"Stop it!" Sakura yelled as Ami, her resident bully, pulled on her hair

Ami's two followers holding her down while laughing.

"Looks like that Ino isn't here to save you" Ami mockingly sighed, "Poor Forehead..."

Sakura kept struggling, she knew that Ino wasn't there for her, but she knew that she needed to stood up for herself. Ino won't always be there for her.

"Hey, what's going on there?"

Sakura could feel Ami tensing before whispering to the others to run away. Suddenly they let Sakura go causing her to fall head first into the ground.

She curled up into herself, a relieved breath escaping her as she contemplated on what to do with her damaged hair. She detested her pink hair, always drawing unwanted attention.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura jumped in surprise, the view of the sky being replaced with a Leaf ninja. "H-hai" she stuttered taking in the boy's appearance

Brown hair in a pony-tail, brown eyes and a scar running on the bridge of his nose. We was wearing a flak jacket giving Sakura the knowledge that he was Chunnin level. She guessed that he was probably still in his teens.

"Are you sure?" He asked offering his hand

Sakura shyly took his hand, "Hai" she murmured as he pulled her up

"Do they do that a lot?"

Sakura played with the hem of her green shirt, "Not when Ino-chan is around..."

"So it does happen often, hasn't your teacher tried to stop them?"

Sakura took a moment to think over that question before shaking her head.

She could hear the boy in front of her sigh "Then you should practice your Taijutsu more"

"Eh?" Sakura finally looked at the boy, her green eyes meeting his brown eyes

"Then you can defend yourself" the boy smiled at her

"Oh...ne, how did you know I go to the academy?" Sakura curiously asked

"I just recognized you from the academy. Your pink hair gave it away" and in a bold move the boy took a strand of pink hair, playing with it between his fingers. For once Sakura was glad she had pink hair, because something good finally came out of having it.

"May I know your name?" Sakura asked ignoring the blush creeping up on her face

"Iruka Umino, and you are?"

"S-Sakura Haruno"

"What a fitting name, it suits you"

Sakura averted her eyes whispering a quiet thank you.

"Ah, looks like I'll have to go now"

Sakura meekly nodded staring at the boy's back before she realized something "Wait!"

The boy paused and glanced back at her with a questioning look

"Thank you" Sakura bowed at a ninety degree angle

"You're welcome"

And he disappeared in a circle of leaves.

Sakura stood there for a moment contemplating everything that just happened. Originally she was planning on going home.

But now she was going over the academy student friendly training grounds in her head.

.

.

Grattitude was the first stage

.

.

Sakura yawned to herself as she continued her walk to the academy. The hissing sound of a cat making her pause

"Hold still"

The sound of a familiar voice made her curious as she turned to look at a tree, immediately spotting the boy who saved her two weeks ago.

Her eyes couldn't help but widen in surprise as Iruka walked up the tree casually defying gravity.

'How is he doing that?'

She could see the faint blue hues on the soles of Iruka's footwear

'Chakra' she realized feeling astounished

Her mind already going over multiple theories on how one could use chakra to defy gravity like that.

Or was it really defying gravity?

Her eyes trailed on the movement of his feet, soon enough she deduced that he was sticking his feet on the tree.

Then her eyes widened, "I'm late!"

.

.

Amazement was the second stage

.

.

"Forehead"

Sakura resisted the urge to sigh as Ami and her two ducklings grouped out on her.

She really didn't have the time for this, after a month she finally figured out how to do that gravity defying trick by applying the basics of the leaf sticking exercise and figuring out that the reason she couldn't do it longer was her stamina.

"Oi, don't ignore me when I talk!"

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts just in time to avoid the hand aiming to grab her hair.

"Ami" she finally spoke to the surprised girl who was used to her not resisting

But submissive Sakura was so gone. The new Sakura now had the courage to stand up for herself, thanks to a certain ninja.

"I decided that I won't let you push me around anymore" Sakura stated, "Actually, I've been meaning to ask. What did I ever do to you?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you like bullying me?"

Ami gave her a cruel smile, "Isn't it obvious? You're the easiest pick since you're the weakest"

Sakura's eyes widened at the revelation, she was the weakest? In her head she realized that yes, compared to the rest of the class she really is the weakest.

'Not anymore if I can help it' she thought to herself

Thirty minutes later a very bruised Sakura stumbled out of the academy, a proud smile played on her lips.

¡Chapter End!

A/N : ...I'm sorry. I just couldn't help but write this story after it entered my head.

Obviously I changed up Iruka's age

Current ages :

Sakura-7

Iruka-14