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"Talking"

'Thoughts'

"Inner"

The Residing Void

Chapter 4

"SHIKA-KUN!" Sakura yelled as she bounded up the stairs to the sleeping boy the next morning. A few people shot her irritated glares, but she ignored them as she once again kneeled in front of the boy.

The boy groaned and lifted his head. "I told you not to call me that, Sakura." He grumbled. "Troublesome girl."

Grinning, Sakura rested her chin on the desk. "Shikamaru-kun, I have to train after classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday so we only have a limited amount of time to study. Oh, and I am also making Naruto come too. He is really lost. You don't mind, do you?"

"How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered as he put his head back down.

Laughing, Sakura stood up. She was starting to see a pattern here with the boy. She patted the boy's hair. "Thank you, Shikamaru-kun." She said before heading over to Naruto. "Hey Naruto. You're studying with us today."

Naruto groaned and dropped his head to his desk. "Do I have to?" He whined.

Hands planted on her hips, Sakura glared down at her friend like she was his mother. "Yes, you do. You'll never become Hokage otherwise."

Laughing at her friend's disgruntled look, Sakura plopped down in her seat for another day of lessons. They had lectures in the morning, then lunch, then the afternoon was spent on their physical classes. She sat through confusing lectures, wishing for lunch to get here sooner. She really wanted to eat the lunch Kurenai made for her. Her food was really good, so now she had to add cooking lessons to what Kurenai would teach her.

The moment the bell rang for lunch, Sakura jumped up from her seat and spun around to immediately come face to face with Shikamaru. "Woah!" She gasped and stepped back, looking at his empty seat then at him. "How did you get over here so fast?"

Shikamaru gave a lazy smile, but didn't answer her question. "It will take a lot of work to get you caught up on lessons so I will also help you during lunch as well as after school." He told her.

"What? Studying during lunch?" Naruto whined.

"I thought I was the laziest person around." Shikamaru said in a bored tone.

Grumbling, Naruto followed the two to the roof of the academy where they found Chōji already scarfing down his lunch. He glanced up briefly before going back to his meal. After a moment he paused and looked up again in surprise. "Well, if it isn't Naruto. You've never had lunch with us before." He glanced at the girl. "And your name was Sakura, correct?"

Sakura nodded and waved at him. "Hey! Who are you?"

"Chōji Akimichi." Chōji told her before taking another bite of his food. "What are you guys doing here?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Please don't talk with your mouth full." She sat down in front of him. "Shikamaru is going to tutor Naruto and me."

"Sounds painful." Chōji replied.

"Are all the boys here this lazy?" Sakura asked.

"Probably." Shikamaru replied as he laid down on the ground to watch the clouds. "Except maybe Sasuke."

Sakura frowned at the lazy boy. "Sasuke? Again with the Sasuke! Who is this Sasuke person?"

The boys sweat dropped at the angry tone of the girl. What was she so angry about?

"Ino kept mentioning him yesterday and apparently all the girls swarm over him! Who is this guy? I want to see what makes him so special!" Sakura growled, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the lazy boy, who just blinked in shock.

While Shikamaru was in shock, Chōji started laughing. "That has got to be the best reaction we have ever gotten from a girl about Sasuke." He said when the three stared at him.

Naruto humphed and crossed his own arms. "He is the second heir to the Uchiha clan, and top of our class. He thinks he is so much better than everyone else."

"Sounds like an arrogant jerk." Sakura murmured.

Naruto nodded. "One day I will beat his ass into the ground!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Naruto and Sasuke hate each other. They have a sort of rivalry going on."

"Though Naruto always loses their spars." Chōji chuckled.

"How is it a rivalry then?" Sakura mused.

Naruto scowled at her. "Traitors." He muttered to their amusement. "I will defeat him one day! Just you wait and see!"

"That's enough fooling around. We best get to studying." Shikamaru decided as he sat up straight, ignoring Naruto's rant.

Once again, Naruto groaned. He should have just told Sakura no when she suggested this torture.

*Sasuke*

Sasuke stared at Naruto with a bored look. This would be such an easy fight. Why did Iruka-sensei have to keep pairing him up with Naruto for spars in class? This dope was never going to be able to beat him.

Surprisingly, Naruto turned away from Sasuke for a moment since the spar hasn't begun yet. It was still a foolish move though. "Sakura-chan!" He called, and the pink haired girl raised a hand to show she was listening. To Sasuke's confusion the dobe pointed at him. "This is Sasuke Uchiha."

