Kami awoke with a start and looked around rather suddenly to be sure if Orochimaru was in her room. He wasn't.

Instead, a man with white hair and glasses entered while holding a tray of food.

"You must be hungry." He walked closer to her but she tried to scoot closer to a corner of the bed. He looked at her questioningly.

"I don't intend to do anything to you," he said. He set the tray onto a small desk that was next to her bed.

Kami slowly reached for an apple that was on the tray. She bit into it and realized that she had no reason to be cautious-what intention would they have of killing her?

".. Why am I here?" She asked Kabuto, after swallowing part of the apple.

"Didn't Orochimaru-sama already tell you?" He asked, cross his arms.

"Well.. He mentioned something about a proposition, but.. Can't he get someone else to heal his arms? Someone better?"

Kabuto sighed.

"I can't tell you much-but I will tell you this. You'd better do as he says or else.. You'd wish your punishment is death." With that, Kabuto walked out of the room. Kami shuddered.

------------------------------------------------------

Kami had stayed in her room that whole day, but she was just fine with that as long as she was away from Orochimaru. He gave her the creeps.

'What should I do?' she wondered to herself. 'If I heal his arms then I would be saving myself but.. I'd be betraying Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura. I'd be betraying the whole Leaf village.'

She slumped back onto a pillow on her bed in misery. 'No.. I can't betray them. I don't care what he does to me-if I go back I will never forgive myself, and neither will they..'

Nightfall eventually came. She was now even more nervous and found it hard to sit still. Her stomach hurt from all of the dread that was building up inside of it. 'If only I hadn't stayed in the Leaf village!' She scolded herself.

All of her thoughts ceased as she heard the door open with a slow creak.

She saw Orochimaru walk in and sit in the same chair that he did before, but this time he wasn't smirking. He was serious.

"Now, Kami-san.. Have we made our decision?"

She trembled and felt sicker than she had ever been before.

"N-no.."

"What?" Orochimaru's voice was quiet and it came out as a hiss.

"I d-don't care what you do to me.. I won't betray my friends.." She knew that she looked pathetic and scared-exactly how she felt. Orochimaru's expression scared her more than anything else, though. He looked so angry that she wasn't sure if he was going to kill her right there or torture her later on.

"I see how we are, Kami.." He said through gritted teeth. "Kabuto!" He hissed, and Kabuto quickly emerged through the doorway. "Take her to Sasuke.. He's been rather.. Lonely lately."

Kami stared at Kabuto's expressionless face and Kabuto grabbed Kami's arm-none too gently and exited the room.

"You've made a foolish mistake, Kami." Kabuto whispered to her once they were a while down the hall. His strides were quick-it was hard for Kami to keep up with him.

"Isn't Sasuke-"

"Yes. But consider yourself lucky that Orochimaru's arms are dead-if they weren't he'd do whatever he wanted to you." Kami shuddered at the thought but felt sick. She was afraid of what was in store for her.

They stopped at a room sooner than she thought, much to her dismay.

"Sasuke," Kabuto said quietly, then opened the door. "She's been sent by Orochimaru." Kabuto pushed her into the room and she let out a small gasp as she fell to the floor. She slowly rose her head to see a boy staring at her, rather expressionlessly. 'This is Sasuke?' She thought with surprise as she stared at his black emotionless eyes. (A/N: yes, I made it so that Sasuke looks the same way he did before he joined Orochimaru except he has the mark)

"Why are you here?" He asked. She snapped out of her daze and quickly stood up. 'Didn't he know?'

"I-"

"Tell Orochimaru that I don't want anyone right now."

"B-but Sasuke," Kabuto stuttered. "Now." Kabuto reluctantly walked out of the room and left Kami standing there. She couldn't explain how happy she was and how much she appreciated Sasuke right then. She awkwardly tugged at the hem of her shirt.

"So." Sasuke said, "You're the new medic nin?" He smirked and sat on his bed cross legged.

".. Yes.. But I refused and this is supposed to be my punishment.."

"Heh."

"Your friend.. Sakura.. She misses you.." Kami didn't know what Sasuke's reaction would be and was surprised when he didn't seem phased at all. He merely turned his gaze to her face and stared at her.

"I've already told her. Nothing she does can make me change my mind."

Kami felt anger rising in her chest. "But she cares so much for you! How can you just act so indiffere-" She gasped as Sasuke pinned her to a wall.

"And who are you to make such statements, Kami-san?" He released her and walked once more to the bed. She realized that he was more dangerous than she expected. She softened her voice.

There was a long pause.

"Why have you joined Orochimaru? It's power, isn't it.."

Sasuke stared at her then dropped his gaze down to the floor.

"What do you know about power?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I know that.. Power isn't everything." Kami walked closer to him. "I don't know how lonely it is for you, but I know how much it can hurt. I know how much you suffer day by day, wondering, wishing that everything will just change. But it doesn't. It never changes. You always remain lonely." Sasuke looked up at Kami.

'What has she gone through?'

Kami hugged herself and shivered. Yes, she remembered the pain. Even though it happened years ago, she still shuddered at the thought of how much it had hurt her.

"You have a family." She looked at Sasuke.

"Do I?" She asked, her voice weak. She turned and faced the dark wall that used to be behind her and buried her face in her hands. Why did this have to come up now?

'I won't cry,' she thought, but felt a tear slide down her cheek. 'I won't cry..'

She felt someone turn her around and saw Sasuke's face. It was still emotionless, but he reached up, and with one finger brushed off the tear.

"Don't cry."

They both stood there for a few seconds, their gaze never breaking.

"Why.. Are you doing this?" Kami asked. Another tear slid down her cheek and Sasuke once again wiped it off but his hand rested on her cheek.

"A person like you.. Doesn't belong in a place like this," Sasuke commented, then turned away from her.

"And you do?" She asked. She walked over to him. "Why do you want power? Why do you want it so much that you would do this?"

"To kill the man I hate."

This somewhat startled Kami. 'Normally,' she thought, 'Wouldn't someone sacrifice this much to kill more than one person-to dominate people in general?'

"But you must sacrifice so much-"

"I've already sacrificed." Sasuke turned away. 'He's so wounded.. Not externally but internally.. What happened to him?' She thought and suddenly felt a rush of sympathy towards him.

".. Is this.. About your family?" Kami knew that this was a touchy subject-it was very personal and Kami felt a bit guilty prying into his business.

She saw Sasuke tense when she said that and regretted it.

"Yes."

She was surprised when he answered-she expected him to kick her out of his room or something.

"My brother.. Killed my clan in cold blood. To 'test his capacity'." She knew he said the last three words through gritted teeth because of his bitter tone. 'He's been through so much.. No wonder he's so bitter..'

"Sasuke.." She did what came to her. She hugged him. His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't pull back, however. Even though he was used to those hugs that his fan girls would give him, this one was different.. This one was meant for compassion. 'Why aren't you pulling away, you idiot?' he scolded himself. 'Why are you letting her control your emotions?'

Kami pulled away and looked into his eyes.

She thought it was only fair to tell him why she had suffered.

"My family abandoned me when they found out what I was."