Hey everyone! Thanks you to those who reviewed! They certainly are nice to hear! For reviewing as kindly as you did, I have decided to leak this chapter out. It wasn't supposed to be out until like.. two days from now, but you know. c:

Anon #1: Thank you!

UchihaJennifer: Thanks. c:

princessgoth14: Haha, thank you! First time someone has called my brain creative, I think!

MinaBlahBlahBlahAnimeFan: Hahaha! Wow, was I surprised when I saw your review. Thank you!

Rerezhang: Yeah, and you know what's weird about that? I was listening to her when I read your review! Made me laugh.

crystalthr0ne: Thank you. c: Yeah, her development is going well!

Amaya And Aiko no Akatsuki: Hehehe, thanks~! At first, I didn't want Konan to be in the same room as Sakura, but then I figured.. hey, what's the harm in that? I think that they could have a really good bond going on!

coolseal9: Thanks. c:

Chapter Two

Sakura woke up, eyes crusty. She looked around and blinked once or twice, frowning when she had finally recognized her surroundings. "So.. it wasn't a dream, was it?" She silently asked herself. No, indeed it wasn't.

Not wiping the frown off her face, Sakura ran her fingers through her messy hair and stood up, wondering what time it was. When she looked at her clock, her eyebrows shot up, surprise taking over her pretty features. She had woken up way earlier than she had expected. Sniffing some, she slowly rose from her bed and walked to her large window, spreading the curtains apart to look down at the cleared courtyard.

After staring down at the courtyard for a little, she dressed into her uniform once again (she's going to find out if there are any dry cleaning services here or not soon enough) and sprayed herself with mild perfume called sweet pea. It was absolutely a delightful smell. Brushing her hair into the same style as per usual, she painted her face with light make up such as eye liner on her tear ducts, mascara, and liquid eye liner on her top lids, giving herself some wings. Opening a box on her dresser, she took out two tiny red diamond piercings and put them in for her angel bites. She hadn't worn them in so long, they were probably about to close up. She really needed to keep them open.

Twirling in front of her mirror, she gave herself approval and grabbed her backpack and cellphone from its charger before making her way outside of the room and into the kitchen.

She was met with an early rising Konan, a small smile on her face. "Hello, Konan-san.." Began Sakura, surprised when a plate of pancakes were handed to her, as well as a fork and butter knife.

"Good morning, Sakura-san. Did you sleep well..?" Konan asked, glancing to her. Sakura smiled some and nodded, thanking her and replying with a simple yes.

"It's supposed to be a bit chilly today," Konan started, biting into an apple. Did she merely make Sakura pancakes and none for herself? She felt a little bad. Maybe she ate before Sakura came out here.

"Oh.. is it?" Asked Sakura, placing the plate in the sink. "I will clean that when I get home.."

Konan nodded and stood up, grabbing her brief case. "I will be heading to my class room now.." She said. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows.

"A.. quick question, please?" Sakura quickly asked, holding her hand up. Konan blinked so Sakura took that as a signal to continue. "What class do you teach?" Sakura was a tad curious after all.

"I teach Origami.. It's a selective class. I also run the club." She gave a subtle smile.

"Oh!" Sakura raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't know you could take Origami here.." Sakura nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Konan-san. You should probably get going before the students make their way out there. I'm sure that it gets a bit full out there." Konan glanced at her pretty wrist watch and nodded before turning, waving a goodbye as she walked out of the room.

Pulling out her phone, Sakura snapped a picture of the courtyard and sent it to her friends, practically bragging about the courtyard. Of course, her old school has quite a nice look to it too, and for a school such as this one, it held an air of elegance to it. Her phone beeped, alerting her of incoming text messages. She opened them one at a time, and then replied back to them. Oh, she knew she had a nice school.

From: Hinata-chan

W-wow, Sakura-chan. It looks very nice there.

To: Hinata-chan

Thanks. I love it too. Miss you. :)

From: Ino-pig

Looks gr8, 4-head. ttyl gtg2 skool

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at her friend's horrible grammar mistakes. She hated reading it really, because sometimes it was hard to understand. For now though, she didn't entirely mind.

To: Ino-pig

Seems to be too early for you to be heading to school. Seems too early for you to even be awake. Why the sudden change? Lol, text me later if you can.

