A/N: Yay, chapter three! And it's long! (dances) Sorry Deidara and Tobi weren't in this one, but I hope that you were satisfied with that little glimpse into Tsume's past. (turns on dramatic music) I'm just toying around with things, and I apologize if Kisame's outta character. Anyway, Tsume is now able to communicate with more then just her eyes. On my computer, the writing is in a different font, but I can't really do that on so I just made it italics. Thoughts are in italics too, so I hope it's not confusing. And now, onward!

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Tsume sat perched upon a stool, legs bent and hugged up against her chest. Chin resting on her knees, Tsume watched Itachi and Kisame. The three of them were now sitting in a double room at the local in, everything silent. There were two beds, a couch, a low table, a closet, a table with two chairs, and two stools, one of which Tsume was currently occupying. She silently watched the two ninja, amber eyes curious as well as fearful. There was also a small bathroom.

Itachi was sitting with his eyes closed at the table, while Kisame was lounging on one of the beds, his hands behind his head. He had set his sword aside, and it was currently leaning against the wall to his right. He had shed his cloak and hung it in the closet. Tsume took the opportunity to take a closer look at Kisame. Apart from his blue skin, gills, teeth, and eyes, Kisame looked relatively normal. He was tall and well built, body toned and well muscled. He seemed to be a few inches over six feet, more than head and shoulders taller then Tsume. He was wearing a fish-net shirt identical to the one that he had given Tsume, the light garment covering very little. It wasn't the face that he looked very much like a shark that bothered Tsume, in fact, that was what bothered her the least. What did bother her, on the other hand, was his sword and the air of danger that was constantly surrounding him. If Tsume hadn't been a prisoner, she might have thought of Kisame as attractive. But at the moment, she was too scared of him and Itachi to think of such things.

"Just remember, Tsume," she thought to herself, "you saved Aya. She'll be fine now. Just think about that." But still Tsume worried. She still felt terribly exposed in only an overly large fish-net shirt that showed her bra, and her dirty, torn capris. She didn't dare ask either Kisame or Itachi for some clothes. Her previous courage seemed to have vanished into thin air. Tsume bit her lip, eyes squeezed shut against the sudden fearful tears. She cursed at herself. "Dammit, Tsume! Stop it! Stop crying!"

"Stop crying, onna." Kisame's voice made Tsume jump, and her eyes snapped open to look at Kisame. He still had his eyes closed, and hadn't moved from his position on the bed. "Nothing's happened to you, so just calm down."

Tsume's hands balled into fists with as sudden surge of anger. She wanted to shout at Kisame, to tell him just how scared she was and to tell him to leave her alone. Tsume clenched her teeth; she couldn't stand it. More then ever now, she wished that she could speak. She wanted to scream, to make some kind of sound to tell Kisame what she was really feeling, instead of giving the shark-nin subtle signs with her eyes.

Meanwhile, Kisame had opened his eyes, and saw Tsume's face twisted in an expression of frustration. There must've been so many things that she wanted to say right then; to him and to Itachi. Only now did Kisame consider how hard it must be not to be able to speak. It was all well and good if there was someone like himself who could easily read someone's thoughts from the expression in their eyes, but otherwise . . . you were simply dumb, unable to express yourself in the simplest of ways. Kisame found himself wondering how Tsume had lost the ability to speak, and subsequently gotten the scar on her neck. However, Kisame's polite breeding prevented him from asking her.

But when he saw Tsume's hands open to clench around the edges of the stool, knuckles going white, he decided that he should do something. Kisame rose up silently, sliding his feet to the floor and standing up. All the while he was silent. Even when he walked across the floor towards her never made a sound. This was proven when Kisame reached out and touch Tsume's shoulder.

Tsume nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand descended on her shoulder, and her eyes snapped open. Tsume jumped again when her gaze met Kisame's. She jerked away from him, shoving herself off the stool. She landed in a tangle of arms and legs, completely disoriented and thoroughly embarrassed. She sat up quickly, shaking her hair from her face to shoot a mild glare up at Kisame, whom she blamed for her fall.

Kisame only chuckled. "Jumpy one, aren't you, onna?" he teased.

Now thoroughly fed up with being made fun up, Tsume looked around the room. She found what she was looking for on the low table before the couch. She rose to her feet, walked past Kisame, and sat down at the table. On it was a pad of paper and a pencil. Tsume picked up a pencil, and put it to the paper. She wrote quickly and neatly, brows furrowed as she did so. Curious, Kisame walked over to look over Tsume's shoulder. She set down her pencil, and moved her hands away from the paper so that Kisame could read it.

