Summary: Neji x Sakura Meet Haruno Sakura, a typical junior high school prankster. When her prank got out of hand, the school principal decides to assign Sakura a mentor. Sakura thinks it's going to be a hell but things might not be as bad as Sakura thinks. AU and hopefully not too much OOC

Genre: Drama/Romance

A/N – Author's Note

Italic - thoughts and/or emphasis on the word

Bold – emphasis on the word


Troublemaker

Chapter 3: The Valentine Prank

Sakura woke up the next morning on her bed. She rushed to the bathroom and took a good looked herself in the mirror. Her eyes has a light black ring at the bottom for the lack of sleep and it is a little pinkish too, but it's barely even noticeable if you don't look too close.

"Good, my eyes aren't that puffy anymore."

Then Sakura quickly got ready for school. After 30 minutes in her house, she finally came out and dressed properly for school. The walk to school isn't far away, but Sakura just hated to walk near the school because cars always drove by and she felt like as if they are looking at her. She hate being watched or looked at by the drivers. Of course when you are walking so slowly to the other side of the sidewalk, people bound to notice you. As the pink-haired girl reached the other end of the cross walk, a cheerful voice called out to her.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto chirped.

"Morning, Naruto." said Sakura while yawning. Since Naruto lived with Iruka-sensei, he can drive Naruto to school because Iruka was a teacher at their school, but instead Naruto chose to walk to school with Sakura.

Sakura never question why Naruto would take the hard way to school, and so she left that thought out. They were almost at the gate of their school until they walked by a poster and something caught Naruto attention.

Naruto caught a glimpse of it since he can't stop because he was walking beside Sakura. The poster said something about a Valentine night party. "Oh yeah, our school always has a party on the night of Valentine. This year the day is on Sunday. And it's for couples……only. I wonder… should I ask Sakura-chan?"

"A-Ano, Sakura-chan…" Naruto started to ask but then the bell rang.

"Ohh, shoot! I can't be late for class again. Bye Naruto!" Sakura bid farewell to Naruto and ran off.

"…uh…bye Sakura-chan…" he muttered to himself. It took Naruto a whole minute to realize he's going to be late too.

"AH! I'm going to be late as well!" and then he ran off to class.

--

The first bell already rang and that's means that it's a five minute warning until you are late. Sakura ran through the hallway and into the classroom. Sakura arrived just before the second bell rang, and she was panting but relieved as the same time.

"Miss Haruno, please take your seat as I will begin class soon." said the teacher as he walked into the class. Sakura didn't say anything and did as she was told.

24 minutes later

"What did you mean you don't have your report?!" asked the English teacher.

"Well, it's like the words mean; I don't have the report." answered Sakura plainly.

"You had a whole week to do it, and now you say you don't have it! Haruno Sakura, do you want to fail my class?"

Sakura murmured a "no", which no one can hear her. She can't fail English class because it is required to graduate from junior high school.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I said NO sir." Sakura acted like a soldier and saluted to her teacher.

"Then get your act into gear and do the report! I'll expect it by tomorrow."

Then the bell rang.

Sakura walked out of English class and heads toward her next class. Today is like any other day; she goes to class and later she get scold because she doesn't do her homework. The last class of the day was with Naruto, so it won't be as bored as the rest.

As if the time has gone by very slowly for Sakura because she waited forever for the last damn bell to ring, so she could go home. Ohhh…. but wait…. she has detention now. F??

-sigh- "Great, now I have to go to detention." Said the bored Sakura.

"Look on the bright side, Sakura-chan. At least your mom isn't here to know you got two weeks detention." Said Naruto.

"I don't think she even cares."

"Of course she cares! All parents love their children."

"Since when did you become an expert on parenting? Anyways, my mom cares more about the bastard more than me."

"You mean Fuji-san?"

"Don't call him that in front of me!"

"B-but...but you call him Fuji-san too!"

