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Pupil of the Serpent	By : Mario Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 2253 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters contained herein. I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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A/N: This chapter is extremely short, since it's the chapter I'm adding to bridge the gap between the earlier rewritten chapters and what I've been working on more recently. This shouldn't really be that disappointing, since the chapters after this already exist and just need to be edited. I've decided to take the last few chapters down for the time being, though, and put them up again once I've got everything in order, just to avoid needless confusion for us all (yes, I get confused by my own story; it's pretty pathetic). It's really not much, but enjoy!

"Are you aware that girl's in love with you?"
A short distance away from the campsite, Jiraiya and Orochimaru stood facing each other among the shadows of the trees. Once they were safely out of earshot, Jiraiya wasted no time, confronting the pale ninja with characteristic bluntness. Orochimaru gave his teammate a placid look.
"Aren't we a bit old to be exchanging confidences and passing love letters like Academy students? Which girl are you referring to, exactly?"
"Don't play dumb; it's never suited you. I'm talking about Anko-chan. Your student."
Your student. The golden eyes narrowed. For all that the other two Sannin complained that Orochimaru was Sarutobi-sensei's favorite pupil, Jiraiya was the one who'd turned out just like the Third Hokage. When it came down to it, both men had their ridiculous moral principles ingrained into them right down to the core, and they insisted on imposing those nonsensical scruples on everyone around them. The seemingly-offhand reminder that Anko was his student was no doubt intended to evoke a sense of responsibility in the snake shinobi—a gentle nudge in the right direction.
After all, Sarutobi-sensei—and now Jiraiya, apparently—had always watched him closely. Making sure that he stayed on the right path. Helping him to control those twisted, sadistic instincts they knew he struggled with . . .
Does he think that I'll hurt Anko unless he interferes? Orochimaru wondered bitterly. Well, that's just what you'd expect from a monster.
"She's playing games, that's all. It's nothing to be concerned over." At least, that was what he had thought until a couple of hours ago. Now, he wasn't so sure. But he didn't want to share his confused, jumbled feelings; especially not with Jiraiya.
"She's not playing a game." Jiraiya's face was lined with concern. "Don't dismiss her feelings just because she's young. She's fixated on you, Orochimaru."
The pale Sannin's eyebrows shot up. As idiotic as Jiraiya could be most of the time, he wasn't often wrong when he spoke so assertively. And even he had to admit that Anko's most recent advances, while childish, had been more serious than playful.
He made another attempt to sidestep the issue. "She'll grow out of it."
"I wouldn't bet on it. Did you stop to think about what you mean to her? She's an orphan, Orochimaru—you don't need me to tell you what her life was like before you took her in. You were kind to her, in your own fashion. More importantly, you've spent the last four months almost exclusively on training her. You're the first person who's ever paid attention to her like that."
"You make this all sound like my fault."
"It is, in a way." Jiraiya crossed his arms over his chest. "You let her get too close."
"I haven't done anything—" Orochimaru began to protest.
"Exactly. You've done nothing. Nothing more than to be kind and attentive to a lonely girl who's never known any real affection before in her life. You left the door open and she walked right through it."
The snake Sannin sighed. "Assuming you're right about all this, what do you want me to do about it?"
"It's more about what I don't want you to do. She loves you—don't break her heart."
"So you expect me to play along with her nonsense?"
Jiraiya regarded his teammate somberly. "I just don't want you to reject her out of hand because you think that you'll be protecting her. She won't be able to take it; you'll crush her."
"I'm not interested in protecting her." Orochimaru's voice came out sharper than he'd intended. "If she gets hurt, she'll have no one but herself to blame. I've warned her that ninja can't afford such emotions."
"You're wrong about that. She has something important that she wants to protect. Those emotions are what will make her into a strong ninja."
Orochimaru laughed. "You've been listening too much to Sarutobi-sensei."
"He does tend to rub off on you," Jiraiya admitted. "Cherish your student, Orochimaru. You'll be amazed at how much she can teach you, if you let her."
Clapping his friend on the shoulder, he turned away and walked back towards the camp. Orochimaru watched expressionlessly as the white-haired man left, then settled down against a tree, glad to be alone with his thoughts once more.

