Tsunade sat behind her desk with her hands folded, resting her chin upon them as she looked at the girls seated before her. Dreamer had kindly taken the chair offered to her while Scarlet had chosen to float in mid-air with the aid of her Author abilities. They were not the only ones there. Jiraiya had been invited to this discussion, and Shizune was there as always. She was sure there were a few people outside her door trying to eavesdrop, but that was of little importance. What really mattered was the mission Tsunade wanted to send these girls on.
"I'm sure you know about what happened to Uchiha Sasuke earlier this year," Tsunade began. "He deserted the village because Orochimaru lured him to the Sound with his promise of power. I sent a group of five ninja-all Genin save one Chuunin leader-to retrieve him, but they failed due to Sasuke's escort of the Sound Five. They all survived, luckily, and managed to kill their opponents with some help from three Sand ninja. Sasuke was thought lost to us…until now."
Dreamer raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, until now?"
"You want us to go after him, don't you?" Scarlet asked, though it was more of a statement.
"Yes. I want you to penetrate the Sound village and find Sasuke. Do whatever is necessary to bring him back, even if it puts him within an inch of his life. If anyone can retrieve him from the snake's nest, it's you two. There's no limit to your powers, and you have jutsu at your disposal that we haven't seen yet. I put my complete trust in you," Tsunade said.
"Yeah, and if your powers fail I'm sure Orochimaru will let you girls in. He is such a pervert," Jiraiya put in.
"No, Jiraiya. That's you," Tsunade muttered.
"Not true. We both are. The only difference is that I'm open about my perverted-ness while Orochimaru is a closet perv," Jiraiya claimed.
Scarlet's eyes lit up a little. "Well, that's a side of him that I haven't yet seen. He always treated me just the same as every other one of his puppets. A slightly more respected, powerful puppet, but still…"
"Scarlet, have you already been to Orochimaru's stronghold?" Tsunade asked.
"I was there," Scarlet said with a little smirk. "I know the whole layout and where they keep your precious little Uchiha. Of course, Orochimaru was reluctant to let me leave, so getting me back may be harder than what anyone thinks."
"I had to rescue her from Orochimaru," Dreamer commented with a frown. "He won't like having us back in his castle and he'll know we're up to something if we go there. He doesn't like surprises…or me."
"Are you saying that this mission is too hard for you to accomplish?" Jiraiya questioned, crossing his arms. "The all powerful elite Jonin with the power of the Author, can't get into Orochimaru's stronghold and rescue a mere boy from the snake's hands? Maybe you're not all that you claim you are."
Dreamer's hand clenched on the arm of the chair she was sitting on and her hand seemed to glow underneath the glove she wore. "We can do this, but it will be difficult. This will take some major planning and some advanced Author Jutsu. But this is not beyond our capabilities, Jiraiya."
Scarlet dropped to her feet and poked him in the chest. "If it was so easy, why haven't you all powerful Sanin stepped in and done something about this little boy? Is this mission beyond your capabilities?" She smirked. "Or do you still harbor feelings for the one who used to be your teammate? Does part of your heart still consider Orochimaru friend?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "Never."
Scarlet gave him a knowing look and turned her back on him. Dreamer lifted her hand off the chair, instantly losing the glowing in her glove. She climbed to her feet and placed her hands on the desk.
"We'll do this mission and then, once you have your precious Emo potato, we'll talk about what we want in return," she stated before turning her back on the room. "Come on Scarlet."
Scarlet gave the room a final look before walking out after her companion. Jiraiya looked at the chair that Dreamer had sat in moments before. It was completely made of stone now…
"Where did they go?" Naruto demanded, looking high and low for his new friends that seemed to have vanished into thin air after their so-called prank went into action. The others hadn't been able to find them, either. It was almost as if the girls had never been there.
They couldn't have just disappeared! Not after all they've done! Naruto thought as he continued his search with a few Clones this time. They have to be in the village somewhere! Man, if they left without saying goodbye I'm going to be so pissed!
"Hello, Naruto," a now-familiar female voice said from behind him.
He turned around and grinned his infamous grin. "Dreamer! Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you and Scarlet! Where is Scarlet, anyway?"
"She's off saying goodbye to Kakashi and Lee. I just came from saying farewell to Sakura myself. We were talking with Tsunade and Jiraiya and they decided to send us off on a mission," Dreamer replied, twirling a strand of her purple hair around her finger. "We'll be back in a day or so. It won't take us too long to do this."
