Learning to Love

By: yume-chan

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

Author's notes- Entry Three:

Ehehehe. Sorry folks for the extremely long wait. For one thing, I had finals and now summer school. For another, I use all my time in between to read fanfiction, not write it. I guess you can say I'm more of a reader at heart. Based on the quality of my fics, I can safely assume I'm not much of an authoress. :sweatdrop: XD Well, to make up for my tardiness, I've made this chappie extra long dedicated to all my faithful reviewers!

Don't like, don't read! Love, secrets, fluff, angst, jealousy, and tragedy ahoy!

Chapter 3: Meeting

Glare.

Glare.

Glare.

The petal-haired chuunin cringed under their intimidating scrutiny. She offered a slight smile to the three.

Their eyes narrowed and each took a kunai from behind their backs. They pointed the weapons dangerously close to Sakura's throat, sadistic grins suddenly blossoming upon their countenances. The moonbeams made their faces pale, a stark contrast to the swirling darkness that surrounded them.

"You're revoltingly weak." muttered Gaara of the Sand, the teal of his eyes clashing with the dark circles surrounding them. He threw a kunai with pinpoint accuracy at her arm, pinning the sleeve to the tree behind her. She couldn't move. She panicked.

"Much weaker than each of us had previously thought." Added in the white-eyed Hyuuga Neji. He too threw, with the precision of a cobra, his kunai at her arm, "We've come to a decision."

Uchiha Sasuke stepped forward, dark eyes hard and glinting in the moonlight. "We've decided…" He pointed his ninja dagger at her. Sakura's heart constricted and salty tears dripped down her face due to fear. "That "ninjas" like you…" his voice was dripping in venomous sarcasm.

He brought his arm back. Sakura's emerald eyes clouded with tears causing her sight to blur. She wanted to say something but a tightness lodged in her throat.

"…don't deserve to live." And the weapon left his hand. Straight to her heart. The pain consumed her senses and the last thing she could make out in her surroundings was the smoldering glares of sea green, clear, and ebony.

She screamed.

Sakura woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily at her nightmare, dread chilling her to the core of tomorrow's—no, today's, she realized as she glanced over to her blinking alarm clock—events.

It was just a dream. JUST a dream, she reminded herself.

She left for the bathroom to get ready. Looking upon her frazzled image in the mirror she thought today was going to especially long.

Leaves snapped under her feet as she ran towards her destination, Kohaku Field. The deserted area happened to be a few trees off the red bridge that her genin team 7 had waited for their punctuality-challenged jounin instructor.

It turned out that said bridge was all the way across town from her house.

Damn. Damn. Damn!

She'd spent way too much time worrying what she was going to wear! Not to mention the fact that she had yet to recover from her gruesome nightmare. The reoccurring images sent shivers up her spine.

'Don't think about it!' she chided herself.

Her jade eyes caught on to a light up ahead. The field was close. Calming her nerves, the carnation-haired chuunin slowed her pace and breathed in deep. Expelling the air, she checked over the outfit she'd chosen—also the reason for her tardiness—hoping that it was all right for this morning's occasion.

She had donned a fishnet short-sleeved undershirt coupled with a white tank. For her bottom set, she'd put on a pale pink skirt, wearing skintight black shorts beneath as she had done with her former genin outfit. On her feet was a pair of knee high black boots. Other accessories included two yellow wristbands and an elastic arm choker.

Inner Sakura, as always, beamed with self-confidence, loving the outfit she's (they'd?) picked out.

She took a breath and relaxed her tense muscles as the wind played with her petal tresses.

Finally, Sakura walked into the clearing, opening her eyes to…nobody.

What the hell! Inner Sakura panicked. Had she come to the wrong place! If she was late before, then now she—

Whiiizzzzz!

Sakura barely managed to dodge the surprise attack seeing as how the weapon had managed to snip off one of her pink locks. Her heart raced. If she hadn't moved…

Who the HELL threw that! Inner Sakura raged as outer Sakura's senses kept on the alert.

A familiar voice reached her ears from behind. "Slow reaction, Sakura." It stated clearly in a deep and too familiar voice. The female chuunin whirled around to come face to face with her former genin teammate—and first love—Uchiha Sasuke.

She looked up at him noting the changes in his physical attributes. Longer hair, deeper voice, much taller—oh yes, had her former crush grown. Still, the loneliness still glinted in his dark pools and that infamous frown was still etched on his handsome features.

She smiled nervously, "Long time no see…Sasuke-kun."

Sakura reprimanded herself with the way she'd addressed him. After years of almost no contact whatsoever, the habit had stuck! A moment of silence, familiar to the both of them, passed and Sakura decided she needed to break the quiet.

Looking around, she realized her other two 'trainers' were still absent. "Hey, Sasuke-kun, where are—"

Whiiizzzzz!

