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Fideism

Fideism is a theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths. The word fideism comes from fides, the Latin word for faith, and literally means faith-ism.

"Mmm… Cold…" she hummed.

"Get up." a gruff, somewhat familiar voice said.

"Mmm…" she rolled over to get away from the disturbance only to find that it was somehow colder to her left. She rolled back "I'm cold…" she mumbled.

"Get up. Now." the voice was angrier than before and she felt herself drifting closer toward wakefulness. Slowly she let her eyes drift open. She found herself looking at a face, mostly hidden under a mop of dirty black hair. Hard brown eyes stared out at her from a pallid face. A nose that had clearly been broken hung ominously over two thin lips closed tightly over crooked teeth. A scar ran down the side of his face, as if he had been one of Kabuto's psychotic test subjects that turned up in the medical wings every once in a while.

A hand grabbed her hair and wrenched her into a sitting position. She was suddenly wide awake. From the position she was in, she could see that she was at the back of a large cave. On the ground not 3 meters for her was a large lump, hidden under a blanket. Sticking out of the lump was a leg pale, skinny hand. Is that dead? Her eyes widened slightly, and she turned to look at the man with the broken nose.

"Fix him." He pointed at the lumps under the blanket.

"Wha-?"

"Now!" his voice was raised in tone, but not in volume. Everything he had said was absolutely silent and it struck her that maybe he wasn't speaking because he was worried someone would hear. Just who that person was, she had no idea.

She slowly moved across the floor of the cave, stooping over when the ceiling became to low even for her small body. The lumps under the blanket moved and the hand retracted beneath its cover. Her hand reached out and took a fistful of blanket into itself before slowly pulling it away from its resident.

The man under the blanket had long brown hair. At least she thought it was brown. It may have been red or blonde, but it was so grimy that she couldn't get a clear reading on its color. Tufts of it littered the floor around his head. It was falling out by the handful. The burns covered his face and scalp, singing off his eyebrows and lashes. Giant festering sores leaked blood and clear fluid onto the floor of the cave. The smell was wretched.

Sakura switched into medic-mode and let her hand hover over the man's face. Slowly the open sores turned healthy colors, and then they closed. Swelling decreased and the skin fell back into a tight position against facial features that hadn't been apparent when she had started.

"His left eye," she said softly, "he will be blind in it."

The man with the broken nose nodded solemnly. "Fix the rest."

"There's more?" Sakura asked with mild surprise.

"Just fix it."

Sakura moved the blanket farther down from his head. She stopped at mid-torso. An open gash 3cm wide and 20cm long occupied the space from his collarbone to his diaphragm. His shirt was torn in more places than the gash and she used that to rip it off. Her hands shaking from the medical work she had already done she hovered over the wound. Green healing chakra flowed out of her fingertips and she let them drag through the air just above the wound.

This time she didn't focus on making the cleanup pretty, she just focused on 'fixing it'. When the wound was just a thin scab sticking out above a knotted scar she looked up at the man with the broken nose again. He nodded at the blanket and she gulped. Another one?

She pulled the blanket down again. One horribly mangled leg, revealed by the lifted blanket stuck out at her at an odd angle. The bone, which was protruding through the front of the calf, was not cleanly broken, and slivers of bone poked the empty air. Blood still flowed slightly from the gaping hole around the break. Big purple bruises surrounded the break and fanned out until they reached just above his knee and his ankle. The bone would have to be pulled back in. And then set.

She looked at it in horror. She had never been faced with an injury of this degree by herself before. The part of her that as switched off, her 15 year old self, wanted to throw up at the disgusting sight. Already flies were buzzing around the dying flesh. It would have to be fixed fast.

She silently steadied her mind before reaching out both hands. She grasped his knee and his ankle.

In his sleep, the man whimpered slightly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she pulled, hard.

Naruto looked at the gates to the village. He and Jiraiya had arrived in the evening of the sixth day. One day early. Sakura-chan, I can't wait to see you. I've grown up. The north gates were opened wide and he felt at home immediately. He had worried somewhere in his mind that he would not.

As he stepped over the threshold of the village, which was really a city, it seemed as though a huge weight had lifted off of his shoulders. His next step was more of a jump and Jiraiya didn't fail to notice.

"Good to be home?" he asked.

"Hai!" Naruto's blue eyes were lit up and seemed to be brighter than usual. "I have to go see Sakura-chan!"