"What, did they send you guys on a lame D-ranked mission?" Naruto asked.
Dreamer shook her head. "It's actually not ranked, but if it was it'd probably be above an A. It's really hard; they couldn't send anyone but us to go on this and come back alive. We're the only ones with the skills for this. But even then it won't take us too long…hopefully. Depends on whether or not Orochimaru got better guys to protect his home."
Naruto's eyes widened. "You guys are going to the Sound village? Why?"
"Because there's a trouble-making Emo potato there that needs to be planted elsewhere…like, say, its home. That stupid snake extended his fangs and relocated that dumb potato, and someone has to put it back in its native soil. Only Scar and I can do that," Dreamer explained.
"But it's suicide!" Naruto exclaimed.
"It's not suicide unless we write that it is," Dreamer stated. "Don't worry, Naruto. We'll get out of there alive. You have my word. And like Scar once said, my word's worth a hundred times more than hers. I don't just say things to say them. I mean everything I ever say ever because I'm Dreamer the Author. Okay?"
Naruto looked at Dreamer and frowned. "I don't like it. I don't get why you're risking your life for a stupid potato. It's crazy!"
Dreamer shook her head. "Naruto, the potato I mentioned is not really a potato."
"Then what the heck is it?" Naruto demanded.
"That's classified information Naruto. I can't tell you what Scar and I are going to retrieve." She smiled. "But you could guess."
Naruto started pacing. Thoughts raced through his head and he tried to pick out one thing that Lady Tsunade would risk two powerful Jonin for. It had to be something good. Something extremely powerful.
I don't get why she called it 'Emo', Naruto thought, frowning. She said that it was Emo and there's only one person I know who is Emo. And that's…
Naruto's eyes went wide and he pointed at Dreamer. "You're going to rescue Sasuke!"
Dreamer nodded and held her hands up in surrender. "I know you're heartbroken that we have to bring back your competition, but there's something about him that Tsunade thinks is special enough to have her best ninja go after him. And that something is something that I don't know about. Personally, I don't see anything special about Sasuke, but then again I'm not like everyone else, so maybe my opinion doesn't count."
"You're going to bring Sasuke back?" Naruto's smile stretched from ear to ear. "That's awesome! Finally, some real competition! And I'll get to rub it in his face how close me and Sakura have become! It'll be perfect!" He punched his fist in the air. "When do we leave?"
"Whoa Naruto, slow down," Dreamer ordered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're not going anywhere near the Sound village. It's too dangerous for you. It's only going to be me and Scarlet. Bringing anyone else would just create a bunch of liabilities. Understand?"
Naruto looked at the ground. "No."
"Sorry, lil' bro. You're going to have to learn to understand." She put her hand under his chin and forced him to look up. She gave him a warm reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Naruto. We'll bring him back safely and we'll be fine. Trust me."
Naruto couldn't help but smile back. "All right…But if you fail I'm going to have to hurt you."
"Really? I'd like to see you try."
"Fail and you will."
The two teens grinned like silly little kids at their empty threats before bumping fists. Scarlet suddenly appeared behind them, complaining about having to leave Kakashi and what a pain it was waiting for Dreamer. The purple-haired girl bid Naruto adieu as she went to join her companion. Naruto watched them disappear into the sunset with a flame of hope renewed within him. There was a chance that Sasuke would be back. Dreamer and Scarlet were the best chance they would ever have of getting Sasuke back.
They'll succeed. I know they will, Naruto thought.
Scarlet landed on a branch just outside of the Sound village and glanced at Dreamer as the purple-haired girl landed next to her. She held her breath when she saw a guard look in their direction, but let it out when it appeared that he hadn't noticed them.
Idiot, Scarlet thought before withdrawing a pencil. I've got to take care of the guards before we can even get close enough to have a chance of getting into Orochimaru's lair.
"You don't suppose he'd mind if we did this the easy way?" Dreamer asked. "I want to get in, grab Sasuke, and get out before Old Pervert Snake finds out we're here."
"You leave Old Pervert Snake to me," Scarlet said, writing something on a piece of paper. "Unlike you, I have a tolerance for power-hungry, old perverts. Now, let's see if the Akatsuki are enough for the guards to be distracted. Sasuke, he should be asleep right about…now."
She made a dot for the period and a great wind whipped around them. The Akatsuki appeared beyond the trees, instantly gaining the attention of the guards. Ninja came running at them and the Akatsuki, even though they weren't sure of how they got there, leaped into action to destroy their new foe. Scarlet put the paper away and slid the pencil in a pocket, preparing to leap out of her hiding spot. Dreamer followed her as the two burst from the forest and vanished into the Sound Village.
