Hello everyone, I'm very happy with the way things are going with this fic and I'm very happy that people are enjoying it!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own Naruto and neither do I.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Higher Being Speech"

'Higher Being Thoughts'

"Jutsu"

(Technique Translations)

Scene Shift

Chapter 4: Cursed Dilemma and Solution

'Why does stupid have to breed? Why?'

Within a medical lab at Konoha Hospital, beakers filled with various chemicals and serums were placed on various racks and labeled accordingly. The person looking over them was Uzumaki Naruto in hopes of finding a way to cancel out Anko's Curse Mark.

All he'd gotten so far was frustration and a handful of his own hair he'd yanked out.

It was the second day of his probationary period in the Leaf; the first being spent having Tsunade procure a room for him to work at in peace. The only people allowed in the room while he worked were Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Anko. Of course, there was always a duo of ANBU present in the room as well. They were there to make sure he wouldn't make anything threatening to the village or make any attempts to escape.

He wouldn't!

Really.

Naruto kept his gaze firmly on a beaker filled with a small mixture of chemicals atop a Bunsen burner. He had to make sure they didn't overheat, or else he would have to make the mix from scratch and carefully dispose of the old one. On a test tube rack near him were four tubes full of Anko's blood. Why he needed it wasn't told to the woman, but she still gave him the needed fluids, but not after Naruto got in a joke about 'other fluids' before dodging a hail of shuriken.

The thing was that the blood had to be extracted directly from where the Curse Mark rested on her skin.

The mix had finally reached the desired temperature and the whiskered blonde quickly removed it and called out, "Get the blood ready."

A Kage Bunshin working with him quickly complied and readied a few drops of blood on a microscope sheet. The original prepared a dropper and filled it with the heated mixture before he carefully had a drop of the green chemical mix fall on the blood. He then placed it under the microscope in the room and gazed into it.

The blood was receptive of the mixture at first, making Naruto gain a small grin. However, his victory was short-lived when the blood fought back against the mixture and the red and green drops of liquid were overcome by a purplish one.

"Damn it. The chakra is overriding any attempt at a serum," Naruto cursed before he took out a notebook and scratched out the formula he used to make the mix; the fifth one on the list. He sighed in frustration and had the clone dispose of the failed test while he moved to the whiteboard in the room. "I don't understand it," he muttered to himself while looking at the chemical formula that made up the Curse Mark. "Why aren't my attempted antidotes working? There has to be a reason, but the question is what…Could it be something involving her genome? Her specific genetics…?

An idea soon came to him and he formed another clone to ready the blood for the Bunsen burner. Most liquids in chemistry needed to be heated in order to be studied better. Anko's blood shouldn't be any different.

When the blood was heated, he placed some under the microscope and observed it. The crimson liquid appeared to be normal, but after a couple of seconds, purple clumps began to appear and have the blood assimilate into them. It only took ten seconds before the blood was completely purple.

"Damn it all… I was hoping this wouldn't happen…" he muttered disappointedly. "He quickly wrote down his findings and disposed of the tainted blood before he made his way to the Hokage's office. "Baa-chan's not gonna like this… And Anko will be devastated… Why do I have to be the one to bring bad news?"

Tsunade's Office

The Godaime was hard at work filling out various forms and looking over many different petitions brought to her by the Konoha citizens.

And not drinking.

What an awful day.

Shizune was assisting her in organizing the papers and Anko was in the room as well. The Snake Mistress was there because an ANBU escorted her in order to 'receive news from the Uzumaki'. She hoped the news was good; she needed to hear something positive about the damnable hickey on her left shoulder.

She was tired of it. Nearly two decades of having the damn thing and still no means to cure it... She hated it; it was a constant reminder of why this villager had shunned her, she hated the snake who gave her the thing in the first place. Ever since she received it, her life had gone downhill. Feared by the people of the village she served, mistrusted by most of the Council, the phantom pains that came from the mark, and worst of all were the whispers she heard in her mind… They always spoke of how Konoha would betray her and that she would only find acceptance with Orochimaru. It was her hatred of the man that kept her from listening to the whispers.

