I made a break for the door and tried to leave when he pulled me back. "I'm leaving so let me go!" "You're not going anywhere girl, you're mine now." He has that look in his eyes that I'm only too familiar with. "I don't belong to anyone asshole!"

He slammed me into the wall and held me tightly, "You're not allowed to speak to me that way my little doll." "Who says? I'm not a damn doll or a piece of property you fucking bastard!" "Tsk, tsk, I was hoping you wouldn't react this way, but no matter. I'll teach you to behave the hard way."

I tried to kick him but his hand suddenly came down on my neck. I let out a small cry of shock and immediately went limp. He caught me with a triumphant smirk before tossing something to the floor, "What did I tell you." I couldn't move a muscle or even speak, what did he do? He carried me to the pallet and straddled me on it with an evil grin, "Time to learn your place."

Kakuzu's POV

His errand took longer than he thought. He was trying to gather information on that man Atsuo told him about when he was ambushed by several shinobi. They were skilled but not enough to handle him in battle. He defeated them easily enough, but another wave of shinobi came, and these were at Jonin level.

That's why it took longer than he anticipated. Naturally, he defeated them as well but not before he gained some information. That was no random attack, Jonin level shinobi don't just randomly attack someone without a reason; they must've been sent on some kind of mission by someone. He had to torture the last one to spill but he learned what he needed to know. He ran as fast as he could back to the inn, hoping he wasn't too late.

*He searched the room but there was no sign of her. He went straight to the innkeeper and demanded, "Where is she?" The lady flinched and stepped back from the dangerous man in front of her, "Who sir?" He roughly grabbed her by the throat, "I can see through your deception bitch. I'm not in the mood, so you better tell me the truth or you're dead!"

The innkeeper trembled in fear but tried to sound assertive, "I had her go with someone else who would take good care of her. You don't care about her, so she's better off with my acquaintance than you!" He simply glared and demanded once more, "Last chance. Where is she?" "R…r..r..room 6." "You better be right." He wasn't taking the chance of this bitch's pretenses so he dragged her along by the neck to that room. He easily kicked down the door and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the horrific scene that lay before him.

Hitomi was sprawled out across the pallet in the nude with her kimono ripped apart. Even from the doorway, he could plain as day see her face was stained with tears, scattered bruises on her skin that resembled fingerprints, blood leaking from her womanhood, and no expression whatsoever.

"Oh my word! What happened?" Kakuzu's blood was boiling with fury, "You call this being better off!" Without any regret he snapped her neck and tossed her out in the hall before muttering, "Stupid bitch shouldn't have interfered." "Now, now, no need to go on a killing spree Kakuzu."

Kakuzu turned to face the man that was responsible. "Yutaka." He was leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed, "Oh, so you know my name now huh?" Kakuzu completely ignored him and went over to Hitomi. "What do you think you're doing?" Still not answering, he wrapped her in the blanket and picked her up bridal style. He started to leave the scene when, "Kakuzu! You're not leaving here with my property!"

Kakuzu turned back to face him again and growled, "Last time I checked, I'm the one who paid for her, not you. Unless you want to force me to kill you sooner, go ahead and try to stop me!" That's exactly what Yutaka tried to do. He whipped out a scroll that contained many hidden kunai and flung them at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu didn't move a muscle, letting his tendrils quickly lash out and block each one. "I was unaware you're a ninja, but unfortunately," faster than Yutaka could dodge, he was pierced all over by the tendrils, "you're weak!" Yutaka fell to the floor clutching himself from the pain in amusement, "Just what I'd expect from an S-rank criminal. However, you should've finished me off when you had the chance."

Yutaka made a hand sign with a crazed gleam in his eyes, "You haven't seen the last of me Kakuzu, I'll be back!" With that proclamation, he teleported from the room. "Coward, I'll be waiting."