Green orbs turned to the boy. A slender brow was raised as she looked him over. "Well, I guess he has a cute face."

"Sakura is turning into a traitor!" Chōji cried mockingly from next to her. During lunch, even though a lot of it was spent studying, Sakura let them fool around a bit because it made the studying more fun. Because of that and her laidback attitude, they found themselves liking the girl more and more. She was different from all the loud girls in the class who only cared about Sasuke.

Sasuke, on the other hand, twitched. Damn, he had no way to avoid this girl to keep her from becoming a fangirl. This was just great. He did not need this!

"But, I see nothing special beyond that." Sakura finished in a matter of fact tone, completely ignoring what her friend said. "He looks beyond arrogant. Why any girl likes him with that arrogant air around him, I do not know."

While the boys smirked at the girl for bringing down Sasuke, who looked quite surprised, the girls cried out in outrage at having their one love being insulted by someone who only just arrived in their village. The only one not saying anything was a dark blue haired girl, who was shuffling on her feet in a shy manner. Sakura glanced at her curiously, ignoring the glares sent her way since she had Chōji and Shikamaru standing on either side of her to keep her safe from the rabid fangirls as she liked to call them.

Iruka sighed at the screeching. That girl has only been here for two days and she was already causing a ruckus for him, but he couldn't help the smile that graced his lips. She was pulling Naruto into a closer friendship with the three he liked to skip class with and making herself friends with him as well. It would be interesting to see where this goes.

Coughing, Iruka drew attention back to himself. Well, at least the boys did. The girls were glaring at Sakura or staring lovingly at Sasuke. "Girls." He said to draw their attention so poor Sakura could escape the glares. Though, she seemed to be able to ignore them quite easily. "Alright, Sasuke, Naruto, you can begin!"

Each boy performed the Seal of Confrontation before they fell into their stances. A moment later Naruto charged at the black haired boy making Sakura sigh. She should have known that Naruto would make the first move. He really did seem like the impulsive type of person.

Naruto swung his fist back, but Sasuke just knocked it aside and aimed his own fist at Naruto's stomach. Pushing himself to the side, Naruto dodged the punch and used his momentum to get behind Sasuke to throw a kick at his back. As he was lifting his leg to kick, Sasuke spun around and wrapped his arms around Naruto's leg to stop it. With his opponent's leg trapped, Sasuke yanked the boy forward. Stumbling on one foot, Naruto didn't get a chance to stop the knee that came flying into his stomach.

Sakura sighed. It seemed that Sasuke's arrogance did stem from something. Naruto could not touch Sasuke without more training, which didn't surprise the girl. If he was from a clan, then he was obviously well trained from before joining the academy.

Naruto managed to hold in a gasp of pain before Sasuke used the moment to slam his fist into Naruto's face. As his fist met the boy's face, he let go of the captured leg so the boy was sent flying back. The boy landed on the ground with a THUD, but he wasn't down long. He was back on his feet within seconds, though he had blood trailing down his face.

Sakura frowned at the sight of his blood. What did Sasuke do? Break his nose? That would have to be painful, and yet, Naruto didn't show any pain on his face, just determination to hit Sasuke.

"Has Naruto ever once hit Sasuke?" Sakura asked curiously and a bit worriedly.

"I think twice." Shikamaru replied.

"By luck." Chōji added.

So it seemed no one had any faith in Naruto.

Sasuke ducked under one of Naruto's punches. He reached up to grab the blond's shirt and used Naruto's momentum to pull himself up while at the same time pushing one of his feet into Naruto's to trip the boy up and flip him over his shoulder. Before the blond could get up, Sasuke slammed a knee into his stomach and grabbed his throat.

"Sasuke wins!" Iruka declared, ceasing Naruto's struggles.

As Sasuke released the boy, Naruto huffed and stood up. They both glared at each other.

"What about the Seal of Reconciliation?" Sakura asked confused.

"Those two refuse to perform it to each other." Shikamaru explained.

Sakura frowned. "Just because of a rivalry?"

Shikamaru shrugged.

"That won't do. We are all comrades." Sakura huffed and she marched over to the two before they could leave the ring. She snatched up Sasuke's shirt before he could escape and shot a glare at Naruto. "Reconciliation Seal now!"

