Author's Note: Woah! Thank you for all those who reviewed from the last chapter! I know there are a lot more Hinata/Gaara fans out there! Last chapter: Sooo….what happened to Hinata and what DID Gaara mean about someone betraying her? If it's true, who would? Hinata goes on an investigating spree to find out the truth…

Chapter 3 – Family

"Hinata-sama! Hinata-sama!"

She could hear him calling out her name… 'Neji-niisan' she thought.

"I'm here to tell you that someone close to you will betray-!"

What did he mean? She wanted to know…was what he said true? Or was Gaara just saying those things to scare her? Hinata opened her eyes and looked up. She could see a face hovering over her, with a look of concern for her health. She immediately recognized her older cousin, Neji. "Neji…Neji-niisan…" she called out to him.

Neji sighed a breath of relief and placed a hand underneath her head so he could lift her up in a sitting position. "Daijoubu?"

Hinata nodded and said nothing.

"What were you thinking fighting him like that!?" Neji hissed, helping her up on her feet. "You could've been badly hurt!"

The dark haired girl stared into her cousin's eyes and frowned. "Demo he didn't hurt me Neji-niisan…."

Neji frowned back. "He didn't hurt you, did he? Why did you collapse like that? Because of that jitsu of his, you were out of breath and almost died! How could you say he didn't hurt you!?"

Hinata was surprised at her cousin. "Please calm down, Neji-niisan…He didn't hurt me…He probably didn't mean to."

"Why are you defending him!?"

"He could've killed me, but he didn't…I understood that he was trying to tell me something." Hinata walked pass him and looked ahead, her mind wandering back to what Gaara had whispered in her ear.

The taller teen took a deep breath and calmed down a bit, then stepped in beside her. "You should go to the hospital and get your bruises checked out…" He nodded to where her bruises were visible around her legs and around her arms where the Sand Chuunin's jitsu held her.

From now on, Hinata needed to know the truth. She needed to find out whether what Gaara said was true or not.

Neji glanced at her. "Hinata-sama?"

Hinata looked at Neji and smiled. "Nani?"

Why was she still smiling like that even after she almost died? "I don't understand you at all…" he mumbled before walking away.

"Ah! Neji-niisan! Matte!" Hinata called, running after him.

There was a moment of silence before they could hear the 'smack!' across his face. "What the hell was that Gaara!?" Temari hissed, glaring into his soulless eyes.

Gaara said nothing, his face red from Temari's anger. He didn't know why he did what he did, but he did it. There was no going back from it. He has to move on forward. "Because this whole thing is foolish…" he spoke, turning his head to face her. "We are just wasting our time here just so that someone can accomplish something that has nothing to do with us."

It was Kankurou's turn to step up. "Gaara, Kazekage-sama has ordered us to do this and you have no choice but to cooperate with us on this one."

Are they really his family? No…they weren't his family…they were his teammates…No…they were an 'animal-keeper.' Gaara was a caged up animal for them to watch over and feed. They didn't care about him. All they cared about was his abilities so HE could use them for his own purpose. "……………"

Temari turned around and stared out the window. "All we got to do now is wait for the signal until we move in and finish our job." She glanced back at him and gave Gaara a warning look. "You better not do anything stupid or it's back to where you belong, Gaara."

Gaara snorted and folded his arms across his chest – like a caged up animal.

Dinner was interesting, even for Hinata. Silence was about the only thing important between her father, Hanabi and herself. The rest of the family had no choice but to do the same thing. Neji sat beside Hinata, glancing once in a while around the table, wondering what brought on this vow of silence.

"Hinata-sama, are you all right?" Neji asked, leaning towards his cousin.

As Hinata was about to answer, her father's voice broke through their conversation, interrupting her.

"Did something happen, Hinata?" Hiashi glanced up from his bowl at his eldest daughter. From where Hanabi sat to her father's right, she also glanced up from her food and looked at her older sister.

"Ah…iiee otousan…" Hinata looked down, ashamed that if she told him about what happened, he would start lecturing her on how weak she was. From the corner of her eyes, Hinata could see Hanabi staring at her like she knew something.

"What are those bruises then, Neesan?" Hanabi suddenly asked.

Everyone turned to look at her, except for Neji who glanced over at Hanabi with a look of distrust, in which Hanabi just ignored. "Hinata, roll up your sleeves," he commanded in a very firm tone.

Hinata wanted to protest but that look her father gave her, forced her to give in. "Hai…" The dark haired girl did as she was told and rolled up her left sleeve first before her right one, where there were a lot more bruises.

Hiashi took one quick glance at her bruises and then slowly turned back to his food to eat. "Were you trying to be a hero again Hinata?" he said.

