"I'm not your fiancé anymore."

His words echoed in my head like an endless tolling of a bell. I was inside my car and it was only the presence of my personal driver that hindered me from tearing my hair off my head. I was there to remind him that he wasn't an available man anymore but it turned out that we were both single during our entire life.

That would have been great if Mama just told me, but no, she had to keep it from me. She had much explaining to do. I deserved to know why she had been fooling me. I needed to know it now so I told my driver to drive to my mother's office.

My mother was sitting like she was the queen of the world when I arrived at her office. I'd say she was expecting my 'visit'.

"So how was your first meeting?"

As if on cue, I cried like a baby.

"You fooled me, Ma! We aren't engaged anymore!" I said in a shrill voice and I knew my Mama hated it.

So before you guys misunderstood everything, I was doing this to piss her off. She hated it just as much as I hated doing it. To her, my crying voice was like a thousand nails on a chalk board.

But honestly who wouldn't be annoyed if her sixteen-year-old daughter cried like a baby? Now, before you start speculating that I could get something out of this, I'd swat those assumptions off.

The only thing I could get out of this was my mother's annoyance. That was all, but it made me happy.

"Sakura." My mother said it in her low threatening voice with a grim expression on her face.

"Stop your act, now!" I wailed to her chagrin. I could almost see her pulsating veins and I imagined that smokes were going out of her nose. For the humiliation that I went through, annoying her wasn't enough for revenge.

"If you don't stop, I'll cut your allowance off." She had me there. It was like she pushed the stop button. I immediately shut my mouth. When she said things like that, it wasn't just to scare me. She meant it.

My mother sighed in relief. She touched her temples and rubbed it in circular fashion clearly stating that I gave her a headache.

"I didn't tell you about it because I was hoping that you can captivate him with your charm."

Oh, geez, another crappy thing from my Mama. Captivate? That man just called me average! Well, with that looks of his, he had plenty to choose from. Argh! Damn him, I suddenly had an inferiority complex.

"Seriously, Ma?"

"Alright! Alright!" She said when she finally realized that I wasn't stupid to believe her "I've been negotiating with his legal guardian to honor the engagement from the day Mikoto and Fugaku died but that man is determined to let Sasuke decide for his life." I applauded the legal guardian for his good heart. It would be great if he shared some of his good points to my mama who was now looking at me...with a pleading expression?

Oh my, my Mama's pleading! The world was going to end. I must run for life.

"I need your help. We are facing harsh competition right now against the Uchiha Corporation. If you married Sasuke we'll monopolate the industry. However, if you fail we will suffer great loss."

I didn't like the way this conversation was going.

"But he doesn't want to marry me." And I didn't like to humiliate myself further by facing that Uchiha and asking him to marry me.

"I know but there are ways to change his mind." My mama turned red after saying that. Somehow, I knew what she was thinking.

"No way! I wouldn't sleep with him and get myself pregnant!"

"Who said you're going to do that?" My mother said indignantly.

"But you are blushing when you said ways."

My mother smiled a let's -get-to-business smile.

"What I mean is make him fall in love with you, something much more decent than what you are thinking. Are your head just for decoration?"

I was embarrassed but I still saw one problem...a big one.

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

'Thanks to you, I didn't know a thing about boys.' I added to myself.

"Court him what else. Women do that these days. That's why I transferred you to his school."

Remember what I said about my mother being traditional? Scratch that.

"But I don't know how to do that?" I was trying to put reason to her, really.

"I got that covered." She pressed the intercom and issued some command. After a while, a girl with a long blond ponytailed hair came in. She was probably on my age group and as popular as hell with boys. Because, I'd say she looked like a doll.

"Sakura this is Ino. Ino this is my daughter, Sakura. I want you to help her in courting Uchiha Sasuke."

"Yes, ma'am."

I was in too much shock to listen to their ensuing conversation. My mother had just gone mad. I probably would be too.

"Remember, he must fall in love with you so that you will be able to control him." Mama said after she dismissed Ino.

'to control him…'

I suddenly hate my Mama for that statement. She wanted me to be a manipulative woman like her.

"What if I fail?"

"I'll send you to a mental asylum. I don't need a useless daughter."

I couldn't believe what I just heard. I tried to look at Mama's face to see if she was just scaring me but there was not a trace of joking on her face. She was dead serious.

Again that lump on my throat appeared today but this time I swallowed it whole. I would never let my Mama see that she was hurting me.

She wanted Sasuke to love me? Fine, I'd bring her his heart for dinner.

The next day my mood was worse than an exploding volcano. If some unfortunate soul would dare cross my path I'd probably skin him alive. Thank God, He prevented me from being a murderer. None was idiot enough to bother me.

"We're here, Ma'am." My driver said when he noticed that I got no plan on getting out. I was embarrassed because I didn't notice that we were in the Academy already.

To cover up my shame, I slammed the car's door when I got out. However, I felt really guilty afterwards which made me to walk slower.

Then I remembered my mother's threat, if she'd just threatened to disinherit me I'd probably be unscathed but why did she had to take her punishment on a higher level? Suddenly, I wanted to complain to God for giving me such a mother. Why couldn't I just live a normal life just like any normal girl? An average life was so much better than this.

"Average." My face grew dim when I suddenly recalled that it was what that bastard called me. I wanted to scream but by doing that, in front of many people, would warrant an early admission to a mental asylum.