Soon, a knock came from the door and Tsunade allowed the person to enter. Anko tensed when she saw that it was Naruto holding an open notebook and having a serious look on his face. 'This can't be good…' the woman thought sadly.

'Why do I have to be the bearer of bad news? Fuck this job'

Naruto sighed in slight exhaustion and cut right to the chase. "There's something…unfortunate that I found during my tests."

"It hasn't even been a whole day," Tsunade said in surprise. "What could possibly cause you to come here so early?"

Naruto's answer was to drop the notebook on the desk in front of her, his face a stony mask as the Godaime and her assistant looked over the notes and Anko fidgeted in her seat. He cringed slightly when he saw the medics' eyes widen in shock and he looked away when they turned their gazes to him.

"Are you absolutely sure that these are correct?" asked Tsunade with narrowed eyes.

Naruto sighed and dropped his head before he looked Tsunade dead in the eye. "100%..." he said in a tone that told her he was not joking. "The Curse Mark has merged with Anko's bloodstream…and infected it. It moves like a virus and I've yet to find a means to combat it properly."

Anko froze in shock while Shizune gave a small gasp and Tsunade clenched her fist in anger. "How long…?" asked the Slug Sannin.

"You already know the answer, Tsunade," he replied. "Your specialty is medicine, so you should know how long."

Anko took a step forward and asked, "How long until what?"

Naruto looked away as Tsunade answered, "…Until you die." Anko's eyes widened in shock and fear, making Tsunade feel a pang of guilt for telling her the truth. "The answer won't be something you'll want to hear."

The violet haired woman's gaze fell to the floor and she leaned against the wall for support. "…How long?"

"A year at the most," answered Naruto who hated to beat around the bush. "The Curse mark is tainting your blood and slowly killing you from the inside. I'm surprised you're still on your feet, to tell you the truth. You'll be able to tell when your body is near its limit when you start coughing up blood. Then, you'll feel intense fatigue and your immune system will weaken drastically. Should you somehow live through that stage; your body will weaken so much that you'll be bedridden. Not long after, you'll fall into a coma before…you die. I'm sorry, Anko."

Anko lost the strength in her legs at that and fell to the floor, eyes wide and tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She slowly brought her knees up to her body and bowed her head into them. Soft sobbing could be heard from her, making the other occupants of the room look down in regret.

Naruto clenched his fist in anger and grabbed his notebook before he made his way to the door. When he reached the knob, he turned his head to look back to them and stated, "While there is a 100% chance she will die if the blood continues to be infected, there is still a 12% chance I could come up with a cure in time." His voice reached Anko and she turned her tear-streamed face to him. His back was to her and she heard him say, "I just need time. I'll fix this, I promise," before he left the office.

Tsunade sighed and turned to Anko who was still staring at the doorway. "Anko, I want you to take the next two weeks off. If Naruto comes up with something during his probation, you'll need to be ready."

The woman slowly nodded before she shakily stood up and walked out of the office. Tsunade sighed again and turned her chair to look out the office window.

"You better come up with something, Naruto… Anko's depending on you."

Naruto's Lab Room (Five Days Later)

The blonde had bags under his eyes as he reviewed and rewrote the formulas for the attempted cures and the one for the Curse Mark for the tenth time that day. The notes were so annoying to decode and break down that he had to practically destroy one of the training grounds just to let out some steam.

Luckily, an ANBU kept him from doing too much damage.

Somewhat, at least.

"Son of a bitch! Why can't I figure this damn formula out?! It shouldn't be this hard to decipher! Orochimaru didn't even fully create the damned thing!" he raged before he threw his notebook across the room in frustration.

He leaned forward against a nearby wall and began to pound his fist against it consecutively as his frustration grew. 'Come on; think! What could be the secret? What is it that holds the Curse Mark together? Think, damn it; THINK!' he raged in his mind as he kept striking the wall.

"You're such a fool," admonished the fox in his gut.

'Do you really have to be an asshole now? Fuck off, fox! I'm trying to think!'

"That's why you're a fool. There's no need to come up with a solution chemically. What else did you learn last year?"

'You know what I learned! The Curse Mark notes, those kinjutsu, and the Uzumaki…Fuinjutsu. God damn it, it was right in front of me the whole damn time! I'm so stupid!'

