Well here's the next chapter, I managed to get it done in a short space of time. The ideas just kept coming :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 2 – Rumors and Dissecting Frogs

"SAKURAAAAAA-CHANNN!"

Sakura winced slightly, good lord it was too early for his antics.

Louder.

"SAKURAAAAAAAA-CHANNNNN!"

She ran down the stairs, the front door in eye sight, the steps thumping from her heavy feet.

Even Louder.

"SAKURAAAAAAAA-CHANNNNN!"

Jumping the last couple of steps, she rushed to the door. Grabbing the handle she opened it, greeted by the sight of her loud mouthed friend.

"SAKURRR...OUCHHH"

She punched him in the arm, hard.

"BAKA I'M HERE STOP SHOUTING!" Sakura shouted into his face as he leaned back, dropping his back in sudden terror of being pounded into orange coloured mash potatoes.

"Ano, gomen Sakura-Chan but you left me waiting out here and we're going to be late!"

"No excuse to stand outside my house shouting your head off fool." Forever the number one knuckle headed loudmouth. Shaking her head with a slight smile Sakura backed off and walked past Naruto, him picking up his rucksack he stumbled after her trying not to get too shuffled behind by her fast pace.

"Ehhhh another year all over again.." He sighed putting his hands behind his head closing his eyes in contemplation. "Baa-Chan threatened to hold me back if I don't improve my grades this year!"

Yup another year, hopefully not one like last year, self indulged and drama induced. It dragged out for so long, draining the energy out of her and all her friends. None of them could wait for the blissful six week long vacation soaked in summer sun rays.

And now they were back.

Taking a long painfully deep sigh, she tried to look at the positives of starting a new year. Maybe something good would finally happen for her this time, she prayed with real hope. She wouldn't let that pretty boy get to her this time, she wouldn't let him make a fool out of her again. Bastard.

Sakura concentrated on her thoughts and listened to the sounds of the crunch of pebbles down the back alley path.

'CHAAAAAA WE'LL KICK HIS ASS IF HE TRIES ANYTHING AGAIN!'

She smiled at Inner Sakura's threats.

'Yeah we'll kick his ass'

"Earth to Sakura-Chan!" Naruto jibbed, poking her shoulder. "Ano, you won't let that teme get to you this time, ne?"

She glanced at him, his eyes squinting in curiosity, a small smile graced her face as she crossed her arms tighly across her chest. It was like he was reading her mind.

"Like hell I will, if he tries anything like last time and I'll beat him to a pulp!"

Naruto stared intently at her for a brief moment his electric blue eyes questioning the truth in her statement, then happy with her reply he broke out into a goofy grin.

"I'll be there right beside you, no one messes with you and gets away with it Sakura!"

She grinned back at him.

"Real cute Naruto."

The school was crowed as usual. Emotions high as those who hadn't seen each other all summer for whatever reason caught up with recent events, others standing around dreading what the term held in store.

Walking past the crowds, greeting some with a smile and Naruto a loud whale they walked into the entrance. A group of students crowded at the office collecting their timetables prompted them to do the same.

The pair walked up to the desk to be greeted by the dark short haired receptionist.

"Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Haruno . . . Haruno, ah! Here you are and Uzumaki right at the bottom!" She handed their timetables over, a bright smile on her face.

"Arrigatou Shizune-sama."

Sakura smiled back. A loud squeal of shock came from Naruto, she turned her attention back to him.

"EHHHHHHHHH WHAT KIND OF A JOKE IS THIS, I HAVE OROCHIMARU AGAIN THIS YEAR, I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO FAIL, AHHHHHHHH!"

Naruto glared at his paper in discontentment, cursing the words.

Sakura had to admit it, Orochimaru was, well, down right weird. Constantly locked in the lab, dealing out detentions like they were leaflets, appearing at the most inappropriate moments, dissecting frogs for no reason. That and the rumours going around about him and his assistant Kabuto getting down with it in the lab after hours was just plain disturbing.

But Tsunade had insisted that no matter how weird his vices were he was still the best at what he did. Creepy but the best.

"Great, looks like I have him for Science too." Sakura studied her timetable.

Registration – Kakashi Hatake

Science – Orochimaru

English – Iruka Umino

Break

Math – Ibiki Morino

PSE - Jiraiya

Lunch

History – Anko Mitarashi

PE – Might Gai

'Yup, all the weird teachers. Just peachy.'

"Hey Sakura, did you happen to hear that a guy from the year above is being held back into our year?" Naruto asked, breaking her thought pattern.

