"W-What… W-Who… W-Why did you… I'm confused." Saimon looked at Roren, then back at their frozen party members, then back at her. "You didn't… they're not…"

"They're not dead. I just immobilised them for the time being."

"But… but why?"

"Because they would've interfered."

Leave it to Roren-chan to not say more than she needs to. Sukotto sighed. "Roren-chan, forgive me, but you can understand why we're all a little confused right now. Can we just sit down and talk about this for a second?"

Roren shook her head. "No, I don't have that much time to explain it to you. I came here to something important." She stowed the Jack she had picked up into her sleeves. She then picked up the collar of her cloak and, in one sweeping motion, whipped it off her neck.

Underneath, she wore a black jacket that fell to waist level. Its large sleeves almost completely covered her gloved hands. The jacket was zipped open, revealing a dark purple sweater. A long sash circled around her waist, tied in a knot at the side, coming down elegantly to the knees of her studded pants. Jewellery adorned every part of her body; her ears, neck, wrists and hands bore many glittering bangles and chains of gold and diamond.

"What's this thing you have to do?" The bad feeling Sukotto had accumulated in his stomach grew, and he already knew the answer, seeing the smile she used to give him everyday outside the school.

"Think of it as a test." She brought her arms out to her sides, where blue energy began to gather. Crystals of ice formed inside her hands, and as she bent down into a crouching position, the ice formed jagged claw blades that she held with a determination that Sukotto knew all too well.

"Get ready guys, "Sukotto said, transforming his key. "Roren-chan wants to fight."

"WHAT?" Saimon looked at everyone with a shocked expression. "C'mon guys, that's craziness! We can't fight each other!"

"She's not giving us much of an option, Sai-kun," Meari pulled out a kunai, and looked at Saimon as he gasped. "Don't worry! We'll win, and then we'll make her spill everything!"

Roren laughed. "That's very bold of you."

Meari returned the laugh. "Well, it's true."

Sukotto sighed. "Roren-chan…"

"Sukotto-kun, there's no going around this. If you hold back…"

"…I won't."

Saimon sighed, and pulled out his swords. "Craziness, I tell you."

Mission Time #4: Friendly Fire?

Roren just appeared out of nowhere, and now she's demanding a fight! Not only that, but half your party has been frozen into blocks of ice! There are a lot of questions with no answers, but there's one in particular we're all wondering; what is this new-found friend capable of? If you hope to answer any of these, you'd better fight and win! With Roren-chan, who knows what's going to happen if you lose?

Rewards: A whole lot of solved mysteries.

…BEGIN!

"WEEE!" Meari charged at Roren, kunai in hand. She swung it up to attack the face, but Roren had already brought up a guard. The knife hit one of the ice claws that Roren had conjured, which deflected the blade without a scratch. "Huh? What is that?" She looked at the crystal that had stopped her attack. "Is that normal ice?"

Roren smiled. "No." She disengaged the kunai and swung a clawed hand up for an uppercut. Meari back flipped out of range, landing a few feet away. "It's reinforced by my MP."

"MP?"

"Another name for chakra, you could say. It won't melt in heat, and it's extremely hard." She swiped her hand, sending a claw flying at Meari. The ninja jumped out of the way, letting the claw fly towards Saimon, who was standing in front of Sukotto in their Spell caster's Guard Formation.

Whoa! He brought his sword up and shouted, "Sun! Grow and defend! I reject!" The crystal hit the shield and plunged right into it, barley stopping in front of Saimon's body. "That…was close…" He yanked the crystal out and tossed it over his shoulder. You throw those things too fast!"

"Ow! Saimon-kun!"

"Oh, sorry, Sukotto-kun! 'Forgot you were behind me!"

"Now I have to start all over!"

So ice is her thing, huh? Meari stared at Roren, crouching in the branches of a large oak. She retreated further into it and started a series of hand signals. Then let's see how she handles this. Meari dived from her hiding place to another tree across the road, while bringing her hand to her mouth and crying. "Fireball Jutsu!" The resulting fireball flew at Roren, who was engulfed. Meari landed on another tree on the other side of the open path. She turned to see what her attack had done and saw Roren standing without a burn.

"I told you, this ice won't melt." She taunted, laughing. Meari then saw it; a thin barrier of mist had fizzled out the fireball.

"Oh cool! Lemme guess! You pumped more- MP, right? - into your ice claws, and then broke it into smaller parts. That formed lots of little tiny ice crystals that were cold enough to freeze the water in the air, which cooled and smothered the fireball. Right?" Roren's laugh stopped. "Yay! I did!" She looked at Roren and pulled a book out of her backpack. "Chapter 22 of the Ninja Academy Student Guide; How to Discern An Enemy's Use of Chakra! I got good marks in that one!" Meari stowed the book back with loving care.

"So," Roren said as the mist around her dissipated, "you've certainly realised by now that I was freezing your feet to the tree?"