"My name is Tsume. Please don't call me 'onna' all the time. If you're going to call me something, please call me by my name, Kisame-sama."

Kisame chuckled at what he read. That made Tsume start writing again.

"And please don't laugh at everything I do, Kisame-sama. I feel self-conscious enough as it is, being clothed as I am, and your teasing does nothing to help that. I do not mean to be disrespectful towards your or Itachi-sama, put please stop laughing at me."

Kisame sighed, and moved around to sit across from Tsume. "Look, Tsume," he said, putting emphasis on her name, "be glad that you're not dead like that bastard who had you cornered. As of now, you are useless to Itachi and I. So far, you've shown no reason as to why we should keep you around."

Tsume bent over the writing again. "I understand that, Kisame-sama, and I amgrateful that you and Itachi-sama have treated me so well. I apologize if I have angered you." Tsume paused a moment, face losing all traces of frustration. "I also wish to thank you for not harming that girl, Aya. She's only a child, and one of the few people in the village ever to show me kindness. I truly am grateful to you and Itachi-sama for not hurting her. And . . . thank you . . . for saving me from that man. But, you called him a thief. May I ask what he had done, Kisame-sama?" Tsume turned the pad around so that Kisame could read what she had written.

Kisame tilted his head to the side; Tsume's speech was very polite, similar almost to his own. And she seemed to have lost some of her earlier shyness and was now talking to him in as normal a manner as she dared. She was smart, too. She understood the situation that she was in, and conducted herself accordingly. The shark-nin shrugged. "The idiot had been trying to steal my sword and Itachi's katana. He was above the average pickpocket, but was really stupid to try an' steal from us."

Tsume nodded, turning the paper back to herself. "I see. Kisame-sama, may I ask you something?"

Kisame shrugged. "I don't see why not, but I can't make any promises."

"Thank you. Before I ask, I must say that you're quite good at reading up-side-down. But I was wondering," Tsume paused, biting her bottom lip, "do you think that I could possibly get some other clothes? I don't mean to be ungrateful, and I thank you for the shirt, but as you can see, it's far to big form me, and too reveling. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would it be alright for me to get some clothes that fit me? Some clean ones? I understand if you don't want me to go anywhere, but I really need some fresh clothes. Mine have gotten a bit," Tsume paused again, face flushing, "well, dirty."

Kisame thought a moment, considering Tsume's request. He didn't see how it could hurt, and at least she wouldn't look like some kind of common tart. And it wasn't an unreasonable request, for a girl to want clean clothes. And now that he was thinking about it, girls needed other things as well, things that Kisame would never dare to even think the names of. He sighed mentally. What a job this was gonna be. And then another thought came to him. Why was he bothering with this girl? Why hadn't he simply gotten rid of her, left her in the forest? The more Kisame thought about it, the more he realized that he had no idea. But all the same, he'd get Tsume some clothes, and . . . other things.

"Yeah, fine," he muttered, scratching the back of his head. Tsume smiled and bowed her head in thanks. Kisame rose up and walked over to the door, pausing a moment to whisper something to Itachi that Tsume couldn't hear. Then he had left the room, closing the door behind him. Tsume suddenly wished that she could've gone with him, and be left alone with Itachi. The Sharingan-eyed young man had hardly said a word since receiving the so called 'mission scroll' that he was pouring over.

"Tsume-san." Tsume jumped at he sound of her name, looking over at Itachi. After all, who else could've spoken? "Come." Tsume scooped up the paper and pencil, rising to her feet. She walked quickly over to stand beside Itachi eyes lowered. He had closed the 'mission scroll' and stowed it away somewhere, and now the table's surface was bare. "Sit," Itachi instructed. Tsume did as she was told, setting out the pad of paper before her.

"What is it, Itachi-sama?" she wrote out.

Itachi turned his now onyx gaze on Tsume and she shivered. "As I said before, you seem completely useless to us," he said coldly. "But it is possible that you know something that we do not. Do you have any skills to speak of?"

"I have a photographic memory." It was a simple sentence, but one that surprised Itachi, though he did not show it. He simply arched a brow in instruction for Tsume to continue. "I remember every detail of everything I see, Itachi-sama. It's been that way since I was a child. It's helped me a lot throughout my life. Could it possibly be of use to you and Kisame-sama? For as long as I am with you, I hope to be as little a hindrance as possible."

"If your claim is true, then you should learn things quite quickly," Itachi said.

"Yes, I do. Once I'm shown something, I never forget it."

"Then you may not be useless after all," Itachi said, inclining his head ever so slightly. "Would you be willing to learn from Kisame and myself without complaint? We would tolerate nothing, but if you can learn, we would not have to waste time defending you if we should be attacked or have to go into battle. If you cannot learn from us, then you will be killed. Those who have seen the inner workings of Akatsuki members never survive to tell others anything."

