the Snake Sannin chooses to attack. "I've noticed that you've been appearing here a lot lately, especially around Anko. What kind of twisted game are you playing with her?"

"What happens between me and my Anko has nothing to do with you." Orochimaru answered, folding his arms over his chest, his arrogance profound.

Tsunade grunted, irritated. "She doesn't belong to you. She isn't some plaything you can cast aside and then play with again for your own amusement, so quit talking rubbish."

"Or you'll do what?" he taunted her slyly, but the Fifth Hokage didn't take the bait. Instead, she countered with a question of her own.

"What your henchman said to Anko during her last mission… According to two of my shinobi, they heard Kabuto mentioned that he was acting under your orders to keep her safe. Why, are you bored tinkering with your sick experiments?"

"I prefer my possessions unsullied." The Snake Sannin's smirk broadened when he saw anger flaring in the female Sannin's optics, furious how he referred to one of her ninja as a thing. "And as I'd said before, what happens between me and Anko has nothing to do with you."

"You're just toying with her again, that's obvious enough." Tsunade curled her right hand into a fist as she applied her chakra to it, posed to strike at the opportune moment. "It concerns me if you're messing with one of my girls. I don't want Anko to get the wrong image from you again. You made her feel like she was special, but that was only a ruse to gained her trust and test your Curse Mark on her. I won't allow that to happen again. Don't hurt her, don't make her cry anymore."

A bittersweet chortle bubbled up from his pale mouth at her words. "You say such hypocritical words, Tsunade, when it is you and your precious village that is causing her deep sorrow. It isn't me this time." There was a pause until his chuckle ceased, and then he added in a dark tone, "You wish to know why I am here, yes? I came to deliver a personal message to you and this pathetic village: Anko is mine, and I won't allow you or anyone else to take her away from me. She is very a special woman; she is the first survivor for my Curse Mark. Everything about Anko belongs to me, so the only person who can make her cry will only be me."

"You are cruel, aren't you? Haven't you destroyed enough of her life already?" Tsunade's temper blazed with fierce intensity, raising her chakra infused fist threateningly in the air. "You're just showing up because you know that Anko still hold feelings towards you, and you're using that to torment her."

"Anko's heart belongs to me, I have no intention to give it back." Icy, amber orbs stared at Tsunade, laced with dark possessive for his sweet girl. "No one else is to have it."

"You don't control her life, you wretch! You're only doing this so Anko won't move on from you. But what's the point in that? You don't even return her feelings!" the blond Sannin bellowed in fury. "You are happy only because you're liked by her. And therefore, you find her special... But if you think she would have only you in her heart forever, then you are completely wrong. A man who will always stay at your side to care for you is much better than a lover. Compared to a man, who don't respond at all, no matter how much you love him."

He frowned at that statement. He knew it was true after observing how all of Anko's male friends have some attraction to her, though their love in oblivious and unrequited by the snake kunoichi. Still, though he hated to admit it, what the blond kunoichi told him was right. Most of it, anyway.

Even if a male would to be jilted by Anko as lover, it doesn't mean that male won't stop being close to her and care for her. If that were to happen, Anko's love for Orochimaru might start fleeting away in oblivion, and he couldn't have that. Anko is his, despite the fact that he did let her go during that time in the Land of the Sea. He always held a sort of…higher affection of his old apprentice; he just didn't show it often. He found Anko special, very special.

"You know nothing about us," Orochimaru hissed darkly at her, forming a hand sign and purple flames engulfed him, vanishing from sight.

"Damn him…" Tsunade murmured, clenching her fist tightly to the point they dug into her skin and blood dripped down from the spot she stood.

ஜ ~ ஜ

The Snake Sannin snuck inside her bedroom through the window quietly, shutting it behind him to stop the cold air from entering. The lights were off, but he didn't need them to see the dully-decorated room that belonged to his old apprentice. His eyes adjusted well to the darkness as he inched closer to the bed, his dear student snuggled cozily in the blanket.

