Chapter1:She.Who.Is.Punished.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

-x-

It started with a simple phrase, but slowly evolved into something more.

-x-

I only have 3 words to say right now. I. Hate. Winter. It was enough of a punishment to walk through the wretched calf high snow in ballet flats, but for the bitter wind to the nip at the back of my ear, it was really pushing me to the edge.

"WHY DO YOU HATE ME!!?" I screamed at the top of my lungs to the gray blanketed sky.

On top of all things I was late, yet again. It wasn't my fault I was trying to catch up on all the missed episodes of my favorite show…okay well it was but still, they should sympathize with me for missing the bus and walking all the way to school.

When I had finally reached the insipid large building which was known as the learning facility called 'school', I realized that it was deathly quiet. School must've already started.

"No…" I whispered. Maybe everyone was just inside because it was too cold. I couldn't get another tardy, no, no, no! The principal would freak. She had strictly stated that the last tardy I had gotten should've been my final tardy…or else I would have to make up for all the tardies…in. –gulp- Alternative school or worse Community Service.

But just as I walked in everyone was scrambling to there first periods. I decided to make myself look unflustered and walked with the crowd making my way to my first period which was Chemistry, one of my worst subjects.

It was just my luck that the stupid classroom had to be on the other side of this freakishly large school. There was only one minute to spare until the bell would ring. I sprinted my way through the hallways screaming, "OUTTA MY WAY! TRYNA GET TO CLASS HERE!"

I was 10 feet away from the door when I slipped. On what you ask? On melted snow. Let me tell you now. At this very minute I hate the snow. I ended up sliding 20 feet away from my classroom into the dastardly lockers across the hallway, and right when I slammed into the lockers the bell rang.

Oh shit.

"R-r-r-r-r-riiiiiiiiiiiiiing" The bell screeched. It felt like my heart had been snatched out of my chest and thrown down the toilet.

I got up from where I had slammed myself into the lockers. I was slowly starting to make my way to the chemistry class, annoyed and very…very…very upset.

Feeling the cold metal handle of the door knob I turned it, pulling it open to a room full of laughter and obnoxious gossip going around, but as soon as everyone heard the door open they stopped what they were doing to look my way.

And it was these moments of life when I seriously hated people. For the first time I wished Naruto would say something stupid to distract Orochimaru-sensei, but leave it to Naruto to be quiet at the most unreasonable times.

"Misssss Haruno..." Orochimaru-sensei said in his creepy snake like voice. I swear…he should really think about taking care of that abnormal lisp.

I was too mortified to speak. His cold stare told me what he was expecting me to do, but like an idiot I just stood there dumbfounded. "Tardy" He finally spoke out.

"Goodbye life…Hello unfortunate community service." I said under my breath as I made my way out the door. I thought I heard a couple of snickers pointed my way before the door slammed shut behind me.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but you have exceeded the amount of Tardies, and will have to take this in with the principal" The attendance lady said.

"Great…" They were the exact words I dreaded.

-x-

The principal's office was right across the tardy station. Tsunade-sama, who was the principal, was a pretty young looking woman. She never revealed her age and if you asked her she would give you a weeks worth of detention. So it was like a 'forbidden question'. One thing was for sure though; she sure wasn't in her mid-30s.

She was a pretty laid back principal…just that she had a really bad gambling problem even if she didn't admit it. Trust me; I probably had been in her office the most, from talking back to teachers…to these unexplained tardies, which had always kept on bringing me back to her.

"That wasn't the plan; I bet those five hundred dollars and won them fair and square…." I walked into her talking on the phone, her back against the door.

"What do you mean I cheated?! What the hell does that supposed to mean?!...Look you listen to me…I—hello?...HELLO?! Kuso!" She slammed the phone down into the receiver, and then looked a little too surprised when she saw me standing there timidly.

"Sakura?!...Wow…I didn't hear you come in…" Her contempt filled voice had automatically turned cheery and amiable.

"So what brings you here?" She said sitting in her desk gesturing me to sit in the leather seat across from her.

"Uhm…well you see…Er..." I started out. Her expression twisted into that 'disappointed' look that she always got whenever I accidentally blurted out what was on my mind.

"You got another tardy didn't you?" She asked. There was no point in arguing so I just nodded my head.

"Well…you know the deal Sakura…Either a month of community service or a trip to alternative school." She said.

"I'll take alternative school." I said all at once.

She shook her head in disapproval. "I don't understand why you don't just want to take the month of community service" She stated.

"First off…It's humiliating because I know I am probably going to end up picking up trash, or helping clean parks, and paint fences, and two community service is definitely going to make me withdraw from my social life." I pointed out.

"Well…It's not like you really have one." She said. My mouth had dropped almost automatically at how she had said that so easily.

"What the heck does that supposed to mean?! I so do have a social life!" I argued.

"Sakura, you're bright, a little lazy but very bright and I don't want your permanent record to be ruined by going to alternative school over something as subtle as getting a bit too many tardies"

"You could always say I got into a fight, like with Ino…or TenTen." I suggested.

"I would never say that because that is by far the dumbest idea I've ever heard from you, plus I thought Ino was your best friend?"

"Yeah…she is, I just think it's hilarious to imagine her getting beaten up by me." I chuckled at the idea as Tsunade-Sama looked at me with a disturbed expression plastered on her face.

"Okay, no more games, Sakura I am giving you community service because I care about you, you're like the daughter I never had" She said.

"Wait I thought you had 2 daughters?" I asked.

"Exactly, now anyways let me just fill out this form for you and you'll be on your way" She took out a sheet of white paper with lines strewn across it with words that were very small.

"Hold on let me make a couple of calls and give you a schedule for the next month".

Just listening to the word 'schedule' made me cringe. Before her hand reached towards the black phone I interrupted her. "Tsunande-Sama?"

