Hello all, I am Sinful and I was given this account by a friend who no longer visits the site. This is a little something I was writing and I decided to get some opinions before adding too much more to it. Tell me if you like and give me some suggestions.

Sakura's thoughts will be in first person unless I am trying to catch the emotions of multiple peeps at once and not wanting to constantly break into different POVs.

Quote for today: For what is the writer without those who read their scripts? ~Unknown~

Enjoy~

She was small, smaller than any 4th grader should be, and she was pale and she was sick. What would have been vibrant, beautiful, lush pink hair hung lifelessly down her back and once luminescent emerald eyes are dim and plain as coal. Creamy, pale skin has become a pasty, deathly, sickening grey-white intensified by the dark purples, yellows, and blacks of various bruises.

Sakura Haruno had never once considered actually going to school. Not when the library offered all the knowledge she could ever need and not when her condition was so blatantly obvious. Sure it was painful to know that she did not have any friends and that her parents viewed her as punching bag as opposed to a human, but she could handle the pain. In fact, she welcomed the pain, embraced it even, because feeling pain meant she was still able to feel. She was still alive.

Yes, she could take the pain of being alone and she could use it. Use it to make her stronger and to extinguish her fears. Until a time when she no longer had to face the pain came, she would hold tight to the knowledge that her pain was her salvation and strength.

~}i{~6 years later, present day~}i{~

I smile softly as I watch my class mate Ino laugh with her friends. It is not my place to correct her on her assumption that all blondes are favored; Naruto being an example what with his lack of family. It isn't like they would hear me anyway; I'm invisible right now.

My mind leaves my body behind as the conversation takes a turn toward parents and relationships. I think about what it would be like to have a set of perfect wings; to fly far away from reality and touch the silver lining of each cloud. My musings last long after the teacher enters and the class quiets. I can see that man's house -my cage- and I can see the school as I sore high above. Nothing can touch me.

"…is an amino acid…Ms. Haruno?" I know what he asked and I know the answer with out a second guess. I fail to notice the eyes that land on me as I recite the definition word for word all the while still dreaming away. If I had noticed those eyes I would have known that a one set never turned away. "Ah…um…well-"

Kabuto is disappointed that I knew the answer and that he is unable to bust a slacker simply because she is not a slacker whereas I am just happy I'm allowed to continue dreaming.

The rest of the hour passes quickly and soon the bell is screaming its orders to move to any given class. I flinch as I stand; the broken glass had cut deeply into my leg and the scab could crack open if ever it so chose after all…

Though my father's hatred had dulled due to my near invisibility, he still proceeded to beat me whenever the chance arose. Mama's death was not a happy time for him or for me. At first he was so drowned in grief that he forgot about me, but then he remembered and all hell was brought down upon my tiny frame. Last night he had decided that a slash across my thigh was a good was to say 'welcome home sweetheart, how was your first day?' and he even added a nice bruise to my right side.

Of course, I escaped to my room and broke into my secret stash of medical supplies in order to patch myself up. I had read several books on medicine and the science as well as the practice. This gave me an edge over my father and the ability to keep attending school without hassle.

Slipping my carrier bag over my left shoulder, as to avoid unnecessary contact with my right side, I quickly make my way to the exit. Science class is most definitely not my favorite mostly due to the teacher. Kabuto turns all his lessons into torture sessions and hates it when a student is able to keep up. I believe he is the only teacher that has ever deliberately drawn attention to me in his attempt to catch me with a question I don't know how to answer. Too bad for him I've read the entire curriculum for his class and memorized it. He won't catch me up any time soon.

I must admit that it was surprisingly fun to annoy him so, but I don't enjoy the attention he forced upon me. At the start of the class he picked on a kid named Sasuka or Sasuke or something like that, but apparently I caught his attention after the boy failed to be interesting enough. I was a puzzle to him with my high test scores and then my obvious lack of interest whereas the other kid was just an intelligent individual. Really, I wish he would have stuck with the Sasu guy.

I weave quickly through my fellow students in the hall and arrive at my locker unnoticed and unscathed. The two football players, both rather large and well defined, who occupy the lockers on either side of mine, are going on about some group of freshmen that seem really good. The two of them are juniors, as this is the junior hall, so I assume they are happy that their team will be good for their senior year.

I too am only a freshman, but most of my classes are specialized and are held in classrooms near the junior hall. Tusunade decided that I shouldn't be inconvenienced by having to walk from the freshmen hall and so placed me here. I like the arrangement because my actual year mates have no clue as to who I am and the juniors couldn't care less. My locker neighbor to my right, Kankuro, is in my advanced P.E. and Health class, but only because his P.E scores were through the roof. The class started only yesterday with an introduction to the syllabus and rules.

Even so the teacher, Gai, had handed out a huge packet due today. Currently, Kankuro was complaining vehemently about how he never could have finished it on time. Rolling my eyes I quickly reach up and snatch the paper as he waves it in front of his friend. Before he can even comment I'm scanning the paper and reaching for my pencil. His hand writing is easy enough to copy and the answers are simple. In a matter of seconds 'Kankuro' has finished his pesky Health and P.E. rules handout and I am on my way to Advanced L.A.

In my wake I leave two stunned juniors. They have no clue as to how I got there, no idea how I answered all the questions and corrected the wrong ones, and best of all, they wonder who the hell I am. Yes, it's good to be invisible, because moments like this are never a let down. I chuckle softly under my breath and keep walking. If they stay interested I might be able to work out an agreement with Kankuro and possibly gain some junior protection. After all, you can never be too careful when it comes to high school politics, even if you're invisible.

