Hikin's Notes…
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Hiya everyone:D This is my VERY first story…! I just love the ItaSaku pairing!
It's so pretty and cute. xD Lol. I really hope that you guys like this story and
review, because I'm really looking forward to finishing this fic. :D Thanks!

Naruto© Kishimoto Masashi

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sakura DROPS
by Hikin
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"W-What! WHY!"

Haruno Sakura stood up, erect, from her seat at the dinner table. The napkin that had been placed upon her lap had toppled onto the ground and the fork she was holding fell with a loud clatter onto her plate. She stared at her aunt, disbelief reflecting in her jade green eyes. Her cousin, Ino, shifted in her seat as she glanced back and forth from her mother to her befuddled, pink-haired cousin. Tsunade sighed and placed down her glass of water.

"I don't wanna move!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Calm down, Sakura-chan…" commanded Tsunade, gently, "We have to. Jiraiya suggested-"

"We're moving because your fiancée Jiraiya wants us to?" The girl gave her aunt a look.

"…Well, sort of. It was partly my decision, also. Since we're planning on getting married soon… I thought that maybe we could move in with him." Tsunade explained.

Sakura groaned. "But I don't want to!" she repeated, "Do you know how long it took to get people to accept me at school? Now I'm going to have to go through all that hell AGAIN!" The pink-haired girl plopped back down onto her chair, slouching sulkily. Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"Watch your language," she warned, before sighing, "I'm sure that you'll make friends easily, Sakura. You are friendly."

"Psh, friendly my ass…" Ino mumbled under her breath. Sakura glared, but said nothing.

"Fine! Whatever!" Sakura threw her arms up into the air and walked away from the dining table. She pouted angrily and walked up the small case of stairs, before walking down a narrow hallway. She took a step through the last door – her room – and forcefully slammed the door, just so that the ones downstairs could hear that she was royally pissed. She flopped stomach-down onto her bed, growling inwardly.

God, why do we have to move…? She thought, This is stupid! It took me practically FOREVER to get people to stop teasing me about my 'weird' hair color and wide forehead! Sakura brought a hand up to rub the patch of skin above her eyebrows. I don't even want to know how long it'll take THIS time!

Angry tears blurred her vision as she stuffed her face into a pillow.

Ever since Sakura was small, it was hard for her to fit in.

No matter how many times she tried… no matter how many times Ino gave her a makeover… People would always notice her flaws.

And it was always about the same things.

Her abnormally wide forehead and unnatural hair color – it was actually NATURAL, by the way.

When Sakura was young, she would always get teased at. Back then, she would always cry because of how mean they were to her. But as Sakura got older, she managed to fight down the urge to cry and pretend as if she hadn't heard the nasty insults and glares they threw her way. Sometimes, Sakura just wished that she was as beautiful as her blonde cousin, Ino. She was the near-opposite of whatever Ino was.

Oh, Mom… she thought, …I miss you so much. If only you and dad were still alive… Then maybe you could help me with all these problems…

Sakura rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

You see, Sakura's parents passed away a long time ago, when she was merely seven or six years old. It was a windy Christmas Eve and Sakura had been staying over at Auntie Tsunade's house. Her parents, unable to afford a car, had taken a taxi over to pick her up… there was so much snow on the road and everything was slippery… and I guess you know what happened after that.

The melted ice had caused the taxi to go too fast. They passed a red light and got hit by another, larger, truck.

And that's how she ended up living with Auntie Tsunade and Ino.

Knock. Knock.

Sakura sighed loudly and turned onto her side, so that she was facing the wall opposite of the door. "Who is it?" she asked.

"…It's Ino. Can I come in?" A muffled voice answered.

"Sure, whatever." Sakura answered.

It was silent for a moment, before the door slowly opened and the sounds of footsteps entered the room. A gentle click of the door indicated that it had been closed and locked. Ino took a seat at the edge of Sakura's bed, staring down at her cousin. Ino, honestly, didn't want to move into Jiraiya's home, either. No… it wasn't because she was unable to fit in, but because of Naruto – Jiraiya's son. They had met on a few occasions, and he just happened to be a misfit.

…They weren't really on the best of terms.

"Listen, Sakura-chan," started Ino, "I'm not all-too-happy about this whole idea, either."

"Then why don't you say something? Maybe you can change Auntie Tsunade's mind…" Sakura mumbled, still staring at the wall.

"Well," Ino thought for a moment, "…I don't want to make her sad. She is my mother, after all."

"What do you mean?" This piqued Sakura's interest. Why would not wanting to move in with Jiraiya make her feel sad?

Ino sighed. "Are you really that dense?" Sakura scowled at this, but continued listening, "Mom likes being with Jiraiya. Otherwise, she wouldn't have accepted when he asked her hand in marriage," she snorted, "It makes her happy just being with him. I can tell that she was really looking forward to moving in with him." Ino shrugged nonchalantly, staring up at the ceiling before back down at her pink-haired cousin.

