A/N: I had so much fun writting this chapter! THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO LEFT REVIEWS! YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL! It was going to be a long shorter but my proofreader wouldn't let me (I have the bruises to prove it) so you have her to thank^^

Chapter 2

It didn't help that the indigo-hair tent had stolen the brief tranquility he had always managed to create for himself. What had been an amusing quarrel quickly turned sour when his stomach growled in protest. There was still a good hour before lunch was over yet the dilemma of finding a new spot remained.

Sasuke made his way to one of the schools many courtyards only to across the cause of his current situation sitting peaceful under a large tree. Not wanting to make a scene, he silently positioned himself on the opposite side of the tree. The girl, fortunately, was completely absorbed by the novel balanced on her lap to acknowledge his arrival. The spot itself was really nice. An ancient tree provided ample shade with its elegant branches nimbly shading them from the sun's rays. The green curtain hung docile from the branches excluding a sense of privacy from the outside world. It was a calming atmosphere.

A bespectacled, red-headed girl watched the scene with an evil grin. They were making things far too easy for her. She thought back to the first time she had laid eyes on the Uchiha.

It had been like a flood of moonlight. All she could see was the man she would make her prince. 'PERFECT!' She cheered to herself. The few feet that separated them felt like a wondrous meadow filled with fragrant flowers singing a joyous wedding tune. The beautiful vision was soon marred by a flash of pink. She zeroed in on the smiling girl. She seemed nauseatingly close with her prince. The girl would suffer her wrath and be eliminated, slowly, painfully. A type of death she would never see coming.

Karin cackled evilly at the memory.

"Karin." Juugo sighed. "Your daydreams are leaking out into the real world again."

"Oh really? Then I guess better follow its lead." She replied gleefully, skipping down the hall. Juugo took one look at Karin's departing form and concluded this was one scheme he was better off not getting involved with.

If he had been paying attention to any of things she had said it probably involved a certain raven-haired fellow she had met on the day they first transferred. He felt sorry for him. He had the misfortune to fall on the radar of a basket case like Karin who spent her free time successfully manipulating anyone who was dumb enough to fall for her tricks. He watched her turn the corner towards the cafeteria.

Suddenly he wasn't hungry anymore.

Her target stood dumbly in front of an empty table staring at an unopened bento. Karin sauntered up to the nearest table and grabbed a bottle of milk off the tray of a dumb boy who had been watching her performance. She began to haphazardly swing the bottle it as she slowly approached the pink haired girl.

Coyly flicking her wrists and to achieve optimal damage, her last swing came into place.

Milk exploded across the pink haired girl's back, seeping into her blouse.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!" Sakura screamed before turning around to see a shocked red-head staring back with a look of sheer embarrassment.

"Oh. My. God. I can't begin to describe how sorry I am right now. I just ruined your outfit! You probably hate me right now!" Sakura stared at the distraught girl.

"Here. um. What's your name? I'm Karin. How about I loan you my spare top I keep for emergencies. Take it as an apology for the mess I made." Grabbing the hand of the shock stricken girl, Karin led the way to the nearest bathroom.

Sakura had been turning over millions of reasons why her handmade bento had been abandon on the lunch table.

'What did she do wrong? Who's fault was it really? Hinata? Herself?'

Her musing was suddenly interrupted by cold substance seeping onto her back. She couldn't help but scream as she registered the foreign substance. In her shock she had been unable to react properly and allowed herself to be dragged into the bathroom by the contrite looking girl named Karin. Her delayed anger slowly resurfaced as she put on the borrow shirt.

She couldn't believe she had let herself go like that in public! It might be okay for someone shy and weak like Hinata but for her it was U-N-A-C-C-E-P-T-A-B-L-E. She had half a mind to go out and give the other girl an earful but the right moment had already passed by. The girl was just too sincere. She couldn't place all the blame on someone for something so little when it was really her fault. In the end Sakura decided it was best to let go and left the stall with her spoiled shirt in hand.

"I forgot to answer your earlier question. My name's Sakura Haruno. Thanks for lending me a cute top."

"Don't mention it!" Karin beamed back at her. "It was my fault. I'm a total klutz and I'm grateful you didn't verbally abuse me like the other girls would at my old school. I hope we can become good friends. I just transferred here so it would be nice if I could have a friend. And if you say yes I'll treat you to low fat frozen yogurt!" Sakura smiled at the girl in front of her. She had a goofy charm about her that instantly put Sakura at ease.

