Hello everyone :) I hope you all had a nice Christmas. Well, 2010 is almost over and I thought I'd start 2011 with a little fic that's been bugging me. As I said, it's slightly AU in that there are modern conveniences such as phones, tv's etc and that (as the title suggests) it's set in school. Everyone is sixteen yet the storyline will weave through the original Naruto storyline and through to Shippuden with my own little additions here and there.

And so, we begin.

Academy and Beyond

Chapter I

A sigh left Sakura's lips as the final lengthy curl fell into place, her curlers laid carefully to one side. Although she enjoyed studying to become a shinobi, the pinkette loved being able to get in touch with her feminine side on those days when she wasn't required to do much physical activity. Now fully dressed, with minutes to spare, Sakura grabbed her green blazer and threw it on as she headed for the door of her bedroom. The smell of her mother's cooking lingered even now; half an hour after breakfast had ended. Mrs Haruno had now long since left for work, leaving Sakura to take care of herself in the meantime.

As Sakura wandered downstairs, she noticed that her book bag lay where she had flung it on the previous Friday evening; in the corner nearest to the front door. Normally it didn't live there but Sakura had been too drained after a particularly harsh afternoon dedicated to working on her stamina in Ninja Arts class to genuinely care about trivial things like that. After slinging it over her shoulder and slipping on her shoes, Sakura glanced quickly at the clock. An hour separated her from when she needed to be in class.

'That's more than enough time' she thought as she gently opened the door, happy in the knowledge that for once her primping hadn't made her later than usual.

Being able to dawdle was a luxury that Sakura was not going to pass up on. Her soft eyes watched the sky as she walked through the maze of streets which separated her from the train station. This habit had stayed with Sakura throughout her school career. Even now, as a junior, she felt no need to rush on days like this. The rest of the village rushed around her as they went about their everyday business but, for the time being, Sakura followed her own pace. As she walked, Sakura noticed several other students making their way to the same train station that she was headed to. Obviously freshmen, confusion screwed up their faces as they looked around at each other for guidance. Being only two days since the start of a new school year, it didn't surprise Sakura that they didn't know their way around as of yet. In fact, it wasn't merely the school that some of them had trouble navigating. Some students had moved from other countries to enrol in Konoha Academy and therefore had no knowledge of the village itself. Sakura saw one such boy wandering around on his own, a map clutched in his hands. Every few seconds his eyes shot back and forth between the map and the pavement in front of him. It amused Sakura to see that as it refreshed her memories of being a freshman. She too had once tried to read one of those maps, failing miserably. It had taken quite a bit of trial and error before she had finally caved in and asked Kiba for help. Sakura would have helped this boy had they not been so close to their destination anyway.

Sakura's hand reached for her phone as it began to vibrate. Piggy flashed up on the screen so Sakura immediately answered the call.

"Hey Ino, what's up?" Sakura asked.

Something strange seemed to be going on in the background. If Sakura didn't know any better, she'd have said it was something like slurping. Ino sounded extremely out of breath too.

"What?" Sakura squawked, "Look Piggy, tear yourself away from your bed and get the fuck in before I come and kick your ass! That goes for Chouji too!"

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Inuzuka Kiba sniffed the air once more to find her scent. The scent of cherry blossoms drifted ever closer at an agonisingly slow pace. His golden brown eyes met the blue ones of Uzumaki Naruto and he said, "She's around the corner. Remember what I told you. If she finds out, we're in some deep shit, Naruto." Kiba leaned as casually as he could against the brick wall outside the train station. The blond beside him reeked of anxiety, not to mention the fact that he looked deathly pale at the thought of the pink haired bombshell being just around the corner from their location. Had Kiba chosen to be honest with himself, he'd have acknowledged his own nerves when he thought of what Sakura would do should she ever find out about his and Naruto's Friday night. His hand shook slightly as he dipped it inside his blazer pocket, pulling out a box of cigarettes and a lighter.

