Disclaimer: I own nothing. If it were mine, Sasuke would not be such an angsty character. Well, no. That's not true. He makes angst work.

So I figured I would try my hand at this theme writing. I found a list of 100 themes, (actually, I found like 10 of the same list so I'm not sure who to give credit to) on the internet and I started writing. Here's theme 1! : )

1. Introduction

It was the first day of her training. The girl excitedly rolled out of her bed, a full hour earlier than she was supposed to be getting up, and put on the outfit that she had been up forever picking out; a pretty red dress and a pair of shorts underneath. She quickly brushed out her hair, working through the tangles that had gathered in the night, and glanced at herself in the mirror. Pink hair was tucked behind her ear to keep it out of the way. Bright, animated green eyes look back from the glass and she gave a bright smile, complete with a missing tooth, the top right canine. She giggled nervously as she remembered how scary it had been to pull that tooth; she had waited until it had been hanging off by just about nothing, and when her daddy had asked to see it and it had simply fallen off into his hand. She could already feel the other canine getting loose. She gently tugged on the loose tooth in question, feeling a wave of satisfaction when she tastes the blood flowing like rust and salt in her mouth. She promised right then that as soon as it was loose enough, the tooth would come out. She would be brave this time around. She gave herself a nod in the mirror and ran out of her room to wake her mother and father.

Breakfast was a hurried affair, and soon enough, with lunch in hand and hasty kisses to her mother, she was running out the door dragging her daddy along behind her. She skipped all the way to the academy that day, chattering non-stop about all the things that she was going to do when she made friends. She had seen the other children around town playing together but she had kept to herself, her shyness keeping her from making any lasting bonds with the others. Her promise to herself was fresh in mind; she had decided that today would be the day to start anew.

Their house was not far from the academy, and before long, they arrived at the gate. Never before had the looming building seemed as imposing as it did now, and the little girl's voice getting quieter and quieter as they approached it. Her father, noticing the change in her attitude, gave her hand a small reassuring squeeze and smiled gently at her when she looked up at him with a frightened expression. She gave him back a tentative smile, and walked with him through the entrance where the other children were playing in the courtyard and their parents stood speaking together. She pulled him gently to an empty corner and stood there with him, trembling slightly. Her father kneeled down to look her in the eye.

"Love, there's nothing to be afraid of. I know you're nervous but you are a wonderful little girl and I'm sure everyone would love to be your friend. Would you like to go talk to the other children?"

The little girl threw her small arms around his neck. "Daddy, what if they don't like me?" She whispered horrified.

He patted her hair comfortingly and tells her "It's okay" and "I'm sure they'll love you". She slowly drew away from him, smiled another half-hearted smile, and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Okay! I'm going now!" she said firmly and turned away from him towards the other children. He smiled, albeit a little sadly, at his little girl as she walked away from him. He wished he could've kept her forever, that she would've stayed that little, that innocent forever.

Her small hands were curled apprehensively in front of her chest, tongue whipped out to wet her lips nervously. When she finally reached the other girls standing together at the other side of the yard, she approached the nearest one,

" 'Scuse me."

The girl in question turned around and looked at her questioningly. "Yeah?" She replied in a lilting voice.

"Can..CanIplaywithyouplease?" she replied really fast, dropping her eyes to the ground in front of her and blushing furiously.

"Huh? What did you say?" the other girl responded, her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised high above the other. "You're weird."

"O-oh.. Sorry..." she mumbled back, fighting back the tears as she turned away from the girl and walked quickly back to her daddy. The giggles of the other girls rang loudly in her ears as she left their proximity and her stomach churned at the sound.

"What happened?" he questioned when she reached him again, wrapping her slender limbs around his torso and burying her face in his shirt.

"Nothing." She replied in a muffled voice, clenching his shirt tightly. They think I'm weird. I'm weird, I'm weird, I'm weird. They don't like me.

Soon after, they were called to attention while one of the teachers explained the rules of the academy and congratulated them on becoming new students. The girl stood quietly by her father's side as she listened, having exchanged her hold on his body for just his hand. He glanced down at her again and again but was at a loss at what to say. He pulled a handful of candies out of his pocket, a treat he'd been planning to give her later, and dumped the colourful treats into her little hand. He was really no good at this.

The teacher had finished speaking and everyone had left the courtyard to return to their respective homes. She and her father had stood together, eating candies and watching while many of the children had said goodbye to their parents and run off to play. One exception was a boy with bandages covering his face and hands, who had walked quietly next to an imposing man they'd assumed was his father. He had dark hair and kept his hands in the pockets of his baggy pants while walking quickly to keep up with the long strides of the stoic man next to him. Occasionally, the boy glanced up surreptitiously to look at his father's face with a hopeful, hungry sort of glint in his eyes.

"Do you want to go yet, love?" her daddy said to her quietly. She tightened her hold on his hand and they turned to walk towards the exit of the yard, passing another little boy who was playing by himself in the dirt. His knees and elbows were covered in scratches and bruises both old and new, and his arm had an angry red welt around it that looked like a hand print. His blonde coloured hair looked like it hadn't been cut in a while and he wore dirty clothes. The girl felt her chest tighten painfully, and then an idea came over her. She stopped and looked up at her daddy, who in turn looked at her questioningly, and let go of his hand to walk over to the boy.

"S...S'cuse me." she said when she had approached him. The boy looked up at her and his eyes flashed first with surprise, then confusion, his expression slowly turning into a frown, as if the very sight of her was doubtful. He said nothing.

"D-do you want a candy?" she asked him quietly. His blue eyes widened at the colourful treats she held out in her little hand in front of him.

"M-me? Really?" he had whispered back just as quietly, in awe. When she nodded shyly, he cupped his hands under hers and she dumped the rest of her treats into them. He had grinned at her so widely, that she had had to smile back. "Thanks!" Popping one of the goodies into his mouth he smiled again and said, "I'm Naruto! What's your name?"

"S-Sakura!" she had stuttered back, smiling even wider and tucking her pink hair behind her ears again.