Sometimes I had no clue as to why I'm friends with such an idiot. An idiot who constantly eats ramen noodles when having the chance. And it seems his chances of getting to eat that food was every single day.
"Naruto! You're going to regret climbing so far up that tree! Get down from there before you get hurt!"
"Sakura-chan, calm down. You worry way too much. Check this out. See? I won't fall. If by chance my foot slips, I could just grab the tree branch and prevent myself from falling." He was standing on a tree branch which was not at all sturdy enough to handle anyone's weight.
The moment he said this, one of the tree's branches snapped and I remember trying to catch Naruto's falling figure but being far too late. Ino only laughed at his body laying on the dirty ground, not bothering to check if he was alright.
"That's what you get! Geez! You just never want to listen."
"Shut up Ino! Sakura, knock some sense into her and tell her to come help me! Like a friend would do!"
That reminds me. I also laughed as well when seeing how Naruto fell. Ino and I weren't the kindest of friends to Naruto.
"More like you need some sense knocked into you!"
And I punched that ramen lover's head. For good intentions though. I was worried about him and I couldn't help getting mad and taking that anger out on him. But when he heard my explanation of why I hit him, he said, "Bullshit" which earned him another hit to the head.
A smile crept up my face as I softly giggled. It has certainly been a long while since I came here. Years if I were to be specific. As I neared Konoha, it made me think of my childhood friends and the times we would mess around. Reminiscing those memories made me realize how very long it has been. Was it really a good enough reason to leave this place?
Honestly, there's just a lot of catching up that needs to be done.
The whole place had clear changes but it was still the very same. Except for that tree. Oh that wonderful, beautiful, huge tree. Isn't that the tree where Naruto fell from? Thinking back some more, it is. The light pink flowers blooming is an unforgettable sight. I couldn't believe my name's 'Sakura' when I don't even live to the title of being 'pretty.' Or maybe it was my parents first thought when seeing their baby daughter's small tuffs of pink hair.
I let out a sigh as my eyes wandered at the huge lettering that spells out 'Konoha High'. This was my chance to redeem myself. Words don't simply hurt me that easily anymore. And I'm sure the kids who've bullied me in the past have grown mature and set their enjoyment of seeing-others-in-pain aside.
I was actually really excited. Negativity was on the back of my mind and meeting new people motivated me to start heading my way to the building's front doors. It's best to restart life with positivity and I was here to do just that. I clenched my bag and slowly made my way inside.
"Don't be nervous. You got this." I told myself.
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"Sasuke-kun, please go out with me!" A female freshman called out.
A petite girl tried to catch his attention by hugging him. "I love you Sasuke-san!"
It was too lively for the first day of school but this was usually how it was everyday. Girls always feel the need to squeal so loud whenever the Uchiha was spotted. But why is the first day different from the rest? It's because of the newcomers that now attend the school. All freshmen believe Sasuke is some Prince Charming and have always wanted a look at the guy. Of course, some fall in love at first glance like those two freshmen. But usually the next day, it tends to get quieter as all the girls realize that Sasuke hates loud noises so they quit their squealing to satisfy him.
Normally the girls that flock to him are younger, not always the same age or grade as him. He's a senior now. His other fellow seniors don't particularly have an obsession with him, since they know Sasuke pretty well. They definitely know he is no prince charming. He's attractive and one would be lying if one said he's not. It's really a mystery as to why Sasuke has never dated anyone before. Some speculate that he could be gay. But they threw that prediction away and thought he was asexual. Not attracted to any gender at all. This was something the students the same grade as him, came up with. But only a small group theorize that. If such a rumor began to spread around the school, they will surely not be able to see the light again.
"Seriously! How pathetic!" But there were a few seniors who took a liking to him and were stubborn as hell when it came to being near Sasuke. Take this red hair girl for example. She was determined in becoming Sasuke's first girlfriend and this annoyed everyone to a great extent. Since it's obviously clear it will never happen with the lack of disinterest Sasuke gives her. "You're out of your mind, if you think this Uchiha will ever stoop so low to girls such as yourself!" This group of newcomers sneered at her comment. They all thought the same thing. Same goes for you! She chuckled at the sight of their silence and approached him with a bright smile. "Now Sasuke, let me keep you some company. I'm sure it'll please you to get away from them." The dashing specimen, known as Sasuke Uchiha, opened his mouth ready to reply. But Ino said it for him.
