Konoha library
./././
"Heh, so that's what it means." Itachi drawled as he pointed out the word "fuck" in "The Adolescence dictionary about sex".
Ryik's eye twitched; he regretted agreeing to come to this place right away, but he wanted to know what he was seeing the night before and this was the only way that allowed them to keep things in the quiet.
"I don't understand half of this shit!" he exclaimed, causing the librarian to shush him.
Itachi rubbed his eyes; he felt like his virginity was being snatched from him just by the content. "We've really got to talk her out of this kind of stuff."
"Boy, what's with the 'we' stuff? I ain't about to say nothing to her."
"Do I sense bitterness and jealousy in your voice Katzan?" Itachi teased. His mission to keep Ryik in a positive state was of up most importance to him.
"Oh sure Uchiha, I is really mad that I didn't get to…" he looked back in the dictionary for a pronunciation. "Fuck Anko-girl like that lucky son of a bitch from last night, whoever the Hell he was-"
"Young man!"
The two boys looked up to see the busty librarian blushing and glaring at Ryik. "If I hear one more sound from this area, especially that repulsive language you are speaking, I will personally kick you out. Is that clear?"
Ryik jumped up and pointed at the woman. "Woman if you touch me, I'll-"
Itachi clamped a hand over Ryik's mouth down and bowed to the woman while restraining the fuming boy. "My apologies ma'am, it won't happen again."
The woman nodded to him and gave Ryik once last scowl before returning to her desk, still watching them over her paperwork.
Ryik pulled himself free and snarled at Itachi. "I's don't need you to hold me back damn it! I ain't some fucking animal!"
A loud slap echoed to the two boys. The librarian had slapped a ruler down on a book; by the anger in her eyes, she wanted them out right away.
Ryik wasted no time in storming out of the library, Itachi trailing closely behind him.
"What the heck's up with you?" Itachi questioned. Usually, especially in cases such as the night before, he was the sullen one and Ryik was that annoying goo that kept him from cracking. And honestly, he really needed it right now. He needed that weirdo to crack a smile and tell him that everything was going to be just fine. He needed his friend, possibly his only friend at that.
He and Ryik were at the gates of the Uchiha compound when Ryik finally stopped. He just stood there, staring at the gates with the fire seal that represented Itachi's clan. Itachi's family, something he didn't have.
"I's sorry about back there." He said, but with no real feeling.
"That's fine, but I'd like to know what you're feeling so that I can help you out."
Ryik laughed dryly. "If you can't see it with yo' regular eyes, I'd be surprised if you could see it with them Sharingans."
"What do you mean?"
Ryik ran his foot into a dry leaf, crushing and breaking it into pieces, similarly to the way his heart was.
"I love her Uchiha."
Itachi stared at him, not entirely sure what he meant but thought he could figure it out. "I'm sure you do; Anko's been a good sister-figure to you. A bad influence maybe, but a pretty good sister.
Ryik shook his head, smiling sadly. "I's thinks I's love her more than that…"
Itachi's eye widened. "You don't mean…"
Ryik smirked. "Eh, don't worry about it." He walked past him, heading into the Uchiha compound without looking back.
Itachi watched him, his head spinning. "Ryik you can't…you can't love Anko." He whispered, his sweaty palms flinching and unflinching. "You can't love her Ryik…you and Orochimaru…you just can't."
He trudged after Ryik, his anger slowly building to a dangerous height. "I love her Ryik. You and Orochimaru can't love her too."
.,.,.,.
Anko woke once again, this time with less pain and tons more pleasure rushing through her body. She smiled, "So this was the glow that people experienced after sex?" She looked around and saw that she was still in her living room, the pen she had been writing Jiraiya's letter with still poised in her hand. She sat up, stretching her arms and scratching the back of her head. She saw the letter and picked it up. Her signature was at the end of it, so she must have finished it.
She sighed and leaned back into the warm couch cushions. A nasty stench caused her nostrils to flare. She realized after a moment that the sweat, bliss, and sin radiating through the air was her and knew that a long hot shower was in order.
She lazily walked to her bedroom, stopping short as she touched the doorknob. Was Orochimaru still in there? Or did he split again this morning?
She frowned. There was only one way to find out.
Opening the door, she found a not so pleasant sight. Her bed was empty, and the remaining clothes Orochimaru had been wearing her gone.
She stared at it, as if it were a common thing. She felt grief, and unfightable hurt course through her; but once his words of his departure swam through her head, her misery turned into rage. She clawed at the wall and screamed, pulling the hair on the sides of her head.
"I can't fuck believe I fell for this again!" she screamed to her ceiling. "I'll kill him; I'm going to fucking-"
The sound of water cut her from her anguish. She turned to the bathroom door which was closed and held the source of the water.
She snaked to it quietly, edging the door open slightly and was able to see Orochimaru's figure sway behind the foggy glass.
He noticed her instantly. "Morning," He greeted with a hint of exhaustion in his voice.
Anko stood at the doorway, in awe that he actually stuck around.
"What are you doing here?" she breathed. She heard him chuckle and saw one of his hands scrunch through his hair.
"I'll be going just as soon as I'm done here. You…left a lot for me to clean up you know."
"Oh shut up, you know that's now what I meant!" She defended, slightly embarrassed. She calmed herself down and continued. "I thought…that you would have left by now, like you said you were going to."
Orochimaru was quite, washing himself slowly. The water went off after a few more minutes, but Orochimaru remained where he was. He wasn't sure if she was still there, so he slid the door slightly and was greeted with a cool draft as well as her hard stare. He smirked and reached for the towel he had laid out for himself. He hid himself once again and decided he should answer her before she got violent.
