How would things have turned out if Naruto had never been a Junchiriki- Or if Sasuke's family had never been brutally murdered? But most importantly... What if Ino had never met Sakura when they were children? Welcome to The Hidden Leaf Academy, we have a new transfer student joining us today.
CHAPTER 1 : T H E Q U E E N
The day was dark, and it was snowing- The students were slowly walking into their classrooms, and taking their seats. Yamanaka Ino sat in hers, crossing her legs with an indifferent expression pasted across her face. She wore a simple purple turtleneck, that was covered with a woolen black sweater, and black skinny jeans. Her blond hair was hanging limp on her shoulders, and her bangs partially covered her face. Her fellow classmates were chatting loudly as their teacher walked into the room. The woman sat at her desk- ignoring the boys and girls, and instead began doing paper work. It looked like once again; she had nothing to do but amuse those who surrounded her.
A boy with spikey blond hair turned to her- and grinned- looking like a fox in the process. His blue eyes nearly matched Ino's in terms of color, but not in beauty. He was adorned with a large fluffy white hoodie- that had an orange hood and zipper. He also wore orange cargo pants- completing the look. "You want to play paper football, Ino-Chan?"
"We played that for the last week, Naruto." She frowned.
"But it's fun!"
"Not today... Tomorrow, okay?" She smiled sweetly- causing half the class to sigh blissfully.
Yamanaka was... Sick of her life- so to say. It was all the same. As Hidden Leaf Academy's Queen; It was her job to be perfect. Good grades, athletic, beautiful, and kind... She was all of those. But that didn't mean she had to enjoy it. She had gotten sick of boys asking her out everyday- and fangirls leaving letters in her locker... She had gotten sick of amusing Naruto by playing paper football with him during class.
She was bored. That is until, their teacher, Anko-Sensei stood up and walked to the front of the classroom and faced the group; as if she were going to say something worthwhile. "Shutup." She stated calmly, and the class went silent not a second later. "We have a transfer student who is going to be joining our class from this moment on... Come in." She glanced at the door expectantly. As she did- the door slid open, and a girl walked hesitantly inside.
She had long pink hair, and her bangs weren't much shorter than the rest; they covered her entire face. She had on a plain red hoodie, and long baggy green pants. She held her books to her chest, as if to ward all bad things away from her. The girl sitting beside Ino snorted, tossed her purple hair over her shoulders, and whispered to Naruto- "She's such a loser..." And he smirked in response.
The comment irritated Ino somewhat, due to the fact that she didn't know the transfer student and was making assumptions. It also dissapointed her to see Naruto react that way; she had more faith in him. She wanted to say something, but it would make her look bad to critisize someone, and it was her job to be perfect. Instead, she merely returned her gaze to the red and green clad girl, fitting; as it was closing in on Christmas- who was stuttering words that no one seemed to be able to understand. Not that they cared what she had to say.
Anko-Sensei nodded as the girl rambled on with her incoherant words, and then gestured towards a seat when she thought she was done. The seat just so happened to be right next to Naruto's, meaning she was sitting right in front of Ino. Realizing she had missed something important that could potentially make her look bad- she gently tapped on the girl's shoulder. The girl flinched at the contact, and slowly turned around. "I'm sorry..." Ino started. "I was lost in thought, and I didn't quite catch your name. What was it, again?" She smiled with perfectly straight white teeth.
"H-H-Harun-no S-Sakura..." She studdered in response. Pushing her bangs to the side nervously.
With that gesture, Ino saw a pair of bright emerald eyes, that were just as beautiful as her own cold sky blue ones. She held her gaze for a couple seconds longer than planned- but then held out her hand. "I'm Yamanaka Ino. I hope we can be friends." She smiled once again- earning Sakura a few jealous glances. Anko-Sensei apparently decided to make the students do at least some work- seeing as Sakura was new, and she didn't want to ruin her reputaion as a teacher quite yet. The class was silent, except for the occasional giggling of Hinata, who was whispering back and forth with Naruto.
