Summary: High school life can be complicated with the homework, hormones, and every other complication that comes with being and angsty teenager. New student Sakura Haruno learns this the hard way.

Disclaimer: No. I don't own Naruto.

Edited and updated: 4/10/15

Ch.1 Good Luck

Here's the honest truth.

Growing up, adults in your life will tell you that some of their best memories of their lives came from when they were in high school. Some say they met their soulmates or lifelong best friends while confined in the cement walls of a worn down educational building.

That's nice. Good for them.

Some will tell tales of athletic scholarships received that allowed them to a full ride to a college of their choice, while others found the ability to pursue music from their inspirational music director after their four measly years in high school.

Whoopdy-freakin-doo.

For these grade a cases of high school bliss, they forget to tell you about the blatant struggles that every teen goes through while their forced into the educational atmosphere. The bullying, the stress, the disgusting cafeteria meals. All of it. But when they tell you their perfect little stories of being captain of the football team, student council president, valedictorian, head cheerleader, first chair oboe player, or high school heartthrob, they forget to mention something of high importance.

These titles are easily achieved if you set your goals, work hard, or simply bang every girl on the dance team. These titles are easy for those who have grown into their school with every chance they're given. For those who are thrown into the mix halfway through high school, you don't stand a chance. A lesson learned the hard way for most, but harshly so if you're a teenage girl with no roots to the community. To be someone, you have to have connections and know someone else who has those connections.

So let's turn to Exhibit A: Sakura Haruno.

New resident to Konoha and its ever popular high school. Straight A student all through the rest of her school years, social butterfly in her own right, and goddess amongst mortals, or so her mother liked to tell her. She has been uprooted from her whole life to begin at a new school. A new high school. For a girl Sakura's age, that's not always easy. Some simple rules one should follow in Sakura's situation are as follows.

Rule #1: Don't stand out too much. There's no need to cause commotion when you're new to the high school scene.

Rule #2: Try not to make enemies on your first day. It truly makes life all the more difficult.

Rule #3: Be respectful to everyone around you. It's easier to branch out when people find you approachable, least of all likeable.

Following these rules should be simple! But let us add that Sakura is not one for following the rules quite as often as she should. Breaking rule number one was quite simple as she was born with hair the color of pink rose petals. A natural hair color to her family, not so much to the rest of the world. The constant conversation of natural hair color was ever present.

As she made her way out of her front door and started her trek towards her new school, dark colored backpack slung over her right shoulder, she felt the morning breeze filter through her bright tresses. She knew looks always came her way for the unique color that was like none most had ever seen unless they had purchased the electric pink box of pink hair dye from Hot Topic, it which case the color would be close, but not quite the same.

We'll cross off following Rule #1 for now.

Tucking her house key into the front pocket of her dark washed skinny jeans, she used her free hand to brush the vibrant locks from her face. The walk to school was a short one, just about a mile, which was convenient for not having a car to drive to school. Her grey slip on shoes scuffed across the sidewalk as she made her way across it. She knew she had to make her way to the office to pick up her class schedule and a map to find her way around. It wasn't her first time gracing a new school. It was something that couldn't be helped with her mother's ever constant traveling for her job. She hoped that the current job would be more permanent or that she could at least finish out high school at this last school instead of three different ones.

Nerves began to set in as she saw the large brown bricked building come into her view ahead. She saw cars pulling into the parking lots and students walking into the entrance with their friends at their sides. The idea of being all alone in a school full of over a thousand students was not all that appealing to the sixteen year old. Though she was accustomed to the transition to a new school, experience could never prepare her enough for what would await her behind those double doors. Each school was different.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't immediately noticed the car that had slowed down next to her on the main road pulling into the school. The occupants of the vehicle survived the unfamiliar face as the pulled up.

"Hey, sweetheart! Need a ride, yeah?"

The voice caught her attention as she stopped her movements and turned to her right, finding an electric blue convertible pulled up next to her on the street. There were four men taking up the seat of the car, two in the front and two in the back. The one who had called out to her seemed to be the driver. A man that seemed to have a soft masculinity about him with golden hair that surpassed hers in length. It was half pulled up at the back of his head which only seemed to accentuate the brightness of his blue eyes. He wore a smirk that was simply divine across his tanned skin, although she would never express it out loud.