"You proved a lot to me last night; I'll be sticking around to make sure you abide to your promise."
Anko's heart, which had been racing dangerously during his silence, slowed down as a small smile spread over her lips and a wave of joy caused her entire body to go jittery.
"Excuse me for just a sec." she said as she exited the bathroom and closed the door.
Orochimaru listened carefully and then laughed as he heard a series of "HELL YEAH's", "FUCK YES's" and the sound of something falling over as Anko yelped during her happy dance. The door opened a few seconds later and Anko entered, acting cool and unaffected.
"Yeah…that's great and all. But we seriously need to lay down some ground rules."
Orochimaru stepped out of the shower, smirking at the annoyed look on Anko's face as he was only in a towel. "What did you have in mind?" he teased, part one of pay back for her actions the night before.
Anko gave him a hard look before moving to her sink. She dug through it and threw a longer towel at him. "For one, don't use my damn shower. Ever!"
Orochimaru peeled the towel off his face and used it to dry his locks. "Quit raping me and we won't have that problem."
"You would know a lot about rape wouldn't you? Anko growled. "Besides, you deserved it."
He chuckled. "I suppose I do deserve something nice once in a while, don't I?"
"That's not what I-"
"Why don't you be a good little sex slave and retrieve me some clothes from my home."
Anko gaped at him, forming a fist. "What did you just call me!"
"I prefer long pants if you don't mind; everything's in the bedroom, try not to grab something of Kimimaro's."
"Fuck no! Go get it yourself." She was about to retreat when Orochimaru spoke up again.
"Sure, I'll just walk outside in a towel and let the entire leaf village know I had sex with a seventeen year old and washed the sin away in her shower. That's a great idea Anko."
She was about to strangle him when realization hit her. Despite how she didn't want to admit it, he had a point. Even without nosy neighbors, him just walking out the door without his disguise was dangerous. If he got caught, he'd probably run away and let her take the rap.
"Whatever." She scoffed, returning to her bedroom to find an over shirt of some sort to conceal her pajamas. "Stay right there." She called as she walked into her living room.
"We'll see." He called back.
Anko rolled her eyes and made the short trip around the veranda to Orochimaru's apartment. She was at the door when a thought came to her head. Kimimaro, was the little guy still around? She hadn't seen him since the day of her birthday, and she didn't even bother to ask him about Orochimaru when she was looking for him the day before.
She sighed and made a mental note to chew Orochimaru out about leaving the poor kid like he did. She straightened her shirt and knocked on the door. Almost immediately, the sound of frantic footsteps came to meet her at the door. The door swung open and Kimimaro's pale head stuck out.
"Lord Oro-" he stared long and disappointedly at Anko, hating that his lord wasn't in her place. "He's not here." He said sullenly. "I haven't seen him since yesterday morning."
"I know." Anko said gently. "He's at my house, he took a shower and I'm here to get him some clean clothes." She saw the flash of hate run across Kimimaro's eyes. She was about to walk away slowly when Kimimaro stepped aside, his small fists tightly curled up.
"This way," He growled, like a dog fighting for food. Orochimaru was the meal in this case.
Anko followed him carefully, trying to avoid the dark chakra swimming off of him. They made it to the tiny bedroom in one piece and Kimimaro let her inside.
"His things are hanging up in the closet." He said solemnly as he walked to the small closet and revealed a variety of T-shirts, pants, and kimonos. He rummaged gently through the clothing, as if he was dealing with glass and finally brought out white robe with a purple trim and held it out to Anko.
Anko smiled gently. "It's nice, but he wanted pants today."
Kimimaro's face suddenly screwed into a snarl, his teeth clamping together and his hands tightening into the material of the robe. He screamed and ripped it into pieces, throwing them at Anko.
"You take it then!" he screamed as he ran out of the room.
Anko shook slightly when she heard the outside door slam. She stared down at the pieces of what used to be a fabulous kimono, ripped to shreds like the happiness on that kids face had been when she walked through the door.
"What's with him?" she muttered out loud. She didn't want to dwell on the subject so she went to finding some non-ripped clothes to complete the task she hadn't volunteered for.
Stuffing a random pair of pants and a shirt under arm, she sauntered out of the house in hopes of seeing Kimimaro hanging around. He was nowhere to be seen nor could Anko feel his presence.
However, there was another presence closing in, strangely though, it was not that of a shinobi but of a regular civilian. She shot around to see a young boy with a large bag on his back coming up the steps. He nodded at her and placed an envelope neatly on Orochimaru's mat before walking over to hers and placing one there as well; he was obviously some kind of errand boy.
Anko sighed with relief and was about to head back when a thought surged.
"Hey!" Anko said to him.
The boy looked up at her questionable.
Anko skipped up to him and smiled at him warmly. "Do you think you could deliver something for me?"
The boy blushed and smiled nervously, obviously not too used to be confronted by such a pretty woman. "S-sure." He said.
Anko dashed back into her apartment and retrieved the letter she had written for Jiraiya.
The errand boy's smile disappeared slightly when he heard several curses come from Anko's open apartment about something involving a "damn envelope!" and a "freaking stamp, I hope you burn in Hell!"
Anko returned, slightly flushed but still all smiles. "Please make sure this gets to the Waterfall village as soon as possible."
The boy looked down at the letter and smiled back at Anko. "Yes ma'am…I mean miss…I mean-!"
"Bye!" Anko cut him off.
The boy sputtered and hurried down the steps, tripping some before he reached the ground.
Anko chuckled at the boys weak will and went back into her house in search for Orochimaru.
"Hey," she called as she reached her bedroom. "Got 'em."