From: Ino-pig

Fuck u.

Sakura snorted and rolled her eyes.

From: Tenten

Looks grreeeeat!

To: Tenten

Thanks, hon. :)

Sakura recieved no texts after that and looked at the time. It was 6:32 and classes start at 7:17. She might as well go now so if she gets lost, she can ask someone to help her out. Making sure she grabbed her key, she put on her shoes and made her way out the door and down the hall, onto the elevator and out of the dorm. There were tons of students everywhere, flooding the courtyard. Frowning, Sakura made her way to the fountain and sat down, pulling out her schedule. She had a selective course for first period today. Dance, apparently. It was in Gym 2.

She looked around for someone who she thought might be kind enough to show her where Gym 2 is. Apparently everyone here was with atleast one friend, and she wanted to go to someone that was alone and wouln't mind if she bugged them just a little. She spotted a girl with short brown hair, eyes that seemed so dark they were black, and brown hair with a tan complection drawing in a sketch pad. Luckily enough she was on the other side of the fountain. Getting up, Sakura slickly made her way over to the other girl and tapped on her shoulder.

The girl looked up and furrowed her thin eyebrows, wondering who would even dare talk to her. Unless it was her bullies. They would obviously dare. Everyone else just stayed away from her unless they wanted to become victims of her bullies' wrath. Instead, it was a girl about her height with pastel pink hair and emerald green eyes with spects of blue and.. maybe was that gray? She was pale and pretty, and why was some girl that belonged to the popular side talking to her? And didn't she see her with the popular crew yesterday at the football field when she was passing by? How odd. Maybe she heard about her and decided to pick on her. Finally, she answered. "Um.. yes?"

Sakura bit her lip and gave a twitch of a smile. "I.. uh.." She wasn't very good at making friends at all, much less asking a stranger for help. "..can't find my way to class.." At least when she was trying to be considerably nice. Now, if she had a problem with a stranger then she would completely deal with it however felt necessary.

The girl's eyebrows furrowed some and she slowly nodded. "Uh.. Just give me your schedule, please.." She muttered, waiting patiently. Sakura handed it to her and patiently waited.

"I will show you.. That is actually my next class.." Sakura nodded. This girl seemed very shy to her, and very closed up. Why was that? And why was she sent to a school like this? She seemed so.. nice. So good. A breath of fresh air.

Nodding, Sakura was handed her schedule back and followed the girl to class, ignoring the surprised stares of teenagers alike around her. "She's actually talking to Matsuri? Ew.. Of all people.."

"I heard that the pink haired girl already slept with Maki-kun... Of course she'd be talking to the likes of Matsuri." What a shame. Rumors have already flown around the school about her- or perhaps the insane girl had chose to just now start this ridiculous mess, but of course, there was the fact that she had been seen hanging out with the 'popular crew' and Maki.

"That's.. seriously gross.. I bet you she has some STD's or something.." Sakura continued to ignore it. She was bullied as a child and has already toughed it out. Their taunts and rude sayings didn't bother her, and they never would. She was immune to it, and she knew who she was.

"How do you do it?" Matsuri whispered, slowing her pace so that she was next to the girl. Sakura merely gave her a half lidded glance before her gaze returned to looking in front of her.

"..Do what?" Asked Sakura, one hand holding a backpack strap while the other one was occupied with her schedule and phone.

"Ignore them.. It hurts a lot." Sakura could almost see the tears building up in her eyes.

"They just started bullying you this year, hmm?" Asked Sakura as they turned into another hallway. Matsuri nodded, but decided not to explain. "I've been bullied ever since I've been a little tiny girl. Their sayings mean nothing to me because I know who I am, and I don't need to listen to other people. They are, to say it simply, 'judging a book by it's cover.'"

Matsuri looked to the girl, her eyes slightly widening. Unlike other people she has encountered, this girl was not bothering her to know what happened in her past or pestering her about how she got here, but simply didn't ask and just explained to her how their words didn't hurt her at all. She seemed strong.. cool. She seemed cool, calm, collected... graceful.. All the things Matsuri wished to be. Compared to this girl, Matsuri was only a little girl.

A clumsy little girl.

"..What is your name?" Matsuri asked, glancing to the girl. Sakura arched an eyebrow as they entered their class.