"Wait-!" Jiraiya called after him, but it was too late. "We have to file a mission report with Tsunade…" Naruto's form got smaller as he quickly hopped across the rooftops into the living district of Konoha. He was headed for Sakura's apartment.

Left to his responsibilities as Naruto's sensei, Jiraiya headed slowly towards the Hokage Tower. The report would take hours to write up, and he figured this wasn't something he should procrastinate.

Naruto's feet touched down on top of Sakura's apartment complex. Finally, you can see how much stronger I've gotten. Sakura-chan! He walked around the side of the building and stepped onto her tiny patio. She never locked this door. He pushed down the handle. Hmm… must be stuck… He pushed harder. He pulled it up. He pulled it toward himself. He jiggled it in its socket. It's locked? She must be out...

Naruto let his mind wander and try to think of where she was. She could be at Ichiraku! Naruto thought cheerfully. He sped off in the direction of his favorite place in Knonoha.

"Jii-san! Have you seen Sakura-chan?" Naruto practically yelled in Teuchi, the owner's face.

"N-Naruto?"

"Hai!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"When did you get back? Ayame- youll never guess who's here!" Teuchi called back to his daughter.

"Who is it?" she called, pushing aside the curtains that divided the kitchen from the bar area. "Naruto! Welcome back," She smiled softly.

"Thanks! Have you seen Sakura-chan?"

"You mean that little pink-haired girl you used to be with all the time?" Ayame asked.

"Hai! Have you seen her? Do you know where she is?"

"No… I'm sorry Naruto, I haven't seen her in almost a week"

"Would you like some ramen Naruto?" Teuchi offered, "You can have it on the house." He smiled. Naruto loved that the two shopkeepers had never treated him differently because of the kyubi.

"Can I take that offer later? I have to go find Sakura-chan!" and before the two could say anything, Naruto had left the small restaurant. Maybe she's at the old training grounds! Naruto had many fond memories of training together with Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme on the field they had taken the bell test on.

His trek to the three posts took him a bit longer than the trip from Sakura-cahn's apartment to Ichiraku Ramen. He took his time through the trees making sure he didn't miss her hiding somewhere. It was possible that she was just playing with him. Teasing him for leaving her.

When he got to the posts he looked around at the field. The grass was taller than it had been when he was little, but everything else seemed so much smaller. A shuriken was in the grass by his toe and it occurred to him that it could be Sakura-chan's, left over from her last practicing session. He picked it up and pocketed it. He would give it to her when he found her.

"Sakura-chan!" he yelled out at the training field "I found your shuriken! Come out and get it-dattebayo" he waited a moment, "Sakura-cahn?" She isn't here either?

He walked slowly back towards the city-limits. Why isn't Sakura-chan anywhere? Could she be hurt? What if she's in the hospital? Naruto picked up his pace. His breathing became more erratic and his heart beat faster as he steadily increased his speed.

He was sprinting through Konoha. His body was a thin, orange blur racing over the rooftops and through the alleyways. The hospital didn't seem to get any closer. His mini panic attack reached a height half a kilometer from the building. He had to keep moving. If Sakura-chan is hurt… I should have been there to protect her! This is all my fault!

He stopped, out of breath, in front of the hospital doors before walking quickly it. He held his breath while he waited for a receptionist's attention.

"Hai, may I help you uh…"

"Uzumaki Naruto"

"…Uzumaki-san?"

"Hai, I need to see Sakura-chan"

"Haruno Sakura-san?"

"Hai!" he said, he was worried now, the receptionist's tone of voice made him scared that she was in trouble, or worse. Dead.

"I'm sorry Uzumaki-san, Haruno Sakura-san is not here at the moment."

"What? Where is she?" Naruto demanded.

The receptionist, taken aback by Naruto's yelling quietly informed Naruto that Sakura was on a mission, in Tea Country.

"Oh," he said, a bit put-out, "thanks anyway."

"You're very welcome Uzumaki-san" she said, feeling just a little bit sorry for the boy, "Haruno-san should be back in a few days, She has work at 3:00 A.M. the day she gets back, if you stop by, I'm sure you'll catch her, she's always right on time." She smiled brightly, "Have a good day"

"Hai… you too." Naruto left the hospital relieved, but without his initial energy. The two and a half hours spent looking for Sakura had worn him out. Not finding her hadn't helped either.

The man's scream erupted through the cave. It rolled out around Sakura and picked her up, shooting through her nerves and into her veins. A rush of adrenaline filled her body and the hair on the back of her arms and neck stood on end. Sakura realized her eyes were closed.

