It was the afternoon of a nice, clear and blue sunny day. As Sakura whisked through the tall trees native to the Fire Country at a speed too quick for a civilian's eyes to follow, she couldn't help but think it was nice to be out in nature for once. She really was cooped up inside more than she thought or wanted. Ino once joked that she'd start growing mushrooms all over her body if she kept that up. Sakura was offended, it wasn't like she never went outside ever, she was just busy.

'Very busy.' Sakura thought hotly. The hospital and her own personal projects kept her incredibly occupied and if it wasn't for some dumb idiot wearing a hokage hat she'd still be doing exactly that.

Landing on a tree branch then shooting off again, she sighed. It wasn't like Naruto was torturing her with this mission on purpose, he meant well, Naruto always meant well, but Sakura wasn't in a position to do other things right now. And yet, here she was, delivering mail like some sort of pink-haired post-ninja. You can't exactly say 'no' to the Hokage when he orders you to complete a mission.

But courier missions were not Sakura's line of work.

The missions she used to take part in her genin, chuunin, and even present-time jounin days were not as common anymore now that they were in a time of peace. But courier missions… were even fewer and far between; at least not anymore.

When Tsunade had still been Hokage, Sakura had been sent on all sorts of diplomatic and message-delivering missions. However. during that portion of her life she had still been training under Tsunade, who had enthused over these missions, telling Sakura that they were meant to strengthen Sakura's political skills and that she should consider it training.

"Sakura, a true shinobi does not just deal in blades and subterfuge. If you truly want to become a skilled shinobi, you must consider how you hold yourself in the presence of others and just what you represent as a ninja of Konohagakure."

An incredibly thought provoking and moving speech... had her Shishou not been drunk at the time of said speech; and too lazy to find any available Jounin instead. It was always easier for her to just send Sakura. Which, Sakura supposed, made sense. Tsunade trusted her dearly and most of the mail was important. Keyword being most. Sakura couldn't get too upset over it though, because she did learn a lot.

Now though, in these times of peace, Sakura mostly stayed within the village. She was busy dealing with not just the hospital but also the Children's Mental Health Clinic. She was an incredibly busy person now so she didn't have time to be chauffeuring dumb paper from one person to another. Get a genin team, or even an ANBU for goodness sakes!

Maybe she's was a little bit more sore about this mission then she first thought. After all it was basically punishment for 'working too much'. She didn't work too much, she worked the perfectly normal amount for someone like her. And it was also perfectly normal to be dedicated to her work! Also, she thought, who tried to cure overwork with more work?

'"Go feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your skin, Sakura-chan, it'll be great." Sakura mocked her best friend's voice in her head. '"I'm a dumb idiot who eats ramen every second and plays with frogs at the age of 25.'"

Sure, the mission was complete and she was already on her way home but… next time she sees Naruto and his dumb haircut, she'll tell him to take his Hokage hat and stick it up his-

A glint of metal from the trees in front of her immediately halted her inner mocking monologue and she dove from the branch she had just touched down on, barely dodging the three kunai that impaled themselves into said branch.

Twisting her body through the air, she spotted her attacker mid flip and retaliated with a kunai of her own. The shinobi who had thrown the kunai easily, deflected her kunai with his short blade and Sakura took that split second to scan her surroundings. There were three of them. One in the trees, two on the ground. She couldn't see the other two, be she could sense their chakra. They either didn't bother to hide or were too unskilled to do so. Sakura kept an open mind, she wouldn't underestimate them, because that would get her killed.

Grabbing one of the lower tree branches mid air and using the momentum of her dive, she swung herself up onto its surface, barely getting out of her crouched position before one of the ground ninja jumped onto the same branch. She blocked his swing, unsheathing her machete with both speed and grace.

Shoving him off with great strength, Sakura roundhouse kicked him away. He hit the ground with a great crash, rubble exploding into the air as the ground cratered below him. He twitched, and then sank, unconscious. A thunk at her feet alerted her of another kunai, only this one had an explosive tag attached.

Sakura flash stepped away as fast as she could, but still caught the tail end of the explosion, sending her into another tree with enough force to leave splinters.

Coughing hard, Sakura rose to her feet with narrowed her eyes. The remaining two shinobi left their hiding spots and surrounded her. In standoff style, neither of them made a move, eyes transfixed on Sakura and her movements, just as she was them. Her hair fell into her face, but she didn't dare risk moving it out of her eyes, knowing that any small movement would have them on her instantaneously.