"Hey, dumbass." A raven haired boy turned in his seat to face the spikey haired blonde. He was wearing a white dress shirt, covered with a black vest with silver buttons. The outfit was complete with black dress pants and an undone black tie with a cross on it.
"Tch. What do you want, Sas-gay?" Naruto snapped.
"Pass this to the new girl, punk" He tossed the note onto Naruto's desk, and turned back around to pretend to take notes on the lesson.
Naruto looked confused for a moment, opened the note to read it, then smirked and tossed the note to Sakura's desk. She didn't notice- she was too busy doodling in her sketchbook. Ino, having saw what had taken place- leaned foward to whisper into the girl's ear. "Naruto just passed you a note." It came out a lot more... Huskily than she had planned. Or at least, it must have- seeing as the girl yelped, stood up from the brief interaction, and knocked her own sketchbook off of her desk.
"S-sorry." Ino nearly shouted, as she stood up to pick up Sakura's sketchbook. At this point the entire class was staring at them.
"Sorry..." Ino said once again; apologizing for disrupting the class. She handed Sakura her sketchbook, and sat back down, her cheeks betraying her as they slowly but surely turned a deep shade of red. Sakura sat down quickly as well- after she apologized frantically to the rest of the class and thanking Ino for her book. She didn't forget what Ino had said, though; She picked up the note and began to read-
"Cute Christmas colors... I wonder how you would look without anything on... "
She reread the words over again, taken aback. She then noticed a little heart on the lower right hand corner of the note- with a little flame behind it, and a fan attempting to blow it out; or so she assumed. It wasn't exactly what she would call good quality, but she could understand it at the very least. It was her first day here and they were already teasing her. She promptly refolded the note and returned to her sketching until the bell rang. As soon as it did- she packed her things and rushed out of the classroom, with Ino staring at her as she did.
The note was left on the desk- and Ino made it her buisness to read it. A blush crept onto her face yet again when she did.
This disgusting. Who would do this? She thought.
She then noticed the same thing Sakura did- the heart, the flame, and the fan. So it was Sasuke afterall- he had been the one who wanted Naruto to pass it to her in the first place. She would tell Itachi about this... Actually, he would probably give his little brother a pat on the back and a thumbs-up. The only reason she started going out with him was because he was the quarterback of the school's football team- and he was the only person everyone else in the school would accept as her boyfriend. Or Sasuke. But Itachi was less of a jerk by a fraction- and he was older, meaning he would graduate sooner and be out of her life.
She left the room soon later- dropping the note into the recycling bin.
Ino walked towards the cafeteria, with the usual group- Temari, Tenten, and Hinata.
Tenten was by far her favorite- she was the nicest, and the smartest. She was a good friend who was always there for her. Temari was a good friend too, but she was too rash for Ino's liking, and she went out with that jerk Shikamaru. And Hinata... Well, she just plain hated her-She was stupid and bitchy; but she was popular, and hot: meaning she automatically had the right to be in Ino's group. That's how it is for the 'cool' girls.
Ino spotted Sakura in the back of the line and instead of walking to the front, (everyone let her butt in front of them) as usual- she instead walked to the back, and stood behind Sakura. Nobody in the cafeteria failed to notice this, but kept quiet about it anyway.
"Hey..." Ino tapped her shoulder gently. It's become somewhat of a habit at this point when it came to Sakura. "Sakura." The girl spun around- her bangs once again revealing her shining emeralds. "H-Hai?"
"I, uh..." She started, but then remembered that the others were standing behind her- Sakura would probably feel better if she didn't talk about it with so many other people around. "C-Can I ask you something?" She gestured towards the hall.
Sakura gave her a look that said- Me? But obliged anyway.
"Can you guys get me a salad? The usual..." She smiled sweetly. It was fake of course, except for the one she gave Tenten.
"Y-yeah, sure..." Tenten and the other two looked at eachother- shrugged, and walked up to the front of the line.
"So, um..." Ino frowned at Sakura. "I saw the note."
