My Sister's Best Friend

A young pink haired girl was sitting in a cushioned seat, an over clean scent invading her nose. The walls around her were all very white, but as white as the body in front of. Blonde hair cascaded down into dark forest green eyes that were looking into the young girl's emerald eyes, showing regret. Next to her in another cushioned sat a man with dull pink hair styled into the shape of o cherry blossom. His blue eyes were shinning with worry as he looked over the pale woman lying in bed, her breathing slowing down before speeding and repeating the process every few seconds. "Kizashi, please stop worrying, I will be fine." The blonde woman, Mebuki, said to her husband who looked at her in concern.

"Daddy, what's wrong with mommy?" Sakura, the young girl of 7 years, asked looking up at her father in confusion. "How long will she be here?"

"Sakura, please, don't ask questions. You won't even understand." Kizashi grunted. How was he to explain to his 7 year old what brain cancer was and that her mother would probably die?

Sakura nodded, not wanting to anger her daddy. "Mommy, daddy, I have to use the bathroom. Is there one somewhere close?"

"There is one down the hall, honey. Just ask a doctor to show you where it is." Mebuki said with soft smile on her pale face. A small, pained gasp made its way past her parted powder pink lips as a migraine hit her full force. Her vision began to show colored splotches before going back to normal. Sakura was already off the chair and over at the door.

As Sakura stalked out of the white room, she glanced around nervously. She had never been in a hospital before, and she didn't know her way around one. All the halls were like long snakes to her and the tall doctors and nurses that rushed by were like giants. "Are you lost?" a deep voice said from beside her. She turned her head and saw a tall male in his late twenties, early thirties staring down at her with blue-green eyes and a long, dirty blonde ponytail. He was wearing a white coat and what looked to be a powder blue button-up shirt and a green tie.

"Yes, do you know where the bathroom is? My mommy said it was down the hall, but I don't know which hall she meant." Sakura muttered only loud enough for the man to hear.

"Yes, I do in fact. Follow me." He said as he gave her a smile. "Hey, what's your name?"

"My name is Sakura. Sakura Haruno. Why?" She asked as she gave him a look while following him down the long hallways, trying to make sure she wasn't in anybody's way.

"You looked to be the same age as my only daughter; Ino Yamanaka. Do you know her? She goes to Konoha Elementary. Oh, and my name is Inoichi, by the way." The tall man said.

Sakura a few of the thick bangs that fell into her eyes while conjuring up the image of Ino in her head. Blonde and blue eyes, the gorgeous, nice girl. "Yes, I know her. She is in my class. She is very pretty, by the way. And nice. She is the only one in our grade that doesn't bully me because of my hair color." Sakura bowed her head while remembering all the cruel, evil things the other kids would say about her hair and forehead. Inoichi scowled while stopping, Sakura almost plowing into his legs.

"Well, here is the bathroom. I gue-" Inoichi was cut off as a young came sprinting down the hallway, screaming his name. "What is it?" he asked when the girl caught up to them. She was breathing hard with a few beads of sweat falling down her forehead and temple.

"There is an emergency call in Room 607! The occupant has gone into a coma and the tumor is growing larger on her brain!" the nurse screamed, horrified. Inoichi's face went face went pale as all the blood rushed out of face; Room 607 belonged to Mebuki Haruno, Sakura's mom.

"Take her to the operating room, stat! I will be there in a second!" Inoichi ordered the nurse, who in turn nodded before sprinting down the hallway and behind o corner. He turned to Sakura, who was looking up at him with confusion in her large eyes. "Sakura, you go on to the restroom. I need to take care of a patient, okay? Just… go to the waiting room when you are finished." Before Sakura could ask anything, Inoichi took off down the same way the nurse before had. Sakura watched before shrugging it off and heading into the bathroom. She hadn't even understood most of what the nurse had said, anyway.

