"Hey, don't you think the missions we did these past few days were kinda underwhelming, not that I'm complaining but this is not exactly within the scope of my expectation." Nine couldn't help but to voice her protest towards her sole listener. These D ranks, they were nothing more but a chore. She really couldn't see for the life of her how this would help their teamwork ability. She had already heard Naruto whine enough these past few days to last a lifetime. She didn't want to hurt Kakashi's feelings but he seemed to be unable to teach a bunch of genin. He probably chucked various D ranks on them because of their inability to cohesively work together.

"Well, what did you expect? Do you really think they will directly give us outside village missions to us?" Sasuke sarcastically answered her question, he sounded very irritable lately. Was it because of her? But she didn't do anything other than her usual daily routine.

"Why are you so irritable lately?" Nine decided to bluntly ask him. After all, it was rather unpleasant to have an irritable roommate that you couldn't get rid of. His odd behaviour started after the team test, was he still angry in a matter regarding her attitudes? Sasuke didn't strike her as someone so chivalrous, but what did she know? She never claimed to understand how human's brains work in the first place.

Sasuke didn't give her an answer and kept his silence but in the end couldn't help himself and ranted, "What do you think?" He gruffly asked, "How do you feel if you're unable to move on your own? My mind is aware, I can perceive the outside world just fine, all of my bodily senses still functioning correctly. But the moment I subconsciously want to move my limbs, my body never obeys me, it keeps reminding me that I am trapped inside my own body."

Well, Nine never thought about how Sasuke must have felt for these past few years. She only perceived her position as the main pilot of the body as a matter of course, there's no need for other discussion. But it looked like Sasuke had other opinions regarding the matter. "So what..? You want to control a body of your own? Then… Let's just make one body for you!" This was one of the most plausible solutions, he would be happy and could have a free space inside her own head. Excited by the prospect, she thought of the method that was sadly unavailable for the time being. If somehow she was able to persuade Sasuke to sign a contract with her and tether her power directly into this plane, she didn't have to go out of her way to disguise her ability as seals.

"That's not what I mean... How do you plan to make a new body anyway. The only method I could think of is using forbidden techniques that I know you don't have a slightest bit of knowledge about." Sasuke was sceptical at best and downright disbelieving at worst. But he had to admit that if she really did have some knowledge needed to create a body, he wouldn't decline. In the end, it all depended on her demands. There was no way she was being generous on her offer without even a little speck of intention. As long as her demands were reasonable, they could bargain.

"Oh, I know some, learn some, and am able to do some…" Nine playfully teased him. She didn't have to let him know so early on, let him hang for a while until he was unable to let go of his curiosity then inform him. This way, it was very unlikely for him to refuse even when he knew the price. In this world, something always came with a price.

If Sasuke had a physical body, he would have stormed out of the house after he heard her response. Since he was unable to leave, he wanted to vent out for a bit, but then he considered that it was simply too childish for him to be baited by her words and gave her his usual silent treatment everytime he got angry. Faced with this, Nine wasn't very worried about this, he would ask her directly sometimes later. She could wait for years, but would Sasuke be able to defeat her in this waiting game? She highly doubted it.

They ignored each other for weeks, almost a whole month. During this time, she continued her training with team seven. Training is a bit of a stretch because of Kakashi's inability to arrive on time. He didn't really teach them anything - not that she needed him to -, but teamwork. She had an inkling that this was specifically aimed at her but she worked well enough with Naruto and Sakura to be able to completely finish the missions. Perhaps she thought too much and Kakashi really just was unable to teach genin team.

This lack of progress finally bothered Sakura enough to ask Kakashi for training instructions. She was usually quiet aside from the time she fawned over her and each time she scolded Naruto. "Sensei, why don't we do some other thing like a substantial training course?" Sakura tentatively asked Kakashi when they were finally done with today's mission, a cat chasing mission, which they did countless times already.