Kakuzu went back to their room with her to focus on more important matters. He would've already killed that bastard if it weren't for her; she could've been caught in the crossfire. From Yutaka's action, she would've gotten hit with the kunai if Kakuzu wasn't so skilled and confident the weapons wouldn't be able to reach her. He wasn't going to take the chance of her getting injured.

"Hitomi?" She didn't answer so he just took her to the bath; he had to get her cleaned up. When he washed her, she didn't resist or cry like he expected. She simply sat there in a blank stupor while he gently washed her. He wasn't sure what to do with her as of right now, so after she was bathed; he put a clean robe on her and put her to bed. "Try to get some rest, I'll be right back."

She slowly closed her eyes as he left the room. He needed to check out something in that other room. He remembered seeing something glistening on the floor when he entered before. He found what it was and picked it up. It was small syringe that was empty; she was drugged then. Whenever he sees that man again, he'll make him suffer immensely for what he put her through.

As Kakuzu went back to the room to call it a night, he was puzzled. Why all of a sudden does he want to protect her? What is she to him? He couldn't think of an answer before drifting off to uneasy sleep.

*The next morning, he was determined to leave this inn and go somewhere else. He didn't really want to with her condition, but this place will make her worse than better. He had a time trying to get her eat before leaving too. She kept walking too slow and wouldn't walk next to him like she had been. He kept seeing her wince from the pain but she didn't complain, so he decided to carry her despite the stares he might get.

When he picked her up she freaked out; this is the first reaction from her in hours! She just kept struggling until he finally put her down in aggravation, "Fine, walk in pain if you want!" He didn't mean to sound uncaring but he was only trying to help. Another thing he can't comprehend with her. Is this girl making him go soft?

He shrugged it off and they just walked in complete silence until they reached the next town. She completely collapsed on the pallet when they got there; must've been in a lot of pain. He got some more food and once again, had to almost make her eat. He even got her some medicine for the pain and had to watch to make sure she took it. He feels like he's babysitting a child that doesn't want to do what they're told. This better not last too long, but it did….for two long weeks.

*Kakuzu was about to crack with Hitomi. Her body had fully recovered and she looked totally healthy now, however, he had to force feed her. Actually having to open her mouth and shove the food in while threatening her if she didn't eat he'd make her regret it. He knew that she knows that wasn't a bluff and let her imagination take hold of what he might have in mind.

The only main thing he had to say about her is that she'd changed. She doesn't talk at all, smile, laugh, complain, won't let him go near or even touch her, and she's even taken the notion to sleep in the bathroom on the floor a lot. He had to keep getting up many a night to bring her back to the pallet; he wasn't going to let her try to sleep so uncomfortably.

She was still in that same stupor since the…incident and he didn't know what to do. He tried everything to get her back the way she was before, he didn't want to admit it but he resented her as of now. All this time, he was actually being considerate, patient, and this is the thanks he gets, NOTHING! He's not going to do all this sentimental crap without gaining something in return!

He just came back in the room from getting the paper and noticed she wasn't in sight. Where'd she go now? The bathroom, where else? He peeked in only to see her about to slit her wrist with a razor. He lunged at her and snatched the blade away yelling, "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" She quickly sprang to her feet and tried desperately to get the blade that he now had out of her reach. "Give it back!"

"No." "Please give it back. I want to die!" Damn it! Back to square one again. He just had this topic out of her head but now it's here again. "I'm not letting you do that Hitomi." Tears flowed down her cheeks and weakly hit his chest from frustration, "Why? Why won't you just let me die?" "Simple, I don't want you to."

"Liar! You just won't let me because you spent money on me and if I die it's gone to waste. You don't care about me! I'm nothing to you so just kill me!" He couldn't control himself and slapped her, harder than he intended. "I've heard enough of your excuses, now shut up!" She sat on the floor clutching her sore cheek and stared at him in shock.

He knelt down and firmly grasped her shoulder, "You need to get over the fact you were raped again. You've had more than enough time to recover and move on. I'm not babysitting you anymore and stop feeling sorry for yourself, got it?" She lowered her eyes and whimpered, "You don't understand." He snapped again, "Look at me Hitomi!" She nervously did and he continued, "I don't understand what? I know what kind of damage that did to you, so don't sit here and make me seem like I don't give a damn. It will NOT happen again, I give you my word."

