Chapter Eight: The Corrupted Soul

"Kill them all!" A man shouted. There was a loud chorus of 'Hai!' before the screams were heard. The village was burning brightly from fire even as rain fell from the sky. The man turned and looked back at a little boy of around four or five clutching his weapon close to his chest and staring fearfully at the village where the others were slaughtering the populace. "What are you doing boy? I ordered you to kill them!"

"B-but killing is wrong!" He shouted with tears in his eyes. The man froze for a moment at the boys' words before striking the boy in the face. The child was sent flying to the ground; surprisingly he still had held his weapon. "I don't want to hurt anybody!"

"You foolish boy!" The man yelled as he struck him again. "You have been given the greatest of honors! You will one day be our beacon that will lead us to paradise! I was tasked with ensuring that you grow into what we need and here you are going against our very beliefs!" He continued striking the child as he shouted at him. "Now you will get up and you will kill or trust me, Jashin-sama won't be able to save you from my wrath!" The last thing the boy saw was a black spike coming down towards his chest before there was a loud scream and everything went black.

"So how long will it take to get to the town?" Naruto asked as the group was running at a comfortable speed through the mountainous terrain of Tsuchi no Kuni. Kurotsuchi gave the team a glance out of the corner of her eye and was happy to see that Naruto wasn't the only one keeping up with her with ease. Hikari and Kurai barely looked like the trip was bothering them. They had been keeping their current pace since leaving Iwa and not once had they stopped for a break. That was an hour ago.

"Well if we keep the pace were going at then Kisai should be coming up in about another hour or so." She answered before turning her attention back on the path they were following. Naruto nodded and then gave a slight grin. Bandit extermination missions were is favorite missions because they let him test his fighting skills. Plus sometimes bandits grouped together under a missing nin to make them a bigger threat. Thus, Naruto would likely get an even bigger challenge. He merely kept quiet with his small grin, hoping that these bandits would provide a good fight.

Meanwhile Hikari was keeping her face blank as she focused on the task ahead of them. She was still a little pissed at the small interaction with her cousin from before they left but she knew to keep personal problems out of mind during missions. Kurai was much the same way with an emotionless look as they headed to the village. After they arrived there their plan would be to get info from the civilians about the bandits and possibly a location before a search for the group and then an eventual battle. Kurai would make sure that the bandits wouldn't escape, he had been trained in Iwa to never let a target escape.

The remainder of the trip had been silent. Not uncomfortable silence but rather just understanding. Naruto had voiced the only relevant question at the time and after getting the answer they continued on without a word. They couldn't plan out a battle strategy without information and neither could they rush on ahead without exhausting themselves. It was a simple understanding and nobody really had anything worth talking about anyways so they wouldn't try to force conversation, that just annoyed them.

"Okay, you know the drill. Find out what you can and meet back here in two hours." Kurotsuchi ordered before they split up after arriving in town. They were going to ask the villagers about any and all info about the bandits they could get while their sensei would speak with the mayor, who had requested the mission, and speak with him about it. Naruto wandered around town with his hands in his pockets as he tried to think of a good place to ask people about their problem. Eventually he just walked up to a street merchant that was selling some fruits.

"Hey there." The man looked up to see the young shinobi in black and wondered what he wanted before noticing the headband.

"Oh a ninja. You must be here about them bandits." Naruto grinned and nodded his head.

"Oh good, you know about them. I'm looking to get some info before I regroup with my team and we take 'em out. Got anything you can tell me?" He asked as he grabbed an apple and tossed the man a couple ryo for it.

"Sure. They've been messin' with us for about a week or so. There's at least ten of 'em and word is they got some missing nin to be leadin' 'em." The man replied. Naruto nodded his head with a thoughtful look as he took a bite out of the apple.

"Anything else I should know?"

"Uh… last I think they messed with me brother's shipment of food that was supposed to come in from the south. That was two days ago. They might still be around there." Naruto grinned and tossed the man another ryo.

"Thanks." The blond then continued on and asked around, most said the same although the number seemed to vary from ten to thirty, but that only made him grin more. More enemies meant a better fight. A better fight was exactly what he wanted. Besides, if things got out of hand he'd just use Kyuubi and rip through everything before he'd head back to Iwa with his team.

"I'm not your goddamned cheat code to life boy." The fox grumbled in his head at that last thought. Naruto merely put his body on autopilot as he focused on talking with the fox.