The first thing she saw when she opened them was the leg. The bone was fully back inside the skin but the gaping hole that it had poked through was gushing blood. Next she saw the hand of the man with the broken nose. It was shaking and hovering around his comrade. Fluttering from the hole to the knee to his own lap before making the rounds again. Sakura let the man's ankle go and stopped the hand.

"Hold still," she said, "the worst isn't over yet" The man's eyes widened in surprise at the reassuring words and his hands moved through his hair nervously. The black locks tangled a bit more and became more unruly. "One… two. Three!"

She steeled herself against the oncoming wave of terrible sound. As she snapped the bone back into place. Once it was set she released her grip on the leg and she released the tight control over what she allowed herself to listen to. The injured man's groans still echoed through the cavern.

The man with the broken nose seemed really shaken, and his already pallid face had lost even more color. "I need something to use as a splint. I don't have enough chakra to heal the bone completely." She sighed, "There's nothing else, is there?"

The man shook his head, "ill get you a splint." He slowly searched the cave for his pack and, upon finding it under the blanket she had removed from his companion, he pulled out a scroll. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him making hand seals and removing several long pieces of wood from it before she returned her attention to the healing.

The bleeding first. She placed her hands over the gaping wound and allowed the green chakra flowing from them to seal the skin and stop the bleeding. Muscle and tissue damage. She closed her eyes and let her mind see the injury below the skin by feeling. Slowly, her chakra knit the muscle together. Tissues formed around the muscle and the internal bleeding started to ebb.

Sakura sighed in relief as she moved on to fixing the bone. Bone took longer to heal than anything else. Slowly she coaxed the splintered fragments into some semblance of the bone's original shape before she practically passed out. She blinked.

One hand shot out from her small frame, absent of chakra, toward the man with the broken nose. Her fingers moved expectantly.

"Wha-? Oh! Right." He placed the splint into her hand and she went back to work. Her small hands fiddled with the ripped shirt and ripped it into strips before she lined the splint up with the leg.

The man groaned again, in pain, as she tied the first bandage around his leg and the splint. The second bind was worse than the first. The man whimpered and tears ran down his face as she tightly bound the splint to him. Finally She secured it once down by the man's ankle.

"Done." She sighed as she fell towards her right. When she hit the floor she was completely passed out. The man with the broken nose didn't know what to do. Why had she helped him anyway? He knew Konoha ninjas were given to spontaneously helping people they didn't know, but he had kidnapped her. Maybe it is her oath as a healer or doctor or whatever. She has to help people in need. That must be it.

He pulled the blanket over his friend and then, looking back, turned Sakura around so her head was even with her patient's. He pulled the blanket over her, just a bit. Thank you.

"What is this, Kakuzu-san?" an eerie voice shot out into the cave, plunging his world into darkness.

Jiraiya had talked to Tsunade all afternoon. Now that it was dark, they left together. Tsunade had, of course, had a bit too much to drink and her speech slurred a little as she leaned on Jiraiya for support. She had even made him carry her bag, which was heavy. Taking her home hadn't been his plan. He slowly let his mind roam toward the possibilities. What if she suddenly comes on to me? Do I smell bad? How many times can I refuse before I loose the opportunity?

When they arrived at her home some 20 minutes later Tsunade thanked him and went inside, locking the door behind her. He heard her slump onto something soft, a couch maybe, he thought. Stupid. She wouldn't. I feel so stupid for even thinking she might. It's been years since I got my hopes up like that. Stupid. He pushed back oncoming tears of frustration and disappointment. Tsunade would never accept him like that. He was acting like a child.

He stepped down from her door and turned around to walk away. It was only 11:00 PM. and there should be some party going on somewhere he could crash. He took his next step cautiously and was about to take off when he heard the door creak just a bit. He whirled around. Tunade was standing on her doorstep, looking at him.

"Umm…" she slurred. Jiraiya's heart soared for a minute. Just this one time, she'd be the one who needed him. He took a step closer to her, until they were just two decimeters away.

"Hai?" Tsunade looked at him heart rate increased slightly. The prospect of acceptance swam through his veins and he had to physically control himself from jumping the gun.

"Umm… you still have my bag…" she looked down at it.

"Oh, Hai, right. Right." He smiled and lifted up his arm and handed the bag to her. He paused.

"Right, well… good night" She smiled and pulled herself inside, shutting the door.

"Good night… Tsunade." His face fell as he turned around and walked slowly away. The party would have to do without him. He headed home at civilian pace, enjoying the balmy night air.

