New story~! Sorry, everyone, I just couldn't resist this one *Smirk* It just all of a sudden popped into my head during school and I immediately penned down my thoughts and voila! A new story is born!

Now, I don't give two shits if any of you think that I am wasting my time writing this story, but too bad, so sad! I want to write it, so god damn it, I WILL write it! So, yea *Satisfied face* I just wanted to throw that out there. No like, no read. Simple as that. *makes shooing motions at offending readers*

Okay, enough of my ranting. Read and enjoy, everyoneJ.

We are a proud and elite school that has educated many great and famous people, civilian and ninja alike. We are the best. Only the strong come here to this school.

Those words rang through my head as I shuffled through the wide streets of the village, Konoha. The words held the strength, pride, and demand that a real principle of such an elite school should have. That voice had frightened me somewhat when I was first introduced to the principal of Konoha High, or, as everyone else likes to call it for unknown reasons, Akatsuki High. She was a terrifying woman, more frightening than even my own mother. Speaking of moms…

Damn it, mom! Out of all the schools in Konoha, you just had to pick the creepiest fucking one!

I growled under my breath as I narrowed my emerald eyes at the pebble-covered ground.

I hated it. I hated this new plan so fucking much. I understood the job transfer part, but why the hell did I have to come with my mother? Why couldn't I just stay in Suna with Temari or Matsuri? I know for a damn well fact that they would have let me stay with them, no matter what their parents said! I'm 15 years old, damn it! I can fend for myself without my mother trying to protect me by taking me everywhere she went! Fuck my life.

"'It's high time you started something new' she said," I grumbled as I kicked at loose stones moodily. "'You'll learn to love this new school and home!' she said. What a bunch of bullshit!" To say I was mad at this adjustment was beyond wrong. I was pissed.

I don't like changes And I especially hated the fact that my mother was doing all the changing. I liked things plain, simple, and easy. It made my life so much easier. But now…everything was going out of control.

"Excuse me?" I stopped an elderly lady that was going the opposite way that I was. "Do you know where Konoha High is?" I don't know how I got lost since the route that goes to the school is completely straight. Wait, I take that back. I do know how I got lost. It's because it's me.

"Yes, dear," She said while smiling, making the wrinkles on the corners of her mouth more prominent. She lifted a slightly trembling hand and pointed in the direction that she was just coming from. "Konoha High is half a mile down this road. Just keep going straight. You can't miss it."

After bowing shortly and muttering a quick "Thank you", I took off at a light jog in the direction the elderly woman had pointed me in.

OoOoOoO

"Jesus…that lady was right. One really can't miss a place like this," I whispered in awe as I stared at the school.

It had to be the biggest damn school I had ever seen. It was a beautiful white building that seemed to gleam like snow when the sun shines on it. Shaped like an extravagant royal palace, tall spires reached for the high heavens and a flat rooftop was barely seen most of the time because of the dome-shaped top in the middle of the building. From where I was standing, the windows looked like crystal and shined in a multitude of colors. The whole building was built gracefully, with gentle and deep curves and perfect arches. It seemed to stretch for a good two or three miles.

"This place looks more made for royalty than a training school," I mumbled, fixing my bag so that it fit more comfortably on my shoulder.

Glaring at the school in annoyance, I took a deep breath and walked forward. Up the sets of stairs and past the snarling statues by the gates, I pulled open the glass doors and walked in. I immediately took a liking to the inside rather than the outside.

The entire lobby was silent. Not a sound was heard, even when the door snapped shut behind me, and there wasn't even an echo or anything. The carpets were a lovely shade of blue, a color that I deeply appreciated as it was the color of the azure sky, while the walls were a pale white color. Blue chairs and couches were scattered throughout the lobby, blending perfectly with the carpet, but contrasting sharply with the white wall. There were multiple hallways at the far end of the room.

Of course, it just keeps getting more and more complicated! Inner cried from within my mind. Why must everything happen to us?!