"You really do have a bad memory! I told you that I only call him that in front of him and mom."

"Ohh I see, so in other words, you are just faking in front of him."

"Of course! And who does he thinks he is, calling me Sakura so gracefully?!"

"Wow, whenever I'm with you; you barely talk about him in front of me. So why do you hate him so much?"

"Because…"

"Because?"

Then Sakura just walked away.

"She probably doesn't have a good enough reason." Naruto laughed at the thought.

--

Detention room

Sakura opened the door and saw the principal and an unexpected person, Hyuuga Neji, was there too. He was sitting next to Tsunade with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. Sakura thought about why Neji would be here. Neji was one of the top students at the school, so there's no way he could get detention and that couldn't be right. So then she thought that maybe he came here because of what happened yesterday, but then again was he known for holding grudges?

Sakura just shrugged it off because this time she didn't do anything to him, so why would she be worry. Sakura and Naruto walked to the desk where Tsunade is and signed in. Then they gave Tsunade a yellow piece of paper and she took it, but then looked at Sakura with a questionable face.

"Sakura, why isn't your paper sign?" she asked.

"Because my mom was not home last night."

"Oh I see, so have her sign it when she's home."

"She won't be home until three more weeks."

"Oh I see…" those are the only thing Tsunade can think of to say at that moment.

"She's going to be alone for the next 3 weeks? I see, and I bet this isn't the first time that this happens either."

Tsunade took a glance at Neji. "Neji, I hope you're taking notes on this conversation. It might come in handy later on…"

Then, Tsunade told Sakura and Naruto to take a seat somewhere until detention is over.

Things went pretty much the same for the next two weeks, except Neji wasn't always there in detention room. And then the last day of Sakura and Naruto detention has finally came.

"Well, one more week until my mom comes home. Oh joy." Sakura said sarcastically.

"Yeah, and two more week until Valentine Day." Naruto murmured

"Huh, did you say something Naruto?"

"Nothing."

--

One week later

When Sakura open the door to her house, she saw her mom was sitting on the sofa with…Fuji-san. Kaede tilted her head a bit upward to see who was home.

"Welcome home honey." Kaede said cheerfully.

"I should be the one who say that line, mom. Welcome home." Sakura said plainly after she took off her shoes and walked towards her room. The last thing she wanted is to look at Fuji.

"Hi, Sakura-san." He said.

"Hi, Fuji-san." She said while still walking passed the sofa.

"Did anything happen when I was away?" Kaede asked, while checking the mails that she missed because she was away.

"Ohh, nothing special happened. Just the usual. I sleep, I go to school, and I eat, and then go to sleep again."

"I see."

"Ohh, and I got 2 weeks detention while you were away." Sakura said bluntly.

It took Kaede a few good second to register Sakura words, and then…

"WHAT!!" she yelled as she stood up from the sofa.

"I said I had 2 weeks detention before you were home." Sakura said again.

"W-what! I want an explanation now, Sakura! Come here!"

"I can't. I have homework." Sakura said before closing her bedroom door.

"Why that little…"

"Now, now, calm down Kaede. I'm sure there's a good reason behind all of this. She probably got blame for something she didn't do." Fuji said trying to calm Kaede down.

"I highly doubt that. Knowing that child, she might have done it on purpose."

"Now, don't say that." Fuji said.

Sakura bedroom was not far from the living room, and so she could hear her mom conversation with Fuji. She felt disgusted on how Fuji, stuck up for her when she didn't need him to. As for her mom; Sakura can tell she is beginning to lose faith in her own daughter.

Sakura lay on her bed and her thoughts began to drift back to the good old times where her mom is her greatest encouragement. Sakura closed her eyes and thought about it. After a few minutes she felt dowsing and fell asleep instead of doing her homework.

Her thought before she fell asleep was…..

Two years ago

Sakura came home and open the door so strongly that it made a loud sound when it crash into the wall.

