Sakura was confused, a rare occurrence indeed.

The school's atmosphere had changed completely. Everywhere she went, students stared, giggled and whispered to each other. She suspected a coup.

Sakura stormed through the school, death glaring anyone who dared laugh or whisper in her presence. Her face burned from all of the stares she was receiving. She was beginning to actually feel a little worried. She had already disappeared into the bathroom to try to see if there was anything amusing about her face that would explain the stares.

It was a very miserable Sakura who eventually trudged into the school's sunny courtyard, hoping there'd be a foolish youth with a dress code violation she could verbally maul to cheer herself up.

She always knew she was heavily disliked by her fellow students. She had never cared before, believing it just showed she was doing her job properly. But this was something different. They were all laughing at her.

She saw Naruto frowning at a textbook as he sat on a bench with Sasuke next to him, looking bored.

"Naruto," Sakura said in clipped tones, not acknowledging Sasuke, "I need you."

Naruto's eyes rounded in shock, and she realised the connotations of her words.

"I need your help," She spelled out, "to find out why everyone seems to find me so funny today."

"Oh, that. Well, haven't you looked on the noticeboard, Sakura-chan?"

He always said her name like, 'Saaaaakura-chyaan!' It grew irritating over time.

"Not today, no. Why?" She asked suspiciously.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Naruto led her to the noticeboard, with Sasuke trailing behind them as always.

Sakura put her hands on her hips. There was a large piece of paper clipped to the noticeboard, so large it eclipsed most of the other notes.

A declaration of war, it read.

Sabaku no Gaara hereby declares war on Haruno Sakura. In an effort to show her what she is up against, I will now demonstrate my abilities.

Haruno Sakura's hair is naturally pink. She was gifted the title of 'Student Body President' because no one else wanted it. She is forced to do the jobs of the teachers who can't be bothered to do them themselves.

Her parents divorced when she was twelve, and neither of them wanted custody of her.

Later that same year, Yamanaka Ino -

Sakura stopped reading and savagely tore the paper from the noticeboard, startling Naruto and Sasuke, who had been reading over her shoulder.

She ripped the paper up into tiny shreds efficiently, and deposited the remains into the nearest bin. A few students walked past as she did so, laughing at her.

"I remember that thing with Ino," Naruto said thoughtfully, "It had something to do with Sasuke, right?"

Sakura did not reply. She was staring at the sun, trying to stave off tears.

Her deepest, darkest secrets, laid bare in front of the entire school.

"If he wants war," She said through clenched teeth, "That is what he will get."

"Good," A cold voice said behind her.

She turned to glare at Gaara - no matter how terrifying this sullen, short tattooed redhead was supposed to be, he'd messed with things even she tried to forget, and publicised it all for the world to read. She was never going to be afraid of him, because he had angered her so much that it eclipsed the tiny shred of fear that she had felt before.

He was flanked by his older siblings, both of whom looked slightly uncomfortable. Gaara himself looked especially unapproachable today. He wore a black, tight top with little grey skulls decorating the collar as well as ripped black jeans and big boots.

"I told you that you didn't know what you were dealing with." Gaara said without inflection. It was as though he didn't feel anything, his voice should be coloured by the petty triumph he had somehow won from her. The dull, unfeeling rasping voice was much worse than if he'd smugly said, "I told you so." It was like it meant nothing to him. Her secrets, her private life, meant nothing to him.

"I do know who I'm dealing with." Sakura said fiercely, "A student. I won't back down just because you're either some computer hacking genius or a rich heir with access to his daddy's wallet. Well done for the amount of detail, by the way. You must have dug deep for a lot of that."

"A surprising amount of people were happy to supply me with information about you. There wasn't much of interest. I was surprised to find out that you were prepared to give up your only friend for," Gaara broke off and nodded at Sasuke, "him. It must have hurt when it didn't pay off, hm?"