Another kunai flew past her face as she hurriedly dodged. Physically, her heart thumped, beating hard against her ribcage but mentally, Inner-Sakura was raging mad. What was this, attack Sakura day! Who the hell had…?

"Haruno, your attention to your surroundings has left much to be desired." A shadow jumped from a tree behind her and out came the older ninja, Hyuuga Neji, standing there, a scowl decorating his face. Green eyes looked at him with slight recognition.

From her last encounter with him, way back to their first chuunin exam, she concluded he hadn't changed all that much. His brown locks were still tied together in that same low ponytail and his penetrating eyes were still white and clear. If anything, she noticed that his face had gained, if possible, more maturity than the 13 year old she'd met that fateful chuunin exam.

"Aa…Neji…-san." She finished lamely. She's figured that he needed a suffix of respect for he was her elder after all. "I was just—"

Whiiizzzzz! Whiiizzzzz! Whiiizzzzz!

The three sharp throwing daggers landed where she'd just been kneeling. She knew who it was. Her theory proved correct when Gaara of the Sand revealed himself, walking calmly out of the darkness that had hid him.

"That was pathetic." Was the Sand-nin's harsh comment.

Gaara had changed the least, Sakura was sure. Still the same, red hair, the ironic 'love' tattoo, and the belittling teal irises. He still had that large gourd, holding his grains of sand, no doubt, tied on his back. The first thing she had noticed about him was his great gain in height. Before, Sakura remembered being distinctly taller than the sand-nin and now…he was almost Sasuke's height and and she had to tilt her head upward to see his face.

Their eyes, oddly close to matching in color, met. One held a dangerous glimmer, the other, a slightly fearful appearance. "G-gaara…-san." Sakura stuttered, unintelligibly.

When she finally realized it, Sakura found that their positions were exactly the same as they had been in her nightmare. To make things worse, they had all picked up their kunais and an unsettling silence weighed heavy in the air. Sakura trembled visibly. Oh…god.

She unconsciously backed a step unsure of what these three could do and just what they were capable of. The three eyed her actions curiously then looked to each other.

The tension snapped suddenly.

And just in her dreams, the kunais flew.

She waited, closing her emerald pools and bracing herself for the oncoming pain.

…But it never came. What the heck?

Sakura opened her eyes to find that the three Jounins were not attacking her at all. If anything, they seemed to have totally forgotten that she was the whole purpose of this meeting! Weren't they her "trainers"!

The sounds of kunais clashing and quick bodies moving evaded her hearing and sight.

They were fighting each other.

The fright that had combed along her spine gave way to a new, indignant anger. Weren't they supposed to be helping her? Then why the hell weren't they doing their jobs?

Sakura seethed. Men.

She sat upon the grass, waiting patiently for them to cease. Watching their movements, each burning glare at loss or taunting smirk at victory, she thought, 'No, still boys." Just like back in their genin days, the desire to fight overtook all.

Especially, with a capital E, for these three. Sakura nearly choked on all the male testosterone circulating in the air. Ugh.

And still, Haruno Sakura waited. Waited, and waited, and waited. After all, she was the mature one, the tolerant one, the most sensible it seemed currently, the…--oh look, the sun's close to the horizon—

'What!' Inner Sakura screamed mentally. She stomped a foot down (figuratively of course), a familiar fire in her eyes. 'I can't TAKE this anymore, damn it!'

The rage was great for it had been building since they had started their fight nearly 3 hours ago! So Inner Sakura slipped to the surface. Physically, Haruno Sakura, did something that most would automatically consider suicide. She yelled at the each of them. "UCHIHA SASUKE, HYUUGA NEJI, AND GAARA OF THE SAND! LISTEN TO ME!"

They each stopped at the loudness of her voice and glared icily at the pink-haired chuunin who'd dared to yell at them. Only to continue with the fight again…

Sakura yelled her anger at them, shouting, making empty threats she knew she had no skill to fulfill. And yet she still did. And the stubborn Jounins still would not stop.

In her frustration, Sakura picked up a rock the size of her palm. She warned that she'd hit one of them with it if they didn't stop. Of course, she thought she'd miss each of them. After all, they were Jounins and ANBU, practically 2 ranks above her. They moved lightning fast that even her well-trained jade eyes had a hard time keeping up. But Sakura, still angry with the three of them, made a violent throw at a random direction.

And wham! The rock had hit Neji squarely in the head.

Surprise overtook the three other ninjas. Two smirked widely at what had just occurred. The female, after the initial aftershock of 'I DID hit someone!', came rushing to Neji's aid, anger quickly transforming into worry.

"N-Neji-san!"

