--With Shizune's death, a mysterious string of incidents begin. Sakura's father is revealed to be the evil Uchiha Madara, Kakashi turns on his student, wanting to kill the kunoichi, and what's up with the pain in Naruto's neck? And what does an ancient legend have to do with all of this? ----Based on a Whole lot of things---

Finally! I got the chapter up! Yay! But it's not the mini-story… I couldn't really think of how I wanted Sasuke and Sakura to meet, so . . . yeah, this chapter is here to replace your disappointment. Sorry, but please enjoy this chapter (which is named after Ayumi Hamasaki's song).

Chapter Ten

Monochrome

"What!?" Tsunade jumped out of her seat. "Ino's been taken hostage by Team Hebi!?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Shikamaru answered. "Sakura told us right after we got to the battlefield—or in this case, the hallway that led to her bedroom. Both Kiba and Neji have examined the crime scene, and her story checks out."

Something in that sentence just ticked Tsunade off. "What do you mean by 'both Kiba and Neji have examined the crime scene'? Huh!? Do you doubt my apprentice!?"

And, even though he realized his mistake, Shikamaru didn't even try to argue or deny anything. "Right now, trust is very limited in this world. Shizune has just been killed, and we don't even have any clues as to who killed her but a Foundation arrow. Anyone could've shot that arrow, which also suggests that Sakura is a likely candidate since she knew enough about Shizune to take her down in a short amount of time. Not only that, Sakura also has authorization to access Konoha's artillery. It's possible that she got the arrow from there and killed Shizune with it."

The angered Hokage slammed a fist down onto her desk and split it in half. "WHO IN THE FREAKIN' WORLD GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO ACCUSE MY APPRENTICE!?! I DARE YOU TO SAY IT AGAIN, NARA!"

"Lady Tsunade, please hear us out." Neji said, stepping forward.

The Hokage just glared at the Hyuga for a moment then sat back down in her seat. "You've got thirty seconds to state anything against Sakura."

"We know for a fact that Team Hebi was there, but we don't believe they actually engaged in a battle with neither Ino nor Sakura."

"All of Ino's jutsu require for her to get inside her opponent's mind, and Sakura is fairly sick. I don't believe she can use any of her jutsu, let alone if she even has any chakra." Tsunade said. "Plus, there was that barrier. Perhaps it warped the reality of the battlefield."

"Yes, but that barrier was Sakura's jutsu." Shino spoke this time.

"What?" Not only was Tsunade surprised but so was the rest of Konoha 11 (who weren't saying anything against Sakura).

"It's true," Neji said. "The barrier may have been powerful, but I could see Sakura's chakra signature. I have no doubt that it was Sakura's."

"Neji..." Tenten tugged on the Hyuga's arm, watching the enraged Hokage very carefully.

"NOW, YOU LISTEN TO ME, HYUGA! NARA AND ABURAME, TOO!" Tsunade yelled so loud that even Gaara and his siblings in Suna could hear it. ("The Hokage must be made again," they said to each other.) "SAKURA'S MY STUDENT! IF ANYONE HAS ANYTHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT HER, IT'LL BE ME! SO SHUT YOUR TRAPS AND STAY THAT WAY UNTIL I SAY SO!!!"

No one dared say a word. Tsunade was just too creepy with her temper overloading and without Shizune there to stop her.

"Please calm down, Lady Tsunade…"

Surprised by that soft voice, everyone turned to the window sill where a pink-haired kunoichi sat; her ANBU sentry supporting her.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran to his teammate's side. "You're supposed to be resting! What are you doing here? You'll get sick again!"

"Daijōbu, Naruto… Besides, I wanted to check up on Lady Tsunade again anyway…" the kunoichi murmured, looking at her mentor. "Shisou, as Hokage, you have to listen to everyone's opinion. You can't be biased, and you shouldn't be defending anyone."

Tsunade just sat back in her chair. "I know, I know…" she sighed. "At times like these, Shizune would always scold me for being so immature… I still can't believe she's gone… I can still hear her scolding me… I can remember it like it was yesterday…"

And as if a cold wave of remorse flowed through the room, everyone there (meaning all of Konoha 11 and Sakura's ANBU guard **coughscoughs** Sasuke **coughscoughs**) seemed to have quieted for a moment of silence.

Then Tsunade looked up at the ninja in the room with eyes filled with determination; Shizune's death behind her. "Uzumaki Naruto! Hyuga Hinata! Nara Shikamaru! Inuzuka Kiba! And Haruno Sakura! With Shikamaru as your captain, your mission is to retrieve Yamanaka Ino and capture her assailants! This will be a B-rank mission, and you have less than three days to complete it! The rest of Konoha 11 will stay behind and, if need be, will be called as back up!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

"But why three days?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, why does this mission have a time limit unlike all the others?" Naruto seconded that.

"I believe you'd all would like to attend Shizune's funeral, wouldn't you?" Tsunade asked, her eyes showing a bit of sadness in them but then flickered back to strong willpower. "However, if you don't succeed in saving Ino, you will get a second chance or an extra few days, but I cannot postpone the funeral for long."

"Ah, don't worry, Obaachan!" Naruto grinned. "We'll get Ino back in less than two days flat!"

"DON'T—CALL—ME—O—BAA—CHAN!!!!" Tsunade screamed about ready to punch the living daylights out of the blonde knuckleheaded ninja. But she was held back by Sakura and Tenten, who were both yelling, "RESTRAIN YOUSELF! HE'S NOT WORTH IT! RESTRAIN YOUSELF!"

✿｡.:**:.｡✿

"Hm... I wonder what Pinkie plans on doing… Her mind is a lot more complicated than Sasuke's whose just bent on revenge but she's, like, really . . . whoa."

"Anoo… 'Whoa' is not even a correct term to describe something with." Juugo said. "But I agree with you that Sakura-san is very creative with her plans."

"Ugh! You guys are, like, completely betraying Sasuke-kun here! Siding with that pink-haired brat instead of him!" Karin crossed her arms.

"Yeah, yeah, keep talking." Suigetsu yawned. "Hey, do you think Sakura would get mad if I take just a little break?"

Karin and Juugo just looked at him then at each other and then back at the swordsman and said, "Not Sakura but Sasuke."

"Yeah, I guess you guys are right." the ex-Kirigakure nin stretched out his arms and stood up from his seat. "And I definitely don't want Mr. I-Want-Revenge on my case. Anyway, Karin, did you finish your job?"

Said red-hair just scoffed. "Well, no duh! How could I forget to do my only job?"

"Well, I wouldn't know about that since you're the only one here with a peanut-sized brain…"

"Ha! Speak for yourself! If anyone around here is really that stupid, it'd be you."

"You bitch, you don't know when to stop."

"Oh, really? I don't see you doing anything about it, fish-boy!"

"That's it! Today's the day I slaughter you!"

"Bring it on, mother-fucker!"

"I think you two should quiet it down…" Juugo suggested. "Yamanaka-san is still asleep."

Suigetsu and Karin just stared at the spiky-haired nin who seemed oblivious to what he did wrong.

"What?" he asked.

"Juugo, Juugo, Juugo…" Suigetsu said, shaking his head. "You don't call the hostage by her name nor do you add an honorific at the end of her name. It's just not right, and it shows weakness. Plus, it's not correct. When a hostage thinks about her captors, she usually thinks they're evil and mean people—not nice and likable people."

"And besides, it takes three whole days for a human to turn into a chiropteran unless they've been injected with Delta 67[1]." Karin explained as she turned to glance at Ino who they had rested against a tree. "That girl won't awake up until she's completely Chiropteran. However, if you wake her up earlier than that, she'll go on a rampage and destroy everything in her path—allies and enemies alike."

✿｡.:**:.｡✿

"I want you to tell me the truth, Sakura." Tsunade had dismissed the rest of Konoha 11 except for her apprentice who she needed to speak to. Lately, things had not been going well at all between Konoha 11. Even the jonin were dragged into this problem. And Tsunade wanted the problem fixed . . . now.

"What really happened during that fight? Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino all seem to have their doubts about you. Can you tell me why exactly?"

". . . I believe . . . it's because of my origins or it could be because of my failed attempt to assassinate Sasuke."

Tsunade nodded her head. "Yes, that makes sense…" she sighed. "If Shizune were here, she'd give you much better advice than I could ever give you at this point. Both your father and former crush are international criminals, wanted because of their crimes, and you also hail from their clan—just with different roots and background." She looked up at her apprentice, feeling sorry for the teenager. "This must be hard for you . . . especially with all that's going on right now… If I could, I'd help you, but . . . I'm afraid that, this time, I'm as helpless as a fly."

Sakura giggled. "You sound like a worry-wart mother, Tsunade-shisou. Daijōbu, I assure you I'm fine."

"That's good to know." Tsunade rested a hand on Sakura's shoulders. "I've been so worried about you. I heard you fainted a couple of times. Do you feel sick?"

"No, why?"

"You just seem to be more tired nowadays, and you seem so much paler."

"Daijōbu," the pink-haired kunoichi said, flashing a smile. "I'm just stressed out. There's nothing to worry about."

"I really wish that were true, Sakura." The Hokage walked back to her desk and sat in her seat, sorting out a pile of papers. "If everything was as easy as I wanted it to be then there'd be no problems at all."

"Tsunade-shisou, don't think like that. If everything were to unfold as easily as you think, what fun would there be in life?"

The Legendary Sucker chuckled. "Well, I guess that is true. Who told you that?"

"My mom--I mean, Hibiya Chitose-san." Sakura scratched her arm nervously.

"Sakura, the lady practically raised you as her own daughter." Konoha's Slug Princess said. "Anyone would understand it if you made the mistake of calling her 'mom.' And besides, you only found out she wasn't your mom only—what? Maybe a month ago? If you still call her mom, it's understandable. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

The pink-haired medical-nin forced a smile. "I-I know… I just . . ." Unable to come up with an excuse, she pointed at the door. "I'll be leaving now…"

"Just a sec, Sakura."

And the kunoichi stopped in her tracks.

"Just one more question… Do you still love Uchiha Sasuke?"

That was unexpected, at least for Sakura. Her mentor had never asked a question like that before, so what was she supposed to say?

✿｡.:**.:｡✿

"Neji, why did you say all that right in front of Lady Tsunade?" Lee asked. "You know Sakura is like a daughter to her. If anyone does or says anything against her, Tsunade-sama will go after them."

"Yeah, and I think you just made her hit-list, Neji." Kiba added. "Shikamaru and Shino, too."

"It doesn't matter." Neji said. "The Hokage needs to hear the facts. It'll prepare her for the worst."

"And the worst would be..?" Tenten asked.

"That Sakura turns out to be the traitor everyone is looking for." Shino answered.

Hinata and Tenten gasped.

"You're not serious! Sakura wouldn't betray us! There's no way!" And Akamaru barked in agreement with Kiba.

"Oh, come on, Kiba. You and Akamaru must have noticed something strange as well." Shikamaru said. "Didn't you smell anything off about Sakura's story?"

"Well . . . actually..." Kiba scratched his head. "I actually found it weird that Sasuke's scent was all over Sakura and her ANBU guard, but I thought it wasn't weird at the time because they were fighting with him, after all."

"That means nothing." Sai said. "You weren't there,"—he pointed at Kiba—"You weren't there,"—he pointed at Neji—"You weren't there,"—he pointed at Shino—"You weren't there,"—he pointed at Shikamaru and then he pointed at himself—"I wasn't there,"—he stretched out his arms to show that he meant everyone—"None of us were there! Only Sakura, her ANBU guard, Ino, and Team Hebi were there! Right now, we can't exactly count on Team Hebi's or Sakura's account on what happened. And we certainly can't count on the ANBU telling us what happened. We can only wait until we get Ino back to know what truly happened."

"Sai's right!" Hinata exclaimed. "You guys ought to be a-a-ashamed of yourselves t-t-t-o point your fingers at Sakura that quickly! R-R-Right, Naruto?"

But Naruto didn't say anything on the matter. He just wanted to forget that both Sakura and Ino were dragged into this whole ordeal—the one that he could've prevented if he had stopped Sasuke from going to Orochimaru. "I wonder what Lady Tsunade wanted to say to Sakura," he said. "Do you think it's anything important?"

