In case you are not familiar with this story; it has been remade.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto

It became pretty obvious, pretty soon, what today was going to be like.

Once it became clear that the heavens would not lighten up, and the threatening thunderclouds were not going to go away.

Oh yes, today was going to be just one of those kind of days

And today would be just that kind of funeral.

Sakura busied herself with nothing. Brushing gently through her already straightened, soft pink hair with a fine-toothed comb. She got her hair styled yesterday. Not just a normal chop either, a nice little hair-cut, which went just right with a nice little black dress for a nice little family funeral.

Like a professional she wasted time in her room, wiping off perfectly done make-up and reapplying it. Stalling until her mother calmed herself from her mental break-down and told her the hearse had arrived. Looking expectantly out her window for some sign of rain.

As expected, the hearse arrived just in time. Her mother, a sniffling wretch, climbed in first, dabbing her eyes with a mascara-stained cloth as she sat down. Sakura settled as far away from the quietly sobbing woman as she could, and studied the trees as they rode to the cemetery. The ride was slow, cars belonging to family friends soon followed after them.

Sakura decided that she kind of liked the way her shiny new black shoes and her pretty new black dress fit so perfectly together. She still needed some kind of pink though, so she had found a pink belt that went quite splendidly around her middle, giving the impression that she was curvier than she really was.

The rain started to sprinkle lightly, little drops fell on the window she sat by. She stopped watching the passing trees for a moment to study them. A few tiny drops joined together and ran down to the bottom of the window.

Sakura didn't wear black. It was a strict no-no for her to be seen in all black like some goth freak. But funerals were an exception, so she enjoyed it while it lasted. It was actually kind of nice, it brought out her pink hair and apple green eyes even better than all the other colors she was used to wearing.

Family members weren't normally allowed to ride in the hearse, her mother had paid extra so she and her daughter, but mostly she, could ride with the body one last time. Sakura had never been in one before, but once she stepped out of the vehicle she found it was oddly anti-climactic, and frowned slightly at it.

She closed the door to the hearse, opening up her old black umbrella that had a broken piece to it. Feeling slightly self-conscious that she had a ruined umbrella with a perfect little outfit. So she twirled it around like someone does when they're bored or impatient, so it was not quite so blatant.

It was a quiet little ceremony, only immediate relatives and close family friends had arrived. Her step-father had been a very important man. His family didn't want anyone who was not important enough to be there.

She studied they people who had arrived. Ignoring her mother when she burst into a fresh fit of sobs while Sakura's aunt comforted her.

She remained disinterested, wishing that she could wander aimlessly on her own. Maybe even look at a few headstones and go for a little walk before the ground became too wet.

The priest seemed to lag on and on and on, frustrating her to no ends. Eventually, just when she was planning on taking a metaphoric gun from her illusory pocket and blasting her brains out. The time came when the Priest offered everyone to bow their heads in a silent prayer. She bowed as well, contemplating over whither to make dinner or to go out to eat to avoid her distraught mother.

As soon as everyone left, turned away, or were too openly distracted to pay attention to her. She allowed a smile to creep across her face.

Her heals got stuck in the muddy ground a few times before she came far away enough from the ceremony for her liking, out of earshot.

She reviled in the feel of pure excitement and joy as it bubbled inside of her, stretching her smile into a full-face grin. The excitement brought on the tension to jump happily around and laugh and sing and hug everyone near her while tears of delight streamed down her face.

It took her a few moments to gain complete control over herself. After all, there was no need to disconcert the melancholy funeral with her rampant emotions.

As the rain began to fall the red-head felt his already pessimistic mood sink into downright irritation.

All week working in this heinous dump of a restaurant gave him a very large feeling of suppression. Which was something Sabaku no Gaara, would not tolerate.

He would need to find some sort of way to relieve his building stress, like finding the idiot who tried leaving water in his seat the day before in school. (Probably thinking he wouldn't notice before he sat in it.) And throwing him head-first into the pavement, smashing his face in until you couldn't tell the difference between the two. Yeah, he liked that idea.

Suigetsu, his 'co-worker' of sorts, strolled out of the back door suddenly and fumbled with his cigarettes. Interrupting his train of thought and signaling the end of his break. Bitterly, he slunk back inside through the door the taller boy held open slightly. Deciding to ignore him rather than nod his acknowledgment, he went inside. Letting the door close behind him and lock automatically from the inside.

The low wages that he got were no doubt because his father had threatened or bribed Gaara's boss not to pay him too much. Typical.

He hated his job. Just like he hated everyone else around him. His family, the people at school, the people he met in public, the people who ate at this ridiculous place. Very few people were tolerable to Gaara, like Naruto Uzumaki, possibly Shikamaru Nara or maybe even Suigetsu. Who was humane at work but still a dick and one of Sasuke Uchiha's goons at school.

Gaara suspected that Suigetsu was the type of person who spent all his free time standing outside and smoking until he found some random girl to drag into a dark alley.

He sneered, that was unlikely. But it would make the white-haired kid a bit more interesting than just being one of the brainless guys that stood up for assholes like Sasuke to feel like they had some kind worth in their pathetic life.

He set to work by starting off with washing dishes. The fights would come later.

And they would be merciless.

Somewhere far from Gaara's crummy job and crummy life and raging impulses, a girl named Sakura Haruno stood. Avoiding the tears and rain and horrible cliché of her ex-step father's funeral. All but completely oblivious to all the changes that were waiting for her in the very near future.

It was at that moment that the rain really began to pour violently, and she suddenly became very aware that her brand-new dress was beginning to get soaking wet.

"Drat."

Not much of a beginning