A/N: This AU is inspired by a post for a university's concert! I know college AUs have been done plenty of times, so this may be generic, but I wanted to write it because I can't get it off my mind.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

Tomorrow marks the day of Sakura's second semester of her second year in Konoha University. A little bit more than a year ago, she wasn't even sure if she'd get into the most prestigious university in Konohagakure, let alone actually get accepted into the program she's been pinning on ever – Sakura doesn't remember wanting anything else, or anything more, than becoming a doctor. Her first year in Konoha U. was easy and difficult all the same as it was their transition period into the university life.

So now, here she is – shopping for supplies to bring back to the dorm with Ino, her best friend and roommate.

"Hey, Forehead," the blonde called, holding up two throw pillows. "Which do you think is more aesthetic?"

Sakura had to hold back a scoff. "For the last time, Pig. We don't need more pillows! You bought so many before Christmas!"

"Duh, Sakura! Those are all Christmas themed! We need new ones for the season now. Look, this one perfectly matches your hair. And it would go so well with my feed!"

Ugh. The pinkette could only hope that Ino wasn't planning on including her in her 'aesthetic'. "There's gonna be much more of this before we can settle and rest," she mumbles to herself.

"What was that, Forehead?!"

"Nothing, Ino! Aren't you hungry?"

~ x ~

Sasuke woke up to a very, very loud and annoying alarm. Not only was the alarm loud and annoying – it was also not his alarm. He gets up with a grunt, turns that damn thing off, and shakes Naruto awake. Violently.

"Oi, dobe. Wake up. Wake up." He drools in his sleep up till now. Gross.

"Erm aw'ke! Five mor' min'ts!" Naruto mumbles incoherently before falling back asleep.

Sasuke shoots him a glare. "Stop setting up alarms if you aren't gonna wake up to them, idiot." The raven-haired boy stands up and leaves, but not before giving his roommate a classic, non-fatal (sadly) kick.

He smirks to himself when Naruto cries out in pain.

~ x ~

"Hey, Sakura, what's your first class?"

"Hm?" Sakura looks up from tying her shoes. She didn't want to wear anything uncomfortable on the first day of class – in contrast to Ino, of course, who's determined to look good every second of her life – so she settled for a cropped sweater top, high-waisted jeans, and her trusty sneakers. "Oh, let me see…"

"Please tell me it's PHILO 3!" Ino kneels next to her best friend and grabs her leg. "I don't want to be alone there! It's a general education course!"

Sakura scrolls through her phone and gives her friend a bright smile. "Well, you're in luck!"

Ino squeals and gives her a giant hug. "Yes! Now, let's get going. We wouldn't want to make a bad first impression."

"Tch, you care so much about first impressions, Pig, but forget to care about the impressions after that!"

"Shut up, Forehead!"

As Sakura rolls her eyes playfully and laughs, little did she know that her best friend wasn't the only lucky one today.

~ x ~

"Sakura-chan! Ino!" A loud voice echoes throughout the room the moment Sakura steps in. That voice. Of course, it's Naruto. Why does he have to be so loud?

The pinkette walks briskly towards the noise, bowing her head from embarrassment. There were people here they didn't know – but she was sure glad Naruto was here.

"Hey, you fool! Don't be so loud!" Ino crosses her arms. Sakura see that her friend has already garnered attention – probably both from Naruto's shenanigans and her attractiveness. Ino is attractive. There's no denying that. Whenever Sakura looks at her friend, she sees how far she's grown, how she transformed into this beautiful lady, and she couldn't be more proud – not just for her looks, but for everything they've been through and everything they are now.

"Right. There are other people here, Naruto," Sakura sighs, feigning exasperation. "How are you so early anyway?"

"Oh, well–" Naruto grins, but it was then that Sakura's eyes shifted focus to the person on his left. Oh. Of course. Sakura nearly forgot that they're roommates.

It's a relief to Sakura that Ino speaks, because she was sure her voice would come out broken.

"Sasuke! I'm surprised to see you here. Didn't think I'd ever see you again," Ino smiles smugly, and again, Sakura is confronted with how much her friend transformed.

Ino had not been immune to what they now call the Sasuke craze – almost everyone had a crush on Uchiha Sasuke since grade school. He was famous not just for his crazy good looks, but for his crazy excellent performance in school as well. Girls gossiped about him during breaks. Some boys were jealous. Ino declared herself as president of the imaginary Sasuke-kun fan club, but when they entered high school, Ino grew out of that phase.

Of course, Sakura had not been immune either, and she's probably not over her crush until now – not that she'd admit that to anyone.

She didn't think Sasuke ever interacted with anyone who wasn't Naruto or Shikamaru, but he recognized her a couple of times – even called her "the smartest girl in class" – and Sakura was content with that.

"Yeah!" It's Naruto who answers for Sasuke with a grin that's the complete anti-thesis of the solemn look on the Uchiha's face. "He's not the only one here! Shikamaru is, too, and my baby Hinata! And other people we knew from our class!"

"Well, it's like a mini reunion then, isn't it?" Ino replies, putting her arm around Sakura.

Naruto grins. "It sure is!"

Sasuke finally looks up at her. He gives her a small nod, uttering nothing else but her name: "Sakura."

"Sasuke-kun," she barely manages, before their professor barges through the room.

"Sorry I'm late, class. I got lost on the way here."

~ x ~

"Hello, little children." Little children? Sakura thinks that their professor is smiling, but it's hard to tell because he has half of his face covered with a mask. His eyes crinkle upwards, though. So maybe.

"I'm Hakate Kakashi, and this is," he picks a copy of the syllabus up and squints at the text, "philosophy of a person. Hm. Sounds huge."

Everyone stops at that. For various reasons, Sakura thinks. She stopped because this is the famous Hatake Kakashi. She has always heard his name around the campus, but she never figured out what he looked like or what he thought. He was an enigma. And he was their professor.

"So, for this class… I believe that you will get to understand a person if you are to interact with them. For that reason, I am placing you into groups of three."

Chatters arise in class. Sakura bit her lip – she was nervous.

"Of course, I get to choose who gets to be grouped with who." He holds up his class list, and everyone waits for the verdict – Sakura could see that Naruto's mouth was open. She just hoped she wasn't grouped with any creeps or freeloaders.

"First group. Ono, Suzuki, Minami."

"Hyuuga…" Naruto closes his fingers and practically jumps in his seat. "… Aburame, and Inuzuka."

"Oh man!" Naruto yells and Sasuke immediately pulls him back onto his seat. This earns him glares from their classmates, and an eyebrow raise from the professor.

Kakashi clears his throat. "Moving on. Nara…" That was Shikamaru. He was lazy, but he was a genius. Sakura wouldn't mind being grouped with him. "… Akimichi, and… Yamanaka. Please take your seats there."

Damn, Ino was lucky. Sakura was dreading every moment of this. She closed her eyes and desperately asked kami-sama for some responsible groupmates.

"Uzumaki," Hatake-sensei calls out. He looks at Naruto for a long time, and the blond's eye twitches from nervousness. Sakura almost wanted to laugh.

Kakashi looks back at the class list before looking back up – straight at her. "Haruno."

She bit her lip. Sakura and Naruto were good friends but Naruto was far from responsible. Naruto grins at her and gives her a thumbs up. She holds her head – she can already feel the incoming headache just from the fact that she has to deal with Naruto the entire semester.

The professor clears his throat, and it snaps her out of her thoughs.

"Uchiha."

Wait – what? It couldn't be. Did Sakura hear that right?

A/N: I'm sorry, that was a fairly short chapter as it's just the exposition. Of course, thank you for reading!