"Uh, Sakura, it's alright." Iruka said, frowning. Even he had given up on trying to make them perform the seal. Those two were just so stubborn.

Sakura moved her glare to him. "It is not alright. You two are comrades, from the same village! A rivalry is good and all because it means you two will strive to get better to defeat the other, but you have to remember that is not your sole purpose in life. You are also comrades so make the seal. It is not going to kill you to make it!"

Sasuke glared at her. "Annoying." He muttered and ripped himself free from her with the purpose of leaving. What he didn't expect was for Sakura to twist her body to slam a leg in front of his path and into his stomach.

"Oh, no, you are not going anywhere!" Sakura growled and grabbed his arm. She noticed movement in the corner of her eye and saw Naruto trying to move away. Her hand shot out grab his arm. "You too! We are all comrades here. Making one Seal of Reconciliation is not going to change anything. Oh, and I'm not going to leave you two alone until you do it. Whether it be today, tomorrow, the next time you spar. I will keep bothering you two until you make it. It's your choice." She added sweetly.

Both of the boys looked disgruntled at that and turned to each other. "Just to get her to leave me alone." Sasuke grunted.

"I don't want to hear her whine about Sasuke because of this." Naruto grumbled and he held his hand out to make the seal with his rival.

Smiling, Sakura released the two. She patted both on the head. "What good boys you two are." And with that, she happily skipped back over to a shocked Shikamaru and Chōji. In fact, everyone was shocked and staring at the girl or the seal the two boys made.

'For someone with amnesia, she sure is a force to be reckoned with. I thought her personality would be more shy and quiet without her memories.' Iruka thought in shock.

Sasuke shot the girl a glare, but she just ignored it. Huffing, he moved back to his area in the crowd where he could be left along. Well, mostly along. The fangirls were….surprisingly quiet today. They were usually screaming in his ear. With a quick glance at them he saw them glaring at Sakura. God, that girl was going to make enemies this way.

"Right," Iruka said, knocking himself back into sense. "Naruto, do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Sakura glanced at her friend in worry. That was a lot of blood and with the fight over now, the pain was shining in his blue eyes. She wished she could relieve him of his pain like those doctors at the hospital did for her. She didn't like to see her friend hurting.

"No, I'm alright, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto replied, holding his nose.

"Oh, geez, Naruto, you're getting blood everywhere." Sakura scolded and she pulled out a handkerchief. "Move your hand." She pulled his hand away softly and gently placed her handkerchief to his nose. Without realizing it, she begin to feel his nose through the handkerchief. It seems her original assessment was wrong. The bone wasn't broken, but it might be bruised. "Hold this to your nose and tilt your head back."

His cheeks were blushing, but the blood covered it up, though Naruto didn't think it mattered. Sakura never seemed to notice his blushes. That, or she just didn't mention all of his blushes. "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded. "Anything else hurt?"

"No, I'm alright." Naruto replied.

Smiling, Iruka asked, "Why don't you go next, Sakura?"

Sakura blinked and looked away from her friend. "Okay!" She cheered and she bounded over to the middle of the ring. "So who am I facing off against?"

"Ami, you haven't sparred yet. Go and face Sakura." Iruka suggested.

A purple haired girl stepped from the crowd of students with a superior smirk. "Okay, I'll be glad to teach her that she shouldn't go around insulting Sasuke-kun and acting all superior by making him touch that freak."

"Ami." Iruka said in a warning tone while Sakura looked around in confusion.

Sakura glanced at Naruto then Sasuke then back at her opponent. "Oh!" She exclaimed, grinning suddenly. "You are one of Sasuke's rabid fangirls!"

If he wasn't trained so well, Iruka would have whacked his forehead. What was with this girl and her loose tongue?

"Rabid fangirl?" Ami said in a deadly tone.

"Geez, Sakura, we are going to have to teach you to hold your tongue. It's funny in private, but you really shouldn't call Sasuke's fans that to their faces." Shikamaru said in a deadpanned voice.

'Hn, what a strange girl.' Sasuke thought in amusement. The pink haired girl was becoming more and more interesting the more she talked. After all he has never heard someone call his fans that before.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, watch me!" Ami called to the black haired boy, making him and Sakura roll their eyes. "I'll teach her not to insult you."

