He lay there silently in his hospital bed, staring blankly at the wall. His mind was a blank void. All he could think about was Orochimaru-sama. Where was he? His eyes hardened and his arms strained against the leather shackles that kept him in the bed.

The door opened slowly and he immediately ceased his struggles. He glared at the young female medic that walked in, his mouth set in a grim line. She smiled at him, but it soon faded when she saw the look in his eyes.

"You know…you should try not to think about him so much."

He blinked. How dare she? He huffed softly and turned his face the other way. The medic sighed and set her clipboard on the table next to his bed. She fiddled a bit with her skirt before scanning over him with her eyes.

"How are you feeling today?"

"…"

She bit her lip and tapped her foot impatiently. "Well?" she asked, a bit louder this time.

He turned his head slowly to face her. He glared daggers at the annoying woman.

"I'm fine." He bit out quickly. "Now please leave, you are too loud."

Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed in anger. Her fist clenched at her side until small half moons were imprinted on her palm. She took in a deep breath and left, closing the door none too quietly.

He cringed at the loud noise and sunk back into the bed, thinking of ways to get out of this hell hole.

Tests, tests, and some more damn tests. He was better off dead. Why did they save him anyways? Oh yes, for his kekkei genkai(sp?). He closed his eyes and simmered slightly. He gave the shackles one final frustrated tug before giving up and falling into a dreamless sleep.

--

He woke up that morning with an earsplitting headache. His jaw clenched in agony, but he dared not make a sound. He hated when they tried to fix him. He wanted to die. He licked his lips and waited for the pain to subside.

Three hours past and he was still suffering through the immense pain in his temples. It felt like his brain would explode. His vision was splotchy and his breathing erratic. He started to sweat and found it much harder to contain the small whimpers of pain from escaping his pale lips. He opened his mouth in a silent cry but soon found in his misery that a strangled scream escaped instead.

Immediately the door flew open and the annoying medic came to his side, checking his pulse and feeling his forehead. "Stupid man." She muttered softly to herself. He would have glared at her again but he was much too tired and he welcomed the calm darkness.

Such cold hands. They felt good on his hot face. He almost purred and nuzzled the hand. His head shifted slightly and the pain shot up through his spine and into his head. He groaned and tried to curl up into a small ball. He screamed at the damnable cuffs that held him in place. A small chuckle brought him from his small trance. Who the hell was laughing? Was his pain…funny? He looked up into the medic's eyes and felt the sudden urge to spit in her face.

"Don't give me that look. You have no one to blame but yourself."

He gave her an incredulous look, his mouth hanging slightly open in question.

She winked and gave him a smug grin before turning and walking towards the door.

"Scream if you need me."

He growled and spit at her, but she had already closed the door behind her. He could hear her joyous laughter as she walked down the hall. Damn woman! She would be the first one to die when he escaped!

He slammed his head down into the pillow and thought of all the ways he could prolong her suffering before he killed her. He fell asleep that way and for some reason, when he thought about something other than his master, the pain in his head was gone.

--

The throbbing pain in his head had gone down and he had enough strength to flop over onto his side. He stared at the door, awaiting the young medic's arrival. He was hungry. His stomach growled in agreement and his eyes narrowed to slits as he heard familiar footsteps near the room.

The door opened to reveal the young medic in all her damn glory. A large smile was plastered onto her creamy face and her eyes were dancing with amusement. In her hands was a tray of soup.

His spirits dropped and his appetite slowly retreated.

"I don't want that shit." He said as she neared.

She scrunched up her nose and replied tersely. "Please do not use such foul language. You never know who could be walking by."

He rolled his eyes and tried to roll the other way. He felt a small hand grip his shoulder and flip him back the other way. He made a small sound in his throat and opened his mouth to let a string of curse words fly but a spoon was shoved into his mouth.

He almost gagged on the unexpected intruder. His blood boiled and he tugged at the restraints fiercely.

The woman tsked and shook her head, taking out the spoon.

"It's no use. The restraints are laced with Hokage-sama's chakra. There's no point in struggling." She filled the spoon with more soup and looked at him.

The anger behind his eyes faded and he nodded. She smiled at him and brought the spoon closer. He opened and she, this time, gently placed the spoon inside so he didn't choke. She had never fed him before, but ever since his strange fever, the others had decided that it was necessary for him to be fed. He noticed her strange gentleness and precision and his eyes rolled up to look at her face.

She was staring intently at the spoon, watching to see if any of the soup had spilled out onto his chin. A small dribble fell and she quickly shot out a hand to wipe it off. She unconsciously stuck the fingers in her mouth. She immediately spit out.

"Shit!"

His eyes widened and he arched a delicate eyebrow.

She gave him a sympathetic look, and then cast a shifty glance at the soup.

"I know I may be mean…but that soup is the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted."

She stood and picked up the bowl. "Excuse me while I go find a more suitable meal for you." She turned and left.

He stared at where she had just stood. Was she…being nice to him? After everything he had done?

He blinked in confusion. His head perked up as he heard her whistling close by.

Food. His stomach gave another angry growl. He glared at it.

The door opened to reveal the young woman. She had a medium sized brown box in her hand. He noticed that her name was scribbled messily on the cover.

Must have been her lunch. He looked from her to the box, and back to her. She laughed quietly and sat down in the chair, opening the box up. Inside were two nicely wrapped spam musubi accompanied by a small plastic bowl of udon soup. She began to unwrap one of the musubi and brought it to her lips.

His jaw almost hit the floor. Was she going to eat her food in front of him?? He felt anger stirring in his stomach. Stupid, stupi—

She smiled after taking a bite then grabbed the other musubi and held it out in front of his mouth. She tilted her head as she sensed his anger.

"Oh come on. You don't seriously think I'm that much of an evil witch?" she chuckled. "I tasted it to make sure it was good…"

She grinned and wiggled the food in front of his face. His anger faded just as quickly as it had arrived, replaced by his monstrous hunger. He leaned forward and took a large bite. He almost swooned it tasted so good. He chewed greedily on it before leaning forward for another bite. After he had finished with the musubi he stared at the other hungrily.

The medic looked at him and suddenly felt quite bad. He had been there for about a month now and had to suffer through that horrible tasting soup. She picked up the other musubi and held it out to him.

He stared at it for a while. He was about to eat it when he realized something. It was hers. He stopped and looked at her.

"Isn't…?"

She shook her head and smiled. "It's fine, please eat it. I can always go home and make more."

He looked at the musubi again and growled, moving his head to the side. She looked at him, clearly shocked. She blinked a couple of times.

"But I'm not hungry. Eat it…I insist." As if on cue, her stomach gave a rumble and she almost blushed.

He gave her a triumphant glare before moving his head away from the delicious smelling food. She pouted and tossed it back into the box.

"Well if you're not going to eat it, then neither am I." She picked up the box and set it down on the bed. She bent over to lengthen the chakra strings and stood.

"I'll leave the rest here on the bed just in case you change your mind." She bowed and left the room.

He stared at the food for almost ten minutes trying to decide whether or not to eat it. He growled in frustration and pushed the box away. Wait…what? He could move now? Oh…yes, the medic had given him more room to move around. He sighed.

--

A couple hours later the medic opened the door slowly. She peeked in to see that he had fallen asleep. She stepped in and tip-toed to the bed and looked down into the box. The bowl of soup had been emptied and there were no remnants of the last musubi. She smiled inwardly and picked up the box. She stared at him for a minute before exiting the room. He looked so peaceful in his sleep.