When Sakura came out of the restroom, she headed to the waiting room across from it like the doctor had told her. When she got there, she looked shocked to her father already sitting on the couch while wringing his hands and looking around the room nervously. "Is something wrong, daddy?" Sakura asked as she stopped in front of him. Her father's eyes looked at her before turning away.

"It's your mother, Sakura. She passed out due to a headache while you were gone. They are taking her into the big room to try to wake her up." He lied, not wanting to have to take care of a crying Sakura. Sakura nodded her head slightly while sitting in a chair next to the couch. Her eyes scanned over the small area with four single chairs and a double person couch. In between each chair was a table full of magazines that Sakura would not be able to read, due to all of the big words that occupied the pages. On one wall were two vending machines, one full of snacks and gum, the other full of water and sugary drinks. The walls were a darker white compared to the room her mommy was in. The two sat in silence for a while longer, one not knowing what to say, the other not wanting to talk at all.

After a few hours, a nurse with blonde hair tied into two ponytails at the base of her head and honey golden eyes walked into the waiting room, her face downcast. "Hello, my name is Tsunade Senju. I was your wife's nurse. We…have finished the operation." She paused, trying to word her sentence carefully.

Kizashi shot right out of his seat when she mentioned his wife. "Yes, how is she?" he asked anxiously. The woman's eyes looked at him sadly.

"I am sorry to tell you this, but your wife has passed away. She died in the middle of the operation. The tumor had gotten so large, even if we had removed it, we would have had to take a large portion of her brain out. She would have died anyway." Kizashi looked at her with shocked numbness. He couldn't feel anything in his body and never felt his body as he moved to look at his daughter.

"Sakura, we are going home now, follow me." Sakura looked between her father and Tsunade scared confusion on her face. She grabbed her daddy's hand and followed him to the car, waving as she passed Inoichi, who looked very sad at her. The drive home was a silent one, Sakura watching her father as he just drove without looking at anything, just seeing.

"Get out." Her father stated harshly as they parked in the driveway to their small, two story house. Sakura looked up confused, but listened none the less. When her father got out, he grabbed her upper arm hard enough to make her cry out. He ignored her until they got into the house. He threw onto the ground in the living room and slapped her. "IT'S YOUR ENTIRE FAULT! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID THIS! SHE WAS FINE UNTIL SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH YOU!" Kizashi screamed as he beat Sakura with every sentence.

"No, daddy! Stop! Stop! STOP!"

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Sakura's emerald green eyes opened slowly, tears pouring down her face from the dream. Her sort layered pink hair lay out on the pillow, spread in every direction. She swallowed, her throat feeling very dry. Her pale hand pulled out of the bed and turned off her alarm clock before she pushed back the gray comforter from her body. Sakura hissed lightly as her feet landed on the cold, wooden floor. She patted softly to the bathroom, not bothering to get her clothes yet. She gently closed the door behind her, pausing for a second while holding her breath. Nothing, no noise was coming from downstairs. A relieved sigh pushed its way passed her lips as she turned on the light. She let her black top come off first, then letting her blue shorts pool around her feet. She removed her gray bra and panties before turning to the mirror. She nearly cried at the reflection.

Pale skin. Very pale skin with horrible scars and bruises marred her body. She was very thin, too thin for her liking. Her ribs and hip bones were probing out and you could easily count the number of ribs she had. A long scar that went from her right hip to her right rib cage was giving off a paler color than her skin. Her emerald eyes looked dead and dull with a giant forehead. Her pink hair was short and choppy, due to what her father had done last night with a knife. She had cut it into layers, trying to make it look better. Her bangs framed her face, her cheek bones high and probing out due to lack of nourishment. She had long legs that were too thin and looked more like chicken legs in her opinion. This was what society called beautiful, what every girl tries to accomplish by not eating, but to her she was ugly, hideous even. No one should look like that, or even want to look like that.