For the past three years, she's been doing this for countless times. It irritated her to the extreme that this bitch thought she had any sort of chance with this guy. "Karin." She wanted to be calm. "Do what everybody here wants and go the hell away and leave him alone for goodness sake! Can't you see we're trying to get to class!" Ino shouted as she got in between her and Sasuke. "Aren't your classes all the way there?" She pointed to the opposite direction in which Sasuke and the rest of them were heading. "You should get to class right now. Sasuke hates tardy girls." She wasn't really doing this for Sasuke but for everyone who was annoyed at Karin's attitude. She really disrupted the morning's peace with those unnecessary insults to those innocent freshman.
"And who says I'm going to listen to you?" Karin scoffed, making sure Ino wasn't any closer to the tall teen.
Yamanaka began to fume. Why can't she just disappear?! Ino walked away finding her next class. She gave up. Dealing with her so early in the morning gave her a headache. "That's it! Help yourself, Sasuke!" The Uchiha can deal with this alone and Ino knows that.
Sasuke took his arm away from the bloody red head and didn't bother to look at her. Ignoring her was the calm approach which the ponytail blonde didn't think about. He walked away following her, not trying to waste his breath on Karin. "You should know by now that she won't listen to you, no matter how loud you yell."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. I'm aware only you can make her shut up."
Karin growled, deciding to just let this slide because if she spoke even more, one of the staff will soon come and she'll get in trouble again. She's trying to avoid that.
But when someone bumped into her (more like Karin, herself, did) she suddenly became pissed especially when this person didn't try apologizing. "Not even a sorry? You sure have some nerve."
The stranger had on a peach-colored hoodie and her body determined that she was in fact a girl. The rest of her face couldn't be seen except for her glossy lips. "Hm?" She seemed confused as she faced Karin. "Um, I'm sorry I guess."
Karin's face contorted to a what-the-hell expression. "What's that suppose to mean? YOU bumped into me, just to remind you." She spat.
The stranger found this irritating. "No, it was YOU. I was trying to go around you but your body just then suddenly leaned to where I was heading and before our heads would bump into each other's, I moved a bit out of the way and our shoulders instead touched. So sorry for the confusion."
Her eyes started to twitch. What happened to her staying calm? "NO. I know for sure you bumped into me on purpose. You saw what happened earlier and just wanted to piss me off some more, is that right?" She referred to Sasuke's friend forcing her to get away from him, in which the Uchiha himself also wanted by walking away from her.
She didn't understand at all. "Sure I saw a little bit of the ruckus but I didn't know what was happening. And why would I try to purposely get you mad? That's beyond stupid."
"Because you-"
"Ok listen. I'm sorry for getting you mad. But you're misunderstanding the situation. I could literally stand here all day and argue why it was you who bumped into me but it's not even that big of a deal and I'm in a hurry at the moment." She bowed her head and waved bye. "So if you'll excuse me."
Neji's eyes followed her figure as she walked through the halls. "Must be a new girl. And she was pretty calm towards Karin too." He looked ahead at Yamanaka and grinned. "Unlike Ino."
"Be quiet, you." She said back as she childishly stuck her tongue out at the Hyuuga and walked beside Sasuke.
Shikamaru smirked. "Whoever that was made Karin not say another word even though she's clearly upset."
"It'd be nice to meet her." Temari nodded.
Hinata shrugged slightly. "Maybe she's somehow related to Tsunade. Something about her reminded me of the Principal."
Sasuke listened in to everyone's conversation but really the one thing on his mind was that girl. She handled it quite maturely and plus she did have a point, Karin didn't have to get so mad about a simple thing. Though he was sure her anger was originated by himself and Ino. He thought about the pink that he saw within the hood. Pink hair.....interesting. As everyone started to head for class, he couldn't get the thought of her out of his head. Sasuke grinned. Sounds fun.