Neither of them had any piece of gear that gave her an idea of who they could be affiliated with. No headbands, so they were possibly rogue ninja. She had already delivered her package and was on her way home, if they wanted it, they would have attacked her earlier or stayed behind. No, this seemed like an unrelated reason, and Sakura couldn't figure out what. They looked incredibly young too, maybe around 15 or 16 years old. Her heart twinged at that.

Times might have been considered peaceful because there were no large scale wars, but it didn't mean that there was any shortage of missing nin. And it didn't mean that there was any shortage of internal conflict either. The Great Shinobi Nations might be allied, but criminals and bandits would always exist, and so would conflict.

As sad as this truth was, it didn't explain why she was their current target.

Deciding that she wouldn't figure anything out by observing them anymore, and that she would much rather be at home then prolonging this battle any further, the Sakura in front of them crumbled, revealing herself to be an earth clone. The two ninja's were alarmed, but were too slow to counter her attack as she descended from above and punched the earth between the two of them. Both lost their footing as the ground exploded once again into another crater, this one so great the trees surrounding them were uprooted and sent barreling into the ground.

Having jumped away from the wreckage the moment her fist touched dirt, Sakura stared down from her perch on another tree a safe distance away, watching as the remaining two young shinobi struggled to get out of the giant mess and pulled themselves out onto flat ground and promptly collapsed. Using the body flicker technique, Sakura appeared before them, making them both scramble to stand. She grabbed the one in front of her by the collar of his shirt and lifted him to meet her eyes.

"Who sent you?" Sakura threatened. "There's nothing nice about attacking someone on a beautiful day like today."

"I'm not telling you a fucking thing." He spat. The boy was trying to put up a brave facade and Sakura had to give him some credit, he didn't look like he was going to budge.

Tossing him onto the ground in front of her, Sakura let out a sigh. "Listen, I just need some answers. It only fair, considering you attacked me-"

There was movement in the corner of her eye, and Sakura easily grabbed her assailant's hand as he lunged at her with a kunai. Disarming him, Sakura twisted his arm behind him and tossed him onto his friend.

"Please don't make this harder than it has to be." She said, growing more impatient. When they both looked at her with fierce wariness, and showed no sign of budging, Sakura let out a groan. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me anything, maybe your other friend can tell me what I need to know."

For emphasis, Sakura unsheathed her machete and made her way towards the unconscious shinobi currently in the other crater. She wasn't actually going to do anything, but they didn't need to know that. They were all young and not as much of a threat as she had initially thought, it seemed like they simply bit off more than they could chew. She just wanted information, and would let them go when she had what she needed.

"N-no! Don't hurt him, we'll tell you what you want to know!" The boy she just threw was on his feet. Good answer, Sakura thought.

"Aki, what the hell, don't tell her a single thing!" His teammate admonished him.

Aki, Sakura guessed, gave him a pointed look, "This job isn't important enough to lose Kikio!" He looked over at Sakura again, "I'll tell you what you want, just leave him alone."

Pleased, Sakura sheathed her knife and crossed her arms, clearly waiting for his explanation. Aki was clearly the weaker of the three; his sloppy kunai work pinned him as more of a strategic type. He was smart to give Sakura what she wanted, even though he didn't have to know she was all talk.

"We were given this job anonymously, they said to kill the person of your exact description." Aki said, while his friend looked away angrily. "W-we aren't exactly well off, so we take what we can get when it comes to work."

Sakura's eyes softened but questions arose in her mind, who the hell would want her dead? Granted Sakura didn't think she was nationally loved or anything, but she didn't really have many enemies, that was more Sasuke's style.

"And you have no idea who this person is, or why he'd want me dead?" Sakura asked. They both shook their heads as she expected and Sakura was left pondering.

Reaching into the satchel at her hip, Sakura tossed the two of them some provisions she always packed. She had extra and was almost home anyways, so she could spare some food for these poor, misguided children.

They sloppily caught the onigiri she had thrown and looked up at her with wide questioning eyes.

Sakura gave them a soft smile. "I know it's not much, but you seem like good kids, and it'd be unfair of me not to help you out when you so graciously helped me out."

Aki's teammate sputtered in response. "We tried to kill you!"

"But you failed, so all's well that ends well." Sakura smiled. "Thanks for the info, stay out of trouble now!"

Her smile turned into a frown as her she turned her back to them. Her mind swirling with possibilities. Only a couple times in her life had she been attacked for the bounty on her head. Her bounty was quite high, being a former student to the fifth hokage and one of the neo-sannin, but if that were the case here, surely Aki and his team would know she had a bounty.

