A/N: Okay, next chapter! Before anyone even thinks anything, I have no plans what-so-ever to Sakura bash. She may start out a bit rough, but she'll develop eventually and find her rightful place ;) Sadly, this chapter went on longer then anticipated, so power explanations will have to wait till the next one! There's a point where it all fits in. And to everyone whose been giving reviews, thank you! It's nice to hear that people enjoy the story, as I wasn't sure if anyone would. It's a bit slow going, but I don't like rushing things, and don't worry it should start picking up soon now that everyone's finally arriving!

Princess Bubblegum awoke to the sounds of church bells ringing gently in the distance. The soft light of the sun rising drifted in through her drapes even as songbirds danced just outside her window, all of which greeted her to yet another gorgeous, perfect day!

…

…

NOT!

Sakura Haruno was neither a Princess, nor did she like being referred to as 'Bubblegum', the mere mention of that nickname often resulted in her fist crashing into heads, or stomachs, or walls…rocks…trees…suffice it to say, she got angry, and hit things. Her inhuman strength never made the results pretty.

There were also no 'church bells' anywhere near Konoha Academy, not for miles around anyways. And while songbirds were adorable things, they sang, not danced and her windows didn't even have a ledge, they barely opened at all; more like moved ajar from the wall!

No, Sakura didn't awaken to a perfect morning, simply to the same morning she did every darn day, except perhaps that today she'd set her alarm ten minutes earlier than usual. That had allowed her time to sneak over to her roommates side of their shared room and quietly shut off her alarm, before grabbing whatever she needed and slipping into the bathroom. Today of all days, she would not let Karin get in her way.

What she'd forgotten however was how close Karin slept to the bathroom, and the fact that simply taking her shower could wake her up, which is exactly what had happened. Thankfully though, Sakura had locked the bathroom door, and since the closet could only be reached through the bathroom, she'd effectively delayed Karin; she barely noticed herself giggling while washing up.

Her little bit of joy disappeared quickly the moment she stepped out of the shower however, mostly because Karin's banging and shouts had ceased and that could mean only one thing. Her annoying redheaded roommate had gone to shower elsewhere in the house, and with what, ten or so bathrooms in the house, she'd certainly find a free one. Well, she was still locked out of the closet so HA!

Her confidence was dwindling however, and so Sakura quickened her pace. Instead of blow-drying her hair, she pulled it back into a ponytail. Sure it would have looked so adorable if she'd had the time to curl it, but time was NOT on her side any longer. Though she didn't know exactly how the teams were going to be picked for training camp, she had to make sure one way or another that only SHE got paired up with Sasuke.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she dazed off for a moment, remembering just two days ago when she'd caught sight of Sasuke dashing indoors after a light rainfall. The way he'd shaken his head to get rid of the excess water, how his hair had stuck just perfectly to his face…

With her cheeks blushing red, Sakura quickly shook herself out of her self-induced stupor and got on with it. So what if he was a walking Greek statue? If she spent all her time getting ready, she wouldn't get any of that! And Sakura Haruno was anything if not stubborn and determined!

Jumping into her closet, she took as little time as possible to throw on clothes, telling herself to ignore any accessories today. It was the fastest she'd ever gotten dressed, emerging in front of the mirror in less than five minutes in order to pop on some lip-gloss and a bit of mascara. She wasn't heavy into make-up like Karin or Ino, but a bit couldn't hurt right?

Only then did she pause to peer at herself; even if she was in a rush, it wouldn't do to show up sloppy. She still had to impress! Form fitting jeans stuck to her slim figure like a second skin, showing off her cute little bum, check! The plaid blouse she'd thrown on was cute, especially with the sleeves rolled up just slightly, and the green in the pattern played off her eyes nicely, without contrasting with her pink hair. As much as she liked the colour, having pink hair wasn't always the easiest thing to coordinate with!

Grey slouchy boots completed her look, for now, and as she nodded appraisingly at herself her mind shot back to the time and she quickly checked her watch as she pulled it on, 7:28?

"Shit!"

With that single curse, she grabbed one of her cardigans, the hot pink one at that, and went to run out of the closet and the bathroom. How could she have taken nearly 40 minutes in the bathroom? This wasn't how things were supposed to go damnit! She barely noticed Karin standing just outside the bathroom door; said redhead had her hands on her hips, standing there in a towel and was glowering at Sakura, mumbling something about it being 'about time' as she shoved past the pinkette and dashed into the bathroom.

