A/N: Part 3 here we go! I am so excited to start this new addition to the Priestess Sakura series! For those of you who don't know, there are two stories that take place before this one. Priestess Sakura: The Beginning, and Priestess Sakura: The Trials of Destiny. I recommend reading both of those before this one.

I hope you all enjoy this new part of the Priestess Sakura series. Thanks for all of you have been here with me through this whole journey.

Six and a half months later, August 28th

A bird calling in the distance fused in with the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. A burst of Summer wind ran past, refreshing the hot skin created from the sun rays that beat down.

Feeling blissfully relaxed, emerald eyes took in the tropical surroundings. The world seemed to slow, as she sat up in the lounge chair. Finishing her drink, she kicked her legs off the chair and stood. Wrapping her towel around her shoulders, she took one last longing look to the sand that stretched on for miles and the endless ocean water.

While her mind remained distracted by the tropics, her feet carried her across the sand and onto a patio. She washed the sand off her feet, then took herself into a two-story beach house. She was met with a strong burst of AC that emphasized how hot she was from being out in the sun. Slipping her sunglasses off, she moved the refrigerator and pulled a lemon flavored water from it. Taking several sips, she moved back to look out the back windows. The ocean waves much farther in distance still seemed to call to her.

The sound of a door opening caught her ears, but she didn't move from her spot. There was no sense to feel threatened or concerned, as she knew all too well who had entered the house.

"I got us dinner, Saya."

The masculine voice that hit her ears, brought her to scowl. "How many times do I have to tell you? You don't have to call me that when it's just the two of us."

"I've just gotten so used to calling you that… Don't you do the same sometimes?"

"Sure… I've called you Naoto here and there, but I'm not trying to make a habit of it when it's just the two of us," she replied to him, finally turning around to look at him. Emerald clashed with ocean blue again. "So Naruto… What's for dinner?"

Six and a half months ago

Finishing signing her name for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, Tsunade set her pen down, and let herself relax back on her chair. Her shoulder filled with tension and her taste buds ached for just a sliver of sake. The sound of rain had been dulled to the background as she had been signing papers, but now seemed to roar in her ears. Spinning her chair to face the windows, she was greeted with a dark cloudy night sky, and shadows of the buildings that neared the Hokage tower.

The sound of a loud quick knocking got her attention, and she slowly turned back. Fearing it to be Shizune with more paperwork, she sighed. "Look Shizune, it's almost one in the morning, and I am ready to go home. No more paper-"

The door opened not to reveal Shizune, but the usual blonde haired thorn in her side. "Not Shizune. I'm pretty sure she's not here."

"Naruto," Tsunade said, her eyes narrowing at how he dripped with water all over the carpet, and as he stepped forward, she could sense the tension. Staring him down for a long moment, she sighed. "You want to go after her..."

Naruto was quiet in response, before he finally nodded his head. "I need to go after her."

"And why should I agree to this?" Tsunade countered, resting her elbows on the desk. "I have already lost one of the strongest assets this village has today. Why on earth would I try to top that for a second time?"

"Is that all you think of us? Assets for the village-"

"No," Tsunade interrupted him with a sigh. "But having you both out of the village doesn't seem like the best idea. In case you forgot, you are wanted-"

"She's wanted to," Naruto interrupted Tsunade this time, as he motioned a hand to the window. "I can't just stay here in the village while she is out there alone. You may not understand this, but we're supposed to be together. I am supposed to be there to support her, and I can't do that from the village. If you don't..."

"If I don't what?" Tsunade countered, her eyebrow raised, as a deep frown settled on her face. "If I don't let you go, are you going to run out of the village, declaring yourself a missing ninja in the process? I can't imagine how that would look in the future when being considered for Hokage."

Naruto stared back at Tsunade in silence, his arms crossed over his chest.

Noticing the look of determination in his eyes, hinted with stubbornness, Tsunade scowled. "You're not going to listen to me, are you?"

"I want to go," Naruto replied, his tone showed persistence. "I want the same conditions as Sakura. No one else needs to know where I'm going or what I'm doing."

