Thanks everyone for supporting me and my stories. Please R/R! It helps keep me motivated to write lol.
I do not own Naruto nor will I ever.


Chapter 3: Battle for the Scroll

Sumiko and the Akatsuki were almost at the Cloud Village when Daisuke paused. Sumiko stopped and glanced at the fox. "What is the matter Daisuke-kun? You know we must hurry, time is of the essence."

"Sumiko-sama, I sense four ninja of semi-formidable strength heading towards the Cloud Village also. These ninja are Leaf ninja." The fox replied, glancing apprehensively ahead.

"Leaf shinobi huh. Should we take care of them Itachi-san or continue?" Kisame asked. He was itching for a fight, but not if it compromised the mission.

"This is a dangerous mission and we don't want heavily involve Sumiko-san in it. Kisame, you and I will go on to deal with the pathetic Leaf Ninja. Sasori, please guard Sumiko as she retrieves the scroll." Itachi replied and started walking towards the Leaf ninja when Sumiko grabbed his arm.

"Itachi-san, take Daisuke with you. He can track the ninja easily and lead you back to me and Sasori if we get separated." Daisuke looked as though the last thing he wanted was to be away from Sumiko, but he knew if she commanded it, he would obey.

Itachi nodded and with that, Daisuke led the way followed by Itachi and Kisame. Sasori turned to Sumiko. "We must hurry and accomplish this. The interference of other ninja is something we can do without."

Sumiko nodded. "Sasori, I see the gates of the village. Let's go." With that, they dashed to the walls of the village and ran up them and continued on their way to the scroll.


Sakura stopped immediately and Naruto glanced over at her. Sai and Yamato stopped also. Naruto went over to Sakura who was looking around. "Hey Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"

"I sense something. Four ninjas. Wait a moment: two of them are coming this way, but two are heading towards the Cloud Village. Yamato-san, the chakra of these two ninjas is extremely strong." Sakura stuttered. This power… it's scaring me…

Sai closed his eyes. "I feel it too. They're strong… very strong." At that moment, Itachi and Kisame appeared before them. A little red fox followed them.

The fox looked at the ninja, but his gaze remained fixed on Naruto. "That one is the Nine Tailed Fox, am I correct?" The fox asked Itachi, who merely nodded. The fox glanced at Sakura. "That one sensed your presences Itachi-san and Kisame-san. We must not fail in our mission."

Kisame reached for his sword while Itachi allowed the Sharingan to come into his eyes. Naruto started his assault on Itachi with Yamato supporting him while Sakura and Sai charged Kisame. The red fox merely walked out of the scene and watched the events unfold on the battlefield. Itachi used his Mangekyou Sharingan and put Naruto into the powers of Tsukiyomi. After which, Naruto fainted, but the demon fox did not emerge to enter the fray. Yamato began to fight Itachi and as they were distracted by the battle, Daisuke merely walked on top of Naruto.

Waves of chakra began to rise from Daisuke as he put his paws on Naruto's stomach. "The power of your demon shall restore me to my former glory." Daisuke announced, but before he could do anything, Yamato pressed a seal against his head. The fox collapsed and the chakra vanished. With Yamato distracted, Itachi struck him unconscious. When Naruto collapsed, Sakura became distracted and was knocked out. Sai, knowing the defeat was inevitable, grabbed all three of his teammates and used a teleportation jutsu.

Daisuke regained consciousness at this time, "Damn, they got away, but they are heading back to the Leaf Village so they shouldn't be a threat to Sumiko-sama or the Akatsuki for a while. Let's head to the Cloud Village." Before the fox could get too far, Itachi grabbed him by his tail and looked at him.

"You tried to absorb the Demon Fox's chakra. Do that again and we will not care about your relationship with Sumiko-san and kill you for attempting to stand in the way of the Akatsuki's goals." With that said, Itachi dropped the fox harder than intended yet still waited for him to lead the way. Grumbling, Daisuke led the way to the Cloud Village.


Sumiko and Sasori were inside the Raikage's scroll storage room. The area was very dusty and according to Sasori, loaded with traps. He checked and after disabling every trap, Sumiko lead the way to a very heavy scroll. She picked it up and did some hand signs to reduce its size. She nodded and they were exiting the building, but the Raikage himself had to notice them. The worst thing was the fact of who he recognized.

"Hmm… So I was right about the Akatsuki wanting the Scroll of the Skies, but to think that Sumiko of the Red Dress would actually help an organization of criminals? This is rich! What happened to your loyalty to the Wind Country? Were you so easily bought off? Do you know that being a Scroll Society member makes it so that as you steal these valuable scrolls and act against their will, you are slowly killing yourself?"

Sumiko said nothing but looked into the Raikage's eyes. They had a glaring contest when Sasori spoke up, "Sumiko is nothing more than a mere pawn. She is not important to the Akatsuki." Sumiko's gaze did not waver from the Akatsuki, but there was an unmistakable twitch of annoyance that only Sasori would notice.

The Raikage laughed, "You don't even stand up for yourself. I meet you when you were younger, but you seemed to have grown cold and apathetic to the world haven't you Sumiko-san? Did you become an emotionless puppet just like Sasori?"

At this, Sumiko said nothing, but her hands twitched. She managed to wrap her chakra strings around the Raikage without him noticing. She bound him and put her hands to his head. "This won't hurt a bit." Some strings went through his head and he fell unconscious.

Sasori gazed at his twin. "We have the scroll. Let's head back to the safe house at the border to rest a little bit, and then we can head back to the base."

Sumiko nodded and in 30 minutes, they were back at the house they were back at the border house. To their surprise, Itachi, Kisame, and Daisuke were waiting for them. The two members of the Akatsuki did not look pleased and Daisuke looked panicked. The fox smiled as well as a fox could smile. "Ah, Sumiko-sama, I assume the mission was a success?"

Sumiko nodded and then picked up the fox by the tail. She looked straight in his eyes and said, "What did you do Daisuke?" The harshness in her voice made everyone, including Itachi look up. "Did you try to steal someone's life force again? You know you are not supposed to do that. I cannot tolerate you using others for your personal gain Daisuke…" Sumiko dropped Daisuke on the floor and turned towards the Akatsuki members. "Tomorrow, let's head towards the Akatsuki base. The sooner we don't have the scroll, the better."

Sumiko lay down on the floor and the Akatsuki members watched Daisuke. He looked apprehensive and saddened by the fact Sumiko no longer trusted him. He tried to curl by her feet to sleep, but she got up and moved between Sasori and Itachi. Daisuke no longer moved around, but watched Sumiko with big eyes.

Sasori watched his sister. She has changed a lot… I need to ask how she looks the same as when we both left the village… She is obviously not a puppet, but something is keeping her looking so young… and that could lead to her downfall.


Quick Biography:

Sumiko of the Red Dress
-Twin sister of Sasori of the Red Sand.
-Known mostly for her Red Dress and vast knowledge of almost anything.
-Fighting skills mostly unknown: utilizes chakra strings, powerful control over chakra.
+Former jounin of Sand Village
+S Ranked Missing Nin
-Member of Scroll Society
Physical Appearance
-Waist length red hair
-Light brown eyes
-Delicate, white skin
-Frail looking thin fingers often hidden in long sleeves of dress
-Looks like she is 20, but is actually 35
Personality
-Quiet
-Intelligent
-Mistrusting
-Polite in conversation
Fears
-Spiders
-Snakes
-Water