( I do not own Naruto or its characters )

Chapter I - Light Anew

Sakura breathed heavily into the chill morning air, her eyes still focused upon her target, or what was left of it. The large boulder that had been now lay in ruins, a large scattering of rubble. The pinkette eased out of her stance and straightened, stretching her arms over her head until she felt a few cracks let go in her spine. She sighed happily and dusted off her shorts. Just as she was about to leave though, something caught her eye. In the rubble there was a glint of green. Taking a few steps she bent down to move a small rock and the green shard caught the sun as she lifted it to her eyes. The shard was beautiful, it had four faceted sides with a point at one end that also had faceted ends to the tip of it. Upon closer inspection it seemed one side had the remains of a faded etching. Before Sakura could continue her perusal of the stone however a voice rang clear to her ears.

" Forehead!" Ino waved her hand from the outer edge of the training ground.

Sakura pocketed the shard and grinned, Ino and she were on good terms now, yet still sometimes referred to eachother as they used to in a strange affection that few understood.

" Ino Pig, I see Chouji let you out of the house." at eight months pregnant Ino was usually loathe to be on her swollen feet, but couldn't stand staying cooped up constantly as Chouji, being such a doting father and 'Jailor', as Ino saw it, would have wished.

" I escaped after sending him for some out of season fruit. " Ino smiled back as Sakura joined her on the bench she had claimed. The blonde began to tell of her day so far and then continued on into some of the latest gossip and scandals going on in Konoha. It wasn't until Ino waved a hand in front of her face saying " Earth to Sakura!" That the pinkette realized she had zoned out thinking about the strange gem she had been fingering in her pocket.

Sakura stood, " I'm sorry Ino, I'm just distracted," Sakura didn't want to explain she'd been distracted from her best friend by nothing but a stone she'd found.

Ino's face changed from agitated to a smile in a milisecond. " Distracted by some boy?" If Ino had been a dog she'd have been drooling, however she still came close to it with her intent questioning gaze. Sakura Sighed inwardly. After Sasukes death and Naruto's leaving to go train around the world there hadn't really been any "guys" in the way Ino was still hadn't even had her first real date, not that she'd let anyone know that.

" No, I'm just busy with work at the hospital and trying to perfect the jutsu I'm working on." For some time now Sakura had been working on a long range scalpal jutsu using her chakra control to in effect cut into tissue from any range as long as she had a good view of her target. So far it had worked, but with disastrous consequences, as not only had it effectively 'cut' things but it seemed as she applied the technique to any object the amount of chakra used had to be incredibly precise to the distance of the object or else the subject would either explode or be missed entirely.

Ino tilted her head and was about to reply when- " THERE YOU ARE!" Chouji was by Ino's side in an instant chattering away over how worried he had been and how it wasn't good for her to be out walking in her condition. Sakura gave her friend a sympathetic look before taking her chance to make an exit.

A few blocks away Sakura sighed and continued to finger the strange stone in her pocket. She wondered if there'd be any information about what type it was exactly in the library, and how it had come to be inside of the boulder she had decimated in the first place as it was obviously cut and , the first thing she really wanted was a shower. She finaly rounded the corner to her apartment and sprinted up the steps to her door, home at last. Halfway into the living room she started to strip off her clothes. She was tidy to an extant, but during the week a few errant garments strewn across the floor didn't bother her as no one ever visited anyway. In the shower the cool water cascading over his skin was met relish as she lifted her face to the showerhead. Her pink lips caught the droplets and she exhaled. Rivulets lined her body and she relaxed. Her eyes closed, she traveled in her mind to oneof her favorite fantasies.

She stood in the rain, it was heavy yet pleasant. There was another presence, it brought her comfort and her lips curled into a small secretive smile. She could feel him behind her and she knew if she turned his face would be there, his eyes filled with love for only her...

A knock sounded on her front door. " Damn." She shut off the water and reaching out of the shower grabbed for the nearest towel before yelling, " Coming!" Circling the white towel around herself she pulled the door open only to be met with an anbu holding out a message. She took the paper and he leapt off without an explanation. Sakura shut the door and pushed several loose strands of long pink hair out of her eyes. She sat on her couch and opened the message. It read simply, By order of the Hokage please report to the tower for a new assignment. Sakura wondered what exactly her taishou wanted and what the messive meant by a new assignment. If it were a mission it wouldn't be unwelcome as the last had been weeks back and she worried about getting rusty with only training to keep on her toes.

