Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha Characters, they belong to Rumiko Takahasi. I'm merely using them for my own twisted enjoyment. I do however, own all Original Characters, this plot line, and all the fan fics referenced in this story. :D

Chapter Nine:

By the time Naien and Bankotsu had returned to the castle the pantry was brimming with fresh fruits, nuts, and berries galore and the meat was already cooking. Over in one corner stood three large barrels of fresh spring water and some furs that had been drug out of one of the rooms.

Bankotsu ordered for Naien to take the furs outside and shake them free of dust and dirt. He watched over her intently to ensure she did as she was told. Once all the bed furs were shaken clean he followed her while she made up each of the beds with fresh silk sheets and added the bed furs.

Once that was done he escorted her over to their room and opened the closet, revealing some of the most expensive outfits she'd ever seen. He pointed to the haori and hakamas. "Grab some and we will go wash up in the hot spring through those doors before dinner." He pointed to the doors off of their room.

As usual Bankotsu had taken the best room in the castle for himself, deciding since they had to stay within range of each other due to the curse that they might as well have a big soft bed and a private bathing spring too.

Jakotsu had pitched a fit over that until he settled for the smaller room with another hot spring for himself, leaving the open spring in a different room and a separate bedroom for Renkotsu.

Bankotsu sighed. "I know these will be a little big on you, but I've managed to persuade my brother to fit them to you, in exchange for giving him all but one of the kimonos in this castle."

Naien blinked.

Knowing how women took their sweet time choosing what to wear, Bankotsu rolled his eyes and sat on the bed. He pulled out the one scroll that wasn't about him and started reading it again while he waited for her to find something 'suitable' to wear.

Unaware of what he had chosen to read Naien perused the clothes. After checking thoroughly she chose a set that she figured the colors would look good on he. She faced him twisting the hem of her shirt with the fingers. Her voice was a little shaky. "Can't I just bathe alone?"

Stuffing the scroll back into his haori Bankotsu clenched his teeth. "We both sweated and need to clean up before we eat. Now stop fidgeting and get moving." He pointed her towards the open doors that would lead to their bathing room.

Naien sighed and chewed her bottom lip between her teeth. 'He's going to see my ugly scars and call me a freak, or treat me like one.' Her hand covered her chest and she took a deep breath trying not to let bile rise in her throat.

Bankotsu scowled and placed the scrolls safely on the bed, knowing they'd be safe since Banryu was blocking their door shut. He stood up and crossed him arms over his chest. "Move it." He dragged her away by the elbow.

Once they reached the hot springs, he shucked out of his armor and clothes in a few seconds, before jumping buck naked into the spring.

Naien blushed and her hand shot to her mouth as her eyes widened at the marvelous naked flesh she saw. She slowly licked her lips and looked away still blushing.

Once he surfaced Bankotsu brushed his bangs from his face with his hair streaming down his back. He looked over toward the girl on the shore. "What's taking so long? Are you scared or something?" He smirked.

Naien's face heated more and she swallowed. Her hands fumbled with the hem of her tee shirt. She really did need a bath and her body longed to soak in the steamy water to relive her sore muscles, but she didn't want him staring at her scars.

Having had just about all that he was gonna stomach from her Bankotsu climbed out of the water and stood in front of the startled girl, ripping her t-shirt in two. "Get undressed already!"

She cried out frantically trying to stop him and covered her breasts with her arms in a vain attempt to keep him from seeing her shameful body.

Bankotsu's eyes widened as he spotted the burned circular marks peeking from behind her arms. He immediately grasped her arms and held them out of the way while his eyes stared down at her scars.

Blinking he raised his head and found her blushing beet red and looking away. Freeing one of his hands by trapping both of hers behind her in one of his; he gently grasped her chin and forced her to look at him. "Look at me Naien." When she opened her eyes his voice softened. "That story 'Always An Outcast', it's about you isn't it?"

She nodded as unwanted tears began trailing down her cheeks.

He released his hold on her and gently wiped away her tears. "That explains everything." He lightly traced his long finger over one of the scars on her breast. "I wondered why even though it's obvious that you like me, you kept refusing my advances."

She gasped and then cringed as she felt him touch her marred flesh.

Bankotsu cupped her cheek. "You did nothing to be ashamed of and you shouldn't be ashamed of your body either," His finger lightly traced another of the scars.

