FYI, this story is a SEQUEL! If you have not read Miru Hoshi, I suggest you click the link to my profile and read that one first. For those of you who have read it, I would suggest you at least go back and read the last chapter before starting this story, since it picks up right where Miru Hoshi left off.

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Kishimoto-sama, but the words and plot are mine.

Warning: This beginning of this story will deal with suicide attempts. There will be nothing too graphic, but I just wanted to let you know.

Nagareboshi ("Shooting Star")

Chapter One

As she sat there in the darkness of her bedroom, Inuzuka Hana told herself yet again that she was a sad, pathetic excuse for a ninja. However, her inner condemnation of her weaknesses did not stop her from lowering her head and sniffing at the dark fabric she cradled in her hands. After so many years the scent had grown faint, but it was still there. She closed her eyes, again inhaling that scent of lightning-charged air before a storm--the smell that she would forever associate with him.

A choked sob caught in her throat, and, in the corner of her room, her three dogs stirred uneasily as they sensed their mistress' turbulent emotions. Hana roughly wiped away the tears which had been collecting in her dark brown eyes. Inuzuka do not cry, especially not over a boy who had left more than a decade ago and never looked back. A murderer. She bared her fangs and lifted the shirt in her hands, ready to throw it across the room. A moment later, she lowered her hand. She was a weak fool, for she could not do it, could not bring herself to hate him despite all he had done. Hana smoothed the black fabric out across the bed in front of her, tracing the design on it with one long finger. The red and white fan seemed almost to glow in the small amount of light that came through her open window. It drew her gaze like a moth to flame, much as the boy who wore this shirt had done to her so many years ago. She lifted it to her nose one final time before neatly folding it and hiding it back in her dresser. Then she headed for the door.

One by one, the Haimaru Sankyodai rose, stretched, and followed her. Kaji, the runt of the trio, managed somehow to trip over his paws while stretching and ended up sprawled at her feet. Hana couldn't help but laugh, but his older brothers growled at their klutzy sibling. Kaijin, the alpha male of the pack, and Kaji ranged ahead as she left her house. Kemuri, the most docile member of her rowdy canines, was content to trot at her heels while his brothers were exploring. She stopped outside of one particular store, calling the trio to heel.

"Wait here for me," she commanded.

Kemuri settled down in the shade with a heavy sigh. Kaijin woofed an acknowledgement, nipping at Kaji's ear when the younger dog whined. Satisfied, Hana entered the shop. The bell above the door clanged to announce her presence. Yamanaka Yume, a petite brunette with pretty hazel eyes, smiled in welcome.

"Hana-san, I have your order ready," she said.

As the Inuzuka dug in her pocket for the correct amount of money--not needing to be told after so many years of purchasing the exact same bouquet--Yume continued to chatter.

"How many years has it been since that day? Ten?" she asked.

"Twelve," Hana corrected quietly.

Long enough, it seemed, for everyone else to forget. She suddenly wanted to get away from the cheerful woman, who felt nothing on this anniversary of the day when Hana's life had quietly fallen apart. She plunked the money on the counter, not caring anymore if it was too much, picked up her bouquet of flowers, and fled the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Even the boisterous Kaji seemed to catch her sorrowful mood and all three dogs crowded close around her as they continued on their way. The woman did her best to ignore the glances she received from those she passed. Their gazes dropped to the bouquet she cradled in her arms and curious eyes turned sympathetic. Her head dropped, shoulders hunching as though to fend off the well-meaning smiles. Thankfully, as she continued on her way, the crowds in the streets dwindled until the only sounds were her boots crunching on the road and the soft padding of the Haimaru Sankyodai. When the foursome stopped again, it was before the faded gate of the Uchiha compound. Reverently, Hana laid down her burden then stepped back to study it. Red cyclamen and white carnations were carefully arranged into the fan symbol of the Uchihas. They were surrounded by a pale blue sea of forget-me-nots.

