"Mommy, there's a man at the door!"

Ine placed down the pans she was preparing. She was getting ready to make Mitsuki and herself some dinner. She was also expecting Neji Hyuga to attend. She had invited him as thanks for saving Mitsuki from a bunch of bullies days ago, and as he was already Ine's friend, he accepted. Ine felt her face heating up at the thought of the handsome Hyuga. He had helped her so much since she had moved to Konoha, completely disregarding her origins from the Akatsuki. Unlike everyone else, he didn't want to know the reason Ine left them, and rather than completely ignoring her existence, he helped.

"Okay sweetie. I'll be right there." She called as she made her way to where her young daughter's cry originated, slightly on guard. She found the tone Mitsuki used odd. If it was Neji, she would have sounded happy. He was the only person she talked to besides Ine herself. But she sounded... scared?

When Ine reached the door, she realised why. A tall Hyuga stood on the opposite side of the wooden door, Ine could see through the window. But it was not Neji. And he did not look happy. It was dark and raining, so he was drenched, to say the least. Ine recognised him as the man who collected her rent every month. Her house was owned by the Hyuga's.

Mitsuki was stood just in front of the door facing Ine as she looked out the window, her dainty eyebrows furrowed above her smoky blue eyes and her dirty blonde hair lightly brushing her shoulders. She didn't like the look that crossed her mommy's face.

Ine moved away from the window before the man could see her and stooped down to Mitsuki's level, looking her in the eyes. "Mitsuki, I want you to go to your room, okay? If you hear anything bad, hide in the closet."

With a nod the little girl skittered off, and Ine clenched her teeth, cursing her decision to not bring a kunai as she turned to open the door.

A gust of chilly wind hit her in the face, and Ine forced a smile though her eyes were cold. "Can I help you?"

The Hyuga glared at her lack of invitation into the house, "Ine Hikaru, correct?"

"Yes..." Ine wasn't sure where this was going. The guy knew full well who she was.

"You need to pay rent." He stated.

Ine's brow's furrowed, some rain drops splashing onto her face. "No I don't, I paid just last week. You collected it yourself." She stayed calm and tried to muster up her usual intimidating stance, but it did not affect him.

Even if she did owe money, which she knew she didn't, Ine didn't have enough to pay now. Konoha's Hokage wouldn't give her any more than one mission per month; they weren't that readily trusting with their affairs, so it was hard to scrape by. It usually gave her enough money for rent, and some food. Ine had starved herself so that Mitsuki could have the majority of the food.

The usually calm Hyuga blood clearly was not present in this man, "You haven't paid once since you moved in here 2 years ago! The Hyuga's were decent enough to put up with your trouble and give you a home when you ran away from those bastard criminals! You've done nothing but cause trouble to the whole town since you got here!" Ine could see in his eyes that he knew he was shouting lies at her, but she could also see the cold fury in them. She knew there was not calming this man down.

"And do you know what?" Ine suddenly felt threatened. Why was he being so aggressive to her? "My wife left me because of you, you whore. She thought I was seeing you behind her back!"

Ine was shocked. Yes, she knew people thought she was a slut because of her child and her failed relationship with Kakashi, but she didn't know they thought that badly of her. But she wasn't like that.

That was when the Hyuga stepped into her house. She took a step back, eyes wide.

"Get out." She hissed after a few seconds of surprise.

"No!" He countered, moving forward and grabbing her arms, "You need to pay me a... personal sort of rent..."

Images flashed in Ine's mind. The Hyuga was replaced with a certain blonde bomber from the Akatsuki, his clear eyes turning blue, but with the same amount of angry lust. Ine choked up and froze.

No... Not this again...!

"Let...Let go of me!" She wailed, pushing her arms out. She flailed to the floor, but the Hyuga was upon her once again. All Ine could see was Deidara, though. All she could feel was the once forgotten pain of being taken unwillingly, her heart clenching in agony, tears streaming down her face. She lashed her legs out, catching the Hyuga in the chest before he could start.

He countered with a sharp punch to her face which caused her to screech and roll away from him. Usually Ine would have kicked his ass by now, but she was too riddled with fear to see where she was going, what she was doing.

She grabbed an umbrella that had been knocked to the ground during their scuffle and brought it down over the ninja's head with a sharp crack. He hit the ground next to her with a thud, unconscious.

Then, there was silence.

Ine shuffled backwards on her hands and butt until her back met the wall. Her breaths were short, frequent and panicked, her heart trying to escape from her chest. She was shaking and tears were pouring from her eyes. Rain poured in through the still open front door.

She noticed that her tank was torn slightly, showing off the skin of her stomach and a gash that was oozing blood. It started to throb angrily.

The bastard used a kunai... She thought when she saw the glint of the weapon in his hand.

Moving her hand over the wound, Ine used the wall behind her to shuffle to her feet. She stepped over the knocked out man and moved towards her and Mistuki's shared room.

When she opened the door, she was met with silence. "Mitsuki? It's alright, you can come out now..."

With a tiny creak, the closet door at the far end of the room opened, revealing a cautious pair of eyes. They flickered with recognition and Mitsuki rushed out of her hiding spot and over to her mother, flinging her arms around Ine's leg. She was bawling. "M-mommy, I could hear screaming then I-I h-heard you screaming a-and t-then there was a l-loud bang and t-then I couldn't hear anything..."

