"Did you see that new girl? She thinks she's all that, prancing around as if she owns the place!"

"I know, right! And look at her hair! It's obviously dyed!"

"Yeah! I mean, who would have such fucked up genes to get natural pink hair?"

"Che. Judging by the way she looks, I'd hazard a guess that if anyone is fucked up enough to have pink hair, it's her."

The rosette in question simply ignored the rumours and whispers which seemed to spread faster than disease. She simply walked through the hallways, chin raised up defiantly, her posture laid back. Today was her first day. The thought didn't cause her to panic or twitch. She was Haruno Sakura and Haruno Sakura does not run or hide.

'The best way out is always through' she reminded herself.

Whispers and gossips about her persona be damned. She wasn't concerned about her social status. Teasing or bullying? Hell no. Her father made it his own, personal goal before he died, to make sure that if anything came up, she would be able to handle herself. Wasn't that what all those Martial Arts medals and achievement certificates were for?
She had to say, as much as she disliked her father before the 'accident' he did her a great favour by signing her up for all different sorts of clubs. It helped to distract her.

Sakura smirked. Her best friend in her old school, Karin, always asked her how on Earth she managed all that without getting overstressed. She sometimes agreed with the peculiar redhead.
Even Sakura, as much as she enjoyed learning new things, even she thought that her father went a bit over the top.

A bit!? He went over the top by far! Stupid bastard.

Inner, calm yourself.

Alright, fine. But seriously; ballet, piano, Martial Arts, painting, singing, Italian, French and Latin classes are a bit too much for a normal sixteen-year-olds.

Good thing we're not normal, then.

Che, right.

Goshers, I already miss Karin.

Though Sakura herself didn't understand how Karin became her frie- Hell, practically sister- she just was. Karin was the kind of girl who liked her boy-toys rough, liked fun and breaking any and all kinds of laws or rules. She didn't care one bit for her education, saying that when she became an actress she would not need it.
Though Sakura often ridiculed her for her one-sided thinking, she knew that Karin was more than capable of making that come true. As straight as the rosette was, she had to agree that her best friend-slash-sister was smokin' hot.

According to said redhead, Sakura was even better. She wasn't hot, she was sexy – waist-long pink tresses, almost always topped with a black beanie which Sakura absolutely adored, most often black skinny jeans-the rosette loathed skirts- and some loose dark band t-shirt together with her old, leather, black gave her the incredible bad-ass look which most boys went gaga over.

She was one smexy mama.

But now, there would be no more of sitting on benches smoking cigarettes with Suigetsu and Juugo, no more awesome street racing with Kimimaro. The thought almost made her cry.

Now it was the- boring boring boring- supposedly 'prestigious' Konoha High.

Prestigious my ass, buddy. I prefer Sound than this shithole any time. It's just too… clean.

Sakura agreed with her Inner wholeheartedly. Sound High with its single-floor blocks and corridors packed with girls wearing close to nothing and boys trying to constantly chat up anything with a pulse and a vagina, Konoha High, with its white walls and spacious halls looked almost like a hospital.

A hospital for stuck-up rich brats, mind you.

She almost laughed. That's right. Trust Sakura to find amusement in the weirdest things possible. That's just how she was.

Sakura came to a halt. Room 301. That's her stop.

She almost snorted. Even without a map, she managed to find the class in what, less than ten minutes? Forget the fact that the bell already rung – she was awesome!

So, with one final sigh, Sakura pushed the door open. As expected, all eyes automatically snapped to her, some widening and bugging out of their sockets. So what if she wasn't one of your 'everyday girls'? She was unique and she was bloody proud of that. Period.

"Ah, I believe you're our new student." The supposed homeroom teacher stated.

Does he expect us to answer this?

Maybe, but I'mma going to rebel. I'm keeping quiet.

Good girl.

Noticing her silence, the premature-grey man smiled. At least Sakura thought he smiled. His creepy mask covered ¾ of his face.

"Well, sit wherever you like."

Sakura did just that and looked around the room, trying to find a good seat. A second later her gaze fell on the table for three at the back of the class, and more importantly, the raven haired boy which sat in one of the seats.

C-Chicken-ass-kun?

No way…

It seemed as if the boy heard her thoughts and looked up. His eyes widened and he stood up. For a second there was major confusion in the room as of why did Sasuke stand up, but it all came clear when he walked over to the new girl, staring her in the eyes, and…

…

…

He hugged her!

For a second, nothing made sense, the rosette looked just as surprised, but then she smiled beautifully and returned the hug. She was acutely aware that the entire class was staring at her with a mix of horror or admiration. She grinned and pulled back from the hug.

"So, how've you been, Sasuke?" she asked, still grinning madly.

The corner of the boy's mouth turned upwards. "Fine. The dobe always complained that he missed you, though."

More shocked stares. Inner Sakura smirked.

"I think we should sit down, I can literally feel a metaphorical hole being burned through the back of my head by one of your fangirls."

Sasuke snorted. "Sasuke." The rosette warned. He sighed and led her to the back table.

When they sat down, Kakashi cleared his throat, getting the attention of the still shell-shocked class.

The raven-haired boy turned face Sakura. She grinned. He smirked. "So, how are you doing, lover-boy?" she teased.

Sasuke growled at her, "I told you to stop referring to me with that pathetic nickname."

"Oh, come on! You know you love it!" the rosette chuckled. Sasuke was the only one who could make her laugh so effortlessly.

Suddenly there was a loud thunk! and all heads turned as the door once again slammed into the wall.
A blur of orange and yellow appeared in Sakura's peripheral vision.

"TEME! YOU STUPID BASTARD YOU-! Sakura?" what Sakura finally realised was a boy, stopped mid-rant and stared at her. For a second everything was silent, save for the scraping of Sakura's chair legs as she stood up and out-stretched her arms in an inviting hug. The blonde didn't need more.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sakura just laughed as the boy once again became a blur as he literally threw himself at her, enveloping her in a fierce hug. He would never drop the childish nickname. Evah.

Kakashi had to give the girl props; Naruto's hugs could kill with the power he put behind them, but the rosette didn't even stagger. She just stood there, letting the only orange-tracksuit-wearing-high-schooler-in-the-world hug the daylights out of her.

It was quite funny, really. Sakura was originally from Japan, but she and her father emigrated when she was five, which was when the last one of her parents' divorce papers was finally signed.

When she came to Toronto, all she was concerned about was that she wouldn't find anyone her age to have an intelligent conversation with. Looking back at it now, she almost laughed. Even at the age of five, all she cared about was her intelligence and capability of surviving on her own.

!Flashback!

"Come on, Sakura. Go play with the other kids, live a little." Naoko Haruno told his daughter.

He was worried and over-stressed, the little girl in front of him could easily say that much, so with a sigh, she nodded and left the house.

She wandered along the streets, finally coming to a stop when she found the playground. She stared at it for a moment, not going in. That's when she spotted the swing set and she set off to her personal target. She approached the swings carefully, almost frighteningly. The five-year-old Sakura lowered herself onto the swing seat, only to be shoved off quite roughly the next second. She turned slightly, looking up at the small boy who'd shoved her off. He was gorgeous, except for the tiny frown which was etched on his marble-like forehead.

Suddenly, a boy who looked to be around thirteen run up to the boy and poked him roughly in the forehead. "Sasuke, that was incredibly rude. Have you forgotten your manners?"

Sakura guessed that the two boys must have been brothers, because the similarity was too big for it to be a coincidence.

The older boy knelt down to her level. "I apologise for my little brother. He had just been reprimanded by our Father, he's still a bit upset." The boy explained. "Here, let me help you up."

He proceeded to pull the tiny rosette to her feet. Sakura shook her head and dusted herself off. "I do not mind, though next time I would like him to just tell me to get off. My bum hurts" She frowned, rubbing her backside, before blushing furiously and extending her hand. "Sorry. I'm Sakura."

"Itachi." The boy-Itachi-replied, shaking her hand and fixing her with a quick smile, but his eyes showed that he was surprised. Because he was. This girl, who looked to be approximately the same age as Sasuke had spoken with so much defiance and… understanding in her voice that he almost gasped. She was smart. Very smart.

"Brother, can we go yet? I'm bored."

The rosette jumped. In the process of dusting herself off and admiring the older boy in front of her (come on, he was cute!) she completely forgot about the smaller raven.

Itachi just shook his head and smiled at Sakura.

She smiled back.

"Sasuke! Come and find me!"

"Sakura, just give up already. You're probably in some random, easy-to-find place. Come out."

"~Noooo!" the rosette sang, "Naruto and Itachi helped me hide! You'll never find me!"

"Really? Look down."

