"Upstairs now." He growled at her and ran as quickly as she could up the stairs, to their room.
He followed her to their room. "Strip." He hissed at her. Her breath caught in her throat.
"No." She quickly protested and wrapped her arms around herself, stepping back from him. She could live with the hitting and the harsh words but not this.
"Do not refuse me!" He shouted at her, taking a step closer to her as she took another step back. "I will be away for two weeks; do you want me to find someone else to satisfy my needs?" He added grabbing her by her hair and pulling her closer. She gasped in pain and looked away from him. She hated when he got like this, he would always take his rage out on her. He had obviously planned to have fun with her anyway but Naruto's badgering had sparked Sasuke's fury.
"Please, Sasuke, don't." She begged him as tears started to fall. He growled at her before throwing her on the bed. She tried to jump off the bed but he grabbed her ankle and pulled her underneath his body. He pinned her hands together with one hand. His other unbuckled his belt and took it off before tightening it around her wrists and the headboard. She had learnt they had way that there was no use in screaming for help.
They had moved into the old abandoned Uchiha estate a few months back; she knew that no one could hear her screams. Once they moved into their new home, Sasuke had started getting abusive. At first, she thought it was because they had moved onto the land which his family had been massacred on, it must be upsetting him. Moreover, it was the house he grew up in, his family's home. She had suggested they moved out to try and ease his pain but that only made him worse.
She struggled against him, shouting at him to stop. But she also knew that it was no good. Sasuke was stronger than her even though they were the same rank, ANBU, he, however, had more years under his belt compared to her.
He punched her hard in the stomach, causing her to cough up blood. This would be her one and only warning to shut up and stop fighting back.
Once he finished, he cleaned himself up and untied her. He stood there out of breath, watching her. She curled up into a ball, sobbing into her pillow.
"Pathetic." He hissed at her as he redressed himself. "You should be happy about serving your future husband." He added and walked out of the room to pack for his mission.
When he left the room, she managed to get herself to calm down enough to get dressed and wipe her tears away. She gently lifted her T-shirt to inspect the damage his punch had done to her. There was a large black bruise already forming in the center of her stomach, she also had dark marks coming up on her wrists from struggling against the belt.
"Be glad I didn't do worse." Sasuke's voice spoke up from behind her. She jumped and looked over her shoulder at him. He always had his stoic expression on his face but she could tell by his eyes that he felt sorry for what he did. He sighed and walked up to her, his arms snaked around her waist, making her flinch and tense up. He pulled her back against his front and leant his head down so his nose was nestled in her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, raspberries. "I do not wish to harm you Katsumi-chan, but you must learn your place." He spoke softly making her shiver. She wasn't sure if she should be offended or happy that he was being gentle with her again. "I'll expect you to be waiting for my return." He added before he walked away and out of the house with his supplies.
She sighed in relief once she heard the front door close. She was a ninja and capable of fighting Sasuke off but somehow, she just couldn't, she put it down to few extra years as ANBU. She couldn't wear short sleeves anymore until the marks on her wrists faded away. She sighed again, annoyed, it was the height of summer, the worse time to be wearing long sleeves. She decided it would be best to stay in for the remainder of the day and go to the market tomorrow. She looked at the bed and teared up at the sight of her blood that was now staining their bed. She quickly took the bedding off to wash before taking a shower.
The next day, she walked around the market, taking her time. She didn't want to go back to the place she had to call home. He wasn't there but she hated knowing what he had done to her behind those walls. She was careful not to let her long sleeves rid up as she shopped. She didn't want people asking questions, she didn't want to be a disgrace to the ninja world for not being able to fight him off.
She remembered the day she had to quit being a ninja, Kakashi who was currently the sixth Hokage hadn't been very happy. She used to put fear in the hearts of their enemies due to her overly calm demeanor and the way she spoke at times could be quite menacing, as well as some of the things she would say. Moreover, she was an excellent mission interrogator. Kakashi had almost pleaded for her stay on and was willing to give her anything for her to stay on. She sighed to herself and looked down. Maybe she should have stayed on as a ninja, maybe she would have seen Sasuke's true colours before she sold her home and moved in with him. There was no going back now, especially now that he had control of all her money. She couldn't just go and rent a new apartment without any money.
"Morning Katsumi-chan." A voice startled her from behind and out of her thoughts. She jumped and looked back to see Kakashi standing there with his nose in his favourite book. "I think you need to brush up on your skills, Katsumi-chan. You've gotten rather rusty." Kakashi commented on her rather quick movement while giving her signature one-eyed crinkle. If he remembered correctly, he had never been able to sneak up on her since she reached Chunin. He was surprised it took her so long to rank up to Jōnin but apparently, it had been her choice not to rush through the ranks. She wanted to experience as many different missions so that she knew herself that she could handle more difficult missions. He was sad to see her go but he had hoped after a few weeks of being bored at home she would be back in his office, begging for her job and rank back but that day never came.
