Chapter 2

After the program Sakura retreated back to her dorm. She collapsed on her bed, tears streaming from her eyes. This was truly unfortunate. She wasn't a fool, she had read enough to know that Rumpistiltskin would be the one coming to collect her child if she couldn't find love. Who else would make a deal like that? Sakura almost didn't hear the door to her room open through her sobs.

"Are you okay?" Sakura turned to see Matsuri, Belle, standing at the door, a thick book tucked under her arm.

"Well," Sakura began as she wiped at her eyes. "I think I'm doing pretty good for a girl who's going to lose her unborn child." Matsuri frowned at that, understanding appearing on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," She said, the discomfort in her eyes showing Sakura that she didn't know how to react. Sakura mustered up a pained smile.

"It's alright. Don't worry, I'll be fi-" Sakura was interrupted when the door was slammed open. Mulan, or Tenten, stormed in.

"Matsuri, I cant find my ro-" She abruptly stopped talking when she detected Sakura. "Why are you crying?" She snapped, causing Sakura to jerk back.

"Well, my baby is go-" Sakura began only to be cut off by Tenten's demeaning voice.

"Oh, just kill him when he comes for your kiddo. You'll be fine, girly. If you can't do it, call on me," She pulled out a shining knife, a smile appearing on her face. "I'll take care of him," She grinned as a shiver of fear crawled down Sakura's spine. Tenten whirled back around to Matsuri before waving her room number in front of her face. "Now come on, I can't find my chambers!" With that, Tenten spun on her heel and went to wait in the hall. Matsuri drifted after her, pausing only to say something to Sakura.

"Don't worry, she's actually really nice," She then turned to walk, pausing once again, a smile on her kind face. "Why don't you come along? Maybe meeting the others will help!" Sakura stared as her, weighing her options. Between meeting other girls and sulking in her room the choice was obvious.

"Thanks," She said as she wiped her face off, standing up and hurrying after the beautiful brunette.

"No problem," Matsuri smiled at her as they entered the hall, nearly running into an impatient Tenten.

"You took forever!" The tomboy announced, her eyes skating from Matsuri to Sakura. "The pink haired chick is tagging along?" Sakura blushed at that, running a hair over her long, slightly knotted hair. She was slightly embarrassed by the bright, painfully noticeable color of her stubborn hair. Tenten, however, had a teasing grin on her face, her eyes glittering with amusement. That was enough to make Sakura feel more comfortable.

"Let's go!" Matsuri chirped, a smile on her face as she locked arms with both Tenten and Sakura at the same time.

"Hey! You know I don't like that!" Tenten smiled teasingly, pretending to try to jerk her arm away as Matsuri giggled.

"Not as much as you don't like dresses!" Matsuri sang, earning a hateful glare from Tenten.

"Don't speak of those wretched things," Tenten hissed as Matsuri chuckled loudly, her walk turning to a skip.

"I hope they have a library here!" Matsuri exclaimed, her eyes dancing with excitement. "Then I'll get to read from even more authors!" Tenten snorted loudly, her brown eyes rolling again.

"You and your books," She said, her tone mocking as Matsuri elbowed her.

"Don't even start! I know you'll be looking for a weapons collection!" Matsuri chuckled as Tenten grinned deviously.

"You know me all too well!" She said, a leer on her face that caused Matsuri's chuckle to turn to a gracious laugh. Naturally, Sakura felt a bit dis-included from the best friend's conversation. Her only choice was to politely invade the chat.

"Where are we headed?" Both of the girls turned to look at the pinkette.

"Why, to find Tenten's room, of course!" Matsuri exclaimed, a smile on her face. Tenten smiled as well, but her smile was far more reserved then Matsuri's warm, open grin. It wasn't hard to see how Matsuri was open and loving to all. Sakura guessed that that was what made her the Beauty out of the 'Beauty and the Beast' equation. She returned the smile, hoping that she could make a friend out of this girl.

"Alright, where are we going to meet other girls?" Matsuri grinned at that, turning to push open a door. Inside sat a familiar shy, dark-haired girl. Up close she was even more beautiful, and that was enough to make Sakura a bit jealous. What was odd was the open window, the curtains flying in the wind. What was even stranger was the fact that the beautiful Hyuuga was covered in birds, birds of all kinds.

"H-hello," She said, a small smile appearing on her ruby lips.

"I'm rooming with you?" Tenten burst from the line of locked arms, plopping on the bed next to Hinata. Her action was enough to send Hinata's friends scurrying out the window, flapping off into the sky. "Oh...sorry?" Tenten smiled sheepishly as Hinata stared after the birds. Hinata was quick to recover.

