*Third person POV*

The next day Ko woke up to a rumbling stomach. She rolled over to her good side and clenched her stomach wishing she could eat.

"Ugh, haven't eaten in days now." She muttered then heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"Lord Orochimaru wants to see you in his office." Kabuto said from the other side.

Ko got out of bed then hurried to Orochimaru's office. She hoped she would be assigned her mission already.

"Come in,"

She opened the door and walked into his office stopping just before his desk.

"I have a mission for you," he hissed.

"What about my test?"

"Tayuya was your test."

"Who am I with?" She questioned.

"It's a solo mission. It'll take a few years."

Ko was taken aback from what he said. She didn't expect him to send her on a mission this long with her being at such a young age.

"Years? I've never been away for more than a week."

"I know, but you're the only one who I trust for this mission."

She felt confident that he only trusted her to do this mission so it must be important.

"What's the mission?"

As she looked up at his face, she saw the hunger for power in his eyes. His lips curled into a sadistic smile.

"You are to go to Konoha for a few years studying their shinobi. You will become a genin there and become friends with Sasuke Uchiha. I will see you in the chuunin exams but not to retrieve you until I get Sasuke. Kabuto is a member of Konoha and will be around if you need anything and that's how you will stay in contact with me."

"So this is all to recruit Sasuke Uchiha? Itachi's little brother?" Ko remembered seeing the Uchiha in the bingo book. He murdered his entire clan leaving a lone survivor, his brother.

"Yes, once I get him, I will plant his eyes into yours giving you the Sharingan."

"So, this is for me?" She questioned with a sinister smile. She read about the Sharingan knowing how powerful it was. With that ocular prowess, she'd be even more useful to Father.

"Of course my dear, all of this is for you."

If this happened a year ago, Ko would've been ecstatic at his words.

"What if I am found out?"

"You won't be, you look like your mother and just make sure not to show off. Even though you excel in ninjutsu, you lack genjutsu and taijutsu so avoid using elemental jutsu. Genin graduate only knowing the basics, clone and transformation jutsu. I made you starve yourself, not bathe, or change clothes to pull off the façade that you were on your own for years. You'll be able to gain the sympathy from the Hokage and will be granted citizenship in the village."

"When do I leave?"

"Soon, don't bring anything with you and on your way there you will be battling the sound 4. Understood?"

"Yes,"

"Your main goal is to make Sasuke join our side."

Ko nodded then headed out of the office back into her room. She was excited but also nervous for the mission.

"This is my first solo mission and a pretty long one. It should be easy but there's always the risk of getting caught. Father said as long as I don't use my ninjutsu I should be fine. There is also the chance of them being suspicious of my chakra level. My chakra level is higher than an academy students. All I have to do is stick with Sasuke and ignore everyone else. Don't draw attention to myself at all." Ko thought.

"Ko," Kabuto said from the other side of the door.

"Come in,"

He opened the door holding a necklace made of a black leather holding a green gem in the middle.

"What is that?"

"It's a necklace that should limit your chakra. I will lower it to match a child of your age's chakra amount. Every once in a while I'll come and adjust it for you until you graduate from the academy. Once you graduate, I'll teach you how to adjust it yourself just in case of emergencies during a mission." He explained.

He stepped forward and stood behind her putting the necklace around her neck. It was uncomfortable; it was pretty tight having hardly any slack. Once it was on, Ko held the gem in between her fingers playing with it then ran to the mirror to look at it.

"Are you sure this is a necklace? It's almost choking me." Ko complained tugging at it.

"Call it whatever you want but it stays on."

"What if it comes off?"

"It can't, only Lord Orochimaru can take it off. To take it off you need to form a special seal."

She watched as Kabuto wove seals followed by touching the gem. Seconds later, Ko started to feel very lightheaded. The room started spinning and she started to feel very weak and tired. A black figure appeared in the doorway but it was hard for her to focus.

"I see the necklace is taking effect on you." She heard her Father's voice speak. "Three Leaf shinobi were sent out on a mission a few days ago and on their way back, they will be passing the outskirts of the rice country. You will be running there and will be defeated by the sound four. The shinobi will find your body and bring you back to the Leaf. Once the Hokage comes to talk to you, you will tell him that you were born in the village hidden in the mist and you were homeless. You left the village to go and travel and stumbled upon a campsite. You tried to steal some food but bandits saw you and tried to kill you. Now, get ready to leave."

Ko nodded and weakly headed towards the entrance of the hideout. She saw the sound four waiting for her.

"We're going to give you a head start." Kidomaru said as he flexed his many arms.

Ko nodded and started to run towards the edge of the rice country towards the Land of Fire. After a few minutes she sensed the four right behind her. She pulled out a kunai with her good hand and deflected one of theirs. Suddenly, Sakon appeared in front of her punching her in the stomach. She fell forward clutching her stomach but jumped up starting to throw kunai and shuriken down at the four below her. They easily dodged her attack and as she fell to the ground Tayuya jumped up to her level.

Tayuya punched her face sending her towards Jirobo. She didn't have time to react when she reached the huge teen. He lifted his arm then slammed her to the ground creating a crater. Ko weakly got up on her hands and knees and started coughing. Her body ached in pain as she rose to her feet. She then felt something stick to her back she then was being dragged out of the crater. Once out of the crater she saw Kidomaru had a web attached to her. Ko tried to get the web off of her back with a kunai but it was too thick.

Kidomaru pulled out a kunai and once Ko was close enough, he stabbed her in the stomach. Ko let out a small scream when the kunai was pulled out. Her hand covered the wound but the blood kept pouring out. Before she could react, the four started to punch and kick her; she was unable to fight back. After a few agonizing minutes, they stopped.

"I think this is good enough. This is the most damage bandits can do." Kidomaru said standing above her.

"Can you run the rest of the way to the boarder?" Tayuya questioned Ko.

Ko nodded weakly as she slowly started to get to her feet.

"Better hurry, they'll be passing here in about ten minutes." Kidomaru said.

The four then disappeared leaving the weak Ko behind. She painstakingly got up from the ground trying to ignore the pain shooting throughout her body. Taking a couple deep breaths, she started to run towards the boarder. She fell a couple of times but had to keep going. Her body begged her to stop but she couldn't. She had to make her father proud by completing this mission successfully. Ko kept running and running until finally she collapsed from exhaustion. She tried getting back up but her body wouldn't move. Her eyes stated to get heavy, she tried to fight it but her body wasn't complying. Her brain was shutting down her body trying to make her sleep. Finally, the pain was dulling down; she passed out.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto called.

"Yes?"

"The mission was a success; they found her body."

Orochimaru smirked. "Excellent, phase one is complete."

Edited March 14, 2020