"Sakura, how many times have I told you to not slam the door like that?" yelled Kaede

"Sorry mom, but I have to show you something."

"What is it?"

"I got a 94 on my Algebra test!"

"That's my girl. I knew you can do."

"Yeah, I study all night for it."

"Keep up the great work, Sakura."

"I will."

Later on that same year

"Sakura, time for dinner."

"I can't eat yet, I have to study for a test."

"Come on, studying is one thing, but you have to eat too." said Kaede.

"What's the test about?" asked Kaede.

"It's English. It's my worst subject of all."

"Here let me help you if you are struggling so hard."

"Thanks mom, you're the greatest." Sakura hugged her mom before going back to studying.

The next morning

"Sakura get up! You're going to be late for school." Sakura then look at her clock.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I'M LATE. I'M LATE. I'M LATE. I'M LATE. I'M LATE………."

"Hurry up. I'll drive you to school."

"Ok!" Sakura ran to the bathroom and close the door.

Later that same day

Sakura come home with a sad face, which is surprise her mom because Sakura always have a happy face on her face, unless something really bad happened.

"Sakura, what's wrong dear?"

"I'm sorry mom." Sakura began to cry.

"Sorry for what?"

"I-I-I-I…I got ….detention today …for being …late today." Sakura said between her sobs.

"Aw, that's ok dear. I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"B-but, this was my first time having detention! It would look bad on my permanent records, and I can't go to a good college and I can't have a good job and I can't--I can't-" Sakura began to have hiccups.

"Shhh…nonsense, there are plenty of college out there who would love to have you to attend their school. And besides it's just one detention. They won't hold that against you. They can't and they won't judge you by only that."

"…" Sakura remain silent to listen to her mother.

"If it makes you feel any better I'll go talk to your principal and explain everything to her."

"Really? Thanks mom, I really appreciate it."

"Anything for my little girl."

Then Kaede gave Sakura a big, long hug, and kept saying everything will be fine.

Back to the present day and time

Sakura woke up and looked at the clock and it was 7:35 PM. Sakura motioned to her door to take a peak at what her mom is doing and making sure Fuji has gone home already. She walked out to the living room and saw that nobody was there. Sakura didn't want to waste any thought about where her mom could be, and so she returned to her room.

She walked back to her bed and unzipped her backpack to look for her homework. Then she pulled out a book that has the word "English Book 2". She then remembered that her teacher said that they were supposed to read from pages 100-115, and answer the questions at the end.

"English homework eh?" she thought.

Sakura then throw the book to the other side of her bed and lay down again. She then again thought in her head. "I hate English homework." She curled up in a small ball and covered herself up with her blanket. Her mind kept recalling the time where she got her first detention for being late because she stayed up all night to study for an English test. But that's not why she is recollecting it.

It's because back then her mom actually cares for her grades and she was the greatest encouragement to Sakura. Her mom helped her with her hardest homework and would always praise her if she did a good job or just support her if she did a bad job. Sakura then began to think why can't her mom still be like that? Why can't she (her mom) understand how she feels?

Why does she always pay more attention to Fuji than her? Why does she keep going on trips with Fuji and leave her alone at home? Why! Why! Why! Why! WHY!!

Sakura keep asking herself those questions over and over again. But she can't find the reasons as to why those things happened to her. So then Sakura did something that she always did whenever she is upset or sad or depress or any of those combinations; and that is to cry.

Sakura face was on her pillow and hugged it tightly and just cries and cries and cries until she is too tired to cry anymore. She would have to worry about her eyes being puffy tomorrow morning, but for now she'll just cry to her heart content or in this case cry until she falls asleep.

--

Fours days later

Everyone is now at lunch, and Sakura and Naruto were in the cafeteria, and then suddenly the speaker came on. It was the principal, Tsunade.

Over the speaker: Attention everyone, the Valentine party will be held on Sunday at 5-11 PM, I hope to see you at the party that night and have fun.