"Dude, Sakura's still gonna go nuts if she sees that!" Naruto hissed, "You know she hates that stuff."

"So?" Kiba asked, taking a drag, "I'm just as nervous as you. I need this and she can't tell me what to do. Sakura ain't my Ma."

"She's way fuckin' scarier." Naruto muttered, making Kiba chuckle.

"Pinkie's bark is way worse than her bite." he said.

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Naruto squeaked, "She could knock us both out with a single punch!" The blond felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see the raven haired Uchiha Sasuke pointing in the opposite direction with a light smirk across his face.

"Then you should prepare yourself quickly, dobe." he said, "Here she comes."

Naruto and Kiba stiffened considerably, despite the calming effects of Kiba's cigarette. The flowing pink locks of Haruno Sakura came bouncing towards them, the curls framing her face as they flowed to a point at the centre of her back. How could someone so beautiful incite so much fear into her friends? With a panicked glance back at Kiba, Naruto snatched the cigarette from him, crushing it underfoot.

"Oi!" Kiba shouted, "I needed that! Now how am I going to deal with Sakura?"

"Shut up." Naruto said, "It ain't worth gettin' castrated for."

"Damn ... That girl really has you two whipped." Nara Shikamaru laughed as he too leaned against the wall of the station. Kiba flipped the boy off before briefing Naruto once more on what to do when Sakura finally made it over to them. The pair of them spoke in low tones until the pink haired girl crossed the street to meet them, her usual smile playing across her face; deceptive of the anger which could erupt at a moment's notice should anything get on her bad side. Naruto broke off his conversation with Kiba, rushing forwards to grip Sakura in an almost overenthusiastic hug.

"Sakura-chan!" he said as he lifted her up into the air and spun her around, "You look really nice today."

Sakura felt her cheeks flush as Naruto let go, "Arigato Naruto. You seem in a very good mood."

He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head at the same time. Shikamaru chuckled quietly.

"If only you knew, Sakura." he said. Sakura quirked her eyebrow upwards as she tilted her head in response.

"Care to elaborate, Shika?" she asked, "Or is this something I don't want to know about?"

"Oh how I'd love to tell you ..." the shadow ninja in training smirked as Naruto and Kiba silently panicked together, "But you're right, you really don't wanna know." This piqued Sakura's curiosity, however if it was that bad she decided that she would leave the situation well alone. Sakura turned to acknowledge Sasuke's presence with a quick mutally shared nod. Nodding may not have been much but it had taken Sakura years to get to that point and she wasn't going to complain. At least he was acknowledging her now. There was a moment of silence amongst the group before Sakura sighed.

"Ino and Chouji are gonna be late. They're a little tied up if you catch my drift." The pink haired girl made no attempt to hide that fact that she was unimpressed with her best friend, "She said not to bother waiting."

"So that's Shino, Ino, Chouji and Hinata who aren't in today." Kiba huffed, folding his arms, "It's barely worth even bothering to go in myself."

Sakura snorted, turning on him, "And maybe that attitude's why you're barely scraping a pass in each class."

"Who needs class when I've got my own little encyclopedia right here?" Kiba grinned, patting Sakura on the head.

"You can't take me on missions with you when we graduate, Kiba." Sakura said, pursing her lips as she swatted his hand away, "I've told you before that you'll have to learn this stuff sooner or later."

"And I choose later." Kiba said, moving past her, "Are we goin' or what?"

"It's your funeral." Sakura muttered, shaking her head. The group wandered through the gates and onto the platform. Several students congregated in small numbers around the platform which allowed the group to wait where they knew that they could quickly grab decent seats on the train. It was only a few minutes before it came trundling around the corner, the tracks rattling beneath it. Sometimes Kiba's incredible senses could be pretty damned useful.