"Oh yeah, I knew- wha'?" Meari looked at her feet. "Uh-oh." As Roren's mist had disappeared, Meari realised that Roren had been collecting the ice underneath her. Meari's feet were now encased in a solid block of ice that was connected to the tree. She tried to yank her feet out with her hands, ("Darn it! I can't… get 'em… out! Wah!") but to no avail. Instead, the ice quickly formed over her hands, and Meari was officially stuck. "This is bad…" She hollered over her shoulder. "Guys! I'm kinda stuck! Keep Roren-chan busy for a little bit while I get outta here!"

Roren turned towards Saimon, who gulped. "Why didn't you attack me while I was busy with Meari-chan?"

"What? Why would I do something dirty like that?!"

"That kind of thinking will get you killed someday." She charged, forming more ice claws in her hand. "Don't let a single opportunity go by!"

"Now, Saimon-kun!" Saimon jumped up at this call, and Roren saw Sukotto standing behind him, holding a Card at the end of his staff. "SUN!" A blast of light erupted from his staff, forming into a powerful laser. Roren dodged to the right, not slowing down at all. Sukotto tried a few more times, but Roren evaded every one of the sunbeams.

As she got near enough to attack, Saimon landed back down and ran at her, swords ready. They neared each other, she jumped, and he swung. Saimon's attack made contact with a block of ice as Roren jumped off his head ("OW!") and sent a massive snowball at Sukotto, who got hit and was knocked against a tree ("OOF!").

"Is that really all you guys have got!?" Roren said, sighing. "I don't even know why I bothered to-" She jumped back as a metal chain whipped towards her. It struck the ground, and then flew back to its owner- Meari. "I thought I bound your hands."

"You did." Meari giggled as the chain wrapped itself around her like a snake. "Chapter 46; Channelling Chakra into Inanimate Objects." The chain flexed again, and fired itself at Roren. She jumped out of the line of fire, but the weapon altered its course in midair and struck her on the arm.

"You are persistent, aren't you?" Roren huffed, clutching her arm. Meari nodded. "How long do you think you can keep up that chain of yours?"

"Hopefully just until I can do… this." Meari bent the chain around the ice that was binding her. She closed her eyes and her chakra level began to rise. The chain began to glow red, and Meari cried, "Salamander Chain Jutsu!" The chain ignited, and the ice began to melt. Soon, Meari stowed her chain back to her backpack and dropped to the ground. "If your ice was using your own MP to keep it cold, I just had to use more of mine to counteract yours and cause it to melt."

"So, maybe you all aren't hopeless." Roren formed her claws into a new weapon; a small dagger. "Come on, I don't have all day!" The two brought their knives to ready, and charged. Their knives began to click endlessly together, causing sparks to fly. Each would strike, parry the other's attack, disengage and repeat. In the flurry of activity, Roren caught Meari in the chin with a well-aimed punch. "Heehee! Better watch it!" Anyone who knew Roren well knew that she was having the time of her life at that moment.

Meari dropped onto her hands and caught Roren in the arm with a strong roundhouse. As she got back up to her feet to continue the fight, a small patch of ice formed underneath her, causing her to slip. "Ah!"

"HAHAHA!" Roren twirled her dagger in the air and brought it up to swing; but found something stopping her from doing so. She felt a similar sensation at her legs. She looked to her hands and feet and saw they were bound by a blue chain and the Air respectfully. Behind these attacks: Saimon and Sukotto, standing one on each side of her. "What are you doing?"

"Taking your advice, Roren-chan!" Saimon waved a blue chain above his head. "My sword can turn into a chain, too!"

"Meari-chan isn't going down without a fight! If you try to use your ice attacks, Meari can take care of them. You can't move, and your weapons won't be able to cut you out of our trap. It's over!"

"I'm afraid it is. You guys are out of time." Roren reached with some difficulty into her sleeve and pulled out three playing cards. "I have to go." With a flick of her wrist, a card was sent to each of the trio, landing at their feet. With a bright flash, all three cards exploded, causing smoke to envelop the whole area. As the visibility dropped, Sukotto felt the Air lose its grip on Roren's legs. Oh crap, what's she doing now? Sukotto reached to pull out another Card, when he felt a pulse of intense mana come out of one of them. Yanking out that Card, Sukotto found himself looking at the Libra, from which a large amount of power was radiating. Are you trying to tell me something? Sukotto looked at his staff, and shrugged, throwing the Card in the air;

Card mastered by Sakura,

I ask thee to discard thy former self

And reincarnate

Under the name

Sukotto swung his staff down as the Card fell back down to him;

Of your new master Sukotto!

Sukotto staggered as an immense amount of chakra began to pour from the Card. This isn't normal! Something about this Card is different then all the rest… He regained his composure and tried to finish the transformation;

Under our new contract

I grant you the name;

…Scale?

While the mana pouring from the Card didn't cease, nothing happened. Sukotto dropped to his knees as another pulse of mana overwhelmed him. Damn it, this is bad! What else could I name it?

I grant you the name;

…Constellation?

Again, nothing happened. This is one tough Card to name! Of all times to do this, why'd it have to be now?!!

"Having trouble, Sukotto-kun?" Sukotto winced as a sharp crystal was pressed to his throat. Roren reached out and grabbed the Card from behind its captor. The mana stopped pouring from it, and Sukotto found it a little easier to breathe. "Well, if you're not going to be using it…" She flipped over him and landed in front, dangling the Card in front of him.

