Don't worry. A lot of this story is already done, so my faithful readers won't have to wait too long for more chapters. I've been working on this for a very long time, and a think it plays a very important part in the making of fanfictions…

At least for those of us who admire – and choose not to bash on – Sakura Haruno. An amazing character, a lesser heroine, and an amazing person, fictional or not, I absolutely love her. Throughout my reading stories on and the progress I've made in writing my own… I've discovered something rather amusing.

Sakura Haruno can be paired with just about any of the men in the show: Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru (seen it before), Neji, Lee, Kakashi, Sai, Itachi (personal favorite), Deidara, Gaara, and even the little characters…like Genma or Izumo. It's crazy… So, basically… This is a (modern-time) fanfic dedicated to this little aspect that I have made up for Sakura…

A teenager fighting her way through the everyday dramas we all face every now and then with the added addition of the wide variety of men she could possibly choose.

What choice will Sakura have made by the end of this story?

Read and review, please!!

Sakura felt the anticipation rising inside her. She felt that anxious, nervous feeling everyone gets before a date, their birthday, a big game, a school dance, or…

You guessed it.

Their first day at a totally different school.

Sakura Haruno hadn't grown up in the best of places. For the first sixteen years of her life, it was gangs and street fights. It was survival of the fittest at Sakura's old school. She was proud enough to say that she usually lived through these ordeals on the top of the pile. In her life, she had learned to respect and live honestly, but had also learned that not fighting back meant you'd get slapped around more than once or twice.

But, of course, as strong willed and headstrong as she was, her parents had stood their ground and made her transfer to another school. This one – go figure – was what Sakura and her friends called a prep school. It was supposedly filled with snobby, rich people who were made up of superficial airheads who couldn't think for themselves, took looks for granted, and said whatever they wanted, only because they never suffered the consequences of saying something entirely stupid. No, that always fell on the people below their "status".

Hard.

Sakura wasn't about to say that she wasn't wealthy herself. Her parents had plenty of money. Her father was an architect and her mother a doctor – Sakura planned to follow her mom's footsteps. But, then again, Sakura wasn't at all rude, disrespectful, or mean to anyone she didn't know or didn't have a reason to not like. She wasn't a teacher's pet or a kiss up, but she most certainly wasn't about to rebel against something idiotic, like homework. Sakura knew her place, and she wasn't about to try and rise up too soon, only to fall flat on her face. That would only led to failure and humiliation, and who wanted that? Um… No one.

So, Sakura sat up, sighing, that dreaded morning. Her stomach was more than upset, but she knew well that it was only nerves. Her parents would kill her if she skipped school because she was suddenly being shy. God knows what would happen. But who knew what this school was like? She closed her eyes for a moment, counting to ten.

Look Sakura, get it together. All this is… It's just another school. It's just some bigger, richer, fancier version of your old school. That's all. There is absolutely no reason to be intimidated or scared, let alone nervous. Chill out and get up. Take a shower, get dressed, and be on your way… Just another normal day, right? Right… Now hurry up!

Obeying her conscious' orders, she swung her legs out of her bed and stood, shaking the dizziness out of her head. Swiftly, she spun around and neatly folded her sheets back up to the head of her bed. She then turned again and made her way to her closet. Thankfully, this stupid prep school didn't require a school uniform! Her parents had assured her that, at least!

Smirking, Sakura pulled out her most confident – just a bit sexy – outfit she had. There was nothing wrong with wanting to make a good impression, she told herself. Nothing wrong with it at all… Still smiling, she walked into her bathroom, stripping the pair of incredibly tight, black short shorts and loose, spaghetti strap shirt - which came up to her belly button – that she slept in.

Soon, she was showered, chin-length pink hair washed and conditioned thoroughly. Her pale skin glowed brightly when she stepped out of her bathroom, wrapped in a small pink towel. Quickly, she dried herself and slipped into her clothes, grinning at how tight they were. They fit perfectly. Of course, she made sure to check herself in the mirror before doing her hair.

Perfect…

Sakura had on a pair of faded jeans that fell over her feet, ripped at the knees with snuggly fit pockets. She had also put on a stylish, studded belt to finish the appeal that was her own. Her top was a dark purple spaghetti strap that showed plenty of what she most certainly did have with black straps of leather crossing over each other in the front, layering over just a bit of her jeans. She hoped the school didn't mind the fact that her black bra straps were showing, visible for the world to see. Sakura couldn't care less.

