Chapter 1—New School Year

It was the beginning of a new school year. Haruno Sakura, a 15 year-old high school student, was looking into the mirror. Today was her first day of high school. After much studying, Sakura was able to get into the city's best high school, Konoha High.

"I wonder who's going to be in my class," she said as she brushed her hair and put it up in a ponytail. "I'm a high school student now. I'm going to try the ponytail."

"Aren't you leaving soon, Sakura?" her mom shouted from downstairs.

"I'm coming, Mom!" She picked up her leather bag and ran down the stairs. "Mom, I'm off!" She waved at her mom and went out the door.

Her friend, Hinata, was supposed to be waiting for her in front of the bus stop. Sakura started running since she was a few minutes late.

"Wow, it's already 7:30!" She said as she shot a glance at her watch.

"Hey, Sakura-Chan! Why are you running? It's only 7:30!" a boy suddenly appeared from another road and joined her.

"Naruto! Your buttons are not buttoned right! Did you even touch your hair today? And… school starts at 7:50! We have to hurry!" Sakura told the boy as they ran together towards the bus stop.

The boy's name was Uzumaki Naruto. Sakura and Naruto are neighbors. Sakura was always the studious one and Naruto was the complete opposite. Sakura was, in fact, wondering why he was able to get into to Konoha High. They were, nonetheless, close friends. Naruto has had feelings for Sakura since they were in middle school.

"Hinata!" Sakura shouted.

"Sakura..It's um," Hinata tried to look at her watch.

"I know, I know! It's 7:35! Let's run!" Sakura grabbed Hinata by her wrist and kept running.

The three arrived at Konoha High at 7:40. There was a huge crowd in front of the entrance. The class members were listed on the windows of the entrance.

"Oh my god! We are all in 1-C!" Sakura shouted in excitement.

"Yeaa!" Naruto grinned.

Hinata just smiled and blushed.

They went to their classroom 1-C. There were many familiar faces from their middle school as well as many unfamiliar faces from other middles schools in the city. The students were chatting in different groups. Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata entered the classroom.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! You're in my class!" a girl shouted from the back of the classroom.

Her name was Tenten. She was a trusted friend of Sakura from childhood. She gestured the three to come to her. They walked through the little aisles between the desks and reached Tenten.

"So, you guys are all in the same class, huh? This is going to be fun!" Tenten said.

At that moment, a male teacher entered the room. The loud whispered and giggles subsided and everyone found a seat.

"Good morning. My name is Mr. Hatake. I'll be your teacher for this year." He looked around the room and went on, "I have a seating chart, so let me take a quick attendance."

Mr. Hatake started calling names and the students responded one by one. Then he said, "All right, I'll call the names again and this time, fill in the seats from this corner of the room." He pointed at the right front corner of the classroom. The students stood up and started to change their seats. Sakura sat in her seat, which was behind Yamanaka Ino, a girl from her middle school. Soon, a boy sat next to her across the aisle. Sakura looked in his way and said, "Hi." The boy looked at her and said, "Hi."

This boy's name was Uchiha Sasuke. He seemed quiet but there seemed to be passion in his eyes.

"Sakura-Chan! I'm almost right next to you!" waved at her from his seat, which was right behind Sasuke's.

"Hey, Naruto. Where does Hinata sit?" Sakura asked.

"Hinata? I thought I saw her…Oh, she's right there," Naruto looked at the furthest corner of the room next to the door.

Hinata was sitting in the last seat in the first vertical row of the desks. She was looking this way. Sakura waved at her and she smiled shyly. She soon found Tenten about four seats in front of Hinata.

"Ok, everyone, we are going to play a little game called 'The Introduction Game,'" Mr. Hatake addressed the class. "Everyone, take out a piece of paper and you'll be paired up with the person next to you"

The students looked around to see who their partners were. Sakura's partner was Sasuke. She smiled at him and he just looked at her.

