Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Naruto :(

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updates, so far I've been busy juggling this with college, so I hope that you can bear with me on this. :)

Chapter 3: As Complicated as it Gets

Sakura, how can I describe the naive, ignorant, pink-haired forehead who was currently treating me for lunch because of an incident earlier, wherein I punched her in the face due to a comment about me. Well for starters she really is as my mom described her "sweet". So maybe my first impression about her wasn't really nice, to begin with I thought she was some rich, flirty brat. Well I guess I was wrong, I mean she doesn't flirt with the guys, she's sweet to her friends, and well she doesn't dress like a snobby rich kid that I am sure of.

"Hey Ino-pig if you're done staring at me, can you at least tell me what you want to eat because were almost next." Sakura said as she waved her hand on my face, instantly snapping me back to reality.

"I wasn't staring at you Forehead, besides I already told you what I wanted" I said to her while I playfully smacked her in the arm, I think I was blushing embarrassed that I was indeed staring at her since I was trying to figure out what kind of a girl is she. "And why the hell did you call me pig?"

"Well, if you're going to keep calling me Forehead at least let me call you something annoying too like Ino-pig, besides it's cuter than just plain Ino." Sakura jokingly said as she ordered two cheeseburgers, some large fries and two sodas.

She was going to treat me to lunch, inside Konoha Academy there was a mini fast-food joint besides the canteen. Since Sakura insisted that she would treat me as to make up for our earlier argument we ended up there for lunch along with her friends.

"Haha very funny Sakura, come on your friends are waiting for us, I could see Naruto jumping over the table telling us to sit with them." I said as I pointed back to Naruto and waved at him. The hyperactive blonde was just as energetic as ever. Even after being scolded by Mitarashi sensei because of his practical jokes he's still up and running like nothing ever happened.

"Correction, they are your friends too you know. Come on you'll love them." Sakura said with a mischievous smile on her face as she led the way towards Naruto.

Friends, I liked the sound of that. Back at home I have some friends too, well I thought I did. Once you reach the top of course jealousy comes in the way and we all know how it ends. With a bit of backbiting, conspiracies, and betrayals even the strongest of friendships would crumble. Maybe that was why mom decided to bring me to Konoha Academy she knew I needed a new life. Away from my old and complicated one, maybe it was time I started having some friends again. I mean Naruto wouldn't be the type to conspire against you, imagine him backbiting or plotting against your back.

Before joining her friends Sakura already told me some of their background as to avoid some wrong impressions about them. For an instance Naruto was an orphan since his parents died when he was really young. As for now he currently lives with his godfather Jiraiya who also teaches in the Academy. But I heard from my mom that he was some kind of a pervert so I guess I'll just have to look out.

"Ino! I saved you a seat over here next to Sasu-gay!" Naruto shouted, which pretty much everyone in the shop heard. It instantly earned him a smack to the head from Sasuke. Everyone in the shop was practically laughing at the antics of the two boys.

"Shut up Dobe." He said as he smacked Naruto in the head again. The mysterious, spiky black haired guy whom I hope wasn't gay. Well he was hot, I think he's really good at soccer, and his serious nature just adds to his charm. Me and Naruto are even, yes this opportunity was more than I could hope for, but honestly the Uchiha had the looks.

According to Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke was emo beyond repair though she told me in a more playful manner. He has some kind of rivalry with his brother Itachi whom was an upperclassman. He and Naruto are kind of polar opposites that much I could see, but both of them complement each other in a certain way. Whatever lacks in the other is filled by the other one. It's like "bromance" but Sakura assures me that none of them are gay as far as she knows.

"So Yamanaka, is it true? You were the one who punched Sakura?" Sasuke asked with an amused look on his face. Apparently everyone around the table was quite curious about how Sakura ended up having a bruised cheek while being late for the first day. Apparently what I thought to be the catalyst for my doomed reputation suddenly became the highlight of it. Me punching Sakura was actually the talk of the school although I didn't know where they got the information.

"Really Ino-chan! No one dares to punch Sakura especially not in the face so either you were really pissed off or... well really pissed off" Naruto said with a huge grin plastered on his face. Looks like everyone was amused with someone punching Sakura, I wonder why everyone looked like I couldn't do it.

"She got what she deserved right Forehead?" I said as I eyed Sakura who was chilling near Hinata grabbing some of the fries from the tray. (1)

"Hm? Did you say something?" Sakura playfully said as she ate some of the fries. "Why don't we just skip that question."

