Disclaimer: The usual, own nothing but the plot…

Chapter 7: Homeroom Teacher and Just One Defective School

There was a soft ringing in her ears. It was so soft it was almost a buzz. But then it started to get louder, and louder. It was becoming ridiculously loud now. Damn, when she got a hold of that infernal alarm clock…

Subconsciously she reached out her pale hand blindly from the warmth of the sheets and fumbled around her nightstand. However instead of shutting it off, it was just knocked clean off the table. Zero coordination on her part.

"Eww…school…" she mumbled half asleep, and picked up the fallen clock that was still ringing. "I get it, I get it…you confounded…" and turned it off.

She dragged herself into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Would she be doing this for 10 months of the year again? Sighing, she continued with her daily routine. Except for the fact that today and the rest of the school year, she would be wearing a uniform. The shirt was navy, with the typical sailor-style collar. The skirt was folded, and of similar color. It went to about her mid-thigh. Since it was still warm out, the girls' would wear knee socks. These were white.

By the time she was dressed and ready to go, there was still a good two hours before school would start. Great. Well, at least that left time to become lost…and hopefully found again. The sun wasn't up yet. Well, it could have been, but it happened to be quite gray outside, with slight traces of fog. Without so much as a goodbye to her still sleeping parents, she slipped outside and out the gates.

She heard the metal clank behind her. Her pink hair was tied in a tight bun leaving no strand loose. She gazed her surroundings. 'I guess Sasuke-kun didn't come for me after all…' and her expression darkened, "Bastard." She shook her fist in the air for a moment, before realizing how stupid it must have looked. Not that anyone was around to comment.

Sakura walked slowly down the road, with kicking a stone as her sole form of entertainment. She passed the Hyuuga estate after awhile. The house looked farther away than usual. When things got gloomy here, they really did get gloomy.

"You're up rather early," said a voice from nowhere, making the spaced-out one jump. There standing along the inside of the gates was Hyuuga Neji.

"Please…don't do that," her voice was rather low, because she'd lost it for a second.

"Do what? I was just standing right here…" he said rather flatly. He opened the gates and stepped outside. He was wearing the boys' version of the school uniform. Black pants with a matching jacket. The blouse underneath was white. He had his school bag slung over one shoulder.

Sakura had to admit, it did suit him better then others. "You coming or what? I don't expect you know the way to school…" he said as if reading her mind. Her emerald eyes stood watching the back of his dark head for a moment, then ran as fast as she could with a skirt to catch up.

"You don't walk with Hinata?" she asked after awhile. He was like Sasuke. Another guy who wouldn't spark up a conversation even if you paid him.

"She and I don't usually spend quality time together." Suddenly Sakura felt rather bad for asking. "And I'm an early riser. She sleeps in," he continued, seeing her uneasiness. It made him uncomfortable…for some reason. They went into an elapsed silence again.

"Okay…" she answered softly. The road was longer then she expected it. She finally noticed that the road forked. One probably was the road to get to the town, and the other…

"It's down here."

If it wasn't for the fog, one could probably make out a building in the distance. "Wha? So far…" she said aloud accidentally.

A small smile was tugging at his lips, but he barely showed it. "Women today are so out of shape, despite how slim they are," he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Humph. They are not. I am perfectly fit. I just don't like to show it," she replied somewhat offended. But she was happy; at least he was warming up to her. They hadn't spoken much when other people were around. "Uh, Neji-kun, where are you going? The road goes that way."

"It's a route I take when I'm early sometimes," he said, walking through an opening in the trees. He could hear her soft footsteps follow reluctantly.

Sakura looked around as they walked through the narrow path. The trees were of all sorts, and the grass grew long in some places. There was also the sound of running water. "Is there a river here?" Her question was answered by a bridge that was not too far away. It stood over a small river that flowed slowly. "It's so pretty," she inhaled. Somehow the air seemed fresher out here.

"I guess you could call it that…" he said leaning against the railing, looking out onto the water's path.

Sakura just watched him for awhile. He seemed to be such a beautiful person. If only he'd talk more in public, she was sure he could rival that idiot who refused to take her to school that morning. Somehow, she was rather glad for that.

"Something wrong?" he asked when he noticed her staring.

