Summary:When Hinata wraps the Hyuga clan in flames, effectively destroying it, she leaves. After 4 years she is found and returns with a dark confession. Can they stop the chaos before it falls upon them? And can Hinata resist the temptation? She will have to acquire more insight on the sealed creature that she carries with her, before all is lost. "All was wreathed in flame, as she stepped on our plain and burned all in her path."
Rated M for gore, blood/violence and language. Hinata and Gaara Friendship, possible HinataOC

Full (different)summary: After the death of Shino and Kiba, Hinata broke down. One night, the Hyuga estate burned down to the ground and Hinata disappeared from Konoha. Four years later, they still haven't found her and they are still desperately trying.
When Hinata returns she is even farther from the person she used to be. What happened in the Hyuga clan? Why did she leave without a trace? Soon, they find out that there is more to it than just the death of her teammates. If they don't find a way to stop it, the shinobi world will fall into chaos.

A/N: IMPORTANT: In my fic, Naruto became the Rokudaime Hokage after Tsunade. I kind of cut off from the main story arc right after Pain. So they defeated Akatsuki and Gaara got the Shukaku removed and all that. I kind of ignored all the Danzo crap too. Sasuke hasn't been located and confronted yet. If I need to clarify anything else, just say so. It's a work of fiction, so I'm not obliged to follow EVERYTHING from the manga :p Naruto knows who his parents are and so do the villagers. I just cut off from a certain point and worked from there.
In the first flashback they are around 17years old and after that 20-21ish.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. Only the plot and some OC's are mine.
WARNING: English is NOT my mother tongue! So typos and wrongly used tenses WILL happen! I'm in a teacher trainee college and one of my subjects is English, but it's far from perfect.
OOC Hinata! This is rated M for: language, blood/violence and stuff. Rated M for safety :p Enjoy.

Tōketsu (frozen)

-Chapter 1: Prologue: Hyōga no Ookami

He stood, watching. Frozen in place. It was pitch black outside, but the red-orange glow in the distance was unmistakable. The night was lit on fire. He knew it was not yet time for dawn.

He couldn't move, mouth agape, eyes fixed upon the large estate being swallowed by flame and smoke in the distance. He could hear a commotion outside, people screaming. He saw people running towards the flaming buildings.

He was positive that it was the Hyūga clans' estate that was being reduced to ashes. He was just about to call someone when the window at his side was shoved open. He started and turned his head. His eyes widened even more when he saw a young girl, breathing heavily- almost hyperventilating-, perched on the window sill. One hand clenching the window, cracking the glass and the other clutching the material on her chest.

He gasped as his gaze fell upon her tattered and burned clothes flapping around her frame, illuminated by the red glow. The sight that shocked and scared him the most, where her eyes. Her normal pools of pearly white that held a soft kindness for all, had an unfriendly, harsh, scared and enraged veil draped over them while she stared at the floor.

"I'm leaving." She screamed in a coarse voice. Voice raw and wreathed with sorrow. Still breathing harshly, she looked him squarely in the eyes. Her tangled mess of hair hanging limply around her face.
"
I'm fucking out of here!" She screeched.

And that was that. In a flash she was gone, only the cracked glass betrayed someone was ever there. He was still staring at the spot she was sitting just a moment ago, unmoving. And he knew, even if he didn't want to admit it, that she would not return.

Hyūga Hinata had left Konohagakure.

He looked back to the sea of red and orange. His shoulders sagged in defeat.
And Rokudaime Uzumaki Naruto had no idea what to do.

Sabaku no Gaara was not really new to trees and other greenery. But he couldn't help but look around as he entered the Land of Fire for what could be the millionth time. He didn't like leaving his village Kazekageless but sometimes he was required elsewhere for business. Baki was an excellent substitute for when he was travelling, so was his brother.

