As I said in my bio, I am very unoriginal when it comes to titles. So, I would love it if you would review a title you think would be a good fit for this story. I will most likely decide on a name after I publish the next chapter of this in case it is decided that it is too early to decide upon a name. Thank you for taking the time to read/ review this story.


Life hadn't been complicated for Sakura Haruno: top student of Konoha High-one of the most prestigious public schools in the entire nation- doting parents, well liked by many, and was beautiful with her uncommonly pink hair. The only real downsides in her life was that her height had peaked at 5'4 and that she had never experienced love. To clarify, Sakura Haruno had never experienced true love: unconditional, unrelenting, unnerving, eternal. Countless times she believed to be in love, only to realize that love was tainted for one reason or another. Usually it came down to either being an unrequited love or simply a love that was for the other's personal gain-never because they simply wanted to be with her. After years of understanding that "love" was too unpredictable, Sakura simply gave up and focused on herself. By the time sophomore year came about, she had matured into the woman she was meant to be: strong, confident, realistic, and happy. Now it was junior year and, unbeknownst to her, within the spring her true love would come forth one more time.


An electronic beep, coming from her car alarm, resounded throughout the barren parking lot as Sakura began walking into the large school. Carelessly throwing her long hair into a ponytail, secured by a red scrunchie, Sakura rushed to the teacher's office. Being the class representative was much more trouble than it was worth on days like this. Today was the day the seasons began to shift from winter to spring, which also meant ice cold mornings to start the day. Feeling goosebumps begin to collect upon her exposed legs underneath her standard blue skirt, Sakura tried to pull her black knee highs farther upward only to realize her efforts were fruitless.

'Damn uniform.' She inwardly cursed, tightening her tan cardigan around her upper body in a futile attempt to find warmth, and hastened her pace.

Finally arriving at the teacher's office, Sakura knocked on the wooden door then abruptly opened it before she received an answer. There she saw the usual scene, all the teachers talking to one another from their alligned desks while making sure their handouts were in order. Well, all except one teacher-Kakashi Hatake. The grey headed man was seen trying to get some "beauty sleep", or so he called it, at his cluttered desk. Rolling her green eyes at her beloved homeroom teacher, and made her way towards his desk. When she reached him, she lightly knocked his head with her fist causing him to look at her with bleary eyes.

"Why hello Sakura, how are you this fine morning?" Kakashi slurred evidently still half asleep.

"Considering I'm up at this god awful hour," she took a glance toward the clock-reading 6- "worse than a certain someone who is still sleeping." She mockingly smiled at her teacher.

"Now look, I am a very busy man who was up late-" Kakashi began to explain while sitting up straight in his chair.

"Helping a poor defenseless woman who was being mugged, or were you helping a lost child like the last time." Sakura effortlessly interrupted him.

The only response was Kakashi scratching the back of his head with his right hand, meanwhile his left hand was straightening the standard surgical mask that covered his mouth. This caused both people to laugh loudly at one another.

"Truth is I was up late at the dojo helping out Gai." Kakashi stretched his arms from behind his head.

Although Kakashi would never admit it, he really enjoyed the ever youthful presence of his oldest friend Maito Gai. Anyone who knew Gai understood, he was one of the most positive and energetic people out there. He would always be there for you when you were down and out. But, his fashion sense left little to be desired; especially when his go to pair of casual clothes were his infamous green spandex leggings and his traditional white uniform top. Gai ended up never going to college and instead opened up his own martial arts dojo within the city. Although, he lacked staff many students flooded the place every year wanting to be taught by the incredible man himself. Naturally, Gai recruited Kakashi in becoming a sensei there, even if Kakashi refused for months until finally relenting. Kakashi's joining encouraged others to volunteer in teaching, some staying permanently, as well as an influx of female students.

Having to be a full time teacher in two different places was taxing upon the aging man, and Sakura knew that greatly. Hence the reason she showed up to school early. After becoming closer with the teacher throughout the years, she knew he had some type of hero complex and tried to shoulder everything upon himself. The look on his face when she announced that he had no choice but to accept her help was priceless.

Every weekday she would arrive at school two hours early in order to help Kakashi organize himself, make copies, assign class duties for the week, and make sure he was well caffeinated. It became routine for them as they went through the motions with idle chit-chat, blithe jokes, and comforting silence. Because of the aid, Kakashi was always ready at 8 but often strolled into class an hour late; the reason Sakura would never truly know, but she definitely had many guesses.


Sakura took her seat in the outer left row near the window and simply stared at the cherry trees that were beginning to regain their leaves. She always thought about how nature had so much perseverance; even after being stripped of everything it had, nature continued to fight and became much more beautiful by the end of the whole ordeal. Softly smiling at the thought, Sakura began to notice her classmates filter in one by one. However, the only real person she cared about was her timid friend, Hinata Hyuuga. After catching Hinata's attention with a gentle wave, the shy girl's nervous expression softened. Hinata offered a delicate smile, relieved that her pink haired best friend was in class, and began to make her way over to the desk next to Sakura.

Hinata was a faint-hearted girl, but once sparked she gained an immense of courage that rivaled Sakura's. Her courage was found within her light purple eyes, a biological birth condition, that seemed to convey her hidden feelings. The only issue was that Hinata rarely looked any in the eye so none would be the wiser to her ever-changing emotions.

As she made her way towards Sakura, her lengthy raven hair swayed in the wind she was creating.

"How are you today, Hinata? You seem a little more chipper this morning." Sakura asked as she watched Hinata place her belongings onto the desk. This question caused Hinata to smile a fraction more.

