College Daze (previously titled "I Love College")

Pairings: SasuSaku, NaruHina, NejiTen, KibaIno, ShikaTema, others.

Summary: Balancing classes, friends, an internship, and a job is no easy task for anybody, but Sakura Haruno is a one woman wonder who knows she can do it all. Of course, this was before she accidentally caused a huge scandal that made the headlines for stealing the heart of Sasuke Uchiha, son of the tech mogul who owns Uchiha Inc. and fiance to the Hyuuga Corporation heiress. Turns out, she's turning the lives of her friends upside down just as much as they're doing to her's - especially for Mr. Talk, Dark, and Handsome. And for the better.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

Sakura Haruno beamed. She was so elated that she couldn't even register the three backpacks, two purses, and one duffle bag draping haphazardly across her petite frame as she all but levitated toward her college dormitory. This was the start of her journey at Kage University as a Biology major on the Pre-Medicine track. This was the culmination of all her hard work in high school and proof that her efforts paid off. Kage University was one of the premier institutions in the country and the Pre-Med program was by invitation only. This was it!

"Bugs are flying into your mouth, Forehead."

Sakura immediately transformed her smile into a scowl as she turned her attention to the blonde walking behind her.

"Go dance off a cliff, Pig."

Sakura wrinkled her nose at the dance major. Ino Yamanaka was her best friend since her earliest memories. How neither of them killed the other was beyond both of them, but between bouts of bickering was true camaraderie. Ino, for all her high maintenance mannerisms and superficial interests, was a loyal friend with a heart of gold who defended Sakura against bullies throughout much of their schooling together. Sakura, for all her neuroticism and stubbornness, was always a rock to Ino and called her out on her bullshit when others wouldn't. The blonde's supermodel looks often led to fake friendships which Sakura dispelled quickly. It was only natural that both young women decided to become roommates in college upon being accepted to Kage University.

"Okay, so, here's the game plan: we're dumping everything in the room and then doing a quick sweep around the floor. After that, we'll hit the odd floors going up, then back down on the even floors for efficiency. Then, we'll move onto the building next to us, and from there we'll fan out. I'll do all the talking while you smile and try to hide that forehead," Ino declared before adding, "Make that memory of yours useful and take a mental note of all the rooms with cute guys in them."

Sakura sighed at her friend. "You know, the more I think about you, the less I think about you."

"I'm actually trying to give you a chance at this thing called social life-,"

As the two bickered back and forth, they approached a sleek grey building topped with a slanted beige roof. There was a room encased with glass jutting out on from the left which lead to a neatly trimmed garden. Sakura briefly speculated this was a common room of sorts. The windows adorning each story of the residence hall were simple yet elegant, framed by newly polished metal. Above the entrance – of which the girls were skipping up the steps – were the engraved words 'LEAF.'

"…and you think you know everything," continued Sakura, "Guess who took your butt home last week when you were five kinds of fucked up?"

Ino jut out her head in defiance, "What? I drove myself home that night! My car was in my driveway the day after."

"Idiot, I drove! You sat in the passenger seat and steered a paper plate I gave you."

The blonde shut her mouth and narrowed her eyes at Sakura, who countered with an annoying "I win," grin.

"Hello!"

A tan upperclassman with two parallel buns on her head snapped Sakura out of her mental victory dance and Ino out of her murderous glare. She wore an athletic, pink dry-fit top with jean shorts.

"Hi!" replied Sakura and Ino in unison, completely friendly and amicable.

The stranger shifted the clipboard in her arm. "Are you girls checkin' in?"

"Yes we are!" sang Sakura and Ino, continuing the polite facade that masked their completely different demeanor a minute ago.

"Great! My name's Tenten, I'm one of the Resident Assistants in this building. What floor are you on?"

Sakura adjusted her baggage before speaking first, "Nice to meet you, my name's Sakura! This is Ino, my roommate. We're on the seventh floor."

Tenten nodded and smiled brightly. "Awesome! I'm on the third floor. My friend, Temari, is your R.A. She can be a little intense but don't worry, she's cool. What you wanna do is go down this hallway and make a left so you'll be in the common room. That's where you'll be checking in and getting your keys. I'm actually on my way putting up signs to direct people. Good luck with moving in!"

