Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either manga or anime!); the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns all rights. However, the plot and Namiko Uzumaki are mine!

Chapter 23: Damaged

Namiko continued to follow Kabuto down the hallway. He suddenly stopped in front of one of the identical doors which opened up into a wide hallway, much wider than what should've been behind the door. More identical doors lined both sides of the hallway and after several more minutes of walking in awkward silence, Kabuto opened another door.

Behind the door was revealed to be a large, dark gray stone room with bright lights and medical equipment and scrolls everywhere. Everything seemed meticulously organized. Orochimaru stood at a table, looking over a scroll filled with symbols that Namiko couldn't even begin to read.

Orochimaru looked up and a sinister smile spread across his face. "Ah, Namiko-chan, how wonderful of you to accompany Kabuto-kun to my laboratory. Welcome! This is where I study jutsus, medicine, or do other experiments."

Namiko pressed her lips together nervously as she looked around the room. The snake sannin's presence was overwhelming even without her chakra sensing, and she honestly was thankful she didn't have it active.

It suddenly occurred to her that she was in a very dangerous situation. Being alone with two of the most twisted shinobi to ever exist. 'This is exactly what Sasuke was trying to tell me to stay away from. But what was I supposed to do? If I refused to come, I don't think Kabuto would hesitate to kill me, and I'm defenseless without my chakra…' She tried to keep her face as neutral as possible.

"May I ask why you asked to see me?" she asked hesitantly, trying to appear confident but respectful. Now was not the time to test the waters like Sasuke did.

"Well, my dear Namiko-chan, I would like to examine you," said Orochimaru smoothly as he circled her like a snake stalking a mouse, waiting to strike. "This is the first time I have been able to be so close to a jinchuriki, except that time I saw your brother in the Forest of Death."

She swallowed nervously. "Examine?"

"We'll start by getting your vitals and information for now," said Kabuto as he approached them, clipboard in hand.

'For now? That's not exactly comforting. Kakashi-sensei told me before how Orochimaru loved experimenting on people, and even Sasuke confirmed that again last night.' Namiko slowly nodded, choosing her words carefully before answering, "Okay then, where do we start?"

Orochimaru's twisted smile grew larger. Kabuto lead Namiko first to a measuring mark on the wall before weighing her. "Hmmm, one hundred fifty-three centimeters and forty-one kilograms," Kabuto rattled off as he wrote on the clipboard, "You really are a tiny thing, aren't you?"

Namiko ignored his comment as she sat on the medical table Kabuto directed her towards. He took her blood pressure, and heart rate, along with drawing numerous vials of blood which she definitely didn't want to know what he was doing with. She glanced between the two men before sliding off the table. "That's it then, right?"

"Not quite." A mysterious glint appeared in Orochimaru's snake-like eyes. "Remove your shirt please."

Namiko froze as she couldn't help the fear that flooded her body. Orochimaru chuckled. "Don't worry, Namiko-chan, I only want to take a close look at the kyuubi's seal. So, be a good girl and sit back up on the table." The tone in his voice told her that he wasn't making a request; it was a demand, and the consequences could be her life.

She complied, but she couldn't stop her body from reacting in fear. She hesitated in removing her shirt but slowly followed orders, leaving her in her white bra and black shorts. Considering the shirt she had been wearing didn't cover much more than her bra, she deduced that Orochimaru was purely doing this to make her uncomfortable and see if she would obey orders. It didn't make the experience any less awkward or terrifying.

"Lie back," he ordered. As she did so, he made an odd hand sign before laying a cold hand on her stomach as the kyuubi's seal came to the surface. "Hm, so this is the seal the Yondaime placed on you two. I only saw your brother's seal for just a moment; I didn't have the time to examine it closely."

Her breath caught in her throat. She was in an extremely vulnerable position and there was no way she could take on either shinobi, even if she had all her chakra to begin with. Orochimaru's hands traced over each line of the seal at an agonizingly slow pace. He kept his face emotionless as he continued his exploration of the seal, which somehow scared her more than the disturbing looks his face normally displayed.