"Well… Naruto invited me to come watch his tournament in a few weeks at Gai's dojo." Hinata abashedly said as she clasped her hands together, something she did whenever she was embarrassed.

Sakura couldn't help but fully smile at her best friend. Hinata had an enormous crush on their mutual friend, Naruto Uzumaki- an unnecessarily loud blonde ball of energy whose heart was always in the right place. It took many years for Naruto to finally understand that the young Hyuuga girl had intense feelings for him, but everything fell into place somehow. Looking back on it, the only reason Naruto confessed was because Hinata was being teased by others about her crush on Naruto: which began in elementary school. Of course Naruto being himself stepped in and said,

"At least her love isn't unrequited like yours, you dipshits!" Yelling all this while holding his fist in front of him as if he was determined to fight them if they said anything else to upset Hinata. Naturally, Hinata, being overwhelmed by the sudden revelation, fainted right on the spot with a harsh red blush painting her entire face.

They had officially begun dating freshman year of high school, quickly becoming the most famous couple within the area. Hinata's timid yet composed nature balanced out Naruto's erratic yet loving behavior well.

Coming back to real life, Sakura congratulated her friend and embraced her in a strong hug, causing the raven haired girl to only giggle as she was coddled by Sakura. After releasing her, the two began to talk about many different topics. However the only one that seemed intriguing was that Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro Sabaku were back in town and attending Konoha High. This made Sakura uneasy. It wasn't entirely true that Sakura and Gaara had been a couple at one point, but it wasn't entirely a lie that Sakura and Gaara had been in love.

Gaara Sabaku: cold, distant, complicated, and terrifying. These were all words commonly associated with the red head. But, what many forgot to add to that list was passionate. The moments they shared together were just that. Gaara easily swept Sakura off of her feet freshman year, but very quickly crushed her heart in one single moment. Then he was never seen or heard from again. She knew why, and it pained her to think about it. It pained her to think about the countless nights she spent crying over him, the countless times she stared at her phone waiting for him, the countless moments she waited at that spot in hopes he would one day come back. Of course, he never did. But now he was back, and Sakura was far beyond nervous.

Sakura only noticed that she had broken into a cold sweat after Hinata offered her a lacey lavender handkerchief. Gratefully, Sakura accepted and dabbed her face while apologizing. The Hyuuga girl only smiled hoping to have given some comfort to her friend.

"Do you think he remembers me?" Sakura hesitantly asked.

"I suppose only time will tell." Hinata quietly offered moving to gently squeeze Sakura's hand, thus receiving another love crushing hug from the strong girl. Sakura's love fest was disturbed by none other than Naruto.

"Sakura! What did I tell you about doing that to Hinata?" Naruto stormed in towards the two, his orange scarf fluttering.

"What? You can't hog all this cuteness to yourself." Sakura teased Naruto as she rubbed her face against Hinata's.

"Damn right I can!" Naruto sat on his girlfriend's desk and pulled her close causing Hinata to have an internal meltdown.

Nonetheless, the two of them laughed considering they always "fought" like this over the shy girl. Naruto and Sakura had always been close since they lived across the street from one another, and over the years they had become like siblings to one another. That is after Sakura rejected Naruto enough times to get through his thick skull. Either way, they were as thick as thieves. After laughing, Naruto's cerulean eyes opened and looked at Sakura showing concern.

"I heard…" He trailed off in hopes he wouldn't have to finish the sentence.

"I knew you would." Sakura leaned against the window sill, fully facing her two friends.

Gaara's abrupt departure hadn't only wounded Sakura but Naruto as well. Both men were paired with similar tragic backstories, thus allowing them to bond quickly. Plus, their mutual love for martial arts was a nice bonus. Although that wasn't what held them together. Naruto's persistent nagging for Gaara to become his friend eventually broke down his barriers, leaving Gaara to realize that the exuberant blonde had truly cared about him. That was what held them together for so long, until the incident.

The three sat together in a few moments of silence as they collected themselves emotionally, silently preparing for the storm that was going to walk through the doors.


The Sabaku siblings stepped onto the glossy tiles of the school only to be greeted with whispers and curious stares. Of course, they were going to stir up trouble simply by being there especially considering it had almost been two years since they left. Only those closest to the siblings knew the truth of why they abruptly left, and somehow Gaara was thankful for that. He knew Naruto was loyal enough to both him and Sakura to discuss the details.

'Sakura…' Gaara wistfully thought of the girl. He saw her shoulder length light pink hair dance in the wind as she gazed at him with strong emerald eyes, that image had haunted him all those years. That was the last image of her he had imprinted into his mind, never knowing of how much she had changed in the last few years.

"Hey, Gaara, we gotta go grab our schedules. Where was the principal's office again?" Temari offhandedly asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's down this hall." Kankuro placed his hands behind his head, ruffling his unkempt brown hair in the process.

"I doubt it is. Your sense of direction is awful." Temari quipped as she repositioned the bag hanging on her shoulder.

"Oh, you mean as bad as your hairstyle." He smirked while glancing at her offended expression.

"You are just not as fashion forward as I am little brother." She played with the two lowest ponytails out of the four.

"Oh, bite me. Man were uniforms always this uncomfortable?" Kankuro tugged at his white shirt collar.

Gaara drowned out his siblings agreement on the school dress code and how horrendous it was. His thoughts kept running to the only friends he had in this dingy town, the same people he left behind that cold winter years ago.