The now seven-year-old Sakura did as told and looked down. She shrieked when she saw her friend's raven hairdo poking out beneath her, and his know-it-all grin.

"Told you."

!Flashback!

From day one, their friendship blossomed and strengthened, and when Sakura thought back to that day, she could only smile. She didn't see Itachi anymore. Something changed when he left Sasuke to go study abroad. He dropped all contact. Totally cut himself off. So, Sakura cut him off as well.

Suddenly, the bell rang and Sakura sprang from her seat. Naruto grinned at her. "So, how's your little Corvette?" he asked.

He was referring to Sakura's old test subject. She called it her 'test subject' because she bought it second-hand from some hippie three years previous when she had her 'tinkering' phase. She liked cars and engines and over the course of three months she transferred the twelve-year-old, rusted sardine tin, into a beautiful, sleek masterpiece, with a 4.2 litre engine.

She loved that car. But, its days had come to an end when she decided to sell it.

"It's a goner now. A very profitable goner, but still a goner."

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. "You sold it?"

"Yah. I have a Porsche Carrera GT now. It's awesome."

For a moment the boy whom she'd come to call an almost brother just stared at her, before his face split with a grin.

"I still can't believe you transferred to Konoha High! Believe it!"

Sasuke whacked him over the head. "Hn, dobe. Stop being so loud."

Naruto pouted. "How come you're always nice to Sakura? Huh? Huh!"

"Because she isn't annoying."

Naruto froze. "Uchiha Sasuke… Did you just compliment someone?"

They were in the cafeteria now, and Naruto's shout echoed around for everyone to hear.

As if in slow motion, all heads turned towards them.

Some snorted and turned back, some eyed Sakura with very appreciative looks on their faces, while others simply laughed at the impossibility of the statement.

But only one group actually stepped forward.

Sasuke made a kind of hissing sound and stepped slightly in front of Sakura, while Naruto tensed beside her.

"What's your problem, chibi Itachi? Why hide your friend away from us? She's fineee."

Sakura growled. No one talked about her like that. Or if they did, they got her spare screwdriver shoved none-too-gently up their ass. She peaked out from behind Sasuke and noticed that the guy who spoke had blue skin and something which looked like gills tattooed on his cheeks. i.e.: he looked like a fish.

"Piss off, Hoshikagi." Sasuke threatened.

"Why should I? I bet I could show pinky a good time."

Sakura had enough. She stepped out from behind Sasuke and fixed the over-sized walking fish with her most menacing glare. Seriously, it could kill puppies.

"Sorry, Fish-stick, I'm not interested in sea-food." she stated calmly.

The boy went purple and glared at her, while the blonde next to him bent over, clutching his stomach and laughing loudly, soon joined by a guy with slicked back silver hair.

"Freak."

"Says the one with blue skin." Sakura retorted.

"Is hiding behind sarcasm everything you can do, pink-bitch?"

"I hide behind sarcasm because telling you to go fuck yourself is considered rude in most social situations."

Needless to say, the whole cafeteria's attention was once again on her, and all the boys who'd heard her were now either: rolling around on the floor laughing their heads off, smirking or quietly chuckling.

Only Sasuke looked horrified.

Remember, he's not used to this side of us.

I know. And I plan on showing him exactly what this side is capable of.

Agreed.

By now, fish-face had managed to walk right over to her, so much that she had to tilt her head to look at his face. He was tall…

"Say one more thing, I dare you." He hissed

With a smirk, Sakura lifted up her hand in a mock-wave. "Hi."

Almost too quickly for anyone to notice, the guy's fist flew straight at Sakura's pixie-like chin, but the rosette was quicker.

She caught Kisame's fist with ease and grimaced at him.

"So eager to fight, huh? You'll need to think of a much more challenging than this to get me."

Suddenly, Kisame smirked. "You want a challenge, do you? Well then, I have just the thing." He leaned towards her. "You. Me. Sports Hall. After school."

"What're we gonna do?"

"Kendo. Let's see how you get out of that."

For a moment, Sakura didn't answer. She didn't care if she got in trouble on her first day, she was just slightly surprised that he knew the sport. It was one of the most popular Japanese sword-fighting styles a few decades previous, so…

"Afraid?"

Sakura glared. "You wish."

She realised that Kisame was still waiting for her reply, so, ignoring Sasuke's glare of 'don't you dare', she said the two words that would change everything.

"I accept."

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