"Great." He replied from the bathroom. He stepped out to reveal that he was in one of Anko's bathroom robes.
She glared at him. "What the heck?"
"I was getting cold." He answered innocently. He held out a hand. "My clothes if you please."
She threw them at him and turned to her bed. She was surprised to see that knew covers were on it. "You changed the sheets?"
Orochimaru stepped from the bathroom, pulling his shirt over his head. "I don't want to keep fucking in our filth."
"What makes you think we'll be fucking again?" she teased, flopping back on her now clean bed. The fresh scent helped still her unraveled mind just a bit.
Orochimaru sat at the end of the bed, running a hand up her bare leg. "Because I said so."
She smirked. Her moment of dominance over the great Snake Sannin was a onetime deal and now it was back to his rules and his control. But Hell would she be as submissive. Sex was their bond now; it would help them keep each other in check and would at least help them get along if it didn't drive them to each other's throats.
But, there was one tiny interior of the situation that they had to grasp hold to.
Kimimaro.
He seemed to hate her all of a sudden, but she did not want Orochimaru to know about that. He was a possessive little twit, and he didn't seem to hesitate too much when it came to hitting that kid around.
"You know," she mentioned. "If this is gonna work, we need to do something about Kimimaro."
Orochimaru's caresses paused for a moment as her words sunk in. They began again as he answered. "What did you have in mind?"
Anko was quiet; she hadn't given the whole thing much thought. She searched through her train of thought slowly, like the pace Orochimaru's hand was going as it rubbed higher up her hand.
A familiar face flashed across her and she shot up, causing Orochimaru to pull away. "School!"
"What?" Orochimaru questioned.
Anko crossed her legs and bounced up beside him. "You can't expect him to just stay in that tiny space all day, so why not send him somewhere where he can run around and actually gain a friend or two."
Orochimaru laid back, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. "That sounds sufficient; it's working well for Kabuto."
"Great!" Anko exclaimed.
"But there's a few dilemma's." Orochimaru added. "For one, schools need medical records and nonsense such as that, Kimimaro has none. Secondly, the child has quite a temper. If he gets in trouble with one of the students there, he may use his Shikotsumyku and kill someone; we wouldn't want that, would we?"
"We'll talk to him." She pressed. "Besides, I know a certain teacher-in-training who will probably do almost anything I ask that might be able to give him some backup if necessary."
Orochimaru looked at her with a sly look in his eyes. "Why are you so serious about this?"
She gave him a just as wicked look. "The kid's very possessive of you; I don't want him cutting my throat just because you're giving me your undivided attention."
Orochimaru shrugged. "I believe there's a…" his ran back over her hip. "Second reason behind it, but I'll take that one for now." He stood. "I might as well go and discuss this with him; see you soon."
Anko panicked and grabbed him. "Don't do that!"
"Why?" he asked in a suspicious tone.
"Um…" Anko thought quickly to keep from probably killing the kid and keeping him calm so that he didn't kill her. "Because…he was asleep when I went into your apartment. And… just don't go up in there and wake him up, okay?"
Orochimaru stared her down. He knew she was hiding something, but even he couldn't see through some of those walls her eyes had built up. "Fine." He agreed.
Anko slapped him on the back. "Sweet! I'll go talk to Iruka about the paperwork."
Orochimaru's possessive instincts went flying the second she mentioned that man's name. This time, he grabbed her and pinned her down.
"What the heck?" she demanded.
"If I can't go check on one of my own, you can't go anywhere either." He said, hiding his true motive and running his hands slowly under her shirt.
"Oh come on!" Anko hissed. "We just…and the sheets…just let me up will ya!"
"I will…" he whispered, running the tip of his tongue over her jaw. "After lunch."
"Eh?"
"It's well past noon, and I'm starving."
Anko froze as he began to kiss her neck in the gentlest matter he had ever done. Her stomach flipped like this was new experience to her, but her ecstasy quickly rose, and she relaxed. Hell, sex was all the food she needed.
"Yeah…after lunch…"
.,.,.,.
After walking in silence for nearly an hour, Ryik and Itachi decided they should head inside for some lunch.
"Maybe Mom's food will cheer him up." Itachi pointlessly thought.
The boys removed their shoes and stepped into the living room. Ryik was about to head for the kitchen when one of Itachi's hands shot up and got him in the gut.
"What the Hell's is you trying to-"
"Shh!" Itachi shushed violently.
"What-"
"Shut up!" Itachi hissed.
Ryik saw the urgency in his eyes and obeyed, but he was still a little steamed about the hit in the stomach.
Itachi motioned for him to follow him, which he did. They stopped at the doorway outside of the kitchen. All was silent, but Itachi knew that something was deadly wrong. There was a thick tension in the air and each time he breathed it in, he could have been sick by the wrongness that lingered in it.
Itachi peaked out into the kitchen. Relief was about to take him when he saw his mother sitting at the table with a sleeping Sasuke in her arms, but then, a large figure stepped out in front of him and blocked out the view of them.
"Well hello there." A crane masked ANBU greeted as he grabbed Ryik's and Itachi's shirt collars and dragged them into the middle of the kitchen.
Itachi kicked him in the knee and sent him bouncing back.
"Itachi!" Mikoto shouted, rising from her seat. The second ANBU, a skinny, insect masked one, forced her back into her seat.
"Keep your hands off of her!" Itachi shouted at him. He and Ryik were now in defensive positions, ready to kill anyone who tried to attack them.
"Relax," the one guarding Mikoto said. "We're not here to hurt your ma."
"We're here for him." The large one said, pointing at Ryik.
Ryik froze, cold sweat running down his back.
Itachi stepped in front of him. "You are going to leave right now, without Ryik."
