The ambush began well enough. The small clearing erupted with light, as Uchiha and Itou simultaneously used their most devastating jutsus. The traps that Takahashi laid in and around the predetermined kill zone exploded as well, buffeting my position with a strong wind. When ambushing ninjas, anything you don't kill in the initial alpha strike is likely to survive any immediate follow up attacks.

Nothing should've been able to survive that.

We had all been on the frontlines long enough to know that was nothing but wishful thinking.

Even as I double checked and triple checked the integrity of the first area genjutsu I laid to conceal my teammates from anything within the killzone, I also kept a metaphorical eye open for any chakra irregularity within me. It would be rather embarrassing for the genjutsu specialist to die because of an enemy genjutsu. Satoko would never let me live it down.

Ha.

The seconds took an eternity to tick by, as we waited for the smoke and dust to clear away enough for us to see the results of our handiwork. My frown intensified with every second that passed, as the optimum window for me to set another complex genjutsu shortened. The moments immediately after the initial ambush were the best time for me to cast something on an enemy, as a surprised and panicking foe is unlikely to be one concentrating on looking out for any minute irregularities in their chakra coils.

From my perch in the third highest tree, I gradually began to make out a few shapes on the ground. There were three newly charred corpses scattered around the clearing.

The Iwa Combat Team we ambushed had six members. The other three were nowhere to be seen.

Shit.

Had they tanked the full force of the initial strike? I mentally replayed the last few moments. The Iwa ninja had seemed unaware that they were being watched. Two of them were searching the corpse of a Konoha chuunin who had died in a small skirmish several days earlier. Her team had been unable to retrieve the body, and it stayed where she had been killed. It pained Fujikasa to leave the corpse of a comrade unburied, but it served as passable bait. The remainder of the Iwa team were arrayed in a loose circle around the clearing, trying to stay on guard. The fact that they were technically behind friendly lines gave them a sense of false security, I suppose. Uchiha and Itou both sent forth massive balls of flame, hurtling at high undodgeable speeds toward unprepa...No. Three of them reacted when the jutsus were completed. It couldn't have been a visual alert because my genjutsu hid the flames, so it had to be...Auditory. Shit. Normally, I would try to completely control most of my opponents' senses, so they would only see or hear what I let them. But the more complex a genjutsu is, the more likely it would be detected. My Kurama blood and clan training helped, but at least two of the Iwa ninja had been around jounin level. I didn't want to try my luck and so only had my genjutsu affect some visual stimuli.

Apparently some ninja can hear the crackling of fire and react in time. Satoko is definitely not letting me live this down. Fuck.

The smoke and dust served as excellent cover for the Iwa ninja, either to escape or plan a counterattack. They almost definitely knew that they were under genjutsu, since they were just attacked by jutsu that they didn't see coming at all. Before I finished that thought, I felt the genjutsu I had laid over the killzone break under the strain of three pulses of chakra. It wasn't exactly a subtle kai, and my teammates had to have felt it too. Below me and to my left, I saw Fujikasa tense and prepare to draw her ninjato, while directly across from me, I saw Itou begin to prepare to run through a sequence of hand seals. I couldn't directly see exactly where the rest of my teammates were, but they were probably doing the same. Takagi hadn't marked their positions, so there was probably too much chakra residue from the jutsus thrown around during both the ambush and the skirmish for him to sense anything. I tried to clear my mind in preparation for the genjutsu I would probably have to execute in the immediate future.

The surviving Iwa ninja made their presence known with several spreads of kunai, aimed at the tallest trees surrounding the clearing. I noticed the tags of paper dangling from their hilts at about the time the top of the tallest tree exploded.

Fuc-

I made a hasty exit from my perch, pushing off the branch and jumping towards Fujikasa's tree. The treetop exploded behind me. My chuunin vest absorbed the impact of most of the small and not so small splinters. I would worry about the rest of the wooden shards that hit me later.

