A remake of what I did originally, this is much better and a lot more detailed. To those who read this before I re-posted let me know what you think of the changes :)
To the new readers in this story Minato is alive. Naruto and Sasuke has left to train ect...
Ages: Konoha 11 - 16-17, Itachi - 21, Kakashi and the Jonin Sensei's - 26/27, Minato - 32
The ages are very messy and if you see any immediate problem with this let me know so I can fix it. :)
Konohagakure, supposedly the country of peace and freedom. A place that offered refuge for those who needed it. But what they never told you is how the biggest clans – Uchiha and Hyuga especially – Submitted effortlessly to bribery. And subtly – without anyone noticing – assassinated those who knew too much. Yes the truth about Konohagakure, it wasn't all smiles and sunshine. The truth lurked in the deepest and darkest corners.
Minato looked out of the window from the Hokage Tower, which was situated at the heart of the ninja village. His sigh was barely suppressed as the thought of the recent news that disturbed and plagued his dreams. There was a misconception of Fugaku Uchiha. In all honesty we was a man with good intentions, but he often went about things in the wrong way. The century old rift between the Senji and Uchiha was beginning to open wide due to the elders of the clan wanting to elevate their position in power by pushing for Itachi to be the next Hokage. As a Nara would say, this was all too troublesome. Minato walked back to the seat of his desk and called for a Genin to summon a certain Shikamaru Nara.
The lazy shinobi was in the middle of his daily routine of cloud watching when the crunching of leaves caught his attention, his activity was then fully interrupted when a shadow stood over him, effectively blocking his view of the sky from his position laying on his back on the soft grass. His eye twitched in irritation.
"Hokage-sama requests your presence, Nara Shikamaru." The Genin spoke tiredly, Shikamaru understood, the lower ranks were usually forced into meaningless D ranked missions to keep them occupied and 'focused' if you could call it that.
After this Shikamaru made a bee line towards his destination and idly thought of what the Hokage might want. More likely than not it was probably something to do with the Uchiha's. Their Clan elders were restless in their pursuit of power and had made that clear they day they suggested Minato should step down and give up his position to Itachi. They seems to have forgot that one usually became Hokage because they were considered the most powerful in the village. This was a mistake that were sure to never repeat as none of them, with perfect confidence, state that Uchiha Itachi was stronger, smarter, than Minato Namikaze. Not a single one of them.
What a drag.
The shadow user had nothing against the clan, though he did feel sorry for the members that they took the brunt of the ambition of a dew crazy and senile old men. Their desire for power was causing the Uchiha to be increasingly marginalized by the village and the clan was being scrutinized with more suspicion than necessary.
Troublesome
Minato snapped out of his daydream when he heard the door open. He acted as if he was doing work when Shikamaru came in so that he wouldn't notice that he was having a daydream. Of course a genius notices everything, Minato smiled sheepishly at Shikamaru's small smile.
"What can I do for you Hokage-sama?"
Minato's carefree expression turned troubled, "Any idea what the Uchiha's are planning next? They seem to have gone quiet, suggesting they're up to no good, again"
The Jōnin standing up sighed, his shoulder sagged a bit and the stress lines on is face became more prominent, Shikamaru looked like a man who witnessed too much. "I guess this means we're gonna have to keep a closer eye on them, huh? Che, so damn-"
"Troublesome?" Minato finished, his edge of his mouth curving up slightly to reveal a tiny smile. "On the subject of keeping a close on them, I'm assigning you, to watch for behavioral patterns in a select group of Uchiha and to deduce if they're trying to hide something. Sakura will support this, her chakra manipulation will come in handy." Shikamaru had only heard, but never seen the true extent of the kunoichi's power. "Although this mission takes place here at home, the risks are greater and more dangerous, you must be alert at all times. One slip and we could have a civil war on our hands. This discussion is strictly confidential and not to be repeated, when Sakura arrives I'll tell her personally."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"You dismissed, but you can wait if you have any questions or want to hear if Sakura has anything comment."
Sakura walked towards to Hokage Tower after training, a genin had approached her and said she had been summoned. The long walker gave her time to think and reflect, something she seems to be doing a lot these days. Her eyes were bright but her heart held a deep resentment for her former teammates and sensei. There was an indescribable taste of bitterness when she thought of them. Her mind screamed one word, repeating it like a mantra, betrayal. A few months after they left her, crush, obsession, infatuation, with Sasuke had disappeared entirely. She grew up quickly, and without a team or support. Training was never easy, but she managed to do it, slowly at first by building up her chakra reserves then improving her strength, with was genjutsu and her weaknesses, being ninjutsu. Her eyes were open and she knew. The life of a ninja was not easy. Not by any means.
Ever since Naruto and Sasuke left on their 3½ year training course, she had re-taken her Chunin exams, trained her self to the bone, specialized as a medical ninja, took and passed her Jonin exams, and became one of the Hokage's most trusted ninja. For her, being weak was a thing of the past. She understood that she had no important background and accepted it.
Minato – The 4th Hokage – had also taught her how to use various elements such as fire release and water release. He understood her pain, and was one of the few people she had confided him. She felt as though they had a connection. A special one.
All the training turned Sakura into a toned well-built woman. She re-grew her hair, it only reached the middle of her back but was mostly tied back by her forehead protector. Her outfit consisted of a red top with a white circle on the back, black boots and apron skirt on top of her shorts. On her left leg was a tantō that had a medical pouch just above. When she entered the Minato's office her eyes grew soft as she looked at him, Sakura also noticed the Shikamaru was there. After quick formalities he informed her of the mission and how important it was to the survival of the village. She didn't even hesitate to accept the mission.
A small smile appeared on Minato's face. He knew he could always count on Sakura. By the time he finished speaking the atmosphere in the office became depressing, to relieve some tension asked both of them "Have you decided if you're going to take the ANBU exams?"
Shikamaru nodded in consent as did Sakura, this was something they had been training for, "I believe Kiba and Neji will be taking them too." He voiced.
"Ah, interesting," He responded. "I'm sure you'll all pass, you've got the skills and ambition." Sakura blushed and smiled broadly, because she knew that Minato never complimented unless he meant it. She was making sure that she savoured this moment. With nothing left to discus Minato dismissed them and they left him to his own thoughts and paperwork.
In a training ground in The Land of Lightning, Uchiha Sasuke was panting hard whilst narrowly dodging a paper bomb attached to a kunai, he flipped backwards and started doing the necessary hand signs for a lightning cutter, he knew where Kakashi was and he planned to knock him out before finding Itachi. He thought his plan was flawless until he felt a back on his back that completely drained his chakra.
The jutsu slowly faded, and Sasuke whirled his head round in anger ready to throw a punch at the person who caught him off guard to easily. Itachi stopped Sasuke's hand with-out a blink of and eye and muttered "Foolish little brother, letting your guard down when you think you have it all planned out. Don't celebrate until you've won."
Sasuke roughly with-drew his fist and started grumbling something along the lines of 'Need to get stronger' 'Beat Naruto' 'Annoying brother ruining his almost-victory.' Itachi smirked and Kakashi poofed back into existence, with an orange, all too familiar, book in his hand.
"Let's head back to the hotel" He announced lazily, "We leave for Konoha in tomorrow at first light. So we should arrive in about 6 days, 3 if we travel fast enough." With murmurs of approval they headed back to their hotel to pack, rest and get ready to leave.
Naruto was in a complete state of calm, reaching into his sub-consciousness he felt relaxed and free. He could hear Jiraiya talking to him softly and telling him to reach his inner power, and see it he could feel the energy of his surroundings – despite the fact that his eyes were closed. All was fine until a crow was heard screeching that broke Naruto's concentration.
"Kuso!" He yelled in anger. He was so close. Jiraiya, laughed at his students agitation. He walked up to Naruto and pattered him on his shoulder.
"Come, we must get back to the hotel, you're training is over and Konoha awaits us!" Jiraiya ended his speech with a Guy pose. Naruto inwardly cringed. They walked side-by-side to the hotel, and both of them having thoughts of the upcoming day.
All four of them sat on a round table, talking about the upcoming ANBU exams and what they planned to specialize in. "Hmm, a tracker ANBU field would be best for me. What do you, guys think?" Kiba questioned.
"You and Akamaru, together would be perfect because you can easily track down Ninja's with your good sense of smell."
"Yes I agree with Shikamaru"
"Me too. We also think that you," She pointed to Shikamaru "Would be the perfect strategist" Sakura said while smiling. Shikamaru slumped back on his chair, and merely rolled his eyes at her comment.
"You know that Sasuke and Naruto will be back from their training within the next 2 weeks" Neji said softly while scanning Sakura's face for some sort of reaction. He knew that she still held some resentment, because they – her team – left her alone in the world without any form of protection. The only told her 2 days before they left.
It was hard to get noticed. An Uchiha – one of the most powerful clans in Konoha.
The Hokage's son – not to mention he was the Kyubi container.
Her teacher was the legendary Kakashi Hatake – The legendary copy-cat.
And who was Sakura Haruno? Nobody. She was a little girl with too much emotions, and barely any skills. Weak. That was the only word that described her, not that she needed to be reminded anyway. The Uchiha made sure she heard the word every day. Sakura tilted her head to the side. Neji was right; her team would be back soon.
She pursed her lips and tried to hide the rage she still felt after all of these years. "Nothing."
There was a moment of silence before Kiba, being Kiba, made a stupid joke caused them to burst out laughing and relieved the tension in the air. They each savored this moment of happiness.