"Probably or maybe not," Choji answered, munching down on another bag of chips. "I mean, think about it. Lady Tsunade has just lost Shizune. She's probably just telling Sakura to be careful on this mission or something like that. Like Shizune, Sakura's like a daughter to her. If she loses Sakura then she'll have nothing—well, except for the village but I doubt it'll be the same for her ever again."—he munched on another chip—"You guys better make sure Sakura returns to the village alive and in one piece or Tsunade will be a wreck."

That's what I'm worried about, Shikamaru thought. Sakura's so close to the Hokage that she's almost like her daughter. If Sakura does turn out to be the traitor then we've got a big problem on our hands.

"Ah, don't worry, Choji!" Naruto smiled. "I'll make sure Sakura comes back! Believe it!"

"Na-Na-Naruto-kun, don't make it sound like you're the only one going on this mission…" Hinata murmured.

"Oro? What was that, Hinata?" Naruto asked as he walked closer to the now-blushing Hyuga heir.

"Oh, n-n-n-nothing, noth-th-thing . . . Na-Na-Naruto-kun."

"Oy, Naruto! You better bring Sakura home alive or me and Temari will beat the living shit out of you!" Tenten threatened, showing her fist.

"Hey, have I ever broken a promise before? I'll have Sakura safe at home in no time flat, no problem at all! Believe it!" And with that, Naruto flashed them a thumbs-up.

✿｡.:**:.｡✿

"Kakashi, why do you believe that Sakura had something to do with Shizune's death? It's not like you to just rush into things without thinking first. Did something happen?"

"No, I just followed my gut."

Gai just sat there, a little surprised. He was the one who usually followed his gut, not Kakashi who always thought things through.

"I know Sakura had something to do with Shizune's death. I'm sure of it."

Gai didn't say anything and just listened. He knew Kakashi well—very well, actually—and he knew that Shizune's death had hit Kakashi as an unexpected tragedy. It wasn't everyday that you'd lose your lover, let alone a follow shinobi.

"Sakura had a hand in Shizune's death but, as her former sensei, I don't believe she has the ability or persona to actually go through with it. I believe she sent The Foundation to finish Shizune off while she took care of coming up with an alias."

"That could be a possibility but, Kakashi, what do you plan on doing if Sakura really did kill Shizune? She was your student once long ago."

"It doesn't matter if she used to be my student or not. If she turns out to be Shizune's assassin, I'll kill her… I kill her with my own two hands!" And with his right hand, he crushed a walnut into tiny bits and pieces.

✿｡.:**.:｡✿

"Well, do you, Sakura?"

Sakura was hesitant for a few brief moments, but then she nodded her head and gave a firm "Yes."

Tsunade just stared at her student in shock and with disbelief.

"Gomennasai, Tsunade-shisou, but I've loved him since even before our days in Team 7. Nothing will change that, and nothing will change how I feel about him. I'll love that cold, heartless bastard till death. I know it's stupid, but I love him, and there's nothing I—or anyone else, for that matter—can do. I'll love him, no matter what he does, and I don't care if I'm the only who still does."

Obaachan = grandma

[1] = a substance from Blood+. Through human experimentation with Diva's (or in my fanfiction's case, Sakura's) blood, a substance called "Delta 67" was created. When "Delta 67" is introduced into the blood stream of humans, they change into chiropterans.

Yay, chapter done! Also, I know it doesn't take people three whole days to turn into chiropteran, but that how it's going to go in my story. Oh, and about the mini-story, yeah, it's not coming up for a while. I don't know how I'll do it, but it will come up in this story in the future but not soon. Sorry, but I'll continue to work on it. The problems I'm having are how Sasuke and Sakura meets and all the fighting scenes with Danzo and other people so, yeah, sorry. Please continue to read my story, and I'm sorry if it's going a little crappy for your taste.

POLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would you guys be okay with it if I added Chii and Freya from Chobits into my fanfiction? And would you be okay with it if I gave Sakura a younger sister, like maybe a four-year-old or something?

Also, would you want Sasuke to go on the mission, too (since he's supposed to be protecting Sakura from "danger" and everything)?

Oh, and would you want Gaara and his siblings to come in at the last minute and save Naruto and the others on this mission?

And if the group that's going on the mission were to split up, which groups do you want them to split up into?