I'm terribly sorry for the late delay! I had another story that I was a bit…obsessed with, so I've been working on that one for awhile (not to mention I was having major computer issues). But it's done now, so I can finally focus on this one! The thing with this story is that I had the idea for while, but I wasn't entirely sure where to go with it. Now I have a completely different idea than what I started with, and I think it'll work out. Be warned that there will be manga spoilers. Major ones, at that, if you don't know much about the Akatsuki aside from what's been released in the anime (which is pretty much nothing). Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I got some really good feedback, which made me really happy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

----------------------------------------

"There's someone here."

"So, the Kazekage is as talented as the rumors say." The small group looked up and saw two figures standing on a branch high in a tree. They both wore a long, dark cloak with red clouds, the collar covering their chins. Their fingers were decorated with purple nail polish, and each wore a ring on a different finger: one wore his on his right ring finger, and the other on his left.

Neji instantly took up a defensive position. "Who are you?"

"That is not important," one of the men said. He had black hair that disappeared into his cloak and matching eyes. He also wore a Konoha headband, but it had a line scratched through it. "We are here for the Kazekage. The rest of you will leave if you want to live."

"Aw, that's no fun, Itachi," the other said. He had the distinct appearance of a shark: he had pale blue skin, small white eyes, and gill-like facial structures. There was also a large sword on his back. His headband was that of Kiragakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist, and it had the same line through it. "It's been awhile since I last sliced someone up. Can I just kill one of them?"

"That's not why we're here, Kisame," Itachi replied. "The quicker we complete this mission, the better." He turned away from his partner and focused on the group below him. "Now, I'll say this again: hand the Kazekage over, or you will die."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "Sorry, but that's not going to happen. We'd never hand her over to the likes of you."

Itachi sighed. "Come on, you didn't really think it would be that easy, did you?" Kisame asked. "When was the last time we were able to get one of the tailed beasts without a fight?"

Tailed beasts…are they after Shukaku? Hinata wondered. At the mention of his name, the one-tailed beast fidgeted anxiously inside his 'cage', wanting desperately to come out. Unfortunately for him, Hinata had a good grasp on how to control his power, and his desire for blood remained unfulfilled.

"I'm getting sick of all this," Temari said. "I may not know what the hell you're talking about, but we've already made it perfectly clear that we're not handing her over to you. So get lost!" As she spoke, she took the giant fan from her back and unleashed a powerful wind attack towards the two mysterious shinobi. By the time it reached the tree, however, the two were gone. Itachi appeared behind Temari as she fell to the ground, knocked unconscious by a single blow that was delivered so fast, no one could see it; and Itachi's eyes were now red.

"You must be Uchiha Itachi of the Akatsuki," Gaara said, speaking for the first time. "I remember hearing my father talking about an organization that was extracting the tailed beasts from their hosts, and that one of them was the one who annihilated the Uchiha clan: Uchiha Itachi." The reason that Gaara knew what the tailed beasts were is that he was friends with Uzumaki Naruto, the host of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and knew about the Akatsuki's attempt at capturing him to remove it. Naruto had left out the exact details of who it was that had actually tried to kidnap him, and the rest he had learned on his own.

"Judging by the color of your eyes, I'd say that you're a Hyuuga," Itachi said. "That explains why your father was told about us. However, just because you know who I am, that doesn't mean you stand a chance against us." His eyes fell to the kunoichi that was lying on the ground beside him. Temari stirred, but did not wake. "I'm a bit surprised that you don't seem worried about your companion, since she appears to be a relative of yours."

"An attack like that wouldn't kill her," Gaara replied. "If it did, then she has no right to be called my sister." In truth, he was a bit worried about Temari; but he wasn't the type to show his emotions, especially when an enemy was present. "Still, I suggest that you step away from her."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That sounded like a command. What makes you think that a puny ninja such as yourself can tell me what to do?" As he spoke, his eyes began to change; they were still red, but the pupils looked more like pinwheels. Kisame, who had been standing to the side, looked surprised. "Itachi, what are you doing? There's no need to use your Mangekyo Sharingan on that kid!"