Gaara went to Konoha at least every few months. He had to keep the peace treaty between Konoha and Suna healthy, so that nothing could break it. But mostly it was to visit one of his precious friends, though. Uzumaki Naruto was his first and most treasured friend. He was positive that they would always be allies. And they would be even after their time, they would make sure of that. The peace treaty would be there forever.

Naruto had opened his cage, coaxed him out of it and shattered it afterwards. And after all these years, he even cleaned up the debris of his broken, fictional prison. Naruto saved him. He was his first friend and he owed him greatly for turning his life around.

So he liked to visit him often, not only because they were allies. Naruto was always pleased to see him and they often spend a week at Konoha. Two days were used to discuss politics, the rest for relaxing and roaming around the village.
Naruto always made time to spend those few days with his red headed friend, others of the rookie nine also joined them regularly. He knew Temari appreciated it. Whenever he went, his nee-san accompanied him. She claimed that it was just to protect him and enjoy the nice weather the Land of Fire was usually blessed with, but he knew better.

It was so she could see the Nara boy. Gaara may have still have troubles understanding relationships, friend wise and lover wise, but even he could see it. Her fierce, green eyes would light up around the lad. He even caught her blushing once. Even the lazy Nara changed a bit when he saw her walking through the gates. His tired gaze softened and a tiny smile graced his face.

Gaara scowled when he thought of the boy. He didn't like the fact that he, or any boy for that matter, showed that kind of interest in his sister. But he hadn't held a grudge for long. His sister was happy. And who was he to take that away from her?

He glanced at his sister walking next to him. One of his invisible eyebrows rose slowly as he looked at her.
Was she humming? She even had a small bounce in her step! He snorted. It was so painstakingly obvious why she was so darn happy. His gaze turned 180° and landed on his brother. He was munching on some kind of snack at the moment and poking nearby trees with a stick.

His brother also frequently joined them to the Land of Fire. Gaara knew for certain that he didn't particularly have someone in the village that he had his eyes on, but Kankuro liked to spend time with his siblings he supposed.
Mostly, he stayed at Suna to temporarily replace Gaara when he was gone, but sometimes he came with and left Baki to it.

"Someone has got to look after you! That love-drunk git wouldn't see a kunai coming even if it was 20 feet long and bright neon coloured!" Kankuro had exclaimed laughing, one day.
"I am NOT love-drunk, baka! And I'm perfectly capable of protecting our little brother! Besides, nobody would attack him in Konoha, they're our allies." Temari had shouted furiously at Kankuro while smacking him on the head. Kankuro had sauntered over to Gaara's side and had whispered in his ear while giggling and grinning
"She didn't deny the git bit though."
Temari had heard that though, so a small verbal warfare had ensued. Gaara had watched his siblings in amusement from the sidelines. Slightly smiling at their antics.

He didn't need protection, but he was happy that they cared so much for him. He was glad that he changed for the better. His relationship with his siblings had improved drastically. They were actual siblings now.

He loved these precious moments with his brother and sister. They missed out on a lot of so-called sibling bonding in the past, so he wanted to spend as much time as he could with them. But he also had duties to attend to in the village, so his time with them was often short and far in between.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Warm sunshine on his back, his siblings by his side and soon he would see his companions again. This turned out to be a fine day.
He frowned as he thought of Naruto again. His friend had been quite depressed some years back. Another one of his friends had left Konoha a while back.
He still remembered the message he received.

"Hyūga Hinata has abandoned Konoha."

It was short, nothing at all like the usual messages he send. He had hurried to Konoha, going straight to the Hokage tower when he arrived. He remembered their conversation clearly.

-Flashback-

Gaara knocked on the door and opened without getting permission to. Naruto sat in his chair, the back facing him while Gaara was still breathing heavily from sprinting

"Yo, Gaara." He could hear him say softly. He had never sounded so defeated in his presence.
"Naruto, what happened? Your message was… unclear." Gaara had muttered the last part. His eyes were looking absently at a wall.