Well it didn't matter now, she was finished with her mission and ready to go home. She had some meat in the fridge that needed to be cooked soon, damn her for taking it out of the freezer just before she had a mission. Sakura jumped into the trees and left two very confused and one very unconscious teenagers behind.

Hopping from branch to branch once again with questions still in her mind, her thoughts were very abruptly stopped in their tracks as a shiver ran down her spine. The air around her grew cold and in her ear was a sound like a sharp hiss, like someone was sucking in air through their teeth. When she turned her head there was nothing there.

Feeling incredibly unnerved, Sakura shot off as fast as she could in the direction of Konoha, only, the moment her feet left the rough surface of the branch, her eyes became unfocused and the images around her began to swirl. She tried to level herself in the air so she would land on her feet but her body wouldn't respond, and the speed in which she had propelled herself made it impossible to tell if she was heading towards the ground or not. Her stomach lurched and she felt incredibly nauseous. Pinching her eyes shut, Sakura braced for any kind of impact and willed herself not to throw up as she fell fast and hard.

No impact came, and as the nausea faded away Sakura risked opening her eyes again. Only, the sight before her was not the familiar trees of Fire Country, but complete and utter blackness. There was no ground, no sky, no trees, nothing. Just an inky void replacing the lush forest she had just been in. She couldn't move her body and the darkness was so swallowing she didn't know if she she even still had a body.

Just what the hell was going on? Was it a genjutsu? Had they cast an illusion around her without her noticing? Flaring her chakra, she attempted to dispel the illusion, but the sight before her remained the same.

Still moving at an incredibly high speed, Sakura had to close her eyes again as the wind whipped at her face and her eyes, drying them out painfully. The only sound she could hear was the air whistling around her as she propelled into who-knows-where. She didn't have long to ponder because suddenly she could feel herself slowing down, as if someone had put the brakes on gently and she was coasting rather than accelerating.

With no more wind to violently lash at her face, Sakura tentatively opened her eyes. The blackness around her remained the same, but like a light at the end of a tunnel, before her was an opening of the same kind. It did nothing to illuminate the darkness around her and give her any indication of where she could be. Her body was still moving, and the light came closer, and closer, and closer, until she could no longer just see light, but a sky as well.

There was a hiss at her ear again and then she was thrust through the opening, and into the sky. Only, it was not the sunny blue sky of the beautiful afternoon she had just been, but the dark and starry sky of night.

A beautiful full moon shone above her, and the stars sprinkled the sky like glitter. It was an incredible sight and she found herself transfixed. And then as her body began to finally react to gravity again, she broke her gaze at the sky and whipped her head down, and the sight just about made her scream.

She was hundreds of feet above what seemed like a tree filled park, and stretched even further were buildings like Sakura had never seen. Densely packed together, and incredibly tall. She had never seen so many large building grouped together like that in her entire life. However as gravity continued to pull her earthward, Sakura couldn't really dwell on the strange sight before her, and instead focused chakra into her legs and feet.

She wanted to scream as she plummeted towards the earth and her stomach felt like it was being turned inside out, but she couldn't get her voice out. Sakura had never been this high up in her entire life. She had flown on Sai's birds and rode on Gaara's sand, but never without something to anchor herself onto. She prayed that the chakra in her feet and legs would take the impact this high and that she wouldn't end up a splat on the ground.

She fell, and fell, and fell, the slapping branches cutting into her skin even as she tried to shield her body.

Finally, her feet met something solid again, and Sakura let the focused chakra travel from her feet and into the ground with extreme precision. Like water, the chakra dispersed over the ground and then disappeared. And Sakura, finally being grounded once again, fell to her knees and let out a brief shout, as if the screaming she couldn't do in the air had finally reached her on the ground.

She sat there for a while, trying to gather herself. She was no longer in Fire Country, that much was certain. In fact, she didn't know if she was even near Fire Country.

She had absolutely no clue where the hell she was.

Not only that but how the hell did she even get here? Did those those kids send her here? They really did seem like some young kids who didn't know what they were doing. They certainly hadn't been in any kind of shape to perform portal jutsus.

Kakashi's voice rang in her mind, "Expect the unexpected."

Portal jutsu's were pretty unexpected, but after dealing with god-like aliens and the resurrection of dead enemies and allies in the war, maybe it should have been a little expected.

Pressing a hand to her chest where her heart was beating erratically, she willed herself to calm town, taking deep, controlled breaths.

"Sakura, you're fine. You'll find out where you are and then go back home. You'll be okay."