"Well, I'm glad we can agree on something," said the Kyuubi with a smirk.

'Can it, fox. I need some ink, brushes, and sealing paper.'

With Anko

The Snake Mistress was sitting at the table in her apartment, an empty bottle of sake and a dish next to her. What she had just learned…it was an incredibly tough pill to swallow.

'So in the end…he still got me in some way. Either he would have me as a pawn…or I'd be disposed of.'

She unconsciously lifted the bottle to pour some more sake, but when she didn't hear the sound of liquid hitting the dish she realized she was out. She sighed and set the bottle back down before she moved to her fridge for another bottle. As soon as she cracked the door open, a hand pushed it back closed. In her upset state, she turned angrily to yell at the offender but stopped short when she saw that it was Kurenai.

"I think you've had enough, Anko."

Anko didn't respond and just moved back to her chair and sat down. Her elbows rested on her knees while her gaze was towards the floor, making Kurenai sigh sadly.

"Tsunade-sama told me what Naruto found out." She was met with silence. "You can't just give up, Anko. I'm sure everything will-"

"Everything will what?" interrupted the violet-haired kunoichi. "Be okay? I doubt it, Kurenai… I've had this damn thing for nearly twenty years and nothing changed for the better…And now it's going to kill me" Her eyes became misty and she clenched them shut to fight back the tears. "It's over…"

The next thing she knew, she felt a hand strike her cheek with a resounding slap. She looked to Kurenai in shock while the Genjutsu Mistress had a hard look in her eyes. "So that's it? You're just going to let Orochimaru win and keel over? That's not who you are, Anko, and you know it! You're not the real Anko Mitarashi if you're going to just give up on everything? The Anko I know is a fighter and she never gave up!" Her crimson eyes narrowed and she asked, "Who are you and what happened to the real Anko?"

"She's gonna die, that's what!" yelled back Anko. "She realized that this was a battle she couldn't win, no matter how hard she tried! Just face it, Kurenai; it's over!"

"Maybe not," came a voice from the doorway of Anko's apartment. The two kunoichi turned to see Tsunade leaning against the door frame. "Naruto's made a slight breakthrough with the Curse Mark."

"What?" whispered Anko. "But I thought-"

"He was approaching the problem the wrong way. From the message he had a clone send me, it looks like removing the Curse Mark chemically is next to impossible," she explained much to Anko's horror. "However, there is another way that has a much better chance at success."

"What way is it, Tsunade-sama?" asked Kurenai.

"Fuinjutsu…the little idiot just realized it" replied the busty blonde simply. "The Curse Mark is a product in both a chemical sense and a sealing sense; but the main sense is the sealing part. It's the seal that is making the chemical that taints your blood, so he just needs to counter the seal and then we can drain the tainted blood from your system."

Kurenai sighed in relief while Anko asked, "How long will it take?"

Tsunade sighed and answered, "Unfortunately, he doesn't have a set date for when he can finish. But, he has many clones helping him work on it plus that scroll that he took from Orochimaru's base. If he doesn't waste time and focuses solely on the counter seal, I would assume about a month at the latest; a week or so at the earliest."

Anko nodded with the faintest hint of a smile and sighed in relief. 'You better pull through for me…Naruto.'

Naruto's Lab Room (Three Days Later)

"Alright… Now, I just need to make my brush strokes perfectly and the prototype seal will be ready. Unless it explodes again," said the whiskered blonde to himself as he steadily moved his brush on a seal tag.

"I have to admit that I'm quite impressed, brat. I honestly believed that it would take you longer to pull this off."

'I did too… But, I'm not stopping here,' he replied with a small smirk.

"Oh? And what else did you plan to do?" asked the fox with slight curiosity.

'Remember how the notes said that Orochimaru placed a part of himself in every Curse Mark; as a fail-safe of sorts?'

"Yea… What's your point?"

'Come on, fox. I know that you know what I'm thinking. If I know what you think that you think that I know.'

"You're taking a big risk here," the fox warned dangerously. "We had a deal that you'd stay alive while I gave you power, brat. You better not risk your life so needlessly."

'Relax… You shouldn't have any issues taking down a fake of Oro-teme. After all, what's he compared to the great Kyuubi no Kitsune?'

The Bijuu smirked at that. "At least you finally understand my greatness."

'Yea… But the Yondaime still sealed you into me, so I guess that makes him greater than you,' said the blonde with a smirk.

"Fuck you, brat! He got lucky that he and that woman stopped me from killing you that night!"

'Woman? What woman?'

He heard the fox scoff before he grumbled, "No one you need to know about."

'You know I don't like being left in the dark about things, fox. You better tell me soon, or else our deal's off.'

"Why do you want to know anyway? She's dead and so is the damned Yondaime. Knowing who she was will do nothing to help you."

'Maybe it will; we'll never know unless you tell me.'

"Hmph… If this little plan of yours works, then I'll tell you. However, you only get one shot at this; no second chances."

Naruto was silent as he continued to make the seal. A clone of him was working on a seal that was being placed on the original's back; one that was crucial to his plans. 'Then this just has to be the shot that makes it…'

Two Days Later

Naruto was being led to Tsunade's office by the two ANBU in charge of him for his probationary period. It was the final day of it and he was to be removed from his probation by the Godaime that day. He had a small grin on his face as he held a small seal tag in his right hand.

The villagers didn't like the look of the grin and gave him looks of suspicion, but he ignored them. His plan was slowly coming together and it made him excited to see it succeed. All he had to do was remove Anko's Curse mark and then let the fox handle the rest.

It was a perfect plan.

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when he saw that he had arrived to his destination. He saw Tsunade, Anko, Kurenai, Shizune, Jiraiya, and surprisingly Kakashi in the room waiting for him. Anko had a nervous look in her eye and Naruto gave her a reassuring grin. In his head, he heard the fox give a snort of amusement.

"Imagine the ways she'll thank you should this work," the Kyuubi commented and Naruto could practically feel its grin.

'Shut it, fox. Although, not a bad way to think.'

"Uzumaki Naruto," began the Godaime, "you are officially done with your probation and reinstated within Konoha's ranks as a Genin once more." Naruto frowned at his rank and he heard the fox laugh it up in his mind. "My first order to you, as your Hokage, is to attempt to remove the Curse Mark placed upon Mitarashi Anko by Orochimaru."

Naruto gave a bow and replied, "It will be done, Hokage-sama." He then grabbed a chair and set it down, with the back facing him, and motioned for Anko to sit in it. When she slowly complied, he said, "Remove your coat please, Anko-san. I need to properly see the Curse Mark."

She nodded and removed the coat, letting Naruto see both the seal and her uncovered body. He unconsciously gave it a once over and had a faint grin, making Kurenai narrow her eyes while Jiraiya and Kakashi quietly chuckled.

Naruto carefully placed the seal on top of Anko's mark before he pulled out a leather belt and handed it to her. "You're gonna want to bite down on that. This is not gonna be a pleasant experience and we don't need to hear you scream your lungs out." She took the item from him and bit down on it before she nodded, showing that she was ready. The spectators in the room gave Naruto their full attention as he took a deep breath and pumped his chakra into the seal. "Fuinjutsu: Juin Kyūshū Fuiin (Curse Mark Absorption Seal)!"

The seal tag began to glow an angry red while Anko's seal beneath it gave off a fierce violet glow. She felt an intense burning sensation, so much that it felt that her body was melting from the inside, and bit down hard on the leather belt. Through gritted teeth, she screamed in pain while Naruto had a bead of sweat go down his brow.

'20%...' he mentally measured as the Curse Mark slowly began to move from Anko's body into his own. '33%... 47%... 59%... 76%... 91%... Kyuubi, are you ready?'

"What do you think, brat?" was the rhetorical response.

'Alright then; NOW!' he called out before he felt the seals on his stomach and back heat up.

The others in the room, save for the screaming Anko, tensed when they saw the seal holding back the fox light up. Naruto's features slowly became more animalistic and a small haze of red youki came off of his body.

'Is the seal weakening?' thought the Sannin and Kakashi in a panic while Kurenai and Shizune were worried for the safety of Anko and Naruto.

Seal

The next thing Naruto and Anko knew, they were standing before the fox's cage while a copy of Orochimaru stood right at the gates.

