Emm297: The Epilogue.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Only Sakura and her Zanpakutou. (THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M SAYING THAT HERE...)
==x==
It had been exactly 2 weeks since the fall dance. The new recruits were scheduled to come in today and Sakura was trying to finish up her last bit of work. She had heard that these events could be rather time consuming sometimes. Just then, the door opened.
"Taicho, they're here." Hisagi said, poking his head through the small opening.
"Ok, I'll be there in a sec!"
After hurriedly signing the last few pieces of reports, Sakura picked up her Zanpakutou and left the study. As she was closing the door, she felt an icy presence behind her and smiled.
"Shiro-chan, done so fast?" she asked the white haired captain, who was leaning against the railing.
"There's nothing much to do anyway. You just say 'Hi, I'm Hitsugaya Taicho and I will be your captain from now on'. Anyway, Matsumoto always makes remarks about my height later on and I do not want to stick around to hear them laugh."
Sakura giggled. "Yeah, I remember her doing that."
"Anyway, aren't you supposed to be entertaining your recruits now? What are you still doing here?" Hitsugaya asked.
"Hisagi's with them. Besides, I was on my way when someone decided to pay me an unannounced visit..." she replied.
"Well then, you better get going. I'll see you later."
"Right. See you later."
==x==
"Well that was certainly a lot easier than I had expected," Sakura commented. She had finished her 'welcoming speech' and had already briefed them on the rules. After which Hisagi offered to show the 9th recruits around while the 5th would return to their division.
Unknowingly, she found herself already at the 10th division study room. Knocking on the door 3 times, she entered. Hitsugaya was sleeping on his couch and Matsumoto was nowhere to be seen. Walking over to her boyfriend, Sakura couldn't help but smile. He looked so... vulnerable when he was sleeping. Not at all like the cold hard person that he usually portrayed himself as.
Not to mention, he looked extremely cute.
Quietly moving away from his sofa, Sakura walked towards the bookshelf. Picking up a book on the past of Soul Society, she began to read.
==x==
It had been almost an hour since she had begun reading. The book was rather fascinating though; it told of the old systems of Soul Society and even touched on the Noble Houses. It even had something about the Shiba clan, which was removed from the list a long time ago. The book even had a short profile about Yamamoto, since he was the one who set up the Shinigami Academy.
Peering over her book for the first time, Sakura noticed that Hitsugaya was beginning to stir. Slowly, he got up into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. He shook his head and scratched the back of his head. Sakura smiled. The actions were just so... not Hitsugaya-ish. Usually he would be the one who was alert and on-the-go 24/7.
His actions now reminded him of Matsumoto. Or even of herself.
Hitsugaya must have felt her presence, because he swiftly turned around and Sakura suddenly found her book being taken away from her and placed neatly on the shelf once more.
"Hey, had a good sleep?" Sakura asked, to the figure who was leaning against the bookshelf.
"Kinda. But I just had this feeling that someone was invading my study room, so I woke up. "He retorted.
"Wow, you're really good at sensing people's presence, aren't you? Considering the fact that you only took... let's see... ONE WHOLE HOUR?" Sakura snapped sarcastically, emphasizing on her last few words.
Hitsugaya looked taken aback by her sudden outburst. "Sorry, sorry... Just a bit cranky from waking up..." He apologized, before walking over to her and joining her on the 2-seater chair.
Sakura shrugged and placed her head on his shoulder. "By the way, where's Rangiku-chan?"
"Probably drinking sake somewhere... you know how she is."
Sakura chuckled, and closed her eyes.
Just then, the door to the study opened. Sakura's eyes opened instinctively and she saw 2 hell butterflies making its way towards the two of them. They both reached out and allowed one butterfly to land on their finger.
"Attention, Toushime Sakura and Hitsugaya Toushiro. You are to see Yamamoto sou-taicho immediately after you receive this message."
And with that, the hell butterfly fluttered off again.
Turning towards Hitsugaya, Sakura asked, "Why do you think the old guy wants to see us?"
"No idea. Must be important though. He wouldn't ask for two captains for no reason." He answered.
"Let's go then," Sakura suggested, as she rose from her seat. Hitsugaya followed suit and the two of them left the study room of the 10th division.
==x==
"Ah, Hitsugaya-taicho and Toushime-taicho. I'm glad that you could respond to this so quickly." Yamamoto said to the two captains who had just stepped into the 1st division meeting room. The old man gestured towards two chairs in front of him and without any hesitation, Sakura and Hitsugaya sat down.
"Now, back to business. It seems that Aizen... is on the move." Yamamoto told them. Ignoring their shocked expressions, he continued. "He has sent what the Information and Technological Bureau has called 'Arrancar'. They are Hollow who have been given the powers of a Shinigami."
"Earlier this afternoon in the real world, our Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, was reported to have been defeated by two of this so-called 'Arrancar' while protecting Inoue Orihime and Yasutora Sado."
"And you want us to...?" Hitsugaya inquired.
"I want both of you to pick 3 to 4 more Shinigami and station yourselves in the real world. Get more information on the Arrancar and at the same time eliminate any that cross your path." He looked at the two captains. "Can that be done?"
Both Hitsugaya and Sakura stood up and nodded. "Hai."
"Good. You are to leave Soul Society tomorrow at precisely ten in the morning. Inform me about your choice of Shinigami before you leave and settle everything you need to settle first." Both Sakura and Hitsugaya nodded once more to show that they understood.
"Good. You are both dismissed."
==x==
"So... who do you think we should take?" asked Sakura.
"Hmmm... I was thinking about taking Abarai, what about you?"
"I don't mind Renji either. How about we go ask him now?" she suggested.
He nodded, and the both of them shunpo-ed towards the 6th.
==x==
"So you want me to go with you to the real world?" Renji asked, just to make sure he heard correctly.
Sakura nodded. "Any problem with that?"
"No... I'm honored actually. But I'm not sure if Kuchiki-taicho will let me go..."
"We've spoke to him. It's all ok." Hitsugaya answered, in his usual calm collected tone. "So we take it that you agree to go with us on thi-"
Just then, the door opened."ABARAI!" Sakura wheeled around and saw Ikkaku strolling into the room, closely followed by Yumichika. "WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU GOING ON A MISSION?" he demanded.
"Actually... Hitsugaya-taicho and Sakura-taicho asked me... it had nothing to do with me volunteering..." Renji stammered, obviously a little intimidated by Ikkaku's loud booming voice.
"Hey, Ikkaku. We wouldn't mind you and Yumichika coming along too, would we, Toushiro?" proposed Sakura.
"No, I wouldn't mind. Okay then. We have 3 members of the team and I can tell Yamamoto sou-taicho about ou-" Hitsugaya started.
And then again, the door opened. "TAICHO!" There was no mistaking it. Matsumoto walked briskly into the room, her hands on her hips. "Taicho, you don't mean to tell me you plan on leaving me all alone here!"
"Matsumoto..." Hitsugaya sighed, before continuing. "Fine, you can come along too. But you better behave yourself. Or I'm sending you right back to Soul Society."
Matsumoto did a mock salute. "Yes, sir!"
Sakura laughed. "Well then, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning, sharp. Be there alright?" she instructed, as she and Hitsugaya left the crowded room.
As soon as they were out of the room, Hitsugaya frowned. "Dang, and I was thinking of making Matsumoto take charge of the division while I was gone. That way, she would learn something about responsibility..."
Sakura patted him on the back and flashed him a smile. "Aww come on, Shiro-chan. The more the merrier, you know? Besides, it'll be nice to have someone watch your back."
"Yeah, like how I watch yours?" He laughed.
"I think you mean how I watch yours." Giving him a light peck on the cheek, she beamed.
"Now let's hurry back and start packing."
==x==
Emm297: WELL. THAT'S THE VERY VERY VERY LAST CHAPTER OF ONCE UPON A SAKURA FLOWER, AND IT'S THE STARTING OF THE 'ONCE UPON A' SERIES (That's right, I'm calling it that from now on!).
THE SEQUEL WILL BE UP BEFORE THE NEW YEAR ARRIVES, SO LOOK OUT FOR IT (:
It's called 'Once Upon A Full Moon', and no, I didn't randomly choose a name. The full moon has some significance in the story though. Isn't that nice? Hehe.
Add me under Author Alert if you want to know when the sequel is up. Or you can drop me a message through review and when I post the sequel I will MAKE SURE to inform you about it too!
To summarize, just look out for the sequel, alright? It'll make a good Christmas/Birthday present. You see, my birthday's on Christmas Eve. So it'll be awesome if you reviewed this chapter or just read my sequel when it comes!
Hope you guys review the last chapter, reviews are a nice present too!
Okay then, I'll see you guys in my sequel to Once Upon a Sakura Flower, entitled Once Upon a Full Moon!
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED THIS STORY FROM IT'S VERY BEGINNING, AND HAS STUCK WITH SAKURA AND I THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE TIME. EVEN IF YOU JUST REVIEWED ONCE, OR BROWSED THROUGH THE STORY, OR IF YOU ADDED THIS AS FAV STORY OR STORY ALERT, ADDED ME UNDER AUTHOR ALERT, YOU GUYS HAVE MY MILLION THANKS.
ROCK ON!
A little peek at the sequel...
"Hey, Shiro-chan. May I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"What if... just maybe... I turn into someone totally different, someone different from the way I am now?"
"How different?"
"You know... different. Like I turn bad or evil or something. Or what if I don't remember you anymore? What if-"
"I think it's safe to say that no matter who or what you become, I'll still love you all the same."
Sakura couldn't deny that that made her feel a little more at ease, but the feeling... that ominous feeling...
It just didn't go away completely.