Ignoring that, Sakura grabbed her book bag and dashed out the bedroom. She had just enough time to grab something from the fridge, an apple maybe as her usual grapefruit would take too long right about now.

Apple in hand, she couldn't help smirking even as she left the dorm house. 7:33, and from the looks of it no one was following her, so she ignored the lesson of the tortoise and the hare, and began leisurely walking toward the school doors. It was only an eight-minute walk, giving her plenty of time to chow down on her apple before arriving. A shame though that her lip-gloss would be ruined, but thankfully she had the same shade in her bag; she could hop into a bathroom upon arrival and fix it up.

Which is precisely what she did do, taking an extra few moments to touch up her hair as well, and straighten out her cardigan. Even if it was mid-April, the mornings were still chilly enough to warrant the extra clothing, but by lunch she'd have it tossed into her bag and probably entirely forgotten until she got back to her room. Smiling to herself as she took a little pose, she couldn't resist winking at her own image. "Looking cute Sakura!"

Her happy mood quickly washed away the moment she opened the bathroom door, hearing footsteps running down the hallway. A peek to her left showed a blob of red running not only toward her, but also past!

"Looooser!" Blinking, Sakura cursed as she took off after the blob. Idly, somewhere in the back of her mind she heard a voice reminding her that this is exactly how the hare lost to the tortoise, but getting cocky!

So she picked up the pace, after all Sakura was most certainly faster then Karin, and in better shape. Unfortunately Sakura was also wearing heeled boots while apparently Karin had settled on flats, giving her a tiny edge. Even so, she would not relent!

Reaching out with a hand as she grew closer, her fingers just managed to grab hold of a buckle hanging from Karin's bag and yanked roughly. Her intent was merely to pull Karin back, yet Sakura forgot, perhaps on purpose, that when her emotions were high, her control over her strength was weaker. The buckle came ripping off even as Karin stumbled back a few steps, nearly falling down.

Blinking at her own hand, Sakura spared the poor buckle only a second before tossing it aside and dashing ahead, yet it didn't go unnoticed by Karin.

"You bitch! Ino's gonna kill you for ruining her bag!"

"What the hell are you doing using Ino's bag in the first place? Isn't she gonna kill YOU for stealing it….again I should add!"

"Wha—no! Ino let's me borrow her things! Because obviously, she likes me better!"

"Ha…well you can have Ino, I'll gladly take Sasuke!"

"Oh no you wont, he's mine!"

Their bickering continued even as the raced toward the approaching homeroom, yet by now they were even in both distance and pace.

"Sasuke is MINE!" A foot shot out in an attempt to trip a booted leg.

"In your dreams he is, Sasuke is MINE!" Said boot hopped over the extended foot and attempted instead an elbow to the ribs.

"I don't care, damnit Sakura I want Sasuke!" Hands latched onto the arm and tried to push it away.

"Shut it Karin, I WANT Sasuke!" The stronger of the two was all but dragging the redhead along now as she glared downward. The door was just ahead, and as Sakura latched onto the doorframe, Karin suddenly used her leverage to bound forward. The motion caused them both to crash through the open door at once, even as they both raised their voices to scream once again, in unison this time.

"I WANT SASUKE!"

…

…

An eerie silence filled the classroom right after both girls screamed their demands, and that very silence was like a splash of cold water on Sakura, awakening her from her moment of insanity. Eyes widening in shock while her cheeks turned into a soft crimson from embarrassment. This was precisely what annoyed her about Karin so much; while she might get into spats with Ino, it was Karin that always managed to bring out her inner insanity, a side to her she didn't want anyone knowing existed.

A snorted laugh caused both girls to peer toward its source, and spotting Suigetsu made Sakura blink. Noticing he was there made her wonder if anyone else was, her eyes quickly scanning over the classroom. Iruka wasn't much of a surprise, it was his homeroom, and while she arched a tiny brow at Hinata, it wasn't that surprising either. Hinata was often one of the first one's to class, but why was she frowning at her hands, and why did she look even more nervous then usual?

As she scanned the classroom, Karin settled on glaring at Suigetsu. "And just what is so hilarious water boy?"

Eyes continued to quickly scan, taking in two other students before she spotted raven hair and she froze. "Sasuke." It came out as a whisper, and the only person able to even hear her stood right beside her; Karin's head snapped toward Sakura for a moment before following her gaze. Her eyes widened in shock for the briefest of moment, then rather annoyingly to Sakura, Karin quickly reverted to a sly smile as she bounced a bit. Apparently she completely forgot the position she was in at the moment, her hands still latched onto Sakura's own arm, and as such forced the pinkette along with her.

"Sasuke! Oh Sasuke! Let's be partners, kay!" Her demand, even her name-calling went entirely ignored by said very boy, who seemed entirely enthralled with whatever he was doing on his computer. Sakura on the other hand just stood there, slightly shocked. She was never as forward about her infatuation as Karin, and besides fawning over the raven-haired boy from a distance, she never once openly proclaimed how deep her desire went. And yet, thanks to Karin she'd just shouted that before everyone here, including Sasuke of all people! Glaring at the redhead, Sakura finally let her go from their still entwined position, yanking her arm free of Karin's hold and gleefully watched as she toppled forward, forced to flail her arms about to recapture her balance.

Snickering made her glance back at Suigetsu once again as the older boy shook his head. "Idiot…sorry to burst your bubble, again, but your precious Sasuke already has a partner. If you'd arrived oh, a minute earlier, you could have snatched him up yourself. He's all Hinata's though." The smirk on his face seemed to hold more meaning behind it, yet it was entirely ignored as Sakura's eyes bugged out in shock.

"WHAT?" Again, they spoke in unison, but while Karin looked at Suigetsu in shock, Sakura turned her attention toward Hinata in confusion. Her shy little friend began biting on her bottom lip and wouldn't lift her head, staring at her fingers as if her life depended upon it. Was that why she looked so much more nervous than usual?

"Now now girls, it's already been settled. And before either of you get ahead of yourselves, Sasuke asked for the pairing." That caught both girls attention as their eyes quickly diverged upon their teacher before glancing toward Hinata, and then finally at the back of the room at the boy in question himself.

'Sasuke…asked for Hinata? But…why? He never liked training with girls!' A tiny fact that made her own attempts to partner with him entirely impossible, yet she had at least hoped that if any girl had a power Sasuke was interested in training with, it was her. 'Why Hinata? All she can do was read minds!' Momentarily, Sakura was rather thankful said friend wasn't looking upward as she reprimanded herself for her own thoughts. No, it wasn't Hinata's fault Sasuke had asked for her, so she shouldn't hold it against her, yet Sakura couldn't deny the growing envy she felt toward her shy little friend.

Another thought hit her and she suddenly peered toward her teacher, who had turned toward the blackboard to write names, Karin and hers she took note of. "Umm, did you say he asked for her? We…can pick our partners?"

Before Iruka even had a chance to reply, Suigetsu cut in with a grin. "Yup! And it's my turn next, so whaddya say Karin, wanna be mine?" He threw in a wink, as if that would make it all the better, and while Sakura found the current situation hilarious, who couldn't laugh at Karin being teased by Suigetsu? While she found it enjoyable, there was the more pressing matter of partners, who was she to pick?

"Dream on! If I can't have Sasuke, naturally I'm partnering up with Ino!" That caught Sakura's attention.

"Wait, who says you get Ino? She's my friend too!" Were they now fighting over Ino? Sometimes, Sakura wondered how she'd ever get anywhere so long as Karin was in her life.

"The fact that I'm before you says." Karin's smug look definitely deserved a smack, but no, as much as Sakura hit things, and even people, when angry, she did not attack those weaker then her. She wasn't abusive damnit! Just…expressive, and besides her private lessons were helping her temper problems.

It really wasn't her fault her trainer had a temper to rival a volcano, nor that it had unintentionally rubbed off on Sakura; you try spending 7 years under the tutelage of one Tsunade and not have some of her personality rub off on you.

"I'm sorry to say, but neither of you will be choosing her." Iruka's voice broke through the arguing, and with a frown all three peered toward him as he turned, intent on explaining. "There were certain…guidelines we put into place for the selection process. As we stated yesterday, it's a first come first serve basis. However, only the first five students to arrive get the privilege of picking their own partner, everyone else has to pick a name from this hat." Picking up a black hat atop his own desk, Iruka held it up and motioned toward the girls as if to make a point.

And that's when Karin laughed. "Sucks to be you Sakura…Well Iruka, I still pick Ino."

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura glowered first toward Karin, then the blackboard. Indeed, Karin was fifth on the list, but they'd arrived at the same time so it wasn't fair that it went alphabetically! Only, something clicked in her mind rather quickly. Iruka had stated neither of them would get to pick, and a quick glance around the classroom as a reminder confirmed her growing thoughts. Sasuke and Hinata were paired up, but they were also both in class, which meant Suigetsu was the fifth student!

