"Oh, my my Kisame-kun~" The round-faced entertainer cooed adoringly. "I've never seen so many muscles…you must be so strong." Batting her long eyelashes, Momo continued to woo and adore over the shark, and to Evelyn's complete disgust, he was actually buying it.

Kisame couldn't suppress the cheeky grin on his lips, flashing razor-sharp teeth down at his number-one-fan. "Remember, kitten, the weak are meat, the strong eat."

Ugh. Evelyn crinkled her nose. Kitten?! Bleh!

Momo nearly curled her entire side into the man. "Then I'm sure you must be well-fed!" She giggled.

"Can we not?" Evelyn had her arms crossed with the look of a bathed cat. "Are you taking us to this Nara-sama woman or what? I didn't walk a marathon for you."

Momo's mask went from its cuddly demeanor to that of a witch. "Listen, girl-" She began, her voice reminiscent of a thousand nails on a chalkboard.

"Hey." Kisame interrupted, pausing in the hallway they were walking. A glance was spared to his livid companion. "I'll ask the questions, kunoichi."

Are you kidding me right now!? Evelyn wanted to scream.

Momo gave her a small wink, laying her head against the shinobi's arm with a satisifed purr.

This is so fucking stupid! She glared at the man.

"I'm sorry she interrupted you, Kisame-kun." The couple continued their walk down the hallway, while Evelyn brewed in fury and resentfully marched along behind. "Please, allow me to alleviate the stress from your journey in any way I can~"

"You do eat a lot, Kisame-kun~!" Momo poured another glass of tea for the shinobi, flashing her dazzling smile. Kisame, on the other hand, ignored her.

"Kunoichi." His gruff voice reached her ears. "Come eat."

Evelyn was laying on her back, with one leg propped up and an arm across her face. Her chest rose with a deep inhale. "Not hungry."

Kisame chewed another piece of sushi, narrowing his yellow eyes at her. "That's a terrible lie."

"I don't care." Her voice was almost lazy, as though she was on the verge of falling asleep.

"Kisame-" A blue hand silenced the porcelain doll.

"Leave us alone; I'll call you when I need something." His voice was indifferent.

Momo bristled slightly at the way he spoke to her, but she bowed in respect and left, eyeing the girl on the floor with distaste.

When the door was closed, Kisame sighed and leaned back on his hands. "You need to eat. I can't afford for you to slow me down."

"Then I'll just die here on the floor." Evelyn mused. "Tell them I wish to be cremated."

"Kunoichi."

"Kisame."

"No more jokes. Eat. Now." The impatient tone in his voice made her flop her arm carelessly to the floor. Blue orbs stared at the ceiling in disinterest.

"I don't want to be here." The sincerity in her voice made a strange pang in Kisame's gut. Was that guilt? He ignored it.

"I don't care. I won't tell you again, come eat." Taking a piece of food in-between his chopsticks, a salmon flavored roll went airborne and made a perfect arc through the air, making its target as it landed on Evelyn's forehead. Plop.

"Did…did you just throw food at me?" A wild, brief grin lit up her face. "Are you kidding me?" The mirth in her voice urged the shinobi to continue. She laughed as another one landed a direct bulls-eye on her cheek. "Stop it!"

"Not until you eat something." Not willing to admit it audibly, he rather enjoyed the sound of her laughter. It was like two completely different people, hearing her whine and having her laugh. He preferred the latter.

"Okay-okay! Just stop throwing raw fish at me!" Sitting upright and placing her collection of tidbits on a plate, she grabbed a white napkin and waved it. "I surrender!"

"Good." He watched as she nearly scarfed platefuls of food down, followed by nearly chugging down a pot of tea. "And you said you weren't hungry."

She shrugged, wiping a piece of sticky rice from her cheek. "I'm a spiteful person." She confessed, nonchalantly.

Kisame shook his head. "You're a brat."

"You're violent."

The thought made him somber. "You have to be, to survive, kunoichi."

"Why do you call me that?" Evelyn jabbed a chopstick through piece of glazed chicken. She glowered at him. "You do it on purpose, don't you?"

The shark smirked at her, grabbing an apple and throwing it across to her. Thanks to her poor reflex skills, it thumped against her chest and bounced to the floor. "Would you prefer something else, kitten?"

She made a face. "Ugh, do not call me that. I prefer my name, thanks."

"Neh, we'll see."

Wiping the apple across her grimy shirt, she frowned at the filth. "Can we please shower?"

"I don't know you that well, kitten." His eyes sparkled with amusement as the fruit fell from hand and into her lap.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" She sputtered, bits of apple and spit flying. Kisame's grin only grew wider as her face turned bright red. "You know what I meant!"

Kisame, having eaten his fill and in a rather good mood, turned his head to the side. "Hey, Kitten!" He yelled across the room.