Sakura thought for a moment. I guess… Ino has a point. Auntie Tsunade DOES look a bit happier when she's around Jiraiya. Even though he can sometimes be a pervert…

Suddenly, Sakura started feeling a bit guilty about overreacting like how she did. Sighing loudly, she turned to face her cousin.

"I guess you're right. Maybe I was just seeing things the wrong way…" she said.

"Yeah." Ino nodded, standing up, "I'll go tell Mom that you're okay with the whole thing. She's a bit stressed right now."

Sakura raised a brow. "Why?"

Her blonde cousin shrugged. "I don't know. But I heard her mumbling something about how she was going to kill every single one of her employees slowly." Ino said after a moment's thought. Sakura giggled slightly and shook her head.

"Anyway, G'night." Ino said, walking out.

"Night."

The door closed and, again, Sakura was alone. She contemplated on what Ino had told her.

I guess… It'll be okay. If it makes Auntie Tsunade happy. Sakura tried thinking of all the good things about this, but failed; Let's just hope that I can start fresh at my new school… The pink-haired girl sighed, before standing up. She changed into a pair of pink shorts and a big, white shirt. Sakura brushed her teeth and washed her face before lying back down on her light pink-clad bed.

She laid there, thinking of how long it would take for her to fit in this time.

With her last thoughts on that, Sakura fell asleep.

—

For the next week and a half, Sakura, Ino and Tsunade had managed to pack most of what they had into brown, cardboard boxes.

There weren't much… since they couldn't really fit anything into their small house.

"Auntie Tsunade," started Sakura, "Where's the moving trucks?" (Hikki: You know, the trucks that help you move stuff? Don't know what they're called.)

"Didn't get none." The older woman answered simply.

Sakura gave her a blank stare. "…Why not?"

"Hey!" Tsunade defended, "I am NOT made of money! Do you know how much they charge people? Like hell I'd hire them."

"Then how are we going to get these over to Jiraiya's house?" Ino asked, giving her mother a strange look.

"Hm… He was supposed to come over and help us transfer us there." Tsunade replied. She stepped outside of the garage and looked around. There was no sign of Jiraiya's car anywhere. She sighed exasperatedly and said, "It was either he slept in late, Naruto slept in late, or they both did." Tsunade mumbled some things about irresponsible men, before a black truck pulled into view.

"Jiraiya's here!" A white-haired man exclaimed through the driver's seat.

"And Naruto!" A boy with blonde hair stood proudly in the trunk, his chest puffed out haughtily.

The three women rolled their eyes in unison. Men… The trio though simultaneously.

The black truck parked in front of the driveway. Naruto tried jumping out of the back, but ended up tripping and falling flat on his face. Jiraiya, on the other hand, rounded the car and walked towards Tsunade. Sakura rolled her eyes as Naruto stood up again, only to trip – AGAIN – on a rather small rock.

"What took you so long, Jiraiya?" asked Tsunade. Her brows were knit together in annoyance.

"My dearest apologies!" he said, "You see, Naruto had slept in late, and we had to use a shortcut! We got lost and ended up at the beach where Naruto was peek-"

"HEY! That is NOT true! You were the one peeping on those girls!" Naruto exclaimed from his place on the ground.

Tsunade's brow twitched violently.

Jiraiya noticed this and panicked. Uh-oh! "Oh, don't listen to him. He doesn't know what-"

WHAM!

"Ow!" "PERVERT!"

Sakura stifled a giggle at the sight of Jiraiya on the ground, with a huge lump on his head.

"What kind of fiancée are you?" Tsunade exclaimed, "You aren't supposed to check out other girls!"

"…I'm sorry! Forgive me?" Jiraiya whimpered.

Tsunade gave the white-haired man a sickly-sweet smile. She lifted him up and nodded. "Aw," Her voice was sugar-coated, "I forgive you, honey…"

Jiraiya paled. Honey…? Shit.

The busty blonde leaned in, almost as if she were going to give him a kiss. Hesitantly, Jiraiya did the same. When he figured that she wasn't going to do anything rash, he closed his eyes and relaxed. Tsunade smirked and lifted up her hand… higher…

DOUBLE WHAM!

"Don't peep other women, AGAIN, perv!"

Sakura mushroom sighed at the sight of the two lovebirds. She didn't even know how or why Auntie Tsunade fell in love with someone as perverted and as non-committed as Jiraiya. She stared at them for a while, before starting to load boxes into the black truck. "Naruto!" she shouted at the boy, who was brushing dirt off his clothes, "Hurry up and help me with these boxes."

"Yeah, yeah, I will," he said and grabbed some.

Ino started helping also.

—

Sakura wiped a bead of sweat that trickled down her face.

The sun was now high in the sky, beaming down all of Konoha. The pink-haired teen grunted softly as she lifted another box and helped carry it inside of their new house. It was relatively bigger than Auntie Tsunade's house, and it looked big enough to fit five people. She put down the cardboard box down in front of a few other stacks of boxes. Tsunade looked at her niece and smiled.

