Author's Note: Hi! Did you guys like the first chapter? I was so happy that you guys read it / reviewed / story alerted / Faved it! I even got a favourite author adding thing! I'm so happy! Every time I found out I got a new review / alert, etc, I squealed with happiness… Yeah, my parents and my dad's friend think I'm weird now, but never mind!

I will try to balance out Sakura's character people! Constructive criticism is always welcome!

On another note, I just found out that the first letter of each word in the title spells VINTA. O.O It's weird, but a suitable nickname, don't you think? ;)

Thanks to Hika-BOOO the Awesome for reviewing and adding this to your story alert, Midnighter67 for adding this to your favourite stories list, Souka105 for adding this to your favourite stories list, and last but not least, nadeshiko stars18 for reviewing, adding this to your favourite stories list, adding me to your favourite authors list as well as adding this to the story alerts and author alerts! (phew) Hugs to you all!

Now, ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto. Sadly, we can't all get what we wish for.

(I forgot this part in Chapter One)

'thinking'

'Inner Sakura'

"Talking"

Violence Is Not The Answer

Chapter Two

'Okay, Sakura, you can do this,' Sakura's mental pep talk did little to calm her racing heart. '…No! I can't do this!'

'Outer-chan! Stop being a pansy and open the damn door!' Inner Sakura yelled, getting fed up of Sakura hyperventilating outside of the door to her house (read: impending doom). Even though Inner Sakura had used such brave words, Sakura could hear the underlying fear and trepidation that Inner had tried to hide. This was, after all, their parents they were talking about. Sakura took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

"Tadaima!" Sakura called tentatively, hoping against hope that her parents had suddenly had to leave for a business trip and would not return for a few years. Okay, maybe not years… months? Sadly, the pinkette's hopes were shattered when her mother's voice rang coldly through the otherwise silent house, "Sakura, your father and I are in the living room."

Sakura walked past hallways filled with expensive paintings and vases of freshly cut flowers to enter the large living room. Her parents were seated side by side on one of the plush couches. Sakura sank into the couch opposite them silently. From the less-than-happy expressions on their faces, Sakura knew that they had already received The News.

She fidgeted in her seat, eyes firmly fixed on her hands that were placed neatly on her lap, feeling her parents' eyes boring holes into her. A maid set a cup of tea gently in front of Sakura, on the coffee table placed between the two couches, before high-tailing it out of the room. Sakura didn't blame her. The tension was so thick, one could probably cut it with a knife.

"Sakura," Her father's voice broke the silence. "You were expelled from school." Here, he stopped, almost as if waiting for her to deny it. Sakura knew better. It was best not to interrupt him when he was angry. After realizing that she would not say anything, her father continued, "Due to your instigating a fight." He spat out the last word like it was a dirty word, and to him, it probably was.

Sakura raised her head and met her father's forest green gaze. She saw his anger, his disappointment, and his disgust. He continued to speak, "I thought we raised you better than that."

"I'm sorry, Father, Mother. I was preventing a schoolmate from being bullied, so –" Sakura tried to explain her reasoning. This was bad, really bad. Her parents seemed to radiate anger in waves.

"It does not matter. Do not try to make excuses. You're lucky that the students were kind enough to drop the charges against you! What were you thinking? I am ashamed to be called your mother! I don't want a daughter like you!" Her mother's words hurt so much; it was almost like being stabbed repeatedly in the heart with a knife. Sakura bit her lip in a bid to stop her tears from falling.

'Come on, Outer-chan… be strong! Who needs them anyway?' Inner Sakura tried to encourage Sakura, despite her own voice trembling with barely suppressed tears.

"How could you be expelled from school? I thought we told you! Our associates, other people of our standing, would scrutinize every action of ours! Every bad thing that you do reflects badly on us! You have ruined our reputations and tarnished our family name! What have you to say for yourself?" Sakura's father demanded, progressively getting louder and louder, until he was standing and shouting at her.

Finally, her father, ending his tirade, slumped back down onto the couch, running a hand tiredly over his face. "Out."

Sakura's eyes widened and her gaze snapped to her father's pleadingly. He stared back coldly, "You heard me. Out. You are no daughter of mine. Pack your things and leave within the hour. Never come back."

Sakura then shifted her gaze to her mother, hoping to see some compassion, anything; after all, her parents must love her, right? They wouldn't throw her out, right? She was only fifteen, she'd just started her first year in high school a few weeks ago! However, her mother just stared back at her impassively, her cold brown eyes burning into Sakura's own emerald green eyes.

It became too much for Sakura to bear. Tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks. Her parents weren't the best, they were distant and yet very demanding, but they were still her parents. And yet, instead of being concerned about her and asking if she was injured during the fight, they kicked her out of her home.

"B-But…" 'where will I go?' Sakura wanted to ask.

"We don't care. Just go. You're wasting our time." Having said all that they had wanted to, her parents stood and left the room, leaving Sakura sitting on the couch, trying to absorb all that had happened.

'Outer-chan, we'd better get packing. I think our parents are serious.' Inner Sakura's voice was unusually subdued. Sakura mechanically got off the couch and went to her room. As she started to pack, she contemplated what her next move would be. She didn't have any friends she could go to – the student council at her previous school had made sure of that, tormenting any who approached her at school. There was only one person she could think of. But she would hate to burden that person with her own troubles, since she had been nothing but nice to Sakura since she was a child.