I made a rather graceless landing on the branch below Fujikasa's when I heard the impacts of several of Uchiha's Flame Bullets in the clearing below. Rather than seeing the sight of three more corpses, I instead saw three humanoid figures crumbling into rubble.

Earth clone decoys.

Then where are the-

That question was answered by the sight of two Iwa ninja, heading directly towards me. Why do genjutsu specialists have to be such priority targets? I heard Takagi's warning shout and saw Uchiha leave her perch to try to assist, but the two were moving too quickly for any response from most of my teammates to be effective. Fujikasa's response, on the other hand, was almost instantaneous, but there was only one of her and two of them. She tried to intercept with a lightning release kenjutsu technique, and I saw one of them try to dodge, but the other pushed through and then then was directly on top of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the third ninja begin clashing with Takagi on the other side of the clearing, and then my attention was focused almost solely on the enemy in front of me.

His first cut missed me by centimeters, as I stumbled backwards and nearly fell off the branch. I parried his second cut with a kunai in my offhand and began to run through the hand seals for Kawarimi with my right hand. My breath came in short, ragged bursts, and I didn't dare blink. His first two attacks had been from a slightly outdated Iwa kenjutsu sequence, and I automatically moved to parry what I expected would be the next attack in that sequence.

I expected a right-to-left slash. I didn't expect him to try to body slam and finish me with a kunai. It was clearly an improvised idea, and he didn't quite connect with his charge, but he did interrupt my sequence of hand seals. Scratch plan "Get as far away as possible", I would need something simpler. I took his brief off balance moment to hurriedly throw my kunai in his rough direction and tried to break off. I didn't get very far, but I managed to briefly put the trunk of the tree between us. Said trunk proceeded to become very nonexistent in some places, as the Iwa ninja blasted straight through it.

So this is what it's like to fight a jounin.

The explosive jutsu he used left me off balance, and he took the opportunity to charge toward me again. With his sword, this time. With his momentum and skill, his blade cut through my vest and flesh with almost no resistance...

No. His blade cut through with no resistance. And cut through nothing. And also cut through a location about two feet to the left of where I actually was.

Rule number one when fighting a genjutsu specialist.

If you are fighting a genjutsu specialist and don't see them cast any genjutsu, never assume they didn't cast any genjutsu.

I had crafted a genjutsu that shifted my body position a few feet to the left in few moments the tree separated us. It was nothing more than an extremely simple visual illusion. If my uncle could see his student's handiwork, he would have been shaking his head in shame. But it was enough to momentarily distract the Iwa ninja, even if it would never had stood up to closer scrutiny. The Iwa ninja didn't have time for closer scrutiny; he had already wasted enough time trying to deal with me. His teammates were buying time for him to kill the genjutsu specialist, but they wouldn't last long when outnumbered more than 2 to 1, even if they might be a bit better on an individual basis.

To his credit, he recognized what had occurred right away, but he had jumped to get to me. His momentum carried him on his flight path for only a few seconds, but I took the opportunity to throw the last two kunai I had ready. The first glanced off his vest's backplate, and the second buried itself in left arm, but didn't penetrate very deeply into his body. Neither were quite on target.

Although I wasn't where the ninja thought I was, I did lose my balance and fell backwards after he blasted through the tree. After throwing the kunai, I quickly tried to restick my feet onto the branch. There was a brief lull in our fight, as I tried to regain my balance and he tried to determine if he was under another genjutsu. And then Fujikasa appeared, silently and suddenly, behind him.

There wasn't much of a contest. Even if he was probably a jounin and Fujikasa was only a special jounin, she had the element of surprise and more importantly wasn't injured.

As I watched Fujikasa eventually slip through his guard and slice through the Iwa ninja's neck, I heard someone land beside me. From what the ninja's chakra felt like, it was probably Itou.

I was suddenly oh so aware of the punishment my body had taken during this skirmish.

Time to review my own condition.

Chakra acceptable. Physical strength significantly diminished. Mobility slightly impaired. Left arm aches. Mental state acceptable.

