A/N: Hi guys, if you were wondering what was going on with Gaara and everyone else here is the chapter where you find out! So sit back and I hope and pray it doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 17

Blood rained from the sky as the final sound ninja was crushed in a flurry of sand. Gaara stood there his stance victorious his face impassive. Shino and Kiba stood off to the side, already knowing what the red head was capable of and although a bit shaken determined not to show it. Neji on the other hand stood there a little shocked and almost completely unaware of the blood from a sound ninja on his face. With the slight movement of his hand the sand gathered once more and slid into his gourd.

"I think we should get going," Kiba suggested, as he comforted Akamaru who remained hidden.

"I agree," Shino said.

Gaara looked to Neji, him being the only one not to answer other than himself. Neji noticed Gaara's skeptical look and nodded. The four once again headed off again in what Akamaru confirmed was the right direction. Neji used his Byakugan and scanned the area noticing three other ninja's not too far behind.

"Wait," he said so quiet he could have rivaled Hinata.

Gaara was the only one to hear, accustomed to Hinata's small voice and glared at the other two until they stopped.

"What is it Neji-san?" Shino asked respectively.

"Three ninja's coming at us from behind," Neji said, trying to see any distinguishing features.

"Do you know who it is?" Gaara asked.

"No," Neji said, just as Akamaru whined.

"Impossible," Kiba muttered, as he patted his white dog. "It couldn't possibly be HIM."

"What did Akamaru say Kiba?" Shino asked.

"Akamaru says its Naruto," Kiba began. "But it can't be because he…."

Neji hushed him and searched for the familiar chakra signature of the Kitzune. Little did the Hyuuga genius know but Gaara was doing the same and he found it a lot sooner. Shukaku roared in rage as he felt the nine tailed fox approaching making Gaara's head ache.

(A/N: Italics means Gaara is talking and or yelling in his head!)

'How dare he!' Shukaku grumbled. 'This is my vessel and my responsibility.'

'Why do you care so much about Hinata?' Gaara asked his demon curios.

'I am not worried about this worthless girl,' Shukaku chuckled at the mere suggestion that he was. 'You on the other hand do, and I want to relish in the fact that you will have to use my power to save your beloved.'

'She is not my beloved' Gaara snapped.

'Do you care for her young one?' Shukaku asked.

Gaara stayed silent. He had no idea how to answer such a simple question. Hinata was a girl, he had met many girls in yet none of them were like Hinata. In a way he supposed she was important to him but in another sense he thought he would be able to live and maybe be happy without her. Little did he know Shukaku was getting angrier and angrier as the seconds ticked by. What was wrong with the boy? He should have already answered such a foolish question in yet here he stood pondering about it. That was when the fact that maybe he did care for the Hyuuga sunk in.

'You are foolish boy' Shukaku said, catching Gaara's attention again. 'I will make sure that the girl dies, not in the hands of her captors but in mine. Let the blood of the one you care for most slip in between your fingers, splatter your face.'

Gaara winced at this, imagining his sand killing Hinata and the way her blood would feel on his hands. A loud thump made both Gaara and his demon search the vicinity for anything dangerous.

"Naruto, you could have been more careful!" Temari snapped.

Naruto grinned from his spot on the ground sheepishly. Kankurou rolled his eyes before the settled on Gaara.

"Hey bro," he said with a nervous smile.

Temari looked up from Naruto before her eyes landed on Gaara.

"Gaara, so how's your search going?" Temari asked kindly.

Gaara was about to regard them both coldly when he heard a small growl. He looked around the area for a moment and saw and sensed nothing. He looked back at his siblings before he was distracted by a loud roar. His eyes watered from the volume as it echoed in his head. He glanced around once more and found Naruto was clenching his fists and grinding his teeth in pain as the roar echoed.

'So we meet' Shukaku said to the unknown intruder.

'Shukaku you rat!' the voice roared almost making Gaara topple to the ground.

Naruto shot Gaara a fearful look and that was when Gaara realized what was happening. The Kyuubi and the Shukaku were interacting with each other.

'And what do I owe this great pleasure to?' Shukaku asked mockingly.

'Don't play dumb' the Kyuubi rumbled. 'I will not let you touch the girl.'

