Pale eyes fluttered open and Hinata exhaled a yawn as her mind slowly regained awareness of her surroundings. She hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep.

Her gaze wandered around the Menma's empty quarters, but there were no windows. No way to tell the time of day or how long she had been sleeping. But judging from the stiffness in her neck it must have been at least a few hours. Her wrists were already growing sore from her restraints.

With nothing else to do, Hinata spent the day sitting there and thinking. Sometimes she would daydream what it might be like if she was on a grand ship like this without being held captive.

No deliveries to make like Neji had, in her fantasy, she would just sail wherever the winds took her. Completely free to explore the beauty in this world and create her own epic stories of her seafaring adventures, instead of always listening to the tales of others.

But she would never get to live those dreams if she didn't get off this god-forsaken pirate ship and away from that devilish captain's clutches.

After Menma had so brashly kissed her, Hinata decided she couldn't be so docile or he would easily take advantage of her. She would have to fight and resist and make his life so difficult he would have to let her go.

When Menma returned to his quarters, Hinata greeted him with a scowl. It wasn't in her nature to be rude to people, but someone like him didn't deserve her kindness.

"Ooh, scary," Menma jest as he sat beside her with a tray of food. Her expression melted into an adorable pout, which only seemed to amuse him further. Maybe she was overestimating herself to have believed she could intimate a ruthless pirate like him.

When he brought a piece of bread up to her mouth, Hinata turned her head and scoffed, "what do you think you're doing?"

"It's not poisoned," Menma assured her, taking a bite himself before offering it to her again.

"No, I mean why are you feeding me?! Just untie my hands and I'll do it myself!"

"Can't do that, doll face," Menma frowned, impatience evident in his tone. "Now just shut up and eat."

He shoved the bread into her mouth. Hinata took a bite only to spit it right back out at him. Opal eyes glared at him as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. "I said no! I'm a lady! I don't want to be fed by someone like —"

Her rant was cut off by a sharp gasp as his palm connected with her face in a harsh slap. Her head whipped to the side and her pinkened cheek stung from the pain. Her lips remained parted, still shocked by his action.

Okay, maybe resistance wasn't the solution.

Menma then grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look into his furious blue eyes. "That was a mistake," he seethed. His harsh tone sent a jolt of fear through her body.

Hinata cringed, preparing for another strike, but he released her. She exhaled a sigh of relief as Menma got up from the bed and left his quarters, taking her food with him.

Hinata woke from the rumbling of her stomach. Her body was beginning to feel more fatigued and weak, despite her constant rest.

She needed something to eat and soon.

She still couldn't tell how much time had passed, but judging by the growing ache in her stomach and the fact that Menma had eaten three meals in front of her, it had probably been at least a full day that he had been intentionally starving her.

When Menma walked into the room with a tray full of food, Hinata was practically salivating. None of the food even looked particularly appetizing and yet she wet her lips like it was the most delicious meal she'd ever seen.

Menma smirked to himself as he observed her hungry stare. "Are you ready to be a good girl?"

Pale eyes snapped up to meet him and her stomach replied with a soft growl. "Y-yes," Hinata nodded.

"Yes, what?"

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes but clarified, "call me Captain. While you're on my ship, you'll address me with respect."

"But I don't want to be on your ship," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" he growled.

"Nothing, Captain," Hinata smiled with mock sweetness.

"That's what I thought."

Menma leaned in closer and her breath hitched when she felt his fingers caressed the same cheek he had slapped the day before. He was surprisingly tender, and Hinata mentally berated her traitorous body for leaning into his touch.

"Things will be much easier for you if just behave. Do you think you can do that for me?" Menma asked in a husky whisper. His question seemed innocent and yet the intensity swirling behind his blue depths warned her to not defy him again.

"Yes, Captain," Hinata softly replied. The devilish smile that spread across his lips made her stomach do a nervous flip.

"Good," he replied simply, before finally offering her a bite of food. This time Hinata allowed him to feed her without any protest.

Hinata woke to the feeling of two large palms touching her body. Her bleary eyes opened to discover a man she did not recognize crawling on top of her, his grubby hands aggressively groping her chest.

His breath reeked of hard liquor as he mumbled "so soft" and "so pretty" against her neck between sloppy wet kisses that made her skin crawl with disgust. With her hands bound, Hinata couldn't put up much of a fight, so she screamed and kicked her legs trying to get the greasy pirate off of her.

"Shh! Shh!" he hushed with a hand over her mouth, but it was already too late, her cries had been heard.