He stood straight once again and removed his hand from her stomach. She began to sit up slowly but was suddenly forced back against the table, knocking the wind out of her. Orochimaru glared down at her menacingly. "I didn't say you could get up."

She turned her head away from the sannin, squeezing her eyes tightly closed. He removed his hand from her stomach and gripped her jaw with such force she knew she'd bruise. "Look at me," he demanded, twisting her to face him.

She reluctantly obeyed, opening her eyes. Orochimaru let out an amused cackle that chilled her to the bone. "You are even softer than Sasuke-kun was when he came to me." He roughly let go of her jaw and turned on his heel, walking out of his laboratory. "Get dressed. Kabuto-kun, take her back to Sasuke-kun's room before he gets back."

Kabuto nodded and threw Namiko's shirt at her which smacked her in the face. She paused for a moment before sitting up and quickly throwing on her shirt. Kabuto didn't say anything, he just walked towards the door on the opposite side of the room, waiting for her. She silently stood, gripping the table for stability, before following Kabuto out of the room.

The walk back to the room was totally silent. Namiko felt like she was in a trance, her mind a blank slate as Kabuto opened Sasuke's door. She didn't even turn to say goodbye; she just closed the door in his face.

The moment the door closed, she sank to the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees as a lone tear streaked down her cheek. She sat there for several minutes before a gravelly voice echoed in her head.

'He's right, you know. You're too soft.'

Namiko wiped the tear from her cheek and stood up. 'Really? Because you were pretty quick to ridicule me about killing that man a couple of weeks ago.'

'You're still too soft. If you weren't soft, you wouldn't feel guilty over his death. Maybe you should ask the snake to train you…'

'No way! I can barely handle being in the same room as him, let alone being physically touched or trained by him.'

'Use him to your advantage. Just think about it, brat.'

The kyuubi went silent once more as she sat down on her futon to draw. Maybe the kyuubi had a point.

Kurenai sat at the counter of the bar, her head leaning heavily on her hand as she looked at Asuma. Asuma poured them both another drink of sake before mirroring her body language. "How are you handling this?"

"I don't even know," she said as she downed her drink in one fluid movement. "I just don't know what possessed her to think that abandoning her team and going after Sasuke alone was a good idea. She's become extremely impulsive lately. I know that when children become teenagers, they often make stupid choices…"

"Kurenai, this seems like more than just a dumb decision…" said Asuma carefully.

Kurenai's voice became quiet, "Do you think this is the kyuubi's influence?"

"I think it can be both," explained Asuma. "Kakashi told me that he's noticed Naruto being more emotional than before as well, especially when compared to his peers. You told me Namiko had been complaining of headaches and had nightmares during missions a few times, right?"

Kurenai nodded. "She thinks I didn't notice, but her nightmares have definitely been intense. She woke up screaming on our last mission; thankfully we were far enough from our target that it didn't cause us any problems. Sakura told me Namiko asked her for sleeping pills a while back."

"I take it that you never asked her about it?" questioned Asuma.

Kurenai shook her head and groaned. "I just want her home. Home where I know she's safe and not at the mercy of one of the most dangerous shinobi in the world."

Asuma stroked her wild brown hair. "I think you need to stop worrying so much. She's a fighter and you know it. The kyuubi won't let her die. Plus, Sasuke has always liked her, so I doubt he'll let anything happen to her. Shikamaru and I have discussed Sasuke multiple times during our Shogi sessions; we both believe Sasuke still has some good in him. I trust my student." He paused to look into her crimson eyes. "You need to trust yours."

"You're right, I need to trust her," she said as her shoulders visibly relaxed. "Let's go home."

A sly grin spread over Asuma's face as he snuffed out his cigarette. "Mine or yours?"

"Your apartment has the bigger bed…"

Namiko startled as she heard the door's latch unlock. She turned to face the door, tensing her body, and holding her breath while praying that it wasn't Orochimaru or Kabuto again.

