Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1: Lilac

It was early morning. The sun was already high up and birds were flying around chirping away their happy tunes. Inside the Hokage tower behind her desk was Tsunade with several pages laid out Infront of her.

" Tsunade-no-baachan!" a voice that belonged to the one and only Uzumaki Naruto was heard throughout the whole place.

Suddenly busting through the door the young son of the late ayondaime Hokage appeared accompanied by Haruno Sakura, Yamato and Hatake Kakashi.

" Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you to not randomly barge through that door?" Tsunade spoke while her hand massaged her temples as if every moment she was near Naruto was causing her a severe migraine.

Naruto just chuckled nervously rubbing the back of his neck as Kakashi spoke up, Tsunade-sama I believe you summoned us for a mission?"

Tsunade nodded and raised up the paper that was right Infront of her, you're mission is to eliminate Uchiha Itachi and bring Uchiha Sasuke back to the village. You will leave at dawn and will be accompanied by one of the top ANBU".

Right on time a light knock came from the door. Tsunade smirked, right on time. enter!" the door opened and a tall figure dressed in ANBU uniform walked in, face hidden with a cat mask.

Kakashi muttered, no way..."

The masked ANBU spoke, Hokage-sama I'm here as you summoned", and the person removed their mask. Tsunade nodded," Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Yamato meet Ichihara Haru".

Kakashi spoke with interest, It's been a long time Haru-san".

Haru looked towards him and nodded, Indeed Kakashi". Naruto was in awe along with Sakura.

Tsunade spoke, "I'm in no doubt that this mission will be successful. Am I right Haru?"

Haru nodded and bowed, "hai, Hokage-sama".

Naruto spoke up, well well... Of course I will bring down teme and his brother no problem, dattebayo!"

Sakura shook her head, "it's Itachi we should worry about".

Kakashi spoke, it's not. Not with Haru".

Sakura was shocked, Haru-San? I'm confused".

Tsunade chuckled and looked over at Haru whose face remained indifferent," Haru is the only opponent Uchiha Itachi lost against in a fight".

Haru spoke, "That was a long time ago Hokage-sama. Uchiha-taichou and I are history. You are aware of that Tsunade-sama", her eyes stone cold.

Tsunami spoke seriously," nonetheless you five will move out towards Grass tomorrow at 5AM. Kakashi you're the team leader, she pointed at the silver haired ninja.

"Hai, Tsunade sama", Kakashi responded through his mask.

Tsunade reached for her bottle of sake," You're all dismissed now. I need to get back to my sake", she spoke irritated and as such the five ninja left Hokage tower.

Sakura walked beside Haru. She looked at the lilac haired ninja and spoke," I've never seen you around. I'm Sakura".

Naruto quickly interrupted with his loud voice," Does anybody else want to know about the history Haru-chan has with Itachi Uchiha?"

Haru exhaled softly meeting Kakashi's gaze who spoke, "You might as well fill them in Haru-san since we're on the same team", as they walked pass Nakano River.

Haru bounced up onto a tree branch and said, "Fine, I'll tell you".

Naruto looked like he couldn't contain the secret anymore, bouncing along the trees while Yamato and Kakashi casually leaned against the tree as they both knew the story very well. Sakura on the other hand sat down besides Haru, ready to listen.

"I was Uchiha Itachi's teammate since our genin days. We became chuunin during the same exams. I became a jounin a year after him and then joined ANBU under his team leadership. We worked well together along with Shisui", Haru spoke looking ahead of herself as if her memories were right before her.

Naruto piped up, "I never knew Itachi was in a genin team".

BAM!

"Baka yaro! He's a shinobi of course he would be in a team". Sakura exclaimed as she hit Naruto on the head.

Haru continued, not fathomed by Naruto's interruption," I beat him in an even fight when we were 13... Let's see if I can do it again. I can subdue him quick enough with my jutsu however about little Sasuke. You will need to subdue him instead I can handle Itachi on my own".

Kakashi nodded," Alright but if you need help you will let us know".

