I forced my eyes opened; my body ached and I could feel something small and frail under me. I was laying face-to-floor on the dark, sandy ground. I rolled over and sat up when I heard something that sounded like restless alley cat. Theo acted as my stunt mat when I fell from that…I didn't really know what it was. I stood up and dusted myself off. I was standing in a dark, four-walled room with brick walls. The damp smell of the walls was dominating and evil filled the air.
"Wait, where's…" before I could finish my sentence, the ever-delightful Molly dropped in. I was once again laying face-to-floor on the dusty ground. Molly instantly flailed about like a deaf bat, attempting to locate her backpack.
"Looking for this?" a mysterious voice echoed from behind us. We spun around simultaneously to see a pale white man holding up Molly's dark blue backpack. We instantly recognised his long black hair and his snake-like eyes. We were facing the revived Orochimaru. But he looked different; he was stick thin and his skin was a hideous off-white colour.
"O-Orochimaru" whispered Theo. Orochimaru put his hands together. We were already making our way out the door before I had a chance to see which jutsu he used. I could tell it was a new jutsu, I had never heard that name before.
"Mind Cloud Jutsu!" the room around me became dimmer and dimmer until there was no light at all.
My mind cleared and when I woke up I found myself tied to a chair. I turned to see that Molly and Theo were awake and that the backrests of our chairs formed a triangle. I scanned the room; the room was dull and the only sources of light were a few candles standing next to the damp, wooden walls. In front of me was a massive machine along with hundreds of television screens covering the wall. Each screen showed an image of an empty couch or families or couples staring us. The machine emitted a deep, back-and-forth vibration that sounded as if the computer was breathing.
"It has always amazed me how a meaningless object like a television could hold so much power, not only over you but also for me," there was that cutting voice again, demanding our attention, " it acts as a 2-way mirror, allowing you to see my world and giving me the power to see into yours."
"Is that my living room?" I stared into one of the television screens and at my messy living room and the empty couch. I was entranced by the millions of living rooms being watched by Orochimaru.
"Yeah, so what do want with us you psycho," demanded Molly.
"He wants information," I aired his intent before he could open his mouth, "information about this world that has been hidden from him."
"Clever, but that's only half of my plan," we turned to Orochimaru, wide-eyed," once I take over your jutsu-free world, you will be used as soldiers in my overthrow of this world."
"Why'd you capture all three of us, you just needed one," Theo asked.
"Unfortunately this Portal Generator is not capable of choosing its passengers," he explained," I only needed one." He pointed a finger at Theo.
"Why would you need him?"Molly shouted," he's the biggest nerd on the face of the…" Then she realised; that's why Orochimaru needed him. He had knowledge about our world and the Narutoverse.
"This machine is the ticket to my destiny," Orochimaru gloated," I had to cut a few throats and give up a large amount of chakra to fuel it, but the results were worth the trouble."
I still questioned the authenticity of our "journey to the Narutoverse" and whether it was just a prank.
"When Orochimaru used that Mind Cloud jutsu on us, my mind went blank; there is no way someone would knock us out just to prank us," I debated. I took a moment to scan my new animated body. The clothes were the same but in cartoon form. My skin was clearer and my hair was much shinier.
We watched Orochimaru fiddle with that huge machine for hours before he left the room. I pulled out my lucky pocket knife that I always carried around and started cutting away at the rope that bound my hands. I was almost through the rope when a massive explosion erupted from outside the room. The vibrations caused me lose to my grip on the pocket knife and it slipped out of my hands.
"What was that?" Molly was turned away, so she couldn't see who was standing at the door. Sakura Haruno ran up to us with a kunai and cut the ropes binding us. Theo's eyes turned to hearts as she freed him.
"You can escape the same way you got in," Sakura said hurriedly.
"I don't think that's possible," I said, earning a confused look from Sakura.
Theo made his way to the computer.
"I can't turn it on," he said," I need a password."
"What are you doing," Sakura shouted," we need to leave now!"
She grabbed Theo's hand and his face turned bright red. Molly reached for her backpack and took off. We ran out the door and down a dark, narrow passageway. At the end of the passageway was a bright light that blinded me for a few seconds. We scrambled for the bright light and before we knew it, we were experiencing the animated outside world for the first time. It felt good to smell fresh air and not damp wood.
Waiting outside were the rest of Team 7: Naruto, Sai and Sasuke. My eyes widened and the hearts in Theo's eyes grew bigger.
"I'm Sakura and this is Sasuke, Sai and Naruto," Sakura smiled," we're here to help."
Molly was overwhelmed, "Oh my gosh, you're…"
"Shhh," Naruto demanded.
"Orochimaru will be on our tail in a few seconds if we are not silent," Sai said.
"We should split up ," Sasuke explained," that way Orochimaru won't know who to chase after."
"I don't think we should…" but Sakura had already grabbed my hand before I could complete my sentence. Orochimaru only wanted one person so he would go after Theo, who was now in the care of Sasuke.
"But Orochimaru's weaker than before," Theo said, running alongside Sasuke, who was moving eastward," you can take him."
"Yeah, until he drank that elixir," Sasuke retorted, causing a worried look to spread across Theo's face.
At that moment, we heard Sai's warning scream and Orochimaru called out the name of his new jutsu.
"No!" I shouted, trying to hold onto my consciousness," Not again." We hadn't gone far enough to escape the Mind Cloud jutsu.