It was a relatively short distance for Hideaki to go from his house to the place Akemi had said they were attacked. He approached warily once he was near, uncertain of just what he'd find. He darted forward at the sight of a body on the ground, but a cursory inspection showed the man was just knocked out, and a bit singed from flame. In addition, he was only a villager, and not a ninja, which was good news. He straightened from the man and looked around the rest of the alley.

Scorch marks on both walls; 3 knocked-out and singed thugs; a bag of groceries left abandoned in the center of the alleyway, And no sign of Azumi anywhere. This was both puzzling and concerning. He'd had suspicions about the onyx-eyed woman since they'd met, but had been content to let the matter rest for months now. Looking at the remains of a battle around him, he now doubted he had done the right thing in not questioning the woman further.

'Azumi? Are you there?' he called softly, stepping a bit farther into the alley and looking about normally, not wanting to scare the woman by using his Byakugan if it wasn't necessary.

There was a rustle slightly behind him and Hideaki whirled to see a piece of sheet metal shift and reveal Azumi, slightly dusty and ruffled but completely uninjured and burn-free.

'Azumi! Thank goodness you're all right! Your daughter came to us and said you'd been attacked, and I came as soon as I could.' He glanced around at the three unconscious men on the ground as one of them started to stir faintly.

'we were attacked, yes,' she said, giving a faint shiver. 'I told Akemi to run, and I didn't know what I would do. Something distracted the men and I hid when this massive ball of fire went through the alley. I wasn't brave enough to come out and see the aftermath, but I suppose it's good the thugs are still alive to answer for their crimes.'

For some reason, Hideaki didn't remotely believe this version of events, not the least because it differed so much from Akemi's account. 'I'll take care of it from here, Azumi. You can go and fetch Akemi from my house.' Azumi nodded, moving to leave. 'I do want to speak with you sometime soon, though. Privately.' Azumi stiffened at those words, but gave another nod, picked up the dropped bag of groceries, and left quickly.

Akemi turned and jumped to her feet with a cry of relief as her mother slid open the front door. 'mama! You're okay!' she exclaimed, wrapping her mother in a tight hug. Azumi patted the silver-haired child on the head gently and nodded to Hitomi.

'everything's all right now. I'm going to take her home.' She gently took her daughter's hand and headed out into the street again, walking at a decently fast pace. Akemi stared up at her mother's face, assuring herself that her mother's eyes were really just as black as they had ever been.

'mama?' she timidly asked after a few moments' hesitation.

'yes, akemi?'

'when you told me to run, I stopped and looked back, and your eyes were scary. They looked really red, like glowing coals.' Akemi gave a tiny shiver at the shocking memory, still hoping she'd just imagined it.

'you were just scared, and you saw things. Don't worry about it.' Azumi's answer was flat and unyielding, not as caring as akemi expected. What was up with her mother? Noting her daughter's confused expression, Azumi's own face softened a bit. 'I'm sorry; I'm still a bit shaken up by what happened.'