The large crane laughed. "Sorry kid, orders are orders and I'm not about to get chewed out by the boss."
Itachi's eyes widened and then became angry slits. "Danzo."
The crane stepped forward, reaching for Ryik. "Come on kid."
Ryik slapped his hand away. "I ain't going nowhere!"
A slight squeal caused him and Itachi to turn to Mikoto, who was being dragged out of her seat by the insect ANBU. He brought a kunai to her neck and she gripped the sleeping child in her arms protectively.
"If you don't want your mama here to get sliced up, I suggest you shut the Hell up and come on."
Itachi stared wide-eyed at his mother and baby brother who was starting to awaken to the madness around him. He slowly turned Ryik who was in just as shocked but more angry than anything. For some reason, there were red markings surfacing his skin.
"Do you seriously want something like that living in your house?" mocked the insect ANBU.
Ryik looked down and immediately tried to conceal himself, but Itachi and Mikoto had already seen him.
"I-Itachi?" his mother questioned, looking worriedly at her son.
Itachi kept his eyes of Ryik; he seemed like the enemy all of a sudden.
"You've been harboring a monster ma'am." The crane ANBU snorted. "And you've been putting yourself in huge danger. This kid can't control what he is, and if he had snapped, he probably would have killed you all without a second's hesitation."
"Shut yo' mouth!" Ryik yelled. "You wrong, I wouldn't had hurt any of them no way! Ya'll don't know a damn thing about me so quit talking…" he looked over at little Sasuke "…up crap!"
"Whatever kid." The crane said as he reached for him again. "You're coming with us whether you want to or not."
Ryik slapped his hand away and turned to Itachi. "Uchiha give me a hand!"
Itachi stared at him and then at his mom and brother. Sasuke was playing with his mom's hair, laughing as if nothing was wrong. Itachi couldn't bear the thought of watching that laugh turn into a screaming, but he really didn't want Ryik to be taken away. He was his strength after all.
Mom
Ryik
Sasuke
Ryik
Anko
Ryik
Ryik
Ryik
Monster
Ryik
"…Take him."
Ryik's eyes widened as Itachi stepped aside to allow the ANBU's to take him.
"He's yours; just leave my mom and brother alone."
Ryik's knees were about to give out, but the large ANBU caught him and started to drag him along. He snapped out of is cloud of betrayal and fought back. "You's kidding right!" Ryik screamed as he was pulled past Itachi.
The Uchiha didn't look at him, only walked up to his mother and brother as the insect shinobi left them.
"Itachi!" Ryik screamed. He pulled himself from the ANBU's grip and tried to run to him but was grabbed by the other. They got a bruising, strong grip on both his arms and pulled him along.
"You's kidding right? You don't mean it do you! Itachi? ITACHI!"
Itachi's mother dropped to her knees and held both of her boys closely, crying softly. Itachi buried his head into her dress and tried to block out Ryik's receding screams.
"Itachi? ITACHI!"
././.,.,
"ANKO? Anko! Anko help me, I can't do this alone!"
Anko's eyes shot opened and she sat up, looking around for the source of the scream that had been calling out her name.
Orochimaru, who had been putting the rest of his clothes back on, turned to her. "What is it?"
Anko looked at him and then ran her hand through her slightly sweaty hair. "Nothing, I just…thought I heard something."
He shrugged and pulled his shirt on. "Get dressed; I want to go get that paperwork done before nightfall."
Anko stretched and laid back down. "Later, okay?"
"Anko, it's already going on two o'clock, get up."
"No." she sighed, falling back into sleep.
Orochimaru turned the half-naked woman onto her back. "You do not want me to make you."
Anko smirked. "Right, because everything you do is so threatening."
He pressed her face closely to hers. "You want to see threatening? I can show you threatening my dear girl."
She captured his lips and kissed him hard, pulling away just as he was about to respond. "Then show me. Convince me for once."
He slowly pulled her arms over her head, pinning them so that they'd stay out of the way. "I'll convince you to do what I tell you when I tell you, that way you won't end up getting hurt." Saying those words, he leant down and began harshly sucking on her neck.
She squirmed slightly, but made no real attempt to free herself. She was trying to immune herself to his pleasurable "torture", because even though he told her he was sticking around, she had her doubts that she would wake one morning and he would be gone out of her life once more. If she didn't become too attached, there would be nothing for her to yearn for later on.
She hissed lowly when Orochimaru bit down a little too far, but she didn't try to stop him yet. She relaxed and closed her eyes as his cruel marking became soft sucking.
She managed to maneuver his head so that she could catch him in a deep, hot kiss. He didn't seem to mind at all. Her arms had been released so that she could hold onto him. She circled his shoulders and tucked one leg underneath his and tried to rearrange their positions, a difficult task considering how much larger Orochimaru was compared to her.
"Not a chance." Orochimaru purred.
Anko smirked and gave it her all and managed to roll them over.
They both shrieked as they hit the floor, landing side-by-side.
Anko burst out into laughter while Orochimaru gave her a rather annoyed look as he brushed his hair out of his face. "That was not funny." He scolded like a parent pointing out a wrong their child did.
Anko placed her elbows on his stomach as she sat up. "Oh come on, where's your sense of endurance?"
He smiled and grabbed one of her arms, quickly flipping them again.
This time, Anko bumped the side of her head on her desk chair, but she was too interested in the way Orochimaru was pinning her to care about the upcoming knot. He had one knee in between her legs and had both his hands at the side of her head.
"Right here." He husked, kissing her passionately.
She smirked against his mouth and met him with one as rough as his.
He pushed her deeper into the wood under them, but she hardly noticed. That is, until the friction going on between them caused it to get super-hot.