Naruto turned his chair around and Gaara's eyes widened a bit. Naruto's usual spiky hair looked unwashed and hung limply in his face. He wore a frown and bags under his eyes. But his eyes were what shocked Gaara the most. The clear blue eyes which held so much determination and passion, were lifeless. They had lost their sparkle.
"She just left. The Hyūga estate burned down. She looked so angry and so sad. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't SAY anything." He whispered. Naruto put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. He was clearly exhausted.

"You have any clues as to why she left? Were there…casualties?" Gaara asked.
"Her cousin and sister survived, her father just barely. I spoke to them a while ago. Her sister couldn't stop crying and Neji didn't say a thing at first. Her father wants nothing to do with her anymore. She killed all the elders and tried to kill her own father. " Naruto muttered while looking at his hands.

"Sakura was able to save him though. Why would Hinata do this Gaara? Why would she want to destroy her own family?" He continued. Naruto looked utterly lost.
Gaara didn't know what to say. Why HAD she done it? He had no idea.

"You didn't get any clues from her remaining family members?" Gaara tried. "They just said she was so angry. She had screamed of betrayal and death. Neji said she didn't look like Hinata at all. It was as if the fire had wrapped around her. He said it looked like a strong jutsu, that she was manipulating the fire. But she wasn't particularly strong at fire jutsu and rarely used it. She could never have created so much fire and with such control over it." He answered, his face distraught.

"But the building burned down, didn't it? She didn't have control then." Gaara noted.
Naruto shook his head. "Neji said she knew what she was doing. She was incredibly angry and emotional, but she really controlled the fire, as if it did her bidding. " He shook his head again and cupped his face in his palms.
" After her killing spree and the fire she grabbed some stuff and disappeared. I was the last one to see her." Naruto mumbled in his hands. Gaara cupped his chin in thought.

"How come her sister and cousin survived?" Gaara asked. Naruto looked him in the eyes, finally. Tears were evident in them.
"Neji said she walked right past them. She didn't even look at them, she went straight to the elders. She didn't touch any of the maids as well. Some died in the fire, but she didn't try to hurt them deliberately." Naruto croaked out.

"Gaara, what do I do? Most people want to make her a missing nin. I can't, I just can't bear the thought of someone of our own to kill her. She must have had a reason! But we have no idea where she is. And we are still looking for Sasuke too. People are doubting our judgment. We may have a war on our hands soon. Who do I look for first? " Tears where slipping down his face now. His quiet sobs filled the room as he banged his fist on the table. Gaara didn't know what to say.
"I'm a horrible Hokage." He heard him whisper. Gaara's eyes hardened. He walked closer to the desk where Naruto sat.

"You are NOT a horrible Hokage " He remarked.
" There was something going on in her head that day. I knew her as well, she didn't look like someone who would do something like this without a good reason to. We're going to find her. Suna will help." Gaara lectured. Naruto looked at him with hope in his eyes and a small flicker of confidence returned in his gaze.
Naruto nodded and they grasped each other's forearm in agreement. They would find her.

And they would, no matter how long it took. Four years had passed since that conversation. They still hadn't given up. He was on his way right now for another meeting about politics and the 'Hyūga Disappearance Case' as they called it. Naruto had lost his depressed attitude after a few months and was his normal perky self again. He did not, however, give up on his friends. He put most of his energy in finding clues to Hinata's whereabouts, and Sasuke's too.

Gaara wasn't lying when he said he knew the Hyūga a bit too. He'd seen her on his visits. Sometimes she replaced the Nara as a guide and representative for Konoha. She was shy and quiet, but friendly and always had a smile and a blush on her face. She was strong, he knew that. She was a chunin who had made jounin shortly after. Naruto spoke highly of her.

He had visited Konoha too when her teammates had died. He had received a short message from Naruto about it, asking if he wanted to come. He had paid his respects. He had met the Inuzuka and the Aburame before.