"Sakura-chan is right, Sensei! Let's stop these D rank missions and do some real training!" Naruto quickly chimed in, she was surprised that he hadn't protested already since a few weeks ago. Considering his hyperactiveness, Nine thought he couldn't keep his mouth shut for too long when faced with these bouts of chores disguised as a mission.

"Ma, what do you guys wanna do?" Kakashi put finally put back his orange books and asked

"Uhm, some training exercise?" Sakura hesitantly suggested, she didn't seem so sure herself.

Kakashi smiled then clapped his hands together, "Okay! Since you want it, you can run ten laps around the village every morning before gathering here then we spar, you guys versus each other. We'll take the next step from there. For now, since you already did today's mission, you can directly spar." He finished his sentences and then directly addressed her, "... and Sasuke, don't use your genjutsu." Ah,it seemed that her work was very memorable, that was only to be expected.

"Okay!" Nine cheerfully agreed on his request then the three of them walked towards the middle of the training ground. Battle royale for three people, a fight, if she could call it that. She was unenthusiastic, this already guessed that the fight wouldn't be stimulating at all. The only chance of this becoming stimulating was very small, but… if she could somehow induce that malevolent chakra to appear again, she would be able to salvage this fight. Regretfully, she didn't know the factor that induced its appearance aside from messing directly with the seal. She wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble though.

As expected, she won their fight very easily. She quickly dissabled Sakura the moment the battle started by slapping one of her fake seals on her cheek. Regarding Naruto, she forgot what she actually did, only that she was pondering about how to let that foreign chakra out when Kakashi suddenly declared her as a winner. "Sasuke, you're absentminded during the whole fight." He helpfully commented. Nine observed that Sakura was finally awake and was sitting on the ground near Kakashi. He was probably the one that moved her from the arena.

The newly recovered Naruto made a disbelieving expression, "No way! I lost to that bastard while he was being distracted?!" He jumped towards Kakashi and passionately asked him. Kakashi only let out a hum as an answer then asked her thoughts about the previous fight. "Then Sasuke-kun, what do you think about the fight?"

What did she think? "What do you mean, Sensei? The fight was only so-so, I quickly dissabled Sakura, so I don't know what I should comment about aside from the fact that she needs to match our current average power, she's the weakest link in the group. Maybe, she can put some weight on her body and exercise more, this situation proves that she won't survive if she continues to do what she is currently doing. Regarding Naruto, I don't remember what I exactly did but I knew for a fact that Naruto taijutsu moves were clumsy, he put enough power in his moves but it was ultimately useless if he never managed to land a hit. His movements may be hard to predict, but this can only be useful if his opponent doesn't vastly outmatch his speed. He needs to practice his taijutsu moves more, doing wrong actions repeatedly won't help him defeat the enemy. So, obviously speed and taijutsu moves need some fixing. But… Naruto clearly has the chakra needed to use ninjutsu but I never see him use other techniques aside from shadow clones and D ranks basic jutsu." Hearing his opinions, Kakashi sighed. He answered bluntly and ruthlessly teared his opponents weakness, he thought that Sakura's infatuation wouldn't survive when she saw this callous side of her crush. His opinions were mostly the same as what he thought of their fights.

"Kids, hear that, you need to improve unless both of you want to be continuously defeated by Sasuke every time you fight." He used Sasuke as bait to motivate them. A little bit underhanded but nothing Sasuke couldn't handle. With a readily available opponent, it would motivate people to improve.

~o0o~

They trained together for a month whilst doing some simple C ranked missions, mostly escorting merchants that needed to do something outside of the village. Nothing strenuous, this activity lasted until they were being summoned into the Hokage office and was given a mission to act as a backup for the team of chunin which took a mission in Wave Country. They encountered one of the seven mist swordsmen and were heavily injured but managed to push back the missing nin, for a price of course [1].

The journey took three days and it was after they heavily trained their bodies for a full month. When they finally arrived in front of the client's house, one of the available Konoha shinobi invited them in. Kakashi politely greeted the owner of the house and directly went upstairs. Inside, they saw two unconscious ninjas with Konoha hitai ate and asked for the report to the currently awake team's member. He reported the current situation including the death of one of them.

