Hi, readers, this is my first chapter-ed story, so forgive the grammar error and amateur writing, it gets better, I hope...

SoS will be Sakura-centric, and it's not really a serious plotted story, but it will be quite an enjoyable ride. The romance will be kind of slow, but this is friendship/romance/family/drama kind of story, and it's High School, so it will be there, definitely.

Happy reading, and please, leave a review!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO.

Start of Something

"Truck Journey"

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It all started this one fine afternoon just after Sakura Haruno graduated from Ame Middle School.

"We're going where?" the fifteen years old asked her dad when she saw him packing all his things into his old duffel bag. His action hardly surprise her by now, because they've been traveling places since Sakura was only three after her parents separated and her mom remarried.

Sakura's dad's a humanitarian volunteer doctor (with a penchant for landscape painting) and they had stayed in five different countries—big cities, small cities, villages—before Ame. Packing things and suddenly moving out is not out of ordinary. In fact, traveling cross country is just a matter of an emergency phone call her dad received a couple of nights before and hastily made living arrangements and kissing her not quite friends goodbye. It was all an abstract routine.

Unlike usual, though, when Sakura looked at him, her dad looked more sad than guilty.

"I'm going to Snow." He stopped trying to fit all his clothes into the bag and sighed. Sakura noticed her dad looked more tired than usual, his stress line more prominent behind his glasses. "They need me there to help as a doctor and the condition's really bad after the winter storm."

Sakura watched as he moves to sat down on his couch, wiping his glasses. She understands the work of a volunteer doctor and having to be placed into a less than ideal situation and place didn't really bother her too much. "So," she said, "when will we leave for Snow?"

Her dad stared at her wearily. "I'll move out next Thursday, after you left for Konoha."

Part of this is the usual routine. Packing up, goodbye house the twentieth, thank you for letting she and her dad sleep under your roof for a year, meeting new stranger (dad's acquaintances) and ciao.

There's a pause as Sakura contemplate this. Then, "Why would I be going to Konoha?"

"For many good reasons," her dad said, not quite looking at her. "One of them is High school."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. There are so many questions and complaints she wished to vocalize but she settled for the most convenient. She drew in a breath, then looked up at her dad. "Could you please explain?"

"I can't bring you." He said, sounding resolute but hesitant at the same time. "Snow is in havoc and there'd be no school, no apartment, and you're just fifteen." His voice tight, "you have a future, being with me will get you nowhere."

Somewhere inside, Sakura was screaming, she was sure. Whenever she tried to think about future; where will she be, jobs, significant others, she always get this blurred images of her mom. Initially, she has a hard time imagining other kind of life than the kind she had been living with her dad since forever, but she always knew the routine will end, somehow.

She wasn't quite like her dad, wandering soul and border-less artist. She likes studying, like her mom, and getting the highest score in tests and she's somehow good at sports. But she'd been with her dad for fifteen years.

Sakura knew, in a sense, that maybe she was just like her mother, a small soul, longing for a set people and a set lifestyle and liking routine and normalcy and while she didn't actively pursue what her mom leave them for, she still search for it in the life she's got; that her dad is the only thing constant in her life. The other people never stayed with her for more than three years longest and that was her mom.

"I already arranged school and accommodation for you in Konoha through my acquaintance, Nagato. His former teacher has close relation to Tsunade Senju of the Sannin Hospital and she agreed to be your warden while you're there."

So she's given a chance to experience it, something other than her flighty sedentary life. A chance to find a standing but for that chance she'll have to let go of her ever only constant.

"And," he said slowly, "if everything's alright, I'll visit you in two years."

He said visit, she hadn't missed that.

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On Wednesday, Sakura packed her truck with her red duffel bag of clothes and a small suitcase containing the rest of her things. She rode with her dad to the border of the Fire country. That way, they'll let them pass.

"So," Sakura said while driving. "You'll get off at the border and I'll have to meet—umm who, at the—uhh, Nohara Inn isn't it?"