It took a minute for her to respond and it was in a whisper, "What am I to you?" What is she to him indeed? He took a deep breath and sighed, "You're more than just a travel companion to me that's what." She took an unexpected action and buried her face into his chest with a sob. He didn't expect that reaction to say the least; if anything, he expected her to ask him what he meant by what he said.

"I hoped I wouldn't have to go through that again and….it hurt." He ran his fingers through her hair and murmured, "I know." He just sat down and let her sob out her sorrows into his chest while stroking her hair for a comforting attempt. She ended up crying herself to sleep and he carried her to the pallet after wiping the tears away. She kept a tight hold on him, despite the fact of being asleep and just left her against his chest.

He simply stared at her; did he actually miss that personality of hers so much? 'You don't care about her, so she's better off with my acquaintance than you.' Those words popped back in his head and he thought to himself, 'I have no intentions on raping her and treat her fair enough. How can she be better off with someone other than me? I want her to trust me. ...I don't like to admit it but, I do care about her. Someone like me shouldn't get attached to another person; it never seems to work out but…..maybe I can try with this one.'

My POV

It was an awkward morning after we woke up. I didn't mean to break down on him last night but I kept it bottled up for so long and…..it felt good to cry into his chest while being held. We started traveling yet again and I stayed in deep thought for a while. Kakuzu was really blunt and cruel from last night but, he was right about everything.

I do hope he keeps his word, because I trust him fully for some reason. Is it because he opened up to me more? I believe it is. "Hey, you're not going silent on me are you?" "No I'm ok, just thinking. Um, Kakuzu." "Yes." I wanted to give him some gratitude for what he did to get me back on my feet but I could only think of two words. "Thank you." I guess he got it since he just smirked and remained silent.

We stopped for a little break and I saw an apple tree. "Oooh!" I quickly ran off the road and into the woods to get one, but they were too high up and I was too short. I bet I was a sight trying to get one. I kept trying to jump up and even did a running start and jump but that didn't work either. Kakuzu sneaked up on her and just watched in amusement.

He couldn't restrain himself from chuckling at her silly attempts to just get an apple. I scowled at him from laughing at me, he could help me. As if reading my mind once again, he leisurely walks over and simply reaches up and picks one. "That was too easy." I took the apple when he held it out to me and made a face, "That's because you're so freaking tall!" "Maybe you just need to learn how to jump." "I hate you."

He just chuckled and followed me back to the road. He still loves to pick on me. I ate the apple down the road and just thought of something, "What did you mean?" "About what?" "About me being more than just a travel companion to you." "I meant what I said." He just left it at that and wouldn't go any further with it, no matter how hard I tried to get him to tell me.

It was getting dark and we haven't stopped anywhere for the night yet. He took a different route and walked straight into the woods this time. "Where are we going?" He didn't answer until we came to a clearing, "This'll do." I just stared at him, "We're sleeping outside?" "Is that a problem?" "Well yeah, it's…" He tossed his bag at me, "Stop complaining and wait here."

I don't really have a problem with sleeping outside, but it's getting cold. He came back with some wood and got a fire going. "Hand me my bag." I tossed it at him, in which I received a glare, "Got a hearing problem? I asked you to hand it to me not throw it!" I rolled my eyes sarcastically, "Sorry."

"I'll make you feel sorry if you keep that attitude." I didn't say anything and let him go about his business before I piss him off more. I knew by now not to push it with him. It was soon time to go to bed, and it got colder! He was on one side of the fire and me on the other. Kakuzu had a blanket on the ground and one to cover up with as did I, but I was FREEZING! I tried to go to sleep but it was too damn cold.

