Mist

Yes~! Chapter 7! I guess I should say the 'Madara is a total ass' part continues... Well, at least we know why. *Shrugs*

Chapter 7- The midnight kiss.

She needed to stretch, bad.

Over night she had been lying with her back a bit twisted and now it really, really hurt.

Kasumi opened her eyes to try and figure out why she couldn't move her right arm. The injured one was the left arm, not the right.

She craned her neck to look up and her mouth hung open slightly when she saw it was handcuffed to the bed.

However, her mood lightened when she saw a tray of food lying on her lap.

She didn't even remember the last time she ate and now that she was injured she needed the food even more.

On the tray was a stack of pancakes, a small jar of syrup, a glass of milk, and a bowl of cereal.

The female ninja tried to reach for the cutlery with her left hand, but stopped when she remembered it was all wrapped up and somewhat paralyzed.

But... her right arm was handcuffed to the bed... That bastard! Now she couldn't eat!

Something small and white caught her glance and she was a bit surprised to see it was a note.

'Kasumi, I thought you might like some breakfast. Call me if you need anything, I'm in the office next door. Signed, Madara.'

She glared at the little note; maybe if she glared hard enough it would spontaneously combust.

Stupid Madara, he knew she would never call for his help. She continued to glare at the note, but her eyes decided to look at the food instead, making her drool slightly.

There had to be a way to get the food.

At first she thought about using her legs to somehow move the tray forward enough for her to dig her face into the food, but when she felt the excruciating pain she decided against it.

So now she knew she couldn't use her arms or her legs. But what did that leave her with!

Her head...

Frowning she tried to figure out how her head would help her get food. Oh, how she wished she had a long neck in order to solve problems like these.

Realizing there was nothing she could do she continued to glare at the note. If it did really light itself on fire then maybe Madara would come in if he smelled smoke.

But then what would he do? She doubted he would un-cuff her arm so he would... feed her?

No. He would probably get someone else to do it... like Izuna...

That's it! Izuna would help her get out of this situation. Taking a deep breath, Kasumi leaned back in her bed and screamed 'Izuna!'

She watched with mild amusement as Izuna ran into the room, followed by Madara, who she glared at.

"Kasumi? Did you need something?" Izuna asked, but then took it back when he saw the handcuffs and the tray of food.

He turned to look at Madara and said, "You gave her food, but then you handcuffed her?"

The female didn't let Madara respond as she said, "Yes he did! And you know what else? He left this little note saying I could call him if I needed anything! He knows I would rather kill myself than ask for his help!"

Izuna decided to be very helpful by saying, "Well, I can see this problem has nothing to do with me so I'm going to leave."

"No! You can't leave me alone! For all I know he's going to rip my arms off and hit me in the face with them until I scream bloody murder!" she yelled and all was silent for a while.

It was expected, the image her words painted was a strange one.

Madara stepped out of the way and let Izuna walk out, leaving Kasumi and the Uchiha clan leader alone in the room.

She swallowed nervously; she didn't want to be alone in the room with him now that she had nothing to use to protect herself.

"Kasumi, do you need anything?" he asked calmly, but to her it sounded like he was threatening her.

"No... It's fine, I'm just um... enjoying staring at the food. It's even more filling than eating the food itself," she blabbered, getting quieter and quieter as Madara approached her.

"Why won't you just admit you need my help," he asked as he loomed over the side of the bed.

She was going to make some smart-ass retort, but she was too shocked to when she saw Madara pick up a spoonful of cereal and start bringing it closer to her face.

It looked as threatening as a bomb being pointed at your face, she was terrified.

Madara looked a bit confused when he saw Kasumi staring at the spoon like it was going to stab her in the face.

"Kasumi, it's food, eat," he reminded her, but that only seemed to make her clench her mouth shut even more.

She didn't say anything because she knew the second she opened her mouth he would stick the spoon down her throat and leave her to choke on it.

So she just shook her head and stared up at him. He sighed and sat down on the bed, freaking her out even more.

"You need to eat, your injuries won't heal otherwise... and you'll be stuck here, needing my help, even longer," he said as if he was talking to a fussy toddler.

It seemed to sway her courage a little. He was right, the longer she healed, the longer she would have to stay in his 'care'.

She hesitantly opened her mouth, but the split second she saw his arm move toward her she closed it again.

Madara looked at her shocked facial expression with a smirk, it was her own fault she closed her mouth.

He had managed to stop the spoon from knocking her teeth in, but the contents of the spoon had flown right on her face.

She licked her lips cautiously; this was probably the only food she was going to be getting for a while.