"Um…no not r-really…" she was taken off guard, and some color rose to her cheeks, "we…I mean, yeah…we should be going…"

He looked at her quizzically through his silver eyes momentarily and shrugged it off. The rest of the path after the bridge was much like before it. Until they'd reached another opening in the trees, and before them, stood a three-story building.

She observed it in silence, as both went through one of the many front doors. "There's still some time before school starts. You have your schedule right?" he finally said in the front foyer. She nodded quickly. "Good, then I suggest you start finding your class." With that he took off up the nearby flight of stairs.

Sakura didn't have time to stop him, and just gazed around blankly. There were several students milling around, not paying any attention to her. She read over the schedule.

There were 4 periods everyday. Period A was language, as well as her homeroom teacher. Period B was Calculus. Period C was a spare and period D was gym. Best to start at homeroom today…that was room 328. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she ventured up the same stairs Neji had.

Once she'd reached the floor and wandered around, she'd found it was more confusing inside than out. It turns out that there were two whole in the middle of the building called 'light courts', that made some hallways go in a circle. As if a new, big school wasn't confusing as it already was.

"Sakura-chan!" cried a voice from down the hall, snapping her out of thought.

"Ah, Naruto…" she gave a smile. He had on the same uniform as Neji, but his jacket was unbuttoned all the way, so you could see his white shirt underneath. There was also a navy tie. "Are you always early?"

"Nah, it's just that today's the first day! And first impressions are key in getting a good mark in class. I just hope that my new homeroom teacher doesn't hate me like last year! Oh yeah! What class do you have?"

"Um, whatever's in 328."

"REALLY? Wow, that's my homeroom too! We can look for it together!" and before Sakura could protest, Naruto was dragging her down the hall. "Here's 320, 321, 322…" he numbered the rooms down the hallway. "327, 340, 339…wait a second! Did I miss the class?"

"No…" she said looking back, "this school is confusing…"

"That, or you both are complete idiots," said a new voice behind them.

The couple turned around to face the Uchiha boy leaning against the doorframe on the opposite end of the hall labeled 328. His jacket was unzipped and the top couple of buttons left undone on the blouse. His tie was slung over his neck not tied what-so-ever.

"Ah! Sasuke! You're in Sakura-chan and my class too?" the blond said in an overly-loud voice.

"Of course not. I'm just standing here 'cause I want to be." Naruto seemed to have believed him, judging by his disbelieving face.

"He was kidding, dim-bulb!" Sakura finished the other's thought. "Why would anyone be here if they wanted to be. And you!" she jabbed Sasuke in the chest, "you weren't there this morning."

"If I said I wasn't then what made you think I was going to change my mind?"

"Maybe you would realize your rudeness and help a damsel in distress?"

"Sure…if you're here alive then that's all that matter's right?

"That isn't the point! The point is that…" and then she noticed she was making a small scene, yelling at the Uchiha Sasuke. Supposedly unofficially nominated the most popular guy in school and bachelor up for grabs. "You know what? This is stupid. Get inside the class," she commanded.

"Ladies first."

"Thank you Sir Knight," she said dryly, but accepted his invitation anyway. At least he was being somewhat of a gentleman.

Naruto followed her in and warned her, "You'd better move out of the way…"

"Why?" but she could see why, as a crowd of however was already seated in the homeroom swarm the door.

"Neh, Sasuke-kun! Where were you all summer?" and some "ah! You're in this class too?" or the "You're still free right? How about we hook up…as friends for a night?" and so forth. There were about 7 of them.

All the attention was making Naruto quite queasy. "Alright, alright, step aside ladies," had dragged Sasuke from the 'sea', "Prince Charming needs to sit down."

Sakura was quite amused by the whole scene. It was Naruto practically dragging his friend from the fans, who were still clinging. He'd taken a window seat, Naruto beside him, arms crossed, at his lack of attention. She managed to squeeze in a spot amongst the crowd, leaning against Naruto's desk. "Well I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it. Uchiha-kun really is popular. Who'da thought?"

"What gives you the right to talk to Sasuke-kun so plainly?" a girl asked.

His onyx eyes glared, "Into a friendly basis are we now?"

"Ah! Sasuke-kun actually spoke to her too! You think they have something going on?" another girl said loudly, so everyone could hear.

All pairs of eyes were upon the now rather scared pink haired girl. "You…what relation do you have with Sasuke-kun?" a girl with auburn hair glared through angry blue eyes.

