Started on January 8, 2017| Philippines| 16:46 hours

Well, here we are. Naruto x Sakura. To those who are following me from Finding Love (Naruto x Ino), this one will be a little more… detailed. More action here, and lesser drama. Anyway, please review please!

Warning: Rated M for mature. Character death.

IMPORTANT: Before Naruto x Sakura, there will be minor Naruto x Temari, Naruto x Hanabi, Naruto x Mei, and Naruto x Samui.

(Phantom Master)

Konoha was once a legend when it came to the five major powers. Now, they were weak. Their legends of being able to wipe battalions from the face of the earth has passed, and every other major power took advantage of it. How could they not when the reason for Konoha's fall of power was because they treated their only savior as a pariah, and worse of all as an object of their hate.

At age 12, Naruto Uzumaki was chased out of Konoha immediately after failing the Genin exams. This led to events that would cause Konoha's fall from power.

Mizuki was able to steal the Forbidden Scroll through pure luck and somehow also managed to deliver it to Orochimaru. It had then caused the traitorous Chunin and his former co-worker Iruka their lives.

However, with the Forbidden Scroll in the hands of Orochimaru, Konoha had to go to war with Oto just a year after the incident meaning that it was also 13 years after the Kyuubi Attack. That being said, Konoha was outnumbered, but had quality shinobi. They took Oto down, but at high costs.

While the war between Oto and Konoha led to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru's death and the return of Tsunade and Jiraya, Suna, Iwa, and Kumo saw their chance. This had then caused Konoha to fight wars on three fronts and to enable Danzo to reestablish ROOT. As the four fought, Kiri had an unforeseen factor get them into it quickly.

The Kiri Civil War had stopped, and a certain man was removed.

Kiri then built its forces over a year of neutrality and finally, the year after building their forces, 15 years after the Kyuubi Attack on Konoha, they joined and managed to bring the entire war into a stalemate.

The Fourth Great Shinobi War ended in a silent and fragile cease fire.

Shinobi were from then on looked down upon as nothing more than monsters. The Samurai were once again favored by the Daimyo of each land.

However…

"All of that was over a year ago." Sakura says in her ANBU outfit. "Because of the villagers' stupidity, Konoha is now the poorest power." She continues as her ANBU unit stands before her. "This is why our job ever since the end of the war was to gain as much wealth as we could… but from what we can see outside? Shinobi are… no more."

"Not only that, but killing any Samurai will cause the people's distrust to grow even more." Shikamaru says as he enters the briefing making all eyes turn to him. "Hokage-sama has a mission… for all available ANBU."

Sakura nods as she leads her team out.

Once they arrived in the office, they weren't shock to see eight ANBU teams already inside. They were the ninth, and then Tsunade spoke.

"As you all know of Konoha's blunder of Naruto Uzumaki, I will get to the point. While we were preoccupied with the other nations during the war, Naruto has gotten stronger and is said to be using the name of Phantom."

A few of the ANBU whisper amongst themselves, all those whispering being veterans. People like Sakura didn't know what was going on, not even Shikamaru and Tsunade.

"ANBU, can you explain why some of you are like this?"

The whispers stop. No one volunteered to speak.

"GOD! DAMMIT! SPEAK OR I—"

"Phantom, specifically Phantom Master, was a rogue ANBU who was wiped from our ANBU history." Kakashi says as he walks out from the shadows. "I, and a few other veterans, was placed on a few missions with him, along with a few other… questionable ANBU agents." He says making all eyes turn to him, and the heads of the veterans shook ferociously, trying their best to tell him to stop. "No, let Hokage-sama know why we fear Phantom so much."

The veteran ANBU look at each other before nodding in defeat. "Just know that if you continue, you will bring the wrath of the Phantom upon us."

"Not us. The entire world." Another veteran, this one being Yamato, speaks.

Kakashi nods. "Phantom was… demonic, to say the least."

A man's eyes roll back. The body flops onto the ground dead.

"He kills with such efficiency that he was what many of us called the true ANBU."

A woman's body falls onto the floor with a thud. Its head was missing.

"Over time, some ANBU grew jealous, and with the approval of Sandaime-sama and Danzo-san at that time, they were given orders to end Phantom."

Five men clutch their throats as they begin to float.

"It was a massacre. Phantom left us with a warning that night."

"You will see Phantom again. But the next time, it won't be me. Pray your village will not do anything else stupid, otherwise it will burn. You will then see why I am not an animal like you, but a being."

"Unfortunately for us, he may have chosen Naruto. Who better to destroy Konoha than its former savior?"

"Phantom is an entity. He need not be animate or present. But the next one, I promise will be your worst nightmare, or your best friend."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto grew stronger…" Kakashi pauses.

A village burns as a man walks through its bloodstained streets.

"Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto was the one who led us all to a stalemate."

(TBC)

So, what did you guys think? As you've noticed, this story seems to have a much darker tone than Finding Love. In fact, the romance of Naruto and Sakura will be… well, to put simply? Complicated.

This story will be longer than Finding Love, or equal in length, but the chapter lengths will stay the same, shorter, or only a page longer. FYI: taking away A/Ns make the story 2-3 pages only. Sometimes 1, maximum in Finding Love was 4 I think.

Anyway, please review, tell me your thoughts and questions. Also, no flames. Flame yourself if you wanna flame, but don't flame others unless you're not raised right.

Only negative reviews allowed are constructive criticism. Also, if the review is positive, please don't just say "nice" or "next chap", but instead tell me what you liked and I'll see if I can keep it, improve it, or if it's only applicable to certain chapters/stories.

Until next time!

Peace out!

Finished on January 9, 2017| Philippines| 21:26 hours. (Publishing time not included)