"S-"

"-akura Haruno? Is Sakura Haruno here yet?" The person who taught the class had silky, long black hair with purple eyes. She was pale and petite, and very beautiful. She was also tall and had a gentle voice.

"I am here," Sakura spoke, walking up to the woman. The woman smiled. "By the help of Matsuri.." Sakura turned to the girl and smiled slightly. "Thank you."

Matsuri was caught by surprise and nodded quickly. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Yes, thank you, Matsuri-chan." The teacher spoke, sending the girl a gentle smile. Turning to Sakura, she gestured towards a small door to the right. "In that hall is the locker room. You will find your dance clothes in locker 5, okay? Combination 11-34-39." Sakura nodded and walked into the locker room, finding her locker and unlocking it. It only took her a little bit.

She then proceeded with throwing her things in there before getting changed into short yoga shorts, a white wife beater, and her socks. She made her way out into the room, Matsuri following behind her quietly. Arriving to the destinated area, the girls sat with about fifteen other girls, sitting down on the gym floor. Sakura made sure to sit next to Matsuri so Matsuri would feel more comfortable around her. Leaning back on her hands, Sakura watched as the teacher began explaining what the class is about.

"Hello, students. My name is Jun, and I will be your dance teacher, instructor, what ever you call your teachers. You may call me Jun-sensei. Now, my class is about learning different dance cultures, and learning how to do the basic moves. If you like this class or have good grades in here, you may take this class again next year. Now, today we will start with learning how to stretch, and then we will begin with trying to move our hips."

One of the girls gasped. "But that is so difficult! How come we have to learn that?! We're only beginners, Jun-sensei! We don't know how to move out hands"

Jun-sensei looked to the girl, an eyebrow raised. "I have my degree for teaching this course. If you don't like it, then leave my class." The girl stayed quiet, a frown on her face. "Good."

They began with a series of stretches Sakura found a little complicated. It wasn't that she wasn't flexible, but it was that Sakura hadn't stretched in a while now. When they were finished, they all stood in rows, Sakura and Matsuri in the back, but where they could still see.

Sakura concentrated on the instructor, eyes focused on the woman who clearly knew what she was doing. "First, we'll practice on some moves at a time. We'll try the figure eight first. You roll your hips like this, and.." Sakura did as she was told, watching herself in the mirror as best as she could. Why would they allow so many students in this class if half of them couldn't even see themselves? Seeing themselves helped a great deal.

Licking her lips, she focused on making the movements of her hips smoother; more graceful. She always had a problem with making movements of hers more graceful, having half of her life growing up in Ino's clumsy shadow. They'd stopped being best friends at one point, becoming horrible enemies, calling eachother hurtful names. All because they both liked Sasuke Uchiha, the most popular boy in class- scratch that, school. But, it was all over when Sakura became best friends with him and Naruto, and in tern, figured she only liked him as a friend. So she apologized to Ino, who apologized back. They hugged it out and all and became best friends, though still were somewhat friendly rivals and called eachother names from time to time.

Jun-sensei then came over, applauding. "Seems like someone has already had some practice," She said, nodding in approval.

"Actually," Began Sakura, smiling bashfully. "I am just learning this from today." Jun-sensei's eyes widened slightly, staring down at the girl with surprise. This girl was almost as good as herself; how could she just now be learning all of this? Impossible.

"Really? I honestly couldn't tell. You did fantastic." She smiled, before looking over to Matsuri. Matsuri was blushing all over the place, embarrassed that she was even doing this in front of other people, Sakura could tell. She used to be like that back in middle school, always embarrassed of things that really weren't even that embarrassing.

"It's okay, Matsuri." Sakura began, smiling slightly. "We're all girls."

"I-I know, but.. It's just so difficult, and I feel like I'm too.. I just can't.." She muttered, lowering her head. Sakura walked over to her, eyebrows furrowed some. She really had a low self esteem, didn't she? Maybe she could boost that if they became friends..

"Well, you looked like you were getting the hang of it, Matsuri-san. Why not try again, ne? Nothing tastes better than victory, knowing you did something right from hard work!" Sakura grinned slightly, holding up an index finger. Matsuri blushed and nodded, slight motivation flowing through out her veins from her little pep talk.