Talking to herself always helped calm her down ever since she had started studying under Tsunade. It helped with her memory when she would study, and made her feel less stressed. It was kind of like having somebody to talk to and listen to at the same time. It sounded a lot more pathetic when she put it like that and it was equally embarrassing, so she made sure no one knew. Tsunade and Ino were the only two people to have witnessed that display, and even that was too many people for Sakura's liking.

Heart finally beating at a normal rate, Sakura rose to her feet a little shakily and began to set out in the direction of where she saw those large buildings. No better way to find out where she was then to do some recon. She spread out her senses and did her best to find any chakra signatures, hoping to find something familiar in this unfamiliar place. When she felt nothing, she chalked it up to the fact that it was late at night, and normal people would be at home.

As Sakura roamed through the forest area of the park, she came upon a path. Staying in the cover of the trees rather than walking on the path itself, Sakura followed it hoping to find the exit out of the park.

Coming near the end of the path, the sound of voices could be heard coming her way. Incredibly wary, Sakura jumped into one of the trees near her and spread out her senses once again, her own chakra masked. Sakura's eyes widened. Despite the fact that she could hear people nearby, she couldn't sense a single ounce of chakra.

Even civilians had chakra she could sense and yet the owners of the disembodied voices had no such thing.

Unsheathing her machete from its place on her lower back, she stayed crouched and kept her eyes trained on the on trail from behind the leaves. Whoever they were, she wouldn't give them a chance to attack her, she would ambush them before they got the chance to even think about it.

Voices rising in volume, Sakura's muscles tensed, ready any moment to attack.

The owners of the loud voices finally came into view and Sakura nearly let out a breath of relief.

It was two drunk men, bumbling down the trail laughing heartily without a care who they bothered with their noises. They stumbled down the path and away from the tree Sakura was in, arms over each other's shoulders both dressed in suits. She didn't bother listening to their conversation as it was hard to understand anyways, and was simply relieved it wasn't an enemy like she thought . Seeing them disappear down the trail in the direction Sakura had just come from, she hopped out of tree and onto the pavement of the park path.

The lamp posts illuminated her form and she quickly jumped atop it, and jumped from that lamp post to another in the direction the two drunk men came from.

As Sakura flew through the air, she spotted the tall, black, barred gate of the forested park. Two large, Doric, stone pillars were on both sides of the open gate, and connected to that were equally tall fences surrounding the park, also black with vertical bars.

Sakura landed on the flat top of the column and observed the strange street below her. There was a wide street, lined on both sides with wide sidewalks. The street itself was paved, something Sakura hadn't seen anywhere but Moon Country. On the street itself were strange painted markings she didn't recognize; did the markings give directions and make it easier for wagon drivers to avoid accidents? If so, it was incredibly clever.

The buildings on the street were different also, the were very cubic and contained unlike the buildings of Konoha. Konoha buildings would have all sorts of different shapes, but here it seemed very neat. Despite that, the street seemed both unfamiliar and familiar, as if her own village's architecture had simply been upgraded. It confused Sakura. How could a street be so different yet also so familiar.

She spotted a couple of restaurants, some with their lights on, still bustling, and others with their lights off, clearly closed for the day. Maybe it wasn't quite as late as she first thought. Reading the signs of all the buildings gave her no help, and she still didn't have a clue where she was.

Leaping from the column to the roof of one of the buildings, Sakura went in the direction of the incredibly large buildings she could see in the horizon. From her experience, large buildings always indicated importance. Though it might be dangerous to approach such buildings in case of strong shinobi, it was probably her best bet in order to gather information.

Sakura just hoped that whatever she found out, she would like.

Things had been rather hectic lately, Kisuke thought as he finished up his paperwork for the day. With Rukia being a constant customer since she had given Ichigo Kurosaki her powers, his otherwise slow and (questionably) peaceful life has been a little busier. The shop didn't get very many customers, or, any really. There'd be an occasional human who would battle with their curiosity and want to know what his shop sold exactly, but other than that it was barely a business. Often the only people he supplied were the occasional shinigami visiting the human world for a mission, or the Vizard.

Shuffling the papers and evening them out on the flat surface of his desk. He set them off to the side and stared out the entrance of the shop where Ururu and Jinta were sweeping. Jinta was slacking off again, and teasing Ururu too by the looks of it, watching as the boy pulled at her bangs. Sighing, Kisuke straightened up and cracked his back before turning and slipping his legs over the edge of the floor. Slipping his sandals on with a yawn, he figured he should tell Jinta to knock it off, he was always so needlessly mean to Ururu. It was about time for dinner anyways, maybe they would go out to eat tonight.

