Chapter Seven: A Rude Welcome

It was a traditional house, with two stories and a slanted tiled roof which came out about an inch past the house, along with large red windows. Sakura could tell the glass in the windows had replaced rice paper not too long ago.

The front of the house was surrounded by a dark red fence which protected a large green lawn. Everything from the grass, to the flowers, to the trees looked vibrant and happy, this was surprising because it was the middle of fall.

Sakura could tell a lot of time and effort had gone into the planning and well being of the lawn. Something about this made her smile, maybe it was because he didn't seem like the type of person to take care of something so well.

He went ahead of her and unlocked the door, stopping and looking back at her. "Coming?" He asked.

Sakura nodded. Then followed him inside.

The inside of the house was very clean and well organized, but more old fashioned than she had expected. The living room was large with a dark brown wood floor that creaked when you walked on it.

Even though the room was big there wasn't much furniture, leaving it with an empty feeling. A low square table took up the center of the room, blue round cushions were neatly stacked in the corner and a black couch sat against the wall. The only other piece of furniture which occupied the room was a cabinet by the couch.

Sai went over to the couch and laid down, closing his eyes. Sakura walked over to him, watching him closely.

"Do you have a first aid kit?"

"Cabinet."

Sakura walked over to the cabinet and opened it. There were sheets, blankets and pillow cases stacked on one side. The other side held a huge grey box, with a red cross. Sakura pulled the box out and opened it. Besides the normal bandages, gauze, tape and minor pills. It also had natural herbs, serums and tonics.

Digging deeper she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a suturing needle and some silk thread, surprised she had found what she was looking for. Most people didn't keep such an extensive first aid kit.

She got up and walked back over to Sai.

"Take these." She said handing him a bottle of pills.

Sai looked at her suspiciously. "What are they?"

"Painkillers. You're lucky the first aid kit had these, otherwise we'd have to do this the old fashioned way."

"Do what?"

"What do you think?" she asked holding up the needle and thread. "Unless you want to go to the hospital, I need to redo your stitches. You haven't lost too much blood so you're life isn't in danger, yet. I need to close the wound now, so it doesn't get any worse."

"You said my life isn't in danger, which means I'm fine and don't need stitches."

"What kind of twisted logic is that? I said your life wasn't in danger yet, but if we don't close that wound, it will be."

"There's no other way to do this?"

"We can go to the hospital, but either way you're getting stitches."

"Damn it. Really?"

She nodded.

After a minute or so he took a deep breath and held out his hand.

She handed him the pills.

"Take them now." She said. "Where's you're kitchen?"

"Down the hall, why?"

"I need hot water, we have to be as sterile as possible. Do you have rubbing alcohol?"

"In the bathroom." He said pointing to a door a couple of feet ahead of him, just before the hallway.

x She carefully finished stitching the wound. "There, that should take care of it. How do you feel?"

He didn't move and kept his eyes completely shut. "I've been better."

"I was surprised you took it so well, especially since you made such a big deal out of it earlier."

"I don't do well with needles."

"Obviously."

"The pain pills helped."

Sakura turned away from Sai, putting the suturing needle into a plastic bag she had gotten from the kitchen. "They do help, don't they?"

Sai didn't reply.

Not expecting a response Sakura headed into the kitchen. She took off her plastic gloves and put them into the bag with the suturing needle. Then she tossed the bag into the trash can.

She walked over to the sink and washed her hands, she dried them on her shirt then walked back into the living room to check on Sai.

She casually leaned against the wall facing the couch. Who would have thought she would be in a situation like this? Saving a stranger who didn't seem to care whether he lived or died. Having to stay in his house and save him yet again. Something told her there was more excitement to come. She didn't look forward to it.

"All that complaining for nothing." She said to herself.

"I'll be mentally and physically scarred for the rest of my life."

Sakura chuckled, "I didn't think you knew how to tell a joke."

"Maybe you're starting to rub off on me. After all, you're pretty funny."

Sakura could tell that wasn't a compliment. "Thanks." She replied sarcastically.

She walked over to him and held out another bottle of pills.

"These are?"

"Sleeping pills."

"These weren't in the first aid kit." He said.

"I know, they're mine."

