I want to get this over with while I still have volleyball for the year. It'd be a lot easier if I could experience everything and stuff. Not that I have a bad memory. Which I do. Ok, here's my new story!

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Sakura pulled out her gym bag and slammed her locker. Sighing, she joined the line of traffic that was heading towards the double doors at the end of the hallway. Those doors led to the courtyard, where the buses would pick them up. But Sakura wasn't heading to the buses. She was going to cross the street and walk to the gym across the parking lot.

Sakura loved the quick walk, it was much better than taking the stinky, crowded bus. The bus she hadn't had to take for a few years, even since she had gotten into high school. Konoha had a stupid school system. The elementary and high schools were in separate towns, and because Sakura literally lived across the street from the high school, she could walk to school every day. But she had had to take the stupid bus when she was in elementary school.

The pink-haired girl looked both ways when she was on the sidewalk, and jogged across the road when she declared it safe. When she reached the other side, she slowed back down to a walk. I wonder...it's my first year of volleyball here. I've only met a few of the girls here, and the high school team is mixed grades. I have no clue who the captain is. I just hope they aren't one of those 'work-their-butts-off-till-they-can't-walk' coaches.

Sakura had already experienced that kind of coach. And it was an experience she wasn't happy to repeat. But that had been in middle school, and Sakura was in high school now. A new school, a new team, and new chances.

The pink-haired teenager had moved to Konoha the year before. Her old school had been the cause of her deep hatred for the school bus, and had also been the territory of the evil volleyball coach. Just because she didn't like the captain didn't mean she didn't like the game. And she was actually pretty good, if anyone asked. That was why she was determined to be on the high school team at this new school.

Sakura jogged the last few feet and pulled open the gym door. She was early, but that was good. She still had to get changed, and then she could get a good warm up, in case the team's captain skimmed over warm up and stretches.

Walking into the gym, the girl looked around for a sign that said 'Girls' Locker Room'. Finding it, she jogged over to the door and peeked inside before stepping in. The locker room smelled surprisingly good, and Sakura took in a deep whiff before looking around. Rows of leaf green lockers ran around the room and a few rows formed corridors in the middle of the room. Off to the left side were the showers, and a small bathroom area with a toilet and sink was off to the right.

Sakura walked around until she found the locker with her favorite number. 23. It was just a lucky number for her, and she used it whenever possible. Dropping her bag on the small bench running at the bottom of the locker, she sat down and took off her shoes, letting them air out. Unpacking her workout clothes from her bag, she laid them on the bench and quickly changed, packing everything back into her bag. Exchanging her school shoes for running shoes, she stuffed everything into the locker, and then walked over so she could look into the mirror while she put her hair up.

Satisfied, Sakura left the locker room and wandered around, wondering where they held the volleyballs. There were several other doors leading off of the main gym, and Sakura stepped into the nearest one. It was, from its appearance, an old classroom. That, or just a storage room that held desks, textbooks, and a rolling chalkboard.

Sakura stepped out and went to the next door. It was the boy's locker room, so she didn't go in, but she marked it mentally as a no-go area. Looking around, Sakura noticed another door, but she had to go past the bleachers to get to it. The pink-haired girl grinned and ran up the steps on the bleachers, along the top, and ran back down the stairs on the other side. That could be a fun warm-up, running up and down the bleacher stairs. Also, potentially dangerous. Hehe, that's alright, I can do it by myself. Why get scolded by the new captain?

Sakura tried to open the next door, but it was locked. Looking through the tiny windows, she saw that it was another classroom-like room, but it was empty, save the concession stand at one end. They probably have it locked so that people can't go in and steal the cokes and chips, because I'm sure they wouldn't be stupid enough to keep a cash box in there. Sakura giggled. Then again, who'd want to steal a bunch of cokes? You'd have to be really, REALLY thirsty. Or just that lame.

Sakura sighed and stepped back from the door. There was only one more door left. It was also by the bleaches, but it was on the same side as the concession stand. Jogging over, Sakura tried the door handle, and found herself staring up at a bunch of stairs. Instead of going up the stairs, she stepped back and looked up at the bleachers. "It must go under the bleachers," she wondered aloud. Sakura peered into the darkness, but couldn't see anything. Searching the walls, she looked for a lightswitch, and sighed happily when she found one. Her exploration was almost canceled; there was no way she was going to climb a staircase of dirty, spider-webbed stairs in complete darkness!

