Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Chapter 3

Why do things like this keep on happening to me? Is it because I'm not a good person? I do try to be the best that I can. I've got good grades, I don't do drugs, and I've never broken any laws at all (in fact, in school I was terrified if I missed a single homework, so how on earth could I do something that was against the law?)

Whatever the reason why my life seems to be constantly set against me, the three of use were staring at the black book intently.

"Sakura..." Ino said finally, and I wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

"Is that a DIARY?!" Oh God...

"You sly thing, you! How did I not know that you kept a diary?" She then picked up the book and started flicking through it very fastly before I could do anything to stop her.

"Ino! Please, I don't want you-" I tried in vain to stop my loud best friend from discovering the contents of the book.

"Ooh, it's got pictures too, it's like a diary/scrapbook, fabulous!"

"Ino-chan, m-maybe you shouldn't..." Hinata; lovely, sweet and innocent Hinata was my only ally in the matter, but even the both of us couldn't stop Ino when she was on a roll. I doubt she was even listening to a word we were saying.

Suddenly, Ino came to an abrupt halt, but by this time I was already despairing.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura" She said, her tone completely different from before

"I thought this was a diary of now, not... Not then."

I breathed out heavily; trying to stop the tears from coming. Whenever I think of my final year of High school I always end up in a state, but I manage not to cry.

"It's okay, don't go gettting all guilty. It's my own fault for not noticing what I dump in my bag."

"Is there anything we can do?" Hinata said with sadness clear in her extremely pale lilac eyes.

Before I could reply with the standard 'no, I'm fine' Ino interrupted me.

"Yes, there is something that we can do"

What could she be thinking? I'm not going to start crying about how terrible my life is, so why couldn't she just leave it alone?

Ino grabbed my hand and then Hinata's afterwards and led us into her bedroom.

I had always loved Ino's bedroom, as it was just so cool!

It was painted white, with a feature wall of bright purple which happened to be her favourite colour.

There was a large window in the corner that looked so pretty in the mornings when the sun shined through it to light up the room. The bed was queen-sized that had been the result of endless begging to her father for money. All of Ino's stuffed animals were lined up in order of size and colour perfecting on top. The rest of the room was arranged similarly, all perfectly organised into a style that suited her personality very well; fashionable and feminine.

I have to say, this was the first time ever that I was not looking forward to being in Ino's room.

The thing is, her room was reserved for those special 'girl talks' that were serious.

"Okay, are you going to tell me what your mysterious plan is now?" I asked trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

Ino nodded, glancing over at Hinata as if trying to give her a secret message.

She breathed deeply, then said "The thing is Sakura, we've known you for a very long time, so both Hinata and I know how you deal with things."

I raised an eyebrow "Have you two been talking about me behind my back?"

Hinata jumped in "Oh no, n-nothing like that! It wasn't s-something bad, we were just t-trying to find a way for you to be happier, especially b-because you know who is c-coming soon."

"So, how do I 'deal with things'?"

"You bottle them up" Ino blurted out quickly "You don't want to cause a fuss, so you just don't talk about it and hope that if you forget your problems they'll go away. But they won't, Sakura, don't you get that? It's like a TV programme I watched the other day, don't roll your eyes, unless you talk about your experiences you'll never be able to find closure!"

"Closure? You've got to be kidding me! Look guys, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. I don't need any help!"

Hinata shook her head "Yes you do. You just don't realise it yourself. But you've changed, and we want to see the old Sakura again"

Hinata managed to say that without a single stutter, this must be really important to her.

Then, I remembered something.

"You were there! All the way through high school you both were with me! Why do I need to explain it to you when you saw it with your own eyes?!"

Ino laughed a short, humourless laugh before saying "I think that even you should realise that we don't know the whole story. In fact, we didn't know that you were friends with him and Naruto until that last year. After it was all over, it hurt you too much to speak about it, so we didn't pry. But now it's been three years, you need to move on."

I grabbed strands of my hair in frustration, but I knew that they were right.

I did bottle things up.

I hadn't even told my best friends what had happened.

So, now I would.

"Alright" I relented "We can look through my diary; I wrote everything that happened in there"

And that was how we ended up huddled up, with the two other girls awaiting the story eagerly.

"It all started at the beginning of Senior year..."

3 years ago

"My name is Haruno Sakura and I live in the town of Konoha" I read out what I had written in the brand new book in front of me.

My Mother has decided that I will keep a record of my final year of school, and so therefore bought me a diary.

She gets so into these little ideas that I don't have the heart to say no to her. So that has left me in the position of writing a diary.

The only thing is, I don't really know what to write.

I mean, I have a pretty ordinary life; a Mother and Father and a nice, average house. My two best friends Ino and Hinata are the best, and I've known them since middle school. That's a start.

Well, I suppose I should mention that I've known Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto since birth.

