"Sakura, please go to the market to pick up a box from the delivery store," her mom requested.

"Okay, mom." Sakura put down her book and departed from her room. Her family lived on the floor above their shop.

Before she left the building, she turned and asked, "Do we need anything else?"

"No, just the box," was her mother's reply from behind the counter.

"Okay," the pinkette said as she exited the store.

Her parents had told her before that she didn't need to help out with the shop. They figured that being a ninja was hard enough work as it was. Her parents had been correct, but Sakura didn't mind helping out. Especially when they stuck to D rank missions like they had today.

Today's mission had actually been rather funny. They had been trying to find a lost puppy. Kakashi-sensei had tried to make it a training ordeal by stating that they could not travel on the ground or by rooftops. Instead, they had to stand on walls with chakra control.

Obviously she and Sasuke had done well at the task. But Naruto had not yet fully mastered the skill. Seeing the oaf fall multiple times had been quite amusing. Sasuke had repeatedly called out the blond for it. She had laughed alongside him (she had been able to get over his rejection from yesterday. She couldn't let such a thing get her down when she knew that love eventually conquers all). However…she did admit that maybe Sasuke shouldn't have been quite as harsh as he was. As funny as it was to see Naruto fail so badly, Sasuke's comments were a tad meaner than they needed to be. Not that she would ever say that, of course.

One of the main reasons she thought that coincided with why she was glad Kakashi-sensei picked the training stipulations that he had. Usually she was the one who struggled during training. Sure at first Naruto was the one with most difficulty. He had barely grasped simple concepts about chakra. But now he was ahead of her in leaps and strides with his chakra size and endurance level (though he would never outright say it).

But this time Kakashi-sensei actually something that she was honestly good at. Something that she found quite easy. She was happy about that. One of her favourite moments of being a ninja came when she had been the one to climb the tree first.

However, if Kakashi-sensei had chosen a different type of training, Sasuke's remark could have easily been for her.

Was it like this for other teams as well? Where one member seriously lagged behind the other two. Also was it normal for people to improve as quickly as Naruto did? She didn't think so, but she didn't know enough about other ninjas and clans to be sure. She might have to look into that later.

Either way, she found herself jealous of other teams. She had spotted Hinata's team training together once. They worked so well together. Despite having very different abilities and styles, they all complimented each other. Their team made sense, and it worked.

For her own, she supposed it made sense to have two powerhouses on the same team. Despite the fact that Naruto and Sasuke did not really get along, they drove each other to become better. But what about her? Sure she loved being on the same team as Sasuke, but what was the point of her being on a team with them? Did all the other teams get decided first and she was just put in with Sasuke and Naruto as an afterthought?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Ino and she mentally dropped her previous thoughts to prepare herself for a battle of insults. But then she noticed that Ino's father was with the blond and ended the preparation. Ino would never say anything that bad in front of her dad. So instead, when Ino caught Sakura's eyes, the blond just resorted to sticking her tongue out. Sakura returned the gesture as she walked.

Still…she found herself turning back and watching Ino as she talked with her father. Sakura herself had initiated the end of their friendship, so she really shouldn't feel any regret. At the time, the move had seemed like a necessity. For how could the two remain friends when they both liked the same guy? And while Sasuke was definitely worth the sacrifice, she often couldn't help but miss the time when she and Ino were inseparable. When they had nearly constant sleepovers and their parents each had a space for the other in their homes.

What if…what if they could go back to how they were before? No, Sakura quickly dismissed that idea. That were past that now. Besides, she would never be able go to Ino with her tail between her legs and say that she wanted to be friends again after she was the one who broke their friendship off. Ino would just laugh in her face and tell her to dream on or something.

By that point she had reached her destination and entered the store. The woman at the counter recognised her instantly. "Sakura-san, hello."

"Hi Milana-san," the pinkette greeted.

"Your parent's package arrived this morning, I'll go grab it for you." The women disappeared into the back for a few moments and then reappeared. "Here you go." She put the package down on the counter along with a pen and a release form.

"Thanks," the girl replied as she took the package in one hand and signed the release form with the other.

"So how is ninja life going?" Milana asked her.

Not that great, is what Sakura wanted to say. But then she would have to go into why, and Milana would just not understand. The women, like many civilians, just knew ninja life as dangerous and unknown and kept it at that. So to make things easier, Sakura plastered a fake smile on her face and said, "Alright."

"That's good," Milana replied. "I know I told you this before, but I think it's incredible that you decided to take on ninja life and have stayed in it as long as you have. It must be so hard, especially when you're not born into it."

The pinkette gave a shaky laugh. "Yeah, it definitely isn't easy sometimes. Anyways, I need to get back home now. My mom is expecting me."

Milana nodded. "Goodbye Sakura-san."

Sakura peered out at the night sky as she stepped out of her window and onto the roof.

She had begun the habit of looking out at the sky at night when she was a kid. It was around the time when the bullying began. She had found looking out at the stars comforting, in a way that her parents hadn't been able to achieve. Since then she had also discovered that it was a good place to think about things. To sort out of her thoughts and recap on the day's events. It was also a nice time to read, which was what she was planning on doing tonight.

Once she arrived on her rooftop, she leaped onto another rooftop and continued the motion onto another building. As much as she liked her home, there was another place that provided a view that was way nicer. It was an office building that was between the business district and apartments that were reserved for ninja who did not want to worry about things like upsetting their neighbours by coming and going at odd times of the day.

Finally, she reached her destination. She sat down and took out her book. But before she began to read, something, or rather someone, caught her peripheral vision. She turned to see the redhead that she had encounter the day before staring at her.

Once again, he had a neutral expression. She wasn't sure what to do, so she just gave a small wave. His eyes narrowed a little, but other than that he didn't respond.

Weird. She turned back and opened her book, without giving another thought to the boy. What she doesn't notice was that the pair of pale eyes often drifted back to her location.

Hello everyone. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed. Wow, I did not realise how depressing these past two chapters were until I sat out to write them. Also, I hope I am writing a 12 year old alright. Part of me wants to look back to the beginning of my very first fics that I wrote back when I was 13ish (gives you a sense of how old I am), but then I realised that I am not that desperate.

My usual beta did not look this over, so I hope nothing makes your eyes bleed too much. Please tell me what you all think and thanks for reading!