Sasuke was puzzled when he entered his room and saw the tension visibly leave Namiko's body as she slumped back against the wall. "What happened?" He asked calmly as he set his sword on the desk.

She avoided his gaze, choosing to turn away from him to focus on the wall behind his bed. "Nothing."

"The way you're holding yourself tells me something happened while I was gone," he said as he knelt in front of her. "I'll ask again, what happened?"

His voice was firm but gentle, and Namiko finally looked at his face. This time her breath stopped for a different reason; he was so close to her that she could see the specks of silver in his coal-black eyes, something she had never noticed before. She shook her head slightly and forced her breath out as she tried to think of what to tell him. "…nothing. I'm fine."

She pushed past him, trying to stand, only for Sasuke to grab her upper arm firmly with his left hand but not enough to hurt her. Her brow furrowed in confusion at his actions. "Wha—what are you doing?"

He pulled her back onto her futon and gently gripped her chin, tilting her face toward the candlelight. Red fingerprint marks littered the underside of her jaw, some already starting to turn purple. "What did he do to you?" growled Sasuke.

"Namiko…tell me." His breathing became more forced, obviously trying to hold back his anger. "What. Did. He. Do. To. You?" He said, stressing each word.

She pressed her lips in a thin line. "He took my vitals and looked at the kyuubi's seal, that's it." She swallowed nervously.

"No, you're hiding something."

"He…" She hesitated. "…made me take off my shirt to look at the seal." She quickly raised her hands, waving them in front of her. "I wasn't naked or anything, just in my bra. It was just really awkward and nerve-wracking. I'm sure he did it just to make me nervous…and it worked."

He let go of her chin, grazing his fingertips gently across the forming bruises. "How did this happen then?"

"He demanded I look at him and when I didn't, he wrapped his hand around my jaw to force me to look at him…"

Sasuke's touch on her neck faltered for a moment. "Nothing else happened?"

"No, I promise."

Sasuke let out a small breath of relief as his hand trailed from her neck, barely brushing down her upper arm. He stood and sat on the end of his bed. "Good."

Namiko leaned against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. "I've been in situations like that before, but I always had my chakra to back me up. Without my chakra, I was helpless as a newborn kitten."

"From now on, you follow me everywhere. I don't want you out of my sight," he stated adamantly. He paused before continuing, "Wait. What do you mean you've been in situations like that before?"

"The mission I was on when I came after you," she explained, keeping her focus straight ahead. "Ino, Hinata, and I were sent to keep a brothel from buying and selling more women from human trafficking. We were to find out when and where the buy was so we could pass the information to jounins so they could do the takedown.

"I was the one in charge of infiltrating the brothel and gathering info. I was the best choice for bait because I can use Flying Raijin to escape at any time. I had men…touch me…but I never let anything else happen. This wasn't the first time I'd been used for bait, and it probably won't be the last." Namiko noticed Sasuke clench his hands into fists.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I'm surprised Naruto hasn't thrown a fit about that."

"He doesn't know; Tsunade-sama made sure of that." She shrugged as she folded her legs beneath her. "I've never even been kissed, so it's not like he has to worry about my virtue," she said with a laugh.

Something inside Sasuke relaxed at hearing that she'd never been kissed. He quickly dismissed the thought as a knock on the door caught their attention. He answered the door to find Kabuto holding a tray with lunch on it, the same rice, fish, and vegetables as the day before.

"Orochimaru-sama had me bring you lunch, but he says both of you are to come down for dinner in the dining room this evening," said Kabuto as he passed the tray to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded in response before setting down the tray and closing the door without another word to Kabuto. He turned his attention back to Namiko as he distributed the bowls between them. "Are you hungry? I'm sure that apple wasn't incredibly filling."

"I could eat," she said as she sat opposite him. "Thank you for that, by the way."

"You're welcome," he simply replied as he started eating. Silence overcame them for the rest of the meal, but it wasn't quite as awkward as it had been the day before.

