Note: I'm not very good at romance/drama stories, but then again, my other romances were one-shots, so I'm hoping this one will be better. And I must confess—I only wrote this because these stories always have such amazing titles. These always end up sounding super-awesome.
And I'll admit that I do seem to bash Ino a little, but I like Sakura more. We could debate for hours (which actually would be kinda fun) on who is better, but my opinion is that Ino seems a little obnoxious. I don't particularly like Sakura, but I prefer her to Ino. And please don't flame me and start rambling about how stupid Sakura is. If you do...you'll see what happens.
And I got my title from Final Fantasy X. At one point, there is a game with blue butterflies and red butterflies, blue being good and red triggering a battle.
-:-
DISCLAIMER:
I don't own Naruto
I'm fine with that—no misery
I just wish
That I owned Akatsuki.
-:-
"Sakura!" my mom shouted as I walked in.
"Yes, Mom?" I said, trying to keep the testiness out of my voice. After all, I was going out with my friends in a few minutes and needed to fix my hair so it didn't look frizzy.
"I have wonderful news!"
"Really? What is it?" I asked, trying my best to sound excited and sweet. Enter model-daughter mode, starting...now.
"You're going to boarding school!"
Say what?
"But Mom! I can't go to boarding school! I want to stay here!"
That was not, of course, my complete argument. If I moved off to boarding school, I'd have to leave behind my friends and make all-new ones. I'd have to go off into some stuffy dorm and live with a complete stranger for around 180 days. Well, technically more, if you counted weekends and holidays (unless my parents decided to be nice and let me stay).
"Don't worry," she said, reading my worried expression. "You can still write to your friends. And I'll let you come home every single holiday."
"Well," I sighed, "I guess I'd better pack."
-:-
Several weeks later, I climbed off the train, carrying my trunk with me. The school wasn't very far away from the train station, so my mother and I walked together.
"You're going to have fun," she assured me, leaning over to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. "You'll make lots of new friends."
I was doubtful. Boarding school seemed like the type of school for snooty, unfriendly rich kids. I didn't think of myself as poor, but I certainly wasn't the type with butlers and maids who catered to my every whim and wrapped their (usually foreign) bodies tightly around my fingers, which would be expertly manicured. Nope. That did not suit me at all.
As we approached the school, I felt an elevated sense of nervousness and instantly checked my outfit. My black peasant skirt swished around my legs comfortably, accentuated by my matching black sandals. I wore it with a dainty burgundy sleeveless top, and my pale pink hair was pulled into a low bun, with bangs covering my left eye.
"Well, we're here," my mom said. I looked up at the fancy building. Images of well-to-do snobs filled my head like water filling a glass.
My mom leaned over to give me a quick hug. "Have fun at Ninja Academy," she said.
"Excuse me?" I gasped. "This place is for ninjas?"
"Of course! They train you do be a ninja! Didn't you know?" I rapidly shook my head, which at least was clear of wealthy jerks.
"Oh. Well now you do. Goodbye!" Mom ran off, leaving me dumbfounded.
I suppose I'll walk to the office, I thought as I walked slowly towards the building. At least these people won't be rude, right? Ninjas are supposed to help people, right? Right? I tried to rack my brain for the image of a ninja, but all that came up was a black-suited stealthmobile throwing metal stars at enemies.
Oh boy.
-:-
"Name?" a pudgy man asked me. With his physique, I hoped he wasn't an instructor, or he'd be in big trouble.
"Haruno Sakura," I said, fiddling with my skirt.
"Of course," he mumbled. "New girl?" I nodded. "Well, you'll be in room number 15. Ino Yamanaka will be your roommate."
"All right," I said. Ino Yamanaka. What a classy, elegant name. She sounded like she'd be a cool person.
"Here is your schedule. Now go," he said, shooing me out of the office.
How rude, I thought, walking off to my room. I concentrated on Ino. Would she be a nerdy ninja wannabe? Or would she be a rich girl? Or maybe she was just a nice, normal, sweet girl. I was hoping for the third one.
As I debated the possibilities of Ino Yamanaka's psyche, I looked down at the carpet, until BANG! I crashed into a boy about my age.
"Omigosh, I am so, so sorry," I gasped at him. I wasn't gasping for breath, necessarily. I was gasping for breath because, well, he was amazing. He had ivory skin and these gorgeous dark eyes, which matched his choppy blue-black hair.
"It's fine," he shrugged, walking down the hall. Embarrassed, I continued to my room. 12, 13, 14...15! I knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" a female voice called out.
"Haruno Sakura!" I yelled in return. "I'm Ino's new roommate?"
"Oh," the voice called back. "Door's unlocked!"
I pushed the door open and stumbled into my room. It was a rather cute room, with a deep blue carpet and silvery walls. An elegant, woven-looking fan adorned the ceiling, and there were two shiny wooden dressers and two four-poster beds made of the same wood. One bed was empty, with no sheets whatsoever. The other had a plush comforter made of purple velvet and matching pillows.
On the violet bed was a girl about my age. She was pretty, with long platinum-blonde locks in a long ponytail and matching bangs in her left eye. Her eyes were sea-blue and gorgeous. Her outfit was the same color as her blankets.
