AN: Hello my sweethearts! Here it is! The big one-oh! I've finally reached a double digit chapter! *throws confetti*

Thanks to everyone who reviewed/added this story/added me to their lists, etc etc. Also, special thanks and glomps to everyone who wished me luck for my exams! I've only got the results for my physics exam. Which I failed. Miserably.

Take pity on me and review!

Shout out to Jean Histogen Qi, who's my classmate and also my 200th reviewer (not really coincidentally.) your 200th review made me laugh :) And even though I told you not to read my fanfic, you're obviously not gonna listen... Oh well. Hug. :)

Enough with the rambling, ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. *pouts*

"talking in Japanese"

'thinking'

'Inner Sakura'

Violence Is Not The Answer

Chapter Ten

In which violence, while not being the answer, is incredibly satisfying

Kimimaro glanced around the cafeteria, supressing a sigh of boredom. He loved Konoha High, really, he did, and he didn't regret transferring from Oto in the least. However, it was just so peaceful here; Sure, they had the Akatsuki 'Gardening Club' – he inwardly snorted –, but they tended to leave people be (until they became annoying and needed reminders on why exactly they were feared), totally unlike the 'ruling power' at his old school. Where were the flying tables, the spontaneous and violent outbursts among the students? Where was the air of paranoia, the feeling of anticipation that came from knowing a fight could break out at any time?

He sighed. It was in times like these, when Kimimaro felt truly bored, that he felt a twinge of longing for a return to those times, though he didn't miss the company in Oto at all. Well, except for one… he mentally shook his head, banishing that thought. Regardless, those Neanderthals he had regarded as acquaintances of sorts, the infamous student council, had been one of the reasons he was so eager to transfer out in the first place. One of the other major reasons was sitting right next to him.

As he flicked a strand of snow white hair out of his face, he regarded said person – one of his few true friends. Juugo was one of a handful of people that Kimimaro could honestly say had the potential to appear physically intimidating to him, though the gentle giant chose to be anything but. Well… Most of the time, at least. Kimimaro suppressed the shit-eating grin that threatened to surface every time he thought of Juugo's little 'temper tantrums'; they never failed to bring forth the memory of Dosu and Zaku almost soiling their pants in fear as they experienced first-hand the reason why provoking the kind animal lover was discouraged.

Despite his fearsome temper, however, Juugo was a pacifist at heart, as was Kimimaro. (Well, they wouldn't say no to a good fight once in a while, but both of them disapproved of mindless violence and suffering, such as the actions of Oto's student council.) These shared traits had formed the basis of their long friendship. In fact, his friendship with Juugo was one of only two friendships which he felt would last a lifetime. Though the other… his heart tightened painfully as a flash of pink hair crossed his mind. He'd thought that their friendship was something to be cherished, but after his transfer… they'd lost contact. It had already been more than a year and he hadn't heard one peep from Her.

It had been one of his and Juugo's last few days as middle schoolers, and Juugo had come to him one evening, looking very thoughtful. He'd met a boy, he said, a second year student at Konoha Middle School at that time, Uchiha Sasuke. Juugo had been brooding about the prospect of facing another three years of violence and biased treatment in Oto High, and Sasuke had basically told him to stop being a coward and to take action instead of whining about how unfair his life was. His words to Juugo had inspired him, and Juugo wanted to go to Konoha High School instead of Oto High, to get away from the oppressive student council that was said to rule the high school with an iron first, not to mention the genuinely vicious, cutthroat environment common in Oto schools as a whole. Even though it was unusual for people to transfer from the Oto schools, which ran all the way from kindergarten to high school, to any others, Kimimaro had agreed without hesitation. The only problem he saw was breaking the news to a certain pink-haired second year. Her parents wouldn't allow her to disrupt her studies, not to mention give cause for gossip, by transferring schools halfway through her education, and Sakura, who relied on Kimimaro's presence to keep sane through the insanity of Oto, would be immensely hurt. It would be worse in high school; the student council's influence and bullying tendencies were usually focused on those in high school, not middle school.

In the end, Kimimaro had fretted so much that before he knew it, he'd been admitted to Konoha High, and he hadn't informed Sakura. Nevertheless, the way Kimimaro saw it, the ball was in her court. Throughout the course of their friendship, Sakura had been the one to make the first step. She had approached him first, when he had been alone and friendless, as no one knew what to make of the weirdly pale kid who was always absent due to sickness, before he'd met Juugo, introduced herself, and boldly asked if he wanted to be her friend. She had also been the one who had sought him out subsequently. If she wanted to continue their friendship, she would definitely contact him. After all, it wasn't like she lacked the resources needed to track him down, even if he transferred schools. He hadn't moved from his house, anyway, and Sakura had been there loads of times.