"Think you can make it back to the staging base?" Straight to business, I see.

I frowned. "I think so, yes. Probably."

He gave a small, tight smile. "Good. All those flashy techniques Uchiha was throwing around definitely attracted unwanted attention. We'll move out in a minute, standard rapid retreat escort formation. You'll be left flank."

Standard Rapid Retreat Escort Formation. Fancy language for 'someone just carry the client(s), we need to run the fuck away right now'.

I blinked through sudden waves of pain and nodded. "Understood. Who will be in the escort client position?"

His brows furrowed. "Takagi. One of his legs was injured when fighting the sojutsu specialist ninja. It's nothing too serious, but he won't be able to keep up with the speeds we'll need to go at," He waved me toward the tree where the rest of the team seemed to be meeting. "Let's go. I don't want to have the thought of carrying Takagi for longer than necessary."

I chuckled, although it was painful to do so.

We probably overstayed our welcome quite some time ago.

ooo-OOO-OoO-OOO-ooo

"Report complete, sir."

Nara Touma nodded towards Fujikasa. I couldn't help but notice the bags under his eyes and the sheer exhaustion that seemed to be present in every member of the command post. And, for that matter, that seemed to be present on the members of my squad. And then, probably on me too. I haven't really had time to look in mirrors recently, to be honest.

"Excellent work. That's one less Iwa Response Team we have to worry about". He paused, briefly, before continuing. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you all will have to go on another mission in about six hours. The team that was supposed to go on it was delayed around Kusagakure. I'll give the full briefing in about half an hour, when your support team arrives from their last mission. I'm really sorry. In the meantime, get some rest and get your wounds looked at. Kurama, that splinter looks nasty. Fujikasa, get those burns looked at."

I didn't think I was quite over the news that there was another mission coming up. "R-right. I'll go and get it checked out."

Soldiers are not supposed to whine. Soldiers are not supposed to complain.

I think every member of my team was filled with choice words to the Strategy Department that were yearning to be released. Not to Touma, who let us use the forward command post's better tea mix when we were there, but the rest of command could go and die a painful death of sleep deprivation. We were certainly well on our way to the same. Exhausted soldiers on back-to-back missions make poor soldiers. Command knows this. Wouldn't it be better to push back this mission and give whoever goes on it some time to rest?

ooo-OOO-OoO-OOO-ooo

"You're our 'Support Team'?" Uchiha Satoko tilted her head, innocently. "I suppose we're on our own, then, Amagumo."

Hyuuga Asahi gave us a small smile. "I'm not the only member of my team, you know."

I put on my mock thinking face. "Really? You certainly seem to be the only member, considering how many other members of your team are here right now."

He nodded. "They'll be here any moment now."

I made a dramatic sigh. "I wouldn't mind if they didn't come, if it meant we wouldn't have to do this mission. We've had maybe a day and a half of rest, combined, over the past three weeks."

"So have we," he said, tiredly.

Asahi was usually had quite the sense of humor. What happened since I last saw him?

Satoko seemed to have noticed his unusual mood as well, and spoke up with a wry smile. "Hmm. How many people are in your squad right now, Asahi. Six?"

Asahi tensed up, slightly. "Five."

Her eyes tightened slightly after hearing that. "Right. So the three of up make up thirty percent of this next mission's strength. If we can get Itou over there to join, that would be forty percent. Itou, you in?"

The Itou in question raised an eyebrow and then went back to reading his pocket novel.

"I'll take that as a no, then. So if all three of us say we're sick, we could probably get the mission canceled."

The quality of your plans seems to have gone down a bit since our Academy days.

"I pulled three missions last month while sick, Satoko. I don't think being sick will be enough of an excuse to cancel this mission." Asahi seemed equally doubtful, but at least he was giving us longer responses now.

"Then we could run away!"

Asahi made a startled choking sound.

"Are you sure talking about becoming nuke-nin in a room with two special jounin and six chuunin is a good plan?" I asked, slightly more eloquently.