After I wrote that down, I considered crossing it out. If anyone got hold of this, I would be in trouble.

Sasuke would kill me.

That sounds really bad.

But, to tell the truth, it kind of is. Sasuke and Naruto, but mostly Sasuke, don't want anyone to know that I know them.

Everything was fine at elementary school, I could play with them all I wanted and it was great. It changed at middle school. The two of them went to a separate school to me even though we lived quite close. I suppose it was just where the catchment area ended.

Without the comfort of my old friends, I was forced to make new ones. This was where Ino and Hinata came in. It was quite nice, being with girls for once. I still saw Sasuke and Naruto out of school, so I had the best of both worlds. We all started to grow up, and our true personalities started to shine through the innocence of children.

I think it was my Father who noticed first that I had some brains in the midst of all that pink hair. I could remember things a lot easier than other people, and so started to do well on the tests at school. It was my father who noticed this, and so started to challenge me more. I didn't like to get into trouble, so if we're getting stereotypical I suppose I could classify as a 'geek'.

Naruto had always been energetic, and he turned out to be a very happy individual; even if he was a bit air-headed. He was great at sports as his endless supply of energy and the fact that he would never give up made him ideal for this area. Because he was friends with Sasuke, this made him popular, and as soon as people saw past the loud, boisterous outside, they realised just how nice he was. Even though I wasn't there, I know Naruto basically stayed the same during middle school because I got a step by step account of his day when he got back and came round to my house.

Sasuke, in terms of abilities, was a genius. Though, it wasn't exactly surprising, considering the family he came from. The prestigious Uchiha clan was known for excellence in everything, and Sasuke was no exception. He had to live up to the standards of his older brother, Itachi, afterall. Another gift, or a curse was how Sasuke put it, was his looks. Glossy black hair and matching eyes that contrasted with his pale skin made him an obvious girl-magnet. I realised this at a young age, and apparently, so did he. I think at elementary I was the only girl he ever spoke to, but that changed when he got older.

Of course, I don't actually remember when it was when Sasuke suddenly woke up and realised that he was a boy instead of an ice cube. He had always been quite quiet, laid back and calm, and he stayed like that at home (except when fighting with Naruto). I don't really know what he was like at middle school as he wasn't like Naruto who gave huge descriptions, but I didn't really care what he acted like at school as long as everything was fine at home.

Konoha High School was huge and took everyone from the surrounding area, meaning that we were all going to be together. I couldn't wait to introduce my new friends to Sasuke and Naruto.

It didn't turn out like that, though.

I guess I really should have noticed the difference in my childhood friend earlier, but I honestly thought that everything was fine.

But on the first day of school when I bounded over to Sasuke in my full clumsy and geeky glory, he ignored me as if I was a mindless fangirl.

I was unbelievably hurt. I can't describe it in words.

Just to add salt to the wounds, Naruto didn't speak to me as well. Naruto! The one who talked to everyone!

Atleast with him, however, I could see the pained look in his eyes as he brushed past me to meet Sasuke, who didn't even look fazed.

It made me wonder how much I truly knew him at all.

It was only then that I noticed the people they were with.

The tallest was a strongly built boy with light brown spikey hair, with some purple markings on his face with what looked like make-up. The one next to him had a simialar haircut; spikey but with a darker brown hair and two red traiangles under his eyes. Were these people obsessed with putting stuff on their faces?

Another one had long dark hair and eyes that looked just like Hinata's, but a lot colder. Maybe they were related or something, I had thought. Also, there was a guy with a hood pulled over his head and dark glasses on which left barely any of his face showiing, making it a bit... creepy.

The last one, though, was in a completely different league to the others. He had spiked up red hair and sea foam coloured eyes that had a terrifying look to them. They were wild, crazy, and maybe even murderous, and that was just from one glance. He was dangerous.

And these were the people my friends chose to hang out with?!

I had wanted an explanation and I had wanted one fast.

When I confronted Sasuke at his house that night, he had run his hand through his hair as if it was difficult to explain.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Sakura" he had said "But I really don't want you to get involved with those people"

I had questioned of course, about why he got involved with them in the first place, and he had said that at first he thought it cool and now he couldn't get out.

I shouldn't have let him off so easily, but I felt slightly proud that he was trying to protect me; it wasn't every day you could say that about Uchiha Sasuke.

So that was how I spent the rest of High School up to now: pretending that I have never spoken to Sasuke in my life.

Okay, so maybe I had more to write down than I originally thought.

That's chapter 3 out then! I want to thank all those who reviewed :BeautifulMoonlitRose, ToraHimeSama, OXPrimrosexAngelXO, LoveIsMyHate, deedee2034, Crimson Flash Kunoichi, COULK, and thanks to candyluver for the advice, I hope I improved! Please r+r!