I began to wonder if therapy really helped anyone.

I sat across from my therapist, Susume, my arms folded across my chest and my legs crossed. I brooded silently in the bright green chair I sat in. I was still angry as hell that my mother had gone through my stuff (again) and given what she considered to be 'problem areas' to my therapist. I was so glad I was starting school tomorrow. I didn't want to spend all day dealing with my mother.

"Haruno-san, would you like to talk to me about this?" Susume asked quietly, gesturing to the notebook in her hands. It was currently opened to a poem I had scribbled down a couple of days ago.

Mysteries are constant

Hidden underneath

People are enigmas

And never what they seem

Emotions are relentless

Some fade away in time

But memories are haunting

You can't pretend they're lies

I shrugged. "There's not much to say," I told her. "Its just some scribbles."

"It's pretty," Susume answered. "You must have spent a lot of time on it."

"Not really." Poetry was just a way to occupy my time when I was bored and had nothing else to do, which was most of the time.

"People are not what they seem…" Susume muttered idly. "Are you implying people are… bad?"

I sighed. "It doesn't say that. All it says is that people hide who they really are. It's simply the truth. I do it, and so do you."

"What reason do I have to hide who I really am?"

I sighed again. "I don't know. It's simple fact. Why do I hide my true self?"

"You're injured." I looked at her, and she put a finger up. "Mentally, I mean. Like it says here, memories are haunting. Clearly you don't want anyone to think that you are…"

"Look," I interrupted. "I don't need you to tell me. Why should I care what people think?"

"Do you?"

I fought back another sigh. The exasperation was getting to me. "I wish I didn't, but I won't lie. I do. To an extent." I could tell she was going to ask, so I continued. "I care what they think about me on the big scales. But little things don't bother me. And if I don't like the person, what they think generally doesn't matter, too."

Susume nodded. "I see." She began to scribble. I really wanted to know what she was writing, but it felt dumb to ask. Besides, the clock on the wall chimed, signaling the end of our session.

"Haruno-san…" Susume called to me just before I walked out the door. "I know school is starting, so we'll be rescheduling." She paused to shuffle through her calendar. "Fridays at 4 will work. Come right after school."

I nodded and left.

I dropped my notebook on the floor and sat on my bed, looking at my reflection in the mirror across from me. My hair reached my armpits now. It was a bright pink color and natural, which was, needless to say, strange. Susume first assumed this was the source of my antisocial status, assuming I was picked on. I was picked on a little, but I wasn't a social butterfly because I didn't know how to be. Besides, I wasn't really antisocial. I had friends, but they weren't preppy, so apparently they didn't count.

I rolled my eyes at myself. It didn't matter anyway. My parents had effectively dragged me away from those friends by moving halfway across the freaking country to live with my aunt and uncle's family for no good reason.

My musing was interrupted by a large clamor. My little cousin, Koishii, had thrown a fit over something. Probably something trivial, as was his style. And they sent me to the therapist.

Just then the door creaked.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were home."

I looked up to see my mother standing there.

"Sorry about that. If I had known you wanted to snoop more, I would've taken a longer route."

She looked away, shamefaced. "Sakura-chan… understand, please? I'm just concerned."

I narrowed my eyes. "There's still something called privacy. And for that matter, there is something called knocking, too."

"I didn't know you were home." And she left without another word.

I flopped onto my bed and stared at the ceiling. Things were getting awkward around here. My mother and I used to be like… friends. Not best friends. We didn't have the relationship where we could talk about anything. No, it was more like casual conversation and laughing. But it was comfortable. Now…

I couldn't really explain it. Things had happened, things had been said… but I wasn't the type to get effected by such things. Over the years I had employed a 'tough it out' strategy, and it had proved to work fine. It wasn't me who started acting different. It was my mother. I wasn't mentally injured, like Susume insisted. But it was hardly fair to say my mother was either.

I closed my eyes. The situation was simple in some ways, but complicated in others.

It had all started with a boy I only knew in passing. An acquaintance, I suppose. I couldn't say what his issue was. Even his closer friends couldn't identify it. He was like me in that way, I suppose, not the type to make his problems public.

He seemed nice, I guess. But he been getting into trouble frequently, and everyone seemed only too anxious to point the finger everywhere else but at him. I didn't say anything, but I knew at some point people had to admit they were responsible for their own actions and own up to the consequences.

However, I didn't anticipate this result…

I was awoken by the sound of pounding on my door.

"Sakura-san! It's already 7:30! You need to leave soon!"

I grumbled and told my uncle to give me a few minutes. I changed quickly into my uniform. It was pretty standard, nothing special. A simple white oxford shirt with a black overcoat. The girls commonly wore skirts, but I got pants instead. I never liked the feel of skirts. No matter what the circumstance, they never failed to annoy the shit out of me.

After fumbling down the stairs, tripping over my own feet repeatedly (I managed to avoid falling flat on my face, though) and earning a few chuckles from my uncle, I grabbed my bag and left the house.

I estimated it to be about a 20-minute walk, and so arrived with five minutes to spare. The building was nice one, large and spacey. I wondered vaguely if they had tennis courts somewhere. We never got to play tennis back where I came from.

I walked past the entrance sign that read 'Konoha Uptown Academy, Honorary High School' and walked up the path surrounded by flowers. The place was loaded, I thought, as I noticed expensive-looking nametags, identifying the botany.

I walked to the office and immediately ran into someone.

"Oh! Sorry!" I cried.

I saw a woman with short, dark brown hair standing before me. She smiled sweetly. "Hello, how may I help you?"

"My name is Haruno Sakura, I'm a transfer…"

"Ah! Yes, I remember now." The woman reached over and pulled out a pile of papers. "Here you are! Excuse me for not leading you through them, I'm in a bit of a rush." And then she left.

I stared after her a moment or two, and then walked out of the office myself, shifting through the papers until I found my schedule. I pulled out a map before making my way to room 577.

I had to stand at the door in awe. I found it without much trouble, somehow. I practically needed to have my own personal GPS system installed to make it to the school without incident (and all I had to do was walk five blocks in a straight line). I quickly walked in. Unfortunately, I was still a few minutes late (maps always make right look like left, honestly…)

"Oh, you must be…" A man with gray hair and a mask-obscured face walked toward me. He wore a black tux, which seemed a little formal and somber for a classroom.

"Haruno Sakura," I supplied the name for him.

"The one day I'm on time and my new student is late," he mused before pointing to one of the open seats in the very back. I made my way over. I would be the only person in this row, save for one. I glance over and noticed a boy with blood red hair and pale skin looking out of the window, disinterested.

I turned my attention back to the teacher, trying to ignore the glances from my new classmates. I could already hear the snickering and insults which only people with IQ's lower then that of their shoe size would call witty. I smiled a little to myself, but it faded away. I didn't want to be made fun of and considered strange, but it was just another obstacle to get over.

I won't become like him, I won't.