She stepped into the shower, wanting to forget the image that was forever placed into her mind. She turned the knob to turn the shower on and nearly screamed when cold water soaked her skin. Of course, her father had decided to use all the hot water. But Sakura wouldn't complain to him, not again. Not ever again from what happened the last time she did. How else do you think she got that long scar? She lathered her hair in strawberry scented shampoo before washing it out, trying to keep her body away from the freezing water, and lathered it again in coconut scented conditioner. Once all soap was out of hair, she washed her body as much as she could without hurting her new bruises and cuts from last night's beating. A sweet, honey scent filled her nose as she washed off all the soap from her body. She turned the knob, the water that was sputtering out of the shower head slowing to a stop before it ended all together. She stepped out and shivered as the cold air hit her water soaked body. As she passed the mirror to go back to her room, she kept her eyes straight ahead, not daring to look at the hideous body that would be reflected. Her father never bought her towels, saying they were too expensive for a lowlife like her.

Her feet made no noise at all as she padded to her wooden dresser. First, she chose a pair of polka dot bras and panties. Next, she looked through her clothing items, trying to find something that would hide all of her bruises and cuts. No doubt Ino would ask her what happened to her hair, seeing as how she liked it long. She soon found a purple long sleeved shirt and a pair of black sweat pants. She pulled gray socks from her sock drawer and put those on before slipping the shirt over her head and sliding the pants up to her waist. The warmth from her socks radiated onto her cold toes as she quickly moved over to her closet. She easily picked out her red Converse, seeing as how there was almost next to nothing left in her closet. She pulled down her draw string backpack that was a light ever green color with blue strings. All of her school things were in this bag. She had a purple notebook, halfway filled with notes from different classes, a black pen, and a gray folder with her graded paper work. She put her arms through the strings and let the bag gently hit her back, slightly flinching when it hit a bruise on her mid-back. It had been three days since she had obtained it, and yet it was still there. Her father was brutal when it came to her beatings, but he never hit her face. She could only bet it was because he didn't want her to have to go around town with a nasty cut or bruise showing on her face giving everyone the idea that her father beat her daily. Which he did, by the way.

Sakura walked calmly down the steps, a memory flashing of when her father threw her down the steps in a fit of rage after he lost a poker game with some of his buddies. She had only been twelve then and had nearly broken her arm she tried to stop herself from rolling down the steps. Her father had sneered at her before walking out of the house muttering that he was going to go the bar and she better not bother him if she knew what was good for her. She shook her head to get rid of it as she opened the refrigerator to look for something to eat. Nothing, she found nothing in there and her stomach began to growl. She was going to end up starving to death at this rate. She sighed as she closed the door and headed toward the front door, grabbing her house keys as she walked past the dining room table.

As Sakura closed the front door and locked it, she heard a car horn. She turned to find her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, sitting in her purple Mustang GT convertible. Ino was her age, 16 years old, with long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, a long bang covering the right side of her face with large, baby blue eyes that had no pupil. She was wearing a green, long sleeved top with a gray tank top over it and black skinny jeans with white, knee high converse on. "Come on, Sakura! I'm going to give you a ride to school!" Ino yelled with a large smile on her face as Sakura opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat. "We have to make a stop on our way there, first. We need to pick up Hidan and Deidara from Hidan's house. Dad says I have to." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Well, thank you for deciding to pick me up, Ino. I didn't want to walk to school, anyway. My legs still hurt from last week." Sakura stated with a flinch, remembering what her father had done when Sakura had used some of the hot water in her shower. Ino frowned at her.

"Sakura, why don't you tell the police what your father does? I mean, they would probably put an end to all of the beatings if you told them." Ino said while looking straight head, driving out of the suburb. Ino was the only one Sakura had trusted enough to tell her secret to. "Then you could come and live with us!" She added with a very cheerful face and voice.

