Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
(Edited: February 9th 2008) Nothing major, I just did some refining, that all: more detail inputs, rephrasing of some sentences, and any grammar mistakes I caught along t he way.
A/N: I'm not giving up on my other story. Just for reassurance. -smiles-
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Episode One: A Twist of Fate
The night of the new moon… it is a night of darkness and utter despair. The only sources of light came from the ancient, flickering streetlamps in the abandoned parking lot.
"Sakura you must go to the Uchiha's!"
"But Mommy, what about you?!" The tiny eight-years-old girl cried, clutching onto her mother for dear life. Fresh tears rolled onto the little girl's long, red dress coat that went pass her knees. The dress's collar and hems were outlined with thick, white fur that resembled the layered snow on the ground.
The voice of the woman softened as she placed her hands on her daughter's tiny shoulders. "There's no time for that my little flower. You have to be strong. Be strong for Mommy and your Daddy is heaven. He will watch over you. Now hurry and get into the car."
"Ma'am, we have to go! They're catching up to us!" A man with dark sunglasses shouted.
The woman nodded and placed one last kiss on her little daughter's large forehead. "I'll be back for you. I promise."
"Mommyyyyyyy!!!!!!!"
Against her sobs and struggles, the little pink haired girl was pulled into the black Mercedes by the large man with sunglasses. Tears were streaming out of the pair of beautiful emerald eyes. Her small fists hammered against the car's back window but to no avail.
The tires squeaked violently as the car drove out of sight.
'I'm sorry I lied, Sakura-chan.' The young mother blinked back her tears and stepped into another car. There was only her and her personal bodyguard as the driver.
"Just drive far enough to give time for my baby to get away. Then please get off and save yourself."
"What's the point?" The person in the driver seat replied. "There is only this road and it leads to the tunnel where they definitely set up their men."
The long haired woman sobbed into her hands, "I'm sorry, so sorry. This had nothing to do with you! And you're only twenty-two, still so young-!!" The woman coughed through her tears then continued to weep into her hands. A long while passed before…
"Ma'am," The diver whispered, "I'm not going to abandon you, my lady."
There was a short pause.
"I want to be with you 'til the end."
Mrs. Haruno wiped away her tears. "Thank you…" she said before lowering herself towards the driver seat…
"…Rin"
'What a weird dream.'
Green eyes fluttered before their owner groaned painfully and climbed out of her bed. It wasn't much of a bed, just an old mattress covered with clean but worn-out bed sheets.
Fifteen-years-old Sakura peered to her side. Her sister was still sleeping, snoring loudly on that account. A bitter look ran across Sakura's face when she stared at the glamorous new bed that her parents bought for her sister. Why, they didn't even bother to give her the old bed! Their excuse when they sold it was that there was no room for two beds.
Sakura sighed. It pained her to admit that it was true. Standing up straight, she gave her arms a nice stretch before bending down again and pushed her old mattress under her sister's nice, new bed.
'Get a grip of yourself, Sakura. There's no point at being envious.' Even when she told herself this, Sakura couldn't help but wonder why her parents always favoured her elder sister so much more. Their family owned a small restaurant and was not the richest, but any extra income went immediately to her sister.
Sakura was confused. Her marks were always the best of her grade, much better than her sister who needed private lessons every week just to scrape by. She always helped around the restaurant, but her sister skipped out whenever she can. She was always obedient and always do what she was told, while her sister-.
'Maybe that's why mom and dad love her more, especially mom. I'm a total pushover with no personality. Mom must be ashamed to have a weakling like me as her daughter. This isn't fair! I always try my best to be perfect! And all I want is for you to care about me…'
Sakura shook her head violently. This was no time to let jealousy take over her. This was her big day! A day of promise for a successful future!
Being cheered up by this thought, Sakura grabbed her clothes and dashed into the small washroom. She had to look her best on her first day!
