Disclaimer:I (obviously) do not own Naruto, Sasuke or any of the other characters from the original series. However, I do own any and all OCs that may appear in this story.

Chapter One: Loose Ends

(8 years ago)

"Shhh my sweetheart, my darling," he murmured into the deep red scarf that concealed her face and trailed down the sides of her shoulders. "I will join you soon. Now go."

x

(a few weeks ago)

"Shhh my sweetheart, my darling," she murmured into the soft folds of velvet she clutched to her heart. "Tousan* will be back soon."

x

(present day)

"Whew," Sakura Haruno dumped her medical kit near a treetrunk as the Short and Mid-Range Battle Unit set up camp for the night. "How much farther?" she asked her companion and long-time admirer Rock Lee.

"We could reach there by tonight if we marched forward believing in the power of seishun**!" said Rock Lee with a fire burning in his eyes.

Sakura rolled her eyes, wishing she hadn't asked. Leaning against the gnarly, old treetrunk, she sighed in relief as her heels thanked her. "I think I'll take it easy for a while, thank you very much. How long before we see the enemy, do you think?"

"Quiet! I think I saw a shadow over there!" hissed Rock Lee, the fire still in his eyes. Sakura smilingly shook her head at Lee's passion for combat. There were some things that never changed. Sitting around the campfire, she recalled a similar setting roundabout three years ago when Team 7 had camped for the night.

Fresh with the excitement of being newly-become Genins, the three of them: her, Sasuke and Naruto, had patrolled the boundaries of their camp, each readying for an attack against an all-powerful enemy that could come crashing through at any moment. When their energy levels had gone down a bit they had made their way back to the campfire, only to find that Kakashi-sensei had polished off all the food, saying it would have been a shame to waste it.

She laughed as she remembered the sounds of their stomachs growling all night that night, then sobered up as she recalled Sasuke's face to mind. Where is he? How is he?

And then, I wonder how Naruto is doing.

X

Far away from the war, in the Cloud Village, Kumogakure, Naruto was trying to sneak away from the watchful eye of the Hokage, Tsunade. "Owowowowowow," he cried, as she dragged him back to the training area by his hair. "Nande***, Tsunade no Baa-chan****?"

"How many times do I have to drag you back, Naruto? When I say stay here, I mean stay here! You need to practice! You think you can beat the Akatsuki the way you are now? If you don't…"

"Well actually," began Naruto, a smirk spreading across his face, "I remember there was this one time an Akatsuki named Pein invaded Konoha and this one hero saved the whole village. What was his name agai…..YOWCH!" he yelled as another tuft of yellow hair fell to the floor.

Tsunade sighed inwardly. It was hard to push Naruto to listen to anything nowadays, not with the world proclaiming him as a hero… But they had to keep him busy, not to mention keep him away from the real reason the war was being fought. Or even the fact that a war was being fought. She pursed her lips. "Naruto, I have to go for an important meeting. When I get back, you better still be here, or else…"

"Yeah yeah," muttered Naruto. "I will…"

"Good," said Tsunade, and walked away.

"…be far far away by then!," Naruto completed gleefully under his breath. As soon as the Hokage was out of sight, Naruto headed for the supply room where shuriken, kunai and other useful on-the-move ninja items were kept. Slipping a few of each into his pouch, Naruto left a note for Killer B tacked to his doorframe.

I learnt a lot, you taught me really well,

But I have to go so please don't tell!

I have to find someone who's really close to me.

...

-Naruto Uzumaki

p.s. I mean it – please don't tell!

X

Yamato had seen interrogation up close several times throughout his life, but it was only when he was in a dark room, not knowing what would become of him, that he really understood why people cracked. Madara had smirked and told him to wait…

"You're really lucky, you know?" Madara mused. "You will be one of the first to see the ushering-in of the new era"

"We will never surrender!" he had shouted. "We will protect our way of the ninja till the day we die – every last one of us!"

"I appreciate the rousing speech, and I honestly regret that it will go to waste," Madara chortled. "Now there's nothing you can do but wait."

"Wait for what?" Yamato had asked angrily.

"Be patient. Your time has not yet come," Madara coolly returned, and slowly disappeared in a swirling votex, the last thing to disappear being his eye….

His eye! That's it! That's what Yamato had felt earlier. He knew something was wrong, but didn't know what. Madara now had two doujutsu-enabled eyes – one with the Sharingan and one with the Rinnegan. But how? This was bad. This was really, really bad.

X

"…and that's why we need him," finished Madara. "Where are you going? Are you going to train?"

"In a sense," said Sasuke stiffly, walking out of the room, his back to Madara. "I'm going to sharpen my blades. This plan will succeed."

I'll get them Itachi, he thought fiercely as he left the room. I'll kill every last one of those people you died because of, the people who defamed you and called you a missing-nin, the people who obliviously live in happiness today because you sacrificed your respect and your honour and your family to save them. I'll get revenge – for the both of us.

X

Far away, in yet another dark room, a child's cries echoed off the walls. "Where is he? Why isn't he back yet? You said two more days!"

"Quiet Hirohito, Tousan will be back soon. He must be busy. Now be a good boy and sleep," a softer voice, like the sound of tinkling wind chimes, said to the child, as he gradually drifted off to sleep. "He has to be," she whispered with a tremor in her voice.

Japanese translations:

*tousan: father

**seishun: youth

***nande: why

****Baa-chan: granny

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