Beginning Anew

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…

A/N: Well, thank you to Hot Sexy Soccer Babe 777… the first to review… oh and by the way, as I guess you all know, this is a sak/nej fic so it'll take time… please allow the snide comments and rash behaviour slide for the moment! Please note that Naruto is powerful in this fiction because I'm disappointed when he was so easily defeated by Sasuke in his four-tailed state in the manga. (I'm a little pissed off) And the Neji and Sakura chapters come later on so it would not seem too rushed. thanks again. Read and Review…

Full Summary: Now somewhat darker and serious, a journey is taken to fulfill his dream, while leaving behind a cherry blossom wallowing in her own despair. Will she be able to stand and catch up to her team mate who is so close to achieving the final title that every shinobi would die to have or protect? Who would be her pillar to lean on when she collapses? Please read and Review.

"speech"… 'thoughts'… "Kyubbi"

An Offer

The sun had just risen into the sky moments ago but the sound of someone training was already heard. Deep in the woods of training ground 28, Sakura could be seen beating a poor and defenceless log into a woody pulp. She woke up early and went to the training grounds to work on her taijutsu as well as her endurance. She knew that she did not have a big chakra reserve like Naruto or the speed and eyes of Sasuke. So she decided that if she were to ever be in their league, she would have to work extra hard. Sakura was panting and breathing very hard by 8 am and decided that she needed some rest. Her chakra was depleted but she decided that she would work on her taijutsu for a while longer because she didn't have her session with the Godaime until 12. As she sat there on the ground her back against the tree her mind began to wander. So she never noticed that someone was watching her.

You could say that Neji was annoyed but it was more like irritation on his part. He had been sitting on the same tree branch for nearly an hour now and she still did not notice him there at all. 'Well maybe that is a good thing, I wouldn't want her pestering me about my reason being here. And I certainly can't tell her about what Naruto told me. He is so troublesome sometimes, asking me of this ridiculous favour. Why did I agree to it anyways? It is no wonder why I dislike females' Neji had been there a few hours after the sun had risen and followed her chakra signature to this training ground. He had decided he might as well start now on checking on Sakura before he forgets. Well not forget more like talk himself out of doing it but a promise is a promise so he had to do it. He was surprised to find her out on training ground 28 training so early. From what he could tell from his angle, she had been there for a while now. It was a Sunday and he didn't have anything to do so he decided to stay for a while to watch her practice. As he watched her practice he was quite disappointed in her. She was lacking in ninjustu and her form for taijutsu was bad. 'I wonder how she could be in the same team with Naruto and the Uchiha prodigy. Well I guess there is always a weak link in a group and link is her.' If she were ever to go out into the real world and see the brutal fights that take place, she would break.

'I wonder what Naruto is doing at the moment? Is he working as hard as me… well duh he is you idiot! He wants to become the Hokage which is certainly almost impossible to achieve at such a young age and with only 3 years of training? He better work hard or I'll kick his ass when he comes back.' She paused for a moment not knowing what else to think about. 'Sasuke… what are you doing now… ehh, you better not go there Sakura or else you'll start crying again. You promised yourself that you wouldn't cry. At least not until you bring Sasuke back.' After she finally convinced herself of that, she got back up and started to beat the tree once again.

'At least she has determination I can say that at the very least. But I still find it disappointing, maybe with hard work like Lee-' he had to smirk at that thought. '-she can become better. At least in her taijutsu.'

Lunch was soon approaching so the Hyuuga prodigy slipped back into the shadows and into the town market to have lunch.

Sakura left soon after Neji left because if she didn't she would be late for her training session with Tsunade. She ran home to have a quick shower and a change of clothes. She grabbed an apple and ran for the Hokage tower. As she was running, she wasn't looking at where she was going so she bumped head on into someone. She closed her eyes while she was falling and was expecting a rather hard impact for her rear but it never came. Her mind came crashing down on her moments later when she felt a hand holding onto her wrist. She slowly opened her eyes. Emerald met pearl, there was Hyuuga Neji holding her hand with a cold and impassive expression on his face. Sakura instantly blushed and stood up quickly and pulled her hand away. "Umm.. Thank you for catching me there and I'm terribly sorry for bumping into you." Then she started to run once again towards the tower.