After they ate lunch, they both settled into doing their own things. Namiko decided to lie down on her stomach on her futon and draw as Sasuke took care of his weapons while sitting at the desk. Both perfectly content with the silence.

Sasuke stayed focused on his task of cleaning and sharpening his kunai and sword, occasionally glancing over at the redhead a couple of meters from him. A small breathy sound made him glance over at her. She had fallen asleep, her face lying on the book, tilted towards him.

'She's probably still recovering from everything over the last couple of days, plus I'm sure dealing with Orochimaru didn't help. She probably fell asleep out of self-preservation.' As he watched her peaceful expression, the thought of Orochimaru touching her made his blood boil. 'He's not coming anywhere near her ever again unless I'm there. I'll make sure of it.'

He put up his weapons and ran a hand through his hair. 'Maybe she has the right idea right now. Sleep sounds good.' Sasuke laid down on his bed, facing her to watch her sleep until he fell asleep too.

Sasuke was jerked awake by the sudden sound of Namiko screaming.

He leaped off his bed and knelt at her side. She was thrashing around violently, her eyes clenched shut, and screaming almost constantly. "Namiko!" he shouted, but she didn't react. He reached out to touch her shoulder and she smacked his hand away, still seemingly asleep.

"Namiko!" he yelled louder, but still nothing. 'This doesn't seem like a simple nightmare.' He gripped her shoulders firmly, pinning her to the futon. She still thrashed around, trying to push him off. "Namiko! I need you to wake up!"

She thrashed around for several more seconds before her eyes snapped open, no longer screaming but breathing erratically, and her body still thrashing around. Sasuke leaned over her to look into her eyes. "You're safe now. Namiko, I want you to look at me." She didn't seem to hear his request, her arms and legs still moving and tossing her head from side to side.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, catching her gaze as he pulled them both into a genjutsu like he did when she was under the control of the kyuubi. "Namiko, you're safe now."

The two stood inside the black space, Sasuke with his hands on her shoulders. Her breathing was still strained, and it was almost like she was looking straight through him. He thought for a moment before changing the scene around them.

Namiko's breathing slowed and she blinked several times as the change of scenery around her took her focus. She turned around slowly, taking in the view. Bright sun, deep green grass, lush trees, and a large pond with a pier along the edge to the middle. It was the pond at the Uchiha compound. "What—how are we here?" she asked, voice small and scared.

"Genjutsu."

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she turned to face him. "Why though?"

"You were having some sort of nightmare. This was the only solution I could of to keep you from screaming more or hurting yourself," he replied simply.

Her face fell, eyes averting from his in embarrassment. "I had hoped that wouldn't have happened while I was here. I guess I was wrong." She turned and walked a little bit away from him, towards the pier.

"Does this happen a lot?" his voice held a hint of concern.

She sat down in the grass, hugging her knees closely. "Sometimes I can mitigate it, but here it's harder."

He sat down cross-legged in the grass next to her. "How do you mitigate it?"

"I…" she trailed off, hand stroking the blades of grass. "I tend to train until my body is too tired or sometimes going for a late-night run. Lately, Sakura has had to give me sleeping medication to keep them from happening."

She looked out towards the water. "Yesterday I was so tired from everything I didn't have to worry about it. I guess I must have fallen asleep while I was drawing?"

He nodded and she sighed. "Sorry…"

"It's okay," he reassured. "Does this happen a lot? It didn't seem like just a normal nightmare."

"If one of my little tricks doesn't work, it's almost every night," she replied, voice barely a whisper. "Tsunade-sama called it a night terror. It's a more severe form of nightmares. I rarely remember what happened to cause me to scream, but there are rare occasions I do."

"How long have you been dealing with it?"

"About three months after Naruto left Konoha with Jiraiya-ji-chan."

"Naruto left Konoha?" His intrigue piqued.

"Yeah, he left about three months after you did. Jiraiya-ji-chan wanted to train him for when the Akatsuki came."

"You've been dealing with this for over two years?"

