Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or its characters.

Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews! I love you all so much! I am a little pissed off because for the second time, I lost my story to an encoding problem. . But that's ok because I figured out why it kept messing up!

Now I am at a dilemma. I can't quite decide how I want this story to proceed. Please be patient. I know the next chapter will take longer but please bear with me! Tell me if you want my story to be a lot longer. The problem with that is I usually stray off and kill my story but I haven't gotten a clear idea for the long version. If I do make it long there will be more conflicts from the past come to haunt Sakuno so if you do wish to put her through some more please tell me and I will do so. (And don't worry, there will always be a happy ending or I will not be able to sleep.)

The next morning, Namuri was standing inside the Ryuzaki home, waiting for Sakuno to finish getting ready. The tall raven haired girl stifled a yawn. She and Sakuno had spent the entire night going through boxes of stuff Sakuno had buried in her closet to hide.

Flashback

"Here's a photo album from your birthday." Namuri opened the book and Sakuno snuggled up to the older girl to look. They looked at the pictures recounting events from the happy day.

Music was playing in Namuri's portable CD player. The girls had found CDs they had recorded with the rest of the band buried amongst the years of memories.

"You were really exceptional when it came to singing. We almost fell apart without you."

"You guys are a great band. You don't need me."

"Yes we do. You brought us together in the first place and kept us all practicing instead of beating kids up on the streets." Namuri let go of the album and hugged the small girl. "You helped us get our act together and made us dream about something more than milk money from little kids."

Sakuno smiled a small smile. "You all had it in you. I just proved it to you."

"Something none of us will forgive you for." laughed Namuri.

Sakuno picked up another album and found it contained only pictures of them. A majority of them were intimate pictures of the girls cuddling, sleeping or just being together. Any exceptions were pictures of Sakuno. There weren't any pictures of just Namuri. The older girl had never mentioned why she hated taking pictures but Sakuno didn't mind.

Sakuno closed the album and let it rest on her lap. "Namuri, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure! What?"

Sakuno shifted so she was sitting in the older girl's lap. "It's about us."

"That phrase has never been the start of something good." Narumi said. Sakuno glared playfully but she continued looking at the older girl.

"I'm serious. I know you said you wanted to start again as friends but I don't think it can go anywhere."

"Sure it can." Namuri said easily.

"Namuri I'm not like I used to be!" Sakuno had grabbed hold of the older girl's uniform to reinforce her message. Namuri looked into her eyes and they were not hurt or angry. Sakuno's words almost died on her lips. Her sentence came out as a whisper. "I'm straight."

Namuri smiled. "I know." Sakuno was slightly surprised. "You fell in love with someone else and I knew right away when I started talking to you."

Sakuno felt teary. She had been afraid of telling Namuri this for such a long time. They had been together for four years and they'd fought off many people who'd told them it was wrong. Namuri always knew how to be strong then. She never had a falter about their relationship and so neither did Sakuno.

"Sakuno, I love you more than anything. I always will, even if it's not because you're my lover. I will love you because you're my friend, my savior, my first love and my baby angel. I won't keep you to myself and prevent you from being happy. You taught me not to be selfish and how to care about someone other than myself." Namuri kissed Sakuno's forehead and hugged her like a big sister would. "I won't let you be sad."

Sakuno eased away from the hug and looked at the girl. "I can tell you things like a big sister, right?"

"Of course." Namuri replied, returning to her cheery self.

"The guy I liked just ticked me off and I want to get back at him."

Namuri smiled and made a fist. "Give me his address and I'll pound him into next week."

"Actually I need you to help me with a different kind of revenge."

End flashback

So it was. Sakuno had completed her 'revenge' with Namuri's help. They spent a good portion of the night doing it but in the end, both Namuri and Sakuno were very happy with the result.

The next morning, everyone was talking about the dispute that had occurred between Sakuno and Ryoma. Ryoma ignored most of the babble but Horio was practically yelling about it.

However, the attention was diverted when a girl with spiky shoulder length dark chocolate brown hair came in and sat down in Sakuno's seat. Her red bangs fell into her brown eyes. The girl wore dark mascara and red lipstick, enhancing her appealing facial features. Silver earrings hung from her ears and a black chocker adorned her neck. Her wrists were also wrapped in a similar leather band. The boys gawked in silent awe. There was just one way to describe her: Bold!

Horio took his chances and approached her. "Hey, my name's Horio. You must be new here. If you need anything, just come to me. I am top dog here."

The girl looked up and smiled. She gracefully pulled her head phones off and replied sweetly. "I'm sorry; I didn't hear a word you said."

Horio flushed in embarrassment. "Uh...never mind...but you might have to move. That's Ryuzaki Sakuno's seat."

