Kurama received the mission instructions two days later at the Hokage's office.

With a quick knock and the Sandaime's muffled invitation to come in, Kurama was soon standing before the Hokage.

He had done a lot of thinking in the past two days, on how to track down Orochimaru and who to bring with him.

The first person his mind had gone to was Genma. As an ANBU operative, he had the stealth, strength and tactical thinking needed for this mission. Another reason why Kurama was inclined to bring Genma was because he was somewhat familiar with the man. Although they have only spoken on two separate occasions, Kurama knew from his time that the other was reliable, well-rounded and a quick thinker.

The next person Kurama had considered was Yamato, who was currently in ANBU and likely part of Kakashi's squad. Though the Yamato of this time was young, being barely fifteen in age, his mokuton would be helpful in flushing out the snake. It was also likely that Yamato had faced, or at the very least seen Orochimaru in action so he had knowledge of the other's techniques. This would undoubtedly help with their battle plan. However, with the mokuton user's history as Orochimaru's test subjects, Kurama was still deciding whether it would be mentally healthy for Yamato to be on the team. At the moment, it was apparent that the pros of bringing him outweighed the potential downsides.

As for the last member … Kurama had ultimately decided that he would not bring Kakashi because he had a plan. The idea came to him around a week ago and he had been mulling over it since.

He wanted Kakashi to stay in the village to mentor Uchiha Itachi because if it all worked out, it would be the sure-fire way of preventing the massacre.

When he was asked about Uchiha Itachi's age, the Hokage had said that the Uchiha heir was ten which meant that Kurama only had three years or so before the massacre happened. The main problem was that the Uchiha clan was segregated from the rest of the village in more ways than one. The Uchiha compound was on the outskirts of the village, furthest from the Hokage's Tower. The Uchiha police force consisted predominantly of Uchiha shinobi. The fact that the Uchiha were very powerful in their own right with their sharingan and their specialisation in katon jutsu only served to fuel the people's fear. It was a vicious cycle where the rest of the village feared and ostracised the Uchihas and the Uchiha clan kept to themselves, further separating themselves from the village. And despite all the work they put into the village and maintaining peace, the Uchiha felt underappreciated.

The tipping point had to be the Kyuubi's attack. Knowing that only the sharingan could control the beast, people pointed fingers and whispered amongst themselves. Thus, the Uchiha found themselves completely isolated and alone. From that point, the plan to overthrow the Hokage and rebel took root.

This plan must be thwarted as soon as possible. Kurama had to somehow force the Uchiha elders and leader to discard this plan. He had to make them see that a coup was the last thing they wanted. He had to reverse their hatred towards the village, maybe by making them feel appreciated and erasing the village's doubt.

Kurama knew that it had been Tobi who manipulated the Kyuubi to attack the village. He needed to expose him, to show the village that it wasn't the clan's agenda but an outsider's. Yet he was not sure if revealing that Uchiha Obito was the mastermind would be too much of a bomb-drop for both Kakashi and the Uchiha clan.

Kakashi would crumble if he knew. He had only just begun to heal.

No, Kurama had to find another way around this. Kurama needed to think about it later, perhaps after Orochimaru was dead and preferably without any means of reviving himself. For now, his focus must be on the snake Sannin.

He needed allies. His goal in bringing down the snake was secondary. The massacre was at the front of his mind, his biggest obstacle at the present. To tackle that, he needed allies, he needed to set things in motion.

Steering Uchiha Itachi towards Kakashi would be the first step to bridging the gap between the clan and the village. If others saw how Itachi and Kakashi were working together despite the bad blood between the clan and Kakashi, which arose because of Kakashi's sharingan, it would show a different side of the Uchiha – a more village-orientated side, with a loyalty to the Hokage.

Another upside to this arrangement was that Kakashi could train Itachi and as Kakashi was a sharingan-user, Itachi would be without his kekkei genkai advantage. While Itachi could easily just find training partners in members of his clan, Kakashi would be a new opponent with different fighting techniques. This way, Itachi would be forced to adapt and think differently.

As for Kakashi, who was yet to be familiar with his sharingan, this would serve as an excellent opportunity for him to observe and fight another sharingan user in action. While Kakashi lacked the stamina that the Uchiha were blessed with, which allowed them to use their sharingan efficiently without expending unnecessary chakra, Kurama was certain that the silver-haired nin would find a way around this shortcoming.

Kurama found no downsides to this plan. All he needed was the Hokage's approval, and as the Hokage himself was eager for a solution to the Uchiha problem, there was no reason why he wouldn't be happy with this arrangement.

So, he needed Kakashi in Konoha, working with Itachi to work towards bringing the Uchiha closer to the rest of the village while Kurama tackled the Orochimaru problem. After much consideration, he decided that having another Uchiha on the plan was ideal. If the Sandaime sent an Uchiha on a team on such an important mission, it would show the Uchiha clan that the Hokage trusted them; had faith that an Uchiha would get the job done. Additionally, it would show the village that the Hokage believed the success of capturing and decapitating Orochimaru hinged on this team, on an Uchiha.

It was a good plan. A bit rough around the edges, but a solid start in the right direction. The village would only get stronger with the Uchiha alive. All Kurama needed to do, in essence was to steer them in the right direction.

