Ch. 2

Sasuke set the girl down onto the earth, catching the way she winced as her legs hit the ground. He stepped back, and as he watched, the girl took her hands and put them palms face-down onto the soil. Sasuke's eyebrows rose, for the girl's hands had begun to glow golden, and she was chanting something softly. He jumped slightly when small vines began shooting out of the ground around the girl. As he stared, the small vines punctured the skin of her legs, causing the girl to screw her face up against the pain.

The vines were shifting under her skin, writhing, and Sasuke could tell it was painful, whatever they were doing, for the girl had a slick layer of sweat covering her forehead now. After what seemed to be hours, although it was just thirty minutes,the vines withdrew from the girl's legs. She just sat there, breathing hard and shivering slightly. Sasuke walked back over to her cautiously, and bent down in front of her, to look closer at her legs.

What the! Th-those vines… They put her bones back together… This was indeed the case, as her legs were no longer deformed. In fact, besides the puncture wounds left by the vines, the girl's legs seemed perfectly normal. Her legs moved, and Sasuke jumped, startled back from his own thoughts. The girl was trying to stand. She reached a crouched position, and then fell backwards, Sasuke catching her just before her head hit the ground. He looked down at the girl cradled in his arms, and realized that her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling in a rhythmic fashion.

Heh… She fell asleep trying to stand up. I'm not surprised… That…whatever it was she did must've taken extreme amounts of chakra… He slid his other arm under her legs, and carried the sleeping bundle back up to his chambers.

"Satu…" Sasuke watched the girl shake her head.

"Kaze…" Again, the girl's head shook. Sasuke glared at her. She had been confined in his chambers for about a week now, and after eating voraciously, her body weight was almost back to normal. He was on a short rest from training, and, having finally gotten fed up with calling her 'girl' he was trying to figure out a name for her, ignoring Orochimaru's warning. He had been laying out different names for several minutes now, and the girl shook her head at each.

Hmm… What other names could I try… I know! How about

"Aori…" The girl moved to shake her head no again, but froze halfway through the action. A strange look passed through her eyes, but it was gone before Sasuke could figure out what it was. Ashe watched with raised brows, the girl stiffly nodded.

"Aori huh. All right then. When we are in here, I'll call you Aori. Just be sure to remember that if Orochimaru or one of his ninjas walks in I'll be referring to you as 'girl' or 'pet'." Aori just looked up at Sasuke with emotionless eyes. He huffed, slightly frustrated. In the week she had been around him, Aori had cometo tolerate Sasuke. Frustratingly for Sasuke, since the first day where she had demanded that she be taken outside to heal her legs, she had not spoken a word. In fact the most sound that she ever made was the steady huff-puff of her breathing. No matter what Sasuke did to provoke her, she never made another sound. He had given up eventually, and just let her stay silent now. He was also slightly miffed that she had refused numerous times to wash herself off. Her hair and face were still covered with grime, and to be honest… She stunk!

"I have to go back to training now… I'll send up some food for you." Sasuke turned to leave, but was stopped by a gentle hand grabbing his wrist. He turned back to find that Aori was holding him back.

"Look Aori, I've got to go and train… Orochimaru will be mad if I'm late, and I want to get stronger anyways…" He opened his mouth to say more, but Aori held up one gloved finger, as if to say Wait…. She moved away from him, over to the bed, and grabbed one of the sheets, pointing to her clothes, and then back to the dark blue sheet. Sasuke growled slightly.

I don't have time for this…

"Yeah, that's a sheet, and those are the clothes I found you in… So?" He was surprised to hear a small growl issue from the girl's throat, although she showed no other expression. Aori shook her head, pointed at her clothes again, than pantomimed cutting up the sheets and sewing the pieces together. Cut-Sew cloth- New clothes...Sasuke frowned slightly.

"You want cloth, to make new clothes with…" Aori's mouth turned up slightly at the corners and she nodded. Again, this surprised Sasuke. Aori never showed a lot of emotion, and in the past 30 seconds she had been frustrated and pleased, well sort of...

"I'll see what I can do, but don't expect Orochimaru to comply…" He turned and walked out of his chambers, snapping the door shut behind him.

Just great! Now Aori wants to sew… And I have to be the one to ask Orochimaru for the cloth…

He sighed, then headed back to the training area.

Sasuke stepped back, panting. He had been sparringnon-stop with Orochimaru for the past four hours, and had yet to ask him about Aori's request for cloth. So he was shocked indeed when Orochimaru brought the subject of the girl up.

"So my apprentice… Have you been enjoying you new toy?" Sasuke whipped his head up, about to make a sharp remark, then remembered that he was supposed to be her 'master'.

"Yes Orochimaru, indeed I have. But her clothes are not suitable for someone who is my toy. I request some cloth, so that she can make herself some new attire." Orochimaru frowned a little at Sasuke's request, but nodded and turned, beckoning Sasuke to follow him down a hallway.

"Of course Sasuke… And seeing as she is your pet, we shall give her the best of the best…" He stopped in front of a plain door, opening it and walking in, Sasuke just behind him. Orochimaru snapped his fingers, and lights popped into existence, revealing the contents of the room.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly, for he was surrounded by yards and yards of the highest quality silks. He turned his unspoken question to Orochimaru, who smirked.

"What can I say. I have a passion for finery. You may take what ever colors you want, and however much you want… I will send a ninja with sewing materials up with you." Sasuke proceeded to turn his attention to the many-colored silks in front of him.

Ach! Which colors do I choose? I haven't a clue what Aori likes!

He turned to ask Orochimaru if he could go and get the girl, and bring her to choose, but stopped, staring. Aori had just walked through the door, making Orochimarufocus his gaze on heras she passed him to examine the silks. Orochimaru turned his gaze to Sasuke, glaring.

"I didn't know that you weren't keeping her locked in your quarters…"

"But, I was! I must have forgotten to lock the door. But does it really matter? I don't think that she will do much harm." Orochimaru looked back over at the girl, who was thoughtfully running her gloved hands over the silks.

"I suppose not… Very well. She may be allowed to roam, as long as she does not interfere with my men. She may watch you train, if she pleases, but she cannot interrupt. And she will be responsible for whatever happens to her inside of my domain." Sasuke nodded in understanding, then turned when he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He turned to see that Aori looking at him pointedly, using his body to block her face from Orochimaru. He glanced back at Orochimaru, then reached up to run his fingers along her jaw bone.

Such soft skin…

"Have you found what you require, my pet?" He had to admit, the girl was a good actress. As soon as he had begun to talk, she immediately molded herself into the part of a subservient slave. Her usually emotionless eyes took on a slightly fearful look, as she bent her head down a little and nodded.

"Show me…" Sasuke followed the girl over to the wall, where she pointed straight up to two shelves. One was filled with silks that were a deep honey-color, the other stuffed with russet-colored silk. Sasuke nodded, and almost immediately two Sound-nins had brought down three bolts of each color. Aori looked back at Sasuke, playing the part perfectly by looking as if she was asking permission. He nodded again, and the girl stepped forward to take the silks from the ninjas. She stepped back, and when Sasuke turned and beckoned her with one finger, she followed, the perfect picture of an obedient puppy. They walked past Orochimaru and found their way back to Sasuke's chambers.

Once he had shut the door behind him, Sasuke turned back towards Aori, regarding her carefully.

"Who taught you to act that well? And how did you get out of here! I know that I locked the door..." His eyes followed Aori as she gently laid her expensive bundle down onto her bed in one of the smaller rooms of Sasuke's chambers. She turned to look at him, then shrugged her shoulders slightly. Sasuke gave an exasperated huff.

"Is that all you'll ever do? I know you can talk, so why don't you? It would make things a lot easier for both of us you know…" He continued on in this manner for a few more seconds, Aori calmly standing there, staring at him with a slightly amused expression on her face. When he finally ran out of breath, she came to stand in front of him, close enough that his face turned light pink. She reached up, and with gloved hands brought his face down to hers, turning his head at the last moment so that he could feel her breath tickling his hear. His face had turned an even darker shade of pink by this point.

"A-Aori! W-what're you-

"Maybe I don't want to speak." She let his head go then, and shoved him out the door, almost catching his nose when she snapped the door shut...

For the next three days, Sasuke barely saw Aori. She came out to eat or when she needed to relieve herself, but that was it. Otherwise she was locked away within her, or rather one of Sasuke's smaller rooms, snipping and sewing away. He didn't mind really. He was extremely focused on his training, and the only time he was in his chambers for more than half an hour was when he and Orochimaru retired for the night.

So, when he walked into his chambers late on the third night, he was surprised to see the door which Aori had locked herself behind wide open, and good smells wafting from the kitchen. He hadn't figured that she could cook.

I guess it makes sense though… The ninjas couldn't always bring her prepared foods… She must've made it herself…

He turned to brace himself against the door as he slipped of his shoes, then spun around as he heard a whisper of cloth behind him. His eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. Aori was standing in front of him with a knife in her hands, and she looked completely different.

Her old clothes were gone, the shirt having been replaced by a russet silk dress, long-necked and sleeveless, that went from ankles to the bottom of her chin. It had long slits up the sides, from hem to hip. It fitted her just right, allowing her lithe form to be shown off, but the slits up the sides made it easy to move in. Under the dress, the honey colored silk had become a matching pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt. The pants also were fairly snug, loose enough to not restrict movement, but with no extra fabric to get in the way. She had new gloves too, made from the scraps of the russet silk, that went under her shirt and went about three-quarters of the way to her elbows, and she had found a pair of black slippers somewhere, and they were pulled on over russet socks.

It wasn't this that was the most shocking to Sasuke though. It was the fact that she had taken a bath. All the dirt and grime was gone, revealing sun-kissed skin and deep red hair. Her cheeks were rosy, and her lips, though not pouty, were full and soft, with a pinkish tinge to them. The only thing that looked at all out of place on her body was a vertical tattoo on her cheek. It was Japanese, but slightly altered, just enough that Sasuke could not discern the meaning of the word.

By this time, Sasuke had been gawking at her for over a minute. Aori shook her head slightly, that small upturn of the corners of her lips present again and quietly cleared her throat, snapping Sasuke out of his thoughts. Shestared athim, and he gave her a small grunt.

"You look…cute." Aori quirked her mouth in that small grin again, then disappeared back into the kitchen as an oven timer went off. Sasuke followed her into the kitchen, and again he was amazed. The solitary table in the center of the kitchen was covered with all sorts of delicacies. Everything from chawanmushi to yakizakana was laid out upon the table, and its legs were groaning with the sheer weight of the food.

"You… But… Where did you learn to DO all of these things Aori!" Sasuke stared at the girl, who had taken a seat at the table. She just stared back at him, then shrugged, then waved her arm at the other seat before starting to shove food into her mouth. Sasuke stared at the feasting girl for a few more seconds before sitting down.

What is her story? I begin to think that there is nothing else that she can do to surprise me, then she goes and pulls off a stunt like this? Where does Aori come from?

SMACK!

Sasuke was jolted out of his thoughts as a piece of fish hit his cheek. He pulled it off of his cheek and turned to see Aori eating as though nothing had happened, with a slight difference. There was a small crinkle about her eyes, as if she was laughing inside. She stopped to stare at him, a helping of rice half-way to her mouth, and watched as he popped the fish into his mouth. His eyebrows rose slightly, and he turned to her after finishing the morsel.

"That tastes good…" He began to load up a plate in front of him with anything that he could reach.

It's not like I'll ever admit it to her, but she's much better at cooking than I am…

Aori just smiled her small smile again and went back to her food.