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Without Ino or Hinata to talk to on the train, Sakura became all too aware of the vast differences between the boys and girls of their group. She couldn't even begin to fathom what on earth they were talking about, merely assuming when Naruto used the term 'body slam' that they were talking about wrestling or something. The pinkette merely plugged her ears with her iPod and stared out of the window; something which didn't make the journey any more interesting as the train moved too quickly to enjoy any of the scenery.

Sakura's head perked up as the train began to slow down, the blurry scenery becoming clearer.

She attempted to see where they were; another station. It seemed a little strange as the train usually made the journey straight to Konoha Academy without any additional stops. Sakura wasn't the only student to notice that fact either, a multitude of other people looked around at their friends in confusion as if they could somehow give them the answer that they looked for.

A small breeze swept through the carriage as one of the train's doors opened to let the latecomers on. Sakura looked around to the four boys she sat with and saw that each had their eyes trained upon the door.

A soft series of growls accompanied a small struggle which seemed to come from Kiba's backpack.

"Kiba, tell me you didn't ..." Sakura sighed as she bent down to unzip the bag. Sure enough the quivering form of the dog boy's companion lay amongst several barely used books. Sakura gently lifted the poor thing out and rested him upon her lap, "You didn't even leave the zip open a little bit! He could have-"

"Shhh." Kiba hissed. His hair had begun to stand on end and his eyes were slowly becoming more feral. On her lap, Akamaru began to quiver more violently. The pinkette stroked his fur in an effort to calm him down.

"I don't recognise their scents." Kiba growled as eight people strode through their compartment door, "I don't know who they are but I already don't like 'em."

Sakura looked once more towards the door, seeing just what was so bad about these people. Kiba's instincts had a habit of running away with him sometimes so she couldn't be too sure that he wasn't just overreacting. The man at the forefront of the new group immediately saw to her doubts. His face and ears held a multitude of piercings and his eyes were a strange ripple pattern. To his right a girl stood with short blue hair and amber eyes. She appeared to be gentler than the others, but not by much.

Towering over them from behind stood possibly the most colossal boy Sakura had ever seen; not to mention the oddest looking. His skin was a pale blue colour and his cheeks held strange markings on them. What were they? Gills? He scanned the carriage presumably for a place to sit.

For a second Sakura believed that Ino had walked in with them, however her lookalike was male. His blond hair was just as well groomed and styled as the Yamanaka princess' so the mistake was easy to make. Bangs covered half of his feminine face yet Sakura could see the unfriendly frown creasing his features. To his left stood a boy who looked young for his age, his deep red hair contrasting with the paleness of his skin. His entire face held such an unnerving lack of emotion that sent a shiver down Sakura's spine.

Now she knew why Kiba was so agitated.

Their appearances alone were enough to put the entire carriage on edge. Coupled with the feel of their chakra, well ... Sakura half expected Naruto and Kiba to leap up and start a fight or something.

As long as they merely found a seat and stayed quiet, that wouldn't have to happen.

Sakura couldn't count the number of fights that the boys had been in due to something stupid being said to or by them and she didn't really want to have to break one up on the second day of the year.

As the group wandered further in, two more people walked in after them. One had his white shirt open slightly, revealing a toned chest underneath. His silvery hair hung to his shoulders and he wore a bored expression similar to Shikamaru's. The other looked truly fearsome. If Sakura hadn't known better, she'd have said that his mouth had been sewn shut at the sides. 'Who would do that to themselves?' Sakura wondered.

Sakura felt something nudge her stomach. Looking down, she saw Akamaru trying to embed himself into her body as if trying to get away from the intimidating group.

When they sat on the row directly in front of them, Sakura took in a sharp breath.

Now she wouldn't be able to relax. With Naruto and Kiba, the most volatile memebers of their group, on their guard, the slightest thing could set them off. If they lost it, she'd be expected to back them up.

So much for an easy few days while she settled back into school life.

I hope you enjoyed that :) I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can.

Reviews are always appreciated and welcome.

See you next time,
AN. T. Karismah