Winking at her reflection, before laughing at herself, Sakura walked back into her bathroom and looked at the mirror. She wiped away the fog that had gathered on it, making it unusable for the moment, and looked at her hair. She quickly blow dried it and kept it neat, simple, and down. There wasn't much she could really do with it, except she clipped one side of it up with two black hair clips.

Her look complete, she smiled at herself one more time, making sure her teeth were as white as they had always been, before leaving her room. She grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder so that the pouch rested at her waist, stepped into a pair of black Vans, and walked into the kitchen. Her parents, of course, were gone as usual.

Rolling her eyes, ignoring the "sorry note" on the table, Sakura walked straight out the front door.

Her mood didn't brighten when she was reminded that, unlike most sixteen-year-old girls, she didn't have a car to drive. Her parents had said that if she "behaved", she would earn her car, like most young ladies should. So, determined to make the best of the day, she set out, walking, down the street.

Sakura had passed Konoha High plenty of times before. Never had she paid any attention to the nice, flattering school, but she still knew where it was. After about eight minutes of walking, she approached the parking lot. Tilting her head at the large, two-story, white building, Sakura stepped up, heading for the stairs.

She almost didn't jump away from the motorcycle that sped past her, nearly flying past the spot where she had been standing just seconds before. Eye twitching uncontrollably, Sakura turned on her heel to glare at the person on the bike.

Not to say she wasn't impressed with the bike – something that looked exactly out of the Matrix, which she had just watched with her best friend the night before – but Sakura wasn't about to let that stop her from being mad. She was furious.

Sakura didn't exactly have a big ego, or anything… She just had a lot of self-pride.

Fuming, she glared as the biker slowed to a stop, parking perfectly. Unfortunately, the guy – obviously he was male – was wearing a helmet, completely covering his head, tinted so she couldn't see his face. Sakura watched as he slowly stood, bike still in between his legs. As if dramatically in slow motion – of course, Sakura blamed her overactive imagination – he raised his leather-gloved hands to the helmet and pulled.

Sakura saw a lock of raven-colored hair escape the hold of the helmet just before a large, pickup truck blocked her view. Now infuriated, Sakura managed to push the whole ordeal from her mind, gathered her cool, and trotted up the steps to the school, intent on not meeting anyone else in such an unexpected way.

Sighing, she pulled out a list of her classes and hastily made her way to first period. It was apparently a math class, the third course of algebra. She was a junior, so she guessed that each course was for every grade started in ninth. That made plenty sense. She sighed again, this time in a sense of relief. Maybe this school wouldn't be as complicated as she thought…

Of course, she hadn't thought much of it anyway, as she believed it was being run by snobby, superficial airheads – read the rant above if you missed it.

Taking a deep breath, she walked inside, quickly shuffled up the stairs and took a seat by the window. Her bag she set at her feet, and then she easily busied herself by staring out the window, where she was surprised to find a perfect view of the lake. The window obviously faced east, as she could see the sun still rising in the early morning, as it was only near eight o' clock. She found the sight intriguing. Quickly, she yanked an empty notebook from her bag, pulling a sharpened pencil from it as well and began to sketch what she saw.

The lake in the front, rippling only slightly due to the soft breeze, took up most of what lay in front of the horizon line. Beyond that were the trees, she drew them delicately. The sun was steadily peeking its way over the tops of these trees. The sky was cloudless, so she didn't have to bother with them. She erased the track she could see to the right, obviously for running in P.E.

Oh, boy, wasn't she looking forward to that?

Again, no.

"Hey, that's pretty good!"

Sakura jumped and glanced over her shoulder. Almost instantly, she was looking into the most gorgeous azure eyes she had ever seen. She blinked, long eyelashes fluttering in front of her own bright green orbs. She slowly moved her face away from the boy's. Now she saw his blonde, spiky hair, whisker-like marks, tan skin, and dazzling smile. She had to grin at the sight of someone so… real.

"Oh… thanks," she said, nodding as she smiled, glancing down at her sketch. "I've been drawing ever since I was a little girl. I guess it just came naturally to me, so I got into the habit of drawing anything with beauty in it. Not really physical beauty, but more of anything that can stir up my emotions, you know?"

The boy laughed and gave her a sly, fox-like grin.

"Yeah, I know," he said, tone suddenly deep and…was that an attempt at sexy? "I'm having those same feelings just looking at you. You're new right?"

Sakura blinked again. Did this kid just try and hit on her? Automatically, her outlook on the guy changed. She raised a slim, pink eyebrow and began to glare at the blonde. He recognized the look, and she suddenly got the feeling he was used to it.

Go figure. Stupid, ignorant prick…

"Yeah," she mumbled. "What's it to you?"

"Woah!" he laughed, holding up his hands in surrender; Sakura was glad to hear that unbearable tone gone from his playful voice. "I was just kidding. Don't get all wound up over it, okay? I'm Naruto, and I really do think you're pretty cute. I mean, not like the other fake girls here who dress themselves up in make-up you know? You have a real natural beauty to you."

"Oh…" Sakura let out in a gasp.

She knew instantly that she was probably blushing. Gathering all the dignity she could muster, Sakura smiled at Naruto.

"That's sweet of you, really," she said, truthfully. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Sakura, by the way."

"Sakura…" Naruto echoed, and then he grinned. "It fits you. It really does…but…I have to ask…"

"Why on Earth did I dye my hair pink?"

She giggled when he blushed and looked away for a moment. She could only figure that's what he would ask her. Let's just say, she had gotten the comment many times before. Only a moment later, he glanced back at her with curious eyes. She smiled and tilted her head.

"Well…" he muttered, shifting in the seat above hers. "I was kind of…wondering… It's a bit different, really…"

"I know," Sakura laughed. "You see, the thing is, it's natural. I didn't dye it."

She watched Naruto's mouth drop open, eyebrows furrowing and she laughed again before turning in her seat to shut her notebook. Doing so, she raised her head when something caught her eye. Her gaze moved to the door, where her own mouth dropped so hard it nearly hurt.

There, standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets coolly was the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen in her life.

His hair was black, with a tint of blue streaked into it; she couldn't tell if it was natural or not. It was spiky in the back, but long in the front, which was somehow extremely attractive. It was unique, and apparently a very new style. His eyes, also, were a beautiful onyx color, an unmistakable look of strength, security, and self-confidence shining brightly through them. To Sakura, it seemed that some other emotion was trying to push its way through, but this boy definitely had a cold shell of armor, obviously on the defense. His clothes were most certainly "in". He wore baggy jeans, a dark blue t-shirt that fit him well and had a pair of black and red Etneis on.

He was, in the least, hot.

Sakura blinked when she heard Naruto scoff, and looked his way. To her surprise, she saw a look of complete disgust, and a bit of disappointment, on his face. He saw her questioning look and sighed, turning his eyes to the young man below them, who was looking uninterestedly at a girl who was nearly crawling on him, chattering excitedly.

"That's Sasuke," Naruto told her, Sakura continuing to stare at him. "Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura's head shot back up to Naruto, her eyes widening.

"That's Sasuke Uchiha?"

Naruto nodded solemnly. Sakura looked back down at the Uchiha, who was still looking bored as anyone could be. The name held quite a big significance, especially to Sakura. Years ago, it was said that their had been a massacre in the upper part of town. A gang had apparently infiltrated a huge estate, killing nearly everyone there. Sasuke had been one of the lone survivors, his older brother being seriously injured, but had hung in there, living in the end. Sakura knew a lot about it.

Itachi, Sasuke's brother, had taken two bullets to the chest and one to the leg. His arms and torso had been scarred with multiple stab wounds and slashes. Something Sakura wasn't too sure about had damaged his eyesight to an increasing extent, and it seemed it was getting worse the more he was put in bright light. Sakura had been told this story three days after it had really happened, which had been eight years ago. Sasuke had apparently been eight, Itachi thirteen when he had protected his little brother. Sakura's mother had been the one to save Itachi's life in the hospital.

So, bringing herself back to reality, Sakura realized that Naruto was talking.

"I'm guessing you've heard of him?" he was asking.

Shaking herself, Sakura nodded blankly.

"Yeah…" she muttered, watching as Sasuke politely – as much as he could – waved the girl away.

"He's like, the king of the school or something," he said. "But of course…I am his best friend!"

Sakura giggled at the boy's positive attitude. There was no way on Earth that a person like Sasuke Uchiha would even look twice at someone like Naruto. But, she watched, eyes slowly widening as the Uchiha walked up the steps and slid into the seat beside Naruto. Blinking, she continued to not move her gaze. She knew she shouldn't stare…but he was so…addicting.

"Yo," he mumbled, sitting.

Sakura stared at him a few more seconds before glancing at Naruto, who shrugged. Sasuke hadn't even looked at her. He just sat, eyes closed, hands clasped in front of his lips. Tilting her head at the odd posture, Sakura opened her mouth to speak.

"Good morning class!"

All three teenagers turned their attention to the front of the classroom. There sat an extremely attractive young man, probably in his early twenties. His silver hair, Sakura could tell, wasn't exactly the grey people got upon their age increasing. She noticed that his eyes were weirdly mismatched, one black and the other red. They both closed as he smiled, raising a hand in simple salutation.