'Other then awhile ago I was almost killed by him…uh, that he promised to be my boyfriend 10 years ago…let's see…what else? He's almost a next-door neighbor? That pretty much covers it…' but aloud she didn't answer.

"Leave her alone Ami," Naruto defended her, "it's just her first day."

"Exactly why we have to get some things straight." Sakura stood calmly, not really caring about the over-reacting girl. "Listen here!" she grabbed the front of Sakura's shirt, "hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Sakura had been through this scene all too many times during her other school. All she had to do was place her hand around the other's wrist and squeeze lightly. Any harder and she could probably have broken the fragile bone. The girl winced, and reluctantly let go.

Sakura fixed her shirt, "I don't need to explain anything to you. And have you ever thought that your beloved Sasuke-kun doesn't like all this attention? Next time you pull crap like that, I will break your wrist. And that goes for all of you." Then she took the desk in front of Sasuke and sat one leg over the other.

The dark haired boy raised an eyebrow. She'd handled the situation well for a new kid. "S…Sakura-chan?" Naruto started off slowly, then again in his loud voice, "Sakura-chan was so cool! Did you see how she handled that?"

"Stuck up bitch," Ami had stalked away, and the other girls slowly went back to their seats awaiting the teacher as well.

"You handled that well," the usually silent Uchiha remarked, "I didn't think you had it in you."

She turned her head towards him. "Listen, I think you told me some time this week that I knew nothing about you. The same thing goes for me. I'm not an open book…" she was cut off by the morning announcements.

"Goooooooood morning Konoha! I hope you all had a wonderful summer break. We're glad to see all of your smiling faces back for another year. And welcome to those new students too! Today is a day 1 and we hope you all found your homeroom fine. Those who have problems with their timetables will be called down by grade…" and then Sakura couldn't make out the rest due to everyone talking.

She had the urge to yell "shut up!" but since she'd already made 'enemies' in the class, it was best she keep her mouth shut.

It must have been a good 15 minutes since school had started, and the teacher was still a no-show. Some of the students even began to leave…to think they'd skip on the first day… "Say Sasuke-kun," she said randomly, now over her seriousness and back to bubbly mode, "can I have a ride home today?"

"No."

"Aww! Why not?"

"Sasuke you jerk! Making a move on her already?" Naruto joined in the coversation.

"No you moron! You stay out of this. And besides, I didn't bring my ride anyway."

"What? Why not! It's such a long walk!"

"You're just out of shape then." That line sounded familiar. "Tsunade-sama gets mad when I bring it. Something about being improper for a high school boy to ride one…"

"Tsunade-sama?"

"The old principal," Naruto explained, "She looks around 30 but she's really old. Like in the 50s…"

"Naruto! That's not very nice…" Sakura tut-ed. And they well into silence again, just with the others conversations as a background. "Anyone know who are teacher is? Because they're really late."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. "It's probably…" Sasuke started slowly, until a figure stood at the doorway.

"Yo," he greeted. He had on a mask of sorts, covering his nose down, and an eye patch over his right eye. "Sorry I'm late my dear book-worms. There was just something I had to take care off on the way to school you see. There was a woman, and she approached my with tear-filled eyes and said that…"

"LIAR!" Naruto stood up from his seat and yelled.

"Naruto! That's no way to talk to a teacher!" scolded the furious emerald eyes.

"Oh? Naruto? You're in this class? Quelle surprise," he scratched his head. 'Sasuke too, what an odd combination indeed,' he continued in his head. "Well class, or whoever is left, I am Kakashi-sensei, your homeroom teacher."

Naruto settled down back into his spot, and without notice grabbed Sasuke's schedule. "Hmm. We have our next class together…that's it." He tossed it back, receiving a strange look from his stone-eyed friend. "Sakura-chan, gimmie your timetable!" She fished into a pile of binders and pulled it out. Blue eyes scanned it quickly. "Wha? You and Sasuke have a spare together?" he had exclaimed a bit too loudly.

"Care to share that with the rest of the class Naruto?" Kakashi lifted his head from whatever he had been reading to the class.

"No sensei…" he quieted down. This year would be very, very interesting.

Calculus was on the first floor. The bell had rung and she'd almost gotten trampled by the students who were practically dying of boredom in that last class. Their new teacher didn't seem too interesting. He was sitting there reading a book while everyone else did this sort of survey.

