Thank you, Cherry-the-awesome (deviantART) for creating this adorable fanart.

... The Forest of Death now, huh?

Kurama gave a low chuckle. The name exceeds what it truly is, I think. It is still only a forest and those that die in here are clearly those of the lowest caliber. They deserved death.

You're so vicious, I thought absently, nervously scanning the area. The first test had gone by without a hitch, and we now stood before the forest of death. Anko had already given her little speech and I had already singled out Orochimaru.

I felt a shiver crawl up my spine when I spotted him again on the other side of the clearing. We had already turned our waivers in and received our scroll—a Heaven Scroll. Now, though, we waited before our chosen gate.

I was nervous. Truly and utterly nervous. I could feel my heart already pounding and my stomach churning. So much depended on this one exam, so much rode on this one part. If I could change... that one key thing... I could change the entirety of Naruto itself. I knew how to do it. I knew what I needed to do, at least... it was just nerve-wracking to actually think about doing it.

Some part of me wanted to warn Grandfather about the invasion—about Orochimaru. But I couldn't. I just couldn't. It was too risky. I had already gone over this in my head, why I couldn't tell everything to Grandfather. Why I couldn't tell him about the invasion fell under the same reasoning. It was too risky.

I wanted to save him, though. Desperately. He was my grandfather and I loved him dearly, so very much. I didn't want him to die. I wasn't even quite sure if I could bear it if he did die when I had a say in it. But his death was another problem I would address at a later date. For the moment, I needed to focus on this single problem.

The examiners sent us off to our gate and so we stood before it, no other team in sight.

I swallowed nervously, interrupting Sasuke and Naruto's usual banter.

"... Guys?" I asked tentatively, hesitantly.

"Something up, Miwa?" Naruto asked, immediately noticing and recognizing my distress. Sasuke gave me a curious look, frowning ever so slightly.

"I... Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," Naruto chirped. Sasuke hesitated, I could see that he at first wanted to immediately say yes as well, but honesty was crucial in our teamwork. If he had said yes, we both would have known he was lying.

"Enough," Sasuke finally managed.

"Do you trust me enough to take my word for something?" I persisted, staring up at them with wide eyes. I needed them to do this. It would be so much easier to just go against their wishes, but I didn't want that. I liked what we had going. I liked where we were going.

There was a tiny part of me scared witless that I would break what little bond we had. Because Naruto meant so much to me, and Sasuke... Sasuke was getting closer. Sasuke was almost family to me. Almost. Not quite. But close enough.

"Depends," Sasuke allowed.

"Can you trust me... to let me to do what's best for us... no questions asked?"

"Depends," Sasuke repeated while Naruto's brow furrowed.

"What if I told you I knew something was going to happen here?" I pried. "Something that only I could prevent... something that would need your trust for me to do?"

"What's going to happen?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Hopefully nothing, if you trust me," I answered. "Please?"

"I trust you," Naruto said firmly. "I trust you completely, Miwa. Do whatever you need to do."

Gratitude welled up inside of me and I beamed brightly at my brother. I turned to Sasuke, who appeared to be having an inner conflict with himself. A full minute passed by before he sighed, slowly.

"I trust you enough to do what is best. I know you would never lie to us and I know you would do everything you can to protect your brother," Sasuke finally said.

For some odd reason, I felt a small stinging sensation in the corner of my eyes. But it was gone the moment I blinked, so I dismissed it.

I swallowed roughly, my heart filled with emotion and overwhelmed with a such a feeling of humility, I had to consciously work through it. I knew Sasuke had trust issues, just as bad as me. I knew he had been through Hell and back, and I knew how hard it must have been for him to admit that. The fact that he did and that he trusted me enough was... humbling.

I felt as if... as if my circle was growing bigger. That it wasn't just Grandfather, Naruto, Kurama and Kakashi anymore... that Sasuke was now included. In fact... I think then and there... at that moment, I would say that Sasuke was officially became a precious person. To me, at least.

"Thank you," I whispered, closing my eyes and letting out a small breath. "Okay. I made special sealing scrolls for just this. One of you hold onto the Heaven Scroll and both of you turn around."

Without another word, they both did. I wrapped my arms around Naruto, leaning forward so I could whisper into his ear without Sasuke hearing, "Thank you, Aniki. Love you."

I then knocked him out in one swift movement, catching his slumped body carefully and lowering him to the ground.

Then I turned to Sasuke, who did not even turn around. I knew though, that he understood and knew what I had done. I hesitated for a moment.

"Thank you... Nii-chan."

His body tensed slightly and moved to turn around, but I had already darted forward, quickly knocking him unconscious. Sasuke's body slumped and I caught him, lowering him to the grassy floor.

I took a step back away from the two, pulling out two palm-sized scrolls.

These scrolls took me almost a month to perfect.

They wouldn't have taken so long if you hadn't been so damn paranoid.

Can you blame me?

Feh.

I unrolled the scrolls before grabbing Naruto and laying him atop one of them. I then repeated the process for Sasuke. I raised my hands to form the dragon seal and, with a puff of smoke, both Naruto and Sasuke were gone and the scrolls rolled up.

Regular sealing scrolls were for holding inanimate objects. And then there were sealing scrolls that could hold living human beings. These were mostly used in the medical field; when the medic-nin transported a wounded shinobi or kunoichi in the scroll, the ninja would be frozen in the little pocket dimension. Their condition would stay the same as when they had entered the scroll. The reason why they were not used so often was because of their sheer complexity.

While any novice fuinjutsu master could theoretically draw these seals... it was just too brain-numbing to create them. Just glancing at the overall work instigated a migraine. Trying to follow the precise loops and curves was enough to make anyone dizzy. Thankfully, I had plenty of practice numbing my brain, due to my childhood here and my time spent in the library. Not to mention I had a real incentive to learn them.

It did help that Kurama was there to keep me focused.

Once finished, I rolled up both of the scrolls and tucked them in.

Not a moment sooner did the door to the forest swing open and the beginning buzzard sounded.

I entered the forest tentatively, eyeing the surroundings with a quick glance. I leapt up into the trees and glanced around, smelling the forest air.

Immediately my nose crinkled and I felt a keen sense of mild disappointment wash over me. The forest smells were too intricate for me to pick up anyone else's scent. Even those upwind from me. I wasn't skilled enough in tracking for this...

But I knew who was.

I bit down on my thumb and slammed my hand on a tree branch.

The smoke cleared up, and Pakkun gave me a grin.

"Hello, adorable," I said with a smile.

Pakkun laughed. "Hello, Miwa. This the exams?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Where's Naruto and Sasuke?"

"... Around. Don't worry about them. I need to find a low-level group, nearest to me. I can't really differentiate the scents in the forest that well."

"Mn," Pakkun assented. "I remember this place..." Pakkun sniffed the air. "They must have mixed in some new plants. Smells different. I can see why you would have trouble catching a scent. Alright. I have a trio heading North. If we keep a steady pace behind them, we can intercept them in an hour."

"Thank you! I won't need you anymore afterwards so you can dismiss yourself when we're done."

"Understood," Pakkun said, turning north and heading away.

I smiled, pleased, and followed after him.

('･ω･')

Pakkun had dismissed himself after I gave him a slip of jerky (I always kept some on me when I learned that The Pack adored the stuff). The group before me held chakra levels so pathetically low, they made the Demon Brothers actually look threatening (which was really saying a lot). Not to mention that the way they held themselves reeked of arrogance. I didn't recognize them, so I knew they had originally failed this part of the exam.

It was a trio of boys and they were already setting up camp near a small stream. Even though the sun was still bright, one of them had complained about being hungry and so they had bunkered down to eat lunch.

... Without setting up any traps.

Okay, without setting up any above academy-level traps.

On a particularly strong breeze, I could catch a faint chirping noise.

Along the way, I had nabbed as many small animals that I could, mostly squirrels and small birds. I had roughly thirty of them trapped and tied up in the distance.

... Can we just kill them?

I am so tempted to. Either they aren't taking this seriously enough—which kind of pisses me off—or they just seriously suck. And if that was the case, then why the Hell did their teacher put them in this exam? Does he or she hate them?

... So can we kill them?

No. I'm just going to put them to sleep.

I raised my hands up and performed the seals of a simple genjutsu—the very same one that Kabuto had cast during the tournament. It was in one of the scrolls Sasuke had leant me. The trio only glanced up, blinking rapidly as golden feathers descended on them. In a matter of seconds, they were asleep.

I leapt down to the ground, avoiding their traps. I rummaged through their items before I found their scroll.

An Earth Scroll.

Did... Did I actually just get lucky?

It was bound to happen eventually. With all the shit we had to put up with, we deserve some good luck.

... Thank you, Karma?

Kurama snorted. I tucked the scroll away and leapt off into the branches. It didn't take long before I reached the animals. I then took off my vest before taking off my shirt as well. I tucked the shirt in between my knees and put on my vest again, making sure to zip it up all the way. I then went on to rip my shirt into tiny scraps of cloth.

This idea only came to me after I had entered the forest. I was musing through the possible domino affects this change could bring when I recalled how Jūgo had managed to help Team Hebi evade Konoha so thoroughly. By attaching Sasuke's scents to various birds and sending them flying off.

I wasn't sure how Orochimaru tracked Sasuke. My first guess—and kind of only guess—was scent. I originally thought I had eliminated that issue by simply not having Sasuke available to give off a scent. But then I realized that he might try to find me to find him. So I was doing exactly as Jūgo had done and sending my scent off in different directions.

When I had tied a slip of cloth to all the animals and released them, I was then left with a dilemma.

To get to the tower... without getting caught by Orochimaru.

I had of course, another option. From the scent on the wind I could smell blood, so I knew he was closer.

I also knew Orochimaru wouldn't dare approach him. For good reason, too.

So I had two options.

I could chance Orochimaru, not risk him, and head straight for the tower.

Or I could bypass Orochimaru for the rest of this test, go straight to him and travel with him to the tower.

This is an incredibly tough choice.

I know... Blood-thirsty, vicious, unstable jinchūriki... or Orochimaru.

Sadistic, insane little bijū... or Orochimaru...

Deranged psychopath with the ability to cause some serious harm... or Orochimaru.

Time-bomb... or Orochimaru...

Time-bomb... or Orochimaru...

Time-bomb...

Orochimaru...

Well, I think our choice is clear.

I agree.

Gaara it was.

('･ω･')

"Hi there, Jinchūriki-nii-chan!"

I landed next to Gaara, ignoring the startled look Kankurō gave me. Gaara looked up at me, surprisingly calm and passive. He must have already had his first few kills in then. Gaara gave me a single, slow nod.

"Where are your teammates?" Temari asked incredulously.

"... Around. Mind if I walk back with you guys to the tower? You do have both of your scrolls, right?"

"We do," Kankurō said slowly, eyeing me carefully. "Why do you want to walk back with us?"

"To spend more time with Nii-chan, of course. Nii-chan, you don't mind, do you?"

Gaara glanced at me. "I will kill you in the tournament. I do not care what you do before then, so long as you do not die."

I smiled brightly at him while I inwardly cringed. Kurama was laughing loudly, howling about how the 'lowly one-tailed dared to think he could take on the mighty nine-tailed'.

"Wonderful," I chirped.

('･ω･')

After we reached the tower safely, I released Sasuke and Naruto from their scrolls (after I had left Gaara's team) and we summoned Iruka, who said we had passed the forest with flying colors. After Iruka's lecture, the three of us were left standing alone.

"So we just hang out here for four days?" Naruto concluded.

"Essentially," Sasuke said dryly. He then spared me a glance. "What were you so concerned about in the forest?"

I bit my lip, gnawing at the bottom of it. Naruto looked up and over at me, giving me a curious look.

I don't want to lie to them.

You're going to have to.

... They trust me. I don't want to betray that trust.

You're letting your feelings get in the way, brat.

... That doesn't necessarily equate to it being a bad thing.

"Someone was after you," I said, staring at Sasuke. "Someone that, if they had caught your scent... if they had found you... would have been bad news."

"Who?"

"Orochimaru."

"How do you know that, Miwa?" Naruto asked, his brow furrowed.

"I..."

Idiot. Now do you see what you've done? I smelled him. That snake. I smelled him and pointed him out to you, remember?

Yes, but I don't see how—Oh.

"Kurama smelt him," I said, shyly, looking away. "He pointed him out to me."

"Kurama... the Kyūbi?" Sasuke's eyes widened fractionally. "You're on speaking terms with it?"

"Him," Naruto and I corrected.

"Please don't tell anyone," I said quickly. "You know... you know how the village is about us. About him especially. I just... I remember reading, a long time ago how Orochimaru wanted the Sharingan, and he would do anything to get it. Wh-When Kurama told me he was here... well, you two must have noticed that I was sort of having a panic attack. I kn-knew though, that I could get us through. I'm the fastest one between the three of us, and I'm the only one who can track. O-Orochimaru could probably track us by scent, so I just thought to eliminate that scent..."

I didn't lie. I read about Orochimaru through the manga, and I most certainly was having a mini-panic attack at the start of the exams.

"I see," Sasuke said quietly, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "That makes sense. I would... I would probably do the same thing, if I were in your shoes, but that doesn't mean I like it. I can understand if you were panicking and not thinking straight, but next time; tell us."

"Okay," I agreed.

Naruto nodded his head, patting the top of my head gently. "Thanks for looking out for us, Imouto. But Te—Sasuke—and I can handle ourselves as well, okay? You don't need to do everything on your own."

"Thank you, Aniki and Nii-chan," I said quietly.

Sasuke stiffened again ever so slightly at that word, but he did not comment. Naruto just gave me a bright smile, dimples showing.

"So please... don't tell anyone about Kurama?" I asked again.

"I won't! I promise!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke gave a slow nod after Naruto's words. "It's not my secret to share. What should we do now about Orochimaru?"

"We have to tell Jiji!"

"Idiot," Sasuke snapped before I could deny Naruto. "And how do we explain to him about our knowledge of Orochimaru? We didn't come in contact with anyone and Miwako wouldn't normally be able to identify him. We can't tell anyone about this, without explaining the Kyū—Kurama—and that would be a disaster."

"So we just let him get away with it?!"

"No," Sasuke snorted. "We need evidence. Miwako, if you see him again, will you be able to identify him?"

"Yes," I answered. "And if I can't, Kurama will."

"Then next time we see him—and I have a feeling we will be seeing him again—it shouldn't be hard to point him out to a Jōnin that can recognize him," Sasuke reasoned.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Easy enough. Problem solved!"

I smiled at that.

If only they knew... just how many more problems they'll be facing. We'll be facing.

Naïve little brats.