"Hmm." She gave them a glance. "They're just Strategy Department. We could take them."

Touma almost spat out his sip of tea and shot a mild glare towards us. He might've said more, if it weren't for the arrival of rest of our squads.

As we stood up and moved to join the rest of our two teams at the map table, Asahi gave us a small smile. "Thanks for that, you two."

"Anything to cheer up a friend," Satoko said warmly, putting him in an one-armed hug. "You two will always be my favorite minions."

"And now I regret thanking you."

I shot a glare at her for the minion comment. I was an unwilling dragalong for most of her escapades during Academy. Not a willing subordinate. Calling me a minion was the foulest of slander.

She laughed, before dragging us both to the table.

ooo-OOO-OoO-OOO-ooo

"And that concludes this briefing. Any questions?"

"I have a bit of a question, sir."

Well, here goes nothing. I had made preparations for this moment like this, but I hadn't expected it to come so suddenly. Or in such a strange manner.

"Ask away, Kurama."

"This raid is a diversion, correct?"

"Explain your reasoning," Touma said, after a brief pause.

"Every squad in this sector has been run ragged on small raids," I glanced at the location of known Iwa outposts and Response Squad locations marked on the map "especially on the eastern and western fringes of the Iwa territory on our side of the Kannabi Bridge. The operational tempo of the past few months seems much faster than normal. This has caused the formerly well secured Iwa lines to become permeable, and it has left reserve forces depleted and focused primarily on their flanks. I thought command was planning on launching a major strike in the near future, and for a few minutes I thought this raid on the southern supply depot was this major strike. But a few things don't add up. I know that a few fairly fresh combat squads are available. Why send two exhausted squads to strike such a major target, unless the fresh squads are being sent to a even more major target?" I paused to catch my breath, before continuing "Such as, say, Kannabi Bridge?"

I really hope I didn't just spew a load of nonsense. The Kannabi Bridge Demolition mission should be soon, if my memories were correct.

Touma closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You should've been born a Nara. Command wanted us to keep the primary target of this operation a secret from the diversion force, but I would rather not leave you all doubting the purpose of your mission. Yes, Kurama, the primary target of this operation is Kannabi Bridge, part of the primary Iwa supply line in this area. That doesn't mean this supply depot raid isn't important as well, though. Command wants both to succeed."

"How large is the force being sent to destroy Kannabi Bridge?" I asked.

"One squad. One jounin, two chuunin. There aren't any other squads available."

"Why are we sending such an understrength force on the most crucial part of this operation?" I wracked my brain, trying to continue a chain of logic and bullshit I was stringing along. "It doesn't matter whether or not we succeed in our attack if the Kannabi Bridge assault fails. The destruction of a supply depot might be a setback for the Iwa, but it would ultimately be just a setback. Nothing more. Why are we dedicating two squads that command thinks are still combat capable to the secondary target and only one to the primary target? Is there any backup available to the Kannabi Bridge Squad if there are too many enemies for them to make a move? Our scouting has been good throughout this war, but it's always possible we missed a troop movement or redeployment. Isn't it a bit risky to hinge the efforts of these past months on such a small force? Shouldn't we try to maximize our chances of success by sending as many ninja as possible to strike Kannabi Bridge?"

"I see your point. We've been improvising a lot of this plan. The incident in Kusagakure I mentioned that delayed the force intended for this mission threw a lot of planning in disarray, and the reserve squads that were to serve as backup for this operation are essentially all occupied in cleaning up the mess there. Soga Squad and Fukami Squad are both combat capable, but I know all of you aren't exactly at peak performance at the moment. Command doesn't want to split your squads up more than necessary, as otherwise your combat capabilities might be too low to successfully complete the mission. Command also thinks that Minato Squad is capable enough to destroy the bridge on their own, even without their team leader present. As long as this force successfully creates a large enough distraction and draws the attention of response forces in the immediate vicinity, Minato Squad can almost definitely break through the limited Iwa forces remaining on guard around the bridge and destroy it."