Her assailant seemed to sober up with fear the moment Menma burst into his quarters, blue eyes burning with fury. He ripped him off Hinata by the back of his shirt, tossing him onto the ground with a hard thud.

"I-I'm sorry, Cap-Captain. I just couldn't help myself!" the man whimpered. Hinata cringed when Menma's response was to roughly kick him in the stop.

"Get the fuck up!" Menma growled, the aggression in his voice even scared Hinata and she found herself cowering on the bed. The crewman stood up on trembling legs, clutching his bruised ribs as Menma pushed him out the door.

He shoved him toward the center of the main deck, before Menma yanked on a rope, ringing a bell to summon all the crew members. He had a zero-tolerance policy for insubordination, and his men were about to be reminded what happened when you cross Captain Menma Namikaze.

Despite her shaky knees and the anxious pit in her stomach, Hinata padded off the bed and peeked out the door of the captain's quarters. Her pale eyes squinted from the bright light. The sun was already beginning to set as she observed the all the pirates gathering to watch the scene unfold.

"Put your hand on the table," Menma commanded, his tone was deadly serious, as he drew his knife from the holster at his thigh.

"Please, Captain! I'm sorry!"

"I said put your fucking hand on the fucking table!" he shouted in his face.

The man began sobbing as he placed his trembling hand on the table. Menma grabbed him by the wrist in an iron grip ensuring he couldn't pull away. His dark blue eyes stared directly into his crewman's face as he told him, "this one is for entering my quarters without permission."

Hinata's pale eyes widened in horror as he brought the sharp blade down on the man's pinky finger. She gripped the door frame when she suddenly grew dizzy watching the blood pour from his wound onto the table. She winced at the man's agonizing screams and turned away to shield herself from the gruesome scene.

The other pirates in the crew were watching with a mixture of reactions ranging from amusement to fear to respect.

"This one is for touching what doesn't belong to you," Menma sneered before slicing off the man's ring finger. Hinata peeked behind the doorframe at another heart-wrenching yelp, watching as deep red blood spilled all over the table.

Guilt twisted in her gut and tears pooled in her eyes, thinking that this was somehow her fault. Menma chopped off this man's fingers because of her!

When Menma let go of his wrist, the pirate collapsed onto the floor clutching his bloody hand to his chest. Menma stared at his pained expression without an ounce of sympathy before he grabbed the dismembered fingers and tossed them overboard.

"The next person who tries to touch her will have more than just their fingers cut off. Do I make myself clear?"

A resounding "yes, Captain!" was shouted by every spectating pirate.

"You," Menma pointed at the nearest crewman with the point of his bloody knife. "Clean this up."

When he turned around, Hinata let out a nervous squeak as she ran back into his quarters and sat down on the bed still trying to process what she had just witnessed on top of being assaulted by that man.

Menma silently walked in and closed the door behind him. Hinata met his gaze as tears began streaming down her cheeks. "You didn't have to do that," she mumbled.

"Yes, I did."

He crossed the room and sat on the bed next to her. Hinata immediately tried to scoot away, but Menma grabbed her by the arm to prevent her escape. She squirmed in his hold as her tears continued to fall. She didn't want to be touched by someone so cruel. Menma didn't seem to feel any remorse or feelings at all! He was a monster. A heartless monster!

But then he pulled out a handkerchief and began drying her tears.

"You're okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Her lips parted, but no words came out, shocked speechless by the tender way he spoke and touched her.

"Where did he touch you?" he asked softly, but seriously.

She blushed and averted her gaze down to the floor, too embarrassed to speak out loud the way that pirate violated her. "There?" he glanced pointedly between her legs and Hinata shook her head.

Menma sighed as his hand traced down her arm to her bound hands. He was silent a moment as he observed the bruising and chaffed skin around her wrists from her restraints.

"You really are delicate, aren't you, my little pearl?" The use of his nickname for her seemed to usher in a new mood in the room. His fingers gingerly trace over her wrists and the touch sent a peculiar tingle to her core. "Now that you know how much you don't want to leave this room, maybe I can leave you untied. But can I trust you to be a good girl?"

"Yes," Hinata nodded eagerly. Her body ached from the position she had been sitting in the last two days, her wrists were sore, and even though she had gotten over herself and allowed him to feed her, she would much prefer to feed herself.

"Yes, what?" Menma asked.

Hinata averted her gaze, confused why the amused smirk on his lips made her feel so embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed bright pink as she muttered, "yes, Captain."

A/N: thanks so much for reading! if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment!