Chapter 3

Sakura sat in one of the chairs in her aunt's office and looked around calmly. After the boys came running up to them at the parking lot, Tsunade had been bombarded with questions from the males. Tsunade had angrily bonked the blonde on the head for being too noisy and loud, but sighed and had brought them all to her office to talk in private.

"So, before anyone of you starts to shout-"

Tsunade said, glaring at Naruto,

"-Or ask questions, let me do some introductions. Boys, this is my niece, Sakura Haruno. Sakura, these are my students, also your future classmates since you are all in the same grade."

Sakura looked at them and smiled slightly, making them blush.

"Hello, Sakura Haruno, nice to meet you."

Naruto had been first to speak and jump on his feet and gave her a bright grin.

"Naruto Uzamaki, nice to meet you too Sakura-chan!"

Sakura inwardly laughed at the blonde's enthusiasm and the next person who introduced himself was Kiba,

"Kiba Inuzuka, great to meet ya milady."

Kiba said, scratching the back of his head and smiled at her sheepishly.

"My name is Neji Hyuuga, pleasured to meet your acquaintance."

Neji said, smiling at her gently and almost shy. The boys and Tsunade gaped at the Hyuuga. He never smiles, and yet he is smiling at her and openly and willingly showing her emotion! It was a first for them to see him that way.

Sakura blinked and smiled at him as well.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke said, looking at her in an almost piercing gaze. Uchiha? Sakura thought, then asked him in a soft tone of voice.

"You are Itachi-san's brother?"

Sasuke and the others looked surprised,

"Hn, yeah."

Sakura nodded, No wonder they look so much alike, Sakura thought. The next one to introduce himself was a red head and Sakura looked at his tattoo curiously.

"Gaara no Subaku…"

Sakura smiled at the quiet red head,

"Nice to meet you. I like your tattoo."

Sakura said, surprising everyone.

Lastly, Shikamaru raised his head and Sakura looked at him in surprise.

"Shikamaru Nara, great to finally meet you."

Shikamaru said lazily, but gave her a very gentle and almost loving smile. Sakura blinked and smiled at him in return.

"Nice to meet you too."

Tsunade coughed to get their attention,

"Since you boys are a few of those who knows of Sakura's condition, I expect you to be quiet, and if I hear even a single rumor or anything about what I will say outside of this room, I will personally make your lives a living hell, got it?"

The boys felt ice run up their spines as they looked at Tsunade's menacing glare and nodded, scared of what she might and will do.

"So as you can see, Sakura is completely alive and well, and you all so that she was once a…doll. Due to certain reasons, she was turned into a doll four years ago. Long story short, Sakura was found and was taken care of by Sarutobi-san and I adopted her after I found out."

Tsunade said and the boys sweat dropped.

"Excuse me, Tsunade-sama, but can I just ask how that is possible?"

Gaara asked. Tsunade sighed and looked at him,

"There are just some things that no one knows in this world, and there are some things that are meant to be kept unknown, its better not to pry on those topics."

Gaara nodded after a moment and Tsunade sighed again.

"Anyways, you boys better keep your mouths shut-"

Again, she glared at Naruto, who smiled sheepishly,

"-or there will be severe consequences, understood?"

The boys nodded.

"Good, now get out of my office."

The boys and Sakura once again sweat dropped, and they stood up.

"Oh, and one more thing, I need you to bring Sakura to the dorms."

"Aunt Tsu- I mean, mom, I don't need an escort, its fine. I can go by myself."

Sakura said, looking at the buxom blonde. Tsunade waved her hand,

"Nope, I only gave you the map of the school building premises; you'd get lost on the way there."

Sakura sighed and nodded. Tsunade smiled in triumph and gave her an envelope.

"All the things you'll need are in there, like your key and stuff, now go, I have many things to do. Shoo, shoo!"

Sakura sweat dropped and left, giving her aunt a wave.

Once they were outside, Sakura turned to the boys who were giving her different glances.

"I'm sorry about my aunt."

Naruto grinned,

"No problem, besides, we were heading back to the dorms ourselves, Sakura-chan."

Sakura looked at them uncertain, then nodded.

"Okay, thank you."

Neji looked at her and smiled again,

"No need to be so formal with us Sakura-san."

"Oh, then you don't have to be formal with me as well, please, just call me Sakura."

Sakura said, then smiled at them. The boys all blushed, but with Naruto and Kiba being the most noticeable.

After a few minutes, the group reached a building and Sakura whistled.

"Nice dorm."

There were three dorm buildings in total; the girls, the boys and the co-ed dorms. The girls and boys separate buildings were the biggest, while the co-ed dorm was smaller than the two. The buildings formed a semi-circle, with the girls building being in the middle, to the left was the boys building and to the right was the co-ed dorm. Each building was separated by a small forest. In the middle of the buildings was a garden, with a large fountain being the center piece with benches scattered around. Students chatted with their friends happily, or others sat there reading in the wide garden area. Sakura found herself over whelmed by the calm and happy atmosphere that she suddenly felt light headed.

"So, you're in the girl's dorm?"

Naruto asked, waiving to a group of freshmen. Sakura shook her head,

"No, I'm in the co-ed building."

Sasuke looked at her surprised,

"Hn, then we're your new housemates then."

Sakura nodded and smiled, making Sasuke blush, even though it was not noticeable.

"That's good to hear. Then I won't feel so awkward then."

Shikamaru yawned and looked at her, a small blush dancing on his cheeks.

"Well, me, Sasuke and Neji will be your new housemates. Naruto and the others are in the boys' dorm."

Sakura nodded, then turned to the direction of her building.

"Well, thanks again for helping me get here. I think I can manage on my own since I've already troubled you enough. Thank you guys, I will see you later."

Sakura said, giving them a charming smile that made the boys, and the people who were watching them, mostly the boys, swoon.

As Sakura walked towards the building, Sakura almost jumped when a hand came down on her shoulder. She turned around to see a familiar pineapple styled hairstyle.

"Shikamaru-san, what are you doing here? I thought you went with the others?"

Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, looking at her,

"They were going back to Naruto's room, but I got bored. Besides, you might get lost if you don't have someone with you."

Sakura pouted, making Shikamaru blush even more.

"I'm not a child you know, Shikamaru-san."

"Drop the 'san' already okay, it's too troublesome."

She chuckled, then nodded. When they got there, Sakura observed the common area or the living room. The room took up almost half of the first floor, the other half being the cafeteria. There were couches littered around the room. A stack of magazines were next to the elevator and a large book shelf was next to it. A large flat screen was on one side.

"I didn't know dorms could be this fancy."

Sakura said, looking at the brunette. Shikamaru yawned again and rolled hiseyes, scanning the overly fancy lobby with disinterest. He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave her a small smirk,

"Well, it's a school full of rich kids that's been spoiled by their parents."

"I suppose you are right about that."

They went to the elevator and Sakura pressed up. They waited in comfortable silence until they stopped at the top most floor.

"How many people are in this building?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck,

"I guess around fifty or so? Most of the other students live in the 'separates', the co-ed is where late enrollees, or special cases live."

"Special cases?"

Shikamaru smirked at her slightly.

"People who are in the top. Like for example, in this floor, lives the top 6 students. The one below us are for the seven to twelve ranks. The one's after that are late enrollees."

Sakura looked surprised.

"Why do they need to separate them?"

"They think that if they let them in the other dorms their intelligence will decrease."

Sakura laughed slightly.

"Now that's just stupid."

Shikamaru laughed with a lazy drawl and scanned her over when she wasn't looking. Sakura had been an interesting person so far and the fact that he can keep a normal and civil conversation with her without her being too clingy and annoying made her even more endearing to him.

"Then does that mean you are also a top student?"

"The second, though it's kinda a drag."

Shikamaru said, feeling a bit proud of himself.

Sakura walked towards the room marked four in gold plating. Shikamaru looked at her in surprise.

"Wow, you must be pretty smart yourself."