Sliding out of her pink cotton pyjamas Sakura put on her new uniform. She peered into the mirror again and pushed her messy bangs aside. Why, with this outfit, she actually looked half decent!
Inside, Sakura wore a white, long-sleeved shirt that was made from silk. The dress shirt-like collar was surprisingly comfortable. The fabric was finer than any other clothing that she owned. Sakura had tugged this shirt neatly inside her skirt, because she was a good girl who followed rules and dress codes.
Sakura especially loved the black tie. It gave her a feeling of importance.
On top, was the red jacket that resembled a business suit, with the right-hand flap overlapping the other. Below where the flaps met, five shiny black buttons aligned together perfectly.
The jacket's length was on the long side; framing the waist and extended to the buttock, but it was designed ingeniously so that it will not be a bother when sitting down.
The beautiful jacket also covered a bit of the red skirt. The same skirt that was a bit short, but because of the tight, black, over-the-knee socks, little skin on the legs were revealed.
Sakura thought about the pair of shiny, black shoes downstairs and smiled happily, (if not a bit retarded-ly). Finally, she got new shoes!
The entire uniform was flaming, poppy red, promoting the never diminishing fire of its students. Parts of the uniform was outlined with black: the hem of the sleeves, the opening for the two pockets at the side, and the hem of the jacket which traced up to the flaps.
Sakura recalled what the male uniformed looked like when she went to the academy to sent in her applications. They were quite similar, the business suit style along with the black tie. But of course, they wore pants instead of skirts. However, instead of the red outfit, the boys uniform were completely black and the left flap of the jacket covered the right flap.
The school's shield-like logo was proudly wore on the left chest. The logo's background colour was maroon and its outer border was outlined in bold gold, followed by a thinner black border at the inside. The words "Konoha Academy" was printed in elegant, golden letters, same went for the leaf-like spiral symbol underneath.
The symbol that demanded high respect.
"What are you gapping like a moron about over there?" A voice shot through Sakura's reverie and brought her down to earth with an unpleasant bump.
Sakura looked up at her sister and smiled weakly, "Hahaha… good morning too, Ami."
"God, you're pathetic," Ami rolled her eyes as she pushed her short purple hair behind her ears, "Admiring your ugly self in front of the mirror."
Walking over, Ami took Sakura's head in her hands and forcefully turned it towards the bathroom mirror. "Look at yourself carefully squirt. You're never be beautiful, so don't even bother."
Ami then turned around and glared suspiciously at Sakura, "Were you trying to do something with your hair? Are you trying to act cute?!"
Blushing madly, Sakura meekly broke out of Ami's grasps and ruffled her bangs so that it became messy again, covering her forehead.
"That's right, hide that gigantic forehead of yours," grinned Ami before throwing something at Sakrua. "And make sure you wear your glasses so people can't see your hideous face."
Sakura glanced down at her large, circular glasses and almost cried. The middle rim of the glasses that held the two lenses together were snapped in half.
"H-how could you do something like this?!" Sakura cried out. Her hands were shaking so hard as she gripped onto the broken pair of glasses.
Ami shot a threatening glare at her sister before yanking a fist full of Sakura's pink hair.
"I can do whatever the hell I want to do. Don't you dare forget it just because you got scholarship into a school full of rich people you can leech off on," Ami hissed as she shook Sakura's head around.
Unable to take it anymore, Sakura gathered her strength and pushed Ami away. Ami hit the washroom counters with a loud groan.
"What is going on in here?!" A voice cried. A woman with short, curly, purple hair ran in, a spatula in her hand. As soon as she came in, the woman glared at Sakura who was backed up against the wall, breathing heavily.
"Mom, Sakura suddenly pushed me for reason!" Ami cried, faking tears.
Sakura's widened as she tried to defend herself from her sister's poisonous lie, "No! It wasn't liked that! Ami-"
Before Sakura could utter another word, her mom marched up to her and smacked her hard on the arm with the spatula. Behind her, Ami smirked wickedly.
