Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.
A vein in his forehead ticked as he felt a prodding fingertip in his side.
Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.
He growled as he woke from his deep slumber. "What do you want?"
She laughed sweetly as she watched him curse as he reluctantly awoke. "For you to wake up..."
"Why," He took a breath to calm his ecstasy of rage. He grounded his teeth together in an attempt to sound kinder and continued. "Why would you want me to wake up?"
"I don't know." She shrugged lazily.
If she was not a girl, he would have killed her. A low growl rumbled in his chest. "You don't know?"
"Nope, not at all."
He very nearly slapped her when she told him, "I just wanted to hear your voice."
His fiery glare faltered and he gathered her into his arms. He rested his chin on the crown of her head. "Hn… Foolish woman…"
"But I'm your foolish woman."
He closed his obsidian eyes in content he hadn't been able to feel for a while. "I guess you are."
They were interrupted by a rough cough from someone on the opposite side of the swarthy prison cell. Kagome turned around in Sasuke's arms and smiled at the bald man outside the prison bars. "Hello Ibiki-sama!"
He nodded. "Kagome-san, Tsunade-sama requests your presence in the hokage's' tower."
Kagome bunched her eyebrows in curiosity. "What could Tsunade-san possibly want with me after a month and a half?"
Ibiki kept a straight face. "Perhaps," he sighed. "That is for you to go find out."
She nervously bit her lip as she considered what the blonde could want with her. "Can Mr. Gigg- Sasuke come?"
The torture master eyed Sasuke warily. "Ms. Haruno is currently there."
Kagome glanced at Sasuke to find him staring at the ground. She'd learned that this was what he'd do when he was contemplating a decision. He stood. "I can't hide from her forever."
Ibiki nodded to show he'd heard Sasuke's decision. He swiftly snatched his chain of a thousand keys out of the back of his pocket and unlocked the prison door. He whistled and suddenly they were surrounded by a flock of ANBU.
"Merely being cautious," Ibiki explained stoically.
Kagome nodded twice and smiled reassuringly. "Of course, I completely understand, Ibiki-sama." And they set off down the many endless hallways and prisons.
The miko bit her lip at the loud silence that filled the air, except the occasional hoot and rude phrase from the prisoners that resided in the dimly lit cells. To break the uncomfortable silence, she decided to ask a few time consuming questions. "So… Ibiki-sama, wh-where did you get all of those scars?"
He kept facing forward. "I was tortured for five years."
She stopped in the middle of the hall until Sasuke poked her tense back side as a silent way of saying to move. She shook her head to come out of her befuddled daze.
"I was too… But only for six months… His name was Naraku. The name of my torturer, I mean." She shivered as she remembered his cackles and taunts as he injected deadly miasma in her veins. She rubbed her arms as she felt the ghost of the horrifying methods of torture the cruel demon had used on her.
Ibiki's usually stoic voice softened a fraction. "It doesn't matter how long of a time it was, it's a horrifying experience that will always mentally and physically scar anyone."
She nodded. "That's why I'm taking all of this as well as I am."
Beside her, Sasuke snorted. "Is that why you cried the whole first three weeks you were here?"
"Yes," Kagome bit out acidly.
"Enough," Ibiki barked. "God, you two argue like an old married couple."
A bright idea popped in Kagome's head. "Like Jaraiya-sama and Tsunade-san?"
Ibiki chuckled deeply. "Yes, much like those two."
"But it's actually Kakashi-sama and Tsunade-san who are together, though, right?" Kagome predicted.
"You are correct," Ibiki confirmed with I slow nod.
She beamed brightly and clapped her hands with delight. "I'm happy for them."
"As well as I, Higurashi."
Kagome jumped at the sound of the new voice and quickly looked to see Tsunade sitting a few feet before her.
"Dude, I didn't even know we were here yet!" Kagome exclaimed. Sasuke bit out a laugh.
"You wouldn't." Kagome just stuck her tongue out at the avenger.
"What," Tsunade began. "Is the Uchiha doing here?"
They all heard a sharp crash throughout the room and found the source of it to be a dropped coffee mug. The hokage sighed.