When Sakura turned on the light, she realized the stairs didn't go all that high. They went all the way to the back of the gym, in fact. She could tell because of a window at the end of the staircase. Light was coming in from under a blind, and Sakura wondered why she couldn't see the light earlier.

Sakura quickly climbed the stairs and peered out the window. It overlooked the baseball field, and a small amount of the football field. Turning her head to the right, and then the left, Sakura noticed that the next room didn't have a door. Stepping in, she ran her hand along the wall, and flipped a switch.

The room she was in was huge; it probably took up the whole length and width of the bleachers. A large wrestling mat was in the middle, and various sports related items were stuffed in corners and along the walls. A good-sized set of weights were resting in a back corner, and vats of basketballs, volleyballs, footballs, and a plastic tub filled halfway with baseballs were along one wall. Sakura didn't take in all of the details, but she was amused to find a small tv and beanbags in a secluded corner, opposite the weights.

Volleyballs! Sakura ran over to the vats of volleyballs and picked up a few. They were well inflated, and Sakura bounced around one for a little bit before taking it back downstairs, making sure to turn off the light before she left.

Sakura bumped the ball around for a few minutes before the first team members came in. They waved to her cheerfully, and she just nodded back, intent on her footwork. One by one, they came out to join her. Each time they would go up the staircase and come out with a ball. They would follow her lead, bumping and setting the ball around, or pair up to pepper.

It wasn't long before a girl with blonde hair pulled up into four ponytails walked in. A few girls shouted greetings to her, and she shouted back. Sakura was still paying attention to her own ball, though, so she only barely noticed.

When the blonde-haired girl came out again, she yelled for everyone to stop. They, Sakura included, stopped, and gave her their attention.

"Alright, everyone. My name's Temari, I'm the high school volleyball captain for this year. They've got us on a crazy-ass schedule, so we only have one week to practice before our first game." A few nervous murmurs ran through the small group, and Temari smiled. "But!" The murmurs ran out into silence. "But, I'm sure we can still kick their butts!" Cheers rang out, echoing off of the gym walls.

"Alright, so, I know I have a few newbies here. Let's go through everyone's names." Sakura listened as Kale, Tenten, Hinata, Ino, Hari, and Serena introduced themselves, and was mildly aware when it was her turn.

"Oh! I'm Sakura Haruno. Sorry, I kinda dazed off." She waved her hand nervously, clutching the volleyball closer to her stomach.

Temari clucked her tongue, "That's not good. Just don't do it during a game, okay?" Temari winked at Sakura, who nodded hastily.

"Yeah, I promise it won't happen again."

Sakura was about to say more, but she heard the squeak of the gym door opening, and turned to see who was intruding. The other girls were interested too, and some leaned at scary angles to get a good view. In walked a redheaded...guy.

What the hell is he doing here? I thought this was an all girls' team? Sakura jolted out of her thoughts when she heard Temari yell at the redhead. She was shaking her fists, and Sakura expected her to say something along the lines of, 'Get out of here, you pervert! This is a girls only practice!' But instead she said, "Damnit! You lazy ass, you're always late! Get to practice on time for once, will ya?"

The redhead grinned and walked over to sit on the bleachers. "Yeah, yeah," he replied, relaxing and pulling out a book from his back pocket. "It's not like I missed anything!"

Temari humphed and yelled, "Yeah, well, lucky you, you have to learn all of these girls' names by Friday, and I'm going to give them all nicknames so you can't hear the names during practice!" Sakura thought it was kind of childish, but hey. The guy was late, and if you were late in school you got a detention. It only seems fair. And…we're just going to ignore the fact that there's a guy here at all.

Mildly, Sakura wondered, What kind of name will they give me?

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There it is, chap 1. I have now figured out that you can delete a document once you make it a chapter, and that makes me uber happy! I'll try to get chap 2 up tonight, but it's getting late, and I don't know if I can. Ja ne!