"Thanks, Sakura."

"No problem!"

After a few more hours, they managed to get all the boxes into the house.

Ino sighed loudly and sat on the couch. "Finally! We're done!"

"Yup!"

Sakura sat down next to her, brushing a few strands of pink hair out of her eyes. She heard a groan and looked over at Naruto, who didn't even make it to the couch. He flopped onto the ground and looked up at the ceiling.

"Damn!" he exclaimed, "I didn't know that you guys had THAT many things!"

"Hey! We didn't have lots of boxes! You're just out of shape." Ino claimed, taking a sip from a water bottle that lay on the table.

"Psh, yeah right! Look at YOU!" Naruto retaliated.

Ino glared nastily at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"It means…" Naruto sat, leaning onto his side so that he could stare smugly at the blonde girl, "That you're… FAT!"

Uh-oh, thought Sakura. She stared over at Ino, who was tightly gripping the water bottle in her hands. Her eyebrow was twitching rather dangerously, You just had to go and call her fat, didn't you, Naruto? The pink-hared teen watched as the poor water bottle exploded from the pressure, making water fly out everywhere. Naruto jumped, and his eyes widened at the sight.

"Naruto…" Ino growled, stalking towards him. Her face was flushed.

…And it wasn't from the heat.

"Oh god…" With a girly shriek that made Sakura burst into a fit of giggles, Naruto ran around the living room with an enraged Ino trailing hot on his heels.

Sakura continued laughing, not bothering to stop her cousin from beating the poor boy senseless.

"What's going on here?" Tsunade and Jiraiya walked in.

The three children stopped what they were doing as the parents stared at the scene before them. Naruto had been hog tied, stomach-down on the ground. Ino stood above him with her foot digging into his back and a hand – which held a book – that was high in the air. Sakura was having a hard time concealing her laughter as she hid her smile behind her right hand. Tsunade sighed and shook her head.

"You guys have to learn how to get along…" she said, "We are going to be living in the same house now, y'know."

"I think they're doing a great job acting as siblings!" Jiraiya said, smiling.

"…Really?" Tsunade asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

(Hikki: Hehe… sometimes, me and my sister act like that. xD Lol!)

—

Sakura sat down on a mattress, looking around her new room.

It was larger than her old one, that's for sure.

But everything just seemed so plain.

Instead of the normal, light pink walls that she had, the walls were just a boring white. There were no curtains, since her old ones didn't fit her new window and the carpet was just a bare, light tan color. She was going to sleep on just a mattress for a few days – or weeks – because Jiraiya had promised her that he was going to install her new one soon. She sighed and brought her knees up towards her chest.

I guess there's no going back now…

"Sakura?" A voice called out.

Knock. Knock.

The pink-haired teen recognized it as Ino's voice.

"Come in," she answered, her voice just a tad-bit soft. The door opened and Ino came in, holding a school uniform that was wrapped in plastic.

"Here." Ino threw it into Sakura's lap, "It's for our new school."

"…Great." Sakura sighed lifted up the plastic-wrapped uniform.

Ino sighed and took a seat next to her. "Aw, it won't be that bad! You gotta start thinking optimistically, Sakura-chan!" she encouraged.

"I know, I know." The shorter girl responded.

"I'm sure that you'll make friends easily this time around! You can hang out with me," Ino said.

"…Fine. I guess it won't be THAT bad if you're there…"

Ino smiled and gave the pink-haired girl a poke in the arm. "Maybe you'll even find someone you like this year," she teased.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Ino," she said, "You know that I don't like talking to guys."

"Why do you hate them so much?" Ino asked, "They're so CUTE!" Her eyes became hearts.

"…I don't hate them. I just get sort of… nervous… around them," Sakura muttered.

"Hm," Ino thought for a moment, "Then I'll just have to HELP you find someone. Don't worry, this year, you'll be a whole different person! No one will make fun of you. If they do, I'll punch in their face!" she exclaimed, making Sakura laugh a bit. She felt a little uncomfortable, though. Sakura had never heard Ino say something like that before… except, when they were younger. It brought back both good and bad memories…

"Anyways, I gotta unpack my stuff," Ino stood up to leave the room, "See you tomorrow!"

"See ya."

With that, the door closed.

Sakura sighed loudly and plopped back onto the mattress, her head landing softly on the single pillow. She looked up at the white ceiling. I… have to think positively! She thought, Just like Ino said. This year, I'll be a whole different person! Sakura could feel a bit of confidence surging through her body.

…Yes. Different.

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to be continued.
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HIKIN: Hm… The starting is a bit rocky, but I'll put a lot more effort into the next chapter. :D I promise.
Oh, and if there are some favorite pairings that you'd like in this story, please tell me. Thank you! I will
be looking forward to everyone's review. :3

sakura DROPS © Hikin