He opened the bottle and took two out, popping both quickly into his mouth. Then he tossed the bottle back to her.

She effortlessly caught the bottle of pills and put them back into her pocket. "Is there a bedroom I can help you to?" She asked, knowing it was only a matter of time before the sleeping pills kicked in.

Sai nodded. "Upstairs." He said pointing to the staircase.

Sakura unfolded her arms and came over to him, she put her hand behind his back, helping him to his feet. Then she helped him up the stairs, he was groggy from the pain pills so his movements were extremely sluggish. Sakura found herself once again holding up most of his weight.

She was glad she had never let herself get out of shape, she had been doing a lot of lifting and carrying lately.

When they finally reached the top of the stairs Sai slowly pointed to a door, the last of seven. Sakura helped him down the long and narrow hallway until they reached the door at the end. She turned the handle and went in.

The first thing she noticed was how simple it was. The walls were pure white, no pictures or posters hung from them. The floor was like the rest in the house, wood covered with tatami mats. Off to the right hand side a desk and chair sat against the wall. On the left hand side there was a closet. The only thing which made the room seem at least remotely livable was the single large window, which gave a beautiful view of the backyard.

Sakura realized that everything in the house was extremely plain and simple. It was almost like she had walked through a portal back to the feudal era. She suddenly got the feeling that Sai was a very lonely person.

In the middle of the room there was an old style bed on the floor. That's where Sakura laid him down.

A sigh of relief seemed to escape his lips as he felt the bed beneath him. He closed his eyes and before Sakura could say anything he was asleep.

x They were staring at each other from across the table. A slightly hostile air sat between them, keeping either of them from moving.

"What did you say?" She asked, she must have heard wrong.

"I love him. I always have."

"But! He's your brother!" She said, letting her voice raise slightly.

"Not once have I ever looked at him as my brother."

She looked down at her feet, not knowing what to say. After several moments of silence she finally asked the question which had been on her mind. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Please don't misunderstand, I'm not telling you this because I don't want the two of you to be together, no. I'm telling you this because I want you to know how I feel… Sakura."

x Her eyes slowly opened. She put her hand on her forehead and wiped away the sweat which had formed there. Then she sat up.

She wondered if she would be plagued with these nightmares for the rest of her life, perhaps it was no better than she deserved.

She stood up and looked around, suddenly remembering she was no longer in her apartment. Sun was shining in through the large windows. She looked down at where she had been sleeping.

Now she remembered. After helping Sai to his bed she had come back down to the living room to finish cleaning up. Then she had gotten a blanket and pillow from the large cabinet, laid down on the couch, only to realize how big it was, being at least three times her size in length.

This caused her to look around the room one more time. Again she noticed how big it was. The detailed wood floor, large windows and high ceiling, had suddenly made her wonder what it was Sai's parents did. Whatever it was, they certainly made a lot of money doing it.

With this thought in mind she had drifted off to sleep.

The creak of the stairs brought her out of her thoughts. She looked over to see Sai. "Good morning." She said politely.

"You had another stupid look on your face just now." He said copying her tone and giving her an oddly fake smile.

Sakura was about to reply when she thought better not to. Too early in the morning to begin arguing. Sai obviously enjoys being rude to people and she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of replying.

"Just speak to me normally, there's no point in being overly polite." He said.

She smiled and nodded.

Sai mimicked her smile and said, "Oh, there's another stupid look."

"What the hell did you just say!" She said giving him one of her old delinquent looks. This was the very same look she would give to people who owed her money, worked every time.

Sick and tired of his crap she threw off her blanket and hopped to her feet. Then she began to approach him, she was definitely going to teach him a lesson in manners.

However just before she reached him, he asked, "Aren't you going to be late?"

This stopped Sakura's approach. "Late for what?" She asked.

"School of coarse."

"I don't have school for another week."

"Really? I just talked to the principals, they said they were expecting you."

Why would they be expecting her right now? She had come to town two weeks before school to settle in. How? She wondered. Then a thought came to her. "Tsunade." She said.

"Seems you managed to figure it out." Sai said sarcastically, giving her another fake smile.

"I guess so." She responded, flashing a fake smile of her own.

They stood there like that for several moments, neither one willing to break the smile first.