Haru just simply nodded.

Yamato then joined in,"I gotta say I'm glad you're with us. I missed seeing your face in Konoha".

Haru's face softened as she gazed at the silver haired ninja and then," I missed you too Yamato-san, Kakashi taichou".

The next day came by quickly. It was already warm with a steady wind blowing in the air. In front of the Konoha gates was Yamato, Naruto and Sakura ready to head out. Yamato was reattaching his kunai pouch casually. Sakura was leaning against a tree waiting impatiently for the two remaining members of their squad.

Naruto spoke," Hey, hey how long do we have to wait for them? We're supposed to head out in a few minutes!"

Sakura growled impatiently," If you ask one more time I will punch you through ten trees and won't heal your wounds Naruto!" Her eyes were fixed on the front gates.

Yamato raised his hand," Calm down both of you".

Suddenly Haru appeared in front of them," Morning", she said cheerfully.

She was dressed in regular clothes instead of her ANBU uniform. She wore a long sleeved gray shirt with dark green pants. Her long lavender blonde hair was loose. She looked more like a civilian than a kunoichi.

" Waaah! You're so pretty Haru-chan", Naruto spoke dumbfounded.

Yamato smiled ," Morning Haru". Sakura's anger seemed to dissipate as Kakashi appeared beside Haru.

"Yoh! Let's head out", and like that the five man team headed out.

"Where is our target supposed to be located?" Yamato questioned as they ran.

Haru answered instead of Kakashi," Grass Country, near the town of Nagamachi is an old abandoned Shinto temple in the hills. There have been reports that men with red cloud cloaks were coming from that area".

Kakashi nodded," Alright let's go. We should reach the border in three hours at this running pace" and the five man continued on.

Hours late they entered Grass Country. They rushed towards the town that was in the near distance.

"We should find an inn to stay in", Kakashi commented as they approached Nagamachi.

Naruto began to whine," I want some tonkatsu ramen. My stomach is rumbling".

Sakura slapped him mercilessly on the back of his head, " Shut up Naruto. You're always hungry!"

Haru sighed," We need to blend in. Let's walk the rest of the way. Akatsuki might be near the area", she spoke looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded," Agreed. Everyone halt, we will walk the rest of the way". He lifted his forehead protector and used his Sharingan to scan the area," We're alright".

They soon arrived in the small town and right away headed for the small inn. Inside there was an older woman behind the wooden desk.

"Konbanwa, how may I help you?" the elder woman spoke.

"Two rooms please", Kakashi said as he pulled out a money pouch.

Woman instead pulled out two keys," Rooms 401 and 402 are yours", and she gave them the keys and the group went up.

Kakashi passed a key to Sakura and spoke," Sakura and Haru that's your room. Me Yamato and Naruto will take the one across from yours".

Hai", Sakura and Haru responded at the same time and the two females disappeared behind the room's doors.

The room was simple. There were two small beds with a small night table in between them. They had a medium sized window with the view of Nagamachi's main street. Another door was in the room that led to their small bathroom. Haru set down on the bed closer to the window, watching the sun as it began to set.

Sakura sat down on the other bed, taking off her pouch and she spoke," Haru-san do you think Itachi will kill Sasuke?"

Haru was gazing out the window," I don't think Itachi would kill his younger brother. Sasuke used to be so cute when he was little. He would be following us when we would do our ANBU training. Itachi always let him stay. I don't think it's Itachi we should worry about. It's Sasuke".

Sakura spoke," You make it seem like Itachi isn't a criminal. He's not a good person Haru-san".

Haru stood and went towards the window opening it. "Don't worry about that. Everything will be fine", she spoke as she jumped up on the ledge.

Sakura watched her," Ehh? Haru-san..? Where you going?" she questioned.

Haru looked at her," I have a hunch. Alert Kakashi and the rest of the team then meet me in the woods. I sense Sasuke's chakra", she spoke quickly and with that she disappeared, leaving Sakura alone and confused.