Nine thought that the atmosphere was strangely somber and was about to open her mouth and asked about it when Kakashi sent a warning look towards her to keep her mouth shut [2]. She obliged and listened to the report dutifully, Nine looked around and saw a somewhat horrified expression on Naruto and Sakura's face. Well, if they really want to stay in this career, they need to get used to it. There's nothing wrong with it, people born, people die, this was a cycle of life, nothing was eternal in this plane. They would then be born again, as something new... a small ant, an amphibian, a mammal, a predator, or perhaps… as a human, but never exceed their station [3].

When ninja A was done with her reports, Kakashi turned to us and began his preparation. "Naruto, use your shadow clones to watch the area and guard Tazuna-san with Sakura. Hayami-san, you stay here to guard your injured teammates. Sasuke… you go with me. Send out the standard alarm in case of emergency. Go!" Kakashi then summoned two of his dogs and assigned them ninja A and Naruto Sakura.

"Sasuke, let's go!" Nine followed him to investigate the matter directly into the nearby town. This small nation really was declining steeply, numerous stores were closed down from the economic crash. The price was ridiculously high. She could buy a pack of fresh meat for the price of rice in this town. This Gato person was very dedicated to his monetary pursuit, she could appreciate his single minded drive. But currently he didn't seem to be very smart. As a labelled 'Richest Man in Elemental Nations' he should have known that this business tactics wouldn't last long. Just wait until the commoners were unable to buy his monopolized product. Who would he sell them to then? Well, this was based on the assumption that this Gato person was not interested in wielding political power. If he was indeed interested, he could act as a lord that would subsidize the citizens of this country, in turn, they would become his subject. Very basic.

They scouted the area near his estate and found that he had more assigned ninjas than the previous reports indicated [4]. They retreated back into the woods, far from Gato's estate and discussed the next course of action. "Sensei, I think this mission is a little bit high on the ranks, with that much of a ninjas guarding him, I doubt we could directly eliminate this Gato person under their nose without alerting at least one of them." Nine assumed Kakashi's reason to scout the area was to directly eliminate the problem [5].

"Hm, this is rather impossible to complete without causing mass panic." Kakashi thought that one of them could infiltrate into the estate. "You go, we know that he would choose a woman to accompany him every week."

"..." It's not that she was unwilling, but she really was unwilling.

Recognizing his unwillingness, Kakashi persuaded Sasuke, "We could go back early if he was gone." Nine sighed and nodded, she really wanted to go home quickly [6]. They better pay her good for this trouble.

~o0o~

"Sasuke-kun, why do you have a beautiful kimono readily available inside your seal?" Sakura suspiciously asked, her eyes squinted when she saw a well made kimono Nine directly summoned. Well, what could she say? She couldn't really say that she thought that it looked good and went to buy it right? That would destroy her carefully crafted characters.

"My mother's." Nine answered quickly.

"Though, the size is a little bit larger than your stature…" Sakura trailed off when she realized that there was no way for them to use it.

She then woke Naruto up from his slumber by shaking his shoulder, "Hey Naruto, wake up!" Naruto screwed both his eyes shut then mumbled, "What is it Sakura-chan? Was my break time up already?" Right, he needed to stay guard on the night so he slept earlier.

"Naruto, how long do you need to learn that shadow clone technique?" Sakura asked him when Naruto finally had enough wits to sit properly. "Oh that! I learned it in a few minutes!" He proudly claimed as if asking for praise - he probably was.

"Then, can you teach it to Sasuke-kun?" Naruto looked disappointed, it was kind of funny. He pouted then said, "The Hokage said not to teach it to other people." It was the truth. Nine quietly watched Sakura racking her brain for a solution when she finally had enough entertainment from her struggles.