"It's good to see you all here after that long weekend, right?" he joked.

The class erupted in a bunch of moans and "sure, yeah right!"s. The man laughed and Sakura quickly glanced at her paper, reading her teacher's name… She tilted her head, but looked up when she saw him looking at her.

"I believe we have a new student, correct?" he asked, still smiling; Sakura nodded. "If you would, please, miss, tell us a little bit about you."

"About…me…?" she repeated.

"Yes," he said. "The rest of the class did it on their first day, so don't consider yourself special, though I'm sure you are, so no offense."

"None taken, Mr. Hatake," Sakura giggled. "I just don't know exactly what to say."

"Just, basically…" Kakashi thought a moment. "What's your name? Things you like and dislike… Hobbies? Dreams for the future… Stuff like that, and stand up by the way."

"Okay…" Sakura sighed and stood. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like shopping, duh. I enjoy training, like fighting, with my friends or just hanging out with them. I like dumplings, especially when you coat them in this special kind of syrup my mom makes. I love to sing and dance, which I usually do in foreign languages such as Japanese, Korean, French, and German… Well…I don't really like spicy foods, or the dark, all that much. I despise people who think they're better than everyone else, who are officially snobs in my book. I guess I've already told you my hobbies, which are basically singing, training, dancing, hanging out with my friends – who don't go to this school by the way – studying, and drawing. Dreams for the future… I do really want to be a doctor, like my mom… I also plan on marrying the man I fall in love with, make a family, and live peacefully. That's about it."

Kakashi nodded, ignoring a couple of the coughs of laughter randomly cutting the sudden silence. Sakura glanced at her teacher and saw that he was looking at her, as if he wanted to ask her something.

"You do know…Sakura…that we have a strict…rule about applying distracting colors to your…hair…" he said slowly; more laughing erupted.

"Yes, I know. What's your point?"

"Well, you see…"

"He means that you dyed your hair a shade way too pink, honey."

Sakura turned to glare at the source of the voice. Of course, it was a girl. The long, blonde hair and icy blue eyes told her that this girl was Miss Popularity. Her outfit was stylish and revealing, her skin was perfect – especially for someone who didn't seem to be wearing a lot of make-up – and she was giving her the strangest of amused looks.

"Well then he's wrong," Sakura said defiantly, raising an eyebrow, hand landing automatically on her hip. "He said that it's against the rules to apply distracting colors to your hair. I didn't dye my hair, so I'd like everyone to stop giving me so much crap about it, okay?"

The girl tilted her head slightly, before she smiled warmly.

"Hey, no problem!" she laughed. "I was just letting you know. You didn't seem to understand. Chill, girly."

Sakura blinked. Was this…obviously popular girl being…nice? Already, this school had shocked her. She had most certainly not expected that. But still, she smiled as well before sitting down, sighing when she saw that Kakashi was staring at her. Glancing around, she noticed similar looks, coming from nearly everyone. There were a couple people, though, who didn't seem to really care. They were either sleeping, looking out the window, whispering to their friends, reading, writing something down – which was probably the homework they didn't do – eating… One of them being Sasuke, who was sitting calmly, eyes focused on something outside. His eyes suddenly narrowed in concern.

Sakura raised an eyebrow and followed his gaze, curiousity getting the best of her. When she looked out the window, however, she found that nothing had changed. It was still the exact same scene she had drawn just minutes before. Confused, she looked back up at Sasuke. Her blush revived itself when she found herself staring directly into a pair of coal back eyes, which just happened to be looking at her. Thankfully, he didn't seem angry or annoyed, just as calm and emotionless as before. To her surprise though, she saw a tiny smile tug hopefully at the corner of his mouth. He wanted to smile, obviously, but he wouldn't let himself. She dismissed it, gave him an apologetic smile, and turned away.

Kakashi was still staring at her.

"What?"

"You… That's your natural hair color?"

Sakura sighed, placing her forehead in one of her hands.

"Yes, Mr. Hatake," she said. "This is my natural hair color. My mom has red hair, and my dad's hair is naturally silver, like yours. My hair is just pink, okay? I really don't want to talk about my hair on my first day, so if you don't mind…"

Kakashi suddenly gave that warm smile of his, eyes creasing. He waved his hand to show he understood.

"Of course, Miss Haruno," he laughed, and then turned to the board. "By the way, Sakura, you'll have to come down here and get a couple of things you'll need for my class. We're in Chapter 3…"

Remember, read and review. The next chapter will be up shortly.

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