Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Evanescence lyrics, Krystal Meyers lyrics or the lyrics to "Mercy Came Running". I do own Yoko and most of the Naruto manga. Please R&R. Thank You!

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CHAPTER ONE

"What does Lord Hokage want, Kakashi-sensei?" Haruno Sakura asked her silver-haired mentor, who was so absorbed in his own thoughts he was without his usual book.

"You'll find out when we meet with her," Hatake Kakashi replied, his face and tone revealing nothing to her observing green eyes.

"I bet it's some top secret ninja mission," Uzumaki Naruto said, nearly jumping up and down with enthusiasm.

"Shut up, idiot. You're too noisy to be assigned a top ninja mission." Uchiha Sasuke, the final member of the genin cell said, his voice filled with censure and boredom.

"Sasuke-kun is SOOO awesome," Sakura sighed dreamily to herself.

Blue eyes flashed with anger. "Who are you calling an idiot, you stupid jerk." the spiky haired blonde shouted, waving his arms up and down in front of Sasuke's impassive face.

"Both of you, calm down and be quiet." Kakashi ordered as he came out of his daze. They reached the Hokage's door in a tentative silence.

Kakashi knocked gently on the door, a look of surprise crossed his face when Lord Hokage herself answered the door. He quickly masked his face, observing the Hokage's face. He was saddened by what he saw. Tsunade was looking tired and worn out.

"Lord Hokage." Kakashi greeted his friend warmly.

"Kakashi," she acknowledged, sitting down in her chair, "I have an A-rank mission for your cell. Since your cell is of the genin level, you may chose to accept or reject this mission."

Kakashi looked at his team and saw their acceptance written on their young faces, filling him with both pride and concern simultaneously. "We will accept. What's the assignment?"

"Over the past three months, I have sent two ninja cells to the Land of Sand, but shortly before they arrived at their destination, I lost contact with them. I haven't heard from a single one of the ninja since then. Your mission is to find out what happened to them and complete the assignment they set out to achieve. It is written on one of these scrolls." She said gesturing to five scrolls in front of her, "which I will give to one of you." "From now on you will refer to Kakashi as 'Dad'. Sasuke, you will be the oldest son at 16 years old. Naruto, you're next at 14 years, and Sakura, you're the youngest at 13."

"Why does Sasuke get to be the oldest?" Naruto complained. "He always gets the best spot on the missions. Stupid Uchiha prodigy."

"Wait a second, if there are four of us, then why are there five scrolls?" Sakura asked sounding confused.

Lord Hokage ignored Naruto and continued. "In response to Sakura's question, you will be joined by another. Anrui Yoko," she gestured to a young woman in a dark violet hooded cloak, silhouetted in the dark corner behind the cell, "will be Sasuke's older twin."

"When did she get here?" Sasuke asked himself.

"She made no noise, I didn't even sense her. I'm losing my touch." Kakashi thought, frowning behind the mask that covered his lower face.

"She better not try to seduce Sasuke," inner Sakura screamed furiously.

"Who is she? I've never seen her in the village." Naruto said, pointing at the strange girl, completely oblivious of the fact she wasn't there when they arrived. "And what's with the weird clothing?"

"Lord Hokage, why do we need another person for this mission?" Sakura asked, silencing Naruto with a glare and a partially raised fist. Only Kakashi saw the cloaked girl smile slightly in amusement.

"Most people are aware that ninja cells are three members, and though with Kakashi you have four members, there is the possibility of you being suspected as a Genin cell. Although ninja cells going 'undercover' is unlikely, it is not unheard of, so Yoko will be joining you as a fifth member. You will be traveling as a family of metal-smiths. Yoko has everything you will need to become your part. Sakura, you will be dyeing your hair blonde, and Naruto, you will be using contacts to change your eyes to green. Kakashi, you will dye your hair black and wear an eye patch over your Sharingan eye. You can"t wear a mask, so Yoko will cover your scars on your face."

"But who are you though, and why were you chosen to go with us?" Naruto asked again.

"That doesn't matter right now." Kakashi replied when he saw a look of irritation pass over the Hokage"s face.

"You will be staying at Yoko's house for tonight. Your mission begins at dawn, so you have until then to get into character." The Hokage handed out books and scrolls to everyone in the room before dismissing them.

"We'll go to Sasuke's house first." Kakashi ordered, "Naruto, you're next, then Sakura, and lastly mine."

They walked in a relative silence to Sasuke's house, save for the semi-frequent questions Naruto asked Yoko, which she ignored. They entered Sasuke's house, the only fixed up house in the blacked remains where the Uchiha Clans used to live before Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, massacred them all, leaving Sasuke alone alive.

"It's so dark, Sasuke." Sakura said, trying to use the darkness as a reason to get closer to Sasuke. Sasuke crossed the room and opened the blinds covering the windows. Light flooded the clean, sparsely furnished dwelling.

"Stay here." Sasuke said over his shoulder as he went into a room off the kitchen. He grabbed his training outfit, and a bag and tossed them on the bed. He reached underneath and grabbed a box that held his weapons. Opening the false bottom to his bag, he put in two kunai knifes, some throwing stars, a Shuriken, and the scroll. Putting his clothes inside the main pocket with the books he had been handed, he put the box under the bed and went out to the main room where his friends awaited him. "Done. Let's go." Sasuke said as he went to shut the blinds.

