no good gift goes unpunished

by jaylene

Sakura is forced to jump through quite a few hoops on her first day of official classes. Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, the rowdy boys of the Boarding Academy for the Gifted are there to help…maybe. AU. MultiSaku. Sakura centric. SakuraHarem. Sequel to "no one mourns the gifted." Part two of the "Gifted" series. Oneshot.

Summary: Sakura is forced to jump through quite a few hoops on her first day of official classes. Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, the rowdy boys of the Boarding Academy for the Gifted are there to help…maybe. AU. MultiSaku. Sakura centric. SakuraHarem. Sequel to "no one mourns the gifted."

Pairing(s): (established in first story) SakuraxNaruto, SakuraxSasuke, SakuraxSai, SakuraxGaara, SakuraxDeidara, SakuraxSasori, SakuraxKisame, SakuraxItachi, SakuraxHidan, SakuraxKakuzu, SakuraxTobi, SakuraxMadara, SakuraxPein, (established in this story) KakashixSakura, KibaxSakura, ChojixSakura, ShikamaruxSakura, HakuxSakura, ZabuzaxSakura, LeexSakura, NejixSakura, ZetsuxSakura, KimimaroxSakura, KabutoxSakura, ShinoxSakura, SuigetsuxSakura, JugoxSakura, ShisuixSakura, IzunaxSakura, KotetsuxSakura, IzumoxSakura, GenmaxSakura, KonohamaruxSakura, YamatoxSakura, JiraiyaxTsunade, AsumaxKurenai, (implied) OrochimaruxTsunade

Genre: Humor/Romance/Friendship/Adventure

Warnings: some cursing, general OOC-ness

Notes: Well, apparently, I lied. I kind of got inspired to write a sequel! Go figure! Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I'd like to also thank my reviewers (NZ-Suzane, SexyHobo, Twisted Novocaine, Melyss, raven rose 101, haru no sakura, Outcast001, xXdeathgoddessAliceXx, Sakura Lover, waffle-chan, TDI-Ryro-Eclares, XxCaroxX, Katara-Hatake, animeXtenshiXhime829, hushnelle, samigirl96, StormDragon666, Black snake eyes, cristinaacharqueno, Guest). You guys are what inspired this.

Dedicated to: hushnelle. Thanks for all the long, random chats along the way!

---

"no good gift (goes unpunished)"
-1/1-

---

Sakura bustled about her bedroom, attempting to compose herself as she stumbled around. It was her first day of class and she was going to be late! Headmistress Tsunade had given her a week to adjust to the large new environment but had told Sakura that she was to be ranked and classed this morning. She couldn't be late! With the help of Naruto and her other new friends, Sakura now knew her way around the school fairly well, though she wouldn't say she knew it like the back of her hand. Sakura paused to rifle through a care package that her parents had recently sent her, filled to the brim with tasty, assorted snacks. Grinning, she pulled a bag of barbeque-flavored potato chips out of the box and slipped it quickly into her messenger bag for a snack later in the day.

Sakura scanned her room briefly. She had the entire girls' dormitory to herself and was given her choice of rooms. While it was a bit lonely, Sakura had chosen a pleasantly purple east facing room with large, ornate windows. Sakura enjoyed waking to a magnificent array of reds, pinks and oranges every morning. It was about the only time of the day she spent in silence, reading one of the many medical texts her parents had sent her. Suddenly remembering her parents' generous gifts, Sakura pulled out the necklace of the Haruno crest, deftly fastening it behind her back. She glanced at it in the mirror; not bad, it completed her look.

With a start, Sakura remembered herself and rushed out of her room, skidding across the smooth tiles of the halls. She was dressed in a boy's uniform, as there were no other females attending the school currently. Sakura didn't mind though, completely at home in the dark blazer and slacks. She frantically recited the directions Headmistress Tsunade had given her. Two doors down on the left, a sharp right, take a turn to the…

Sakura's process was rudely interrupted as she collided with a solid object. She fell to the ground, pushing the offending object down with her. Sakura let out a yelp as she landed on a warm, soft body; a resounding grunt echoing her discomfort.

"What the he-? Oh, hey Sakura!" a cheerful voice exclaimed.

Ears ringing, Sakura looked down into the crystalline blue eyes of Naruto. "Hey Naruto," she replied, standing and brushing off her uniform.

Sakura held out a hand to help Naruto off the ground. He pulled himself up, tail twitching erratically behind him. "Where are you off to in such a hurry? Classes don't start until ten!"

"I have a meeting to determine my rank and class," she responded rather nervously.

Naruto smiled to assuage her anxieties. "I'm sure you'll be A-ranked or maybe even S-ranked! Your Gifts are so amazing that your teacher can't possibly dislike you!"

Elated by the heavy compliments, but still confused Sakura asked, "What's a S-rank?"

Naruto looked a bit worried, peering about suspiciously. "We aren't really supposed to talk about it. It's not exactly a secret, but no one really knows about the S-rank." His tail moved wildly behind him uneasily. "Some students, like the really, really powerful ones, are above A-rank. I don't really know the details but I overheard the Old Pervert talking with Granny Tsunade about it. The S-ranked students have some sort of sketchy job they have to do for on the Council's orders."

At Sakura's questioning look, the boy explained, "The Council works as the eyes and ears of the government. They inspect the students of the school and have some say in how the final teams are set up. All of them are stuck up." Naruto's serious demeanor brightened. "Granny Tsunade has the final say so, however. It definitely pisses off the Council!" Naruto looked at Sakura cautiously. "About this S-rank business, could you-could you possibly not tell anyone else about this? And I mean anyone. Very few people know."

Sakura stuck out her pinky solemnly. "I pinky swear."

Naruto, grinning all the while, linked phalanges with her, feeling a pleasant shiver run up and down his spine. Reluctantly, Naruto let go of Sakura's pinky and said, "I got to go, Sakura. I kind of pulled a prank on the bastard this morning and I do not want to be caught." He shuddered. Sasuke knew way too many fire attacks for a nine year old in Naruto's humble opinion. Naruto grinned at Sakura, tail wagging lazily behind him in contentment. "Thanks for keeping the secret, I just knew you would!"

So saying, Naruto scampered away, red tail disappearing as he thought of Sasuke's plans of revenge. Sakura stood silently, smiling lightly before she remembered exactly why she'd been in a hurry in the first place. Eyes widening in alarm, Sakura dashed away again.

---

Sakura arrived at the doors of Training Room 3B panting and out of breath. Sakura looked at the plain door with apprehension. Even though there was nothing truly intimidating about the door, Sakura felt nervous anticipation fill her to the brim. She quickly adjusted her mussed clothing and hair, took a deep breath and stepped into the room. She looked around bewilderedly; no one was there! Puzzled, Sakura took a seat to wait…

And waited…and waited for over an hour! Just as Sakura was preparing to go speak with Headmistress Tsunade about faulty instructions, the door opened and a man stepped into the room. He was tall and lithe with shockingly gray hair. He wore a black mask over the lower half of his face and a nondescript headband covered one of his eyes. All in all, he was an odd looking, though attractive, man. The man stared at her for a few moments before his visible eye crinkled upward into an obvious smile. "Yo, I'm Kakashi Hatake. You're Sakura Haruno, correct?" Sakura nodded hesitantly at the odd man. They stared at each other in an awkward silence for a few moments. Finally, Kakashi sighed and said, "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Like what?"

"Likes, dislikes, goals for the future, hobbies, that sort of thing," he replied taking a seat across from her.

Nodding, Sakura said, "Let's see…I like my friends and reading medical texts." Kakashi's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I dislike mean people and cursing. My goal is to become a doctor! My hobbies are reading, puzzles and training." She peered up at Kakashi through her eyelashes. "What about you?"

Kakashi, momentarily taken aback, stroke his chin in thought. "Hmmm, I don't really want to tell you my likes or dislikes. My dreams…hmm. I have a lot of hobbies."

Sakura merely stared at the man in silence after his vague introduction. He was certainly very odd and secretive! Sakura didn't feel afraid of him though. He seemed to be a nice person, strange habits notwithstanding.

Kakashi clapped his hands together, startling Sakura. Honestly, he was a bit surprised by the girl's actions so far. She was quiet, but not shy. From what he'd seen so far, she seemed to be pretty levelheaded if a bit overcautious. She was nothing he imagined her to be. She wasn't flighty or self-conscious like most girls her age tended to be. Though, he supposed in amusement the only Gifted female to be born in over fifty years would be different. "I need to test your affinity and your Gifts." So saying, the man slouched and pulled out a few slips of paper.

"My affinity?" questioned Sakura softly, wary of the blank slips of paper.

"Ah, I suppose nobody has explained it to you? Well, everyone, Gifted or unGifted, has an affinity with one of the main elements and sometimes, though rarely, with a sub-element. There are unGifted who dedicate their entire lives to predicting how their lives and personalities are shaped by their affinities. Personally, I don't see what the fuss is about. UnGifted individuals cannot harness their affinities to do their bidding. However, we, your teachers, can teach you Gifted students techniques based around your element."

Sakura gasped in surprise. "You mean techniques that don't have anything to do with our Gifts?"

Kakashi nodded. "Nobody knows how or why Gifted individuals can tap into their elements in this way. The main theory is that back in the day, people didn't have Gifts; they had 'chakra.' This so-called chakra allowed these people to use any of the elements and other Gifts. Unfortunately, over the centuries individuals began to focus and develop only one of their Gifts, losing the ability to use every Gift. We can, however, use whichever element we have an affinity with."

With this said, Kakashi approached Sakura. "What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

Kakashi sighed his long-suffering. After all, he hadn't asked to be roped into testing this kid. Kakashi had to admit that the brat was pretty damn adorable. With her large, expressive green eyes and pale pink hair, she was the epitome of exotic innocence. If only she wasn't so wary of him! Kakashi smiled at the girl in a rather lousy attempt to put her at ease. "We need to test your element affinity." He held out a piece of paper towards her. "Take one of these."

Sakura gently took one of the papers from his hand. To her disappointment, nothing happened. Kakashi tsked. "What's wrong with it?" she asked Kakashi.

"I need a stronger card," was the vague reply.

As Kakashi rummaged through his many pockets, Sakura took the chance to study him. He wore the green flak jacket that all teachers at the academy were required to wear and a pair of dark jeans. He seemed to be a lazy, easy-going sort of guy with a possible vindictive streak. She would not be getting on this man's bad side. He was nice enough even though he was rather quirky. Sakura started in surprise as Kakashi spoke again.

"Here we are," he declared, pulling out a large, thick piece of paper and holding it out to Sakura.

She took it eagerly; ready to know her elemental affinities. Nothing happened for a few moments before one side became soaked in water and the other crumbled into dirt. Kakashi nodded decisively, secretly impressed. It was a well-known fact that individuals with more than one elemental affinity tended to become great and powerful. It was unsurprising that this newly manifested Gifted female would possess more than one affinity. Still…

"Interesting," he muttered. When he'd read her stats thus far, it hadn't revealed very much. It just displayed her age, appearance and manifested Gifts. Nothing of significance like this. The man sighed; Tsunade would be getting a lengthy report from him. He could feel a headache beginning to form.

"Why?" an oblivious Sakura asked.

"Nothing, nothing," replied Kakashi, knowing that the girl would figure it out on her own in the future. Just as Sakura was about to call him out on the obvious lie, he continued, "Anyway, I need to test your Gift now." He pulled out a small silver bell. "Try to steal this bell from me. It's simple really." Sakura frowned. "Your time limit is fifteen minutes." He pulled out a timer and set it quickly. "Go."

Sakura cracked her knuckles, preparing to destroy this odd teacher. "Bring it on," she said, falling into a fighting posture. Even before her Gifts had manifested, Sakura had been trained in the art of self-defense at the behest of her overprotective parents. She knew how to read her opponent. Sakura's newfound Gifts only made her all the more deadly.

Kakashi blinked in mild surprise when the girl took a defensive position. That was new. Generally, new students ran headlong at him in an attempt to catch him off guard. As if! He also recognized her posture from a lesser-known martial arts fighting style. Interesting indeed. This seemingly bothersome job was turning out to be a rare treat for Kakashi. With an anticipatory smile, he moved in.

Sakura, who had been watching Kakashi intently, held her ground as he came at her with a low sweeping kick. At the last possible second, Sakura sprang up and over Kakashi, ducking into a rolling crouch as she went. Before she landed, Sakura quickly pushed a few pressure points on Kakashi's shoulder. She whirled as she landed, looking back at the astonished man. Sakura smirked, knowing she had been severely underestimated.

"Where did you learn that?" Kakashi asked, trying and failing to rub feeling back into his numb arm. It was the oddest sensation, knowing that his arm was still attached but only feeling a light tingle throughout all of the arm's muscles.

Sakura blushed slightly and rubbed at the back of her head sheepishly. "I kind of went through a faze of reading a lot about pressure points in different medical texts. It was pretty easy to implement my readings into my martial arts practice with the help of my Gifts."

Kakashi looked at the girl in exasperation. She just kept surprising him! He threw up his one functioning hand in surrender. "Alright, alright, that's enough. I know exactly where to place you."

"Well?" Sakura breathed in anticipation.

Kakashi hesitated. By all rights, Sakura deserved to be placed in the A-ranked class. Hell, she'd displayed S-ranked moves! The only problem was her gender. She was already a target to many rogue organizations that wanted control of the young Gifted female. The more powerful she appeared to others, the bigger target she became. Kakashi could name at least five organizations off the top of his head that would kill to have a Gifted female among their ranks. Some already had. Kakashi knew, however, that he couldn't place this precocious girl in a mediocre class where her skills would undoubtedly dull. Kakashi sighed, raking a hand through his hair; he didn't get paid enough for this. "Alright, you're in the B-ranked class. Go to Iruka after this. Now, can you heal my arm? You've got one hell of a Gift."

With a slight grin, Sakura acquiesced.

---

Sakura wandered the expansive halls of the Academy in a daze. B-ranked. She didn't know anyone who was B-ranked. How was she going to make any friends? It was all rather upsetting to the small girl who began to fiddle with her necklace, wanting some form of comfort however meager. As she somberly walked to her next class, Sakura was suddenly barreled over by a tiny body. Its high velocity managed to knock Sakura to the floor. Sakura looked up at the wriggling body on top of her. A small white dog with brown ears was crawling all over her, licking at her face and arms.

Giggling, Sakura moved her hands through the dog's soft fur. "Haha, th-that tickles!" Sakura gently pushed the dog off her chest and sat up, scratching the dog's ears and chin all the while. "Good dog!"

Sakura scanned the small dog's wiggling body. No collar. Slumping, Sakura began to methodically rub the dog's underbelly. Yipping in delight, the white dog rolled onto his back, paws flying about in the air. Sighing, Sakura said, "I'm not sure who your owner is, but I'm positive he misses you a lot." The dog cocked his ears. "I know I would."

With that, the little dog sat up, ignoring the girl's wonderful gestures. Barking to get her attention, the dog grabbed the girl's uniform sleeve and began to pull her along. "Alright," she finally said with laugh, "I'll go with you. I certainly hope it doesn't make me late to class!"

With those words, the little dog relinquished his hold on her uniform and took off down the hall. Surprised, Sakura scrambled to follow. Did the dog truly understand what she was saying? Shaking away her momentary astonishment, Sakura quickened her pace to keep up with the lithe animal in front of her. There was no time to contemplate the intelligence of the dog; she needed to find her class, as Kakashi had left her without any instructions on how to get there.

As Sakura contemplated the mysteries of the vague man, she ran headlong into a solid object. She felt a strong sense of déjà vu as she and the mystery person tumbled to the ground in an array of flailing limbs and grunted yelps. Sakura blinked, mentally promising herself to always be vigilant when she ran. She looked down at her unfortunate victim. Wild brown eyes stared back at her in puzzlement. Blushing, Sakura quickly stood, offering a hand for the boy.

As he took it, she studied him. He appeared to be the same age as her with messy brown hair and vibrant fang markings on his cheeks. He grinned, a slash of sharp teeth and fangs, as he straightened out his uniform. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka and you must be Sakura Haruno, our new classmate."

Sakura nodded slightly, drawn in by this boy's free and reckless attitude. "It's a pleasure to meet you Kiba." She turned to his companion. He was tall and lithe, decked out in a heavy coat that undoubtedly violated dress code. This boy had dark hair and wore sunglasses over his eyes. "And you are?" she inquired politely.

"I'm Shino Aburame. We've heard quite a bit about you Sakura," he coolly informed her.

Sakura immediately flushed. "Oh, y-you have?" She was more than a little surprised and flattered that her friends had talked about her. She wasn't anything special or extraordinary in her own opinion. Of course, all of her friends would strongly disagree with her but she didn't know that.

Kiba's grin widened. When Naruto had vehemently praised the girl he hadn't really paid attention. After all, it was Naruto. When the Uchiha brat had added his own two cents, however, Kiba started listening. The girl was certainly living up to all of his expectations so far. "So Sakura," She turned to him. "Are you the one who found Akamaru?"

"Oh, is that his name?" Sakura asked in surprise, looking down at the little dog. "I'd actually say that he found me."

Kiba smiled at her. "Yeah, Akamaru has a habit of finding the good sort of people. He's actually got quite an eye for it." Sakura flushed heavily. "Obviously, he hasn't missed his mark this time either." Sakura's blush deepened.

"Oh, well thank you," she replied with embarrassment. "Wait, I thought the school had a policy banning pets. Why is Akamaru allowed to be here?"

"So you've actually read up on the school policies? That makes you and Shino the only ones who have," Kiba snorted. "Akamaru isn't a normal pet per se, he's actually involved in the way my Gift works."

"Really?" Sakura asked with interest. "Does everyone in your family possess a similar Gift?"

Kiba nodded. "Yep! When Inuzuka males are young, they bond with one of the family dogs, tying them together for life as blood brothers and partners. Akamaru and I bonded when I was three, the youngest in five generations. Our bond allows my Gift to fully manifest, something I guess you'll get the chance to see during training today."

Sakura hummed in understanding, scratching under Akamaru's chin. "He's a wonderful dog, I'm sure you two make great partners. What's your Gift Shino?"

When Sakura turned away, Kiba and Akamaru began to converse with one another as only bonded can. Akamaru allowed Kiba into his mind to experience everything that the dog himself had felt during his first meeting with Sakura. The kindness and compassion that Sakura had shown Akamaru and the genuine worry she'd expressed over his well being left Kiba stunned and dazed. Kiba came out of Akamaru's mind, flushed and reeling. "She's something isn't she?" Protecting his dog, even though she didn't know him or Akamaru? She was wonderful. Akamaru yipped his agreement.

Meanwhile, Sakura listened raptly to Shino. "My Gift is incredibly similar to that of the Inuzuka clan, except I bond with insects. The Aburame clan instills so-called 'destruction bugs' within male members upon birth. These insects use us as a hive and feed off of us in return for listening to my commands."

Shino watched Sakura warily; prepared to be called "creepy" for liking insects so much as their classmates were wont to do. Shino despised labels. Instead, she just smiled. "I'm glad that you and your insects can work together like that! I'm kind of jealous that I don't have a bond animal like you guys!"

Kiba rejoined the conversation suddenly thankfully for the stunned Aburame, "So what class are you Sakura?"

"I'm B-ranked," Sakura replied. "How about you guys?"

Kiba smiled dreamily at her, totally infatuated. "We are too! That's pretty awesome! Do you know which class you're on the way to right now?"

Sakura nodded. "Homeroom with Iruka."

Kiba's grin widened. "As are we! We'll walk you!"

As the trio trooped off with Akamaru running ahead, Sakura couldn't help but think that being in the B-ranked class wasn't going to be too bad.

---

"Hello Sakura, my name is Iruka!" said the brown-haired, scarred man standing before her. "I'll be your homeroom teacher for the next few years." He looked down at his clipboard. "I believe that I have you for…two classes! Here's your class schedule, you can look over it later!" Iruka handed her a sheet of paper and grinned down at her, trying to put her at ease. "How about you introduce yourself to the class?"

"What do you want me to tell them?" she asked nervously.

"Hm. Likes, dislikes, Gifts and hobbies I suppose. They'll get to know more about you as time goes on."

Sakura turned to look at her new classmates. Kiba and Shino had already seated themselves with a boy that she had yet to meet. Kiba gave her a toothy grin, Shino nodded his head in encouragement and Akamaru yipped his support from his perch on Kiba's head. Blushing, Sakura looked at her other twenty or so classmates and began, "Well, I'm Sakura Haruno. I like to read medical textbooks and figure out puzzles. Oh, and I really like my friends! I dislike bullies and cursing. My Gifts are Power and Healing. Um, I enjoy reading and training, I suppose."

Sakura looked at her teacher for confirmation that she had done as he'd asked. He nodded slightly. Relieved, Sakura deflated a bit. "Now Sakura," Iruka said, scanning his classroom. "Why don't you go sit with Shikamaru and Choji? There's an opening beside the two of them."

Sakura nodded hesitantly and went to her seat in the very back of the room timidly. She had no idea of what to expect from her new seatmates. Sakura only hoped that they were nice. Sakura plopped down into her seat and turned to look at both of her classmates. The plumper one, Iruka had called him Choji, had thick auburn hair and strange red swirls on his cheeks. The other, Shikamaru, wore his dark hair in a tight ponytail on top of his head. "Hello," Sakura greeted.

Choji smiled gently at her. He knew what it was like to be the odd one out. When he had first arrived at the Academy, many of his classmates had bullied him because of his larger figure, not realizing that it was part of the traditional Akimichi Gift. Once he'd proven himself in the Stadium though, people had learned to be wary of the mild manner boy. "Hello Sakura. I'm Choji Akimichi." He glanced at his unresponsive best friend. "This lazy guy is Shikamaru Nara. We are pleased to have you in our class!"

Sakura returned his grin. "So what are we supposed to do now? I've never been to Homeroom before!"

Choji and Shikamaru traded quick glances of astonishment before Choji shrugged. "It's kind of a free period. Sometimes Iruka likes to have us spar but since today is your first day it's rather doubtful. Usually, we use the period to socialize with whoever is at our table, we aren't allowed to go over to other tables." Sakura's face fell as she realized she couldn't go over to talk to Kiba and Shino. "What would you like to do Sakura?"

As if to answer his question, Sakura's stomach growled ravenously. She flushed, realizing that her spar with Kakashi had taken more out of her than she'd expected. It didn't help that she'd forgotten breakfast that morning too. She giggled in embarrassment, reaching for her bag. "I'll just get a small snack."

Choji perked up in interest as Shikamaru drifted off to sleep. It was a well-known fact that the Akimichi boy was considered the connoisseur of all food items. He peered over Sakura's shoulder as she fussed with her bag. After a minute's struggle, she withdrew the epitome of tasty food: barbeque chips. "Where did you get those?" he asked in wonder.

"My parents sent them in a care package. They're my absolute favorite flavor!" Sakura declared. She took in the look of undivided interest on his face. "Would you like to share?"

Choji colored at being caught so easily. He couldn't help it though! His parents generally sent him a care package filled to the brim with different snack items, mostly barbeque-flavored potato chips, every other week. This time, however, they had fallen behind as all of the clans were meeting over some sort of important matter. "Yes please," he replied, pulling a few chips out of the bag. "What's your favorite food?"

Sakura studied him thoughtfully. "Hm, I've always had a bit of a sweet tooth but I love salty things! I don't know honestly. Truthfully, I find that most foods appeal to my tastes. I enjoy all five of the taste senses: sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami. My mom is a baker and we used to play a game where I had to guess which of my taste buds I was using when I ate something she baked." Sakura blushed. "Is that weird? Oh well. I absolutely love hot, steamed dumplings but I could always kick back with a bag of potato chips. How about you?"

Choji didn't bother to try to hide the smile that threatened to overtake his face. Here was someone who could debate the finer points of food without scoffing at the conversation topic, as Shikamaru was wont to do. "Barbeque is by far my absolute favorite food. Nothing else compares."

Sakura nodded and the pair sat in companionable silence punctuated only by Shikamaru's soft snores. Finally Choji turned to Sakura apprehensively. "Sakura," he began.

"Yes?" replied the girl, turning in his direction.

"W-would you like to be f-friends?" stumbled Choji, praying that she wouldn't scream and take off running. Even though the bullying had stopped, his self-esteem was still in tatters. His only true friend in the B-ranked class was Shikamaru who he had known since before he could walk or speak.

Sakura beamed radiantly at the nervous boy. "Yes I would! That'd be awesome Choji!"

He exhaled softly in relief before returning her smile. He was glad to have another friend in this class. Not to mention the fact that a pretty girl like Sakura actually understood the intricacies of food! Shikamaru was always complaining about how he had to listen to Choji's so-called "food rants" and now there was another to join in the debate. Speaking of Shikamaru…

Choji elbowed the sleeping boy sharply in the ribs; satisfied with the annoyed grumble he received in return. Shikamaru sat up with a groan, stretching his limbs out above his head. "What Choji?" he mumbled.

"It's almost time for the 'intelligence exercise' of the day. I just thought you might like to give a go at explaining it to Sakura," Choji told the Nara boy.

"Hm, troublesome," he muttered in reply. "Switch seats with me?"

And with that, Shikamaru and Choji traded off. Sakura stared at Shikamaru in confusion. "What's the 'intelligence exercise?'"

Shikamaru snorted. "The Council seems to believe that spending our time beating on each other to strengthen our Gifts will just atrophy our minds. They decided to implement 'intelligence exercises' to keep our mental skills sharp. Get it?"

Sakura nodded. "So what do these 'intelligence exercises' entail exactly?"

"Well, you can do just about anything. Let's see: Sudoku, read any of the books from the shelf over there," he pointed at the far wall, "memorization, chess, crossword puzz-"

"Wait, chess?" Sakura interrupted, looking very interested suddenly.

"Yeah, not too many students like to play but sometimes Iruka and I pull out the board for a match." Shikamaru's eyes sharpened as he watched her in a calculating manner. "Why? Interested?"

"Definitely," Sakura retorted, eying the boy beside her intently. "You game?"

With a smirk, he nodded his acquiesce. "It's a bit troublesome, but I guess so. I'll need to talk to Iruka about it first."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Alright then."

Truthfully, Shikamaru didn't find it troublesome at all. It had been quite some time since someone had challenged the genius to a game of chess. Nowadays he tended to play with Iruka who wasn't much of a challenge either. Sometimes he could convince Neji and Sasuke to play but unfortunately they were in the A-ranked class and neither of the boys were the most engaging of people. Maybe this girl would provide a bit of a challenge. If not, at least he had a way to pass the time.

Shikamaru stood up and made his way over to a rather harried Iruka who was trying to handle Kiba's flamboyant antics. "Put down your class-! Oh Shikamaru!" Iruka blinked in surprise, turning his back on the chaos Kiba was busy creating. It was rare for the Nara boy to actually seek someone out other than Choji. Sometimes Iruka worried about the apathy of this young, brilliant genius. "What can I do for you?"

"Can I pull out the chessboard? Sakura and I want to play," Shikamaru replied nonchalantly.

Iruka beamed at the apathetic boy. Maybe he was finally expanding his circle of friends beyond just Choji! He'd always worried about Shikamaru's lack of social interaction. It was wonderful to watch his students learn and mature. "Of course! I'll go grab it! You can go sit down and wait with Sakura." And with that, Iruka bustled away, humming happily.

Shikamaru cast his teacher a wary glance before shrugging and returning to his seat. Sakura, who had been immersed in a conversation with Choji about condiments, looked up upon his arrival. "What'd he say?"

Shikamaru smirked. "You've got yourself a game. I hope you know what you're getting into here."

She flashed him a confident smile. "Bring it!"

Choji, who was regretting moving back to the middle seat, watched the two genii cautiously, unsure of how to react to the situation. Obviously, both Shikamaru and Sakura were competitive, at least when it came to their intelligence. He quickly and quietly dragged his chair to the other side of the table to watch the game.

Shikamaru, grateful for Choji's insight, moved his seat directly across from Sakura, prepared for anything. "Black or white?" he asked graciously.

Sakura smirked, knowing already that Shikamaru didn't take her seriously. "Black."

Shikamaru gave her an assessing glance. He himself enjoyed playing the black pieces as it allowed him to read his opponent's moves before making his own. Maybe he had underestimated her…nah.

Sakura deftly set up her pieces, raising her eyebrow at Shikamaru's stillness. "Well?"

He glared for a moment before he set about arranging his own pieces. And thus, it began.

After a few minutes of intense gaming, Sakura furrowed her brows at Shikamaru. They were pretty evenly matched as far as skill went. Though Sakura could read moves up to ten turns ahead, but Shikamaru could too. She'd taken his bishop and he'd snatched her knight.

Shikamaru glanced up at the infuriatingly intelligent girl. He honestly couldn't believe it! They were actually evenly matched! He would never admit it, but this slip of a girl had actually managed to rouse and snag his attention without even trying! He hadn't played anyone as challenging as Sakura since his days of learning to play from his father and Asuma. Speaking of which… "Where'd you learn to play Sakura?"

"Hm?" Sakura replied absentmindedly, looking up and losing the look of concentration on her face. "Oh yeah, my grandparents taught me when I was four. My granddad and I used to play every Sunday afternoon." Her face fell, remembering that she wouldn't be able to play with them anymore. No more looking into her granddad's wise and wizen face or listening to her grandma's lilting and musical voice.

Before Shikamaru or Choji could question Sakura's crestfallen expression, a loud, enthusiastic voice boomed, "Well done Shikamaru and Sakura! Everyone come over to their table!" The trio looked up into the ecstatic, looming face of Iruka. "I'm so proud! You guys certainly know the meaning of 'intelligence exercises!'"

The rest of the class shrugged and followed their teacher's instructions, crowding the small table. Sakura glanced over to Shino and Kiba, receiving a brief nod and a grin respectively. Sakura flushed and flashed them a quick smile before refocusing herself on her competition with Shikamaru. It was admittedly a hard task with all the inquisitive stares bearing down on her.

Sakura took a deep, calming breath and cast a look at Shikamaru. Ugh, cool as a cucumber, as usual. Shaking herself slightly, she concentrated on the game. To her ultimate surprise, she saw an actual opening! Quickly schooling her features, Sakura set up a red herring to keep Shikamaru's attention away from her true plan. She gracefully manipulated her queen into the perfect position, poised to destroy his king. "Checkmate," she breathed.

Shikamaru desperately scanned the board for a moment, trying to find a solution. Finding none, he sighed and pushed his king over with a finger. The whole room fell into a stunned silence, not even Iruka knew what to say. Who could have expected this? The newcomer had beaten one of the Academy's brightest students. Sure, it had been a game but who knew just how intelligent this girl truly was?

Thankfully, the bell rang shrilly, announcing to everyone that it was time to leave. Sakura, unhappy with all of the attention she was getting, sighed in relief and quickly bustled out the door, her bag swinging wildly over her shoulder. Slowly, all the other students and Iruka made their own way away from the classroom. Everyone but Choji and Shikamaru.

Choji stared at him in awe. Nobody beat Shikamaru anymore, not even his own father. "Did that just-?"

Shikamaru stunned and amazed though he was, smiled lightly and began to walk out of the classroom. "Troublesome."

---

Sakura ran through the halls happily, pleasantly surprised by the challenge that Shikamaru presented. She had learned to play chess from her grandparents and as fun as it was to play it with her family members, Shikamaru had been by far her hardest opponent. Practically glowing, Sakura paused when she saw a graceful figure heading in her direction.

"Excuse me sir," Sakura said politely, nodding as they passed each other. The boy was about a year or so older than her with long, luxurious dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. Though the boy was rather effeminate, Sakura could tell his gender by the set of his shoulders and strong looking legs. She had, after all, been studying medical textbooks practically religiously for the past three or more years.

"What did you say?" the boy exclaimed, running back to her.

"Excuse me sir?" Sakura replied bewilderedly. Why was the boy so surprised? Did she somehow offend him? After all, Sakura knew next to nothing about the Gifted culture, growing up as she had with unGifted parents. From the startling intensity in the boy's eyes, Sakura knew she had done something wrong. Feeling a bit frantic over being rude to a stranger she started, "I apologize, sir! I didn't realize I said something offensive! I'm really sorry! If you can tell me what I did I'll stop doing it! I'm kind of new here so I don't know much about Gifted cul-"

Sakura was cut off when the boy began to laugh. "No, no! I should be the one to apologize, miss," the boy stated between laughs. "I'm Haku Yuki. I'm sorry that I startled you but I'm not used to anyone being able to tell that I'm a boy right off." He gave her an embarrassed look, pink dusting his cheeks. "I was just very surprised. How could you tell, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh," Sakura smiled bashfully. "I'm really interested in medicine and the human body. I kinda just picked up on certain traits that you possess, I guess. I really can't see how people can't tell you're a boy. It's pretty obvious."

Haku felt heat rise to his face. He supposed that this was the infamous new Gifted female student. Naruto and a few others had been praising her virtues for days on end. Now, he could understand why. He honestly couldn't believe that this pretty little girl knew his gender straight off. Very, very few people had been able to tell at first glance. Actually, aside from Headmistress Tsunade and Zabuza, no one had been able to do it. This girl was special; he could feel it. Just wait until he told Zabuza!

"What's your name, miss?"

It was Sakura's turn to blush. She needed to stop being so rude to people! Honestly! "I'm Sakura Haruno." She stuck her hand out to Haku. "It's a pleasure to make you acquaintance Haku!"

Haku frowned lightly. "Ah, Sakura, I was rather hoping that you would consider me a friend."

"Oh!" Sakura's face lit up. "Of course! Let's be friends Haku!"

Smiling, the boy linked hands with the young girl. "Always." And with that, Haku realized the time. "Oh! Sakura, I need to go to gym now! I'm about to be late!"

Sakura went from content to alarmed in two seconds flat. "I'm going to gym right now too! Let's go!"

The two new friends ran quickly through the halls, hand in hand. They arrived panting outside the doors to the gym after five grueling minutes of sprinting. Taking a few moments to catch their breaths, Haku turned to Sakura. "Are you ready?"

She nodded and the two pushed the doors open. The room Sakura entered was a blur of activity. Students were bustling around, chased by a tall, muscular man wearing a green jumpsuit. Most of the students seemed to be trying to avoid the man's notice except for one dressed in an eerily similar outfit as the man. She decided not to ask.

"Hey Haku?" Sakura implored, tugging on one of his sleeves lightly.

"Yes Sakura?" answered Haku, giving the girl his full attention.

"Where's the girl's locker room?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed with a blush. "It's across the room." Catching Sakura's shy look he continued, "I'll walk you." He held out his arm to her. "Let's go!"

Sakura hesitated for half a second before linking arms with him. The two made it across the chaos filled gym floor relatively unscathed. Sakura, however, would never forget the scene acted out by the gym teacher and the student dressed in a similar manner. She shivered. That was scary.

Sakura smiled at Haku before inclining her head slightly in gratitude. "Thanks for the help Haku!"

Haku quickly replied, "It was absolutely no problem! Come to me for help at any time! I'll wait for you to get changed." Sakura nodded, hesitating for a moment. "Well go on then!"

Sakura flashed Haku a dazzling grin before flouncing into the girl's locker room. She glanced around the grey walled room, lined with dozens of lockers. On the bench in the middle of the room sat what she guessed was her gym clothing. Shrugging to herself, Sakura chose Locker 513 to store her school uniform, stripping as she made her way to the bench. She picked up and quickly threw on the pale green shirt and dark forest green shorts before pulling her rather short hair into a ponytail.

Smiling and humming to herself, Sakura checked out her new ensemble in the mirror. She flashed herself a grin. Green was definitely one of her colors. Giving her ponytail a tug for good luck, Sakura made her way out of the locker room. She walked over to Haku who was conversing with a taller, rather intimidating looking boy.

"Hey Haku!" she greeted.

"Oh, Sakura!" he exclaimed, appearing startled. "This is Zabuza Momochi." He gestured to the stranger. "Zabuza this is Sakura Haruno."

Sakura looked up at the boy. He had dark, spiky hair that fell into his dark, mysterious eyes. Much like Kakashi, Zabuza wore a mask covering the lower half of his face. Sakura shrugged to herself, everyone here seemed to enjoy their privacy immensely. All in all, the boy cut an impressive, frightening figure. Unfortunately for him, Sakura wasn't impressed.

"Nice to meet you Zabuza," she greeted, offering him her hand.

"Ditto," he grunted, staring at her hand with unveiled interest. "Why are you doing that?"

"Oh." Sakura colored, remembering handshaking wasn't exactly a staple of Gifted culture. "It's how people greet each other. You shake hands."

Zabuza eyed her warily for a moment before shrugging, taking her hand in his much larger one. He jiggled it enthusiastically from side to side before quickly releasing it. "Was that correct?"

Sakura grinned, trying to stifle her laughter. "Yep!"

"Can I try?" Haku asked softly, a bit jealous that Zabuza was receiving all of Sakura's attention.

"Sure," Sakura replied, offering her hand. They quickly repeated the process and Sakura got the peculiar feeling that she had just started a new trend in the Academy. Oh well. Shaking off the odd feeling, she began, "So-"

Before she could continue, they were interrupted by a passionate yell, "Oh Lee! Your youthfulness is so inspiring! Everyone take note of Lee's remarkable youthfulness!"

The trio turned and Sakura watched in awe and slight fear as their teacher and one of the students, Lee she guessed, enacted a spirited and energetic display of perfectly choreographed scene displaying their respect and camaraderie.

"Umm," Sakura bit her lip, not wanting to be rude.

Zabuza, reading her hesitant look, chuckled. "Don't worry Sakura. They do it quite often." He shivered. "It scares all of us."

Haku shuddered. "Gai, he's the gym teacher," he supplied at Sakura's confused look, "adopted Lee when it was found out that he was an orphaned Gifted boy. Lee has been displaying his…appreciation for Gai's guardianship ever since."

Sakura smiled. "I think that's sweet of him!" She bit her lip again when both boys gave her incredulous looks. "Well, it's a bit…weird sure, but it's nice to be willing to show appreciation so flamboyantly."

The two boys exchanged glances, wondering at the wistful tone in Sakura's voice. They did understand, however, the want, no, need to show their gratitude whether it be towards each other or to certain members of the faculty who had taken them in their pseudo-family. Many students at the Academy, including Haku and Zabuza, were orphans whose parents had suffered at the hands of unGifted and Gifted alike.

However, before either could speak up, Gai blew his whistle and shouted, "Youthful students, it is time to play the wondrous and youthful game of dodgeball! All A-ranked students assemble on the left side of the court and all B-ranked students assemble on the right!"

Sakura, with Haku and Zabuza in tow, ambled over to the B-ranked side of the gym, ignoring the incredulous whispers around her. Honestly, it was as if they'd never seen a girl before! The muttering got to be too much for her and she whirled on her fellow classmates, none of which she recognized by face or name. "Alright," she proclaimed, looking confident as she placed her hands on her hips. "I'm Sakura Haruno, your new classmate. I like reading medical textbooks and playing dodgeball. I dislike people talking behind my back." At her pointed glare, many of the boys started blushing. "I aim to become a doctor. Any questions?" Her question was met with a stunned silence. "Good." Sakura turned back to a flabbergasted Haku and an amused and impressed Zabuza. "So, dodgeball?"

"Yes," Haku was quick to say. "You know how to play dodgeball right?" At Sakura's nod, he continued, "This is a bit different. Same rules and everything but students can use their Gifts to power or deflect the balls." He handed Sakura a ball as an example. It was a normal, red bouncy ball, except for the fact that it had some sort of seal on it. Haku noticed her confused stare. "The seal keeps us from using lethal or overpowering attacks. No personal attacks though, using just the Gift."

Sakura grinned. "This'll be fun."

Zabuza watched on in silence as Haku and Sakura traded battle strategies. Damn it all, Haku had been right! This girl was special, and not only for being able to tell that Haku was a boy right off. He hadn't intimidated her at all, instead she just treating him like he was anyone else. Instead of ridiculing Lee as so many others did, Sakura had related to him. Instead of taking the comments being made about her docilely, she had intimidated all of her new classmates into silence. A grin lit up Zabuza's face, though no one could see it. This year was going to be fun.

Haku took the ball from Sakura, raced over to the dividing line of the gym and deposited the ball there along with all the others like it. Haku returned to Sakura and Zabuza, preparing himself for what promised to be a brutal game. Physical education tended to get a bit heavy at the Academy.

Gai spoke for a few minutes, explaining the rules and the parameters before backing away. Finally, with the parting words of: "Make this a youthful game my students!" Gai blew the whistle.

Sakura tensed as everyone raced towards the middle of the court. Sakura, knowing her Gift of Power would allow her to catch any ball thrown at her with ease, hung back, watching every single one of her opponents suspiciously. She caught sight of Zabuza who was using his rather frightening strength to take down A-ranked students with precision. Now where was Haku…?

Sakura stiffened in surprise when she felt the boy in question brush up against her. Ignoring it for the moment, Sakura caught a dodgeball gracefully, hurling it back at her attacker with startling accuracy. He went down with a groan, giving Sakura a sense of vindictive pride.

Haku glanced at her out of the corner of his eye with appreciation. "Well done Sakura," he murmured, erecting an ice barrier in front of the duo as the fallen boy's comrades began aiming at him.

"That's a useful Gift," Sakura praised, grinning as she took out another opponent.

He smiled lightly in response. Between the effective uses of their respective Gifts the two mowed down A-ranked student after A-ranked student. Zabuza was darting all over the court, ducking and catching many stray balls, and taking down many of their mutual adversaries. Sakura felt that they were doing well, all things considered. Their teacher seemed to think so by the way he was yelling about their youth and vitality, among other things.

Her lapse in concentration almost cost her as Haku threw an ice shield up around her, leaving himself vulnerable to any attacks. Before she could even try to help, Haku was nailed in the chest with a dodgeball, sending him toppling over. Zabuza and Sakura shared a look and nodded, deciding to work together with their respective Gifts, angry at the loss of their comrade.

They stood together, looking mismatched with Zabuza's powerful frame towering over Sakura's petite figure. Still, the opponents watching them felt dread settle into the pits of their stomachs at the vengeful expressions on both their faces. They were the only two still left on the B-ranked side. Suddenly, the pair kicked into a whirlwind of motion, sending balls flying at impossible speeds toward their unfortunate enemies. Soon, there was only one person left.

Panting, Sakura glanced up at Zabuza. "Would you like to?"

"No," he replied breathlessly. "You do it."

Smiling, she powered up her Gift, sending it into the small, red ball she held in her hands. She grinned viciously at her opponent, caught up in a competitive adrenaline rush. She threw the ball with all her might, watching as it crashed into the side of the boy's right arm. Sakura turned back to her classmates where they sat on the sidelines and threw a cheer into the air.

The boys, stunned though they were at the idea of beating a higher ranking class, quickly joined her. Gai, moved by the youthful racket his young students were making, was quick to congratulate the winners and made the losers run twenty laps in punishment. Though Zabuza had explained that this was a pretty normal thing, Sakura felt pity for them, knowing that she would be too exhausted to even think of walking laps, let alone running them.

She and Zabuza made their way over to Haku, taking the praise from their fellow classmates rather graciously. Haku sat, holding his stomach and trying not to wince at the sharp, throbbing pain that radiated from his abdomen. Sakura's eyes immediately darkened with worry, quickly moving his hands away from the injured area. Before a startled Haku could question her motives, her hands lit with a green glow as she gently began to repair the bruised skin. Haku couldn't help but relax and let out a sigh of contentment as her warm, soothing Gift filled him. After a few minutes, she pulled away, feeling slightly lightheaded.

"Thank you Sakura," Haku said, giving the girl his most winsome smile.

"Always happy to be of assistance," she replied, smiling back at him. Zabuza gave her a nod of acknowledgement and gratitude. Gai suddenly blew his whistle and announced it was time for youthful showers. Grinning, Sakura told her new friends as she walked away: "I'll catch you guys later!"

---

Sakura exited the gym feeling clean and refreshed in her slightly overlarge uniform. She smiled wistfully, playing with her necklace. She couldn't wait to get a visit from her parents! There was so much to tell them! She'd made quite a few friends, strenuously exercised her mental abilities and helped two new friends win a dodgeball game! It was going to be a great week Sakura just knew it!

"Sakura! Sakura!" a voice called out.

Sakura skidded to a stop and looked around bewilderedly. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Sakura yelped and whirled around to come face to face with a boy dressed in bizarrely similar attire to her new gym teacher. The boy wore his hair in a black bowl cut and his bug eyes stared at her in awe. Sakura struggled momentarily to remember his name…Lee.

Feeling wary, Sakura began, "May I help you…sir?"

To her surprise, the boy flushed a brilliant shade of red. "Ah, Sakura my name is Rock Lee and I come before you now to humbly praise your youthfully vivacious dodgeball skills! Truly it was a great pleasure to watch you gracefully spin and whirl away from every dodgeball that moved your way! And your Gift of Power is astonishingly breathtaking!"

"Thank you?" Sakura said, unsure of his intent.

"Oh." Lee's blush darkened. "I've gotten a bit ahead of myself it seems. I'm in the A-ranked class and just played against you in that dodgeball game. Your skills are remarkable and I merely wanted to commend your sportsmanship and youthful vitality!"

"Oh yeah!" Sakura exclaimed rather abruptly. "I remember now! Zabuza hit you pretty hard with the dodgeball!" She glanced down at the arm that had been hit. "May I heal it?" she asked reaching out for the arm.

Lee nodded, stunned by the physical contact with this stunning Gifted female. When he'd first seen her on the court he'd thought her devastatingly attractive. Her displays of intelligence, cool-headedness, ingenuity and kindness on the court had caused the boy to fall irrevocably in love with the oblivious girl. He didn't feel any need to court or date her though, not yet anyway. No, he only desired to protect her and be around her whenever he could. It was a pure, selfless love that Lee held for Sakura.

Sakura, meanwhile, merely concentrated on healing the bruised skin of the boy's right arm. Zabuza had a vicious throw that was for sure. She needed to ask him about that. Sakura shook herself from her odd trance and looked up into Lee's wide eyes. He smiled at her.

"So Sakura," he said. "I was wondering, would you like to be friends? I mean, is that okay with you?"

Sakura smiled at the boy, releasing his arm as she finished his healing. "Certainly!"

Lee flushed again, entranced by Sakura's smile. "You are very strong and youthful Sakura! It is very inspiring to watch!"

It was Sakura's turn to blush. "Well, thank you." Her smile suddenly fell. "Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the chance to actually train with anyone. There's been a few spars here and there, but it's been pretty touch and go."

Lee's eyes sparkled. "I know how to solve your dilemma! Let's train together Sakura." He suddenly hesitated and began backtracking, "I-I mean if that's okay with you. If it isn't, I under-"

Lee was abruptly cut off as Sakura grabbed him up in a bone-crushing hug. "That'd be great Lee!" she exclaimed, flashing him a brilliant grin and releasing him from her grasp.

Lee was beyond dazzled. "Well if it's alright wit-"

He was interrupted once again by another voice that he knew all too well. Neji. "Sakura, I've been meaning to talk to you."

The two new friends turned simultaneously to the intruder. The boy walking toward them had long dark hair that was bundled into a very low tie. His pale, pupil-less eyes glared at Lee before the boy turned his attention to Sakura as he came to a stop in front of her.

"I am Neji Hyuga and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sakura," so saying, the boy grasped Sakura's hand and kissed the back of it, sweeping into a flourishing bow.

Sakura, unused to such gentlemanly attention, flushed. She was quite unsure of how to proceed. "The pleasure is all mine?"

Neji smiled up at her, releasing her hand and standing back up. His uncle, as the Hyuga clan leader, had ordered him to become familiar with the only Gifted female to be born in decades. He'd been hesitant at first, wary of all those of the female persuasion, but after her stunning performance in the dodgeball game he realized that he needn't have worried at all.

Lee, much to Neji's irritation, rejoined the conversation, "What brings you over here, Neji?"

Neji glanced briefly at his roommate before refocusing his attentions on the girl. "I merely wanted to congratulate our new classmate on her marvelous display during the dodgeball game today." Sakura blushed. "It was wonderful."

"Thanks," Sakura replied a bit bashfully. Then, remembering some of her Gifted culture training, she said, "You possess the…Byakugan, correct?"

Neji smiled slightly. "Yes, it's the specialized Hyuga Gift. I saw you display your Healing Gift, but what was the other one you used during dodgeball?"

"Power," she said, turning to Lee. "What is your Gift Lee?"

"Oh," he flushed under her scrutiny. "I possess the Gift of Speed."

Sakura nodded, remembering the way he had lithely ducked dodgeballs at the last possible second. Maybe it had been a good thing to have Zabuza take him out…

Shaking herself from her musings, Sakura asked, "Would you like to join our spar plans, Neji? It'd always be nice to have another person's ideas and input when training." She glanced at a crestfallen Lee. "That is, if you don't mind Lee."

"No, of course not!" he proclaimed, secretly wishing for one-on-one training with the girl.

Neji watched Lee for a few moments before smiling at Sakura. "I would be honored to join you."

Sakura smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but the shrill ring of the bell cut her off. Throwing her a few apologies, the boys raced away to their next A-ranked class, leaving Sakura to roam the halls on her own. She grinned as a plan began to unfold in her mind.

---

Sakura knew she didn't have much time before her next class, only twenty or so odd minutes, but she was determined to make the best of it. Exhausted as she was from the intense dodgeball game that was sure to go down in Academy history, Sakura mustered the energy to skip her way to the gardens, intent on getting a short, reenergizing nap.

Sakura plopped down on the bench set directly in front of the fountain statues of the Headmasters of the Academy. Sakura couldn't help but wonder how strong they were, considering the fact that they had had to run a school full of rambunctious, powerful children and teenagers. As Sakura contemplated the mysteries of elusive authority figures, she began to slowly nod off. Mind moving sluggishly, Sakura placed her head on the bench and fell into a dreamless slumber.

Sakura woke with the odd, tingling feeling that someone was watching her. In the weeks since her Gift had manifested, Sakura had experienced heightened and impossibly sensitive senses, something that she supposed came in handy in moments like these. Tensing, Sakura opened her eyes to stare up at the interloper upon her sanctuary.

The teenager standing over her was…odd looking. Though, Sakura mused, her own pink hair wasn't that common either. He had dual-toned skin, black and white, that split symmetrically down his middle. His slightly curious amber eyes stared at her with polite interest and possible hunger?

Sakura bolted upright, hopping off the bench and falling into a defensible position outside of his immediate reach. Without waiting for an explanation, she struck out at him, adrenaline fueling her flaring Gift. To her immense surprise, her fist did not connect with the man instead it hit empty air. Sakura looked down and screeched in astonishment. The odd man had melted into the ground.

"What do you want?" she asked in what she hoped was a calm manner.

He stared up at her for a few moments before grinning. Sakura steeled herself against a shudder when she saw exactly how sharp his teeth were. She quickly reproached herself for thinking that way. Kisame had the same sort of teeth but she hadn't thought less of him for it. Then again, Kisame hadn't given her a hungry look either. "I didn't mean to frighten you miss," he said softly, before his entire demeanor and even his voice changed, "This is my spot dumbass brat."

Sakura gave him a wary look before deciding that he probably had a similar condition that Tobi/Madara had. She relaxed slightly and admonished him, "I wasn't frightened, but thank you for the concern. Also, I'm not a so-called 'dumbass brat,' I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Name's Zetsu, kid. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Sakura. I've heard a bit about you from Ma-Tobi," he corrected himself, casting the child in front of him a suspicious glance.

"Ah, you mean Madara? He's so cool! He let me wear his mask!" Sakura gushed. Then, remembering herself, she blushed. "I am sorry for attacking you without warrant like that. You just startled me."

Zetsu nodded, cautiously removing himself from the earth he had implanted himself in. He was rather surprised by her lack of reaction to his dual personalities, though he supposed that knowing about the Tobi/Madara situation would keep her from freaking out too much. He perused the small girl before him. She was so tiny and insignificant looking for someone who was already infamous in the Gifted world for just existing. Zetsu shook himself wryly, remembering the way she'd punched at him. It was obvious that she'd already had practice.

"Um, Zetsu?" Sakura questioned shyly.

"Yes," he replied immediately, snapping out of his musings.

"Why is this your spot?"

Zetsu threw her an amused look. She certainly was a blunt little creature. No wonder Madara liked her so much. "I am something of a gardener." Sakura perked up in interest. "I enjoy sitting in the tranquility that the inner gardens provide. I feel at home among the flowers." Embarrassed for letting that particular piece of information slip, he lashed out, "Got a problem with that kid?"

"Not at all," Sakura replied. Her parents had given her a small area of the yard to grow any and all plants she desired. Unfortunately, Sakura didn't have much of a green thumb. In fact, all of her plants, flowers, vegetables and fruits alike, had withered and died. "I like flowers too. Are you good at growing plants?"

Zetsu puffed up proudly, inwardly bewildered that the young girl was actually interested. No one else at the Academy cared about plants, focusing instead on furthering their strength and intelligence. Of course, none of them realized the medicinal properties that plants contained or even the dangerous and sometimes fatal side-affects some plants held within their innocuous leaves. Oh well, their loss. "Indeed. I actually take care of the garden here." Sakura's eyes brightened. "We also have a small botanical garden in the greenhouse that houses some of the more…practical plants. What's it to you Pinky?"

Sakura smiled, ignoring Black Zetsu's question, realizing that Black Zetsu tended to lash out when afraid of being ridiculed. "You mean like medicinal herbs and plants?"

Zetsu tossed her a surprised glance before shrugging. "Yes. Once again, what's it to you Pinky?"

"Oh, well I'm interested in medicine and I know that plants are very helpful and also very dangerous to the human physiology."

Zetsu gave her an assessing look, trying to determine if she was serious. He wouldn't admit it, but the little bit had surprised him with her enthusiastic interest in both normal, beautiful plants and medicinal ones. Deciding that she was in fact worthy of his attention and friendship he said a bit hesitantly, "Well Sakura I suppose I could show you the greenhouse if you're interested at a later date."

Recognizing the remark for what it was, an offering of friendship, Sakura grinned beatifically at the bi-colored man. "That'd be great Zetsu! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

"I suppose it is, Pinky," Zetsu remarked quietly.

Sakura heard the distant sound of a bell ringing. She paled and took off at a sprint. "Thanks for the offer Zetsu!" she shouted as she swerved around the hedged corner, making her way out of the garden maze.

Zetsu smiled. "No problem, little bit."

---

Sakura entered the classroom, breathless but on time. She surveyed the classroom, which was set up like a lecture hall. A silver haired man hurried over to her. Sakura examined him. He was tall and lithe, with his hair pulled into a low ponytail, bangs framing his black-rimmed glasses.

"Miss Haruno!" he exclaimed in an almost nervous tone. "Nice to meet you I'm sure. I am Kabuto Yakushi, the current Human Anatomy teacher." Catching her questioning look, he continued, "I'm afraid Orochimaru is…indisposed at the moment. I'll be your teacher indefinitely. Now, would you introduce yourself to the class?"

Feeling confident, as she'd done this so many times already, Sakura said, "I'm Sakura Haruno. My Gifts are Power and Healing. I like my friends and reading. I dislike curse words and bullies. My dream is to become a great doctor!"

Clapping lightly, Kabuto nodded at the girl. "Very good. I see a seat near the back between Kimimaro and Sai." Sakura brightened at the latter's name. "If you would?"

Sakura grinned, practically tripping over herself to get to her seat. "Hey Sai!" she whispered to the boy.

He smiled slightly in return and Sakura was pleased to note that it wasn't blank this time. No matter how small it might be, it was definitely a start! "Hello Best Friend," he replied, content to merely be near the vibrant girl.

Sakura glanced up at their rather oblivious teacher before turning to her other companion. He had almost sickly pale skin with pretty white hair and bright, vivid green eyes. Two red dots rode high above his eyebrows, giving him a rather regal look. Sakura smiled at the boy, oblivious to the way his eyes widened. "Hello there, I'm Sakura. You're Kimimaro right?"

"Yes," he replied, dipping his head in greeting. "Kimimaro Kaguya at your service Miss Haruno."

She giggled. "Just call me Sakura, silly!" Mutely, the boy nodded. Glancing at Sai from the corner of her eye, she addressed the both of them. "So where's our actual teacher Orochimaru? I was pretty sure that teachers lived on campus."

Sai nodded blandly. "We haven't seen him for three or so weeks now. Everyone thinks he's gone missing or left voluntarily."

Sakura looked alarmed. "Missing?"

Kimimaro nodded in reluctant agreement. "Orochimaru wouldn't leave willingly that's for sure. I know him." Sakura gave him an assessing look. "He's a good man, he wouldn't abandon m-us."

Sakura didn't miss the slip-up. She guessed that Kimimaro and Orochimaru shared a close relationship if the young boy's attitude was any sort of indication. Deciding to be merciful and press Sai for the details later, Sakura changed the subject. "So you know what my Gift is Kimimaro. What's yours?" Kimimaro's face fell. Sakura realized that she'd obvious hit a sore spot. "Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to!"

Kimimaro watched the small girl cautiously. From their conversation thus far, he intuited that Sakura was a very nice girl who took other's feelings into account. A lot of people found his Gift strange and terrifying. As a young child, even he had hated it though his father forced him to use it constantly. He'd been both respected and feared by his clan, locked into a cage when they had no use for him. Thus far, only Orochimaru had seen his Gift in a positive light and had yet to treat Kimimaro as a monster or a tool. "I," he faltered. "I have the Gift of Manipulation."

"Huh," Sakura said, remembering that Sasori had the same sort of Gift. "What kind of Manipulation?"

He hesitated for a brief moment before replying, "Bone Manipulation."

Sakura perked up in interest. "Really?" He nodded shyly, unused to such positive attention. "That's so cool! Wait, does it hurt?"

Kimimaro blinked in surprise. Nobody, not even Orochimaru, had ever asked him about his well-being. "No, it's the Kaguya Gift."

Sakura was dazzled by the very idea of Bone Manipulation. It was so awesome! In all her medical textbook perusals, Sakura had never come across anything like this. This had to be a once in a lifetime experience! Gathering her courage, she fired another question, "Could-could you show me?"

Kimimaro looked into Sakura's sparkling eyes and found that he didn't have the ability to reject her. "Sure."

He lifted his hand, concentrating on shifting the bones out of his skin. To Sakura's astonishment, a bone appeared out of the middle of his hand. Hesitantly, Sakura gently grabbed the boy's hand, oblivious to his blush, and brushed her finger against it. When Kimimaro didn't flinch, Sakura prodded it with a bit more force, surprised by the bone's strength.

"It's so-"

Sakura was interrupted as Kabuto marched up the aisle and rapped a ruler against their desk. Sakura and Kimimaro jumped though Sai merely gave their teacher a blank look of defiance. Kabuto looked somewhat upset. "I realize it is your first day here Miss Haruno, but you need to pay attention in class! You have free periods to gallivant about with your friends." Sakura flushed a deep red color. Kabuto sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright, if you can answer five questions for me, I'll let this time slide."

Sakura nodded, trying to ignore the stares the rest of the class was giving her.

Taking pity on the uncomfortable girl, Kabuto decided to start with easy questions. "How many bones are there in the human body?"

"We are born with 300 to 350 bones but by adulthood humans only have 206," Sakura replied promptly, surprised at the easy question. Kabuto didn't exactly strike her as an "easy" teacher.

Kabuto frowned, unhappy that Sakura apparently knew her stuff. "What four bones make up the leg?"

"Tibia, fibula, patella and femur."

Practically scowling now, Kabuto asked, "What is the technical name for the so-called 'funny bone?'"

Sakura didn't bother hiding her smile; knowing Kabuto was frustrated by her prompt, exact answers. "The ulnar nerve."

By this point, the boys in the class were struggling to muffle their snickers. They couldn't help it though! Kabuto was getting schooled by a midget girl! By the end of the day, everyone would know of the epic showdown that happened in Human Anatomy!

"What are the four lobes of the brain?" asked Kabuto, frustrated and grudgingly impressed.

"Frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and temporal lobe," said Sakura, fighting against the urge to smirk as her seatmates gave her looks of surprise and awe at her knowledge.

Kabuto allowed a reluctant grin to flit across his face. If the girl knew this one, he'd be incredibly impressed. "What is the sarcolemma?"

Sakura struggled for a moment, floundering for an answer. "A membrane that encloses a striated muscle fiber."

Kabuto shook his head and congratulated the small slip of a girl. Her classmates let out a loud cheer for the only student to ever beat Kabuto at his own game. Sakura blushed prettily, accepting the congratulations humbly. Sai and Kimimaro stared at her in admiration, in awe of her intelligence.

"It's obvious that you've done some personal study in human anatomy," Kabuto stated to the now seated girl.

"Yes," Sakura replied. "I'm very interested in medicine."

"In that case," Kabuto drawled. "I'd be honored to show you to the library at some point in the near future."

"Oh, okay. That'd be nice," said Sakura as Kabuto went back up to the front of the classroom.

Kabuto gave them their homework and dismissed the class, watching as the young girl chatted away with Sai and Kimimaro. Orochimaru had been right to be so invested in the new Gifted female. She certainly was a treat. Her mental prowess coupled with her two powerful Gifts made her quite the prize. Kabuto shook himself, remembering himself. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts. He needed to prepare for his next class. Kabuto allowed a smile to cross his stormy features; Sakura was in for an interesting school year.

---

Lunch had been a quiet affair Sakura decided as she settled into her seat between Shino and Kiba, petting a wiggling Akamaru who sat in her lap. Kiba was snoozing against the desk, apparently wiped out from their gym class where Gai forced them to all run "youthful" laps. Shino sat silently, peering off into space. She kept her gaze focused on Shikamaru and Choji who were sparring under Iruka's orders. They were pretty evenly matched as far as skills went, though Choji seemed to be tiring rather quickly.

"Have you decided what animal you want for a Familiar?" Shino's soft, even voice interrupted Sakura's musings.

"Hm?" Sakura asked, startled. "What's a Familiar?"

"A Familiar is the animal summon that acts as a companion to Gifted individuals," Shino explained patiently, still in awe over the fact that his Gift didn't repulse her. "It's a bit similar to the way Kiba and I have 'bonds,' though neither of us will ever have a Familiar."

"Do most people have Familiars?" Sakura asked, genuinely interested.

Shino shook his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "No, only the truly talented ones."

Sakura flushed at the indirect compliment, but before she could respond Iruka's hands slammed down on the table, startling Kiba into wakefulness. Jerking awake mid-snore, he mumbled, "Whazzat?"

Sakura stifled her giggles as Shino pulled his collar up to cover his smirk. Iruka looked down at the sleepy boy with displeasure. "You're sparring with me Kiba." The boy in question paled. "Sakura, Shino, you guys are sparring partners, alright?" That said, he dragged an unhappy Kiba away with him, Akamaru bounding after the pair.

Sakura glanced at Shino who looked as impassive as ever. "So?" she asked hesitantly.

"There are only a few rules. No lethal attacks obviously. First one off the mat loses. Let's begin," sighed Shino, standing up and walking over to one of the sparring mats.

They bowed to each other respectfully and fell into defensive positions. Sakura watched Shino cautiously, patiently waiting for him to make the first move. To her surprise, he only opened his high-collared coat slightly, allowing many of his bugs to crawl and fly out. Sakura forced herself to keep from reacting as they landed on her, unsure of their purpose.

Sakura gasped in astonishment as she felt them begin to slowly, but surely, leech away at her Gift. The process actually reminded her a lot of Samehada. Realizing that she needed to go on the offensive before she lost any more energy, Sakura darted forward, hand glowing green with her Gift. Shino, not one for physical standoffs, ducked her blows as best he could, knowing that one strike would knock him out.

This went on for a few minutes, Sakura swiping at Shino and Shino evading as he sent out more of his insects to slow her down. Sakura finally got in a lucky strike, lunging toward the surprised boy and grazing his cheek with her fist. She had overestimated her attack though, falling to the mat with a grunt.

To her astonishment, Shino didn't attack her during her time of weakness. Flipping back onto her feet, she quickly realized why as she caught sight of the sunglasses laying a little ways off from her. Sakura quickly glanced at a frozen Shino, trying to ignore the lightheadedness of the insects sapping her energy away. She sighed, scooped up the sunglasses and took a deep breath to fortify herself.

With only the slightest hesitation, Sakura stepped off the mat, immediately forfeiting the fight to Shino.

Ignoring her feelings of defeat and failure, Sakura made her way over to Shino, closing her eyes in respect for his apparent wish to not have his eyes seen. Stopping right in front of him she held out the glasses and said simply, "Here."

"But…why?" Shino asked as he grabbed the glasses, stunned at the turn of events, as was everyone else who had been watching their interactions. He quickly called his insects back to him as he put on the sunglasses. Shino knew that Sakura didn't know that individuals of the Aburame clan were never to show their eyes in public, only allowed to remove their glasses in the private comfort of their home with their family. He also recognized that Sakura was a very competitive person by nature, unwilling to give up without a fight.

She merely smiled and shrugged in reply. "You weren't comfortable to continue fighting and I wasn't going to force you to."

Sakura held her hand out to him and bowed her head slightly in respect. "Friends?"

Shino smiled slightly back at her and clasped her hand in a firm grip. "Always."

---

Sakura giggled, fidgeting as Sasuke tugged her forward. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he reassured, gently leading her toward the garden maze.

She pouted but kept her hand in his, feeling her excitement rise. Sakura felt a bit bad that she hadn't had much of a chance to hang out with Sasuke in the past week, instead touring the school with Naruto, Gaara and Sai for the most part. He'd been busy with what he'd vaguely termed "clan duties." So Sakura was obviously eager to be able to spend her break time with him now.

She smiled as she recognized her surroundings. "Are we going to the garden maze?"

Sasuke sighed and deflated, sulky over that fact that she'd guessed. He'd wanted her to be surprised. "…Yes."

Sakura laughed, taking her hand from his. "I'll race you!" she exclaimed and darted ahead.

Sasuke, though feeling a bit bereft by her abrupt departure, grinned as his Sharingan flickered to life. She was going to regret challenging him of all people. He took off after her, their laughter echoing through the school's halls.

They arrived at the fountain panting and out of breath, declaring their race to be a tie. Sakura looked up from where she stood, holding her knees as she tried to catch her breath, and was surprised to see two unfamiliar boys standing nearby. The first had a hulking figure, topped by a mop of spiky orange hair and matching eyes. He seemed nervous. The second was much shorter and lithe, with white hair and bright purple eyes. He exuded confidence and arrogance.

Sasuke looked up at them as well. "Suigetsu, Jugo thanks for meeting us here." Ignoring Sakura's surprised glance, he said, "Guys, this is Sakura Haruno." He pointed to the first. "That's Jugo and the other is Suigetsu."

Sakura nodded and, smothering her surprise, greeted, "Hello, it's nice to meet you both."

The pair stared at her. Suigetsu took in her appearance, smirking at her rather exotic coloring. She was really rather pretty and not exactly what he'd expected from all the rumors that surrounded the elusive girl. Suigetsu moved closer to her, allowing his smirk to become a toothy grin. "Nice to meet ya, princess."

Sakura cocked her head to the side, deciding to ignore the nickname. "Your teeth are similar to Kisame's," she stated.

Suigetsu's face darkened with a scowl. Of course she just had to bring up his rival. It was a well-known fact that there was neither swordsman held the other in esteem. While he might have felt a grudging respect for the overgrown fish, Suigetsu certainly didn't like talking about him. "It's a pretty normal trait for most individuals with the water element affinity."

Sakura hummed in thought. "I have that affinity, but my teeth aren't that sharp." She poked at them to make sure. Nope, not sharp or pointy.

Suigetsu felt a reluctant smile pull at his face at her antics. "Not everyone has them, princess."

Sakura turned to his silent, huge companion. "Hello Jugo," she said quietly.

"Hi," he replied shyly, unsure of how to interact with a female. He'd never had to do so before now and he was afraid he might hurt this petite creature.

"You're so tall!" Sakura exclaimed, trying her best to put the gentle, apparently skittish giant at ease. It didn't exactly work. Sakura looked up at Jugo hesitantly before asking, "Could you bend down please?"

"I-I guess so," Jugo responded, crouching low in front of her.

Sakura stared at him for a few moments before slowly lifting her hands to both sides of his head. She allowed her Gift of Healing to light her fingertips as she gently pressed her fingers to his temples. "Hold still now."

"What-what are you doing?" stuttered Jugo, alarmed at her gentle ministrations.

"I'm trying to help calm you down," she replied softly, concentrating on her task.

Jugo forced his shoulders to relax and allowed himself to enjoy her soft touch. No one touched him if they could help it. Even Orochimaru, his official caretaker, disliked laying a kind hand on him. Only Kimimaro had been kind to him up to this point. "Would-?" Jugo paused to gather his courage. "Would you like to be friends?" He prayed she wouldn't laugh.

"Yes, that'd be wonderful!" Sakura replied as she continued the light massage she was giving him.

Suddenly, Jugo stiffened, feeling his darker side trying to claw its way out. Suigetsu and Sasuke, who had been immersed in deep conversation, immediately looked up when Sakura and Jugo went silent. Jugo's skin began to blotch with a dark grey and his eyes began bleeding into an unnatural gold color. Sasuke and Suigetsu exchanged looks of alarm.

"Jugo?" Sakura questioned quietly, not understanding the sudden change.

"Male…female…" Jugo rumbled in a deep voice. "FEMALE!"

"Sakura move!" Sasuke hissed.

Sakura immediately ducked Jugo's quick attempt to grab her and cartwheeled out of his reach. She watched in astonishment as Sasuke's eyes turned red and began to spin. He stepped in front of Jugo and said, "Calm yourself Jugo."

Looking into Sasuke's Sharingan bright eyes, Jugo deflated, allowing his skin to fade to its normal tone. He looked up at Sakura miserably, certain she would never come near him again.

"What just happened?" Sakura asked.

"It's a part of his Gift," Sasuke responded vaguely.

"Yeah," Suigetsu snorted. "Jugo's the sort of monster parents tell their children about, princess."

Sakura flushed angrily when she caught the way Jugo ducked his head in shame. Sasuke clicked his tongue, realizing that Suigetsu was about to get a verbal lashing from the enraged Haruno. "The only monster I see around here is you!"

Both Suigetsu and Jugo gave her looks of pure surprise. Kimimaro was generally the only person willing to stand up for Jugo and the fact that Sakura, a practical stranger, was willing to do the same sent a twinge of hope through Jugo. Maybe they really were friends…

"Princess, I-" Suigetsu attempted to defend himself. He was only joking and Jugo knew it. Maybe he'd gone too far this time…

"No," Sakura interrupted. "I don't want to hear it! Just-just stop!" And with that, Sakura stormed away, undoubtedly going to inflict her fury on her unsuspecting classmates.

"Well done Suigetsu," Sasuke congratulated sarcastically. "You sure know how to charm girls."

"…Shut the hell up."

---

Sakura strode the halls angrily, swiping furiously at the tears building in her bright eyes. She couldn't believe Suigetsu's callous attitude towards his friend! It wasn't even Jugo's fault! His Gift caused him to act that way and Sakura refused to hold it against the gentle, compassionate boy. How could Suigetsu treat a friend like that? It just didn't make sense to her. She had believed that Suigetsu was a nice, friendly sort of guy but now…

Sakura paused in her angered mental diatribe against Suigetsu to look around the unfamiliar hallway. Great, just perfect. Not only had she stormed away from a few of her friends in a temperamental huff, she was also lost. Sakura wiped away the stinging residue of tears and plopped down against a nearby wall. She supposed she would have to wait for someone to walk by and ask for directions. Sakura peered about sleepily, her eyes falling shut. Well, a few minutes of shuteye never hurt anyone did it?

Sakura woke with a start when she felt the eerie sensation of someone watching her. Opening her eyes, she blearily saw a tall, dark-haired man crouching in front of her. Smoothing down the goosebumps on her arms, Sakura blinked a few times and focused on the male's face. He was handsome, Sakura supposed, in an utterly masculine way with his wide nose and thick, wavy hair. The stranger smiled at her and offered her his hand. Gratefully, Sakura took it.

"Are you lost?" he asked her as she brushed her uniform off.

Sakura flushed. "Ah, yes. Unfortunately I am. Could you tell me where I am?" The man ignored her question, instead staring intently at her face. It was then that Sakura realized that he possessed the Sharingan. "I'm sorry, I've forgotten my manners. "I'm Sakura Haruno." She cast his red eyes a wry glance. "I guess you're an Uchiha, right?"

He nodded, allowing his eyes to fade to a dark gray. "I'm Shisui. It's nice to finally meet you Sakura."

"Finally?" the girl questioned, giving the boy a curious look.

Shisui grinned, thinking of the praise she had received from three of his close relatives. It was rare for Itachi, Sasuke and Madara to agree on one thing yet all declared the girl to be strong and rather charming. "My family thinks very highly of you."

Sakura blushed. "Madara and Sasuke talk about me?" She placed her hands on her face in an attempt to cool it.

"And Itachi," he replied with amusement. The girl's antics were, quite frankly, adorable.

She scowled, removing her hands from her face. "I don't like Itachi. He's mean and scary."

Shisui barely concealed a snort. Somehow, Sakura had managed to befriend the generally arrogant and hostile Sasuke and the belligerent and downright terrifying Madara yet she disliked the calm and gentle Itachi? Shisui wondered what exactly Itachi had done to leave such a bad impression on the little girl. He'd have to ask for the story later. "Itachi's my best friend," he said, attempting to appear angry with her.

"Oh," Sakura stammered. "Sorry for insulting him. I can't help it though! He used his 'sharing gun' on me! It was scary!"

Shisui stared at her in surprise. It was seriously astonishing that Itachi had used the clan technique on this young girl. He'd have to talk to him about that too later. "Really now? How'd you get out?"

"I had help," was her vague response. Sakura hadn't told anyone about Inner Sakura and she wasn't planning on doing so anytime soon. Thus far in her forays into Gifted culture, there hadn't been a word on inner personas of any sort. She knew better than bring it up now; she was already considered an anomaly, she didn't need to fuel that fire.

Shisui tactfully decided not to press the issue, however interested he might be. Instead, he took the chance to survey the petite girl who seemed to be lost in thought, unconsciously fiddling with her necklace. His heart sank. This was the girl the Uchiha so feared and desired? The girl that they were at once wary and completely interested in? This was the child that fueled the hopes of the Uchiha clan councilmen? He could hardly believe the fact that his clan had asked him to…to spy on the newly manifested Gifted female! He couldn't stand the fact that his clan wanted the girl to be reared as some sort of breeding tool, one whose only purpose was to propitiate the clan. Shisui knew already that he couldn't handle such a disgusting task. He had, however, sworn to spy on the girl. Shisui decided to merely…tweak his mission a bit from preserving her for the clan's use to protecting her of his own will.

Shisui nodded decisively, knowing he could stay loyal to the clan and his own admittedly high moral standards. He gazed down at the girl in a contemplating manner, amazed that someone so small could stir up so much trouble. Just as he was about to speak again, a loud crash interrupted him. Surprised, Shisui accidentally activated his Body Flicker Technique, carrying himself twenty feet away from Sakura.

Sakura was broken out of her own musings by the loud sound too. Jumping, she whirled in the direction she'd heard it coming from. To her surprise, she caught sight of a pale-faced man on the ground, surrounded by many books and other trappings. Sakura, ignoring the fact that Shisui had just freaking teleported, bustled over to the fallen man and set about helping him.

"Thank you," he murmured in a soft, soothing voice.

"You're welcome," she replied easily as the two fell into a somewhat comfortable silence.

Truthfully, Izuna was way too graceful to fall in such an uninspired spectacle to the floor as he had earlier. Unfortunately, he'd been caught off-guard by Shisui and the new Gifted female talking together. He'd only heard praise about the girl, Sakura, from his older brother. Izuna knew that if Madara of all people was heaping praise upon the little girl, he'd need to look into it himself. He had to admit though, stealing a peek at the quiet girl helping him sort his stuff, she wasn't what he expected. He'd been expecting a loud, bold warrior child not this silent, sensible, peaceable girl. After all, bloodlust and fighting went hand in hand with Madara's personality, not peaceful tranquility. That was more Izuna's style. How odd.

As she added another book to the tall pile she was creating, Sakura cast the man a peripheral glance. He was tall, like just about everyone else in the school except for her, and had spiky dark hair that framed his dark eyes beautifully. Sakura turned to look at him more fully, unable to cast aside the feeling that she had seen him somewhere before.

The man looked up at her when he realized that she'd stopped gathering his belongings. "Yes?" he asked bemusedly, feeling heat fan his cheeks at her intense, puzzled stare.

"Forgive me if I'm being rude," Sakura began hesitantly, "but do I know you? You seem very familiar."

Before he could reply, Shisui materialized beside Sakura, chuckling and picking up various paraphernalia. "You could say that. He's Madara's baby brother."

"Oh," Sakura replied somewhat giddily before turning to address the young man. "I'm Sakura Haruno! It's a pleasure to meet you…" she trailed off.

"I'm Izuna Uchiha," the man responded calmly, smiling benevolently at the girl. He turned to Shisui with a frown. "I am not that much younger than Madara. He's only a year and a few months older."

Sakura also rounded on Shisui suddenly. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked, mystified.

"The-" Her nose wrinkled as she struggled to find the word. "The teleporting thing! Is it your Gift?"

Shisui nodded before replying rather cryptically, "It's one of them. What are yours, Sakura? Sasuke mentioned that you have two."

"I have the Gifts of Healing and Power," she stated.

Izuna perked up in interest, gathering the last of his belongings together. "The Gift of Healing?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I've been reading a lot of medical textbooks in an attempt to get a better grasp on the human body. Kabuto's given me permanent access to the Academy Library."

Izuna looked enthralled. "I have some wonderful medical textbooks back in the common room…" he trailed off as surprise flickered across his face. "That's right, I'd forgotten! Shisui, we have a meeting in the commons right now! We need to go!" Izuna stood quickly and gracefully before placing all of his belongings into his bag. He glanced at Sakura, his eyes softening involuntarily. "Sakura, dear, I'd love it if you'd come with us."

Shisui nodded eagerly, unwilling to sit through an ass-numbingly boring hour-long talk about preserving the integrity of the A-ranked classes and blah, blah, blah. Sakura would definitely make things more interesting, her reactions to what happened around her would certainly liven things up. Before Sakura could respond to Izuna's polite invitation, Shisui swept her up onto his shoulders. Sakura let out a yelp; trying to steady herself as the two Uchihas took off at an alarming pace.

"What are you doing, Shisui?" she asked in a high-pitched voice.

Shisui grinned wildly, happy to be able to display his playful side. "Just transporting my new friend from one place to another!" was his cheeky reply.

Sakura, though she knew she had class pretty soon and shouldn't be late on the very first day, beamed.

---

Sakura let out a breath of relief as Shisui finally stopped running. He turned and gave her an amused look. Blushing at being caught, Sakura turned her face away from him as he gently removed her from his shoulders and placed her on the floor. "Thanks," she mumbled, still pink in the face.

"No problem," Shisui replied breezily, relishing in the constant source of entertainment the precocious girl provided him. Oh yeah, they were going to be friends forever.

Sakura, unaware of Shisui's rather intense plotting, turned to Izuna. "What are we doing now?"

Izuna, who had been searching his pockets, rounded on Sakura with triumph, flashing a key of some sort in her face. "We are going to the A-ranked common room."

"Am I allowed in there?" Sakura questioned hesitantly.

Izuna gazed at her gently. "Kotetsu and Izumo might give you some sort of test but I know without a doubt you'll pass it." If not, Izuna thought, eyes hardening, the Uchiha name is prestigious enough to get her in. Or I could always beat some sense into those idiotic boys.

"Kotetsu and Izumo?" Sakura asked, feeling more than a little bit ignorant. And if there was one thing Sakura truly despised, it being ignorant.

"They act as guards for the commons, just in case someone is stupid enough to try to get in without permission." Izuna frowned, thinking of the young Uzumaki boy. "Some have tried recently, all have failed."

Sakura gulped but nodded bravely. Izuna smiled and pressed his key against the nearby wall near a few large portraits. "Um, Izuna?"

Shisui, who had come out of his internal musings, grabbed Sakura around the shoulders and squeezed in a friendly manner. "This is how we get into the common room. Watch."

Sakura watched in astonishment as the portrait of one of the many donators to the school swung open like a door. She peered inside, seeing a well-lit and well-furnished tunnel. Izuna and Shisui climbed up onto the ledge before turning to help Sakura along. "It's one of many recent technological innovations," Izuna explained to Sakura. "In previous years we really had to rely on guards to keep others of lesser rank from entering uninvited. It's a mere formality now."

Sakura nodded her understanding, wondering if the rest of the academy was rigged in the same way. "Are there other common rooms?"

"Certainly!" Shisui exclaimed with a grin. "I've gone to all of them. Ours is by far the best though." He looked Sakura in the eyes, suddenly serious. "You can come hang out in our common room at any time, okay? We like having you around."

Izuna nodded enthusiastically. "I know the others would be really glad if you come around often! We'll have to issue you your own keycard. I'll talk to Madara about it later today."

Sakura didn't bother to hide her smile. She couldn't believe the acceptance that was radiating from her two newest friends. It was strange, merely a week or so ago she'd been lonely and friendless, staying home and fearing that others would find out about her abnormalities and make fun of her appearance. No one here had mocked her looks and for the most part, the Gifted boys accepted her, flaws and all.

They walked in a comfortable, companionable silence for a few more moments before Sakura could see two figures approaching. They were both young and lean, appearing to be around Shisui's age. The first had long, spiky black hair and dark eyes. A white bandage covered his nose. The other had brown hair that fell into his face and dark eyes. They came up to the trio, circling Sakura gracefully.

The first of the pair spoke with a drawl, "Well, well. What do we have here?" He eyed her and recognized her as the girl Kakashi had been talking about earlier. "Hm…B-rank! Not supposed to be here is she, Izumo?"

The other nodded sagely. "I agree Kotetsu, what ever is the new student doing so far away from her ilk?"

Shisui glared at the mischievous pair, baring his teeth. "Back off, will you?"

The pair exchanged mock-looks of surprise. "And she has the protection of the Uchiha clan! Surprise, surprise!" Izumo exclaimed.

Sakura, fed up with being talk about as if she wasn't there, said, "I can hear you, you know?"

The two friends looked at each other with identical grins. Hook. Line. Sinker.

Izuna scowled at the pair. "Knock it off," he hissed, losing his even temper. "She's under Uchiha protection."

Izumo pouted at the two Uchihas as Shisui moved in front of her protectively. "So you do claim her as a ward? Interesting."

Kotetsu, apparently unable to grasp the concept of personal space, ducked Shisui and lifted Sakura's chin with one finger, frowning in contemplation. "She doesn't seem worth the trouble honestly."

Sakura's eyes darkened with anger and before Kotetsu could react, she poked him hard in the side with two Gift-powered fingers, sending him stumbling backwards a few feet. "I don't need protection," she stated with a stormy expression, eyeing the two friends. "Stay away from me."

Kotetsu reeled in astonishment. This bite-sized brat actually had power? He was more than a bit surprised and knew that Izumo was too. The two of them had only been teasing, they tended to haze all newcomers in a similar fashion. Sakura ignored their incredulous stares and marched past them with two amused Uchihas following behind. They entered the common room without any more complications.

Sakura stared at the room in wonder. It was painted in warm, red and brown tones, creating a feeling of homeliness that Sakura hadn't really witnessed in the Academy thus far. It was a rather lavish room too, furnished with plush red armchairs, a tall mahogany bookshelf and a large unlit fireplace. Sakura's eyes lit up when she caught sight of the bookshelf, hurrying over to it and running her fingers along the numerous tomes kept there. "This is amazing," she whispered to herself in awe, scanning for books pertaining to the subject of medicine.

"Here," Izuna said, coming up behind the small girl and reaching for a few books high above Sakura's head. Shisui had gone off to find Itachi. "These are a few of the medical textbooks we have here. I have a few more in my dorm room. I'll let you borrow them sometime."

Sakura nodded, staggering a bit under the weight of the thick tomes. "Thank you Izuna."

Izuna felt his heart warm at her sincere gratitude. He was going to protect this precocious girl even if it killed him. She liked him for who he was, not for his title or his older brother's attention. Speaking of which…

Izuna looked over to the corner that Madara had claimed way back in first year. Yep, there he was, mask-less and sitting with his little posse or "gang" as he liked to refer to it as. Izuna rolled his eyes; his brother always felt the need for unnecessary theatrics. Just as he thought this, Madara suddenly looked up at him, brightening as he caught sight of the pink haired girl beside him.

Madara stood, ignoring the surprised exclamations a few of the more flighty Akatsuki made. He'd called a meeting with the most powerful students in the school, a meeting between the Uchihas, excluding Sasuke, and his own group, the Akatsuki. They were supposed to be discussing some of the more recent events such as Sakura's arrival and the sudden restrictions the Academy was enforcing.

Grinning a bit wildly, Madara bounded over to his younger brother and the girl, ecstatic about her appearance. Without giving Sakura the chance to say hello, he swept her up into his arms, ignoring the books that fell to the floor. Once they were nose to nose he asked, "How's it going Sakura?"

She pouted for a moment, upset over dropping her borrowed books. "It's going well," she replied. She suddenly smiled. "I met some of your relatives!"

"Did you now?" he muttered, feeling an impulsive and primal jealousy toward his brother and nephew.

She nodded. "They're nice. Shisui gave me a piggyback ride and Izuna is letting me borrow some books!" Madara scowled at his brother competitively. Sakura wriggled about. "Let me down to get the books?"

Madara reluctantly set her down and watched as she started gathering her books. Satisfied for the moment, he rounded on his brother who had been watching their interactions with a slight frown. They glared fiercely at each other in silence, neither willing to cave first.

Sakura, who had finished wrestling her books into her bag, cleared her throat awkwardly. "Done," she murmured.

Madara smiled down at her and without warning scooped her up and onto his shoulders. Sakura clung to him in her disorientation, giggling at the heady sensation. Jerking his head at Izuna, Madara meandered his way back over to where the Akatsuki were seated, content with letting Sakura braid his long hair.

Sakura gasped in astonishment as she realized just who all was in the Akatsuki. Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Kakuzu, Hidan, Zetsu and Pein all looked up as they approached. Shisui was there too, in deep conversation with Itachi.

"Hey guys!" she greeted, happy to see most of them. With the obvious exception of Hidan and Itachi, Sakura was friends with all of them and hadn't seen much of them since her arrival.

Hidan grinned at her. "Ready to become Jashin's disciple, Pinky? Knew you'd come around."

Sakura blinked at him in surprise. He hadn't cursed at all. From the strange looks that the shirtless man was getting, she wasn't the only one befuddled by the development. "Not exactly," she replied, realizing that even though he'd swung a scythe at her when they'd met, he might not be all bad. Maybe.

Kisame smiled toothily up at her from his seated position, sweeping her off of an unhappy Madara's shoulders. "How's it hanging Pinky?" he asked as he settled back into his armchair, allowing Sakura to sit on his shoulder.

Petting his hair, Sakura replied, "It's been awesome! I got to play dodgeball and spar and make some new friends!"

"What rank are you Sakura, yeah?" an eager Deidara questioned, sending a warning glare Sasori's way, just in case.

"B-ranked," she responded happily.

"You are always welcome here, doll," Sasori stated dryly, giving Deidara a vicious look of his own. "Try to ignore the whelp, he'll try to corrupt your artistic senses."

Sakura watched as they degenerated into mindless bickering for a moment before turning to Kakuzu. She offered a smile in Zetsu's direction that he surprisingly returned. "All of you guys are A-ranked?"

Kakuzu chuckled, realizing that she knew nothing of the S-ranked class that each of them belonged to. He knew that one day she would undoubtedly join them one way or another, especially considering their attachment to the precocious child. "Yes, something like that. How did the dodgeball game go?"

Everyone listened as she delved into the details of the game, impressed with her story and skills. She obviously hadn't realized it, but no class had beaten a class above it in many years. Madara decided not to start the meeting on their actual issues until after Sakura left, somewhat frustrated that she had seated herself with Hoshigaki rather than himself.

After Sakura finished her story, she merely listened for a few moments as the guys around her talked, argued and bickered. She jumped when felt someone tap her shoulder, whirling around on Kisame's shoulder to come face to face with a boy she'd never met before. He appeared to be four or so years older than her with shaggy brown hair and eyes. He wore a blue bandana on his head and had what Sakura realized was a long senbon in his mouth.

"Yo," he greeted casually.

"Hi," Sakura returned warily, his self-satisfied smile making Sakura unsure of his intentions.

"The name's Genma Shiranui. I know you haven't heard of me, but I've heard quite a bit about you, Miss Sakura Haruno," he stated calmly. "I must admit I'm impressed."

"Why?" an oblivious Sakura questioned.

"I didn't realize the inspiring girl I'd heard about would be so beautiful." Sakura flushed a deep red, unused to any sort of flattery. "No, no it's true! I've heard about your powerful, breathtaking Gifts and inner beauty, but I realize now that it extends to the outside as well."

"Thank you," Sakura replied, unsure of how to respond. "Would-would you like to be friends?"

"Certainly," Genma responded. Though he definitely wanted to be more than friends in the near future, this was as good a place as any to start their future relationship.

Unknown to Sakura, everyone in the Akatsuki and the few non-Akatsuki Uchihas had stiffened angrily at the conversation. They all knew that Sakura was much too oblivious to recognize Genma's intentions for what they truly were. Though every word the boy had said thus far was true, it didn't make their furious anger for his obnoxious behavior abate even a bit. Thankfully, before any blood could be shed, Sakura paled, remembering that she was supposed to be in class right now.

She scrambled off Kisame's shoulder, ignoring all of their protests and yelled back to them as she rushed away out of the common room: "Thanks guys! See you later!"

---

Sakura opened the door to the classroom, mentally berating herself for being twenty minutes late. She couldn't believe it! She'd always been a meticulous and studious student, even when she was doing independent study. Taking a deep breath to collect and rally herself, Sakura entered the room, flushing as everyone paused to gawk at her. Thankfully, her new teacher came to her aid.

"Ah, Sakura Haruno correct?" a tall, tanned man with dark hair and a matching beard said, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sakura relaxed. "I'm Asuma Sarutobi, your new self-defense teacher. Could you introduce yourself to the class?"

Sakura nodded, feeling at ease with this easy-going man, despite the curious stares being turned to her by her classmates. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I like reading, training and being around my friends. I dislike cursing and mean people. My dream is to become a doctor in the future."

Sakura allowed her gaze to travel the room taking in the mats strewn across the floor and the students sitting at the joint desks. She was surprised but pleased to note that Shikamaru, Kiba, Haku and Zabuza were in the class with her. Sakura nodded and grinned at each of them before looking back at her new teacher. "Alright Sakura, how about you go sit with Haku and Zabuza? I won't punish you for being late this one time, besides Kakashi's habits might already be rubbing off on you." He grinned down at her before addressing the class. "Make sure you make Sakura feel welcomed, alright? I'll give you guys a few minutes before we resume the lesson."

Sakura nodded gratefully and made her way over to her friends. They smiled at her in acknowledgement as she sat. Sakura bit her lip, trying to figure out how to word a question that had been bothering her since that morning. "Haku," she addressed the boy sitting next to her. "Why do all of us have such different schedules? I mean, we have the same rank so why separate us?"

Haku smiled at her. "Well, they arrange our schedules based on our Gifts and what our perceived strengths and weaknesses are. Everyone has certain classes like history, self-defense and gym, but certain classes are more specialized like the weaponry class that Zabuza and I take."

"What weapons do you guys use?" Sakura asked, genuinely interested.

Zabuza was the one who replied. "I use a sword, much like Hoshigaki's Samehada." He cast Sakura an interested glance when she perked up. "I suppose you're familiar?"

"Yeah!" she announced, nodding vigorously. "Samehada and I talked for a while. It's a super cool weapon! Does your sword have a name?"

Zabuza shook himself, knowing that this girl was probably always going to be able to surprise him. Talking with Hoshigaki's weapon? This girl was extraordinary. "It is named Kubikiribocho."

Sakura sighed in appreciation. "Kubikiribocho…"

Zabuza looked at her in amusement. "Would you…" he trailed off, hesitant of his offer. "Would you like to meet it?"

Sakura looked up in alarm. "Would I ever! That'd be awesome Zabuza!"

Zabuza smiled in a rather smug and triumphant way and allowed the conversation to taper off. He'd be able to introduce the two sometime after class. He was almost positive that Kubikiribocho would like the odd Gifted female. Maybe having another friend aside from Haku was a good thing…

"So what do you think of Asuma, Sakura?" Haku inquired, happy that his two friends were getting along so well.

"He seems really nice and intelligent," she replied.

"Oh, he is," Haku agreed. "Well, aside from one matter, he's one of the most intelligent teachers here at the Academy."

"What matter?" Sakura questioned.

"He plans on marrying an unGifted woman," Zabuza stated as if this were a horrific thing.

"So?" Sakura asked, completely confused. Weren't most women unGifted?

"No, no," Haku said, realizing that Sakura still didn't understand Gifted culture. "UnGifted people are individuals who lack the Gift and know nothing of Gifted culture." Sakura winced, realizing that her parents were classified under that category. "NonGifted individuals are usually the mothers and sisters of Gifted people who grow up immersed in Gifted culture. Sometimes there are nonGifted men as well, if the Gift isn't passed on from father to son."

Sakura colored angrily. "I was unGifted up until now," she murmured quietly, frustrated by their apparent narrow-mindedness. "I still don't know much about Gifted culture. What does that make me then?"

Both Zabuza and Haku turned away, flushing in shame. Before either could reply to Sakura's rather intense statement or apologize, Asuma clapped his hands together, making all students fall silent. "Alright class, today we're working on flipping maneuvers. You never know when you'll be grabbed from behind and need to get away from your assailant. Pair up everyone and I'll give you a demonstration."

With those instructions, all the students began milling about, searching for a partner. Eager to get away from her friends, Sakura rushed away from the table and lost herself in the crush of her fellow students. She couldn't deal with Zabuza and Haku's prejudice right now. Sakura noticed that most of her new classmates were wary of her and didn't wish to be her partner. Sighing despondently, she scanned the room, looking for Kiba or Shikamaru. Before she could find either, however, a small body latched onto her, causing Sakura to stumble about, trying to regain her footing.

"Let's be partners!" a cheery voice proclaimed.

Sakura looked down to see a small boy, probably around the age of six, hugging her around her waist. She shrugged. "Alright."

He cheered, releasing her and peering up into her bright green eyes. Sakura studied the younger boy. He had spiky brown hair and dark eyes. He wore large blue goggles on top of his head. "I'm Konohamaru Sarutobi," he confided in such a manner that made Sakura wonder if this was very important information.

"Are you Asuma's relative?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied in a sulky tone, as if that wasn't what he wanted Sakura to realize.

"Well I'm Sakura Haruno," she said in a kind manner, knowing that the boy already knew her name. "I hope we can be friends."

Konohamaru stared up at her wide-eyed. He had heard from Naruto, the "Boss" as Konohamaru liked to call him, that Sakura was pretty, but he hadn't realized that she was so stunning! Konohamaru was a bit miffed that she hadn't realized that his grandfather had been the third Headmaster of the Academy, but he'd have the chance to tell her later.

Before Konohamaru could reply to Sakura with an enthusiastic affirmative, Asuma once again clapped his hands. "Alright kids, time to practice. Do I have a volunteer?"

Sakura looked around, grinning when Shikamaru pushed forward his brash sparring partner Kiba. Kiba turned and gave Shikamaru a vengeful glare before making his way to Asuma. "I volunteer," he muttered, scratching at his facial clan mark idly.

Asuma grinned at the boy sympathetically before speaking again, "Alright Kiba attack me from behind, preferably from the left side." When the boy hesitated, Asuma tossed him a reassuring smile. "It'll be alright." Then Asuma turned away, leaving his back vulnerable to any attack.

Kiba, with Akamaru running in circles around him, shrugged and pelted toward their teacher, fingernails elongating to sharp, destructive points. Sakura watched in muted surprise, guessing it was one of his Gifts. The moment Kiba came into contact with Asuma he was sent flying across the room, landing painfully on one of the green padded mats littering the room. Kiba groaned but everyone focused their attention on Asuma.

"Now, does anyone understand what just happened?" he asked as Sakura made her way over to Kiba and a frantic Akamaru.

"Here," she whispered, offering her hand to her fallen comrade as Akamaru licked her in thanks. Her fingertips lit up with her Gift as she quickly healed his sore muscles.

Kiba smiled in return. "Thanks." He looked reluctant for a moment before sighing. "We need to go rejoin our partners."

Sakura squeezed his fingers amiably and let go, walking over to Konohamaru.

"Very good Shikamaru," Asuma was congratulating the lazy genius, who was glancing at Sakura out of the corner of his eye. "Now, you are going to practice flipping each other. Spread out! Remember, it's all in the hip flick."

Sakura and Konohamaru moved to an empty mat and bowed to each other. "Would you like to try first?" Sakura queried.

"Nah, that's alright," he replied lackadaisically.

Shrugging, Sakura turned her back to her partner, trying to remember Asuma's exact moves. It took the duo three times before Sakura sent Konohamaru flying over her hip to be slammed in the mat. Sakura winced, very glad that she hadn't used her Gift to power the throw. Her lips quirked, thinking of how she could use the move on Hidan if he ever snuck up on her again…

She shook away her musings and approached the sprawled out boy. Konohamaru grinned winsomely as Sakura pulled him back onto his feet. "So, Sakura," he drawled.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if-" He took a deep, rallying breath. He could totally do this. "If you'd be my girlfriend!"

Sakura, along with the rest of the student body, stared at him, stunned. "Um, Konohamaru-" she said haltingly, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

"What am I saying? Of course you want to be my girlfriend! After all, my grandfather was the Headmaster here! I pretty much run the school," he babbled on arrogantly, ignorant of Sakura's darkening gaze.

"No," she stated.

"No?" he asked in disbelief.

"No," she repeated firmly, ignorant of the relieved sighs exhaled by some of her fellow classmates.

To her surprise and alarm, Konohamaru began to cry, snot dribbling down his face. "B-but w-w-why?"

Sakura softened her facial features into a gentle smile, placing her hands on the shorter boy's shoulders. "Because you need to stand on your own reputation. You need to focus on bettering yourself before dating someone. Besides I don't want to date anyone." She made a disgusted face at that thought. "Anyway, relatives don't matter, it's what you do that'll get you far in the world."

Konohamaru stared up at the kind girl, awe and adoration written clearly on his face. Fortunately for him, Sakura wasn't adept at reading either of those particular expressions. He grinned up at her, determination lighting his eyes. He was going to win her heart, but first he needed to further his own abilities. Neither noticed the angered postures of four of their classmates, instead going back to training.

