It had been days since Sakura and Ino realized they both had feelings for Sasuke. Things had been weird, and the guys took notice. They noticed that the girls weren't as chatty as before. They both seemed to hover around Sasuke for the most part. Something happened between them, but none of them knew what it was.

During class, they managed to sit on each side of him, and during recess, they asked him what he wanted to do. It was like the rest of them were invisible now, and the only person they could see was Sasuke.

"What's gotten into those two anyways?" Chōji asked while eating a bag of chips.

Naruto curiously eyed the three of them. He already knew Sakura and Sasuke were close but throwing Ino into the mix confused him. He put his hands behind his head, walking away towards the classroom.

"Where are you going, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's almost time for class. I'm going to play a prank on Iruka-sensei that'll happen in front of the whole class," Naruto grinned.

Chōji eats another handful of chips. "That doesn't sound like a good idea, Naruto."

"It'll be fine!"

"So troublesome," Shikamaru sighed.

He turned his head from Naruto to the love triangle in front of him. Neither was a particularly good choice, but at least this way, he didn't have to continue staring at the scene in front of him. He motioned for Chōji to follow as they walked back towards the classroom with Naruto.

Sasuke didn't understand what was going on, but having both of them crowd him wasn't what he wanted. He could tell something was off with the two of them, and he just wanted to get away from this uncomfortable sandwich he found himself in the middle of. As much as Sasuke liked spending time with Sakura in any way possible, this was not how he wanted to spend the day or the past several days.

Thankfully, the whistle blew, and it was time to head back to class. They walked side-by-side and even sat next to each other in the classroom.

All of this was very strange and new to him. He made a note to ask Itachi what all this means. Girls are strange.

Iruka walked into the classroom, ready to resume their lessons. Today's lesson plan consisted of chakra pathways and how one's body produces chakra. It wasn't anything Sasuke didn't know, but it was better than trying to figure out what was happening right in front of him. Or next to him.

Iruka passed out sheets with illustrations of the chakra pathways and told them to figure out which are crucial points so they can easily disarm an enemy as well as make sure they don't get one of their chakra points disabled. As soon as Iruka sat down on his chair, the legs fell off and he fell down.

Naruto, being the prankster mastermind, laughed first and pointed at him. The classroom erupted with laughter and giggles at their sensei's mishap. Iruka got up and his eyes immediately found Naruto.

"Naruto!"

"Time to go!" Naruto leaped out of his chair and ran out of the classroom.

"Come back here!" Iruka chased after him.

"Should we help Naruto? It's not like he did it alone."

"Why is everything so troublesome? I just want to watch the clouds than deal with this," after a minute, Shikamaru sighed deeply before getting up and putting his hands in his pockets. "Let's go."

Chōji followed Shikamaru out of the classroom and toward the direction Naruto and Iruka went. Sakura shook her head before resuming her attention to Sasuke. She had observed him before they were friends, but looking more carefully now, she noticed the little things. Even though his facial expression said he was bored in class, she noticed the way his eyes moved across the board as Iruka taught the class. She noticed the way he rolled his eyes whenever Naruto would nod along as if he already knew what Iruka was teaching the class. Sometimes, she swore he glanced over at her.

She couldn't pinpoint the moment her crush on Sasuke developed. Was it the weekend they had a picnic together? Was it when he gave her the ruby-colored ribbon on her head? Or when he saved her from the bullies? Was it there from the day they met? All she knew with her whole heart that she loved Uchiha Sasuke.

She filled out her own worksheet while watching Sasuke complete his. Sakura studied chakra pathways in her free time and already knew all the answers. She could do it with her eyes closed. If she couldn't become the top kunoichi in class, at least she could be the smartest. That way no one could ever again doubt her.

After what felt like forever, they heard footsteps coming towards the classroom. Iruka had caught all three boys and began to yell at them for being immature, and disruptive. They shuffled back into the classroom and took their seats.

"Hey, Naruto. You got to stop playing pranks on Iruka-sensei," Sakura whispered.

"Why? It's funny! Iruka-sensei always fall for them!" Naruto grinned.

"Idiot," Sasuke said.

Naruto turned his head and pointed a finger in Sasuke's face. "What did you say, you bastard!"

"Hey, come on now, we're all friends here," Sakura said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Naruto! Be quiet! Stop disrupting the class!"

"But, Iruka-sensei! I-"

"Quiet! Now!"

