A/N: Forgive spelling errors, and this chapter will be a bit more graphic than usual. If you don't like it, I'm sorry :(. PM me about the OC application, because if I don't have any takers by Chapter 12, I'll stop asking. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto; I just own Miwa, Mako, and the Kokawa Clan! Thoughts are now between asterisks, and are italicized. Thoughts Miwa can't hear are not between asterisks.

Otay, ENJOY!

Chapter 6- Nightmares!

*Miwa-hime? Are you okay?* Kuro thought to me, concern rolling off her thoughts. I sighed and made my mind go blank as I looked out over the foggy waters. Tazuna was telling everyone about some guy named Gato who was after him, and was trying valiantly to guilt trip us into finishing the mission. Honestly, I had scoffed and rolled my eyes when I realized that he was a liar, and ignored him. I didn't care whether or not we continued the mission, as long as I lived. A bump shook me out of my musings, alerting me to the fact that we had arrived at the opposite shore. I sighed and climbed out right after Naruto and before Sasuke.
"Miwa! That was rude; you should've let Sasuke-kun go first!" Sakura screeched when she got on land. She got in my face, petal pink strands of hair flying everywhere as she burst my eardrums. I sighed again and pinched the bridge of my nose as the pinkette kept screeching at me. Finally, my patience snapped and I glared at the girl, shutting her up.
"Sakura, shut up! I am not in a good mood, and I don't fucking need your wannabe banshee on crack act right now." I growled, massaging my temples. My senses were on edge, making the hairs on my neck tingle and my muscles go tense. Something wasn't right. Something was going to happen, and it wasn't good.
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sakura screeched at her next victim. I rolled my eyes and looked over to see if my friend needed any help, when a flash of silver caught my eye. When I turned, there was nothing. My eyes narrowed as I looked around for anything that could've caused the silver flash, but I couldn't detect anything.
"Everyone duck!" Kakashi yelled, startling me. I whipped around just in time to do a straddle split (1) to avoid getting beheaded. I pushed myself up into a defensive position as our enemy made himself known.
"Well, if it isn't Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi said nonchalantly, though his tense posture screamed the opposite of his tone. As for me, I went rigid as soon as I heard the guy's name.
*Kuro. He is the one who murdered my family. The one who took my happiness away. It's him.* I thought, letting my worry, anger, and fear leak into my thoughts.
*Don't worry, Miwa-hime. I won't let him kill you* Kuro thought soothingly, shifting slightly to protect me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before reopening my eyes.
"If it isn't Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan. It's nice to finally meet you." Zabuza stated. His voice was low and gravelly. My eyes narrowed as he turned to face me.

"I've only known one woman who looks like that, moves like that, and has an attitude like that. I killed her. You must be that brat I left alive." Zabuza chuckled at my horrified expression.

"She was a sweet piece of ass, too." My eyes and chakra flared as I ran screaming at the man. I didn't get far, because Kuro stepped up and pulled me back, wrapping her arms around mine to restrain me. As I struggled, I felt someone tug my hair back. I snarled and turned, only to see Sasuke with a firm grip on my hair. His face held no emotion, but his eyes told me he understood. He said nothing, just let me go. Kuro kept dragging me to the tree line, without me struggling, but that was before Zabuza's next words.

"Ah, so she's your bitch, pretty boy? Her mother was the same way, submissive." I snarled like a feline and strained, trying to get free, while my team glared at the man. As Kuro dragged me into the trees, I felled one, my restless chakra giving me the temporary strength to take the tree down before Kuro and I disappeared from my team's sight.

Third Person

"Damn it, Kuro, let me go!" The young girl screamed, her struggles echoing through the forest. Stray strands of rusty red hair framed the struggling Kokawa's face, which was contorted in anger and grief. Tears were running from her hazel eyes.

"Miwa, I can't let you out there! You'll—" Miwa never got a chance to find out what Kuro thought would happen to her, because she pressed a point on the small girl's neck, causing her to fall unconscious. Miwa set the girl on a patch of soft grass, and then used her inhuman speed to arrive at the clearing, just in time to see her blonde best friend get knocked away, for the second time from what his new bruises said. Miwa growled lowly as, unbeknownst to her, her hazel eyes blazed, seeming unnervingly feline.

"Your mother was feisty, too." Zabuza chuckled out as everyone in the clearing looked at the barely concealed rage in the red-headed Kokawa's eyes.

"Say something else about my mother, bastard. I fucking dare you." Miwa growled, tensing her body.

"She had amazing stamina. Took her all night before she would—" Zabuza was cut off as Miwa charged at him, screaming, from the bushes. Her teammates watched in horror as she became a blur of red and black, racing towards Zabuza. Her sprint was violently stopped when Zabuza caught her by the throat and lifted her up, her feet dangling in the air, much the way he had Sasuke only moments before. Zabuza smirked at the rage and fear in the girl's eyes.

"Ah, I remember those eyes. You're the spitting image of your mother, ya know? Let's see if you can fight like her." And with that, Zabuza threw Miwa away. She flew through the air, her eyes wide, until she hit a tree and yelled, coughing up blood. She slid down slowly, slouching as she struggled to get up.

"Miwa!" Naruto yelled, scared for his best friend and partner in crime. Tears gathered in his eyes as he watched the stupid, stubborn girl try to get up and fight back. Sakura looked scared to death, while Sasuke looked severely frustrated, the only thing giving away his true feelings of fear and anxiety being the horrible shaking of his hands.

"If you guys aren't going to help her, then I will!" Naruto screeched, readying a kunai. Miwa's words stopped him as he prepared to run.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, stay out of this. It's my fight." Miwa said, her voice turning demonic at the end of her sentence. As Naruto made to run to help anyway, Sasuke grabbed his collar, holding him back.

"Teme?! You let me—" Naruto was silenced by an intense glare from Sasuke.

"This is her fight, Naruto. He killed her family, took everything except her brother away from her, everything that she held dear to her. It was all violently ripped away. This is a personal battle." Sasuke stated, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched his teammate battle the ninja, who was so much more advanced. The Uchiha was beginning to realize something:

Miwa was kind of just like him.

Five minutes later, Zabuza had the upper hand, as you could see Miwa becoming sloppier in her attacks. But her speed never wavered.

She's fast, it's kind of hard to see her. Zabuza thought, mildly surprised. His surprise momentarily left an opening for Miwa, but as she went for it, her feet were swept from under her, and she was suddenly being held upside down by her ankle.

"You're definitely every bit as beautiful as your mother was." Zabuza said huskily as he turned Miwa right side up and held her close to him. She cringed away when the man ran his bandaged mouth from her shoulder to her neck, chuckling.

"Now, why don't we have some fun?"

A/N: Minor cliffy, I know I'm super late, and I know it's super short, but between studying for finals (which start tomorrow), getting ready for graduation (which is next Friday), Six Flags, and the Leadership Retreat (basically, I'm going to hang out in a place with no cell phone reception from Friday to Sunday. Whoopee). Plus, Spring Concert is this week, soccer starts soon, and so does freshman band camp. So I'm going to be busy this summer. But you don't want to hear about my life. I'll try to update as frequently as I can! Please forgive me!