The duo waved goodbye as the Resident Assistant turned in her tennis shoes and ran off. Sakura and Ino whipped around to advance in the direction they were pointed to. "Have you ever heard about the notion being fashionably late?" nagged Ino, igniting another argument. "Why did you wake me up at the crack of dawn just to get here before signage was even on the walls?

"I literally couldn't even sleep last-OOF!"

The girls took a sharp turn and Sakura collided into the lean chest of someone… rather…

Her jaw dropped as she gazed up from the floor at who she crashed into. 'Tall, dark, AND handsome? Here? Really? Already? Now? Wow, he's hot!'

"Hn." Hot Guy sneered down at Sakura. His acknowledgment of her existence was clearly transient since he didn't waste another second stepping over her to continue his way out the building.

Watching his exit, Sakura gaped at the stranger's back in disbelief. 'Rude!' She pushed herself off the ground and patted off the back of her shorts. "Well, screw me I guess."

Ino ignored her friend's dismay and widened her eyes. "Good Lord, Sakura, pass me a fan! Did you see that guy? He was hot as hell! I am so glad I wore my sex me outfit!"

The disgruntled student frowned. "I don't give a crap who he is. I'm going to mess up his gorgeous face if he pulls that shit again."

Ino laughed at her friend's luck and took Sakura's arm to mollify the situation. "Only if you let me mac on his gorgeous face first."

"You hoe."

"I prefer opportunist."

"Shikamaruuu! Choujiii! You're here!"

Ino bounded toward a lethargic looking individual and his auburn haired roommate gnoshing on barbecue flavored chips from the floor of the seventh floor common room. Sakura passed through the threshold of the shared space with her fingers idly running through her still-damp hair from recently showering. It took her four hours to unload all of her belongings from Ino's car and arrange their room in an agreeable manner. She smelled like a LAN party after the ordeal.

"I'm busy now, can I ignore you another time?" asked Shikamaru, clearly in a state of diminished energy. He was using the bottom of a couch for back support because, obviously, sitting was the most exhausting thing on earth and just the thought of dealing with Ino made him even more tired. She stuck her tongue out at Shikamaru and jumped on the couch behind him before stealing a chip from Chouji's bag. Sakura knew Shikamaru from math competitions in high school and worked with Chouji at the same café in their hometown. The pinkette hugged Chouji amicably and waved at Shikamaru before taking a seat next to her roommate.

More students piled into the room and lined up against the walls or plopped down on the lounge chairs. Sakura noticed a rambunctious blonde who rivaled Ino's talkative nature chatting animatedly with a tall boy with a shock of brown hair. She recalled a group of dogs being quarantined at the front gate that were presumably his family's while he moved in. Not more than a few minutes later, an upperclassman with four pigtails sauntered into view, spilling four boxes of pizza on the tables nearest to the door. Sakura immediately ceased her conversation and perked up - as did Chouji and the talkative blonde from across the room.

Before Sakura could race her two competitors to the prized pizza, the upperclassman held up her hand.

"Alright, listen up freshmen! Before you attack this pizza, we have some rules to go over. My name's Temari and I've been doing this R.A. thing for two years now, which means I know what each and every one of you are thinking about: raging."

Sakura quirked an eyebrow at Ino to make sure she was hearing correctly. Ino hung her head in guilt as if her mind was read.

"Thanks to increased security and rules of the residential halls, you will now only have a modicum of a chance in finding a rewarding and/or satisfying party on campus. If you really want a rager, I suggest you find a nice house off campus or floor outside of this building to cater to your drunken needs."

Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged looks of disbelief. Is this chick even real?

"I'm a junior, and like I said before, I know what freshmonsters like you are capable of doing because believe me, I've lived through it. So where do I stand in this game of R.A. versus student? Well, the higher ups give me money along with a free room to attend to the emotional needs of first year students. From experience, it turns out that you're not first year students at all. You're all monsters ready to break any and all rules, but please know this: I am ready for you, have been for awhile, watch your backs, the end, and goodnight."

Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji sat completely bewildered by the first meeting.

The spiky haired mathematician gaped. "Horror,"

"One more thing!" yelled Temari. Everyone fell silent quickly. "For all you emotionally sad people – lookin' at you, sulky eyes-," the blonde nodded toward Shikamaru. "-don't kill yourself on my floor. Bleed on your own time off campus because the paperwork is a bitch. Commence eating."

Sakura always loved the first day of school. She and Ino spent the greater part of the previous night treasure hunting in their wardrobes to find the best outfit for the big day. In the end, Sakura chose, with Ino's unsolicited approval, a combination of her and Ino's clothes. She donned on her sleeveless, yellow-green button up shirt tucked into Ino's floral patterned high waisted shorts ("Booty shorts!"). Summer still had it's grip on the weather but Sakura didn't mind at all. She preferred wiggling her toes in strappy sandals over wearing socks any day. Sakura wouldn't admit to Ino, but she also purposely chose her outfit to reflect her new school supplies, which made her unnaturally giddy.

The pink haired student found her way to her last class of the day and scanned the room. It was still 15 minutes before the start of the session so not many students were present. The class was called 'Leadership in Society,' which was a required course for all students residing in the Leaf Residential Building. Sakura immediately noticed a girl with pale violet, almost cloudy eyes with a bangin' outfit on. Her style was by no means "run-way bangin'," like Ino was renown for, but she was undeniably smartly dressed. Before Sakura could help herself, her mouth was already moving and making introductions. "Hi, my name's Sakura! I just want to say your style is Grade A+. Where'd you get that skirt?"

The girl was actually quite pale but Sakura's compliment blossomed a tinge of color across her cheeks. "Oh! H-hello, my name's Hinata Hyuuga. Nice to meet you." Hinata offered a hand, which Sakura shook firmly. "Th-thanks for the com-compliment! I-I think I purchased this in Paris."

Sakura whistled and nodded. 'Definitely not going to buy that skirt anytime in the immediate future.' She shrugged off her backpack and sat down next to Hinata. "You've been in Paris? Lucky! How was it?"

Just as Hinata was about to reply, a familiar voice from a familiar blonde burst into the room. "HEY! We're floormates! What's up?! My name's Naruto Uzumaki!"

Sakura shifted her gaze to Naruto, who slapped down an armful of books on the other side of Hinata. The stylish girl peeked at the newcomer and immediately flushed. Sakura noticed that as quickly as the blush appeared on Hinata's pale features, it vanished just as fast, and she was pretty confident that wasn't healthy.

"Hey floormate," Sakura greeted, sticking out her hand as Hinata did before, unsure how to appropriately manage the two contrasting people next to her. "I'm Sakura."

Naruto flashed a grin and grabbed her hand, pulling her into a hug. He sure was friendly. "Hey Sakura! Temari is really somethin', huh? And who are you?" Naruto turned his attention to Hinata before Sakura could answer. "Wait, you're not a floormate. That's okay, we can still be friends. What floor are you on?"

Sakura waited for Hinata to reply and when she didn't, followed by the alarming blush returning to her cheeks, Sakura stepped in. "Her name's Hinata Hyuuga."

Hinata could've melted into her chair but managed to squeak out, "M-My name's Th-Th-Third- oh no! I m-m-mean I live on the th-third floor. M-My name's Hin-Hinata Hyuuga."

"No way! You're, like, four floors below us! We'll have to hang out sometime…,"

Sakura chatted with Naruto and Hinata and made fast friends. One conversation began after the last, mostly with Sakura and Naruto talking over each other and referring to Hinata for her final opinion when they clashed on ideas. Hinata was mostly quiet and vacillated between two extreme colorations, but was slowly opening up. Between conversations, someone slipped into the seat next to Sakura. She turned around, ready to make a new friend, when she realized who it was.

"You!" Sakura cried, a little more accusatory and a bit louder than she intended. The incident was in the past, but it was a coincidence to have Hot Guy sit next to her of all the times he could have signed up for the class*.

"Me."

Sakura tightened her lips. "Don't you remember me? Don't you have something to say?"

"No and no," he replied coolly, as nonchalant as if stating the sky was blue. The girl scorned opened her mouth to retort when Naruto interrupted. "Sasuke! Dude! Why didn't you tell me you were in this section?"

Hot Guy AKA Sasuke rolled his eyes. "There's a reason for that, you idiot." He then inclined his head to the girl between Naruto and Sakura. "Hinata."

"N-Nice to see you, Sasuke."

Before Sakura could grill Sasuke any more, the professor strolled through the door. She glanced at the clock above the threshold and noticed the class was already ten minutes late.

"Aaah, good afternoon, everyone. My name is Kakashi Hatake, or Professor Hatake to you. Welcome to 'Leadership in Society.'" Curiously, the professor wore a blue mask shielding half his face that matched the navy vest over his button up shirt. Professor Hatake continued toward the podium while pulling up stacks of syllabi to be distributed to the class. A handful of female students offered to help. He obliged with a small incline of his head while continuing to outline the important items on the syllabus.

"So that's enough about the class logistics. Today, we're going to be creative. Your mission is to find an ally. I want you all to partner up with the person sitting next to you and get to know each other. At the end of ten minutes, you'll give a presentation together about what you both learned. Begin."

Sakura could feel her eyes rolling into another dimension as she processed the assignment like a prison sentence. 'Oh, get it together! This is an easy grade - be grateful!' Regardless of how her mind was trying to persuade her, she cast a dark look at Sasuke.

"I didn't know my presence would move you so much, Pink."

Sakura didn't even realize her emotions were being so transparent but she was always terrible at hiding her feelings.

"Don't flatter yourself," she warned. "Let's begin." Sakura flipped open her notebook and began writing. "Name?"

"This is stupid."

"This is an assignment, stupid. We're doing it and I'm going to start. Name?"

"Hn."

Sakura craned her neck to the pair next to her, "Hey Hinata, do you want to trade partners?"

"Sasuke." Hot Guy immediately offered, narrowing his eyes at Sakura. She didn't even look at him, but she flashed her trademark "I win," grin while she scribbled his name down in her notebook.

"Major?"

"Why don't I introduce myself and you introduce yourself?"

"I'm sorry, was I unclear? I asked what your major is," sassed Sakura.

After a pause, Sasuke finally replied, "Hn."

Sakura was about to fire back with a smartass remark when instead, she focused on her notebook and proceeded writing, 'Major: Communication Disorders.'

"What's your favorite hobby?"

"Not applicable."

Sakura nodded, eyes on the paper. "Uh huh. What are your plans for the future?"

"That's none of your business."

Before he even answered, Sakura already found herself writing, 'To be found in the news headline under "Victims of Arson," God willing.'

There were more exchanges in the one-sided Q&A session while Sakura fabricated more outrageous answers. When she was done, she closed her notebook and turned to Sasuke, who was still clearly not interested.

"Now that I've asked you some questions, I'll just give you a short autobiography-,"

"-One second, let me just prepare myself for the verbal brilliance that is surely heading my way," interrupted Sasuke, inhaling a deep breath of air. Sakura watched him wryly as he exhaled slowly and motioned for her to continue.

"My name is Sakura Haruno and I'm a biology major on the Pre-Med track. I've wanted to become a doctor for as long as I can remember and I've been working toward that goal all my life. I was on the girl's varsity track and swim team in high school, the valedictorian in my class of 800, and I volunteered at local hospitals on my free time. I love fashion, video games, and baking. My favorite color's pink, I obsess over food-,"

"-You'll have to shut your mouth eventually,"

"-and I dislike arrogant little first years who think they know everything." Sakura finished, glaring at Sasuke. He smirked and quipped, "Hypocrite."

Kakashi suddenly cleared his throat. "Okay class, let's bring it together. Who would like to go first?"

Naruto's hand rocketed into the air and shook with anticipation. The professor acquiesced to his urgency. Naruto and a mortified Hinata raised from their seats to address the class. It was Naruto who started.