Sighing heavily with defeat, Tsunade reached into her desk, and pulled out a scroll. Making a copy of it, she held it out to him. When he had his hand on it, she didn't let go of it, as she stood and leaned closer to him. "I have one addition to this. As soon as you find Sakura, you need to message me and let me know. After that, you will be held to the same guidelines as her. You have to check in with me every couple weeks, even if it's just you saying that you are still alive."

"I got it," Naruto said, nodding as Tsunade finally let go of the scroll. However, he remained where he was, and scratched his head. "You wouldn't happen to know where she went do you?"

Tsunade deadpanned. "Shouldn't you be able to pick up on that with your bond?"

"Yeah, but it would be easier to at least start in the right direction-"

"The only thing I can tell you is that she went to Hana's first." Tsunade interrupted him, a scowl on her face, as she sat back down.

Naruto hummed and proceeded to scratch his head. "Hana… that's… uh-"

Tsunade sweatdropped, and sent a glare his way. "You stayed at her cabin for a few days on your mission before Sakura's birthday-"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "I remember now. The blue haired lady." Turning away from Tsunade, he went to the door but paused before he could leave. "Thank you."

Looking at Naruto for a long moment, Tsunade felt guilt start boiling beneath the surface, but she forced a smile onto her face. "Good luck Naruto."

Present day, after dinner

"I need to change into my gear, then we can go." Sakura said, after throwing away the empty food containers.

"Same here." Naruto agreed, wetting a hand towel to wipe down the kitchen table with.

Sakura took to the stairs two at a time and arrived in her room shortly. Doing a quick changed, she hurriedly put on her weapons, and changed shoes to her ninja boots. The last thing she grabbed was the black cloak that Hana had gifted to her to help her stay disguised. Walking in front of the mirror, she swung the cloak around her shoulders, and clipped it in the front. Her eyes took in her appearance, and like usual they landed on her hair. The blonde still managed to shock her after all these months. This month she had added red and blue tips to the blonde hair, but that usually changed each month she went back to get the blonde touched up.

Staring at the mirror a moment longer, she tore her eyes away, and left her room to go back downstairs. Meeting with Naruto who mirrored her, also dressed in a black cloak, they put their hoods up and started out the back door. Going as quickly could down the beach, they ran all the way until they hit forest. Another couple minutes went by, and they finally slowed to a stop outside a large dojo.

Once secured inside, Sakura and Naruto removed their cloaks, and started stretching out a bit. "Gosh, we need to wash these cloaks. I'm pretty sure it's been a month since they were last washed."

"They aren't that bad-" Naruto broke off as he sniffed his, he made a face, and dropped it to the ground. "Maybe a wash wouldn't hurt."

Laughing, Sakura cracked her knuckles, then her neck once. "Let's get started."

"Aren't we going to meditate first?" Naruto asked, as he had sat down on the floor.

"No I think we should switch it up," Sakura replied, noticing how Naruto was quick to jump back up and not disagree. "We can meditate later on our own time. We should just get our other training out of the way, and then call it an early day."

Frowning, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Your birthday is the day after tomorrow-"

"No," Sakura interrupted, waving off the concerned look on his face. "I'll be fine. I really just want to work on that new move."

Her bringing up nin-jutsu seemed to be just what turned Naruto's focusing fully on training mode. "Okay, let's do it."

Six and a half months ago

After leaving the Leaf village, Naruto finally escaped the rain clouds, and by the time he got to Hana's cabin in the Land of Hot Water, he was fully dried off. After taking a long time to convince Hana to tell him where Sakura went, he found himself sent in the direction of town. However, it wasn't until she had sealed his chakra for him, and gave him a cloak to use to conceal himself if he needed it. All she told him was that Sakura was talking about her. After leaving the third hair salon, Naruto felt himself wanting to give up. It wasn't until he came across one with a bright red canopy over it, that he felt encouraged to go in. Something in his mind telling him it was a good idea.