Finally, still smiling, Sai said, "L-A-T-E." Putting as much emphasis on the word as he could.

Sakura broke, immediately heading for the door where she put on her shoes, she opened the door and stepped outside into the bright morning sun. Just before she closed the door she heard Sai say, "I win."

x Lucky for her Sai lived in the middle of town. Which wasn't far from where the school was located, so she managed to find it pretty easily.

She looked up at the big building. She was surprised at how clean and tidy it looked. The school was famous for accepting students who couldn't be accepted anywhere else, meaning the so called "Lost causes." Somehow it didn't look like that type of school.

She noticed the students flooding into the front gate. They all wore there uniforms properly and there hair wasn't dyed at all. There was no menacing air around any of them, if anything they all seemed really uptight and privileged.

What was going on? Had her father been wrong? No that couldn't be, Tsunade had just warned her about this school. So why was it like this?

Sakura must have looked quite lost because a beautiful young student with black hair and pale blue eyes which almost looked white, came up to her. "Um, excuse me, do you n…. need help?" She asked suddenly blushing a deep red.

Sakura was a bit surprised, but she found the girl cute. "Could help me find the principals office?"

The girl broke into an innocent grin. "Sure!" She said excitedly.

x The school corridors were so long they seemed to go on forever, they continuously passed classrooms every few steps.

Sakura wondered how big the school really was. They were on the second floor now and she had been told there were three more above. "That makes five total," she thought.

She stopped and took in her surroundings. Everything was clean and undamaged, something wasn't right about this. She had been told by several people that this was a school for delinquents, yet when she looked around, no broken windows, no graffiti, the girls weren't modifying there skirts to be too short and the guys weren't fighting in the hallways.

"What the hell is wrong with this place?" She asked herself. "No, wait. Maybe this is a good thing, I might actually be able to have a normal school life."

"Sakura?" A sweet voice asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry Hinata, what were you saying?"

"Um, it's just a little further down the hall." She said pointing to a door which said 'Principal' on it.

"Ah, okay."

Sakura walked over to the door, "Thanks for the help." She said to Hinata as she brought her hand up to knock.

Suddenly Hinata grabbed Sakura's sleeve just as the school bell began to ring.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Hinata shook her head and let go of Sakura's sleeve. "I, well, I…. I would like us to be friends… If possible."

Hinata's face was bight red and suddenly Sakura was thinking about how cute this girl was.

"Sure, I'd like that."

"R-really? That's great! Uh, I mean, well… I should be going now, b-but we'll hang out sometime, right?"

Sakura smiled, "Of coarse."

"I-I'll see you later then." She said turning around and running back down the hallway they had come from.

"Seems I've already made a friend." Sakura thought knocking on the door in front of her.

"Come in." A voice chimed.

She took a deep breath and turned the handle stepping through the door.

The room was huge, to say the least. Books lined the walls on every side making it look like a miniature library. In the center of the room was a giant white rug with a grey snake pattern woven into it. On top of the rug sat a couch, two chairs and a table. Finally not far off from the four windows which overlooked the school yard, sat a man behind an expensive looking desk.

Who was she kidding? Everything looked expensive in this place. She felt annoyed at the gap between her and everyone in this school, who obviously came from money. This definitely wasn't the school she had been told about, maybe she was in the wrong place? But that couldn't be, Konoha only had one school.

The man behind the desk stood and began to walk over to her. "Miss Haruno, I presume?"

"He must be the principal." She thought.

He looked young to be running a school, no more than thirty. He was good looking too, his chiseled regal features made him look like a king and his sharp eyes oozed with intelligence. With every step he took his long black hair swayed.

He stopped and smiled, extending his hand towards her.

"Yes, I am." She replied taking his hand and shaking it.

"I am Orochimaru, principal of this fine establishment." He let go of her hand walked back to his desk, gesturing for her to take the chair in front of his desk.

When they were both seated he pulled out a large folder, Sakura knew what was coming.

"You have quite a history." He said flipping through the folder. "You've been suspended, kicked out of schools, charged with assault on more than one occasion, one of them being your teacher, poor attendance, fighting, stealing, black mail and worst of all you're poor and get bad grades."

