Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
A/N: I had a suggestion from 'Blaze da dragon' to bring in Naruto, so I took it up. I hope I got his personality/reactions right! See guys, if you make a suggestion I'll consider seriously bringing it in :) No lemon yet, but I'll get there. Enjoy reading!
Thanks to Blaze da dragon, Alucards-Vampire-BITCH and Animes-Tribute for the reviews, and BloodRedShadows and LostsoulofRegret for the constant, every-chapter support! You guys are awesome :)
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Chapter 13
Ready
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She ducked the blow with a twist of her shoulder, letting the man overbalance himself. He jerked back, reacting quickly to right himself, but she used the opportunity to kick the back of his knee, forcing it to bend so he started to fall forwards again. He swung out a fist, aiming for her midsection and a crippling blow. She caught the hand, using it and his momentum to pull him forwards. She twisted the arm as she did, moving to stand behind the kneeling man with her knee in his back and forcing him to fall with his face in the dirt and one hand behind him. He struggled to kick out at her and to get up, but Anko cocked her head and in a swift movement she broke his wrist with a sharp wet crack.
The kunoichi stood up, ignoring his moans of pain as he writhed on the packed dirt, and walked nonchalantly away towards the watching Orochimaru. He smiled as she approached, and took enjoyment in seeing the change that had come over his student in the last few days.
The change wasn't dramatic, but still very noticeable. Anko had lost the confusion and hesitation that the conflicting aspects of her personality had caused. Like a person with a type of schizophrenic multiple-personality, she'd had moments when she couldn't remember what she'd done. Now her personality combined the self that Kakashi and Konoha had known, and the one that he'd seen: the parts of himself he'd seen in her. It made her stonger, more self-assured, like he'd thought it would. It also brought out the parts of her he found most interesting.
Like now, when he saw a brief look of satisfaction at the pain she'd caused cross her face.
"Like I said before," she said to him as she came close, folding her arms casually, "All your shinobi end up with their faces hitting dirt. Very dull, and pretty fucking pathetic. It doesn't say much about Sound, does it?"
The Sannin smirked. Her tongue was still as sharp and acidic as ever. Sharper, maybe. "There has been a ... regrettable loss of skilled subordinates."
Anko laughed mockingly. "Yes, very skilled subordinates who were taken down by Konoha genin."
Orochimaru ignored the remark. "Still, there are at least a few Sound shinobi who could keep you occupied."
Anko raised an eyebrow. "Well, since you haven't offered to spar with me since I came here, I assume you're talking about Sasuke and Kabuto." She rolled her eyes at the thought of them. Kabuto was still very polite but she didn't trust him at all, and Sasuke ... well, Sasuke was annoying. Good-looking, but annoying. "I don't think there's enough room for me and Sasuke's ego in a spar, but I'd enjoy deflating it a bit."
Orochimaru liked the slant to her smile, and the renewed dark hint in her eyes. It was ... refreshing. "I'm sure you would."
There was a moment of silence that she found rather uncomfortable. The Sannin had a penetrating gaze that made her shudder, and he didn't seem to feel the need to fill the silence. She remembered that he'd always been like that. It was partly a method of intimidation, and partly just who he was.
Anko turned to see Kabuto arriving at last, having been called by another shinobi to deal with the wounded man. He still hadn't stood up. "Maybe I fractured a bone in his leg making him kneel," she commented dispassionately.
"You dislocated his knee." Kabuto called across to them. "And a broken wrist ..." the medic sighed as he called two men to carry the shinobi away. He moved towards the Sannin and kunoichi, and smiled wryly. "I've certainly been busier with you around, Anko-san. Sasuke-san was bad enough."
"You know what to do with them if healing takes too much time." Orochimaru said coldly, referring to his many experiments that needed ... volunteers.
"Of course, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto bowed. "But I wouldn't want to remove too many soldiers from your service, then though they don't care what they have to do if it is your will."
The Sannin smirked, and Anko frowned in disgust. "If only they knew what you really thought of them, Orochimaru."
"And what is that, Anko?" he asked her, amused.