'What a weird girl, appearing all of a sudden one moment and then disappearing the next. Quick on her feet I'd say and where is she headed off to in such a hurry?' Neji's brow furrowed before he sighed and continued his brisk walk back to the Hyuuga mansion a few blocks away.

As Sakura was running towards thee tower she kept scolding herself for bumping into Neji. With Sasuke gone, all his loyal fan girls seem to have taken a 360 degrees turn and were now the loyal Hyuuga prodigy's fan. 'Hmph, talk about being loyal to Sasuke. Ugh… but I still can't believe that I bumped right into me and then he had to catch me from falling to. This is so embarrassing, well Sakura here's another thing you could add to your never ending list of embarrassing moments.' She sighed dejectedly and when she finally focused on her bearings, she noticed that she was in front of the Hokage's room. She knocked and entered when she heard the voice of the Godaime grunt out a reply.

Back in the forests of the fire country, the demon container was growling with irritation and pain. Why pain you ask, it was the beginning of the process where his pathways were being destroyed and rebuilt. Jiraiya could only watch as his pupil sat on the ground clutching his stomach as his pain intensified. He was not able to do anything but watch and at the moment he felt so helpless. Moments later Naruto fell over twitching and howling in pain. 'Only 4 more hours to go…' Jiraiya thought grimly.

Before they had actually set off, Naruto told Jiraiya about his talk with Kyubbi while he was meditating.

Flashback

Naruto was in the long and dreaded looking hallways once again. The lights were dim but you could make out all the different doorways that lead to his memories and knowledge. The air was stale and the water murky. Yet he ignored all these thing and continued straight and took a turn to the left before he stood before the great demon himself. Red demonic eyes shot open with a frightening ferocity that would have scared people out of their own skin but Naruto remained calm and stared impassively at the giant fox that loomed over him behind a set of solid bars in which it never break down.

"It took you long enough…" the beast rumbled.

"I had business to take care of," Naruto answered very calmly which would have been frightening to those around him. But Kyubbi did not seem to be intimidated by him at all!

"But unlike you brat, I have better things to do other that wait for your grand entry into your own mind!" the Kyubbi snarled.

"Oh and what better things do you have to here in mind other than to sleep like a pig?" amusement was evident in his voice. It was also voiced out when his smirk became apparent to the fox.

"How dare you defile little human compare me to a pig and find amusement in it. If I were out there right now, I'll puncture your lungs and rip your heart out before eating it wholly. Then I'll start on your ---"

"Well you aren't so stop your useless muttering and threats… Why have you called me here when you know that I have only a limited amount of time before I have to return to Konoha and fulfill my promise? Time is an important factor here you know?" his eyes narrowed slightly at the demon in front of him.

A rumbling was heard behind the bars, then came the chuckling then the full out laughter. Naruto arched his eyebrow and looked at the beast contained within his stomach.

"What's so funny you foul mouthed fox?" irritation was clearly shown in his words which only made Kyubbi laugh even harder.

"Hahaha… it's been a long time since I laughed that hard. I like your attitude brat along with your personality. I never liked that weird façade you put on when you were around others back then. I like this new and grim you…" his voice lowered as he spoke so when the last sentence came out, it almost seemed evil. "Foul mouthed ehh kid? I truly wonder who has the fouler mouth of us two?" and with that, he started laughing once again.

By now, Naruto's patience was wearing thin (not like he had any in the beginning, but even that little bit was starting to snap). "What do you want Kyubbi, I don't have time for your mindless banter. I for one have better things to do either than stay here to chit chat with you. If you don't have anything to say, then I'm leaving!"