In all his life Kankuro had never been quite so stumped. The little girl who had popped out of seemingly nowhere and done his pointless Health homework was impossible to track down. It seemed as if she was just a figment of his hormone clouded imagination, but Omoi had seen her too. Now if he could only recall what class she had walked into…

"Damn it, how the hell is she so hard to find? She had pink hair for fucks sake!" And she did. Her hair was a pearl pink and it only added to the illusion that she was a dream. Because honestly, who had pink hair?

Omoi and he searched the entire hall and even looked in on most of the class rooms in an attempt to locate the girl. If she could answer that many questions in that short of a time then she was the perfect answer guide! Kankuro was willing to offer protection from the football team in exchange for help on homework. Heck, he was willing to offer her his first born son if it meant keeping his grades up and not relying on his sister!

A shiver ran through his body at the thought of asking his sister for help. Tamari's prices were way steep and he already had emotional scarring from the last time he asked for her help. Most of her classes were advanced this year, seeing as she was a very successful senior, and so she shared his P.E and Health class. In fact, she was the only reason he had passed the health part of the test. She didn't need protection from the team and she couldn't care less about lunch room seating arrangements so most of her payments were…down right torturous.

Shaking off the sudden thoughts of horror, Kankuro decided that since classes were just about to end they would wait at their lockers. If she had planned to get their attention he highly doubted she would avoid them now.

Sure enough, just after the bells rang the tiny pinkette was making her way toward the duo. They expected a hopeful expression at the though that they may want to make a deal, but instead she smiled at them and went to the locker in-between theirs'. For a moment they stood shocked as she spun the combination lock with little thought and opened the locker. "Did you need something?"

Her voice was sweet, but if you listened closely you could hear the notes of amusement. She looked first to Omoi then to Kankuro before shaking her head in disappointment.

"Well, if you need time to configure your thoughts, I will allow you time. Health and P.E. is last period, I expect an answer to my proposition then Kankuro-san." And then she was gone into the sea of babbling students. Kankuro blinked once, then twice and a final time before cursing himself. She had been right there and he had stood floundering all because she had been his locker neighbor and not some random girl looking for protection! Kami he felt stupid.

"Dude…she's so not a junior girl…" this was Omoi's intelligent assessment of the current situation and Kankuro couldn't help, but agree. She didn't seem anything like one of the junior girls he'd had the displeasure of encountering. They were all…harsh and unapproachable for the most part and she, while smart and seemingly manipulative, seemed cool.

You see, there were only fifteen girls in his junior class and all of them liked older boys and artists. In fact, they made it their job to put down any and all boys who didn't meet their standards. The little pink haired girl was not one of those girls and she didn't seem to care that he and Omoi weren't artists. Maybe she was someone that they could hang out with…?

Sasuke could not get the pink haired genius out of his head. He had watched her particularly close after Kabuto had stopped directing impossible questions at him and sent one her way. He had expected her to come up stumped as he had, but instead she blurted out the exact definition. After that Kabuto had stopped his random questioning and moved on to the actual lesson. Sasuke was very good at science, he had to be to have been placed in Advanced Biology as a freshman, but even he was not so good as to know the exact definitions of Amino Acid among other things and though it may not have seemed such a feat for an older student, she had answered while looking off into space.

Scowling deeply, he wondered vaguely what year she was in. judging by appearance she couldn't have been anything but a freshman because she looked younger than that even, but he had never seen her in the hall and even though they had only been there for one day, he had accessed every one of his year mates. So, who was she?

It seemed that he would have to search the girl out if he wanted answers, but it would have to wait. Lunch was only three periods away and Sasuke could wait until then. In the mean time, where was the Dobe? He needed an accomplice in finding the girl, Haruno was what Kabuto had called her, and Naruto was surprisingly good at finding people. Plus, once he mentioned how smart she was the blonde idiot would all but jump at the chance to offer protection for homework assistance.

Sasuke vaguely wondered who had created the 'Protection Pact Policy' because it seemed to work wonders on the student body. He knew of two people who were fully supported by the football team; Hyuuga Hinata and Subaku Tamari. Hinata was accepted because she is Neji's younger niece and Tamari because she manages the team. Hinata also assists the team as satiation and play editor. The girls both work with the team as a means to garner their protection and it was all recorded on paper as well.

The principal, Tsunade, has to personally oversee each PPP signing and grant her approval before the deal can be sealed. It's a very official process and if any conditions are not met Tsunade will allow the wronged party to choose a punishment they deem fair.

For some reason, Sasuke had never considered choosing a Policy candidate, but now he planned to elect the pinkette. He may not be as dumb as the Dobe, but he would not turn down the opportunity to possibly make an ally who could prove useful. Spotting a bright flash of yellow a few feet ahead, Sasuke pushed forward to reach Naruto. Better to talk to the Dobe now then try to explain it all at once right before lunch.

I smiled softly as I placed my head phones over my ears and pressed play. 'She's a Rebel' fills my ears and for a moment I know everything is going according to plan. I have two high ranking football team members on my side and it shouldn't be hard to convince Tamari once I show her my strengths. Oh yes, soon this school will know my name and I'll have all the pieces in play. Orochimaru will have to admit I am his superior and let me into college courses and I'll be one step closer to escaping my cage.

Come seventh period today, the football team will have my back and by tomorrow I'll have the attention of Akatsuki and several other groups. If I can convince them all that I'm neutral the game will be all, but won. I'll be assisting most classes and taking the online courses, finish my degree in less than two year, and come back to teach in three. My father will believe I've run away because of the time I spend away from home and then I'll be free from him.

It's only a matter of time Sakura, only a matter of time. I smile once more and head for lunch. It'll be a good day.