"How dare you try to putt the blame on poor Ami!" Mom then studied Sakura up and down in disgust, "Just because you're going to that fancy rich school you think you're better than the rest of us!! You're so selfish!!! I told you to just quite studying after junior high. There's no point for someone like you to continue learning in senior high! You're better off helping out in the restaurant!! The busy season is coming and I'm already short of workers!!!"
"B-but mom," Sakura stuttered, rubbing her bruised forearm, "You tried so hard to get Ami accepted into that senior high school…"
"Ami is different from you!!! Ami has potential!! You have nothing but a large forehead!"
Behind her, Ami gave a mocked wince.
Huffing madly, the mom turned around walked out. "Ami hurry up and change! You're breakfast is getting cold!"
"Yes mom!" Ami called back before pushing Sakura out of the bathroom and slamming the door against her face.
Sakura sighed, but she was thankful that the thing that hit her was only a plastic spatula and not a metal one.
Sakura was halfway through her oatmeal porridge and buttered toast when Ami strolled downstairs without a care in the world. She wore her new high school uniform as well. It was one of those typical sailor suit, with a pair of extremely large, rectangular-shaped, brown collar flaps. The skirt was also brown. The all uniform can be described with one word: "plain".
'Ah, maybe that's why she was so bad tempered this morning. She was jealous that my uniform was better.' Sakura realized that this thought was very childish, but it was probably the closest thing to the truth.
'I should be the one that is jealous…' With her purple hair and brown eyes, Ami looked liked the miniature version of her mom. Sakura on the other hand, had green eyes and messy pink hair.
Wrapped in her thoughts, the pink haired girl unconsciously sighed.
The father looked up form his newspaper. He was a scrawny man who was too lazy to shave everyday. Peering from his rectangular glasses he asked, "Is something the matter Sakura?"
"Ah, n-nothing, hahaha…" 'Idiot!! How could let yourself get caught like that?!?!?' Inner Sakura raged.
Squinting his eyes, the father asked, "Is that scotch tape on your glasses?"
"Hahaha," laughed Sakura nervously, "Yah, I accidentally sat on them last night."
"You're so careless Sakura-chan," smiled Ami slyly resting her chin on her hand, while dangling the spoon with her fingers. The light that bounced off her new nail job flashed brightly into Sakura's eyes.
"Do you want a new pair," the father asked, "I known this friend who can probably get you a good deal-"
"We have no money to spare on ungrateful klutz like her," the mother said, her back facing them as she stirred the large tin pot. "She doesn't even NEED glasses. Her eyesight is 20/20, but she continues to wear them because she thinks they make her look smart."
Sakura lowered her eyes. 'No no!! Don't let them ruin your happy day!!!'
Easier said then done.
"I'm going," Ami called before giving Sakura an evil smirk and skipped through the sliding door, out of sight.
Wondering what that last smirk was for, Sakura bend over to get out her new shoes from under the copper shoe rack. Her large eyes widened behind her glasses as she pulled them out. Her hands trembled as she stare dumbstruck at her shoes. The pair of beautiful black, leather shoes that she polished last night was no more. They were worn out, with dirt and scratches all over them.
Hot tears spilled on the shoes as Sakura reached for the dirty cloth she used to polish the shoes last night. She spend the next five minutes trying to clean up the shoes that Ami ruined.
'She probably did this last night when I went upstairs to sleep. No wonder she came to bed so late yesterday. She was probably having fun with my shoes in the yard…"
The Yagashira household had a backyard with a storage cabin where they put all the restaurant materials in.
Wiping away her tears, Sakura put on her shoes. There weren't any dirt on it anymore, but the scratches and marking are still extremely visible.
Putting on the maroon coloured, uniform coat and scarf, Sakura stepped into the January wind.
Clutching onto her black, leather school bag, Sakura decided that she was quite lucky. She left home earlier than she would have, so her schedule would not hinder due to Ami's little prank. And at least, nothing happened to her bag. She glanced down at the Konoha Academy emblem on her bag and smiled.