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Naruto pushed the cafeteria doors wide open and called for his best friend. "TEME!!!" He could care less about the pissed glances everyone threw at Uzumaki when he similarly destroyed the peace of lunchtime like Karin did this morning in the halls.
"Dobe, what do you want?" Sasuke nonchalantly asked, not caring how loud his friend was. He got fairly used to it.
The ramen lover eyed him down, trying to make him feel threatened. But the Uchiha only looked at him with a bored gaze and took a bite out of his tomato. Weird right? Naruto got used to that as well. "I don't want you to use your charms on her, got it?" Naruto said, trying to give him a deadly glare. Still, it didn't work.
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked.
"An old friend of Ino and mine is going to attend this school and the last thing I want is for her to be a blushing mess when she's with you. So please just don't be so.." He paused. How should he put it?
Ino tried to finish it off for him. "Attractive?" She wasn't so sure what word to use either.
The Uchiha shook his head. "Even so, it won't be my fault if she tries being all flirty when I don't interact with her at all."
It really did struck a nerve when hearing that come out of his mouth. "Bastard! Don't put her on the same level as your fan girls!"
Ino softly giggled. "She's been away for so long. Who knows what she's been doing." An evil grin came across her face. "You never know Naruto. She could've flirted around and got herself a boyfriend." And like a child, Uzumaki blushed furiously at the word. He even got angry at the thought.
"T-that's" Replying back with a stutter, he began to say, "not something she'd do! She doesn't even need one!" It's almost as if he refused to say 'boyfriend'.
"You know," Shikamaru said. "You can't just keep talking about whoever this girl is and not tell us anything about her." He really didn't like hearing a conversation he didn't understand, especially when it's meant for everyone -in this case, the ones sitting on their table- to hear. It originated from his dislike to inside jokes. He never knew whether the talk is about him or not. "Can we at least know her name?"
"Oh." Naruto chuckled at himself for not mentioning his female friend's name. "Honestly I kinda want you to guess by just simply seeing her." It's not long til they get to meet her and he really did want to see how they would react and what their first impression of her would be. When Ino introduced her to him, he didn't even notice the rare color of hair but instead her amazing huge eyes. She didn't even make eye contact. She just stared at his cheeks. She might have an unusual hair color but he did have whiskered cheeks which is very strange.
Tenten let him know that guessing was unnecessary by giving him a soft 'eh?!'. "There's no need for that." She sighed but then smiled. "Geez, getting to know her name is too much to ask." The bright blonde nodded his head with a wide smile, showing that she's right. But still, the two bun girl thought it was childish having to do a guessing game. "What gives though? Are you jealous the guys will do something?"
A loud 'HUH?' echoed inside the cafeteria. In which everyone turned their heads to where the sound had came from. When they found the source of the noise, they quickly rolled their eyes and went back to eating their lunches. Not surprised anymore at Naruto's loud self. "Jealous? Of them?" He looked at Neji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke and frowned. "What for?"
Temari pitched in, not wanting to waste this opportunity to tease someone. "I bet he thinks they'll start to have interest in her by just knowing her name." She snickered. "But they aren't even like that. You know that too, Naruto."
It's true. Shikamaru and Neji aren't going to be interested in his friend since they already have someone to think about. But then there's that bastard. All his life knowing the guy, he never had a person to like. He has said he's definitely straight and it was ridiculous of them to think otherwise. Sometimes he'll even just mess around and randomly call a girl cute. Even without them knowing he probably already set his eyes on someone. He was just unpredictable. And just like now, he didn't exactly contribute to the conversation about her, showing the possibility of him not caring. But maybe, just maybe, he won't mind using up his time with her. "I know but," He glanced over at Sasuke who was watching the entrance to the cafeteria in silence. "A certain emo bastard might do just that."
Neji followed Uzumaki's eyes and noticed the same thing. "Sasuke interested in someone? Romantically? A funny thought." Ever since Shikamaru asked for her name, he's been awfully quiet and threw a couple of glances at the doorway. His body even shifted all the way in order to get a better view of the doors. A bit strange if you asked him. "What do you think about that, Sasuke? Is Naruto right?" He wanted to snap that Uchiha from whatever thoughts he's been stuck in.
But it really did surprise Neji. Same with the rest of the table. After all that silence, why did he say that? And also, is it just the male Hyuuga's imagination or did he just catch a glimpse of Sasuke smiling just now?
"Sakura." He said. He broke his contact with the doorways and locked his eyes with Naruto. His smile dropped by then.
The astounding expression the ramen lover wore showed very well that was coincidentally a weird thing to say with the topic at hand. And it even came with more dismay when it, in fact, was not out of luck.
Hinata, who sat next to the Uchiha, asked, "What about the flower?" Thinking that he wanted to converse about the beautiful pink petals that bloom around the area.
Sasuke was now looking at Hinata and shook his head. "That's not it." He returned his gaze to the whiskered teen. "Her name is Sakura."
The group looked at both Ino and Naruto for confirmation. Yamanaka couldn't stop herself from grinning. The bright blonde only sighed.
It still didn't really answer whether he was right or not. Sasuke crossed his arms pleasingly. "Isn't it?"
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"My, my. You matured very well." Tsunade commented. She smiled every now and then as she walked beside the new student of Konoha High. "We missed you."
"I kinda doubt that." Sakura replied, removing the hood, thinking that there is no reason to hide her face at the moment.
"Oh don't think like that. There's a lot of change in attitude as the years passed by. Those brats have turned into kind, growing young adults and the people you've come to love have gotten older with you not there." The principal of the school sighed happily. "So much has happened and like I said, you weren't there to witness it." She tossed her a sad glance and then gave a laugh. "But here you are! Being able to see a new Konoha is exciting, yes?"
Haruno nodded her head to that. "Yes ma'am."
Tsunade gave her another soft smile and stopped. A quick arrival to the cafeteria did not calm Haruno's heart any less. "Here is your new start in life." She rested her hand on her shoulder. "Take a look."
The pinkie slowly peeked to check out the cafeteria filled with chattering students. She can agree that the teens seemed friendly and easy to approach. Her eyes kept looking around, taking in the atmosphere of lunchtime. But as she still kept on peeking, she then locked eyes with one student and didn't bother to observe his features. She quickly hid herself behind the wall, separating the cafeteria and the halls. Too close! "I-I think I'll have some fun." She was embarrassed to the max and couldn't help but stutter when making eye contact with that guy.
"Really? Good! Let me introduce you to them, yeah?" The principal always openly welcomed new students (new to the town) to their school by making a grand entrance. She especially wanted to see Sakura get all flustered when all eyes would be on her.
"What? That's not necessary!"
She chuckled. "It's a custom." She began to walk into the cafeteria, leaving Sakura to be all confused.
Stupid Tsunade! She couldn't do anything else but follow her. Who knows what worse thing the principal would make her do if she didn't listen this once.
"Students of Konoha High!" Of course. Tsunade was always the extra type. Her booming voice caught the attention of everybody and all the students stopped what they were doing. They turned their heads towards the pinkie's direction. Their staring eyes made her feel awkward just standing there. "We have a new student!" She said in excitement and this earned some laughter from the crowd. Tsunade loved new students no matter who they were. "Please be kind to my little Sakura for she is a special girl of mine."
A junior stood up and said in amazement, "You have a daughter? Woah! She's kinda hot too!" He had no shame but his friends did and they pulled him down quickly to not embarrass himself any longer.
Haruno grew red at that. That was not what she expected.
Tsunade laughed loud. "She's not my daughter, brat!" She spoke as she winked at Sakura and turned her heel to head back to her office. "I'm off now! Don't get in any trouble!"
Haruno then stood all alone, so very grateful everyone continued on with what they left off instead of staring her down. She let out a deep sigh and wondered what she's suppose to do now.
The thought was interrupted when hearing the mighty scream of a student all the way on the other side. The scream was inaudible at first but when seeing this student running towards her, his voice got clearer the more closer he came. Screams of the pink flower echoed everywhere in the cafeteria and students became confused as to why he was calling out for the plant. But that's not the case at all. He was calling out for someone's name. That name being her's.
She clutched her stomach, laughing at the idiot who had his arms open wide. Good to see you again, Naruto!"
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(re-edited on February 2)
Decided to make major changes on this story so here's a new better version of chapter 1. Enjoy :)