Anko tried to arch up some, but even that didn't help the fire seize.
It just kept getting hotter and hotter.
And hotter.
And hotter.
And hotter.
././././.
Ryik looked up, blood running down from the corner of his mouth and sweat drops sliding down his temples. He tried to move his arms but they were tightly held down by the metal supports. All he was able to do was either look straight ahead or down, and he wanted to look into the eyes of the monster who had done this to him.
"What's the matter Ryik?" The elderly man asked as he saunter out of the shadows into the bright light that hovered over Ryik's head. He applied weight on his cane as he leaned into Ryik's face. "Are you not happy to be home?"
Ryik snarled at him and spat directly in his good eye.
Danzo froze for a moment before calmly wiping the saliva off of him. "No worries," he said. "You will be leaving again very soon."
Ryik's expression changed. "You letting me go?" He heard a dark chuckle from the man.
"Yes." He lifted a hand and two medical ninja ran up to Ryik, applying wires to his forehead despite his struggles.
"What the Hell? What is you doing?"
Danzo sat back a good distance to explain and watch the show. "From our previous…tests, it shows that your abilities react to intense stress and life-endangering situations. Well, Ryik Katzan, this is your final test, and then you'll be out of our hair forever."
Ryik twitched, he knew what he meant. "You crazy. If I suddenly disappear, a lot of people will find out and come knocking on yo' door."
"A lot of people? Now who in their right mind would care about someone like you?"
Ryik opened his mouth to yell at him, but found no words. Anko had crazy snake face now; he was of no use to her. And Itachi had thrown him away, as if he didn't want him anymore.
He had no family, thanks to his own stupidity. He had no one, just like before.
He lowered his head, surrendering to the loneliness again.
Danzo smirked and turned slightly to one of the medics. "Set it at full power."
The medic gasped. "But sir-"
"Am I stuttering? Full power, now."
The medics exchanged worried glances, but decided not to try Danzo's patience once more.
Ryik suddenly felt tiny stings tingling up and down his body. The stings became greater and greater until it was nothing but fiery pain that was mauling at his bones and nerves. It was quickly spreading to his organs, which would be burnt to a crisp soon enough.
.,.,.,.
"Why are you here!"
"It ain't even my fault this time!" Ryik defended against the great fire bird.
"What have I told you?" it roared.
"…I's didn't do it this time…I's don't wanna be here…"
The Phoenix was quiet for a moment, taking Ryik's small figure in. "You're about to die again, aren't you?"
Ryik looked away. "No, I don't wanna die yet… I don't wanna go through all of that again!"
A large, fire-made tail wrapped around Ryik.
"That's not my priority."
"Stop!" Ryik screamed as the fire closed in on him. "Stop stop stop…"
.,.,.,
Danzo's single eye widened as the markings on Ryik's skin became darker and larger than they had ever been.
"Lord Danzo!" One of the medics shouted. "Look at the walls!"
Danzo did so and saw that the metal was slowly starting to melt. He had pushed Ryik too far this time.
"Everyone out!" he ordered.
The medics in the room scrambled out, but the two ANBU from before stuck around to loyally await orders.
"What do you want to be done sir?"
Danzo continued to stare at the boy who was beginning to break free of his restraints. He looked down to see that the floor was about to cave in.
"When the building crashes down, get Ryik, if he survives. You know where to take him."
The ANBU nodded and disappeared, Danzo followed shortly.
.,.,.,.,
"Let me through!" The Third Hokage demanded; one would think that he was a twenty year old by the way he was trying to push past those two medical ninjas.
"But sir!" one protested urgently. "The place is falling to the ground; you'll die if you go in there!"
Hiruzen brushed the young medic off and stormed in. "The ANBU in this building attacked a family in the Uchiha compound and stole a child from there! I'm going to get to the bottom of this and I'm going to let a few collapsing tiles stop me."
As he made his way through the shaky building, the air and light started to become weaker, but he didn't let that slow him down. He was downright positive that Danzo had something to do with this, and he was going to give that raspy old goat a piece of his mind even if he had to get crushed to give it.
Within a moment, he found the interrogation room where Danzo was supposed to spend most of his time at. "Danzo!" Hiruzen called out, coughing slightly as more dust met him. "Danzo you old bat, come out here!"
Someone coughed, and Hiruzen had to squint to see the blurry figure crouching in the corner of the room.
"Danzo?" Hiruzen questioned. He edged closer to it until he saw the figure of a child.
"What?" he examined. He bent down to the child's level and tried to reach out to him. "Are you all right" he asked.
He child hugged himself tighter as a response.
"You need to get out of here," the third advised, holding out his hand. "Come with me, I'll show you the way."
The child remained crunched up, but Hiruzen did not relent. Finally, the child looked his way and stared at the hand he was offering.
Hiruzen smiled when the small, brown hand reached out for it. He gasped however when the grip of it became uncomfortably tight as he squeezed it.
The child pulled him forward until Hiruzen could smell the dirt and blood off of him.
"Please…help me…"
Hiruzen felt fire eating at his skin and tried desperately to pull away but did not succeed.
The fire became too wild, and the child smirked with his light brown eyes as it spread out.
.,.,.,.,
Anko pulled away from Orochimaru because she was beyond certain that the floor under her was vibrating. Her eyes squinted and she was actually able to see her hand tremble along with the little earthquake.
She and Orochimaru looked around as the furniture began to shake violently and move out of place.
Orochimaru grabbed her and forced her under her desk as the shaking increased.
"What are you-"
Orochimaru used his body as shield to keep her from trying to get out. "If this is an earthquake, you need to be somewhere where you won't get your head busted in." But just as he finished those words, everything became calm again.