After Sakura finished packing a few sets of clothes, her toiletries, some water, a few trinkets and photos, as well as any money she had, she wore her shoes and walked out of her house. When she was a few meters away, she looked back at the place, no, mansion, that had been her home her whole life, and said, "Sayonara."

Then, the pink-haired fifteen-year-old continued on.

Her first stop had been the shopping mall that was a fifteen minute walk from her house. She made a beeline straight for the nearest ATM machine and took out her numerous credit cards. For the next half an hour, she flitted between the many different ATM machines from the different banks, withdrawing as much money as she could from her various accounts before her parents could cancel her bank accounts.

'This is the first time that I'm glad our parents were stupid enough to attempt to make up for their lack of parental skills with money," Inner Sakura commented. Sakura agreed with her.

Satisfied with the amount of cash she now had – enough to stay in a five-star hotel for at least a year - she purchased a newspaper and went to the nearby Starbucks to sit down. She sipped her caramel frappucino, flipping through her newly acquired newspaper, looking at the property section of the newspaper. She considered many of the options, pondering the benefits of renting an apartment or buying one instead, before she settled on one that seemed adequate. The advertisement read:

Apartment for rent!

One master bedroom, living room, kitchen, toilet

Good condition, basic furniture provided

Convenient location, five minutes walk from nearby Konoha High School

Price negotiable, call Sarutobi Hiruzen at 9123 4567 or drop by for a visit at Konoha Gardens, unit #07-01

There was just one problem: A fifteen-year-old was probably not allowed to rent an apartment for herself. 'Oh, well,' Sakura shrugged, whipping out her phone and dialing a number 'I guess this wouldn't be too much of a bother for her.'

"Hello?"

"Hello? Aunt Tsunade?"

"Sakura! Are you okay? I heard what my idiot sister and her husband did. Do you need a place to stay?"

"No… about that… Aunt Tsunade, could you meet me now?"

"Of course! Where are you?"

A few minutes later, a beautiful, busty, blonde-haired, brown-eyed woman joined her at the table. Tsunade critically observed her niece's appearance, taking note of her slightly puffy eyes – a telltale sign that she had just been crying. Her niece was holding a medium sized duffel bag in her lap, a newspaper spread before her – open to the property section, she noticed – and a half-full cup of some beverage beside it on the table.

"So, what do you need me for?" Tsunade asked bluntly, getting straight to the point.

"Well… I need you to help me rent an apartment. I already have the money, I just need your signature," Sakura said quickly, looking hopefully at her favourite aunt.

"…" Tsunade was stunned. She had been expecting Sakura to ask her if she could take her in, not ask her to rent her an apartment. She quickly asked the first question in her head, "Where did you get the money?"

Sakura sheepishly smiled, "Ah… I sort of withdrew all the money I could from my bank accounts before my parents could cancel my cards." Her aunt grinned and reached over the table to ruffle her hair. "That's my girl," Tsunade grinned at the adorable pout on Sakura's face as she tried to fix her hair.

"However," Tsunade continued, "You can just stay at my place. I'm sure Shizune wouldn't mind as well." Sakura immediately shook her head.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I don't want to be a bother, I think I'd much rather rent my own apartment." The determined and stubborn glint in her niece's eyes told Tsunade that arguing with her would be pointless.

"Okay," Tsunade sighed, "I assume that you've already decided on a place?" Sakura nodded and showed her the advertisement. Two things stood out to Tsunade: Konoha High and Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Sakura," Tsunade said, trying to contain her excitement, as they left Starbucks and headed towards her car, on the way to check out the apartment, "You're going to Konoha High?"

"Yup," Sakura grinned, "It's your school, isn't it, Principal-san?" Tsunade, unable to contain her excitement over the possibility of seeing her favourite (and only) niece practically every single day, crushed Sakura to her in a bear hug, almost causing the pinkette to drop her duffel bag.

"Ai-Air…" Sakura choked out. Tsunade released her and continued talking, "Oh, and I know your future landlord. He was my predecessor – the previous principal of Konoha High! You'll like him, he's very kind."

Tsunade was right. Sarutobi-san, Sakura's new landlord, was very kind, and Sakura had taken an instant liking to him. The rental process had gone very smoothly, in part due to the fact that Tsunade and Sarutobi were on very good terms. Now, Sakura was standing outside of the door of her new apartment, after Tsunade had left, promising to brave the paperwork necessary to register Sakura as the new student at Konoha High, and after Sarutobi had left her to her own devices.

The sound of a door unlocking and opening from Sakura's right caused her to look in that direction.

"Maaa… It looks like you're my new neighbour, ne?"

Japanese translations:

Tadaima: I'm home

Maaa…: It's sort of like the Japanese equivalent of "well…" or "ohh…"

Ne: Something people use to end their sentences with, sort of like, "right?" or "huh?"

Voila! The second chapter is out! I wrote too much again… I wanted to at least write the school part now! Aw well, I hope to get the new chapter out within the next 24 hours! Reviews would make my writing magically speed up… *hint hint*

I'm sorry! Throughout the last part, I was like repeating "Tsunade's OOC, Tsunade's OOC…" I CAN'T HELP IT! I figure, she's entitled to acting like this because Sakura's her favourite and only niece and I can always say the sake melted away some of her inhibitions… right?

Dun dun dunnnnnnn… Who's Sakura's new neighbour? Cookies to those who can guess it correctly! :)