Namiko shrugged. "I've learned to deal with it. Thankfully Kakashi-sensei trained me so hard I was able to go without an episode most nights because I was so tired. The last few months were a little tougher because I'd been sent on more missions and less time training to the point of exhaustion."

"So Kakashi trained you…why was he the one?" He raised a brow, slightly curious.

"I'm not sure I should tell you since you're a missing ninja…"

He scoffed, "Really?"

"Fine." She let out a small laugh. "Naruto and I found out some things after you left. Apparently, our father was the Yondaime, and our mother was the jinchuriki before we were. After Naruto left, Kakashi taught me some of our parents' jutsu since he knew both of them well.

"While he couldn't do some of the jutsu, such as my mother's Sealing Chains or my father's Flying Raijin, he was able to walk me through them because he'd seen them used with his Sharingan."

Sasuke stared at her with a mix of disbelief and curiosity. "You can do Flying Raijin?"

Namiko finally looked him in the eye and nodded. "It took almost the full two years and I'm limited on how many times I can do it, but if I can sense one of my marks, I can use it. That's how I was able to get to you so quickly when I sensed you. You were near one of my marks, so I went there and then ran the rest of the way. I was at my limit when Orochimaru captured me."

Sasuke let out a breath. "I'm sorry. If it had been just me, you wouldn't have been captured. There was no way for me to stop him."

"It's okay, honestly," she said as she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It was my stupid fault for disobeying orders and coming after you. I was already irritated from the mission, so I acted on impulse and just…left."

Namiko groaned and flopped onto her back in the grass, arms folded behind her head. "Oh man, Ino is going to kill me when I get back…if I get back…" she mumbled at the end.

"You'll get back," said Sasuke, "I'll make sure of it."

"What about you?" asked Namiko as she sat back up, looking quizzically at him. "Are you coming back?"

He stared out across the water. "…no."

"Really?! After all our friends and what I've done to help get you back and you say 'no'?! You're such an ass…" she turned her head away from him in frustration and anger.

Silent tension spread across them for a few moments before he broke it, "I don't know if I can. I'd be imprisoned. Plus, I can't go back until I'm free from here and Itachi is dead."

"I was right…" Namiko's voice became soft. "You don't want to be here with Orochimaru."

His head whipped around to look at her. "Of course not…but he's still helped make me stronger."

She looked up at him, eyes connecting. "So, you're planning to leave him then? You never were going to let him take over your body, were you?"

"That's my intention. I just have to strike at the right time. When he's at his weakest and I'm at my strongest."

"What about Kabuto?"

"I'll just have to be prepared to fight them both."

"What if…" Namiko paused. "…I helped you?"

'If she stays here, then I can protect her until I can get her back to Konoha, and honestly, it couldn't hurt to have her distract Kabuto. She did well against him yesterday even with the handicap that Orochimaru gave her and her exhaustion.' Sasuke raised a brow in contemplation. "I thought you were angry with me?"

She pressed her lips together. "I'm not as angry with you now. Though if I'm going to help you, I'll need to find a way to get these off," she said as held up her arms, showing off the chakra limiters secured firmly around her wrists.

He grabbed one of her wrists in both his hands, examining it from all angles. He held her with one hand on her forearm and the other touching her hand and wrist, analyzing the chakra limiter.

"It shouldn't be too hard to disable them, but I have a feeling we'll need to leave them in place until the last moment unless he decides to remove them on his own first," he said as he looked up from her wrist and into her face.

When he looked up, he saw Namiko staring at where his hand was currently cradling hers. He noticed her cheeks were tinted pink and quickly let go of her hand and arm, turning away from her.

Namiko cleared her throat. "Um…yeah, you're probably right. And since I don't have access to my chakra…mind letting us out of here? Though I have to admit, I'm thankful you chose this as the setting for the genjutsu. Brings back memories…"

The beautiful pond scenery disappeared and Namiko and Sasuke found themselves only a few centimeters apart, face to face. He still had his hands on her shoulders, pinning her to her futon, as it had been when he put them in the genjutsu. Namiko's pink flush darkened at their proximity and Sasuke smirked, amused at her behavior. "Good memories, I hope?"