Naruto sat back in his seat and folded his arms, pouting. Always the class clown, always getting disciplined. He looked back at the chalkboard and back down at his worksheet, realizing that he had no idea what Iruka was even teaching. He lifted his pencil, trying to figure out the answers. He grabbed his hair and set his chin on the desk in frustration. Naruto just about to give up when a sheet slid next to him.

He looked at the sheet and then at the person next to him. She had short purple hair and white eyes. Her name was at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't remember at the moment. She gave a little nod and he proceeded to copy the answers from her sheet. He gave her his biggest grin as thanks, as her face turned into a tomato.

"Hey, uh are you okay?" Naruto asked raising his hand to touch her forehead.

"I-I'm fine!" the girl waved her hands in front of her face.

"Oh, okay. I'm Naruto by the way."

"H-Hinata."

"Thanks, Hinata for your help!"

"N-No problem," Hinata fidgeted with her fingers as she turned her attention back to Iruka and the chalkboard.

As Iruka finished their lesson for the day, he announced that it was time for the class to split. The girls headed towards the other classroom for kunoichi classes and the boys would head outside for extra weapons training.

Sakura and Ino said their goodbyes to Sasuke and the boys before heading out of the classroom.

"Hey, Ino-chan."

"Yeah?"

"We're still friends... right?"

"What? Of course, we are. Things are just weird... cause of Sasuke-kun."

"Good, 'cause it's been feeling weird lately, and I miss us spending time together doing things without the guys and stuff."

"Me too. Besides, this is stupid. I mean it's not like we're the only two girls who like Sasuke-kun."

"Right," Sakura grinned.

"Hey, we should do something after class today. Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"I have something I want to give you," Ino put her hands in her pocket and couldn't find what she was looking for. "I must have left it back in class. Wait here! I'll go get it."

Ino ran back into the classroom. As Sakura waited, a group of girls approached her. She didn't know really recognize them except for Ami and the two friends she had last time she had an encounter with them. Sakura stared at them, ready to hold her ground.

"You think you're all that don't you?"

"You're just billboard-brow! Nothing more!"

They began to circle around her, leaving Sakura no room to escape. She tried to break free, but then they started pushing her. No matter what she did, she couldn't get out. Again, she felt defenseless. Weak. She covered her face with her arms, trying to at least protect herself someway.

All she wanted was to get away. "Just leave me alone!"

"You think you're worthy of Sasuke-kun!"

"Big dumb forehead girl!"

Sakura screamed as she fell to the floor. The whole hallway turned pitch black. The girls stumbled back. Sakura passed out, but something seemed to float out of her. It was black, and had the same outline as Sakura, and on its forehead were the words "Inner Sakura". The girls were scared. They didn't know what to do. They tried to run, but the monster managed to grab them all into its hands and it grew bigger and bigger.

It started squeezing them harder and harder as they screamed in pain.

Ino was at her desk and found the friendship bracelets she had made for her and Sakura a week ago. When she heard the screams, she turned and ran outside. The whole class followed to witness the scene in front of them.

"Sakura!" Ino shouted.

Sakura was out cold, and couldn't hear them, but the figure that looked like her continued to squeeze her bullies. Sasuke and Naruto stared in horror at their friend. What was happening to her?

Iruka told everyone to stay back. "Kai!" Nothing happened. He tried it again. This wasn't a genjutsu, or at the very least, it wasn't a normal one. He tried his best to get everyone to safety but Sasuke, Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji wouldn't leave. They couldn't leave their friend behind.

"Not so tough now! Are you!"

The girls screamed as the monster squeezed them.

"Sakura! Stop! Please!" Sasuke shouted.

The monster took one look at Sasuke. It looked at Sasuke's pleading eyes, and began to retreat back inside Sakura, and dropped the girls. Iruka rushed to their aid as Sasuke ran toward Sakura. He shook her shoulder as she started to stir. Sakura sat up and held her aching head.

"Ow. My head. Did I pass out? What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"N-No," Sakura looked up as everyone looked at her with fear in their eyes. "W-What happened?"

"Monster!"

"Freak!"

"W-What?" Sakura was so confused and scared.

"Everything's going to be alright, Sakura." Iruka said.

"I... What did I do?"

A/N: Okay so this is an idea I had for a while. I wanted to use this for a fic, but realized it could be great to kind of flush out some details in their Academy days before tackling it during their Genin years. This is incredibly late because I just couldn't figure out how to flow the beginning and the end.

Please review/follow/favorite if you liked the story! Thank you!