"Nothing. You think nothing of them. They're just a means to an end."
Orochimaru laughed as Kabuto moved away to tend to the injured shinobi. His lips curled in a half-smile as he looked down at her, and said softly "And what about you, Anko? What are you?"
Anko looked at the packed-earth training area. She saw the darker spots on the ground that were dried blood, sweat and tears. "I'm no different to you than they are." she said quietly, not meeting his eyes. "I know that." She turned her head to look up at him, matching his stare with her own. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "But then, what do you think you are to me?"
She turned on her heel, and strode away without waiting for or wanting a reply. But she got one anyway.
"A means to an end? But I wonder, Anko, what end that is."
A hitch in Anko's step was the only sign that she'd heard him, before she disappeared into the main building.
Orochimaru smiled.
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Anko sat on the narrow bed in her dark room with her head in her hands. How did I come to this? she wondered. Ever since Sasuke had used his Sharingan on her, things had been different. She felt different. It was like she could remember how she used to dislike causing unnecessary pain in a spar – it wasn't necessary, the humiliation used to be more than enough to amuse her – but now she enjoyed it. In a way, she always had but was only seeing it in herself now. There was a violent edge to everything she did that hadn't been so open before.
She knew what Orochimaru had said, that he'd just made her accept another part of who she was, but it was like she'd been seeing life in shades of purple and now she saw it in shades of stark glaring red.
Anko fell back on to her bed, and stared up at the cold stone ceiling. She let her thoughts drift to Konoha, and Kakashi. Kakashi ... What do you think of me? What would you think of me if you could see me now? I don't think I want to know. Her focus turned to her life as a kunoichi there. Anger rose up as she thought about all they'd denied her – more than she usually felt. Thinking of the faces of the old council members as they looked at her with disgusted contempt and suspicion, she felt the urge to kill something.
She laughed bitterly as she thought about all she'd gone through. All the years of common villagers pointing her out to each other, whispering: "She's the one ..." "She was his ..." And she'd taken it all, but thinking back she wondered why. After all, after what had happened now, she needn't have bothered.
Now she served Orochimaru until he could give her the power she wanted, and then she could kill him before going after Akatsuki. But why should I do Konoha's work for them? Why should I hunt Akatsuki? What has Konoha ever given me? But the answer rose up, unbidden. It was simple, really. Her madness was simple.
Because aiming to kill Akatsuki was madness.
And there were two main reasons: Kakashi, of course, and the blond Kyuubi-container Naruto.
People have had more compelling reasons, she thought wryly, but there have been worse too. Naruto will always be targeted by them, and Kakashi will always put himself in between.
Even if I die, they deserve life more than I do. I don't deserve anything. I don't want to live like this.
Maybe that's my real reason. Maybe I'm doing this so I'll die. Maybe I'm being selfish after all; it wouldn't be the first time.
But the longer she stayed in Sound, the more she felt Orochimaru influence her every action. She mocked him, gave thinly-veiled insults, took every opportunity to beat his shinobi to a pulp ... but he just smiled like he could see through her. His constant pointed comments hurt her conviction that she was so different from him, that she would kill him before she left.
Means to what end, Orochimaru? Gods, I wish I fucking knew. I used to, but you're twisting that as well as everything else. She knew, though, that she was losing to his seduction. He cornered her in her dreams, and she knew it was only a matter of time until he cornered her out of them as well.
It's just a way to use me – a means to an end ... Hot evil fucking bastard. She didn't want to give in to what she knew was just his method of manipulation, she didn't want to betray Kakashi like that ... but there was an increasingly large part of her that just didn't care about his plans or Kakashi. The one she didn't know enough about and the other was just too far away. Kakashi was from a different life – one that didn't involve Orochimaru. She was here and now was all she had.
She sat up when she heard the footsteps approaching her door. Anko sat on the edge on the bed, hands half-clenched into fists on the bed at her sides. She looked up at the short knock on her door.
"Come in."