Attempting to dry her hair with her towel she made her way to her bedroom and picked out an outfit. Just above knee length black shorts clung to her hips. Strapped around one thigh was a leather holder for some small weaponry. Her headband was worn as a choker, black in color, a black tube top lay over a fishnet longsleeve shirt that hooked over her thumbs. A lopsided red leather belt held other important items such as medicines and various herbs, this item in particular a gift from Ino. Strapped to her back Sakura wore a katana, which she had learned to use over the last two years, given to her on her seventeenth birthday by one Kakashi Hatake, a surprise to her for its elegance. Lastly she wore black knee high length ninja sandals, also appropriated by Ino as being much more stylish than sakura's old sandals and still functional.

The pinkette checked herself in her floor length mirror. It had taken her some time to realize she was more attractive than she had given herself credit for in her younger years. Her hair had grown down to the small of her back, though at the moment she had it tied back at the nape of her neck much like her Taishou. She had grown taller and had even become a bit more endowed in her bust area than she had been, though she was still lean due to her training. More than once she had been propositioned and turned men down, it was just if she didn't feel that spark for someone she didn't think she'd even want to date anyone. She refocused her gaze in the mirror, met by her own emerald eyes, she realized she had been lost in thought. Wary of the time and hoping to stay prompt she was about to leave the apartment when she remembered the strange stone in her discarded shorts. She retrieved it quickly and left the apartment and taking to the rooftops in an attempt to make up for lost time.

Sakura paused at the door to Tsunade's office and took a breathe before knocking. " Come in!" her Taishou's voice was a command, nothing more. Entering the room she noted Shizune and surprisingly Kakashi were also present. Sakura made a mental note that if Kakashi had recieved a similiar message to meet here then she was indeed very late. She repressed a sigh and instead came forward.

" Lovely of you to make it Sakura." Tsunade held only minor irritation in her voice and the pinkette released some tension from her shoulders. " Now, to business."

Sakura noted that the hokage seemed to have only one official paper on the desk in front of her. Given the fact that the usual was a messy desk overflowing with paperwork this didn't seem to be a good sign. Tsunade looked from Kakashi, who leaned against a wall to the side of the room, back to Sakura who stood at attention a few feet from her desk.

" I have a mission for the two of you to work in as a duo." Sakura met the Lady Hokage's eyes. " It is a B- Rank mission and for the two of you shouldn't be much of a problem. I need you to go to a coastal village by the name of-" She looked down to reference her papers, " Star's Cove. There are reports of a missing nin possibly running a spa of sorts, which the locals believe is merely a front for dealing with stolen women and sex trade, in any case I want a complete report of the situation sent to me as soon as you can ascertain what exactly is going on and we'll go from there. You'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

Sakura nodded and glanced at Kakashi. They hadn't been very close lately. She was kept busy by the myraid of missions, work, and training, and he had done...well she didn't quite know. He had moved from the wall and was closer to her now. Tsunade added, " Pack appropriately, this may take several weeks." They were dismissed. Sakura turned to face Kakashi to discover he had managed to leave without right out from under her nose. Her inner self rolled her eyes in slight frustration as she left the office and ran to catch up. She finaly spotted him half a block away from the tower.

" Kakashi Sensei!" As she caught up to him she saw he was already nose deep reading one of his Icha Icha Paradise again.

" Sakura." He made the word more of a comment than a response as Kakashi eyed his former student and noted once again how she had grown. He barely recognized her as the same boy crazy brat she had been when he had first laid eyes on her in team seven. He had secretly seen her train of late and knew her to be much more powerful as well.

Sakura felt awkward she that she was up to date on anything relevant in Kakashi's life. She instead plunged straight into the mission. " I thought we could meet a little after sunrise at the gate and head out." her tone was neutral.

Kakashi gave a light grunt in response and cast his good eye back to his book. Inwardly he chastised himself for not even giving her a word or two for an answer. She hadn't done anything after all, his hermit ways were getting the better of him, or perhaps it was his lack of proper sleep. He lowered his book of a sudden and turned to face her. " After Dawn then, Sakura." With that he was gone, taking to the rooftops.

Sakura puzzled over his antics for only a moment and shaking her head set her mind on what to pack for tomorrow morning. Unnoticed to her the stone stored in a compartment of her belt pulsed with an inner light before fading once again.

So please rate and review! Any and all comments appreciated as this is my first stab at a Fanfic. ^-^