She bowed her head and her voice was shaky. "The scars are ugly, and-"

He pressed his finger firmly against her soft lips. "You stop that right now! I don't want to hear you talking bad about yourself. These scars are nothing to be ashamed of Naien, in fact you should wear them proudly as they attest to the fact that you survived such a horror and kept going strong."

She looked into his eyes unable to believe what she was hearing. 'I thought for sure that he'd think less of me as a woman because of my marred flesh. Was I wrong?'

Bankotsu continued, "I've read most of the story Naien. I know what you went through. You should take pride in the fact that you kept fighting and wear these as a badge of courage, not think less of yourself for something you had no control over."

He grabbed her hand and traced her finger along the two inch wide scar near the back of his ribs. "I got this one when I was employed by a Samurai. I was battling for his cause and he shoved a blade through me as payment."

She gasped and her fingers slowly traced the angry looking line. He moved her hand to his chest and placed it over a jagged looking star near his heart. "This one is when they decided to stick a branding stick through me."

Her finger traced over the welted star pastern and she blinked. "Its okay and common for men to have wounds like these, but not for a woman."

Bankotsu scoffed. "That's only because women usually aren't in a battle."

She frowned and tried to pull her hand back.

He held her hand against his chest and forced her to look into his eyes. "Anyone who faces combat will end up with at least a few scars."

She blinked.

His cerulean blue eyes shined with seriousness. "Now I understand why you keep shying away from me." He cupped her face tenderly in both of his hands. "Naien I won't hurt you, I'm not like those other guys. I'd never treat a woman like that."

Naien nodded and sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.

His thumb stroked her cheek. "I'll treat you better... better than what anyone has done in the past." He stared deep into her eyes slowly running the back of his fingers along the tear tracks on her cheek. "You're special and should be treated as such, not like some piece of meat to be used and thrown to the dogs."

Naien closed her eyes and asked dryly, "What's so special about a scarred woman who's haunted by her past and ends up being hurt every time?" She tried to turn away but he held her to his chest.

"The fact that you're not afraid to stand up to me, to speak your mind despite the consequences. The fact that you've been strong enough on your own to survive such tragedies and become stronger because of them. I could still go on."

She blinked. "Really?"

He nodded. "All of these make you special."

She scoffed, "Being a survivor because you're all alone doesn't make you special. I became feisty because of it, that's all." She stared at the ground, closing her eyes whenever he tried to get her to look at him.

Bankotsu grinned. "But that's what I like about you, Naien. You're not afraid of me or to stand up to me."

She blinked and looked at him with a tilt of her head.

Bankotsu sighed heavily. "Other women, even when I'm bedding them, they have fear in their eyes." His voice lowered. "I don't want the woman I'm in the midst of pleasuring to look at me with anything but bliss, but they do. I see the fear clear as day," sadness entered into and dulled his liquid pools of sapphire.

Naien cupped the side of his face tenderly and stared into his eyes. "I'm not afraid of you Bankotsu. I just don't trust men period, because of the life I've had,"She dropped her hands and turned away with her hands over the scars on her chest.

He pulled her hand back to his cheek holding it there with his bigger hand over hers. He nuzzled his face into her palm. His voice was hard as steel. "Those men will never touch you again and if I ever did find them - I'd tear them apart for what they did to you." Smoothing some hair out of her face and tucking it gently behind her ear, he vowed, "No man will ever lay a finger on you so long as I have breath left in my body!"

Naien lowered her eyes and stared down at the scars that stood out on her soft welled in her eyes at the sight.

Following her eyes Bankotsu smiled and traced his finger slowly and gently over the scars, before lowering his head to feather a kiss over each of the scars. His voice murmured about how beautiful she was and how the scars only served to add to her beauty.

Naien's heart fluttered inside her chest. 'No one has ever tried so much to make me feel better.' Her lips slowly spread into a big smile.

Bankotsu placed a chaste kiss on her lips before grabbing her hands and leading her over to the water."Let's go bathe before Jaky comes in her pitching a fit about us letting his food go to waste, okay?"

She nodded and allowed him to lead her over to the edge of the water. She inhaled and felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach as his calloused palms slipped to the top of her jeans, carefully tracing her flat stomach along the way. Shivers danced along her spine intensifying with every stroke of his hand along her skin.