Sakura just shrugged, not really knowing how to answer. Ino must have guessed it was her father who had cut her hair, seeing as how she hadn't asked yet. She watched the scenery they passed while heading to Hidan's place. It was mostly small shops and restaurants before they headed into a fancy part of town. Sakura called it fancy because that was where most rich people lived, the Yamanaka family included. They passed up tall houses that were either black, white, or beige in color with green lawns finely cut down to every blade and flowers decorating the lawn and giant trees of different types, such as cherry wood, oak, maple, and elm, towering over head, as if trying to reach the skies. As they went farther down the road, cherry blossom trees began to litter each side of the road, the petals falling off and twirling around just above their heads. Sakura watched in fascination as the petals seemed to dance with the wind. The car suddenly jolted to a stop and Sakura looked in front of them. There was a tall, black mansion sitting on a green lawn. In the middle of the front yard was a fountain with water lilies placed in it. You could see part of a lake that was in the back yard. The house itself looked to have at least four floors with large, marble columns holding it up all around the house. There was a balcony on the fourth floor of the house that was all around the front. Large, golden doors that were placed in the front suddenly opened to reveal two figures.

The first one had gray colored hair that was slicked back to his neck. He had violet/purple eyes and very pale skin. He had a lip ring, an earring, and a nose ring decorating his face. He was wearing a black, button down shirt with the first five unbuttoned, showing off his chest and tattoo. The tattoo was of Jashin, his clan's last name. It was a silver circle with an upside down red triangle in the middle of it. He also had on faded blue jeans with rips in the knees and black combat boots. "Finally! I thought we would have to wait forever, seriously!" He yelled out to them.

"Right, Hidan, that was what you were saying, yeah." The second figure said. He had long, golden hair with some tied into a ponytail on top of his head with a long bang covering the left side of his head. He was a sun-kissed tan with azure eyes that held some gray flecks. Unlike his friend, he didn't have any tattoos or piercings on his body, and didn't plan on getting any. He was wearing a gray hoodie, black baggy jeans, and red high tops.

"Well I for one don't care what he said. Just hurry up and get in the car. I don't want to be late for school." Ino scowled them as her twin brother and Hidan walked towards them.

Deidara opened his mouth to snap at her, but then immediately noticed Sakura next to her. His face turned brighter than a cherry when she looked at him and gave a small smile. He tried to grin, but it came out more like funny face. Ino slapped her hand to her forehead. After what Deidara told her one night, she finally understood why her older brother always acted like an idiot around her.

-flashback-

Ino was sitting on her bed, looking through a magazine. Since Sakura didn't have a phone, Ino really didn't have anyone to talk to. As she began to read an interesting article on how what certain make up brings out your features better, she heard a knock on her door. She raised an eyebrow but called out anyway. "Come in!" To say she was shocked that her older brother came in would be an understatement.

"Ino, I need to talk to you. This is super important. I… I think I may be in love or something like that, yeah." Deidara said, his voice shaky a little. Ino immediately put her magazine down and gave her brother all ears. No matter what they said or did to each other, they would always be there for each other if one had a problem with crushes. He gave a sigh before he swallowed to prepare himself for his speech. "Well, you see, ever since I first saw her at age 10, I have always gotten a weird feeling in my stomach, like a pile of butterflies fluttering around, you know? Then when she is close by, I feel myself blushing a lot no matter how much I try to stop it and I can't seem to concentrate on anything. I also become a stuttering mess of emotions when she is too close by, yeah. And I don't know why, either, other than I must like her a lot." Ino held big grin on her face and tried to sustain her fan girl-ish squeal. But is still came out.

"EEP! Deidara, you are so IN LOVE!" Ino squealed again as Deidara blushed heavily and glared at her. "Who is it? Come on, you have to tell me who is it! I NEED TO KNOW!" Ino screamed. Deidara's right eye twitched a little as his sister went on a crazy little scheme of trying to find out who he 'loves as much as there is water in the ocean.'

"It's Sakura, your best friend, yeah." Deidara stated simply, but blushing and squirming as he said her name. Ino stopped suddenly and turned around to face him, her eyes wide and larger than plates. Of course that was to be expected. Sakura was her best friend. Not to mention two years younger than him.