"Because God loves screwing with my life right now," I said under my breath. I decided to just make it easier on myself when choosing one of the hallways to go down. I always did this when I was in a new building and there were multiple ways that I could go down. Time to play the Guessing Game!

"Eenie…meenie…miney…mo!" Enunciating each word with a point of the finger at a hallway, I was about to go down the far right hallway when I saw a woman walk out of the middle hallway.

She had black hair and eyes and a slightly strained look on her face as she carried what looked like a good 60 pounds of paperwork. She was wearing a black kimono with white trimmings and black heels. She seemed to be a healthy tannish-pale color from where I was standing. She wasn't exactly tan-brown, but she wasn't pale-white either. More like somewhere in between.

"Do you think you could help me, miss?" I asked, silently hoping that I wouldn't startle her into dropping the giant stack of paper. 'Cause honestly, if she dropped them, even if I was a generally nice person and always helped someone that needed it, in the mood I was currently in, I wasn't going to do a damn thing. I released a quiet sigh of relief when she didn't drop anything.

"Oh!" She looked around the papers to look at me and smiled widely. "You must be the new transfer student, right?" I nodded. "Perfect! You've arrived just on time! Please follow me, Haruno-san!" I didn't bother asking how she knew me. Teachers always were weird like that. They rarely seemed to forget a transfer student's name. Especially if that transfer student came all the way out from the hot and dry Suna village.

We walked down many hallways, twisting and turning so much that I was beginning to get a little dizzy. This school expected me to remember my way around on the first day? Remember all these hallways? They are fucking crazy! One could die in here if they didn't know there way around well enough.

"How am I going to find my way around, um…"

"Oh! So sorry," the woman exclaimed. "My name is Shizune. And don't worry. You'll receive a map along with your schedule. The map is very detailed so I doubt you'll get lost." True to her word, she held up a large piece of paper that was covered with many little words in the margins and lines that looked like they crisscrossed each other unevenly. "I also just started working here a couple weeks ago and I'm still getting lost! I rely heavily on this map to show me how to get to places that I need to go. I'm working under the principal, you see, so I'm always running around doing something for her." Here she sighed. "That woman is incredible, but she's also very crazy with certain things."

That caught my attention. It sounded worth interrogating Shizune with. "Like what?"

A sheepish look appeared on Shizune's face. "Almost everyone knows about Tsunade-sama's addiction, so I guess you have the right to know what it is since you're new." Turning her head to the side, she looked at me out of the corner of her black eye. "Tsunade-sama has an extreme addiction for drinking and gambling."

"Say what?" I gaped, nearly tripping over my feet.

The hell?! What is wrong with these people?!

Shizune chuckled quietly. "Yep. She's almost never serious about her work 95 percent of the time. Whenever someone sees her, including me, she always has a cup of sake and a gambling card in front of her. You may not believe me when I say this, but everyone respects her greatly, even the people in the village that barely now her, but have heard many rumors about her. She's an amazing woman. A true role model amongst women, ignoring the drinking and gambling part, of course."

What the hell is wrong with this place, letting a drunk and gambler run a school as prestigious as this?!

I couldn't have said it any better, Outer-chan!

I paused in my musings. Come to think of it, Shizune said that she always has sake and a gambling card in her hands. I don't remember her having any such things when I had first met her a few days ago.

Coming to an office with, once again, more glass windows, Shizune somehow managed to open the door and let us in. Walking behind the high-rise wooden desk, Shizune let the mountain of papers fall to the top of the desk, while letting out a relieved sigh.

"Finally! No more carrying paperwork around for the rest of the day!" She exclaimed. "Now to just find your schedule."

Taking a seat nearby, I quietly watched Shizune move and pile up piles of paper that weren't very important at the moment. It was amusing to see her become more and more frustrated as time passed. A couple minutes later and she still hadn't found it. A scowl was more evident on her face than it was before as a very scary look took over her features. A dark shadow fell over her eyes, which were glinting rather dangerously as she continued to move aside unimportant documents. I was about to get up and help her, just to save her future wrinkles, when her face lit up and a grin replaced her scowl.

"I found it!" She said happily, waving it victoriously in the air. "Here you go, Haruno-san." Gladly taking the piece of paper and turning to leave, but stopping mid-turn when I realized I still didn't know where the hell I was going, detailed map or not.

"I still don't know where I'm going, Shizune-san," I said, nearly tearing the paper apart in frustration. "This map isn't going to be much help since I get lost easily."

Shizune hmmed, pressing her thumb and finger to her chin in a thinking posture. I saw her look over my shoulder at something and an evil smile appeared on her lips. I twitched at the look. I didn't like that smile one bit.

"You're in luck, Haruno-san," She said sweetly. "I know just the person to lead you around." Cupping a hand to her mouth, she shouted in a surprisingly loud voice, "Pein! Get your ass in here!" I balked at the volume of her voice. Who would've thought that this giddy, yet polite woman had such a mouth on her.

At the sound of the door opening very slowly, I looked away from Shizune and towards the door. My eyes widened at what I saw.

The person entering was a boy that was obviously older than me by the mature look his emotionless face held. What caught my attention was his hair. It was an auburn-orange color, spiked naturally by the looks of it. He had multiple piercings on his face. Some on his nose, ears, and lips, but I doubted that was the end of them. His eyes were a curious shade of grey mixed with a very light purple. They looked like they had rings in them, but I dismissed it as a trick of the light.

"Is there something you needed me for, Shizune-san?" The boy asked with an emotionless voice and face, but there was a barely noticeable twitch to his left eye as he spoke. Was he annoyed?

"Why, yes, there is, Pein," Shizune said sweetly. Indicating me, she said, "Haruno-san is a new student here today, so she needs someone to give her a tour of the school and directing her to her first class." Her sweet smile quickly turned mischievous. "Since you are already here, why don't you show her around? You are the Leader after all, so it is your job to care for new students, right?" I was half-expecting this boy, Pein, to verbally voice his argument against Shizune when she finished. I certainly would've. Nobody bossed me around unless I had no other choice. Imagine my surprise when he only nodded and bowed a little too stiffly to the older woman.

"Very well," he said. "I shall show her around the school, Shizune-san."

Shizune's smile turned sugar sweet again. "Good! Here." Writing on a piece of paper quickly with a blue pen that had magically appeared in her hand, Shizune handed the small paper to Pein, who scanned the paper and placed it in his black blazer pocket when he was finished. "That is your pass since you are already late for your first class. Give that to your teacher once you arrive, Pein."

Nodding his head once, Pein turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Not one to be left behind, I bowed to Shizune, who nodded happily, thanked her, and sped out of the office.

The orange-haired boy was already quite a ways away, an annoyed glint in his eyes. I stayed as far away as I could from him, though not too far to be rude. I wasn't scared of him. Hell no. That was the last thing I felt for him. I just found him very interesting to look at.

Back at Suna, one only saw a sea of brown hair or, in Gaara's case, a single red head. Gaara was an enigma among the people of Suna. His red hair was a dead giveaway to people when they were looking for him in the village, but then again, so was I. Pink hair wasn't exactly common either. It wasn't common anywhere for that matter.

"What is your name, girl?" Pein asked abruptly from the front.

I jumped a little, startled out of my reverie by his deep voice. "H-Haruno Sakura," I stuttered slightly, mentally cursing myself at the stutter.

Way to leave an impression on the hot senpai, dumbnuts. Now he's going to thing we're fucking weak and girly!

A growl reverberated in my throat, but I held it back before it escaped my mouth. I was not weak. I was strong. I am strong.

I noticed Pein staring at me out of the corner of his eye, coming to a stop in the middle of four hallways. He seemed to have noticed my inner conflict. Straightening my back a little, I stared defiantly into Pein's eyes, practically daring him to say anything. A light flared to life in his eyes as he was face with my challenge, though he hid the emotion quickly and surprisingly well.

