1.
Sakura's p.o.v:
It had been three months since I had received my invitation to attend Konoha Academy for the Magically Gifted and September could not have come fast enough. I stepped out of the Hyuga compound suitcase in tow. My adoptive parents waved to me from the gate as I climbed into the back of the car. I rolled down the window and waved back frantically as the car pulled away. This would be my first time away from home since the Hyuga's had taken me in as a small child. They were good friends of my parents so when they died I was five I was raised by the Hyuga family as one of their own. My sister, heiress to the Hyuga fortune, and my cousin were both students at Konoha Academy. In fact, it was because of their family name that I had even been accepted in the first place.
The car sped down the road, my breath fogged up the glass of the window as I watched the city disappear. The Academy wasn't far outside of town, an hour drive at most, but my excitement made it seem like an eternity. As buildings gave way to suburbs and suburbs gave way to open countryside. Forrest cropped up on either side of the road, blotting out the sunlight, as we approached the campus. We came to a stop at a large set of iron gates. The driver got out to buzz us in, returning moments later as the gates swung noiselessly open.
My heart hammered in anticipation as drove up to the old stone buildings. The front of the Academy was gothic, made out of huge sandstone bricks, with intricate carvings along its gutters. It looked more like a castle than a school. I was out of the car almost before we stopped, with a quick thank you to the driver, pulling my suitcase out after me.
All around students were going about their day, a few were casting me glances, but I wasn't the only new arrival that day. Trying to remember my way around, I made my way to the main office. It took longer than I had expected, I took a wrong turn or to, but I arrived at the office eventually. Pushing the door open I narrowly avoided running into someone.
"Sorry!" I called, bowing my head, as the man came to a halt to let me pass.
"Ah, you must be Sakura Hyuga," he said huskily. I looked up and was met with a pair of deep black eyes. I opened my mouth to correct him when his fingers grazed along my jaw. Flustered I took a step back. The man flicked his long hair behind his shoulder and laughed before putting his hand against the door above me, effectively trapping me.
"You're an incubus…" I whispered my lips barely moving, but he heard me, giving me a winning smile. I could hear my blood pumping through my body as he leaned in to kiss me.
"Itachi!" A voice interrupted and the man pulled away. A blonde woman was stood in the middle of the office, hands on her hips. "Back off." He moved away, holding his hands up in surrender and I edged further into the room. "Now, Sakura, please follow me."
I followed the blond woman into the office, not daring to look back in Itachi's direction. Once we were inside I took a seat on a high-backed chair opposite the principle. She spent a few moments shuffling papers, sorting through my application forms.
"Right, everything seems to be in order here," she smiled. "I'm Tsunade, the principle of this institution, a pleasure to finally be meeting you."
"It's nice to me you too," I replied as she slid a few sheets of paper across the desk towards me. My class schedule, room number, term times and a map of the campus.
"I've made sure to highlight your route to your dorm. You'll be housing with your sister and her friends," Tsunade smiled warmly. Pointing to the red lines drown onto the map.
"Ah, thank you," I stood up, grasping the papers in one hand, and turned to leave.
"Oh Sakura," Tsunade called out as I was opening the door. I paused and turned to face her. "Do try to keep your emotions in check."
I nodded, my cheeks turning pink as I left the office. Every time my emotions became heightened there would be somewhat magical repercussions. In short, things tended to float. I looked around the office lobby to see that I had made quite a mess. Grimacing I left the room, ashamed that I had let it happen on my very first day.
Konoha Academy for the Magically Gifted was host to all manner of students. Some, like myself, were human. Either blessed with the gift of sight or who had a predisposition to witchcraft. Others were different. Demon blood ran thick in the magic community of Konoha. I had lived a pretty sheltered life in terms of meeting others who possessed magical abilities. While my sister and cousin were both gifted psychics, my other interactions had been limited.
Pulling my suitcase behind me, I tried to follow the map that Principal Tsunade had given me. As I passed, people began to stare. It wasn't unusual, my pink hair tended to catch the eye. I was always drawing attention to myself. I had even cut it shorter in an attempt to make it less noticeable, but that hadn't really helped. Shrugging it off, I continued down the corridors.
The dorm buildings were on the other side of campus to the main building, which gave me a great chance to see the grounds. All the building on campus were old, varying in time period, but never modern. Between them were spans of manicured lawns and copses of trees. I wondered at the beauty of it all, everything was so well maintained.
