A/N: I know I missed the 25th, but what-the-heck. Merry Christmas, people! Hope you guys like this fic! :)
Yes, it's a Christmas fic. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any of its characters.

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.A Night Out of Time.

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It was evening in a small unnamed village, the setting sun over the horizon painting the sky a deep crimson hue. The ground was still wet, and the temperature low, after a recent shower, but that did not deter the villagers from their last minute festive preparations. People bustled in the streets, with most of them rushing to complete their last minute shopping. An aroma of baking bread drifted out from various bakery and houses, mingling in the air with the smell of freshly fallen rain, a strange but pleasant combination. Shops were decorated lavishly with colorful lights, overhanging decorations, fake snowflakes and -for those who could afford it- a small Fraser fir tree.

It was Christmas.

And Christmas holds many different meanings for everybody.

Outside a tea-house, a little girl smiled happily as she tugged at her parents, her mitten-covered hands folded warmly into theirs. She said something, her eyes sparking in delight, before running ahead of them, laughing all the way, a cheerful melody in the joyous season. Her parents shared a smile before hurrying after her, hands laden with the festive preparations.

For some, it meant celebration.

The glass hit the wooden surface of the table with a dull thud. In a dark comer of the tea-house, sake sloshed onto the table forming small golden puddles around the cup, reflecting the image of the drunken man clumsily pouring the liquor from a bottle. His eyes were clouded, far too gone under the influence of alcohol.

For others, it meant desolation.

From under the hood of a nondescript black cloak, brown eyes flitted from the dim corner to the back of a man seated a few tables away.

Former Jounin of Iwagakure, turned missing-nin after conducting a massacre back in his village killing twenty-one people. Involved himself in doing petty crimes and pressuring villagers to pay 'protection' fees after his defection, now stirring up trouble with the local feudal lords, threatening the peace and safety of various villages if they do not comply to his every whim.

Already, he'd razed down part of a village -killing three people, wounding a few and leaving many more homeless- as a show of what may happen should he be refused.

Oh yes, he is one bad sonofabitch.

Kawano Ryuzo. Bounty of 50, 000 yen. An assassination mission she'd requested from Tsunade.

Anko took a slow sip of her tea, silently watching him as she palmed her kunai, twirling the cool steel with her fingers beneath the table, hands already itching to do something.

Be that as it may if she gets a one-way ticket to Hell for killing someone on Christmas but, man, she's gonna enjoy killing him.

And for Anko…Christmas meant nothing.

Christmas was just another day to live through. No meaning. No real celebrations.

A few years ago, she'd probably be at someone's house, maybe Kurenai. Or Asuma, or Kakashi.

They'd all celebrate it together. Used to.

But now, Asuma had Kurenai, and she, him.

Kakashi had Sakura and Naruto.

And Anko…Anko had no one.

Perhaps, once upon a time, she did have someone.

Long hair, black as night. Rich, mellow, golden, amber-flecked eyes framed by purple markings. Sharp angular face, high cheekbones. Thin lips, usually curled into an infuriating smirk. Lean and muscled, yet deceptively slender body. Pale, pale, pale skin.

Well, but he was gone, for a very long time.

And Anko couldn't help but wonder if someone was also spending Christmas alone. If he still remembers the tim-

A rough scrapping of chair against floor sounded as Ryuzo stood up, a cruel smile slashed on his face as the worker cowered to a side, not even daring to ask him to pay for his meal.

Anko thoughts came back from within the dredges of the past, her eyes narrowing on his retreating back. Oh yes, she is going to enjoy this.

Leaving a few notes of cash on the table, she made her way after Ryuzo, shadowing him a few paces behind, mind already working furiously on the area layout, mentally marking out various places secluded enough to take him down. Not that anybody would protest if she took him down out in the open -no, actually, they might even gift her with a medal- but being a ninja, there is something to be said about the code of secrecy.

'Cause, as a ninja, you don't just go out there and kill someone in broad daylight, weapons flashing and all to get the job done. No. You kill someone in broad daylight in a dark corner of a street or something, with someone else's weapons -preferably your rival's or someone you really hate- and then you get the job done, after leaving the said weapons behind.

Anko stepped out of the warmth of the tea-house, the cold air lightly stinging her face. Rubbing her hands together underneath her cloak to generate at least some warmth, she turned right, noting the bulky retreating figure of Ryuzo. She walked at a slow pace behind a gaggle of girls dressed in kimonos, giving various gifts a few thoughtful glances, as if she was truly interested in them.

As Ryuzo scanned the crowd over his shoulder, Anko turned her back on the street as she picked up a teddy bear to keep up the pretense of a shopper, eyes trained on the reflective surface of the glass panel of a shop behind the gift stall, surveying his movements.