"A pleasure, Haruno-san," Pein said, bowing his head a good inch. I fought the urge to snarl at him. That, too, wouldn't be the best impression to leave for him of me. He'll start thinking that I was some untamed wild animal!

This guy is fucking hot and sexy, but I've got one thing that has to be known. If he thinks he's winning this little mockery game, he's in for a surprise. Fucking asswhole! Inner growled out.

Plastering a fake smile on my face, I curtsied mockingly. "Please, senpai," I said sickly sweetly, "the pleasure is all mine."

That light in his eyes returned, shining brighter than before. I saw his lips twitch for a second before he turned away. "Come. We must be swift in this tour so that you will have time for your first class."

While Inner groused and fumed at the lack of challenge, I listened intently as he began explaining the complex structure of the school and indicating where and what certain things were with a point of the finger.

"Why exactly is the school built like this?" I asked as I stared a little longingly at the track field from a glass window. It was well kept with clear red lanes with white lines and a grassy middle for stretching. We didn't have the right conditions in Suna for field sports. Too sandy and dry. "It's like this place is half-expecting to be attacked by someone."

A small, cunning smirk appeared on Pein's lips. "Surprisingly, you are correct in that assumption." Bristling, I glared furiously at him. Great. Now he was making fun of my intellect.

Asswhole! I found myself mentally nodding along with Inner. I admit, he's hot, but he's also an ass.

Ignoring my glare, he continued speaking. "There is another school that we are currently going up against. Can you tell me who, Haruno-san?" Pein asked. I frowned.

He's testing us.

No shit, Sherlock. I could've told you that much, Inner said sarcastically. Ignoring Inner's comment, I thought back to all my other lessons in Suna.

Coming up with only hazy memories on the lectures, I thought about the map we used to examine the country. I knew it wasn't Suna; I would've known about it, what with how fast rumors spread. Konoha was on good terms with Ame, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri; I knew that for a fact because the teachers always talked about the relationship between those four neighboring countries and Konoha. So that only left…

"Otogakure."

A pleased look appeared on Pein's face before disappearing. "Very good. You are correct. We are going against Otogakure, however we have never been on good terms with them to begin with."

"Because of something their principal did to Konoha, right?"

Pein smirked again, though a little darker than before. He looked like the fucking devil when he did that. "Right. Our relationship with Oto has only worsened because that snake bastard attacked us. I doubt we will have any other chances to repair the damage we made with that particular village."

Confused, I asked, "Why not? Can't you negotiate with the principal?"

Pein shook his head. "If you haven't met the principal of Oto, then you obviously don't know what kind of man he really is. Negotiating with that man is impossible once he makes a decision. He will not change his mind even if he is offered a much better chance of success from someone else. That man is sly, but he is cunning and he has learned over the years not to trust anyone that is not his most trusted. And few have ever been given that privilege except for five certain individuals. That is the only information we currently have on Oto and their principal or anything else for that matter about the whole country."

I snorted. "Well, he certainly doesn't sound like a charming man, that's for sure."

Eyes glinting with a little mirth, Pein simply said, "No, that, for sure, he is not."

Just as he finished saying that, a bell sounded throughout the hallways, startling me so much that I reached into the pouch that was attached to my hip that had all my weapons in it.

Pein chuckled at my reaction. "Do not be so jumpy, Haruno-san. That is just the bell that signals that first period has already started."

First period…

"FUCK!" I shrieked loudly. "I'm going to be late!" I was about to take off running when Pein suddenly said something that made me stop short.

"Do you even know where you are going, Haruno-san?" I hung my head, sighing heavily. This was most certainly not my day. Tomorrow was probably going to be much worse.

"No…," I mumbled quietly.

Another smirk from Pein. "Let me see your schedule."

Reaching into my bag where I had so roughly shoved my schedule into, I pulled it out and handed the wrinkled mess to Pein. His eyes roved over the ruined piece of paper and then handed it to me a few seconds later.

"You have homeroom with Hatake Kakashi-sensei first period, it seems. Come. I shall show you where his classroom is."

