A/N: This sudden burst of updates of mine isn't going to last very long. :x Still, let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we? :)
To Snowkid: I couldn't possibly reply your reviews, seeing that your PM is blocked, but I really appreciate it all the same. That, and I seem to have missed replying your question from chapter 1. It may -okay, I know, it totally IS- come as a little late, but yes, Anko is wearing a mask.
Thanks to those who reviewed. You guys are AWESOME~! ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any of its characters.
Anko could not really put a finger on what she was currently feeling. The need to leap over the balcony railings and escape into the cover of the dark forest warred with an equally powerful urge to slice that infuriating smirk off his face with a kunai.
Yet she knew better than to make a futile attempt at both. Afterall, his reputation as the most ruthless of the famed Konoha Sannin was not built on baseless rumors.
To turn her back on him or to challenge him with no plan of action in mind was simply suicidal.
But were he to go on the offence first…
Anko tensed as her fingers hooked onto the handle of a hidden kunai.
She could not afford to lose the element of surprise to him, if they were to fight. Not if she was planning to come out of this alive.
~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~
Orochimaru indulged in a rare bout of amusement as he watched his ex-student's dilemma. It did not take the Otokage even a second to figure out the general gist of Anko's mission (oh, she was definitely here on a mission alright. The Anko he knew would never be willing to attend such functions, not if she could help it), given the way he had seen her try to -albeit dismally- flirt with Hiroji and himself.
Fujita's underground dealings -with the aid of Hiroji- had been bringing too much unwanted attention to the routes and passageway between Iwagakure and the hidden Sound base, though unintentional on the imbeciles' part.
It was in Orochimaru's own interest that he manipulated the actions of the feudal lord and baited Fujita with the false hope of funding, in an attempt to take the heat and scrutiny off that area which was currently teeming with samurais and hired shinobis.
Should things get out of hand in Fujita's error-ridden plans for a coup d'état, there were high chances that Sound may get dragged into the mess.
Orochiamru knew that there would have been some form of measures the feudal lord would have taken to stop Fujita, given the fact that it was he who had given that old fool an anonymous tip-off on the less than honorable deeds and plans of Fujita Kogen.
What he did not expect was for the feudal lord to call in the help of Konoha, much less the appearance of Anko in-
His eyes trailed the figure in front of him, taking in the long silt of the dress and the way it flaunted Anko's legs. The accentuation of her waist by the slight tightness of the dress and the delectable expanse of skin bared did not escape his notice either.
-in such an enticing form.
Anko was probably here to stop the transaction, and if he would venture further, perhaps even uncover the identity of the one who would ally himself with Fujita, against the feudal lord.
Of course, Orochimaru had no intention of backing that pathetic man, really. Fujita was already destined for despair since the moment he took Orochimaru's bait, hook, line and sinker.
Orochimaru held back a smirk.
But then again, Anko didn't really need to know that.
~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~
Anko flinched and almost screamed bloody murder when a hand clasped on her shoulder, too deep in thoughts to have noticed Orochimaru's movement.
Instinctively, her kunai slashed though the air, and would have met with pale flesh, had it not been halted by a hand grasping her lower arm.
Anko swore silently at the failed attempt, and she angled the kunai to stab at the offending hand on her arm, the high heels she was in rendering any kick to be counter-productive least she falls.
A sharp and painful squeeze form his hand hinted to the kunoichi that it was probably a really bad idea.
"Surely you don't wish to blow your cover so soon, Miss Tanuma," Orochimaru whispered as he closed whatever was left of the distance between them, his pale hand guiding Anko's reluctant, kunai-wielding hand to the holster under her dress.
Anko was about to give him a piece of her mind -and a piece of her fist too, for good-measure- about personal space and privacy, when his cool fingers brushed against her thigh, ghosting a path along her skin, as he drew back.
Her face flamed instantly, as did some other parts of her body that shall not be named.
Was this how things went, Anko thought, her mind already in a panic. A sensei betrays his student and after they meet again years later, he tries to cop a feel off her?