When Jiraiya reached his apartment he couldn't help but sigh. She hadn't run after him. She hadn't even said his name. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. His face felt a bit hot. He sighed again before pushing the door just enough to get it closed behind him. He sat down on the small red chair in the entryway. A red-hot tear fell down his face before he pulled himself together. The door clicked shut.

Slowly, he stood up again and made his way to the kitchen. Perhaps sake, he thought, will help.

Sakura was awakened when the steady rhythm stopped. She really wished she hadn't woken up. Her head felt like someone had split it open with a hammer. Now that she thought about it, her hair was sticking to her head in a strange way. Had someone split it open?

Her eyes shot open and her hand flashed to her hairline and then to just in front of her eyes. Blood? My blood? Her hand shot back up to her head, looking for a cut. Where is it? She couldn't find one. If it's not my blood then, who's blood is it?

"I see you're awake." A smooth voice made her look up. Sitting in front of her was a man. "Hello little girl." She tried to scoot away from the man but found that her back was against something rough. She was seeing red.

"I don't believe she's taking it well Hidan-san." A soft chuckle swirled out of the darkness to the right of her. Her head snapped in that direction only to see another man. What the hell do I do? Her mind screamed. What do I do?

The hell if I know. She looked around for the source of the third voice. It sounded like it was from behind her. She whirled around.

"What's behind you girl?" the voice to the right asked, berating her.

"I thought-" Stop acting like a freak Sakura.Her head snapped around once more and her hands covered her ears, Stop it! Go away whatever you are! She screamed in her head.

"What are you doing little girl?" the one called Hidan asked.

"I'm-" Don't talk to these guys!"Shut up!" she shouted.

"That was a bit disrespectful Kakuzu-san, don't you think?" Hidan was playing with a huge three-bladed scythe.

"Wait! I'm sorry, gomennasai, I didn't mean to, I just-" she stammered through clattering teeth. She had just realized how cold it was wherever she was.

"You just…?" Kakuzu's soft voice prodded her.

"I just… thought I heard something…" she ran her hands through her sticky hair. "Who… who's is this?" she held up her hand slowly so that the blood on her fingertips was clearly visible to the two men.

"The blood?" Hidan chuckled. Sakura nodded. "It belongs to your friend."

"Shizune?" Sakura's eyes darted from side to side anxiously, hoping to spot the small woman.

"Who is Shizune?" Hidan looked surprised.

"My friend. The girl. Where is she?" Sakura seemed panicked.

"There was no girl with you in the cave" Kakuzu said flatly.

"The man with the broken nose. Hitoshi. It's his blood."

Sakura visibly sighed in relief. Kakuzu and Hidan were surprised. "They were not your friends? Your companions?" She turned her attention to Hidan again.

"They kidnapped me to heal their friend," she said, "the one under the blanket."

"You healed Nao?" Kakuzu's surprise at this development was evident. Somehow, it pissed Sakura off.

"What? Just because I have pink hair doesn't mean I can't be useful? Thanks a bunch. Could you just kill me already? I'm tired of people like you thinking I can't do things. Go away." She placed her head between her knees, getting blood on her once clean flesh.

"Black?" Hidan skickered. "Interesting choice"

"What?" she asked.

"It would seem," Kakuzu said patronizingly, "that Hidan-san is referring to your undergarments, little girl."

"Oh!" she immediately collapsed her knees to the ground and tried to cover them with her ridiculously short skirt. Her blush covered her entire face. Kakuzu snickered. "I- I meant to wrap them but I was taken before I could-"

Loud laughing stopped her embarrassed explaining. Hidan, it seemed, had quite the sense of humor. Kakuzu looked on disapprovingly. "Hidan-san. Calm yourself, or I'll have to kill you."

"You don't have to tell me every fucking time" Hidan sobered up immediately.

Sakura was taken a bit aback by the sudden changes in demeanor. "Umm… what happens to me?" Sakura tried another approach.

"That's a good question little girl, what happens to you?" Hidan asked her.

"Um… I don't know?"

Kakuzu snickered. "She could be useful, we don't have a competent healer."

Suddenly something clicked in her head. The cloaks they were wearing were the same that had been described to her. "Akatsuki" she hissed. Hidan and Kakuzu looked at her in surprise. The malice rolled off of her small frame pushing the air away from her. It could almost be felt in the air. "You tried to capture Naruto."

"Well, little girl, it seems you know who we are. We now have two choices." Kakuzu turned back to Hidan.