'Well why not Kyuubi? I was under the impression you liked it when I used your power to kill things.'

"I do, when it's actually a challenge. Bandits are people you could kill when you were ten. They would only have been a challenge when you first contacted me."

'Well don't you also like when there's an overwhelming number to slaughter?'

"But you have to split the work with that team of yours. You can't just let me loose to do some damage so don't bother using me. I find it insulting."

'Whatever. Still though, you gonna watch the battle'

"What do you think? I love watching you kill things. Try and make it interesting kit." Kyuubi replied with what Naruto could obviously tell was amusement in its voice. The blond just smirked as he pulled his focus back to his surroundings and took another bite of his apple. He'd enjoy this mission, that was for sure.

"I see. Alright then, we'll start our search from the southern edge of town and spread out in a south/south-east fashion. Use your radios if you find them. Remember do not engage until the entire team arrives unless you must. Move out!" Kurotsuchi ordered. The group had come together and shared what they learned, which was pretty much the same thing only that the supposed missing nin was apparently from Suna. Other than that though they all found out the same thing, somewhere between ten to thirty enemies and the bandits had been harassing the area for a couple weeks. The group quickly checked to make sure their radios were working and were set to the correct signal before heading out.

'Now let's see, I'm the best at tracking things on our team so I'll likely find them first.' Hikari thought as she leapt up to a tree and looked around. From her high vantage point she could also see her teammates and sensei as they spread out. A small grin came to her face as she thought about the fun she's had with them, especially with Naruto. She quickly shook her head to get her focus back on the mission before jumping down to keep up her search. As soon as she landed she dashed forward and kept her eyes peeled for any signs of activity. The mission would be simple and over quickly.

'No signs of life outside the local animal population. Have the targets already moved on? Or did they gain notice of us and are waiting in ambush? Too many variables to make a proper decision at this time. I must simply continue my search.' Kurai thought as he stood up from kneeling on the ground to inspect what he thought could have been a clue but turned out to be a simple bear print. As he stood he heard a twig snap and spun to face the source only to see a small raccoon running away from his sudden action. He sighed but straightened himself before looking around and continuing his search.

"Boring!" Naruto whined as he kept looking around. He had very little skill in finding things without something pointing him exactly where to go, like a map and compass. A guide wouldn't hurt either. He was just looking around for people and then if he managed to find the bandit camp he would call his team and make sure the camp wouldn't run off somewhere. As he looked around with his hands folded behind his head, his tenant started to complain.

"Will you shut up boy? You're just letting them know you're looking for them! If you shut up, you may find someone!"

'And I should listen to your furry ass why?'

"Because we both want you to kill something and because you're retarded and should listen to your superiors."

'Oh fuck off you stupid fox.'

"Just do what I say kit. I think I can sense some group of life to your left." That actually got Naruto's attention. He quickly crouched down and did his best to suppress his massive chakra signature before silently running through the undergrowth of the few trees that they were surrounded by. Pretty soon he came upon a small encampment of men that were mostly eating or messing with their weapons, which were mostly swords or knives.

'Thanks Kyuubi.' Naruto muttered out in his head before backing off a ways and contacting the team. "Targets have been found. I'm about a ten minute run south east of where we started."

"Good job Naruto-kun. Wait for us while keeping an eye on them." Came Kurotsuchi's voice.

"Got it."

"You can come out now little genin." A voice called out getting Naruto to spin around and glare at the small group of three that had come out to confront him. Two weren't really dressed any different from the other bandits but the one who had spoken was different. He had dark green hair that was tied into a spiked ponytail that stuck out from the back of his head. Worn as a face mask was a black bandana with a slashed Suna plate on it. His black eyes narrowed at the boy as he held a large shuriken in both hands. He had on a worn tan Suna flak jacket worn open without a shirt underneath showing his scarred but muscled body. He had on dark brown shorts as well along with black sandals and tied to each leg were three scrolls each. "What's a little blond twerp like you doing out here? Were you sent to take us out? Ha! Don't make me laugh."

"Oh darn, you found me." Naruto sighed out in a tone that showed he clearly did not care he had been discovered. "I guess that means I have to fight." He then raised his fists and smiled. "Make sure not to hold back now."

"Don't hold back? Boy do you realize who you're-!" The Suna nin shouted before jumping back as Naruto was right where he just was and had stabbed both the men next to him in the chest with kunai. "Well well, someone's fast. But that doesn't matter to me! Nobody can stand before Suna's Jiton! (Magnet Release)" He shouted before whipping the two large throwing stars at the boy's head. Naruto simply let out a feral smirk.

"So Naruto found them. That's surprising considering he can't find shit." Hikari commented as she regrouped with Kurai and Kurotsuchi. They had then quickly headed to collect Naruto so they could plan an attack and then eliminate the bandits. Kurai nodded his agreement with his teammate's open backhand to Naruto's skills. That was one thing all three on the team shared, they didn't brag about stuff they couldn't do. If they were horrible at something, they wouldn't try and hide it. They'd freely admit they were bad at that subject and then humiliate and/or kill you with another. Naruto was the worst tracker on the team. Him finding the bandit camp so quickly meant he was either lucky or they were advertising and shouting for attention. Considering the lack of them noticing, and the boy's infamous luck at poker back in Iwa they were betting on the former. (Oonuki and Deidara swore off playing with the kid after three nights of trying and failing to beat him. Said story spread through Iwa within a week and the two were laughing stocks for losing to a gambling ten year old.)

"Yeah, he probably just stumbled across them. To be honest I'm surprised we haven't heard an explosion yet. I mean, he can't really stay hidden either." Kurotsuchi said. Kurai again nodded at the open insults to his teammates skills without comment. He wasn't one for insulting or praising someone. He gave you the cold hard truth and that was that. The cold hard truth about Naruto's stealth and tracking skills were that they were barely above your average genin and were easily the worst on the team. But he made up for them with his speed and everything else.

"We should hurry. I wish to complete the mission and return home." Kurai monotoned getting the girls to let out a small right as they picked up their speed before finding the bandit camp all cheering and surrounding something in the center of them. Hikari and Kurotsuchi were speechless and staring at the bandits in shock as they seemed to blatantly cheer and jeer at whatever they were watching.

"What the hell is going on?" Kurotsuchi accidentally exclaimed. She then slapped her hand over her mouth but none of the enemies bothered turning around to see who spoke. Rather they must have assumed they were members that had just gotten back from something as they answered the question.

"Boss said he felt some chakra signature nearby and went to check it out when he returned fighting this blond kid from Iwa. He told us to stay back and the kid just seemed to get happy and they started ducking it out. I don't really know what's going on but this fight's damn entertaining. Plus if by some impossible miracle the kid beats boss then we'll just kill him ourselves." The bandit replied without turning around. Kurotsuchi was livid at the thought of Naruto disobeying her orders. She made a single hand sign before Henge'ing into a bland bandit and pushing her way through the group to see who Naruto was fighting. Kurai and Hikari quietly did the same and followed her to see.

"Jiton: Kyokusei Kichigai!" (Magnet Release: Polarity Madness) The Suna nin shouted as he threw his large shuriken at the blond again. Naruto ducked under one and used the gauntlet on his left wrist to deflect the other. He then charged the man but had to flip to the side to avoid the shuriken as they flew back to him and spun around him. "We've been goin' at this for about eight minutes now genin. I gotta admit, you're the first to last this long against me since I left Suna. How about I up the stakes again?" He taunted before grabbing one of the scrolls tied to his leg and unsealing its contents. Three more shuriken the same size as the others appeared and he quickly grabbed them and channeled chakra to them before tossing them at Naruto. The blonde began to rapidly dodge them before the two from earlier flew at him as well. The strange thing Naruto noticed was that the shuriken wouldn't simply fly and then stick in the ground but rather they would spin around and try to strike him from multiple angles.

"You're controlling these things with your chakra aren't you?" He asked as he dodged them again, the same smirk on his face that he had ever since the fight started.

"Correct. My Jiton: Kyokusei Kichigai allows me to control metal I've channeled my bloodline chakra into. And best of all," he started as he grabbed another scroll and unsealed another three giant shuriken. "Is that it doesn't take much chakra and I can control multiple targets at once!" He shouted as he added the newest three to his attack. Naruto was still dodging with ease but he lost his smirk now. Something the ninja noticed. "Oh, not having fun anymore little genin? Well that's too bad! You were stupid to think you could take me on! I sensed your chakra as soon as you got close to the camp and I plan on killing you before you can call for reinforcements!" This got Naruto to laugh as he continued dodging. "What's so funny?"

"I called them right before you approached me." Everyone's eyes widened at the boy's remarks as he grinned darkly. "They should be here any minute now and the only reason all of you aren't dead yet was because I didn't want to steal all the fun for myself. My mother always taught me to share you see." He joked before jumping straight up. The Suna nin gritted his teeth but waved his hands towards the boy sending all the shuriken at him at once.

"Futon: Senpuu Bakuha!" (Wind Release: Whirlwind Blast) Naruto shouted as he threw a hand forward and launched a small whirlwind at the shuriken, knocking them all off course. With a grin he quickly did more signs and a soon as he landed called out a second jutsu. "Futon: Tatsumaki Taihou!" (Wind Release: Tornado Cannon) Naruto slammed his hands together launching a large twister straight towards the Suna nin. The man dodged to the side and grit his teeth as he reasserted his control over the shuriken and made them start spinning in the air around himself.

"Not bad brat. Not many people back home have such good control over their element, and we're part of Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) for Kami's sake! It really makes me wonder just who in Iwa could've trained you."

"Well mostly it was my Kaa-chan, but Tsuchikage-oji-sama is the only other wind user in the village so he gave me tips with my element. Not that I really need to use it against small fry like you. After all, you're a sensor, can't you tell?" Naruto taunted as the man narrowed his eyes and made the ram sign to focus his chakra. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the boy, who grinned in return. "Yeah, you caught me not cause I suck but cause it's a pain in the ass to suppress all this."

"How the hell does a kid like you have so much chakra?" He shouted as he unsealed the rest of his shuriken, bringing the grand total up to fifteen. Naruto just shook his finger at the man the way an adult would do to a child.

"Now that would be telling. But I think it's time I ended this farce." Naruto replied before standing up straight and getting a serious look on his face. "Sensei, I know you're already in the crowd, can you just start killing now? I'm getting bored playing with this jonin wannabe."

"You're getting your ass kicked when we get home Naruto-kun." A voice replied, to which he shrugged before three of the bandits were surrounded by puffs of smoke to reveal they were his team under Henge. The bandits spun around in shock but before they could do anything in return were struck down by kunai from Kurotsuchi as Hikari ran through hand signs and Kurai held his right hand out. "Team, kill 'em all!" She shouted as Hikari finished her hand signs and slammed her hands on the ground.

"Doton: Doryuso!" (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears) She shouted as spears of stone shot up piercing many of the nearby men. Over by Kurai, a black energy flowed out of his hand before forming a scythe which he grabbed and began to cut through the bandits like paper with exceptional skill and speed. Naruto meanwhile had charged back at the Suna ninja to finish his fight. Kurotsuchi simply used kunai in her hands to strike down everyone she could reach.

"Shit! Die you fucking brat!" The man shouted as he sent his multiple shuriken towards Naruto. The boy however grinned as his gauntlets glowed for a second before a blade shot out from the space between the fox's 'eyes' on both gauntlets. The blades were two feet long and serrated on both sides as they were parallel to his hands along with a sharpened point to them. With his blades Naruto began to cut down the shuriken as they came, channeling wind chakra through his blades so that they would cut straight through the enemies metal stars. The shards fell to the ground useless as the ninja cut his connection to them after seeing them get sliced through. He managed to direct two away from the boy and back to his hands as he leapt back as Naruto continued charging him. "Fine, let's see how your team handles this!" He shouted before throwing his two left towards Hikari and Kurai respectively. Hikari saw it coming right away and was quick to flip behind a group of men so when the shuriken flew at her it instead embedded itself in one's back as he dropped the ground. Kurai though wasn't paying the slightest attention to Naruto's opponent but was focusing on the more direct threats and because of it, he never saw the shuriken flying at his head.

"KURAI MOVE!" Naruto shouted out. The boy spun around and saw what was coming and quickly jumped, but his reaction was too slow as the shuriken twisted in mid-air and struck him clean in the chest. The black haired youth fell to the ground with a blank look as the shuriken was embedded in his chest. Naruto spun and ran at the Suna ninja as Hikari grit her teeth and began to tear through the bandits around her in anger. Only Kurotsuchi focused on the fallen boy. And what she saw made he grit her teeth.

"Shit. Hikari! Naruto! Fallback now!" Both were confused as to why they had to fallback as the Academy had taught them to fight on even if a teammate were to fall. While they lost Kurai it didn't seem like a reason for a full on retreat. If anything they just needed to stop holding back some of their more dangerous techniques. At least that was what they thought until they heard the laughing. It started quiet but gained strength until everyone could clearly here it over the sounds of battle and froze. This wasn't a laugh of triumph or of some battlefield humor, that was obvious. The laugh was one of the deranged, the mad, the insane that take pleasure in things only they know. They all turned to the source and were shocked to see it was coming from Kurai, still lying on the ground with the shuriken stuck in his chest. From there personal experience with the teen during the few weeks of being a team, they could freely admit they were freaked out by the boy's laughter. Kurai had never cracked a smile or even given a sigh of annoyance, yet he just got a large sharp metal star slammed into his chest and suddenly he was laughing his ass off. It honestly scared them worse than any one of the bandits or even their missing nin commander could. "Hikari, Naruto! NOW!" Kurotsuchi yelled to get them moving. The two merely looked at her and saw her with a focused look on her face. She clearly knew what was going on so they would follow her without complaint like they were supposed to.

"Why are we running?" Naruto asked as he leapt into the surrounding trees and met up with his teammate and sensei on the outskirts, still watching the bandits and laughing Kurai.

"Because all hell is about to break loose now that Kurai is bleeding." Kurotsuchi answered. The two shared confused glances before asking why and she just ran her hand through her hair as she watched the event unfold. "The two of you never asked what happened to his last team did you?" They shook their heads no so she began to explain. "Alright, then listen and listen well. You're technically his third teammates. The first we're killed by an enemy during a mission, he was the only survivor. The last one though, Kurai got hit and started bleeding. Then this happened, and he killed his team himself."

"What the fuck are you laughing about?" A bandit shouted as he bravely walked up to the laughing teen on the ground. Kurai paid no attention to the man as he kept laughing with his eyes closed. Thinking he would shut up the creepy boy he raised a sword up ready to slash it down and cut off his head. Just as he was about to, the boy stood straight up and was gripping him by the throat, his eyes still closed and he was still laughing. "Let me go you freak!" He choked out as Kurai opened his eyes. They were still gray like before, only now they shined with an obvious madness that wasn't present before. With a slight gasp of pain Kurai used his free hand to pull the shuriken out of his chest with a sickening squelch of blood. He stared at it as he spun it a few times in his hand before turning back to the man he held.

"You know…" He started in a deceptively calm monotone compared to the maniacal laughter he was giving just a second ago. "My teammate was right about something. We've all been taught at one point to share." He said before grinning madly. He then spun the shuriken in his hand and laughed. "So why don't we share the pain!" He shouted as he rammed the shuriken straight into the mans' chest and dropped him to the ground. The others backed up in shock as the teen looked around and then held his right hand out. "Soul Reaver, come back to your master please." He asked calmly as the weapon lying a few feet away from him dissipated into a black mist before swirling around his outstretched hand and reforming. It was now that the bandits got a good look at the weapon he was using. The shaft was black as midnight and at least five feet long. At one end was a small purple gem that seemed to glow, with what they had no clue. On the opposite end in gold was a large circle with a triangle imposed on it. Coming from one side of the circle was a blood red blade that curved out for two feet from him. All in all, it was a dangerous looking and deadly weapon that seemed to fit the boy's personality change perfectly.

"How the hell are you not dead?" The Suna nin shouted out as he pulled a kunai out from a small pouch. The man was dealing with the boy better than the bandits were but was still scared and creeped out by the boy standing in the middle of them, blood freely pouring out of the wound he dealt to his chest. Kurai just started to laugh as he looked around from scared face to scared face before settling his eyes on the ninja. "Fucking answer me you freak!"

"Freak?" He asked, seemingly testing the word in his mouth as he kept up a grin. "I guess you could say that, but it's not my name so don't call me it. It's not my fault you can't grasp that I'm immortal." He replied, getting everyone to gasp in shock, including Naruto and Hikari from outside the group as they listened in. Kurotsuchi merely kept her eyes focused on the boy, ready for when she would have to react. She was briefed on Kurai before being placed as his sensei and knew what she was supposed to do if and when he got like this. She was ready to do it as well, though Naruto and Hikari had no clue. Their attention was drawn ad the boy continued to talk. "As I don't like being called a freak, I suppose that means I have to tell you my name then doesn't it? Well then you can call me Sin!"