Sakura blushed. Great, the Queen of the school was talking to her on her first day- about bullying of all things. It couldn't get any worse. "That Sasuke's such a jerk!" Ino growled, much to Sakura's surprise. She thought she would say something like- "He's just kidding, get over it." Or, "He's mine, back off." You know, the usual.
"I can't believe him..." She continued. "I mean, it's your first day here, and he's already proving himself to be a jackass towards you- and, and..." She paused.
"I mean, hell- he's crazy. What guy in their right mind would bully a girl as cute as you?" She said, leaing foward to push Sakura's bangs out of her face. Sakura blushed at the contact, but was too confused to move.
"Hmm...?" Ino took notice of the normally large forehead. "It's kind of cute in its own way..." She unintionally said aloud. This however, Sakura did make blush at and move away. Well, more like run away in tears. The Queen of the school had just made a comment on her one weak point; her enormous forehead.
"Wha- Hey, wait!" Ino called after her, dumbstruck. "What did I say...?" She mumbled to herself, confused by the girl's reaction.
Ino sat down at her usual spot. The interaction that she just had with Sakura really only took about a minute or two. They still had about half an hour left of lunch. She was sitting on Itachi's lap- they sat the same table as Sasuke, Naruto, Tenten, Temari, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kisame, Pein, Sasori, and Deidara. The entire group seemed untouchable- they were the most popular, and attractive students at the Academy.
She was quietly poking at her salad when Sasuke began to talk in his annoyingly overconfident voice. "The moment she read it- I swear her face turned five different colors of red and pink." He laughed- so did most of the group; except for Ino, Tenten, Temari, Pein, and Sasori. Clearly they were the mature ones of the group... Ino felt at ease when it came to critisism in the group- so she had no problem with telling Sasuke how she felt about it this time around.
"That really was too mean, Sasuke. She's new- give her a break." She frowned, and Tenten nodded.
"You could have at least waited until she got settled in, before you showed her how much of an asshole you are." Tenten stuck her tongue out at him. Some of the others chuckled appreciatively.
"You can say that again," Naruto added. "Sasuke likes it in the ass."
Sasuke grunted and flipped Naruto off. "Fuck you."
"We all know you want to." Naruto retorted.. "Oh, look at which direction your finger is going. Does it perhaps mean... That you intend to, you know. shove it in certain pla- OW!"
"Shutup, moron!" Sasuke had hit him upside the head.
"You want to start something? I can kick your ass anyday!" Naruto stood up.
"Yeah?" Sasuke stood as well.
"Yeah, believe it." Naruto started to take his jacket off.
"Wooo, it's gettin' hot in here!" Kisame pretended to fan himself off. "Isn't it a bit early in your relationship to be getting nude in public?"
At this remark, they both turned to Kisame, and clenched their fists. "You're dead." They said in unison.
Ino chuckled at the sight. Naruto and Sasuke had attempted to beat up Kisame by teaming up on him- but the guy was too big to take on. He grabbed Naruto by his hood, and literally threw him at Sasuke- who in turn fell over, with Naruto on top of him. They gave up after that of course, but not without a 'bit' of cussing. She was bored though- so she scanned the area for random things. She saw Anko-Sensei yelling at a couple of boys for starting a food fight, Jiraiya-Sensei blushing as a couple of female students passed by giggling, Sakura heading towards a vacant table with her lunch, Tsunade-Sensei wa-... Wait, Sakura!
She stood up abruptly, becoming the focus of the table's inhabitants. "What's up?" Itatchi inquired, with a somewhat irritated look. She accidently knocked over his energy drink and spilled some of the contents on the table. "Uh, I have to go... To the restroom." She said, hurrying off towards Sakura's table. As she passed by, she caught her eye- and nodded towards the doors to the halls with a- "Come on." look on her face. Surprisingly after what had happened earlier, Sakura followed- with a calm look on... Well, the bottom half of her face. (The only part that was visible.)