His words snapped her out of her reverie and she moved her hand to push him away, accidentally touching his bare chest instead of his loose shirt. Her blush turned bright red and she pushed him, bringing them both into a sitting position. She gave an irritated huff as she answered his question, "Well, mostly…except for when you decided to spring on me that you were abandoning Konoha and everyone in it."

His smirk disappeared as his usual stoic expression slid back into place. "I told you, I did what I had to do to obtain power."

"You know," she said with a sigh. "power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent. People protect what they love."

"Hn," he scoffed. 'I left to protect her and Naruto from Itachi, though I wouldn't say I love the blond idiot…but her…?'

A knock cut off his thoughts and he got up to open the door. Kabuto stood on the other side. "Dinner is ready. Come as soon as you can." He turned and left without another word.

Namiko stood, walking up behind Sasuke. "I guess it's time for me to face the snake again."

"Just stay near me. He won't touch you again," Sasuke said as he turned, brushing his hand down her arm gently before leading her out of the room and down the hall.

Namiko felt like she'd been burned by his touch, and a pink glow flooded her cheeks as she followed closely behind him. 'Why do his touches make me feel this way? We're just friends! …well, we were friends. I don't know what we are anymore. I can honestly say I'm not angry with him anymore, but are we friends?'

"Ah, right on time, you two," said Orochimaru as he sat at the head of a large table.

The table had eight chairs, three on either side and one at the head of the table. The dining room itself was plain, just like the rest of the rooms in the base. Namiko followed Sasuke, who sat in the middle chair on Orochimaru's left while she took the chair next to him, further away from Orochimaru. Kabuto sat directly on Orochimaru's right and started disbursing the meal's dishes.

A perverse smile spread across the snake sannin's face as he watched the two teens. "How are you two…adjusting?"

Sasuke ignored the question. Namiko kept her eyes on her plate while answering quietly, "We're fine. Just getting reacquainted."

"Oh?" said Orochimaru, curiosity flooding his voice. "Has Sasuke-kun been a good host?"

She swallowed a bite of rice and nodded. Orochimaru raised a brow. "Ah, trying to keep things private between you both. I can understand that need. You are teenagers after all. Just be careful…"

"It's not like that and you know that. I wouldn't take advantage of her like that," snapped Sasuke.

"Ah, so you care enough about her to not take advantage of a beautiful young woman alone in your bedroom…interesting. So much for 'cutting your bonds to Konoha'…" Orochimaru's malicious grin showed he was enjoying the tension he was weaving throughout the room. Kabuto just sat in silence, enjoying the show.

The rest of dinner went on in silence and Sasuke was noticeably irritated by the things his teacher had implied. When they got back to their room, Sasuke locked himself in the bathroom, leaving Namiko confused by everything that happened at dinner. She heard the shower running and decided to sit on her futon and draw again.

Sasuke emerged twenty minutes later and the steam from the bathroom instantly flooded the room, raising the temperature several degrees. Namiko looked up to see Sasuke wearing his white shirt, which was untucked, and his blue pants minus the rope and extra fabric.

Namiko looked up as he walked out and froze at the sight. His hair was still damp and she noticed trails of water dripping off his hair and traveling down his neck and bare chest. Blush flooded her face and her pencil slid across the page of her book, ruining the sketch that she'd been working on. "Crap…" She furiously tried erasing the mistake while trying not to look at her "roommate", her blush slowly fading.

Sasuke heard her comment and smirked as he sat facing away from her on his bed, pulling out the same scroll he had been reading the night before. He paused as he thought back on Orochimaru's words. 'Why would Orochimaru want us together? He's obviously got another plan other than proving I still have ties to Konoha. I've tried so hard to sever those bonds, but it's like the moment I saw her, those bonds all suddenly rebuilt. Maybe not to their former glory, but she's building them back up.'

