Hey friends! I'm definitely in the middle of a Divergent story, but I started writing this one, and I'VE ALREADY FINISHED THREE CHAPTERS. So, since I was on a roll, I decided I'll upload the first chapter, see if I get positive feedback and continue with this story.

FULL SUMMARY: Sakura Haruno is a runner, and has had a dream since she was could run, that she would be an olympian one day. But after years of coaches that tell her to 'tone it down', to 'control' her runs, she is welcomed to a team that pursues her to unleash her inner monster. Easier said than done, but there is someone who can help.

This first chapter is really long, most chapters are expected to be more about 2-3k words and this one sits at almost 5k words…like I said, I was getting really into writing this story and I didn't know where to cut this chapter off from the next. So hopefully it doesn't seem like too much of a drag!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"You don't want to be too aggressive, you don't want to be too assertive.

It's like, NO. Wrong. You should be a monster, an absolute monster.

And then you should learn to control it."

August 20th.

10 months until Olympic Trials.

The sun is breaking through the horizon, painting colors of orange and yellow into the sky. The early morning breeze is losing its chill and I know that in a couple hours it will be significantly warmer. I check my watch, 3.25 miles; 16:50. Not bad for an easy run.

I continue to push my legs, carrying myself through the neighborhood, until campus comes into my view. Once I reach the track, my distance should be at five miles. Think strong, be strong, finish strong. The mantra that I repeat to myself during my runs, although this run has been anything but challenging. After this weekend, I start my journey as a transfer student, specifically a division I track athlete, at Konoha University. We are starting our training a month before school is in session, which is the only reason that I am not stressed beyond my mental capacity, considering I thrive off a consistent schedule that cannot be disrupted.

I run into the parking lot and my watch vibrates, letting me know that I have finished another mile. I slow down and check, 5 miles; 28:45. Still under a six-minute mile, which is good enough for me today, considering I am not facing the pressure of the coaches. I stop at my car that I parked right by the entrance of the track, to grab my gym bag and water.

I'm not surprised to see some runners and field athletes out here. Although official practice doesn't begin until Monday, no one makes a division I team based off luck. It takes me five seconds to find my best friend who transferred with me. Her long legs make her look like she's flying as she bounces around, warming up for hurdles.

"Forehead!" She yells my nickname as soon as she spots me, waving her arms around as if she's trying to get my attention…even though I am looking directly look at her. I brush off the stares that have been caused by her loudmouth, as I jog over with my own smile.

"Pig! I'm so happy to see you, it feels like it's been forever," I give her a sweaty hug which she immediately peels me off.

"Ew Sakura, it's 6:30 in the morning and you're already drenched. Don't tell me you had a practice before practice." I roll my eyes at her; she should know me by now.

"Come on Ino, you know I run distance. I also know that training with you means more sprinting than anything else, so I needed to get some distance in."

"You know, some people would consider 400 meters a distance event… not to mention jumping over hurdles," she flicks her long blonde hair and narrows her bright blue eyes.

Ino is your picture-perfect girl, and the body that has been earned from years of track has done nothing but enhance her beauty. I know that I have a strong body, considering that I spend more time working out than I do anything else. If I'm not running, then I'm lifting weights, doing yoga, or doing some sort of recovery work. I have a strict diet to keep my body healthy and strong. But I have pink hair, that was given to me naturally through some sort of freak genetic make-up, and then my bright green eyes call for more attention than I prefer. I wouldn't call myself hideous, but when your best friend is a blonde barbie and you're the weirdo standing next to her, it's hard to not let years of self-consciousness build up.

"Yes Ino, 400 meters is distance…for 100-meter runners," I laugh as she scoffs and turns on her feels, walking towards one of the curves of the track. The straightway has hurdles set up and she prepares herself run through them a few times. I go off to the side by a bench to drop my stuff and continue warm ups to not let my body cool down.

As I cycle through jump tucks, high knees, and stretching out my hamstrings, quads, and calves, I notice Ino running towards me with a bigger than normal smile on her face.

"Hey forehead, I need you to do something."

"Oh God Ino, what did you do?" I have known Ino long enough to know that she gets herself into ridiculous situations and when she needs something from me, it's usually because she made a bet with someone.