The girl gave him a disarming smile. "I don't think it will be a problem."

The teacher entered the class and told the students to get to their seats. As he reached Sakuno's name in roll call, a chorus of 'She's not here' was interrupted when the girl stood up.

"I'm here. Gomen for missing yesterday's class. I will be sure to make up the work."

Everyone was stunned. Sakuno had completely changed overnight. No one could believe this confident girl was the shy Sakuno they'd seen yesterday. She looked mature and grown up. It was an amazing change.

The teacher recovered and told her she could sit down. Sakuno was pleased with the reaction. She took a peek back at Ryoma. He was staring at her with an unreadable expression. She smiled sweetly and turned around to look at the board again. Of all her goals today, she looked forward to seeing what Ryoma thought the most.

'Now, let's see you say all people who are like Namuri are bad.'

At lunch time, Sakuno met Tomoka under the same Sakura tree they always ate lunch under. Tomoka was looking at Sakuno closely. "What happened to you? You look so...different!"

"You don't like it?" Sakuno asked. Tomoka looked down at her hands, avoiding Sakuno's gaze.

"It's just...you don't seem the same." said the girl. "You're getting so much attention from the guys. It just doesn't seem like you."

Sakuno was expecting more anger on Tomoka's part. "I'm no different than I used to be. I'm just trying to prove that just because you look a certain way doesn't make you a bad person."

Tomoka looked at Sakuno worriedly. "Is this because of your friend?"

Sakuno smiled. "Yes. She helped me, actually."

Tomoka grabbed her best friend's arm. "Sakuno, I don't understand why you're doing all of this!" Tomoka had gotten worried. The guys, some even from older grades, had been checking her out. Tomoka wasn't used to having her best friend the eye candy of so many boys.

"Tomo-chan..." Sakuno smiled a sad smile. "I'll tell you but...do you promise not to tell?" She waited for Tomoka to finish nodding furiously. "Namuri and I were dating for four years before I changed schools."

Tomoka nearly died of shock. Sakuno restrained her from screaming before continuing on. "Most people told us it was wrong and tried to break us up. We got yelled at and beat up and all this other stuff but we stayed together and we were strong. Namuri was always strong and was always there to help me, just like I always tried to do the same for her." Sakuno smiled sadly, recalling those times where they'd been hurt. "I can't sit by and let people hurt her behind her back."

Tomoka sat quietly processing all that she'd just heard. Then suddenly she sprang and hugged Sakuno. Sakuno was a little stunned. She blushed furiously and stuttered out a question.

"T-Tomo-chan, w-what are y-you doing?"

"You are so great Sakuno! Your friendship with this girl is so strong!" She released Sakuno from her hug and smiled brightly. "Ok, I am going to help you!"

"Tomo-chan..." Sakuno trailed off. She was absolutely delighted to have the support from her friend. They spent the rest of the lunch period gawking over Sakuno's new look.

By the end of the day, everyone was talking about it and most of the girls in their grade had come to talk to Sakuno, wondering where she got her hair done and such.

Ryoma watched her. What the hell had happened to her? It was that girl Namuri's fault. She'd poisoned Sakuno. That girl had turned Sakuno against him. (1)

"Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma looked up and saw Sakuno standing next to him. The bell had just rung and the student's were filing out of the class. "Nani?"

"Are you ok? You've been staring at me a lot and I'm starting to get uncomfortable." She said. "Is it because of my new...look?"

Ryoma stood up and packed his stuff. "The entire crowd around your desk is hard to ignore." He half lied. Though it was true the unusually large group of kids was hard to miss, Echizen Ryoma could ignore anything he chose.

"I suppose..." she said quietly. He began to leave when she spoke up again. "Ano Ryoma-kun..." he paused and looked back at her, "What do you think? Are all people who look like Namuri bad?" Sakuno's eyes had narrowed; her lips formed a thin line. The question didn't demand an answer. It was simply posed to aggravate him.

Sakuno walked past him picking up her bag and walking off. She turned around at the door, "If you mess with Namuri, I'll mess with you." She said without a trace of emotion. She walked off leaving him to contemplate.

'Why are girls so complicated?!?!'


Author's Note: Ok, firstly thanks a bunch to everyone who reviewed! I'm so happy! I have made it past my highest record! (10- Pathetic, huh?) Anyway, I finished this next chapter in record time but I will need some more time for the next one. I haven't got a clue what I'm going to do with it.

1- I am so sorry I made Ryoma such a prejudice bastard but hopefully I'll make it up by getting him to rise to the occasion and make up with Namuri and be the hero (oops...shouldn't have said that. ).

Please R&R and I will try to get more up!