Hi, so this is my story The Last Flower! I hope you enjoy it and love it and can't stop reading it and all that! :D

Sasuke: Review at the end or else.

Do you have to be so mean to the readers? Maybe that's why they won't review. =.=

Sasuke: That or they just hate your story.

You're being especially harsh today. Sakura mad at you.

Sasuke: -sigh-...yeah.

Aww, Tell me about it. Enjoy the story everyone!

-Chapter 1: A New Assignment

The onyx colored eyes of a man looked on the gray cement pavement as he walked against the cracked street. Hands in his pockets, he mindlessly avoided a textured, liquid like substance he had no desire to step in, despite having been in far more filthier situations. He scowled out it passing by. Filth; disgusting, unrecognizable filth that had no business being there. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't even sure what it was. Spilled beer or liquor? Fallen food? Vomit? He had no idea. And worse, he was starting to wonder whether or not it was alive. He sighed, looking up at the opening dawn sky, littered here and there by shadowed clouds. A pleasant day it would be in this filthy world; as pleasant as it could be anyway.

It was, after all, filthy.

His dark eyebrows furrowed, knitting together in slight concern. He had gotten a call from his job. They had a new assignment for him, and he couldn't help but think about what he was going to go through this time. Rather than thinking of it as a job, he more of thought of it as a nuisance, a source of income just to continue surviving without having to worry about cash; nothing more. Just that. It wasn't something he really loved and he was pretty damn sure knew he wasn't too keen on wanting to do it forever like some of the other employees had done before him. But he was also pretty sure what he wanted wouldn't matter. As much as he hated to admit it, he truly cut out for doing anything else. All he knew was that so called "business" and "work" with the "company" and moreover, other than his current work, he had no other work experience.

He really wondered what a CEO at a real business would say if he saw a blank resume in front of him along with a twenty two year old who pretty much looked like he hadn't given thought to a day of school at all. Would he kindly smile and dismiss him? He was only twenty two years old. Pretty young, and "just starting out on life" as old people would say. Or would he laugh his ass off like it was a joke and send him off after ripping the resume in half. He sighed.

'Looks like ANBU Corps will be my workplace for a while.' He grumbled in his thoughts and ran a hand through his jet black hair. With that he sighed and heard the calling of his friend from two blocks away. He groaned and stopped.

"Naruto shut up. People are just starting to wake up." The raven haired man with onyx eyes glared at his blond friend who ran up to him chuckling.

"Oh come on Sasuke-Teme! There's no need to be so grouchy. It's only six thirty five in the morning!" Naruto nudged his friend with his elbow. Sasuke growled and death glared at Naruto smacking him upside the head making the other man yelp in slight pain. Studying him Sasuke saw nothing wrong with the erratic and hyperactive blond. His blond unmanageable hair was spiked as usual, pieces of it falling down his forehead lightly; a messy style. And you could trust Sasuke, his undeclared best friend was the largest slob in all of Konoha City. Sasuke was sure of it, Naruto Uzumaki had to be the filthiest person out here.

And yet, while he would never admit it out loud, he truly did find friendship in Naruto.

"Gah! Teme!" He steamed lifting his long sleeved orange and black turtle neck with shaking fist, his other arm rubbing the back of his head. Sasuke scoffed and continued walking now looking fully ahead. Naruto furrowed his blond eyebrows and his pure ocean blue eyes held concern for his raven haired friend. Usually this would be their small ritual. They would insult each other, and then fight, then go on to their boss...

But Sasuke didn't seem to even care. Their bickering was part of the brotherly bond and now through that bond Naruto could sense something was wrong.

"What's wrong Sasuke…?" He said walking beside him and shoving his hands into his pockets just like Sasuke. Sasuke looked down closing his eyes with a growl and shaking his head in something that represented frustration.

"Nothing Naruto…" He answered. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Sasuke, I know when something's wrong with you. You know you can tell me anything." He said with the soft voice of a true friend and a brother. Sasuke remained silent before sighing out.

"Today is the day Naruto. It's the anniversary." He whispered almost inaudibly. Naruto's eyes widened and he looked down with sadness in his blue eyes. Sasuke didn't show much emotion thanks to this very day, fifteen years ago.

"They wouldn't want you grieving Sasuke…and like I've told you so many times, they wouldn't want you trying to avenge them." Naruto tried, but was only met with a glare from Sasuke. Onyx eyes clashed into cerulean blues and showed them a rage unmatched and a residing hatred scorned a thousand times over.

"I told you already. I will kill him for what he did. Nothing anyone can say will ever change my ambition. Nothing." Sasuke growled and looked away leaving no room for Naruto to speak anymore. Blue eyes stared at his friend of seventeen years, and lowered in sadness before continuing their walk in silence. It wasn't long before they reached a large building, a hundred stories high and in front shown the letters ANBU. No one outside the company knew what it meant.

