Hotori stood outside the living room door frame leaning against the wood. Her arms crossed over her chest, she smiled softly. It still hurt, her jaw, but she was smiling at the way Sai wouldn't leave. Since he'd come back from his last Middle Eastern tour he'd been exhausted. He'd been tense. He'd been suffering from more PTSD and not going to all his group meetings. She knew because she sometimes would drive him. However, what he'd done last night for her, what he'd done to protect her, she didn't know how to repay him. Since he'd fallen asleep on her couch after refusing to leave her alone the rest of the night, he'd been stuck in jerking nightmares. Sometimes she'd hear him make a small noise and shift on the couch, others he'd jerk in his sleep and grunt. At the moment, he laid still. He was finally resting. Hotori had tried to insist that he sleep first since she'd probably woken him up screaming, but he wouldn't. He'd taken watch standing outside her bedroom door with his shotgun telling her to rest. At dawn he'd agreed to switch shifts with the blaring of her alarm clock.

She grabbed for a blanket from the back of the couch, carefully leaning over him, and laid it on his body. He shifted but didn't wake up. Sai and Hotori had tried removing the tension between them before. It was a lingering physical tension. They'd been friends for so long, lived beside each other, made dinner and hung out…but it hadn't been smart. They'd hooked up once just before he went on a tour and it had been disastrous. She had ruined him mentally and put him in a horrible position of instability when things didn't work out after he came back. She still hadn't lived it down and really as his friend felt very indebted to the guy. Of course, he'd admitted that it had been a bad decision on his part as well. He'd agreed in some counseling sessions they'd shared for his trauma, that he'd been thinking with a specific part of his anatomy and vacated emotions due to depression. Hotori's fingers brushed past Sai's shoulder as she pulled back.

"Going to work?" he murmured under his breath cracking one eye open.

"You're never really asleep are you?" she asked sighing.

"Not a chance." He started to sit up yawning. "Are you going to the office this morning and the club tonight?"

"Double shift yeah. Listen, you don't need to come get me later." She reached for a cup of coffee moving into the kitchen.

"I don't care if you don't need me. I am picking you up. After last night…" he trailed after her into the tiled kitchen.

"I can take care of myself." She whispered over the steaming mug cupped between her palms. The whispers of air filtered in front of her line of vision dancing. Sai stood in front of her. At frist he reached for her wrist but dropped his hands. He sighed. Glancing up once again, he touched her hip this time gently. His fingers rested there with a light sort of pressure that took her concentration off the coffee.

"I know that you can. I also know that I don't want something happening to you. You're lucky you weren't cleaning blood out of the floor last night. It took all my control not to blast that man's head off in front of you after he punched you." He met her eyes.

"Sai…" she started but he cut her off.

"I know we aren't good for one another in that way Hotori. I know there isn't anything but us being friends now. But that doesn't mean I don't care maybe a bit more." He shrugged. "Can't help it. There's not a whole lot I care about left anymore. You're my friend…I'm here for you. No guys going to lay a hand on you while I'm around." He smirked.

"Those guys won't be coming back after that." She snorted. "They probably pissed themselves."

"I think it's better to be safe." He yawned again taking his hand away. "And your night job isn't exactly the picture of safety."

"You never complained." She quipped grabbing her lunch from the fridge. "Get some sleep. I'll call you when I get off." He nodded as she headed for the door. "And thanks…again." She called over her shoulder.

Her day job was boring. It was a regular nine to five office crank out job where she barely made ends meet. It had been why she'd originally picked up working for the club at night. Of course, club was a loose term anymore. It had turned slightly shady at nights and was so popular now that three bouncers had to be hired to accommodate the younger cliental coming in. Mostly young college students came in until the early morning hours, but around one in the morning, the regulars started coming by. Hotori knew them by name now and she usually didn't bother to ask them what they wanted anymore. She served the man sitting in front of her another drink. He watched intently as she flipped a bottle spinning around to grab another off the shelf and serve another customer. Another came up, still dancing, and slapped his hand on the counter. She moved a step back raising an eyebrow as he slurred his speech.

"Vodka. Rocks." She put a tumbler in front of a customer who wasn't slurring his orders like a king.

"Try asking nicely and I'll think about it." She snapped ignoring the guy after that.

"Vodka. Now." He slammed his hand down again. She whipped around glaring at the young boy. He seemed arrogant. He seemed prissy. He wasn't the type of kid that needed to let off steam and come around these bars. He was some rich prep kid that had stumbled around here with his friends after a wild night downtown. Of course, they all deserved representation here and the right to equal service…if they treated her with respect.

"Listen punk, lay off." One of her regulars spat out in the boy's direction.

"How about you shut your mouth. Do you even know who you're talking too?" he asked grabbing another vodka off the counter swigging it back. She clenched a fist letting out a slow breath. This boy was drawing on her anger.

"Oh yeah? Make me kid. Who do you think you are?" he got up off his stool.

"Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha." The boy smirked. It was a wide slow smirk. He knew the instant he said his name that the whole lot of the guys would back off. He was money. They all knew the Uchiha Corp. brand name; they'd been bank rolling half this country for years producing grade-A level lawyers and attorneys. Hotori narrowed her eyes shoving his vodka at him. It wouldn't do to make enemies with the man that could so much as breath their bars name and have it put out of business.

"Take your shit and go back to the floor." Hotori remarked eyeing the tumbler she was giving him.

"You had better watch how you talk to me bitch." He sneered taking a step towards the bar. "I could ruin you." He flashed his teeth in a sickening smile.

"Oh I don't doubt you'd take as much money as you could from me. But that wouldn't ruin me." She narrowed her eyes. From the corner she saw their bouncer coming from the doorway to meet them.

"I didn't mean ruining your money dollface. Be a shame to waste a body like that." He winked at her.

"I think it's about time you vacate my club sir." A burly man stood towering over the young boy. He had eyes cold like coal and much to her dismay, refused to remove this stupid bandana with a black and white cow hide print. Zabuza was one of their scariest bouncers at The Mist.

"This place was getting crowded anyway." He tossed the tumbler at the floor breaking it, shattering it into tiny pieces. He chuckled.

"Let's go." The man took the boy gently by the arm, much nicer than he would have another customer, and carted him towards the main entrance. Hotori sighed coming around the counter to clean he floor. She grabbed a broom near the back of the bar and bent over grabbing chunks of the glass to throw away. An arm extended across hers reaching over. She started to jerk back when a whisper near the shell of her ear stopped her.

"Don't make a scene. Don't run. Clean up the glass…I'll help you." It was that voice. The voice from the other night. That tall boy with the angular chin, Itachi was it?

"What do you want?" she asked losing her patience.

"I need to get you out of here. You need to end your shift early." He stayed close to her body moving almost in tandem with her. It was like he was trying to copy her movements and shield her. Her fingers rubbed over the edges of the glass shakily as she stood to put them in the trash.

"What is going on?" she asked facing him. She looked up at him noticing that he'd pulled his hood up again hiding the edges of his face.

"You don't want to know. If I can get you out of here without them noticing you, you won't have to find out." She started to open her mouth to ask a question when he put a hand on her forearm nodding towards the exit.

"Wha…"

"Time's up. Let's go. Now." Without warning he jerked her giving an apologetic smile. It reached to his eyes as they swiped through the crowd towards the doors. Before she could say anything else the man with tattoos met them just outside. He nodded to Itachi and ushered her forward between them.

"Took you long enough." He sniped at Itachi.

"Well I had to wait until some little shit was done making a scene to get to her." Kisame seemed to chuckle at that.

"Saw your brother enter the bar. Thought he'd have to drop his name sometime." Hotori skidded to a halt. Brother? This guy was Itahci Uchiha? The brother to an empire company? She knew that name. Everyone knew that name. Her eyes grew wide.

"Cat's out of the bag Itachi. You want her safe, you got to stop her. She's going to run." He warned as she whirled to face them both.

"Get off me." She tried to take a step back nervous as Kisame grabbed her upper arm.

"Give her space." Itachi said soothingly. He put a hand up and watched her.

"I do not want to hurt you. Listen, let me get you out of here." She started to open her mouth and scream. She was going to run. Every smart girl bone in her body was wired too.

"Enough. Let's move." There was a sharp smack to the back of her neck as Kisame hit her. Her vision was blurring.

"Kisame!" Itachi blurted out rushing forward to catch Hotori as she slipped forward. "You shouldn't have done that!" he encircled his arms around her holding her up.

"She was going to run." As Hotori started to pass out she sucked in another breath. Itachi Uchiha was picking her up from her feet. Her mind was still racing as it faded into blackness.

"You could have hurt her."

"Relax, I know better than to damage the goods." He chuckled. Her eyes slid shut. Itachi Uchiha, the accused killer of his cousin and black sheep of the Uchiha Corp. Family, was in complete control of her. She was in the hands of a killer.