Cheerleaders
On The Thirteenth Day

Karin joined for the fame. Ino joined for the attention. Tenten joined for the fun. Temari joined for the excitement. Hana joined to be accepted. Hinata joined for her friends. Me? I joined to get the guy… Heck, we all did.

&

"Let's get fired up!
Get rough, get tough, get mean!
Let's get fired up,
and roll right over that team!"

The cheerleaders finished up their routine as Karin launched herself into the air, flipping nearly three times, and was caught by Hoshino Tenten, Yamanaka Ino, Sabaku Temari, Inuzuka Hana and Hyuuga Hinata. I sighed as I watched them from the bleachers.

I had been watching the soccer game, and we were winning; as usual. We were nearing the end of the match, and the opposite team had already given up. Their cheerleaders still cheered, though not as loud as ours.

I kept my eyes on the player everyone wanted, Uchiha Sasuke. He was our main attacker, and was by far the best player in the team. He was good-looking, smart, athletic, and an overall dream come true. His teammates, Naruto, Kiba, Neji, Lee, Chouji, Gaara and Shikamaru, weren't so bad looking either.

Naruto was named 'The Cutie', because of his short and spiky blond hair, his blue eyes and his silly attitude. He was indeed named for the right reasons.

Kiba was named 'The Brave One', he could ask any girl out without getting his hopes down, he could bounce back up faster than any boy, and he was pretty cute too. He reminds me of a puppy…

Neji was named 'The Protector', whenever there was a girl he fancied, he would protect them no matter what, though sometimes he was a little over-protective.

Lee was named 'The Green Beast'. Alright; I was lying when I said he wasn't so bad looking. He's a little bit… strange. His odd bob cut and fuzzy brows make me shudder. But he's quite the soccer player!

Chouji was named 'The Ultimate defense', it was impossible to score with this big lump as the goalie…

Gaara was named 'The Unbreakable'. He had this body of steel that no one could penetrate. He usually played as defense, with;

Shikamaru- He was named 'The Lazy Genius". He was indeed a lazy genius. He always played as defense, positioning himself exactly in the right spot, so that he would require minimum movement to block all the shots.

Well, you might be wondering who I am. My name is Haruno Sakura. I am no one. I am in no clubs. I participate in no extra-curricular activities. I am in to teams. I am smarter than the average tenth grader. I have nothing to make me differ from the other geniuses in the school. I am the average teenage drone. I blend in. I am a book worm. I'm here. I'm there. I'm really… nowhere.

I am…

Nobody.

Half-way through the match I began to read the book I had grabbed from the library shelf the other day. I was sitting on the edge of the bleachers, trying not to be noticed with my nose in the books.

"Twilight " The cover told me.

I opened up the book- Page 56. I began to read, not noticing what happened on the field. As we continued to bring mountains of shame to the losing team, who refused to forfeit, most of the students who were watching the game on the bleachers had began chatting with each other. Everyone was trying to pass time as Sasuke sat on the sidelines.

The coach, Gai-sensei, had been our best yet. And Tsunade-sama, our principal, was proud of our team, and showed up at almost every match. I tuned out all the loud cheering, the screaming and the constant 'I-love-yous'. The truth was, I had never wanted anyone perfect, like Sasuke.

Perfection was a sin.

I knew that he was way out of my league, and apparently, he was a jerk. He was cold-hearted and I had never seen him smile. He would smirk once in a while when he talked to friends, but was usually carrying a stoic expression.

I would much rather have someone like Naruto, but he had bad traits too; his loud voice and mediocre intelligence.

SMACK!!

THUD.

I had gotten the air knocked out of me. I chocked on the air around me, before gasping in a large amount of oxygen. I could feel loud stomping feet and my book was no longer in my hand. I ran my hand down my face, my eyes still shut, trying to ease the pain of the soccer ball. I had gotten one straight in the face, and had fallen off the bleachers, on the highest seat, to top it off.

"A-Are you okay??" I heard someone ask me. I wiped a tear from my face. I squinted as I opened my eyes. I was surrounded by a small crowd, and others watched from afar. I heard Gai-sensei blow his whistle as he approached. I turned my head to my right; The Cheerleaders were staring at me, with worried looks. Karin seemed the less worried, and was paying more attention to the soccer players approaching. The girl who had talked to me was Hinata; she was small and had a squeaky, stuttering voice that could make anyone's heart melt. Her raven locks looked somewhat similar to Sasuke's; they two both had hints of blue in their hair.

