A/N: Ano…minna…I'm sorry to submit such a short chapter. This fic is actually a result of a challenge my friend gave me the other day. If you want to know, her profile is Milky Etoile. She is also my beta reader when I need one.

MASK

By: Tsubome Ongaku

Haruno Sakura threw three kunai at the targets. Bull's eye. It was a fair day, almost a year after she found the letter. When Tsunade-sama read the contents, she immediately did what is appropriate, of course, to send a signal to the Uchiha survivor.

In the letter, they found out that everything Sasuke did was part of a plan. The plan was supposed to go to Orochimaru, to not only get stronger, but also to find out a way to defeat him and get the technique to take off his cursed seal. After that, almost everything was told to be in secret. All she did was to keep the contents of the letter to her, for the information to spread to the whole of Konoha would be dangerous. If the news would have spread to Oto, everything will be disastrous.

When the gang found out, it resulted to both Kiba and Naruto shouting out the most colorful words she has ever heard in her life. Everything then went according to the plan Sasuke thought of, and the ones who were the exact people to try rescue him before came to do the supposed task now.

They were supposed to go back by this time, but no matter. The girl standing in front of us now wasn't the old pink-haired girl either. The color of her hair was now blue, compliments of an undercover mission she had at the Stone country.

Of course, as expected of a captain of an ANBU team, she succeeded with positive results. All was supposed to be all right after that though, but she made one simple mistake to change the brand of her hair dye, and instead for it to last for three months, it now lasted for nine, and she didn't want that. She missed her pink locks, but she now can't do anything about that problem.

She was wearing a cat ANBU mask, enough to cover her whole face. Only her hair was visible. She then leaped from one tree to another, as if to go to a place. Sure enough, a clearing opened and she then sat on the edge of a brook and cleaned her hand.

Sasuke jumped to the tree in front of him. Where did this plan go wrong? The Uchiha prodigy then thought. Everything was supposed to go properly according to everything that he planned about three years ago.

Supposedly, he was to have found out how to defeat Orochimaru, but an unfortunate incident happened. Kabuto found out about the plan just when they were about to start on the last part of it a month ago, and everything then ended with them succeeding, but all he had managed was to remove his cursed seal, and Neji, who was supposed to be their eyes and was the one in front this time, was terribly injured. The worst that could ever happen now is if Kabuto has defeated the guys who were left to stop him from going to him and bringing him back to Orochimaru.

At the last minute, he has changed the plan from them ging together to him going only with Neji, (because he is injured) and Gaara(for protection). The rest of the gang were left behind to stop anybody from reaching to them. Other than Neji, there weren't any casualties unless for some bruises when they realized their mistake.

He then went forward, with Neji and Gaara beside him. Pretty soon, he heard water. Konoha is near. Was the though they pasted in their minds the minute they heard it. The neared it, and pretty soon saw a clearing far ahead. But then he suddenly stopped. The two people behind him then stopped as well. All three then felt the chakra, and silently hid theirs.