"O.. Okay, but don't look please!" Since Matsuri was so shy, she really reminded Sakura of her friend Hinata. Actually, one of her best friends. Her and Hinata never really began to talk before Ino introduced her to Hinata. Same with Tenten, only Hinata was the one who introduced them to eachother.

"I promise I won't unless you want me to." Walking back over to her spot, she continued to practice, though at a quicker pace this time.

"Good job, you all seem to be doing well." Jun-sensei announced after a little while. "Now, let's try to roll our hips. Place your hands on your hips like so, and just try moving your butt in circular motions.. like so." She gave them a good example, and all of the girls followed said example. Jun-sensei seemed pleased after a little while, but especially by Sakura. Sakura could feel favoritism coming, and she didn't know if she liked that yet or not.

"Everyone look at Sakura as she does this. Keep going, Sakura." Jun-sensei said, motioning towards the pinkette. Sakura nodded and placed her hands back on her hips, rolling them for a little while until she decided to stop.

She listened to the whispers of those who admired or were jealous of her now, but Sakura really didn't think much of it. It was a really, really basic move. Were they kidding her? How could they not know how to do that? She used to do it at parties all of the time. These kids obviously do nothing in their spare time.

Soon enough, the class was over. Sakura made her way back into the locker room five minutes before the bell and changed back into her school uniform. Grabbing her things, she shut her locker and made her way out of the locker room, Matsuri following behind her like an obediant dog. Frowning, Sakura slowed down so the girl could walk next to her. "You don't have to walk behind me you know, if you want to go anywhere with me. Just walk next to me." She evenly said, before looking down at her schedule. Another selective class. Work Shop with Harumi, Tokiya. When Matsuri didn't reply with anything but a smile, Sakura looked over to her. "Hey, can you show me to Tokiya-sensei's work shop class? It says the class is in the basement, but I don't know how to get down there." She frowned.

Matsuri nodded. "Well.. A-all of our stair cases lead down to the basement, but I u-understand why you would n-need help find your way around down there.. Well, u-uhm, here, follow me.." She muttered, quickly turning down the next hall way and into the staircase. Sakura followed the shy girl down to the basement, memorizing the way to get there. Two right turns and then one left turn, and then it's the first door on the left.

Sakura entered the classroom before turning around, flashing the girl a smile. "Arigato, Matsuri-chan." Called Sakura, fondly, then turning around to walk to the teacher with her regular poker face. Matsuri blushed and bowed even though the girl didn't see her, and then ran to her class.

Sakura handed her schedule to the teacher, verifying that she was, in fact, the new student. "Alright," Tokiya-sensei began, before turning to the assembled class. "Class, this is Haruno Sakura. She will be in here for the rest of the semester. Let's welcome her with some questions, ne?" Sakura took this time to observe the teacher. He seemed boring, with slicked gray hair and dull brown eyes. He was fairly tall, but had a belly on him. He also wore a regular suit.

Sakura looked to the class, seeing if anyone interesting stuck out. No one but.. that the red haired guy from her Biology class? Sakura almost shivered as their eyes connected, like a battle of who would look away first. Sakura didn't want to be caught staring at him and just continued on looking through the class, a miniscule frown on her face like there always was. "Why is your hair pink?" Asked a female in a judging, nasal voice. Sakura arched an eyebrow and looked to the brown haired girl, shifting her weight to her right foot.

"Why is your hair brown?" Sakura asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. The girl furrowed her eyebrows together and looked at Sakura as if she was stupid.

"Um, because I got it from my mom?" She said, in a 'duhh' voice. Sakura looked at the girl, eyebrows raised with clear expectation on her face.

"Now, where do you think I got my hair color? I get mine from my father. To dumb it down for you, this is my natural hair color. There may be a few other girls with odd hair colors in this school, why do you single me out? That is a bit cruel, don't you think?" Sakura asked, before turning away. That was the signal that their conversation was over. What an idiot.

"You can go sit by Sasori-san." Tokiya-sensei said, completely ignoring the situation. Sakura arched an eyebrow. "Raise your hand, Sasori-san."

Sasori was the red haired guy. Everyone in class sat at tables that could seat two people, four if two others sat on the other side. Making her way to the back, she sat down next to him and set her stuff down on the table, keeping her distance from him as much as she could. He was such a creep. It doesn't help that she was supposed to stay away from the guys that creeped her out the most. She even told her friends that she would, not that it mattered.