-flashback end-

Hidan could barely contain his snicker as he noticed Deidara staring at the back of Sakura's head while blushing redder than a cherry. He also knew of the blonde's feeling toward the pink haired girl and thought it was very funny when the usually loud boy became very shy and a stuttering mess around the small girl. His eyebrows knitted together when he saw her hair was shorter than usual. "Hey, Sakura, why did you cut your hair? I thought you liked it long." He asked. Both boys watched as the two girls stiffened in their seats at the question.

"Oh, you know, I just wanted to change my image. An image change! Plus long hair was always such a hassle to take care of and I never really liked it anyway." Sakura giggled lightly. So she was right. Ino had known why her hair was cut. But of course, when you knew about someone's abusive family, it didn't really take a rocket scientist to add two and two together.

"Well I like it, yeah! It brings out your facial features better." Deidara grinned as leaned over the seat to look at her. Sakura looked very shocked before she gave off a smile. That was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her. Ino noticed this and smirked while meeting Hidan's eye in the mirror. Their plan was going to begin very soon. Nice move, big bro! You're moving in the right direction with trying to get Sakura! Inner Ino cheered inside her head. She, like Sakura, had an annoying Inner that would come out sometimes.

"Thank you, Deidara. That means a lot to me." Sakura said as she watched in slight confusion when Deidara's cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. She shrugged it off, not really thinking it meant much. I mean, it was just a thank you, right? Well, if you were in Deidara's head, you would think Sakura just kissed him while confessing her love and proposing to him. Crazy people we have in this car, no?

"We are here!" Ino said in a sing-song voice when she parked in a parking spot. The other three groaned, not liking school at all. For Sakura, it was mostly because of how everyone there treated her, as if she was garbage or an alien. The only ones that liked her were Deidara, Ino, their cousin, Naruto, Hidan, Pein, Konan, and her cousin, Karin. For Deidara and Hidan, they just didn't like school. Or watching Pein sucking face with Karin, his girlfriend. "Oh, come on! Let's just go already! The faster we get there, the faster we can leave!" Ino said again while practically skipping to the door. Sakura's eyes widened as she ran to catch up with her super hyper friend.

"Ino, wait for me!" Ino stopped and turned to her friend, standing and waiting patiently as Sakura tried to catch up with her. Sakura let out a pained whimper as she stopped, the bag hitting her bruised back a little too hard. Ino looked at her with a worried expression. "Don't worry about me, Ino! I'm fine!" Sakura answered her unasked question, shooting her friend a sugary sweet smile that was a little too fake for Ino's liking. She then lowered her voice so only Ino could hear. "Plus, it's not like I'm not used to the pain, anyway. I have also had much worse than this, so I don't think it will be a problem." Her apple green eyes held sadness as she and Ino walked into the building.

"I know, but I just can't help but worry about you. If you were in my shoes, wouldn't you feel the same, Sakura?" Ino asked while staring down at her friend. Ino nearly winced as she saw Sakura's ribs showing through her shirt. Ever since Sakura had shown Ino her body, Ino had stopped dieting. She had wanted to be what the society though was beautiful and she thought Sakura was because she was so thin. But when Ino had watched her take her shirt off, Ino had nearly barfed from the sight of her ribs sticking out. The blonde had then proceeded to shove food down both girls' throats, but Sakura had hardly gained much weight.

"I guess you're right, Ino. Thanks for always caring for me and always being there when no one else was. You are the most awesome best friend ever." Sakura said as she embraced her blonde friend tightly, who embraced her back, just not as tightly.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here. Two fake ass bitches embracing like a bunch of Lesbos. I always knew you two would make a great couple." A high pitched voice said while snickering. Ino glared over at the group of six people, three girls and three boys. It was the popular group that absolutely despised Ino and Sakura. They had all liked Ino up until she began to hang out with the 'pink forehead monster'.