The Uchiha shook his head and in a sterner voice said, "Kasumi, I will not be leaving until you eat every last bit of this food."

She gave him a glare and risked saying, "Fine, if you un-cuff me I will eat it all within two minutes and you can go."

He narrowed his eyes; she was going to be resistant to the very end.

Then he got an idea, if he could hold her mouth open he would simply be able to slip the food in and get this over with.

Kasumi gulped when she saw the tiniest smile form on Madara's lips.

This was not good.

...

"Hey Madara, I was wondering where you put the..." Izuna trailed off when he saw his brother trying to stick a pipe in Kasumi's mouth.

When she saw him she let out a muffled scream and Madara turned to glare at him.

"Izuna, I'm busy now, you can ask me later," he snapped and turned to glare at Kasumi.

The second she had seen the pipe her mouth turned into cement because he still had not been able to get it open.

"Madara... I don't think you're doing this right," Izuna said and it took Madara a lot of will power not to chuck the pipe at him right then and there.

Kasumi nodded her hear vigorously, agreeing with the younger Uchiha.

"Maybe I should help," he added and he saw her face light up with hope. The past five minutes Madara had kept his hand on her face and it was not the most comfortable feeling.

Izuna gestured for his brother to move over and after a long glaring contest he did.

He picked up a spoonful of cereal and watched as Kasumi opened her mouth and let him feed her.

Then she gave Madara a smug look before smiling at Izuna. However, he knew Kasumi would have never let him do this unless she didn't have any choices at all.

When she was half way done the bowl, Izuna asked, "Madara, do you want to try now?"

He smirked as he grabbed the spoon. "It would be my pleasure."

Kasumi's happy look turned to ashes and she clenched her mouth shut again. This didn't deter Madara though, he pinched her nose closed and he knew it was only a matter of moments before she had to breathe.

Just a matter of moments...

Any second now...

The poor female's face was turning purple and she looked like she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen until she at last took a small breath.

Instantly, Madara stuffed the spoon in her mouth and a gagging noise could be heard.

She barely swallowed the food and she yelled, "What the hell was that! Are you trying to kill me! You... you... I hate you!"

The room went deathly silent and Kasumi went pale when she saw the deep frown on Madara's face.

She flinched when he moved, but he didn't touch her. He just stood up and left the room.

Izuna shook his head and muttered something along the lines off 'I knew it'.

Kasumi looked down and closed her eyes. Shortly after, Izuna left the room to go after Madara. He had some very important matters to discuss with him.

Sighing she tried to fall asleep; she wanted the painful feeling of regret to be forgotten.

(1)-(2)-(3)-(4)-(5)-(6)-(7)-(8)-(9)

It had been a full week since she had last seen Madara.

The worst week of her life, that is.

Izuna had been her only visitor, but he always looked worried and deep in thought.

However, there was a tiny bit of goodness in the week. Her injuries had healed and now she was free to wander around the Uchiha clan mansion, but not the base.

She spent most of her time in the garden, among the flowers.

It was the only thing that seemed to cheer her up in the gloom of the passing days. She knew that in three days her clan would get here and she would be taken back to Snow Country.

There were no flowers like this there.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to enjoy everything around her.

But she just couldn't...regret kept nagging at her soul. It might also have been the fact that she hadn't seen Madara.

Sure all he did was cause her pain, but in a strange and twisted way it made her feel closer to him.

She scoffed, that week of sitting and not going anywhere must have made her insane.

The rest of the day ticked by and soon enough it was late evening. The stars were out and it was extra dark because of the new moon.

Kasumi stared at the sky; it never ceased to amaze her how many stars there were.

They seemed to smile back down at her and she smiled back. This was her favourite part of the day, when she saw the true beauty of the night.

For some reason her negative feelings disappeared at night and she was able to be happy.

Yes, it was strange, but she didn't care. Happiness was all she had left.

Just like the previous night, her thoughts turned to Madara and she wondered what would have happened if she hadn't said...no, if she hadn't spoken at all.

Maybe right now she would be sleeping in Madara's reconstructed room on the new rug, maybe they would be talking.

No, she doubted anything good would happen. She just knew that if she hadn't said a word she wouldn't have been able to see this.

She shivered when the wind blew; it was getting colder and colder these past few days.

"You'll catch a cold if you keep sitting out here," a voice whispered in the dark.

Kasumi looked around, but she couldn't see who had spoken. It must have been her imagination, but that voice sounded a lot like... no. He hadn't shown up all week, why would he talk to her now?

More wind blew and it carried more words from the stranger, "Kasumi, are you listening?"

Deciding to play along with her hallucination she replied, "Yes, I'm listening, but since when do I hear voices in the dark?"

