He had already started filling the tub with scolding, hot water and then handed me a clean towel. "There's shampoo and soap in the bucket." He left and shut the door to leave me alone and confused. Bucket? Sure enough, there was a small, wooden bucket next to a stool in front of a shower nozzle in the corner. The tub was soon filled up so I turned the water off and laid my towel down in front of the mirror before pulling this disgusting jumpsuit off.

I glanced in the mirror again to see the rest of my body wasn't near as dirty as the rest of me. It looked like I had a very bad tan line in which only my face, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, and feet were dark. I almost giggled at the sight….almost. Well, it's about time I had a proper bath.

Kakuzu's POV

He was going through some papers and couldn't help but notice there were no noises coming from in there. Is she even bathing yet? He decided to go check and once he silently slid the door open he snapped, "You idiot!" This girl clearly has no idea on how to bathe appropriately in a Japanese bath. She was just about to get into the tub before washing; it's a good thing they're not attending a public one.

She desperately tried to cover herself up while eyeing him nervously. He came in and shut the door. "It looks like I'm going to have to teach you bathroom etiquette around here. Never get into the tub first before you wash!" He took his shirt off and she quickly backed up into a corner, "What?" "Why are you getting undressed?"

This girl needs to learn how to speak up too. "I'm bathing with you." He took off his mask/hood and was about to remove his pants when she darted for the door. "No you don't!" He caught her by the wrist, dragged her to the wash stool and growled menacingly, "Sit!"

She actually sat without a word, even though she did sulk and look away when he finished undressing. He filled the bucket with some warm water and got her nice and wet from the shower nozzle. He kept noticing her checking him out with fascination and tried not to smirk from it.

The stitches covering his entire torso and jaw line 'always' made women scream and believe him to be a monster when he was seen uncovered. It also irritated him to the point to where he had to kill them, but this girl seemed fascinated by it. It's nice that one female doesn't find him repulsive.

He sat on the other stool and jerked that sordid jumpsuit away from her and grabbed her arm to start cleaning it. She gasped and tried to push away, but that didn't work of course. "As weak as you are right now, you're not going to be able to get all this filth off by yourself." She tried to push his hand away, "Don't touch me! I don't need your help!" "Really? You wouldn't have gotten out of that place if it weren't for my help!" Once again she shut up, so he proceeded to what he was doing. He had to scrub hard to get that debris off her skin, but she keeps fidgeting so much that it was really irritating him.

"Will you stop moving?" "It hurts!" He jerked her a little closer to him, "Endure it." Having a short temper doesn't help with these situations. She looked away from his piercing eyes but still squirmed. "Enough of this!" He couldn't take it anymore and tied her up with his tendrils. She fought tooth and nail to get away from the binding appendages and looked petrified, but didn't scream as he expected her to. That's a plus.

"What are these?" "My kinjutsu." "You're a ninja?" "Of course I am!" He didn't even think she realized that she stopped resisting already, "If you're interested I'll tell you about it some time, but only if you cooperate." She stared off to the side in deep thought, 'she's more engrossed than he thought,' and continued his scrubbing when she nodded.

It's about time! No wonder she squirmed so much, there were small cuts and scrapes all over her body. He had to wash/scrub her hair like three times to get all that grime out; the suds were brown to begin with. She needs a haircut too. One of the tendrils slithered over into the basket at the door and lifted out a pair of scissors and a comb. The basket contained extra bathroom essentials if to be needed for guests. He had her back facing him and already cut off A LOT before she even noticed, "You're cutting it?" "It's too damaged to deal with."

She started to complain while he evened it out, "It took me forever to grow it out." "Well, you're just going to have to do it again." She felt behind her head when he was done and froze, "You cut it that short!" "So?" Damn it, here she goes. "Do you have any idea how aggravating it is to grow your hair out when it's short?" He continued to scrub, "Not as aggravating as you're being right now."

He gagged her with the threads before she could say anything else. For someone who supposedly didn't speak much, she sure was running her mouth. He was contemplating whether to wash her mouth out with soap for a laugh. The idea made him smirk and she freaked out when she saw it. It was bad timing on his part; he was just about to wash between her legs when he did that.

Her eyes pleaded for him not to, "That needs to be cleaned too. Don't worry; I'm not going to try anything." She glowered at him in disbelief but he did try to be gentle. She starting that fidgeting again, but this time it came with whimpers of pain and shedding tears. She had her head turned way to the side to keep him from seeing her tears, but he saw none the less..