Her dad chuckled. "It's Hatake Kakashi, now remember the name, I'll never going to get to Snow if you lost your way."

"Right," she smiled, "okay, so, it's a guy then?"

He stared at her warily and she let out a mischievous grin.

"And how old is this Hatake Kakashi guy?" she drawled, wiggling her eyebrows a little.

He sighed. "I knew you're going to try making me severely regret sending you off during this ride."

She poked her dad in the ribs with one hand while they laughed. "It's revenge."

Maybe it's the nature of their relationship, maybe she's not really an emotionally attached person, or maybe it's their frequent moving and series of goodbyes, but Sakura only felt just a little sad and not at all lonely when she hugged her dad goodbye. She continued on alone after dropping off her dad after passing the border and she arrived at the Inn just before sunset.

Nohara Inn is a modest traditional Japanese guest house with sliding doors and tatami floor, an onsen and a dense forest view at the far back. The cost is pretty affordable, given the facility, and Sakura, being the little skeptic she was, proceed to give a thorough check on her room.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with her room, or the yukata she's given, but she has a sinking suspicion she's got the price lowered deliberately by the innkeeper. Maybe the old lady knew her dad, somehow, and given his occupation, it's not unlikely.

Feeling satisfied with her temporary sleeping arrangement, Sakura quickly changed into her yukata and head for the entrance hall slash lounge and waited patiently for the Hatake Kakashi.

After fifteen minutes she was beginning to realize the flaw in her plan.

Though it's certainly not nearly as crowded as the usual modern hotel in the city, there are still a couple of people and families lounging in the hall and she had no idea which one is supposed to be Hatake Kakashi or if he even present at all.

She decided to wait another fifteen minutes before she'd phoned her dad.

Twenty minutes into the waiting, someone poked her in the shoulder from behind when she almost dozed off.

Sakura turned back quickly. "Yes?"

A woman that seemed to be in her mid-twenties with brown hair and warm eyes smiled at her. "Excuse me for asking, I'm Nohara Rin, are you Haruno Sakura-san?"

Sakura nodded. "I am."

She smiled and sat on the empty chair beside her and Sakura straighten in her seat.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi's friend. I'm here to apologize on his behalf."

"Oh," Sakura blinked, still considering whether or not to trust the woman. "I guess he can't come? May I inquire the reason?"

The woman laughed and Sakura felt uneasy with her predicament. "Oh no, no, Kakashi will come, maybe an hour from now or so. I'm just here to keep you company, I managed this Inn."

Sakura feels a little at ease. If managing the Inn is her job, then the chances of her kidnapping her away lessen some good deal. It still could be a lie, though.

"I heard about you from Kakashi. He said you'll attend Konoha High with the Senju name sponsoring you."

Sakura blushed a little. "Yeah, my dad contacted the head of Sannin Hospital, Tsunade Senju and she agreed to watch over me after getting through my school documents. I feel like it's kind of like —uhm—an unusual scholarship, I suppose."

Rin tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, must be a spectacular score you've got, for Tsunade-sama to agree to it." She smiled warmly, "you're going to like it, having Tsunade-sama as your teacher. But you'd have to be tough, she's scary sometimes…"

"Nohara-san, you're an acquaintance of Senju Tsunade?"

"Yeah, I'm an alumnus of Konoha High. I also work under her at the hospital." She said cheerfully.

Sakura fidget in her seat. "What's it like? The school?" The dorm, the people, the teachers…

"I heard it's kind of…" she trailed off, not sure how to phrase it right but the brown-haired woman laughed anyway.

"It's tough, definitely," she said thoughtfully. "Studying there is a pain in the ass, but I guess every High School is like that. It's plenty fun, though, High School." She sighed. "But yeah, Konoha High is kind of… elite, for the lack of better word. It's really different from the other institution, and most of the students there are from, you know, prominent families all over the country and all that networking things."