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously, "You don't know what you're talking about -"

"Neither of you do." Sakura interrupted coolly. This was one secret Gaara would never find out. It was between her and Ino. That awful day in the corridor, that horrible confrontation... "You told me, Gaara, that I don't know who I'm dealing with. The amount of research you evidently did should have told you enough to know that you just made a big mistake," She stepped closer, ignoring Naruto's muttered warning, "I get 100 percent in all of my exams. I have never failed any test, any paper, any assignment, any class project. I have never had detention. I am Student Body President, Gaara, not because no one wanted the job, but because no one else could do the job. I am in charge of what you eat, what you wear, what you say and what you do. If you put a toe out of line, I will have you up against the firing squad quicker than you can beg your daddy for a dollar to save you from me."

Gaara's eyes had widened the tiniest bit during her rant, Naruto had stepped away nervously, Sasuke had smirked reluctantly, Temari looked oddly impressed and Kankuro appeared to be a little worried.

The anger that had begun to rage inside her ever since she saw those poisonous lines of her life in black and white for anyone to see -Her parents divorced when she was twelve, and neither of them wanted custody of her - leapt up and boiled in her stomach as Gaara began to smirk.

"Who would have thought a little school like this would have someone as fun as you?" Gaara said slowly, his expression of haughty disdain melting into cruel amusement, "Maybe I'll stay longer than I intended."

"What?" Kankuro spluttered, "They make us wear a uniform! They wri -"

Gaara looked at his older brother. Kankuro was silenced immediately.

"He's right, Gaara," Temari said nervously, "This school is a bit dull."

It was one of the best public schools in the world. It was not dull. Sakura herself edited the school newsletter - declared to be a riveting read by the headmaster herself - and organised student gatherings.

Gaara looked away from his sister. His eyes slowly reached Sakura's face, his smirk widening, "It is not that dull anymore."

"Glad you like it here." Sasuke snapped, "Haruno, dobe, c'mon." He grabbed them both and pulled them away, Sakura and Naruto struggling to keep up with his fast pace.

They reached a corridor well away from Gaara and his increasingly irritating smirk and Sasuke finally released them.

"You," He began, eyes dark and furious, "are completely stupid."

A thousand remarks contradicting that statement sprang up in Sakura's mind but the look on Sasuke's face made her a little hesitant to voice them.

She settled for, "Talking with you is like a warm hug."

"He's right, that actually was pretty dumb." Naruto said earnestly.

If Naruto thought it was dumb, then it must have been mind-blowingly idiotic. Damn, it'd felt good at the time.

"You have no idea who he is, do you?" Sasuke snapped, "He's the son of one of the most powerful businessmen in the world. He could have you imprisoned for falsified charges. He could have your house burnt down with you in it. He could drain your scholarship money for college and ensure that no educational institute would take you. In short, you boasting that you could put him in detention is why he found you so funny when he could do so much worse to you!"

Sakura felt her expression freeze into something resembling awed horror as Sasuke spoke. The way Naruto nodded grimly told her it was common knowledge.

No wonder the whole class thought she was insane for straightening his desk. She'd gone up to him and his siblings and told them off, gave them detention and insulted Gaara over and over again.

She was dead. Or worse.

"Thank you for telling me this before I could seriously offend him. I mean, it's not as though you stood back and let me shout at him, knowing he's a raving psychopath with money to burn!"

"I didn't exactly expect you to threaten him!"

"Urgh!" Sakura groaned, running her hands through her hair wretchedly. This could be the end of her career and/or her life. It was ridiculous. Utterly terrifying, but ridiculous all the same.

A thought occurred to her and she straightened up with a smile, "Oh well, that's that then! I'm doomed. But, since I'm already doomed, I may as well carry on with this war thing."

"Haruno, did you not hear what I said?" Sasuke said, taken aback by her sudden cheer.

"Yes, I did." Sakura said grimly. But Gaara had gone too far. He'd raked up her past hurts and treated them like idle gossip. She was already in deep, why not go deeper whilst getting revenge? "He isn't going to go easy on me if I act like a submissive, meek little girl and not try to fight back. I'm not going to let him get away with what he's done."