His amber optics narrowed when he noticed that her blanket had dark-colored stains on them—the color of blood. He inhaled, the scent of her spicy and sweet blood invading his nostrils, confirming that she was indeed injured. The smell was faint, but the scent of blood could never escape him. He knew that aroma all too well, and relished in its taste, smell and sight.

Orochimaru knelt down at the bedside, his fingers brushing Anko's violet bangs away from her eyes. She stirred at the contact, but did not wake up. The blanket covered her entire body until it reached her shoulders, her fingers peeking out from underneath it from the top.

Lightly lifting it, the pale-skinned man's optics widened slightly when he saw bandages wrapped around her hands, arms and legs. Did someone did this to her, or was it her own doing? He's been keeping an eye on her since her last mission, watching and observing as she interacted with her friends. He saw the pressure she faced with all of their suspicious questions about her feelings about him, and the inner agony she was struggling with herself over him. Seeing her figure in this condition, he assumed correctly that her lacerations were self-inflicted wounds, ones that she made on herself in a foolish attempt to ease her stress.

The snake kunoichi wore nothing but her undergarments to bed, which he found odd, knowing Anko preferred to sleep in her mesh bodysuit. His carried his fingertips over the bandages, grazing them softly over her hidden wounds. Anko mumbled in her sleep then, her mouth turning down into a sad frown. She was having a dream again—another nightmare. Smirking sadistically, he trailed down a finger down her smooth cheek, repeating his actions the last time he was in her bedroom, alone with his precious girl. Would it be wrong of him to enjoy seeing her like this—so weak and vulnerable—because of him?

"At last, you became a woman to my liking, didn't you?" he whispered gently in her ear, drinking in her succulent scent. She smelt the same as before, like sweet rain and exotic flowers. A hunger glint shimmered in his amber hues, his digits caressing the lovely blue veins down the graceful column of her throat. "I wonder if you taste as good as you smell…"

The idea of him and his fiery ex-student together—their naked bodies joined, sheened with sweat, as he kissed her heatedly, her fingers tangled in his glossy black strands, with him burying his fangs into the tender curve of her neck as he thrust into her core, and Anko was writhing beneath him with intense passion, her arms wrapped around him—had crossed his mind more than once.

Thinking about Tsunade's words, he shook his head at the half-truth she hollered at him earlier tonight. Yes, he did come here to see his old pupil again, but it wasn't because he was toying with her since he knew about her romantic feelings for him, which Anko assumed he didn't return. No, that part was lie. He did feel something towards her, but he wasn't exactly sure what it was.

Was it a possessive male's protectiveness? The fondness he felt for her when she was his student? Or was it his wicked personality that keeps drawing him to her, yearning to play her like a toy, with him directing the puppet strings? Maybe it was all of the above?

His Anko was always special, in the matter of strength and her fiery emotions she'd always displayed around people, along with her extraordinary looks and skills. Even when she was just starting out as a kunoichi, he always thought of her as the ultimate honey trap when she younger while under his tutelage. She possessed the power to be a brilliant female ninja, alluring men to her with strength and looks. She was strong and beautiful—his dear little Anko. Orochimaru knew talent when he saw it, and he was never wrong.

Never.

The many feminine wiles that she has were proven during her last mission to shut down Seiteki Zattō's sex traffic operation. He was extremely displeased after hearing Kabuto's report on how a low life like that idiotic crime lord put his filthy lips on his pure Anko. He was glad he gave Kabuto the order to kill him off the first chance he got and to protect the purple-haired woman from that pervert. No one is allowed to touch Anko, except for him. Anko was his possession, his woman, and absolutely no one will take that right from him.