Starting to slowly understand the patterns of the hallways that led to the different classrooms, I stayed a couple steps behind Pein to look around. Mainly the walls.

They were covered in pictures of all sorts, from easels to paintings, charcoal drawings, and acrylic paintings. Many of them showed beautiful sunsets from what I guessed were from the rooftop of some building and bright, full moon settings at night. They were splattered in many colors in an amazing display of artistic ability. They were a beautiful sight to behold.

After climbing two sets of stairs and turning a couple more times, Pein and I finally stopped in front of a classroom door. I could hear the sounds of chattering students on the other side of the door, albeit somewhat loudly. I grimaced.

If this was going to be my homeroom, I was going to be in for some major migraine headaches later on.

Seeing the look on my face, Pein said, "Kakashi-sensei is a capable Jonin and teacher, Haruno-san. He knows perfectly well how to control a bunch of rowdy students." That said, he raised his hand and tapped smartly and almost business-like on the wooden door. A muffled "Come in" was heard, so we slid open the door and walked inside, Pein first and me shortly behind.

The noise level in the classroom instantly dropped to absolute silence as I felt the eyes of every student in the room on me and Pein. I soon found myself trying to hide a blush from all the attention that was suddenly on me. It bothered me greatly to be in the center of attention. I tried to stay away from attention-seeking groups as possible. Something told me that this time, that strategy wasn't going to be working anytime soon.

"Ah, Pein-kun. Is there something I can do for you?"

Sitting on top of the desk in the middle of the room was a middle-aged man with white hair that stuck up sideways and grey-black eyes. Er, eye. The forehead protector that was on his head was tilted to the side to obscure his left eye completely. What was more was the other mask that he wore. Another mask covered the lower half of his face, covering his mouth and nose and the rest of his face, except for a large space that left enough room for his right eye to be visible. He was wearing a green vest with many pockets on the front and black ninja pants and ninja sandals.

Jeez…suspicious much.

No kidding.

Kakashi's visible eye widened a little. "Ah, yes. You must be that new student, um…Haruno Sakura, right?" I nodded, staring curiously at his masks. I had the sudden urge to just walk right over to him and tear off the masks just to see what was under them. The desire was so strong that I almost took a step towards him, but stopped myself when he gave a quizzical tilt of his head in my direction.

Blushing pink, I bowed, "Yes, Kakashi-sensei. I am Haruno Sakura."

His visible eye crinkled at the sides, meaning that he was smiling underneath the mask. "Good. Very good. Well, Haruno-san, why don't you take one of the empty seats in the back and I will explain for you what we will be doing today in class." Turning to Pein, he said, "Pein-kun, you are dismissed as well. Have a good day."

Bowing stiffly once again to the man, Pein turned to leave, but I stopped him. I don't know why I did it, but it was too late to turn back now. I had already started talking.

"Pein-senpai!" He turned his head to the side slightly, showing that he was listening. He was back to the emotionless and empty façade once again. I smiled a genuinely sweet smile at him. "Thank you."

He stared at me for what seemed like a long time, but was only a few seconds, before he turned away once again. Walking out of the room, I watched as Pein grasped the handle of the door and slid it shut softly, disappearing from my view completely.

What'd you all think? :) I hope you all enjoyed it! Yea, I know, Pein's probably a little OOC, but give me a break! It's fucking hard to figure him out! Especially since he plays the cool, mysterious, and honorable man on the show. It's hard to describe people like that!

I have some news about the new chapter for It's All His Fault. I am sorry to say this, but I have yet to start the chapter as I have been very busy and can barely find the time to get started. This story was my first priority right now, but I promise you all that are reading that story that I will get to work on the next chapter right when I get home tomorrow after school. If all goes well and work and softball and school don't get in the way or my parents don't ban me from the computer, I should have the next chapter up sometime this weekend or before then! It will be up very soon, that I can promise you everyoneJ

Okay, so it's like 12:30 here, so I'm going to bed. I've got school in six freaking hours and I don't get enough sleep as it is. Good-bye everyone! Oyasumi!

-KalafinaJ