I don't own naruto...BUT I do own a cute cat...

However peaceful Rae may have looked while sleeping, she was anything but. Her mind was a chaotic whirlwind of voices. She floated in darkness, only hearing, only seeing what was allowed to her.

"Why have you forgotten us? Why have you forgotten?" The voices screeched over and over, until all too suddenly everything became deafeningly silent.

WHY? A giant voice boomed. Rae simply floated as a creature made itself known to the un-phased woman.

"I thought I was done with this." She murmured.

You have forgotten! THEY made you forget us! It is their fault! Those that call themselves warriors. They are afraid. They know. They cannot see what lies beyond their world.

"I will ask you only once to leave." Rae said quietly.

We can never leave. We are you. But you have forgotten. Soon… soon you will no longer be allowed to forget.

"ENOUGH!" Her shout echoed in her own mind. A burning sensation raced through the woman's small frame and she sat upright in bed, gasping for air and clutching the now searing tattoo on her arm.

"Kadar!" She gasped before tearing out of her apartment, not even bothering to change.

Kadar's house was only a few blocks away and she made it in record time.

"Kadar!" Her tiny voice squeaked out as she banged once on the door before crumpling on the door step. Kadar flung the door open and looked down on the distraught woman glaring up at him.

"Rae! What's wrong?" He asked, helping her stand and bringing the girl into his house.

"It hurts." She hissed out, digging her nails deep into the flesh of her arm where the tattoo resided.

"Stop it. You'll only make the pain worse." Kadar murmured, trying to soothe the fiery woman now sitting on his couch. Rae cried out in agony and clutched her arm tighter. The man leapt to his bathroom for some medicine and when he returned two seconds later he found the woman calm and already wrapping gauze around the deep wounds she had created in her arm.

"Of course, as soon as I go get you medicine, you're fine." He grumbled out. His daughter looked at him with weary eyes.

"It is getting worse Kadar. I know you can feel it and I know it scares you. Kadar… what happens when I cannot contain it? I will be killed, won't I?" Those purple eyes that gazed up at him clouded with confusion and hurt.

"I was afraid of this. Rae, I cannot help you with this. You know that, but you have made friends with the Kazekage, so maybe he would be lenient on you, if the need ever arises." Kadar said softly.

"God damned ninjas! They do nothing but fear what is unknown, why would I ask for their help?" She shouted, her voice shaking Kadar to his core.

"Rae. I am a ninja, a shinobi of this village and I am telling you that not all are like the ones from…" Kadar's sentence was cut short by the burning violet glare he received. He should have known better than to speak of such things. There were some lines that Kadar knew were never to be crossed, and he had almost crossed one.

"Raeven, you know what my point is. Do not let this anger consume you. Please, for me." The now weary man sighed and pulled his equally weary daughter into a hug, an action he suddenly realized he had not done in some time. The wild woman relaxed ever so slightly in his arms.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Rae asked in a soft voice.

"Of course. You always have a room here." He whispered. They separated and said their goodnights. Rae entered her old room, which contained a desk and a bed, and flopped most ungracefully onto the dusty sheets. As soon as her eyes closed she was asleep, this time, with no interruptions.

"Kadar, I'm heading out now!" Rae called up to the still sleeping man. She heard a muffled reply and was out the door just as dawn was breaking. Rae always got to the bakery before Kadar to start the day's cooking and she thoroughly enjoyed her alone time. It gave her plenty of time to think, and she now had a lot to think about.

Rae was mindlessly stirring some ingredients when a hand grabbed her shoulder, causing her to drop the bowl she was holding. Rae whipped around to glare at Kadar, but was instead met with deep onyx eyes and purple face paint.

"Hey." Kankuro said, smiling.

"We're closed." Rae muttered, picking the cracked bowl off of the floor. Kankuro frowned at her greeting, or lack there of. Of course, when it came to such a wild woman he never truly expected a pleasant greeting but how hard was a nice 'hello' once in a while? He watched in silent anger as Rae went about cleaning the mess on the floor.

"I came to see how you were. You seemed pretty out of it last night." Kankuro said, attempting to get some conversation out of the violent girl.

"I'm fine." She huffed, not even sparing him a passing glance. Now Kankuro was beginning to suspect something really WAS wrong. She wasn't yelling or threatening him or attempting to force him out of the shop and that disturbed him on a deeper level.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, concern laced in his words.

"No." Was her curt reply.

"Are you sure?"

"Why are you here?" She finally turned to him, her face pulled into an angry scowl.

"My business with Temari is finished, you no longer have any need to be here." Her scowl remained, wrinkling the delicate features on her pale face. Kankuro was some what surprised by the ignorance the young woman possessed.

"I'm not here for business, I just liked hanging out with you." He stated, leaning against the counter, his hands in his pockets. Re huffed at his comment.