They continued to run through the shadows until they reached Orochimaru's lair. Scarlet brushed a loose strand of hair back from her face and looked at Dreamer.
"Do you think he'd enjoy our company better if we knocked on his door before we burst in?" Scarlet asked, tilting her head to one side.
Dreamer gave her a look and punched the door open. "Get in. Distract Orochimaru. I'll get the Emo potato. Then we'll leave. Five minutes."
A group of ninja came running through the doors and Dreamer stepped back, pulling her glove off. "Six minutes."
Her right hand looked as though it was made of stone and had a huge open eye on the back of it. It was glowing eerily while her glove fell to the ground. The Sound ninja stepped back upon seeing her strange appendage, but it was too late. Once she revealed her stone hand it was always too late to run. She struck with inhuman speed, leaving statues in place of the men that had just been there. Scarlet took advantage of the action to slip away to the snake's lair.
Dreamer's left hand glowed with green chakra and she touched one of the statue's head. They were temporarily relieved of their petrified form only because she needed to know where Sasuke's room was.
"Tell me where Sasuke is," she demanded of the fear-stricken man.
He was too full of fear to not tell her that information. He spilled on everything, even going so far as to tell him what Sasuke looked like and what color underwear he was wearing. Dreamer turned him to stone again once she had the information she needed. The eye closed on her hand as she went towards the room the man had claimed Sasuke was in.
She didn't bother with manners when she came to his door. She simply drew back her fist and punched it in. It went flying across the room towards the bed Sasuke was sleeping on. He barely managed to dodge it before it and the bed shattered into pieces. He turned his crimson-Sharingan gaze to her, clearly pissed from being disturbed. Dreamer didn't care. She walked into the room without her hard expression ever changing.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Sasuke growled, in a defensive position.
"I am Dreamer of the Author kekkei genkai. I have been sent to capture you and return you to your village no matter what," Dreamer replied, her own crimson gaze fixated on the boy. "I would prefer to do this the easy way, but it's your call. The hard way would be fun…for me. But it would also be quite boring, like you."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "No! I will not go back to the Leaf village! I have severed my bonds with that place! I belong here where I can get power! I-!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever, you dumb monologue-ing Emo potato." Dreamer tossed a handful of shuriken at Sasuke while he was talking and nearly hit him, but he moved out of the way just in the nick of time. "Orochimaru is a liar. He wants you for your eyes and for your young body cuz he's a pervert. Your friends tried to tell you that. I guess you're too blind to see what's right in front of your face."
"I don't care! All I want-!"
"Is power," Dreamer interjected. "And that's your stupid flaw. Power this, power that, but in the end all your yearning for power will end with you destroying everything you ever cared about and might even get you killed. That's why we're here…to stop that future from coming to pass because it will mean the end of so many lives."
Sasuke's fingers flew into signs for a jutsu. "You think you know me, but you don't!"
Dreamer sidestepped his Fireball Jutsu with ease. "Wrong. I know you and what you're capable of better than you do. You're capable of a great evil if you continue on the path that you're on. The Hokage hopes to help you move past this. Your friends back in Konoha want you back because they still believe there is still some good in you. And I, well I can't let them be disappointed."
"My friends…? No, I broke my bonds to them! They don't matter anymore!" Sasuke shouted, though his eyes showed the truth.
Dreamer sighed, appearing mysteriously behind him and resting her right hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps you'll think differently once you're home. You've power inside of you, Sasuke. You don't need this pedophile Sanin. What you need is what you already had. It's not too late to get mend what is broken. Trust me. I know these things."
Sasuke tried to move away from her, but found that his legs would not work nor would his upper body. He glanced down and was shocked to find that except for his head, his whole body had turned to stone. He looked at her hand and saw in dismay that it was the cause of his petrified state for it was also stony and the eye on the top of it was opened. She pulled it away and the eye closed once more.
"Don't worry, Uchiha Sasuke. This is only temporary so you won't run away. I can make it all go away once we're back at Konoha," Dreamer assured him, slipping a spare white glove onto her right hand to conceal it. "And I won't turn the rest of you to stone unless you test my patience, so if I were you I'd keep my mouth shut."
"I deserted the village of my own free will! Why won't you let me go?" Sasuke demanded as Dreamer tied a rope across his torso so she could drag him away. "Everyone else has! They only see me as a traitor! Why don't you think the same and just leave me here?"
Dreamer paused in her work when she was in front of him and looked him squarely in the eye. "You're wrong, you dumb Emo potato. You're wrong about everything. You did not leave the village of your own will; Orochimaru lured you away. No one has let you go and you are not viewed as a traitor by anyone. To them, you are still a comrade, a friend even. Even if I left you here, they would still see you in that light. And though I care little for you, my friendship with your friends demands that I bring you back." She straightened and pulled on the rope, yanking the petrified Uchiha after her. "So come on, Emo potato. It's time to rectify your wrongs."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Scarlet danced about the main room of Orochimaru's lair, avoiding Kabuto's attacks. She laughed and slipped around Orochimaru, brushing her fingers lightly against his arm in passing. A smirk was on Orochimaru's lips as he watched her evade his 'loyal' ninja's attacks. Scarlet was just having fun torturing Kabuto.
"Kabuto, I thought you were better than this," Scarlet teased, smacking him across the face with her braid so that he flew across the room. "After all, you were so close to beating me the last time I was here. What happened? Did you run out of food and plasma pills?"
Kabuto's eyes narrowed and he pulled out senbon, throwing them at key points of Scarlet's body. Scarlet whipped out a scroll and words appeared on it. The senbon disintegrated on contact with the scroll. Scarlet giggled and whipped the scrolled around, sending thousands of pencils at Kabuto. Kabuto didn't have time to move out of the way before he was thrown against the wall and pinned with a number of pencils. Two more pencils appeared and were driven through Kabuto's hands, effectively preventing him from reaching into his pack for pills or weapons and from performing any jutsu that would have freed him.
Scarlet landed next to Orochimaru, eyeing Kabuto with a smirk. "You could never beat me, Kabuto. No one can defeat the ones with the power of the Author. So you might as well give up."
"Master," Kabuto hissed. "She is there for you to take. Seal her hands before she escapes."
"Now, why would he do that?" Scarlet asked, resting her elbow on Orochimaru's shoulder. "I'm being a good girl. And I need my hands to do things…things that you cannot possibly do, Kabuto." She looked up at Orochimaru. "So, what have you been up to Lord Orochimaru? Kill anyone important lately?"
"The Kazekage."
"I already knew about that." She sighed. "If you haven't killed anyone important, what have you been doing with your life? And don't tell me you've been wasting your time with that Uchiha potato…He's not going to amount to anything more than a dead pile of nothingness at the rate he's going."
"Your body was not in line for me to take," Orochimaru reminded her. "I had to make do with what resources were available and the Uchiha boy has Sharingan. I would think that would at least make him worthy enough to be my next body." He smirked and glanced down at her. "You may remain eternally youthful, but not all of us are as blessed as you. I cannot do all that I wish in this old body of mine."
Scarlet smiled at him. "You're a pedophile, aren't you?"
Orochimaru simply smirked but said nothing. Kabuto gave a slight nod and more ninja appeared in the room.
"Oh look, more people for me to beat up, dismember, and have fun with," Scarlet said, her eyes lighting up with happiness. "Excuse me for a moment, Orochimaru."
She darted forward, activating her Byakugan as she approached her first targets. She pounded several with the Gentle Fist technique before throwing a final Air Palm at another. Then she reverted to taijutsu and punched holes through a few ninja. None of them seemed to get the message though and she was all right with that.
She glanced at the sun through a window as she threw some ninjas into a wall and sighed. One minute left…Now I'll never be able to thin out Orochimaru's ranks… Or…
Scarlet jumped onto the ceiling and whipped out another scroll, writing on it quickly. A rain of sharp pencils fell from the scroll, slicing through the remaining ninja. Orochimaru was lucky enough to avoid most of the pencils, only getting hit by a few, but Scarlet couldn't think about that.
30 seconds…
"Bye Orochimaru!" she called, vanishing in a cloud of smoke.
She reappeared in front of the castle where Dreamer was waiting with a partially stoned Sasuke. A frown was on Dreamer's lips as Scarlet opened her arms.
"I'm here!" she sang.
"You're late," Dreamer commented, her frown growing.
"Well, since I hang out with Kakashi, some of his bad habits have rubbed off on me," Scarlet muttered before pointing at Sasuke. "I see you had to stone him. Was he being a naughty little potato again?"
Sasuke made to bite her finger, but Scarlet pounded him on the head.