"There is no need for that, I have my own solution. Just give that kimono to me and go out, I want to change." Naruto was still confused about what was going on, but then he was finally dragged out by Sakura. The door closed and she finally was alone, Nine needed to carefully sculpt her condensed mist into a being. When she was done, it blinked its eyes, smiled, then bowed. The newly created person then straightened its back and greeted her, "Master." It smiled happily, as if seeing its most adored person that he had not seen for a very long time [7].

The newly created body was naked and she could see that there was no imperfection to be found, with long dark blue colored hair reaching its tailbone and purple eyes which shone in the dark, it striked an unusual feeling. "Which one of you this time?" Nine directly asked them, it then answered, still smiling though a little bit disappointed. "Master, you forget again… this servant is called 1A." She then hummed and directly went to the matter at hand. "You can go, I need that body."

"...Yes." The previously standing body lied down and closed its eyes, it ceased its breathing, went silent. The forever silent Sasuke finally opened his mouth and urgently asked, "What was that? Was it actually alive or not?"

"Does it matter though?" Nine asked him, no matter whether it was alive or not, the fact was this body belonged to her. "See, I could create a body. If you want…" She deliberately trailed off, not long after that she heard his answer. "I don't want this type of previously occupied body." Of course, she knew what he actually wanted. This body would only last for so long after all.

Nine crouched beside the body and touched its forehead, they merged.

~o0o~

Interlude [8]:

This was a story from long ago.

...

An unfulfilled wish chained by prayers.

One black line, mark of a sin. No black line, a devout.

This responsibility that I could not afford, unwillingness, but it was merely a thought. Never to be realized.

Indwell my body, the universal sin washed away. I reeked.

They say that they would follow me to the judgement day, but The End was already known to me a long time ago.

They passed the trial. It's thanks to me. They looked at me.

Expectantly. The last one.

The winged judge held me down. The scale tilted.

A sinner. Why am I a sinner when they can pass?

My back was open. Lines of blacks criss-crossed my back, unforgivable.

The blade went down. I waited.

~o0o~

1. Guys, I really don't want to write a detailed wave arc because honestly it was very boring. My most hated arc in the manga haha. I think, even without being affected much by Zabuza's death - thus, as a catalyst for his nindo. Naruto is inherently a good person, it won't affect much of his character development.

2. Kakashi has a sixth sense everytime Sasuke was about to spout some bullshit.

3. Yes, this is her direct acknowledgement regarding the matter of reincarnation in this world, though she only said it in her head. This fits with what we know about Ashura Indra shenanigans.

4. I think this is normal, they said Gato was titled as the richest man in elemental nations (though I don't know if this is canon or fanon at this point). Obviously he would have a good amount of bodyguards, unlike in the canon, in which he only commissioned Zabuza and Haku (plus a bunch of cannon fodder grunts) to guard his shady activities. He should have not been that stupid as to provoke Ninja directly like in the canon either. I think this was an effect of shounen antagonist IQ greatly reduced near the vicinity of protagonist :))

5. Basically, Kakashi wanted to assasinate Gato. But because of his numerous ninja bodyguards, he worried that he would cause mass unrest if the assasination was discovered. After all, there were differences between 'presumably assassinated, they know the most suspicious was the Konoha ninjas out there' and 'Konoha ninja attacked them directly in the estate and caused their employer death'. They could pretend ignorance in the first one but they could not do so in the second one. After all, most of them barely care about their employer's well being as long as they're being paid.

6. Kakashi thought that it was safer for Sasuke to infiltrate, because he needs to keep an eye on Naruto, Sakura, and the other unconscious ninjas too. So he needs to be readily available in case of emergency.

7. Remember the previously made genjutsu that trapped Kakashi? He mentioned that there were numerous souls crawling around. This is related to that. Ah yes, he's a new character, he may or may not appear later in the story, though I already completed his background information.

8. Yeah, a future character, you guys already saw him in this chapter. Basically he had a duty that [redacted] :))

A/N:

You guys tired of Wave Arc? Don't worry, me too. I'll wrapped this up in the next chapter.