I do not own Naruto! Or any of the music in this fanfic! I will do my best to cite my music sources in the end of the chapters in the A/N! I do, however, own the OC's.
After two weeks of training with Team Guy, I was ready for a shinobi mission. A real one. I'd gotten a few jutsu from Kurenai and Asuma, and had meticulously plotted to get some more from them. I'd even sent out doppelgangers to the various Chunin nearby for jutsu help. Again, meticulous plotting and note-taking involved. I'd been here for almost four months, and still no signs of Orochimaru-sama, or a mission for him!
I'd gotten instructions for about thirty to forty jutsu in the first week, and then toned it down later. I didn't want to arouse too much suspicion. I'd learned how to seal things inside scrolls that reacted to my chakra and my chakra alone, so I'd been able to seal all my notes inside scrolls with different chakra natures on them. I had seven basic scrolls: one for each of the five elements, one for special ninjutsu like Kiba's Man Beast Mimicry, and finally, one on forbidden jutsu I'd been able to sneak into with the help from Lucifer. He'd been able to get me each and every scroll, and I'd copied down the instructions meticulously for each jutsu.
I'd used up all my ink, and allowance from Orochimaru-sama, and my scrolls were now full. All I needed now was a way to get it to him. I had one blank scroll left – time to seal the scrolls inside of it. I sealed them inside, and performed the necessary sealing jutsu to make sure nobody peeked inside. All in all, I'd gotten about a hundred different jutsu from Konoha's ninjas. I'd even gotten a good look at Kakashi's Chidori as he fought Might Guy – which nobody else took note of.
I'd also invented a few jutsu of my own, and was quite pleased with the results. I'd performed the hand signs in order once while practicing, and stopped on snake because I'd forgotten the next one in line. It was then that TenTen screamed and pointed at me. Neji looked around, and activated his Byakugan. I looked down to find that I was invisible. I tried it again, ending in different hand signs each time.
Rabbit – speed. Boar – strength. Snake – invisibility. Dragon – Flexibility. That was all instruction Orochimaru would need – I told him that ending in a different one would give different results. I suggested trying with the other hand signs since I'd ran out of chakra that day, and was on bed rest for a couple more afterwards.
At length, the time came for my first mission. I was out with Team Asuma, much to my eagerness, and had just walked into Tanzaku, which was where Lady Hokage had assigned us to nip a problem in the bud. She'd told us that a drug dealer king was here, so we were here to bust him. I took one look at the photo, though, and knew who they were talking about – Orochimaru.
Ino was walking around looking at the clothes, Choji was looking at all the restaurants, and Shikamaru was looking at the hotels. Me – I was looking for my master – excuse me, fiancée. When I finally saw him, I wanted to slip away for a while. I did the only thing I could to get away for a while.
"Hey, guys, I want to go try out one of these Casinos. Who's with me?" I asked, and they looked at me like I was crazy. Orochimaru, on the other hand, had overheard me. "Aw come on! That one with the slots and the poker table looks fun!"
"Sure…go on ahead…if you think he'll be in there…" Ino said warily.
"He's a drug lord, he'll probably be looking for some hopeless sap that just lost all their money to try to get them hooked on drugs and/or enslave them!" I reasoned, and the three stooges simply stared at me.
"Whatever, weirdo," Ino said walking off. Shikamaru headed off to the park, and Choji headed off to a restaurant. I, however, headed into a casino, and was instantly sucked into playing a game of slots. I looked to find a coin on the floor, and looked at the machine. Hesitantly, I stuck it in, and pushed the three buttons at random, not knowing how the crap to stop the wheels.
"Woohoo! All sevens!" I crowed. "Awesome!"
"Impressive," came a silky voice behind me. I froze my hands in front of me ready to weave hand signs in necessary. "Do you recognize me, Sarah?"
"H-Hai, Shishou. Here – It's what I've got so far. If it's alright with you, could you help me rig it so you can read them, too?" I asked, and the snake Sannin laughed.
"No, no. Finish your slots. I want to see how you do," he chuckled. I turned around, and put another coin in at random. Another line of sevens. "Hm…It appears that I've got a reverse Tsunade on my hands."
"I don't much care for gambling," I admitted sheepishly, and he laughed openly. "What?"
"You are the exact opposite of Tsunade. You hate gambling, but excel at it. She's addicted to it, but is horrible at it. Ah, the irony. Keep the money – I don't give a damn about it. Go shopping with the blonde for all I care. Now, let's see those scrolls," he chuckled.
I pulled him into a deserted area, one that I realized the Sound Five was guarding, albeit exhausted and they were all half dead from their fights. I pulled out the scroll, and opened it to reveal the other seven. I channeled my chakra, and they started glowing at the edges.
His hands were a blur as he weaved hand signs. He channeled chakra into all seven scrolls, and they stopped glowing. I sealed them back in, one by one, and he performed the same routine on the outer scroll.
"How many?" he asked as he placed the scroll in a pouch.
"About a hundred give or take a few. I think the others are wary of me, though, so I had to tone it down to invent some jutsu of my own. There's one in there that I think you'll like," I smiled. "Oh, that reminds me – Lucifer! Blast it, where did he go this time?" he appeared atop the table, and I grinned widely.
"Ah, is this another one of your…companions?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Orochimaru-sama, this is Lucifer, my Gengar. Lucifer, this is Orochimaru-sama – he's the one who's been my Shishou for a while now. Be nice, big guy. I know you scared the toxic waste out of Anko, but let's not scare anyone until necessary, here, okay?" I asked, and Lucifer nodded.
"How interesting – a ghost for a companion. Does Tsunade know?"
"Yeah. I told her that he got attached to me and hardly ever left my side, but when he did I could just summon him back with a Kuchiyose whenever I needed him. He scared the pee and crap out of Anko – literally!" I grinned. "She was crying on the floor begging for her mommy."
"Now that is amusing," Orochimaru laughed. He knew firsthand how hard it was to get Anko to cry for her mother, and he'd only seen it done once before. "Well done on your performance, Sarah. The preparations are complete for the day you wish to return."
"As much as I'd love to, Tsunade would skin me alive. She thinks I'm a leaf ninja!" I admitted. "She almost gave me a leaf headband, but I told her I'd rather work for nobody and help whichever village was the most desperate. She didn't like that too much. Naruto said he'd kill me if I went to you. I persuaded him otherwise by bribing him about getting Sasuke back."
"You were right about him – spoiled brat. Unfortunately, he hadn't reached that stage of manhood yet. We'll be ready for him when he does, though, won't we pet?" Orochimaru purred, and I laughed.
"You bet!" I laughed, and then froze as I heard someone calling out to me. "Uh-oh. That's Ino – I'd better go back before they figure out what's going on. See you in three weeks?"
"No, that's too soon. I'll request a mission of Tsunade that will specify for you. You'll know it when you receive it, my dear. Farewell, my love," Orochimaru purred as he leaned in to kiss my cheek.
"Bye," I whispered into his ear as he did. I raced off to find Ino, and smiled as I held up my bag full of money. "Check it! I got all sevens seven times in a row!"
"Bitch. Where were you? We're supposed to be hunting a drug lord, not lounging around!" she yelled.
"Hey, relax! It pays to hang around some locals. I heard some of them talking about a wack-job who had reported the false drug lord in a desperate attempt for money. It was a fake job," I said shaking my head.
"Damn it!" Ino screamed and stormed out. I looked over at Orochimaru, but he was long gone. I missed him already…
"What's wrong?" Choji asked and I sighed.
"It's a fake. The informant was insane and desperate for money. There's no drug dealer here," I told them. Ino was still screaming angrily. "Hey, does she have a right to talk about goofing off when she was the one who went to goof off first?"
"No," Shikamaru said simply, and Choji shook his head, his mouth full of food.
"Hey, Ino, I don't think it's legal that you get to lecture me about this mission. Shikamaru's in charge, not you. Besides, you were the one who started goofing off first with your shopping spree," I spat, stepping into her path.
"Get out of my way, traitor," she spat, pushing me aside. I decided to stick with the boys since they knew what was going on better than me.
"She'll get over it. Just give her time," Choji said in between bites. I looked at a rooftop and felt bloodlust that was all too familiar … Orochimaru had seen Ino's performance.
"Hey, if it's okay with you, can I go back there to grab a bite to eat? I'm starving," I frowned. Choji's ears perked up, and Shikamaru shrugged.
"What a drag. We may as well stay as a team for safety. Ino's Ino – she'll get over it eventually," he sighed. We headed back to a buffet, and we began eating hungrily.
"Three separate meal tickets boys," I told them as we broke our chopsticks apart. "I only earned enough money in gambling to keep me going for a few weeks on rent and groceries. Sorry."
"It's fine," Choji said smiling. "It's not your fault. Wait – you're staying with Kurenai-sensei, why do you need to pay rent?"
"I'd be a burden if I didn't. I pay some of the rent, Hinata pays a small amount, and Kurenai-Sensei pays some. Kurenai-Sensei's gone a lot, so she pays me back when she can. Hey – you guys hear that?" I asked, piquing my ears in interest.
"I think you're hearing things, Sarah-san," Choji said with a mouth full of food.
"Probably," I murmured, and then went back to my food. Lucifer was invisible, but keeping watch, and his eyes widened from behind Shikamaru and Choji (who didn't know he existed) as someone walked in about thirty minutes later. I turned around, and stared at Orochimaru walking in.
"You know him?" Shikamaru asked.
"No, but he's a freaking vampire. And a damn sexy one, by the looks of it," I grinned, blushing crimson.
"So, dad, why are we eating out?" I heard Kabuto ask. Ah, so that's their aliases.
"Am I not allowed to dote on my adopted son every once in a while?" Orochimaru teased, and the two boys in my team looked at each other in confusion.
"Sorry – it's just – you're gone all the time, and I hardly ever get to see you," Kabuto said blatantly.
"Yes, and I apologize, son, but I've been trying to get more jobs closer to home," Orochimaru said sadly, and I could only tell that he was faking it because I knew him fairly well by now.
"Excuse me, but you haven't seen a blonde girl nearby, have you?" Choji said discreetly to the pair of Otonin. "She stormed off a while ago and hasn't come back since. Bleach blonde hair, sky blue eyes, clothes that show bandages around her midriff?"
"There was one girl down the street, but she was crying onto a man's shoulder. Something about a bitching brunette being a hypocrite. Although, knowing blondes, she's being more of a hypocrite than the brunette," Kabuto said nonchalantly.
"Thanks!" Choji said as Shikamaru left the booth murmuring "what a drag."
"I can't believe that lazy idiot would rattle off like that – she went shopping way before I ever even started looking at casinos!" I said in disgust. "Speaking of which, have either of you two gentlemen seen this man?" I asked, holding up a picture of our false drug dealer.
"As a matter of fact, one of my coworkers said he was ambushed by this man," Orochimaru said with a frown. He'd disguised himself extremely well – I was just now only able to tell for sure who he was by his chakra signature. His hair was now a bright, almost natural, red, and his eyes were a hazel instead of their usual golden. "It was somewhere around Snake Mountain, I believe."
"Right. Thanks a million, mister," Choji said just before belching.
"Ugh! At least have the manners to close your mouth and say excuse me!" I said disgusted – I was one to talk, though. I burped all the time – just not in public.
"S-sorry," he murmured, then left his own tab and left the buffet.
"Idiot. Well, alone again. Almost," I grinned.
"Indeed. Here – I sealed them in the same manner you did before," Orochimaru whispered. "You'll find it easier to find new jutsu now that you've helped Konoha a little. I recommend you go find your teammate – I knocked her out, and Lucifer-kun wasn't too happy with her."
"Oh, dear," I squeaked.
"Peace," he said putting up a hand. "I placated him by putting her under my own nightmare jutsu – I gave him the hand signs, he'll show you later. Now, run along and play nice."
"Yes, sir," I said, leaving a small tip. The service here was lousy – but then again, it was almost like Vegas.
I raced down the street, following a very angry Lucifer, and turned to find Ino writhing in garbage. Ooh, looked to me like she'd taken a Tsukuyomi or two. Good riddance, I say. But, alas, she was my teammate, and I was forced to help her up by that fact.
"Let's get back and report to Hokage-sama," I huffed, and the two boys nodded.
On the way out of town, however, a woman raced out to me, clinging to me for dear life.
"Please! Help me! My husband – he's trying to kill me and my baby!" she begged, and I saw the look in her eyes that meant that she was an Otonin trying to help.
"Lead the way," I ordered, and she obeyed. I raced in, glared angrily, and performed doppelgangers to beat the crud out of him. "Next time you hit your spouse, think about the consequences. If I ever get word of you attacking her and the kid again, I'll rip you limb from limb without a second thought. Got it?" I glared.
"Y-yes," he murmured, then lost consciousness.
"Thank you, oh, thank you! How can I ever repay you?" she gushed, and I couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.
"It's nothing. Just try to wean him off the sake, okay? If he's not on it – well, let someone in similar situations as this know that Konoha's got a maverick vigilante on their hands, okay?"
"I will," she promised, and I grinned as I left. My message had been passed to Orochimaru-sama. I was done in town. "Wait!" she said, rushing out to me. "Take this, it's the least I can do!" she begged, and I frowned. "Please?"
"Alright. Take care," I said before racing off to catch up.
I already knew what was in the scroll – instructions for new jutsu and new methods for new jutsu gathering. I had to bite back the urge to hit her, but I had managed to snatch something from Choji while his back was turned – the green pellet that he'd used against Jirobo. I quickly snatched the casing, dumped the pills into a small bag, and smashed the lids to where they would stay ajar.
When we got back to Konoha, Choji took Ino straight to the hospital while Shikamaru and I went to give the mission report. I told Tsunade what Orochimaru had told me about the false coworker being attacked, and she sighed heavily.
"Get some rest, Sarah. You'll be heading out in ten to twenty weeks' time. There's a businessman who requested your assistance specifically. Something about you rescuing his sister from an abusive relationship with a ninja – using nothing but doppelgangers," she sighed, and I nodded.
I know, she's all Mary-Sue, but keep in mind that she has been making a heaping load of mistakes - just not on camera.