"You and your partner will be asking each other a series of questions. Then, you will be writing them down on that sheet of paper. I'll write the questions on the board," Mr. Hatake turned around and picked up a chalk.

The students watched him write all the questions.

"Ok, number one. What is your name?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he asnswered.

"Uchiha Sasuke..," Sakura wrote it down on her paper. "Ok, my name is Haruno Sakura," she said as she raised her head.

Sasuke calmly wrote it down.

"Number two…what is your favorite food?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"……….Udon," Sasuke answered after a while.

"You like udon? Me, too!" Sakura said excitedly.

Sasuke smiled a little.

"Are you going to write that?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke wrote it down immediately.

They went through eight more questions.

"Is everyone done with their questions? Now, I'm going to have each pair come up and introduce their partner to the class," Mr. Hatake instructed the class.

The classroom was suddenly filled with whispers, giggles, and chitchats.

---20 minutes later---

"Wow, that was a blast. I haven't played that kind of game since the elementary school!" Tenten said.

"I know. That was cool, though. I got to know a new person already," Sakura said.

Naruto came over with Hinata behind him.

"So, how's it going?" Naruto grinned.

"Not much. Just chatting. What do we have next?"

"I…I think it's … Math next..," Hinata said.

"Math? Cool. I like math," Sakura answered.

"Hey...," Naruto poked on Sakura's shoulder.

"What?" Sakura turned around.

"Your introduction partner's kind of freaky! He's staring at me," Naruto said with a disgusted expression on his face as he looked at Sasuke.

"Probably because you're a weirdo," Tenten laughed.

Hinata giggled.

------------6 hours later-----------

"Ok everyone, the homework is on the board. Please don't forget to write them down. And have a great day!" Mr. Hatake said.

The students stood up and they started packing.

"Sakura-chan, are you ready?" Tenten and Hinata came.

"Yeah, hold on," Sakura packed her books into her bag.

Naruto and joined them and they started walking. Sasuke was also packing his book into his blue backpack. Then, he noticed something shiny on the floor. It was Sakura's key ring. He picked it up and looked at it. The key ring was a translucent, pink stone. He picked up his backpack and put it over his right shoulder.

Meanwhile, Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, and Naruto were walking out of the school gate.

"I think I'll like the class. There are a lot of funny people," Tenten said.

"Including me?" Naruto asked.

"You are not funny," Tenten said.

Hinata giggled.

"Sakura-Chan, what are you looking for?" Naruto asked Sakura, who was looking inside her bag.

"I can't find my key chain…Maybe I left it in the classroom," Sakura answered with a worried face.

"What! " Naruto said.

"I'll just run back and get it. You guys go ahead," Sakura said.

Sakura started running back to her classroom. She ran up the stairs and hustle to her classroom.

Sasuke came out of the classroom and started walking down the hallway. He saw Sakura running in his direction. He looked at her face and noticed that she must be looking for the key chain.

"Hey" Sasuke showed the key ring on his palm.

Sakura stopped and said, "Sasuke-kun, you picked it up for me? Where was it?"

"It was next to your desk," Sasuke answered.

"Oh, I'm so relieved. Thanks! Thank you so much! This key chain…I got it from Naruto when I was in middle school. He went into the mountain to find this special stone for me.

Sasuke just observed Saskura regaining her energy.

"Oh, hey! Do you have a screen name?" Sakura asked.

"What?" Sasuke said.

"A screen name. If you have one, I'll give you mine and we can talk online. You know, I like getting to know people!" Sakura said.

"Um…no. I don't have such thing," Sasuke asnswered.

Sakura took out a notepad from her bag and started writing something on it. Sasuke watched her write.

"Here! This is my screen name. I wrote down the website address for the chat if you want to join. I'm on every night," Sakura handed him the paper. "I have to get going now! Nice meeting you today, Sasuke-kun! See you tomorrow!" She ran down the hallway.

Sasuke read the paper and turned around. Sakura was no longer in the hallway.