The dark haired Chuunin glanced at her father. "Iiee…I wasn't…I wasn't trying to be a hero." Embarrassed by the words her father said in front of the rest of the family, Hinata looked down, unable to look at her father in her eyes.

"Then those bruises show you are still weak even after you've become a Chuunin. It's quite disappointing, Hinata. Even your sister Hanabi has surpassed your level, which makes me wonder whether if it's still a good idea to let you become the Head of the Main Family when I'm gone."

Those words hit Hinata like an arrow striking someone in the heart. She wanted to cry there, but she wouldn't dare show her father her weak sides, which she's done many times.

Maybe…

Gaara's words echoed in Hinata's mind once again. She wiped her tears away quickly and looked around at everyone. Her father wasn't looking at her anymore. He was occupied with his food to even notice the way she shivered from his hurtful words.

He didn't even notice as she stood up and left the dining room quietly.

Why? Why was she given this job in the first place if her father didn't have faith in her?

Hinata walked down the hall, many thoughts and questions swimming in her head. She didn't want to feel this way, but there was no helping. Her father's words hit her more than just an arrow through her heart….it felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on her shoulders in which she couldn't carry on her own. She passed a couple of pictures hanged on the walls in the hall and she stopped just in front of a very beautiful portrait of a lady with long dark hair. Hinata approached it slowly and ran her hands down her familiar face. "Okasan…I missed you," she whispered, a tear falling out of her right eye.

Her mother…

She was a kind woman.

When she was born, she used to sing to Hinata whenever she cried. Her voice was always soft—always held a gentle tone which showed her that this woman wasn't a stranger….that she was her mother.

A memory of her father never came to mind. He was always away somewhere to another country while he left his daughters and his wife at home with the rest of the family.

When she died, it was as if Hinata's whole world fell apart along with her.

In the Hyuuga household, it wasn't new to them that every country would try and assassinate the family, especially the Cloud Village. Kana Hyuuga was only trying to protect her family, running away from an assassin who was after Hinata. Hinata was just four years old when her mother sacrificed herself to save her daughter, but despite over the years that's passed, Hinata had nightmares of that very same night her mother was killed under the hands of a Shinobi. "I don't want this anymore…" Hinata kneeled down and wept.

"No matter what happens Hinata, you should always be strong…"

Hinata looked up suddenly, staring at her mother's portrait. The memory of her mother flashed in her mind. Her words….they were always important to her. How could she have forgotten about them? She wiped her tears away and stood up.

"You should always be strong….Don't let mere words hurt you just like that. Lift your head up high and walk on forward without looking back…If you look back…You won't be able to move forward…Remember this Hinata…" Kana gave the four year old Hinata a kind smile before her eyes closed and forever slept.

"Hai…okasan," Hinata whispered, her mouth lifting up into a smile. She should always be strong, no matter what happens. She promised herself she would never forget her mother's words.

Never…

She didn't know where to begin. Simply, her mind was playing tricks on her that wherever she went, her relatives' eyes were always on her, watching her like a hawk. Part of her felt suspicious, but the rest of her thought it was probably because it was their job to watch over her like a hawk…to make sure she was safe and sound in the Hyuuga mansion.

Hinata's first thought was to search through any evidence of someone doing ANYTHING remotely suspicious, but that was hard. They were her family…how could she think such a thing? Maybe…maybe Gaara was just scaring her in the first place….

"You may be able to hide many things from otousan, demo you can't hide anything from me…neesan…." Hinata's first thought was to jerk her head and see who was speaking to her, but she need not. She knew who it was the first moment the voice left her lips.

"Oh…Hanabi! I was just heading out to meet with my new team." She gave a false smile to her younger sister of four years and began to walk off towards her room, but she should've known that Hanabi had grown up into a very stubborn girl.

"You can't hide those bruises around your arm and legs. Something must have happened to you and Otousan is worried. He was right about you trying to be brave, demo it's not working."

Hinata said nothing as she turned and left to meet with her new team. As soon as she reached their meeting place at a middle of a field, she saw not too far away just standing by a tree stump were Sasuke and Shikamaru. Their sensei had not shown up, unfortunately and she could see by the two boys' face that they were both annoyed.

"Where is Gai-sensei?" the dark haired girl asked, looking around.

Sasuke glanced at her, then turned away. "He told us to wait here by the tree to go pick up some stuff."

"Heh. It's probably one of those stupid green suits that Lee wears." An image of them wearing the green tights must have flashed in Shikamaru's mind, because he suddenly shuddered and felt sick to the stomach just thinking about it.