In the passenger seat was a man with rustic red hair that was dark enough to remind her of cinnamon. His eyes were watching her, their nutmeg consistency showing the laxed demeanor he felt towards his situation. In the back was another man whose height seemed to have to at least double her own. His hair was a fare shade of blue and he seemed to have dark symmetrical face tattoos on either side of his high cheekbones that accented the paleness of his skin. A look she would admit she had never seen before. The last man had tanned skin with hair that reflected as silver in the sunlight that was exposed from the lack of roof on the blue vehicle. His eyes were a bright shade of violent and he was giving her a smirk of his own that looked absolutely deadly as he flashed his perfect white teeth.

Sakura raised a brow at the blonde driver. "You're asking me if I need a ride less the half a mile to that building that's right in front of me? I'll pass, sweetheart." She knew her tone bit onto a sarcastic edge as she relayed the name he had used on her mere moments ago, but she didn't seem to care. If she assumed correctly, which she usually did, she was sure the driver was hitting on her. The nerve.

She started her pace again towards the building before she was stopped by a cringe worthy comment.

"Bitch got you good, Deidara."

Her brow twitched as the edge of her lips pulled in dissatisfaction. He did not just called her a bitch. There's no way. He didn't even know her. She knew she should just take a breath and walk away, but she just couldn't seem to keep her short fuse in check at the moment.

"Excuse me?" she bit out as she turned her attention back to the car full of males.

"What, bitch? Are you deaf?" the man with violet eyes retorted back.

Screw rules 2 and 3. No one talked to her like that.

"Fuck off, asshole," she retorted back sharply as she flipped him an unfriendly finger before she huffed away from the group. Upon her departure, she heard a roar of deep laughter.

"She's feisty," a voice replied after the laughter subsided. "I can appreciate a girl who can put Hidan in his place."

"Screw off, you overgrown fish!"

Once Sakura finally made it through the front doors of her new school, she released a breath she was unware she had been holding. So much for making friends. She was sure she'd feel the burn from her outburst later, but for now she knew she had to make her way to the office to retrieve her schedule.

Finding the office was easy, as it was in the front of the school as it was at every other school she had ever been too. Making her way to the front desk, she noticed a woman with dark hair and a fare complexion sitting behind it. She seemed to notice her approach and offered Sakura a smile. "Good morning!" she chirped happily. "What can I help you with?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno, this is my first day here. I was supposed to pick up my class schedule," she told the woman simply as she gave her a small smile in return.

"Oh, of course!" the woman replied as she stood from her chair and held out a hand to Sakura, which the pink haired student took. "I'm Shizune, head secretary here at Konoha High! So nice to meet you Sakura! We just received your transcripts from your previous school so everything should be in order for you here."

Shizune released Sakura's hand and grabbed for a folder that was sitting on her desk. Flipping through it she pulled out a paper that resembled a class schedule. "This will be your class schedule for the school year. You'll start with homeroom in the morning with Kakashi. From there you will have the rest of your academic classes. You will have lunch after your third period and you have gym as your last class, which most students in your grade do as well. Any questions?"

Sakura looked over the classes on her schedule and shook her head. A few advanced classes had graced her schedule this year as the time to prepare for college was soon approaching. Doing what she could to save money on college credits, she agreed to test into a higher course.

"Wonderful!" Shizune replied as she clapped her hands together before handing Sakura the entire folder that had been on her desk. "Let me find you a student who can escort you to your homeroom class and you can be on your way. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to stop by and see me!"

Sakura nodded with a small smile in return as she followed Shizune out into the main hallway. She watched as the dark haired woman put a finger to her chin as she glanced around the halls. Finally finding what she seemed to be searching for, she called out a name. "Naruto!"

She watched as a blonde boy amongst the crowd flinch and hustle towards her. "I didn't do anything, Shizune! I swear! I'm not even late! I got here right on time today!"

Sakura couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips as she listened to the student defend himself. "You're not in trouble, this time. I need you to do me a favor," she spoke calmly, the sweet smile never leaving her face as she glanced at the blonde student before turning her attention back to Sakura. "This is Sakura. She's new here and today is her first day. I'd like you to take her to her homeroom class and help her out the best you can today!"