"Maybe I should ask Sakura if she want to go with me to the party tonight." Naruto thought

Upon hearing this, Sakura starting to remember that her mom and Fuji is going to out to eat that night. Just thinking about it makes her furious. She can't stand Valentine Day; it has got to be the worse holiday EVER! Just looking at those lovey dovey couples reminded Sakura of her mom and her date, which means she is going to be alone again. That makes Sakura feel unwanted and therefore will she will be crying, and she hated to cry because it made her eyes all puffy and made her seem weak. And if she seem weak, then that would make her angry, and you don't like it when she's angry. Sakura will play pranks on others, and the worst her anger is, the worst of the pranks she will do.

Naruto was seating next to Sakura, and saw that she was deep in thought, but then decided to ask her right now because no one else is around.

"Umm…Sakura-chan…" said Naruto, but it didn't get to her, and so he touched her shoulder and said her name again.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Huh, what is it?" Sakura finally broke out of her train of thoughts.

"I…umm…I …" but then Naruto was cutted off by Ino, who came out of no where.

"So, Sakura are you going to the Valentine party?" Ino said happily.

But Sakura wasn't so cheery upon hearing that. She was enraged to the point of no return. Just hearing the word Valentine triggered her anger.

"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'M GOING!! WHY THE HELL WOULD I GO TO THAT STUPID PARTY!! IT'S A WASTE OF TIME AND I HATE TO SEE LOVEY DOVEY COUPLES HUGGING AND BEING ALL HAPPY WITH EACH OTHER!! I WOULD NEVER GO TO SUCH A PLACE IN A MILLION YEARS!!" when Sakura finished, she was panting because she just up too much energy on yelling. Sakura was not only yelling at Ino, but at everyone on the room as well.

Sakura outraged got everyone attention in the cafeteria and they all stared at her.

Naruto and Ino were shocked of their friend reaction. There was a long silence in the cafeteria and no one spoke up for about three minutes. Sakura finally snapped back to reality and looked at her friends, who were still in shock with widened eyes. She was still very angry, but more towards her mom then Ino.

"S-Saku-" Ino began to speak, but then Sakura just ran out of the cafeteria without saying good-bye. Ino was almost in tears when she saw Sakura act so cold towards her. Naruto still didn't know what to do, but he knows not to make that same mistake as Ino.

"It might be a better idea if I don't ask her out." Naruto thought.

--

Two days later. It's Valentine's Day, February 14

Sakura just took her shower and now she is watching TV. As she expected Kaede and Fuji are out on some kind of romantic dinner. It was 6:30 PM when they left, and now it's 7:43 PM; time for dinner.

If Sakura didn't know any better she would think she is becoming more and more like Naruto; she practically eat ramen everyday just like him! The house is quiet again, but this time Sakura don't feel like crying at all. She felt like punching and crashing something with all her might because everybody is having a good time while she is stuck at home doing anything.

But then again sulking about it won't help her get over her anger, and surely staying at home doesn't help either. So then Sakura decided to out for a walk, but not before calling Naruto to ask if he want to come with her.

Ring

Ring

Ring

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…….

"I guess the phone line is busy. Ohh well, I'll just go by myself." She thought.

Sakura walked out of the house with a blue coat with a hood on. She'll just let her feet guide her to whatever place it goes to. She looked at her watched and saw it is 8:13 PM. Her mind started to get bored and stopped to sit at a bench. Then she finally noticed that she was in the park. But this park seems odd; there are only trees around and not a single playground. She thought for a minute and then it hit her. "This is the park is the most popular place for couples to go on dates. With all the trees around here, you can't barely see them if they sat somewhere behind a tree."

It's true that the park is very famous for its many trees and it's the ideal place for couples who wanted to have some private moments together.