Tsume shivered at the coldness of Itachi's words, but she never doubted his sincerity for a moment. If the choices were to remain with Itachi and Kisame or death, then she would try her hardest to learn from them. "Yes, Itachi-sama. If you and Kisame-sama wish to teach me, then I will endeavor to learn from you. I don't want to be any trouble to you, so I will do my best to learn all that you teach me. And, may I ask what 'Akatsuki' is?"

Itachi said not a word, and the look he gave Tsume told her that the conversation was at an end.

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Kisame was gone for about an hour before he returned, a black canvas backpack in one hand. He closed the door and walked inside. He saw Tsume sitting on the couch, legs crossed. Her eyes were closed and her hands were folded in her lap. As Kisame drew closer, she calmly opened her eyes and looked up at him. Her eyes fell on the bag and Kisame tossed it over to her. Sher caught it with surprising ease, and Kisame tilted his head in slight surprise.

"There're some clothes in there, and a few other things," Kisame said, returning to his former position on the bed. "You can change in the bathroom." Tsume tilted her head to the side questioningly, and lifted the flap of the backpack. There were several black t-shirts and pairs matching black capris. She also found a padded black jacket and a pair of black sandals at the bottom of the bag. There were multiple pairs of practical black underwear, as well as several black sports bras. Tsume also found a small black dress of a simply pattern, and she guessed that it was for sleeping in. Then she noticed a paper-wrapped box stuffed into the bottom corner. She pulled it out, and unwrapped the paper. She failed to notice Kisame's uncomfortable cough as she blushed fiercely. It was a box of tampons. Her cheeks tinged pink, and she packed the box back away.

Tsume rose to her feet, and moved towards the bathroom, bag in hand. Giving Kisame one last nod of thanks, she closed the door behind her. She set the backpack down on the sink counter, and pulled out a fresh bra and underwear. She undressed, placing her old clothes and Kisame's shirt aside. She had only changed into clean underwear when she looked down at herself. She was still covered in in scratches and bruises, some fresher then others. Tsume wanted to clean herself, and looked longingly at the small shower and bath cubical. Tsume was about to step towards the cubical when a sudden wave of weakness washed over her. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she crashed to the ground, hissing in pain as her body cried out, and fresh bruises were made. Tsume tried to scramble to her feet, but found herself suddenly unable.

There was some noise outside the bathroom, and then the door opened. Tsume tried even harder to get up when she saw Kisame looking down at her, but her legs remained weak and strengthless. Her face flushed, and she felt suddenly scared again. She tried to scramble away from the ninja, but he knelt down and caught her wrist. His eyes roamed over her, and tears stung the corners of Tsume's eyes. This had happened to her far too often. She'd been able to escape before, but she knew that there would be no way to escape Kisame. Fear overwhelmed her and she struggled vainly against Kisame, tears spilling from her eyes to run down her cheeks.

"What the hell are you doing, onna?!" Kisame snapped, only making Tsume struggle harder. Kisame grabbed Tsume's other wrist, yanking her up to press her against he wall with the weight of his body. Tsume's breath hitched as she heard Kisame shut the door behind them, cutting off Tsume's only escape. Tsume continued to struggle under Kisame's weight, body shaking with her silent sobs.

Suddenly, Tsume felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, and it took her only a moment to realize that Kisame had bitten her, sharp teeth biting into the skin of her shoulder. She went completely still, still shaking. She squeezed shut, trying to pull her mind away from the pain of Kisame's bite as he remained latched onto her shoulder. But he did nothing else. He simply stood there, hands holding Tsume's wrists on either side of her head. She held as still as she could, shaking and trembling.

Then, opening his powerful jaws, Kisame drew away from his bite. "Onna, if I wanted something from you," he hissed in Tsume's ear, "you would know what I wanted; I'm not one to be subtle. But I have no intention of doing anything to you. Now, are you done acting foolish, onna?" Tsume nodded. "Look at me."

Slowly, Tsume opened her eyes, Kisame's gaze capturing and holding her own. Kisame saw the fear in Tsume's eyes, and beneath that, the pain from his bite. He frowned. Damn, why had he gone and done that? His eyes lost the hardened gaze, and Kisame bent his head to Tsume's shoulder again. He felt Tsume wince again, and then shiver when she felt his tongue press against the bleeding mark that he had made.

Kisame licked away the blood, nudging Tsume's skin gently with the tip of his nose. "Sorry," Kisame murmured, his grip on Tsume's wrists relaxing. "Now I went and gave you another wound . . ."