"Yes, I guess so, Hokage-sama." She answered respectfully and bowed her head.
"Katsumi-chan, I think we've known each other long enough for you to call me Kakashi." He told her with another eye crinkle. He was surprised by her politeness, maybe Sasuke was rubbing off on her?
"Sorry, Kakashi-sama." She apologised in a timid voice, bowing her head further. Kakashi frowned, slightly worried about her behaviour.
Maybe the tip he got had some merit to it. He had found a note on his desk that morning, claiming that an individual was concerned about Katsumi's welfare. Katsumi was always one to look you in the eye or at least look at your face when she spoke to you and he had never heard her voice sound so timid before.
"Katsumi-chan, why don't we drop your groceries off at home and have a little spar?" He asked smiling to hide his worry. She looked up at him, trying to quickly come up with an excuse.
"Oh, I'd love too, Kakashi-sama." She answered with a smile. "But I have a lot of housework to deal with at the moment. Just moved in and all of that." She added quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice she had just lied to him.
"I'm sure that can wait, after all, Sasuke is on a mission for two weeks. He should help out and I don't think he would mind if there was some left for him to do." He said still smiling but slightly annoyed at her attempt to lie to him. He watched her closely and saw her take a deep breath as if she was trying to control her emotions.
"Well, when you put it like that." She spoke quietly and looking down. There was no escaping this, she just hoped he wouldn't see the marks during their spar.
The two walked to the Uchiha estate, to her home. She placed the bags of shopping in the kitchen, none of it needed to put away immediately so she chose to leave them till after her sparring match. "I'll just change, Kakashi-sama. Please make yourself at home." She told him with a small smile before disappearing up the stairs to change.
Kakashi watched her run up the stairs, once she was out of sight, he started to look around the ground floor, mostly out of curiosity. His first stop was the kitchen. It was fairly modern with white marble worktops and sleek grey cabinets. There was an island where he assumed, they would eat for breakfast. He noticed it was completely spotless, he didn't think that she was that crazy about cleaning. He then wondered into the dining room. The dark wood table had more than enough room for six people, maybe eight. He noticed this room had more of a traditional layout. He soon found himself in the lounge. There were a large black leather L-shaped sofa and two armchairs with a large wooden coffee table in the middle. The room looked like it had never been used. He went to move onto the next room but found it was locked. He shrugged and figured it was probably a study. He stepped back into the hallway to wait for Katsumi.
A few minutes later she walked down the stairs in black knee length shorts and a short blue skirt over them. She was also wearing a skin tight long sleeved top with a standard green flak jacket over it. She had her long crimson hair tied up into a ponytail. Kakashi suppressed a frown when he saw her. She hadn't worn a flak jacket since the war. She would have normally worn a black skin tight one shoulder top with its only sleeve in the same style as a Kimono sleeve. This would hide a retractable blade which would be tied to her right wrist. She would also have a hooded cape which he had never seen before. He remembered asking her how she put it on. She would put on her shoulders and lift the hood up before throwing the other side over her left shoulder. This meant that her side was free while her left side was covered by the cape, hiding her pouches. At first glance, she could be dismissed as a travelling citizen. He noticed that only her hair, shoes and the side which her pouches were on were the same.
"Where's your hidden blade?" He asked as she stepped onto the ground floor. He was slightly curious as to why she didn't have her favourite weapon tied to her. He remembered how she won't go anywhere without it.
"We're only sparring, I didn't think you would want me to use such a deadly weapon." She offered a weak explanation. In truth, she had tried to put on but her wrist was still too sore and marked from Sasuke. Kakashi nodded, he guessed it was a fair point and he did already know about the weapon so it wasn't so hidden to him.
"It's a shame you're not in your old ninja attire." He said with a hint of nostalgia in his tone.
"Yes well, the memories still linger, it doesn't feel right to wear it anymore." She told him looking down. Again, she lied, her old outfit would have shown the marks on her wrists. She wasn't bothered so much about the black bruise on her stomach. She could make out it was a sparring accident with Sasuke. But she couldn't come up with a good enough reason for her wrists. Kakashi nodded.
"I understand." He offered her a small smile. "Shall we get to the training grounds then?" He asked as he moved towards the front door. She nodded and followed him. She hoped he hadn't noticed her nerves.