Educated
With money
He's well dressed
Not funny

The air was sterile, unnatural. It seemed deprived of the scent of anything, instead it was scentless, almost like the land of the dead would be. Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she sat up wearily, only to have the wind knocked out of her in a bone-crushing hug. A voice yelled out to him, "Oi! She just woke up! You don't need to kill her! Stupid blonde!"

Whoever was hugging Sakura so viciously instantly loosened his grip, "I'd rather be a stupid blonde than a flea-bitten mutt!" Sakura layed there for a second, seeing only the ceiling, until she sat up and saw Kiba and Naruto having a glaring contest at the foot of her bed. On her left and right sides were Gaara and Shino, both leaning against walls and remaining silent. Hinata was in a chair, writing something in a notepad (probably a report for Tsunade).

And not much to say in
Most conversations
Hinata layed the paper down and went up to Sakura right side and spoke, "Sakura, we get an idea of what happened from Naruto, but we need you to tell us more." Sakura tried to speak, but her tongue seemed glued to the roof of her mouth. Hinata spoke again, "We also need to know about this," Hinata held up a piece of paper, one with a scrawled lettering as opposed to Hinata's neat handwriting. "Are the words in here true?" Sakura feld a sinking in the pit of her stomch and her ears started to burn, that was her suicide letter.

"I'm sorry, I was just feeling depressed at the time," Sakura gave a weak attempt at a smile, "I didn't really mean it, or not anymore."

"So your father did not try to rape you?" Sakura felt panic rush through her, she forgot that she included that in the letter. She tried to think up a lie quickly, but nothing came to mind. Hinata wouldn't believe it either, she knew as well as Sakura that those were intended as words on her deathbed, they were true. Not an entirely good thing. "Sakura, do you have any idea how much this changes things? If the man was found before, his chances of getting out on a bail were slim to none, he'd obviously say he was trying to save you, and no one would believe him. That's why we needed to know this kind of thing."

But he'll foot the bill in
All situations
Cause he pays for everything

"What Hinata is trying to say is, we're worried about you. We've been adressing the wrong issue the whole time, the killer of your father. We should be doing that still, but you are the priority in your case." Shino spoke as an attempt to inform Sakura, but also to calm Hinata down. The attempt worked, and Hinata's and Sakura's muscles relaxed. These were Sakura's friends, how could she believe only a short time ago that they were false. Wait, how long was she there?

Gaara seemed to read Sakura's mind, "You've been in here for three days, no one at school has really noticed."

"Except Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Neji, they noticed their 'punching bag' as they put it, was gone." Naruto added before going back to the heated battle with Kiba.

Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money
Boys will laugh at girls when they're not funny

"I need to go to school, I've probably missed a lot." However, just as she said that, Sakura noticed a stack of papers, along with some textbooks, on a table. "Some patients get Get Well Soon! cards, I get homework. Lucky me." The comment earned a smile from Hinata and a chuckle from Shino, with everyone else either too absorbed in their glaring contest or too silent to say anything. Hinata gave Sakura an encouraging smile, "Even with the medical nin's help, repairing every cut, bruise, and broken bone takes a lot out of you." And Sakura blacked out.

Paper
Or plastic
Don't matter
She'll have it

.:Later:.

Sakura's eyes opened again, the world around her slowly changing from a black blur to a world of color and detail. Sakura sat up slowly, and saw Naruto, who thankfully didn't knock the wind out of her this time. Sakura gave a smile, "Good... uh... whatever time it is, Naruto."

Naruto smiled as well, "Hey Sakura, everyone is doing homework the teachers fell we need for midterms, so I thought I'd come see you."

"Are you done studying?" Sakura asked, doubtful that hew could preform faster than Gaara, Hinata, Shino, or even Kiba.

"Have I ever done homework?"

Vacations
And shopping sprees
These are a few
Of her favorite things

Naruto and Sakura both laughed at this, but Naruto looked away instantly with a look similar of that to a tiger locked in a cage at a zoo; a look of hopelessness. "What's wrong Naruto?"

"I'm not a guy with a shortage of girls, even if the crowd isn't as large as Sasuke's or Gaara's. However, I can't get a girlfriend, ever." Naruto gave a small chuckle as an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, "whenever I like a girl, she likes Sasuke instead." Sakura got the feeling that "a girl" was her in this case.

"Sasuke? I don't like him!"

"Come on Sakura, it is kinda obvious. You looked so dissapointed when you heard about Sasuke's girl issues, and when I told you about Itachi... well, the real reason I wanted to walk you home was to make sure you didn't jump off a bridge. And, I know that thinking of Sasuke was what let your guard down, allowing Kabuto to get you."