Men can stare and pursue Anko all they want, but she will never return their feelings. When he first heard that Anko was within Seiteki's castle from Kabuto, before the medic came into the room he requested to have her in, the very concept of Anko losing her maidenhood to a scum like that made his blood boiled. He didn't care what Kabuto had to do to keep her safe, just as long as he did it.

"Sensei…" Her sleepy mumble snapped him out of his musings. Perspiration broke out of her forehead and her heartbeat became audible to his ear that was close to her nearly exposed bosom. Her eyelids twitched like she was trying to break free from her dreamland, her fingers curling and un-curling repeatedly like she was attempting to grab onto something. Anko's mouth parted, air flowing into her lungs as she panted in ragged gasps, her body trembling.

"Wake up, Anko…" Orochimaru smirked, forming a hand sign to jolt her out of her sleep and then he slithered out of the room. The snake kunoichi bolted up in her bed in shock, her heart beating against her ribcage painfully as her chest became too tight, disabling her to breathe properly. She glanced around her small bedroom frantically, her brown orbs searching for the man she thought she'd sensed in her sleep.

When she was about to conclude that it was just her mind playing tricks on her again, the Curse Mark made its presence known to her, unbearable affliction rippled throughout her body.

Anko seized her seal with her hand, groaning between gritted teeth. "Ugh… This thing is killing me…"

The Curse Mark is resonating too strongly, as if he was actually here. She perused at the chances that her former mentor could be nearby the Leaf Village. There was no way he'll show his face around here this soon after his joint invasion with the Sand, but still…

"It wouldn't hurt to make sure," she declared out loud, throwing the blanket off her and slipped on her clothes. When her coat came on, her eyes fell on the photo of her and Orochimaru on her shelf. Brown optics wavered with hesitation at what she was about to go do, but she shook her head vigorously, brushing off her doubts. "I can do this…"

And with that reassurance, Anko dashed out her apartment door and towards the direction where there Curse Mark was reacting to the strongest. It wasn't long until she found herself at the Forest of Death, the last place where she and Orochimaru met face-to-face. She halted on a thick branch, her optics scanning the eerie environment carefully. She grimaced when the Curse Mark vibrated its waves of pain through her body again, clutching it as she glanced around the area to find any signs of her former mentor.

"I'm losing my mind…" The snake kunoichi pushed her bangs out of her eyes as she sighed in exhaustion, pivoting her heel to head back to her apartment. She felt like a fool, coming out to the Forest of Death in the middle of the night, hoping she would see her ex-mentor again. It was a ridiculous decision to come out here based on a guess—a waste of time.

As she left, Orochimaru smiled in satisfaction, obscured within the trees while he watched his student head home. She came to him, as he suspected. What a good girl, he thought, pleased that he saw that Anko haven't stopped chasing after him. She will always go to him. And one day, she will stay by his side, the place where she rightfully belonged. Maybe not now, but soon—very soon.

"Anko, my dear, you will be mine…" he vowed, his words echoing around the creepy forest. With that promise in mind, he leaped off the tree, slipping back into the shadows until tomorrow.

He will show Anko a sweet dream the next night…

ஜ ~ ஜ

"Welcome, how may I help you today?" asked a chipper voice as Anko entered the Yamanaka Flower Shop the next morning. Ino lifted her head from the cash register at the counter; gasping slightly when she saw the snake kunoichi came inside her family shop. A gleeful smile bloomed on her bright, beautiful face as she waved excitedly at the older woman. "Anko-sensei, welcome!"

The violet-haired woman strode slowly to the counter with a small smile on her lips. "Hey, kid. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has." Ino replied cheerfully, clasping her hands together in anticipation. "So, are there any flowers in particular you're looking for?"

"Um…" The Special Jōnin gazed around at flora that the store have in stock. There were so many flowers to choose from and all of them were blossomed to its fullest. There were roses, lilies, daffodils, and so many other exotic blooms that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world.

Noticing her indecision, Ino came from behind the counter and gestured to many of the flowers in the shop. "If you're buying flowers for a person in the hospital, then I would recommend the daffodils. They make excellent get-well flowers, and the tulips too. Or if you were buying flowers as a gift to someone, I would choose the red and yellow roses. You know, if you put the two together, they symbolize joy and happiness. But if you don't want those, them maybe you wou—"

"Slow down, kiddo." Anko interrupted her suggestions streak, smiling good-naturedly at the blond girl. Ino's cheeks blushed bright pink in embarrassment, but she retained a bashful smile on her youthful face. "I'm picking flowers for a grave."

The Genin's smile faltered slightly. "A grave? Are you heading to the cemetery, then?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you're going to put flowers down on a grave, then white lilies would be the best choice, since they mean purity. Will those be okay?"

The snake kunoichi nodded her head. "Yeah, they'll do. Can you wrap them up for me in a bouquet?"

"Great! I'll got get them for you!" Ino beamed happily, running to the back of the store and then came back, producing a bouquet of white lilies for the violet-haired woman. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She took them from the blond girl with one hand, reaching into her coat to pull out some ryō. "How much?"

"Consider it a gift, for protecting me throughout our mission in the Land of the Sea. I owe you one, Anko-sensei." the Yamanaka child smiled broadly, returning to her spot behind the counter.

"Well, if you insist." The Special Jōnin extended a hand to pat the Genin's golden crown. "I'll see you around. You keep training hard."

"I will. Good day to you, Anko-sensei!" Ino waved at the older woman as she exited the flower shop, the snake kunoichi giving her a small salute in return before she left. Another customer walked in, an old woman, and Ino greeted her with a welcoming smile, getting back to work. "Welcome, Miss, how may I help you today?"

ஜ ~ ஜ

Kneeling before the large flame-shaped tombstone, Anko placed the flowers in front of it and closed her eyes, praying for the deceased Third Hokage that was buried here. With everything that have happened to her in the last few days, about her and Orochimaru, she wanted to visit the gravesite of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the great and affectionate shinobi that gave up his life in order to stop her former sensei's attack upon the Leaf Village.

She thought by coming here, she'd be reminded of the terrible things Orochimaru have done, of the hundred of lives he used to conduct his cruel experiments when he was still a ninja of the village, and the heartbroken ache that had squeezed her chest tightly when he left her. By coming here, she thought her hatred for him would rise and she would discard the remnants of her love for him, casting them aside to focus on the goal she'd set for herself the minute he left the village: To kill him.

"Anko."

A smooth male's voice broke her depressing thoughts of her ex-mentor, swiveling her head around to see the famous Sharingan Copy Ninja standing down at the stone steps that lead to the former Hokage's grave. Kakashi stared up at her with his visible eye with his hands in his pockets.

She stood back up on her feet, turning her head back to the grave as he climbed up the steps to stand next to her. "Kakashi. What're you doing here?"

"Same as you. I was visiting a grave here." he answered her, looking at the flame-shaped tomb with a nonchalant expression. "So, how've you been?"

Anko shifted her body uncomfortably, averting her head to the opposite direction to avoid seeing the silver-haired Jōnin. "Fine."

Kakashi studied her for a long moment, knowing quite well that she was lying. "Is that so? Well, if you ask me, it seems that you've been a bit down lately."

"So what?" Her voice turned softly bitter, almost brittle. She was still mad at him from during the Chūnin Exams, for not heeding her warning about Sasuke. If he had only listened to her, maybe Sasuke wouldn't be with Orochimaru right now. And besides, the last thing she needed right now is someone else poking their nose into her business. She appreciated her friends' concern, but with the way she is now, it'll only be a matter of time until she hurts someone—someone she cares about. She turned, her back facing him. "Why would you care what happens to me?"

"There you go again, shutting everyone out." Kakashi remarked with a deep sigh, pivoting his body so that he was looking directly at her spine. He shook his head at her in slight disappointment. "Do you plan to live your life alone?"