"So uhm... it's true? You were punched in the face by Ino?" Hinata said as she timidly took a sip from her soda. Hinata was truly a shy girl as far as I can currently see. She had long black hair, though according to the others she used to have really short hair. She was wearing a grey jacket paired along with jeans. She would constantly try to hide the tank top that she was wearing with her jacket. I guess Hinata really needs a confidence boost, though her shyness also comes with her natural kindness, which I could tell by just looking. I also heard from Sakura that Hinata really and I mean really likes Naruto though the guy is obviously oblivious to it.

"Why don't you just admit it Forehead, no use in denying it." I said, it was fun to tease Sakura while I still have the upper hand. After a day or two almost everyone would forget this incident and I won't have any leverage against Sakura anymore.

"Fine Ino-pig, alright I admit that I Haruno Sakura was unexpectedly punched by that blonde girl." Sakura said as she pointed at me with an amused smile on her face. "Now if any of you guys still have questions for me, I'll gladly answer them as long as I get to eat all of your fries." Sakura immediately extended her hand to pick a bunch of fries from Naruto's plate which Naruto quickly swiped away declaring that he did not want to ask questions if he would end up with an empty plate.

Honestly after that we just laughed and talked about random things, like why did Sakura ended up being punched by me, who was going to the party later, was I really the daughter of Yamanaka, Miyo. The usual stuff, if you asked me right now I'm actually having fun with just hanging out like this. There's no drama yet, but still I'm satisfied with my life in Konoha Academy with people like these.

"Hey hey! Ino-chan why did you transfer here? Not that I don't want you here or anything but I'm just really curious." Naruto innocently said as he eyed me his eyes twinkling with curiosity. If I had a brother I wished it was Naruto. Honestly, he would ask the most random questions at the most random times.

I slowly finished my drink as Naruto eyed me with anticipation on what I was about to say. Not just Naruto but also Sasuke and Hinata. The only one not showing interest was Sakura, but I wouldn't expect anything from Sakura anyway, seriously she wanted to treat me and make up for it but here she is totally ignoring my existence. I guess she was actually pissed at me for teasing her about the incident earlier but she just doesn't want to show it. Though even if she does react, sometimes I feel that she's just not that into the conversation.

I felt like I wanted to lie, I didn't want them to know my life before. That was something that I don't intend for anyone to find out. But I didn't want to lie to them entirely I guess I could just keep them in the dark or sort of.

"Well, my mom wanted me to stay here instead since my father's going abroad. She couldn't leave me with my drunk uncle back at home so I ended up being here with you guys." I said faking a smile, I'm not good at lying, but I practically told them the truth just not the story behind it.

Sakura eyed me curiously as if she knew that I didn't told them the truth, I couldn't look straight through her piercing emerald eyes. If she was going to stare at me like that without saying a word I would have believed that she knew already why I transferred to Konoha High.

"What Forehead?" I asked, trying to make some eye contact with her. "If you're just going to stare at me like that I'd say you had a crush on me." Changing the topic at hand was always a sure way to get out of situations like this I just hope that Naruto would begin teasing Sakura.

"Yeah Sakura-chan you've been staring at Ino all day without saying a word! I bet you do like her don't you!" Naruto said as he sat beside Sakura putting one of his arm around her and messing with her pink hair.

"And I'd say all of you are drunk before the party even started." Sakura said while trying to pry Naruto off her. "And I wasn't staring at you all day Yamanaka, as a matter of fact I was staring at your fries." Sakura pointed at the pile of fries that was in front of me while trying to hold her laugh. I didn't believe her one bit, she might be able to fool everyone but even if I don't know her that well, the stare she gave me earlier was enough to convince me that she didn't want to talk about her reasons.

"Uhm... Sakura-chan... did you have a fight with one of them again?" Hinata said as she pointed behind me. I turned around to see who she was pointing at. Three girls were approaching; the red-haired girl in the middle seemed to be the middle since she was the first one to approach us.

"Why hello Hyuga-san aren't you a bit lost today, I can't believe you're still hanging around with those from section B." She coolly said, while eyeing who else was with us. When she caught a glimpse of Sasuke well I think the calm and collected girl that I imagined her to be suddenly became unthinkable.

"Ohhhh Sasuke! I didn't know that I would run into you, if I did I would've prepared for it." She said as she went near Sasuke trying to flirt with him. Poor Sasuke, I could see that he almost wanted to throw up. Can't the girl show some class, even just a little? Sasuke was already sending a mental message at us saying help.

"Excuse me, but Sasuke-chan is mine." I said as I stood up from my seat and pried her away from Sasuke. She was obviously dumbfounded that someone actually attempted to pull her away from Sasuke. The two other girls behind her gasped at what I did. Sakura was eyeing me curiously, Naruto was laughing so hard at Sasuke's reaction, and Hinata looked worried and fidgeted with her hand.

"And who the hell do you think you are?" The tall red-haired girl said as she stood face to face with me. She was a bit taller than me like just half an inch taller. But as she glared at me for a moment, her expression suddenly shifted from irritated to surprise, and finally to realization. "Wait a second, you must be Yamanaka sensei's daughter, Ino."

"I'm Karin Nadako, president of the famous elite dorm on campus and vice president of the student council. The two girls with me are Tayuya Hayabusa and Yugito Nii " She said as she extended her hand as if urging me to shake it. I eyed the two girls who were with her. The red haired girl, whose name was Tayuya practically didn't care one bit and instead glared at me as if wanting to pick a fight. On the other hand the blonde girl next to her which was Yugito just meekly smiled at me, looking as if she wasn't interested at all.

"So what is it to you if I'm Ino." I said ignoring her handshake in which she withdrew after seeing that I wasn't interested at all.

"Spunky, but nevertheless I could see that you still have a bit of class, since you're new we have an offer for you to join us in our elite dorm." Karin said as she smirked expecting that I would automatically say yes. I knew about the elite dorm in Konoha High, they say that only the richest, most popular, and the most powerful persons are said to reside. If I took her offer it would automatically garner me a good reputation around campus, it was too good to be true.

"Of course if you join us you won't have to join these losers for lunch, well all except my dear Sasuke-kun." She said as she winked at Sasuke which led to him scowling while trying to beat up a laughing Naruto.

"If you don't have anything good to say Karin might as well move along." Sakura said as she glared at Karin. I could see that she was irritated at Karin, though I don't know if it's about the comment or about something else.

"Oi, you little punk shut up if you don't want to get what's coming to you." Tayuya said as she cracked her knuckles taunting Sakura to fight with her.

"Now now Tayuya chill." Yugito said as she restrained Tayuya from coming after Sakura who was already readying herself for a fight.

"Hey Karin-chan! Itachi just took off his shirt outside!" Naruto said as he jumped from his seat pointing towards the door.

"Really! Where?" Karin said as she looked towards the direction that Naruto was pointing.

Without warning Hinata of all people grabbed my hand and ran towards the other door. Naruto along with Sakura, and Sasuke soon followed us while trying to outrun Tayuya who seemed to notice what Naruto tried to do.

"And they fall for it every time" Naruto said as he happily ran past me and Hinata shortly followed by Sasuke who said thanks to me before they sped off towards who knows where. On the other hand Tayuya seemed to not have followed us since the only person behind us was Sakura.

"Uhm... sorry Ino-chan I didn't mean to drag you earlier..." Hinata said as she let go of my hand, while trying to fix her clothes.

"It's alright Hinata no worries, I was just surprised that's all. Well who knew that Naruto's tricks actually works" I said laughing at the thought that the so called vice president of our student council believed a low trick such as that.

"Naruto's a great trickster... but he doesn't hurt anybody through his tricks." Hinata said while blushing a dash of red. I guess she really does like Naruto a lot, true Naruto doesn't seem to be the type of person who would play dangerous tricks that could hurt someone.

"Mind explaining who they were?" I said trying to figure out what they wanted from me surely they wouldn't want me to enter the dorm without something in return. Something was a bit fishy, before I consider their offer I'll have to find out more about them. Also what was the big deal hanging out with Sakura and the others, I personally think that there's nothing wrong with it.

Hinata was about to answer but I cut her off. "I want the answer from you Sakura." I said making Hinata look at Sakura worry evident in her eyes. Why was she worried, did Sakura planned this?

"As they said they were part of the elite dorm of Konoha High, as you know there are four dorms in the campus, two of those dorms are called the "elite" dorms, and the other two are the most awesome dorms." Sakura said grinning as if she won the jackpot prize in the lottery.

