Disclaimer: The beautiful story of Naruto belongs to Kishimoto, as do all his characters. Naasica is the only character that belongs to me.

Warning: All warnings were addressed at the bottom of the second chapter.

Beta: Cyndaquil123

"Ever on and on, I continue circling with nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony -

'til slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing and suddenly I see that I can't break free - "

- Bad Apple

"Such a soft rain," Grandmother mused.

I did not respond.

"A rainy day, for a rainy heart," she whispered. "Precious little sapling, do you hate her?"

I closed my eyes.

"She will always love you, my dear, dear, girl."

I held my tongue.

"Do not hate her for this choice. Promise me, Naa-chan..."

I would make no such promises.

"Tsunade will be back..."

I opened my eyes.

"Tsunade is dead," I whispered. "She is dead to this family. She is dead to me."

This time, it was Grandmother who did not respond.

. . .

. .

.

Years had passed.

The war continued to rage on, and Kakashi and I had been sent out to the frontlines on multiple occasions (or I suppose, more accurately, we ended up on the frontlines on multiple occasions: either due to us pursuing an enemy, or an enemy pursuing us). We were both ten years old now, and we had both received battlefield promotions due to our efforts. While technically we were Chūnin, we still had to undergo the exams when it was time for them to be held in Konoha again in order to officially be Chūnin.

The war was savage, and we had witnessed some rather unsettling horrors. If I hadn't already been used to the bloodshed from Madara's influence, I would, most certainly, have been forced to be used it by now.

Most veteran shinobi and kunoichi were rather nonchalant when it came to that sort of thing. It was such a natural occurrence, such a normal thing for them, especially during war times. The majority of them were numb to it, almost detached. It had little to no effect on them, anymore.

A part of me wondered, again, if this was just a biological trait built into them. If, perhaps, their—our—brains were just wired to accept this sort of thing. It would make sense if that was the case, given the history of this world. If we weren't ready to accept this, and if we fought against it... well, we would be driven insane, wouldn't we? It had to be within our very DNA to acknowledge, and not fight against the gore we witness. At least, that was what I rationalized.

Minato and Kakashi seemed to confirm this theory, as neither gave any sort of reaction anymore to witnessing the grotesque horrors of war. Kakashi especially seemed to be rather uncaring towards it. In some ways, he reminded me of how his canon counterpart was during his childhood. However, there were equally as many differences between the two.

For instance, this Kakashi wasn't so hell-bent on the shinobi code. Certainly, he honored it, but perhaps seeing how... distraught... following a similar code had made me... perhaps it really did make him think twice about repeating my mistake. If I wasn't allowed to be so anal about appearances, neither could he, I had also told him many times before. Another key differences was, perhaps, his humor. I wasn't entirely certain if canon!Kakashi had this Kakashi's kind of humor at this point in time, but I doubted it. This Kakashi was, undoubtedly, influenced by my own rather twisted humor.

When it became painfully obvious that I could not hide all aspects of me, I showed a bit more of my true nature throughout the war. Bit, by bit, so no one was overwhelmed by my transformation. Indeed, I had worked it in in such a way it could be interpreted that the war had actually warped my perspective.

For the moment, Kakashi was the only one inside of Konoha that knew that wasn't true.

My own morbid, and frankly put, sick humor was accepted by my loved ones relatively easily. I wouldn't have been the first rather... twisted... kunoichi Konoha had produced, after all. And I certainly wouldn't be the last.

Mind you, I was still pleasant and polite overall. I was still the Senju Heiress (soon to be Head when I achieved the rank of Jōnin), and as such I did still have some appearance to keep up to the public. However, by revealing my sense of humor, it allowed some... reprieve. Keeping my mask in Konoha was exceedingly easier than prior, and thankfully with the added benefit of the war going on (and thus the excuse that it was the war's influence for my humor) the change was easily accepted.

Minato had officially moved in with Kushina, and myself. On multiple occasions I had offered to move out to give the two some privacy, but each time I was rejected (and in some instances Kushina threatened to break my legs if I so much as thought of running away). Kakashi had, also, been forced to move in with us, and I used my funds (much to Kushina's distaste) to expand the apartment and give Kakashi his own room. Kakashi, also, tried leaving on several occasions, but each time he was forcibly dragged back by Minato or Kushina, both adults citing that despite the fact that we were both shinobi of Konoha (and trained killers) they did not want us living on our own.