"I see." Shit. I've made some waves in this world simply by being a Kurama with some promise, but I would be deluding myself if I thought those waves were enough to change anything significant about the Kannabi Bridge Mission. Obito as Tobi caused so many of the dangerous events of the series, and it would be best for my future life expectancy to nip any problems he caused in the bud. But if I wasn't able to change anything about the mission, then I-

"I could-" began Fujikasa, who promptly wilted under the attention of everyone in the command post. "I m-mean, I could….What I mean to say is that, um, most of the casualties in both of our squads are among the support focused ninja". She paused briefly, collecting her thoughts, before continuing. "Most of our combat specialists are still active. I haven't used a soldier pill yet on this deployment, and I know that most of my squad hasn't used one yet either. Using a pill won't be quite the same as being well rested, but it would mean we might be able to spare half a squad or so as support for the Kannabi Bridge Squad. If that is possible. Or, um, needed."

"Are you volunteering?" asked Touma.

"I-if necessary, then I will, yes," she answered.

Touma turned towards the other squad leader. "Soga? Thoughts?"

"I agree with Kurama and Fujikasa's points". The previously silent jounin glanced at his team. "I recommend sending Hiroshi, Hyuuga, and Sarutobi. They have excellent stealth and combat abilities. I'm sure you already know their specialties?."

"Yes. I do. They'll match well with the people already on the mission. If both Squad Leaders are in agreement, then I suppose we will do as Kurama suggested. Hiroshi, you'll be subordinate to the jounin already on the mission. Hyuuga, Sarutobi, you two will go as well."

"Acknowledged."

"Fujikasa, I don't want to strip more than one jounin level combatant from the supply depot raid. Don't, ah, take i-"

"I understand, sir."

"That's, uh, good. So. Moving on. Hiroshi, I'll go into more depth about your mission when the other team arrives. The Depot Raid will proceed as planned. Try to attract as much attention as possible during the attack. It'll make the other team's mission easier". He paused for a moment, before continuing. "This may sound a bit unprofessional, and it's not part of your official orders, but please don't take extreme risks. All of you are valued veteran assets, and don't be afraid to abort the diversion mission early if the opposition is too fierce."

A chorus of 'acknowledged' and 'understood' filled the air, as the meeting dispersed.

As the rest of the squads went to get some last minute rest or maintenance work done, the three ninja temporarily attached to Minato Squad were left to stand awkwardly around in the command post. I walked over to Asahi and gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder. A few moments of awkward silence filled the air between us, and Sarutobi gave us a questioning look.

I hesitated for a moment. "Try not to die."

He blinked.

Well, that was eloquently inspirational.

"I'll be..sure to try to do that. Thanks for the advice?"

I coughed, awkwardly. "Right, I'm not really that good at the whole, um, encouragement thing. Sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. I know. It's the...um, thought that counts, right?"

I was fairly certain I heard the sound of Sarutobi's hand meeting her face and her muttering "Give me a fucking break" under her breath.

I pointedly ignored her.

"So, yeah. Don't die. And good luck?"

"Yeah. You too."

"Right."

The silence stretched out for a few more awkward moments.

"Oi, Kurama, if you have the time to stand around awkwardly, then you have the time to get me some extra kunai and stimulants. And don't you have a mission to be on soon? Now shoo." Sarutobi pushed me out of the tent and in the rough direction of the armory.

"And good luck on your mission, Kurama".

"Ah. Thank you, senpai."

She waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Besides, we've been out of the Academy for years now. No need to call me senpai."

"R-right. Sorry."

She made a few more shooing motions. "Get moving already. At this rate, Satoko will be back from the mission by the time you get going."

"Be careful. Tell Hyuuga and Hiroshi that too!"

"Do you want me to push you to the armory?"

I blinked. "No, no. I'm good."

She grinned. "Then scram."

ooo-OOO-OoO-OOO-ooo

Did I make the right decision? I just caused two of my friends to be sent on a mission that I knew would be dangerous, even if I couldn't remember exactly how the events during it transpired. Asahi and Kasai were both very capable ninja, and so was Hiroshi, but would they make a difference? Would they make it worse?