"Idiot…you don't get to pick either Karin." Karin twirled around, arching a brow toward Sakura.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm fifth on the list, so obviously I get to pick!"

"He didn't say first five on the list Karin, he said first five in class; learn to pay attention, and count." Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura gave a rather smug look before walking past a befuddled Karin and toward their teacher. "Isn't that right Iruka?"

Although he seemed disappointed with how Sakura had made the very point he was about to make, he did none the less nod his head. "Yes, which is why Suigetsu needs to make his choice, and then you two can pick your names, starting with Karin of course."

Sakura shrugged and Karin hmph'd while Suigetsu found himself contemplating his choices. To continue harassing Karin, only to end up stuck with her for the full of training camp, or pick someone he honestly would enjoy partnering with.

"Eh, Jugo will work; he should be here soon anyways, soon as he's done feeding his damn birds."

"Suigetsu, watch your language." Disapproving of the white-haired boy, Iruka shook his head before approaching the board and writing Jugo's name neatly beside Suigetsu's own. "Now then, the rest of the rules go as follow: pick a slip of paper, if the name isn't already up on the board, then you have your partner. If it is, pick again." With that, he held out the hat for Karin, who didn't waste any time in going.

Sticking out her tongue toward Sakura as she walked by, Karin stuck her hand into the hand and proceeded pulling out a slip of paper, blinking then wrinkling her nose in distaste. "What the? There's no way I can be partnered with this lazy bum, I won't get anything done!"

Quickly peeking over her shoulder, Sakura suppressed a giggle, as much as she could anyways. "Aww, Shikamaru's not all that bad!" Then she stuck her own hand in the hat, shuffling through papers before pulling out her own fate.

"HA! Oh the irony!" That was Karin, shaking her head in amusement while Sakura just stared at the little paper in her fingers, too stunned to react beyond that.

"Well Sakura, who did you pick?" Turning back to the board, Iruka proceeded with chalking down Shikamaru's name while waiting for Sakura to speak up.

"Na-Naruto." Was this fate's cruel way of playing with them? Here she was, partnered up with someone she would rather stay away from, but also happened to be Hinata's crush, and Hinata was teamed with a boy she otherwise ignored yet Sakura entirely adored.

Ignoring the snickering coming from Karin, Sakura turned toward a chair, one right beside Hinata no less, and slouched down into it. Her day was getting worse by the minute. Now she needed only wait until the very boy she was teamed up with showed up and lord knew how excited he'd be over the turn of events. As much as she envied Hinata for being picked personally by Sasuke, she also dreaded what was to come. Naruto's obvious excitement would crush the poor girls heart, again. Did he have to remain so oblivious? She could care less about him, yet in Hinata he'd have the perfect girlfriend! Loyal, sweet, and entirely in love with him!

Hoping this was all some cruel nightmare, Sakura banged her head on her desk in an attempt to wake up. When that didn't work, she settled for shutting her eyes and ignoring the rest of the class. She barely noticed as more students streamed in, as names got called off and people were paired together. In fact, she didn't even notice when Hinata bent forward and attempted to apologize for the situation. It wasn't as if Sakura was purposely being cruel to her, she'd honestly dozed off with her head pressed flat against the desk.

Soft nudges are what brought her back nearly ten minutes later, and as she blinked her eyes open, wondering what was going on, a soft melodious voice brought her back to reality.

"Sakura…class is about to begin." Her head snapped up as she blinked again, peering around the classroom before focusing on Hinata and smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry…I was kinda hoping this was all just…a nightmare." Hinata seemed to understand, as she smiled apologetically and nodded a bit, yet the smile was hindered by her soft giggle that followed. Arching an eyebrow, Sakura frowned. "What?"

Pointing toward her forehead, Hinata lifted another hand to politely cover her mouth as another giggle escaped. "You…you must have s-slept on something. Your forehead." Blinking again, Sakura lifted a hand and ran it along her forehead, her frown deepening as she felt nothing there.

Reaching into her bag, she quickly pulled out a compact mirror and peered at herself. Eyes widening in horror, Sakura peered down at the desk she was sitting at. Whoever had last sat in this desk had taken it upon themselves to draw on the desk in pencil, and while it would be a simple matter of water to get it off, that didn't erase the fact that Sakura now a doodle of their teacher smudged onto her forehead!