He peeked at her entrance and shook his head. Just as he thought, she'd been raped by them. That explains the dried up substance he'd seen on her back and chest before he washed it off. He rinsed her completely and released her from the threads. "Alright you're through." He handed her the soap, "Now you can wash my back before you go soak." Her eyes grew wide as she warily took it. He was surprised she didn't say anything and did what he asked, but he knew she wasn't too happy about it. She didn't look at him and did as she was told with a look of humiliation on her frail countenance. He knew he shouldn't be so hard on her and be considerate of her situation, but that's not in his nature.

Her POV

I sank in the tub and should've felt better now that I was squeaky clean, but I wasn't. I didn't want him to see me naked, much less wash me, even though he was right about my physical weakness. I folded my arms along the edge of the tub and buried my face in them. I didn't want anyone to know I was raped and now he does! Being there for a month, it was bound to happen sooner or later. They ganged up on me and there was nothing I could do about it; it didn't happen too often, but still. I'm scared of being touched by a man but….why didn't I resist more with Kakuzu? I don't get it.

At least the water was decently nice and warm now, instead of boiling. Kakuzu disturbed my thoughts when he sank in the comforting warm, water behind me. What does he think of me? I knitted my eyebrows, why am I worried about his opinion of me? A disturbing thought came to mind and I dared to ask it. "Kakuzu?" "Yes." "Um, you're not going to…..never mind." What if he takes me back?

I put the thought out of my mind and slid underneath the water to savor the long, needed comfort. He remained silent and didn't ask me to finish my sentence so I left it alone for now. I do hope he tells me about those…threads of his. They're pretty cool….different would be the better word for it. I came back up and wiped my face, phew, it's getting too hot in here. "You don't have to stay in here on my account if you want to get out you know."

"I know but," I warily glance at him to see if he was looking. He growled with frustration when he realized why she hadn't got out yet, "I just saw you in the nude so get over it." "Tch." I got out, quickly grabbed my towel, and stomped over behind the tub so his back would be to me. I was tempted to call him an asshole as I dried off, but I knew that'd be a bad idea. He strikes me as the kind of guy that wouldn't care if he hit a woman when he was pissed off and I'm not taking a chance.

I wrapped the towel around me when I was completely dry and walked out. I can't make heads or tails of this guy! He acts like he somewhat cares then doesn't. I let out a heavy sigh and noticed two robes hanging beside the bathroom door. They must be for us. I took the small one and put it on. What do I do with the towel?

"The towel goes in the laundry basket in here." My mouth dropped; it's like he's reading my mind. I cracked the door open and tossed it where he told me and quickly shut the door. I yawned and shuffled to the pallet. I snuggled under the covers and collapsed on the pillow, it feels like I'm on a cloud. No sooner had I thought that I was knocked out into a deep slumber.

*Next morning, I was still groggy when I woke up. I didn't want to get up and snuggled closer to the heap of warmth next to me….huh? This heap's moving. I slowly lifted my head up to stare Kakuzu straight in the face, which was awake. I stuttered, "Why the hell are you sleeping next to me?"

He snorted, "It's the only bed here and I'm not sleeping on the floor for you. Why the sudden complaint?" "Huh?" He smirked, "You've been cuddling against me all night and your arm is wrapped around me. You seem to be content with it." My arm was indeed across his chest and I snatched it away before scooting to the edge of the pallet, "I was asleep, I didn't know!"

He chuckled and sat up, "That's no excuse." "It is too!" It seems to me he has a hidden sense of humor, that's a good thing I guess since I'm stuck with him for a while. Why do I talk to him so much? I know it's mostly complaining and questions, but I NEVER talked to anyone this much, even before I was kidnapped. So why him? Curiosity? That has to be it.

"By the way, after we have breakfast we'll be leaving." "We are? Why?" He stood up and grabbed his clothes, "I need to be in next town so I can get my next bounty before it gets dark." Now he's got me really curious. "So, you're a ninja and bounty hunter?" "Yes." That's an interesting profession. He tossed a bag at me, "Go freshen up and put those clothes on." I stared at the bag and shakily stood up. Getting impatient he pushed me towards the bathroom, "Stop gawking and hurry up."

He shut the door and I emptied the contents of the bag. There was a simple pair of sandals and a solid royal blue kimono with a cerulean sash. Pretty! When did he get this stuff? It must've been yesterday when he went out. Let's see, slip this on like a robe and then…..now what? Sure enough, I was taking too long when Kakuzu burst in. He stared in silence for moment and mused, "Having difficulty are we?" I nodded. He sighed and assisted me, "You really are not from around here are you?" I made a face at him, "No."

