So, here comes a story based in the 'Flower in the Mist' universe. I wrote it a long time ago, but I didn't want to upload it before the first chapter of FitM, due to the fact that it is a back story to what is revealed in that chapter. I would like to thank you for taking the time to have a look at it, and - as always - feedback is most appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though Yuhara Kasumi and her family are my creations.

Rising Mist

Seconds crept past, silent save the pounding of my heart in my ears. I was pretty sure – or maybe I just hoped – that it would be the exact same for all the other members of the team. Although, I thought, glancing around at my fellow shinobi and trying to get a grasp of their emotions, despite the fact that their faces were hidden by animal masks, taichou isn't bothered at all.

And it certainly seemed that way. Everyone was a ball of tension and coiled muscle; Tori-taichou, on the other hand, was calm and collected. Her head was tilted down towards the ground and tilted to one side, listening intently, and she had gently rested three fingers on the ground, feeling for any vibrations caused by the enemy's movements.

We awaited her next order in stillness, although the rookie of the team seemed more uneasy than the rest of us and started fidgeting. Not that you can blame her, I mused. ANBU work is a whole lot different from regular shinobi missions. And when you consider the fact that there are maybe a hundred or so hostile ninja out there who weren't supposed to be there, well… It makes even us veterans uneasy.

Tori's head suddenly twitched upward; "They've caught scent of us. About twenty-five approaching, two o'clock position, and six flanking us at eight o'clock. And, judging from their chakra signatures, they're all between high chūnin and jōnin level. They're still a distance off – I can hardly sense them right now."

That wasn't good news: thirty-one (potentially more) enemies converging on the five of us. This'll turn into a slaughterhouse – and we're the cattle at the chopping block.

"Damn, that many?" I heard Saru curse to himself and, glancing over, I noticed that he had already loosened his kodachi from its scabbard to make for an easier draw.

All of a sudden everyone seemed a lot more on edge, understandably worried about the chances of survival and whether we would manage to complete the mission.

"Ushi." Tori-taichou's sober voice broke through my daze. She jerked her head in a direction away from the rest of the group.

"Hai, taichou." I understood. She wanted to discuss a plan of action with me in private – after all, I was her second-in-command.

When she deemed that we were far enough away, she turned to me and bluntly stated, "I have an order for you that you're not going to like."

If I weren't well-trained at keeping my emotions at bay, I may have gulped nervously. Instead, I replied, "What is it, taichou?"

"I want you, Saru, Uma, and Inu to take the information we've collected back to Konoha – it must reach the Hokage." She rested a hand on my shoulder and added, in a softer tone, "You're in command now."

"Wha-?" My brain couldn't process what she was telling me. She was putting me in command? But that only happened when the captain of a team was… My eyes widened to a size akin to saucers behind the cow mask that I wore.

"Yuhara-taichou, you can't be serious – it's insane! If we all stay behind to fight, we have a better chance of defeating them!" I hissed sharply, trying to keep my voice down so as to not attract the attention of the others.

"Maybe we would," she agreed, her voice even. But then it hardened and she continued coldly, "But there's also a greater chance that the whole team would die and Hokage-sama wouldn't find out about what we discovered here – until it was too late."

"I understand that!" I argued back, frowning. "But it doesn't have to be you, Yuhara-taichou! You've got a family waiting for you to come back home to Konoha." I took a deep breath and ploughed on, "I, on the other hand, have no attachments to worry about; let me stay behind instead."

"No." Her tone brooked no argument. "I am the captain of this team: your safety and wellbeing are my responsibility. And, if I have to sacrifice myself to keep you all safe, I will do so without a moment's hesitation. Besides," she tried to sound light-hearted and I could just picture, could almost hear, the quirk of her lips, "it is an honour to die in the line of duty, no?"

"Wh-what will I tell your family?" I croaked hoarsely, my throat suddenly tight.

"Tell them…" She trailed off pensively. "Tell them I did what I had to do."

I nodded in acknowledgement, finding that all words had fled me. She walked back over to our team – my team, I corrected myself numbly – and I followed closely behind her. And it was there, in front of them watching us curiously and wondering what their orders were going to be, that she carried out the ritual.

Every member of ANBU owns two masks – the one that they wear whilst carrying out missions (this one gets scuffed and cracked and the paint of the markings gets chipped) and their ceremonial one, which they wear when on duty to protect the Hokage or to guard meetings or dignitaries or when our presence is required at formal procedures.

Every ANBU member carries the formal mask with them, sealed in a storage scroll for moments exactly like this.

Tori-taichou took the scroll that contained her immaculate mask out from under her body armour and, with an air that bordered on reverence, placed it in my outstretched palms. She bowed, "Ushi-taichou. I humbly request that you ensure that this scroll is given directly to the Sandaime Hokage, until the time when either I am able to reclaim it or it is passed onto the next to bear the title of 'Tori'."

Just as solemnly, I completed the rite, "I vow to complete this your request, as a bearer of this mark-" my hand briefly lingered over the tattoo on my right biceps "-and as bearer of the identity 'Ushi'. If I find myself unable to carry out my oath, I will entrust another with your final request."

I could hear the rest of the team sucking in their breaths as we spoke – clearly they hadn't been expecting our captain to stay behind and keep the enemy from us as long as she could. But, to be fair, neither had I.

She nodded and, just like that, the moment had passed. She turned her back to us and faced dead centre between the enemy shinobi positions. "Now go. I gave you an order earlier; so do it." As she spoke, she unsheathed the tantō that was strapped to her back and I could feel her moulding her chakra, getting ready to unleash a jutsu when they finally arrived.

"As you command, Yuhara-taichou." I bowed to her back and spun to face my comrades. "Diamond formation – Saru, left; Inu, right; Uma, you follow behind, cover our trail with traps. I'll take point. Now, let's move out."

I glanced back at her standing there as we left the clearing and jumped into the trees, intent on getting as far away as possible before hostiles showed up. She stood there, as serene as still water and poised, seemingly unafraid to be meeting death head on.

"Taichou," Uma spoke up, "you'd best catch up with us, hear me? We'll be covering our backs with traps, so watch out for them, okay?" I could hear an edge of desperation to her voice and sent a sympathetic glance in her direction, even if she couldn't see it behind my mask. It has to be tough, considering this is her first mission.

"Wakarimashita. I shall try my best," it sounded to me as if she were smiling, and I couldn't help but feel in awe of our captain.

How could someone be so cheerful and amused in the face of her impending death? The Will of Fire in her must be blazing fiercely right now – she's willing to do anything if it means we'll be safe.

"We'll hold you to that," I replied and I saw her nod in understanding. She understood that it was just bravado, something that we needed to do to lessen the blow of her demise.

"Go!" She suddenly snapped; I realised we had been dawdling a bit, putting off the inevitable and trying to spend as much time with her as we could – whilst she was still alive. "They're closer than they were, and I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire."

"Right…" I trailed off, wondering if we could delay even longer and help her in the fight. You would be disobeying a direct order if you did that, Ushi, the ANBU part of me sternly intoned. If you lived, you could be tried for treason. I knew that voice was right; I just wished I could change Tori's mind. After all, she had a young daughter – what if she grew up, unable to remember what her mother looked like?

I steeled myself; this indecision wasn't helping and it wasn't for me to question orders. "Of course," I said, seriously. "We're counting on you."

And with that we jumped into the trees and began our journey back. Not long after we had started moving, I felt a flare of chakra behind us and thought I heard a faint voice roar (though it seemed just a murmur to our ears), "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"

After that, the only sounds we heard were the natural sounds of the forest – birds twittering somewhere unseen above our heads, the susurrus as the wind blew through the trees and rustled the leaves as if they were whispering secrets to one another – and those that we made: our light footsteps as we kicked off of branches; our breathing; the sound of Uma setting up traps behind us.

Even though the world around us seemed tranquil and ordinary, I found I couldn't relax. Any sound that didn't sound as if it were commonplace made me twitch and I could feel the tension steadily fraying my nerves away to nothing.

"You're in command now."

That's right, I thought, Tori-taichou put her trust in me. And if the rest of the team have noticed me shaking like a leaf, I won't exactly be inspiring confidence in them. My mind wandered to how I had seen our captain conduct herself in the clearing. Calm, collected and poised – that's what I have to try and live up to.

I didn't find it all that hard to shove any fear I felt into a corner of the back of my mind, but I had to adapt my ANBU persona slightly – I was a captain now, a commander, and not a subordinate. That took a few adjustments. But as soon as I had slipped into that role, it was easy: my muscles turned to fluid motion; I kept aware of all sounds around me but didn't startle at any of them, out-of-place or not.

We reached Konoha without further mishap – which could only mean that Yuhara-taichou had killed the enemy or injured them so badly that they were unable to pursue us – and made our way to the Hokage tower. We slipped into the Hokage's office, and the four of us stood to attention in front of the Sandaime Hokage.

He looked up, studying us and our body language for a moment, before his eyes narrowed. He then placed his pipe down on his desk and asked, "Only four of you? What happened to Tori?"

Despite his question, he already knew; he just needed to hear our mission report, which I gave him. Sorrow briefly flickered in his dark eyes but he said nothing. As I finished speaking, he bowed his head and sighed wearily, "I see…" Then he looked up and gave us a small but proud smile. "Thank you for the hard work. All of you should get some rest; you'll receive some time off before your next mission."

The team bowed – no doubt all of us were grateful for that; I certainly knew that I felt mentally fatigued after the mission – and he added, "Saru, Uma – you're dismissed. Inu, could you please contact the headquarters and get a team comprised of iryō-nin and ANBU members to search for Tori? Afterwards, you may go home; you don't need to report back. Ushi, I would like you to stay here."

The three he named bowed again before their figures blurred as they used shunshin to leave. Hiruzen then turned his attention to me.

"I have something for you Hokage-sama," I murmured, still not sure how I felt about what happened on our mission. I knew I would probably end up crying later; I could already feel the tears stinging at the backs of my eyes and pushing at the back of my throat, even with my ANBU 'mask' in place. But it still didn't feel real, it had happened so fast.

He smiled sadly and merely said, "I know."

I took the scroll out of one of the loops on my belt and then placed it on the desk in front of him with a bow. I explained, "Tori-taichou requested that I do everything in my power to ensure that this scroll reached you, Sandaime-sama. The identity of 'Tori' is free to be passed on to another."

"I appreciate your efforts in getting this back to me," he replied sincerely. Then his voice softened slightly, "She is indeed a hero of Konohagakure no Sato, doing everything she could to guarantee that the four of you returned safely."

"Her name…" I hesitated, "It will be carved onto the memorial, right?"

Hiruzen looked up, surprised. "But of course! Why would you think she wouldn't be remembered and honoured?"

"Ah, that is," I paused, licked my lips, "I wasn't sure. The mission was a secret after all. She wasn't out on a mission as a jōnin; I guess I wasn't sure that ANBU members got their names on the cenotaph."

He smiled again, gently this time, "Ah, I see. The civilians may not realise that ANBU exists, but the shinobi of the village do and they appreciate all your hard work in the shadows. You don't need to worry Ushi-san – oh! You can take your mask off if you wish – you're technically not on duty anymore. And you don't need to stand to attention anymore."

I did exactly as he suggested: after all, it had been getting stuffy under the mask. After mentally debating about it for a moment, I spoke up, "Sandaime-sama… What will we do about Yuhara-taichou's family? Originally I had wanted to stay behind and hold off the enemy since they would be waiting for her."

"Even though I've ordered a retrieval team sent out," he looked sad and suddenly aged, "you don't believe there's any hope? You think she was killed?"

"I-" I wasn't quite sure how to respond to his question. So I thought about it, I thought about everything that had happened: our bravado as we tried to put on a brave face, and her promise to catch up with us (well, technically to do her best to catch up with us). I found myself frowning.

"If she didn't manage to catch up with the team, she was either killed during the encounter, or her injuries were so serious that they incapacitated her as she was making her way to us. And if that were the case, it would still mean her life was in danger. But otherwise, I don't think there would be anything that would've stopped her from reaching us; y-you never saw her, she was so… Determined. I-I had never seen her like that before," I admitted, feeling a little sheepish.

"We shall wait for the retrieval team to find her first before we do anything on that front. For example, if she isn't dead and only requires medical assistance, then the team should be able to stabilise her or at least keep her alive before they reach Konoha. In the end, we may only need to inform her family that she was injured but is making a full recovery, you see?" He elucidated. "So, we need not jump to conclusions."

"Of course Hokage-sama. My apologies."

He waved away my apology with a smile, "You have no reason to be sorry, Ushi. Now, was there anything else you wanted to say?"

"Ah! No. That was everything, Hokage-sama. Do you need anything from me?" It wasn't all that unusual for the Sandaime Hokage to offer shinobi, who had been through a tough mission and seen a teammate die, someone to talk to. Most, however, refused as they found the old man to be enough of a counsellor and found they were feeling better after having even a quick chat with him.

He shook his head, "No, I need nothing more from you. Thank you for your report, and for this little talk. I shall allow yourself and your team a break from missions; you all deserve some rest, after all. Dismissed."

I nodded once and then disappeared, taking my comrades' preferred method of exit. When I reached my apartment, I did little more than strip off my clothes and armour before falling face-first onto my bed.

Apprehensively, I knocked on the front door of the rather modest house in front of me. As I waited for the door to be answered, I shifted my weight subtly from one foot to the other – a nervous habit that I had had for years, despite my best attempts to rid myself of it.

I've never gotten used to doing this, I thought. I wouldn't have volunteered to do it normally either, except that she asked me to. I sighed, scrubbing at my face with one hand. I was dressed in my normal jōnin garb; after all, it was almost frowned upon to be seen out in public in an ANBU uniform, if you weren't on duty.

The door opening shook me from my thoughts and I looked up at the person who had answered it. And, upon seeing no one, found that I had to look down to find them.

There in front of me was a small girl with light blue hair, bright eyes and a smiling, innocent face. For a moment, looking at her was almost like seeing a miniature version of a ghost. She looks so much like Yuhara-taichou.

"Yes?" A small voice piped up. "C-can I help you?"

I smiled at the child and replied, "Ah, yes actually. I was wondering if your father was home…?"

She nodded solemnly, "He is. Do you want me to get him for you?"

"Yes, please – if it isn't too much trouble."

She smiled shyly and murmured, "Don't worry about it. Well, p-please excuse me." She bowed hastily and then disappeared into the house, intent on finding her father.

I stayed on the doorstep, still moving from foot to foot. It didn't take long before her father appeared at the door, looking anxious; not that I could blame him for it. Usually if you had a family member who was a shinobi, and they were out on a mission, some other ninja was turning up on your front doorstep – without warning – generally meant that they weren't a bearer of good news.

He gulped and then said hesitantly, tripping over his words at the start, "I-is there something I can help you with?"

I drew myself up to attention in front of him, carefully composing my face.

"I am sorry to have to inform you of this, but on her last mission-"

As I spoke the words, I could see horror dawning on his face as his worst fears, that had been bubbling away in some corner of his mind as he answered the door, were confirmed. Rapidly the colour drained from his cheeks and his eyes became moist with barely withheld tears, begging me to stop talking and wake him up from the nightmare; other than that he stood stock still. I'm so sorry I have to tell you this, I found myself thinking distantly.

"Yuhara Noriko lost her life protecting her teammates against an enemy shinobi force."

Author's note:

I will admit to making up the fact that ANBU members own two masks - I thought it would be quite interesting if that were the case. So, I give my apologies to anyone who isn't happy with the fact that I made that up, sorry. ^^;

Once again, there is a glossary.

taichou: captain
Tori, Uma, Ushi, Inu, Saru: Bird, Horse, Cow, Dog, Monkey
wakarimashita: understood
Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique (otherwise translated as: Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu)
Konohagakure no Sato: the village hidden in the leaves