More than it seems – Chapter Two

Sakura contemplated her appearance in the mirror. Today was her first day of school, and although she hated that fact, she still wanted to make a good impression. She was wearing a simple dark green button up shirt that had a matching belt underneath her chest. Her dark washed denim jeans fitted her perfectly and on her feet were comfortable flip flops. Simple eyeshadow, liner and mascara made her jade colored eyes pop and her long, rose petaled hair floated around her body.

'Not too bad, although I know everyone will already have an impression of me before I even get there.'

Her idea wasn't too far fetched. She had received a call last night from her new principle, that stated that they, as in the entire student body, was excited that the Haruno heir would even think of coming to their humble school. The Haruno name was very polyonymous by many singers and actors for her father was the publisher of the famous magazine: The Asterism. The Asterism was your go to when you wanted the gossip about your favorite actor or actress. It always knew who was with who and what new movies were coming out before anyone else did. It was the inside scoop on everyone's 'off the screen' lives. To Sakura, The Asterism was a waste of time and brain cells and it also caused her a lot of trouble. Everyone associated the magazine with her, and everyone wanted to be her best friend because they assumed she was their one way ticket to the stars. The Asterism had caused much heart ache for the girl in the past when she found that some of her friends had only liked her because she was rich and for her celebrity perks. Of course, Sakura didn't even know any of the celebrities, only her father did. Also, because of her father's occupation, he was hardly home and he barely knew his 17 year old daughter, but that was business for you.

Sakura looked at her phone and the clock read 7:45. 'I guess I better head to school...' She grabbed her blue backpack and began the 15 minute walk to her new school. School didn't start till 8:15, but she was supposed to meet her cousin at the front gates. She had only met her cousin a couple of times on the holidays, but when he found out that she was moving back to Kohona, he insisted that he showed her the school, introduce her to his "tons" of friends, and show her the city. She couldn't deny him his wish, even though she wanted to, because she really did need a guide. 'I wonder if he still wears those ridiculous clothes..'

Lost in her musings, she didn't notice the young man until it was too late. A loud "Ouch!" could be heard from both parties as the young man and the young women collided. Sakura rubbed her bottom as she glanced at the person she ran into. It was a man, who she guessed was around her age, with spiky, out of control black hair. He was wearing baggy, kaki, cargo pants and a dorky plaid polo. The polo wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't in neon yellow and puke green. Covering his onyx eyes were huge, red, square glasses, which finished the dork motif. Finally snapping out of her long observation, she noticed he was hurriedly picking up loose papers off the ground before the wind decided to snatch them. "Sorry I wasn't watching were I …." He quickly cut off her apology with a glare "Watch where your going next time!" He then quickly grabbed the rest of his papers and ran off in the same direction she was headed. "How rude! I know I bumped into him, but he didn't even let me apologize. The nerve of him!" Sakura then proceeded to stomp the rest of the way to the school in worse mood than when she started.

Kohona High was no different than any other public school. It was an old three story, brick building with ivy crawling up the sides. It had lush, green grounds which many of the student were enjoying on this sunny morning. Some of the students were playing soccer, while others were catching up on the latest gossip before classes started. The only unusual difference about this school was that it had a ten foot brick wall around the school grounds with the only entrance being the iron gate which closed at 8:15 and opened at 3. This helped enforce the "no skipping rule", at least that is what the principle had stated the use for it was.

As Sakura neared the front gate, an orange blur materialized and ran toward her at top notch speed. "SAKURA-CHAN!" He threw his arms around her small form and lifted her off the ground. "I'm so glad to see you Sakura-chan. I haven't seen you in forever and now you living here and going to the same high school as me. Isn't that the coolest!"

Sakura felt her face slowly turning blue "Naruto...I...can't...breathe!"

Naruto quickly let go of her with an embarrassed laugh and began scratching the back of his head "Haha ...sorry about that Sakura-chan. I am just so excited that you are here!" He gave a lopsided grin, which must have been contagious since her lips started their own journey upwards " It's okay Naruto. No big deal."

"Great!" He then grabbed her hand and proceeded to drag her into the school vicinity. " I can't wait to introduce you to all of my friends. This is going to be the best year ever!" He quickly led her to the left side of the building where there was a tall tree that looked perfect for climbing. Underneath the tree was a teen sitting on the ground while using the tree to lean upon.

"Shikamaru! Get your lazy butt over here and introduce yourself to my amazing cousin Sakura-chan!"

The teen, now known as Shikamaru, only cracked his eyes open and lazily waved in her general direction "Naruto, you are too troublesome...nice to meet you Sakura. Sorry that you have to be related to someone as troublesome as Naruto."

Sakura giggled at the steaming Naruto "Nice to meet you too Shikamaru-san."

" Suffixes are troublesome Sakura. It's just Shikamaru."