"Watch it Emo potato!" she snapped. "I'll break one of your legs off and feed it to the dogs." Her eyes narrowed. "And there's going to be no mention of which leg I'm talking about. So stop being such a jerk. Or else."
Dreamer rolled her eyes and started dragging Sasuke towards the entrance. "Stop badgering the Emo, Scar. He's already depressed enough as it is. We wouldn't want to give him another reason to cut himself over…Now, help me get this potato back to Konoha, where…" She looked at Sasuke at this point. "He will stay and grow old and have children in with the rest of his friends. Do you both understand?"
Sasuke shook his head and Scarlet hit him on it.
"You got us both in trouble!" Scarlet complained, glaring at Sasuke. "Thanks…Now I'm going to be prohibited from visiting this world for a week! Thanks a lot you stupid Emo potato!"
"Scar!" Dreamer glared at her. "Help!"
Scarlet looked up to the see Sound ninja and the Akatsuki coming at them. She sighed and pulled out another scroll. "Watch how this is done Potato," she said, writing quickly on the scroll in blood. "Summoning Jutsu, Great Thesauri!"
Two great dinosaurs made of words appeared and started to devour and crush and dismantle the opposing forces as Scarlet led the way through the thick of the fight. The Thesauri screamed and roared and bellowed as they devoured, ate, and feasted upon the ninja that were attacking them. Scarlet felt bad for leaving them like this, but she knocked aside Itachi and Tobi and took off, leading Dreamer and Sasuke away from the mess.
Somehow I'll get back here and make sure that the Sound Village crumbles, Scarlet thought, running into the forest. Without Dreamer...
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Shortly after making it away from the dangerous place that was the Sound village, Dreamer grew tired of dragging the heavy burden that was Sasuke and summoned a creature of her own. It was a Dictionon, a winged dinosaur with a beaked maw made of words, to carry time the rest of the way to Konoha. She stuck the end of the rope in the mouth of the Dictionon, so during the whole flight Sasuke was suspended in air. He was less than pleased with this decision, but he had no power here. Scarlet enjoyed torturing him on the journey home by making the Dictionon do tricks and get close to the ground so the stony Sasuke would bump into things. Dreamer just shook her head. Sasuke would certainly feel all of this once he was free again.
The Dictionon came to land on top of the Fourth Hokage's great head, dropping Sasuke to the ground before it took its perch. Scarlet slid gracefully from its back to join him, and Dreamer simply leapt off its back. She bid her creation farewell before it poofed out of existence again. Then she turned to face Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were both smiling at the girls' success.
"Well done, you two. Your mission was a better success than I expected," Tsunade remarked, stepping forward with her hand extended. "Congratulations. What you've done has caused us all to be in your debt."
"It was no trouble at all, Lady Tsunade," Dreamer said, taking her hand.
"Pffft! Speak for yourself! You had the easy job of capturing the stupid Emo potato! I had to distract Orochimaru and his ninja, and let me tell you that was not easy!" Scarlet exclaimed.
"Well, we're just glad you survived and brought back the Uchiha," Jiraiya put in.
"Yes, and I'm glad I bet on you guys because it got me two thousand ryo richer," Tsunade agreed with a glance in Jiraiya's direction, and the big white-haired man became flustered at the mentioning of his failed bet. "But I think it's time you released Sasuke from your jutsu. Wait much longer and he might be petrified forever."
"Is that really a bad thing? At least that way he wouldn't be able to leave again and Orochimaru would have no use for his body," Scarlet pointed out.
Dreamer smiled and shook her head at her companion's comment, placing a green chakra-covered hand on Sasuke's stone shoulder. "I don't think he'll be going anywhere anytime soon."
Sasuke rolled away from Dreamer once he was back to normal. He jumped to his feet and glared at everyone. "I didn't want to come back here!" he snarled.
"We can't get everything we want in life," Scarlet commented, grabbing him by the ear. "So you're just going to have to get used to it." She smiled. "Besides, your fan-girls are going to get a kick out of your new abs…"
"You and abs," Dreamer muttered, rolling her eyes as she straightened. "Now, will there be anything else that you need us for, Lady Tsunade?"
"Nothing I can think of," Tsunade said, accepting the money from Jiraiya. "You may leave."
"Good," Scarlet said, vanishing in a swirl of a scroll.
Dreamer vanished as well, intent on finding Naruto. It was time to say goodbye.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
A/N: And so there you have it, another update for those who choose to read and review. But in my opinion, I doubt you read this and will review. I dare you to prove me wrong.