"Alright brat, since you are so impatient I'll tell you." He received an eye roll from the spiky haired blond before he continued. "I am here to make a preposition." Naruto's eyebrows shot up once again showing his surprise and curiosity. "I will deteriorate you chakra pathways and rebuild them so that you may be able to handle my demonic chakra. With these new pathways, I'll train you to use my powers as they come. They will reveal themselves one by one to you depending on how fast you learn and adapt. By the time you reach the limit of nine tails, you will receive the last offer. And as an added bonus, you will be able to freely manipulate your chakra without disturbances any further."

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly and thought about his demon's offer. 'There has to be a reason why he is offering me this preposition…' "What would you gain from this?" his voice cold.

"Nothing really, I would only become your subconscious and would be able to speak to you freely anytime I wish so. And when the final offering is given, I will be set free from this retched place!" a smirk was apparent on its face.

Naruto's eyes narrowed into slits when he heard this. "And let you roam free and disturb the peace in the land once more? I think not."

"Insolent brat... can't you use your head for once? This seal attached here could only allow my chakra to go so far. I will be set free from this place and gather a solid form in the real world. Although the form would be small I shall be able to wander around and feel freedom once more," Kyubbi snarled before he continued to inform his carrier what would happen after he reached the limit of nine tails. "I could only travel so far from you before my existence start to fade. I shall let you know further information once you accept this offer and reach the limit that needs to be achieved… do you accept?"

With his eyes closed, he thought of all the pros and cons of the situation and in the end there really wasn't anything bad that could happen. "I accept." The fox nodded before the surrounding area began to glow a crimson red.

"I warn you brat, this is gonna hurt. Starting from when dawn appears my chakra will spread and start to deteriorate the pathways. It will last for about 6 hours until it will finally be done. The pain will be great but you must endure it. Once that is done, you will be unconscious for the next 2 hours."

The evil smirk on the fox's face almost…almost made him reconsider. But before he could do anything he was pushed out of his semi-conscious state. His eyes bolted open to see Jiraiya standing next to him his chakra flaring.

End of Flashback

The 6 hours that Jiraiya had to sit through had felt like eternity for him where he had to feel so helpless looking at his student writhing in pain before he finally collapsed and fell into unconsciousness.

'I got it, I got it!' she screamed to herself as she finally perfected how to make the heart of a dead fish pump blood once more through its body. It was on the table flipping and flopping hoping to find some water. Perplexed at what she should do now, she grabbed the fish and dumped it into the first thing that contained liquid. And it so happened to be the Godaime's new flower vase.

The doors of the Hokage's office flew in as Tsunade walked in and briskly walked towards her desk. She sat down and looked down at the teetering tower of paper work she had yet to do today. Sakura stood there dumbly not knowing what to do. Tsunade looked over a few papers before finally noticing that Sakura was shuffling around nervously from the corner of her eyes. Slowly looking up, her eyes fell upon her new and beloved vase. Her eyes bulged out from shock and surprise before she smiled and looked up proudly at her student.

"You know, you are truly amazing. No one has been able to perfect this technique after Shizune. You have all it takes to become the best medic-nin in Konoha! You should have more faith in yourself and your abilities."

Sakura smiled appreciatively. "Do you really think so?"

"Of course! Now before we continue to inflate your ego, let's move onto the next jutsu."

"Ugh!" Sakura groaned outwardly before she sighed and went to retrieve the scroll from the Godaime's hands.

"Just read it over today and I'll show you exactly what you need to do and all the other details that you would need. Be ready for a test on the nervous system as well as the skeletal system. Mending and fixing bones and muscles can be extremely dangerous if done wrong. It would be bloody because you would have to break and rip the bones, muscles, skin apart with chakra before piecing them together again. Be ready for blood and gore tomorrow." Tsunade said as she shuddered slightly at the thought.

Her student swallowed all this information and gulped at the thought. She nodded hesitantly. 'Am I ready for this? We've barely started and I'm supposed to know all about the skeletal and nervous system by the next month. Stitching back cells and skin, mending bones and repairing muscles. Am I really ready for this?' she silently sat down on one of the comfy chairs in the office before she indulged herself with all the information on the scrolls.

"Ugh, I hurt all over!" 'Kyubbi, I'll personally strangle you once you are set free from your cage. That hurt like hell.'

"So I see that you are finally up. Exactly 2 hours, the fox is very precise."

Naruto snorted, "The sooner I wake up, the sooner I'll be able to train. And the earlier I am able to train the earlier he'll be able to get out of his prison. Ugh, that was painful.

"Well now that you are all better, let's get going. We have a time limit you know?"

"Some sensei you are, your apprentice just comes back after his chakra system were destroyed and repaired and you say let's go. We're running late!"

"Brat, when I say we go, we go. We really have no time for all this babbling today. We have 2 more days until we reach our destination."

"Naruto was about to retort but saw the serious look on Jiraiya's face so he bit back down on the comment. They ran for hours even though they were exhausted, and Naruto was drilled with tactical strategies he would have never thought possible.

After a couple more hours of drilling and recounting over Konoha's long history Jiraiya gave the poor kid a break. They continued on with their run but stop with the nerve racking questions. 'This kid is horrible. How did he ever survive his battles without strategies? I know there is dumb luck, but is Lady Luck with him all the time? He better become better or else… well h won't be able to become the Rukudaime. But then again, if I'm not able to help him with it, I'm sure he will have to master it when he starts training with… ugh, this information is so classifies that I only knew about it now. If he doesn't start thinking tactically, he will certainly not survive.' A stressed sigh escaped Jiraiya as he tried to clear his mind of all the thoughts that were floating around.

"Yo kid, it's time to take a break. 'Well my turn to take a break.'"

Naruto stopped abruptly after his leap from the tree behind him. He stood there still and listening. The creatures in the woods chirped cheerfully and seemed to be relaxed for the soon coming evening.

A sense of relief washed through him when he heard that they could take a break but tensed again when he saw the wicked look on the sennin's face.

"We are going to work on your chakra control and then we'll set up camp for the night and practice your taijutsu for about an hour or so. I noticed your form his lacking and have openings which and enemy can use to their advantage. Oh and just to let you know, our destination will be sand and I'll present you with more information about our missions-"

"Nani? We have missions? I thought we were only going to train!"

"Hmph let me finish brat! Yes we have to do missions unless you want to return to Konoha with lets see… 14 D-class missions, 1 C-class mission, 1 B-class mission, 0 A-class mission, 0 S-class mission. It would also help you get more practice and interaction with the other children in other countries."

"Are you sure they would even want to play or even want to know about me? I am the Kyubbi container; will those who don't know me accept me? Won't they shun me away like all the others?" There was a downcast expression on his face.

Jiraiya's dace and tone softened before he spoke again. "Like you said, they don't know you. Get to know them; they are sure to accept you. You're a very warm kid when you want to be! They would be sure to love you and accept you after they find out about your host. However I do recommend you not to tell anyone yet. At least not until we return, we won't want certain members of the Akatsuki tracking us down." HE gave a disgusted snarl before he added, "and the snake."

Naruto gave a nod of understanding.

"Now let me continue. If you are still up to it, I'll show you the second form of the rasengan. And you can practice it if you still have the chakra but remember we will be travelling for days without much rest so it is best to conserve as much of your chakra as possible so that you may travel. Then I'll start drilling you on how to do them perfectly."

Naruto's eyes lit up with excitement as he nodded vigorously. You could practically feel the enthusiasm oozing off of him. Jiraiya gave a mental sigh at his apprentice's behaviour. 'Where in the world does he get his energy and stamina from anyway? Truly unbelievable, I better up his training.' And so the rest of the evening was spent on the task at hand.

Surprisingly as Jiraiya observed and reanalysed Naruto's skills, he already saw some improvements. For example his chakra control is actually good if he concentrated hard. But sadly Naruto loses his focus very fast. Overtime, his control should be excellent without much effort. But for the time being, he would keep practicing the tree and water walking exercises while dodging stones thrown at him by Jiraiya's clones. It would be dangerous especially in a fight if he were to lose concentration and stop in the middle of a battle to regain focus. As for his taijutsu, they spent a good 45 minutes going over the basics and making sure that they did not have any openings for an enemy to attack. They went through stance after stance but Naruto kept forgetting something or another so they only were able to go through one set by the end of the hour. He definitely had a long way to go but if he practices every night then it would come with ease. As people always so, practice makes perfect.

There was only one word to describe the mission briefing he gave Naruto and it was 'disaster'. All the questions thrown at him as well as insults and more questions had Jiraiya's head buzzing as if were the hive of a huge family of bees.

Flashback

"Naruto that's enough practice today. Sit down and rest you little twerp and don't give me that face!"

Naruto frowned before he ran up the rocks and sat down. "Why did you stop me? I was doing fine and I don't need any rest! And you call yourself my sensei..."

Jiraiya's eye twitched from annoyance, "You little brat, stop belittling the great Frog sennin if you know what is good for you! Didn't I already tell you that we had to discuss some of our missions before we arrive at Sand in 2 days? You sure have a bad memory!"

Naruto mumbled something in the background. Either it went unheard by the sennin of he chose to ignore it, we'll never know.

"For the time being when we arrive, you will be doing D-class missions-"

"D-class missions…" Naruto deadpanned. "You expect me to D-class missions for my training for a Hokage? Are you insane?"


"-when you have time from your training and once in a while we'll go on C-class missions to test how much you have improved."

"Okay, but only a few? How many do you mean by a few Ero-sennin?"

"If you are able to pass a B-class mission by the end of the month, we move on the next country to further your training. I'll then tell you where we will be going. The Hokage already allowed me to do missions from other countries and the Kage's know as well so it won't be a problem." Jiraiya completely ignored his question and continued on explaining seeing that he would have to answer at least a few dozen questions to satisfy his student. Some things never change… "On the first few days, the Kazekage will give you D-class missions that would help you know the terrain better. I expect these missions to be done correctly and efficiently since you complain that they are too easy. You fail to complete one and I'll have you do at least 5 everyday. IS that understood?" Jiraiya said as he say his student was about to retort.

Naruto opened and closed his mouths several times before he nodded. He didn't want to be stuck doing D-class missions for who knows how long.

"After we start the real training-"

"Real training? Aren't we gonna do real training on those 3 days?"

Jiraiya mentally sighed, "No, I have another mission while you train those 3 days. That is why I'm going to show you the second form of the rasengan to practice. But make sure no one is around while you practice. Find a secluded area where you are sure no one would ever come. You'll be living with the Kazekage while I'm off, I'm sure you know who he is though. The Gaara guy, I'm sure you'll get along fine."

His eyes bugged out when he heard that Gaara was already the Kazekage. "That sadistic bastard… I'll beat the hell out of him when I see him" Naruto mumbled.

Jiraiya sweat dropped, "I don't think that is a good idea kid. If you accidentally hurt him, you'll have the entire country hunting you down.

A dramatic sigh came form Naruto, "I guess your right. But it doesn't stop me from having a friendly spar with him right. I'll kick his ass then!"

End of Flashback

Jiraiya had asked Naruto to continue with his taijutsu while he found a suitable area to learn the second form of the rasengan. A full 13 minutes later Naruto heard Jiraiya calling for him, "Twerp, I found us the perfect training area!"

Naruto burst through the forest and to a clearing surrounded by trees like a semi circle. There were many types of trees; there were cedar, maple, pine, and ones that he couldn't even name. There was a log in the centre where Jiraiya stood. Naruto turned around and was stunned to see a clear and peaceful looking lake. It was so innocent looking with birds bathing in the last rays of the sun and fish swimming lazily in the deepest parts. You could barely hear the sound of the water unless the wind brushed against its surface making small whishing sounds. There was also the occasional caw from a nearby bird but besides that, there were no sounds that seemed out of place in this environment… except "NARUTO, hello! I'm over here you brat! Stop staring out into space with that stunned expression of yours."

"Will you shut up? You are disturbing the animals here," Naruto whispered back harshly.

"I'm afraid I can't. We will be making a lot of noise while practicing your new move. I chose this area because the trees will be able to dampen the sound so no enemy shinobi will be able to hear. I also put up a shield so they wouldn't be able to detect our chakra. So let's get started!" the frog sennin yelled back.

Naruto winced slightly at the loud noise. 'And they sat I'm loud…' "Alright, alright keep your pants on, I'm coming."

The technique was quite tricky because it was still the rasengan but once you got it to stabilize, you would have to concentrate really hard to mould it into the sword shape you desire. But it was hard to maintain as told by the sennin. And since the rasengan is used to tear up its objective, the sword had to cut through its' target. So it was a really odd combination of sorts. But as Jiraiya demonstrated, if you released a certain amount of chakra you could cause a tree to completely split the tree in half but leave a hole in its centre. The tearing effect would cause the target to tear apart so that the chakra refined sharp sword would be able to cut right through. Then the pulse would come in and spread a very thin but sharp blast of air from both sides of the sword to completely split the objective. It could cut about any object depending on how much chakra you released. Each type of sword you summon would have a trait of its own and a name. After practicing a while, there would be 3 swords you could summon from. The form that Jiraiya summoned was called kaitou. (Sharp sword)This form was to be used in melee battles and it was short range. His sensei warned him not to use it while in group battle but only in a one on one.

And as Jiraiya continue to display how the sword worked, Naruto could only stare in awe. He wanted to try it out right away but was stopped when he felt a hand on top of his. He looked up only to see his sensei staring at him with hard steely eyes.

"You are not allowed to practice this until we reach Suna and I see that your control is at least a fraction as that chick on your team back in Konoha." he said in the best stern voice he could muster.

Naruto looked pissed for a moment before he calmed down and had a calmer expression. He nodded before turning around and walking back to camp. His face was blank once more. It seems that it only happened when he was too emotional and had to put on a mask. He was muttering all the way back to camp. "Sakura, you better be happy. The old fart praises your almighty chakra control."

Somewhere in Konoha, a girl with bubble-gum pink hair sneezed. 'Hmm, am I getting a cold?'

Jiraiya knew that Naruto would want to practice right away so he had to take first watch and order him to go to sleep so he had the necessary rest for the following day. Naruto meanwhile gave his sensei a frustrated glare before he snorted and crawled into his futon. He was like a dead log in a matter of moments. 'Stubborn kid, don't even know his limits. Better teach that to him tomorrow.' The sennin found a comfortable and warm spot near the fire and settled down to have first watch. This was going to be a long night, especially with his head pounding from all the stress of his mission when they arrived in Suna.

A/N: Please Read and Review. I'm sorry if I'm upsetting anyone by making Naruto really strong but I really don't like how Naruto was beaten so easily. As for the Neji and Sakura scenes, there will be more next chapter. And please tell me if you think they get way too out of character for the time being. I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks!

Preview: The fast approaching days were long and hard on both members of the former team 7 as they struggled through all the obstacles in their path. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, they both strived for different dreams they ultimately lead to the same goal. They learned through trial and error and progress and improvements were definitely shown through all their hard work. Their sensei's pushed them to their limits and showed great care in their teaching. With all the focus placed on a single student, they began to mature much faster than any other in their generation. Before long, one will have mastered the one-tail, while the other slowly makes her way up into the real world that holds all the horror that she could ever imagine. Both achieving and learning with determination until the day they finally bring him back home.