I don't really have anything to say… hm… oh well! Please R&R!

And as always…

Enjoy!

~Kyvena

Chapter 2: The Locket of Friendship

Sakura rolled out of bed, efficiently landing face down on the floor with a large 'thud'. Today was the graduation exams and Deidara had promised to meet Sakura there to congratulate her, but she didn't honestly believe he would keep that promise.

Sakura dressed in a form fitting half cut off red Haruno clan shirt, a mesh undershirt and short black spandex shorts as she quickly grabbed her leg weapon holster and secured it into place. She flipped her ridiculously long hair over and tied it up in a high ponytail, leaving her bangs down in the process. She zipped up her knee high combat sandals and was now ready and set to go, "Bye mom, bye dad! Wish me luck!" She ran out of her house and stopped by Ino's family flower shop and called in, "Ino! Hey you ready to go!?" Ino ran down to Sakura flustered, "Sleep in again?" Ino nodded as the two walked down the street talking about how excited they were to finally become genin.

Ino had taken Deidara's spot as Sakura's best friend because she was always there for her and he just wasn't… Sakura was now twelve years old and Deidara was fifteen so she didn't blame him for not wanting to hang out with an academy student while he was a chunin. The two girls entered the classroom and waved to their group of friends, which all sat together.

Iruka spoke up, "All right class today is the graduation examination and I hope you are all prepared! The jutsu you will be showing is the 'Shadow Clone' technique. But before that I will be passing out a written exam which you all will have thirty minutes to complete." All of the students nodded eagerly as Iruka passed the exams out, "Now cheating won't even be possible because none of you have the same test. With that said I wish you all good luck! You may begin!"

It didn't take Sakura long to finish at all, which she promptly finished within fifteen minutes. Sakura raised her hand first out of the entire class and Iruka didn't look surprised in the least, "Done so soon Sakura?" he chuckled as she gave him a grin. Iruka then sent Sakura to the Jutsu testing room and made six perfect clones, which shocked the judges, "Very well done Haruno Sakura! I give you a perfect score of 10 out of 10!" Sakura bowed and walked back to waiting room for her written test score. Iruka walked in, "Congratulations Sakura! You scored a perfect 100!" Sakura grinned as Iruka walked back out of the room.

Once all students were finished they were called back into the examination room. As soon as they all entered they all noticed the brand new unscratched headbands ready to be passed out. Iruka cleared his throat, "The headbands will be passed out in order of the highest scoring student to the lowest scoring student." They all fidgeted anxiously and Iruka spoke out, "But there is a catch. Only twelve of you will actually be passing. The ones who don't receive a headband will remain in the academy until we deem it fit for you to join the ranks."

Iruka cleared his throat again, "Highest score goes to Sakura Haruno!" The entire class clapped except for the Deidara fan girls. Iruka smiled and handed Sakura her headband, "Congratulations Sakura. Next we have Sasuke Uchiha." Then it was Neji Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inazuka, Rock Lee, Choji Akimichi, TenTen and Naruto Uzumaki. The girls that were in the Deidara fan club did not pass, which made Sakura grin.

Iruka sighed, "Those of you whom did not receive a headband are excused until tomorrows lecture. Those of you who did receive a headband are going to be placed in three man squads. I will start with Team Seven, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." All three of them being great friends high fived and hugged, Iruka spoke out again, "Team Eight, Kiba Inazuka, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame. Team Nine, Neji Hyuga, TenTen and Rock Lee. Team Ten, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. Now you are all dismissed to go and celebrate!"

They all ran out wearing their headbands. Except Sakura, she walked slowly, not wanting to know if Deidara had kept to his word and was actually there or not. Once outside Sakura shielded her eyes from the sun only to be tackled to the ground by someone. Sakura opened her eyes to see Deidara, "I knew you'd graduate, yeah!" Sakura blushed furiously, she hadn't seen Deidara in a while and he was now more muscular and handsome, "H…Hi Dei I didn't know if you'd make it or not…" Deidara rolled his eyes, "Tch, as if I'd miss my best friend graduating, yeah!"

Deidara reached in his back holster and pulled out a box neatly wrapped and handed it to Sakura, "I… uh… got you a present…" Sakura's face turned beat red, "You didn't have to do that Deidara…" He shrugged as he got off of Sakura and helped her sit up as well, "Go on, open it, yeah!" Sakura smiled and unwrapped the paper carefully so that she didn't rip it and gasped whenever she opened the box. Sakura's eyes filled with tears, which quickly spilled over onto her cheeks. Inside the box was a gold heart shaped locket. Sakura threw her arms around Deidara's neck, "Oh thank you Dei, thank you so much, I love it!"

Deidara smiled softly, "Open it…" Sakura picked the locket up and opened it to see two pictures of both of them together as children. One of the pictures was Sakura playing with Deidara's long golden locks and the other was the two of them holding hands and smiling at each other. That did it, Sakura began to sob and she curled into Deidara's lap, holding onto his shirt with her face pressed into his chest; like the way she used to whenever she was six. Deidara was confused, "What's wrong, yeah?" Sakura looked up at him, "I love you so much and it hurts to see how far we have grown a part Dei!"

Deidara's eyes widened then softened, "I love you too, yeah; you're my best friend. That's why I got two lockets…" He pulled the same locket from under his mesh undershirt and opened it showing the same two pictures. Sakura sighed, she knew he would never love her the same way she loved him. It was a one sided bridge that the two were one separate sides, never to truly reach each other's heart the way she wanted. Sakura began to cry all over again as she stood abruptly and ran from him.

Deidara stood up quickly and reached his hand out, "SAKURA WAIT!" Just then the female team member on his squad appeared, "I knew you were stupid but I never knew you were THAT stupid Deidara…" Deidara looked back at her, "What do you mean Miya?" Miya rolled her eyes, "She just told you she was IN love with you and you practically just shot her down by keeping the two of you in the friend zone. A shame really, you two would have been a cute couple." Miya then turned and walked away, leaving Deidara dumbfounded.

Five words kept repeating over and over in Deidara's head, "Sakura's in love with me…"