"You've heard of him, haven't you, Kisame?" Itachi said. "He's the only one in the history of the Hyuuga family to become the next heir even though he was not the first born. He may not look it, but he's one of the most powerful ninja to emerge from that clan in a long time, and we don't have time to waste with him." Before Gaara could react, he was staring Itachi directly in the eye; the instant he did, the genjutsu had been cast.

The first thing that Gaara noticed was the red moon.

It shone bright in the sky, casting an eerie glow on his surroundings. Looking around, he saw that he was standing outside the Hyuuga complex. Everything was unnaturally quiet; no wind blew in the trees, no birds or insects chirped in the night. The placed seemed to be deserted aside from his presence; until he saw the man. He had just jumped from one of the windows, and something was slung over his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, Gaara saw that it was a young girl: Hiyari, his sister. Hiyari was the first born in the main family, and was thus expected to become the next heir.

She died that night.

For reasons unknown, Hiyari had been in poor health since she was born. Her skills were unrivaled to everyone but Gaara, who had far surpassed all other shinobi of the clan; however, she was forced to train in small sessions because of her illness, and wasn't allowed to become even a genin until her health improved. She expected to get better over time as she grew older, but she was eight years old at the time, and was thus confined to only the most basic training even though it was obvious that she could easily move on to more intense exercises.

That night, a shinobi from Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds, had come to kidnap her to learn the secrets of the Byakugan, the Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuuga clan. Gaara watched as he fled the compound, Hiyari thrown over his shoulder like a sack. Hiashi appeared and delivered a swift blow to the ninja, killing him instantly. He gently picked up his daughter, noticing that she was burning up with a fever. She'd had an attack earlier that night where she had broken into a coughing fit, unable to stop, and had been instructed by the family doctor that she should stay in bed and not exert herself until her small fever was completely gone; otherwise, it could strike again, and even worse than before. He also warned that under no circumstances was she to go outside. It was the middle of winter and the snow was falling; the abrupt change in temperature would put a large strain on her body.

Hiashi instantly rushed inside, carrying the hot body of Hiyari. Gaara found that all he could do was watch as the scene unfolded in front of him; he was unable to move, unable to even speak. Then, though he couldn't move, he found himself in a small room inside the house. In the middle of the floor a futon was laid out, and Hiyari lay in it, breathing heavily. Her face was bright red, and the wet cloth on her forehead was doing nothing to stop the beads of sweat that rolled down her cheeks.

Gaara found his attention focusing on a young boy in the corner of the room. Two others stood on either side of him, and he recognized them instantly as Temari and Kankuro. The one in the middle was him when he was only five years old. The three stood silent as the doctor examined their eldest sister, knowing by the look on his face that the news wasn't good. Suddenly, Hiyari opened her eyes. "Otou-san…" she muttered, her voice shaking. "I'm…sorry. I know that…I can't become the Hyuuga heir the way I am now. I…I've only managed to cause you…trouble." Hiashi seemed about to protest, but she just weakly shook her head and turned her attention to Gaara.

"Gaara…please come here a moment." Gaara did as he was told, going over to sit by her side. "We've become…so close recently, haven't we? We've been…having so much fun together. You always made me feel…so happy. You were the only one…I could truly talk you. You're so young, even younger than I am…yet no matter what I said, you would always listen. No matter what…you were always the one I could count on." Hiyari reached out from beneath her blankets and grabbed his hand. "Gaara…you may be the youngest, but you have so much talent. It would have been…so much easier on everyone if you had been born first instead of me. Now Temari will probably have to become the next heir…and do what I could not. Kankuro will be the one who's always behind her, supporting her. And you, Gaara…I want you to look after the both of them. Because even though I'm the oldest…I was never able to." Hiyari stopped as she began coughing again. Her grip on Gaara's hand tightened.

