Play To Win || Naruto Fanfic

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She and Itachi had discussed deeply about her hypothesizes of the past, her predictions of the future and most importantly, his illness. His inflamed lungs were chronic, and the anti-inflammatory drugs she handed him could only do so much. What she needed, was to transplant new eyes into him.

Unfortunately, Danzo had Shisui's other eye and it wasn't like she could break into Konoha and take that. No, not with Root ANBU lurking around. She'll get mauled.

So she planned.

With Itachi by her side, his input was invaluable. He was smart, polite and if not a little weary of her. She understands, she's just a thirteen-year old playing shinobi, but so was he, back then. In all honestly, she felt bad for the boy.

Following village orders to murder his entire family and extended, torturing the very last thing he loved before indoctrinating himself into an world-class terrorist group. Without hesitation, she handed the boy a photo album.

He gingerly receives it with a cocked eyebrow, "What is this?"

She looks away with a shrug, "I ran a few missions with your brother. We did some sight-seeing with his team."

Itachi opens the book slowly, eyes widening at the pictures. The first picture is at the Chunin Exams, the third round. The picture was taken afar, but clear and close enough to differentiate expressions. His brother is at the pit with the red-headed opponent, a huge smirk on his face.

The next picture was his younger brother and his team all beaten up with the Ichibi Container in the background. Tamako has a stupid grin on her face, holding a peace sign with one hand, the other arm around the shoulders of a pink-haired girl. His brother looks unhappy with his arms crossed but his mouth turned up in the corner. The blond Jinchūriki is next to the red one, equally sprawled on the floor but equally grinning the same.

The last picture is a little different, this time, they're on a boat. There's beautiful glaciers in the background and Team 7 and Kakashi-senpai are posing, the girl in the middle with the two boys to her sides. Sasuke looks content in this one, staring at the camera with his arms crossed, but neither frowning or smirking. Kakashi is behind them with one hand on each of the boy's shoulder, its obvious who took this one. Their outfits, he noted, were for the colder climate and if the glaciers in the background indicated anything, this must be the mission to Yuki no Kuni that he was debriefed on.

"Thank you." Itachi says quietly, eyes still trained on each photo.

"I'm still in contact with Sasuke." She says, "He's fine. Orochimaru wont hurt him, for now."

He closes the book sand tucks it carefully into his cloak.

"We should continue our discussion." Tamako taps onto the crystal table, "We need to guide Sasuke into growing stronger." Then she points at her eyes, "And I need to figure out what to do with... the eyes."

"With the Uchiha Clan now wiped out, there are not many spare eyes we can obtain."

Tamako nods, "That's true, but you have an eye, don't you?" Then shakes her head, "In order for Sasuke to unlock his Mangekyou Sharingan, he needs to believe that he killed you successfully. Although this will bring great anguish, it's something that must be done." She leans forward, waiting for his input.

And the boy agrees with a nod, "My plan was to let Sasuke redeem the Uchiha Clan by killing me, and letting him return as a hero to Konoha... but I did not perceive Orochimaru to be more cunning." Itachi almost growls at the missing-nin's name, but he doesn't let anger consume his face. "What do you think?"

Tamako slowly sips her tea, clearing her thoughts. "I say, we continue with your original plan, and tweak it. There is no doubt that Sasuke will bring a team to fight you. Kisame will distract them and Sasuke will find you. There, you will fight, and you do you best in eliminating his Cursed Seal. Afterwards, force Sasuke to use all his chakra." She pauses to meet his eyes, "It's alright if you can't knock him out. With him that worn out, it should be no problem for me."