Hello, I'm back! I'M SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO REDO THIS CHAPTER!

This chapter is dedicated to: kalasad, mehcynda, STALKER ROFL (my wonderful anonymous reviewer!), Hinata0321, and naruto857!!!

You all get FREE COOKIES!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto….plain and simple.

"Talking."

"Thinking."

"Kyuubi talking."

"Kyuubi thinking."

This goes for the rest of this fanfic unless I say otherwise! (just because don't I want to keep posting this for every chapter.)

I think that's all…REVIEW!


After leaving the Hokage's office, Sakura made her way around the peaceful village. The ground sped below her as she jumped from roof to roof, a front flip here and there but nothing too fancy. Her feet made a continual "tack" against the red rooftops as she looked around her. The array of colors from the buildings and people walking about mixed with the cool colors of the sky and warm colors of the sun to make a beautiful yet skewed rainbow. In all these years, Sakura failed to notice the sweet serenity and outward beauty of her home. Maybe it was the constant reminder of her duties at the hospital, or the thoughts of her first love; maybe even thoughts about the noisy ninja she had grown to accept and cared for filled, and thus clouded, her mind. But, her daydreaming was cut short as she reached the village gates. Adding a bit of chakra to her jump, she flew through them and disappeared into the forest undergrowth; leaving behind the village, that, as she finally realized, she didn't really know.

Only her thoughts kept her company in the empty forest. "It will take about a full week to reach the city Tsunade was talking about." Sakura looked around her. She looked at the passing trees, the bugs that filled the air with their sweet, harmonious melody, the rolling clouds and the innocent blue sky above, and the bright sun that shined its life-giving light on the green Earth below. But yet, she felt a growing hole of nothingness inside of her. "It's so loney here." She sighed, but alas, no one heard her. "Such is the life of a shinobi." This had become her motto in the past years. Somehow, putting all the blame on "the life of a shinobi" made her burdens, less heavy.


Six people gathered in an empty cave on a cliff side in an unknown location. They wore matching clothes and made a circle around a dimly lit candle on a waist-high stand. If anyone was nearby, they probably would have felt the strength of their chakra and head in the opposite direction. The light of the tiny candle illuminated the room slightly, but not enough to light up their faces. The flame flicked around the air, as if it was dancing an ancient ritual when the evident leader of the group spoke in a deadly commanding tone.

"Have any of you made progress in locating the Shichibi?" His eyes jumped from one person to the next, searching for any answers in their faces or sudden movements that gave away what they were trying to hide. Silence followed until one of them was brave enough to break the silence.

"Finding this one is proving to be a lot harder then the other ones." He tried to say this in a calm tone, but the leader caught his stutter on the word 'harder'. The speaker silently cursed himself for being the one to be the bearer-of-bad-news.

"Really," The leader turned his attention to the one who was unlucky enough to give the bad news. "How so, Kisame?"

"Well, it's usually easy to gather information with Zetsu over here," Kisame gestured to his right to a man who resembled Venus flytrap. "With him being able to be almost everywhere at once, but it seems like no one has ever even seen the Shichibi. None of us can even pick up subtle traces of its chakra…" He let the sentence fall, as if out of shame, and hoped that his honesty would make up for the group's failure. The rest of the group seemed to inwardly cringe when their leader narrowed his eyes at them. But one sentence rang through their heads and made them stand up against the death glare: NEVER show weakness.

"We are running out of time. I was even forced to put the next step of our plan in action before we found all the Bijuu. We have to begin the elimination process, now." He looked around at the people surrounding him. His next words were of the utmost importance and he wanted to make sure they all were paying attention. "Konoha has received another of our fake missions. This time, it is to Lightning Country. It's time to begin cutting down their forces." The leader looked directly in front of him, the person he was looking at had their eyes closed, but seemed to know he was being addressed. "Since you are the newest member, I'll leave the job of killing the shinobi Konoha sent, to you." The newest member opened his eyes, revealing that they were red with demonic eye slits in place of a regular pupil.

"Hai." Was all that he said and with that, all the people gathered blurred out of view.


(Nagiboshi, city in Lightning Country, one week later)

Sakura checked her map for the second time, making sure this was the exact location. After confirming that is was, she stepped out from the forest and surveyed the city below her. The sun hit it perfectly so that it gleamed and sparkled like a shining jewel. She lifted her hand to her eyes to block out the sun's light. After a few moments of standing there, she proceeded to make her way into the city and onto the rooftops where she got an even more amazing view of the city.