Hana managed a slight smile at the memory of an eight-year old Yamanaka Ino painstakingly instructing her about the different meanings each type of flower held. Hana herself had been thirteen and a hopeless tomboy, but more than that she was devastated in the wake of the Uchiha massacre. Despite that, she still remembered the meaning of each flower. The white carnation was a sign that she remembered, and the blue forget-me-nots were an affirmation that she would never forget. The red cyclamen was a symbol of farewell. Her bouquet had been only one among dozens in the days following that horrible night, as the whole of Konoha drew together to honor the fallen clan, but on this twelfth anniversary it was the sole memorial to the slaughtered clan.

What no one else knew, however, was that the Inuzuka female did not simply mourn the dead.

She also mourned their killer.

Once upon a time, Uchiha Itachi had been her best friend. Although they were the same age, the male prodigy had graduated from the academy years before she had. Despite the vast difference in their abilities, the two had somehow bonded. Itachi had a calming effect on the wild Inuzuka, while she had been the only one who could make the stoic Uchiha smile. In spite of how close they had been, even Hana had been taken off guard when news of the massacre spread throughout the village. She had been questioned closely in an attempt to discover where Itachi might have vanished to, but the distraught female could tell the ANBU forces nothing.

She hadn't known Itachi as well as she had thought...no one had.

The first few years, her vigil outside the clan compound had simply been to remember the dead. As the years passed, though, the ache in her heart had only spread. She missed Itachi with a desperation which surprised her. She felt only half-alive without him. Thus she had begun to suspect that something deeper had been between them, at least on her end. In an oblivious, thirteen-year old way, she had given the genius her heart.

Kemuri whined, nudging her elbow with his cold nose. The young woman started from her thoughts, realizing with shock that the sun was already high in the sky.

'This must be how Hatake Kakashi feels,' she thought wryly.

It was past time for her to head to the veterinary clinic. Her patients would be waiting for her.

.oOo.oOo.

Haruno Sakura pulled her chakra back from the missing-nin's body, brushing her gloved hands against her pants as though merely touching the former Akatsuki member had soiled them. She stood, nodding to Uzumaki Naruto.

"He'll live," she said simply.

The blond Hokage looked down at Uchiha Itachi, meeting impassive onyx eyes. His own sapphire gaze narrowed slightly before he turned and smiled at Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hinata. The two stood close together, Sasuke's arm wrapped protectively around his fiancee's waist.

"Let's head back to Konoha," he said.

Hatake Kakashi, who had been standing quietly in the background, stepped forward to pull Itachi to his feet. The blind nin rose smoothly even with his arms restrained behind his back, brushing off Kakashi's help. Sasuke and Hinata took the point position, leaping to the lower tree branches. Itachi followed them, Sakura and Naruto falling in on either side, with Kakashi bringing up the rear. The eyes of all the Konoha nin turned occasionally to their prisoner. Despite his blindness, Itachi seemed to navigate the trees with no lack of his typical grace. Had Sakura not verified the fact while she was healing his internal bleeding, she never would have believed this man was blind. Even robbed of his sight, the former Uchiha prodigy was a force to be reckoned with. Only Sasuke stubbornly ignored his older brother. Too much of his life had already been wasted obsessing over that man. Instead, his eyes were only for Hinata. At last, she glanced shyly over at him.

"I'm not going to disappear on you again, Sasuke," she said quietly.

His hand reached for hers, fingers entwining themselves with hers. His onyx eyes warmed as he looked at her.

"I won't let you," he promised quietly.

Their moment was interrupted by a crashing sound from behind them. The couple halted on the closest branch and turned to find out what had happened. Sasuke took in the scene with a glance. Kakashi was standing on the side of a tree trunk, one hand fastened on the collar of Itachi's cloak. The raven-haired man hung limply in his grasp, but Sasuke noted that his brother's hands had tightened into fists. Kakashi climbed up the tree trunk, dropping Itachi onto a broad branch. The missing-nin drew himself to his feet as the other four Konoha nin came closer.

