Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for the old man and a bunch of other characters like Itachi and also the plot. –grins-

Itachi: You don't own me…

K023: Fine…

The Blossom

Chapter 4

"Sakura-dono," a young genin asked, peering his head into the door. The chunnin took a quick glance at him and went back to looking at the wall.

The bubble-gum haired woman looked from 72nd paper she was signing. Her emerald eyes focused on the young gennin. He was the same boy she had asked to escort the old man to the mission room.

"Hai?" the ANBU commander asked. Her mask rested next to her fingers. She was still waiting for Sai to bring her real mask.

The genin opened the door fully and walked up to her desk. He held a mission paper in his hand.

"Hokage-sama asked me to bring this to you. She said it was important and required you," the genin explained. Sakura took the paper and overlooked it. She nodded briefly and shooed the genin off.

"Souta-san, Arman-san, can you please take my papers that I have signed off to the filing room," Sakura asked, getting up from her seat. She put on the mask, covering her face.

"Hai, Sakura-dono," the chunnin replied, bowing and grabbing the papers off her desk. They hated this work and didn't understand why she didn't do it.

Sakura disappeared from her office with a poof. She landed right in the mission room. A few genin stared at her, amazed that she came from out of no where.

"An escort mission? Why not send Squad 4?" Sakura asked her superior. Tsunade started at the commander with annoyance.

"Read the paper," Tsunade explained. Sakura briefly looked over the paper. The old man she had seen was named Ichita Idumo. He is of the sand village. He knows a jutsu that can only be performed by him. Has missing-nin and ninja from other villages after him. Need to be escorted by ANBU.

"A jutsu? Over a jutsu?" Sakura questioned, annoyed by the paper in front of her.

The genin in the room stared at the woman who adorned and ANBU mask and tattoo. They admired her rank.

"Yes, the jutsu is too powerful, and the sand village does not want it to get into the wrong hands. It requires squad 1 because I know that you guys could easily protect the man from those who follow him," Tsunade explained, not giving information out.

"Very well. What time?" Sakura asked, rolling up the scroll.

"Six o'clock tonight," the large breasted woman replied, flicking her finger to show that Sakura must leave now and get prepared for the mission.

"Hey, hey, lady! Can I go with you?" a young genin asked, tugging on Sakura's skirt.

Sakura shook her head and disappeared with a poof once again. The old man had been watching the whole time and decided to walk around the village.


"Neji, a mission for us," Sakura said, signaling the man to get ready.

"Hai," Neji nodded, looking at the scroll briefly. He still had a hangover. TenTen frowned at the thought of her husband leaving.

"Be safe, Neji-kun!" TenTen exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Neji from behind.

"We leave at six tonight. I leave you two lovebirds alone," Sakura mentioned, noting the beginning of a make-out session.


"Naruto, of course I'd find you here," Sakura motioned to the blond. He was sitting on one of the bar stools at Ichiraku. Next to him was his lovely fiancé, Hyuuga Hinata. Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder. It took him a few minutes to remember who she was because of the mask she's wearing.

"Oh, Sakura-dono," Naruto replied, bowing his head and then slurping his ramen.

"We have a mission tonight," the girl explained, placing the scroll next to his bowl. He took it in hands instantly.

"I understand," Naruto responded, paying the Ichiraku guy for his and Hinata's ramen. He kissed Hinata on the nose and hugged her. "I'll see you in 2 days."

"Hai, Naruto-kun," the Hyuuga spoke in her shy voice. Sakura left the two alone as she went off to find the last member of her squad.


"Why do I have to get her stupid mask?" Sai asked himself, tucking the mask under her arm.

"Because you're my inferior," Sakura retorted, sneaking up behind the unexpecting ANBU. She took the mask from under his arm. "Get my groceries, yet?"

"Hai, I put them away in your home," Sai replied, receiving a mischievous smirk from the ANBU commander.

"Did you go through my stuff?" Sakura questioned, causing Sai to blush.

"Ah, no, just put away the groceries!" Sai answered, a bit nervous.

"Okees!" Sakura squealed.

"What did you come to talk to me about?" the inferior ANBU asked. Sakura pulled out the scroll from her pocket, handing it to him.

"It's at six tonight, but I don't trust this mission. I have a bad feeling about it," the ANBU commander worried, receiving a glance from Sai as they approached her house.

"What do you recommend we do?" Sai questioned.

Sakura explained her plan in a hushed tone.


The time came.

Sakura's newly redone mask was placed on her face. Her katana rested graciously on her back. Her pack was already set with weapons and medicine.

Her foot tapped impatiently as she waited with of her teammates and the old man.

"Damn, Naruto," Neji growled, kicking the dirt. Sai just stared at his teammates, analyzing the old man also.

Naruto charged, skidding to a halt before running into his commander. Sakura glared at him behind her mask.

"Let's go," the woman said, showing no emotion as she started walking on the path out of the fire country.

Sai and the old man quickly followed behind. Neji shook his head at Naruto's lateness and started on the path.

Naruto nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he caught up to his squad.

"Idumo-san, you think you can keep up?" Sakura briefly asked, not looking back at the man who walked on his cane.

"I've been a ninja for 50 years. I think I can," the old man replied, launching off into the forest. Sakura giggled, catching up to the old man. The squad behind her quickly caught up, not strained at all.


Hours… It was 3 o'clock in the morning, and Sakura noticed the lag in her squad's movements, well Naruto's.

"Let's set up camp," Sakura called. The squad stopped in the clearing. "Sai and I will have first watch, Neji and Naruto are second," the commander explained, getting a nod from her teammates. Sai and Sakura silently sat at the fire waiting for the rest to go to bed.

"You think this plan will work?" Sai asked, looking over at the old man's tent.

"Of course." Sakura wasn't completely sure, but she had to trust her instincts.

"Rokudaime is such a fitting title for you," Sai said looking over his beautiful teammate.

"Well, no duh. I have a bad feeling about this mission though." Sakura tucked back her pink locks. She leaned her head on Sai's shoulder a bit tired from all the stress in the past couple of weeks. Sai blushed a bit, hoping the cherry blossom didn't notice the pink tinted on his cheeks.

"Sakura," he whispered.

"Hm?"

"Never mind." Sai took in the moment and relaxed against Sakura's head. There was only a few more hours until their departure.

"Promise me that we'll always be best friends," Sakura brought up. Sai nodded briefly.

The night passed by quickly with Neji and Naruto taking their shift. Things were running smoothly. The old man snored, but the others ignored it. He woke up one moment and ran off to piss in the bushes and take a quick bath. They thought nothing of it.


Idumo looked back, but then focused on what was in front of him. The hooded figure was emotionless and held something in his hand.

"Knock the ANBU out, and I'll give you the riches you can never imagine," he spoke in deep tone. Idumo knew that the hooded figure would kill him if he did not follow orders.

"As long as I get that million, your wishes are my command," Idumo remarked, bowing his head silently. Idumo looked back to see the ANBU packing up. The hooded figure disappeared as the female approached.

"Idumo-san, it's time to go!" the pink haired kunoichi told him, turning back to the others. Idumo nodded and caught up to the commander. He didn't look back.


The pink haired woman wrapped a bandage around Naruto's leg and shook her head at his clumsiness. He screwed up in an ambush with missing-nin.

They decided to jump out of nowhere and try to kidnap the old man, but Sakura being the ANBU commander, kicked their butts and knocked them out right then and there.

Naruto had been stupid and didn't dodge a kunai that hit his leg. She shook her head at him seeing as how no other member on the team was wounded. Idumo was barely scratched. He was able to remain hidden from the enemy long enough to kill them.

Sakura glanced at the old man. Her eyes narrowed at Idumo's stance. It was filled with panic.

"Idumo-san, let us take a walk while the others set up camp," Sakura spoke, causing the old man to almost have a heart attack. Sai quickly put a hand on her shoulder. She mouth to him that it'll be okay.

Sai regrettably walked off to set up the camp, worried for the girl's safety.

"Idumo, I know we are to protect you, but you it seems you have gotten yourself into some trouble. You must be more careful," Sakura briefly explained. Idumo nodded. Not answering her. He had a look of disdain plastered on his face. "Is something troubling you? I sometimes wonder, what is this great jutsu that makes you so important?"

"You are a young woman. You should not be a ninja. You should be at home with family. Just like Sasara was supposed to be." The old man pulled out a picture of purple haired girl with brown eyes. She smiled and flashed off her sand forehead plate. "She died a couple of years ago. You remind me of her, always so confident in herself."

Sakura silently gasped at the picture. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't know. She was my niece. Sasara was just about to get married to a handsome young man before her life in a mission. I miss her terribly. She was my only family," the old man replied, sadness etched on the wrinkles of his face.

"Idumo-san, I'm sorry for expecting you of something." Sakura still doubted him. He couldn't see that she was still analyzing him, suspecting him of more than just being sad. She shook her head. "It seems the others have made camp. We should go back." She turned her feet quickly, charting a course for the campfire off in the distance. The old man said nothing and followed close by.

"I'll have first watch tonight. The rest of you sleep," Sakura ordered, receiving nods from her teammates. She looked over to Sai.

