Cheerleaders
A New Face

I tried not to act nervously as I fiddled for the stylus as I sat at the very back of the bus. I turned my big, fat, blue Nintendo DS and pressed down on the power button. A source of distraction. I pushed some of my hair behind my ear so I could see the screen properly, the stylus spinning in my waiting finger. Suddenly, someone sat down beside me, taking off their bag and setting it on their lap.

"Hello." I suddenly heard.

I looked up to see a fairly, well… hot boy, staring down at me. I really hated that word, but it was better than just good-looking. He seemed around my own age, with straight, short black hair and dark eyes. His skin was a somewhat paler than mine. "Hi…" I mumbled.

He smiled, and then looked down at my DS. "What're you playing?" He asked me.

I looked down as well, as though just forgetting. "Umm… Zelda." I said, too afraid to say anything more.

"Ah." He said, then going back to his business. He was reading some sort of newspaper.

I gulped, and turned back to my game. I loomed over, not bothering to put the hair back behind my ear as it slipped from its preferred place. I wasn't doing much; just heading back to my boat – in the game, that is.

I sighed.

Suddenly, I felt the boy beside me staring at me again. I looked up, only to confirm my preconception. "Yes?" I asked.

He didn't smile this time, but his eyes were kind. "My name is Sai." He said, and then turned back to the article he was supposedly reading.

I looked away, but my head didn't turn. I looked back up at him through my long, vivid bangs. "I'm Sakura." I said. He didn't turn to look at me, but he nodded. He flipped the page. I shifted slightly as the bus shook from an unexpected bump in the road. I realized that the bus was getting near my stop, and I glanced at the boy named Sai as I got up and picked up my backpack.

"See you, Sakura." He said, suddenly looking up at me.

I nodded my head robotically, "Um. Yeah. Bye." I said, swinging one strap over my shoulder and stuffing my DS into the pocket of my coat.

"Honey?" My mom called as I shut the door behind me and quickly locked it. I turned and, even after three weeks, was still surprised by the striking hall before me. I walked to the closet and hung my jacket inside, slipping off my shoes and socks afterwards.

"I'm home!" I said, though unnecessary.

My mom's shadow rounded the corner and met me before she did. "Hey, Sakura." She said, kissing my forehead.

I rolled my eyes.

"I made some cinnamon buns, since your Dad's working late. Don't tell him though; I'm not supposed to be eating sugar." She whispered.

I giggled and hugged my mother nonetheless, taking in the sent of sweet cinnamon behind her. I made my way into the kitchen, spotting them almost instantly on the kitchen's island. I stole the one that looked the most glazed, from the batch of about ten, and ran off to the stairs.

"Hey!" My mom called behind me, "That one was mine!"

I laughed, "Call me if you need me!" I said before shoving some into my mouth. I heard her mutter something incoherently and disappeared into my room, tossing my bag on my bed and closing the door.

I sat down at my desk and turned on my computer, staring into the widescreen impatiently as it slowly turned on. It began to bore me, so I turned in my chair, staring into my poster board. My poster board was this large brown board, like the ones at me school, that I stuck everything and anything important to me. There were from pictures of Mom and Dad's wedding, older than I was, to magazine cut-outs of baked goods.

I ripped off another piece of my cinnamon bun. I really loved them. I loved baking, I did it in my spare time, and I loved (even more) eating the things I baked. I sighed as I chewed the heavenly piece of cinnamon bun. Mine would've tasted way better, not that I was bragging or anything, but I could settle for Mom's.

I turned back to my computer, now on and ready to manipulate. I saw that I was already automatically signed into MSN Messenger, and squinted at the top left of the screen.

"" has added you to his/her contact list.

I blinked, trying to understand what this meant. I slowly reached for the button to add him/her to my contact list – curious. As soon as I accepted, a window popped up.

NRU70 says:

Yo wy'd u leave?

I blinked again, finally realizing who I added to my list. I didn't answer quickly enough, in his opinion, and he wrote to me again.

NRU70 says:

U there?

I slowly moved my fingers above the keyboard, they darting the buttons rapidly.

Sakura says:

I'm Sorry. I didn't really want to do any cheerleading. I'm not really into that… stuff.

…

Sakura says:

Sorry.

I waited patiently as he wrote me back.

NRU70 says:

U dont haf 2 say sorry. It's k.

I just stared, wondering how he could stand writing like that.

Sakura says:

Yeah. I'm sorry.

NRU70 says:

kk.

NRU70 says:

Wont u com eat with me tmrw? We r goin 2 celebrate our win agenst the rivul schewl from a few daze ago.

Sakura says:

You mean the Academy of Sound?

That wasn't what the school's actual name was but I'd picked up the nickname.

NRU70 says:

Ye.

Sakura says:

Congrats on that. Anyways, I gtg. Bye.

I quickly signed off my messenger and shut off my computer, realizing how much I was shaking.

I met Sai on my bus route the next morning. As I sat down beside him and swung my bag onto my lap, I realized that this would become a habit. I sighed, too tired to take out my game, and held my chin in my palm, my elbow on my bulging backpack.

"Tired?" He asked, reading the same newspaper as yesterday.

I closed my eyes and nodded my head. "Aren't you?" I asked, feeling a little light-headed.

"I'm okay." He said, turning to look at me. "What about your game?" He asked.

I sighed. "Too tired." I mumbled, hardly audible in my own ears.

"I see." He said. I knew he hadn't heard me. "You seem talkative today." He noted, still looking at me.

I leaned back in my seat and pushed all the hair from my face to the bottom of my skull, realizing only then that there was no hair tie on my wrist. I sighed and let go of the bunch I'd gathered, letting it fall back around my head again. "I'm just a little delusional. Too tired. Get's to my head." I said, covering my face with my palms.

"Yes. Very talkative." He repeated, nodding his head.

When I turned to look, he was absorbed in his article again. I realized that the newspaper was exactly the same, on the same page as well. I frowned, but didn't dig further into it. My stop was next. I got up, swinging my bag over my shoulder in the same old fashion and sliding my hair behind my ears.

I walked to the door, waiting for the bus' usual screeching stop. As it did though, I nearly fell over, only to be caught by a pair of arms. I had to wait until I was put back it place to turn and see who had caught me, to thanks them really, but then had to walk out the bus. It was cool outside, I realized as I walked out. I wrapped my arms around myself, my jacket and leggings were the only things that shielded me from the wind. The days were becoming colder, that being the routine September coming in.

I turned my head to see if the bus had passed, and nearly shrieked when I saw Sai walking right behind me. He looked down at my gawking face and smiled. "I've been trying to figure out how to get here for ages. I knew I'd seen that uniform somewhere." He said.

I just stared at him, eyes as wide as saucers.

"I moved here last week-end and couldn't figure out the bus route to this place." He explained. He pulled his bag higher up on his shoulder as we walked together to the huge school. The silence was awkward, the wind the only source of noise. We walked up the path and pulled open the doors, having to team up to beat the wind's force against them.

We trotted inside the school. I was late. I was never late. It was a quarter to nine, which was when my classes started. I turned around, remembering Sai, who still followed closely behind me. "You should go to the office." I told him, rubbing my arms.

He just stared at me.

"Oh. I should bring you to the office." I chuckled quietly. I motioned for him to follow, and he obliged. The office was just around the right corner, the entrance was a wall of glass, and the door was as well. Hard to miss. He followed me inside, and the room was a bit crowded. I slide around a small group, not even realizing who they were, and stood in front of the two secretaries.

"May we, um, see the principal?" I asked, holding my hands in front of me.

One of the secretaries looked up and nodded her head, lifting her phone and pressing few numbers. "Tsunade-san, there are two students here who'd like to see you." She said into the phone, and after a moment, hung up and looked up to us. "She said you may enter."

I nodded my head and walked to her door, slowly turning the knob and entering inside the office. "Tsunade-shishou… I've brought in the new student." I said quietly, glancing at Sai - beside me.

He smiled.

"Sakura-chan!" I heard behind me as I walked Sai to his first class, which happened to be mine as well. I turned and my view became flooded by blond hair, blue eyes and whiskers. I jumped in surprise, freezing on the spot. Naruto was grinning at me, as usual.

"Mind if I walk you to class?" He asked me.

I opened my mouth to answer when he spotted Sai, his eyes narrowing immediately. He noticed me looking at him and quickly put on his smile again, though forced.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend Sakura-chan…" He muttered forcefully.

I felt my face flushed as the blood rushed to my head. "No, no!" I quickly said, "He's not! Really," I told him, alarmed.

He stared at me for a moment, and then glanced at Sai. He then grinned, "Okay." He said. I sighed in relief as I turned and continued walking. Naruto followed us.

By lunch time, everyone had noticed us, it seemed.They stared shamelessly and even gawked, mouths hanging agape as they did. Sai and I had been through nearly the whole school, having patrolled the halls in between classes. We walked into the Cafeteria, since Sai wanted to buy his lunch.

"Sakura-chan!" We immediately heard Naruto call from his table, already half full. I glanced his way and quickly looked away again, blushing.

"Sakura-san?" Sai mumbled as he stared at me, "Your face is getting red. Are you okay?" He asked.

I quickly shook my head. "I-I'm fine." I said.

Naruto halted to a stop right in front of me, "Sakura-chan?" He asked. His eyes darted between Sai and I quickly, a hesitant smile on his face. "Are you coming?" He asked.

I glanced at Sai as well, "Uh…" I said, "Well, I have to show him around. He's new here." I explained, using the excuse to keep staring at me. He smiled, so I whipped around, back to Naruto.

Naruto was frowning at me, "That's totally unfair." He said, "I mean, yesterday you wouldn't come, and you told me you'd come today!"

I shook my head. "I didn't tell you I'd come, Naruto-kun." I said, recalling the conversation perfectly.

He pouted. "You little sneak." He muttered, but he couldn't stop his mouth from curling up at the side.

I sighed. "I'll come, okay?" I said. His face literally lit up, so I added, "But only if Sai wants to."

He then frowned, narrowing his eyes at Sai again. "Fine," he said, "but I don't like him." He then turned on his heel and stacked back towards his friends.

I suddenly felt a little faint, and held my palm against my head. "Oh, Naruto-kun…" I mumbled, shaking my head slowly.

Sai caught my shoulder as I swooned a bit. He said, "You didn't have to do that."

"Believe me, it makes me happier this way then leaving you behind." I said.

He smiled and me, and we walked together to the small line, his hand still on my shoulder.

"… Because I know all about being left behind…" I whispered to myself darkly.