Rising from his sitting position, the hatted man spoke loudly as he addressed Jinta on his way through the door.

"Jinta, knock it off."

He was heard loud and clear as Jinta nearly jumped a foot in the air. The boy whipped around quickly and Ururu rubbed her sore head, her bangs now free from Jinta's clutches.

"It's about time for dinner," Putting a gentle hand on Ururu's head, Kisuke gave her an equally gentle smile and ushered both of them inside. "I think we'll go out to eat, why don't you tell Tessai and we'll head out? I'll close the shop."

Ururu nodded gave a tentative smile in return and ran inside along with Jinta. Kisuke yawned again and scratched at his beard.

A sudden, very large spike of reiatsu made him divert his attention towards the orange tinted sky. Just as soon as the reiatsu appeared, it disappeared without a trace. Frowning, Kisuke pulled at the fringe of his hat and pondered just what could cause such a spike like that. It wasn't Ichigo's reiatsu, which Kisuke sensed often during the week, that boy had absolutely no control. It wasn't that of a hollow or shinigami either. The spontaneous way it appeared and disappeared was incredibly suspicious.

Maybe he would make a round near the area after dinner and see what he could find, but for now, dinner came first.

Sakura sat dejectedly on a park bench, head hung sadly. She really wasn't in Fire country anymore. She resisted the urge to yell, cry and break a street light in half with her bare hands. She settled for silent depression as she committed to a staring contest with the pavement.

How could this happen to her? She was just about to return home after that stupid, idiotic mission. She was going to cook the meat in her fridge and have a nice bath and then finally return to her work. Her work that Naruto just had to interrupt because he thought she wasn't taking care of herself. Of course she was taking care of herself! She was a doctor! What type of hypocrite would she be if she didn't practice what she preached?

It was only a couple all nighters. She was 25 years old, she knew her limits… really.

Okay. Maybe it was more than a couple nights, and maybe there had been a handful of days where she would forget to eat. She didn't do it on purpose, she would just get really into her work, lives were on the line after all. It was important to conduct her research, and antidotes didn't make themselves.

Sakura looked up at the sky and sighed, she really was a stubborn woman wasn't she. Naruto was just trying to help, and she would admit that she had developed some pretty unhealthy habits. It was unfair of her to blame Naruto when he only had her best interests in mind, and not only that, it wouldn't solve nothing now.

She certainly wasn't in Fire country; in fact, it was clear she wasn't anywhere the Five Shinobi Nations either. Sakura was in a place she wouldn't be able to find anywhere on her map.

She was in a place called Japan.

Heading towards the great buildings with practiced grace and speed, Sakura hopped from roof to roof, barely sparing any glances down below. An occasional street light would illuminate her frame, but she would disappear too quickly for anyone to happen to spot her.

A loud roaring sound made her whip her head towards the street below her, making her land sloppily. Losing her footing on the powerline she had just landed on, Sakura barely recovered by flipping and landing in a crouch in the middle of the street. There was roaring again, and incredibly bright lights, blinding her and then a sound like a horn being blared. It both frightened Sakura and made her hackles raise. Dodging out of the way of the thing barreling towards her, Sakura skid across the ground and landed in a heap on the pavement.

Amidst the cacophony of noise, Sakura heard yelling and realized she had landed in the middle of a crowd. People were surrounding her and Sakura was so spooked she really didn't know what to do. Voices were encompassing her, and she felt like she was about to have a panic attack. The initial adrenaline had worn of and the shock was setting in. This was bad, she was a ninja, she would be killed! But no matter what she tried, she couldn't move her body.

"Hey, are you okay?! Someone call 911!" A man was crouched next to her, worry clear on his face.

Sakura tried to focus on his voice, but found her focusing on the voices of the crowd around her.

"She's got cuts on her arms and face, what happened?"

"She just came out of nowhere and landed in the middle of the street, where the hell did she come from?"

"Is that a knife?"

"Her outfit is strange, and she has pink hair, is she a foreigner?"

The man put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Can you understand me? Are you alright?"

Jumping at the contact, Sakura finally had control over her body again. Standing hurriedly, Sakura began to back away.

"I'm sorry I-" She bumped into somebody behind her and grabbed the person by the shoulders, stilled them so they wouldn't fall and then turned tail and ran down the street until she was far away from the crowd. Making a sharp turn into a dark alleyway, Sakura ran carelessly. Her foot caught onto something, causing her to trip into one of the trashcans with a great crash. Shielding her head as the stacked metal fell onto her body Sakura couldn't help but think this was the worst day of her life.

After the metal had stopped toppling onto her body, Sakura threw the debris of herself with a great roar.

"Fuck this!" She yelled, fists clenched. Fuck recon, fuck stealth, she was pissed now. She kicked the already toppled trash can with great force, it hit the wall and crumpled like a soda can. There, that helped a little bit.

"My, you're quite energetic aren't you?" A sudden voice spoke up from behind her. Alarmed Sakura jerked around, tense and ready.

An old man was sat cross legged, back against the wall of the building across from her. He was thin and pale, and looked like he hadn't eaten in days. His long wiry beard reached his reached his stomach, and his head was bald in contrast. His eyes were sunken, but kind. He gave her a humored look, stroking his beard. He was wearing a simple blue shirt, and pants.

"I've never seen someone just shoot in like a bullet, and cause so much chaos in such a short amount of time." The man chuckled heartily. Sakura's face flushed. He had clearly seen her embarrassing display of tripping into a bunch of garbage cans and her loss of temper.

"I-I'm sorry for disturbing you I-" Sakura's words stopped right in their tracks as she spotted a chain coming out of the man's torso, it's links coiling on the ground beside him.

The man stopped stroking his beard and followed her gaze towards the chain in his chest. "Ah, so you can see me, interesting."

Sakura was immediately confused. "See you? I'm sorry, I don't understand."

The man 'hmm'd', "I suppose it makes sense, you look very out of place young lady, with that pink hair and outfit. It's like you just plopped out of another era."

Sakura sat down in front of the man and mirrored him, sitting cross legged as well. "Why wouldn't I be able to see you?"

The man didn't respond, still looking to be in deep thought. Sakura raised her voice. "Sir?"

This broke the man out of his thoughts and he looked sheepish. "Ah, young lady I'm sorry, it's just been so long since I've last talked to someone." He gave her a toothy smile. "The concept of conversation has changed for someone like me."

Sakura was so incredibly confused, it was engima after enigma for her today. "Someone like you?" She asked again.

The man gave her a warm smile. "I'm dead, you see."

Sakura's eye's widened but she stayed silent, even though thousands of questions were on the tip of her tongue.

The man began to stroke his beard once again. "I don't really know how long it's been, but I've been dead for quite a while," He hummed in thought. "Long enough for them to tear down the old apartment building and build a new one I suppose." He slapped the wall behind him for emphasis.

"So that chain…" Sakura asked.

"It's been here as long as I've been dead," The man answered. "Though I never really found out why. It's shorter now than it used to be."

He gave her a another humored look. "Young lady, you sure take things in stride don't you?"

Sakura let out a nervous laugh and rubbed her neck. "Well, some things aren't as surprising when you've seen some of the things I've seen."

"I can only wonder what you've seen for a ghost like me to not be a shock." His eyes twinkled with mirth. "But, the way you sped in here like the hounds of hell were on your heels makes me think that you're a very strange girl."

Her face grew hot as she looked over at the trash cans. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

The old ghost laughed. "My, my, don't apologize, it's been a long time since an old man like me has had the chance to talk to someone." He gave her another toothy smile, "I'm Rikishi, it's nice to meet you, young lady."

Sakura returned his kind smile with one of her own. "I'm Sakura, it's nice to meet you Rikishi-san." She looked up at the night sky and then back at the kind old man.

"If you don't mind, could you tell me where I am?"

Rikishi had been so kind, listening to her tale. He took it all with stride, clearly the passing from life to death had made him more accustomed to things not considered normal.

"I'm sorry to say that you're probably not in your world anymore." Rikishi said with a somber look. "I've never heard of Konohagakure in my entire life."

Sakura's shoulders drooped sadly. "Where am I then?"

Rikishi gave her a sympathetic look. "You're in a place called Karakuracho, in the country of Japan."

Japan. It was completely unfamiliar to her and yet so familiar to her.

"In Japan's history, we used to have shinobi like yourself, they were covert agents in the feudal era, but you're saying that's not what you are?" Rikishi asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm really not sure. I'm a shinobi definitely, and what you described sounds like exactly what we do, but I've never heard of Japan in my entire life."

Sakura rubbed her temple. "What are the chances of there being history of shinobi here and in my world, both sharing similarities, and yet Japan isn't one of them."

"We also both speak the same type of Japanese." Rikishi added, "Surely if you came from the past, the dialect would be different, yet here we are conversing normally."

