Note: the italics aside from the first part are visions that Anko has while unconscious.

Anko's vision became red as her fury reached its boiling point. She did not even know what she was doing as she attacked her former teacher with all of her might.

And then her world went black.

"Now, let's end this, Sensei." She pulled a kunai from her pack, holding it in front of her. "I've been waiting for this moment my entire life." She sprung at him, eyes wild. "Now you die!"

Anko's vision became red as her fury reached its boiling point. She did not even know what she was doing as she attacked her former teacher with all of her might.

And then her world went black.

OOO

Anko was crying as she stared at the names of her parents on the Memorial Stone. They had been dead for only a week, their funeral only six days ago.

"Why are you crying, my dear?" her Sensei asked as he approached her from behind.

She did not answer and continued staring at the stone. Orochimaru sat beside her, rubbing her back gently. "You parents died honorable deaths, and you should be proud. They wouldn't want you to just sit here mourning their deaths." He stood, bringing her to her feet. "It's time to train."

OOO

Anko successfully performed the Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique and looked at her Sensei with glee.

"I did it!" she squealed.

"You've certainly improved, my dear," Orochimaru told the young girl. "I feel it's time I show you what I've been working on. I think you're going to like it."

OOO

"Sensei, what are these things?" Anko asked, frightened as she looked into the different cages and containers that lined the walls of Orochimaru's hideout.

"Experiments, Anko," he said as if it were obvious.

Two dull eyes stared out at Anko as she passed one of the cages. They looked shockingly human. "I don't like this," she whispered. "They look like they're in pain. It's not right."

"It's progress, Anko. You should understand that. This research will improve the future."

"It's evil. You shouldn't do this to other living things," Anko said.

Orochimaru struck at her. It was the first time he had ever hit here aside from sparring for practice. His eyes glowed with anger. "You should not tell your teacher what is right and wrong. A student should know her place." His look softened. "I only show you this because I trust you."

"I understand," Anko said, flinching away from his hand. She got up and acted as if nothing was wrong, remaining silent.

"Oh, Anko, there's no need to worry. The Hokage all ready knows about this."

Anko nodded. "Understood." If the Hokage knew then it must be all right.

OOO

"Can I trust you?" Orochimaru said, looking to Anko.

Anko nodded. "Of course."

Next thing she knew, Orochimaru was biting her where her neck met her shoulder. He retracted, leaving an excruciating pain in his wake. "What have you done?" she asked, clutching her shoulder in agony.

"It's an experiment, my dear. You should feel honored. This mark will give you more power. Power that is unbelievable." He held his hand out to her. "Will you help me, Anko?"

She wanted to spit in his hand, but she could not speak against him due to the pain her shoulder was causing her. He knew what her silence meant, though, and he glared at her.

"You're too soft. I always knew deep down that you wouldn't be useful to me. I tried to give you a chance, thought you would be worthy of my power and tutelage, but I was mistaken. You are a worthless, little brat sometimes." He grasped her face and drew her close to him. "It really is a shame. Out of all of my students, you were by far the best. Perhaps someday you will come to your senses, and seek me out."

OOO

"Hi, I'm Kurenai. The two idiots over there are Kakashi and Asuma," a red-eyed girl explained to Anko. They were all older than Anko but they always ended up at the training grounds at the same time so they had begun to train together occasionally.

"Kurenai, stop calling us idiots," Asuma complained.

"Yeah, we're not idiots," Kakashi agreed, gesturing to his new chunin flak jacket. He was one of the youngest to achieve such a rank.

Kurenai smiled. "You two are boys and act dumb sometimes, so I'll call you idiots if I want."

Anko smiled, joining in on the conversation as if she had known them forever.

OOO

"Well, we're all jonin now," Ibiki said, toasting a glass. "And little Anko's going to be a fellow proctor of the Chunin Exams."

Anko touched his glass with her own. "We aren't that far apart in age so would you stop treating me like a baby? I could take you on."

"I wouldn't try it, Anko," Genma said. "He'll break you, no problem."

"Oh yeah," Anko challenged. "Try me." She stared Ibiki straight in the eyes, her look unwavering.

Ibiki broke Anko within minutes.

OOO

"Look, I don't want your help," Sasuke Uchiha said, turning away from her.

Anko just couldn't get him to open up to her. She had been coming here for three days with no results. She had practically gotten on her hands and knees and begged Sasuke to tell her anything useful.

"All right," Anko said, playing her last card. "Look, I went through almost the same thing you're going through right now but the difference was that Orochimaru was my sensei, the person who should have helped me through everything. I had to deal with this practically on my own at the start until I actually found some friends willing to accept the challenge.

"You are surrounded by friends who want to help you deal with this. Everyone wants to bring Orochimaru to justice for his crimes. It may not get rid of that Curse Mark, but it would prevent it from happening to anyone else.

"We all want to help you, Sasuke. That's why I'm here, because I know that if I could go back in time I would want someone to be doing this for me."

Anko got up, knowing that this was her last ditch effort. Visiting hours were up, and she knew she could come back tomorrow. Judging the silence, however, she was sure there would be no coming tomorrow.

"Mitarashi-sensei," Sasuke said. "Thank you."

Anko couldn't help but feel she had reached middle ground.

OOO

Sasuke glared a moment more at Anko before saying, "I don't care for that village anymore so if you actually escape alive tell them to stop looking for me."