"I-I'm fine." I said, in a shaky voice. She helped me up and I brushed off the dirt on my uniform. "Thanks." I said quietly as picked up my book and grimaced, the page was ripped. I heard footsteps behind me and quickly turned my head. I was paranoid like that.

"I'm so sorry!" Naruto exclaimed, running to my side. He stopped right beside me and was scanning my face for any injury. I was mesmerized by his beautiful blue eyes, and had to shake my head to get out of my daze. "Are you hurt? Did you break anything? Is… Is your hair real?" He suddenly asked, frowning at my pink locks.

I looked down to my feet and bit my lip.

"Oh, no! I didn't mean to offend you! I'm sorry. I think it's pretty, actually." He said with a huge grin on his face. His innocence was too pure; I could tell that he spoke the truth. I smiled and turned to him.

"Thank you, Naruto-san." I said happily. I felt a strong group of girls glaring knives into my back. I shivered slightly at the thought of their scary looks.

"No problem! Oh, don't bother saying 'san', its way too formal for me." He laughed as he pat my back.

I let a small laugh escape my lips. Gai-sensei then called him back and he ran off, back to the field. As soon as I turned around, people stare at me intently. I didn't know what their looks meant, some held surprise, some held fury, and some held envy- even jealousy. All I knew was that I needed to leave right then and there, for I was allergic to attention.

I ate my lunch in the cafeteria, leaning against the wall at the far end of the gigantic room. I never ate with anyone, I was my own person. I listened only to my thoughts; and they were important to me. I was peacefully eating lunch while doing my science homework when a shadow appeared above me.

"Hi!" The loud voice called. I flinched at the loudness of the voice and slowly looked up.

"Ah… Hi, Naruto… kun." I said, and looked back to my science homework, writing down something important.

"Oh, err… You never told me your name." He stated me and laughed nervously.

I smiled apologetically, 'Does it matter though, Naruto-kun? Will you even remember the name of someone like me?' I thought. I pushed thoughts to the side for a second, something I had not yet done. "It's Sakura. Haruno Sakura." I told him. His Cheshire cat grin returned.

"Alright Sakura-chan." He said, then paused, "… What are you doing all alone over here? Won't you come sit at my table?" He asked politely and held out a hand.

I could feel a few eyes on me already, and I knew the ones who noticed us two whispered to their friends to see as well. "O-Oh… Well I don't- I mean I couldn't- I mean I'm not worth it, you don't have to go through so much trouble!" I stuttered nervously and waved my hands in front of my face.

He bent down to my level. "I swear; they aren't as evil as they look." He whispered as he glanced at the group of jocks, sitting at the table. He chuckled a little, and I burst out laughing. His grin returned once more, giving me some courage.

I quickly caught my breath and calmed down. "Well, j-just for a while." I told him hesitantly. He seemed satisfied and pulled me up; I almost tripped and fell over. I quickly swung my bag over my shoulder and picked up my books and my lunch box. I dragged my feet nervously as we approached the table. I felt like a prey being watched by a hawk as I walked, staring at my feet.

Naruto stopped and I nearly bumped into him. "Come on, sit down." He urged as he took a seat. I felt as though my heart would burst from my chest and scream: "I'M FREE!". I looked at Naruto with doubt in my eyes.

"I-I really h-have to finish t-t-this work." I told him quickly, trying to breathe normally. He took the book from my hands and opened it.

"You're smart, aren't you Sakura-chan? You could finish this fast." He told me, pulling my hand, and trying to get me to sit. I looked to my right, where Naruto was. He sat down and put his hands on the table.

Beside him were Gaara, Neji, Lee, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, and, finally, Sasuke — In that order. I saw a few of them glance in my direction. My heart skipped a beat and I quickly averted my gaze to Naruto.

I couldn't do it.

Sit in between Naruto and Sasuke?

I caved in.

"I-I-I really need to get this work done." I said quickly, and looked down to my textbooks. Naruto's face dropped.

"C'mon… Pleeeeaaaase??" He sung. I gulped.

