Hello, this is my first Naruto fanfic

so I hope I do well. This chapter

takes place 60 years into the future

and will go back to present in later

chapters. Reviews are always

appreciated. Thanks!

Italics- Thought

Bold- Kyubi talking

______________- Meanwhile

----------------------= Past present switch

Chapter One: A Story Begins

Rain patters on the roof of many houses in Konoha. It was just another typical day in Konoha actually. The sun hadn't come up in a long time and the entire village was thrown into what seemed like eternal darkness. The only thing that provided some light was the lights inside houses and buildings. People were gathering food at the downtown market. The streets were very busy at this hour. Children were just leaving the academy for a long weekend. In one classroom though, nobody had left. They were waiting for their assignment.

"Class your assignment is to look into the history and battle tactics of the Fourth Great Ninja war", the instructor said

The class nodded unhappily especially one girl. She always hated hearing about war, this one in particular. The girl's name is Yuuka. She is tall for her age brown hair and deep brown eyes. She put her coat on getting ready to leave.

"You are all dismissed", the instructor said suddenly

Everybody got up and began walking toward the door. They rest put there coats on and began walking. Yuuka was almost the first one out and quickly tried getting out of the Academy. She had to try and pick up some groceries from the market.

"Yuuka! Yuuka!"

She turned around to see one of her friends come running towards her. Her name is Ami and she is a very loud and confident girl. Ami has black hair, eyes that seemed wanting and a very confident posture. She was almost completely different from Yuuka mentally but they had become great friends.

"Can you believe we have to write some report on some war", she said putting her hood on.

"I don't care, its just that I hate having to write something that had effected us so greatly", Yuuka said silently

"I know my mother said it's the reason we get no sunlight anymore"

"I guess. By the way, where are we going to get this info for the project?" Yuuka said

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to the Konoha archives", Ami said, "See ya!"

Ami went running down the road towards a large building. Maybe I should go there too, Yuuka thought. She decided against it and began to walk towards the market for the food she needed for her mother. She turned the corner and walked down the busy street. The rain was coming down harder now than before so she decided to quickly get the stuff and leave. Then she would go to the Archives tomorrow. She pulled out the large amount of money she had and the list. First she would get some meat for dinner tonight.

"Kid!" said a shop owned obviously seeing the money, "We have great deals on bread and other grains!"

"Umm no thank you sir", she said walking faster.

She always hated this side of town because of the smell, the stuff on the ground and just the sadness that lingered. She was told to be careful here. She was also told the place used to be very nice before the war she was now studying.

"Hey watch where you're going!" a man said

"Oh sorry sir", she said quickly walking.

Crud I shouldn't get distracted, always stay sharp! She began to pick up the pace to get to the meat store her mother said was the best.

"Hey girl what're you doing in a place like this", a man said

She turned to see three men standing there looking at her. The one who had just talked to her stood in the middle. He was dirty, greedy eyes and a sickly smile. The two next to him were pretty much identical.

"Nothing it's none of your business", she said

"And look at all that money", another one said

Crud I shouldn't have kept the cash out, she thought. She turned and began walking hoping they would leave her alone. Maybe she could get lost in the crowd of people all around her. She knew that if someone did try stealing from her nobody would help. Nobody helped anymore; everybody was oblivious to the world around them. She turned a corner to the other street and saw the meat place almost right in front of her. She began walking when she felt something in her pocket. She turned to see one of the three men before reaching in for the money. Instantly upon instinct she pulled out a kunai and slashed the man's arm. He immediately took his hand away.

"You stupid little brat!" he said violently

She held the kunai in defense getting ready for him to strike. Instead she felt herself getting pulled into an ally way. She looked to see another one of them. He took her and threw her into a garbage can. The other man with his arm bleeding joined them.

"Ok kid we'll let you out if you hand over the money got it!" one of them said

She got up and began to step back away from them.

"Don't try anything kid it's a dead end"

"Damn it", she muttered under her breath. She wasn't going to give scum like this money. She took out another kunai with markings on it. She threw it in the air quickly and formed a quick hand sign. Her mother had taught her to do this to create a bright flash that will blind the enemy or at least signal others.

"Kid what the hell are you doing?"

The kunai began to shine very brightly in the sky. She hoped somebody would see and help her out. The men sat there seeming to wait for something. The kunai fell to the ground. Nobody was coming it seemed.

"Is that all kid? Can we get back to the money part?"

"I can't believe it", Yuuka said silently

One of the men began to advance toward her. She closed her eyes and threw the money to the ground. She hoped she wasn't going to get hurt. What would mother say once I told her I was without money or food?

"Is that anyway for a ninja to act in the face of danger?" a female voice said

She looked up to see a cloaked figure standing in front of her. The three men stood there looking at the figure. One second she wasn't there and now she was.

"Come on boys this old hag is nothing more…" his voice was caught off as he went flying with a bloody nose outside of the ally.

"Old hag?" the female said angrily, "I may be old but nobody is going to call me a hag!"

The two other men stood there looking back at there comrade who was now unconscious on the ground in the center of the busy street. People were surrounding him looking at how badly he looked. The other men currently stood looking at the cloaked figure.

"Whatever we can take her", one said charging forward with a kunai of his own

He went to stab her, but she just dodged and punched him in the back into the wall behind Yuuka, who watched bewildered. The other stood mouth open shocked.

"Who are you?" he asked

The woman just took off the hood of her cloak revealing her pink hair which had lightened over the past sixty years.

"My name is Sakura Haruno", Sakura said looking very angry

"Sakura-sama ", the man said gulping, "You are Sakura? The one who was taught under the wing of the fifth! I beg you to show mercy to a poor soul like me"

"Get out of here now!" she demanded, "And if I see you trying anything trust me you won't like what will happen"

"Yes my lady", he said frightened. He turned and ran as fast as he could into the crowd of people.

The pink haired woman stood there calmly for a few seconds before she turned and faced the young girl who stood there. Sakura quickly pointed towards the money to the ground and Yuuka grabbed it quickly and looked back up.

"Thank you my lady", Yuuka said, "But who exactly are you?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno and I am head of the hospital and I train medical ninjutsu to all who wish to learn it"

"Wait I've seen you before at the hospital when I broke my arm three years ago", Yuuka said, "You were treating someone who was in pretty bad condition"

"By the way what is your name", Sakura asked

"Umm Yuuka Tanaka of the Tanaka clan that started thirty years ago", Yuuka said

"I remember when the clan was formed", Sakura said deep in thought.

"Wait so you must be very old", Yuuka said happily

"What! I'm not that old", Sakura said lying to herself

"No I'm sorry it's just that well, I'm doing a report on the Forth Great Ninja war and do you know anything about it?"

Sakura became very quiet and sad. She looked up toward the sky and then back down at the girl. Yuuka could tell she was about to cry.

"Yes I do know about it. I lived and fought in it", Sakura said, "But I don't want to talk about it"

"Please Sakura-sama I would appreciate it so much", Yuuka said

"Fine kid, everybody is saying I should talk about it. I guess that educating the youth now will keep this from happening again", Sakura said

"Thank you so much!" Yuuka said, "But can I just grab some food and drop it off at home first"

"Fine I'll come with you for more protection, just in case", Sakura said

The two walked out of the ally into the busy street. The man who had been punched was gone along with his partner. The one still in the ally was still unconscious.

"So how did you find me?" Yuuka asked picking out vegetables out

"I saw the kunai", Sakura said

"Thank god for that", Yuuka said, "But why were you here? You are to important to be in a bad area like this"

"I was going for some ramen at Ichiraku Ramen", Sakura said, "It was always his favorite place"

Yuuka just looked at how sad she looked when she said his. There was something wrong and she could tell.

"It was rebuilt soon after an Akatsuki invasion", Sakura continued

"We studied that! It took many months to rebuild Konoha, but thanks to a man named Yamato it was rebuilt very fast", Yuuka said

"I'm surprised they'd teach you something like that", Sakura said, "It was actually about six months for them to rebuild. Everybody participated, even the children"

"Well they feel we should learn about stuff like that for battle strategy", Yuuka said

After awhile of shopping and a quick drop off at Yuuka's house the two made their way toward the hospital and Sakura's office in the east wing. Sakura took a seat on her chair and faced Yuuka who sat on a chair across from her. They were separated by a large desk. The room was mostly white with many pictures. Medical supply littered the shelves. On another shelf there was a picture with three people standing together one eying the other with blond hair, one in the middle smiling obviously happy, and the other with a cold look on his face. A man with grey hair and a mask covering most of his face stood behind them. Yuuka could obviously tell there was a smile under the mask. Next to that was a card laminated that was pink and obviously homemade. The border was made from flower petals but they had died and probably one touch would make them fall to the ground and break. Something though made Yuuka sit and stare. A silver heart shaped locket sat next to the card. In the middle was a diamond.

"You like everything you see don't you", Sakura said snapping Yuuka out of her trance

"Yes I do who gave this to you?" Yuuka asked curiously

"A very old friend", Sakura said silently

For a couple minutes there was only silence. Yuuka then noticed a small tear from the older woman's face.

"Are you ok?" Yuuka asked

"Yeah I'm fine. Please get yourself comfortable. Do you want anything to eat or drink?" the pink haired woman asked changing her personality quickly

"I'll just take a glass of water", Yuuka said

Sakura got up and got a cup. She poured some water into it and then gave it to the young girl who smiled and thanked her. Sakura then got some tea. Before she sat down she closed the door and locked it.

"So you want to know about the war don't you?" Sakura asked

"If you don't mind", the young girl said

"Well it starts about sixty years ago", the old woman said, "It was a time of heroes and a time of complete fear. Nobody could predict what would happen next. Little did we know the war was about to begin"

"Sorry for my intrusion but this has been bugging me", the academy student said, "Who is this person you've been talking about? At the ramen shop and now all of the gifts I've seen"

"I guess I should start then at the very, very beginning"

"Please do"

"Well then it was pretty much after the Five Kage Summit and our meeting with our old teammate"

Well I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please tell me what you think and please review. Any tips would be great. I'm hoping to pick up the pace in the next couple of chapters. Once again thanks!