Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any and all characters or copywriten material mentioned within this fanfic.
Chapter one:
Sakura stood facing the large mahogany desk in the Hokage's office. The blond Sannin was poring over details of a report. Satisfied she snapped the folder shut and placed it in a drawer before acknowledging Sakura.
"Sakura, I have a special mission for you. It is an intelligents gathering mission, however it is dangerous. Before I tell you the details, I need to ask; are you willing to do this mission?"
The medic ninja looked at her in surprise; she had always been given a mission will with the understanding that she had no choice in the matter. Now however Tsunade- Sama was asking her if she was willing to take on a mission. Noticing her questioning look, Tsunade continued.
"Sakura this will be your first A-rank mission that you will be doing solo."
Sakura's eyes widened as her heart raced. A bead of sweat ran from her temple and dissapeired in her pink hair. Solo, Sakura had never been Solo in anything. She always had a team, her team who were now all on missions for the Leaf. Everyone was forced a bit thin. Since Pain's attack everyone had to double up on missions. She knew that Kakashi, Naruto, Sai, and Yamato were all on solo missions along with others from the rookie nine. Now it was Sakura's turn to provide for the Leaf. Forcing her hands to unclench she steeled herself. Looking Tsunade in the eyes, she set her jaw and nodded.
"I accept the mission Hokage-Sama." She hoped her voice sounded stronger than she felt.
Tsunade nodded. "Good, now then, you are to travel to Katabami Kinzan in the Land of the River. Once there start asking around a few dingy bars about a Tatsuya, Ryuu. He is a Yakuza boss who has quite a few followers. We believe he is controlling the trade from the Land of the River, and supplying man power and gold from the old mine in Katabami to anti-government groups. He is suspected of ordering a hit on some important Lords in the Land of Tea.
After you ask around a bit so some surveillance, most likely you will not have to wait long for his men to show up. You are to let yourself be captured, but do not surrender too quickly. I will be giving you some fake documents from Tea requesting the help of the Hidden Sand. Oh that reminds me." Tsunade reached in a drawer and pulled out a navy blue headband with the Hidden sand insignia on it and passed it to Sakura.
"Sakura I need you to wear that for the remainder of the mission. We don't want them to know we are behind it. And do not worry; I have talked to the Hidden Sand. They want him captured and brought to them alive so they can punish him for some crimes he committed in Wind. Also I want you to act like a Chunnin, I'd rather they not find out you are a Jonin."
"Tsunade-Sama, why do I have to let them capture me? Would it not be better to capture one of them and bring them back for information?" Sakura asked a bit put off that she would have to hold back.
"Tatsuya would know something was up right away. Besides one of our ANBU is deep undercover there gathering Intel. So in addition to passing Tatsuya's men fake information, you will be meeting with our undercover. They will pass the sensitive information to you and help you get out of there. They should be able to make it look like you escaped on your own. Then you get your ass back here. The ANBU op is going to gather some more information before they bring in Tatsuya themselves, Understood?"
"Yes mam. May I ask who the ANBU operative is?"
"Sorry, but for theirs and your safety I can't say. It is critical that they can stay with Tatsuya and his gang for as long as possible. Besides, you would not recognize them anyway so it's moot point. However they will recite to you a phrase so that you will know it is them. I will tell you it to you this one time, so listen up." Tsunade paused and gave Sakura a meaningful look before she continued.
"The fire's shadow will protect the King."
Giving Sakura a few moments to memorize the message Tsunade began again "Sakura, this is very important you must respond with the following phrase…the King will protect the hearth." She waited another minute till Sakura nodded.
"Make sure you do not mess that up. For the safety of the mission our ANBU op will kill you if you get it wrong. It is the only way both of you can be positive the other is on our side. You have the remainder of the day to prepare for your mission. I want you to dye your hair as well. I don't care the color, just as long as you are not too noticeable. You do have quite a reputation already. That's all I have for you, leave at first light."
"Yes mam."
Two Days Latter
Sakura found herself being roughly dragged on the ground, only half protesting and suppressed her chakra. The sound of doors creaking open was the only thing she heard before a harsh light blinded her as the blindfold was ripped away. Waiting for her eyes to adjust to the light from the florescent bulbs, she heard a deep voice from the fussy outline in front of her.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" the fussy outline asked.
"A chunnin Sand brat." One of her captors behind her replied.
"My name is Chisaki, it is not sand brat" Sakura shot back playing defiant. She received a sound smack on the back of the head for her cheek. Her head fell forward and a bit of her new brown hair fell into her eyes.
"We found her near a pub snooping around and askin a lota questions." The second one added.
"I see." The deep voice said as the men behind her gave him more details.
Sakura was surprised when the fussy outline shifted into not one but two forms. The man sitting in the Chair before her, she supposed was Tatsuya Ryuu, was actually not bad looking with tan skin and dark brown hair in a black business suit. The woman, who sat in his lap, had pale skin with ink black hair and purple eyes so dark they looked almost indigo. She was an attractive busty woman in a short strapless red dress. Ryuu's hand ran up and down one of her exposed creamy thighs, his other wrapped around her shoulder as she leaned against him. Sakura would have gaged at the sight but was so entranced by the woman.
'I have seen her before. I know I have, who is she?' Right as she asked herself the question. A familiar orange book sprang to mind. Without meaning to Sakura pointed to the woman, well pointed as well as she could with her hands tied in front of her.
"You are the woman on the cover of Icha Icha Paradise!" she exclaimed.
The men in the room went quiet; looking at Sakura as if she had grown a second head. The woman looked at her with wide eyes before bursting out with a high crystal laugh.
"I am. Or rather I'm the model who inspired the drawing. But I am curious to know how a little girl like you knows so much about Icha Icha." The older woman smirked.
Sakura blushed "I am not a little girl…and I don't read that stuff…but…but they made it into a movie right? And it is a best seller everyone knows about it." She rambled.
"Enough" the room grew quiet as everyone looked at Ryuu.
"Take her to the room." He told his men before looking at the woman in his lap.
"Ayaka, go with them and clean her up. We want her to look her best for her interrogation. I suspect she knows more than those documents we got off her revealed."
The woman pouted with red stained lips "But Ryuu-kun, do I have to? She is so filthy looking. What if she does something to me? She is a ninja. Ninjas are not to be trusted and…"
"Ayaka sweet heart, please do this one favor for me and I promise I will buy you something nice."
"I already do you a lot of favors, but alright since you asked so nicely" she said running her finger across his jaw. At this Sakura did gag.
"Ayaka, do as the boss says but do not untie her ok? In this room she can't use her chakra but ninjas always have tricks up their sleeves." The tallest thug advised.
"Thank you Genji-san. I will be careful." Ayaka said closing the door behind the thugs as they left Sakura in her care. Ayaka waited till the echo of their heavy footsteps faded away. She turned to face Sakura.
"So Chisaki was it?"
Before Sakura could respond Ayaka was before her in an instant. The cold metal of a kunai was positioned against Sakura's throat. Sakura tensed 'were in the Hell did she pull that from?' she wondered. Ayaka pulled it back just slightly before leaning in to whisper in her ear.
"The fire's shadow will protect the King." Ayaka said her lips ghosting over the shell of Sakura's ear.
"The King will protect the hearth." Sakura replied relived. Instantly the kunai moved from her throat to the cords binding her wrist slicing them clean through.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Here are some informative 'tid-bits':
Chisaki (CHEE sah kee): Is Sakura's fake name for the mission. It means 'a thousand blossoms'. I thought it was fitting.
Ayaka (AH yah kah): Is the name of the icha icha model/ANBU op. Her name means 'Colorful Fragrant'.
Just so everyone knows Ryuu is the Yakuza boss' first name. Tatsuya is his last name. So don't get mad at me when I say Tatsuya Ryuu. It's like seeing Uzumaki Naruto or Nara Shikamaru… get it? Maybe ? I hope so. If you have any questions message me.
*Oh and one more thing, please feel free to correct me. I've gone over this as best as I can but one can always improve. Thanks :)
