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"Yeah, I know he needs his Sharingan, but how exactly can he still receive it without Haku or Zabuza dying?" I questioned.

"He just needs to experience a near-death," Kurama said, his tails flicking all around in his cage.

"So...?"

"Things should go relatively... what's the word you used? Canon?... things should go relatively canon for the most part. It would be crucial in this upcoming mission; you must play Sakura's part well enough, so you do not ruin our plan. They need to develop their teamwork and they need their chance to grow. You've already experienced killer intent at its highest point, and you have already had your first kill. You work well enough with them. You do not need to grow anymore at the moment," Kurama purred.

"I don't... There's always room for improvement," I argued.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you're perfect. Far from it. You're still pathetic and weak. You're genjutsu and ninjutsu is laughable at best and you still flinch when using taijutsu. I suppose I can't be picky about your fuinjutsu skills, but the communication seal is one of the most basic seals and yet, that was almost too complicated for you. You're a Genin. A freshGenin. You do not need to improve in the way that they do," Kurama said.

I fell silent at that, chewing over his answer.

"So stay canon as much as you can go. We have only two goals in this mission: Allow Naruto and the Uchiha brat to grow as much as they had originally in canon, and prevent two unnecessary deaths," Kurama said. "Therefore, we only need to change very little. Or really, I should say, we only need to actively change very little."

"What do you mean?" I demanded, still not understanding what Kurama was getting at.

Kurama laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. It was a laughter filled with malicious amusement. I shuddered at it.

Then he looked down, his teeth bared before me, sharp and deadly. His teeth stretched into a Cheshire's grin. "You need to do something you've already done before, little brat."

"What... What have I done before?"

My eyes opened, and my body stiffened.

It had been a week since we arrived here.

True to his word, Kakashi had set us out to work on a new jutsu. Sasuke and I worked on the same one though, while Naruto worked on his own jutsu. None of us had completed our jutsu, but we were close. Admittedly, Sasuke was the closest compared to Naruto and I, with Naruto right behind him, but still. We were close and that impressed Kakashi.

Kurama's plan was so laughably simple.

Any trained shinobi would be able to do it without a hitch.

I, not so much.

Instead of allowing Naruto to oversleep, I made sure it was only I who overslept instead. Naruto and Sasuke would already be at the bridge, possibly already engaged with Zabuza. Doubtful, as they had only left five minutes ago, but the possibility was still there.

I slowly got up out of my bed, my hands moving to form the ram sign.

Kurama's reasoning behind all of this was that Naruto and Sasuke would work well enough together to defeat Haku. Sakura wasn't really needed in the battle at all. She was... essentially useless, really. At least in that particular battle. I knew Sakura would later prove herself as a fierce kunoichi, but in this key battle, she was not needed. Ergo, I was not needed.

The odds of things going exactly as canon for the battle were low. But the odds of gaining the desired affects that came from canon were still relatively high.

Naruto and Sasuke would work together to defeat Haku, that much was undoubtedly true. Sasuke would protect Naruto with every fiber of his being and in the process, activate his Sharingan. The first part was true, but the latter was a little less than certain. But that probability was still high enough for us to accept it. Kakashi would be able to go toe-to-toe with Zabuza. I didn't doubt that in the slightest.

All that was left was me.

I had just one role. Okay two, as my shadow clones—which I hated using by the way; I felt like I was ripping my brother off somehow and vowed to never use them unless absolutely necessary—would stay behind and hopefully motivate Inari into action.

My first role was the key role and the only role I had to make sure of Zabuza's and Haku's survival.

But what I had to do for that role was...

Unsavory.

I left my clones at the house, stationed and ordered to guard while I snuck out the window.

I dropped to the ground, sniffing the air heavily before heading into town.

('･ω･')

I blended in with the shadows as Naruto had taught me to do many times before. I was henged into an ordinary person. Nondescript. I sniffed heavily, following my nose into Gato's hideout. It was so easy to find him, to track him down, as I had managed to procure his scent days ago on a trip to the market. And there he was, strolling by. Be it luck or fate, I was close enough to catch his scent.

A scent I hadn't allowed to leave my memory during our stay here.

I was silent and unnoticeable. I crept past the civilian thugs and headed into Gato's room through the window.

The man was chuckling quietly to himself, flipping through what appeared at first glance a check book. He had two guards—civilians, once again by their chakra levels—flanked on both his sides.

I hung on to the ceiling, mildly amused at how they hadn't even noticed me.

I placed one of my few genjutsu over them.

Small and minor. Any shinobi could easily detect it and pull out himself out. But civilians?

It blocked their sight and hearing from the real world, creating instead an illusion of what they would expect. It wouldn't last long, ten minutes perhaps, but it would be enough. I shifted my henge again, this time on a whim.

I henged into Tobi, his Akatsuki cloak and all.

Kurama snorted at this. That man's tool? Why would you pick him?

Because I'm bored, I admitted. And I wanted to change into someone... anyone other than myself to do this.

Kurama was silent. You think by playing another role, another person, you can better do your part?

Yes.

Humans are such frail things.

I closed my eyes, sighing through my nose as I dropped down onto the floor.

Gato jerked, his eyes wide as he whirled around. "Who are you?"

I tilted my head. "I'm Tobi! Tobi's a good boy. Ah, ah, but Tobi has something that he needs little wormy man to do."

"Guards!" Gato shrieked. "Guards! Attack him."

"Ah-ah-ah!" I scolded. "You really think your guards can hear you? Tobi put them in a genjutsu! Isn't Tobi such a smart boy?"

With that, I lazily pulled out a kunai, twirling it around my finger.

"What do you want?" Gato asked, his beady eyes locked onto the kunai as he paled considerably.

"Two things," I said. "Well, three things. But we'll get to the third thing in a bit. First, Tobi wants you to write a blank check to the Water Daimyo!"

Gato gulped. "But... But..."

I threw the kunai and it brushed past his cheek, leaving a thin red line where it touched. Gato whimpered before he started to turn away towards his desk, filling out the blank check. I stood over his shoulder, making sure he wrote it out properly.

"Good! Tobi's so proud," I gushed. "Now Tobi wants you to write a letter to the Water Daimyo."

The letter would be a recommendation to the lord of the land; that Zabuza and Haku should stay in Wave and start-up a shinobi academy using Gato's money. I wasn't sure about this one, but after some time mulling it over, I kind of liked the idea.

I wasn't sure of the consequences of having shinobi in Wave would do, but I doubt it would be harmful to Konoha any time soon. Especially considering how Konoha was seriously assisting Wave. Not to mention it would give Zabuza and Haku a stable environment where they could hopefully live a better life.

I wasn't exactly sure if they would even accept the position. But I wanted to give them the chance at least.

I nodded when Gato finished. "Wonderful! Now Tobi wants you to seal up both the check and the letter in a scroll and properly address them to the Water Daimyo. Here, Tobi brought his ownscroll. Isn't Tobi so helpful?"

Gato only whimpered again as I handed him the scroll.

When that was over, I tucked the scroll away, cocking my head as I eyed him. "Tobi thanks you so very much for your help!"

Gato nodded, his bottom lip trembling.

"Make it fast then, brat."

"But I... I don't... I'm not... It's not me... I don't..."

"I asked you before: you or him. Now I'll ask you: him or them."

I pulled out of the memory as a kunai appeared in my hands again, but this time shooting it out towards Gato, the blunt end facing him. I jammed it in his throat in one swift motion, collapsing his jugular. Gato's eyes widened and I felt my stomach heave.

Gato fell, strange sounds emitting from his mouth. I didn't touch him until he stopped moving. I then picked up his body with my gloved hands and shifted him around.

I turned to his guards, my hands moving into more signs as I adjusted the genjutsu.

They would only ever see Gato getting up before tripping over his own feet and landing awkwardly on the desk. At just the right angle. It would be an accident to them. An unlucky accident.

I left right after I released the genjutsu, ignoring the guards as they rushed to Gato's side, content the plan had worked so far.

I henged into another guard that I had seen earlier, rushed to a different one and said, "Gato's dead! Someone better rush to the bridge and tell Zabuza or who knows what'll happen!"

They nodded, not even questioning how or why Gato was dead, already off and running.

I gave them a moment's head start before I sprinted in the opposite direction, found a small little corner in the forest and pooled out last night's dinner.

('･ω･')

"It's not who I am!" I argued, appalled and horrified at what Kurama had asked me to do. "To kill... that's not... I don't want to do that!"

"Are you, or are you not a shinobi?" Kurama drawled. "Did you, or did you not accept that you would be doing this eventually in your career?"

My hands clenched into fists and I bit my bottom lip. He was right. Of course he was right, but that didn't mean I wanted to. It didn't mean I liked it. I hated it. I didn't want to. I didn't care how awful he was or that he died anyway. I. Did. Not. Want. To.

"You will need to kill him anyway or else he'd stop the check and probably write back to the Daimyo saying someone pressured him into writing that recommendation. Besides, how else can you safely stop Zabuza and Haku from attacking? If he's dead, they get no money. No money, no reason to attack."

I could only shake my head. "I just... I don't want to do it again."

"You're letting your morals rule you, brat," Kurama sneered. "If you really want to change things for the sake of your brother, you'll have to be willing to sacrifice that. Unless, of course, you'd choose your own morals over your dear brother's happiness? I thought you loved him."

"I do!" I snapped. "I love him very much! He's the only good thing in this damned life!"

"I'm wounded," Kurama taunted.

I snarled, my upper lip curling up. "Don't pull that. You know what I meant..."

"I know," Kurama purred. "But really... you'll have to kill before. Even Sakura seemed very ready to accept that by the time she took out Sasori. All of them seemed to accept that."

"They weren't conditioned like me!"

"I know," Kurama repeated, a condescending edge in his tone. "You poor thing. Now are you done having your little argument?"

I fell silent.

Kurama gave an irritated sigh.

"Make it fast then, brat."

"But I... I don't... I'm not... It's not me... I don't..."

"I asked you before: you or him. Now I'll ask you: him or them."

('･ω･')

When I arrived at the bridge, the guard came right after.

The fight came to a halt, with Zabuza and Haku leaving after the latter deftly removed the senbon from Sasuke— while apologizing once again. Zabuza was weakened (again) from his battle with Kakashi and would be staying in Wave for at least over a week. Which was left a plenty amount of time for my scroll to arrive to the Daimyo and the Daimyo to respond.

Sasuke and Naruto were in bright moods; Sasuke because he had his Sharingan, and Naruto because the mission was a complete success and no one died.

I was pleased for them, but it did not put much to ease my guilty mind. I knew I wouldn't be sleeping for a while. When Naruto inquired, I only replied that I was feeling a little guilty that I hadn't been able to help them in the fight. Which was partially true as I did feel a little bad about that.

The rest of our time passed by in Wave uneventfully and soon enough we were gone.

Onwards, back to Konoha.

And Kurama cackled gleefully at this.

Oh, this will be fun! The next part is... the exams right? I can't wait!

You're evil, I told him.

I'm bored and this is the only thing I have to entertain myself with. Shut up.

More evil than Madara.

That's low.

I know.

('･ω･')

A solid week back into Konoha and we settled into a comfortable routine. Nothing of real note happened since the Wave mission, and the exams wouldn't begin for a while longer. Kurama and I debated on several areas of the Exam, with neither of us quite happy with our plans—too many risks. The Chūnin Exam was such a crucial thing.

While Sasuke, Naruto and I headed back to our training grounds after our latest mission (Kakashi informed us he would meet us there) we took a route we hadn't gone down that much. We didn't normally take the route, because Naruto and I tended to avoid one of the shops—more importantly one of the shop-owners. I think you can safely guess why.

But, today we thought it would be different, so we passed the shop with bated breaths... only for the owner to appear, scowling.

I shifted closer to Naruto, brushing against him and keeping my gaze focused forward. Naruto straightened minutely while Sasuke noticed the movements with narrowed eyes.

"Abominations," hissed the shop keeper. "The Yondaime should have just killed you. As should have the Sandaime."

I closed my eyes, breathing through my nose and continued on my way. After we were out of sight and earshot of the shop keeper, Sasuke finally spoke.

"Okay. I give up. Why does the village hate you two?" Sasuke finally asked, staring at us.

"What are you talking?" Naruto exclaimed loudly, plastering on his mask. "Don't be ridiculous! Oh hey, I'll race you to the training grounds!"

I watched after my brother as he surged forward, starting his own race and never bothering to look back.

Bastard left me alone to deal with questions.

... I loved him anyway.

"Miwako," Sasuke said flatly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," I said, picking up the pace.

Sasuke matched my pace, his eyes narrowed. "Miwako. Tell me."

"I can't," I said.

"Can't... or won't?"

I flinched as if struck, but Sasuke continued on, "I thought you trusted me, Miwako. Was I wrong?"

Trust... Trust... Trust.

I knew I had trust issues. I knew that I was mistrustful and cynical and very disinclined to really open up to others. I knew that at first, I had resented Sasuke for what he would (maybe?) grow up into. I knew that I sure as hell didn't trust him in the beginning and made it known.

I also knew and acknowledged the reasons behind my trust issues. They were sound. They were understandable. They were excusable, but that didn't mean they were right. I knew trust was a must with teamwork, but it couldn't exactly be something forced. It had to come naturally. Something of which I had great difficulty with.

I think he and Kakashi knew that. I doubt Naruto did as he would have surely brought it up to me if he did, but I think he and Kakashi knew about my reluctance. As well as my real lack in motivation to try and change that. I had been given that opportunity with Ino and Sakura and what had I done? Declined. Denied. Rejected. Whatever.

Trust... was a sore spot for me.

I wanted to trust them. I wanted that faithful and loyal bond I had seen in others. I was envious of that bond, but I was so damn wary of it, too. I had thought and believed that the Rookie Nine were the good guys and unconsciously trusted them. Look what happened. I knew it wasn't really their fault. They didn't know my expectations and it was unfair of me to expect the Rookie Nine to meet them, but it still hurt. People I admired and envied and was so crazily anxious to meet... only to have them turn around and betray me?

It really hurt.

And I didn't like that. I didn't like it one bit, so I was wary. Especially when it came concerned with the Rookie Nine. Especially when it came concerned with Sasuke.

But he was a teammate and he was nice and good and helpful that I was kind-of-sorta-maybe accepting him. That maybe, just maybe I was kind-of-sorta-maybe even starting to really think of him as a comrade. I wouldn't call him a precious person, but... he was getting there. Slowly, but surely wiggling his way in (though I doubt he intended for that to happen).

He knew that. That I was trying to trust him and that some part of me was growing to like him a bit more. He knew that and he seemed like he was acknowledging it.

So by poking at my trust issues... it kind of pissed me off.

Kind of.

Okay. Well, it really pissed me off.

Because it was beyond hypocritical. He had the same trust issues that I had. His reasoning was a bit different (betrayed by his brother and whatnot), but the issue was still there. He was wary and mistrustful of Naruto and I. He was working on it. I could see that and I was proud of him for doing it. I could almost see him think of us as comrades as well. Not quite though. Close. But not quite.

So, yes, I was pissed off that he was preaching about trust when he had no right.

The funny thing about arguments and when you're caught up in them, you don't really say what you find truthful (Okay, there's probably a grain of truth inside of it—it needs some base), you find what hurts because we're all a little sadistic in arguments.

"Well if you're so knowledgeable about trusting teammates why didn't you tell Naruto and me about your family?" I hissed.

Kurama laughed and I knew that I had said the wrong thing. I instantly regretted it, wincing at the shocked expression on Sasuke's face before his eyes darkened.

"At least I was of use on the Wave mission," Sasuke snarled. "What did you do? Sleep? What help you are?"

I stilled, shock dominating my emotions as Sasuke stormed off.

Annoying brat, Kurama yawned. We should just kill him. Save everyone else the heartache and trouble.

My mind was momentarily frozen from Sasuke's words before it practically blanked out from Kurama's.

And then it was back, full throttle.

No way! No way in hell you stupid old fox! Never-ever! Ever! We are not killing Sasuke, I don't care how pragmatic it would be. I don't care how pleased it would make you. I don't. Give. A. Shit. We are not going to kill him. Not. Fucking. Happening.

I could practically feel the shock radiating from Kurama.

Seconds passed before Kurama spoke again. But his voice was a cross between mocking and tentative. As if he was only testing the waters. ... Why not? All he does is cause needless drama and antagoniziation.

You're wrong, I thought vehemently. I died before the manga finished. While Sasuke was a bit of a jerk—okay, a major jerk at the end—the manga was far from finished. Damn it, I died right after we finished the Madara / Hashirama back story. There's no telling how Sasuke would turn out in the end. And besides... this Sasuke is already different. I don't think... especially if our plans work... that he needs to die. No. More than that. I won't let him die.

Why not? Didn't he just insult you?

And I insulted him, I retorted. ... Yeah, we just got into an argument, but we're teammates. Of course we'll fight and we'll probably fight more in the future. We'll both say things that'll hurt. But that doesn't mean we don't like each other anymore. He's... He's a friend.

There. I said it. I admitted it. Sasuke wasn't a precious person, but damn it, he was a friend. One of the very few that I had. And I'll be damned if I let anything happen to a friend.

... But what if I wanted him dead?

Not happening, I told him. Not even over my cold, dead body.

Kurama chuckled. Amusing. How amusing, kit. Admirable, I suppose. Foolishly so, though. However... to die for a friend? Ridiculous.

It is not, I thought. It's admirable. To be willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of someone you care for... kind of romantic, ne?

It is romanticized for humans, I suppose, Kurama said dubiously. I was amused by your instant reaction to defend him, though. Especially to me of all people.

I don't understand...

Kurama was silent. Then don't worry about it, kit. Go back to your team. We can finish our discussion later.

Mm-hmm. I... I guess I should go apologize to Sasuke anyway. God knows he'd never be the first one to apologize.

Kurama gave a small chuckle at that. Uchihas are so silly at times, right, brat?

Immensely so. With Madara-sama as the exception, of course.

That man, you idiot! Drop that sama, too.

Madara-sama, is not just some random man who you can refer to as 'that man'. He is someone of great importance—

—That I have the utmost intentions of castrating painfully after plucking his eyeballs out and shoving them down his throat. Then I'll rip out his spine and tie him up with it before chucking him into a pit of lava.

I'm sensing some resentment here, which is strange because this is Madara-sama we're talking about, who is like the Batman of the Narutoverse.

I will kill you.

No, you won't. Life would be too boring without me.

I loathe you.

I love you, too.