DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto - it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

"I'm not like other girls," Sakura read out loud. Her brows furrowed, and her nose was scrunched. Next to her, she heard Ino snort, and Hinata might have been laughing, if Tenten and Temari weren't being so loud about their disapproval about the line.

"What's so wrong about being like other girls?" Sakura asked, her tone laced with curiosity. Tenten and Temari shared glances, and Hinata smiled. Ino stood up and sat down next to Sakura, and flicked her forehead.

"You're exactly right there, Billboard," Ino grinned, while Sakura narrowed her eyes, her fingers rubbing her forehead.

"Who the hell cares? We're in highschool - let's just do what we want and be what we want!"

Tenten and Temari cheered, their loud voices echoing against Ino's room.

Sakura finds herself smiling along with her four new friends. 'Well', she thought, 'I guess highschool isn't so bad.'

"What even is Konoha?" Sakura Haruno complained to Temari, her longtime childhood friend. Said childhood friend snickered, and Sakura swore Temari was enjoying her suffering. "The only Konoha I know is from Hai*yuu," she muttered.

"You're not wrong," Temari pinpointed, before breaking into laughter again.

"Eh, Temariiii," Sakura groaned, and Temari laughed harder, but soon came to a halt.

"You're so dramatic Sakura-chann," she teased back, but a comfortable silence overtook them, and Temari took that chance to talk.

"You'll do fine," she insisted. "You've done it time and time again - you'll blend in fine with them -

"Oi is that Sakura-chan-"

"Kankuro, shut up-

"You're talking to Sakura -

"Gaara not you too!"

Sakura couldn't resist the urge to smile. Temari huffed and got back to Sakura after making sure Gaara and Kankuro weren't going to interfere with her time with Sakura anymore.

"Anyways," she continued, "What could a bunch of highschoolers do to the Sakura Haruno?"

Temari was so wrong. Right there, Sakura Haruno, 18 years old, stood in front of the mighty gates of Konoha High School, her knees shaking, sweat pouring down her eyebrows.

"Oh god, look at her pink hair," she heard the whispering around her, the eyes trailing her from top to bottom. Sakura felt her eye twitch.

Why was she here again?

Sakura Haruno just turned 18 today, the 28th of March. Her rosy pink tresses have grown since then, her figure not so lacking, the tons of dancing spent on her well toned body. Her wide green eyes glimmered against the bright sun that afternoon, her eyes often smiling for her.

She danced without a care then - it was her day after all, and Temari danced with her, giggling like teenagers, and then after that, they treated themselves to some chicken and waffles for dinner - it had been perfect. Even Gaara and Kankuro, Temari's siblings, came to visit her that day.

That is, until, her grandmother had the nerve to kick her out, deeming her old enough to 'get her ass to Konoha and grant her dearest mother's dying wish.'

"What the fu-

"Language," her grandmother scolded, and the rosette was tempted to bite her lip until she bled and died. Ha! That'll give her oh-so-dear grandmother a surprise.

"You're leaving me homeless? Kicking me out?" Sakura started, her voice high and panicky, the way it was whenever she was well, panicky (and anxious.)

"You're so dramatic," her grandmother rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'm leaving you to die. It's just that you're mother -

"Left me her old house in perfect Konoha, because she wanted me to live the life she had in her perfect youth, so that she can finally be the perfect mother she's dreamed about," Sakura retorted.

"Think of it that way if you want Sakura," her grandmother sighed, but her eyes are sharp, staring right into the pink-haired girl.

Sakura flinched, not used to being called by her name. She casted her eyes down, afraid that her grandmother might see her blinking away the tears threatening to fall.

She didn't want to leave. She just wanted to stay here with her, and take care of her, and just be with Temari and Gaara and Kankuro. Was that so much to ask?

Her grandmother offered her a worried gaze, and handed her a thinly wrapped box, then walked away towards her room.

Sakura knows she lost.

'I guess that was too much to ask,' she thought bitterly, clutching the gift in her hand tightly.

Back to the present, Sakura Haruno is debating on just: A. running away, B. breathing in deeply and by some miracle confidently deal with school, or C. just you know, die or something.

"Get a move on already," she whispered to herself, fully aware she was in the middle of the entrance gate, taking in more attention than she could deal with. She breathed in deeply, and her already wide eyes widened even more. 'Fake it till you make it right?'

Despite the debate echoing inside her mind right now, Sakura was able to keep a poker face, her heart beating loudly inside of her chest. Konoha. She was finally here. 'Oh god, ' she shuddered.

'Am I actually excited about this?' she thought, and for a clear moment, Sakura stopped resisting and smiled.

'A fresh start. Even if it's not on my terms,' she breathed in deeply again.

"Bring it on."