Okay, let me guess...you probably thought that I was dead or something right?
Haha, tough luck! I climbed out from the depths of hell and I'm as healthy as ever!
...or as healthy as someone who screwed up her major exams can be... anyways, I am allowed use of the computer! YAY.

That means that I have to catch up with my oh-so-late updating I guess...
And of course, needless to say, I am very sorry with this looonnng delay... T.T

Thanks to those who reviewed!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any of its characters.

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Her actions had no explanations,
her feelings had no reasons,
why would she feel
or even act,
for someone so cold,
for a hated man?

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Now, Anko is a ninja. And since she is a Jounin, she is an intelligent ninja.

But it seemed that at that very moment, her intelligence decide to take a vacation. Because intelligent ninjas do not stare at Orochimaru when they find out that their disguise got busted. And even if they do, they most certainly would not do that in the middle of a battle. That was just ridiculous, simply un-ninja like.

Still, Anko could not help but stare at him, her eyes widening with realization by the seconds. Of course, they could also be widening with fear, as the images of what Orochimaru would do to her flooding her mind. Getting killed by Winter suddenly became very tempting.

"Anko..move!"

Orochimaru's voice snapped Anko out of her thoughts. Oh. Right. The battle. Leaping away from Winter's blade, Anko swiped out a kunai concealed in her sleeve before charging at her. Winter frowned as she was forced to retreat, backing away at rapid pace with Anko hot on her heels.

Winter felt irritated. No, actually, irritation was an understatement. She was incensed. So close, she had been so close to attaining her revenge. And this woman decided to mess it all up. Giving a shout of frustration, Winter ran at Anko, locking their weapons together in a deadly clash. Metal scraped against metal, the screeching sound only intensified as they pushed against each other. It was a battle of raw strength.

Her heels dug into the ground, as Anko slowly forced her back. It was obvious who won in this small battle. Winter's eyes narrowed as her breath came out short and shallow. No, she couldn't die here. Her revenge, her revenge have yet to be fulfilled! She looked over at where she knew her teammates were engaging the medic. She needed help. Hei had fallen, and Kadaj wasn't here, but there was still Kyo. Why was he taking so long? How much time would it take to kill a medic that is only good for healing?

Anko watched in grim satisfaction when she saw the fear in Winter's eyes when she found out that she was alone. They had gravely underestimated Kabuto, and Kyo had fallen too. As her brown eyes met blue ones, she can't help but feel sorry for Winter. She doesn't deserve death.

"Go. Run away. Your team have fallen, you are no match against us. Leave while you still can." Anko whispered urgently to Winter. Orochimaru was not known for his leniency. However, before Winter could react, a kunai flew past Anko, and embed itself into her opponent's heart with deadly accuracy. Before Winter's body even hit the ground, her eyes had already became dull and lifeless.

Anko spun around, ready to tell Kabuto off for do something unnecessary, but what she was unprepared to face was Orochimaru dusting his hands off, as he straightened his back, standing up. His trademark smirk graced his features as he looked at Anko.

"This is the first time in a long while since we really acknowledge each other, isn't it, Anko?"

"Wha..but- you! You knew it was me!"

"A brilliant deduction Anko, but I believe I taught you more that stating the obvious."

Anko stared. Why did she have the nagging feeling that Orochimaru was suppressing the urge to roll his eyes while he made that comment?

"But...but...aren't you supposed to be, like, really sick?" Anko spluttered. This can't be real. He had to be a shadow clone at the very most.

"Ah, that's what you think. I developed and use a drug that can put one into conditions rather similar to that of most illness. As you can see, the effects have just wore off."

Anko face turned pale. The gods must be making fun of her. This have got to be a nasty joke.
But it wasn't, and that was what scared her the most. She willed herself to do something. Anything would suffice. She couldn't just allow herself to stand there idly.

Suddenly, an arm hooked around Anko's neck, holding a kunai, while another hand wielded a katana.

"Don't move, or she dies."

Just by hearing the voice, she knew who its owner was.

"Kadaj." Orochimaru hissed, anger suddenly radiating off him in waves as he brandished Kusanagi. "How nice of you to drop in on us. This really saves me the trouble of sending my people to kill you."

Orochimaru slowly circled Kadaj, like a predator waiting for the prey. Kadaj eyes switched back and forth, between Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"I SAID DON'T MOVE! OR SHE DIES! " he roared, as the kunai dug a little into Anko's neck, drawing a thin line of blood. Orochimaru stopped pacing, as he narrowed his eyes at Kadaj.

Anko could not stop herself. She found this situation exceedingly funny and hilarious. A chuckle escaped her lips, which evolved into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Kadaj snarled, unable to see a reason for laughter.

"You are threatening him with my life? Don't even bother! It does not matter to him if I live or die, he cares only for himself!" Anko's eyes met Orochimaru's golden ones. "He is Orochimaru afterall."

That's right, there is no way that bastard would do anything that won't benefit him.

"Let her go." Orochimaru's voice was soft, but the danger in it rang clearly to everybody. He wasn't in a good mood.

"Drop your sword." Kadaj returned, as he nodded at Kusanagi.

The moment she saw the pale hand release Kusanagi, the sword falling onto the ground, she felt something come over her. As Kadaj rushed forwards, ready to strike Orochimaru, she lunged, standing between them both, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards. Kadaj's eyes widened in shock, as grasped for Anko, his hands snagging a chain around her neck and snapping it.

At that very moment, Orochimaru pulled Anko to him, as Kabuto attacked Kadaj. A strike to the heart was all it took.

Anko fell to the ground. Panting heavily, she sat up. Everything happened so fast, too fast, she didn't know what happened. More importantly, why did she do it?

Someone stopped beside her, and she looked up to meet amused golden eyes.

"Here, you dropped this," he said nonchalantly, dropping her chain and locket into her palms. "It's important to you right?"

She shouldn't have felt anything. She should have already screamed her head off and ran away. In fact, his touch alone should have had her worried on the amount of bathing lotion she would need to clean his touch off her.

But what she felt was a small, small small tiny pin-prick size glow of warmth within her. Which was gone as quick as it came, when she heard his next sentence.

"You are returning to Sound with me."

"WHAT THE HELL?"

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How was that? I hope my writing style didn't change much after I was gone for so long. Once again, my apologies for the long wait.
Please tell me about your thoughts for this chapter anyways. ^_^