Alright everyone. So, seeing as how the author can no longer continue with his stories, I decided to take over a couple of them with his permission. Yes, I know some people are worried that I may ruin them. However, please give me a chance. I showed him examples of my writing style and he was rather impressed, so hopefully you all are too. I won't be changing the story much, other than making some minor improvements and making the story more modern with recent Manga chapters. Anyhow, let's get started. Please leave reviews, as it will help me make improvements when needed. This chapter is a prologue, much like in the original story, so will be rather short.

Sakura's Nindo
Trying to say Goodbye

It's hard to believe it's been two months now. Two long months without that charismatic smile. Without his loud, energetic ramblings. You tend to remember and miss, even the little things as time moves on. Things you didn't realize you were so used to in your daily life. It leaves a sort of, emptiness, inside of you. That emptiness is what drove her here. Standing outside of Konoha, she stared at the Hokage faces that once inspired many shinobi. But now, only remind everyone of what they lost, and what could've been. She focused primarily on the face of the Fourth Hokage, remembering the events that illuminated the path she was about to go down.

-Flashback-
The Fourth Great Shinobi War

The war was turning into a heated game of tug-o-war. Both fighting sides struggling to gain victory as each opponent gained the upper hand. They were winning just moments before. Naruto had defeated Obito Uchiha, the original pawn of the moon's eye plan. By removing the chakra of each tailed beast, the no longer masked man could not be the Jinchuuriki of the Ten Tails. The darkness of this battle was finally starting to see light. Until Madara became the new darkness that diminished that light. His demonic leashes clamped on to each of the tailed beasts. Including Naruto. Struggling to increase the distance between the two, he could only make it so far. Kurama tried creating a backup plan with Gaara, before Madara dashed the allied forces hopes of every seeing victory. The strongest fighter. The only hope they had to win this war, was now crippled, as Madara did what everyone least expected.

He removed Kurama from Naruto.

Pulling back the leash, Kurama's chakra was separated from its Jinchuuriki. Now, falling through the air, Naruto just stared out in shock, not processing what had just happened. Gaara tried calling out to his blonde friend, only to receive no response.

'Damnit. If he falls from that distance, he'll die!' Gaara thought. He quickly tried using his sand to catch the boy, but Madara wouldn't let up. The Uchiha smirked and used that opportunity to try and take Shukaku once again, distracting the sand shinobi. The other shinobi of the allied forces looked on in horror.

Thankfully, Sasuke was able to catch the falling Naruto, and laid him carefully on the ground. Sakura rushed over to him, ignoring everyone else on the way. She fell to her knees, staring at him. He was just staring wide eyed at the sky, taking no notice of his teammates beside him. Tears started forming at the corners of her eyes. She clutched the dirt beneath her hands as she quietly sobbed.

"No...this...this can't be happening..." she sobbed. Sasuke remained quiet, unable to think of anything to say. He looked over at Madara angrily, gritting his teeth. Sakura quickly remembered something from their first mission after Naruto's return from training.

Lady Chiyo had explained that once a tailed beast is removed from the host, the result would kill its Jinchuuriki. She quickly poured chakra into her hands and started healing Naruto, sobbing more now than before. "Damnit Naruto...This wasn't supposed to happen..." she sobbed.

"Why are you just laying there!? You never needed the fox's chakra before, so why are you just laying there like you've been defeated!?" She yelled. "You're supposed to be the next Hokage...So stop laying there and act like it!"

On the other side of the battlefield, Kakashi and Minato were still contemplating how to handle Zetsu and Obito. To their surprise, Zetsu started laughing.

"It seems as though Madara just dashed your hopes for victory." he said.

Kakashi looked at him puzzlingly. "What are you talking about?"

"The nine tails no longer belongs to you." Zetsu said, letting out another laugh. Both Minato and Kakashi were shocked. A cold sweat trickled down Kakashi's forehead to his face. Minato placed a hand on his shoulder, and a blank expression was on his face.

"Keep an eye on Obito." He told him. His blank expression now turned to one of ferocity. "I'm going to help my son."

In a flash, the blonde hokage disappeared and found himself beside Sakura and Sasuke. He looked around, getting a scope for what was going on. His eyes finally rested on his son, angering him. Using his flying thunder god technique once more, he teleported one his kunai that was nearby Madara, holding another one to his throat. Madara only smirked.

"You're going to pay for what you did to my son.." Minato said, growling as he spoke.

Madara closed his eyes, still smiling about his all but ensured victory. "I'm no fool, shinobi. I'm well aware of that boys lineage. The Uzumaki clan was known for its longevity, so removing the nine tails likely won't be enough to kill him."

Minato stayed silent for a moment, before shakily speaking. "When did you place it?" Madara chuckled.

While healing Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke gasped. The spot where the seal had once been changed. She couldn't make out what it was, but it somehow looked familiar. Like it was something Sasuke had seen somewhere before. Thinking about it for a moment, Sasuke finally remembered where he'd seen that marking. Kurama had also started yelling.

"Get out of there!"

Sasuke grabbed Sakura and fled the scene before a dark aura escaped from Naruto. He knew what those symbols meant now. It was the same fuuinjutsu Danzo had used. The reverse four symbols technique. But this one was slightly different. Red chakra escaped with it. In about a minute, Naruto was gone.

"Naruto!" Minato exclaimed.

-End of flashback-

Since that day, Sakura hadn't shed a tear. They only managed to secure a temporary victory, and Madara would return. But without Naruto, she believe they had no way of defeating him. She remembered all the things Naruto used to say. Her mind stuck on one thing in particular.

"My Nindo..." she said quietly.

Naruto always used to talk about his Nindo. His way of the ninja. She hadn't truly thought of it before, but she never really had a Nindo of her own. Most of her career as a ninja had been spent on either fawning after Sasuke, or learning medical jutsu to protect him and Naruto. A lot of good that did. She sadly took one last look at the Hokage faces, and turned away.

"My Nindo..." She said quietly again. She remembered various memories of Naruto. How he wanted to become Hokage and how strong he got. She also remembered the stories of the Uzumaki clan she heard from Kakashi and Tsunade, after Naruto's death in the war.

"Is to become stronger, and rebuild his nation!" she said determinedly. With those final words, she left Konoha. She found it rather ironic. She'd always been upset when her teammates left the village without her. Sasuke had done it for revenge, and Naruto had done it to train hard. And now, here she was leaving as well. In way, she was doing for both those reasons as well. She'll train hard and, when Madara makes his final strike, she'll be ready to take him down for revenge. For Naruto.

A/N

Ok guys. Tell me what you think so far. Yes, I know that there was a pretty big change. More specifically, Sasuke no longer being the cause of Naruto's death. I wanted to go passed that cliché and, at the same time, use something more modern and place my own twist. Things I will be explaining as the story progresses are:

1) How Sakura left the village without being stopped.
2) What happened after Naruto died during the war
3) Why the allied forces only had a "Temporary" victory during the war.

All of these points will be covered as the story goes on. I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and are set a little more at ease with me taking over.

Also, I tried removing the original, but the "Manage Stories" tab, seems to be giving me an error constantly. So, that will have to wait until I can actually get in there.