The it Girl

She wanted to run, run far away from all of the things she was thinking, more like feeling. She didn't want to see him she wasn't allowed to see him. They were never even supposed to know each others face. But they did and they felt. He knew what she was thinking and as much as he wanted to think the same things he couldn't. As much as he wanted to hate her he couldn't. Her eyes bore into his and he couldn't stop the obvious attraction he was feeling.
"What are we going to do?"

Princess Haruno Sakura, the poster girl of peace in the kingdom of Konoha, literally. Every remotely high tower had a banner of her beautiful face and gorgeous body. The girl had been sadly over exposed to the public ever since a rivalry with the neighbouring kingdom Suna emerged. Every poster had one single characteristic in common: a large leaf that the princess would be coyly trying to conceal. And her clothing in these posters showed a little too much leg or cleavage. Teen boys ogled at the banners and the teen girls rolled their eyes but secretly wanted to have her body and confidence.

Inside a large castle alive with servants bustling around preparing for the party of the evening, Princess Sakura was dangerously draped along the length of the highest windowsill. She caught herself staring at her largest banner and inwardly scolded herself. She didn't like how egotistic she could be at times. She hated it so much she worked to hide it for as long as she could remember, but her efforts were ruined since her vanity was obvious in each poster that was embarrassingly over sized. She didn't even know why the council bothered with all the commercial peace; they were going to officially declare war with Suna tonight so why waste time? That's what Sakura thought. She once tried to point out that fact only to be humiliated by a bunch of men that were supposed to be working beneath her.

She sighed out loud and watched as she saw the high tower of the Suna kingdom. She couldn't help but, feel an unnatural hatred towards the barely visible human looking through that tower. She had a pretty good idea of who it was. If all the gossip was correct that man was the king of Suna - Sabaku no Gaara. She didn't know him too well and they only met once but she was far too young then to remember now. So, all she knew about him were from rumours and gossip among her ladies in waiting. She heard that he had a very powerful presence that made all the women swoon, but he never dared let any of them get close to him. So, it was a shock to everyone when Ino, Sakura's closest friend, declared she was marrying him. Sakura's first reaction was betrayal and fury. When she demanded to know the reason behind Ino's abrupt departure she was faced with a rampage from her seemingly best friend:

"You were always the pretty one always the one who got everything she wanted. And you strut around this castle like you're the queen of the world and everyone else are like your little toys and once you're bored you throw them out. You may think all the boys want you, but then why am I the one moving to Suna to live with the man that intends to marry me and you're stuck alone with no one to love you. You had your shot you know, with Sasuke, but no he didn't adore you enough! What was the reason you rejected him, again? Oh right because he was always away! He is one of the best ANBU ever to fight for kanoha!"

"Oh shut up Ino you have no idea what you're talking about! It's not like I have a choice with how I'm dressed it's Kanoha's way of showing off to Suna! And what the fuck do you think you've been doing this whole time! Throwing yourself at any boy I even the slightest bit of interest in just to prove that you're more loved. And you were just jealous that he never noticed you when we were together! I loved him with all my heart I wanted to be with him, but I felt those glares you sent me and the hateful words. I saw you try and fail at seducing him time and time again. The only reason I called off our relationship was for you! And now seeing you're true colours I regret the whole thing and I wish I could tell him, but no he left the kingdom, because of the immense pressure you were crushing him with! Looking back at it all, the one thing I don't regret was being completely honest with the reason why I was dumping him. I poured my heart out to him revealing the hurtful things you did. So, if you were ever wondering why he was so cold towards you, you got your answer!" Sakura shouted.

"Where do you get off doing that to me? You knew I had dated him the previous year, you knew we had history!" Ino had said with rage. Sakura remembered how angry that had made her.