Though all four of the ninja were awake by dawn, they didn't break camp immediately. Tsunade checked Jiraiya's wounds, applying her medical ninjutsu to those she had lacked the chakra to fully heal the night before. Anko watched with interest as she ate her breakfast, since it was her first time seeing such high-level healing techniques in action. The medic-nin noticed her attention and glanced over at her, offering a smile.
"Are you interested in medical ninjutsu, Anko?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically, happy not to be at odds with her sensei's teammate after their rocky start. "Yeah! Orochimaru-sensei says that a ninja can only become stronger by learning a lot of jutsu, so I want to learn as many jutsu as I can!"
Tsunade gave Orochimaru a sidelong glance. "Is that so?" She returned her attention to Anko. "Well, jutsu are certainly important, but they aren't everything. Even with medical ninjutsu, for example, wounds still need rest and careful treatment to heal properly. And there's no jutsu that can mend a broken heart."
Orochimaru spoke up from where he was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest. "Which is why you should avoid sentimental attachments in the first place," he concluded pointedly.
The blonde kunoichi rolled her eyes, tying a final bandage in place. "One day, Orochimaru, some girl is going to make you fall in love with her. I hope I'm around to laugh when it happens."
"I'll second that," Jiraiya chimed in, chuckling.
"Don't hold your breath." Orochimaru shook his head. "Can we get going now, or must I be subjected to more of your idiocy?"
"I'm ready to go," answered Jiraiya, "but what are you going to do about her?" He indicated Anko with a nod of his head.
This was the moment Anko had been dreading. "Let me come with you," she pleaded. "I've never been on a real mission before." She didn't want to be separated from Orochimaru-sensei, especially if he was going into danger.
"All the more reason you shouldn't come," Tsunade pointed out. "After yesterday, you must know this isn't a game. You could die, or make a mistake that gets the rest of us killed."
"I know it's not a game! I'll listen to what you say; I won't do anything stupid."
The medic-nin started to respond, but Jiraiya interrupted her. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to bring her along," he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He glanced at Orochimaru, a pensive gleam in his eye. "Assuming Orochimaru doesn't object, of course."
"You can't be serious." Tsunade's voice was incredulous.
"Why not? Think about it, Tsunade. Given what happened yesterday, it would be dangerous to leave her here, and we can't spare anyone to escort her back to Konoha. And there's always the chance she would follow us again."
"Even so . . ."
"I know how you feel, but Anko-chan is still a ninja, even though she's young. Besides, she'll have the three of us to look after her. What do you say, Orochimaru?"
Anko held her breath.
Orochimaru gazed at Jiraiya, his golden eyes calculating, then turned his stare on Anko, who looked back up at him with wide, hopeful eyes.
"Why not?" he said at last. "It might be good training for her, at least."
"All right!" Anko leapt into the air, a wide grin on her face. "I'm going on a real mission with Orochimaru-sensei!"
Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "You're both insane. Don't regret it later."
Orochimaru watched Anko jump up and down for a few more moments before he reached out and smacked her lightly atop the head. "Pay attention, Anko, or I'll leave you behind."
Her ebullience ceased abruptly, and she looked raptly up at him, though she was still smiling.
"This is an A-rank mission. You are to follow my orders at all times, without question, even if they don't make any sense to you. Understand?"
She nodded vigorously.
"Good." He turned away, scooping up his pack and placing it over his shoulders. "Let's go."
Anko hurried to follow. "Where are we going, Orochimaru-sensei?"
"We're going to pay an unofficial visit to Kumogakure."

A/N: I didn't intend this story to be some sort of weird psychological drama, I swear! I really only had one real goal when I first started writing—I wanted to avoid making Orochimaru and Anko one-dimensional characters with singular motivations and no real explanation of how they got to that point. For Orochimaru, that required that I either get really imaginative, or take what I thought back then to be the easy way out: start the story from a past perspective. It turned out to be a lot harder than I ever expected, and both characters have had a rough ride along the way that banged them pretty out of shape. I've tried to hammer them back into a recognizable form with all the edits and rewrites, but it's a patchwork job at best.
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Pupil of the Serpent