"Be careful, commander," Sai replied, heading into his two man tent that he shared with the old man. Naruto and Neji had already jumped into their tent to fall asleep. Neji meditated for a while Naruto went right to sleep.

Sakura sighed and sat down on the ground by the campfire. She noticed that the old man had sat next to her. He was silent. He stared peacefully into the fire.

"Life is short."


Tsunade rubbed her tired eyes, ready to jump into the bottle that sat in front of her. The delicious warm sake that she so craved dared her to drink, but she shook her head and focused back on the paper in front of him.

Just ten minutes ago, she had been browsing through the newspaper checking on the latest lotto. She had a bad feeling about the mission she had sent her apprentice on.

Low and behold, the same exact lottery number made her the winner of millions.

"Sakura…"

Shizune had been bringing files in for Tsunade after the Hokage barked out for the files on the mission and whoever this old man was.

Although excitement of winning so much money should be there, everyone knew that winning such things if you were Tsunade meant horror. Something bad was going to happen. Even if there were so many other teams were on missions, the most important person to her was out on a dangerous mission. Her apprentice had left with an unusual old man claiming to be from Sand.

She took no care in asking Sand if what this man had claimed to be true. She merely thought this man was the only one for a jutsu determining his age.

Her pen was swiftly writing out a note. One of grave importance. She cared nothing if it would get to Sand and her in time.

"I'm sure Sakura is all right, Tsunade-sama," Shizune tried to comfort the old lady, but she knew that Tsunade was most likely right in her assumption. She would never win the lotto unless it meant something was going to horribly go wrong.

"No, I won't rest until I make sure this mission is safe for her." Tsunade continued to scan over the file for Idumo-san. The information startled her.

A traitor

It read in bold letters. She had never seen it before, but there it read before her, a traitor to the Sand village.

"Shizune, quickly gather up Kakashi, Lee, Hinata, and Ino! Send them after Sakura's team immediately and no hesitation!" Tsunade barked out orders to her secretary. Shizune was quick to rush out the door to send off an ANBU bird.

Tsunade looked at the sake and gulped it down.

"Oh, Kami, please make sure she's safe."


The hooded figure watched the fire burn. His eyes watched the flames flicker and make the pink hair that he adored glow into a rosette color. He stared down at the group before him. He was perched on a tree, chakra hidden.

He was waiting, waiting for the old man to make his move. He focused on the girl of the group, not taking an eye off her.

Not a moment too soon, the old man silently hit the girl over the head after speaking.

"Life is too short," the old man had told her before knocking her out with butt of a kunai.

The hooded figure's eyes widened at what formed before him.

Damn it.


"Life is too short."

Sakura looked over to the old man before receiving a blunt force on her head.

You were right, Sakura.

She quickly fell to her knees and then falling flat on her stomach.

This plan did work. As long as you're safe, Sakura.

She became unconscious. The old man snickered silently. He had succeeded in the first part of taking down the group.

A poof suddenly exploded. Sakura was no longer on the ground. Instead, there laid the man she had consoled with before the mission.

His black hair shined with the flames that brightened the night.

The old man's hands were shaking.

Neji and Naruto were yelling out, running to the way out of the tent. He quickly stood in front Neji and Naruto's tent, doing the jutsu that he had called his own.

The symbols were unrecognizable. Before the two were able to get out of the tent, the jutsu quickly put them into a genjutsu, knocking them out quickly.

He then turned to the tent he was supposed to sleep in that night. There rested Sai or whoever he was.

The real Sai lay in front of the fire, unconscious. He had taken the form of Sakura this whole time.

Sai opened the tent quickly, looking down at the copy of himself in front of the fire.

He scowled, knowing that he was right about this happening in the beginning.

"Who are you?" Idumo asked the fake Sai who began to get a kunai out.

"I am the Rokudaime." Sai quickly turned into the one that Idumo had thought he knocked out. He turned into the cherry blossom of Konoha.

A hooded figure appeared behind the cherry blossom, holding a kunai to her neck. The blade felt warm as if he had been holding it the entire time.

"Sakura." The hooded figure spoke in a familiar voice. The girl disappeared, and no longer was in front of the man.

"Y-you bastard!"


(Author's note: Yes, I know I've been late in updating, but I've had school and swim team and all that excuses. Half of you on fanfiction should know the problems with school interfering with writing wonderful stories.

Buhahahhahahah! Who is the hooded figure? What does he want from our Rokudaime? And what the hell is with Idumo?! Find out next time!

-burps- Yes, I am doing this while I'm tired and wishing to go to bed, so ignore my lame acting skills. )