The next ten minutes passed peacefully as the pair practiced their throws. Everyone stopped training when they heard a knock on the door. Looking up, Sakura was surprised to catch the eye of the aloof Kakashi. He talked with Asuma quietly before the pair strode over to Sakura. Uh oh. Not good. Sakura stared up into the worried face of Asuma and felt uneasiness fill her. What was going on?

Kakashi looked down at her. "Sakura, Headmistress Tsunade requests your presence at the Training Stadium." All around her, students burst into a flurry of intense whispers. Sakura felt the uneasiness grow. "You will be facing off with the Wood User Yamato." The whispers increased. "Come along now."

Sakura didn't move. "Why?"

"Headmistress Tsunade wants to determine your proficiency with your Gifts. It's a normal procedure," Asuma explained, leaving out the fact that most of these appointments were done in private. He couldn't help but wonder what Tsunade was up to this time. Sighing, he announced to his stupefied class, "No more classes for the rest of the day as per the Headmistress's orders."

Sakura looked around worriedly at her friends as she left. Haku mouthed that he'd gather the group to go to the Stadium. Hesitating only to nod in affirmation, Sakura took Kakashi's outstretched hand, feeling the dread consume her completely.

---

Sakura followed Kakashi into an open, airy stadium. She squinted against the bright sunlight, blinking away the dark spots that appeared in her vision. Cupping a hand over her eyes, Sakura peered about, noticing that the high stands were being filled with many students she'd never met before. She could make out Headmistress Tsunade sitting in the seat of honor with a tall, long white haired man seated next to her. Sakura felt unease bubble in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't used to being the center of attention, in fact, she was used to being a wallflower.

"It'll be fine Sakura," Kakashi murmured in an attempt to put the girl at ease. He was surprised to see her overcome by nerves. When she'd sparred with him she had only shown a steady, competitive confidence throughout it all. Despite what he liked to think about himself, he knew he wasn't as aloof as he appeared. Somehow, this tiny female had managed to worm her way into his heart, despite their rather brief interactions thus far. Kakashi supposed it was the animalistic pull of her Gift, trying to gain protectors and guardians.

Sakura smiled weakly up at him in gratitude. "Hopefully."

Kakashi took one of her hands and squeezed it gently before walking up to the stands to watch the spar.

Sakura looked around the stadium, wondering who exactly her opponent was. The stadium pit was empty aside from her, filled with crystallized sand. Sakura jumped when a heavy hand came down on her shoulder, whirling around to meet her attacker. He was tall with brown hair and dark eyes. He wore an odd facial protector that covered his forehead and the sides of his face.

"Hi?" Sakura greeted, unsure of his intentions.

He released her, bowing slightly. "Hello Miss Haruno. I am Yamato, your sparring partner today."

Sakura bowed in return, knowing that this was proper etiquette in the Gifted world for greeting people. "Thank you Yamato," she said, smiling up at him.

Someone cleared their throat. The pair turned to Headmistress Tsunade who was looking down at them with an unreadable expression on her face. "The parameters for the contest today are this: the first to incapacitate their opponent is the winner. No exiting the arena. No lethal attacks. You'll have a time limit of thirty minutes. Use it wisely." Her amber eyes flashed. "Opponents, take your positions." Sakura crossed to one side of the stadium as Yamato did the same. "On my mark. Three." Sakura tensed. "Two." Adrenaline began pumping through her body, giving her a heady sensation. "One." Sakura released the tension built up in her muscles, preparing herself. "Go!"

Sakura immediately ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding what appeared to be a wooden cage. She gave Yamato a surprised look, throwing herself into a series of cartwheels and flips to dodge his signature attack. At least she now knew why he was called the Wood User. Sakura tried to formulate a plan as she swerved and maneuvered herself away from his attacks. She was a close-range fighter and knew that one perfectly positioned punch would be enough to take him out. She would have tried to use her Gift of Power on the ground, but the sand wouldn't be of much use to her.

Sakura sighed, knowing that Yamato was trying to wear her down with his long-range attacks. She seriously needed to get some sort of weapon that would help even the odds in the future. Maybe she could talk to Headmistress Tsunade…

Her momentary distraction cost her though, as her leg was caught in his wood cage. Her momentum slammed her into the ground, groaning upon impact. She sat up shakily, watching as Yamato came closer. If he came close enough she could land an attack on him. Sakura forced herself to relax and allowed a defeated expression to flit across her face. Closer…closer…

Yamato stared at his opponent warily; surprised that she had stopped putting up a fight. From what he'd observed thus far she seemed to be the sort who would never give up and admit defeat. She was very good at dodging but he knew that she was at a disadvantage when fighting an opponent such as himself. Yamato moved closer to her, unsure of how to proceed from there.

Sakura stifled a victorious smile as he moved nearer to her. She tensed, charging her trapped leg with her Gift to break free and pounced at the startled man with her fists glowing brightly with her Gift. "Shannaro!" she cried as she came down upon him, swinging her right fist into his face.

Yamato went flying, landing about twenty feet away from Sakura. She watched him cautiously for a few moments before grinning in victory. She turned away and looked up at Headmistress Tsunade. Big mistake. When Sakura heard the crowd of boys let out a gasp, Sakura whirled back around but didn't see Yamato anywhere. Surprised, Sakura spun around but couldn't find Yamato anywhere. Where did he go?

Suddenly, Yamato burst out of the sand behind her and used his Gift to grow trees from his arms to wrap around an astonished Sakura. Sakura looked back at him angrily, trying to struggle against his attack. Once she was wrapped from neck to toes in his trees, Yamato pulled away from the girl, looking down at her with something akin to respect. He was surprised that she had even managed to land a hit on him; his bruised face throbbed angrily at the thought. Sure, he had just returned from a mission that had left him tired but he could tell that she wasn't at full strength either.

Sakura quickly realized that she couldn't use her Gift and slumped against her cage. She glanced up at Yamato, astonished to catch the look of respect that he was giving her. Before she could question it, Headmistress Tsunade boomed, "The winner of this spar is Yamato."

Sakura slumped down further, a feeling of inadequacy overcoming her. Yamato released her from the cage and patted her on the head, ruffling her short hair. "You did well," he spoke quietly.

Sakura smiled up at him. "Thank you. You certainly know how to use your Gift."

Yamato left his hand on her head as Headmistress Tsunade continued, "Sakura Haruno."

"Yes?" the girl in question replied timidly, awed by this powerful woman.

"You fought well. You have been here but a short while and you possess skills far beyond where a child your age should be. I have received glowing reports from your teachers on your abilities and personality. After much debate, I have decided to offer you now the chance to become an A-ranked student." Sakura's eyes went wide. "The choice is yours."

Sakura tried to ignore the cheers of her classmates and focused on her decision. While it was very flattering to be complimented by Headmistress Tsunade of all people, Sakura knew she wasn't exactly prepared to move up in the ranks. She had seen the gap between her skill level and Yamato's. Sakura felt unworthy of the honor that Tsunade was offering her. Besides, what would she do without the friends she'd made in the B-ranked class?

Sakura took a deep breath and looked up at a patiently waiting Headmistress Tsunade. Everyone in the stadium held their breath as they wondered what her decision would be. "With all due respect," Sakura began humbly. "I'm afraid I must decline. I'm not prepared to move up in rank."

Her declaration was met with stunned silence. Sakura fidgeted, wondering if she'd made some sort of Gifted faux pas. Suddenly, the stadium erupted in wild cheers as the boys made their way down to the girl. Sakura grinned as Kisame lifted her up onto his shoulders, trying to answer all the questions and flattery directed her way. She glanced up at Headmistress Tsunade and was surprised to find her beaming at her alongside her white haired companion.

For the first time ever, Sakura, crowded as she was by her friends and classmates, felt like she belonged.

---

Tsunade and Jiraiya sat quietly in the Headmistress' office, silently contemplating the surprising events of the afternoon. With the general chaotic business of their everyday the two childhood friends enjoyed this rare moment of companionable serenity. Jiraiya looked around the office, noting with amusement that Tsunade's taste hadn't changed since their own time at the Academy. She had always enjoyed her mahogany…Jiraiya couldn't help but long for days long past when Tsunade would kick him around like a soccer ball for cheating on their science tests. Those were the days! If only they still possessed that childlike innocence!

Tsunade was the first to shatter the silence. "Have you news of Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya sighed, remembering his rival for Tsunade's affections during and after their years at the Academy. Orochimaru had always been the calm, cool-headed strategist in tense situations while Tsunade served as their beautiful powerhouse and Jiraiya tended to fill in the gaps. The three of them had made an unstoppable team but in recent years, Orochimaru had been showing signs of declining into immorality, and now the man had been AWOL for the past three and a half weeks. "I'm sorry Tsunade, but no I haven't. None of my informants know where he is."

Tsunade groaned, massaging her temples. "We can't keep this a secret for much longer, Jiraiya. Both teachers and students alike are getting suspicious. All of the older teachers already know about Orochimaru's less…desirable pastimes. And if what you tell me is true, Yamato especially knows of Orochimaru's eccentric experimentations." Tsunade allowed soul-crushing remorse to flit across her face. "We've also gotten the disturbing reports about his possible experimentations on students!" Tsunade's face crumbled with the utmost sadness.

Jiraiya gently laid a hand on her shoulder, rubbing soothing circles along her upper back. "You didn't know. Tsunade look at me." The woman hesitantly peered up at him. "It is not your fault. Orochimaru's moral obligations have always been in a gray area, we just assumed he wouldn't go so far. We aren't even sure that the reports are true!"

"I could have stopped him," Tsunade remarked grimly. "As you said, we've always known about his dubious morality."

"Sure," Jiraiya replied easily, keeping a firm grip on Tsunade's shoulder. "Maybe you could have kept this from happening. Maybe we could have paid a bit more attention; been more cautious, but we were not. It's no use dwelling on what could have been. Guess what though, no teacher has ever used the Academy in such a heinous way before. Even if we hadn't been blinded by our friendship with the man, we wouldn't have expected this. Next time, you won't turn a blind eye, you will be prepared to stop it before it can really begin."

Tsunade looked up at Jiraiya somberly. "It won't happen again, that much I can swear to you." She clenched her fists. "Regardless of our past together, we must take preventive measures, especially with our newest student being here."

Jiraiya's face twisted into a dark and heavy scowl. Orochimaru had been very interested in the young Gifted female who had recently begun attending the school. When Tsunade had brought the profile of the prospective female student, Orochimaru had taken an unhealthy interest in her case, casting his staunch vote to have her enrolled. At the time, Jiraiya had passed it off as one of Orochimaru's eccentricities, but considering the new information from his informants…

Jiraiya sighed soberly. "He's going after her, isn't he?"

Tsunade hesitated for a moment before nodding. There was no use in keeping secrets from her dearest and closest friend. "We knew already that bringing a young Gifted female to the Academy would draw unwanted attention from shady organizations. Hell, the only reason the entire Council was adamant about her coming here was to have her within their own grasp. Even the damn clans are holding supposedly 'secret' meetings over who has the right to betroth her to one of their own!" She brought her fist down on the table, shattering her empty sake glass with the force of the blow. "It's happening again." Tsunade smirked icily. "I just never expected that one of our own would go after her in this way. It was folly on my part to believe that everything would happen in the same way it happened with me."

"Hey now!" Jiraiya exclaimed in protest. His princess was not allowed to act in such a self-deprecating manner! "There are no other precedents to go by! All other Gifted females came long before any schools of learning were established for the Gifted! I believe that aside from this Orochimaru farce that you've had a spectacular career! You've managed to keep the peace among the testosterone filled students and teachers! I know it isn't an easy feat."

Tsunade bit her lip to keep from grinning. Jiraiya always knew what to say to make her feel better. That was why, out of all her other candidates, she had chosen him after Dan had passed. She knew that Orochimaru had never forgiven her for the perceived slight. "I just worry about the girl. She's been quite sheltered by her parents and she doesn't understand the Gifted culture because she's the first generation from her family to actually be Gifted! She knows nothing of the organizations that parents tell their children about as bedtime boogeymen."

Jiraiya nodded patiently. "Tsunade, she'll learn in time. You can be a mentor to her if this truly bothers you so much. I know that Kakashi placed her in the B-ranked class to keep from drawing too much attention to her. I was more than a little bit surprised that she turned down the offer to move up in rank! What a mature little girl! Those moves she used against Yamato were most definitely S-ranked ones! Her power has yet to fully mature and she still gives one of our most highly specialized teachers a hard time. Kakashi also mentioned that she has two affinities. She'll be stunning as she grows."

Tsunade gave him a wan smile. "She hasn't even chosen her Familiar yet and she has two very powerful Gifts. I'm afraid it'll create complications for her as she grows. Some of my own informants have already told me of a few organizations interested in her. I know that certain branches of the government want to try to use her as a-" She blanched. "-A breeding tool when she's older! It's disgusting!"

Jiraiya nodded. "I know it is. Should we remove her from the public eye? Very few know of her presence in the Academy. Of course, most know that she exists at this point, but we could hide her away and tell no one of her location!"

Tsunade smiled bitterly, recalling the young girl's breathtaking Gifts. Even at the tender age of nine, she had gone toe-to-toe with Yamato, the only wood affinity user alive, and nearly won! Her Gifts, newly manifested as they were, would only grow with time. She was so humble too! Choosing to remain in the B-ranked class though her abilities would allow for her to join the A-ranked class. There was also the added factor of the girl being close friends with quite a few of the most powerful boys enrolled in the Academy. Tsunade herself was a bit surprised at how fast they had attached themselves to Sakura, as guardians, protectors and friends. She got the distinct feeling it had less to do with the animalistic pull that belied every Gifted female's Gift and more to do with the precocious girl in question.

"No Jiraiya," stated Tsunade with an odd look in her eyes. Jiraiya dared to believe it was hope. "I believe she'll be just fine."

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The End

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And there you have it! The next installment will probably be set in the future when the "teams" are made. Woohoo the teenage years of angst and hormones! I wonder how many fights will break out among the boys to be on Sakura's team? Maybe I could introduce some more Naruto female characters! In any case, I certainly hope you enjoyed this installment!

Going along with the theme of the last installment, the story's title is a play on words of another song from Wicked, "No Good Deed."

Oh yeah, there's a poll on my profile about which Familiar (equivalent of Summon) Sakura will have in the next installment. Please vote! Oh and review. I love reviews!

-jay