In the distance, I could see the dorms. The huge buildings, which looked as though they had once been mansions, were split up into smaller houses. Each of these houses had their own private entrances and housed four to six people. I wondered who else I would be sharing with aside from my sister Hinata.
I approached the door of dorm 197 and took a moment to marvel at the Georgian exterior. I knocked on the door and waited. When no one answered I knocked again.
"Hello?" I shouted, banging on the door a third time.
The door finally opened and a boy with scruffy red hair answered. We both stared at each other for a moment before the recognition hit.
"Oh my god! Gaara!" I exclaimed. The red-haired boy laughed, raking his hand through his messy locks.
"Hi, Sakura," Gaara smiled sheepishly. It had been just over a year since we had last seen each other. The summer before Gaara left for the Academy we had become very close friends. "It's nice to see you again."
I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, it took a moment but he wrapped his arms around me gently. We pulled apart after a solid minute. I had missed the feel of him, I felt my cheeks growing hot at the thought of sharing a house with him for the next few years. All the things we could get up to.
"Sakura?" Hinata's timid voice sprung up from behind Gaara. We stepped away from each other, putting a more respectable distance between us. Gaara stepped to the side to allow Hinata through.
"Hi!" I grinned, hugging my big sister.
"Come in, come in," Hinata gestured for me to bring my things inside.
The house was well furnished, relatively modern despite its exterior. We were stood in the entrance hall. In front of me was a large, central staircase, which lead up to the bedrooms. Through the door to the right was the lounge and to the left the downstairs laundry room.
"This place is seriously impressive," I complimented as I was lead into the lounge, abandoning my luggage in the hall. The lounge had several old-style leather couches and chairs. There was no television, but the walls were lined with bookcases. Two bay windows looked out onto the green in front of the dorm. I turned to my sister, taking in her appearance. She had stayed at the Academy over summer making it a full year since I had seen her, she looked really well. "You've grown out your hair," I noted, and Hinata blushed bashfully.
Gaara was lounging on one of the couches, book in hand.
"Your hair looks nice too, Gaara," I teased, leaning over the back of the couch.
"Ha, whatever," he rolled his eyes, going back to his reading.
"My room?" I asked, wanting to unpack and get settled. Hinata nodded, motioning for me to follow her. Grabbing my suitcase from the hall we proceeded up the staircase to the third floor. "How many people live here?"
"Six, including you and me," she replied. "You'll really like the others. And of course, you already know Gaara." Her words were loaded, she gave me a knowing grin.
I snorted but didn't deny her accusation. She had walked in on us several times, in various states of undress, but thankfully never in the actual act.
The door on the right-hand side was mine, Hinata's room was on the left. She told me to get settled and she would get me later to go to dinner.
My room was fairly large for what you would expect in a six-person dorm room. There was a double bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a small couch and an adjoining bedroom. I was lucky to have got a room with a balcony, a set of French doors led out onto the small, but pretty space. I spent much of the next few hours unpacking, arranging and rearranging my things. When I was finished the room looked considerably homelier. I sat on the bed and looked around the room critically, but I was sure that it was as perfect as it was going to get.
Feeling gross from travelling, I decided to take a shower and change before dinner. I was just dressing when I heard the door to my room open. Expecting Hinata, I stepped out from the wardrobe half dressed.
"Oh, uh sorry," Gaara mumbled when he saw my unimpressed expression.
"You should have knocked!" I accused.
"In my defence, I didn't think you were going to be half naked. It's not like I haven't seen it all before," he teased. I threw my shirt at him.
"What did you want?" I asked, pulling on a sweater.
"To see how you were settling in," he answered. "Looks nice, your room I mean…"
I rolled my eyes. "Thank you."
There was a long and awkward silence. Neither of us was sure how to act around the other, could we go back to how it was before? Fooling around any chance we got to be alone? Or did we no longer feel that way about each other?
"I-"
"I-" We both began to talk at the same time. "You go first," I conceded.
"I was just going to say that I'm really glad to see you again," Gaara said sheepishly. He came closer, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, "I missed you."
"Yeah me too," I breathed out, expecting him to kiss me at any moment. Just as Gaara was leaning in there was a knock at the door. "Hello?" I called out.
"Sakura, it's me. Everyone's ready to go to dinner if you want to come," Hinata called through the door. Gaara shot me a look that very much said 'we'll finish this later'. I smiled and walked to the door. Opening it, Hinata raised her eyebrow at the sight of Gaara in my room. I rolled my eyes, ignoring her judgy looks, and followed her down the stairs.
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