And then a thought hit Sakura again. Maybe her mom and Fuji might be here. If they are, then Sakura is going to have a little check-up on them. Just to see if they shouldn't be doing anything they know they shouldn't. Sakura grinned at her brilliant plan to spy at her mom.

Then, Sakura ran off to find her mom.

Sakura searched for a whole fifteen minutes but there was no sign of her mom or Fuji. Sakura was about to give up until she heard a soft sound coming from behind the bushes, and then Sakura took a peak of what is was and she hoped that it was her mom. But Sakura was disappointed at what she saw just two complete strangers making out on the bench.

Sakura was surprise when she saw that, so then she concealed herself behind the bushes so they wouldn't notice her. Even though Sakura didn't mean to do it on purpose, but they might take it the wrong way. Sakura stayed there and didn't move for a whole good three minutes, but then the moaning won't stop, and she was about to gag. So then Sakura thought of a good way for them to stop and for her to have some fun in the process.

Sakura putted her hood over her head, and started to make ghostly sound. She tried to sound loud enough for them to hear her, and when she got their attention she tried to sound as scary as possible. Sakura could hear them whimpering and the girl spoke up.

"H-Honey, did you hear that? It sounded like a g-g-g-g-host" she said.

"D-D-Don't b-be silly. T-There's no such thing as g-g-g-g-" he muttered.

"Ghost!" the girl yelled out as Sakura popped her head out and made them run away like little children. Sakura tried to hold her laughter until they are out of sight, and when they were, Sakura dropped down on the ground, holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAN'T…HAHA... BELIEVE…HAHA…. THEY…HAHA... FELL…HAHA... FOR...HAHA…THAT! HAHAHAHAHAHA" Sakura laughed some more. It took Sakura a whole 5 minutes for her to calm down and control her laughter.

"That was so much fun, I wonder how many more couples out there who are a scary cat as those two before? Ummm……spying on mom can wait, I'll let myself have some fun first." she thought. So then Sakura skipped happily to find more victims...erm...she means couples out there who are smooching.

--

Somewhere near the park

Tsunade was walking by the park until she heard some screaming coming from it.

"That's odd, this is Couples Park. Why is there screaming and yelling?" she thought. Just then Tsunade saw some couples running out of the park, and so Tsunade decided to approach one of the couple.

"Umm excuse me, why are you running away? This is the Couples Park isn't it?" she asked them.

"It is!" one answered.

"But there's a ghost in there!" another one answered.

"A ghost?" asked Tsunade with a curious face.

"Yes! A ghost! And if you know what's best for you, you should not go in there."

"The park is haunted!" and with those last words, the two couple ran away.

"A ghost? I don't believe it. I went on dates here before and I never heard of a ghost." Tsunade thought, and so she decided to play detective and investigate. Tsunade began to walk towards the park, while some were running away from it.

--

Back to Sakura little game

"HAHAHAHA!! THEIR FACES WERE PRICELESS!! If I knew this is going to be so much fun, I would have been here a long time ago!!" Sakura shouted. "Ok now, who's next?" she thought while putting on an evil grin.

Sakura once again began to search for more couples, but after a few minutes she couldn't find any. "Where is everyone? Hehe, they're probably got scare and ran home. I. am. good." Sakura praised herself in her mind. After a few more minutes of walking, Sakura heard a few foot steps coming her way, and from the sound of it, it was a lady because you could hear the high heels shoes making the sound whenever it touched the ground. Sakura went into hiding again and prepare to scare the wits out of the lady.

Sakura was hiding in the bushes below the lady and when she saw the lady feet stopped, Sakura popped her head out, but much to her surprise it was someone she knows and that someone was just as surprise as her.

"Sakura? What are you going hiding in the bushes?" asked Tsunade.

"Oh crap, I've been caught and by the scariest woman in the world too. What should I do? Confess to her or run away as fast as I can?"

"I'm waiting, Sakura. Why are you here at night and not at your house?!" Tsunade began to shout.