The boy was clutching his head, the pain throbbing in his eardrums. He glowered at the carnation-haired ninja who had knelt beside him sputtering a number of apologies repeating how it was an accident and how she'd not meant for it to happen. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…you guys just wouldn't stop and I was just so frustrated and I picked up this rock…and I--!"

He stood up, obviously still mad, saying, "Shut up. You're annoying."

The Byakugan user expected the kunoichi to cry, to complain, to be the whiny girl he was sure she was, based on the clinginess she'd had on the Uchiha. Gaara expected it and most of all Sasuke. They were surprised with her reaction.

She merely sighed, somewhat happily, strangely used to harsh remarks (A/N: coughSasukecough) and satisfied to see him back on his feet. She stood up, dusted off her hands casually and put her hands on her hips.

Sakura, having lost her original fear in the each of them, looked upon her so-called "trainers". Gaara had, if anything, a few scratched here and there, his seeming invincibility caused by what she knew was his Sand barrier. Sasuke had a few cuts on his unprotected arms and legs, more from the environment rather than the fight. And Neji had a light bruise on his pale face and was sporting the bump she'd just given him.

Boys. She reminded herself again. They're a bunch of Konoha's boys.

She inhaled deeply searching for her inner strength and she again did something that some of even the most notorious enemies wouldn't dare to do. She glared at them.

"Look guys, you've had your fun. You practically wasted the entire day with your fight!" This earned her three menacing glares but she calmly cleared her voice, gathering all her courage to her thoughts and actions.

"Now, let's plan this, okay?" She smiled at the each of them, hoping to gain their good spirits (which in reality was still pretty darn mean but better than what she was currently working with). They, the ever-so-hardheaded ninjas that they were, resentfully turned their backs to her, tired of her orders and controlling attitude. Sakura sighed as they began to walk away. 'It's now or never.' She put all her effort in overcoming the fear brought on by her nightmare.

Sakura frowned and said, "If you don't come, I'm telling the Hokage."

The shinobi stopped in their tracks and Sakura grinned. Gaara of the sand, turned around sharply, his speed fueled by irritation, brought a kunai threateningly close to her neck.

In a low voice he whispered close enough for only her to hear, "Talk and die."

Sakura nearly trembled as this was reaching an extremely close conclusion as her dream, but she desperately clung to the last bit of braveness she had left.

"…You can't hurt me." She said, trying to keep her voice calm to hide the small fear she held inside. "Sasuke-kun and I have history and Neji-san sticks to schedule, even one he despises. You can't for doing so will damage the truce we have between our countries."

He dropped the weapon, backing away slowly. The threat still lingered in his green eyes.

Sakura continued, "And if that fails," She looked to all three of them seriousness reflecting on her face, "If you all try to attack me at once. I will tell the Hokage."

The grips they held on each of their weapons visibly tightened.

Sakura relaxed a little, seeing how her somewhat of an intimidation, had controlled them. She then added, "Who do you think she would believe? One who had once tried to betray Konoha for power, one who had attacked the village and innocent civilians during a Chuunin exam?"

The eyes of Sasuke and Gaara looked away.

The white-eyed Hyuuga prodigy retaliated with, "One who is a Hyuuga and respected ANBU captain and Jounin of Konoha?"

Sakura almost smirked when saying, "A Jounin who gets hit in the head by a randomly thrown rock?"

Good God, Blackmail. Neji tensed.

Then she smiled sweetly, knowing and feeling the control over the boys flooding to her, "Or a nice, little Kunoichi like me?"

A moment of silence as the nearly adult ANBU inwardly fumed. She was so damn annoying and…maddeningly right.

The green-eyed ninja sighed softly, the anger ebbing away and the fear (though she was sure a bit would stay with her a while on account of that dream) slowly beginning to dissipate. She beamed and said, "Let's get to work, ne?"

The men followed reluctantly and irately. As Sakura had learned nothing of techniques at least they learned a few things.

Number 1.) Sakura had grown in maturity. (Maybe it had something to do with…another self that had been previously mentioned?)

And 2.) Underneath that innocent pink headed, green-eyed exterior lay a manipulative little witch.

"So this is how it's going to go throughout the week." Sakura explained.

Neji, favoring control more than anyone, cut in, still, like his fellow Jounins, incensed about the situation he was so obviously forced into. Breathing heavily, he continued, "On Monday, we all shall be training her."

"On Tuesday, I will train her one-on-one."

"Wednesday, Uchiha."

"Thursday, Gaara."

Sakura beat him to the last day, trying to keep cheerful in order to (hopefully) no longer anger them, "And on Friday, we all train together again!"

Sasuke bitterly added, "We train with the ANBU when not with Sakura."

Gaara muttered, "No training, weekends."

Sakura nodded confidently, "Hai."