"He misjudged the last jump and came up a few feet short," the silver-haired jounin explained.

With his hands cuffed behind his back and no way of telling where the tree trunks were, Itachi had been helpless. Only Kakashi's quick reflexes had saved him from crashing to the forest floor. Sasuke couldn't hide his triumphant smirk when he saw that the faintest of blushes had slipped through Itachi's iron composure. This was definitely better than killing him.

"Kakashi, stay close to him," Naruto instructed as they moved out again.

Itachi's eyes drifted closed. He listened for the sound of Sasuke and Hinata's feet hitting wood, then estimated the distance they had jumped. He summoned what was left of his chakra--which was rapidly being drained by the cuffs secured around his wrists--and started after them. He sensed more than heard Kakashi trailing only a few feet behind him. After several more minutes, the sounds ahead of him abruptly stopped. He halted as well, tilting his head in an attempt to discern what was happening. The silver-haired jounin stopped beside him, one hand coming to rest on his shoulder. Itachi flinched at the unexpected touch. With the loss of his chakra, he could no longer sense the signatures of the nin around him and thus could not tell what they were doing. A prodigy from nearly the moment he was born, Itachi had never before felt so vulnerable.

"We've reached Konoha. The path is about fifteen feet below this branch," Kakashi said quietly.

His hand fell from Itachi's shoulder and the missing-nin heard the branch creak as Kakashi's weight left it. He heard the jounin land and dropped down beside him. Another foreign emotion, one of gratitude, was rising within him. He ignored it in favor of suspicion. There was no reason for Kakashi to be so considerate of him. He had deliberately tortured this man within the world of his Tsukuyomi, putting him in the hospital for weeks. It made no sense for the jounin to be kind to him.

While he was turning this thought in his mind, searching for an answer that would benefit Kakashi, the Konoha nin had been talking quietly together. At last, Naruto raised his voice loud enough for the blind nin to hear.

"He can spend the night in a cell. I will make a decision about his fate in the morning," the Hokage declared.

Again Itachi felt Kakashi's hand on his elbow as the jounin steered him into the city. The missing nin went along without fighting. All around him, he heard the voices of villagers suddenly cut off when they recognized him. The fear was so thick in the air he could smell it, but spirits quickly rose as they realized that the famed Akatsuki member was defeated. The whispers spread like wildfire and Itachi longed to tell them that he was blind, not deaf. Instead, he forced himself to feel indifferent. After all, it didn't really matter what they said about him anymore.

The air changed, becoming cooler as they entered the prison. A cell door creaked open, then closed behind them. Kakashi released the cuffs on Itachi's wrists, trading them for stronger restraints which held him upright against a wall. He felt the jounin's fingers probe at his abdomen and restrained a wince.

"I'll see if they can send a medic nin to check on you," Kakashi stated.

His footsteps started for the door and Itachi nearly let him go.

"Hatake-san," his voice was soft.

If Kakashi hadn't known better, he might have even classified the tone as hesitant. He stopped and turned back toward the restrained Uchiha. As usual, Itachi's face was impassive.

"Why are you being so considerate of me?" he asked.

The silver-haired man paused. His single eye crinkled in his trademark smile, even though Itachi could not see it. He pulled out the newest Icha Icha book and Itachi could hear the pages crinkle as he found his place.

"I always taught my students to look underneath the underneath," he stated.

With that cryptic sentence, the jounin turned and left the cell. The door shut with finality behind him. Itachi's head lowered, dark brows drawing together.

What was that supposed to mean?

So, there it is: the first chapter. To those who eagerly looked for it yesterday, I apologize. Ita-kun was being stubborn and it took me longer to write this than I thought it would. However, after this there will hopefully be steady updates every Monday.

Please leave me a review to let me know what you thought!