"Lets kill her." Hidan chuckled, "She can be a part of my ritual."

"I think you'll find that Leader-sama will like the second option better, Hidan-san" Kakuzu said slowly, letting its implications seep in.

"Fine." He turned on Sakura, his eyes lit up as he reached out his hand, "So you know Kyubi-kun, do you?"

For the third time that night, Naruto got up to go to the bathroom. 5:37 AM. He was gonna die. Not finding Sakura had left him disappointed and that had affected his sleep. He hadn't slept well at all.

He rubbed his spiky yellow hair before he opened the door to his bathroom. Doing his business took all of 10 seconds and he cursed his small bladder. He pulled his pants back on and washed his hands. A new habit he had acquired living with Jiraiya, who had a keen sense of smell, despite his age.

He looked back at the clock in the hallway. 5:38 AM. Damn. I'm not tired, he grumbled to himself. He slowly approached his dresser and pulled out one of his four identical outfits. He slowly slid his pajamas off and put them on. He tied his headband around his forehead, as he always had. The new, black fabric was nicer than the old blue stuff, and he was happy he had changed it. It didn't itch his forehead like it used to.

He ran his hands through his hair again until it reached just the right amount of messiness. Then he leaned forward, until he was just centimeters from the glass of the mirror. His eyes had bags under them. He roughly pulled them down with his fingertips, exposing the red tissue that made up the layer around his eyes. The veins were clearly visible, and it was shiny. Eww. He let go of the loose skin and his eyes slipped back into their normal shape.

He went into his kitchen, which hadn't been seen in three years, and decided he couldn't eat anything in it. The refrigerator smelled like a dead fish and rotten fruit. He almost threw up when he opened it. He would have to clean it later, he guessed. Damn. I just got back and I already have to clean stuff up.

He decided that there was nothing better to do this morning but clean, since he wasn't expected to leave his house until noon. He was supposed to be sleeping.

Whatever. He went back into his room and dug around for a bit until he found an old pillowcase. He tied it around his nose and mouth like a bandana and went back into the kitchen. Lets do this…

At 2:00 PM. sharp there was a knock on his door. Jiraiya groaned. What now? He got up slowly and kept his sheets around himself to answer the door. This better be good.

He opened the door to find a startled Naruto on his doorstep. "What is it Naruto?" he asked harshly.

"Um…" I was wondering if you'd want to go get some lunch, I know it's late but no one else is in town and-"

"No." Jiraiya tried to shut the door on the smiling boy.

"But Ero-senin! Its 2:00 in the afternoon and you look like you just woke up…" Naruto said, "Don't you wanna eat?"

"No. I have a headache. Go away." This time Jiraiya did close the door. But not quick enough to see the boy's face fall. He felt a bit bad about taking his anger out on Naruto, but not bad enough to open the door again. The kid had to learn about disappointment.

His eyes rested on the coffee table in his apartment. It was littered with sake bottles. He had bought them before he left so he had felt no remorse at drinking them all in one night. That was what had allowed him to do it, really. Normally he didn't drink like that. It was expensive.

His eyes fell to an ashtray on the table. He had smoked? He didn't remember that. He must have been feeling truly crappy after a few drinks.

One of the open bottles on the table had 100 proof alcohol content. He winced. It was half-empty. No wonder he felt like shit. He grabbed a couple of the bottles and retreated to his kitchen, where he threw the empty ones away and put the half-full ones back on the shelf. He made several trips. Finally all that was left to find were the cigarettes. He hadn't remembered smoking, so he had no idea where they would be. He looked around his apartment. Finally, sighing in defeat he retreated onto his balcony to rest in the shade and get a breath of fresh air.

He slid the door shut and turned around. On the small glass table in the corner of his balcony was the box of cigarettes. He picked it up. The box was empty. Damn… he sighed to himself, Last night was bad for my health.

He rubbed his head and contemplated just throwing the box off of the porch in anger, before quietly turning and going back inside to throw them away. He looked around at his kitchen in despair, trying to think of something to do that wouldn't hurt his headache even more. Finally he decided.

He pulled a washcloth out from one of the cabinets in the kitchen and got it wet with the coldest water that would run out of the faucet. He then folded it in half and wrung it out a bit so it only dripped a little when suspended in the air. Then he walked back to his room and collapsed on his bed, carefully placing the wet washcloth on his forehead, and went to sleep.

Sakura awoke in an unfamiliar place for what seemed like the umpteenth time in the past couple of days. This time she was not cold. Instead, she was pleasantly warm and she realized it had something to do with the blanket covering her body. She looked at her surroundings.