"Oh?" Sakura leaned against the wall, looking at him with faint curiosity.

"Yeah, I heard he's one of them ones who constantly get into fights outside school and gets suspended."

Nice, another hot headed moron joining the rest of the testosterone laden boys. As if there weren't enough of them. That fool and his group were about all she could take, adding another would be like adding fuel to an open fire. Her eye twitched at that thought.

'Or maybe he's a yummy bad boy!'

Inner Sakura swooned at the thought of a hot, hunky piece of manly yumminess intruding on her classes.

She snorted in response.

"Here she is!" A happy voice cut through the silence of her thoughts. She smacked away the hand she felt reaching over her shoulder, turning around to see Kiba, Hinata and Neji. The two boys smirking and Hinata shyly looking away from a certain blond haired loudmouth.

"Is that a way to greet your buddy?" Kiba asked, then settled for a light punch in the arm by Sakura. "Ouch! Forever the masochist Sakura!" He winked, she rolled her eyes in an exaggerated motion.

"So who you guys got first period? We got stuck with Kakashi-Sensei." She asked, her gaze drifting from Kiba, to Neji and finally on Hinata.

"Hatake." Kiba stated holding up his timetable.

"Hatake too." said Neji, motioning to his timetable as well.

"I h-have H-Hatake-s-sensei t-t-too, looks l-like we'll all b-be together." Hinata stuttered, cheeks reddening slightly under oblivious Naruto's gaze. The idiot still hadn't caught on to her oh-so-obvious crush on him, honestly everyone knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but seriously he couldn't actually be that obtuse. If he didn't catch on soon, Sakura would make it her personal mission to get them together by the time the end of the school year was out.

"Well that's a positive, last year we were all split up." Kiba grinned at Sakura, she smiled back. Perhaps things were looking up.

The bell rang through the school, students slowly beginning to motion to their first class.

"Eh there's no point in getting their early, Kakashi-Sensi will only be late anyway!" Naruto whined. He was right, even after all there years they had with infamous smut reading Kakashi, he was always still perpetually and annoyingly late. And when they confronted him about it, dramatically over exaggerating how his tardiness was going to effect their learning time, he would simply come up with a lame ass excuse like, "I got lost on the road to life." Or his less well received, "I was arranging my sock draw and stitching pigeons together." Honestly that man had no creativity.

"Suppose you're right, might as well hang around and see if any of the others are in the same class."

They all nodded in agreement at Neji's thought. Ever so slowly all five of them made there way down the halls, if there was one thing they new about Hatake Kakashi, he never rushed.

'Registration: Kakashi Hatake'

Glancing at the clock it read 9.00am. Registration started 20 minutes ago, but judging by the rumors he guessed Hatake wouldn't be there yet.

Gaara scoffed to himself. That porn reading aloof teacher who couldn't be on time to save his life. Yeah he'd overhead all about him. Well he supposed anything was better than having Gai as a mentor.

He was in an irritated mood. Temari. It was her fault. She had made it her personal mission to sit him down at the breakfast table and give him a huge assed lecture on approching the year with the right attitude, yeah right.

"Gaara I know your not exactly the socializing type, but so help me god if I find out your get into anymore fights! Tsunade-sensei said this is your last chance."

He wondered what was bigger, Tsuande's cleavage or her mouth. She just had to get his siblings involved. Now they wouldn't get off his case.

Passing down the empty halls he peered into the other class rooms from the corner of his eye. Classes during registration hour, always a jungle. Ebisu was clearly being given a hard time by his class, he was trying to gain the attention of a student who was too busy to listen as he was tying his friend to a chair. Gaara instantly recognised the brown haired kid, Konohamaru. That brat was always in detention with him, he used to try and make pointless conversations with him. Well that is until he sent him a death glare.

'Keep talking and I'll make lunch meat out of you.'

The kid practically pissed his pants right there.

Walking down the hall he could still hear Ebisu shouting, trying to reason with him.

"Konohamaru that is no way to behave! How do you expect to come out on top of the class with this kind of attitude?"

Pathetic, couldn't control his students.

Orochimaru's class sat quietly, a sort of scared look instilled on their faces. The teacher at the front of the class doing something to a frog, dissecting it? What were those rumours about Orochimaru and his assistant again?