The same thing came into Hinata's mind and she began to giggle.

The two boys stared at her. "What's so funny?" Sasuke asked. This was no laughing matter for a girl whom he barely heard laughing happily except in front of Sakura.

Hinata blushed and cleared her throat to rid of the laughing. "Ano…green tights."

"Ohayo gozaimasu minna!" a voice echoed around them. All three teens turned to look as a tall green tights wearing Jounin came trudging along the grassy path towards them. If the grass weren't so green, it was hard to believe that there was a tall green thing walking along their path, grinning constantly their way.

"Is he always this happy?" Shikamaru mumbled.

"Good news! I got Hokage-sama's permission to enter the forbidden forest for our training!" Gai yelled out as he neared his new students. It was hard to believe that he was no longer with his precious Lee, but he figured it would happen sooner or later…but the separation was starting to kill him. This morning, Kakashi found him sleeping outside of his own house clutching the secondary green tights that Lee usually wears in case his other one wore out.

It was not a pretty sight….

In Kakahi's case…

Hinata's eyes glowed. "The…forbidden forest?" Her heart started to pound wildly and it was a regular occurrence for her to feel the pounding of her heart beat against her chest.

All three male members of her new team glanced at her. "We've been there before Hinata," Sasuke spoke up for the three of them.

"Yes! Yes!" Gai nodded, grinning agreeably at Sasuke's comment.

Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets. "How troublesome…We don't need to go to the forbidden forest to train."

"Oh yes we do! Now, let's get going!" Gai-sensei turned and left before them.

"Well at least he forgot to give us the green tights," Hinata spoke up timidly to the two boys and surprisingly, when they noticed Gai walking off without remembering the green tights, Hinata SWORE she heard both boys take a deep breath of relief.

It was another mission for them. Gaara was warned twice not to make his own choice when it comes to orders from the Kazekage-sama, but twice he had broken that order. Temari and Kankurou couldn't find themselves to explain EVERYTHING to their father, because they really didn't know WHAT their younger brother was thinking.

Temari glanced up as a figure landed softly on the ground below her. "You know, it's really not a good idea to look at me like that, Temari-chan." The blond young woman stood up and landed beside the figure, looking out towards the nice view of Konoha in the distance.

"Like what?" she whispered to him.

The man looked at her and smiled. "You looked at me like you were worried about me or something. You know I am old enough to take care of myself."

Temari laughed. She wasn't really the type to laugh, but this man before her was the only one who ever did. Maybe it was just friendship she felt for this man, or maybe even more, but all she knows is that every time he was near, she could feel her heart beat. He WAS old enough to take care of himself, about seven years older than her. She was eighteen, he was twenty five. Serizawa Ribu was a prodigy in the Sand Village, the one rumored to be next in line to become the Kazekage. "I just don't want HIM to make you feel bad about yourself, that's all."

Ribu fixed his glasses on his nose and turned to face her. "Your father is not a bad man. I chose to be his disciple so I can be someone like him- someone who can make a difference in the world."

"You call murdering another family from another country a difference in the world?" Temari looked up at the man with the long, dark, pony-tailed hair. There was one thing that Temari didn't like about Ribu and that was he agreed to everything his father said, without even making his own thoughts and opinions. Even if the two grew up together in the same village, Temari still didn't know what Ribu was thinking. The Serizawa family has been a close friend to her father. The Kazekage had trained Ribu to be a good healer and fighter ever since Temari could remember, right after her mother died giving birth to Gaara. He had three other siblings, the youngest being a sister whom he was very protective of.

The blond woman's thoughts went to her father. Every question she asked about the truth of her mother's death never escaped his lips. He would always shun the question with, "Why do you wish to know? Are you questioning the way I run things around here?" Temari had no choice but to keep her mouth shut, otherwise, her father's wrath will be put on her.

Ribu just laughed as he put his arm around her. "You think we're ready to tell your father about us?"

Temari shook her head. "Now's not a good idea."

"You're right."

"Well then," Ribu whispered, taking a deep breath. "We should meet up with Kankurou and the others. I'm sure that Gaara is just eager to kill more Shinobis. It's really hard to believe you're related to him and the fact that he is also Kazekage-sama's son, makes it almost impossible to comprehend."

Temari said nothing as he followed Ribu towards Konoha.

"Where is your mother?" the little girl asked. She sat down next to him on the rocks, pulling her legs inward and wrapping her little arms around her knees.

The little boy didn't answer. He was eight now and every night, after meeting the girl two years ago, he has come to visit her home where she waited for him near the water where they first met. He glanced over to her direction and just stared at her.

The little girl tilted her head to the side curiously. "What? Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

The little boy turned away. "No," he answered simply.