She listened as the teacher droned on and on about the very first thing they were going to do this semester, and that was working on a bubble gum machine. Literally, cutting up blocks of wood and making one. Why would she want to build some bubble gum machine, where only her gum would stale? She didn't even like the type of gum that went in the gum machines. They always made her teeth hurt and want to melt.

Yeah, she didn't have much of a sweet tooth after puberty hit. It was probably one of the changes that happen. Like how she used to despise just looking at mustard, yet she would rather drown her hot dogs in ketchup and mustard now. Just to rid the taste of hot dogs. She wasn't a big fan of the meat, but if that was what was made that night at dinner, she'd do it.

Sakura shook herself from her odd thoughts. When did hot dogs come up? ..Oh, yeah. How weird.

You're tellin' me, honey.

The pinkette's eyes widened a fraction, surprised. What.. what in the seven hells was that? Was there a voice in her head?

Uh, yeah bitch. Don't you remember me from the good ol' days when you and Ino hated each other's guts?

Oh, dear Kami. It was that nut head again. What did she do to deserve this? Did she run over some poor squirrel in her past life? Oh, dear Kami! She wasn't a squirrel murderer!

We know this, you bafoon! Now stop your stupid thinking and pay attention, or else you might get called out!

Shut up, Inner! You are the one distracting me!

I wasn't the one thinking about puberty and hot dogs.

Oh, Sakura almost fumed red at that! You were always the one to rile me up, and here you are again, coming in my life all unannounced like you own the place!

I'm your alter ego, you baka! I can do what I want! It's my body too! You just got the stupid ability to control it!

Fuck off, Inner! I don't need to hear you babble right now! I was content with the years you were in hibernation mode! Sakura inwardly pouted.

You need me and you know it. Inner smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. Sakura huffed inwardly, deciding to ignore that last comment.

"Sakura-san, are you paying attention?" Asked Tokiya-sensei, an eyebrow arched. Day one and I'm already dozing off. Sakura nodded, staring intensely at the teacher.

"Of course I am, Tokiya-sensei. It is basically my first day, I need to be." Sakura replied in an even tone. She was such a great liar, she almost felt bad. Almost.

I'm wondering if that makes me a bad person?

You're toat's a bad person, Sakura.

"Okay, good. Because you need to know this stuff for the quiz on Friday."

The whole class besides a select few groaned. A quiz? Already?

"Tokiya-sensei, it's the beginner of the semester! Why?" A girl whined, looking at him with conflicted eyes.

"Sorry, ah.." He brought the paper held up in his hand close to his face, squinting his eyes some. "Mimori-san. But that is the way I teach my class."

So apparently little twig bitches like to whine a lot here.Inner Sakura chimed in. Sakura inwardly nodded, agreeing.

Yeah, seems to happen a lot here. Sakura replied, leaning back into her seat as she watched the teacher walk around the room, blabbing about the project. Sakura almost sighed. Stupid projects.

Don't take it out on the bubble gum machine, Outer. Inner Sakura snickered. Sakura almost face-palmed.

You bug me so much, Sakura began. Why are you here again? Oh. That's right. I was cursed with an alter ego. Why, Kami? Sakura inwardly sobbed.

I bring out the best in you and you know it.

Yeah riiight! Sakura replied, punching a fist forward inwardly.

There you go, getting all interesting! Inner laughed, pointing a finger at her. Sakura inwardly growled.

Shut up!

"Okay, so, your partners will be whoever you are seated with. I want you to go to the computers and begin researching and filling in your answers with your partner. Each pair only gets one piece of paper, so you have to work together. And no cell phones." He said, walking to the girl who whined earlier and plucking her iPhone out of her hand. The girl gasped and reached for it, but the teacher just pocketed it and continued on.

Great, so I'll be creepy's partner over here? Oh, lordy... Sakura groaned inwardly and glanced at him. He wasn't paying attention, just looking down at the paper in his hands and reading it. While he was reading it, Sakura did get a chance to oggle at him a little. Even though this was said before, he had messy blood red hair and pretty brown eyes. He was so handsome that it shocked her. He looked a little muscular, and well, he was flawless it seemed.

