Episode 8:

"Giving In"

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money off of this story.

A/N: More violence ahead.

Darkness surrounded her, an all consuming void of hatred and despair. Before her was the only source of light, a swirling vortex of crimson chakra. The girl stood there her head bowed, tears flowing down her face. "What should I do?" the girl asked softly to herself. "Give in" said a voice beside her. The girl turned her head to the left and saw a tall man with long grey hair and eyes the color of obsidian.

"All it takes is a leap of faith" said a softer, younger voice. The girl's head snapped to the right, her blue eyes opening wide at the sight of the pink haired girl. "Sa…" the girl started to say before being quieted by a pale delicate hand being placed over her mouth. "Shhh… don't say it." The pink haired girl said.

The young girl nodded and the pink haired one removed her hand. "I don't understand" the girl said sadly. The grey haired man placed his hand on her left shoulder and the pink haired girl did the same to her right. "You don't need to understand. You simply need to trust us. You know what you need to do." The grey haired man said softly.

The girl nodded and gulped before shutting her eyes. "Thank you" she said in a whisper as she leaped forwards into the swirling vortex of chakra. The girl never saw the blood red eyes, the fanged teeth, or the psychotic grins on their faces.

"SAKURA" roared Naru in a deep guttural voice.

Sasuke was staring in horror at the remains of his teammate. The raven haired boy liked to think of himself as an avenger, the consummate shinobi. He had seen death before and believed that he had cut his heart off from the terrible nature of it but as he stared at the dead body of his teammate he began to experience a prickling sensation in his eyes.

Sasuke's gaze was ripped from the remains of Sakura as he heard a loud animalistic roar from beside him. Sasuke's eyes fell upon Naru just before a wave of chakra erupted from her body. The raven haired boy was blown back, his body tumbling across the ground from the force of the explosion. Sasuke's momentum was halted by the strong grip of his teacher who had grabbed him before he could slam into a nearby tree.

Sasuke and Kakashi looked at eachother at the same time, their eyes opening wide. "Sharingan" they said in unison. Sasuke's confusion at seeing his teacher with a sharingan eye quickly turned to a morbid sense of glee when he glanced at his own image reflected in his teacher's raised hitai-ate and saw the proof of his own bloodline.

Sasuke's glee turned to dread however when he remembered just why he had to be saved by Kakashi. "Something's wrong with Naru" the boy said urgently as he looked back to where he had last seen her. What he saw though nearly caused his heart to stop in fear. Naru was standing there, her back facing Sakura's killer.

Naru stood there her small form trembling, as a violent wind swirled around her. The blonde's head rose and her eyes opened showing off a pair of crimson eyes with slitted pupils. The girl bared her teeth a pair of razor sharp fangs glinting in the sun. Crimson eyes glanced at Sasuke and Kakashi, a low rumbling growl escaping the girl's mouth.

"What the hell are you" said the gravelly voice of Momochi Zabuza, Jonin and missin-nin of Kirigakure the village hidden in the Mists. The girls head snapped back at the sound of Zabuza's voice, her eyes gazing at the clouds as a roar erupted from her throat. All of a sudden the swirling winds around her ignited turning into a tornado of red chakra.

Zabuza's eyes widened as the freakish girl flickered out of existence. He leapt from atop the large sword and grabbed its' handle. He tried to pull it free when a clawed fist slammed into his side. The man let out a choked sound as he was sent flying a hundred yards before hitting a tree with a sickening crack.

Zabuza somehow remained conscious long enough to see his own sword flying towards him. He tried to move but found that he couldn't feel anything below his waist. The last thing Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Mist ever heard was his tool's scream.

Kakashi watched wide eyed as his young student, a Genin dispatched a Jonin single handedly. The grey haired man would probably have just stood there in his stupor had he not seen the figure charging towards Naru. "ZABUZA-SAMA!" screamed the slim figure dressed in the formal outfit of a Kiri hunter-nin. That scream was what finally set the man in motion.

Haku watched in horror as the reason for his existence was struck down with his own blade. The only thing running through the young man's mind now was the thought of revenge. The fake hunter-nin let a senbon needle slide into his hand and was going to drive it into the back of the blonde girl's skull when he was grabbed from behind. Haku's surprise lasted only a heartbeat before he felt the cold touch of steel slide across his throat. Kakashi released the now limp form of Haku and watched with disinterest as his body slid to the ground. The fake hunter-nin let out a bloody gurgle and stilled.

Kakashi stepped over the dead body before him and carefully approached his remaining female student. "Naru" he said softly. The girl turned to face him her eyes still that violent shade of red. The Jonin continued to walk towards the girl however he paused when he noticed that she was staring at the bloody kunai in his hand. Kakashi opened his hand and allowed the kunai to fall to the ground before he continued his approach.

Sasuke watched in morbid fascination as his Jonin instructor walked up to Naru. He fully expected the feral girl to kill them both but was surprised when she allowed their teacher to wrap her up in a hug. Seeing that he wasn't likely to be killed by the blonde he finally got to his feet and made his way over to them.

By the time Sasuke reached them Naru was seemingly back to normal. Well as normal as the sobbing, blood stained girl could seem. "Hey…" Sasuke said once he was beside them. Naru having heard Sasuke's voice pushed away from her teacher and launched herself at Sasuke. The raven haired boy steadied himself after the girl slammed into him and wrapped his arms around her. "Shhh… it'll be alright" he said in a surprising display of tenderness.

Naru being slightly shorter looked up at him her eyes once again a bright blue. "She's gone and I k…k…killed him" she said as more tears cascaded down her face. Sasuke brought a hand up and placed it against the girl's cheek, his thumb brushing away a tear. "Don't cry for them. Sakura died honorably while fulfilling her duty and that man deserved his death. Don't feel bad for the man that killed our teammate" Sasuke said firmly. The blonde nodded with a sniffle and pulled back her hands going up to rub at her eyes.