As if knowing what the answer to her question was, Hinata immediately knew where his mother had gone. "Don't worry. They're watching us right now," the little girl suddenly spoke up.

Gaara turned his head again at her curiously.

She smiled. "My okaasan and your okaasan are up there," she said, pointing up to the sky. "They're watching down on us proudly."

"She is not proud of me. I was born a monster and she hated me," he replied.

Hinata frowned. "That's not true. All mothers love their children! That's what okaasan said to me before she died. I thought she didn't love me either because she was leaving me forever, but she told me that even if they don't show how proud they are, their parents will ALWAYS love their children."

Gaara said nothing again.

She turned her head away shyly and glanced to the water. "I still don't know your name, demo I feel like I can talk to you more than anyone else."

This time, the young red headed boy stood up. "I will go now."

"Doushite?"

He didn't answer and once more, he disappeared, leaving Hinata pondering about the boy.

Once more, they were back. It felt odd coming back again, to where they had their first Chuunin Ranked examination…one that settled their differences in levels and one that tested their abilities from beginning to the very end.

"What are we doing here, sensei? Aren't we supposed to be training?" Sasuke mumbled, irritated by the reminder that came to him from this forest. From Sakura, Hinata remembered her saying that Sasuke hated going back to the Forbidden Forest after everything that has happened there.

The tall Jounin with the thick eyebrows grinned at the three of them. "This is more of a mission than a training Sasuke," Gai-sensei spoke. From where he stood near a large looking tree, he took out something from his pocket, which looked to be like four thin handkerchiefs. He lifted it up to his eye level and showed it to Hinata, Sasuke and Shikamaru. "This is your mission."

"A handkerchief?" Shikamaru asked, leaning against a rusted tree behind him.

"That's right Shikamaru! These four handkerchiefs is your mission. This will test your skills on how well your eyes work around any conditions. There will be turbulence along the way, but I am convinced you can make it through, seeing as how most of you have gone through an A-Rank mission before."

Shikamaru and Hinata glanced at Sasuke. The young, dark haired boy was the ONLY one who has been on an A-Rank mission. Not even Shikamaru has gone that far before, but Sasuke decided to ignore them. "Okay! Ready? Set…." And before Gai-sensei even said the last word, he was already gone.

Hinata looked around. "Where…where did he go?" She glanced to her right where she expected Sasuke to be standing there still, but he too was gone.

Shikamaru sighed. "I guess it can't be helped," Ino's boyfriend said lazily. He waved at the younger girl and ran up the branches and towards the deeper and darker side of the forest. Hinata just watched as his figure disappeared into the darkness.

The forest was quiet without the noise of Naruto complaining all the time, or the argument between Shikamaru and Ino. The noises of the other students were nowhere to be heard and that was something Hinata found rather intimidating, telling her that they were indeed alone in the forest.

Hinata jumped up on another thick branch and looked around. Maybe she should've stuck with Sasuke and Shikamaru, but this was something that she alone could do for herself and to prove to everyone that she wasn't weak. Noting that there was no one else who proves to be her enemy, Hinata jumped back down to the ground and began walking. She didn't know whether there was a time limit to this mission of theirs, but she wouldn't dare risk it. She had to hurry fast before the other two boys beat her to it. Hinata wasn't really keen on doing this training Gai-sensei gave them, but giving up wasn't in her priorities.

"Why, hello!" a voice spoke behind her.

Hinata jerked around and noticed a tall, lanky looking man dressed all in black. He had a large scar across his right eye, while an eye patch covered his left. He had bushy dark hair, which could be seen right under his fishnet looking hat. Beside this shady character stood a complete opposite of him…he had wavy auburn hair, a lot more handsome than the other, who looked to be only a few years older than her. Both of them weren't wearing their protective headgear around their foreheads, because they were wearing them loosely around their necks. What surprised her most was that there wasn't any symbol written on them to tell her what village they were from.

The one who spoke sounded more like the shorter man because at once, he spoke again. "You must be Hinata," he said politely. He bowed and smiled at her.

The taller one just smirked, with his arms folded across his chest and said nothing.

Hinata blinked. "How- how did you know? Who are you?"

The shorter man smiled. "Just don't ask questions." Suddenly, he charged towards her. "Prove to me first how well of a fighter you are." His eyes changed from someone kind, to someone cold. She was already deceived by this stranger. "If you can defeat me, we'll tell you our names."

The dark haired girl gasped and put her hands together, summoning her byakugan quickly. Her enemy stopped just in front of her, winked and disappeared. "Masaka!" Hinata jerked her head over her shoulders and just as she thought, he was behind her in mere seconds, putting his arms underneath her arms and pulling them roughly behind her. She winced at the pain but Hinata decided to kick behind her, forcing the man to let go.