Annoying, given that Kakashi and I were both mentally mature enough to handle living on our own just fine (and introverted enough that we would actually appreciate it a lot more), but whatever. Until I was a Jōnin, or reached the age of sixteen, I could still be counted as a minor in the village.

Madara and I had been working quite effectively throughout the years, as well. Many times I had gone out in disguise and carried out missions for him. Most of them was just systemically weakening our enemies' power (especially Orochimaru). For the most part, though, Madara trained me to mimic him perfectly. I wouldn't be able to fully master this copying until after puberty hit me (as puberty would, undoubtedly, change my voice, thus making it harder to mimic his honey-smooth, deep, voice. Even if I did with the luxury of having the capabilities of a wooden-henge).

Dare I say it, but in actuality... the past years had almost been... normal. The more I saw the horrors of the war, the more determined I was that Madara was right. There was something awfully wrong about this world, but it seemed as though only Madara and I could see it.

It was up to us to fix this.

And fix it, we would.

But I digress: my life had fallen into a rather gruesome routine. Fight in the war, come back and rest for about a week (and carry about missions for Madara in the moonlight during this week, of course), then be kicked out again. Rinse and repeat.

Danzō did not try to contact me again throughout the war, and Zetsu always gave me a warning whenever Orochimaru neared me (so I was able to successfully avoid him). Not that he was ever in the village for long. For the moment Orochimaru was still a loyal Sannin to Konoha, and was frequently sent out on long-term missions to help against the war.

It was only on this particular day that our routine ended.

"What?" I asked.

"You sound so surprised," Minato teased me.

"Of course she would be—I am, too," Kakashi snapped, folding his arms across his chest. "Just what the hell do you mean we're getting a new teammate? We don't need another teammate; we're doing fine with just us."

"Don't be so antisocial," I scolded Kakashi. He awarded me with an irritable look. I ignored the look and cocked my head. "Minato-sensei... I'm not surprised about receiving the new member, I'm surprised that you are only telling us this now... Honestly, how did you expect us to take it when you just take us to our favorite training grounds, and then tell us we're meeting a new team member any minute?"

Minato grinned. "Well, I thought Kakashi might try to find some excuse to not show up and introduce himself properly, and politely, to our new teammate if I gave him a warning. This way he has no warning."

I resisted the urge to pout. "... But you couldn't tell me...?"

"You would tell Kakashi," Minato dismissed.

"What about all your lectures about teamwork? How can you call this teamwork if you don't trust us to behave like mature individuals," I protested.

"Because I know you," Minato said simply, still smiling.

"Hate you," Kakashi informed him.

"I know," Minato chirped. "Now he should be here any second now."

Kakashi glowered loathingly at Minato. "This is just great. We get back from a two-week long patrol mission, and get saddled with a newbie we have to train within a week before dragging them off to the frontlines with us. He'll be a damn deadweight."

"Actually," Minato said carefully, "seeing how we officially have our third member, we are finally, technically a Genin team now."

I gave Minato a horrified look. "Genin?! We're Chūnin! We killed a lot of assholes to get that rank, you know."

Minato winced. "I... am aware. However, until everyone in the team has been promoted to the rank of Chūnin or above, this will remain as a Genin squad."

Kakashi snorted in disgust. "Great. So we get to babysit."

"Please tell us that he graduated top of his class, at least," I pleaded.

"Ah, actually... well, that would be over stacking the team. Hokage-sama thought it would be best if we took on the dead-last."

Silence descended upon us, as Kakashi and I digested this information.

"Fuck," Kakashi summed up nicely.

"Language," Minato chided. "I know this may seem like a lot to take in right now, but I am asking, both as your sensei and your friend, that you welcome our new comrade. He is new, yes, but both of you were new once, too."

"Yeah, when we were four," Kakashi grumbled.

"Not everyone is a prodigy," I pointed out, then sighed. "So how long do we have to train him until we're shipped out again?"

"Until after the exams," Minato said, "which is in spring."

We both froze at that.

"What," Kakashi demanded. "You—you can't do that. We're needed out there."

I, on the other hand, fell quiet. It didn't bother me too much to have this change. On one hand, I was annoyed that I couldn't assist my comrades in the war effort, but on the other hand it would give me more time to spend with Madara. And given how when our plan took place all deaths and horrors would be null... Well, it didn't really matter that much, did it?

Minato shook his head. "Ordinarily neither of you would have been sent out so soon to begin with, but it was difficult, then. We're at a rather stable point in the war, thanks to our alliance with Sunagakure, to give us some breathing room. Hokage-sama thought it would be best to retract all Genin teams to give them time to properly prepare, and as we are, technically, a Genin team now..."

"We understand," I said, giving Kakashi a stern look. He still looked sore, but remained quiet. "When will our new comrade show up?"

Minato gave a fleeting frown. "He actually should have been here by now..."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

The sun was bright that day, with many large white clouds and a pretty blue sky. Our training ground was a large grassy field, dubbed training ground three, that was surrounded by small (in comparison to the trees outside of the village) bustling green trees. There were three wooden stumps lined up neatly on one side of the field (they were as tall as me) that served as training posts. On the opposite end of the field was a large stream that ran through this training ground, all the way to training ground thirty-seven (which was just a giant pond, really).

Our new teammate came stumbling into the field, out of breath. Immediately, Kakashi and I recognized him from our first class.

"You're late, Obito!" Kakashi snapped, his arms still folded across his chest. Kakashi's outfit had changed little over the years. He still wore a dark blue t-shirt with a collar that doubled as mask to cover the lower half of his face. He also wore separate sleeves that ended just below his t-shirt sleeves, and doubled as gloves. There were armor plates along his forearm, serving as an arm guard. He had a tanto on his back, with brown, leather straps that made an x in the front being used to hold the tanto in place. He still wore matching blue shinobi pants, and sandals.

I, also, had changed little about my appearance. My wild hair was a bit longer, falling at my shoulders, and ticking them on occasion. I had a sleeveless black shirt that had an orange collar hooked around my neck to keep it in place. It kept my shoulders mostly bare. I wore an orange squort with black leggings that ended a little past my knees. The squort's sides were slit open to add more maneuverability. I also had long black gloves that went up past my below, with orange straps tied wrapped around them in a criss-cross fashion. The gloves were fingerless. I wore standard, short black boots.

And although no one could see, I also had some orange toe-socks with tiny little bat prints on them.

... They were a gift from Kushina.

In fact, I would have gone with an almost entirely black outfit, but Kushina was adamant about adding some color to it. After a very long argument with her, I finally gave up, threw my hands in the air and shouted, Fine! Pick a squort out for me or something!

I now knew where Naruto got his love of orange from.

Not that I minded. I liked orange well enough.

Like Kakashi, I wore my hitai -ate around my forehead (though the band was no longer blue, and replaced with an orange cloth).

Minato wore his same, standard, Jōnin-attire.

He had a hand place on his hip, and with his other hand he gestured to Obito. "You're finally here... You must be Obito."

Obito now wore a thick blue jacket with orange lining and an orange collar. His hitai-ate was tied around his forehead, but he had thick orange goggles over his eyes for the moment. Underneath his jacket was a black shirt, and he wore standard blue shinobi pants.

"You're really late," Kakashi muttered.

"We already know each other, so why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself," Minato chirped.

Obito gave a crooked, confident smile. He held up his left hand in a fist, then stuck out his thumb and pointed at himself. "I'm going to be the next Hokage! My name's Uchiha Obito. For my Great Stone Face make sure my trademark goggles and Sharingan are nicely carved out, so I can glare over the neighboring lands!"

Kakashi suddenly looked very tired, and slapped his left hand against his face, covering his eyes. I resisted the urge to sigh. Everything about Obito was very... loud.

"... I'll scare the hell out of them with my Sharingan stare and no one will dare attack our village—"

"Rattle off your instructions after you become the Hokage, and have you even activated your Sharingan?!" Kakashi interrupted hotly. "Besides, how can they carve the Sharingan if you're wearing goggles?"

"They can carve it out over my goggles," Obito retorted loudly.

"That's stupid—it'll look like your eyeballs are popping out."

Obito opened his mouth to say something else, but Minato, thankfully, intervened. "Anyway, I'm happy that someone on this team shares my dream. These two are no fun. I'm Minato. From today, I'll be your sensei. I'm glad to meet you."

Obito beamed, and held up a thumbs-up. "Yeah!"

Minato gestured for Obito to come towards us, and he and Obito swapped places. "All right, let's have our first practice together. In this training session, I want to see your teamwork. Take these two bells away from me, and practice will be over."

Kakashi's eyes widened with realization. "Wait... two..."

"Huh?" Obito blinked. Kakashi gave him an annoyed look, and the Uchiha returned it.

"I see how it is, Sensei," I mocked. "Pulling that mean trick on us? I thought you loved us."

"What do you mean?" Obito questioned. Kakashi awarded him with another irritated look—as if he thought the question was stupid (which, in hindsight, he probably did)—and Obito returned with just as much fervor.

"It means only two people can get a bell. One of us will lose."

"Yep!" Minato said, grinning widely. "And... start!"

I watched, disinterestedly, as Kakashi and Obito lunged for Minato. With ease, Minato avoided their attempts. I watched for quite some time, debating how I wanted to go about retrieving a bell. There were many ways. I could convince Kakashi, and Obito to work together with me. Minato was obviously allowing leniency in his skills when he fought against Obito. If he fought against Obito long enough—lured him into a false sense of security—Kakashi and I could deftly pounce on him. I could use my wood-style to limit his mobility severely, and Kakashi could grab the bells in the moment of confusion.

I doubted Minato would resort to using his famous teleportation technique against us, regardless. He didn't want to overwhelm or intimidate our new teammate, by showing how vastly outclassed Obito was.

I could, also, make a clone to fetch Kushina and have her distract him. She would love to join in our little practice, but I had a feeling Minato would show his distaste for my cunning idea in a rather painful way later on.

Many more scenarios played in my mind, before I finally settled on the first one. I raised my hands, converting them into wood and stretching them out to grab Obito and Kakashi. I grabbed Kakashi by the back of his collar, and he shot me a very displeased look, and Obito by the strap of his goggles. With ease, I pulled them back to me and explained my plan.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

"Well done!" Minato exclaimed, as Kakashi tossed me the other bell. I wasted little time in tossing the bell over to Obito.

"There. Now we've all technically captured a bell, and no one loses," I said dryly. I was out of breath, covered in bruises, and just genuinely very tired. Kakashi, and Obito were in no better shape (Obito actually looked worse).

Minato grinned, then glanced over at the setting sun and narrowed his eyes. "I didn't expect us to finish so soon, but it's probably for the best. Kushina-chan will be happy to have us for dinner. Obito-kun, why don't you join us?"

Obito flushed, and panted, "S-Sorry, Minato-sensei, but Kaa-chan is expecting me. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yep," Minato said. "Dismissed!"

Obito gave a sigh, before he started to walk away. The three of us lingered on the grounds for a moment, before Minato cocked his head, giving us a knowing smile. "Don't take too long. I'll tell Kushina-chan that you'll both be late for dinner."

"Thanks, Sensei," Kakashi said. When he had left, Kakashi glanced over at me, smiling tiredly behind his mask. "What do you want to train in today?"

"How about... me kicking your ass?"

"As if."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

"Obito, huh?" Madara murmured.

"Yes, Madara-sama," I responded, then recognizing his thoughtful look, I inquired, "What's wrong?"

"I believe I want you to fully train him."

My eyes widened in surprise. "E-Excuse me?"

"In order to achieve a high ranking in the village, you will need to be strong. However, Konoha prides itself in their strong teams. It would be easier if you had powerful teammates that could properly assist you."

I blinked rapidly. "You... you want me to train Obito, so that way he could be on equal grounds with Kakashi, and I...? You want us to be a strong team... like... like the Sannin?"

Madara smiled. "The Sannin have fallen apart. I think it's time they were replaced. It would be easier to secure a stable, high-ranking position if you had two more powerful shinobi at your back. You would gain more trust if you are presented in a light that proves you work well with others—or at least with your team. Besides, if Obito is too weak, you will never be able to advance to more powerful, and influential missions with him on your team."

"Th-That's true," I admitted. "We would only be limited to missions that suited our team's capability. I wouldn't really be able to make much of a name for myself if we're constantly shoved aside. Kakashi only became renowned after he went solo, and didn't have anyone holding him back."

"Exactly. For our purposes, it would be best if you trained Obito quickly."

"But... isn't it bad if we give Konoha more powerful resources?"

Madara awarded me with another smile. "They are only powerful if we cannot defeat them. By training these resources—having hands-on work with them—you will garner all of their weaknesses. They will trust you. Open up to you. And be vulnerable to you when the time comes. Konoha will create their own powerful resources one way or another. This way, we have a say on what those resources are, as well as manipulate them. We come out on top in the end."

"Yes, Madara-sama. What training regime would you advise?"

"He needs to awaken his Sharingan, first of all. To do this, he must trigger his fight or flight response, in essence. The Sharingan is awakened when the body is flooded with enough hormones and adrenaline, along with the flight or fight response. This is why, in most cases, the Sharingan is awakened in very difficult battles. Just spar against him harshly, and when he is at his end, pour in the killer intent. That should do the trick."

"And then?"

Madara chuckled. "I think you know where to take it after that."

I smiled darkly. "Very well, Madara-sama."

"Now why don't you return early and see to that? Tomorrow night, I have another task I want you to carry out."

I bowed. "Yes, Madara-sama."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

The Uchiha compound wasn't hard to find. Tracking down Obito in said compound, however, was another story. Thankfully, it was fairly late at night and as such, the majority of the streets were empty and not a lot of people were in my way.

I felt my chakra brush against another's signature as I tried to sense where Obito's chakra was. The signature brushed back, and soon there was a curious young Uchiha flickering in front of me. He wore the police uniform, and had long black hair pulled into a low pony tail. "May I help you, Senju-hime?"

I smiled politely. "I'm looking for my new teammate, Uchiha Obito. There has been a change in plans and I would like to inform him before it gets too late."

"I see. I will escort you to him, then," the Uchiha responded.

"Thank you, Uchiha-san."

The Uchiha lead me through the numerous streets of the vast compound—it was almost like a maze, really—before he finally stopped before a lone, tall, house. "This is where your teammate lives."

"Thank you for showing me, Uchiha-san," I repeated. The house was tall, and it seemed almost crooked, but still beautiful. There was a fence out front—taller than me—that ran in front of all the nearby houses. The house was squashed in between two others.

The gate in front was black iron, and I easily pushed it open. There was a small rock pathway that lead to the door, and a beautiful garden in front. There were lights on in the house, and I was very grateful for that. I doubted his family would take kindly to being woken up just so I could kidnap their son.

Quietly, I approached the front door and rapped my knuckles against it.

There was a rustle inside, and muffled voices. Then the door swung open and a pajama-dressed Obito stood there. When he saw me, his cheeks turned red in sheepish embarrassment. "N-Naasica-chan? What are you doing here?"

I smiled. "I was hoping you could join me for a quick session."

"Now?"

I leaned closer to him, my smile twisting into something a lot less nice. "I know how to awaken your Sharingan."

Obito's eyes widened. "... Give me a minute to change. Kaa-chan I gotta to, uh, help my teammate. Be right back!"

"What?" hollered a woman further in the house. "At this hour?"

"I am sorry, Uchiha-san," I called out, "but I am uncertain what Minato-sensei has planned for us tomorrow, or the rest of the week. I don't know when else we'll be able to do this."

A willowy figure appeared in the hallway, as Obito scrambled past her and up some stairs. She had long curly brown hair, and big doe-like eyes. She was wearing a simple blue dress with an orange apron that had strawberries on it. She smiled at me. "Oh. You must me Senju Naasica?"

I bowed. "I am. I am sorry for intruding—"

She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. I remember staying up at all late hours when I was younger, so determined to perfect my genjutsu."

"You are a genjutsu specialist?"

She laughed lightly. "I am. I'm sorry, how rude of me. You may call me Kiko."

"A pleasure, Kiko-san. Please just call me Naasica."

"Likewise, Naasica-chan."

Obito stumbled down the stairs, his jacket missing, but his goggles sitting square on top of his head. His eyes were lit up. "Ready?"

"Indeed."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

"You... you really think you can awaken my Sharingan?" Obito asked.

"Mm-hmm," I responded.

It was late at night, and I had guided Obito to a deserted training ground. I knew no one would be around for quite some time. Obito was smiling brightly at me. "Alright. So what do I have to do?"

"The Sharingan is only awakened if you survive what would be a killing blow," I lied easily. "So you need to... not... die."

"Not die?" Obito asked, then he gasped and lurched out of the way when I leapt towards him, my left hand hardened into a wooden dagger. I jabbed at where he once was, before I spun on my heel and lunged towards him again. "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to kill you, obviously," I giggled, going ahead and starting to leak killer intent. Naturally, I didn't release all my bloodlust, nor did I go all out against him. Then he really would have been dead, and that would have been an annoyance.

"S-Stop it. This isn't funny, Naasica," Obito said, but he quickly cut himself off when my right foot connected against the side of his head. He went spiraling away and crashed into a nearby tree, but I was already upon him.

"Yes it is," I laughed. "Go ahead and try to scream, Obito. No one is coming for you."

Obito scrambled up and tried to run away. "I don't want to have to fight you, so stop this."

"You wouldn't be able to get a scratch on me," I taunted. Then, grinning maliciously, I slammed the palm of my hands into the ground. Trees erupted all around Obito, and the branches snapped out, like sharp spikes at him. Of course, I didn't have them stab all the way through him, but I certainly cut him up quite a bit.

Withdrawing my hands from the ground, I flickered over to Obito, peering at his very bloody form. He was staring at me with wide, wide eyes, fear sparking inside of them. I doubled my killer intent, and smiled coldly at him. "I guess you won't get your Sharingan, after all. You'll be dead with this blow—"

He sucked in a sharp breath, as I raised my left hand again. Suddenly, a red gleam shone in his eyes.

Immediately, I dismissed the trees, and reverted my hand back to normal. "There you go."

Obito dropped down to his knees, wheezing, and staring up at me. "What... the... fuck."

"Come on, let's get you to the hospital," I chirped, grabbing his arm and lifting him up.

He continued to stare at me. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I got you your Sharingan, didn't I? It's really only triggered in very stressful situations, so... Sorry, but it had to be done."

"A little warning would have been nice!" Obito cried out, then winced.

"Then you wouldn't have believed me," I dismissed. "Trust me. This way really was for the best."

And it was fun.

I didn't voice that little tidbit, though.

Obito gave me an irritated look, and I smiled warmly at him. "I'm sorry for being so rough, Obito-kun. I hope you'll still be okay to train with me."

Obito grumbled, "I don't like it, but you do get results done."

"Mm-hmm. So after our team meeting, go ahead and stay after and we'll train for a couple hours. I have a very good training regime that works wonders. Although... it is a teeny-weeny bit hard."

Obito awarded me a reluctant look. "What is it?"

The training regime Madara used for me when I was getting started.

"Just a routine I had to follow when I was beginning my kunoichi career."

"Okay," Obito said, sighing with relief. "That doesn't sound too hard."

I laughed at that.

Oh, this is going to be f-u-n.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

The following day, Minato assigned us a couple D-Ranks to give us time to recuperate from last night (as Obito still seemed battered—Obito wisely did not mention that he was sore because I had attempted to kill him. While he was thrilled he obtained his Sharingan, I made him promise from telling anyone that I had given it to him, and that he instead awoken it on his own after our session last night. Which was possible. Life-or-death scenarios weren't the only ways to awaken the Sharingan. Just the easiest). We finished roughly in the afternoon, and then Minato headed off to be with Kushina.

"Alright, so where would you like to train today, Naasica?" Kakashi asked, glancing over at me once he had left.

I shook my head, smiling. "Today I'm going to be training Obito-kun."

Kakashi stared at me. "What."

"It'll be fun," I said, giggling with anticipation.

"Yeah," Obito agreed, nodding his head.

Kakashi folded his arms. "You can't train Obito."

"Why not?"

"He's too much of an idiot for you take on by yourself," Kakashi informed me.

"Hey!" Obito protested.

I smiled coyly. "So would you like to help? The two of us could get some training done while Obito goes through the exercises and warmups I have planned."

Kakashi shrugged. "It looks like I'll have to."

"Hey!"

"Thanks, Kakashi," I said. "I think the sooner we get Obito up to our level—no offense, Obito-kun!—the better."

"I still take offense to that," Obito sighed.

I smiled sheepishly.

Kakashi sighed. "... I guess we'll have a more effective... team... if we train him."

"A team is only as strong as its weakest link," I agreed. "No offense."

"Again: I still take offense to that."

Kakashi, however, just gave a short laugh. "... Alright. I'm in. Let's bring him up to speed."

"Ha," Obito scoffed. "With my Sharingan, I'll surpass you two in no time."

With your Sharingan, your ninjutsu, and taijutsu will indeed catch up to our level in little time. I give it a month, perhaps, with this training routine. However, your reserves, physical strength, and other essential basic skills will take longer than that to reach our levels. This routine will set you on the right path, and I figure by the time the Chūnin Exams come around, you will be more than ready.

I will not fail this task, I have been given. Not only because Madara-sama gave this task to me, but because you are now my teammate.

I know I will come to grow fond of you, and when that happens, I would be very displeased should something unsavory happen to you. I will want you to protect yourself. Moreover, I want this team to succeed.

To be the next Sannin...

What a goal.

"Maybe," I allowed. "For the moment, go ahead and put this blindfold on."

"... What," Obito deadpanned, while Kakashi snickered.

I giggled, recalling all the times Madara had me run barefoot in the cave, through obstacles, completely blind. "Oh, trust me... this is going to be an exercise you need to get down."

And I really want to see someone else suffer through that hellish routine.

My giggles grew a bit louder, and I struggled to repress them.

Obito was suddenly giving me a very worried look.