The Tale Of Flowering Fortunes

Murasaki met with her team at nine-thirty, after going to a briefing on the Uchiha murders. According to reports, Itachi killed the entire clan, except for his little brother...



When she met up with her students, they were getting along suspiciously well, chatting quietly about the recent news.



"Hey, guys, are we ready to go?"



The kids pulled away and nodded in unison and they set out through the giant green gates.



They traveled on in a unnatural silence, and Murasaki was wondering if something was up. Toshi was actually behaving today...



It was then that the disconcerting silence was shattered by a loud shriek.



Murasaki spun, a kunai in hand and looked at Moeko first, who was laughing quietly behind her hands and looking at Toshi, who had spattered the back of Yashiro's usually pristine white jacket with mud.



Murasaki sighed and scolded him, but it simply went in one ear and out the other.



They got to the border of Suna in three days, by then Toshi was whining about the difficulty of the mission.



They established a base, a rock in the middle of a clearing, while Yashiro used his Byakugan to scan for chakra signatures in the forest.



Murasaki set out with Toshi to search for the highwaymen's base of operations, quickly finding a large cave with a torii guarding the entrance.



"According to the reports, this is the spot..." She muttered, glancing at Toshi, who was picking his nose. She elbowed him in the ribs.



"That's gross..."



"But my nose is dry..." He whined. Murasaki shushed him and they continued to watch, Murasaki using her chakra to search for anyone inside or nearby.



Several people were inside, and she could feel people moving around on the ground beneath them. Altogether, there were ten. She nodded at Toshi, who nodded back.



They headed back to the clearing and told the others.



"It's about two against one, with two to spare..." She said quietly, sketching out the layout in the dirt. Yashiro nodded thoughtfully. She knew he would come up with a plan, he always did...



"Let's strike at night...that's when they change their guard...we‘ll get the ones who are tired, and then when the others come back in the morning, we‘ll ambush them..." She said thoughtfully. Yashiro nodded.



"Yes, that would be the best idea...what kind of weapons do they use?"



"Some western weapon...firearms, or something..." She said quietly.



The kids stared at her.



"B-but the d-daimyo outlawed firearms!" Moeko said, her deep brown eyes wide with fear.



Murasaki nodded. "Yes, I know...it's not honorable, but it is what we're facing..." She said quietly, standing up. She could feel someone's chakra on the edge of the clearing.



"You guys stay down..." She said, looking off in the distance. A tall, light haired man dressed all in black was standing there...just standing there. Murasaki said nothing, looking him up and down. He was a giant of a man, standing well over six foot, and he had the face of a demon, covered in straw-colored hair.



She bristled, her hand dropping to her side and drawing a kunai. He grabbed a firearm from his side, placing a tiny black rock in a hammer-mechanism and beginning to load it. Murasaki smirked at his inefficiency, springing to strike seconds before a shot like an explosion rang through the trees. She heard Moeko scream in fear as a sharp pain ripped through her own shoulder. She didn't stop, throwing her kunai with deadly accuracy into the barrel of the weapon.



The man let out a loud profanity and threw the gun to the ground, turning to bolt, running straight into Yashiro, who kicked him in the face.



The highwayman fell back against a tree, wiping his face and spitting out a tooth.



"You little brat!" He snarled, grasping at the young Hyuuga, who leapt backwards and struck out again, kicking the man in the ribs with a sickening crunch. The man grabbed Yashiro's ankle, flinging him across the clearing, where he landed with a soft thump in the grass.



Murasaki could feel the warm trickle running down her arm as she launched a giant shiruken in the man's direction.



The man dodged, escaping off into the trees. Murasaki turned to her team.



"We have to get out of here!" She said as Yashiro picked himself up from the ground. They headed off across the nearby river, stopping on top of a cliff. Moeko used a kunai to pry the lead out of Murasaki's shoulder. Murasaki had to bite her lip to keep from groaning at the pain.



They got everyone patched up and Murasaki looked around. From their vantage point, they could see the hideout perfectly.



"We lost the element of surprise...Now we have to resort to striking soon, or they'll be on to us. We managed to wound one...and their firearms are unusually slow weapons..." She said, trying not to pick at her aching shoulder.



They nodded, waiting as the sun dipped below the horizon. Toshi was oddly quiet and clingy, his fear evident in his mannerisms.



"Look...It's time to go..." She said, leaning over the edge and watching as several tired looking men and one woman trudged across the shallow water into the cave.



"Let's wait for the others to leave before we strike..." Murasaki said, glancing back at her team. Yashiro and Moeko nodded solemnly. Toshi's eyes were wide with fear, but he nodded, too.



The moon rose and the cave below fell silent, a flickering light from a fire cast shadows out of the entrance. Murasaki nodded to her students, who followed her down onto the rocks below.



She signaled to Yashiro to use his byakugan to see into the cave and he indicated that there were six inside. She nodded, signaling to Toshi to move forward with her, while Yashiro and Moeko waited.



The people inside were somewhat surprised at first, but quickly sprang into action. Moeko and Yashiro came in moment's later, Yashiro using some impressive jounnin-level technique that Murasaki didn't remember teaching him.



There was the sound of gunfire and the smell of black powder filled the air. Murasaki remembered her protective instincts kicking in as she threw herself in front of Toshi before one of the highwaymen was able to shoot their firearm, but the rest was a blur.



ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo



When she came to, she was leaning against a rock, Toshi was sitting by her side, crying quietly, and Moeko was sitting behind him, comforting him gently. Yashiro stood not far off, looking around. The smell of gunpowder and fresh blood still hung in the air.



She tried sitting up, but her right arm was heavily bandaged, and a small amount of blood had seeped through in some places.



"Hey..." She said, using her left to push herself up. "Hey, don't cry...I'm okay..." She said, reaching out and ruffling the boy's hair. She felt horribly dizzy. Toshi looked up at her and suddenly threw his arms around her neck, crying onto her good shoulder. Moeko and Yashiro both struggled to pull the boy off of their sensei.



"We need to get out of here...we can't complete this mission..." She said as Yashiro helped her up. He nodded solemnly to her.



"Let's go..."



They set out, Murasaki paused for a moment to pray for the fallen and summon a toad, which she sent ahead of them with the message that they could not complete the mission and they were headed back.



They traveled through the trees until dawn, when Murasaki had to stop and rest for a moment or two. Toshi still looked spooked, and Moeko was scared, too, but more concerned with making sure everyone was all right.



After about an hour or so, they were on the move again, stopping again for a longer rest that night.



"Yashiro...are we being followed?" She asked, looking away as Moeko re-bandaged her arm.



"It's difficult to tell at this moment. I see people about five miles behind us, but it could be anything..." He said, sitting down on a rock. The forest was silent, save for a few birds and other creatures that made noise in the underbrush.



Murasaki took the first watch with Yashiro, despite Moeko's protests for her to rest. The night was quiet, the wood suddenly eerily silent.



"What do you see Yashiro? I know what I feel..."



"There are five...no, six people surrounding us...and...one has very well-developed chakra..."



"Two...I recognize the one...and the other is familiar, too..." She said, standing up. The moon was almost full overhead as she leapt out of her tree and pretended to check on Toshi. A toad crawled through the grass towards her and she smiled and nodded slightly.



It was almost as if that was the signal as four of the highway men opened fire. She could hear Yashiro yelling, crying almost as the pain shot up her arm. Moeko was up like a shot, before suddenly falling to the ground in a heap. There was blood everywhere, and she grabbed hold of Toshi, who had been badly injured. She could see the outline of her father as he crushed one of the highwaymen's ribcage with one swift kick.



She felt someone grab her arm and turned to see the blond man from before. He had his dagger out and turned her around, throwing her on the ground. She rolled over, holding tighter on to Toshi, determined to keep him alive for as long as possible.



It was at that point that she heard a high-pitched chirping sound accompanied by the crackle of electricity. She looked up in time to see Kakashi slam a ball of lightning right into the man's face.



She felt the copy nin's hands grab her as she held tighter to her clumsiest student.



"Come on, we're going back..."



"But Moeko...and Yashiro...dad!"



"Come on..." Kakashi said, pulling her away. Toshi clung weakly to her neck as she and Kakashi traveled through the trees.



"Sensei...please...is Moeko all right?" He moaned, tightening his grip on her vest.



"I...I don't know, kiddo..." She said, glancing at Kakashi, who shook his head sadly. Murasaki bit back tears, holding Toshi tighter.



"Sensei...I feel okay now...I think I can go..." He whispered quietly, smiling up at her. His arms slipped from around her neck and she had to stop to hold on to his body.



"Toshi! No! No! Don't leave now!" She cried desperately, laying him on the tree branch and ripping his shirt open, trying CPR. Kakashi stopped behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.



"No, Murasaki...just let him go...his soul will fly through this...just let him go..." He said softly.



Murasaki shook her head, tears pouring down her cheeks. Kakashi stayed there behind her, his hand never moving from his shoulder.



"Let's take him home to his parents..." He said a while later, scooping Toshi up in his arms and leading her back to the village.



She was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she was taken into surgery to remove the bullets from her body. It was later said that it was a miracle that she didn't die that day; one of the bullets had narrowly missed her spinal column.



oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo



She awoke three days later in a pristine hospital room, her father sitting by her side. A single red chrysanthemum sat in a vase beside the bed, the card attached bearing Kakashi's name.



"Dad..." She said quietly. "Am I too late for the funerals?"



He stroked her hand. "Kakashi's there in your place right now..."



Murasaki sat there for a moment in silence. "I have to go..." She said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and stood up shakily.



"You're not strong enough to go..." He said, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her back down on the bed. "You can say goodbye later..." He said gently.



They sat there in silence.



"What ever happened to Yashiro? Did he make it?"



Jiraiya nodded. "Yes, he's fine..."



"Can I see him?"



The door slid open and Kakashi came in with a sad air about him.



"No...he's on an undisclosed long-term mission..." Kakashi said quietly.



Murasaki felt her blood run cold and she glanced at her father for verification.



"Does that mean what I think it does?" She said, her voice cracking slightly.



"We cant tell you that..." Kakashi said, a slight smile forming despite the sadness in the room. Murasaki sighed and closed her eyes, holding back her tears. Jiraiya sat beside her on the bed, giving her a gentle hug.



"It's okay, sweetheart..."



Kakashi sat down in the chair where Jiraiya had just been.



"How are you holding up?' He asked, his visible eye full of genuine concern.



"I'll be fine...I just need to say goodbye...I'll never be able to move on until I do..." She said softly, avoiding his gaze.



oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo