Chapter 53

"I'm going to make a stop that's out of our way," Sakura added afterwards, remembering that Sasuke was probably still wet, and to spare him the horror of having to wear one of those hospital gowns, she would go pick up a dry set of clothes for him.

He nodded in reply and tossed her coat to her, where it caught her in the face. Not wanting to waste time arguing with him, she shrugged it on quickly.

"After you," Kanaye said, striking a mock-gentlemanly pose and opening the door.

Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbing her umbrella, she headed back out into the rain.

Sasuke listened to Sakura's receding footfalls until they faded away amid the pelting of the falling rain. The woman, Anko, paused for a moment longer as well, before coming and sitting down on Sasuke's right hand side; he said nothing.

"So, you're Uchiha Sasuke," Anko said happily and by the sound of her voice, she was facing forwards, speaking into the rain.

He nodded by did not say anything in return, his mind toying with the information that he had heard about Sakura becoming a chuunin.

"I don't know if you remember, but I'm Anko," the woman told him conversationally, "I was the one who oversaw the second part of the chuunin exam, in the Forest of Death."

"I remember," he said after a moment, recalling the sprightly young woman who introduced the rules of the exam to them. If his memory served correctly, she had had brown eyes and dark black hair that had a violet sheen when in the light. "Sakura passed the chuunin exam, then did she?"

"Yep, and what a spectacular performance it was—she should seriously consider going jounin, but she doesn't want to leave the hospital right now," he heard Anko say in dismay, "Too bad, we could really use someone like her on the field."

"Hn."

"Anyways, I came all the way out here because I figure I owe you an apology, because I'm the person who is somewhat responsible for getting you that curse mark on your neck," Sasuke noted that she sounded regretful.

"In what way were you responsible?" he asked suspiciously, his nearly healed eyes narrowing under the damp bandage.

"I used to be Orochimaru's student, and on that day, three and a half years ago, I should have realized it was him the moment that Rain Ninja returned my kunai," Anko replied, sounding grim, "If I had realized it then, perhaps you would have been spared all the trouble and pain you have been through."

"Student," Sasuke echoed, his tone flat, but his response was a question within a statement.

"Yeah…when I became a genin, I was put into a group with Orochimaru as our sensei. He was very different from anyone I had ever known, and powerful too. I admired him, looked up to him even," Anko stated bitterly, "I wanted to be just like him… But then he started with his experimentations, and I grew concerned. Even though he told me that he had permission to perform such experiments, I shouldn't have believed him like the fool I was. I trusted him."

Her voice died off quietly, and she was quiet for a while, Sasuke merely faced out into the rain, listening to it hit the ground with the splattering noise it emitted. He had no idea where this woman was going with this, or why she was even talking to him.

"Come here," she said suddenly, and Sasuke felt her grab his hand.

She took it and roughly laid it on her neck, where she held it in place. He frowned for a moment feeling her cool skin against his palm with confusion. Her skin was cold from the air, but then he felt it: a light pulsing of heat under his fingertips.

"Feel that?" she asked him, and he nodded mutely in reply. She let him drop his hand away and he rested it on his knee, "That's my curse mark."

Sasuke instinctively reached up and rested his hand on his own mark, the patch of skin warm, but not pulsing with life. He frowned slightly as he realized that this—Anko—her curse mark was still active.

"I think I was one of the first people he placed the mark on… I can't remember distinctly, but I think I was the only one of ten people, who had received the mark, that survived," she said with spite, venom dripping from her voice, "And he didn't tell me what he was going to do. I just remember collapsing on the floor in pain, lying for hours convulsing—I wanted to die, I wanted to know why this was happening, I wanted to know why Orochimaru was treating me like this. None of it made sense."

Sasuke recalled the time that he received his curse mark. The pain was unbelievable, and he could barely recall anything that was going on around him. He vaguely remembered Sakura…she had put her arms around him and held him close. He must have lost consciousness for he couldn't remember anything else after that…not until he sensed danger. The power had been pulsing over him, slowly drawing him to consciousness, and when he woke, he saw that Sakura had been beaten and bruised, lying collapsed on the ground. Not knowing why, and still not knowing even now, he had been absolutely enraged by her appearance. Who had done this to her? Who had hurt her? He had failed to protect her, and now he was going to make the attacker pay tenfold for what they had done to her.

"After I recovered, I was broken. The person I trusted most had betrayed me—I didn't know him like I thought I did," Anko said after a long silence, breaking into Sasuke's distant thoughts, "And when I began to show signs of uncertainty towards him, he had parts of my memory wiped and dumped me alone in the forest, alone and confused. It took ten years for me to remember what had happened during the time I helped him with the experiments…and sometimes I'm not sure if I'm glad I got them back."

"Are you saying it will be ten years before I am able to recall what was taken from my memory?" Sasuke asked her, turning his head sharply towards her.

"You may never get them back—I got mine back by chance when I was sent on a mission to the hideout of Orochimaru's lab," Anko said quietly, "And other than the fact that I had been found near the area, it was unknown that Orochimaru had had anything to do with that place."

"Why are you telling me these things?" Sasuke asked after a moment.

"Because I know that you left this village to seek power from him," Anko replied, "It was almost inevitable—the mark draws you to him if you use it. But I want you to know that you have no idea how lucky you are to be rid of that mark. The power that it had is not worth it—I lost almost everything because of Orochimaru, so don't you go losing the things that are close to you too."

Sakura's face drifted across Sasuke's subconscious as Anko spoke, but his conscious mind was pondering something else.

"Yet your curse mark is active," Sasuke pointed out, his voice not entirely an accusation, "Could you not get the Hokage to bind yours?"

Anko's voice was sad as she gave her reply, "It is my punishment for my foolishness. I will let this mark haunt me until the day I die."

Sasuke said nothing to this, as he thought of his own foolishness. He had intended to use the mark only once more, but that in itself was foolish, and it was probably for the better that he had gotten his curse sealed. But regardless, if anyone should have been burdened with the punishment of bearing the curse mark for the rest of their life, it should be have been him. He should have been the one resisting its pull and wicked whispers—tempting him to use it, and suffering because of it.

"Hard is the life of those who are cursed," Anko said solemnly from his right.

"Aa," he replied quietly, the first time he put emotion into a one-syllable answer.

It was a hard life indeed.

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