Sakura scoffed. "How insulting. And here I thought the second Uchiha heir was strong. Why would he ask you to fight his battles for him? That is just plain insulting to him."

Ami glared at her. "You're wrong. I am just saving Sasuke-kun from having to waste his time on a weak little girl who let her memories be sealed. Your life was probably so pathetic before that you let them get sealed because you couldn't handle the truth of how pathetic you truly are!"

Green eyes narrowed angrily. Let them get sealed? Who the hell would let such a thing happen? It was horrible wandering around with no memories and no idea of what was going on. How dare she?!

"You don't even belong here! You are just an outsider who is getting sympathy from our Hokage because you are so pathetic!" Ami shouted.

Iruka frowned at the girl's blatant disrespect. If she ever wanted to be a ninja she would have to learn some respect and honor, especially towards her comrades.

Sasuke growled softly to himself. How dare this girl? He may not like Sakura all that much, but that didn't mean he would be rude to her. He could tell the girl was lost without her memories and she didn't want it brought up! Ami was being a real bitch just because Sakura didn't suck up to him and try to hit on him, which is find really relieving after having all the other girls suffocate him.

Naruto glared at Ami. He never liked the girl to begin with, and now he absolutely hated the girl. She had no idea of who Sakura was. She has never spoken to Sakura before this so how could she just make assumptions like this. At least when Sakura spoke, it was in a cheerful manner and most of what she said was in a joking way. Ami had no such restraint.

"I will show no mercy."

The deadly voice brought Sasuke's attention to Sakura, whose fist were shaking with rage. He looked at her face to see pure rage on it. In her eyes the rage was mixed with fear and sadness. And Sasuke decided that such a look didn't belong on her face.

Naruto winced at the tone that Sakura used. Usually he heard that type of voice being directed at him. But to see it used by a friend and directed at someone else, he couldn't help but pity the person who was facing it. Well, he guessed he could. Sakura was already hurting and now it was being pushed in her face. She didn't need that. Ami had no right to say what she said.

"Iruka-sensei, start the fight." Sakura growled.

Iruka looked at her worriedly then at Ami, who glared defiantly back at Sakura. With the amount of rage pouring off of Sakura she should be quaking in her shoes. The fact that she just glared back either meant she was foolish or overconfident. Neither was a good trait to have. "Start." He said, feeling that he would regret this in a moment.

The two girls performed their Seal of Confrontation, though each only lasted for a second before they slid into their stances. Well, Ami did, Sakura was already on the move towards her prey. Before Ami could even register, Sakura was already behind her and slamming her fist into her back so hard that the purple haired girl was sent flying forward a few feet before landing on the ground. She groaned on the ground softly for a few seconds before trying to get up. She lifted her head to see Sakura standing right in front of her with her head turned down to look at her.

"Get. Up." Sakura growled.

Ami glared at her.

"Ninjas don't just lie on the ground after one hit. They get up and fight back." Sakura snarled. "You'll never make it if you don't get that in your head."

'Is she trying to teach her even though she is angry and upset?' Iruka thought in shock.

"Your dear Sasuke-kun will not always be there to protect you." Sakura added sarcastically.

'Ah, there's the insult.' Iruka thought before sighing. Perhaps this was a bad pairing.

Ami snarled and flew up with her fist aimed at Sakura. The pinked haired girl merely stepped to the side. With the sudden attack, Ami didn't have any balance as she threw her fist so Sakura merely kicked her in the back to send her sprawling to the ground again. Before she could get up Sakura dropped, pressing her knee into her back and grabbed the back of her neck to squeeze it tightly. Ami gasped and tried to throw Sakura off her, but Sakura refused to move and squeezed her neck tighter.

"Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Uh, right." Iruka blinked. That wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. The fight only last about a minute and it seemed that Sakura did control herself. She took her anger and brought it under her control. She didn't let her emotions run wild in the fight. That was good. "Sakura wins!"

Nodding, Sakura released the girl beneath her and stepped away. After a few steps, she paused and looked over her shoulder at the girl kneeling on the ground. "If you are going to try and pointlessly defend Sasuke-kun's honor again, I suggest you start training, weakling."

"Sakura." Iruka warned, but the girl just shrugged and went back to her friends. 'No matter how right you are, you didn't have to be so harsh about it.'

Stopping by her friends, Sakura huffed. "How am I supposed to get stronger if I can't fight strong people?"