During his visit, he had seen the Hyūga girl. She had been quiet before, but she had looked happy and radiated a certain warmth. When they had ran into her, she looked completely different. Her eyes had been empty, her smile gone. She wore simple civilian clothes and her hair was unkempt. Her warmth had made room for an air of sorrow and cold. She didn't even see them as she passed by.

"Holy shit, is that Hinata?" Temari said in a shocked stage whisper.
"The Hinata whose teammates got killed?" Kankuro had answered.
"Yeah, she looks completely different, I almost didn't recognize her. You know, Shikamaru told me how it happened." Temari began.
"Apparently, her team got ambushed by some shinobi from somewhere. Her teammates got hurt badly and she and the nin dog had to carry them back. But they had died somewhere along the way and she had to carry their corpses for 2 days or so before she made it back." Temari had muttered.

"Shikamaru was the one who saw her arrive at the gates. She was covered in dried blood and her eyes looked so haunted, he said. She probably hadn't slept in days. She kept saying 'keep walking, got to make it back' when he reached her. And suddenly she dropped the teammate she was carrying and promptly fainted. She didn't wake up for 4 days. "

"They thought they had lost her too. They were overjoyed when she woke up. But when they told her that Shino and Kiba had died, she had screamed so loudly. She probably thought they were still alive when they were carrying them back.
She didn't speak to anyone after that. They say she goes to their graves every day, for the whole day."

"Seriously? That's harsh. Poor girl completely broke down. "
Kankuro had rubbed his hat and scratched his hair underneath it.
They had kept staring at her until she had disappeared out of sight.
Not long after they had got the message that she had left. Gaara sighed. He hoped they would at least find a legitimate clue sometime soon.

He was still trailed off in thought when he heard a sudden rustle from his right. He stopped mid-step and his head snapped towards the shrubbery at his right. His siblings stopped a few steps ahead, looking confused.

"What is it, Gaara?" Temari asked looking oddly at her brother. Gaara shushed her and turned his whole body, glaring into the bushes. Everything was quiet, except for a few bird calls. After a few moments, his face turned back to his blank expression he usually wore.
"It was probably noth-"

His sentence was cut off as he saw a few blurs jump from the surrounding forest. The sand siblings quickly formed a tight circle, protecting their backs. Six unknown ninja flanked them. They had no Hitai-Ate Gaara could see, so they had to be rogue ninja or just some local gang.

Temari had her fan in hand, his brother had his fingers raised. Kankuro's puppets would jump out and attack in seconds. His sand was already flowing around them like a barrier. He glared at the ninja's.

"Well, well. Looky here. The Kazekage an' his siblings. Tha famous Sand Siblin' trio." The one in front of them observed in an accented slur. He smirked, took a drag from the cigarette that was dangling from his lips and bowed deeply as if mocking.

"It's an honour, sirs and miss. Unfortunately, ya crossed our path. We hafta stick to our code. Your shinies and belongings please, then ya life if ya would be so kind." The man grinned with crooked teeth while showing them his outstretched arm and palm, wriggling his fingers to make his point.

Kankuro snorted. "As if," he said, "you're going down buddy. You and your cronies." The unknown shinobi laughed. They didn't look like much. They had guts to attack them so close to Konoha, but that was all they had. They wore ninja wear, but it looked old and stolen. It would protect them from a few kunai, yes, but they were no match for them. Some sported a katana or even a wicked sharp looking spear, others had their fingers ready to make seals.

"So they know Jutsu." Gaara thought. He was just whipping his sand in small eddies when he heard a bird call close by. He glanced at a tree in front of him and almost jumped. And just barely visible, way up in the canopy, he saw two white specks.

"Are those…eyes?" He thought. He heard another rustle in the bushes in front of him and a shadow shot out. He heard one of the ninja screaming. He turned to the sound and his jaw dropped. A giant dire wolf had clamped its teeth on the leg of one of the ninja. The ninja in question tried to smack the head of the creature to make it let go, but the oversized dog was persistent. It growled and sunk its teeth even deeper.