They stood and examined the room; there was little if any damage. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Anko headed to the window.
"Damn." She muttered because she couldn't see a damn thing thanks to Orochimaru's apartment.
She brushed past Orochimaru and got some clean clothes out of her closet. After dressing under his gaze, she gave him a look and said, "Stay put."
She raced out of her house and climbed the roof. The air was musty with the smell of smoke and some kind of other scent that she couldn't make out. All she had to do was look in the direction of the village and she could see the source of the smell.
There was a large fire in the distance, with a mass of smoke so thick; one wouldn't be able to make the village that was supposed to be behind it.
Anko gasped and used her hand to block out some of the smoke that was reaching her nose.
Orochimaru, disobeying Anko's simple order, appeared beside her and looked out into the destruction as well. He didn't know whether to laugh or comfort Anko, who was in silent shock.
"Father!"
Anko and Orochimaru shot back to see Kimimaro trying to climb the roof. He made it and ran up to them. "The landlord just stopped by and said that there was an explosion in the middle of the city. There is an evacuation of a twenty mile radius; he said we should get going."
Anko spoke up. "Did he say what caused the explosion or where it was at exactly?"
Kimimaro bit his lip before speaking, still a little angry at her. "All he said was that the ANBU center had burst into flames and that the smoke and flames were unmanageable."
"ANBU center?" Orochimaru glanced over at Anko but she wasn't there. He shot around and saw that she was already jumping rooftops to the disaster.
"Anko!" Orochimaru called after her. "Don't be an idiot!"
But Anko didn't listen to him and kept running.
Orochimaru swore up and down he was going to rip her head off when she got back. He turned to Kimimaro and was a bit surprised to see a pleased smirk on his thin lips.
"Kimimaro?"
The boy's expression turned innocent almost instantly. "Yes sir?"
"I want you to go to the evacuation center with the land lord; I'm going to keep an eye on Anko." He saw the hate in Kimimaro's eyes, but pretended not to. Forming a few hand seals, he transformed into his Urami Choro disguise. "I'll be back, I promise."
Kimimaro watched him run off in Anko's direction. Hate and bitterness was eating at was used to be respect and love.
"Anko…" he prayed. "Please…die out there. I need you to die!"
.,.,.,.,.,.,
Anko saw Orochimaru come up alongside her, but they did not say anything to each other; they were both too damn stubborn.
They had to slow down for the air around them was getting thicker with dirt and smoke. Finally they had to stop all together because they couldn't breathe in without ingesting a mouthful of dust.
"Where are we?" Orochimaru yelled over the sound of ruble crashing.
"I'm pretty sure that we're right in front of the ANBU center." She answered, trying to keep a good visual of him while looking around.
"Pretty sure?" Orochimaru asked astonished.
"Orochimaru, not now!" Anko scolded. She rubbed her eyes to wipe the water away. "It's becoming so dense out here! Maybe if we get to higher ground-"
Her eyes widened and she spun around, sending a kunai out of her sleeve and to the direction of the threatening presence.
Orochimaru, who was astonished that she had that presence before he did, followed her lead and armed his self.
They could barely see the figure coming through the thick dust, but they heard its footsteps scrap against the gravel as it came closer.
Anko squinted at the person who was now face to face with her. She gasped slight as the kunai that she had thrown was pointed at her by a small arm, now slick with blood.
"Itachi?" she exclaimed.
The person stepped closer, holding his arm that had been cut. It was indeed Itachi Uchiha.
"Jesus kid, don't sneak up on people like that." She scowled, taking her kunai back. From the corner of her eye, she could see Orochimaru coil back even though Itachi hadn't seemed to notice him yet.
"This is all my fault." Itachi whispered.
"What?"
Itachi fell to his knees, his hands digging into the dirty ground. "I let them take Ryik! If I had protected him, this wouldn't have happened!"
Anko bent to his level, her heart pounding even more. "Ryik? You mean to tell me that Ryik…"
"I don't know." Itachi said. "But I can't think of anything else that could have done it. The ANBU…they've been doing things to him…he wouldn't tell me what, but he's been acting different…you know, more different than Ryik already is."
Anko flinched. She remembered the first day she saw the red markings eat at his skin and the amazing fire abilities he had demonstrated.
"That boy... is the human host of the Fire Phoenix. He is very dangerous."
Anko stood up and looked back to where the ANBU center was supposed to be standing. The smoke was clearing up now and she could see an outline of the burning building where her comrade just may be.
"Oro…Urami, come with me I'm going to need your-" She turned to see that Orochimaru had completely disappeared. Anko muttered a few curses and something about maiming him later and turned back to Itachi. "Go home; I'm going to find Ryik."
Itachi grabbed her arm and pulled her. "No! You'll disappear too!"
Anko escaped from his grip gently. "He needs me Itachi, he needs both of us."
Itachi looked down and thought about what she was saying. "Then…let me go with you."
"Itachi…" Anko sighed.
"No!" Itachi defended. "I have Sharingan, I can find his chakra and we'll be able to find him faster."
Anko rubbed her eyes and thought about throwing dirt in his face before he could run after her.
"All right." She said. "But if I say get out, you run like Hell, got me."
He nodded, his features turning solemn again.
They heard a crash; they were running out of time.
"Let's go!" Anko yelled.
They covered their faces and ran to the building. Anko summoned a large snake for them to hide in and get them safely through the most dangerous parts of the building. Meanwhile, Itachi was using his Sharingan to track out any chakras. The snake they were in was hissing in pain, but it kept going.
"Stop!" Itachi yelled. "I've found someone."
Anko smiled and released them from the reptile; it disappeared instantly.
The person was buried under thick, black boards that were once part of the floor above them. He seemed to be breathing, but from the smell of cooking flesh, he had been burnt badly.
"Help me get these boards off of him!" Anko instructed.
They pushed the chard wood off the man quickly and were shocked to see who it really was.
"Lord Hokage!" Anko exclaimed.
Hiruzen's midsection was burnt up very badly, and it appeared that his chest may have been crushed to little repair.
Anko and Itachi lifted him gently. Anko used her jacket to wrap around his chest and put a stop to the bleeding. She fumbled with the lapels of her coat to make the self-made tourniquet as tight as possible. If may have been easier if she had a little help.
"Itachi," Anko scowled at the boy who was spacing off. "A little assistance would be freaking awesome."
But he didn't seem to hear her. He was staring at something in the far corner of the flaming room.
"Itachi!" Anko roared. "This man is bleeding to death, I could really use your help!"
Itachi looked back at her with frightened eyes and pointed to the corner that he had been staring at.
Anko had to squint because the fire was starting to die out some causing the room to become dimmer. However, she was able to make out dirty, individual spikes hovering above the blocks of woods that hid him.
"Ryik!" Anko cried. She looked back at Itachi but a solemn, shameful look adorned his face instead. He couldn't face Ryik, not after what he did to him.
Anko shook her head and shifted the Hokage's weight to him. "Take him out of here and get him to the hospital."
Itachi stared at her with glassy eyes. He huffed and rearranged the Hokage so that his upper body was on his back and his feet drug on the floor. "Be careful." He whispered before dodging into the fires.
Anko walked slowly to the slouched figure. She could see the dim markings on his body that showed that he was still empowered.
"Hey," she whispered. She watched Ryik's legs curl up to his chest. "Ryik, it's me."
Ryik didn't move. Anko bent to his level and reached out for him. "We need to get you out of here."
Ryik slapped her hand away with so much force that it stung. He looked at her, his face almost black with soot. "Don't you get it!" he yelled at her. "I's supposed to die, I want to die!"
Anko noticed that the building was starting to shake again and tried to calm him. "Why?"
He shook his head, tears creating tiny streets on his dirt face. "My dad…he always said I's was a monster, that I didn't deserve to live. I didn't want to believe him, because I thought…" a sad smile crossed over his face. "I's thought that Mommy would come back and tell me different." His body went weak and he just slumped against the wall. "It took me years before I realized that she couldn't come back because there's no escape from Heaven. But that doesn't stop me from wanting her." he stared at Anko, still smiling foolishly. "I's guess that's why I like you so much Anko-girl…"
Anko froze at the insanity that filled his eyes.
"Mommy."
She twitched, fearful and for some reason irritated at his behavior. It wasn't until he reached out for her that she snapped and slapped him across the face.
Ryik's head hit the wall and he stopped moving.
"Don't you get it?" Anko screamed. "I'm not your mama kid, I can't be! How the Hell can I be a parent if I can't be a girlfriend for a man I let sleep in my bed every night huh?"
Ryik slowly looked back at her, his eyes angry but his expression soft.
Anko covered her eyes. She hated Orochimaru again. She hated him for making her realize what dangerous emotions really existed inside her. She swore she'd fight tooth and nail to keep him, but every time she watched him sleep or whenever he stared at her, she felt the suffocating wave of doubt hit her.
Orochimaru would never belong to her, and that was why she could never belong to Ryik.
Anko sighed and looked at Ryik again. "I'm sorry kiddo but I can't be your mom." She saw it, the same hurt that was in Kimimaro's eyes when she told him of Orochimaru's whereabouts. Kids really had a way of putting you on a guilt trip.
"Come on." She said, holding out a hand for him to grab on to. "This place is seconds away from hitting the dirt, and I don't want to go down with it."
Ryik didn't move, only stared at the hand she offered to save his life with.
"Ryik come on." Anko ordered irritated. Again, he did not respond, and Anko lost patience and grabbed his wrist. "Now brat!"
Ryik squeezed Anko's hand and a wave of fire raced up her arm and set her arm a blaze.
.,.,.,
Itachi was maybe a few several feet from the exit when he heard an ear piercing scream. The roof above him shuddered as well, and he stopped and looked back. Nothing was behind him but black smoke and flames.
"Anko?" he called into the emptiness.
The building made a creaking noise as a response, but it wasn't the one he was looking for.
He shifted the Hokage's weight a little more and turned to follow the source of the noise.
"No…"
"Lord Hokage?"
"Don't…go back…in there…"
Itachi turned back to the exit. "I'm going to take you outside, but I'm coming back in for Anko. Hang on." He dashed forward, trying to save as much time as he could. He jumped over large pieces of room that had fallen around, threatening to end him and the Hokage, but the Uchiha pushed forward.
Unfortunately however, he didn't see the gap in the floor that caused him to fall face first into the tarnished floor.
The old man beside him groaned as he rolled off of Itachi's back, and Itachi scurried to recover him. He had him halfway on his shoulders when a louder groan caused him to look behind him.
He had zero reaction time as a large section on the roof fell towards him, the fire on it red as the swirls in his own eyes.
./././.
"Damn you…RYIK!" Anko screamed at the top of her lungs as she slapped Ryik to get him to release her. She scrambled back and dropped into the crackling cinders, chocking as she sucked in smog to recover from her scream. Her hand was a scorched piece of meat, covered in plump heat boils and sending waves of pain through her nerves.
"Orochimaru…" she groaned. She wasn't given a response, as if he ever gave her one. "Sensei!" she screamed as loud as her failing lungs would allow. She heard a crash directly behind her and looked up to see that the roof was caving in a lot faster now.