She was alone in a small room. A large Plexiglas window looked out a dark hallway and into another lit room. In the room was a man with dirty brown hair. He was kneeling on the floor and it looked like he was talking rapidly. Sweat was visibly rolling off of his head. Suddenly, from the area she couldn't see through her window a foot shot out and kicked him in the stomach. The man doubled over and his mouth opened as though he were screaming at the top of his lungs. All she could hear was a slight hum, vibrating through her window and into her room. She felt sick and looked away, turning her attention to her room and ignoring the man and his captor.

She looked around and saw that she was in a wooden-paneled room. The walls and ceiling and floor were dark wood, slightly dirty from what she presumed was the previous inhabitant. There were two doors, one leading to the hallway which was, presumably, locked and another which, when she got up and tried it, led to a bathroom.

The bathroom was small but not uncomfortable, and quite accommodating. Everything was paneled in the same kind of wood. The shower was medium sized and took up about a third of the room. A small sink stood over some cabinets and a toilet was next to that. There were two hooks on the wall where wet towels could be hung and a large, full-length mirror was attached to the back of the door. This is the Hilton of all prison cells, she thought to herself, why am I here?

She looked in the mirror, maybe something about the way she looked…? She wished she hadn't looked. Her hair was matted with blood. The red and pink made her look like some kind of Valentine's Day card gone wrong and the rest of her body didn't look much better. Her skin was paler than usual from the two extensive healings she had preformed and from the travel. Not to mention the strain of being kidnapped. Twice.

She turned around and looked at the shower. It looked like she had no other choice but to take one. Maybe there would be some extra clothing somewhere in the room. She opened the door and started looking closer at her room. Against the wall of the bathroom was a bookshelf and a small chair at a desk. At the foot of the bed was a large, box-like thing, which, upon closer inspection, had four drawers.

She opened the top drawer on the left to find lots of clean shirts in dark colors and a couple in light colors. She selected a black tank-top with thick straps and closed the drawer. The drawer beneath that held pants and shorts, from black ninja-wear to civilian wear like jeans. She had never worn jeans and her curiosity about the strange, popular cloth probed her to grab a pair of them. They were long and dark-washed. Simple jeans for her first try.

The top drawer on the right held lingerie and, somewhat embarrassed, she grabbed a matching black pair. They didn't have much lace, and that suited her fine. Somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered Hidan's comments about her back undergarments but she pushed that out of her mind. She was curious about what was in the bottom drawer of the dresser.

She opened the drawer to find formal wear. Dresses and skirts in rich dark colors. Silks and satins like she had only dreamed of touching before lay right before her eyes. She had to force herself to not look at the drawer full of beautiful clothing. She slammed it shut. When she did so something else caught her eye under the dresser. She kneeled down on the floor to get a closer look.

Shoes. Heels and flip-flops and boots. They were all there. More shoes than she had ever owned before. They were all a practical black, except for two, a silver pair of heels that looked like Cinderella had worn them to the ball and a pair of white and red flip-flops that seemed to match the cloaks the Akatsuki wore. It struck her that it was weird that everything was in her size, but she didn't care.

She pulled out a pair of black stiletto heels. They were designer. She almost fell over herself admiring the beautiful shoes. At that moment, nothing else existed to her. She had never owned a pair of shoes like this. The heels were bout 12 cm long and solid steel covered in shiny black leather. The toes were rounded slightly and there were two buckles by the ankle. She didn't know if she would be able to walk in them. Just in case she couldn't she pulled out a pair of black satin flats that she knew would be fine.

She carried the clothing to the bathroom where she placed it on the rim of the sink before turning on the water. She dug around in the cabinets to see if there was shampoo, conditioner, soap and a razor. She found them easily. They were rose scented and she felt like a little girl smelling them. She couldn't help it; she felt so… at ease. All thoughts of her imprisonment were gone as she stepped under the warm water of the shower. She was locked in a room, but the room was heaven.

A/N: Please Read and Review! This is my first story so any kind of comment would be welcome. Constructive criticism is much appreciated. Thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter.

Nadir91: Thank you for telling me! I know I write in a very stylized manner. Is it very annoying? If it is, I would be happy to try and fix it, if not it would be super easy for me to keep writing this way. Thank you so much for your time!

Thank you so much to everyone else who reviewed. They made me really happy, your guys' encouragement to keep writing helped stave off some of my writer's block!