Surprised at this, the man backed off, but as he looked up, he noticed that she wasn't finished with him yet. Hinata charged, both her palms facing him, aiming for his heart. The man retaliated by summoning a guard technique, to throw her off. "She's good," he suddenly said.

The other man, who only stood behind the sidelines, laughed hoarsely. "Well, she is the daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga. We shouldn't misunderstand the Hyuugas, niisan."

"I guess you're right Akira," he said. The shorter man glanced at her. "Oops, I guess I gave away your name…gomenne."

Akira shrugged. "Whatever… like it matters if she knows our name or not. She'll be dead soon anyway."

'Dead?'

The shorter man grinned and nodded. "My dear lady Hinata…Boku-wa Honda Mizumoto-des. This is my younger brother Akira."

"Are…you're here to kill me?"

"Of course!" Mizumoto said, as if those words mean nothing to him. He was indeed a cold blooded killer, someone who was even more dangerous than Gaara himself.

"What the hell is this Mizumoto!?" Three shadowy figures appeared behind the brothers. They moved towards the light, revealing themselves to the three of them. Hinata blinked…it was Temari, Kankurou and another man she has never seen before.

"Ah…hello!" Mizumoto turned around to face them. "My, you look lovelier than I remember Temari-chan!"

Temari frowned. "Don't call me that!"

"What do you think you two are doing here?" Kankurou hissed.

"Following orders," Akira replied simply.

"This was not part of the plan," the man who stood beside Kankurou finally spoke up. "You were supposed to wait until we take her to you so you can give us what we want."

"Oh you didn't know?" Mizumoto smirked at them.

The three of them stared curiously at the older man.

"The whole deal is off. Your original assassin was supposed to finish her off, but unfortunately, he hasn't done it yet, so we decided to take the matters into our own hands," Akira explained to them instead. "And I'm tired of waiting! Let's just kill her now so I can taste the blood of a Hyuuga!" The tall man charged this time, while at the same moment, he grabbed something from behind him and held it beside him, ready to strike. It was a long, thin sword, designed to cut the heads of opponents as easily as apple pie. Hinata kept her byakugan on, ready to defend herself.

'Am I going to die like this? Please let it be no.'

But Hinata didn't give up. Without even realizing it, there was no pain. She opened her eyes and noticed that her palms had stopped the sword striking her neck. Blood trickled down her arms, the sharp side of the sword cutting through her hands.

There was immediate surprise towards Akira, but Akira continued to grin. "You never cease to amaze me, Hinata Hyuuga," Akira whispered, his mouth close to her ear. He dug his sword deeper into her hands and she winced. She jerked her left leg and kicked Akira where it hurts and when she had a chance, she kicked the sword out of Akira's hands, then hit both her palms towards his chest. The bushy haired man hit the ground hard. He coughed and blood began to pour from the corner of his mouth. "Wha-? What did you do to me you bitch!?" He tried to stand up, but he ended up staggering down on his knees.

"Amazing…you truly ARE part of the Hyuuga family," Mizumoto said, impressed by her.

Hinata stood up tall, gasping for breath. She was running out of chakra now and if she kept this up, she would surely lose against Mizumoto and get herself killed. That was a choice she was willing to make…die trying. When she noticed that the older man wasn't going to attack, she put her arms down beside her. Is she really part of the Hyuuga family? Lately she hasn't been feeling it. "Who is going to betray me? Who are you working for? What do you want from me?"

She watched as Mizumoto helped her brother up. "Those answers I can't really answer for you. You will have to find out for yourself." And then they disappeared behind a cloud of smoke. Hinata sighed and tiredly landed on her knees, gasping for breath.

"Sorry…" she heard someone say behind her. Before she had a chance to look behind her, she was hit behind her neck and there, Hinata fell unconscious. Ribu picked her up.

"What are we going to do with her?" Temari asked, glancing down at the unconscious girl in Ribu's arms.

"Take her back with us and explain to Kazekage-sama what has happened here," he said.

"What about Gaara?" Kankurou asked.

"I'm sure he's old enough to find his way back to Sand Village," Ribu said and with those words, he used his jitsu and disappeared, followed by Temari and Kankurou.

GoodGurl: WOO! FINALLY I finished this chapter! Man did that take long? OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO now what? Hinata has been….gasped kidnapped! And where IS Gaara anyway? And what the heck is going on here? Who are Mizumoto and Akira Honda!? So many questions still need answering! Stay tuned! :P