They continued to talk for two hours before Hatake Kakashi showed up with his friend, Uchiha Obito, who's, apparently, the boyfriend of Nohara Rin. Sakura went to bed—futon, actually—just after they arrived and introduced themselves (kind of anticlimactic).

The morning after that, the four of them ride to Konoha, with Kakashi joining in Sakura's truck while Rin and Obito ride on his car.

Fifteen minutes of non-awkward silence in her truck, Sakura turn on her playlist and glanced at her silent companion, who's reading.

"Is it okay if I put on some music?" She asked to which he nodded and she shrugged.

She glanced at him from time to time, taking in his strange features. With unruly grayish hair, a vertical scar across his left eye and dark mask covering his face from just below his eyes, Sakura's initial impression of the man is that of a terrorist. She checked his id, just to be sure.

After forty minutes of side glancing, he finally looked up from his book and hummed lowly along John Mayer's Free Fallin'.

Sakura shifted unconsciously in her seat, looking at the mysterious masked man who's supposed to be her guide, completely fascinated, until her truck hit a bump on the road and she refocused herself, face flushed hot as she kept on looking ahead.

"I don't recognize some of the songs, but they're good."

Sakura turned her head, a tinge of red still on her cheeks. "Y-ye—uhh." She stuttered and nodded and slapped her hand to her face. "I mean, some of them are indie, or just a couple of tracks I've found in films, but I've got a few—umm—newest pop ones? If you prefer…"

He turned, all crinkly eyed smiles that should be at least a little creepy but somehow not. "Nah, it's good. I'm not really into pop."

Sakura squealed inwardly, suddenly excited. "Really? What kind of music are you into then?"

Her gray haired companion scratched the back of his neck and made non-committal noise before shrugging, "anything that's good."

Sakura frowned, confused and a little interested. And suddenly, she couldn't hold her grin—she imagined she did this weird hybrid half-not pleased-half ecstatic face.

She cleared her throat. "I usually find some tracks from each genre that I like, so I don't really have preferences either."

Some minutes passed before Kakashi strike a conversation again. "What's this song called?"

Sakura smiled again, turning to the side. "Stubborn Love. This song is my personal soundtrack for reading this really, really unexplainable, evil, food repellent book; The Secret History, by Donna Tart. Do you know it? You seemed like a reader to me, because, you know, you haven't put that book down since yesterday..."

Kakashi's one visible eye crinkle and he shrugged. "I read sometimes." He said.

At noon, Kakashi got a call from Rin and they stopped at a restaurant to eat, the meal being payed by her boyfriend.

Sakura ate in a fast pace as polite as she can, because she's really hungry and she's with adults, but when she's finished, she saw Kakashi's bowl was empty, the mask already in place, as though he hadn't need to take it off at all. She looked at him, completely flabbergasted.

Obito noticed Sakura's incredulous stare and chuckled. "Still the same old Kakashi."

When they continued on their way, Sakura feel a little more at ease with Kakashi and comfortable enough to hum to the music as she drives.

"You'll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley you'll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we walk in fields of gold." She sang lightly.

After the song ended, Kakashi asked her if she'd like to rest and switch now.

"Okay." She said and they switched, he took over the driver seat and Sakura took a nap contentedly.

She woke up in the middle of Oasis' Champagne Supernova, her head leaning against the window. She looked out to the distance to a scenic view of the almost sunset with orange and pink skies.

She straightens her posture groggily.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't realize I was so tired."

Kakashi gave her his easy eyes' smile.

"You drove from the border alone yesterday, and drove me for half a day today, it's fair enough."

"I have some wafers." She opened her backpack and let out her snacks. "Do you want the chocolate one or vanilla?"

Kakashi hummed. "Do you like chocolate?"

Sakura raised both her eyebrows. "Um, yeah." Kakashi continued to hum nonchalantly.