Slowly, the fear faded from Tsume's eyes. She didn't understand it, but there had been something in Kisame's voice just then. Something almost . . . apologetic. Kisame drew back from her, releasing her wrists. He turned away, picking up one of the white washcloths that had been folded on the counter. He wet it under the faucet, and turned back to Tsume. She flinched when he came close and, for some reason, it brought up the smallest pang of regret in Kisame's stomach, an unfamiliar feeling.

"Look, I'm just going to clean your cuts, onna," he said softly. "They'll get infected and then you really will be useless. We won't be able to train you if you've got an infected wound." Kisame reached out and took Tsume gently by the arm. "Let me clean the cuts, and then you can bathe, alright?"

Tsume looked up at Kisame, still uncertain. He was still unpredictable to her; she didn't know his behavior patterns well enough to predict his moods. For now, she would just have to take things as they came, trying to learn and adapt. Biting her bottom lip, Tsume stepped forward, pulling her hair over her right shoulder and tilting her head to the side, baring Kisame's bite.

Kisame stepped forward and raised the washcloth. His touch was surprisingly gently as he pressed it lightly against Tsume's shoulder, dabbing at the blood. Still biting her bottom lip Tsume allowed Kisame to clean the wound, and didn't open her eyes when she felt him put some kind of salve on it. The salve stung a little, and Tsume guessed that it was the antiseptic. She found it odd to find herself being treated by such a person, when next to no one had given her a second glance when she had lain bleeding in the streets so long ago. No one except for that one woman . . .

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It was winter. Though the winters of the land were relatively mild, Tsume was just a sickly girl, not fit to be out and alone in the winter evening, let alone when she was hurt and bleeding. She lay in a darkened ally, her throat cut and bleeding and deep slash across her back. As she lay there clad in rags, Tsume had tried to call out to passers by, but her voice would not work and trying to speak only made her lose more blood. It was only when she was half-dead with cold, barely conscious from blood loss, that Tsume had resigned herself to dying alone and without any memory of a family or anyone who cared for her. It was also then that she was saved.

"Oh, Kami!" a distant voice said. "You poor child! Who has done this to you?!" The voice was kind and filled with worry, and Tsume felt herself being lifted up and wrapped in something soft and warm. She heard the voice again, but this time much closer. "Can you hear me, child? What is—oh, Kami! You're throat's been cut! How can you still be alive? Little one, just hang on, I'll get you home and take care of you. Don't you go dying on me, child!"

The next thing Tsume remembered was waking up in a warm bed with the sound of a crackling fire and a female voice singing a lullaby. The voice was elderly but strong, warm and kind as the blankets that Tsume felt covering her body. She opened her eyes, gazing blearily around her. She was in a small room, and couldn't see much beyond the fireplace and the bed she was lying in. There was someone sitting at the foot of the bed, but Tsume couldn't make out her face.

Tsume tried to speak, but the only sound she made was a quiet rasp, but whatever sound she made must've attracted the figure's attention. When it spoke, Tsume recognized the female voice from before. "Don't push yourself, child," she said. "You haven't been asleep long. You need to rest now. If you need something, I have a chalk-board for you to write on, but try to rest for now." As Tsume drifted off again, the woman said something else. "Don't you worry, old Aki will take good care of you."

Aki. Wonderful, beautiful old Aki. She was one of the very few ever to truly care about Tsume, and had raised the young girl like she was her own daughter. Tsume had loved her like a mother. But Aki had been taken from Tsume far too soon. On a red morning of blood and blades that Tsume would never forget.

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A/N: Well, that was chapter three. And now, I have a question to ask. Where should Tsume sleep? I'm torn between having her shivering on the couch and Kisame giving her a blanket, or him just telling her that she's sleeping in the same bed with him. Garg. Nothin' is gonna happen yet, and Tsume's still a little scared of him, and let's face it, he did bite her with those scary teeth of his. But anyway, gimme reviews, since I don't know what I'm gonna write! And about Deidara and Tobi, help! I need ideas! I already know that Tsume gets along with Deidara because she likes fireworks (I'm typing this on July fourth, by the way, and earlier tonight, a firework was shot way too low and zoomed past only about ten inches from my face, spraying sparks on my mom and I. Ouch.) and that Tobi calls her a 'good girl' because she wants to learn from Kisame and Itachi. But how should she behave around them and how the heck do they act? And what is the big mission that they have to go on?! I know it takes place somewhere with a big canyon with rocks with unstable chemicals that can explode if exposed to too many vibrations (Kisame jumping around). Man this is long. Sorry. I'll try to write soon, but my muse is being stubborn, so please help me. (goes and starts begging to muse).