Times does not give second chances –

She used to say; I'd look at her, puzzled and reply that we had yet a lot of time so second chances were not particularly needed.

And here I am, Haruno Sakura, reminiscing my mother's presence as well as my father's gentle pat on the head.

And here I am, Haruno Sakura, an orphan that has yet to start her second year in high school.

x x x

Konoha was indeed a small town, I noticed. I was born here and so were my parents, but we'd moved when I was 3. No longer having a home, I moved in with my aunt; we were actually pretty close and she took me in immediately and I was grateful.

Konoha was peaceful. And bright. It was that first sip of warm tea that literally infects your body and you're instantly calm. But what scared me was not knowing anyone apart from my aunt, even in this small of a town.

'Sakura, you're going to be late.' I heard her voice in the kitchen, probably sipping on her coffee – and a pile of businessy stuff. Senju Tsunade-san was an important business woman after all.

'I'm off.' I said putting on my shoes.

Walking down the streets, I thought I'd visit their grave for a moment so I went to the closest flower shop to pick up a nice bouquet.

The door opened with the high pitched ring of a bell and I was surrounded by the mesmerizing floral scents. The girl in charge turned around.

'Hello. How may I help you?'

She looked my age and, tucking golden strands of hair behind her ear, her pale blue eyes shone in recognition.

'You…must be Haruno Sakura-san, right?' she shyly smiled.

As I looked down, I could feel warmth being spilt on my cheeks.

'Uh, yeah… I am.'

'I am Yamanaka Ino. I'm very sorry for your parents…My father knew them well and it really is sad. But they died an honourable death.' She slowly said, not facing me either.

'Uh…thanks.' I nodded, lifting my head. 'Can I have a bouquet, please?'

Startled, she took in my request.

'Ah, yes, right away! I'm…sorry for getting carried away. I … are you a second year perhaps?'

'Ah.' I nodded.

She smiled, her features lighting up.

'Me too. I'd like to be in the same class as you, Sakura-san.'

'Just Sakura's fine.'

'Oh, I see. Sakura-chan then! Are you heading for the opening ceremony as well?'

What a nice girl, I thought.

'Uh, no – I thought I'd stop by somewhere first. But you'll see me there too.'

'Ah, I see. Then, here's your bouquet. Let's get along, Sakura-chan!'

As she handed me the flowers, her cheeks flushed an innocent shade of pink and her lips curved into a glimmering smile.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could genuinely be as happy and carefree as her? I feel like we'd get along nicely, though.

'Then… see you later, uh…Ino?'

She gave me one more smile before I left the shop.

x x x

'Mom, dad, I hope this is enough for now – see, it's my first day at school.' I bitterly laughed.

'I actually met a really nice girl this morning. She said she wanted us to be friends.'

Placing down the bouquet, I stared at the rough gravestones, inhaling the warm air of spring.

'Heroes, huh.'

x x x

In the end, taking my sweet time never got me anywhere. I ended up missing the opening ceremony and being in a hurry to find my classroom. But stress isn't good either because –

Yup, I just bumped into someone. The classics.

'I'm sorry, I was in a hurry.' I said picking up my bag and getting up.

Gazing at the person in front of me, I was met with cerulean eyes filled to the brim with childlike curiosity.

'Uh, I already said I was sorry…' I mumbled looking away.

'I…don't know you.' He commented. 'Are you new here?'

'Ah. I'm Haruno Sakura, a second year.'

His eyes widened and as he pointed at me, he said:

'Oh, you must be Tsunade baa-chan's niece!'

Well, he'd obviously know my aunt. Obviously.

'Y-yeah, I am.'

'Then you're the daughter of the heroes-ttebayo!' he loudly stated, still pointing at me. Like, who does that?

'Uh…' I said scratching my head.

But, the next I knew, the guy was the one scratching his head, in pain.

'Can't you be blunter?' a seemingly annoyed, black haired boy said after hitting the blonde's head.

'Ah, Shikamaru, that hurt-ttebayo!'

'You're so damn troublesome.' The Shikamaru guy said, walking past us.

'Anyways,' the blonde started, 'I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Sakura-chan, I hope we'll have fun together from now on!' he grinned.

Seriously, this guy. Still, he put me at ease.

'Ah.' I smiled back.

'You're really cute when you smile, you know! Do it more-ttebayo! It'd be such a shame not to be happy.'

His comment caused my eyes to widen in surprise. People had stopped calling me pretty; still, I was happy.