'At least the worst is over.'
Oh, how wrong she was.
Walking through a series of small, dirty alleyways, Sakura finally made it to the main street. She paused every now and then to admire the breathtaking dresses in store's window before sighing softly and continuing her journey to the subway.
The subway was as crowded as usual when Sakura tried to squeeze her way through the ocean of people. It was a true miracle that she actually managed to secure a seat instead of having to stand for the 30 minutes ride.
Suddenly Sakura realized that people around her were staring curiously at her and muttering softly to each other.
The pink haired girl knew perfectly well why this was the case. Konoha Academy is the most prestigious school in the city. The students that attend to it are the sons and daughters of the most influential people in the country.
'And not a no-name, nobody from one of the worst parts of the city.'
Yagashira Sakura is one of the very, very few people that was accepted into the academy with a full scholarship. This meant that she was a bookworm with no life.
The words dropped on her head like giant carving made out of stone. Gritting her teeth, Sakura pushed the words off her head. She may be a book worm, but at least she will have the chance to escape poverty.
'One day… one day I'll become the most famous doctor in the world! Then Mom would have to acknowledge me!'
Thirty minutes later, a ring followed by an announcement indicated the pink haired girl that it was time to get off.
Getting out of the subway station, Sakura admired the central apart of the city. Everything is so clean and magnificent, it was breathtaking.
Sakura continued to walk to her new school, sightseeing along the way. Ten minutes later she arrived at her school at one of its four main entrances. In front of the gate with the sign that reads, "Konoha Academy, High School Division," was a circular road for students that are dropped off or picked up by cars.
From the main gate was a long and wide road leading to the school with rows of trees elaborating each side. Sakura recognized them to be cherry blossom trees. The sight would be truly beautiful when spring comes.
Since it was still early, not a lot of students were arriving yet. Sakura took her time walking down the large pavement. 'This all feels so much like a dream,' Sakura grinned to herself.
When she arrived at the front step of the school building, Sakura admired its magnificence to the fullest.
The whole building was build based on the European style. To Sakura, it looked like the palaces she had seen in fairy tale books when she was little. Happiness filled her heart as million sparkles appeared in her eyes, (that was covered by her glasses). This really was a dream come true!!
"What is that you are wearing on your feet?" A voice popped from behind her.
Sakura turned around to see girl with long, blonde hair. Her feminine blue eyes was staring straight at her. "They're the shoes from our school's uniform of course, hehe…" Sakura laughed nervously. 'Please don't let me say anything lame!!'
"I know that," said the blond girl with an irritated look, "I'm asking why they're so scratched up. You should be a bit more careful with our school's image you know."
"Yay, yay," mimicked two girls behind her. Both girl also copied their leader's ponytail hair style and dyed their hair blond. They even wore blue contact lenses to match. However, both girl weren't nearly as beautiful nor as alluring as their leader. Once of them had fat cheeks and small eyes, the other had angular cheekbones and buckteeth.
"Of course," Sakura laughed out pathetically again while Inner Sakura screamed, 'School image my ass! You didn't even button up your inner shirt completely and your tie is loose!' It was then followed by a train of colourful swear words.
"Who was she?" The natural blonde girl asked her goons after they left Sakura hanging by herself at the front of the school.
"Don't know Ino-sama," the fat one replied, "I've never met her before in junior high…or elementary… or pre-school…"
"She's probably a new transfer or something," the boney one chimed in.
"Hmm…" Ino frowned, 'New transfer huh? I wonder why she seemed so familiar?…'
Sakura sighed as she placed her shoes in her shoe cabinet and put on the pair of white shoes used for walking inside the building. 'The first person I talked to… I must have left a horrible image of myself…'
"Ouch!!"
Turning around the corner, Sakura had bumped into someone with dark hair and pale eyes.