"You don't have to bribe me." Sakura chuckled.

The two made their way to one of the stalls that operated alongside their university. They spent their time chattering about the latest fashions while enjoying their yogurt. Still it was almost too much for Karin to handle. Somehow she needed to get her to open up. She had played her role as the helpless klutz to perfection and sitting there listening to the pinkette talk was starting to make her ears bleed.

'At least we have similar tastes.'

The information would come in handy one day. Bringing herself back to the conversation, Karin suddenly stopped with a laugh and looked Sakura in the eyes before continuing:

"So this is how you look normally!"Sakura choked on the spoonful of yogurt she had been eating.

"What do you do mean by that!" She asked surprised by the sudden outburst.

"Well you looked so down and out back then. I wondered what exactly could have made such a cheery and level-headed character like yourself act that way."

"Ah. That." Sakura stared at her yogurt cup dejectedly. She went on to tell her story to Karin who made understanding noises all in the appropriate spots. Although on the inside Karin was grandly cheering at the girl's royal rejection and making notes to herself for future reference.

When it came time for Karin offer up a story of her own, she told a story of how she was ridiculed and isolated by others who were jealous by the love she had shared with her now long distance boyfriend. The now sympathetic Sakura would never suspect the heroine of such a story to be her biggest threat. All Karin would have to do now is hint at Sakura's relationship status before dropping the bomb.

"So that's my love story. How are things going with your boyfriend?"

"Oh! We aren't dating—technically, well not yet, so to speak,"

"Oh! Sorry!" Karin blushed looking down at her empty yogurt cup. It wasn't hard to when she imagined a naked Sasuke. Dragging herself out of her naughty little day dream she continued, still blushing. "I assumed from all things you've told me that you two were in a lovers' quarrel.

"To be honest, I'm not even sure what to call it. I don't even know where Sasuke went!"

"Wait—did you say Sasuke as in Sasuke Uchiha!" Karin replied perking up at the name.

"Yeah. Why?" Sakura stared back at the girl both confused and slightly suspicious.

"Congratulations! You're with the school's most eligible bachelor right now." Karin cheered before instantly sombering. "I just realized it but I saw him earlier! He was sitting under a tree with this girl—I don't know her name but she didn't have much fashion sense— her clothes were really bulky. She had dark blue—purplish hair… maybe indigo is a good name for it and she had these washed out lilac colored eyes. They gave off this really sweet aura. I mean his head was practically on her lap and she was feeding him." Sakura paled.

"That sounds like Hinata, but she would never do something like that. I mean she couldn't do something like that. She's in love with Naruto!" Sakura shot back.

"I'm sorry it's just what I saw. In my experience anyone is capable of everything even those who look like they aren't. I'm really sorry to be the bearer of bad news it's just when you mentioned his name I just remembered that and I thought you should know." Sakura angrily stood up.

"I'm going to find Hinata and get to the bottom of this." Karin grabbed her arm. She needed to let the situation fester for a few days before a confrontation otherwise all her worked would be ruined. With her most compassionate face, Karin faced the angry pinkette and started,

"Trust me I know from experience if you go to her now it won't solve anything. IF she's really the person she says she is will come clean on her own. Letting her know you know will only drive her into a corner and ruin your friendship. For all I know I could have been wrong. I wasn't very close and the place was pretty shaded. If you confront her and things go bad I'll feel responsible and I don't want that."Sakura seemed to deflated at Karin's reasonable suggestions, but her eyes harden when she said,

"If you weren't sure then you shouldn't have presented the situation like that." Karin kept her caring mask rigidly in place while a pool of dread formed in her stomach. If she lost her trust now the rest of her plan would be useless. She needed to think of something quick. Smiling apologetically she replied,

"You're right. I'm sorry. When you've been through as much as I have you tend to jump straight to the dirty details. Thinking about your situation kind of reminded me of my own. " The pinkette seemed to accept her response and offered her an understanding smile in return. On the inside Karin released a giant sigh of relief. She needed to get away from this idiot.

'Long bouts of exposure would be bad for my health.'

"I have to get to history with Mamiya-sensei next so I better get going!" She said checking her watch, before making her get away.

"Wait! I have that class too! Let's go together!" Sakura yelled after her.

'Crap.'