Temari was worried. Naruto and Gaara weren't responding to their calls. They just kept looking at each other, cringing or glaring every once in a while but other than that neither boy moved.

'That girl is important to my kit and if you touch her you will die' Kyuubi continued.

'And why would I listen to you?' Shukaku challenged.

'I know your plan to kill her' Kyuubi stated.

Shukaku was silenced and Gaara glanced at Naruto who looked back at him enraged. Before Gaara could do anything Naruto tackled him to the ground.

Hinata's eyes opened only to be blinded by a bright light hanging above her. She didn't know where she was and couldn't really remember anything. Her limbs felt heavy and her body wouldn't move no matter how hard she tried. The situation seemed to get worse and worse by the second as Hinata tried to come up with a plan of what to do next.

"I see you're finally awake," a feminine voice rang in her ears.

Suddenly the blinding light was deterred as a shadow in the shape of a woman stood over her. Hinata opened her mouth but nothing came out. Was this woman friend or foe? Where was she and why couldn't she move?

"Tobi, come in here," the voice said brusquely.

"Hai Konan-sama!" an obedient yet deep male voice said, as Hinata was abandoned and left to stare at the glaring light above her.

"Watch her while I get Leader-sama and Uchiha-san," the woman said, the sound of a door closing being the only thing to follow.

For a few minutes all was silent, and then she heard the sound of a chair being dragged across the floor. When the dragging stopped, she heard a tsk and the light was moved so she no longer was staring at it head on, instead her eyes landed on a person with black choppy hair and an orange mask with swirls and a single eyehole. She had the strange feeling of being appraised, like a piece of meat and would have moved if she could. Her cheeks flushed slightly as the boy stopped his examination and left her side.

"I bet you're uncomfortable huh?" he asked, not scornfully but curios.

Hinata opened her mouth to speak but nothing passed her chapped lips and she decided to just nod her head which took most of her remaining energy. She figured he had been watching her because he didn't ask again.

"I would be to if I was lying on a table naked," the boy said absentmindedly.

Hinata's face turned a bright beet color. Her eyes moved down and she saw her pale flesh exposed. Tears welled in her eyes as her blush spread from her head to her toes. The boy soon came back with a white sheet.

"Oh my, are you sick Hyuuga-san?" he asked, feeling her forehead with a gloved hand, making a tear slide down her face. "Oh I'm sorry I'm probably making you even more uncomfortable."

With that he shook out the sheet and laid it gently over Hinata's body covering her nakedness. A weak smile was seen for a brief moment on Hinata's face. The man sat down in the chair he had dragged up to her bed side earlier.

"My name is Tobi, who are you?" Tobi asked looking down at her.

Hinata gave him a puzzled look and then it seemed reality dawned on him. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh you can't talk can you?" he asked innocently.

Hinata shook her head once before she felt the urge to vomit and pass out at the same time.

"Sorry about the lamp, it probably hurt your eyes huh?" Tobi said, trying to converse with her by asking yes or no questions.

Hinata was about to answer again but stopped herself. She was fraternizing with the enemy! She shouldn't be answering anything! She was supposed to be thinking of a way out of there and fast. But as the boy peered down at her she decided it wouldn't hurt so she nodded.

"You seem quite, I bet you're lonely," Tobi said. "I'm lonely to; no one here likes me because they say I'm a kiss up. But I'm not I swear!" At this point the was standing and grasping Hinata's hand. "I'm just a good boy right Hyuuga-san!?"

Hinata smiled sadly and nodded making the young man sigh in relief and sit back down. He felt her hands for a few minutes before speaking again.

"You have hard hands Hyuuga-san," Tobi said, with the innocence of a child. "Why, is it because of your gentle fist?"

Hinata nodded again, her ears perked up as she heard a door slam somewhere above her. Tobi turned away after releasing her hand and staring toward the ceiling to. Straining her eyes Hinata saw a small window that showed inside a room. A man stood there, outlined in black and watching her with cold eyes. Suddenly the door to the room Hinata was in opened and in walked Itachi and the woman from before. The woman had short blue hair with a blue flower in it and the standard Akatsuki garb.

"Tobi, dismissed," the woman said as she pointed at the bed next to Hinata for Itachi.

"Hai, Konan-sama!" Tobi said standing, but not before leaning forward one more time. "It was nice meeting you Hyuuga-san I sure will be sad when you die."

Without another word he left, making Hinata sorely miss him and regret ever talking to him. Itachi lay on the bed next to her and she was able to move slightly to look at the young man. His head turned also to look at her. They gazed at each other for over a minute. If a bystander was watching it would seem as if they were lovers. But in that one glance Hinata poured out all her hatred and pain. Itachi welcomed the look and only stared blankly back.

Deciding she no longer wanted to see his face she turned away again, Itachi doing the same. Her eyes shut momentarily and she let the fear flood in.

"No worries," the woman Konan said. "You won't be killed immediately, you see Uchiha–san is going blind, so we thought in theory, mixing the Sharringan with the Byakugan will be most effective and since nine months is a little long we will be forcibly extracting your eye and Uchiha-sans eye and mixing the components."

Hinata paled at this she could only hope that if they were serious about this that they would use some sort of painkiller.

"But that's not your only use. You see I've found a way to morph the two tailed demon the three tailed demon and four tailed demon into one, and it needs nine months to grow in a warm place, say a woman's womb." Konan said with a sick smile while pulling out a scalpel. "Well be starting that experiment first."

Shukaku was too stunned to defend Gaara when the blonde leapt on him and began to aim punches for his face. Gaara dodged some but most hit his face before a wall of sand separated them.

"Naruto! What are you doing!?" Temari cried, restraining him.

"He wants to kill Hinata-chan!" Naruto gasped fighting against Temari.

"You're wrong Naruto, my brother has been nothing but kind to Hinata," Kankurou defended.

"His demon just said he was going to rip her apart," Naruto snapped, glaring at Gaara.

Everyone was silenced, Gaara looked up into the eyes of his three teammates for this mission, and he saw rage, disgust and most important protectiveness. He slowly looked up at his siblings whose eyes shown with fear, not for Hinata but fear of him. It hurt, more than any wound could, and he had finally gained their trust and lost it immediately. It was all Naruto's fault, and as Gaara's anger began to rise he felt all the wrongs Naruto had ever done bubble to his lips.

"Yes well it's your fault!" he spat looking at Naruto, whose anger was replaced with confusion immediately.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"It's your fault that Hinata came to Suna!" Gaara said coolly. "Your entire fault moron."

"I don't understand," Naruto said.

"She liked you; no LOVED you and you threw her away for someone else. You were blind to her affections and when she saw you with another she was hurt, devastated." Gaara continued ignoring the gasps and glances from the others. "You made her suffer so much she WISHED she was dead, she came to Suna and forgot about you. But you can't let sleeping dogs lie you have to come in here and cause more pain."

"She what?" Naruto said stunned.

"If you're so afraid of me hurting her then I'll leave and find her on my own, but I will not work with someone who has made her suffer so much," Gaara stated before disappearing into the woods.

Pain erupted in Hinata's abdomen, as Konan drew the scalpel across her stomach. Her mouth opened as if to cry out, but only a choked sob came. Konan chuckled a bit before making the cut wider and more painful. Tears fell from Hinata's opal eyes, she couldn't see anything that was going on, and the pain made her imagination run wild. Suddenly the pain ceased and she saw Konan walk away from her. She sighed in relief from the short break, her breath came in heavy gasps and the tears never stopped.

When Konan returned, she was carrying a small red egg like thing. But instead of a hard white shell it was more of a soft membrane. Hinata's eyes widened, was she going to put that inside her!? Konan read Hinata's facial expression and grinned.

"Yes this will be going inside you," Konan said, reaching a gloved hand down to rub Hinata's wound making pain shoot through her.

After the membrane egg was inside of her Konan began to sew the wound closed. Hinata no longer felt pain, all was numb and she strangely felt…tired. Her eyes began to drift closed when she felt her hand being practically crushed. Hazy eyes looked down at her arm and followed it to see another arm, and a hand holding tightly onto hers. It was Itachi's, he had his pale hand clasped tightly around Hinata's limp one and she looked at him with confusion.

"No sleeping," he said in his smooth monotone. "If you sleep there will be no waking up."

Although Hinata wanted to keep her eyes open her body was shutting down and she knew Itachi was right. She gave his hand a soft squeeze before closing her eyes to leave the world behind.