Another ninja rushed to his comrade's aid but the wolf threw the guy between its jaws at the other ninja. When they landed in a heap, the wolf leapt at them and bit the throat out of the top one. The one at the bottom screamed as he was showered in blood. The others where in uproar. They didn't know what to do and just stood there, cursing, with horrified expressions on their faces.

The large wolf pressed his paw on the ninja who laid on top so that the bottom one could not move. It growled at the man and he let out a high pitched whimper.

"What in the bloody hell is that thing?!" the leader that had spoken to them earlier, cried out. He heard a whispered 'what the fuck' from his brother.
He looked back at the white specks he had seen. They had vanished. A sudden scream at his right drew his attention.

"What is it now?!" their leader hollered.
"Look…! Look there!" the other one said. All their head turned to a high branch of a tree.

Gaara saw a figure for a fraction of a second before it jumped away in a flash and landed in front of him, next to the pile of ninja the wolf had caused. The female mysterious ninja was crouched a few meters in front of him, head bowed down. She wore her long dark blue hair in a high ponytail, it flowed around her frame. Black clothing was wiping around her. She was pretty, but she looked deadly.

Strapped at her hip was a scabbard which held twin swords. A standard kunai pouch and shuriken holster was tied around her right leg. He also noted that she was barefooted.
But the thing that had him, and everyone else for that matter, speechless was the enormous sword that was strapped on her back. Gaara's brother muttered something he couldn't hear.

She slowly lifted a hand to the grip of the large, cleaver-like, sword. And in a sudden flash she was gone from the spot. A gurgle took everyone's attention. They turned to the right and the large sword was sticking out from a ninja's chest. In a matter of seconds she had slipped behind his back and plunged her large sword through him.
"Suiton: Teppōdama!" (Water style: Water Bullet) one ninja cried out and shot a few small bullet formed streams of water at her, she just used the corpse as a shield as 3 bullets hit the corpse and a few hit the ground beside her.

After she deflected the Jutsu, she swung the monstrous thing and the ninja flew right up in the air, blood raining down upon her. She lifted her hands and even some fingers uncurled that were wrapped around the grip of the sword. Droplets of blood fell upon hands, face and frame like a rain of crimson.
She looked in their direction and grinned wickedly.
Her pearly white eyes contrast against the dark of her hair and outfit. Blood dripping from her hands and sword. He recognized those eyes.
"HyūgaHinata?" He thought as he heard gasps, screams and curses all around him.

"Hyōga no Ookami! " (Wolf of the Ice/Glacier) Someone wailed. The rain of crimson stopped and the body crashed to the ground.

A hollow laugh echoed around them, filling their hearts with fear.

-
Hitai-ate: forehead protector
Nee-san: suffix used for a sister
Baka: idiot
Suiton jutsu: water style technique
A/N Hope you enjoyed the first chapter and the flashbacks. Some things explained:
I use some Japanese words and expressions because I've always liked fics that used them. I'll try to translate them as correctly as I can, but I just know some words here and there. I can't be certain they are correct! So if someone sees a mistake, tell me! I'll fix it :p
I stole the Suiton technique from one of the toads haha… it's a weaker version of it though, and there are multiple bullets too.
The gang uses slang because…of reasons!
I used "Hyūga" with the weird 'u' thing because I liked that way of spelling. I also use the 'ō' thing. I'm weird like that :p
I admire "Sins of the Past" by LucasLAD a lot, so you'll see some similarities maybe (like the way he wrote the jutsu and things like that). Role model! I loved that fic so much, sadly he never finished it. It was so brilliant! DameWren's style was top notch as well. It's been a long time since I wrote a fic, and my English has improved a lot. I just had some good ideas and I wanted to write them. I just waited until I had most of it in my head.
Anywho, Tell me what you think! Next chapter coming VERY soon because I don't want to keep you waiting too long for the first two chapters.
-Sinistrous