"I-I'm so sorry, Naruto-k-kun. Maybe n-next time!" I said and ran out of the cafeteria.

I tried to calm my breathing as I leaned over the sink in the girls' bathroom. My hyperventilating slowly began to calm down and I set my right hand on my chest.

Ba-Bump, Ba- Bump, Ba-Bump…

My heart was going crazy. I looked up to the mirror and stared at my face. Because of the sun, I had slightly tanned skin, though it was usually a little pale. My hair was pink, and though I hated it, people often told me that they envied it for being so soft and silky.

I frowned. I wished I could be pretty like my mother, and have her beautiful long hair and striking eyes- but these were all hopeless dreams.

As soon as I calmed down, I washed my face and left the bathroom. I was walking towards the stairs when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I slowed down and turned my head.

"Hi there!" A girl greeted me. I squinted, trying to see if the person before me was just an illusion. "I'm real, silly!"

Karin was talking to me. THE Karin. THE CHEERLEADER Karin.

I quickly stepped back. "Is there something wrong?" I asked nervously.

"Oh, no, of course not." She said quickly, waving her hands. "There doesn't have to be a problem for me to talk to you, is there?" She asked.

"Um… No…" I mumbled.

OF COURSE THERE WAS! MY HAIR WAS PINK!

"So, what is it?" I asked.

She smiled at me patiently. There was something weird about her smile. "How long exactly have you been at Konoha High?" She asked me. I put my hand to my face and counted with my fingers.

"Only about thirteen days." I said. Thirteen was such an ugly number. She seemed to be working something out in her head.

"Ah," She simply said and went into her thinking pose.

I waited.

"Why don't you come to the cheerleading tryouts tomorrow? I think you've got some spunk." She said as she rubbed her chin. I looked taken aback, but I quickly regained my composure.

"But I don't want to be a-"

The school bell chimed, cut me off mid-sentence. I frowned. The bell finished ringing and I looked back at Karin to repeat, but she was already hopping off, calling to me; "Alright then! See you at the tryouts!" And she disappeared.

I groaned. Cheerleading was too artificial for my liking. I considered going after her and telling her, but I decided against it.

I simply wouldn't show up.

I yawned and stretched as I walked out of gym class. I was holding my bus fare and a water bottle in my left hand and I had an umbrella in the other. I held my skirt (uniform) down to keep the wind from harassing it - even though shorts were sewn to it, it was still indecent - and let out another yawn, thinking I was alone. I opened up my umbrella by pressing the automatic button and swung it over my head. I held my cold water bottle against my burning right arm, which I had fallen on it after I tripped over a basketball. I didn't like gym class much, but my parents had told me to take it, because apparently biking every other day wasn't enough.

Plus, I got some from walking our dog twenty-four seven. He had tons of energy, and I sometimes needed to walk him more three times a day. He was a humongous Dalmatian that ate everything he saw, but I loved him. His name was Phantom, because he would stride so lightly that sometimes no one heard him (that's how he always stole our food). He also had very big spots, and was almost completely black.

"Yo!"

I screeched and flew up into the air, before whipping around, and breathing heavily. It was Naruto again. I stared at him, perplexed. "Don't scare… me like… that…" I gasped.

He began to scratch the back of his head. "Hehe… Sorry, Sakura-chan!" He laughed, "I wanted to remind you about your Cheerleading tryouts!" He said loudly.

I cringed. How did he know anyway? "Actually, I don't really want-" I was cut off by Karin's yell. She was waving at me from the other side of the road.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! How could you forget tryouts? Get over here!" She called me, beaming in excitement. I shuddered, taking a deep breath, and then sighed.

As I dragged my feet back to the school, I thanked god for the fact that it was just a one-day thing, and no one would have to watch my horrible try-out. We soon made our way to the gym door and slowly walked inside. I inspected the area calmly. I never really looked at the gym closely before, or maybe it was different? I couldn't see any of the walls or the bleachers for some reason. I put my hand against my forehead to block the light and see clearly.

It finally dawned on me; there were people on the bleachers. Hundreds of people. Staring at me. Waiting for me to make some grand appearance. Who knew the Cheerleaders were this popular, anyway? Or was it just because they wanted to see how worthy I was? So they could laugh at me?

It didn't matter anyway; because as soon as the cheering started, I turned on my heel and ran right back out.