The two walked in, being met with a clean, mostly monotone lobby where everything was either grey or white. Pristine and clean, unlike the outside world. Sasuke and Naruto walked up to the front desk and stared at the woman with black hair, and black eyes working at the desk. She was at least in her twenties and wore a black and white dress with a small piglet on her lap.

"Hey Shizune! We're here to see the old granny! She called for us." Naruto explained with a grin. Shizune chuckled and nodded.

"You better stop talking about her and to her like that Naruto. She'll throw you through a wall someday." Shizune warned smiling at the blond. Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head with a sweat drop.

"Ah, well what she doesn't know won't anger her, right Shizune? Come on, how long have we known each other? Seven years now?" Naruto tried to save himself. Shizune shook her head and sighed.

"Well, I'll save your butt this time, but you better shut that mouth of yours, or you'll be in big trouble." Shizune said, Naruto nodded walking over to the elevator while dragging Sasuke behind him. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You seriously are going to cause Tsunade to kill you." Sasuke scoffed smirking when Naruto gulped audibly. They went all the way to the last floor, and walked out the elevator once the steel doors opened. It opened to reveal a large room, with large windows from the ceiling to the floor. A desk was by the windows and the chair was turned towards the glass, revealing the lifeless looking city. There was barely a tree in sight, barely a sight of green anywhere and everywhere in the world. A dull, dead, filthy world, devoid of life except for the impurities called humans who live in it.

It was the same almost anywhere and everywhere.

A woman turned in the chair, with the features of a matured twenty-something year old, with hair slightly blonder than Naruto's and intricate hazel eyes that stared at them with boredom, seriousness, but also friendliness and familiarity.

"Hello boys. I hope you enjoyed your two month vacation but it's time to get back to work." She spoke with a smile. Naruto grinned and placed his hands behind his head casually.

"Well, watcha need Tsunade-baa-chan?" Naruto smiled a whiskered grin. He contained birthmarks of three whisker-like marks on either side of his cheeks. Tsunade smirked shaking her head. After a small moment where her eyes were closed they opened to reveal serious hazel orbs.

"As you know, I and the other sages of the world are growing more unsteady by the moment. If Earthly life is no longer preserved and us humans continue their unspeakable act of modernizing the world, it is going to reject its inhabitants, and kill all of them by cutting off their resources and unleashing certain volcanic doom upon all." Tsunade informed.

The basic belief and slight religion of the world these days was that the earth was in fact alive and just not some floating density in space. But to the more spiritual followers such as those in ANBU, the earth was more than Alive. It was breathing, and strong, and supernatural. But it only gave such power to its true children, and not its inhibiters.

There was then the Elders, some referred to them as Sages, and many others referred to them as, the Legendary Sanin.

The Sages were the last to have contact with the Earth itself, before humans carelessly continued construction. They were said to be able to still speak to the Earth, and they too held powers in them said to be given to them from the Earth.

Tsunade stood as the elevator behind them ringed with the sound of a short bell. A man walked in with gray hair that defied gravity, and a mask covering his face from the nose down. He then had bandages covering his left eye. Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked.

"Kakashi, huh. It's been a while." Sasuke greeted. Kakashi chuckled and pat both twenty two year old men on the shoulders.

"It certainly has. You two have grown quite a bit." Kakashi complimented remembering the two boys as two thirteen year olds. The older man smiled, though only the three in the room could identify it behind his mask.

"Now, go with Kakashi, and he will take you to your next assignment." Tsunade ordered. The two nodded walking back to the elevator and heading on downstairs into Kakashi's car. On the drive Kakashi sighed.

"It's so sad about the world today." Kakashi sympathized shaking his head as he continued to drive. Naruto was in the back seat looking slightly confused.

"But, how come those old sages can "talk" to the Earth and we can't?" Naruto whined. Sasuke scoffed and Kakashi rolled his one visible eye. Naruto groaned knowing the two were thinking he was stupid right now, which meant they had explained this to him once or twice before.

"Naruto, don't you learn anything?" Sasuke groaned. Naruto smirked.

"Not a damn thing." He proclaimed proudly making Sasuke irritated as he snapped his head to glare at him with death written in his eyes. Sasuke swore, sometimes Naruto just played idiot to get on his nerves. Naruto laughed and was only interrupted by Kakashi.

"It's not something to laugh about Naruto." Blue eyes started at his father figure with curious and serious eyes that resembled the maturity of a business man, and a wise old man.

"The Earth is very much alive and spiritual. It gives life to all, and has allowed us humans to live upon it for thousands of millions of years. And how do we repay it? With disrespect and the killing of its children for our own personal gain we supposedly call survival. The Sages were the last ones to have a connection with Earth before Earth was disconnected from us humans." Naruto nodded at Kakashi's words, understanding, and being sure to withhold the information for his mind.

"So, that's what Tsunade-baa-chan is? She was one of the last one's to have connection to nature?" Naruto questioned and Kakashi nodded. Sasuke looked outside the window with eyes of no emotion.

"Yeah..."

"Well, it's not like she's the only one with those powers. We—" Naruto began but was cut off.

"Are a different case Naruto. We are not directly from the Earth. Our special modifications are not of direct Earth origin. We're artificial basically." Naruto scoffed at Kakashi's words, glaring determinedly and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, just because they're the originals doesn't mean us so-called copies are anything less. Watch. One day, I'll become...I'll become—"

"Hokage. We know Dobe. And there's no doubt you will. Tsunade is talking about retirement." Sasuke informed. Naruto's eyes widened.

"What? Retirement but she's fine." Naruto whispered.

"She's getting old Naruto. She said so herself, she's beginning to slow down. Just because her appearance is that of a twenty year old doesn't mean she can move like one...even though she still can but that's beside the point." Kakashi shrugged. Naruto's eyes lowered.

"I never believed I'd see the day were the old bat retired. I mean, really, you'd think she'd die in battle or something. You know how Tsunade-baa-chan is. Kicks and kicks until all your bones are crushed and she can stand on you just fine." Naruto tried to reason. Kakashi shook his head.

"Yes, but even so, she still needs a successor. She needs someone who can and will take over if she decides to go through with it. It's just a matter of choosing. And we all know she's going to choose you, so prepare yourself." Kakashi glared lightly with his one eye at Naruto through the rearview mirror. Naruto looked down.

"Hokage is not just the person in charge that everyone looks up to. Hokage is the strongest and lead defender of the city and our cause. And if you want to do that Naruto you're going to need to have knowledge along with that strength of yours." Naruto looked down solemnly and nodded at Kakashi's words.

"Yeah...your right."

"Come. We're here." Kakashi said parking in a parking lot. The three walked into a hospital building, and walked into the elevator waiting until the doors closed fully. Kakashi pressed two buttons at the same time, and the elevator, instead of going up or down, went backwards and then down with faster speed then a normal elevator. Naruto groaned.

"This always makes me sick." Naruto whimpered. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Dobe."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The floor of the elevator detached from it, and began to move along a treadmill like platform. The bottom of the elevator was replaced, and the elevator doors closed leaving them to a brightly lit laboratory. A man with silver hair tied in a pony tail turned to them and smiled, with large circular glasses gleaming in the light.

"Hello gentlemen." He greeted kindly.

"Good Morning Kabuto. We're here for Sasuke's next assignment." Sasuke eyes became determined and he was ready for anything. Kabuto smiled and snapped his fingers. With that, a test tube came from a metallic platform. In the test tube was a beautiful woman, with a white body suit on. She floated there with her eyes closed, long pink hair swaying slightly as if submerged in water.

"This woman here, my good man, is your next assignment." Kabuto said motioning his hand to the woman. Sasuke raised an eyebrow but eyed the pink haired woman. She was beautiful with long pink hair, and full eyelashes and full lips.

"I'm not trying to say I wouldn't want to be around her, because she's hot, but what makes her so important that she has to be a part of one of our assignments?" Naruto asked with eyes in obliviousness. Sasuke smacked Naruto upside his head, making the blond yelp lowly.

"She is not an ordinary woman, I guarantee you. What you are looking at is a mere vessel for a rare flower we have found just a few days ago. In fact...she may as well be the last flower." Kabuto explained, turning towards the test tube. It was filled with a green liquid making the female look almost goddess like.

"And with the Earth rather angry, we need to preserve her." Kabuto said smiling at the three men. Sasuke nodded at Kabuto with more understanding of the assignment.

He was her protector.

"See why she's so important? You're mission, is to guard this flower with your life." Kakashi said.

"Release the flower!" Kabuto said, and the water was drained from the tube. The woman slowly was placed on the ground and the glass doors of the tube opened. She fell forward, causing Sasuke to run forth, and catch her immediately. Sasuke caught the pink haired woman and kneeled with her on the ground, waiting for some kind of response. That's when she stirred.

Sasuke stared at the beautiful woman in his arms, and watched as slowly her eyes opened to reveal beautiful jade green eyes, that would match a stem of a flower. He remained staring down at her with shocked eyes. He felt his heart thump harder against his chest.

What was this feeling?

Sasuke lifted the flower to her feet gently holding her waist before letting her go. She only stared at him, cocking her head to the side in curiosity. She smiled warmly at him, before moving a strand of his long bangs away from his face.

"This pink haired woman before you comes from the flower called a Cherry Blossom. She's the very last one." She turned at the word Cherry Blossom. Naruto crossed his arms in jealousy.

"Why does Teme always get the girls?" Naruto whined stomping a foot on the ground. Kakashi smiled.

"Naruto, you have a mission to go pick up a piece of information from a source. You should get more information on your assignment now." Kakashi motioned his head back towards the elevator. Naruto left grudgingly stomping, and walked into the elevator. Sasuke couldn't help but continue staring at the woman. She looked at Kakashi with a curiosity in her eyes that showed she had his full attention.

It made Sasuke…feel angry at Kakashi for some reason, and he began glaring at his former teacher.

"How long is she staying with me?" Sasuke asked with slight venom. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and the beauty in the room looked at Sasuke, with almost fear in her eyes. He didn't like the look he was receiving, and with a clearing of his throat, chose his next words wisely.

"Surely this isn't going to be a long assignment is it? Keeping her with me is dangerous. The city is not meant for her. It's not her place. She can be hurt easily." Sasuke said with concern, looking back at the girl with worried eyes that only she could see. She looked so fragile, so tender. She looked like just a push with make her fly across the room.

"Actually, she is going to be staying with you for three years." Kakashi stated. Sasuke turned back to him with a raised eyebrow but no complaints.

"She's a very young flower. She needs more development before we are able to duplicate her, and hopefully create more of her kind. There is also a mythological tree called the Cherry Blossom tree. Hopefully we can rejuvenate it."

"You're assignment begins now." Kakashi said smiling and walking with the two to the elevator. Kabuto smiled and waved.

"Good bye. I'll be seeing you every now and then to check on the status of the flower. Monitoring her health status and maybe conducting a few last tests. This is the first time we've done something like this so contact me immediately if there appears to be a problem going on with her." Kabuto explained as Sasuke nodded, and left the lab.

Kabuto took out a phone and walked to a more secluded hallway of the large lab, and placed the device to his ear.

"Yes. He has the package. Send them." He spoke quietly smirking and hanging up the phone before looking over his shoulder and exiting the laboratory.

Sasuke sighed walking to his car with the woman to his right side, to his own car. She suddenly stopped. He stopped slightly ahead of her, and looked back fully seeing the look in her eyes as she looked at her new surroundings. The wind blew through her wet hair, and she looked sad. She kneeled touching the cement, caressing the pavement with sadness in her eyes.

And Sasuke couldn't help but stare at her with softness in his eyes.

She looked like an angel whose human lover had died and she couldn't stop it. She was beautiful and phenomenal. She looked goddess like, and she held her own light and grace about her, even in sadness. She looked up to the sky, giving her an even more angelic look even as tears began to weld in her eyes. Sasuke kneeled down in front of her catching her attention. He grabbed her hand, and was slightly shocked at the warm and tingly feeling he got from the contact. She looked down at him causing a stray tear to fall.

"Come on…we have to get going." He said looking around the barren streets. He didn't want someone to see her and start spreading rumors. There weren't many people around with odd colored hair, and one of them could possibly be a spy. And that spy, would find a girl with vibrant green eyes and pink hair rather suspicious. And her being with Sasuke was going to be even worse.

He caressed her hand and grabbed it a little more firmly, hauling her to her feet. She then followed him with eyes downcast and full of sadness. He sighed and opened the door for her to his car. She looked at him not understanding.

He pointed at the seat.

"Get in…" He told her not sure if she understood him. She seemed hesitant, but soon she sat down looking at him silently asking if she did it right. He nodded closing the door and walking around to the driver's side and drove off.

And so began assignment: The Last Flower.

Hope you guys enjoyed! Next time in The Last Flower!

"Uhm…Cherry Blossom…?" He called with small insecurity. He really wasn't sure he was calling her correctly.

"Sakura." She said turning to him. His eyes widened slightly and he turned to her, stopping the car at a red light. It was the first time he heard her speak. She had the voice of a young woman, but the softness of an experienced mother.

"What?" What shocked him slightly more is that she understood him. Sure she'd understand the word Cherry Blossom. It was her species, but she actually understood what he was saying.

Because she answered him right after his dumbfounded what.

"You can call me Sakura…" She said a bright smile playing on her features perfectly. He felt his heart warm at the smile and tingling sensations overcome him. Sasuke cleared his throat and nodded looking towards the road with serious dark eyes.

"Very well. Sakura…There are some rules you are to follow for the period you are with me. Understood?"

Feeling better Sasuke?

Sasuke: -hugging Sakura- Shut up.

Sakura: Come back next chapter! :D