"So, Saku-Chan..." Ino started, but then stopped, realizing what she had just said. "S-sorry, that just kind of... You're more friendly and polite than most of the people I know, so I just registered you as-"
"It's f-fine." Sakura looked down at her feet, fidgeting. It was obvious she was uncomfortable- and that statement certainly hadn't helped.
"It's fine? Then, Saku-Chan... I'm sorry about earlier." She sighed. "I don't know what happened, exactly; I'm not usually that foward about things. It just kind of slipped out, you see..."
Sakura nodded in acknowledgement. "Hai."
"Um... I'm don't want to seem rude- but the question overall really is... Is that why you grew your bangs out that long?" She asked; nervous.
Sakura nodded, but didn't say anything.
"You shouldn't do that!" Ino frowned at the girl. "People will only make more of a big deal out of it if you do."
I never thought of it that way... Sakura thought.
"You should definatly cut them!" Ino continued. "A-and act more natural! Like, more bold or something. And you can sit with me!" She added. I've never decided to let some random person I don't know into the group before... She seems different though. Something about her eyes. She leaned foward and pushed the girls bangs out of the way once again. "I really want these bangs gone..." She thought out loud. Sakura, still no words, merely nodded. So, they decided that Sakura would sit with them from now on, and that they would go get her a haircut afterschool that day.
It turned out that the others didn't mind if Sakura sat with them- the shyness she emited was a nice change from the usual bitchy comments that most of the members of the 'cool' club spouted. Namely Hinata. (Who if I may add, was the only one who was against Sakura joining them.) "So, Sakura-Chan-" Naruto pressed. "What's your three sizes? Your favorite position? Fantasies? Are you still a virgi- OW, why do you people keep hitting me?" He yelped.
"Because you're an idiot." Tenten scowled at the spikey haired blonde. "Leave her alone, moron." She finsihed.
"Hey, Haruno-San... Are these yours?" Sasori asked; he was looking at her sketchbook.
She nodded frantically- not used to the attention she was recieving from multiple people.
"These are... Really... Good." Sasori said to her- distracted because he was still looking at her drawings.
"Ah! They really are." Temari leaned over Sasori's shoulder to take a peek- earning a glare from Shikamaru. This got everyone else's attention, and they all passed around the sketchbook so that they wouldn't all have to get up. Each time the book reached a different person- it earned a 'Oooh' or an 'Aaah'. Except of course, with Hinata. People stared at them in the halls- and in the classroom. Why was the school's most popular girl hanging out with the creepy, pink haired, shy, artsy, transfer student girl? And WHY was Naruto still hitting on her? Sakura-Chan this, Sakura-Chan that. Don't you ever shutup? Ino silently cursed at the annoying fox-boy.
Apparently, Anko didn't feel bothered to prepare a lesson for her students this period either, so they all sat around wherever they wanted to and just talked about whatever.
Ino was asking about Sakura's past.
"Why did you transfer?" She asked, curious.
"M-my parents got d-divorced, and we had to move to where our brand is most widely bought." She nearly manage to get the whole sentence out without studdering.
"Oh, I'm sorry... Wait... Haruno... You mean the Haruno? As in ... The salon chain?" She asked.
"Y-yes?" Sakura looked at her, and tilted her head in a cutesy manner. "Why?"
"...If you could get your hair cut for free by one of the greatests places out there... Why haven't you?" Ino playfully but gently smacked the side of Sakura's head.
"Y-you know why..." Sakura blushed. Gently placing her hand on her own forehead.
"You!" Naruto jumped in randomly again. "Why are you blushing? Are you talking about something perverted. Are you going to tell me? ...Are you going to invlolve me?"
"Shututp" Tenten once again came to the rescue with a neck snapping smack.
So class ended in it's usual way... The students continued talking as they left- and didn't bother taking their books with them, seeing as there was never any homework. Really now; how did Anko ever get her job?
"So should we just go to one of your salons?" Ino asked, nearly giddy with excitement. She loved going to places like this.
Sakura nodded, smiling faintly. Ino was her first and only friend- the only one who's ever been nice to her; she could at the very least get her bangs cut off for the Queen.