"Hey," she said. "I'm Ino. Bathroom's over there. It has two toilets and one shower-bathtub combo. The storage space is in there. That dresser's yours. The other is mine, and I suggest you unpack so you can get into something more comfortable for your next class."
I did as I was told and emptied my clothes into the dresser, dumping my trunk in the storage closet. I fixed up my bed with cream sheets and beautiful red flowered blankets, arranging my pillows in a cute design.
"Red your favorite color?" Ino asked, not looking up from the journal she was writing in.
"Yes," I blushed.
"Cool," she said. "I think it's time for dinner. We won't have much down-time afterwards, so you'd better change into something athletic now."
I took her word for it and climbed into a cropped, hooded red minidress with black biker shorts underneath.
-:-
Dinner was pretty predictable. We ate, we cleared our plates, we went back to our rooms for digestion. All in all rather plain.
After dinner, we retreated to our rooms.
"Everyone has tai jutsu next," Ino said. "It's like a group thing. If you want me to, I'll introduce you to everyone." I nodded eagerly. Maybe Ino knew that dark-haired boy!
-:-
"Welcome to tai jutsu!" a man cried at the top of his lungs. I stared. He had an unhealthily shimmery bowl-cut, and wore a green jumpsuit. Was this honestly his idea of a ninja? And if that wasn't enough, he had a teacher's pet that looked exactly like him.
"That's Gai-sensei," Ino whispered. "He's kinda strange. His little clone is Lee. He's actually really good at tai jutsu."
I nodded.
"Now we must spar with each other!" Gai gave everybody a goofy-looking thumbs-up sign.
"So, come meet everybody," Ino said, dragging me over to a large group. "Hey, everyone, this is Sakura."
I stared at everyone.
"Okay, this is Naruto," Ino said, pointing to a boy in an orange sweat suit. Was the bright costume necessary for battle? He had blonde hair and rather nice eyes. "This is Lee," she said pointing to Gai's clone.
"Hello!" Lee shouted, pumping my hand up and down energetically.
"That's enough," Ino grumbled. "Anyway, this is Neji." Neji had pale eyes and long brown hair.
"Nice to meet you," I stammered.
"Charmed," he muttered, giving me a brief nod.
"This is Tenten," Ino said, pointing to a girl with brown hair in two buns. She gave me a friendly smile and shook my hand. "And this is Kiba."
Kiba wore a fur-trimmed coat and seemed to have fangs. Was he a bear in disguise?
Yapping sounds broke my train of thought. "You have a dog?" I asked.
"His name is Akamaru."
After Kiba explained his dog to me, Ino introduced me to Shino, whose sunglasses and large coat creeped me out, Hinata, who had Neji's eyes and was very shy, Shikamaru, who seemed very lethargic and less-than-thrilled to be here, and Chouji, who was very chubby and was eating chips.
"And this is Sasuke," Ino said, pointing towards the cute guy I bumped into outside my room. I tried my best to smile sweetly and shake his hand.
-:-
"So, did everyone seem nice?" Ino asked after tai jutsu was over and we were in our rooms. We'd changed into our nightclothes and climbed into bed.
"I guess," I muttered. "Any romances I should know about?"
Ino chuckled. "Well, Neji and Tenten seem awfully close friends," she snorted. "Hinata also seems to have a small crush on Naruto."
"Really? What about the others?"
"Well, another girl told me that she tried to kiss Kiba, but his dog got in the way." I laughed. "Yeah. So you should only try him if you like dogs. And Shino's a little too creepy for my taste." Ino shuddered. "And Lee is too energetic for a girl, don't'cha think?"
"Yeah," I agreed. "What about that other guy...Shikamaru? And Sasuke?"
"Hmm," Ino mumbled. "Shikamaru seems to have an on-and-off thing going with this other girl, Temari," Ino said. "Even if they're in the off stage, Temari still thinks of him as her property, so stay away from him unless you're a really good fighter."
"And Sasuke?" I asked.
Ino turned pink. "Sasuke...well...he's really popular with a lot of girls. So many girls like him, but he doesn't seem to talk to any of them too much. It's hard to get him to open up."
"I see," I said, trying to hide my disappointment. How would I win him over if he didn't like people? "So...do you have a guy you like?"
Ino turned pinker. "Yeah, it's Sasuke."
Sasuke. Of course my drop-dead gorgeous roommate liked Sasuke, too.
"Any crushes so far with you?" she asked, trying to get the attention off herself.
"I think," I mumbled, looking down.
"Who is it?" she asked, leaning over. "I won't tell anybody."
"It's...Sasuke," I mumbled.
Ino looked perplexed. "Oh..." She turned off her lamp. "It's getting late. Good night, Sakura."
I could tell by the way she stiffened up that she wasn't exactly feeling as friendly as she was before.
This was going to be a tough year.
-:-
Note: Not as dramatic or romantic as I would have liked, but since is not a one-shot, the romances and dramas will start pretty soon.
So, if you thought I made Ino seem a little too rude (or if I ever start making her seem too rude), tell me and I'll try to be a little nicer. Until then, I'm Rayne, and my hair looks like Neji's!