Hinata Hyuuga was the leader of the group. She had pale skin, not as pale as Sakura's but still pale. Her hair was a dark blue color but you could see the hazel roots coming out. She had light gray eyes that had no pupil in them. She was wearing a beige colored ruffle skirt that was an inch above mid-thigh, white heels, a lavender tank top and a white cardigan. Her hair was curled to perfection and rested on her mid-back. She was wearing brown eye shadow, black eye liner, and dark blue mascara with ruby red lipstick.

Tenten Wantanabe was the like the little lackey of the group, only there because her family was rich. She had dark chocolate brown hair and caramel eyes. Her skin was a very tan color. She was wearing black mini skirt with a light green long sleeved top. On top of it was a gray jacket with the sleeves ending at her elbow. She was wearing dark blue pumps that made her legs look longer than they really were. Her hair flowed to her waist in a straight chocolate river. She had light pink lipstick, red blush, blue eye shadow, brown eyeliner, and black mascara.

Temari Sabaku was the fighter of the group. She had fair colored skin that brought out her teal eyes, that were also pupiless. She had sandy blonde hair. She was wearing a tight leather skirt that went mid-thigh and was a light blue color. She had on a silver tank top that clung to her like a second skin and a black mini jacket that stopped at her mid back and the sleeves at her elbows. She had on purple wedges. Her blonde hair was in waved down to her shoulder blades.

Sasori, Itachi, and Neji were the girls' personal slaves. Sasori belonged to Hinata, Itachi to Temari, and Neji to Tenten.

Ino made a face at them. "What do you six want?" she spat at them. Ino's blue eyes held a very threatening glare. She had never liked those people and more than likely never would, either.

Hinata sneered at her. Her eyes turned to Sakura who was trying to hide behind Ino. "Wow, so you finally decided to cut that mop of yours? When are you going to dye your back to its natural color?" She smirked when she saw Sakura's eyes water with unshed tears at the little comment. Unknown to them, though, Sakura was crying for a completely different reason. Her father, too, had made fun of her hair, saying that she should dye it because she didn't deserve it.

Ino snarled at the Hyuuga heiress in front of her. How dare she speak to her friend like that?! "OH YEAH!? YOU HAVE NO ROOM TO TALK, YOU WHORE! YOUR NATURAL ROOTS ARE SHOWING!" Ino screeched at the shocked girl before slapping her face so hard, Hinata fell onto the ground. Ino stalked off as Hinata watched her, her hand on her cheek, eyes wide, and mouth hanging open.

"Ino, please, calm down. We are going to pass up our lockers." Sakura said, trying to keep the blonde human bomb calmed down enough for them to get their textbooks. Ino stopped before turning and dragging Sakura over to their lockers. Ino began to grumble to herself as she and Sakura did their combinations to their lockers. "Um… Ino, are you okay?" Sakura asked hesitantly. The blonde sighed as she ran her fingers through her ponytail.

"I guess. It's just they make me so ANGRY! Have you ever just wanted to bash someone's face in? It's like that, but 100 times stronger." Ino huffed as she grabbed her History textbook. She frowned down at it, not wanting to go to Asuma's class first. "You are so lucky that you have Kakashi first period, Sakura. I have Asuma and it's not very fun."

"Hey, Asuma is better than Gai, right?" Sakura asked with a small, cheeky grin. Ino laughed loudly at that, attracting attention from many people in the hallways. "I'll see you after class, Ino!" Sakura called while running down the hall. She heard a faint 'Bye, Sakura!' as she turned the corner and headed down the hallway. She stopped at the door of Kakashi's classroom and read the small sign by the door: Kakashi Hatake Room 107 Math. She felt a sigh wanting to pass her lips when she entered the room. It was empty, as always. Kakashi was always 30 minutes late and the students usually didn't get in for 25 minutes, leaving 5 minutes in between when the students came before the teacher. Sakura placed her head on the desk and felt her close, sleep overcoming her.

"Hey, I know you. Aren't you the girl everyone calls 'forehead'?" a small blonde girl asked while sitting in front of the crying pinkette. The smaller girl's body looked to be covered in cuts and bruises. "Hey, my name is Ino Yamanaka. What's yours?" The girl asked, hoping she would answer.