Kabuto entered smoothly. He smiled at her, enjoying the sight of her and the sleek sense of danger she was so good at projecting. The smile faded a bit when he met her eyes. Pieces of her blue/black hair covered her one eye, and her intensity and the way she was looking at him, like she saw more than he could, reminded him uncomfortably of Orochimaru. With her regained sense of control, she had been able to summon the powers of her snake spirit with increasing success. He wondered when she would notice that its physical effects on her body had stopped fading when she wasn't actively using its power. Her eyes were lighter, her pupils more elongated and her canines more pronounced than he remembered.
"Can I help you, Kabuto?" her tone carried a hint of irritation at his staring. Take a picture, buddy, she growled to herself, it'll last longer.
The spy's smile returned full-force. "My apologies, Anko-san," he replied, voice full of sincerity that Anko didn't trust an inch, "Orochimaru-sama instructed me to inform you that you will be accompanying me on a mission tomorrow."
She raised an eyebrow. "I don't do the working-with-partners thing," Anko objected. She didn't like the idea of doing a mission with someone like Kabuto. She couldn't imagine anyone she trusted less. Except maybe Sasuke. And Orochimaru. God, I'm surrounded by people I don't trust, but I suppose I have no one to blame but myself.
"I don't generally work with a partner either," Kabuto admitted, and then he smiled slyly, "But you seemed to work well with ... hmm ... Naruto, was it? And those other two genin in Ocean Country."
"Those were my subordinates, Kabuto," she snapped back, and then gave a smile of her own as a thought occurred to her, "Unless you're suggesting that you are, in fact, my subordinate in this case. I think I could work with that."
Kabuto's face betrayed his irritation for a moment, but he seemed too used to dealing with difficult people to be really annoyed by her jabs. "I'm afraid not. Actually, Orochimaru-sama has instructed that you will be following my orders." He took some satisfaction in her restrained anger before continuing to outline the mission. "We will be retrieving documents from a man in a village on the edge of the Water Country."
Anko frowned at him. "Retrieving documents? Doesn't sound like much of a mission."
Kabuto smirked. "The man has provided Orochimaru-sama with assistance in the past, but has regrettably forgotten his duty recently. I will be interrogating him as well as letting him know the punishment for crossing Sound. It will be up to you to make sure I'm not interrupted."
"I suppose it's not important for me to know what he did for Orochimaru, or even his name?" she asked curtly.
"No. We leave before dawn tomorrow." The medic turned to leave, but at the doorway he turned back to look at her. "If you need weapons and new clothes or supplies, come see me this evening."
Anko nodded, and then laughed humourlessly. "As long as I don't have to wear that ugly fucking purple rope thing."
Kabuto laughed. "It's not compulsory." he replied, and then was gone.
Anko stared down at her hands that she'd folded in her lap. My first mission for Orochimaru ... I suppose it's not surprising he's sending me with Kabuto. Despite what they say about not being concerned that I'd go back to Konoha, they still don't trust me to complete a mission alone. I wouldn't trust me either. She ran her fingers over both palms. They were calloused from working with ninja weapons, hand-to-hand combat and hard travelling. Like most ninja, she had a number of scars on her body but they didn't bother her. Wounds left too long without seeing a medic generally scarred.
Kakashi had spent more than a few times tracing their paths on her skin. He used to say that they were either a mark of incompetence, or of experience.
Tomorrow, then. Tomorrow I face soaking my hands in blood for Orochimaru. Oddly enough, the thought didn't disturb her as much as it used to.
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The journey to the village passed quickly enough. As Anko had discovered before, it was almost too easy to fall into a pattern even with someone who had been her enemy. Kabuto wasn't an entirely awful travelling companion; he could actually be quite charming which was one of his skills that made him a good spy. He made an effort to be friendly towards her, and she wasn't sure exactly how to react to it. Some of his comments and glances were less than innocent, and she eventually started treating him like she had Genma: teasing and playing along, but only up to a point. Past that point, she pulled out the dangerous bitch. It's an easy act to play these days.
He was careful not to push her too far. Her temper had been quicker to lose lately, and when one too many of Orochimaru's subordinates had made a comment about her being his 'whore' only a few days previously, she'd some very close to killing him. Kabuto had stepped in in time, and hadn't seen anything like remorse on her face. In fact, her cold rage had chilled him. She was not someone to cross.