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The notes began later that day. Insulting notes, always in different handwriting.

Haruno Sakura is a slut, a sneering piece of paper informed her, having been flicked onto her desk.

"Imaginative." Sakura snorted quietly and tossed the piece of paper back from where it had come, smirking at the pained yelp.

She needed a way to get to Gaara.

He was protected by his father's money, his older siblings and his fearsome reputation.

She needed to penetrate his defences, just as he'd done to her.

Hmmm, she thought, how to do that? The weakest member of the group was Temari, she feared Sakura's sash more than the other two, proven by the way she had hastily claimed the cigarettes were her boyfriend's.

Boyfriend...

She could get to them through the boyfriend.

Right.

The rumour mill had claimed Temari's boyfriend was younger than her.

Young, and a smoker. Presumably someone from Sakura's own year, unless Temari often dated underage boys.

It took Sakura a minute to remember every male in her year she had caught smoking on school grounds.

A single name flashed in her mind.

Nara Shikamaru.

Young, a smoker, in her year and surprisingly enough, a ladies man.

It was quite possible.

Shikamaru was one of the few students Sakura would tentatively label, 'a friend.'

They had similar intelligence levels. Shikamaru's was probably superior to her own but he lacked the motivation to do anything with his brain.

Sakura, thankfully, was more motivated than a cheerleader on speed. This was the only reason she was ranked higher academically than Shikamaru was.

Another note was flicked onto her desk in curly, feminine writing, Haruno Sakura looks constipated when she thinks too hard.

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Nara Shikamaru was pitifully easy to find.

He sat on the floor of one of the unused corridors, legs stretched out, cigarette dangling from his mouth.

His wrists were bruised, as was his face. Sakura frowned to herself as she approached.

Shikamaru saw her coming, there was a muffled, "Shit," as he tried to dispose of the cigarette.

"No smoking on school grounds! No sitting on the floor!" Sakura sang out as she reached him.

"You got me." Shikamaru raised his hands in easy defeat and blew smoke out in a massive sigh.

"Yep. That's why you're going to do me a favour."

"Hm?" Shikamaru turned to frown at her.

"You are going out with Temari, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes..." He said slowly, "How did you -"

"I'm brilliant, you know that. Anyway, her little brother's got it in for me. I was wondering what you could tell me about him."

"Gaara, huh? Should've known you'd piss him off. Well, I was dating Temari before she joined this school, I'm kind of the reason they came here - don't glare at me, I didn't ask them to come. Right, Gaara. He's got a history of violence. He hates his old man and the feeling's mutual. Temari and Kankuro are terrified of him. Their mother died when they were little, giving birth to Gaara. He got blamed for it, I guess. He's richer than you probably think he is. His money's all his own, he's got shares in a few businesses, or whatever. His dad never spent a penny on him. Temari says even she can't tell what he's thinking most of the time. He hates authority - er, yeah, guess that's you, huh?" Shikamaru took a deep breath after his long speech, puffing away at his cigarette like an old man.

Sakura scowled. She didn't want to hear about the sad parts of his life, he'd pissed her of and she wanted revenge.

"Is there anything he's afraid of?"

Shikamaru thought for a long time. "Yeah. But I ain't telling you that. Gaara isn't as bad as everyone thinks -"

"He publicised every secret I have to the whole school. I can't go anywhere without being laughed at now. My job relies on the students respecting me." Sakura said quietly.

Shikamaru looked at her thoughtfully.

"He's afraid of something he inspires." Shikamaru said cryptically.

"I'm sorry, be more vague next time, I can't understand you when you spell things out so obviously." Sakura said dryly.

"You don't know him like I do. It wouldn't be fair if I told you."

"Well you've been totally useless." Sakura moaned.

Shikamaru's mouth quirked up in half-grin around his cigarette. Sakura caught sight of his bruised wrist again and frowned.

"Why are you all bruised?" She asked, examining the bruises clinically. Fresh, just beginning to form.

Shikamaru closed his eyes briefly, half-grin gone as fast as it appeared, "Hyuuga Neji took offense to something I said."