A period of silence and then Sasuke and Gaara turned to leave calling a short comment about going over their shoulders. Sakura turned to the older boy next to her, waiting for his next words.

"Meet me here tomorrow at 6 a.m. sharp. Don't be late or otherwise be emotionally ready for mental torture."

She nodded slowly and he left.

Sakura's walk home was silent, as her thoughts were filled with jumbles of different things.

Will they really try to hurt me?

Do they all hate me now?

Did they even approve of what I was wearing today?

Mostly though, one thought dominated over all.

"What will training with Neji-san be like?"

End chapter 3

A/N (continued): Eh. I just needed to update it. I didn't believe this chapter went all that well. I did like the part where Sakura threw a rock at Neji though. Hehehe. Upcoming chapter's better though, I promise! To all you Neji/Saku fans out there!

Review Responses:

aikz: Thanks so much for reviewing first chapter! I really appreciate it. I sent you an email too!

Summergrl: Hehehe. I LOVE those pairings too. Here's the update. Thanks for reviewing (twice).

JaPinay: Your writing is very…loud. Heh. Thanks for reviewing, friend. This story was made partly for you anyway, so you had better enjoyed this chappie!

phantasy08: Thanks! I'm glad you thought chapter 2 was better. Hopefully, this one was all right…?

Snow Wind: Thanks for the compliment! Here's an update!

bluejet: Hehehe. Well, I base my plot ideas off of others…but I tweak mine a bit so its different and unique. Thanks for the advice! I got to confess, I write for the sake of romance (I'm a sucker for those kind of fics), but I like to make sure that the plot comes first and foremost. Sucky plots ruin the romance.

Jukebox: hey! Thanks a bunch for the advice. Constructive criticism really helps. Yeah, that's the whole point of the trainers training her in the first place I guess. So she can get stronger and obtain more chakra. I can tell you now, her ability needs a LOT of chakra. And of course she's not going to become Jounin within a few days. I agree, because those kind of stories destroy the "realisticness" of the fiction, an element I like to include in my stories.

chidori-san: It's nice and funny you say? Hehe. Thanks! I try. Here's your update.

Serryn: Thanks for reviewing! And Sakura-chan DOES rule! It really gets me wondering why there are so many Saku-bashers out there…Oh, and I'm sorry, but I have a really limited Jap. Vocab. I pick up things from anime but I have no idea what "Shannaro" means. ;; explain and review?

Hinoto S.: Yay! That comment there: "Hey, added ur story to my favs." REALLY gave me a boost in self-confidence about this fic. I agree wholeheartedly with the things you said such as how Sakura is the coolest! Yeah, and its EXTREMELY hard (for me anyway) to write this story because Sakura has so many potential boyfriends. The other stories out there like mine are usually very rushed and awkward…or unfinished. -- Yes, and ALTERNATE pairings RULE!

Lady Light: Lol. No problem. As long as you reviewed, you always will receive much appreciation. Yes, yes. Saku-chan is looking for clothes. What exactly do you wear when going out to meet three hot guys? XD

Kawaii Koneko92: Hehe. Thanks. I really, REALLY try to keep the people in character. Believe me, it's tough work but I don't like how in other fics, these guys do ultimately uncharacteristic things! Hehe. I love you too. I love all my reviewers!

Mina: O.o Ehehehe…:backs away slowly: I've never received such a threat before. ;; Well, I LOVE Gaa/Saku as well but I'm afraid not much of it is going to be in the next two chappies. In the one AFTER those two, then THAT's the one for Gaa/Saku lovers like you (and I!)

Lillia Karasu: I'm so glad you enjoy my plot. Believe me, it was darn hard to think of! I had to add in all these new factors, make stuff up, blahblahblah, you get the picture. And anyway about that Sakura changing thing…hehe. Find out next chapter with Neji-kun!

cruisegirl86: Sakura having MORE then ONE bloodline? Ehehe. I think that'll make Sakura-chan TOO powerful. Even the all-great Neji-kun and Sasuke-kun have only one bloodline. (Gaara-kun has his ONE demon.) Thanks for your input though! Its TOTALLY appreciated.

DoCTor MeOwZiE: I LOVE this triangle (square?) too! (Hehe. That's why I wrote it!) Here's your update.

Kawaii-Hisue: Oi! I love that little face! (o'-'o) Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked it.

animeli0us: Thanks! Do itashimashite!

ZOMG: I love Gaa/Saku as well. To find out, you must wait for my updates, ne?

AnimeSenko: Updated for reviewers like you!

Mizz Underztood: Thanks a lot! I was trying to aim for "cool". Lol. Review!

Loki Blacktrick: Heh. Well, then thanks for taking time to review mine! Here's the update!

A/N (continued…again): :looks up: DANG! This whole thing spanned TEN pages! O.o

Review! Be gentle, onegai!