When he finished I noticed him staring closely at my hair and shifted away from him to be cautious. Totally ignoring my obvious thoughts he muttered, "Is your hair really that light?" I glanced in the mirror, "Yeah why?" "I thought your hair was black; must've been dirtier than I thought. Come on and eat."

Once again I ended up shoving the food down my throat and tried to ignore those disapproving glares I was getting. When you're starving to death you can't exactly help yourself. After we ate, we left the vicinity and then headed down a traveling road to reach the town he was headed for. We walked the whole time in silence and it was hard for me to keep up with him. My muscles haven't really been used for a month.

The thing that gets me is that I'm still following him, but I have no idea why. Maybe since I have no place to go and he's better than nothing; at least he hasn't hit me or anything bad yet. I wanted to know some certain things before I might consider giving him some of my trust, "Hey." "What?" "Why did you buy me?" I spoke in barely a whisper again but I had to know. He glanced at me, "I wanted a travel companion." He didn't say anything else and left it at that, but I want to hear more. "Why?"

He cocked an eyebrow, "I was tired of traveling alone and desired company." I narrowed my eyes at him and grew skeptical. He mimicked me and growled, "What's with that face?" "So why did you come to that place for?" He stopped walking, "I thought you weren't supposed to talk much." He's purposely changing the subject. I muttered and walked past him, "Forget it." He roughly pulled me back and towered over me, "I didn't say I wouldn't tell you, now did I?" Damn he can be scary, it doesn't make it better when he's twice as tall as me either; I just come up to his chest. I shook my head no and he answered me, "Like I said, I merely sought a travel companion. It wasn't of any concern to me whether it would be a man or woman and where I got one. Besides, I am a man and have needs so I naturally preferred a woman."

I took that the wrong way and quickly tried to walk away. "What?" He grabbed my wrist and demanded, "What the hell is your problem now?" I muttered, "You only got me so I can be your little sex toy. You're no different than the others!" He tightened his grip and murmured menacingly, "Don't you even dare compare me to them. If I wanted you to be my sex toy, I would've already have taken you and not give a damn about your condition. Unless you want me to change my mind and lose my temper, I suggest you keep those kinds of thoughts to yourself. Understand?" I quickly nodded and he let go of my wrist to keep walking. I didn't think that'd piss him off so much; better watch what I say from now on.

It was in the afternoon by the time my stomach started to growl even louder than before. Safe to say, it irritated him highly and we ended up stopping at a small dango shop. They tasted pretty good but when it came to the tea….not so much. I tried not to make a face but it didn't work out as planned.

"You better finish that and not waste my money." "It's nasty." "Not my problem. You better not have me waste it just because you don't like it." "It's just a stupid cup of tea damn it!" He slowly turned his head and glared, "That's NOT the point I'm trying to make. You're being provided by my money so take what you get with gratitude girl."

"Girl?" "If I knew your name it would be easier, so what is it?" I lowered my eyes and mumbled, "Not my name." "Why?" I might as well tell him, "I don't like it." "Just tell me." "…...Rayvonne." As I expected he chuckled in amusement, "That is the most ridiculous name I've ever heard." I blushed and grimaced while chugging the last of my tea off, "I know and I hate it. In fact, that's not what my name is in the first place."

"So you lied to me?" He sounds pissed again, "No I told the truth. It's just….I was given that name at the orphanage when I was eight, so I never really had a name to begin with." He shifted to face me with intrigue, "Then what?" I scratched my head and shrugged, "No one ever spoke to me much and used the name often so I don't really consider it my name anyway. I guess I don't have one to call my own." "Well I have to call you something and it's sure as hell not to going to be that preposterous thing. I guess I'll have to name you myself then. Is that alright?" "O..ok." He stayed deep in thought for a while until we was walking back down the road again, "Hitomi." "Hmm?" "Your new name, does that suit you?" I repeated, "Hitomi."

I thought about it and repeated it over in my head many times…sounds pretty, rolls off the tongue, and it suits me alright. "I like it." "Good, because I'm not changing my mind about it anyway." "Then what was the point of asking me if I liked it?" "Shut up." "You shut up!" He smacked the back of my head, "Quit being so damn stubborn." "Why can't you be a little nicer to me?" "You haven't deserved it yet." "Hmph."

This is a fine way to start a…companionship.

To be continued: