A

A/N:

WASL is over but I still have plans and projects that need to be finished. I can't really believe that I got already quite a bit of people hooked on the story. My all time best reviewer so far is Darkrainlove, she has inspired me to keep writing along and tells me how much she needs to see more InoSaku lol. Also more great thanks to Darkens4841, she is truely a fiction savior for grammar and my other faults.

The whole short week went by pretty fast with no other softball practices; they seemed to be canceled due to the coach being sick which was quite annoying to Sakura. But she still had a personal trainer to make up for it. Tsunade was finally letting her try out hitting after over two straight weeks of harsh conditioning, though the blonde's drinking didn't help. But this practice she didn't bring the beer, probably since it would screw up the training.

"Ok let's get started Haruno." She ordered as she stepped up to the plate and Sakura followed along obediently. Tsunade held out a bat and motioned for Sakura to get into her batting stance. "Show me how you would hit." Tsunade said sternly as Sakura grabbed the bat from Tsunade's grasp and got into position. Tsunade observed the posture Sakura was in and clicked her tongue loudly.

"You're stance is wrong Sakura. Your foot should be here," She said roughly putting the foot in place with her hand." and you need to tuck you're chin towards the pitcher to give more strength into the hit." Tsunade stated matter-of-factly. Sakura wanted to tell her coach to stop being so nit-picky, but she had already lost the spirit to fight with her coach after previous attempts almost got a beer bottle launched into her skull.

"Okay you are going to hit a ball, can you do that Haruno?" Tsunade tried to come off seriously but Sakura could hear the total sarcasm. Sakura rolled her eyes before letting out a small grunt and sounding somewhat like the Uchiha. Tsunade rolled her honey colored eyes before walking to the pitcher's mound but before Sakura could confirm she was ready, Tsunade pitched the ball at very high speed. Sakura's reflexes were fast as well and she swung, connecting the bat with the ball. The ball was sent sailing past third base and directly down the foul line. A perfect home run. Sakura looked at Tsunade with her mint green eyes flaring with pride and a smirk.

"Sakura that was pitiful."

Sakura nearly collapsed at the statement; who the hell would say that was pitiful? The ball was sent out of third baseman's reach and soared over right fieldsmen. No one would have been to catch that, so why was it pitiful?

"You could do better than that, you were too slow and didn't use your hips that much either. So you are practically not even using most of your strength." Tsunade said walking up to Sakura. Sakura was about to protest before Tsunade walked past her without a glance.

"Next Saturday Sakura you better have improved. By the way you're hitting you would just be another Haruno." She said lamely as Sakura practically boiled over in her own anger. Another Haruno? Her family was the most prestigious and highest quality in fast pitch softball! She was confused as well though, what did she mean by another?

Sakura quietly walked out of the stadium at a steady pace, she was in no hurry to get home. Today's lessons were replaying in Sakura's head as she tried to learn from what she did wrong. Once she reached her car, she quietly drove to her house. Once there she took a shower and dressed in clean, slightly formal clothing before she started down the hall opposite from her room. This section of the house was of her family records and her father's study was located at the end of the dimly lit hallway. Once at the door Sakura blushed a little as she knocked lightly on the heavy wooden door waiting for approval to enter.

"Who is it?" A deep voice spoke with a hint of annoyance, Sakura winced at her father's mood before rejecting the thought to run down the hall into her sanctuary. "Sakura." She said shyly as some shuffling of papers were heard before the man spoke again. "Come in."

Sakura opened the large polished wooden doors and entered the darkened room. There were many bookcases and a desk with two chairs in front of it. Sakura sat down trying to find confidence as the man before her massaged his aching temples. His blood red hair slicked back into a ponytail that ran long down his back as his chiseled rock features were flushed with frustration. He opened his dark jade eyes and stared at his daughter.

"Sakura, what do you need?" He said in fatherly concern since his daughter never came to him unless she needed something or to discuss matters. Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she bit her lip a little.

"Well...today my trainer Tsunade was weird with my batting formation today. She said that it was wrong while I still hit a good home run down the line of right field. She said if I don't work on the formation I would be like another Haruno. I am confused father." Sakura stated quietly looking up at her father's furrowed brows as he scratched his chin.

"Well that wasn't very polite at all of her to say that. But I think I know what she means." He said looking at her with serious eyes as Sakura finally looked back at him with curious ones.

"Haruno's are known for their pitching but we lack the batting skills, sure you can hit it pretty well, but have you ever tried to control your hit?" He assessed the problem calmly, and Sakura blinked lightly before nodding.

"Did it go any good?" The red haired man spoke with a convincing tone and Sakura shook her head in embarrassment. The softball prodigy never spoke of that weakness she noticed a long time ago, she could never control her hits. They were randomly scattered everywhere. Sometimes they were line drives and even rarely they were a pop fly. Yet Sakura's pride didn't allow her to tell that she needed help with control and it went unnoticed until today's practice.

"Ah well then there's your answer. Tsunade is a very good coach indeed, she saw how your form was and noticed that you just swung away without exact precision. Please work on the stance and hitting rate like she asked." Sakura nodded solemnly and stood up to leave before her father spoke again. "One more thing, please go to the mall because we are going to be having some unwanted visitors. They'll probably bring something hidden to spy on our house; I don't want you involved. Bad for reputation." He said as he flipped through pages of a book as he took small notes on the journal. Then shooed her away with a waving hand and Sakura bowed and walked out of the study without hesitation.

She soaked up the information before informing the maids that scurried around that she will be gone and any important calls should be written down. Sakura was waiting for the usual colleges that try to persuade her into their campus. But so far none of them had the right material Sakura needed, she wanted the best of the best to call her personally and ask for her to come. The best would be Kage Heights University. Only the very best hand-picked students got in to the top university. The pink haired girl quietly slipped out of her house just to find herself at the mall with people gaping at her.

"Haruno Sakura!" A few people gasped as they stood in awe that such a sports celebrity would come to this mall. Sakura just walked past the people uninterested before checking the movie theater for something to occupy herself. No movies were good but she needed something to do that didn't involve running into stores to hide from the mob of fans. Sakura bought a ticket and walked to her seat. She was correct about the movie being very boring. Until a certain scene in the movie caught her eye, she never knew that the movie had her favorite model in it! Kurenai had just hopped into the scene with a very sexy outfit on; Sakura popped lots of popcorn into her mouth as she watched in interest. But sadly enough that was interrupted.

"Mind if I sit here Haruno?" A familiar voice came as Sakura looked up to see a certain four pony tailed blond with a quirked eyebrow. Sakura shrugged as the blond sat down without a word, once the movie started getting good Sakura felt something touch her feat. She jumped and looked to see Temari's feet trying to play footsies.

"Stop." Sakura said coldly as she looked at the smirking blue eyed girl. Sakura didn't like the way the smug look fitted the girl's face. Temari roughened the play a little more as Sakura glared at her before kicking her foot away harshly.

"Don't reject me Sakura. You know you like it." Temari purred as Sakura's face flashed with disgust.

"Go sit somewhere else you damn slut." She said venomously but her words had no effect on the cocky blond.

"Mmm feisty are we?" The blond mocked the pink headed girl as Sakura scoffed before getting up out of the theater in annoyance. She stomped out of the theater and to a nearby bench as people stopped to look at her. Sakura leaned back and sighed in frustration as she closed her eyes to regain her calm. After a few minutes Sakura opened them to see Hinata looking from the crowd at her with a small smile. The softball player smiled with confidence as she made her way to the black haired girl.

"I was going shopping. I needed some stuff around the house." Hinata said smiling as she looked down at her feet. Sakura smiled sweetly at the shy Hyuuga, Hinata was one of those few people Sakura treated dearly, and something told her that Hinata needed the kindness.

"I want to tag along!" Sakura said happily as Hinata nodded with a small flush on her face. Sakura walked beside Hinata with her head held high and waited for the Hyuuga to take the lead in shopping, but she wasn't prepared for a smaller gentle hand to clasp her own. Sakura looked over at the black haired girl who seemed concentrated on staring ahead. The pink haired girl's smile brightened as she intertwined their fingers, Sakura decided that today wasn't going to be too bad.

A/N:

Things will begin to heat up a little now. Please review and read more please!