Sakura shrugged, but smiled at him,

"Thank you, um…why don't you come inside for a while?"

Shika nodded, and Sakura took out the key from the brown envelope. She opened her door and stood in awe at her room. The room was large, there was a small second floor on the right side, with a queen sized bed and a side table. Under the bed were the bathroom and a small kitchen area, with a small stove and a mini fridge. The other wall opposite to the door was completely made of glass and a pair of doors leading to a balcony. There was a large sofa and TV set in the middle of the room, and next to the sofa was a floor lamp and a glass coffee table. Her room was painted a calming light green and there were black accents in the form of flames. Sakura whistled again in awe.

"Again, I am amazed by this school."

Shikamaru chuckled. He looked around her room,

"Yep, this school is just too damn extravagant. It's so troublesome."

Sakura giggled. She beckoned him in and Shikamaru shut the door behind him.

Sakura looked around and saw a large box next to her door, along with the presents Tsunade had given her, minus the car of course. She opened the fridge and saw it fully stocked, taking out a bottle of soda, she opened the cabinets and saw a few plates, silverware and cups. Taking out two glasses, she poured herself and Shikamaru some before handing one to him, they both plopped down on the couch. It was quiet at first, with Sakura looking around her new room, with Shikamaru looking at her with gentle eyes, but questions still remained inside his head.

"I know you have many questions, Shikamaru. It must be very bewildering for you, and for your friends to have witnessed such a transformation."

Shikamaru looked at her and saw the understanding in her eyes. It must have made her feel responsible for the mess they were in, well, the mess they were in if word got out to Tsunade. And he knew that she knew they were confused as hell about what happened and wanted to know more about it.

"Yea, it was really something, you know, to see something like that happen. To be honest I really want to explode right now. I have so many things I want to ask you about. I heard the story from gramps, er, I mean from Sarutobi-san… You're, not exactly 'human' are you?"

Sakura looked at him with calm eyes and shook her head slowly. She was hesitant to tell him, but she felt like she owed them at least a bit of information.

"No, I am not 'human' as you say it. I'm an artificial doll made through a power much greater and much older than this country's history itself. My 'parents' where loving people, and it was very strange at first. I felt them make me, Shikamaru. Each mold of clay, each stroke of their brush, I felt everything and all I could think of at that time was how each movement was filled with their love. When I woke for the first time I was a little girl, and no matter how strange it was I continued to grow as if I was an ordinary human being."

Sakura paused slightly and looked at the glass in her hand. Shikamaru looked at the rosette and couldn't help but get lost in her emerald eyes that seemed endless and held such deep mystery that it made him shudder. After collecting her thoughts, Sakura looked up to meet his gaze and the boy's breathe hitched in his throat to see those eyes calmly look at him straight on.

"I'm sure you know how I 'died', I couldn't remember the man's face, but what I do remember was my parents' horrified gazed as they watched me fall. After that all I remember was darkness. It felt like an eternity. I was all alone in the darkness for a very long time, then I saw a small slither of light. And when I opened my eyes, I was in the infirmary. And well, you know what happened after that."

The birds outside chirped, cutting the deafening silence the room was shrouded in. It was incredibly awkward for the rosette. After a few seconds, that really felt like hours to the girl, Shikamaru spoke up.

"I don't know how hard that must have been for you, but what matters is that you're here now and that darkness is not going to get you, I swear on it. And that power that gave you life, whatever it is its better not to say anything about it anymore. Like Tsunade-sama said some things are better not said. And I can tell you're uncomfortable speaking about this topic, so it's better to give you some space and let you breathe. But still, thank you for telling me."

The brunette said this but inside he was screaming to get answers, but he didn't want the girl to be uncomfortable around him. Shikamaru fingered the necklace around his neck and thought about giving it to her, but then realized it might be a bit too early for that.

'I'll give it to her when I get to know her more.'

Sakura looked at the brunette and smiled at him and as the sunlight filtered through the room it made her glow. Shikamaru's eyes widened and a rather charming blush formed across his cheeks at the sincerity in the words the girl said next.

"Thank you, Shikamaru."