Once inside, he immediately felt out of place. Inwardly coaching himself to talk to someone, he made himself walk to the counter. "Um, my friend said she was getting her hair done at a salon yesterday, and she said she might have dropped something here."

The brunette haired woman behind the counter smiled. "We saw a lot of people yesterday. What does she look like?"

"Uh, well she has this bright pink hair-"

"Oh," another woman interrupted him, catching his attention. This woman had short black hair, blonde bangs, and a green stripe. She motioned for Naruto to come over. "I know exactly who you are talking about. She came to see me yesterday."

Feeling relieved he was on the right track finally, Naruto offered a smile. "That's great. I'm glad I finally found this place."

The woman held a smile, as she waved a hand. "Yeah, she came in here and got her hair dyed. I was wondering why because that pink hair of hers is different and fun. But, she was pretty set on getting a change. So I dyed it for her."

"Really? She didn't tell me." Naruto said, before finally catching onto something. Thinking of how Hana emphasized they should be disguising themselves, he smirked to himself. Smart move Sakura.

"Hon?"

Shaking away his thoughts, Naruto's eyes returned to the woman's. "What?"

"I was saying that I don't believe she left anything. She had swept the area over to make sure of that."

Already having an idea forming, Naruto scratched his head. "You know I honestly think she may have just said that so I would come here to get my hair cut. She's been talking about it for a while."

The woman lost the confused look and smiled again. "That could be true. But your hair is not that bad though. I can do something to it for you if you really want me too."

As the woman had shrugged, Naruto set his bag down. "Yeah. I actually think I'm going to try something new as well. Maybe a new color? Since she can dye her hair, I should be able to as well."

The woman patted her chair in front of her station. "Well, I don't hear many men wanting to dye their hair, but this will be fun. Do you have any colors in mind?"

"I don't know..." Naruto trailed off, feeling a little nervous, as the woman had draped the cape around him. "Got any suggestions?"

"I have a few ideas..."

Present day, after training

Grabbing her water to take a few gulps, Sakura's eyes traveled over the dojo, and landed on Naruto. He was over by the mirrored wall of the dojo. His hand in his hair, and his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at his reflection. "Is it still weird for you to see your hair like that?"

"Honestly, I never pictured myself with any hair color except my usual blonde," Naruto replied, a shiver ran down his thought. "If anything never with brown hair."

"I would say it's more of a dirty blonde actually."

"I don't know the difference. It just looks brown to me," Naruto countered, turning around to face her now. "Now you have blonde hair. Like real blonde hair. Like Ino Yamanaka blonde hair."

"The difference is that Ino would never "damage" her hair by dying it," Sakura said, grabbing a few tips of her hair. "Let alone put any fun colors in it like I do."

Naruto chuckled, as they put their cloaks back on to leave the dojo. "Do you think our natural hair colors are going to come back?"

"Yes Naruto," Sakura deadpanned. "Why do you think we have to go get our roots touched up every month? Hair grows."

At Sakura's tone, Naruto scowled at her. "I know that!"

"Then why did you ask?"

"Because I miss my blonde, and I'd like to have hope that I'd see it again someday."

Sighing at his honest confession, Sakura turned the lights off in the dojo, before they locked up. "It'll come back Naruto. If anything once we decide to go back to be our normal selves, we'll probably get out hair dyed back to our natural colors. That way when it grows out, it won't clash."

"I don't know about that," Naruto said, his hand running through his brown hair. "The lady said that going back to blonde is a lot harder than going the other way around. Maybe I'll just let mine grow out, or shave it all off."

Sakura laughed. "I can't imagine you with a shaved head. I don't think you could pull it off."

"I can just wear that beanie all the time until it grows back out," Naruto suggested, grinning as that made Sakura roll her eyes. As they started in a slow walk, his eyes focused upwards the starry night sky. "I never really understood what you meant in your letter to us all about needing to find yourself, but I get it now. Being out here. Being a different person. I've found things out about myself that I never thought possible. I really think that this is the best thing we've ever done."

Sakura smirked. "Mind the fact that you invited yourself here."

Naruto hummed and grinned back at her. "Hey, if I didn't we'd be still just as screwed up as we were before you left. Don't you think we work so much better together now?"

Sakura's smile softened. "I do… Now let's get going back to the house. We need a shower."

Back at the house, Naruto's room

Having finished towel drying his hair, Naruto stared at himself in the mirror. The ocean blue in his eyes seemed to continue to shine out despite the clash of foreign brown hair on his head. Every four to six weeks, he and Sakura had gone to a salon to get their roots touched up, and that helped them keep their made-up identities separate from their personal lives. Leaving his bathroom, he was greeted to a room that while at first was foreign to him was a comfort. There were photos here and there, some of which he and Sakura made up to make it seem like they were taken in the past. They tried to think of every little thing that would make their new identities seem more realistic.

One photo, in particular, was a much bigger one that was hung up on the wall. It was of him and Sakura when they had traveled up towards the mountain tops, and they had been with some of the friends they had made here. Sakura had jumped on his back right before the photo had been taken. In that moment she did out of anger, because he had said something that made her mad. But then they started laughing and that's the picture they ended up with. Reaching for it, he took it off the wall, and turned it over. In the back, there was a smaller picture tucked into the frame. Pulling it out, he turned it over, and it was of himself and Hinata. One of the only pictures he owned of them two together, as Hinata had the others. Like usual, the sight of Hinata's face brought a smile to his face, and a longing ache in his chest. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since they left almost seven months ago, and there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think of her. Looking at the photo for another long moment, Naruto sighed and put it back, before returning the frame to the wall. Going over to his bed, he plopped down, and turned off the lights. Staring up at the ceiling fan, as Hinata's face refused to leave his mind.

Six and a half months ago

Having spent nearly two days traveling up North, Naruto finally managed to pick up on potentially where Sakura had gone. While her chakra was a dead end, he used meditation to strengthen their bond and allow him to find her general location. Traveling to the northern border of the Land of Earth, he found himself in the boat of an old man named Yoshio. He didn't speak much English, but what little English he did speak was to try and tell Naruto the story of how he came to have the job of a fisherman.

One very long thirty-minute boat trip later, they were arriving at a small group of islands off the North Eastern border of the Land of Earth. As they docked the boat, Naruto reached into his bag for his money. "How much?"

"Oh no," Yoshio said, his hand pushing Naruto's money away. A toothy grin, as he pushed his white hair out of his face. "The company was enough."

Finding himself grinning right back at the man, Naruto put his money away, and shook the man's hand. "Thank you very much."

"Enjoy your day." Yoshio, returning back to his boat.

Taking off down the dock, he had to slow to a stop as he looked around to see the bustling little in front of him. They were right off a beach, and there was forest on the other three sides of the town. "Let's hope you're here Sakura."

Present day, Sakura's room

Bringing her wine glass to her lips, Sakura took a long drink of wine, then let her head rest back on the tub. The bubbles on top of the water moved with her, then settled back again once she stopped moving. Her head pounding as she felt her inner screeching in her head.

Inner Sakura: Why are you still here? You've been gone for almost seven months.

Sakura: Six and a half, actually.

Inner Sakura: What does it matter? You have no reason to stay here anymore.

Sakura: You've been harping this same message for the last few months. Obviously I'm not going anywhere, so why do you even bother?

Inner Sakura: I just don't see why you're still here. You left the village to train more as a priestess and to find happiness. You've completed the third training scroll. And you're happy now, right?

Sakura: Yeah, but-

Inner Sakura: What's keeping you here then?

Sakura: It's not that freaking simple! Yes, I'm finally where I want to be in my priestess abilities. Yes, I'm happier than I was when I left the village. But I just don't think I'm ready to go back to the village yet. I don't want to go back if I'm not ready to just to make you feel better. I would just appreciate that, for once, you could be on my side.

Receiving no response from her inner, Sakura sighed and finished the rest of the wine in her glass. Setting it down, she slid the rest of the way into the bathtub, and submerged herself under water. The hot water stung at the previously dry areas on her skin, but it started to feel good after a minute.

Six and a half months ago

Trying to stay out of the way of the people around him, Naruto continued walking down the street. His black cloak still covering most of him, and giving him just enough space to look ahead of himself. While he couldn't feel Sakura's chakra, their bond connected almost as soon as he gave any effort once he started looking around. Now it was all just about navigating the unfamiliar village, and finding her specific location.

After another few minutes, he felt a jolt as a young blonde haired woman walked out of a clothing shop. The tips of her hair a bright purple, while the rest of her appearance was neutral in grey and black. While the hair threw him off, there was no doubt in his mind that he was looking at his best friend. Fighting the urge to immediately run up to her, he kept his distance, and followed her for a while. After a few minutes, she walked into a restaurant, and he picked up his pace to go inside after her. Stopping outside the place, he peeked inside the restaurant through the window, and saw that she got seated in a booth towards the back of the place. Waiting a minute himself, he finally walked inside.

"How many?" The hostess asked as she returned to the front.

"Uh, just one." Naruto replied awkwardly, following after the hostess, he found himself being seated in a booth close to the front windows the restaurant. As the hostess was setting down a menu in front of him, his eyes slid to where she was seated in the booth across the restaurant in the back.

"Are you feeling a bit chilly today?" The hostess asked, smiling at him. "You've got that cloak on."

Realizing that he must have been standing out the entire time while in the village, Naruto chuckled and shrugged. "I guess I'm a little sensitive to the climate. I'm not really from here."

The hostess just chuckled. "Well, hopefully you get used to it. I'm sure everyone would love to see those pretty blue eyes of yours."

Naruto offered a smile, as the hostess walked away. Staying still for a long moment, he finally glanced back to where Sakura, only to find her booth empty. His eyes darted around trying to locate her. He could still feel she was close by because of their bond, but he couldn't see her.

"Who are you and why are you following me?"

Sakura's voice hit Naruto from behind, although whispered, he could feel the intensity of seriousness in her tone. He could just barely noticed she had a kunai down by his side where no one else could see it. He held up his hands, as one of them moved to take the hood of his cloak off.

"I asked you a question."

"Wow, only a few days have passed, and you've already forgot who I am. I know the hair is a little different and all, but it's still me," Naruto replied, remaining facing forward. "Maybe our bond isn't as strong as we thought it was."

Silence filled the air, and after a moment, the kunai disappeared from his side. The world slowed around them, as he watched her walk over to the opposite side of the booth from him and sit down. Her emerald piercing into his ocean blue.

A waitress came over, her eyes going right to Sakura. "Oh, I thought you were seated across the restaurant."

Sakura's frown disappeared to be replaced by a smile. "I just came over here to chat."

"Would you two like something to drink?" The waitress asked, waving it off.

"Not right now." Naruto replied, his eyes remaining on Sakura's.

The second the waitress walked away, Sakura's smile dropped off her face. "How did you find me?"

"Hana gave me a couple bread crumbs, then that hair salon lady gave me more. A lot more, in case you didn't notice my hair," Naruto replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It took me two days, but I finally got here. Our bond had a lot to do with it, because you had your chakra hidden."

"Did you not understand what I meant when I said to not look for or try to contact me?"

"Yeah, I understood what you said," Naruto replied, pausing as someone walked by the table. "However, you seem to forget that my entire duty as a counterpart is to support you."

"That doesn't require you to have to always be around me-"

"That may be true," Naruto interrupted her, and leaned over the table to get closer to her. "But I'm here for you. In this particular case, I wanted to be here to be around you. I don't want you to go through this alone."

There was a long moment of silence, then Sakura finally smirked. "Your annoying persistence to stay here no matter if I tell you to go home is clearly still there."

Naruto grinned at her words. "Damn right, I'm staying as long as you are Sa-"

"Stop," Sakura interrupted, her eyes narrowed. Looking around, she stood up, and reached out for his hand. "Come with me."

Present day, past midnight

Blinking up at the ceiling fan, Sakura felt a part of her disappointed at how slow sleep was coming to her. She had cracked her balcony door to be able to faintly hear the occasional sound of ocean waves crashing onto the beach outside. Turning over to face the balcony doors, she took a long deep breath. Naruto's persistence in remaining here with me hasn't died down at all since that day six and a half months ago. I've tried to encourage him that it was okay to go home, but he just seems to not be planning on changing his mind…

Trying to find sleep again, she was interrupted this time by her thoughts shifting to Sasuke. Just the picture of his face in her mind, brought her hand to the silver necklace she wore. It was the one he had got her for Christmas. She hadn't taken it off since she left the village. Feeling her heart beat a little fast as the thoughts of Sasuke continued to get stronger, she finally had to lay on her back, and push herself to sleep. Finally feeling unconsciousness near, her thoughts faded into black, and she welcomed sleep.

Six and a half months ago

Walking into the hotel room, Naruto looked around to the almost spotless place. The only disturbance as a black bag that he knew belonged to Sakura. "This place is nice."

"It's meant to only be temporary." Sakura replied, moving to the kitchen table to sit.

Following her lead, he sat across from her. "You stopped me from saying your name at the restaurant."

"I can't go by Sakura Haruno," Sakura replied, her expression making it seem like that should be obvious. "Even though this village does not hold active ninja, people might know who that is. I had to choose a name to go with this disguise. It's Saya here."

"After the last priestess..."

"Yeah," Sakura paused to study him for a moment. "I want to point this out, but I am advising you to forget you ever saw me and go home. I don't know how long I'm staying, and I do not want you to bind yourself to stay as long as I am."

"You're not getting rid of me." Was all Naruto said, a grin on his face at her.

"Okay then," Sakura said, pushing over a paper in front of him. "There is a two bedroom house I was looking at when I was searching for places to buy. It also has a couple of extra rooms that we would have to make use of. I guess we can say they are guest rooms or make them into a study or something. I didn't have a reason to have that many rooms so I stuck to an apartment. It's a good house, and if you are staying then we could stay there. We'd have to buy it as renting isn't an option, but it's not that much. I can cover most of it. Actually, I can cover all of it-"

"It's fine," Naruto interrupted her, nodding. "I can take care of my half just fine."

At his ready agreement, Sakura sighed, and looked him over. "At some point we are going to have to buy you some new clothes. While you changed your hair to separate yourself from looking like Naruto Uzumaki, you still look like a ninja," she reached into one of the shopping bags she had brought with her. She tossed over a shirt and some shorts. "Until then, this will have to do."

"Wait what?" Naruto countered, looking at the clothes closely. "These are my size. How did you-"

"Oh please, I knew you were coming before you got off Yoshio's boat," Sakura interrupted, standing up and pulling some of her own clothes out of the bag. "He's a nice man. He was the one who gave me a ride over from the Land of Earth too."

Naruto, however, less calmly stood up, and knocked over his chair. "Hey! You made it sound like you had no idea I was even here. What was that whole deal with the kunai and asking who I was?"

Sakura shrugged. "You can never be too careful."

Scowling at her shrugging it off, Naruto reached down to pick the chair back up. "So should I come up with a name too?"

"Don't bother. While you are here in this persona, you will go by Naoto. You will never speak the words Sakura or Naruto while in this persona. It is important that we leave all of our knowledge of the Leaf Village, the others, and the ninja world in general out of our lives here. We can't blow our covers. We're just going to be civilians here. Saya and Naoto."

"Naoto," Naruto repeated, before nodding and saying that sounds good. "Just like the old priestess and counterpart."

"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off, sighing at how he seemed to not be phased as he went to change into the new clothes. Maybe the next few months I'm here won't be too bad with Naruto here.

A/N: So I know this new chapter switches back and forth from past to present a lot. I feel like it gives you a good idea of not only how much time has gone by since they left the village, but also how the reunited after leaving the leaf and made the decision to stay here together.

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