I was gambling with the lives of my friends, against completely unknown odds. There were plenty of other ways to try to avert some of the events of canon. Some I could even try to do myself, without putting others in too much risk. Why did I decide this was the best method?

I slapped myself, mentally. What's done is done, isn't it? Trust in your comrades. They can succeed.

That wasn't particularly convincing.

"You alright?", asked a voice that suddenly cut through my thoughts. Soga had apparently been looking at my spaced out demeanor with some concern for quite some time.

I nodded without much confidence. The soldier pill was making my mind go into overdrive, which wasn't a good thing when I was trying to create a complex genjutsu.

"Then, let's begin the assault."

I nodded, and with a slight and familiar pull on my chakra, I began to control someone's world.

ooo-OOO-OoO-OOO-ooo

"Author's" Note:

Right. I'm not all too sure why I wrote this. I've been reading fanfiction for years now, and I've written some that was consigned to the darkest depths of my Google Drive. I wrote this snippet in about a day. I guess I was going on a nostalgia binge of old SI fics I read and somehow ended up putting an SI idea I've had for a while to paper. I've always wanted to try writing a SI fic, but I also wanted to try something somewhat unique. I don't think I really succeeded, but eh.

This story, if I continue it, will probably won't be too structured. I should've been writing a Slaughterhouse-Five analysis essay when I was writing this, so I guess that was some bleedover from my real life. At the very least, it probably won't be a play by play of the SI's entire life. I don't really have anything concretely planned, so I guess I'll just wing it? I'll see how it goes, I guess.

So please. Give me lots of criticism. It's my first published thing, it's gonna be not that great. I know it's shit. Tell me how shit it is, and more importantly, where it's shit, so I can improve. Grammar, plot, dialogue, everything. If you've read this far, sorry for having you read through this unbetaed and not really self-edited mess.

I realized that I used a lot of names without much introduction, so here's a partial list? I guess? It isn't really solidified, since I was making up names and characters as I went along. So yeah, tentative names and specialties, but subject to change.

Character Reference Sheet.

Status of Characters is their status at the start of chapter one.

Jounin Fukami Sueharu, Sabotage Squad Squad Leader, (31), WIA

-Sabotage Specialist, Tracking Secondary, Scouting Tertiary

Special Jounin Fujikasa Ren, acting Squad Leader, (19)

-Kenjutsu Specialist, Ninjutsu Secondary

Senior Chuunin Itou Riku, acting Vice Squad Leader, (25)

-Ninjutsu Specialist, Taijutsu Secondary

Chuunin Kurama Amagumo, (16)

-Genjutsu Specialist, Ninjutsu Secondary

Chuunin Uchiha Satoko, (16)

-Kenjutsu Specialist, Ninjutsu Secondary

Chuunin Takagi Seiu, (18)

-Tracking Specialist, Medical Secondary

Genin Takahashi Takahiro, (13)

-Sabotage Specialist

Genin Kobayashi Shino, (14), KIA

-Scouting Specialist

Other named characters:

Special Jounin Nara Touma, Strategy Department, (22)

Jounin Soga Shoukaku, Combat Squad Squad Leader, (29)

-Taijutsu Specialist, Ninjutsu Secondary, Kyujutsu Tertiary

Jounin Hiroshi Hotaru, Vice Squad Leader, (31)

-Sojutsu Specialist, Kenjustsu secondary, Ninjutsu Tertiary

Senior Chuunin Yosa Buson, (21)

-Ninjutsu Specialist, Scouting Secondary

Chuunin Sarutobi Kasai, (17)

-Ninjutsu Specialist, Bojutsu Secondary

Chuunin Hyuuga Asahi, (16)

-Taijutsu Specialist, Tracking Secondary

Chuunin Isamu Noguchi, (18), KIA

-Stealth Specialist, Kenjutsu Secondary