Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Summary: She was a flower bud in the midst of bloom. All she need was a little grooming and watering that she was so desperately deprived of. Who would come along and help her out? As she wilted inside

Chapter 1

A little girl no older than five hid fearfully behind the slide of the playground, head peeking out once in a while to see if the bullies had found her. She had pastel pink locks, a larger than average forehead and wide emerald orbs that gave her a look of child-like innocence. However, the eyes were wide with fear and her supposedly innocence was cruelly taken away. The happy childhood which every child was suppose to have did not apply to her.

It was no long before Ami and her friends found her behind the slide which provided hardly any coverage and pulled her out harshly by the arm. Sakura whimpered from the pain but they paid no heed. Instead, they relished in the fact that she was in pain and they caused it.

"What a big forehead," taunted Ami while she jabbed Sakura's forehead and caused another whimper to escape from her throat.

"Yea Ami, just look at the size of it," one of Ami friends said as she and three other girls laughed at the poor defend less five year old girl that was squatting on the grass, eyes brimmed with unshed tears. She had to be strong.

"Aww, is poor little Sakura crying?" cooed Ami babyishly as she clutched her hair roughly to make Sakura face her eye to eye.

"P-please Ami, l-leave me a-alone," Sakura stuttered, hands covering her face, trying to hid from Ami.

"What did you say forehead?" Ami scowled at her and flicked her forehead, making Sakura flinch.

"You're pathetic Sakura, no wonder no one wants to be your friend!" she sneered and pushed Sakura roughly to the ground, face buried into the mud. She laughed at Sakura's miserable state before signaling her friends to leave.

As Sakura stared at the cherry blossom tree, she was lost in thought as she gazed at the petals that were gently floating and swaying in the air. The sheer transience beauty of it was breathtaking. It made her forget her predicament, even if it was just a little while. Her eyes followed the movements of the petals till they reached the ground and it only reminded her how fragile life is.

'I have a large forehead; they…say I'm ugly and a f-freak. Are they right? Is what Ami says true?' she questioned herself as her strong façade crumbled and tears finally fell. She tilted her head as she stared at the heavens, which seemed to mourn with her as the cold rain petered gently against her porcelain cheeks, sending shivers throughout her small, fragile form.

She had always been teased about the size of her forehead and it didn't help that she was an orphan with no parents to comfort her. It was not her fault. It was never her fault that she was born this way but the world is cruel. Due to all this bullying and teasing, she was inclined to truly believe that she was a freak even though it was not true. She wanted to escape and hide, escape from the world, escape from everything.

It was windy on this cloudy, yet bright day, but not so much inside the small apartment room that inhabited Sakura Haruno.

"Beep, beep," the ringing of the alarm clock penetrated the silent room.

A hand came out from under the blue cover sheets and descended over the alarm clock. The hand fumbled around in search of the switch to stop the dreading sound from ringing.

Groggily, Sakura made her way out of bed and across her small room to the restroom. Switching the lights on, she squinted her eyes from the blinding light before making her way to the sink to start her morning routine.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she approached her closet. It wasn't like a regular teenage girl closet that had about twenty to thirty different outfits and about fifteen different pair of shoes. No, her closet consisted of nothing but shirts, sweaters and pants that anyone would be caught dead wearing them outside. She randomly took out an oversized purple shirt, two sizes bigger than her form and black worn-out cargo pants with black sneakers.

Once she made her bed, she reached under it and a small, handcrafted wooden jewelry box resurfaced in her hands. She was told by her grandmother that it was the same one her father had made for her even before she was born. She opened it and heard the soothing piano melody that made her nostalgic. Inside were her glasses and a small necklace. She put on the black-rimmed glasses and remembered why she had bought them in the first place. It was not because she needed them, no, she had perfect vision. It was because she wanted to hide her brilliant verdant eyes from the world. She had no intention of being in the center of attention, especially on the first day of tenth grade.

Reaching back into the box she took out the other item, a golden necklace with a cherry blossom as a charm. Her grandmother had given it to her right before she passed away six years ago. Since her parents had passed away when she was very young, her grandmother was the only resemblance of a motherly-father figure in her life.

The necklace was to be passed down from generation to generation. So now in place of Sakura's mom, her grandmother felt it was her responsibility to give it to Sakura in memory of her parents. But now that they were gone, Sakura was alone. She had even lost her only solace which was her grandmother, Chiyu. Now, she had nobody and nothing sans a piece of jewelry.

She had not realized the tears that had fallen down her cheeks until she saw her reflection on her closet's glass panel and quickly wiped them away with the back of her sleeve. She took a glance at the clock beside her bed and realized that she was going to be late on the first day of school if she didn't hurry and rushed out of her room.

Preparing herself a bowl of cereal, she quickly ate and finished it just as her watch strike 7:20.

Seeing as school started at 7:30 am, she grabbed her black and blue messenger bag that was resting on the under-sized couch and the key that was hanging on a nail stuck to the wall. It was fortunate that her apartment was near the school and it was only a five minute running distance or else she would be late. Locking the door behind her she noticed the for sale sign on the apartment next door to hers. Ignoring it, she made her way down the stairs and began running on the sidewalk to her new school, Konoha Fire high School.

Well there's the first chapter

Me and my friend Yuri-chan worked very hard to make this chapter, hope you all like it

Review Please