At the same time that Sasuke was comforting Naru Kakashi had gone over to collect the remains of his fallen student. His two remaining students walked up to him as he finished sealing the scroll that now held Sakura's body. "Sensei please!" said Naru pleadingly. The Jonin studied her for a moment before speaking "Are you certain Naru?"

The blonde gulped and nodded. The grey haired man sighed and held the scroll out towards the girl. "Do you Uzumaki Naru swear to return Haruno Sakura to Konoha so that she may return to her home and final resting place no matter what the cost?" asked Kakashi in a grave voice. Naru straightened her back, a determined look in her eyes as she took the black scroll from her teacher. "I do so swear" she said with confidence.

Kakashi stood and looked down at his student his eye turning upwards in a smile. "I'm proud of you Naru" he said while ruffling her hair. Kakashi turned his gaze upon Sasuke "I'm proud of you as well Sasuke." Sasuke glared at him. "What for? The only thing I did was lay there and watch as Sakura was killed and Naru…" the raven haired boy trailed off. "What the hell was that? That red chakra, the eyes, the teeth, and the feeling… It felt… evil" he said quietly.

Kakashi was trying to come up with a half baked excuse when he was interrupted by Naru. "It was the Kyubi. It's sealed inside of me because the Yondaime couldn't kill it" Naru paused for a moment her eyes shifting to the side before she continued "I was so angry when Sakura died that I… I gave in… I gave in and used its' power." The girl shut her eyes tightly and whimpered. "It felt good, so very good to just give in… part of me wants to let go again. I…I…its addicting" she said softly.

Kakashi looked slightly alarmed "Naru you need to fight it. No matter how good it might feel you can't give in to that power. It will corrupt you and I can't bear to lose another student." Sasuke placed his hand on the girl's shoulder "Why didn't you tell us…me?" Naru sighed "I didn't want you to hate me like everyone else. Sure you're an asshole but you've never been cruel to me."

Sasuke smacked her upside the head. "I'm not going to hate you simply because you have a monster sealed inside of you. I'm a shinobi and an Uchiha. Trust me I've heard of weirder things" he said with a snort. Naru rubbed the back of her head and tried to glare at him however the glare was being overshadowed by her growing smile.

The group had forgotten all about Tazuna until the man had stumbled up to them. The elderly bridge builder walked up to Kakashi looking distraught. "Hatake-san I am so sorry about your student" he said. Kakashi looked at the bridge builder, his masked face unreadable. "Thank you for your condolences" The Jonin said as he shoved a kunai into the man's stomach, his two Genin watching on in shock.

Kakashi used his free hand to pull the other man close. "You lied to us. You said that you only had to worry about some bandits. Not other shinobi. Had we known the truth Konoha never would have sent out a team of Genin and my student would still be alive" he said venomously. Tazuna leaned against the man on wobbly legs. "I'm sorry… w…we couldn't afford anything more" the bridge builder said as blood began to flow down his chin.

Kakashi growled out "Not my problem!" He twisted the kunai and shoved it deeper. "Your actions directly lead to the death of a ninja of the Leaf. Consider your death to be repayment for services rendered. A life for a life" Kakashi continued. The Jonin leaned closer and whispered into the man's ear "Your home and your family will burn. I hope that thought comforts you in the afterlife." Tazuna's body took one last shuddering breath before stilling. Kakashi allowed the corpse to fall to the ground as he stepped away.

Kakashi turned to his students. "Let's go home" he said. Naru looked at him warily "But Sensei what about the mission?" Sasuke once again smacked her upside the head "The client is dead retard there is no mission." Kakashi sighed "Sasuke stop hitting Naru. And Sasuke is right, the only mission we have now is to return Sakura to Konoha."

The weight of their loss once again settled upon them. Kakashi took this moment to walk over to Zabuza's body. "Come along you two. I'm going to show you how to prepare and seal a body for transport in a scroll" said the grey haired instructor. "Why?" asked Naru. Kakashi chuckled "Because you're rich Naru." "What" chorused the two Genin.

Kakashi let out a snort. "Momochi Zabuza was a missing-nin from Kiri and you killed him Naru. When his body is positively identified you will be eligible to receive the bounty" he said plainly. Naru perked up a bit. "Really how much is it?" asked the blonde curiously. Kakashi tossed her his bingo book. Naru opened the small book and leafed through it with Sasuke looking over her shoulder.

Having not heard anything from his students for a couple of minutes turned his gaze over to them only to find both on the ground unconscious. The Jonin shook his head and continued with the sealing of Zabuza's body. Kakashi allowed his two students a couple hours of rest before nudging them awake.

Naru sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "What happened?" the girl asked sleepily. Kakashi eye smiled at her "Well it seems that after discovering how much Zabuza's bounty was worth you passed out from exhaustion." Sasuke rose to his feet "I think it was more shock than exhaustion. Did you see how much she is going to get?" Kakashi shrugged. "That's how it goes" he said nonchalantly.

Naru looked around and fingered the black scroll that was tied to her waist. "So what now?" she asked. Kakashi walked over to his students and placed a hand on each of their heads. "Now we go back to Konoha" the grey haired man said. The two Genin gave their instructor a nod and the group turned towards home.

"I hope we can find a boat" said Sasuke offhandedly.

A/N: Just to let you know all my fights will be that short. They are ninja and therefore they go for the quick kill. While flashy jutsu are cool they don't make much sense. They are assassins.

As always thanks for reading and please review!