"My partner's name is Hinata! She's the nicest person you'll ever meet - seriously, believe it! Her dad owns the Hyuuga Corporation, how insane is that? Despite being wicked rich, Hinata likes simple things like walks and stuff. She said she plays tennis because her cousin taught her but wasn't that good, but I bet she's lying and is actually a beast on the courts. I think she said she's a Nursing major-," Naruto paused to peek at Hinata, who nodded while staring intently at the floor, "-right, she's definitely a Nursing major, which is very honorable! But I think that's all we had time to cover before the Professor cut us off."

Said Professor wrinkled his eyes in encouragement from behind an orange book he mysteriously pulled out of his vest. "Your turn, Hinata."

"Aah… W-w-well, this is Na-Naruto Uzumaki and he is majoring in Civil Engineering. He… um, lo-loves ramen. He thinks ramen is the be-best thing in the world-,"

"-I KNOW it's the best thing in the world-," Naruto interrupted

Poor Hinata was seconds away from fainting. Sakura was already planning how to save her friend's untimely demise should it happen. "Ah, I'm so-sorry! Ramen is definitely the best thing in the world. H-He likes the color orange and enjoys playing sports. Aah… Naruto is also very passionate about construction, especially us-using Legos for planning. Hi-His fu-future goal is to become someone respectable with a hard earned job."

"Thanks, you two. Let's go to the next pair," said Kakashi, focusing his gaze to Sakura and Sasuke.

Sakura slumped her shoulders. "Okay,"

The partners stood up and faced the class. Sakura glanced up at Sasuke, who had his hands in his pocket and stared confidently forward, with an annoying ease and confidence of a natural public speaker. She briefly scanned the audience to see most of the female population suddenly very interested.

To her surprise, Sasuke spoke first.

"Well, this is Sakura Haruno, Miss Hyper Competitive," Sakura dropped her jaw and turned towards Sasuke as if betrayed.

"She was a member of every club that ever existed in high school, reads encyclopedias to bed every night, flosses after every meal – blah, blah, blah. She wants to be a doctor but fails to realize that medicine is a dead career. Thanks to insurance companies and malpractice lawyers, all her dreams to become a doctor are going to be shot to death by lawsuits or the tuition of medical school. That was a real honest to God compliment that I even assumed she would make it into med school, too. Turns out she's actually an assassin sent out to kill patients by talking them to death-,"

"E-NOUGH! You're terrible!" accused Sakura, mouth ajar and mortified. Her mouth worked faster than her brain and she heard herself speaking, "This is Sasuke, the one man freak show. He's prone to using grunts and growls as his main source of communication, so I apologize if I can't fully translate his life story that he was dying to share. His major? Well, like I said, I couldn't figure that out because I don't speak troll but I have a faint suspicion it could be Communication Disorders. His hobbies, you ask? That one was tough, too, because I don't think he heard my question from that six foot high pedestal he puts himself on."

The class sat in silence.

"Well that certainly tickled me inside," Kakashi chuckled, "Next group?"

Naruto flashed Sakura a thumbs up and Hinata smiled nervously at her while she reclaimed her seat. Sakura threw Sasuke a withering glare.

'I hate you,' She mouthed.

At the conclusion of Kakashi's class, Sakura promised to hang out with Naruto and Hinata in Leaf after she returned from work. To Sasuke, she only grimaced and hoped she wouldn't have to see him again until she absolutely had to. The Pre-Med student bounded out the door after bidding a farewell to her professor and made a beeline for the Senju Building which was the home to the College of Natural Sciences. Sakura made an appointment for a quick meeting with her Advisor before the start of her shift as a waitress.

The Senju Building was one of the oldest on campus, but despite being renovated over the years to endure the effects of time, it still had distinct, gothic architecture that represented the era it was built. Even the furniture and decor inside the building looked antique, which made for an interesting contrast with the new-age technology in every office.

Sakura ducked into a bathroom to make herself more presentable before approaching her Advisor's office. First impressions mattered! When she was satisfied with her appearance, she strolled toward a slightly closed door on the second floor of the building and knocked softly.

