-Dreaming of Petals-

By: ApplesofWrath

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto is property belonging to Masashi Kishimoto. Neither am I claiming any of Naruto's content nor writing a fanfic for profit. Please don't sue me and support the actual release.

Summary: Haruno Sakura attends an elite high school known to breed prodigies and send them to Ivy League schools. Being part of the lower social hierarchy of St. Arabella's Academy, she feels she will never win the attention of the popular Uchiha Sasuke. But impossible things do happen.

Author's note: This fic is mainly SasukexSakura with some NarutoxHinata, NejixTenten, GaaraxMatsuri (and don't worry, she won't be as annoying as she is depicted in the manga), ShikamaruxTemari, InoxSai, SuigetsuxKarin.

Pink Petals fill my dreams...

It was a lovely spring morning when Haruno Sakura walked to school, with her eyes to her book. The petals on the trees matched her bubblegum pink hair. Her eyes were as green as the grass. The weather was not too hot and yet not too cold-it was just perfect. The soft wind would sweep through her long pink locks, tied halfway by a thin, long red ribbon. She walked down a concrete path lined by a small black metal fences. Outside the fences, were the cherry blossom trees that surrounded the pathway like something out of a dream or photograph. A fresh, sweet fragrance from the trees filled the air. The blossoms sent lovely pink petals through the air, that would occasionally land on Sakura's hair, uniform or book.

It was the month of March, only halfway into the spring semester of Sakura's sophomore year in high school. Sakura always walked through the same route to and from school, and enjoyed it. This destination was her moment to walk and think. There was nothing but the sound of her feet, the branches of trees swaying from the wind, and a few birds.

Sakura attends St. Arabella's Academy, a private school that was known for it's prestigious students who aim to enter ivy league colleges. Sakura's dream was to enter Harvard's medical School, being inspired by her father who was the chief of staff at Konoha's hospital. Since high school began, Sakura has been good at maintaining her 4.0 GPA, doing charity work, and joining many of the school's clubs. She was predicted by her classmates to be salutatorian by their graduation year, being ranked 2nd in her grade. The first being Nara Shikamaru.

The school mostly composed of kids from rich backgrounds, and Sakura was one them. Her family lived very comfortably, they weren't as rich as other kid's families at St. Arabellas, but Sakura's available connection through her father were enough for her to gain entry into the school. Her grades and reputation at school further reinforced the fact that Sakura was a huge asset to the future of alumni of St. Arabellas. Her father was overjoyed to hear that Sakura got accepted into St. Arabella's Academy. Not only because he was an alumni, but also because he wants to see his daughter go into a better college than he did, and St. Arabella's was the place to go to get into the Ivy League.

The rest of St. Arabella's students were on scholarship, due to their competitive grades. Sakura's good friend Tenten was one of them, and Sakura couldn't be any more happier for her friend. And Ino's friend Ayumi, was also the few Sakura knew that were on scholarship.

Walking on the sidewalk, her dreamlike pathway remodeled into a typical suburban setting sidewalk with cars passing by. She wasn't far from approaching school when a black convertible drove alongside the sidewalk. She glanced over at the four boys who were blasting their music and laughing amongst themselves. Not paying too much thought to it, she returned her attention back to her book. However, that was interrupted by her name being called by and obnoxious, loud voice.

"Oi! Sakura-chan!"

Sakura turned to the source, it was Naruto, the tanned, blond haired boy who was standing up in the backseat of the car, waving frantically at her with a huge stupid smile on his face. Naruto was in a few of Sakura's classes, someone she was well acquainted with. She gave him a friendly smile and waved back. A boy with a short black pony tail in the backseat with Naruto was trying to hold Naruto from accidentally falling out of the car. Another boy with a long ponytail and pearl, white eyes in the shot gun seat just starred with a sweat drop. The driver just kept his eyes on the road with an annoyed face.

Sakura's attention was lured to the driver who just kept his attention on the road, he had coal black hair that was spiked in the back with long bangs that complemented his face. His eyes were obsidian, his nose perfect, his expression frozen in a poker face. Bottom line-he was undeniably handsome. His name was Uchiha Sasuke, the son of the CEO of Uchiha Corp. Known at the academy as the school's most popular boy, the subject of many fan clubs, and viewed by many as a cold-hearted guy.

Sakura couldn't help but stare. Although she hasn't admitted it to anyone (except her best friend Ino), she's had a crush on Sasuke since elementary school. Not confident in herself to go up and talk to him, she always just focused on school and her books, compensating for the feeling that she was just not beautiful and nowhere in league with him. He was everything she wasn't-confident, fearless, and something damn close to perfect.

Feeling her heart flutter a bit and her face heating up, she turned away quickly. Her eyes returned to her book as she continued on her way to school. Hoping they didn't see her face redden with shyness, Sakura picked up her pace and didn't look back at the boys. Her eyes were on a sentence that she continuously read again, but didn't register the meaning at all. All she could think of was how stupid she looked to Sasuke.

If only she had turned around, she would have seen Naruto's head hung in disappointment and Sasuke's eyes on her, expressionless.