They left and headed to Naruto's, getting there swifter than to Sasuke's, although the distance was identical.

"Ugh, what a mess." Sakura said, flipping her pink hair out of her face.

"Do you EVER clean?" Yoko asked, her soft, smoky voice filled with disgust and condemnation, causing the others to look her in surprise.

"Whoa. You CAN speak!" Naruto said, then realizing what she said, continued indignantly. "Hey! Of course I clean!"

"Uh-huh." Sasuke grunted, the skepticism and contempt written on his face echoed in his voice. Naruto was about to argue when Yoko held up her hand.

"Go and pack what you need." she said with authority. The intensity in her voice and on her face stopped Naruto, and sent chills up his spine. As he quickly left to do as she told him, Sakura walked over to Yoko's side.

"What is it," the young ninja asked, her voice high from masked fear. Yoko remained quiet and her eyes were glazed, unseeing, as if her mind had drifted off to another time and place.

"He's close," Yoko thought to herself. "Why? Why come back now?" She screamed silently in frustration. "Oh God, please, not now."

Memories flashed, unbidden, through her mind, trying to drown her in the rapid flow of mistakes she had made. "No!" She yelled to the darkness consuming her in the shadows and fears of her past. "No! I'm no longer that girl."

She started to hum to herself, them slowly began to sing, her voice getting louder with every passing second."I can almost see mercy's face pressed against the veil, looking down with longing eyes, mercy must have realized, once his blood was sacrificed, freedom would prevail, and as the sky grew dark and the earth began to shake, with justice no longer in the race. All the years left me torn apart, hopeless and afraid, walls I never meant build left this prisoner unfulfilled, freedom called but seemed so far away, I was bound by the chains from the wages of my sin and just when I felt like giving in┘Mercy came running like a prisoner set free, passed all my failures to the point of my need, when the sin that I carried was all I could see, and when I could not reach mercy, mercy came running to me."

A ray of light pierced the impenetrable darkness.

"Go away. You have no power here because light has triumphed." She said to her memories as their icy grasp on her mind started to weaken. As she turned to run into the light she saw a grotesque face with evil-looking demonic eyes glaring at her. It's gravely voice hissed inside her head.

"I will win. You'll give in to me soon. You can sense it, can't you? Darkness will command you."

"I won't be held down by who I used to be. God will make something beautiful come out of the ruins and scars of my past, so just shut up!" Yoko commanded the creature.

"You expect your 'god' to save you and you can't even give him your past, your life, or your heart. Those belong to ME and they ALWAYS will!"

It started to laugh, it's laughter making Yoko nauseous. "Go back to Hell where you belong!" Yoko said, stepping into the sunshine as she threw a dagger of light and wind out of her palm, hitting the demon just inches of where his heart should be. It screamed in pain and vanished from her sight, but Yoko knew he'd be back, that this was just the beginning, a slight rousing of the water. She wondered if she would make it out alive and with her soul intact.

"YOKO!" Kakashi's voice came through the remaining tendrils of fog in Yoko's mind, helping her secure her usual icy calm.

Yoko opened her eyes to see Kakashi in front of her, concern written on his face. The rest of Cell 7 was gathered nearby, watching her.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, looking spooked.

"Man, that was creepy!" Sakura thought, rubbing her arms against the damp cold that suddenly permeated the room.

"Let's get going. Don't concern yourselves with me." Yoko's voice became slightly melodious as she infused her command with chakra, using a jutsu to take a semi-control of their minds.

"Hanasu," (1) Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura thought simultaneously, their hands quickly flying through the signs needed with a practiced ease.

"Right then, let's go." Naruto said, unaware of the jutsu cast on him. Kakashi walked over and released Naruto.

"Whoa! What happened?" Naruto asked confused.

Sasuke and Sakura glanced to Kakashi as he answered, "Yoko's voice can have a hypnotic quality to it. She can control things and people with her words."

"Like Ino's Mind-Transfer Jutsu?" Sakura asked, as inner Sakura growled thinking of her rival for Sasuke's affection.

"Something like that." Sasuke watched Yoko face flash with irritation as she answered Sakura's question.

"I don't like her." Sasuke thought, "but something compels me to trust her, even though she reminds me of Itachi." Unknown to Sasuke, the other member of his cell were experiencing similar thoughts and feelings.

"I'm finished." Sakura said, as she came out of her room her eyes down to avoid Yoko's gaze. The cell got off the couch as Sakura looked up. She saw that Yoko was at the window with her back to them, watching lightning streak from the sky.

BOOM.

"Ahhh," Naruto cried, jumping off the couch and hiding behind it.

"You are such a baby, Naruto." Sakura said, going and pounding him hard on the head.

"Let's go." Kakashi said, as Yoko and Sasuke rolled their eyes.

The cell headed out into the rapidly worsening storm, the wind blowing ferociously and the rain biting as they headed to Kakashi's apartment. The stores were all closing swiftly as the weather clashed and battered every one in it's path. The clouds looked formidable and evil in the darkening skies, the earlier occurrence with Yoko not far from the ninjas minds.

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JAPANESE WORDS

1) Hanasu-release

A/N: Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon. Thanks.

DS