Finally after a number of days travel, they reached the outskirts of a village next to a river. The village was small and rustic, but the people seemed healthy and content.
"This is the place." Kabuto told her quietly. He pulled out a coat from his travel bag, and used a small jutsu to change to colour of his hair to a nondescript brown. "I suggest you don't draw too much attention to yourself."
Anko shrugged, adjusting her new black trench coat. She'd traded her lighter brown one for this when Kabuto offered it, because she'd hardly brought her own clothes with her when she left Konoha. The darker coat matched her mood more, as well as her mesh top. "So what's the plan now?" she asked.
"I'll go and find out where our target is, and then I'll find you. Don't go too far."
Kabuto moved through the undergrowth towards the town, slipping out of sight. Anko sighed. I don't feel like just waiting here. Making a decision, she entered the town casually. She didn't attract much notice. There were a number of odd characters loitering around, and she guessed that the town wasn't as innocent as it seemed. A hiring place for mercenaries, maybe. She certainly wasn't out of place as a ninja.
She'd been walking through the main street for about five minutes, deciding on a place to get a drink, when she heard a familiar voice.
"Ahhh! Ero-sennin, you spent all my money again?!" the young voice cried indignantly.
There was a drunken hiccup and a giggle. "Oh, Naruto, I was doing research for my new book. It's very important ... I wouldn't expect you to understand." the man slurred.
"Naruto?" Anko repeated, disbelieving. She turned around, and sure enough there the boy was.
He'd grown since she'd last seen him, but it was obvious Naruto hadn't forgotten her at all judging by his wide eyes and surprised expression. "Eh?! The crazy Chunin examiner?!"
Anko's smile widened into an edgy grin that made the genin gulp. "What was that, Naruto-kun?"
"Ahaha," he smiled anxiously, raising his hands to ward off her revenge. "Anko-sensei, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," she replied, eyeing Naruto's companion. She recognised Jiraiya, of course. The toad Sannin who'd taught Naruto to summon Gamabunta and to use the Rasengan.
Naruto smiled widely, almost bouncing from foot to foot in his usual energetic excitement. "Ero-sennin is training me so that I can be the next Hokage!"
Anko raised an eyebrow at the nickname, and Jiraiya shrugged sheepishly. "Naruto, I told you not to call me that!"
"So? What are you doing here sensei?" the Kyuubi boy asked again.
Anko almost rolled her eyes. She'd forgotten how exuberant he was. "I'm on a mission, Naruto." she replied, but she didn't miss the calculating look the Sannin was giving her. He knows, she thought calmly. "But I think I have time to buy you some ramen."
Naruto leapt up. "Yes!" he shouted happily. "There's a place just down here!"
Anko bought the boy some of his favourite ramen, but stood a short distance away with Jiraiya. She watched the kitsune devour the food happily, and wished that she could feel that innocence again. She waited for the questions she knew the Sannin would ask.
"I heard from Konoha." he said quietly at last.
"Yes."
"What happened, Anko?"
She met the man's eyes briefly, before turning back to watch Naruto. The Sannin was solemn and serious, and she saw that through the perverted and careless character that he often portrayed, lay the man who was one of the three most powerful ninja in the history of Konoha and the shinobi nations. "I made a mistake, and went to the only person who could help me." Her expression hardened. "Don't worry. I'll kill him once I'm done. I plan on helping with the Akatsuki problem as well."
"You could have come to Tsunade or one of the Leaf first, Anko. You can't trust him."
She laughed humourlessly, meeting his eyes again. "Do you think that I, of all people, don't know that? I have to do this my way. You don't understand."
He turned to face her, voice stern. "I understand better than you think. I worked with him, and I think you're getting into more than you can handle. He'll manipulate what he wants from you, don't you realise that? I can't allow that to happen, Anko."
"So you're going to try to take me back? To that fucking council who have always hated me and who will just throw me into a prison anyway?" she demanded, eyes flashing. He frowned as he noticed that there was something slightly off about them.