Haruno Sakura shut her locker. She slung her turquoise backpack over her shoulder and began walking down the hall of St. Arabella's Academy. Her mind observed the setting-some girls gossiping by the other lockers, some boys laughing about last friday's game, a couple making out, and a guy with books too heavy in his arms. This was pretty much the representative depiction of the everyday life of St. Arabella's students. Sakura couldn't deny that the school has some students who were stuck up and carried the snobby-rich kid attitude where they believed they could do whatever they wanted just their parents could simply just bribe the headmaster... with expensive alcohol or a free trip to a casino in vegas. Luckily, none of her friends were like this.

Like some private schools, St. Arabellas had a uniform policy. Girls wore a blue cardigan sweater over white polo with a black tie. This was accompanied by a black pleated mini skirt with thigh high gray socks and white keds. The bolder of the female population would usually buy the smallest sized skirt possible to get the attention of St. Arabella's hormone crazed boys. Boys wore a blue blazer over a white dress shirt with a black tie. Khaki pants or a black dress pants with black dress shoes. Some of them got away with a very loose tie or no tie at all. Every one was given a black pea coat and a stripped blue and gray scarf for the fall and winter.

Sakura walked up to a nearby water fountain, but before she could drink, she heard her name being called by a familiar female voice.

"Hey Forehead girl!" Sakura looked at Ino.

Ino was one of the popular girls at St. Arabella's. She usually hung out with her clique that composed of Temari, Karin, Matsuri, and Ayumi. Though Sakura and Ino fell into different groups of friends as they grew up, they still considered each other their best friend since elementary school and had each other's backs.

"Oh good morning, Ino-pig," Sakura gave a smirk. Not only has their friendship lasted through the ages, so did their nicknames for each other.

"Ah Good morning. There's going to be a party at Kiba's tonight. Do you want to come? Kiba said I could bring someone."

"Ahh sorry, Ino... I have a test coming up soon. Maybe another time. Besides, you know I don't drink," Sakura smiled weakly.

"Ahh fine be that way," Ino stuck out her tongue, "You were just my backup anyway, since Sai can't go because has an Art project due tomorrow." Sai was Ino's boyfriend of two years. Sakura was quite shocked when she first met Sai, for she never imagined Ino to date a kind of guy like him who fell with the crowd of art geeks. Sakura figured Ino enjoys being his muse.

"Ohh and the truth finally comes out," Sakura laughed.

"Well, I heard Uchiha Sa-su-ke was going... If that strikes your interest. Which I know it does," Ino said in a sing-song voice and winked at her best friend.

"Ohh... Well, I don't want to make an idiot out of myself in front of him... So it's alright, I'll pass."

"Good grief, forehead girl... Have some confidence! Besides, you never know... They say some popular guys go for the quiet ones."

"You're watching too many jdramas. It's not very realistic-" Before Sakura could continue, she heard Ino's name being called. A group of girls approached Ino and Sakura. There was a girl with red hair and black framed glasses, a girl with a short ash brown bob, a girl with blond pigtails, and a curly haired brunette.

"Ino! We're going to breakfast, come join us!" The red headed girl with classes motioned.

"Ahh okay," Ino responded and then turned to Sakura.

"Hey look, I'm gonna go get some breakfast. I'll see you in english, okay?"

"Alright, Ino. I'll see you later," Sakura waved bye to Ino and walked to her first class.

When Sakura was far enough from Ino, the redheaded girl with black frames walked over to Ino.

"I still don't get why you hang around that girl, Sakura," Karin grumbled, "She'll only bring your reputation down, when people see you with her..."

Karin never liked Sakura. She always thought lowly of her because she was one of those girls who were the goody-goody virgin Mary girls who only cared about her grades and read books all day. It annoyed her whenever Ino invites her to a party or hangout.

Ino frowned, and gave Karin a glare.

"Karin, hun... I love you to death and all, but you could really quit with the 'us and them' attitude. Sakura's a great gal and i hope her being my best friend gives you the hint that she means a lot to me. And besides, you hate every girl outside our group for no apparent reason..." Ino's comment sounded exaggerated, but at the same time it contained the truth.

"Just quit that," Ino walked passed Karin and began walking towards the cafeteria.

Karin looked back at Sakura. Regardless of Ino's words, Karin eyed the retreating pink-haired girl and narrowed her eyes. Her uniform was all worn out. Usually girls here in St. Arabella's would buy a brand new uniform every year because eventually the uniforms would wear out due to students constantly wearing it five days a week. Some students who could afford it would buy and extra so they had a time to wash the other in time for school the next day. Karin knew Sakura family had reasonable amount of money compared to the scholarship kids, but for reasons Karin couldn't figure out, Sakura just chose to wear a worn out uniform. Not to mention, her skirt was too long, touch almost her knees.

She rolled her eyes and caught up with the rest of the girls.

Author's note: So what do you guys think? Read and review! :) Oh and in case you haven't put together, Ayumi is a OCC :) I made her to be a kind of 'It girl' among Ino's clique.