So I continued walking, more like dragging my feet actually, to arrive at my classroom where that Sasuke would be. I wasn't really happy to face him again after yesterday but between facing him and a mental asylum, well you could guess which one I'd chosen.

I didn't notice it but I almost walked passed my classroom. The homeroom teacher was there and when he saw me he gave this generic transferee-student- introduction speech. Really, I breathed a sigh of relief because the room looked how a classroom should look—full of bright-eyed student, no busty prostitutes, and a weird looking teacher? Seriously, the teacher had a coconut husk for a hair and a pair of caterpillars for eyebrows and he was grinning at me like a madman.

So with a frown on my brow, I entered the classroom made a normal introduction and I added because I just felt like it "may I find my true love in this school." They stared at me like I sprouted another head, all of them including the teacher. He introduced himself to me before I entered but I forgot his name. Was that really important?

I cleared my throat. "Where can I sit, Sensei?" I already spotted a vacant seat beside Sasuke who was sitting at the back of the room beside the window. He wasn't looking at me. It seemed that the outside was more interesting to him. I almost grimaced.

"Can I take that seat?" I asked the teacher pointing the said seat. The teacher somewhat looked thoughtful for a moment and then looked at me like he was scrutinizing me.

"Hmmm…you look tough. So I guess, yes, you can take that seat."

I didn't know if it was just me, but did the atmosphere suddenly became deadly? I was about to take my seat but the teacher stopped me just before my butt touched the chair.

"Oh, I almost forgot. That seat is taken."

Everyone seemed to be shocked with the teacher's statement. Yes, including Sasuke but he didn't have saucer wide eyes like the blond guy with something similar to whiskers on his face that made him looked like a cat.

"By whom?"

"By me!" All eyes turned to the blond bombshell that entered the classroom door. Well, wasn't that…her name was? I couldn't remember but she saved me some time because she introduced herself.

"Yamanaka Ino, your new classmate. I hope we could get along well."

I shot her a glare that was supposed to mean 'Aren't you hired to help me?' but she just smiled sweetly at me and walked towards my direction and took my seat but not before saying in a really low voice that I knew only I could hear.

"Sasuke's mine, back off bitch."

To my anger, because I couldn't pull her ponytailed hair, I ordered the blond guy with whiskers to give me his seat which was in front of Sasuke. I didn't give a damn if they would all think that I had my eyes on Sasuke. Heck, I didn't' want to end up in a freaking mental hospital so they could all die for all I care as long as I could get that Sasuke's heart.

Well, the poor guy followed and just smiled cheerfully which irked me more. He moved to the other side of the room where the other vacant seat was waiting for him. For the second time, I felt guilty but I shrugged it off. However to ease my feelings, I looked behind me and caught the Uchiha staring at me. I shot him a death glare and hoped that he'd just die.

The bell for lunch break rang before my eyes could completely shut themselves. I didn't have enough sleep last night. Well, you could pretty guess why.

I was in the middle of arranging my things when the whiskered guy approached me.

"Hey, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and you must be Sasuke's former fiancée."

The idiot just said it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear which was about half of the class. They all looked at me—some with pity in their eyes but the majority held a mocking stare. And I hated both of those.

"Well said, jerk!"

I couldn't take all those looks so I ran outside and bumped with the reason of all my sufferings—the mighty Uchiha that I had to court. I couldn't contain myself so I gave him a kick in the shin before running away.

When my feet grew tired of running, I found myself at the back of the main academy building. The place could have been beautiful to my eyes had I been in a lighter mood. It was like a small forest filled with sakura, fire and other trees I couldn't identify. It wouldn't have been a nice place to eat lunch but I didn't have anything with me. Tired of standing, I sat under the shade of one tree and there I cried all the emotions that built up inside my chest. I didn't know that I fell asleep during the process.

When I woke up, it was already four o'clock. I slept through half my class. Nice job, self.

Why did I seem to fail a lot lately?

I didn't notice it at first but then I saw that someone was approaching me. It was him, the loud mouthed whiskered guy and he was carrying my things.

"I didn't mean to blurt it out like that." He started.

I could feel his sincerity but I couldn't forgive him easily so I rolled my eyes at him and took my things while he chose to sit on the opposite tree.

"So how did you know about that?"

"Well, Sasuke is my best friend." The way he said it made me doubt him. He had that sad expression in his eyes.

"You mean was?"

"To me he still is." He sighed. "So what can I do to make it up to you?"

My hungry stomach made a suggestion but I ignored it. If he was Sasuke's best friend, he must know a lot about that guy. I could use this situation.

"So why did he stop considering you as his best friend?" I smirked before adding "I bet it has something to do with your loud mouth."

He chuckled.

"I wish it was just as simple as that…but things got really out of our hand."

Now, I was suddenly curious not because I needed this info but curious because I was a human. Looking at this guy, he wasn't the gloomy type like that Sasuke but the sadness he held in his eyes made me wonder what the hell happened.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Well, it's not like it's a secret. Almost everyone knows why we grew apart."

"Just like how everyone knows now that I was Sasuke's former fiancée." He winced at that but I chuckled laughing at my misery.

"So what's the reason?" I asked after a while. He was silent and I was getting impatient for his reply but it eventually came. And it was worth the wait.

"Sasuke is in love with my girlfriend." He looked at me with a sad smile.

And that was the biggest what-the-hell moment of my life. Seriously.

A/N: I bet you have lots of questions but all will be answered in time. *Wink*