"Roren-chan! Give that back! That's important!"

She looked at the Card. "You think it would sell for a lot?"

"ROREN-CHAN! GIVE IT BACK, NOW! DON'T JOKE AROUND LIKE THAT!"

Roren gave Sukotto a serious look. "If you want it back, you'd better hurry to the next world. I might decide I don't want to keep it and use it to get rich. Chances are this would go for quite the fortune." She turned and walked into the cloud of smoke until she disappeared. "So, get a move on!" Then there was silence.

Mission Failed

---

"You guys okay?" The smoke finally began to clear, and Saimon was able to distinguish his friends' silhouettes.

"Yup, I'm alright. I think she missed us on purpose." Meari waved the smoke out of her face. "This stuff smells really bad."

"You okay, Sukotto-kun?"

"I'm fine, but," he made his way over to the rest of them as the last of the smoke was blown away, "Roren-chan stole it."

"Stole? Stole what?"

"The Libra." Sukotto looked at his staff, and hung his head. "That was a really important Card. I could feel it… It was as though it was asking me to be transformed… But… But I couldn't do it! And now I may never see it again!"

"Sukotto-kun, maybe Roren-chan changed a little over the last year-"

"She didn't change at all, Sai-kun."

"-but," Saimon continued, "if I know her, she wouldn't just steal something important to you because she felt like it. Before we started she said she had a reason to fight us. Even though we don't know that reason, I'm sure she had good intentions, and I'm pretty sure the Libra is in safe hands. And whether she's on the other side of the world or in another one entirely, we'll find her, get your Card back and get some questions answered"

"…Thanks, Saimon-kun."

"No sweat."

"Uh, guys? The team's defrosting." The boys looked, and sure enough, they could see that the ice holding their group was melting away.

---

"WHAT? WE MISSED THE WHOLE THING?!" They were all seated around a fire, the newly re-animated four trying to warm themselves up. The trio had just described the happenings of that afternoon, and Naruto was taking it a little hard. "WHY COULDN'T THEY JUST FREEZE SASUKE?!"

"I can't believe I let myself get caught in the same trap as Naruto…"

"I was so close to Sasuke…Just one little movement of my arm…"

"So, this Roren-chan is another one of your friends?" The three nodded to Kakashi. "Well, she must be very talented."

Sukotto moved very little, staring into the fire. I know it couldn't be helped, but somehow if I was able to act a little quicker, maybe I could've… He stood up quickly startling the others. "Sensei! I want to start tonight's training right now!"

Kakashi looked at Sukotto with an interested expression. "Oh? Did we find some extra motivation?"

"I can't believe I've taken so long to think about this!" Sukotto ran inside a tent and brought out a chain. "Well, we need to get started right away!" He ran over to Sasuke. "Quick! Put this on!"

Sasuke looked at Sukotto as though he were a cockroach. "You must be joking. There's no way I'm starting right now. I'm tired and my legs still feel numb. Give me an hour."

Sukotto's eyes flared as he stared at Sasuke with as much hatred and anger as he could muster. "Put. It. On. Now." Fires blazed in his eyes, and a cold wind began to blow through the camp, extinguishing the fire. Sasuke shivered, and then slowly bent down to pick up the chain. He attached the chain and stood up hesitantly. "Okay."

"Naruto-kun?" Sukotto turned slowly over to Naruto, who took off into the forest in a flash. Sukotto and Sasuke ran after him, and there was silence.

"What…was that?" Kakashi and Sakura stood, staring at the spot where the three boys had disappeared.

Meari and Saimon sat drinking their tea, undaunted. Saimon looked up at the stares of the other two. "I guess we forgot to mention how Sukotto-kun gets like that."

Meari stretched. "It'll be useless trying to stop them. Kotto-kun's in competition mode." Meari looked at the remnants of the fire. "Although, that's never happened before."

"Well, he's a magician now. That kinda stuff is gonna start happening all the time…"

"I wanna learn how to do the eyes-on-fire thing…"

"Me too…"

The group sat in silence for a while, until Kakashi spoke up. "Well, in that light, why don't we all start training early?" The three nodded. "Okay, then. Let's get going." Sakura and Meari left for the other side of the forest while Kakashi and Saimon made their way down the road. Before leaving, Meari turned back to give Saimon a worried glance. He smiled and waved, then turned to follow Kakashi.

"I hope he comes back okay this time." Meari turned to see Sakura watching the two as well.

"Yeah…me too." The girls waited until both of them had disappeared down the bend, then walked into the forest and began their fight.

Jeez, that was a LONG one… oww my fingers haha

I don't have an Omake for you this chapter, but instead, I have a mission! For the next chapter, I'd like to start the first Interview with the Characters! WOOT! I'll be asking Saimon-kun questions (if you didn't know by now, the OC's in this story are indeed my real friends with pseudo-names) and if you have anything you'd like to ask our resident swordsman, please send me a message, leave a review or contact me in another manner! Rude, sexual questions will, of course, be ignored. Questions about crushes and embarrassing moments will not be!

Happy Reading!