She hadn't contacted him though, so he supposed that he had been the only one who cherished their friendship. No matter how many times he thought about it, the matter never failed to bring about a depression so oppressive he thought he'd crumble under its weight. A flash of pink crossed his mind once more. It also crossed his vision. His head snapped in its direction, half convinced he was hallucinating. What would she be doing here?

As Kimimaro's eyes locked with familiar emerald green, an English saying that Sakura had been particularly fond of ran across his mind.

'Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.'

It was particularly appropriate when used in reference to her, Kimimaro mused absently even as he held her gaze. She had always let her rather demonic side leak through when she fought, which had been very often back when they hung out together. The way her angelic face would twist into something cruel, sadistic and mocking as she decimated the forces opposing her had frightened and enraptured him in equal parts.

However, Kimimaro inwardly frowned as Sakura made her way over to him. She'd changed. She no longer walked with the subtle paranoia and readiness to fight common in most Oto kids who weren't victims of bullying. No, now she walked with grace, a delicate, ladylike walk rather than that of a battle-ready warrior. In the past, even when she had tried to hide it, in public and in front of her parents, Kimimaro could still pick up traces of it. Now, there was nothing. It was as if she had let go of the fighter in her, though that was impossible. The Sakura he knew would never do that, fighting was too much of a part of her for her to let go of it.

Then again, a lot could change in one year.

Sakura felt kind of blindsided. She totally hadn't expected to see him again, let alone at her new school. In hindsight, it was kind of obvious, and both Inner and her felt kind of foolish for forgetting that itty bitty detail. They'd heard about him and Juugo choosing to go to Konoha High – who hadn't? – and Lord knew she had been depressed about it for a better part of last year, due to the thought that she had been abandoned by her closest, and only, friends. She didn't like to think about that time, so she shoved her thoughts on that subject into the back of her mind forcefully, almost bowling over Inner, who couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and focused on the matter at hand.

Like the fact that Kimimaro had not looked away from her, and was staring at her expressionlessly, with not even a hint of remorse for abandoning her to the dogs and not even having the courtesy to inform her about it. She felt righteous anger bubble up within her, aided by Inner's rant on how she'd make him pay – nobody made them cry and got away with it!

However, Sakura tightly reigned in her fury as she strode over to Kimimaro, her anger making everything seem in slow motion as she went up to him.

And slapped him with all her strength.

Watching in satisfaction as the white-haired boy crashed to the floor, sliding to a stop with slightly widened eyes, Sakura turned on her heel and marched off, muttering to Ino, as she passed, "I'm not hungry. See you in class…"

It wouldn't do to pitch a hissy fit and destroy the cafeteria - Tsunade would definitely be more than a little upset with her. Stalking off, Sakura went exploring, hoping a walk would take the edge off her anger.

Five minutes later, she found herself standing outside a pretty white wooden fence, beyond which, she could catch glimpses of a beautiful, well-kept garden. The beautiful-hidden-sanctuary feel was ruined by the sign mounted on the fence, where blood red letters spelled out, 'SCHOOL GARDEN. AKATSUKI'S PROPERTY. ENTER, AND DIE.'

'Wow. How… nice.' Inner remarked dryly.

'The garden looks so peaceful though. I really want to enter! It'll probably be a good place to just wander around and think about everything that's happened today,' Sakura ran a hand through her hair, sighing slightly. Today was definitely one of the more bizarre days of her life – not to mention one of the most emotionally draining. Seeing Kimimaro had been the last straw, and now, Sakura had a feeling that she was going to break down and burst into tears if she didn't calm down soon.

'Look, Outer, I understand where you're coming from and all, but suicide isn't the way to go, girl. If you have a death wish, at least go out with style, in a less painful and messy way, okay?'

'But Pein said we were 'free to visit his club' anytime, didn't he? The school garden is technically their club headquarters, so I actually do have permission to go in,' Sakura reminded Inner smugly.

'Fine then, ignore the voice in your head that's trying to save your life! If you get ripped to pieces by overly rabid plants, or some other ridiculous and painful way, don't come crying to me!' Inner sniffed, totally ignoring the irony of her first sentence.