"Ok so I made a bet with the group of guys over there," I knew it was going to be because of a freakin bet, "because one of them literally had the audacity to say me and you should wait for them to finish their work outs because we are the only FEMALES out here. So of course, I got pissed and I asked him his event, he runs 400 M, so I told him that you'll race him in the mile and if you beat him then they have to share the track with us without complaining."

"Ino, they have to share the track with us regardless of their complaints."

"Yeah, but I don't want to hear it, and I also talked to one of his friends and I know you can beat his mile time. I want to rub it in their faces."

"Fine. At least you aren't setting me up for failure," I sighed. Ino had definitely made bets with guys who neither of us could out run, so we learned from there that it's only to fair to race people when you're out of your events.

"Perfect, here they come." Heading our direction was a group of five guys. A blonde one, who seemed to be just as loud as Ino and seemed way to hyper for this early in the morning. One with long brown hair and pale eyes, next to a taller guy with brown hair in a spiked-up ponytail, both of them looked bored. One with brown short hair, and he had face paint on, he seemed to be the one that I would be racing, based off his cockiness on how he was approaching us. And the one that was walking slowly behind them, caught my eyes. Tall, muscular, midnight black hair and dark eyes. His hands were in his pockets of his sweatpants and he was scowling.

The blonde bounced, literally bounced, over to me and stuck his hand out, "Hey I'm Naruto! Sorry that Kiba here was being an ass. But once your friend started talking about how her friend could destroy him in running the mile, we all just had to come see!"

"More like you forced us to come over here," sighed the one with the spiked ponytail, as he fell down cross legged on the edge of the track.

Naruto steps closer to me and squints his eyes, placing his pointer ringer on his chin.

"How come you look so familiar? I've heard about a runner with pink hair, but she runs from Suna."

"That would be me. Ino and I transferred here for our last two years of school."

"The reasoning wouldn't happen to be because you're chasing an Olympic dream, is it?" Naruto said, shaking with excitement, "because if that's why you're here, then we'll all get along!"

"Yeah, something like that," I smile and shake my head. My Olympic dream isn't something I like to voice to everyone. I prefer for them to watch me run. But now that I'm at Konoha, my chances have become even better. This is the place that produces at Olympians, at least that's what they say.

"Are you ready?" I look to see Kiba staring me down, he's looking at me like I'm some food item.

I rolled my eyes, "If I win, I expect an apology and for you to never look at me like that again." I turned and started walking to our starting points, with my first clenched. Who does he think he is? Looking at me like that! Like I'm some little girl. Oh I'll show him.

I get ready in lane two, with Kiba in lane three, a little bit ahead of me to calculate for the difference since I am in the more inside lane.

"COME ON SAKURA! PUT IT ALL OUT THERE!" I hear Ino scream and smile as I crouch into my starting position. Then Naruto's voice, "READY… GO!"

I let my legs propel me forward and I take off, with Kiba going significantly faster than me to start. Idiot, this isn't a 400, he's going to burn himself out after the first lap. I also know that it is dangerous to assume anything from my opponents so I push myself to the fastest pace that I know I'll be able to hold for all four laps.

As we go pass the group from the first lap, I am a few seconds behind Kiba. Naruto is yelling our times as we pass.

"Kiba, 58 seconds… Sakura, 1:02!" Damn, that was too fast.

My fastest mile sits at 4:46, so I know my body isn't going to keep carrying me that fast. However, as predicted, one we are half way through the third lap, Kiba begins to slow down significantly. This is where I take the lead. Come on Sakura. I urge myself as I keep my pace and begin to pass him. I pass him just as we pass the group.

"FINAL LAP! COME ON SAKURA, DON'T YOU DARE SLOW DOWN!" Ino is screaming, and I block out everything else. Pumping my last bit of energy into my legs, my arms going, I start sprinting it out for the final lap. I'm not sure how far behind Kiba is from me, but I don't focus on that. I turn the final curve, Ino and Naruto screaming and the other guys just watching us but I can tell in their eyes that they are surprised.

I hit the finish line as Naruto yells, "Sakura with 4:43! …. Kiba at 4:46!" I put my hands on top of my head and keep walking, gasping and trying to not die since that was the fastest, I have ever run my mile. No freaking way. This is awesome, I knew I could beat my last record.

I turn back around to the group and see Kiba laying on his back, dumping his water bottle on his face. There is no hiding the huge grin on my face and Ino is doing all the bragging for me.

"Ok, so no issues if we all work out together now?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"Well official practice begins in a few days, which then we will all be out here together anyways. But the entertainment was nice," the guy with long hair says, shrugging.