Naruto laughed. "I'll fight you, Sakura-chan." He glanced at Ami then at Sakura. "Good job putting her in her place. She is so annoying." He added in a whisper.

"Still need to teach you to hold your tongue." Shikamaru muttered.

Sakura huffed at him.

*Sasuke*

As Sasuke walked towards the exit to the academy, he heard whispers coming from around the corner. Hearing people talk after classes were over was not surprising. The surprising part came because he heard the name Sakura and he recognized the voice as Ami. Now why would Ami discuss Sakura when she absolutely despised the girl?

"We need to teach Sakura some manners." Ami sneered. "No one talks to me like that and gets away with it. "

Sasuke stopped himself from rounding the corner to listen. He may not like Sakura all that much, but as she said earlier, they were all comrades. If these girls were planning something, he had to know.

"Not to mention she insulted our Sasuke-kun." Another girl's voice that Sasuke recognized as Sally said. "We can't let a foreigner with pink hair come in here and walk all over like she's own the place. Honestly, what was the Hokage thinking allowing her to stay in the village?"

"He must be losing his mind with his old age." A voice that Sasuke recognized as May said.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. Not only did they insult Sakura, but their Hokage too? These girls had absolutely no right to be ninjas!

"So how should we teach little pinky a lesson?" Ami asked, smirking cruelly.

Hearing enough, Sasuke pushed off the wall he was leaning against and rounded the corner, glaring at Ami and her group of friends. "You will do nothing to Sakura." He snarled.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ami said, wiping the evil look from her face to replace it by an innocent one, which Sasuke just glared at. She could not pull innocent off. "How can you defend that pink demon? We just want to teach her that she shouldn't act so high and mighty."

"You just want to hurt her for winning." Sasuke snarled, and he wasn't just referring to their spar. "If you do anything that will hurt Sakura physically or mentally, I will personally make sure you are expelled from the academy and never get to become a ninja." With one last glare at the now fuming girls, he walked passed them and left. He had no doubt that he just made them even more furious at Sakura, thinking that it was her fault he just scolded them. Great, he should have just ignored it. Now that he put his nose in it, he would have to watch Sakura's back to keep her safe from his fangirls.

When he stepped out of the academy, Sasuke watched Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru leave together, oblivious to the fact that a certain group of fangirls were after Sakura's head. He wondered where they were going, but found that it wasn't his business and he shouldn't care so he just ran over to his waiting brother. "Hey Aniki." He greeted.

Itachi nodded at his brother. "Sasuke. Shall we head home?"

Sasuke nodded and followed his brother down the street.

"So what caught your attention?" Itachi asked when they were away from the academy.

"My attention?" Sasuke asked, keeping his eyes on the road in front of him. Damn, why did his brother have to be so observant?

Itachi nodded, not sparing his brother anything but a glance. "Yes, you usual run right over to me, but today you paused and were looking at something else."

"Hn."

The older of the two smirked. "It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a certain mysterious pink haired girl, would it?"

Sasuke refused to reply.

"I noticed her too. She chose some strange companions." Itachi added, glancing at his brother again, but he was still looking forward. How strange. His dear little brother used to adore him so much and would always look at him. Maybe Sakura was much more interesting than he realized if she could do this to his brother. "Is that why she grabbed your attention?"

Sasuke grumbled to himself, but didn't reply to his brother. How could he say that a girl made him do the Seal of Reconciliation with Naruto? Or that said girl unintentionally defended his honor by telling the fangirls that he didn't need protection? He didn't that Sakura even realized that one in her anger. Or how could he possibly say that he just defended her against his fangirls and was now going to have to watch her back because of it? He couldn't say any of that!

"Hey Aniki, will you help me train today?" Sasuke asked, hoping to change the conversation.

"It's always training with you." Itachi replied, smirking. "Sure, I'll help you, but…"

Sasuke groaned. He hated it when his brother asked for something in return. It never ended well for him. "What do you want?"

"For you to tell me what Pinky did to attract your attention." Itachi said, smirking mischievously at his little brother.

"Aniki," Sasuke groaned.

Itachi shrugged. "That's the deal today."

"I really hate it when you feel the need to make a deal with me." Sasuke growled. "Can't we just forget Sakura?"

"You were the one staring at her." Itachi pointed out.

Great, just great. Now he would have to tell him the story of what happened today.

A/N: Please Review!