"It was something special
Few will ever know
Something out of line
Standing out of time
A flower in the snow..."

The wind was blowing hard, clouds shadowed the moon for brief moments. Ino sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes sleepily. When she was fully awake, she realized that there was shouting going on downstairs again. "And WHAT do you expect me to do about it?!" Her dad barked. Then followed the sound of something heavy hitting the concrete floor.

"I DON'T KNOW!! Maybe if you were THERE for me more instead of putting all your attention into that silly flower shop we wouldn't be having this argument! Her mother yelled back. Nine year old Ino watched through a crack in the door. This had been going on ever since she could remember and she was sick of it! "JUST admit it!"

"WHAT? Admit what?" Inoichi was wearing down a little.

"You love that shop more than me and you love your daughter more than me!! Everything is more important to you than I am!!" Ino felt her eyes burning with tears. So this was her fault. It had to be, even in some small way. She was Inoichi's only daughter anyway.

Finally, she felt like she had heard enough and decided that she would leave. That way, they wouldn't have to fight anymore because of her.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She didn't bother packing, or changing. Still in her yellow pj's, she walked towards the dock at the eastern most border of Konoha. The walk took her most of the night, but she made it finally.

When she had time to think about it, it really didn't matter to her where she ended up. As long as she never became a burden to anyone else again she would be satisfied.

Ino stopped where the land met the ocean. 'What do I do now?' She wondered, shivering and scared.

The blonde never was the type to back down or quit, so she started to look around. She spotted a man standing against a row boat. "Sir!" She walked towards him waving. He looked up and frowned.

"Where are you supposed to be girl?" He asked in a suprisingly smooth voice for such a rough face.

"I want to go to the hidden mist village." She answered. No one would find her there. They probably wouldn't look anyway, but just in case...

"Alright. Got any money on ya?"

She hadn't thought about that, otherwise she would've taken her small box full of cash she was saving. "Well... no, I'm sorry..." She looked down at her feet.

"Eh, we'll figure something out when we get there." He shrugged, "Coming or what?" The man motioned for her to jump in the boat. She did, and he pushed on the small wooden boat a bit. It loosened away from the sand underneath and he got in with her, oars in hand.

They rode along in silence for at least thirty minutes, though it felt like hours. When they reached the shore, Ino grew nervous. The man stood, staring down at her. "Ready to compromise?" He asked, a mischievous gleam in his smile. She did not like where this was going...

"I- I have someplace to be."

"Now don't lie." He reached for her the nasty grin still in place.

"Leave me alone!" She jumped up from where she had been sitting and kicked him as hard as she could in the face. He let out a cry and put his hands up to his bloody, bruised cheek. She wasn't credited as the best kunoichi at the academy for nothing! While he crouched in pain, she ran off into the mist.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Her vision was blurry as she pushed herself up off of the ground. Nothing was going as she had thought. She sat up against a tree, hugging her knees to her chest. It was well into the day, but the fog was so thick, it blocked out most of the sun's rays, yet it was still very bright. This was her first time in Kiri and probably her last.

At this realization, the crying started. Warm tears fell from her eyes, down her cheeks, and off the tip of her chin to the dirt. She wanted to go home now where she knew it was safe, however corrupted. Then, a gentle voice startled her, "I don't think I've seen you around." Looking up, she saw someone about her age (maybe two or three years older) in a light colored kimono half smiling at her.

"No- I just... I just got here and-" She sniffled through the telling of her whole story.

"In that case, you can come stay with me!" The girl offered, "Since you have nowhere else."

Ino smiled, "Really? Your parents wouldn't mind?" The brunette seemed to freeze for a moment.

"I don't have any parents..." There was no emotion on her face.

"Oh- I'm..."

"Don't be sorry! It's no fault of yours! Come on. I'll show you to my house." She held her hand out to Ino.

"But we don't even know eachother's names."

"Well mine is Haku."

"I'm Yamanaka Ino! Wait, Haku is a boy's name right?"

"Of course, I bam/b a boy you know." That was a little shocking. Ino grabbed his hand and he helped her up.

"I'm sorry. I kind of confused you for a girl..." Ino admitted, blushing as they walked hand in hand.

"That happens a lot. It's ok." His bright smile made her feel less embarassed and she smiled back.

Snow started to fall.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Wait here and I'll get you something to change into ok?" She nodded as Haku dissappeared around a corner. The room she was in, his room, was lit by only a few candles and she couldn't see much. She sat down on the bed, swinging her feet.

'I'm really lucky to have made a friend like Haku. Otherwise, I'd still be alone...' She thought. Her father's face suddenly flashed through her mind. "I won't be a crybaby, I won't..." She whimpered, holding back her tears as best as she could.

"Ino I-" Haku walked in, but stopped as he heard her crying. He went over to his bed and put the blue kimono he'd found for her in her lap. He kneeled in front of her, "What's wrong?"

She glanced down at him, "It's- it's nothing!" He looked at her with his kind expression, putting his face closer to hers. "Haku..." He kissed her tears and all of a sudden they turned to ice. Then he brushed them off, the shards glinting in the light just before they hit the wooden floor.

"There now." He grinned as she sat stunned, "Want to try on the kimono for me?" He asked hopefully. She nodded, smiling too.

After she was all finished and dressed, they sat together on a blanket that was spread out on the floor. "If you don't have any parents, then- do you just live here all by yourself?" Ino asked. She had meant to say something before, but her feelings had gotten in the way.

"I stay here with my master, Zabuza. But he's not going to be back for a few weeks. Normally, I would go with him anywhere he went- but he ordered me to stay." Haku looked down sadly at the winter colors of the blanket. Zabuza? Where had she heard that name before? She just shrugged it off and asked some more questions.

"How did you do that? In your room."

Another look she couldn't quite figure out came up on his face, "It's my kekkei genkai." He replied, "I'd- rather not explain it right now."

Ino tilted her head a little, "That's fine with me! You don't have to." A yawn unexpectedly escaped her mouth. She laughed, "I guess I'm a little tired from coming here. It's pretty far from Konoha." Stretching, she added, "That's where I lived." Haku nodded. She fell over on the blanket and closed her eyes.

"You don't have to sleep here you know." He answered.

"Yes, but I want to." She opened one blue eye then closed it again. He laid on his back beside her.

"Good night Ino." Haku said, turning over on his side to look at her.

"Night Haku." She mumbled.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (A/N-ok it makes this part more dramatic if you pause for a sec and imagine all this in your head! maybe 2 seconds...)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He woke up to his friend twisting and turning in her sleep. "Mom... dad... I'm sorry I left!" He could see her tears in the moonlight. "I'm sorry!" She shouted.

He reached for her hand. "It's ok. I'll take you back home." Haku stood up, swaying for a second. When he steadied himself, he picked her up, holding her close. She calmed down. "I wish you could've stayed..." He said to himself, watching her peaceful face.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"INO!!" A familiar called her name. She blinked a couple of times then sat up. Her father was standing in the doorway.

'Was all that... just a dream then?' Her dad rushed to her bedside, squeezing her tight.

"I thought you were gone for good!" He sounded like he was crying.

"I'm really sorry..." She looked down and noticed she was still wearing the blue kimono. A cold feeling came over her. She turned around and caught a glimpse of a shadow dissappearing from the tree branch outside of her window.

XTragicxBeautyX- This is a story of mine that I posted on deviantArt recently and wanted to share with everyone here at FanFic! Couldn't find a lot of this pairing here! I'm not really a fan of it per se, it was just an idea begging to get out! lol So I hope you found it a little entertaining at least. Leave a review for me if you like!