With difficulty, she'd found her next class, calculus. Math was one thing she was good at. There were about 12 people in the class. Since math wasn't mandatory she assumed most people had dropped it. But she did recognize two faces. They were unmistakably the Hyuuga cousins.

"H-Hinata-chan! Neji-kun!" Sakura walked over and adjusted her skirt.

"Ah! H-hello, Sakura-chan," Hinata said quietly from her seat in front of Neji. Her cousin simply nodded.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one taking calculus," she ranted and brushed a loose strand of hair back, "I think most people dropped math. No one really likes it other then me as far as I've known. Guys, am I ranting? If I am, please stop me now…"

Hinata giggled, "You're funny, Sakura-chan."

Neji was rather glad to see his cousin happy. Usually she was the odd-one-out in school. Just then the teacher walked in. "Class, settle down!" a strong-looking man who looked more like a gym teacher rather then math. He took out a piece of chalk. He wrote his name on the board; Asuma-sensei.

"Oh…" Hinata chewed her fingernail.

"What?" Sakura whispered leaning forward, as she'd taken a seat next to Neji.

"I wouldn't fool around in this class…" she said and couldn't finish.

"Welcome to calculus. I expect tip-top behavior from you. I take no wimps," he said, showing some device on his knuckles. Then he slammed it into the chalkboard, and it formed a giant dent, and the material cracked away where he'd hit it. Sakura's eyes popped in surprise. "So, do we have a deal?"

"Oh God, I thought I was going to die," the pink haired girl was walking alongside Hinata and Ino who they'd found after class. It was lunch hour now.

"You have Asuma-sensei? Good luck," Ino chuckled, not mentioning that he was her homeroom teacher. "So you gotten lost yet?"

"Plenty," the other replied sadly, as they took a table in the cafeteria. "I didn't realize the school was so big."

"What? Did you think we were the only teens in town?"

"No…just, ah nevermind. Look, there's Tenten!" Sakura waved her over. She'd spotted them and motioned that she'd be there shortly. She was wearing her hair in their usual buns, and talking to a group of guys. "She sure is popular."

"Yeah, it's always been like that. But she'd only got eyes for one…" Ino and Hinata both smiled. It left Sakura confused, "Nevermind, you'll see soon enough." Ino turned at aproaching footsteps, "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

"You being the cat?" asked Shikamaru boredly. Standing next to him was a rather round fellow, a bag of chips in his hands. He'd received a glare from the blond girl. "Ah, I can't believe school's on again. I wish it was just endless summer…" he sighed and flopped down next to Ino.

"Choji!"

The round kid looked up, but still munched on the chips. "How can you be so rude? Introduce yourself to Sakura-chan!" Ino scolded. His mouth was still full. "Okay, then I'll introduce. Sakura, Choji. Choji, Sakura. Good? Okay."

Lunch was interrupted when a rather strange sight entered the room. It was Naruto being carried by the back of his shirt by an adult woman. She was tall with pale hair, and had a cross look on her face. Sasuke followed behind her, hands stuffed in the pockets like always, shaking his head. Not only that, they were approaching where they were sitting.

"Tsunade-sama!" they all chorused, other then Sakura. Ino continued, "What did he do this time?"

"Not that it matters," the principal spoke, now which one of you gets to take on role of babysitter for him this year?" no one said a word. Her strong-looking stance seemed to overwhelm them, and even those who normally talked back to teachers, were silent. The scary part was, that she knew everyone by name, and knew all their habits. "You there," she pointed to Sakura, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights, "what's your name?"

"Ah…S-Sakura, Haruno Sakura."

A frown crossed her face, "Say it with confidence, girl! I don't want any pushovers in this school!"

It reminded Sakura of what Asuma-sensei had said. "Uh, yes ma'am." Her voice was more stable that time.

"Good improvement. I'm giving you the task of making sure Naruto stays in line this year, got it? You look like someone who I can expect great results from." She pushed the blond with force, that instead of sitting down, he almost fell over it. Then Tsunade strode away, no one else blocking her path.

A lot of the others giggled. The new girl was still lost. "Sorry about that, Sakura-chan…" the blond rubbed the back of his head, "that must have been…um…embarrassing?"