"Otou-san…I know it would break the rules, but…I really think that Gaara can be the next heir. I…he has more talent than I do, and I can see…that he has almost unlimited potential." Her eyes began to close. "I'm sorry, Otou-san…I'm so tired…I think I'll go to sleep now…" Hiyari closed her eyes and her irregular breathing slowed slightly, showing that she was in a deep sleep. Hiashi told everyone to go and get some sleep as well, but Gaara refused and continued to hold Hiyari's hand. She died shortly afterward, and even then Gaara wouldn't let go; not until the next morning, when he began crying.

Out of everyone in his family, Hiyari was the only one he truly felt comfortable around. He could laugh when he was with her; he could talk about anything without the fear that he would get scolded for saying it. And, in turn, Hiyari told him everything; about her fears that she would disgrace the Hyuuga family because she couldn't become the next heir, and how she never caused anyone anything but trouble.

"That's not true," he told her once. "You never cause me trouble. We have fun together, don't we? Why would that bother anyone?"

After Hiyari's death was when Gaara began to lock his emotions inside. He never again wanted to feel the pain of losing someone that he cared about. He distanced himself from everyone, focusing on nothing but his training. Because it was the former heir's last wish, it was decided that he would become the next heir, while Temari strayed from the path of Hyuuga techniques to practice wind ones, and Kankuro went on to work on his own type of ninjutsu.

Gaara was forced to relive the memory, watching for a second time as his life fell apart in an instant. He watched as his former self shed tears, and felt as if his heart was being torn in two. This is what I was trying to prevent, he thought to himself. These feelings…I never wanted to feel them again. Never… he felt a single tear roll down his heart, and felt that he would never be able to escape the pain.

Gaara fell to his knees, his eyes wide as he sat breathing heavily. In the time that it took for him to relive the memory, less than a minute had passed. Temari, recovering from the sudden attack, stood shakily and rushed over to him. "Gaara!" She cried, crouching down worriedly beside him. She turned to glare at Itachi, who had deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan. "You bastard! What did you do to him?"

"I only made him remember something painful," Itachi said, his voice void of any emotion. "It's his own fault for having a weak heart." Temari was seething with anger. "Why you…" She seemed about ready to attack again, but was stopped as a barrage of sand went flying towards him. Itachi managed to dodge, but some of the sand scraped his cheek, causing a small bit of blood to leak from the cut.

"Stop it!" Hinata yelled, her hands on the ground to allow her to control the sand. "Those two have nothing to do with this! I'm the one you want, right? Then fight me!"

"Wow, she's a feisty one, isn't she?" Kisame remarked. He was leaning lazily against a tree trunk, watching the scene with an amused look on his face. His smirk faded, however, as two shuriken embedded themselves in the tree on either side of his head. "Next time, I won't miss," Neji said, holding several more in his hand. He threw them, and Kisame jumped into the tree to avoid them. Neji followed and began bombarding him with taijutsu techniques, leaving Hinata and Itachi alone.

No words were spoken between the two as they began to fight. Hinata send another flood of sand towards him, which he easily dodged and countered by throwing five shuriken towards her. A wall of sand formed in front of the young Kazekage; the shuriken hit it and clattered harmlessly to the ground. When the shield was lowered, however, Itachi charged towards her, punching her in the stomach. His hand glowed for a moment, and as the light faded Hinata fell forward. He caught her, examining the damage he had done. Her jacket had been burned through, and the shirt underneath was black. Smoke was swirling from the burnt clothing, and a small black flame danced briefly before going out.

"Kisame, we're going," Itachi called, holding Hinata under one arm. Kisame looked up from where he had Neji pinned to the ground. "Already? But I haven't killed anyone yet!" He seemed about to say more, but one glare from Itachi and he was silent. "Damn. You got lucky today, kid." Kisame went over to Itachi, and a moment later, they were gone.

----------------------------------------

Well, I hope I managed to make up for the long delay. Please review and tell me what you think of it so far, since this was kinda a random idea I had. Arigatou!