Sakura shrugged, then vaulted over the fence, seeing as the gate was heavily padlocked with rusty chains that had well-worn, weather beaten price tags still stuck on them, from which she could vaguely read faded script saying, 'Bargain Buy!'

She walked around the garden, feeling all the tension and worry from the first half of the day melt away, though the thought that she still had half a day to go was a dark cloud looming on the horizon that she was adamantly ignoring. She'd been right, this place was the perfect escape from reality, and was exactly what she needed. Inhaling the fresh air, Sakura admired the pretty flowers. It was quite amazing that the club had managed to cultivate so many exotic and beautiful species of plants. After seeing Pein, she'd half expected carnivorous plants to leap out of the soil and attack her or something.

Sakura was so absorbed in her thoughts, as well as in admiring the flora surrounding her, that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking. Thus, what happened next wasn't much of a surprise.

She tripped over a plant.

And landed flat on her face.

Inner was in hysterics as Sakura, grumbling slightly, sat up, rubbing her face. She shot a glare behind her at the offending object, which turned out to be a huge Venus Fly Trap. And when she said huge, she meant it. It was so tall, it was past her waist!

Wait a minute.

Was that green hair she saw?

Sakura shot up so fast, she got whiplash. As she cautiously approached the huge plant, she realised that she was right - it was a head of green hair.

'OH MY LORD, SOMEONE GOT EATEN!' Sakura mentally screamed, too shocked to actually open her mouth and shout it.

'AUGHHHH!' Inner's wordless screaming and freaking out definitely wasn't helping.

Sakura flailed her arms uselessly for a few seconds before coming to her wits and uprooting the plant, hoping to force open its jaws and pull the poor guy out or something. She then saw that the plant was actually attached to a body wearing the Akatsuki cloak, which belonged to the green-haired head she saw. She also noticed, belatedly, that the face on said green-haired head was dual-coloured, half of his face being black, and the other, white. His eyes were closed. Faced with a limp body in a cloak, with weirdly coloured hair (not that she could talk) and even weirder coloured skin, half of which was covered in a giant plant, Sakura came to the only logical conclusion.

"Oh, it was only a mannequin! I knew that they had to have something weird in here!" Sakura exclaimed out loud, placing her hands on her hips uncharacteristically and letting loose slightly hysterical laughter.

Without warning, the 'mannequin's luminous yellow eyes snapped open.

This time, Sakura let loose an ear-piercing shriek.

Zetsu had been having a nice nap with his babies in a sunny spot. Buried in the warm soil, he mentally sighed, content. Surrounded by his plants, his cute little daffodils (his latest project) blooming nicely, all was right with the world.

Until he was abruptly, and quite literally, yanked back into reality. Unappreciative of being manhandled, Zetsu took a while to come out of his content haze. Someone was definitely going to get eaten for this.

Hearing an unfamiliar female voice, followed by hysterical laughter, the words 'intruder' registered in his mind, though it was rather delayed, much to White Zetsu's chagrin and Black Zetsu's ire. This always happened whenever he buried himself in the soil – it was like plant hibernation, only less cold. Trying to make up for his slow reaction, Zetsu opened his eyes swiftly, eyes immediately landing on the girl in front of him.

Pink hair and green eyes. The girl in front of him looked as fragile and delicate as a flower, with the colouring to match. The only downside either Zetsu could think of was that she was the source of the infernal noise – she was screaming. Oh, she just stopped. That was better. Black Zetsu, already rather enamoured with this new specimen, smiled a rather creepy grin, imagining all the fun he could have with his new flower, as Zetsu stood up slowly, soil falling away from his cloak.

Sakura had stopped screaming, but it definitely didn't mean she was done freaking out. Especially when the plant/man/thing in front of her smiled a pedosmile that could put Orochimaru to shame and stood up in a zombie-esque fashion, the mini-shower of soil also adding to the I-just-rose-from-the-grave vibe, while his unnervingly yellow eyes stayed fixed on her.

When the plant/man/thing took one step towards her, swaying slightly and dislodging yet more soil from his shoulders, Sakura had had enough.

She fainted.

'How embarrassing,' Inner grumbled, before she too succumbed to blessed darkness.

AN2: So! How was it? Tell me your thoughts on the chapter! Or on anything in particular :)

I love you guys!

lessthanthree,

Amanda