Her cheeks were indeed red. "No…" and everyone seemed a tad surprised, "no joke!" That statement made more sense. "What did you do to make her so angry?"

"Nothing!" Sure…right… "other then write stuff about the teacher on the board…and blame it on Sasuke…" Everyone shook their heads. He just never learned…high school kids were indeed still juvenile. There was some more talking among the others, as they settled down and ate, those who had lunches. Sasuke had gone off who-knew where, Tenten had come to join them, minus the guys, and Shikamaru and Ino went on to nonsense quarreling.

Awhile later, the five-minute bell rang. Then the bustling began. Most people had classes so then came the muttered, 'Oh crap I'm late!' or, 'You can find your way around…right?' or the, 'See ya, hope you don't get lost.' In a matter of seconds, most of the cafeteria was emptied. The pink haired teen was snapped out of the trance, when she noticed none of her acquaintances were there alongside her. That was just peachy, she was stuck in the middle of nowhere, without a clue where to go next.

She pulled out her schedule and looked at her 4th period. Gym class…at least that one was a freebie. She slumped onto the table. That proved interesting for the next…5 seconds. Sighing, Sakura picked up her bag and prepared to wander aimlessly down the halls, avoiding as many people/teachers as possible.

Well wandering aimlessly lasted an interest of all of about…5 minutes. It was an improvement. How long until the next class? 7 years? Probably, and if not it would feel like that. Reaching into her bag once more, she pulled out a novel. At least reading made time fly faster. So she was back to aimless wandering, except with a book in front of her face. Now how many people could one bump into while reading a book in a deserted hall? Turns out it wasn't so deserted…

So came the impact, and both fell to the ground, each somewhat sliding backwards. She looked up to meet his gaze. "Watch where you're going!" she huffed, pointing an accusing finger at none other then the great one who pulled the disappearing act earlier.

"Me? You're the one who can't walk in a straight line! Then sit down if you want to read!" said an equally annoyed Uchiha. He stood up and brushed off his clothes. He saw Sakura extend her hand, then wait. "What?"

"Help me up," she demanded like a princess. She had on that look too.

"Che. No."

"Help me up," she repeated, with a little edge to her voice. He didn't even respond this time, just continued to walk in his previous path. She caught his leg in mid-step. "Help me up damnit."

"What part of no was unclear? You have 2 legs and a heartbeat, so what's stopping you?" and before he knew it she'd latched onto his hand and pulled herself up. Either she'd forced that extra weight, or she was extremely heavy. "And if you pull that next time…no, there won't be a next time."

She flipped her pink hair and ignored him. Her hand reached for the book she was reading. "Darn, you made me loose my page too…but since I'm nice, I'll pick up yours too." He had been reading as well, and the book landed close to her own. She was surprised to find it was a mystery book, Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. "You read mysteries?"

He shrugged and took it from her hands without so much as a thank you. "I enjoy books when people die." She twitched. Maybe his plan to kill her before came from a murder mystery book. It sent an involuntary shiver across her body.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" she ran after him holding down her skirt so it wouldn't fly up, "so are you walking me home from school today?"

"No."

"Aww! Please! Why not?"

"You're more clingy than usual today. Can you go cling on someone else? Like Neji? You were doing a fine job of that this morning." He notice her cheeks glow a slight pink.

"H-how would you know?" she demanded. He didn't say anything and walked away. "Why you…" and then she was cut off by the bell, and more rampaging students. 'So that's why he left,' she growled angrily in the sea of people.

Well on the bright side, there were almost approximately…86 days left until Winter Break. Wooptie doo.

AN: Just as I need a break from my long 12 paged chapter, I write an 8 paged one…sorry for the lameness of this chapter, since I did sort of rush it. I'm going on vacation for the next 2 weeks and will be without a computer. But I'll keep writing the old fashioned way and update when I get back alright?
If anyone's confused about the school itself, here it is: The uniforms relate to I guess any stereotypical kind that you usually see in animes. How Sasuke looked, I guess you can say I liked what Kyo was wearing on the Fruits Basket volume 3 cover…about the classes, they're on a semestered schedule, so the other 4 classes will make their appearances later.
Ho hmm, what else? Sasuke's got major attitude problems, jeez. Oh well, he'll start warming up eventually. I just really hope that this chapter wasn't totally boring or something. Anyway, until next time!