(Sorry about the last chapter being so short - damned writer's block... Don't worry though, this chapter is LONG!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; I do own my OC.

Slightly breathing, the young girl continued to make her quick run to her home as the snow started to fall more heavily around her. The mysterious figure that was watching her stayed in place, as silent as the aftermath of a massacre. "Run faster... I can still catch you..."

Soon Kurayami was at her front door. She opened it quickly and closed it behind her as she walked into the empty house. The girl lived by herself at such a young age, it was hard to believe ever time the ninja re-entered. She shook her head a bit, eyes closed as she made her way up to the bathroom. She knelt by the tub and turned on the heated water. Slowly as the water filled, she stared at her silver-eyed reflection that stared back at her like a foggy mirror. The girl sighed, and dipped her hand in the water, mixing up the face that stared ever-so melancholy. Diving into her own pitied thoughts she undressed and sank into the water; it was a sort of confined tomb that she could bury herself in whenever she felt uneasy.

Moving a hand to her face she brushed the silver hair away from her other eye, covered by bandages still. She ripped them off, still in her trance-like state of mind, revealing one that looked similar to the other, except an evil looking scar was burned in a diagonal fashion over the eye that was always covered. Kurayami ran a slightly shaking finger to her eye and ran it over the burning mark - it was deep black-purple in color, the sort of shade like Sasuke's dark Chakra.

Another sigh left her lips as her hand fell back into the water. The girl closed her eyes again, thinking.

Meanwhile, Gaara nearly ripped the door off to his room, face burning with mixed emotions at the moment. He shot a glance to his gourd of sand then threw himself on his bed, making a squeaking sound as he did. He breathed in heavily, slightly shaking. His siblings feared him, so why did they joke? That girl. That was it. They were making fun of him for being with a girl.

"Bastards." Gaara mumbled, rolling over on his back. He stared up at the light-tanned colored ceiling. Her rubbed his dark eyes with his hand, feeling tired after running around with Kurayami all day. "What is this...? This sort of... connection I feel around her... It's strange... it's new to me..." He said quietly, keeping his hand over his face. The light was on in his room - it annoyed him a lot, enough not to concentrate. The cork popped out of the gourd in the corner, and sand floated over to the switch, flicking off the light. The sand seemed to grab the cork as it flew back in, becoming the way it was before.

Gaara sighed, and soon fell into an unpleasant sleep...

Inside Gaara's Dream

The blood-red haired boy slowly entered a misty forest, barely being able to see anything. Each step he took echoed eerily, then, in the distance, he could see the outline of a figure... It seemed familiar...

"Kurayami?"

He ran up to it, and he was right. The girl was standing on the edge of a cliff, sorrowfully looking down into its depths. "Kurayami, what are you doing? You're going to hurt yourself if you stand there..." Gaara said; he was much different in his dreams than in reality. He reached for her hand, but it fell through like a ghost. "What the..?" He tried to pull her away by her shoulder - the same thing happened. He backed away, scared, and bumped into a tree. His gaze never left her, and the misty Kurayami slowly turned to Gaara, her face blank and cold...

"Gaara." The girl said her voice dark and clearly ringing in his ears. "You're becoming weak."

"What?"

"You're weak. You've fallen for a girl and now you can't concentrate."

"I - What? What do you mean?"

"Don't speak. Just die."

His eyes widened as he tried to back up more. This wasn't the Kurayami he knew... Was it? Slowly, the girl started to step towards him, sand from his own gourd flying at her and engulfing her. She stopped for a moment; Gaara thought his sand had saved him, but this wasn't the case. The sand exploded, revealing Shuukaku, the demon that plagued him from birth. "N-No..." The boy started, staring into the golden eyes of his own monster. Shuukaku stepped forward, and in one swift move he picked up the young boy, crushing his gourd to sand. "W-What's happening!" Gaara was panicking as his demon started to laugh tormenting at him, holding his small prey a bit tighter.

"Poor boy... Don't you remember? You can't trust anyone! So why get so close to a girl like that?" With this, Shuukaku pointed to the edge of the cliff - there stood Kurayami, the real one. She was bound tightly by sand-like chains, and her headband had been tied over her mouth. She was standing as she stared at Gaara with fear, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Let her go! She did nothing to you!" Gaara shouted. Shuukaku grasped him tighter, and Gaara could feel his body about to burst from the pressure. "P-Please... Let... her... go..." At this time, Kurayami shook the headband away from her mouth, falling around her neck. "Gaara! Wake up!" She yelled. "Wake up! Please!"

End Dream

Temari and Kankuro were standing worried by their brother's bedside. Temari was shaking his shoulders furiously, yelling at him. "Wake up Gaara!" She said frantically. Soon, Gaara's eyes opened slowly, revealing the teal hidden behind the black. The two siblings quickly rejoiced and Temari embraced him. "Damn Gaara! You scared the hell out of us!" She said frantically, not caring if Gaara were to injure her later for such contact. "What do you mean!" He asked angrily. Kankuro responded before his sister. "You were sweating furiously, shaking a lot... You looked... scared." He said, gaze falling to the young nin.

Temari finally released him, and continued to sit on his bed. "We were worried, that's all. We were scared of... Shuukaku..." Gaara slightly nodded, and turned away from them. "Make sure I don't fall asleep." He said flatly.

By now, Kurayami had finished her bath and was lying on the couch downstairs. She was wearing a soft, dark gray robe with matching Usagi slippers over a black nightgown. She heard something fall outside, and sighed. Whatever it was, it was interrupting her movie! She stood and opened the door, forgetting to close it as she stepped out a bit into the snow. Suddenly, a quick blow was delivered to the back of her neck and she fell limp into the arms of the secretive watcher.

"That's right, go to sleep..." He said quietly, smirking to himself at the prize he had obtained. Without closing the girl's door he vanished from Konoha.