"I've no desire to hang out with a ninja. Please leave." Her sharp reply broke Kankuro's patience.

"What is your problem? You act like every ninja you meet is a plague upon the earth! Do you feel like that with Kadar? Do hate Gaara like that? Or do I get some 'special' treatment?" Kankuro spat out. His words hit a chord within her but hell if she'd let him see that.

"Leave." She stated firmly.

"No! I want some god damned answers!" His anger rose.

"Leave!" A booming voice came from the kitchens front doorway. Kadar stood there, glaring coldly at the puppet master.

"Fine! Sorry I fucking gave a damn." Kankuro bit out hatefully before disappearing from the kitchen. Kankuro appeared back in his room and threw his scrolls off his back. He paced his room, muttering curse words under his breath. He didn't understand why she was acting like she was. He had no clue why she hated him as much as she did, but he did know whom he could turn to, to ask. Kankuro knew he'd pretty much be throwing himself under a bus (Kankuro: What the hell is a bus? Me: SHUT UP!) with this one, but he gathered his courage, threw away his pride and marched over to Temari's new apartment a few blocks away, hoping he wouldn't interrupt the newly wed couple.

"Rae…" Kadar said.

"Don't start with me Kadar." She glared at the older man.

"He LIKES you Rae. I know you have a lot of shit to deal with, but maybe if you didn't spend so much time alone and with other actual human beings, you wouldn't dwell on stuff like that, and move on." Kadar wasn't often wise, but this was one of the rare times that his words really cut through her thick skin.

"I'm going out." She yelled as she ran out the door. Kadar smiled at his daughter.

Kankuro was walking down the street on his way to Temari's apartment when he spotted a frazzled looking young woman running down the street.

"Kankuro!" She yelled and stopped a few feet from him. To say he was startled, was probably an understatement. He looked at the violet eyed woman with utter shock.

"Kankuro, I'm sorry okay? I don't do so well with other people and I had a bad experience with ninja's and its just hard for me to…to trust." She breathed out, her breath coming in short gasps.

"What happened?" He asked, unsure of what else to say.

"W-what?" Rae was stunned that he would be so bold.

"I want to know what happened."

"No."

"If you want me to believe you're sorry, you'll tell me." Kankuro said, his stern tone leaving no room for argument.

"C-can we not talk about this here?" Kankuro looked at her in confusion. Rae was not shy and he couldn't believe she would stutter over something like this.

"Yeah. Your place?" He offered, wondering if maybe she'd want to go somewhere else.

"Yeah." They walked silently. Actually, they were both silent until they were seated at Rae's kitchen table.

"So will you…" Kankuro began, but was interrupted.

"I was raped on a mission with Kadar by some ninja on his team. That's why I don't like ninja, that's why Kadar is no longer an active ninja, no I don't want to talk about and we will never mention this again." She spat out hurriedly. Kankuro sat there and stared at her as she found the table very interesting. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally found his voice again.

"H-how… why? Who? Why didn't you report it!" He finally ended up yelling at her. She flinched at his raised voice.

"I'm not talking about this." She muttered, glaring at him. Kankuro stood and grabbed Rae by her arm.

"Fuck!" She screamed as he grabbed her where he tattoo and where several deep gashes were now located. Kankuro let go and looked at her with a careful gaze.

"What else are you hiding?" He accused.

"Just forget it." Rae growled out at him.

"No!" Kankuro yelled and grabbed her by the shoulders. At first, she was half expecting him to slam her against something but instead he pulled her into a tight hug, almost crushing her with his steel grip.

"Kankuro. What are you…" She was silenced quickly by the light kiss he placed on her lips. It was soft but brief, his lips just barely grazing her. She froze, her brain unable to form any type of coherent thought.

"I'm sorry. I just… I don't know. I'm sorry." He cupped her face in his hands and stared into her bright violet eyes, her half lidded gaze causing heat to swell in his stomach.

He was about to pull her back into a hug, but she stepped back from him, her eyes widening.

She couldn't comprehend anything that had just happened. She went over the events her brain. They argued, she apologized, she told him she was raped and when she expected him to push her away and leave, he pulled her to him and kissed her. Rae's mind was reeling. A loud banging on the door startled both of them.

"Kankuro! Kankuro are you in there?" It was Temari banging on Rae;s apartment door.

"What?" Kankuro shouted, irritated.

"Gaara needs to see you!" She yelled. Kankuro let out a frustrated sigh.

"Damn it." He muttered before turning to leave, but not before running a large hand through Rae's soft auburn locks.

"I've wanted to do that since I met you. It's softer than it looks… you shouldn't conceal such pretty hair with those bandana's." He said, exiting through her front door. Rae stood there, stunned.

-MWUAH! I no longer have pre-written chapters (sad day!) but hopefully I'll ba able to crank out another chapter soon... possibly...maybe...we'll see!