Quickly, and rather furiously, Sakura attempted to get the doodle off her skin even as she glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed. Apparently everyone was here, as the blackboard was now littered with everyone's names. No, wait, Tenten was on the board, but there was no name beside her, yet even as she noticed that Sakura became aware of something much more obvious to her. Naruto had yet to come rushing up to her over their partnership, which meant he wasn't here yet. Was he late, again? What Hinata saw in him, Sakura would never understand.

Shutting his laptop, Sasuke went to slide it back into his backpack, a smug air growing about him. 'I knew the moron would be dead last, as always.'

Although he'd spent the last fifteen odd minutes playing games on his computer, he'd also kept half his attention on what was going on in class, idly curious as to what the pairings would result in, and while a few presented mild interest, over all he was satisfied with his own situation.

As if right on cue, Naruto bounded in through the door, arms stretched out as he, once again, introduced himself. "Naruto Uzumaki has arrived!"

His baggy blue jeans and grey hoodie didn't exactly stand out, but Sasuke just knew beneath that rather mundane hoodie must lay one of his roommates horrendous t-shirts, many of which were either in orange, or had that hideous colour for the lettering that was typically thrown over the shirts. It was closets like Naruto that reminded Sasuke of why he allowed a stylist to do most of his shopping; some boys just shouldn't shop, ever. And orange was most certainly NOT meant to be worn every damn day!

"Naruto, how nice of you to finally join us, two minutes before class is about to begin." While most students noted the undertone in Iruka's voice, it seemed to fly right over the idiot blond, who simply grinned as he lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

"Aah…sorry about that Iruka, Teuchi was a bit slow this morning." Who was Teuchi? Apparently, Iruka knew exactly who that was for the usually calm teacher suddenly bugged his eyes out, before glowering toward Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki, how many times have we told you not to use your teleportation bracelets to leave campus grounds?"

"Waaah? Ha…what makes you think I left the grounds Iruka?" Nervously, the blond avoided eye contact.

"The fact that Teuchi is the owner of Ichiraku, and we both know that they only operate in town Naruto!"

"Heh, moron." Crossing his arms, Sasuke slouched down into his seat a bit and watched as his blond roommate continued trying to wiggle his way out of detention. It was Kiba that intervened, bopping up to his friend while wrapping an arm around Naruto's shoulder and pointing toward the board.

"Forget that Naruto, look who your partner is!" Well now, this would be interesting. Smugly, Sasuke watched as Naruto's attention diverted toward the board, looking about for his name. When he finally located it, scribbled down beside one Sakura, that idiot's face practically broke in half with the grin he got.

"WOOhoo!" Throwing his arms into the air, he rushed over to Sakura's desk and attempted to glomp her. "We're together Sakura!" Sasuke almost, almost that is, felt sorry for the pink haired girl who was now being squeezed into a hug she didn't seem to want, but as she easily broke free and proceeded in hitting the blond over the head, Sasuke found no reason for pity. In the end, Naruto was learning his lesson, and by the look on Iruka's face, he was about to learn another. Ah, these were the tiny moments that made Sasuke almost want to giggle, but instead he kept his amusement on the inside.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble Naruto, but you won't be teamed up with Sakura."

"Wha-at?"

"Really!"

Both replies came at once, one confused, one almost too excited, while Iruka crossed his arms and nodded slowly.

"Yes. As I stated to everyone else, there were preset guidelines we put into play in order to pair everyone up. The first five students arriving could pick their own teammates while everyone else had to pull a name out of the hat in order to acquire theirs. The one rule I neglected to mention, so that no one would alert anyone and it would remain fair and square, has to do with numbers. As one of you so rudely pointed out earlier…" Iruka paused for a moment, sending a look toward Sasuke who merely shrugged in reaction. "…there is an odd amount of students, and as such one of you will be left out of the pairings. The entire staff agreed that would fall to the last person to arrive, which is you Naruto. So even if you name was previously picked, that choice is null and void."

Turning around to the board, Iruka proceeded in making his point by erasing Naruto's name beside Sakura's.

"But, who do I get paired up with than if not Naruto?" Smiling toward the pinkette, Iruka peered at the end of the list than scribbled Tenten's name beside hers instead.

"I hope you wont mind pairing up with Tenten instead."

"Iruka, that's not fair!"

"Shut up Naruto, that's completely fair! I don't mind at all, Tenten it is!" One satisfied girl and one disappointed boy next and now Sasuke was smirking.

"But…what do I do than?" Even Sasuke was curious about that, since apparently Iruka had thrown out his own suggestion earlier of the group of three.

"That Naruto is what we're about to discuss, now sit down, all of you. Class has officially started anyways."