Naruto started looking around widely "Ehh...Shikamaru where's TenTen?"

The leaves above the group starting rustling and suddenly a girl jumped down from the tree and landed in front of them "Boo!" She then started crackeling manicly at their shocked expressions "Haha you should have seen your faces. 'Where's innocent, little TenTen?' and then I scared you to death. Hahaha... it was priceless."

Shikamaru shook his head at her immatureness as Naruto yelled back at her promising to get her next time.

"You won't ever be able to stump me. I'm like a ninja."

"Nuh huh! Your not even close to a ninja. Your like a Princess Leah with your hair like that!"

" I'll show you a Princess Leah!"

"Ahh save me Sakura-chan!"

"Are they always like this?" Sakura discreetly whispered to Shikamaru as TenTen chased Naruto around the tree. He only nodded mutely.

After the two calmed down and Sakura was properly introduced to TenTen, she found out that TenTen and Shikamaru were both juniors just as Naruto and her were. Shikamaru was always lazy and his favorite hobby was cloud watching. TenTen, on the other hand, was a real tomboy and she used her abrasive nature against bullies and she loved to pull pranks. Soon after, the bell rang informing students that they had five minutes to get to their respective classes. Of course, everyone else knew which class to head towards while poor little Sakura had no clue.

"Um..guys..where's the office so I can get my schedule?"

TenTen put her hands on her hips and glared at Naruto "You haven't taken her to the office yet? How is the world were you going to show her to her classes if she doesn't even know what classes she has? Baka!"

"Haha...it must have slipped my mind?" Naruto's poor excuse only made TenTen's glare worsen. A sigh was heard in Shikamaru's direction as he stood up to join the trio "As troublesome as this all is, I'll take Sakura to the office to get her schedule."

Both TenTen's and Naruto's jaw slacked in shock "But Shikamaru..you never do favors for anyone."

He put his hands in his pockets and slowly began the trek back towards the school entrance " This is troublesome, but it is better for me to do it then to let you two continuing arguing on how much an idiot Naruto is."

Sakura laughed at Naruto's dumbstruck expression "Haha come on guys or you will be late for class."

Naruto just flashed her a cheshire grin "Funny one Sakura-chan."

At Sakura's confused stare, TenTen decided to explain "You see, Naruto is lucky and has Kakashi-sensei for first period and unlike Gai-sensei, he is never on time. Sometimes, Kakashi doesn't even show up."

"Oh.."

After TenTen and Naruto (he was being dragged by his ear) scurried to their first class, Shikamaru and Sakura began the journey to the school office. The trip was pretty boring, but it did give Sakura a chance to esteem the student body. You had your preps, your jocks, the hot seniors, the dorks, the nerds, the goths and the punks. 'I wonder what kind of group I will settle into?'

After reaching the office, Sakura was given her schedule by a nice lady named Shizune. Unlike many other schools in the past, she didn't receive any "good luck" wishes, but she did receive a nice, encouraging smile. After finding her assigned locker, she began looking over her schedule.

"Hey Shikamaru?" He grunted to show he was listening. "Didn't TenTen say earlier that Naruto had first period with Kakashi-sensei?" He nodded, confused on why she was asking. "Well I have it too."

Shikamaru sighed " If I had know that, I would have let Naruto lead you to class...troublesome."

Sakura gave her best apologetic smile "I'm sorry. I'm sure I can find the class from here. Thanks for taking me to the office."

He shook his head, grabbed her hand, and began leading her to her first class. What they didn't know was a pair of jealous eyes were watching them the entire time.

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When Sakura entered her first class, it was utter chaos. Students were talking loudly, paper balls were being thrown everywhere and students were lounging on their desk tops.

"Sakura-chan! Over here!"

Looking across the room in the back, Sakura saw Naruto waving wildly for her to come join him.

She smiled in greeting as she walked over and sat next to him "Is class always this crazy?"

Naruto sat back with his feet propped up on his desk "Nah! It's only this crazy before Sensei gets here."

Sakura shook her head and glanced as the door opened. She was expecting it to be the teacher, but instead she was surprised to see it was the young man that she had ran into earlier. However, this time there was something different. For some reason, he was soaking wet from head to toe and as he walked to his desk across the room from hers, he left a trail of water.

'How...?' She looked outside to see it still perfectly sunny and not a storm cloud in the sky.

"Poor guy..." muttered Naruto as he took in the saturated state of the boy.

"What happened to him?"

Naruto's face suddenly became serious as he looked into her eyes "His name is Uchiha Sasuke. Bullies pick on him because he's an easy target. As you can see from his apparel, he is not exactly popular. I'm guessing they shoved him into the showers again."

Picking up on her horrified expression he put his hand up in defense "Don't worry Sakura-chan. I don't think he is a bad guy just because he is a dork, but every time I have tried talking to him, he is a jerk. I have tried multiple times to be his friend, but after so many times, I just quit trying." He side glanced at her, giving her a once over "I don't think you will have to worry about the bullies. Although you may want to stay away from your new fan club. Who knew my cousin was so hot?"

A slight blush lingered on her cheeks as she saw other guys in the class checking her out. Luckily, she didn't have to suffer long, since the door opened and the teacher walked in. The classroom quickly came into order as he walked up to the front podium.

"Class I'm sorry I'm late. You see I saw this old lady and.."

He was quickly cut off by a chorus of students yelling "LIAR!"

"What you don't believe me?"

"NO!"

"Where tired of hearing your stupid excuses" yelled a student in the back

"Yeah!" yelled another student "Your just reading your porn!"

"Hm..." Kakashi scratched his chin thoughtfully "You guys are right. I do need to take more responsibility as your teacher." He then put his right hand over his heart as he was pledging to the class "From this day forth I, Hatake Kakashi, promise to take more responsibility for this third year math class." He then removed his hand and smirked at the class "So now, you can add 30 more math problems to your homework tonight." Groans resounded through the small classroom.

"Now that that is over with" He clapped his hands in front of him "We have a new student today and I'm sure she would love to introduce herself!"

Sakura closed her eyes and inwardly groaned. Eventually, which felt longer than the actually two seconds it was, she stood up in her chair and walked to the front of the classroom where Kakashi motioned her to stand.

"Just tell us a little about yourself: your name, where your from, why your here, hobbies, likes, dislikes. You get the picture."

Sakura looked out at the classroom, wishing that Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were there with her. She saw Naruto smiling encouragingly and she Sasuke in the back staring at her with an extremely bored expression. "My name is Sakura and I just moved here from Suna because of my dad's business. I love to read, listen to music, hang out with my friends, and IM. I am in love with chocolate raspberry ice cream from Brusters...hm" She looked around thoughtfully " I dislike being judged and cliques."

She looked at Kakashi and he nodded her back to her seat "Very interesting Miss Sakura. No last name though?"

She shook her head "Just Sakura please."

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders "Now onto Algerbra II..."

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Sakura jumped on her bed, exhausted after her first day of school. 'It was a pretty good first day of school and Naruto did hold onto his word about introducing me to his friends. I met TenTen, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Kiba. Hopefully, I can make them my friends as well.' She thought back to an incident that happened right before lunch and frowned 'I don't know what I'm going to be doing about that though...'

Flashback

Sakura had just finished class and was heading towards the cafeteria for lunch. Naruto had promised to introduce her to the rest of his friends at lunch and she was looking forward to meeting more people. She was just about to round the corner when

"Sakura-chan! Wait up!"

Sakura looked up, expecting a blonde haired blue eyed, but just not this one. This one was definitely the opposite of the messy, exuberant blonde she was related to. This one had on the most stylish clothes and make up and every stay hair was in its place.

The blonde extended her hand in greeting "Hello my name is Ino and word is that your the new student at Kohona High."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. Of course she is the new student. How could you miss someone with PINK hair?

Ino continued rambling on "And as captain of the cheerleading squad, I have taken it upon myself to make you feel welcome on your first day. Come. I'll let you sit with me and my squad at lunch."

Sakura smiled politely although inwardly she was irked. 'She will LET us sit with her and her squad. Who does she think she is? She acts as if it is an honor!'

"I'm sorry Ino, but I am already have lunch plans. Maybe another time."

Ino's eyes instantly narrowed at the dismissal and she pointed one of her French, manicured nailed finger at her "Listen up Forehead. I was trying to be nice, but I guess you want to do this the hard way. If you get in my way in the slightest, prepare for social suicide. Got it!" She then flipped her hair and stormed down the hallway.

Sakura was later informed from Hinata, who she met in her second hour class and who was also a good friend of Naruto's, that Ino wasn't one of the populars. She was THE popular. Ino ruled the school and if anyone got in her way, she took them down. She always wore the most stylist clothes and dated any guy she wanted. It was always best to stay out of her way, and for some reason, it seems that Sakura had painted a red target sign on her back.

End Flashback

"I guess I will just have to deal with this Ino problem when I get a chance." She then glanced at her backpack filled with homework and then at her computer. " I really should do my homework, but IMing my friends first won't hurt..." Lesson One: Procrastination always wins. Always.

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On the end of my computer...

So what did you think of the second chapter? As promised, I made it longer than the first. I'm hoping to keep the chapters this size and update every week. Thank you so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them and it is very encouraging! Thanks to: Sienna Maiu, Caged Bird and Weapon Mistress, and konnichiha yoshi-chan.

Anways, tomorrow is my bday! I'm so excited! Cake and presents! What can be better than that? Well back to the present, I hope you all liked the second chapter. Please review! Thanks!

-FakeMirage