That question drew a small gasp from Anko, but she did not swiveled around to look at him.

"You're always chasing Orochimaru, and you're constantly worrying about the Curse Mark's power getting out of control." he continued in a matter-of-factly tone. "You take on all of these responsibilities, but you forced yourself to shrug it off, like it's nothing. If you don't want to talk about it, I understand, but don't pretend it all means nothing to you. If it gets tough, then just admit. Go ahead and cry when you need to, there's no shame in that, you know."

"You make it sound like it's so easy, when it really isn't…" the snake kunoichi muttered under her breath, trying to digest the truthful words in her head. "You don't know me, Kakashi."

"You could be right about that," the Copy Ninja replied calmly, eyeing the violet-haired woman as she turned her body to look at him with a stern and angry look. "But when I look at you, you sometimes remind me of Sasuke. He was stubborn, too, and he would hide his emotions a lot. And I know how you feel, about Orochimaru and how you still care for him."

"I don't care about him." Anko asserted firmly, tired of hearing that from everyone. "He killed the Third Hokage, he abandoned the Leaf Village, and he lied and used me, Kakashi. There's no way I would care for someone like that."

"To hate someone, you first have to love him, Anko." The Sharingan warrior inched closer to her, their bodies less than an inch away from each other. Anko felt the heat radiating off him as she stared down at the ground. "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met. I don't think you're capable of not caring."

Silence fell upon the two, Anko not responding to his statement. Her mouth was kept in a firm line, her expression grim with sadness. She knew that he was telling the truth about everything, but she didn't want to admit. A hand found itself on her cheek, caressing her gently. Anko, shocked by the sweet gesture, looked up to see Kakashi smiling under his mask.

"I'll see you later, okay? If you ever need my help, just say so." His hand trailed down from her face, down her collarbone, and then rested where the Curse Mark was on her neck. Anko flinched at his touch, not wanting anyone to see the indelible brand on her skin. He pulled away when he saw her nervous reaction. "Anko, I'm sorry, for what happened during the Chūnin Exams. You were right."

He disappeared in whirlwind of leaves before she had a chance to open her mouth. Anko keep her optics fixed on the place where he stood, bringing her hand up to cover the Curse Mark. The spot on her neck where the Copy Ninja touched her tingled with warmth, and it felt nice. What was more astounding was that he admitted she was right about what she said during the exams, and he was wrong.

"It's okay, Kakashi… It isn't your fault, it's Orochimaru's." she whispered to the air, the breeze wafting through her hair. She couldn't shake off the feeling she'd felt last night, the odd sensation that he was here in the Leaf Village. She gripped the Curse Mark more tensely, sighing as memories flashed through her head of her times together with the Snake Sannin.

How fleeting those times were, ending so quickly and never lasting long enough. She missed those old, joyful times—times when her unrequited feelings for him were the motivation she needed in order to train harder to please him. But that was the past, and she had focus on the future. However, she still yearned for those days again when she was Orochimaru's student, when he still cared for her. "If only my feelings were as fleeting as those memories, then maybe I still wouldn't still feel this way."

You're wrong. You don't want them to fly away; you don't want to let go of those unanswered feelings. They're a part of you, the part that still loves him… Anko contradicted herself in her mind as she headed back into the streets. She wandered the Leaf Village until it was nightfall, and it was then the Curse Mark started to throb again.

Anko was heading back home when it happened, her knees buckling in front of her apartment door. She panted, grasping the seal on her neck, the pain not receding. She felt a presence, an evil aura that she was all too familiar with.

He's here…! No doubt about it this time! She pivoted around, supporting her crippling form with her door while she surveyed the neighborhood, concentrating on where the Curse Mark was resonating the strongest. That way—towards the Forest of Death!

Collecting herself back up to her normal height, she raced through the top of buildings to the forest that she proctored…and where Orochimaru was awaiting her arrival.