"Oh girls, this is Neji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke," Naruto says pointing to each of the guys as he says their names. I shamelessly let my gaze linger longer on Sasuke, but my reasoning is that he's staring at me too.

"What's your event? That was insane," Kiba finally speaks as he sits himself up.

"I run the 5000 M (3.1 miles), but I think the coach said they want me to try the 3000 M steeplechase," I mumble the last part. I've always ran the 5000M, I've dabbled in the 10,000 M (6.2 miles), but 5000 M was my favorite and Suna let me decide what to stick with. The way the coaches sounded when I transferred here, was that I could give an opinion, but it was best that I listen to them.

"That's awesome Sakura! You can do it, believe it!" Naruto gave me a thumbs up as he cheered loudly. God he's the female version of Ino.

"Hey Sasuke, where you going?!" Naruto yelled toward Sasuke's retreating back.

He looked back over his shoulder with narrowed eyes and said, "Tch, to train. Idiot."

"You bastard! Let's go, sprints right now!" Naruto chased after him, followed by Neji and Kiba shaking their heads. Shikamaru mumbled a, "see you two later," and dragged his feet after the group.

"What a strange bunch," I said and look at Ino, who wasn't hiding her stares that were directed to Shikamaru.

"Uhm, hello? Ino?" I snap my fingers in front of her face to pull her out of whatever daydream she was in.

"Huh? Oh sorry. Yeah, definitely a cute group," she smiled.

"I said strange."

"Oh yeah that too."

We saw the guys over the weekend at the track, all of us participating in light training sessions. Everyone stayed on their best behavior, not wanting to ruin our first impressions that would be taking place at the first practice of the season. Although I was too focused on my training schedule to spend time talking to the guys, I learned a few things about them. I learned that everyone except Neji would be freshman and their first year on the team, Neji was in his second year.

Shikamaru is lazy but was very talented in high jump, he claimed that was the only event they would ever get him to do and it was also the most running he would participate in.

Kiba is a 400M runner and even though I beat him in the mile, his best 400M time sits at 46 seconds.

Neji is a senior, he runs the 100M hurdles and 100M relay with Naruto and two other guys. He has a girlfriend that also runs hurdles, but he told me I could expect to see her in my training, with her new interest in distance running.

Naruto, not surprising to me at all with his high energy levels, is a 200M runner and the 100M relay. He's fast and unlike my quiet goals to make it to the Olympics, he is not afraid to shouts that dream to the skies.

Then there's Sasuke. I have to admit, he's good looking, and watching him at practice makes him a hundred times more attractive. His work ethic is insane and it motivated me over the weekend…not that I spent too much time watching him. He runs the one mile and pole vaults, which surprised me he would do a middle-distance running event and pole vault, but he didn't really give me an answer when I questioned it. Actually, all he did was shrug and walk away.

Monday morning arrives; practice begins at 7:30 but I'm up at 5. I spent thirty minutes doing yoga, followed by oatmeal, two hard boiled eggs, and a protein shake, then relaxed to let everything digest. As if that isn't overachieving enough for me, I arrive to the track at 6:45. I expected no one to be there yet, considering it is 45 minutes early, but to my surprise I find Sasuke stretching on the turf.

"Hey," I said as I approach him, dropping my gym bag at my feet. He nods in my direction but doesn't respond.

"Not a morning person I take it?"

"Hn…no."

"Well, you still made it earlier than everyone else."

"I like to enjoy the peace before everyone gets here." Yikes, was that a hint for me?

If it is a hint, I don't take it because I'm awkward and struggle with silences if I don't know the person. Naturally, I start rambling on about what I'm predicting for our work outs, explaining to him how nervous I am if we have to race against each other today so they can rank us.

To my surprise, after my mini rant, he says something.

"You can't be scared to race against each other, that's the point of being here. If you can't handle being ranked at practice, you'll never be able to handle the real deal." I can't even contain my shock from what he says and I scowl. Who the hell does this guy think he is?! Telling me that I won't be able to handle the 'real deal'! I've been to nationals before; I know what the real deal is. What a jack ass.

"And the Olympic qualifiers are going to be way more stressful," he says, standing up.

"What makes you think I'm doing this to make it to the Olympics one day?"

