Ana was silent the entire way to the hidden village of Sound. She simply stared at the moon and prayed to it that this guy wasn't as bad as the last one.
Max hadn't abused her, physically anyway. He'd promised her forever, and forever had lasted about two months. Still she continually forgave him. He'd fathered three children outside of their marriage in the five years that they'd been married. Ana was so devoted to him because he was the first person who'd ever told her that she was beautiful and that he loved her.
When Ana's parents had arranged the marriage contract between Max and Ana, Ana had been seventeen and Max was a wealthy businessman. A few months later, he lost most of his money by investing in high-risk business ventures. Instead of trying to figure out how to restructure his finances after receiving such a blow, Max lived in denial. He gambled and drank away the rest of it. Ana was the last thing he'd had, and now he didn't even have her.
Ana cursed herself for not realizing something like this would eventually happen. Especially after the argument they'd had a few days previously.
"Max, I've got a surprise for you."
"What is it, dollface?" Max seemed in an unusually good mood. He'd probably won a bit at the card tables.
She smiled sweetly. "We're going to have a baby." She couldn't contain her excitement. "Isn't that great!" She finally would have someone to spend her lonely days and nights with when Max chose to spend his somewhere else. A baby would love her no matter what its father thought of her.
"Ana, we talked about this. You know we can't afford it."
"We can afford it? You mean because you keep giving money to your other baby's mama. Look, Max, I know that money's not all you're giving her."
Max slapped Ana, and he said coldly to her "You've got to get rid of the child. If you don't, I'll do it for you."
"We're home." The silver-haired man declared. Ana hadn't noticed, but they'd reached a small blue house. It had an inviting front porch, on which sat a single rocking chair. He unlocked the door and turned on the lights. The main room was sparsely furnished. A wooden table and two chairs sat in the center of the room. On the right-hand wall was a blue sofa. On top of it were two pillows and a blanket in coordinating shades of blue.
To the right of the main room was a small kitchen area. At the rear of the house, there was a bedroom and a bathroom. The bedroom contained an overflowing bookcase and a queen-sized bed. The bed was covered with a navy and maroon patchwork quilt. The entire house was kept neat. All Ana could tell about this man from looking at the house was that he lived alone.
"My name is Kabuto, and from I gathered earlier, you are Ana." He hadn't introduced himself previously because he really didn't want to get attached. She just looked around.
"You're probably tired." He went to a closet and pulled out a towel and washcloth. He then went into the bedroom and began rifling through the drawers. He pulled out a black t-shirt and green plaid pajama pants. "This will do for now. We can go into town in the morning and get you something more suitable."
She ran her bath. Instead of staying to watch her bathe, Kabuto went into the kitchen. After he finished making a pot of tea, he sat down and began reading the novel he started that afternoon completely ignoring the presence of the girl.
Ana puzzled at this. She figured he would be trying to tear off her clothes and drag her into his bed immediately upon entering the house.
"What am I going to do with her?" he thought. "Orochimaru-sama might could use a girl." No ideas came to his mind. Until he made a decision, he guessed it wouldn't hurt to keep her here.
When she finished her bath, hebrought her a cup of tea and a peanut butter and honey sandwich. He sat next to her on the bed, and he asked, "Can I brush your hair?"
She's a little bit freaked out by this, but she quietlysaid "I guess so."
He moved behind her and placed on of his hands on her right shoulder. The other hand brushed her hair. He ran his hands through her hair, and he decided he could brush it forever. It was soft, black and shiny. He massaged the back of her neck and her shoulders lightly.
"Tell me about yourself," she figured she should get to know him a little if she'd be living with him.
"I don't know if you've heard of the great Sannin, Orochimaru. I'm his chief confidante." Kabuto seemed very proud of this and extremely devoted to his master.
"So you're a glorified servant who caters to his every whim?"
"I make sure he is well taken care of, yes."
"In every way?" She said teasingly.
"Well…" Kabuto stammered. He hadn't been prepared to answer this. He knew what she implied, and he knew also that the rest of the sound ninjas believed that he was sexually involved with Orochimaru. Truthfully, where he was at right now, he might have welcomed sexual attention from him. It would have been better than none at all.
Kabuto had been with women before, but they were prostitutes, and women that you pay don't really care about you. They are just there to make a living like everyone else. He sighed. "You wouldn't understand."
"You can have the bed," he said. "I'll sleep in the other room."
"No, stay." She realized she'd upset him, so she thought it would smooth the situation. She lay down under the covers. He crawled in next to her, and lay next to her. She rolled onto her side and pulled his arm over her and snuggled in close. At least she could pretend something existed between them.
"Good night," she whispered.
"Good night."