Shadowed Sun

Naïve

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?"