She swallowed the dirt and her throat and slowly sat up. Ryik appeared to be out cold or asleep at least. She glared at him, hating him for what he did and that she still wanted to save him. She cursed him, Orochimaru, and everyone else she could think of as she tore the bottom part of her tank top and used it to bandage her hand.
Hissing, she used her good hand to position Ryik on her back and dashed away to find the entrance she had come through.
"Crap crap crap!" Anko hissed as pain seared though her and dulled out her sense of direction. She had no idea where she was and cold barely see what was in front of her. Her air supply was even more limited now and she felt like she was going to be sick from all the smoke she had inhaled.
"Hey!" Anko screamed out into the fire. "Is anyone out there? Can anybody here me!"
She screamed at the silence and chose a random direction to run off in. She stumbled over boards and yelped at spewing flames that hit her as she ran faster and faster.
Out of nowhere, the floor gave way and Anko and Ryik fell through the floor and landed on their stomachs.
Anko shot up and spat out the ashes that got caught in her mouth. All she could taste was dirt now and she struggled to get the soot out of her eyes and nose. She quickly took in long gulps of air and felt for Ryik. Her fingers poked something soft and she clutched it, thankful that it was Ryik's filthy locks.
She tried to pick him up but was brought back to her knees by the ache in her spine. She couldn't stand up, could barely move at that.
Anko finally knew what hopelessness felt like now. If she didn't die from suffocation first, the fire would gladly eat her alive.
She heard a loud crack and new that the rest of the roof was going to fall any second now.
She couldn't move, but she could die. It was probably the only thing she could do right.
"Orochimaru…Sensei…man I hate you…but thank you. Thank you for giving me this last month to reconnect with you, to feel you, to…love you? Yeah…to love you.
Iruka, Itachi, Jiraiya, Lord Hokage…everyone else. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lied to all of you, and I understand if you hate me, and I love you guys…well, sort of.
Anko used her last moment to cover Ryik's unconscious body as the ceiling crashed in on them.
./././.
The Next Morning
Jiraiya awoke with a jerk. He sat up and looked around his hotel room. The room was an orange color due to the late sun retreating from another day, giving off a gloomy atmosphere which may have been a secondary source to his nightmare.
He sighed and rubbed his greasy face, looking down at the papers, pens, and written pages of a novel he was working on. He picked up the pages and began to organize them, looking over the material he was in the process of writing.
A knock on the door caused him to look up. "Come in." he answered.
The door opened and the receptionist he recognized from downstairs entered with a few pieces of paper. "Mail Mr. Jiraiya." She said tiredly. The girl was about in her early twenties, and had long wavy blond hair and a round face of freckles. She wasn't really Jiraiya's type, but she was polite and sometime cut out a few things in bill so that he'd be able to afford to stick around a little longer.
He thanked her and took his papers, flipping through the envelopes. He groaned at the rent money and hospital bills he owed from his "research" incident from a few days ago. He tossed them aside and stopped at an envelope with a Konohagakure stamp on it. His entire face lit up when he saw that it was addressed from Anko.
"Well well," he sang as he ripped the envelope and released its thick paper. "Let's see what my main girl's got to say…"
Dear "The Gallant Jiraiya",
Luckily for you, I am staying out of trouble…to an extent at least…;)
Things are going pretty well here in the Hell-hole; I've had old man Hokage off my back, and I've made a few…acquaintances during my birthday. Yes, I actually celebrated it and had a party; I really wished you had been there to pump it up. I can't believe how many people came! Well, I didn't really invite them, neither did I know they were coming. Ryik Katzan and Itachi Uchiha pulled a stunt on me that got them out here. It was…sweet. And strange, very strange.
Speaking of strange, I guess you can say I've met…a guy. I wouldn't say we're really in a relationship, but it really feels that way. Sadly though, I don't think he feels the same. I know he wants to be with me, but…he has one Hell of a way of showing it. He doesn't really know how to be in a relationship, but since I don't either, I guess that's what's keeping us together. I have my doubts though.
Anyway, enough with this sad shit! You need to get your ass back here as soon as possible; we have too much to catch up on.
Yours, Anko
P.S. You might want to forget the "hooking up with an almost legal adult thing", my guy is very possessive.
Jiraiya leaned into the couch as he burst out into laughter. "So…Anko Mitarashi had actually found herself a little boyfriend? My God, she's grown up so fast."
He stared at the letter once more before placing it down to search for some clean paper. He wanted to write her back immediately and learn every single detail about this guy. If she was skeptical, he'd just pay her a visit, but he had to know what kind of guy had hooked up with his main girl.
Just as he was about to pick up his pen, his eyes fell upon a yellow piece of paper that had come with the rest of his mail.
His heart raced a little. A yellow paper meant that there was a huge emergency of some sort at hand.
Breathing in deeply he picked it up and prayed that there was just some kind of small disaster instead of something huge like an enemy attack.
He slowly scanned over the words, but didn't even have to get halfway through the telegram before he was racing out the door.
Earthquake in Konoha; several injured, many still missing. Blood and other assistances are greatly needed. The following have been pronounced critically injured and need blood transfusions or deceased and need claiming:
Sokkan Hanbarnu [critically injured, B]
Itachi Uchiha [critically injured, AB-]
Hiruzen Sarutobi [critically injured, A]
Rougi Makimaru [deceased]
Hairo Sukmotar [deceased]
Anko Mitarashi [deceased]
Ryik Katzan [critically injured, O]
/
I wrote this chapter in memory of the Japanese Tsunami/Earthquake victims. My prayers are with you and your families every night. May God be with you all.