"You didn't have history! He hated you for your drama queen behaviour and how you were all over him as if he was your property! We bonded over him telling me everything that was wrong with you as a girlfriend. He had told you countless times to cut it out and you wouldn't listen. He loved me because I gave him space and I let him come to me more than I pounced on him. So, you go around thinking that I blew him off because he didn't spoil me enough, but we both know it was because of your jealousy. He told all his friends too you know, I had no control over that and I still feel sorry for how they treat you sometimes," Sakura had admitted.

"You don't feel sorry you little bitch! Don't think for one second that I actually believe my Sasuke would do that to me! He loved me and he was just using you like he was using all those other girls to get me jealous!" Ina had shouted in Sakura's face.

"What other girls Ino? He was barely in Konoha and when he was we stayed together the whole time and talked. He told me all the stories of his missions and he promised that one day he'd take me away with him. Girls were always gushing to me on how much he loved to talk about me at the ANBU headquarters and practically the whole kingdom respected our love except for you! So does that sound like him using me to you? Sure as hell doesn't sound like that to me!" Sakura had been furious when she heard Ino said that, she was almost positive she had a mental problem.

"You won't win this, Sakura, ever since we were little girls I always won against you and that isn't going to stop now. Sasuke will return and he will yearn for me only and not you. But maybe he'll give you a shot since I'm marrying the king of Suna. You're the slut, Sakura, you do anything any boy asks you to," Ino smirked. Sakura remembered that Ino always thinks she's smarter than others.

"You're wrong Ino, you have to bust that oversized ego of yours seriously Ino everyone hates you for it!"

"I don't have a huge ego I'm very much grounded I've seen way more than you!"

"Well now I pity your husband. I can tell he will be a very miserable man who will probably have an early death thanks to all the stress you'll dump on him." Sakura said with finality and Ino stormed out of the room fuming.

And those were the last words ever exchanged between Ino and Sakura. The princess wasn't proud of some of the things she said, but deep down she always knew that fight gave her confidence and grounded her even more than she already unknowingly was. As she stared at her rival she couldn't help but, slightly connect with the leaves near his feet to see what he was doing. He looked deep in thought and the black shadows around his eyes were more emphasized than the pictures that were last received from the kingdom, right before Ino moved to Suna. The man looked like he had just escaped an attack. She noticed a fresh hickey and assumed it was probably a horny Ino trying to get her fix. As much as she hated the man, she couldn't help but feel for him a tiny bit. After all she used to be in his position and she knew of all the tongue biting and self control it took to put up with Ino. She knew all of her most fun moments were somehow tied to Ino, but the way she talked about her and others cancelled out all of them. This king was sure screwed, she thought as eyes returned to her original setting.

Sabaku no Gaara, almighty king of Suna, leaned on the large balcony of his high tower. His future wife was killing him with her useless blabbering and constant "visits" with him. He cursed the nin who decided to teach her all the techniques of a ninja. This girl found him in places specially designed for only him to access. The fact that she kept on finding him was nothing to be proud of in his books. If only he knew what he was getting into when he exchanged all those letters with her, things would've been different. She easily charmed him with her gentle words and seemingly humble attitude, but when she arrived to Suna, Gaara witnessed her personality first hand, and it was not pleasant. He didn't even know how she could've concealed that big of an ego, even in writing. Then he noticed her penmanship and he found it was nothing like the writing in the letters. Even an expert concluded that they could in no way belong to the same person. So, Gaara spent the whole night feeling like a fool for being tricked so easily. The only thing that kept his hopes up was the fact that the girl that wrote those letters was still out there, probably still in Konoha, totally oblivious to what Ino did. He couldn't even figure out how Ino managed to do it her named had always been signed at the bottom and there was no mention of any outbursts towards Ino within the past month she was here. She never received any hateful messages; even though he doubted a person with that much grace and care could send hate mail. And now he was thinking about his could be soul mate. He immediately put up a brick wall.