It happened when he walked by a small alley. There was a quick moveme- And Ryuzo was gone.

Her spine stiffened.

Dropping the bear, she rushed to the corner just before the alley, pushing people out of her way, only offering a few murmurs of apology, before she plastered her back against the brick wall.

"What is this that I hear, hmm? Terrorizing the feudal lords? Burning down villages? Your antics sent the feudal lord squealing for me to do something. And If I didn't have any use for him… Well, I guess it's unfortunate for you that I've to keep him pacified for a little while…"

A smooth, silky voice. But cold, so cold.

The Konoha Jounin subconsciously drew her cloak tighter around her. In their region, it never snowed given the near location to the equator, ensuring a more or less warm climate almost all year round. Yet Anko felt chill like never before from this stranger's voice. As if death spoke into her ear.

"I- I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was your turf!" Ryuzo's voice trembled. "Please, I can give you money, whatever you want me to do, I'll do, ju- just let me off!"

"What a disappointment. Not even trying to fight back?" Mock pitying was evident in this man's voice.

"No, I'd never go against you, I wouldn't!"

A pleased chuckle. "So you know who I am."

"Yes, you ar-"

The dull thud of a body against wall. The crunch of bones breaking as a kunai was twisted within flesh. The sick pitiful, gurgling, dying sound as Ryuzo screamed a silent scream that no one would hear.

"That wasn't a question." A careless remark to a dead man that bounced off the alley's walls. Anko wished that they didn't.

Boosting her step with chakra, she darted forward and flashed behind the person, kunai already poised at the back of his neck.

"That was my mission you just stole from me, and I'd been tailing him for quite some time." Anko let her bad mood show through, pressing the kunai in a little, letting his neck bleed a thin red line. A true wonder that his blood is red. "How are you going to make u-"

Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes caught a small movement of his fingers.

Instantly, Anko's kunai slashed down, but only managed to cut through air and the stranger's cloak. A glint of metal from the end of the alley, a whistle through the air, and Anko pivoted on her foot, deflecting a blade aimed at her back and then, using the momentum, she lashed out with her leg.

His arm blocked the blow before he rushed forward, making Anko hop back hurriedly, hand drawn back to punch at her face, the movement conducted all within a millisecond.

Jerking her head to the side, Anko barely managed to dodge the attack, hissing as she backed roughly into the wall. She curled her fingers around his sleeve and his outstretched hand and, using his forward motion to her advantage, slammed him into the wall of the alley. Her knee came up and pressed none too gently into his back, forcing him motionless.

An abrupt flare of chakra, and the body she was holding turned into a mud figurine.

Anko's eyes narrow. A familiar chakra… And it's behind her now.

"That trick is getting old," Anko said as she turned, brown eyes meeting golden ones. "Don't you think so, Orochimaru?"

"Well," The Sannin said, a pale hand reaching up and brushing the hood of his own cloak back revealing his face, the entire motion done oh-so-elegantly. "Then I guess we really have to stop meeting in such settings. Perhaps you should try harder next time Anko, because I too feel that it's becoming a bore."

A flash of incredulity and disbelief flitted on her face. "What? So it's my fault that we keep fighting when we meet now?" She jabbed the pointy end of her kunai, where she'd so love to have a part of him on that end, at him. "Don't go accusing people of ridiculous things, or you'll be sorry."

He gave a martyred sigh, as if he was dealing with a problem child, and flipped his hair over his shoulder at her. Because he, is Orochimaru, and thus is too elegant for something as common as the eye-roll. "Sometimes, Anko, you have to learn to lighten up."

A muscle ticked in Anko's jaw as she fought to contain her escalating temper. First, he blames her for something totally stupid and NOT her fault. Then, he flips his hair at her. And now he tells her to lighten up? Well, sorry, but he isn't the one with an S-classed missing-nin standing in front of her and acting as if it's a normal occurrence.

Can't cause a scene, have to get validation to murde- I mean kill, can't cause a scene, have to get validation…

"You're too stressed, you know," her ex-sensei continued happily, blissfully oblivious to her rising ire.

Something within Anko snapped. "Orochimaru, stress is a horrible day at work, stress is dango being sold-out, stress is a bad hair day. This-"

Anko made an angry gesture. "This isn't stress!"

Orochimaru stilled, his eyes focused on something right in front if his face.

She stopped her tirade, and noticed that her kunai blade mere inches from his face. "Oh." She drew back.

"As far as I know, my name isn't in the kill-on-sight category in the Bingo book. In fact, protocol states that you'd have to report any sightings and await further instructions." He smirked.

Anko stilled. What he said is true. And she had a very bad feeling about this…
Still, she took the bait. "And…?"

"And, that means," His smirk stretched wider as he slowly prowled towards her, a predatory glint in his silted eyes. "You would not be going against rules if you do not fight me, since you need time to 'report your findings and await orders'."

Anko slowly backed into the wall, eyes darting to the exit of the alley and then back to the approaching man in front of her, all too aware of the close proximity. She gulped a little. In the world that she knew, there were only two things. You're either predator, or prey. No prizes for guessing which role she felt like she was cast into now. "Well, okay, fine. I'll just ignore this, alright? Now, if you'll just excuse me, I've got to go. "

Anko eased herself away from the Sannin.

Slow and easy, slow and easy…

She took a small step towards the exit. Yeah, okay, that went well. Just another ten more…

Another step.

And another.

And anoth-

A pale hand slammed into the wall, in front of her. Anko bit her lips. Oh boy.

"But it's Christmas Anko," Orochimaru purred, and the way he said her name made Anko weak in her knees for reasons she didn't want to examine. "And we haven't met for so long."

"Seeing how much you've grown…," Orochimaru's hand slid around her waist, lightly pulling her against him while the other caressed the side of her face, and Anko hand to force herself not to lean into it. "Perhaps you and I can show each other some…moves?"

"Huh." That was the only thing she could say since the only other option was 'Stop being so sexy and stop fucking with my mind!' Which wouldn't be nice and only serve to boost his overly large ego.

He leaned in, and that was all the warning Anko had before his lips met her's.

And then Anko's mind went blank.

Because, say what you will about him -Killer, Murderer, Devil, Satan's spawn, whatever similar titles- but damn, that man could kiss!

He nipped at her lower lips playfully before nursing it with small kisses. As Anko couldn't surpass a small groan, he took the opportunity, sliding his tongue deep into her mouth. Warm, wet sweet. That was how he was. His tongue massaged hers, sparking an inferno of desire within her stomach, and lower.

Anko moaned in pleasure and tragically, the sound jolted her common sense, through the haze and fever of pleasure. Shouldn't be this good. Nothing should be this good.

Still, she didn't stop. Couldn't stop. She fought with him for dominance, let their tongue dance, to play, to duel, to thrust, sipping, feeding, driving them closer and closer to a ledge they might later wish they'd never built. Because the fall would be fatal.

Orochimaru's hand strayed from her face to her hip, to her stomach, and lower still…

"Anko, just say the word, and I'll open your shorts and move lower," He murmured against her mouth.

Anything. "What word?" A breathless whisper.

"Yes."

And have his tongue dip into her core, licking, sucking, tasting? Her body arcing into him, demanding more? Satisfaction leaving her utterly sated? Until the fever returned –and it would return.

"No."

Stupid, stupid girl.

It was a tiny shard of sense in the face of the epitome of temptation, and Anko grasped it like a lifeline.

A kiss can be written off. Heavy petting too. But a touch between the legs? No, that was sex.

Orochimaru stiffened. "Why not?"

Why, why indeed. Anko struggled to remember the reason. Just moments before she could have shouted out the answer unerringly, loud and clear, but it seemed like that was eons ago.

Her gaze fell on Ryuzo- oh yeah. It came to her in a rush.

"Because you're a missing-nin, and you betrayed me! I just can't sleep with you." It would have sounded more convincing if she did not sound so breathless, and if her arms were not hooked around his neck.

"So." An uncaring word meant for her, not for him. "Anyway, we wouldn't be sleeping." His gaze fell on her pink-tinted cheeks, a smirk forming on his lips. "We would be pleasuring."

"C'mon Anko. It's Christmas. Let loose a little." He kissed a hot trail from her lips to her jaw, to the side of her neck, warm breath caressing and sensitizing her skin. Anko's grip tightened, breath coming out in short puffs. "Today would be special. It won't change anything of our relationship or our loyalties. No consequences."

"Tonight, will be a night out of time." He murmured against her skin, licking a spot he'd kissed repeatedly at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

Anko drew in a sharp breath. "A night out of time?"

"Yes," Orochimaru leaned his forehead against hers.

"A night out of time."

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They went to Orochimaru's room at an inn, and then Anko couldn't remember much. Everything was done in a flurry of movements, an urgent desperation in their every move, every caress, and every kiss.

Because they can't wait, didn't want to wait. The night only lasts so long, and soon, they knew the magic would be gone.

But the burn, the pain, the fever.

The pleasure.

She would forever remember.

Before exhaustion claimed her, she thought that perhaps…Christmas could be meaningful afterall.

For Anko, Christmas meant Remembrance.

Yeah, I know…the ending sucks. :x But I don't write smut, and I think I'd suck at it, in my honest opinion. Anyway, I'm probably ending it here, unless you have any other ideas, and if so, just feel free to voice them. :)

As usual, reviews are loved. :D