This time the voice sounded closer, "Since I decided to talk to you, watching can only get you so much until you get bored."

Kasumi stood up; she didn't like the idea of her hallucination watching her in the dark. What if it wasn't an illusion and a real person?

"You're watching me," she stated and looked around the garden carefully.

Suddenly, the voice was right beside her and it whispered, "Yes, I take careful watch of my possessions."

She froze, only one person called her his possession.

Her eyes widened when she felt someone grabbing her hands, but she didn't resist. If it was him she wouldn't be able to.

"Kasumi, Kasumi, Kasumi, you've been so silly these past few days, sitting in the garden for hours," the voice began.

There was a small chuckle and the voice continued, "But I have news for you... you hate me, but I hate you too."

Unexpectedly, she felt pain all over her body and everything went black.

...

Kasumi jumped up from the bench she had been sitting on and looked around.

It was about midnight and she was alone in the garden. But... the voice... the pain... what happened?
She shook her limbs and she was glad to see that nothing hurt. It had just been a bad dream.

Sighing, she sat down and let herself relax, she had to savour every moment of freedom she could get.

The wind blew lightly and again Kasumi heard the words 'I hate you'.

Is that how Madara felt about her now or what it just her imagination?

She had no idea; maybe he hated her, maybe he didn't. But... she could find out couldn't she?

All she had to do was ask. The only question was: did she want to find out the answer?

She closed her eyes, no, she didn't want to know. The only thing she did know was that she really didn't hate Madara.

It... It just flew out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Kasumi had the urge to rip her hair out, why couldn't she get it out of her mind?

She calmed down a bit, but then she heard someone say, "Kasumi." Thinking it was another dream she said, "Ah, hello again strange voice in my head that hates me. Why won't you let me have a nice dream and leave me alone?"

The voice sighed, "Kasumi, this isn't a dream."

Chuckling she replied, "Sure it isn't, that's what I thought the first time, but no, I won't fall for the same trick twice."

This time the voice sounded a bit annoyed, "Open your eyes, do I look like I'm in your dream?"

She opened her eyes and gasped when she saw Madara standing in front of her. Instantly, she went tense and she barely managed to say, "Madara, uhh... what are you doing here? I um... was trying to... sleep."

He shook his head and said, "Same as always, you're so silly. I was on my way back to my room and I saw you jump up from your seat like you were having a seizure."

Kasumi let out a small, nervous chuckle and said, "Yeah... that was just a bad dream."

She hesitated for a second, but then she asked, "How have you been this week?"

If he was shocked by the question, he didn't show it as he replied, "Good, except for the constant arguing with the Senju clan. You?"

There was a short pause when she answered, "Good... I like the... freedom... and stuff."

Even in the dark she could see him raise a disbelieving eyebrow at her before he said, "Really? Izuna says you don't look very happy."

She stood up from her seat and crossed her arms, "He's the one that looked completely miserable this week, not me."

Madara chuckled, it was an amused sound. "That's because he's stuck with all of my unfinished paper work while I'm off yelling at Harashima."

"Harashima? That kind looking man who was able to have a normal conversation with me?" she asked, but then snapped her mouth closed. Madara didn't know she had talked to him.

The Uchiha took a threatening stop forward and said, "You talked with Harashima and you didn't tell me?"

She backed up a step. "Well yes, I never had the chance because instead of listening to me you were busy stabbing me with your dagger."

His eyes darkened as he said, "You should have said something anyway."

Kasumi shook her head. "Really? Because when you had the dagger against my throat I was sure that if I said something I would die."

Madara frowned and suddenly he was standing in front of her. Before he could say anything she added, "Wait, stop this! Why do you even care who I talk with? You didn't talk to me for a week and all of a sudden you care?"

He grabbed her and she was now pushed up against a wall a few feet away from where they had just been standing. "Of course I care. You are my possession."

She shook her head and said, "No! I'm not your stupid little possession! I am my own person, I don't care about your laws, and I belong to me!"

The Uchiha growled and sneered, "You still have not learned your lesson? I had hoped making you immobile for a week would be enough."

Kasumi was going to argue back, but she couldn't because suddenly Madara's demanding lips were on her unprepared ones.

She tried to struggle out of his grip by pushing him away, but he just wouldn't budge. He finally broke the kiss and she looked up at him with confusion filled eyes.

Madara smirked and whispered, "Do you really hate me?"

She tried to connect the kiss to the question, but couldn't so she just answered, "No... I don't hate you."

He instantly stepped away from her and she heard him mutter 'Too bad' before he disappeared.

To be continued...