"And here I thought he seemed nice." She could feel it, this guy didn't like her and she knew why too. The "poor" part was really the only thing he had a problem with, if her parents had money, she wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

"Terrible, absolutely terrible." He said pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

For some reason Sai came into her mind and she gave the best fake smile she could muster. "I admit my behavior in the past was absolutely deplorable," She couldn't help the urge to mock his tone. "Surely, one such as I, do not deserve it, However

I humbly request another chance." She stood up and bowed, crushing down every ounce of pride she possessed.

She was starting to miss her old self. The person who would have jumped up from her chair onto the desk grabbing his tie and pulling him forward till their faces were inches apart, asking him what the hell he meant by saying all this bullshit!

But she put it to the back of her mind and kept her head bowed.

The principal stood and clapped his hands together. "Well, at least you have the right attitude and know your place." He said in a horribly cheery tone. "Lucky for you, we've accepted worse."

She stood up straight, she already wanted to leave this place. However before she could turn to leave a loud knock came from the door and in stepped an older man with white hair.

"Hey Oro, have you seen my student?

"You mean this?" The principal asked smiling and pointing to Sakura.

Sakura made no move to greet the new man, her patience had died out from her talk with the principal.

The man stared at Sakura, "Yep, that's her." He walked over to the principal and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks for finding her for me." He said laughing.

Orochimaru sighed, "This man hear is your principal." He said taking the man's hand off his shoulder.

"The names Jiraiya, nice to meet ya." He said as he gave Sakura a wink.

"Oh great, a pervert." She thought as she gave a forced smile. Then she realized what had been said.

"Wait, did you say principal?"

"Yes Jiraiya is your principal and no I am not the vice principal. I think Jiraiya is better suited to explain things to you. Please excuse me I have work to do." With that he took his seat back behind his desk.

"You've always been so up tight Oro, guess we'll leave you to it." Jiraiya said as he and Sakura left the office. "Sorry about that. Oro can be pretty rude sometimes, but he's a good guy."

"Were you listening?"

"Well I just so happened to be walking down the hall, when I saw you knock and go in. I was going to come in and fetch you sooner but I couldn't help but wonder what your reaction to him was going to be." Jiraiya smiled and ruffled her hair. "Oro was rude, but you did good."

Sakura swatted his hand away and said, "I don't know you, please don't touch me."

Jiraiya put his hands up in surrender and laughed. "You remind me of Tsunade."

This surprised Sakura, "You know Tsunade?"

He put his hands down. "Know her, Oro, Tsunade and I grew up together. But that's a story for another time. Let's get you to class." He said waving for her to follow.

Sakura stood there for a minute before following after him.

"You're probably curious about how things work here, I'll simplify it for you." They turned a corner, their shoes squeaking as they walked down the waxed hallway. "This school is actually two schools combined into one. This is Sound high." He said stopping for a moment to let her look around.

She did look around. Yep, just as she had thought, this hallway looked the same as all the other ones.

He smiled and started walking again, Sakura close behind him.

"This is a prestigious and highly sought after school, every parent in the country wants their child to be accepted hear. But aside from money the child must be excellent in some way or another, weather that's academically, athletically or artistically. Oro is in charge here and holds very high standards towards everything. Or at least that's what he says."

"I thought you said there were two schools?"

"Yep there's the other one." He said pointing forward.

Sakura looked over and couldn't believe what she was seeing. Just a few feet ahead the hallway changed dramatically. Graffiti lined the walls, most of the windows were smashed out, kids were fighting and mingling everywhere.

She turned around to look back down the way they had come. Yep, pristine and orderly, no one was even out, it was time for class. She turned back towards the other half of the hallway and noticed the red paint on the floor which separated the hallway completely in half. She also noticed none of the kids were stepping over the line.

"What the hell is this?" she asked herself.

Jiraiya put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Welcome to Sage high."

"I… don't understand."

"Well, I'm finally finished with chapter seven. What's it been? Six months since I updated? God I'm slow. Oh well, it's here now."

'Next time: It's Sakura's first day of school and she's already getting into trouble. She gets called out back and will have to choose to either go back to her old ways and fight, or submit and start her new path in life. Or maybe she won't have to choose either. Her troubles are just beginning.'