A small sniffle was heard as the pinkette lifter her head enough to where Ino could see her bright emerald eyes. "S-Sakura. My name is S-S-Sakura Har-runo." Sakura answered before rubbing the tears out of her eyes. She lightly flinched when she brushed the cut on her hand and felt the salt from the tears enter the wound.

"Well Sakura, I'm going to be your best friend! Meet me here tomorrow, okay? I'm going to bring you something that you'll love!" Ino called over her shoulder as she waved to Sakura, who sat there in shock for a few minutes, not really knowing what to do.

~The Next Day~

"And… There! All finished!" Ino chirped as she finished tying Sakura's bangs back with a red silk ribbon. Sakura was looking at her in shock and happiness, wondering why the girl would be so nice to her. "Now Sakura, don't forget this; you are cute! Don't be a afraid to show it! As my mom always said, if you got it, flaunt it!" Ino said with a self confident smile. Sakura looked up at her while blinking in confusion. She understood the 'you are cute' part, but knitted her eyebrows at the 'if you got it, flaunt it!' part. She cocked her head to the side.

"Ano, Ino, what does 'if you got it, flaunt it!' mean?" Sakura asked her. Ino looked up at her and blinked. She scratched her chin, trying to find a way to tell her friend what she meant without confusing either one of them. But sadly, Ino's mother had never bothered to tell her what the saying actually meant. And know, here they were, trying to figure it out. "Ino, are you there? I asked you a question and you haven't said anything yet. Do you know what it means?" Ino snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Sakura's voice call out to her.

"Well, actually, Sakura, I don't really know what it means. My mom never really told me, so I guess we are both out of luck. Ahaha." Ino said before laughing nervously while scratching the back of her head and sweatdropping. Sakura giggled lightly while watching her best friend.

The sudden noise of a door being slammed open awoke Sakura from her memory of how her and Ino met. She rubbed her eyes and looked up to see Naruto with his girlfriend, Konan. "HEY SAKURA!" Naruto yelled while having his arms in the air like he just didn't care. (Lol. I so did not mean for that to happen :P) Sakura gave him a tired smile as she sat up and stretched her arms above her head with a loud yawn.

"Good morning, Sakura. Did you have a nice nap?" Konan asked with her amber eyes looking at her in amusement. Sakura nodded her in answer, still very tired. She closed her eyes again as the two sat in the desk next to her. As soon as sleep was about to claim her, the door opened again. Konan chuckled lightly at her annoyed look. "I don't think anyone wants Sakura to get some sleep today." She giggled softly when Sakura gave her a deadpanned look.

"Come on Sakura, we have to learn! No time for sleep! Naruto laughed as Sakura groaned and rolled her eyes. She just wanted some sleep, damnit! Was it really that hard!? Apparently when you are Sakura Haruno it is. She gave an annoyed sigh as she sat up and pulled out her notebook and pen to the notes Kakashi would always place on the board. Great. Today they were going to learn about how to find variables. She felt a frown trying to tug its way onto her face. Hadn't they already learned about that in, like, the 7th grade!? Well she did, at least. Couldn't say anything about everyone else if they are going over that in the middle of the year. She inwardly groaned at the idea of having to relearn all of this again. This was so not going to be a fun 25 minutes.

Sakura had nearly got on her knees and sang some weird song that praised the lord when the bell rang. The class had been so boring she had nearly fell asleep again. "We'll see you later, Sakura! We have art with Kurenia now!" Naruto said as he took Konan's hand and began walk down the hallway while swinging their hands back and forth.

"Bye Naruto! Bye Konan!" she yelled at them as she headed the opposite way to science with Jiraya. On the way there, she stopped by the girls' restroom and looked for Ino, who happened to be standing in front of the mirror at the time. "Hey Ino, hurry up, we need to head to class." Ino met Sakura's eyes in the mirror and grinned at her, her bright blue eyes showing mischief.

"Calm down, Sakura. I promise you, we won't be late. Just let me fix my hair really quick and we will go, okay?" Ino asked she pulled her brush out of her bag and pulled the rubber band from her hair, letting it fall to the back of her knees. She ran the brush through her hair, getting out ever knot and tangle while wincing a little every time she pulled a little too hard with the tangles as it practically ripped her scalp off. When she placed the brush back into the bag, she pulled out a few bobby pins and placed them into her mouth and began to braid her bang. She pulled out another rubber band that was smaller than the other one. She quickly tied her braid with the rubber band. She twisted all of her hair into a messy bun and tied it neatly on top of her head. With both hands, she wrapped the braid around one side of her head and placed the bobby pins at the end of it to keep it placed where it was. "Taadaa! I am all finished! Now we can head to class, Sakura!" Ino said while turning to her friend. Ino blinked. Sakura had pulled a random deck of cards from nowhere and was now making a tower of them.

"Oh, you finally done? I was wondering how long I would have to wait for you. Well then, let's go. I do not want to be late for class and get a detention… or to be late in getting home." Sakura whispered out the last part, her eyes going wide. Ino knew exactly what she meant and pulled Sakura up.

"Well then, let's hurry, shall we?" She asked with a wide grin. Sakura nodded while grabbing her sling bag and the two headed out the door. As soon as the door opened, the two ran out of the room at a very high speed while still managing to somehow dodge people and watching for which classroom was theirs. They ran into the science room quickly while sucking in air from running so fast. Jiraya was watching them with amusement as they nearly toppled over each other to get in the door. "We are here, Jiraya-sensei!" Ino said in between breaths.

"I can see that, Ino. Now, would you two please take you seats? I need to begin the class." The two girls nodded and took their seats in the back just as the bell rang. The two sent each other knowing grins before they pulled out their notebooks and pens and began to take notes from th board. Were they all only going to do notes or something? Guess so, because Ino said Asuma is having them take notes, too.

After class, Sakura and Ino met with Deidara in the hall, who was going to P.E. "So, how do you guys like taking notes? That's about all you do this week since there is a break coming up, yeah. It gets kind of boring after awhile." Deidara said with a smirk as he stood next to Ino, not wanting to be reduced to a stuttering mess in front of Sakura.

"Really? I thought taking notes was fun. Well silly me!" Ino responded sarcastically. Deidara sent her a glare. He was about to snap at her before Sakura interrupted.

"I'll be right back you guys. I forgot my history textbook." Sakura ran off in the direction of her locker while Deidara and Ino stood next to each other, blinking and then heading off in another direction without saying anything else. But they both headed to the same destination.

As Sakura did her combination, she felt a pair of eyes on her. Slightly unnerved, Sakura turned around, only to have a fist meet her cheek. She was thrown onto the ground from the force. Before she could do anything else, like opening her mouth or eyes, there was a heavy weight on top of her small stomach. She felt winded from the weight of the body sitting on her fragile frame and soon felt a sting in her other cheek. She was used to being beaten, so it didn't really hurt her much. The fists kept coming down on her, and hard, and soon, she saw her vision beginning to tunnel. "If you ever mess with Hinata again, bitch, you are going to get a worse treatment." Someone spat. She saw a flash of red before it disappeared from sight. Her breathing was becoming labored from all the punched she received on her stomach. She felt like was going to up chuck (vomit) soon if she didn't get to the bathroom in time. A few minutes later, she heard two pairs of feet pounding on the ground. "Sakura!" a male voice and female voice screamed at the same time. Her body seemed to register who they were before her mind, seeing as how her body immediately relaxed when she felt a pair of muscled arms pick her up bridal style and carry her off.

This is chapter 1 of my new story! I will begin updating on it as soon as I finish 'How Weak Am I Now?' I have chapter 13 started, but I might have it posted tomorrow. Or Sunday. So be ready for it! Man, I am tired. Good night, awesome readers!

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