Rubbing her aching head, Sakura stood up and held her hand for the person on the ground, "Are you okay?"
The beautiful girl on the floor peered up, tears glistering in her eyes. The rays of sunlight coming from the large windows shone through the hallway and reflected off her silky black hair.
'Oh, shit! Did I make her cry?! She's probably the daughter of one of those influential people. I'm so dead!!!'
The girl sudden bottled up and bowed deeply to Sakura, "I-I'm so sorry!! P-p-please forgive me, I w-w-wasn't l-looking at where I was g-going!! I'm so s-sorry!!!"
The girl had a major case of stuttering her words.
"It's o-okay!! I wasn't paying attention either!" stuttered Sakura as well, waving her hands in front of her. The light was bouncing off her glasses so her eyes couldn't be seen, which just made her all the funnier to watch. 'Thank god…'
Settling down, Sakura smiled at the poor girl, "Nice to meet you. I'm Yagashira Sakura. I'm a First year of the High School Division. Calling me Sakura is just fine."
The girl smiled as well, "Nice to meet you Sakura-san. My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I'm a first year as well. Please just call me Hinata."
"Hyuuga?!" Sakura gasped, "You mean The Hyuuga Cooperation?! Owners of Japan's biggest airports?!"
Hinata blushed madly, "Y-yes, that's r-right."
'Wow… the people attending this school really is different…'
"Well, Hinata-chan was it? Why were you rushing like that earlier?"
"Oh," the girl blushed again, "I couldn't find my homeroom…" she said, slightly embarrassed.
"Ehh…? What's your homeroom?"
"Hmm… it's 1-A."
"Hey! I'm 1-A as well, why don't I take you there?" Sakura smiled.
"Thank you so much Sakura-san!" She really was a very cute girl.
'Yes!! I made a friend on my first day!!!" Inner Sakura cheered.
In the end, Sakura and Hinata found their homeroom with a minimum amount of backtracking.
The room was still quite empty, with only a few students scattered here and there.
"Let's get a middle seats in the front row Hinata-chan!"
"Oh," Hinata replied, "We usually sit at the back, beside the windows…"
"We…?" Sakura questioned.
"I-it's nothing!" Hinata stuttered, "I'm sure they won't mind! Let's get those seats shall we?"
"Huh..?"
Just then Sakura felt some shoulder pass her not all too gently, and that person didn't even apologize. "Hey! You-"
The person turned back. Sakura inhaled sharply, she could feel her heart rate going up.
The person in front of her was breathtaking, with raven hair and eyes. Sakura found his eyes to be the most mesmerizing. It was like a deep pool of mystery, calm on the outside but passionate in the inside…
"What?" The boy asked, annoyed.
… and a hell of an attitude.
Determined not to act like a wimp in front of her new friend, Sakura gathered her breath and shot back at the rude person, "You just elbowed me without a word! Shouldn't you at least apologize, you jerk!"
The person raised an eyebrow, "You should be careful when you start calling people names."
Sakura's felt a vain twitch. She couldn't believe the ego of this guy! Well, she wasn't going to let him have the last word! "Don't tell me to be careful, jerk! I can call you whatever I want to call you, jerk!"
"A-ano…" Hinata glanced nervously at Sakura, then at the rude boy.
Sakura continued to glare at the boy through her glasses, while he just stared impassively down at her.
Suddenly a loud, energetic voice broke the tension, "Hey, if it isn't Uchiha Sasuke-teme!!! I can't believe I'm in the same class as you again this year!!"
'Uchiha…?' Sakura thought, 'How come that sounds so familiar… wait… Uchiha… Uchiha… police force, security company… WHATTTTTT??!!?!??!!?!??!??!?!"
Thunder and lightening clashed in the background.
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A/N: Yah! That's that. So what do you guys think? Is it something worth continuing? -smiles-If you don't review I'll take that as a "no". -glares-
So…
::please review!!::
Lidiya
