Naruto: Fourth Hokage

"I don't know why I'm going to tell you this," Anko started, "But for some reason I believe I can trust you. This has never been the easiest thing for me to do, so please bear with me."

Naruto just nodded signaling her that it was all right, so she continued, "It started when I was nine, I had just graduated from the academy. At the time I was regarded to be some kind of prodigy, I had the highest grades and graduated as the number one rookie of the year like you. I was the first kunoichi to get that since your mother Tsunade-sama graduated a few decade's prior. It was decided that I would become the apprentice of the Snake-Sannin Orochimaru. It's not often that you get to be personally taught by a Sannin, so I was overjoyed, I couldn't have been any happier…"

She stopped to gather her thoughts before she wiped her eyes of the tears that had started to build up.

"During those days Orochimaru was a pretty good guy, though a little creepy, at least that's what I thought at the time. He taught me many things as though I was his own daughter. Some of his lessons though were a bit aggressive or brutal but he told me that the enemy wouldn't give a second thought if they could do it to me so I never thought about it. When I saw the people that Orochimaru started to experiment on, he told me that they were all missing-nins or enemies of our village and not to be worried because they were the bad guys. Once more I by no means questioned him or his methods, but now that I think about it I probably wouldn't have cared regardless. I admired and looked up to him, and as time went on I even started to love him as though he was my own father.

"It went on like that for quite a while, and when the Yondaime was chosen and Orochimaru wasn't picked, he took me and left Konoha and went to one of his bases on an island where he continued his experiments, and again I didn't think much of it; he was a Sannin and he had free travel rights and me being his apprentice allowed me to journey with him wherever he went. Therefore no one even gave a second glance after we left. I had no idea that he chose to become a missing-nin and by me going with him would in effect make me one also. It was a couple weeks later when I found out where his 'missing-nins' for his experiments were coming from; that fucking Bastard was kidnapping people from Konoha and other villages, even innocent children. He was doing detestable experiments that mutated them; a majority of them never even survived the excruciating pain.

"I didn't know what to think when I found out about it; I loved him as father, I just couldn't grasp why he would do something so wicked. Later I learned about Kyuubi's attack and Yondaime's sacrifice and the lost of his wife and unborn son during the attack. Orochimaru actually laughed and said that it served Yondaime and Konoha right and that he was going complete what he started and destroy Konoha. I was in denial and I didn't want to believe all that was happening and that was also when I learned that we had become missing-nins. That was when I had finally managed to ask him why he did it, why did he left. But he wouldn't answer my questions and he'd just go about with what he was doing. I didn't understand it, I struggled and struggled to get him to stop and return with me to Konoha. I actually begged the bastard to return back and that they would forgive him, I…I told him that I loved him as though he was my father and that I wanted him to come back with me…"

At this point Naruto saw that Anko was already crying from all the painful memories she was remembering in detail. The blonde remained quiet as he allowed her to continue uninterrupted. He saw that it was a very painful story for her to recall and tell to him.

"I thought that he could be persuaded and that I could actually change his mind. But he just looked me in the eye and called me a foolish apprentice. He asked me if I would come with him and leave. I couldn't believe what the person I respected and admired so much was doing. He asked me one more time if I wanted to come with him or not, but I remained silent. Part of me wanted to go with him…but I knew that what he was doing was wrong. He called me a foolish apprentice again and left me there in the lab. I just brought my hangs to my face and cried for what felt like hours, then Orochimaru returned and stood in front of me and said that if I won't come with him, then he'll leave me a going away present, and that I may come of use to him in the future should I require it, if I survive. At that he stretched his neck out and bit me on the left side of my neck and the curse seal appeared. It was the most excruciating experience of my life. I lost consciousness after that and when I regained consciousness, I found myself back in Konoha being interrogated for treason in connection with Orochimaru…"

Naruto saw how Anko was releasing all of her pent up emotions that she buried so deeply within her being. It saddened Naruto to see how people are treated and thrown away like trash; the one that she loved and admired, betrayed and abandoned her. He knew that what Anko suffered was a very painful experience, but he sensed that there was much more to her story and so he asked softly, "So what happened after that?"

"…They would question me but, I would just remained silent and never spoke or lifted my head up to look at anyone. I felt empty and numb. I just kept replaying what happened to me repeatedly that I was completely oblivious of my surroundings. Several days passed like that I suppose before Sandaime decided to talk to me. He saw my situation and didn't hate me for it; he knew that I didn't understand what happened until it was too late. He helped me get everything cleared up and allowed me to become a kunoichi of Konoha again though I was still under probation for some time but Sandaime trusted me and even placed a seal over the one Orochimaru gave me to keep it from acting up.

"The villagers however were another story entirely. Everywhere I went I was called 'Snake-whore,' 'Serpent' or 'Traitor'; they figured that since I was Orochimaru's apprentice that I would become just like him. No ninja would work with me, and I didn't have any friends. Parents pulled their children away from me as though I was a venomous viper seeking to poison and kill them. Every night I would just cry myself to sleep and when I did fall asleep I would have nightmares of all of Orochimaru's experiments I witnessed. I couldn't rest not even when sleeping for fear of either Orochimaru or the villagers attacking my house. So I resorted to drinking in hopes to just drink away my pain and sorrow. The whole flirty blood thirsty persona kept people from getting too close, just how I wanted it. It worked well for a while, I didn't have nightmares anymore and I didn't have to worry about anyone getting too close.

"I would do solo missions whenever possible and when not on missions I was drinking myself into a drunken stupor. Eventually though the curse seal started acting up, and the pain from the seal became continuous until Sandaime used another seal that depended on my will power to work. I started having nightmares again and I was always trying to resist the mental attack by Orochimaru trying to get me to surrender to the seal. I abhorred it. I even contemplated suicide but I was never able to bring myself to do it. So I resorted to dangerous missions that had low survival rates, and even that didn't work. I was at the end of my mind and was being driven to madness.

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