"Good morning kids. We have a new member of 3-C today."
Most people looked up in interest at the prospect of some fresh meat. Due to the unruly reputation of the only non-grammar and coed school in the area there weren't that many transfers in, and those that did were usually there because they had been kicked out of their old schools.
So when an apparently sexless tracksuit followed Iruka into the classroom a moment later they were pretty sure that that was why they were there.
"Sakura, would you like to introduce yourself? Also the school has a no hoods policy, even in non-uniform situations, so if you please…?"
Suddenly the interest of the class (excepting those such as Sasuke and the other assholes that he called his slightly less annoying friends, like Neji) was peaked. Naruto was praying none too quietly to the noodle gods that it was a 'superhot chick' while Ino was praying to the fashion gods for a hot boy.
There was a moment of silence as 3-C processed the phenomenon of a fairly good-looking and exotically coloured girl at the front of their class.
Another moment .Then-
"Hey man, is that shit natural?" Suigetsu's strident voice communicated what they were all thinking. Although in somewhat more polite terms.
"Yes." Despite her alien-princess looks she had a surprisingly husky voice, soft but not too high pitched. Fingering the ends of her mane of rose-pink hair she explained "My family originated from Yukigakure. Lilac is more common but pink isn't unusual there."
This was of course a blatant lie. She had no family apart of Haku, and while her exotic colouring may have originated from a Yukigakure chromosome or two she had far less of a connection to it than she did to the testing labs where she spent two thirds of her life.
"If you would like to do your introduction now, Sakura?"
"My name is Haruno Sakura and I recently moved here from the north with my cousin Haku. I like to cook and go running and I dislike messy things."
Naruto looked vaguely disappointed His lifestyle was pretty much a never ending period of messiness.
"Thank-you. Sakura. If you would like to take a seat there is an empty one next to Sasuke- the grumpy looking one next to the window second from the back."
As the new girl sat down quietly at the seat next to him Sasuke ignored her in favour of signing his new desk with a sharpie. He absolutely hated sitting next to girls, they were bothersome with constant requests to borrow things they didn't need, attempts at conversations or occasionally just ogling him.
He chanced a glance to the side, only to find the new girl glaring ahead, apparently at nothing. Well that was a relief anyway. He settled in for the history lesson, most of which he already knew but Iruka was a fairly good teacher so he didn't mind hearing it again.
He glanced over again. Hm. She was actually sort of pretty, now that he looked at her. New-girls eyes flickered up and held his, steadily. There was heat in her gaze, softly glowing coals behind sea-green glass. Sasuke quickly turned away and told himself that the tips of his ears were not going red. Because he was Uchiha Sasuke, and had far too much testosterone for something like that. He nodded inwardly and carried on with his note-taking, forgetting quickly about the odd girl with burning eyes.
Outwardly Sakura was as collected as ever. However inside she was seriously worried about the feasibility of becoming convincing citizens. Haku had been placed in a different class, and as Iruka lectured on about the economic factors behind Yukigakure's last war she ran down what she knew about history. Which was basically nothing.
Growing up as a genetic experiment/ test subject and spending puberty as a killing machine and drug mule did not allow an awful lot of time for studying. She had time for that now in her new life in the sunny and bright Konoha but apart from being literate and having a freakishly good knowledge of the human anatomy Sakura was utterly unprepared for her year in High school. And not just academically.
She had seen the looks when she had entered the classroom. Wearing a sweater and basketball shorts borrowed from Kakashi in lieu of her uniform she hadn't really been prepared for the sheer alien feeling received when she walked into a classroom full of teenagers wearing white blouses, shirts, pleated skirts, and slacks.
Although there was a general trend towards dishevelment it was still a distinctly different look than she was used to seeing people her age in- bloody black hoods, bone white masks, ragged track suits, fluttering hospital gowns.
What did these people do in their spare time? She doubted that they used their breaks for training or getting stoned like she and Haku were used to doing. What did teenage girls talk about? Were there different rules for male-female interactions? How was Haku managing? Actually that one was a little easier to answer. Haku had a very gentle personality and would probably be very well liked amongst his peers. He had probably already found a cute boy to flirt with and enchanted his classmates.
Sakura on the other hand had all the approachability of a pink rattlesnake. She had no idea how to make or keep friendships. Her and Haku went much deeper than friends, born of a symbiotic dependency spontaneously evolved under the 'apprenticeship' of Zabuza.
She wondered idly whether drinking yourself into oblivion with someone was an appropriate bonding exercise. Or discussions on weapon efficiency. Oh Jashin, she might have to gossip.
Giving up on this somewhat hopeless train of thought she concentrated instead on the steady drone of Irukas' voice and the softly warming sunlight…