"Come in!"

Sakura pushed open the oak doors to see a woman in her late twenties behind a mahogany desk. Her dark eyes matched the color of her short tresses and she was sipping on a mug of, based on Sakura's experience working at a cafe, matcha latte.

"Hi Ms…," Sakura stalled for a second, unsure if she should use the woman's first name - as it appeared on her appointment confirmation - or if there was a more formal title for her Advisor.

The woman smiled sanguinely and gestured for Sakura to sit down. "Call me Shizune! You're Sakura Haruno, right?"

"Thanks, Shizune!" Sakura deposited her backpack at the foot of the chair, extending a hand out for salutations. The room was altogether neat but every surface available was covered by stacks of paper. "That's me! I'm a first year Biology student on the Pre-Med track."

After shaking Sakura's hand, Shizune briefly broke eye contact with her to scroll through the queue of files on her computer. The older woman took another long sip from her beverage. "I know you. You're one of the top Pre-Med students we invited this semester. Congratulations, some people don't get accepted until their sophomore year."

Sakura blushed and grinned proudly. All those AP classes she took weren't for a naught. "That's really kind of you to say, thank you! I'm actually here to ask about an internship program I saw on your advising website. I know it's a pilot program for upperclassmen, but I would love to have the opportunity to work at the Kage Hospital early in my student career. I've volunteered at hospitals before and want to take on a more serious responsibility here in college."

"Your file says that you're already taking 20 credits this semester. I don't advise first year students biting off more than they can chew since it's a steep climb to get out of the hole if your GPA falls - and the Pre-Med track has a cut off."

"I'm a seasoned multi-tasker!" Countered Sakura, "Strangely enough, I work better under pressure. I've always been great at organization and feel like I don't want to slow down my pace." The biology major decided that sharing the fact that her part-time job was starting in 40 minutes would not do her any favors right now.

"Mmm, I don't know…," Shizune frowned and glanced at one of the picture frames on her desk. "You'll be supervised by the Dean, Tsunade Senju, who's also on the Board of Directors at the hospital. She's the reason why this pilot exists and she can be a bit of a slave driver. If you fail her standards, the Board might scrap her idea to let undergraduates intern at the hospital."

Sakura chewed her lip at the unexpected stakes but pressed on. "But, if I surpass the expectations of the Board and the Dean, you'll have a first year in the program for four full years to tweak for future students. There's no loss of time and there would be constant monitoring and evaluation of the program."

Shizune chuckled at the younger girl's tenacity. "You could always switch tracks into Pre-Law if medicine doesn't work out."

Sakura balked, "I would never!"

"Okay, okay, I'll pitch the idea to Tsunade when I see her this weekend. Send me a copy of your resume and statement of purpose by five o'clock Friday."

Sakura peeked at the calendar hanging on the wall. "So, by tomorrow at five?"

Clearly this was a test to see if she was serious. "That's right."

The chance was victory enough - just getting her foot in the door was all Sakura could ask for. "Challenge accepted."

* - A University class can offer multiple "sections", or "times," for students to choose from. For example, General Chemistry might have five different sections for five different days of the week and various times throughout the day. This helps students schedule a class to fit in with the rest of their course load.

Author's Note:

Hi, all - readers new and old. I finally found the password to my account and - even more miraculous - found some time in the immediate future to complete this story. I started this during college and now I've graduated. How time flies. Inspiration hit me out of the blue (possibly re-reading inspiring stories from Istoria, Nessie GG, and Cyberwolf to name a few) and now I have a full fledged plot. I've never finished a story of this magnitude before, but this would be a terrific outlet for creativity. Not only do I have an idea of how I want to finish this story, but ideas are in the making for sequels to come. After all, it is 2016 and sequels are a thing now, are they not?

This is completely AU with ships that happened and ships that didn't. The first couple of chapters might be a tad slow to set the scene and introduce characters since I've revamped my old chapters and condensed some content while completely omitting others. Not everything is the same as before, only some elements.

I hope you all enjoy the story! I had a wonderful time in college and daydream daily and nightly about how Naruto and friends would've been like at a university together.