The addressed boy's attention finally moved to Sakura as he took in her appearance, and she took in his. Naruto seemed to be an athletic looking boy a few inches taller than her. His skin was tanned which she guessed was from being outside. His eyes were a bright shade of blue that was complimented by the genuine smile he was now flashing her. He was really handsome when he smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan!" he stated as he held out a hand for her to shake. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki. The best thing the school has ever seen; believe it!"

Sakura's smiled widened as she returned his handshake, "Nice to meet you, Naruto."

Naruto found that he liked to new girl's smile. He hoped to see more of it as the day went on. "So who do you have for homeroom?"

"I have Kakashi, I believe."

"Awesome!" he cheered as he hooked an arm through hers and began walking down the hallway he originated from. "We have homeroom together! You'll get to meet a bunch of my friends."

Slightly taken aback by his nonchalance with physical contact, she found that she was so enthralled in his overall positive demeanor that she didn't seem to care. Naruto was nice enough to take her to her assigned locker that was only one locker bay away from his own. Afterwards they made their way into their shared homeroom class.

"Hey guys!" Naruto called out to a group of students all sitting together, their attention turning towards the overzealous blonde. "We have a new student who I'm going to force to hang out with me for the rest of the day!"

"What if she doesn't want to hang out with you, Naruto? You can't force her," a girl with bright blonde hair retorted back to her friend as she flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder. Her eyes were a deep shade of blue which she accented with perfectly finished makeup across her blemish free skin. Sakura couldn't deny that she was beautiful. She was sure she was popular with the male population of her school.

"I'm sure once she realizes you reek of ramen, she'll want nothing to do with you!" A boy with chestnut hair and red triangular tattoos across his cheeks added. He had the same build as Naruto with evident muscles through the shirt he wore. His features were of neutral colors. Brown hair and eyes accented by the pop of red that flashed across his cheeks in the form of tattoos.

"I don't mind the smell of ramen," Sakura spoke up suddenly with all attention moving towards her. "It's the smell of tuna I can't stand."

Naruto cracked a smile at her quip as he moved to wrap and arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side, "This is the start of a beautiful friendship, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura glanced up at his from the corners of her emerald colored eyes as she let out a small laugh at his antics. She had to admit, Naruto was a breath of fresh air. He seemed to immediately calm her nerves about being at a new school as he welcomed her with open arms, not attacking her with questions.

"Well are you going to introduce us to your new friend or just have us stare at her?" another boy with dark hair questioned. She took in his appearance and could appreciate that his parents must be beautiful people to create someone with his looks. His pale skin accented his midnight hair that fell longer in the front as it spiked in the back. His eyes were as dark as his hair and his masculine features were graced with high cheekbones and a sharp jaw.

"Shut up, Sasuke!" Naruto shot back with a huff. As he turned his attention back to the pink haired girl in his arms. "This is Sakura-chan! She just moved here. Sakura-chan, these are some of my friends."

"I'm Ino Yamanaka," the pretty blonde introduced as she gave Sakura a smile.

"Kiba Inuzuka," the boy with triangle tattoos introduced as he gave her a small smirk.

"I'm Choji Akimichi," a boy with light brown spiked hair added as he munched on a bag of potato chips. She noticed that he was a little heavier, but nothing she would claim as obese. It was obvious he had a love of food, and she couldn't blame him for that.

"Shikamaru Nara," a boy with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail greeted. His eyes seemed to have a natural laze to them, as they were bored with the world around him. His laid back demeanor was accentuated by how he sat so casually in his chair.

"I'm H-Hinata Hyuga. It's n-nice to m-meet you." The greeting came from a dark haired girl whose eyes were a beautiful shade of lavender. The stuttering, Sakura was sure, was a nervous habit. She figured the girl to be quite shy, but still beautiful in all of her pale color complexion.

"And that bastard with this chicken butt hair is Sasuke, he's a dick so no need to pay extra attention to him, Sakura-chan," Naruto told her as he signaled to the dark haired male who Naruto had called out earlier.

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke shot back with a mild glare towards his friend while Naruto simply smiled sheepishly.

"It's really nice to meet you all," Sakura told them as she tucked a piece of her bubblegum hair behind her ear and gave the group a collective smile.

"So, Sakura, what does your schedule look like for the semester?" Ino questioned as she glanced at the paper in Sakura's grasp.

"Homeroom with Kakashi, language arts with Anko, art/photography with Kurinei and Genma, advanced math with Yamato, lunch, physics with Orochimaru, history with Kakashi again, and Gym with Gai. Looks like I also have study period replacing gym on Friday with Asuma."

"Hmmm, you have Language arts with Me, Naruto, and Shino, who you haven't met yet," replied Ino as she contemplated the list the pink haired girl had just rattled off.

"Advanced math?" Kiba questioned with an impressed whistle. "Shikamaru isn't even in that class. Good luck with that one."

The boy with hair that resembled a pineapple sighed, "Advanced math is too troublesome. I'm already taking enough advanced classes as it is."

"Do you guys know if anyone is taking it this semester?" Sakura questioned as she felt her nerves resurface. Advanced placement classes were never easy when you didn't have a support system to rely on.

"N-Neji, my cousin, has advanced m-math with you Sakura," Hinata started, "He's really s-smart and looks like me so y-you should be able to recognize him."

"Really? Well that's good to know," Sakura replied back with a smile before she thought about her next class. "What about art?"

"Well I guess you'll have Sai, he's kinda cranky though. Not the nicest person in the bunch," stated Kiba, "Hinata do you have art too?"

"Y-yes, I do," she replied, still in her shy manner.

"I have art too," Choji added as he stuck his hand back into his snack bag and continued his crunching.

"You're taking art?" asked Ino with evident surprise as she glanced at the munching boy.

"Yeah, why not? I like drawing and taking pictures of food." The blonde let out a short laugh at her friend's answer as she turned back to her other friends.

"Physics is another advanced placement class, but I think you have that with Gaara, Kankuro, myself, and possibly Temari," stated Shikamaru lazily before resuming his relaxed stance.

"Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara are all siblings they moved here from Suna a while back but a lot of people are afraid of them," Kiba explained as he shrugged. "Donno' why though."

"As for history, you've got Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba," Ino added.

"You'll like Gaara, Sakura-Chan. He can get a bit quiet, but be careful of his brother. He's kind of a perv. And Gym you have with everybody!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kiba scoffed at Naruto's comment, "Like you're one to talk, Naruto. You got caught last year trying to peak into the girl's locker room."

"That's not true!" The blonde exclaimed as a faint blush crossed his cheeks. "I fell in front of the door and those girls thought I was trying to sneak a peek!" Some of his friend's chuckled in reply while Sakura couldn't keep the smirk off her features.

"Anyways," Ino spoke up to change the subject and pull away from Naruto's obvious embarrassment. "I'm sure you'll meet some of our other friends in your classes as well since we don't know exactly what their schedules are right now. In terms of study period; it's basically a few seniors running a class of students. Something about learning management and responsibility before college."

"It's just a class you have to show up to, you can do whatever you want basically, if you have good seniors, which doesn't happen often," Sasuke's sudden explanation added as he crossed his arms over his chest. Sakura nodded in understanding. She just hoped study period proved to be useful during her time spent in it.

After what seemed like an eternity, a silver haired man walked into the class room reading and orange book. She couldn't tell what it was from the cover, but she was sure she saw a faint blush flushing through her teacher's cheeks. How odd. Everyone took their seat and turned their attention towards their teacher. Sakura took a seat next to Naruto with Kiba on her opposite side.

"Hello students!" he greeted as he waved a hand to the class, finally putting his book aside. "Sorry I'm late but I had to save a…goldfish! Yes, a goldfish, from a burning building and-"

"Save it Kakashi-sensei! That's a horrible lie!" yelled Naruto as he stood up from his desk.

"Sit down, Naruto, so I can get on with attendance. Ah, I see we have a new student! You must be Sakura Haruno. Welcome to Konoha High School; you can call me Kakashi," he said with a crinkled smile as he looked in Sakura's direction.

After a short attendance and small conversations the bell rang ending homeroom, seeing as it was only ten minutes to start with. She was told the class was meant to serve the purpose of a short social gathering before classes actually started, although she wasn't quite sure of the point. Grabbing her belongings, she moved towards the door with her schedule in hand.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Wait for me!" Naruto called out as he made his way to the door with her. He hooked his arm with hers once more and gave her a brilliant smile. "Off to language arts!"

Giving him a small smile and a nod, she let the blonde haired ball of sunshine take her to her next class.

Perhaps high school wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be.