Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Life Without Her ❯ Chapter 4

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Anko sat down on a chair in the living room. Naruto could tell she'd been losing sleep over this. Still, he was glad to have someone to talk to. She waited a few moments before starting.

"Y'know," she said, "this is the first time I've really opened up about what happened to me. The man who kidnapped me, Orochimaru, was once a mentor to me. I trusted him. But he showed his true colors, and I wanted nothing more to do with him. Unfortunately, he saw it differently. He came to my wedding reception, and ripped me right out of my husband's arms."

Naruto knew most of this already, but he still couldn't help being shocked.

"For the next four years," she continued, "I was forced to cook and clean for him, and in return he abused the hell out of me. At times the only thing that kept me from ending it all was my certainty that Kakashi would eventually come to rescue me. As it turned out, it was a local cop that got me out of there. I never did find out his name."

She looked at Naruto, who now had a pained look on his face.

"Sorry," she said, "I must've brought up some unpleasant feelings."

"No, it's alright," said Naruto, who was now calm. "I was just wondering if, wherever Sakura is, she's thinking of me right now."

"It's not really my place to say, but I'd certainly bet on it."

"If it's not out of line, could you tell me more about Orochimaru?"

Anko hesitated before answering. "When I first met him, he was one of the few men I could bring myself to trust. After my parents went to prison for tax evasion, he was basically the closest thing I had to a father. Over time, though, it became apparent that he was not the man I thought he was." Anko then stopped for a minute.

"It's okay," said Naruto. "You don't have to go on."

"No, it's fine. I may as well finish the story. One day, he asked me to pack my bags, since we'd be going away soon. I soon found out the police were after him. It was something about a drug deal gone wrong. I did pack my bags, but then I ran to the cops. Unfortunately, they failed to arrest him."

"I had no idea."

"Anyway, sometime later, I met Kakashi. We quickly hit it off, and eventually he asked me to marry him. Then came the day of our wedding, and you know the rest."

"Y'know, now that I've heard your story," Naruto said, "I really believe that one day I'll see Sakura again."

"Glad to hear it," said Anko. "I'd hate to be the only one to benefit from our little chat. Oh, now that I'm thinking about it, Kakashi and I are about to go on a second honeymoon, and we need someone to look after our daughters. Could you please do it for us? We're willing to pay."

"Okay then. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Great! They'll be coming over next week. Well, I better be going home now. The kids think I'm just taking a walk, and I'd rather not give them a reason to think otherwise."

"Later," said Naruto, as he watched Anko leave.

He couldn't get their discussion out of his mind. Hearing Anko talk about her experiences, Naruto could tell just how much she'd gone through. At that moment he almost dreaded finding Sakura, since then he'd learn what her captors had been doing with her. He quickly put that out of his mind.

The next day, Naruto got a phone call from the police.

"Hello, sir," said the officer on the other end. "Could you come to the station? We have some information that might interest you."

He rushed over to the station as soon as he could. There, he met an officer named Rock Lee.

"We have news regarding your wife," said Lee. "We now know who had her kidnapped. Have you, by chance, heard of the Akatsuki?"