She snuck a look at Orochimaru, but if he was aware of that slight contact at all and how it had affected her, then he was putting on a damn good show of not showing it.
Anko tried to calm herself down. Right. An accident then.
~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~
Beside her, Orochimaru had to make a genuine effort to refrain from chuckling. A mere touch and she was already this riled up.
Anko dear, you have yet to see the worst I can and am willing to do.
He had no qualms on utilizing under-handed means, and that was one of the traits Orochimaru liked in himself.
Approaching footsteps sounded, and Anko leapt away from his side instantly, her hair whipping in the wind.
It was the scent of her hair and the split-second picture she formed that had Orochimaru frozen in place.
So captivated was he, that he could not tear his eyes away from sight of the woman clad in blue silk, her silhouette framed by the backdrop of the dark sky in a moonlit-night.
Orochimaru could smell it in the breeze without even trying to, the sweet fragrance of apple cider, only serving to make the image of Anko more enthralling. Her purple hair tumbling over her shoulders, her cheeks flush with red, and her brown eyes wide and nervous, all of them struck something within him, hard.
Logic, told him that it was all about the testosterone and oestrogen, and perhaps a little, dopamine. It is all about science and nothing about the woman in front of him. Logic, said that it would go away in time.
Instinct, however, told logic to screw itself, and demanded that he made her his.
Orochimaru's eyes hardened in resolve, his thin lips curling into a small smirk.
Anko, Anko, Anko. She knows not what fun we'll have.
Because, what Orochimaru wants, Orochimaru gets.
~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~
Anko smoothed her dress hurriedly, trying to erase the faint sandalwood fragrance from her senses. It has been so damn long since she had been in such close proximity with her ex-sensei, that all her senses felt assaulted at the familiar earthy scent unique to him.
The cause of her second bout of sudden panic soon arrived, as Fujita Kogen and Nakao Hiroji walked through the open glass doors leading to the balcony. Well, Fujita Kogen more of waddled through the door, but Anko was not about to tell him that.
"Ah, Kajima-san!" At Fujita's greeting, Anko looked around for someone that she had perhaps overlooked, and had been here on the balcony.
Until she realized - as Fujita waddled up to Orochimaru- that Kajima…was Orochimaru's alias.
It was plain as day to her that Orochimaru -for some unknown reason- was not happy at the arrival of the two. On the other hand, Anko felt that their presence was rather appreciated.
God knows what would have happened had she remained alone in Orochimaru's presence. Worst-case scenario, she leaves this place in pieces.
"Nakao-san and I were finalizing our proposal, and if you would step this-"
"Two o'clock," was the only short and curt interruption Fujita received from the pale man.
"I'm sorry?" Confusion was plain on Hiroji's face, but Fujita caught on fast enough, his face morphing into one of poorly hidden glee.
"So, two o'clock at the usual place, you'll bring the funds then?" Anko swore that the man was bouncing on his toes.
Orochimaru shot Fujita an irritable look that was not dulled by the silver mask he wore. "I do not wish to repeat myself," came the cold reply.
By this time, Anko wanted to laugh, cry and maybe slap some sense into Fujita. Was it not obvious that Orochimaru was using him? Anything that Orochimaru does, he does for his own benefit. Also, the funds will probably come with so many strings attached that Fujita will be tangled in the web for as long as Orochimaru wants.
"Don't accept it, you dumbass!" was what Anko wanted to shout to Fujita. But then again, his friend in cahoots with him did attempt to bore her to death, unintentional though it was…
Anko was still bashing up and educating an imaginary Fujita -fists makes things so much easier to swallow and accept, Anko thought- when she heard the first sign showing that something was going very very wrong.
"Also, I hope you won't mind if Miss Tanuma were to accompany me from here on. She provides the most interesting company."
As Fujita elbowed a less than pleased Hiroji in to silence, Anko could not help the rather inelegant and articulate reply from escaping her mouth.
"HUH?!"