"Oh, it is fine. They were just made a bit..." She paused as if looking for the right word, a blush coming over her face. "Ne-nervous...about..making...new.." The pauses between her words grew longer and her face grew redder.

"Friends?" Matsuri asked as she unlocked her arm with Sakura's, making her way over to the bed and sitting on Hinata's other side. "Because if that's what the birds are afraid of, make sure to tell them that I'll happily be their friend!" Matsuri beamed as Hinata, Snow White, blushed, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Thanks," Hinata whispered, her stunning lavender eyes transferring to the ground.

"Your welcome!" Matsuri chirped as she scooped up Hinata's hand, pulling the shy girl off the bed. "Now let's go, girls, we gotta get to the library!" Tenten stood, a smile on her face.

"No thanks, Belle, I wanna stay here and settle in!" Matsuri frowned at that.

"Just call me Matsuri," She said as she let go of Hinata's hand. "And you have to come! Please!" Tenten smiled at Matsuri as she dropped a few weapons onto her bed. She shrugged, turning her back on her best friend and polishing her sharp toys to a metallic shine. Matsuri pouted at her. "Fine!" She said, pulling both Sakura and Hinata from the room. "Sakura, Hinata, and I will have fun without you!" With that Matsuri began walking down the hall, her grip on Sakura and Hinata's hands turning to locked arms.

"So, ladies, what kind of books do you like?" Matsuri smiled at both of her new friends in turn, happily awaiting their answers. Sakura pondered the question, and all too soon came to her answer.

"I-I like faerytales," Hinata smiled in return to Matsuri's grin.

"Really? I love those! I absolutely adore nearly all books!" Masuri's walk morphed into a skip to reflect her joyous mood. "What about you, Sakura?" Sakura gnawed at her lip as she pondered telling the truth. With a sigh, she decided to give her new friends honesty.

"I like medical books and manuscripts," Sakura knew what she said was wrong when Matsuri's skip stopped.

"Really?" She cried, her dark eyes wide and staring into the now-blushing Sakura. "I love those! I mean, after a while I lose interest, but the new, enriching facts can be intriguing!"

"Nerds," The word echoed down the hall, and Matsuri, Sakura, and Hinata looked up to see Temari/Rapunzel, and Karin/Ariel, smiling at them down the hall. Temari giggled, a laugh that wasn't malicious at all. "Don't look so hurt, I was just kidding!" Temari smiled at them, breaking her smile only to blow and thus pop her bubble. Karin pushed up her glasses, smiling teasingly as she spoke.

"Although it is rather nerdy to enjoy manuscripts!" She said, her tone mocking. Matsuri grinned in reply, a teasing eye roll ensuing from her.

"Yeah, Karin, because you haven't read your fair share of manuscripts!" Karin laughed as Matsuri broke from the arm link once more, running over and wrapping her arms around Karin and Temari in a giant bear hug.

"I haven't seen you forever!" Temari laughed, her smile joyous. "Now come on, I have someone for you to meet!" She gestured for Hinata and Sakura to follow as well, so the mix-matched group of girls paraded together down the hall. Temari burst into her room, revealing a girl sitting at her desk. The blonde stood up and was quickly recognized as Ino, or Aurora.

"Oh, hello, I was writing in my diary," The beautiful blonde quickly shut the book, locking it with a key.

"What do you have in there?" Karin asked, smiling deviously as she lunged for the purple, lacy book. Soon, the Uzumaki and Yamanaka were wrestling on the floor over it. It took only a moment for Temari to join in, outnumbering Ino and therefore rising victorious with the book.

"This is an invasion of privacy!" Ino yelled as Temari broke the lock, a malicious grin on her face. Before she could read a word, the book was snatched from her hands.

"Temari," Temari's sea foam green eyes travelled down to meet Matsuri's dark orbs. "This is intrusive towards Ino's dignity!" Matsuri gave the book back to the frazzled blonde, who clutched it protectively to her chest. Matsuri put her hands on her hips as the older girl laughed.

"Something wrong?" All eyes turned to see Tenten leaning on the door frame, spinning a kunai around her finger.

"Oh, nothing. Karin and I were teasing Ino and it upset Matsuri!" Temari laughed again as Matsuri cracked a smile. She went over and said something

to Ino, who soon let it go as well.

...

Alright, this chapter will have rose some questions. In the next chapter, the curses and roles as well as other schools will be briefly explained. I'm gonna leap straight into the action with this one, so we have to explain as we go ;) Thanks for reading and reviewing, and feel free to ask questions! ;)