Sakura scratched the sides of her head in frustration and groaned. Rikishi went to go pat her shoulder, then stopped, remembering he was a spirit.

"I'm sorry I can't be much more help than that Sakura-san." Rikishi admitted sadly.

Sakura lifted her head up and gave him a smile despite her frustration, "Please don't apologize Rikishi-san, you've been an incredible help. Without you I probably never would have found out where I was."

Sakura had been incredibly lucky to have run into Rikishi, who was quite literally a kind soul. He had explained to her many things, like what a "car" was. When Sakura had described to him the thing that had almost hit her, he had to laugh his shock away.

"You're quite a trouble magnet aren't you Sakura-san?"

Sakura had pouted but couldn't help but agree, she really was wasn't she?

With a promise that she would come back after she found out more, Sakura had left the alleyway and walked down the street. Since finding out that the people here were regular humans, Sakura was no longer on edge like she had been before. It was kind of a relief actually.

Before leaving the alley, Sakura performed a quick henge, transforming just her clothes into that of civilian fashion and hiding her seal. The henge was that of a red, plaid shirt, dark jeans and some white running shoes. It would do until she could buy some actual clothes. She then sealed her belongings into a scroll, which Rikishi had watched in absolute fascination.

She… really didn't know what to do with herself now. She had no idea how she would get back home, she didn't know where she would go.

And that's why Sakura found herself sat on the park bench staring at the pavement. Never had she been at such a loss. As much as Rikishi had helped her, he unfortunately could not give her a place to stay or food to eat, being a spirit, and that was fine, she didn't expect such kindness anyways.

Where should she start? Finding a way home wouldn't be easy, and Sakura doubted that inter-dimensional transportation was something she could just look up in a library and expect answers.

Switching from her sitting position to a laying down one, Sakura figured she might as well try and rest a little bit. She had been exhausted the moment she had arrived here, and desperately needed some rest. She'd just have a power nap and then figure things out afterwards.

Her guard was up as always, and if someone tried to pull anything, they'd regret picking Sakura as their victim. With her arm under her head, Sakura shut her eyes.

She would figure things out when she awoke.

"Sleeping out here at this time of night doesn't seem very safe, miss, there's all kinds of bad people out there you know." A man's voice roused Sakura from the light slumber she had eventually settled into. Annoyed, Sakura prepared to retort as she opened her eyes. The retort got stuck in her throat as she found the form of a complete stranger hovering over her.

Bolting upright, Sakura began to cough, choking on her words. The man jumped back in surprise, just barely avoiding collision.

He held out his hands in apology. "Ah, sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, are you alright?"

Sakura wiped the side of her mouth once she stopped choking and gave the stranger a look over. He was quite a tall man, dressed in a large, dark green haori, green shirt and pants, wooden sandals and a white and green striped bucket hat. If Sakura was being honest, she had never seen so much green in her life. He had pale blond hair, and chin stubble. She couldn't make out his eyes as they were shadowed by his hat.

Honestly, he was very…

"Suspicious." Sakura voiced out loud, giving the green stranger a wary look.

The green stranger flinched and gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "S-suspicious? That's quite harsh don't you think?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "A woman wakes up from her place on a bench in the middle of the night to a man leaning over her while she sleeps," The man laughed nervously. "That's incredibly suspicious, don't you think?"

Of course Sakura knew he hadn't done anything, she was always aware of her surroundings even as she slept. What kind of shinobi would she be if she couldn't do that much? But who knew what his intentions were, all around, this man seemed incredibly suspicious.

"I really didn't do anything! My intentions are completely pure, I swear!" He waved his hand back in forth, nervously. "I was simply curious why a young woman like yourself would be sleeping on a bench of all things, that's very dangerous you know."

Sakura's eyes were narrowed as she regarded him. Seeing this, the man outstretched his hand. "I'm Kisuke Urahara." He gave her a smile, as if this was a completely valid way of making someone trust you.

"Sakura Haruno." Sakura responded, seeing no harm in giving out her name. It wasn't like he could find out where she lived. In fact, if he could find out where she lived from just her name, she'd kiss him. She didn't shake his hand.

Urafura lowered his hand when he saw her make no move to shake it, and stroked his chin in thought. "Sakura Haruno, huh, your parents must have had a wacky sense of humor." Sakura bit her tongue in an attempt to not growl out loud.

Who the fuck was this guy?

Her annoyance was clear on her face and he backtracked again, waving his hand in defense, "I mean, you dyed your hair to fit the aesthetic didn't you? I commend you for your dedication."