The smell of burning flesh filled Naruto's nose as a bomb went off a few yards away and Temari and Kiba were blown back. He would help if only if he could but he was busy with his own his Akatsuki member. The man had a huge scythe and nothing Naruto did seemed to effect. Neji, Shino, and Kankurou were busy battling what seemed to be a giant carnivorous Venus flytrap. Just as Naruto dodged another swing from the scythe man he saw Shino almost lost his arm as the huge plant snapped shut. The Akatsuki he member that Naruto signaled to the Akatsuki fighting Neji, the plant nodded and both immediately disappeared.

"Catch the last one!" Naruto cried turning to face the long haired blonde who was now captured by crow. "Where's Hinata-chan!?" Naruto cried, feeling strange saying her name.

"Oh, are you Naruto un?" Deidara asked curious with a mocking smile. "She seemed to like me a lot more then you un!"

Naruto's face flushed and his heart sank while everyone else glared at Deidara who just stood there smirking.

"I'll ask again, where is Hinata-chan!?" Naruto roared, trying to hide his frustration.

"Which one of you is Gaara un? She thought Sasori was Gaara." Deidara said avoiding the question.

"Where is Hinata-sama?" Neji growled, unable to control himself and threatening him with a kunai knife.

"Well about now she should be an operating room un," Deidara said thoughtfully as everyone else paled. "To bad it's the end for you un! Katsu."

With that the clone of the pyrotechnics genius of the Akatsuki exploded. Naruto and the others would have been dead if there hadn't been a sand shield lessening the blow a great deal. Naruto stumbled to his feet along with the rest of his team. Gaara lay motionless in the middle of the clearing.

"We have to get back to Suna NOW," Temari said kneeling next to her younger brother.

"And abandon Hinata-san?" Shino asked. "You know Gaara wouldn't want you to just leave her."

"I know but we can get more ninja's and come back!" Kankurou exclaimed helping Temari lift Gaara.

"Alright we'll go back," Kiba said.

"What are you talking about? We can't abandon her!" Naruto cried.

"Naruto," Neji said in a quiet voice. "I don't want to leave her either but what choice do we have?"

"We can stay here!" Naruto defended. "Stay here and fight!"

"We need help, that Akatsuki just proved that, we have to go!" Temari said, turning and heading back to Suna.

The others followed her silently leaving Naruto standing in the practically demolished clearing.

"I'll be back Hinata-chan, I promise." Naruto murmured before following the others.

Hinata was surprised when she opened her eyes to find a bright light, she had dreamed of heaven but it had never seemed like this. Was she dead? She didn't think so because every time she breathed she felt pain.

"So you're finally awake, Hyuuga-san," Konan said as she moved the light away from Hinata's eyes. "You're lucky," She continued as Hinata felt how stiff her arm was and her eyes were drawn to an I.V. "Itachi doesn't donate his blood…ever."

Hinata's eyes found the I.V bag filled with the dark crimson blood. A strange wave of gratitude washed over her but was soon replaced by terror as Konan put on a fresh pair of gloves. She picked up a needle and walked towards Hinata. The Hyuuga closed her eyes, expecting the pain from the needle but felt nothing. She cracked one eye open only to see the needle being removed from Itachi's arm.

"Sorry no painkillers are available," Konan said, smiling and picking up what seemed to be clamps.

Hinata's eye lids were folded back to prevent her from closing her eyes. Then a pair of what seemed to be tongs was brought to her eyes. Hinata let out a small whimper as it neared its destination. An explosion shook the hideout and Konan was knocked backwards into a cart of medical tools. Itachi was slowed down by the drugs he was administered and sat up sluggishly. He reached for Hinata who was immediately pulled away by someone. She was quickly wrapped tightly in the sheet and lifted off the table. Itachi had finally stood and was about to go for Hinata when her savior kicked the table she was on at Itachi. As the two fled the Akatsuki hideout, Hinata only barely registered that the man carrying her was wearing something shiny over his eyes before unconsciousness over took her.

A/N: Well here's the next chapter please tell me how it was! Oh I'm starting a new fic and no one has told me about it yet so if you could please do so! Thanks! And REVIEW!