"Marvelous…" whispered the Sannin remnant. "To think that the seal you have on you is this complex is nothing short of astounding, Naruto-kun."

"You have three seconds to pray to whatever deity you worship, Oro-teme. If anyone's going to be inside Anko, it's going to be me!" Naruto grinned.

Anko looked on in shock as the one she hated the most and the Kyuubi stood before her before glaring half-heartedly at Naruto, "What the hell? Where are we?"

"My mindscape," answered the blonde. "Apparently the seal dragged your consciousness here while the fox deals with the snake."

The Sannin remnant chuckled at Naruto's words. "You really believe that this caged beast can kill me?" he asked arrogantly.

"No, I don't believe it will," answered the Uzumaki with a shrug before one of the Kyuubi's tails flew through one of the spaces between the gate bars and pierced the remnant of Orochimaru. He gave a fanged smirk at the look of surprise on the remnant's face and finished, "I guarantee that it will."

The remnant's echoing cries of agony filled the area before they slowly faded into nothingness, leaving a smirking Naruto, a shocked Anko, and a grinning Kyuubi. "Well, that was actually quite satisfying. He was starting to annoy me."

"You and me both, fox," agreed the Uzumaki before he turned to Anko. "Well, you're finally free, Anko-san. How does it feel?"

Her eyes widened in realization and she unconsciously moved her hand to where her Curse Mark was; only, her hand touched smooth skin and nothing more. Her face gained a small smile and she started to chuckle softly before she began laughing in pure joy.

"I can't believe it! I'm finally free! I can't feel the Mark's taint anymore! I'm free!" she cheered with a wide grin while Naruto and the fox smirked.

"Glad to see you so excited about this, Anko-san. However, it's time we left." A doorway appeared with the kanji for 'exit' on it and Anko quickly went through it. The blonde turned back to the fox and smirked. "You made sure to leave the power here, right? You only removed the snake's essence?"

The Kyuubi scoffed at his questions. "Of course I kept the power. What do you take me for?"

'A fuzzy asshole.'

'Die.'

Naruto chuckled as he left the mindscape and reopened his eyes to the sight of Kurenai hugging Anko while the others had small smiles on their faces. He too smiled as he was clapped on the back by Jiraiya.

"Nice work there, kid. Couldn't have done it better myself," he praised.

"Thanks, Ero-Sennin," he replied as he kept his gaze on a grinning Anko. "It's about time she had something good happen to her."

The Gama Sennin gave a slightly lecherous grin as he whispered, "Maybe she'll give you something good as thanks, you lucky bastard."

He received a smack to the back of his head for that. "Shut it, pervert…" he muttered before he was suddenly glomped by an excited Anko.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed happily before she kissed him on his whiskered cheek, making him freeze. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Foxy!"

That woke him up. "Foxy?"

She grinned at him. "Well, I did tell you that I'd call you something different if you removed my Curse Mark. Besides, it seems to fit the best!"

He shook his head with a small smile. "Better than 'gaki', I guess. Although it still doesn't capture my raw sexiness," he said before he turned to leave.

"Naruto, where are you going?" asked Kakashi.

"Home… I've been stuck moving between that lab and this office for two weeks straight. I need a real bed to sleep on. There's an open invitation, Anko," he winked, making the others chuckle.

Before he could take two steps, he felt extra weight on his back and two arms wrap around his neck. "I'll be sure to pay you back for this, Foxy," whispered Anko into his ear. The warmth of her breath against his ear made him blush before she got off of him.

"I'll be sure to remember that," he replied with a smirk as he left the office. Once outside the Hokage Tower, he formed a clone and said, "You know what to do."

"Yes sir," saluted the clone before it headed for the Hokage Monument. There were a few prizes hidden there and the Uzumaki planned to collect. He earned it, after all.

Hidden beneath the hood of his cloak, no one saw his fanged smirk but they did here his slightly dark chuckles. Shivers went down their spines as the Uzumaki passed them.

They had no clue what was in store for the future.

Not a single fucking clue.

(End)

I hope you guys enjoyed it! See you later bro's, and yes. There will be more sexual innuendo than you can imagine.