Itachi was very strong. Kurama had no qualms about Itachi being an asset to the village. Not only was the raven-haired nin physically capable, as Kurama recalled the handful of times he had crossed paths with the Itachi in his time and how the other had an air around him that intimidated Kurama despite his best efforts to remain calm. Itachi was dedicated. Kurama was certain that once Itachi recognised what he was trying to do by pairing him with Kakashi, the younger would align himself to Kurama's plans. After all, the Itachi in his time had been willing to sacrifice anything and everything for his village. Dedication didn't even begin to describe the devotion Uchiha Itachi had for Konoha.

And with Itachi being an asset in the village … Kurama was sure the other would rise up the ranks in a couple of years. If he joined ANBU, Itachi would most likely be recommended to be commander before he reached twenty. And if he didn't, Kurama entertained the possibility of Itachi being Hokage one day. With his passion and coolheadedness, Itachi would undoubtedly make a good Hokage. Konoha would flourish.

A lifetime ago, Kurama would never have entertained the thought of another becoming Hokage. It was his life's dream after all. But now … he felt content where he was now. He no longer had the desire to lead the village. This wasn't his Konoha, a home to his precious people. There was no Sakura running back to back shifts at the hospital, no Tsunade threatening to throttle him for calling her a hag, no Kakashi-sensei with his ridiculous excuses for turning up three hours late to their training sessions.

Most of all, the villagers and shinobi didn't know him.

To him, they were strangers wearing familiar faces. And he was tired of the politics and diplomacy. He had seen first hand the manipulating and manoeuvring Tsunade had to painstakingly come up with when things didn't go her way. He was tired of the games, he wanted no part of it. All he wanted was his precious people to be safe.

The Hokage was only mildly baffled at his choice of teammates, but Kurama was nothing but determined to see this through. As he revealed the backbone of his plan to join the Uchiha clan and the village once more, Sandaime's eyes widened in understanding. There was an eagerness to the Hokage's movements as he sipped his tea.

"I will brief the others," the Hokage decided and Kurama let out a breath he didn't realise he had held. It would be easier this way.

"When did you want to leave for mission?"

'As soon as possible' was at the tip of his tongue when Kurama realised that he needed to take care of the Kakashi and Itachi side of things first before he left. While the Hokage said that he was going to inform the pair, Kurama felt it was necessary that he dropped the bomb on Kakashi first. At that thought, Kurama bit back a wince. Hopefully that wouldn't go too badly because after all, he had not asked the silver-haired jounin whether he wanted to train with Itachi. Kurama fought the urge to sigh as a 'no' from either party would seriously through a wedge in his plans.

He had gone home after his meeting with the Third, his thoughts centering around how to break it to Kakashi on his way back. He had planned to go home, think about it for bit and if the solution failed to present itself to him, Kurama would turn in for the night and deal with it in the morning. The plan went down the drain when he detected a familiar chakra signal in his home. Landing lightly in front of his doorstep, Kurama ran a tired hand through his locks. Great, he had no time to prepare. Unlocking the door, he shucked his sandals before nodding to his unexpected house guest.

Nursing a cup of hot tea, Kakashi was sitting at his table and looking so comfortable with his ankles crossed and a content smile gracing his features. Kurama hid the faint amusement that crossed his face when the other hummed in greeting. He had come a long way with Kakashi as his mind casted him back to when the other was still suspicious of the blond's intentions.

'He still is,' his mind tactlessly supplied. While most of the suspicion was gone, Kurama knew that there was an internal war raging within the younger. It was a war between trusting Kurama or keeping his guard up.

Kurama was far from offended by it. A shinobi could never be too careful, although he hoped in time Kakashi would find it in him to have faith in Kurama.

"There's something bothering you."

Kurama glanced up from where he was staring at the table top, having been lost in his thoughts. Kakashi must have seen the stillness in Kurama, for he frowned slightly.

Kurama did not immediately respond, and instead took his time to gather his thoughts.

He gestured to Kakashi's hidden eye, "have you done much training with your eye?"

Of all the things that the other could be dealing with, his eye was not something Kakashi expected Kurama to be bothered about.

Blinking back his confusion, Kakashi shook his head.

The Uchiha despised the fact that an outsider had access to their precious kekkai genkai and they could do nothing as the Hokage put his foot down when they kicked up a fuss about retrieving Obito's eye. There was no doubt the Uchiha would not divulge anything regarding the sharingan to him. Thus, Kakashi had no way of understanding how his eye worked barring his own experimentation, which he had to fumble through himself. He did not want to try anything on a comrade, just in case he accidentally crippled a fellow shinobi and so had to resort to playing around with it.

Kurama looked almost grim and Kakashi was surprised when the other bit his lip. Was Kurama nervous? It was the first time Kakashi had seen the other like this, as if he was unsure. By the minute, Kakashi was getting more and more confused.

"The Hokage and I spoke," Kurama began, blue eyes pinned onto his grey one. "We believe that a spar with another sharingan user would be useful."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose in surprise. A spar with an Uchiha? While it would shed light on the intricacies of how the sharingan worked, allowing Kakashi to maybe find blind spots and weaknesses in the kekkai genkai, it was simply-

"Impossible."

There was no way the Uchiha clan would allow for this. Kakashi fought the urge to shake his head in emphasis. No way.

Despite all that, Kurama only smiled knowingly.