I felt inspired enough to want to update this story again, after having written the first chapter at 1 AM (insomnia, anyone?). Anywho, this I hope isn't to angsty (I returned to my old style, where everything I think of while I am writing appears on paper, versus the style of plotting things out in Rock Band, which won't be up until next week).

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Naruto POV

I watched over the small town, positioned at the tallest point in the village (not Konoha). I could see everything perfectly clear, even from 150 feet in the air, standing on a small ledge. Well, kneeling, but you know, who cares about those details.

I soon saw my target, a young merchant that I had been tracking for three weeks now. He was standing near a few shinobi, ones who would previously be called my brethren. The four wore the leaf village symbol proudly on their foreheads. I soon felt a bit of yearning as my thoughts drifted back to my last days in the village.

I was still angry over what happened after that failed mission. Even though I told Sakura and my friends that it was alright, it wasn't. I felt betrayed. Betrayed that I had served the village without regret, and yet that damn counsel decided that I was not worthy of being in the village. When I had left the village, Kurama had spoken to me.

He told me to search out a group of people known as the Assassins. They would help me in my journey. He said that when he was young, he was in fact a human. Overtime , he had been corrupted by an organization called Akatsuki. They used him for experiments to create the perfect soldier. Their plans failed when he had become a demon. He said that in order for me to succeed in bringing them down, he had to die. He said that be releasing the seal, he would be able to give me knowledge, and he would transform himself to look like me. This would for sure enable me to train without any shinobi keeping an eye on me.

As my anger grew, I glanced down and saw my target, Doto Kazahana, walking away from the guards in the town. Perfect. I climbed off of my perch, and took the shortest path down the tower. I hid behind it as Doto walked by, trying to conceal the fact that I was following him. People now a days were always so suspicious, ever since the war broke out.

Tailing him, I followed him to his shop, a small little spot where he sold various goods to the towns people, and weapons to soldiers.

As soon as he closed his door, I knocked.

"We're closed."

"Please open up. I need some food, and I'm willing to pay double for it."

Doto opened his door and said, "What do you need?"

"Just some bread please. My family is travelling through the town, and there's no rooms in the inn." i've gotten good at lying over the past few years.

"Fine come in while I fetch it." His voice told of someone who thought he was more important than he really is. Not for long.

As he returned, he held out his hand for money. I gave him the coins.

"Is that all you needed? I won't allow you back in." At least he had the decency to warn me.

"No, I require one more thing." My wrist blade slid out from it's sheath, a small metallic scrape being heard. "Your life."

I plunged the blade into his throat. He had been selling food and medical supplies at 3 times the price he was getting them for, and the extra money was going to fund an organization called Akatsuki. These men and women were directly responsible for the war. In order to end this war and achieve peace, they must be defeated. I don't know how much of a dent this will make in their total finances, but I do know that in one year, Doto has made enough money to give a standard 24 piece set of kunai and shuriken and a small medical kit to 100 soldiers. If that cuts off the supplies for one platoon, then that's one platoon defeated.

"Rest in peace."

Sakura POV

About a week later (from her position in the first chapter), I was on leave from the battlefields. There was a huge uproar in the village. A merchant about 20 miles outside of the village had been killed by what is assumed to be assassination. No knife had been found nearby, and his throat had been slit. Locals said there was a man in a white cloak in the town that day, and that he was last spotted near the merchant's home.

This was the fourth report of an assassination with a man clad in white nearby. Even a child would be able to link the two together. I'm sure that Lady Tsunade has been recommended to increase security in nearby villages.

A shout of "Forehead!" broke my train of thought. I looked over to see Ino dragging behind her boyfriend of five years, Choji, a mismatch if there ever was one. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, why?"

A grin the size of the Hokage Monument appeared on her face. "Well, get home, get cleaned up, and put on something sexy, because I have found you the perfect date. He looks so cool and mysterious."

"What about me? Aren't I cool and mysterious?"

Ino looked up at Choji, and with the blankest look on her face said, "No, but that's ok. I'm done with cool and mysterious. All I need is nerdy and adorable, and I'm good."

"Ino, I'm not going on a date with anybody right now. It's not the right time for me."

"Sakura, you haven't been on a date or asked anyone out since he left. I know how you felt about him, but he's gone now. He wouldn't want you to wait for him. He'd want the woman he loves to move on."

Her words struck true with me. If there was one thing that was true for Naruto, he wouldn't want me to dwell on it. He would want me to live my life.

"Ok, fine. I will go on one date, and you and Choji have to go with me. I don't know hwo this guy is and I don't wanna be left alone with him."

Ino squealed. "Sakura, I'm going to go give you a makeover. And we're going shopping. And then to get your hair done. You don't want to look like a caveman in front of him."

"Ino, I thought we were going to spend some time together. You know, alone?" Choji pleaded.

"Choji I will spend all night with you. Right now, Sakura needs me. Go hang out with Shikamaru or something for a while, and I promise I will make it up to you." Choji took a hint, and took off leaving me to listen to Ino babble on about how good I will look after this.

As 8:00 rolled by I felt more nervous than before. I hadn't been on a date since before Naruto died. In fact the last "date" I went on was with Naruto. It was a couple weeks before Sasuke left, and Naruto asked me to go with him to get something to eat. I said yes on the conditions that it wasn't ramen, and that he had to pay. During the meal, we got dango, I realized how wrong I had been about him. He had been a perfect gentleman, and if I hadn't been so fixated on Sasuke, I probably would have realized at the time how cute he was, but now he was just a body in a box in the ground. I had to move on. And so with my hair trimmed short, my body wrapped an a short red dress, I started off for the restraunt.

When I reached the restaurant we were going to, I saw Ino and Choji sitting at an outside table with a redhead sitting next to him. The boy looked cute enough. He had a grin on his face that spoke of confidence, while his eyes were slightly close indicating a laid back style of living. I noticed a red cloud pendant around his neck, and he wore a casual looking suit. As I sat down at the table, I saw Ino with an amused smile, one that said "I told you."

"Sakura, this is Sasori (It will still be NaruSaku, it'll just take a while). Sasori is a shinobi of the sand, and is very skilled with puppets." I caught the sexual innuendo there. Puppet masters were rumored to be good with their fingers.

"Sakura, Ino has told me all about you. I understand you're a medic-nin, correct?" His voice so undeniably smooth, and almost sounded like he was some sort of royalty.

"Yes, I am. Maybe someday we will fight next to each other."

"Yes, maybe."

The night progressed like that. It soon got easier to talk to him, and we were now very comfortable around each other. Ino and Choji had left a while ago, Ino saying something about needing to keep a promise she had made.

After a few hours of talking, we had got up to say our goodbyes.

I initiated the required conversation. "We should do this again."

"Yeah, maybe next time without Ino and Choji. I am stationed in Konoha, so it will be very easy to get a hold of me. Please don't hesitate to call." With that we left, going off in different directions.

Naruto POV

I stood a top a building near the richer side of Konoha. I looked below and saw a young couple leaving a restaurant. The man had audburn colored hair, styled in a messy mop with soft spikes. I had seen something about a man in Akatsuki with the same appearance. I'll watch out for him.

The woman, was another issue. Pink hair, atop an athletic body, with legs that go on forever. Yep, that was the love of my life, and for some reason, seeing her with someone made me kind of happy. Maybe my death wasn't a huge tragedy for my friends. I hoped it was the case. Looking out over the city, brought some good memories but mostly bad ones to the front of my head.

"Yeah I'm back. With a vengeance."

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So it seems that writing these stories are easier at one AM than at a normal hour. That being said, I might update on Friday morning, but I won't again until after Sunday. I'm going with my girlfriend on a trip for a few days on Friday afternoon to go visit some friends at their college. So I won't be home from Friday till Sunday. Then I have two more weeks at home and then classes start again. So things will get a lot more spaced out in the next few weeks, in terms of updates. But I will do my best to keep a regular update, but I don't want this to become something I hate. If I put deadlines on it, then it's too much like school, but I'm gonna work on it.