Suddenly very self conscious about her hair, Sakura grabbed a lock and pulled on it nervously. In a small voice she said, "...It's natural."

He stopped his flapping and rubbed his chin, shock clear on his face, "Is that right? Those are some interesting genes you got saddled with."

"...Well my father has pink hair, and his side of the family is known-" Sakura stopped herself in the middle of her explanation. Why was she explaining anything to this weirdo?

"Never mind. Have a good night." Standing up, Sakura gave a small bow, and then began to walk away.

"Ah, wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you off!" Urarara trailed after her and Sakura clenched her fist, if this fool got any closer to her…

"I wanted to ask if your home is nearby, I really meant it when I said it's dangerous out here; it's definitely no place for a pretty lady such as yourself." The hatted man said.

Sakura stopped for a moment and peeked over her shoulder. He seemed quite serious, and it only made Sakura more suspicious. She walked away faster.

"Ah! Wait!" He reached after her.

"Oi, the owner is pretty stupid isn't he?" A boy's voice directed Sakura's attention back over to the suspicious man, where a young red-headed boy and a dark haired girl were stood, along with a very tall, dark skinned man with cornrows and glasses. The young girl nodded her head in agreement, and Urufura looked incredibly hurt.

The tall man had a bag of takeout in his one hand, and he approached Sakura, bowing lowly. "I apologize for the Boss' behavior, please allow me to walk you home, it really is late, and it's no place for a lady like yourself."

Sakura bristled a little, because she was completely capable of taking care of herself, but, ah - she supposed it wasn't like they knew that. The tall man seemed very polite and kind, and from what she could tell, he must work for Ururaru, or whatever his name was.

Sakura waved him off, "Ah, really it's okay you don't need to apologize or walk me home."

The man loomed over her, making Sakura sweat slightly. He really made quite an intimidating figure.

"Miss, then please allow us to phone you a cab." He leaned closer to her.

"Ah no, t-thats-" Sakura stuttered, she didn't even know what a cab was.

The tall man leaned closer, "I insist!"

"I-" Sakura really didn't know how to respond, this man was really very overbearing. She was struggling to come up with an excuse for him to leave her alone. It wasn't like she had a home for them to drive her, or walk her to. "I'm sorry I-"

"I don't have a home!" She said the first thing that came to her mind and immediately wanted to slam her head on a wall. What type of dumbass excuse was that? It was so far from the truth that Sakura thought every person and their dog could tell she was fibbing.

Urararu and the tall man both seemed intrigued.

"I m-mean, my… parents kicked me out because-" Sakura looked around nervously, "w-well because my dad remarried, and my… stepmom doesn't like me… so…"

Sakura inwardly screamed, she was just digging herself further and further into this hole. She mentally apologized to her parents for throwing them under the bus. She was 25 now, she didn't even live with her parents anymore!

The tall man looked shocked, and then crossed his arms and looked very confident in whatever decision he had just come to. "That's just so sad, young miss you have been dealt such an unfair hand, please allow us to take you in!"

Sakura was at a loss for words and so, just stood there silently, eyes wide. She never thought she would ever meet such a strange group of people like her own friends.

"I- Ah, I really- I really couldn't possibly impose-" She struggled to find her words. As suspicious as they were, they didn't seem like bad people. Uraru was the most suspicious, but he also didn't seem like a bad guy either.

Sakura thought it over, if it was actually a trap, she could just beat them up and leave. And it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go…

Urarara stepped forward, sensing Sakura's clear unease. He stroked his chin. "I know my first impression wasn't so good, but I own a candy shop not too far from here, if you would like, we could house you until you find your footing?"

"But I can't pay-" Sakura was interrupted by the hatted man, who held up his hand to stop her in her tracks.

"If that's the case, why not be our live-in housekeeper; work for room and board?" He said.

"...I'm just a stranger, why extend this offer to a stranger?" Sakura asked, wariness clear in her voice.

"Why indeed." He answered cryptically, "Well, if you don't want to that's fine too, I completely understand."

He had completely ignored her question. Sakura bit her lip, she really had nowhere else to go, and she could only go so long on the provisions she packed, especially since she had given some away to the teenagers who attacked her. And she wasn't exactly liking the idea of sleeping on a bench every night.

Shit, really what other choice did she have?

"I- Yes, if you wouldn't mind having me." She bowed.

Uraruha beamed, unfolding a fan in front of his face, "Excellent, Haruno-san, we'd be happy to have you!"

Sakura could help but feel in the pit of her stomach, that she had made a deal with a force she couldn't possibly fathom.