"Are you going to do any work or keep staring at me?" He asked, his voice devoid of any emotion. Sakura almost stiffened at the sound of his deep, yet quiet voice. Then a blush almost washed over Sakura's face, but she still held her blank facade.

"I was merely observing you." Sakura said, before she stood up. "Computers," She muttered as she turned around, walking over to a pair of open computers and sitting down. He followed after shortly, eyes still glued to the paper.

"There are.. ten questions on here... You can do five and so will I." He said, before logging onto the computer as a guest. Sakura followed his lead getting up Google's search engine. Let's see..

Sakura quickly filled in her half, and sat back, watching him. Apparently he had been done before her.

No way. That was quick even for me. There's no way he could have gotten it done in that amount of time!?

I guess you're gonna' have to believe it, baby. Inner Sakura commented. Sakura dozed off, glaring.

Don't call me baby.

I'll do what I want.. 'dattebayo.' Inner Sakura cackled, laughing at her misery.

Oh, don't even bring that up!

Heads up, hottie is speaking to you. Sakura blushed furiously, glaring at the wall.

Why you...!

"Tch. Are you even listening to me?" He asked, a frown on his beautiful face. Sakura almost swooned.

"Why should I?" She asked. "Do I not have a right to doze off when we finished our work ahead of time?"

He sneared and got up, a hand in his back pocket. It was at this time when Sakura even noticed the male's uniform. He wore a black button-down shirt with black pants held by a black belt. His jacket was discarded at his seat. Over the breast pocket, it wasn't Ame's insignia, but it was oddly a red cloud outlined in white.

Well, isn't that odd? How come he doesn't have Ame's insignia? Sakura asked herself, pondering this question.

Maybe he's in a special group that allows him to wear that. Sakura almost face-palmed. Of course! How come she didn't think about that? Because baby, you know I'm the smarter one out of us. Inner Sakura snickered. Sakura fumed.

You are not! You've been dormant for the past few years, you aren't!

CHA! SAYS WHO!? Inner Sakura screeched. Sakura brought her hands up to hold her head, eyes clenching shut.

Mind toning it down?! You're giving me a head ache! Sakura yelled. Inner Sakura just huffed, mumbling. Thank you.

"We got everything right," Sasori began, bending over to log off of the computer. Sakura nodded and logged off as well, grabbing her led pencil and sitting back down at her assigned seat. Sasori sat down next to her, folding his arms out in front of him and laying his head down on the desk. The bell rang soon after, and the two got up.

Pulling out her schedule, she frowned. She had lunch next, but she wanted to drop her things off in AP Calculus, which was her next class and was in hall H, room 493 with Minataro, Nai. Grabbing her things, she made her way out of the class room and looked from side to side, not entirely sure where this class was. What the flip! How was she going to get there? God, damn it.

She saw a certain red head walk out of the class, looking as cool as ever. He had his back pack slung on one shoulder, while his jacket was slung over the same one, his hand gripping it so it didn't fall. Quickly, Sakura jogged up next to him and tapped his shoulder. He stopped and looked down at her, arching a slim red eyebrow.

"What?"

Well, that was rude. Sakura mused, before scratching the back of her neck and answering him. "I can't find my next class.." Murmured the girl. He stared at her, and they were silent for a moment.

"...And?" His frown was ever present on his face, making her frown as well. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"I need help finding it.." The poor girl mumbled. He showed no expression, looking down at her.

"Whatever.." He mumbled back, glancing down at her. Sakura followed next to him, biting the inside of her cheek. Was he always like this?

They both kept silent, not exactly comfortable in eachother's presence but more so tolerant. He led her up two flights of stairs and turned left, his pace slow and posture nonchalont. He seemed so care free to Sakura, but she knew better than to only look at the exterior.

Sakura, curious but not showing it, glanced up at him. "What's with that red cloud on your shirt?" She asked. He glanced back, an eyebrow raising.

"An organization I'm in.." He muttered, looking back ahead of him. She nodded, her eyes trained in front of her.

"I see. What's it called?" Sakura asked. Maybe she could look into this once she got back to her room, and maybe ask Konan-san about it, or look it up on the school's website.

"Akatsuki." Was his one worded reply. Sakura kept this in mind as they stopped in front of her classroom door.