"You might be right that they don't trust you, but Tsunade can help. You can't mess around with Orochimaru, Anko. For Konoha's sake, I can't allow you to go back to him."
"Orochimaru?" the younger voice broke the tension slightly, but Anko remained ready with one eye on the Sannin when she looked at the genin.
Naruto had left his bowl of ramen and was staring up at her with incredulous eyes, and a mixture of earnest confusion and disbelief. "You're working with Orochimaru?"
"Yes." she replied shortly, reluctantly.
"But why?!" he cried. "Anko-sensei, it's Orochimaru! He-"
"I know, Naruto," Anko interrupted, trying to forestall a list of Orochimaru's crimes. "I know what he's done. I'm doing what I have to do, and it won't be for long."
"But Isaribi nee-chan ... and Sasuke ..." his eyes seemed to brighten and darken at the same time as the thought hit him. "Have you seen ..." he battled to speak the name.
"Yes, I've seen Sasuke, Naruto. I think you should give up on him. The friend you knew is dead."
"No." he said firmly, determination unbreakable. "I will rescue Sasuke. But helping Orochimaru for any reason isn't right, sensei. It will only make you like him."
Anko saw the maturity in his eyes, the firm belief in what he thought was right, and the strength to uphold those beliefs. He was so loyal and good and honest. "You will make a good Hokage one day, Naruto. I hope you find friends who live up to your faith in them." It was obvious to the two shinobi that she was as firm in her own beliefs, and to Naruto that she wasn't the same as she had been. "Orochimaru has a pull that you can't understand. I won't be able to escape him until one of us is dead, and I don't plan on that being me."
"But sensei-" the boy said softly, ready to try convince her to come with him.
"Please don't try to stop me," she asked Jiraiya earnestly, with more vulnerability than she had shown for a long time. "I can't let anyone interfere, you know that the council won't give me a fair trial no matter what the Hokage does, and you need to protect Naruto. He deserves the chance to try for his dream." The Sannin nodded reluctantly. He knew that she was right, and he didn't have time to try take her back to Konoha against her will. He could only alert Tsunade to where she'd been, and hope that she came to her senses.
Anko reached down to ruffle Naruto's spiky blond hair. She smiled sincerely at his serious face, "Good luck with your training, Naruto."
Naruto opened his mouth and raised his hand to speak, but the kunoichi disappeared using a transportation jutsu. He stared into space for a moment before looking up sadly at his sensei. "Why, Ero-sennin? Why can't she leave Orochimaru?"
The Sannin sighed, running a hand through his white hair. How do I tell you this, Naruto? Anko was right in that you wouldn't really understand. "Orochimaru was Anko's sensei, Naruto. I think you knew that. He made her lose her memories after she refused to follow him when he gave her the curse seal. Tsunade told me recently that she got some of them back when you went on that mission in the Ocean Country, and I can only guess at what she remembered about what he made her do. Sometimes revenge is the only thing people can think of – you have some experience of that with Sasuke. Sometimes revenge can drive you to do terrible things. But if she's following Orochimaru for the power to eventually kill him, then I think she's making a grave mistake."
"Why?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya refused to voice the thought, but couldn't help it resounding in his mind. Because with Orochimaru, no matter what power she develops ... she won't stand a chance.
Naruto looked down at his clenched fists, feeling the familiar well of frustrated helplessness. Feeling that he was still not strong enough to save anyone. Why are we losing people to Orochimaru?! After all that he's done ... I can't let him hurt anyone else. I can't. I ... I have to get stronger. I have to get Sasuke back, and now Anko-sensei as well. Naruto wasn't stupid, despite how many people may call him that. He could read the Sannin's face. He knew that he didn't think Anko could kill Orochimaru.
"Are you going to finish your ramen, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked finally.
"No." came the unexpected reply. The genin looked up at his sensei with renewed determination. "I'd like to start proper training now, Jiraiya-sensei."
The Sannin was taken aback. "Jiraiya-sensei", eh? He nodded solemnly. "Alright, Naruto. It's time to leave this place and find out what you've really got. Three years, remember?"
Naruto nodded. "I'm ready."