"And Karin's the vice president of our student council, they were probably just trying to get more people to get in their dorm, you see "most" students in the elite dorms tend to think that they're better than anyone else, which is not true as you can see with Hinata as an example, even if she lives in the elite dorm she still keeps this gentle personality with others. But you see this whole messed up thing is just some petty rivalry between the dorms." She tried to explain as best as she could. I understood most of it and I wasn't going to push Sakura to explain any further.

"Uhm... It's been like that since last year... though our student president isn't like the others in the elite dorms..." Hinata said as she glanced around us trying to see if they caught up with us. "Well... uhm I need to go back to the dorm... Maybe I'll see you guys later at the party." She said with a light smile painted on her face.

"Are you going to be alright Hinata?" I asked since she might cross paths with Karin and I didn't want something bad to happen with Hinata.

"I'll be fine Ino-chan." Hinata said trying to hold back the nervousness evident in her voice. She started to head towards the direction of the elite dorms leaving me with Sakura who was glancing at the other way.

"Well I guess I should go too, I need to unpack my things at the dorm anyway, guess I'll just see you at the party." I said as I quick fixed myself and started to head towards the dorm. "Hey Sakura, are you coming?"

"Hm? You go on ahead Ino, I need to do something first." Sakura said as she left towards the soccer field. I wonder where she's headed, she couldn't possibly be going there to train, I mean Coach Tsunade told me that practice doesn't start until the day after tomorrow. I suddenly had the urge to follow Sakura, I was curious on where she was headed, I was about to follow her when she suddenly turned around and grinned at me.

"Sorry about earlier, I promise I'll take you out for lunch and next time there won't be any interruptions!" She shouted at me before turning around once again and continuing to her supposed destination.

I guess Sakura was fine, I didn't want to be a stalker so I just continued my way on to the dorm. Which I managed to walk in just about 15 minutes, luckily for me it looked like everyone was busy either preparing for the party later since there was absolutely no one there.

"Well this is fun, no one's here." I sighed. I was actually looking forward to introducing myself since everyone just knows me as Yamanaka sensei's daughter.

Since no one was around, I quickly went to the second floor towards my room. The corridors were quiet, so I guess everyone was really gone, soon enough I managed to find my room. I was actually hoping that my roommate was here. I knocked at first to see if there was someone inside, but no one answered.

"Guess I'm alone for now." I said as I slowly opened the door. Once I saw the room I didn't know if I should be happy, mad, or excited. I knew who my roommate was; there was no doubt about it. The scattered clothes on her bed were proof enough. Then I even saw pictures of her with her friends. She looked so different from before, but I guess it was because her hair was a bit longer in these pictures. Her pink hair never really did change, I wonder if it's really natural or not.

"Sheesh Sakura... at least warn me that you're my roommate." I said with a smile on my face. I quickly scanned the room for my things, and I easily found it fixed on my bed. "Hm? What's this?" I grabbed the piece of paper addressed to me, which was beside my things. I quickly scanned it to see who wrote it, it was from Sakura I guess she did knew that I was going to be her roommate earlier this morning. I guess there's no harm in reading it I bet it was a letter of apology for earlier. It was hard to decipher her messy handwriting but nevertheless I managed to read it.

Hey Ino, I guess by the time you see this letter

it might be late afternoon, since I bet you'll be with us all day.

Well surprise! I'm your new roommate, cheers to that. Anyway

I'm sorry for earlier guess I gave you the wrong impression.

Be ready for the party later, dress your best and get ready to party!

I'll be here at around 7 to pick you up. Your mom already

fixed your things so I suggest you rest. See yah later!

P.S. I mean it, you should rest I know your still dizzy coz of earlier.

-Sakura

"Oh and now she thinks I'm not fine." I said as I remembered her telling Shizune that I'll just be fine. "I guess mom was right you are kind of sweet." Suddenly I felt really tired, I knew that I was still a bit shaky since earlier; I must have pushed myself too hard this time.

Following Sakura's suggestion I just neatly placed my things inside my drawer and quickly fixed my bed. As soon as I hit my bed, I felt my whole body relax and my mind slowly drifted away. I felt how tired I was, but deep inside I felt totally happy, and I mean it. I guess being here in Konoha won't be so bad after all, I'll think about my decision for the elite dorm later, as for now I'll just rest. "I hope it won't end up as last time." I managed to mumble before drifting into sleep.

I hope you enjoyed this one :) this is the longest chapter that I've written I know there's no football action just yet maybe at the next chapters I might add some football action. :) So Thank you for reading. :)