Sakura chuckled. "Here's your vanilla wafer." She offered him.

"Thanks."

Sakura nodded and turned her view, taking in the lighted big city scape.

"Do you know where will I be staying tonight?"

"Well, they only told me to give you to Shizune-san, Tsunade's assistant. She lived with her at the school compound, so maybe you'll sleep there tonight."

"Do teachers live at school?" because honestly, it's what shocked her the most.

Kakashi shrugged. "It's optional, actually, but teachers are given a house inside the school ground to help managed the dorm."

Sakura contemplate this. "It's really different from all the schools I've been into, but I guess this is Konoha."

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They went through a big old-fashioned iron gates after Kakashi gave one of the guards his id and two other security guards let them through. It was seven p.m. and Sakura felt her bottom hurt from the ten hour truck ride and she was too tired to take note of her new school ground.

They parked in front of a moderately sized house and a dark-haired young woman greeted them as soon as Sakura got off the truck, feeling glad to be able to finally stretch her legs and massaged her bum.

The dark-haired woman introduced herself as Shizune, Tsunade's assistant and after hearing the pathetic growl of Sakura's stomach, she hurriedly ushered her inside. Kakashi, Obito and Rin waved their goodbye and said their good luck.

"Haruno-san how's your journey?" Shizune asked while ushering Sakura into the dining room, where dinner was already on the table.

Sakura think of her ride from Ame and the Inn and meeting Kakashi and with a lump on her throat and a sudden headache, all she could think about was how she already missed her dad. She forced a polite smile. "It's fine, but exhausting. I'm glad to be here."

Shizune smiled back easily. "Well, you should eat. I'll be upstairs to prepare your bed, okay?"

"Okay." She said.

After she finished her dinner, Shizune showed her to her room at the end of the second floor.

The room was small, painted a warm white with a lone window covered by light brown curtain. A single bed, neatly made with an elaborate mahogany headboard was pushed up against the wall facing the window and on its side there was a wooden nightstand. There's a bureau just beside the window but there's no wardrobe so it's probably a guest room or some sort.

Sakura took a shower before doing a little unpacking.

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"Hey," greeted a strained voice of the other end of the line, "you get in okay?"

It was late at night when Sakura decided to call her dad, already finished unpacking her things and was lying on the bed, feeling unsettled, but as soon as she heard his voice, though it sounded gruff and muffled on the phone and not quite light as it was normally, she felt easiness come seeping at her heart as well as sleepiness.

"Yeah," she stifled a yawn, "it's quite nice here. Where are you now?"

"I'm in Taki, still on the road. I start a little late this morning so we haven't reached the Inn yet, but everything's okay."

"Okay," she replied. "Stay safe, dad."

"Yeah, how—how's Konoha?"

Sakura frowned, then glanced at the curtained window, imagining the busy and colorful city. "Well," she began, "I fell asleep half the ride and when I woke up, it's already tall buildings and stores all around, but the school's far from it, I think. It's in the middle of the city, but the ground is expansive so it's quiet here."

There's a pause as he processed this and Sakura think he might be nodding. Then, "I hope you like it there." And somehow, Sakura can feel the smile.

"It's already late, Sakura, you should sleep." He said.

She didn't argue. Sleepiness almost took over her completely.

"Bye dad, love you." She yawned.

"Have a good sleep, kid."

She ended the line, then thought of her dad and sang her bedtime song before darkness take over.

"Two drifters, off to see the world, there such a lot of world to see, we're after the same rainbow's end, waiting round the bend, my huckleberry friend…moon river, and me."

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I'll be updating as soon as I got at least 5 following!

The songs are: (Obviously) John Mayer version of Free Fallin', Stubborn Love by The Lumineers, Oasis' Champagne Supernova, and Sting's Fields of Gold and Moon River (Personally, I imagined Sakura sang the Audrey Hepburn version)

You could suggest me some songs and I'll hear it out!