Ine quickly took to shushing the trembling child, crouching and hugging her, cringing at the pain her wound gave out. Then she realised.

There was no way they could stay here anymore. Even though it was in self-defense, Ine had just knocked out a member of a family that was practically royalty. They were all-powerful, and no matter what she said to them, they would most probably believe the unconscious man who was sprawled in her hallway. They would have to leave, and never come back.

A slight pain tugged at her heart. She would never be able to see Neji again...

Neji! He should be arriving soon!

Ine was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness. The blood loss was proving to be too much. Her arms started to fall limp around Mitsuki, who noticed.

"Mommy?" She sniffled. Ine couldn't find the energy to respond, "Mommy? Are you okay?"

Mitsuki took to shaking her mother lightly as she started to slump to the floor. The little girl knew something was wrong. Then she saw the blood. It was everywhere. It was streaked up her mommy's front and clumped together in her dirty blonde hair. "Mommy!" She wailed.

Then Mitsuki remembered Neji-kun, and how he was meant to be here for dinner. She needed to go and get him!

And with that thought, our little blonde hero kissed her mommy on the forehead, and bolted into the stormy night.

Her little feet splashed into puddles, sending water everywhere. She was drenched in both rain and tears as she ran in the direction of the Hyuga house. She was only minutes away from her home, so she should have come across Neji by now.

But what if he isn't coming because it's raining? The little girl suddenly thought.

A rock jutting out from the ground went unnoticed by the child and she tripped, skidding onto her front and grazing her knees. She sat up, slightly shocked, but then wailed hopelessly into the night.

"Mitsuki?" A familiar voice called. The little girl turned, her gray eyes lighting up.

"Neji-kun!"

Ine felt awful. Her stomach ached, not so bad as before, but it was accompanied by her face aching and a thrumming migraine.

She squinted as she opened her eyes and a soft candlelight filtered in. It felt more like knives were stabbing her eyeballs. She didn't own candles. Where was she?
She attempted to move, but a hand gently pushed her shoulder down.

"Don't. You'll hurt yourself."

Ine opened her eyes fully, and was relieved when her eyes saw the speaker. Her head fell back against a comfy pillow, "Oh Neji, thank Kami." She breathed in as much as she could until she felt a warning pinch from her stomach. She exhaled, "Can you help me sit up, please?" She mumbled, embarrassed at feeling so helpless. Neji smiled cheekily at her, before gently lifting her and fluffing some pillows behind her before letting her lean against them comfortably. Ine continued, "Mitsuki. Is she safe?"

"Yes. A little shocked, but safe. And sleeping."

Ine followed Neji's eyes to her daughter's figure curled up on another bed. She then locked her eyes with Neji's. "Thank you, Neji. Thank you so much."

He smiled slightly, "It's not me you should be thanking, it's your little warrior over there. She ran to get me, and fell. I found her crying in the middle of the street when it was raining. I asked her what happened and then she dragged me back to the house. I saw Kurai out cold on the floor, blood everywhere, and you passed out in your room."

Ine flinched at the name of her attacker, "About Kurai...I-"

"It's okay. We all knew he had snapped. His wife left him because he was fraternizing with women at a brothel on the outskirts of some village. Obviously, he decided to take out his anger on you..." Neji's eyes ghosted over Ine's body and face and she felt herself blush. Being in the Akatsuki, she had never had time to really fall in love. Yes, she'd had Deidara, and she thought she loved him. But then there was that night...and the only good thing she had from that was Mitsuki. She would never blame Mitsuki for that...

Now, however, she knew she was in love with Neji. She had never had anyone look after her like he did, never actually care for her. He was handsome, intelligent, and he accepted her and Mitsuki. So what else could she do but let her feelings grow? But what if he was just doing all of that because he pitied her? What if he didn't really care at all?

"Stop thinking those things." His voice interrupted her thoughts and she jumped slightly.

"I wasn't thinking anything!" She stubbornly denied. His eyes burned into hers, making her feel dizzy.

"Yes. You were. I can tell. Your eyes get this distant look an they're so..." His eyes became gentle and Ine's face heated up as he suddenly leaned over her on the bed, one hand on the bed either side of her hips and a knee on the bed. His face was dangerously close to hers. "...beautiful..." he finished breathlessly. Ine's eyes widened, her stomach flipping and her heart thumping strongly, cheering for her, almost. "You're a beautiful person Ine, as much as you are intimidating. You should let the rest of Konoha see that you were worth them letting you stay."

Ine finally turned her head, feeling a bubble of sadness beginning to well up inside her. "I'm-"

I'm not perfect. Was what she was about to say. I've killed people, even if I never meant to, and I've made mistakes. She couldn't though; she was cut off abruptly when Neji turned her face and smashed his lips to hers. After a few seconds of disbelief, she closed her eyes and slowly moved her lips in sync with his. It was sweet, and unfortunately, it was short.

When they broke apart, Neji looked her dead in they eyes, his stare meaningful and honest. "Nobody's perfect. Everyone has made mistakes. But I have never seen a person try so hard to redeem themselves, try so hard to make a perfect life for their daughter when they felt they couldn't. Then I met you, and you took my breath away with your determination. I can't let anyone else have you."

Ine decided that she didn't mind that.