She stopped his hands with her own and he slowly, reluctantly withdrew his hands. Keeping their eyes locked she undid the button and lowered the zipper. His eyes watched her every movement. She swallowed before lowering her jeans slowly past her hips. The butterflies in her belly became frenzied and she closed her eyes knowing that he would see the ugly gashes that had healed along her thighs. She bit her lip and slowly slid her pants further down. Bankotsu's eyes roved over her body and lingered on the scars along her outer thighs, making them tingle. His fingers lightly traced those scars while she continued pushing her jeans down and slipped them down her toned legs. Standing up straight she kicked free of her jeans.

Bankotsu took one more look at her standing there in only her black silk wrapped around her breast and the matching silk like fondushi which covered far more than any other fondushi he'd ever seen. His brow rose and he turned his back, slipping into the water. Bankotsu's eyes were glued to the breath taking vixen as he watched her peel the black silk away from her breasts and slid the strange fondushi off. He was completely unable and unwilling to take his azure gaze off of the woman.

Taking a deep breath Naien slowly entered the water stopping every other step to breathe deeply and then continuing further into the warm water.

She reached over grabbing for what they used as shampoo. "Turn around so that I can wash your hair."

"Yes ma'am," he replied with a smirk as he turned his back, releasing his hair from its braid and shaking it out. He sighed in content relishing the feeling. Her nimble fingers stroked his scalp, lulling him nearly into sleep, as she worked to clean the built up layer of dirt and sweat and from his hair. Once that was done dropped her hands and stared at him. "Dunk so we can rinse you."

Bankotsu dunked into the water and Naien ran her fingers through his long black hair to remove the soap suds. Naien smiled. After she completely washed away all the suds from his hair, she stood back and waited for him to surface.

Naien turned her attention to her own hair. She sighed as she hit a particularly dirty spot. She gripped the hair and scrubbed much harder than necessary. 'Ugh why does it have to be so difficult?'

'Maybe I should return the favor?' Bankotsu imagined running his fingers through her brown hair, massaging her scalp as she'd done him. His mind pictured him working her tight sore muscles into melted butter. Bankotsu slid stealthily in the water coming up behind her like a shark to a tasty morsel.

Naien growled as she continued trying to get her hair clean.

Bankotsu moved his hands to where hers were working the dirty spot and nestling the front of his body to her back.

She blinked and asked a bit breathlessly, "What are ya doing?" She bit her lip unsure whether to move away or not.

His lips pressed against her ear. "I'm returning the favor. Here... let me finish this up for you."

Her spine stiffened and her breath hitched. "Um..." Her eyes lid shut as his warm breath brushed against her ear.

Bankotsu quickly moved his fingers expertly through her hair scrubbing at the various dirty spots, being careful not to be too rough. 'I knew it would be soft.'

Feeling his strong fingers glide through her she sighed and felt her back relax from its stiff position.

Bankotsu smirked as he felt her melting into his grasp. 'Now how can I make her more at ease with me?'

Surprised at how comforting it was to have him washing her hair Naien sighed in content. 'What's going on? Why am I letting him do this?' '

Bankotsu continued working his magic on her hair until it was clean. His hands moved to her shoulders working out the tension he felt there.

Naien cleared her throat loudly. "Um Bankotsu -" she trailed off unable to speak. Feeling his strong hands on her shoulders she blinked. "Now what is he doing?" she whispered. Giving into how good it felt to have her shoulders rubbed, she leaned into his strong fingers.

Her head leaned back against his chest and her eyes closed.

Bankotsu's lips brushed against her neck and he placed an open mouth kiss on the side of her neck.

They jumped when they heard an insistent pounding on their bedroom door. "Big brother, the food is done, get out here already! What's taking so damn long?"

Bankotsu glared at the door as he moved slowly out of the water. 'Leave it to Jaky to show up just when it was getting good.' He huffed and heading to his clothes and armor.

Her lips formed a pout as she watched Bankotsu exit the water, noting the powerful muscles of his sculpted back and taught ass. 'Damn he's even sexier in the flesh.' She her bottom lip to keep from whistling in appreciation at the site.

"You really should get out of the water before you catch a cold." Bankotsu smirked. "That is if you can take your eyes off me long enough." He winked at her.

Her face turned pink and she ducked her head.

He held up her fresh clothes as she exited the water. "After dinner Jakotsu will start working on fixing your clothes so they fit right."

Naien nodded and reached for the clothes.

"Slowly,"

She felt like her whole body was going up in flames as his intent gaze watched her dress.

A/N Okay that's chapter nine everyone, enjoy :D