He heard a giggle from behind him and turned to glance at her. "What's so funny?"

"Your hair…" she said with a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles, "all these years I assumed you styled your hair spiky in the back, turns out it does that on its own as it dries." Her giggle turned into full laughter, and he shot her a glare. She quickly closed her mouth, pressing her lips together to keep from laughing out loud, a wide smile still visible.

He got off his bed before crouching down in front of her, trying to peek at what she was drawing. She pressed the book to her chest to keep him from seeing. He smirked at her. "You know, it wouldn't be hard at all to just…" He paused as he plucked the book from her hands and stood back up. "…do that."

"Sasuke! Give it back!" she fussed, quickly standing and trying to snatch her book back.

However, he held it far out of her reach due to their height difference. "Sasuke, huh?" he stated, an eyebrow raising in amusement, "So, I've already earned my way back into your 'good graces'?"

"It simply slipped, Uchiha," She said, irritation in her voice as she tried jumping to grab back her book. "Old habits are hard to break." Realizing that there was no way she could grab it back, she sat on the end of Sasuke's bed, pouting. "You're mean…"

He opened the book and flipped through a few pages. Most were flowers and animals, though there were a few sketches of Naruto and the members of Team 8. He finally saw the one she was working on. It still had the pencil line through it.

The pond at the Uchiha compound.

"This is really good," he said as he sat down next to her, handing her back her book, his smirk fading into a more neutral expression. "Though why did you pick to draw that?"

"I…" she paused as pink dusted her cheeks. Had she ever blushed this much before? "I draw things I love or think are beautiful or have special meaning. So animals, flowers, or people that mean a lot to me are often what I draw. Though I'm not very good with drawing bodies, so I focus mostly on faces." She paused again, looking at the last drawing. 'The pond is a special space. It always was until he left…and now? It's becoming special again thanks to that genjutsu, a safe space for me.'

"You didn't answer my question."

"It's…pretty. That's why I drew it." She got off the bed, putting her book back in her backpack before sitting on her futon. She removed the tie holding her hair in its bun, and it tumbled down her back and across her shoulders. She swiftly divided her hair into three parts and started weaving the pieces together, using the hair tie on the end.

She tossed the finished braid over her shoulder, just as a yawn escaped her mouth. "Mmm, I'm about to collapse. I guess my body is still trying to recover. It's been a while since my chakra was drained so low."

"It's more likely your body isn't handling being cut off from your chakra well which is causing your tiredness," suggested Sasuke as he spread out on his bed. "Hopefully we can get the limiters off you soon."

"Huh…I don't know why I didn't think of that," she said as she lay down, pulling the blanket tightly around her.

Sasuke mocked her, "Because you're cut off from your chakra."

Namiko stuck her tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes. "I'm not your brother. Go to sleep." He stood up and snuffed out the candle, leaving only the light coming in from under the door. "Goodnight…"

"Goodnight," she said, stifling another yawn.

He crossed back over to his bed and laid down, closing his eyes. Despite having talked most of the day with Namiko, he wasn't nearly as exhausted socially as the day before. Maybe he was wrong, maybe having her here wouldn't be so bad about it after all.

Namiko's sleepy voice interrupted his thoughts, "When you left, you asked me to come with you to use me to help you find Itachi. I said no then, but I'm saying yes now."

…and maybe he was right the first time.

A/N: Here we are! Yes, Orochimaru is a creep, but I promise there will be no sexual assault in this fic. He just likes the mental torture he can inflict. (I tend to aim for more mental torture than physical torture when it comes to writing, but that doesn't mean there won't be a little of both eventually.)
I hope you all enjoyed the little Asuma/Kurenai moment as well, and there will be the occasional scenes between them throughout the story. (I love all the senseis and I feel like they often get overlooked in fanfics.)

Thank you all for your support! I've broken 80 kudos on AO3 and almost 70 favorites on FFN. I didn't think there were that many people who would love this story and Namiko as much as I do, so THANK YOU!

See you next week!

-Eriisu