"Sugoi! This city is unlike anything I have seen before! Everything looks so new!" Of course, Sakura was right, Nagiboshi was indeed a new city, bustling with people. Someone was yelling about a sale on melons (A/N: Hehe…melons…dunno know where that came from but somehow it just screamed: MELONS!!!) and another was pushing a cart around stocked full of little trinkets and treats. Children laughed, women talked, the classic village scene. The roads sparkled and sign lights danced. The gray, silver, and black colors tones that covered the city gave a shiny, metal appearance and overall "clean" feel. It was obviously far beyond Konoha in technological advances. "I'll just do some scouting first, familiarize myself with the city and gather some information on this group of rouge ninjas." Sakura jumped down from the roof she was on and landed on an empty street below, throwing up unforeseen dust and stretched out the wrinkles in her clothes; silently hoping she didn't bring too much attention to herself.


But as all stories like this go, someone did. Sitting several rooftops away was a shady figure seated against and pole; his face hidden from view as his head faced down at the roof. One leg was bent and his right forearm rested upon it, the other leg was stretched out and his left arm lay on top of it. Someone passing by might have assumed that he was sleeping except for the fact he was indeed awake and aware of every inch of his surroundings, including the pink-haired ninja that passed by.

"So, Konoha sent her of all people. I guess she hasn't improved that much. That is somewhat disappointing. She even overlooked the fact that there are no ninja in this city," He thought to himself. "Such a careless mistake. Jumping off the roof in that manner is a clear giveaway that she is not a citizen." He opened his red eyes and looked at the direction that kunoichi went. "But she is a Konoha shinobi and never underestimate them." He slowly closed his eyes and the wind ruffled his clothes. "But why chase after her when she will eventually come after me." He turned around and dropped onto the street below and casually made his way into a shop.


After what seemed like hours of hopeless and fruitless searching, Sakura was indeed flustered. She stomped her way through the crowded streets; thoughts of being stealthy were thrown out the window as she sent villagers ducking for cover under her irritated glare. Silently fuming, Sakura made her way to a branch and plopped herself down; she was not only physically exhausted but mentally as well. Sighing to herself, she closed her eyes; the sun warmed her tired body as she relaxed in the afternoon air.

"Come on Sakura!" She yelled at herself. "You can do better than this! Think! There has to be an easier way…I know the client is anonymous, but there must be a way to get some information without blowing my cover!" Sakura sat there in deep concentration, and soon a light bulb went off in her head. "Duh! How could I have been so stupid!" The kunoichi heaved herself off the bench and headed towards the closest store, a jewelry store might I add.

Sakura closed the door behind her and was greeted with a sight that made her mouth water. Pearl necklaces, jade earrings, gold bracelets, diamond rings and so much more, covered the store in millions of tiny sparkles. "It's like walking among stars!" Sakura allowed herself a quick stroll around the store before composing herself and walking up to the storeowner, who was seated behind a counter.

"Excuse me ma'am." The lady turned her attention to Sakura and got up and approached her.

"Is there anything I can help you with, sweetie?" She spoke in a gentle tone.

"Sweetie? Do I look that young?…I'm 20 ya' know…" Sakura hid her shock and light anger when she continued. "Yes, I'm passing through this city and I've heard some 'rumors' that a group of rouge ninjas have been hanging around here…I just wanted to know if this is true and if I should be on my 'guard'." Sakura smiled innocently and waited for the storekeeper's response. She watched as the owner's expression changed from thoughtful thinking to realization.

"Ah! Yes, in fact there was a group of people causing trouble here…like robbing stores, attacking people and what not, but…it seems that they have left." It took a few seconds for it to register in her mind, and when it did, she was bewildered.

"Wh..what?" Was all she could spit out. The owner was a bit surprised at her reaction since it was supposed to be a good thing to hear.

"Ye..yeah…This city had a problem with them for a while, but…about a week ago, all the robbings stopped and we haven't seen them since…uh…miss? Are you okay?" She waved her hand in front off Sakura's face, who was standing with her mouth slightly open and her eyes fixed on something in the distance. When she came to he senses, Sakura blinked her eyes and apologized.

"Sorry, it's just…nothing, it's nothing. Thank you for your information." Sakura bowed and left the store.

"What a weird kid." The lady thought as she watched Sakura leave the store.

Once outside her mind raced as she jumped on top of a roof, not caring if anyone saw her. Bitterly she thought, "So I was right. This is a trap."


In a teashop not too far away from Sakura, an Atatsuki member sat at a table, one eyebrow twitching in anger as he crushed a cup in his hands. "This is taking forever!" He slowly opened his hand and let the remaining shards of glass fall onto the table. "I'll just have to show her where I am." He got up and walked towards the door.

"Hey, are you going to pay for that?!" The man gestured to the broken cup and the man just looked at him. He turned around and threw some money at the owner as a response. The coins were thrown so hard; they were embedded in the wall behind the shop owner.

"Happy?" He smirked and left, leaving a very scared owner frozen in fear.


Sakura was speeding across rooftops when an explosion to her right caught her attention. She immediately stopped and turned towards the sound. In the distance smoke was beginning to rise and she could see a building was on fire. "So, they've decided to take the initiative." She thought and headed towards the destruction.

The rising pillars of smoke were coming the edge of city, in the deserted part of town Sakura discovered earlier.

She reached the location and surveyed the damage. Most of the fires had burned out by now, and all that remained was piles of burnt wood. She bent down and picked up a pinch of ash and let the wind blow it away. "There's no doubt about it, this was to get my attention." Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out two black gloves. "It's time to show them not to mess with Konoha, and more importantly, me." She stood up straight and concentrated until she felt a small amount of chakra in the forest ahead. Relying on her senses, she headed into the trees and into a grassy clearing.


The Akatsuki member waited patiently on a rock, listening to the last fire crackle and die. "This isn't going to take long, but I want to see what she has been up to all these years…without her recognizing me of course. A simple henge should do the trick." He did a few hand seals with lightning speed and now had black hair, with matching black jacket and pants. His now gold eyes closed once again. "She should be arriving any minute no-" His thoughts were cut short and his eyes flew open. They were greeted with the sight of a gloved coated fist of a certain pink-haired kunoichi. "She's gotten fast, but I'm still faster." He thought before quickly preparing to dodge the attack.

Sakura wasted no time attacking the criminal seated upon the rock. She packed extra chakra into her punch hoping to end it quickly. A smile crossed her face as she saw that he wasn't trying to move out of the way. "He must know he can't dodge it, I'm too fast…It's all over." Sakura's smile widened, and then…he vanished. "Nani?!" Her punch sailed through air and she landed on the rock off-balanced. "He just…vanished. There is no way a normal ninja could move that fast." Sakura got her bearings and looked around. "Left, right, straight, up, below-"

"Behind?" Sakura froze as she felt a kunai against her throat. "I was expecting more out of a Konoha ninja."

Sakura smirked. "Oh, you will." He narrowed his eyes and then noticed something was different. He slashed her throat, and the kunoichi turned into mud. "Ah, a Doro Bunshin, (Mud Clone) she's finally making this a bit more 'entertaining'." He jumped of the rock and nimbly dodged a punch to his left.

Sakura just keep coming and coming. Kick after kick, punch after punch, but they were all missing. The enemy ninja dodged every one of her attacks. He always moved out of the way just before her fist connected. "He's just toying with me! I'll show him he needs to take me seriously!" Sakura jumped a few meters back and performed a series hand signs and slammed her palms on the ground.

"Doton: Iwa Yajirushi!"(Earth Style: Rock Arrows!) Huge pieces of rock flew out of the ground and floated in the air and surrounded her opponent. "You're trapped." Sakura stood up a faced her enemy with a triumphant look.

"So it would look like it." Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder how she will react at this… I don't have time for a battle right now." The Akatsuki member thought will light anticipation.

"What do you mean?" The rocks remained in the air, ready to shoot forward in an instant.

The ninja started to raise his right hand, the index and middle finger extended upward. Sakura tensed and the rocks inched forward.

"You wouldn't hurt…a former…teammate…would you?"

"…Wh…what?…"

"Kai." The ninja's image 'poofed' and was replaced with something that horrified Sakura. Her eyes wavered as she stared at the person ahead of her. Her concentration was broken and her jutsu was released; the rocks crashed to the ground. All she could do was, stare…and stare some more. She couldn't believe it. The purple nails, the black cloak with red clouds, the blonde hair…

…the whiskers…

She only uttered one audible word. "…Naruto…"


MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (omg…I feel SO evil…I'm SO SORRY!!!)

Sorry for the cliffy!

The next chapter will be up in a week…or sooner if I get some reviews!!

For those of you who read the first version of this, I apologize for making you wait this long for the redo and even longer for the next chapter, but I want to let you guys know that I have already written the rough draft of Chapter 2, so all it needs is some editing and approval from my beta (and myself of course). It should be up by Friday.

I'm trying to work out a schedule so I have enough time to work on this during the week. Once again, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS!