Ink's Notes:

Hi again! I have another update here for you. I've also figured out around when this story is taking place, in part due to who I've picked from the One Piece world to appear and who they wound up encountering when they arrived. For the Naruto world, this is taking place sometime before Itachi's death, but sometime after Orochimaru's death. For the One Piece world, this is taking place just after the Straw Hat Pirates leave for Fishman Island. Hopefully that clears up any temporal confusion you may have. Anyway, on with the chapter!

Chapter Twenty

Sakura was woken up early the next morning by the sound of Vivi screaming and Carue quacking at the top of his lungs. When she'd charged out into the living room – where she'd set Vivi up on the couch until further notice – to investigate, she found Vivi hiding herself behind the couch while Carue attempted to fend Naruto off with one of the kitchen chairs and Marco sat, in phoenix form, on her kitchen table, covering his eyes with his wings in sheer exasperation.

"…Naruto…" Sakura seethed through clenched teeth, making her presence known. Everyone in the room (aside from Marco, who was still covering his eyes) looked over at her, and Naruto broke out in a nervous sweat. He backed away towards the window that she'd left open – which, now that she thought about it, was pointless since Marco had permission to do his research freely – as Carue began jabbing the chair at him like a sword.

"Um… Carue, you can put the chair down…" Vivi quickly spoke up, and Carue quacked, saluted, and put the chair back where he'd found it. Naruto was about to leap out the window when Marco fluttered into his path and pecked him back into the apartment, where a well-placed punch to the top of the head courtesy of Sakura left him in a whimpering heap in the center of her apartment's living room.

"Sakura-Chan…" Naruto whined, his lower lip quivering as he sniffled from the pain.

"Um… Sakura-San, who is this?" Vivi asked, pointing to her teammate. "He… reminds me of someone. I… believe his name was… Luffy?"

Marco let out something vaguely resembling a snort. When Sakura looked over at him, she noticed that he was doing his best to keep himself from laughing as Naruto turned to Vivi in confusion. "Loo-fee?" he asked. "And what do you mean, reminds me of?"

"Vivi has amnesia," Sakura quickly cut in. "Gaara found her in Suna about a month ago, and asked us to bring her back here with us. She's staying with me in hopes that meeting people in Konoha and seeing other new places will help bring her memories back. So far, it's been working."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "I… thought I could get some more stealth training in, but I didn't know such a pretty girl would be sleeping on the couch…"

That time, it was both Sakura and Carue that hit him over the head.

Before any further punishment could be dealt or any further comments could be made, Vivi spoke up. "Um… Sakura-San, Marco-San, we need to get going… Lady Hokage-Sama wanted to see us first thing in the morning today, remember?"

Sakura and Marco processed this information, before Sakura yelped and ran back into her room to get ready, while Marco practically dragged Naruto over to the window and pointed outside. "Out, yoi!" he ordered, and Naruto quickly complied to avoid the bird's vengeful wrath. Sakura returned about twenty minutes later to find Marco in human form helping Vivi make breakfast for all of them, and another twenty minutes later, after they'd all eaten, they left for the Hokage's office. Sakura was walking alongside Vivi, who was riding on Carue's back, with Marco in phoenix form again flying overhead. Just before they entered the building, he flew down and landed on Sakura's shoulder.

"All this changing back and forth is beginning to get kind of annoying," Marco complained as they arrived outside of Tsunade's office. The four entered, and Marco was about to change back to his human self when he noticed the strange man with bandages on his face standing across from the Hokage.

"Sakura. Marco. Vivi. Carue," Tsunade waved them over, and Vivi slid off of Carue's back before moving over with the others. "Good to see you made it."

"Hokage-Sama," Vivi greeted with a bow, and Carue quacked and saluted. "Um, is this a bad time?" she questioned, glancing over at the bandaged man.

Before Tsunade could respond, the bandaged man turned to them. "No, of course not," he spoke up. Sakura felt Marco tense up on her shoulder, and spared him a quick glance to see his expression – one of distrust – before turning to the man she knew as Danzo. "We were actually discussing the mission that the Hokage was about to give to you." He adjusted his stance slightly before continuing. "As I understand it, she wants the four of you to travel the lands to search for anyone else who was hit by the jutsu that sent you here and take the appropriate course of action based on who that person is and how much of a threat they are towards Konoha." Vivi was about to speak up, but he held up a hand to tell her to wait. "And before you say that no one would want to attack us, keep in mind that you cannot possibly know the true nature of everyone who may or may not have been sent here. While it's perhaps true that so far, the only ones we know about – that being you three – have had no animosity towards us, it's entirely possible that others would, or have been found by someone who could have talked them into going against us."

Vivi bit her lip, and Danzo smiled, knowing he'd made his point. Tsunade groaned and rested her elbow on her table, pressing her forehead into her fist. "Danzo wants me to send a member of Root along with you guys in case things get out of hand, however I'm trying to tell him that the three of you are perfectly capable of dealing with anything that comes your way."

"I've heard that Marco was able to assist in the capture of an A-Rank missing-nin," Danzo acknowledged. "However, it would be wise to send someone of a higher rank than a Chunin," he shot a glance at Sakura, "For such a potentially dangerous mission."

"Yoi," Marco spoke up, bringing Danzo's attention to him. "I'm perfectly capable of handling anyone that tries to hurt my nakama. We don't need you sticking some spy into our group to try and figure out our secrets or try to copy down our techniques."

Danzo's visible eye narrowed, before he closed it and took a step backwards. "Is that what you really believe?" he asked. "I simply have the best interests of the village in mind. If you were to be caught by a potential enemy and it was revealed you were from Konoha…"

"If… secrecy is such an issue, why don't we use a cover story?" Vivi cut in. "I could be… a princess from a faraway land, traveling to see new places. Sakura is a bodyguard I hired from Konoha, and Marco is her summon animal."

Tsunade smirked. "If you're so insistent on sending a more talented shinobi than Sakura, I could ask someone like Kakashi to go with them," she offered.

Danzo frowned. "…No. He's too easily recognized, and would just draw attention to their little… group." He turned away. "I'll trust your judgment for now, Tsunade. However, if I get word that something has gone wrong, I will be sending in Root to clean up their mess." With that, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"…I don't like him, yoi," Marco flatly stated. "He seems shady. I don't trust him."

Tsunade massaged her forehead. "Well, now you guys know why you're here. Sakura, I'm putting you on this mission because you seem to have a knack for attracting these people, and they seem to like you. Besides, you know how to report back to us. The other two-" Carue quacked. "…Three will hopefully be able to recognize anyone that got sent here by the same jutsu that they were sent here by. In the meantime," she pointed at them. "We'll do research here to see if we can find a way to reverse that jutsu and send you guys home."

"Ah- Thank you, Hokage-Sama," Vivi bowed. "My family must be worried sick about me…" She paused, and Sakura reasoned she was faking recalling her family.

Tsunade sighed. "Gather your supplies and leave as soon as possible. The less time potentially dangerous people we know nothing about are wandering around, the better."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Sakura gently bowed, before leading Vivi and Carue out of the office. Marco adjusted himself on her shoulder, and she smiled at him. "Don't worry, Marco. It's gonna be okay."

"…I know," he nodded, before he sighed. "I just miss my crew."

Sakura gently stroked his head. "Hey, don't worry. You have me here with you."

Marco paused and looked at her, before understanding passed through his eyes and he smiled. "…Yeah. Part of my crew is here with me."

So ends the chapter! Hmm, out of curiosity, do you think I should reply to reviews in these bottom notes? It'd give me something to talk about down here...

-Ink