Sakura was aware her face had settled into something vaguely demonic. Oh, how she despised bullying.

She stood, hands on hips. "Right, I'll go take care of that then."

"You don't have to -" Shikamaru started to say. She silenced him with a glare.

"No, but I'll do it anyway. I don't like bullies, especially not when they target my friends."

xxxxxxxx

She finally located Hyuuga Neji in the Senior Common Room. He sat in an armchair, reading a thick book with a look of intense concentration. A radio was blasting in the corner of the room. Sakura did a quick scan of the room and discovered several things that dismayed her. One, Naruto was asleep on the floor in a patch of sunlight and Sasuke was leaning against a wall near him. Two a flash of blood-red let her know that her worst enemy was present. Three, it appeared none of the seniors knew how to do up a tie.

Sakura swept into the room and planted herself in front of Hyuuga Neji. She was well aware that he was Hinata's cousin, but she wasn't going to treat him nicely because of that. She knew he belittled Hinata whenever he could.

Neji looked up from his book as she loomed over him menacingly, a scowl darkening her face.

"Hyuuga Neji," She said civilly, "Are you aware that bullying is not tolerated in this school?"

Neji raised his eyebrows a miniscule amount, "Quite aware, thank you." And he went back to reading his book.

"Well, that's good. I'd hate for you to get confused and beat up a student or two by accident. Because if that ever happened, I hope you are also aware of the consequences?"

Neji smiled, "Expulsion."

"In part, yes. More to the point, I would personally make any student's life very difficult should they get confused ever again."

"Are you threatening me, President?" Neji asked, the smile playing about his lips becoming infinitely more dangerous.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm Student Body President, I'd never threaten anyone." Sakura said brusquely, "One moment, please."

Neji gracefully inclined her head, effectively dismissing her.

Sasuke was watching her, yet again.

Sakura turned and faced Gaara and his siblings, whom had all been watching her talk to Neji.

"Temari," Sakura said. The older girl looked surprised at being addressed, "your boyfriend is Nara Shikamaru, correct?"

"Yes, he is." Temari said, looking at her suspiciously.

"And, say, should any senior ever take offense to his presence and beat him up, what would be your reaction?"

Kankuro looked shocked. Gaara's face was impassive.

Temari looked murderous. "I would tear up the person that did it and burn the remains." She spat.

"Excellent!" Sakura said pleasantly, "You've met Hyuuga Neji, right?"

The three siblings' eyes fell on the Hyuuga.

"I'm sure you'll get along just fine," Sakura smiled. She turned to face Neji, who was beginning to grow very pale, "I would never personally threaten you, no."

And with that she left the room again, ignoring both Sasuke and Gaara's stares boring into the back of her skull.

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Sakura returned home at five that day, having been forced to help the teachers again after school hours. On the plus side, they did pay her for her time.

She was never truly forced to help them, she just felt obligated to.

It was the stupid sash's fault, Sakura thought moodily as she trudged home, it made her feel special, powerful, dedicated. Important.

Better.

She opened the front door with her key, wincing as it got stuck in the lock. A good shove finally got the door open.

Her mother was sat in the living room, watching TV.

"Did you have a nice day, Sakura?" Her mother asked listlessly, not at all interested in her daughter's response.

"Yes." Sakura forced a smile and headed for her room.

She sat on her bed and looked around the room. The walls were covered in report cards, A+ essays, prize-winning poetry and other achievements.

She had taken every one of them home and showed them to her parents. It was the one time of day they would stop arguing with each other, they would examine her high marks and begin to smile.

She worked desperately hard to keep them smiling.

But it didn't matter in the end.

Her parents divorced when she was twelve, and neither of them wanted custody of her.

Sorry for the hideously late update, and sorry about this chapter being so short :S

Revelations are made and Sakura's past is partially revealed.

Quick poll for fun: Should Sakura give up in the war against Gaara?

A) Hell no!

B) Not sure.

C) Yeah, she's in too deep.