It's been a week since Rimi has been in the hospital recovering. The doctors say she's healing well and will be released soon; however that's not what I have been focused on. Kenta, Naruto, and I have visited her every day, and each day she hasn't said much to us. She would sign a few things, small sentences at the most, and then she would remain quiet. I couldn't tell if she was traumatized from her kidnapping or if she was mad at us.

Orochimaru didn't harm her. The doctors clarified with us that she wasn't raped, so I'm glad she at least doesn't have to live with that for the rest of her life. Being kidnapped by her stalker and parents' murderer was bad enough, but if he raped her I don't think she would ever be the same Rimi we know.

Rimi stared out the window while I played with her hand. Naruto and Kenta had already left earlier, but I stayed a little longer this time in hopes of her talking to me. I realized that she never said anything when all three of us were there, so maybe it'll be different since we're alone.

I touched her arm before signing, "Are you in any pain?" Her glance to me was short, and she shook her head. "Do you want me to leave?" I asked, ready to go if she didn't want me there. Again, she shook her head.

I sighed, feeling like I still wasn't going to get much out of her. It was very tempting to just get up and go now instead of wasting my time, but then how would Rimi feel? I didn't want her to think I was going to abandon her.

"Sasuke," I heard. It took me a minute to realize Rimi was looking straight at me. She must've been the one that spoke.

I signed to her. "You don't have to speak if you don't want to."

"I want to," she replied. "I feel like I should explain myself."

I could've said, "Of course you don't have to! Just take your time healing," but in all reality I did want her to explain herself. No one knew it, but I was deeply upset with her for not telling any of us Orochimaru was still stalking her. She at least could've let her brother know, but she chose silence over protection thinking that ignoring the problem would make it go away.

"He's never approached me before," she started. "After my parents were killed, all he would do was send letters. I didn't think it would escalate."

"I don't mean to be rude Rimi, but all I'm hearing you say is that you weren't thinking."

She gave me a heated glare. "And I'm paying for that now, aren't I?" That shut me up enough for her to continue. "The day he kidnapped me…..I didn't even know he was near me. He broke into my house and came up behind me when I was washing my hands. I didn't hear him. I didn't see him until it was too late. I felt so helpless."

My eyes softened. This was the first time she admitted being helpless because of being deaf. She never saw it as a weakness until now. Or at least, she never let on that she saw it that way. Maybe sometimes I didn't notice if she was upset about it.

"He didn't touch me inappropriately. He just kept talking. He would always say how we were meant to be and that we could finally be together. I refused to talk to him, and luckily he wasn't mad about it. He was convinced he would get me to speak eventually. 'It would just take time' he said. But the entire time I didn't even want to read his lips but I did in case I needed act fast and attempt to defend myself, even though that was pretty hard considering he had me tied down. It doesn't matter anymore anyway," she finished with a sigh.

I looked at her confused. "What do you mean it doesn't matter? You could've been hurt! These are the kind of things you take into account and learn from so of course it matters. And why did you take a bullet for me? We were there to make sure you didn't get harmed."

"It doesn't matter," she said staring at me with a hard gaze, "Because after what I'm about to ask you will ensure that something like this will never happen again. And I would gladly take a bullet for you again. You've already done so much for me and I wasn't going to let you get hurt."

I was touched, but I chose to focus on her earlier statement. "What are you going to ask me?"

She didn't speak for a moment, which made me think about the worst possible things. Was she going to break up with me because she thought she was a hindrance? After the encounter with my parents and me going to save her, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what she thought. Did she want to end her life because she didn't want to live like this anymore? Rimi doesn't seem like the type to harm herself, but who knows what could be going through her mind right now. However, as soon as she said what she wanted I was both happy and left speechless.

"I want cochlear implants."