Welcome to Lasting Memories chapter 3. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, sorry if it's a little boring. Oh well –Cetsibius

'personal thoughts'

'Demon or inner self thoughts'

Naruto once again flew from tree to tree, trying desperately to block the feelings and thoughts flying through his head. For some reason, this last assassination of the Satonaka girl was really messing with him. 'A couple years ago, I would never have done that… No, don't think like that. It was the mission. I did what had to be done. But… she wasn't guilty of anything other than knowing a certain technique that in ways resembled the rasengan… That's not in the least bit fair.' Naruto shook his head, trying to physically shake his thoughts away. 'Your subconscious has a point though. You had no reason to kill her.' The demon fox said from within another part of his psyche. 'Just shut up for a second will you? I know she wasn't guilty of the alleged crime, but it was an assassination. I had to follow out with my orders.' He yelled back, trying to get the fox to see his logic. 'I suppose, but still. Danzo is too ruthless. He's disposing of completely innocent shinobi just because he thinks they have done wrong.' The fox replied, growling in annoyance with the 6th Hokage. 'I can't argue with that. We will just have to hope that is reign will end soon.' Replied Naruto, racing back towards his village.

Haruno Sakura walked through the halls of the hospital, checking upon patients and her doctors. Being a time of peace, there was relatively little to do compared to what it was like during the war. Now, Danzo seemed to prefer her in the hospitals, considering she hadn't had a mission in 6 months. Not since the last war had ended and the sand had been defeated, reducing them to mere rubble. It had been tough for her and her peers, they had once held very close ties with the sand, but that was before the assassination of Gaara, and the rise of the 6th kazekage who was even more power hungry than Danzo. The kazekage quickly pit the different nations against each other, bringing up old and forgotten issues that had been forgotten or fixed. Soon every nation was fighting against one another. The losses for each nation were great. They were so great that the leaf, cloud, rock and mist all called for a cease fire. The sand opposed and took on the other four countries. The joint force stormed Sunagakure and reduced the city to nothing but a bunch of ruins. The four remaining countries made a pact of peace. The number of casualties is said to be so great that half the shinobi in the world were either dead or missing. It had taken all of these six months for the village to return to at least somewhat normal. But now that there was less to do at the hospitals, Sakura wondered why Danzo kept her from missions. She sighed. 'At least I get to relax.' She thought to herself.

Danzo read over the mission report from Uzamaki. 'Perfectly executed as always. He's a little to emotional, but he is nearly unmatched in strength these days.' He thought, flipping from page to page going over the events of the fight and his opinion on her jutsu. "It is my opinion that The jutsu Futon: Tatsumaki burēdo; has no correlation to the Rasengan." He wrote. 'Good. If the 4th's scrolls had gotten out, it could have sealed the destruction of the leaf.' He pondered, relief flowing through his body. He looked up at the bloody and bruised jounin in front of his desk.

"You are dismissed to have your wounds treated." He ordered, waving the man away. He bowed quickly and disappeared is a gust of leaves. 'He will need a while to be ready for his next mission. He should be ready to kill Itachi'. Danzo thought, removing a single sheet of paper from an imformant in the land of Iron. It said that Itachi was currently staying low in the land of iron, trying to form some kind of group. Danzo knew what the last Uchiha was aiming for. Itachi wanted blood. His blood to be exact.

Naruto opened the doors to the hospital, entering the white lobby, looking around for his physician. He could help but smile as he found her behind the front desk, talking to one of her nurses. He began to move towards the pink haired lady, desperately wanting a reprieve from the pain that was left over from the fight. Upon reaching the desk, she still didn't look up at him. He became slightly annoyed.

"Sakura. Would you be so kind as to heal me?" He said smiling at the medical Kunoichi. She looked up and immediately face palmed.

"What did you do now, Naruto?" She responded, beckoning him to follow her. She began to study the numerous gashed that littered his entire body. Some were deep enough to kill a weaker person. But not this one. He had survived things that were so bad; the other medics in the hospital didn't think he was human. She led him to a room where he jumped up on the bed and laid down, letting out a long breath.

"So, who did this to you?" She questioned, beginning on the deeper lacerations that covered his chest.

"A girl by the name of Satonaka Kira. Danzo wanted me to take her out on the fear that she had studied my father's scrolls and learned the rasengan." He replied, closing his eyes.

"Did she?" Was her response, looking at her teammate.

He stayed silent for a moment before responding quietly. "No…" Almost whispering. She could see that it was bothering him.

"Sorry Naruto. But it was a mission. You had no other choice." She responded, sighing.

"I know. I did what I had to do. She was pretty good too. She almost got me as well. I had to try out an entirely new jutsu just to defeat her." He told her, remembering the great fight she gave him. Same old Naruto, giving people credit for almost killing him. He had changed so much, not just physically. He was much more cold and aloof, losing much of the warmth he once displayed. Yet, he still held onto some of his past self. But not much. 'That's what war does, it changes you.' She thought sadly, remembering the bundle of energy that was once her teammate.

"Well, that's enough healing, the Kyubi can take care of the rest Sakura. Thanks for everything. I'll se ya around." He said, pushing himself off the bed and past her. She watched him head for the door.

"I still don't think you should go through with it. She's not right for you Naruto. You don't have to let her make the decisions for you." She whispered. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"The only reason I will tolerate that comment is because you're my best friend. I want you to give me your opinion on the things I do, mostly because I'm an idiot when it comes to making decision… However, the wedding is no mistake." He replied quietly, turning around to give her the same wide smile he used to. He eyes widened as he walked out. She hadn't seen that smile in years. She never wanted to see that again. The fake smile that he used to cover his true feelings. She once would fall for it, but not now. That mask of his would never fool her again. He was unhappy, even if he didn't know it yet.

Naruto growled. 'How could she? How could she say that? She wasn't right for him? He loved Hinata. He willingly accepted when Hiashi and Hinata asked him to marry hershortly before Hiashi's death. Granted it was a bit odd, but it worked none-the-less.' He thought, angry with his best friend. His face showing it. 'She said it because she knows what you're feeling. She knows your feelings better than you do.' The fox replied, chuckling. 'Fuck off fox. She has no idea what she's talking about. I love Hinata. I agreed to marry her.' Naruto responded, trying to force the fox out of his head. 'You were forced into that marriage and you know it. You had no intention of marrying her before that day, 6 months ago. You're so kind that you didn't want to shatter the confidence that Hinata had grown. She's a grown lady. She can take care of herself let her down know before you hurt her more later.' The fox responded, not giving up and returning to his residence inside Naruto's gut. 'No! I'm going to marry Hinata and spend the rest of my life with her because I love her.' Naruto yelled in response, effectively silencing his partner.

Naruto returned home quickly, after running by Ichiraku's for a quick bowl of well deserved ramen. After 3 free bowls of ramen he was ready to sleep. He threw the door open only to find someone already in his bed.

"Naruto-kun, where have you been? I've been so lonely…" Said a certain Hyuga Heiress wearing only a bra and panties. Naruto stopped cold for a second, unsure of what to do. "Only three days now naruto-kun." She said seductively, pushing her considerable cleavage towards him.

His face slowly hardened, not showing any emotion. "Sorry love, but not tonight. I've had a long couple of days." He responded, slowly taking of his blood soaked attire. She simply pouted, and began to move in slow, seductive movements, trying to get her man's will to fold. His face kept the same emotionless expression as he removed his clothing.

"Please Naruto-kun? Im sooooo horny" She cooed, biting her lower lip as she continued with her little 'dance'. He simply shook his head and walked into the bathroom for a shower. Her face dropped its lustful look and she made an 'hmpf' noise before pulling the covers over her body.

Climbing into the shower Naruto was visibly upset. 'So annoying. I just got back from an assassination and all she cares about is that? Come on. She didn't even ask how it went. Bitch… Whoa, calm down. She was just horny. When you get out, she'll be all over you about the mission. She's no fool.' He told himself, laughing at his foolishness. He took his shower in relative peacefulness, and changed into his regular undershirt and boxers for sleep. He opened the door to find his bed empty. He sighed and felt hurt. 'She's not right for you Naruto.' The fox whispered, feeling his friend's despair. Naruto immediately straightened up. 'She was just tired and wanted her own bed, so shut up fox.' He yelled back. 'Look foolish child, I'm just trying to show you that the person you are about to marry holds no real feelings in your heart. Your only fooling yourself and her with this bullshit. If you don't break it off now, you'll end up doing something you'll regret.' The fox growled, upset that his container was so dense and foolish. Naruto scoffed and blocked the fox. He climbed into bed and pulled the covers around him tightly, waiting for the sweet embrace of sleep.

Sakura walked through the streets on her way back from a graveyard shift at the hospital. She had excused herself a little early. It was now about 2:00 am and no one was seemingly awake. She made her way through the dark street, enjoying the silence. The serenity was broken as a figure appeared out of the darkness, heading towards her direction. After a moment of poor visibility, Sakura recognized the face of Hinata. She mentally cursed. She and Hinata were not on the best of speaking terms at the moment, considering that Hinata knew about her feelings towards her marriage towards Naruto. Their eyes met and Sakura tried to scoot farther away to the other side of the street. However, Hinata changed her course and headed towards her. Fucking great. Just what I goddamn need right now, another earful from an angry Hyuga..." She thought angrily, cursing her unluckiness.

"What can I do you for Hinata? I'm not really in the mood for any kind of argument…" She groaned before taking a slap in the face.

"What the hell have you been telling Naruto-kun? Filling his head with lies? He didn't want any of me tonight! I know he had a check up with you after his mission! He always does!" she screamed at the pink haired Kunoichi. Sakura was pissed and confused at the same time. 'This bitch just slapped me! Wait, calm yourself and deal with this rationally.' She told herself, calming her rage.

"Look Hinata, you know my position on your marriage, but I would never do anything to sabotage you and Naruto. He was probably just tired from his MISSION. Which he JUST GOT BACK FROM. Lets act like adults alright?" She replied, struggling to keep her voice and face straight.

"Fuck you Sakura. I know you have feelings for him; well he's mine you whore. And I swear, if you come close to him, I will kill you." She threatened, before storming away in pure anger.

Sakura was thrown into a rage. 'Fucking bitch! Who is she to say I have feelings for him? I haven't felt anything for him since before the 4th war! And that was a crush at best! What am I supposed to do? Let my best-friend make a life-changing mistake? Bitch.' She yelled internally, storming in the opposite direction, towards her home for some much needed rest. 'But the girl was right about your feelings.' Her inner self whispered. 'Screw off. I'm in no mood. He's a great man, a great fighter, and a great friend, nothing more.' She growled in response to the statement by her psyche. She climbed the steps to her apartment and slammed the door behind her, making the shelves of the apartment rock slightly. There was no doubt that some of her neighbors were now awake. She ripped her clothes off, leaving only her bra and panties. She then quickly slipped into her warm and soft bed before drifting off to a welcomed sleep.

She awoke resting against something warm and firm. She felt her hand caress the smoothness of the person's tanned skin, stopping momentarily over his defined abs. She rose her head to find the face of Naruto smiling warmly at her. His long blonde hair falling partially over his face. She did nothing but stare into his deep blue eye, before bending down to kiss him softly on the lips. She felt his arms wrap gently around her waist as they shared a passionate kiss. She felt happy. Warm. At peace. Content. Many feelings, all of them good. She felt the urge to stay like that forever, in his warm and strong embrace. However, she was jolted from her dream by a bird chirping loudly right outside her window. She breathed deeply, the realization of her feelings hitting her like a train.

"I love him… I love Naruto." She whispered.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry if it was a little boring. I felt like I needed to start the fall through of Naruto's feelings for Hinata. Review, if you can. It would be cool and stuff. Well, see ya next time.

-Cetsibius