"Hm?" She responded. "Will my community service…err…consist of you know what I said before, actually picking up trash, and cleaning up parks and stuff?" I asked.

"Well of course, what else do you have in mind...? Wait! I got it!"

I really hated when she got this sort of 'glint' in her eyes. I was scared to ask what it was so I just waited for her to tell me. Her excitement sort of reminded me of when Ino usually had something mischievous up her sleeve. Even though they both disliked each other, Tsunande-Sama and Ino were so much alike.

"Well see Lin was telling me the other day," She started off, even though I didn't know who the hell Lin was, "That there has been a shortage at this teen help hotline that she works at; you know for troubled teens? Yes well, you are really good at helping people with there problems Sakura, and I definitely think you should try to be one of there operators."

My expression must've looked horrified because she asked me if I was feeling alright. A teen help hotline?! What does she think I am a counselor? Hell no! I don't think I could ever deal with talking to teens that are my age about suicide, or even how there parents abuse them. I would probably burst into tears as I talk to them on the phone. I guess you could say I'm a little too sensitive…but it was true.

As soon as I opened my mouth to deny the offer, Tsunade-Sama had picked up the phone and swiftly dialed a number.

"Yes, Lin? You still need an operator for that teen hotline you were talking about? You do?! That's great, I have the perfect girl for you… Yes she's 16 going on 17, you know…but she's really good at helping people and she really needs the community service hours so I was hoping this could be her big break on that…since apparently she didn't want to clean the so called 'environment', working incognito and helping troubled teens would be a good idea right? Yes, her name is Haruno Sakura."

Tsunade-Sama paused for a brief moment as she listened to Lin say something.

"Yeah…Basically a month though, to make up all of her…tardies…" She whispered tardies into the phone as if I wasn't there or something.

"Really great! That's great Lin, I'll talk to you later, I'll give her the address and everything, thanks hon you're a big help!" and with that she hung up the phone.

I glared at her until she saw me doing so and then asked "What?!"

"You didn't even give me a chance to tell you if I liked the offer or not." I said.

"Oops…are principals supposed to do that? To see what kind of punishment the students want?" She said sarcastically. I just rolled my eyes at her, as she scribbled the address and phone number down on a piece of paper. She printed me out a schedule and handed them to me in a blink of an eye.

I have no idea how she was this insanely fast at doing her job.

"Okay then, guess we're done with that. If you have any more problems Sakura just come and talk to me, and you know…You HAVE to clear these tardies in order for you to graduate." Her voice became grim.

I started to gather my stuff until some crazy maniac came barging through the door.

"NO BAA-CHAN DON'T PUNISH HER!!" A blur of orange latched on to me as if my life was in danger.

"Naruto!? You know its rude barging into someone's office! " Said an outraged Tsunade-Sama.

Meet Uzumaki Naruto. Best guy friend for life. He's been like an older and younger brother for me. Younger because he acts like a 5 year old and in those rare moments he's not, he is very protective of me. He has bright cerulean blue eyes and electrifying blonde hair. His favorite color is orange and his favorite food is ramen.

Naruto'a response to Tsunade-sama was to hug me tighter. I couldn't fricking breathe.

"Naruto…geroff me!" I wheezed out. Kami-sama he was heavy.

Finally he let go and then grinned at me sheepishly, but that didn't keep him quiet for long.

"Seriously, Baa-chan, you can't give her community service. She doesn't have time, how's she going to pay bills? Who's going to feed me? How's she going to be a doctor and save people, if she has to do community service because she was late?!" He fired questions at her.

Naruto has been my best friend since kindergarten. He was alone because his parents were gone so they called him a monster. Scarred the poor kid for life. I guess I was gravitated toward him.

"First off baka, its Tsunade-Sama to you, not 'BAA-CHAN'. Second off, I'm sorry but I can't do anything about it anymore since I have scheduled her community service hours already." She was starting to get impatient.

"B-b-but…" he started to blubber. I just groaned out loudly and rolled my eyes.

"How did you get out of class anyways? Does Orochimaru-sensei know you are here?" She asked suspiciously.

"Psht…Yeah he knows I'm here." Naruto said nonchalantly waving his hand.

Tsunande-Sama glared at him. "Okay…he doesn't know…I'll be on my way now." Naruto started to make his way out the door, just as he did Jiraiya-Sensei walked in.

"Oh hey Pervy-sage." Naruto greeted.

"How many times have I asked you not to call me that in public?!" Jiraiya-Sensei said through gritted teeth.

"Well I'll be on my way now Tsunade-Sama…I'll talk to you later." I had to get out of there before Naruto got me into more trouble and made me get the trash-picking after all.

"So can I get those magazines back that you had 'confiscated' from me earlier?" I heard Jiraiya-Sensei ask Tusnade-Sama as I walked out of the room. I really didn't want to hear the rest of that conversation since I had Jiraiya-Sensei for Language Arts later on in the day.

Naruto was waiting for me outside her office. I elbowed him in the gut. "Thanks to you jerk I would've gotten in more trouble than I already was in."

"Ouch...!!! Hey I was just trying to help!" He exclaimed. "So what are you in for?" He added.

I sighed and then said "Helping 'troubled teens' with there problems…I mean what kind of person does that?!"

"Beats me." Naruto shrugged.

"So how you going to greet them?" Naruto asked as we stomped up the stairs.

"Thanks for calling the suicide hotline…how would you like to die?" I replied with a smirk.

EndChapter1

A/n: OMG this is our first joint fic ever! Btw this is Frank was not like other sheep and Vogueaholic for those of you who don't recognize us! Well this was our first joint fic so leave us lots of juicy reviews. LYKZOMG! please. We will clean your dirty records in the FBI and CIA if you have any!!!