He would not give into his newfound weakness. He had made a promise to Ino and he would not go back on it, no matter how tempted he was. He had to stay sturdy with the new war with their sister city officially commencing tonight, he had to be the rock of his kingdom. The confused villagers would turn to him in their greif and he had to remain strong. Not some emotional mess searching the city of Kanoha for a girl he exchanged a few letters with. To distract him he started staring at one of those enormous banners of the princess Sakura of Kanoha. She was sure confidant, no emotional mess there. She probably had the perfect boyfriend, perfect friends and perfect family. He had to admit he stared at those banners of her far too often then he should. He was just so tempted... His train of thought ended when he saw the real princess lounging along the highest windowsill of her castle. The silky green kimono she wore was dangling down the side of the column beneath, it seemed very long since the overlap on her side had opened revealing her long legs and adding the extra length to the train. He was so immensely curious that he ended up taping into the sand on the opposite side of her.

And when he got a real view of her she looked even more flawless than on the posters. Her pink hair was let down and brushed over one shoulder. It was incredibly long when it wasn't done up in those gems and curled into luscious waves. Her hair was in fact longer than her back. It ran down her side and pooled in her lap beautifully. Her eyes were striking. Paired with her pink hair, her soft emerald eyes all but took his breath away. And he couldn't help but notice that she was in fact very sad. And he immediately regretted all the rampages him and his council had on how spoiled and ignorant she was. This girl had obviously been pulled through a lot and found a way to bounce back every time due to the fact that she was always poised and graceful when she represented her kingdom. She must care for her people deeply, he admitted to himself. But then he remembered the stories he had heard if this girl, most from Ino. Even though he didn't trust her, some of her stories matched those of his council with but, with more detail. All those stories described Sakura as a selfish young girl, who manipulated those around her to get just what she wanted. And she was very suspicious when it came to her physical appearance, Ino claimed that Sakura never had a day where she looked even the least bit ugly, even sick days, Ino said that was because she had a secret room for her hair dresser, stylist and makeup artist that were ready for her the moment she woke up. He thought that was a little extreme, but he never found anyone to prove her wrong so he believed it.

It was weird how the girl whose very name would make his stomach twist in hatred was so sweet looking. She reminded him of one that one girl incredibly popular girl who was adored by all her friends and her friends' friends, who was perfect and that any people who weren't already connected to her hated her or assumed she was a bitch. Then when they met her they were charmed by her genuine smile and openness with you. She was definitely an "it" girl. He smirked at how he used his sister's favourite term. But it was true even the people she's never even heard of talked of her as if they were lifelong friends. Temari, his sister was the perfect example of that, whenever they gathered to eat Temari would gush about the juicy bit of gossip about Sakura. He knew since he was the king people talked about him too, but it wasn't how they talked about Sakura. If you were to convert them into high school terms she was the girl, basically. She wasn't the cheerleader or the badass she was just the girl. She was the one that people would be jealous of and fawn over. Girls would secretly model themselves after her. And he was just the guy who's involved with those popular kids. Everyone knew his name and all the basic things about him, but they weren't interested in his life and they didn't bother spreading rumours about him.

He sighed, and came back to his own surroundings. He knew that this war between their two kingdoms was going to be very interesting. He saw something in her eyes and he knew she was going to do something interesting. Then again, Ino had told him that she almost never leaves her castle and the furthest away from her home she's been was when she traveled here with her parents to meet his father, before he died. He was still very young, but he remembered. Sakura couldn't have been more than four years old and he was seven. He remembered how shy she was and how once they met she'd clutch his hand tightly when they were stuck watching the arguments taking place between their parents. He remembered how surprised he was the first time she did that, but after he got used to it. He had to admit it was one of the worst and best weeks of his life. He had made his first friend, but that was the day the two kingdoms started the rivalry. And then once they're parents passed away, they left the pressure of that rivalry on their children. Sometimes he was so angry with his dad for doing that. He knew that his council would not back down now and he was forced to go through with it. So, now he just masked all that pain and feeling with a brick wall. It was all he knew and that was all he's ever done.