This story picks up three years after the manga chapter 237. In the anime that is episode 141. Because the plot has advanced three years, everyone has aged accordingly. The Sand Siblings are 16 to 19 depending on which one you look at.

"This is talking."
'This is thinking'

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters or anything else that could possibly be related in any way, shape, or form to the manga/anime.

Okay, well, here is the story.

Chapter 1: Waking

The handsome, well-built, and bald headed man made a hand gesture toward the younger brown haired man. The brown haired man jumped silently from the ledge on the roof and onto the platform where the queen presided behind her deep purple curtains. The young and beautiful blonde haired girl, who was kneeling at a distance from the queen's platform, was confident in their plans. As the blond haired girl and the bald man knelt for the queen, they watched their brown haired comrade execute his part of the plan flawlessly. As he crept toward the queen's throne, without drawing attention, he pulled out his kunai. The suspense grew as he slowly advanced toward his target. From a distance, the blonde girl and the bald man grew more confident that their ally would be successful. Although they could not see the queen from behind the drapes, they knew their ally was inside of the drapes, about to finish the plan.

No one noticed, but- all the glass in the hall had just cracked. The windows lining the huge expanse of the hall were all distorted know, and the mirrors reflected a thousand worlds. Time slowed down for a moment. The fountains right outside of the queen's lair froze. An earsplitting noise rang out from behind the curtains, where the queen and their comrade were. White spikes, that could easily be ten feet tall, shot out in all directions from behind the drapes; curtains ripped and glass shattered as those pale spears ripped through and around the platform. Blood was strewn across the walls, staining the once spotless gray slabs. The blonde couldn't breathe.

Sweat dripped down her face, as did a tear. A pink haired girl lay, with her eyes wide, staring at her ceiling. 'This is the third time I've had this dream.' Sakura sat up in her bed. She was successful in calming herself by looking at the sunrise through her window and breathing deeply. Sakura got out of her bed and walked to her bathroom. She splashed water on her face, trying to keep herself awake, in fear of having the dream again.

"Now shut-up! When Iruka-sensei gets back, he'll know what to do with you all… all of you… imps." Naruto tried to keep the maddening academy class quiet and orderly while Iruka was getting supplies for the next experiment.

Konohamaru laughed and pointed at Naruto. "Hey! We're all getting our forehead protectors next week! You can't boss us around for much longer!"

"That's if you all pass- you guys haven't learned anything while I've been with you! Remember, you have to take a test to get it." Naruto was interrupted before he could smirk. Iruka walked in.

"Naruto, you weren't much different from them when you were their age. If you remember correctly, you failed the test- but because of the skill you showed during that little incident, we gave it to you." Iruka plopped the supplies he was carrying in on his desk.

"Iruka-sensei, I'll soon be equal to you, you know, if not already."

"That doesn't matter. I'm still higher than you in one area." He laughed and sarcastically noted to Naruto, "I am really glad you agreed to be my assistant when you accepted your last mission from Tsunada-sama."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Ohh…" He sighed. "Don't remind me. That was the biggest mistake of my life. That old hag tricked me."

Iruka laughed. "Well, you are still my teaching assistant until next week, so," He handed a box to Naruto, "pass these kunai out to the kids."

Naruto reluctantly obliged.

"Now, I want you to focus all of your attention on the pig's left main coronary artery."

Sakura placed her hands a few inches above the sedated pig's wound, trying to do as Tsunada said, but sighed and gave up again.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong with you today. You haven't been able to heal anything all day. If you're in a battle, a trained shinobi is going to aim for your team member's vital areas. I've had to save everything for you today, or else it would have died." Tsunada then quickly healed the pig's heart.

"I'm sorry Tsunada-sama, I just can't focus today." She fell backwards onto a large fluffy chair across the room and relaxed. "I just haven't been sleeping well lately."

"Well, I have herbs that I could teach you how to mix together to make some sleeping drugs." Tsunada placed a few more anesthetic pills into the pig's mouth and walked over to Sakura. She sat on a nearby chair, crossed her legs, and leaned forward to listen to Sakura.

"It's not that." Sakura let her head fall on the back of the chair to relax. "I've been having this weird dream." She sighed. "I always wake up before it advanced farther than a certain point." She sat up, not being able to relax any more, and let her head rest on her hand. "There are these people, three people, and two are distracting this woman, who I think is supposed to be a noble person or something, while the other guy is supposed to assassinate her. The two people who are kneeling before the woman, whom they can't see because there are drapes all around her, are confident that their ally is going to be successful in his assassination attempts. They are confident, but they are all extremely nervous, and I always feel the anxiety that they feel when I have this dream, which almost unbearable. Well, at the height of their confidence, when the guy is about to kill the woman- something happens to the guy… and I always have this feeling, that the girl who is helping distract the woman, is in love with the guy who got hurt. I always end up feeling the same thing she feels. It is so weird." She sighed again.

Tsunada's head was resting on her hand as well. "Well, that sounds really interesting. But- I'm afraid I am just a doctor, not a psychiatrist. I wish I could help you, but I can't."

"I know, I know. I just wish I knew what it meant. Anyways, maybe now that I have let that out, I'll be able to focus more. Let's continue." They both walked back to the pig, which was lying on its side, on a stone slab.

When Iruka dismissed him, Naruto left the academy for lunch with Shikamaru, and then trained. As he walked back to his apartment when the day was ending, he thought about what Arashi had said three years ago in Orochimaru's underground mansion and what Jiraiya said before they left to train. 'When Sasame was unconscious back then, Arashi said that Orochimaru had to protect Sasuke for three years until he could use him as a new container. Sakura only knows about the three years because she was there when Arashi mentioned it. Jiraiya had even said that before Arashi- but she wasn't there for that.' The blue-eyed boy sighed. 'It's been three years.' Naruto kept walking with his hands in his pockets. He was nearing his apartment. 'I'm sure Sakura hasn't forgotten that, but, I'll remind her anyway.' He turned a corner and walked into his apartment building.

Well, I would really appreciate it if you gave me some feedback. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. It was rather boring. Although you may have not seen it in this chapter, I try to keep all the characters personalities the same as in the series. I don't like making them ooc and I try to keep them realistic. But- As you already know, this story takes place three years ahead. Because of that time skip the characters may have changed a bit and matured, personality wise. Anyways, I hope to have the next chapter posted shortly. It willbe longer than this chapter.