Sakura turned to him, bending over in a bow. "Arigato gozaimasu." Standing, she watched as he turned around and walked away. Sakura walked into her classroom and up to her teacher, Nai-sensei, showing her the schedule. Nai-sensei smiled at Sakura, nodding.

Nai-sensei had silky black hair, straight as a board. She had a pale complexion and was tall, and had dark brown eyes to match. Her teacher was very pretty that Sakura was almost jealous of her. "You may sit in the back, Haruno-san." Sakura bowed and took her schedule back before making her way into the back of the classroom, seating herself surprisingly next to Matsuri.

"I didn't know you had this class." Sakura spoke, looking over to the shy girl curiously. Matsuri picked at her skirt, nodding slightly.

"H-Hai.. I do."

The class was pretty much empty, but Sakura didn't care. She stood up and ordered Matsuri to leave her things behind and come with her to buy lunch, and eat outside. Besides, they had two halfs of free hour.

Matsuri got up and followed Sakura, a blush present on her face. Sakura smiled. Really, it was Sakura following Matsuri because she didn't know the way to go to get to the cafe.

They went through a maze of the hallways and then finally arrived, heading straight towards the lunch line. "What are you going to get?" Sakura asked, smiling at the shy girl. Said girl smiled shyly back, scratching her arm.

"B-Bento.."

"So am I!" Replied Sakura, now a grin washing over her face. It took a little while, but they finally got their orders. Sakura pulled out her student I.D. card she had found in her desk's drawer last night and swiped it in the card slot. It turned green and Sakura was let go. Matsuri followed after, and they made their way outside.

They found a big tree to sit under and quickly sat. It was a little bit away from the courtyard, luckily. The two didn't like being in places with bunches of people.

"So.. S-Sakura-san.. Why did you come here?" Asked Matsuri, seemingly breaking out of her shell. Sakura looked over to her.

"My parents got tired of me and threw me here after I painted on my school's wall. It was of a frog." Matsuri let out a laugh, covering her mouth. Sakura smirked and shrugged. "It was of my school's mascot- and somehow, they got it off! I don't even know how." Sakura chuckled.

They dug into their lunches. Sakura sighed blissfully at the taste of the pickled vegetables. She tore the lunch apart, eating up all of the meat and rice even. When Matsuri was done, they both walked to the trash can and threw their finished lunches away.

"Oh, look, it's Matsuri-chan. Sakura-san, what are you doing with the likes of her?" Asked an annoying voice. Sakura easily recognized the voice as Karin, the girl she had met. She was with Kin and Tayuya, and some purple haired girl with brown eyes to match.

"What do you mean 'the likes of her'?" Asked Sakura, arching an eyebrow. She stood by Matsuri, who had her head hung, playing with the hem of her skirt.

"Oh? You haven't heard?" Karin mocked, a hand over her mouth as she gave the two a patronizing look.

"I haven't." Sakura replied, her arms crossed over her ample chest. She stared down Karin, who in tern, stared back.

"Matsuri's mother whores herself around so she could get Matsuri to go to this school." Sakura heard a small sob come from Matsuri. From the corners of her eyes, she saw a crystal-like tear drop onto the ground.

Matsuri was devastated. She only had her friend for a day, and she was already going to hate her because of Karin and her stupid gang! Why couldn't they let her have at least someone? Sakura's going to hate her for sure now..

"I don't understand how that concerns you, or I, or anyone else at this school. What is her business, is hers." Matsuri's eyes widened as she looked up to Sakura, tears glistening in the sun. It was still a bit of a chilly day out, causing her cheeks to feel a little chapped.

"S-Sakura-sa-..san.." Matsuri hiccuped. Sakura turned to Matsuri with a heart-warming smile.

"I don't care what anyone says about you. You're my friend. Now.." Turning back to Karin, she gave her a dark look. Even though Sakura was about two inches shorter than her, she still managed to look intimidating. "Her mother is working hard earning money for Matsuri to have a good education. You leave her family issues alone. Nobody is making fun of you because you slept with the whole football team's guys." Sakura smirked, giving the girl a daring look.

Karin's face bled red, rage apparent in her eyes. "You BITCH!" She screamed, pulling her hand back as she got ready to slap the pinkette.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."