ok now for the long awaited chapter 8, and to answeryour question bad ass female fighter, no i did not die, but my plot bunnies did. So i had to mail order new onesfrom peru, but it was just my luck that they were out so i had to fish around until I found some in Siberia, andthey took FOREVERRRRRRRR. Any way on to the story.

Chapter 8: Arrancar Shinobi

Sakura all but sprinted as she tore through the Seireite. She had just gotten back from the Realm of the Living and was on her way to give her report to the head captain. She still couldn't believe what she had seen. The events that had transpired during her most recent encounter with an Espada were most unsettling.

The Day Before

Sakura ran though the crowded streets of Karakura Town, checking her phone every few minutes. "Dammit! That idiot Kurosaki is there already," she swore at herself," Ichigo only ever manages to piss them off." She flipped her phone out once more and dialed a few numbers and waited for the other line to answer," Do you have the location Kira-san?"

"Hai, Taichou. Groups three and four are already in position awaiting your orders," the voice on the other line said.

"Good, stand by and until I get there, and DON'T let Kurosaki do anything stupid," as she said that there was a loud explosion and several screams on the other end.

"Gomenasai, Taichou-sama, it's a bit late for that," he said. Sakura let out a snarl that would send Zaraki running for the hills.

"All right then, your orders are to assist as needed, and don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Yes ma'am," came her reply and the both hung up. She had just rounded the last corner when she spotted the red-headed idiot in all his glory, sword flailing and a bleeding gash across his chest. He lunged toward a blue haired man in a white kimono. Blood was streaked through his hair and on his face, but what Sakura noticed first, however, was the hole straight through his chest about six inches in diameter. 'Arrancar,' she thought darkly. There was something familiar about this one though, but she couldn't place it. She stood and watched the fight unfold for several minutes before something threw her off. The Arrancar started to form the hand signs that she knew so well.

"Impossible," she whispered," there's no way."

One of her subordinates ran up to her, "Captain, what is he doing? "she asked, noting the almost imperceptible fear in her captain's eyes. The Arrancar brought his hands to his mouth and drew in a deep breath, "SQUAD THREE RETREAT!" she called to her squad, but she was too late. "FIRE STYLE-PHEONIX FLOWER JUSTU!"he cried.

Though most of her team got away safely, four of her men were consumed by the blast before they could even hear her call to retreat. As she heard their screams of anguish and the smell of burning flesh permeated the air, Sakura was filled to the brim with rage and sorrow. Anyone within a ten-mile radius could feel the power radiating off of the former Konoha konoichi. Though on her face was a stone-cold mask of calm, her squad knew without a doubt writhing in agony over the loss of her treasured comrades.

"YOU BASTARD!" she called through her calm façade," YOU WILL PAY FOR THE LIVES YOU HAVE ENDED WITH YOUR OWN!" and with that said she drew her blade and the rest of her squad followed suit.

"Oh really?" he said, like the cocky prick he was," and how do you expect to achieve that, Pinky?"

"Kira, now!" she called to her lieutenant, the two groups of Shinigami that were laying in wait barreled out of the bushes surrounding the area and every Shinigami able to fight rushed the Arrancar at full speed. After about a half an hour of nonstop fighting, the Arrancar realized that he couldn't take on an entire squad by himself he retreated into the rift in the sky he created when he arrived in the Land of the Living. Sakura charged after him and aimed a deadly blow at his neck but the rift closed just as she brought down her sword, slashing nothing but empty air.

"Damn it," she said and looked at her team, "Gather the injured and the dead, we will regroup at the Uruhara Shop and continue to Soul Society from there."

"YES, MA'AM!"

Sakura came to a pair of red doors that she knew very well and took a moment to compose herself. It had been ten years since she first saw them. She could still pinpoint the crack in one of the doors she made when she put Jiraiya's face through them. Sakura smirked at the memory, but then her face fell into the oh-so-familiar mask of stony indifference and she knocked on the door.

"Enter," she heard as the head captain's lieutenant opened the door to let her in. Sakura entered quickly and knelt on one knee in front of the Sou-Taichou, just as she had with Tsunade in her ANBU days. It was a habit she was never able to break.

"Sir, I have my report from Karakura," she said.

"Oh? And is it so important that you have to deliver it in person rather than your usual methods?" Yammamoto inquired.

"Hai, in the most recent encounter with an Arrancar, namely an Espada, the fighting style he exhibited was one I haven't seen in many years." She thought back to the day when Kakashi had been helping Sasuke perfect it in a one-on-one training session.

"How so? Explain," he said, as his expression grew concerned.

"This technique, it's not something one could easily master. It takes years of training. The skills needed to master it aren't typically found in Arrancars, or even Hallows for that matter. Even many shinobi in my homeland find the technique difficult. Only one clan in the entire Leaf Village could do it; the Uchiha," she explained.

"So what does that mean, Captain Haruno?" Yammamoto asked.

"It means, Captain, that the Espada used a shinobi technique. It is one that I am very familiar with," she explained .

"Are our forces here enough to defeat them?"

"Maybe, I know of a few people in my squad, five, maybe seven of my better fighters, but in the other squads I have no idea. Based on my current knowledge, even with the help of Kurosaki and his friends, I would say the odds are not in our favor." She said

"I see," he captain responded. They stood in silence for a few moments each racking their brains for a solution. Then, a light bulb in Sakura's head lit up.

"Captain," she started.

"hn,"

"I heard that Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends were able to cross in to the Soul Society while they were still living, is that correct?" she asked him.

"Yes, that's true," he answered,"Where are you going with this?"

"Would it be possible to open a Senkai Gate* to the Konohagakure? The shinobi there are well equipped to fight against these techniques, many of them have already fought the Uchiha many times before," she suggested. Yammamoto considered her proposal.

"Hn, you are dismissed Captain Haruno," he said.

"Hai, Sou-Taichou," Sakura answered and left the room in a swirl of cherry blossoms.

"Lieutenant, Bring me Captain Kuchiki," he ordered, Haruno had never lead him astray in the past so heeding her advice would be the wisest action at the moment. 'It seems we will have to call in reinforcements,' he thought to himself.

*- is that what it's called? not sure so please reveiw and tell me