'Well, see you around. Y'know, we're both pretty late.' He laughed.

'A-ah, yeah.'

'What class are you in?'

'I'm in 2B.'

'Such a shame we're not in the same class though! I'm 2A, right beside you! Well, see you later, Sakura-chan!'

And so he left, waving while still grinning at me.

Walking up the stairs, I had finally made my way to the classroom. Inside, I was met with groups of teenagers, apparently uninterested in my presence. I was going to go to my seat when I was met with a familiar voice:

'Sakura-chan!'

Turning around, Ino happily made her way towards me.

'We're in the same class!' she said taking my hands. 'Let's get along this year, ne?' she smiled.

Friends. Ah, such a warm feeling.

'Yeah.' I smiled back at her.

Ino's eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed slightly. Then, grabbing me, she took me along to the girls she had been chatting to.

'Minna-san, this Haruno Sakura-chan! She's new here and' Ino giggled 'Isn't she so cute?'

I blushed at her words, suddenly feeling shy. However, the girls looked at me interested.

'I'm Ten Ten and I play tennis. Nice meeting you, Sakura!' one of the girls said, her hazelnut hair tied in two cute side buns.

'My name's Temari. I have the feeling we'll get along.' A blonde girl said, placing her hand on her hip.

The last of the girls, I noticed, wasn't quite as friendly as the others had been. Her lilac eyes stared through me and I instantly got the feeling she didn't like me.

'Hinata-chan, introduce yourself as well!' Ino said excited.

The girl frowned. The red lipstick she was wearing made her look slightly dangerous.

'You – ' She began.

'Are you interested in Naruto?'

'Uh, what do you mean … I only met him this morning.' I said, shaking my head.

She bit her lip, anger showing through.

'You – you were all over him, though! Shamelessly flirting like that, when he only called you pretty to be polite!' she trailed off, her fist coming towards me.

'Hinata-chan!'

'Hinata!'

But the girls' meddling was unnecessary as I caught her fist in my hand, not moving away.

'I know he was only being polite. Again, I am not interested in him – and even if you are, it's quite rude to punch people out of the blue like that.' I replied coldly.

'Amazing…' Ino began, her eyes wide. 'Sakura-chan, you're the first ever to not be fazed by Hinata-chan's punch!'

'Eh?' I turned to her confused.

'You see, Hyuuga Hinata-chan here can be quite rude sometimes but she … is a good person! She really knows how to fight as well and so far she's been undefeated. You're amazing, Sakura-chan! I never thought you could match her strength!'

'I, uh…'

As I looked away embarrassed, I caught a glimpse of the cold look in Hinata's eyes and instantly turned away.

'I… I took judo courses a couple years ago. I like action, I guess…' I scratched my head.

'You're an interesting one.' Temari said, but she wasn't able to say anything else due to the other girls in our class loudly squealing.

Surprised, I turned around only to be faced with girls gathering around someone.

'Here we go again…' Ten Ten sighed.

'Uhm…?'

'The girls, they're all crushing on him.' Temari began, pointing to the guy next to the girls.

'Uchiha Sasuke, Konoha's most handsome guy and really, just a douche bag.'

I locked my gaze onto the manly figure hitting on, really, all of the girls around him. Uchiha Sasuke was really handsome however. His onyx eyes were sharp and their depth was fascinating. His tall and muscular figure, joined by his spiky, raven hair could really make any girl fall for him.

'He really is handsome.' I unintentionally let out and Ino giggled in response.

'Still, a guy that plays around with a girl's feelings like that … is really awful.' I concluded.

'I have no doubts now, we're really going to get along.' Temari said, placing her hand around my shoulder.

I smiled – the uneasiness I felt due to not knowing anyone was long gone. Having made new friends was really a blessing.

Hey mom, dad, do you think I'll be able to live happily here?

x x x

Why hello there. I hope you enjoyed reading this prologue –

This story is still in the crafting and it's my first attempt at SasuSaku so please don't judge too harshly. Seriously, I'm so devoted to this pairing, huh ~

Anyways, I wanted t clarify a few things – as you might have noticed, this is NOT an authentic Road to Ninja AU but that's just because I didn't like all of it. And later on, I suppose it's not going to look RTN at all though. Well, things happen. Please review and tell me what I should work on – I'll keep the grammar as simple as possible because I'm aiming for, you know, that shoujo feeling. I still need practise though.

Matta ne!

/Ella