Kurenai's class had various groups doing their own thing, groups of boys playing cards around a table, others listening to music at the back of the class, girls by the window staring into mirrors applying more make up. Kurenai was situated at the front of the class talking to another teacher while sitting at the edge of her desk. Asuma. Gaara smirked, it was so obvious to the rest of the school that there was something going on between those two. The way she stood there twirling a lock of her hair, smiling flirty grin as she spoke to Asuma, gentle touches to his shoulder as he spoke. Women.

Walking past the lockers and toilets that had already had wet tissue paper lobbed at the door, Gaara stopped at the worn out brown door at the end of the hall and peered at the sign.

Room 12 – Kakashi Hatake

This was his class. Without a care in the world, he opened the door and walked into the room.

Sakura sat sheepishly at her desk. Sighing deeply she stared at the clock, this was getting old.

"And then I kicked his ass like this!"

The group was gathered around Naruto who was standing in front of Sakura's desk. Neji, TenTen and Kiba on one side of Sakura and Hinata, Shikamaru and Choji on the other. As it would be luck was on their side, a majority of their group were in the same form this year.

Naruto tried to do something that resembled a round house kick into the air but instead successfully stacked backwards onto Sakura's desk, knocking the pair of them back onto the hard floor.

"NARUTO!"

"OUCH!"

She punched him, in the back of the head this time, even harder.

"This is getting boring." Neji commented while motioned to help Naruto up. Sure he'd provided a small bit of entertainment with his goofy antics, but now he was just getting on Sakura's nerves. She'd felt damn restless ever since she entered the classroom, waiting to see if he was in the same class. Time was getting on and no sign of him so far.

'Good.'

But still, waiting made her feel on edge.

"What a drag, how much longer is Hatake gunna take?" Shikamaru looked perpetually bored as ever, sitting in his chair the wrong way slouched over the backrest, scowling as Choji scattered crumbs over his desk.

"Least we get a free period to do nothing!" Naruto's happy voice cut through Shikamaru's brooding.

Naruto now on his feet, turned to help Sakura up. The door creaking opening caught everyone's attention, both Naruto and Sakura ready to pounce on Kakashi, berating him for being late.

But it wasn't Kakashi that came through the door. Oh hell no.

Time seemed to slow down, his eyes automatically locking with hers making her feel like they were the only two people in the room.

Jade eyes met emerald eyes, red hair met pink hair.

Sakura's mouth hung open slightly, with the inside going dry.

'CHHHAAAAAAAAAAA HOT SEXY PIECE OF MANLY YUMMINESSS!'

Inner Sakura's voice didn't seem to really register.

He stood standing straight, arms crossed over his chest. His blood red hair stood in contrast to his marble white skin. Back tanuki-like rings surrounding pale jade eyes, drawing attention up to the kanji tattoo on his forehead, 'love'.

'LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!'

Inner Sakura swooned and fainted. Leaving Sakura's thoughts blank.

Baggy black cargo pants, heavy black boots, black shirt with most of the top buttons undone showing off the top of his well defined chest, sleeves rolled up exposing strong toned arms. Drool. Everything screamed mysterious dark bad boy. Oooo bad boy indeed. Ah, not a good thing to be swooning over.

Naruto was so taken back by the intense atmosphere around this guy, his hold accidentally loosed on Sakura's wrist. Her intense staring competition with the red head abruptly came to an end when she felt the hard floor under her rear. That broke the silence. Idiot.

"God damn it Naruto!"

"AHHHH SORRY SAKURA CHAN!" Naruto wailed rushing to pull her back up onto her feet, on his guard in case Sakura tried to pummel him into a squishy pulp.

Wincing at her slightly stinging rear she looked up to see the red head still staring at her with a look she couldn't place, but it made her incredibly nervous. Sakura's face heated up.

'Ahhh he's staring what to do, what do I do, what do I do!'

'STOP GAPING LIKE A FISH AND INTRODUCE US, CHAAAAA!'

Naruto beat her to it, he cleared his throat gaining the redhead's to eyes focusing on him, "Hiiii! I'm Naruto, this is Sakura-chan! Ano,what's your name?"

'Sakura.'

His eyes briefly flickered back to Sakura when he said her name, but then he returned his attention back to the cheery blue eyed kid. Naruto had strolled up to the jade eyed newcomer, holding out his hand. The red head eyed his hand with a look of distaste, his non existent eyebrows frowning, but before he could do anything, the door creaked opened again gaining everyone's attention.

Kakashi. Perfect timing.

Kakashi peered from behind the door, rubbing the back of his neck, he creased his eyes.

Simultaneously Naruto and Sakura scolded, "YOUR LATE!"

Reviews, please? :)