"Then I'd say I'm disappointed considering it would be a waste of talent and all the hard work you've clearly put in," and before I can respond, he's walking to the pole vault set up. He just managed to insult me and compliment me within five minutes. How impressive…

Usually, I would spend this extra time before practice doing additional exercises, but I decide it's best to save it since I'm not sure what to expect. I watch Sasuke from afar, but try not to make it to obvious that I'm staring. And then, just as I'm beginning to overthink my entire life, more of the team and coaches arrive. By 7:25, Ino and the guys from Friday, to include Sasuke, is sitting with me on the turf. I can see that naturally we are all sticking with each other.

7:30 we are split into our respective groups. Field athletes, sprinters, and distance runners separate, those that compete in two events go to their favoring event so they can discuss the scheduling with their coach. There is a loud whistle, and on top of the bleachers is a man with a microphone.

He uses the microphone to announce his plan for all of us, "Good morning athletes. My name is Iruka and I am the head coach of the entirety of the track and field team. Today we are ranking you against your teammates, this will help us define weaknesses and strengths. This will also help us look into switching your events, especially for Freshman who focuses on what aspect throughout high school. College track and field is the time for you to grow, and we can help you if you let us. Each respective coach has the schedule for the events we will be going through today. If you are not competing, we expect you to be watching and cheering on your team." And with that, he concludes his announcement and walks down the bleachers.

"Alright kids, come over so I can tell you your schedule. Don't talk and ask questions until the end, I don't need you wasting my time," I hear a strong woman's voice, and I look behind me to see, who I'm assuming, is the long-distance coach.

"My name is Tsunade and I'm the coach for 5000 and 10,000 meter, and I also assist with the 3000 meter steeplechase." Then she proceeds to go through the schedule. They are starting with the sprint events, then long distance, hurdles and relays, and field events will be going on at the same time. I do hope I get a chance to see Sasuke pole vault… although I'm not sure why I have this growing interest in him. Considering this morning was the only time I held a conversation with him…if that's what you could call a conversation.

I'm about to head up to the bleachers to watch the sprinters, but when I see Ino warming up, I head in her direction.

"Hey why are you warming up? Hurdles isn't until after distance."

"Well apparently they're trying me in the 400m sprint too," she rolls her eyes but I can see them sparkling.

"That's great! You've always wanted to just do some sprinting before. This is your chance to make an impression."

"Oh… I will make an impression alright!" she announces proudly, punching her right first into her left palm.

"Also…not that I noticed you eyeing him up or anything, but they're doing pole vaults right now…so you could probably catch Sasuke before I go on," Ino says, nudging me and gives me a wink.

"Ugh Ino, it isn't anything. I was just looking at him because…he's weird. He's too quiet," I blurt the last part out because I don't know what else to say, which just makes it even more obvious that I'm lying. All she does is wink again, and I let out a sigh but find myself heading over to the pole vault station.

I'm not a rookie when it comes to these things, so I know that the last thing I should do is go up and talk to him. I can see in his face that he is focusing, so I stand off to the side and wait for him to go.

"Hey," I look next to me to see Shikamaru, leaning against the fence that separates the track from everyone else.

"Hey, you watching pole vault?"

"Come over here, we can sit on the edge of the bleachers. That way we can see the pole vault and the sprinters. Naruto is sprinting after this heat and I don't care to hear him throw a fit if we didn't see him go." I laugh at the image of Naruto, throwing himself to the ground and having a tantrum.

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

I follow Shikamaru to our spots and I watch the 100-meter men prepare for their race. Then I look at the pole vault and see that Sasuke is lined up to go next. I watch the guy ahead of him give it a couple tries, clearing the first jump and missing his next two. Then Sasuke is up, and he clears all three of jumps with no problem. He makes it look effortless and I can't help but wonder if he is even human.

"Wait until you see him run."

"Huh? Is Naruto about to run?"

"Well yes, but I was talking about Sasuke. If you think his pole vaulting is impressive, wait until you see him run. He's going to qualify for the championships."

"Isn't it a little soon to call that? The season hasn't even started yet," I say slowly and raise my eyebrow. I can't help but feel like I'm missing something here.

Shikamaru leans back and puts his hand behind his head.

"You'll see." Now I can't help but feel the anticipation. We watch Naruto run a 21 second 200 meter sprint, which is amazing, especially for the start of a season. Shikamaru goes to his high jump event, and he looks good to me but because of my lack of knowledge with high jump, I don't know how he ranks against the others.

I cheer for Ino and I'm filled with pride when she runs her 400 meter in 55 seconds. As much as I want to run up and hug her, it's my turn to finish warming up and get out there and run. By the time my heat is up, I see the whole group sitting in one section of the bleachers, watching me.

Do not screw this up Sakura. Not only is your new friends watching, but you've also got you coaches watching and this could really make or break you. Think strong, be strong, finish strong.

I don't actually think this moment could make or break me… but I want to make sure I'm making a statement. I want my name to be one worth remembering. I pull off my sweats and I'm dressed in black short spandex and a bright pink sports bra. There's a definite possibility that my outfit choice was to get the attention on me... as if the pink hair isn't enough.

I line up and wait for everyone else to settle. I take one last look up at the bleachers, and catch Sasuke's eyes, and man is he watching me with more intensity than I expected. I let out a breath, because I didn't even realize I was holding it, and prepare for the gun. Once it sounds, I let myself go.

Under 16 minutes. You can do this.

I mean I've ran under 16 minutes once or twice, so I'm not sure how my mind told me I could do it so confidently, but I block out everything around me and focus on my legs, my breathing, everything else. As I hit my two-mile mark, I check the clock to see 10:20. With only a little over a mile left, I know I can get under that 16 minute if I put it all out there.

There's two girls ahead of me but they're within my distance. I make the decision to stay right behind them and hope to catch them the final lap. I know this can be risky since most runners will start sprinting their last lap, and if you aren't fast enough, you won't be able to catch them. But in this moment, I'm feeling good and confident, I know that I'll be able to catch them.

The last lap comes, and as I predicted, the two in front of me pick it up. But I'm faster than them, so I pump my arms and stretch my legs as I start into a full out sprint. As I come around the final curve of the track, all I have left is the straight away, I can hear Ino and Naruto screaming. It sounds like a lot of people are cheering but I'm too focused to tell if it's cheering for me, or cheering for the other girls to hurry up and catch me. No matter what it is, I cross the line first with a time of 15:58.

I catch my breath as soon as I can, because I can tell Tsundae is waiting to talk to me.

"Not bad kid. Listen, we are saving the steeplechase event for last. I want you to go hydrate, stretch, and rest, then you're going to run in that." My heart sinks and stomach drops, wow I really thought today was going to be a good day.

"I'll do it, but you know I've never tried the event before right? I don't even know if I can make it over those hurdles."

"That's your little bestie over there, right?" And she points to Ino, who is doing warm ups that are obviously meant for hurdle runners. All I can do is nod.

"Perfect, the steeplechase hurdles are set behind those set of bleachers, once she has a moment, have her take you and show you what to do. I'll start coaching you after today." I want to tell her, 'hell no'. I want to groan, or complain, or do anything that shows how much I hate this idea. But I stop myself, because I also know that they saw talent in me, and that there is a reason they want to throw me in this event that I've never tried.

"Hey Sakura!" speaking of the devil, Ino is waving her hand and heading right towards me.

"Come on, the men's one mile is about to begin. We can watch on the edge of the track so you can get a good view on Sasuke," there she goes with that stupid wink again and pats me on the shoulder. I roll my eyes and follow her to the edge. While we wait for the event to begin, I rant about having to learn hurdles in the next 30 minutes and then go out and run this new event, Ino listens…and then laughs. She says supportive things but she always finds the situation funny… at least one of us does.

Then the announcement is made for the one mile, and I lean forward. Sasuke is in lane 2, and he looks focused… and hot. Wow he looks hot. Am I seriously blushing right now? Get a grip Sakura, he's like 20 feet away from you!

Before I can yell at myself further, the gun sounds and they take off. He's fast, when he runs it looks like he's floating and when he passes by us after the first two laps, he doesn't even look like he's trying.

"I kind of hate him for making this look so effortless," I say leaning towards Ino. She lets out a low whistle, "I'd say."

He comes in at 3:36, a full 10 seconds ahead compared to the rest of the guys. I compose myself…because when he crossed the line, I was definitely screaming like a maniac…in my defense, so was most of the team. I take a good look as he walks around, catching his breath. And all I can think is about is, he is going to be my biggest distraction.

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Please leave a review! I love seeing them. It can be any thoughts you have, positive ideas, some criticism (realistic stuff…not that you don't like the plot because that's not going to change lol.)

The next chapter will be up in a couple of days!