"Ummm…you see….I….umm…" Sakura found herself shuddering like an idiot would do when is caught doing something bad. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Sakura behavior. And then it hit her, Sakura was…she was…

"Don't tell me, you were the one…." Tsunade couldn't finish her sentence because she didn't want to believe that Sakura would drop so low as to scare away couples in the Couples Park.

"Uh oh, she figured it out. There's only one thing to do now. RUN AWAY!!"

Sakura began to sprint the opposite direction of Tsunade. After Sakura ran for about two minutes she saw that Tsunade was closing in from behind her. "Man! That woman sure can run fast! W-wait…what am I saying? This is no time to admire her when I'm trying to run away from her!! Stupid me! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Sakura began to pick up her pace and ran faster.

"STOP!! SAKURA!! YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME!!" yelled Tsunade.

After about ten minutes of running, both of them began to slow down. Sakura thought she can get away now, but then she tripped over the root of a tree and feel down. Sakura was about to get up, but then she felt a pressure on her legs, and when she looked back she saw Tsunade was on her legs, preventing Sakura from escaping.

"T-Tsunade-sama, I-I can explain." Sakura said.

"TELL ME WHEN I GET YOU HOME TO YOUR MOTHER!!" Tsunade shouted.

So then Tsunade stood up, but held on to Sakura arm to prevent her from running away again. Tsunade walked Sakura home, but when they arrived there was no one home.

"Where's your mom?" asked Tsunade.

"She's out on some kind of romantic dinner." Sakura answered.

"Well then, when she gets home tell her to come to my office tomorrow morning."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? We are going to discuss your punishment."

"Ohh…" was all Sakura could say, and then she closed the door when Tsunade walked out the door. Tomorrow is going to be hell for Sakura. Ohh, boy she's really in trouble this time.

--

The next day

Sakura was sitting outside of the principal office waiting for her mom to come out. Kaede has been in there for over ten minutes, and from the sound of it her mom is pretty mad. She moved closer to the door in order to listen to their conversation better. She heard….

"Sakura is a bright kid, it's just that she doesn't know the right path to take." said Tsunade.

"So, what do you suppose we do?" asked Kaede.

"I have an idea. But it require you to agree with me." said Tsunade.

Then Sakura could barely hear anything after that because it seems like they know she was listening and so they started to whispered. She waited for another five minutes until she heard Tsunade called her in. Sakura opened the door and stepped in.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Your mom and I have come to a conclusion that you need someone to look after you; someone that can be a good role model to you, and keep you out of trouble." Tsunade explained.

"Okaaaayyyy….what's your point?" asked Sakura with a hit of curiosity in her voice.

"Her point is that we decided to assign you a mentor." Said Kaede.

"You WHAT?? You can't do that to me!" Sakura protested.

"We can and we will. I hope this will be a valuable experience for you." Tsunade said.

"B-But-but-but…" said Sakura.

"NO BUTS! We have made up our mind! You will go see your mentor this afternoon. Have I made myself clear?!" Tsunade ordered.

"…" Sakura was speechless.

"Have. I. Made. Myself. Clear?" asked Tsunade again, but this time with more rage and added more emphasis to each and every word.

"Yes, ma'ma." Sakura said in a low voice.

Kaede sighed and looked at her daughter with sorrow eyes. She took a deep breath before she spoke up again.

"Sakura, we just want you to behave yourself and don't get to anymore trouble. From what I heard earlier from Tsunade-san; this mentor sounds like a good person who can help you with all that you need. So please do it for me and for yourself, ok?" Kaede suggested

"Ok." Sakura agreed.


A/N: -deep sigh- such a long chapter and there's no Neji/Saku at all. Sorry about that.

Well, I assume that everyone know who's the mentor going to be, right?

For some reason I don't like this chapter very much, probably because there's not enough Neji AND Sakura. Well, how can I expect you to like this chapter when I don't? So review if you want.

sacredairbga7