"You can't call two of us that!" Evelyn murmured as she bit into her fruit again.

"Hai~!" Momo appeared instantly, bowing before Kisame and pretending Evelyn was invisible. "What can I help you with, Kisame-kun~?"

"We both need a bath."

After showing them to their room, Momo returned with fresh clothes, and drew a bath up, leaving them to their own devices. Evelyn said nothing about wanting to bathe first, and opted for waiting for the shark to finish first. Lingering outside the door of the bathroom, she could hear the sounds of water splashing and an occasional hum. If she wasn't so tired from the day's journey, she would've heard the words rather than fall asleep in front of the doorway.

Half an hour passed as the shark washed away the dirt and grime he accumulated from the day. It felt refreshing to finally rid himself of his ratted clothes, and proceeded to scrub his skin raw. Images of serrated teeth instead of the sponge he held played across his mind, and his body broke out in goosebumps at the thought of having been eaten alive.

I did my part. He firmly told himself. I did what I had to.

His mood for a relaxing bath having been ruined, he pulled the drain and reached for a towel. After drying off the majority of his skin and getting dressed in new clothes, he turned the handle and opened the door.

Thunk. Evelyn's skull was the first thing to hit the wooden floor as she fell back away from her supportive wall. With the lightning fast reflexes of a veteran shinobi, he simply sidestepped her and watched her hit the deck.

"Oww..." Evelyn whimpered, rousing from her slumber and rubbing at the sore spot on her scalp. Rolling over onto her stomach, she then gingerly lifted her tenderized muscles from the floor, standing toe to toe with Kisame. "Thanks." She muttered crossly, wiping the sleep form her eyes.

"If you wish to bathe, I suggest you quite wasting time and hurry." He jerked a thumb back behind himself, indicating the mess he had left behind and hadn't bothered to clean.

"Were you practicing a new jutsu!?" Evelyn declared, waving her arm at the atrocity. "There's water and soap everywhere!"

"You have twenty minutes." And with that, he ignored her quips and shut the door behind himself, opting to lean against the wall and wait for her to be done.

He's such an asshole! Evelyn shook her head, taking an extra dark-green towel and laying it before the tub to step on. Turning the water on and setting the temperature to her liking, she then grabbed the hem of her black shirt to pull overhead until she paused.

Clink clink. The silver cuff over her wrist glinted in the soft lighting, mocking her.

Oh my god. How am I going to take this shirt off?! What did Kisame do? His bare torso popped up in her brain. Damn, that's right. He didn't have a shirt to begin with! Shit!

She bit her lower lip, sitting on the edge of the tub and thinking of how to remove the shirt. I guess I have no choice, it's gonna have to be ripped off...unless I plan on becoming a laundry line forever. The thought of her clothes being stretched across herself and Kisame brought a smirk to her face.

Kisame was standing against the wall, his arms crossed and hair dripping water to the floor. When the door opened, he blinked in surprise. It hadn't even been five minutes. Only when he saw she was still clothed did he scowl at her.

"I-I need help." She started pathetically, fiddling her fingers together.

Kisame observed as she twisted her index finger across her thumb. "You don't know how to take a bath?"

"What? No!" She retorted, opening the door fully. Kisame spied the tub to be nearly filled, and a flowery scent wafted over him. He rather liked it. She muttered something unintelligible.

"What?"

"I said I need help getting my shirt off!" Evelyn blurted, her cheeks growing hot. "I-I can't rip the hem, and I don't have anything to cut it."

A few moments passed as Evelyn felt his scrutinizing stare on her, and she wanted nothing more than to melt into the floor. Abruptly, Kisame took the hem on the side she was chained on, and quickly ripped the side of her shirt with ease. When he finished, he returned to his spot and said nothing.

"Coolthanks." Evelyn rushed back inside, her words fumbled. After shutting the door behind her, she returned to the safety of her green towel and stripped the rest of her filthy clothes off.

When she finally laid inside the tub, she relished in the delicious feeling of the warm water enveloping her. Twenty minutes my ass. She grinned to herself and proceeded to wash her hair.

Dirt, sweat, and dried tears were all vigorously scrubbed from her peach colored skin. Evelyn smelled different bottles that were unmarked, and chose the ones she thought smelled best. Working the knots from her hair was a challenge, but she finally felt a little better about herself since she'd woken up in this whole mess. The bruises across her body made her die a bit inside, but she chose it was best to ignore them and hope they would fade.

When she finished, she wrapped herself and her hair in a separate towel, wandering over to the mirror. An awful array of bruises colored her face and spread across her neck, and the thought of his hands on her made her cringe.

Turning her back towards her reflection, she gripped the counter top behind her and stared down at the floor. It's not over. This is still happening. I'm trapped in a nightmare…but I know I can get through it.