She'll get what she wants
If she's willing to please
His type of girl
Always comes with a fee
Hey, now, there's nothing for free

Sakura was too shocked at that moment to argue about Sasuke, "You knew it was Kabuto?"

Naruto chuckled slightly, "Don't change the subject. But yes, I knew, this is too much Kabuto's style to be anyone else. He's the only one who goes berserk like that. I'm just surprised he didn't kill you."

"It hurts a lot more to be alive."

Naruto looked at Sakura with a stange look, "You know, I didn't think you were so self-centered. Sakura, not everyone lives just to cause you pain. We all have our own lives."

Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money Boys will laugh at girls when they're not funny

"Sasuke seems to enjoy it a lot."

"Dissapointed?" Sakura gave Naruto a glare, knowing this was another "you like Sasuke" thing. "What I don't get is why you like him. You're a very pretty girl, but dispite that you're too intelligent to fall for a guy's looks, and it can't be his charming personality."

"I don't like him Naruto, end of story." Apparently the stress of the conversation wore Sakura out, because she fell back and went back to sleep.

"You fool." Naruto whispered, knowing Sakura could not hear him. This isn't a crush, if it was she'd realize it. Crushes come from the mind, but if her mind doesn't realize it... it's coming from somewhere else. "You fool," he repeated, "rule number one: never fall in love with Uchiha Sasuke." (AN: this would be a good place to end it, but the chapter would be too short)

And these girls like these boys like these boys like these girls
The girls with the bodies like boys with Ferraris
Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money

.:Back at School:.

Sakura walked through the gates, and Naruto rushed up to her, "Don't worry Sakura, I'll keep the guys from causing harm to someone just out of the hospital!" Sakura gave Naruto a smile of thanks, then ran off to her first class. When lunch finally arrived, Sakura was bruise free, but not very hungry.

Kiba and Gaara noticed Sakura's lack of food and protested, (Gaara silently, Kiba loudly). Sakura gave them a reassuring smile, "They fed me to death at the hospital, I'll be fine." With that, she left the cafeteria so the other two would be able to continue. akura leaned against a wall as she read some of the textbooks to catch up on her studies. At a piercing cry that sounded like someone was getteing killed, Sakura turned back to the lunch room to see Ino laughing hysterically, while her two friends Temari and Tenten gave her the "shut up" look. Apparently, Sasuke was the one who made the "hilarious comment" because Neji and Shikamaru were both casting him death glares, while Naruto childishly launched pieces of food at him with his fork. Sakura could not hear what they were saying, but it involved something along the lines of "we gotta leave now" because the four guys got up and walked torward the exit Sakura was at. Sakura quickly retreated behind the wall, Naruto or no Naruto, being noticed by the guys was not a bright idea.

Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money
Boys will laugh at girls when they're not funny
And these girls like these boys like these boys like these girls
The girls with the bodies like boys with Ferraris Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money

As the 4 shinobi walked past Sakura, not noticing her, she caught some of their conversation, "Geez Sasuke, you're doing that? Aren't you ever afraid that she'll think what you're saying is so funny she'll bite your dick off?" Neji's voice wasn't as cold as what Sakura was used to, it seemed a little lighter.

"She may be a complete and total idiot," Sasuke started, "but we can all tell by looking at Haruno that brains and sexual appeal are in no way connected." At that, Naruto started whistling a tune, Sakura knew it was Naruto by the fact he was the only one not laughing. And he thinks I like Sasuke? Naruto's getting soft in the head.

All of these boys, yeah get all of these girls
Losing their souls in a material world
All of these boys, yeah get all of these girls
Losing their souls in a material world

"Then again," Shikamaru spoke after everyone stopped laughing, "for all we know she could be even more skilled than Ino. After all, we never met her in bed. She may not even be a virgin." Sakura noticed this time that Naruto's laughter was not the only one missing, but she couldn't distingish who else was absent.

All of these boys, yeah get all of these girls
Losing their souls in a material world
All of these boys, yeah get all of these girls
Losing their souls in a material world

Entoxica: No one asked me this, but with this chapter I thought I'd mention, I do not in any way hate Ino. I don't hate any of the characters, though I do hate what some of them did (Sasuke leaving, Sakura and Ino letting their friendship be ruined by a boy, Orochimaru cursing Sasuke, Itachi killing the Uchiha clan) but I still 3 them all. The only reason I'm doing all this is because we need stupid and loath-worthy characers in every story, even though it pains me to do those things to my beloved Naruto characters. (hugs them all)