Why? After all that he had gone through, after all his village had done for him, he says he doesn't care for them? But how could that be? When she last talked to him he seemed thankful. He seemed like he really hated Orochimaru. Thoughts swirled in Anko's mind as she looked at her sensei's demonic face.

He looked at her, a look that told her, "I win."

Anko awoke with a start, shooting up in what appeared to be a bed. Pain met her, and she collapsed back onto the bed. She tried to sit up again, slower this time and still met pain, less severe this time. There was a mirror across from her bed, and the person who stared back at her hardly looked like herself. She was covered in bandages. She looked more like a mummy than a girl now. Her face looked too gaunt, and she couldn't help but run her hand down a line of stitches on her forehead. They hurt to the touch.

"Well, this is definitely a case of déjà vu," a woman said as she entered the room. Anko's eyes me Tsunade's as the woman sat down next to her bed.

"What happened?" Anko asked, finding that her throat was incredibly raw.

"I think he would be best in explaining that," Tsunade said, pointing to the window. Kakashi was siting on the windowsill, and Anko found it surprising that she hadn't noticed him right away. She was too absorbed in the amount of bandages covering her.

"You scared the crap out of us when you communicator went dead. We pried open the door to the cave only to meet a wall of smoke," Kakashi explained. "Asuma and I went in and found you lying in a pool of blood surrounded by flames."

"Truthfully, it's a miracle you survived," Tsunade admitted. "Although I think I've said that before, haven't I?"

"And Orochimaru?" Anko asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "There was a body lying on the floor a few feet away from you. He looked exactly like Orochimaru, only a bit charred."

"He's dead. You don't need to worry," Tsunade said, cutting Kakashi off. "Just think about getting better. I'm releasing you tomorrow."

Kakashi followed the Hokage out, making sure he shut the door behind him so that Anko could not hear their conversation. "We're not sure he's dead so why lie to her?"

"This village as well as Anko would be greatly helped if they think that Orochimaru is dead, and I actually think he is this time."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He wouldn't have left her alive if he was, and those flames were definitely Anko's doing. That's one of her jutsus," Tsunade said. She turned the corner, leaving Kakashi.

"You're fooling yourself," Kakashi said. Without a body, there was no proof of Orochimaru's death. Although Anko was strong, he had a hard time believing that Orochimaru was taken down by her. But still, why would he keep her alive?

OOO

Although Anko was bedridden and had wounds covering a fair amount of her body, she couldn't help but feel happy. She knew by Kakashi's tone that he doubted Orochimaru was dead, and she couldn't help but think he might still be out there. But she had proven that she could take him on and survive. She felt that she had exacted some kind of revenge for what he had done to her, although nothing would make up for all the years of torment he caused her and the fear that he had instilled in Konoha.

And maybe he was dead. How would she be alive if he wasn't?

OOO

"Lord Orochimaru, please stop moving," Kabuto said as he changed the man's bandages. Orochimaru grimaced in pain. Anko had certainly improved since their last encounter during the Chunin Exams.

"Why didn't you kill her?" Sasuke asked from his place close to the door. "You could have killed her if you really wanted to. I could have killed her. Don't tell me you have feelings for your first student?"

"Silence!" Orochimaru gorowled. His eyes softened as he thought of the past. "She's gotten better: I will admit, but I didn't do this for her. It's better if the Leaf Village thinks I am dead. It will make my plans so much easier."

This was true. It would put the Leaf Village off guard, but he also felt that he was doing this for his beloved Anko. He had caused her so much pain all ready. He could give her at least a small taste of victory. He didn't really want to kill her. With that Curse Mark still intact, she could prove useful in the future.

OOO

Kurenai hugged Anko carefully, trying not to cause her any pain.

"I'm so glad you're all right."

"It's good to be back," Anko agreed.

"And it's all over," Kurenai added.

Anko sighed. "Yes, it's all over."

"Well, then let's go," Asuma interrupted. "Ibiki and the other guys are saving us seats. Everyone is celebrating, well at least until the next disaster strikes," he joked.

The group began walking toward the bar, eager to put all of this behind them. Random people Anko had never met were smiling at her, congratulating her, praising her. She felt like a hero. For once in her life, people were looking at her like she was a hero instead of looking at her with distrusting stares. She was no longer the girl who was feared as being a spy. She was the person who took down one of Konoha's most dangerous enemies. And although Anko couldn't be sure he was gone, she felt better.

She finally felt free.

~AN~

Well it's finally done. I would like to thank everyone for reading and a special thank you to everyone who has left positive and helpful feedback throughout the entire thing. I am happy to say that I have not had one review saying anything horrible about this story (which hopefully will stay true through this last chapter).

First off I want to thank my friend R-chan for helping me come up with this story in the first place. Without you in health class I surely would have died and would have never come up with this story. And without this story I wouldn't have met some really awesome people.

Next, thank you to everyone who has faved this story and people like Snowkid, Ryunn Kazan, Haiwey (although you have been busy), and NinjaSheik and all of the people who have followed this story and reviewed from the beginning.

Lastly, and sorry that this is so long (I feel like thank you's are in order) I want to thank NinjaSheik for all the support she has given me throughout the writing of this story, for adding me to her forum, and for sharing her "special something" with me. Thank you so much.

Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing! Everyone go to odaxelagnia: the Anko and Orocohimaru forum to check out more stories but wonderful authors!