I was curled up in a little ball and couldn't stop shivering. "How do you expect me to sleep with your teeth chattering?" "I can't help it!" I heard him sigh and next thing I knew, he came over. He spread out one blanket next to me and the other to cover with. "What are you doing?" He jerked my blanket up and got under it with me before putting it back. "You'll be warmer with me."

I wasn't sure about being so close but at this point I didn't care. I pretty much threw myself on him to get all that body heat. He's so warm! "Like being on me that much?" I could hear the humor in his tone, "Your body's hot." "Why thank you." "That's not what I meant." "Whatever you say."

I was comfortable after I got warmed up but didn't sleep. Kakuzu opened at eye and saw she wasn't asleep yet, "Can't sleep?" "No." "Really? We need to change that then." I had no clue what he was talking about. I went to stare at him questionably, but when I turned my head, he was staring straight at me with some weird expression I couldn't make out, and his mask was off so it should've made some sort of sense.

I decided to leave it alone and went to turn back over but he grabbed my face and pulled it back. My eyes grew extremely wide when his lips pressed onto mine with a gentle kiss. I actually slowly started kissing back with uncertainty. Why is he kissing me? Better yet, why am I kissing him back? He made it worse by sliding his tongue along my lower lip to gain access into my mouth. I hesitantly opened and let him glide his tongue in to attack mine.

I never kissed anyone before, so this is my first kiss. We stayed engrossed in the long, passionate kiss until he disengaged. I didn't know what to say, "Why did you…" He licked my neck and murmured, "Isn't it obvious?" "I'm not sure." Does he like me that much? He just continued what he was doing and attacked my neck with nibbles.

I did start to relax somewhat as he sucked my neck in little patches and trailed them down to my collarbone. I held my breath as his hands took hold of my kimono. He noticed and just kissed me again as he unfastened and took it off. I blushed terribly and even more when he deftly took his clothes off. Should I go through with this? I caught a glimpse of his manhood and probably blushed a very deep shade of red…..it was very big. He followed my eyes and chuckled softly before gently massaging my breasts with his strong hands.

My breathing quickened and softly gasped when he took a nipple in his mouth to suck on it. Why does this feel good, it never did before? He switched to the other and I closed my eyes, only to see the sick images of those who defiled me. I didn't mean to cry but the tears just came out. Kakuzu wiped the tears away, "Have I gone too far?" "I'm sorry; when I closed my eyes I saw them."

He leaned closer, "Then don't close your eyes, keep them fixed on me." I slowly nodded and let him continue. I actually didn't want him to stop, it feels nice with him. He spread my legs and brought his head between them. My back arched up and I grabbed his hair as he deftly licked and sucked. This sensation feels so different and wasn't long at all before I involuntarily bucked my hips up and had a spasm fit.

He licked his lips as he lifted his head up and ran a finger around my entrance before sliding it in with ease. I only fidgeted a little from it but he didn't leave it there long before he positioned himself. My body started trembling unintentionally with nervousness, "Kakuzu I…" I was scared. He gave me a fixed look and leaned down almost on top of me, "I'll be gentle."

He slowly penetrated me and went slowly. I gasped and gripped his back while burying my face in against his shoulder. "Stop…it hurts." He just attacked my mouth with an epic kiss and just went faster. I groaned softly but it soon turned to a pleasurable moan. It feels good now? He lifted my legs over his elbows and changed the angle.

The only noises that were to be heard during our lovemaking were my soft moans/whimpers and his low manly growls/moans. Our climaxes were nearing and I just wanted to hold him tightly until the end. He took the same notion as I did and pounded me hard. I did let out a small cry from the sudden pace but it was not in pain, no, it was from sheer pleasure. I felt something about to explode inside of me and whimpered, "Kakuzu!" My body writhed from my orgasm. Her walls clamping down on his cock made him follow suit and growled, "Hitomi!"

He pulled out in time to cover my chest with his seed panting very heavily as I was. After Kakuzu rode out his orgasm, he stretched out on his back and I curled up next to him after pulling the blankets over us, before we fell into an ecstasy filled slumber...I wasn't cold anymore.

To be continued: