"..." Talking
'...' Thoughts
Inner Sakura
Dreams

NEW LOVE – SIMMILAR, YET SO DIFFERENT

He was so silent, just like Sasuke, but his silence was different. His eyes were like Sasuke's, but a deep, midnight blue instead of black, and they told a different, yet similar story. Like Sasuke's, his expression was thoughtful, but a different kind of thoughtful. However, unlike Sasuke's, his hair was a mess, sticking up all over the place, even more than Naruto's and was longer than his too, and was a dark brown; unlike Sasuke, he smiled and laughed, while, just like Sasuke, he hides similar secrets from a similar, yet different past.

Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Kuro and Kira are assigned a mission to help out at the academy.

As usual, Shikamaru thinks it's troublesome, as usual, Kuro was quiet most of the way, as usual, Sakura and Ino were talking with each other and Kira was completely silent, but when a new guy is assigned with them, what is Sakura's reaction, and what does this new guy think of her? And on top of all this, an annual festival is coming up.

Takes Place after Time-skip.

A bit of Ino/Shika, Kuro/Kira (Both O.C), but mainly Saku/O.C.

Chapter 1 – New Mission

Early that morning, Sakura, Ino, Kira, Shikamaru and Kuro walked down the hallway of the Hokage's mansion towards Tsunade's office, Kuro in the lead, then Ino and Sakura with Shikamaru following them closely, while Kira trailed behind them.

"Hey, Kuro-kun, who do you think is prettiest?" Ino asked.

Kuro turned his head slightly to eye Ino curiously.

"C'mon, be honest" Sakura added.

Kuro sighed, "To be honest…" he turned his head so he could hide the faint blush from the two prying kunoichi.

"None of you…"

"Eh?!" Ino and Sakura cried, almost falling over their own feet.

"…I don't think any of you are pretty, I think you're all beautiful" he finished.

Sakura and Ino got over themselves with surprised expression before they gave wide smiles, blushing and giggling.

"Especially…"

"Huh, especially?" Sakura inquired.

Kuro looked over his shoulder, but he wasn't looking at Sakura or Ino.

Sakura and Ino looked over their shoulders to follow Kuro's gaze that rested on Kira.

"Kawaii! So, you like Kira-chan, eh?" Ino asked.

Kuro tuner back to watch where he was going, hiding a blush from the two.

"Oh, I knew it! Kawaii!!" Ino cried.

"You guys are troublesome" Shikamaru sighed.

Sakura didn't take her eyes off of Kira for a moment before she turned back to Kuro.

"Hey, Kuro-san, what's up with Kira-chan?" she asked.

"Huh, oh, I'm not really sure. She's been like that for a while now since WhiteTail-sama was hospitalized" Kuro replied.

"Oh" was Sakura's only response.

"Who's WhiteTail-sama?" Ino asked.

"WhiteTail-sama is Kira-chan's master, but, when we were bringing her back from the snow village, he was brutally beaten up and was left for dead. Luckily we got there in time and managed to save him, but we still don't know if he'll make it" Kuro explained.

"Damn, that's unfortunate. How troublesome" Shikamaru said.

"Well, on a lighter note, what do you think Tsunade-sama wanted us for?" Sakura asked.

"Dunno, to run errands, a mission maybe?" Ino replied, as clueless as Sakura and the others.

"If we do get a mission I hope it's a good one" Kuro said.

"Same here, but all missions are troublesome" Shikamaru sighed as they entered the Hokage's office.

"Oh, and I was just about to assign you 5 a mission, but now I'm not so sure" Tsunade said.

"Good going, Shikamaru!" Ino cried.

Shikamaru sighed.

"I'm just kidding, I do have a mission for you, but it's a C rank mission" Tsunade explained.

"Well, it's better than nothing" Kuro sighed.

"Your C rank mission is to help out at the academy. You will be helping the students improve their techniques and to show them new ones. Also, there will be a surprise after lunch there" Tsunade explained.

The 5 nodded, but there was a knock at the door.

"Enter" Tsunade called.

The 5 spun around as the door opened and a boy of about 16 stepped in.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly as she took note of the boy.

He was so silent, just like Sasuke, but his silence was different. His eyes were like Sasuke's, but a deep, midnight blue instead of black, and they told a different, yet similar story. Like Sasuke's, his expression was thoughtful, but a different kind of thoughtful. However, unlike Sasuke's, his hair was a mess, sticking up all over the place, even more than Naruto's and was longer than his too, and was a dark brown.

He wore a black singlet shirt and khaki green pants, while two, long and magnificent, black and silver hilted katanas rested across his back.

His forehead protector rested around his neck and bore Konoha's symbol; he also wore black ninja sandals.

"Ah, Himitsu Coda, you're here. Was your trip safe?" Tsunade asked.

The boy addressed as Himitsu Coda nodded.

"Good. Well, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Tsume Kira, Arashi Kuro and Himitsu Coda, your C rank mission is to help out at the academy" Tsunade said.

They all nodded as they exited one by one, but, Kira was held back a moment.

"Kira" Tsunade called.

Kira turned around.

"Are you up to this?"

Kira nodded before she exited to follow the others.

Sorry, I wanted to re-do this chapter, but I hope it's just as good!

Ja ne!

BloodyBlueMoon